Eldaire

So the four warriors gathered before the evil one. Matt, whose powers came from love and the desire to protect. Camilo, whose powers came from absolute rage and the desire to abolish evil. Ben, whose powers came from knowledge beyond comprehension. And Reed, whose powers came from nothing more than intense training and an iron will.

"Come at me then, mortals. It is time for me to slay you and break free from this prison once and for all."

"Right, I'm first then?" asked Reed, a cocky grin on his face.

"Go for it," said Matt. Ben and Camilo gave him a nod. Reed flew through the air with amazing velocity. Raw energy pulsated from his being. He threw a punch that had the force of a train, but it landed futilly on the dark one's chest. A puzzled look came over Reed's face right before the dark one threw a counter punch that sent him flying across the room. He landed crumpled and unconscious on the floor.

"This is nonsense. You actually thought that you could take me one at a time? Pathetic."

"No, actually. We didn't," Matt responded. "We just wanted to let Reed have his fun for a second so that he would stay back and not get seriously hurt in OUR fight. Don't get too cocky now. Our powers are much greater than his."

"Ah, how very noble of you to protect your friend. Alright then, lets begin the real battle."

Matt was instantly surrounded by a brilliant white aura causing his hair to glow a gentle blonde. Camilo brought up his dark aura, and his eyes instantly eminated a terrifying red light. Ben summoned his blue aura which spun around him with great brilliance and fluid motion.

"Go," said Matt.

Matt and Camilo flew towards the evil with ten times the velocity of Reed. Ben stayed back and simply extended one hand. Matt and Camilo's blows landed at the same time and the dark one was sent flying back. They moved to attack again, but the dark one moved with incredible speed away from that spot. It appeared as though he had vanished. When they caught sight of him again he was behind them. He held out his arms and flew forward with the same incredible speed bringing them through every solid object he could find. Then, Ben's time came. The two were suddenly back on the ground and a huge metal block was in front of the dark one. He wen't about 5 feet into it before he finally was able to stop. He came out rubbing his obviously bruised head.

"That was most irritating." he said in his terrible voice.

"You think that was irritating? Try this," said Camilo already rushing back at him.

"Wait! It's too soon!" cried Matt. But it was too late. Camilo threw a ki ball at him which was easily deflected back. Camilo dodged it, but was caught by the claws of the dark one slamming into his back. Camilo was thrown bloody to the floor. Ben began using a healing spell.

"Not today," rasped the dark one. He charged up an immense blast of evil energy to fire at Ben.

"NO!" called out Matt. The dark one fired and Matt flew with all his speed. He got between the blast and Ben, but without time to build a defense. He got the full force of it to his side and fell to the ground burnt, bruised, and half-dead.

"Worthless sacrafice," said the dark one as he launched another at Ben. It hit Ben with similar effects, but he had had the time he needed to finish his healing spell. Camilo looked around and saw what had happened. The aura around him grew more and more intense. The earth rumbled with his force.

"You bastard!!!"

He flew at him again. The dark one launched a ki blast, but Camilo bounced it easily away and socked him in the face. The dark one flew back, but Camilo caught back up before the dark one even had time to realize he was hit and landed a kick to the stomach that sent him to the floor.

As he got up, he chuckled.

"Do you really think your hatred can defeat me?"

"Just watch!!!"

Camilo charged up an immense blast and shot it at him, but the dark one dodged and was right next to Camilo. The next few seconds was a flurry of hundreds of kicks, punches, and blocks from both opponents. There was a faint rustling in the corner as Reed began to sit up, holding a hand to his head. Suddenly, Camilo was sent flying to the floor. The dark one then came down on him with a kick that sent him about 20 feet into the ground. Reed watched in horror.

"Hah! I am free at last! Victory shall be mine! The warrior of angels, the warrior of demons, and the warrior of dieties have all been defeated! And you, pathetic warrior of humans! You don't stand a chance! You will remain alive and watch as I wreak havoc upon your world!"

"No," said Reed. "I won't. He flew at the dark one but was met half way by a ki blast that didn't hurt him, but bound his arms to his sides and his legs together. He couldn't move. The dark one laughed maniacly and kicked Reed into the wall.

"All is lost," Reed thought. "All is lost and I can do nothing but watch in this pathetic state. Dear God, I'm so sorry. I didn't train hard enough. I'm just not strong enough."

Suddenly, Reed heard Matt's voice inside his head. "Nonsense! You've trained as hard as you possibly could have!"

Then, Ben. "That's right! Nobody on earth is more dedicated than you! Man! I wish I had HALF the willpower you have!"

Camilo. "Your efforts have been great and your strength is unquestionable. It is time for you to destroy this foul demon!"

Matt. "You have to protect all the people of earth!"

Ben. "You, the warrior of humans, know what you must do!"

Matt. "Now, we will each give you the last of our strength. You will win Reed! I believe in you! Now, take my power that loves all and must protect it from the dark one!"

Camilo. "And mine that is infuriated by this terrible evil."

Ben. "And mine that knows and understands what must be done!"

Their essences drifted from their bodies over to Reed's. The dark one turned around and noticed this.

"You think that is enough? HA! There's more strength left in him than the three of you! Go ahead and realize the futility of your actions."

As Matt's soul made contact with Reed, something strange happened. He felt a pleasant tingle in his back, followed by extreme pressure. A second later, a huge white wing burst from his left shoulder-blade breaking the bonds around his arms. After that came Camilo's. This was an extremely painful burning in Reeds back that sent him to his knees. A huge black wing shot from his right shoulder-blade. Then he felt Ben's essence and suddenly, reality seemed to swirl and dissolve. He saw the world through a new light and a huge blue battle aura surrounded him.

"What is this?" asked the dark one, shocked. "Their powers combined wasn't even 1% of what I'm sensing in you. How could this be. There's no way!"

"This is the power of those... pathetic ...humans. I understand now. I will protect them. My friends and my love. AND I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

He flew at the dark one with such force that it left a canyon below him and a huge hole in the roof above him. A singe punch sent the dark one flying out of the cave. He went about 100 feet in the air and fell back onto the grass, shocked and in extreme pain.

Reed floated about 30 feet in the air above the dark one, still laying and writhing in pain on the ground.

"Now! It is time for you to go from this place! For the people of the world. For all those whom I love and care about! For all those I have never even met. I will protect them! I will destroy you! DEFENDER!"

Reed launched Matt's most massive attack. As it flew towards the dark one, it was coated with Camilo's rage. Then the dark one began to fly away, and he focused Ben's mental energy to bend the blast and make it follow him. The dark one now had a head start though. It looked as though he would outrun the blast. It is difficult to maintain a beam of that size. But Reed's will was not fading. The beam soared on. After about 10 seconds, it caugt up and made contact, hard.

"How?" cried the dark one. Those were his last words.

Reed drifted, exhausted down to the ground. His wings dissolved into the air, as did his aura. He looked up, and saw a bright light illuminating the sky. In it, were his three friends.

"I told ya you could do it!" said Matt. Camilo was acting tough, as usual, looking away like he didn't care. But there was a slight grin visible on his face. Ben made no such attempt to hide his emotions. A huge smile went right from one ear to another on his face.

"Does this mean I finally get to go to paradise?"

"You've earned it man! But I think there might be something worth staying for in your case. Goodbye friend. Enjoy the rest of your life! Don't worry about us. Here, that's just a heartbeat away."

The light faded and was replaced by the blue cloudless sky. Reed spotted Lauren walking from across the field. When she got next to him, they exchanged no words. They simply looked deeply into one anothers eyes. That was all the communication they needed. They kissed a long passionate kiss.