A Good Time to Disappear

Bones gritted his teeth. No ramp, which meant what he was about to do would be safer; but less effective. And as the big horned bull charged at one of his friends, he smashed into it's hooves, sending it flipping in the air. The front of the rather nice car buckled while the rear wheels set it skidding to the left. Bones felt his ribcage smash against the wheel, breaking a few of the lower ones as he held tight to the wheel. The car rocked on it's suspension as it came to halt, causing Frankie to fall back against the seat. With a shake of his head he rubbed his hand into his shirt and pulled out the broken ribs,dropping them into the passenger seat and pushing it open. He stumbled out, hat on his head and looked around the scene in front of him with a critical eye; A soldier on the field of battle.

Bullets were being fired by the Princess, which meant the broad either had a license or was just more to look at. He ignored it for a moment as he adjusted the hat on his head, watching the big Minotaur suddenly locked into a fight with another; So the chick could turn into a greek metaphor for displaced sexuality. Wait, where the hell did that come from? He thought to himself, lucidly watching the beast go flying through the air towards his old Pal Archie. The Gorilla lashed out with a big old fist and sent the creature crashing to the tarmac. ”Good.” He muttered, pulling the Mauser from it's home under his arm and aiming it squarely at the creatures head. He didn't pull his trigger, though, and instead pulled a ball of Voodoo magic into his bony palm.

Titans clashed. Once Bliss spotted an opening she moved to cover up the armored woman. She could find Ashley and that gave her enough reason to protect her. Bliss moved towards the shape changer and felt a great sense of disturbance knowing that the power behind her friends life possessed perpetrated a lie. Bliss fired off two shots at the minotaur, hoping to bring it down. Even though the woman did not seem like she needed help, hell she probably was not a woman, Bliss held a special set of talents that would prove useful in keeping those minotaurs at bay.

"Mr. Gorilla..." She cried out towards the grappling ape. Asking permission in combat never seemed appropriate, but what else could she do. "..Do you mind if I shoot dangerously close to..." This just seemed absurd. "...I'm just going to shoot, and if I hit you I don't mean it." Bliss fired three bullets towards the minotaur near Archie, erring on the side of safety to not hit Archie.

The Minotaur crashed onto the hard concrete, its bone ornaments stabbing into the concrete, raising the ambient concrete around the impact point, creating a small, but evident crater. The Minotaur picked itself up effortlessly, despite having Archie on top of it, the gorilla not heavy enough to make the creature falter. But upon getting up, the Minotaur ended up being a shield for Archie, taking all the barrage of bullets, which pierced its bony armor. The bullets pierced the Minotaur's spine, causing the creature to fall upon one knee. The Minotaur stared at Archie with a rageful glare, but being an animal in nature, the pain had caused the Minotaur to freeze up, doing nothing but show violent intentions via its glare.

"RAAAAAAAARRGH" Came a primal roar from the transformed Dante, who charged straight for the Minotaur, moving like a cheetah in a murderous charge, not caring about anyone who is in the way.

The Minotaur's lock up was long enough to allow Dante to connect a devastating lariat on the Minotaur's neck and smash the creature spiraling dangerously into the diner, causing even more damage as debris flew in every which direction like confetti. Dante made a murderous leap into the air, landing on the fallen Minotaur and creating another massive shockwave, sending what remained of the diner flying. Dante didn't stop there however, grabbing the Minotaur by the horns and then unleashing a powerful punch into its snout, breaking it. Dante continued to pound on the Minotaur's face, tremors created at each impact, fountains of blood spraying on Dante's bony armor. Nothing could stop Dante's murderous onslaught, pounding relentlessly upon the Minotaur. The Minotaur made feeble attempts at stopping Dante, clinging its arms onto Dante, attempting to push him off or hold him too close to be hit.

But even these attempts were falling on deaf ears. Dante ripped himself out of the Minotaur's grip, stomping his sharp hooves into the Minotaur's left arm, causing the beast to scream in pain. The Minotaur's right arm lashed out in anger, slamming against Dante's face, but the Minotaur's magical power had greatly diminished, and its strike was nothing more than a tap to the Minotaur, who grabbed it before it lashed again. The Minotaur looked at Dante in fear, fear of its own power, fear of Dante's murderous rage. Dante let out a menacing roar, smashing his giant arm onto the Minotaur's shoulder, breaking it upon impact. But Dante wasn't finished, placing his hooves on the Minotaur's head and chest and pulling with all his might, ripping the Minotaur's armor from its socket. The Minotaur screamed in pain and fear, attempting to crawl away with its broken limbs with no avail, now defenseless as Dante stomped his hooves and proceeded to pound the Minotaur to death.

Soon Dante left a bloody pile of bones and guts where his opponent once called a head. Picking up the decapitated body and holding it above his head like a prize kill, blood showered Dante and completely covering his body, giving his bony armor a crimson sheen. Dante ripped the Minotaur in half and dropped the two pieces onto the floor, letting out a triumphant roar at his victory. Dante had defeated the Minotaur, just as his former mind had predicted, all that was left would be the next event to happen, and the plan would be complete.

“Not a problem at all, Miss.”, Archie found it odd, yet refreshingly polite of Bliss to ask permission before shooting towards him in the middle of a battle. The minotaur shook him off effortlessly, though, and he fell onto his back. There was almost a pause in the battle as the bullets Bliss shot into the creature made contact and caused it to drop onto its knees. In what felt like an eternity in his mind, but was no more than a few seconds in reality, Archie stared into the creatures eyes; they were animalistic and clearly lusting for blood, though pain kept the Minotaur nearly immobile. Dante’s new and nearly identical was quick to help it move. In a storm of fury and violence Dante delivered unbelievably cruel punishment unto the monster. Archie was appalled at the grotesque display of dominance unfolding before him. This woman was going much too far. Aggressive or not, he did not condone this sort of treatment toward any creature. ”Aurora! Cover your eyes this instant!” he commanded the sensitive Dryad, sensing the murder about to happen. Sure enough, Dante showed his true colors by putting the dark brutality that Archie sensed in him from the beginning on the table for all to see.

Bones watched, his Mauser trained firmly on the creatures head as it began to stand. He was prepared to fire on the big horns, but stopped when he heard the Princess shout out Mr Gorilla. Even in the midst of the battle, it made Bones laugh softly before she fired. Then the beast froze in pain and the laugh died, his hand moving to slide the gun back into it's holster. This wasn't right. The creature was still a thing like them... Frankie stepped forward, trying to hold up a black gloved hand to call out for them to stop. And yet the woman sorceress decided to charge upon the beast and lock it in battle. Frankie could tell the intent behind punches, and this woman wasn't going to stop for anything. He made his way carefully around the ring of the fight, growling in frustration as he hovered near Aurora. They were tearing the Diner apart, the flimsy walls and furniture being trampled as Frankie suddenly remembered that the Princess was in there somewhere, and so was Robert and some of the customers.

As the thought crossed his mind, people were running out from round the back of the building. They had escaped through the rear, thankfully. Frankie spotted Robert, who watched with slack jawed stupidity as his place of work was torn apart. Bones felt slightly sorry for him; his job must have gave him a sense of power. That the fancy place in the middle of nowhere was his and his alone. Frankie watched the stupidity be replaced with pure anger as the little moustached man marched his way bravely up to the skeleton, lifting his finger and putting it in Frankies face. (Or where the flesh for one use to be.)

”You! This is your fault! Yours and the other... things fault!” He called angrily, waggling his finger back and forth as Bones gently moved a gloved hand up, dragging him slightly away from Aurora.
”Listen, buddy, I-” He began, looking back at the fight with a grimace.
”Don't call me buddy! How dare you?! How dare you even exist, you walking bag of bones?! I knew! I knew the moment that dirty ape walked into the Diner you were going to do something like this!” Ro-Bare said, shaking his hand off and shouting slightly loudly.
”If you don't lower your voice, the big Bull men over there might notice-” Frankie was beginning to lose his patience with the small, well groomed man.
”Why don't you go back to your damn hole in the ground you-you- FREAK!”
”Had to say it, didn't you?” He muttered, as he pulled back a gloved hand and threw it forward. The clatter as it broke the small man's jaw came from bones being pushed around in his sleeve. He shook out the tightness as the little man crumpled to the floor, blacked out from the sudden pain. ”Sorry I broke your diner and your jaw.” Frankie muttered, looking back at the fight just in time to hear Archie shout out.

Aurora, like the girl she'd always be, ignored the Ape and did no such thing, calling out in anger and loss as the creature was brutally torn apart. Bones was faster than her, so he easily caught up with her and wrapped a hand around her arm, trying to turn her away from the blood and violence as his other hand moved to her neck, pulling gently. ”Come on honey, come on.” He muttered softly, trying to step forward to hide the sight. It seemed what's her face really wasn't as nice as she made herself out to be.

Luck smiled on her aim. Bliss felt relief when the bullets entered the back of the minotaur and brought him to his knees before the gorilla. With a sigh, Bliss lowered her pistol and returned it to her hand bag. No need using any more bullets if these guys would finish the job for her; who was she to help someone who helped her.

Only one more. This would try them all though; not in the sense of battling the beast, but trying them with what they saw next. Dante eviscerated the beast before their very eyes. A lump turned in her stomach when she thought about Ashley. This guy took her away. "Who cares about that bull-thing..." She began gripping her fist in anger. "Where's Ashley?" Static motion pulled at the air around the battle field. The blood that coated Dante's armor would gave her a catalyst of an idea. Bullets would test that armor out soon enough, but first she needed to turn the field to benefit her. Particles came to a slower beating, any motion that lay in between her and her target would trigger the violent reaction.

"Gorilla..." She beckoned. "...Throw that carriage at whatever seems best."

Dante stared ahead at Bliss and the magical misfits, his eyes filled with the same animalistic rage the Minotaur had in its now lifeless eyes, being the same in form and mind. If he was still in the heat of battle, he might have attacked, but with victory comes the after battle calm the Minotaur always had. That brief moment was enough for Dante to regain dominance. The transformation was quick and painless, the massive body of the Minotaur slowly diminished to Dante’s natural form, ready to use his true magic once again. Dante looked at the threatening formations around him, seeing that Bliss was ready to take the battle to lethal measures if necessary, just as Dante wanted. Dante raised his hands in a form of truce, listening to the insults and demands of the assorted group of heroes. Very little did he care for their opinions, but it was in his best interest to have them angered with him, to provoke them as much as possible. He used his hand to test the particles in the air, resulting in a reaction that caused extensive to the section of his armor, something he found interesting. Bliss powers would become a nuisance to those who moved a lot during a fight, mobility being hindered by such well made traps, but Dante needed no motion to use his powers to their fullest potential.

This is the perfect opportunity, just push their buttons a little more, and then everything shall fall into place Dante thought to himself All will be according to plan

Dante removed his helmet once again, showing his true face in front of the heroes. Dante's face featured his powerful features, though aged, they still showed great physical prowess on human standards. The face was relatively attractive, clearly showing a template that Dante was possibly more attractive when he was younger. His face was much younger than what could be seen in his eyes, eyes being the window to a person's soul. The eyes told tales of Dante in a brief summary, they showed a man who had lived long, too long, a man who had given up hope, who had nothing left to lose. Dante's face was as serious and cold as stone, the visage ruined by Dante's victorious smirk, the smirk of a cocky winner.

"Well I first must apologize for such a vulgar display” Dante said with his cocky grin “I did not predict having to transform in order to get the Minotaur in line, and any sort of injuries that have been received can be taken care of later”

Dante made a curt bow, his silver-white hair falling down over his face. As he listened, he raised an eyebrow towards the Dryad, who he learned was named Aurora after some listening, as she spouted insults and accusations towards him, little did he care though, for her getting riled up was just what he wanted. Dante raised his hand in the air with the Minotaur’s severed head present in his grip.

“Yes young Dryad, I am a monster, one that has existed in this world for almost a millennia. I massacred this defenseless creature because I could, no matter how powerful the Minotaur is, it could never defy my orders, it belongs to me. I am free to use and abuse the creature as I wish, as with all the spirits under my control.” Dante said with his provoking grin “And Bliss, if you want to find Ashley, you are gonna have to get it out of me. If you don’t hurry, it might be a little harder getting her back, unless you can call upon the dead like I can. But don’t worry, even if you don’t get to her in time, you’ll join her soon. You’ll find her situation quite, biblical”

Dante’s smile widened as he looked at Bliss with a triumphant look on his face. He wanted her as angry as possible, otherwise he would be unable to put his plan into motion. His mind wondered back to Ashley, he didn’t want to put her in such a situation, but it was a necessary sacrifice. However, if Bliss acted according to plan, she wouldn’t need to die. Dante snapped his fingers, causing the Minotaur to disappear into brightly colored dust. Dante spread his arms in front of himself, showing the magical energy leave his hands and seep into the ground. From out of the ground came the Shades and the Preta demons, their skeletal and grotesque bodies moving sickeningly along with the sound of their oozes dripping along the ground, their joints cracking with every step. The spirits surrounded the gorilla, Aurora and Bliss, letting out groans as they charged towards them.

He was a man after all. After revealing his true nature, the man revealed his true face to heroic misfits. Dante’s voice silenced the cacophony of chaos around him as he made his insidious intentions somewhat clearer; though his goals were still much too vague for the ape’s tastes. The writhing abominations that the man called forth to aid him from what Archie could only assume was dark corner of creation which man was not meant to discover did not disturb him as much as they spoke to just how twisted and unnatural the villain was.

The shambling creatures advanced quickly towards the Abnormals with the only thing on their minds being the command to kill. The day just kept getting worse, and if Archibald did not act soon, the day might have been the last for his family, Bliss, and himself along with the all the innocent civilians scattered around. Just before the summoning Bliss gave him an order to throw what remained of the carriage at whichever target seemed appropriate; as far as Archie was concerned the creatures were the bigger threat at that point in time. He figured if he were to incapacitate Dante that they would likely disappear, but rather than put that theory to the test he decided to focus on what was in front of him. Archie quickly rose to his feet and scrambled to the carriage. He hoisted one of the broken halves into the air and tossed it at the abominations; it was far heavier than expected and that hopefully meant more damaging as well. Archie then bent down and and lifted up the arrogant and unconscious “row-bear” and carried the man on over his shoulder. They might not have liked each other, but Archie would save him all the same.

”Because they think they don't know better.”

He said it softly, holding Aurora lightly in his gloved hands. He gave her bark coloured skin a gentle squeeze and pushed down a lift time's worth of regret, from beating and robbing and killing innocent people like those spread around the diner and looking on with surprised and often awkward gazes. He let his hands fall down to his sides as the Minotaur changed back into the original form. However this seemed not to be the end of the betrayal; the Woman stripped herself of her helmet and was suddenly a man. For a second or two the Skeleton entertained ideas of asking how the operation went in such a tight space as a suit of armour, but if he did Aurora would have probably slapped him for it. There was no right to joke over the corpse of another... freak like them. He shook his head and turned back to the Dryad, looking at her face as the situation unfolded behind him.

Soon, from the very tarmac, monstrosities began to arise. Archie decided that he was going to fight them, while the young Dryad immediately gave her support for the idea. The ground rumbled and the Skeleton took a shaky step back as turned to glance at the Princess they had picked up. Before he could work out what she was doing though, he heard the young Dryad murmur two words. Two little words that made his skull turn ever so slightly.

And then he was turning on the spot, turning on his shined dancing shoes that collected the dust from broken concrete. His hand was slipping to his holster, unbuckling the strap that held the Mauser c96. His finger slipped onto the trigger and his fingers closed around the butt of the gun. A thumb ran down the side and he tugged it free of it's home. His body twisted as he rose his arm to make sure he could get the best shot, his front leg moving in a half circle to guide his body into a better position as his other fist clenched. The odd shaped barrel, a hexagon shape, beaded onto the man's eye and he pulled the tirgger.

As the bullet left the barrel, Bones wondered briefly what Aurora and Archie would thing. He figured the Princess wouldn't mind him dead but she might miss her friend.

As the carriage flew towards the beasts Bliss slipped out and unleashed a wave of energy to cause the glass to shatter against their flesh. This blast would leave Bliss open for her chance to take advantage over Dante. Danger of an otherworldly sort chased behind her, but she knew that given the opportunity to face flesh and blood over incorporeal creatures, you take the flesh and blood. An army of these vile creatures swarmed the area to overwhelm Bliss and her companions. She saw her new allies disappear behind shrieks and clouds of dust.

Bliss held the gun firmly with both hands as she approached Dante. Her fingers felt relaxed against the trigger while the apparition haunted behind her. Quickly, she darted in a reverse angle; her boots rubbing against the skin of her upper calf. She needed to place herself directly in front of this impostor of a holy man, and deliver on to him what he deserved.

Unnerved of the situation, but frantic by her concern, Bliss fired what remained in her pistol at the gut of Dante. She wanted to extract information from whoever or whatever he was, and this would give her leverage over him. In the silence that followed the eruption of bullets, Bliss tumbled to the ground to escape the clutches of the creatures following her. Relief came as one flew over her, but another grappled his hand around the back of her neck and held her to the ground. She squirmed her arms in front of her and tried to pry herself against the force of whatever held her down, but her force went no where. Painted nails dug into the dirt squeezing her neck towards the end of the creatures arm, so that she could she what became of her target. With great power the hand of the creature pressed his palm against the ground, trapping Bliss in his grip.

Dante watched the reaction, the anger, the hatred they showed towards him. A good feeling, they all made it their strongest effort to kill Dante, which was exactly what he wanted. He wanted them to kill him, his ploy as Pope had run for too long, he was at his ropes end for this lifetime, it was time for a new one, and these magical misfits were going to be the ones to deliver him. Not only that, but these victims of his crimes were going to take the blame for killing one of the most important people on the planet, and with that, any future plans for the heroes were going to be hindered. Dante had succeeded in what he wanted to do, the scapegoats were set and the entire battle was gonna be altered so that it was the heroes that were to blame, everything went according to plan.

Dante was assaulted by their myriad of attacks, his curse never let him allow himself to die, but with their combined powers, he could not fight back. Within an instant he was surrounded by massive plants, halting his movements before he was capable to doing everything. All of his summons were being destroyed, and what remained of them were unable to halt the coming assault. With a single bullet to the eye and several bullets to the body, Dante's fate was sealed. Blood splattered out of the wounds, as Dante lost his mystical armor, the artifact sensing the death of its bearer. Blood dripped down Dante's face as he made his final breaths, his blood and guts pouring down from his abdomen. But even with all the pain, and his sorry state, Dante still retained a smile on his face, a smile of triumph.

"Well done misfits... you have defeated me... Just as I had planned.... I don't know if you have ever seen me before... but I am the Pope... Durante delgi Alighieri... not that you would care.... But you have just been framed for killing the Pope... I apologize... but something like this must be done. You are to act as scapegoats so that I can die peacefully..." Dante said as he breathed raggedly through the words, it was his dying testament, and he was going to let them hear it, his final victory, in this lifetime anyway. "I will...however... tell you where your friend is....she will be found.... in a barn.... one mile North... from this location... You better hurry... she does't... have...much...time..." Dante coughed, his power dwindling, the darkness starting to set into his vision. "Goodbye...we...shall meet again.... though....you...will...never....see...me...coming....Hehe...hehehe...."

With his last words, Dante's head fell limp, his only good eye watched the last few seconds that transpired before he was completely overtaken by the creeping darkness. It was an experience he was not unfamiliar with, soon the pain would subside and only the void will take him, until he was reborn anew once again. His spirit left his body, leaving nothing behind but a husk of an old man, a smile on his face and his final laugh echoing throughout the wind.

Meanwhile....

In the barn that was located 1 mile North of the battle at hand, the space was completely devoid of life, save for one single soul that remained inside. The only one there was Ashley, the young woman beaten, bruises shown all over her body. The monsters beat her over and over, but made sure to preserve her pain, to not break her bones, but merely flay her flesh so that small cuts and bruises made themselves home on her body. Not only that, but they had forced her to carry the wooden cross she was bound to, her current position looking like a scene out of the Bible. But through her beaten eyes, she still breathed, the ropes tight around her arms as she tugged against them with her weight, the pain she suffered horrendous. Even with all the pain, she looked at the ground, the sky and back, whispering a single word that remained close to her.

"Bliss..."

Quickly, the Abnormals triumphed over the wicked pope. Archie knew he recognized the man, and the man confirmed it. Like any good villain, Dante made threats of return and other things. Blamed for killing the pope? It was an absurd claim. There were over a dozen witnesses that could testify in favor of Archie and his team. Though even with kidnapping and mastery of dark arts under his belt, the catholic community would probably still worship the man, and rally against Archibald’s family. There was little about the Abnormals that they did not find appalling anyway, so Archie was unafraid. He still wished that Dante did not have to die. He did not wish death on anyone, even men like him. Regardless, Dante was the type of man that Archie did not mind seeing go. In his dying breath, Dante gave away the location of the Bliss’s friend. For him to have gone to such lengths just to achieve death and pin it on heroes was a sure sign of madness and malevolence. Surely, there were other ways. It was possible there was more to his plan than Archie knew at that point. He would have to consider that possibility later, though. It was made clear if they did not hurry that Bliss’s friend was in mortal danger.

“Well, you heard the man. Abnormals, lets save this girl. We can return and deal with the media and pay for damages afterward, and then we find a way home. Understood?”

He lumbered over and placed row-bear gently onto the pavement, and stood tall (as tall as possible with his knuckles still on the ground) and surveyed the parking lot for a suitable vehicle. There was a large van with an obnoxious fantasy dragon and wizard along with the words "ready to rock" painted along the side. It was not exactly the ideal rescue vehicle. It was, however, the only one that seemed at all capable of carrying Archie efficiently. "Bones, the van!" He did not normally condone breaking the law. In this case, he could make an exception.