Disclaimer: See previous chapters
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Chap. 29
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Shrine
Alice rebounded from the dragon's attack. Unlike Yugo, she had managed to land on her feet and confront the beast. The creature snarled at the missed attacked and turned to the first target that caught its sights.
Unfortunately, it was her…
Alice backed away slightly, but her fists clenched together. 'Fight it…fight…' Shaking away her doubt and instinct, she glared back at the monster.
"Alright, ugly. Let's go."
Alice began to summon her bestial energies and spinning in the air, she transformed into her alternate form; the rabbit. The dragon roared and launched itself at her with a blast of his wings. Alice blinked but bent her legs and sprung into the air. Her leap had landed her on top of the dragon's back as it came down. Alice quickly twirled around and grabbed hold as the dragon began to thrash, trying to shake her off. Her soft paws were having a difficult time holding onto the monster's scales. Plus, this wasn't exactly helping her. She didn't really know what she was doing. She was simply reacting.
"HOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLL!"
'Yugo!' The howl of the wolf was unmistakable and the dragon turned to face down Yugo, who had completed his metamorphosis into his wolfen form. Snarls were exchanged between the two and Yugo dashed straight at the dragon on his hands and feet. In return, the dragon began to summon up his flare attack in order to fire.
'Oh, no you don't.'
Alice twisted around to see the dragon begin its attack, but moved up across its back and slammed her fist on top of its head. The result was a misdirected blast, in which creature blasted the ground before him and causing an explosion that knocked both the dragon's head backward and Alice off the dragon. The rabbit spiraled through the air and landed near one of the shrine walls. Yugo halted in his attack, but only for a moment as he saw the dragon incapacitated.
"Growh!"
Yugo leapt over the flame and toward the dragon. Hands in tight balls, he struck right into the core of the creature with a powerful blow. The dragon growled and on reflex, slapped its claw back to hit Yugo. But Yugo backflipped into the air to avoid the slash, landed down on the ground sharply and came back with a slicing uppercut. The scales of the creature were actually scratched by the wolf's claws. But Yugo wasn't able to dodge or even predict that the dragon would actually do a front flip forward, slamming it tail down on Yugo and flattening the wolf to the ground. If that wasn't bad enough, the dragon lowered it head, clamped its jaws onto Yugo's tail and snapped its neck upward. Yugo howled in pain (the tail is a sensitive area) as he was hurled up into the air and he crashed onto the ground.
Alice moved in from the side as the dragon hurled Yugo up. She knew she would be able to reach him, but Yugo was tough enough to endure the fall. Alice rushed toward the dragon and leaped up to the dragon's now raised head. Wheeling forward, Alice slammed both feet into the monster's jaw in a heavy dropkick. The dragon's head reeled back and Alice rebounded off the floor and spiraled into the air, with her fists extended to the side and hit the dragon with repeated blows.
A backhand slap was the dragon's response.
Alice managed to dodge the brunt of the attack, but she was still caught by the attack and knocked aside, sliding across the floor near the wall. The dragon snarled once again and began to advance on the rabbit, but was stopped when Yugo pounced on it back and slammed his fist in. The dragon thrashed around as he tried to get him off his back, but Yugo was holding on tight. Alice backed away as the dragon's effects increased. 'At least he's doing a better job at holding on than I did.' Her attention was then averted to the side, where she caught sight of the fallen Long, still unconscious from his efforts.
'Long!'She skipped over to him and held him upright, examining him with her paw. He was still breathing; that was a relief. But it seems that he had max out fighting this creature. 'There must be some way to beat this thing.' If Long battled with it, then at the very least, it wasn't a full strength. It wasn't much to go on, but it was all they had.
It will have to be enough…
Streets
Blam!
Gado was flung back by a rolling tackle and throw from the still rampaging Shina. Landing on his feet, Gado snapped his neck up as Shina came at him again with a claw swipe. It missed, but she came again, nicking his chest. A third uppercut type blow hit him squarely, sending Gado flying again, this time into a convenience store. A snarl escaped Gado's mouth as Shina came at him again. With a roar, Gado leapt right at her, knocking her out of the air and pinning her to the ground. Shina struggle and Gado roared aloud and prepare to bite down and claim his prey.
'My…prey…?'Gado stopped midway, realizing where his line of thought was going. He was beginning to feel more like a lion than a man. It seemed to have come up out of nowhere before he realized it. 'What's…happening to me?' He was becoming more primal, more feral, much like Shina right now. Speaking of Shina, Gado's hesitation had allowed her to bring her feet up and kick Gado off of her. Gado landed back on his feet while Shina jumped up onto hers. Gado snarled again, realizing once more that his growl was not of his will. He was steadily loosing control of himself.
'Have to…stay focused…Just…put her…down…'Gado strained within himself and forced his thoughts to calm in order to think of a way out of this. If she were fighting like a leopard, then this would have been over long ago. But despite her savageness, she was still using some of her fighting techniques. So it was her, but at the same time it wasn't. In any case, he had to do it fast, before he did something he would regret.
He had enough of those as it was.
Shina roared aloud and again took to the air. Gado waved his claw back and when Shina came in, he swung upward in a powerful claw. Shina was knocked into the air and Gado waited for her body to descend. Clenching his fist tight, her reared back as Shina fell closer. 'She's going to have quite the headache' he mused. But it would be the fastest way to end this without killing her. Shina began to wheel around in order to land, but either way, she was met with a devastating blow.
"Rhah!" ('Fire!')
Shina flew across the street and into a wall. The wall shattered and Shina's body slumped down to the ground, reverting to her human form. The side of her head was bleeding, but it wasn't serious. At least as far as a mercenary goes. Gado breathe and closed in, seeing that he had succeeded. But there was one problem.
Gado didn't change back…His animal instincts were beginning to mask his human mind. Plus, the scent of blood was further dampening his thinking and the result was confusion; A distortion between the human mind and the lion instinct.
Either way, he licked his lips and moved closer…
Shrine
Yugo continued to hold onto the dragon's back while the creature thrashed about to get rid of him. But it wasn't as easy as getting rid of Yugo and the wolf held on tight. Yugo wasn't sure what to do now, but all he knew was that he wanted to fight. It felt like more than adrenaline, but he wasn't sure. At the moment, he didn't care. Actually, at the moment, he had other concerns.
The dragon had got him off its back…
Yugo soared backward through the air and into the upper wall where he crumbled against it and fell to the ground below. But the dragon didn't wait and in a swift twirl, it slapped it tail right across Yugo and sent him flying across the shrine. If not for Alice's timely save, Yugo would have been splattered against yet another wall.
'Got ya!'But as she touched the ground, Yugo suddenly snapped at her. She released him instantly and for a moment felt a dread sense of fear. Not like with the dragon, but it was something.
Instinctual…She shook it off and gave the wolf a glare. The wolf snarled but then seemed confused. He began to shake his head and returned his attention to the dragon, which was now advancing on them and its mouth beginning to smoke.
Uh, oh…The flare spewed out in waves, causing the two of them to dash away without even having to think about it. The wall blasted apart from the firewave and right onto the outside. The dragon quickly turned to Yugo, the source of its aggression. The wolf was getting back up to his feet, wondering why he would snap at Alice like that. He had just reacted. Or rather, the wolf had reacted. What was happening to him?
Unfortunately, right now, he had other problems…
The dragon swiped at him, forcing Yugo to come out of his thought and jumped back. The beast pressed on, snapping at him with his jaws now. Yugo stepped back and almost fell down. Another snap and this time, Yugo fell down. The dragon stood over him and its jaws began to blaze again. Yugo growled as the dragon prepared to fire, but caught sight of Alice making her way toward him. But the dragon sensed her presence as well and swung its tail again, knocking her out of the air.
'Alice!'Rage erupted and Yugo quickly got back on his feet. The bestial energy within him surged and he faced the creature that was currently ready to blast him. But despite that, the wolf was ready to fight.
'Now you're going down!'The dragon breathed deeply and unleashed an ultra-blast of fiery energy. Yugo narrowed his canine eyes and sidestepped the flare. His fur was singed by the close proximity, but he was able to get by. He then rushed in while the dragon continued to fire its blaze. By the time the creature ceased in its torrent, Yugo's power flashed forth.
And he changed into his human form…
This may have seemed crazy, but not so as his eyes were still canine and his fists were ablaze with fiery energy. Stepping in, he launched his fists in on the chest of the dragon with rapid fury. For the first time, the dragon bellowed in pain and reared back from the attacks. Yugo's attack sped up and his attacks more powerful. The dragon was being hammered and Yugo finished his technique.
"Hrah! Hrah! HA! UPPER!"
The uppercut blasted right up the chest and amazingly knocked the dragon into the air. The creature growled lowly and then crashed with a slam. Yugo breathed heavily, his eyes now fully normal and his fist no longer aflame. He had to use up a great deal of power in order to use that move and now he was drained. It would take him a moment to recover. But as the dragon stirred, he realized that a moment may be too long. The dragon lifted itself to it feet shakily and let out a low growl. Yugo raised his fists, ready to fight but still exhausted. But it wasn't necessary. The dragon released a low moan and suddenly crashed down to the ground. It's breathing was slow and it eyes were half-lidded. For all intents and purposes, it was out for the count.
"You did it."
Alice came up to him, holding her left side from the impact of the dragon's earlier slash. Yugo continued to breathe heavily as he turned to look at her.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Just a little sore here. I'll be fine."
"Tell me about it." He finally managed to stand upright. "Who could've imagined a dragon!" He gazed down at the creature. "What exactly is this?"
"I'm sorry about before." That came from Mana, who had peeked out from behind them. "I'll tell you everything. Ryoho is an ancient magical-beast with incredible power. He's a dragon vessel. And the dragon's power is so immense and his existence so dangerous that he had been sealed so the dragon wouldn't wake..." She paused briefly. "But the seal came loose recently..."
Yugo pondered over her words. "Long told me… Is that why zoanthropes have been becoming violent?"
The Nine-Tails nodded. "Yes, exactly. Zoanthropes violence and the earthquakes were because the dragon's power was too strong." She looked down at the fallen dragon. "To reseal the broken seal, it was necessary to remove it completely." Turning back to the pair… "That's why I needed the strength of strong Zoanthropes such as you."
"I see... so that's how it was."
"For getting involved in such a dangerous event with no explanation..." She bowed deeply to them. "I'm really sorry."
"No, no. It's okay." Alice waved. "This is actually a good thing. That means we've solved two problems in one shot, right?"
Yugo nodded. "That's true."
Mana soon blinked and turned back to the dragon. "Oh. I better place the seal now."
"I'll chek on Long." Alice added. She skipped away to where Long's body was while Yugo stayed and watched Mana wave her arms over the dragon. Her body began to glow lightly and it began to drift toward the lying creature, causing it to begin glowing as well. But suddenly, Mana froze in her tracks and snapped her head toward the entrance. Yugo followed and his eyes widened as he saw who stood there, practically within the leftover flames of the dragon, with a dark smile on his face.
Xion, the Unborn…
"How nice of you to make this easy for us. Honestly, I didn't expect you to be able defeat Gaia's little pet." He strode out of the flames, unscathed by the flames. "I never thought an enemy could be more useful than anything. Now stand aside. I'll deal with you after this."
Mana shrieked. "Don't let him kill him! If he does, then that will disrupt the balance of this world."
Yugo raised his fists for another fight, even though he is still worn from the last one. "Don't worry. He's not going to get close."
Xion continued to grin. "You don't really think you can stop me. You barely survived our last encounter, wolf-boy. I doubt you're at full strength, especially if you fought with it."
"Well then, why don't you come on and get it a try?"
Unknown to them, another figure had silently crept through the hole made when the dragon blasted Reiji. It slipped in from behind them all, coming up beside the dragon and behind Mana and Yugo. Only Xion saw the approach of the figure and grinned again as the figure raised a wicked-looking blade and set it ready to stab into the dragon's heart.
"I won't have to."