Unknown Location, Kingdom of Vacuo
"I have no reason to forgive you anymore." Wren tossed his gauntlets over the building's edge. "You damn near killed a family member, knocked me out, kidnapped my friends and a bunch of other people, and threatened their lives. All for your own sadistic pleasure!?" he yelled.
"Pretty much, yeah. And don't forget that I tricked you into thinking I was a nice guy, too. And waaaaaay more you don't know."
"That's it. You're done. I can't let you walk free any longer. As a student huntsman, I'm obligated to ask you to stand down or I'll resort to force."
"Heh, you don't believe in that line, though, do ya?"
"You're right. I don't. So shut up and let's fight." Wren spit on the ground as he dropped into his stance.
"Ooh, the anticipation is killing me!"
"No, that would be me!" Wren yelled, launching forward, fists raised.
He brought his arms down, only for Ferris to duck out of the way. Wren was met with a heavy kick to the ribs, sending him careening towards the building's edge. Before he went over, Ferris' chain wrapped around his ankle, drawing him back into the psychopath's heavy iron boot.
Wren flashed green, the chain loosening for barely enough time to escape. He flickered backwards, firing off a volley of energy orbs. Ferris swung his chain, smacking all the orbs away. They blasted chunks out of the building's edges, heat sizzling around the impact.
He paused briefly, adjusting his glasses. Ferris took this opportunity to leap into the air, lobbing his chain at the brawler. Wren wove to the side, grabbing the chain and pulling Ferris towards him. Ferris simply brought his foot forward and sped up, forcing Wren to sidestep. Ferris hit the ground, shattering a section of the concrete floor. Wren shot a foot out, slamming into the side of Ferris' head, immediately following with a barrage of punches. He ended with an uppercut, launching the psychopath back into the air. Ferris hit the ground, bouncing back onto his feet and dashing forwards. He swung his chain in circles, blindingly fast like Wren's punches. The brawler met the combo with a flurry of blows, sending sparks around the building.
-XNTW-
"Wren and Ferris look evenly matched!" Khione cried from the main building.
"Ferris may be holding back…" Tobias said, crossing his arms. "We can't worry about 'em right now. We need to get these cages unlocked."
"Already ahead of you." Niko said, prying open the bars of what appeared to be his eighth cage.
The rest of the group got to work, opening cages with anything they could find. They had just finished the last cage, when…
"Not so fast, mongrels." Avalon's voice called out from the entrance to the room.
"You!" Tobias yelled.
"Yes. Me." Avalon said, another one stepping out from the hole in the wall created from their entrance into the room.
"What? There's two? How is that possible?" Azul said, incredulously.
"Three, actually. Semblances are fascinating things…" A third Avalon stepped from the hole created by Wren and Ferris' exit.
"That's-that's absurd! That kind of Semblance is super rare! Unless you…" Rai said, nocking an arrow.
"Copied it. Exactly. That's my ability." The three Avalon's said, voices overlapping. The additional copies blinked out of sight, reappearing around the first one. A fourth Avalon rose out of the ground in front of them. "And I intend to use all of yours as well." The Avalons stepped forward, shimmering and converging into one, even brighter Avalon. It smiled.
-XNTW-
Wren and Ferris stood at opposite ends of the building, both panting.
"Why… haah, haah… won't you… haah… just die already..?" Ferris wheezed.
"I… ain't done… 'till I'm dead and buried!" Wren said, bursting forward. His fists glowed bright, rapidly striking like a machine gun. Ferris, exhausted, held his chain taut, absorbing many of the impacts. Suddenly, Ferris' mask slammed into Wrem's head, knocking him away. Ferris caught the mask, slipping it over his face. Wren tumbled head over heels, hitting the edge of the building and nearly rolling over it. Ferris slowly approached.
-XNTW-
Rai drew his bowstring back and fired at Avalon. The glowing figure's arm moved faster than a bullet, catching the arrow before it hit.
"Gotcha!" the archer shouted as the arrow crackled with electricity. Avalon winced in pain, snapping the arrow in half and tossing it aside. In an instant, he was in front of Rai, lifting him by the neck.
"Electrokinesis. Very useful." Avalon said, tossing Rai aside like a ragdoll.
Faye and Lin each attacked from a distance with blasts of energy and water, respectively. Avalon appeared in front of them, attempting to grab both of the fighters. Faye leapt backwards and Lin melted into a puddle, reforming behind Avalon and striking him twice in the back. He showed no signs of stress from the attack, whirling around and grabbing Lin before she could melt again. She quickly began to slip from his fingers, but not before he had copied her Semblance.
"Hydro Form. Great for mobility and mixing up your foes." He blasted a stream of fire at the puddle, causing the still-reforming Lin to scream in pain as her body boiled. "Obvious drawbacks. I'll stick to teleportation."
"The World!" Faye cried out. Time ground to a halt. "Nine of Swords!" Several swords skewered Avalon from different angles as time slowly resumed. Avalon coughed up a pitch-black substance as he reeled from the impalement. The blades heated up, melting into a hot slag as Avalon stood upright.
He warped over to Faye, even faster than before.
"How troublesome." He grabbed her by the neck as she gasped for air. "Actualization of images. Such potential, and you waste it with playing cards. What a pity." He tossed her aside. Faye hit the ground, twitching occasionally.
Avalon quickly ran through Summer and Trace. "Warp Glyphs and Heat Control. Nothing gained."
"Super Hearing." He blasted Azul away. "'Charm Dance'? What an obscene name. It simply increases vulnerability to suggestion." Khione collided with the wall.
"Speed." Taiga slammed into the floor. "Explosion Manipulation." Kira fell to the ground. "Beast Transformation." Niko remained standing, eyes bright. "You're a mighty one, aren't you?"
For once, Niko smiled.
"Only when it counts." Suddenly, Azul's axe and Trace's zweihander sliced into Avalon's shoulders, Faye's sword emerging from his gut.
"W-what? But you were all-" Avalon stammered.
"Supposed to be out like a light. But you underestimated us." Faye said.
"We aren't gonna go down that easily. 'Specially not when we've got our lives to lose!" Trace yelled.
"No one hurts Khi and gets away with it!" Azul shouted.
"I-impossible!" Avalon stumbled as the blades were pulled from his torso, black ooze leaking from his wounds.
"Believe it, dickwad!" Sig said, dropping from the ceiling.
-XNTW-
Ferris lifted Wren up by the collar of his vest, tossing him across the rooftop. Wren shakily rose to his feet, only to be kicked down again by Ferris. Wren steadied himself, only to receive a heavy boot to the head, knocking his glasses off.
"You…" Wren surged upwards, shoving Ferris away. As he got closer, Ferris raised his arm, and…
"Guh-!" The bladed end of Ferris' chain sliced through Wren's eyes. He screamed in pain.
"I've had enough…" Ferris practically whispered. "I'm going to kill you… slowly, and painfully…" Wren continued screaming, leaving a trail of blood as he stumbled backwards.
From deep inside him, a voice seemed to call out. Is this how it ends?
No… It can't be. Not yet. Not to this psycho bastard.
I will not die. I WILL NOT DIE!
Wren chuckled. It quickly dissolved into full-on laughter.
"What's so goddamn funny!?" Ferris screeched. "You're done! I cut your damn eyes out! What can you possibly do now?"
Wren kept laughing.
"What are you going to do? What's your plan? Tell me! TELL MEEEEE!" Ferris broke down, yelling and screaming.
Wren's laughter faded. "What am I gonna do?" His eyes glowed a solid green.
"That's simple." The glow spread to the rest of his body, engulfing his right arm in a blinding light.
"Hit you harder." He left afterimages as he moved, slamming his fist into Ferris's chest, right below his sternum.
The energy left his body, flowing into Ferris' torso. It began expanding, filling the air with a high-pitched whine as it charged up.
"Shit-" Ferris croaked, as the energy exploded out of his back, punching a hole clear through his gut. He fell to the ground, dead. Wren collapsed onto his knees, hand tightening around Ferris' chain before his consciousness faded.
A/N: Hello! Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.
So! Here we are. Almost done with the first story arc of this fanfic! Only a few more chapters. Then, we begin the second arc. I'm not gonna spoil too much, but I've got some plans for the next series of chapters that I think you'll enjoy.
Stay tuned! Follow, favorite, and review!
That's it this week. Cyber, out!