Chapter 2 – Dr Sergei

The roar of a bike in the distance resounded over the Dragon School campus, drawing all eyes towards the five figures at the gate.

"Who'd you think that is?" Hatake turned.

"Probably someone Day managed to charm," said Pypski, not looking at all.

"Oh, so his charm works that way too?" HidekiHinata piped in. "Guess we better watch out then, Hatake!" He punched Hatake amicably on the shoulder.

"What-?" Pypski turned. Her eyes glimpsed over the Nurse's healing pad, upon which DayBunny still laid in a futile attempt to recover his ability to procreate, and found the hoverbike at the Dragon School campus gate.

"Who's that?" she echoed Hatake.

The two Headmasters then moved away from the gate.

"I'll go ask," Hideki volunteered himself, running past Tamani, who was discussing the recent gym battle between Lucien and Viewtifulboi with StrangerD3RK.

"Oh, him? He'll be a new instructor when the new semester starts. His name is Dr Frank Sergei," the Dragon Headmaster replied. "As soon as the gym repairs are over, we can resume lessons. It shouldn't be too long now, what with everybody helping."

"His resume had a lot of detail," the Owl Headmaster added. "I'm sure he'll be a good teacher. He's been through a lot of experience both on and off the battlefield. If I recall right, he used to work for some science corporation some years back. Probably a decade ago now."

"Someone who's got such a highly detailed resume has to have a lot of experience," the Dragon Headmaster said confidently. "Even if it doesmean that he's getting on a bit in years."

"He doesn't look that old," Hideki noted, peering at Dr Sergei.

"You're right," the Owl Headmaster gave a slight chuckle. "I can't think how he can have such a detailed resume at his age, but I guess there are people like that out there too."

"Yeah... I suppose," Hideki agreed, but still felt slightly uneasy, nevertheless, he rejoined Hatake and Pypski.

"Just a bit more to the left... bit more... little bit more... there, that's good!"

The wooden beam landed with a thud on top of the scaffolding in the gym. Yuumei and Cristina both sighed in relief as they lowered it into position.

"Great job, we're nearly done," encouraged Domennico. Cristina retrieved a cookie from her pocket and started to eat it, but lost her balance and shrieked as she fell from the scaffolding. Dom quickly raised his staff and summoned a pink shield around her, which shattered upon landing, but leaving Cristina herself unharmed.

"T-thank you," Cristina murmured, before returning back to her cookie.

Yuumei peered over the edge of the scaffolding. "Is she ok?"

"Yeah, no problems," came the reply.

"Ooh, that looks like fun, I wanna try too!" Rhainbow shouted, and promptly jumped off the scaffolding. She didn't utter the incantation in time, however, and landed on the floor in a heap. Dom facepalmed and quickly healed her energy shield back to maximum.

"O-oops..." said Rhainbow sheepishly, while Dom facepalmed again.

"You're lucky we're nearly done," came Gemini's voice as he carried more materials over, his claws leaning against a corner of the scaffolding. "By the time the new semester starts tomorrow all we need to do is safety checks... H-hey, leave that alone!"

Rhainbow had started playing with Gemini's claws, and startled by his voice, nearly cut her finger against the blade. She quickly put it down and resorted to trying to get Cristina to 'share' her cookie.

The door to the gym suddenly opened, and Dr Sergei came in, along with Magics, Kari and Sahara. The three then promptly began giving him a tour of the area.

"So this is the gym, eh... hmm, not bad... and is this where you come to show your abilities?" Dr Sergei asked.

"Yeah. There's also the Arena, and Marble Battle if we want to test our teamwork too," replied Sahara.

"That's interesting. Can I perhaps see a quick demonstration?"

The students looked at each other nervously. "I'm not sure if we're the best candidates for that," Sahara said eventually.

"You want to see Viewtifulboi vs Lushen, the two of them have been duelling forever."

"Really? If it's ok, can I see them?" Dr Sergei enquired.

After a few minutes, Viewtifulboi and Lushen appeared. Lushen had his claws ready, and Viewtifulboi began to load bullets into his gun.

"For the 745th time... Viewtifulboi vs Lushen!" came the announcement.

"J-just be careful you don't knock into the scaffolding..." Dom whimpered, getting out of their way, while Cristina hurried into a safe spot in the gathering crowd near the entrances. This momentary lapse of attention caused Rhainbow to catch up and take a bite out of her cookie and she gave a small cry of terror, before shoving the rest of the cookie into her own mouth.

A distant bell chimed throughout the gym, marking the start of the match between Viewtifulboi and Lushen. Both began at opposite ends of the gym, and Viewtifulboi began to circle the clear zone towards Lushen as soon as the bell rang.

As quick as a flash, Lushen sprinted towards Viewtifulboi, who was ready for him. He held both of his guns together and fired a bullet which left a bright orange beam of light trailing behind it, slowing Lushen back down. Still avoiding close-range combat, Lushen then slashed his claws downwards in an X shape and the shockwave hurled towards Viewtifulboi, who just managed to jump to one side. Viewtifulboi aimed both of his guns from the floor and tried to hit Lushen's weak spot. One of the bullets was expertly dodged by Lushen, but a second one found its way between Lushen's legs. The impact was enough to make Lushen double over in pain, but before Viewtifulboi knew it, Lushen had recovered and leapt towards him again. As he tried to move backwards out of the attack, one of Lushen's claws snagged him and caused him to topple over. Not to be fazed, Viewtifulboi quickly threw light bombs at Lushen, attempting to blind him. A quick look at his energy shield's duration told him he had around 60% left before he was pinned to the ground, and Lushen's was around 75%. Viewtifulboi used this opportunity to quickly regain distance between himself and Lushen, firing two more bullets at weak points in Lushen's armour and effectively slowing him down again. Another quick look at Lushen's shield meter, and it was down to 65%.

Good... if this keeps up I can win, Viewtifulboi thought to himself, but he knew that it was too soon to lower his guard. He had to end the fight quickly, otherwise he would be too tired to use his techniques any more. Besides, he also had Lushen's special attack combo to watch out for...

Lushen had again recovered and this time Viewtifulboi was the one who dashed towards him. He jumped into the air and fired a bullet which impacted the ground with such force that Lushen was thrown away by the aftershock...

Lushen was knocked back into the crowd near to Dr Sergei. In the confusion, Dr Sergei threw himself backwards into the scaffolding of the gym, causing it to collapse. There were hasty healing spells and teleportations from the crowd as the scaffolding brought itself down on the spectators, but Viewtifulboi and Lushen continued in their rivalry, and the gym still remained thankfully intact, and the incident went without much more notice. Dr Sergei swore underneath his breath as he turned his gaze back to the duel.

Lushen had seized his distance advantage, and sent another X-shaped shockwave towards Viewtifulboi, who was unable to dodge it this time. Finding an opening, Lushen quickly honed his dodging reflexes and leapt again towards Viewtifulboi, who, frozen in place, knew that Lushen was about to use his combo on him - and could only attempt to slow down Lushen in what he knew would be game over if Lushen approached this time. Lushen managed to dodge a few bullets with expertise, although was hit nonetheless; and in next to no time, he was next to Viewtifulboi. Adrenaline surged through Lushen's body, emitting a radiant orange aura as he tried to connect his claws with Viewtifulboi's armour, but Viewtifulboi was already unfrozen, and leapt out of the way before further harm could be done. Another quick glimpse at the shield meter showed himself at 40%, and Lushen at 50%.

Having successfully evaded most of the damage, Viewtifulboi's relief was short-lived. Lushen immediately leapt at Viewtifulboi, followed with a quick midair spin attack which recovered some of his shield's energy. However, Viewtifulboi had already thrown another flashbomb at Lushen and slowed him down, preventing more serious damage. Before pulling away this time, however, Viewtifulboi leapt into the air and fired barrage after barrage of bullets into the ground, preventing Lushen from using any of his techniques. He quickly stood back and took a few free shots at Lushen, recovering some of his stamina in the process. Lushen's energy meter was now down to 30%, and Viewtifulboi himself was at 35%.

Lushen came to his senses once again and relentlessly dived at Viewtifulboi claws first, who wasted no time in trying to slow him down - but the shot came too late. Lushen weaved between Viewtifulboi's two shots and tore his claws into Viewtifulboi's armour, causing his energy to gradually leak out. The next thing he knew, Lushen had raised his foot and brought it down on Viewtifulboi's chest, forcing him backwards and onto the floor. Seizing this chance, he aimed, this time deliberately, at the one spot he knew Lushen would have trouble recovering from if he was hit - and fired. Lushen was also brought to the floor in agony, but then both quickly jumped up and Lushen threw himself at Viewtifulboi again. Another glimpse at their energy levels as Viewtifulboi's energy reserves stopped leaking showed Viewtifulboi at 20%, and Lushen at 15%.

It was now a matter of time. Lushen now began to fight defensively, attempting to recharge his shield whenever he can. Viewtifulboi did all he could to slow and blind Lushen, while trying his best to avoid any further attacks. Something in Lushen's mind clicked, and he quickly sprinted away from Viewtifulboi. Suddenly taken aback, Viewtifulboi shot a few bullets after him, trying to slow him down, but they were all dodged as Lushen ran out of his range. Frustrated, Viewtifulboi gave chase.

Lushen had been hoping for this. He quickly fired another X-shaped energy wave at Viewtifulboi, again freezing him in place. This time Viewtifulboi was ready for him. As Lushen jumped in for the kill, Viewtifulboi threw another flashbomb into his face. As he felt himself unfreezing, he quickly leapt into the air and fired another barrage of bullets onto Lushen. Viewtifulboi chanced another look at their energy meters - he himself was at 5% while Lushen's was at 7%. He quickly fired a few more quick shots at Lushen, negating Lushen's previous recovery strategy, before pinning one of his guns straight to where the shielding device was embedded into his armour, and prepared to pull the trigger.

Lushen was caught this time. His energy was so low that it would not survive another head-on attack. Running was out of the option - he would be incapacitated before he knew it...

He knew that Viewtifulboi would not miss this final shot - even he knows that it was impossible to miss at point-blank, or near-point-blank range, for that matter. There was no time for fancy combos... no time to sprint, and impossible to evade. Adrenaline was also out of the question. With all of his defensive techniques temporarily disabled, There was only one solution...

Lushen pulled back his claws and dived ferociously at the spot in Viewtifulboi's armour behind which was his shielding device, and managed to lacerate it. At the same time, Viewtifulboi pulled the trigger and lodged a bullet into that of his opponent's...

Lushen's shielding device dissolved Viewtifulboi's bullet, but nonetheless fired an electrical surge through its wearer, pinning Lushen to the floor. At the same moment, the remnants of Viewtifulboi's energy remaining in his own shielding device leaked away, flooring the dual gunner as well.

"The 745th match ends in a draw!" the announcement cried, as bells finally tolled the dramatic duel to a close.

"That was absolutely amazing!" Dr Sergei approached the pair as the gym erupted in cheers again. "I can see that the students here have talent!"

Dom was staring at the scaffolding in disbelief, and sighed to himself. At least there were no further consequences...

Dr Sergei snarled underneath his breath as he laid in his new office. He had been short sighted this time... but he swore to himself... never again shall he be this careless... it wasn't like him to undergo such a lapse of judgement... this shall be his one and only failure...