Vices and Maces

Chapter 87: Fire Versus Water! Fight!

CW: blood, gore, near death, drowning

Honestly Virgil was glad Patton was distracted by someone. That's one less person to be put in danger, because Black was definitely a strong fighter. You can't be a ruthless gang leader and not be strong. Plus if Melany is with him... The gun rested heavily against him.

The fire alarm finally went off, meaning someone either turned it on or the fire got bad enough to set it off. Water sprayed from sprinklers, which didn't help the fear cursing through Virgil. Just more ammo for Black.

Was he ready to kill someone so soon again? He came here to do it, so he has to. There was no time for second thoughts. He'll kill Black, and Melany if he can. She'll try to distract Virgil, but he won't allow himself to be. If he can just hit Black just once with a bullet. He has to. That genie can't survive.

The office was just one turn away, one and a half hallways. Focus on running, and when he meets Black, focus on killing him. Don't think, don't worry about anything, just do what he came here to do. What happens after that doesn't matter. Don't think, don't worry, everything will be fine. This city will be free. Virgil will be free from him. Keep running. Left foot, right foot, left, right, left-

A light caught Virgil's eye, and he tried to stop but it was too late. A blast hit him, thankfully on his left side, but it was still painful nonetheless. It was powerful enough to push him to the other side of the hall, and he felt ice build and race over him, trapping him.

He grimaced in pain, and looked up between the running water from the sprinklers. Someone stepped out of a room, and Virgil's heart jumped to his throat. Black.

The genie held an ice laser, or ice ray, whatever it was called. Of course, that would be a perfect weapon for him. Ice is just frozen water after all. And Virgil's trapped in it.

"I should have known it was you that was causing all of this," Black hissed. "Why couldn't you have just drowned in the river?"

Virgil let his glare slip away as he smiled despite shivering against the cold. "I'm a dragon, I'm not going to let a little water beat me."

"You're going to have to rethink that. I'm going to make sure you drown this time." Black raised a hand and water peeled off from the floor and walls and went towards Virgil.

The dragon took a deep breath and as soon as it surrounded him, he breathed out fire, making the water bubble and turn to steam. When enough air surrounded his head, he took a deep breath before he turned down and melted the ice that kept him pinned to the wall.

Black lifted the ice ray again and made a wall of ice between them, keeping Virgil from running towards him, or so he thought. Of course Virgil had moved some vials to his knuckles, and when he punched down, it exploded and the ice cracked and blew away.

Virgil reached under his jacket and pulled out the gun. He ignored the shake in his hand and pointed towards Black, pulling the trigger. Unfortunately the genie moved to the side just fast enough to only graze his arm.

An icicle hit Virgil's hand from the side, hard enough to make him drop the gun. The water on the ground rose up and froze around the weapon, keeping Virgil from picking it up again in time.

A wave of water came towards Virgil, but he took a deep breath and turned part of it into steam, making a hole big enough for the water to miss him. The water swirled around them and rose, lifting from everywhere and making a thick bubble to trap them in.

Virgil raised his arm as an icicle shot at him, shattering against the metal. Black's fingers moved faster, and an icicle shot at the dragon from behind, stabbing his calf. Virgil shouted in pain and fell to one knee. He looked up to see several hovering just above him.

Before they could fall upon him and mark his blood on the ground, he turned his arm upside down and smashed all the potions on the ground. They all exploded and the ground caved in.

Both of them fell just a floor below, water falling down on them from the bubble after Black's control on it dropped. He shouted in pain as he landed painfully on his side.

Virgil held back a scream of pain, looking at his arm to see the glove was completely destroyed and he could barely move his hand into a fist. The fall wasn't too comfortable either, but he can't let the pain distract him.

With his right arm, he grabbed a knife and pushed himself up, his injured leg burning in pain. He had to ignore it, had to ignore everything. Black pushed himself up as Virgil threw himself at him, letting his injured leg give in as he fell.

Unfortunately Black reacted quickly and a wall of water pushed Virgil back. As soon as he landed on the rubble, another wall hit him back again, and again until he was up against the hallway wall, no air left in his lungs, trapped in a bubble of water.

Virgil pushed his hand against the water, trying to break free but the surface tension held tight. Black smiled when he saw the panic race across Virgil's face as he scrambled to try to break free. He opened his mouth to breathe fire but there wasn't enough air in his chest.

His lungs ached, red floated through the water from his leg and around his eye. Virgil brought a hand to his mouth, wanting to push out the water that found a way in. He won't- can't die. Black is still alive, and he's winning. No matter what Virgil does, Black always wins. He always wins! Virgil hated it so much! It was frustrating and this can't be how he dies! He can't...

He didn't want to die. Virgil doesn't want to die. He wanted a future. A future where he could be free! Where he can talk to Anna, laugh freely with Janus and... and be with Roman. A free future, not behind jail bars. He didn't want that.

But at this point he would take it if it meant he would be alive. Darkness creeped into his vision. Black was letting this end slowly and painfully... of course he would. Virgil couldn't even see him anymore, but no doubt he was celebrating this victory. Smothering the last of the fire Virgil had in him as the rest of his body lost feeling and function.

No, he won't be weak in his last moments. He held the ground and reached out, looking at Black and glaring at him. He'll stare at him until the end, a small defiance, the last one. His hand pressed against the surface tension, pushing against it.

As his vision blurred and started to leave, he focused on the tension of it, claws growing in an attempt to pop it despite the armored fingers blocking them. For a moment, he thought it worked, the tension broke and the water spilled around him. But he realized that was only because a shadow fell on top of Black.

Virgil didn't get to see what it was because he fell to the ground with the rest of the water. He felt his body automatically force a breath, and cough hard against the water that was in the air's way. He curled up, holding his arm close to his chest as he looked towards Black.

Someone familiar- no Roman. Roman held the collar of Black's shirt in a tight grip, sending Virgil a worried glance. He came. Even though Virgil told him not to look for him, he came anyway. And he saved him.

Virgil's energy left him and he let his eyes shut.