"Rin!" I yelled. "Cover as much of the ground as you can with your barrier!" It looks like he can only generate his growths from the ground, and can only control them while they are still growing. Surely we can take advantage of this!

There was a twinge of hesitation, as continuing would be dropping her guard, but in the end she complied. Everyone jumped into the air as the black stuff spread out thinly along the ground.

It didn't take long for Havel to realize his fatal mistake. He jumped back out of the area of the barrier and touched bare ground. "Oh no you don't!" On his command wooden branches started growing upwards and over us, in an attempt to lock us in a cage.

So I was right, huh? "Ren! Lift us up now!"

Seeing that we were being boxed in, she immediately made the platform take off into the air. The platform swayed and shook as we broke through the parts of the cage that had formed and flew up into the air. "This is too thin for me to control properly, so hold on tight!"

Before we knew it we were well above where we were, and were seemingly safe from our attacker.

Havel gritted his teeth and yelled up at us. "Don't think you're safe just because you're on that thing!" He kicked the ground and a large bean stalk started to sprout from under him. He grabbed on and it shot upwards, carrying him up to our altitude, then he jumped off the pillar and landed on our flying barrier, but stayed close to his stalk.

"You could have just jumped up here, right?" I asked.

"Don't question me, you pebble!"

"But you didn't because then you wouldn't have access to your powers, correct?"

He looked surprised. "Quiet!" He threw his hands forward and a few branches of the beanstalk shot towards us. A boulder sized bean grew and dropped down from the stalk and fell into his hand. He threw the legume at us and then stood back to watch the damage.

Everyone used their powers to the best of their abilities. Ariel shot bubbles forward, one even bouncing away the bean, which exploded in the air shortly afterwards. Buddy slashed with his sword of hair, and the Defenestrators were working together to attack, shrinking Bishop's controlled rocks then sticking them to the vines to gain control of the whipping branches. Even I slashed away at an incoming vine with my dagger.

As he saw his plans backfire on him, Havel panicked a little and started throwing bean after bean. "Die already, you little ants!"

The somewhat natural bombs flew at us from all sorts of angles, but we had already had seen what they could do, so we deflected them at all costs. We were slowly getting the upper hand, and Ariel and Bishop started sending their objects of control back at the enemy.

Amazingly, he simply swatted the vines and bubbles away, not caring about the explosive forces the latter had. "Don't underestimate me!" He leapt away from the stalk, leaving his safe place, and charged right for us. "I don't even need powers to defeat the likes of you!"

He was headed right for Catherine, who panicked and tried to cover herself by making her arms into a defensive 'x' shape.

The only ones with time to react were the ones right next to Catherine: Ren and Rin.

Ren jumped out to push Catherine out of the way, and Havel hit her instead. Ren's body was thrown like a bullet out of the area, disappearing somewhere into the trees.

Havel skidded to a stop, stopping just short of falling off the edge of the platform. "That's what she gets for interfering." He grinned maliciously. Everyone was stopped in their tracks and watched him for his next move. He looked at his fist, which was now covered in the same silver substance as before. "Tch. Got some swine blood on me."

This set Catherine off. "What did you just say?!" She started breathing heavily as she looked at the barrier below.

"Got a problem? You're next, hooded girl." He laughed, probably just to provoke her more.

I was sweating nervously at this point. It's weird, we can't perspire here because of exhaustion, but we still can from emotional reactions. I was still shaking in my shoes from his last attack. Everyone in this world is a monster!

She started shaking, and Rin ran over to her side and tried comforting her. "Please calm down! Mom wouldn't die from something like that."

"How can you be sure?" said Catherine with a trembling lip. "And how can you be sure that you're not next?" She pushed her away. "I'm taking things into my own hands this time." Her nails grew to several inches in length and hardened into what looked to be some sort of crystal. Her veins pulsed, and grey hair started springing up all over her body. She twinged in pain.

"Stop! You know that your power hurts you!"

"I don't care!" Catherine yelled back. "Feline of the Nine Lines!" The pinky nail on her left hand shattered, and her eyes started glowing a bright yellow. Several of her teeth turned into fangs.

Just what am I watching?!

"I'm waiting," taunted Havel. "Come at me, cottonball!"

Catherine ran at him, and he at her. They slashed back and forth at each other, both blocking and evading each other's attacks. For now, they seemed to be on even footing.

"Oh?" he snickered. "So you can attack at a decent level. How long can you do that without tearing apart your body, I wonder?"

"Shut up! Everyone, don't just stand there!"

We were shook back to reality. Yes, if she was handling him about equally at the moment, surely we could tip the scale!

Everyone but Marion ran forward without a plan and tried to attack in our own special ways. Havel was now having a hard time keeping up, and was slowly contracting scratches from Catherine's claws.

Marion dug in her purse for something. She pulled out her sword and carried it like a dagger in its miniscule form, concealing its full strength. Everyone picked up on what she was doing out of the corner of our eyes. Amidst all the slashing she ran forward until she was a few feet away, then swung the sword down from overhead, making it expand rapidly as she did.

Everyone but Catherine and Havel jumped back, and the sword came slashing down over them. The blade cut right through Catherine's left arm and Havel's right arm, chopping them cleanly off.

"Why didn't you dodge?!" Marion yelled at her. "Now you're hurt too!"

"Because if I did then Havel would have too." She laughed a single laugh. "Guess I'm down to Five Lines now. Nothing is stopping me anymore, Havel!!!" She slashed at him with her remaining arm, but he jumped high into the air.

"To think that I would have to use my trump card on this bunch of weaklings... I can't believe it. Now that you've made me this angry though..." Out from the socket where his arm once was a green, plant arm grew in its place. Large, leafy wings sprouted out of his back, and flapped them to keep himself suspended in the air. "I still can't see myself losing! Behold! The full power of an Iron E member! Beyond the green thumb, this is my Green Giant!"

His already changed body started pulsing and throbbing, and then started growing into much larger, fibrous green parts. He cried out in pain as the roots of the plants dug into his main body, and soon there was not a single visible part of his human body left. Now, he was a flying plant titan.

"Didn't I tell you? I'm down to Five Lines now! Rin! Don't worry about be, but get everyone in a barrier! It's too dangerous for any of you to be anywhere near even me now." She frowned. "I can't guarantee how much longer I'll be able to keep my humanity."

"But-"

"Rin! Now!"

She shuddered, then ushered everyone into a certain spot of the platform. Every part of the platform except the area that we stood on disappeared, and the blackness engulfed us in a shell. Rin specially left us eye slits, but nothing more than that.

Catherine dropped to the ground, and Havel let himself touch down in his twenty foot tall body.

"Good, everyone's safe," she said. Suddenly and inexplicably, the world around us started growing dark. The light of the sun was slowly being overcome by a black fog that was spreading everywhere. Our eye slits were becoming useless. "In the dark, cats have a distinct advantage."

The landscape stopped growing darker, leaving it at an almost pitch black. I could just barely make out the shapes of trees and Havel himself, but Catherine disappeared in the darkness.

"Hey," I said to Rin. "W-what did you mean that her power hurts her?"

"She won't tell us why, but it's just as I said. Her power isn't normal, it physically drains her, so she never uses it. This is only the second time that I've ever seen it."

So there are powers that break the rules, huh? All I could do now was sit back.

There was a slashing sound that could only be made out to be Catherine clawing away at Havel.

He seemed perfectly calm, however. "Don't think that you can get through to me by just repeatedly attacking me. I am the Iron E of creation, the one that longs for destruction. Until you are dead, I will continuously regenerate this form of mine. I can just wait you out until you die by your own powers!"

I could hear the panting of an almost beastlike being. "Four Lines."

"Why don't I just put you out of your misery? Hold still!"

There was a whimper and growl. No human voice answered him.

"Don't tell me," said Rin, falling to the ground. She held her hands to her head like she was having a headache. "Catherine?! Have you become slave to your own powers?!"

"Got you, you pesky furball! Huh?"

The fog darkness suddenly faded away. Three incredibly elongated claws were piercing the giant's chest. Three claws with a large cat on the end. The paw that held the claws pulled them across its contained body and tore them to the other side of the giant's torso, cutting it in half.

The grey cat, with its electric yellow eyes, stared directly at the armored body which held it as it fell apart.