Breaking Souls, Ch. 7, Run 1: Demon

Sans

The skeleton watched as the figure appeared, almost as if they Blinked like he could... But no, the human, if he could be called that, simply moved in the physical sense. Before Sans could intervene, he saw the man strike Maki, knocking her off her feet and backwards. His eye sockets widened as he saw the human girl react with the grace of a cat, landing on her feet. She seemed to recognize the man who stood  atop the patch of flowers, their silhouette blocking out the light a bit. Sans felt his bones feel chilled as the man's face broke into a wide, maniacal grin, the light glinting off of his teeth.

"You..." Maki's soft voice cut through the stretching silence. Her tone was full of fear and hate towards this person, who seemed to revel in the emotion he was causing in her. Sans glanced from Maki to the man, hoping that the man was distracted enough to not notice Sans. He may have promised Toriel not to attack humans, but he had a feeling that this man would be something of an exception. He shivered slightly at the man's next words.

"HELLO LITTLE DOLL..... MISS ME?" The stranger spoke, raising a hand as his grin grew wider. Brilliant red flames appeared in midair around them, lighting up the man. If there was one word to describe the human's appearance, he would have chosen the word "psychopath'. The man's hair was a brilliant silver, though was stained red in some places. He wore a thick leather collar, an unsecured straitjacket, which on closer inspection seemed to be broken, and brown, torn up leather pants. Where the light from above caught his jacket, Sans could see that it was yellow with age, and the collar around his neck bore a single blood red gem in it that glowed with a malevolent light, the same blood red shade that the flames had.



Maki:

Maki blinked and swallowed hard as the flames appeared, lighting up her half brother as he stood there. She watched him crouch, preparing to attack. The thought flickered through her mind to just let him kill her.... But she had made a promise to her mother, to everyone she had lost to continue living and seeking freedom, for their sake as well as her own. She felt the magic saturate the air and took a deep breath, calming her own soul. The air down here felt.... Different. She blinked as she saw Jackal's soul appear, a second soul chained to it in black smoke. That threw her off a bit. She knew about the possessions and how they worked, but couldn't understand why she was seeing their souls now. She didn't notice her own soul appear until it glowed with a soft inner light. She blinked and glanced down, her soul a sort of pink color, then looked back up, seeing the man facing her tilt his head. "How in the hell did you find me, Jackal?" Maki asked, her tone icy cold as her own magic leaked out, her soul shifting to an icy blue color as the air around her dropped in temperature, the flames near her vanishing.

"Tracking is my specialty, little Maki.... You know that..... Now...... LET'S PLAY!" He said, cackling as he struck at Maki. Maki side stepped his attack, gracefully avoiding the claws a second time. Flames jumped up on her side and she nearly collided with them when her soul flashed blue and she was pulled back, away from her half brother, away from the flames. She gasped, startled and looked around in confusion as Jackal snarled low in anger as she felt a bony hand gently clasp her shoulder. Maki blinked as Sans stepped forward before her, his eye glowing with a blue fire.



Sans:

Sans glared at the human, standing between this Jackal and Maki. Ever since seeing the scars, he had felt a protective feeling towards the young human girl grow. Seeing Jackal's weapon, a pair of Knife-fingered gloves that would make Freddy Kruger jealous, made Sans figure out the source of at least a few of the scars. "Leave her alone, unless you wanna have a B A D T I M E..." The skeleton said, grinning almost as maniacally as the human before him, only he was grinning in anger.  He didn't know Maki that well yet, but he didn't like the look of loneliness she had when she watched Frisk and them, like someone who was left on the outside in the pouring rain. For a child to feel that, he felt there had to be a cause, and sure enough, Jackal's own words had confirmed it.

"Oh....? Seems like the little doll has a savior..... Wanna know what happened to the others who tried to protect her.....?" Jackal said, his twisted smile only growing wider, like some evil cheshire cat. "I K I L L E D T H E M..." He said, launching himself at Sans, only to be propelled backwards by blue magic, Sans's hand glowing with cerulean fire.



Maki:

Maki gulped when Jackal attacked, then watched in surprise as he was tossed like a ragdoll away from her and Sans. "Sans.... Please.... stop. Attacking him does no good..." She tried to warn him, watching as Jackal got up, having used his host's soul as a shield. Sans didn't seem to hear her as he proceeded to bang Jackal up and down, causing the human to hit stone and rough, pointed rocks,  eventually taking the body's life force, the host's soul shattering. "Sans.... Please..... You can't kill what's already dead...." She said, watching in horror as Jackal got up once again, but instead of the normal way a human might, this time it looked like a puppet on strings being pulled around. Jackal laughed, darkness spreading and surrounding the human body, causing even Sans to back up. The soul of this being was now visible, and a deep, dark black heart with red lining. Sans tried to use blue magic on this soul, but it wasn't effected so easily.

Maki's heart raced as she saw the Demon Jackal reach out with a hand made of black flames to attack Sans. Acting on impulse, she pulled Sans back, shifting him to behind her and took the blow, staggering. Despite how powerful the attack was though, she did not fall, standing to face Jackal, her heart racing. She was shaking, it was plain to both Jackal and Sans, yet she stood her ground. Jackal roared and black flames sprang up, lunging at them. Maki shifted and focused, moving her hand as if holding something. Ice formed in her hand, taking the form of a beautifully carved giant scythe. It acted as an extension of her will, her very soul. With it, she cut through Jackal's attack, forcing the flames back. She felt her Determination grow, her soul shining brightly, ready to lay her life on the line to defend Sans. She blinked as she felt Sans take a stand beside her, feeling his soul resonate with her own as he used magic once more, ready to fight beside her. That was a good thing because....Both Maki and Sans could see that now.... Now the real fight begins.