Chapter 20: Battle in the bay
Hashiru Mugen was back in the warehouse district, waiting for Migazu to pull back up with Igami so that Yatsu and Oushi could get their legs back right.
"How long did it take for you two to get back right?"
"Well our exposure wasn't prolonged so it took about 4 hours."
"Ok then, I'll set up a perimeter."
"Don't worry Rye the twins won't let anything happen to us."
"How do you know"
"Because those two want this match more than we do. They staked the Regalia because that was something that could get back if they lost. They know we need Kanto and the only way we can battle for it is to bet every pair of Regalia we've managed to collect so far, it only makes sense. They bet it all and so do we. The Marauders are a B-Class Team, so if we beat them then we remain won't D-Class. We jump a class and get that much closer to Raizoa, and the class we get when we beat him."
"Don't kid yourself Yatsu, the battle between us and Raizoa will never count as a class advance. It's him trying to kill us, C-Class is as high as we go, and to be honest it fits. All we really care about is the Sky and C-Class Air is perfect for me."
"Hah, you're the only one I know who can be so damn content without wanting more than what you've got."
"You sound surprised Yatsu; I thought for sure you knew that."
The entire team shared a laugh, they were still laughing when Migazu pulled up and Igami raised the back of the new trailer on the semi-truck. Rye Tsumai and Souza carried Yatsu and Oushi to the back of the trailer and couldn't believe what they saw. It was a miniature workshop. Igami had AT parts and diagrams all along the left wall, and on the right there were screens and monitors showing the bio-rhythms of the five of them. He barely looked up from his work, he handed Oushi and Souza three needles each.
"Shoot the two shorter ones into each thigh and the longest one at the base of the spine. Then hand me the two pair of Jade Regalia, its going to take forever to dismantle them into a separate system, and were running short on time. If you want I brought a pair of standard ATs for each of you to help with the battle."
Yatsu and Oushi stabbed themselves and then bent over so that they could take the spine shot.
"How did you know that the… DAMN IT SOUZA… Jade Regalia was the Jade Regalia?"
"DJ Plugman, he's been keeping Japan informed on your happenings. Since he came out of retirement he's put at least 56 teams into the public eye, and you're high on the list."
"Where does he come from, and how does he know so fucking much?"
"Some people say he's an AT fanatic who can ride every road there is, others think that TV screen can see into your soul and he reads you like a book on the air."
"What do you think?"
"Me, I think that the TV he wears on his head actually measures out a R.E.A.D Level in a matter of seconds and then he can decipher that information in seconds then he can read biometric levels and dish out an accurate analysis of a riders skill level. But that's random speculation."
Rye and the rest of the team had to go through tests to match up their specifications to the new Regalia. Before they knew it the time had come for them to meet the Marauders. And they made their way to towards the bay once more. Igami looked up from his work.
"Wait, don't you want these ATs?"
Rye turned around and faced Igami,
"No, Igami the next pair of ATs we put on their going to be our Regalia so do a good job!"
"ALRIGHT THEN FINE, YOUR NEXT PAIR OF ATs ARE GOING TO BE THE BEST I'VE EVER CREATED!"
With Igami's promise ringing in their ears they soared into Tokyo Bay determined to fight to their fullest. Once the bay was in sight it was clear where they were supposed to be going to have this battle. There was a massive oil tankard that wasn't in the water earlier. They landed on the deck and the complete Marauders were there to greet them. Of course Sora and Riku were there, but the three others were new faces.
One was a girl, her hair was fire red color but you could tell the color was natural. It flowed like water down to her lower back, her face was plum and it radiated happiness and warmth. Her face was small and all of her features were put together in the cutest way. Her small nose made her light brown eyes shine, her lips were full and naturally pink, and truly she was a marvel. Her skin had a colored tinge to it that meant that she clearly wasn't 100% Japanese.
The one beside her was a child he couldn't be any older than 8 years old and he wouldn't stop smiling. His hair was cut short and straight along the edges. It was a deep black color and it barely came down to his ears. He had a slim and petite face, sharp nose wide eyes which were deep emerald green.
The last one had his face completely covered in a miners mask.
This tied into what everyone was wearing. The team uniform was simply one long trenching coat, as black as ink and it had a masked marauder head over a crossbones made out of AT axles, everyone of them had the hood thrown up.
"On the count of three, a smoke bomb will go off and you make your move. Behind the five of us are five empty oil tanks. You dive into one and your opponent will be waiting, you leave your fight completely in the hands of destiny. Plugman, start the count."
"Gotcha, alright gear heads, lets rock and roll, ONE, TWO, and THREE-EEE-EEE!"
A massive smoke bomb blew up and the entire deck was covered in smoke. Their five opponents leapt back and left Rye and the rest to guess where to move. Yatsu and Oushi sprung forward without a second thought and dived into an open tankard. Souza glanced through the smoke and took off into a tank. Rye and Tsumai looked at each other, puzzled.
"What else can we do, gotta dive in feet first!"
Tsumai sprung in the air and glided into a tank. With only one option left Rye jumped into his tank and let the roof latch close him in and commit him to his battle.
[Click, Click, Click]
The lights switched on and Rye was standing there facing down the boy with the mask.
"Ryoku Hashigaki, you have one option, get this mask off me in the next two minutes…"
His voice was deep and breathy, it was probably due to the mask.
Oushi was grunting, throwing blow after blow and Riku was matching him with every move. The two of them raged around the cube blowing each other away with every perspective trick.
"I had to pull out the secret spy cameras… haven't whipped these out since the Kogarasumaru v Behemoth battle. Looks like where starting with Oushi and Riku and the bitter rivalry that has been continuously escalating since the Marauders were formed. It's that classic student-teacher rivalry. Oushi and Yatsu taught the twins to ride and the two of them combined the teachings to make Jade Road. This battle is more personal than anyone but the four of them know. Minus the festivities from earlier today, the last time these guys clashed Oushi had the floor mopped with his face. But I think that the last time they duked it out Oushi wasn't this phenomenal King.
"Damn it I can't get a good blow in."
"What's up Riku, you wanna stop and take a break?"
"Shut up"
But Riku and Oushi stopped their lap none the less. They slipped from the roof to the floor and the two of them faced each other.
"Looks to me like Riku's breathing kinda hard this fight harder than he thought it would be?"
"Oushi, you've gotten stronger."
"News flash Riku, I was never weak, I was damaged goods before, and what's more no matter how clichéd it sounds there was a part of me that never wanted to see you hurt, and it was harder to decide between seeing the world crush your wings of me having to crush your wings."
Riku looked Oushi over and with renewed vigor he charged at him.
"That trick you did on the Tokyo Sky Tree how'd it go?"
"Well I switched from the Oushi Riku fight, because of the sand swirling around and come to find out Sora and Yatsu battling in a fucking sandstorm just the same."
"Sandstorm Smash"
Yatsu had his wings open in full stride and he was slicing through the walls of the sandstorm.
"Nice trick Sora, it seems so familiar, oh right."
"Yea part of it's the Wing Road Infinity Atmosphere. I thought you were going to surpass the old Wind King, become a God?"
Yatsu opened his wings a little wider and made his ascension farther and farther towards the roof.
"Look at that, no wheel ATs no Regalia and Yatsu is soaring like an eagle. How is this even possible?"
As Yatsu dive bombed into the center of the sandstorm and clashed with Sora the two matched each blow so consistently that the entire sandstorm was blown apart.
"And with that my camera is out for this battle, let's see what we can get from Souza and Vicki."
Souza was blowing wind continuously to keep him dry, a feat that so far was very successful but very difficult.
"What's this? Souza hasn't made one single rotation around the cube; he's to busy trying to not boil to death I'd guess. For those of you who don't know Vicki Suuki is the self proclaimed Steam Queen of the Boiling Road. If you hadn't already guessed the Boiling Road is the combination of Flame Road and Lather Road."
Souza leapt back once again a wall of wind stopping the on coming stream of boiling water. This time though the splash back was enough to catch Souza on the arm.
"FUCK"
"Caught you Souza, I focused that blast to explode on impact with anything. You're a very tricky one to get ahold of."
"Thanks I pride myself on being hard to get ahold of. If I wasn't Tsumai, Rye, Oushi, or Yatsu, could have killed me weeks ago. I've stayed above water on this team, because…
[Ring, Ring, Ring]
"Well Souza, I'm sorry to interrupt but, your two minutes are up."
With that steam started to pour out of the walls of the tank, while overhead a number of water spigots started to shower the battlefield.
Jumping back a full thirty seconds, to the battle that Rye and the masked fighter were having…
"RAH!"
Rye threw blow after blow at his masked opponent and every so often he caught a glancing blow.
"Being honest, Rye has proven himself to be an exceptional fighter; he's using the cube to improve his technique. Backing his opponent into the corner he spins the wall and knocks his opponent back into the fight."
Rye kick starts his battle into overdrive and as his time slowly runs down, one of his punches hits the mask.
[Crack]
The eye piece shatters and a sliver of face is able to be seen, black hair matted to his forehead over green eyes.
[Ring, Ring, Ring]
Wind began to blow and slowly the tank began to rumble violently. Rocks began to jut out of the floor rocketing towards the ceiling. With the rocks ripping up the floor, the huge overcoat our masked fighter was wearing was ripped to pieces and all that was left from his previous uniform was the partial mask.
All he had on, a tank top t-shirt and a pair of form-fitted sweats. All black. On the chest of the black tank top were the crossbones of AT axles. He put his hand up to the mask and ripped the rest of it off. He ruffled his hair through his hands and smiled at Rye. His eyes were piercing emerald green; his hair was shaggy black a clear mess all the way down to his shoulders he had a pug nose and a wide smile.
"Boy am I glad that you got that mask off me, thought I would suffocate."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, Sora and Riku thought it would be a good way to test how good you are. You had to break the mask before the battlefield emerged."
"Wow, what a way for them to test their team, if they wanted a clash of the captains they should've said something, I just left the two of them to Oushi and Yatsu."
"Well they did wanna see a clash of captains. So I'm here."
"Wait…"
"Haha, yeah I know you probably thought that Riku and Sora shared the captaincy, and they did for all of about two seconds. When Sora jumped the city he broke a lot of bones crashing through that hotel. And Riku got man handled fighting Oushi, no one was left from the team but me so I took over, I brought my little brother on as a team member and he brought Vicki, she was his babysitter for a time. When Sora and Riku got better they didn't even want to run the team, they gave it up to me."
"Wait your brother and his babysitter…"
"Yep, my name is Hogan, and my little brother's name is Iggy, Jenson."
"Ok your team captain, that explains that, but it doesn't explain this… miniature mountain range in a box."
"That's going to be easier to explain then the whole team member situation…"
"Well since Hogan and Rye are talking lets switch to another fight while I explain to you gear heads why there is a mountain range in a box. You see with the whole world going green, the oil companies wanted to make amends to the environment. They hollowed out a fleet of oil tankards and due to the marvels of modern technology miniature environments could be created inside of ships. Some were sunk into the ocean to make reefs others were crashed and miniature islands were to be created. This particular tankard of five different environments was the prototype. It was made to continuously edit the status of it, which is perfect for this team. It gets sunk until they need it. I'll get into more details depending upon the battlefield. Oh, look we've got Oushi and Riku."
The battle between Oushi and Riku had escalated greatly, the fact that a desert had popped up in the cube didn't help. There were several sandstorms brewing and Oushi was blasting them apart. He sprung into the air, trailing sand with him, he spun condensed the sand into a ball and kicked it at Riku.
"This battle's taking place inside of a desert environment. Based upon the Arabian Peninsula, where the Jade Regalia get their names from, the sand comes from the beach and a series of UV Lamps and heaters can recreate that environment all to well. But it seems to me that Oushi is using this environment a lot more effectively than Riku is. It's to be expected though; he has all the makings of a King."
Oushi skimmed across a sea of quicksand and gave Riku a massive knee to the stomach. Riku flew back and rebounded with a wave of sand.
"How did you get this good?"
"Well in all fairness, this battle is so easy because of the one element you tried to add to make it complicated. In common speak, the fact that this is a cube battle, the one fight that you thought Rye and the other's wouldn't excel at, is the reason your getting your ass handed to you."
"I don't quite follow"
"I know Riku; you see old habits die hard. You Sora, Hogan, cube battles always where were you thrived. So to make sure Hashiru Mugen had a fighting chance in this battle, we put the three of them through the most rigoring training ever. I'm pretty sure that Rye's having an easier time at this then I am."
"Speaking of Rye looks like the actions back on in their cube and their environment is a replica of Mount Fujiaki. A mountainside outcropping that is perfect for Hogan and his battle style."
Rye and Hogan clashed again and again; they didn't stop to wipe the blood out of their eyes from the wounds on their faces. They just proceeded to beat each other on all six walls.
[BOOOM]
Hogan flew back into a wall and left a pretty massive dent, he slumped back up onto his feet and breathing deeply he looked at Rye with amazement in his face.
"I read your file; you need ATs with wheels to use your Road its special that way. How are you doing this?"
"Doing what exactly?"
"Riding Force Road?"
"Wow, I've gotten that fluent, Hogan I'm not riding the Force Road."
"So that wasn't the Force Road, what was it?"
"After a 24-hour continuous ass kicking between me Oushi and Yatsu, I discovered something…"
After 2 hours in a low light cube taking blows from all sides and falling on his ass more times than he'd like to admit, Rye had finally gotten the hang of cube battling even if he hadn't managed to land a blow on either Oushi or Yatsu. He made a rotation around the cube and dodged an obvious attack from Yatsu only to get his face cracked by Oushi. He was more than happy taking the hit but since he was on the roof and falling would mean being at the mercy of an awaiting Yatsu, Rye only had one out. He kicked up a jet of wind and landed in the pile. Oushi and Yatsu played a pinch move and hammered Rye in the center. He kick charged the wind with electricity before it could dissipate and Oushi and Yatsu flew back.
"Its about time, you found a way to handle yourself."
Yatsu was peeling himself from the dent in the floor.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You finding a way to tap your road given the circumstances."
"Rye, the Force Road is aRoad that depends heavily on the wheels to even make it appear. That's a severely powerful, and severely inconvenient. Now your only option is to find a way around that inconvenience. It seems that you have, just now. Three Roads make up the Force Road; if you can interact and go between those three Roads you can reopen your pathway."
"To make a long story short, I spent the next 22 hours jumping between Wing Road, the Over Road, and the Rising Road. After a 22 hour cram session, I can jump between those three Roads with a second and a half gap. Within the time it takes for one Road to open I can open another."
"So what you're telling me is that you can ride between Roads like that? What are you?"
"The Push King of the Force Road"
"With that, and that beautiful Valkyrie that Rye has for a shadow it looks Hogan is left standing there at the mercy of a full force storm."
"Wow Rye, you are strong, well fine then. This battle is really about to get underway. You see, this cube this artificial environment was created specifically for me to shine in my element. You are the Force King, and I am the Shift King of the Plate Road."
"Hogan's shadow is an Uromastyx, a massive red spiny tailed lizard. It has its feet in the ground and its tail radiating electricity. It's the perfect way to commiserate his Road."
"Wait, the Shift King"
"Yeah, the combination of the Gaia Road, and the Rising Road. The Piezoelectric force of the Gaia Road is quadrupled ten fold by the Rising Road. It makes me a literal force to be reckoned with on the ground and in the air. There isn't a single member of this team, save Iggy, who is only 9, that rides one Road. So while me and you settle who the strongest is… don't count me and my team out."
Souza was soaked head to toe, he was blistered and burned. Whether he had more sweat pouring out of him, or water showering him he couldn't tell.
"Souza is stuck inside of a cube shaped replica of the Atami, the famous hot springs. Vicki has that kid backed into a serious corner that I don't think he can get out of."
The steam thickened and Souza was once again left blind. He couldn't put up a defense without getting burned. Souza was stuck between a steam machine and a hot place. Flipping and diving through a shower of water he got his lower body caught in a vice grip of boiling water.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
He fell to the floor and writhed in pain, but before he could even react Vicki was coming down on top of him. He couldn't feel his legs, the pain was too much. But if he didn't move he was going to get crushed. He rotated his legs and kicking a blast of wind he threw Vicki back into a wall and tore off a considerable amount of skin in the process.
"Souza's wounded, this eagle needs some nursing before he goes extinct."
Souza bit his lip to keep from crying. He looked at Vicki picking herself up from the ground and he could see that he finally got her coat off. She had on a pair of daisy duke sweats and an exercise t-shirt. On the thigh was the team emblem, crossbones of AT axles. Souza could see that Vicki was covered in sweat and as she stood she brushed against a stream of boiling water and burned herself.
"Gotcha Vicki"
"What"
"Don't play dumb, I was wondering why you'd bother keeping that ridiculous coat on. Now I know, it keeps you safe from your own Road. You can't stop your own road from burning yourself. That's what the steam trick is about."
"Fine, with my biggest advantage gone…"
She snapped and a stream of steaming water surrounded her. A monstrous crab appeared behind her and spit water out onto the battlefield. The steam cleared and the entire cube could be seen again. Souza tore off his shirt wrapped his waist and spun around the cube, while Vicki shot water at him. He dived off the ceiling and bombarded her with wind.
"Souza finally has a rhythm and Hashiru Mugen is putting in moves around this cube like they've been riding for years. Oh and look the Yatsu, Sora fight…"
Yatsu and Sora were kicking each other in the face 10 feet off the ground. Their environment was nothing more then a multitude of fans that blew from all directions.
"The environment here it simply the sky, that's as simple as I can make it."
Yatsu and Sora clashed once again for what it seemed was the umpteenth time, they bombarded each other with attacks. Yatsu flipped over a blast of wind and sent one of his own.
"Yatsu, we've been doing this dance forever, when are you going to show me something?"
"Sora, you're not worth showing it to."
"You'll eat those words…"
Sora's shadow emerged behind him a ferocious red tailed hawk, as it opened its razor sharp beak Yatsu braced himself in the face of the dust storm.
"Wondering where the dust is coming from, these are the ventilation fans, behind them theirs nothing but dust."
"So that's how you plan to win, a dust storm?"
"No Yatsu, winning isn't the first thing on my agenda."
"What"
"You heard me, what I want now is for you to take me seriously, I beat you last year. You lost to me, you think that because you're back with a new team and some new friends that your better than me?"
"Sora, I never thought I was better than you. I look at you and see a rival, and a little brother. I'm not going to hit you with my all because I don't want to hurt you, it's the same as the last time we fought me and Oushi…"
"STOP BABYING ME DAMN IT, IF YOU SEE ME AS A RIVAL PROVE IT, FIGHT ME AS A RIVAL! OUSHI DIDN'T HOLD BACK ON RIKU STOP PLAYING AROUND!"
As Sora screamed to be heard over his own storm he kicked gust after gust at Yatsu, and pushed him back into a fan, slicing his hurt but not really cutting him.
"Fine Sora, I'm sorry I doubted your strength. GET READY BECAUSE THIS FIGHT ISN'T GOING TO BE ANYTHING LIKE THE LAST!"
As the huge Griffin that marked Yatsu's shadow opened its wings and clipped its razor sharp beak. The two of them got ready for another battle.
"Hmm, these battles are getting intense; let's see about Souza and the steaming hot Vicki."
Souza barreled off the wall and kicked the on coming jet of water right back at Vicki. As she leapt out of the way he caught her in the air and threw her towards the stream of boiling water was coming down. She bent it to cushion the landing and Souza blew it apart, burning her back.
"AHHHHHH"
"Not so fun is it, I've turned your whole world upside down!"
"How are you this good, your R.E.A.D isn't amazing and you've never been in a cube before?"
"Shows what you know… I spent 24 of the worse hours of my life in this hospital room training for this fight."
Souza and Tsumai were escorted into the largest hospital room they had ever seen. I was the size of a high school gymnasium, the ceiling was high and spacious. Igami had given them their ATs before he disappeared and told them to start training.
"Your next fight as a team is going to come from the Marauders who are experts in the cube. They've learned how to turn a six walled box into a prison. So for the next 24 hours that I have you here, you're going to turn this prison into a blessing."
A group full of doctors pushed thirty tube shaped machines into the center of the room and gave Tsumai and Souza a shot, that they were told were vitamins.
The two of them started to ride around the walls and were having a hard time keeping up. Igami came on over the intercom.
"We don't have the time to get you trained normally, and you guys always seem to come through when the chips are down so here goes."
[Click]
Those thirty machines there are MRI machines, and the shots you just got were concentrations of Iron that will dissolve in 24 hours. Unfortunately if you get anywhere near those MRI they will rip the iron out of you from the inside, that will kill you. The reach only extends as far as the walls, so if you stay on them you won't die. You two have one option… Survive!"
Souza rode the roof and dropped down onto Vicki.
"HOLY SHIT, I FORGOT TSUMAI, SHIT REWIND!"
Tsumai and his adolescent opponent stood facing each other.
"How old are you?"
The young man threw off his coat and stood there in his all black shorts and tank-top, there was one unusual thing about him. He had a belt made of cans, three on each side of his waist.
"I'm 9 years old, I know what your thinking which is why I don't plan on wasting anytime warming up. We've got two minutes until my environment comes out and this fights not going to take long. It makes no sense to ask you this but please don't hold back."
He had black hair and emerald eyes. His hair was less messy and more straightly cut. He was tone for his age and his face read severe boredom. He cracked his neck and it seemed like his whole cracked in response.
Tsumai blasted across the cube and grabbed Iggy by the arm and cocked back to throw him when he rotated and landed on his feet, while Tsumai was still holding his arm.
"What the fuck?"
Iggy kicked Tsumai in the stomach and threw him back into a wall. As Tsumai slumped down to the floor Iggy popped his arm back in place and waited for his opponent to get to his feet.
"I'm a contortionist. That's the answer to your question I'm incredibly flexible and as an added bonus I can dislocate my joints. Not like that's going to be enough to…"
Tsumai was back on top of Iggy before he could blink, he wouldn't throw a punch or swing a kick but before Iggy knew it he was being thrown to the side. He couldn't rebound, Tsumai was there. He had him pinned into the corner of the cube on the ceiling.
"You were saying something?"
"You're not holding back, are you Tsumai?"
"Nope, don't know how, you're a strong kid, but just because you're a kid don't mean that you're not my opponent. I don't know what kind of fights your used to, but this fight's not going to be like the others."
Iggy smiled a huge smile, he dislocated his shoulders and vaulted off the wall and kicked a blast at Tsumai's back.
"A Thorn"
Tsumai spun out with only a small cut on his cheek. He landed and faced Iggy as he put his bones back into place.
"That was a Thorn as in the Sonia Road you ride the Sonia Road?"
"Yeah, once I found out about Roads and read about this one, it was perfect for me, with my contortionism. I taught myself how to ride this Road, my brother doesn't even know I ride this road, I've only fought one other time."
"Wait you've only had one other battle besides this one?"
"Yep and my brother had it pretty much handled."
"So what you think is someone holding back, is your brother actually handling things?"
"I guess so; you'll be the first one to see my Thorns I guess…"
Tsumai fell back as Iggy threw Thorn after Thorn at Tsumai and he managed to dodge every other one. Then taking a Thorn to the shoulder, Tsumai flies back into the wall, rounding himself up and across the roof, he sends electricity down through the metal cube and the whole battlefield was covered in electricity. Before Iggy counter he was being shocked through with thousands of volts. Tsumai flung off the roof and dive bombed Iggy. He picked him up and threw him into a wall as he kicked a wall and electrically charged the whole cube.
"GAAAAAAH"
Iggy fell to floor where he was going to be shocked again, when
[Ring, Ring, Ring]
A thick moss began to grow off of each surface, and with it the electricity was negated.
Iggy stood up and started to bounce slightly, the moss was springy and thick. It was young and because of that it was like having a trampoline covering the walls. Tsumai took his foot off the wall, some of the moss coming with it.
"What's up with this?"
"Don't you remember what I said; this oil tanker is a prototype for the environmental renewal initiative. Inside this oil tank it's my environment, my domain."
He grabbed his belt and each one of the three cans turned out to be a different type of energy drink. He downed each one in quick succession and sprung over to his discarded jacket. From a pocket he picked out six yoyos and put them on his hands. He threw the six of them out and popped his spine, this time it sounded less like a crack and a full release of every joint he had in his entire body.
"Let's go Tsumai, THORN BUSH BONANZA with a SIX WALL BOUNCE!"
Iggy dived onto his back and began to bounce and bounce and then…
[BOOM, BA-BOOM, BOOM]
With that the tape had caught up with real time…
"OH I GET IT… young Iggy is one of the few men in AT history that have the body structure to use the Sonia Road. The Sonia Road is all about the principle of nitrogen and air present in-between the joints. That's why when we get stiff and pop our knuckles we hear the crack, the Sonia Road plays on that. With the massive amount of mobility the released joints create atmospheric displacement is evident. With atmospheric displacement comes the rush for the atmosphere to repair itself. With the Bloody Road it results in a Fang, with the Sonia Road it results in Thorns. The Thorns are sonic booms and with increased mobility Iggy could've achieved an amazing number of Thorns just by contorting but with the yoyos he drastically increases the number of sonic booms he can muster. Downing the energy drinks increases his stamina, which is one of the many downfalls of the Sonia Road.
Iggy was rebounding from wall to wall his yoyos cutting up Thorns. Occasionally he'd land on his feet and kick up Thorns from his ATs along with his yoyos. Tsumai was backed into a literal corner, as he was actually in the corner. He didn't have any metal to conduct or anyway to fight back from a bombardment of Thorns it couldn't be helped, this time he'd have to do it…
"Souza, I'm tired as hell."
"You, I'm about to pass out…"
"I'm about to do something that you can never speak of again, and it'll turn those machines off."
"You can't try the Rising Road it'll rebound the magnet remember?"
"Of course, that's not it anyway. When I was growing up my family had a tradition of dancing with lightning, To make a long story short, I had to learn how to dance in order to survive… this trick came out of that."
"Lightning Dancer: Overspun Pirouette 3690"
Bundling up Tsumai leapt with graceful elegance and spun through the Thorns and bounced around the cube. He and Iggy clash one graceful and the other harsh.
"I remember reading about Tsumai doing something similar to this… when Tsumai was a boy he was in a competition where he competed against the rest of his family. During this competition the contestants were tasked with dodging lightning strikes during a storm… Tsumai instead of jumping around stayed in one spot and pirouetted around 22 bolts of lightning. 180 degree spin times 22 rotations equals 3690."
As Tsumai and Iggy rebounded off the walls, the Thorns reached a peak and the roof was blown clean off the cube and the two of them rose up into the night sky. Tsumai's shadow emerged, the massive dragon with the wings of lightning. Along with Iggy's shadow, a beautiful queen of roses.
Iggy drew back all six of his yoyos with the intent of launching a final assault when Tsumai rode out of the cube charged with electricity. As the yoyos rained down and with them, the Thorns Tsumai finished his pirouette, dodging the last four sonic booms and grabbed the wires of the yoyos. Tsumai's shadow wrapped around the queen of the roses and shocked her full of electricity.
"Bolt Hammer"
Tsumai's charge went through the wires and into Iggy, he fell out and plummeted towards the bay, where Tsumai caught him.
"Don't worry Iggy that shock was just enough to crash out that surge of energy drinks you put away."
"IT'S OVER HASHIRU PUTS ONE IN THE WIN COLOUMN!"
[BOOM]
The sound of Tsumai and Iggy's cube exploding radiated through the ship…
Oushi and Riku were colliding once more over the desert in which they fought.
"Riku and Sora shared a face, a birthday, a Road and it seems a shadow…"
Riku's red tailed hawk was in full stride versus the elephant riding warrior that made up Oushi's shadow.
"Riku this fight is over, but you knew that already right?"
"Yeah, the only question we have left is who wins. It's a hat toss."
"Infinity Atmosphere Ramleya: Sandstone Stream"
Once again a massive sandstorm erupted from the Regalia this time powered ten times over by the desert in a box. The roof blew clean off and Oushi caught of brief glance of Tsumai lowering Iggy to safety.
Oushi rode the inside of the sandstorm farther and farther up into the air, this time he and Riku would end it.
"Terra Hammer"
The sand surrounding Oushi began to compact around Oushi's right arm, and as he rose higher and higher, he formed a massive sand gauntlet around his fist. The opening at the top of the storm widened and Oushi came flying out.
"Arial Sandbar"
As the sand below Oushi condensed and formed into a massive bar slamming him from below Oushi punched his gauntlet, it flew from his fist and socked Riku in the jaw. Oushi's shadow charged at the hawk, the two of them collided and fell back to earth. Oushi and Riku lost consciousness from the impact and fell down to earth.
"IT'S A DRAW, A DRAW NOBODY WINS THIS ONE!"
[BOOM]
The sound of Tsumai and Iggy's cube exploding radiated through the ship…
Yatsu and Sora were fighting in the middle of a massive dust cloud, and Yatsu was finding it really hard to breath.
"Infinity Atmosphere Asifa: Dust Storm Bomber"
Yatsu was fading fast, he only had one choice. Opening his wings, he expanded the dust cloud until the cube couldn't handle the pressure and…
[BOOM]
The roof of the cube blew clean off and Yatsu and Sora flew up in to the night sky.
His Red tail following him
"Dust Storm Compression Matrix"
"OH MY GOD, I DIDN'T THINK SORA FINISHED THAT TRICK… Compression Matrix might just be more perfect that Riku and his Sandstorm Stream. Compression Matrix is compiling the dust in the air and then super heating the air around it, with very high pressure thus creating a shrapnel bomb of compressed particulates."
Yatsu looked right through the storm straight at Sora.
"I'm done using the old Wing King's tricks, its time the pull out my own…"
The Griffin soared behind its master and readied itself for the final clash
Folding his wings around him Yatsu punches right into the matrix, as the shrapnel rip into him, he compresses air around his fist and then…
"AERO HAMMER"
The blast punches straight through and collides with Sora, neither one can remain conscious nor they both fall.
The two shadows clashed one last time, and neither one won.
"DAMN ANOTHER DRAW, THIS ONE IS GETTING WAY TO CLOSE TO COUNT!"
[BOOM]
The sound of Tsumai and Iggy's cube exploding radiated through the ship…
Oushi was rolling around the cube and Vicki was hot on his tail there were balls of boiling water surrounding her that she kept launching at Souza. He kicked one back at her each time he reached a corner in the cube. But before long he was backed into the corner and couldn't get out. Vicki rounded on him, ready to give the finishing blow, when a wind erupted out of nowhere.
"Got you"
His Eagle Warrior Shadow was fully open behind him.
There in each corner of the cube was a ball of wind and as Souza kicked up and updraft a massive wall rose from each side of the cube. As they rose they took the water with them. The wind pressure and the steam peaked and before long.
[BOOM]
The top was gone and so was Vicki.
"No, Souza I've got you, there's plenty of water out here!"
The bay began to churn and a tower of water issued out. Vicki put her ATs together and flipped over as the water followed her lead. And behind her was her crab shadow.
"As the water passes over my ATs, I'll heat it and as long as I'm higher up than you, I've got you beat.
"VICKI'S GONNA SCORE A WIN HERE AND HAVE HERSELF SOME BOILED SOUZA WHILE SHE'S AT IT!"
Souza stacked all of the wind around him and blasted up just as Vicki made it rain down. Glancing around Souza sees Tsumai watching him, Yatsu laid out beside him and Oushi falling fast. As the scalding water was about to pour on him Souza condensed his wind around his fist.
"VACUUM HAMMER"
With the vacuum a channel was hollowed out through the water and Souza clawed his way to Vicki's ATs he grabbed her and pulled her threw the shower and flung her down into the bay. As Vicki fell, so did Souza's hammer and he is swept away.
Souza's warrior tried to throw the crab back into the sea, but the pincers held strong, and the eagle was drowned in a sea of water.
Vicki rotates out of the throw and lands on the surface of the bay, she vaults back into the air and is prepared to take Souza out when she comes back up over the tankard she sees an unconscious Souza floating in a cube full of water.
"VICKI SCORES THE MARAUDERS THE FIRST WIN; IT ALL COMES DOWN TO WHO WINS THE BATTLE BETWEEN RYE AND HOGAN!"
[BOOM]
The sound of Tsumai and Iggy's cube exploding radiated through the ship…
Rye and Hogan were too busy punching each other to notice. They circled the entire cube beating each other. Hogan landed on the floor with his foot lodged in the earth, Rye road down the wall and raced at him. Hogan pulled an entire slab of earth and Rye collided with it. He didn't have time to even be stunned; Hogan was bringing his foot back down into the slab and sliced it clean with an electrically covered foot. Rye flew back and connected with a wall.
Electricity began to radiate into the ground from Hogan's ATs and several pieces of earth began to levitate as, unbeknownst to them, the right between Oushi and Riku was closing.
Reaching his hand into the electric trail, dirt began to magnetically cling to both his hands. Hogan looked down with interest and flung the levitating pieces at Rye. Pulling enough electricity from the air he kicked up an updraft and shielded himself as Yatsu and Sora fell from grace.
Rye road back up the roof and spun off a few bolts. Hogan stopped them with his new 'gloves' and proceeded to try them on Rye's face with great success, much like the success Vicki had over Souza.
As Rye picked himself up off the ground he knew he had to end this quickly, he jumped up and met the last of Hogan's earth stun-glove on his left hand. He connected with the wall again and stood, this time his Valkyrie standing behind him.
Hogan's Uromastyx rose out of the earth and clapped its jaws, swinging its spiked tail.
Rye leapt and spread his wings, blowing the roof off the cube. He soared into the open night sky and saw the results of the battle. Tsumai still standing, Oushi and Riku unconscious, Yatsu and Riku unconscious, and Vicki carrying an unconscious Souza over to his team.
Rye buried himself in a stream of air, and he electrically charged it, he opened his wings and dived through it opening his old path.
Hogan grinded his wheels, this time each wall separated from the cube and began to levitate.
"TECTON PLATE RISING SHIFT"
As the huge chunks of rocks rose up into the air, Rye maneuvered around them diving through and skating along. His shadow following him all the while, he was over the first wall, skating the second, the force he had collected was so strong that by the third wall pieces of earth were falling back down into the cube. Rye reached back into the jet and collected it around his fist.
"FORCE HAMMER"
As he reentered the cube he grabbed a slab of earth. He and Hogan cocked back to hammer each other and Rye just managed to take the brunt of it in his slab of earth, while Hogan to his whole hammer. Hogan was blasted into the cube floor and Rye out into the sky. Hogan looked at Rye's wings as he slowly fell backward, the Valkyrie pinning the Uromastyx into the ground.
"HE'S DONE IT ALL OVER AGAIN, THIS IS OVER, OVER AND DONE, HASHIRU MUGEN YOU RUN KANTO; THIS MIGHT BE SHORT LIVED BUT LIVE IT BABY!"