The world seemed to lurch around him in the wake of that creature's strike. He had hit that stone wall hard. Really hard. The air had been all but forced from his lungs, Sly momentarily forced to gasp for breath as he lay near crumpled on the sand, attempting to force his lungs into co-operation. The warlock, finally, managed several desperate, gasping, coughing breaths and yet- that very act sent a spiral of pain through his ribs. A sharp gasp caught within his throat, his hand instantly reaching for his side as if some kind of pressure might abate that pain. It was almost dizzying. Every breath sent a spasm through his side. That....was more than a bruise, it had to be, and yet the warlock had precious little time to consider the depth of that injury as he struggled to his feet, one hand resting upon the wall in an effort to hold himself up. That ready cuss was uttered from his lips. That single sound seemed to signal his state of living to Harley. The young woman was lost somewhere in that sea of darkness and sand and yet....at least she was still alive. That was something. Sly could feel the ground beneath him moving still- being drawn ever inward by Ruben as the vampire only seemed to grow in size and power, adding more and more of that earth to his supernatural form. If Harley wasn't hurt, if she was still on her feet- she really shouldn't be standing still. That shout for Harley to run seemed to prompt the Were into action. Sly could hardly see her within that darkness and yet the sound of her boots leaping through that sound echoed within the pit. Ruben,for now at least, was fixated upon his fleeing target. That sand creature swinging widely in an effort to launch Harley into a wall in much the same way as he had Sly. How long could she keep running for?

Sly's eyes strained agianst the darkness. There had to be something. A window, a door, a goddamn light switch. Anything. Could he summon his fire? Even the thought of that effort was enough to make him groan as Sly managed several, shaky steps. That sand was hard to walk in. Every uneven step and jolt shuffle felt as if someone was trying to tear a rib out of his side. Had he broken one? Sly's teeth gritted together in a ready determination, the warlock desperately trying to put that pain aside in search of any way out. Harley couldn't run forever and the moment she got tired....that was hardly worth thinking about. Harley's sudden shout for light prompted Sly to pause, the warlock's blue gaze peering into the gloom for several moments before he forced another breath into his lungs, summoning a burst of that power forth. He had a bit of fight in him yet- or so it seemed. That little flame sprang forward, leaping from his palm only to rapidly take the shape of a goat kid. The little, flaming animal pranced forward. It's every step a defiant display of its beaming brightness. It's flaming glow spreading light all around.

Sly was aware of the feel of a magic outside his own within that air. The metal in that pit seemed to be...responding. God how he hoped it was to Harley and not Ruben. The very room seemed to creak and groan as bits of metal twisted and flew, torn from the ground or the walls itself to answer Harley's summons. The violet-eyed woman's insistence he needed to move when he heard that metal coaxed a near desperate note to his voice. Sly, for the first time, admitting he was hardly sure he could move. At least, not with any speed. Another groan cut short his words, the warlock all but gripping that wall, stumbling several more steps forward before Harley's metal seemed to explode. That shrapnel struck at Ruben wildly, each impact creating a sandy firework as it did- Sly momentarily forced to cover his head in an effort to avoid that flying send (and bullet like shrapnel). Ruben seemed to slow, the vampire becoming all the more outraged by this new assault and yet- it was almost as if it only made him angrier. Harley had managed to draw closer in that, the woman insisting she had at least some kind of plan- one she needed his help for. Sly's gaze shifted to that tiny, flaming goat. The creature stood defiantly amidst the swirling sand and metal, despite its small stature. Sly's tongue brushed across his lips, the taste of blood undeniable upon his tongue as he swallowed, forcing back any sound of pain if only to insist he was....fine. He had this. Harley merely needed to tell him what she wanted.

The warlock was oblivious to the very depth of impact that singular sentence had upon his companion. That unflinching trust handed to her with ease. Harley called out that she needed something bigger than a 'cute little goat'. The kid wasn't enough. She needed more fire power and yet how uncertain Sly was as to whether or not he could give it to her. Sly's fingers gripped that wall more tightly. How terribly....few choices he found he had. Either let Ruben kill them both- or die trying. At least if he died trying they could write something a little more....exciting on his grave. Sly readily reached for his power once more, a sudden, potent blast sent rocketing towards that goat kid only for the little creature to very near explode. That flame and ash and smoke readily seemed to reassemble itself. The goat kid transforming from its mundane form....to its active one. The small creature was replaced with a haulking Watusi Bull. Its terrific horns roared with flame as it snorted. Ash and embers erupted from its nostrils as its hoof pawed in readiness at the earth. Sly felt his lip twitch ever so slightly, the warlock rather proud of his creation before uttering that insistence he was ready.

Harley's sudden shout saw the Were woman release that metal once more. Lashings of steel launched forward, spearing into Ruben wildly from all directions as Sly sent his flaming creature forward in the same moment. The bull charged forward, colliding with Ruben with enough force to render a veritable explosion as sparks flared in all directions. Sly's gaze widened ever so slightly. This was not something he saw every day. It was fortunate, perhaps, that he was hardly given time to consider that moment for terribly long; Harley, by some miracle, had managed to find her way to him as she nearly commanded he lean on her. She was, she assured him, stronger than she looked.

"You're just....so tiny."

Those words were near halting. Sly managed that half-hearted tease even despite himself. The warlock hardly argued all the same as he lent into her, her arm wrapping around his waist. Her help, if nothing else, at least allowed them to move faster even if Sly refused to let go of his damaged side. Their progress was hardly fast and yet, for now at least, that rampaging bull had Ruben thoroughly distracted as flames and metals continued to careen around that silo. Harley's near grumbled insistence he was heavier then he looked prompted a near dubious look to Sly's gaze. His eyes flutter momentarily open if only to offer her that derisive look.

"Like I said before....your just....really tiny."

Sly's gaze fluttered closed again, the man wincing with his next step before the sound of Harley's boots ringing out on steel prompted his gaze to flicker open again. Was this a lift? Had they found an elevator. Sly was aware, dimly, of Harley's hand slamming into something. The woman cursing that lifts lack of movement and yet, in that moment, the warlock was focused on little else save for keeping that flaming bull active as it whirled, hoof scraping at the floor, only to charge a third time. Were they....moving. Sly's head raised, the warlock glancing around as that lift began to go upward, his blue gaze shifting momentarily to eye the woman beside him. Her features, even in the half-light of those flames below were still....lovely. Even etched with concern. She was exactly the kind of girl he'd ask out. If he wasn't dying. That veritable, impending death seemed to settle within his thoughts with far more calm than he anticipated. At least nothing would hurt if he died- because Christ, this hurt. The lift jerked to a stop, that sudden movement prompting a faint gasp from the warlock. Sly's gaze roved over those two doors ahead of them, which one led outside? Did Harley know? God he hoped she did. The woman's sudden insistence to tell her what was going on below drew Sly's gaze downward to the mess of sand and fire.

"I can't keep that bull going....much longer."

That, he was sure, said all it needed. They were running out of time. The doors ahead of them suddenly seemed to open. Sly hardly made any argument as Harley guided them through and into....was that a dumpster? Where were they now? His gaze seemed to find that strip of sunlight in near the same moment as Harley's own, the warlock hardly requiring any urging to hurry towards it- only for the screen of metal behind them to prompt his head to turn back. That fucking vampire was holding the lift doors open. Almost There. Harley's words very near rang in his ears and yet they weren't going to make it. That vampire was so much faster. The doors ahead of them flew upon. Harley and Sly both very near launching through them and into that sunlight in the same moment as that swirling hand of sand made a final reach for them. A final effort to drag them both back into the darkness.

"Shit."

Sly was forced to twist in Harley's grasp to face that enemy. What remained of his power summoned in a sudden, devastating flare that seemed to erupt from the warlock himself. A magnificent, flaming phoenix so momentarily materialising, its wings outstretched as it rocketed forward and into that hand. Obliterating it. Sand and flame exploded backward into the darkness- those doors slammed shut behind them. Harley's form lent heavily back into the doors, Sly's hand grasping the wall to keep himself upright as she released him. The sun was....almost blinding and yet Sly could hardly...feel it. He should have been able to feel it right? Harley moved beside him to face him. Sly, in that moment, oblivious to how deathly pale he had become- or the way he seemed to almost...sway on his legs. He was the damsel, Harley insisted. Sly, despite himself, managing to twitch his lip up slightly. Harley sounded really far away and yet she was standing right in front of him. The edges and lines that made up her figure seemed almost blurry. Her insistence that he needed to get checked out echoed momentarily within his mind. A doctor. A hospital. That was.....exactly what he needed and yet-. Sly's head shook readily. His voice, this time, suddenly managing renewed strength,

"No! No.....doctor, no hospital. I...can't.....I can;t go there. They'll find out. Harley.....please. Please...don't."

His gaze met her own, a certain clarity seeming to find them. Sly waited only so long as it took the woman to insist she wouldn't take him to the hospital;- before the world went entirely dark. Sly, in that moment, collapsing entirely into unconsciousness in the Syn car park.

sly.