Attempting to end the fight stylishly, Salem twirled the axe around his hand and released it, aiming to grab the pole behind the axe's head and hold it off to his side. His attempts to be a cool guy failed entirely, as his hand instead smacked against the flat of the axe and sent it clanking across the floor. At first, Salem tried to go forward and catch it. Halfway through the attempted recovery, he decided it was a bad idea. He just stood there for a few seconds, reaching out for the fallen weapon. Embarrassment washed over him before he decided to straighten himself out and put his hands in his pockets, frowning.<br/><br/>Solomon audibly sighed. "Nice catch. Now then, these clouds are demonic essence. Every demon you kill will bleed this out. It's what keeps us going," He explained, tapping Salem's back with his tail. "Go on, take it. The more you absorb, the stronger you're going to get. No need for any fanciness, just go on and stick your hand in there."<br/><br/>"Last time someone told me to do that didn't end well," Salem retorted, side-eyeing Joe as he reached forward and opened his palm to the cloud. The floating haze of dark power drew nearer to him when he reached forward, siphoning into his limb. It flowed through the rest of his body, and he felt a likewise tingly feeling. After the absorption, he looked at his hand and turned it over.<br/><br/>"Good. So, how do you feel?" Solomon asked, leaning forward onto Salem's bicep to get a look at his face whilst he spoke. Absorbing demonic power was one of the most basic things a marked human could do, but the gargoyle wanted to leave zero chance of error.<br/><br/>"Weird. Kinda warm?" Salem responded, turning to meet the small demon's eyes. "Definitely feel like I just got one hell of a workout, though."<br/><br/>The corner's of Solomon's lipless mouth turned slightly upward, in the closest approximation of a smile the tiny skull-faced creature could manage. Further instructions were about to be given, but Azoth's sudden entry a few moments too late and his needlessly violent introduction kicked him into action. Solomon quickly slithered down Salem's arm and changed his shape, wings growing to immense proportion to create a shield. He turned himself into stone, blocking the wave of flames that got too close to Salem for comfort.<br/><br/>When the inferno faded, Solomon returned to normal, crouching on the ground in front of the group. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression was about as annoyed as he could manage to look. "Easy there, hothead. You nearly torched the lot of us. You should really practice this little technique called 'aiming,' Azoth. Really, it would do you some good." The tiny creature's voice was absolutely dripping with displeased sarcasm, and with a shake of his head and a hushed exhale, he turned to the others and spoke up. "No sense wasting any more time here. We've got a job to do."<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Mary's immediate reaction to getting grabbed was to drop her club, and being hoisted up drew a pretty obviously frightened yelp from her. This dude was swinging her around like she was nothing, then struck her in the head hard enough to make it snap back. Both of her hands swung up and clasped over the point of impact, and a loud curse was shouted. That hit had<span style="font-style: italic">really</span>hurt, less like a flick and more like having a stone pelted at your face.<br/><br/>She didn't really get enough chance to take in the lesson before she was tossed across the floor, but luckily the impact didn't break anything. She rolled for a few moments before she came to a stop on her back, staring up at the ceiling with the most defeated expression plastered across her face. This was bullshit. Demons were bullshit. Superpowers were bullshit. Everything was bullshit. What was the<span style="font-style: italic">most</span>bullshit, however, was the fact that she lacked any ability to defend herself with.<br/><br/>She'd get back at everyone somehow. They'd get their due.