Stand//Off

Three combatants stood at a crossroads outside of the Pike’s Place farmer’s market. Just inside the walls were two uninvolved bystanders. Well, they weren’t completely uninvolved, at least Scarlet didn’t know whether they were or not.

In the blink of an eye, the swordsman disappeared from near Scarlet’s side and emerged beside the sorcerer, his blade barely having grazed its target’s arm. The sorcerer took notice and jetted away from his assailant, creating a familiar burst of heat like before.

“I know that it takes some effort to use your abilities; as such, I’ll just dispose of you before you can do so,” the swordsman remarked. “You may either leave now or be struck down by my blade.”

“Hey! Cut out the fighting. We’re all on the same side, aren’t we?!” Scarlet shouted. “How did this start to begin with?”

“Someone just died!” The sorcerer said. “There was another one of our kind here just a few moments ago that this pathetic would-be samurai helped escape.”

“This monster was just trying to kill someone, is that not enough reason to step in without warning?!” The samurai said.

“Can’t you just talk it out instead of fighting?” Scarlet suggested.

“Why would I do that when there’s a perfectly good target here for me to practice with?” The swordsman turned once again to the sorcerer. “I think this battle will be quite fun.”

The samurai took a step forward and swung his blade, barely missing the sorcerer’s chest. The sorcerer, seeing the missed blow, thrusted his palm toward his opponent’s face. He was returned with a kick to the stomach by the swordsman, which knocked him prone onto his back.

“Why you! Resorting to dirty tricks like a feint in honorable combat. I thought you were better than that,” The sorcerer rose to his feet and assumed a defensive stance.

“You thought wrong, dumbass,” The swordsman readied his blade to strike in the case of an attack. “I’m not going to let you sit there and dodge my blows, you’ll have to come to me if you want to win.”

“Oh, please. You can’t expect me to run up to a man with a sword. Do you really think I’m that-“ The sorcerer was interrupted by a slash from the samurai’s blade. He barely managed to dodge backward as a gash instantaneously appeared in his denim jacket. The swordsman had not moved his feet.

“What the-“ Scarlet was watching as the strike connected. There was no way that the blond man was within reach. Was the samurai some kind of sorcerer as well? “A ranged sword attack?!”

“I have many tricks up my sleeve, Sir Abner,” the samurai said. “You have no choice but to approach or flee for your life.”

“Fine then, I guess I’ll just use as much force as possible!” The sorcerer with the denim jacket kicked off from the ground and sent himself flying towards the samurai, raising a cloud of dush and ashes into the air. Scarlet rushed in and dissipated his sword into a strand of semi-solid blood, intercepting the sorcerer from his flight. “What are you doing?!” The sorcerer said.

“You two are going to end up killing each other!” Scarlet replied. “We need both of you alive if we’re going to figure out what’s going on with the second killing. You should know that better than anyone, Blaise!” Scarlet posed himself between the two combatants, but his gaze was locked on one of them in particular; the denim-clad sorcerer who controlled heat, Blaise Abner.

[ cut ]

While the three sorcerers were fighting outside, I had passed out. I don’t think it was from stress or panic, but I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night either. The last thing I saw was Brooklyn standing up and stepping outside before my vision faded to black. When I had awoken, Scarlet was standing above me.

“What happened?! Where’s Brooklyn?!” I shouted after my slumber had concluded.

“Brooklyn?” He replied.

I immediately stood up and bolted outside. The man with the denim jacket and the swordsman, who I didn’t recognize until I saw his sheathed blade, were trying to stop a group of bystanders near the water’s edge. At first, I thought they were trying to keep them away so they couldn’t impede in some kind of investigation, but that quickly changed when I saw one member of the crowd push through and immediately throw themselves into the bloodied waters below.

“What the hell?!” I shouted at no one in particular. Was this the nature of the second killing?

“You there, you seem to still have your sanity in check,” the swordsman shouted at me. “Would you mind helping us fend off these lunatics?”

I ran over and shoved my way through the crowd, trying to make myself useful. At first, our efforts were going strong, but eventually, the horde began to break through. One after another, members of the crowd would push each other past us and into the water below.

“There’s too many of them!” I shouted.

“We have to try to save them, no matter the cost!” The denim-clad sorcerer replied. “Every person that dies here brings the demons one step closer to victory.”

“What does that mean?!” I asked.

“The demon that orchestrated the pentagram killings is trying to be re-summoned into this world. The more souls it can collect, the sooner that will happen,” the swordsman answered, kicking a member of the crowd back before they could charge through.

Suddenly, one member of the group caught my eye. A girl with brown hair, Brooklyn. She was starting to run around the side of the horde to jump into the water from another angle. I had to stop her. My first step was to run over and intercept her, but she was fast. I barely managed to grab her from behind just inches away from the dock’s edge.

“Brooklyn, what’s gotten into you?!” I shouted, pulling her away from the edge and stepping in her way. “This isn’t what you want to do, is it?!”

I looked into the girl’s eyes, they were completely devoid of life or soul. Something had happened to her; she had been cursed. I don’t know when or how, but something must have happened here at this location to all of these people.

Brooklyn tried to force her way past me, but I grabbed her arms and pushed her back. I’m not going to let her die, not when I have the chance to save her. I’m the only person who can help her, her only real friend.

“BROOKLYN! STOP!” I screamed; my eyes were closed. This was all I could do, there was no other option. No talking, no fighting. I could only use all of my might to hold her back.

She stopped pushing against me. Had she finally snapped out of it? I felt relieved for a moment, not even bothering to open my eyes. Then, I felt a stabbing pain in my stomach. The only thing my eyes could see once they had opened was a knife lodged in my body, placed there by my friend. I heard something splash into the water behind me. Without thinking, I jumped in.

It was difficult to see under the water with all of the pollution of blood. Beneath me, Brooklyn fell to the ocean floor. The water was deep here, but I could barely see the bottom. Scattered on the ground were over a dozen chewed-up, half-eaten corpses, surrounded by swarms of fish. They weren’t particularly carnivorous fish, but they had acquired a taste for human flesh by the looks of it. Something had driven them against their nature; something had cursed them as well. Unless the curse was one and the same, the fish would pass the curse on to whoever consumed them. Like a disease, the effects might be different depending on the host. If I had decided to eat with Brooklyn, would we have both suffered the same fate as these corpses? Moreover, would either of us survive even now?

[ cut ]

“No, Ashton!” Scarlet shouted as he watched the young boy jump into the water to save his friend. There was another option left, but it was a last resort. Scarlet turned around and stepped towards a black van parked nearby, his van. He opened the side door and stared inside. “Hate to rely on you, but you were right about me needing backup.”

“What’s going on? Is Ashton in danger?” Someone from inside the van said.

“That’s an understatement,” Scarlet replied.

“Well then” Noe stepped out from behind the van’s door, “I guess I have a master to protect. Don’t get in my way.”

[ cut ]