Fight Sequence Rainbow Arc of Fire: A House Divided

This novel, to date, had the most fight sequences of all the novels in the series.

Chapter Twenty-nine

A moment later, Dino reaches for a small vial of scented oil on a shelf and pulls off the stopper to take a whiff. He deliberately holds it up to his nose, pretending to innocently ask, "What's this stuff supposed to do?"

"That's Fire Oil," Joan informs him, returning to his side while peering over his shoulder to read the label. "It can heighten one's courage and strength, as well as arouse a person's passionate nature."

"Ahhhhhh!" Dino suddenly screams, first clutching his nose as if it were burning and then his throat as he falls to the floor in a quivering heap. The glass vial drops from his hand and slowly begins to empty onto an ornate rug.

Cleo, toward the back, and Michael, toward the front of the store, whirl around to watch this bizarre spectacle unfold before them, unsure as to what exactly is going on.

"Dino, what are you doing?" Jane demands, leaning over him and realizing that he's probably begun playing out another of his self-indulgent 'scenes,' only this time he has the ability to make it really dramatic—and destructive.

"I'm changing!" Dino pleads in a helpless voice, almost seeming to shake uncontrollably. "I can't stop myself."

Suddenly, his shifting form begins to writhe and squirm about, knocking over a nearby table and dumping the fragile display items all over the floor. Next, he starts to profoundly alter his shape, shouting at Joan, "You've cast a spell on me, you witch!"

"What?" Joan reacts in shock. She wants to go to his aid but involuntarily steps backward because his metamorphosis is so unexpected and bizarre. Profoundly shocked, she wonders what the heck he is talking about and what is happening to him.

Dino's voice now begins to alter as well, from garbled words to a long, low growl. The growl intensifies until it becomes a piercing roar of defiance as he swiftly changes into a ferocious lion, springing up from the floor, while snarling and jawing viciously, and knocking over another table. He then lunges sideways, as if out of control, and topples over a few shelves left and right, spilling even more merchandise everywhere.

Joan backs up even further, eyes wide in disbelief, but is quite prepared to knock this clumsy lion on its furry ass with her power over gravity—or even shove it out the front door with her telekinesis--should it become a direct threat to her.

"You idiot!" Jane yells, furious that Dino would stage a destructive confrontation in Joan's vulnerable shop, where so many beautiful, delicate objects can get permanently shattered.

Now intensely upset with his behavior, Jane begins to expand, growing upward toward the high ceiling while inserting her now-enlarged, as well as highly enraged, form between Joan and the roaring lion.

Joan is even more startled by Jane's stunning transformation as she ducks behind the two glass counters for protection. However, she cannot take her eyes off of the volatile conflict unfolding before her, like watching two cars rapidly losing traction on an icy road and then spinning completely out of control as they inexorably slide at one another.

Crouching by the door, Michael instantly teleports himself out of the shop because he fears for his safety in such a confining space.

Terrified, Cleo dissolves into a phantom and glides past the grappling duo of Jane and Dino, knowing that she is powerless to confront either one of them at this point.

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