Chapter Nine
Beast vs. Beast
"Come on, Star." Lancer said, taking a step closer to her. "Get back in the carriage."
"Stay back!" Star warned as she fired another shot at him. "It was you. You're the beast."
"That's silly. Why would I attack the one I love?" Lancer asked. He took another step forward. "Will you stop talking nonsense and get back in the carriage?"
"I'm warning you." Star repeated. "I know it was you. You stole the crystal bell that I was to return to the Kingdom of Crystal Time. You plan to betray my kingdom."
Lancer frowned and began to glow a light purple color. Star remained calm as she began to glow as well. "Where's the crystal bell? Where have you been all this time? We both took serious damage in our last battled but you have stronger healing abilities even when we are away from our island. Why didn't you come after me and finish me?"
"That, princess, you will never know!" Lancer formed a sword with his energy and charged at Star. Star created several stars, like shuriken, and fired them at her. Lancer knocked them away with his sword. "No good! You can't defeat me with such weak attacks!"
Star jumped away just seconds before Lancer swiped his sword at her. She snapped out her wings and remained in the air. She began to spin around until she became a tornado of power then flew down at him. Lancer ditched his sword to form a shield. Star slammed into the shield with more force than he expected. "What?"
"Take this!" Star screamed. Lancer looked to his right just to get a fist in the face. Lancer flew several feet before stopping. He lifted himself up and looked at her. The tornado disappeared.
"I see you've learned a new trick." Lancer said as he stood up. The two locked into an exchange of energy blasts. They released a blast at the same time that sent both of them flying away from each other. Star dropped to one knee as Lancer was hardly effected by this battle. "Too bad it won't do you any good. I can clearly see that you aren't full healed from our last battle."
He's right. That was just one major attack and I feel like I've already exhausted all of my power. I won't be able to fight him for much longer. Star panted as she tried to hide how tired she really was.
"Prepare to die!" Lancer gathered his energy into his right fist and charged again. Star stood ready to block the attack but at the last second Lancer formed the energy into a sharp point. Star saw it and tried to dodge it. She still caught the blade in her stomach, right side, but managed to dodge at the right second so it wasn't a fatal hit.
Star formed a staff weapon of her own and swung it at him. Lancer dodged it, pulling out his sword. Star dropped to her feet and grabbed her side. Blood was pouring through the opening in her stomach. "Crap."
"This is goodbye, Princess Star of the Island Kingdom of Stars!" Lancer raced forward again, putting all of his power into his fist. Star held up her arms to defend. His fist collided on her arms. She was able to hold her ground for a few seconds before he broke through her defense and sent her flying.
"Naruto! Sakura!" Lee cried as he jumped down from the rooftops and landed in front of them.
"Lee?" Sakura looked at the out of breath green ninja.
"What's up, Bushy Brow?" Naruto asked casually.
"Star is in trouble!" Lee shouted.
"What? What do you mean?" Naruto and Sakura asked.
"There is no time to explain. Star left the village but she is in danger. We must get the others and hurry. Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji went on ahead." Lee quickly explained.
"Right! I'll get Kakashi sensei!" Naruto said as he jumped away from them. "And anyone else I see!"
"I'll go get Ino and Lady Tsunade, they're both at the hospital!" Sakura said. "Lee, Neji and Tenten were heading for the training ground a little while ago!"
"Right." Lee nodded and the two split up.
Sakura got to the hospital just as Tsunade and Ino were coming out of it. "Star's in trouble!"
"What?" They asked.
"There's no time to explain! We have to get going, now!"
"Right!" Ino said and they turned to leave.
"Wait!"Tsunade ordered.
"What?"
"You two go on ahead."
"Why?" Sakura asked.
"We might need Inoichi's help." Tsunade said then she disappeared.
"Why would we need your dad's help?" Sakura asked.
"Don't know. Never mind that. Let's get going" The two girls turned and left.
Star tried to slow herself down but she was to weak. She felt herself loosing consciousness from the loss of blood and the lack of power. She closed her eyes as she prepared herself to slam into the solid trunk of a tree or the ground. Suddenly she stopped flying backwards and felt her body press firmly into something soft. "I gotcha!"
"Huh?" Star opened her eyes to the familiar voice. She was set firmly in Chouji's expanded belly. "Chouji?"
He smiled at her as someone else grabbed her just before he shrunk back down to normal size. Star looked to the one holding her now, it was Kiba. Only he wasn't looking at her. He was giving Lancer a cold glare of death and hatred. "K-Kiba..."
"That's him, huh?" Shikamaru asked.
"W-What are you all doing here?" Star asked.
"Kiba figured out it was him that attacked you." Chouji answered.
"But...how?"
"Lavender. I couldn't get the scent of lavender out of my nose." Kiba replied.
"Kiba...I uh..." Star flinched at the pain in her stomach. She looked down at her wound. Kiba had his hand over it, trying to stop the bleeding, even though he wasn't looking at her. Akamaru sniffed the wound and whined. Star placed her hand over his. "Kiba."
"Don't worry, Star. You did fine. I'll take it from here." Kiba said in a low voice.
"We'll see about that!" Lancer said as he charged forward. Shikamaru kneeled down and had his shadow move over to him. Lancer saw it and flew into the sky. "What the heck is that?"
"What? Does he have wings?" Chouji asks.
"Wings? Then...that means that..." Shikamaru looked at Star.
"Chouji, Shikamaru, take care of Star." Kiba said as he gently handed Star to Chouji. Kiba stood up. "And if either of you tell another soul about her...I'll kill you."
"Uh...Kiba?" Chouji asked.
"It's alright, Chouji." Shikamaru nodded at his best friend. "Don't worry, Kiba. Star's secret is safe with us."
"You can't take him alone!" Chouji said.
"Stay out of this!" Kiba snapped. "I'm taking this guy down!"
"Hm." Lancer landed back on the ground and looked at them. "Bring it on then."
"You're going to regret hurting Star." Kiba glared as he cracked his knuckles. Kiba and Akamaru charged at Lancer. They locked into a hand to hand combat at first. Lancer saw that Kiba had the upper hand in this type of battle and used his powers to give a more level playing field.
"You're not bad, human." Lancer smirked.
"Shut up!" Kiba snapped.
"What's the matter, human? I was just complementing you."
"I don't need your complements!"
"What's your point in battling with me? You won't win."
"I battle to protect Star and I will win!"
"Why battle so hard for a girl who you can never have a relationship with?"
"Hn." Kiba narrowed his eye brows and swung at Lancer's head as Akamaru tried to bit him. Lancer easily dodge both attacks.
"You know I speak the truth. I know she told you that your relationship with each other can never really be. She'll die by my hands!"
"Shut up!"
"Even, if somehow, you do defeat me, you can't be with her. It's forbidden for a human to have a relationship with a fairy."
"Shut up!" Kiba made a quick jab with his fist right into Lancer's stomach then clocked him in the face, sending him flying. "I battle to protect her. Because I love her."
"Alright, Kiba! That's showing him who's top dog!" Chouji cheered.
"I'm surprised at how well Kiba is holding his temper. He might actually win this." Shikamaru added.
"No. Lancer is just playing with him." The two looked at Star. "Lancer has powers of a fairy and he's the beast that attacked me in the first place. He's hiding his power."
"You're stronger than I thought." Lancer said as he sat up. "But it seems you have forgotten one thing."
"Tsk! And what's that?"
"That I'm the beast that you battle with before!" Lancer said as his eyes changed. His skin began to grow fur, his nails got longer and his size increase as he transformed into the beast. This gave Lancer the upper hand against Kiba. Now all Kiba could do was dodge his attacks.
"Kiba!" Naruto cried as the rest of their friends, including all their sensei, came running up to the battle scene.
"Star!" Sakura kneeled down beside Star and proceeded to heal her wound.
"Are you alright?" Lee asked.
"I'm fine." Star gave them a weak smile. Lee gave her a concerned look. She reached out patted his face. "Don't worry."
"Hold on, Kiba! We are coming!" Lee announced as he stood back up. He joined Naruto's side and the two charge in. Shikamaru stopped them with his shadows.
"What is this? Let go, Shikamaru!" Naruto demanded.
"No. This is Kiba's battle." Shikamaru replied.
"What? That's crazy!" Tenten said.
"Kiba can't fight this thing on his own. It took us three down easily before." Hinata said.
"If we interfere with this fight then Kiba would turn on us. We all know that Kiba is fiercely loyal to his friends. And he holds a special bond with Star." Neji explained.
"We probably wouldn't do much good even if we did jump in." Shino added. "Hinata, don't you remember our battle with this creature before? We didn't get one single hit on it."
"But how is Kiba going to stop him?" Hinata asked.
"There has to be some other way of defeating this creature." Shikamaru said.
"But how?" Chouji asked.
"Star is the key to defeating this beast." The group turned to see Inoichi and Tsunade.
"Dad?"
"But I haven't done any good against..." Star said.
"Remember our battle?" Inoichi asked.
"Battle?" Ino asked. "What battle?"
"Did your dad fight with Star?" Sakura asked, still healing Star, and Ino just shrugged.
"It is true that you have done no good in battling this beast on you own individual powers but when you and Inoichi fought..." Tsunade's voice trailed off.
"That one wasn't as strong." Star whispered.
"You can do it. I know you can." Inoichi kneeled down and placed a fatherly hand on Star's shoulder. "With your powers combined with Kiba's strength as a beast master himself..."
"Beast verses beast?" Chouji asked.
"It's the best shot we have." Shikamaru said.
"Why are you people whispering? Kiba needs help! We can't just stand around doing nothing!" Naruto whined.
"Knock it off, Naruto! This battle belongs to Kiba!" Tsunade ordered. Naruto pouted but was free of Shikamaru's hold.
"Star?" Sakura asked as Star began to sit up. "You're still wounded. Hold still and so I can..."
"No. I have to help Kiba." Star struggled to get up. She got about halfway before loosing strength and began to fall back down. Two strong hands grabbed her from behind. She looked over her shoulder. "Chouji?"
He smiled and nodded at her. She smiled and nodded back at him. He helped her to her feet. She caught her balanced and walked towards the battle. The others stayed back with looks of concern. She only walked a few feet away from them before sitting back down on the ground. She sat cross legged, with her hands in her lap and closed her eyes.
"Crap!" Kiba cursed as he barely dodged another attack.
"I tried to tell you that you wouldn't be able to win!" Lancer hissed in a deeper more sinister voice. Lancer took another swipe at Kiba, catching him this time on the arm. Kiba's body spun around until he hit the ground. Akamaru jumped in front of him and gave a warning bark. "Die!"
"Akamaru!" Kiba cried as the beast batted his dog away with ease. Akamaru yipped in pain when his body collided with a tree. Lancer wiped again at Kiba. Kiba held up his arms to block. He lowered his arms when the attack never happened.
"What?" Lancer pressed on the glow surrounding Kiba. "This is..."
Both Lancer and Kiba looked over at Star. She was glowing brightly, behind her several of the on looking ninja had seriously confused looks on their faces. Kakashi studied the glowing girl carefully then looked over at Tsunade. Tsunade sensed him looking at her and gave him a warning glance. He nodded then looked back to the battle.
"Star, what are you doing? You're hurt! Don't do this."
"It's ok, Kiba." Star spoke as if she was sitting right beside him. "Don't worry. You can't defeat him on your own. If I combine my powers with you then you can face him on a more level field. You are a beast master. It's time to tame this beast."
"But Akamaru..."
"Is just fine. I was able to surround him with my powers just before Lancer hit him." Kiba turned to see Akamaru was on his paws and shaking his head. "Kiba, I trust you will my life. Trust me with yours and together we'll defeat him."
"I do trust you, Star. I just don't want you to get hurt again."
"Don't worry, Kiba. Everything will be just fine."
"Alright."
"It won't do you any good. You aren't a wild beast anymore if you have been tamed by a woman." Lancer smirked. "I'll win this."
Kiba made a swift move and punched Lancer on the jaw. Shock appeared on his beast face. He was totally caught off guard at how fast Kiba was now. "B-But how?"
Kiba grabbed Lancer by his furry neck. "Sometimes...being tamed by a woman can give you incredible strength because you want to protect her."
Kiba kicked Lancer in the stomach. Lancer coughed out blood before collapsing to the ground. "Akamaru! Let's go! Fang over Fang!"
Akamaru barked and joined Kiba's side. Akamaru transformed and the two proceeded to attack Lancer. They constantly hit him until Lancer collapsed to the ground and turned back into his fairy self.
"Yes!" Naruto and Lee jumped up and down. "They did it!"
Kiba and Akamaru stopped spinning around. Kiba took several deep breaths before walking over to Lancer, with a kunai in hand. Kiba grabbed Lancer by the front of the shirt. "It's over. Now...DIE!"
Kiba swung the kunai towards Lancer's heart. He about plunged it into his chest when Star's power snapped out and wrapped around Kiba's hand, stopping him. "KIBA STOP!"
"Why did you stop him?" Naruto asked.
"Don't kill him!" Star cried.
"What?" Kiba looked at her.
"Do it. You said you were going to kill me." Lancer smirked.
"Kiba, don't kill him." Star stood up and began to walk over to them.
"But Star..."
"Don't kill him. If you do my people will destroy you. His family, my people will all seek revenge." Star dropped back down to the ground in pain. Chouji and Shikamaru rushed over to her. Chouji picked her up and propped her against himself. "It's over. Let it go. Just let it go. Please, don't do it."
"Right. I understand." Kiba said as he dropped Lancer and put his kunai up. He then turned and walked over to Star, who had passed out. Kiba placed his hand on her head and smiled before passing out himself.
"Just like Kiba to battle until he passes out." Naruto said.
"You're one to talk." Sakura smirked at Naruto.
As the group gathered around Star and Kiba, Lancer was trying to make an escape. Akamaru barked and Naruto, Lee, Sakura and Ino jumped over to him and proceeded to kick and punch him, while shouting improper threats.
"We better stop them before they do kill him." Kakashi said. Guy nodded as them two and Asuma went over to pull their students off the fairy.
"She did it." Inoichi said.
"They did it." Tsunade corrected.
"They made a good team, don't they?" Inoichi asked. Tsunade nodded before walking over to her passed out kids and checking out their battle wounds. Neither of them had life threatening wounds. She ordered for them to be taken back to the hospital so they could be bandaged up. The sensei took Lancer into custody and he was take to the prisons of the Leaf to be held there.
Notes: Dang! This chapter was harder than I thought it was going to be. Well hope you like it anyway. See ya next time!