Disclaimer: See previous chapters
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Chap. 31
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The fight with Nagi and Xion against Shin and Kenji was quite different from the earlier fight when the Unborn and Spurious was battling Yugo and Alice. The wolf and the rabbit had different fighting styles, which complemented and covered the weakness of the other. But the ninja, though different types of maneuvers, were using the same style of martial art. As a result, the dark pair would have to fight two of the same creature, per say.
"Kah!"
Xion slashed his leg toward Kenji's head after a failed short kick earlier. Kenji lifted his arm, blocking the kick effectively. Xion glared at the youth. So far, many of his attacks were wasted. Kenji managed to either deflect or dodge his attacks. Because of his size and build, Kenji was much faster than Xion and that was beginning to annoy him.
Kenji swatted the leg away and came in with a swift chop. Xion grimaced as it hit him, but at the same time, he managed to grab the ninja's arm. Holding tight, Xion used his other hand to punch him. Kenji reeled back, but Xion was still holding his arm and pulled him back to land another blow. Again, Kenji faulted back and again, Xion pulled him in for another blow. But Kenji caught the incoming punch. At the same time, he reversed Xion grip on his other arm and managed to wrap his hand around it, holding both of Xion's arms. Xion was surprised and Kenji hopped up in the air and swung through Xion's legs, still holding his arms. When he reached Xion's backside, he released his arms and stamped his feet right into Xion's bent and exposed back, sending Xion toward the ground while he flipped through the air. Kenji landed on the side of the wall and kicked off it for another attack.
"Rahhh!"
Before Kenji could reach, Xion transformed, stopping himself from falling completely and blasting Kenji away in the aftershock. Kenji rotated through the air as the transformed Unborn turned and charged at him, snarling. Both arm blades unfurled as Xion swung at Kenji, missing the youth and tearing up the wall. Kenji reemerged from beside and Xion automatically swung again and again, slicing and shredding everything in his path.
Everything except his target…
Kenji continued to dodge, but he knew he wasn't fast enough to avoid them for long. Already, some of Xion's slashes had razed parts of his armor. He would have to meet his on the same level.
And thus, Kenji's eyes reddened…
Meanwhile on the other end of the fight, Shin fought against Nagi. More or less. Unlike Kenji, who had been dodging and avoiding Xion's strikes in order to find a critical opening blow, Shin was dodging Nagi's attacks in an effort to get through to her. He knew what it was like to be controlled by something else against your will. And because of this, he knew that the real Nagi was in there fighting to get free. At least he hoped. Nagi gave a wide swipe to which he ducked. He followed up by leaping into the air and spiraling around her. She moved the wheel around in another attack, but Shin had already grabbed her blade elbow and held tight while his other arm circled around her throat and also held. Nagi struggled within his hold
"This is not you, Nagi." he said softly. "You can break it."
She stopped struggling for a minute, but that was only to use her other arm to elbow Shin in the gut. Shin winced, but didn't let go. But Nagi went through and snapped her foot upward, kicking him in the face and forcing him to let her go. Now free, Nagi back-swung at Shin and the youth just barely caught the blade before it severed his head in two. Shin grimaced as she applied more pressure, inching the wicked weapon closer to him.
'Very well then, Nagi…'Shin suddenly shot his arms sideways, allowing the blade to go past him. With her exposed, Shin wheeled his arms and fist, hitting her twice. Still in motion, his then spiraled upward, his legs kicking her into the air. As she flew up…
"Lightning!"Shin shot up into the air, grabbed her waist from behind, and spiraled backwards. But before he could slam her down, Nagi snapped her elbows in on his forearms, breaking the hold and sending both off them flying through the air uncontrollably. On instinct, the ninja managed to land on his feet awkwardly. But his arms were bruised and it took a little gentle motion to discover that they were broken. But even worse was that Nagi was coming toward him again, smiling.
"More…"
Shin grimaced. It just wasn't working. Whatever it was that was controlling Nagi, it was far more powerful than the brainwashing he had gone through. He couldn't hope to face her now, not with his arms injured. So he did the only thing he could do.
He sprouted feathers…
Streets
The two girls stared at the destroyed area before them. Flames were burning in several areas and the ground was heavily cracked. Though the areas they passed through were similarly damaged, for some reason, this place stood out greatly.
"What happened to this place?" Rei asked in wonder.
"Beats me." Uriko replied in the same wonder. "Like this place exploded or something."
Rei grew a bit fearful, but clenched her hands into fist. "We have to find them." She didn't want to say anything, but she felt a dread feeling that something horrible had happened. It wasn't the same as before when her zoanthrope powers went berserk, but it was strong none the less. Uriko scanned the area for a moment and then pointed at the shrine in the distance.
"Hmm. That way."
Rei turned to her. "How do you know?"
"Intuition." Uriko grinned. It was the place with the most damage so it was the most reasonable spot to check first. "Come on."
Shrine
As the fighting began anew, with both ninja transformed, Mana had been watching from the sidelines. The situation had reached near desperate for her. Four powerful zoanthropes had already fallen and now the Unborn was here to destroy the dragon. To make matters worse, it had possessed the body of another with similar abilities and powers. Calming herself, Mana took a breath. The damage was treatable and she could sense the downed fighters were still alive. And the Unborn were currently occupied by Kenji and Shin. All she had to do was fulfill her part and seal the dragon.
Turning around, she lifted her hand, but stopped short in shock. The dragon… She felt its energy returning at a slow, but steady pace. If the dragon revived again, there will be no one around strong enough to stop it this time. She quickly got to work, shutting her eyes and focusing on the seal. It was a bit more difficult now that it was starting to awaken, but she could handle it. She just needed to stay in focus and hope that time would not work against her.
The Unborn had other ideas though…
Xion had clashed with Kenji when he sensed a strange energy. Pushing back Kenji, he took a quick glance at the source and saw Mana beginning the seal upon the dragon. Xion snarled. If Mana completed the seal, then he wouldn't be able to kill off the dragon. Destroying the vessel would be pointless as the dragon would reemerge at full power, something even he wasn't a match for. At that point, the ninja mole came in for another attack, slashing the air in front of Xion. Xion barely dodged it and flipped over Kenji's head. Kenji's eyes followed him, but was unprepared for Xion to kick off the wall and to fly higher up into the shrine. Xion soon reach a higher angle and kicked off again, this time in the direction he had just come from. Kenji was now confused.
'What…?'He soon realized the answer when he looked in the direction Xion was now flying in. He was flying full speed toward the back of Shin, who was still engaged in his fight with Nagi. Kenji began to run, but knew that he wouldn't reach in time. So Kenji relinquished his mole form, returning to his human state again.
"Shin!"
The harpy eagle heard his friend's call and managed to turn to Xion, breaking away from Nagi. But he was only able to manage a half-decent defense before Xion slammed into him. Shin managed to keep the claws away with a double swipe of his wings, but he still hit the ground hard. At that point, Kenji reached the two and, transforming back, he attacked Xion. Xion wheeled to meet him and the two locked up once again. But Xion true intent came into play as Nagi rushed over toward Mana and the dragon. Shin lifted himself up just in time to see this and shot in after her.
Mana meanwhile was still working the seal when she sensed the disturbance. Looking up, she saw the crimson form of Nagi descending upon her, her blade beginning to fall upon her dragon.
"No!"
Srkkkkk!
The blade hit and drops of blood spattered onto the floor. Mana's eyes were wide with shock as her eyes traced the blade over and the blood lined in it. But it wasn't the dragon's blood.
It was Shin's…
Outside
'Shin!'
Rei suddenly froze in her tracks as she and Uriko made her way toward the shrine. Uriko turned to her in confusion as Rei placed a hand over her chest.
"Rei, what's wrong?"
Rei didn't seem to hear her and strode on toward the shrine at a rapid pace. "We have to go. Something's wrong."
"Whoa, whoa." Uriko called. "Hold on. What's the rush?"
Rei turned to Uriko, showing her eyes had changed into slits. 'Not again.' Uriko thought worriedly, remembering how Rei had almost lost it a few minutes ago. However, Rei didn't change any more than that as she answered her friend.
"Something's wrong. Something's happened to Shin."
Uriko blinked. "How do you know that?"
"Intuition."
Uriko snorted lightly and nodded. "In that case, let's hurry."
Shrine
Mana stared in horror as she had witness what happened. In the last possible moment, Shin had managed to get ahead of the Spurious to stop her attack on the dragon by catching the blade in his hands. But her strike had been too strong and it resulted in the blade continuing on through his side, slicing his hands in the process.
"Shin…"
Shin himself remained still, holding the blade through his bloodied hands and keeping Nagi in place. She was trying to press further, her efforts seemed to wane and weaken. Shin was focused on holding the blade, but noticed the weakened efforts and half-smiled.
"I knew…you were…still in there…"
At that point, Xion noticed that the dragon was still alive and that Nagi's attack had been stopped. He growled as he saw his plan had been stopped again. 'Guess, I'll have to do it myself.' He broke away from Kenji again, but the mole didn't let him go far as he claws racked through the air at him. Xion blocked, stepping back and tried again to break away. But Kenji dove underground and exploded before him, keeping himself between Xion and the dragon as he attacked again. Xion snarled aloud.
'I will not let this boy stop me!'Roaring, Xion allowed his body to surge with energy and he slashed down hard on Kenji, breaking his defense and unleashing the furious assault of his beast drive on the mole zoanthrope. Kenji was helpless against the relentless assault and despite his defenses; he was being battered by the attacking creature. Xion soon knocked Kenji into the air, leapt after him and reverting to his human form, he kicked him downward. Kenji hit the floor hard as Xion landed, crackling as he did so. But his laughter was silenced when the ninja arose, still in beast form, but marked by the repeated slashing of the Unborn.
"You still have power, but not much. It won't be long, will it?" He glanced over behind him. "Especially now that you are alone, ha!"
Glancing back, he saw Shin beginning to buckle down under the loss of blood, though he was still holding the blade away from the dragon. Nagi remained where she was, but that didn't matter too much to Xion now. One enemy down and another wounded; it was only a matter of time. Another laugh escaped his lips before it was silenced by a sudden cry.
"Enough!"
The cry was from none other than Mana herself, who ha been watching the entire scene. She moved away from the dragon and stood next to Kenji. Xion continued to chuckle at her display.
"Or else what? You are too weak to stop me. Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
This earned a frown from the little girl and she began to glow brightly. Kenji backed away as an aura of energy flared around her body. Her eyes glowed as well and it was even beginning to make Xion worry. He began taking a step back, only to find that he was unable to move.
"W-What is this?" He looked down at the girl, burning with energy and was suddenly struck by it. Nagi too was hit by the energy and frozen in place. Xion was shocked by the power of the oracle.
"TTHHHHEEE LIIITTTTLLLEEEEEE GGGIIIRRRRLLLLLLL!"
Mana seemed to smile lightly through the energy, though that was uncertain. However, she did retort. "How do you like it? You can't get free, can you?"
Both Xion and Nagi struggled to move, but were unable to do so as Mana continued to hold them in place with her power. But she was far from done.
"I can sense you in there trying to hide. But you will not get away from me!"
The glow died down for a moment and then it let out a brilliant flash. Groans echoed out of both Xion and Nagi as a black shadow appeared around them. The shadows began to converge together, forming a singular shadowy…creature. As Mana focused her energies on it, a pair of eyes opened within the void and a loud voice straggled out.
"YOU... FILTHY... LITTLE..."
Meanwhile, Nagi 's eyes widened a bit and she shook her head. 'How?' No sooner than she thought that than did everything that happened rushed back to her mind. Her fight with Xion, the possession by the Unborn, the shrine, her fighting. Yugo…Alice…Shin! Looking down before her she saw Shin bending down on the ground, holding onto his wounded side.
"What…have I done?"
Surprisingly, that remark came not from her, but from Xion. He was looking at himself and everything else very strangely, as though it was new to him. But he knew what had happened. He had been freed. The Unborn was no longer in his body.
Which means…
Simultaneously, Nagi and Xion looked up to see the demon in question, struggling within Mana's energy field. The Unborn… At once, both the Spurious and the former Unborn leaped up at it. Xion transformed and unfurled his blade and together they sliced right at it.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
The shadow let out a loud shriek before exploding into nothingness. Xion and Nagi landed on opposite sides, bending down exhausted and panting for air. The Unborn was no more. Mana finally stopped glowing and fell down to the floor, doing the same. Kenji reverted to his human form and moved over to Shin, who was still holding his side.
"It's bad. You need medical attention."
"I guess…this evens things out."
Kenji didn't have to ask what he meant. He was referring to the time when Shin had caused Kenji to impale Uriko. He figured that Shin wouldn't let that go. 'Perhaps now he will.' Nagi lifted her head to the two and began to move over to them, but stopped upon looking at her blade and the blood that was still on it. His blood…
'I can't…believe.'
But it did happen. The full remembrance of what she had done was clear in her mind. Kenji helped Shin to his feet and began to walk toward the exit when he stopped.
"No."
As soon as he turned around, he knew what he would see. Mana being hurled across the room, Xion and Nagi tumbling over, and the source of the two events standing up and roaring aloud.
The dragon had awakened again!