Mallow's POV
This was going to be a fun game to play with them, they didn't fully comprehend how serious this was, and if nothing else it would wake them up and snap them back to reality. I put my 'Strange Music Box' off in the corner and "Kick It With Myself" played.
"Alright, let's see what you guys can do," I said before sending all of the dodgeballs in the middle their way, and if it weren't for Jacke, Jameson, and Damien, half of the troops would've been knocked on their asses.
"Oh, so that's how we're doing this?" Jameson asked, slight rage in his tone, but I wasn't bothered by it; He wanted to know I was serious, he knew what this meant.
"Release restraint level: Alpha Omega...ZERO!" I said and all 3 of them looked taken aback but freed at the same time.
"Let's dance, boys."
What ensued could only be described as High School dodgeball, only the nerdy anime kid was actually a God, and the entire other side was his friends and family. Jacke took the lead and threw a curveball my way, flaming at the speed it had been thrown at, but it was limited by his lack of focus. Not hard to dodge. Jameson threw another that immolated as soon as he let go, and his focus was dead on yet reckless, so I caught it. I almost had a second, keyword there being Almost, to ask where Damien was; Before I saw the ball he threw coming straight at me, so I could only drop to the floor to dodge it.
"You guys have gotten good! Jacke, your followers seem to be in shock, why don't you help them out a bit?" I said and sat down for a second to regain my composure, I knew this wasn't a fair fight; However, they needed to have everyone at their prime if they had any hope of fighting La Bruja, so while Jacke was addressing his folks, I gathered with Damien on my half of the court.
"Any information about La Bruja?"
"She's Jake's ex from before he met Jack, she's a hunter, but she lacks discipline and as such is extremely reckless. Lady Muerte informed us that we would be successful so long as we slay her in her name."
"Sounds about right, let's see if I can find her to make it a bit easier, join hands with me, Damien."
He did and together we mellowed our energies until they were one, and searched the spiritual plane for her energy signature, which wasn't hard to find. She was wicked and angry that Jake was now stronger than her, which amplified her energy signature.
"She's in the necropolis, land of the dead, amplifying her energy and power. She's doing everything she can to amplify her energy and strength. This will be an utter massacre if we can't throw a wrench in her plans; Thoughts?"
"Let me do this, I have an Idea," Damien said and disappeared, he was now in Necropolis, the land of the living dead; All I could do was sit by and watch, he lowered his energy signature to blend in and was borderline invisible, as he infiltrated her realm. He watched as she was deep in meditation, amplifying her dark energy, and if it weren't for his time with Jameson I would be scared for his safety; Jameson was wrath, plain and simple, but his energy was evil and corrupted Damien's and as such it gave him insight on how true evil thinks and acts; Lurking in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He watched as her army sat in waiting, watching her sitting in silence, her energy pure darkness; If it wasn't for his training, he would've been dead when he first entered.
"Damien, strike there," I said, and a specific point on his body flared in pain, he knew how and where all that was left was his strike. He built a small bolt of blinding white fire and discharged it at her spine. A scream of pain let me know he hit his mark, and as she turned to face him, he vanished.
"Well done, Damien, Well done," I said as he appeared in front of me again, he looked shocked, but I wasn't. I knew his capabilities well, and he often underestimated them.
"How did you know I would hit it straight on?"
"Let's just call it faith and get back to the game," I said and he dashed to their side, their followers seemed more in tune, and as the game went on I found myself being challenged more and more; They threw harder, more precise, and confident. I couldn't be more proud of how far they've come, but it wasn't enough, I was able to dodge and move out of the way of some of their throws, while others I caught and threw back myself. Knocking the winds out of whoever threw it, but they got back up and sat down on the bleachers, knowing not to get back in unless I called it. Finally, it was me against Jacke, Jameson, and Damien; All 3 were a force to be reckoned with, and as a team, they were borderline unstoppable, but their motives were different. Weakness to be exploited, simple victory, a lesson to teach, it mattered little to us. They threw every ball they had with fury and precision, but none of them hit me. I lifted them all in the air, and almost felt guilty, but they could take it.
"ONE!" Jameson was knocked on his ass.
"TWO!" Damien was smacked in the nose but didn't go down, walking off to the side.
"THREE!" I threw the last one, and it hit him square in the chest, hard enough to throw him into the back wall, but he caught it.
"Well done, Jacke, Well done indeed. You represent your family well," I said before grabbing a Lucifer's Cola from the minifridge he brought, tossing one to him as well.
"Thank You, M, but I take it that's only the first round?"
"You guess correctly, I haven't felt this alive in a long time, this has been the most fun I've had in decades. Go give your family a pep talk, and make sure they know this may be a game for me, but this is training for you all. You're going to be pushed on all 3 levels of existence, mental, physical, and psychological; But in the end, you will be perfection manifested as war machines."
Jacke walked off to talk to his family, and Damien joined me on the benches, talking about his experience in Necropolis. It was a dread feeling that was difficult to explain, but I gave him my thoughts on the matter, and how I would go about solving it. He'd be fine in a day or two.