Rolling like giant marbles through everything in their paths, Earth and her father tumbled at speed, fighting hand to hand, each once again doing their best to physically hurt the other... gouging, scratching, punching and kicking, with the deranged daughter even at one point head butting her father, much to his astonishment. Spinning across the battlefield in blind panic, their rounded shields colliding with corpses and cadavers, debris and rubble, and even the odd living being or two, who were either too consumed by their actions or just too slow to get out of the way, the dysfunctional relatives fought tooth and nail, both firmly believing in their righteous cause, Earth long since lost to the madness that consumed her.
Pitching forward, the crazed witch lunged at her father, driving him back, whilst at the same time connecting her hand with his face. It was more of a backhanded slap than anything else, but it carried the weight of just some of her magic, rattling his eyes and everything else within his skull. Dazed for but a heartbeat, suddenly all the breath was forced out of him by a violent knee in the crotch. Nearly causing him to go cross-eyed, but not quite, it did at least stir a very real anger inside him, provoking him to fight back with everything he had. Wrestling in close proximity wasn't ideal as far as he was concerned, but long ago he'd been trained for all eventualities, so he allowed the memories of that time to come flooding back, hoping to allow his body to fight instinctively. To some degree it worked.
Pleased to have caught him just a little off guard, particularly at having inflicted pain 'there'... her short lived victory came crashing down around her as the sharp incisors in his gaping mouth closed in around her purple-lined, delicate nose, and bit down as hard as they could. A sickening 'CRUNCH' that would have caused most beings to spontaneously vomit resounded between them, followed quickly by an almighty, high pitched shriek. Encouraged by the sound, Fredric shook his head viciously, a great white shark tearing apart its prey, shaking loose blood, bone and sinew, all the time keeping his human mouth firmly clamped around what was left of her nose. In her heightened, frightened, terrified state, her magic took over, exploding out between them in a kinetic rage that mirrored everything the insane woman felt. Crackling into nothingness, their shields disintegrated as both father and daughter flew violently apart, both crashing thunderously down on opposite sides of the residence.
Slightly concussed and feeling sick from the contact of his daughter's knee, it was the founder of the Crimson Guards that rose to his feet first, battle weary and tired, despite the power the chains surrounding his chest offered up. Until now, his body hadn't really realised it was in a fight. Now it certainly did.
From her prone position, Earth rushed a spoonful of her magic into what she assumed were broken ribs given the vicious 'CRACK' they'd made on contact with the floor, understanding that it was more important here and now for them to heal than her nose. Mended ribs would allow her to move more freely, something she really couldn't do without right at this very moment. If an appropriate opportunity showed itself to heal her nose, then she'd take advantage of it, but not before.
Wary of her aching arms, she pushed herself up and got to her feet, shaking dust and rubble from her tattered brown cloak as once again she faced her father. This time it was his turn to grin, and as the blood ran from what was left of her nose across her mouth, some of which dribbled down her chin, a vicious snarl burned itself into her already nightmarish face. Fully consumed by the bubbling lunacy, almost as if a switch had been flicked within her, thoughts of everything but killing her dad faded into nothingness as she channelled her hot-to-the-touch magic, once again devising an attack strategy, determined this time to make him pay for everything.
Arriving back just in time, Peter could see the heat radiating off the laminium dagger and the necklace. Washing both items with a handful of cooling magic, the young hockey playing dragon outlined Yoyo's plan for his friend. Considering it carefully, still the group's de facto leader despite everything that had happened, Richie was bereft of any alternatives. Not the ideal situation she knew, but they had to do something, or risk just sitting here, watching their friends die, and being killed once the magic powering the shield ran out. It was that simple. Do nothing and die, or do something and just maybe... you never know.
"Okay Pete... let's do it! Tell Janice to be ready, and make sure you keep her safe."
"I will."
"I've just telepathically confirmed everything with Yoyo. With everything going on, I can't promise to keep an eye on you both. Sorry."
"Don't worry about that. Keep doing what you're doing. I'm one hundred percent certain that will be enough to give us a fighting chance."
"You sound very confident, against all odds, how come?"
Decision time he knew. Should he tell her what he'd seen and shared with Gee Tee? Would it alter her mindset and fate itself if he told her? It didn't seem likely it would, and perhaps knowing would spur her on to greater deeds. As well, this might be his very last chance to do just that... decisions, decisions. Ignoring her studious stare, he searched inside himself for the right thing to do. It didn't take long for the answer to reveal itself.
"I have something to tell you Rich, something you may not like, or even agree with. But it's important and I believe it to be one hundred percent the truth."
"Go on," she urged intrigued.
Not knowing the best way to wrap up what he needed to say, and wary of time ticking down, he did what he was best at and just blurted it out.
"It wasn't Tim that was the White Dragon, it's you."
In all the time he'd known her, he'd never seen her so surprised.
"That's impossible," she stuttered, shocked to her core.
"I'm sorry... but it's not. You're the one who's going to save us all. It's you, and I'm not the only one that thinks so."
"Why is it me? You saw Tim turn into a totally and utterly white dragon, like no other in the history of our race. You helped teach him to fly... why would you think it wasn't him?" she croaked, her hands holding the dagger shaking ever so slightly.
Regretting spilling his guts like this, concerned because in places, the shield was fluctuating and sparking more now than at any other point in the proceedings that had led them here, he knew he was going to have to explain everything to her. Determined to keep things brief, aware of just how upset she'd become, he pushed on.