Chapter I: Friends' Duel
May 23, 528
Satoshi and Shigeru stood silently amidst the rumblings of the crowd. Ever so slightly their hair swayed with the breeze, still as death…
Lightforce and Rift both let out battle cries as their electricity slammed into each other, and grass ripped up from the ground where Satoshi and Shigeru had been standing. Sparks ripped up from their crossed blades, right in the center of where they had been standing apart.
Both of them grinded their teeth as their sword grinded together, their faces just an inch or so from the backs of their blades. Then, in an instant, they jumped away from one another, Satoshi's sword blazing with electricity as he swung it back. He roared as he swung it into the air in front of him, and with each rapid slash he made, an arc of electricity exploded out where the tip of the sword had been.
Thunder Air Slash. Not bad to start up, Satoshi.
Shigeru braced his legs as the first wave cut through the air. Smirking, he dashed forward past the first slash, jumping high as the second came towards him and raised his hand over his head, palm rippling with black energy. "Dark Aura!"
Lightforce zipped in front of Satoshi and let electricity fly from her paws at Shigeru. At the same time, Satoshi spun around and raised his sword as Rift came down on him with an exceptionally powerful Iron Tail.
A wall of air smashed into Satoshi, rumbling past him and behind Rift while ripping grass and dirt from the field. Rebounding, Rift hopped over Satoshi and drove his electrified paws down upon his head.
(!)
Rift's ears stuck straight up, searching for any sign of Satoshi as he passed through his afterimage. Landing on his front paws, he spun with his left and caught the spheres of dark aura Shigeru had launched at Satoshi just the moment before, spinning the other way. Roaring, he thrust his right paw forward to launch the massive black ball at Lightforce.
Shigeru looked behind himself and grunted fiercely as he turned in midair and braced both of his hands against his sword before Satoshi smashed his into it from above…
(THUNDER!)
Lightforce raised her paws towards the clouds in the sky. Members of the crowd gasped in awe as the heavens above instantly darkened, several jagged arcs of electricity criss-crossing into the puffy masses before the one that all of the static was generating into split wide open and dropped a massive column of lightning onto where Rift stood...
Again, the King sat upon his throne at the balcony, his helmet tilting upwards as he watched the lightning crash down upon the battlefield. Amidst the wild cheering of the crowd, the armor turned his gaze towards the knight with her orange hair trailing out of the back of her helmet. "Kasumi, you are from the same village as Satoshi, correct?"
She watched him and Lightforce practically leapfrogging over each other, acrobatically unleashing powerful strikes at Shigeru and Rift with each flip of the paw or hand, and with each spin or slide. Lightforce managed to crash her tail into Rift's chest, but at the same time he had shot an Elecball at point-blank distance. Just as Satoshi slid to catch her, Shigeru did the same with Rift and stretched his sword out towards Satoshi.
"Kasumi?"
Kasumi flinched as the King's voice called her once more. She turned and bowed before straightening up. "Yes, though I would hardly call it a village, by liege."
"Ah, that's right. You both live right here in Kyoumei Hikari."
"Rift, let's go!" Shigeru yelled as he ran his left hand along the flat side of his blade, pointing it towards Satoshi and disappearing from where he stood.
Satoshi turned around and swung his blade into Shigeru's just as Lightforce blocked Rift's Iron tail with her own. Gravel and grass flew up with the shockwave, crushing together in between the two prospective Knights and the 'Chus.
Rift spun again and smirked as Lightforce flipped back to avoid, waving his hand. He jumped forward and froze in the air…
(Here it comes!) He yelled as Shigeru spun out of deflected strike and dashed forward to crash his balde into Satoshi's again, nodding to Rift as he jumped back and slid into a crouched position with one knee to the ground, the other holding his blade towards Satoshi and Lightforce. At the same time, Rift grabbed Shigeru's hand, black energy flowing into the blade along with Shigeru's.
"Well performed. Shigeru and Rift are pretty quick." The tall, dark-skinned Knight observed as the sword Shigeru held flashed from gray to black. Smiling, Shigeru lifted the sword into the air and roared, summoning a wave of dark energy that exploded from his body and covered him in a dark aura.
"Lightforce!" Satoshi yelled as she jumped onto his shoulder, gritting her teeth as the black waves hit them. Satoshi held his blade in front of him, attempting to black the searing, ground-shaking waves as Lightforce closed her eyes. As she opened them, they glowed a blinding white.
Like Shigeru, Satoshi pointed his own sword towards the sky, exploding into a bright electrical aura. The crowd practically held their breaths as the area outside the field began to shake as well.
"They're definitely putting out a lot energy." Said the Kasumi, feeling the armor covering her shoulder rattle a little, "They never failed to amaze, though."
"Storm Blade!" "Shadow Rave!"
The King lowered the eagle beaklike visor slightly, tilting his head forward as multiple flashes cut across the battle field, a black and a whitish-yellow streak colliding over and over again. "Amazing indeed."
The ground beneath Satoshi ripped with the force of his speed. Over and over again, he collided with Shigeru, eyes bright white as his rival's glowed a deep purple…
…
"Hey Satoshi! So you got your partner?"
"Yeah…woah, you got a Pichu too? How is that going to help what you're going to try to master?"
"Heh. I'm going to make it work, Satoshi. He and I, we're going to both master the dark element. Sure, it's not his type, but we've all got a bit of darkness in us, and a journey like this should get it out of us both!"
"…Now that I think about it, that sounds pretty interesting."
"Of course it is! After all, once we learn how to use that we'll be tearing though anyone we face. That includes YOU, Satoshi!"
"Oh, I'm not losing to you!"
"Say all you want, but from this point on, we're always going to be at least one step ahead of you, Satoshi."
"Hmph. We'll see about that, Shigeru!"
…
Both Pikachu held on tightly as Satoshi and Shigeru slammed into each other once more, creating an electrical, blackish explosion that further bared the battlefield. The swords stayed jammed against each other as they struggled, grinding the steel together with such force and power that the ground cracked beneath them. Dark energy burst from Shigeru and Rift, while Whitish-Electrical currents radiated out from Satoshi and Lightforce.
"Just…like…I…said!" Shigeru yelled, the muscles in his body screaming, "I'll make sure…that I'm always…one step ahead of you!"
"Not…this time!" Satoshi roared back, growling as he poured more electricity into his vibrating sword.
"!" The green-haired Knight squinted his eyes, noticing strikes of static crawling along the invisible field that had been erected around the combatants. "Their power is incredible, for trainees anyway."
"I'd say their power is incredible, period." The dark skinned Knight said.
The sound of scraping metal and the roar of electricity ravaged their ears. The pricks of pain running along their bodies from the other's energy didn't help much either, feeling similar to if someone had pressed hundreds of sewing needles into their bodies…
BOOM!
"Augh!" They all cried out as the energies reached a volatile point and imploded around them in a blackish-yellow sphere before snapping the sound barrier with a massive explosion that rapidly ran across the battlefield and slammed into the translucent energy field that bordered them. Up in the balcony, the Knight with the pink neckerchief groaned as she strained herself to keep the barrier up. The green-eyed Knight turned towards her with concerned eyes, the other two following in suit. "Can you hold it?"
"Just…barely!" She yelled over the roars of the earth-rending fireball that completely filled the barrier. Below them in the crowd, spectators of all ages held their breaths as the invisible wall expanded for just a few more moments.
Suddenly, the wall contracted as the energy dimmed out into nothing, leaving behind as massive clouds of smoke that billowed out from the top of the barrier. The air was absolutely silent, save for the small crackling of the fires that were visible within the dome. Up in the balcony, Kasumi focused on any sign of movement she could see on the battlefield, searching for Satoshi and his partner.
(Nngh…Satoshi…are you okay?)
"Fuck…yeah, I'm fine…look out, he might make a move before we do…"
The smoke thinned out, allowing the people to see the carnage that had been done to the arena. Earth in the battlefield had been churned over and pitted like a giant had taken a jackhammer to it. In the balcony, every Knight shifted to peer in through the barrier to look for the foru combatants…
"There." The King spoke, pointing a metallic finger towards where Satoshi was pushing himself onto his feet and picking his sword up from the ground. The fabric outer covering of his vest was splotched with black where the blue had been charred, and rips cut across most of his clothing, from the tattered edges of his pants to the thick turtleneck collar of his vest. Lightforce stood close by him and nodded as he looked down at her and then across the battlefield.
"And there is Shigeru." The King continued, waving his arm towards the other side as Shigeru planted the tip of his sword into the dust and grunted as he lifted himself up with Rift still gripping tightly onto his shoulder.
The tip of his blade scratched the earth as it was lifted up. Shigeru breathed steadily but heavily, akin with Satoshi. Likewise, Rift let out small squeaks with his own breaths, just like Lightforce.
The crowd began to cheer even more ecstatically than before, awed and amazed at the spectacle happening before their eyes. A small gasp exited Satoshi's mouth as he looked up towards them, turning his head to catch the views of everyone who was up on their feet, cheering on both himself and Shigeru, along with their companions. The telltale signs of a blush appeared on his face as he spotted all of the Grand Knights, from the dark skinned tall man to the woman with the pink neckerchief clapping for them. Over the sounds of the crowd, he could even hear the sound of Kasumi's voice cheering him on from the balcony, accompanied by the sight of her cupping her hands around her mouth to try to get him to hear her clearly. On the opposite side of the arena, he could see Shigeru and Rift also marveling at the response they were getting.
Air caught in Satoshi's mouth, seeing the magnificently-armored King looking down at them and clapping for them both as well.
"Satoshi! Lightforce!"
Satoshi turned his head to see Shigeru and Rift looking directly at himself and Lightforce, both giving a smile despite their efforts to bring the air back into their lungs. Shigeru reached up to his face and wiped it with his gloved hand, taking off a layer of dust that had deposited itself upon his visage.
"…Satoshi…" Shigeru said, lifting up his arms to his sides, "…I knew you wouldn't disappoint me! You and Lightforce are a pretty hard team to beat!"
Satoshi smiled back and shrugged. "Same goes for you and Rift, Shigeru! Just don't fall behind later on!"
Below him, Lightforce had her eyes half-closed, smiling as Rift's red eyes caught the hazel of hers. (Rift!)
(Lightforce…you've always had a knack for giving me a hard time, even when we were Pichu!) He yelled back beyond the cheering crowd, (And…I really thank you for that!)
He walked forward through the dust that still floated low to the ground, static charging across his cheeks. (Without that, I wouldn't have gotten the drive to beat you here!) Across from him, Lightforce narrowed her eyes and began to walk towards Rift as well. (Beat me? Rift, you must still be dizzy from the last collision. Just because you're my friend doesn't mean I won't leave you beaten!)
He gritted his teeth under his smile, getting on all fours across from her. (Is that so?)
She got on all fours as well, her lightning bolt tail stiff. (Would you care to try to prove me wrong?)
"…Shigeru…how about we let these two go at it for a little while?" Satoshi called to his friend, "I want to see how fast she can beat Rift!"
"Satoshi, you're going to be disappointed when she gets beaten to a pulp, then!" Shigeru responded as the two 'Chus began to walk in a circle at the center of the battlefield.
…
"Hmph. This will certainly be interesting, my liege."
The King turned his head to see a bald, blue-armored Knight walk through the passageway with his wide Greatsword hanging down against his hakama. One muscular arm held his helmet to his waist while the other hand touched the hilt of his blade just slightly. Even though he had known him for a quite a while, the King was still amazed at the height of this man. "Sir Kovnorath, you've decided to join us, I see. Have you seen much of the fight so far?"
"My apologies for my delayed arrival, my King. I simply wanted to retrieve my partner to watch this as well. He was interested and so I have brought him along." He responded with a bow, a warm smile upon his face.
The King turned to face him, royal cape swinging around with him. Immediately, he could see a lean, bipedal Pokémon at Kovnorath's side, with blue 'shorts' and a black ring on the top of them like a belt that narrowed up into a cream-colored, furry abdomen with a spike protruding from its chest. The black bars that ran across and up the center of its jackal-like blue face made it look like some form of bandit. Its blue arms widened into paws at the very end that both had spike protruding from the back of its palms. Two pointy blue ears stuck straight up on its head like a dog's, while six black appendages hung from the sides of its head, three on the left and three on the right. A thick blue tail was diagonal upwards from its back.
"Ah yes, your Lucario…" The King said, his helmet turning down to face the Pokémon. The Lucario closed its eyes and bowed its head, a black paw over its chest, just above its spike. "My King."
"…Marxus, was it?"
…
The crowd continued to cheer them on as they circled at the center of the battlefield. (Hear that, Lightforce? That's for us…are you going to show me what you can do or not? I mean…)
He stopped, sparks rippling from his cheeks as he stood up, his smile turning into a more serious look. (…I want to see what my future mate can do.)
Lightforce smiled at the comment. (True, you've proven yourself to be both confident and honest, Rift, and I really do like that about you. Not only that…but you're strong as well as well-mannered. However, you shouldn't be lying to everyone but yourself: I won't just LET you win.)
(Then…) He said, raising his paw over his head, (…let's see about that!)
Waves of black imploded around his paw for a brief moment before he swung his arm forward and let the concentrated energies rocket towards her.
Diversion…
Lightforce jumped out of the way of the colossal burst of darkness, putting her arms up in front of herself and turning as Rift's paw tore the air in front of her with a Thunderpunch. The force alone made her cringe a little, impressed that his own electricity was numbing her arm like it was disrupting the flow of the electricity that was so plentiful within her. As she stepped back to counter, she realized just how still he stood, in the same position as when his fist had been blocked by her arm…
A shade!
(Thunder Shield!) She yelled and stretched her arms out as a transparent, buzzing yellow dome surrounded her. Only an instant later, she cringed slightly as he burst from out of nowhere in front of her and slammed his paw into the barrier with a cone-like mass of dark energy that drilled slightly before it dissipated and he swung backward from the recoil.
Now!
She quickly swung her arms across her chest and with it reabsorbed the electricity around herself in a much smaller, concentrated form. Throwing her arms out and taking a step forward, she yelled, (Shockwave!)
Rift clenched his teeth, letting out a short groan as he felt the wave smack the front of his body like a whip. With a short stumble, he found her as a yellow blur surging at him, just a few feet to his right.
Shade Strike!
(!) Lightforce went wide eyed as her paw went through his face and out the other side of his head with a wisp of what appeared to be black smoke. The crowd above shouted in awe at the sight as she twisted onto her hind legs and crossed her arms above her as a shadowy figure suddenly materialized above.
(Gotcha!) Rift yelled as his paws, brimming with black electricity, crashed into Lightforce's arms and, with his superior strength, burst through her guard and laid a direct hit on top of her furry yellow head. Forced to the ground with the throbbing pain in her skull, Lightforce rolled back onto the back of her head and kicked up with her kind legs, managing a smirk as she felt her legs make contact with his back.
(Argh!) He cried out, feeling a small pop in his backbone as he was thrown forward with his head upside-down. Recovering his senses, he caught himself on his front paws and flipped onto his hind legs, just as Lightforce did when she rolled backwards over her head and landed on all fours.
Arms crossed, Shigeru continued to watch the battle for a moment before looking up towards Satoshi. He smiled as Satoshi looked up from his own partner and did the same.
She's not bad. She's not bad at all, Satoshi. Rift really has to be on his toes here.
Keep going, Lightforce. Shigeru has trained Rift too well for you to even waste an instant.
Lightforce staunchly ignored the feeling in her head that was slowly melting away, bracing her hind legs behind her as Rift bent back, popping his back after the hit she gave him. Narrowing her eyes, she breathed out and focused.
(Here I come!) She yelled as the ground she stood on left her feet, the inertia making her feel almost weightless. As sudden as she had been standing over there, she was almost breathing down Rift's neck when he reacted and quickly swung an Iron Tail at her. The square blade of his tail just barely nipped the end of her own, though he grunted and slid forward with one paw out towards her, again dimming at the center.
She jumped back from the blackish missiles that hurtled toward her and raised her arms to the sky. (THUNDERSTORM!) As she yelled this, Rift quickly rolled to his feet and prepared to run, FAST.
If that's how you want to play, then fine. I'll return the favor soon enough, Lightforce.
The King looked above the dome to see the clouds suddenly take on a fearsomely dark gray color, the air rumbling with short booms. Beside him, Kovnorath smiled as a trio of thunderbolts struck through the barrier that surrounded the battlefield. "Magnificent, aren't they, my King."
"Agreed."
Satoshi lifted an arm in front of himself, feeling the hair on his arms and legs standing on end from the sheer volume of static electricity charging through the air along with the powerful crooked columns of lightning that ripped up the battlefield even more than it was already. Here and there, where he saw Rift running in erratic fashion, a flash exploded out from the clouds and punched the ground. With every successive strike, he could see Lightforce's lightning drawing closer and closer to its target, slamming into the ground near him and buffeting him with tiny pieces of gravel. Above, he could spy most of the people covering their ears from the tremendous sounds of the lightning, like Raikou itself was on a rampage.
The clouds were giving her an ample amount of electricity to use, though she could tell it was running out. Around her the earth had flattened into a disk with her in the center, blackened and charred. She could see Rift continue to run, sweat sliding down his face as the onslaught of raw electrical power bombarded the ground around him. If she could just get one hit…
The clouds above rumbled much softer now. At most, she could only manage about five strikes at him before she had to stop, lest she begin using her own electrical supplies. If she wanted to get at least one hit…she had to let what was left crash down.
(HAAA!) She yelled as she raised her eyes to the air, calling upon all the electricity the storm could muster for her. Looking back down at Rift, his eyes showing at least a very subtle amount of fear, she roared again as she threw her paws down at him, like she was tossing something very heavy at him.
Rift looked up to the sky and nearly froze in his tracks; was Zapdos helping her from the side? The blast that came down at him, streaking towards him…it was enormous, glowing with nearly godlike power. He ran, and ran, but even with this, he found that the torrent of electricity was still seeking him…
"Rift!" Shigeru yelled, his mouth agape as waves of air hit him from the shockwave. It was as if that final, massive strike had actually exploded within his ears. Above them the barrier fluctuated slightly once more, like when he and Satoshi had collided. The crowd overall just looked awestruck, many of them shielding their eyes from the explosion.
"Mmph…Amazing…" The King said softly, his head tilted once more to shield his unseen eyes from the light. He could feel the concrete under him shake, and in the distance eh could see many in the arena who were watching fall over.
Eventually the smoke that once again covered them began to clear, and Satoshi looked towards where his Pikachu, still sparkling with leftover static, stood. She turned her head towards him, regaining her air from the effort that controlling so much electricity. She whispered to him, just barely audible over the murmurs of the crowd, but he could still understand what she was saying: (Did I do well?)
"Yes. That was incredible." He mouthed back with a smile, turning his sight to where the Pikachu now lay on the ground, electricity swarming his body like ants on their prey. His breaths appeared to come short, his eyes closed tightly by what Satoshi assumed was unbearable pain. He shuddered a little at the thought, so very thankful that the field that was around them protected them from any true harm.
"Well, Shigeru…" Satoshi called out, looking deep into the eyes of his rival. "It's just you now."
No…
No it's not…
Shigeru gazed to his fallen partner, ready to bolt straight to him before he saw Rift twitch, raising up his paw. With a low chatter to himself, Rift brought his other paw underneath himself and rose to his hind legs, taking a few steps back haphazardly as he stared at Lightforce. The look in his eyes unnerved and frightened her; the red in his sclera seemed to flash for a moment. Heavy breaths escaped his maw, both of his arms drooping in front of him.
(…Rift, you're in no condition to fight anymore.) Lightforce said earnestly, a frown forming on her lips while her eyes drooped. (…I don't want to have to hurt you anymore than I have already.)
He breathed heavy still, his face to the ground before he seemed to calm down. Fighting the immense, torturous pain all over, he forced his arms in front of himself, facing her as his eyes rose with the rest of his head. Dark energy suddenly sprang from his paws, focusing within a sphere in-between them.
(Rift!) She called out with a warning tone, lowering onto all fours once more. Rift stared at her for a few more moments before he looked back towards his partner with a questioning look. Understanding the unknown message, Shigeru nodded to him. He turned back towards Ligthforce and sighed.
(You've…had your fun, Lightforce…)
She saw the energy slowly drift out into the air around his paws, like an aura that slowly ran down his arms. The sphere in his paws pulsated, awaiting its controller to will its direction. Rift's ears went straight out to the sides of him. (I believe…it's time to show you…the technique I've learned…SHADOW RUSH!)
He pushed his muscles and leapt into the air a very short distance, slamming his paws together with the sphere between them. As he closed his eyes, the dark sphere suddenly let out wide, flat tendrils that rushed over him at an equal distance from the center of his body until he was completely obscured from sight by what appeared to be a glossy, black sphere.
Lightforce noticed the sphere pulsate near the top. Suddenly, a jet-black replica of Rift spawned from the top of the sphere and rocketed towards her with a trail of dark aura behind it. As soon as that one had reached about halfway between the sphere and her, another one blasted out from the top of the sphere and flew towards her.
The first one flew over her and struck downward with its paws. She rolled to avoid, feeling a slight pulse against her arms form the tiny wave of black energy it produced from hitting the ground. Again, she looked behind as the other shot in, this one sliding on the ground and quickly striking at her with its tail. As she jumped away, another came out from where it had and spun at her with a black version of what appeared to be Rift's Lightning Blade.
She cried out as another copy burst in from behind her and successfully smashed its paw into her side, exploding violently as it made contact with her. Black aura burned against her fur as she was thrown through the air, tumbling in just the right angle to see another two shadowy replicas fly at her from the sphere.
As soon as her paws hit the ground she took off again, narrowly avoiding another downward strike that exploded against the ground from one of them. The other slid to the right of her and brought its arm back before diving at her.
She jumped and let it explode under her, her chest rippling with pain from the smack of dark energy that nearly took away her breath. Just barely able to spy the sphere as she dodged, she saw that this time, FOUR of those shades of Rift came flying at her.
Not nearly as flamboyant as my attack, but far more precise.
These four were right on top of her by the time she recovered from dodging the last strike. To her surprise, one of them suddenly peeled off from directly in front of her and shot to a small distance away. While another struck at her, it too peeled off from her. The final two separated from each other and came at her from opposite sides at lightning speed, apart from each other at a distance where only their shadowy replicas of the Lightning Blade attack would cross over each other.
Lightforce nearly slipped as she leapt to avoid, noticing the other two replicas from before were still there, still as stone. At the same time, the bubble holding Rift burst open. Like out of nowhere, Rift tore the ground with the immense speed at which he came at her, eyes glowing a bright but faint red while both of his front paws held a black Lightning Blade.
He was almost completely drained from enduring her attack before, and he couldn't let this opportunity go to waste. Seizing the short time at which she was vulnerable from dodging the scissor-like slash of his final two replicas, Rift exploded out from his protective sphere of dark energy, infusing it into his Lightning Blades for the mere instant at which she could not dodge. Still in mid-roll, he saw her eyes go wide as he cross his two blades over each other and ripped them outward when she was right in front of him, feeling the resistance her body gave as his blades exploded against her form, throwing her back into the square formed by the last four replicas.
(Augh!)
The sheer force of his attack knocked the wind out of her and made it feel like he really had just cut her in half. In real circumstances it likely would've, and only the field they were in protected her from that. Even as she was thrown back, she was able to see that his last four shades had stayed behind, forming a square that she fell right into…
NO!
(GRAND CROSS!)
It was all he had left before he felt he was going to fall over. With only adrenaline fueling him, he launched into the air amidst the gasps of the crowd and the shouts of the two humans on either side of the battlefield, a jet-black energy blade extending out from his paws over his head while the same occurred with his replicas below him.
With what slim amount of milliseconds she had, Lightforce could only brace herself as Rift's four shades instantaneously zoomed across to the other sides of the square they had formed while leaving a bright, white 'X' where they had all slashed her as Rift came down…
…
(…I guess this is the last time we're going to see each other for a while, Rift.)
(Yeah…it just isn't fair. I almost wish we hadn't been taken out from the forest.)
(Huh? Why? We wouldn't be able to have the chance to have the adventures we're going to have with our new partners!)
(But…it also means what you had said; we're not going to see each other for a while. I've heard that…well, Knight in training don't come back to the place they came from for a very long time. I just can't stand the thought of that! You're my best friend, and…)
(…I know it's hard, Rift…I know. It feels the same for me too. But isn't this why we left in the first place? We wanted to go out and see the world, we wanted to be as strong as we could be, and our parents encouraged us to go! Even if we are apart, we'll never leave each other's minds.)
(I guess you're right about that…Okay then. Before we have to leave, I just want you to promise me something, Lightforce.)
(What?)
(…Don't forget about me. Even through all the trials and the adventures that await us, I want you to keep me as close to your heart as much as I keep you close to mine. Promise?)
(Promise. Just come back whenever we can see one another again, okay?)
(Lightforce, don't worry about that. I'll always be back.)
…
The center of the battlefield lit up brilliantly as diagonal lines of dark energy ripped to the edges of the battlefield, forming a very large 'X' from overhead. Again, loud cheering issued out from the crowds, and in the balcony the dark-skinned Knight smiled. "They really like to cause explosions, don't they?"
"Most of the time, when your attacks are causing explosions, they're just proof that you're powerful, and I'd say all of them are pretty powerful." Kasumi spoke sweetly, crossing her arms. Behind them, Kovnorath kept his eyes downcast towards the center of the blast. "That was all he had left in him."
"And all she had left to endure." The King said, and far below them the two 'Chus were now both face down in the dust, Lightforce weakly reaching forward to try to pull herself to her feet, but to no avail as her paw laid peacefully on the ground. Across from her, Rift twitched as the static from earlier still ran across him in subtle shorts.
"Lightforce!" "Rift!" Satoshi and Shigeru called out respectively, both sprinting over to their companions. Sliding to a stop in the dust, Satoshi lifted his hand over himself, glowing with electricity that spread into a protective dome around them. With his other hand, he gently slid his arm underneath Lightforce and picked her up, hugging her with her back to his chest and her feet on his knee. She made almost no response, save for a weak redirection of her eyes toward his face and a whisper: (Sa…to…shi…I'm…I'm…sorry…)
"You were fearless, and you didn't doubt yourself once as far as I could see…that's what we had said before right? Don't be sorry…you did amazingly, Lightforce."
...Move…move…
…damn it!
"Rift, don't push yourself, you've already done enough as far as I can see." Shigeru spoke reassuringly to his partner, who cringed through the sparks of pain spiking all over his body when he tried to move. "It's okay…Lightforce is down too. You've done well."
(Rrrrg…alright…) Rift said, breathing out and laying his furry chin down in the dust, still watching Lightforce as Satoshi held her in his arm. He felt Shigeru pick him up by his sides and hold him to his chest with one arm, using the other for his sword. "Our turn, Satoshi!"
"Hmm…" the King hummed, a gloved hand going to the tip of his helmet's angular chin piece. "Harmone."
The plating of the green-haired Knight's armor creaked slightly as he turned to face his King, the silvery cloth over his mouth moving along with his jaw. "Yes, your Majesty?"
"Go and tell them to halt their fighting. Their partners need not experience more pain in the heat of a battle between them."
"As you wish, my King."
Drawing his own blade, Satoshi crossed it in front of himself in a defensive stance, standing in front of his downed partner, much like what Shigeru was. Instead, Shigeru had assumed a more offensive stance, with his blade out to his side, its leather handle gripped by both of his hands. Cautiously, Shigeru began to walk forward toward Satoshi, slowly but carefully as Satoshi did the same, still holding his own sword sideways.
"Your move, Shigeru." "Of course."
Shigeru braced his legs, dark aura forming up his razor-sharp sword. The moment he was going to lunge, he saw a shadow cross the ground between them.
"Huh?" Satoshi whispered, stopping as the green-haired Knight shot down from the air and landed with one knee down, standing up and raising his hands out towards both of them. "Stand down, by order of the King."
Lowering his sword somewhat slowly, Shigeru turned his view up to the balcony, where the King had stood up and was looking down upon them, the crowd calming as he raised his palm…
…
…
…
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And there's the second chapter. Sound off your opinions!