Epic IV: Ability

'How is he still here!?' Varis thought to himself while his recruits were bus hitting practice dummies on the training field before him. His gaze was not focused on the recruits, but the weakening form of the town's devil… at least the form that should have been weakening. For the last two months that Ragna had been training with the Reaper's he hadn't broken down once in all of that time. Varis had tried increasing the weight Ragna needed to carry in the buckets, added personal training weights to the Reaper's body, and even occasionally forced him to skip his lunch break like he'd done today. 'Why is nothing working!?'

"All right you lot! That's enough practice on those training dummies, we're moving on to person on person sparring! Clear the field!" The recruits headed their drill master's instructions and begun moving the training dummies off of the field. This included Zack, who had started attending all of the regular drills instead of sticking to his own. Hearing heavy footsteps coming from the doorway behind him, Varis didn't even have to turn his head to know who it was. "Tager."

"Varis," Tager responded as he looked into the training field himself. "...Is he always on the training stand?"

"Only when he's causing trouble," the drillmaster responded ambiguously. "Are you just here to check on our local troublemaker?"

"Hardly, I'm here to bring a message," the large half-oni explained. "There's to be a joint training session between your group of recruits and the recruits under Torakaka."

"We're to be fighting the Sisterhood?" Varis questioned before shaking his head and laughing. "You can't be serious. You recall what happened when we did this two years ago don't you? They couldn't stand up to us at all."

"They were different groups entirely, Torakaka wasn't even in charge then," Tager reminded him. "And I'm afraid neither of you have any say here. The order came down from the King's hand himself…"

"...Lord Azrael ordered this?" the drillmaster reworded with confusion. "Why would he care about a competition between two groups of cadets?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Tager told him before turning to leave. "Make sure he's not on the stand tomorrow, I want all of your men at the ready for this duel."

"As you wish," Varis said as the commander left. A moment later, he realized that he might've finally had his solution for getting rid of Ragna. All he needed to do was prove that he wasn't able to keep up with his training regimen and that'd be the end of it. Looking over to Ragna's back as the rest of the recruits trained where he wasn't able to observe, Varis let out a chuckle. "All too easy."

A short while later training had ended for the recruits, per usual Varis didn't let Ragna down from the stand until the equipment had been put away, the rest of the recruits had been briefed on the next day, and waited a few more minutes for good measure.

Rubbing his shoulders and groaning at the soreness, Ragna plopped down on the floor right in front of the stand. He'd been getting used to intense training (punishment) over time, but that didn't mean it was becoming a pleasant experience.

"Giving up all ready?" he heard Zack ask. Looking up, the Reaper recruit saw the spiky black haired youth holding out his hand, which he grasped to assist him in getting to his feet. "I hope you're not out before the real training begins."

"Not a chance," Ragna muttered as forced himself to stay standing. Turning his head to the side, he saw Seno and his group laughing as they headed off the training grounds and into town. "Where the hell are they going?"

"My bet? Out drinking, they never miss a chance to get booze after a harsh day of training in the barracks."

"They think that they've got it bad? Feh," Ragna muttered as he glanced to the stand. "But didn't that asshole Varis say something about a match tomorrow against the Sisterhood?"

"Yeah, but I don't think that they're going to be treating it too seriously," Zack admitted. "Way I hear it, the Sisterhood isn't really seen as that much of a threat, especially by the Reapers. Last time they had a match it was pretty apparent that the guys were the stronger of the two groups… but I still wouldn't go out for booze tonight."

"Are you kidding? Jubei would kill us both if I missed out on training," Ragna told him and Zack snickered. "C'mon we shouldn't keep the old cat waiting."

"Yeah, we're going to want to be in top form for tomorrow. Need to make sure those ladies see a man who can hold his own in a fight... and maybe snag a few admirers in the process," Zack added with smirk.

"...Don't let Arith hear you say that."

"Wah!? Y-you're not going to tell her are you?" Zack pleaded, looking around nervously in case his girlfriend had indeed overheard his comment. Ragna chuckled at his friend's one-eighty, earning him a solid punch on the arm. "Jerk… I was talking about you anyways."

"Me?" the silver haired Reaper repeated, looking at Zack like his friend was crazy. "What the hell are you takin' about? I'm the Devil remember? Scourge upon the town, waiting out my time until I can destroy the kingdom… that sort of thing. Ringing any bells?"

"I'm just saying, this might be your chance to change a thing or two about yourself," Zack reminded him as the two continued onto Jubei's. "Our squad hates you because of the double beatings that you gave 'em, but look at me and Tao! We get along fine with you, don't we?"

"That's different, you're impossible to get rid of and Tao's going to keep clinging on me for food till the day I die." Ragna never was one for mincing words.

"Glad to know we're so beloved," Zack muttered before he got an idea. "What about Kokonoe?" For once it looked like he'd said just the right thing because Ragna appeared to be visibly shaken. "Strike a nerve did I?"

"She's like a sister to me…" Ragna told him off, trying to end this while he still had some dignity left with the guy.

"LIKE a sister… meaning she means more to you than that?" Zack asked with a haughty grin, angering his friend.

"I'm going to kick your ass when we start training," he promised heatedly, which Zack only laughed at.

"Give me your best shot Grim," he said, annoying Ragna even further with his nickname.

Meanwhile -Azrael's Personal Study-

When it came to his drinks Azrael would only share with one other person and that only happened once in a blue moon. Must've been that kind of a day now, because sitting across from him was King Argus holding a glass of his brother's best liquor.

"So I know you're in here for a reason," he said to the king as he swirled his whiskey around his own glass. "What'd I do wrong this time?"

"Nothing, more like I wanted to know your reasoning for ordering our two newest batches of recruits to duel each other. You know how well this went last time we tried something like this."

"You mean when the Sisterhood had Bolivi-what's-her-face in charge?" Azrael said thinking back. "Yeah, I don't regret making that one step down from the job, she had no idea what she was doing and half of her year left after that little fiasco… Woman could drink though, I'll give her that much."

"Yes, I think Torakaka's made an excellent replacement for her thus far, but I'm sure you'll be able to confirm that yourself tomorrow." Argus took a sip from his glass of liquor, expecting Azrael to make some snarky comment that he intended to, but by the time he'd finished his brother had remained silent. "...There's something else then?"

"Call it a project I'm looking into," Azrael said before crossing his enormous arms while still holding onto his drink. "The Devil in Varis's groups been getting flack ever since he stepped in there, but last I saw him his combat skills weren't that bad, especially not for a kid his age."

"So you're going to make him fight tomorrow to see just how far he's come?" Argus asked before shaking his head. "If you're so curious why not fight him yourself?"

"And crush his head like a bug? That'd end everything right there," Azrael told him. "He ain't ready to give me a good rush yet… but with a little push in the right direction he might get there someday."

"And then what?" Argus demanded downing the last of his glass.

Azrael smiled darkly, casting a shadow across the room. "Then I keep him around to fight until a better score comes around."

The Next Morning -Training Grounds-

"Rrhhh, can't believe you went and busted my shoulder like that," Zack muttered as he gripped the top of his sword arm. "There's no way that I can fight like this…"

"I already told you I'm sorry," Ragna told him bitterly as they waited in the training field. "I know what I said, but I didn't think I'd have done this much damage to you."

"Are you kidding? I thought I was going to die before Kokonoe gave me some of that ointment! I already know that I need to miss out on my training for today at least and all you can do is stand there and act like there's nothing wrong."

"Well you are overreacting, it's not like missing today's going to kill you, all we're doing is having that stupid match anyways," Ragna muttered.

"Yeah, but then I'm going to have to tell everyone I went and got myself hurt, I can't use a sword the day it matters most… aw man, how embarrassing."

"Fine, how about this? If you get called on to go, I'll take your place. I mean I doubt that ass Varis is gonna go for it, but it's worth a try at least."

"Just make sure you don't make me look like a loser that can't even keep it together after a stupid sparring match," Zack groaned as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, I'd much rather they see you for the restless puppy that you really are," Ragna told him with a snarky smirk.

"...Hit a guy while he's down why dontcha?" Zack said, his spirits somewhat deflated.

Before long the rest of the Reapers started piling into the building followed shortly thereafter by Tager and Varis. The swordmaster did his usual glare at Ragna which was returned but neither of them said a thing to the other. A short while after that the members of the Sisterhood started entering the training arena themselves. Ragna didn't recognize any of the girls except for Bullet, Tager's daughter, and Tora, who he'd met a while ago. Hearing a soft murmur, he saw that Seno was whispering something to one of his friends and the two had fight hard from breaking into laughs.

'Idiots…' Ragna thought with annoyance. He was about to shove their stupidity aside, but then he noticed the shadow looming over him. "Eh?"

"GOOD GUY!" Tao shouted as she collided into Ragna head on. The Reaper grunted in surprise before he was forced to the ground by the cat on top of him. "Tao didn't think she'd be seeing you so early meow! Didya bring Tao something good to eat? Didya!? Didya!? Ragna growled angrily before throwing the cat off of him. Tao gave a mild yelp as she landed on her rear. "Hey! That's mean! Good guy shouldn't be so moody!"

"And you shouldn't jump me whenever you get the chance!" Ragna shouted at Tao with clear annoyance. "I'm not here to give you food! We're here to spar so let's get this over with!" Getting up to his feet he noticed that most of the Reapers and a few of the girls were laughing at him. "Rgh… Shut up already…"

"If you're that heated then why don't you start us off?" Varis suggested. Something at the swordmaster's eyes didn't sit well with Ragna; he smelled some sort of trap. Scoffing to himself, he headed over to the wall and leaned against it while crossing his arms. "No, eh? Well why don't we let the ladies choose their first opponent?"

"If you insist meow," Tora said before looking to Tager's daughter. "Bullet, why don't you take the first match?"

"Yes Tora," Bullet said, tapping her right shoulder with her left hand as a form of a salute. She walked in front of the men some of them seemed to be leering slightly and it didn't look like many of them had the decency to look her in the eyes. 'It doesn't look like I've got a lot to work with here…' she thought bitterly. "Fine, I'll take him."

The man she'd selected was Seno of all people, the best and brightest of this group of the Reapers…. yeah right. Seno gave a small smirk apparently not expecting much of a fight as he grabbed a practice sword and headed to meet Bullet between the two groups.

"So sweetheart, what do you use?" Seno asked smugly. Though Bullet's glare to him was much harsher than that of her father's, she eventually gave a small smirk and beckoned him forward with her index finger. "No weapons eh? Well that's fine with me, even if it takes some fun out of it."

"...He's the best you've trained?" Tager asked Varis as Tora came over to stand beside the two men.

"One of them," Varis told him, smirking confidently. 'These idiots, they don't even realize that I've given all of my men Dragon's Blood potions while we were inside. After I have my men wipe the floor with the Sisterhood I'll send them after Ragna, then we'll see just what Tager thinks of him!'

"Mmm…" Tager mumbled apparently deep in thought. "Tora, would you mind heading to find Kokonoe? I have the feeling we'll be needing some of her healing ointments."

"Right away Tager meow," Tora said before leading off at high speeds to find the Grimalkin.

"Why the extra caution?" the swordmaster asked as he eyed the two combatants standing at the ready.

"Let's just say I'm worried about my daughter," Tager told them plainly as he kept his eyes on the two, not noticing the demeaning smirk Varis was giving. "Begin!"

Under the effects of Dragon's Blood, Seno's rush forward was exceptionally faster than he normally was. His practice sword cleaved through the air to knock Bullet out in a single attack, but the warrior simply leaned back and avoided the attack altogether. Before he could follow up with a second strike, Bullet sent a devastating punch to Seno's face… yet again breaking his nose. With Ruth's head reeling back, she then swept his legs and made him airborne.

"You're going down!" Bullet roared as she grabbed Seno by his collar and leapt high into the air. Ruth let out a pathetic scream as he was slammed into the ground with enough force to cause the area to shake violently. Seno was out cold and it didn't look like he'd be recovering anytime soon.

"I was right…" Tager grumbled to himself, leaving Varis to sputter at the display in front of him.

"Th-That's crazy!" Zack shouted with wide eyes, even Ragna appeared to be rather impressed. "A-are we supposed to fight that!?"

'More like we're supposed to hope we don't get killed,' Ragna thought glumly. 'But what's this feeling I'm getting? It's almost like she's holding back.'

"Not feeling so confident now, are you boys?" a lady from the Sisterhood said snarkily, knowing full well that the recruits had this coming. "Maybe now you'll think twice before insulting us behind our backs."

"Enough," Bullet said with clear authority and a harsh glare in her eyes, stopping the other woman's taunting. Turning her head, Bullet scanned the rest of the recruits to select her next opponent, eventually her eyes landed on Zack who was sweating in fear of being chosen in his condition. Ragna noticed that she was about to speak out her decision and decided he'd help his wounded friend. Giving a soft punch to Zack's shoulder (little more than a tap), his friend gave a harsh wince letting Bullet know everything she needed to about his condition. "...I'll take the guy on the end there with the two swords."

The match was over just as quickly as the first one, with Bullet putting her opponent in a restraining hold and slamming him painfully to the ground. She continued this, moving from opponent to opponent, defeating them as easily as the last. All the while Ragna continued watching her with the sick feeling in his stomach that this wasn't everything Bullet had to show. Before long the only Reaper's that Bullet hadn't beaten were Zack and himself.

"Looks like I'm up," he muttered as he looked down at the beaten forms of his fellow Reapers. Tora still hadn't returned with Kokonoe yet and this meant the recruits needed to deal with their painful wounds. "You sure that you want keep going?"

"What you think I should drop out now that I've gotten warmed up?" Bullet asked him seriously, her eyes analyzing Ragna fiercely. "Aren't you going to grab a weapon?"

"You're fighting unarmed; I'll do the same," he told her without hesitation.

"I'd call that chivalry, but something tells me you're not one to follow codes. It's funny; Tora told me I'd have trouble dealing with you, but from what I've heard you've been spending almost everyday on the stand, unable to learn."

"All the idiots you just fought spent their time learning from Varis, look where it got 'em," Ragna said, earning a fierce glare from the sword instructor. "And drop the almost, every day I've been in here he's taught me nothing. Muscle training he keeps calling it, that's a laugh."

"Regardless I'm not going to go easy on you," Bullet said as she got into a ready position and-

"MEOW!" came the sudden yell from Taokaka. "Tao's had to sit here and have no one to play with while Butt-Lady has all the fun!"

"B-Butt-Lady?" Ragna repeated with wide eyes. The blush on Bullet's face would be impossible to conceal. From where he watched to the chaos unfold, Tager buried his head into his oversized gauntlet and let out a low groan.

"I told you not to call me that!" Bullet shouted at the feline. "And wait your turn!"

"But Butt-Ladyyyyyyyy, Tao wants to fight good guy, let Tao fight nyah!"

"You…" Bullet growled. "Fine, go ahead and fight him. I was done here anyways."

"Nyahahahaha!" Tao laughed as she leapt right in between the two with a single energetic bound. "Tao sees good guy every day for lunch, but this is the first time we've ever played with each other meow!"

"...Are you for real?" Ragna had to ask before he raised his fists. "Well whatever, I'm not really up for 'playing' around!"

"Meow! Now Tao's motivated!" the Kaka warrior shouted as she leapt into the air. Ragna smirked as he winded up a punch to knock out the cat in midair, but something in the gleam in her eyes under the hood made him pause. Ragna barely managed to leap back before her paw struck were he'd been standing a moment ago, causing the ground to give off a strong tremor.

'Damn! She's a lot tougher than she looks!' Ragna though as he stared at the small crater that Tao had created. While he was still in midair Tao leapt again at Ragna, catching him before he could touch ground and sending them both against a nearby wall. Forcing himself to stay focused, he saw Tao reeling up a punch an instant before she threw it at his face. Diving to the side, Ragna dodged the attack that was strange enough to cause the bricks to crack. 'AND she's this fast!?'

"Meow! C'mon good guy! Play with Tao!" the cat shouted as she again lunged at Ragna. Being ready this time, the Reaper recruit fell backwards, landing on his back to avoid this attack. When Tao was right above him he sent a powerful kick upwards, striking the cat in her stomach. Tao took the full force of the kick and flipped over before landing on the ground while managed to leap to his feet. "Meow! Now you're getting the hang of it!"

"You're crazy! Damn cat…" Ragna grumbled before Tao lunged at him once more. He sent a solid punch straight for Tora's face, but she seemed to leap again without touching the ground and avoid it completely. 'She can change direction midair!?' The cat then flipped in forward before bringing both of her arms down on Ragna's head.

"Gotcha Good Guy!" Tao shouted with glee, that was before she realized her strike hadn't sent Ragna to the ground. The Reaper recruit then let out a roar before punching Tao from below and sending her spinning into the sky. While she was airborne Ragna then unleashed a roundhouse kick, hitting Tao and keeping her in mid air. Immediately shifting his footing for the best result, he then threw a haymaker punch at the Kaka warrior that landed dead on and sent her flying back.

"Meow!" Tao shouted as she rolled on the ground after that last strike. She'd managed to make it to her feet as soon as she'd stopped and managed to take a good look at Ragna. From beneath his white hair he appeared to be bleeding from where Tao had landed her initial strike and he was starting to have trouble standing. "You okay good guy? You don't look too good…"

"I'll be fine…" Ragna told her as he wiped the blood away. He then gave a small smirk before rushing forward. "Let's finish this!"

"Tao's time is noew!" the kaka shouted in return as she met the charge.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Thud

...Needless to say Ragna was clearly flabbergasted as Tao fell to the ground five feet in front of him in the middle of their charge. It had happened so suddenly he was still having trouble processing what had happened right in front of his face.

"Meooooooooooooow,' Tao bleakly sounded from the ground, almost like she was in pain.

"Don't tell me…" Ragna began, which was then rewarded by a short growl from the cat's stomach. "She's hungry… she passes out in the middle of a fight… because she's hungry."

"That's not really that odd for Tao to do meow," he heard Tora say. Turning his head, he say that Tora had indeed returned with Kokonoe and her kit of healing ointments which she was starting to use on the Reaper recruits. "She has a lot of energy when she gets going, but if she doesn't eat a large meal beforehand this happens. Meow."

'He's not bad,' Bullet thought as she continued to analyze Ragna while he caught his breath. 'Most people go down after taking a single solid punch from Taokaka, but he's managed to keep standing and keep up with her speed. Tora mostly uses Tao as an example to let warriors tire themselves out and survive until the right moment, but he tried beating her as if she could keep this up in a real fight like how I fight her.'

Letting out a final sigh of relief and craning his neck to get a few pops out, Ragna got back into a ready stance. "So I get to chose my next match right?"

"Idiot, sit out on the sidelines," Ragna heard Varis order. If you rushing in after taking a hit like that you won't last long."

"Says the guy who kept putting me on the stand for hours on end," Ragna grumbled before he glanced towards Bullet. "You don't have a problem if I fight you last do you?"

"...Just don't keep me waiting for too long," she told him nonchalantly. Ragna smirked in response.

"Alright, I'll take on the one with the spear then."

The lady in question simply nodded before getting on the other side of the training field and readying her spear. Ragna stood on the other side of the field and raised his fists once more.

"The local Devil beating on innocent women, typical," Ragna heard Seno comment from the sidelines. He was about to shout something at the antagonizer, but in the end he simply chuckled. "Think it's funny?"

"Why don't you fight her?" he asked with a cocky tone. His only answer was Seno's silence, but that in itself spoke volumes. "Thought so."

"Begin!" Tager called from above and the two immediately leapt at each other. "Varis."

"What is it?" the swordmaster demanded.

"...Perhaps we've overestimated your abilities as a teacher," Tager told him bluntly, causing Varis to freeze where he stood. "Ragna seems to be byfar the most calm and collected of your group and every way you look at it you've left the least of an impact on him."

"Looks can be deceiving commander," Varis said back. "Haven't you often told us those exact words?"

"True enough," the large man admitted before a dull thwack was heard from the sparring field. Glancing back to the two, he saw that the spear wielding woman was already on the ground while Ragna remained on his feet. The two fighters seemed to exchange insults for a good moment before the Reaper recruit finally let out a laugh and held his hand out to help his opponent to her feet. She seemed to have thought of rejecting the offer, but eventually took his hand and rose, now taking to him on more equal footing. "Looks like he's made an ally."

"Th-that's a large assumption," the instructor tried to deny as another member of the Sisterhood stepped forward to duel Ragna. "The best you could say is he's… he's…"

"Earning their respect meow?" Tora questioned. "That was someone I've come to know rather well, meow. She's like many of the girls in the Sisterhood; their mother's left to raise them with no memories of who their fathers were. She's never really been that trusting of men, but it seems like your trouble student is leaving an impact on her… meow."

'Washouts would group together,' Varis thought as Tager initiated the next duel. The swordmaster merely blinked before Ragna seemed to move from where he was standing to having a haymaker stopping just short of his opponent's face. She appeared to be startled for a good moment before dropping her practice blade. 'D-damn it… Where's he getting this speed!?'

"I'd thought that cat person had given up his mantle of the trainer of kings a long time ago… meow," Tora said making Varis grit his teeth even further at the outrage. "You can't control who he teaches, remember?"

"True enough…" he begrudgingly admitted. It was well known throughout the kingdom that Jubei's life far exceeded that of a normal human, even by the standards of his own race. While he was a cat beastkin like Tao and Tora, his blood was that of a rare sub-species giving him a lifespan that could last centuries. He'd become a well known warrior early in his life and his training was so potent it was reserved only for the royal families and his 'special cases.' ...But throughout history, Azael was the only one to leave the beastkin's training only a week in.

The rest of Ragna's matches proceeded similarly to Bullet's; he managed to win his fights with ease and fought at his full. Before long it was him against the tan skinned woman once more.

"Are you still going to come at me without a sword?" Bullet asked him as she cracked her knuckles and stepped up to face him.

"Why wouldn't I? You wanted a fistfight; I'll give you one," Ragna told her with confidence as he got into a ready fighting stance.

"Heh, maybe I can finally cut loose with someone," Bullet said with a smirk that almost seemed… hungry.

'Aw crap…' Ragna internally moaned.

"BEGIN!"

The instant the call had been issued, Bullet rushed towards at Ragna and unleashed a kick to his head that was so fast it screamed as it sailed through the air. The Reaper recruit barely managed to dodge the attack by ducking under Bullet's leg before punching her in the gut and following up with a haymaker that sent her flying back. As she skidded to a stop, Ragna tired to follow up with a lunging fist, but Bullet caught it and stopped it before it could hit her. She then smashed Ragna with a powerful kick and sent him flying upward before leaping into the air catching him and slammed him back into the ground.

"Gah!" Ragna grunted as he hit the floor. As he quickly rose of the ground he barely managed to dodge the flaming hot kick Bullet had sent to his face. Jumping back with wide eyes, he was startled to see that Bullet was surrounded in a strange fiery aura. "Wh-what the hell is that!?"

"If we're going to fight seriously I'm going to use everything I've got!" Bullet shouted as the aura increased in ferocity. "I hope you're ready!" She then charged Ragna once more, traveling even faster and stronger than before.

"I know she said that she was going to cut loose, but that seems a little excessive meow," Tora said with slight worry as she watched the two.

"W-what even is that?" Varis stuttered as Bullet sent out a blast of flames which caught Ragna on his side and badly seared his body.

"An elemental ability, one based off her blood," Tager said emotionlessly as he continued to watch his daughter's battle. "As a descendant of an Oni, Bullet has some ability in their magics through the elemental forces in her blood, namely the use of fire. That aura around her isn't powerful enough to burn her enemies on its own, but the boost it give to Bullet's speed and power is… intense."

A painful grunt was heard from across the arena as Ragna was blasted into one of the train yards walls from a well placed punch from Bullet. He violently coughed blood from the damage he'd taken before looking up and glare at the woman from the Sisterhood.

"Looks like you're done…" Bullet said as the fiery aura around her continued to blaze.

"Rrrgh… YOU WISH!" Ragna shouted as he leapt with at her pure ferocity.

'He's coming right for a frontal attack? Then I'll blast him away!' Bullet thought as she charged fire into her arm and shot it at the Reaper. At the range she fired it, the hit should have been guaranteed, but Ragna dodged out of the way with perfect timing. 'Ugh! Fast! He'll go for my legs so I'll-!'

Instead of attacking her from below like Bullet had thought he would Ragna flipped himself into the air and performed and aerial kick that went over her guard. As Bullet felt the blow, Ragna followed with a second strike sending her up into the air. While she was still airborne the Reaper performed a powerful uppercut and launched her higher before leaping up after the lady warrior. Punching upwards, he caught Bullet in the face before spinning with an axe kick that sent her to the ground. He landed a short distance from her and it looked like she was having trouble getting up.

"Looks like she's out of steam, meow," Tora said. "Well done Bullet, that'll do for neow."

"But Tora, I can keep going!" Bullet protested as she tried to rise to her feet. "Rgh…"

"Don't push yourself, this match is inarguably close," Tager said, before eyeing Ragna who didn't deny it with a short nod. "Both groups are dismissed for the rest of today… Unless Zack would like to-"

"I'M GOOD!" Zack shouted, frantically waving his hands in front of him.

"Then it's settled," the commander said. He was about to leave there, but he gave one last long look to Varis. "I'd suggest you look for alternative forms of training, your regular's seem to be having trouble…"

"I-I'll consider it…" Varis assured him as Tager and the other's left, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.

Jubei's Yard -That afternoon-

"Your shoulder doing any better?" Ragna asked as he took a couple of practice swings.

"It feels better, but I think it might be a while before I'm swinging a sword again," Zack told him. "Ah well, at least Aerith's insisting on sticking around to make sure it's healing right."

"Heh, maybe I should bust you up more often," Ragna said to his best friend with a smirk as Jubei came outside. "Back from your cat nap?"

"Bright eyed and bushy tailed to boot," Jubei said to him. "How was the fightin' today?"

"Better than usual, our guys went down so fast Varis didn't have a choice other than letting me fight," Ragna told him. "I gotta say though, those girls sure know how to fight."

"That makes me happy to hear, meow." Ragna had barely heard Tora's voice before he felt Tao plow into him and send him to the ground. "Tao…"

"Good guy! You didn't give Tao any food today! That's mean!" The cat shouted in his face, violently shaking the Reaper. Ragna growled before throwing Tao off him him, this time the cat landed on her feet. "Meow!"

"Seriously Tao? Twice in one day?" he groaned as he slowly rose from the ground. "Hey Tora, what brings you here?"

"Well after watching you fight I thought that I should pay my old master a visit, meow," the elder Kaka warrior said before she looked to Jubei. "Nice to see you again cat person."

"Likewise Tora, 'was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me," Jubei said with a soft smile on his face. "I 'ear you've been teaching the Sisterhood, how, how have they been doin'?"

"Rather well if today was anything to go off of," Tora said to him. "My girls all took their fights today with the seriousness they deserved and I'd say we've managed to show Varis's recruits… Bullet came rather close to beating your private apprentice though."

"No kidding, I'm still feeling pretty burnt from that," Ragna muttered before seeing Tao had approached without him noticing and was right in his face. "...Personal space mean anything to you?"

"Purr-shunel spade? What's that? Is it tasty!?" Tao demanded as she appeared to be drooling. "Eh, Tao can eat after she plays with good guy some more! Meow!"

"Another match?" Ragna repeated, seeing to weigh his options. "Well… I mean Zack is outta commision for a while, so why not?"

"Yay! Good guy's gonna play with Tao!" the kaka warrior said excitedly as she appeared to be bouncing all over the place.

"Whoa Tao! Bring it down a bit will ya?" the Reaper recruit said to her, but despite the words he was smirk and appeared to be a bit more a peace.

"Looks like I'm right; you DO have a thing for cats after all." Seeing Ragna's body go rigid at the claim, Zack smirked with confidence… before screaming out in pain at the left hook Ragna delivered to his bad shoulder. "GAH!"

"Shit!" Ragna exclaimed as he realized where he'd hit. "Someone grab Kokonoe! We gotta get ointment on that!"

"N-no rush," Zack said weakly as he kept support on his arm. "Just... dying over here… Thud." Zack then hit the floor.

"Did… Did he just say thud?" Luckily Ragna's questioning of the absurdity and Zack's current peril was enough for Jubei to ponder the meaning of the youth's earlier words.

Later -Castle Walls-

Varis sat on the edge of one of the castle's tallest wall, drinking alone. Normally the swordmaster wasn't one for the pleasantries of alcohol, but he wouldn't decline an offer if it came from his superior officers. This time he did it, not as a form of social activities, but because his problems seemed so much further away when he did so. All of his efforts to get the Devil evicted from his study had failed miserably, worse yet Tager seemed to know the full story and the Devil and the Sisterhood had both progressed further than he could've imagined.

"Damn that cat," he muttered before taking another long swig out of the bottle. Had he said that before Jubei had married and someone had heard him his head would likely pike by morning, but that was before Jubei had entered a cross species relationship. Either way he couldn't care less right now with his position in jeopardy.

"Look at what's become of the mighty swordmaster," a sudden voice came from behind Varis surprising him badly enough to drop his liquor over the edge of the wall. "Oi, you're jumpy tonight, aren't you?" Azrael said with reservedness.

"Rrr… What are you doing here?" Varis demanded before seeing the bottle he was being offered.

"If you're trying to drown your problems in alcohol you might as well do it right," the king's brother said as Varis took the bottle and popped the cork off he watched as the swordmaster took a long swig from the bottle before pausing and glaring at it. "What's with that look?"

"This… this tastes pretty weak," Varis told him.

"Heh, do you want it or not," Azrael said with a chuckle. Varis shrugged and took another long swig. "It's your fault too, not just the cat's."

"What on earth are you-" Varis began before he realized. "You're talking about the Devil? How the hell is it my fault he's still here!? Since he's made it inside I've done nothing but make it my goal to isolate him and break his body!"

"That would have broken the body of any other recruit, but he's a different case," Azrael told him as he leaned over the wall. "The kid's got the old blessing of regeneration, might not be as strong as the original one was supposed to be, but he's got it… though I can't say if he even knows it."

"If he has the blessing then…" Varis began as his eyes grew wide.

"Bingo… All this time you've thought that you were slowly breaking him down by putting him on that stand, but you just realized that you've only been making him stronger. His body can adapt to that sort of strain over time and it can grow stronger than what it was before as a result… making it all the easier for the cat to work his own magic."

"Damn it…" Varis muttered as he started to feel a slight buzz in his head from the drinking.

"Yeah you've toughened him up for me… but that means that it's time for you to step out," Azrael told him.

"Step out? What are you-?" Varis couldn't finish his sentence as his vision blurred lurched over. "Y-you poisoned me!?"

"Poisoned? Do you really think that I'd stoop that low?" the king's hand asked with a dark chuckle. "Though I gotta say, drinking White Water like that just isn't healthy for anyone other than me."

"W-white wa-wa-" Varis drunkenly slurred, a trail of drool emerging from his mouth.

"White Water, this rare stuff doesn't taste that strong starting off and you don't notice anything, but when the effects kick in they can leave a mark on you… and you've had enough to make a man blind," Azrael said with a dark laugh as he took a step towards the swordmaster.

"S-sthay b-bock," Varis slurred with fright as he tried to go for his sword, but he couldn't even grab the handle in his condition.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you…" Azrael said as he towered over the man, giving off the shadow of some kind of demon. This was the sort of fear he could instill, it was enough to cause a drunk man to freeze to the spot. "...I just want to give you a friendly pat on the back."

He barely tapped Varis, but Azrael's power was more than enough to send the swordmaster over the edge, leading for his victim to crack his skull the moment he made contact with the ground.

"That's nicely wrapped up," the Mad Dog stated. "Now… Let's see if I can't bring that cat out of retirement…"

Author's Note: Don't own BlazBlue… or Zack.

Well this chapter took a while to get out, sorry about that. With an upcoming move I didn't have much time to work with, but now that I'm settled I feel like I can put my feet up for a bit.

No author reviews this chapter, but I welcome feedback all the same.

Ciao!