One Gem Down, Four to Go

There was no way to fight them. Even taking powers into account, it was around three young adults against twenty police officers. The only option was to give in. They were given handcuffs, their weapons were confiscated, and they were escorted out of the palace into a police van, surrounded by people.

“Wait, did he actually do it?” Someone asked.

“You better believe I did it!” Dominic yelled back triumphantly. Lainey headbutted him before being rushed to the ground by the guards and thrown into the police van. The handcuffs were undone by the guards as they closed the door. Lainey looked at her free hands, inspected her wrists for any damage. Once she found they were free of marks, she immediately grabbed Dominic’s shirt and pinned him against the wall.

“What the fuck was your plan there?” She screamed. “Just kill the king and get out before anyone notices, huh? Because my man, we got arrested, and are probably international criminals!”

“Hey lady, I’m not happy about this either. First off, I didn’t even get the kill!” Dominic yelled back.

“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot?” Lainey screamed back with a swift slap to his face. “Who the fuck else could it have been?”

“The guys you told me about! The blonde people with some guy in a tuxedo. They took the gem you guys were looking for!”

“Wait, the gem! Ulrich, you have it, right?”

“Didn’t see it.” Ulrich whispered, trying not to meet her gaze.

“God fucking damn it!” Lainey yelled, kicking the wall next to Dominic.

“Okay, okay.” She sighed after a deep breath. “So you didn’t kill the king. It wasn’t your fault. But you know what was? The fucking hole in my stomach!”

She lifted up her shirt to show what she expected to be a gaping axe wound on her stomach, but instead it was just a mildly concerning line. One that would heal relatively quickly.

“That’s…not too bad, actually.” Dominic said with a quick sigh of relief, letting out more air when Lainey slapped him a second time.

“Okay, but Gene and Vivian have the first gem, right?” Ulrich asked. “And what’s with the third guy?”

“Total dick, for one.” Dominic sighed. “But he also has powers like you. He was able to wrap his hands in white spirit energy or something. He was able to beat the king to death and punch through his skull. It was super messed up.

“Anything else?”

“Well, he took the gem. And then the other two came in and healed you two before leaving. That’s when the pigs arrived.”

“Wait, who healed us?”

“The woman. The blonde guy had to convince her to do it, but she did eventually. And then they teleported away.”

“So, no evidence against them.” Lainey muttered. “Wait a minute, just thought of something.”

Lainey stomped the wall of the car with her heavy boots as hard as she could, until she was met with a “Shut up in there!”

“Hey, what are we in for?” She asked, as aggressively as possible.

“Murdering the king? What do you think it was?”

“A full list, please. I think I’m entitled to that, at least.”

An aggressive sigh was heard from the other end.

"Homicide, regicide, assault, breaking and entering, theft, larceny, destruction of property. Happy now?"

“Theft. What’d we steal, exactly?” Lainey asked.

“Don’t play dumb with us! The black gem on Lewis sceptre. It wasn’t at the crime scene, so we’re assuming one of you three have it."

“Right, right. That’ll help the defence.” Lainey fist bumped the wall, and went back to the other two.

“You guys hear that?” She asked. “We’re being accused of theft!”

“Meaning?” Ulrich asked back.

“They don’t know about the other three! They’ll have the gem, so we can just pin it on them! Get that unstable bitch out of the way and let Ulrich prove his worth without the other guy or whatever it was you wanted!”

“But wait, we beat Lewis! You just want that to go unnoticed?!”

Lainey glared at him like she was about to learn heat vision, so Dominic shut up.

“Hey, you know we can hear your plans, right?” The driver yelled.

“Up yours!” Dominic yelled as he went to the wall of the truck. “I can get us lawyers!”

But there wasn’t a response, only the feeling of the van swerving so rapidly that Dominic fell face first into the wall.

“Guys?” Dominic asked, regaining his senses. “What the hell was that?”

Lainey peered out the small window at the back of the truck, jumping back and falling to the ground. Ulrich also looked out, jumping back after seeing what it was.

Purple skin and eyes the colour of toxic waste.

And behind it was a portal. Barely visible from the car window. Right above a village also barely visible.

“Ulrich? You can burn the door down, right?” Dominic asked.

“Sure thing. Just look away for a second.”

Ulrich pulled the gloves out of his underwear, the only place he could think of hiding them from the police. He put them back on, and the chilling sensation was barely noticeable. He tried focusing his fingers on his left hand. He felt the energy from all five charge into the tips of his fingers, then release in five shots of flame.

It was enough to damage the door and trap the demon that was under it. The three walked out in horror of what was happening. Dominic especially.

“Is this…is this a demon attack?” He asked.

“Yeah, look like the killer ones, too.” Ulrich replied, just as terrified.

Rattling was heard from the front of the police truck, and the drivers dead body slumped over, with a demon coming out afterward. Ulrich quickly aimed the middle and index fingers from his right hand at it. The demon tilted its head in confusion. And while it wasn’t attacking, Ulrich quickly released the heat into the head of the demon, causing it to fall over in an apparent death. Lainey quickly reached to the van to grab her guitar and Dominic’s axe.

“Alright, let’s go.” She said calmly, handing Dominic her axe.

“Woah now!” Dominic yelled. “You two are going in there?”

“Yep.” Ulrich replied. “There’re probably a couple people we could save by doing it. You coming?”

“Like hell I am!” Dominic yelled. “I have an empire to run! Monarchs to kill!”

“And the future assassin king can’t protect people from a few demons?” Lainey asked.

“Demons are different to people, and I just have an axe! So I’ll see you guys later, it’s been a fun time!”

He put his axe into its holster, sauntering away from the two of them. But once he turned around, he saw a man in front of him.

A tall man with jet black hair covering the right side of his face.

“Oh, its you. Care to explain what you’re doing here?”

Dominic looked back at Ulrich and Lainey, then back to him.

“Oh, you know. Just about to kill some demons.”