Glad you all are enjoying my story, still!
Many thanks to my reviewers. =)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2016
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Chapter 64: Fight, Train
The seconds passed as neither of us left their spot, warily gazing at each other. Well, I was giving him a wary gaze, and Ranma had a fake-bored look going; an attempt to rile me up, perhaps?
An angry opponent is one that makes mistakes, after all. Just look at Mundus; I had egged him on, forced him to shoot his strongest lightning strike at me. Or… who was it again? During the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army, someone had challenged me to a fight, and I had basically wiped the floor with him.
Ernie? No, no, his last name was Smith. First name started with a "z".
Hmm, oh! That's right.
Zachariah Smith.
Felt like ages since that day.
Anyway, this was pretty much the same, except Ranma was trying to do it to me.
So I figured I'd counter his taunt with my own.
I turned my head.
"Hey, Nabiki!" I shouted out to the brown haired girl. She looked surprised I knew her name, but approached when I beckoned her forward.
"Yes?" The woman asked in a guarded tone, eyes narrowed. "Are you backing out? And, it's Nabiki-san, to you."
I grinned. "Oh, no." And then I reached into my mokeskin pouch, pulling out a thousand dollars. Her eyes went wide at the amount of money. "I'm betting that I'll win."
My lips quirked slightly. "Nabiki-san."
The gesture had no real value, whatsoever, seeing as there was no profit in it— it was a bunch of teenaged schoolchildren betting on a fight. The most they had was lunch money.
Its true purpose however— I almost laughed maniacally when I saw it— was the grimace of distaste that flashed over Ranma's face when I did it. It was a gesture of disrespect towards him. I was so sure I was going to win I was betting a lot of money on it. Well, a lot of money, in his eyes anyway. A thousand was pocket change for me.
Nabiki eyed the stack of ten hundreds hungrily, and snatched it with surprising speed.
Greedy, that one.
I shook my head in faint amusement as she walked away.
He was giving me a more serious gaze now, though he still didn't attack.
Maybe there was more to it than a childish taunt.
Lightning collected at the tip of my index as I pointed it at his form.
He tensed, and readied himself.
I shot the bolt and forced it to go slow (around fifty kilometers an hour or so, still quite fast but easily dodge-able), watching very closely as it approached Ranma.
The boy had waited until the last moment before sidestepping it casually, and jumping into action, heading to me with a grin.
I met his right hook with my forearm, and launched a right hook of my own to his face. He parried my strike, spinning me to my left slightly as he responded with a knee right to my abdomen.
I followed his movement closely, smashing my right, armored elbow into his kneecap, adding a little oomph to my strike with some Lightning.
I heard him hiss slightly, and almost smirked in satisfaction, if he didn't smash me in the back with a diagonal, two handed volleyball strike that laid me out on the floor.
I quickly got back up, to see him slightly rubbing at his knee. Luckily most of his strike had hit my right shoulder, which was covered by Balthazar's scales. The part that wasn't armored, however… Well, the twinges of pain were a familiar thing, there.
Similar to that night in the lab, actually.
Not a pleasant thought.
He rushed me again, and it took considerable effort on my part to keep up with his new pace. I managed to block his first salvo, a series of swift punches and kicks meant to whittle my guard down, before sending a devastating roundhouse which almost laid me out again.
Instead, I rolled with the kick's momentum, pivoting on my right foot and leaping over his follow up kick, twisting my body to send an elbow at his face. He caught the attack with his hand— I could feel him channeling energy— his life force— into it, canceling out the damage my Lightning would have caused.
He went for my ribs.
I answered by sending a bolt of Lightning at his fist.
He gave this yelp as the energy struck him, singing the hair on his hand as he leaped back.
I landed a little ungracefully, keeping an eye on the guy as we regained our bearings.
"So you're not all talk." Ranma said with a grin, as he shook off whatever discomfort my Lightning had given his fist. "Are we done with the warm-up?"
I smiled back, excited despite myself, my Lightning practically writhing its way out of my body as it began to supercharge my nerves, increasing my speeds beyond that of regular human beings.
If anything, the change in my power seemed to excite my enemy even further.
He rushed me first, this time, many times faster than before, launching a devastating assault upon me. He almost completely abandoned any form of defensive measures in an attempt to trip me up.
Punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes came at me at a furious pace, but I was ready for them, my reflexes strengthened by the Lightning coursing through my nerves— so much that I could easily predict where Ranma's attacks were going.
I parried a punch, before jumping back, avoiding a swift kick to my midsection, before moving forward and blasting him in the face with a punch— or I would have, had he not ducked underneath the strike in an unexpected show of speed.
And then he practically grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!" Blows upon blows rained on me with a vicious, relentless fervor, taking me completely by surprise.
I counted at least thirty punches that had gone past my guard and struck at everything they could find. The rest, slamming into my forearms, elbows, shoulders… I lost count at a hundred.
Another second of that, and I channeled my power outwards. The Lightning answered my call with a bright, blue flash, zapping the martial artist and stunning him long enough for me to frantically snap a kick in his midsection.
His arms moved to block, but the momentum carrying him backwards was so strong he had to roll, lest he trip and fall on his face or something.
We stared at each other as we assessed our injuries.
I could feel the bruises on my sides forming. That hurt, a lot!
I had to take this a little more seriously.
I steeled myself, once more, plucked my wand from my pants pocket and held it at my side. Ranma gave it a puzzled glance, before moving to me once more.
Cologne wanted the guy to experience the mystical arts?
Far be it from me to begrudge her that.
Ranma was almost on me, but I was ready for him, silently casting one of Dumbledore's favorite spells.
The ground beneath his feet turned soft and mushy as he stepped hard onto it, getting his foot stuck and falling right on his face with a loud, painful smack. I was on him in a split second, but he simply flashed both of his palms at me, looking up with a pained grimace.
"Mõko Takabisha!" From his hands, came out a pure blue beam of destructive power, impacting my form and sending me flying back. I flipped and rolled, feeling my left shoulder protest heavily against the motion.
§Mõko Takabisha.§ Balthazar repeated the name of Ranma's attack. §Pride of the Fierce Tiger.§
Interesting name. I rushed the boy again, confident I could tear through that attack easily.
His foot was almost out, but he used the attack again. "Mõko Takabisha!"
As expected, the blue beam of energy shot forth right at me, and I met the power with my own, a furiously spinning drill of Lightning striking dead center in Ranma's attack.
"Edge!"
There was a shrill, grinding noise, and with a heave, I shredded through the attack, stopping my hand right next to Ranma's neck, dangerously close to his jugular vein.
He was frozen, staring at nothing in particular, uncomprehending of what just happened.
I stayed that way for a few more seconds, standing aggressively above the other boy, before shaking my head and backing off.
He was still frozen.
"Kare wa… Akiramemashita ka?" One of the students said in Japanese, the others staring at the both of us in complete disbelief. Had Ranma never lost a fight, before?
I clenched my fist, ending the flow of Lightning with a loud shockwave, which rattled the pigtail haired boy enough to focus his sight on me. I could see the beginnings of a fierce anger, a cold determination building within him.
That's what Cologne wanted to engender within him, huh?
The drive to get better.
"I'd say you lost." I said, and moved towards the girl, Nabiki, who was giving me a very wary, calculating look. I heard a cry of "Ranma!" and one of "Ranchan!" as I got in front of the brown haired girl, giving her an expectant look.
She made a grimace, and made to hand me all the winnings.
I leaned forward and whispered. "Just give me my thousand back. You can have the rest."
"Is that so…" She said, sounding a little confused. "What a strange thing, refusing money."
"Heh." I gave her an amused look. "A thousand is nothing to me. It's not like I need anything from these school kids."
Not to mention the fact that I could buy some cheap rubies and sapphires, give them to Erebus and have him turn them into priceless ones.
"Nothing, huh." She said, her look switching to something I couldn't quite read.
I could tell she wanted to say something, though she maintained her mask of indifference.
"So you made a bet for a different reason?" Nabiki wondered. "Hm, to rile Ranma up? To teach him a lesson."
"I—" I said, surprised she picked up on it, giving the guy in question a glance— seemed that Shampoo, Ukyo, and Akane were poking and prodding at his unmoving form. "Yes, exactly. Someone requested that I fight him."
I could feel my bruises begin to heal as my earring kept drawing energy from our surroundings; filling my reserves back up and accelerating the healing process several times. I figured it would keep hurting for another hour or so, until I was fully healed.
If the need truly arose, I could grab that Zat, and heal myself with it.
"Someone?" Nabiki questioned. "I'm going to guess it was Cologne— ah, it was!" She said at my nod of confirmation. "I figured that much, since Shampoo was the one to deliver this message."
I smiled.
Speaking of Cologne, my job here was done.
"You're right. Now, if you'll excuse me… It was nice meeting you, by the way, Nabiki-san." I said and walked away from her, over to where Shampoo was.
I didn't spare Ranma a single glance, instead greeting Ukyo with a short wave, and talking to Shampoo directly. "I've held up my end of the bargain. Could you take me back to Cologne?"
Shampoo stopped her doting over the unresponsive man, instead standing to look at me. There seemed to be a bit of worry in her gaze, as well as anger.
I couldn't care less.
"Of course." She said, a little stiffly, before moving to lead the way.
I followed.
"Wait…"
I stopped, irritation lacing my movement as I turned.
"What is it?"
"You and me." He pulled his foot out of the soft ground, before facing me again. "Rematch."
"Much as I'd like to fight you again." I said with a fake amused tone. "I have more important things to do. Maybe some other time."
He latched onto it, giving me a determined, solemn look. "Some other time. Okay. Will hold you to that."
Bleh. I couldn't stay mad at this guy when he was being this serious about it.
I smiled.
"Be sure to train hard!" I said, before giving Ukyo a wave and following Shampoo out of the school, up to the rooftops of Nerima, where I simply forgot about everything for a while, and followed Shampoo around, leaping from building to building like it was Assassin's Creed.
§Well done.§ Balthazar said to me, cutting through my haze of fun. §He definitely looked like he had more in him, though.§
I gave a rueful grin.
§You're probably right.§ I admitted with a hiss. §If there was no pressure to get this item, I would have let him use all of his skills, see what sort of powers he had, what his limits were. But getting my dad back is more important than this.§
§Never said it wasn't!§ Balthazar said, peeved at me for implying anything about him. §That old frog was right, you're pretty uptight, these days.§
A reply came to my lips as I opened my mouth, and just it with an audible snap, instead roof hopping in silence.
I sighed.
Balthazar was right, of course.
After seeing my dad's memories in that Pensieve, and then setting out to get him back from the Leanansidhe, I had made the mistake of going to her before I was ready.
It was supposed to be quick, and simple. Erebus, Sirius and I would summon her forth to our Realm of Darkness and showcase my power, before basically hashing something out with her. I researched the fae extensively, and even listened to Erebus' stories of dealing with Mab, in the past.
But this faerie was different than Mab. She was certainly not as strong, of course, but what she lacked in strength she made up for in absolute deviousness. Instead of answering to our call, a simple letter was sent with a midget of a faerie— one of the Little Folk.
The contents of it were as followed:
"Come to the border between the Realm of Darkness and Winter, there you will find your father and I."
There was no signature, but there was something else that angered me beyond anything; a small spattering of blood. It didn't take a genius to see who that blood belonged to.
Of course, forcing the stupid little faerie to tell me where this bitch was, and actually confronting her afterwards was not exactly the best plan, either.
I shook my head as we reached the Cat Café, landing steadily in front of the entry-way, where Cologne was waiting. The restaurant was already closed, by the looks of things.
I opened my mouth.
"No need to say anything, young one." The elder amazon said, holding up a hand to stall my words. "I witnessed the fight. I have only seen one other person fight in this way, but that was ages ago."
"Really?" I asked. "Did you know his name?"
"I'm afraid not." She denied, before hopping along on her gnarled staff, reaching out to touch my hair with her small hands. "That wild, black hair, though, and this writhing power I sense within you… There's no mistake, you are his descendant."
An interesting tale, but otherwise inconsequential in what was currently happening.
I shrugged and gave her an expectant look.
She nodded in understanding.
"Indeed." She said. "You have shown yourself capable, and have surpassed my expectations."
"You didn't expect me to win?" I frowned at that. "You believe in him that much, huh?"
"Ranma is a very talented martial artist." She noted, poking at one of my sore spots. I flinched away, a grimace on my face. "I have fought wizards before; they are not capable of sustaining such damage. From my dealings with them, they don't even consider the possibility of Muggles being stronger than them."
"Granted." I admitted. "A normal wizard would have probably lost in the first exchange, actually. He's a very fast opponent, but my powers negate that speed… Except for that one attack. That was ridiculously fast."
"Ah… The Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken." Cologne said with a nod.
§Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire Fist.§ Balthazar supplied, and I nodded in some comprehension.
"I guess you practice by taking roasting chestnuts from a fire?" I inferred from the name.
Cologne blinked, but confirmed it with a nod.
"You are correct." Cologne said. "I suppose, since you have exceeded my expectations, I will explain to you how this technique works, as well as reveal the location of the horde of Demons that pilfered my village."
She walked inside of the restaurant, and I followed her in, through the main area, down a flight of stairs, which led to a very dark basement. I heard a light switch being flipped, and the room was bathed in white light, showing off a nondescript, empty basement.
She motioned for me to sit down. I saw no chairs around, so I pulled out my wand, and conjured up a chair. It wasn't anything amazing— I knew McGonagall would likely give me an "A" for that, but she wasn't here, was she?
I tried the seat, it could take my weight.
"The Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken…" Cologne said as she set up a small campfire, making sure to open all of the windows and turn on the ventilation at full blast. "For over three thousand years, even the last emperor of China feared this technique."
I listened to her, with rapt attention. She fiddled around a nearby cabinet.
"Where did I put the lighter, hmm…" She said.
My lips quirked in amusement, and I shook my head. "I can light it up, for you." I said, pulling my wand out again.
"Oh, all right." She nodded and began to search something else, keeping me in her sight the whole time, as well. Hm, was she wary of me? Or was it simple curiosity over magic spells?
"Incendio." I incanted and pointed my wand at the kindling. Flames rose at once, crackling as though the wood has been burning for hours.
"Convenient." She said, and moved to the fire as I pocketed my wand.
"Yeah, wizards are all about convenience, I'll tell you that." I smiled and looked at what she had retrieved. It was pink paper bag, with a picture of chestnuts on the front. I couldn't decipher what was written on it, as it was in either Chinese, or Japanese, but I could assume that it said chestnuts, or something like that.
Balthazar didn't even need to translate it for me.
He did, anyway, of course.
Stupid little bugger.
Cologne emptied the bag over the fire, dumping the lot of the chestnuts in there.
I leaned forward as she approached the fire.
"Watch carefully." Cologne said, narrowing her eyes at the burning fire before her.
I quickly channeled Lightning to my nerves, and simply watched.
Just like before, with Ranma, her hands shot in and out of the flames with incredible speed, grabbing the chestnuts and placing them on her sides.
She looked at me once she was done.
"As you can tell." She began, motioning towards the chestnuts lying at her side. "This isn't an actual technique, but an exercise specifically meant to increase your hand speed to such an extent that the flames simply can't touch you."
"I saw." I said in wonder. "I didn't feel any added energy from you, either."
"Indeed." Cologne confirmed. "This is hand speed achieved only through intense training without the aid of your battle aura. Ranma himself learned this technique."
And I had experienced the fruits of that technique, first hand.
"No energy, huh." I said, before hissing to my right arm. §Balthazar, you think you can take control of my power while I try this out?§
§Sure.§ My faithful viper-hand told me, and I felt the effects take hold almost instantly. §I have also inhibited my own arm's natural resistance to the flames.§
It's a strange feeling, really. I really couldn't explain to you what it feels like to lose access of something that's been part of you for a long time, now. It was like losing an arm, really. I went through the motions only to realize nothing was there.
I felt sluggish, slowed down.
"How strange." Cologne commented, grabbing my attention. "You are speaking the language of the snakes? I detect none in our vicinity."
I guessed she knew a Parseltongue. At her advanced age, I supposed it wasn't impossible. She'd fought against a Potter, before, so why not this, as well?
"Ah…" I scratched the back of my head, and pulled off my bandages, showing her my black scaled arm. "My snake and I… Well, we're of one body, but still two minds."
"I see." She said, staring at the frightening looking appendage with some curiosity. "How?"
A simple question, yet so much baggage came with it.
"It's a long story, really." I waved it off, shaking off the stray thought of "I wonder if they impregnated a woman with the seed they took from me, already."
A waste of thoughts, really.
I was better off working on this exercise.
I jabbed my hands forward a few times, getting used to the natural speed of my body. It was quite fast, by normal standards, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be enough for this particular exercise.
Cologne looked bemused.
"What? I'm just testing myself out before jumping in with no reservations." I pulled out the Zat from my mokeskin pouch, knowing that I would need all the energy I could muster for the several healing processes I would most likely endure.
"For healing purposes afterwards." I informed the woman, placing the Zat to my side.
She nodded, but said nothing, merely throwing the chestnuts into the flames.
I took a breath, and narrowed my eyes at the flames, picking out all the chestnuts with some difficulty, noting their exact location. Then I plunged my hands in the flames, grabbing at the chestnuts and pulling them out as fast as I could.
I got as far as the third grab before the fire licked at my skin, the familiar painful flare of a burn erupting on both my hands. I winced, pulling my hand back, blowing on it for a few seconds, before plunging my hands in the flames once more.
"Shit!" I cursed and pulled my hand back out.
"Not as simple as it seems." Cologne commented, pulling out a few more bags of chestnuts and placing them to the side of the room, before leaving the basement. "Feel free to train for as long as you like."
I nodded, fully entranced by this task.
"Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken." I whispered, before plunging my hands into the flames once more. This time, I got five of the chestnuts before the flames got me.
I pulled out my hands, waited for myself to adjust to the pain, before going at it again.
Ten minutes later, I had to stop, the burns too strong to handle, at this point.
"B-Balthazar." I said, and the viper directed the Lightning energy to heal my burns, as I pulled out a disc filled with a cool, orange paste, which I generously slathered on my hands. With the burning paste, and my Lightning increasing my metabolism, the burns healed within a fraction of the time it would have usually taken.
In those twenty minutes, I busied myself with putting more kindling in the fire, and chatting with Balthazar.
§This exercise.§ Balthazar hissed for a moment, giving me the mental equivalent of a nod. §Is it really worth the effort?§
§Yes.§ I confirmed without hesitation. §Without Erebus, we need an edge. We won't be able to fight powerful Demons without Erebus.§
§Why not?§ Balthazar questioned. §We beat Erebus, didn't we?§
§Well, yes.§ I confirmed, clenching my fists, confident that they had been sufficiently healed. §But, we're going to be fighting multiple zombies, solo. Do you really think we could have beaten Agni and Rudra without the help of Erebus, at the top of Temen Ni Gru?§
§No.§ Balthazar said after a moment, as I wiped the salve off of my hand with paper towel from my many packed supplies in the mokeskin pouch. §I understand.§
I stared at the fire.
It stared back, crackling away.
"Again!"
Burned.
"Again!"
Burned.
"Again!"
Burned,
"Again!"
Burned.
"Fuck, this hurts! Again!"
And so the hours passed.
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Don't forget to R&R
P.S: I have an exam in two days so I'm going to be busy with that. This chapter is something I wrote while studying :P