Heroes Rising Fiction: The Reckoning Part 13

The battle with Jinn raged for two solid days. Demons rose and fell as heroes continued to join the fray. Hundreds of heroes already there were joined by thousands. Heroes fell and did not rise, their life drained from them as they lay motionless.

Fleagle ran by, Furious Squirrel in his arms. “HE’S DOWN!”

Agent Justin used two blasters to shoot at the remaining demons. “Put him with the others!”

Fleagle dashed over fallen demons and broken walls. He slid to a stop right next to a half-destroyed building. Inside lay dozens of fallen heroes.

Just then Nova ran into the room, EB still holding onto his shoulder. “Report!”

Fleagle lay Furious Squirrel down. “It’s getting worse. I don’t know if they’re alive or dead. Some are breathing really shallow.”

EB hopped down and put a small paw on the forehead of a woman in a red uniform. “Their bodies are being drained of power, of lifeforce. That’s what Jinn’s new form does. It drains power to strengthen him. The more heroes fall, the stronger he’ll grow. The only way to save them is to bring him down.”

Nova stepped outside and looked up at the hill. The giant form of Jinn fought a swarm of heroes. Blasts of power showered his body, but he remained. Lord Dragon drove straight at his son, bellowing a torrent of flames. Jinn grabbed the dragon by the neck, then used his whole body to slam his father into the ground.

“LORD DRAGON!” EB screamed.

“Is he dead?” Nova asked.

“I can still sense his life, but he is hurt bad. I don’t know how we can win this.”

Nova held up his sword, “I will spend my last breath defending this world. If this is to be my last day, then I will go down fighting.”

EB hopped up onto his shoulder and held his neck, “and I will be right there with you. Buddy.”

Nova actually smiled, “To the end.” With that he dashed forward, racing over broken ground and fallen demons, his one good eye set on the monster.

Racing up the hill, Nova spun once and chopped five heads off of demons. The heroes battling them turned and joined his ascent. Finally, they were at the base of the behemoth before them. EB called out, “KEEP GOING, I GOT THIS!” With a wave of his paw, translucent energy platforms could be seen in the air. Nova jumped up and bounced from one to another, climbing higher. The last jump threw him clear over Jinn’s swinging arm.

“YAH!” Nova came crashing down right into the forearm, stabbing his considerable blade deep into Jinn’s red flesh. EB propelled himself off of Nova and threw a football-sized egg directly at Jinn’s face.

Jinn roared and flung his arm around. The heroes took the opportunity and bore down on him. Nova ripped the sword out and swung it to the side, cutting another long gash into the arm. With a thrust of his wings and echoing bellow, Jinn blasted out a wave of energy that sent heroes tumbling away. Nova barely kept his footing by holding his sword buried, again, in Jinn.

“FOOL!” Jinn reached over and grasped Nova with his other hand. He pulled him as one might pull a bee from its stinger.

Nova struggled, the breath crushed from his body.

Jinn drew him closer, “This ends today.”

Nova gagged, bones snapping in his chest. Then, massive explosions appeared behind Jinn and the monster lurched forward. He lost his grip on Nova and he fell. Quetzalcoatl caught him from falling to the ground. Nova looked up in time to see a dozen fighter jets scream by, releasing another volley of weapons fire.

“No,” Nova whispered, knowing what would come next.

Jinn turned and swiped a hand through the air, slapping two jets to the ground. More rounds of missiles hit him, along with firepower from heroes, but he continued to focus on the jets.

Then, a strange spray of golden light hit Jinn in the face. A barrage of arrows that struck him in the wings followed this. Finally, large presents slammed against his head, exploding in large flashes. Nova’s last sight before passing out was that of a red sleigh racing toward Jinn.

Santa maneuvered the sleigh into a large arc around Jinn. Maneki-Neko held her paws up and a spray of golden coins blasted Jinn in the eye socket. Cupid flew around them, launching black arrows.

“PROTECT THOSE HUMAN JETS!” Santa called out.

Cupid gave a nod and flew away. He fired arrows at Jinn’s hand, deflecting from hitting more of the jets.

“You ready for this!”

Chase stood in the back and held two blades in her hands. A new power radiated from her eyes. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Good luck.”

She laughed, “Luck is my specialty, you know that.”

Chase climbed up to the front of the sleigh and then jumped off, diving straight down. Without any support, she swung upward in the sky, flying under her own power. She flipped her body around twice and threw a dozen blades at Jinn. A line of blades stuck into his neck.

Jinn yelled in pain and then swiped a hand across his neck, brushing off the blades. Chase swung around in the air, dodging swipes from the enraged monster. She threw blades at every opportunity, hitting him in the face repeatedly.

Jinn roared, “MAGIC! I SENSE OUR MAGIC! HOW DARE MY KIND GIVE MAGIC TO A HUMAN!” He reached for her, but she continued to dodge him.

“I guess they thought me worthy!” She taunted him.

He reached for her with the arm that still had Nova’s sword stabbed into it. Santa swung by again, this time jumping from the sleigh and landing on that arm. The sleigh flew on while he ripped out the sword and ran up Jinn’s arm. Chase continued to stab him in the face with blades while Santa got to his head and used the sword to chop one horn in half. Then he reached back and went in to push the blade directly into Jinn’s neck. However, he was caught by a swipe of a giant hand and flew backward off of Jinn, crashed into a wing. Krystal Fae caught him and flew him to safety.

Chase flew hard toward Jinn, her blades growing in size as she threw them. Thousands scattered over his body. She aimed for his neck, which forced him to grasp it with one giant clawed hand.

“I see our power has certainly given you boldness. But it is not enough.” He lifted his other hand and his fingers grew to long points, becoming like swords. With a clever smile, he flung that hand at her, releasing these new weapons. Four of the five blades pierced her body. She crashed backward through flying heroes, trees, and ultimately hit the ground.

Jinn leaned over to gloat, ignoring the other heroes, when suddenly his body shook. He gasped and held his head. “WHAT IS THIS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?” He lurched back, now holding his chest. The remaining heroes used this and poured their power out at him. His wings crumbled and turned to ash. The color of his skin became gray. His face leaned over the fallen form of Chase, looking at her. “How...is this...possible?”

Chase, gasping her last breaths, blood trickling from the side of her mouth, “Where do you think my power came from?” She pulled out the obsidian bottle. “You killed yourself.”

“NO...NOOOOO!” He leaned back, his body now exploding and evaporating at the same time.
Chase whispered to the air, “It’s now or never, Quark.”

Strange Quark was already blazing across the skies at Jinn. He stopped before the disintegrating monster and held his hands up. A power flew up and out of the body. The moment it did, Jinn stopped writhing, stopped speaking. He became still and his form floated away on the air like smoke from a fire.

Quark suddenly held his chest and groaned. His hovering turned to a free fall. Halfway to the ground, Santa’s sleigh caught him.

Laying in the back, Quark whispered, “Santa...but I saw you fall.”

Maneki-Neko climbed up to the seat near him. “Lay still. You don’t look well.”