Author's Note: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I know I did. All right to conniving little bastards I'm going to break my routine. : DRAMATIC GASP! : I've slightly lost interest in The Rising Storm, so that story will be on hold for a little while, which on a different note will allow me the ability to put all my focus into A New Storm. : YAY! : For all of you who are following them both, I do plan to continue it just not right now. Without further ado, onto the story!
Andrew burst through the foliage with his SMG almost at his shoulder and stopped. The scene before him was just so ridiculous. Kurumu, was pulling on Tsukune's left arm, Moka, was pulling on his right, and Yukari, was hanging off of his back. "He's not your personal blood bank Moka!" Kurumu yelled in mock anger. "Hey! You leave them alone you big boobed cow! You're getting in the way of me, Moka and Tsukune's sandwich!" Yukari yelled as a golden washtub fell out of the sky and slammed into Kurumu's head.
Andrew could only look on in shock. Tsukune was in a position that most men would kill to get into, except for the loli, where Andrew came from that was a crime punishable by castration, and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Andrew could only look at them in shock, then he did something that he hadn't done in almost three years. He began to laugh, and not just any laugh, but a hysterical laugh that was fueled by his adrenaline and his nervous energy. The four of them looked at him like he was crazy, and in a way he was. He had expected to come upon an Elite attacking someone, not a bunch of girls fighting over a guy.
"I'm sorry." he said in between bouts of laughter. "But that is the funniest damn thing I've seen a long time." he continued falling to his knees. The four of them looked at the situation they were in and started laughing as well. After a short time Andrew's laughs started slowing down, which was a good thing because it was hard for him to breathe from laughing so hard. He whipped a tear from his eye and stood. He checked his watch and hurried away still chuckling to himself. "I would suggest that you solve your little dilemma before school starts." he called out as he walked away. They quickly untangled themselves and hurried after him.
He finally found the cafeteria after five minutes of searching. He spotted Mizore sitting alone at a table, but she didn't spot him. He quickly grabbed a tray of food and made his way over to her. He figured he had left her alone long enough and hurried over to her. She jumped at his sudden appearance "Sorry I'm late, got a little side tracked after you left." he said. Her shocked expression slowly turned into one of her small shy smiles and she nodded. She turned her attention back to her food, as he turned his attention to his. He picked up his fork and began to wolf down his food at a prodigous rate. Mizore could only look on in amazment at what he did. "How do you do that?" she asked after a moment.
Andrew looked at her with his eyebrow raised "Do what?" he asked. "Wolf down your food like you won't be able to eat for days." she explained. Andrew put down his fork "Oh, that, well where I came from, you had to eat fast or you didn't eat at all." he said simply. 'Of course you hardly ever got to eat when fighting the Covenant.' he continued in his mind, though he didn't voice it. Eventually, they had to leave for their classes. Mizore smiled at him and left "See you in class." she said. He nodded, and pulled out the map and his schedule that the Headmaster had given him. He cross-referenced the map with the schedule, and committed the routes he would take to memory. He stood and took his tray to the disposal area and dropped it off. He then set off to his first class of high school.
He arrived at the door to his first class of the day and hesitated, his hand hovering over the sliding door. Andrew had fought the Covenant on several worlds and had been present during possibly the worst campaing in the war, The Fall of Reach, yet here he was hesitating at the door to a school classroom. 'I can see it now, Veteran of the Human-Covenant War, hesitating at the door of a classroom.' he thought. 'Well might as get this shit over with.' he continued. He pulled the door open and stepped through.
Tsukune was busy looking out the window and day-dreaming when the door opened. He turned to see who it was and nearly fell out of his chair. There in the door-way, stood a very uncomfortable looking Andrew Sampson. Ms. Nekonome looked up as well "Ah, you must be the new student." she said.
Andrew looked around the classroom and saw everyone staring at him. He even heard some of them whispering. "Wow, he's hot, and those scars are awesome." "I wonder how he got them?" "Heh, he doesn't look that tough." "I could take him easily." "That bastard, why does he get to wear that while we're stuck in the school uniform?" Andrew straightened and put on a defiant face to the kids in the class. 'In reality, I'm older than all of them and have been far more horrifing experiances than they will ever know.' he thought. "Well, don't just stand there, introduce yourself." the teacher said. "Sampson." he said simply.
He scanned the room more intently this time, picking out possible hostiles that he would need to eliminate. He then spied four familiar faces. 'Well, this just seems far too convenient to be coincidence.' he thought. Mizore caught his eye and he walked over to her "This seat taken?" he asked. She gave him a knowing smile "No." she replied. He nodded and sat down behind her. The room burst into more whispers "Who is this guy, acting all familiar with her." "How dare she?!" and the like.
The teacher, who introduced herself as Ms. Nekonome, began her class and Andrew drifted off. His helmet was automatically recording everything that was going on, so he had no real incentive to pay attention. The bell finally rang and the entire class quickly filed out of the room. Andrew was slightly shocked 'Damn, they can move fast when they want to.' he thought to himself. He grabbed his bags and moved for the door, but was blocked by a guy who was slightly bigger than him. "I don't like the way you're so friendly with that girl." he said venomously. Andrew shifted his bag to give his right arm room to grab his weapons should he need them. "What's it to you?" Andrew asked in a bored tone though he was tense and ready to spring into action on a moments notice. A vein on the guys head bulged "If I see you with her again, you will regret it." he said turning and walking away.
He followed the guy out of the classroom still tense and waiting for him to turn and attack him and spied a flash of purple. He slowly made his way over to the corner intent on paying her back for that morning. He put his face right next to the corner a little lower than he was tall and waited. Then he saw the pale blue eye eek its way back out. Mizore let out an 'eep' and fell flat on her butt. She couldn't believe it; he had found her out so easily and had snuck up on her. That was NOT how it was supposed to go. He chuckled, though it wasn't warm, and held out his hand to help her up. She clasped his hand and wasn't prepared for his strength, as he pulled her up.
She lost any semblance of balance and gracefulness and flew at him. He easily caught her and remained standing, even when she slammed into him. "You're a lot lighter than I thought you were." he stated simply. She blushed at his comment.
Nothing really interesting happened the rest of the morning. Things only started heating up at lunch. Andrew was sitting at the same table he had sat at with Mizore at breakfast. Then he heard footsteps. They were too heavy to be Mizore or Tsukune or any of his harem, which left the only answer as to whom it was as the guy who tried to threaten him earlier. Andrew let him approach without acknowledging his presence though his hand did slid under the table and gripped his SMG. "I thought I told you stay away from Mizore." he said. Andrew looked at him "I'm sorry, my hearing isn't as good as it could be. I must've missed that part." he said. It was a partial truth; he had a low ringing in his ears from the constant weapons firing that had occurred during his time in the UNSC. But it wasn't loud enough to actually impair his hearing.
"Besides, I'll ask again. What do you care?" he asked. "Because I'm Azgor Gurornc, and I will make her my woman." Azgor replied triumphantly. Andrew couldn't stop himself, and he barked out a laugh filled with mocking intent. "My god, are you serious?" he asked. Azgor glared at Andrew with hate in his eyes. He then noticed a certain purple haired girl making her way to the table. Andrew followed his gaze and froze. Before he could call out a warning or pull out his weapon, Azgor bounded towards her, knocking some students out of his way. He grabbed her and transformed his arm into a claw, and held it under her chin. Andrew took a step forward his knuckles turning white from the grip he was holding his weapon in; Azgor was having none of that. He tightened his grip on Mizore's throat "Don't even think about it, buddy." he said.
Mizore was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was being held hostage. She finally broke out of her reverie and tried to freeze the guy that had her. He tightened his grip even more until one of his claws made a small incision on her neck. "Now, now, we can't have any of that." he the brute said.
Andrew was pissed; this bastard had Mizore by the throat and… was that blood trickling down her throat? Now he was absolutely furious, he had an obligation to protect her and he was failing. He was shaking from his fury. Azgor looked at him and grinned evilly "If you want her back, meet me in front of the school in ten minutes." he said and left with Mizore. A little time later, Tsukune and his harem walked into the cafeteria to find Andrew strapping his armor on. "Andrew what are you doing?" Tsukune asked. Andrew grabbed one of his magazines for his SMG and examined it. "Going hunting." he said simply. He then told them everything that had happened.
Everyone was horrified, this was almost like what had happened the first day that Tsukune had arrived and met Moka and Saizou had attempted to take Moka. Only this was worse in that the enemy had actually gotten his hands on Mizore. Snapping the last bit of equipment onto himself he grabbed his helmet, put it on his head, and polarized the faceplate. "Don't worry, we'll help." Kurumu said with determination in her eyes. He glanced at them and they all had a look of determination in their eyes. "Why?" he asked. "This isn't your fight, you have nothing to gain by engaging in it." he continued
Andrew's words caught them all off guard. "No one has the right to lay a claim on anyone at this school." Tsukune replied. "Plus that's what friends do." he continued. Andrew looked at them and scoffed "This school is a survival of the fittest type of school, you should only be worring about your next test or somthing, besides, I have no friends." he said. 'They're all dead or gone.' he continued in his mind. The group all looked dejected at his statements. He didn't have time to deal with them, so he left, heading for the front of the school.
He arrived and spotted Azgor with Mizore standing just outside the gate. "So you did decide to come. I'm surprised." he said. Andrew said nothing, just stared at Azgor. Azgor shifted slightly at the black faceplate that looked back at him, it was almost unnoticeable but Andrew caught it. Azgor couldn't figure it out something was off about this guy, and it wasn't just the helmet that concealed his face. He smelled odd, like a combination of human, and death. It unnerved him but he wasn't going to back down now.
"Release Mizore and I won't kill you." Andrew stated. Azgor stared in shock then burst out laughing. "You're pretty cocky new guy, I'll give you that." he said. Then his body started shifting. He burst out of his clothes and continued growing until he was huge. His body was a deep purple with a massive tail. His legs had transformed into claws and one was holding onto Mizore. As Andrew turned his gaze up, he saw three heads look at each other then down at him. When Azgor spoke it sounded like three voices speaking at once. "Scared yet little man? I'll bet you've never seen a…" "Hydra, a creature from Greek mythology, besides the multiple heads the only other outstanding feature is that it can regenerate its heads." Andrew said cutting him off.
Azgor was stunned; this little whelp actually knew something about his species. "You scared yet punk." he said. "Not really, if memory serves a Hydra was killed by Hercules when he had his lackey cauterize the stumps of the severed heads." he said grabbing his energy sword hilt. "I don't have a lackey to do that for me…" he activated the sword "…but this should suffice." he finished. Azgor was pissed now; this little punk not only knew the story of one of his ancestors but wasn't even daunted by what was in front of him. He roared and set one of his heads forward and it slammed into the ground where Andrew was standing.
He smirked "He wasn't so tough." he said to himself. "Are you sure?" Andrew asked. He had rolled at the last second and was standing a ways away. Mizore let out a breath that she had no idea she was holding. "My turn." Andrew said. Azgor was still wondering how he had dodged his attack when he felt a searing pain. Andrew had leapt forward and used his energy sword to cut off the head that had attacked him. Azgor was waiting for the pain to subside and his head to regenerate. Only it never happened, the pain was no longer blinding, just a dull throbbing. He pulled up the headless stump and looked at it in mixed amazement and horror. It had been cauterized. He screamed in rage and launched another head at Andrew. He barely dodged the second attack and charged forward. He ran as fast as he could manage and sliced the claw that held Mizore off.
The claw still held her in a death grip; before Andrew could go and help her out of it he was hit by Azgor's tail. Azgor had screamed in rage and pain at losing his foot and his prize. Andrew flew through several trees and gravestones before coming to rest in a trench he had dug. "Ow…" he said. He slowly stood out of the hole he had dug by his flight and walked back to the front of the school. He could feel all the damage that he had suffered "Not as bad as Moka…" he grimaced in pain "…but still…" his chestplate had been crushed in on itself as well as his backplate. His helmet had been cracked again so he threw it away when he arrived back at the front of the school.
Mizore looked over at him and gasped in horror. He was a mess, his armor was crumpled, his helmet was cracked and discarded, and blood was flowing from a gash on his forehead. The Hydra looked at him and smirked "Back for more I see. Perfect." he said. He sent one of his heads down again and Mizore screamed.
Andrew barely dodged and stuck one of his Plasma Grenades on the head. The grenade exploded blasting parts of the head away. While he was confused and in pain, Andrew ran up and beheaded it. Azgor screamed in pain and rage as he turned his one remaining head to Andrew.
Mizore finally decided that she couldn't take it anymore she froze and shattered the claw that was holding her. At that point Tsukune and his harem finally arrived, deciding that even if they weren't friends they would help. Tsukune and his girls gazed up at the Hydra and drew gasps. "What is that?" Tsukune asked. "A Hydra." Yukari replied. "They are one of the most powerful of the water based monsters. This must be a young one, it only has three…heads…" she trailed off. They looked at her waiting for her to continue. "We can worry about that later; right now we need to focus…" Moka started but was cut off when Mizore screamed in anguish.
Azgor had pinned Andrew under his remaining claw, one of his talons had impaled him. He had no more energy to fight while his blood was pumping out of him. "Why do you resist, I am far stronger than you. Mizore needs someone of my…" "Shut…the fuck…up…" "What?" "I resist…because… I failed…to keep… my…promise… the first…time. IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN!" he swung his energy sword and cut the claw off of him.
Tsukune then decided that they needed some more help, as Kurumu, and Mizore rushed forward. He pulled off Moka's rosary and the sky had darkened, and the very air seemed to grow heavy. Moka's hair turned from a bubblegum pink to a bright silver, her eyes, from emeralds to rubies with slits. She looked at the scene in front of her. A Hydra was sitting on the ground, but that wasn't the strangest part. Normally even the youngest Hydra you found outside a nest had three heads, but she only counted one and two stumps. She saw him swing his tail and watched as someone in familiar armor came flying at her. She barely had time to think before Andrew's bloody body hit her and sent them both tumbling.
Mizore and Kurumu were both fighting for their collective lives. Azgor was in no condition to fight yet he did with all his might. He used his tail like a whip and swung it protectively around himself, but against the snow woman's fury it was no use. She sent ice daggers through his defenses and they embedded into his thick hide. Kurumu was also avoiding his tail and laying slices into him. But with his size, they were pinpricks compared to what Andrew had already accomplished.
Moka was coming out of her daze when she felt something heavy laying across her. She panicked slightly and shoved whatever was on her off. She heard a grunt of pain and looked at what she had shoved. It was Andrew and he was a mess. She suddenly remembered what was going on and looked at the Hydra. He was cowering, trying to block the attacks from the succubus and the snow woman with his tail and failing miserably. "Yukari." she called. The young witch ran up to her and knelt down to her. "See what you can do for Andrew." she said standing. Yukari nodded and pulled out her wand and started chanting. A light materialized in the center of the pentagram and she slowly waved it over Andrew's wounds.
Mizore was holding back tears, Andrew was badly hurt, again, and it was because of her. In her fury and guilt she charged Azgor's head. He barely dodged and Mizore realized her mistake to late. The stump of one of his other heads slammed into her and she flew up. As she started to descend, she rolled over and watched as Azgor's mouth opened. Her descent was stopped when she felt someone wrap their arms around her middle. She looked into the face of Kurumu. "Next time, don't get hit." she said smiling. Mizore returned her smile and looked back at the Hydra, and then she finally felt the immense Youkai that had flared right after her attack.
She looked down and spotted the silver-haired vampire. Azgor felt it too and turned in fear to the source. "Silver hair, red eyes, vampire…" he said softly, terror dripping off of him. She moved a strand of hair out of her face and behind her hair "You disgust me." she said, contempt evident in her voice. Azgor was so terrified, that he reverted back to his human form. His human form was just as battered as his monster. His legs were missing, and he was missing chunks from both of his shoulders. "Please…spare me…" he said. Moka scoffed "It's not me you should be groveling to." she said and motioned with her head behind him. He turned and saw an extremely pissed off snow woman being set down by Kurumu.
She stalked up to him and froze him in place. She got right up in his face "If you come near either me or Andrew, you won't live long enough to grow extra heads." she said with venom dripping from her voice. He nodded as fast as he could. Mizore unfroze him then stabbed him in the stomach and walked over to where Yukari was tending Andrew. A couple of Azgor's cronies came out of the crowd and hauled him off.
Yukari was working as hard as she could but she was getting tired and his wounds were so extensive. She then felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked into the face of Tsukune and saw he was smiling. "I know you can do this Yukari." he said. She smiled back and felt a renewed surge of energy course through her body. She continued to heal his injuries when Moka, Mizore and Kurumu walked up behind her. Mizore fell to her knees and grabbed Andrew's hand. His eyes fluttered and they slowly opened.
He was in pain, but it wasn't as bad as when Moka had kicked him. Though of course she hadn't speared him, but then again, Azgor had missed all of his internal organs. 'Well, at least I'm not in the judgment room this time.' he thought. He felt his wounds closing then a cold numbing effect entered his hand and began spreading throughout his body. He slowly opened his eyes then remembered where he was and why he was there. His eyes flew open and he quickly sat up startling Yukari.
He moaned in pain and allowed himself to be laid back down by a certain snow woman. "What happened?" he croaked. She looked at him and smiled "We won." she replied. He nodded grimly, then looked around at the faces clustered around him. "So you came anyway." he said through gritted teeth. Tsukune nodded "You do have friends here Andrew." he said. Andrew looked in all of their faces and saw the same expression on them that Tsukune had. He shook his head with a sad expression "We can never be friends." he stated. Everyones face contorted in shock and confusion at his statement. He slowly stood, much to the distress of both Mizore and Yukari. "What are you doing?" Moka asked coldly. Andrew looked at her "Going to the Infirmiry." he said simply. He pulled himself to his feet and placed his hand over where Azgor's talon had impaled him. As he started walking towards the school Moka stepped into his path. He eyed her coldly "Move." he said simply. Tsukune was worried that Moka was going to hit him and had started to rise when the unthinkable happened. Moka looked upon him, then slowly stepped out of his way. Everyone who was watching the fight was wide eyed with shock. A Vampire had made way for a monster that didn't even show his true form.
Mizore was the first to recover. She quickly got up and hurried after him. When she approached him she grabbed his left arm and put it around her shoulder. He looked at her with a neutral expression then nodded his thanks.
As the pair walked away, one question was on everyone's minds. Who and/or what was this man, who could get a Vampire to move with just a look and a word?
Author's Note: So, once again Andrew gets the shit kicked out of him. I guess it's just something I enjoy, beating the shit out of my main characters. Well, anyway, again I hoped you all had a great Christmas, and you all enjoyed the "End of the World". Yeah, right. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Review as you see fit.