Chapter 11 – Mixed Emotions
"You're never going to give us a break are you?" Rikku asked as Rilian jumped towards her. She jumped to the side, dodging a kick to her head.
"Don't count on it," Rilian replied with a grin, showing a row of his sharp teeth.
"Crimson Scorpion," Rikku said holding out her hand. In a flash of light, a chain sickle appeared in her hands. She wrapped the long chain around her right hand, leaving enough so she could swing it or throw it. "You're going down."
"That's what you always say," Rilian replied with a smirk as a spear appeared in his hands. "It would be so much easier if you guys just stopped struggling and allowed us to do our jobs."
"Now, where's the fun in that?" Rikku asked swinging her chain sickle above her head. "I would miss the fact that I kick your guys' asses each and every time."
With that, she tossed the chain sickle at him. He bent back and the sickle lodged itself into a tree behind him. Rilian let out a laugh. "I think you've lost your aim since we haven't fought in a while," Rilian said thrusting his spear forward. Rikku hissed when it grazed her side. She could feel a little bit of blood sliding down the side of her stomach.
"Don't count on it," Rikku replied grabbing his spear, shoving the end into the ground. She jumped up onto the now angled staff and kicked him in the chin. Pulling the sickle chain, it came out of the tree, dragging a branch with it. Rilian let out a gasp when he felt his shirt sleeve get stuck on the thick branch. Rikku grinned and unhooked her chain sickle from the tree branch. Rilian screamed when he was slammed into the tree trunk, the branch swinging back into place.
"Wildfire Tsunami," Rikku yelled, slamming both fists into the ground. A wave of fire erupted from a giant crack in the ground and slammed in Rilian. Rilian's ripped his shirt sleeve and dropped to the ground. He rolled through the fire and got to his feet, glaring at Rikku. Burns were visible on his arms and legs. Rilian rolled his neck, a popping sound evident. Rikku's eyes widened when he saw the burns healing themselves.
"Wha?" she asked, pulling her chain sickle back to her. Rilian grinned in reply and raced forward, slamming his knee into Rikku's stomach. She doubled over in pain and grabbed onto his knee, pushing him to the ground. She flipped over him and onto her feet.
"Master Sniper has been training us a lot recently," Rilian said calmly as he got to his feet. He slowly walked over to Rikku, his hands behind his back. His amber eyes pierced into hers. "Not a lot can hurt us now."
"Damn," Rikku hissed under her breath. 'DalFang where are you?'
"You can't reach your guardian," Rilian said and his smirk grew when he noticed a surprised look cross Rikku's face, which was quickly replaced by anger. "Not while he's here."
Rikku glanced sideways at Mike who was fighting Koto. A scowl crossed her face when Rilian started laughing. She turned her blazing blue eyes back to him, pure hatred on her face. "I knew that kid would only cause trouble," she hissed, shaking her head, before turning to look at her twin. She was fighting Reihu in hand to hand combat. The normally bouncy kid had his eyes narrowed in determination. "She just had to go and fall for him."
Seizing his chance, Rilian shot forward and wrapped his hands around her neck and started to squeeze. Rikku coughed, gasping for air. She let go of her chain sickle and it disappeared in a flash of red light. She scratched at his hands and wrist, trying to let him let her go. "There's nothing you can do now," Rilian hissed, tightening his grip on her neck. "While that kid is with you, you won't be able to reach your guardians for extra help."
Rikku closed her eyes and dropped her head. Rillian laughed and threw her to the ground, where she lay motionless. He pulled a sword out of his sheath and held it tightly in both hands. A dark energy wrapped the sword as he held it high over his head.
Rikku's eyes snapped open and glowed colder than anyone has ever seen. "DarkFire, Element Power," Rikku whispered as her eyes snapped open. Rilian gasped and jumped back a few feet, as fire shot towards him. Once the fire subsided Rilian's eyes widened.
Rikku was standing before him, her feet and hands on fire. She had black wings protruding from her shoulder blade. Her eyes seemed to be giving off a fire of their own.
"What?" Rilian gasped in surprise. "This can't be."
"Never underestimate me," Rikku hissed, hovering into the air. She flapped her wings and Rilian covered his eyes as dust and dirt was shot at him. "I was a part of the Black Wolves after all." Rilian struggled to see her through the dirt, clenching his teeth. He squeezed his eyes shut when some dirt flew into them. "Pyro Tornahe!" Dust and dirt quickly turned into a force field of fire as it swirled around him. Rikku appeared in front of him, her wings sliding back into her shoulder blades. She rushed forward and punched him in the jaw, quickly spinning on one foot and following the combo with a roundhouse kick.
Blood started to flow from Rilian's mouth. He wiped it away with a hand and glared up at Rikku. "Master Sniper will want to know about this," he hissed glowing white. He then raised his voice. "Keep fighting, don't let up."
In a flash of white light, he disappeared. Rikku lazily waved her hand and the fire around her disappeared. She turned cold eyes towards Mike.
"Come on, I know you can do better than that," Mike laughed as he blocked each of Koto's attack with his blade. Koto glared in frustration as he lunged forward, trying to stab Mike. He sidestepped and nicked Koto in the side with his blade.
Koto let out a small scream and checked his side. The blade cut away part of his tshirt and he could see blood rapidly forming at the wound. He gently touched the blood and looked at it, a calm look on his face. Mike backed up a small step when he heard a growl rumble deep in Koto's throat. The nails on Koto's hands grew longer and he rushed forward, slashing the air with his hands. Mike tried to evade his attacks, but the wet grass wasn't helping him with his friction.
"Ah," Mike cried, dropping to one knee, when he felt Koto's nails rip through his left arm and a part of his face.
"Let's see how you deal with that," Koto said putting his hands on his hips, his nails shrinking back to normal size. Koto gasped when he was pushed back by a big gust of wind. Mike turned and saw Rafael running towards him. He forgot he was out there with him.
"Raf-san?" Rikku gasped rushing over to him. Rafael exchanged a look with her before, pushing his fist forward.
A black mass of energy shot out of his fist and slammed into Koto's stomach. Mike slowly got to his feet and stood by Rikku as they watched Rafael go through various tae-kwon-do and karate moves, shooting out masses of energy and wind at Koto as he struggled to stay upright.
"How?" Mike asked shaking his head.
"We've always known that Rafael was strong," Rikku said, refusing to look at him. "We've always known that he has strong powers, but we don't know what it is exactly. Julius calls it the Chaos Element, seeing as we don't know what it'll do every time he uses it."
"I didn't need his help," Mike said under his breath going back to his arrogant self. "I was doing just fine."
"Up until he scratched you," Rikku said finally turning to look at him. "You may be strong, but we don't know what powers your have. You may be able to reflect any elemental damage without a problem, but it's the physical stuff that you can't handle."
Mike lightly touched his face and winced when he saw the blood on his fingers. Rikku wordlessly looked him over and kept explaining. "The Black Wolves have gotten stronger and smarter since the last time we saw them. You can't underestimate them. Ever. They've probably been watching us. That's how Koto knew how to injure you."
Mike's eyes narrowed into a glare as he looked back over at Koto. "Rafael, let me finish him."
"You're in no shape to continue fighting," Rafael said as he pulled a spell scroll out of his back pocket. "Let me deal with him."
Koto glanced at the spell scroll on Rafael's hand and started laughing.
"A piece of paper?" he asked. "What's that going to do? Give me a paper cut?"
Rafael muttered something under his breath and grabbed onto Koto's tshirt and slapped it onto his stomach.
Koto's laughter quickly turned to shrieks of pain. "Ow, ow, it burns!" he shouted. "Get it off, get it off." He dropped to his knees, scratching at his stomach, trying to get the spell scroll off of him. In a flash of white light he disappeared.
"Thank you, Raf-san," Rikku said giving him a short bow. Rafael bowed back.
"Rumiku," Mike cried, getting their attention. He rushed forward, but Rafael grabbed a hold of him. "Let me go! I have to help her."
"She doesn't want help," Rafael said quietly. "And you're in no shape to fight."
"I'm fine, let me go," Mike insisted. Wordlessly, Rikku slapped him across the face.
"Rikkula," Rafael said sternly.
"You help her now and you pretty much damn all of us to hell," Rikku hissed, ignoring Rafael. Mike glared up at her. "Because you're here, we can't summon our guardians to help us. You're hurting us more than you're doing any good."
"Rikkula," Rafael said in a final tone. Rikku glanced at him and fell quiet. "Mike teleport back to the house and get Sydney to heal you."
"What about Julius?" Rikku asked. Rafael shook his head.
"I need Sydney's help with this one," he said quietly. "Before I left the house, I sealed it off so none of them could leave. Only you can go in. I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. It wouldn't be the first time the BlackWolves and the DarkLions attacked when we were vulnerable."
"That's true," Rikku said with a nod.
"Once you've been healed, bring Sydney out here," Rafael replied. Mike opened his mouth to protest. "Now."
Mike let out a heavy sigh and disappeared in a flash of white light. Rafael and Rikku turned back to Rumiku, waiting for their battle to end.
"You've practiced," Rumiku said as Reihu blocked a kick from her.
"And I've gotten taller," Reihu said with a chilidish grin. "And my voice has gotten deeper. I'm a man now, Rumiku, how about just one date?"
"Please, you're still a child," Rumiku shot aiming a roundhouse kick to his head. He bent back, dodging the attack and gave a childish smile.
"So, how'd the two of you get together?" Reihu asked, curling his hands into fists, black fire erupting around them.
"I don't think that's any of your business," Rumiku shot back, dark energy appearing around her hands. "Shadow Ball!"
Rumiku jumped back, shooting ball after ball of energy at Reihu. He laughed as he dodged every attack, shooting back one of his own. Rumiku rolled her eyes at how immature he acted and raced forward, punching him in the stomach.
"Well, it normally wouldn't be my business, but I'm jealous," Reihu wheezed, doubling over. He grabbed onto Rumiku's ankle and knocked her to the ground. "Why go out with him when you have me?"
"Shut up," Rumiku replied placing a foot on his stomach, and threw him off her.
"Touched a soft spot?" Reihu asked raising his eyebrows. "What? Did you two have a falling out? You seemed pretty mad at him?"
"That's none of your business," Rumiku shot back, her eyes narrowing in anger as she shot a ball of black fire at him. Reihu easily dodged the attack with a side step.
"Ru, don't let him get to you," Rikku called out. "He's using Mike to distract you."
Reihu widened his eyes in innocence. "Is that what you really think I'm doing?" he asked turning his innocent look to Rumiku.
"Infinite Cruelty," Rumiku said holding out her hand. A heavy blade appeared in her hand. Reihu quickly unsheathed his sword and used it to block Rumiku's sword as she swung hers at him. Sparks shot out in random directions as the swords collided.
"It's nice to know your sword wielding has improved," Reihu said giving a smile. "That's something I've always admired of you."
"Grow up," Rumiku shot back, knocking his sword out of his hands. She pointed her sword at Reihu, the tip lightly scratching his nose. Reihu stared back at her, a calm look on his face.
"Don't do it," he said quietly.
"And why not?" Rumiku demanded, breathing heavily.
"Because I love you," he replied shortly. Rumiku took a small step back. It wasn't Reihu's voice that said that, it was Mike's. Rumiku blinked and came face to face with Mike. He had his hands up defensively, staring her down. "Don't do it."
"What's going on?" she asked quietly.
"Don't do it," he repeated. "I love you. Don't do it."
"Wha? I" Rumiku trailed off and lowered her sword, staring back at him.
"Don't you love me? I love you. Don't do it. I know you don't want to hurt me."
Rumiku covered her ears when Mike let out a loud scream of pain. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the scream out of her mind. She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw Reihu on the ground, rolling around, and twitching, slapping at his side.
Rumiku saw a spirit scroll on his side and immediately figured out what happened. She dropped to Reihu's side and stopped him from moving. She glared down at him. "How dare you use my feelings against me," she hissed.
"You really care for that guy after what he did to you?" Reihu demanded, tears of pain in his eyes as he continued to slap at his side. Wordlessly, Rumiku lifted the side of his shirt and pulled off the spirit scroll.
"Get out of here," she hissed.
"Yes, Reihu, get out of here."
Rumiku looked up into the tree above her and saw Caos standing over her. He was glaring down at Reihu. "Get out of here, Reihu. Master Snake would like to speak with you."
A fearful look crossed Reihu's face and he immediately disappeared. Caos jumped down from the tree and looked Rumiku over. "Put the sword away, I'm not here to fight you."
"Don't do it, Rumiku," Rikku yelled.
"Put it away," Caos replied. "I swear on the Majestic Lion. You do remember that from when you were in the DarkLions don't you?"
"Indeed I do," Rumiku replied, putting her sword away. "But, if you break that swear, than may you rot in hell." Caos gave her a look. "What do you want?"
"Come back to the DarkLions," Caos replied quietly.
"What?" Rumiku asked, raising her eyebrows.
"All of you are wondering who this Mike kid is and what his powers are," Caos replied.
"We're closer than any of you are to finding it out. But, we need your help."
"My help?" Rumiku repeated. Caos gave a short nod.
"What you saw in that ball is your future, your destiny," Caos replied. "You're going to attack the world and kill all of your friends and you won't be able to control it. Your darkness levels are at a record high right now, all because of that Mike kid."
"What does he have anything to do with my darkness levels?" Rumiku asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"Up until the point where you found out he was lying to you, your levels were fine," Caos explained. "He was the perfect boyfriend for you until you found out he was lying to you about being abused. It hurt you a lot because you've been through it and you understand how it feels, but you don't understand why he had to lie to you about it."
"I don't want to know why either," Rumiku said setting her jaw.
"He's also the reason why no one else can contact their guardians," Coas replied. "Whenever he's around, you're in more trouble than you think. Come back to the DarkLions, and you won't be in trouble."
Rumiku gave him a hard stare as Caos offered his hand. He stared into her blue eyes with his green ones. "Come with me…come back to us," he whispered. "RuRu…" Caos glanced over to where Rafael and Rikku were. They were now joined with Mike and Sydney. Caos turned back to Rumiku gave her a questioning look and disappeared.
Rumiku stared at the spot where Caos was standing for a few more seconds before walking over to the group. Rafael put a hand on her shoulder. "You ok?" Rafael asked quietly. Rumiku gave a short not in reply.
"What'd you falter for?" Rikku asked putting a hand on her hip. "You could've finished Reihu off. Why'd you put down your sword?"
"Later," Rumiku replied. Mike was staring at her.
"Ru," he said quietly looking up at her. Against her better judgement, Rumiku looked down at him. He looked up at her with sad brown eyes. He had his left arm wrapped and a few bandages on his face.
"Syd, what's your assessment?" she asked turning to her brother.
"These are the weirdest scratches I've ever seen," Sydney said shaking his haed. "Neither Julius or I could heal them. I don't think they're fully physical or fully elemental. He's going to get scars from this."
"Hm, what a shame," Rumiku said in a cold tone. "His pretty face will be ruined for the rest of his life. Where's Noah?"
"Doing his homework," Sydney replied. "Or at least he's trying. I told him not to worry about the battle going on outside, but he got the feeling that something wasn't right."
"I know that feeling," Rumiku replied. "He's just worried about me." With that, she headed into the house.
"Come on, let's go," Rafael helping Sydney pull Mike to his feet.
"She hates me," Mike muttered hanging his head.
"Can you blame her?" Rikku asked. Mike looked up at her and glared fiercely at her.
"Would you knock it off?" he asked. "All you've been doing since I got here has been ragging on me and I'm tired of it."
"You don't get it do you?" Rikku asked raising her eyebrows. "You're the reason why all of this is happening. You're the reason why none of us can summon our guardians."
"RuRu can," Sydney said quietly.
"Big surprise there," Rikku said rolling her eyes.
"How is any of this my fault?" Mike asked, raising his eyebrows.
"There must be something about you that they want," Rikku said tapping her chin. "Something that the rest of us doesn't have."
"What about his powers?" Sydney asked quietly.
"That must be it," Rikku muttered under her breath as they all entered the house. She blinked as they were bombarded with questions. Patrick and Noah ran down the stairs shouting at the top of their lungs. Aaron, Christian, and Crystal came out of the kitchen, talking over them.
"What happened?" Crystal asked.
"Mike, are you all right?" Christian asked noticing the scratches on his face.
"Everybody needs to be quiet," Julius shouted, taking charge. Everyone immediately stopped talking. "Now, what in the world happened to your face?"
"Koto," Mike replied shortly. Julius squinted at him and grabbed his chin, turning his face this way and that. "His nails aren't something to take lightly."
"Well, I could've told you that," Rikku muttered, brushing by him, moving into the living room. She was rubbing her shoulder blade.
"Is there something wrong with your back?" Crystal asked, walking over to her.
"It's just sore," Rikku replied shortly.
"Let me see," Julius said walking over to her. "If you're not a girl, turn around." Christian, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Mike, Christian, and Aaron turned around. Julius pushed up the back of Rikku's shirt and gasped.
"What?" Rikku asked.
"You have, how should I put this?" Crystal asked. Julius sighed and dropped Rikku's shirt.
"You have these slits in your shoulder blades," Julius replied.
"That's probably why those wings hurt," Rikku commented scratching the back of her head.
"Wings?!" Patrick and Noah yelped.
"You got wings?" Sydney asked. "How?"
"I don't know," Riley replied. "But, they really hurt when they came out."
"Rikk, I need to take some tests on you," Sydney said rushing forward. Christian grabbed onto the back of his t-shirt.
"I wouldn't take any tests just yet," he said. "First, I need some answers."
"Yeah, what happened?" Noah asked taking Rumiku's hand.
"Here's a better question," Mike said turning around to face her. "What were you and Caos talking about? And most importantly, why were you about to take his hand?"
Rumiku shot him the coldest glare she could.
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