Susie gasped. Her barrier flickered weakly and trembled.
"She's pregnant…"
Gerard laughed again.
"Surprised? You thought you knew everything about Maria? She came to me herself. She wanted eternal life and greater power. I gave it to her. Now she is my greatest weapon."
Maria stepped forward. Black tendrils extended from her palms. One of them lashed out toward Bruno. He managed to block it with his knife, but the force was monstrous. He was hurled backward into the wall, slammed against it, and slid down, coughing up blood.
"Bruno!" Gideon shouted.
Flash surged forward with inhuman speed. He moved so fast the air whistled around him. His fist slammed into Maria, but she simply absorbed the blow. A tendril wrapped around his arm.
Flash roared in pain but tore free, leaving strips of his own skin on the floor.
"You won't touch them!" he growled.
He revealed his true power. His movements became blurred. He circled Gerard and Maria, shooting, slashing, and striking. Every bullet made Maria jerk. Every knife slash forced Gerard to retreat momentarily.
Gerard was ready for this too.
He waved his hand, and Maria lunged at Flash. Her tendrils wrapped around his torso. Flash screamed, a real scream of pain. The darkness began draining his strength.
Meanwhile, Ethan stood frozen, being consumed by his own power.
"No!" Gideon roared and fired at Maria. The bullet passed through her, but she only smiled.
Susie, nearly collapsing from exhaustion, raised her hands one last time. A blue barrier flared around Flash, severing the tendrils. Maria hissed.
Flash broke free. His side was torn open, blood pouring freely. He growled heavily.
"You… turned her into a monster," he wheezed, staring at Gerard.
"You destroyed her. I will destroy you."
Gerard merely smiled.
"Interesting. She has nothing to do with you. Why are you so desperate to protect her?"
Ethan snapped back to reality.
Gideon and Bruno lay against the wall. Both were wounded. Susie, almost completely drained, was on her knees, struggling to maintain the last, faintly glowing barrier.
Ethan saw it all in a fraction of a second.
"Flash!" he shouted hoarsely, his voice cracking.
Flash whipped his head around. Relief and fury flashed across his face at the same time.
"Ethan! Catch!"
He drew a second pistol from his holster, the one loaded with silver bullets mixed with wisteria and hurled it across the hall. The weapon flew in a high arc.
Ethan lunged forward to catch it. His body didn't obey him like Flash's. He jumped too late, stretched out his hand, and barely managed to grab the pistol with his fingertips.
The recoil threw him backward. He crashed onto his back, hitting a metal crate. Pain shot through his ribs.
"Damn it…" he gasped, pushing himself up.
Gerard laughed.
"Look at that. You brought my own thing? Decided to die together?"
Ethan stood up, leaning against the wall. The pistol felt heavy and foreign in his hand. The stake in his left hand pulsed. He felt slow, almost helpless compared to the two ancient beings before him.
Flash was already beside him. He moved so fast that even Ethan couldn't follow it.
"Cover my left!" Flash shouted to Ethan.
"Don't rush ahead! Just shoot and stay alive!"
Ethan nodded, though his throat tightened with fear. He raised the pistol with both hands. His left arm trembled from the weight of the other weapon.
Gerard charged at them. The darkness around him exploded into tendrils. Flash met him first, two shots to the chest, then a sharp dodge and an elbow strike. Gerard was thrown back but immediately retaliated. One of the black blades missed Flash and struck Ethan in the shoulder.
The pain was blinding.
Ethan screamed but didn't fall. He raised the pistol and fired. The bullet hit Gerard in the side. The wisteria hissed in the wound, but it was only a scratch to such a being.
"Weak, boy!" Gerard snarled.
"You can barely even stand!"
Flash attacked again. His movements were almost imperceptible. He slipped under Gerard's arm, fired point-blank at his head, and immediately darted aside. Gerard roared, but Flash was already behind him.
"Ethan, now!" he shouted.
Ethan gathered all his remaining strength. He stepped forward and thrust the stake straight into the center of Gerard's darkness. The shadow power of the stake flared with a dim blue light. He felt the wisteria in his blood helping him maintain control, but his body was burning from the strain. Every step was agony.
"You… won't take him!" Ethan hissed through clenched teeth.
The wood sank greedily into the ancient vampire's essence. Gerard roared in pain.
Flash didn't stop. He continued circling, shooting and striking, not letting Gerard focus on Ethan.
"Hold on, kid!" Flash shouted.
"You have to endure!"
Ethan felt his legs buckling. His shoulder burned. His breathing was heavy and ragged. He was much weaker than both of them and he knew it. But he didn't retreat. He drove the stake deeper, using the last remnants of the wisteria to keep the stake's shadow power from consuming him as well.
Gerard roared and struck him with a black tendril. The blow hit him in the chest. Ethan was thrown back several meters. He fell, coughing blood, but immediately tried to get up.
"I'm… not done yet…" he wheezed, raising the stake.
Flash was already beside him. He grabbed Ethan by the shoulder and helped him stand.
"Come on! Come on!" he said fiercely.
"We're pushing him back!"
They stood shoulder to shoulder, one fast and lethal, the other stubborn, battered, but still on his feet.