Callum and Sanchez looked around, seeing if there were any more opponents to deal with.
An explosion in the distance. Someone flew overhead.
"Ahh. This place is too confusing to get around. I should've just started blowing it up from the start. Wait, is anyone left?."
They landed, looking down.
"So there's still two here, I guess. That's good. I would've died of boredom if I had to go looking for the rest of you."
Avery pointed towards Callum.
"Don't make me waste all the effort it took to get here by dying too easily, okay?"
They began to cause explosions with their aura. The ruins began to collapse, forcing Callum and Sanchez to flee.
More explosions followed. The pair kept running, before Sanchez found some cover. Callum followed.
"Is there even a way to get up close?" Callum thought as he hid "We probably can't escape. If we run further in, the castle's gonna crumble down on top of all of us. We've gotta finish things quickly."
He looked out, seeing Avery destroy more of the ruins in a search for their targets.
"Yeah, right. Like I'm going out there now."
He sat back down.
"Hmm. How do I even keep up with this?"
"Now that I think about it, I guess that's my question in general. They've already all gone ahead. I can't keep up with them."
"One's gotten all these followers and is plotting something I don't really wanna imagine. Another one's going after him right now, probably willing to risk everything to stop him. And the last one's already gone. Leaving just me here."
"Maybe it's been this way for a while, but I've only just now realised. We can't ever return to those days of it just being the four of us. They've already vanished without a word."
Sanchez slapped him on the back of the head with his tail, knocking him out of it.
"Hey, am I not even allowed to be all reflective or whatever? We're in a bunch of ruins and all, it's the perfect place for it."
Sanchez shook his head.
"...Ya weren't supposed to actually answer."
Sanchez motioned towards the outside. Explosions could still be heard, getting closer by the second.
"Ah, yeah, good point. We're gonna have to face them eventually. Any plans? Cause after all that, I've still got nothing."
Sanchez barked for a few seconds.
"Hmm. Maybe. But what'll we do if they find us?"
Sanchez barked again.
"...No, 'We'll die', isn't a good back up plan. We've just gotta split up then, right?"
More barks.
"Yeah, I know. So unless there's anything we haven't thought up, let's get to it."
They ran out of cover, hiding once more. Avery continued to fly around, not having spotted them.
They advanced as quickly as they could while remaining silent.
Avery's head snapped around.
"There you are!"
Another part of the ruins was destroyed, but nobody ran out.
"...Still nothing, huh? Maybe they ran away. Agh, I can't be bothered with this. I'll just go find the others."
Callum thought.
"I can't just let them get away. Even if yer power's something that stupidly broken, I won't let ya get in the way of the others!"
Callum looked to Sanchez for a second, who seemed to understand. Then Callum began to run.
Avery heard him, turning around.
"So you were hiding!"
Callum attempted to close in, getting blocked off by a wall of destruction. Avery kept talking as they attacked, forcing Callum to evade.
"You know you can't win, right? I mean, that's why you started hiding, right? I'm not telling you to give up or anything, I just don't want you getting any ideas. So keep struggling for as long as I feel like it… Wait, wasn't there more of you?"
Avery turned around, but was too late to avoid getting their shoulder chomped on by Sanchez.
They calmly stood there for a single moment, not sure how this even happened, before screaming out in pain and irritation.
"That hurts! What the hell!? Fucking raptor! Lemme return the favour!"
They released small explosion after explosion from their hands, trying to get Sanchez off.
"Just fall down already! What's with your jaws?"
Callum ran towards Avery.
"Oh no, I am not dealing with you as well!"
They blasted themselves into the air, before going back to focusing on Sanchez. His grip was getting weaker by the second.
It finally loosened. The battered bird wyvern fell towards the ground. Callum didn't have enough time to catch him.
"I won't let this chance ya gave me… go to waste!"
Avery turned their sights to him. More of the ruins were destroyed as they stayed in the air.
Callum drew his weapons, then raised his prosthetic arm.
Avery's left shoulder was injured from the bite, and had been damaged even more by their own attacks earlier. All he needed to land was one more attack. That would be more than enough.
A grappling hook shot out of the arm, grabbing onto the rubble above him. Callum pulled himself upwards.
"What the hell's with that?"
Callum aimed again, straight at Avery.
They dodged out of the way before it hit them. It connected with a rock, pulling Callum past.
In that second, both silently set their own conditions for victory. Callum would win if he could hit them. Avery would win if they could destroy the line before that. The showdown began.
Callum shot out a hook once more, going past them. Avery set off an explosion where it was going, but before it reached it, the wire was pulled back.
More rubble flew into the air. Callum grabbed onto that.
Avery attempted to blast him again. Callum dropped out of the air, dodging the attack, before swinging up. His attack missed as well. Callum grabbed onto something else, preventing himself from falling to the ground.
They awkwardly danced through the air for what felt like hours, each side just a single move away from defeat.
In desperation, Callum shot a line straight behind Avery.
It was too easy to destroy. Callum flew slightly upwards as a result of it, now closing in.
"So that was his plan? But even if you sacrifice it for this one attack, it's not gonna work! I've still got enough power to repel both of your attacks!"
Callum began to yell something.
"Yer way too over the top! I can't relate at all! Unlike you, staying out of focus is my thing! But I can't let someone like ya ruin everything! So right here, right now, I'm taking yer flashy ass down!"
"Huh? What the hell are you even talking about, idiot!?"
Callum thrust his left arm forwards, attempting to reach. Avery raised their right arm in response.
An explosion in mid-air. The blade was destroyed, followed by the prosthetic arm falling to pieces. Not even acknowledging it, Callum swung again with his right.
"Idiot. It's over."
Avery attempted to raise their left arm to repeat what just happened.
But, they couldn't.
"Wh-why, won't it-!? THAT RAPTOR!"
With a roar, Callum plunged the blade into his opponent, letting out a valiant "Gghhhh!"
Avery attempted to counterattack, but no longer had the strength or time.
The pair plummeted into the ground, crashing through the rubble.
Callum didn't know how long it took him to wake up again. He rolled over. A figure appeared above him.
"Sanchez…"
A bark.
"I won, it's fine. And it was only cause of the injury ya inflicted, so y'know it's a power of teamwork type deal, I guess."
Some more barks.
"Yeah, I've got real bad luck with arms, huh? At least it was one I already lost this time... though I won't be dual blading for a little while. On that note, can ya help out? Standing's kinda hard right now."
Sanchez lent down, helping Callum pick himself back up. That pair continued into the ruins, barely standing.
The solitary existence waited for any challengers in the middle of the castle, atop some stairs.
The ghost waited in an open room, prepared to ambush anyone who passed through.
The replacement continued on with intent to find his purpose.
The controller enthusiastically advanced, knowing what he wanted.
The caged soul wandered around aimlessly, trying to avoid the one person she didn't want to meet.
The leader continued to wait in the farthest place.
All of those warriors saw ghosts of the past swarm around them, driving them to fight.
TO BE CONTINUED