21 20. Last One Out

Chapter 20: Last One Out

"We have to hurry…Fuck, this place is like a maze! What's wrong?" Johnny and Ororo were currently running inside the castle of Belasco, navigating through its maze like structure, in hope of finding Illyana.

Galahad has given them a chance, by drawing the attention of the lord on him, but they knew that the time they had was limited. Killing any demon they found along they way, the have nearly reached the top.

"Something is off with Galahad…like he is someone else…" Ororo absentmindedly said. She had noticed the sharp look on his eyes and his aggressive demeanor, not like his previous goofy personality.

"Stop thinking about that guy…focus on finding that girl first! We will rescue your boyfriend later." Johnny joked around with her, trying to lighten the mood. In truth, he too, started to regret what he said about the guy, he had proved himself to be useful and not as evil as he thought.

Soon they reached the final floor of the castle. It only had two rooms, one with grant doors, inscribed with golden carvings, while the other was…less magnificent. They picked the second one and opened in a hurry.

It seems that the information Galahad had given them was correct, as they found Illyana in the broken down balcony staring in the distance, where the fight was taking place.

"Illyana! You are safe!" Ororo brimmed with joy as she saw the girl, who had grown up, safe and unharmed. She approached her and pulled her into a hug…or attempted to.

"Don't!…Don't touch me…safe?…If he didn't intervene I would be dead by now…" Illyana pulled back and glared at Ororo, who stared at her in disbelief. The teen knew that her master's behavior has been off lately and she had a vague idea why.

Deep in her she knew that if Galahad hadn't been there to stop Belasco, she would now be long dead or something worse. She hated the man…no what she felt wasn't hate for him.

She was just fed up, the false hope of being rescued all these years, the mental torture she had been put through…combined with her mastery in the dark arts, that fueled her darkest emotions…had made her distrustful and she unconsciously pulled away from anyone that tried to approach her. Still she could clearly tell that the man had just saved her life.

"...Illyana…I know i have failed you…All these years must have been hard on you…" Ororo once again tried to approach her, in return getting a glare from the teen, who was about to retort back.

"I think right now is not the time for a therapy session! We have to go…wait, where are we going exactly? How the fuck are we going back to earth?!" Johnny intervened, seeing that the mood wasn't what should have been, he changed the subject. But a question arose in his burning skull…how could they leave this place, no one had any dimensional abilities.

"I will take us out…I need some time…so help that man…" A feeling arose in her heart that she couldn't quite describe, since it was the first time she had felt it.

"I think he already has all the help he needs" Ororo said, while looking at three figures fighting on the horizon.

---

"I said…Guh!…Get out of here! I got this!" Galahad growled, between his heavy breaths, those words to the man who came to his rescue earlier, Richard.

Belasco had proven to be a formidable enemy, even with two people fighting against him, he stood his ground. Summoning more of those creepy eyeballs to fire laser beams at them, his shield protecting him from any harm, it seemed as if nothing could harm him.

"You almost got turned into charcoal…I don't think you got this." Rider replied. He was currently channeling the Nova force, his body enveloped in an opaque(I think that is a color ;).) aura. His fighting capabilities had improved tremendously as a result, gaining superhuman strength.

He charged cosmic energy in his hands and fired it out, destroying one of the summoned Chaos Eyes, as Belasco had called them…multiple times. For the past few minutes he had been on a non-stop rant of how strong he is and how he is going to pulverize them under his feet etc. Etc. .

Their combined attacks, seemed to work on the demon lord, as it held him from storming off and rushing to the castle, where Galahad knew that Illyana was preparing a gate out of here and back to Earth.

Charging a sphere in his hand he fired out an Eraser Cannon. He too managed to destroy an eye, the rest of his energy smashing on the crimson shield, not even making a scratch.

"I can do this all day! You cockroach bastards." Belasco spewed out those words, that ran like venom from his tongue. Channeling his dark magic, new eyes were summoned and continued the barrage of attacks.

"If I could just use that power…AAAH!" Galahad thought of the ability he had almost unlocked, if only he wasn't blasted away, he was sure with the strength he would gain…he could easily beat that demon bastard.

He tried to push himself, like before but the feeling wasn't coming, he only wasted his precious energy. He was angered to the extreme, that he couldn't even land a single strike on his enemy…he felt powerless and this infuriated him.

"But I don't have all day! So die!…Avatar Of Chaos, come forth!" With a series of hand gestures, Belasco guided the Eyes Of Chaos and combined them into a single amalgamation.

It was similar to a giant octopus, with purple, slimy skin. Its size though was in no way the same, as it reached the height of a small building. The most disturbing feature of it was the eyes that ran through its whole body. And they all stared at them, as they glowed.

The avatar's size didn't imped its movement, it rotated like a spinning top and charged the two of them, while firing beams along the way. It was like a Bey-Blade of death!

Richard evaded by flying into the sky, but Galahad refused to back out, as rage had once again clouded his judgement. The octopuses whip-like tentacles, landed on his body, but surprisingly they didn't trow him away.

It was as if his body had turned into a steel pylon, unmoving, as he grabbed one of the tentacles with his bulged arms and pushed every inch of muscle he had to the limit. Snapping and cracking sounds were heard , as he strained his body but he didn't feel any pain.

In his wrathful state, Galahad, was like a wild beast, he wouldn't stop until he killed every moving target around him. And so under the immense stress, he managed to stop the avatars body from rotating…but the beams got to him.

Landing on his defenseless body, they made him lose his grip, the octopus breaking free. He stumbled a few steps back and growled.

"What…how are you still standing?!" Belasco was losing his mind and patience. The Avatar of Chaos was powered by the very dimension they were in, like him. How was it possible for a man that was almost dead a few minutes ago, to not only recover but become several time stronger.

"Damn…maybe you do got this. Haha!" On the other hand, Rider laughed and enjoyed the sight of the bewildered demon lord. He too firing his beams on the devilish creature.

Soon the avatar was overwhelmed and its ethereal body started to dissipate. Galahad opened his mouth and charged a energy sphere, an attack that currently was only possible in his current state and he fired!

"No! My avatar! It seems I have to get my hands dirty!" Belasco screamed in angered and a long axe appeared in his hands. All this time the demon lord was fighting from a distance, no one expected for him to also be a close quarters fighter.

Dashing in, he appeared before Galahad, who was was recovering from his previous attack and raised his axe high, bringing it down in a fluid motion, that indicated his mastery over the weapon.

"Galahad!" Rider tried to block him, but the distance between them was too big for him to cover and so the slash connected, a fountain of blood spewing out of Galahad's back.

The man screamed, not from the pain though, but from his anger! The strike had reached deep and blood flowed out, yet that didn't seem to slow Galahad down. He threw out a combination of punches and kicks, that were blocked Belasco and only made his injury worse.

The pain wasn't registered by him and yet it fueled his emotions that were currently overflowing. His aura was powered up to the maximum and his body was already past its limit.

"Just die already!" Parrying his attacks, the demon lord countered, opening another deep gush on Galahad's chest. This time bringing him to his knees.

Richard arrived and intercepted Belasco, buying some time for Galahad, who was currently fuming, with a face twisted from his wrath. He started pounding on the ground in frustration, losing himself completely.

"aaAAAH!….AAAAAH!…*CRACKLE*…*BANG*" And the door opened, this time completely for him, a loud explosion that broke the surroundings and caved in the ground in an area of 1 kilometer.

Belasco and Rider stopped, flying into the air as they stared at the cause of the destruction. Debris were falling from the sky, settling to reveal a transformed Galahad.

His body had enlarged, becoming at least twice the size. The eyes were with no iris, just the white of the pupil, an indication that he had completely lost control of himself. And his hair…his hair was flowing in the air, as his aura affected the surrounding gravity and now had completely changed color, becoming a golden one! With hints of green and so did his aura.

"How is this possible…his power! It can't be!" Belasco couldn't believe his eyes, as the golden haired man locked his beastly gazed at him and charged in supersonic speeds, sonic booms echoing in the distance.

---

"Its ready!…Call them back!" *BOOM*…*CRASH* Just when Illyana created her portal the sound of absolute chaos came from outside the castle, followed by the ground quaking.

A figure came flying inside the room and crashed onto the hardened walls, that cracked and crumbled onto, what seemed to be the victim of a vicious attack. They all approached to find out who it was.

"Gah!…My head! What the hell happened to him?" The rumble moved and revealed a hurt Richard, grabbing his bleeding head and asking himself. He was sent flying by Galahad, who in his enraged and transformed state couldn't differentiate between friend or foe.

"Huh?! Rider? What…how are you here?" Johnny recognized the man and approach to help him up.

"John…Ororo?…We don't have time for a reunion…Galahad he…" Rider too recognized the people in the room and tried to warm them but the words wouldn't come out.

"What?! Galahad…what?! He is dead?!" Ororo grabbed him by the shoulders and asked in worry, she felt that it was her fault he was mixed up in this mess. So if he died, his life would be on her hands.

"Die?…No…the opposite, he is beating that bastard to a pulp as we speak…but he has lost his mind! *CRUSH*" Rider exclaimed, as another crushing sound was heard and they all rushed to the balcony to see what happened.

---

*POUND*…*POUND*…Galahad couldn't hear, see or feel anything. There was just one word in his mind, destroy! A word powered by his rage and killing intent. And so his fists came down on an already disfigured Belasco.

"Yiu…blastieard!" The demon lord spoke those words through his broken teeth, as he let out a crimson wave, that pushed Galahad back by a few meters.

This gave, Belasco just enough time to cast his healing magic, restoring his body back to its former self. He breathed heavily staring at the man…no, the beast that was hunting him down and cold sweat formed on his back.

Suddenly the beast's body twitched and it's body stumbled a few steps back, as it clutched it's head, while giving a thunderous roar.

"GRAAAA!.." Galahad was having trouble controlling the overflowing energy in his body, that threatened to burst him into pieces. He threw his head back and condensed a sphere on his mouth, the ball expanded and burst into a beam that flew into the sky. It was as if a beacon was lit up, that could be seen from miles away.

Belasco didn't waste time and took out his precious locket, staring at it, he clenched his teeth and regretted his decision to delay the ritual. If only he had sacrificed her earlier, he thought…if only he didn't appear.

And so he pinched his finger, a drop of blood landing in the middle of the pentagram. In response a thin line, barely seen by the naked eye, flew into his head and a similar pentagram was engraved on it.

"Now…Chthon…lend me your power! AAAH!" The surroundings were thrown into chaos, on one side Galahad was venting his overflowing energy…while on the other Belasco had summoned forth forbidden powers, that had given him control over the energies of chaos.

Galahad closed his mouth and kneeled on the ground, he had reached his limit. The power he had gained had strained him and if he pushed even a little more, his life was on the line. If only he had more control over it, who knew the limits he could reach.

Still he stood up and face the now fully devitalized Belasco, whose horns had grown and skin became a tint more red. Also his eyes, battled Galahad's, not in ferocity but in the evil pressure they excluded, having been turned fully crimson.

"This is your end!" Spoke Belasco, pointing forward and releasing a beam attack of unimaginable powers and destructibility, as cracks in space itself had started to appear.

Galahad lifted his head and in his kneeled potion raised his trembling hand, his hair started flickering, turning back into the previous black they were. His eyes still white, a grin appeared on his face as he watched in defiance the incoming death of his.

But in the last second, he felt a tag on his arm, as he was dragged into a portal that brought him out of harms way. Just before closing his eyes, due to the immense exhaustion, he saw Illyana intently looking at him.

---

"Now! Jump through! Belasco is coming!" With the unconscious Galahad in hand, the team rushed to the portal.

Illyana used her last bit of energy to rescue Galahad, almost getting herself killed in the process. She wasn't sure if she could control her power…but it somehow worked out.

"Where do you think you are going?" A voice that seemed to take their breath away rung out from behind them, Belasco had arrived!

"Go! I will hold him off!" Rider jumped and channeled the Nova force, attacking the transformed demon with all he had. His strike landed on the lords face, who didn't even budge.

*SPLIET* A hand pierced through his chest, along with his beating heart. A fatal strike was easily dealt.

"Go…" Was the last words they heard before they jumped into the gate. In their minds the knew that the life of the one Centurion of the Nova Corps, had come to an end.