The Demon Of The East Blue

Chapter 10: Last Gamble: Part 3

(A:N) This is one of the longer chapters I have done, but I hope you still enjoy!

A bead of sweat dropped down Riku's forehead as he analyzed his opponent. Other than those claws that he had, he didn't seem that threatening. He was just a frail old man in the eyes of a regular. But something about him gave Riku a bad vibe.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Sedric said, as he made a stance. "Then allow me to make the first move."

In a flash, Sedric appeared behind Riku, and took a swipe, scarping Riku's shoulder as he moved out of the way.

Damn, he's fast… Riku thought as he held his shoulder. He signaled Terra, who drew her bow, and fired continuous arrows at Sedric, trying to hit his vitals. Sedric, however, merely dodged every arrow with inhuman speed.

"Allow me to show you why they call me "Shadow Step Sedric." The man said, as he crossed his claws, and disappeared.

"Stay on your guard Riku, I have a bad feeling!" Terra shouted, as she flanked her bow around every corner, in search of Sedric.

In an instant, a mess of claw slashes were ripped across Terra's back, causing her to scream in pain.

"TERRA!" Riku cried, as he himself felt himself get cut in his chest. He had no idea what hit him, as he struggled to stay on his feet. He looked down, and saw the blood leaking out of his chest as he gasped for air. He then glanced over at Terra, who was on the ground, struggling to get up.

Suddenly, Sedric reappeared, and grabbed Terra by her hair, lifting her up, and putting his claws from his other hand underneath her neck.

"DON'T DO IT!" Riku screamed, as Sedric made a quick motion, cutting Terra's neck, causing her to roll around on the ground gasping for air.

"NO!" Riku cried again, as Sedric appeared in front of him, and drove his claws deep into his heart…

Riku snapped back into consciousness, as he realized where he was. Sedric was still standing in his stance, and Terra was still beside him with her bow drawn. She was still alive! He then noticed what had happened. Sedric's pure killing intent had caused him to hallucinate. This guy was defiantly dangerous.

Looks like it's time… Riku thought, as he closed his eyes. He began to breathe deeply, as his gills expanded and contracted.

"Are you just going to stand there? Then allow me to make the first move." Sedric said, as he did in Riku's hallucination. He took a step, appearing behind Riku, however was quickly knocked backwards as he felt a slice across his chest.

Terra, shocked at the speed that Riku displayed, observed him. Riku opened his eyes, revealing small pointed Iris', and his eyes curving, making him appear more deadly. His muscles expanded, and fins with blades on them had sprouted on his forearms.

"Hmm… So you changed a bit, have you? No matter!" Sedric said in a worried voice, as he tried to shadow step behind Riku once again, swinging his claws, however Riku reacted, and grabbed his claw with his bare hand.

"You seem to like those claws…" Riku said in a bloodthirsty voice. "But I think they'd look a lot better in pieces." As he said this, Riku clenched his fists with the claw still in his hands, and shattered the claws, making them crumble on the ground.

"Wha-" Sedric said in a shocked voice, as he felt an arrow pierce his shoulder. "AGH!" He screamed, as he shadow stepped once again, behind Terra.

"Take this!" Sedric shouted, as he swung his remaining claw at Terra, suddenly stopping. "What the…" He said, as he began to shudder, his claw inches from Terra's face.

Terra stuck out her tongue. "Sorry, but that arrow had paralysis poison in it. You won't be able to lift a finger for a bit."

Riku saw his chance, dashed towards Sedric quickly, and began twisting like a top, making his forearm blades cut repeatedly into Sedric. Sedric yelled as he was smashed into a wall, blood leaking from various places on his body.

"Y-you think… you've won…? NOT EVEN CLOSE!" Sedric yelled as he lost his composure, and broke free of the paralysis. "I'LL SKIN YOU, FISHMAN, AND THAT BITCH TOO!"

Riku smirked. "I thought you liked to keep calm. Now you just seem totally out of character."

Sedric twitched as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small orb, and pressed a button on it. Forgive me, Master… Sedric closed his eyes, taking off his glasses, and opened his eyes again. They were sharper than ever.

"You're probably wondering what this, so I'll tell you. It's a megaton bomb that will cause an explosion big enough to kill everybody in this room." He began to laugh. "And I'd say you have about… 10 seconds to live."

Riku panicked. "TERRA! RUN!" He shouted, as Sedric shadow stepped behind Terra, pinning her to the ground, sticking his claw into her shoulder as it lodged into the ground, causing her to scream in pain.

Riku ran faster than he ever had in his life, and punched Sedric in the face as hard as he could, but the old man did not move. He tried to lift Sedric up, but he held tightly to the claw, which was still lodged in the ground.

"Face it… You're both going to die…" Sedric said in weak voice, as blood dripping from his mouth and nose. "5 more seconds…"

Riku screamed as he grabbed the bomb out of Sedric's hand, and punched a hole in his side, releasing the bomb inside of his body. Sedric gave a bloodcurdling scream as he held his open wound. Quickly, Riku stepped on the hand that held the claw lodged in Terra.

Sorry Terra… Riku thought, as Terra screamed in more pain. Sedric has finally released his grip on the claw, and Riku lifted Sedric up, preparing to throw him through the roof.

"2…Seconds…" Sedric said, choking on his own blood.

Riku yelled as he throw Sedric into the roof as hard as he could, making the man crash right through, making a hole, and screaming. About a second later, there was a huge explosion, making the roof crumble, and debris fall all around the room. They had survived.

Riku panted, as his blades returned to his forearms, and pulled the claw out of Terra's shoulder.

"Ah… Riku… Thank you…" Terra said in a weak voice, as she gently touched Riku's cheek with her good hand, and soon passed out.

Riku panicked. She had lost too much blood, and needed medical attention, quickly. But Dyne also needed his help. As he contemplated his decisions, he too collapsed, making Terra roll over beside him. He was feeling the effects of his previous power up, and could no longer move.

We're screwed… Riku admit defeat, as he heard the sounds of footsteps behind him.

"Who…" Riku said quietly, as the doors to the main room opened.

Dyne continued his struggle with Ina, who was soon overpowering him. Dyne tried his hardest to make his fists connect, but Ina dodged, as if he predicted Dyne's movement.

"You… I'll kill you! You're trash that destroys lives!" Dyne panted as he swung his fist at Ina, who dodged once again, and kicked Dyne in his stomach, winding him, and sending him rolling backwards.

Dyne quickly recovered, and focused his cells to heat up. "I WILL STOP YOU!" He yelled.

PARADIGM SHIFT ALPHA!

Dyne started to boil, and caused his body to emit steam once again. He used his improved speed to dash in front of Ina, and punch him in the face. Ina yelled in pain, as he extended his hand, and made a blade of wind form in his hands. He took many swipes at Dyne, who dodged and weaved around the blade, eventually getting cut on his shoulder.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT ME, YOU BRAT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" Ina yelled at Dyne as he continued to slash at Dyne, who kept dodging.

"I KNOW YOU'RE A MURDERER! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF, AND THAT'S WHY I'LL STOP YOU!" Dyne yelled in return, as he liquefied his arm to be able to grab the wind blade, and throw it out of Ina's hands.

Ina took a punch at Dyne, but he ducked out of the way, and head butt Ina in the center of his forehead, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Its people like you… Who ruin everything! Always assuming! Always judging… You're the trash!" Ina bellowed, as various wind blades ripped across the room, cutting through Dyne, making him brace himself. After the wind had cleared up, Dyne was a mess of cuts and blood. He gasped for breath as Ina dashed forward and punched Dyne in the gut.

"You have no idea what I've been through! YOU'RE THE TRASH!" Ina screamed as he smashed a foot on Dyne's head, leaving it there. Dyne struggled to move his head as Ina pressed harder.

"I don't care… WHAT you've been through. What you did to your son is unacceptable!" Dyne shouted, as he knocked Ina's foot away, and pounded the ground, sending a geyser of water knocking Ina away. Ina recovered right away, and mustered up all of his power.

"Enough of this. It's over." Ina said in a somber voice, as he prepared to blast all of his energy at Dyne.

Before he could make a move, however, a silver blur, knocked Ina over sideways, and pinned him down. As Ina regained his focus, he looked up at what had pinned him down.

"Ry….osuke?" Ina said quietly, as Ryosuke, still in wolf form, held Ina in place, shaking and struggling to stay up, due to his previous injuries. Blood still leaked from his back, and it looked as if he would fall over at any second.

"LOOK! LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE CAUSED!" Dyne shouted to Ina. "HOW COULD YOU CALL YOURSELF A PARENT… AND FIND THIS ACCEPTABLE!?"

Ina glanced into Ryosuke's suffering eyes, and then grew an angry expression.

"IT'S ALL THIS BRAT'S FAULT! BECAUSE OF HIM…" Saying this, Ina swiped at Ryosuke's face, making the beast fall over, struggling to get back on its feet.

"Because of him… because of him… My wife…" Ina huffed, as he fell to one knee. "I won't forgive HIM!" Ina bellowed, as he prepared to power up wind to end Ryosuke's life.

Dyne got up, and used the steam that was left in his body to flow into his feet. It would be his last strike. "I WONT LET YOU HURT HIM!" Dyne screamed, as he felt his legs about to explode.

MIZU MIZU… STEAM ROCKET!

Dyne yelled at the top of his lungs, to the point where he thought his throat might be destroyed, and jet towards Ina with all of the speed that he had, launching towards him from the pressure in his legs. He pointed his head forward, and connected with Ina's own head, causing them to fly, and land on the ground, facedown beside each other.

The fight was over.

Dyne struggled to keep his eyes open, as his vision began getting blurry. He saw Ina, his eyes glancing at the ground.

"Kid… You asked… Why I did it…" Ina said, his voice just barely a whisper. "Have you ever… Just been so alone, that you couldn't stand it?"

Dyne nodded his head slowly, hardly being able to put it down all the way. He thought about 8 years ago, when everybody that he knew and loved was brutally murdered by the white snake pirates. He thought about the elder, his grandfather.

"I have…" Dyne whispered.

Ina was silent for a moment, and then spoke again. "Marie… My wife. She was pregnant with Ryosuke… We had just moved to Sapphire town. The town had a strict rule about having children. I suggested that we moved back to where we came from, but we had no money, and Marie… She wanted to have the child so badly…" Ina had a pained look on his face.

"We had to have the baby in secret. We went to an abandoned shack… It was the only place. I suggested that she destroyed the baby… So we could live there peacefully, but she was stubborn. Always was." Ina chuckled to himself a bit. "When Ryosuke was born that night, a nearby farmer heard Ryosuke's cries, and told the other villagers."

Dyne's eyes widened, as he continued to listen to Ina's story.

"They started to set fire to the shack we were in, hoping to kill us all in the process. They even started throwing rocks at us from outside." Ina brought his hand up to place his hand on the place where his eye patch was. "Marie begged me to take Ryosuke, and run away, but I didn't want to leave her. I loved her more than life itself. But finally, I agreed, and ran away. Away from the villagers, away from the village."

Dyne looked over at Ryosuke, who seemed to be listening to the story, while still lying on the ground.

"We struggled to survive. We had no food, no money, and Ryosuke was getting sick. I loathed the child. If Marie had just listened to me, and not had him, we would still be together… She would still be alive. But I continued to be a father figure to him, and tried my best to love him." Ina said, with pain in his voice.

"Finally, we found shelter at this town, and they gave us food and water. As we lived here for longer, I discovered herbs that could be made into drugs, to make money, and maybe even find a cure for Ryosuke's sickness. Then I grew out of control. I lost my way, and focused more on making money, and living the way I wanted, without taking care of Ryosuke. I was so alone… I didn't know how to deal with it. And that's why… I became the way I am today." Ina spoke, looking at Dyne.

Dyne grew a serious look.

"Ina… You say you were alone, but you had Ryosuke with you this entire time. Your wife may be gone, but Ryosuke is still family! You saw Ryosuke as the person who killed your wife, but your wife died so that you cold protect him. Is this what she would've wanted? Don't you see? Marie is still alive… Inside Rysouke!" Dyne said softly to Ina.

Ina's eyes widened, as he glanced at Ryosuke, tears forming in his eyes. Soon, they started to roll down his face. He raised a hand towards Ryosuke.

"My son… I never realized this… All this time, you've been at my side, and I took it for granted. Can you… Ever forgive me?" Ina said this in a shaky voice, as Ryosuke began limping towards him, eventually lying down before his father, as Ina stroked his fur slowly.

"I can't take back what I've done to you, but I hope you can forgive me… I love you… My son." Ina said, tears streaming down his face. Ryosuke began to nuzzle Ina as all strength left both their bodies, and they lay together, father and son, in silence.

Dyne smiled as he himself felt his strength leaving him, but breathed a sigh of relief, and closed his eyes. The long and gruesome battle was finally over.

-SM77