Chapter eleven: Final Battle
Toppo pushed open the door to the Inn and walked inside. He walked past a very relieved Sebastian and walked upstairs. He knew which room Mio was in, treating the wounded. Toppo went to the third door and went in. Mio was inside the large room, finishing wrapping a bandage around Emily's arm. The redhead girl thanked the nurse and left the room.
After Emily left, Mio saw Toppo coming into the room. She smiled. "Hey, Toppo." She greeted. "How'd the battle go?"
Toppo returned the smile. "Everyone's still alive, and that fat idiot we went against when it was just a few of us here is dead."
Mio nodded. "That's great! Finally we don't have anything more to fear from that wise guy!"
Toppo approached Mio. "And YOU. You've worked so hard to heal everyone. You must be proud of yourself." He said softly.
Mio again nodded. "I am. Maybe someday I'll be as good as Dr. Tuta."
Juggler and nurse each found themselves staring into each other's eyes again. Slowly, they leaned in, preparing to give each other a long awaited kiss. Toppo and Mio closed their eyes as they got closer to each other.
Toppo's eyes sprang open when he heard a loud 'bang' coming from behind. He turned around as Mio looked around him to see what the noise was. There, standing in the doorway, was Mike. He had thrown the door open with such great force that it almost fell to the floor. Instead of his normal happy features, his face was twisted in anger and hate.
"Mike?" Mio asked. "What's wrong?"
Mike ignored her. His gaze was focused on Toppo. He placed his hand horizontally against his forehead. "I've had it up to HERE with you, Toppo!" He seethed. "You've survived every single challenge I've thrown at you! You weren't supposed to survive the battle!"
Toppo's eyes sprang open in realization. "Y-You did all this?" He whispered in shock.
Mike gave a twisted smirk. "Yes. That was all me." He said.
"Why, Mike?!" Mio asked, her hand up to her mouth. "Why?!"
The card shark turned his gaze to the young nurse. "You're my reason, Mio." He said coldly. "I was about to tell you that I wanted to go out with you, but you said that Toppo beat me! I couldn't stand losing you to a loser like Toppo!"
"Don't you DARE call Toppo that!" Mio shouted back. "He's a much kinder person than you'll ever be!"
Toppo didn't actually hear the insult. His mind was focused on Mike's plans and what he had done to the people Toppo loved. He growled deeply as he started to feel the rune attempting to take control. Toppo controlled it though, as he thought it wasn't time to go berserk yet.
Slowly, Toppo walked towards Mike. "You had Shabon kidnapped. You had the council battle with us, which got Nei deeply injured." He growled. "All because you want to take Mio from me."
Mike nodded with an evil grin. "Yep."
"Well, guess what." Toppo growled. "You've messed with the wrong man!"
Mike quickly grabbed something at his side and pulled it out. Toppo's eyes widened. A sword! Why didn't he notice it before?
"Fine." Mike said. "We shall settle this in a duel. Although I don't think you'll survive because you don't have a good weapon."
{That's what HE thinks.} Toppo thought.
Mike quickly took a slash at Toppo with his sword, but Toppo jumped back, avoiding the attack. Toppo quickly ripped a ball from his belt and hurled it at Mike. The ball found its way to the target, and Mike staggered back. Grabbing the opportunity, Toppo lunged forward and landed his fist against Mike's jaw. Mio saw the sudden start of the fight and she backed off, scared for Toppo.
Mike staggered back from the punch Toppo gave him, only to feel Toppo continue to pelt him with his fists. Mike soon found a break in Toppo's punches and used his shoulder to knock the ticked off juggler back. Somehow, Mike's blow was so hard that Toppo was sent back a good ten feet, coming to a rest close to the window. Mike readied his sword and charged forward in an attempt to run him through.
Toppo slowly stood up, trying to recover from Mike's strangely powerful blow. The sound of Mio screaming brought him back to attention as he looked up and saw Mike charging at him with his sword preparing for a lunge. Toppo stood still in waiting until Mike was close enough, then reacted. The juggler leaned to the side, allowing the insane card shark to pass. Mike not only missed to attack, but tripped over Toppo's foot. The young man crashed through the window and fell from the second floor of the Inn, landing on his stomach when he reached the ground. Toppo leapt out the window after him, quickly coming to the ground. Luckily, Toppo was much more athletic than Mike, and rolled along the ground when he reached it to avoid breaking his legs.
Toppo quickly noticed that Mike was getting to his feet. How Mike had managed to fall two floors onto the ground and get up with no broken bones was beyond him, but Toppo put his fists up to prepare to continue his fight with Mike.
Unfortunately, Mike was prepared. The card player spun around, fist outstretched. Mike struck Toppo across the face, causing the juggler to pause for a second. Mike continued by attempting a horizontal slash at Toppo. Luckily, Toppo recovered and saw this coming. With amazing agility, Toppo leapt over the blade of steel as it passed underneath him. Coming down, Toppo struck Mike in the stomach with his foot, causing Mike to bend over to try and catch his breath. As soon as Toppo landed on the ground, he struck Mike with an uppercut to the chin. Mike flew through the air several feet before landing on his back and sliding across the ground.
Toppo failed to notice that there was a crowd gathering around the battle. Everyone was wondering what was going on.
"Why is Toppo fighting Mike?" Cecile asked.
"Furthermore, why does Mike have a sword?" Samus added.
"Mike looks angry." Dupa observed. "No one's seen him angry before."
Toppo continued to strike Mike with punches, his anger continuing to rise. While fighting, Toppo could hear the True Rage Rune talking to him again.
{Let me take over again!} The rune shouted in Toppo's mind. {I can help us win!}
{No, not yet.} Toppo thought in response, hoping that the rune could hear. {I can do this battle.}
{Very well.} The rune replied. {Let me know when you need help.}
Mike again lunged forward with his sword, and Toppo again avoided it. Toppo quickly struck Mike with his fist, causing the card player to stagger back. As he charged his Earth Rune, Toppo ripped another ball from his belt and hurled it at Mike, furthering Mike's pause. By now, his rune was charged. Toppo lashed out his right hand and cast an Earthquake. The Earth opened up underneath Mike's feet, launching him into the air. When Mike landed on the ground, his sword was thrown aside.
Toppo stormed over to the defeated Mike, got down on one knee, grabbed Mike's collar and pulled his fist back.
"Toppo! Wait!"
Toppo turned his head to the left and saw Mio running through the crowd, rushing over to his side.
"Please! Don't hit him!" Mio half-begged as she arrived at Toppo's side.
Mike sighed in relief. "Thanks."
Mio turned to Mike and pulled her fist back. "Let ME do it!"
*POW!*
As soon as Mio delivered the punch, Mike's head fell back, the card shark going into unconsciousness. Toppo stood up and embraced Mio. He was glad that it was finally over.
Or so he thought. Toppo heard a loud crackling noise coming from where Mike was laying. Again looked at the defeated man, Toppo saw something he hadn't noticed earlier: A small shape on Mike's forehead. On closer inspection, Toppo saw that it was an upside down triangle. Currently, the shape was surrounded in a purple light, emitting strange electricity at the same time. Suddenly, the light faded and the electricity stopped, and when it did, the shape was gone.
Mio stared at Mike with wide eyes for a few seconds before turning to Toppo. "What was that all about?" Toppo shrugged, not taking his eyes off the defeated man. Mio gave her opinion. "You don't suppose he was being controlled, do you?"
"He was." A voice replied.
Toppo and Mio looked in the direction of the voice, as did everyone else in the area. Standing a good ten yards away was a tall figure in a brown cloak, which was waving in the slight breeze.
The juggler and nurse stared at the figure for a few seconds before Mio spoke up. "W-Who are you?" She dared to ask.
"In a minute." The figure replied. Because of the voice, Toppo could tell that the figure was a male. "Anyway, yes. Your card-playing friend WAS being controlled." Toppo could've sworn he saw an evil smirk under the cloak as the man finished his phrase. "By me."
"Why Mike?" Mio asked.
"He was the perfect pawn. He wanted revenge on Toppo." The man replied. "All I want is revenge. Period."
"Revenge?" Toppo asked.
The man grabbed the shoulder of his cloak and, in one quick move, removed the cloak and tossed it aside, revealing the face of a young-looking man underneath.
Toppo's eyes widened when he saw the identity of the man. Of course! The shape on Mike's forehead...
The mark of Yuber.
Yuber smirked when he saw the shocked faces on Toppo and Mio. "Surprised?" He asked. "Yes. I survived the collapse of the Cyndar Ruins, as you can see."
"Why would you want revenge on us?" Mio asked.
"After the amount of times I've met defeat by whoever gets thrown at me, you would think that I'd hold SOME resentment." Yuber replied with a sneer.
"Well, I demand you give Mike control of himself again!" Mio shouted.
"Go ahead. Take him." The black night smirked. "Not even with all those enhanced abilities I gave him did he do well."
Toppo mentally nodded in understanding. That certainly explained Mike's powerful blows and falling from a high place without breaking anything.
"Well, I guess I'd better get started." Yuber said. "I SHALL have my revenge, starting with the juggler!" The familiar two blades of steel shot from Yuber's sleeves as he readied them for attacking.
Toppo's eyes widened. Sure, he was present when Geddoe went to retrieve the True Lightning Rune from Yuber, but how well could he fare against Yuber one-on-one? He quickly turned to Mio. "Get out of here, Mio!" He whispered. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Mio nodded nervously. "Be careful, Toppo." She said as she turned around and ran into the crowd.
Toppo and Yuber spent a few seconds staring each other down before Yuber started the fight. Charging forward, Yuber pulled both swords back. Toppo saw this coming, and leapt into the air as the swords passed underneath. The normally silent juggler sent his foot flying into Yuber's face before he hit the ground, making the dark knight stagger back. Toppo continued with a punch to the stomach, another to the head and a juggling ball off the face.
Yuber took a slash at Toppo with his left weapon, which Toppo also managed to avoid, but not without the weapon making a deep cut on his leg. Despite the pain, Toppo continued the fight. Dropping to the ground, Toppo spun his legs around, knocking Yuber off his feet. Toppo took the opportunity and leapt into the air in an attempt to land on Yuber. Unfortunately, Yuber saw this and teleported before Toppo landed on the ground. When he landed, Toppo heard Yuber appearing behind him, so he made another jump into the air, soaring above a sword attack. Toppo flipped over Yuber and kicked him in the back.
Yuber staggered back, holding onto his back. "Ungh...Impressive, juggler. I guess I should seen that coming." He smirked. "But you can't hold out on physical attacks alone, and you've used up al your offensive magic on your Earth Rune."
{Maybe so, but you're not aware of the True Rage Rune!} Toppo thought.
Yuber again charged at Toppo and slashed at him. Again, Toppo jumped, but Yuber knew this was coming, so he slashed at Toppo with the other weapon while he was in the air. The sword clipped Toppo's shoulder. The juggler let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground. Toppo tried his hardest to ignore the pain as he stood up. However, Yuber took another slash before Toppo was ready, attacking his other leg. Toppo let out another cry as he fell on his side.
"TOPPO!" Toppo heard Shabon cry. Yuber stood over him, smirking evilly. "Face it, my friend. You've got no chance." He said. "After I kill you, my revenge will have started. One by one, I'll kill everyone here, leaving no one alive."
Toppo started seething at Yuber. His pain may have been massive, but at the moment, his anger was far greater.
{Get ready.} Toppo thought, his attention on the rune. {I'm going to give you control again.}
{I'm always ready!} The rune replied.
Slowly, Toppo staggered to his feet. Yuber saw him and sighed in frustration. "Don't you ever die?" He asked.
Toppo didn't answer. All he heard was his own seething, getting louder with each breath. His eyes were focused on the black night, both organs of sight flaming with anger.
Suddenly, Toppo shot his left fist into the air. "TAKE OVERRRRRRR!!!!!" Toppo shouted.
Almost instantly, flames sprouted from Toppo's left hand, quickly spreading throughout his body, again not burning his clothes. Within seconds, Toppo was a human torch.
Yuber's eyes widened in shock. "W-What is this?!" He asked.
"True Rage!" The flaming juggler growled.
Toppo charged at Yuber, fists flying. Yuber was unprepared and fell victim to Toppo's onslaught. Punch after punch, Toppo was successful in every attack. Flames sprouted from Toppo's hands every punch, adding to the power. Everyone in the crowd, Mio especially, was shocked greatly at Toppo's immense power.
Seeing that Yuber was near defeat, Toppo lunged out his fist again, again nailing Yuber in the jaw. The black knight staggered back, but Toppo wanted to finish the battle with a bang. Thrusting his hands together, Toppo fired a beam of flames from his palms, nailing Yuber with amazing impact. Yuber soared back several feet before vanishing into thin air.
Toppo stood still for a few seconds to make sure Yuber wasn't going to appear again. When he was certain that he had won, Toppo dropped his stance. Suddenly, he felt his sanity returning. The flames around Toppo's body faded from sight as his eyes regained their colour. Toppo looked around for a few seconds before he suddenly felt two pairs of arms thrown around him.
"You did it, Toppo!" Shabon cried as she wrapped her small arms around Toppo's waist.
"We knew you could, Toppo! We just KNEW you could!" Nei cried as she hugged Toppo by the neck.
{Congratulations, my friend.} The rune said in Toppo's mind. {I've seen how much you care for these two. If you want to stay to protect them, I suggest that you re-seal me before your time runs out.}
Toppo's eyes sprang open in horror. He had completely forgotten about that! Quickly and gently, Toppo broke from Nei and Shabon and rushed towards the crowd, despite the pain in both his legs, quickly finding Eike. "How much time do I have left?" He asked Eike.
"Not much longer than a half an hour." Eike replied. "We'd better get to the sublevel and re-seal that rune."
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Toppo stood in front of the rune seal, preparing to seal the True Rage Rune. Eike, Thomas and a small group of others stood by the entrance to the room, watching the juggler.
Toppo sighed as he outstretched his left hand. Suddenly, his hand was surrounded in a dim light, which soon got brighter. Soon, it was so bright that Toppo had to close his eyes to protect himself. Soon, the light faded, and Toppo opened his eyes. The True Rage Rune floated in font of him again, re-sealed.
{Thank you.} Toppo heard the rune say. {With the amount of anger you gave me, I shouldn't need to be used for another twenty years.}
Toppo nodded. "It's been fun." He whispered before turning around and limping away from the seal.
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Toppo limped back into the front yard of the castle. Pablo was talking to Sebastian, almost begging for a job, Shabon was playing with some of the other kids and Nei was talking with Yumi. Toppo looked around for Mio, and quickly spotted her. However, he was surprised to see her talking with Mike.
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"I hope that you can forgive me for everything I've done." Mike half- pleaded. "I swear I didn't want to do anything I did!"
Mio smiled kindly and shook her head. "It's alright, Mike. You were under Yuber's control."
Mike looked down and sighed. "And I'm also sorry that I tried to come between you and Toppo." He said. "It was your decision, and I'll respect that."
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Toppo watched as Mike left Mio and walked in his direction. Mike started walking past him, but stopped halfway past. Slowly, Mike looked at Toppo. "You lucky dog." Mike whispered. "You'd better take care of her, or else I'll REALLY get mad."
With that, Mike walked off. Toppo smirked at the retreating man and continued limping towards Mio.
Mio saw Toppo coming, and smiled warmly. Soon, Toppo was at the nurse's side, smiling.
"Nothing's going to stop us this time." Toppo said.
"Good." Mio said.
Toppo wrapped his arms around Mio and, for the first time, gave her a long, passionate kiss. There was a loud cheer coming from all over right after Toppo and Mio kissed, but both ignored it.
If there was one thing Toppo learned from this whole thing, it was this: He cared extremely deeply for Nei, Shabon and Mio, and he was willing to risk anything for any of them. But this was also his weakness. Their pain would bring out his anger.
A Juggler's Rage.
END
Author's notes: *SSBFreak is lying on his back, panting.* Man! That took me SO LONG to do! Well, at least I'm finished, and can start work on my next fic. Don't worry. I'm not stopping my Samus fic either. I just wanna multi- task. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please read and review!
Toppo pushed open the door to the Inn and walked inside. He walked past a very relieved Sebastian and walked upstairs. He knew which room Mio was in, treating the wounded. Toppo went to the third door and went in. Mio was inside the large room, finishing wrapping a bandage around Emily's arm. The redhead girl thanked the nurse and left the room.
After Emily left, Mio saw Toppo coming into the room. She smiled. "Hey, Toppo." She greeted. "How'd the battle go?"
Toppo returned the smile. "Everyone's still alive, and that fat idiot we went against when it was just a few of us here is dead."
Mio nodded. "That's great! Finally we don't have anything more to fear from that wise guy!"
Toppo approached Mio. "And YOU. You've worked so hard to heal everyone. You must be proud of yourself." He said softly.
Mio again nodded. "I am. Maybe someday I'll be as good as Dr. Tuta."
Juggler and nurse each found themselves staring into each other's eyes again. Slowly, they leaned in, preparing to give each other a long awaited kiss. Toppo and Mio closed their eyes as they got closer to each other.
Toppo's eyes sprang open when he heard a loud 'bang' coming from behind. He turned around as Mio looked around him to see what the noise was. There, standing in the doorway, was Mike. He had thrown the door open with such great force that it almost fell to the floor. Instead of his normal happy features, his face was twisted in anger and hate.
"Mike?" Mio asked. "What's wrong?"
Mike ignored her. His gaze was focused on Toppo. He placed his hand horizontally against his forehead. "I've had it up to HERE with you, Toppo!" He seethed. "You've survived every single challenge I've thrown at you! You weren't supposed to survive the battle!"
Toppo's eyes sprang open in realization. "Y-You did all this?" He whispered in shock.
Mike gave a twisted smirk. "Yes. That was all me." He said.
"Why, Mike?!" Mio asked, her hand up to her mouth. "Why?!"
The card shark turned his gaze to the young nurse. "You're my reason, Mio." He said coldly. "I was about to tell you that I wanted to go out with you, but you said that Toppo beat me! I couldn't stand losing you to a loser like Toppo!"
"Don't you DARE call Toppo that!" Mio shouted back. "He's a much kinder person than you'll ever be!"
Toppo didn't actually hear the insult. His mind was focused on Mike's plans and what he had done to the people Toppo loved. He growled deeply as he started to feel the rune attempting to take control. Toppo controlled it though, as he thought it wasn't time to go berserk yet.
Slowly, Toppo walked towards Mike. "You had Shabon kidnapped. You had the council battle with us, which got Nei deeply injured." He growled. "All because you want to take Mio from me."
Mike nodded with an evil grin. "Yep."
"Well, guess what." Toppo growled. "You've messed with the wrong man!"
Mike quickly grabbed something at his side and pulled it out. Toppo's eyes widened. A sword! Why didn't he notice it before?
"Fine." Mike said. "We shall settle this in a duel. Although I don't think you'll survive because you don't have a good weapon."
{That's what HE thinks.} Toppo thought.
Mike quickly took a slash at Toppo with his sword, but Toppo jumped back, avoiding the attack. Toppo quickly ripped a ball from his belt and hurled it at Mike. The ball found its way to the target, and Mike staggered back. Grabbing the opportunity, Toppo lunged forward and landed his fist against Mike's jaw. Mio saw the sudden start of the fight and she backed off, scared for Toppo.
Mike staggered back from the punch Toppo gave him, only to feel Toppo continue to pelt him with his fists. Mike soon found a break in Toppo's punches and used his shoulder to knock the ticked off juggler back. Somehow, Mike's blow was so hard that Toppo was sent back a good ten feet, coming to a rest close to the window. Mike readied his sword and charged forward in an attempt to run him through.
Toppo slowly stood up, trying to recover from Mike's strangely powerful blow. The sound of Mio screaming brought him back to attention as he looked up and saw Mike charging at him with his sword preparing for a lunge. Toppo stood still in waiting until Mike was close enough, then reacted. The juggler leaned to the side, allowing the insane card shark to pass. Mike not only missed to attack, but tripped over Toppo's foot. The young man crashed through the window and fell from the second floor of the Inn, landing on his stomach when he reached the ground. Toppo leapt out the window after him, quickly coming to the ground. Luckily, Toppo was much more athletic than Mike, and rolled along the ground when he reached it to avoid breaking his legs.
Toppo quickly noticed that Mike was getting to his feet. How Mike had managed to fall two floors onto the ground and get up with no broken bones was beyond him, but Toppo put his fists up to prepare to continue his fight with Mike.
Unfortunately, Mike was prepared. The card player spun around, fist outstretched. Mike struck Toppo across the face, causing the juggler to pause for a second. Mike continued by attempting a horizontal slash at Toppo. Luckily, Toppo recovered and saw this coming. With amazing agility, Toppo leapt over the blade of steel as it passed underneath him. Coming down, Toppo struck Mike in the stomach with his foot, causing Mike to bend over to try and catch his breath. As soon as Toppo landed on the ground, he struck Mike with an uppercut to the chin. Mike flew through the air several feet before landing on his back and sliding across the ground.
Toppo failed to notice that there was a crowd gathering around the battle. Everyone was wondering what was going on.
"Why is Toppo fighting Mike?" Cecile asked.
"Furthermore, why does Mike have a sword?" Samus added.
"Mike looks angry." Dupa observed. "No one's seen him angry before."
Toppo continued to strike Mike with punches, his anger continuing to rise. While fighting, Toppo could hear the True Rage Rune talking to him again.
{Let me take over again!} The rune shouted in Toppo's mind. {I can help us win!}
{No, not yet.} Toppo thought in response, hoping that the rune could hear. {I can do this battle.}
{Very well.} The rune replied. {Let me know when you need help.}
Mike again lunged forward with his sword, and Toppo again avoided it. Toppo quickly struck Mike with his fist, causing the card player to stagger back. As he charged his Earth Rune, Toppo ripped another ball from his belt and hurled it at Mike, furthering Mike's pause. By now, his rune was charged. Toppo lashed out his right hand and cast an Earthquake. The Earth opened up underneath Mike's feet, launching him into the air. When Mike landed on the ground, his sword was thrown aside.
Toppo stormed over to the defeated Mike, got down on one knee, grabbed Mike's collar and pulled his fist back.
"Toppo! Wait!"
Toppo turned his head to the left and saw Mio running through the crowd, rushing over to his side.
"Please! Don't hit him!" Mio half-begged as she arrived at Toppo's side.
Mike sighed in relief. "Thanks."
Mio turned to Mike and pulled her fist back. "Let ME do it!"
*POW!*
As soon as Mio delivered the punch, Mike's head fell back, the card shark going into unconsciousness. Toppo stood up and embraced Mio. He was glad that it was finally over.
Or so he thought. Toppo heard a loud crackling noise coming from where Mike was laying. Again looked at the defeated man, Toppo saw something he hadn't noticed earlier: A small shape on Mike's forehead. On closer inspection, Toppo saw that it was an upside down triangle. Currently, the shape was surrounded in a purple light, emitting strange electricity at the same time. Suddenly, the light faded and the electricity stopped, and when it did, the shape was gone.
Mio stared at Mike with wide eyes for a few seconds before turning to Toppo. "What was that all about?" Toppo shrugged, not taking his eyes off the defeated man. Mio gave her opinion. "You don't suppose he was being controlled, do you?"
"He was." A voice replied.
Toppo and Mio looked in the direction of the voice, as did everyone else in the area. Standing a good ten yards away was a tall figure in a brown cloak, which was waving in the slight breeze.
The juggler and nurse stared at the figure for a few seconds before Mio spoke up. "W-Who are you?" She dared to ask.
"In a minute." The figure replied. Because of the voice, Toppo could tell that the figure was a male. "Anyway, yes. Your card-playing friend WAS being controlled." Toppo could've sworn he saw an evil smirk under the cloak as the man finished his phrase. "By me."
"Why Mike?" Mio asked.
"He was the perfect pawn. He wanted revenge on Toppo." The man replied. "All I want is revenge. Period."
"Revenge?" Toppo asked.
The man grabbed the shoulder of his cloak and, in one quick move, removed the cloak and tossed it aside, revealing the face of a young-looking man underneath.
Toppo's eyes widened when he saw the identity of the man. Of course! The shape on Mike's forehead...
The mark of Yuber.
Yuber smirked when he saw the shocked faces on Toppo and Mio. "Surprised?" He asked. "Yes. I survived the collapse of the Cyndar Ruins, as you can see."
"Why would you want revenge on us?" Mio asked.
"After the amount of times I've met defeat by whoever gets thrown at me, you would think that I'd hold SOME resentment." Yuber replied with a sneer.
"Well, I demand you give Mike control of himself again!" Mio shouted.
"Go ahead. Take him." The black night smirked. "Not even with all those enhanced abilities I gave him did he do well."
Toppo mentally nodded in understanding. That certainly explained Mike's powerful blows and falling from a high place without breaking anything.
"Well, I guess I'd better get started." Yuber said. "I SHALL have my revenge, starting with the juggler!" The familiar two blades of steel shot from Yuber's sleeves as he readied them for attacking.
Toppo's eyes widened. Sure, he was present when Geddoe went to retrieve the True Lightning Rune from Yuber, but how well could he fare against Yuber one-on-one? He quickly turned to Mio. "Get out of here, Mio!" He whispered. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Mio nodded nervously. "Be careful, Toppo." She said as she turned around and ran into the crowd.
Toppo and Yuber spent a few seconds staring each other down before Yuber started the fight. Charging forward, Yuber pulled both swords back. Toppo saw this coming, and leapt into the air as the swords passed underneath. The normally silent juggler sent his foot flying into Yuber's face before he hit the ground, making the dark knight stagger back. Toppo continued with a punch to the stomach, another to the head and a juggling ball off the face.
Yuber took a slash at Toppo with his left weapon, which Toppo also managed to avoid, but not without the weapon making a deep cut on his leg. Despite the pain, Toppo continued the fight. Dropping to the ground, Toppo spun his legs around, knocking Yuber off his feet. Toppo took the opportunity and leapt into the air in an attempt to land on Yuber. Unfortunately, Yuber saw this and teleported before Toppo landed on the ground. When he landed, Toppo heard Yuber appearing behind him, so he made another jump into the air, soaring above a sword attack. Toppo flipped over Yuber and kicked him in the back.
Yuber staggered back, holding onto his back. "Ungh...Impressive, juggler. I guess I should seen that coming." He smirked. "But you can't hold out on physical attacks alone, and you've used up al your offensive magic on your Earth Rune."
{Maybe so, but you're not aware of the True Rage Rune!} Toppo thought.
Yuber again charged at Toppo and slashed at him. Again, Toppo jumped, but Yuber knew this was coming, so he slashed at Toppo with the other weapon while he was in the air. The sword clipped Toppo's shoulder. The juggler let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground. Toppo tried his hardest to ignore the pain as he stood up. However, Yuber took another slash before Toppo was ready, attacking his other leg. Toppo let out another cry as he fell on his side.
"TOPPO!" Toppo heard Shabon cry. Yuber stood over him, smirking evilly. "Face it, my friend. You've got no chance." He said. "After I kill you, my revenge will have started. One by one, I'll kill everyone here, leaving no one alive."
Toppo started seething at Yuber. His pain may have been massive, but at the moment, his anger was far greater.
{Get ready.} Toppo thought, his attention on the rune. {I'm going to give you control again.}
{I'm always ready!} The rune replied.
Slowly, Toppo staggered to his feet. Yuber saw him and sighed in frustration. "Don't you ever die?" He asked.
Toppo didn't answer. All he heard was his own seething, getting louder with each breath. His eyes were focused on the black night, both organs of sight flaming with anger.
Suddenly, Toppo shot his left fist into the air. "TAKE OVERRRRRRR!!!!!" Toppo shouted.
Almost instantly, flames sprouted from Toppo's left hand, quickly spreading throughout his body, again not burning his clothes. Within seconds, Toppo was a human torch.
Yuber's eyes widened in shock. "W-What is this?!" He asked.
"True Rage!" The flaming juggler growled.
Toppo charged at Yuber, fists flying. Yuber was unprepared and fell victim to Toppo's onslaught. Punch after punch, Toppo was successful in every attack. Flames sprouted from Toppo's hands every punch, adding to the power. Everyone in the crowd, Mio especially, was shocked greatly at Toppo's immense power.
Seeing that Yuber was near defeat, Toppo lunged out his fist again, again nailing Yuber in the jaw. The black knight staggered back, but Toppo wanted to finish the battle with a bang. Thrusting his hands together, Toppo fired a beam of flames from his palms, nailing Yuber with amazing impact. Yuber soared back several feet before vanishing into thin air.
Toppo stood still for a few seconds to make sure Yuber wasn't going to appear again. When he was certain that he had won, Toppo dropped his stance. Suddenly, he felt his sanity returning. The flames around Toppo's body faded from sight as his eyes regained their colour. Toppo looked around for a few seconds before he suddenly felt two pairs of arms thrown around him.
"You did it, Toppo!" Shabon cried as she wrapped her small arms around Toppo's waist.
"We knew you could, Toppo! We just KNEW you could!" Nei cried as she hugged Toppo by the neck.
{Congratulations, my friend.} The rune said in Toppo's mind. {I've seen how much you care for these two. If you want to stay to protect them, I suggest that you re-seal me before your time runs out.}
Toppo's eyes sprang open in horror. He had completely forgotten about that! Quickly and gently, Toppo broke from Nei and Shabon and rushed towards the crowd, despite the pain in both his legs, quickly finding Eike. "How much time do I have left?" He asked Eike.
"Not much longer than a half an hour." Eike replied. "We'd better get to the sublevel and re-seal that rune."
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Toppo stood in front of the rune seal, preparing to seal the True Rage Rune. Eike, Thomas and a small group of others stood by the entrance to the room, watching the juggler.
Toppo sighed as he outstretched his left hand. Suddenly, his hand was surrounded in a dim light, which soon got brighter. Soon, it was so bright that Toppo had to close his eyes to protect himself. Soon, the light faded, and Toppo opened his eyes. The True Rage Rune floated in font of him again, re-sealed.
{Thank you.} Toppo heard the rune say. {With the amount of anger you gave me, I shouldn't need to be used for another twenty years.}
Toppo nodded. "It's been fun." He whispered before turning around and limping away from the seal.
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Toppo limped back into the front yard of the castle. Pablo was talking to Sebastian, almost begging for a job, Shabon was playing with some of the other kids and Nei was talking with Yumi. Toppo looked around for Mio, and quickly spotted her. However, he was surprised to see her talking with Mike.
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"I hope that you can forgive me for everything I've done." Mike half- pleaded. "I swear I didn't want to do anything I did!"
Mio smiled kindly and shook her head. "It's alright, Mike. You were under Yuber's control."
Mike looked down and sighed. "And I'm also sorry that I tried to come between you and Toppo." He said. "It was your decision, and I'll respect that."
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Toppo watched as Mike left Mio and walked in his direction. Mike started walking past him, but stopped halfway past. Slowly, Mike looked at Toppo. "You lucky dog." Mike whispered. "You'd better take care of her, or else I'll REALLY get mad."
With that, Mike walked off. Toppo smirked at the retreating man and continued limping towards Mio.
Mio saw Toppo coming, and smiled warmly. Soon, Toppo was at the nurse's side, smiling.
"Nothing's going to stop us this time." Toppo said.
"Good." Mio said.
Toppo wrapped his arms around Mio and, for the first time, gave her a long, passionate kiss. There was a loud cheer coming from all over right after Toppo and Mio kissed, but both ignored it.
If there was one thing Toppo learned from this whole thing, it was this: He cared extremely deeply for Nei, Shabon and Mio, and he was willing to risk anything for any of them. But this was also his weakness. Their pain would bring out his anger.
A Juggler's Rage.
END
Author's notes: *SSBFreak is lying on his back, panting.* Man! That took me SO LONG to do! Well, at least I'm finished, and can start work on my next fic. Don't worry. I'm not stopping my Samus fic either. I just wanna multi- task. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Please read and review!