Joe sputtered, spitting out a few particles of sand from his mouth. He wiped his hand on his jacket sleeve, drawing away with a thick rope of saliva and blood sticking to his lips. He grimaced, but managed to stand up. He had really had it with Ruby and her stupid bug. He grabbed the axe firmly, and sent a small look of apology towards Azoth.<br/><br/>Aamu shot up behind him, materializing from the ground below their feet. Her mask flashed a bright red, and her eyes focused right on Ruby and Kazarn. “Okay, Joe. Going to need you to stop being useless for just a second.” It seemed like he was about to protest before Aamu dove under him and swept him off his feet onto her back. He clung to her shadowy fur, situating himself snugly on her neck as they charged.<br/><br/>Ruby had seen Salem coming; it wasn’t as if they were being very discreet about running at her headfirst. As his fist approached her, she attempted to sidestep, aided by a current of sand guiding her smoothly a few feet away from Salem, but not before he had grazed her cheek, causing her  to spin and tumble onto the ground. She made a face that could only be described as one of pure rage. Her cheek was almost as bright red as the mark on her tongue. “Let’s see how you like it, Blondie,” Ruby sneered, making a fist.  A near identical, albeit much larger fist, arose from the sand particles next to Ruby. She drew back her arm, and threw a punch, the current of sand following full force towards Salem.<br/><br/>Joe and Aamu, well, just Aamu, was running towards Kazarn at full speed, Joe precariously perched on her back. Kazarn wiggled around to try and face them, a jet of sand spitting from his mouth. Aamu faded out of existence just as Joe vaulted off of Aamu, the blast phasing harmlessly through her. Joe fell back onto Aamu with a thud and a big of a high pitched “ow”, and they were upon the centipede.<br/><br/>Aamu’s claws tore into Kazarn’s exoskeleton as she struggled to find a foothold. Joe clambered up his demon, swinging the axe at Kazarn’s back. However, the run of the mill axe didn’t do much to pierce Kazarn’s exoskeleton, and Joe was flung off rather suddenly. He landed on the ground with a roll and made a face. Aamu was also flung off, and dropped unceremoniously onto the floor, becoming intangible as she passed through Joe at the speed she was being flung at.<br/><br/>Ruby and Kazarn were together, and while Kazarn looked a little worse for wear, Ruby looked as though she was beaming. Kazarn dipped his head lower, so that Ruby could pet him gently on his spiky carapace. He began to circle her, and she put her arms to the side, still flexing her fingers inside her fisticuffs. The clicking of Kazarn’s legs on the marble was a bit unsettling as it quickened in pace, the whole of Kazarn’s long body surrounding her, rotating around her in a way that was almost hypnotic, slowly closing on her.<br/><br/>Sand rose from the ground beneath Ruby and Kazarn and began to join in the dance they were performing. Suddenly, all that was visible was a dust devil of sand and Kazarn’s thick gray carapace, a blur as it spun around. In a blink of an eye, the sand and the thick gray mound of Kazarn’s carapace was stock still, not even a grain moving out of place.<br/><br/>And then it exploded into a thousand tiny fragments, with sand spattering everywhere. Joe had to close his eyes to shield them from the detritus. And when he finally opened them, his mouth dropped, and an audible “fuck” could be heard throughout the room.<br/><br/>What stood before them looked like Ruby, if she was half centipede from the waist down. Her chest was covered in protective carapace, and her head was adorned with Kazarn’s crowning spikes. She also had two mouths, both large and lined with sharp teeth. As she looked down at herself, she flexed her hands, and then she laughed. The sound of two voices, both Kazarn’s and Ruby’s was clearly being released by the two mouths. The one on her forehead seemed to be emitting Kazarn’s raspy guffaw.<br/><br/>She slammed her fists together as she would with her fisticuffs, and held them outwards. From each wrist, a blade of carapace, thin and deadly, erupted. Black blood splurted from her arms at the protrusion, and she shook it off without even blinking. And then, she rushed for Azoth, one arm raised with the carapace glinting in what little light there was.