Lauren was looking up at the bright red ball of light as it continued to burn in the night sky turning effectively turning night into a perverse bloody version of day. Everything had a red hue to it, though as Lauren looked around there honestly wasn't anything for the light to really catch off of. The force of the blast had literally flattened the city of Los Angeles. Though flat may be a bit of a strange term to use considering the ground the were standing on had been turned into a large bowl where once there stood a city. It was flat enough however that she could feel the cool winds coming from the water not too far from them.
All around her there stood faces all adorning the same look that was an equal mix of disbelief and awe. None of them, her included could believe what it is they'd just experienced. From the time she first ever met Leon back when those feral dog demons had snuck into Washington she'd known that he could create explosions with his body. But the red orb that she was looking at was something that, honestly the only comparison to be made was that of a nuclear fireball. Intensely bright, almost painful to look at, in fact the longer she looked Lauren could feel the burning of tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
What caused them though? Was it the pain of looking up at this ball of fire... Or was it caused by a different kind of pain, the kind that was caused by the loss or the uncertainty of whether or not a loved one still drew breath. An arm found its way around her making Lauren jump at first until she turned her head to find that it was Roy that'd touched her. She didn't know what it was about him, maybe her feelings for him, or the fact that although they shared different mothers, Roy and Leon still shared some facial features. Regardless of the reason Lauren's strength broke just then as she turned toward him throwing her arms around his shoulders and did just as Natalia had done by screaming her grief into his shoulder. A benefit that sadly Natalia didn't have, nor would have again if Leon was really gone.
She wasn't the only one grieving however, another voice had joined the wailing, a scratchy voice that Lauren could only compare to a caterwaul. She felt the arms around her tighten protectively as something heavy was thrown making her heart leap into her throat before turning to see what'd happened. When she looked she found Carny was on his knees, his hands gripping his head and hair while tears streamed down his face. Seeing the demon wailing like that only confirmed to Lauren what she already knew but had held out hope against hope that she was wrong. Carny seemed to always know something about Leon, whether or not that was true or just the demons insanity talking none of them knew but what she did know was that if he was grieving as well... He really was gone.
That realization hit Lauren like a freight train as she buried her face back into Roy's shoulder and sobbed until she was gagging herself. Even then she couldn't bring herself to stop, the boy who had brought so much change to her life and had so quickly become a huge part of her was gone. Just simply gone, and this time there wasn't anyway that he could come back.
Lauren continued sobbing and coughing until a voice finally spoke up that made everyone look up at a battered Skorge who had separated himself from the rest of them. He was holding up his arm with electricity crackling around it and a look of triumph was splayed upon his face as he trained his crackling hand at them all. "Any of you still willing to follow me will be forgiven." He panted taking aim at all of them much to everyone's shock. "Those of you who aren't well- you get the point."
"Enough of this Skorge!" Typhon called as he got up on his shaky legs. "Now is not the time for any of this! Can't you see that they're grieving?"
"Oh that's where you're wrong Typhon." Skorge said turning his crackling hand towards the white haired demon. "Now's the perfect time for this. The only two demons stronger than I have gone and killed each other! What better time to take my rightful place than now? I am the Head of the Demon after all."
Lauren was completely shocked, how she wanted to scream. How can he possibly be thinking about still trying to fight a war that he's failed at starting twice already? How can any man or demon possibly be so selfish that they can only think about what benefits them? She would've said as much but before she could the young looking demon that had come with Typhon and Skorge had stood up and was stepping toward Skorge.
"Stand down boy!" Skorge commanded in a venom filled voice as he put his sparking hand directly in front of his face. "I'd like to have a powerful demon like you by my side but I have no qualms in killing you right here and now if you challenge me!"
Lauren could feel Roy tensing up so she made sure to tighten her grip on him so as to keep him from trying to get involved somehow. The rest of them however watched on as the two demons glared at the other, until finally another among them gave voice to the situation.
"I nominate Omen to be Head of the Demon." All eyes turned to see who had spoken to find the small demon Quinn back on his feet and looking defiant as ever.
"I second." Arianna-Gaia said raising her hand with Remus and Doctor Ramon also voicing their favor for the young demon who hadn't shown any reaction at all to the other's declaration for him.
Skorge on the other hand looked absolutely furious, his shoulders were rising and falling unevenly as he breath grew ragged with anger. "Fine." He said lowering his arm and looking away from Omen. But not even a heart beat later he hand was back up and Skorge was screaming. "Then I'll kill you now-"
His declaration was cut off by a pillar of dust and debris flying up into the air as something hit the ground no more than fifty meters from where they all stood. Skorge and Omen both took their attention from each other as they looked over to see what had happened. Once the dust began to settle however a gasp ran through all of them, Lauren's throat closed and a whole new wave of terror began to wash over her as her grip on Roy grew even tighter. Laying on the ground from them in a newly made crater sat Legion.
From where they stood Lauren could see his eyes were closed and that his jaw was twisted in an almost lifeless fashion. They all stood awaiting to see what was going to happen for a very long time, those that weren't in terrible condition all looked ready to spring into action at the slightest movement from the big demon. A long time passed with no movement from the monster, and one by one they all began to relax and let out a breath at the realization that Legion was dead. How could he not be, he was right at the heart of a blast that leveled literally all of the city around them.
All that changed though when they heard a low snarling come from the body and Lauren was completely horrified to see that Legion's right arm was beginning to move. Yet, again her attention was drawn to something else, another even more disturbed sounding snarl coming from her right. She turned her head to see Carny's human skin had fallen away like leaves from a tree in the fall but he seemed different. Something was wrong, Lauren had seen Carny transform enough times to know what he looked like in his true form and this was not it.
Quinn raced over to Carny who was hyperventilating now and steam was rising not only from his mouth but from his body in its entirety. Despite his friends' protests Quinn placed his hand on Carny's head before his eyes gave off a pale green glow. "Don't lose yourself Carny." Quinn said in a strained voice and looked like he was in physical pain. All the while Legion was slowly picking himself back up. "Don't give in damn it! You're stronger than this Carny!
"Your purpose is not lost don't give in!" Quinn still sounded like he was in pain while Carny's eyes had gone a solid shade of red with not a single sliver of white to be seen telling Lauren that it'd finally happened... He'd gone Savage, just like Legion had. Roy saw it too and was putting himself between the Carny and her while everyone else began to back away save for Natalia who seemed completely oblivious to the situation. "Carny!" Quinn screamed his eyes glowing and even brighter shade of green as he lifted the other demon's face up to look at him in the eyes. "Cole! Listen to me! You're not alone, you're not a freak and your not two different people. Your name is Cole. I can feel the wall you made in your mind...
"The wall of thorns to keep your monster caged inside. Take it down!" Lauren's eyes grew wide at that. Was Quinn really telling Carny to not restrain himself? Did he not know how dangerous that was? "Keeping yourself split in two doesn't make you stronger Cole. It makes you weaker! Burn your walls to the ground and save the family that you have left! Save Leon's family!"
Just then Carny's eyes ceased giving off that horrible red glow and were now glowing the same pale green as Quinn's. Legion was back to his feet now and was slowly making his way toward them, gaining speed with every step. All the while Carny's face which had been twisted into an ugly snarl now looked almost serene as he continued staring into the straining face of Quinn.
Meanwhile Omen had also shed his human form along with Typhon but both of them looked like they'd keel over if a breeze came through never mind a fight with Legion. Skorge though still looked like he was overtaken by his anger as he pointed his arm at Legion. "I already told you!" He screamed his arm sparking even more than it had before as his human skin fell away. "I'm the god of this world! And I won't stand for any challengers!"
Skorge let out a roar as more and more sparks danced along his arm but that's all that happened. No lightning had shot forth like it'd done so many times before. A look of panic spread over his face now as he looked at his overturned palm as if to ask why it wasn't happening. Then all at once the brilliant blue light that shown in Skorge's eyes died turning his eyes jet black and now his demon form was the one that fell away. Skorge looked at both hands, fear and panic over taking his anger as he screamed no over and over again. Lauren having studied demons as much as she had knew exactly what was happening.
When a demon's true self falls away and the color fades from their eyes, it means only one thing. They lost their power and had become something that no demon wanted, they joined the ranks of the E-class. A demon who couldn't even take on their true appearance and had no power whatsoever. Skorge had become one of the very things he despised most, he'd basically become human.
But that didn't change the fact that Legion was racing towards them and now they only had two S-class demons to defend them, and neither of them looked like they could handle another hit. But once again Lauren's attention was brought to Quinn and Carny. Both of whom had red rings around their eyes until finally Quinn let out a pain-filled scream releasing Carny's head just as both of their eyes became a solid red. Carny let out a scream as he swatted Quinn aside like he weighed less then nothing. His body became enveloped in a chaotic red aura much like Leon had been, only Carny's looked more like a roaring fire than Leon's had. Carny screamed as if he were in pain his large hands enveloping his head while all the protruding spikes and claws all went from a silver sheen to a charcoal black. Legion stopped dead in his tracks when Carny flared up like that as he let out a scream that much like Natalia's produced a bit of force that sent them all falling back several steps but it wasn't nearly enough to do any damage like Natalia's had.
Legion locked eyes with Carny who had fallen forward on all fours and was glaring right back at the big demon the chaotic aura dissipating from around Carny's body. And in that moment Lauren was scared to even breathe as the two savage demons locked eyes with Carny being the first to make a sound. "Me squash you like bug!" He spoke in a voice that was an equal part snarl as it was a voice. To that Legion let out a thunderous roar which Carny responded to by letting out a bloodcurdling scream as the two of them charged at the other while the rest of them all began to run the other way.
A/N: I'm sorry this is so short guys, My grandmother had a major operation done and I've been taking care of her house while she's away so I hope you can understand why I haven't uploaded.
Anyway's I'm sorry this is so short but like I said I haven't had like any time to work on this. Any opinions on how this 'new' Savage Carny is going to fair against a weakened Legion? And do you think it was a good idea for Quinn to break down Carny's mental barriers that kept his Savage self in check? And what about Skorge losing his powers!?! Or Omen being nominated to be Demon Head?!?
Lemme know down below cause this is the final battle!!!