Demon

Devon winced a little at Drake's name, and was silent awhile longer.

"No," she eventually said, "but I led the way into this. And I don't want to--to need him."

She frowned, sighed, and opened her eyes again. "Besides, the more I think about it--the kinds of demons we're dealing with, the sheer forces we're surrounded by, I'm not even sure a full army of hunters could properly deal with this. I'm trying not to let that get to me, because we don't have a lot of choice, but it's hard to deny the odds."

"Well Spirus is helping us.." Vincent trailed off lightly. He seemed to be a very strong demon, and wondered what was holding him back from doing it on his own by sheer force. But he wouldn't mention it. "I have never looked at you and thought you couldn't do anything with out Drake. But we are here to help, not because you need us to, but because you should never have to bare such a weight by yourself." He spoke softly to not awaken Colt and to try and reassure Devon. But he could never tell if what he said actually worked to make her feel better. Devon was often times a wonder to him. And that was probably why she seemed to stand out so much to him.

Devon tilted her head so she could meet Vincent's gaze. She had never noticed before that his eyes glowed faintly, a soft violet marking his place in the dim room.

"Thank you," she eventually said. His words helped only marginally, but he was trying. Mere words couldn't fix the situation they were in, or end the impending war without everything self-destructing first, but there was nothing any of them could yet do for that.

"It is no problem to me to tell you the truth," Vincent smiled lightly at her. "One of the things I admire the most about your is how you never give up. Even when faced with danger, even when you think you are on your own, and even when you think you can not do it. I have never seen you give up." He looked her straight into her hazel eyes, speaking the truth as he knew it.
"You have a fire in you that I have never seen in another woman, you could be independent if you desired, but you care so deeply for your friends too. And you care what happens to humans, even I can say what humans do has never bothered me all that much until I met you." He paused again, looking down and away from Devon. He was glad that the room was dark and hiding his faint blush. For not having blood pumping through his body, blushing came too easily.
"You are determined, smart, loyal, caring, talented, and funny. And these are just a few things about you that make you amazing, and this is why I never doubt you. And why I hate to see you doubt yourself so much."

Devon stared in silence, stunned by Vincent's words. For a long moment, she couldn't respond through the tightness in her throat. Much of what he had said was hard to construe as simple comfort in a time of self-doubt, but she didn't dare voice the thought aloud.

She tucked the suspicion away to deal with it another time.

"She swallowed tightly. "Thank you," she said again, trying to meet his gaze when he looked away.

"Like I said, not a problem," Vincent repeated firmly, smiling back up at her again. He hoped his little statement helped her feel better. It made him feel better to get a little bit of his feelings out. It was probably a horrible thing to say when Drake was coming back, but that made him feel the need to say it even more.
For a bit, he imagined a time if Drake were never to come back. A pleasant thought, but something that would never happen.
"You should try to sleep, you never know what tomorrow could bring."

"Yeah, I should," Devon sighed. She closed her eyes wearily and rolled over so her back was to the rest of the room. She didn't think she was yet tired in spite of feeling better, but she drifted to sleep within minutes, dragged into slumber by the weariness of her body. She fell asleep thinking about what Vincent had said, wondering if there was anything more to it.

It was a week before anything happened.

The seven days in-between were tense and quiet. Thanos made no attempt to hide that he was watching the group, setting various demons to watch them every day. The demons would watch from corners of rooms or appear at the end of corridors, making the group constantly aware of their presence. It was impossible to make any plans or even think of getting out of the manor without Thanos eventually knowing. They were left mostly to lounge about the manor, sometimes making small talk with the demons who weren't obviously watching them. Some of them were surprisingly conversational. Occasionally, Devon was permitted to run the grounds without being visibly stalked, and she would take a couple of hours to sprint the surroundings fields and cliffs as a shaggy wolf to burn off her excess energy.

At the end of the week was when Thanos moved.

He burst into their wing of the manor, a wide grin on his face and Saizel at his side. "We're going to Vegas!" he announced.

Devon lifted her head off the sofa. "Hmm?"

Colt spent all of her time the last week sticking close to Vincent and Devon. They rarely saw Villie, but she always felt like he was lurking around the corner. And she was right, he was lurking around, but also pretty busy. She didn't want to be alone so she didn't get a chance to burn off the extra energy that could make her a killer. And she could sometimes feel it clawing at her muscles and the back of her mind. Most of the time she felt fine though.

Vincent didn't feel like it would be a good idea to go off on his own either, and so hadn't eaten in the past week. He had gone longer before but he was steadily growing weaker and hungrier. But he didn't let it show as much as possible to anyone.

When Thanos burst into the room she jumped up, startled.
Spirus fallowed behind Thanos tiredly, his hands tucked into his coat pockets.
"As in Las Vegas?" Colt asked, quirking an eye brow. She was glad that Villie wasn't with him too.

"The one and only," Thanos said, grinning as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his suit (jet black, today, immaculately cut). "It's been a little while since we've gone out, I think. The news is beginning to forget about us, you know? I think Vegas would be an excellent place to stir up a big of trouble and get some attention again. Don't you think so?"

Devon narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. She obviously could not voice her protests without giving away their actual intentions, but people were going to die in front of them and there was nothing they could do about it.

Colt glanced between Devon and Vincent before stating, "well I have never been there."
She was unsure of how to act, she didn't want to kill people, but if she had to to stop all of this...

"When will we go?" Vincent dared to ask, getting a sick feeling to his stomach.

Spirus hadn't talked to the group much, and pointedly avoided talking about the plan or about Drake when he did. He was uneasy about them being watched all the time, even if he was sometimes the one doing the watching.

"An hour," Thanos said cheerfully. "I figured I would give you all enough time to get ready. We'll leave right then--Saizel can get us there without any problem--and we'll raise some hell in the middle of one of the most lively cities in all of the United States. Sounds like fun, huh?"

"Oodles," Devon said, dropping her head back on the arm of the couch to hide the fact that her heart was pounding.

"Wonderful," Thanos said with a smile.

"Are we going to be bringing anyone else with us?" Colt asked, standing up from her spot and crossing her arms.
She wondered how far they would have to go to play the part for Thanos. She was not looking forward to it.
This also was the time Villie had been waiting for, and that was why he wasn't there with them. There were tons of vampires in Las Vegas, waiting for their chance to unleash themselves on the world.

"Oh, just a few of the team. You know," Thanos said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "So, in an hour I'll be back, so I hope you're all prepped and ready by then." He turned back around, leaving the room and clicking the door shut behind him.

Devon sighed heavily and swiveled to plant her feet on the floor. "Lovely," she said dryly. "We finally get to go somewhere, and it's to kill people," she said, dropping her head into her hands.

"Maybe we can fake it s much as possible... I do not want to kill innocent humans," the vampire said softly, dreading what they are about to do.

"We will have to fake it where we can.." Colt sighed, rubbing her eyes roughly. Anxiety spiked in her heart and stomach. She just wanted to go back home to just cuddle with Zeke.

Devon chewed on her lip. "You can find somewhere else to be," she said to Vincent. "I think Thanos realizes you aren't here to fight as much as we are--you can probably stay out of the way one way or another. We'll deal with this. Hopefully, we'll manage to--I don't know, herd the humans out of the way or something without Thanos getting too suspicious."

Not that she particularly believed it, but they would have to try something.

"This is a good idea," Vincent nodded. He silently vowed that he would do what he could to keep some of the humans safe or stop his brother, wich ever seemed more important at the time. Devon was always full of good ideas.

"Can we try to stick together?" Colt asked Devon quietly, a bit ashamed that she felt the need to stick by her friends. "Things are going to be crazy and should something happen..." She rubbed her upper arm and nervously sighed.

"No . . . yeah, we should," Devon replied. "As best as we can." She took her pistols off the coffee table, where they remained after being cleaned the night before, and slipped them into their holsters at her hips. "If we can get away from Thanos and whatever demons he brings along, it'll be a little easier. Dunno how easy that'll be, but . . ."

She pushed up her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Well. Good luck to us."

"Maybe Spirus will will back us up," Colt shrugged, only feeling ever so slightly better that Devon agreed to stay close. This whole thing was a huge mess.

"I sure hope he will," the vampire agreed. He felt the itchy sting of thirst in the back of his dry throat. He would probably end up sneaking off and feeding while he could. It was the best he could do. He clenched his jaws ans tried to force the sound of the girl's heart pumping.

"Hopefully, though I doubt it," Devon said. "He does have to maintain appearances with Thanos, though, so I'm unsure how much help he'll actually be."

She reached for her coat, then glanced at Vincent from the corner of her eye. She had to do a double-take to realize that he was not at his peak. She frowned and took a few steps closer. "You alright?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Vincent opened his eyes and took a few steps back away from Devon as she approached him. The smell of her blood, even when she had no wounds, making him slightly sick to his stomach. Devon and Colt's blood was impure and so just smelling it put him on the verge of being sick.
"I am fine," Vincent said firmly, swallowing through his thirst. He backed up to the wall and rolled his hands into fists, trying to hide the light shaking.

Colt eyed the vampire, even she could tell he wasn't fine. But she trusted Vincent more then any other vampire to control himself. He was very old and had to do it a lot.

Devon eyed Vincent in silence for a long moment. He was clearly unwell.

"It's been awhile since you fed, hasn't it," she murmured. She rested her hand on her hips, fingers brushing the grips of her pistols. "You should try to feed while we're out. If you're off chasing some 'hapless mortal,' I doubt Thanos will notice. We can keep an eye on you from a distance if we're careful."

Stupid, stupid. She should have realized this was happening earlier.

"Please do not worry Devon, I was already planning on feeding the next time I got a chance. I can still control myself, I just..." He trailed off, not wanting to say that the smell on her was making him sick. It sounded so rude.
"I will be fine." He repeated firmly, swallowing again.

Devon was unconvinced, but she only gave a terse nod. "Just don't make yourself wait too long," she said. She zipped up her jacket to give her hands something to fidget with. "Things are difficult enough without you starving yourself. I'd hate for you to not be feeling well when we have so much to do. Let me know if I can help in any way."

"I will not hesitate to let you know if I require help," Vincent nodded again, pointedly looking away from Devon to try and think about something else.

Colt looked at the clock on the wall, time was counting down to when Thanos said he would be back. She pulled on her coat and retired a loose string on her boot. As time ticked down she started to be confused if she was nervous or excited. If she was excited it would be just from her extra energy.

Thanos returned on the hour, as promised. He knocked, then opened the door before waiting for an answer, with Saizel standing beside him again. "Are we all ready to go?" he asked, grinning hugely.

"More or less," Devon responded, double-checking that both of her guns were in her holsters, as well as two magazines of special extra bullets were tucked into her coat.

"Wonderful," Thanos replied, dismissing any further input from the others. He turned to Saizel, who stepped forward. The demon lifted his head, surveying the group. Whereas before he had tried to kill them all without mercy, now he just seemed bored.

Spirus was a couple steps behind Thanos and Saizel, walking tiredly. He sighed quietly as the demon prepared to transport all of them to Las Vegas. This wasn't going to be anymore fun for him then the others. His reputation of loving humans wasn't something pulled out of thin air.

Colt took a couple steps closer to Devon and Vincent to make sure to stay close. She didn't understand how this transporting thing worked, so she didn't know what to expect every time.

Vincent swallowed the dry lump in his throat, fighting back his hunger to try and look as natural as possible.

Once everyone was gathered close together, Thanos smiled and make a gesture toward Saizel. Saizel closed his eyes and murmured a single word in no language any of them could understand, and the room around them disappeared.

When they were settled again, they all stood on the edges of Las Vegas, just on the outskirts of the greater metropolitan area. The lights were beginning to flash from the casinos, and the lively sounds of gambling and drinking reached their ears.

"Well then," Thanos said, clasping his hands together. "Let's get started, shall we?" He looked to Saizel, who sauntered forward down the main avenue, flames beginning to lick at his feet and hands.

"You two will likely want to change," Thanos added with a little "shoo" motion of his hand to Devon and Colt. "Pretty to look at, you both, but hardly frightening like that."

Colt shot a short glare at Thanos before smoothly shifting into her wolf form. A sense of relief washed over her to be in this form, like it was her more natural state. Sometimes when she was in this form she would forget her natural form was a human girl.

Vincent took the chance to look eager and to find himself a meal before he threatened the others safety, walking off from the group. He followed Saizel for a bit before turning off into a alley way and vanishing into the darkness of it.

Colt waited for Devon, deciding to follow her lead. She wasn't much a of a leader herself, and she wanted to stick close to her friend. Were they actually supposed to kill people? She wasn't sure how far they needed to go..

Spirus shoved his hands into his pocket, inhaling deeply off his never ending cigarette.
"General death and mayhem? Or do you have some sort of plan?" He asked Thanos, obviously not enjoying the work he had in front of him.

"Well, right now, we're just letting them know we're still here," Thanos said with a shrug, trailing along behind as Saizel led the charge into the city. The flames grew around the demon's feet, singing the landscape and licking at the asphalt. "The news has already been awash with stories, of course, but we can't just go out once or twice and call it good. They need to know the kind of power they're dealing with."

Devon growled at Thanos before taking off at a sprint, shifting into her wolf form mid-run. She ran for downtown immediately, quickly surpassing Saizel. When she and Colt were far enough away, she risked a glance over her shoulder at the other wolf.

If we go ahead, we might be able to warn them, she said, her telepathic voice a bare murmur. Let the humans know something's coming. We'll have to be careful. Afterward, we might be able to hide out somewhere, stay out of the way.

Spirus walked along with Thanos, watching the other demons set off to do their jobs. He briefly wondered what the three would do, but didn't let it sit in his mind for long.
"Let me explain my situation to you then... I have a limit have to keep to.." Spirus stated lowly, as if he didn't want Saizel to hear him. "If I go over my limit I'm bad news for everyone, so that being said, I will do what I can..." The last few words he muttered, almost dreadfully.

Colt chased quickly after Devon, easily keeping up with her. She was thankful to be four legged and faster then the others.

Okay, sounds good. Hopefully no one recognizes us from the news and is afraid of us or anything. She whispered back.

Before Devon could respond back again screams suddenly filled the air in the directions they were going. People start sprinting out of a casino in terror, some covered in blood, probably not their own. Not far behind the terrified citizens a few dozen vampires followed, taking them down one by one and relishing in their deaths.

The screams caught into the wolves ears all too well, and their plan was foiled. Colt's green eyes widened on the scene... She had never seen so many vampire in one place and out in the open.

Thanos looked at Spirus for a long moment, then gave a weary shrug of his shoulders. "Do what you must," he said, before getting distracted as a lavish hotel spilled open and humans ran crying into the streets. "Oh, look, they're starting to notice."

Devon snarled and skidded to a stop, watching the humans as they tried in vain to escape their vampiric predators. None of them were a match for the demons, though, and were quickly overtaken before they even crossed the main avenue.

Shit, she hissed. I didn't count on this. We need to keep going, quickly. Maybe there's still time for others.

Even as she said this, Saizel stopped in the middle of a busy intersection. He seemed to consider his surroundings for a moment, before turned and slamming his flaming fist into the hood of a Cadillac. The vehicle soared, and the screams intensified.

Colt stopped with Devon and watched the vampires take down their pray so easily. Then Saizel just took out a car with out even trying. Suddenly she felt hopeless and the feeling was quickly followed by dread when she saw Villie calmly walking out of the casino that all the vampires seemed to be coming from. His cane in one hand, in his Victorian clothes and a top hat that they had not seen him ware in a long time. He really was putting on a show of power, and the smirk on his smug face didn't hide the fact that he was enjoying himself.
Colt felt her stomach flip when she saw Villie and fear filled her body, making it feel heavy like lead.
I think we are too late, this news is going to spread faster then we can run... Maybe we should try to kill some vampires where Saizel and Thanos can't see us... She suggested, her voice shaking lightly as she watched Villie. He was a good hundred feet away, but it was all too close for comfort.

Spirus stepped away from Thanos and lifted one hand slowly, his eyes narrowing a little. Suddenly all the street lights popped loudly, exploding into a ball of fire. Then each and every light bulb in the ten mile radius did the same, some catching fire to the things around it. This made the city quickly darken, only lit by flames licking the buildings. He sighed and headed out into a near by, very tall building.

Shit! Devon skid to a halt and blinked several times as the lights all popped and the city fell dark. Her wolf eyes rapidly adjusted to the minimal light provided by the moon and stars overhead, but as the screams increased in frequency, it was clear the humans around had no such luck. They would have no hope of escaping the vampires when the predators had every advantage available. Not far off, a man's scream cut off with a choked gurgle.

I think that's all we can do, Devon reluctantly admitted. She snarled loudly for effect and ran toward a side street, hopefully out of the view of Thanos and Villie. Not much else that can be done. It's--we'll have to do our best.

A thick fog, obviously from Spirus, started to fade into the city. It was thick and grey and human nore demon could see past it. Only about 20 feet in front of anyone could be seen. He was trying to help though he could only help so much. This made it hard for the humans so see to run away, but also made it so Thanos would have a hard time seeing what Devon and Colt were up to. Spirus was sticking to causing damage and trying to not directly kill as many humans as possible.

Colt had to stop running in fear of running into something or someone. Just feet in front of her she saw a vampire finished up his meal. Quickly glancing around to make sure no one could see her Colt snarled loudly and lunged at the vampire, landing on her torso and ripping into her side as they fell. The vampire wailed in pain before turning to ash under the wolf. It felt so good to kill again, there was a sort of horrible adrenalin rush about it that Colt loved so much. She looked to Devon, almost smiling, showing her sharp, blood covered teeth before quickly taking off after another vampire. The fog provided the perfect cover for them to kill as many vampires as possible. She was thankful for it. And thankful her wolfy senses could tell her exactly where to go with out seeing.

Devon's dismay at the rolling gray fog faded when she realized the general confusion it caused. Though she couldn't see very far, her other senses made up for her lack of vision. She caught the sweet-and-metal scent of a group of vampires nearby, and heard Colt charge off into the fray. Devon followed, quickly, pouncing on a vampire and sinking her teeth into the meat of his shoulder. The taste of blood and ash mingled in her mouth as the body disintegrated.

It was too late for the vampire's human victim, though; a young woman nearly drained of blood, pulse already absent. Devon hesitated, the idea making her feel ill, before dipping her paws and muzzle into the blood pooling from the woman's gashed throat. Hopefully it would mask the signs of hunting vampires rather than humans.

Thanos, meanwhile, cursed as the fog obscured his view of the mayhem. He snapped his fingers and another demon appeared at his side: a thin, serpentine beast with thick, feathery wings folded behind him. The demon casually spread its wings and lifted Thanos into the air to deposit him on the balcony of a casino, but between the fog and the darkness, there was little to see but flames.

Oh well. He could hear well enough.

Colt didn't stop to think for a second. She ran from vampire to vampire, killing them as fast as she could. She didn't save many humans and it wasn't what she focused on. She just wanted to kill. In the middle of her frenzy she didn't notice that Villie had noticed his vampires were dying off and he was narrowing down on the wolves. Their smell was strong, even in the thick fog.

Suddenly gun shots rang through the air and police tried to help save their kind, shooting at anything that didn't look human, including the wolves.

A bullet ricocheted off the ground next to Colt's paw and she jumped back away from where it came from, unable to see the policeman.

Devon followed as closely behind Colt as she could, carefully picking off vampires (and one or two other, lesser demons who had decided to join the party) and masking the act with victims' blood. The thick cloying, iron tang of human blood filled her nose, and her stomach roiled with nausea, but there was nothing else to be done.

She heard the gunshot shortly after, and a scuttle of movement that was most likely Colt. We need to get out of here! she shouted over their telepathic link. Stand back. Find somewhere out of the commotion.

More gun shots rang out but she knew in the long run it wouldn't help the humans much. Most demons would die from a gun shot. Just be slowed down or made angry.
Yeah lets hang back for a minute. Colt agreed, turning to run to what she thought was a alley and where there was little sound of chaos coming from. When she got into the alley, which thankfully was an alley, Spirus's scent hit her nose and she glanced around before barely seeing him through the fog. He was sitting on the ground, starring toward the chaos as if he could see it all. He looked very unamused.

Devon followed close behind Colt, and the sound of gunshots became slightly less frequent as she and Colt hid from view. Spirus' scent was just definable under the smell of blood, and she peered toward the demon through the fog.

This can't last much longer, she said, panting for breath. If Thanos goes too far, he risks losing his demons, and he said he was putting on a show.

Spirus looked over at the wolf girls, but didn't say anything at first.

I have never seen so many vampires in one place. And Villie is still out there... Colt agreed, panting as well. She eyed the blood on Devons muzzle and paws. Was she killing people? Please tell me that's a cover.... She whined lightly.

Before Devon could answer there was a loud explosion, as if fire on a car reached it's gas tank.

"Drake is here somewhere..." Spirus mumbled tiredly, "the fog is also acting as a signal. He should be here, but who knows if he can find us..." Smoke bellowed out of his nose in swirls.

Devon started to reply in the affirmative, but the explosion cut her off. She whirled around to face the noise, but still could see nothing. Her ears pricked at the mention of Drake. Was he here already? Could they find him if they went out to look?

We should try to look for him, if we can, she said, listening to the ongoing commotion. We have to. He might know something more, or be able to help, or . . .

The thought trailed off as a booming voice echoed overhead. Although impossible to see, Thanos had taken a stand on the balcony, his voice magnified with a spell.

"This is what you all have to fear!" he announced with glee. "This is what is coming! I hope you all see the power I can control. I hope you all realize the price you will soon have to pay. Mere humans cannot hope to stop me!"

Devon's ears flattened to the back of her head. Even with all the chaos and conflicting emotion, she couldn't help a roll of her eyes.

Colt looked up toward the sound of Thanos, he is such a prick.

"Drake should have the book, I told him to find it,"Spirus told them. He was obviously not enjoying any of this. He winced lightly when a scream was louder then the rest. The sound of a crying baby echoed just after it and the old demon quickly stood up. He quickly walked into the fog toward the sound of the baby.

Colt looked between the demon as he vanished and Devon, we should split up and look for Drake. Meet back here if we find him.

Agreed, Devon replied, both to the insult and to Colt's suggestion. She watched Spirus take off, but barely had time to consider it. If Drake was nearby, he could be in danger, and that was all that mattered. She sped off into the streets again, paws carrying her quickly down the street, dodging around bodies and rubble as she sprinted.

Colt took off in the same pace but in the other direction that Devon went to. She wondered for a moment where Vincent was and figured that he was keeping clear of all the fighting. There wasn't much he could do to help either side.

After a few minutes of looking a familiar voice faintly rang in Devons ears. It was Drake and he was talking to someone in a hushed voice. The fog was growing heavier and thicker and hotter. It was getting hard for anyone who had to breath, to breath. Drake' voice sounded frantic but calming at the same time. He was coming from the center of a intersection, where the babies cry was once heard, but wasn't anymore.

Devon slowed her pace as Drake's voice reached her ears. In spite of the situation, and the choking, humid air that was surrounding her, she was washed over with a wave of relief. Drake was alive. She had no idea what was happening or where he had been, but he was alive.

She crept forward as she neared him, focusing on keeping her breath even and not drawing attention to herself as she tried to discern what was happening and where Drake was.

When Drake came into view he had a hand on his fathers shoulder and was speaking to him quietly, saying something about calming down to him. In front of the two was the baby that had earlier been crying, it was down dead.
Drake looked basically the same, maybe a bit scruffier. His white hair was a bit longer and he needed to shave, but he looked healthy. Waring his black leather cloak with a large square thing wrapped in clothe tied to his back with thin rope.

"You're going to kill everyone..." Drake stated firmly to his father who was starring down at the baby, trembling with anger.
"You knew this would happen.. It's one, but if you don't calm down it will be everyone in this state..." His hand gripped his fathers shoulder tighter for a moment. He finally broke his stare to look at drake before slowly his body thinned out and turned into smoke as he vanished.

Drake sighed heavily and looked down at the bloody mess. The fog started to noticeably thin out slowly.

When she was certain that revealing herself wouldn't get her killed, Devon slipped back into her human form. The transformation did nothing for the blood; it was still smeared on her hands and neck, with spatters on her face. She ignored it, instead readying herself with her hands on her guns.

"Drake?" she dared, standing a few feet away.

Drake quickly spun around to face Devon, almost not recognizing her voice at first. His face lit up as soon as he laid eyes on her, blood and all.
"Devon!" He wanted to shout but instead remained as hushed as he could. He quickly moved forward to embrace the girl. He was so happy to see her alive and fighting. He was worried he was never going to find her.

Devon threw her arms around Drake and hugged him back fiercely, grinning into his shoulder. "Jesus Christ, you stupid bastard, of all the places to find you again," she said. "I had no idea where you were or what you were doing--Spirus only just told me you were here like five minutes ago, god--"

Overhead, Thanos' booming voice had ceased entirely, and around them, the commotion was beginning to settle. Some of the demons were being recalled; the rest would likely be going soon.