Theo launched himself laterally, dashing through the plains. He was fast, but the demon horse was still faster, unbelievably so. It regarded the Sundancer patiently, measuring its next charge. Then it reared, about to throw itself forward.

	"[color=fff79a][i]Flash[/i][/color]!" Theo yelled. His first ability. He felt the warmth of the sun as his breastplate stole it for a fraction of a second. He threw his arms to the side as blinding light erupted forward. The horse toppled backwards, its fire burning away the grass around it. It flailed for a moment before putting its feet under itself and charging blindly into the dawn.

	Theo watched the ball of fire rolling across the plains, then looked to the sniper. He was beginning to come to. The demon had been blinded, but it would wear off very quickly.

	"Now!" Theo shouted desperately. "It has to be now!"

	He watched the sniper crawl forward, life slowly fading from his eyes. Then in the distance the horse shook its head, finding the group again with the clarity returned to its sight. It charged.

	[i]I have to keep it still,[/i] Theo thought. He clenched his teeth and steeled his nerves. The ball of flame approached, and the Sundancer threw everything he had directly at it.

	Theo's sword slammed into the beast's chest and for an instant he had entered an inferno. His entire body felt like ice, the pain so intense he felt his skin melting away. But through everything he could feel his feet firmly planted in the dirt, and the horse stopped dead in its tracks before another bullet of lightning slammed into the horse's flank.

	The fire blew away like ash in the wind and the horse fell again. Theo roared, spinning forward in a maelstrom of steel. Slash after slash the demon's skin parted, carving crests of blood in the smoldering earth. The horse lashed out with its horns but the swordsman flew away with unnatural agility and came back just as quickly, turning his whole body in a vicious arc that cleaved the horse's head in two. And then it was finished. The monster fell quietly to the earth, an anticlimactic end to the grueling battle.

	Theo could not believe it was over. He held his blade ready to mitigate another explosive resurgence, waiting for the  demon to regenerate and attack once more. But it simply melted away into ash.

	"[color=fff79a]Theo[/color]," the golden orb said from somewhere nearby. "[color=fff79a]Tend to your allies. You all need to rest.[/color]"

	Theo reluctantly nodded, sheathing his sword. He turned to see the sniper lifeless on the ground. [i]Oh, please, no,[/i] he thought. [i]Is he dead?[/i]

	"[color=fff79a]No, his HP hasn't hit 0 yet,[/color]" the orb said. "[color=fff79a]He's unconscious, but stable. Though I would imagine in a lot of pain.[/color]"

	Theo ran over, falling to his knees by the sniper. "Wait," he said, remembering his inventory. "I have something in my bag." The orb floated over and Theo accessed his status. A small icon appeared in his Inventory screen, and he pressed it with his finger. A phial appeared in his hand then, brought into the physical world by some manner of energy. Theo flipped the unconscious man onto his back and uncorked the phial. He pulled the man's mouth open and poured its contents in.

	[i]I hope this works. Come on, you bastard, swallow it. There we go.[/i] He waited there, hoping for the best.

	Others were gathering around, now. The gunslinger, the witch and the samurai, the baseball girl and the blue power ranger, and the dragon and the man on its back.

	"That was insane, huh?" Theo said. "Is everyone okay?" He flinched, then, acutely aware of his own pain.