Suddenly, in a different location, large clouds of dust kicked up. The gang had suddenly materialized themselves in the middle of the desert. This must have been Idris' power. The men were ready to take back everything that Mal had stolen from them, but nothing could have prepared them for what they saw when they arrived on the scene.
Mal laid face down in the sand, motionless, with her blood seeping and mixing into the sand. "I-is she-?" Joseph struggled to find his words in the shock. "Dead? No." Zazz reassured. "She's breathing but she's hurt bad." Elwyn rushed over to her side but before he could get to her, he noticed a rope was tied around her arms, legs, and torso. The rope suddenly tugged as Elwyn approached and the unconscious Mal went flying away from him. Across from Elwyn, a silhouette had taken hold of Mal, dangling her from the rope.
"This yours?" a strange man, dressed in tattered clothes questioned. "The little bugger saw us snatch this cart and tailed us all the way out here. She should known what was good for her and minded her own business." The shock had struck the entire gang who, up to this point was certain that it was Mal had robbed them. Now they had to carry the guilt that they had lost trust in someone who had actually put themselves in danger for their sake. The one who had felt it the worst was Elwyn who was now about to explode with rage.
The stranger gave a sadistic smile to the men. "Now unless you lot want to end up like this one, I suggest you turn tail and scurry home." Not a man there was offended by that statement. Inside, they truly felt like a bunch of cowards. However, what went through their minds was collectively shared. "How dare this man hurt Mal like this?" To an extent, they felt guilty that she ended up in this position.
Elwyn stepped forward. Planting his boot into the sand and steeling his gaze on the man holding Mal. "You're going to put her down, leave the cart here and leave while you still can."
"Is that so? I'm not quite sure that you're in the position to make demands sir." With that, the man raised his arm and snapped his fingers. A large explosion sent sand spiraling everywhere. "Elwyn, we can't see! Are you alright?" bellowed Joseph. Before he could respond, the sounds of unsheathing blades could be heard all around them, one after the other. "Zazz how many-"
Suddenly, in the confusion sounds of punches being exchanged, grunts and screams could be heard all over but nobody could see more than a foot ahead of themselves. Worst of all were the sounds of flesh being carved left and right. The sounds all merged to create an awful symphony. The symphony of battle. "There are at least 30 of them surrounding us!" Zazz frustratingly informed them. Elwyn gave the next order. "Huddle up! They're trying to whittle us down!" As he said that an enemy with a short sword rushed at him. The enemy swung wide and high, aiming to slice Elwyn's neck but with a sharp breath, Elwyn raised his fist and shattered the sword almost effortlessly. The sucker punch that followed was absolutely brutal. The sound of bones breaking and cracking stood out from the other sounds of battle. The bandit stood up straight as Elwyn had to pull out his fist which was buried where the bandit's eyes mouth and nose used to be.
Elwyn jumped back and regrouped with his men. As the sand settled shivers went down their spines. Some men threw up while others could only stand there, silent in disbelief. What was a force of about fifty men was now only 20, with some wounded. Surrounding them were only about twenty bandits left. At least that's what they had thought until they saw figures standing on the surrounding cliffs. Their leader, the one holding Mal started talking again. "I'd offer that if you all leave us and we keep the gold then we'll let you live but... my men are getting hungry!Hahahaha!" he cackled along with the other bandits who eyed down Elwyn and his men like they were fresh meat. "In fact, this girl would make a nice snack, wouldn't she? Although, I was thinking she'd fetch a good price as a slave. She has succubus blood from the looks of it. Or...", he then proceeded to lick the blood off of her cheek. "We could wait till she gets older and find... other uses for her. Heheheheh!"Now their blood was boiling. Mal was one of them now and they were ready to fight, to die for her.
"Care to say that again, motherfucker?" Joseph stepped forward, the vein on his forehead was throbbing to the point where it looked like it would burst. "We are not a gang of fighters. Most of these men are honorable thieves. Men who steal from those who are undeserving and give to those that need it. Yes, these men are not fighters, but some of us you see standing here, my friend, are some of the most dangerous demons in the Underworld. Now. If you lay another one of your scum fingers on that girl, what I'm going to do to you, where I'm going to send you. No reaper and no god will be able to reach you there."
The man stepped back, knowing in his head that Joseph had the power to back up his words. "Damn it all! Get these sons of bitches!" The real battle broke out now. The two forces clashed. Zazz focused his core and gritted his teeth. Suddenly his bones grew and bent in a process that almost looked painful. His teeth grew into fangs. His nails became claws and he had become covered in hair. Zazz had become a huge, terrifying beast. About 7 or 8 feet tall. A werewolf. He snarled as he lowered onto his all fours, ready to charge. Joseph's clothes that were tightly wrapped onto his muscular body began to loosen and release a steam-like fume from its openings. In the blink of an eye, the large, burly man that stood there before had been reduced to a twig of a man whose clothes were 4 sizes too large. A powerful aura radiated from his body, however. The sand surrounding his body also began to rise and levitate slowly.
Elwyn took off his trademark jacket, leaving only a black t-shirt. He then rolled his shoulders and fixed his gaze on the man holding Mal. The gang weren't particularly fighters but they readied themselves for battle. Before Elwyn began his attack, he noticed Mal's eyelids twitch for a second. She was awake. Without anyone noticing, her little devil tail had untangled the restraints around her legs. All of a sudden she twisted to face the man holding her, raised her knees and donkey kicked him right under his chin. This sent her flying to the ground behind her. She rolled over onto her feet and started running to Elwyn and the gang. "The little bitch got away! Grab her dammit!"
As she escaped, the 3 men charged into battle to support her. Mal was jumping, flipping and kicking herself off of the bandits to get as close to her friends as quickly as possible but while she was in midair, someone had gotten hold of her rope and yanked her out of the air. "Gotcha-" just then, Zazz in his beast for came barreling through a group of bandits. He jumped onto Mal's captor and proceeded to rip him to shreds. No details required. As Mal regained her footing, Zazz lifted his head from his victim's corpse. His snout was soaked in blood as he gave Mal an awkward, toothy smile. His teeth were also covered in blood. Mal gave him a relieved smile as he cut her restraints with his claws. "Fido", she said happily with a pat on his head. He snarled at her. "Damn kid. Glad to see you too."
Mal was still bloody but somehow her injuries had healed. Elwyn tossed her 2 daggers, something more her size. "Let's make it out of here alive, little one." Meanwhile, Joseph waved over to Mal. Her eyes widened when she saw his petit form. "It's okay! This happens when I use my power! Watch!" Joseph stretched out his frail hand and his eyes went all white. A nearby boulder suddenly started to float. Joseph then grunted as he tossed it into a group of bandits. "Strike!" he exclaimed and he pointed and laughed to Mal.
Elwyn rushed into a group of bandits, all armed yet he approached with his bare fists. As they all lunged onto him, what followed happened faster than most could perceive. Elwyn made quick and decisive strikes into all of the men's chests while avoiding their blades entirely. His movements were firm and certain. While most fight and adapt to situations like water flows, Elwyn's fighting style was direct and certain. It's almost like he could see every opening and exploited them. All of the men's ribcages had collapsed from the sheer weight of Elwyn's strikes.
"That's enough!" The leader of the bandits was furious that his forces were losing to these three men almost effortlessly. "I'll do it my-fucking-self!" As he said that his words became distorted and morphed. His flesh rapidly starting growing like tumors. As they grew they burst with a flesh-like puss leaking out. The puss healed and grew over itself into bigger tumors which would then burst and heal over and over again until the man had become a mass of grotesque flesh.
"All of you are fucking worthless!" Suddenly tentacles shot out from all over his body which was basically a giant tumor now. They swept and rolled all over the ground sporadically. Sand, rocks, and corpses stuck onto the tentacles as they rolled around. He screamed and bellowed as he even picked up his fellow bandits. The next image was truly disturbing. The monster stuffed all of his tentacles into his mouth, licked off the bodies and ate them. Their flesh ripped and their bones crunched and he used them as mere snacks. Somehow, eating all those people made him even more powerful and he grew even bigger.
Elwyn stood up perfectly still amidst the chaos. He held his head down and clenched his fist. His teeth were gritted so hard they looked like they might crack. Whatever this monster did set off something in Elwyn and he was about to explode.
