Return of the Pyromanic, Part 2

"Look out!" Jamie cries as she tackles me to the ground, the fireball whizzing right over my head. I was too busy trying to formulate my greeting to Mikey to notice the attack flying right towards my face.

"Th-thanks!" I stammer.

"I know this would happen, Luis!" Austin snaps as he constructs an assault rifle out of his glowing orange Cursed Power and aims it at Mikey, firing volley after volley of Cursed Power bullet Mikey's way, -Austin's aim perfected thanks to his visor- who returns fire with a few fireballs of his own, which Austin dodges by rolling behind some barrels to cover. Austin then pokes the barrel of his assault rifle above the tops of the barrels, and returns gunfire.

"Mikey, we just want to talk!" I desperately cry as I push myself off of the ground.

"I don't…think that Mikey wants to talk to us, " Jamie sadly replies as she stands up as well, but I ignore her.

"That's the problem, Luis," Mikey replies as he holds his hand up and creates a fireball in his palm, illuminating Mikey's face, which is far more rugged and battle-weathered than since I last saw him. "I don't want to talk to you."

Mikey then flings his fireball my way, and quickly, I draw my katana and slash right through it.

"I will never forgive you, Luis!" Mikey shouts as he tosses another fireball at me. This time, I use my wind to deflect the fireball and knock it away.

"I don't care who may forgive you, what your reasonings are, or what promises you keep!" Mikey continues as he aims his palms behind his back, which begin spewing a steady stream of flames.

"Is this about Nick?" I ask, causing Mikey to cackle madly in response.

"Of course it is!" Mikey cackles as he uses his flames as an exhaust to fly towards me.

"That man was like a father to me, Luis, and you killed him!" Mikey roars as he brings up his right fist and coats it in flames.

"He was like a father to me, too!" I reply as I bring my katana up and coat it in a tornado.

"I can control my demon powers now, it won't happen again!" I continue as Mikey's Fire Fist and my Wind Blade clash.

"I don't care. I don't care about you anymore. You are nothing more than just my enemy, everyone is…" Mikey growls as he struggles against my Wind Blade.

"Then I'll just have to bring the old Mikey back," I reply as I struggle against his Fire Fist.

"That Mikey is no more!" Mikey shouts as the two of us leap away from one another.

Mikey and I then prepare our next attacks, but before our brief exchange can escalate, Jamie shouts; "Adaptability: Iron Gauntlet," and punches Mikey in the back of his head with an iron fist, causing Mikey to drop to the ground on his knees, like a sack of potatoes.

"Sorry to interrupt your squabble," Austin says as he aims his Cursed Power Shotgun at Mikey, which then morphs into a net cannon. "Gunsmith: Net Cannon!" Austin shouts as he fires his net cannon at Mikey, which wraps around the man, keeping Mikey trapped with his arms bound to his sides.

"This can't hold me, you know," Mikey says to Austin. "I'll just burn right through it."

"I know," Austin replies. "You and Luis just bicker a lot. And it gets annoying after a while."

I take a step over to Mikey, who's entire body ignites on fire, burning straight through Austin's net cannon with ease, then standing up to face me.

"What did you come here to talk about?" Mikey asks as his flames extinguish.

"The Cards of the King are making their move soon. So we're here to recruit you in order to stop them. If we don't stop the Cards of the King, they'll open the portal to Hell and the world will be doomed," I explain.

"So basically…all of y'all are too weak to stop the Cards of the King, so you're here begging me for help?" Mikey asks.

"Uh…you can put it that way if it makes you feel better," Austin answers.

"We need your strength, Mikey," I reply. "You're one of the strongest dudes I know, and I need your help to fight alongside us in this upcoming battle."

"Plus, if you can beat King in a revenge match, then you prove that you're stronger than Nick!" Jamie chimes in. Oooh…that's a good one! That's gotta get 'em!

Mikey lets out a long, drawn out sigh, and slumps his shoulders as he stares at the ground.

"So what's your answer, Mikey?" Austun asks.

"Fine," Mikey answers as he tilts his head up and stares at me. "I'll do it. But not because I care about helping ya'll or the fate of the world, or anything. I'm doing this because it's mutually beneficial for me, and as she said, I get a rematch against King."

"Great!" I answer as I perk up a bit.

"Just remember. We are not squadmates, we are not rivals, and we're certainly not friends," Mikey replies. "We're not even allies. I'm only joining you for my own sake, and nothing more."

"That's…good enough," I reply with an awkward chuckle as I nervously rub the back of my neck. Was…recruiting Mikey even a good idea?

"When are we facing them?" Mikey asks.

"Meet at the Slayer Organization Headquarters, I guess," I answer. "This Chairman will understand, you should be allowed in there."

"Fine. I'll be there. Give me all the info then," Mikey grunts as he turns around and slinks into the darkness.

"Is that…our cue to leave?" Jamie asks.

"Yeah…let's get outta here…" I sadly answer as I turn around and begin walking out of Mikey's shed, with Jamie and Austin following after me.

***

"Alright, we recruited Mikey, so where are we even facing off against the Cards of the King, anyway?" I ask the Chairman once Jamie, Austin, and I are back in his office. Ella and Grover are still out searching for Grover.

"Wow, you did?" The Chairman cries as he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "I didn't think you would, to be honest…"

"He had no faith in us!" Jamie snaps.

"No, no, it's not that, it's just-" the Chairman cuts himself off. "Whatever, it's not important. You will be confronting the Cards of the King at the only location where we know for sure that they'll be, the Temple of the Almighty Torch. Normally, I'd rather you confront them before they get to the temple, but they've already changed locations since we've last seen them, and we don't have time to find them again."

"Where is the temple, anyway?" Austin asks.

"I and only I alone know where it is. Well…and the previous Chairman before me, as well. Not even the dozens of guards stationed outside of the temple know where they are," the Chairman answers. "My men will escort you to the Temple of the Almighty Torch. You six will meet here tomorrow."

"You seven!" A voice exclaims, and I turn around to see Grover teleport into the room. Ella and Daniel then step out of the wormhole as well.

"Daniel!" I exclaim as I turn around to greet my buddy. "It's been a while!"

"I'm glad to hear that your training went well, Luis," Daniel replies. "It's nice to see you again."

"And who is this?" The Chairman asks me, causing me to turn around and smirk at him.

"An ally that'll be joining us on this mission," I answer. "Trust me, he's strong."

"Sure, whatever, invite some random man into my office," the Chairman sighs as he rubs his forehead.

"So now for my second question," Austin chimes in. "How do we know for certain that the Cards of the King will be headed to the Temple of the Almighty Torch tomorrow?" Austin asks.

 "You kids are in this deep, so I may as well tell you everything," the Chairman begins to say. "You know the story about how demons used to rule the world, until the first ever half demon created a realm known as "Hell" and sealed the demons away?"

"Yeah, but I thought that was a story?" Grover asks.

"No, no, it's real," the Chairman answers. "Before the half demon died, he wrote a book called the "Necronomicon," a book that we have sealed away in maximum, maximum security in the Slayer Organization's vault, which details everything there is to know about Hell. The Portal to Hell can only be opened when there is enough Cursed Power in the atmosphere, due to more and more demons seeping through the cracks in the small portals of Hell, and entering Earth. We have entire teams dedicated to measuring the amount of Cursed Power in the air, and tomorrow is the first day in centuries that the Portal to Hell will even be able to be opened."