Doubled Edge 9b/10

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Doubled Edge by Katt Solano
Disclaimers & further hoopla in part 0
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back in the remains of the condo, Jetblayd let out awhole-hearted "Fuck me!"
as he flew across the kitchen, through the remaining whole window and into
the awaiting hibiscus bushes. Automatically, he tucked his chin into his
chest and hunched his shoulders in, rolling out of the fall with minimal
damage. ::Minimal except for the intense _pain_ down my back!!::

>From the sidewalk where she and Connor were already fighting back to back,
Stiletto paused momentarily. :~:Jean?:~:

:~:I'm all right. The armour absorbed a lot of the impact else I'd have a
broken spinal cord by now:~:

Connor took a step to the right and bowed low, allowing Stiletto to use his
back as a vaulting-board and leapt up. Her legs swung out wide, kicking two
Caelum up the chin. As she went down, Connor tucked his katana under his arm
and cupped his hands, placing them a foot away from his body. Stiletto's
foot landed snugly in his hands and he launched her into a forward spin. Her
arms locked straight, the blades flashing in a deadly whirl. Connor caught
his katana as it fell, immediately swinging around to parry and jab.

Stiletto landed on a roll and came up running, slashing her blades. Jetblayd
met her from the side.

"Merry-go-round!" she yelled.

Jetblayd saluted in acknowledgement, spinning so that he could guard her
back. Slowly, then building up speed, they twirled their blades in a
complicated kata. Still back-to-back, they walked in a tight circle, again
gradually getting faster and faster. Soon, all that could be seen by the
human eye were the two warriors seemingly covered by a translucent grey
sphere. None of the Caelum's weapons could penetrate their lightning-fast
swords, the same swords that would suddenly slash out to deliver near-fatal
cuts.

"Can I get some of that action this way?" Connor panted. He had four Caelum
all to himself, not including the giant who seemed to have something
personal against him.

By mutual agreement, Stiletto broke off the merry-go-round with Jetblayd.
The swords went back in their sheathes; it was time for some distance
weapons. She grabbed two small discs from her armbands and pressed down on
their centre, releasing a cloud of powder. She charged and threw the
crackling balls of energy. And did it again. And again. And again.

:~:Follow!:~: she told Jean.

He had the throwing balls out, charged and thrown before he could even
digest the command. It was always like this when Jetblayd tapped into his
family's powers; like they were taking over his mind and body and all he
could do was hang on and hope the ride didn't kill him.

Connor himself didn't bother to take the time to wonder at the strangers
that were helping Beauregard. It was all he could do to flip back from the
sword thrust at his belly then, as soon as he found himself right-side up
again, disarm the Caelum who had shot a bolt of fire at him. His body moved
without his having to command it, knowledge filtering into his consciousness
moments after he acted upon them.

::Keep yourself close to the shadows; they find it more difficult to fight
there.::

::Decapitation won't stop them but it will hold them off longer.::

::Jetblayd throws his charges to cover a wide area; Stiletto prefers having
two or three targets at a time.::

::Darcfyr will probably take to the air. The Caelum don't have their
hovercrafts so he'll have aerial advantage.::

::Who the Hell is Darcfyr?:: Grunting with exertion, Connor slashed the head
off the nearest Caelum then tore into the gut of another on the upswing.
::Ramirez. Is that you talking?:: His arms burned, felt ready to fall off.
Not for the last time, he cursed the fact that he died early before his body
reached it full potential. There'd been every indication that had he aged to
twenty-five years at the very least, he'd have a body like Angus.

::You're doing fine,:: said a feminine voice. Stiletto?

Connor parried a spearhead, twisted around to block another then went right
around again to keep a third spear away. For an inexplicable reason, he went
down on one knee and cried out, "Arm!"

Using two momentarily incapacitated Caelum for leverage, Jetblayd sprang up
into the air. He pulled his Splinter from its holster and threw it straight
up. At that moment, Darcfyr appeared from the dark sky and plucked the
firearm out of the air. He swooped down to Connor's side, his fiery wings
throwing off most of the Caelum, and dropped the Splinter in the Immortal's
hand. Before the Caelum recovered from the heat shock, Darcfyr flew back up
in the air.

"This is too..." John couldn't find the words for it. He didn't know if His
heart was thumping with fear or excitement.

"Yes." Darcfyr generated two more blue-white fireballs and waited for
appropriate targets. He had to dole out his strength carefully if he wanted
to last; the wings took a lot of energy to generate. Off in the east, his
sharp eyes spotted the glint of moonlight on a plane's wings. His body
tensed up. If the Caelum brought in aerial reinforcements, he would have to
call up the fae and owe them a favour. Not a pleasant prospect. :~:Kay.:~:

:~:Already scanning:~: his wife sent back. Jetblayd and Connor instinctively
moved closer to her to protect her as she accessed Darcfyr's tele-empathy to
scan the on coming vehicle. The relieved colour of her scan hit her husband
first, the Jetblayd, then the bewildered Connor.

Duncan gaped at the man suspended in the air with two enormous flames
burning on his back.

"What the hell is that?" Methos demanded in a softvoice.

Kala's lips pressed together. "That is a Xeno Core Warrior."

Blinking his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, Duncan realised
something very important. "He has Johnny!"

"Your student?"

"My nephew!"

"Look below." Devaki pointed to the battle below. "Caelum. There must be two
dozen of them!"

"The Xenos appear to be fighting them," Kala murmured.

"Anyone against those Caelum are in my good books," Duncan said.

"They are never what they seem!" Cerny protested vehemently, "For all we
know, the Xeno Core and the Caelum could be staging a trap."

"Trap or no, there are civilians in that neighbourhood." Kala threw on her
armoured jacket, inducing Devaki to do the same. "We will worry about the
Caelum first."

Cerny threw the plane down low so that the belly of the aircraft skimmed the
roof of the three-story condo buildings. It was then that Duncan saw Connor
in the middle of the melee. Only two others guarded his back while a circle
of Caelum slowly tightened around him.

"Land this damned junk heap now!" he ordered Cerny.

"I can't find enough room," said the Ichor Born.

"Then we jump." Devaki unlocked the cabin top and threw it open.

Connor started when something black wielding a sword dropped down beside
him, throwing an Immortal signature loud and strong enough to bulldoze an
elephant. He brought his sword up. Duncan's dark face met him across the
locked blades.

"Long time no see."

A wolfish grin formed on Connor's face, his second wind finally arriving.
"Took you damned long enough." Another presence landed just off to the left.
"Who's your friend?"

Duncan pushed his cousin's head down and plunged a blade between the ribs of
a charging Caelum before answering. "Adam, Connor." He paused to whack the
head and leg off of a Caelum. "Connor, Adam."

"Pleased to meet you," grunted Methos in mid-swing. The Ivanhoe thirsted for
prey. "Hell of a party you throw, Highlander."

"School's out. Had time on my hands and I thought--" Connor aimed over
Stiletto's head and squeezed off a half-dozen rounds of the Splinter's
chemical shots. "--why not take on some role-playing game rejects?"

"Behind you!" Duncan called out. From the corner of his eye, he saw his
friend slash back viciously. Satisfied that they could care for themselves,
Duncan turned his attention on his own problem. The Caelum that Approached
towered over him, holding an ugly, bloody spear in his massive white paws.

"Another Highland spawn." Castevent licked his lips. "I will enjoy wrenching
your spine from your still-writhing body."

Duncan didn't deign to retort though he heard Methos mutter, "Now _there's_
a mental image that'll stick with me 'til breakfast." He attacked first, a
flurry of quick stabs and slices that kept the Caelum moving. His height was
both an advantage and a weakness; Duncan could easily dodge in and out of
his range. He hit Castevent's legs, cutting muscle after muscle, not giving
them time to heal before he sliced them open again. The Caelum was able to
score a few cuts, but Duncan slipped away from them at the last minute,
keeping his injuries superficial.

Finally, the Caelum dropped to his knees. In a swift, hard stroke, Duncan
neatly sliced off his head and fighting arm. He knew, however, that that
wouldn't keep the monster down for long but he couldn't worry about that
now. Not when two other, albeit smaller, Caelum took Castevent's place.

"This is bloody impossible," he said to himself.

"Heads!" came Darcfyr's call. Jetblayd threw up a handful of charged sand to
throw the Caelum off as his father let loose a barrage of his deadly black
flames. Upon contact, the Caelum hit burst into a fire so strong it consumed
them in seconds leaving only ashes. But it had come at a cost. Darcfyr's
wings flickered then disappeared altogether.

Connor couldn't tear his eyes from the sight. "Johnny!" He broke the tight
circle to rush to his son's side.

Sweat dripping from her brow. Stiletto forced her head up. Gauging the angle
of descent-- straight down-- she just managed to form a net of charged
energy to soften the fall. With John's tall, gangly body curled in his,
Darcfyr twisted to land on the net feet first then sprang into a half-roll
into the bushes. He lay there, trying to realign his brain in his skull.

"You okay?" he gasped.

"Yeah," said John, "I-I'll be fine."

Jetblayd sent a surge of energy into his father's body. :~:Don't fail us
now, Papa.:~:

:~:Don't know de meanin' o de word. Didn't even learn how t'spell it.:~:
Shakily, Darcfyr got back up on his feet. His knees, however, had
disappeared and he sank back down, clutching his cramping stomach and
gasping for air.

Connor tore into the bushes, hair standing like a wild man, sword in one
hand, gun in the other. Relief rushed through John's veins but he stayed
down, worried about the man who had saved his life. "I think he's hurt," he
said, keeping a hand on the man's back.

Darcfyr denied the prognosis, shaking his head vigorously and waving Connor
back. "C'est rien. Allez...(2)" He grabbed John's arm and shoved him farther
into the bushes. "Ne meus pas."

"Don't move," Connor translated. Tucking the Splinter in his waistband, he
hauled Darcfyr up on his feet. "What do you need?" he asked the Xeno in
French.

"My wife," replied Darcfyr in the same language.

To his extreme vexation, Cerny found himself beside Jetblayd. The Xeno's
eyes flickered towards him. "We're on the same side tonight."

"And _only_ tonight." Cerny shot the head off the Caelum who had loomed over
Jetblayd.

Methos, meantime, was having a horrifically good time despite himself. His
body sang with the fight, the glorious art of it all, the wonder of having
to let loose all the skill he'd been tamping down for years. He guessed that
less than half of the Caelum remained; the rest had been literally toasted
by those black fire bombs. The lady beside him was an intriguing fighter,
using moves that he hadn't thought was possible for the human boy to make.
Seeing his appreciative glances, Stiletto winked.

"Nice sword." She threw a few charged discs around him to distract the two
Caelum closest to him.

Methos did his best to julienne the pair. "Want to see it up close?"

"Might just take you up on it." Without warning, she grabbed it in one hand
and replaced it with her own strange blade. It looked like the bastard child
of a Turkish scimitar and a katana but with a double edge. His Ivanhoe
looked ridiculously large in her hands. As she started to swing it in a
circle, her hands glowed lavender. The crackling energy leaped up the highly
conductive metal until the entire blade was sizzling madly. The Caelum
backed away in fear but too late.

In moments, five more went down as the blade ripped their bodies into so
many scattered pieces and torched the ends to keep them from regenerating.
Letting out a feline hiss, she planted the heavy sword into the road on its
downward arc then sucked the energy back in her body. The pain of it made
her light-headed.

:~:I'll take that.:~: Darcfyr lurched to her side, grabbing her glowing
hands.

Castevent found himself with only three other fighters. Brandishing his
spear, he viewed the odds. One of the Ichor Born was badly hurt as well as
two Xenos. The three Immortals were weary but willing to fight; they could
regain their energy at any moment. There would be no retaking of the Pearl
this night. With an irate hiss, he signalled to his partners. They flipped
on their teleporters and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Oh good," said Methos, forcing air into his burning lungs, "We won."

In the background, Jetblayd threw up.

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