Adonis flew towards Nero, dodging the flaming bones of the snake. Nero tried to grab something, anything as he was free-falling through the air, towards the fiery mass coming towards him. Suddenly they all fell down back to the ground.

Forthright stumbled out of his shield, head pounding and ears ringing. Blood seeped out of his ears and nose, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was covered in ash and blood, coughing, wobbling, refusing to lose to a criminal.

A metal ball was not a smart idea to cushion a fall, but Forthright wasn’t thinking straight, letting his anger control him. He wobbled through the wreckage, searching the sky for his foes.

A giant piece of the snake dropped right down next to him a few feet away, blasting heat on him. Forthright didn’t flinch as pieces fell from the sky around him. His years of training in the military had served him well and steeled his spirit and heart.

Another stray stop sign, his weapon of choice, stuck out from the ground at an awkward angle. The metal ball lost its shape as Forthright focused on the stop sign, and metal collapsed behind him. The stop sign rose out of the ground and came towards him slowly as if being dragged on the ground by some invisible, reluctant hand.

He had lost too much blood, and he was too weak, but Forthright wasn’t deterred. The few remaining officers came over to Forthright, waiting for their orders.

“Kill him. Kill him and be done with it. This town won’t be standing if he continues.”

As the officers tried to get gawkers to leave the area, Forthright picked up the stop sign and placed it between his legs, as if it were a bicycle. Curious onlookers watched as Forthright walked right up to a building wall, steadied his breathing, and closed his eyes.

Once he caught his breath, he shot up in the air, like a wizard.

His jet black hair was no longer kept down by his hair gel, as he had to sweat it all out, causing his hair to whip erratically around him. His speed increased as he flew up, perpendicular to the building wall.

“You’re not going to win," yelled Forthright. “This is my town."

He dodged the raining glass, fire hydrants, and hubcaps, gripping tighter onto the stop sign pole as he pushed through the pain in his head.

Adonis was relieved for a moment as the snake’s burning corpse stopped working its way upward towards Nero, but then he realized it was coming towards him. Bracing for pain, he tried to push most of the flaming wall away from him, giving him an opening, and he burst right through.

Hope soared in Nero as he saw Adonis coming to save him, but Forthright was trailing right behind. Nero outstretched his hands to hold onto Adonis, and the force of his fall pushed them down, tumbling off of him and falling again.

He screamed Adonis’ name over and over, falling back down towards the asphalt.

Adonis swooped down to catch him but he missed and Forthright focused on the wall of metal in front of him and pushed it upwards once again.

“This is it,” Forthright bellowed. “No escape!”

Nero’s legs and arms flailed as flew towards a fiery death. A faint voice could be heard in his ears, but he couldn’t make it out, as the source was too far away. The faster he fell, the louder the voice got until he could hear it clearly in his ears.

Stick out your left hand, said Unas. Stick it downwards.

Desperate and confused he held out his hand and the sword flew right into it. Forthright used his ability to push all the metal upwards, including the sword, and unwittingly sealed his fate. Warmth spread through Nero’s chest as the familiar rush of power and anger grew within him.

His skin turned dark and fangs burst from his mouth. His dirty hair was now a large bonfire, blazing in the wind.

Nero opened his mouth wide and spewed flames, destroying whatever wreckage came his way. Forthright stopped, floating in mid-air, as he watched the man in front of him emerge as something worse, something obscene.

Nero opened his mouth wide, and a horrible sound emitted from it.

Adonis flew away as fast as he could not wanting to get close to whatever would happen next. He landed on a nearby build and slowly returned to his human form, only leaving his wings remaining. Standing naked and afraid, Adonis watched as the madness unfolded in front of him, the same trauma of the wedding repeating over again.

Forthright turned around and flew for the ground as the fires around him soared into the sky. They blended, creating multiple vortexes, swirling and converging into one point. Forthright coughed and strained to see through all the smoke and fumes.

One of the fire whirls made its way towards him and Forthright relaxed letting his mind release from the strain of flight. He fell backward, narrowly dodging the fire.

Clutching onto the pole, Forthright shook in rage, crying in anger that he had let down the people he swore to protect. He thought he was a coward, but knew he couldn’t win.

In one last attempt at survival, Forthright tried to remember his training.

He flew downwards, the taste of metal and ash in his mouth overwhelming his senses. Forthright shuddered as his eyes twitched from the overstimulation in his brain, and he started to cough up bile and spittle.

Copying the flight maneuvers he learned in the Air Force, he twisted and turned in a downward spiral, flying around the flaming vortices and trash in the air. Forthright held on, coughing and gagging on the smoke and ash as he plunged towards the ground. His arms went limp the moment he knew it was close enough to let go.

He let go.

Forthright fell towards the park, hoping that one of the trees would break his fall. His guess was correct as the few remaining trees helped to stop his tumult back down. With every scrape of the branches he felt as he fell to the ground, Forthright was grateful he was still alive to feel such pain.

Forthright fell to the ground and crumpled. He crawled on the grass and found the stop sign, now bent and the giant STOP no longer attached. He grabbed it and used it to help himself stand up and steady himself.

Forthright rubbed the blood and ash off his face as he made his walk of shame through the park. He heard the same howling from before, an entire year ago, and looked up into the sky.

He’s a demon, thought Forthright. Like the demon Kema, that Ahana fought after he created the universe.

Unlike Kema, Nero couldn’t be trapped under the sea. Nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted, and if anything came in his way he would burn it down and swallow it whole.

Nero rose higher into the sky swallowing large flames into his mouth until the sound had finally stopped, and the only things that could be heard in the distance were sirens.

The air was still as ash fell from the sky like snow, and Forthright had once again lost two more partners and had very little to show for it. Narrowly escaping with his life, Forthright couldn’t kill Ace’s doppelganger, but he knew he could at least kill Ace.

He sat underneath a tree, its red bark reminding him of blood, and he passed out thinking of a way to win a one-sided grudge.