Chapter 12: Hidden Turmoil under Calm Surface
Magnolia Village.
Like the previous days, Hikki was at the hill to practice his kata. Robo Ky wasn't present at the village; he was informed by the robot that he and Sumomo would accompany Yuu to the town to buy groceries. As a result, he was left alone at the village. Yet he didn't care of it much. In fact, he preferred it. His so-called loneliness had given him chance to practice his kata without many hassles from people.
In succession, he linked most of his moves in a combo, repeating it on ground and midair. Without the usage of his gale, he performed some of the moves that would require the gale if executed in actual situation.
"HIYARGH!" suddenly he emitted a battle cry and slammed his palm onto the ground. Nothing came out from the movement, but then he made a handstand and propelled himself to the open air. As if suspended by wires, he halted midair and made airborne combo Gatling non-stop.
Hikki heard a handclapping and landed back on the ground. Looking for the source of the handclap, he later saw Omega Rugal standing under a tree, clapping. "Who on earth are you?" he demanded.
"Call me Omega Rugal," Rugal pronounced. "Of course, I bet that you have not been informed about my arrival, Kokurabuji Hikki."
Hikki's eyes widened. "Hold on, Mister Omega. How the heck did you know my name, and how can you find me here?" he questioned.
Rugal merely laughed and approached Hikki. "How did I know your name and find you here, it doesn't matter. Now, Hikki, show me your power."
"What power?" Hikki asked.
"Your Chrono power, of course," Rugal uttered. Hikki was slightly offended and demanded him to leave. "Oh, I will not leave until I witness the rage of the Chrono power, especially the Chrono Install you have."
Hikki suddenly winced. Trembling repulsively, he held his head and groaned. "Don't… try me…" Then he fired a Reppuken toward Rugal, in which the Kaiser easily cancelled with Reppuken of his own. Rugal jumped several feet backward, watching as Hikki groaned and flinched in pain, enduring unknown pain that struck his body.
Several seconds later, he stood erect, frowning. Rugal waited, as the teen slowly summoned gales from his fists and glared at him. "You're looking for trouble with me, Omega Rugal," Hikki spoke threateningly.
"Am I?" Rugal mockingly asked.
"You make me SICK!" Hikki roared and fired Double Reppuken at Rugal. Rugal jumped over the projectile and counterattacked with his Kaiser Wave. However, Hikki spotted the Kaiser and immediately jumped toward him, catching him with Overhead Helix. The Korean, then, tossed Rugal to the ground and fired several airborne Reppuken at him. Rugal executed his Reflector Shield and easily deflected all the projectiles.
"Very impressive, Hikki," Rugal uttered. "You're indeed a lethal fighter. However, your lack of evilness might not help when your opponent is me."
"Shut up!" Hikki demanded and summoned more gales from his palms. "I'm going to kill you no matter what."
Rugal merely grinned and spread his arms wide open. "Try me."
"DIE!!!"
x-x-x-x-x
"Well, here we are," Lone Wolf SIX uttered as he and the three fighters arrived at Magnolia Village. "See that tree over there?" he said and pointed at a huge magnolia tree growing outside the village. "Ladies, this is Magnolia Village."
Hibiki, Cassandra and Millia looked around and cooed. "It's so peaceful in here, Lone Wolf-san," Hibiki uttered. "But I don't see the villagers around. Where are they, I wonder?"
"Beats me," Cassandra replied. "Wolfie, I'm kind of tired. Can we look for somewhere to stay before night falls in?"
"Good idea," Lone Wolf SIX spoke. "Cassandra, you'll look for motel or rest house with Millia. Hibiki, you take a look around for any villagers."
"What about you, Lone Wolf-san?" Hibiki asked.
"I'll just walk around here. Who knows, I may find the weapon shop I said earlier," the author replied.
The four separated and headed to different directions. With the girls absent from his side, Lone Wolf SIX now had the chance to wander around without having to worry of them. Being constantly dragged in the never-ending confrontation between Hibiki and Cassandra, he finally sighed in relief. Not only he was tired of easing the crisis, he was also tired of being overprotectively guarded by both the swordswomen.
"Lone Wolf SIX, I believe?"
Lone Wolf SIX turned around and saw a man carrying two swords standing before him. "Yes? How can I help you?"
"The name is Elde Talonn," the swordsman pronounced, "and Mister Sheo has asked me to see you."
"Did you say Sheo Darren?" Lone Wolf SIX asked in intrigue.
"Yes, I did," Elde spoke and handed over the letter to him. Lone Wolf SIX took the letter and read it. "I was also informed that Takane-sensei accompanies you. May I ask of where she is now?"
Lone Wolf SIX grumbled after he read the letter. "Damn, I thought Sheo would join in," he half-whispered, before he looked back at Elde. "Excuse me? Did you say anything a while ago?"
Elde merely coughed. "I was wondering of where my mentor Takane-sensei might be," he said.
Lone Wolf SIX jawdropped. "Takane… Hibiki?"
"Yes, Takane Hibiki-sensei. I was her student in Mueru Maden Ryuu iaijitsu and she even gave me Hiryu," Elde continued and showed the reverse-edge sword to Lone Wolf SIX.
Lone Wolf SIX sweatdropped. He never thought that he would meet a swordsman who claimed himself the student of Hibiki. And he was in deep trouble. "Uh-oh."
"Excuse me? Are you alright, Mister Lone Wolf?" Elde asked. Lone Wolf SIX quickly shrugged and shivered.
"Brr, I didn't expect to meet Hibiki-chan's student at such place," Lone Wolf SIX spoke, wiping sweats off his face Elde's eyebrow arched in wonder when he heard the suffix –chan. Lone Wolf SIX noticed the reaction and sweatdropped. "Oh, sorry. I can't help myself but to call your mentor with the –chan suffix," he said before approached Elde and whispered to his ear, "and she kinds of like it, though she always gets angry with me whenever I call her that. Oh, don't tell this to her, okay?"
A big drop of sweat that defied the law of gravity popped above Elde's head. "Alright, I will not let her know," he spoke. Lone Wolf SIX breathed out in relief and looked around the village. "Mind if I ask, but are you and Takane-sensei involved in the tournament?"
Lone Wolf SIX looked at the swordsman and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you can say that, though I'm not very interested with it."
"Lone Wolf-san, Cassandra has found a motel." Both Lone Wolf SIX and Elde looked to the source of the call and saw Hibiki walking toward them. "She wants you to- Elde-san! What a surprise to see you here!" she gasped in surprise when she saw Elde.
"It's been a while, Takane-sensei," Elde spoke and bowed respectfully at her. "And I'm flattered to meet your friend Lone Wolf SIX."
Lone Wolf SIX just coughed and acted as if nothing happened. "Yeah, I'm flattered, too," the author spoke.
"I feel so happy to meet you after a long time, Elde-san," Hibiki spoke as she approached Elde. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine, sensei," Elde spoke with a grin. "Actually, I had just arrived at this village and still didn't know of what to do right now."
"Oh, Cassandra has found a motel near the altar," Hibiki spoke, "I think we can stay there for a night. If Lone Wolf-san doesn't mind with it."
"I don't really mind with it," Lone Wolf SIX spoke and shrugged. "Though I still don't find the weapon shop around here. Maybe I was wrong about this village."
Hibiki giggled and approached Lone Wolf SIX afterwards. "Lone Wolf-san, Elde-san and I are going to the motel. Will you come there before night?" she spoke.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Lone Wolf SIX spoke. Hibiki smiled and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, much to Elde's great surprise. Lone Wolf SIX noticed the disciple's unpleasant reaction and coughed. "I think that your student is very surprised to see your… friendly affection."
"Lone Wolf-san~!" Hibiki pouted and stomped his feet flat. Lone Wolf SIX yelped in pain and held his aching feet.
"Okay, okay, I'll pull back that word," he spoke in apology. Hibiki merely mumbled and walked toward the motel. Elde stayed behind and approached Lone Wolf SIX.
"Does sensei do that to you?" he asked.
"A lot," Lone Wolf SIX replied. "I mean, she's really scary when she's angry. Believe me; she really is."
x-x-x-x-x
COORDINATION SET. ALL SYSTEM READY. APPROACHING ENTRY GATE IN FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…
A portal opened under the magnolia tree, and Zero came out from it. He observed the surrounding area with his helmet-mounted sensor before made a contact with Ciel. "Ciel, give me status."
"No sign of aggression detected," Ciel replied via intercom. "The area is clear of enemy. You may proceed."
"I'm going to check the area. Give me report of any abnormalities." Zero spoke.
"Understand," Ciel replied. "Zero, please be careful."
"I will, Ciel."
Zero terminated the communication and proceeded to patrol the area. Carefully he monitored the vegetations around him, scanning for any suspicions signs. "Nothing particular here," he uttered and walked toward a hill.
WARNING! WARNING! UNKNOWN ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED.
Zero was startled and quickly looked around him. He found or detected nothing. He was suspicious. "Ciel, give me status," he spoke via intercom.
"Hang on, Zero. I'm trying to analyze," Ciel replied. There was a critical period of silence before Ciel spoke again. "An unknown energy source is detected at coordination B12-E39." Zero directed his sensor to the location and detected wild readings. "I don't know how did it get there, but it's dangerous for you to-"
"I'm going to the location," Zero spoke.
"But we don't know how risky it is," Ciel objected. "You must not approach the area."
"Dangerous or not, I'm going to investigate." The legendary Hunter uttered.
"But, Zero…"
Zero sighed. He knew how much the girl cared and worried of him. "Don't worry about me, Ciel. I promise you, I'll be fine," Zero assured.
There was no response from Ciel. Then the girl sighed. "Alright. I'll send in Cyber Elves for reinforcement," she spoke.
"Thanks, Ciel."
Again, the intercom link was terminated, and Zero proceeded to the location. The reading became wilder and wilder as he was near to the area, and it soon reached a level unreadable by his sensors. This forced Zero to turn off all electronics and switch to manual mode.
As Zero approached the hill, he noticed that the wind was gushing strangely strong. The weather forecast reported that the day was going to be clear and sunny, but he did not see any clouds at the area. Cautiously he approached the hill's flatland and saw two men fighting against each other. "What is going on here?" he thought and took a shelter beneath bush, watching at the battle.
"Reppuken!"
Hikki tossed yet another Reppuken toward Omega Rugal, in which the Kaiser easily deflected with Reflector Shield. Rugal counterattacked with a God Press, and managed to land the attack on Hikki. He was dragged toward a boulder at the end of the field and collided. Rugal stepped backward and fired a Kaiser Wave at Hikki, already injured from the grapple.
"What's wrong with you, Hikki?" Rugal asked. "Afraid of fully using your Chrono Install?"
"Don't!" Hikki replied and fired a Double Reppuken at Rugal. Easily Rugal deflected the projectiles; however he found himself facing Hikki and…
"Too slow. Time Vacuum!"
Rugal was grappled and tossed to the air, unable to recover himself. Hikki opened steps and immediately jumped toward Rugal and caught him with High Voltage. "DIE!" and both of them dived toward the earth head first and crashed. Hikki quickly recovered, leaving Rugal beneath the dust.
Hikki was upset; Rugal was not affected at all. "Very impressive, but I fear that this isn't enough to defeat me," the Kaiser spoke and corrected his suit. Hikki snarled at him and summoned an even more concentrated gale from his palm. Rugal merely cackled. "What's wrong? Do I look strong in your eyes?"
"Don't try me…!" Hikki hissed and crossed his arms. Rugal squinted at him; he knew that at any time Hikki would execute the Chrono Install and he was ready for it.
"CHRONO INSTALL!"
x-x-x-x-x
Zofeah halted. Again, he felt the Chrono power taking place. Only this time, it was more intense and more violent than the last time he felt it. "This cannot be happening. I must find the source of this forbidden magic before someone discovers it."
x-x-x-x-x
Again, Hikki's body was enveloped by electrified metallic blue wind. He immediately charged toward Rugal and launched a Crescent Dunk, in which Rugal counterattacked with his Genocide Cutter. A flash formed as the two attacks collided and Hikki pulled back and executed combo Gatling, all were aimed at Rugal. The Kaiser, however, evaded and blocked, occasionally making a Dead Angle Attack and kept his distance away from Hikki with Kaiser Wave.
"Omega Rugal, you must DIE!" Hikki roared and charged toward Rugal, leaving trails of scorched earth behind. He landed a punch onto Rugal's head but it got deflected by the Reflector. Rugal laughed and immediately caught Hikki.
"Really?" he mocked and executed his Super Genocide Cutter. A series of punches and kicks and slashes and hard slashes were landed onto Hikki before Rugal ended the overdrive with a heavy Genocide Cutter. Rugal did not make a follow-up move; he waited to see the regenerating effect of Chrono Install. He was amazed; all the wounds healed by themselves, and before long Hikki was out of injury.
"So, this is the potential power of the Chrono magic. If only I could obtain it and add it to my power collection," he thought. Then he looked at Hikki who panted breathlessly and tried to sort out his next moves. "But the power-up move can last for only 12 seconds and time's running out…"
"Damn you, Omega Rugal…!" Hikki groaned and shrugged. He glowered at Rugal tossed another Reppuken at him but he suddenly jolted and trembled. Clenching his fists tightly, he tried to fight the immense pain inside of his body. "My evil blood… must resist… it!" he groaned and unleashed a huge amount of gale. Rugal looked at the Korean in doubt. He was curious when Hikki spoke the word evil blood and speculated whether he might inherit a blood of unknown origin.
Hikki's inner force was out of control. He held his head and madly shrugged, trying to get rid of the unbearable pain. The cause was unknown, yet he would be doomed if nothing is done. Rugal realized that the Chrono Install dangerously became unstable, and in any moments the Chrono power could explode and destroy the entire area.
"GYAAAAA!!!!"
Hikki slammed both fists onto the ground and launched a gigantic Rising Crescent. Rugal, as well as the eavesdropping Zero, were forced to commit Faultless Defence as to protect themselves from the destructive force of the wind. Except for the defending men, everything on the hill was wiped off. Even the strong and bold vegetations proved hapless against the raging storm, and before long almost the entire landscape turned barren.
It ended. The intense overdrive and Chrono-generated veil dissipated. Hikki stood motionless on his spot, in the middle of the scorched earth resulted from the Rising Crescent. Rugal and Zero watched, as the Korean slowly fell onto the ground. Spent, exhausted, tired, staggered. He was now helpless and prone to counterattack from Rugal. Instead, the Kaiser approached him and knelt beside him.
"I should take some of his blood for analysis," he uttered and took a sample of Hikki's body fluid with syringe. He stood up later on and looked to the sky, where a Super Stallion was hovering above the battlefield and dropped a ladder to the ground.
"Kaiser Rugal, we're very sorry for not arriving here on time!" a voice echoed from the helicopter. "There was a storm and we couldn't approach this hill!"
"It's alright." Rugal replied and climbed the ladder. "We're returning to the ship."
"Affirmative!" the voice shouted. Soon, Rugal was taken from the area, leaving the unconscious Hikki and Zero; the latter looked at the Kaiser who fled away. He activated his electronics and tried to contact Ciel yet the shockwave generated from the Chrono Install had temporarily knocked out all equipment. He had to wait until all systems recovered.
"What is this… Chrono Install?" he pondered and looked at Hikki who was still comatose. "And who is this… Chrono user?"
x-x-x-x-x
I! I feel so alive!
For the very first time!
I can't deny you!
(I feel so alive)
I! I feel so alive! (I feel so alive…)
For the very first time! (for the very first time…)
And I think I could fly!
(Alive, P.O.D.)