Isaiah and Jackie flew on kitsune's back. The pair looked a little worse for wear but were still able to retain consciousness.
Isaiah fiddled with his mace, adjusting the tuning signal to try and pick up on one of their friends.
"It probably wasn't the best idea to split up when we don't have access to communication technology," Isaiah said, pulling the head of his mace off the handle. "It'll be easy for Kitsune to find them," Jackie replied in a reassuring tone.
Isaiah glanced at her. Giving up on his mace, he reattached the handle of the mace back to the head and slipped it back into its harness.
I used way too much energy back there, Isaiah thought. Isaiah's eyes slowly began to droop down. "Jackie, do you mind if I take a rest?" Isaiah asked.
"Right now?" Jackie replied. She was sure that they would need to keep up their guard. She turned back to answer his question but found that he was already asleep.
Jackie turned back and sighed. She landed Kitsune on a nearby asteroid and got off. Kitsune lowered itself to the ground and dropped Isaiah.
"I guess I'll do all the work then," Jackie said under her breath. She walked off to scout the area while Kitsune stayed to watch Isaiah.
Ephron opened his eyes. He was surrounded by darkness, unable to see even a few inches in front of him. He had no recollection of how he got there or where he was, for that matter.
However, Ephron could hear, and he heard the disgusting sound of squishing and sloshing. Ephron stuck his hands out in front of him.
They pushed deep into a squishy, rubber-like substance. Ephron retracted his hands in disgust. The rubbery substance stuck to his hands.
However, Ephron shook his hands, trying to separate himself from the sticky material. Gray light began to shine from the walls of his cocoon.
Panic set in and Ephron began to flail around, getting more of the substance stuck to his body. As the gray lights began to reach his neck and head, Ephron's vision became gray and blurry.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he was finally overtaken by the light. Ephron's vision was obscured by a gray fog. He couldn't see anything. His feelings of anxiety and fear were replaced by a feeling of confusion.
Ephron had thought he was going to die, not get whisked to a foggy wasteland. Ephron stepped forward.
The fog parted as if it had been waiting for him to do so, showing an image of him standing in front of Velena. Velena raised her ax and sliced off Ephron's head. Ephron recoiled in shock.
she watched as his lifeless body fell to the ground and the flesh immediately jumped to it. Ephron didn't know why, but he felt an anger he didn't know he was capable of possessing. The fog closed, once more obscuring his vision.
Ephron was shaking now. He had no idea why he felt so much anger. That's when it hit him. The flood of memories that is.
Ephron watched as his entire life played in front of his eyes. He saw his old self, the broken, defeated man. Ephron saw Beelzebub extending his hand toward him.
He remembered feeling contempt as Beelzebub destroyed his home. He remembered feeling joy as they ravaged other worlds and universes.
He remembered meeting those kids and defeating them. He finally came upon the memory of Velena defeating him.
With the reason for his anger finally explained, Ephron spread his arms. Red flesh began to slither onto his outstretched arms. Ephron smiled maniacally as his arms went from slim to buff in a matter of seconds. He didn't stop there, however. He added flesh to the underside of his arms, forming two new appendages. Ephron began to sweat profusely as he added his new body parts.
His second set of arms was much larger than the first, reaching all the way to the ground. Ephron's aura appeared, glowing a bright gray.
The aura produced so much energy that the fog around him began to retract. With one burst of energy, Ephron completely cleared the fog from around him. His cocoon shattered, revealing a very angry Ephron.
Ephron looked around him. His monsters stood waiting for an order. Ephron smiled. Soon he would have his revenge against that brat.
Benjamin sat up. His head had been resting in Velena's lap. Still dazed and confused from his encounter with Charles, he looked around. "Are you okay?" Velena asked tentatively.
Benjamin nodded, unable to say anything from the shock of his situation. "I didn't know Charles was on their side," Benjamin said. Velena cursed Charles under his breath.
"The worst part is that he got away," Velena said. Benjamin got up. He had to find the others and warn them about Charles's betrayal. "I don't think you'll be going anywhere," a voice said.
Benjamin and Velena whipped around to see a man in chains approaching them. The man was swinging one of his chains around, making a distinct clinking sound.
"I already kidnapped one of your friends," the man said laughing, "If you cared about him or your lives at all you'd come with me." Benjamin didn't know if he and Velena could take the man.
He was running low on Chi, and he was sure Velena was too. Benjamin turned to go with the man.
"That's the way to do it," the man said. Velena stuck his hand out in front of Benjamin, stopping him. "Sit back down," he said.
Velena pulled out her ax and pointed it at the man. The man raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I'm not taking any more crap from you people," Velena said, menacingly. "Velena, what are you doing?!?" Benjamin asked, grabbing Velena's arm.
"We can't just go with him," Velena replied, shaking her arm free from Benjamin's grip. Velena lunged at the man, raising her ax for a brutal swing. Before she could swing, however, everything went dark.