Fight or Die.

"Give her back!" Kai had shouted, mustering his strength against the alien pain that invaded his body he stood on his own and reached out to the flames, both Andrew and Ava were on the ground in states of shock and even unable to stare at him, they had no idea what was happening, but then all of a sudden the feeling of hopelessness that had brought them to their knees ceased and the flames vanished. 

Looking up, they found Kai standing and staring at a young man who was holding his wrist, glaring at him. 

"Kai, was it?" The man asked, staring at the marks on his face and arms as they slowly subsided and then disappeared. "That's enough." 

"Is it another one of those monsters?" Ava wondered, already seeking the brick from before, but as soon as her hand rested on it a blade rested on her neck; a tall blue blade made of some kind of energy, humming and pulsing against her skin. 

"Stand up," The woman holding the blade stared down at her, she had black eyes with hair of the same colour and she was wearing the same uniform that the man confronting Kai was wearing. 

"Hwaaah!" Andrew squealed like a girl when his head was lightly shoved by the barrel of a large cannon-like gun. "What the hell!?" He stared at the tall man wearing strange and fitted armour; it looked like something he had seen somewhere before in some Sci-Fi movie, it looked unreal. 

"What's going on here?" Kai looked around at the two of them and then at the one holding his arm again. The flames had gone, and the creature as well as Susana had gone with it, his anger at that point had hit and spilled over a boiling point he wasn't even aware he had. "If you don't start talking-" 

"Kai!" Ava shrieked attempting to run towards him but failing when the woman who was at her side grabbed her hand. 

With just a light press of his palm against Kai's stomach the teen was sent flying across the street, his feet did not even touch the ground, it was a clean blast to the gut that blew him through the door of the house parrallel, knocking him unconscious instantly. 

"Stay still i said!" The woman holding Ava's hand furrowed her brows dragging her back to her side as many times as she tried running to him.

"I thought you said you were gonna kill him," The man with the gun to Andrew's head commented, unveiling his mask and revealing himself. "Shin," He called again. 

Plain from head to toe, he wore glasses like Andrew did, with brown hair and eyes; his every aspect, was generic. 

"I know, that wasn't even me," Shin responded, looking at his hand with his forehead creased and his brows furrowed. "As soon as I reached for my blade, Madarin took control of my hand, I meant to kill him where he stood," He explained. 

"Why would the wolf save a Vessel, he's been on your ass for two whole weeks about the urgency of killing them." Tami, the one who held on to Ava's hand raised her brow while the fourth member of their squad; Yui, walked past them towards the house that Kai had been sent flying into. 

"I intervened, because he opposes Hél."

"He opposes Hél?" Shin repeated the words he heard in his head and then looked over to the house as well. "Madarin, what does that mean?" 

"The Vessel has potential, he holds a grudge with The Red One and all his Hosts." 

"I thought that the whole deal with them was that they didn't have a choice, what's the point of keeping him alive, he's weak, fragile, he'll just be a hindrance in our fight and a liability." Shin retorted, from everyone else's perspective it was especially weird, they could not see, nor could they hear the Voice of Madarin, it was like watching a schizophrenic patient speaking to themself and responding to whatever voices they were hearing. 

"Keep him for now, teach him how to survive; A vessel against the Red One may prove to be better than a Dead one," The wolf retorted matter-of-factly, leaving the man no choice as he could already feel the backlash of his few seconds of possession. 

"He wants us to keep him," Shin looked at his friends and Rai sighed and raised his gun, holding up his hand as the whole weapon tucked into itself and retracted into his sleeve while the rest of his armour did the same under his clothes, ending by turning into a watch on his left hand. 

"That sounds like a recipe for disaster," Tami clicked a small switch on her sword and theblade fizzed out of sight leaving just the handle which she easily stuck in a small band around her waist where several other similar-looking mechanisms were stored. 

"Here," Yui came and dropped an unconscious Kai on the ground before them, and before his body could even ragdoll, Ava slid to him and cupped his cheek hugging his head to herself and staring up at them. 

"I don't know what you want with him, or who you are, but I won't let you-" 

"They are from the Cloud Nation," Andrew cleared his throat and knelt next to her and Kai, taking a chilli snack from his backpack and sticking one of them in Kai's mouth. "Right?" He looked at Rai. "I knew they existed but to see them with my own eyes is pretty cool, they have technology thousands of years ahead of us." 

"Very few people know about us," Rai stared at Andrew, seeing Kai wake with a cough while the teen adjusted his glasses and stared at him. "How did you-"

"I was born there," Andrew admitted and the four looming over them raised their eyes and glanced at each other. 

"What happened?" Kai sat up, holding his stomach and wincing. 

"Hey, listen, my friend thinks you're useful alive, but I am convinced that you're better off dead," Shin loomed once more staring at Kai who defiantly glared back up at him. "What say you, Kai?" He asked. 

"How am I supposed to answer something like that?" 

"You crazy bastards," Ava sneered. "Stay away from us." 

"You don't seem at all fazed that you were just in the presence of demons and Hél's gate, do you?" Tami seemed amused after she asked. "Not to mention, you just saw two people die, who do you think the crazy ones here are?" She asked. "I still vote we kill him, and this one too, I don't like her face," Tami scoffed. 

"Under who's authority, what are you even doing here?" Andrew attempted to get up again but was stopped by Rai behind him. 

"Here's the deal," Shin shook his head. "Forget everything and everyone else, you should know by now that the devil wants your soul and body to possess, I think you should die so your soul leaves your body and renders it useless, it's the sensible thing to do, but a rather powerful entity seems to think that you could be of use, and I generally listen to him since he's easily one of the most powerful beings alive," He rested his hand on Kai's shoulder. "If you can prove to me that you're worth keeping alive, I'll spare you and take you with me back to the city in the sky." 

"Why would I ever-" 

"it's either you take this deal, or we kill you right there, right now," Yui retorted before kai could fire off his rebuttal. 

"That pretty much sums up all you need to know right now, so speak, Kai, what is your answer, will you fight for your right to live, or die and be done with it?" Shin asked.

"Kai..." Ava grabbed his hand, "This could be some kind of trick-" 

"I promise, if I am pleased with his performance I will take you along as well," 

"Kick his ass, Kai," Ava went serious so quickly that her face seemed to change entirely. 

"What's the point?" Kai asked, slouching forward. "Susana..."

"The girl next to you is the point, if you die then we have no choice but to make her disappear along with you, him too," Rai pointed at Andrew. 

"They have nothing to do with me, they're nobodies-"

"The fuck they are; these two were willing to die for you just a mooment ago, I say that qualifies them both as somebodies, don't you?" Shin chuckled, standing and walking to the middle of the road. "Make up your mind already, Kai," He gestured seeing the teen stand up and walk out before him after glancing at Ava and then looking at Andrew. 

"...I'll fight."