Blue Nexus #75 - Greatest Magus

Previously on "Blue Nexus": The final battle in the war for Earth's magic began! As the Zanderia took on the brunt of Rafael's shadow forces, Brian, Kyle, Brenda, and Sandy slipped into the tower. Brian fought off Brandon the Reality Pillar while Kyle fought Robbie in a bare-knuckles brawl to claim the final victory over the Six Pillars of magic. As they advanced to help Sandy and Brenda, they were stopped by Faustus, claiming to be the first Demon mage! 

            The lift took them through a room lit with complete shadow. Brenda tried to see through it, but could not see anything. The magic surrounding her inhibited her ability to sense anything, either. She instead focused, concentrated. She glanced quickly to Sandy for just a moment, who was doing the same. Brenda nodded to her, and Sandy did the same.

            Several stories of solid black awaited them before they finally reached what seemed to be the largest room in all the tower. All the lights of the magic color spectrum shot out across the ground in various lines that stretched to the golden ceiling up top. There were no windows around them—the girls were completely sealed off from anything else. The lift sealed shut, locking tight beneath them.

            “It may even take someone as strong as Blue Nexus to get through to us,” Rafael said. “And not just from the several feet of ground.”

            The girls nodded to him, and then to each other, and spread out a couple feet. Sandy fell right into a fighting pose, while Brenda remained as she was.

            “I’d ask to avoid the fighting and have you two become new Pillars of mine,” Rafael said. “But it seems a pointless effort. Just as this little skirmish shall be pointless. You had two Nexus with you. Why not bring them as well? You would’ve stood a chance.” Rafael keenly eyed Brenda. “You’ve seen what your powers are capable of.”

            Brenda remained quiet, as did Sandy. Rafael shrugged, then sighed and tightened the magical aura around him. His power swelled.

            “But you haven’t seen the true extent of mine yet,” Rafael said. “Not even close. Divinity mages feed off of raw magic itself, and this tower was constructed solely off of that! When Tania gathered all those mages here it sealed your fate! It ascended me to the status of a War God, a true War God! I have earned my place amongst the pantheon of those outer beings through sheer power itself, and with a little manipulation of you fools on Earth.”

            Rafael held his arms out, and golden sparks of magic flickered before eradicating the ground around them. The floor ripped up, destroyed just by one of his little moves. Rafael didn’t bother with a maniacal laugh, he just waited for the dust to settle to see the expressions on their face. Both Brenda and Sandy held strong, held steady. Brenda sighed, keeping herself focused still. The moment Rafael attacked, the true test would begin in earnest.

            “I don’t think it necessary, but perhaps I’ll pay a visit to the Blue Nexus and his ally down below once I’m done here,” Rafael said. “Then to the Zanderia outside. They should be having quite an easy time with my forces, just to give them a little warm up for when I finally square off with them. After that?” More sparks of electricity coursing around him. “I’ll begin my plan, finally, and spread a wave of magic, pulsing from here to destroy those that aren’t truly worth of magic itself. Once this world is coated in magic, I shall remain as its one ruler and Earth will once again be a planet to contend with. Heroes have made it weak; Gods shall make it strong!”

            He raised his arm toward Sandy. “We’ll start with the false heroes! The ones who steal their powers for their own gain!”

            Sandy leapt away from the blast much faster than normal and Brenda swung around, shooting toward Rafael with a fist raised. Rafael noticed and threw up a golden wall from the ground. Shield magic? Impossible!

            Brenda’s course adjusted. No, this wasn’t Shield magic at all. The color faded, and the black slab dropped. It wasn’t even an illusion, it was just Rafael’s manipulation of the physical realm around them through his Divine magic.

            Sandy rushed around from the back to land a hit, but Rafael blocked with ease. Brenda’s attack fell short as well. He spun them both away, and after a quick recovery, the two girls blasted at him again. Brenda swung right and Sandy swung left, but the two quickly cut across. Rafael’s eyebrow pricked and dodged the coordinated attack. Brenda and Sandy spun in the air and punched down with enough physical force to knock him back.

            Rafael stumbled, steady, and observed their pattern. Sandy and Brenda advanced again. Rafael swung his arms up and used more of the magic around him to block them. Sandy punched straight through it with ease and allowed Brenda to follow up with another attack. Rafael opened his fists and an afterimage got clocked in the face by Brenda.

            The two mages slid to a halt, while Rafael crossed his arms. Brenda got back up to her regular feet. More, they needed more!

            Sandy charged ahead while Brenda stayed back a second, watching what Rafael would do. Rafael eyed Brenda to see where she was and focused intently on Sandy, conjuring a ball of ethereal magic in his hand. Brenda sprung into action, forcing Rafael to turn the ball on her. Brenda swung out and the ball fell from his grasp while Sandy kicked Rafael in the chest. It hardly affected him, though, and he slid back, unwounded.

            “You’ve great power, Combat mage,” Rafael said. “Greater than I give you credit!”
            He swung his arm out and a golden magical blast engulfed half of the room. Sandy barely dodged it, but Rafael was completely exposed. Brenda moved in on him and kicked, though Rafael anticipated the attack and a part of the wall jutted out and slammed against Brenda. She tumbled along the ground, and felt a flicker in her body. Brenda tensed. She looked to Sandy, who’d dodged the attack but the radial gusts still knocked her into the wall. She quivered as well.

            “Cower at my abilities, yes,” Rafael said. “You see now how hopeless this battle is!” He raised and lowered his arms, and magic rained upon them. Brenda leapt back and avoided it, as did Sandy, though Brenda was snagged by it in the arm. Her skin quickly changed back to its regular color, and she had to hide it from Rafael, who keenly avoided it.

            Damn it, it was all over! Brenda focused her mind, though. No, it wasn’t. This was just beginning. What had she learned so far? He was a master of manipulating the entire room, just as Clarke had done. His instincts were as keen as Sandy’s as a Combat mage, and his power was intense, physical when he punched out. That rain could be easily seen as smoke from a Deception mage. Rafael, for all of his taunting of being a Divine mage, could only yet manipulate physical mage outside of him, and not even create powerful constructs from within him.

            And he still had that fatal flaw—mortality. No binding to the ethereal world, if he were killed, it was over. Brenda fell back into a fighting position. He couldn’t be affected by regular, physical attacks. He could only be afflicted by magic, and he still had elements of the old ways of magic within him. Now their gambit truly began.

            “And yet you still do not use your magical abilities,” Rafael said. “Why do you hold back?”

            Brenda felt a tingle. Tania had registered all she needed.

            A flash of green temporarily blinded Rafael and Tania stepped away from her illusion. She smiled, raising her arms, her hands glowing green.

            “They?” Tania asked. “Rafael, you and I are the only ones using magic right now! Time for the real show to begin!”

            She waved her arms, and Brenda’s vision went back before she returned to her reality, and stared out over the battlefield. She snapped to, with Sandy standing next to her. The portal remained open in front of her.

            “Let’s go!” the two mages exclaimed, and leapt through, landing right in the heart of Rafael’s magic arena.

            Riko and Lalay fell back, falling through the portal. Tania waved her arm and the portal closed. Brenda and Sandy flared their auras around them.

            “How?” Rafael asked.

            “Reality magic’s a real bitch, isn’t it?” Tania asked.

            “I can see through all spells!” Rafael exclaimed.

            “Not ones you’re already encased in,” Tania said. “Unless you know what to look for. This tower? Oh, it’s real, certainly real. But you really think you’d absorbed all the magic of Magus Forest? Your entire tower is riddled with my Reality spells—most of Magus forest is! You honestly believe I trusted Blue Nexus way back in the day?”

            “You placed Reality spells in Magus Forest when you first arrived?” Rafael asked.

            “And I absorbed whatever remained of it when you first attacked,” Tania said. “You’ve made a bad habit of running away from crime scenes, leaving all your evidence behind.”

            Tania swung out her arm and all the color in the room faded to black, and only the dim lights of the regular torches faded. The damage still remained. Rafael clenched his fists, and Brenda and Sandy fell into their proper fighting positions.

            “This makes no difference!” Rafael exclaimed, and launched at them.

            Sandy dove to the side while Brenda shot up a barrier in front of Rafael. He spun around the barrier, only to ram right into another of Brenda’s. Tania snapped her fingers, and Rafael pretended he’d broken free. Brenda leapt at him, slamming her hand upon his chest.

            Sandy, from behind launched an arrow at him. Rafael roared and swung his arms out, blasting the two away and sending the arrow into the opposite wall. Rafael snarled, but looked to the red mark on his chest.

            “What?” he asked.

            Brenda closed her hand and yanked, and suddenly, red magic exploded from within Rafael, and a golden light flared and faded just as fast.

            An aura mixed with blue, black, silver, green, and purple appeared around Rafael while red mist descended around them. Rafael looked to his trembling hands.       

            “Divinity mages require two things,” Brenda said, holding her cracked, sparking red hand up to Rafael. “Immortality and all six mages. I’m afraid you have neither. So, what kind of god are you now?”

           

           

            Faustus remained where he was, completely unmoving. Kyle and Brian did the same, though Kyle did it more due to the bone-chilling power he was feeling emanating from Faustus and the tonnage of Demon magic that surrounded the two Nexus wielders.

“The first Demon mage?” Kyle asked. “Surprised you’re still kicking after all this time. How many thousands of years has it been?”    

                “I created this magic far before the very first signs of the Nexus came to Earth,” Faustus said. “Even your dear Aequitas, Blue Nexus, seems a child in my eyes.”

                “Then I’m not sure how much an eighteen-year-old super hero should worry you,” Kyle said, jittering.

                “The Nexus in the hands of an infant is still a powerful weapon,” Faustus said. “With that power you both could defeat Rafael, but that’s not what we need concern ourselves with. The three of us bear an archaic power, we should let the fledgling mages handle things up there.”

                “They aren’t fledgling mages,” Kyle said. “Once Shindari and Violette are done up there, they’ll come down here and the four us will kick your ass.”

                “Assuredly,” Faustus said.

                Brian got back onto his feet and surged his aura up, brightening the room just a little bit more. Faustus didn’t bother pressing his shadows against Brian’s light.

                “Reminds me of Black Nexus,” Brian said.

                “This is way different,” Kyle said. “Black Nexus was just the inverse of our powers. This guy is like darkness itself.”

                “You’re not wrong,” Faustus said. “What you’re experiencing now, though, is simply my aura, my magic asserting itself from my body. In fact…” Faustus raised his hand. “I haven’t moved at all since you arrived.”

                “Yeah, okay,” Kyle said. “You’re not the first mage to try and say that since this whole war started. Rafael was going on and on about that, too, and now he’s getting tossed around up top, I bet.”

                “Then come, child,” Faustus said. “Both of you. With everything you have, and experience the true power of the Nether.”

                Wait what—

                Faustus blasted his dark magic around him and slammed Kyle against the wall. Kyle peeled himself off the wall and followed Brian in a direct charge toward Faustus. The Demon mage, still unmoving, simply glanced at Brian and he flew back. Kyle increased his speed and ducked below the range of Faustus’s attack, charging enough energy in his hand to blow a hole clean through the entire tower. Faustus glanced at him and held his hand out.

                Kyle launched his uppercut and blew Faustus’s hand clean off, the surge of blue energy shattering the darkness around them for just a second. Faustus’s red eyes glowered at Kyle.

                “Better,” Faustus said, and actually moved his arm to hit Kyle back. Kyle flipped and was slammed onto the ground almost head-first. He recovered, rolling away from another explosion of dark magic. Kyle slid onto his knees and watched Brian try and make his own attack. He was knocked away as well, but swirled around at incredible speed and punched at Faustus. The demon didn’t even move, and Brian’s afterimage faded immediately. Brian appeared behind Faustus, but Faustus saw clearly through the ruse and blasted Brian back, allowing Kyle enough time go move ahead with his plan and launch into a barrage of energy blasts.

                Blue dust billowed around the entire room. Kyle grinned, then grimaced when the dust swirled away and his blue aura still only barely allowed him to see Faustus standing completely still.

                “Everything you have,” Faustus said. “Now.”

                “Fine!” Brian exclaimed, and a great blue energy ball appeared in both of his hands. He blasted it at Faustus, who held it steady with just one hand.           

                Kyle propelled at Faustus at top speed and punched at him, cleaving straight through Faustus’s chest and finally forcing the Demon mage to move a little bit. Faustus, though, responded in kind and reciprocated the power back to Kyle.

                Kyle landed on the wall, then took off, running alongside it, dodging bolts of lightning as they came into his vision. Faustus destroyed the blue ball of energy, and the room finally became illuminated. Brian flipped back and  Kyle crossed his path. They, together, held their hands out, and combined for their most powerful energy blast, catching Faustus right across the face with it.

                They landed next to each other, just a few feet spread between them. Neither faltered in their preparation.

                “More,” Faustus said, and Brian obliged, leading the charge. Kyle followed in suit, riding Brian’s energy trail and combining it with his own.

                Brian attacked with a feint punch and a real kick while Kyle went for a punch to the head. Faustus dodged Brian’s attack and knocked Kyle back, though left Brian standing right there. He expanded his aura onto Faustus, and Faustus hissed and fell back. Kyle spun and threw an energy ball toward Faustus, revealing his position in the shadows. Before Faustus could snuff out the light, Brian once again attack, punching down with all his might on Faustus. Faustus merely parried it but was still an off-balance shadow. Kyle rushed from behind and pinned Faustus against the wall. Faustus shot Kyle back.

                Kyle remained on his feet and led the charge this time, keeping two balls of energy clasped tight in closed fists. Kyle peeled off at the last second, forcing Faustus to redirect his attack, while Brian took his attention with a punch Faustus could not dodge.

                “Now!” Brian and Kyle exclaimed, and Kyle slammed his open hands together and unleashed the energy beam.

                It destroyed a good chunk of the wall, finally spilling sunlight into the room. Brian had ducked beneath it at the last second, and leapt back to make some space between he and Faustus. Kyle landed next to him, wiping sweat from his brow. That eerie coldness still remained, worrying him.

                “Don’t think for a second he’s dead, but with that sunlight we’ll be able to press an advantage on him,” Brian said.

                “You think he’s weakened by light?” Kyle asked.

                “Or at the very least irritated by it,” Brian said.

                A gust swept through the room, buffeting them. The chills running up and down Kyle’s spine intensified as a power he’d never felt before started to manifest near the back wall. Faustus’ form started to regenerate, though with more clearly defined arms, legs, torso, and head. His red eyes blared in the shadowy room and his aura burst around him.

                “Let me guess,” Kyle said. “Warm-ups are over.”

                “Very much so,” Faustus said while the darkness swirled around him. The entire room started to shake. Kyle felt his dark energy rise and rise.

                “We can at least see him now,” Brian said. “That’s what matters.”

                Faustus’s head titled and he vanished, then reappeared in front of Brian and Kyle. He clotheslined the two of them into the wall, and Kyle’s mind was still wrapping its head around how fast he moved on them.

                “You’re the weakest Nexuses I think I’ve ever encountered,” Faustus said. “Hardly worth my time, let alone any effort I should try and exert.”

                “Enough bluffing!” Brian exclaimed, getting back to his feet. His aura swirled around him as well, brilliant and bright. “You’re just some shadow. You can move fast in the darkness, but what happens when we put you in the sunlight?”

                “I’d like to see you try that, Nexus,” Faustus said. He motioned for Brian, and Brian complied, moving faster than Kyle ever saw him move.

                Brian punched Faustus straight across the face in a move that almost seemed to surprise Faustus. Faustus skittered back toward the hole in the wall and Brian tried to press forward but Faustus slinked to the side and attacked. Brian countered and the residual winds pinned Kyle against the wall. Kyle intensified his aura to block the dust from getting in his eyes.

                Incredible! Brian was attacking with way more power than Kyle ever thought he had. How much training had he really done out in his missions to outer space? He was keeping Faustus on his heels!

                The best Faustus could do was dodge while Brian continued on his assault. Brian unleashed a barrage of energy-based attacks, including brandishing his own pair of Nexus twin-swords. The flurry of blue blades pressed Faustus back, having him dodge the blades. Faustus pushed forward and Kyle watched a cyclone of darkness go straight for Brian. Brian crossed his blades and sliced up, cutting through the darkness itself with a slash of light. Brian and Faustus attacked each other and Brian held him steady, though Kyle saw the key weakness in the attack.

                “Brian, behind you!” Kyle exclaimed, leaping forward to try and catch the wave of darkness forming at the edge of the sunlight.

                Brian just barely dodged and sliced up to attack Faustus, but his own black wind scythe sliced right through the blade and Faustus slammed Brian to the ground with a dark blast. He saw Kyle coming and knocked Kyle away.

                “I’m especially disappointed in you, Blue Nexus!” Faustus exclaimed.

                Kyle clenched his fist and spun out of the attack, going straight for Faustus. Faustus turned to face him, but did not see Kyle’s powerful blast coming. Surging forward with Nexus energy blasting from his elbow, Kyle delivered a resounding punch across Faustus’s face that created a second hole in the wall. Faustus crashed between both holes.

                “I’m not one to disappoint,” Kyle said. “You’re fighting me now, demon.”

                “You don’t dictate this battle!” Faustus said, and launched a dark cyclone at Kyle.

                Kyle clasped his hands together and countered with his own energy beam. The two locked, though Kyle’s poorly timed footing gave and he slipped, knocking back under the cusp of the blast and slammed against the back wall. He felt blood slip down his lips and his head felt as if it were spinning. He dropped to the ground, on one knee, and watched Brian re-engage Faustus, though Faustus was having little of it.

                Brian brandished his twin swords again. Kyle held out his hand and the lance appeared. He grabbed it and held it back, keeping his aura low to hide in the shadows. Brian sliced down at Faustus, forcing Faustus to parry up, exposing his chest. Kyle launched the lance across the room with a sonic boom knocking him back. Faustus saw it, just in the nick of time, but Kyle’s surge of power allowed it to go straight through his side, distracting him enough for Brian to blast him almost out of the second hole in the wall. Kyle tried to help but Faustus’s roar and proceeding magic attack knocked him back.

                “Perhaps I was wrong,” Faustus said, gathering more of the waning darkness from around the floor. “Perhaps you two are a little more worthy than I suspected. But, you still rely on each other. Let’s change that.”

                Kyle looked over to Brian, who nodded back to Kyle. However, just as he was looking back to Kyle, Faustus speared him into the top corner of the wall, and slammed him back on the ground before landing atop him, forcing the breath right out of Brian’s lungs.

                Faustus tried to do the same to Kyle but Kyle saw him just in time and dove away, skirting across the room and sliding next to Brian.

                “You ain’t dying today,” Kyle said. He looked to the holes in the wall, then to Faustus, who had his back to the two of them.

                “I’m not,” Brian said, with a smile while blood ran down his mouth. “I’m not, I promise. But, Kyle, you can’t run.”

                “I sure can,” Kyle said.

                “No, because you can beat him,” Brian said. “I promise.”

                Brian held his hand up to Kyle, and Kyle took it. Brian squeezed his eyes shut and screamed. His aura started to glow. Kyle raised an eyebrow before his aura also started to glow and power surged through his body, restoring him and then some. Blue sparks leapt of his aura and his body. Brian finally sighed and relaxed his body.

                “There,” Brian said. “You’ve got the rest of my energy.” He squeezed his hand tight around Kyle’s. “Now beat him. For me.”

                Kyle kept his hand braced against Brian’s back and laid him against the wall. He felt the power, emanating off of him and flowing through him. It was foreign, strange, and yet much purer than anything he’d felt from his own bracelet. Kyle rose, examining his body as the blue marks along his arms and chest glowed brighter and brighter. Faustus finally turned to face him.

                “An exchange of power,” Faustus said, “will not help you.”

                “Can’t know until we try it,” Kyle said, and even his voice felt a little different.

                Faustus nodded. Kyle launched at Faustus, who nodded, then his eyes widened when Kyle was upon him much faster than Faustus anticipated, and Kyle’s punch connected with Faustus’s hand, pushing him back a bit.

                “It is greater, indeed,” Faustus said.

                “I’m glad you noticed,” Kyle said. “Because that was just my strength, not ours!”

                He surged forward and blasted Faustus through the hole in the wall, finally out of the tower. The shadow man flipped but maintained flight in the air, finally exposing his form. His eyes narrowed in the sunlight. Kyle approached the hole in the wall and allowed the energy to formulate in his hands again.

                “Most interesting,” Faustus said. “Then, Blue Nexus, let us continue this battle. It seems you’ve not yet reached your limit.”

                “You’ll know my limit when you’re all gone,” Kyle said, and flew out of the hole in the wall right at Faustus. 

           

            Even without the Divinity magic, Brenda realized as she dodged a sharp bolt of magic, Rafael still earned his status as one of the greatest mages on Earth. He masterfully wove through each form of magic required—despite the fact that Tania continually shut down his Reality images, his mix of Combat and Power magic forced Brenda and Sandy to be on their toes.

            Rafael punched down on the ground, engulfing it in a blue wave. Brenda countered him with negative Shield magic but it was too late, Rafael did what he wanted. He ripped his arm free and the wave of rubble almost obliterated a nearby Sandy. Brenda pushed her away with a barrier and moved in against Rafael, whose eyes closed purple and he performed an intricate martial arts move to get around Brenda, but his keen instinct forced him out of the attack as Sandy came in for support.

            Rafael vanished in a plume of silver Deception magic smoke. Brenda swung her arms out and covered the entire room in a red barrier, forcing Rafael to reappear just in front of Sandy. Her magic kicked in just before his, but he still moved faster than her. Tania waved her hands and Sandy vanished from everyone’s view, but Rafael still attacked around, almost hitting Sandy with another bolt of magic. She narrowly avoided it. Brenda advanced and Rafael stopped her dead in her tracks by crushing her pillar with a resounding wave of Demon magic.

            Brenda spun free and tried to press free. Rafael let the darkness consume his arm as he pulled it in close, then clenched a fist and all the shadows leapt off his arm and covered the entire room in darkness. Brenda yanked the barrier around them close to contain the shadows. Rafael opened his hand again and the darkness exploded just in front of her. Brenda soared back and crashed against the back wall.

            Sandy intercepted Rafael with a perfectly timed arrow just as he made his advance on Brenda, catching him across the chest, forcing his focus away for a moment. He unleashed a wave of black magic at Sandy while he shot another bolt of Combat magic at Brenda. She blocked it with ease, but another seemed to be coming right in the way. Brenda avoided it and slipped into one of Tania’s Reality realms, where several different versions of Rafael existed, showing any amount of moves he could make.

            Brenda nodded and was out of it, containing him and blocking his right side, his less-exposed side, just in time for him to slam his arm down with a barrier and stop him from summoning further shadows. He ripped his arm free and his entire body flashed blue. He swung around and Brenda poured all her magic into her hands and created two small barriers across her arms and blocked his punch. She kept her ground and forced herself forward. Rafael leapt back, flipping over Sandy’s attack and casting four bolts around the room. Brenda rolled and avoided all of them, landing just across the way from Sandy, who readied another arrow. Rafael landed gently between them and sighed.

            “With all this action I find it difficult to breathe,” Rafael said. He shook his head. “What a shame, you three would have made for the greatest Pillars of Magic the world has ever seen.”

            “We can still rebuild the Six Pillars,” Tania said. She was still invisible, keeping herself beyond their perception. “Though we won’t blindly follow a radical Divine mage. Or allow anyone unworthy to ascend to that position ever again.”

            “And what are the Six Pillars without a rule to define them?” Rafael asked.           
            “Good,” Brenda said. “Noble.”

            “I wouldn’t count on it,” Rafael said. “In fact, once I rebuild them after you’re all gone, I’ll do my best, in your memory, to make them as ignoble as I possibly can.” 
            “Sounds great,” Sandy said. “But it ain’t happening. Shindari, let’s end this mess!”

            “Right behind you, sister,” Brenda said, and dropped into her fighting stance.

            Sandy loosed a powerful arrow that Rafael easily dodged and it came straight for Brenda. Brenda looped it around and flung it back at Rafael. He once again dodged, but Sandy, now with  a pre-charged arrow and with it teeming with some Shield magic, caught it and advanced on him. Brenda launched herself at him and locked down his legs with a pair of barriers. Sandy launched the arrow at him again. Rafael swung out with his Demon magic and destroyed both, creating a block smokescreen. Brenda swung through it, dissipating it, but Rafael had disappeared.

            “Shindari!” Tania explained, and instead of Brenda, Rafael fell into a fast Reality bubble, as Rafael kicked Brenda from behind.

            Brenda crashed against the ground, rolled, but was hit from the side again by Rafael’s knee. A combat bolt followed and punished her into the wall. Sandy tagged in for her. Brenda dropped and pursued the battle, watching as Sandy valiantly but fruitlessly stood against Rafael was forced to the side. Brenda tried to crush him beneath a barrier and followed up with a hard kick to the head that Rafael blocked with his Power magic. He pushed back and Brenda spun around, only to be hit in the back by a force of Demon magic.

            Brenda slid to a stop on the other side of the room and created a cube around her to block the inevitable Combat bolt. Brenda glared back at Rafael, who sneered at her and blocked Sandy’s next attack.

            She noticed the Combat magic glow coming from his core, maintaining his balance of stamina and magic usage. So long as he kept that inner core focused, he would never run out of stamina. Brenda sighed. She was doing fine on stamina but their strategy of taking him down one-on-one would never work. They needed one solid hit on him as a duo.

            Brenda glanced at the walls. They needed to get him in open air. Even if Rafael could fly, Brenda ruled the skies and Rafael would be forced to focus on her while Sandy prepared one final attack with her Combat magic.

            Sandy blasted back from a Demon magic attack, and Brenda leapt into action before Rafael could follow with a Power punch. She knocked him aside, but not with enough force to really veer him from his course. Rafael punched out with his arm and broke the barrier, almost hitting Brenda. Sandy kicked out and he blocked, and even managed to block Brenda’s following attack. The two girls tried to get away but Rafael pressed his advantage with a strong force of Demon magic. They both fell to the ground. Brenda got up faster, and was speared with Rafael’s shoulder then punched hard, harder than ever before, across the face. Brenda dropped straight into the ground.

            She heard Sandy cry out her name and then an explosion, and she felt a wave of magic pass over her. A green aura consumed her and everything slowed.

            “I can keep you from him for now, but he’ll notice me soon,” Tania said. “Hurry and heal yourself.”

            Brenda tried to pick herself up as her aura swelled around her. Tania rested her hand on Brenda’s back.

            “Just a little more,” Tania said. “You’ll get him.”

            She looked up. Brenda did the same. Sandy was in a rut in the wall, trying to pick herself up out of it. Brenda’s bones cracked as she tried to get up.

            “Looks like I’m up,” Tania said. “I’ll be able to buy you enough time to get back in this. Got it?”

            “You can’t fight,” Brenda said.

            “I’ll do what I can, then,” Tania said. “And screw with the people ahead of me.”

            Tania vanished from her Reality bubble but Brenda remained. She focused intently on the magic in her core, feeling it all throughout her body. Her aura intensified and she started to channel it more. The healing started to hurt; an aching and burning spread across her body. She looked up, through teary eyes, as Tania popped in and out of reality and Rafael continually tried to attack her, constantly missing.

            Brenda managed to get up, and created a barrier in her hands. She tried to move, but was unable to. She was trapped in the shell while her body still healed. Tania appeared behind Rafael, dodging an attack and then a clone of Rafael appeared and the two collided with one another, although the clone was destroyed fast.

            Tania appeared in front of Brenda, then waved her hands and transformed into a clone of Rafael again, vanishing once more. Rafael tried and failed to attack her, missing. Brenda swung her arms out and broke the Reality bubble. Tania reappeared, briefly, and smiled at Brenda before vanishing again.

            Brenda leapt at Rafael, who smiled at her.    

            “Fool!” he exclaimed. “Your magic’s no longer going to work on me!”

            He shot his arm to the left, and Brenda immediately realized her mistake. She tried to create a barrier, but was too slow. The bolt shot across the room and cleaved straight through Tania’s chest, blasting against the wall. Tania stumbled back as well, crumpling to her knees.                    “Ah, my mistake,” Rafael said while Brenda flew over to Tania. “I thought Shindari was you, Tania. Perhaps you didn’t trick me after all.”

            Brenda waved her hand over Tania, but a chill on her spine forced her, still carrying Tania, to move. A blast destroyed the place they’d once been.

            “Put me down,” Tania said. “And beat him. Don’t focus on me.”

            Brenda cast a barrier to block them. “I’ll protect you and beat him!”

            “No,” she said, coughing up blood. “Just win.” She tried to speak again, but her head lulled back, and Brenda saw the green in her eyes fade and her aura dropped.

            Her blood filled Brenda’s hands. Brenda’s barrier continued to hold against Rafael’s attacks, until he came himself and punched the barrier down.

            “You’ll join her soon!” he exclaimed.

            Brenda spun and Rafael received a full blast of barrier magic, and was thrown across the room and crashed against the back wall. Brenda’s cracked hand twitched in sharp agony from the sudden release of magic.

            “Sandy,” she said. “I’m going to force him outside. Prepare one more attack, and make sure you don’t miss.”

            Sandy got to her knee. “Got it.” She glanced at Tania, and bowed her head. “Do it for her, Shindari.”

            “For everyone,” Brenda said. “Everyone Rafael’s inflicted pain on, or worse! I will be their weapon of justice.” Brenda’s aura exploded around her. “This is it!”

            Rafael, in response, blasted at her. Brenda felt as if her hand itself shattered while she formed more magic in her hand and blocked his attack, then followed it up with a hard fist into his face. Rafael dropped back into one of Brenda’s barriers. She pulled it forward and rammed her knee straight into his gut. Rafael head-butted Brenda and sent a pulse of Demon magic. She stumbled back and received a hard hit to the chest from a Deception-Power combo.

            Brenda hit the ground but on her bounce blasted a barrier at him. He swatted it to the side. Brenda maintained flight, and quickly analyzed Rafael for an opening. She had to fake him out for just a second, just a single feint, and she’d have her right where she needed him.

            She cast a shield around her and charged at Rafael again. He leapt away, charging his own attack. When he landed, across the room, he unleashed it. Brenda expanded the shield, blocking the damage from hitting Sandy. Rafael turned her defense against her and shot black magic at her. She moved to dodge, but at the snap of his fingers, it disappeared and reappeared behind her. She tried to dodge but it grazed her enough to send her forward into Rafael’s Power blocks that he threw at her.

            She spun into the back wall, crashing, but recovering just as fast. She called her aura back in and started tending to her wounds immediately. Rafael, seeing an advantage, attacked. Brenda stayed still, waiting for him. He snapped his fingers mid-flight and disappeared.

            Everything fell still for just a second. There were four places he could come from, and for once, Brenda couldn’t afford to use her shields directly. She sighed, and cast barriers to her side and right above her, and moved just to the right. Rafael reappeared and punched right next to her. Brenda smiled.

            “Nice trick,” she said, and kneed him in the gut and collapsed her barriers on him, blasting him back. She followed him across the room. Rafael tried to unleash Demon magic upon her but she caught it in another curved barrier and threw it right back at him, forcing him to bat it aside. In just that amount of time, Brenda, with a near-shattered hand, charged up another barrier and cast it at Rafael, following right behind it. “Now it’s my turn!”

            She threw the barrier at him, pinning him against the wall. Rafael tried to break through it, but she followed with another block just in front of him with her fist.

            “Keria erna!” she exclaimed as her finishing move, and pummeled him through the thick black walls of the tower and out into the near-blinding daylight. Rafael regained control midflight and Brenda moved to follow. “Violette! Get ready! We’re ending this!”
            She blasted out of the tower to follow him. Rafael swung at her but only hit the tower, showing his lack of comfortable in flight. Brenda hopped aboard a floating square and took off after him. When close enough, she used it as a boost to shoulder him further into the sky. She followed, quickly, ducking beneath a series of Deception attacks.

            Rafael cupped his hands and rained magic upon the tower, obliterating several of its walls. His own body began to glow with all the colors of his remaining magic while he roared in desperation. Rafael launched bolt after bolt at Brenda, all of them missing. She leapt up, fist raised, and brought it right down upon him. He used a Power-magic arm to block, and used his other arm to blocked her kick, but with her free hand she blasted him with a barrier to the face.

            He soared back. Brenda caught up, and with her cracked hand, took hold of his chest and coursed electrical Shield magic through him, casting him toward the tower. Rafael moved just before Sandy could take the shot.  

            “It’s over, Rafael!” Brenda exclaimed, catching a Combat bolt with her shattered hand. She squeezed it tight and threw it back at him. He dodged and Brenda ensnared her in a Shield. He broke free, but was stoic enough for Brenda to blast him with another shield toward the Tower. She squeezed tight, pouring all her magic into it. His body glowed all the different colors until they exploded free of him and Sandy’s arrow, shooting right through his chest, flew through the air.

            Rafael’s stunned eyes watched Brenda all the way down, until his body hit the shore and Brenda could no longer sense his magical signature.

            What she instead heard was the sudden shift of large rocks; she saw the tower start to collapse in on itself; and she sensed a far darker power nearby, while also seeing a flash of blue clash against it. Brenda smiled. Kyle had this now.

            Kyle’s fist collided with Faustus’s, forcing Faustus higher into the air. Kyle pursued, surging forward with all the extra energy he could, and blasted at Faustus with a closed-fist energy blast. Faustus stopped and swatted it aside. Kyle blasted again, and then hurled a ball of energy with his free hand. Faustus blocked both but gave Kyle enough time to appear over him and punch him back down.

            Faustus almost hit the water but caught a glide and soared gently over the water. Kyle did the same, and the two floated above the water for a few dozens yards before reconnecting, Kyle feeling the power behind Faustus’s attack. He almost fell back, but retaliated just as fast.

            “Good, Blue Nexus,” Faustus said. “Use all your energy, all your power! Show me everything you’re made of!”

            Kyle surged his energy forward and his aura blew Faustus back enough for Kyle to go in with another energy-filled punch and punch down, both punching and blasting him down into the lake. Faustus, just as fast, shot up into the sky. Kyle followed, casting energy balls after him. Faustus dodged them all, explosions included. Kyle swooped away to dodge one of his dark energy waves, then curved around him, moving faster than he ever had, and almost landing another hit.

            They launched into a flurry of even-power blows, Kyle doing his best to dodge but finding that he just couldn’t work around the Demon’s speed. He even had the power to back it up. Kyle blocked an attack with his elbow and summoned his lance in his hand. He jabbed it forward but had it snapped in half by one of Faustus’s attacks. Kyle tried to head-butt him but Faustus shouldered him away and punched him back toward the ground.

            Kyle was not so gracious at the water and crashed through it. He hit the bottom of the lake, pretty deep, and hesitated. He cupped his hands, and launched an energy blast up, followed by two curving energy balls before surging his aura forward to cause a cloud of mist to hide his presence. He leapt up with the waves, catching Faustus almost by surprise. He elbowed Faustus across the face and followed up with another powerful energy beam, using both arms and coursing energy from all across his body into the attack. It caught the demon mid-flight and sent him hurtling toward the ground.

            Faustus curled up at the last second before hitting a small piece of land. Kyle followed him down, missing an attack and gliding across the sand.          

            “I’m ending this,” Kyle said, and slammed his hands together, summoning all the energy he could from his body.

            “I’ve seen enough,” Fautsus said, raising a hand.

            Just before Kyle could blow Faustus off the face of the planet, back to whatever shadow realm he came from, an enormous wave of dark magic appeared in front of Kyle and crushed him.

            Sandy rushed over to Brenda, with a bit of a limp. She side-stepped a piece of falling rubble.

            “You okay?” she asked.

            Brenda nodded. She placed a square under Tania and raised her up. She motioned and Sandy leapt onto it as well.

            “Get going,” she said. “And make sure to get everyone clear!”

            “What about you?” Sandy asked.

            “Kyle’s in trouble,” she said. “I’m going to help.”

            “Let me come with!” Sandy said.

            “You need to help the others!” Brenda said, blocking a piece of debris. She pushed out and the square flew out the door and near the battle. The others would handle Sandy from there.

            Brenda sprinted to the opening in the wall and dove out of the tower as the entire room collapsed behind her. She cast a barrier and caught herself on it, gazing up as the great magical structure started to evaporate into a great cloud of mist, like an enormous shadow finally starting to dissipate.

            Speaking of which, an enormous shadow engulfed a major part of the coast, and then suddenly vanished. Brenda felt an enormous chill from Demon magic run down her spine, and flew around the vanishing tower to see what was going on.

            Kyle lay in the sand, wiped out, and a shadow stood a few dozen yards away from him. The shadow still had his arm raised, and Brenda sensed even more magic forming in his hands. She shot, like a bullet, across the way.

            The platform beneath her suddenly gave out. No. Her magic, it was drained! She gritted her teeth, and what little she had left, created a barrier on the shadow’s hands and dissipated his next attack, then flipped back and hit the ground near Kyle, rolling to a stop next to him. Her hand had gone beyond pain, it was completely numb, as if it weren’t there at all.

            “The Shield mage!” the shadow called out. “You were able to conquer Rafael after all!”

            Brenda tried picking herself up with her hand but couldn’t, and she fell back on the ground. Through teary eyes she looked back up to the shadow, who approached her and Kyle, arms raised and a string of Demon magic between his hands, ready to obliterate them.

            “And you’re next,” she said, with her face halfway in the sand.

            “I’m afraid not,” the shadow said. “There are just some battles that are simply inconquerable.”

            Brenda dug her other hand into the sand, and pushed herself to one knee. Kyle was stirring next to her as well, getting his body out of the dirt. His aura was completely gone next to him. The shadow stopped a few feet from them.

            Brenda held out her hand, reaching for Kyle, to try and heal him, but there was no magic left in her at all. She felt empty, broken.

            Instead, Kyle clasped her broken hand with his Demon hand and locked his arm. She glanced to him, and he nodded. She smiled at him, locked her arm, and together, with the remainder of their strength, Kyle and Brenda rose to their feet, and stood, wavering, against the shadow.

            “Faustus,” Kyle said, barely able to breathe. “We’re not done here. I promise you.”

            “Your master’s dead,” Brenda said. “We made sure of that.”

            Faustus looked between the two. His black demon magic sparked overhead. His red eyes narrowed. He still had his arms raised, ready to attack.

            “And you’ve still got everyone else to deal with,” Kyle said, while tears ran down his face. “Even if you somehow get through us.”

            Brenda clenched her other fist, while keeping her fingers tightly locked with Kyle’s. A knot formed in her throat, but she steeled her heart and glared the demon in its red eyes with her own tired red eyes.

            “Nobody’s been able to defeat Shindari and the Blue Neuxs yet,” she said. “Not while they stand together. Why should you be any different?”

            Faustus’s eyes narrowed and his demeanor calmed. The sparks on his demon magic faded and he relaxed his shadow body.

            “Indeed,” Faustus said. “You two have made things quite interesting now, haven’t you? Yes, there will be some shake-ups from this.” His form started to dissipate, like the tower. “Fortunately for you, my anchor to this world seems to be disappearing. Had I a physical form in this world…well…I won’t call this a loss.”

            Kyle smiled. “Retreating already?”

            Faustus nodded. “In a way. I shall return for you two, though. I’ll make sure to see to it that I become the first to defeat Shindari and Blue Nexus. For now, though, revel in your victory heroes, and await the day I return to claim my own.”

            The tower finally fell behind Faustus, and the shadow vanished into the wind as well while the cloud of black mist the shadow left behind swirled away in Lalay’s conjured winds. Kyle’s fingers went limp just as Brenda’s did, and the two heroes fell back in the sand.

            “Brenda,” Kyle said. “We did it.”

            “We won,” she said, smiling before everything went away into the numb.

Next time: Despite victory over Rafael's death, is impact is still being felt worldwide, and the innocent mages have only one person they can turn to in "Blue Nexus #76 - Grass is Always Greener".