Chapter 6
The Final Clash
After all that he needed a rest, using the blood didn't normally take a big chunk out of his energy but after that last attack he needed to rest. With his clothes all dusted off and his blacked out foe over his shoulder he proceeded towards the side of the frozen prison where Naomi and the others were standing. Just from holding Danni he could feel his knees buckling under the weight, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to use it after all.
Once he was at the wall all he could do was knock on the glass as they looked at him from the other side. The weight of his body was beginning to overwhelm him as his legs started to lose their strength but he had to get out of there. Even if he stayed to help Gino he would have been as useful as a rag doll. His eyes were a bit glazed over as Naomi looked over his weak body.
"I think he's trying to communicate with us." she said as she leaned in more.
"Yeah he wants out. Now come on you can't keep him trapped in there like that can you? Just look at him, he's in no condition to fight."
"I don't know... the rules were until a team won so if I let him out..."
Though the feeling of Minami's anger as it washed over her was also something else. Oh well the fun couldn't last forever so with a snap of her fingers a small doorway opened up just in time for him to collapse in. His muscles were quivering and he felt pretty damn weak but it still wasn't as bad as his fight with Issac.
"Are you alright? Do you need a drink or anything?" asked Minami as she pulled him in and turned him over on his back.
"Nah I'm fine, though my right arm feels pretty bad. Guess I kind of messed up huh?" he asked as he gave her a nervous chuckle.
"Sheesh, remember what Master said? Your body is still getting use to the blood, any extreme exerted force could damage your body. Don't you remember?"
"No...no I don't." he responded truthfully before she rolled her eyes.
Hard headed as usual but he still won and that's what mattered although his arm did hurt like crap. It may had been good being a hybrid but it had its downsides. Until he became a full vampire it was his responsibility to hold back on using its power.
"Excuse me but are you alright?" he heard as he dusted his hair out.
"Huh, oh yeah I'm fine. Just kind of a whacked out arm you see?" he replied to the woman as he showed her out it just dangled on the side of his body.
"Hm, would you mind if I have a go at it?" she asked as she knelt down beside him only to pull the uniform sleep up.
"Hey what are you doing...?" he asked as he saw her pull out some kind of wand.
No words were spoken as she gently tapped the crease where his arm bent as the tip of the heart began to glow a light green color. At first it felt kind of weird, like little needles poking at his skin, but after a few seconds it subsided as the glow faded away.
"What was that?" asked Naomi.
"Typical healing spell. It can cure anything from a simple cold to broken bones. Pretty neat huh?" she asked.
Moving around his arm it actually felt better, like it hadn't even gotten injured in the first place.
"Oh wow yeah that's really cool!" he exclaimed as he threw his arm forward for a punch.
As he worked his arm though he saw his poor opponent laying right beside him as he rested up. He couldn't tell if his body had been damaged in the impact but it was best to help him out as well. After all he did pose a pretty nice challenge.
"Sorry for begging like this but could you heal him up as well? I may have kind of roughed him up a bit."
"A bit?" asked Minami as she raised a brow.
"Heh heh sure just stand back for a bit."
Once she began taking care of their little trickster everything seemed alright but in reality they weren't. Looking over at Gino he saw that he was having quite a bit of trouble taking care of his partner. No matter how many times he tried to grab her she always slipped through his fingers and vanished into the darkness below and it was starting to piss him off. If he wanted to win then it was probably best to use his true form, but what if Malon got scared?
"Too slow!" yelled Suki as she jumped from the ground and kicked him in the face.
A little kick wasn't going to stop him though as he jumped up. His target was in sight and he was ready to end it. With his claws out he attempted to use them on the girl but instead she jumped right back in the ground just before she began springing up all over the place. To his left, right, and even below him she was pretty fast and worse he couldn't catch her.
"What's wrong handsome can't catch little old me? That's a shame we could have a lot of fun together just you and I."
Suddenly from out of nowhere five new holes surrounded him as he prepared for what was to come, but what came from them he didn't expect. Suddenly four new Suki's jumped from the ground and began to strike him in an all out fury of attacks. With his arms held up he tried to block the oncoming attacks but that didn't stop him from taking a lot of damage.
"Ugh how can I fall so low as to lose to her? I use to be better than this. If only I could...wait, what's that?"
Looking over across from himself he saw what looked like a beam of sunlight being magnified through the frozen roof above his head. It took a moment before he cooked up his own plan.
"I've got to go...now!" he thought loudly just as the barrage of attacks began to lift.
With an opening to run he took the chance began hauling all kinds of ass towards that one ray of hope. If he could reach it and power up then there was a chance he could win.
"Heh well aren't you cute." he heard from behind him just before his legs were grabbed.
As strong as he was he just couldn't stop her from picking him up and throwing him into the wall. With his vision blurred and his body in pain he tried to stand back up, no matter how much pain he would have to endure he would win, on principle. To never give up and never give in, that's what he believed in!
"Guh, she's stronger than I thought, and fast. What can I do to get past her? No matter where I go she followed through those damn shadows." he groaned as he gripped his aching shoulder.
"Awe, you know I just couldn't finish off someone with such manners. Down on your knees in front of your queen just like a dog."
"What, did you just call me?"
"A dog, a servant to your master." she replied with a grin.
"That's what I thought..."
Even if she had managed to beat him down he was far from finished. Fighting with his friends had not only boosted his confidence but also his strength, screw the sun he didn't need to to beat her! Once he was up on both legs he spun around as quickly as he could as his large green tail shot out of his pants and tripped her up.
"You're mine!" he growled as he pounced on top of her.
Whether she was male or female she was his enemy and just as his parents had taught him he could never show weakness in battle. Using his mighty fists he began punching away at her face as she tried to stop him. Time after time again he left large red marks on the side of his face before he raised both fists to finish her off.
"Fool."
Crap he had just given her an opening. Using only her legs she wrapped them around him before throwing him right off. Dazed he attempted to look around as the dust cloud began to settle down.
"Oh little lizard man so alone and so afraid. You're just in a fools game. You never, never learn and never never change. The dog consumed by rage and power, forever cursed and forever doomed to lose by my hand to his last breath. Shall I light the way to your death?"
"Where is she?!" he thought to himself as he looked all around.
As he looked his new friend Malon thought she saw something very strange happening with his shadow. Then it hit her, she wasn't hiding in her own shadows anymore she was taking refuge within his. As she pulled out her wand she wasn't sure if she should help though. He looked so determined to defeat her on his own, but if failed then he would be serious trouble.
"Oh please help me..." she groaned.
From behind him he felt a cold spike run down his spine as he felt something cold running up against his back. No, she couldn't have. How did she get behind him without using her own shadow.
"You should know that us Shadow Runners tend to leave our prey a bit...messy." she hissed as she raised her ax up above her head.
Victory was within her grasp as she raised her weapon up to deal the final blow. Something was wrong though, when she tried to bring it down it refused. Looking up she discovered what was keeping her away from victory though, a large white transparent hand had grabbed the blade of the ax.
"What is this?" she hissed as she tried to pull it back.
Her eyes searched until they locked into the young witch who had both hands on her wand as she tried to pull the weapon from her hands. She couldn't hold it for much longer so with one last good pull Malon pulled the weapon from her hands and watched as it disappeared.
"Grrr you little bitch! You have kept me from my victory!" scowled Suki as she raised her hands up.
From all around her shadows began to gather as large spikes began to appear above her head.
"Good luck you little whore!"
Once they were unleashed she whipped her wand around once more as large transparent circles formed in the sky where the spikes were falling. One by one they disappeared as the long, thin needles pierced them. Once the assault was over though she whipped it one more time as the same giant hand reached forward and grabbed her.
"Wide open, good luck escaping!" she exclaimed as the hand wrapped around her.
Without a ground to stand on and no shadows in sight Suki was out of ideas. She couldn't disappear anymore. With a flick of her wrist the hand began slamming her into the ground over and over as a large dust cloud began to form.
"Geez and I thought I was rough." he thought to himself as he watched the hand disappear from sight leaving his opponent face down on the ground.
Seeing how brave and strong she was really set her in a whole new light for him. She may had been a bit scared but she faced her foe head on and took her down without any trouble, like a true warrior. His legs buckles a bit as he walked over to see if she was alright, his shoulder was a bit roughed up but other than that he had felt worse.
"I'm sorry, I know you wanted to finish it yourself but you so injured that I wasn't sure if you would make it." she said as she bowed to him.
What was he going to do to her? Yell at her or give her a nice smack? It was all whizzing around inside her head as he towered over her.
"Sorry? You saved my skin back there." he admitted as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You're, you're not mad?"
"How could I be mad? Seeing you beat her ass up was probably the funniest thing I have seen so far this year. I guess there is a little warrior spirit inside you after all." he said as a smile spread across his face.
Everything seemed peaceful again that was until he felt a stinging pain in his back.
"I told you sweetie you can't beat me."
"Suki...ugh!"
The more he struggled the farther the blade went in as he held Malon under his own body to protect her from any harm. The more she pushed the more pain radiated down his spine until he was all set to go. Using his shoulder blades he clenched the blade and twisted it until it shattered.
"Wha-What, but how can you do that? I hit you dead on!"
"Heh yeah true you did, but there's one thing you forgot to check up on. Look up moron."
He was right, both he and Malon were standing in the ray of sunlight that had managed to pass through the ice. Once he was set he tore off the uniform to reveal his armored back, his scaled had not only hardened to a point where they were reflective but they had also protected his internal spine from damage as well.
"There's something you should know about us lizard men, the sun is our best friend. The more heat we take in the stronger our bodies become." he hissed.
"You're a, lizard man?" asked Malon.
"Yeah..."
They didn't have time to chat though, once he swung around his human form vanished as his scales began to harden all around his body. Using his improved tail he whipped it around at small spikes shit out from under each scale. It was quite predictable though as her body began to fade back into the ground just as the small needles passed over her.
"Dang, come on Gino think! How can I beat her?"
His question was answered however in less than a second as as his trust sidekick pointed her wand at the hole. Holding her stick like a fishing pole she began pulling back on it as an invisible force latched itself onto the psycho before she began pulling her right out.
"Hey wait this isn't fair! Let go of me!" she hisses as her little portal vanished in front of her eyes.
"Heheh it may not have the best range but when close up nothing can escape the gravitational pull." she replied as she held her stance.
He could feel it, the power from the sun had increased his strength. His muscles were tingling as he approached his opponent with a savage grin spread across his face. Victory was just within his grasp.
"Take take this the wrong way cupcake but you've just lost." he said as he balled up his fist.
With a single swing he delivered his most devastating punch. Once he made contact his partner let go of her just as his fist dug right into her stomach. Once more, two times, three times, over and over he punched her stomach until the he summoned all his strength to his right hand.
"Crushing blow!"
It wasn't like his normal punches though, instead all the energy he had gained from the sun was funneled into that one final attack. Her screams of pain was almost like music to his ears, a satisfying conclusion to their fight as he gave his arm one last push before she was sent flying into the ice wall head first.
"A lizard man...?" Yukari said to herself as they all watched him fall to his knees.
Looking at him he almost resembled the same lizard men who attacked her all those years ago, but instead he protected her child from any harm. While she could say it for all the lizard people out in the world he wasn't so bad.
"Yukari, are you ok?" asked Kyra.
"Yeah, just in my own thoughts."
The two just looked at each other and shrugged before their attention turned back to the battlefield. That was it, he was totally spent. With as much energy as he put into that final attack his body could take it anymore.
"I take it you need a nap?" she asked as she knelt down beside him.
"Maybe one...or two. Sorry for not telling you earlier." he replied as he felt her hand touch his wounded back.
"What are you sorry about? So what if you're a lizard man you're pretty awesome, when you're not covered in blood that is." she replied back as she began healing his wound.
"Heh I guess I let my mind get the better of me. You're not too bad yourself."
Things may had gotten off to a rocky start but if she didn't mind that he was a giant reptile then he was happy. After their "little" tussle Gino spent the rest of the day in the infirmary so that his body could recover and as for Ryo, well, he had classes to attend. It didn't take long for them to recover though and by the next morning they were set and ready to start a new day.
"So wait, her mother approved of you two being friends?" asked Ryo as he took a bite of his breakfast biscuit.
"Yep, looks that way."
"That's pretty awesome, now just make sure you don't eat her and things may pick up between you two."
"Hey shut up man I would never eat one of my friends." he said as he shoved him a bit just to play around.
"Yeah well what did Naomi want with us again?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Everything seemed rather quite inside the club room as Gino took the door knob into his hand. Normally they were as loud as could be but it seemed they had decided to lower their voices for once. With a quick turn they opened the door only for their jaws to hit the floor when they saw who was inside.
"About time you two got here. Where have you been?" asked Naomi as she sat on the front desk.
"Wha-no, no, no, no, what in the hell are they doing here?!" asked Ryo as he pointed to the brother and sister duo.
"Oh yeah maybe I should have mentioned this. You see yesterday that fight you each had was actually a little test. These two really wanted to join our club so I told them if they fought them and won they could join."
"B-But they didn't win." replied Gino.
"Yeah but they gave it their best shot and both of you were a mess so I said screw it and let them join anyways."
Oh their anger, it was rising so much as they stood before her.
"Come on guys you could at least smile." said Minami as both she and Malon stepped back.
They smiled alright, a smile of death upon the bitch who almost got them killed! Once he raised his finger Minami knew exactly what was going to happen.
"Alright time to leave." she said as she forced everyone out of the building.
They were lucky for as soon as that door closed the room lit up with lightning as the sound of wood breaking filled the building. The screams of their leader could be heard as she attempted to freeze the two but their anger far surpassed her Popsicle.
"Is it always like this?" asked Danni.
"...Kind of." replied Minami.
And as they watched the fight through the window it was apparent that things were far from different even if it seemed that way.
The End
[Next Time: "Don't you think it's about time for those two lovebirds to get together?"
"I have the perfect thing."
An experiment gone horribly wrong.
"What have you done to her? Why is she hanging all over me?"
"If she lands just one kiss on his lips there will be nothing to stop it from spreading."
Mini Storm #3 The Lust and the Lusty
