"So this is it…?" I softly asks.
"We're done for…" Ella whimpers.
The swarm of demons then slowly begin closing in on Ella and I, and once they're close enough, with a synchronized roar; the swarm of demons leaps towards Ella and I. Ella and I squeeze our eyes tightly shut in suspense, preparing for the worst.
But then, when all hope seems lost, a voice yells out; "EXPLODING FLAME BULLETS: EMBERS!"
A chorus of explosions and howls of pain echo across the demon horde, and slowly, Ella and I open our eyes, seeing the demon horde writhing on the ground in pain, engulfed in flames.
"You guys looked like you could use some help," a voice taunts as I figure wielding a white pistol leaps in front of us, causing my eyes to widen.
"Mikey…" I softly say.
"GUNSMITH: ASSAULT RIFLE!"
"ADAPTABILITY: RUBBER-IRON GAUNTLET!"
A volley of Cursed Power bullets then comes flying from behind Ella and I, piercing the demons engulfed in Mikey's flames, and killing them instantly.
A pair of iron arms then flies towards the demons swarming Grover like rubber, slamming into them, and knocking the demons off of the blood-soaked Grover.
"Austin!" I cry as Austin lands before us.
"Jamie!" Ella cries as she lands before us, as well.
"You guys…you came…"
"Luis…" Austin begins to say. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!" Ausin then roars as he turns around to face me, causing me to flinch.
"Why did you come to Hell without us?!" Mikey asks. "This job feels too big for only three people!"
"I just…didn't want to burden anyone else…" I meekly reply as I awkwardly rub the back of my neck.
"How did you guys even know we're here?" Ella asks.
"You weren't the only one conscious when Mr. Tramontana told you about closing up the Portal to Hell, Ella," Jamie answers with a smirk as she turns to face the girl and places her hands on her hips. "It just took us a while to get here, because unlike someone, we can't teleport."
"Ah…shut up…" Grover grunts as he pushes himself up to his feet.
"Aw man! I was hoping that you guys would think Ella and I were just sneaking off for some alone time, or something!" I reply, causing the girl to blush.
"That's what we did think, until Grover came with you guys!" Jamie laughs.
"What's "alone time" mean?" Grover innocently asks.
"That's what we figured you guys would be up to when we noticed you slink off," Austin adds.
"How did you guys even find here?" Ella asks.
"Slayer Mezame led us," Mikey answers. "Apparently…the Chairmen of the Slayer Organization are always told where the Temple of the Almighty Torch is, and the only people to know where it is."
"That means that I should be told, too!" Grover proudly chimes in.
"Well, anyone-" I say with a smirk as I turn back to face the final surviving members of the demon horde. "Now that you guys are here…you may as well help us out."
"GO KILL THOSE DEMONS FOR ME!"
"RIGHT!"
"Exploding Flame Bullets: Embers!" Mikey shouts as he aims a pistol at the demon horde, firing off a volley of flaming bullets, killing the demons instantly.
"Wormhole: Green Roundhouse!" Grover replies as he teleports around, smashing through the demon horde with his Cursed Power reinforced kicks, and killing them instantly.
"Adaptability: Iron Gauntlet!" Jamie shouts as she turns her body into iron, using her /iron first to smash through the demons, killing them instantly.
"Gunsmith: Assault Rifle!" Austin shouts as he aims a glowing orange assault rifle at the demon horde, firing off a volley of Cursed Power bullets, killing the demons instantly.
"Hey, Ella!" I exclaim.
"Yeah…?" Ella asks.
"I'm ready now!" I answer.
"Right!" Ella replies.
A giant explosion of rainbow Cursed Power erupts out of my body, swirling around me. My hair begins to turn white, just like with my half-demon form, as my eyes turn into a rainbow color, and my skin darkens into a pale sand blue, mimicking the form of a true demon, just like the Four Horsemen's true demon forms. Golden hairs sprout from the top of my head.
"DEMON GOD MODE!"
I take a deep breath in…then out…
And then, I lift my hands off the hilt of my dad's katana, and place my hands on Ella's shoulder blades, just as she always did to me, when healing me.
"Ready…?" I ask.
"Ready," Ella answers.
The rainbow rush of Cursed Power bursting from my body begins to intensify, then fade, as it begins flowing into Ella's body in turn. A rush of orange and red Cursed Power then explodes out of Ella's body, before subsiding only to Ella's left Demon Seal Eye.
Ella grunts in pain as a rush of blood explodes from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Her body isn't built to handle this much Cursed Power.
"Ella, are you okay?!" I cry as my rainbow burst of Cursed Power begins to subside.
"Don't worry about me!" Ella answers. "As Grover said; no matter what happens, keep going!"
"Right!" I reply as my rainbow burst of Cursed Power intensifies again.
And then, with one final push, my rainbow burst of Cursed Power fully subsides into Ella's body, as a giant rush of orange and red Cursed Power explodes from Ella's left Demon Seal Eye.
Ella grunts in pain for a bit, struggling to take control of all of the Cursed Power that I shoved inside of her, before shouting: "DEMON SEAL!"
The rush of Cursed Power exploding out of Ella's eye intensifies, as the ground begins to tremble, like a mighty earthquake is crossing beneath it.
"What's happening?!" Jamie cries.
"Luis…do you feel that…?" Ella asks.
"Yeah…" I answer. "Maybe because my Cursed Power is tied together with yours."
"The Portal to Hell is closing."
"WHAT?! It's closing?!" Mikey cries. "Then we gotta get outta' here!"
"Don't worry…" Ella replies. "It'll be fine!"
"EVERYONE, ENTER MY WORMHOLE!" Grover booms as he points to his portal. "It'll bring you back to Hell!"
"Right!" Mikey, Jamie, and Austin reply as they rush over to Grover's wormhole and hop inside. Grover hops in after them.
"How's it looking out there?!" I ask as Hell begins trembling even more intensity, causing Ella and I to lose balance and fall to the ground, as the demons around us benign howling in agony and confusion.
"It looks good!" A voice calls back from outside of Grover's wormhole, which I assume to be Grover. I can hear Grover only faintly over the trembling ground. "The Portal to Hell…has closed!"
Ella and I turn to face one another and smile. "Shall we go home?" I ask.
"Yes, let's get out of here," Ella answers.
My burst of rainbow Cursed Power and the burst of Cursed Power around Ella's eye dissipates as Ella rush over Grover's wormhole. As Hell begins trembling so violently that the ground begins to split, Ella leaps into Grover's wormhole.
Never to see Hell again.
But before I can follow Ella into the wormhole, my entire vision blurs, and a wave of sickness and dizziness floods my entire body.
"Luis, are you alright?" Ella asks.
"Yeah, I just…need a moment-" I answer, as I stagger another few steps forwards.
But then…my entire vision goes black as I limply fall to the ground.
"Luis…?" Ella asks.
"LUIS!!!!!!!!!!!"
***
"And then, when I turned around to look at the Portal to Hell, I saw that it just… wasn't there!" I explain.
Oh right. Did I mention that I was talking to Nick and Daniel? Or at least…their graves. I just thought that they deserved to know about how Ella, the gang, and I closed the Portal to Hell for good. Nick should be pleased, knocking that his squad was able to band together and save the world!
"Luis!" Ella calls to me, shocking me out of my intense conversation with Nick and Daniel. "It's almost time!"
"Oh yeah!" I exclaim as I pop off of the ground and dust myself off. "Sorry guys, but I gotta go!" I exclaim as I turn away from the tombstone and hustle over to Ella, Grover, Austin, Jamie, and Austin, who were all huddled around Mikey, who's leaning with his back against a bright red camaro that's parked on the side of the road by the cemetery.
Man, I would looove a car as cool as that one. But I'm eighteen now, so I guess I can drive. I'd just need to go get my license, first.
"Luis," Mikey says, causing me to perk up.
"What's up, Mikey?" I ask.
"After our fight against War, I've realized something; that I can no longer use my Flames of destruction," Mikey answers.
"WHAT?!" I cry. "Why not?!"
"Come on, Luis! You can't be that stupid!" Mikey laughs.
"Thanks to you, I no longer have this burning anger in my heart, so I can't use my Flames of destruction on anyone, the black flames of my anger. You saved me, Luis. Thank You."
"Aw shucks, I'm not that cool," I reply as I awkwardly rub the back of my head with an embarrassed grin. "So what will you do now?"
Mikey lets out a sigh as he turns up to face the hopefully, bright blue sky above. "I don't know," Mikey answers. "I'm going to travel the world and slay each and every last demon I come across. That was my goal to begin with. At first, it was for the sake of my revenge, but now…it's the least I can do for putting everyone through this. I need to atone for my sins."
"You're lucky that I'm the Vice-Chairman now!" Grover barks. "If I wasn't…you'd for sure get life in prison."
"Yeah…thanks, Grover!" Mikey replies as he turns to face Grover with a small chuckle.
"Are you sure?" I ask Mikey. "Your left arm was already burned off during our final attack against War, will you be safe without your Flames of Destruction?"
Mikey turns to face me and smirks. "Seriously?" He taunts. "I don't need them to be stronger than you!"
"Oh yeah?" I reply with a smirk of my own. "Wanna test that?"
"What about you, you're the one who can't use Cursed Power anymore," Mikey replies.
"Yeah, I know…" I sigh. "But I still have natural raw strength thanks to this demon body of mine, so I can still slay a demon or two."
Yeah, that's right. The price that my ancient older brother, Aether, mentioned for merging my Cursed Power with that of Hell's in order to achieve Demon God status and seal off Hell…was my Cursed Power.
I can't use Cursed Power anymore.
I'm no longer Slayer Fūjin, now…I'm just plain old Luis. But that's fine. This is what I always wanted. To just live a normal, peaceful life.
Mikey and I stare each other down for a brief moment, before letting out a hearty chuckle.
But mine and Mikey's laughter is interrupted when we hear a voice say: "Bring me too."
Everyone turns to where he heard the voice, to see Winter walking up to us.
"And why the Hell would I bring you, you're an enemy?!" Mikey snaps.
Winter shakes her head. "During the war...I betrayed my mother and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and killed my brother," Winter explains. "At first…it was just because I didn't want to die, but now…I know it's because demons are the twisted ones. Humans deserve to be the pens ruling over Earth. I want to atone for the sins of my past, too."
"Seriously?!" Mikey cries.
"Trust her, Mikey!" Jamie exclaims. "Winter helped us defeat Death!"
"Yeah, August was the twisted one, not her," Austin adds.
Mikey turns to the sky, lets out a long, drawn-out sigh, before turning back down to face Winter.
"The old me probably would have just shot ya' by now, but I've grown wiser in my years," Mikey replies. "What the Hell, who am I to talk about who's the enemy? You can join me. If someone like me deserves forgiveness…then you do, as well. Get over here," Mikey orders as he waves Winter over. Winter's eyes light up a bit as she hustles over to Mikey's side.
"Well Mikey…is this goodbye?" I ask.
"Nah, Mikey replies with a smirk. "I'll visit often. This isn't the last you've seen of the Pyromaniac!"
"Good!" I reply.
"Yo, Grover, you better tell Mezame not to send his damn men after me anymore!" Mikey snaps.
"No promises!" Grover replies with a cheeky smirk.
"Ella, sorry for, uh…almost killing Luis…a lot…I kinda made you have to heal him often," Mikey then continues as he turns away and blushes.
"Oh…it's no problem!" Ella replies with a sweet smile.
"And Jamie, Austin, I sure was a dick to you two during the tournament… sorry…" Mikey finishes.
"You're still on that?" Jamie laughs.
"While I don't appreciate being lumped in with someone else- '' Austin rumbles as he turns away from Mikey and does the anime-glasses-guy-thing one last time, before cutting himself off with a sigh and turning back to face Mikey. "Apology accepted."
"Thanks!" Mikey replies with a nod.
"ALRIGHT!" Mikey then booms as he pumps his fists into the air. "I'M OFF!"
"GOODBYE, MIKEY!" The five of us cheer, Ella, Grover, Jamie, Austin, and myself.
"Oh, and Luis, one more thing," Mikey says.
"Yeah, what is it?" I ask.
With a smirk, Mikey sticks his fist out to me.
I smirk back, and bump Mikey's fist.
"See you soon…"
"Damn Demon."
"See ya' later…"
"Pyromaniac!"
Mikey then turns around and hops into the front seat of his bright red car, as Winter hops into the passenger seat as well.
"WOOOH-HOOOO!" Mikey cheers as he revs his impressive engine,before zooming off, leaving us behind in a cloud of dust.
I watch Mikey drive off for a few sad moments, before turning to face Ella with a smile. "Well, should we go now?" I ask as I take my girlfriend's hand.
My girlfriend's hand.
I never thought that I'd get a chance to say that word…
"Yeah, we've got a date!" Ella answers as she takes my hand.
And then, hand and hand, Ella and I step away from the roar, with Grover, Jamie, and Austin following behind us, as Mikey speeds down that road with Winter alongside him, onto God only knows where, off to new adventures. And thus, the two of us set off on our separate paths on the first day of the rest of our lives. But no matter how far apart we were, or what obstacles Mikey and I face…I know one thing;
That Mikey is my ex rival and my best friend!
My name is Luis Tramontana.
And this is the end of my boring, average, completely normal story.