[DREAMWORLD PARADOX CHAPTER 05: THE ANNUAL FLAG HUNT]
EnriksD8's A/N: What changed:
01 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Added extra lines to better the flow of the story.
02 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – I don't know how JokerCurry missed this the first time he posted it, but my SIOC had given his SIOC a metal baton to use in the meetup scene with Mukuro but when the chaos starts, he's using a wooden branch to whack Flowey. I fixed it, thankfully.
03 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Since it was Double-D and Rina that stumbled on the Rarijack scene and not Sunset, I changed Crydius's remark to Sunset to be something else.
04 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Added some extra detail in the fight against the Devil Worm.
Today was a very special day at Azeasany Institute of Magic and Talent: The Annual Flag Hunt! The number of students participating was one of the arguably largest to date. The Ed Squad was chatting excitedly as they got ready, dressed in the PE Uniforms provided for them.
"You guys getting excited?" Chris asked his friends as they were psyching themselves up.
"We're gonna win, we're gonna win, we're gonna win..." Ed was absent-mindedly repeating over and over as he ran around in circles like a loon.
"Some more than others, I'd say..." Double-D said with a chuckle as Eddy was stretching out his back.
"I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I can take on the world!"
"As this is a competition, we must make it our duty that our adversaries do not succeed!" Rolf said.
"Our pleasure, Stretch." Kojin chuckled as he adjusted his shoes.
"You all know the rules and so do I~! The school's flag is hidden somewhere on campus." Announced Vinyl Scratch, Vice-President of the Light Music Club. "The first student to find the flag and cross the finish line with it wins!"
"Every man for himself, huh? Well, I'll stick to my main men, thank you very much." Eddy chuckled as he slung his arms over Double-D and Ed's shoulders. "We'll get the flag together, boys!"
"The winner does not only receive a medal and a cash prize but will also go down in the AIMT History Books! If you're hungry for glory, this is your chance, people!" Vinyl announced as Eddy looked at Double-D and Ed with his usual money-hungry smirk.
"You hear that, fellas? If we get that flag, we'll be RICH!"
"I'm more into the sheer sport of it, Eddy. I have no desire for prizes." Double-D said humbly.
"Ed shall get the flag and bring honor and glory to Grayskull!" Ed said as two girls who were nearby, Adora and Catra, both sneezed, curious as to why they did that. As for Ben, he was looking at Crydius and his group, the Hellraisers, feeling a dangerous sense of bad sportsmanship coming from them.
"You feel it too, Enrico?" Ben asked his friend, who nodded.
"Want me to deal with them?" The taller teen asked, his eyes narrowed at the group of rebellious teens. He's going to need something big to deal with them. Luckily, he had many tools in his duffel bag, currently slung across his back.
"Nah, let's wait and see what comes up. Besides, it'll ruin the plot."
Enrico raised an eyebrow at Ben's words.
"The Hell does he mean by that?"
"The Flag Hunt is about to begin! All contestants line up at the start, please! And wait for our PE Teacher to fire the starting gun!"
"Alright, maggots! Are you lot ready?!" Coach Doe barked as he held up his shotgun.
"We'll be waiting for the rest at the finish line!" Eddy said with a smirk as Ed and Double-D nodded.
"Rolf shall bring glory to the ancestors!" Rolf said, raising a fish he pulled out of nowhere.
"I'm pumped!" Rina cheered.
"In position!" Kojin said, getting in a runner's stance.
"I endeavor not to miss," Enrico said, cracking his neck from side to side.
"Let's do this thing!" Ben said, punching his fists together with a wild grin.
"I wish you guys the best of luck!" Chris said.
"GO!"
With the pull of the trigger and the booming echo of the shotgun, everyone took off.
"We've all been really looking forward to this. Let's do this, guys!" Sunset said to the rest of her friends. "The game is on! And remember: Enjoy yourselves!"
"Alright, squaddies! We're gonna party 'till we're purple up in here!" Ben said to the rest of the squad. "Let's liven up this show with our usual colorful lights and rock the socks off of everyone watching!"
"Well then everyone, I don't think any of us are looking for a boring old 'Nice and Clean' game," Crydius said to the Hellraisers. "Let's do what we do best. Raise a little hell and most importantly..."
"LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" Sunset, Ben, and Crydius all said at the same time to their respective groups.
Ed laughed as his unnatural stamina caused him to run ahead of everybody else. However, Rainbow Dash was much faster as she was keeping up with him quite well.
"Move aside, everybody! Captain of the Track & Field Club, Rainbow Dash, coming through!" The cyan-skinned girl announced. "Currently holding the Speed Record for both Track & Field and Marathon! The uncontested fastest student in the school! Better try your very best to keep up, cause I'm gonna win the-!"
And just as she was boasting, Rainbow Dash conveniently tripped over a rock and screamed as she crashed into everything. Trees, bramble bushes, even some angry forest critters, Rainbow Dash had crashed into everything including the kitchen sink, literally because someone had left behind a perfectly pristine kitchen sink just lying around for Rainbow Dash to crash into. Her friends and even the other contestants all winced as they saw this.
"RAINBOW DASH!" Fluttershy cried in horror.
"The Rock of Maturity is a difficult maneuver," Rolf said, being the only one who found amusement in this situation.
"How…" Enrico's jaw dropped. "The fuck… does that work?!" In a rare case of anger, he aggressively pointed at said rock, to the amusement of the other contestants.
"I…" Chris was at a loss. "I've no clue, brother. No clue as to how the fuck that happens."
"Huh... One down I guess." Marshall Lee said awkwardly.
"And we had nothing to do with it," Crydius added. "We need to step up our game. We're losing to a goddamn rock of all things!"
"Geez, poor Rainbow..." Ben winced in sympathy as he was making his way through the forest, trying to find clues that could help lead him to the flag. "Alright, I think I should look around for some of those clues Vinyl mentioned..."
Suddenly, a light breeze passed through the area, which strangely to Ben, sounded like somebody was talking to him.
"What the heck…" Ben questioned as he started listening to the breeze. "Weird. Feel like I should keep note of that."
He turned to Enrico and called out to him.
"Enriks! Over here!"
"What?"
"Team up? We'll have better luck finding the flag if the two of us searched together."
"No complaints here. Lead the way, Benny."
With that, Ben and Enrico went off to search for clues.
"Gotta find it! Gotta find it! Gotta find that flag!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly, looking around. "Gotta stay focused! Stay on target! Don't get-!"
Pinkie was interrupted when she heard a whistle from behind her. Dominator smirked as she took out a piece of candy and showed it to the excited girl, who drooled at the sight of it as the alien girl threw it over the bushes, causing Pinkie to pounce after it.
Nearby, Applejack and Rarity were walking at their own pace, in conversation.
"Jackie, darling, you don't need to stick to me," the fashionista said to the cowgirl. "You'll find this flag faster on your own."
"Aw zip it, Rari!" Applejack blushed lightly at the light praise Rarity gave her. "After all the trouble Ah went through to convince yah to join, Ah wanna make sure yah don't weasel yer way outta this."
"Oh," Rarity raised an eyebrow in a playful manner. "Who do you take me fo-"
The fashionista never got to finish her words as something made impact on her forehead.
"Ow!" She rubbed the spot where she had been hit while Applejack picked up the object that hit her.
"What in tarnation? Candy?" Applejack was confused at first before her eyes widened. "Oh, hell naw!"
She had a good idea of who was following the candy and lo and behold, Pinkie Pie bursts forth from the bushes and crashes right into Rarity.
"KYAAAAAA!" Rarity screeched as the other girl crashed into her, sending them both into a nearby puddle.
"PINKIE PIE?!" Rarity's eye twitched. "Will you let go of m-"
"Where'd it go?! Where'd it go?! Where is it?! Where is it?!" Pinkie Pie paid Rarity no mind as she searched for something.
"PINKIE!"
Applejack looked at the piece of candy in her hand and subtly threw it near Pinkie Pie, seeking to avoid being crashed into herself.
"AHA!" Pinkie exclaimed, pointing at the now wet Rarity. "It went down your shirt!"
"Pinkie, will you please-! KYA! What do you think you're doing?!" The fashionista slapped the party animal, who paid the pain no mind as she fondled Rarity's body.
Safe to say, Applejack is going to have some interesting thoughts and dreams for a long time after this event.
"Move your cupcakes outta the way, Rarity!"
"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" Rarity growled lowly, reeling back her hand into a fist. "Unhand me at onc-! KYAAA~! STOP! KYA~!"
"Aha! Found it!" Pinkie Pie said, somehow grabbing the candy amidst the chaos, which she happily munched on.
Also nearby, Double-D was looking around while using a special tracking device of his own invention to look around the forest with Rina following after him.
"What does your scouter say, Double-D?"
"From what I can infer, the flag should be 20 feet west of here. Now, the best course of action is to..."
Double-D was cut off by a shrill scream that he could identify as Rarity. Heading to the source of the scream, he, and Rina saw Applejack and Rarity in a... rather intimate position.
"Oh my..." Rina giggled as Double-D coughed into his fist in embarrassment.
"Apologies for the intrusion..."
"WAIT! WE CAN EXPLAIN!" Rarity and Applejack cried in embarrassment.
"No, don't be upset. It's alright if you two like each other. I've never been one to judge!" Rina said reassuringly. "I swing both ways myself!"
"LISTEN!"
Unbeknownst to them, however, hiding in the bushes were Dominator and Crona, with the former chuckling to herself in enjoyment.
"Not exactly what I had in mind, but I'll take it! Next target, the little shy one."
That caused Crona to speak up in worry.
"Wait, Fluttershy? Um, senpai? Can we… not do that? Please?"
Dominator looked at them in confusion upon hearing that. "Huh? Why? What do you care?"
Crona looked off to the side as they started to nervously rub their arm. "Well, I guess… I feel like I kind of owe her a little…"
Dominator's eyes widened as Crona explained their past about how their mother saw them as nothing more than a useless and pointless disappointment, how they had no self-esteem, constantly transferring schools because they could never manage to find their place, basically telling her that their life sucked before they came to Azeasany.
"On my first day here, I met Fluttershy. She was the only person who was almost as bad with people as I was. We didn't do or talk much but… we didn't need to. We understood each other. It was nice."
A small smile began to creep up on Crona's face as they continued.
"And then she met Twilight, and these other girls, and they all became friends. I figured if she could do it, maybe I could too. So, I tried, and… well, you know what happened next."
"Basically, what I'm saying here is, if it wasn't for her, I never would've had the courage to talk to others. Like you, senpai. And meeting you, Crydius-senpai and the others has been the best thing to ever happen to me. So, you see…"
"I should be grateful because without Fluttershy I don't think I-"
But before Crona could continue, Dominator put her hand on their shoulder, causing them to curiously go "Hm?" in response. Then, without any words said, Dominator pulled them into a hug as she closed her eyes.
"Eh? Senpai? What's wrong? Senpai?" Crona said in confusion at the sudden display of affection.
Next to them, Marshall pointed at the four girls and Double-D, who were currently leaving as this was happening. "Um… guys? They are… uh… getting away. Shouldn't we… uh…"
"Leave them alone Marshall, they're having a moment. We'll deal with this ourselves." Crydius said.
In response to that, Chara pulled out a knife, which shined and sparkled in the light.
"No Chara, not like that. Put it away dear."
Ben and Enrico were walking together through the forest, having each other's backs as they looked for the flag.
"Hey," Ben started a conversation.
"Yeah?"
"You ever wonder why we're here?"
"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why ARE we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence or is there really a God watching everything with a plan for us and stuff? I dunno man, but it keeps me up at night," Enrico said, getting philosophical all of the sudden.
Ben looked at Enrico weirdly. "I meant why are we out here when we should be sticking with our group. I mean, strength in numbers, am I right?"
"Well, I dunno, I just answered the way I knew how."
"Let's keep looking for the flag."
Enrico shrugged off Ben's words and grabbed something from his pocket. Fishing out a specialized communicator, he began to dial in a certain frequency.
"Ten-Three-One-Point-Twenty-Thirteen…" he muttered as he began the call.
Ben noticed the communicator in Enrico's hands and was immediately curious.
"What's that?"
"Oh, just a communicator from the Science and Technology Department of the Institute," his friend explained as casually as discussing the weather, not once taking his eyes off of the screen of the communicator. The screen blinked blue, and he attached it to his left shoulder harness.
Without missing a beat, Enrico donned an earpiece to his left ear and waited for the connection to be established. The communicator was silent for a few seconds before the call connected.
["Hello?"] Penny Polendina's voice reached his earpiece.
"Ah, Penny, just the girl I wanted to see," Enrico said.
"PENNY?!" Ben's eyes bugged out and, despite Penny not being able to see them, began to straighten himself out to look as presentable as possible.
["Ah! Friend Enrico! Do you need to speak with Miss Simmons again?"] Penny asked from her end of the line.
"No, no, Penny," Enrico replied, a small blush on his cheeks. "I actually need your help with something."
["My assistance? Whatever for?"]
Enrico then explained the situation to the gynoid. The other end of the line was silent, Enrico waiting with bated breath and had to constantly prevent Ben from taking the communicator and causing unnecessary radio chatter.
["Do you really need my assistance on such a trivial task?"] Penny asked after what could have been the longest five seconds in Ben's life.
Enrico nodded. "Yep. While some people consider this cheating, we are in a school where all sorts of gifted individuals are encouraged to make use of their talents. I'm just making use of mine."
["I see… I have already located the flag for you, Friend Enrico. I have already sent the coordinates to your phone."]
"Thank you, Penny," Enrico replied with a soft smile. "Give your father my regards. He's been really helpful with some of my gear."
["You are welcome, Friend Enrico! And I shall inform my father of your praise!"] Penny replied before terminating the call.
Enrico chuckled at this and checked his smartphone. Thanks to the S&T Department of Azeasany, he was able to upgrade his, Ben's, and Chris's smartphones to far grander levels than most smartphones. Among these upgrades was a highly advanced GPS that can map out an area of 10 square kilometers around the smartphone. And thanks to the GPS, he had found the flag.
"Alright, let's go, Ben."
"Yeah…" Ben dejectedly said, bummed at the fact that he was not able to speak with Penny.
They began to head deeper into the forest, on alert for anything that might jump out at them.
Reaching into his duffel bag, Enrico fished out a few weapons for himself and Ben to make use of. For Ben, he had been given a simple metal baton for self-defense.
As for Enrico, he had grabbed a few things. For his sidearm, he had a customized Para-Ordnance P14.45 handgun equipped with a suppressor and laser aiming module. For his complimentary melee weapon, he had opted to use a simple Bowie knife.
"Do we really need this?" Ben asked as he lazily rested the baton against his shoulder.
"You can never be too sure," Enrico replied as they both passed through the bushes.
Just then, they heard something that made them pause. More specifically, Ben continued moving until Enrico grabbed him by the back of the collar and forced him to get down.
Shushing his friend, he began to crawl around to where the sounds were coming from. Unsure, Ben followed after Enrico.
Enrico presses up against a thick tree, slowly peeking out to see who was making that noise.
He saw a teenage girl with a lean build. She has pale skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose, purple-grey eyes, and wore her short black hair in a bob. Her clothing consisted of a brown tie, white button-down blouse, brown pleated skirt, black stockings, and black shoes.
Currently, she was crouched with her hands on her mouth. From the noises she was making, she was eating something.
"That's hot," Ben whispered a little too loudly, alerting the girl to their presence.
On pure instinct, the girl and Enrico aimed their sidearms at one another while Ben awkwardly fumbled with his metal baton.
"Hmm, a Minebea P-Nine handgun… A Japanese pistol based on the SIG-Sauer P-Two-Twenty series of pistols. Nine-Millimeter Parabellum with a nine-round capacity. Looks like it's been outfitted with a LAM and a suppressor, too." Enrico analyzed the gun in her hands and her overall stance.
"No shaking of the arms. No stiffness. This girl's good." he continued analyzing her, well aware that she was doing the same with him.
"Still…" he narrowed his eyes at her when he noticed something was off.
"Hold on… I think I've seen her before."
Searching his mind for answers, his eyes widened by a fraction when he finally recognized her.
"Enoshima…" he muttered, lowering his pistol. The girl apparently heard him, eyes widening in surprise and pistol lowered as well.
"How'd you know my little sister's name?" The girl hissed out.
"Uh, dude?" Ben called out. "Mind filling me in?"
"Enoshima Junko," Enrico spoke. "I remember seeing a picture of her and this girl was standing beside her."
"Which picture was it?" The girl questioned; pistol raised once again.
"I believe it was an article regarding your little sister's thesis report," Enrico answered. To their surprise, they both spoke out the title of that report.
"An understanding of the human psyche and how despair affects it."
The girl lowered her handgun, a serene look on her face.
"You must be her older sister," Enrico said, earning a nod from her. "From what I've heard, Junko had been placed in a mental asylum shortly after she had that thesis published."
"Ikusaba Mukuro, the Ultimate Soldier," Mukuro introduced herself. "And yes, my sister had indeed been placed in a mental asylum back in Japan. I… I wanted to free her, but I realized that she would be displeased with that…"
He raised an eyebrow at that title. Either this girl was full of it, or she can back up her words. Still, calling herself an Ultimate was rather egotistical, considering that many have called themselves as such only to experience the harshest of falls.
But that remark about freeing her little sister, who was rather insane from what he had heard…
"Azkalero Enrico Aquilla, just one of the students over at the Tech Lab and Mech Lab," he introduced himself in kind and gestured to Ben.
"This is Shigura Benjamin, a friend of mine and a member of the Video Game Club."
She nodded in response to this.
With the tension finally gone, Ben breathed out a sigh of relief and lowered his baton.
"Can I just say that that was pretty hot? That hard look of hers?"
Enrico and Mukuro looked at Ben, unsure of what to make of his words. Both of them shook their heads before turning their attention back to one another.
"I'm assuming you're here for the Flag Hunt event?"
Enrico nodded at Mukuro's question.
"Want to join up? Strength in numbers and all that."
Mukuro let out a small smile.
"I'd like that."
"Okay!" Ben exclaimed. "Let's get this show on the road!"
Without waiting for either of them to reply, Ben charged further into the forest.
"Is he normally this obnoxious?"
"Only when the moron's infatuated with someone," Enrico sighed in annoyance, but traces of a small smile were on his lips as the two followed after Ben through the forest.
"Like the brother I never had..."
"Family…" Mukuro thought a strange feeling in her chest at that word. "I wonder what it's like… to have a true family of my own?"
Silently, she trailed behind Enrico as they hunted down the flag together.
Meanwhile, with Fluttershy, she was walking along through the forest when a little bird flew toward her. "Oh, there you are, Icarus. And what's this? Good boy."
She held out her finger, allowing Icarus to land on it and give her a piece of paper that he held within his beak. "You've found one of the notes with clues to the flag's location!"
Unfortunately for her, that's when Crydius and his two remaining Hellraisers, Marshall and Chara, walked up to her.
"You don't say! Do you mind if we take a look at that, Miss Shy?" Crydius asked as sweetly as he could muster.
Fluttershy immediately hid the note behind her back as she turned toward him.
"Ehm… well, that is… um…" She started sweating bullets as Crydius walked up to her.
"Come now Miss Shy, help us out here." Chara held up his knife, forcing Crydius to push him back. "Hold on Chara, give her time. And I told you to put that away."
Suddenly two voices called out to Crydius, stopping him in his tracks.
"Hey!"
"You better back the fuck up right now, asshole!"
In came Sunset and Chris, who were both glaring at Crydius as he turned towards them.
"Oh, Sunset. I see you've finally caught up to me. And you've brought a friend along as well. How very much like you."
Sunset glared harder at his words. "What's your deal Cryd? You and your cronies have been causing nothing but trouble since we started. You're ruining the fun for everyone!"
Chris, even though he was just as pissed as the orange-redhead, had this to say. "Technically he's only messed with Rarity and Applejack as far as we know, but go off, I guess. You the girl boss after all."
"My dear Sunset, this is a contest. It needs to be won. Fun is irrelevant," Crydius said, taking enjoyment out of Sunset's anger.
"What's the point in winning something you can't enjoy?!" She countered.
"Yeah, she's right you know. I've seen my fair share of bullshit moments that ruin the fun for everyone, like you would not BELIEVE how many times I've seen duelists be blessed by Lady Luck, only to be shot down before they have the chance to take off," Chris said in affirmation.
Unfazed, Crydius simply leaned in towards Sunset as a smug smirk etched its way across his face. "Well enjoy it all you want; it won't help you win. what, you think some idiot will just give you a call once they find the flag?"
As if on cue, Pinkie Pie started shouting "I FOUND IT!" at the top of her lungs, surprising everyone present.
"Wow, talk about plot convenience," Chris said in response to what just happened.
After a few seconds, everyone immediately booked it to where Pinkie found the flag.
"Find the flag, find the flag, find the flag!" Ed said as he ran with his legs carrying his upper half like he usually ran. Eddy was doing his best to keep up with his friend, but Ed's stamina was miles ahead of his own. Kojin was also not too far behind, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
Suddenly, Ed stopped, and Eddy crashed into him, the two friends tumbling around until they landed at the foot of something. Looking up, they saw that it was the flag!
"Hey, you guys found it!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly as she also came in. Kojin, Eddy, and Ed got up as the four all looked at the flag.
"Alright, let's get this baby and skedaddle! I can already taste that cash prize!" Eddy excitedly said.
"Splits, Eddy!" Ed chided, wagging his finger as Eddy rolled his eyes.
"Ed, you and Double-D are my pals! We're all goin' splits!"
"Hey, what about me?" Kojin complained as Eddy rolled his eyes.
"Um, guys?" Pinkie awkwardly said as Kojin, Eddy, and Ed looked to see the rest of the Mane Seven, the Hellraisers, and the rest of the Ed Squad and Ben's group all rushing towards them.
"HOLY SMOKES!"
What followed was pure unadulterated chaos. Enrico pulled out a pair of steel tonfas and began clashing with Marshall Lee, who was doing his best to get Pinkie Pie off his leg. Ed and Eddy ran around like headless chickens while screaming and/or laughing. Ben was going to town on the thorny vines of Chara's pet potted plant Flowey, using the metal baton that Enrico had lent to him as best as he could to smack them away so he could save Rarity from their clutches with Mukuro backing him up.
"I'm speechless!" Double-D said to himself, shaking in his boots as he watched Fluttershy and Chara in a powerful stare down, a suffocating aura surrounding them and making everyone back away. Applejack and Dominator were matching each other blow to blow and Rolf was simply chatting with Crona while watching the chaos go down.
"Wow, your people know a lot about beets. I'm kinda impressed..." Crona said with a shy smile as they faced down Rolf.
"The humble beet is the answer to all riddles in Rolf's homeland," Rolf replied proudly.
"INCENDIUM GEHENNAE!"
"IFRIT'S FIST!"
Crydius and Sunset clashed against each other with fire spells as Ben and Chris ducked under the blasts of flame.
"Chris! Pull out something! Anything!"
Chris smirked as he pulled out his Duel Disk, but instead of placing it on his arm, he aimed it towards the ground behind him and fired. The resulting blast launched him forward, grabbing Flowey once he got close to him, and punted him like a football and into the distance.
"It's good!"
Breaking her attention away from Fluttershy and pissed at the loss of her friend, Chara pulled out her knife and charged toward Chris, but all he did was grab her by the head and lifted her up so that they were both at eye level.
"Do you know who I am? I'm a force a' nature." Chris said, before blasting Chara away with his gun.
As Chris emptied his gun and inserted two new shells, Ben stared wide-eyed as he flipped it closed.
"That thing looking like a gun isn't just for show?"
"Well yeah. What, did you think it was just for intimidation? Pfft, Ben please, you know I always keep that thang on me."
Chris then looked at the baton Ben had, equipped himself with his Duel Disk, and activated Kunai with Chain, handing it over to Ben as an additional thing to swing around.
"Be careful with that thing. One wrong move and you'll be picking out your brain matter."
Ben nervously looked at the kunai before nodding, keeping a firm grip on his metal baton.
"I'll stick to the baton then."
"Y'know what? Good call."
However, Crydius sent Sunset flying and charged toward Ben and Chris, prompting the latter to panic as he pulled out and dropped some cards.
"Crap! Uhhh, uhh, uhhh, this one! Here goes nothing!"
In his panic, Chris grabbed the first card he could get his hands on and played it, not caring if it would help or not. Thankfully it did as Crydius's fist collided with a barrier that was conjured up by none other than Dark Magician.
"What the hell?" Crydius asked in confusion.
"Oh hell yeah, that's the power of the heart of cards, baby!" Chris exclaimed in excitement.
Dark Magician then made the barrier burst, knocking Crydius back and staggering him.
With Enrico, he was busy dealing with Marshall Lee. The vampire had proven himself to be superior in melee combat.
"Now you're dead!" Marshall Lee exclaimed as he sent a flurry of punches at Enrico. The blows landed, sending the tall teen crashing to the ground.
"It's useless, you hear me?!" Marshall exclaimed, getting into the flow of the moment. "USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! USELESS! WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Each word spoken by the vampire was followed by a punch or a kick before finishing it off with a spin kick that sent Enrico flying.
"HORY SHITTU! WAS THAT A MUDAFAKKING JOJO REFERENCE?!" Vinyl Scratch exclaimed as she and many others were watching the Flag Hunt descend into chaos.
The tall teen landed in a low crouch position as Marshall loomed over him.
"Any last words?" He mockingly asked. Enrico simply wiped away some blood that had pooled up in his mouth before spitting away the rest.
"Just a few…" Enrico answered, breathing a little heavily as he stood up. "You're out of the game."
"What?" Marshall was confused when the tall teen suddenly shot at him with a double-barreled shotgun. The pellets were not metal, instead, they were made out of hardened rubber designed to cripple hostiles rather than outright kill them, but they still hurt like a bitch, making Marshall scream in pain.
Before he could recover, Enrico was upon him with a burst of speed akin to what he had when Chris used one of those speed stims that he had found in the gym locker room, thanks to doing cardio exercises a couple of hours a day since the day after the dodgeball game and sent out his own combo of punches and kicks.
"ATATATATATATATATATA!" Enrico's blows were more precise, aimed at vital areas of the body. The way he struck at Marshall was not to kill but to disable. Brutally, if the sight was any indication.
Marshall gritted his teeth past the pain and retaliated. He, in a move that shocked a lot of the spectators, drove his hand into Enrico's side, piercing it!
"Dude, what the hell?!" Ben exclaimed.
"FIEND!" Rolf called out. "WHO STRIKES A MAN SO UNDERHANDEDLY?!"
Crydius shook his head but was confident that Marshall's blow was not one meant to kill.
Marshall grinned. "Got you now!"
Enrico said nothing at first, silent as the dead. Then, he struck back. He struck with a move that everyone is familiar with. A move that many of the significant halves have experienced.
The Nut Shot.
A knee sent straight into Marshall Lee's crotch, making the vampire scream out in pain.
But the tanned teen did not stop at one blow. He began to repeat the Nut Shot as much as he could. Everyone stopped to watch as the Nut Shot had been repeated no less than THIRTY times before Enrico punched Marshall away.
The vampire fell, grasping at his very much devastated genital area, while the tall teen stumbled back, clutching his bleeding side.
"You alright?" Rina asked with concern very much on her facial features. Enrico was breathing heavily but nodded at Rina's question, pressing one hand into the bleeding wound.
"Y-yeah…" He grunted out, reaching into his duffel bag. He rifled through the contents and fished out a medical kit.
"Here, lemme help," Rina said, applying some of the stitches and bandages on the open wound.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
"Heh… judging by the… angle… nothing vital had been hit," Enrico said as he finished up treating his own wound.
"How'd you know?"
"Well… I'm not coughing up a lung, that's for sure," he sent a cheeky smile Rina's way, making both of them laugh lightly.
"HAS EVERYONE GONE INSANE?! WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING?!' Rainbow Dash exclaimed, having finished being healed to see the chaos going on. "DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER WHY WE'RE HERE?! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FIND THE-!"
Rainbow stopped and looked to see the flag, which Eddy had dropped in the ensuing chaos. She then took the opportunity and grabbed it before bolting away.
"Hey!" Dominator exclaimed as she noticed this. "Skittles is getting away with the flag!"
"SAGITTA MAGICA: SERIES OBSCURANS!" Crydius yelled as he cast a spell that summoned several orbs of darkness that fired lasers at Rainbow, who quickly maneuvered through them with her speed.
"Nice try! But my parkour skills are nothing to laugh at either! Besides being the fastest in the school, I'm also pretty nimble, and agile, and-!"
And just like that, Rainbow tripped over the Rock of Maturity once more. Rolf and Crona watched as Rainbow once more badly injured herself violently, breaking her legs and arms in the process.
"She-Whose-Hair-Is-A-Rainbow does not know the truth of the Rock of Maturity," the Son of a Shepard sighed as he shook his head in disappointment.
"H-How?" Crona squeaked.
As for the flag, it flew through the air and landed in Twilight's hands, who yelped in surprise at the sheer chance of her getting the flag amidst the madness.
"RUN, TWILIGHT, RUN!" Double-D screamed when he saw this. Taking the hint, Twilight began making her way back to the starting line.
"Oh great, Twilight has it!" Marshall groaned in annoyance, shakily getting up as he fought through the pain of his genitals being crushed by another man's knee.
"Good luck getting it back. If we try to lay a finger on her, her bacon-haired watchdog will bite our heads off!"
"Then we'll have to try something a little more... subtle," Crydius said as he flipped through his spellbook before finding what he was looking for. He then began chanting in Latin as a demonic centipede-esque monster emerged from a portal of demonic fire, letting out a ghastly screech as it towered over Twilight.
"IT'S THE DEVIL WORM FROM INSIDIOUS DUO SIX: THE RE-RISE!" Ed screamed as he clutched his head while Double-D nearly fainted at the sight, quickly being caught by Applejack, who also caught Rarity.
Crydius and Marshall stared at the demonic beast that had been summoned in silence before Marshall spoke up.
"Dude, I don't know what your definition of 'subtle' is, but there isn't anything subtle about this. And isn't this a bit much, even for you?"
"Eh... in all honesty, this isn't what I was trying to do. I have no idea how this just happened," Crydius awkwardly replied.
"SERIOUSLY?!" Marshall's eyes bugged out at this response.
"That's one big-ass monster..." Enrico grunted before grabbing his P14.45 pistol and aiming for the eyes. He fired, each round landing a direct hit and making the demonic centipede screech, making it turn its attention from Twilight and to him.
"Ah… shit," he muttered as the demonic centipede was immediately upon him, screeching and aiming to kill him. The giant demonic centipede lunged at him; mandibles wide open to swallow him whole.
"CRUSH THE MONSTER!" Ed cried as he rushed in to help, having upturned an entire tree and was carrying it over his head like it was nothing. Once he got close enough, Ed swung the tree with all his might, sending the demonic centipede away from Enrico, leaving it open for the tall teen to shoot at its unarmored undercarriage.
"Ed, careful with that Northern Dutch Elm!" Double-D called out.
"Atta boy, Ed!" Eddy cheered.
"One last mag!" Enrico slammed a new magazine into the handgun and fired it into the centipede's exposed neck, crippling it.
"Chris, Rina, Kojin, finish it off now!" Enrico cried as Chris ran towards the centipede with Dark Magician by his side, and Rina and Kojin right on his tail.
"You got it, Enriks! Dark Magician, hit it with a Dark Magic Attack!"
Dark Magician held his palm out, causing everything in the area to turn photo negative as the centipede was blasted with dark magics.
Rina then followed it up by conjuring a portal as she summoned Danger! Bigfoot!, sending it and herself through not just the first portal, but a series of them, as they punched the tar out of it, with Rina having shapeshifted her body into something more muscular, ending it off by slamming down on top of the centipede like an anvil.
Kojin then summoned Ultimate Conductor Tyranno and commanded it to stomp on the insectoid beast like the bug it was, jumping on top and smashing it into the ground with its feet.
"Clear the way!" Enrico called out as he pulled out an RPG-7, an iconic rocket launcher from the Cold War made by the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, from his duffel bag and fired an Anti-Infantry warhead at the monster.
"KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE!"
"Oh my, oh my, brace yourselves, everyone!" Double-D cried as he stood back with everyone else. As the warhead made contact, it exploded.
The amount of magic that had hit it combined with the magic it is using to sustain itself and the explosion of the RPG-7's Anti-Infantry warhead caused the Devil Worm to explode like a miniature nuclear bomb minus the fallout.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Twilight was blown away by the force of the resulting explosion and skidded on her rear as she held tightly to the flag, finding herself long past the starting line, effectively winning the flag hunt.
Everyone stared in stunned silence. Crydius dropped his spellbook while Chara's eyes sparkled in admiration. Vinyl flipped up her shades to do a double-take while Rolf closed his eyes with a smile.
"Ah, the power of unity can thwart the power of any evil force!"
"WHERE'D YOU EVEN GET THAT RPG?!"
"Thank the Weapons Tech Lab for it!" Enrico cackled, triumphantly raising the empty rocket launcher into the air.
"Honestly, never would have thought to come prepared with that," Mukuro said, staring at Enrico in slight admiration.
Double-D could only sigh at the response, shaking his head.
"Well, that's that... who's up for BBQ?" Ben asked, causing more than a few people to chuckle in response.
Crydius was annoyed as he stood by his lonesome after the award ceremony had ended. The rest of the Hellraisers had headed on home for the day but he stayed behind.
Looking at the symbol on his hand, Crydius frowned as he clenched it into a fist before it began glowing, causing him to open it back up and see the symbol shining.
"Hey, jackass," A voice called out to him. He turned only to be punched across the face, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
Looking up, Crydius saw it was Ben, Chris, and Enrico. All of them were looking at him with serious expressions.
"Don't think we forgot about that stunt of yours back in the flag game," Ben said, his eyes narrowed.
Behind him, Enrico cracked his knuckles, indicating that it was him that had punched Crydius in the face just now. Crydius's eyes narrowed at that. He will have his due, Crydius knows it. For now…
"I think it's time we had a chat about why you've been stalking me ever since my friends and I came to this school," Ben said.
"Yes," Crydius sighed, nodding his head in agreement. "It is time that we did talk, Benjamin Shigura."
Devil Dragon Stand Knight A/N:
Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation with my family. Thankfully, I am back and my creative juices are flowing like never before!
Caw-zrs6 A/N:
God damn, now that was certainly something. Now, some people might be having a sense of déjà vu right about now, well that is because Ben decided to incorporate some of the old DP into this new one, mixing the old with the new and all that jazz. Anyways, sounds like we might finally be getting some answers as to why Crydius has been watching Ben like a hawk. Why's he so interested in him anyways? Those who've read the original will already have an idea, but to those who haven't, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out. Yeah, cliffhangers are a bitch sometimes, I know. See you then.
Enriks-Da-Writer's A/N:
I will say this: Let's hope that this story actually has something unique up its sleeves. Also, considering that this was pretty much the old version but revamped slightly, I didn't have to do much in terms of what had to be written. I just polished up what was already there and any scenes that needed to be added were already there.
See you guys next time!