"Well what do you think?" Slade asked, motioning around him as though what he wanted was somehow hard to determine without the added action.
"It doesn't matter, let's get this over with." She replied through gritted teeth, trying to hide how tired she was just from flying here. She'd gone as fast as she was comfortable with and was still trying to keep every one of her nerves under check.
"You don't want a moment respite?"
"No," No sooner had the word left her mouth he appeared before her, his hands striking against her chest and throwing her backwards with an almighty boom, her body shooting through the air and only stopped by her own powers kicking in when she'd comprehended what had happened.
In that fraction of a second she was thrown almost a mile backwards, she strained her burry eyes to try and find him, her chest aching and her bones near shattered in her chest. Had it not been for the magical energy instinctively protecting her she's have more than a few broken ribs and bruised lungs.
She took in a shaky breath, eyes flitting around for him onto to come up short. That was until a foot connected with her side and flung her back to her original spot, her body tumbling over itself.
"Is this what our duel is going to be? Disappointing, I'd have thought you'd have at least tried to win." His voice carried over to her before she'd even managed to right herself. When she finally did stop she was level with a tree, leaning back against it and bracing herself. Her head was spinning, the world rocking before her eyes as she tried to focus and regain her bearings. And hopefully hold a counter attack.
He stood across from her, leaning back against the air as though he were leaning against a wall.
"Tell you what. Because I'm a nice understanding man I'll give you one free hit. One go to land a solid hit against me." She stood straight, her head throbbing and her joints aching, fingers pressed against her temple which she rubbed in harshly, trying to rid herself of the throb.
When she managed to get her head on straight and look around without a haze hovering over her eyes she stared wide-eyed at Slade. He hadn't moved an inch, still leaning back against the air as though he were the cool kid from some old movie.
She must have been out of it for a good few minutes. Why was he still waiting there? It clicked a moment later as she struggled to keep herself airborne and moving at the same time. The fact that she hadn't plunged to the ground already was a miracle to her.
She looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon in her favour and wasn't too difficult to acquire. She settled on a broken down tree, the base having rotted away and the branches spindly and brittle. It was the best she could hope for and probably the only thing she'd be able to lift that caused any kind of damage.
Using every technique her shinigami taught her she encased the tree in her black aura, lifting it easily, as though it were just a toothpick and swinging it with as much force as she could gain for it. Her stance and swinging reminding her of a baseball player with Slade as the ball. Before she had the chance to be amused at her own mind she released the tree, smacking him across the head with it and sending the tree into splinters. They rained down around him, his body maybe having moved an inch at most despite her force on the makeshift bat. His eyes glowering behind his mask.
A sense of dread and regret flooded her and suddenly she was very aware of how little space was between them. She attempted to step back, only to be stopped by the top foot of a tree, her knees catching the tip and nearly toppling her over
"I'm impressed, you hit me much harder than I thought you would." He took a careful measured step towards her, reaching up to the slits in his mask and pulling out a few splinters and flicking them away. "Perhaps I thought too little of you after all? You're very interesting. One minute as fierce as a new born lamb, others you actually hold a sense of intimidation." Chuckling he stepped forwards, grasping onto her collar tightly and smirking in her face. "Not going to be enough to let you win though. If anything you've just convinced me to not hold back."
He threw her body effortlessly, sending her flying backwards and crashing through numerous trees in her path. The broken tips crumbling to the forest floor as splinters wedged themselves into her flesh and bark tangled into her hair.
She stopped, finally. Her body having been slowed down enough by the trees that she came to a halt just before leaving the forest and joining the adjacent city.
With a pained grown she pushed herself up, bones aching and mind throbbing. She was amazed she could still stand, that her bones hadn't shattered under the force of his attacks.
Her eyes flashed white momentarily and a strange surge washed through her, sending her mind jumping. It passed before she could even really register it, but she was sure she'd felt it. Something passing behind her eyes. Whatever it was she had no time to dwell on it.
Freezing she could feel the air moving, time around her seeming to slow down as she lurched away, instincts kicking in before her mind had even registered that she was moving. Seconds later she'd propelled herself far from the tree she was perched at, said tree toppling to the ground as its roots were torn up from the force of Slade's fist.
Taking in a rapid gulp of air she watched wide eyed as the tree fell, Slade looking to her shocked that she had evaded him.
"Will you look at that? What miracle struck to make that possible? Or are you finally more of a challenge than you appeared. Finally using your ability properly." She couldn't respond, her mind reeling from surprise as she tried to figure out the same thing he was. "Tell me? Where you acting dumb all this time? Pretending to be a helpless child when you're really a skilled fighter. Hustling me? For shame."
Shaking her head she held her hands out as though that would somehow stop him.
"No, no, I haven't. I promise." Her voice shook, fear pouring out like a tap.
"Are you sure? You're moving much better than you were a minute ago, and my attacks haven't affected you like they would an ordinary human death god. I think you have been hustling me. Thinking you could trick me and make me look stupid. Thought you could take me down, huh?"
Energy sparked in his held out hand, orange and reds colliding as sparks of power fought against one another.
"This has the potential to be fatal or paralysing. And when I say fatal I do not mean to mere mortals, anything is fatal to them. I mean to the immortal. To those who believe they're above death. A single clip to their heel will reduce them to dust." He smirked, the colours fighting even more ferociously. "But don't worry, that only has a ten percent chance of happening."
She watched with baited breath as the colour fought, sparks of blue and greens coming off as the fight got closer to completion, until finally the orange was swallowed and deep mahogany red shone on his fingertips.
"Poor you, seems your luck is straining thin." He shot his hand forwards, the energy darting forwards like a lightning strike aimed straight for her face.
Flinching away she screwed her eyes closed, waiting for the pain of the hit but nothing came. Seconds later she cracked her eyes open, looking out to see a large tree hovering in front of her face, black aura surrounding it the lightning spraying out around it.
Looking to her hands she saw the aura enveloping her too, a thin string of darkness connecting her to the flying tree.
"Would you look at that? You blocked it? Your powers protected you. That's very clever. Had you just hidden behind a tree it would have crumbled and you with it. But your dark energy surrounding it you were able to convert the power into the tree and drain its life dulling my attack enough to leave you unaffected. Brilliant really."
Blinking blankly she just nodded, not understanding a word of what he'd said and deciding to just go along with it. Really, she had no idea why she'd reacted the way she had. It was just instinct.
Releasing the tree from her grasp she watched as it lost its rigidity and crumbled to the ground limp and flat before disintegrating.
"Well, now what your little shield is gone. Let's try that again." He shot her again, the spark aiming to hit the centre of her face before she flung herself to the side, using her power to drag herself behind one of the many thick trees and try to hide her body. "Are we really going to devolve into a cat and mouse game?" He asked tiredly, rolling his eyes behind his mask as he chased after her, Rachel being forced to leave her hiding place and race ahead, her heart pounding in her chest.
She had to think of something. Some way to defeat him because she was sure if it came down to a test of speed and stamina he'd win. Despite that, she'd yet to notice herself feeling tired at all, more so it was her brain telling her she should feel tired rather than actual exhaustion from the flight and dodging of attacks.
She flew out ahead of him quickly coming to a stop and staring him down, her hands raised and ready to react to the slightest movement from him.
"You think you're going to fight back? I highly doubt it. You've done this many times and honestly it's becoming boring. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to kill you and get on with what I am meant to do to complete the ritual."
"Azarath metrion zinthos" she chanted slowly, lowly, her voice shaking the leaves on the trees as she continued to chant, channelling energy from somewhere, a strong wind welling up under her.
He stared at her, waiting to see what would happen. Something he was sure wasn't smart but was tugging at his curiosity and he couldn't ignore it.
Her hair billowed as the wind surrounded her, black streaks starting to form in the wisps of air, power pouring out from her and increasing the size of the tornado, herself at the eye.
"Will you look at that. Seems I was right, you are more than a pathetic human half-breed. Your death god was special, more powerful than most. If I had to guess I'd say he was second maybe third in command. And to think, he was stripped of his powers. Truly pathetic. However, that does mean I have a lot to gain from killing you."
She wasn't listening to his musings, focusing completely on her mantra, eyes screwed tightly shut before bursting open in a startling white, her irises completely taken over by the colour. She finished her chant with a yell of 'zinthos' her arms propelling forwards and shooting her vortex of overwhelming power to him. Completely enveloping him and the forest behind.please read review