Painite needed a moment to catch her breath. She had powered down after teleporting away from Merlinite, hiding from him for a moment. It was a move he was well familiar with, but it hardly mattered: knowing she did it would not help him in figuring out where she was or where she would attack from. Just let him sit up there and worry about it for a moment. Gently took the time to look over her injuries. Superficial, but painful. He had gotten very close to doing something very serious, though. Would he really have ripped her open with those claws if she had given him the chance to?

The thought should have been a scary one, but instead she felt a jolt of adrenaline. It made her grin, and she looked up toward the roof where she had left him. Someone had his big boy pants on, now, and was ready to do what he had to do. It was a shame it took him so long to grow a pair, and his progress was wasted because he was white moon sympathetic now.

A damn shame.

Painite took a breath and powered up, teleporting immediately to launch her attack. She had her spear in hand as she reappeared next to Merlinite, who was clearly already looking for her. He had sensed her powering up, despite how fast she tried to be, but it was not enough to really help him. Her spear flashed as she stabbed it at him, finding a home in his upper thigh. He let out a vicious sound of pain and anger, decidedly not human, and grabbed on to the staff of her spear with one of his hands. She was surprised by how strong his grip was, but it was his other hand she really had to worry about.

The claws were sharp, and his will to use them even more so. He slashed at her without hesitating, his eyes flashing viciously as he raked his claws across her midsection. She let out a strangled scream of pain, banishing her spear and charging toward him rather than away. It gave him the chance to pull his hands forward, and he grabbed on to her midsection, claws sliding painfully between the ridges of her rib cage before he dug them in to her flesh. He held her fast for a moment, but she was not inclined to stop, pushing her hands forward, fists stacked one on top of the other, and summoned her spear to her again.

Pain exploded through Merlinite and he stared at her for a long moment before he looked down to see the pole of the spear embedded in his body, the metal tip sticking out the other side of him. He could not see it, but it was not difficult to guess what happened. She summoned her spear and impaled him while letting him get wrapped up in his own vicious attack. He still had her in his claws, the two bound by blood and murderous intention.

She looked at him, grinning, eyes dark and sunken as pain clearly took its toll. There was no fear in her eyes, however. Only malice.

“Wh… what did you think was going to happen?” she breathed, and he snarled at her. The sound was low and rumbling, meant to intimidate but neither one could move. They had each other trapped. “Did you think you could kill me, or were you hoping I’d dust you?”
Merlinite gripped his hands, digging his claws into her ribs, causing her to scream in agony as he felt one of the bones snap under the pressure. In retaliation, Painite tightened her grip on the staff of the spear, pushing it down and moving the spear head and pole. It was enough to bring Merlinite to one knee, though the sound of pain that escaped him was not a scream, like hers, but a roar.

Painite lost her balance and was dragged down with him, collapsing forward and landing against his shoulder. She let go of her spear, though it remained embedded in him, and rested her head against him as her body fell slack. Merlinite, too, was losing his grip on consciousness, feeling her pressed against him as they sat on their knees in front of each other. He realized he was leaning on her just as much as she was him, their heads touching at their ears. He let his claws drop away from her, knuckles dragging on the floor. Blood was pooling around them, thick and dark, from the two of them.

“Do you want to die together, my lovely Merlinite,” Painite whispered, with difficulty, into his ear. She was not bothered by the horns on his head, or the scales she was touching as she leaned on him. She reached up a shaking hand to cup the side of his face, running her thumb over his cheek as she mustered her strength to pull back from him, looking him in the eyes with a gentle pressure on his chin to make him turn his head toward her. His eyes were slow to rise and meet her gaze.

“I’m not dying here. Not for you. Not with you.”

“When did you get so stubborn, Merlinite? I loved you, you know. You were mine.”

“You didn’t love me. You loved my dedication to you. My company. You want someone you can rule over. I just wanted to help you, to save your life. You stole mine for it. I’ll never forgive you. And my name is not Merlinite.” His voice was growing in strength as he spoke, and he pushed her away from him, slowly getting to his feet. He grabbed the staff and snapped it with a vicious snarl, reaching behind him and pulling out the business end of it through his back. He threw both pieces at her feet, wobbling forward but keeping his footing by spreading his wing to balance himself.

Painite watched him, surprised. She saw him snap her spear and almost felt the pain of it, banishing the pieces after they bounced on the ground once, unable to see it broken. Tears stung her eyes as she looked up at Merlinite, but of course, it was not really about the spear.

“My name is Dennis. And you’re nothing to me anymore, Painite. I’m not scared of you. I don’t owe you anything. I don’t owe the Negaverse anything!”

He turned away from her, running toward the edge of the roof, as best as he could. He had one claw over his injury, running on three legs instead of two or four. Painite struggled to get to her feet, crawling for a moment before she got her two legs under her and forced her body after him. She managed a few stumbling steps before she leaped at him, grabbing on to his tail.

“Wait! You can’t run away from me! You can’t abandon me! Who do you think you are?! You can’t be a Knight: you’re a youma. You ARE Chaos. You can’t escape it, no matter what little mantra you chant to yourself at night! It will consume you, and you’ll come crawling back to me! I am all you have!”

Merlinite gripped the railing of the building, standing half way up on two feet when she had grabbed on to his tail. He turned to look at her, eyes wild, furious, and he bared his teeth at her in a hiss. With all the strength he had left, he swung his tail, with her on it, like a whip, over the edge of the roof. She yelped but had little time to react, losing her hold on his tail as he snapped it away from her and plummeting down to the street below. He heard her land heavily on something that crunched beneath her, but it was too dark for him to see where she went. Moments later, her power signature vanished.

Shaken, by her words more than the fight itself, Merlinite remained crouched on the roof for a few moment more, as if expecting another attack, before he struggled to get himself home. To the library. Maybe Camelot would be there, and would be able to help. Merlinite felt like his chest was going to cave in from the weight of his panic.

He needed help.