Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 08:22:21 GMT From: Shade . <ensstyenlc@hotmail.com> Subject: The Daemon Gate Chapter 4 Yes, it's been a long, long time...School is great but it takes up so much time that I haven't had chance to even think about writing this. A lot of things have changed but I'm happy, so I don't care. I'm not making any sense either, I think...my mind stopped functioning half an hour ago...but it's only temporary. Anyways, I'm supposed to be going to the thanks section now, aren't I? Okay, here goes! Many thanks to Susan, Mags and Jason for the friendship and emails and whatnot. Also to Marcus and Kenny, you two are the weirdest! And that's a compliment! To my best friend David L.Z, I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for you...are ya feelin' bad yet? ;) To David C., thanks for the support when I really needed it (though the other David was there more often, but I don't hold that against you). To the love of my life, David L.Z. again...can't stop thinking of you, thinking about you, thinking for you...heh ;) And of course thanks(?) to Neto for pestering, nagging, badgering, harrying, yelling, complaining and basically begging for this next chapter to be out. Now please stop! It's out already! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story contains homosexual content and should not be read by anyone under the age of 18. Also, this story does not imply anything about the sexualities of anyone from Nsync, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, a1 or any other celebrity mentioned here. I do not know them and their characteristics. This also does not imply anything about any other people mentioned in this story. Their names and descriptions are there but that doesn't mean that their characteristics are the same in real life. And none of them possess any special powers of any sort and this is totally fiction! And now you may read this next chapter! Happy reading! For David L.Z. (Was there any doubt?) ______________________________________________________________________________ |The Daemon Gate - Chapter Four| Steve and Grace jumped off Steve's already melting ice slide into the seventh storey window on Estel's house. "Late again," Charmaine drawled. Steve scowled. "Well, I'd be on time if you didn't keep flaming up all the time like that," Steve complained. Charmaine just rolled her eyes again and turned away, losing interest in Steve. "Anyone home?" Grace called into the house. No reply. Grace called out once again, her mind becoming ready to summon her earth powers. Charmaine's hair began to glow a light red as her fire powers activated. Steve formed a shard of ice as big as a softball and just as hard, holding it ready for throwing. A dark figure emerged from one of the rooms. Steve quickly threw the ball of ice at the stranger. Charmaine released a bolt of fire a second after Steve's ice ball. The bolt of fire hit Steve's ball and melted it. The dark-skinned Malay boy just stared at the empty space, surprise in his eyes. "What'cha do that for?!" Steve shouted at Charmaine. "Now he's gonna get us!" "Actually, nope, he isn't," Charmaine replied. "Steve, meet Fariz, our friend and the air elemental mage." Turning to Fariz, she asked, "Where's Vincent?" "He's somewhere...he disappeared after the summoner died," Fariz replied. "I think he's following Justin or something. Vincent doesn't seem to like him much, and vice versa." "No one likes Vincent much," Grace replied matter-of-factly. " 'Cept Karene," Fariz said. "She adores him body, mind and soul." "I heard that," said a short-haired chinese girl coming out from another room. "And it isn't true! I adore his soul but he's skinny and pretty much brainless." "Lemme guess, Karene, right?" Steve asked, taking her hand and kissing it. Charmaine rolled her eyes and Grace just shrugged. Steve looked around and asked, "So who's who? And who's where?" "Who's who? I've already introduced people to you!" Charmaine shouted, getting worked up. "Calm down, Charm," Grace said quickly. "I think he wants to know what powers each of us has." "And why should we tell him?" Charmaine asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I'm going to be working with you and I'll need to plan strategy on how to work with each of you," Steve replied coolly, finding Charmaine annoying. Charmaine rolled her eyes and thought, "As though you've got any brains to formulate fighting styles and strategies." "I'm the elemental mage of earth, Fariz is mage of air, Charmaine is obviously fire and Vincent is water," Karene said. "Grace is our resident thi...pick...err...locksmith and finder." "Ahh..." Steve nodded. "Steve?" a voice spoke from behind the group. "Is that you?" Steve turned around and glanced at the speaker, a spiky-haired, green-eyed blonde. Steve grinned and ran up to Lance and embraced him. "How've you been? Loved your latest album!" Steve said. "Your head all right now?" "Should be," Lance confirmed. "Especially since the accident happened about what, a year ago?" "One year, eight months, two weeks and three days," Steve replied. "Want me to go in details about the hours, minutes and seconds?" "Nah, I think that'd be just fine," Charmaine interrupted, mimicking Lance's voice and rolling her eyes. "You too should get a room somewhere in Hotel 81." Steve and Lance glanced at each other with questioning looks while Fariz, Grace and Charmaine laughed. "It's a local hotel that's infamous for its high number of prostitutes, sort of like an American motel," Karene explained quickly. "Come on, I'll show you to your room, Steve." Justin wandered around aimlessly. He was in unfamiliar territory and he was sure that he was lost. Signboards did not help much because he did not have a map, and he had no money for a taxi. It did not bother him, though, because going back to Estel's house was not a priority in his mind. He was still hurt by Estel and Mark being together. Lost in his thoughts, he did not notice the two figures following him at a distance. He glanced around the place, wondering where he was. The setting sun made the deserted area seem eerie and Justin shivered, suddenly feeling uneasy. He walked towards the only building that had lights on and made his way inside. He did not notice the two figures follow him in either. The room was well furnished with a receptionists' counter in the corner as well. Several people sat on the couches nearby. A young woman with hair dyed blonde came up to him. "May I help you, sir?" she asked, smiling. "Uh...yeah," Justin said. He noticed a sign that said: Heartbreak Therapy. "What exactly do you people do here?" "We help people who have been heartbroken get revenge on the heartbreakers," the woman explained. "This place is designed to pull any heartbroken people towards us so we can help." "Interesting," Justin nodded. "Well, it seems that you must be having some trouble with love if you found your way here," the woman said. "I'll introduce you to the boss. You seem special and I think she'll be able to help you more than I can." "Okay, I'll see her," Justin replied. "Thanks." Justin followed the woman through a door that he had not noticed before. Then the young woman walked out of the door without Justin and winked at one of the figures that had been following him. The second figure quietly tried to slip out of the building. The first figure noticed him and quickly moved to stop him. "Where do you think you're going?" The man asked. Vincent looked at the man, shocked. "I...err..." "Don't give me crap," the man interrupted. "I knew you were following me the whole time." The man began to shimmer slightly before transforming into a large, hairy, muscular creature with large teeth and bat-like wings. Vincent stared at the malenti. "P-please let me g-go," Vincent pleaded. The malenti drew his sword from its sheath and raised it over Vincent's head. "Well, it was worth a shot," Vincent said as he dove between the malenti's spread legs, the sword narrowly missing him. He rolled on the floor like a tire for a while and stood up. The malenti turned around to face Vincent. The malenti pointed his finger at Vincent and a stream of acid shot at him. Vincent ducked and shot a blast of ice at the malenti, which was easily blocked by his sword. The malenti swung his sword at Vincent's head and Vincent ducked again, this time punching the malenti in the stomach. The malenti growled and let of a blast of sonic waves, causing the air to ripple and Vincent to shake. Vincent could feel his bones vibrating and weakening. He stretched his hand forward and closed his eyes, concentrating. The malenti suddenly found himself short of breath. His chest was getting heavier and heavier and his breathing shallowed. He grasped his throat, choked and coughed out water. "What the...?" he asked. "I'm filling your lungs with water," Vincent said coldly. "And now you will die." The malenti gasped one last time and fell face forward on the floor. Vincent smiled smugly and was about to leave when something heavy hit his head, knocking him out cold. Justin stared at the Boss in amazement. "H-how did you know?" he asked, shocked. The Boss just smiled. "Let's just say that I know a lot more than anyone thinks I do," she replied. "What else do you know?" Justin asked, eager to learn more. "I know that..." the Boss leaned closer to Justin and whispered into his ear. Justin's eyes opened wide in amazement at first, the slanted sinisterly, his grin matching the look in his eyes. Peter looked up suddenly at Jason. Both of them were in the lounge of the underground hideout, lying on the couch and eating tortilla chips with onion dip. "Shadow?" Peter asked, amused. Jason glanced at him. "How'd you know that was my nickname?" Shadow asked. Peter winked, and Shadow nodded. "Just call me Shadow from now on," Shadow said. "I like it better." "Yeah, sure," Peter answered, suddenly distracted. "Something's wrong." "What?" Shadow asked. Both he and Peter turned around at the same time to see Justin step into the lounge. "Hi!" Justin said, strolling in. "May I have some of those chips?" "Uh, sure," Peter replied, passing the bag to Justin, who grabbed a handful and munched on them. "So what's up, Justin?" "Oh nothing much," Justin said, handing the bag of chips back to Peter. "I'll see you guys later." "Okay," Shadow said, glancing at Peter, his eyebrows furrowed. Justin nodded and headed into the room with his name over it. "That was strange," Shadow said. "What's up with him?" Peter shrugged and grabbed another chip. "You know, for a psychic, you're pretty clueless," Shadow grinned, grabbing the bag of chips from Peter. "That comes from spending too much time with you," Peter replied, snatching the chips back. Shadow laughed and the two started trying to snatch the bag of chips from each other, unaware of a pair of baby blue eyes staring at them from Justin's room. "Where's Vincent?" Karene asked her four companions. "He's been gone for too long." "Who's Vincent," asked the two raven-haired girls with dark eyes. The two were sisters, Susan and Meganda, both of who were a complementary pair of mage and fighter respectively. "Karene's boyfriend," Charmaine replied from Karene's bed. She picked up another poster of Leonardo DiCaprio (one of the hundreds that Karene owned) and glanced at it, incinerating it into nothingness. Karene glanced next poster and nodded her approval. Charmaine incinerated that one too. "He has been gone for quite a while," Grace noted, picking up another poster. "Can I keep this one, Karene?" "Sure," Karene replied as Susan passed another poster to Charmaine, who set destroyed it. "Did you try contacting him somehow?" Meganda asked. Karene nodded her head. "I paged him." "He never switches his mobile phone on anyway, and does he even know his pager exists?" Charmaine asked, flaming another picture. "He only returns my calls," Karene replied. "Don't ask me why he gives his pager number to everyone else, though." Charmaine looked at her watch and stood up. "Well, I've got to go. Coven meeting. Let me know if you find him and I'll give him the worst scolding he's ever had in his life. Until you start, that is." "You're kidding, right? About the coven thing anyway. I know you're fierce sometimes but that's a little too much," Karene smiled and shook her head, adding, "He's gonna get it from me when he comes back." The door opened slowly as Fariz entered the room. Estel was next to him, worried and pacing. "What's wrong?" Charmaine asked. "I have to go." "Can it wait?" Estel asked. "Vincent's in trouble." "Okay, hold on a minute," Charmaine said and closed her eyes. She opened them again and said, "Okay, what's wrong now?" "Malenti's have him," Estel explained. "We have to rescue him or else they'll find out our hideout and destroy us before we have a chance to even start fighting." "Okay, we're ready," Meganda said, standing up quickly. Her clothes shimmered and became armour similar to Xena's outfit. A sword materialised in her hand. Susan stood up as well, her blouse and jeans turning into a skintight old-style elven mage outfit. Grace and Karene nodded to show that they were ready. Estel nodded and began to cast the air walk spell when Neto and Kevin dashed into the room. "Wait for us!" Kevin cried, taking everyone by shock. "I want to kick some major ass!" "Okay," Estel said. He closed his eyes and everyone in the room dissolved into the air. "They're here Boss," a gruff but definately female voice said. The Boss nodded her approval. "They're right on time, too," she said. "Get a few more of our warriors and mages. The meddling sithi will pay for their insolence. I want all of them alive for sacrifice. The daemons will be pleased." "Yes Boss," the malenta female nodded and left the room in silence. "Is everyone here?" Estel asked quietly. He could see everyone clearly in the darkness because of his night-vision and infravision, but he also knew that not everyone could see as well as he could. His voice was the only way for his comrades to know that he was here. "I'm here, but I can't see a thing," Meganda spoke first. "Who's here? Head count." "Charmaine." "Susan." "Fariz." "Karene." "Grace." "Neto." "Kevin." "And Estel. We're all here." Estel finished. "Come on. We have to find Vincent as soon as possible. Who knows what the malenti have done to him." "How are we going to find him in this pitch darkness?" Charmaine asked. "I could light up the place but they might have light sensors hidden somewhere that will go off." "Follow me," Estel said. "Line up and grab each others' shoulders and walk in a train." "Right," Charmaine said sarcastically. "And when an enemy comes, we'll be able to defeat them because they'll be laughing themselves to death. Any other ideas?" "Let there be light," a raspy, unfamiliar voice spoke mockingly. Immediately, the whole room exploded with light, momentarily blinding the group. The moment was all the malenti warriors needed and they charged in, their gruff war cries filling the room. Estel recovered his eyesight first and managed to dodge a sword slicing down towards him. He spun and rolled on the floor and thrust his hands out forward. A stream of fire shot out towards the malenta and wrapped around him like a net. The malenta screamed as the fire ignited his hairy body, and the pungent stench of burning hair filled the room. The malenta collapsed, only to be replaced by another one. Estel drew his moonblade and began to weave his spellsong, dancing to his deadly tune. Kevin's vision was still blurred, but he could make out about twenty dark figures spreading themselves out and attacking his friends. A malenta stood in front of him. Instinctively, Kevin rolled forward, between the malenta's legs. He felt the sword slice the air just inches behind him. Taking a chance, he swung his leg backwards and upwards toward the malenta's groin. The malenta groaned in agony, but not loudly enough to have been seriously injured. Just my luck, I'm in the best position available and I get the female, Kevin thought. His vision cleared enough to see his friends fighting the malenti attackers. Hearing a subtle noise behind him, Kevin jumped upwards and spun around to face his attacker, kicking her in the face. Her scimitar sliced the air under Kevin and she fell backwards from the force of Kevin's kick. Kevin felt something cold graze his calf as he landed and spun around, noticing for the first time a second attacker that had anticipated his move. He looked down at his left calf and was surprised that he could even stand. The pain suddenly hit him and he collapsed to the floor, shrieking in pain. The shriek spread throughout the room, but everyone was too busy with their own battles. Neto dodged the flying spear of a female malenta, pointed his finger to her and commanded, "FREEZE!" Instantly, the malenta was encased in a large block of ice. Neto spun around to another malenta and shouted, "SLEEP!" The malenta fell forward to the floor in a deep slumber. Before Neto could turn around again, something heavy crunched down on his head, and he sank into blackness. Meganda swung her sword at the malenta, protecting both herself and her sister. Susan was busy casting spells, throwing lightning bolts and fireballs at further away malenti. The two sisters made a good team of might and magic, but not good enough for the horde of malenti that seemed to be pouring in from nowhere. Both exhausted, the sisters fell to sheer overwhelming numbers and were carried away. Grace did her best to dodge the attacks of the malenti that surrounded her, using their attacks to hurt their companions, but she was rapidly tiring. She dodged another spear and it thrust itself into another malenta. Suddenly, her muscles seemed to freeze and she noticed a malenta mage hidden from her view by the warriors. She realised that the malenti had sacrificed themselves to trap her by diverting her attention from the real danger. She was shocked by the devotion the malenti had in keeping the daemon gate open. She tried to struggle against the malicious magic that held her, but she felt herself becoming more and more light-headed and giddy. She finally gave up and collapsed to the floor. Karene watched everything from the wall she was hiding in. She had merged with the concrete using her powers as elemental mage of earth. She knew that she, and her fellow mages as well, were almost useless in this fight. Their powers were given to them by a strange stone they had found, and each power was made for individual battle, not a group battle. Her power would have just been a hindrance to the group, and if she had been on her own, she would have been better off. Suddenly, a malenta faced the wall and seemed to be looking straight at her. She was no fighter and was no use at all if she did not use her powers. She hoped that the malenta would not sense her presence, but from what she had heard, the malenti could sense spirits. The malenta furrowed her eyes and plucked a spear from the body of a dead comrade. She flung it, straight at Karene, and the spear struck Karene's side. With a yell of pain, Karene fell out of the wall, blood dripping from her side where a grinning malenta grabbed her and knocked her out. We're the last two left, Fariz thought, looking at Charmaine. He was glad that he had taken judo before in school and was putting good use to it. He could not use his powers to suck the air out of his opponents because they affected everyone around him, and he would not only kill the malenti, but his friends as well. He tried to manuever himself to face a direction that had no one else except malenti so that he could at least blast so wind in that direction, but the malenti were too clever and well-planned. They knew we were coming, Fariz thought. His brief mind wandering as to who could have betrayed them messed up his concentration, allowing a few malenti to knock him out before he could solve the problem. Charmaine counted herself lucky that she had more control of her powers than the other mages due to 'outside' help. She had other powers besides those she was given by the stone and used them to control her powers. She struck a stream of fire outwards and used her other powers to make it snake its way through the malenti crowd, dodging her friends. The fire suddenly faded away before it had a chance to burn, and Charmaine noticed a few malenti mages countering her fire powers. Her flames had done her well, though, and she had about half a minute to do something else she had thought of doing before the malenti recovered from their minor burns. Charmaine closed her eyes and concentrated. She could 'see' the malenti standing up despite their wounds and burns and rushing towards her. Before they could reach her, however, Charmaine had collapsed to the floor. The malenta that reached her first prodded her warily before picking her up and hoisting her out of the room with the other prisoners. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At last! I managed to untangle the knot that was my storyline and I'm back! I've finally finished this chapter too! So don't just sit there, email me with comments or something...I need it badly! I know it's been a long time since I last sent in a chapter but that still doesn't give you an excuse to email me... ;p Hear from you soon!