Mastermind

The wind whirled violently as the sphere around Lily grew larger. From within the sphere, she appeared to be struggling to keep things under control but she couldn't.

"Sir! are you sure about this? Things are not looking very good. I would like not to die just a few weeks from my promotion" Cynthia yelled over the wind.

The intense power of Lily's aura broke through the concealing magic that shielded Mr. C and his subordinates. Ronnie looked in their direction.

"Is that—" Ronnie said, holding back his words to confirm.

"We've been spotted. Well, it makes no difference. You shouldn't be so doubtful Cynthia. Remember, believe me" Mr. C said. He wore a confident smile which reassured Cynthia and the rest of his subordinates.

Out of the blue, Zen started to laugh Maniacally.

"Yes! Yes yes yes yes! This is the power I know. She's not at full power yet but this is her power! This is the power he promised me and I shall take it" Zen frenzied.

Mr. C shot him a serious look. Asides Mason, the other four of his subordinates wore a puzzled expression on her face.

"Remove the talismans" Mr. C said.

"Sir?" Dylan, a bespectacled teenager asked. He was the youngest among the bunch.

Just as he was about to respond, Ronnie came limping towards them.

"What the hell is going on, Mr. C?! What is he doing here?! and what's happening to her? she'll level the whole town in no time!" Ronnie tried to catch his breath as he talked.

"Oh my, so many questions. I wonder which to answer first" Mr. C said. He smiled.

"You're so full of shit! You're putting the whole town in danger!" Ronnie yelled, his eyes widened.

"You sound just like him, even though you hardly knew him. The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree" Mr C. said.

Before Ronnie could process what he said, or give him a reply, Dylan had finished taking off the talisman and Zen charged at Lily. He had assumed his true form. Ruby coloured eyes, horns on both sides of his head and a physique that told of his experiences in war.

Ronnie had no time to react to what had just happened.

"Why do you fight it? You've been holding back ever since you came to the human realm haven't you? Let yourself go, do it!" Zen said. His eyes moved in a diabolical fashion.

Zen majestically walked into the sphere made of aura. He was siphoning off Lily's power.

"so— this was your plan all along?" Lily struggled to speak while trying to hold it all together.

"Samael and I made a deal, yeah? If I lured you to the human realm then all your powers would be mine. I could do whatever I want with you" Zen said, standing behind Lily and stroking her hair gently.

Lily couldn't react, she tried to maintain her focus. She whimpered as a teardrop rolled down her face.

"Zen, you— dare to tr—eat your queen like this?" Lily said.

"Queen? That's cute" Zen said, stroking the back of her neck this time.

Ronnie tried to get to her but Mason held him back.

"Lily!!!" He yelled.

"Why do you try so hard?" Zen asked with a mischievous look on his face.

Lily keep silent, her eyes roamed.

"Oh? it's that boy, isn't it? He's the reason you're trying so hard?" Zen asked. Lily gave him no reaction.

"It's true? Ha! you've taken a liking to a human child. This is quite entertaining" Zen cackled.

"Stay— away. Don't touch him!" Lily said, clenching her teeth.

"How about this? I'll kill him when I'm done snatching your powers. Of course you'd die due to the soul tie and all, but I would already have gotten what I wanted" Zen whispered in her ear from behind.

"You monster!" Lily yelled. Her focus had finally broken. A dark glowing light covered her, afterwards it turned red.

Josh trembled at his hiding place, he was sweating bullets and incapable of speaking due to not being able to process the things he saw.

"Uhm, Chief. It's happening already!" Cynthia yelled.

Mr. C said nothing to her.

"Let me go! I promised to protect her! Let me go this instant" Ronnie struggled while under Mason's restraint.

Mr. C looked back at him and flashed that nonchalant smile that Ronnie hated so much.

"Let the boy go" Mr. C said.

Without so much as a question, Mason unhanded him and he ran towards the scene.

"My gamble will pay off. I'm sure of it. Restrain the demon" Mr. C instructed.

"Sir!" they chorused.

Ronnie ran into the sphere, totally ignoring Zen.

"Lily! You have to keep it under control!" He yelled. The wind and lightning made it hard for him to even hear himself.

"Get— get away from here. It's too late. get away from me, Ronnie!" Lily commanded.

"If I do that, then I'll die anyway. I promised to protect you. Remember?" Ronnie said.

Ren stood with a devious smile on his face.

"Futile effort but this sure is entertaining. I'll give you that. However, you should get out of my way now" Ren said.

The moment he raised his arms, he was held by energy chains produced by Cynthia. The chains left Zen immobile.

"Silly bastard humans!" Zen yelled.

Ronnie paid no attention to what happened in the background.

He pushed through the strong wind that tried to pull him away from Lily till he got to her.

"Ronald! get awa—" Lily said but she was interrupted by Ronnie grabbing her waist and kissing her. Although Lily resisted for a moment, she gave in, closing her eyes and kissing him passionately.

Mason covered Dylan's eyes with his hand

A bright glow radiated off Ronnie. A beam of light was shot in the sky. It mixed with the red colored aura radiating off Lily and the weather began to clear. The winds became less violent as the moments passed.

"He's— stabilizing her," Cynthia said.

"That he is, but my gamble hasn't paid off yet." Mr. C said.

"Chief, there's something bothering me. The kid's aura attracts those phantoms. With this burst of energy, all the phantoms will be attracted to this very place. Wouldn't that be bad for us?" Mason asked.

Mr. C turned to him and gave him a smile.

"Except that, you were hoping for this very scenario" Mason talked slowly as he realized the Chief's plot.

"You sure took your sweet time in figuring it out, my boy" Mr. C said.

"The chief is one scary man. I'd never want to cross a man like him" Mason thought. He wore a look of amazement on his face.

Zen continued to bask in the combined auras of both Lily and Ronnie. He tugged on Cynthia's aura chains as he became stronger in order to awaken them.

Ronnie and Lily broke the kiss. They looked at each other with distressed eyes.

"I feel — weak" Ronnie said.

"It's Zen. He's stealing our auras. I feel diz—" Lily passed out with her head on Ronnie's shoulder before completing her statement.

Ronnie strengthened his stance, he felt dizzy too but he wanted to provide support to Lily.

The beams of had disappeared, so did the sphere and Ronnie's aura. Zen had stolen too much of their auras away. He broke Cynthia's chains almost too easily.

"I feel so powerful!" Zen cackled maniacally. He had grown more massive in size.

Although Ronnie tried to stay upright longer, his consciousness faded, both him and Lily fell to the ground, with her landing on top of him. Subconsciously, he cushioned her fall.

Zen turned to Mr. C and his subordinates.

"I suppose I'll deal with you now, before taking the aura of every single living thing in this town" he said. His voice sounded thicker, more gruff.

"Sir. What do we do?" Dylan asked.

"wait for my orders" Mr. C said.

Cynthia, Dylan, and the other members of his team had already taken battle stances.

The weather which was previously cleared up, had turned dark again, dark enough that it clouds blocked out the sun.

The trees began to shake violently, car alarms started to go off, a cold wind strong enough to move rocks blew.

"They're here" Mr. C said.

Over a thousand phantoms invaded Zen's body, one after the other.

Zen screamed in horror, holding his head with both hands. The voices had started to drive him insane. The phantoms were being attracted to Ronnie's aura which Zen stole.

Mr. C kept a nonchalant expression, while his subordinates expressed different emotions. some looked amazed, others looked horrified.

Despite the wind and everything, despite his trembling legs, Josh was making his way over to Ronnie and Lily.

"I don't understand anything, but as much as I'd like to run away, I can't leave them here. I'll take advantage of that monster's distraction." Josh thought as he pushed his way through.

Zen had stopped moving and gone quiet. He clenched his fists tightly.

"It finally stopped. We have them all now. At a single point. We're taking out two birds…with a single stone" Mr. C said. He took off his trench coat and tossed it aside.

"boys and girls, it's show time" Mr. C said and grinned.