[color=slategray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SneoUc8.png[/img][/center][/color][center]_____________________________________________________________[/center][hr]

Cassius always had great hearing, his ears twitched uncomfortably at the sound of bones cracking under the pressure of Katherine’s heavy knee, even if his bones did frequently disjoint due to the nature of his powers. He silently wished he could say that he had gotten used to witnessing her ‘berserker mode’, but he promised his mother that he would never lie. A small side of him began to empathize at their unfortunate demise, he wouldn’t wish this on his worst enemy.

[color=ed1c24]”Wakey wakey! There’s no rest for the wicked!”[/color]

She now had a chokehold on the unsuspecting imps, he could feel the room’s temperature going up, and soon after the faint smell of burnt demon began to invade his nose. [color=slategray]We’re not the bad guys are we?[/color] he thought to himself, a small bead of sweat going down his temple as he witnessed the imps whose necks began to char under the heat. Fear was encapsulated in their eyes, as if they were looking at the very demon who had created them. Soon after she threw the limp bodies at the first demon she had disposed of. Ruthlessly efficient with a dash of sadism was what Cassius could describe her.

[color=ed1c24]”Say Cass,”[/color] Katherine called out, snapping him out of his thoughts, [color=ed1c24]”Should we give them an appropriate funeral? Send them back to the blazing inferno they came from?”[/color]

[color=slategray]”Ah.”[/color] he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably from his position to the bodies, [color=slategray]”Sure.”[/color] They were dead, and leaving the bodies sprawled across the floors like that is in bad taste. Cassius snapped his right hand, a cacophony of cracks, and bangs streamed between him and the bodies, he could also felt Katherine’s powers supplementing his own. Soon a ring of explosions surrounded the bodies, and after the smoke cleared there was nothing short of fiery ash.

---

[color=slategray]”You know it was probably a bad idea to have a team who don’t have any way to ‘punch’ the ghosts.”[/color] Cassius said, after they had cleared their third room. Kath stopped in the doorway and glanced back at Cassius. [color=ed1c24] “Tell em that after they taste my right and left hook on their incorporeal kissers.”[/color] She started jabbing the air, and wouldn’t stop doing so until they arrived to the next room.

Luckily they had managed to not meetup with any incorporeal beings yet. The next room had two imps on the opposite sides of the room, seemingly on guard as they had heard the ruckus caused by Katherine’s rampage. [color=slategray]”Wait, I’ll take this one”[/color] he said, still feeling a tinge of guilt from Katherine’s ruthless execution. Kath bowed before him playfully, and extended her arms in a motion to allow Cassius to go first. [color=ed1c24] “But of course. Show me what you got Mr Inferno.”[/color]

Cassius who was just peeking behind the door disappeared from sight. Using his momentum and with an explosion behind his elbow supplementing his arms’ acceleration, his punch slammed the creature into the floor. The floorboards cracked under the pressure of his punch. The hardiness of imps were to be admired, it writhed weakly. It was a fruitless effort as the weight of his arm didn’t allow the imp to move an inch. An explosion cracked under the hand pinning the creature. It’s arms scratched at Cassius’ arm before falling limp.

Even if the ordeal only took a few seconds, a ball of flame flew towards him hitting his back. He didn’t react, the flame was weak compared to Katherine’s and the recoil of powers. Two explosions cracked at his feet, though this time his aim was off and due to the momentum he embedded himself into the wall. Planks and debris flew in all directions. [color=slategray]Damn, missed the trajectory by a needle,[/color] he thought to himself vexed, his back rest on the broken wall. The imp watched the hole he had made, and cackled in an otherworldly tone, laughing at Cassius’ near-miss. In the background he could hear the laughing of Kath mixing with that of the imp. Another line of explosions originated from the wall, it’s intensity wringing strongly than before. The Imp quickly fell to the floor.

[color=slategray]”I need to train a little more.”[/color] he muttered annoyingly as he dusted off his school blazer, and black pants. He came out injured, and unscathed, with the only damage he sustained was one to his ego. Kath rolled her eyes in the background, knowing that it is exactly what she has been telling him to do for weeks now.

After a few more moments he gathered both the bodies and placed them side by side, [color=slategray]”Well, shall we?”[/color]

Kath walked up to the pile of bodies that Cassius has made and stopped beside him. [color=ed1c24]“Pfft man, you’re a show off.”[/color] She punched Cassius in the arm gently and giggled. [color=ed1c24]“Yeah, time to clear up this mess and head out.”[/color]

---

With the sound of playfully crackling fire behind them, the firebuddies left the last of the rooms on the floor. They had finished clearing the North Western section, and they had both confirmed that St. Laurel’s missing students were not on the first floor, only a couple groups of imps and ghosts they had avoided.

Arriving at the staircase, he plop his rear on the decrepit wood, and rest his back onto the wall adjacent of the stairs. [color=slategray]”First one here then?”[/color]

Katherine walked up to the stairs and dropped down on them next to Cassius. Her skin cooled and small drops of water began forming on it once more, glimmering faintly in the ill-litten hallway. She let out a deep sigh that reverberated the air in front of her face and stretched her legs out. [color=ed1c24] “Yeah, sure seems so. Nobody can keep up with the firebuddies.” [/color] She turned over to Cassius, and offered her hand for a fistbump.

[color=slategray]”Hah.”[/color] he replied, he returned her fistbump, [color=slategray]”Well we shouldn’t have gone so fast, it’ll be slightly boring to wait.”[/color]  Kath nod beside him, her glowing eyes scanning the abandoned building. [color=ed1c24] “Yeah, that it’ll be.” [/color]