5 5 M A G E

HARLEY COULDN'T GET ENOUGH FUN out of the gullible competitors who believed his lies about the bogus location of the human car--their beloved prize, Johnson. It was unnerving how he easily erased the tracks of the car and remade the exact tire marks to a different path altogether. Thanks to his cards, he thought, they'd misdirected almost all the other teams. Almost. He couldn't do anything for the lot who went ahead before he could even make the trap. His gild would have to take care of that.

When Gatotkaca threw him far to catch up ahead, he was boggled about the whole contest but when he heard the rumbling and roars of their competitors, he realized how serious it was winning this competition and it would not be fair to his gild if he did not pull out his best cards. So for his first magic trick he performed his 'track deception' which gave his team a huge start up ahead. He was expecting to be hailed and worshipped later for being such a genius.

He smirked as he teleported to catch up faster to his teammates but before he could skip further, a robot clashed into him, missiles flew from his arms and being foolishly unprepared, he used his right shoulder to take the damage full on.

The smoke from the impact hurt his eyes while he backed up, throwing cards aimlessly. He was promptly carried up and thrown on the ground but unlike Gatotkaca, it was anything but gentle. Harley breathed hard because this was not a fighter like Alucard, who cold as a deadly winter he may be, held back and took it easy on him---no, this was a fighter whose sole mission was to eliminate him completely.

He vanished, leaving his hat, teleporting behind his enemy to give himself a little time to concentrate. He remembered his old man getting on his case because he was not practising his ring of fire enough. It was still too weak and needed more damage. Lesley said it was because he had no intention to kill because to kill someone is to succumb to infinite rage.

They were on a deserted area, sand was everywhere and the heat was in his favor but so was in his enemy's. A laugh broke out as the robot turned around, his missiles about to launch once more. And it was not the robot's laugh but the little girl's who's riding on top of it. "Is Jawhead too strong for you?" She giggled which made Harley feel terribly abashed. Was he about to get beaten by this little girl?

He imagined Angela's reaction if that had been the case. She would not pass the opportunity to criticize him and probably call him weak for the rest of his life. And he did not want to be called weak, not ever.

He felt the anger rising from the pit of his stomach, the fire flickered in his hands until it burst into flames. He pointed it at Jawhead and the girl who stepped back, dazed. A ring of fire surrounded his enemy, more majestic than Harley had seen it but he knew it wasn't enough. He threw his sharp cards toward them, some catching fire, embedding into the robot's hard steel. He was going to kill him. He wanted to.

"Huh? Why is there so many bad guys?" The girl asked.

Harley stopped. "You're still a long way of beating me." Then he vanished, leaving the wounded robot behind. He could hear them whimper as his ring of fire closed in, inflicting more pain. That would take a few days to heal but he was too mad to care. He finally understood the intention of killing and it was like an old friend wanting to rekindle their friendship. He welcomed it with open arms. He had not felt this way since he last had an adventure at the Land of Dawn.

"Harley get down!" It was Lesley, she sat on the ground holding her wounded and bleeding arm. A spear appeared above his head and then it was gone as he was pushed away by a more wounded Alucard who amidst all the chaos was smiling like a demon.

"May the blood of my enemies flow from my spear!" A tall man who was dressed like a king held his spear up to deflect Alucard's blows. For a commoner, he'd see nothing but a blur of clashes but to Harley he saw how skilled both fighters fought and so precise, it was too complicated for him to do the math.

He teleported beside his sister before the sky darkened. He could not see anything at all nor could he hear anything but the beating of his heart until his sister screamed.

"Lesley!"

It came for him as well, sharp claws slashing his back making him teleport back to where he left his hat. The darkness slowly cleared and he rushed back to his sister who apparently didnt need much help. Angela had attached herself inside Lesley and formed a shield to protect her from the dark creature with sharp claws and a poisonous tail. Her golden coils wrapped around the monster as Lesley continued to shoot it at close range.

But then there was more. A dark-skinned woman, draped with a long sash on which ends wrapped a crescent moon and a sharp star, joined the clash. He countered by conjuring another ring of fire to slow her down but she was too strong and they were too wounded. Angela continued to heal them and the effort was appreciated but it wasn't enough.

At his peripheral, he saw a glint of red nestled behind a cacti and a stealthy girl wearing a hood adjacent, approaching slowly. His heart raced while his mind debated to go or stay but there was no time to dwell on anything.

"Alucard!" He screamed, pointing at the hooded girl. Alucard's response was quick; he sidestepped, missing the king's spear by an inch and jumped at the girl. But the girl had been prepared and just as Alucard jumped, she threw a smoke bomb on the ground, slowing Alucard down and proceeding to cut him with her blades.

Damn it. Harley cursed as he threw every last bit of his cards at the dark-skinned woman and the ugly creature. Alucard was going to get killed and the fool probably wouldn't know how badly wounded he was until he's dead. Scratch that, they were all going to die. And soon.

With a tinge of hope left, he finally heard what he'd been wishing to hear--a backup. It was a beautiful shout and the ground trembled for the beholder. Standing before them was Gatotkaca, glorious and bloody; arrows pierced his back and there was a mighty slash at his arm that had probably been from an axe or a huge sword. He passed a look at him which he understood completely.

"I am LEGEND." It was spoken with great vigor and deep-seated courage.

Like a true King. Harley thought as he rubbed his hands together, using the last ounce of his magic to vanish once more.