Chapter 15
People were always scared of something they didn't understand. It was an understandable instinct ingrained into almost every creature. It should be no surprise then that Akuma came as a great shock to everyone.
Akuma himself would've found their reactions amusing, if not for the fact that his focus was completely on Octavio. His blood red eyes narrow, and his fists clench. Without turning, he says "One, get Three out of here. I am dealing with Octavio."
Callie nods rapidly, still shocked at this turn of events, and quickly runs to Amber. She helps the younger inkling up onto her feet, and helps her move away. Akuma can feel Amber's gaze on his back, but ultimately ignores it. He can deal with that later.
He steps forwards, cracking his knuckles, a fanged smirk beneath his mask. "I'm going to enjoy this SO very much."
Octavio looks at Akuma with a raised, non-existent eyebrow. "Defeat me? Really now?! And what can you do with no back up?"
Callie turns around, seeming to realize this. Amber looks at Akuma in worry, confusion, and fear. Akuma simply hangs his head, then laughs.
Octavio gets perplexed at this, and Akuma's laughter grows. He brings his hand up to his forehead, seemingly to control himself. Off in the distance, hidden in the audience, another set of blood red eyes narrow as they analyze the fight in front of him.
Octavio gets fed up with the noise and slams his wasabi on the turntable. "What?! What is so funny about your situation?!"
Akuma sighs, tears in his eyes. He looks up, a grin firmly plastered behind the mask. "What's funny is that you think I can't take you down. I have other methods of attack than just a brush."
Octavio raises his eye ridge once more in disbelief. Akuma smirks, noticing this clearly. "Don't believe me? Just watch then."
Akuma's grin suddenly vanishes, and ink seems to pour out of his body. The tank behind him was losing ink rapidly, showing the source of this ink. Akuma closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opens them, something else is seen. A tinge of gold, a ring around his eyes, made its way into his irises. He narrows his eyes, now devoid of tears, as the ink circles around himself like a tornado. "Let's go."
Then, without warning, Akuma blasts forwards. Octavio's eyes widen in surprise as Akuma appears under his mech. The ink around him moves to his fist, forming an ever-shifting ball in his clenched hand. Akuma throws the punch forwards, colliding with the barrier.
The invisible shield shimmers brightly, waves pulsating from the collision point. Ink splatters across the area, before falling off and rejoining the ink around Akuma's form.
Octavio tries to ram Akuma with the mech, but the inkling simply jumps back to his original location. He smirks and says "Just as I thought. An ink fluctuation barrier. Powerful in its own right, but can be taken out with a strong enough hit."
Octavio's eyes twitch, giving Akuma all he needs to know he is right. Akuma kneels down, then dashes forwards once more. Octavio was ready this time and launched four missiles at the inkling, trying to slow him down.
Akuma approaches the four converging bombs, and simply smirks. He raises a hand up in front of him, and the ink forms a shield. The missiles hit the shield, leaving no scratches, or even a splotch of ink, on Akuma's body.
Octavio growls and twists the turntable once more, pressing a few buttons in the process. More missiles shoot out, this time with double the speed.
Akuma's eyes narrow as he sees this. He knew that faster meant bigger, and bigger was bad. His shield wasn't very strong, and thus couldn't take big hits. Akuma slides to a stop, then jumps over the missiles.
The missiles turned slowly to hit him, but Akuma was ready. His brush coalesces into his hand and he wordlessly sends a wave of ink at the missiles. They begin short-circuiting, and then explode.
Akuma rights himself midair, landing behind the mech. The ink forms around his fists and he prepares another punch, when his eyes widen. Speakers behind the mech suddenly begin spurting ink. Akuma jumps back, and just in time to.
The speakers shoot out a massive stream of ink, propelling the mech forwards. The mech begins hovering over the lake of ink, and Octavio turns it around. He seemed confident, but inside, he was worried. That punch caused actual damage to the barrier, or else it wouldn't fluctuate like it did. Instead of showing his fear though, he says something else that was on everyone's mind. "What are you doing? How is the ink moving like that?"
Akuma raises his fist and says "This? Oh, this is a little trick I picked up after learning to make my brush with ink. It's just advanced ink manipulation. We inklings do it all the time for specials and bombs."
Octavio's eyes narrow and he says "But an inkling or octoling needs assistance from various means to get a special working. How are you doing that?"
Akuma shrugs and says "Alright, it isn't as strong as a special, but the principal still applies. Now, we done talking?"
Octavio narrows his eyes in response, and a killer wail lowers from beneath the mech. Akuma rolls his eyes and says "Give me a challenge though!"
Akuma instantly takes off running, the mech turning to try and keep up. The killer wail lets out a loud shriek, and the beam forms. Akuma smirks, stops his running, and jumps backwards. The beam sails by his face, and he stares, unflinchingly, at the high-powered death beam.
Akuma slides to a stop, then takes off towards Octavio once more. Octavio tsks, then presses some more buttons. Eventually, his tentacles land on a button. The fists on the mech shake, then launch forwards at incredible speeds.
Akuma's eyes widen, not expecting that, and he prepares himself for a jump. Akuma manages to clear the fist's area, and he narrows his eyes as he notices the fist leave a big puddle of ink.
He looks up once more, and his eyes widen in shock. The other fist was nearly on top of him! With no other options, Akuma brings his fist back, covers it in ink, and punches the fist. Hopefully, this'll stall the fist for him to-
His train of thought is derailed as, instead of the fist stalling, it gets coated in ink and sent flying backwards. Akuma and Octavio's eyes widen in surprise, more so for Octavio. He quickly presses a button and the fist detaches from the mech. With the same burst of speed as before, Octavio avoids the massive mechanical fist.
Akuma on the other hand simply watches the fist disappear into the ink. He suddenly smirks, and turns to Octavio. He notices another fist is in place, and his smirk only widens. "The fists are your weaknesses, ne?"
Octavio seems to sweat a bit, mainly to the fact that, yes, it was his weakness, but also he was put off that the guy named demon said ne.
Octavio shakes his head, then says "It won't matter. You're going down soon, VERY soon!"
Akuma's smirk just widens, and he motions his hand in a "then come get me" motion. Octavio's eye twitches, and he begins rapidly pressing buttons. This time, three killer wails lower, all trained at Akuma.
Akuma frowns, then begins running. He wasn't normally one for conversation when battling. He WAS Ika's bad side, after all. Akuma looks at the killer wails and sees them shaking, but the outer two were also moving their aim. Judging by their position, they would lock down either side of him.
Akuma just smirks and says "I see. Nice try, but it won't work!" The killer wails emit their final screech, and Akuma jumps into the air. He smirks widely beneath his mask, watching the beams pass below him, far out of reach.
Then, without warning, something hits his back. Akuma's mouth opens wide and he gags as his back arcs in a way it shouldn't. Akuma rockets down to the ground, clanging against the metal and falling into the beams.
Akuma's screams are heard from in the beams, but they soon die down. They reveal a beaten, bloodied Akuma, his eyes draining of the red. Armor completely torn, it showed Akuma's bare chest, and the large quantities of blood on it.
Soon, the red dissipates from Akuma's eyes, leaving them golden once more. Ika takes a shuddering breath, then coughs violently. Blood spews out of his mouth, and he grimaces as he watches Octavio.
Octavio strides over to his mech in his humanoid form. Ika's eyes narrow as he sees Octavio's boot covered in blood. So, that was how Akuma got defeated. Octavio must've jumped over Akuma while he was distracted and kicked him into the beams. Arrogance was a great distraction…
Ika curses himself for letting Akuma take control, but it is quickly drowned out as Octavio brings the mech over to Ika's prone form. Octavio, now as an octopus, readies a fist. "This is your end Four."
The fist launches, and Ika closes his eyes, bracing himself for impact. And he felt it, but it felt wrong. Suddenly, Ika's body is rolling across the arena, more pain flaring up, but not a deadly kind. Then, a scream rings out.
Ika's eyes snap open, and he looks at the screamer. It was Callie… and her leg was directly beneath the fist. Ika's eyes widen as he realizes that Callie saved his life. But now, she was injured.
Ika grits his teeth and yells "Leave her ALONE!" Ika grimaces at the deeper tone the last word had and thinks viciously "NO! Not this time! NOT AGAIN!"
Luckily, Ika was able to keep control. But, Akuma or not, Ika was too injured to stand. He falls down, watching in despair as the fist retracts.
Callie watches Octavio with wide, tear-filled eyes. She tried to save Ika, and she did, but now she was crippled. Her leg would heal if brought to a hospital, but right now, she was USELESS!
Octavio just chuckles and says "Oh well. If I can't have Four, then I'll settle for Number One."
Callie's eyes widen in fear as the fist is sent at her, mockingly slow. She watches it, and images flash in her mind. Some she could make out. Others, not so much. But there was one, one that took her attention. A flash of yellow.
Callie blinks, then realizes the yellow was real. She watches as the fist slows, brought to a near standstill by the barrage of yellow ink hitting it. Then, the fist suddenly recoils and flies backwards.
Everyone's eyes widen in surprise, Octavio's most of all, as the fist slams against the barrier. The barrier flashes red and pulsates violently, a crack forming where the fist hit. The crack fades, along with the barrier, but everyone could see the damage done.
Octavio's eyes go wide and he yells "WHO DID THAT?!" His eyes search carefully, before landing on someone, someone still standing. She was tired, and slightly injured, but still in battle shape.
Amber takes in a few more breaths before standing straight. She brandishes her Hero Shot, then readies it for fire. She didn't say a word, but the message was clear.
"I am ready to take you on, and I won't fail."
A/N
This fight really is something. I didn't expect it to be this long, but here we are! Also, props to anyone who finds the symbolism for Akuma in this chapter. Hint, it is right before the battle. Spot any differences to his previous showings.
Anyways, thanks for reading! And, if you can, please review! I do read them all and love to hear what you guys think. Thanks!
