Torva Messor

Chapter 23: Battle For The Ages

Maxus flies in for a punch that Diane catches in her hand. She steals a glance at the front lines of the normals. They were dwindling quickly. They were holding up their end of the battle. Good, one less thing to worry about.

"You're fighting me, Diane!" Maxus says as he slips a punch into Diane's stomach then a fireball to her cheek that sends her back a few paces.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten!" Diane returns the attack twofold, with a knee to the chin and a kick that knocks Maxus on his back. Maxus rolls off his back and launches into a barrage of punches and kicks. Diane's main way of countering the fact that he has two arms is pure evasion.

Blocking meant she was still in the same place, and that meant when he swung his other arm, she had to evade or open up her other side. Evading the entire time, though tiring, kept her moving, making her not an easy target.

Maxus swipes a hand through the air and blows her back with a powerful wind. He follows close behind with a fireball. Diane ducks and turns as he throws it just barely over her head. Diane brings her elbow up and connects with his chest. She then reaches and grabs his ankle and slams him onto his back. Maxus kicks his other leg and singes a few hairs with a flame from his foot. Diane releases his leg and comes at him while he attempts to stand.

Diane floats through a dance of kicks and occasional punches. Maxus blocks the ones he can and evades the ones he can't. Diane kicks three fireballs into his guard. With his sleeves thoroughly burned away at this point, they now burn away at his arms slowly. His power has been dropping, each time those burns get worse, meaning his magic field that should be protecting him wasn't.

Diane kicks for his head, but Maxus ducks under it. Diane continues to turn as she reaches into her hoodie pouch. halfway through the turn, her scythe comes to form, and as she continues to slash.

Maxus reflexively backs away and keeps his distance. Diane approaches swinging her scythe on either side of her body rapidly, her blade a blur of motion. Diane swings left, then swings right, doing a full turn and lowering her stance. She rushes him now, swinging her blade quickly back and forth. Diane swings her blade overhead down towards Maxus. He steps backward just out of reach as her blade digs into the ground. Diane pulls herself forward using the handle of the blade and kicks Maxus with both legs square in the chest.

Diane hovers in the air just above Maxus, swinging her entire body with the blade. It looks as though Diane is a spinning ball of death that preys on Maxus. Diane swings down at him twice then lands on a knee. She swings multiple more times before digging the blade in at his feet. Diane kicks up at Maxus' stomach, then chest, then shoulder, then chin. The kick to the chin pops Maxus in the air slightly. Diane hangs in the air off her handle and kicks him twice more in the chest than in the face, sending him upwards.

Diane gives chase to Maxus who's slowing his own momentum upwards. Diane slashes upwards at him as she rises. Maxus takes a cut to his shirt but doesn't cut his skin. Diane eyes him before slashing repeatedly again.

Drifting left and right with two powerful slashes that slice through the air. Diane shoots a fireball from her foot as she drives in with a spiral of attacks. Maxus swipes the fireball away but takes two cuts to his shoulder. Diane slashes for his neck but Maxus ducks under the blade. Diane swings over Maxus and kicks him three times then a fourth back down to the ground. Diane spins and throws her blade down at Maxus then flies down to him. Maxus looks up just in time to evade the blade. Diane comes down on top of her handle and springs off of it towards Maxus.

Diane's arm comes back, wrapped in flames, and Maxus has already prepared his block. At the last second Diane's foot is covered in fire, and she lands a clean kick to the cheek. Diane then brings down her fist which connects with his temple, then another kick to the stomach. Maxus takes one step back for balance then goes after Diane.

He swings punch after punch that sails through the air as Diane evades. Diane hits him with the back of her fist and follows it up with a rock from the ground into his spin. She then kicks him through the rock and marches slowly towards him. Maxus forces his body to his feet and stares at Diane in bewilderment. This entire time, Diane has continued to draw out more and more power, where Maxus peeked long ago.

"I've come back for my title!" Diane shouts before launching a ruthless offensive. She throws punches and kicks one after the other which Maxus barely manages to fend off. Diane slips a kick into his hip. Later a kick to the head. Then a punch to the stomach. Soon everything she threw at him landed. Elbows, knees, punches, kicks, fireballs, rocks, blasts of winds. Maxus was quickly turning into a ragdoll for Diane's amusement. Left kick, right kick, left punch.

Without thinking, Diane swings her right arm, which is no longer there. She stares at her missing arm in the realization that she's made a grave error, and for a split second, her energy is inconsistent. In that split second, Diane tried to swing her other arm to stop Maxus from attacking. Yet she barely got to raise it before Maxus hit her square in the temple and sent her sailing through the air.

As Diane flies backward, the flames around her body separate and fade off into nothing. Her body collides to the ground and she rolls over her shoulder onto her stomach. Diane is dazed despite the amount of power she had moments ago. She had been uncertain for a moment, and Maxus had capitalized perfectly. Diane looks up as Maxus approaches much like last time, moving in for his killing blow. Suddenly a figure stands between them, and the air grows colder. Then there is nothing.

Diane is furious with herself in her own head. She had the victory there in her hands and she let it slip away. She stands there in a realm of darkness as her brain struggles to recover from the blow to her head. Diane cursed herself for not being strong enough to finish the battle. Not being strong enough to stop her arm from being taken. Not finding the base Maxus was being made in to stop this long ago. Not having the strength to fight the mainland like the other mages wanted. Not having the strength to save her family all those years ago.

"If you want power, then you have to take it." Her mind calls back to her.

Diane looks around confused as the area around her brightens. A few feet away a hand made of fire reaches out to her. It lights up piles of bodies, bathed in blood that she's spilled over the years. Diane then notices that she can see better than normal and reaches for her left eye. It was there, despite being carved out during her assassination attempt. She looks down at her right arm, it's there like it never had left. Diane looks around for more details in the darkened void as she approaches the hand reaching out to her.

As she gets closer, the flame grows brighter. It feels angry as if the only thing it knows is anger. The arm is attached to the entire body of flames. It stands there patiently waiting for Diane to reject or accept the offer. Diane examines the figure, she can practically taste the anger coming from it. Yet the silhouette almost reminds her of herself in a way. Behind the figure, Diane can see her memories strolling from left to right. Memories of every time she wished she had more power. Every time she refused to let anger rule her actions despite how badly she wanted to. All of her failures, stand behind the figure that embodies them.

This was Diane. A very angry version of her that wanted out. Yet it could only be let out if Diane let it. It could only be let out, if Diane took the flame's hands. Diane stands at the figure's extended hand, then down at her right arm. Diane considered the costs of doing this, and what it could mean. How it would change her.

Diane looked her angry self in the eyes.