Seige, Open to All

[Matt Davidson]

Outside, the darkness loomed like an oppresive blanket, dampening the senses of the four people residing in Davidson House. A growl rumbled through the air, making all nearby animals depart the neighbourhood as fast as their legs or wings could carry them.
Staring up at the ceiling, his arms folded behind his head, Matt lay on his bed, reminiscing about the events of the week. Mai's spontaneous song today had been the strangest event, and with her disappearance, and then literally flamng reapparance from the Underworld, it had not led to good vibes in the Davidson household.

The groan of something reached Matt's ears, making him frown. Looking over at his window, Matt froze as he saw something move behind the curtains, and with a 'pop' he Blinked, avoiding the energy ball that exploded against the wall close to where he had been.
Standing in his mother's room, Matt grabbed her arm, pulling her out of bed as a similar barrage of energy balls hailed into the room. Giving a shriek as she fell, she fell heavily onto the floor, her demon-fighting reflexes shooting out and rocking the house to confuse the demons. Looking around for her son, she shook her head as she realised he was gone, heading into Mai's room to wake her. A quick look at her clock told her it was just past 2am, before the clock itself was hit by an energy ball. Closing her eyes, she called on the winds, yanking them from their normal path to protect her.

In the next room, Matt Blinked in just in time to reverse no less than seven energy balls in their flight to kill his sister. Waking as she heard the shattering of her windows, Mai sat up, her hair bursting into a fiery halo. Ducking behind her bed and dragging her down with him, Matt put a finger in front of his lips, Blinking out again. Waking Megan would prove tricker than anything else, but the threat of death would work.
Watching her brother leave, Mai inhaled deeply, sneezing as the acrid smell of melted glass floated into her sensitive nostrils. Cooling her hair, Mai opened her fist, a large fireball springing into being as she did. Reaching ovr her bed, she threw it, smiling viciously as she heard a demon scream and then an explosion.

With the house now awake, Matt Blinked into the kitchen, laying hands on the Book of Shadows before any demons could target it. Picking it up, he Blinked back to Mai's room, sliding the Book under her bed. Looking up at her twin, Mai raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going for help." Matt said quietly, under the explosion of energy balls. "We can't fight this." As Mai nodded, he Blinked away, hoping to find someone, anyone, willing to help them.

(OOC: Ok everyone, the final part of 'Witch Wars' begins. You are all free to use Matt to appear and summon your witches if you would like. Mai, Megan and Jane are still to be used by me though.)

[Lacey Haunt]

Lace lurched forward in her bed, demon gut forcing her awake, at an unfamiliar feeling in her den/nest of a room. Mr Shudders stirred on the top of her cupboard with a loud hissing growl and she dragged herself out of the bed and into the pitch black hallways.

“Matt?”

The blonde boy was panting, panicky, and perfectly clear in her Magesight. Mr Shudders wandered through the open door and clung to her back like a cat.

“What’s going on?”

“Demons at my place, we need all the help we can get.”

“I’m there.” She wasn’t sure why she was so keen; maybe because these people were the closest thing she had to friends, maybe it was because part of her wanted to kill something or maybe it was because she could feel the excitement and tension in Mr Shudders which seemed to urge her forward without thinking. Whatever she was going.

Dashing back she threw on a pair of pants- still half dressed- and grabbed her sunglasses.

“This is madness,” Mr Shudders whispered.

“You don’t want to go?”

“Yes, I do, but we’re mad for it.” He smirked

“Like we didn’t already know that” She muttered, tossing open the front door into the street lights and slamming the wood behind her. She started to run down the empty streets happy for once they lived near the centre of town. Mr Shudders dropped off her shoulders and ran beside her, growing to the size of a large dog in a shape that looked as if he could be one. The black little creature gave howl.

“Off to war we go! Off to war we go!”

“Lion and tigers and bears oh my!” Lace replied, “Lions and tigers and bears oh my!”

((Love the Wizard of Oz.))

[Merldot Grey]

Merldot was halfway into his window when he heard it. It was this sort of pop, like a peice of popcorn in a frying pan. After being out all night with his school bag, visiting certain people and collecting 'donations' his eyes were well adjusted to the dark so he didn't have much trouble seeing who it was that made the noise with his rather... graceless entry. He had popped straight onto Merldot’s bed... his very soft bed, toppling off and into a pile on the floor.

'Oh dear, two O'five and he's at my house, this can't be good.'

Sliding from his windowsill to his floor MDG dropped his bag and made his way to Matt's prone form, gripping his arm. Merldot caught a look in his eye that confirmed that there was trouble. "We need you at the house, A.S.A.P. like, five minutes ago. The lack of distance between them was making Merldot remember bits about the previous day he wished to forget, leaving him feeling rather awkward. It didn't matter much after that, he popped out again, but Merldot felt kinda dumb still.

'He never just wants to chat, I mean really, would it kill him not to have some form of magical motive for getting me at this hour?'

Racing from the room Merldot launched himself into his garage, as he would have not long ago, only to remember he no longer owned a car. Running into the street Merldot saw his mother’s car parked outside their house. Wondering as he grabbed her keys from the kitchen and run back out again why she didn't park in the garage MDG opened the car, got in, buckled his seat belt, closed the door and started the engine. Disappointed that his mother's car was automatic Merldot pushed it into drive and pushed the accelerator in. His tyres spun, gripped and shot him forward. Turning the corner and driving down that road, following the quickest way he knew to the Davidson’s.

Pulling into the street and forcing the poor car up the hill Merldot shot around the sharp right and tried to get into their driveway. That, however, was filled with demons, not to mention he hadn't braked soon enough. His excess speed sent him straight into the demons, launching a few forward and down the slope leading from street level to the front door, one of them landing directly onto stairs, the hard wood snapping it’s spine whilst the tile in the middle cracked it’s skull, a few centimetres either side and at least his head would have been okay, the dirt would have padded it a bit. Stopping the car and hopping out Merldot shot a couple of lightning balls at the crowd in front of him before receiving return fire. The return fire however was heavy enough to pin him down completely. Summoning every dreg of courage he had within him MDG stood and fired an extremely large ball of electricity at the demons, sprinting through the opening it provided him and diving into the lounge room, scrabbling behind a couch.

'just keeps getting better and better... Ooooh shiny watch!'

Pocketing what appeared to be a gold Rolex MDG launched a pretty lightning ball over the couch, followed by a few more. Luckily this also meant some of the energy balls stopped flying in, not many though. His panic was assisting greatly in amplifying all emotions, greatly improving the scope of his powers, allowing for such feats as chain electricity, shooting it into one demon, out of it and into another. Just due to the sheer power within it the jumps were made possible. During what little afternoon he had been able to Merldot had practised with the sound power he seemed to have generated, which gave him a mild idea of how it worked. His greatest achievement however, was ridding himself of the horrid high pitch note that had been flowing from him all day.

Launching himself over the couch he had been hiding behind Merldot fired off some lightning bolts from the static filled clouds above them. One such lightning bolt, in all its glory, smashed directly into the centre of a group, or battalion as seemed more adequate, of demons, electricity shooting outward and killing what the explosion hadn't.

'Wicked!'

Running to the cover of the hall way Merldot waited for any others to arrive. Meanwhile he ran into Mai's room for that little extra support and a small planning session... very small. He found her on the ground with a strangely scary smile on her face. [B]"I take it this means the net is out?" Smiling he crouched down next to her just as an energy ball flew past him, singeing his hair. "Look, if you need help, which isn't likely as far as I've seen with your powers, call for me, I'll be holding the fort in the lounge room. Oh when will this end, bloody demons." Squeezing her shoulder in what he hoped would be a comforting way Merldot ran into the kitchen, by far the most sheltered spot in the lounge/dining area. Merldot's movements, however, were restricted by the wooden bench that stood in the centre of the kitchen. Charging up a ball of electricity he launched it into the wooden structure, shielding his head and chest with a large frying pan.

'Better... Much better'

Merldot shifted his stance, lost the frying pan and fired some pure electricity at a demon foolish enough to enter the kitchen, catching it in the back of the head, and watched it explode, much like the bench, who’s only remnants were four blackened, smoking stumps that had previously been legs. Standing to keep an eye on the lounge room MDG noticed the demons were being more cautious after their friend’s attempt.

'Excellent, that may stop them advancing for a while. Hopefully. Guys, where are you? Please hurry, we need you, really really badly.'

[Darcy Kerwin]

Running across town to the Davidson's house, Darcy pondered the wisdom of entering a massive magic battle with one of her wrists completely out of action, when the doctor said rest and recuperate, she was sure he didn't mean this. It wasn't until she reached the crest of the hill that she saw just how bad 'this' was.
Demons were swarming all over the Davidson's house, throwing energy, smashing windows, and making general nucances of themselves. Glaring at the nearest group of demons, she pondered the best way to attack them, grinning maliciously she let the air around her shimmer and change, the green demon that she and the Vampire currently staying with her had killed a few days ago was for all appearances sake, standing right where a tall teenage girl had been standing moments ago.
Grinning she swept down to join the other demons, quietly she picked up an atheme which had been dropped by a demon, probably the pile of ash next to the small knife. Creeping up behind the nearest demon she shoved the atheme under his ribs and pushed up, hard, the demon didnt have time even to make a noise before it made a small 'poof' noise and dissapeared into ash, grinning the green demon picked up it's atheme and the atheme of the just killed demon and continued.
Seeing fireballs coming out of one window she assumed that Mai was awake and cautiously opened the front door, stepping over the ashy remains of another demon as she went. Ducking an energy ball from a grunting demon she dashed up a hallway and through an archway, stabbing another demon viciously she surveyed the room before her, seeing a door she pushed her way through it, she could hear the unmistakable sound of burning behind one of the doors and she assumed that was Mai's door, cocking her head she could hear smashing coming from one of the rooms, pushing the door open, she was confronted by the strange smell of sweaty socks, really smelly socks and the sight of two demons smashing things, she thought quickly and made one demon's eyes be completely smothered by a blindfold of sheer darkness, the kind that makes you see stars because your brain can't deal with that little light. Clawing at its face the demon roared angrily and began to swing wildly, one of its fists connected with the jaw of his companion who roared and swung its own fist in reply, making it also blind Darcy dashed in and shoved her atheme deep into the side of one demon and shoved it onto the bed where it squirmed for a few moments before dissapearing and leaving her, along with its own, atheme on the bed. Letting the demon see again she held up two fingers and pointed them at it's chest. The Illusion did what it did best, and a gun seemed to shine gently in her hand

"Bang" The spoken word sounded just like a gunshot in the demon's ears, a mix of Illusion and fear making the noise louder than it really was.

the demon saw the gun, felt the wound and looked down, to see blood pouring from its chest glancing up again it paled as a green demon with ram's horns rammed a short knife into its chin, its eyes rolled back in its head and it dissapeared with a soft 'pop' leaving behind a green demon, which was rapidly taking the form of a teenage girl again. Darcy looked at her fingers curiously

"Didn't know I could do that..."

[Matt Davidson]

With an angered growl, Matt stood up from his new position behind the lounge. Most of the others were on their way, but that didn't help them now. As the energy balls zinged through the air towards him, Matt held up his hands, channelling the hatred and fury needed to conjure these weapons and reversed them back on their owners.
"We need more firepower than this." Matt muttered. Turning on his heel, Matt Blinked until he was next to his twin, who was currently flaming demons here and there. Grabbing her hand, Matt nodded to his twin, channelling her power and joining in the fight with fire.

The air suddenly began to vibrate at that point. Megan's power blanketed the property, making demons stop and cover their ears as her song prevented their movement. Joining her daughter in defence of her home, the winds surged into the house, buffeting the demons and battering them to and fro as the ground rippled, propelling them into the air. Now unsteady upon his feet, Matt wobbled, falling to the ground as Mai lost her balance. Holding up his hand, Matt’s emotions surged out, repelling the variety of attacks that came from out of range of the localised earthquakes.

“Stay here.” Matt ordered his sister, letting go of her hand and teleporting into his room, only to find Darcy stabbing a demon on the ground. The magical wards in this room, initially designed to block emotions, had also blocked Jane’s powers from entering beyond its walls. Nodding to Darcy, Matt reached into his closet, pulling out two very sharp athemaes, the same ones previously used to try and kill him.

Outside, chaos reigned as nature itself fought the invasion. The plants surged upwards, growing far longer than was natural, entangling the legs and arms of the demons and wrapping them up thoroughly. Link, looking scared, stood on top of one of the walls of the front yard, arms outstretched. In his magical vision, green vines of power connected him to the ground, allowing him to tap into the plants through their roots. In opposition to the power that the oak trees had pulled out of him at the park, this was a controlled release, allowing Link to do more than he normally could. One of the trees, now fully grown, waited for the right time to drop a particularly thick branch, crushing the necks of three demons and knocking over a fourth.

The technology in the house began to behave much the same way as Skylar made his presence known. The wiring from the back of the television shot out, wrapping around the throat of one demon, searing him with a particularly powerful shock of electricity.
The siege was beginning to warm up...

[V.E.S]

V watched with awed eyes as tree’s conquered the front yard, music and wind terrorizing the very atmosphere as he lunged through the hectic seething mass of demon and in a smashed window into the house itself.

He took a moment to mark the layout of the house, for later, and laughed- He was now admitted to one of the most powerful strongholds in town. He hoped for his own sake and the Davidson’s that this didn’t come back to haunt them when his soulless, guilt lacking, conscience decided it was time to take advantage of the situation.

He moved behind one demon and tug their head back by the long scruffy hair digging his fangs into the neck of the beast and drew the vital rich red from it’s body into his aching stomach. The beast dropped lifeless to the ground and he wiped his lips, teeth still stained red, and laughed;

“Now this is what I call a buffet!”

A second demon charged behind him and tackled him into an over turned table, punching the demon in its ugly spotted mug, he flipped them over so he was on top to bombard the creature with more hits.

Across the way he noticed the Green demon from the week wandering through the house savagely;

“Looking good Darcy!”

---

Lace ducked to the floor as the winds picked up and gripping her head protectively as objects flew through the air. A thudding shook the floor nearest her and she looked up to behold an eight foot mammoth of a creature. Mouth open, she froze, Mr Shudders launched of her back like a flight pad and made himself long and thin in the air. As the demon opened his mouth to roar Mr Shudders wiggled his way down its throat in one slick movement, the demon staggered back and as Mr Shudders expanded in his chest to near the size of small child and forced the creature to explode in a mass of flesh. Mr Shudders plunked to the ground and shrinking darted underneath a couch as a lamp came wizzing towards him. Lace gaped;

“You royal coward!”

“It’s all you Kid!” He called back from his hiding place. Standing up unsteadily Lace turned around in time to have a clawed fist connected with her face. She gripped her aching jaw as she recoiled and gazed at the skankily dressed demoness who delivered the blow.

“You…” Lace lashed out, slapping the woman across the face, the other demoness gripped her face also, laughing and quickly with drew her hand back. As the sight of her own blood on her palm caught her eye she gawked reaching up to touch the cheek now void of skin from Lace’s disintegrate.

“Oh you’re going to pay for that runt.”

“It’s an improvement frankly.” She shot back, adrenaline running; the demoness screamed and lunged for her. Lace pressed her hands against her chest to fend her off but the little nagging voice in the back of her not-so-human mind longed for blood in a primal demonic need to assert herself as alpha female. She pushed harder, focusing her disintegrate through her palm and began to burn away the layers of skin on the demoness’ chest. The layers began to give like butter in her rage and before the other could pull away her hand slipped far enough in to grip the pulsating organ within the other’s chest and twist. The demons’ eyes rolled back in her head and Lace pulled the silent heart out to gaze at it.

For a second she almost ate it.

Dropping it in shock she backed up until she bumped into someone else, pivoting she came face to face with V, the pair stared at each other for a second before reason gave way to demonic instinct and knew-

You’re one my side.

Twisting back they pressed their backs against each other firmly in a time tested pack mentality motion. You watch mine, I’ll watch yours.

“One hell of a party they’re having” V laughed to his newest accomplice.

“Hell being the key word”

“Oh come on you can’t say this isn’t the most swinging place to be on the Hellmouth- “ V went silent suddenly and Lace looked back over her shoulder at the second approaching eight foot demon for the night. “You hit him in the balls I’ll scratch his eyes out”

Lace dropped to her knees and did exactly that.

[Merldot Grey]

Merldot only just avoided shooting the vampire. Only because it seemed to be killing things for them.

'Oh what a day.'

Blowing the thought from his mind was the ever helpful demon behind him. During his ponderings it had obviously snuck up on him because it hit him. Hard. Merldot flew out of the kitchen via the gap in the wall that, for all purposes, was so people cooking could watch T.V.
Playing lightning through his fist Merldot channelled the anger and pain back at the demon only to have it disappear, then re appear directly in front of him. He had landed directly onto what he believed to previously be the T.V. cabinet and was currently laying in a pile of its rubble, his back had a gouge in it from a piece of the cabinet and his chin was split where the demon had hit him but he wasn't about to lay back and die. Laughing at him the demon picked him up by the throat. Fear clenched Merldot's heart in its shadowy cloak as he felt the air be forced out of him by a blow to the stomach. A high pitch ringing emanated from him, fading away Merldot assumed he was about to die and his powers were giving out, but the air seemed to vibrate as panic, fear and most of all hatred flooded through him, a burning torrent of boiling oil. Screaming the demon grabbed at its bat like ears, seeming as if it were trying to tear them off. As the newly released, gasping Merldot hit the floor, thudding down with all his weight. Not one to waste an opportunity to steal, even if it was a life, with the pain numbing aid of adrenaline Merldot stood and blasted the demon fool of electricity, much like an electric chair, except through the chest. Smoke began rising from the demons charred and blackened torso and it burst into flame.

'No one hits me!!'

The sheer numbers of the demons attacking the house amazed him, as did the trees and electricals going nuts. "LINK, SKYLAR!" It wasn’t joy that drove him to yell out, more relief that backup had arrived. Turning to see another demon lunge the kitchen to lounge room divide Merldot ducked its swinging arm and threw a ball of electricity at it. His glowing blue attack missed but also made the demon lose balance. Tackling it onto the couch Merldot proceeded to punch it, completely abandoning his powers for sheer muscle. A bad idea when you have none. The demon threw Merldot off and stood. Next he saw the couch was flying at him, fast. Reaching behind him Merldot grabbed the first thing he could and swung it at the couch. It just happened to be a katana. The weapon hit the couch and sent massive pains up MDG's arms as it slammed jarringly into the wooden bars running through the piece of furniture. The top of the sword broke off, the weak metal it had been made out of giving to the pressure.

'Ornamental piece of junk.'

The full weight of the couch landed on Merldot’s fore arm, trapping it but not breaking it. Firing at the demon Merldot succeeded in hitting it, but that wasn't his main concern. He was trapped, and he knew it.

'All couches are hollow right?'

Using the jagged stump of a weapon left within his grasp Merldot gouged through the material of the couch and, bending his elbow to allow, MDG disappeared into the hole he had created, only that arm sticking out. He tried to manoeuvre the couch off him from there but succeeded only in cutting his fingers on the staples holding the material on to the wood. Rolling back out with a roar of frustration Merldot launched everything he could at the couch, but to no avail, punches and kicks simply gouged it further into his arm, as did pulling. Freezing a demon running at him Merldot shot it in the chest and went back to his task.

'Damn couch, come off me you useless piece of furniture.'

Attempting to freeze another demon Merldot hit the new girl, lackey, Lacey, Laura or whatever her name was. Unfreezing her a moment later Merldot swung the jagged knife at a demoness’ calf, scoring a hit across the back of her leg, slicing it open and ripping the muscle. "you should get someone to look at that, till then a couple of aspirin and a bolt of lightning should do." Shooting her up the leg Merldot felt the searing pain of fire as she seemingly incinerated herself. Looking over to the vampire MDG yelled, "I guess this is a bad time for introductions? I'm MDG, Merldot to most, you to some, and honey to my mother, witch, temporal stasis, electokinesis and something to do with sound of late, you?"

'Gonna give him your phone number next? ... Shut up, this is not the time for internal arguments.'

With a valiant last attempt at the glossy wooden beam trapping his arm Merldot lay on his bleeding back and wished he had invested more time in the muscular department, not just the speed and agility areas.

'Sure I can pull myself onto a fire escape, jump two metres between building and punch someone hard enough to stun them but god forbid i move a couch, ALWAYS BE PREPARED GREY! Thief's motto. You're stuck here cause you weren't prepared'

Stretching out Merldot grabbed another demon's ankle, tripping it, and began the struggles of battle anew with it. "I could beat you with my left arm under a couch, something I'm about to prove." Whilst fighting the demon, a fast bastard by all accounts, dodging all his attacks it was, Merldot noticed his trapped arm was going numb.

'That's gonna leave pins and needles...'

Frying the demon Merldot began watching the motley crew, the new girl and the dude who seemed odd. Firing a lightning ball over their shoulders into a demon advancing with an athamae. "You guys need help, bout all I'm good for right now." He didn't like them, he felt no camaraderie toward them, but hey, they might get him unstuck.

[Darcy Kerwin]

Darcy walked back into the lounge-room, her Umbrakenisi shrouding her in a haze of darkness, making her meld into the background, at least until a stream of blue electricity streamed past, lighting up the whole area. Smiling knowingly she ducked as a large chunk of something 'Television?' went flying past and made her way quickly towards the couch close to the wall.

"Hey Merl, it's me, Darcy, don't shoot, I'm coming over."

She dashed past a demon and behind the couch, only to stop and stare at the boy in surprise, instead of being tactful and using the couch as cover, as she had assumed, he was on the floor, on of his arms wedged under the couch.

"Ouch," She muttered "You Ok?"

Judging from the fact that he had been hurling electricity moments ago she figured he wasn't about to drop down dead, so she looked at the couch, it looked heavy. She slid the fingers of her good hand under the hard edge of the couch and pulled upwards, grunting she let it go again, it was far to heavy to lift by herself, especially with only one working hand. She glanced around, looking for something to use to lever the couch up. Her eyes skipped past V who was talking to a girl she hadn't seen before and widened as she saw more demons pouring through the doorway. Clutching her athemes, one in each hand, an idea sprung to mind, running a finger up the side of Merldot's wrist she put the atheme right next to where his wrist stopped touching the couch, wincing she pushed the atheme into the wood.

"Did I just nick your wrist? Sorry..."

Screwing up her face she pushed the atheme as deep into the wood as she could, before putting her foot on the handle of the short knife and pushing on it, her back braced against the wall, the short knife wouldn't give him much room to pull out his arm, but it might be the little bit he needed. Pushing on the knife she remembered the gift from her mother earlier in the week with a slight grimance.

"Hey, if you're not doing anything on the twenty fourth, do you want to come to the formal with me-" She remebered Fox with a tiny wince "If you're already going with someone else, thats Ok, just that my parents are being all weird about me having to go with a guy, and I dont really have someone to go with... They shouted a suit-hire voucher and everything" She shrugged "They're nuts..."

Realising how much of a desperado she sounded she jumped up, not checking to see if the atheme had done the job, and dashed around the couch, colliding full pelt with a demon as it rushed forward, the demon roared and slashed at her with it's atheme, swinging her own around quickly she stabbed its arm and shuddered as she felt the solid connection with the bone in the demon's forearm, the demon swung its other fist around, which connected with Darcy's chin, throwing her bodily against the wall, gasping for air Darcy saw stars and only through them, the hazy outline of the demon running at her. Bringing up her hand she tried the same trick as before.

"Bang"

Her voice sounded pathetic even to her, and she knew her Illusion hadn't worked this time. Taking a huge breath she stepped forward and shoved the atheme up under the demon's ribs, aiming for where she thought the heart should be... then again, you never knew with these demons. Apparently this time she got lucky and the demon dissapeared with a howl of rage, running her tongue over her dry cracked lips a thought came to mind and she chuckled at the obscurity of it. 'I wonder if now is a bad time to go for a drink...'

[Clare Löwe]

As soon as Matt appeared, Clare froze. For one, she hadn't thought she'd ever see the stunning male model material again, and secondly she was dressed only in her boxers and the tight singlet she usually wears to bed. Her parents having left for the week to visit relations in Queensland had relinquished the house unto her custody - or destruction, depending on your point of view. Her first thought, typically Clare-like and supporting the use of the latter, was

He sure has a knack for catching me out when I'm not wearing much. Could come in handy sometime.

She kept her face carefully neutral and muted the television, hoping he didn't see that she'd just been salivating over Jensen Ackles on an all-night lonesome Supernatural marathon. She listened intently to his short explanation, keeping her mouth firmly closed, asking only for his address before he left with a pop. The whispered “Be careful.” - which Matt probably didn't hear anyway - didn't count in her mind as talking. Digesting the information and considering a freezing flight over Goulburn, Clare weighed her options.

Why am I kidding myself. There is no choice in this.

Sighing for her own amusement, she dressed quickly - the favourite thigh-length leather jacket, dark blue jeans, her 'Sorry... About your face' T-shirt that amused her immensely and boots an appealing shade of - you guessed it - black. She could have dressed in fluoro pink for all the difference it would make once she cloaked herself, but the jacket cut out some of the freezing high-altitude winds and the outfit was comfortable. The drain on her powers would be less if she didn't have to cloak herself while flying, too, as the darkness of her clothing would deceive prying eyes.

And, finally, I’d much rather look like a badass emo than a skanky cheerleader. But, that’s just me.

By the time the adrenaline kicked in Clare had slipped a beanie over her dirty blonde hair, hastily touched up her smeared make-up and retrieved an item or two from the collection she hoped her parents never to find – consisting of an accumulation of knives, cigarettes, a gun or two and other items not fit to mention.

I’m just a misunderstood rich girl, what trouble could I possibly cause.

Everything else locked, so there was no way anything could go wrong at her place – best not to mix business and pleasure. Opening her upstairs bedroom window, she felt the first blast of cold air on her face, welcoming her back. Her stomach twitched unexpectedly but Clare ignored it. It had been a while, but that was the past, and now she didn’t need anyone to look after her, no matter how powerful or drop dead gorgeous they happen to be. She took a deep breath, drawing the night air into her lungs, steadying herself.

“Here we go.”

It was over in a matter of minutes. The problem with flying was, you could do it over and over, but it would never be enough. Clare didn’t have the luxury of time to thoroughly enjoy being back in the air after her period of rest, the urgency of the situation drawing her down, landing upon the Davidson’s house amidst a swarm of creatures. Time seemed to slow down once her feet touched the ground again, so much so her awareness heightened as her mind processed almost instantaneously what she had seen mid-flight.

So many damn demons. Some return fire but it didn’t look like barely enough to stop them. First thing’s first.

She cloaked herself just in time, moving out of the way as an athemae was thrust towards her. Turning to the nearest demon, she considered her next move as a cold clarity of mind filled her veins with ice.

“How I've missed kicking your ass.”

Clare hefted the heavy knife, swinging it with deadly accuracy. Shearing meat from bone, the headless demon fell, landing only as a pile of ash. It was the first, but far, far from the last. Completely hidden, the only thing the demons could see was the flash of the machete as it tore through the flesh of another of their kind. They were afraid, and she couldn’t blame them. She wouldn’t be too happy if a knife with no-one to wield it started hacking bits off her, either. The death of the demons, the almost tangible sense of their fear in the air and the gore flying around her reminded Clare of those Saw movies. The ones she'd watched and wondered afterwards whether she'd permanently damaged her mind.

Nahh. This isn't the same. I'm not a psycho for one, and my life would be more like a porn movie if I had my way, not a horror. Though, I do love my shiny, beautiful, bloodstained machete. Supernatural: the movie, what more in life could a girl possibly want?

[Matt Davidson]

His power spread out across the entire plot of Davidson House, Link tried to ignore the beads of sweat dripping down his face. He needed to keep a tight hold on the plants, or they would grow too much and be permanently weakened. They wanted to be released, to wreck havoc and destroy those threatening their friend, but he was keeping them back.
It was then that a spark of poer flared in Link's mind, a green power, much like his own. As if realising what it was, the spark grew bigger, turning into a flame, then a fire, then a star, and then the sun itself. It outshone Link's own green power, and yet, resembled it.

Crouching down, his eyes closed, Matt focused on lending Link the power he needed. He could sense the pain and power his friend was giving off. Now collecting the excess of emotions that would normally have crippled Matt, he slammed it down the emotional connection between himself and Link, lending his friend strength.

At that singular moment, across the world, a wish had just been granted. And its effects were devestating. Magically power fled across the globe, finding its home within Matt and Megan. Gasping as the raw energy filled their bodies, they came to within seconds, their powers doubled. Usure of what had just happned, Matt didn't notice his powers collecting emotion from across the city, pouring it down the connection. And it was all Link could do to keep up. Now throbbing with excess power, the plants beganmoving of their own accord.
Matt was suddely startled out of his semi-meditative state as Mai pushed him down to save his life. An energy ball whizzed through where his head had been, and his connection to Link been broken. Now off balanc and on the ground, he waved his hands to get up, and in that second, the entire house froze. Wonering at the silence, Matt peeked up curiously, see the demons froze as if Merldot were around. Getting up warily, he edged himself until he was in front of the emon again. Waving his palm in front of the demon's face, he flinched as the demon's head exploded, covering Matt in gore and rendering the demon headless. Looking around, he cast a curious look at his sister, before he doubled over.

The wish was not being fulfilled. In San Francisco, an Elder had intervened, healing his wife. Realising she was alive, the power fled Matt's body. Giving a scream of pain as the magic literally tore itself from his own, he threw up and passed out.

Looking over at her twin, Mai reacted instantly. Two huge fireballs filled her palms, one blue and one red. With a stoic look, she angled and threw them at two demons who were still frozen. That magic was slowly comng undone, however. The demons weren't stopped anymore, but looked like they were moving hrough honey or something, very slowly. Grabbing Matt, she rolled him under her bed, throwing more fireballs to deal with the other demons she could see.

[V.E.S]

V watched lightning dash across the room with a zing much like a toaster alarm and grinned wider. Leaning back he took in the boy crushed under the couch.

"I guess this is a bad time for introductions? I'm MDG, Merldot to most, you to some, and honey to my mother, witch, temporal stasis, electrokinesis and something to do with sound of late, you?”

“Names’ VES. V to most, Ves to some, Brat to my maker, Lord and Master to some kittens and genuine all round Australian vamp” He shouted over the ruckus. “You having fun with the couch? I’d give you two a moment alone but I don’t think it’d help.”

"You guys need help, bout all I'm good for right now."

The boy was stiff, kind of surly in V’s opinion, but then most teenagers were today and most of them weren’t even half as useful as this one.

“I’m sure you taste good too if it makes you feel any better.” V punched an oncoming demon in the face shattering cheek bones into the mass of muscles surrounding. He grabbed the hand of the pink haired girl back to back with him as she finished off another creature and pressed her palm into the guy’s bleeding face. Within seconds she began to burn off, dissolve, his features while he screamed with a hint of hissing steam coming off him like a kettle. “So, as long as we’re having intros, what’s your name Pinky?”

“Lace,” she replied, moving black fluidly as he let go, over the past twenty minutes becoming accustomed to his fighting technique. “Coward under the couch is Mr Shudders”

“I thought his name was Merl-something?” V questioned blankly, before from within the hole the boy had shoved his arm a black blurry head stuck itself out. “Nevermind”

Mr Shudders came face to face with the boy crushed under the couch.

“You look stuck.” He stated, bluntly if not eloquently.

V tossed a running goat man over his shoulder, one fang jutting out, and slammed him into the mess of wood that had at one point been a coffee table while Darcy sprinted over to help the poor hormonal creature stuck under the oppression of ‘Senior Super Couch’. In the mess of grunting his super-human hearing picked up on some of their conversation with feigned interest.

“Hey, if you're not doing anything on the twenty fourth, do you want to come to the formal with me? If you're already going with someone else, that’s Ok, just that my parents are being all weird about me having to go with a guy, and I don’t really have someone to go with... They shouted a suit-hire voucher and everything. They're nuts..."

V yelled, admitting his ease-dropping in the process, with a bout of unmanly giggles.

“The only thing nuts about this situation is that you manage to find the time to ask some guy out in all this,” He waved one arm across the room in a gesture the other arm holding a midget demon in a head lock by his hip. “But hell, if Shocky won’t take you I will, you can certainly multitask!”

V lifted his nose, sniffing the room, keen eyes catching the tiniest practically non-existent traces of movement across the hall. As if by magic a knife began wielding itself through the air hacking a group of creatures into a bloody mess.

What a waste of good blood…

He focused his nose and his ears; picking up the frantic breathing and heartbeat, the feminine scent of deodorant, shower gel and leather and assumed it was one of the witches’ friends.

“Clean up in lane 7 and 20 points to the invisible woman!”

Suddenly the whole place shook in what felt like nuclear fallout, ground shaking, and the raw power filling the atmosphere almost had a smell, V felt he could almost reach out and touch it, before everything stopped.

…10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

He came to in what felt like a second, shaking his head like a dog under a sprinkler, and noticed his senses were lagged and fuzzy.

The room was moving at Baywatch speed.

“In don’t know about the rest of you but we’ve gotta get to higher ground! We can’t beat em all back like this it’s just not happening” He put his hand behind his back and gripped Lace’s shirt where it sat on her lower back with a tug. He then looked over towards Darcy, Merldot, and briefly to where the knife was still waving. “Anyone got a bright idea?”

“Just one” the most accented voice in the room replied.

Mr Shudders pulled himself out of the couch, his entire body wriggling sporadically at speeds that made him look like a blurry webcam video, and V realized the little black thing was speeding itself up as the mass of demons and witches tried to come back to normal time flow. Little black muscles curled tighter and tighter like a coiled slinky before leaping up he bounded off the couch launching pad and flitted around the room in the seconds it took the creatures to get their bearings.
He moved like a black line in V’s vision, vampiric senses catching glimpses of the detail as he focused, and when he curved back to shove himself up Lace’s shirt a large hunk of the demons before them dropped dead.

“Nice.” He breathed, “Very nice.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Lace warned. “That’s probably the most help he’s going to be all night”

“Figures…”

[Merldot Grey]

Merldot was kinda phased out, he caught snatches of formal, clean ups and his own thoughts. He was concentrating too hard on the room around him. When it halted he came back down to earth.

'Something here smells weird and made me space out... ooooh that's gas!'

He sniffed the air once more to make sure he was right, and what he discovered was bad indeed. He couldn't use his powers without risking the entire house. Merldot froze the room again as the treacle swimming demons got a bit faster, hoping to contain the gas. Working fast he unfroze the Lace and VES, hoping they hadn't noticed. Mind in overdrive he yanked the knife free from te wood where Darcy, the ever clueless rich girl, had shoved it, and pushed it into the back of a particularly nasty smelling demon's thigh. As the demon came back to speed he dropped to his knees and screamed as the athamae went into its spine.

'Urgh gotta unfreeze, think Grey think, self preservation, where is nature when you need it?. Uuuum okay release stasis, then what? Uh oh!.'

He couldn't see them, but he heard the order. "Swarm their fallen one, kill him then move on to the rest." It wasn't promising news by any account. There was only one way out and he knew it, He knew it was dangerous but with half the underworld about to attack him he saw it as the only way. Unfreezing the room Merldot calmed his nerves and waited. He left it till the last second, when a good portion of the demons would have been inside, flooding through into the gas filled living room.

'I am so screwed'

As the demons surrounded him and prepared to attack Merldot glared into their eyes and found the courage to say. "And the lord said, let there be light." And with those words Merldot sent a spark of electricity surging into the athamae. The demons laughed and Merldot rolled into the couch, hoping for the best. As spark met metal the gas in the room combusted, Flames shooting in all directions, licking walls and demons, and somewhere just outside, on the outside wall of the living room, the gas tank exploded.

*****
Mai heard it go off, she heard what had to be the whoosh of combustion. Racing from the room she found herself in the hallway facing an advancing wall of flames. Spotting the three people fighting off demons in the dining/living area she extended her hands reflexively and contained the expanding fire, stopping it advancing beyond the confines of the kitchen, blocking it before it hit the trio. As the gas tank went off Mai was forced to defend herself from a sneak attack a demon had so cunningly attempted. A large, knobbly fist bludgeoned her in the back of the head, sending her sprawling forward. Leaving her for dead the demon turned and entered the room her twin was laying unconscious in.

Scrabbling to her feet Main dashed for the door, finding the demon perched over her brother, athamae in hand. "Don't touch him!!" She yelled, hurling a ball of white flames at the demon. As the ball hit it the demon didn't scream, it didn't do the customary burst into flames, it didn't need to, the fireball left it as a charred pile of ash, having incinerated its bones, skin and flesh.

From the living room came the sound of collapsing wood, shingles and brick, and, upon checking the cause, discovered the living room ceiling had collapsed, as had the kitchen, the destruction only stopping where she had contained the fire to. Of the room where the glowing fireball had been only one thing remained standing, and that was the divider.

[The Big Bad]

He surveyed the scene before him with a sense of growing frustration, countered by his amusement at his old friends' efforts. They had attained some new recruits since had last been to town, and he had to admit, they were doing a damn good job. Although bored he decided to stay well enough out of the fray, blinking to a new spot for a better angle of the battle.

'Imagine all the powers I could have attained from those demons they are so barbarically slaying.'

He floated into the air slightly, directing a breeze around himself, so as not to disturb him from his perch in the air. Over the while he had been away he had made a point of collecting powers, even making up an underworld game show to assist him. In his power he had witches' powers from the world over, not to mention the demons he had been killing off as they 'Won' the episode. When the camera was off most of them had a little accident, usually resulting in a significant power boost for the floating warlock.

As the ceiling collapsed he couldn't help but applaud the beings within the house. Coordinated or not, it was effective. He paused in his contemplations as the dust cleared, searching for demons or witches who had survived. There was none. The three in his line of sight seemed very lucky to him, either that or Mai was wreaking havoc alongside them.

'I wonder if my cameras caught that, enchanted rocks, whatever, demons are messed up.'

With each passing second more demons popped up, recruited from the horde of avid fans watching, wanting their own go at the heirs. He had to wonder how the charmed ones over in America were doing, all too well he'd wager, if these teens were anything to go by.

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, but still keen to join the fun he decided a mini twister would be a nice addition to the decor. It was a fun touch and as it moved toward the good guys it picked up rubble, knives, the works. That hand distracted he used the other to channel a bit of telekinetic power to lift up a car and launch it into the house.

'Oh the wonders of the underworld, you learn so much!!!'

[Darcy Kerwin]

Hurt. Kill. Maim. Destroy.

The instincts were what Darcy was running off now, she had long stopped counting the demons that she had killed, barely even recognising the heavy feel of the athemes she was still collecting, at some stage she had realised how stupid it was trying to hold athemes in her hands and so she had tucked the hem of her black and grey flannelette pyjama top into her pants, creating a pouch between the shirt and her black singlet top where she shoved the athemes from the demons that fell at her feet.

She was in her own world, not thinking of complicated things like formals, or school, or guys. She swung the athemes furiously, sticking with the first one she had found, and another one which had a hissing snake head as the handle. There were so many demons, more and more continued to appear and charge in, and before long her shirt was beginning to bulge, she didnt feel the athemes pressing against her stomach, she didn't smell the gas from a demon throwing a large heavy object 'more T.V?' onto the gas heater in the lounge room.

A large grey and blue demon rushed at her and she stepped back, hearing something different in the way her grunts were echoing she risked a glance around, apparently she was now in the kitchen, looking up again she grinned as the demon ran at her. Swinging the snake headed atheme at him she braced herself for the impact, rather than the expected sensation of atheme hitting flesh and bone, there was a huge noise, and everything shook. With a shreik the demon dissapeared and Darcy staggered backward and past the dividing wall, and into the living dining area.

"COWARD"

She yelled at the space where the demon had blinked from, the intincts and adrenaline she had been running off dissapearing in a fizzle as she saw the flames in the lounge room. Staring at the blaze she knew there was somthing significant, something to be worried about, with a gasp she remembered 'Merldot!' the last time she had seen the boy he was under the couch, which was in the lounge room, which was now an inferno.

Her mouth dropped open and she jumped forward, only to quickly retreat as the fire sizzled angrily and the heat made her eyes water. The fire spread hungrily, devouring the kitchen, before stopping like it hit an invisible wall. The ceiling of the kitchen and the lounge room collapsed, and the shred of hope she had been clinging to evaporated, there was no way anyone could live through that.

Giving an animalistic howl she fell to her knees, the ever painful voice took upon itself to begin the slow torture she had been without for a few days 'You see what happens when you start to like people, when you let down your guard, you asked him out you idiot, and now hes gone, well serve you right for coming out of your shell foolish girl'

Tears began to pour down her face, as much from the painful words as from the heat of the burning rooms in front of her. It felt like someone had frozen her guts and then taken a sledge hammer to them and shattered them into a thousand pieces, before hammering the sharp shards back inside. The fact that she had only really started to pay attention to him recently, and the knowlege that she would now never be able to say what was inside, deep, deep inside, but inside all the same, crashed down on her like a massive tsunami and she curled and put her forehead against her knees and began to rock, sobbing.

She felt the familiar curl of darkness curl around her shoulders, trying to make things better, to comfort her. Drawing it close she began to moan quietly, the fact she had walked away whe she could have helped him, or at least continued trying, just because of her selfishness in not wanting to be rejected and embarassed pressed down on her, and she felt sick. Pausing to throw up she wiped her mouth and continued sobbing, rocking and moaning, now shivering and nausea adding to the pain inside.

Smashing sounds from the direction of the bedrooms drew her attention briefly, as did the wind swirling around inside in front of her, but as the car didnt pose an immediate threat to her she shrugged it off and surveyed the swiling twister infront of her with a sniff, deciding she didnt care she curled up tighter, the better to concentraite on the pain inside her chest, possibly partly caused by the many athemes digging in under her ribs. Sobbing she untucked the shirt and let them all fall out, there was no point now, no reason to kill more, the ones she had already killed, now meaningless.

[Gregory Cathal]

Observing the scene telepathically from his own bedroom by looking through the eyes of others, Gregory began to familiarize himself with the participants of the battle.
"One unconscious already... and these are the Heirs to the most dangerous force in existence? I swear, the power of three becomes more like a loose cannon with every passing day," mused Gregory.
Gregory got up off his bed where he had been resting, and walked over to his small desk, which was presently cluttered with various papers and articles. Taking a folder from the desktop, Gregory walked back over and sat back down on the bed. The folder levitated out of Gregory's hands as he reclined into the pillows at the end of his bed. The folder slowly opened, and out of it flew three photographs. One was of Megan Davidson, the second of Mai Davidson, and the final photograph was of Matt Davidson.
"Empathy... that could make things difficult. I must be careful about how I execute this. He may be able to detect my insincerity at once. I've never encountered an empath before. I wonder how empathy and telepathy react together," pondered Gregory.
Causing the folder to float back over and deposit itself on his desk, Gregory rearranged himself so that he was under his bedsheets, ready to sleep.
"Soon, I join my classmates. Our plan is about to be set in motion. I do hope Matt likes me."
Gregory continued to watch the battle telepathically, even as he slipped into slumber. He was beginning to get an idea of the abilities of the heirs and their friends, and beginning to ponder how to use this to his advantage, as was his custom.
As he slept, Gregory did not dream this night. He was completely focused on his task. It was so close, that he did not wish to make a mistake at this crucial point.