Chapter 8 - Onigokko
Written by LastationLover5000 and Demod20
Team Wendy had rearranged their formation since departing the city. They proceeded in single file: Wendy still lead the party, capitalising on her sense of smell to track their targets. Following Wendy directly was Max, who could use his Sandstorm to cover the widest range of attack. Doranbolt, placed centre in line, was their most useful lookout, and with his Teleportation, would be able to easily deal with disturbances out of the reach of the others. Taking up the rear was Arcadios, whose heavy armor and study nature made him the perfect tank to protect against potential ambushes.
All in all, it was a brilliant strategy devised by Arcadios himself, with the teams best interests in mind, making use of his military expertise. For such a rag-tag team, even Doranbolt was impressed at the way the man had assembled them. Slung over Arcadios' bag was a satchel, clanging with the sound of hardened material. When a curious Max had inquired what was inside the satchel, Arcadios had simply replied that it was gong to be their trump card in the case of an emergency. Keeping it hoisted, Arcadios privately hoped that they didn't have to use it at all.
Lady Wendy's plan is truly sound, thought the Royal Knight, following the mages easily despite his heavy armour. It is unwise for me to treat her as a simple child; if her plan pays off, Her Majesty will have the contents of the treasury back before the rise of the morning sun.
Continuing to move at an even pace, the quartet had passed the border of Crocus over an hour ago, entering the wooded area nestled between the Capital City and the mountain range that provided it a natural protection from invasions. Wendy turned her nose skyward, keeping track of the scent of her quarry, inwardly grateful that they were in the season with the least rain. If anything had washed away their scent, we'd be going back to Fairy Tail empty handed. Wendy pursued a pathway that leads towards a natural mountain trail, and she came to a stop.
The procession fell into line behind her, Max nearly tripping over the young girl, while Doranbolt had the foresight to ease into a stop, and Arcadios used the weight of his own armor to aid in halting.
"Is something the matter, Wendy?" asked Doranbolt, peering over Max's shoulder to be sure Wendy hadn't grazed her knee.
Wendy shook her head, but held up a hand. Tentatively, she took a breath. Her eyes widened, and Wendy began to breathe in deeply...before she instead began to eat. As if she hadn't eaten at all, the young girl scooped fistfuls — could it be called such? — of air into her mouth. Trying to maintain her dignity, she wiped her mouth carefully. Her three comrades stared at her amazed. "This...this air is delicious! I've never felt so energised from natural air before! What is this place, Arcadios?!"
Arcadios recovered quickly, yet his jaw was still slack, surprise leaving slower than he'd expected. He knew she was a Dragon Slayer, he'd heard through the rumours. But to see one actively eat the air took more than a moment to process. Wendy stared at him, concerned, forcing the Knight to shake his head, airing out the confusion. "We're at the base of the Jade Mountains, Lady Wendy," replied Arcadios. "These mountains are a holy sight for the land of Fiore, and are intentionally kept undisturbed from outside intervention. They also prove to be nearly insurmountable for traditional forces — the true height of the tallest mountain ranges somewhere around 5,000 metres — and as such have managed to retain a near pristine natural state."
"So that's why..." Wendy filled her lungs with air yet again, finding to her amazement that she didn't even need to consume this air. Simply the act of breathing in and out fueled her, gave her energy. "The magical power is so pure in this air. It's beautiful." Shaking her head, Wendy turned back towards the trail. "Sorry for stopping us, everyone! I was taken aback! We can go forward!"
The other three nodded, and they resumed formation, Wendy leading the pack up the trail. Wendy realised that she'd been mistaken to consider the light foliage they'd run through on the way here 'wood'. The farther they ran up the mountain, eventually losing the path that had formed naturally over the years and being forced to rely completely on Wendy's nose to find the path of least resistance, Wendy noted the ancient trees that towered above them. Roots, gnarled and aged, stood firm, requiring the group to make wide leaps in order to avoid falling over. Sunlight broke through in broken rays, speckling the ground in patterns of light, so as to not leave them in total darkness. Leaves — both dead and alive — were trampled underfoot, the crunching muted by the natural sounds of the forest.
And Wendy could hear everything. The rushing waters in the distance, the various cries of mammals, the singing and chirping of birds high in the canopies. If anything, these sounds spurred her on. Wendy needed courage right now. The energy the forest provided her aside, her thoughts dwelt on Charle; so Wendy listened to the sounds of the hunters, the predators making their kills in the dense cover of the trees...and used it to fuel her, honing in completely on the scent of the Generous Robin and his merry men.
For Charle, Wendy...become a dragon! Her thoughts burned like fire in her mind, the young Dragon Slayer pushing herself forward.
"These Robin Hoodlums certainly chose a clever place to conceal themselves," assessed Doranbolt. "Without Wendy's nose, we'd be running blind through this forest. In fact, I'd say that, without a Dragon Slayer, it'd be difficult to traverse this place safely."
Max shuddered. "That's a terrifying thought. This lot are already difficult enough, but to use this place as cover without a Dragon Slayer? You're making them out to be monsters, Doranbolt."
"They are, in their own way," interjected Arcadios. "Monsters willing to destabilise countries for the sake of their own self-worth."
"He was so self-assured when he spoke, I almost felt like I could believe him," Max admitted. "He's...not entirely wrong when he said that Fairy Tail is a reckless guild. We're known for recklessness, property damage, and causing general unrest, even if we do get the job done."
Wendy nodded solemnly. She hadn't been with the Guild as long, but its reputation preceded itself; the Generous Robin hadn't spoken lies when he'd ticked off what he'd considered to be their offences.
Doranbolt ruefully agreed internally. Fairy Tail was certainly a thorn in the side of the Council, causing the most trouble possible for a Legal Guild, while still staying within the lines of the law enough that they rarely interfered with Fairy Tail, and could merely grumble behind the scenes. After spending a week with the Guild and Wendy, however, Doranbolt felt that the Council may have been misguided. He'd even spoken in Fairy Tail's defence long before this.
"And yet the very rulers of Fiore sought you," replied Arcadios severely. "Fairy Tail may have a reputation for recklessness, but to Fiore, your Guild has remained the symbol of power and hope for years. Her Grace and His Majesty themselves are very taken with your Guild, very much indeed; for whatever this 'Robin' may have said about you, he has only fed you one side of the story. Perhaps you should look at it from the other side as well."
Wendy was briefly silenced. At first, she didn't think words would appropriately be able to express her gratitude to Arcadios for this. It wasn't enough to shatter her doubt, but it did bolster her confidence.
"Thank you..."
The remainder of the journey was a silent one, however, the hearts of the party had been struck with renewed fervor. Arcadios' words made their goal seem feasible. Navigating through the woods, Wendy felt the scent of her target spike in her nose, triggering her to come to a stop. She raised a hand, signalling the others, and quietly held a finger to her mouth, indicating the need for quiet. Her companion's questioning looks were answered by a thin finger, Wendy pointing just over a sloping hill.
Keeping themselves low, pressing their bodies into the foliage, the group peered down over the incline.
There they were. The Robin Hoodlums entire camp. Wendy's eyes were better than the others, having the sight of a Dragon, and she could see, even among the no-names that she knew nothing about, the figures of the enemies they encountered back at Mercurius Castle. Moreover, their scents were the strongest — dragons could smell strength as well as traditional odor, and the main group radiated power in a way the lesser underlings simply didn't — so pinpointing them was easier. The Generous Robin was even easier; to Wendy, his smell was sweet, like syrup. She associated this scent now with danger, and instinctively took a crawl backwards.
"How are we going to approach this?" asked Max, eyeing Wendy carefully.
"I'm not sure," replied Wendy. "They're all alert right now; I can sense panic in their smell, though it isn't from us. I don't even think they know we're here."
"We'll strike by night," whispered Doranbolt, as if it were the world's most obvious answer. "Covert: that was the term we used to describe this mission. Our goal isn't an all out brawl. So we wait for nightfall, and strike when the security of the enemy is at is weakest, when their weapons lay forgotten and their guard has been dropped."
Wendy nodded, and Max clapped his hands — earning a look of ire from everyone present, and he apologised quickly for the excess noise. "That's a great idea, Doranbolt," replied Arcadios. "I'd expect such of a former Rune Knight. Normally, my honour as a Knight of the Kingdom would not allow for such underhanded tactics...but the state of the Kingdom is at stake, and Her Grace is relying on us to see this mission through. For her sake, I will throw aside honour."
"I don't really like it either," replied Wendy, her eyes shifting between her friends and the enemy camp down below. "But it's the best chance we've got for my plan to work. Nighttime it is."
"Let's get some rest," suggested Doranbolt. "No reason to attack them when we're exhausted. I'll take first watch."
Jade Mountains, Robin Hoodlums Encampment
Robin stepped out of his tent into the cool night air. The feel of the crisp air on his skin made him feel so alive. It was perfectly cool, and the lack of humidity in the night made it the ideal time for the young man to enjoy the outside. This joyful experience clashed with the bitter thoughts that raced through his mind. Mere moments before, he had to force Brutalia and Handsome to retire for the night, while at the same time trying to ensure they didn't keep assaulting Runt and Mirror. With Eris and Bobbie watching the camp for disturbances, he felt comfortable enough to embrace the clean air of the mountains.
Leaning against a tree — the damp bark feeling refreshing — the young mage began to wonder precisely how long he could keep the group together. Everything he'd strove for, everything he'd built, was for the greater good of the forgotten and the downtrodden.
But will they see that? Especially Handsome and Brutalia...if I tell them my true plan...will they fall in line willingly?
With these thoughts haunting his mind, Robin began to doze off, feeling the night take him...
...only to be awoken abruptly by the sound of an explosion in the centre of camp.
His immediate gut reaction was to believe that Brutalia or Handsome was having a fit. It wasn't something unexpected, especially since Runt was hurt so badly by the aforementioned woman. But, there was a distinct smell he swore wasn't there before; and a presence that was so distinct it couldn't be mistaken from before.
From his post, the hill with a tree he had chosen to lay against only moments ago, he could see down at the host of tents and campfires below, with bodies scurrying out or being thrown off their feet. Amidst the Hoodlums he saw a gleaming streak of metal, wreathed in a magical aura not of his own making, swinging a blade with an emerald sheen to it. Each stroke of this weapon cut through wildly cast spells and cut into the mages that were foolish enough to get too close. Even without his Lily Armor, Robin recognized the man.
"Show no mercy!" Arcadios bellowed out, the matte grey armor having a distinctly white-outline of light surrounding himself. It ran down the length of his Jade Sword, humming with a verdant sound as he held it to bare before running it through a nearby charging doppelganger of a Mage's construction; dispelling it forthwith. "Strike them while they're still off balance! Give them no time to recover!"
As if on cue, Robin's eyes dilated, seeing a pair of people he remembered all too well. Out from the Holy Knight's left came Max Alors, the bowl-cut adorned man with a long-sleeved deep cobalt shirt to replace his bright navy shirt that was torn and bloodied from the week before. He too was wrought in a majestic aura, enhancing him to a point that he gestured with such efficiency that he may have just been posing but managed to unleash a massive swathe of sand. It rampaged through his opposition, crashing through a handful of Hoodlums while decimating the campsite in his reach.
From the Chief of the Cherry Blossom Squadron's right, came her. The Wendy Marvell, the sole survivor of the reported calamity of the Fairy Tail Guild. The girl who, on the surface looked woefully insignificant and pitiable; but now he saw her swinging her arms around to unleash a torrential gale that seemed to duplicate the wave of Sandstorm Magic her comrade was unleashing on Robin's own comrades.
"Robin," He heard from the base of the hill's slope, causing him to look over to see Bobbie's curvaceous person looking up with Eris flanking her left. "It seems we've been tracked."
"That shouldn't be possible...!" The elf cried out, looking around herself as she tried to eye anything that seemed like other enemy troop movements. "The Jade Mountains make tracking via magical means near impossible! And travel through it even harsher without my Kaleidoscope to assist a group as large as ours. How could they find us amidst such a range of earth in such a short amount of time-?"
"It can't be..." Robin began to trail off, his eyes narrowing at the cobalt haired girl as he witnessed one of her minions rush her, a blade of wind in hand. The magical tool that couldn't be stopped, using intense rotation of air currents to turn its weapon into a hyper frictional saw of the utmost cutting pressure.
Swinging it towards Wendy, she merely leaped up and opened her mouth-
-chomping down on it, eating the blade of wind that came from the hilt of the weapon.
"She isn't...!" He uttered aloud, his cherub face paling as she saw from this distance her swallowing a lump down her throat.
"Sky Dragon's," Wendy began to inhale, her body inflating around her flat upper torso towards her neck.
And then, hilariously, she let out a raucous belch.
"UUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRP!" She spewed out, a gaseous blast of Sky Dragon Magic - unrefined and chaotic- slamming the man along with a slew of the cohorts caught in its cyclone's wake. Slamming the tents, the campfires and a good number of the Hoodlums into the hill that Robin stood upon, it crashed with a resounding boom, fragmenting it and shaking it violently.
"Oh...oh my," Eris blinked, her face sweating as Bobbie stifled a snicker with a hand placed over her mouth.
"I didn't think she was the real deal, but that cements it," Robin stated seriously, icily staring down at Wendy from the distance separating them, now surrounded by a swathe of unconscious and brutalized bodies of his merry men. "Wendy Marvell really is a bona fide Dragon Slayer; let's make her a priority target."
As those words left his mouth, he'd feel something unnatural transpire. Air being displaced by mass that once didn't exist, replacing it and moving with incredible momentum. Through sheer instinct he turned around to swipe at it with a gloved left hand, severing the ground through sheer release of magical energy. What he saw was the outline of a shimmering silhouette, evading him entirely but not striking back.
A sudden lack of weight over his cyan colored crown made him realize something. Reaching up to tuck at the brim of his hat he'd find its lip absent, along with the rest of its comfortable fabric. Gaping, he turned around and saw a familiar scarred man having leaped away, his back turned towards the three as he maneuvered like a human javelin towards the other three attackers at the front of the Hoodlums' camp.
"Hey! He's got it!" Max cried out with a jovial smile.
"Doranbolt...!" Wendy let out a relieved cry.
"Hold fast," Arcadios encouraged, keeping himself reserved as he tried to keep watch of any other straggling Hoodlums they hadn't yet bested. "It'll take him a few moments to whisk us all home. Be ready for a last second act of desperation."
"They weren't here for us," Robin processed, his eyes shrinking to pins, his teeth grinding against each other and his incisors baring almost ferally. Pupils within his eyes threatened to turn into slits instead of their normal spherical shape, his magical energy unleashed in a swirling pyre of teal-silver light. "They were after their damn treasure the whole time!"
"Orders?" Bobbie inquired stonily, seemingly unfazed by these events and looking up expectantly at the androgynous youth.
"Bring me my hat back," He ordered, his voice seething as he turned his back to his two lieutenants, walking back to the tree to grasp his icicle shaped stave. "By any means necessary."
Bobbie's countenance shifted upon the wording of his command. A normally placid expression of stoicism gave way to a wide-eyed glare that poised towards the back of Doranbolt that just touched down in front of his comrades. Coiling her thick luscious thighs, muscles became defined and fluctuated, her upper body swaying as she bent her back and head in a limber U shape.
Then, in a flash of light, she lunged straight towards the four smashing into the earth with a viscous splash of fiery blackness.
"W-What-?!" Max cried out, his hands crisscrossing to defend his face, the enchantment protecting him but still forcing him back a considerable distance.
Arcadios grimaced, finding himself grinding at his heels if only because of his heavier personage.
Wendy herself tumbled backwards, righting herself up in a somersault as she looked up with fear in her eyes.
There, once the voluptuous woman of fair appearance was now adorned in a wreathe of animated darkness. Like a fabric of glossy onyx, it swirled consistently, highlighting her female form but not revealing any skin, save for her extenuated blue eyes. Glaring past a domino mask of sorts, the now kunoichi appearing woman glared towards Doranbolt, and the scarred man felt his guard raised at meeting eyes with the woman proper.
"You," Bobbie spoke in an even tone. "Give the hat back. Now."
"And if I say no?" Doranbolt inquired with a hint of a smile curling at the left.
A blitzing streak of shadow thrust towards him, forcing the man to use Direct Line to veer to the right at the nick of time. His eyes widened at the sight, seeing a blade spearing across the totality of the campsite towards the mess of bodies and camp supplies at the hill Wendy sent them crashing it. Retracting in an instant, he turned to look back at her with gritted teeth, noticing her brandishing a wakizashi in her right hand; the weapon that seemingly had manifested a lance that was several dozen lengths longer than it appeared to be.
"That's an interesting magic you have there," The Teleporter commented, trying to keep her attention veered away from the other three as they tried to reorient themselves. "That wouldn't happen to be a Requip Magic, per chance?"
"You have good eyes, Shield and Sword of Fiore," Bobbie intoned stonily, her eyes glaring poignantly as she curled her body back into an exaggerated U posture, making her shapely covered chest dance much to the other Fairy Tail mages' chagrin. "But I am Robin's hand, out to encircle his friends...or form a fist to crush his enemies!"
At saying that, she lunged forward in a streak of midnight. Just as before, the scarred mage managed to evade at the last possible instant, feeling the cold surge of Ethernano that manifested from his foe's strike. Darting back and forth across the camp, the pair left sizable impressions of their deadly game of cat and mouse, with one aiming to kill for tagging the one that kept a hair's breadth away.
"These guys are too fast!" Max cried out, trying to fix his eyes at them, only to see that it was nigh impossible to predict their movements. "I feel so helpless."
"They're kicking up too much air for me to smell where they'll be," Wendy gasped, her head of blue hair swishing around as the crashes of Bobbie came dangerously close to hitting her in the process. "Ah!"
"Doranbolt, lure her away!" Arcadios ordered with a swing of his metal covered unarmed palm. "As long as you can keep them from having it, then they can't flee this country! Do what you can to ensure that it isn't returned to their possession!"
There was a moment of hesitation.
A thought ran through the teleporter's mind, rushing the image of his precious friend's companion in the form of the Exceed. She was desperate to come with, a prophecy spoke of a dark fate involving the Sky Maiden. Was she to die when he could have done something? Was she fated to disappear from this world?
"I could use a friend right now. Can you help with that?"
His eyes widened at that.
No, she was stronger than that. Wasn't she the one who fought off Brutalia, Eris and Runt when she was on the last dredges of her strength? She will not fall, not with her friend and ally at her side.
"I'll come back," Doranbolt cried out, a brief serious stare locking with Wendy as he passed her by. "You have my word."
With a brave smile on the deep blue haired girl's face, he'd zip away and the darkened figure that was Bobbie Blondes streaked across the night sky in perseverance after him.
A deathly quiet settled upon the camp as the majority of the thugs that were bested by the triage were unconscious or in some state of agony. What ones were still standing hesitated to come close, and some were determined to pretend to feign unconsciousness just so they wouldn't get beaten to a pulp.
This left, of course, the Frontline members of the gang to step up - if not all too eagerly - to the intruding attackers.
"I knew it was too good to be true to expect you would be still licking your wounds in bed," Brutalia intoned, fluttering her fan over her face as she walked towards them with the same air of superiority. No, not the same. Something changed in the woman, as the air swirled around her in a manner that befitted someone vexed in a physical way.
An almost audible sound came from a throbbing vein that emerged from the exposed forehead of a disheveled set of bangs of reddish-gold hair that was once well kept the last time they saw her. Her dress had tears, her face pale and dark circles were seen around her eyes from the lack of sleep. Veins stretched across the whites of her eyes and the lack of lipstick helped define the paleness of her teeth that were now bared.
"I'm going to repay you, little Slayer," The Princess of Pain snarled, collapsing her fan to divide her facial features, her skirt whipping about her dark stocking adorned legs as a crimson veil of her Magical Aura spiked up, enhancing her outline in a blackened silhouette of supernatural might harnessed from her indignant rage. "For every bit of humiliation I've endured because of you...you'll pay...for all of it!"
"You'll have to get in line, Brutalia," A deep hum came from the attractive but almost just as disheveled man that walked from the opposite end of the camp that she did. His breastplate had marks of mud, his head no longer combed but a messy mop and his eyes stared with a pair of pins for pupils towards them. His pronounced chin shook with his gritted teeth as he forced a smile, his own amethyst energies spewing into the air as either hand trembled at his sides. "I want to rip them into pieces for what their friend did to my mind!"
Their entry into the fray didn't surprise the Fairy Tail mages.
They had an impression that was hard to forget. Handsome's bloodlust and surprising durability made him a foe to be feared for all of the most obvious reasons. Meanwhile Brutalia's exceptional mastery over a magic like Telekinesis made her an even more dangerous foe.
But, their current demeanor spoke of a wound to their pride and a break in their composure. Though they were strong, that meant they weren't fighting at their best.
With a look between each other without words exchange they knew they had a chance of defeating them now.
"You two, stop that," Eris chided, her voice coming off as motherly as she floated over their heads, coated in a veil of blue light that permeated from the halo behind her pinkish hair. "This is no time to act independently. Let the leader decide how best to deal with these interlopers-"
"Do as you wish."
"-what?" Eris gasped, looking over with a look of surprise at the Generous Robin.
"You heard me," The cherub faced bandit spoke, placing his gloved hand through his bangs and scratching his silky cyan crown. "They've been raving for days and its been giving me a headache. If I put them in the corner any longer, they'll likely go full crazy."
"With all due respect, little bird," The elf turned, floating down to look at him from his right eye-to-eye. "They're not acting well. If they fight this way-"
"They're strong enough on their own. I have full confidence in their capabilities. Besides," He dismissed with a heavy sigh, placing his wand at his right stocking-covered hip, gesturing offhandedly with his free elbow-length gloved arm. "If I let them indulge maybe that'll cool their heads."
"Or make it worse..." Eris whispered, her ruby eyes looking over worriedly at Handsome and Brutalia as they gave annoyed glances over at her.
"I stand by my decision," Robin spoke. To emphasize his words he swished his stave around, materializing a solid block of ice that moulded itself into a crude approximate to a chair. Sitting down on it, he leaned his left cheek into an upraised knuckle, twisting his stave around with his right hand as he looked on with a visibly humored smile on his face, complementing the bright sky colored eyes. "Go crazy, you two. Just remember, try to make sure you don't kill them if it can be helped; we do need one to question if they have others on the way, if at all."
"Tsk!" Handsome clicked his tongue while Brutalia rolled her eyes. As if they'd let a golden opportunity to enact revenge slip their fingers at some pretense of mercy. There would be no half measures!
Arcadios raised his weapon in readiness, Max held his fists up and Wendy kept her legs spread with hands flat just inches from her skirt's hips. The tension in the air was palpable, cold sweat forming along the heroes' necks and scalps, contrasting the look of malicious smiles, contracted pupils and pulsing glows of magical energy of their deranged opponents.
Then, they moved.
Handsome's giraffe-like gait betrayed his speed, now galloping forth like a lightning swift horse. Twisting around, his arm from the shoulder down transformed in a flash of light, turning it into a Morning-Star. The interconnected chains made a cold clicking sound as he swung the spiked ball over his tall shoulders in an arc straight towards the back of the Lily Knight's head.
At the same time, Brutalia swung her fan outward, releasing a visible distortive wave of kinetic force by sheer will of her mind. Torn up earth was caught up, shooting outward at its head while barreling towards Max, aiming to bludgeon him with the energy she unleashed; aiming to tether him, much like she had done when she brutalized Runt merely a week ago.
The two looked as if they were going to bulldoze through their adversaries with ease, and their sickening grins moments into executing their attacks showed how certain they were.
Singing metal swiping through the metal ball and several partitions of chains later, and Handsome found his face blanching. The Holy Squadron Chief maneuvered with succinct posturing and grace that he may have been wearing no armor at all, swinging his blade in just three strokes at a speed comparable - no, superior - to his own. With his balance lost, Arcadios lunged forward, slamming his armored shoulder into the dark mage's chest, sending him staggering backwards by several meters before rushing in for the counteroffensive.
At the exact same instance, Brutalia saw the cobalt haired girl leap up above Max, assuming a stance that mirrored the man's own. Swerving their arms about they thrust it forward, unleashing both wind and sand in conjunction of each other. What was an assumedly powerful wave of telekinetic force was countered and then shoved straight towards her in a twisting battering ram of air sped grains.
"Sky Dragon's Sand Wave!" They cried out in unison, watching as their magic made contact as Brutalia was seemingly consumed by the rushing two-prong attack.
"Holy Sword Art," Arcadios began to utter, already entering Handsome's proximity before he could reform his left arm; carving a series of figure eight strikes that tore through Handsome's suit-jacket and shattered his breastplate in a flash of blood. "Sanctified Eight Fold Strokes!"
Eris sighed and Robin looked on with intrigue.
As Brutalia emerged from the blast of sand, visibly disheveled and scraped from her skirt up to her blouse of her black and red dress, the several cuts lacing her cheeks did nothing to sober her. In fact, her fury seemed to reach a feverous pitch as she let out a snarling growl.
"You dare touch me with your filthy magic?!" She sneered, her hand crushing the fan she held into splinters. An angry crimson bled from her, coloring the air in a macabre overcast as she conjured slabs of earth from around her the size of human-sized boulders. "I'm going to pulverize you for that, you ingrates!"
"You need a serious reality check, lady," Max replied, visibly sweating with a nervous smile armed on his face. "Weren't you going to kill us slowly a few moments ago?"
"DON'T CORRECT ME, YOU BOWL HAIRED NEANDERTHAL!" Brutalia shrieked, hurling her boulders with a forward clap of her sullied dress sleeves.
At seeing this, the pair acted in accordance. The cobalt haired Sky Maiden ran up the side of Max's back and - with a boost of his arms - leaped gracefully into the air through several revolutions of her green skirted frame. In those rotations she gathered the enriched air of the Jade Mountains, coalescing it in a swathe of visibly teal wind. Drifting it up over her head she swung it down, sending a powerful gust of wind that slammed into the ground, exploding the boulders and creating a massive cloud of dirt to rise up into the air to obscure the three fighters.
While the Princess of Pain winced at her attack being nullified and her senses blinded she swore she heard running. A brush of her hands, she willed the dust away, just in time to see Max running straight towards her with surprising speed.
"Why you-!" Brutalia snarled, whipping her hand around to halt his approach.
The instant she thrust her palm towards face, two things occurred.
One, she felt the earth beneath her give way, as if it was no longer solid. Her heels sunk with a dry slick sound, and her aim diverted to upheaving the air just above the man's head.
The second that happened, was that she felt the whole of her body thrusting up into the air, held fast by a twisting cyclone of sand. An unintelligible cry was heard from her as she'd be brought up substantially into the sky of the forest filled valley of the mountains before summarily thrown down with a significant thuum; the shockwave sending a blistering wind that brought the Generous Robin's locks flourishing back along with Eris's.
"And that is what happens when you don't look at anything but ahead," Max chided, smiling at the sight of sand coating the campsite, a pair of heeled feet sticking upwards with slight twitching being noticeable. "A bit of Sand Wrapping around those boulders, and I flood Sandstorm into the broken up soil. Once I've filled it with sand, it was just a matter of getting close and hitting you with a point blank Sand Rebellion; thanks to Wendy, you didn't see me coming until the last second."
Landing softly beside him, the man turned with a broad smile and raised his hand. She met it with a high five, the two giggling despite their current situation.
"P-Pardon me."
A voice breached the pair's victory, making them look over at Arcadios as he was submerged in the sand with only his head sticking up; looking humorously like a brown bush of his wild hair on his angular face, sticking up from the ground. The two did their best to not snicker as he cleared his throat and asked with a visible sign of wincing humiliation.
"May you please unearth me? Your magic caught me in the crossfire..."
"Sorry about that, Sir Arcadios," Wendy meekly apologized, rushing up with Max casually walking behind her. Digging up the sand around him, the two hoisted him up by the undearms, and with a heave, they pulled him straight out of the dry grains of earth that now covered the battlefield.
"Uh, where's Handsome?" Max inquired, his head turning left and right trying to look for the man.
"I lost sight of him-"
Just as the Holy Squadron Chief was about to answer, a pair of feet slammed into the earth with a thunderous impact. As the sand kicked up around the silhouette, a lean, muscular figure rose up to full height and the aforementioned Dark Mage revealed himself in all of his glory. Despite the visible incisions carved into his flesh, the blood flowed slowly out and the man didn't look fazed. His crazed smile seemed a bit more composed, and his eyes stared at the three with more intrigue than outrage.
"I-It seems he jumped," Max remarked with a flabbergasted expression.
"He must have been high in the air for us to not notice," Arcadios remarked, grimacing with a visibly unnerved expression. "What kind of physical power does that man have?"
"Hmmmmmm, impressive," He hummed out, patting his bloodied chest and raising it up towards his face. "I thought I sensed something odd when you three emerged into our camp. I couldn't quite make out your magicks, as they seemed entwined with another, more potent one. And that pain brought me a sense of nostalgia...and now I remember," He raised his blood soaked hand, pulling back the sleeve towards a purple mark poised around his forearm. "You're the little girl, the Slayer, who attacked me out of thin air. You laced that knight with your magic and made him an actual threat to me. Without a substantial magical energy, I can't react in accordance to his strokes as I would against your teleporter friend...the one who took my memories of that night away. What a clever little girl you are."
Wendy tensed up. This man had started off being just as deranged as Brutalia, lashing out with malicious glee at the thought of bloodshed. But, strangely, he was now more composed... I can see why Doranbolt was against me facing him. He's smart, and he can sense magical energy incredibly, She thought as she looked to Max and then to Arcadios, swiftly devising a means of changing her battle plans.
"I see I'll have no choice," The roguish dark mage proclaimed, placing a hand through his messied hair and sweeping it back to its original attractive backwards combed appearance. "I'll have to use my full power against you; be thankful you get to witness a true artisan in the field of death firsthand!"
"I won't let you-!" Arcadios shouted, leaping from his unsteady post with a swiftness that defied his size and weight. Thrusting his weapon, the light wrapped weapon aimed true, even as Handsome became engulfed in a brilliant illuminating mantle of light. Without deviating course he struck towards the heart where a wound once was just scant an inch deep.
CLANG!
"Full Body Takeover," Exhaled out the large chinned man, now revealed not as a man with ratted clothes and bloodied skin, but a gleaming form with a sheen of finely polished iron covering his whole body. Within the 'cuts' of his body had something resembling edges to a sword, where the defined physique was closer to its flat. Even the hairs on his head and his own eyes resembled a shapely reflection of a weapon forged for cutting. "If the scarred man hasn't told you before, my magic is Inanimate Soul. I once found a sword of unparalleled design and it was the first in my arsenal, and therefore, the one I've had the most skill in using. This is Inanimate Soul: Kusanagi; you cannot best me now I'm in this sta-"
"Holy Art..."
"NGH!"
"...SANCTIFIED SUNDER!" Arcadios howled out, twisting the blade and sliding it up while dragging the double-edged sword of his own wielding out of the notched etching that was Handsome's wound. To his own surprise he'd see a massive crack formed along his chest, spurting out blood, and webbing outward much to his bewilderment. As the Holy Squadron Chief held his weapon in two hands in a downward angled stance, he glared forward with a thin lipped sneer. "Do not mock me. You are no true swordsman. Even if the material was absorbed into your being, I am using the Jaded Blade, a weapon of impervious make forged out of the minerals within these very mountains you walk upon. And moreover, I am given the enchantment of a Dragon Slayer; the quality of your defense and offense are incomparable to mine!"
Stomping on the ground, Handsome let loose a malicious smile of his own.
"Interesting," He smiled ear to ear. "So you know sword arts. Are you perhaps one of the highest of tier swordsmen in the land?"
"I'm sure there are more skilled in swords than I," Arcadios replied honestly, though didn't break off his perpetual scowl. "But I am the best in this country, this much I am certain."
Handsome's eyes widened and a barking laugh was let loose from his throat.
"Good enough!" The Dark Mage bellowed, bending his legs and leaping forward with his arms resembling less arms and more a single-edged pair of katanas. Swinging the pair in a single stroke, Arcadios parried the limbs, stepping back and ducking underneath a follow-up swipe of his weapons. Kicking up, Handsome bent back, throwing out a eviscerating kick towards his armor, sending him booting back only for Wendy and Max to stabilize him with a wind propelled layer of sand to buffet him.
"Let's team up against this guy!" Max proffered.
"Yeah, he doesn't seem to care his wounded," Wendy noted, grimacing at the sight of blood spilling freely from the murderer's chest as he pursued Arcadios once he rose up to challenge his strikes.
"I concur," The Lily Knight replied, gritting his teeth as he met blow for blow the perceived slew of attacks his adversary was unleashing. "Let us bring down this savage and then leave this place!"
Drums. A cacophony of beats thrummed within the earth. The sensation rattled beneath their feet, pulsing visibly across the sandy ground that Max had created. Struggling to stand atop it, they all wobbled on their feet with Handsome even staggering to keep his massive physique stable.
Before they could utter inquiries what it was, Wendy smelled it; bloodlust. It rose up into the air ahead of a crimson devil sliding up from the tens of thousands of grains that was their floor. Shoving it away from a swirling vortex of scarlet light came up the whipping hair of the princess of pain herself. Grinding teeth together with a loud crackling sound, a pupiless pair of eyes glared as she levitated into the air, a storm of sand spiraling around her as she held her hands up in a clawed pair of gestures.
Clenching them into fists, the sand coalesced, the friction of pressure of her blood lit magic transforming it from one substance; and straight into glittering, sharpened gems that formed spears of diamonds that numbered up to a dozen evenly distributed on either side of her floating form.
"You...miserable...ants," Brutalia hissed aloud, throwing her fists outward in the shape of knives with her fingers, discharging the pressure-borne gems akin to missiles towards the three. "BECOME DUST!"
"Sky Dragon's Wave!" Wendy thrust her palm out, unleashing an arc of wind from her arm to derail the spiraling blades of crystals Brutalia had crafted. Grazing her cheek, left arm and side, the explosions they caused from impacting on the far side of the camp rattled her inside.
Following up, Max threw a fist out, unleashing a pillar of Sandstorm magic at the crazed telekinetic. Despite crashing into her body, the woman let out a scream that released a crimson wave of light that pushed it back. Throwing a punch, a visible fist of intangible energy discharged that he narrowly avoided; exploding the ground from the force of its momentum.
"You two, defend yourselves!" Arcadios declared, deflecting his Take-Over Mage's attacks. "We must buy Doranbolt time to get the nation's treasure to a place they can't reach!"
"Three-Fold Enchantment!" Wendy cried out, layering it over herself, Max and Arcadios as soon as he said it. They had neared the end of their uses of this invaluable increase to offense, defense and speed. It wasn't nearly as strong as it could be, which she admitted aloud while biting her lower lip. "I wish I could do a double layer, but I need to fight too; please, bear with it, Max! Sir Arcadios!"
"Don't worry about us, Wendy!" Max cried out, evading another series of visible telekinetic fists thrown out by Brutalia. "Just keep yourself together! We need you in one piece, alright?"
"Right!" Wendy shouted with a brave smile, leaping up throwing out arcing gusts of wind that forced Brutalia back, as Arcadios himself swung in fervor to counter his own maddening opponent's offensive strokes. "I promised Charle I'd come back - no matter what!"
An instant.
It was said to be the fastest thing known to man. One moment, something can occur and the next, it was over. The magic of teleportation was said to be unparalleled, its speed unquestioned and maneuverability second to none. So when Doranbolt vanished from the campsite, he expected there to be a delay. At least a minute, maybe more. But when he reappeared within the valley of the mountains a few days of walking apart from where he last was he couldn't help but feel his spine sweep with a chill, eyes widening-
-as Bobbie appeared, a sprout of a fiery shadow bursting into being, right in front of his person.
"You're not getting away from me," Bobbie sneered, blue eyes glowering at Doranbolt's turquoise orbs shaking in place as she began to take slow, bouncy steps towards him while still endowed with a tight wrapping of shadows over her voluptuous physique. "Not until you give back our blue bird's hat."
Doranbolt's eyes shifted left and right. It seemed like he had plenty of places his Direct Line could pinpoint. And yet, he had used a previous location he had already seen - another feature of his teleportation magic - that sent him right out of the way of harm for the others. But now, he wondered if there was some warping ability that Bobbie possessed he wasn't aware of.
"There's no escape!" She yelled out, crouching down and spiraling forward in a streak of black. Shifting through space in a vibrant shimmer she passed harmlessly through his Afterimage. Just as he appeared on the other side of the valley, he'd see her burst into being; like a black inferno that spontaneously combusted out of shadows, she reassembled and thrust a clawed hand towards him, wreathed in darkness.
Nimbly leaping away at the last possible second, he'd watch as her mere gesture carved into the earth and blew away rocky foundation. Twisting about, he threw a fist as she lunged towards him again, watching her faze through as she became an intangible flotsam of cold nothingness.
A whipping kick to his spine and his body bowed, his person slamming into the ground, somersaulting back to all fours as she turned to look over his shoulder. Thin blades manifested between her fingers, sent flying with a thrusting gesture of her arm, singing aloud its deadly tune to sink into his flesh. Grasping a rock at his feet, he shifted through space and avoided the blades that blasted through more rocky terrain.
With his hand clutching the hat in his left grip, he swung his knees towards her voluminous chest, only for her to dissipate just as before. Turning around, he teleported the instant she reappeared, slamming a rock straight across her face...tearing her mask off as it was reduced to powdery pebbles.
"For someone using Assassin Requip, you're surprisingly easy to read," Doranbolt commented, leaping back as Bobbie's now scraped face bared teeth and lunged back to send a flurry of shadowy bladed strikes from weapons formed out of magic from between her clenched knuckles. As he avoided her strikes deftly, he snapped a foot towards her face, watching her halt her stride and step away from his counterstrike. Frowning at this, he stopped and held himself in a straightened stance. "I stand corrected. You're not easy to fool as I thought."
"And you're not as single-minded as I anticipated," Bobbie admitted, raising a hand up to wipe away the dirt mixing with the blood oozing from the scrape across her swollen cheek. "You're also sharp, to realize the surface nature of my magic. Few have seen this magic, and even fewer have lived to tell the tale."
"I've worked with the Council, I know a lot of things," The teleporter answered honestly, eyes slanting as he looked up and down at her person. "Still, for you to possess teleportation on top of great speed is impressive. Few possess so many skills in a single Requip."
"If you are trying to probe me for information, you're wasting your breath," Bobbie clicked her tongue with annoyance. "The moment my eyes met yours, this battle has been forfeit. You cannot run to any place on this world that I cannot catch you."
Gesturing her hand to the side, the air began to crackle and the hairs on Doranbolt's skin stood on end. A flame of onyx formed from the palm of her covered hand, ejecting what looked like a pyre of something that slowly wrapped itself into a more solid shape. Once it began to create a cross-shaped handle, a single edge appeared out of the shadows, and the weapon itself was visible to the eye. With the light of the moon gleaming down he'd bear witness to an elegant wakizashi with a pentacle shaped guard, all retaining a burning darkness that permeated from its very make-up.
"With Kagesen, I'll tear you apart, teleporter," Bobbie proclaimed, swinging the blade around in a spinning flourish to ceremoniously divide her now visible visage. "Accept your defeat with dignity, less I take you apart. One. Piece. At. A. Time!"
Swinging her weapon, a mass of blackness sprouted from the razor edge, shooting into the air and flowing around all angles. Strings of darkness filled the scarred man's vision. Flourishing around in an unpredictable series of trajectories, her weapon's strokes belied the true nature of her magic; arcs of shadow creating a web of darkness that cut off the most obvious avenues of escape.
With Direct Line, he maneuvered behind her, turning about to swing a foot at her-
-only to see the webs of blackness erupt from the space behind her, warping away from the spot it once was sailing towards him a moment ago.
Her magic is teleporting too?! He thought, backpedaling with another jolt of his magic to avoid the seeking snare of shadow. In doing so, he watched with his own eyes as the exact instant he did, the darkness spiraled out of place and back towards him, now even closer than it was before. Repeating this, he found himself in a maddening chase across the mountain valley, having lost sight of the Assassin Requip Mage.
Darting about, he'd eventually sense her presence behind him. A sharp thrust came into his shoulder, piercing his body and jabbing through his shoulder out his striped tunic on the other side. Even as he threw an elbow back at her in retaliation, she whisked away like smoke, leaving him to be heading straight first into the web of shadows; all that sunk into his clothing and slashed into his skin.
"Hngh!" He winced, one eye grimacing shut as blood spout from his sleeves up his jacket and across his chest.
"Let go!" Bobbie snarled, reappearing above and swinging her blade in a fiery line of eviscerating shadow. "Or die!"
Instead of avoiding the blow, Doranbolt looked up defiantly with his open eye and grasped the weapon around the pentacle-guard and over her hand. With Bobbie's eyes widened in surprise, she saw him pull with surprising strength and twist around the balls of his heels-
-teleporting straight into the base of a mountain where he'd slam her shadow enraptured body with a vicious crack!
"Gah!" Bobbie gasped out. With the wind knocked from her lungs, she found herself open for a follow-up as her enemy jettisoned the two of them across the valley vista, thrashing her through one boulder and then another. Each time Bobbie sensed pain radiate from her body as his persistent contact made it impossible for her to transmute into darkness.
And then, after the seventh impact, she unleashed a bodily pulse of darkness from her whole being.
"Enough!" She shouted, forcing him to skid backwards, his dominant arm raised to protect his face while his blood covered left arm held the pointed hat of the Generous Robin still firmly in his grasp.
Both took time to regain their breaths, eyeing each other as blood and bruises marred their persons.
"This isn't usually my style," The scarred man admitted, breaking the pause in the air between them. "I'm normally not the kind of man to fight with my all. Only when I find a significant criminal in my sights, or when there's no other choice, do I ever engage in combat."
"Then why don't you surrender already?" Bobbie inquired, her eyes blinking with confusion.
"Every fiber of my being is telling me to complete my objective. To run and bring this hat back to Crocus. But," Doranbolt grabs the hem of the cloth and opened his mouth wide, stuffing it till it was nothing but a ball of enchanted fabric. Sweating profusely, eyes watering, Bobbie watch aghast as the whole magical hat into his throat and down as a lump straight out of sight into his gullet. Gasping, and choking back an urge to vomit, Doranbolt smiled grimly as he raised up both of his hands and smacked one fist into an open palm. "You've forced me into a corner; be prepared for a real fight with a mage of Fairy Tail!"
The sight of the hat being fully ingested brought about a look of pure, unadulterated rage on Bobbie's face. Veins throbbed across her brow and down her scraped face, teeth gnashed and the whole of her voluptuous and partially exposed person undulated with a revolution of blackness emitting from her Requip.
"You'll...pay for that!" She howled, leaping forward with her blade brandished in a slashing arc poised towards his face.
Direct Line, Doranbolt thought, his eyes widening as he timed for the exact instant her blade was about to touch his skin. Instead of maneuvering to a flank, or behind her, he throttled forward and slammed his forehead straight into hers. The unorthodox blow split her forehead open, bruising his own sturdy cranium.
Taking advantage of her unsteady disposition, he zigzagged around her, throwing punches that all coincided in concert around her form. One hit her in the ribs, another struck the base of her neck and the third dug into her scraped jawline.
Grimacing at this, she dissolved into shadow at the end of the triage of attacks, ending his combo. Just as she 'ported below him, she'd see five shimmering replicas of Doranbolt all throwing punches down towards her face; lunging away at the last second, a visible explosion of earth being expunged by the force of five full-powered straight jabs shocked her.
In the span of her watching it, she'd see him reappear in front of her, eyes glaring straight into her orbs.
Baring her teeth, she swung Kagesen in a swift arc, only for him to duck beneath its cutting stroke of midnight onyx flame. A swift upward teleport brought his knee crashing into her face, halting her sword stroke and rattling her skull with the additional momentum of instantaneous movement.
"Your Mystic Eye Curse is a pale imitation of true teleportation," He intoned, twisting around to slam the shin of his right leg into the side of her head, sending her spiraling away; just in time for him to land a forward jab as he shifted in front of her flying frame, his knuckles grinding into her flinging body and sending her painfully thrust back the way she was sent flying off her feet. "You can only teleport when you're not attacking, and it takes concentration on top of it. You can make yourself intangible, and even latch your offensive spells onto me when I retreat; its a true assassin's magic...not meant to for a brawl with someone of a high caliber in speed and reflexes."
"So what of it?!" Bobbie lashed out, twisting her body around and clawed at the earth before catapulting herself straight at him with a harry of vicious strikes, coated in shadow magic. Each time she aimed he deftly wove himself around, not even teleporting as her strikes couldn't sink into him like they once did. "As long as I draw breath, I'll keep coming! You're already wounded, and that enchantment won't last long enough for you to finish the job!"
"On that we can agree," Doranbolt replied, backhanding her blade's thrust by its flat, before he grasped her arm and looked straight upward to the moonlit sky. "Its time we end this farce."
A shunt of space was made, and the two were no longer within the valley.
High above in the sky two dots formed. Upon closer view, one could see Doranbolt and Bobbie were now high in the sky, tens of thousands of feet in altitude above where the Jade Mountains was viewed.
Bobbie's already heavy breathing soon turned into gasps - not just from the change in scenery - as the oxygen surrounding her immediate perspective was drained to near zero.
"No-!" She croaked out, swinging her blade towards the scarred man only to find him teleporting along her flank while throttling a punch straight into her diaphragm. The high-velocity impact brought what air was within her lungs, and she found darkness creeping into her eyes of the metaphorical kind. Reaching a hand out, she desperately tried to claw at him, only to find gravity and the lack of air surrounding her, brought her to an immediate state of unconsciousness.
In a swift return to the earth below, Doranbolt gasped for his own breath, dropping to his hands and knees.
"Gah...wah...too...too high...never doing that again!" He exclaimed, beading sweat dripping onto the ground as the light of enchantment fizzled out from his form.
Pushing himself back to his feet, he cast a wary glance at the unconscious Bobbie, grimacing as he took stock of how narrow this win truly was.
"Under normal circumstances, you probably would've aimed to kill rather than incapacitate. If it wasn't for the hat, I probably would've been dead...but this time," He admitted, grinning despite himself as he looked into the horizon, raising his fist into the air as he yelled loudly. "VICTORY IS MINE!"
A/N:
Demod20: This was a thrilling chapter to write. Not only because we got to see a proper rematch, in part, with Brutalia and Handsome, but we got to see Arcadios in action. The man is quickly becoming a favorite of mine in the way we've depicted him thus far. Even with enchantment, I wanted to invoke real kickassery with this man's implementation of "Badass Normal". And Max teaming up with Wendy was very satisfying; to add the cherry on top, Doranbolt gets to finish a fight, and with Bobbie Blondes of all people. As someone who's watched Naruto and Mob Psycho 100, I had quite a bit of inspiration in the dynamics of how teleporters fight. Given from what I've seen and what I theorize, distance isn't the limitation of Direct Line but repetitionis; the more times you use it, the more it drains your magical energy. I think that's a fair exchange, since Doranbolt has never been portrayed in Canon as being worn out from long distance teleporting. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and my co-author's first half of set-up being pretty awesome in its own right. See you all in the next eventual upload! ^^
LastationLover5000: Now I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Due to my burn-out with battle chapters, I've been trying to write some of the set-ups to our chapters more. My general inexperience with that though, has led to me trying a lot harder to get these sections down. And this was the first time I felt I really succeeded. I felt bad shelving the larger portion of the chapter onto my counterpart, but he did a FANTASTIC job writing it, and I am very glad with how it turned out. I'll be looking forward to seeing you all in the next chapter: we've got much more to come! Also, to anyone curious, the title, "Onigokko", comes from the word おにごっこ onigokko, which means 'catch the demon', referring to the Japanese name for the game of tag.