"He's way more powerful than I thought..."
Cressida stood a good distance away from the Vanguard base, but even from here she could sense the magic oozing off of the boy she had tagged with that powder earlier. It was ridiculous. His magic had been fairly impressive by mortal standards, but now it was just through the roof. And it felt so... foul. She'd never felt so much dark magic coming off of one person before.
Umbriel chuckled. "Of course he is. You never thought to look any closer at him. He's clearly got the blood of an immortal in him. And a powerful one at that," he said crossing his arms. "That's why I wanted to use him as a test for our dear cousin. A bit of Grave Sand and that side he'd been suppressing slipped right out."
"Grave Sand?" Cressida asked, confused.
Umbriel sighed. "You truly are hopeless. It's a powder lowly half-breed creatures use to suppress their human traits. It's why he's acting so much more aggressive," he explained.
Cressida frowned. "So... who do you think will win?"
Umbriel shrugged. "I have no idea, and I don't really care. So long as I get a decent show out of it..."
"Nothing good will come of this..."
Everyone watched as the Butterfly siblings stood off against one another. Astro wore an evil smirk across his face, while Titania gave off a genuine smile that just oozed confidence. "Alexander, make yourself useful and put a barrier up. I don't want my dead brother trying to make a run for it before I bring him down," she said.
Her cousins hesitated for a moment, but then sighed and raised his hand. "What the hell are you doing?!" Cayenne said, as a rather large force field appeared around both Titania and Astro. "Take the damn barrier right now!"
"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, but the truth is I can't stop either of them at this point. I have a certain... vulnerability, to dark magics that gives Astro a distinct advantage over me," he explained. "And the way he is now he's likely to seriously hurt anyone else who tries to stop him. So let Titania handle it."
"You're going to let your twelve year old cousin fight because you're too much of a punk bitch?" Raleigh asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alexander raised an eyebrow. "You know, I could drop this barrier and just let the ensuing battle kill everyone. Would you prefer that option?"
Titania floated in front of her brother as she pulled the wand out. "I am curious about something though brother. After I beat you, do I get to take your title?" she asked as the wand suddenly turned into a large sword. "Titania the Invincible... hmm, no I think I want one of my own."
She suddenly swung down at him, and when the blade landed the whole barrier shook. "Holy shit! Did she just kill him?!" Raleigh asked.
They looked closer and saw that Astro was just fine. The prince had caught the blade with his hand. "You, really think you can beat me, don't you?" Astro asked, amused.
"Of course," Titania said, smiling as she began swinging again.
Her sword came at Astro so fast the others could barely keep up, but Astro was either blocking or side stepping each swing. He swung Ocean's Kiss at her, and Titania raised her sword to block it. She was sent stumbling back however, and Astro moved in and swung his fist up at her. Titania quickly raised her free arm to block the attack, but was once again sent flying back by the sheer force of the blow.
She crashed into the other side of the barrier and looked like she was about to hit the ground, but quickly landed on her feet before zipping right back at Astro. "All that flying around your doing, you're like a fly..." Astro said, raising his sword. Nia got ready to attack again, but Astro thrust Ocean's Kiss forward. She tried to move out of the way, but the sword caught her right on her side, leaving a nasty cut.
"Nia!" Vera yelled looking worried. That was definitely not a shallow cut.
The princess scowled, but once again rushed at her brother. She punched him right in the face, but he didn't even flinch. "Whether you're Nia or Titania, you're still my little sister." Astro raised his hand and suddenly blasted her with a ball of black flames. Titania grunted as she was knocked back and fell onto the ground. "Never forget that..."
"Oh crap!"
"Nia!"
Cayenne glared at Alexander. "Take the barrier down!"
He narrowed his eyes. "I'll do no such thing. Astro clearly isn't in control of himself. If he did that to Titania so easily what do you think he'll do to us?" he said focusing on the barrier. "Besides, Titania isn't finished yet..."
Before she could ask what he was talking about, Titania suddenly hopped back up to her feet. The girl looked... perfectly fine. She had seemed to heal away any signs of her sword wound or burn marks. She dusted herself off and looked back towards Astro. "I have to admit brother, you really are strong," she said before. "Unfortunately, you're standing in front of the strongest."
Astro looked up at the girl with a blank expression. Her magical power had just spiked again. "What's wrong? Are you so stunned that you can't even move? That's understandable when you're standing in front of someone as amazing as me," she said aiming towards him.
She fired a massive blast of wind towards him. Astro was definitely stronger physically, but when it came to magic she had him way out matched. The prince didn't even bother trying to move. He raised his sword and then swung. "Back-Flow." The moment the blade made contact, the blast of wind was sent right back towards Titania. She was hit by the blast and knocked right back into the barrier. The blast dispersed, and Titania was covered in cuts and bruises.
"When did he learn that...?" Vera asked, frowning.
Astro smiled. "Must be something feeling your own attack for one eh?"
Titania blinked for a moment, and then let out a breath. Her cuts healed once again and she stepped back onto the ground. "It was. It actually hurt. But I guess that's not surprising since it was my attack after all. It makes sense that the only one who can really hurt me is me," she said smiling.
Astro snorted. "Seriously? I can't tell if you're arrogant, in denial, or just plain stupid," he aid slinging his sword over his shoulder. "It doesn't matter how many times you heal yourself, I'm just going to keep kicking your ass over and over again. And I can, and will do it all day if I have to."
"You think you can last that long again me? Ridiculous."
Titania charged back at him again, and Astro charged right back. Everyone else watched as the two siblings slugged it out. But it was pretty clear to everyone watching Astro had the advantage. He was shrugging off every hit Titania threw at him, and every time she fired a spell he sent it right back. "Titania can't just keep healing herself like that. Sooner or later one of Astro's attacks is gonna stick," Amber said.
Alexander just kept watching the two. "I'm not so sure about that..."
"What do you mean?" Amber asked confused.
"It feels like she's... no, just keep watching. You'll understand soon."
Amber had no clue what he meant by that. From what she could see Titania was definitely struggling. She got a few hits in here and there, but it wasn't slowing her brother down. And Astro... he was just smiling. He looked like he was having a blast. Titania growled before kicking Astro right against the jaw. The prince staggered for a moment, looking dazed. "Hell yeah! She got him!" Levi cheered. Astro suddenly stood back up, hitting Titania with an uppercut. The girl was sent flying up and then bounced off the top of the barrier before falling right back down to the ground. "Never mind..."
Titania looked like she was finally staying down, and Astro spat out a wad of blood before smiling. "Credit where it's due little sister. I haven't been able to run wild like that in a long time," he said as he turned and began walking off. "Maybe in a few hundred years you'll have a shot, but for now you're better off right where you are. Now, let me out of this thing. If I have to break, someone's getting hurt," he said towards Alexander.
Cayenne narrowed her eyes. "Drop that fucking barrier so I can deck this motherfucker," she said angrily.
"You won't have to," Alexander said before turning towards Astro with a smug look on his face. "Asterossa. I'm sure someone of your pedigree is well aware that someone's magical power can spike when they're in a desperate situation. When their back is... pushed against the wall, so to speak."
Astro snorted. "Stop babbling and let me out."
Alexander pointed behind him. "You pushed Titania pretty far just now. How do you think that's going to work out for you?"
Astro was about to snap at him, but then felt a gust of wind blow by. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Titania getting back up to her feet. "You're still trying to fight me? You don't know when to quit, do you?"
Titania's whole body was covered in an aura of pink energy. "I'll admit you got me pretty good, but now this fights over," she said.
Astro chuckled. "Now that's something I actually agree with." He raised his hand and shot another blast of black flames at her. This time the blast was so massive it ended up covering half of the barrier. The others could feel the heat coming off of it.
"Shit man! Is he seriously trying to kill her?!" Raleigh yelled.
Eventually, Astro stopped firing and watched as the flames began to die down. He then looked surprised when he saw her still standing there, completely fine. "Were you trying to warm me up? Because if so it was honestly a little tame," she said.
Astro pulled out his sword. "Not bad. But I hope you don't think that-" Titania suddenly moved, and in an instant she was right in front of him. "What the-?!" He swung his sword, but she reached up and caught the blade right between her fingers.
She lifted her other hand and then swiped her fingers through the air. Astro kept staring down at her confused. "What did you just-"
In an instant, a burst of wind suddenly came and slashed Astro right across the chest. He was sent sliding back and then dropped down to one knee, hand over the deep cut now on his chest. He wore a look of disbelief as he coughed up a handful of blood.
"She got him!" Vera said amazed.
"I can't believe it!" Amber said shocked.
Astro glared at her with a furious expression. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" he roared, struggling to stay upright.
Titania just smiled as he fell down to the ground. "It's true, you might be the Invincible big brother..." She stood over him and smirked as he started. "...but you were facing someone whose Almighty."
Alexander dropped the barrier as the others moved in. Amber and Vera went to go check on Astro, who looked out cold. Cayenne walked over towards Titania with a wide smile on her face. "Shit kid! You totally turned that around! He's never gonna live this one down!" she said. "I gotta admit, I didn't think you had it in you!"
Titania crossed her arms. "There was never any doubt I was going to win. After all, I'm me," she said haughtily.
"Fuck what Damian wants, I'm reassigning you to our department!" Cayenne said before giving the girl a pat on the back. The moment she made contact, Titania's eyes rolled back and she fell face first onto the ground, unconscious. "Oh shit..."