Warnings: OOCness, semi-OCs, lack of spellcheck, cursing

The Mythical Detective Mayura

XVII: Wrath

The moon was a waxing gibbous this evening, making the scene less dramatic than Mayura expected it to be.

The detective stepped onto the school's roof, feeling deja vu for a full moment before continuing on towards her enemy.

With her staff shimmering in the moon's light, she struck the cement. "Ares."

The tall purple-haired man smirked, revealing fangs. He was standing just a few yards away from her, leaning on the rusty fence that surrounded the entire roof. "That was fast."

"Eris' sin was easy to remove." Mayura replied, making small steps towards him at an off angle.

"That doesn't surprise me." He was grinning.

The pink-haired goddess frowned. "Ares, do you really want to do this?"

He chuckled. "You even have to ask? My dream has been to kill you, Athena, ever since our father showed you such favor. You deserve none of it, you moron!" He ran at her suddenly as his sword appeared.

She met it with her staff and a "clang."

Mayura narrowed her eyes. "Mou, Ares, if you stop now then I'll forget everything you've done so far. If not..."

Ares moved his sword rapidly, cutting her arm in response.

Mayura gasped, clutching her wound and watching as she bled. She winced.

"Guess that's a not..." She whispered, switching so her staff was in the healthier, non-dominant arm. She struck at his feet, bruising one, before aiming at his head. She hoped to knock him unconscious to end the fight.

He blocked magnificently, using all his willpower to drive her staff closer to her own flesh.

She shrieked, stepping away. That had been too close...Ares was too strong for her. In intelligence she could win, but not in strength. Unfortunately, she had to find a moment of weakness before cleansing Ares' sins.

Ares ran at her, red eyes glowing with hatred. His sword struck her shoulder this time, just above the previous wound. She let out a single sob and felt tears forming in her eyes. She was still weakened from her battle with Eris.

This was a stupid decision. If she had only waited, her magic could have recovered completely from removing Eris' sin and she would be able to defeat him. Or at least have a better chance. She was failing pathetically.

Would she honestly lose to him...? How had she won last time?

Mayura threw her staff into the air weakly, letting it transform into the silver sword again. She reached out to catch it but it hit the ground instead.

She lunged for it, still grasping her arm, but found herself hitting only solid ground.

Ares picked up the silver sword just before she reached it and snapped it into two long pieces.

She watched in horror as her beautiful sword, her last hope, fell to the roof's surface with a tiny, pathetic crash.

Ares glowered down at her, letting his frown take over his face. "You don't know how long I've waited for this." He hissed, twisting his own sword in his hand.

Mayura crawled backwards as much as possible, feeling dizzy from the blood loss. She tried to send magic bursts at him, but with her current weakness and lack of staff, only tiny sparks came from her palm.

Wouldn't Hercules save her? Or Apollo? Where were they when she needed--

A single glowing arrow zoomed through the air, striking Ares in the stomach.

He gasped in complete terror as it went straight through his belly and lodged itself in the chain fence.

He looked around. "Artemis!" He roared.

Mayura felt her vision blurring but she could vaguely make out her sister's shape, holding the bow. She edged towards her broken sword, hoping to reach it before Ares noticed.

"You were supposed to be dead! How did you possess a mortal?" Ares roared, clutching his bleeding stomach.

"Easily." The goddess of the hunt replied smoothly.

"Don't speak like that, you filthy excuse for a goddess! I hate it when you act so superior! You're not superior, and I'll prove it! I'll kill you agai--" He froze as he felt cold metal on his back--right in his new wound.

Barely standing, Mayura pressed her staff (reverted back from the sword) farther into the wound. "Ares, you yell and call others names to compensate for your own hatred of yourself. I, Athena of Olympus, will purify you. Ares, thy sin's name is wrath!"

The staff glowed and a huge beast, larger than any Mayura had seen thus far, emerged from Ares. Mayura backed away, unsure if she could stop such a monstrous beast. Its fangs were two feet long and its eyes glowed gold.

The red monster loomed over Ares before another arrow pierced it. It fell apart in whisps before vanishing completely.

"Artemis!" Mayura yelled as Ares fell to the ground, unconscious.

The familiar figure, leaning on the bow, smirked. "Surprised?"

X X X X

I'm going to go with 4 reviews pre-update on this fic 'cause I keep forgetting to update it weekly...heh...

So update at 90 reviews!

Next chapter: Artemis finally explains what happened!