Ulrich and Lainey looked back at the voice, and that tall British guy Dominic described was there, alongside Gene.
"Well, the demons are over there." Bartholomew responded. "We have a car, if you want to head in."
"Ulrich!" Gene yelled out. "You going to the portal?"
"Naturally." Ulrich responded coldly. "What, you think I would just leave an entire town to die?"
"Well, we got a car, so you better get in!" Gene shouted back, more intensely.
The five went towards the car, a white 2004 Toyota corolla, where Vivian was waiting shotgun, looking agitated. Bartholomew got in front of the wheel, while Ulrich, Lainey, and Gene all went in the back seats, leaving Dominic on the floor of the car, which took off as soon as they got in.
"Well, I was able to get in contact with her. She should be here in around an hour or so." Vivian yelled out quickly.
"Good to hear, good to hear." Bartholomew replied.
"Dammit, I just don't understand why you two are so obsessed with delaying everything. We were about to go and get Gene his powers, but you two had to go save those heathens. And now we're stuck saving one town while the entire world is at stake!"
"Well, what do you expect, Vivian? You want me to just let all those people die?" Gene yelled back.
"I'm saying you have to pick your battles, Gene! Being the chosen one comes with responsibilities, and one of the first ones is accepting that you just can't save everyone."
"Well, this is my country." Bartholomew butted in. "And if I am to lead these people, then I can't just let these demons take over."
And just as he finished his sentence, they pulled up in front of the town. The six of them got out the car, and were met by three demons. Vivian froze two, and Gene quickly took out his sword and took out the other one.
Ulrich looked up at the portal. It felt way bigger than the one that hit his hometown, but noticed that it was directly below a series of tall apartment buildings, one that could be reached.
And all that was standing between them and the building was about a hundred demons. No big deal.
"Hey Ulrich, you see that thing at the top?" Lainey whispered, clinging to his arm.
Ulrich looked at the top of the apartments again, and sure enough, something that wasn't a demon was at the top, and it seemed to be moving around casually on top of the building.
"That's the boss." Lainey was clinging tightly to Ulrich now, and she was getting paler by the second.
"Hey Lainey, would that be the leader you mentioned?" Vivian asked. Lainey only tilted her head slightly, nodding.
"Right, so we beat this guy, and then save the world. Let's get a move on."
The six of them all bolted into the small town, separated by narrow streets and shops, which were naturally all locked down, with several people desperately trying to get inside, and mauled by the demons. Bartholomew covered his fists in the white energy, flying straight into a demon, who's head exploded into the particles, which flew back into the portal. Vivian also effortlessly shot an icicle out of each of the fingers on her right hand, with all of them plunging deep into five demons' heads, causing them to explode.
"I'll take care of these guys!" Bartholomew yelled out to Gene. "You lead these guys to the boss!"
"I'll take care of the clean-up too!" Dominic yelled out. "Make sure not to die!"
Lainey looked back at them, gave a half-hearted thumbs-up, and ran up to the apartment with Ulrich, Gene, and Vivian. Lainey shook her guitar, and her demon came out, which caused Vivian to glare at her, before the four of them went to a fork in the road.
Gene looked up, and saw that whatever was up there didn't notice them, still standing ominously on top of the building, at either the carnage his demons were causing, or the fight Dominic and Bartholomew were putting up.
"I feel it appropriate to split up." Vivian announced. "In the event that he notices us, then we can at least surprise him with the other five."
"Five?" Ulrich asked. "If we split into two, then it would be me, Lainey, Dominic and Bart, right?"
"I've got into contact with someone else. God's trump card, more or less. And she'll be here shortly."
"God still has more people?" Lainey asked. "Didn't your prophecy say there were only four people?"
"It did. But his works may never make sense until fully complete." Vivian responded, smirking, presumably about the quality of her employer.
"Sure, we'll split up" Ulrich replied through gritted teeth. "Me and Lainey, you and Gene?"
The four split into their groups, with Lainey standing closer to Ulrich than usual.
"You doin' okay?" He asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Lainey muttered. Ulrich noticed that the demons seemed to be ignoring them. This didn't seem to be happening to Gene and Vivian, who he could hear fighting the demons on the other side of the street, only separated by a few rows of houses.
"H-hey." Lainey piped up again. "Could you get closer to me?"
"Uh, sure." Ulrich inched closer until their shoulders were a few millimetres away.
"Don't get any ideas from this, I've just noticed that whenever my demon is out, the demons don't attack me. Just stay with me until we get to the top."
After a couple of awkward minutes, the two of them reached the base of the apartment block, with Gene and Vivian following up.
"So, we ready?" Gene asked, sword in hand, with his voice quivering slightly.
"Yeah, yeah." Lainey replied, moving away from Ulrich. "Totally."
Vivian stepped up to Lainey, grabbing her by her jacket.
"If you don't think you're capable of doing this, then step back."
Silently, Lainey swung upon the door, quickly making her way through the apartment building, and the other three followed.
Inside the apartment building, the four could hear muffled crying, people talking on the phone to their relatives, parents trying to calm their children. All against the backdrop of beige walls and long hallways.
Eventually, the four of them were at the door, where the sound of the wind from the portal was also boisterous, with the sound of the rocks hitting against it almost as loud.
"Right, let's go in." Lainey said, a look of angered determination all over her face.
"I guess so." Ulrich replied.
But before he, Gene, or Vivian could say anything, Lainey swung the door open.
"Guess who's back?"