Rober2's rant:
Weeeeeee! A load-o-good things happened while I was making this story. I got sick, I almost got into a fight (with a HUGE guy), and I also got my zits worse due to staying up late… ok, so these aren't so good. The REAL good ones are, getting a good price with the toys I got (transformers collector [wannabe] and also searching ), I'm getting a good pace with REdownloading the games and files I lost when my old hard drive got fried, And finally, I got my name returned to Rober2 and Etna is leaving me alone! All is good! And let's not forget that the pace of creation of 'Partners And'.
Oh! By the way, if you guys want to see what these characters look like, check my fanfiction profile. you'll find the links of each character, along with an extra picture of a future character
Chapter 10: Mimicked personalities
It is a normal day in the item world for Laharl and the team inside a 'Legendary' Great Sword, hoping to subdue the Gladiator residing within the weapon and making its powers Laharl's own.
"Out of our way!" Tomoe yells and punches the unfortunate Gatekeeper into oblivion, leaving the gate open; not that Tomoe needed to step in the gate since the floor was already cleared of other hostile demons. Unfortunately for the group, the Gladiator was not on the cleared floor, thus giving them no other option but to move to the next one.
"Nice hit." A female voice praises Tomoe's strength. Tomoe leans her eyes to the side and finds Stella, holding her spear on her shoulders in a relaxed manner.
"Not good enough though." Tomoe replies as she punches her palm, while question marks appear above Stella's head. "Since we're still on the lower level of the item, the enemies here are two easy. I'll need a bigger challenge if I want to get stronger."
"Be careful what you wish for." Another familiar voice is heard, and this time, it's a male's voice. The two are caught in surprise as Davis talks in a serious tone from under the 'base panel'. "We may be in the lower levels of this item, but don't forget that this is going to be one of the hardest travels into the item world since this is a 'Legendary' Great Sword we're in. If Master Laharl finds us in a jam because we underestimated our objective, he'll probably be so angry, he'll strand us in here without a 'Gency's Exit'."
"I know that. You don't have to tell me…" Tomoe retorts. "(After all, you're the one who's always been saving me during those kinds of predicaments.)" Tomoe mumbles in a low voice with a small flush of red on her face, unnoticed by her two companions.
In an instant, the gang is transported to the next level.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" The young overlord exclaims from inside the base panel after witnessing the next stage; the whole floor was swamped with the red-colored geo panel. And to the dread of the gang, the effects of the geo panels are warp, which randomly "warps" all demons on the floor to another warp geo panel, and the troublesome 'clone', a geo effect that creates clones of a random demon on the floor. To add to their dismay, the gatekeeper is too far away for them to clear in one turn. The only good side is that there are only a handful of demons on this floor; not that it was actually something good.
"Tch! If I go out there, there's a small chance that I'll get cloned, and we wouldn't want that." Laharl tells his team, while Davis, Tomoe, and Stella shake their head at the same time, not wanting to face someone like their own master. "I'll only fight if I have to. So Davis, Tomoe and Stella, I'm leaving this to you two." Laharl orders his three best pupils, while the selected three merely nods in agreement (not that they wanted to, given the circumstances). "Etna, you go with them." Laharl adds Etna into the mix, while Etna merely nods with her hands behind her head and her usual wryly smile on her face.
The three demons sweatdrop, droop, and groan at the mere thought of having to face a clone of one of their allies. "Uh, w-well at least you got what you wanted, Tomoe." Stella tells Tomoe in a futile attempt to lighten the mood even by a single bit.
"I told you that you should be careful what you wish for." Davis looks at the opposite direction while mumbling to Tomoe as he lets out his frustration on her.
"Shut up." Tomoe talks back (bulging veins included), annoyed at Davis's words.
"Ugh, screw it! Let's just get this over with." Says Davis in frustration.
"Aw, c'mon, you guys! Cheer up! Who knows? Master Laharl might be merciful enough to use the Gency's Exit for us if things turn bad!" Stella tells her teammates in a cheerful tone, still attempting to lift the heavy atmosphere…
But after hearing Stella's words, the team contemplates the thought of their Master Laharl being…'merciful'. The trio places a finger on their chins in thought… and eventually droops at their conclusion…
"That's impossible…" Says Davis and Tomoe at the same time, both glooming at the obvious thought while Stella sweatsrops.
"Oh stop moping already and let's just get this over with." The red-headed higher demon tells the three in a rather confident yet laid back tone. "Just stand close to the base panel and let the warp handle the rest. Get close enough to the Gatekeeper and kill him, then we'll be half way done with this hell hole; with the other half being getting to the gate panel since chances are, you'll be warped once we get rid of the Gatekeeper. Just pray that none of us gets cloned… especially me." Etna tells the three with a "sadistic" smile on her face.
"*Gulp*" The three demons gulp down in unison with shivers running down their spine at the thought of fighting a clone of the fearsome Etna.
"Ok, you guys ready?" Etna tells the three, while the trio nods at the same time in response (still shaking).
The four soon deploy themselves and place themselves just a panel away from the base panel, occupying all four sides of the square. The team then awaits the warp to activate. But as they lay wait, they immediately notice the few demons closing in on them, impatient to kill them. But before the enemy reaches them, ALL of them, including Laharl's team, were immediately warped to random locations; and fortunately for them, Stella is close enough to the gate keeper to kill. To add their fortune, the Warp Geo Panel is just beside the Gatekeeper. To add the cherry on the cake, the Gatekeeper, off all demon types, just happen to be a mere low defense faerie-type demon.
"Lucky!" Stella thinks out loud as she immediately heads for her target. Stella stops in front of the warp geo panel, besides the quivering Gatekeeper who is afraid for its life; the Gatekeeper knew that he was a sitting duck since spears can reach two panels, so he prays that the spear-wielder would attack the Geo Panel instead.
Stella readies herself to attack and, to the Gatekeeper's relief, points at the Geo Panel. But instead of destroying the Geo Panel, Stella starts to spin at a slow, but accelerating speed, eventually beginning to lift into the air. And in one swift motion, Stella drops at an incredible speed, like a heavenly body falling from the sky, decimating the whole area around her, including the Geo Panel AND the unfortunate Gatekeeper; hence the name of the performed maneuver, 'Asteroid Drop'.
Stella flips away from the crater she just created, just a few steps away from the unoccupied gate panel. All Stella needed to do left is to step on to the gate panel and they'll be done with the floor. Stella smiles cheerfully at her fortune. But on impulse, Stella turns around as she senses a powerful presence behind her… but instead of an enemy, she finds a red-headed demon, familiar to her eyes.
"Lady Etna!" Stella calls out to the stronger demon in a gleeful tone and hastily goes to her. "This is lucky for us! I managed to- Guh!" Stella's breathing hardens as Etna suddenly grabs and lifts Stella by the neck with tremendous strength. After taking her time, Etna single-handedly tosses Stella like a rag doll. "*Cough**Cough*" Stella coughs while holding her neck as she looks up… but as she looks up, she finds Etna with a devious smile on her face, making Stella's eyes widen with fear. "Oh…No…" Says Stella in a shaky voice.
During that time, Stella begins to think that the gods are playing with her; making her think that she is the luckiest despite her current position, because in fact, Stella isn't lucky, but actually the most unfortunate; Stella isn't looking at the demon she looks up to. Instead, she's looking at what she fears a lot; Etna's clone.
The Etna clone goes closer to the trembling Stella's face and… does something that completely changes what Stella thinks of Etna…
Meanwhile, at Davis's location…
"Ha!" Davis grunts as he thwacks an enemy demon with his axe, instantly killing it. "*sigh* this is getting boring… Maybe facing off with a clone isn't such a bad idea…" Davis thinks out loud, feeling unchallenged at the weaker demons on the floor. After a few seconds of displeasure, Davis vaguely hears footsteps getting closer and louder just behind him. In reflex, Davis turns around, ready to fend off the presence behind him… but instead of a hostile demon, Davis finds his partner, Tomoe. "*Sigh* it's just you." Davis tells his partner, dropping his shoulders and sighing. "Don't just walk up close to me like some cat. I thought you were an enemy."
"You thought?" the brawler questions Davis.
"Yeah." Davis replies while turning around to look at the scenery of the item world. "It was a good thing that you were still a few feet away. Otherwise, I probably would've chopped your head- Gwah!" Davis is suddenly interrupted by a sudden force hitting him from behind; something that felt like a jack hammer hitting his spine. Davis falls, belly first on the red-stained floor. After feeling the cold floor, Davis slowly and shakily gets back up with the pain still stinging him. "Hnnngh!" Davis reaches for his back; on the spot he was hit. "Wh…what…what the…" Slightly disoriented, Davis turns back around to find the source of the sudden attack with a mixture of pain and anger on his face… but is immediately replaced with disbelief with what he found; Tomoe on a fighting stance with a smirk on her face.
"Wh…What the hell was that for?! What did I do this time?!" Davis shouts at the brawler, demanding the reason while still feeling the sting of the pain in grimace.
"You mean you still don't know?" The brawler replies with a question, still maintaining her stance, while Davis remains baffled.
Before Davis could reply, the brawler lunges in to attack, making Davis take a defensive stance in reflex. In such speed, the brawler lets out a barrage of fists to Davis, while Davis was having a hard time blocking/dodging the strikes his partner was giving him.
"You've always, ALWAYS surpassed me in terms of ability! I've always hated the fact that I was weaker than you!" the brawler tells the defending Davis while still keeping her pace of unrelenting strikes. Davis could only listen with disbelief of the brawler's actions.
"What?! What the he- oof!" Davis tries to talk back but couldn't, due to the intense pressure of the brawler's unending stream of punches.
"You've NEVER been serious with your training while I train a lot more than you! Yet, why am I always one step behind you?!" The brawler's voice begins to escalate.
"You mean to tell me that you've been holding that against me that strongly?!" Davis talks back while blocking the blows given to him.
"To add to that, Stella has made a fool out of me; rubbing it to my face, the fact that has been in front of me all this time!" The brawler continues.
"I thought you two reconciled after that incident?! Grmph!" Davis fails to block one particular fist and hits him right on the kisser.
"NOT THAT!" The brawler shouts at Davis, who stumbles at the brawler's hit. In reflex, Davis returns to his defensive stance, cueing the brawler to continue with her assault.
"It's because of her that my eyes were opened!" the brawler, still continuing her attack, tells Davis in an attempt to clarify, but instead, confuses Davis even more. "It's because of her…" the brawler gives one last quick punch before pausing onto her position. Davis notices this and releases the stiffness of his body to finally relax and analyze why his partner went berserk on him. But before he could speak, the brawler begins to move again and resumes her relentless attack; only this time, instead of swift punches, the brawler's attacks become slower and more predictable but more powerful.
"Ghwah!" Davis blocks the first strong punch, yet feels tremendous force, making him feel as if the ground on his feet were shaking. On the second punch, Davis evades it, along with the rest of the punches targeted at him, not wanting to feel it a second time.
"It's because you're a man all this time!" the brawler suddenly speaks.
"What?!" Davis shouts, completely confused at the brawler's words. "What the HELL are you talking about?! What does my gender have anything to do with- Whoa!" Davis questions the attacker while just barely dodging a terrifying punch from a fearsome brawler.
In reflex of Davis's close call, the brawler palm-thrusts the axe wielder, causing him to fall and lay on his back on the red-colored floor. Before Davis could react and stand on his feet, the brawler mounts on him and pins his shoulders using her knees. Two tremendous punches land just beside Davis's head. Davis's face widens with his teeth clenched at the close call, not that the brawler intended to hit his face. Had those fists hit Davis, his face would've been flattened and mashed like a hamburger patty.
"It's because of you being a man, I…I…" the brawler's voice becomes coarse as she glares at her pinned target. Davis could only look up at his partner's face, not knowing what is inside her head. "Grrraaaaaah!" The brawler shouts and prepares to smash Davis's face with a double-hammer.
"*Gasp*" Davis gasps as he shuts his eyes and faces away at the inevitable.
"Guh!" the brawler suddenly feels a tremendous painon her spine, much like what Davis felt when the brawler punched him from the back. Davis hears the brawler's pain cry and opens one eye to find peek at the cause. Surprised to the point of dumb-founded, Davis's face widens as he finds ANOTHER Tomoe behind the first one, with her fist behind the other.
The second Tomoe punches the first one again, but this time, turns it into an uppercut and the two lunges upwards into the sky. As if in slow motion, the second Tomoe charges and gives yet another punch to the first one and sends her back onto the ground, making the second Tomoe successfully perform 'Rising Dragon'.
Davis, who is still dumbfounded, remain motionless on the ground, but immediately takes up a defensive stance as he notices the second Tomoe's eyes locked on to him.
"*Huff**huff*Don't worry.*huff**huff* It's me." Tomoe, completely breathless and sweaty, tells her completely confused partner in a calm voice. "In case you didn't know, what you saw was a clone of me. I thought you'd have the brains to think of the situation."
Davis, who's still confused while on his defensive stance, inwardly rattles his brain to think, until finally falling down on his butt in relief with big sighs.
"The clone..." Tomoe speaks while looking away from her partner.
"Huh?" Davis answers, not wanting to think about his encounter with the clone. "What about it?"
"I heard her talk to you, but i couldn't hear what she said. So what did she tell you?" Tomoe clarifies herself without looking at the male warrior.
"Like I could understand what she meant!" Davis exclaims with stress in his tone. "When i asked her why she attacked me, she replied as if it was so obvious... i mean if i knew the answer, why would i be asking her?... But then..." Davis takes a pause before talking again while Tomoe slightly leans to look at Davis with his sudden pause. "She also told me about surpassing her, despite her constant training. didn't you mention something like that wher you and Stella dueled one another?
the atmosphere between them becomes heavy after Davis's last words as the two of them look at each other's eyes in enxiety.
"Yes... yes i did." Tomoe looks away and replies, making davis look down and frown at Tomoe's words. "I always hated the fact that you were stronger than me, no matter HOW hard i train... but i never held that against you." Tomoe leans to face Davis again with a smile. Davis sees Tomoe's expression and also smiles in return.
"...Thanks." Davis tells the female brawler with a smile and finally stands up from his position. "...Although there is one more thing though.." Davis continues while Tomoe raises her two brows. "that clone also said something about "Stella rubbing the truth that's in front of you"..." after hearing those words, Tomoe's face unnoticably widens. "She also said something about me being a "man"... what's up with that?"
Not responding immediately, Tomoe turns her face to keep Davis from see her as her face burns red. "Hmmm, n-now that you mention it, t-the Davis clone that I fought seemed to act wierdly, compared to you." Tomoe stutters her new words, hoping to avert her situation.
"Huh?" Davis raises a brow. " How wierd?"
"Whenever I look at the clone's face, it looked as if it was afraid or something..." Davis sweatdrops after hearing those words, knowing why the clone seemed afraid. after all, the next scariest thing from your own true fears is fighting a murderous Tomoe. "Whenever i attack him, the clone would just defend, as if it had no interest in attacking at all, or as if it was too afraid." Tomoe continues, not noticing Davis's heavy sweating."Still, that clone had your endurance; it may not have bee a challenge, but it was definitely one of my longest beatings to an opponent." Tomoe looks at her clenched fist before looking at the male warrior. "... and knowing you, You'd be all over me if we ever fought each other." After hearing Tomoe's last sentence, Davis blushes, suddenly getting a "different thought" of what Tomoe just said. Tomoe sees the sudden color-change of Davis's face and realizes what entered his mind, making her blush (again) as well. "Don't even think about it..." Tomoe tells her partner in reassurance, fearsome glare included.
Davis's face widens at Tomoe's words, while a clone of an enemy pixie was created just behind his shoulder. The demon clone shrieks and immediately charges at Davis, but Davis, without even looking away from Tomoe, merely chops down the clone, killing it as fast as it was created. "I DID NOT!" Davis shouts with his blush still on his face, telling Tomoe that it is an obvious lie.
"Then why is your face flustered!?" Tomoe questions while back-handing a generated clone of a zombie just behind her without taking her eyes off of Davis.
"Th-that's because you said-" Davis stops as he sees Tomoe glare at him darkly, telling him that it is a BAD idea to continue his sentence. "Nevermind... sorry..." Davis tells Tomoe in an intimidated tone.
"Hey you two!" a distant and familiar voice calls out to the two. both turn to look and find Etna standing on the Gate Panel, with Stella down on the floor. The team is soon warped into the safety of their Base Panel, with their young master inside.
"...O...K... i guess i don't need to ask what hapened out there." Laharl sweatdrops as he finds his teem in disarray; Davis was reaching for his hurting back, courtesy of the clone's attack. Tomoe was sweating like a pig after giving her all on the Davis clone. Eta was just... standing there with a smile, sweating, but not as much as Tomoe, after taking out Stella's Clone... and Stella... was sobbing (in a funny way) while firmly holding the belt on her chest.
"Uhhh... hey." Davis calls for the sobbing(?) Stella. "Uhhh... can i ask what happened?"
"uuuuh....Uuuhhhh..." Stella looks up to Davis with her eyes watering even more. "...WAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Stella suddenly burst into tears and heads for Tomoe for comfort.
"Davis, you idiot! how could you be so insensitive?" Tomoe tells the already-stressed Davis.
"WHAT?!" Davis shouts.
"Here, let me take care of her." Etna approaches and takes Stella by the hand, making the female warrior stiffen. whne Etna feels she's at a safe distance, she places her hand on Stella's shoulders, stiffening up Stella even more with her face still in tears.
"I suggest you keep your encounter with my clone a secret; i don't plan on leting anybody know my secret...yet." although unheard by the group, Etna loudly whispers on Stella's ears, causing her to be on the verge of crying again. "...and i suggest you stop crying; i might let my secret out on you if you keep it up... coz you're just too cute to pass up." Etna tells Stella after noticing her eyes watering up again. Stella's tears stop as she notices a dark smirk on Etna's face. "Understood?"
although they don't hear what Etna told Stella, Davis and Tomoe sweatdrop at the sight of Stella's shacking head slowly nodding.
"Good." Satisfied with what she said, Etna taps Stella's back and heads to her prince's side.
Stella sits at a corner, unbeknownst to tha fact that she is being watch by ther two friends. Davis heads over to Stella but is immediately stopped by his partner, shaking her head.
Stella murmurs to herself with tears streaming down her face (in a funny way). "Why did something so bad feel so good T_T"
The Two sweatdrop after witnessing Stella's wierd emotion.
The gang arrives at the next floor and find yet ANOTHER hellish stage; the whole floor is swamped with eye-straining colors with each having a dangerous Geo Symbol; Clone on the blue, Ally damage on the red, Enemy boost 50% on green, and Enemy boost X3 on yellow... and not a single useful Geo Symbol anywhere.
The gang (excluding Etna) soon face their master with pitiable faces, telling their master "we can't do it. please get us out of here T_T"
Laharl could only sweatdrop at his pupils. "Alright, Alright. I"LL do it. sheesh." Lahal sighs and shrugs his shoulders while his pupils show faces off gratitude, like a beggar thanking the persn who gave him money. "Flonne, Etna, Let's go." Laharl calls for his subordinates and head out to finish the floor.
The day ends with Laharl using the Gency's exit after finishing the floor, due to the fact that he was unlucky enough to have Flonne cloned. Laharl had to face the clone, believing it to be the original, until the real Flonne appears rather late, Tiring out Laharl, both physically AND emotionally.
The gang arrives at their home-sweet-castle. Davis's back still hurts, not realizing that the cost of healing him was around 200000HL, not that Laharl had any money problems. Tomoe's mind is completely occupied with imagining Davis "all over her". Stella still continues to sob (in a funny way). Laharl is in his room, sleeping after their little adventure. Etna is off working the prinnies to the bone, as usual. and Flonne is watering the flower of her new garden... Yep! it's a normal day at the castle alright!
Rober2's Rant:
Ok... this wasn't as funny as i thought it would be... and if you guys are wondering what took me so long to get this up... well... let's just say that i'm actually lucky enough to post it at around this time. also, i've been reading my own stories and did a few spell checks.
My mind is still boggled by a LOT of things. I have so much so say right now, but if i say too much, I'd get arrested (hyperbole, mind you)
Also, if you're wondering what the Etna clone did to Stella... well, if i told you guys, then the rating of this story would go from T to M... i'm sure a few "mature-minded guys" out there know what happened. i mean after all, a lot of people agree with how Etna swings, right? :-)... and don't worry, i MIGHT be able to create an EtnaxFlonne one shot, Rated M for some SERIOUS lemons.
Also, i really think that Laharl and Flonne make a good pair, Don'tcha guys think so?