Shay was rushed to the hospital in Quint's arms. He carried her all the way there. After arriving, she was seen by doctors and bandaged up. Quint went to go check on Lucas's mother. Lucas was in the room in tears. Quint looked over at the heart monitor and saw that she was alive.
"How is she?" asked Quint in a serious voice as he placed a hand on Lucas's shoulder.
Lucas turned around and explained, "I woke up this morning and she wasn't breathing. She had two needles in her arm. I tried to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible, but as you know, I was attacked. The demon caused a delay in me getting to the hospital, which means mom wasn't getting oxygen to get brain for a longer period of time. If I wasn't attacked, I would've made it here in time. Now she has brain damage and is in a coma. The doctor don't know when or even if she will wake up. And even if she does, it's not guaranteed that she will have full function of her brain."
"I'm really sorry to hear that," responded Quint.
"Thanks for coming to save me," said Lucas.
In the Imperial Fortress, Joan met with the other Imperials.
=====================================
"I've figured out how we can take care of the demon hunters," said Joan while handing her arm to a demon, "I've invited them to come to our fortress and face us. When they arrive, we will broadcast our battles with them across the demon world and spirit world put them on notice that the Imperials are back and are a force to be reckoned with!"
The demon that Joan handed her arm to accepted it and then pulled out some needles and sewed her arm back on. Joan then open and closed her fist, testing her motor functions.
"Good job, Zuil. Nice work as always," said Joan with true appreciation.
A demon stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a massive, tiger-like demon with orange fur and brown stripes on his back. His hands were shaped like paws with razor sharp nails. He had a large horn in the middle of his forehead. He slammed his tail onto the floor, crushing a layer of stone.
"Why wait?! We should fight them right now!" said the tiger demon.
"Sahro! Stay calm, our leader knows what she's doing," said Tupp in the defense of Joan.
"Knows what she's doing?!" questioned Sahro, "She came back with one arm and two dead faction members! That's bullshit! I say we strike now while they're weakened and be rid of them!"
As Sahro was finishing his statement Joan appeared behind him and released her demonic power, putting pressure on everyone in the room. All the demons in the room hit the ground and began breathing heavily. Joan grabbed Sahro by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Attack my opponents while they're weak? You want that kind of victory? You don't think that you can beat some human children without weakening them? Do you think the Imperials can't defeat them?" asked Joan while she poured energy into Sahro's neck.
True fear filled Sahro's face, fearing for what would happen next. He shook his head and said, "No."
Another demon stepped forward and said, "Joan, we will strike those demon hunters down at the time you have chosen." This demon had blue skin and looked like a human. He was over 7 feet tall and dressed in a loin cloth.
"Challenge me again, Sahro and your head will be splattered all over the place," said Joan as she released her grip.
Sahro snarled and walked away with his faction following behind him. Joan glared at his back, still feeling hostility from him.
"Tupp, keep an eye on him. I don't want him doing anything stupid before the humans arrive here," ordered Joan.
"It'll be my pleasure," said Tupp.
=====================================
Ariel had flown to the Spirit World to report what had happened. Again, she was berated for not retrieving another Astral weapon. She sought the council of High Celestial 21. She found him hard at work, training other celestials in the use of their holy energy. He turned and noticed her.
"Aw, Ariel, what a wonderful sight. How is your assignment going?" asked 21.
"It's not going too well. The leader of the Imperials showed up and we couldn't defeat her. She left on her own accord and invited my demon hunters to their fortress. I think it's a trap," responded Ariel.
"What did the boy decide to do?" asked 21.
"He hasn't said anything yet, but knowing him, he's going to accept and go in there blindly," answered Ariel.
"Well this is the time when you advise your demon hunter with your concerns. That is your job, to keep the human alive and be successful in his missions. I know it's a difficult task and dealing with humans can be frustrating, but such is the job of a Celestial," advised 21 while still watching over the Celestials he's training.
"Thanks for the advice," said Ariel as she flew away.
=====================================
In the hospital, Quint and Simone were in the room that Shay was held in. Shay had a cast on her arm and her torso was bandaged due to a few of her ribs being broken.
"She really did a number on you!" said Quint as he looked at Shay's bandages.
"Shut up! She caught me off guard with that said explosion power she has. The next time I see her, she's mine!" said Shay while holding her injured ribs.
"She was pretty strong though. She even survived my strongest attack and feeling her power was literally breathtaking. I could barely stand under the pressure," said Simone, "But I have information for you guys. The Being interrogated the demon that we fought. We found out that there are 4 Imperials and each one of them have a faction of demons that follow them. So far, we've only faced two actual Imperials, Tupp and Joan. The demons that accompanied them belonged to their factions. He also told me about their fortress and how to navigate the maze that's outside of their fortress."
"So, is what Joan said was true? Is she the leader?" asked Shay.
"Yes, she is their leader and by far the most powerful. Tupp is the weakest of the four, so we can gauge the other 2 Imperials based off of those two. Their goals are to destroy humanity to appease the Demon King and after that, they plan on attacking the Spirit World," reported Simone.
"That is serious!" thought Quint.
Just then Mary walked in and said to Simone, "Good job! That information will is going to come in handy."
"You're welcome!" said Simone with a smile on her face.
"Shay, how are you feeling?" asked Mary.
"I'll be alright in a couple of days. I've been focusing on healing my bones," answered Shay.
"Good! Cause I need you up and ready to train before facing the Imperials! So far, you 4 haven't been able to kill one Imperial. You'll all focus on training your spirit energy, strengthening it," stated Mary.
"I guess you're right. We'll destroy the Imperials, get the Astral weapons back, and save the world!" declared Quint.