Mermaid Heel's New Flare (Chapter 5)
The purple blur shot right at Flare Corona, and her new guildmates, Beth Vanderwood and Arana Webb, but luckily all three were able to dodge. When the cloud of dust that formed from the crater went away, it was revealed that Flare's belief was correct and that Nullpudding was the attacker, and presumably the man who was stealing from the village.
"Huh? Flare? Is that you?" Nullpudding asked in what seemed like legitimate confusion.
"Yeah, it is! What the hell are you doing here!?" Flare countered as Beth and Arana stood by her side with Nullpudding glaring at all three of them with a wide smile on his face.
"Well, you probably found out by now, but I'm taking the money from these weaklings," Nullpudding admitted with no hint of remorse in his voice.
"But why? These people don't have the money that would support someone like you!" Flare exclaimed, knowing that Nullpudding when he was in Raven Tail, had expensive tastes when it came to everything in life from food to clothing. When Nullpudding was in Raven Tail, Flare vividly remembered multiple instances of Master Ivan nearly killing Nullpudding over all the tabs he accrued across various shops and bars.
"Maybe, but it's a start, plus these people aren't much of a threat to me, so it's easier for me to take from them," Nullpudding admitted again as Flare continued to glare at Nullpudding.
"Well you're surprisingly honest about all of this," Beth noted as Nullpudding shrugged.
"I'm going to kill all three of you anyway so it really doesn't matter!" Nullpudding exclaimed as he grew spikes all over his arms and fists before running up at the girls. All three of them dodged, and Flare was able to grab Nullpudding with her hair and throw him into the forest next to the village.
'I have to keep him away from the villagers while we're fighting. I know what he's like when he's desperate," Flare thought to herself before she, Beth, and Arana went into the forest to follow Nullpudding, but when they went to where he crashed, he wasn't there.
"Where'd he go!?" Beth asked as she looked around. Arana and Flare looked around as well before Beth was hit right in the middle of the back with a punch by Nullpudding. Arana attempted to hit him with a Web Shot, but the spikes on his arms cut through the webs and he threw Beth at Arana, sending them both falling to the ground. Flare used her hair and attempted to grab Nullpudding, but he was able to jump back and shot some spikes at her.
"Pumpkin Shield!" a giant pumpkin appeared in front of Flare, absorbing the shots from the oncoming spikes. Beth came up from behind Flare and jumped on top of the giant pumpkin, with Nullpudding in sight.
"Carrot Missile!" Beth shot out carrots at Nullpudding, but he was able to dodge and jump up onto the pumpkin and punch Beth in the stomach. Before he could do more, Arana was able to grab his hands with her webs and pull him back, allowing Beth to recover and kick him in the head.
"Alright! I'm done playing around!" Nullpudding exclaimed before twisting around like a tornado, destroying Arana's webs, and shooting spikes in all different directions, hitting Beth and Arana multiple times, cutting their clothes and skin open. Eventually, Nullpudding stopped, jumped up, kicked Arana in the face, and punched Beth in the side of the head. Both fell to the ground unconscious, as Flare looked at both of her fallen partners, and glared at a laughing Nullpudding.
"Was that all your worthless partners could do, Flare!? These are the people that you left your partners in Raven Tail to join!?"
"Raven Tail is dead! It was disbanded by the Magic Council and I'm happy that it was!"
"We could've brought the guild back, but you had to go and join some other guild just because of some fat slob that told you some sweet nothings!" Nullpudding yelled. Flare's eyes, upon hearing that insult directly towards Risley, glared at Nullpudding with her pupils shrinking to the size of pinheads while her whole body started shaking.
"Uhhh…are you OK, what's the matter?" Nullpudding asked before he heard an ear-piercing scream coming from Flare, along with multiple streams of her flowing red hair.
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT RISLEY THAT WAY YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Flare screeched as she grabbed Nullpudding with her hair and threw him into a nearby tree. Nullpudding tried to get up, but Flare continued to throw him into any nearby trees with bloodlust in her eyes.
"RISLEY IS AN AMAZING WOMAN WHO GAVE ME THE WILL TO LIVE AFTER RAVEN TAIL DISBANDED, AND I WON'T LET ANYONE SPEAK TO HER LIKE THAT! ESPECIALLY NOT SOME WASTE OF LIFE LIKE YOU!" Flare continued to scream as she threw Nullpudding as hard as she could onto the ground. Nullpudding, not one to give up, grew spikes all over his body and attempted to cut Flare's hair, but Flare pulled her hair back. In Nullpudding's moment of confusion, Flare jumped up in the air and hit him with a kick to the face, sending him crashing into the ground. Now on top of Nullpudding, Flare grew her hair and had it surround Nullpudding and start burning.
"Risley is one of the most important people in my life right now, and I won't have a lowlife like you insult her! She may not know it yet, but Risley is the love of my life and I won't let anyone get away with tarnishing her name!" Flare said with venom practically seeping out of her voice, scaring Nullpudding to death, something he did not expect, just as Arana and Beth started regaining consciousness.
"Wait…can't we talk about this?" Nullpudding asked, sweating bullets as Flare continued to glare a hole through him as her hair burned more and more until it was practically on fire.
"Hair Shower Thousand Birds!" Flare yelled as multiple strands of her burning hair started striking Nullpudding to the point of unconsciousness. However, Flare, still seething over the insults towards her crush, continued to strike Nullpudding again and again until Beth and Arana ran up to her and grabbed her arms.
"Flare! Flare! Calm down! You beat him!" Beth exclaimed as she and Arana tried to pull Flare off of Nullpudding, but Flare kept her ground.
"No! He insulted Risley! I'm gonna rip him apart!" Flare responded as she only doubled the speed her hair was striking Nullpudding. Arana sighed and let go of her, motioning for Beth to do the same. Arana mumbled 'sorry' from behind Flare and kicked her in the back of the head as hard as she could, sending Flare crumpling to the ground. Arana then walked up to Nullpudding and wrapped his unconscious body in her webs.
"Beth, do you mind picking Flare up and taking her with us?" Arana asked. Beth nodded before she picked Flare up as the two went back to the village while Arana used her communication lacrima to call the Magic Council so they could take care of Nullpudding.
One Hour Later…
Flare woke up in the back of a carriage with Beth and Arana sitting by her. Beth looked at her and waved at her with a smile on her face.
"Arana, Flare woke up." Arana looked at Flare, who was rubbing the side of her head.
"Mornin' sleepyhead," Arana joked as Flare glared at her.
"Why did you kick me!?"
"Because I wanted to make sure you didn't kill that guy."
"He insulted Risley! He deserved it! Wait…what happened to Nullpudding?"
"Me and Beth gave him to the Magic Council and he's on his way to jail as we speak," Arana explained as Flare nodded before turning her attention to the window. After about an hour, Flare sighed and looking up at both Beth and Arana.
"Hey…I'm sorry if I messed up the mission. I just…got so furious at him and I kind of lost me cool," Flare muttered while pressing both her pointer fingers together. Beth and Arana looked at her and sighed before giving her a pat on the back.
"Hey, don't worry about it. Everyone's emotions get the best of them once in a while. Plus, the villagers are fine and we were able to get their money back from that little idiot's tent in the forest," Arana explained as Flare nodded with a comforting smile on her face.
"Yeah, you did a great job though. For your first mission, you got that creep away from the villagers and were able to beat him pretty quickly," Beth added as Flare's legitimate smile on her face grew bigger. However, that smile started to waver as Arana scooted over to Flare and wrapped an arm around the back of her neck.
"So…we have a little more time before we get back to the guild. Why don't we talk about Risley and how you're feeling about her?" Arana asked with a smirk on her face with Beth looking at Flare with an interested look on her face. Flare's face became as red as her hair and dress as she looked down to the ground and sighed as she knew she wasn't going to get out of this without talking more about her new love of her life, Risley Law.