ROUND 4 – READY STEADY GO
Rock and Chae were still lying above each other on the ground, fainted. The fight was long into its climax, and yet these two were still in their deep slumber. Hotaru Futaba came leaping by as the loud explosion caused by the battle attracted her.
"Hei ya. What kinda fight is going on here?" she thought. Looking from afar, it was too dangerous to go near right now. "I wonder who's fighting? Ara?" she looked at a corner and saw Rock and Chae on the ground. "Wah! Ro-chan! Chae-san! Daijoubu?!" she went up to them. They were still in their deep sleep.
Another loud explosion occurred and Iori's yelling could be heard from within the building.
"Shit! What should I do? I need to get them out of here! Hey, Chae-san! Get up!" she shook Chae's body.
"Hmm, so sweet… mmm." Chae mumbled in her sleep.
"Hoi, this is no time for sweet dreams!" she shook her head, much to her avail.
"Doste?" someone called out.
"Dareda?" Hotaru got up in surprise.
"Ultimate ninja, Hokutomaru!" he appeared on a tree branch just above them, but then another explosion occurred, shaking the area.
"Whooa, wargh!" Hokutomaru lost his balance and fell to the ground, face up. Crash!
"Owww." He rubbed his face.
"Nani sundayoh?" Hotaru was annoyed.
"Yo, Hotaru-chan, just dropping by… ara, what's wrong here?"
"Ro-chan and Chae-san are down. Give me a hand, will ya?" she went back to them.
"Huh!! Rock-san!" he jumped up and went up to him. "Hoi, daijodeska?" but Rock was totally out of it.
"No use. They're so lazyhead. Hey, help me carry them to a safer place. The fight's getting worse here!"
"Who's fighting in there?"
"How would you expect me to know? It's so violent in there, and I haven't even enter yet Forget about it. Help me!"
"Oh, ok." Hokutomaru grabbed Rock and carried him by his side. "You better hurry up too." He vanished with Rock, just like a ninja. Hotaru carried Chae on her back and walked away.
"My, she's so heavy. What the hell has she been eating lately?" she complained as she tried to speed up with the burden behind her, going as far away from the crime scene.
MEANWHILE, inside the building, Iori was getting wilder. Kyo dashed towards him.
"Iori!!!" his fist was covered with his flames.
"Huh?!" Iori turned around in confusion. He saw Kyo in his sight, but…
"Wild Bite!" Kyo's fist slammed straight into Iori's stomach, sending him backwards. Iori was pushed far behind, he tried to stop by screeching the ground with his legs.
"Temee, Kyo! What the hell are you doing here? This is not your fight!" Yashiro exclaimed and charged towards him.
"Hurgh, Yashiro." He looked back. "The Orochi fighters never learn their mistakes." He held his hand up, preparing his flames for his ultimate DM. Yashiro charged up front.
"Orochinagi!!!" he threw his flames forward in a big slash, hitting Yashiro.
"Shit!?" Yashiro reversed back and kneeled in pain. His front shirt was burnt. Kyo charged back towards Iori. Realizing his next move, Iori stood there with his arms highg up.
"Kyo… arrgh… kill!"
"Ior, you're down this time!" Kyo charged. But just then, a spear came striking down between them and landed right in front of Kyo, sending him to halt.
"Huh? What the…?" he was taken aback. Taking advantage of that spear, Yashiro charged forward and…
"Kyo!!!" he jumped above Kyo and in split second, grabbed his head.
"Huh? Wargh!" he couldn't react on time. Yashiro slammed him onto the ground countless times. Then he looked at Iori.
"Iori, he's all yours!" he threw Kyo right towards him.
"Ggrrr… Kyo… die!!" Iotri leaped and grabbed Kyo. Kyo couldn't react at the moment. He was in pain after the first impact. Iori immediately slammed him down the ground. From above the ceiling, Shion reappeared at the corner and smiled.
"Yes, that's it. That should keep hold of the Sacred Treasure for this while. But I still need that Orochi scum. This is getting bored. Iori, keep it up." She went back to the other end and vanished into the darkness.
"What's going on now?" Alba was a little confused. He quickly leaped to the side trying to avoid the debris from hitting him. At the same time Luise warped in right next to him, with her shining wings brightening the nearby area, but no one except Alba seemed to notice it.
"Whoa! Luise?"
"Are you ok, Alba?"
"Yeah, I guess so. This is getting complicated. Kyo's in hot soup right now."
"So what should we do now? Soiree will be in later. It's just the two of us now. I think we should just get out of here right now."
"What? You wanted me to form a gang to balance the power between them, and now…"
"Yes, but this is getting uncontrollable. Iori's never been like this before. You need to rethink your strategy to bring him down." She looked at him. "I'm still counting on you, not only for the sake of everyone here, but also for our future."
"Luise…"
Just then, the wall exploded again, sending pieces of bricks scattering everywhere. A big pile flew towards them.
"Look out!" he grabbed her and leaped aside towards the tables. The piles crushed that area and boom, crumbled.
"Are you ok?" he carried her up.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You stay here, for heaven's sake I'm gonna finish this battle first." He help her to a corner, and dashed out towards them.
"Alba… be careful."
"Huh?" Yashiro saw Alba dashing towards him. He turned around and aimed at him.
"No one's gonna stop Iori right now!" he charged back, only to tripped onto a stone and fell.
"Yeah, that's what you think." He held his hand out. "Haoshiraikouken!" he unleashed his ultimate move at him, sending him flying backwards until he hit a wall and fell down.
"Urrghh." He groaned at last, and coughed some blood out. "Shermie, Chris. Gomen." Yashiro passed out at last.
The battle that was getting heated up by now not only attracted Ash and Elisabeth separately to attend it, but also Duo Lon and Benimaru. Beni was running down the hall right now, after much consideration about it.
" This is getting bad. Hope that Kyo's ok." He thought. Duo Lon leaped next to him after that, managed to caught up wit him.
"Duo Lon." Beni exclaimed.
"So I see you realized it too." Duo Lon replied without looking back.
"I thought you have to deal with your sister?"
"That can be done later. Elisabeth might be waiting for us. Let's hurry." He leaped front in the speed of sound.
"Hey, chotto." Beni dashed up, trying to catch up with him.
What Duo Lon meant with dealing with his sister was related to Xiao Lon. Back at their small hut where they would meditate together, she was reading manga instead.
"Haih, what is KeKe doing so long out there? Ah, this should keep me occupied right now. Let him be." She threw one of her blades to the end of the wall, then turned the next page with her bare hands. "Sometimes you can't do things with all those blades around. This is getting tiresome." She laid down the floor and resumed her reading. There were some schoolbooks next to her, but apparently, she was skipping classes again. And Duo Lon was probably trying to push her up in her works so that she could keep it up.