Setting: Looking Glass Labyrinth
Several minutes before the end of chapter 20
"ARGH!" Dahlia swung her mace at Azura who ducked out of the swing.
She quickly cloaked her left leg in a thin layer of ice dust then struck Dahlia on her left side with an icy, frozen kick. Silver came from behind with Fenrir as escrima sticks and began to pummel the short-tempered Underland with swift multiple blows immediately after Azura's strong kick.
Silver aimed for Dahlia's shoulders, arms, waist, and knees. He started his symphony on her body, repeatedly striking those areas as fast as he could. Dahlia wasn't fast enough to properly parry Silver's blows. She was just as Bluebell thought she was, a brawler with no fighting technique whatsoever. She allowed her overwhelming strength take the reins in her battles, but it wasn't working against the pair before her. However, if she lands blow against either of them, it would be a devastating impact.
Getting more agitated every time Silver struck her arms and legs, Dahlia stubbornly kept her grip on her mace and let out a mad scream. She ignored the pain and lifted her mace over her head. Silver saw she was about to let out another of those big attacks and knew he couldn't take it head on or effectively get away in such an enclosed space.
"Get behind me!" Azura shouted to Silver, recognizing the large-scale attack that was about to come.
With her wrist tattoos shimmering with ice dust, she pressed her hands on the ground in front of her to spread the ice from her hands to the ground in front of her to create a wall of ice. She made it as thick as she could on such short notice, but knew Dahlia was still going to blow them back. The short-tempered Underland smash her mace against the floor and it released another powerful shockwave that shattered all the glass and windows surrounding her. The ice wall made to shield Azura and Silver broke apart against such power though it served its purpose to protect them front the brunt of Dahlia's shockwave though they were still knocked a good distance away.
The walls that were surrounding Dahlia and some further away were broken to fragments, changing this enclosed area of the Labyrinth into an open field area. She stood in the center of the new battleground triumphantly though a bit winded from the earlier assault she had to withstand. Her aura was below half, but she had enough energy to keep fighting.
The area around the three of them was transformed into an open field thanks to Dahlia destroying all the surrounding mirrors and looking glass. This was more favorable to Silver and Azura now that there weren't any corners or places for Dahlia to hide, but the same could be said for them about having no place to properly hide. Another to take into consideration was the fact that the energy field above the labyrinth keeping them from leaving as well as preventing Silver from using his semblance to its full potential. He couldn't attack from above like he usually does. The battle was in the favor of Silver and Azura, but only by a small margin.
Dahlia stood in the center of the open area with Silver and Azura standing further away. She looked at them with a confident sneer then raised her mace over her shoulder.
"Damn, she's annoying," Azura thought irritated.
"We can't get anywhere if we don't take her down. I'll let Azura distract her then I'll attack from behind," Silver thought.
Both of their personal thoughts were being heard by Dahlia thanks to her semblance. Any thoughts or feelings pertaining to her could be felt and read by her and it was proving to be an advantage for the short-tempered Underland. Silver's battle plan was already uncovered the second he thought of it and Dahlia gritted her teeth when Azura thought she was annoying.
"Just one hit. Just one, solid hit and they'll go down and I can finally prove I'm just as good- no, that I'm better than Aster. I'm better than her!" Dahlia thought to herself, wanting to prove to herself and everyone that she was worthy of praise and respect like her sister.
Charging them head-on, Dahlia let out a battle cry and had a determined look in her eyes. Azura cloaked her wrist in flames and Silver brought his escrima sticks up to brace himself for the fight.
"AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!"
"RRRRWWWWWAAAAAARRRRRRR!"
Someone else shouted just like Dahlia and it caught everyone off guard. It came from behind Silver and Azura. Before the gunman could turn to see the person screaming, he saw someone run past him and straight toward Dahlia. He recognized the person screaming was Zelts, but immediately knew something was off about his friend.
Azura watched as Zelts ran straight for Dahlia and the two were about to clash. After the time she spent with him during this journey, she had a good idea of what kind of person he was and how he fights. This behavior and choice of action did not fit Zelts and Azura was aware of it.
Zelts and Dahlia were about to collide. The Underland swung her mace and Zelts ignored her attack, choosing to reel his fist back and punch her hard in the gut. He was charged physically thanks to absorbing all the remaining dust in his clothing with Conversion, giving him the extra strength to crush his enemies.
The force of the punch was strong enough to knock the wind out of her and send her flying back into a glass wall, dropping her mace somewhere along her path before colliding with the wall. She crashed through it, another wall behind it, then crashed into a mirror. Her aura broke with a bright red light glowing around her body and Dahlia was beginning to lose consciousness. Her last thoughts before everything went black was whether she was as good as Aster.
The short-tempered Underland laid against a cracked mirror wall, defeated.
Silver and Azura looked at Zelts with questioning eyes. Though he was able to end Dahlia's wrath soundly, the method he used warned them something was amiss. Even now, the air surrounding Zelts was filled with ire.
"Um… Zelts, are you ok-" Silver aske as he cautiously approached his friend but received a swing from Zelts. "Woah!"
Silver was quick enough to jump out of the way of Zelts's arm and landed a few feet away from him. "What is your problem?!"
"Grrr…"
Grunts and groans were Silver's only response as Zelts glared at the Gunslinger. Silver noticed that his friend's eyes were orange instead of brown. That was his clue that something was definitely wrong, but he didn't know how to respond. Should he fight Zelts or find an alternative solution?
His question was answered with Zelts running straight for him and ready to do battle.
The boost he received from Conversion was still there, so Zelts was much faster than his normal speed. Silver brought up his escrima sticks to defend himself though he wasn't able to do much else thanks to the Berserk Knight covering the distance between them rather quickly.
Zelts threw his fist down at Silver, but the gunman stepped away from the punch that slammed down into the ground. He didn't let up as he brought his wingblade from his other arm down to cut Silver in two, but the attempt ended in failure thanks to Silver stepping out of the way. Conversion helped Zelts move faster and react better as he changed his missed slash with his weapon to a swinging arm. He swung at Silver before he had a chance to get out of the way and landed a solid hit on Silver, elbowing him in the gut and knocking him onto his backside.
Azura ran in to help Silver but was too late to stop Zelts's next action. He grabbed Silver by his jacket while he was still on the ground from the previous attack then tossed him far away. She didn't know what was wrong with Zelts or why he was attacking them, but she was ready to help by knocking some sense into him. She moved toward the Berserk Knight to both fight him and draw his attention away from Silver.
Being airborne never bothered Silver thanks to Gravity giving full control of his center of gravity. He activated his semblance after Zelts threw him and slowed his movement in the air. He positioned his body so he would land on his feet then made himself heavier so he could reach the ground. Silver slid on the ground for a brief moment then noticed he landed next to Dahlia's mace.
Heart of Gold clashed with Azura's elemental staff with a downward strike. Azura brought her staff up to block Zelts's attack, but she still felt the tremendous force behind his weapon. She already knew she was at a disadvantage in this fight.
Her past experiences as one of Grayson's Ravagers meant she battled with the members of Team VRSZ on a number of jobs. Her bouts with Zelts hardly ever ended with her victory because of the critical weakness she had going up against him. Zelts's semblance allowed him to absorb the dust tattoos on her wrist and ankles, making himself stronger and Azura weaker. It became an understood rule for her to avoid facing Zelts, but this rule couldn't be avoided at the moment.
Azura knew her dust could be absorbed, but also learned they were some forms of dust he couldn't absorb. The female Cobalt activated the ice dust in her wrist and covered her fists and wrists in a thick layer of ice. Zelts could absorb lightning created by dust and dust fire or flames produced by unnatural means, but not substances like ice or earth made by dust or anything else.
She punched Zelts in the left arm with her frozen fist dealing more damage than a regular punch. Zelts tried to strike her with a horizontal swing of his wingblade, but Azura leaped above the blade and began to cloak her right ankle and foot with ice. She did a flip while still in the air in order to get in position then delivered a strong axe kick to Zelts's left shoulder. She was originally aiming for his head, thinking the impact would shake him out of this enraged state, but Zelts was already moving to attack her with his wingblade in his right hand.
Azura brought her left arm down as Zelts wingblade came in contact with her. The large blade smashed into Azura's frozen arm which acted as a shield and a burst of wind was released from the weapon, breaking apart the ice on Azura's left arm and propelling her away from her position. She tumbled on the ground before quickly getting back up on her feet.
She gritted her teeth, angry that her last attack didn't hit its intended target, but that emotion faded when she heard the sound of gunfire. She looked up to see Silver smack Zelts in the face with Dahlia's mace.
Zelts was taken aback by this strong attack that came out of nowhere. Silver wielded the mace with both hands while using Gravity to lighten its weight. His surprise attack started with firing Gravity Bullet at Zelts to make his body heavier before running up and smacking the mace in his face. This blunt attack forced Zelts to take a few steps back to recover from the force, but his body was a little slow to respond thanks to Gravity Bullet affecting his own center of gravity. Azura took advantage of his sluggish staggering and ran up behind him. She sucker-punched Zelts in his left cheek with an ice punch. Silver hit Zelts again when he came his way and knocked him to the ground.
Silver and Azura rushed over to Zelts in an attempt to contain him, but Zelts rose to his feet rather quickly. Their attacks were strong though Zelts's aura has always been strong, so he could withstand their assault without his aura being completely depleted. However, that didn't mean his aura wasn't taking a beating and it was. His aura levels were pretty low but the Berserk Knight had no regard for his aura. He had no regard for his aura, defending against attacks, or anything rational. He only wanted to destroy anyone in his way.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Berserk Knight rose to his feet and yelled in a fit of rage. Marigold's Madness wasn't worn of yet, but Silver's Gravity Bullet did. Zelts's body was back to normal and planned to use his full mobility.
"Dammit!" Silver shouted in frustration as he ran toward his friend.
Azura was faster than Silver so she took the lead while he fired another of his Gravity Bullets at Zelts to weigh him down. His shot was deflected by the wingblade as Zelts began to spin around, rotating faster and faster as the wind created by his weapon surrounded him. The gale was getting more violent and was causing the labyrinth to shake. The remaining glass walls and mirrors were shaking while some were beginning to crack. The wind being concentrated around Zelts was swirling violently but was rather contained.
Silver's bullets weren't able to bypass such a condensed current of wind and Azura continued her pursuit of Zelts. The Berserk Knight continued with his action and released the condensed wind, creating a golden tornado that released a powerful gale of wind before rising to the energy barrier that halted its progress. The electric current produced by the tornado, thanks to Zelts channeling the energy from Conversion into his weapon, was clashing with the energy barrier in an attempt to overpower it.
The force of the unrestricted wind reached Azura and Silver. The female Cobalt reacted quickly and leaped over it, using fire dust beneath her feet to launch herself higher in the air. Silver did the same by lightening his body with his semblance, but his near weightless body was still pushed away by the wind. He landed on the floor near the labyrinth's sole exit. The Gunslinger got up, getting ready to see what the situation was like until he noticed someone else in the labyrinth, or exiting it to be more exact.
Silver caught a glimpse of Marigold Underland leaving the labyrinth with a look of satisfaction. The gunman looked completely shocked seeing the random homeless person walk through this part of the mansion.
"No way," Silver said to himself in disbelief.
He knew Marigold wasn't just some homeless bum after he got them into the main district of the kingdom, but the fact that he was here meant he was an Underland, a member of Violet's family. Seeing Marigold now with his triumphant look, Silver's confusion slowly shifted to anger. The fact the twins attacked them the moment they arrived, he guessed they had to have known they were coming and seeing Marigold here was the proof.
"That son of a-"
At this time, Zelts and his golden, electrified tornado overpowered the energy barrier over the remains of the Looking Glass Labyrinth, overloading and destroying the energy field as the tornado rose high toward the ceiling of the underground level where the three fighters fell from. Azura was too close to the Berserk Knight's windstorm and was swept up by the violent gale burning up all the energy Conversion stored. The tornado's force pushed against the ceiling which were the two large metal doors covering the pitfall and burst right through them. The doors were blasted off and sent flying upward in the air.
Zelts flew up in the tornado and Azura was swept up by it while Silver watched the whole thing. It wasn't possible for him to follow them that high up. His aura levels weren't high enough to keep Gravity active long enough to scale up the wall.
Instead, Silver decided to leave the labyrinth through the sole exit of the underground level. It was also the same way Marigold left and Silver planned to confront him then shoot and shoot him again just because.
Setting: Monitor Room
Bluebell witnessed all the events that transpired in the Looking Glass Labyrinth on the screens in front of him. He observed the success of Marigold's scheme to have their enemies fight each other and the results were successful. The defeat of Dahlia was unfortunate but Marigold planned to use her as a distraction and sacrifice for his greater goal.
The hookah-huffing young man also noticed that Remus entered the foyer of their home and is running through the halls.
"This might get out of hand," He thought while scratching his chin.
Bluebell decided the best way to mitigate any damage to the mansion was to stall VRSZ's advance. He figured now was the right time to enter the battle. He knew he couldn't fight but he could definitely stall for time.
"Aster's somewhere in the manor just in case any of them make it through, so that fast one will be dealt with shortly, but this guy…"
The Underland man rose from his seat and began leaving the monitor room. Bluebell decided to deal with the stray Silver-Tongued Gunslinger that was about to roam through his home by himself.
"I can't fight like the others, but that doesn't mean I'm useless. Killing doesn't always involve a battle to the death. There are other methods and there's one method that I know best,"
Setting: Underland Manor
Outside the manor, the doors of the pitfall trap busted open by a powerful force of wind. Lily turned around to see what caused it only to be hit by a strong gust of cold wind. She walked past the front doors, or where the front doors used to be, and saw a peculiar sight, a very scary one in her eyes.
The large doors covering the pitfall trap were blown off and high in the air before they began to fall down into the snow. Emerging from the pitfall itself was a gale of golden wind. Laying on the ground, on all fours, in front of the pitfall trap was Zelts, looking exhausted. Lily couldn't make out his face but her concentration was cut short by noticing someone falling and landing in front of her. That person was Azura who was groaning in pain.
Lily leaned down to the Sky-Blue Warrior and asked, "What happened?"
Azura took a few deep breaths before pointing to Zelts and saying, "He happened."
Lily looked at Zelts, the person she loved more than anything, and saw his enraged face along with the orange eyes that didn't belong there. The Berserk Knight glared them down with intense eyes and Lily responded with resolve. This was not the person she knew and loved, at least not right now.
Zelts aimed his sole wingblade at the two girls before running for them. Tigress grabbed her Flying Eagle and braced herself, ready for her second battle to commence.
Tigress only wished this battle would snap her love out of whatever was making him fight his allies.
"Azura, what happened to Zelts?" Tigress asked a second time.
After several groans and rising to her feet, Azura answered, "I don't know. He just went berserk and started attacking me and Silver."
Tigress looked at Zelts's face as he charged straight toward them. His orange eyes told her he was under some kind of spell. She guessed that all she needed to do was tire him out or knock some sense into him and out of everyone in their party, she was probably the only one who could possibly take the Berserk Knight in a head-to head fight.
"Remus ran inside by himself. Follow him and make sure he's okay, please. I can stop Zelts on my own," Tigress said she got in her fighting stance with Flying Eagle.
Azura was impressed with Tigress's bold claim but also a little insulted. She said she could take Zelts on her own when the battle was difficult for her and Silver, Azura was aware of the relationship between the two and figured Tigress had much better strategies when it came to facing him. Not to mention that she and Silver did do a number on Zelts, so he was greatly weakened.
Zelts was closer than before and Tigress responded by planting one of her partisan's sections into the ground facing Zelts. She separated the spearhead and dashed toward him. When they were about to collide, Zelts swung his wingblade at her but Tigress fell to her knees and slid on the snow, dodging the large blade and the burst of wind . Before passing him, she swung her staff at this feet with one hand, tripping him and making him tumble into the snow, then pressed the button on her spearhead in her other hand. The section shot out one of its small cannon fire blast and hit Zelts as he finished tumbling, knocking him away past Tigress and rolling through the snow. The impact of the cannon blast made Zelts lose grip of his Heart of Gold before being sent flying.
After watching how effective Tigress countered Zelts, Azura was confidant to leave him to her.
"She's got this. I gotta find that knuckle-head of a Cobalt and smack him around a little for making us worry," Azura thought before entering the mansion.
Tigress watched her friend leave before turning back to Zelts who was lying in the snow. He landed pretty far away and was laying on his backside. His aura level was currently at its lowest thanks to Silver and Azura and one good hit seemed to be enough to break it. The Knight grumbled as he opened his eyes which were fading in and out of the orange color of Marigold's Madness. The effect was disappearing, but he was still under the influence however little. Zelts was injured greatly and was incredibly fatigued. The only thing keeping him going was the last remaining bits of Madness in his body.
The Berserk Knight began to slowly walk up to Tigress who stood there with a serious glare. She noticed the shifting change from brown to orange in his eyes and how his body seemed to be barely able to walk in a straight line. Tigress concluded that whatever was controlling Zelts was running its course.
There was no need for them to fight each other.
"Zelts… Zelts!" Lily shouted at him.
His movements have slowed down and his face was showing signs of a struggle, like he was fighting his weary body's desire for battle. Lily still had Flying Eagle in her hand though she didn't hold it like she was going to attack him. She patiently waited for the person she loved to come to his senses.
Lily walked to Zelts and he gripped his wingblade. She stood in front of him and he did nothing but look down on her. Lily smiled at him. "Don't worry. It'll be over soon."
"RWAR!" Zelts lifted both his arms over his head to bring them down on Lily.
He slammed his fists down and it kicked up the surrounding snow, but Lily wasn't there. Tigress sidestepped out of the way of his arms, quickly leaped behind Zelts, then smacked him in the back of the head with the pole of her partisan.
Zelts's aura shined, showing it was broken. He fell into the snow and left unconscious thanks to Tigress's strong blow to his head. Marigold's Madness has definitely ended.
Lily sighed then looked at an unconscious Zelts with a smile.
"I told you it'll be over soon."
Lily grabbed Zelts by the arm, hoisted him up till he was leaning on her shoulder, then dragged him into the foyer of the manor. Before sitting with him, Lily walked outside again and grabbed the wingblade that was left in the snow. She placed Heart of Gold next to Zelts then sat down beside him. Lily lifted his head and placed it in her lap. She had every intention to wait for him to wake up and she needed a little rest after her back to back battles.
Neither was done fighting, but a reprieve was needed for the both of them. Lily gently brushed her fingers into Zelts's beard as she looked up at the fractured moon in the sky.
