Magnus: Here goes the new update, I certainly hope it is of your liking, and this is the prelude to a bloody arc, so enjoy, and remember, Read and Review!
Disclaimer: We don't own anything, the tamer names are alias, and the rest don't belong to anyone of us
Chapter 17
Arrival
"All sickness begin in the soul, as a scientist, is my job to find a way to cure the sickness, but, I also seek to heal the soul, so the sickness can't return, although no one seems to want their souls healed", -Mark Hunter-
It was early in the morning, and Maria was already doing some sword exercises, she was doing vertical strikes, Kilgorin shining with unearthly beauty, reflecting the first sun rays, but she wasn't in peace
"I need to show my skill, so I can take the position of Alpha, I can't let that Amazonwu to remain as the leader!", Maria muttered to herself, so far she couldn't deny that Reina was a good choice as Alpha, but she still wanted that title
"You know... I can hear you, what's wrong with me being an Amazonwu?", Reina asked, she was very close to the Slicer, training on the different stances that Mark taught her
"I'm bound to be a better sword user than you, that's all, you should try another weapon, so we can be equals, because once I evolve into a Ronin, and then a Samurai, Mark will have no use for you in the battlefield", Maria replied, still doing vertical strikes, however, Reina seemed to be untouched by her comment
"You won't surpass me if you keep only striking like that, besides, Mark values much more than simply raw power or breed renown", Reina replied, and this made the Slicer to stop her exercise
"My style is pure and perfect!, while yours is obviously amateurish and lacks any beauty, you can't even remain in a steady battle stance!", Maria shouted, but Reina only smirked
"Really?, did you know that it was Mark who taught me this style?, can't you see what it's beneath the obvious on this battle stance?", Maria asked, and found really amusing how, Maria turned into several shades of red, it was hard to tell if she was angry at the comment, or ashamed to have looked down at the teachings of the Legendary Mark Hunter, nevertheless, the Slicer stopped her attack, and returned to her exercise
Meanwhile, inside Mark's tent...
Yuki was checking Mark's laptop, everything, every picture, every document, soaking on information, either relevant or not, she loaded all the info, all the images, everything, and at great speeds, until she hit two particular set of files, one had her name... the other had a very human like image of herself
"Yuki Nagato... Ritsuko Akagi?", Yuki muttered, she was wondering why she was named after the very undeveloped girl, and not after the one that looked more like herself
"Wondering why I named you after that small girl?", Mark asked, while hugging the Maggieton from behind
"The inquiry is correct, the logic points me to be named after the bottle blond scientist, and not the alien school girl", Yuki replied, while leaning a little on Mark, yet making sure to not taking him down with her weight
"Well, I think I'll better show you...", Mark stated, while starting to play some videos focused on both anime girls, and soon Yuki found some shocking facts on what Mark liked of her
Some minutes later...
Maria, being a Slicer, was very proud, and she always have thought that her style, while not being ready for a world class tournament, was more than enough to outshine most sword wielding pokegirls, and more often than not, enough to humiliate other pokegirls on fast matches, but today has proben to be one of those days, where she just couldn't shine at all. Maria tried her best to set off Reina, but the Amazonwu seemed to be immune to her taunts, or she thought herself much more superior than the Slicer, both ways of thinking were just to much for the Slicer to bear
"Just you wait, stupid Amazonwu, just you wait, Mark will put me as Alpha, and forget about you as soon as he sees my perfect sword style", Maria muttered, still trying to get the exercise as perfect as possible, but the double edged sword was heavier and somewhat harder to handle, giving her some troubles
"Pathetic...", Zetsumi said aloud, breaking the last straw on the Slicer's mood
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?", Maria shouted, her eyes flaring with rage
"I said, Pathetic, your stance, your focus, it's all wrong, I can't see what Mark saw on you to welcome you into his team", Zetsumi explained, his face betraying no emotion
"I'll show you who is pathetic... DIE!", Maria yelled, and leaped to cleave Zetsumi in two
Maria never saw Zetsumi taking out his glaive, she didn't had time to react to the sudden move he made with his weapon, the grip on Kilgorin was not strong enough. In an instant, the beautiful sword went sailing, and embedding into a tree, Maria was in shock, and Zetsumi used this to his advantage, dropping his weapon to the side, he started a vicious combo on the unarmed Slicer. Maria had no chance, she tried her best, but she was nothing without a sword, eve when her strength was superior to the human standards, she had to admit, that Zetsumi was far more skilled than she will ever be
"AAAAGGGHHHH!", Maria screamed in pain, the last hit sent her against a tree, she tried to stand, but it was useless, and just then, Mark and Yuki came out of the tent, the later with a smirk full of pride
"What happened?", Mark asked, it was hard to tell if he was angry or concerned
"I was just teaching your new pokegirl her current weakness, so she refrains herself from trying to steal a position she is not ready to take... by the way, you should teach her how to defend herself without a blade, she is completely useless without one", Zetsumi replied, and then turned to leave
"Zetsumi, while the lesson is highly appreciated, please refrain yourself of doing this again, or I'll make sure to use your blood on my next ritual", Mark stated with a cold calm, that sent a very cold shiver through the spine of the slayer, who hurriedly went to his tent
"Are you ok?", Reina was the first to ask to the downed Slicer, but Maria just looked to the side, unable to face her sister
"Reina, take Maria to our tent", Mark ordered, while picking up Kilgorin, and Maria's heart nearly stopped, she felt about to be dumped, and she felt that she deserved it
"Don't get me wrong, I just thought on helping you a little...", Zetsumi tried to apologize, the truth was that he has never liked the people that acted so arrogant
"Zetsumi, if you want to be helpful, make sure to keep Ramza and Shadow busy and out of the way until tomorrow", Mark suddenly ordered, and Zetsumi smirked at the idea, he was about to have a lot of fun
Meanwhile, Ivalice main plaza...
"Are you ready, Ranger Felix, Mercenary?", Tsuruko asked in a very sweet and melodic voice, smiling warmly at the two guys
"Please, don't make it sound like we are going to war...", Felix replied, anguish on his voice, while Illidan grimaced
"Don't worry, if it comes to that, I'll gladly protect you, although, may I ask why are you so stressed, Mr. Mercenary?", Tsuruko replied to Felix, but directed the last question to Illidan, who stepped back until he was nearly behind Felix, he didn't liked the sheer evilness of this woman, not at all, and her massive battle power was very startling
"Please, Tsuruko, it has been a long mission, and this is a very violent mercenary, the inactivity has left him... stressed, as you may have guessed, I'm a very diplomatic ranger, not very combative", Felix tried to explain, and Tsuruko warmly smiled to them
"Now, now, why are you telling me lies?, while I can believe that the mercenary is the violent type... I can see the blood in your hands, my cute ranger", Tsuruko stated, and Felix's blood ran cold at that statement
Back with Mark...
Maria was sobbing, she expected a lot of things, from yells, punishments, or being dumped away for being beaten by a mere human, but instead of that, Mark lovingly nursed her, while Reina softly told her that everything will be alright, that she only needed to train a little under Mark's wing, and she'll be simply the best
"Thank you, Mark, Reina, I promise to take on all your teachings, and never disappoint you again...", Maria stated, not that she will stop on her desire to become the alpha
"First try to stay unharmed, then try to become better", Yuki suddenly stated, much to the annoyance of the Slicer, and Mark's amusement
"What did you say?", Maria shouted, but kept her temper checked, being beaten by Zetsumi was a surprise, but the Maggieton, was a sure overkill
"Your illogical attitude and volatile temper are more likely to put you into unnecessary danger... so, control your self first, and then you'll be able to be a better fighter", Yuki replied, first on her monotone voice, and then in a sweet demeanor, all while sifting the position of her new glasses, touching them with utmost care, for they previously belonged to Mark, she didn't need them, but they completed the cosplay, much to her delight
"Mark... Master... is there a way to convince you to keep that Maggieton on her pokeball?", Maria asked, using a strong level of puppy eyes and pleading voice, unfortunately, Mark was immune to said technique
"No", Mark deadpanned, while getting a hug from the Metal Mistress of Thunder
Meanwhile...
"Are you sure about this?", Shadow asked, he, Ramza and Zetsumi were at the entrance of a cave
"Yes", Zetsumi deadpanned, with no hint of emotion
"Is there really no other option?", Ramza asked, not that she had any problem with being alone with Shadow for one or two days...
"No", Zetsumi deadpanned again, and both Shadow and Ramza sighed in defeat, and walked into the dark cave, they were no more than five steps inside, when a heavy rock was moved to block the entrance
"Was that really necessary?", Shadow asked, quite sure no one would reply. Ramza limited herself to cling into Shadow
"No, but it's a good thing I'm here to help!", Mimi shouted, appearing just on Shadows head, with a lantern ti illuminate the surroundings
"GGGHHHAAAAAA!", both Shadow and Ramza screamed on fear and surprise, much to the amusement of the hand maid
Ivalice outskirts, a few hours later...
"Tsuruko, may I ask what rumors have you heard about Mr. Hunter?", Felix asked, the silence was unnerving, and Illidan was walking like an angry animal, and this was getting into his nerves
"I have heard some rumors, some are childish fairy tales, like that he is capable of splitting a mountain in two, others are somewhat realistic, like those about him single handed slying an entire Buzzbreast's hive. Which kind of rumors have you heard, my cute ranger?", Tsuruko asked back, her smile never leaving her features, yet it seemed wrong
"I've heard... that he can cut through your soul with his blade...", Felix replied with some fear inspired respect, and Tsuruko nodded, she too had heard that rumor, and it was one of the main reasons she wanted to meet the man
"I've heard he can kill a small army without any of them knowing it until they are at the gates of the afterlife...", Illidan muttered, both Tsuruko and Felix gave him a quick glance, bith said nothing, that rumor was one of the most recent, and it was hard not to dwell on it
'Here he comes...'
Felix quickly fixed his sight on the road ahead, and was rewarded with the sight of two tamers, one riding a Nightmare, and the other a Chocoboob, he was having a hard time guessing who was Mark Hunter, at first, he thought that the one with the Nightmare was him, but that thought was crushed when they got nearby. Near no tamer would dare to have an unballed Maggieton around, unless she was loyal to the bone, and that can't be done without being utterly powerful, or insanely dedicated...
'He can see...'
Felix shivered, Mark's eyes were cold, and calculating, as if NOTHING could be hiden from his gaze. Mark for his part, scanned the welcomng party, the tall guy, was soaked in blood, not innocent, but still, a lot of blood; the young woman, was surrounded by a pitch black aura, pouring evilness to the extreme, and the short guy, was chained to dangerous looking spirit, which Mark had trouble to scan
ANIMA, the Angel of Suffering Pokégirl
Type: Semihuman (Metamorphic)
Element: Magic/Ghost/Psychic (Celestial)
Frequency: Extremely Rare
Diet: Carnivorous
Role: Living Tragedy
Libido: Variable
Strong Vs: Normal, Magic, Psychic, Fighting
Weak Vs: Sonic attacks, 'Toxifying' Magic
Attacks: Heaven's Arrow, Transcendant Sword, *Pain, Soothing Mist, Highway to Heaven, Withdraw, No Sell, Feel the Burn, Dark Bomb, Dark Shield, Dark Matter, *Oblivion
Enhancements: Loses ultra-dense skin, Body spikes, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Emotion manipulation, Sensation control, Enhanced Regeneration (x6), Limited Metamorph, Solid Ether Shell, Manifest Weapon: Chains
Evolves: None
Evolves From: Penance (Further abuse)
'Mother Mercy!', Mark thought in distress, this demanded his total attention
'This is going to be a hard task, the youg woman not only is strong, she draws the power of the dark, good thing you left the troublesome kids behind', Inner Mark added, he was ready to wake up the girl on the crypt, for this can be a hard battle, shall the stealthy approach fail
Meanwhile...
"How far this place goes?", Ramza asked, while going further into the cave, she never liked to wait, and since going out was forbidden, going deeper surely was not
"Really, Ramza-chan, we shouldn't go too deep, we may get lost", Shadow whined, he wasn't a coward, but even he had to admit, that Ramza was more reckless than him
"Shadow-koi is right!", Mimi voiced, she was still on Shadow's head, but the truth, is that she was having a lot of fun
"Don't be such a coward!, besides, Mark wouldn't have left us here if there was some danger", Ramza happily replied, clearly proud of her logic
"But it wasn't Mark who put us here, but Zetsumi...", Shadow clarified, and Ramza made a suddenly stop, turning around to face Shadow and Mimi, fear clearly written on all her features
"You mean, that Zetsumi brought us here without Mark giving his approbation?", Ramza asked in a very afraid voice, she clearly reconsidered the safety of the place
"What are you doing here?", Someone suddenly asked, her voice clearly unfriendly, and that scared the young duo to their cores
Back on Ivalice...
The reception was much more awkward than everyone thought possible, both Felix and Illidan couldn't help but to think that this was a master move to show his legendary skill, also it was a nice way to scare the crap out of any normal tamer, and weapon wielding pokegirl, even Tsuruko didn't look that cool anymore, of course she was still the most calm of the group
"Mr. Hunter, let me be the first to...", Felix tried to start a nice conversation, but Mark gave him an annoyed glare
"Is there a reason for you to stop us?", Mark asked, checking for any hints of hostility
"Yes, there is a reason, but don't worry, I assure you that we won't hold you for more than a few minutes", Felix quickly replied, in hopes to ease the situation, he found relief when Mark gave a resigned sigh
"Fine, go on, ask your questions, or check my backpack, just don't dare touch my girls", Mark warned, and obviously the Maggieton was carrying a small backpack, which means that the contents were off limits, least they want to die by electrocution
"Actually, is just a simple question, are you traveling with someone called Ramza?", Tsuruko quickly asked, it was her only mission, and she clearly wanted to get it done
"Blonde, short, reckless and with bad attitude?", Mark asked back, obviously shocking Tsuruko with the weird but accurate description
"Hummm... yeah... I think so...", Tsuruko replied, unsure on how to proceed, she really wanted him to be free of the charge, so she can ask him for a spar
"Left the brat long time ago, said something about going to Hinata city, why?, is there a reward for the head of that brat?", Mark explained, and his voice, his posture, everything pointed him to be dead serious, of course Tsuruko was more startled by the idea of her target to go to the place where her accursed sister reside
"And may we ask what business brings you here?", Felix added his question, saving the information about this Ramza for posterior investigation
"We heard that the best swords are made here, and Mark and I want a fine sword for ourselves, is there a problem with that?", Zetsumi replied, at first he was scared of the woman, bu after Mark cleared the first question, the tension decreased a lot, allowing him to breath
"No, of course not, heck, for causing you trouble, we'll take you to the weapon smiths, as a way to make up for the time we took from you", Illidan spoke for the first time, and both Felix and Tsuruko turned to face him, at first with doubt, and then with a smile, thinking that it was a great way to keep an eye on the legendary Mark Hunter
"I don't think my Master would appreciate unwanted company... any hostile action will be answered with proper retaliation", Yuki stated, obviously annoyed, thing that scared the welcoming group, who also noticed, for the first time, that said Maggieton was battle ready, so Tsuruko made the first move
"Since the business for which I was hired has ended, Ill leave you now, Mr. Hunter, although I wish for you to spar with me later during your visit, I really wish to see your legendary sword skills", Tsuruko sweetly said, and then turned around to leave
"It'll be difficult for me to accept, since I have no sword", Mark replied, and the entire group froze
"WWWHHHHAAAAATTTTT?"
Magnus: Well, I hope you liked it, and for those that are wondering why everyone is afraid of Tsuruko, she is a lvl 99 Tenebrous Samurai, I'll explain more about this in later chapters, for now, see ya in next chapter!
Ankiseth: Remember to vote in the poll at the profile, it's important to determine the order in which the next stories will be published