Chapter 58: Hero Versus Hero
Dave's POV
"I… I didn't know that Primp's hero had such a depressing backstory, folks… But, anywho…" Oshare took the microphone back. "Hohow Bird, I had no idea… I think I'm beginning to understand you a little better. All I need to do now is to lead you down the path of which I think is best for you." I transformed. "It's going to be like this, hm? You sympathize with my story and want to change me for whatever you think is better? I don't think you know who you're talking to... I'm perfectly fine with how things are now! CAW! It's going to take an insane amount of convincing for me to change!" Hohow Bird screeched at me. "Ahem… Are you two finally done strictly talking? Can we start this match?" Oshare interrupted us. "Y-yes!" We both made our fighting stances. "Good. Then… BEGIN!" The skeleton jumped away. Hohow Bird started things off by taunting me. "Ooooh! The taunt is real here, ladies and gentlemen! Hohow Bird is getting under Dave's armor with that one!" Oshare commented. "You dare taunt me now of all times?!" I rushed over to attack. "Oops, it looks like you missed me!" He vaulted over my head and struck me from behind. "Gh-!" I felt the blow. "Huh… so that armor IS tough…" Hohow Bird noticed. "Get over here!" I turned around. He instinctively jumped away when I did so.
He's already outpacing me, this is not good at all. I need to do something about his speed, but what? "Hoho Kick!" He slammed his talons down on me repeatedly. I blocked them as best as I could, only getting knocked back. "Claw of Shadows!" I tried to get him with. "Heh. Your speed isn't bad, considering the bulk that is your armor… but, it's not good enough." Hohow Bird said with an arrogant-looking grin. "Tch." I gave up with that tactic after missing. "Face it, you'll never be fast enough to catch me! What you just went against was my speed at seventy-five percent. I suppose it's just barely too fast for you to keep up, hm?" He told me. "D-damn it… … Okay, then let's see you deal with my magic! Cryogenic Bomb!" I shot. "E-Uh-oh…" The bird couldn't get away from it in time. "Gotcha." I timed saying that with my attack landing. "Yikes! My tail feathers are frozen! Cold! Cold! COLD!" He screamed. "Yes! A hit!" I took that as a point of victory for me. "... Exotic Kick!" Hohow Bird really threw himself at me and I was not prepared for it. "Gh-gyaaah!" My chest was slammed by that and fell over. "Hoho Punch Special!" He began to punch me at the speed of a machine gun. These weren't just light punches either, they had actual force backing them up. "Gh-aaaarghh!" I felt. I could tell that my armor was getting dented from this, so I did something on the fly.
I grabbed one of his wings, tossed him into the air, then pushed my legs to where they would collide with his falling body. "OOOOW!" He flew high and far away from me before hitting the ground. "*pant pant* … How about that?" I got back up. "Geh… I'll admit, you caught me by surprise with that one… but I have suffered much worse before. Hrgh-! ... Come at me...! CAW!" He got up and dared me. "Alright then… IF YOU INSIST!" I used my wings to close in on him. "Oops, too slow again! Hoho Smash!" He smacked my helmet. "Gah!" I staggered for a bit. "Hoho Crush!" He grabbed one of my arms and attempted to break it. "Ah-! No!" I smacked my helmet against his head. "Ouch!" Hohow Bird stepped back. His forehead started to bleed a little and he noticed. "Hm… it'll heal itself…" He didn't care much for it. "Take this!" I went in to do some CQC. By chance, I managed to grab his wing and slam his body down on the ring. "Gh-! …Impressive… I didn't expect for you to be able to grab me while I dodged. ... It looks like I have to raise things up a notch! Ninety percent speed!" Hohow bird stood up and zipped about. S-shit! My eyes are starting to see him as somewhat of a blur, how can I stop him...?! "Hoho Slashing Kick!" He landed on top of my armor and moderately scratched it up with his talons. "...! How is this possible?! My armor, scratched up like this?!" I looked at its state. "Now, how about we take away your best form of speed, hm? Hrrrrgh-! Raaah!" Hohow Bird tore off one of the wings from my armor.
I not only felt this, but it was somehow extremely painful. "Gh- aaaaaaaaagh!" I screamed. Blood came out from where the wing was before it was ripped off. "*gasp* Dave's wing was just removed by our hero and blood is spilling onto the ring! Oh, the non-lethal brutality!" Oshare dramatically placed a hand on his forehead. I winced, staggered, and then fell over on my stomach. "*pant pant* D-damn… it… Why did that hurt… so much…?" I wondered. … Actually, I guess I never noticed it before… The wings that come with my big armor must connect themselves directly to my back. ...! No wonder there's now a burning sensation near the back part of my shoulder area! Son of a bitch! I pounded my fist on the ground and got up. "Well... I didn't expect you to get up so quick, Dave." The bird said to me. "You… you hold your beak! ... I'll never stay down!" I yelled. "That might be… but, will you ever HIT me good outside of a counterattack, boy? Not with only one wing to work with, I would say." He arrogantly said.
This made me grit my teeth for a bit. "Tch. Sure, keep bragging away… arrogance equals foolishness." I scoffed. "Hoho Sweep! Hyaah!" Hohow Bird punted the area near one of my ankles. "...! Woooah-ah- Oof-!" I fell on my side. "CAW! ... Take some more of my attacks!" He jumped on me. "NO! Here's what you get to do…" I grabbed his beak and didn't let go. "Mrfph?! Mrrrfph!" The bird struggled to free himself, but to no avail. "... You will hang there and take MY punches." I reeled in to do so. "...! Mrrrrrfph!" He sounded as though he was pleading for me not too. "Take this! And that!" I used my free arm to gut-punch him a bunch. "Rfph! Rrrrfph!" He screamed, then kicked the side of my helmet. "Gah! Damn it!" I staggered and accidentally let him go. "Oooough… that won't recover for a couple of days…" Hohow Bird rested a wing on his belly.
I maintained my decent stature and did my next attack. "Cryogenic Bomb!" I launched. The bird noticed it with widened eyes. "G-gyaaaaaah!" He screamed and dodged the icy blast. Shit! He's STILL acting too quickly for me to properly attack him? "Shame on you for attacking a hero when he's recovering… Time for me to put you, and your evil-looking armor away for good! ... CAW! Exotic... Kiiick!" He ran with what looked to be his max speed. "...! Sh-shit! I can't dodge that! ... Bu-! Buoooagh! *cough* *hack*" I coughed out a good amount of blood and fell down. "*gasp* Look at the speed and force of that Exotic Kick! It must have dealt serious damage to Dave! Is this the end of the Demonic Dragon Warrior's rise through the rounds?!" Oshare posed the question. "Only true heroes win in the end… And now, you will continue to lay down until the countdown reaches zero…" Hohow Bird told me. "*cough cough* … Damn this pain… … You have no idea how much this hurts. You think this makes you a hero? You think making somebody bleed a decent amount and not stopping until the last second makes you a good guy? Do you think it's fine to be so arrogant and prideful of your supposed position? I don't think so..." I glared at him, even though he couldn't see me doing that. "It's how I choose myself to be, that's what defines me." He leaned close to my head. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. O-." I stopped the countdown by getting up. "I… I… REFUSE to lose now!" I stood back up proudly, despite my major injuries.
This action of mine surprised Hohow Bird a lot. "H-how are you getting up like this?!" The bird couldn't comprehend this. "... *cough* … ...You really wanna know how… AND why? It's because... I want to save someone besides Draco, Hohow Bird!" I told him. "What...? What do you mean? Wasn't "saving" that girl I took from you the whole reason why you partook in this?" He stopped. "You… you wouldn't understand… *hack* Oouugh… … I need to win, so that I can stop an unknown… evil individual from killing somebody who's here...! A real hero would care for the people that he saves on a personal level, not just because he adores his job!" I had let him know. "Folks, what could Dave be possibly talking about?" Oshare wondered to the crowd. The crowd started to mumble as this came through. "I-I'm sure this is just some ploy to get me to lower my guard! Well, not anymore, I'm finishing you off for good, Dave! I'm ending this match!" Hohow Bird ran far away and charged up for something. "What's our hero doing now?" The skeleton asked. "Gh-! No! It's THAT attack!" I knew what it was.
I had to do something about this, otherwise I would've been in an even worse position."Ho… Ho… … Ho… Ho…!" The bird began. "I need to counter this...! … I think I- *cough* -know what I should do… Thun… der… … Thun… der…!" I started to charge up my new ranged attack. "Ho… Ho… … Ho… Hooo…!" He continued. "Thun… der… ...Thun… deerr…!" I continued as well. "HOHO BEEEEEEEAM!" The bird fired at me. "THUNDER CAAAAAANON!" I fired at his beam. Our attacks clashed fiercely, the audience was in pure shock. "Uh-oh! This could get destructive! GET DOWN LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Oshare laid low to the ground. The crowd did so as me and Hohow Bird continued to struggle it out. "Rrrrrrgh!" He grunted. "Gah! C'moooooooon!" I made one big push with my energy. "N-not yet!" The bird made a big push of his own. "Grrrrr!" I was pushed back several inches. I decided that it was time to make it or break. So, I put almost everything I had left into this last push. "Haaaaaaaaaaagh!" I screamed loudly.
Thanks to that, I was pushing his beam back. "Wh-what?!" He exclaimed. "RRAAAAAAAAAH!" I continued to scream. "No. No. NOOOOOOOO!" Hohow Bird's beam gave in and he was caught in my Thunder Cannon. "WOAH! Tthis is an intense battle here, folks! This isn't just a match anymore, it's a full-on battle!" The skeleton noted. "*pant pant* … Jesus… I'm drained…" I said to myself. "I-I'm… still in this…" Hohow Bird slowly got back up. "WHAT?! ... Y-you should be paralyzed by my Thunder Cannon! Impossible!" I was taken aback. "Heh. *pant* ... My feathers don't really conduct electricity, boy… nor does the skin underneath them. Sure, I definitely still felt that. The damage was major, but I'm somewhat okay..." He lightly chuckled in pain. "God... dammit… Okay, if that's how you want to play this game… I'll play. … Just warning you ahead of time… the more that somebody puts me on the ropes, the more I bounce back. This is my creed as a hero... pushing myself forward to save the friends that I care about…! Say, remember when you mentioned that news report on TV, Hohow Bird?" I prepared myself. "Yes... what about it?" Hohow Bird wondered.
I prepared myself to tell him what I needed to. "Well, I recall you saying that you wanted to meet that one attorney. ... Guess what? I'm the one who was able to have those spies be sent to prison. I was at the Puyo Isle Resort for vacation when I happened to get caught up in solving that murder." I told him the truth. "Wh-whaaaaaaat?! … You're not joking, right?" He wanted me to confirm. "It's no joke, Hohow Bird. I was solving the murder, but not because I wanted to catch the spies… I didn't know about them until I was far into the case. I did it because I wanted to save an innocent girl from being falsely labeled as a murderer." I explained. "N-no way… then you're…! ..." He stopped. "Now, how about I win this by trying something brand new? Heh. I hope you have learned a couple of things from this, Hohow Bird… because now I want us both to please the crowd with a spectacular finish." I panted.
Technically, what I was about to do wasn't brand new, but I never physically did it in practice. I only have done it when I was in that game world with Ringo, Lemres, and Sig. "I see… ... I think I have finally seen you for who you really are. Dave, the Demonic Dragon Hero… you're on! I would like to give these people a show that they'll never forget!" Hohow Bird smirked. "Then give me all you've got, Hohow Bird! SHOW ME YOUR RESOLVE!" I pumped myself up. "CAW! You asked for it... AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE IT!" He screeched. "Folks, this match is reaching its built-up climax! Prepare your eyes for the spectacle that we are about to witness!" Oshare said to the crowd. "RRRGH! SPIRALING DRAKE!" I exclaimed. "HOHO DYNAMIC DRILL!" Hohow Bird exclaimed just as loudly. I performed my attack just as I did in that game world, except with only one working wing... and then charged towards the bird as he did the same. He spun himself around with such speed, his beak had acted like a drill machine.
After that, he launched himself at me. We collided with such force, sparks began to fly from our clashing. "C'mon, is this the best you can do?!" I pushed. "I'm just… getting STARTED!" He pushed back. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is anyone's match at this point! Who will beat out the other's attack?! Dave, the Demonic Dragon Warrior... or Hohow Bird, the hero of Primp Town?!" The skeleton hyped the audience up for this legitimately awesome moment. "I have my resolve right here!" Hohow Bird continued to push me back. This pushing between the two of us went on for a couple more minutes. "... ... I'm glad to have made you who you are right now, Hohow Bird. This moment has been fun and intense as hell, but all good things… MUST COME TO AN END! YYAAAAAAAAAAH!" I powered through, thinking about my friends and the what if scenario that could happen to Rulue. "GYAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" He screamed. Hohow Bird crashed onto the ring hard and laid there as a cloud of dust appeared around him.
A few seconds passed as the dust slowly dissipated. "... I-is it over?" Oshare looked in front of himself. "... *pant pant* That shit was wild…" I landed decently hard on the ring, then stood up with some struggle. The state of the bird became clear to everybody after the dust went away completely. "... H-Hohow Bird is knocked unconscious... Dave takes the win and moves on to the final round where he will face Rulue! But first, let's take a look at this AWESOME instant replay of our two semifinalists clashing!" The skeleton screamed in awe. *major crowd cheer* The replay appeared and it looked even more amazing from a viewer's perspective. "Wow…" I was completely awestruck by it. I saw Hohow Bird being dragged away by his healer, before seeing my friends in the crowd jump for joy. I gave them a wave of acknowledgement and began walking to the behind-the-scenes area. "Folks, we will give Dave thirty minutes to recuperate before he goes to face the seemingly unstoppable Rulue. So, stay tuned for that!" Oshare said before I entered the area. While I was there... I came to Samurai Mole for a bit and wished Nasu Grave to be okay, keeping my promise.
Amitie's POV
None of us could believe what the heck just happened. Dave and Hohow Bird fought their hearts out and we were left speechless for a minute. "That… WAS SO COOL!" I squealed. "Huh. I didn't know Dave could do that... but yeah, that was an awesome display." Ex agreed. "With that kind of fight in him… he might be able to last against Rulue for the desired amount of time." Satan had confidence in that statement. "Dave did that one move in that game world some of us went inside…" Sig remembered. "Yeah, he had done somethin' like that… but holy shit, it's impressive that he was able to do it here." Lemres chuckled. "Huh? Game world? What the heck are you…?" I looked at the two. "We'll… tell you about it later, Amitie." Ringo told me. "Uh… okay?" I scratched my head in confusion. "*swoon* This is why I love Dave… he took a page from me as a badass…" Feli smiled. "Yeah, from you bein' lil' Ms. Badass, right?" Lemres chuckled some more. "Lemres, you're making this embarrassing for me…" Feli blushed as she mildly scolded him. "Feli, you look cute when you're blushing." Lidelle softly giggled. "Oh-hoho! Check it out, we've got a badass over here! Hehehe!" Lemres joked about. "Lemres…! Oooooh! I swear to-!" Feli was stopped. "Alright… that's enough, guys." Klug separated the two. "To think, Dave pulled something like that off with only one wing…" Ex continued to be impressed. "Raffina, what do you think about what just happened?" I asked her. "Oh, um… it was cool, Amitie." She said.
Raffina… even I can tell that you have something else on your mind… and I think I know what it is too. "Yo, Dark Mage. What did ya think of Dave's display?" Lemres asked. "It was… flashy, Comet Warlock. I'm not sure whether I should like it, or still be completely jealous of Dave's constant improvements." Schezo told him. Yep, Schezo still does not like him, that bit remains true. Maybe I should get him to be real friends with Dave. He doesn't hate him like he did before, but Schezo seems to not care for him at all. And, that's just kinda mean... "Sch-Schezo?" I got his attention. "*sigh* What is it, girl? Can't you see that I don't really want to talk right now?" He glared at me. "J-just one thing, and I'll leave you alone." I promised. "... Okay. Now, like I asked you before: What is it?" He nodded, then wondered. "Don't you wanna be friends with Dave? He's… just so cool." I brought up.
Schezo began to lose it somewhat. "... The fact that he's so cool with everybody else is precisely why I distance myself from him! He steals all of the glory I would get, because of that damn bulky armor of his! No… not JUST because of that… but also because of how powerful he became in such a short period of time! Think about it: He's only been like this for a few months, and he's already one of the strongest people I know. It makes me sick... I had to work my ass off for YEARS to become "pretty strong"! But, in Dave's case: He was just "gifted" with the strengths that a Demonic Dragon Warrior has! Do you see how and why I have been so jealous of him for months?! It took me seven fucking years for me to be renowned for my dark magic! And even then…! … When I was dragged in to fight Vyle with you all, that bastard of a vampire lord easily broke the Sword of Darkness. It's because of Dave's gifted power that I remain jealous of him… and he's the reason why my go-to blade is gone now! … *sigh* Don't mistake my feelings to be that of hatred… they're not. I do have a level of respect for Dave that popped up more recently, but that's the ONLY thing making me not hate him. I hope you realize that…" He ranted on before concluding.
Is he for real…? "... Schezo, you need to stop being selfish and appreciate that Dave is this strong! I understand your jealousy, but that needs to go away. That guy is fighting so hard for all of us, even for you. After all, you still don't have your replacement sword, do you?" I told him. "What?! Why would he fight for me when he has all of you to support him?!" Schezo argued. "Because, he knows that you are strong with the dark magic that you COULD use. And, he knows that you fight well, Schezo." I answered him. "That's right! Why would he make himself go through so much trouble, just to have you help out? Surely, he knows that you are a valuable asset to this team here." Raffina added. "Well, when you put it like that… BAH! No! My jealousy won't just go away because of Dave's supposed "need" for me! Besides, I fight for myself and for my OWN reasons. I don't do so for the sake of others, alright? Hmph." Schezo crossed his arms and turned away from us. Fine, be like that… meanie. Seriously, why does he gotta be like that? Arle is gonna have to scold him after I tell her about this. "Sig, do you think Dave is cool?" I randomly asked him. "Huh…? Um… I guess? I do like how tough he is." He said with a small, blank smile.
Author's Notes: Dave won in his semifinal match against Hohow Bird, finally getting through to Primp's recognizable hero. The match ended in an intense clash that hyped the entire crowd. He may have scored another victory, but it was quite hard for him. Additionally, things are not over yet... Dave still has to fight Rulue in the final round, an opponent who has not taken a bit of damage ever since the start. Also, Rulue has eliminated every opponent she faced in one attack (except Jarne) before now. Our hero knows that it will be so difficult for him to convince her to be helped by him and the others, let alone, win this final bout. However, he still believes that he can do it. Everything rests on his shoulders here... How will Dave overcome this situation? Next chapter, Chapter 59: The Final Match.
