Horatio stared at Margulis, he just stared. He was stunned, enthralled by what he had just seen. She smiled at him and mouthed "Thank you." and for a moment, he completely forgot about the danger looming about them, until a deep voice was heard.

"Gosha gnark hakish skull." A booming voice soon filled the silence. Horatio was pulled out of his reverie. He looked towards it, just beyond Margulis and his eyes met a giant.

"Margulis behind you!" Horatio warned, picking himself off the ground, shooting towards Margulis. He saw it faintly, shimmering and translucent but he was sure of what he saw; a great green giant, easily big enough to be over eight feet, its size massive and powerful muscles put a shiver to Horatio, and it was coming straight for Margulis.

'Dammit, I won't make it in time!' He thought, even at full sprint, she was just too far away for him to get to her, and she was too slow to get away. He saw the figure, in its hand, slung over its shoulder was a gigantic club, one that was practically a whole three trunk simply chiseled into a blunt shape.

Sturdy oak, carved smoothly and treated to a steel-like hardness whistled through the air. Margulis had heard, had begun to turn, but she was too late. A dull thump blasted out, for only a moment as she was wiped clear. A shower of red came immediately after, spraying off in every direction, a literal explosion.

Horatio skidded to a halt, frozen. His pupils dilated as a humongous dose of shock slapped his psyche. The red spray fell all around, dousing the giant and him in a cold liquid. He felt it on his cheek and shakily, he reached to touch it. He felt a shiver as his fingers were wet. He slowly brought it to his face, he knew what it was, but he couldn't resist the instinctual urge to check. Red. He felt his entire body tremble in fear.

Horatio realised had run out without thinking. He look glances around him, noticing the hungry attention he was getting. Now he was on the battlefield, he was fair game. There could be at least four more goblins waiting in the darkness, ready to flay skin from bone.

Horatio struggled to swallow. His eyes glazed over massive green muscles, a gigantic body, a brutish symbol of power. The massive club in its hands was tainted in red. So was the ground where Margulis had stood. There wasn't even a body left. "She's- She's" Horatio's throat was dry. He couldn't speak, a fact he would have thought suited him better, except he could not think. His limbs were frozen, he couldn't move, couldn't fight, or run.

He was dead.

Horatio manifested his peculiar abilities several years ago. As a child, he could always be found outdoors whenever the sun had taken leave and the sky was dark. That fact had always gotten then teenage Sylvia very worried. For that reason, on the day he arrived at the house seconds before midnight, his hair glowing like a lamp, saying he had been in a fight, she broke down. Her tears had stung his wounds. That memory, the vivid one he could never forget, made Horatio despise the night.

He should have kept that memory close and chosen not to come.

The giant was unmoving, standing still like stone. Horatio knew this would be his only chance to escape, if only he could muster the courage to. He felt his eyes moisten and closed them. He would rather not cry here.

"And that, Horatio, is how easily you can die out here." A whisper came from behind Horatio.

"Wha-" His voice cut out midway as he turned to the voice. He could not even be surprised. Turning, he came face to face with Margulis. There was silence. Silence that lasted too long.

"Horatio? You in there?" She said, jovially tapping a finger on his temple. He maintained a blank stare. Margulis' smile faded. "I'm sorry I had to do that but I need you on your toes. You're too important to die here." She said. Horatio stared back.

"But you died." Horatio managed to say, his voice devoid of emotion. He was too shocked to muster anything of the sort. Margulis shook her head.

"All he hit was a can of red paint, and a wisp, a projection of my being," Margulis said matter-of-factly.

Horatio gave a sidewinded look at the great green giant. Truly its eight-foot tall body was mostly covered in red paint, even the splashes on Horatio's own face smelt of the mixture. He felt cheated, in his panic he had mistaken the substance to be blood.

'Why didn't you tell me?' He questioned the Analyst.

"Answer:" It returned "Under moments of extreme duress, we are unable to manage efficient analysis and communication." Horatio kissed his teeth. 'Typical.' He thought.

"Hey Horatio, watch this." Margulis said and stretched out her palm past Horatio, towards the GGG. "Nivilight Screech." She said coolly. A sigil formed once again, Horatio saw it depicted an icy glacier, once again without any way of knowing how. Margulis' hand gave off a calm blue glow.

A chill ran through Horatio as the air rapidly cooled. The larger sigil appeared, this time ahead of the smaller. Horatio saw a stream of blue leave Margulis' palm, expanding exponentially when it touched the sigil. On the second sigil, it turned into several pillars of ice and darted towards the GGG, its sharp points extending in a bloodthirsty dash.

Then they shattered, every spike, broken to pieces that hovered for a moment before dropping to the ground with a tinkle. The enemy remained still.

"What, why?" Horatio asked and immediately got his answer. Ripples in the sky with a green hue behind them in the form of a translucent dome.

"That's our problem," Margulis stated. "It's been blessed, a ten-metre null-magic zone." She sighed, her weight resting more heavily on Horatio.

"I...I only have enough energy for one more attack, I need you to weaken it, just enough so the barrier comes down." Her breaths were coming short and heavy, her words strained.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Horatio asked, pushing away from Margulis. "What is going on!?" He yelled. Margulis stepped back, her face showing shock for a moment before she frowned.

"I promise I'll explain everything in due time Horatio. Right now, the safety of our city comes first, these things cannot be allowed to roam free." She said. Horatio looked back. Indeed letting something as dangerous as this to be seen by other people will no doubt cause an uproar, worse still, they could easily kill an unsuspecting person. 'But that's not my problem.' He thought.

"I don't see why you called me here Margulis, I do not want to die."

"And you won't; as long as you're as good as the name you've been making for yourself." She said.

"The name I'm- what?"

"I know you're not just a regular person Horatio! There's no need to keep that act, we're in a bind here!" Margulis yelled. Horatio recoiled, a scowl on his face.

"Fine, I'll deal with this. But you owe me." He said, turning away from her. He fixed his eyes in the giant and spoke, "Enable combat precepts, begin energy cycling." And with his words his hair began to glow even brighter and felt new strength building up within him. 'This better be worth it.' He thought

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I've casted a darkening field around us, we should be invisible to him while outside his dome. While you weaken him, I'll pick off the rest." Margulis called to him. He ignored her words, annoyed at the fact she was shamelessly using him.

Horatio began towards his foe. 'So she knew?' He thought. If she was this informed that meant she had others who thought her. At the very least, helping her here would allow him to learn more about his condition. He took a step forward, and another, and another. He felt a warm 'pop' in his ears as he passed through the wispy shield that supposedly barred all magic.

"Begin spatial analysis, engage combat precepts." The words tumbled out before he could validate them, the Analyst was providing him support. He thanked it mentally.

The GGG started into motion as soon as Horatio cleared the barrier. It rolled its massive eyes over him, evaluating his threat level. It grunted and loosening its wrists, dropping its weapon to the floor with a hard thud. Two deep booms shook the ground and in simple steps the GGG had closed the distance.

Horatio lifted his head, confidently making eye contact with the behemoth before him. He knew he was outmatched in strength. 'Funny enough,' He thought, 'that just might make us even.' He thought and slid his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I hope you're ready." He said. "Do you even understand me?" He questioned. "Oh well, you should be itching for a fight as much as I am." He said, a fierce glint flared in his eyes.

The GGG's own fists flew up above its head, their speed blinding, even Horatio couldn't keep track of them, 'That's my answer.' He thought. Horatio shifted his focus to its entire being and the paint that streaked it.

The mighty hammers smashed down even faster than they had risen, the GGG's deafening roar accompanying the action. Horatio stepped to the side, narrowly dodging the blow. Blunt indents formed as the ground cracked and the pipe beneath it too did, spraying pressurised water into its face.

Horatio quickly steadied himself, his mind immensely focused. He calculated and launched a rocketing kick at the GGG's now lowered head. His foot connected powerfully, sending the monster reeling back. Horatio easily tracked the paint, using it as a guide he followed through, taking his hands out and drumming two quick jabs to the beast's abdomen. All about, the water poured like rain. A wicked grin spread upon his face as he stifled a laugh. ‘I feel alive.’ he thought as the dormant energies in his body whirred into action.

Swiftly Horatio ducked, narrowly dodging a broad backhand. He pushed off the ground from his lowered position. He heard another 'pop', his immense speed seeing him out the dome and approximately behind the GGG in just a single second. The 'pop' came again as he doubled back into the dome, using the GGG's blind spot to rush it.

Cancelling his momentum just before he ran into the giant, he launched himself into the air, aiming another devasting kick at its head.

"Nugra!" The deep voice came out like thunder as the GGG turned, faster than Horatio had anticipated and caught him a merciless punch, fully on his unguarded self and sending him flying. If Margulis had been close enough, she'd have told him the word translated to 'Foolish'.

Horatio flew several metres in the air before hitting the ground, bouncing and sliding another distance. His limp body came to rest, caught by the chain-link fence that surrounded the sports field. He felt a warm 'pop'.

'What the hell, that speed is cheating.' He found himself thinking as his consciousness dulled.

"Horatio!" Margulis cried out, her voice unmistakably panicked but she held back. The sudden shift in battle was something Margulis had come to expect, she chided herself for letting her voice come out like that. Without looking away she pushed the knife in her hand through the goblin's neck, killing it.

"Horatio will win, that's for sure." She stated simply. "That should be the fourth." she continued, tossing the fresh corpse to the side. She wanted nothing more than to step in, but what use would he be if he couldn’t handle this on his own. “You better not die.” she prayed.

Horatio clung to life, hastily gasping for air as he burst back to reality. He slowly clambered to his feet, the glow of his hair flickered, blood oozed from his forehead. In his blurry vision, he saw the GGG bore on him still. His ears hurt as the 'pop' came again.

The giant leapt, aiming a dangerous smash on Horatio's position. Using the fence as support Horatio threw himself back, avoiding a grisly fate. Before his legs hit the ground the beefy fists were hurtling towards him again.

Horatio raised a feeble guard. It was nothing against the massive force and he was blown away. Miraculously, he screeched to a quick halt while managing to stay on his feet.

Horatio's senses overloaded with pain. He felt embarrassment knowing that Margulis could see him in such a pitiful state. "Forget it, forget the pain and focus." He commanded himself, a futile effort. His arms drooped limply at his sides and his vision doubled. 'Dammit, I got careless.' He chided himself.

The ground shook with the giant's footsteps. Horatio let out a calming breath and closed his eyes, leaving everything to the one he knew was within him, he was in over his head, all his prior fights had been with regular humans. He feinted left, then switched, dashing right quickly.

The howling wind rushed past Horatio, a heavier vibration through the compact ground gave him all the information he needed, or rather, the analyst all the information it needed. He cocked his right leg and fired. A sharp crack rang out, Horatio felt impact, in his mind's eye, the GGG was wincing in pain. Horatio retried his earlier move, adding a literal spin on it. Dropping low, he launched himself spinning into the air. He extended his foot, aiming it where its head should be.

A loud bang shook the air followed by an agonized howl. Horatio landed gracefully, his eyes fluttered open to survey the damage.

The GGG was on its knees, dazed and weakened. Its hand was over its face, past the paint, he could see raw flesh with a deeper red oozing from it. His foot had marked a massive portion of its face. Unfortunately, his favourite shoes were no more. He kicked off the scraps still held at his ankles. The dome flickered. "Thanks." He offered.

"You're doing great Horatio!" Margulis' voice came to him across the field. His heart slowed, adrenaline was replaced with dopamine. "One more hit should do it!"

Horatio grinned "That's all you had to say." He sauntered towards his half-conscious enemy. "You were way too overconfident." He stated post ironically. The goblin tried to move but it seemed Horatio had done serious damage to its brain, paralysing it.

"I almost feel sorry for you." He said with a laugh, "No, I don't, that punch hurt a ton, and I'm going to make you feel the same pain."

Horatio closed his eyes, a smile tugged at his lips. Throughout the fight the Analyst had no doubt been gathering data and now would be the perfect time to use it. He needed to redeem himself before Margulis. He shook his head with a weak laugh "Initiate advanced combat precepts." He spoke.

"Combat precepts: Full energy control and advanced amplification ready." The analyst reported, unmistakable malice in its voice. "Begin integration?"

"Yes." The full weight of Horatio's fatigue crashed down over him as his nighttime boosts temporarily shut down and his light quenched. A wave of satisfaction came after, all pain washed away, the darkness lighting up.

Horatio formed a tight fist, focusing his mind in it. The energy throughout his body began to flow towards the point physically visible as faint orange gossamer pulses. Until they got to his fist that is. The converged energy gave his hand an ethereal orange glow.

"Your body will receive damage from this action, continue?" The Analyst warned.

"Of course."

As soon as consent was given his hair flared up with the same orange glow. He grimaced as pain assaulted his body, that faded as his electric blue pupils followed the trend, darkening to a fierce orange. "Go back, to where you came from!" He yelled.

Horatio stepped powerfully, packing power into his motion. He threw his fist, applying all the strength he could muster and focusing it into the GGG's core. "Begone!" He yelled as the GG was sent flying, straight towards Margulis.

"Perfect angle." She said and put out her hand.

"Come unto me, emerging from the void, the hammer of intangible vengeance, Black Lightning!" Dark energy pulsed through Margulis' palm, so-called for its colour, not its nature. Without a sigil, a stream of jet black electricity burst forth snaking hungrily towards the large projectile. With blackened pupils Margulis calculated its trajectory, perfectly catching it mid-air. The GGG's entirety was consumed in the destructive energy, Margulis' most powerful skill, one which had extra effect on those who wronged her. And just like that, it was all over.

Margulis dropped to her knees, the toll of overusing energy weighing heavily on her. She looked up to see Horatio's body in a fetal position, a pool of blood began to form, his glow was almost non-existent.

"Horatio!" she cried.