Rooftop Rumble

Corinth leveled his shotgun and fired. The thunderous roar of the gun cascaded over the entire rooftop, the flash from the muzzle, a brief lightning strike. The Templar flipped the gun around, reloading it much the same way The Terminator did in the movies and aimed it back at his target.

The blast hit her in the chest causing the Empusa to stumble back a step. She growled in response and lunged forward, propelled with a newly gained speed from her wings. In a flash, she had closed the distance and was in striking range. When she took her swipe, Corinth wasn't there. Only a faint red haze of where he once stood.

Haste was a hell of a power. It allowed him to move faster than humanly possible, but only in short bursts. Short bursts that came in handy when evading fast moving demons. Once he was out of range, he turned and fired again, sending another blast into her left shoulder, removing bits of flesh in the process.

"We can end this now without one of us dying. I can put you back in the bottle, but at least you'll be alive," he said as he flipped the gun again.

She turned back to face him and growled. "To live in an eternal prison? I'd rather die!"

She lunged again, moving faster. Corinth shot, but she managed to strike the gun away, deflecting the bullets away from her and knocking the gun from The Templar's hands. She grabbed Corinth by the throat, lifted him up, and then slammed him down on the roof, forcing all the air out of his lungs in the process.

"You should feel privileged. Not many humans have lasted this long against me and when they couldn't kill me, they locked me away. You will not live long enough to do either." She lifted him up again and tossed him across the roof. "But first, I want your heart pumping. I want it engorged with your fear."

Callista began running towards Corinth with a look of predatory hunger in her eyes. He had other plans for her rather than becoming her dinner. As she drew closer, and he tried to get his breathing under control, he opened up his right hand as the red aura outlined his body. A yellowish light filled his hand and then shot forward as a beam of energy as bright as the sun. The blast sent Callista tumbling away from him and screaming in pain. Rising to his feet, he pulled Powel and Loy from their holsters and aimed them at her.

The sound of an approaching helicopter drew his attention. It hovered above the building for a few seconds. Long enough for someone to jump out and land with a mighty slam on the roof. It was Magdalena holding her Soul Ejector with both hands. The helicopter flew away once she had landed successfully.

"Oi, reckon ya could do with a bit of 'elp, mate."

"How'd you know where I was," he questioned her, focusing back on the Empusa.

Magdalena smiled and took up her position beside Corinth. "We 'eard there's this phantom horse gallopin' through the city, innit? Thought to meself, there's only one bloke daft enough to pull a stunt like that. Then, I just followed the blinkin' lights, didn't I?"

"Fair."

The Empusa rose to her feet, her hair blazing brightly in the night sky. All expression from her face was gone except for anger and savagery. All she wanted was to kill these two, everything else could wait. She wouldn't be happy until all their insides where scattered across the city and their blood drained into the sewers. A fitting end to the ones that have caused her misery since she was released from her containment.

Magdalena charged ahead and swung her hammer. Still partially dazed from the sunbeam attack, Callista took the full force blow to her side and with a crack, went reeling away. Not wanting to give her time to recover, Magdalena jumped toward her, bringing her hammer down with both hands as if the demon was a nail. But the demon was gone. Vanished.

"Where'd she scarpered off to? Vanished into thin air, like a bloomin' ghost!"

Callista sat off to the side, holding her injury and breathing heavy. She was invisible. Using the time to catch her breath and come up with a plan. She could simply leave, but that wasn't an option for her. If she didn't kill the Templars now, they would keep following her and making her life miserable. They had to die tonight.

The Empusa moved slowly around the two as she watched them looking around for her. The one with the hammer stayed her guard, but had no clue where her enemy was. The gunslinger kept looking around, aiming his guns in every direction. He also had no idea where she was. The Empusa smiled as she slowly stalked forward to Corinth. If she could take him out now, the one with the hammer would fall easily next.

Holding Loy out in front of him and Powell to his right, Corinth looked for signs of any movement. He knew the Empusa wouldn't have given up so easily. Her pride was wounded about as much as she was.

"I don't see her anywhere," he called out to Magdalena. "I think she may have gotten the better of us," he said as he holstered Powell. Then, he turned his head all the way to his left and looked at Callista face to face. His eyes were fully silver in color and he brought Loy around, pointing at Callista's head. "Just kidding," he joked, pulling the trigger at point blank range.

The shot forced Callista's head back with a jolt that knocked her out of her invisibility. Corinth's eyes returned to normal as he cancelled the See Invisibility spell. A spell he hardly ever used, but was invaluable when he needed it.

Callista recovered and shook the stars away from her vision. She let out a defiant scream at the Templars and her orange flames burned brighter. "Enough of these games! I will eviscerate you and swallow your souls as well as your hearts!" The Empusa dashed forward once again with renewed determination and strength.