SupernalGodzilla: Pretty much. Yeah, feels good putting the fear into those bastards.
jm121212121: Thank you. It always does. Also note, two sets of parents down. Two to go. Sister...Kyouko is his cousin. S'all I'm saying. You can't help but feel bad for Ko really, even if he can be a little coward at times. He's loyal at least, and hey, that counts for a lot. I'm pretty sure everyone's hoping that El doesn't get his way. But you'll have to read on if you want to find out, cause I'm not telling you. Yeah, I had been planning on bringing them back for a long time, this was the perfect opportunity, what with the Witch Gathering and all. As to the end of the chapter and the parent team battle you're referring to...I think I'll just keep quiet on it. I will say one thing though, you can expect all the girls's parents to fight at some point, and know they'll all be strong. Not division leader strong, but certainly high subdivision leader strong, discounting Moka's and Kokoa's parents of course. Some of them are stronger than others of course...I'll just leave that for another time.
I'm glad you like Vladimir, and I agree, he does add more of a calm tone to the group. He's jaded and cynical, but genuinely cares for his charges, at least Tsukune and the girls anyway. That said he can be wacky too. If I had to give him a label for their little family, I'd call him the crazy-cool uncle. As for harem vs family, well the girls make up Tsukune's harem, while the girls, Gin, Fang Fang, Ling Ling and Vladimir make up the family. Kyouko, as well as Tsukune's parents aside. So they're not two different names for the same thing, they both exist at the same time.
Actually no, the next character arc after this one is Moka's and Kokoa's. Kurumu had hers awhile ago. Yeah they'll all end up having at least one more episode focused on them, but not anytime in the near future. That said, more elaboration on Succubi as a species will occur, I assure you. As for said arc being more erotic than usual, to a degree I suppose. At least when it comes to teasing and all that. Dialogue for sure. But actual intimacy scenes, yeah, doubtful.
Finally, as to who will be fighting in the upcoming climax of the arc. Well...without getting too specific, I'll just say this. There will be a particular focus on those who use magic as well as a few characters who have yet to get any real fight time. Not gonna let anything else slip on the subject. As for not being able to wait for the next chapter, here it is my friend.
cy9224: Because I gotta man, I just gotta. Trust me, you won't be the only one.
Br00klynb0y96: Good, I'm glad. Thank you. Vladimir, I'm glad you love him, but for being well written, eh. A lot of who he is was made completely off the cuff, except for Kari, or was anyway, up until the finale of season three. It was there that his entire personality became cemented. I had always seen him as being a harsh guy and a bit of a cynic, though never overly cruel. Going through the ins and outs of writing him though, he developed into a very jaded and cynical guy, but was still genuinely a good person.
He cares for Tsukune and the girls, very much so. As I said above, he's kinda like the crazy-cool uncle of the group. And it is most definitely safe to say that he sees Tsukune and the others as nieces and nephews, at least. Other people in general though, fuck'em as far as he's concerned. His purpose in this story is still intact though, he's the one who to really educate Tsukune on this world, not just the monster world, but the world as a whole. Take from that what you will, cuz ain't no one getting anything else out of me on the subject. I gotta keep shit hush hush, lest I give away anything that's to come in the future.
That's alright, I'm not much of an artist either. Actually that is a tremendous understatement, as I can't draw a picture to save my life. It's just so bad, believe me. Seriously, I shit you not, I draw like a toddler. XD And that's being nice about it. If I could draw though, I'd draw up the scenes I write in my stories and make a fan-comic/fan-manga or whatever you want to call it. Doujinshi I think? No? Don't blame me, I don't know. Anyway, I would love to do that, as bringing my stories to life visually would be so damn satisfying. I'd be handing copies of it out like hotcakes too, at least to those who like Rosario Vampire anyway.
People usually do that to promote themselves and then tell people to check out their original works, not me though. I'd just be happy continuing to work with the fandoms I love, even though I'll never make any profit off of doing so. I love writing too much not to. I also love getting feedback from you guys. Seriously, good reviews, not good as in praise, though that's always nice, but as in quality, I'm addicted to them. I think I might have a problem actually...XP
Admittedly though, a large part of the reason I would want to make those is so that I could read them, look at them too obviously as the art is a big part of it, myself, as I said many times before, I write the kind of stories that I came to this site looking for, stories that I would want to read. I'm getting off topic, forgive me.
Back to your review. Is that so? Well I would most certainly greatly appreciate that. Hell, I appreciate the fact that you want to draw me fanart in the first place, even if you can't. I definitely appreciate you wanting to commission some for me. And if anyone ever drew some, hell, I'd be downright giddy and grateful beyond belief. So, yeah, I would like that. I'd love it actually. I have several scenes in my head that I'd like to be brought to life on paper, some funny, some sexy, some awesome and a lot of them violent in one way or another. Thinking of Tsukune's fight with Kuyo in particular, as well as the girls skirmish with him, both of them with the fox bastard being in his nine tails form. Unfortunately I can't really help you with where to look though, as much as I'd like to, as I've no idea regarding that myself. Hope you find someone to do it though, as I am yearning for that fanart. If you can't though, don't worry about it. I am grateful for the sentiment regardless.
Thank you once more, and here you go my good friend, the next chapter is here. :)
Guest: That is quite an interesting story idea, I'll admit that. However I don't think it's for me. I write Tsukune X Harem exclusively, and I don't really like the content of the plot really. It just...eh, it's just not my style. That's all I can really say about. As I said, it's not bad at all, it's good actually. But it's not something I'd like to do, or read for that matter. So I'm sorry, but I'll have to pass on that. Thank you for you suggestion though.
chris: Good, I'm glad that's the case. Actually the answer to that questions is bad things, Tsukune will do very, very bad things to Elefica. Just you wait. Eventually, yeah he will. I'm afraid I can't disclose that. Because it had to happen, it was going to happen. Things never go smoothly for Tsukune and his group, ever. Why thank you, I appreciate your saying that. :) You love Vladimir too huh? More people enjoy his character than I thought...cool. Well, look forward no more, here's the next one my friend.
Blue Eyes Pendulum Dragon: I have no comment regarding that. Perhaps...I shall not reveal anything though. I've said a little regarding awakenings and such, but I won't disclose anything further than what I've already iterated. Oh, is that so? How so might I ask? I have no idea what Lords of Shadows is so...yeah. Sorry. :P
Tsukune Blackout: Captain America? Hell no. Goku? A little. Not much, but a tad I suppose. His kindness is what I would equate with Goku truly...as well as another trait or two I suppose, if you looked at it a certain way. Overall though, I'd say no, he doesn't really remind me of Goku much. Why do you ask?
Guest: Ah my friend, you're back. Good to hear from you again. And it's perfectly fine, I understand, things can get hectic.
Yep, yep and yep. Isn't that how it always is? Solve one problem, then another one comes along. Such is life I'm afraid.
They are, neither can I, and we shall see. I haven't decided how I'm going to have the whole thing play out. Major things have already been planned out, but there are some minor, and major, details I've yet to finalize. So...yeah, we'll see.
Yeah...that'll probably be the last time I push the boundaries on those kinds of scenes. I enjoyed writing it though, and no one seemed to dislike it, so all's well than ends well I guess. Gin should keep his mouth shut, but it's doubtful he'll ever learn that lesson.
Oh yeah, big time. And you'll see, I already have all that planned, not that in particular but you know what I mean.
More ideas huh? Lay'em on me then.
Oh, Yukari's age? Sorry man, I'm not magically aging her up. Her age is an important part of the story, and is relatively important to her character actually, especially when it comes to the things I have planned in the future. Your idea is cool and all, but I'm telling you flat out that there's no way that's happening. Tsukune has a hard time with such things, that's true, but he's basically come to grips with it at this point. Yukari and her parents really helped put his ill feelings on the matter at ease, and while it'll take time for him to fully shore up the way he feels about their age difference, the hurdle's already been jumped. Not to mention he would never want to forget about Yukari, even if it was only the times he was intimate with her and that she had once been younger than him. Yukari wouldn't want it that way either. Sorry. :(
Their appearances while awakened...yeah, I've been having trouble with that, not going to lie. Moka's is covered, so is Tsukune's of course, but everyone else's...not so much. I have already decided their abilities entirely, but the way they'll look is indeed posing a problem. As for your ideas for them...I might use your idea for Kokoa, because it's really fucking cool, but the rest I'm not so sure about. Yukari and Ruby with the runes is kinda cool, but I don't know, it just seems...eh. Mizore...she might actually be the hardest, because I don't even have an inkling as to what her awakened form should look like. There's your ice crystals coming out of her arms and legs idea, but I don't really like it all that much, so I doubt I'll use it, again sorry. And Kurumu, yeah her's is the other contender for the hardest to come up with. Also, question, where the hell did you get the idea for heart marks and flower designs to cover her? That doesn't sound much like the form of awakened succubus my friend. XD Well, maybe the hearts.
The bullies, otherwise known as Cynthia, Konji, Chad and Tucker, don't you worry about them. I already know what I'm doing with them, that's why I reintroduced them. I'm not going to tell you what's going to happen, but I will give you a hint. It's one of the three paths you laid out for them to take. Which one though...well, you'll just have to wait and find out. :P
Alright then, thank you, and neither can I. And again, good to hear from you my friend. :)
Alright, three things before we get into this.
First, there are a lot of songs that go good with this chapter/episode. Some that fit certain scenes perfectly, some that fit the over all chapter/episode, and some that only work for a tidbit of the over all chapter/episode. I listened to all of them, that I personally know of, while writing this. A few that stuck out as being good for the overall theme of the chapter/episode that I think you guys might wanna listen to are...
Blood On My Hands by The Used. There is a specific scene this is best played at...unfortunately, I can't tell you which one it is without giving anything away. Hopefully you guys can figure it out for yourselves and use it where it's meant to be used.
Tainted by Celldweller. There are some remixes of this song that work really well too.
Savages by Theory Of A Deadman.
First Time by Finger Eleven.
Sweet Dreams by Marilyn Manson. I know it's not his song, but I feel his version works better.
Just suggestions. You don't wanna listen to them, then be my guest. No skin off my back. Also, the order I suggest listening to them is Sweet Dreams then on upward, just so ya know. More importantly, I'd say Tainted is the song that best works with most of this chapter/episode...so, yeah.
Second, just gonna give you guys a warning ahead of time. Got some dark shit in this one so...yeah, be prepared. Seriously, be ready. I can't flat out tell you what it is that'll probably get to people, as I don't want to give anything away, but know that there is some serious shit in here. So...don't say I didn't warn ya. Again, let me reiterate. There is content in here that will offend and cause major discomfort.
And third, I know I said this would be out in a few short days, and when I said that, I obviously didn't mean the two and a half weeks it took. But, as I said before, without a laptop and an internet connection, my writing ability is severely crippled, not to mention the time I have to write is cut down to a few short hours three or four days a week. Don't get me started on how much that pisses me off...but I'm digressing. When I told you guys it would be a few short days until the next part, this part was at six thousand words. Little did I know it wouldn't be finished until it was well over the twenty thousand word mark. So...yeah, my bad. Hope this part of the chapter/episode is good enough to make up for it. And perhaps, since this is the second longest chapter I've ever written for this story, I could get a few more reviews than usual. Ya know, it's just a thought. XD
Now then, here is part five of chapter/episode nine of season four. Please read, review and enjoy.
Dread overwhelmed Tsukune entirely, as he sprinted madly through the dead forest that surrounded the enormous tree in every direction. The teen hadn't considered how he would find the two witches before he took off, nor had he considered Tamanori and Fujiko and how they felt about their daughter having disappeared, or anything else for that matter. He didn't care about them or how they felt or anything at all for that matter. He was concerned with one thing and one thing only, finding Yukari and Ruby. Everything else was completely and utterly insignificant.
"YUKARI! RUBY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" He called out to them at the top of his lungs, not slowing his pace in the slightest. Only to receive silence in response...
Vision blurry because of the tears that flowed freely from his eyes, the ghoul managed to navigate the mess of death that was the forest he sped through regardless, his holy lock beginning to glow as he did. Why? He had no hope of finding them like this. He needed the superhuman senses of a vampire, he needed to be a ghoul, if only to find them. So he began drawing from his well of power, rapidly siphoning said power to such a degree that his eyes flickered between his original warm brown and the blood red of his other form, while the tips of his hair fought back and forth from bleeding to silver to returning to brown.
Sure the two girls had suddenly vanished, but that wasn't exactly a reason to get so freaked out. They could have simply wandered off, or gotten lost in the crowd or any other feasible excuse one could think up. However, Tsukune was what one might call overprotective, and while never assumed the worst of people, assumed the worst of a situation quite often. Even more so the more he was acquainted with the monster world and his own transformation into a ghoul. Then there was the fact that Ruby and Yukari had never done anything like this before, and certainly wouldn't start now. Especially not in enemy territory like this.
On top of that, his heart, head and gut all told him the same thing, something was very, very wrong with this whole thing. And he had a hard time ignoring his instincts, at least nowadays. Not to mention he still had yet to fully come off the tension from earlier. It was a recipe for emotional turmoil. And it would only grow worse...
Moving faster than the average eye could see, the teen knocked the four individuals he soon ran into down hard to the ground, causing him to stumble to a stop in turn and abruptly end the chase that had been taking place.
"Ow!"
"Fuck!"
"Shit!"
"Sunuva bitch!"
Those four exclamations of pain caught Tsukune's attention immediately, his head whipping toward them, recognizing their voices immediately.
"Wha-what are you four doing here?" He asked without thinking, shocked by their presence.
That's when the four noticed him as well, Chad and Tucker whispering profanities under their breath, Konji groaning in annoyance and Cynthia, well, she looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Moka, Kokoa, Mizore, Kurumu, Gin, Kyouko and Deshiko, who caught up at this point, all spoke Tsukune's name with concern, as they could tell he was distressed. Not only by the tears that still trickled down his face, but by the look in his eyes themselves, as well as his body language, and the fact that his holy lock was glowing of course.
Said seventeen year old failed to react, too caught up in his own head at this point. Everything was happening too fast, coming at him out of the blue in waves, it was too much. Elefica, Madara, Fairy Tale, Ruby and Yukari disappearing, and now the people who had made his life hell, the ones who did things to him that he was only just now recovering from, had popped up out of nowhere.
He didn't know what to say to them, but he did know he wanted to say something. He didn't want to hurt them anymore, not really, but he did actually. It was confusing and downright convoluted to be honest. His feelings toward the four were a jumbled up mess that even he himself had trouble understanding. Even more so when it came to Cynthia in particular...
However, in spite of how complex and compelling these feelings were, how he ached to rid himself of them by confronting the four as himself instead of as a ghoul, all semblance of importance it all held quickly flew right out the window. Why? Because he had finally caught a whiff of Yukari's scent thanks to his enhanced senses kicking in, the young girl located a good ways away from his current position. And unfortunately that did nothing to calm the ghoul, as he was able to discern two other important facts by smell. The first, he could smell her blood specifically. Meaning she was openly bleeding. The second, Elefica, who he had caught the scent of when he told him to get lost, was also there. He could smell no one else...they were alone together.
"I especially like the little one." Elefica's voice echoed in his head, causing his skin to crawl.
Elefica had Yukari all alone and was...he didn't even want to think about it. And yet, here he was, wasting time with these four when he should have been rushing to her side. "No...no...no..." Tsukune repeated the word like a chant. "NO!" He shouted then, turning toward where the scents were coming from and taking off like a bullet, increasing his speed exponentially from what it had been before now that he knew roughly where to go. "NO! NO! NO!"
So focused on getting to his youngest lover before something horrible could happen, that he paid no mind or worry to the voices that called his name from behind him. He didn't give a damn about Konji, Tucker, Chad and Cynthia compared to his girls, so they left his mind entirely. And as for the ones calling his name...well, they were all safe, so he couldn't afford to take time to help ease their worry over him, even if four of them were his girls. He loved them all equally, he truly did, but them being concerned for him was nothing more than trivial in regards to Yukari's well being. He would feel bad about ignoring them later, but for now, all that mattered was that he reached Yukari. Which was why he held no inhibitions on drawing on even more power from his holy lock than he was accustomed to, not sparing even a moment to question why his reserves seemed to continue to grow without explanation.
Fangs growing in and his speed doubling, he continued to race toward where Yukari's scent radiated from, not sparing any thought to why he couldn't smell where she had come through here or why her scent disappeared where she had vanished and yet somehow emanated from wherever this spot he was heading to was.
His mind was focused on only one thing, getting to the young girl and protecting her from the sick bastard that was Elefica. There was no room for anything else. "YUKARI!"
"WAIT TSUKUNE!" Moka, Kokoa, Mizore, Kurumu, Gin, Deshiko and Kyouko all called after him in unison.
It was to no avail however, as he quickly disappeared from their line of sight in only a matter of a few moments.
They had no real idea of what was going on, regardless, they moved to follow, that is until Vladimir, Ling Ling, Fang Fang and Ko caught up and asked what was going on, having heard them shout the ghoul's name.
"We're not sure, but something serious is going on. Tsukune looked distressed as all hell." Gin explained.
"I get the feeling something awful happened." Deshiko remarked.
"Right, which is why we should follow after him quickly!" Kurumu said hurriedly.
"Yeah but what about them?" Kyouko questioned, referring to the grounded warlock trio and the blonde succubus who, being smart for once, opted to not try and get up and runaway while surrounded by powerful enemies aplenty. "If we just leave them here, what's to stop them from running off?"
"Don't worry, we'll take care of that." Vladimir told her, moving closer to the four people who had made his protege's life hell and smiling deviously at them, lowering his sunglasses as he did and revealing the impish gleam in his eyes as well.
Feeling a chill roll down their spines, the four were unable to do anything else but smile sheepishly in return, their fear for their lives redoubling. "Right you two?" The bald vampire queried, looking toward the brother and sister pair as he did.
"Sure, why not?" Was Ling Ling's response.
"I'm in." Fang Fang confirmed.
"Alright then, it's settled. Get a move on you guys." The shades wearing man told the others.
Nodding her head hard, Kurumu looked to Gin, Deshiko, and Kyouko as she spoke, "Let's hurry after Tsukune!"
"And you might wanna hurry up, because it looks like you're getting left behind." Ling Ling interjected, getting the other teens to focus in on Moka, Kokoa and Mizore, all of whom had gone sprinting in the direction their shared lover had gone, having done so before the others had even finished talking.
"Hey!? What the hell do you three think you're doing!?" The blue haired succubus questioned with intense aggravation, moving to follow after them, Gin, Kyouko and Deshiko preparing to do the same.
Before they could, or the three ahead of them could get out of their line of sight, a man appeared directly in their path to the ghoul. He was a young man of average height and build, light skin, purples eyes and short messy brown hair. He wore a long sleeve brown shirt, a pair of black nondescript pants, some brown hiking boots and a sleeveless as well as hoodless black cloak over it all.
"Who are you?" Most of them questioned, except for Moka who moved to shove the man out of the way.
"I'm Nathaniel, nice to meet you all." He introduced himself, several more men appearing behind him in the blink of an eye as he did, getting the vampiric teen who had been going to attempt to force her way past to quickstep back as a result.
"I know we just met and all, but I'm afraid that I can't let you guys past this point." He informed them, the men behind him revealing themselves as warlocks as they brandishes wands in various shapes and sizes. "I hope you can forgive my rudeness."
In a rather muted flash, Ruby found herself in a new location, gone from the clearing entirely. Where was that location? At first she was unsure, as she was more focused on the green haired woman who had brought her here, her wand glowing as she prepared to cast a spell.
Before she got the chance to attack however, the woman let go of her, jumped backward and proceeded to vanish, in the same exact manner of which she had brought her here.
That didn't get the nineteen year old to drop her guard of course, who honestly would in such a situation? Even still, she allowed her eyes to roam, so as to take in her surroundings. Though as she did, she kept her wand raised and at the ready.
Grey was the dominant color of the location she was in, and not a normal grey, a sickly dead grey. With the lack of light, she might have guessed she was in a cavern of a cave of some kind, but she rather doubted such a thing considering the ceiling of this place was well over a hundred feet above her head. As for the overall area, it wasn't too wide, big enough to accommodate a few vehicles at most.
"What is this place?" She wondered aloud, her curiosity getting the better of her as she moved from her spot toward one of the walls that trapped her in this up-right cylinder shaped...well, cavern.
She approached slowly, her wand still raised and held horizontal to her chest. Nothing jumped out at her though, even as she came within an inch of it and reached out with her free hand to feel the wall. And as her skin made contact with it, she couldn't keep the surprise from her face. "This is...bark." She told herself, looking upward as she did, suddenly having a good idea of where she was.
"I'm inside the giant tree..." She stated to herself, as if telling herself would make the concept sink in faster.
"Indeed you are my dear."
At the sudden sound of a voice, Ruby whirled to face the person it came from, a scowl already present on her face seeing as she knew who it was.
There Madara stood, a very conceited grin running across his face. "Oh my, did I frighten you? My apologies." He mocked her.
Ruby failed to take the bait, as her wand simply glowed brighter and her scowl deepened, clearly standing at the ready to defend herself.
"Not going to bite? That's fine by me. I prefer those who are difficult to get a rise out of." He remarked.
Once again the witch chose not to respond, her form not faltering as she prepared to do battle.
"Relax girl. If I wished to do battle with you, then I would have engaged you already." He told her point blank, his conceit seemingly falling away for a moment, along with the grin that accompanied it.
She didn't lower her wand, but her shoulders did visibly untense at that. Still, it was clear she didn't truly believe his words, she just chose to go along with him for now, allowing some of the tension to leave her body. As, after all, it wouldn't do any good to be all clenched up for nothing. Best save that for when it was needed.
"I gather that's the best I'll be getting out of you." He said with a sigh, shaking his head a little as he did. "It'll have to do for now I suppose."
"What do you want?" The nineteen year old bluntly asked then, her tone hostile.
"Blunt aren't you? I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that from one who was raised under Korone's tutelage."
The teen was unable to hide her shock at his words, an audible gasp escaping her at that name being spoken, her eyes wide as wide could be. "Ho-how do yo-you...?" She was caught completely off guard, disbelief evident in her every feature.
"How do I know her name? Simple. I knew her, perhaps even better than you did girl." He answered her unfinished question.
"You...you knew my mistress?" She inquired, still struggling to grasp the concept. Her mistress had been a very reserved and private person, and that was putting it mildly to say the least. Only a handful of people in the entire world could possibly know her name, and they would have had to have met her to learn it. That was indubitable. Because of that, she unconsciously lowered her wand to a degree.
"I did. She was...a mentor of sorts to me for awhile when I was child. Taught me things that still prove useful now. Even helped me develop the foundation of my spell style today." He informed her, a small smile of fondness crossing his face as he did. "She was a exceptional witch and an outstanding teacher."
"Yeah, she was." Ruby affirmed, a tiny smile of her own forming. Memories with her flooded her mind, both good and bad. She had loved her greatly. She had been her teacher, her family, her mistress.
As Ruby reflected, silence overcame them...
"It is a shame of the highest caliber that she is no longer with us." Madara stated, a minuscule frown overtaking his smile.
"It is." The younger magical being agreed with a nod, filled with sorrow at the reality of it. Tears wanted to come out, but she refused to let them. She refused to even let them show a sheen in her eyes.
"I understand how you feel. I too feel the pain of her loss. I-" As the older man spoke to her, he moved to close the distance, but before he could, Ruby's body re-tensed as she took a step back, her wand raising back to it's original horizontal position to her chest. "Stay back!" She barked at him, cutting him off in doing so. "You think I'd simply just drop my guard because you claim to have known my former mistress? What kind of imbecile do you take me for!?" He had sparked her ire at this point.
"Calm yourself girl. I have no intention of harming you. I simply want to talk. Have I not made that clear?" He tried to calm her.
"And why should I trust a word out of your mouth? You work for Fairy Tale! Their sole purpose is to wipe out the human race, and they have no problem with deceiving and murdering their fellow monsters who dare to stand against them! More importantly, you've painted a target on my Master's back! You want him dead, that is more than enough reason for me to not only distrust you, but covet your death as well!" Her anger flaring, her scowl returned with a vengeance as her wand began glowing brighter. At this point, she was liable to attack at any moment.
"Please, you misunderstand my intentions. While I hold no love for the human race, their extinction is not what I sought when I joined Fairy Tale. I hold my own ideals and opinions on how this world should be, I do not follow like some blind sheep being led by a shepherd. They simply serve a purpose, that is why I am with them. So if you would simply hear me out..." He tried to explain himself.
Maybe it was because some part of her believed him, or maybe it was because she felt she owed it to him to listen because they were both disciples of Korone, her mistress, even if she had been so her whole life while he was only so for a few years. Regardless, her eyes narrowing to show she was not happy about it, she gave him his chance. "Fine, talk."
So, he did. "Death is...an absolutely abhorrent thing. It does nothing but beget anguish and misery for all. It brings about chaos on a grand scale. It robs the world of some of the most brilliant minds and revolutionary individuals to ever be born. It instills terror in the populace, leaving everyone wondering if today will be their last day. It rips loved ones away, stealing them long before their time. Friends, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, lovers...no one is safe, no one is off limits. Murder, suicide, natural disasters, unfortunate accidents, disease, exposure, toxins, malnourishment, old age...so many ways to die. Too many. It is utterly impossible to protect the ones you hold precious from all of these things. Therefor, death is inevitable. More importantly, it's permanent. Once you're dead...you're gone from this plane of existence forever." Madara explicated, his discontent on the matter all too clear.
Ruby failed to respond, instead focusing on scrutinizing his every word and action as he spoke to her, looking for the slightest sign of deception.
"However...it doesn't have to be that way." He added, his tone changing to one with more of a sanguine nature.
"What?" The nineteen year old queried incredulously, her eyes wide open once more and her heart skipping a beat from the implications of such a statement. Her original intention of reading him was all but thrown out the window at this point.
Her reaction caused a smile to tug at the long haired man's face, but he stifled the urge and continued on. "It doesn't have to be that way. The departed...those who have left this mortal coil, the ones who's lives brightened the world around them...they can be brought back to life. And I'm not talking about necromancy or the summoning of spirits, I mean actual rebirth. The flesh and blood as well as the soul, all of what makes them who they are will return to this plane of existence." The warlock elucidated.
"There's...there's no way. Tha-that's just not possible." Ruby contended weakly.
"Is it? Is it truly?" Madara queried, his tone a tad harsh, critical of such thinking. "You saw firsthand what I am capable of. I rejuvenated that sliver of forest without exerting even a fifth of my max power. All it would take to bring someone back, no, to bring Korone back, is the power I possess and...a little blood magic." His tone and eyes darkened considerably as he said this.
"Blood magic?" She repeated, her apprehension evident.
"Yes Ruby, blood magic. Blood magic, as I'm sure you know, is the act of using fresh blood to enhance the power of ones spells. A forbidden practice, but a necessary one. We will use extreme caution, you have my word on that. I will ensure nothing will go wrong and that your mistress's revival comes to be. And I ask of you only one thing in return my dear."
Emotions ran rampant within the teenage witch, memories flooding her mind and running over and over again in her head. Every single one painfully reminding her of how miserable she had been after Korone had died and the psychosis that said event ending up inflicting on her, as well as the loneliness and sorrow and the overall longing for the woman who had been her everything for seventeen years it instilled. And as the hurricane of emotion raged within her, she felt vulnerable and found herself inquiring, "Wha-what is it that you would require of me?" While at the same time lowering her wand to her side.
"Nothing complicated. All I want from you is your promise that you won't interfere in my affairs here in the Witching Fields."
"Meaning?" She inquired further, still hesitant.
"Meaning...you will stand back and allow me to do away with Tsukune Aono."
"NO!" She cried in protest, highly upset by such a notion, raising her wand back to her chest and beginning to cast a spell, to attack the man for even saying such a thing.
Madara's demeanor shifted further at that, scowling deeply as he moved toward the younger magical being. "You can't have it both ways girl. Either you have your mistress or your master. You cannot have both, it is one or the other. This world would never allow otherwise. It is too cruel, too uncaring, too merciless." He spat at her grimly, reaching her as he did, taking hold of her wand wielding hand by the wrist, preventing her from attacking at the last moment by disrupting her magic with his own. "I am offering you a choice, one that very few people ever receive. The life of Korone or the life of Tsukune. You must decide which one is more important to you. So choose!" He snapped in her face. "To retain one you must give up the other! You must forsake someone, that's just the way this world is! All you can do is decide who!"
Head lowered and tears streaming down her face, the nineteen year old simply listened as she was berated. Why didn't she jerk her arm away and try to attack him again, or at least scream back at him? Because she was far too wrapped up in the internal war she was waging over the lives of her former mistress and her current master. But why? Had she not already decided Tsukune was more important? Yes, but that had been before, when she thought Korone dead and gone forever. Now, now it was different. Now she had the option of actually being with her mistress and serving her once more. So the question was, as it was before, who was more important to her? Korone, her mother, her teacher, her mistress? Or Tsukune, her best friend, her lover, her master?
Raising her head, Ruby saw Madara holding his free hand out to her, his eyes dark and brooding, awaiting her decision. And despite how sick it made her and how she hated herself for it, she had made it. So...stifling her strong sobs, she reached out and took his hand.
Little could Ruby have known, that the whole time they had been conversing, Madara had been using spell after spell to not only trudge up all her memories of her mistress, but to also amplify her feelings of sorrow and longing for her. He had been influencing her decision all along...and he had achieved the desired result.
Moka, Kokoa, Mizore, Kurumu, Gin, Deshiko, Kyouko, and of course Ko, ran, or in the bat's case flew, about the dead forest in search of Tsukune.
They had managed to fight off the man known as Nathaniel and the warlocks that had accompanied him to the point where they could make a break for it, leaving the rest to Fang Fang, Ling Ling and Vladimir, sure they could handle it. And now, they followed after the way Tsukune took off in, using Moka's, Kokoa's and Gin's senses to make absolutely sure they were heading in the right direction.
It was during this, rustling of the dead brush alerting them to another presence, that they came across two particular individuals.
"Mr. and Mrs. Sendo?" Several of them questioned upon sighting the married couple.
Running into them wasn't so strange really, since this was a place for magical beings after all. Rather it was the fact that they looked so frantic and distressed that caught their attention.
"What's wrong, what's going on?" Gin queried worriedly.
"It's Yukari, she's vanished." Tamanori came straight out with it, grimly, concern rolling off him in waves.
"What!?" All of them inquired disbelievingly.
Before the two adults could explain the situation, a woman appeared. She was relatively young, of average height and had a slim build, possessed light green eyes and mid-back length green hair. She wore a short sleeve form fitting black shirt, tight black jeans with a green and black belt, similarly colored boots and a sleeveless and hoodless black cloak over it all.
The witch and warlock recognized her as one of the two who had shown up with Madara before, though they didn't know her name.
"Let me guess, another person trying to get in our way?" Kokoa questioned rhetorically and somewhat bitterly.
Kagura frowned at them all, not wanting to be here at all. She rather disliked people in general. At least she didn't have to talk to these ones...
Brandishing a katana, where she had been keeping it was anyone's guess, the green haired woman dropped into a combat stance. And as she did, several witches appeared behind her, wielding wands of course.
"Attack." Kagura ordered.
"Mmmmf! Afghtr! Lttofm!" Came Yukari's muffled fulminations as she struggled to escape her captor's grasp, the hand clamped tightly over her mouth keeping her words from coming out clearly, while a second hand restrained her wand wielding arm, preventing her from casting a spell.
The person restraining her so? Elefica, who clutched her form tightly to his own even now that they had been teleported to the cave where Madara had once resided, but recently vacated to speak with Ruby. "Looks like we're finally alone." He commented, loosening his grip as he did, so as to allow the thirteen year old to wrench her arm from his hold and break free from him completely, stumbling slightly from the small drop when her feet met the ground.
Quickly catching herself and righting her footing, she whirled to face the older man. Her eyes burning with anger and a scowl stretched across her face, she raised her wand and gathered her energy, preparing herself to attack at any moment she deemed necessary. "Just what do you think you're doing you creep!?" She demanded of him.
El quirked a brow at the little girl at that, his face rather passive considering he was only a half a second from being assaulted by whatever she conjured up. "What do you think I'm doing? I was getting you alone, obviously. And why so hostile? I thought you wanted me to come back once I finished my other duties."
"Why so-are you kidding me!? You know exactly why! You hurt Tsukune!" She shouted at him.
"Hurt him?" He repeated. "I didn't touch him. And if you're talking about those bloody hands he had, he did that to himself. It's not my fault he got all worked up about what I said." The blue haired man said nonchalantly.
"Even if that's true, what you said still hurt him! And words can hurt more than blows, I should know! So I won't forgive you!"
"Pfft. Whatever happened to sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?" The cyan eyed warlock questioned only half seriously with a roll of his eyes. "Just how much of a crybaby loser is that guy?"
"You shut your mouth!" Yukari yelled, her ire flaring even higher at her fellow magical being's words.
This reaction only served to amuse Elefica, judging by his singular chuckle and the way his lips curved upward into a mirthful and somewhat foul grin. "I'm guessing he didn't tell you what I said that upset him oh so much, did he? Would you like to know?" He queried.
Eyes narrowing, the young witch failed to answer, simply standing there with her wand at the ready to cast a spell.
"I'll take your silence as an invitation to continue." El said, his grin growing a little bigger as he did. "I simply told him of my desire to fuck your tight little holes. How I would love to desecrate and violate every orifice of your pretty young body." The warlock informed the witch, his grin twisting into a smug and vile smile.
Yukari was taken back and absolutely appalled, it written clearly all over her face. He had said it so curtly, and almost offhandedly, and yet, she could tell by the look in his eyes, he took great satisfaction in speaking these words, as well as her reaction to them.
"He got so mad I could've sworn steam started coming out his ears, as if he hadn't already done the same thing himself." The older man continued with a humorous chuckle. "How hypocritical he was, judging me for what I do when he does the very same thing." He remarked disdainfully.
At this, the thirteen year old could only think of Tsukune and the things he had said to her, as well as the things he hadn't said. And all the emotions that had been swirling in his irises. 'He...he actually equates himself with this sicko!?'
Yukari was so beyond sickened and enraged at this man's words and the realization of what he had put in Tsukune's head, her eyes wide and her small form beginning to shake with fury, that she could no longer contain herself. "TSUKUNE IS NOTHING LIKE YOU!"She cried passionately, her monster energy spiking almost dangerously high and her wand becoming almost retina damagingly bright as she thrust it out at him, a spell taking form.
In a flash of glaringly bright light, a multi-colored flashing ball of energy discharged from the young girl's wand and went speeding at her enemy. So fast it was that the twenty something man, who's eyes were now wide in surprise at the power of the spell, able to feel it all too clearly, barely had time to hit the ground to prevent himself from being hit by it. "Oh shit!" He cursed as he hit the deck.
The ball of magical energy hit one of the cave walls, and proceeded to explode, after shining brilliantly for a second or so. The radius of this explosion was fairly moderate, nothing too impressive, however there was something odd about it...it created no debris or dust to cloud one's vision.
Still, as Elefica got to his feet and dusted himself off, he didn't think much of it. Until he realized Yukari was staring at the wall behind him, clearly stunned by whatever it was she was seeing. So, sating the curiosity that had been brought about, he turned his head to cast a glance behind him. And lo and behold, what he saw stunned him as well.
The cavern wall that the ball of energy had collided with? Completely gone, vaporized entirely by the little sphere. Not broken or destroyed, but vaporized, literally molecularly eradicated. A whole new entrance into the cave had been created by this, said entrance leading into wide open clearing.
"Well damn." El remarked surreally, as he came to grips with the fact that, if he had been hit with that, he'd be dead right now. Or at least as close to it as one could come without actually perishing. And that was only if he had used every ounce of his energy to protect himself.
"H-how did I...?" The young witch questioned aloud, surprised by the power of the spell she had just cast, as well as the fact that she had never even heard of something like it before now, let alone learned how to use it.
"If you don't know, then I don't know what makes you think I would." The older magical being responded without prompting. "That said..." He continued, returning his attention to the girl and allowing his nasty smile to return. "I'm willing to bet you don't have much magical energy left in the tank after an attack like that." That was oh so much more than assumption on his part, and judging by how the thirteen year old's body tensed up at his words, he knew he was right. Which was why his smile widened. "Meaning you're all but defenseless at this point, now aren't you?" He inferred, basically already knowing the answer.
'Not good.' Was Yukari's immediate first thought. He was spot on, as while she had experienced an influx of energy when she lashed out in anger, it and most of her normal reserves were all but wiped out from that technique, whatever it was. With the adrenaline she was sure would be pumping through her veins in copious amounts in mere moments, she would more than likely be able to produce enough power for two, maybe three more spells, but then that would be it. Afterward she really would be completely defenseless. So, she had to make those few spells count.
El had started moving after he went quiet, closing the distance between him and his fellow magical being at a moderate pace, seemingly in no hurry to get to her. Even still, the young teen made no move to run, her eyes flickering about, examining her surroundings. If she was going to get out of this, she was going to have to be smart about it.
Once she had a plan in mind, the witch hat wearing girl raised her wand, preparing to enact the first step. However, Elefica was able to once more take hold of her wand wielding arm, grabbing her by the elbow this time and disrupting her magic with his own. "Settle down now." He started, now in her face. "Since you're all out of power anyway, why don't you just submit and give me what I want, like a good little girl?" He suggested to her, lust clear in his eyes and a sinful and lascivious grin taking the former smile's place.
She was unable to suppress the shudder that ran through her body, sickened at the mere notion of what he wanted. It made her want to nothing short of vomit. The idea of letting anyone else touch her the way Tsukune did and do the intimate things he does to her, with the exclusion of the other girls in the harem as she could get behind that as long as her lover was there too, made her nauseous. Concerning this man...the feeling was ten times worse.
"Come now, do as I say." He told her, eyes glowing as he altered her state of mind with a spell, one to increase her arousal to the maximum level.
It failed to take hold though, much to his chagrin. Mostly because how sick he made the young girl, as well as the fact that she was so dedicated, he called it obsessed, with her lover. And seeing as that was the case, and he could tell that, eyes glowing once more, he attempted to alter her perception of reality.
For a brief moment he succeeded, the form of Tsukune taking his place in front of the raven haired girl. Only...she saw through it in an instant. She had no immunity to his mind-alteration abilities, that said she wasn't called a genius for nothing. He could manipulate her brain all he liked, that didn't change the fact that she had far more control over it than he did. Anything he changed or blocked off, she could unchange and unblock in a matter of moments. All without the use of her magic. And even without the aid of her IQ, she would see through his charade in seconds, as long as he tried to masquerade as Tsukune that is. She knew her boyfriend far too well to be fooled by an imposter.
But still, having one's head messed with, even when it's corrected almost immediately afterwards, can really screw with someone. It would at least throw off their equilibrium for a few moments, disorienting them. Which was exactly what it did to her, which was why she failed to break away from the man again as he tried to control her.
Quickly recovering, she jerked her arm out of his grasp while simultaneously stomping on his shoe clad foot as hard as she possibly could, breaking into a run right after, rushing by him and toward the exit she had unwittingly created a minute or so ago.
"Alright then, that's fine." He said then with a sigh, seemingly very unfazed about having his foot stomped on, as well as the fact that his next little girl of choice, his prey, was trying to escape. Rather he was simply mildly bothered that his efforts to manipulate her mentally had failed. "I prefer to take what I want anyway." He added as he began following after her, a predatory grin crossing his face, taking it's spot after his previous grin had fallen away with his sigh from before.
His steady stride had him catching up to the younger magical being in a fairly short amount of time, so in an effort to not get caught again, Yukari decided to use one of the spells she had at her use. "Tarot Card Torrent!" She called out the name of her attack, having turned to face her enemy as she did, continuing to move towards the cave's newly made exit at the same time, moving backwards to accomplish this.
As the stream of paper cards came at him, Elefica failed to react, he didn't even think much of it. At worst they would leave him with some paper cuts, at best they would disintegrate upon contact with his monster energy, that is if he chose to flare it to life. It was because of this that he was caught off guard when, the thirteen year old he had set his sights on changed the direction of the flow of magic cards.
They flew around him, separating into two separate groups and hurling themselves into the fire of the torches that sparsely adorned the cavern walls, purposely lighting themselves up. And from there they came rushing back at him, ablaze and ready burn him.
Once more the threat was minimal, so it was no real big deal. That said, they could very well become an ever so aggravating nuisance if not dealt with. They could even end up singeing his clothes and hair. 'Actually, too late for that.' He thought to himself, as a few of them sliced clean through his large green jacket, causing some of it's innards to come flying out as well as causing the material to combust.
Removing his jacket swiftly so as to prevent the flames from spreading, he tossed it at some of the remaining cards, taking them out of the equation as they hit the ground and lit his now ruined jacket up even further. He then sidestepped the remaining ones, before dousing them in a blast of water that seemed to come out of nowhere with a single flick of a wrist. For good measure, he also put out the jacket fire with some water as well, leaving only soggy and burned up material afterward.
"Ooh, you are quite a feisty one aren't ya? I like that in a girl. Makes the experience of breaking them all the sweeter." El remarked, focusing in on his quarry as he did, his predatory grin widening and taking on a hint of wickedness at the same time.
Unable to help it, the young teen was incapable of quelling the welling panic within her. As not only had he just shown that he was completely able to perform magic without a wand or incantations, but by the look in his eyes she was able to discern that fact he was just playing with her. He had yet to seriously come after her...that prospect, she hated to admit, frightened her. After all, if this was just him toying with her...
"What's wrong Yukari? You look scared." He remarked further, an overwhelming sense of smug intermingling with his tone as he did.
She was indeed, her eyes wide and her grip on her wand so tight her knuckles were almost white.
"Do I scare you Yukari?" He inquired, the smugness of his tone now overwhelming. "Do you fear me?" He purposely pulsed his monster energy to the maximum in an blatant attempt to intimidate her then, a mixture of cyan and light purple blasting out across the cavern as he did this.
The feel of his power took the young witch off guard and caused her to stumble, having to come to a stop to catch herself and keep from hitting the ground, especially with having been walking backwards so as to allow herself to keep an eye on him.
Regrettably, this was all Elefica needed to prevent her escape, as while she stumbled and fought to keep her footing, he summoned three stake-like objects, seven inches in length and as thick as a regular stakes, and appeared to be made of some kind of black metal. That was about all she was able to take in about the situation, before he proceeded to shoot them at her. In turn she was forced to hit the deck, acting quickly to protect herself, so as to avoid being run through by them.
Exploiting that, he covered the dozen or so feet between him and his fellow magical being posthaste, coming around her as she got to her feet, only stopping once he was directly in the path of her, now futile, escape route, blocking her from leaving through the exit she had created inadvertently. This was done in an effort to keep her from scrambling up and out into the clearing in an attempt to flee from him. He would not allow her to get away no matter what, and she finally realized this with an unpleasant chill rushing down her spine.
"Aahh!" Came Yukari's sudden exclamation of pain, having just stood to her full height, only to be knocked back down to the ground, courtesy of El and a well placed fist to the cheek.
Instinctively, her free hand immediately covered the part of her face that had been struck, the area a combination of red and dark purple, a mildly nasty bruise already forming from the knuckles that had been driven into her cheek. She had never been struck that hard before, not physically at least, if you discounted what Tsukune had once did to her when his ghoul was getting out of control, and she refused to count that.
She had been hit with a few devastating attacks before, though spread out over two years and she was usually down for awhile afterward, so this was most definitely not the most painful thing she had experienced. Even still, getting punched was more painful than she honestly ever thought it'd be. She had gotten into some rather physical altercations with Kurumu, that was true, but the worst thing she had ever done was smack her ass too hard. So getting all but cold cocked was an entirely new concept and feeling to her.
Despite how unprepared she had been for it, and how much more it hurt than she'd ever thought it would, her eyes didn't even so much as well up. She could handle more than that, he couldn't bring her to tears so easily, nor could he stop her as easily as this. 'I will get out of here.' She assured herself.
Thoughts like that would normally harden one's resolve, however, the moment she had that said thought, propping herself up on her elbows as she did, preparing to try and get up again, the sole of her enemy's shoe was rammed directly into her face, knocking her flat out on her back once more, in turn causing her to cry out in pain. Needless to say, such a thing was why her resolve didn't receive the hardening that had been coming to it.
Getting kicked point blank in the face was new to her as well, though thankfully, while painful, did little more than give her a split lip and knock her hat off her head. Blood barely even trickled from the damaged bottom lip, still, receiving it had been far from pleasant, that was for sure. Considering it had hurt more than the punch, she was honestly surprised that was all the damage that had seemed to be done.
She was given even less time to recover than before, as El questioned rhetorically, "Tell me Yukari, a clever girl like knows what a sadist is, don't you?"
The young girl's eye widened to the max at his words, that being the only thing that could occur in the time between the man saying that, and him bringing his foot up and then down on her sternum, stomping on her chest as hard as he possibly could.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" The little girl screamed, the pain far more intense than what she had experienced with the last two attacks.
Her attacker's grin stretched across near the entirety of his face at this point, the predatory nature of it accompanied by the gleam of glee in his eyes. "Let's hear that again, shall we?"
Not half a second later, he was bringing his foot down upon her abdomen once more, a tad further down this time, stomping with great force on her solar plexus and causing her body to jerk in reaction to the trauma. This, of course, also forced another scream of acute pain from the thirteen year old, despite most of the air being expelled from her lungs by the attack. "AAAAAAHHHHH-ACKGH!" Only for it to die as she coughed on the blood that came up her esophagus and out her mouth, splashing onto her shirt, brought about by El as he ground his foot into the witch's torso so as to increase her suffering.
"Oh yeah, I can work with that." He remarked fiendishly as he removed his shoe clad foot from his victim, the look of sadistic pleasure on his face as he did disturbing to say the least.
Yukari had no intention of giving into this sick bastard, even if she was in great pain. She would fight back, her determination so great that, even now, she still had ahold of her wand. Which was glowing at this point, the girl fighting through the still present urge to curl into herself because of her pain, to cast a spell. As she did, she tried to speak the words that usually accompanied it, but a lack of oxygen at that point in time prevented them from coming out.
This meant that the only cue her fellow magical being received that she was even using magic was that her wand began to glow. He was unable to judge what kind of spell she was casting, so was therefor caught off guard as a multitude of golden washtubs began to crash down on his head, the impact of them so sudden that they actually managed to knock him to the ground, piling on top of him afterward as a dozen of them had been brought into being. "Grh!" He grunted in annoyance and surprise as this happened.
Just about jumping to her feet, she scrambled to get out of the cave, intending to use the closest exit, the one she had created, to do so. However she failed to move as swiftly as she had wanted to, as she stumbled and choked and gasped a little more thanks to being short on air, feeling somewhat lightheaded in correlation. Even still, she kept herself from collapsing, not that she was injured enough to warrant such a thing. Though the blood that still lingered in her mouth and trickled out from the corners of it, as well as the splattered portion of it on her shirt, a tid bit on her bowtie as well, kind of said otherwise.
Despite making the best of the time she had bought herself, not having looked back to reassure herself he was at her heels or spared a moment to even grab her hat, she was still unsuccessful in her endeavor of escape. As the moment she stepped foot out of the cavern, her body literally only halfway outside, she was roughly yanked back in by her hair, courtesy of none other than Elefica.
Her body colliding with his, back first, she hissed in pain at having her locks treated so roughly. His grip tight, he bunched her hair up further and jerked her head back as roughly as he could, eliciting a gasp from the girl, while at the same time he reached out with his free hand and took hold of her wand before she could fight back with another spell. Wrestling it from her, he then proceeded to throw her to the ground by his fistful of her hair.
"I have had enough of your escape attempts. It's about time I make you realize just how futile your resistance is. I will have you, no matter how much you fight it." He told her, dropping her wand to the ground and conjuring up another of the metal stakes, this one appearing in his dominant hand, his right hand.
Having landed on her front side, she had to roll over onto her back to see what he had just done, the witch having felt a flux of magical energy. Noticing the dark metal-made stake, her fear levels increased drastically. Eyes shooting to her wand, which lie not five feet from her, she moved to throw herself at it, only to be intercepted and slammed back against the ground by Elefica, who held her down from his spot on his knees.
She struggled of course, but he was much stronger than her, especially physically, so she had no chance of breaking away from him or fighting him off with her bare hands, now that he was exerting all his strength anyway.
"You aren't going anywhere little one. You'll stay right here until I'm through with you." He said, his voice suddenly a tad deeper, as he moved the stake to his left hand and used his right one to hold her right arm down and immobilize it, still keeping her to the ground like that in spite of her efforts to get away.
Knowing what he was going to do to her, both with that stake and afterward, Yukari's desperation grew by leaps and bounds. So, despite it having no chance once so ever of working, with a shout of effort, she began repeatedly ramming her dainty hand, after having curled it into a fist, into his right side of his body. Again and again she punched him in the ribs, the arm and even the head, unfortunately she was unable to muster enough strength to do any real damage. "Let go of me!" She demanded.
"Never." He replied darkly, before doing just as she had anticipated and plunging the metal stake into the flesh of her hand, running it through to the point where the sharp object ended up embedded five or so inches in the rocky ground, pinning her hand to the ground as blood flowed from the new hole in it, pooling around it.
A blood curdling scream was ripped from her throat as this new level of agony finally drew her tears out, the liquid beginning to run down her face, much to her assailant's elation. "That's the stuff." He whispered to himself huskily, as he pulled back and all but sat on his knees, taking a moment to appreciate her crying and bleeding form.
Through blurry vision because of the tears, Yukari located her wand once more, her eyes gluing themselves to the magical conduit. If she wanted to get out of this...she had to get her hands back on her wand. 'It's the only way.' She repeated in her mind.
Grim though her situation might be, she wasn't going to give up. She would not allow this to happen. She would not be made this bastard's victim. So, she began reaching out with her non-wounded hand, extending her arm as far as she can, doing her best to try and get a grasp on it. Unfortunately, it was a good two feet or so out of her reach. Even with her fingers fully extended, she was still at least a foot and a half from making the slightest contact with the object even with the tips of her fingers.
Regardless, that didn't stop her from continuing to try and grab at it, much to El's amusement, who simply sat back and watched as she squirmed and struggled to get her wand, in hopes to defend herself and get out of this situation. He simply shook his head at the futility of it.
Only, he was forced to pay more attention, as the young girl started to whimper in pain, then began letting out short yelps and whines of pain. Why was she making these noises? Because, in spite of common sense and her personal well being, she began pulling at her skewered hand, causing more damage to her flesh in the process, in an attempt to further her reach so she could hopefully manage to take hold of that wand. And in doing this, she began to close the gap, as she came within a foot of actually being able to touch it.
Needless to say, Elefica was having none of it. Getting to his feet, he came over to the wand and stamped on his prey's hand, forcing it the ground and causing her to hiss in protest and, of course, pain. "You still don't get it do you?" He questioned her, only to receive no response in return. Seeing as she wasn't going to reply, his eyes moved from her to the wand, and before the young girl could try and stop him, not that she possibly could, he used his other foot to kick it, sending it skidding across the cavern.
By the time it came to a stop it was completely across the way, roughly thirty feet from where it had been kicked from. And as it came to a stop, Yukari could only stare at it with wide eyes, her one and only way out of this, of fighting back, her only chance to get away...had just been dashed. There was no coming back from this. "No..." She whispered despairingly. Her hopes had just been crushed before her very eyes, and now...now she was completely at Elefica's mercy.
Only, he had none. she could see that all too clearly in his eyes as she looked away from her wand and at him. And as the realization that she was completely helpless set in, she became despondent, almost catatonic, her mind unwilling to believe what was about to happen to her. Taking note of this, El decided to capitalize, his eyes glowing as he took advantage of her weakness and manipulated her mind. As he did this, he chose note to press his luck, simply deepening the state she was already in, to keep her from fighting back any further.
A foot still planted on Yukari's free hand, the warlock leaned down and took hold of her bowtie and cape, before ripping them off, damaging the material of both in doing so. Tossing them aside like the garbage they now were, he then took hold of her shirt and proceeded to tear it right off her body, ruining it and exposing her from the waist up, as her breasts were still a tad too small for a bra.
She failed to react despite now being nude from the waist up, which was all the tell El needed to know that his spell had worked. His eyes gleaming with self-satisfaction, he threw the ruined shirt over to where her cape and bowtie lie. Then he removed his foot from her hand, stood up and slowly moved around her, coming to a stop when his shoe clad foot grazed against hers.
Getting down on his knees, he removed her shoes, then her stockings afterward, being none too gentle about it and damaging them in the process, leaving her legs bare. Running his hands down her soft, smooth legs, then back up again, he tried to memorize the feel. He was really getting himself worked up now, especially as he stopped slightly above her knee, then came back down again, this time raking his finger nails down her skin, leaving clear marks as he did.
While he didn't press hard enough to draw blood, it still elicited a flinch of discomfort from his new plaything. That was exactly what he desired. "That's right, lie there and take it." He told her, lust oozing from his voice, pressing his nails harder against her until he punctured her skin and drew some blood, his thumbs in particular being the fingers to accomplish this. It was a miniscule amount really, her body barely even jerked in response, regardless it turned the twenty something man on an insane amount. "You're mine to do with as I wish, you belong to me now." He stated as if fact.
"No..."
"What?" His head shot up, his eyes locking onto the face of the thirteen year old before him. He could have sworn he heard her say something, but that shouldn't have been possible. She should be just about comatose, otherwise she'd be having, obviously, a much different reaction to his ministrations than simply lying there and taking the abuse.
"I don't belong to you..." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said this.
"Excuse me?" He queried, his aggravation at her words all too clear.
"Belong...love...I love Tsukune. I belong to him...not you." That was quite the defiant statement, yet her tone lacked the same defiance. And her eyes, they were clearly vacant. And while tears still flowed from them, that was simply because she was aware of what was going on, she clearly still had no real control over her body. It was obvious that she was still under his spell.
"Just how obsessed with that fucking halfbreed are you!?" He inquired angrily. "You're under my control and yet you still speak of him!? You must be devoted to him in every way huh?!" He barked rhetorically, his anger increasing. "How sweet!" He exclaimed sarcastically.
"I love Tsukune...I am his..." She reiterated, still clearly out of it but managing to speak from the heart.
"Shut the fuck up!" Elefica growled, reaching forward and backhanding her as hard as he possibly could.
The blow left a bright red mark, but failed to bruise as his punch from before did. Not that he even noticed, as enraged by her words, he decided to move this along. He wasn't going to hold back, he was going to inflict as much pain on her as he possibly could, and he was going to take the most pleasure from her as he possibly could.
Parting her legs roughly, he slipped between them and took hold of her skirt, which he tore from her body half a moment later and flung it over to the growing pile of her ruined clothing. "There is nothing you can do now. Nothing at all. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no way to fight, there's no out for you here. You can't stop me. All you can do..." He spoke with the utmost contempt, even if he was no longer shouting at her he was still clearly pissed, as he took hold of her white, bear-print panties by the waistband, "...is lay there and take it as I violate you.", he finished, ripping them from her body with a single tug.
Suddenly, her body completely bared, completely naked, something clicked in Yukari's mind and her consciousness returned, breaking the mental manipulation spell. As it did, her blood ran cold as the reality of the situation crashed down on her, blaring throughout her being, her body flooding with terror because of it. 'He's going to rape me.' She thought with horror. Or rather...she knew.
Having already chucked the witch's panties to the side with her other articles of clothing, the older warlock bent forward to the point where he was face to face with his prey. He smiled maliciously at her, before moving lower, stopping at her chest, where he took hold of her breasts. His grip tight, he felt them as he pleased, while bringing his tongue out and licking the valley, if you could call it that, between them.
Revulsion consumed the young girl as the depraved man touched her, genuinely feeling like she might hurl all over the place. The feeling was so overwhelming that she failed to notice the pain as he began to dig his nails into the sensitive flesh of her tiny breasts, the pressure he exerted as he did threatening to break skin and draw blood from her. His touch repulsed her endlessly...it disgusted her in every way possible...it was far worse than any physical damage he had inflicted on her. She would take the feeling of agony over this anyday.
Although the spell had indeed been broken, Yukari remained stock still as the man that she now hated most in the world groped her. It was more out of paralyzing fear than anything, but while that may have stopped her body, it didn't stop her tears from flowing faster or her objections and protests on the matter. "No...stop..." She sobbed, her hope having died awhile ago.
El didn't heed her words of course, simply moving back up to her face to flash her that rather demented smile of his again, before moving to the side of her neck, the same side Tsukune had fed from not long ago. Pressing his teeth to her neck, he prepared to bite her, his intent to bring blood clear.
However, as he did this, the feeling of his teeth on the same spot Tsukune had bitten into her before, the repugnance she felt was joined by feelings of guilt and shame that someone besides Tsukune was touching her like this, that someone was going be inside her and take pleasure in her body that wasn't her ghoul lover. Tsukune's image at the front of her mind, these feelings twisted themselves around inside her gut, increasing the rate of her tears even further. She knew deep in her heart that Tsukune wouldn't even consider the notion, hell he'd admonish her for just thinking it, but that didn't stop her from feeling that after this...she would be unclean, unworthy of his physical affection. Her insides would be tainted by another...
These thoughts caused something to snap inside the young girl, as her fight or flight instinct kicked into overdrive. "NO! NO, NO, NO! STOP IT!" She cried at the top of her lungs, lashing out with her left hand, ramming her knuckles into the side of Elefica's face with all the might she had, while at the same time pulling her legs back, away from him, so that he was no longer in between them.
Caught off guard by the blow, El's head nearly jerked from the force. It hadn't done much damage, but it had certainly dazed the man, even if it wasn't enough to prevent him from intercepting her next punch, catching her fist in his right hand and locking it there with a tight grip. "Why you little-" He began to exclaim, moving his free hand to grab her by the throat, only to have the wind knocked out of him, as Yukari kicked forward with both legs after having drawn them back, driving her feet into his gut with all the force she could muster.
"UGHCK!" He gasped as the air was forcefully expelled form his lungs, causing his grip to slacken as he fought from doubling over from the pain that came with the attack he had just received.
Making use of this moment, Yukari wrenched her fist from the warlock's grasp, then used it deliver another strike, decking him straight in the face, her knuckles slamming square into the center of his face.
Recoiling from the hit, the twenty something hissed in pain and aggravation. He received little more than a half second to recover though, as the young girl he pinned beneath him moments ago pulled her legs back once more, then shot them forward into his chest, double kicking him dead-on into each side of his ribcage. The girl lacked the strength to truly do some damage of course, however, the kick was just enough to knock the man down, landing on his back with a thud from the dual kick to the sternum. Which bought the young witch time, even if only a little.
Putting that little time to good use, the thirteen year old reached over and took hold of the metal stake used to pierce and immobilize her right hand, making sure her grip was tight as she did. She had to do this fast, otherwise her attempt would be in vain, as she would soon be subdued once more.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in her left hand, having damaged it on Elefica's face, she began to tug at the metal object in hopes of removing it from her flesh.
First pull, nothing. The stake failed to budge even a fraction of an inch.
Second pull, still nothing. It was buried good and deep, not only in her flesh, but also in the ground below it. it didn't want to move.
Third pull, pain. The stake finally began to react, wiggling a little as she tried to remove it, in doing so it lit her nerves on fire. The feeling of metal grazing against muscle tissue and bone wasn't pleasant to say the very least. Wincing from the attempt, she continued trying to dislodge it regardless.
Fourth pull, real movement. A half inch of the stake was removed from her flesh and exposed to the open air again, painted crimson because of her blood of course. It was only half an inch though, she still had a ways to go. Especially so since that half inch lit her pain receptors up, the ones in her hand at least, like the fourth of July.
Fifth pull, another inch. A full inch was extracted this time, it coming up bathed in the red life liquid known as blood as well. An entire inch was good progress, but it didn't come without it's consequences, as Yukari yelped loudly in pain. The yank she gave the stake to get an inch out also caused her immense pain, as her hand was damaged even further because of having the metal object pulled through her skin and muscle tissue.
Sixth pull, two inches. The majority of the stake was now out, coated in the ruby red substance that flowed through every person's body. A flash of intense pain had accompanied this progress obviously, as there was no way around it. Even still, after a squeal of pain, the witch grit her teeth and prepared to force the rest out. Just one more good heave would do the trick...
Unfortunately, the young girl ran out of time. As while she prepared to finally fully extract the stake, Elefica had recovered and was now standing over her, his eyes dark with rage. And the moment she noticed this, without warning, he dropped his foot down on the stake, driving it down through her hand and into the ground once more, burying it even deeper this time in the process. In doing this a sickening squelching sound came from her hand, the blood flow from the wound increasing as a result.
The agony the feeling of the metal stake rushing back down through her flesh and into the ground, to an even deeper degree this time, invoked was great. So much so that she was unable to prevent herself from shrieking at the top of her lungs, her pain vocalized to a degree that it almost made her throat hurt.
With a single stomp he had not only erased the progress she had made, but also made it even harder to accomplish the feat she had sought out to. As the stake was now so deeply imbedded in the ground and her flesh, that the part that stuck out of her palm was barely big enough to take hold of with one's thumb and index finger.
Not wasting anytime, El retracted his foot and conjured another stake, this one materializing in his right hand just as the one before did. Dropping to his knees over her, he took her by her left arm and forced it flat on the ground on the other side of her, so as to keep her arms separate and spread. Lifting the stake high, he prepared to bring it down, able to do so despite her struggling.
"GET OFF OF ME! I WON'T LET-I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS!" She cried out as she fought, bringing her right leg back and shooting it forward, kicking her assailant hard in the face.
However, her resistance proved futile, as the kick did hit, and it hit hard because of her incredible desperation, but it also did little more than cause the man's head to jerk from the force of the blow. His grip on her didn't falter, nor was he knocked over, he maintained his position over her in spite of the hit to the face.
Turning his head back to look at her once more, he was scowling deeply. Spitting out the bit of blood that had accumulated in his mouth from the blow, it barely missing his victim's face, he moved his right leg and used it to pin her left leg down, making sure to apply as much pressure as he could to hurt her. Then he simply returned to his task of skewering her left hand, tightening his grip on her arm as he did and digging his nails into her sensitive skin as he did.
Ignoring the pain that was racking up thanks to her attacker, Yukari continued to fight him with the only limb of hers that still had free reign, her right leg. Pulling back and shooting forward, she kicked him dead off in the chest, then pulled back and went at him again, kicking him hard in the gut. She would continue to kick him as hard as she possibly could in the abdomen, hoping to get him off of her once more.
It didn't work out like that though, as while the kicks did harm the cyan eyed man to a degree, he was too determined, too set on harming her in turn, and was overall just too strong for her to stop him. So the kicks did slow him down, but he was not stopped altogether, as he raised the stake once more and was only a second away from using it on her.
She struggled further of course, kicking him as hard and as fast as she could, at the same time trying to wrench her arm from his hold. It was all for nothing though, as he brought the stake racing down toward her palm.
Eyes wide as wide could be, she knew that if he got that stake in her, it really would be all over. She had to stop him. "I SAID I WON'T LET YOU!" She proclaimed as loud as she possibly could, her magical energy spiking dangerously high once more.
Time seemed to slow, as Yukari's tear clouded eyes once again sought out her wand, her purple orbs locking onto the magical conduit. 'I need my wand! I need it right now! Without it, it's all over! I have to have it! I HAVE TO!' She thought frantically, a burning desire to take hold of it and use it to defend herself raging within.
Without warning, a dome of transparent blue magical energy just big enough to encompass it, materialized into existence around the wand. Despite not knowing what that dome was or how it had come to be, Yukari simply focused on her wand dwelling within, closing her eyes tight as she willed it with all her being to come to her.
In the blink of an eye the wand vanished from within the dome, then reappeared without delay in it's owner's free hand, glowing brighter than ever before as it did. The light that radiated from it was so bright in fact, that it actually inflicted damage on Elefica's retinas as they were exposed to it, the sudden pain of which caused him to rear back and hiss and curse, which also foiled his attempt to pin his quarry's hand down with the stake he held.
Not willing to waste even a moment of the time she had just been granted, the little witch's eyes shot open as she lifted her left arm, now able to do so since it was no longer being held down, and thrust her wand out at her enemy. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She hollered, forcing all of her energy out through her wand, in hopes of doing away with him, or at least getting him away from her for good.
The form the spell she cast took was similar to that of her energy ball from before, only this time it was much more concentrated, as it's shape was much more akin to a long, sharp bullet, and exuded power to an even higher degree. And as it was discharged from her wand, it's potency was not in question, once it hit it would obliterate it's target without fail, there was no doubt about that.
Events rarely happen as foreseen however, this instance was no exception.
The very same moment the energy bullet was fired off, Elefica, who had regained his sight at this point, threw himself to the side to evade it, dodging the attack entirely...or at least mostly. As while he did avoid taking the brunt of the technique, it did manage to graze him, leaving a trail wound across the right side of his face, leading from the cheek all the way to the back of his head, blood oozing from the relatively shallow injury. It looked like someone had burrowed a trench across the right side of his head, and while it wasn't life threatening in any regard, the pain it must have inflicted was undeniable, it looking as nasty as it felt.
Curses were thrown out in streams by the injured warlock, also accompanied by shouts of agony when he tried to inspect the wound. At the same time, the energy bullet went soaring out of the cavern through the exit, but soon fizzled out as the magic had been short-term and had only even come to life because of copious amounts of desperation and adrenaline.
Worst of all, that had been the very last of Yukari's reserves. Not a drop of magical energy remained. She was already panting hard because of this. Not that she noticed, as she gazed disbelievingly after where her spell had went and dissolved at. She couldn't believe it, her last chance, her last hope, gone. All because the vile man next to her had the foresight to get the hell out of the way. "No...no...how could it...just miss...?" She wondered desolately between breaths.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" El cried, enraged by the damage that had been inflicted upon his person.
A single moment to react, all the thirteen year old was able to do was look to the raging mad man, before he slammed her head down into the ground, causing her to yelp in pain. At the same time, he took hold of her wand, snatching it from her and proceeding to snap the thing in half. Throwing it to the ground afterward, he went on to shatter the figure head of a star within a heart with a single stamp of his foot. "Let's see you use that damn thing now!" He barked angrily.
It seemed it had all been in vain, as Elefica took his place over her once again, pinning her free arm down, overpowering her even as she fought as hard as she could. All her efforts had done was delay the inevitable apparently, as just a few moments after, the second metal stake was poised to strike down on her, just as it had before.
Nothing preventing it this time, the stake came down and was sunk almost all the way down into and through her hand and into the ground below it, eliciting a wail of agony from the young girl as this happened. Blood draining from her wound and pooling around her hand, the witch was now rendered incapable of using either of her hands, both nailed to the ground.
"I have no clue how you did that, nor do I even care at this point. But now you are completely unable to do anything else to-" Head jerking from a kick to the jaw, the twenty something's sentence was cut off.
"GET OFF OF ME!" She yelled at him, continuing to kick him as she did, not giving up on the fight no matter how bad things got. She knew she no longer had any chance of escape, she also knew she was probably just making things worse on herself at this point...but her mind just kept coming back to Tsukune and her feelings for him. Her tears just kept coming, as her assailant began to fend off her kicks. It was only a matter of time... "NO! NO, NO, NO! NO, NO, NO NO, NO!"
She was forcibly shut up, as the cyan eyed man popped her in the mouth with a quick punch, before taking hold of her legs and forcing them down against the ground. "I can make you stay still little one, it's no problem!" He snarled at her, his magical energy fluctuating as he summoned magical bindings, made of pure monster energy. They locked her legs to the ground without being cumbersome and could be manipulated by the one who conjured them. While highly convenient, convenience rarely mattered to a sexual sadist, which was why he didn't employ them for her hands.
That handled, Elefica prepared to get to the main event, after delivering a couple more blows to his young victim of course. None of them did all that much damage, though fresh blood did fill her mouth, which she spat out, tears running down her face like a waterfall all the while.
Tracing lines down her naked body with his fingernails, the pure lust that exuded from the warlock was almost palpable, which was sickening to the target of his actions. He knew that all too well, he also knew his ministrations caused more than just discomfort, especially as he would take time to puncture her skin with his nails every few seconds or so, drawing a tiny bit of blood again and again, getting it dribbling from the miniscule wounds he would inflict. He was purposely tormenting her, as he drew ever closer to her womanhood, forcing her to agonize over when it was coming. That was what she dreaded most, he knew it all too well. And it all just served to arouse him further, proven true by the bulge in his jeans.
His arousal would only be heightened, as the young girl finally began sobbing. She had let out a few here and there, but they had been restrained, now, she was on the tipping point. She was just another push or two from breaking down completely, he knew that, he craved that, he relished in that. "Stop...please..." She whimpered.
Continuing his way downward, now at her navel, he tasted her skin once more, making sure she felt his tongue inside her belly-button. In doing this, he didn't even pretend to heed her words. "Please...stop..." She reiterated with a snivel.
Ignoring her, he brought his tongue out and licked all around her navel, before pulling back. "Stop, stop, stop!"
Moving his hands to her thighs, he pushed her legs apart so he could get between them, only to be denied as she closed her legs, pushing them together as tightly as she possibly could, doing so even in spite of the magical restraints, to prevent him from getting at her sex. "STOP! PLEASE JUST STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU, STOP IT!" She cried desperately, weeping uncontrollably as she pleaded with him.
"Scream and cry all you want, no one will hear you, no one will come to save you. Nothing can stop this now." He asserted atrociously, scowling nastily at her as he did.
"Now, stop denying me what I desire." He told her, as he forced her legs apart, revealing her quim to his eyes.
Sniffling as she tried to form words, the young witch blinked some of the tears away and spoke a name, "Tsukune..."
"What was that?" He inquired venomously, eyes returning to her face.
"Tsukune will save me...I know he will. He'll find me...and when he does, he's going to kill you." She declared with unwavering faith and certainty, defiance in her eyes as she dared to look him in the face. Her terror, hate and revulsion were still all too clear, just now defiance and faith that she would be avenged had been added to her feelings, as she realized it was only a matter of time before her lover arrived to save her. Question was...would he arrive in time?
In a single, swift movement, El was face to face with Yukari, his right hand wrapped tightly around her neck, squeezing her throat to the point where she couldn't get even the slightest bit of oxygen into her lungs, at the same time digging his nails into her skin and drawing blood. Meanwhile, he had moved his right knee up and planted it in her in the lowest part of her abdomen, grinding it between her navel and her pelvis, hoping to do even more harm to her. "Listen here you little fucking cunt, I have heard enough about that damned Tsukune!" He began. his ire flaring to the max, having to speak through grit teeth in his rage. "I brought you here to quench my desire, to have a little fun with your body, it was nothing personal. But now...oh now, it couldn't get more personal." He informed her.
"At every turn you brought him up, even used him to fight my specialty mind spells...you made him apart of this when it was just about you and I. For that I am going to enjoy every ounce of the pain I inflict on you, and even when I don't, I'm going to hurt you some more anyway, just because you've pissed me off so much." He spat.
"In fact, since you rubbed your love for that bastard in my face so much, I'm going take things a step further than I usually would. You hold him in such high regard and want to keep your body untouched by anyone but him, I know you do, I could see it when I cast that spell on you. You would feel boundless shame and guilt that someone else had been inside you, so much so that you wouldn't even be able to look him in eye, would you!?" He queried rhetorically, near shouting in anger.
She couldn't respond even if she had wanted to, struggling to breathe when oxygen had no hope of finding purchase with the way her circulation was being cut off.
"Since that's the case, I'm going to violate you. I'm going to fuck every orifice you have and fill you with my essence. I'm going to make it where he will always know that I had you in every way imaginable. I'm going to use you and abuse you like my own personal cocksleeve. I'm going to desecrate your insides every way imaginable, defile you to the point where no one will want to touch you. When I'm through with you, everyone will know that you're used goods, that you've been tainted. I am going to make damn sure that when I'm done with you, that your precious Tsukune will never so much as be able to look at you again without recoiling in disgust." He growled in her face wickedly.
As her eyes welled up to the maximum with fresh tears, thick with sorrow, he failed to feel even the slightest bit of remorse for what he was going to do. Her tear stained face meant nothing to him, nor did her newer tears. Removing his hand from her throat, he moved back down to her legs, forcing them apart once more, positioning himself between them so she couldn't keep him from getting at her pussy.
Breaking down, Yukari became an incomprehensible mess, sobbing so hard that her entire body shook, racked by pure despair. Anything she said was unintelligible because of how hard she was crying, as he had hit the nail on the head, that was what she dreaded the most. She would do anything to stop this from happening, but honestly, what could she do?
Unable to stop him, El finally got to her sacred spot, parting the lips of her vagina to examine her insides, simply for the eroticism of it, to turn himself on further. The feeling of his hands on her sex, it filled her with repulsion, made her skin crawl and made her want to vomit.
Grinning a vile, monstrous grin, Elefica pulled back and unzipped his jeans, freeing his manhood. "Now it's finally time."
Filled with anguish and heartbreak, Yukari closed her eyes tight, not wanting to see what was about to happen to her, while at the same time wanting for nothing more in the world than for this to go away, to not happen. "Tsukune, I'm so sorry. I beg you...forgive me."
...
Suddenly, the young witch realized the horrid man had yet to penetrate her, hell, he had yet to so much as touch her again. But what on Earth could have kept him from seizing the opportunity to do so? He had titillated himself by harming her and had stripped her down, yet here she was, completely defenseless, and he had yet to so much as touch her with his manhood.
Daring to open her eyes, she quickly realized why he had yet to make good on his threats and promises to defile her. Why? Because there, standing in the opening of the cavern she had created, was Tsukune, eyes wide and completely stupefied.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear..."El remarked with annoyance, zipping his pants up and putting away his genitalia.
Tsukune stood there, his holy lock glowing but failing to transform him, eyes wide. his mind working overtime to make sense of what he was seeing, unable to comprehend it, at least momentarily. He had arrived only moments ago, just in time to hear Yukari ask for his forgiveness and see Elefica prepare to penetrate her, only to pull back before even making contact when he noticed the ghoul. His brain was like two gears mashing together, their lack of synchrony making the teen unable to process the scene before him, for a few seconds at least. Which was why he failed to react.
However, Yukari's injuries, all the blood and tears, it said it all and then some. It was a truly heartrending scene for the young ghoul. He had just come upon an attempted rape, Elefica had been only moments away, if that, from raping Yukari. That was so unfathomably heinously depraved to the seventeen year old, that he failed to wrap his head around it.
That all changed when Yukari whimpered his name, "Tsukune..."
With that everything fell into place in Tsukune's mind, and he snapped. White hot fury flooding his veins, he instantly transformed into his ghoul state, as he let out an Earth shattering, completely inhuman and terrifying roar. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
As he bellowed furiously, his fangs on display as he did, looking menacing, monster energy rolled off of him in waves. It flooded the cavern ten times over, overflowing and streaming out into the clearing as it did, consuming everything in a blast of the darkest red imaginable in doing so. At the same time, his fangs seemed to lengthen a tad and become more prominent, his nails doing the same by extending a bit and taking on the sharpness of claws, akin to Inner Moka's. All the while his pupils did some changing of their own, as they morphed into slits, once more akin to Inner Moka's. Finally, the black vein-like patterns on the right side of his neck and face began to spread, only stopping once the longest of the tendrils touched the teen's right eye socket, though two others came close, and the bottom ones lie over the right side of his collarbone. Overall, they covered more of the right side of his face and neck than before as well.
The overwhelming power would suffocate those too weak to stand it, and yet, the red energy, instead of assaulting the senses of the young witch and harming her, seemed to almost cradle her protectively. That wasn't the case with the warlock though, as the pulse of pure power not only brought him to his knees, very clearly attacking him by the way the red focused on battering him, but also had his senses failing him, and also forced him to fight to remain conscious.
Ears ringing, vision blurring, strength fading, consciousness waning, El was completely crippled by the released monster energy. He was utterly incapable of putting up the slightest bit of resistance in this state, hell, he wasn't even capable of speech. He was no longer the slightest bit of threat to anyone or anything, he was thoroughly subdued.
But Tsukune just didn't give a fuck, as the moment his enraged cry came to an end, he surged forward at incomprehensible speed and smashed El's face in with a mighty strong right straight, the man's face contorting and deforming, almost sinking in on itself, his face nearly giving way to the force behind the fist.
The blow took the twenty something off his feet, or knees, and sent him soaring backwards deeper into the cavern, until he came to a crashing halt, slamming into the cave wall and ending up deeply imbedded into it, creating a body-sized impression in the rock.
Growling, the ghoul moved to follow after the warlock, only to come to an immediate halt as his name was spoken again, "Tsukune..."
Eyes locking onto the source of the voice immediately, he once more saw Yukari pinned down, her hands surrounded by big blood puddles because of their skewered state, nasty bruises on her face, blood trickling from both corners of her mouth as well as her bottom lip, red streaks of life liquid across her neck and torso, some running down her legs as well, not to mention the additional bruises on her arms from being gripped tightly and the ones on her abdomen where she had been stomped on. All in all, she was a wreck. Then of course was her tear soaked face, the waterworks having yet to stop, and her wide, shimmering eyes.
Being reminded of her presence kept him from giving into his bloodlust and urge to rip the man apart completely, it kept him in a state of mind akin to that of his normal self, not that it cooled the flame of vengeance roaring inside him at all. Merely it kept him from losing it entirely, as making sure she was okay was more important than revenge. Another reason her presence kept him from rushing at and tearing the warlock limb from limb, was that he wanted nothing to do with exposing her to the carnage that would ensue after he got his hands on that scum, of the carnage that he was capable of.
Knowing that the bastard El wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, the transformed Tsukune changed direction and headed toward Yukari, the girl only a foot from his position. To call him intimidating would be an understatement with his demonic aura and growing monstrous appearance, the thirteen year old watching him intently with wide eyes as he came down to her level. "Tsukune..." She spoke his name once again, her voice still thick with sorrow, as her tears still failed to dry.
Failing to react to her utterance of his name, he put his left hand on the monster energy leg restraints, which he quickly disintegrated with his own monster energy. Then came her skewered hands. Starting with her left hand, he carefully removed the metal stake, tossing it violently to the side once it was out of her flesh. Understandably, she winced in pain as he removed the metal from her flesh, even in spite of how gently he did so. Right hand next, he repeated his actions, pulling the stake from the ground and her flesh, then throwing it aside.
"Tsukune..." She repeated his name, getting to her knees as she did, cringing in pain when doing so, her voice thick with sadness but also thick with several other emotions as well, disbelief among the whirlwind of feelings.
Once more he didn't regard her voicing of his name, as he removed his tie and tore it half. Using the now ruined article, he bound her wounded hands in an attempt to stop any further bleeding. "Stay here." He commanded softly afterward, removing his jacket as he did and placing it around her, so she would no longer have to be nude, as well as to keep her from getting cold, as it was rather chilly.
Grasping it with both hands tightly, she pulled at the material, using the too big for her jacket to cover her entire body from the neck down, nodding her head as she did to let him know she would do as she had been told. Honestly, she was in shock and could do very little else. She had yet to even truly comprehend the fact that she had been saved, her mind near shattered from the harrowing experience that she had just been through. It was psychologically scarring to say the least...
Standing from his crouched position, the ghoul turned back toward the all but incapacitated Elefica, and, eyes narrowing, began to make his way toward him. The front half of the warlock's skull was riddled with gaping cracks, having nearly caved in from the force of the punch he took to the face, several of his teeth had been knocked out, filling his mouth with blood as a result, his nose had been broken, ribbons of the red life substance trickling from his nostrils because of this, so in short, he was completely messed up. Which was why he barely managed to retain the mental faculties needed to realize the danger he was in, as the lover of his intended victim strode toward him.
Barely was far from unable though, so as his enemy drew closer he prepared to cast a spell. He would use the time it would buy him to get out of the indentation of his body that had been created in the wall, and then he would really go on the offensive. Only...it didn't quite work out like that...
Lunging forward, Tsukune took hold of El by his face before he knew what was happening, pulling him forward by the grasp he had on his head, then slammed him back into the rocky wall of the cavern, busting the back of his head open, deepening his indentation, the head part at least, wrecking more of the cave and causing him to yell in pain. He didn't just do this once either, as he pulled the man forward by his face, then rammed his head into the rocky interior again, then he pulled him forward and did it again, then again, and again and again and again, the tempo of the violent action increasing every time.
After a dozen or so times of bashing his head in and off of the rock wall, the ghoul opted to move his hand up and take hold of the warlock by his locks of blue hair, able to just barely get a good handful. And rather than slam his head into the wall again, if you could even still consider it that with the state it was in all cracked up and looking like a broken mural, he proceeded to yank El out of the indentation in the hard rock and toss him roughly to the ground, the twenty something rolling several feet as his body hit it.
As the teen followed after the cyan eyed man, said man began struggling to get to his feet. While it was true that nothing below his neck had been damaged, the punishment his cranium had taken was enough to kill any human a thousand times over, and any monster, including your standard S-class, ten times over, so it was understandable that he was feeling woozy. Besides, head trauma had a way of disorienting a person.
Elefica was the third subdivision leader of Fairy Tale, he was not known for being weak. Though a simple warlock, he was stronger than many a S-class monster. His tenacity, underhandedness, power, and intelligence was what had allowed him to become such a prominent member of his organization. He would not be taken down so easily. Especially considering how his superior, the third division leader, his mistress, had toughened him up even further once he was assigned as her subordinate. He would not simply roll over and die like a dog, he would fight. And if he had anything to say about it, he'd win too.
Now on his feet, an influx of magical energy could be felt, his monster energy exuding from him, but failing to overtake his enemy's, as he prepared to cast a spell. With flicks of both his wrists, large streams of water burst forth from the air and blasted toward the more than human teen. The pressure of these sprays was a thousand times stronger than that of a fire truck hose, more than strong enough to break through steel with ease. Yet, even as the torrents of liquid met the ghoul head on, the impact was negligible at best. They hit their mark, but really only managed to caused him to skid back a foot, if that.
It was hard to say they did anything more than push him back, even to El, as the teen continued toward the warlock as if nothing had happened, in spite of the fact that the average monster would have had their head pulverized into mush after being hit by those streams of water. And as he came closer, his eyes full of pure unadulterated hate, bored into the blue haired man. They promised death, that was certain, it was just a matter of the ghoul getting his hands on him.
Cursing in frustration, the twenty something jumped several feet backward, before throwing both his hands out toward his target, palms open, magical energy flowing through him as he conjured another attack. This attack took the form of a hundred dark-metal stakes, forming into existence all around him, left, right, above and below, the objects suspended in the air, none of them so much as touching the rock around them, whether it be the ground, ceiling or walls. Considering the size of the cavern, that was something of note.
Tsukune apparently found no cause for concern, as he continued his stride toward the older man.
"DIE!" The warlock cried, firing off the stakes at his adversary in rapid succession, multiple coming at the same time, some delayed, some right behind, some with a foot of space between, the path of them not as predictable as one would expect, besides the fact of who they were aimed at that is.
As the stakes came shooting at him, the ghoul didn't pay them the slightest bit of attention, his demonic eyes focused solely on the summoner of the projectiles. They were meant to kill, maim, wound, and impede, however, they did none of those things. In spite of the limited space of movement, the room available hazardous considering the situation regardless of the fact that the cavern was relatively large, not a single one of the sharp objects hit their intended mark.
How could that be? Not all of them had the right trajectory and missed completely, others were evaded by Tsukune as he would tilt his head to the side to cause one to miss, quickstep to the right or left to cause others to miss, or in some cases, would simply let out a extremely close range pulse with his monster energy and disintegrate the metal weapons. Through this process, eventually all the stakes had been routed. Many were left over, only a fourth having been disintegrated into nothingness, but they were all now imbedded in the walls and ground, and some in the ceiling as well.
It was a pathetic attempt compared to Elefica's usual level of combat performance, he was all too aware of that. More than a fourth of the stakes had missed the intended target entirely, and the confined space they were in should have made it impossible to dodge more than a dozen or so of the projectiles anyway, yet still not a single one had hit their fixed mark. It was downright incompetent, and that drove the cyan eyed man nuts. But it was to be expected, as when one is consumed with panic and fear, can you truly expect them to perform well?
Yes, El was afraid. The demonic energy the ghoul was putting out, the promise of demise in his eyes, the rage that radiated from his seemingly calm exterior, it all frightened him to the core. And that vexed him greatly, as he had never been scared of anyone in his life. Admittedly he had met individuals who were capable of wiping him from existence with a simple blink of the eye, Madara for example, however he had never felt fear toward them. He would be instilled with a sense of great respect, Madara was one of the few exceptions, but otherwise would simply make sure to obey them as needed and simply stay out of their way as much as possible, for the sake of survival.
'So why is it different with him!?' El wondered to himself exasperatedly. He floundered mentally for the answer, simply standing there as the one who would surely kill him drew closer. Until he formed a theory, thanks to the feeling of the constant presence that was the ghoul's monster energy as it pulsed once more, this time on it's own rather than of it's owner's volition.
'I'm having a hypersensitive reaction to his monster energy!' The warlock realized then. 'I don't know what's causing it, but something about his power is...disturbing to my senses, to say the least. It feels vaguely familiar, but I can't place it. And even if I could, I'm not sure it would help.' He thought to himself. 'Now comes the question of how I get around it's effects.'
While the monster energy itself wasn't causing him to be afraid, at least not exactly, it made the man much more susceptible to the emotion of fear. And that combined with the ghoul's appearance, strength level, hate for the warlock, and how he brushed off two of his best techniques equaled out to, what else, fear. How El would solve the problem this posed was beyond him, and he wouldn't even get the time to try and think about it further, as the seventeen year old was upon him once more.
Reaching out with his right hand, Tsukune moved to grab Elefica, only to be grabbed instead by his outstretched arm, the warlock conjuring another metal stake in an instant and pulling himself close. Not half a second was wasted, as the cyan eyed man drove the stake deep into the side of his enemy's neck, burying it six inches deep into the teen's flesh, grinning like the cat who got the canary as he did, as he had acted instantly, without thinking and scored a critical hit as a result.
However his grin quickly fell away, as Tsukune, completely stone-faced, used his free hand to take hold of the stake and yank it right out, not caring that blood sprayed from the wound as a result. Now Elefica wasn't an idiot, he knew such a thing alone wouldn't kill a vampire, but it should have done a hell of a lot more than that, he thought so at least. He'd killed a vampire or two, and that had them staggering and cursing up a storm, not to mention hollering in agony. It was a stake to the neck, usually people don't just brush something like that off.
But that was exactly what the ghoul did, the wound healing and closing already, cutting off the spray of liquid, as he threw the bloody stake aside, not caring where it landed since he didn't throw it in his youngest lover's direction. And as he did all El found himself capable of doing was staring at him, completely flabbergasted.
He was snapped out of it though, as his younger adversary reached out to take hold of him with his free hand. In close quarters like this, extreme close quarters, he had only a single moment to react, and fear coursing through him, he did the only thing he could think of that might be able to help him at this point.
The blue haired man's eyes began to glow brightly, calling on all of the magical energy he had left, he looked straight into his opposition's eyes and attempted to manipulate his mind in hopes of, at the very least, getting him to direct his palpable amounts of rage on someone or something else. At first he met with resistance, but that was to be expected as he had said it himself, the teen held a strong immunity to mental manipulation. However, after several seconds of struggle, he managed to accomplish the task of penetrating the teen's thoughts. And as he did this, the ghoul came to a complete stop, his hand wrapped around the magical being's neck but failing to exert any pressure. The twenty something would have grinned in triumph, if it didn't hurt so fricking much to do so.
Unfortunately for him, his attempt backfired, as while he did gain access to the seventeen year old's brain, a phenomenon occurred that, until now, had only happened to him twice before, once with his mistress, and again with Madara. Instead of reading his target's thoughts and looking at their memories and using them to make their feelings malleable, the target instead gained access to his mind as well, and therefor his thoughts and memories, or at least the ones from the last twenty four hours. Now usually the worst part of this meant that he would be unable to control his intended mark, however in this case, the fact that his mark experienced his life for the last day was much, much worse. Why? Because that meant that the ghoul had just had his mind flooded with the memories of what El had been doing to Yukari since taking her captive. All the warlock's sadistic actions and words, Yukari's struggles, screams of agony and desperate pleas for him to stop, every injury inflicted, each tear cried, each drop of blood spilled, he experienced all of it in excruciatingly vivid detail, the sights, sounds and even the feeling of touching the thirteen year old through the older man's perspective burned into his mind.
Quickly breaking the connection was pointless at this point, but Elefica did it anyway in panicked reaction, his experience in seeing someone else's memories keeping him from feeling the disruption in his equilibrium that came with it, while the ghoul staggered backward a little, the warlock letting go of his arm so it could happen, having never had his senses assaulted with sights, sounds and feeling like that, as the case with Kurumu had been a lot slower and the runtime of her memories had been shorter as well. It also didn't all get crammed into his head in the span of a few seconds like in this instance.
He recovered in less than a moment though, righting his position, his body shaking, trembling from all that he had seen. He knew what he had walked in on...what he had arrived just in time to stop from happening, but now...now he knew the full extent of what this filth had done to the young girl, the torment he had put her though, the endless physical, psychological and emotional pain he had inflicted upon her. It sickened him to the very core. He was ablaze with boundless fury without knowing all the details, but now...it was like someone threw a tanker's worth of gasoline on the fire. And there was about to be one hell of an explosion...
Monster energy flowed from Tsukune in massive amounts, even more so than before, evidence of this being the visibility of it from it's uber dark crimson color as it gushed from his being, crashing over the occupants of the cave in giant waves and spilling outside in turn. His head down as his body continued to tremble and shake in anger, he spoke, "You..." His voice was filled with such venom, such disdain, such hatred, that it sent chills down the spines of anyone within earshot.
Something strange began to occur then, as when the ghoul spoke his energy spiked higher, and as it rose, the torches adorning the walls began to flicker, to such a degree in fact that they almost went out completely before coming back to life each time.
Head shooting up, his face came into view once more, his visage twisted with rage and hate, fangs bared, his eyes the darkest they had ever been. Not a single speck of the kind and gentle Tsukune was within those ominous and dangerous orbs. And yet...it seemed as if his ghoul side, the one who usually accompanied such a transformation like this, was nowhere to be found. That just might have been the most disturbing thing about it...
"You loathsome!" He began, taking a step forward as he did, the flame of the torches flickering at the same time. "Vile! Despicable!" He continued, moving another two steps in the meantime, the fire to light the area around them flickering in time with these steps. "Twisted!" Another step and another flicker. There was no doubt about it, whatever it was that was nearly putting out the torches was directly related to the ghoul.
El whipped his head all about, eyes wide as wide could be as the light that allowed visibility continuously came close to going out. "Wha-what's going on? What are you doing!? How are you doing it!?"
"SICK FUCK!" The vampiric teen finished, pivoting forward as he did and taking hold of Elefica's throat, gripping it tight and lifting him upward, the flames of the torches threatening to go out with a particularly harsh flicker as it happened.
Tsukune had hefted the warlock roughly three feet into the air and off the ground, causing him to dangle uselessly in the air as he struggled to free himself from the hold on his throat, hands locked around his opponent's wrist and forearm, using all the strength he had to pull at it and free himself from the teen's grasp. It was of no use obviously, as there he stayed, suspended in the air while kicking his legs, beginning to choke as his lungs were deprived of oxygen.
The torches then began to flicker at a rapid rate as the enraged ghoul began to speak once more, "I am going to make you pay for what you did to her! Every touch, every injury, every tear she cried, every drop of her blood you spilled, I'm going to make you pay for all of it! ALL OF IT! You will suffer just as she did! You will experience first hand the terror and agony she was forced to endure at your hands! Physical, psychological, emotional, you left no damage undone! For that...for what you did to her...YOU WILL FEEL MY WRATH!" Tsukune cried ferociously, the emotion flooding his body putting the white hot fury from before to shame. And in that instant, the fire of the torches died, finally snuffed out, causing the cavern to be consumed in darkness, save for the trickles of light that came from the moon, said light coming in from the vaporized wall, or where it once was.
Yukari's breath caught in her throat as the almost unnatural dark took hold of everything around her, clutching at her lover's jacket even tighter than before as this happened, to make her feel a little safer. The feel of it on her skin and his scent that accompanied it made her feel better, even if only a little. And right now, she needed such a thing desperately.
She had, up till now, been watching everything in silence, unable to tear her eyes away from her lover even if she had wanted to, not that she did. His presence was the only thing that was keeping her from closing in on herself and breaking down, as she had yet to reconcile the fact that he was here with the fact that she had been saved, in other words, she was unable to reconcile with reality, for now at least.
And now that she could no longer see him, panic and terror began to set in once more. She was utterly terrified that, at any moment, El would be upon her once more, and that this time...no one would be able stop him. The light streaming in didn't help in the slightest, as it barely even broached the darkness, only illuminating enough to where the witch could just barely see her own hands, and that was only if they were in front of her face. Because of this, her paranoia was kicked into overdrive. Which was why it was understandable that her heart and breathing rate picked up speed, to such a degree in fact that she began to hyperventilate.
"TSUKUNE, WHERE ARE YOU!?" She cried out then, horror struck, wanting nothing more than for her lover to hold her.
Only the sound of her voice was drowned out by El, as he screamed at the top of his lungs in pain, while the sound of rock breaking and being crushed was also heard at the same time. Not to mention the sound of a rather feral growl that accompanied those things.
Her eyes widened to the max at those sounds, unsure of what they meant. But while the exact details of what was occurring in the pitch black that she was sitting in were unknown, what was happening became rather clear, as more screams of intense pain came along, all belonging to the warlock. Further sounds of destruction followed, along with snarls and more growls, the one they emanated from becoming obvious at that point. And as they continued, they came quicker and quicker, less time between these noises with every passing second.
"Tsukune...!?" She repeated frantically, her sense of fear and dread too strong to dispel on her own at this point.
No response was given to the young girl, as the screams of pain continued, as well as the growls, snarls and sounds of destruction.
"TSUKUNE!?" She tried again, this time at the top of her lungs, hoping desperately for a response.
None was given, the same sounds persisting...that is, until a new sound accompanied them, a groaning sound, as well as the sound of crumbling. Then, with another scream and sound of rock being crushed, the crumbling intensified a hundredfold, as the entire cavern began to cave in on itself, everything coming apart and falling apart.
"TSUKUNE!" She called his name one last time, before everything came crashing down.
The Tsukune pursuit group, with the addition of Tamanori and Fujiko, were once more on the move. They had duked it out with the woman known as Kagura and the witches she had brought as back up until they retreated, doing so after the group proved they were too strong to be taken down, even if their opponents held the numbers advantage. Another reason for the retreat was that after a bit the woman had noticed that her fellow subordinate of Madara, Nathaniel, was nowhere to be seen. She apparently found it more important to regroup with him. Though that might have been an excuse, as the witches she had brought with her were all but getting the crap kicked out of them, and while she faired better, it was clear she didn't posses the power needed to defeat them all.
None of their minds were on such matters though, as they sprinted through the last stretch of the widely covering dead forest. The moment their opponents had fled, the two magical beings explained what happened, filling the others in on exactly what had occurred. Just a moment after they had finished, before the information could even be digested, a Earth splitting roar pierced their eardrums, all eyes widening to the fullest extent at the sound. It was so full of fury and malice, that they all felt a chill slither down their spine. What accompanied the roar, which was still going, was the feeling of Tsukune's untamed monster energy, the wicked taint within resonating to an even greater degree than ever before.
And as they all felt it, excluding Kyouko since she was unable to sense monster energy, they knew it was Tsukune, and that something horrible had happened, or was going to happen. With the exception of Tamanori and Fujiko of course, as they had never once felt their daughter's lover's monster energy. Nevertheless, they too went running with the others, knowing their daughter's friends would raise their chances of finding their daughter exponentially.
Words were not had as they all scrambled toward where the roar came from and the monster energy was emanating from, a sinking feeling in all of their guts, regardless of the fact that some knew more about what they were going to find than others. The ridiculously loud crashing sound they heard shortly afterward certainly didn't help. Almost as if the sky was reflecting the grimness of this situation, it had turned blood red along with the moon, the power of the energy Tsukune was putting out bringing it about.
Little could any of them know, even the ones who knew what such an abundance of energy Tsukune was putting out usually entailed, just how bad it would really be...
The cave had been completely leveled, the only thing remaining of it being the rock debris that were scattered about the immediate area galore. As a result, the ones who once resided in it were now exposed to the open air and the light of the blood red moon and sky, which had been turned because of a certain ghoul's copious amounts of wicked red monster energy. In turn, this meant both Tsukune and Elefica were visible to Yukari once again, and that all three were now located dead center in a wide open clearing for anyone to find.
Fifteen feet or so away from the little witch lie El, face down, completely and utterly destroyed. Ninety percent of the bones in his body, if you could see them, looked like shattered glass at this point, abrasions covered his entire form, gashes and lacerations were littered about his flesh from being dug into with his adversary's claws, blood running freely from them and down most of his body, his clothes were fucked all to hell as a result, and his breathing was so shallow it was hard to tell if he was even still alive.
As for the girl herself, she was unharmed, or rather she hadn't been harmed by the cave in. How? Even she couldn't answer that, at least not at first. But she quickly realized what it was that had protected her from the wreckage that lie all around her...
All that monster energy her lover had pumped out, unlike with the other magic user, it seemed to caress and cradle her, part of it anyway...and upon the collapse of the cave, it did even more.
What seemed almost like a cloak made of dark red energy surrounded her entire being, having taken such a shape to protect her. Eyes wide at this realization, she looked down, where she saw a rather large pile of ashes, said ashes, she concluded, were once the parts of the cave that would have landed on her.
Dissipating, the cloak deformed and faded from existence, not that it mattered much since the presence of her lover's monster energy was available in excess at the current point in time. Because of that, the thirteen year old kept relatively calm, as in she didn't look like she was going to have a psychotic break any longer, as she knew he was still here, with her.
Eyes moving about, she sought him out, finding him standing there ten or so feet from the wrecked warlock. He was stock still, almost as if waiting for something...
He was waiting for something, and that was a sign of life from Elefica. And he received it, as the blue haired man took a particularly shaky inhale of oxygen, a shaky exhale following a moment afterward. That was all that was needed, the teen beginning to move toward him.
El's eyes widened in complete horror as the sounds of footfalls reached his ears, craning his neck to look behind him from his prone position, he dared to check who it was. He already knew, but a tiny little naïve part of his brain insisted there was a chance it wasn't, it was wrong of course, as there the ghoul was, slowly approaching him.
Breathing quickening, the man unable to stop himself from so rapidly taking in oxygen out of fear, even in spite of the fact that he experienced intense pain with every inhale and exhale he performed, he began attempting to gather himself up and get on his feet. It was pointless of course, as he was nothing short of a train wreck, no amount of struggle would let him get to his feet. 'He gonna kill me...he's going to kill me!'
Not that it stopped him from trying. Fighting his all but ruined body, he forced himself up, managing to get his face off the ground before his arms gave out and came right back down, face-planting as he did so. It was truly futile, there was no chance in hell he was getting up, but he kept at it regardless, too afraid of what might happen to him if he didn't get away from here. 'I have to get away, I have to! And I've got to do it now!' He thought to himself.
It was because of that, Tsukune drawing ever closer, that he decided 'fuck it' and forced himself onto all fours, almost collapsing once more as he did. Limbs shaking, he began to crawl away from what was most certainly his doom. He started at a snail's pace, but grew faster quickly, soon scrambling on his hands and knees as swiftly as he possibly could, though that wasn't saying much. It didn't last long either, as soon after he was back face-first on the ground, unable to deal with the shocks of severe pain that shot through his form from putting pressure on his broken bones.
Needless to say, Tsukune didn't need his monster energy to strike terror into the warlock's heart, as the ghoul did that more than well enough on his own. The cyan eyed man was literally dragging himself away at this point, deciding it would do more harm than anything if he tried to get on all fours again, his eyes full of fright and his breathing ragged and frantic.
Without much effort, Tsukune caught up to him in a matter of only moments, coming to the warlock's side even as he continued to try and drag his body across the ground to get away. Before he could get any further in his pursuit of escape, the ghoul brought his right foot down upon his head, stomping on it hard, so much so that the ground itself cracked from the force of the impact. "Running away? But you were so big and bad before when you were preying on Yukari." The scorn in his voice was profuse, not that he actually needed to be heard for his contempt to show through, as it did so as he ground his shoe clad foot into the back of the blue haired man's head. "That's what scum like you do though, isn't? Prey on those weaker than you. As soon as a superior predator comes along however, you tuck your tail between your legs and run." That statement was supercharged with venom.
"This time though...this time is different. You can't run away this time. I made sure of that." He remarked nastily. "Now you can do nothing but lie there as I do what you've done to so many others...including my Yukari." As he spoke her name, he brought his foot up and back down again for a swift stamp, stomping on his quarry's head once more, eliciting muffled sounds of pain and doing further damage to the ground. "Prepare to suffer, bitch." He spat contemptuously.
"NOMPHSTAFPPLESE!" The twenty something shouted, his words muffled by being held face first in the ground.
"What was that?" The ghoul inquired harshly. "I didn't quite hear you." He mocked.
Turning his head, hurting himself in the process, the warlock made it to where his assailant's foot was pressed against the left side of his face, which in turn put the right side of his face squished against the ground, thus allowing him to speak without being muffled. "Stop, please, oh god, please stop! PLEASE!"
"What did you just say?" The half human queried, his tone lacking any discernible emotion.
"I SAID STOP! Please...just stop. You win. I'm sorry for what I did, and I'll never do it again, I swear! Just...please, please stop hurting me...show mercy!" He pleaded, tears forming and falling from his eyes as he did so.
"Mercy?" The teen repeated, stone-faced and void of emotion. "Mercy?" He questioned again. "You want me...to show you...MERCY!?" His illimitable fury returned instantly, showing through in every way, as he removed his foot from his prey's face and planted in the nape of his neck, grinding it in as hard as he could as he did. At the same time he took hold of the twenty something's right arm with both hands, one on his forearm and the other on his upper arm, extending it out fully back to him as he pulled it up to himself, his grip so tight that nasty bruises began to form where he was holding the older man. The cyan eyed man couldn't help but cry out in pain at this.
"You dare to ask me for mercy!? Where was your mercy huh!? Yukari begged and pleaded with everything she had for you to stop touching her, to stop hurting her! But you never did! No matter how she cried, you continued to abuse her! And you have the fucking gall to ask me for mercy!? You showed no mercy to Yukari, so there's not a chance in hell of you getting any from me!" He informed him lividly, tightening his grip on his victim's arm, his intentions all to clear as he did.
"NO, DON'T! Please stop, I'm begging you! It hurts, it all hurts...so much! I can't take anymore!" It became clear in the span of half a second that he wasn't being paid any heed. "NO MORE! I IMPLORE YOU, SHOW MERCY!" He bawled desperately.
"THERE WILL BE NO MERCY, ONLY RETRIBUTION!" Tsukune bellowed at the top of his lungs with pure rage, at the same time giving a mighty heave on the warlock's arm, his strength allowing him to tear the limb from his body at the shoulder with ease, the flesh ripping away and the bones breaking apart almost instantaneously with no resistance.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Came the blood curdling scream from Elefica as he thrashed about in searing agony, able to flop about and onto his back and back again, as the foot keeping him down had been pulled away. At the same time, blood spewed from the gaping hole that had been created where the blue haired man's arm had been torn off, soaking the ground in crimson in mere seconds as it sprayed out in copious amounts.
Far from done, Tsukune tossed the dismembered arm aside like the garbage that it was, the extremity landing with a fleshy thump, before bringing his foot down and stomping on El's sternum mid-thrash, pinning him to the ground on his back as he held him there. He of course experienced pain because of this, however it didn't even come close to the agony he was in from having his arm torn off, so he failed to really react to it, still too busy dealing with the much more severe trauma to do so.
Grinding his foot into the magical being's chest, the ghoul made sure to keep him still for a couple of seconds, so he would stop throwing himself about. When that had been accomplished, it required another good stomp first, the more than human seventeen year old stepped over the laid out warlock, and proceeded to get on his knees over the man's torso, each one on either side of him.
Pinned down, Elefica had no way out, not that he could even focus long enough to try and do so what with the ridiculously intense pain he was currently in. Because of this, the vampiric human was unimpeded as he brought his right hand up, cracking his knuckles without the use of his other hand, and down, slashing at the older man with his claws. They hit the mark spot on of course, slicing through flesh, muscle and bone like a knife through butter, severing his left hand from his arm in a single swing.
Blood spurted from his stump, jetting out to join the rest of the life liquid bathing the dead ground around them, while the agony that accompanied this amputation ripped another horrible scream from the cyan eyed man's throat. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-UCLK!" Only this time it wasn't voiced to the end, as with his mouth gaping open as he hollered at the top of his lungs, it was all too easy for Tsukune to reach in and take hold of his tongue.
With a firm grip on the pink appendage, keeping the twenty something from really screaming as well as saying anything intelligible, the silver haired teen spoke, "Your arm and your hand...now your tongue. Have you figured out what these things have in common yet?" He questioned dangerously.
Eyes widening, it became clear that the fairy tale member did know, having just figured it out. He tried to speak, struggling to throw his enemy off as he did, though was too wounded to do much of anything, and it all came out muffled. He was frantic though, that got through regardless. "That's right." He remarked. "You dared to touch Yukari with them, running them up and down her body, harming her with them, molesting her with them. And for that...these offending appendages must be removed!" With that, he proceeded to rip El's tongue right out of his head, it tearing away without resistance.
He screamed bloody murder to the heavens as his tongue was torn out, but it didn't last long, as his mouth was filled to the brim with the ruby substance that gave him life, which quickly began to overflow, running out and down his chin and neck as it continued to gush. As a result, he began to choke on his own blood. And as he did Tsukune simply watched him suffer, taking in the sight of him with his eyes wide in fear, his lips beginning to turn blue as shock took effect, having set in a few moments ago, the symptoms like the lips, along with his skin losing color by the moment and becoming cold to the touch, and sweat beginning to run down his body in droves making themselves known.
Shock had begun by the time the ghoul had severed the warlock's left hand, it only grew worse as time passed. Because of these injuries, the blue haired man was losing blood at a rapid rate, and would die within sixty seconds at most. The violent teen knew this, so threw the tongue to the ground and placed his hands at the center of his prey's chest, claws resting on his skin. "In less than a minute you'll bleed out...such a death is too good for you. So, I'm going to inflict as much pain as possible in the next handful of moments, before ending your life. Your last moments on Earth...are going to be absolute hell." He informed him monstrously.
Writhing in absolute anguish, Elefica was incapable of doing anything to defend himself, as Tsukune buried his claws into the flesh of his torso and began to pull. As flesh and muscle tissue ripped apart, blood began to flow and El began to wail in agony at the top of his lungs, blood blocking his airway be damned, as it flowed out more and more. The ghoul took it slow on purpose, wanting to torment the man as much as possible before he died. Knowing it couldn't go on for more than another ten seconds at most though, he decided to stop playing with his victim and proceeded to tear his chest completely open, exposing his insides to the world, broken bones, damaged organs and all.
Tsukune's right hand darted inside of Elefica's chest cavity, coming to a quick halt as it reached it's target, the warlock's still beating heart. Wrapping his fingers around it, the ghoul locked it in his grip, the organ beating rapidly in his hand. The third subdivision leader's eyes were as wide as they could possibly be, his cyan orbs filled with absolute terror as he stared up at the teen, who literally had ahold of his most vital organ. He knew he was going to die in a matter of moments regardless of what his assailant did, however...it just couldn't stop the all consuming fear that spread through him. For good reason too, as the sadistic look on the ghoul's eyes accompanied by his hate and fury...he looked like a demon.
"Now...DIE!" Tsukune cried, proceeding to crush Elefica's still beating heart with his supernatural strength as he did.
The effect was immediate, as all struggle ceased, as did all noise, the warlock's eyes rolling into the back of his head as his body went limp, his face frozen in a look of pure horror. He was finally dead.
Yukari had sat there and watched, unmoving, unblinking, completely enthralled as her lover slaughtered her would be rapist. She had remained silent, enraptured by the sight of all the brutality. She failed to react at all, simply beholding it all from where she was. She had set her gaze on it and was unable to look away, almost as if spellbound to watch the ruthless savagery to completion. And now it was complete...
And she continued to watch, as Tsukune remained on his knees, simply staring at El's corpse for a few moments, until he decided he'd had enough of looking at it. Showing no respect for the deceased warlock, he spat on the dead man's face, before getting to his feet. He turned toward Yukari then and began to approach her, not paying any mind to the fact that he was covered in blood, his pants soaked with it, splashes of it across his shirt, and his hands bathed in it, droplets dripping off his claws now that he was standing.
Entranced, the little witch remained perfectly still as her transformed lover drew ever closer. She should have been disturbed by the way he looked, she should have been appalled at what he had done, she should have been frightened of what he would do to her as he came toward her...yet she felt none of those things. In fact, she felt herself incapable of feeling anything. Her everything was numb, her body, her mind, her heart...as a result, she stared at the advancing ghoul with a blank, almost vacant look in her eyes...almost as if she didn't even realize he was there.
Coming to a stop before her, Tsukune reached down to her, but she recoiled at his touch, grimacing as she did so, closing her eyes tight at the same time. All the while, all she could see was Elefica in her mind's eye. "Yukari..." He breathed her name with hurt, but quickly covered the emotion up. "Please, don't be afraid of me..." He beseeched her, crouching down as he did.
That voice gave her the courage to dare to open her eyes, and this time, something clicked in her mind and she understood everything for what it was, she finally reconciled with reality. Because of that, she saw Tsukune in front of her, and tears filling her eyes anew, she threw herself into him. "Tsukune!"
He caught her of course, wrapping his arms tightly around her just as she did him, the young girl burying her face in his chest as she did, beginning to cry her eyes out in his embrace. "Tsuk-Tsukune! H-h-he w-wa-was g-go-going t-to r-ra-rape me!" Yukari managed to tell him through body wracking sobs, shaking like a leaf as she cried into him.
"Shhh. I know, I know. But I stopped him, you're safe now. He won't ever be able to hurt you again, I made sure of it." He assured her.
Whatever the thirteen year old had to say next died in her throat, as more sobs rocked her body. She was completely hysterical, the dam having broken entirely. All Tsukune could for her was hold her close, stroking her hair as she let all her sorrow out, and he was more than willing to do that.
...
"I-it h-hu-hurts, ev-every-everything hu-hurts Tsuk-Tsukune..." She whimpered through her sobs after a handful or so moments of crying.
"It's okay sweetie. I'm here, I'm here." He comforted her, looking down at her naked body as he did, his jacket hanging off her at this point, examining all the wounds that had been inflicted upon her perfect form. "I'll make the pain go away, I promise." He swore to her.
With that said, he pulled his right arm back and took hold of her face by the chin with the thumb, index and middle finger of his hand, pulling back and tilting her head upward, their eyes met. As their colored orbs met, they stared at one and other for a moment, before Tsukune lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers, kissing her, not caring for the blood on her lips and in her mouth as he did, simply wanting to assure himself that she was here with him, and to keep good on his word to make the pain go away.
Dark as sin red monster energy began to drain from Tsukune's body and seep into Yukari's smaller one, healing her injuries one by one as it did. And despite not knowing she was being healed, the young witch refused to push her lover away, even after the trauma she had just been through. Why? Because while the intense abuse she had endured was sexual in nature, being with her lover always made things better, he made her happy, no matter what. And the feel of his hands on her body, his lips on hers, they brought a sense of peace, of happiness. Intimate contact with Tsukune helped her psyche rather than harmed it. She didn't even care about the blood that was now smudged on her chin, she just wanted more of Tsukune, he made her feel safe. She wanted nothing more in the world than for him to keep holding her.
That's when she felt her body healing, mewling into the kiss as her wounds closed themselves, her ribs mended themselves and her bruises faded from existence. And once she was fully healed, the kiss ended, the older of the two pulling back, removing his hand from his youngest lover's chin to right his coat around her, to cover her naked body and preserve her modesty.
Pulling her back in as close as he possibly could, he began stroking her hair once more, letting her get the rest of the sobs out of her system. They were far fewer and much weaker, but some were still left, so he would continue to hold and comfort her, and once she was okay, he would do so a little more, for himself if nothing else.
Suddenly, without any warning, ten more individuals came upon the scene. Moka, Kokoa, Mizore, Kurumu, Gin, Ko, Deshiko, Kyouko, Tamanori and Fujiko. And as they did, many of them gasped or cursed upon seeing the sight before them.
It was almost obscene, what with the warlock's chest torn wide open, putting his fucked up insides, courtesy of the blackout beating, on display for all to see. Along with his dismembered arm ten feet from him with his arm bone visible, as well as his insides from where the arm was once attached, then there was his severed hand, and the large pool of blood he lie in. It was easily three fourths if not more of his entire blood supply, some of it located on Tsukune's being, Moka, Kokoa and Gin able to discern this through smell.
This sight had Kyouko retching, throwing up bile but no food, seeing as she had already disposed of the contents of her stomach back at Yokai when Kokoa's brutal outburst occurred. The adult Sendo's looked disturbed beyond belief, Deshiko looked perturbed herself, and Gin and the girls looked shocked all to hell. Ko...well..."Holy crap, that guy got fucked up, wee!"
Ignoring the bat, the other nine's gazes went to Tsukune and Yukari of course, the older of the two holding the younger one close.
"Yukari? Tsukune?" They all, excluding Ko and the recovering from barfing Kyouko, questioned, unsure of what exactly had happened here.
To Be Continued...