Asylum

The Dragon VS. the Reaper

Soon, Ren finds himself on the defense instead of the offense. He uses his fire to try and distract her, but it doesn't seem to be working too well. When one of her blades connects with flesh, ripping across his chest in a thin gash, Ren retaliates by sweeping his foot up and creating a great line of fire. She's forced to retreat, giving Ren time to assess himself. His white V-neck is torn, and from the tear, red blossoms from his skin. He takes a deep breath, narrowing his eyes into pure venom before he runs for Reaper. The two go at it again.

While I'd love to just sit here and watch the show, I have an escape to aide. Sarah's cuffs take their time undoing themselves, but they do let up. My heart leaps to my throat when they fall to the ground, and I fear that Cerberus might've heard their clacking.

But as Ren blocks one of Reaper's knives, he jabs her in her mouth as she slashes at his side. Ren steps back to avoid the blade totally sinking between his ribs, but between Reaper's grunt and Ren's brief shout of pain, there's no way anyone would pick up the sound of a measly pair of cuffs.

I look over to Kya, who weakly sits at the edge of her seat, chewing on her lip. Reaper and Ren dance, making near-death almost looks elegant. But I can't help but feel like Ren is missing something. Sure, the vengeance and justice is there, but I mean he needs a weapon. Reaper has the daggers and Ren has fire, but I've seen his dojo. I've roamed the halls to calm my mind when I get in my own head, and the numerous katanas hanging on the walls didn't hide from my vision. Perhaps he'd fair better with one?

Next to Kya, Alistair watches the match with disdain. Malice makes itself present in his unforgiving grimace. This would've been fine, if the glaring was directed at our opponent instead of Ren. I don't know what his deal is with the Dragon, but Alistair needs to get over himself – Ren is putting himself on the line for us. Even if I hated him, I would still be grateful for this.

Meanwhile, Reaper deliberately tires Ren out. She's been trained in this kind of work for years and years. Her stamina is better, her agility is better, and her strength is more concentrated. From here, I can see Ren panting. While I've been working on Sarah's cuffs, Ren's collected for wounds, each a bit worse than the last. He's losing the energy to defend himself, let alone get in a hit.

In a killer move, Reaper sprints to Ren, suddenly veering to the right and dashing up the wall. She vaults off like a catapult, and in an epic stance, manages to dig the heel of her head into Ren's temple. He stumbles backwards, head slamming into the wall behind him before crumbling to the ground like a fold-up chair.

Satisfied, Reaper back away, but keeps her black eyes on Ren in case he acts again. Kya gasps as he sinks to the floor, sheer terror radiating from her. Alistair smirks, but seems to realize what he's doing and covers it up.

Ren hears Kya and his eyes snap to her. He drinks up her expression, eyes picking apart every inch of her face with a different attentiveness in him that I've never seen before. When he finally pries his eyes away, I see a new determination in his set jaw. Strained but successful, he stands. I don't think Ren has a second wind, but he's mustering up the very last of his strength in his last efforts

Quickly, I train my new power on Alistair's cuffs. Part of me wants to leave him here; he's the one who sold Kya out to the Reaper, no doubt. But then again, he's also the one who told us Kya was kidnapped and came down here to help. I owe him at least that much.

Ignoring the battle, I solely concentrate on the metal restraints, willing the locking mechanism to work itself open. Too easily, it comes undone. With a start, I understand it's because those cuffs weren't from Supernatural Detaining; they're standard. I could believe that Reaper made a mistake when she put them on, but seeing her today and hearing all about her, I highly doubt that. Therefore, I'm forced to assume that Reaper didn't want Alistair's powers stripped away. Why? When his power is to teleport anywhere he's seen, why would she want him to do just that?