Chapter ten: War
Sweat dripped down Toppo's face as he, Mel, Sharon and Juan stood ready to fight with several of the other units, waiting for the soldiers to arrive. It had already been two hours since he received the True Rage Rune. Only five hours remained until the rune took control of all his sanity. Goro's warning had echoed throughout the whole castle through various people, and everyone was positioned around the castle. While most of the teams were positioned in the castle's 'front yard', Landis' team positioned themselves down by Mamie's restaurant for some reason, Hallec had taken Estella's place as Estella became a supportive fighter, and Reed's team was protecting Kathy's team at the ranch.
Toppo looked around at his team. Sharon had her shield raised as she lifted her spear. Mel held Branky in the air as her puppet let out a low growl. Even Juan was looking ready. All sleepiness was gone from his face, his face was hardened and his fists were raised ready to do battle at any minute.
It was no longer than forty minutes after Goro's warning when the army of soldiers, headed by Julian and the other ex-council members, came into view. Hugo's team of Samus, Nicolas and Joker was the first to prepare, staring down the oncoming soldiers.
As the soldiers came close to the castle, Julian signaled them all to stop. At almost an instant, all the soldiers came to a full stop.
Julian smirked evilly at Hugo. "You know, you can prevent all this simply by handing over the True Runes and Budehuc Castle."
"Forget it!" Hugo growled.
"He's right!" Geddoe continued. "We'll fight before we hand over everything!"
Julian's smirk vanished as his face darkened. "Fine." He spat.
The corrupt man raised his hand into the air to signal the soldiers to attack. Everyone heard Fubar let out a really loud screech, followed closely by a screech from Bright and a roar from Hallec, which told everyone that the battle was about to begin.
Julian thrust his hand down as all the soldiers started running towards the castle, dashing past Julian and the other council members to clash swords with everyone in the castle.
Hugo's team was the first for the soldiers to reach, as they were closest to the front of the castle. Hugo whipped out his dagger as Samus ripped his sword from its holster. Soldiers rushed at the two fighters as they clashed their weapons against each other. Nicolas whipped out his axe and raised his shield as Joker put up his fists and charged his Fire Rune. Although Hugo was cutting down soldiers with multiple strikes and Nicolas was blocking swords with his impenetrable shield, Samus was struggling more, having his sword locked with one of the soldiers. He used this chance wisely, quickly charging his Wind Rune to perform a Shredding attack.
In the meantime, soldiers had rushed past Hugo's team to do battle with everyone else. All the while, Julian and the other council members stayed outside the castle where it was safe.
Toppo wanted to save his True Rune for when he really needed it, so he was using projectiles and Earth magic to wipe out enemies. His Earthquakes were coming in really handy for taking out soldiers, which seemed to vanish into thin air when defeated. He heard constant roars from Hallec, obviously a rouse to throw off the soldiers long enough for other to defeat them.
"Hey, Toppo!"
Toppo quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw Juan running towards him at full speed.
"Get down for a second!" Juan shouted.
Although confused, Toppo did as he was told. Suddenly, as soon as he was close enough, Juan leapt into the air, pressed one foot onto Toppo's back and made a leap of faith.
Landing right in the middle of a swarm of soldiers.
Toppo's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet and continued fighting. {What is Juan trying to pull?!}
Toppo suddenly found out, as a huge explosion erupted from where Juan had landed and spread out, wiping out dozens of soldiers unlucky enough to be standing in the way. When the explosion cleared, Juan stood in the middle of a circle of solders, arms spread out.
The juggler cracked a smirk. Of course! He had almost forgotten that Juan carried a Fire Rune!
Meanwhile, Landis and his team of Melville, Alanis, Belle and Rody stood poised at Mamie's restaurant, waiting for the right moment to take action. So far, not a single soldier had taken notice to them.
Landis stared up at the battle taking place around the castle, grinned slyly and chuckled. He turned to the four kids on his team. "Hehehe. You guys ready?"
Although hesitant, all four kids nodded. None of them had ever fought in an actual war battle like this before, and were a little scared because there was the chance that they could die, but they were willing to try.
"Alright." Landis said, turning back to look up at the battle. "Wait for it..." His grin increased to the point of looking psychotic. "Now!"
All five members of the team inhaled deeply. "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!!" They all screamed in unison. Landis finished with a loud, hearty "YUH-HUH-HUH!!!!"
This got the attention of several soldiers, and they all started running down the stairs to meet with Landis' team.
Although he didn't take his eye off the soldiers, the odd Winghorder spoke to Rody. "Okay, Rody! Now!"
Rody quickly obeyed, casting a powerful fire rune attack. As the soldiers were almost at the bottom of the stairs, a small explosion exploded under their feet, destroying most of them and sending the last one soaring through the air, overhead, until coming to a rest, falling headfirst into the lake.
Landis watched as more soldiers ran down the stairs. He lifted his scythe as his grin widened. "The Grim Reaper is here." He chuckled. The kids took this as a notice and all four of them raised his or her weapons.
Reed sweated as he and his team fought many soldiers at the ranch. Apparently, Landis' team letting out that sudden shout of that completely random phrase attracted soldiers to come down the other set of stairs, noticing the path to the ranch and battling Reed and co.
Even though his team was greatly outnumbered, Reed vowed to press on no matter what. Because if he failed, Kathy would be in serious danger. Apparently, Edge seemed to feel the same way as Mamie, slicing through the many soldiers using the Star Dragon Sword with more determination than normal.
Reed looked around. He saw Edge and Bazba, but couldn't see Watari anywhere. Suddenly, he heard a rustling coming from behind. Daring to look back as he charged his Rage Rune, he saw Watari leaping from the top of a tree and throw countless ninja stars at whatever soldier he could, all the while in midair.
Reed smirked as he lashed out his right hand, casting the Rage Rune magic. A pair of giant fire serpent flew from out of nowhere and engulfed several soldiers in flames, destroying them instantly.
However, Reed had failed to notice that several soldiers had gotten past his team and rushed towards the ranch, where Kathy and her team of Gordon, Elliot, Mamie and Scott were positioned.
Kathy saw the soldiers coming, and bit her lip. She looked at the rest of her team. "You guys ready?" She asked.
Elliot gulped as he put up his fists. He tried to act brave, but anyone could tell that he was more terrified now than from any of Landis' stories. Mamie gulped as well, although a little less scared than Elliot. She nodded and whipped out her frying pan. Scott's glare remained neutral as he nodded, holding several objects to throw. Gordon seemed to be adjusting the best to the situation, cracking his knuckles while grinning.
"Okay." Kathy said nervously. "Let's do it!"
Gordon quickly ran towards a few soldiers who were advancing on him. One soldier lashed out his sword at Gordon, but the Item Shop owner proved quicker, leaning to the side. "No good!" He laughed, striking the soldier in the face with his fist. Another soldier tried a horizontal slash, but Gordon again proved superior, this time ducking under the blade of steel. "Too slow!" He taunted as he shot his foot into the soldier's stomach.
Elliot ran from three soldiers that had decided to take him on. None of the other soldiers approached the poor boy, as they thought that Elliot was a pitiful fighter not worth their time.
Elliot, however, had a plan. He ran towards a plank leaning into the ground alongside a few stacks of crates and a rain barrel he had set up earlier. Elliot clambered on top of the crates, which reached higher than the plank, and waited for one of the soldiers to step on the bottom of the plank. As soon as one did, Elliot leapt from the crate and planted his feet on the top of the plank with all his might. His plan proved a success, as the soldier was sent flying through the air, over the fence and finally landing in the field, vanishing upon impact.
Elliot wasn't done yet. He grabbed the rain barrel, tipped it over and rolled it at the remaining two soldiers, managing to trip them. Elliot finished by leaping into the air and landing on the backs of the soldiers, destroying them.
Mamie proved to be a formidable fighter with her frying pan, thrusting it into the faces of whatever guards took her on. Mamie showed all the soldiers that she had a strong swing, destroying soldiers with one good strike.
However, she had failed to notice one soldier sneaking up behind her, preparing to run her through. Mamie continued fighting, oblivious to her future attacker.
Luckily, the soldier was noticed. By Edge. The young man's eyes sprang open. "Mamie!" He shouted, turning around and running towards the soldier preparing to finish off his girlfriend. "Look out!"
Edge leapt into the air and raised the Star Dragon Sword above his head, bringing it down upon the soldier's back, destroying him instantly. Mamie turned around in time to see the soldier vanish. She gasped, realizing what could have happened.
"Edge," Mamie said. "Y-You just saved me!"
"You can thank me later!" Edge replied. "We need to continue fighting!"
"Come on, worthless! Even the FIRST imbecile that served me could do better than THAT!" The Star Dragon Sword said. "What a lousy form! There was no follow-through at all!"
"Shut up!" Edge shouted as he ran towards another soldier.
Scott, because he wasn't much of a fighter, resorted to throwing rocks and such from a distance. He proved to be better than expected, managing to destroy several soldiers with rocks alone. Soon however, he was out of rocks. The trader looked behind him.
"Waurenhyte!" Scott said. "I need something else!"
"Here! Here!" Scott's parrot replied, dragging a very large rock behind him.
"Great! Bring it here, Waurenhyte!" Scott said, turning back towards the soldiers fighting the others. Without turning around, Scott reached behind himself, grabbed the object and threw it with all his might. However, when he turned around, he saw the large rock still there. "Huh?" Scott said, looking back towards the soldiers. "What'd I throw?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Waurenhyte screamed as he flew through the air until bouncing off the head of a soldier, rebounding off several others, stalling them long enough for the other to destroy them.
Kathy looked around, exhaling nervously. For some reason, none of the soldiers had attacked her yet. She was about to rush off to help Gordon when she heard a familiar voice.
"KATHY! LOOK OUT!" Reed's voice cried desperately.
Kathy suddenly felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, Kathy saw several guards staring down at her Kathy gasped, but quickly grabbed the arm holding on her. Letting out a shout, Kathy threw the soldier over her shoulder. Spinning around, Kathy leapt into the air and planted one foot into a soldier's chest, pushing off it, spinning in midair before planting a horizontal kick to another soldier's face. Kathy landed on the ground, and lashed out her legs, tripping a fourth soldier. Jumping to her feet, Kathy leapt onto the soldier's back and sprang from it, overtop of the final two soldiers, kicking them both in the back on her way down.
Standing to her feet, Kathy looked around. All the soldiers she had taken on had all vanished. Brushing her hair from her eyes, Kathy ran to help Gordon.
Reed saw Kathy's 'show'. Seeing her fight those soldiers like that left him in awe. His mouth fell open as his eyes widened. "What a girl." He said to himself before turning around and continuing fighting.
Toppo continued with his battle, as was the rest of his team. Mel had lashed out Branky, causing fire to spew from the doll's mouth, wiping out several soldiers in a row.
Toppo was just about to rip another ball from his belt when he noticed something, or rather someONE, lying on the ground several yards away. Toppo's eyes widened when he saw the pointed ears and aqua hair on the female figure lying on the ground. Nei was bruised, beaten, bloodied and unconscious. Toppo narrowed his eyes and started seething in anger. All the soldiers were ignoring him because they were too busy with the others of Budehuc.
Toppo started shaking in anger, knowing that he was going beserk.
{Yes, that's right.} An unfamiliar voice said deeply. {Get mad. Fight for your female friend.}
Toppo looked at his left hand as his eyes widened. It was the rune. The True Rage Rune was TALKING to him!
"What?" Toppo whispered.
{Turn your rage loose. You know you want to.} The rune said. {I'll take over for just a little while. I promise I'll give you control when we're through.} The voice was so...Haunting. Almost like a mysterious voice that would come up in one of Landis' stories. Toppo narrowed his eyes as his face hardened.
"You're right." Toppo whispered bravely. He looked up at the soldiers surrounding the unconscious elf and slowly walked forward.
After walking several steps, Toppo thrust his left fist into the air. "TAKE OVERRRRRRRR!!!!" Toppo screamed. Almost instantly, flames sprouted from Toppo's left hand, quickly spreading throughout his body, even though his clothes didn't burn. Toppo clenched his eyes shut because of the pain he was in. The rune was taking control, if just for a little bit. Within seconds, flames were rising from all over Toppo's body. Looking up into the sky, Toppo prepared to open his eyes. Thrusting his fists down, Toppo opened his eyes as two thin beams of light shot from them, clear into the midday sky. Toppo let out a psychotic scream.
Landis' team heard the scream. Everyone in the area, soldiers included, looked towards the main area and saw two beams of light shooting into the sky, as well as reddish-orange light coming from the ground.
"Ooooooooooo..." Everyone, even the soldiers, said in awe.
Toppo charged at the soldiers surrounding Nei, his rage reaching it's full potential.
{YES!!} The rune shouted into Toppo's mind. {ANGER! It's been SO LONG since I've had this much power!}
Every time Toppo lashed out a fist, a flame burst around it, inflicting even more damage. The rune was using Toppo's anger to give it more power, and it was in turn unleashing everything on the soldiers.
{Thrust your arms out sideways.} The rune instructed.
Toppo instantly did as he was told, and as soon as he did, long, continuous pillars of fire shot from his arms, instantly destroying several soldiers. Quickly taking the opportunity, Toppo started to turn in place, destroying a dozen soldiers every time he moved.
Within seconds, the soldiers were all wiped out. Toppo could hear the rune speaking again. {Aaahhh. Thank you.} It said. {After more than a decade, it feels so good to get power again.}
Suddenly, Toppo felt his sanity returning. The flames quickly died down as the light from Toppo's eyes dimmed to reveal the natural colour. Quickly remembering why he went insane, Toppo dropped to the ground beside Nei and pressed his hand against her face.
"Nei." Toppo whispered, gently patting Nei's face. "Nei, come on. Please wake up."
Nei groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. When she was awake enough, she looked up and found herself staring into the concerned eyes of Toppo." Nei forced a smile. "Toppo. I...Thank you."
A tear rolled down Toppo's face, knowing that Nei was alright. Suddenly, he felt something cold and sharp press up against the back of his neck. Daring to look over his shoulder, he saw Julian standing over him, sword in hand. Looking around, he saw that most of the soldiers were destroyed. Julian grinned evilly. "Enjoyed your last look at you elf friend, juggler?" He taunted.
"Not so fast, Julian!"
Julian turned his head to see Thomas standing by the steps leading to the castle, sword in hand. Instead of a nervous glare, Thomas looked surprisingly serious for a change.
"You can't kill Toppo until you kill ME!" Thomas shouted determinedly.
Julian was silent for a few seconds before grinning evilly. "Very well." He said. "It will settle our score at the same time."
Julian pulled his sword away from Toppo and walked towards the young castle master. He raised his sword again. "Shall we?"
Thomas spent the next minute or so in a sword fight with Julian without going anywhere, and he was showing signs of getting tired. Julian was starting to prove superior, beginning to force Thomas back, towards the castle.
Soon, Thomas was against the door to the castle. He knew that he wouldn't have anywhere to go unless he did something, so he pushed the door open and darted into the mansion. Julian followed, and the two found themselves having a duel in the lobby of the mansion. Again, Julian was starting to prove superior, starting to force Thomas towards the stairs. Thomas quickly turned around and ran up the stairs to the first landing, where he resumed the duel until being forced to run upstairs completely.
Julian continued to force Thomas back, and the two found themselves moving along the top walkway above the bottom floor. Soon, they arrived at the door to the balcony. Thomas opened the door as he continued fighting with Julian. Unfortunately, he ran out of room and ended up backing against the railing overlooking the ground one floor below. Apparently, the last of the soldiers had been destroyed, as a lot of the castle residents were gathered n the ground to watch the fight.
Julian snickered. "Admit it, boy." He said. "You've lost. Surrender the castle and maybe I'll let you live."
Thomas seethed. "Never!" He spat.
Julian's smile disappeared. "Very well." He quickly jabbed Thomas in the shoulder, drawing a steady stream of blood. Thomas cried out in pain as he held onto his shoulder.
"THOMAS!" Cecile screamed.
Julian laughed. "I'll enjoy this thoroughly." He said evilly.
The corrupt man lunged at Thomas, but the boy was smart. Thomas bent over as he let Julian stab the air above him. Then, with all his might, Thomas thrust himself back into a standing position, flipping Julian from the balcony.
Julian screamed in terror as he fell, but it didn't help him any. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, where he lay still.
Cecile slowly inspected the unmoving man. "He's...He's dead!"
Everyone in the area minus the other council members started cheering, having won the battle. And with no casualties even!
Thomas walked through the doors to the mansion just in time for Hugo to tell the other council members that they're being banished from the castle for good. At first, the council members argued, and even ordered Chris to support them. Chris however, refused and said that she agreed completely that they should be banished.
Thomas staggered over to his father, still holding his shoulder. He had something to say to him.
Thomas' father sighed when he saw his ex-son coming. "You here to gloat, boy?" He asked.
Thomas narrowed his eyes. "Be thankful that you're just being banished. You could've gotten a lot worse, you know."
Thomas' father looked at the floor. Thomas saw this and continued. "Don't think I don't agree with them. You've done so much evil that you could be put in jail, but if you actually make honest attempts at dropping this whole council thing and become less corrupted, maybe I'll let you come back once in a while."
While Thomas was having the talk, Toppo walked towards the Inn, where Mio was probably helping the wounded. Luce was tending to Nei's wounds and said that she'd be fine.
During the walk to the Inn, Toppo looked at his left hand.
"I hope that you got enough energy, because I'm re-sealing you soon." Toppo whispered to the rune.
{...Don't get too cocky yet.} The rune said suspiciously. {I sense a great evil nearby. You may have to use me sooner than you think.}
To be continued...
Sweat dripped down Toppo's face as he, Mel, Sharon and Juan stood ready to fight with several of the other units, waiting for the soldiers to arrive. It had already been two hours since he received the True Rage Rune. Only five hours remained until the rune took control of all his sanity. Goro's warning had echoed throughout the whole castle through various people, and everyone was positioned around the castle. While most of the teams were positioned in the castle's 'front yard', Landis' team positioned themselves down by Mamie's restaurant for some reason, Hallec had taken Estella's place as Estella became a supportive fighter, and Reed's team was protecting Kathy's team at the ranch.
Toppo looked around at his team. Sharon had her shield raised as she lifted her spear. Mel held Branky in the air as her puppet let out a low growl. Even Juan was looking ready. All sleepiness was gone from his face, his face was hardened and his fists were raised ready to do battle at any minute.
It was no longer than forty minutes after Goro's warning when the army of soldiers, headed by Julian and the other ex-council members, came into view. Hugo's team of Samus, Nicolas and Joker was the first to prepare, staring down the oncoming soldiers.
As the soldiers came close to the castle, Julian signaled them all to stop. At almost an instant, all the soldiers came to a full stop.
Julian smirked evilly at Hugo. "You know, you can prevent all this simply by handing over the True Runes and Budehuc Castle."
"Forget it!" Hugo growled.
"He's right!" Geddoe continued. "We'll fight before we hand over everything!"
Julian's smirk vanished as his face darkened. "Fine." He spat.
The corrupt man raised his hand into the air to signal the soldiers to attack. Everyone heard Fubar let out a really loud screech, followed closely by a screech from Bright and a roar from Hallec, which told everyone that the battle was about to begin.
Julian thrust his hand down as all the soldiers started running towards the castle, dashing past Julian and the other council members to clash swords with everyone in the castle.
Hugo's team was the first for the soldiers to reach, as they were closest to the front of the castle. Hugo whipped out his dagger as Samus ripped his sword from its holster. Soldiers rushed at the two fighters as they clashed their weapons against each other. Nicolas whipped out his axe and raised his shield as Joker put up his fists and charged his Fire Rune. Although Hugo was cutting down soldiers with multiple strikes and Nicolas was blocking swords with his impenetrable shield, Samus was struggling more, having his sword locked with one of the soldiers. He used this chance wisely, quickly charging his Wind Rune to perform a Shredding attack.
In the meantime, soldiers had rushed past Hugo's team to do battle with everyone else. All the while, Julian and the other council members stayed outside the castle where it was safe.
Toppo wanted to save his True Rune for when he really needed it, so he was using projectiles and Earth magic to wipe out enemies. His Earthquakes were coming in really handy for taking out soldiers, which seemed to vanish into thin air when defeated. He heard constant roars from Hallec, obviously a rouse to throw off the soldiers long enough for other to defeat them.
"Hey, Toppo!"
Toppo quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw Juan running towards him at full speed.
"Get down for a second!" Juan shouted.
Although confused, Toppo did as he was told. Suddenly, as soon as he was close enough, Juan leapt into the air, pressed one foot onto Toppo's back and made a leap of faith.
Landing right in the middle of a swarm of soldiers.
Toppo's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet and continued fighting. {What is Juan trying to pull?!}
Toppo suddenly found out, as a huge explosion erupted from where Juan had landed and spread out, wiping out dozens of soldiers unlucky enough to be standing in the way. When the explosion cleared, Juan stood in the middle of a circle of solders, arms spread out.
The juggler cracked a smirk. Of course! He had almost forgotten that Juan carried a Fire Rune!
Meanwhile, Landis and his team of Melville, Alanis, Belle and Rody stood poised at Mamie's restaurant, waiting for the right moment to take action. So far, not a single soldier had taken notice to them.
Landis stared up at the battle taking place around the castle, grinned slyly and chuckled. He turned to the four kids on his team. "Hehehe. You guys ready?"
Although hesitant, all four kids nodded. None of them had ever fought in an actual war battle like this before, and were a little scared because there was the chance that they could die, but they were willing to try.
"Alright." Landis said, turning back to look up at the battle. "Wait for it..." His grin increased to the point of looking psychotic. "Now!"
All five members of the team inhaled deeply. "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!!!" They all screamed in unison. Landis finished with a loud, hearty "YUH-HUH-HUH!!!!"
This got the attention of several soldiers, and they all started running down the stairs to meet with Landis' team.
Although he didn't take his eye off the soldiers, the odd Winghorder spoke to Rody. "Okay, Rody! Now!"
Rody quickly obeyed, casting a powerful fire rune attack. As the soldiers were almost at the bottom of the stairs, a small explosion exploded under their feet, destroying most of them and sending the last one soaring through the air, overhead, until coming to a rest, falling headfirst into the lake.
Landis watched as more soldiers ran down the stairs. He lifted his scythe as his grin widened. "The Grim Reaper is here." He chuckled. The kids took this as a notice and all four of them raised his or her weapons.
Reed sweated as he and his team fought many soldiers at the ranch. Apparently, Landis' team letting out that sudden shout of that completely random phrase attracted soldiers to come down the other set of stairs, noticing the path to the ranch and battling Reed and co.
Even though his team was greatly outnumbered, Reed vowed to press on no matter what. Because if he failed, Kathy would be in serious danger. Apparently, Edge seemed to feel the same way as Mamie, slicing through the many soldiers using the Star Dragon Sword with more determination than normal.
Reed looked around. He saw Edge and Bazba, but couldn't see Watari anywhere. Suddenly, he heard a rustling coming from behind. Daring to look back as he charged his Rage Rune, he saw Watari leaping from the top of a tree and throw countless ninja stars at whatever soldier he could, all the while in midair.
Reed smirked as he lashed out his right hand, casting the Rage Rune magic. A pair of giant fire serpent flew from out of nowhere and engulfed several soldiers in flames, destroying them instantly.
However, Reed had failed to notice that several soldiers had gotten past his team and rushed towards the ranch, where Kathy and her team of Gordon, Elliot, Mamie and Scott were positioned.
Kathy saw the soldiers coming, and bit her lip. She looked at the rest of her team. "You guys ready?" She asked.
Elliot gulped as he put up his fists. He tried to act brave, but anyone could tell that he was more terrified now than from any of Landis' stories. Mamie gulped as well, although a little less scared than Elliot. She nodded and whipped out her frying pan. Scott's glare remained neutral as he nodded, holding several objects to throw. Gordon seemed to be adjusting the best to the situation, cracking his knuckles while grinning.
"Okay." Kathy said nervously. "Let's do it!"
Gordon quickly ran towards a few soldiers who were advancing on him. One soldier lashed out his sword at Gordon, but the Item Shop owner proved quicker, leaning to the side. "No good!" He laughed, striking the soldier in the face with his fist. Another soldier tried a horizontal slash, but Gordon again proved superior, this time ducking under the blade of steel. "Too slow!" He taunted as he shot his foot into the soldier's stomach.
Elliot ran from three soldiers that had decided to take him on. None of the other soldiers approached the poor boy, as they thought that Elliot was a pitiful fighter not worth their time.
Elliot, however, had a plan. He ran towards a plank leaning into the ground alongside a few stacks of crates and a rain barrel he had set up earlier. Elliot clambered on top of the crates, which reached higher than the plank, and waited for one of the soldiers to step on the bottom of the plank. As soon as one did, Elliot leapt from the crate and planted his feet on the top of the plank with all his might. His plan proved a success, as the soldier was sent flying through the air, over the fence and finally landing in the field, vanishing upon impact.
Elliot wasn't done yet. He grabbed the rain barrel, tipped it over and rolled it at the remaining two soldiers, managing to trip them. Elliot finished by leaping into the air and landing on the backs of the soldiers, destroying them.
Mamie proved to be a formidable fighter with her frying pan, thrusting it into the faces of whatever guards took her on. Mamie showed all the soldiers that she had a strong swing, destroying soldiers with one good strike.
However, she had failed to notice one soldier sneaking up behind her, preparing to run her through. Mamie continued fighting, oblivious to her future attacker.
Luckily, the soldier was noticed. By Edge. The young man's eyes sprang open. "Mamie!" He shouted, turning around and running towards the soldier preparing to finish off his girlfriend. "Look out!"
Edge leapt into the air and raised the Star Dragon Sword above his head, bringing it down upon the soldier's back, destroying him instantly. Mamie turned around in time to see the soldier vanish. She gasped, realizing what could have happened.
"Edge," Mamie said. "Y-You just saved me!"
"You can thank me later!" Edge replied. "We need to continue fighting!"
"Come on, worthless! Even the FIRST imbecile that served me could do better than THAT!" The Star Dragon Sword said. "What a lousy form! There was no follow-through at all!"
"Shut up!" Edge shouted as he ran towards another soldier.
Scott, because he wasn't much of a fighter, resorted to throwing rocks and such from a distance. He proved to be better than expected, managing to destroy several soldiers with rocks alone. Soon however, he was out of rocks. The trader looked behind him.
"Waurenhyte!" Scott said. "I need something else!"
"Here! Here!" Scott's parrot replied, dragging a very large rock behind him.
"Great! Bring it here, Waurenhyte!" Scott said, turning back towards the soldiers fighting the others. Without turning around, Scott reached behind himself, grabbed the object and threw it with all his might. However, when he turned around, he saw the large rock still there. "Huh?" Scott said, looking back towards the soldiers. "What'd I throw?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Waurenhyte screamed as he flew through the air until bouncing off the head of a soldier, rebounding off several others, stalling them long enough for the other to destroy them.
Kathy looked around, exhaling nervously. For some reason, none of the soldiers had attacked her yet. She was about to rush off to help Gordon when she heard a familiar voice.
"KATHY! LOOK OUT!" Reed's voice cried desperately.
Kathy suddenly felt a cold hand on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, Kathy saw several guards staring down at her Kathy gasped, but quickly grabbed the arm holding on her. Letting out a shout, Kathy threw the soldier over her shoulder. Spinning around, Kathy leapt into the air and planted one foot into a soldier's chest, pushing off it, spinning in midair before planting a horizontal kick to another soldier's face. Kathy landed on the ground, and lashed out her legs, tripping a fourth soldier. Jumping to her feet, Kathy leapt onto the soldier's back and sprang from it, overtop of the final two soldiers, kicking them both in the back on her way down.
Standing to her feet, Kathy looked around. All the soldiers she had taken on had all vanished. Brushing her hair from her eyes, Kathy ran to help Gordon.
Reed saw Kathy's 'show'. Seeing her fight those soldiers like that left him in awe. His mouth fell open as his eyes widened. "What a girl." He said to himself before turning around and continuing fighting.
Toppo continued with his battle, as was the rest of his team. Mel had lashed out Branky, causing fire to spew from the doll's mouth, wiping out several soldiers in a row.
Toppo was just about to rip another ball from his belt when he noticed something, or rather someONE, lying on the ground several yards away. Toppo's eyes widened when he saw the pointed ears and aqua hair on the female figure lying on the ground. Nei was bruised, beaten, bloodied and unconscious. Toppo narrowed his eyes and started seething in anger. All the soldiers were ignoring him because they were too busy with the others of Budehuc.
Toppo started shaking in anger, knowing that he was going beserk.
{Yes, that's right.} An unfamiliar voice said deeply. {Get mad. Fight for your female friend.}
Toppo looked at his left hand as his eyes widened. It was the rune. The True Rage Rune was TALKING to him!
"What?" Toppo whispered.
{Turn your rage loose. You know you want to.} The rune said. {I'll take over for just a little while. I promise I'll give you control when we're through.} The voice was so...Haunting. Almost like a mysterious voice that would come up in one of Landis' stories. Toppo narrowed his eyes as his face hardened.
"You're right." Toppo whispered bravely. He looked up at the soldiers surrounding the unconscious elf and slowly walked forward.
After walking several steps, Toppo thrust his left fist into the air. "TAKE OVERRRRRRRR!!!!" Toppo screamed. Almost instantly, flames sprouted from Toppo's left hand, quickly spreading throughout his body, even though his clothes didn't burn. Toppo clenched his eyes shut because of the pain he was in. The rune was taking control, if just for a little bit. Within seconds, flames were rising from all over Toppo's body. Looking up into the sky, Toppo prepared to open his eyes. Thrusting his fists down, Toppo opened his eyes as two thin beams of light shot from them, clear into the midday sky. Toppo let out a psychotic scream.
Landis' team heard the scream. Everyone in the area, soldiers included, looked towards the main area and saw two beams of light shooting into the sky, as well as reddish-orange light coming from the ground.
"Ooooooooooo..." Everyone, even the soldiers, said in awe.
Toppo charged at the soldiers surrounding Nei, his rage reaching it's full potential.
{YES!!} The rune shouted into Toppo's mind. {ANGER! It's been SO LONG since I've had this much power!}
Every time Toppo lashed out a fist, a flame burst around it, inflicting even more damage. The rune was using Toppo's anger to give it more power, and it was in turn unleashing everything on the soldiers.
{Thrust your arms out sideways.} The rune instructed.
Toppo instantly did as he was told, and as soon as he did, long, continuous pillars of fire shot from his arms, instantly destroying several soldiers. Quickly taking the opportunity, Toppo started to turn in place, destroying a dozen soldiers every time he moved.
Within seconds, the soldiers were all wiped out. Toppo could hear the rune speaking again. {Aaahhh. Thank you.} It said. {After more than a decade, it feels so good to get power again.}
Suddenly, Toppo felt his sanity returning. The flames quickly died down as the light from Toppo's eyes dimmed to reveal the natural colour. Quickly remembering why he went insane, Toppo dropped to the ground beside Nei and pressed his hand against her face.
"Nei." Toppo whispered, gently patting Nei's face. "Nei, come on. Please wake up."
Nei groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. When she was awake enough, she looked up and found herself staring into the concerned eyes of Toppo." Nei forced a smile. "Toppo. I...Thank you."
A tear rolled down Toppo's face, knowing that Nei was alright. Suddenly, he felt something cold and sharp press up against the back of his neck. Daring to look over his shoulder, he saw Julian standing over him, sword in hand. Looking around, he saw that most of the soldiers were destroyed. Julian grinned evilly. "Enjoyed your last look at you elf friend, juggler?" He taunted.
"Not so fast, Julian!"
Julian turned his head to see Thomas standing by the steps leading to the castle, sword in hand. Instead of a nervous glare, Thomas looked surprisingly serious for a change.
"You can't kill Toppo until you kill ME!" Thomas shouted determinedly.
Julian was silent for a few seconds before grinning evilly. "Very well." He said. "It will settle our score at the same time."
Julian pulled his sword away from Toppo and walked towards the young castle master. He raised his sword again. "Shall we?"
Thomas spent the next minute or so in a sword fight with Julian without going anywhere, and he was showing signs of getting tired. Julian was starting to prove superior, beginning to force Thomas back, towards the castle.
Soon, Thomas was against the door to the castle. He knew that he wouldn't have anywhere to go unless he did something, so he pushed the door open and darted into the mansion. Julian followed, and the two found themselves having a duel in the lobby of the mansion. Again, Julian was starting to prove superior, starting to force Thomas towards the stairs. Thomas quickly turned around and ran up the stairs to the first landing, where he resumed the duel until being forced to run upstairs completely.
Julian continued to force Thomas back, and the two found themselves moving along the top walkway above the bottom floor. Soon, they arrived at the door to the balcony. Thomas opened the door as he continued fighting with Julian. Unfortunately, he ran out of room and ended up backing against the railing overlooking the ground one floor below. Apparently, the last of the soldiers had been destroyed, as a lot of the castle residents were gathered n the ground to watch the fight.
Julian snickered. "Admit it, boy." He said. "You've lost. Surrender the castle and maybe I'll let you live."
Thomas seethed. "Never!" He spat.
Julian's smile disappeared. "Very well." He quickly jabbed Thomas in the shoulder, drawing a steady stream of blood. Thomas cried out in pain as he held onto his shoulder.
"THOMAS!" Cecile screamed.
Julian laughed. "I'll enjoy this thoroughly." He said evilly.
The corrupt man lunged at Thomas, but the boy was smart. Thomas bent over as he let Julian stab the air above him. Then, with all his might, Thomas thrust himself back into a standing position, flipping Julian from the balcony.
Julian screamed in terror as he fell, but it didn't help him any. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, where he lay still.
Cecile slowly inspected the unmoving man. "He's...He's dead!"
Everyone in the area minus the other council members started cheering, having won the battle. And with no casualties even!
Thomas walked through the doors to the mansion just in time for Hugo to tell the other council members that they're being banished from the castle for good. At first, the council members argued, and even ordered Chris to support them. Chris however, refused and said that she agreed completely that they should be banished.
Thomas staggered over to his father, still holding his shoulder. He had something to say to him.
Thomas' father sighed when he saw his ex-son coming. "You here to gloat, boy?" He asked.
Thomas narrowed his eyes. "Be thankful that you're just being banished. You could've gotten a lot worse, you know."
Thomas' father looked at the floor. Thomas saw this and continued. "Don't think I don't agree with them. You've done so much evil that you could be put in jail, but if you actually make honest attempts at dropping this whole council thing and become less corrupted, maybe I'll let you come back once in a while."
While Thomas was having the talk, Toppo walked towards the Inn, where Mio was probably helping the wounded. Luce was tending to Nei's wounds and said that she'd be fine.
During the walk to the Inn, Toppo looked at his left hand.
"I hope that you got enough energy, because I'm re-sealing you soon." Toppo whispered to the rune.
{...Don't get too cocky yet.} The rune said suspiciously. {I sense a great evil nearby. You may have to use me sooner than you think.}
To be continued...