Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108.
Chapter 6 – The Bearomachy:
Iapetus was the next one to go.
When trying to fight against Lin Chung, the sharp-tongued archer managed to confuse him enough in order to land several good hits on him, using his absent son, Yan Ching, as a sore subject.
"Hello, you must be Iapetus." Lin Chung smirked at the Bear, who growled in response, trying to get a good hit on the sharpshooter.
Lin Chung ducked out of the way. "You must be missing your son."
Iapetus roared with rage, no reply needed, and tried to strike Lin Chung once again, but he moved out of the way. "No?"
Another growl.
"Then what about Yan Ching?"
Iapetus stopped for a moment, letting Lin Chung aim a bamboo shoot at his face, leaving him bellowing in agony as the sharp spike dug it's way into his skin.
"Yan Ching is a coward!" Iapetus roared.
Lin Chung smirked. "But you want him in battle, don't you?"
Iapetus frowned, seeming to consider, before Lin Chung fired another bamboo shoot into his arm. "NO!" Iapetus roared his answer once again.
"But you miss him."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"No, I don't." Iapetus insisted stubbornly.
"Hey, what's that?" Lin Chug pointed behind Iapetus. When Iapetus turned, Lin Chung continued the conversation.
"I see nothi-"
"No, you don't."
"Yes," Iapetus seemed to be regaining some focus, though he still looked confused. "I…don't?"
"You do." Lin Chung smirked. Iapetus looked hopefully lost now as Lin Chung bombarded him with strikes. As Iapetus scowled, Lin Chung sliced his head clean off of his body.
Iapetus howled as he, too, got destroyed.
Sure enough, Iapetus was quick to follow the other Bears, and Epimetheus, furious, attacked Lin Chung, who took the full brunt of the fight, trying to defend a wounded NoHands.
Lin Chung grunted as he tried to block the blow, before leaping up and getting sliced in the face as Epimetheus tried to kick him. The Hero growled, but fired a bamboo shoot into Epimetheus' eye.
Unfortunately, the bamboo shoot did nothing to interfere with Epimetheus' rage.
He snarled, and let himself get lost in his rage. Without any thought, he attacked Lin Chung relentlessly, not letting the Hero do much except to try and defend himself. As the strikes grew more violent, Lin Chung grew weaker.
Epimetheus struck blow after blow, landing many heavy wounds on Lin Chung, but the Hero seemed unaware of it as he continued to be backed up, sometimes daring to strike back at Epimetheus, but getting a nasty cut in response.
After what felt like hours, Epimetheus kicked Lin Chung, knocking him off guard, and he landed on the ground, trying to get up.
Still not satisfied yet, Epimetheus continued to rain a number of assaults on Lin Chung, finally having a glimmer of satisfaction as he saw the Hero start to become translucent. Lin Chung, too weak to do anything else, lay on the ground.
NoHands called out to Kowloon, who turned from where he had been fighting Coeus, eyes wide as they landed on his brother. NoHands shook his head, and gestured brokenly to Lin Chung. Kowloon froze for a second, narrowly dodging Coeus' blade. With a war cry, he ignored Coeus, and attacked Epimetheus.
The cry had his siblings turning, eyes also wide.
Rosefinch was the next to join Kowloon. Both attacked Epimetheus, and within minutes had him destroyed. Seeing the Heroes like this, the Bears hastily retreated.
Lin Chung had healed well, thanks to Rosefinch, and was only out of the battle for a day, which did nothing to delay the Heroes' plans.
"He's fine?" Sonia asked Rosefinch anxiously as she emerged from the room. The other siblings also stood up, listening intently.
Rosefinch nodded, a small worried smile on her lips. "He was close to fading, but he should be fine now."
The thought hung in the air. Faded. Lin Chung. Their oldest brother.
NoHands stood up, eyes narrowed as the Panthers joined them. "We return to battle. One Panther stay behind to make sure those Bears don't try to attack him while Lin Chung's recovering."