Chapter Five: Vs Hazel
Oscar rushed forward, thrusting his hand forward as a stream of air ripped through the space between him and Hazel. The giant of a man stared him down, looking like he wanted a battle. He held his hands out as dust began to form around them. He breathed in the dust, his chest swelling from the amount of air he was taking in.
"Take this, you bastard!" Oscar's battle cry echoed throughout the cavern. "Razor Aura Wind!"
The wing glowed a green color, bursting with Aura as it streaked toward Hazel like a bolt of lightning. Hazel spit out the dust he had absorbed, the wind stopping against the force of the dust, which stopped the wind.
"B-But, how did you stop that?" Oscar's eyes widened as his attack failed against the giant of a man.
"Did you seriously think we didn't know how to counter your abilities?" Watts chuckled, staying for a moment longer than Salem, watching the fight with amusement. He seemed to take a twisted enjoyment of Oscar's shock and horror.
"That's a lame attack," Maria said, rolling her eyes. "Is that all you can do, playboy?"
"You stay out of this, you dumb bitch!" Oscar shouted, turning to Maria.
"At least I could do a better attack than a stupid burst of wind!" Maria said.
"Oh?" Oscar countered. "Well, fucking show it!"
"Nah, you just keep going ahead with your thing so I can show you up when I'm done."
"Such pitiful humans," Watts chuckled once again. "Fighting amongst themselves when they are in mortal danger."
"Focus, you two," Raven chided the two humans.
"If you need a moment, I will grant it to argue," Hazel stood with his arms crossed. "I want your full attention."
"You'll get it!" Oscar turned to him, rushing forward, his Aura charged in his hand. He pulled back his fist for a punch. Hazel met his punch with one of his own. Oscar felt his bones beginning to crack and crumble as the force of Hazel's blow was stronger than his own. He tried to use his Aura to damage Hazel, but he couldn't seem to make contact. He gasped as he saw the Aura he was channeling into his punch moving over Hazel like a ripple, as if it was moving around him.
"I-It's not making contact?" Oscar gasped, the pain from his bones cracking beginning to catch up to him. He finally moved his hand, striking with a kick to the same effect. He tried to throw punches and kicks, each making no real mark on Hazel.
"It's like Lionheart's scarf," Maria observed. "It repels Aura. The only way to deal damage to him directly is from within."
"Then, Oscar's going to have a hard time if his attack can't get close," Raven took a step backward. "There's got to be a way to help him."
"Perhaps you would like to give up now?" Hazel asked Oscar, who had stopped his barrage of attacks to look at him. "You can't touch me in your current state, but had you trained, you would have been far greater."
Hazel's body began to glow a red color as he levelled a kick to Oscar's gut that made a resounding crack. Oscar's face was frozen in an expression of pain and shock as the kick connected.
"Fire Dust Blaze Kick!" was the last thing he heard before his body went flying back toward Raven and Maria. Maria reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him back and stopping his momentum.
"Wow, you got your ass kicked," She smirked. "But, I suppose that's because you're just not as good as me. Watch a Rose take care of this."
"It seems as if we have tested the full might of the Aura wielders," Watts scoffed. "Such a pitiful end to such a tribe. Well, let's go. If you're going to kill him, then kill him."
"Hey, you've got one more Aura wielder to deal with," Maria stood up, pointing at Hazel. "Why don't you worry about quaking in fear at me before you decide you've beaten a bunch of has-beens like Oscar the Grouch here. I'll give you a real lesson with a special Aura skill of my own."
And, by some strange explanation, Maria pulled out a pair of metal poles with a very long chain connecting them and metal blades like scythes from somewhere (likely the same place she'd pulled a gun and grenades from), swinging them around like a child trying to imitate something they'd seen some reptile on TV do, looking like an idiot. One of the scythe poles smacked her in the face, causing her to jerk her head back, whining slightly.
"Well, I'll work on that," Maria shrugged, a nonchalant grin on her face. "After all, it doesn't take much to show up ol' Oscar here. But, I wanted to look super cool, so I made this puppy before we left to come here. I call it Life and Death. Now, big boy, since it seems you're not DTF, then I suppose I'll have to beat you up and send you packing so I can get back to New Vale and find some hot chick to help me get over it."
"Maria, be professional here," Raven groaned. "What would Tai say?"
"Grampa Tai!?" Maria quickly looked around frantically. "Where!?"
"We're fucked," Oscar hid his face.
"Now, don't count her out yet," Raven looked at Maria. "She's got plenty of things she can do."
Maria walked up to Hazel, letting her Aura crackle a little. The Grimmlord looked down at her with disgust.
"Such a creature calls herself a warrior?" He narrowed his eyes. "Pitiful excuse for a trained member of Aura."
"Hey, I'll have you know I am a hot piece of ass where I'm from!" Maria pointed at him with the weapon, putting on a pout. "Don't judge a book by its cover, asshole. Remember that lesson and remember my name; Maria Calavera Rose and I will be the one to bring you down!"
At this, Hazel began to laugh, Watts joining in. They laughed as if they had never laughed before. It was as if Maria had told the funniest joke known to man and they had never heard such a joke in their lives.
"Oh, you think I'm funny, do you?" Maria pouted slightly, crossing her arms. "Well, I suppose I'll have to teach you a real lesson you won't soon forget."
With that, Maria got into a fighting stance, holding the blades and swinging them around. With that, the fight started. She moved to Hazel, swinging the dangerous weapon and sending her Aura through it like a sort of lightning rod. She forced it out as she began to swing the weapon in a powerful arc, wide and deep cutting.
Hazel however, blocked them, knocking Maria back with his massive arms. It was surprising that he was able to block them so well, despite them being covered in Aura. But, he was deflecting every single swing Maria landed. Maria seemed to be getting frustrated, swinging in a fury and frenzy, her speed and power seeming to increase, but her technique seeming to drop off. It was a strong tradeoff in her frustration as she continued to swing blow after blow onto the mammoth of a man.
Hazel didn't seem to be having any trouble at all, starting to even show a bored look on his face.
"Is this all you have?" He asked Maria, swatting one of the blades away, causing it to embed itself into a column behind him. Maria seemed irked, but not completely discouraged by this.
"Oh no, look, I can't use my weapon because one half of it is stuck," Maria whined in a dramatic voice. "Looks like you've got me."
"This is just pathetic," Hazel stood over her, taking a step closer. "If you're not going to fight seriously, then just die already."
"This moron," Oscar growled, clutching his ribs as he hissed in pain from the attack. "But, I'll give her some credit that she has managed to last. But, only because she has that long reaching weapon."
"Oh, but what fun would that be?" Maria shrugged nonchalantly. "I mean, besides, you're right where I want you."
Hazel's eyes narrowed, both in an analytical sense and in a curious sense. Maria smirked, pulling hard on the chain connecting her weapons together, causing it to dislodge, but not before pulling her hard forward. She shook the chain in such a way that it caused a loop to form, the loop encircling Hazel and wrapping around his arms. Maria used her momentum to pull the blade in her hand back, slicing a clean cut across the giant man's face.
"My… My face!" Hazel exclaimed, putting his hands to his face. He looked down at the small trickle of blood on his face. It was a black substance not unlike that of a typical Grimm's blood, but seemed even more dark and menacing. Maria had taken hold of her other blade, beginning to slash at Hazel over and over and over again. Her blades made contact, not making such deep cuts, but they all drew blood. Hazel's body was rocked with the force of the blows, smacked around by the force Maria put into the blows.
"This is for Willow!" She shouted, pulling both back and slashing for Hazel in a cross pattern, a yell of victory in her strike. She stopped, panting as she looked at Hazel with a cautious, but still triumphant face. The giant of a man was on one knee, covering his face with a hand.
"You have done well," Hazel looked up at the silver eyed woman. Maria almost took a step back as he stood again, the cuts and marks on his face healing. "No one has ever cut my face before. It would seem that there are humans that have great power here. However, this is all the freedom you shall have in this battle."
"Excuse you?" Maria pointed, holding a scythe in each hand. "I just smacked you around like a rag doll and you want to say that you were pitying me or something?"
"I allowed you to have the strikes and to attack me because you had proven your worth by striking my face. You were not able to mortally wound me in that time, so this means you have failed. Now, I must kill you so that my masters will be able to continue our conquest with no interference from the Aura Tribe."
"Ha! I'd love to see you prove that! Put your money where your mouth is, hunkalicious."
Hazel said nothing, simply taking a deep breath and summoning a stream of red fire that razed the ground in front of him, streaking toward Maria. The silver eyed woman jumped high, barely managing to avoid the fire, but just barely.
"Amazing that you were able to dodge my Fire Dust Flamethrower. However, with you in the air, you will not be able to dodge the next one."
He took another deep breath, letting loose with another stream of fire. Maria shifted her weight, throwing the blades of her weapon at Hazel, the blades catching the ground beside him. She pulled hard, her body dropping almost immediately as she dove under the flames that threatened to turn her into a charred Rose.
However, Hazel's foot was there to catch her in the ribs, slamming into her with the force of a train. Maria felt the snapping of at least three ribs, most likely more. Hazel's fist slammed into her face at the same time.
"Fire Dust Fire Punch!" Hazel's punch sent Maria crashing to the ground near Hazel, cratering the ground with the force of her impact.
When Hazel looked down, he saw the bruised and battered form of Maria laying face ground on the ground, unmoving.
"Maria!" Raven called out. "Maria, wake up!"
"She is unconscious," Hazel's attention was turned to the two of them. "You two, however, are my immediate targets, as short lived as you may be."
As injured as he was, Oscar stood in front of Raven, a defiant look in his eyes as he stared Hazel down.
"I will not let you hurt her," Oscar said. "Miss Branwen is not your victim. I am."
"I will not matter," Hazel spoke evenly, no emotion in the sound of his voice. "I will kill her eventually, so I suppose I will have to kill you both."
It was at that moment that Oscar noticed Maria slinking away with her strained effort. Hazel turned around to look at the body, not noticing it crawl away. In fact, the body was motionless as he looked at it.
"That stupid, disloyal bitch!" Oscar's bitter thoughts returned to the forefront as he saw what sort of person Maria really was. "And, she dares to call herself some sort of hero. Even if she did manage to do more in this fight than me, she's such a disgusting piece of shit for abandoning Raven."
"Be safe, Maria," Raven watched carefully as Maria began to slink away once again, moving slowly in the direction of the elevator they saw earlier. "Don't worry about me, just save yourself. You're our only hope."
Maria began to carefully crawl away once more, moving toward the elevator. Hazel turned to look once more, but Maria's body had stopped moving, facedown as if dead.
Oscar summoned up as much Aura as he could muster. If Maria was going to be a coward and leave Raven to die, he would protect her. In his mind, it was a twofold response. On one hand, he wanted to prove himself better than Maria, that bitch; on the other, his honor wouldn't let him abandon a lady when she was in need of help like Raven. Besides, she was the only living person who knew his grandfather. She may be able to let him understand more about him.
"You will not leave this cavern," His Aura was flickering as he felt the burns. He had nowhere near the strength necessary to defeat this Grimmlord, but he was for damn sure going to go out fighting, unlike the coward Raven spoke so highly of.
He once again saw Maria's body moving, this time having reached the elevator and crawling in. Hazel leapt backward, landing on top of the elevator and tearing the roof off. Maria rolled over in pain, looking up at him.
"And, here I acknowledged you as a warrior!" He spat in disgust. "You are a true coward and I will give you a coward's death!"
"Too bad you fell for my awesome and brilliant plan," She chuckled, pain wracking her face as it hurt to do so. She kicked the lever for the elevator to start moving downward, breaking it so that it could never stop again.
"I see," Hazel mused as the elevator sped downward. "You acted the part of a coward to save your friends. It would appear I misjudged you, Aura tribe. You are more honorable than I thought. Not a fair player, but certainly not a dishonorable one. Perhaps there is a fight to be had here."
"You won't be fighting long," Maria strained as she looked up.
"Oh?" He asked, peering down. "Was it because you were going to cut the cords?"
He took the elevator cables, tearing them apart as the elevator sped even faster. He still stood on the top, Maria's eyes widening as she looked up at him.
"Or, was it the incendiary explosive you have behind your back?" He pointed at Maria, who gasped. "I am able to read you like a book despite your skills."
Maria narrowed her eyes. She knew the incendiary grenade was a last resort, but she wasn't about to use it while he was fully aware. She pushed the button on it, setting the timer on the device. It wasn't going to be pretty for her, but she hoped that the super Grimm could be killed by the device.
"Even if you were to defeat me here," Hazel spoke with clarity and authority. "Master Watts is as powerful as I and Mistress Salem far more dangerous and powerful than I or him. You have no chance to stop us, Aura Tribe."
"We'll see about that," Maria then remembered the fact that the elevator was racing toward the ground at an alarming rate. She didn't know how far down the shaft went, but she certainly didn't put it past the Atzis to build a shaft to the center of the earth to find something for their war coming up, especially if they were as insane as Polendina was.
Maria had to admit she missed the ginger. She was certainly more fun to be around than Oscar, which really wasn't saying much. But, Maria herself had to admit that the loyalty to Atlas that Polendina demonstrated could not be ignored. It was strange to think about her like that, but she supposed it was because she knew she was going to die in a few seconds anyway. Either the fall or the grenade would kill her, but she knew that she had little chance otherwise of taking out this Grimmlord.
"Let me guess what your next plan is," Hazel kicked the elevator door open. "You plan to open the door and leave the grenade with me to kill me."
The Grimmlord kicked the side of the elevator, which bent it and caused it to scrape on the wall and jostle around. It couldn't have been much further to the ground now and Maria knew she didn't have a whole lot of time. She needed to quickly think of one last plan to escape this and win.
But, it was too late. The impact of the elevator hitting the ground knocked her into the air to land painfully on her back. The grenade bounced up into the hands of Watts, who was standing next to Hazel at this point. Maria looked up, her battered body refusing to move on its own as they smashed through a wall and into the outside air. Watts looked at the device, an almost curious look on his face. The grenade was about the size of a softball, a little bigger even, capable of turning most any rock to rubble.
"Such a strange explosive," He opened his mouth like a snake, his jaw unhinging almost. He pushed it down his throat, seeming like he pushed it into his stomach. The device exploded, causing his body to swell for a second before returning to its normal look. "But, I suppose it wouldn't work on us like you intended. Now, we should kill you to prevent you from being trouble for us in the future."
"But, you wouldn't want to miss out on the chance to fight me at my best, wouldn't you?" Maria's mouth moved before her brain had fully caught up.
"You mean this wasn't your best?" Hazel asked. "Then, why do you seem so defeated?"
"You said no one's ever his your face before," Maria smirked. "I bet that in a month, I could train and beat you in one on one combat. Or, are you chicken?"
"It is a bluff you've worked on marvelously," Watts rolled his eyes. "But, you are such a pathetic excuse for an Aura wielder that there's no point in training for even a thousand years. You couldn't defeat us."
"Then, what's the harm of giving me a month? What harm could it pose to you then?"
"You know, she's right," Hazel nodded. "I am truly wanting to battle her as a warrior after she's trained a bit."
"You and your warrior's spirit will be the death of you," Watts sighed. "Well, do what you must. I will agree that this one in particular has intrigued me."
Hazel reached down and placed his hand on Maria's chest.
"Looks like you can't resist my good looks and charms," The weak chuckle came from Maria as she suddenly felt a pressure on her heart.
"I have given you a gift as a symbol of our fates as warriors," Hazel stood up. "This ring around your heart will explode and kill you in thirty three days if you do not remove it with the antidote from my necklace."
"Wh-What?" Maria looked down at her heart, feeling the ring around her heart, but not being able to see it made it that much more disconcerting. She gasped once again as Watts moved closer, placing a hand on her throat. She felt something else materialize around her throat.
"I have placed one around your windpipe," He spoke in his analytical tone. "I am also curious to see how you will progress as a warrior. Do not disappoint me or I will have to destroy your family first."
"You'll pay for that," Maria tried to move to strangle him, but couldn't.
"That's the spirit. Salem, do you want to give your own ring?"
Maria's eyes widened as she looked up to see the leader of the Grimmlords, Salem, staring down at them, her blonde hair flowing in the breeze of the outside air.
"I will not," She spoke with authority. Maria felt her blood run cold at the tone. She couldn't place a finger on it, but she really didn't want to be around her any more than she had to. There definitely had to be a reason that someone as puny looking (comparatively speaking as she was a good deal taller than even Summer Rose, according to how tall grampa Tai described her) as her could have these two willing to follow any order. Though, as Maria looked at her, all she could feel was a strange feeling she didn't like. There was something far darker within her than anything she had ever faced before. "It seems like a waste of my time. You two, we will need to quickly move to our new base if we are to begin looking for the stone."
"We shall meet again in thirty three days," Hazel looked down at Maria, nodding in respect as he and Watts left.
With the three Grimmlords gone, Maria felt her adrenaline fading and the pain returning as she groaned in pain, knowing this would take quite a bit of Aura to fix. She was just about to lose consciousness when she saw Oscar and Raven standing next to her. Oscar still seemed to be suffering from the effects of the fire, concentrating his Aura to help heal him.
"That was fucking stupid of you," Oscar chastised her. "But, even I can admit when I'm wrong. I have a lot more respect for you than earlier. I understand you did this to protect us. I do see that your methods are odd, but they do not mean you are a dishonorable person.
"But," Raven interjected. "This still leaves us with the matter of what we will do about these Grimmlords."
"I think I know someone who can help," Oscar crossed his arms. "She taught me the way of Aura when I was a younger man. I'll need to let her know we're coming."
"I need to get back and let grampa Tai know I'm alright," Maria muttered. "He's got to be worried sick. But, I only have thirty three days to train to get stronger."
"I'll be heading back there and I'll let him know," Raven smiled. "You two get to your new trainer. I know my way back from here."
It was three days later when Raven made it back, knocking on the door of the apartment that she had told Tai to reside at while they were there in New Vale. Tai opened the door, his face showing shock as if he'd seen a ghost. He wrapped his arms around the Branwen, holding her tight.
"I thought you were dead," He whispered.
"I'm alright," Raven pat his back. "Maria sends her regards."
"Where is Maria?" Tai asked. "Why isn't she with you?"
"Something is coming and Maria has been called to action," Raven sighed, looking down. Tai went quiet, but nodded.
"I suppose the Rose blood in her is going to get her wrapped up in some business like that," The choked voice made Raven's heart ache. "It happened to her grandmother and her father. Certainly, it would be stupid of me to not assume that it would not happen to her as well. When will she be back?"
"I'm not sure," Raven sighed. "I have faith that this Rose will make it back to us this time."
"What makes you say that?" Tai asked.
"I know who she's going to in order to train to become stronger," Raven spoke softly.
"Wait, you don't mean…" Tai began.
"Yes, her," Raven nodded. "I suppose it was inevitable that she would meet her. But, this gives me confidence. Perhaps fate will not take Maria from us like it did Summer and Carmine the Second."
And, so fate has once again beckoned to a Rose, producing a call to action to destroy the evils of the bone mask. But, who would this teacher be? We shall find out who will help guide this Rose to her fate.