Name: Rayfa Padma Khura'in
Vehicle: Zi'pi (This rickshaw has been a part of Rayfa's life for as long as she could remember. It was in Zi'pi that Rayfa was taken to Tehm'pul Temple in order to perform her first Dance of Devotion, to the Hall of Justice to perform her first Divination Séance, and to the Bazaar on countless occasions to have some magatah'men with Inga in order to celebrate a successful Divination Séance. So suffice to say, Rayfa has a lot of good memories with Zi'pi that'll hopefully get her through this competition.)
Vehicle Armor: 1/5 (Even though Zi'pi is unmatched in terms of nostalgic value for Rayfa, it still doesn't change the fact that it's a wooden rickshaw that's being pulled by a servant, Roo'ner. As such, something can easily go wrong. We brought this up when Rayfa requested for Zi'pi to be her vehicle, but that only resulted in her calling us nincompoops and punching several of the interns.)
Vehicle Speed: 2/5 (Given Rayfa's short temper, it should come as no surprise that she hates Zi'pi's slow speed, but despite being able to control many aspects of her nation, she can't change the fact that Roo'ner is only human.)
Vehicle Handling: Sluggish (Would you expect anything less from a servant who has to pull around a bulky rickshaw containing an adolescent girl who keeps yelling at him to run faster while trying to hit him with her staff?)
Special Weapon: 3/5 (Unyielding Rage- Like her biologic father, when Rayfa gets angry, things get done, lest anyone who stands in her way gets taken down, and this competition is no exception. Through the use of harsh insults and a few swings of her staff, Rayfa's able to motivate her Roo'ner to perform better and double Zi'pi's stats.)
Bio: Greetings, I am Rayfa Padma Khura'in, the crown princess and Royal Priestess of the great nation of Khura'in. I understand that being in the presence of one such as myself can be quite overwhelming, so I will give you a moment to regain your composure… Better? Good. Up until recently, my country was entangled in a web of corruption and deceit, but thanks to the assistance of two defense attorneys, one a barb-headed man and the other a horn-headed gnome- I am well aware that Horn Head is a man as well, but with a forehead so large and a body so small, I wouldn't be surprised if he lived in a large mushroom- my country is free to walk a just path. However, I am still haunted by the lies of the past. But once I win this competition, an easy task for someone such as I, Drill Head will have no choice but to help me find peace.
Despite being convicted for murder, Kristoph never considered himself to be a fan of physical violence, believing it to be beneath a man of refinement and class such as himself. Why break a person's body with your hands when you can achieve the same effect and more by breaking their spirit with your mind? Not only do you get the satisfaction of proving your intellect as opposed to looking like some barbarian Neanderthal who hits first and asks questions later, but you also inflict psychological scars on your enemy that will often haunt them for life, as opposed to bodily injuries that will typically heal with the simple passage of time. But arguably the best part about using psychological violence is that it's so much harder to prove than the physical kind. For example, if someone hits you in the eye, you can easily prove it by showing any bruising or swelling, but if you fear for your life because someone constantly gives you death threats, they can't confirm it without recordings, and even then, if caught, the person in question can simply write it off as a case of dark humor. Perhaps that why the demented host noticed during his time in the legal world that nine out of ten culprits whose crimes were proven were men. After all, Kristoph's father always warned him to never underestimate an angry woman, for while an enraged man will beat you to within an inch of your life, he'll typically leave your humanity intact, whereas a woman will devour your soul with a spoon and leave you an empty husk of your former self.
However, even though physical violence isn't the most practical form of revenge, Kristoph can't deny how good it can feel during the heat of the moment, the way your anger flows out of you like a raging river as you bring your foe to their knees. This is how Kristoph felt when he murdered Zak Gramarye, and this is how he currently feels as he slashes at a rock with a crudely-drawn picture of Phoenix on it with claws emerging from his perfectly manicured fingernails made of a periwinkle-colored energy that he created with his powers, not unlike a cat attacking its owner's best curtains after being forced to take a bath.
"Excuse me." Rayfa states in an irritated tone as she scowls at the host of Debauched Steel, who keeps his back turned to her as he focuses on slashing at the rock.
For seven years, Kristoph had to restrain himself from doing the exact same thing to his arch nemesis in order to maintain the façade of friendship. But little did the ex-attorney know that Phoenix never felt a single iota of friendship towards him and was merely toying with him, merely humoring his plan as he plotted his revenge in secret. If Kristoph would have known that, he would have disposed of that grating idealistic man-child long ago- though not through conventional means, of course. With how Phoenix survived being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher and falling into Eagle River in the dead of winter after trying to cross a burning bridge, chances are that the man could only be killed through supernatural means like silver bullets or voodoo or watching an hour's worth of the romantic 'comedies' that his mother would make him view nonstop with her every Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Fourth of July in the hopes of motivating him to find a nice girl and give her grandbabies. But with these powers…
"Are you listening to me, Drill Head!?" Rayfa yells, her face reddening and fists clenched as she glares daggers at the host of Debauched Steel, only to once again be ignored as he continues to claw at the rock.
But alas, as much as Kristoph wants to use his powers to bring Phoenix back to life, claw him to death, bring him back to life again, bludgeon him to death with the same bottle that he killed Zac with, bring him back to life yet again, and then proceed to repeat this cycle of murder and revival with a variety of objects and methods, he can't. Apparently, for some reason, Kristoph's powers won't allow him to create a Phoenix for him to personally abuse, though why that is, he can't seem to figure out. Perhaps this was done to make things more interesting for-
"Ow!" Kristoph exclaims upon being snapped out of his thoughts by Rayfa hitting him in side with her staff before turning around to glare at the young princess. "What is wrong with you? Do you know who I am?!"
"I should be asking you the same thing, Drill Head." Rayfa angrily retorts. "I won your competition, yet when I arrived here to claim my free wish, you completely ignored me in order to claw at that rock like a… a… nincompoop, and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get your attention for the past three months!"
"Three months?" Kristoph asks with a confused look on his face. "I know that when I'm venting out my anger that I have a tendency to lose track of time, but I wouldn't let that much time slip away from me. And to prove it…" Kristoph smirks with a snap of his fingers, prompting a calendar showing the current date to appear before him, resulting in him reeling back with saucer-sized eyes upon realizing that the young princess was right. "I can't believe it! You're right! Three months have indeed passed since the last episode! What is he doing, putting me and this show on the sidelines for so long to do god-knows-what…!?" Kristoph snarls as he pushes his glasses up.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but if you don't mind, I'm going to make my wish now, because unlike you, I'm not interested in wasting time." Rayfa huffs with crossed arms.
"Fine, what's your wish?" Kristoph hisses with an exasperated tone, prompting the young princess' expression to go from one of irritation to one of sadness.
"Do you know about the Defiant Dragons?" Rayfa softly asks with a pained tone.
"Of course I do." Kristoph smirks at the opportunity to prove his intellect. "They were a rebel group in your home country led by Dhurke Sahdmadhi, the second most nauseatingly idealistic defense attorney that I know of, that fought against the Ga'ran Regime in order to overturn the Defense Culpability Act and make it where defense attorneys could work without fear, a goal they accomplished thanks to my arch nemesis and my former protégé who was turned against me by said arch nemesis. Why do you ask?"
"Well, at the end of their revolution, I learned that Dhurke was my biological father… after he was killed by my Uncle Inga, who I thought was my real father, who was then killed by my Aunt Ga'ran, who I thought was my real mother. I know that I never knew my biological father and that my adoptive father never wanted to hurt me, but it pains me to know that these two men who played huge roles in my life- one creating me and the other raising me- never saw eye to eye. So for my wish, I want you to bring my biological father and my adoptive father back to life so that they can come together and finally make amends." Rayfa whimpered, trying her best to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes.
"Granted." Kristoph replies with a sinister grin."
The host of Debauched Steel raises his arms in the air, causing bolts of electricity to stream between his hands, emitting a blinding light. When the light diminishes, Rayfa can't help but shriek in terror and drop her staff upon seeing a hulking, oozing blob-like creature appear before her that's quite the horrific sight. The flesh-colored creature, about 6' in height, despite looking like a large blob of melting ice cream, its flesh bubbling like water over an open flame, is covered in splotches of black fair- some patches being short, while others are long and flowing. Though more noticeable than the hair is the fact that spread haphazardly across the sides and front of the creature's body are two sets of arms, two sets of legs (all four of them being essentially defunct since none of them touch the ground), two sets of green eyes, and two sets of large, gapping mouths, with all of them writing about in agony.
"Rayfa…" The creature wheezes in agony in a voice that is a combination of Inga and Dhurke's.
"Fathers…!" Rayfa whimpers, tears forming in her eyes as she glares daggers at Kristoph. "What did you do to him!?"
"I did what you requested, Princess. I brought your biological and adoptive fathers back to life and helped them come together." Kristoph smirked.
"This isn't what I meant, you nincompoop!" Rayfa snarls, her face reddening as she clenches her fists. "I meant that you bring them back to life so that they could settle their differences, not turn them into hideous abomination!"
"But on the contrary, what better way to make friends out of enemies than by forcing them to suffer together? After all, misery loves company." Kristoph calmly states with a warm grin. "Though personally, I'm not the one you should be focusing your attention on." The host of Debauched Steel states, gesturing to the Inga/Dhurke Blob as it slowly slinks towards Rayfa, leaving behind a trail of bubbling flesh-colored slime in its wake.
"Help us, Rayfa! Help! It hurts so much! It burns…! It buuuurns!" The Inga/Dhurke Blob pleads with a tone of pure agony.
"I want to Fathers, but I don't know how!" Rayfa weeps as tears started streaming down her cheeks.
"Kill us!" The creature demands. "Put a stop to our suffering and end our lives!"
"Kill you…?" Rayfa whimpers, her gaze directed towards the ground. "I-I can't! I can't stand the thought of losing either of you again, let alone by my hand!"
"So you would rather see us suffer in this hideous form!?" The creature shouts. "Rayfa, you're a strong girl, we know you can do it! Remember, a dragon doesn't yield and back away, even when the situation becomes too much to bear!"
"I-I'm sorry, but I can't!" Rayfa turns around and tries to run away, only to be stopped by Kristoph grabbing her shoulder.
"You're right, Princess, you can't… at least, not without something like this." Kristoph snaps his finger, prompting a gun to appear in Rayfa's hand.
"A gun…?" Rayfa softly questions, her eyes becoming saucer-sized at the sight of the first firearm to ever enter her grasp.
"Yes, and it only contains a single bullet, so aim wisely…" Kristoph states in a patronizing tone as the Royal Priestess aims the gun with a shaky hand at Inga/Dhurke Blob, which is hunched over and moaning in agony, her breathing becoming shallower and shallower as she becomes overwhelmed with grief at the idea of ending the lives of her biological father and adoptive father.
But then suddenly, an idea enters Rayfa's head, as if given to her as a gift from the Holy Mother: if this twisted host turned her fathers' into this terrible form, then perhaps by shooting him in spot that wouldn't kill him, she could convince him to turn them back to normal, thereby ending their pain without ending their lives.
So with newfound confidence, Rayfa takes a deep breath before quickly turning around and firing a shot at the demented host's right shoulder. However, much to Rayfa's shock, before the bullet can even reach him, Kristoph stops it in midair with a simple raise of his hand.
"Wrong choice." Kristoph sneers before pointing his finger at the young princess, causing the bullet to turn around and fly towards her, hitting her in the right shoulder and causing her to drop the gun as she falls to the ground, her screams of pain filling the air.
"Rayfa!" The Inga/Dhurke Blob wheezes, its eyes widening.
"Don't worry, Princess, if you want to be with your fathers' so badly, then allow me to be of assistance." Kristoph chuckles as he snaps his fingers, causing the creature to double in size and inflate like a balloon, prompting the center of its chest to start bubbling more violently before a large arm shoots out and grabs the wounded princess, slowly dragging her flailing body into the mass of what has become of her fathers' until she can be seen no more and her screams fall silent.
"Rayfa…? Rayfa…! We'll kill you!" The Inga/Dhurke Blob roars, its four misshapen eyes glaring daggers at the periwinkle-cladded man as it proceeds to muster its strength and charge at him as fast as it can, which, sadly enough, is barely faster than a brisk walking pace.
"I could say the same thing." Kristoph snidely retorts with a snap of his fingers, prompting the Inga/Dhurke Blob to stop in its tracks as its body starts to swell larger and larger until it explodes with a loud boom, leaving behind only a large stain of bubbling flesh-colored puss on the ground that the host of Debauched Steel gets rid of with another snap of his fingers before turning to face the camera with a sneer. "Sometimes two heads aren't better than one. I am Kristoph Gavin, and I thank you for watching Debauched Steel."
A/N: I would like to thank Porky2 for suggesting the idea for this chapter.
