Danny clambered up from the hole to find a scene of extreme destruction before him. It made him feel sick again, again making him feel ashamed and weak. He ran through the madness to Emma who was tending to Arainrhod. It was horrifying to think that Mack had done this. Her wrist had been completely wrecked. Danny knelt down, introducing himself to the goddess. "I'm Danny, she'll take good care of you," he reassured.
Chris got his well deserved thanks for helping, by getting completely thrashed about. Now not only was Mack attacking the league, but Kwan Yin was also gone. His day couldn't get any bloody worse. He looked around, until he spotted Jacob. Here is somebody he could use. He ran towards him. "Young man," he said. "We need you mate. I sawhow you and Mack were, no judging. You are the one who can reach him, before he kills all of us." He turned looking for the. bitch who was behind all of it. He sent a spell at the main entrance, hoping to hit Kwan.
John was unsure of what to do. Unlike the others he wasn't particularly baffled by Mack's hidden identity, not so much because he saw it coming, but more because it made perfect sense, so it didn't take long to process. However, Kachina was not really like he imagined. Fuelled by Mack's rage, this new identity started to make true on the prophesy. Images were soaring through his brain, he was filtering all his past experiences, looking for the solution to this enormous problem. Kwan Yin had to die, that was something that he was sure of. Kachina had to be stopped right now, or she would tear this whole place apart. Mack had to live, or Sophie would die inside. Then he found the memory that should have been triggered the moment Mack lost his temper. The link was so obvious that he didn't understand how he couldn't have seen it sooner. Then again... it was a very long time ago. "Mack, I know you're still in there, so stop this madness." He completely ignored the battle going on as he spoke to him. Ignored the heroes he looked up to their entire lives dropping like flies. He focussed on the one man who could do something about this. His tone was no-nonsense and showed quite a few similarities to the tone Jacob had used when he scolded them after the first mission. "What'll you do when Sophie comes limping out of that hole in the ground and watches you cripple her closest friends?"
Arianrhod looked up at Sapphire and Danny with caution, but when she was certain they were allies, she let them examine her wrist. "That boy is strong," Arianrhod said, looking over at Mack. "I won't be any good for the rest of this fight. Where is Silhouette?" Chris' spell flew out the open factory doors and hit nothing, but there was a wispy trail of reddish gray sand on the docks that was leading straight to the large black ship that swayed on the ocean. Strong-Arm and Hat Man were having a hard time fighting Mack, who's fighting skills far surpassed their's. Mack spun and danced and weaved through all of their attacks, moving so fast that it was hard to track him. Finally, he grabbed Strong-Arm's leather round shield and threw him at Hat Man. Hat Man turned into a shadow and Strong-Arm flew straight through him, tumbling all the way across the factory and slamming into the wall. Hat Man turned solid and swung at Mack with his hunting knife, but Mack blurred behind him and kicked him in the back. Hat Man cried out and dropped to the ground, spasming in pain. "Stay down," Mack told him in a powerful tone. When John spoke to him, Mack gave him a piercing look. "Silhouette is dead. I saw it myself. Now, are you going to try to stand in my way or move aside?"
Sapphire raised her hand and heard a crash of glass. The blue bag she had packed from Steeles came from inside Nyrs ship, and crashed through a window before settling in her hand. After opening it, she gave Arianhood a bottle of water, and 3 Tylenol. Then she wrapped a around her wrist and told her to hold it in place.
Jacob put the last of the ninjas to sleep, ensuring they wouldn't leap to their leader's aid, then ran towards the fight. "Mack! Stop, please! Sophie's alive! You don't have to do this!" All this time, he could sense the story happening, could smell and taste it. All this time, he knew someone was playing them, was lying to them. It broke his heart to think it was Mack, the first person in a long, long time he'd opened himself up to. "Mack, please, just stop this."
Chris felt helpless. There was nothing they could do. Kwan Yin was going to escape, or else Mack was going to destroy the world, or something. Then he noticed the trail of sand, leading to the docks. He knew that he couldn't take them on himself. That would be suicide. Unless. "Sapphire," he ran towards her. "Can you sense invisible people. We need to stop Kwan before she escapes."
"Jacob's right Mack, Sophie's alive. A bit shaken up, but she'll be fine. I don't know what you thought you saw, but your eyes can decieve you. Sapphire, the new guy and I all saw her plain as day. Nyr's still down there with her, go and check if you don't believe me. I'm not sure what'll happen to her when she sees you like this though. You're not thinking straight. Letting rage blind reason. Think about this, when was the last time you called Sophie 'Silhouette'? I agree that Kwan Yin has to die, but not like this. I won't let her destroy you with her final breath."
Jacob shot a glance at John. He disagreed about Kwan Yin "having to die," but the important thing was quelling Mack's rage. He walked towards the young doctor, allowing himself to fall into range of those iron fists. "Please," he implored. "Don't become the monster she wants you to be."
Mack turned to Jacob and a confused expression came over his face. "Jakey?" he said in his regular voice. He blinked and his eyes changed from shining white suns to his normal brown ones. "I'll stop, okay? I'll stop. I hate to see you so worried." He walked up to Jacob and hugged him. "I'm sorry if I scared you. It's just...Kachina. She's so powerful. I lost control. It's...it's like a drug. One minute I was on the ground thinking about how Sophie was dead and how I had to kill Kwan Yin, and then I felt this power explode from my chest and fill my whole body. It was overwhelming." Outside, there was a deafening roar, like a giant lion. Kwan Yin's ship was turning away from the docks and four huge engines were sticking out of the back, which was the source of the terrible noise. The ship was obviously tricked out with hi-tech attachments. Kwan Yin was clearly visible on the deck, turning a steering wheel with her one good hand. Soon, the ship would blast off and leave them all in its dust. All of the League of Heroes was hurt or unconscious. It was all up to the un-retired heroes to save the day.
Sapphire looked up at Chris, considering the options. "I guess I could, I mean-" her voice broke off suddenly as they sound of the ship reached their ears. "Come on!" She said panicky to Danny, as she pulled him outside. Sapphire threw her hand forward as if throwing a baseball, and all her darts "darted" forward towards Kwan. "Danny! Can you fly Nyr over there?" She said rather hurriedly.
John was glad Jacob managed snap Mack out of it. That only left Kwan Yin though, and even if Jacob didn't agree, his mind was made up. The memory that came back to him was the day of his mother's death. He was forced to run away, but tracked down whoever did it that same evening. He took the biggest gun his little hands could carry and stormed into his dining-room. He was just bragging to his friends over dinner about the great catch of that day. Unarmed. John killed them all. He was twelve years old at the time. He was never sure if he made the right decicion back then. He always believed that there were people that shouldn't be alive, but killing them in a fit of rage was not the right way to do it. Maybe, him doing it at all was not the right way to do it. But he did. And from that moment on, he was a gunslinger. Whether he liked it or not, that's who he was. However, there was no need for Mack to become one too. He'd already started walking outside, believing the situation inside resolved, when the sound of roaring engines blasted through the docks. The boat was leaving, and the old hag was getting away. Well, not on my watch. John squeezed his eyes to get the best possible view and took a deep breath. When he released it, a bolt from his Space Warrior's gun flew straight at Kwan Yin and, more importantly, at the steering wheel.
"Of course I can," Danny attempted to soothe but the worry in his own voice was mounting. The blood bath had paused but Danny still didn't feel fine. His coat was stained with blood and to his dismay, bile. When Emma was scared she was just scared and it forced her into action he, on the other hand, would cry like a goddamn baby. Nyr barely seemed to feel fear and if she did it was converted straight into fighting power. Would Nyr even want has help? And I've got to work out how to carry her. Back when he was in the league, rescues for him were often of small children, though the odd adult did come up too. Danny looked back at Emma, hoping that she had the answers.
Oh shoot, Chris thought to himself, when he heard the engine start. Luckily, Mack was back, for the moment. Chris ran outside. He saw John beside him, firing at the wheel and the old woman. He raised his wand, aiming at what he hoped was the engine, and fored a spell that will blow it to smithereens.
Jacob smiled and squeezed the younger man tight in his arms. "I know what it's like to have someone else's voice in your head," he said. "We'll get through this." The noise of the ship snapped him out of the moment. He frowned, not having any weapons or abilities to take Kwan Yin out long range. "Nyr's ship," he said suddenly. "We can catch up in that."
Nyr sighed when she heard the rumbling of engines. The sound was… odd. Didn’t take her long to realize that wasn’t her ship making all that awful racket. “Why,” she muttered, “why is it always me?” She activated the holographic bracelet on her wrist, bringing up the command console for her ship’s autopilot. No signal. Oh, right, she was in the basement of a goddamned factory! Great! “Stupid, useless, good-for-nothing earthlings…” Nyr went from English to muttering curses in her native tongue as she struggled to stand. "Why can they not just let me rest? Have I not done enough for this stupid rock?” She crawled up the rubble and out of the hole in the floor and stretched her hand toward the rafters high above. The holo display on her wrist flashed three times, then read ‘link established, authorized user verification initiated.’ “You owe me, humans. You owe me big time,” she said to anyone near enough to hear her. Nyr tapped out a few commands on her control device. The sound of Kwan Yin’s ship was soon joined by the rumble of another set of thrusters and then the familiar sensation of gravity getting weird. Utilizing a manual override and the admittedly small display screen on her wrist-mounted controller, Nyr was able to remotely pilot the ship. It lifted off, scraping the ground as it struggled to get aloft on such short notice. There was usually a warm-up period, but she just threw it in gear and sent it skyward, throwing caution to the wind. The belly of her ship grinded along the factory roof, rattling the lights and sending wisps of old dust falling from the rafters. She lined it up with Kwan Yin’s rickety old rustbucket and slammed the throttle forward. The sound was dreadful. It rattled the walls and blew out windows all across the shipyard. Three of the engines belched out columns of bluish-white flames, while the damaged fourth engine instantly exploded, blasting a hole in the factory roof as the ship rocketed forward at immense speed, headed straight for Kwan Yin’s ship like a kamikaze missile.
Hearing Nyr's ship zoom straight for Kwan Yin's, Danny gave Emma a shrug. Presumably he was no longer needed for whatever she had in mind. A few ninjas were still around, slipping away fast. Its like they know what's going to come. There's very little chance that Kwan Yin can survive this. But then again, we're dealing with someone super old. In the lull Danny breathed deeply hoping this would be the end. "So what shall we do now?" Danny asked waiting for the impact and his hand itching for hers.
Jacob winced against the roar of the alien engines. He instinctively pulled Mack to him. He watched the spacecraft zoom after Kwan Yin's vessel. "Well, I was thinking we just chase them, but, yeah, that's an option."
Kwan Yin was hit by John's gun in the back. She arched her spine and screamed and a second later Ripoff-Ron's spell hit one of the back engines and it exploded in a shower of brilliant red sparks, causing the whole ship to jerk to the side. Kwan Yin topped across the deck and lashed out with her chain before she fell overboard, the blade stabbing into the main mast. And then Kwan Yin saw and heard Nyr's ship coming. Her face contorted into a furious scowl and she let go of the chain, letting herself fall into the ocean. The two ships collided and debris flew in every direction. Smoke and fire exploded into the sky. When everything settled, Mack gently separated from Jacob, giving him a quick kiss on the neck in the process. "I don't think she's dead," Mack explained. He blinked and his eyes turned blazing white again. When he spoke again, another voice was talking on top of his, a powerful female voice. "I'll make short work of her." Suddenly, Mack became a blur and was standing outside on the docks in the blink of an eye. He stood there for half a second before an ancient bony hand reached up and grabbed his ankle. Mack calmly grabbed Kwan Yin's wrist and threw her over his shoulder. She landed roughly behind him, gasping for air. "I will have my revenge," Mack growled. He kicked Kwan Yin and the sound of cracking ribs filled the air. He kicked her again and again, and she screamed every time. He was about to snap her neck when two police cars arrived, screeching to a stop in front of Mack. The police officers got out of the car and yelled for him to get down on the ground. They were still reaching for their guns when Mack blurred behind them and started to fight them, smashing two of their heads together and taking one of their guns to shoot the last two in the chests. Then he dropped the gun and blurred back to Kwan Yin, the blood on his face making him look all the more fearsome. "ENOUGH!" Silhouette had climbed out of the hole in the ground. She was shaking and could barely stand, but she was glaring intensely at Mack. "I said enough," Silhouette repeated as she staggered forward. "This is not who you are. Don't let Kachina control you." Mack did not listen. He continued to beat up Kwan Yin, throwing her around like a ragdoll. She tried to fight back, but Mack easily countered all of her moves, and even broke one of her legs. Silhouette reached him just as he was about to snap Kwan Yin's neck. "STOP!" Silhouette screamed, grabbing his arm. Mack reacted instinctively, throwing Silhouette off of him. She landed ten feet away and coughed up blood. "Sophie?" Mack asked. He blinked and his eyes turned back normal. "Yaaahhh!" Kwan Yin screamed. She lashed out with a secret knife that she pulled from her sleeve and cut the back of Mack's legs. When he screamed and fell to his knees, Kwan Yin jumped on his back and stabbed him in the neck. Mack covered the wound with his hands, but he couldn't stop the blood. He fell on to his side and stared at Jacob until the light left his eyes. "I win," Kwan Yin slurred. Then she collapsed and turned into a pile of sand in the shape of a body.
John stood there at the docks, motionless, helpless, and perhaps for the first time in his life, speechless as he watched Mack’s downfall. He’d had half a mind to shoot Kwan Yin when Mack was kicking her like that, kill her off so Mack couldn’t, but Kachina’s movements were so fast that he couldn’t line up the shot. His heart broke when he saw that kind-hearted doctor shoot two officers down who were no match for his strength and speed. It burst when he threw Sophie away, and when he died, everything went cold. He slumped over to Sophie and sat down next to her. The spark gone from his eyes, no smile or grin covering his face. Not even tears flowing from his eyes. He’d seen great men fall and good men die before, but never like this. Never did it hit home so hard like it did now. He sat there, saying nothing, waiting for the moment Strong-Arm would walk in and comfort her. Surely, he’d know how.
Chris looked at Mack's limp body. They had won, they had stopped Kwan Yin from escaping, stopped Kachina from taking over Mack. And yet, they had lost Mack. After blowing one of the ship's engines his power timed out, but even if it didn't, he was quite sure Ron didn't have the talent to fix that kind of wound. But maybe there was a way. Over his life he had been soldiers, doctors, maybe for a short time, but the memories were still there. Surely he could do something. He racked his brain, and went over to Mack. One knee pressed to his groin, Chris removed his shirt. He tied it to Mack's thigh, tied it to a crowbar nearby, and turned it around, over and over. Once he stopped the bleeding he checked for pulse, hoping he wasn't too late.
Danny joined Chris, desperately looking for a pulse. The look Mack had given Jacob confirmed that he had died as Mack rather than the turbulent spirit that consumed him. The Mack who cared. The real Mack. Danny wanted to scream and wail like a child but instead he sobbed for everyone, all the blood, all the death. "Emma!" He cried running to her. All he wanted is not to be here and away from all the blood.
Silhouette was staring at Mack's body, as still as a statue. Without looking at him, she whispered to John, "I knew it would not end well. It never does." There were no tears in her eyes. Her face was hard, carved from stone. She was cold and emotionless. Arianrhod struggled to her feet and helped Strong-Arm stand up. Sharpshooter grabbed Hat Man's arm and slung it over his shoulder to help him walk. All together, the League of Heroes walked to Silhouette and stood around her. It was Strong-Arm who spoke first. "Sophie," he said in a quiet, gentle tone. "You don't have to be strong. You can break down. We're your family. We won't judge you." "I have no family," Silhouette said in the softest whisper, her lips barely moving. "Not anymore." "You know that's not true," Sharpshooter said, tears running down his face. "You always have us," Arianrhod reminded her. Silhouette stood without replying, wobbling on her legs. She had to lean on John to keep upright. "Could you put his body in one of these police cars?" Silhouette asked softly. "I want Kiamo Ko's body, too." "Anything you want, sweetie," Hat Man replied. He turned to shadow, glided across the ground, and rematerialized next to Mack. When he picked him up, Mack flopped in his arms like an oversized doll. His eyes blank and glassy. Lifeless. Arianrhod levitated back into the factory to find Kiamo's body. She was so weak that she could barely fly straight. She kept bobbing up and down like a lazy bumblebee. "I would like to thank the retired heroes," Silhouette said in a louder voice. She looked around at all of them, a fierce look in her eyes. "You answered the call. You helped me when I needed you the most. You've gone above and beyond. I will never forget you." "Why does this sound like a goodbye?" Strong-Arm asked, his eyes filled with tears. Silhouette did not answer. She avoided his eyes and stared at the ground.
Danny stood by Emma, all his muscles tensing and untensing fast. He felt like he was going to faint, his head feeling high above his body. This isn't the end is it? "W-will there be a funeral?" he asked. He had to go. To both of them, as both were his friends.
Sapphire stood ridged and oblivious to the world. Mack and Kwan Yin...dead? She shook her self out of her daze, and took Danny's hand. What will happen to us? We can't just....walk away from this! Sapphire opened her mouth, preparing to talk, but a flurry of movement caught her eye. Whipping around, she saw the last ninja throw a ninja star, directly at Danny's throat. It was if time had slowed down, Emma stepped forward, blasting her last razor into his throat. Feeling triumphant, she turned around. It was a nano second later that she remembered she stepped in front of the star, to intercept it on its course with Danny. Reaching up almost in a daze, she felt the blood pouring down from her neck, and the star embedded deep inside. "Danny!" She screamed softly, crumpling to the ground.
