Zita's Garden

Vita's henchmen made it to her back yard, where they were told to go. They would look around, wondering what to look at, since they didn't know why they were out here.

Henchman 1: Uh, what do we do?

Henchman 2: uh. I dunno. Maybe we should wait for something to happen.

Henchman 3: You mean, stand around like idiots? Good idea.

Even if that was sarcasm, the fact of the matter was that it was still what they were going to do, anyway, at the end of the day.

The henchmen had no idea how long they'd been waiting in Vita's garden, waiting for something to happen. They'd grown bored and tired, especially of there being nothing going on.

Henchman 2: So, what do we do now?

Henchman 3: Keep sitting around like idiots!

Henchman 2: Good idea.

Henchman 1: Like hell it is, you goons. I think she was just trying to get rid of us, or something.

Each of them pondered that notion, finding it completely rational and feasible. Yet, in spite of that, what didn't get accomplished was anything of any importance. No matter how much all three of them put their heads together, nothing got done, and the Garden remained barren.

Henchman 1: ... Maybe we should go ask her how this place works.

Henchman 2: Good idea.

So the three of them decided unanimously to go confront Vita about her garden and what exactly they were supposed to be doing about it or in it.

"Uhm, I don't think so," some feminine disembodied voices shouted out, their whispers reaching the ears of the Valparaiso Denizens, collectively swirling about their heads and in and out of their ears. Before them, out of vaporous streams of collective particles, some rather dark womanly figures came and rested in front of them as physical manifestations of all the energy around them, in different elemental forms and configurations at the moment. They became blockages to them as they each tried to walk out into the streets. "That is not what Vita said, I don't think." They looked around and giggled at each other, like they knew something. "Why don't you just have a seat?" Each of them looked rather fiery eyed and determined to keep them in place.

Stumped, the three dubious henchmen all looked at each other somewhat dumbfounded when these beautiful(?) women suddenly appeared out of nowhere to stop them from doing something important. None of them had a clue how to handle it, so one of them acted out completely purely impulsively as a reaction to being halted from his desires.

Henchman #1: Uh, whatchu mean 'NO'?

The other two, inspired by the bold statement from their comrade also felt empowered to speak up, as well, to support him.

Henchman #2: Yeah, no one tells us what to do!

The third henchmen stood in the background and looked menacing, making intimidating faces.

Henchman #1: Get out of our way, or we're gonna hafta MAKE you!

He pounded his fists together threateningly, then shook one of them vigorously at the one that looked like the leader. "Besides, Vita hired us, so we can do whatever we want to get the job done!"

Henchman #3: Don't interfere!

The three of them took a battle pose, looking like they would really mess someone up, and quite on purpose.

As ready to scrap with the three brutes that Vita hired as the Fae that knew her were, their respect for her authority outweighed their intent to partake of mischief. These three particular Fae -- who were Witch sisters -- had known Vita since times of their youth, so they already had this sort of relationship with her. "You got it, Mistress! These guys aren't worth it, anyway." They each turned their noses up to the three henchmen and turned to their boss-lady that had the scoop for them this time. They were accustomed to reporting to Vita because of her nature as the Head Witch of this land, so it was common for all of them to both report to and take orders from the Mistress here.

The Fae awaited the instruction of their leader with anticipation, since they were eager to lend a hand to their Head Witch, just like old times. They missed those times with Vita when they were young, so now this was like a chance for them all to go around town and get into mischief, as Fae were prone to do naturally, especially the more mischievous of them.

The three henchmen once again found themselves dumbfounded at the fact that there was another group of people working with Vita as hired henchmen, especially because they were Fae. "Cahoots!!" The henchmen cried out with a relative unanimity, all feeling somewhat foolish for not realizing it. "Besides, those are those witches that ran us out of the city. They are probably nothing but trouble." This was the genuine word spoken between the trio as they discussed their disdain between each other.

Yet, knowing that they were more than helpless and were certainly not going back to Hell again, the Valparaiso Denizens did as their Mistress who hired them commanded them and joined the Fae women in alignment before her, awaiting their orders. "W-well, it's not like we really have a choice. They w-won't do anything to us anyway." Secretly, they were terrified of what the Fae would do because of all the mystical powers that were beyond the knowledge of the Valparaiso Denizen henchmen trio. "W-we're at your service, dood!" The henchman chuckled nervously and they all grinned.

A 12 point star alignment etched itself in the ground and glowed at one of the points.

At that point, the Taurus Spirit was able to manifest before Vita

A 12-point star etched itself into an alignment on the ground with one of the points aglow.

At that point where the light glowed, the Taurus Spirit was able to manifest in the area before Vita.

El wasn't too far behind the steps of Vita, and he didn't emerge from the darkness of the interior of her castle until after she had gotten her henchmen, and women, to straighten up before her. Like a stalwart sentry, he stood to her left side, slightly behind her, with his arms behind his back and his hands clasp to his forearms, standing at attention.

He looked upon Vita's ragtag team of misfits, but didn't say any words about them. Truthfully, at a fundamental level, he was the same as them. A being fit to obey Vita's instruction, though with a bit more degree of freedom than they. After all, she had just granted him leave, but he decided to remain with her.

Vita, who had it in her mind what needed to be accomplished based on some background info unknown to both the mass and her own mentally restricted form, began to pan over the sky with her Sealing Eye as if in search of something. Her eyes were more determined than before due to this knowledge, especially with her motley crew having scrounged itself together. Her eyes narrowed as she came to a vivid locale in her Sealing Eye's sight, locking onto it with a 'Target Seal.' "Black Realm; Guf." The basis of major operations on the down low began with the shithole of the Veritas, where Vita as Tzita (Zita) was supposed to be dealing. In her sealed mind and with sealed powers, she wouldn't have remembered nor would she have been able to unlock herself and her memories, but now as Vita, with her mind linked back to Khrona (Tymon), she would be able to understand what her purpose was even now as the leader of this... 'Goon Squad,' as she would come to call it.

"... Need to revive Tabitha..." she muttered, her eyes glowing a bright Green as she continued to scan the horizon of the skyline, peering way off into the Veritas Universe. "... Guess she possessed someone and got rid of that Innocence, or rather the Corruption thereof..." Tabitha's powers were a wonder with that Reverse Rejection, but after she took out the spirits of what would be possessed or absorbed, she would need to be recovered and lain to rest again. "... That's something on our 'To-Do' list..." With both targets sealed in her Sealing Eye's sight, Vita's keyhole pupils rotated slightly to either direction opposite each other, locking securely as her eyes gleamed Red for a moment, denoting that two different isolation points had been targeted and sealed. She would be able to deal with one without losing focus on the other, though both were connected. "... After that, it should cause a 'Black Friday' from the 'Black Realm' and we should be A-OK." She placed a hand on her hip and bounced her hip around a bit, still in pensive thought.

"..." She was anxious, of course, yet also still perturbed by something. The Black Realm was nothing to mess around with, and the place where it was located... Well, could be called a 'Hell' of sorts. With her mind linked up to the universal consciousness again, Vita would be able to restore her own powers as she went along, but also have to unlock certain parts about the land in order for the greater orders and powers to awaken and activate among the fullness of the Veritas. Yet... "... Prime Chaos..." Vita looked down with a bit of worry. She knew what she had to do, but she was still displeased that it really had come down to it being in the Black Realm that things were dealt with. "... I suppose the Zodiac Spirits will have to wait..." She turned her attention now to the glowing Taurus cavern where the lamp of the Taurus Spirit was ignited. It was an open portal, a Dimension Gate that she could use to travel swiftly to the Black Realm entrance to unlock the box with the Sealing Eye, since the Skeleton Key was no longer in her possession after Tymon came and raped it from her.

After so much thought and mapping out the coordinates automatically in her own mind via the two central target points of the Sealing Eye, Vita could depart and send her own people on their merry way to deal with the Olde Witch City, Nekhir Maledictus. "Goon Squad, Move Out." Vita, of course, would leave El to his own, since he seemed to also have his own thoughts running about his head. "Catch up with me when you want to accompany by my side, like you have been. Or, stay behind and have fun with the Goon Squad." Made no difference to Vita. She kinda dug in her ear a bit, flicked the wax off and hovered off through the portal that the Taurus opened up, going directly to the gate of the Black Realm.

Given leave for a second time. El sighed quietly to himself. For a woman that carried herself in such high regard, she was really terrible that giving him orders. He smiled a little, thinking of it as nothing more than a cute little idiosyncrasy of hers.

His eyes followed her as she left, and he straightened his posture and placed a fist to his chest, over his heart, as a sign of honor to her in front of her other followers. Once she was gone, El stretched and rotated his shoulders before eyeing what Vita called the 'Goon Squad.' He began to remove his top and armor, exposing his chest and arms to the elements.

"You lot, I need to see how strong I've gotten. A few of you, join me." El asked, motioning towards the men and women that called themselves followers of Vita. El could always use some training and this was a good way to test exactly where his power measured as well as single out a few exceptional members of Vita's followers. The most exceptional, El wondered if he could ask Vita to turn into his own personal faction within her organization.

The three ‘Henchmen’ that were strung up and dragged out of ‘Hell’ for Vita to use coupled with the ‘Witches’ that were her friends from youth that she met with when she was still in the ‘Witch Province’ of the ‘Lawless Land’ made an equally matched ‘Set’ of ‘Valparaiso Denizens’ standing together before Elliott Faulkner, who was serving as a sort of ‘Commander’ for them, since the ‘Boss’ was gone off to do her own things.

Only the Henchmen were startled by the spontaneous appearance of the portal from one of the points of the 12-Point Zodiac Star which traced over the entirety of ‘Zita’s Garden’ as a ‘Seal’ that was etched into the very ‘Field’, itself. The Witches seemed to be accustomed to such spontaneity due to the nature of their lives as well as the longevity, especially with knowing Vita prior to any type of meeting with the ‘Valparaiso Denizens’, since they were ‘Fae’ from the ‘Witch Province’.

Henchmen: WOAH!

Henchman #1: She just disappeared!

Henchman #3: The glowing star point just warped her somewhere, or something, I think.

Henchman #2: It’s gotta be.

Still, they were aware of their ‘Position’ as the ‘Hired Hand’ and straightened up once they heard their Commander begin to address them. “Whatever you need, Jack,” Henchman #1 stated smugly, smirking rather roguishly whilst brushing over his fingertips with his thumb. “It’s what we’re here for, ain’t it?” Regardless of their previous circumstances, the each of them were saved from something absolutely horrifying — and by the skin of their teeth, no less. Yet, with barely flesh still on the bone, so to speak, they were already up and at it again and ready for a bout.

Good Squad huddled up, facing Elliott Faulkner as a ‘Group’.

The three Witch Sisters, who were also ‘Grouped’ with the ‘Henchmen’, shuffled around between each other, hovering through the air and toward the hired help. They actually knew Zita when she was the Head Witch of the Witch Province for 800 years, so they were not only more experienced and seasoned, they also knew the area and the house as if it were their own just from association alone. Clamoring amongst themselves through several different volumes of whispering, the three of them eventually managed to tear themselves away from each other long enough to straighten up like the Henchmen had done once they were addressed. Yet, some murmurrings slipped through their pouting lips, such as “Wow, who died and left him in charge?”

Witch Sister: Yeah, especially over me. I know she didn’t!

“She did,” the final of the Witch Sisters interjected at the very end, poking her head out and stretching her neck toward her other two sisters in order to continue gossiping about the fact that their home girl, Vita, left some new boy toy in charge over any of them and expected them to all work together. The passing of muzzled “It should have been me” over the muffled “Why did she leave it to him?” soon became drowned out by the other mumblings of the three bumbling Witch siblings.

“Regardless,” the eldest of them spoke up, claiming authority over the conversation, “She did say that she wanted us to follow him…” Her eyes drifted over to the pretty pathetic looking party posing in some goofy position and ready to fight with El before her pouting lips turned into a smug grin. “Those chumps don’t look like they can work together at all.”

Witch Sister: Especially not with him.

The three of them snapped their necks over to where El was standing for a quick sizing up. “You said it,” the youngest Witch said, almost wanting to laugh at them. Elliott was highly attractive, certainly, without a doubt, but his band of merry men seemed to only be so intelligent, and his looks wouldn’t be able to get him through if they all weren’t coordinated. “They seriously need our help,” she would say through a nearly contemptuous scoffing chuckle. The three Witch Sisters put their heads together and continued to communicate with each other indistinguishably for a moment all huddled up before suddenly breaking up and hovering over to one of the three Henchmen and whispering important information in his ear about what was going on and what to do. They would take the liberty of coaching the Henchmen against Elliott and use their ‘Magus' to fight him from afar.

(Assimilation)
Now, the three Valparaiso Denizen Henchmen and the three Witch Sibling Fae were working together as a unit formed against Elliott Faulkner for the sake of a warm-up spar in order to train before the party known as the ‘Goon Squad’ sortied behind their boss, Vita L’sia.

Due to this circumstance, they were all counted together as a single unit that was classified as the unionized supernatural or mythological beings — Nytozins — that were resident to this realm. Now the six of them stood battle ready before Elliott Faulkner no longer as a divided group, but as one whole. The Witches were stronger than the Henchmen, but with their support, the men were boosted and had assistance from greater powers. That should have served as a challenge for him with the two sets of three working together.

Elliott continued to disrobe, chuckling lightly at the childish idea that he'd just had. There was no need to actually ask for anything like his own 'division' since every last person here were all in the same boat. Dispute the freedom Vita seemed to afford him, as oppose to her very small group of followers, they were all servants to their Mistress. He didn't actually think he was in any position to lead them, nor did he think he was above them enough to judge truly judge their combat capabilities. If nothing else, he'd be willing to share pointers where he could, if these people didn't prove to be stronger than him, which they very well could be.

It certainly sounded like the women thought themselves of a caliber above him, Elliott's ears twitched with each word whispered between them, as he unhooked his belt and placed Durandal upon his discarded tunic and cloak, but he showed no signs of having been able to hear them and their hushed tones.

Only when he was sure that he was ready, Elliott turn around to face the six people that he would be facing today. He smiled, hoping to exuded an aura of friendliness. "Let's have fun." He took his fighting stance, something nice and simple. With legs spread evenly apart, one slightly in front of the other, and arms raised about chin level with fists clenched tightly.

Just as quickly as the aura of friendliness may have lightened any misunderstandings in his original introduction, it switched. While his smile was still quite friendly, his eyes radiated with an intense determination and power seemed to leak from his skin like rays of heat. "Allow me the first move."

And he was on them, appearing among the three men with a gust of wild winds acting as the punctuation to his sentence. The initiating blow Elliott went for was a solid double fisted blow to the chest of Henchmen #1, meant specifically to take advantage of his element of surprise and cause confusion and panic as well as to separate the person Elliott believed to be the "leader" of the three men. It was a swift blow, calculated to be faster than normal eyes could perceive, but with enough power behind it to lift the man off his feet and send him rocketing backwards across the courtyard.  

Hopefully, that's exactly what happened so Elliott could reach out to grab the other two henchmen behind their respective heads and clonk their noggins against one another and disorient them even more.

With none of the attacks he launched, did Elliott ever use enough strength to seriously injure any of these men. In fact, it seemed like he was holding a decent amount of his power back.

As on guard as all of them seemed, the man’s rather casual shift between being so friendly to suddenly appearing before them ready to fight surprised the Henchmen, though they seemed to be the experienced physical fighters. Only Henchman #1 was the first to react, reflexively withdrawing his arms close to his chest to guard himself with his forearms and bracing for impact. He was knocked back and away from his team, only for the other two Henchmen to be threatened by the backs of their heads being clasped by the firm grip of the strong man that just knocked away the first of them.

Henchman #3: Hey, what’s the big idea?!

Also reflexively, Henchman #3 jerked his head out of the way of the clasping grip of Elliott Faulkner’s open hand and instead reared his leg up to kick him whilst he was bent over and away from El and out of his reach. The solid kick should have connected right in the ribcage and hit with enough force to knock him away or to the ground from the impact.

Unfortunately, Henchman #2 was not as lucky as his sharper compatriots that managed to catch a frame for themselves to react. He, instead, was snatched by the back of his head by Elliott, and wherever Elliott went or guided his hand after that, the Henchman’s head would go. Yet, he still had free hands to grab at the arm of Elliott once he was gripped, and he clung his fingers at El’s elbow joint in order to bend his arm and keep him from moving it, or to at least be a hindrance to his range of motion.

Now, the Witches were sitting back and observing the scenario, finding it clear that all of the men were, as usual, more skilled in physical close combat and not anything indirect or long range. Fortunately for them, they were. They started to move their lips as if they were whispering, and each of them would glow a bit as what appeared to be glitter sparkled and circled around them, some of which was sucked into them. “Tel!” one of them shouted, and spontaneously, the Henchman that was knocked away by El glowed and warped elsewhere in a sparkling ignition that faded out just as quickly as it burst.

Henchman #1 appeared relatively closely behind Elliott Faulkner after he was hit, still flying backward a bit due to being teleported suddenly without having landed on solid ground yet and the momentum still carrying him. This gave him just enough distance from El to sprint at him once he finally landed, and enough resistance to spring him forward when he came to a full stop the moment his toes touched the ground, something like a jackrabbit. “Ya messed with the wrong one…” he said when he finally caught wind of what happened to him, rushing in toward the back of Elliott’s head with a strong jab. Combined with the potential force from the kick, he could knock him unconscious, or at least give him a concussion. They were all used to rough street fights, so this was the type of fighting that they knew the best.

“Garudo!” cried out the next of the Witches, whose words brought sparkling glitter of a different light to the Henchman’s leg who kicked at El and reinforcing it. The light formed around his leg like armor, with definition like that of muscles. The kick would increase significantly in strength and on impact, could probably not only break through armor, it could break someone’s ribcage, as well, and send them flying faster and farther than before.

The last Witch was waiting patiently for a way to assist Henchman #2, yet it seemed like he had gotten caught by Elliott when he reached out to grab their heads. She sneered at him, wondering why he wasn’t as quick as his brothers, but still called out a strange word the same way her sisters just did. “Dren!” At that moment, Henchman #2’s hands began to glow with an eerie aura, and his head emanated energy of the same color. Where he was touching Elliott, he would feel some of that power being sucked out of Elliott and into him, and where El was grabbing the Henchman, he would feel his own power being drained from him and into the Henchman directly. This boosted his psychical strength because of his hands absorbing energy and his mental strength from his head absorbing energy, thus making him stronger and smarter. Perhaps he would be able to deal with El a little better now.

Once Elliott had gotten rid of #1, he didn't worry about him anymore. He didn't ignore him. Elliott felt that his hit hadn't been as solid as it should have been, assumed #1 had blocked, and planed accordingly. However, he focused on #3, who'd slipped from his grabbing hand and #2, who had been slow and disoriented enough to be caught.

The women Elliott could hear chanting under their breath and yelling words, but he didn't have the time to worry about what they were doing. They were women, following his Mistress, he could guess they were using sorcery. He left it at that until their sorcery directly effect him.

Which was immediately after he had the thought, feeling strength being drained from him and into #2. He didn't know it was them, however, and thought #2, who had latched onto him like a leech and seemed to have some strange energy covering his hand and neck, was the one draining his strength. Fortunately, it didn't matter to Elliott. The drain wasn't nearly strong enough to tire him or really effect his level of strength at all either.

So, with #2 still firmly gripped in his hand, and gripping on to his arm, Elliott tightened his vice like squeeze on the back of #2's head and turned his own body, slightly, in order to move #2's body in the way to block the impressive kick of #3. With his sharp eyes, and sharper reflexes, he brought #2's head down with force and speed enough to use it to take the brunt of #3's front kick. He pulled himself free of the man, braving any residual impact without moving an inch from where he stood.

Using #2 as a human shield seemed to be a good idea, since it gave him sight of #1, who wasn't where he was suppose to be. No matter, Elliott's eyes ignited with crimson fury, the dark green of his pupils turning scarlet, before he fired red beams of searing heat right at #1's eyes, to blind him. Then he rose his hands to his face, palms outward, which caused a flash of white light to irradiate out from Elliott meant to blind anything the everything that was looking in his direction, hopefully giving him time to take to the skies with a very powerful jump.

From the Witches’ perspective, everything was going awry and their Henchmen were about to get pummeled by each other with El giving them the runaround. That couldn’t happen. Though the blows exchanged were quick and consecutive, the Witches were also paying attention rather acutely to everything going on in order to react more readily.

There was no way to stop #3 from kicking #2 in the face, but there was time to cushion the impact. “Shiel!” Witch #2 cried out, causing wherever the part of the Henchman’s face that he were about to be kicked in to be reinforced with a glow that resembled that of a fortified or thickened wall, which would both block the impact and absorb the blow for the Henchman so that his head was not kicked off, and the energy in the leg would be canceled out, dispelling both reinforcements by each other and returning the two Henchmen back to their original strength. With the energy siphoned to get him boosted, the kick knocked some sense into #2 and he perked up suddenly with clarity of mind and invigorating strength. He hands were still attached to Elliott, steadily absorbing more strength from him. The longer he clung, the more power he gained from El, and the weaker El would become, as well. Feeling this, Henchman #2 threw his hand over to Elliott’s shoulder to lock arms with him and attempt to wrestle him to the ground once his eyes were no longer focused on him, and thus also either preventing the white light from his hands from flashing or containing it to only the area where Henchman #2 and Elliott were.

The laser beam from Elliott’s eyes flashed before the eyes of the oncoming Henchman #1, blinding him initially and disorienting him immediately. He stumbled as he advanced toward El, yet because of El turning away from Henchman #2, his partner fortunately could hold his attention while #1 recovered.

Likewise, Henchman #3 was alert to the fact that there was an opening when #1 became the target of Elliott and #2 had the thought to grapple him. If the physics were correct, then Elliott would be forced into a hold that kept his arms occupied with #2’s and his body facing him whilst his back was to #3 and #1 was recovering from the blindness. So, #3 quickly sprung into gear and shot toward the hopefully exposed back of Elliott to slip him into a chokehold from behind and choke him out, or at least hold him in place the same way #2 was doing. With the both of them grappling Elliott, it would give #1 time to recover and a chance to attack him without his retaliation. Should Elliott have jumped or tried to jump, the two Henchmen’s weight and resistance would probably keep him grounded.

The two Witch Sisters that had yet to make their move saw that the first Henchman was temporarily debilitated by the laser that came from Elliott’s eyes. Even so, the other two were in a good position to be dealing with him and would probably require some sort of reinforcement in order to keep their opponent at bay. “Regas!” one of them called out, sending a speckled string of glittering light around the first Henchman’s eyes. The light restored their sight relatively immediately and allowed for him to see and act accordingly after the restoration. The other Witch Sister cried out, “Tal!” And the first Henchman’s mobility suddenly increased, giving him a burst of speed and an ability to react that far exceeded his original capacity, allowing him to move at blurred speeds and maneuver in just the same reactionary frame of time. He closed in on El rather quickly, yet weaved around him in a blur in order to disorient him and also search for a better opening whilst the other 2 kept him hopefully in place.

Elliott eyes twinkle with the knowledge of having figured something out, and his smile got just a tiny bit wider. As if on queue with the women's words, the mysterious energies, which would surround and aid the Henchmen as they faced him, were following their commands. Meaning, the women were a much larger threat than the three men that Elliott was playfully wrestling around with.

"Good!" He exclaimed, happily, seeing that he hadn't been able to pull himself free of #2, who has able to avoid a fatal injury thanks to the women watching over them and granting the henchmen boons as they faced the man designated their commander by their Mistress. Elliott was genuinely happy to see that the witches thought enough about their brothers in arms that they would aid them, and he wondered if the men even noticed that, without the women, this battle would have been over before it really got started.

Still, while their help made this substantially more of a doable task, this certainly wouldn't be easy. Elliott was a juggernaut. In his world, and in the many wars he'd fought as the servant of other masters, Elliott had the capacity to annihilate entire armies alone. The draining force surrounding #2 would certainly give him a boost, even make him markedly stronger than his brothers, but no matter how much nor how long he drained Elliott, the power difference would never be closed. He could never do a large enough drain in a short enough time frame for Elliott to feel weaker. He wasn't even using his full strength yet, after all.

The localized flash bang was more contained than Elliott originally wanted, thanks to #2's efforts, but he didn't have anywhere near the strength required to wrestle Elliott to the ground, not even with the boon of his witch's absorption ability. Because the flash bang didn't originate from Elliott's hands, but his eyes, considering that's how he'd focused heat before, it should have still taken effect just slower than it might have otherwise, due to the interference.

So, "I guess I'll have to cheat a little," Elliott centered his breathing and calmed his excitement, pulling more of the power he'd been holding back to increase his strength. No where near the limit, but enough to face these men and make the constant energy drain of #2 even more a minor nuisance, rather than a major threat.

Elliott took to the skies, as he'd wished to do, taking the two men that had grabbed onto him for a ride along with him, as if their combined weight and resistance didn't matter. It didn't. With strength enough to do that, and the flash bang possibly still blinding everyone, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that he could pull both the men off of him and toss them to the ground as he reached the apex of his jump. He, specially, aimed to toss both the men among the witch sisters that were aiding them this whole time, in order to shake up the women, like he had the men, and stop any chanting they may still be doing.

Then, he used the same move as before. He rose his hands to his face, palms outward, which caused a flash of white light to irradiate out from Elliott meant to blind anything and everything that was looking in his direction. This time, however, the white light was of a more extreme intensity, meant to make it hard for anyone to even open their eyes in the first place, and he didn't do it once. He made it blink, like the flash of a camera constantly going off right in your face.

The sudden shift in power from Elliott threw everyone off guard, since they were not aware that Tzita had someone like this at her disposal. He looked like a normal human and not anything supernatural, but now that it was clear, the Witches, at least, could start dealing with him as such. It was right up their alley.

First, however, the henchmen had to be taken care of. Now, as strong as they were thanks to whatever ability they were boosted with, the strength of Elliott seemed to top that, and it was clear that he could do so when he took to the skies with nothing but a leap and two full grown men were attached to him. Not only was his feat of strength to carry the both of them impressive, but also not to flinch before tearing them off of him and hurling them down to the ground where the Witches were was also quite impressive, as well.

Before they made impact, however, the Henchmen were cushioned by a large, soft dome after one of the witches cried, “Domu!” It was soft like a pillow, but still domed, and bouncy like a spring. Once they hit it, they bounced right off of it and landed on the ground beside them, and the dome disappeared immediately afterward.

#1 zipped over to the group in a flash, and the 6 of them regrouped all at the exact same time whilst Elliott was still in the air. Someone started to talk about a new plan, saying, “Okay, let’s try to—“ Yet was cut off by the blinding flashing light coming from the still airborne Elliott Faulkner up above. It was surprising to them, yes, but not something beyond just an annoyance. The next of the witches called out, “Lux!” And as the flashing light flickered, it faded out the closer it got toward them, until its brightness waned to the point of no longer being blinding, and each of them could look upon El as if he were not illuminated at all.

Henchman #3: He’s stronger than he looks!

Witch #1: Guess that’s why Boss Lady made him the leader, huh?

Henchman #2: Well, seems like those spells are coming in handy. Anything else up your sleeves?

Witch #2: Be quiet! We have plenty of experience, and we know the Witch’s Tongue very well. He cannot stop us as long as we have a spell to counteract him.

Henchman #1: That’s all I needed to hear.

Henchman #3: Yeah. Guess that means we can run in punching and kicking and it won’t matter what the outcome is, as long as you guys are backin us up, yeah?

Witch #1: Exactly. My sentiments exactly. So you three pea brains make your way back out there and try not to get roughed up too much and damage the merchandise. Mistress Vita wouldn’t be too happy if some of the hired help got damaged beyond repair.

They each looked at each other with a bit of hostility for a bit, but returned their focus to the matter at hand. Their new commander was well equipped to lead them, for it was clear that Vita wouldn’t leave them with someone incompetent, as the Henchmen more or less seemed to be. Even so, he was the one that insisted that they all practice here, so the group not only got to prove their worth, they got to test Elliott, as well, to make sure that he was a capable enough leader to boss them around while Vita was away doing whatever business she had to take care of. The 7 of them were already a unit, and after the battle, Elliott would have full command over them until Vita said otherwise. So learning about each other was actually proper for them at the moment in order for them to get adjusted to each other. You never knew what sort of adversity could or would randomly spring up, especially once they left the safety of Castle L’sia. Naturally, the Witches had more knowledge of this than the Henchmen, who were nothing but Sellswords, but when it came to being cunning and to direct combat, the Lawless bunch from Valparaiso knew it better than anyone.

Witch #1: I will distract him. You all, cover me.

The first Witch hovered from out of the group and called out to Elliott, “Beso!” And a projectile missile formed in thin air out of particles of dust gathering up to a condensation up above whilst the rest of the group looked on and continued to whisper. The missile was hurled at top speed toward El whilst he was in the air and another was created immediately after, to hurl at him as soon as he either dodged the first or counteracted it.

Elliott was having fun, not a first when he was in the thrall of combat, but it was different than normal. It wasn't rare that he took on more than one person at a time, but these 6 were probably the first Elliott had encountered that forced him to use more power than he wanted to. They were all strong in their own ways, and Elliott could tell that he hadn't exactly seen EVERYTHING those Witches could do. He had the sneaking suspicion that they were a lot stronger than they led on and, if they really wanted to, they probably could have ended this fight against him ages ago.

But, hypotheses were meant to be tested. And if they couldn't actually pull the trigger on using their full potential from the start, then were they really in control of that unimaginable ability. And if they were as strong as he was thinking, it really spoke to the true power of their Mistress. Just the thought gave him shivers. Shivers of delight and anticipation.

Before he knew it, his friendly smile and morphed and transformed. Now it was an eerily toothy grin, like he'd drunk from the cup of warrior madness. The atmosphere around him became suffocating as more and more power began to build and flow from him as he stopped his Solar Flares, once he realized his compatriots had found a way to counteract it. Not too much... just a little more... a little more. An aura of light ignited around him, glowing with the yellow intensity of the sun, a halo of this same light forming around his head. His ears twitched...

"That look in your eyes, Farm boy, I've seen it before. You're no King of Knights, you're a Tyrant..." A male voice echoed in Elliott's memories...

Durandal, his sword, began to vibrate furiously in his scabbard, as if trying to shake itself free from its restraints. It's vibrations grow in intensity as Elliott's aura did, making light tremors in the ground, obscured by Elliott's cloak and tunic. The sword truly had a mind of its own and was either calling out to its master to wield it or calling out to one of the male sellswords to use it to stop him.

He met the oldest witch sister's first missile with his hands, using his strength to steer it off course. It's velocity whipped him around in a circle before he was able to cast it off, "Show me more of your magic Witches! Your unpredictability is exciting!" Hurling it back to where it came from! Hopefully it would collide with the second missile the witch had prepared, for an epic explosion.

He took that instant, to dive bomb towards the ground, aiming straight for the group of 5 that hadn't come to face him. He was excited, sure, close to being intoxicated on warrior's madness, check, but he was far from blinded. The witch that came to face him was a decoy, the real threat were the 2 sisters left to their own devices. He had to stop them, before they stopped him.

He came in like a meteor, igniting the air around him as he braced him and prepared his fist for an impact that would shake the foundations of Castle L'sia. In the moment, he didn't care about collateral damage, he was just excited to see how they'd circumvent him! They were exceptional talents, all of them!

The fact that El had the strength to counteract the projectiles hurled at him was a point for them. The Witches were clearly the ones that were keeping observance of him more critically than the simple Henchmen, since they were Tzita’s friends from her past. Therefore, it was very wise of him to take note of them and to deal with them as a priority over the Henchmen, who were clearly just some lackeys.

Witch #1: I guess our Mistress didn’t give us a slouch, huh, girls?!

The other two witches smiled whilst the three henchmen kinda stood there looking dumb, waiting for a response.

Witch #2: Guess we can give her a good report, huh, sis…?

The third witch nodded her head. The henchmen, however, were getting fed up with their secret sorority undertones and finally, Henchman #3 cried out, “Yo! He’s coming at us! Shut that shit up.”

Naturally, the witches didn’t take lightly to this, since they were certainly not trying to hear some lowly sellsword tell them what to do. “Watch your mouth!” the second sister cried, turning her attention to Henchman #3. “You’re definitely not in charge here! Without us, you would have definitely gotten—“

Henchman #2: Can we do this later? He’s coming at us fast.

By the time all of that was said, only Henchman and Witch #1 were paying any real attention to the scenario whilst the others bickered amongst themselves, and Elliott Faulkner was already damn near at their faces with his blazing meteor fist. There was no time for them to react.

Witch #1: “WIN!!!”

Suddenly a gust of wind burst in the general area where the four congregated that El had been targeting for his strike, blowing them away and spreading them out just enough to avoid direct contact and also to have force already carrying them so that the explosive and concussive force that came from Elliott’s drop would not completely sweep them away or deal direct damage. The four of them scattered, yet Witch #1 and Henchmen #1 were still present in the immediate area.

Henchman #1 was already on Elliott’s tail soon after he landed and the force died down, darting forth to meet him through the debris silently, since he was skilled at dealing with others stealthily due to his home and upbringing — perhaps even moreso than his other compadres. In the dust, under the cover of the smoke, the man approached El with dagger in hand from behind, already up to his neck in the signature ‘hostage situation’ position.

Henchman #1: You’re pretty good, mac, but you ready to give yet?

Witch #1 shook her head at her associates, embarrassed by the lot nearly costing them the battle because of their foolish bickering amongst themselves during a time of danger. “I expected better of you…” she said to her sisters, “You’re not like those men over there, so stop acting like it!” She was very displeased, since she felt that their coordination as Witches should have been stronger, not to mention their sisterly bond. It just meant that they were all out of practice or out of tune, and probably needed to resonate more, now that there were more frequencies around that were not in sync with their own. “… You deserved that,” she muttered under her breath, an exasperated sigh relieving itself of her once her idiot sisters and their boy toys hit the ground.

Whilst they were all getting up, they dusted themselves off and sighed in frustration, upset that they were all not coordinated because of the sudden mesh between two different parties that were only synchronized in their own units, and not together as a team. There was an obvious power struggle between them and they did not have an actual real leader to keep them in order, since each of them thought of their own minds that they were best suited to be telling the others what to do, even after having already been given the best solution by someone else. It bothered them all, since now, they each wanted to tell the other what to do immediately so that they could all get their different plans accomplished, but also didn’t want to be the one that made the mistake of giving a wrong order. Still, if one of them moved too soon, it would also be like the fumbling and bumbling that they’d done previously, which ended in all of them almost getting struck down as if by a bullet. They all knew the hazards and dangers of battle, but somehow, it seemed like they’d forgotten what it meant to be in full formation for the sake of tactically keeping themselves out of impending danger.

All that could really be done was for the witches to begin conjuring up some more of their Magus from the Manna in the area and wait to see what became of Elliott in the debris. They were all really only fighting because he requested it, and they would all stop probably if he requested again, since this was more of a test for him than for them. They already had their previous orders from their Boss to follow him as their Commander, and in the eyes of the Witches (or, at least the eldest sister), he’d already proven himself, since he was dealing with 6 people just by himself. That already meant he had strength to handle numbers, and the witches weren’t meant to go overboard. They just needed to see if he was worthy enough to be respected, even if they were forced to listen to him. That was always important for any leader, especially a Commander.

The impact was cataclysmic. The meeting of Elliott's Sun God's Fist, a nice name he just thought of for this little technique, with the surface of The Veritas, was a force with an earth shattering quake. A quake Elliott was capable of scaling back just before the point of impact when the vibrations of Durandal snapped him out of his Warrior's Madness and he was able to focus on more than just the battle at hand. He was capable of not damaging his Mistress's courtyard, but the gale force winds kicked up by his approach to the ground would shake her mansion for sure. It didn't completely blow it away, of course, because Zita's mansion was fortified with the strongest fortification magics of his Mistress. A fact he didn't know how he knew, he just did.

When the winds were clear and the dust and smoke finally faded, once that happened Elliott was able to finally realize what had actually transpired. He hadn't completely obliterated his comrades in arms. In fact, the cold steel pressed to the almost impenetrable skin of his neck let him know that his compatriots hadn't only survived the aftermath of his technique, they were able to checkmate him at the same time. He couldn't help but smile.

"Those furious winds. They weren't conjured by me, were they?" He said out loud with a hearty laugh. Lost in Warrior's Madness, Elliott's enhanced senses were dulled to any spoken word that wasn't directly screamed in his ear, so he wondered which witch it had been who saved everyone at the last minute. It could have been the oldest one, who'd risen to the occasion and chose to act as a distraction, but he'd been wrong before.

Still, he hadn't admitted defeat yet. The aura of power that radiated from his skin and enshrouded his head died completely and he sat on the ground, allowing the dagger to graze his neck slightly, and folded his arms with a nod, "Mm. You've done well. I admit defeat." He supposed Mistress L'sia had a way about her that attracted powerful people to her, for one reason or another. He wanted to know everyone else's stories. Who were they, where they'd met Mistress L'sia, and why they'd chose to ally themselves with her.

Durandal, sensing the calmness in the air settled itself down. The vibration it was letting off ended almost immediately after Elliott's impact with the ground. It was further obscured by Elliott's cloak and tunic now, buried deep beneath Elliott's belongings to the point that the vibrations could be confused to have been coming from any number of the articles of clothing Elliott had shed for training purposes.

"Maaan, you guys are strong. I should have expected as much from the Mistress's soldiers." Elliott praised.

The all of them stood their ground as the debris and the winds faded. The first witch looked off to her sisters, who each looked to each other, and then to the Henchmen, who were all looking toward the first and the next. With a decided acknowledgement between the each of them, Henchman #1 finally slipped his blade quickly past the neck of the Commander without touching it and into a hidden holster none of which could be seen nor recognized. “Okay, pal,” he said in a gruff, almost hoarse tone, “You win. You got us.” He said this only as a means of recognition, and not actually in acknowledgement of any sort of victory — it was just his slang. “Can’t say you weren’t a good match, though my dimwit associates over there might not have been up to par.” He shook his head, flicking his wrist and a smoke popping out from what one would believe to be a carton of cigs, seemingly out of nowhere. “Can I get a light, love…?” he’d inquire to the eldest of the witches.

The first witch, who was nearest to the fray, hovered gently over the ground with just her toes barely gracing the ground as she floated, kicking up a bit of dust as she passed. “Certainly,” she said with a hint of gratitude, silently honoring his display in battle before muttering some of the Witch’s Tongue at him to conjure a flame. “Flamia,” she’d command, before a spark ignited before him in a puff of smoke and flying sparks. “You did well out there,” she’d continue to speak, both to her comrade and her Commander, waving her hand to call the others closer.

The other four — who seemed to be more inept than the firsts — quickly came together right where the battle ended, and where their new Commander, Elliott Faulkner, stood firm. He was a powerful man, they all had seen, and they well respected him now, especially after he’d proven himself before their ‘leaders’, so to speak.

Henchman #2: Well, if ‘Big Bro’ likes ya, then I guess you ain’t half bad.

Witch #2: My sister is never wrong. Even if I am.

Henchman #3: I agree.

They were all eager now to see what he would tell them to do, since it was clear that he was more than capable of doing so. The first witch spoke out again, “You are clearly worth more than your mettle. I’m impressed.” She looked around, nodding her head in recognition, only to be eventually joined in by her closest partner and her sisters, as well as the other Henchmen that worked with the one who was closest to her. “It seems as though the others agree as well, as we have seen and heard.” The all of them continued to nod in solemn agreement.

Henchman #1, taking a puff: So. You gonna tell us what we’re up to next, Commander? Or, are we gonna stand here all day lookin’ cute?

Some of them sort of chuckled, sharing mutual feelings. It was clear that there was mutual acceptance among the group.