Chapter 34: Syrup Village VI
Opening Theme: Shining Days (Mai-HiME)
Chase raised his eye brow at Rein in confusion. He then began to laugh. "You think you can beat me with plain playing cards?" Chase asked her. "I'll show you what my weapon can really do!" Chase flicked a switch on the side of his weapon.
Rein smirked as alchemic reactions began to appear at her feet. "Fine then let's end this!" Rein said placing her hands on the transmutation circle.
"Take this!" Chase shouted aiming at Rein. "Black Auto-Ball!" He pulled the trigger causing three cannon balls to fire out one after the other.
"Nice but you are already inside the Carousel of my Casino," Rein said as an alchemic reaction appeared under Chase. He glanced down to see a transmutation circle under his feet.
Chase's eyes widened in shock. 'Did she put that there when the smoke was covering her?' Chase asked himself.
"Take this!" Rein said as the tree behind her turned red with red sparks. It broke apart and turned into hundreds of cards. "Carousel's Taste!" Rein shouted as the cards shot forwards. As the cards passed the cannon balls they were sliced in half causing them to explode.
"No way!" Chase shouted as the cards reached him. Some passed by only grazing him others missed him completely. Most of the cards stabbed into him. Chase coughed a bit of blood as he fell over. "How could I lose to such a rookie?"
Rein let her arms fall to her side as she let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad, grateful and over joyed that Ed told me about this skill," she said to herself.
Flashback
Edward pulled Rein aside as Hanabi's group got ready to leave Central. "What is it Ed we need to finish, complete and conclude or packing for our trip," Rein told the alchemist.
"I looked at the books you were studying and found out they were Alkahestry right?" Edward asked her causing her to nod. "Well this girl used what I think was Alkahestry. She used two transmutation circles to transmute objects from a distance. Maybe you could use it too."
End Flashback
"Luckily he was right," Rein said. "But to think I could lead my attack from one circle to another. I'm glad I figured that out too." Rein fell backwards to the ground and lay there as she caught her breathe.
Hatchet looked up the slope hearing the cannon fire stop. "Is the battle over?" he asked. "Why isn't Chase coming down?"
"Because Rein won," Mikoto said with a smile. "She beat him. Now I'm going to beat you!"
"Alright," Hatchet said turning back to her. "Let's see what you've got kid."
Hatchet's arms turned red after getting heated up. Mikoto tightened her grip on Miroku before dashing towards Hatchet. Hatchet swung at her while she spun around and swung Miroku at him. The blade and fist of the two collided creating a shockwave. The two stayed locked for a moment before jumping back.
Hatchet slammed his hand onto the ground. "Freezing Chill!" Hatchet shouted as he began to quickly absorb the heat from the floor around him as towards Mikoto. This coated the ground in a thin layer of ice. When Mikoto landed on the ground she slipped and fell backwards.
"You're mine!" Hatchet shouted gliding on the ice towards Mikoto using the heat generated from his feet to allow him to move faster. His right arm turned white as he swung down. "Blister Blade!" Mikoto swung up using her claymore to block. Miroku began to turn red from where Hatchet grabbed it. The redness spread across the blade to Mikoto's hand causing her to let out a cry of pain.
Mikoto kicked off Miroku forcing Hatchet backwards and away from her. Mikoto glanced down at her hand to see that her palm was red with a few blisters on it. She looked up at Hatchet with a glare. Hatchet's left arm turned white as well as he grinned at Mikoto. "Let's see how long you can last with my strongest attacks!" Hatchet said to her. "Temperature Level Two!"
"Angelic Arrow!" Celica shouted waving her arms to let out several razor sharp feathers that soared towards Piiman. Piiman used his hammer to block most of them but a few dove into his legs and abdomen.
"Damn you!" Piiman said swinging at her.
Celica brought the wings on her back to the front of her body to act as a shield and blocked his attack. "Angelic Shield!" She then opened them again and swung up with her right arm while generating a wing made of razor sharp feathers. "And Angelic Blade!" Piiman was knocked off his feet as he flew backwards.
Reacting quickly Piiman swung down smashing his hammer over Celica's head. Celica hit the ground face first while Piiman flew back into a tree and slid down to the ground. He panted while he watched Celica slowly rise to her knees. "Had enough wing girl?"
"Not until I win," Celica said as the two stood back up. She glanced behind her to see if Ninjin was around. Seeing that he wasn't she took to the sky again. 'I won't let them blind side me again!' she declared to herself. She stopped once she was above the trees and looked down at Piiman.
"So you want to go again!" Piiman said swinging his hammer back and getting into a batting pose. "Come on then you bird brain!"
"I'm not a bird!" Celica shouted as her arms and legs turned into wings. She dove down towards Piiman. Once she was halfway towards him she began to spin as fast as she could, creating a buzz saw like attack with her six wings.
"Mallet Batting!" Piiman shouted swinging his hammer.
"Seraphic Blade!" Celica shouted as she flew passed him as both attacks hit each other.
Piiman stood in place after swinging his mallet while Celica landed on the ground with her limbs back to normal. The wings on Celica's back burst open as Piiman's attack took effect causing bloody feathers to fall from her back. Piiman smiled before six slashes appeared on his body. He coughed up a bit of blood before he fell forwards onto his face.
Celica retracted the wings on her back and turned to face him while changing her left arm into a wing. She smiled at Piiman with half open eyes. "This is the end of our fight!" Celica declared. "I won but… I can't finish you off…" She said falling backwards onto her back, slipping into unconsciousness as her arm changed back.
"Rubber Gatling!" Hanabi shouted sending out a flurry of punches at Luke but was blocked off by Shield who put up another invisible wall. "Damn I can't judge the amount of power I need," Hanabi said retracting her arms.
"Take this!" Sogeking shouted taking aim. "Fire Bird Star!" he launched a pellet that exploded turning into a bird of fire. Luke stepped in front of Shield and put his hand up. When the bird touched his hand it collapsed on itself before shooting back out towards Hanabi and Sogeking.
"He even sent an attack like that back!?" Hanabi asked in shock.
"It'll take more than that!" Sogeking shouted. "Six Chamber Pit-Viper Star!" He shouted sending six pellets out in a snake like pattern that collided with the bird and exploded canceling out both attacks.
"Nice shot!" Hanabi cheered.
"My pleasure," Sogeking said putting a hand on his hip. "Now how are we going to go about defeating these two?"
"We need to find some way to break through their defenses," Hanabi told him. "We have to find some way to actually hit them."
"I see," Sogeking said. "I've got just the plan!" He pulled out a pellet from his back pocket. "Smoke Screen Star!" he tossed it down creating a huge smoke cloud.
Shield, expecting some sort of explosion put up a wall but was confused when smoke wafted by. She looked around confused before looking up at Luke.
"It's just a diversion," Luke told her. "Focus on protecting the front side." Shield nodded and began to concentrate.
Hanabi appeared in front of them with her arms stretched back. "Rubber…" She said as she began to retract her arms.
"Shield block it!" Luke warned.
Shield glared at Hanabi before adding more power to her wall. Hanabi then grinned much to her shock. Hanabi retracted one arm fully to reveal a dial in her hand.
"Take this Flash Dial!" she said pressing the apex of the dial causing a bright flash of light. Shield brought her eyes up to her eyes in shock as she tried to block the light from doing any more damage. "And Rubber Bullet!" Hanabi said leaning forwards and punching Shield in the chest sending her flying backwards and into a tree.
"Dammit Shield!" Luke called back. He then glared at the still leaning Hanabi. "Damn you!" he said punching Hanabi in the stomach. Hanabi was about to say something when she felt her body stretching backwards. The force of Luke's punch had indented her body like a cannon would have. She was then sent flying back and into the sky.
Luke then stomped on the ground launching himself into the sky after Hanabi. Hanabi stared in shock as Luke held his hand out and stopped right above her. He then flipped and kicked her down towards the ground.
"Hold on Hanabi!" Sogeking called to her aiming at Luke. "Green Star: Skull Exploding Grass!" He shot the pop green into the air towards Luke. Luke pushed off the air and flew down towards Hanabi dodging the attack in the process. "Impossible!" Sogeking shouted.
Hanabi tried to correct herself but was punched in the stomach by Luke increasing the speed of her decent and causing her to crash into the ground in a small crater. Luke jumped out and turned to face Sogeking.
"And then there was one," Luke said putting his hands in his pockets.
Winry arrived at the slope where Mikoto and Rein were told to guard. She looked down to find Chase unconscious on the ground covered in light cuts. "What happened here?" Winry asked in confusion.
"I won," Rein said walking over. "I beat him, defeated him, and completely over powered him." Rein knelt next to him and began to fish around his pockets.
"What are you doing!?" Winry shouted at her.
"I won and told him I'd clean him out," Rein said taking the money he had on him. "So I'm entitled to his money."
"Whatever," Winry sighed. "Where is Mikoto?"
"Oh yeah!" Rein said running to look down the slope. Winry joined her and they stared in shock. The slope was a disaster. No place on the slope was what it used to be. The walls of the slope were melting is places and cut in others. The ground around Mikoto and Hatchet was completely frozen over with deep groves scattered here and there. "What on earth happened here?" Rein asked in bewilderment.
"How would I know?" Winry asked her in the same tone.
The two had never seen anything like this. This was a fight between two people. One of those people the two knew and was friends with. How could Mikoto be capable of fighting in this kind of battle? More than that how could she still be standing?
"If Mikoto is capable of this…" Rein began unsure if she should continue. "What do you think Hanabi can do?"
Winry quickly looked over at her with wide eyes. "These two are crazy strong!" Winry said slowly looking back at Mikoto. "I'm just glad we are on their side."
"Me too," Rein said.
Hatchet had glanced up to see the two girls watching them. "It would seem that you were right," Hatchet told the panting girl. "Your friends defeated Chase."
"Told you," Mikoto told him with a smile. "My friends are strong."
"That'll make it more enjoyable to kill them," Hatchet said with a sinister smirk. Mikoto growled and gripped Miroku tighter. "It seems you don't agree with that statement. Would you like to prove me wrong?"
Mikoto spun around and stabbed Miroku into the ground. "Miroku: Sangha!" Mikoto shouted. Streams of blade like energy shot towards Hatchet. Hatchet raised his hand to block to block the attack. He knocked down several of the blades but one managed to get through. "Got you!" Mikoto said.
"Damn what happened?" Hatchet asked glancing at his injured arm. "I'm sure I generated enough heat to counter that attack. No matter," he said. "I'll just recharge my power. Temperature Level Two!" His skin turned white again as he generated a ball of heat in his hand. "Heat Sphere!" He tossed the ball of heat at Mikoto who jumped out of the way only to slip on the ice she landed on and slid down the slope a bit.
Mikoto then quickly rolled out of the way of another ball of heat causing it to create steam as it hit the ice. Noticing the steam Mikoto got an idea.
Tamanegi jumped back just barely dodging getting his chest cut open. His shirt however, wasn't so lucky as it was sliced open. Feeling a bit of pain from his chest Tamanegi glanced down to see that his chest had a thin and shallow cut across it.
Tamanegi was in bad shape. He had cuts all across his body several on his arms and legs and one on his cheek. Looking over at Erebus he saw only a few kicks here and there across his clothing but not much else. He realized it before but he was completely out classed by this guy.
Tamanegi quickly brought his sword up as Erebus charged in and took a swing at him. The two locked their sword and tried to force the other down. "You do have some skill," Erebus told him. "But I am far above you when it comes to actual sword play."
"Yeah I figured that out," Tamanegi replied.
"Then why do you keep fighting?" Erebus asked confused as to what his reasoning could be.
"Because I've been waiting for this!" Tamanegi said pushing with all his might knocking Erebus back just as Ninjin jumped down from on top of the cliff. He swung down with his sauce pan and hit Erebus over the head causing him to stumble back.
Tamanegi rushed forward and swung at Erebus. Erebus, still off balance couldn't block the attack and was sliced a crossed the chest. He took a step back to get his footing and grabbed his injured chest. "That was a cheap shot," Erebus said glaring at the two. "But that's what it means to fight I guess." Erebus smiled at the two. "Not to mention you two have great teamwork. Let's see how well you two are together!" Erebus rushed towards them with his sword arm to the side as Tamanegi and Ninjin got ready to finish this fight.
Sogeking and Luke stared each other down. Neither knowing whether or not the two girls would resume the fight or not. Luke glanced down at Hanabi to see she hadn't moved an inch. He looked back up at Sogeking as he began talking.
"I don't understand how you knocked out Hanabi with just a few punches," Sogeking told him. "She's made of rubber so normal attacks like that shouldn't affect her."
Luke blankly stared at the sniping king wondering if it was worth telling him. If he could accurately calculate the trajectory of his shots and hit any target then he might be able to understand his power. "I'm a devil fruit user," Luke started. "I ate the Repel Fruit. It allows me the ability to apply force and change the direction of the targeting object in whatever direction I want that's away from my body."
"Um…" Sogeking said slowly. "You mean like Kuma?"
"Don't confuse our powers," Luke said sounding insulted. "Mine far out classes his. He can only deflect things that come in contact with his hands, more precisely his paw pads. I can do the same thing from any part of my body. Like this!" Luke kicked off the ground before flipping and kicking Sogeking in the stomach sending him flying into the hospital. Luke landed on the ground and let out a breath of annoyance. "I'll get rid of Straw Hat's brat first," he said turning back to Hanabi.
Luke walked over towards the hole he left her in. He reached into his pocket. Sogeking or better known as Usopp was right. His normal methods of fighting involving crushing his foes with the force of his strikes wouldn't be enough to end this rubber girl. He'd have to cut her up to finish her. He pulled out a dagger and looked down into the hole. His eyes widened when he noticed she wasn't inside of it.
"Rubber!" a voice called from above him. Luke looked up just as a foot came down on top of his head. "Battle Axe!" Luke slammed face first into the ground cracking it from the force of the attack. "Got you!" Hanabi declared with a smirk as she retracted her leg.
Luke lay on the ground for a moment to contemplate what had just happened. He was ax kicked into the ground, by a twelve year old. Him, the second in command of the Raid Pirates was knocked down by a twelve year old girl! Luke slowly rose to his feet and glared up at Hanabi. Luke smashed his foot into the ground making him shoot off towards Hanabi. Hanabi inflated herself causing Luke to sink into her stomach while she canceled out the damage.
"Rubber Balloon!" Hanabi shouted before she deflated herself while bringing her arm back. "And take this, Rubber Pistol!" Hanabi punched Luke in the chest sending him flying into a nearby building. While Hanabi retracted her arm the wall Luke crashed through was sent flying at her and crashed into her. She flew over the hospital and crashed into the ground.
Luke walked out of the house and spat out blood while wiping a stream of blood from his lip. He looked up and saw Hanabi land on the roof of the house and look down at him with a blank stare. Luke dug his foot into the ground while Hanabi grabbed onto the edge of the roof and leaned back. The two then shot off towards each other ready to fight again.
Ending Theme: Kimi ga Sora Datte (Mai-HiME)