Emerel and JC started paying more attention to each other. They had been going rounds for the last fifteen minutes and they were no farther along than when they had started.
Blood ran down the side of Josh's face where Emerel had clawed him and Emerel had a slight limp to his step. Other than that, the pair seemed evenly matched. One could not get an advantage over the other. Occasionally Emerel would get frustrated and rush at JC. He would either side-step or toss the Saurian out of the way.
JC breathed heavily. He could feel himself starting to wind down from the exertion. He knew he needed to end this fight quickly or he might be too weak to finish it. Emerel seemed to know that it was only a matter of time before JC wound down and he bided his time. He did a spin kick. Emerel caught him in mid-air and threw him backwards into a tree.
"Shit!" JC cursed as he hit the ground. He braced himself to get back up and Emerel began pushing him - edging him - towards the window behind him then giving him a good kick in the stomach. The window ledge led out towards the ocean below and if he was able to push JC off it he would surely die.
Pain exploded inside him from the impact of the kick and he forced himself not to cry out, not to give Emerel the satisfaction. Emerel whapped him in the face with his tail.
"Looks like the end of the line, Chasez. How could you possibly believe you could defeat me?"
JC brought his arm around with such a force that he knocked Emerel to the other edge. JC jumped on top of him and lifted his gun. Emerel grabbed his arm, applied pressure and broke it.
"OWWWWWW!" Josh's scream was lost in the sound of fighting all around him. He tried to move himself backwards away from Emerel. Emerel rose to his feet and dusted off his scales.
JC leaned on his good arm and tried to lift himself off of the ground. The pain was so bad that he began to feel dizzy and knew he was about to faint. He forced himself to his feet.
Emerel grabbed him by his coat and slung him into the side of the container that Mallory was dangling from. "JC!" she screamed, knowing that he wasn't going to make it.
Mallory desperately tried to get Duke's attention. She had been trying since the fight began to get to him but the Saurians were persistent in guarding her. He kept getting closer but never close enough. Mallory didn't think they had much time left. If something happened to Josh... well, she needed to get out of this cage.
***
Lance made up his mind. He shoved Wildwing into the hallway and barred the entryway. He turned to face Nicolette, saber ready.
"This is where it ends, Nicolette."
"Good! I can't wait to find out if you've still got what it takes to actually beat me." She snarled and bared her fangs. She rushed toward Lance. Lance reached upwards with his right hand hoping to stab her quickly. She slid to the left at the last moment and punched him in the side of the head. Lance stumbled backwards.
Not going to be as easy as I had hoped, Lance thought to himself. He spun around and kicked out at her. She dodged effortlessly.
"Seems you taught your girlfriend well, hunter. I'm not going to be that easy to kill."
He had taught Nicolette well but she had never been able to defeat him. Of course, back then she didn't have the reflexes or strength of a Saurian either. Her leg caught him alongside the face. He fell to the ground from the force of the kick. Immediately, he jumped back onto his feet and prepared as she ran towards him. He lifted up his arm and elbowed her in the face. She stepped backwards and held her head in her hands, nose bleeding.
"That wasn't very nice, Lancey." She came kicking at him as he tried to dodge her advances.
***
Chris and Justin were still fending off any Saurians that came near them. They had been lucky enough so far to still be unharmed. Their position along the wall had made them practically unapproachable.
Justin squatted down to reload his bow. He looked up to position himself to hit the Saurians jumping from the trees when he spotted a fight in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
"Chris? Isn't that Lance?" He pointed towards the window where a female half-Saurian was beating-up some guy.
"Yeah, I think it is!" Chris said in astonishment.
"I don't think he's doing so good." Justin said in concern.
"Me either. Do you think we should go help him?"
Justin looked at the sea of Saurians in between them and Lance. It would mean leaving their position of safety. It was a huge risk for them since they weren't as experienced as hunters. On the other hand, Lance had saved their butts a number of times.
"I think we have to." Justin looked over at Chris.
"Well then, let's do it. Here take these." Chris threw Justin a saber. They stood back to back and began to inch their way through the crowd to the front door of the building, fending off enemies every step of the way.
Lance didn't think he could hold out against her much longer. I haven't come all this way just to be defeated now! He began to get desperate. He needed to find a way to finish this whether he survived it or not. He had to save Nicolette!! To him, it was all that mattered.
Blood gushed out of a wound to his side. He needed to get it patched up or he ran a great risk of bleeding to death. He was battered and bruised but he kept fighting. She wasn't looking so wonderful herself and that encouraged him.
"Give it up, Lance!! You can be with me forever, don't you understand that? WE can be together forever. You just have to be willing to take the first step."
Lance snarled, "Not while I'm still breathing."
"Oh, I believe that can be arranged, sweetheart." She smiled coquettishly. She felt that she was already the winner. She didn't think Lance had much more in him.
He rushed forward with all his might, shoving her into the plaster of the wall behind her. She slumped down to the floor and Lance's weak grip on her caused him to fall on top of her. Lance reached for his saber and raised it above her heart. Her eyes were closed.
Apparently, the force of the throw had knocked her unconscious. He took a deep breath, reached back, and...
"Lance?" Her voice was soft and sweet, and oh so familiar. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Nicolette?" He was so confused. It sounded just like her. Not like the creature who had taken her over but like the woman he had loved before this whole fiasco began.
"Yes, it's me."
"But how? I don't understand..." He still held the saber over her heart, just in case.
"You were right, Lance. I'm not free. I'm trapped inside this body."
"But I thought that when people were made half-Saurians..."
"I was changed, but a friend of mine brought the real me back."
"You mean..?" Lance was shocked that Wildwing hadn't mentioned this before. "But what about JC? I felt you there that night but my Nicolette couldn't have killed JC."
"Tanya's experiment didn't work. They wanted to restore my soul so that I could be their ally against Emerel, their inside source. They knew that it had been done with another human so they tried to do it to me too. Only it backfired, it didn't work the way they had planned. It brought my soul back but I was trapped. The evil inside was too powerful for me to control. In the end, the evil part bargained with the Ducks anyway. She knew it was only a matter of time before Emerel went down and she wanted to be covered no matter what the outcome." She moaned in pain.
"I knew I could sense you." Lance leaned over and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, one of longing and pain and sorrow. "Now I have you back."
"No, Lance, you don't." A tear came to the corner of her eye. "I don't know why I'm able to talk to you now except that maybe you just seriously injured the evil part of me. She'll be back."
"Well, we'll figure something out. We'll find a way to get rid of it."
"No, you don't understand, Lance. There is no getting rid of it. This is it's body now. I'm the intruder. As long as this body and evil lives, there is no peace for me. You have no idea the horror I've lived through since I was brought back and I'm powerless to stop it. The pleasure she felt when she did that to your friend..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away from him.
"It wasn't your fault, Nik. We CAN find a way. You have to let me try."
Nicolette began to cry. "Lance there's only one way out for me." She grabbed hold of the saber and pointed it directly over the spot where her heart was.
Lance shook his head furiously. "I can't, I can't! I just got you back! I can't do this to you, Nik. You can't ask me to." A tear fell down the side of his face. He couldn't kill her. There was no way he would have the strength.
"You HAVE to, Lance. You have to do this for me, please! I've never asked you for anything. I love you so much. Give me peace, Lance. Free me!"
Lance heard voices in the near distance screaming his name. Justin.... Chris.... He could hear them trying to break down the door. They would be in the room soon.
"Please, Lance, hurry, before she comes back!!"
Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. "I don't think I can."
"You've got to. Just do it, Lance. I need this one last thing from you."
Realizing it was what he knew he was going to have to do all along, he sat up and raised the saber above her heart.
"Do it, please!" she pleaded.
He took a deep breath. "I love you, Nik..."
"I love you too, Lance..." She smiled and Lance brought his arm down. He closed his eyes and looked away as he felt the saber hit its target.
Chris and Justin managed to tear the door from it's hinges and rushed into the room just in time to see the lifeless Nicolette. Lance fell over sideways, all his strength gone.
"Lance!" Justin screamed and rushed over to him. "Are you alright?"
"We've got to find Josh. Got to help Josh..." Lance mumbled, turning his head to the side.
"Here let me heal you." Justin reached down.
"Takes too long, there's no time. He needs our help..."
Justin looked up at Chris.
Chris went into action. "You carry him out. I'll make sure we get there."
Justin nodded and bent down to lift Lance.