The group stood off looking at the man who was standing over the knights that he had defeated. He smirked confidently as he watched their faces stare ready for a fight at him, as he saw Estelle use a Magic Lense on him.
"So, you're Yuri Lowell, huh?" the man said, "You look impressively young for your reputation."
"Sorry, but I don't get flattered over compliments coming from a bastard like you," Yuri said, glared angrily at him, "I take it you're the man who attacked that imperial messenger and who pushed Akihiro today, right?"
"Ahh, a 'cut-right-to-the-chase' kind of guy, huh? That's perfectly fine. Then I'll go by your logic and do the same. That mage there; give her to me," the man said.
Rita flinched a bit, but wasn't afraid as she stated to pull out her Ivy Whip and say, "Nuh-uh. I don't think so; your unintelligent self would drive me insane."
"We won't let you touch one of our own," Yuri threatened as he flung the sheath off his sword to the side and held his sword.
"Oh, I like that attitude. Fighting you will be a lot more interesting now," the man pushed himself off the wall and faced them.
Suddenly, Yuri and Flynn felt themselves separate as Akihiro flung himself at the man and charged. Taking his chakrams tightly, he rushed at the man and gritted his teeth.
"I've had it with the guy! I'm taking you down right now!" he yelled as he got to the man.
"Akihiro! Wait, don't!" Yuri called after him.
But by the time he tried to warn him, the teen got a few steps within the man and suddenly, a circular form of waters on his chakrams spinned as he held them like mini shields.
"Water Palm!" he yelled the arte name and tried to bash the attack into him.
The attack was incredible, but the target side-stepped impressively. Catching the teen off guard, he grabbed the shoulder of his tanktop with his left arm and then proceeded to ram his right forearm across the back of the teen's head. Causing Akihiro to yelp in pain a bit as his head went forward, the boy struggled to stay on his feet as suddenly the man swung him by his tanktop and flung him backwards towards the group. It forced him to tumble backwards hard a few times, but the teen's amazing agility was able to flip backwards and land by his new friends.
"Aoow... Why you...!" he grunted.
"Hold it, Akio," Yuri advised against, "You can't just go rushing off like that! That's how you got thrown last time."
"I know, I know! And that's not my name!" Akihiro grunted in frustration.
"Haha! You've got spunk, kid, not to mention some good artes, but you're nuts if you think you have the slightest hope of taking me on like that," the man said as he slowly cracked his neck and slowly revealed a huge right arm that was covered with a metallic arm cover, "But I guess I can entertain you a bit."
"I will not tolerate the outrage you did to my soldier! You will be put under arrest for assault, and attempted murder of the commandant and her royal highness!" Flynn announced pulling out his knight sword.
"Of course, all you knights talk so 'noble and mighty', eh?" he asked as he got into stance.
"Hey, since you know so much about us, surely you would give your name before we crush you," Yuri said, slowly getting into his stance.
"Hehe, this will be fun! My name is Cescoral, and you all are my toys!" he said, rushing at them.
"Hah, in your dreams, pal!" Akihiro yelled as he, Yuri, and Repede got their weapons ready and rushed at them.
"Raven, stay by my side," Flynn ordered the old man, "We need to protect Tai and the girls."
"Righty-o," Raven nodded as the two began pulling their weapons.
"I don't need protection," Tai said as he was staring to reach for his bat, but suddenly flinched at his body reacting to soreness.
"Tai, your body hasn't entirely healed yet," Estelle said, worried for him as she stood by his and Rita's side, "You need to stay back while the others handle it."
"Tch, whatever! I know I'm not just gonna let this guy get away with bragging about kidnapping me!" Rita replied angrily to that, as she ran near Flynn and began charging a spell.
Meanwhile, the men were having a hard time fighting this man. It wasn't that this man was really fast and couldn't be hit; it was exactly the opposite. This man's gold arm cover was thrown in the way of every strike one of the three made. It just bounced the weapons off of it. Cescoral smirked in the face of Yuri, who just clashed his weapons with his arm and struggled to overpower him.
"What's a matter, Yuri? Can't land an attack against my arm?" he grinned.
"Bastard!" Yuri grunted as he backed up and tried an arte.
"Crushing Eagle!" he yelled as he began to attempt his arte by stabbing the ground and catching the man off guard with the attack.
But as Yuri did the attack, Cescoral jumped up and lunged his other arm at him. The young man realized he wasn't there and looked up right in time to catch a blow to the face. A brief shout of pain, Yuri was sent hard to the ground and grunted to get up. Seeing his master attack, Repede growled and lunged at the man. Catching the dog right on cue, Cescoral kicked under the ribs and caught the dog in a painful kick. Getting the breath knocked out of him, Repede choked a bit and was limp on the foot as the man flung him to Akihiro who was rushing in. The teen suddenly had a face of deep fear fall upon them.
"Oh, no no NOOO!" he yelled as Repede collided into him with a huge thud and both went rolling.
As the three fighters struggled to get up, Cescoral grinned and ran at the rest of the group, "So, do you wanna join in the fun too?"
"Lady Estelle, stay behind me!" Flynn ordered as he readied himself.
"Hey, ain't ya got no shame for attackin' beautiful ladies?" Raven snapped at the man.
"O golden rain who bringeth good fortune, thy name is... Gold Cat!" Rita yelled as she finished her spell.
Suddenly, a giant cat made of gold came down right on top of the man. It seemed the cat flattened the man, but then everyone's eyes came in awe of how he was actually lifting it up with his one arm. He grunted in struggle as he flung it to the side.
"Heh, like a weakling spell is going to be enough to take me down!" he yelled, rushing at Rita.
Suddenly flinching in a bit of shock, Rita readied her whip. Despite the fact she wasn't the best melee fighter of the ones there, she was pretty good as she swung the whip at him, causing a bolt of magic a bit to go at him. The man dodged swiftly and would've attacked her if Raven hadn't gotten there, and readied an arrow. With a grunt, he shot it at Cescoral and caused the man to back up a tiny bit, just in time for Estelle to suddenly rush in with her shield. Bringing his right leg up, he used that with his arms to block the rushing attempt of a bash attack, and surprisingly wasn't hurt.
"Oho, so the princess wants a part of this too?" he asked, smirking.
"Estelle!" Flynn and Yuri yelled in concerned as both rushed over with their weapons ready.
"I will not hesitate to fight anyone who attacks my friends!" Estelle said boldly, causing Rita to blush, and the old man was tempted to say something, but rather not risk the mage going berserk.
Seeing everybody was soon getting in on the action, Tai realized he couldn't just stay back. Grunting from pain a bit, he soon pulled his bat to his hands and dropped into stance, soon to run at the fighting. It didn't take him long to find an opening to try to strike Cescoral as Flynn had gotten knocked back with a punch and Raven had shot an arrow to cause the man to jump back right at him. Suddenly sensing the teen near, he turned to see Tai sorely swing his bat right into his arm and they both clashed together, having an epic stare-off.
"Tai!" Estelle shouted, concerned for him.
"Aha, so you're also a new face I haven't seen," Cescoral said with a grin, though Tai made no facial change or sound, "Let's see what you got!"
Suddenly, the man turned and swung his left arm in a punch towards Tai. He then flinched in realization the boy had crouched and shoved his left foot into the man's shin. Causing him to be staggered, Tai popped up and used his right knee into the man's stomach, actually juggling him into the air. Foe and friends equally amazed, Tai took his bat and swung it down onto the man, causing a hard knockdown into the ground. It was then Tai flinched in pain and suddenly crouched into one knee in a grunt.
"Tai, are you okay?" Flynn asked, noticing his pain.
But taking only a second to get him, Cescoral jumped to his feet and swung a mighty fist at the legs of Tai, knocked the teen off his feet. Seeing the teen writhe in pain, the man grinned and stood above him, soon beginning to take his gigantic fist to deal a fatal blow.
"Now, you're mine, kid!" he yelled in victory as he began to descened his arm.
"TAI!" Yuri yelled as all ran towards the two, though none would make it in time.
Opening his eyes to see the danger coming at him, the thought of keeping his secret from everyone else left his head immediately. Realizing there was no other way, Tai's instincts kicked in as he raised his left arm up to the man and his glove glowed. Immediately, Rita was the first to notice this and was in awe of the amazing power she was seeing. She stopped and stared at Tai as the energy started to arise from the bottom of them.
"What is that...? Could that be what I...?!" she said to herself.
In a bit of fear and anger, Tai quickly yelled, "Darkness Hands!"
The dark green and black energy came out of the ground, and forming as hands, wrapped all around Cescoral's body and his arm especially. The man was freaked out by the sudden thing that grabbed onto him and struggled to move.
"What the...!? What is this stuff!?" he yelled, losing his cool demeanor.
The party was equally shocked. Yuri was amazed, yet suspicious at the arm of Tai commanding the energy, as Flynn shared the same awe and doubt. Repede was actually looking taken back for one of the only times ever, as Akihiro just stared like a dumb idiot.
"Whoa... he has that kind of power? I so want that!" he thought as he struggled to get up after Repede had gotten off him.
"What incredible power... I never thought someone his age could possess something that amazing," Flynn said to himself.
Since both already knew about it, Estelle and Raven nodded to each other and rushed at him. Cescoral soon saw that they were coming, and Tai then cut off the attack and rolled away to struggle to stand. Estelle swung her sword at the man missing, but allowing the old man the perfect chance to land a blow.
"Spinning round and around!" Raven yelled as his bow and knife hit Cescoral completely.
The man yelling in pain, Yuri decided to end the fight for now as he rushed in and swung the sword of his.
"Azure Edge!"
The wave of energy caused the man to be sent flying down the entrance. Grunting as he immediately stood up and the group looked down to him, he realized that he was slowly losing favor.
"Damn... those heroes are tougher than I thought... especially that new kid... never seen a power like it..." he muttered to himself.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Great!
Secret Mission 2: Used an arte to knock Cescoral back down towards the entrance of Aspio.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Cescoral then looked up and said, "Well, it looks like I've had my fun for today. I'm gonna be taking my leave now."
"What? Running off so soon? Don't tell me you're chickening out already," Yuri taunted with a serious face.
"Yuri! We don't want him comin' back up to fight!" Raven said in haste, causing his friend to be silent.
"Smart man. You should listen to the old guy more, Yuri," Cescoral said, quickly running off after he finished his statement, "Again, I'll repeat that I better take my leave before your commandant gets any funny ideas. But don't worry your lovely heads; I'll be back to take the mage... and the hooded kid too."
Tai caught a hold of that addition. Great... just wonderful. Not only did he reveal his secret to the group when he didn't want to, but now the enemy has taken a like to his power and wants it. He struggled to stand up as soon he saw Raven bent down to help him up.
"You okay, kid? Ya took a mean hit back there," Raven said, finally getting him to his feet while Estelle walked over to them.
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine," he said, grunting as he looked at everyone else.
And it was exactly what Tai feared and hoped wouldn't happen. Everyone else was staring in curiosity and suspicion at his arm. The teen lowered his head so the hood would cover his eyes. Estelle glanced concerned at him as Raven sighed and rubbed the back of his head. This uncomfortable and awkward silence would last, until a certain mage caused the conversation to continue.
Forgetting all about him and focusing on studying the arm, Rita rushed over to Tai and grabbed his left arm, yanking it a bit as to get the glove off. Feeling her and taken off guard, the teen ripped his hand out of her grasp and backed up.
"H-Hey!" he yelled, causing the group to twitch without expecting it.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?! Lemme see that glove right now!" Rita ordered, trying to reach for it.
"No," Tai said, calming down as he backed up, "I don't like people touching me. Now, quit it!"
"I don't care what you like or don't like! That glove created some sort of power and I want to know how it did that!" Rita said annoyed, advancing a bit more, and causing Tai to fear the possible revealing of what was really with his arm!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Seems Cescoral, our first new evil guy, is one serious dude. And Tai was forced to reveal the glove's power to everyone. And now, Rita demands to see what it is. Could this be the way Tai's ultimate secret is exposed!? What will happen against the blastia thieves!? Keep on reading!