To Anon: He had to show back up eventually…
To Geft: We'll have to see what happens now between Night Bat and Nerarchos.
To Lyger 0: Thus far, only one…
Aqua Noir's eyes shot wide open on hearing the too-familiar voice, and he immediately propelled himself in front of Aqua Bug, raising his staff and pointing it straight at Night Bat, the staff sending little ripples through the water as it moved. Night Bat remained motionless, drifting slightly in the current, an opaque black cloud covering the lower part of his face. Watching Aqua Noir, his eyes flashed with amusement, though one hand drifted down to rest on the pommel of his sword. Aqua Noir tightened his grip on the staff, his eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing here, Bat?" he spat.
In his peripheral vision, Aqua Noir tried to follow Poseidon and Neptune as they separated in opposite directions, moving into flanking positions on either side of the Temple door. A shadow passed over Aqua Noir's head – Peregrino del Mar, slingshot already in hand. But looking at them, Poseidon and Peregrino del Mar both held back, shooting sidelong glances at Aqua Noir and Aqua Bug.
Aqua Bug glared angrily at Night Bat. Placing one hand on Aqua Noir's shoulder, she swam forward and placed herself beside Aqua Noir, yo-yo held in one hand and slightly to the side. "How did you find us?"
Night Bat scoffed, sneering at them. "Find you?" He shook his head dismissively. "You are of no import at present, little 'heroes'. No, I came for a far more important prize: the Box."
Aqua Noir shifted his position, dropping a little lower to place himself on the same level as Night Bat. "How did you get here?" he demanded. "How did you follow us?"
Night Bat's lip curled. "Child, I have no need of following you; I found my own way to locate this city."
"Um, Cat?" muttered Peregrino del Mar under his breath, giving Aqua Noir a nervous look. "Who is this?"
Aqua Noir's mouth set in a thin line, all his attention focused on Night Bat himself. "Bad guy. We cannot let him get what he wants."
Night Bat's eyes focused in on Aqua Noir, his grip tightening on the sword's pommel. "And what makes you think that you are in a position to stop me?" His eyes flashed. "I have everything I need. And now you're here: the pièce de résistance. With you and the Miracle Box, I will be unstoppable."
A torrent of water whooshed past Aqua Noir, caught Night Bat square in the chest, and launched him back through the doorway and into the temple. With a snarl, Olivet jetted past Aqua Noir and Aqua Bug, one glowing hand raised, a swirling maelstrom of water whipping out behind her. Without a glance at the others, Olivet burst into the temple after Night Bat, sending brilliant light in all directions, pouring out of the building through the chinks between the blocks. "You will not get your hands on the Miracle Box, you monster!"
Aqua Bug quirked an eyebrow, glanced sidelong at Aqua Noir, and sighed, kicking after Olivet. "We can end this, here and now!" she called over her shoulder, spinning her yo-yo slowly through the water beside her.
Aqua Noir's stomach clenched as he lost sight of Aqua Bug through the opening. His grip on his staff tightened, and he raced after them into the temple, kicking to turn to his left as he entered the building, scanning quickly for any sign of the Miracle Box. The temple itself was a rough rectangle, with cracks and chips in the wall and several of the stones missing. Along the walls, small square holes were visible at uniform intervals going up and down the wall. Sediment had collected along the floor, forming a slope against the far wall that was broken up in two places by smaller doorways. Insets and alcoves were visible in odd places, scattered around the walls. Two columns were set in the middle of the open space, broken of about a third of the way up; the top parts of the columns rested on the ground, just sticking up above the sediment.
With a flash, debris kicked up into the water, swirling around and obscuring the ground.
In the center of the temple, Olivet and Night Bat swum around each other in tight circles, jets of water and flashes of light darting back and forth between them. A blast of dark energy lanced out at Olivet, who pushed herself out of its way in the nick of time; the energy struck the wall not far from Aqua Noir, sending chips of stone flying in all directions. As he turned his back to her, Aqua Bug threw her yo-yo at Night Bat, only for the head to spin out halfway between them, pushing the water wildly in front of her. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Aqua Bug pushed herself forward, closing the distance between them. With a flash, a trident sailed past Aqua Noir's head, missing Night Bat by centimeters as he moved to avoid a blast of air from Olivet. The trident froze in place for a half-second before spinning around and whipping back to a spot to Aqua Noir's right. Catching his trident with one hand, Poseidon hurled it back at Night Bat's head.
Aqua Noir's grip on his staff tightened, but before he could move in closer, water rushed past just above him, buffeting him to one side. With a snarl, Hato Gozen rushed past Aqua Noir, her naginata extended to its full length, and swung it around in a circle, shouting something Aqua Noir didn't understand. A whirlpool rapidly expanded out from the naginata to encompass the entire interior of the temple. Aqua Noir had only a couple seconds to extend his staff and jam it into the gap between two blocks of the temple wall to pin himself in place before the water whipped up around him, threatening to tear him away from the wall and pull him into the vortex. As the whirlpool grew, Night Bat glanced away from Olivet, taking a light blast to his leg as he did so, and his eyes widened in surprise when his gaze fixed on Hato Gozen. A swirl came out from him in the opposite direction; even still, he spun around in place, even as he pushed himself toward the center of the whirlpool. Aqua Noir eyed the chaos in the middle of the temple for a long minute, though more and more of the sediment was pulled up off the ground. Kicking down to the bottom, Aqua Bug looped her yo-yo around one of the central pillars, attaching the string to her waist and swimming back up toward Night Bat. The mud and silt that had collected in the temple over millennia came loose, kicking up and obscuring the interior.
A crossbow bolt shot past Aqua Noir's head and embedded in the side of the wall next to him. Flecks of stone chipped off and struck him in the face. Spinning around, Aqua Noir caught a quick glimpse of light yellow-orange near the far end of the temple, before the swirling mud cut the sight off from him – a vaguely-feminine form. By the time the water had cleared again, the figure had vanished. "There's someone else here!" Aqua Noir shouted to the others. Staying in one place was no longer an option. Pulling his staff out of the wall, he allowed himself to be pulled toward the center of the whirlpool, raising his staff defensively as he did so and kicking to spin around and take in as much of the scene as he could.
From somewhere on the far side of the temple, Peregrino del Mar let out a grunt; his slingshot came into view momentarily before vanishing once more into the haze. Nearby, Neptune growled, and an unfamiliar feminine voice cried out. Aqua Noir gave another hard kick and broke through the maelstrom into the center, where the water was not moving as quickly. His mouth set in a thin line as he scanned quickly for any sign of Night Bat. Motion drew his eye to Olivet, and a blade slashed through, only missing Cat Noir's head by a matter of centimeters; Hato Gozen drew it back moments later. A mote of darkness appeared and expanded to encompass a swath of the temple floor. Another crossbow bolt whipped at Aqua Noir with a twang. Raising his staff, Aqua Noir spun it as best he could under water, catching the bolt and deflecting it away into the darkness reaching up toward him from below. Aqua Bug emerged out of the swirling sediment, caught her yo-yo around Aqua Noir's waist, and pulled him toward her, just as Night Bat emerged from the sediment behind her and slashed at Aqua Bug's head. The current caught Aqua Noir, and he kicked hard, racing to cut down the distance between him and Aqua Bug. The sword seemed to move unbearably slow, as if time stopped around Aqua Noir, all his focus on Aqua Bug. Extending his staff and swinging with lightning speed, Aqua Noir just managed to interpose his staff between Night Bat and Aqua Bug, knocking the blow aside.
Eyes wide, Aqua Bug released her yo-yo around Aqua Noir and whirled around, raising her yo-yo and spinning it in a small circle between herself and Night Bat. A column of swirling water rushed at Night Bat, pushing Aqua Bug backward away from him.
"Foolish heroes!" sneered Night Bat, shifting his sword to one hand and raising his other. "I can bring this whole ruin down on top of you!" Before any of them could react, Night Bat threw his arms out wide, clenching his fists and pulling his hands in. The stonework above Aqua Noir's head rippled, releasing bubbles, and shifted slightly to one side. A rending groan reverberated through the water, as the temple roof shifted off of its seating and began to fall to one side. Aqua Noir's eyes widened, and instantly the whirlpool around the temple cut out. Hato Gozen held her hands up over her head, and the temple roof quivered in place, still shifting the slightest bit. Night Bat twisted his hand with a sudden jerk. Strain marked Hato Gozen's face, and the stones began to rend apart. Olivet quickly joined her, holding her hands up and sending beams of white light up toward the roof. From the far side, Poseidon swam toward them and pushed his trident up. The stone groaned, moved to one side, and began to settle back into place. Night Bat sneered, his eyes flashing, and pushed off the wall, rocketing sword-first toward Hato Gozen. At the same moment, movement caught Aqua Noir's eye from the far side of the temple, where that same yellow-orange figure fired another crossbow bolt at Olivet.
Gritting his teeth, Aqua Noir raced to stop the crossbow bolt, even as Neptune and Aqua Bug rushed to Hato Gozen's aid. Batting the bolt aside, Aqua Noir turned and raced toward the stranger, staff upraised.
"Um… what do I do here, boss?" she called out, not taking her eyes off of Aqua Noir. The woman swallowed and raised her crossbow, pointing it at Aqua Noir's head, her face marked by anxious lines.
Night Bat scoffed. "Take them out, Jagerin!" he ordered. "Then your family will be freed."
With a shriek, Jagerin sent three more bolts at Aqua Noir, who deflected all of them aside before he reached her, bringing the bottom of his staff up to strike at her gut. She quickly lowered her hand crossbow to block, and he redirected his staff, attacking her again from the top, swimming higher to place her below him. His staff came down as he spun around upside down, planting his feet on the roof and pushing himself straight toward her.
Suddenly, the temple roof shifted the slightest bit, pulling Aqua Noir's attention away from Jagerin. Hato Gozen hovered near the middle of the room, kicking feebly and convulsing. Night Bat floated a meter or so away, dueling back and forth with Peregrino del Mar and Aqua Bug. Aqua Noir gasped: Hato Gozen's fresh air bubble was gone. Olivet's eyes widened, and she suddenly released the temple roof for a moment, throwing her hand out and forming an air bubble that encompassed Hato Gozen. Hato Gozen gasped, coughed several times, and looked up just in time to put her hands up in a desperate attempt to stabilize the temple roof. After a moment, Olivet shifted her attention back to the roof, but too late. The roof rumbled, shifted more dangerously, and finally came down, revealing an aqua-blue wood-textured box hidden in an alcove within one of the corners.