Angel and Logan boarded a hawk Airbus set for the City. From the ship's windows, the titaness stared out and looked at the lights that lit up the City; it was amazing, she thought. Logan gave Angel a quick smile, but he continued to think about being reported AWOL and him leaving his old team in the Hell Mouth.
Once the ship landed, Logan helped Angel down and together they walked back to their militia warehouse/home. Nick, who had been waiting hours for them to return, spun around in his office chair he had brought from his home and faced the couple; a smile was on his face. Logan placed a hand over his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. "How'd i' go?" The old hunter asked.
"Commander Zavala has marked us as 'vigilantes'," Angel replied.
"Oooh, you mus've pissed him off bad. What in bloody h*** did ya do?" Nick replied with a snicker.
"Um... Basically, I stated his logic was flawed," the titaness answered.
"Ooh, you don't mess with a man's logic, Lass. It's all t'ey have left in arguments with ye women-folk."
"I also pointed out that I'm no longer required to obey him since I don't work for the Vanguard anymore," Logan scratched his head before pointing to Nick. "Why... Why do you have a five monitor [b]command center[/b] in my living room?..."
"I brought it from me home. It's how I track crimes and major news stories," the man replied.
"So, you've practically moved in with us?..." Logan asked again.
"Pretty much, yeah..." Nick said before facing the monitors.
"I hope we don't disturb you..." the warlock said sarcastically.
"No worries; I brought me ear buds to tune ya out," the hunter replied before putting his buds in. Logan stood motionless, but blinked repeatedly.
"So, what do we do about your armor?" Merlin asked as he floated around his partner's head. Logan perked up as a thought popped into his head. He then whispered something to Merlin, who flew back outside and off who knows where.
Logan walked over to the kitchen, took down two glasses, then looked around in the refrigerator. The man kept shifting stuff around, searching for something. "What happened to the sodas?..." he asked.
"Whoa... I can still smell t'e grape..." Nick said excessively loud, due to his music, after burping. Logan knocked his head against the refrigerator door, and his body began to glow a deep shade of purple.
"Hey, are you okay?..." Angel asked as she ran over and placed a hand on the warlock's shoulder.
Logan struggled to get 'yeah' out from his frustration. "In a few minutes, it'll all be worth it..." He took a jug of orange juice out and filled both glasses before slowly walking to the arena in the back of the building. Angel watched, both worried and sorrowful for the man.
Logan took his bo-staff and twirled it around him; occasionally, he would swing it as if to strike someone down. Once he felt loosened up and comfortable, Logan took a remote out of his pocket and started up the glimmer combat simulator. Soon, several Hive targets appeared all around him. Even though Logan quickly gained a fear of the monsters, his rage drove him to take on the challenge.
Several thrall ran at the warlock from several directions. Logan swung the staff and broke the jaw of one, then stabbed it through the gut of another. He force pushed two away before kicking the last one to the floor and thrusting his weapon through its skull. Logan was already exerting a lot of energy, but the chilling Void coursing through his veins kept him cool.
Soon, another wave of Hive generated. This time, several acolytes accompanied the thrall. The warlock channeled Void energy into his staff, then twirled it around and deflected incoming shredder blasts. He obliterated an acolyte with the sheer might of his force, then tripped another and stepped on its throat.
A thrall swiped at Logan's back, causing him to stumble forward and fall to a knee. Logan force pushed it away and tried to stand, but another thrall knawed on his leg. Logan fell again, then shoved his staff into the Hive's face. More acolytes rushed to Logan, hoping to tear apart his flesh, but the injured warlock did something he would not normally do; he whipped out his sidearm and shot down three of the monsters. Once the magazine emptied, Logan flipped the gun around so he was holding the barrel, then broke the skull of the fourth acolyte with the grip.
With the last Hive killed, Logan tried to get to his feet--using his staff to push himself up--but he kept falling back down. Another flash of light caught his attention; Logan looked over his shoulder to see three knights practically mocking him, or so he thought. The warlock, realizing his vulnerability, heaved one last time and stood up. Blood dripped from the deep gash in his back, and the blood gushing from his calf filled his boot, but Logan refused to shut off the simulator.
The two knights carrying cleavers marched towards the Guardian. Logan swung his staff deflecting blows from both Hive simultaneously. He shifted to one and got a couple of hits before pivoting on one foot to dodge the other. Logan force pushed one knight, but it barely moved; it raised up his sword but Logan narrowly dodged it. The other knight lunged at Logan, gripped his head with its dagger claws, and thew him to the ground. The first knight shoved the blunt end of the sword into the Guardian's gut, causing him to curl up and yell in pain.
The other knight picked up the pathetic Guardian, who then spit blood into its face, then threw him against a wall. Logan was stunned, and barely reacted to the sword colliding with his stomach. The edges of his vision slowly turned black as he endured the brutal assaults. He fell to the ground, clinging to life and remembering that his ghost was not available to revive him.
Then, another memory came to him: that the Hive in the Hell Mouth dealt much greater blows to him than these glimmer creations were now.
Logan rolled over to his back and held up his staff and held off a cleaver ready to crush his ribcage. Logan gritted his teeth and held the staff up, inches from his body. The knight, sensing new strength in the Guardian, grew furious. Logan rolled clear of the blade and got to his feet again, but this time he was limping and hardly as agile as he was. The other knight swung the sword down, but the warlock side-jumped and ran up the sword that got caught in the floor. He roundhouse kicked the knight to the ground, then thrust his staff through its throat.
Before Logan could retrieve his weapon, the living knight grabbed his shoulder and threw him into another wall. The knight held up his sword like a spear and thrust it into the wall, but Logan dropped to the ground. He limped away, then began to summon a portal into the Void. The knight instantly felt the freezing air of the portal, then ran towards Logan. The warlock was almost to the portal, but the knight was preparing to cut him down. At the last second, Logan jumped clear of both the knight and the portal, but the Hive beast tripped and fell into the Void. The portal quickly closed.
Logan fell to his knees and let out a satisfying deep breath. He got up to retrieve his staff, but dropped under an arc bolt from a Hive boomer. There was still one knight left. Logan pulled his staff free, then spun to avoid another bolt. Logan had no energy to fight left; he had one hand on his stomach, he was limping, blood stained his clothes, and he still couldn't see clearly.
The knight raised up its cannon again just as Logan lifted up his staff, now pulsing with Void Light again. With the last amount of strength he could muster, the warlock threw the staff just as he took a bolt straight to the chest.
"How are you feeling?" Asked a voice. Logan blinked a few times, but still couldn't make out a face, or recognize the voice. "Hey, are you with me?" Logan felt a few pops against his cheek, and slowly he began to process what was going on.
"I'm a bit sore..." Logan said humorously. He finally realized that it was Angel talking to him, and Alice, Merlin, and Nick were with her too.
"T'is explains a lot. I've been callin' yer name for ha'f an 'our..." Nick stated.
"No you weren't!" Angel exclaimed as she faced the older man. "You were walking around yelling, 'Oi! Muck-for-Brains'..."
"'xactly, Lassie, 'xactly..."
Logan looked around, opening his eyes wide. Several knights were scattered around, dead; one was againt the far wall with a staff stuck into its stomach. "What happened?"
"You tell me. Merlin found you in here, dead..." Angel replied as she helped Logan to his feet.
After his memory came back, Logan spoke up. "I was running a combat simulation... I guess it was a draw..."
"So, you're feelin' betta?" Nick asked.
"I feel fine," Logan replied.
"Great! Now, why t'e h*** is me 3D printer here?!" The furious hunter exclaimed as he pointed down the hall. The warlock simply smiled.
-
First bump, suck it Feldspar