"Are you ready?"
Asakura Mikihisa looked around at the three boys before him. None of them replied as they stood in defensive positions, gripping their weapons tightly.
"Alright then," He said calmly, scratching his mask at the cheek area; it was a habit of his. He cast one last look at his opponents, smiling behind the wood covering his burnt face. "Let's go!"
Before any of them could attack, Mikihisa leapt into the air. He swiftly dodged a shower of icicles that were headed his way, and landed back down on the ground without breaking a sweat.
"Take this!" Team The Ren's leader yelled as he charged towards him, Horaiken in hand. The shaman quickly dodged his attacks and pushed him to the side, just as he noticed a blur at the corner of his eye. Lifting his right leg, he swiftly brought it down on Chocolove's head. The American groaned in pain as his face connected with the sand.
"Too slow," Mikihisa said, his arms crossed.
"Don't lecture us!" Came an indignant voice, and another round of ice was shot at him. Before the blue-haired boy could react, Mikihisa appeared behind him and pushed him to the ground.
"I'll deal with you," Ren said from the sidelines. "Golden Chuuka Zanmai!" He launched a barrage of golden energy at his opponent, who turned around and noticed Chocolove charging at him once more. The shaman merely leapt into the air once more to avoid the oncoming attacks.
"OY!" The jokester yelled indignantly as Ren's attack hit him instead.
"Stay out of my way!" The Chinese shaman ordered, his attention focused on the older man who was seemingly floating above them.
"Stay on the ground where you belong!" Horo-Horo smirked as he performed a Nipopo punch from above Mikihisa. Below him, Chocolove and Ren both leapt upwards, determined to bring him down.
But Mikihisa simply teleported out of the way, and all three boys yelled as they collided in the air, accidentally freezing, stabbing and slashing one another. Team the Ren landed on the ground in a heap.
"Bastards!" Ren swore as he got up, the ice encasing his arms cracking and falling off. "I told you to stay out of my way!"
"I was already attacking!" Horo-Horo argued.
"These are for stacking!" Chocolove joked, suddenly carrying a bundle of papers.
"NO JOKES!" The two other boys punched him.
"You always want to have the spotlight!" Horo-Horo accused Ren, ignoring the bruised Chocolove who was lying on the ground, twitching.
"You never follow orders! I could've beat him easily if it wasn't for the both of you!"
"You're not that tough!"
"You want to fight!"
"Enough!" Mikihisa suddenly interrupted, and the two shamans turned towards him. "Stop arguing, you're stepping on your teammate," He pointed at the battered boy who continued to lie on the ground, face down.
"WE DON'T CARE!"
They proceeded to argue once more until the older man stepped forward and cleared his throat.
"You are strong," He began, and Ren looked away and muttered something that sounded like 'Obviously'. "But the problem with your team is that there's no teamwork."
"We don't need teamwork, I can handle the opponents myself."
"Quit showing off!" Horo-Horo hissed.
"I'm going to teach you something, so you better listen up," Mikihisa announced in a serious tone.
"New powers?" Chocolove asked excitedly.
"The secret to your strength?" Horo-Horo clenched his fist, smiling.
"A technique of yours?" Ren was skeptical.
"Um… No."
"Gah!" They were about to retort and start yelling at the man, but he continued to talk.
"The lesson you need to learn is… Cooperation. And so…" He approached the team and lifted his hands to his chest. After mumbling a few incantations, the man unclenched his fists. The three boys gasped audibly in surprise as golden chains appeared on their wrists, glowing with energy. More chains appeared, linking Chocolove's right wrist to Ren's left, and Ren's right to Horo-Horo's left.
An audible "clink!" confirmed the completion of the spell, and Mikihisa grinned, stepping backwards to admire his handiwork.
"Perfect," he said happily, scratching his chin.
A few moments of silence passed, and then…
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"
"YOU BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO!"
"The magic was cool-looking and all, so can you take them off now?"
"Umm… No." The three younger shamans almost fell in surprise.
"Why not!"
"These chains…" He explained. "…May seem like hindrances now, but they will actually empower you. Your job is to figure out how. In doing so, you will learn the value of teamwork. When you have learned your lesson, that is when the chains will disappear."
"This is stupid!" The purple-haired shaman complained. "What if we have a match? These losers will only slow me down."
"Who are you calling losers!"
"I don't want to be stuck with these guys all day!" Chocolove cried dramatically.
Mikihisa merely shrugged his shoulders. "You figure it out." And with that, he vanished, leaving the team speechless.
"COME BACK HERE!"
Ren swore loudly as the two boys on either side of him sighed in defeat. "So, what are we going to do now?" Horo-Horo asked. Their leader didn't answer, and instead with his left arm, pulled out his Horaiken. Chocolove's arm, which was attached to it, was pulled along, and the American winced in pain.
"Oy, Ren…"
"What are you doing?" Horo-Horo gaped as he lifted the sword, ignoring the clinking of the chains combined with Chocolove's pitiful whimpers.
"I'm getting rid of the problem," Ren growled.
"No, Ren, you'll cut my arm off-! AHH!"
Horo-Horo was lucky, for the sword collided with the chains, but unfortunately that was all it did. There wasn't even a scratch, as the magical handcuffs continued to glow brightly. Ren growled and tried again, striking the metal, but it did nothing.
"Horo, freeze it."
"I don't think-"
"Do it!"
The ice shaman complied, and pulled out his Ikupasui. There was a crackling sound and soon enough the cuffs connecting Ren and Horo-Horo were frozen solid. Without a word, the Tao brought down his sword again and shattered it.
Nothing happened.
"Useless," Ren whispered, feeling crestfallen.
"I guess…" Chocolove realized.
"We're stuck like this…" Horo-Horo finished, and all three pairs of eyes widened in horror.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
----End Chapter-------