Maledictus Ignis

Heart Racing, Body Blazing

Luke leaves the door open, sprinting towards his father, Alexis seeming to have restored his vigor.

When he gets close enough to see his father, he sees two things, Jeremiah sat on one knee, using his cane for support as Dominus stands over him.

He speeds up, cursing his feet with speed. He runs up, jumps and slams his fist into his liver.

He feels slight resistance, looking up he sees his little brother, Cole also punching him in the face, looks like they had the same idea.

This causes a huge explosion of Prowess, Dominus sent backwards as Cole lands.

"Cole? Your alright!" Luke says giving him a hug

"Gah! What're you doing?! This is a fight!" He pushes him off him

"Sorry heh, I wasn't sure you were alright, it's good to see you." Luke says

"Well, it's great to see you two as well, but just so you know, he's getting back up." Jeremiah said from behind them

"Oh hey, Jerry." Luke said

"I'll let you two handle this, I'm feeling a little tuckered out." Jeremiah summons a ball of music and fazes into the ground

"Well.." Cole begins

"Let's do this." Luke finished

Luke and Cole stand side by side, on the battlefield with their father!

Dominus stands up picking bits of rubble off himself, he looks at his children standing opposed him, both with a fire in their eyes, a fire meant to burn away the chains he holds over them.

"Well, don't just stand there." Dominus says, beckoning them over

Luke and Cole waste no time, immediately firing their combined Prowess together, their combined strength enough to push him back, nearly knocking him off his feet, using this chance they dash towards him and begin beating down on him simultaneously.

Their combined strength breaks his guard, Dominus attempts blocking their attacks but it proves futile, he is blown backward repeatedly, after being knocked to the ground Cole and Luke put the arms together, combining their powers into a cursed purple fire which explodes on contact.

Dust settles.

Luke and Cole catch their breath, stepping back, they see something moving and realize they aren't done just yet.

"Ugh.." Clothes torn and bleeding profusely their father stands tall

"You'll have to try a little harder than that."

Cole is enraged at this, rushing him down before Luke can stop him.

He sends a punch at him, boosted by flames, he misses but it isn't all for naught, as he's hit by the backdraft, continuing his onslaught.

Dominus struggles to adapt to this, and is quickly losing his patience.

Luke has a bad feeling and runs to catch up to him.

"Too late." The air grows cold

His presence sends a chill up their spines as he utters the worst phrase imaginable.

"Prowess Mastery"

They're frozen where they stand, Cole unable to continue his barrage.

"Domain of Festering Curses."

A large purple runic circle expands from his feet, covering the battlefield in its cursed light, as it does, every single curse ever cast by him became a real incarnation.

Immediately, Luke would lose the feeling in his right arm, only to look over and find it has been severed off by a stray projectile from Dominus' Mastery, it takes a moment before the pain could register.

Unbearable pain wrenches through both Luke and Cole's bodies as they attempt to move, especially Luke in particular.

Dominus stands up, wiping dirt off himself.

"Well, I was hoping not to use this, as I need you alive, but it looks like my product will be a little damaged when it arrives."

"GAAAAAAHHH" Cole shrieks, a primal scream of pure agony

Luke, through the pain looks at his brother, attempting to use his own Prowess to negate his fathers to no avail.

Why am I so weak..? Why can't I save my brother even one time?!

Luke clenches his fist in frustration, his brother was being tortured right in front of him and he couldn't do anything about it, this truly may as well be his own personal hell.

But through some miracle it seems like his prayer were answered as Cole slowly stands, the pain numbing out through his body.

He looks at his hands, then at the horns protruding from his shoulders, just like Brocks.

Cole stands, flames of hatred burn a blood orange, swirling around the dark blue flames of the demon inside him.

Dominus summons a circle around him, it is neutralized near instantly, he is baffled at this ridiculous show of strength, he tries stopping him but to no success, and so his final plan would be put into action.

Dominus steps back a few steps as Cole approaches through the torrent of curses sprout upon him.

"Why can you move?" Dominus questioned him

Cole didn't answer, only waiting for an opportunity to strike, he leapt on him, sending them both to the ground, in this feral rage all he saw was red, he began beating him senseless.

Cole eviscerates Dominus, shrieking all sorts of profanities and curses at him, he is unable to restrain himself. He wrapped his hands around his neck and squeezed, until he felt a weak grip on his wrist, his father, his voice had barely enough strength to carry itself to his ears;

"Child, you were.. all I needed, all along."

And after only a few seconds he was gone, both his father, and him.

But they won at least, every present adversary defeated..

Luke falls to his knees, the horns dissipating as the effects of Dominus' Prowess fades, the air feeling stagnant, he looks up to his brother staring in utter disbelief, the amount of red around him.. what could he have done to him?

He tried calling out to him, only for him to lose his strength, it seemed like Alexis could only do so much for him in the limited time they had, he couldn't stay awake for much longer the last thing he sees before passing out is his brother breathing heavily, eyes wide hunched over his fathers corpse.

Jeremiah and Alexis arrive, Alexis using his shoulder as a crutch, as well as Dustin shambling forward, all of them exhausted.

They would look at the scene before them, Alexis is the first to react, followed by Dustin.

She sees Luke lying on the ground, blood pooling around where his arm used to be.

Dustin looks at Cole, he starts running towards him until something strange happens.

He feels a shock in the air, but not from himself, Cole was emanating something strange, a presence unlike one he'd ever felt before.

Cole would let out a blood curdling shriek, grasping his head in an attempt to subside the torturous pain.

Orange and blue flames explode out from him, swirling around wildly.

Unbeknownst to everyone around, Cole has countless lost memories flood his brain all at once, this was too much for him to handle, and someone was taking advantage of the chaos, and so, his brain finally gives up, taking the easy way out and submitting to the overwhelming pressure lying dormant within.

The Curse of Fire