[Hi everyone. Hope you're all feeling well today. Before we head into the story, just want to say thanks to Luis5224 for the very thorough feedback and for the suggestions. They ain't bad at all, and I will think about the ideas. Can't promise if they'll all be implemented into the story, but I will think about it. Also, just want to say thanks for the general feedback I've been getting for the story, you're all sound out. Right. If everyone's ready, let's get into the story. Enjoy.]
[Almost forgot, I said at the end of the last chapter that I'd say what I was trying to reference in some parts, so here's the short list.
"It smells like some set a hippy on fire." Sheldon Cooper from the US sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory'
Ethan's roar attack. More so inspired by Natsu Dragneel from 'Fairy Tail' (You were bang on masters123lfm)
Right, with that out of the way, let's get started]
"A Phoenix!?"
Moka had just told Ethan about her suspicions about what may have happened on the night of the fire that took Ethan's family and friends. After she told him about the Phoenix, the pyrokinetic was beyond confused.
"I thought that the Phoenix's were peaceful." Ethan said out loud.
Moka slightly nodded her head. "Yeah. The only time they would ever attack is if they were attacked themselves or if someone they cared about was in danger." She said. Her hand then went for her rosary, which she gripped gently as a look of concern covered her face.
"… if that's the case…" Ethan started, followed by a strong clenching of fists. "Then there's more problems in this case then I thought."
Moka looked at him with a look of surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I thought, after seeing that dream, that the monster I saw in it was responsible. But if what you say about the Phoenix is true, then there's a chance that someone else was involved." Ethan answered. He kneeled onto the ground and frowned slightly, focusing his vision on the ground. "I'm back to square one."
"We're back to square one." Moka corrected him.
Ethan was slightly surprised by this comment. He turned back towards Moka, who had walked up closer to him and knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're my friend. Any problem you have me and the others are with you. Never forget that." She said.
The pyrokinetic smirked and turned his head back. He interlocked his fingers and rested his head on them. "You're a good friend, Akashiya."
Moka grinned. "So are you… Drake." She said, following the same style as him, causing Ethan to chuckle slightly. It came to an end quickly when Moka realized something. She looked back and saw Tsukune still lying on the ground. "OH NO! TSUKUNE!"
Ethan looked over towards Tsukune and shook his head. "We REALLY need to toughen him up." He said.
"You could show a little compassion towards Tsukune, you know." Moka said.
"Why? At this stage it would only freak him out." Ethan pointed out.
Moka rolled her eyes and lifted Tsukune off the ground. Ethan helped Moka carry him and they all made their way over to the nurse's office. Unknown to any of them, the hooded figure was sitting up on a tree branch, munching down on an apple as he observed what was going on. Instead of the usual smirk that he would be wearing as he enjoyed watching Ethan get through his life at the academy, this time he seemed more serious.
"Damn it… it's so boring." He said. He stood up on the branch and materialized the same scythe he used to kill the class rep. "It's so dull when he only uses fire." With that, he swung the scythe around a few times in full circles. A few seconds after, the top of the tree separated multiple pieces and fell onto the ground. By the time they had all fallen, he had already disappeared.
…..
"Okay, I'm going to do it!"
Rebecca and Ann were walking through the school corridors. It was the weekend before the summer break and all the students were excited to be going home. However, Rebecca was more concerned about finally asking Ethan out on a date. Ann, however, wasn't so sure if it would be possible.
"Yeah… sure." Ann said sarcastically.
Seeing the sarcasm in her voice, Rebecca pouted at her friend. "Hey, come on! I've been working up the courage for a while now, why can't you me more supportive?"
"Well… you had multiple opportunities to ask him out, like when we came to see us at the Sherlock Holmes club, before we went to look for Mizore… and didn't you two have a study date?"
"SESSION!" Rebecca suddenly blurted out, her face as red suddenly tomato red. Ann chuckled at her, causing Rebecca to further blush. But she shook her head and calmed herself down. When they came to a corner, Rebecca wasn't watching where she was going and accidentally bumped into someone who was passing by as well. She was knocked onto the ground, landing on her backside.
"Ow." The girl said.
"Sorry Rebecca."
The sound of the voice caused Rebecca to become a lot more alert. She looked up and saw Ethan, who was offering a helping hand up. She fought hard to keep a straight face, but she couldn't hid a sudden blush that appeared on her face.
Ethan then looked a little confused. "Did I… say something wrong?"
"Oh, uh, no. Sorry." Rebecca said, offering up her own hand. Ethan helped her back onto her feet and raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"So, everything good with yourself?" he asked.
"Well… now that you're here… I wanted to ask you something." She managed to say.
"Okay. Fire away." Ethan responded.
Rebecca tried to speak, but her words suddenly failed to come out of her mouth. She tried again, but it didn't work. Ann was starting to look annoyed, but Ethan gave a slight smiled.
"You know, I hear the best way to make sentences is with words and sentences." Ann said with a slight under tone of anger. Clearly she was losing her patience with her friend for some reason.
Ethan could sense the tension between the two, so he spoke up. "It's just as well I bumped into you, I wanted to ask you something."
"R-Really!?" Rebecca managed to say.
"Yeah. I'm heading to this new thing they've opened up. I think it's called Mononoke Arcade."
At this, Rebecca was at a loss for words again. Mononoke Arcade was one of the major talks around the school. It was supposed to be a separate area from the school filled with shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, and, as the name would suggest, video arcades. The Chairman of the academy had wanted to set it up to give the students something to enjoy when they had some free time. Since the academy was separate from everything else in both the monster and human worlds, there was very little to do.
"You… you want me to come with you?" she asked.
"Yep." Ethan simply answered back. "Hang on, you're not busy are you? "
This time Rebecca was quick to answer, shaking her head quickly. "Oh, no, I'd be happy to go with you. When are you going?"
"In about twenty minutes."
Rebecca widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh… um… that soon?"
"If you want I could wait longer, but, I need to pick up something there as soon as possible and the next bus is tomorrow." Ethan said.
"Aw relax." Ann said, wrapping an arm around Rebecca. "We'll be ready and waiting at the bus stop for you." She said. she then looked at Ethan curiously. "There's a bus going there, right?"
"That's right. See you there." Ethan said. he turned towards one of the windows, opened it and jumped out. Rebecca was surprised, rushing towards the window and looking out to see Ethan landing on the ground with a roll. He got back onto his feet and jogged over towards the bus stop. Rebecca sighed with relief, which was soon taken away when Ann pulled her back by the hem of her blouse, causing Rebecca to yelp with surprise.
"Hey! Whay are you doing!?" Rebecca exclaimed.
"You don't have time to waste! Get ready for the trip!" Ann exclaimed. "And believe me, if you screw this up, I'll be pissed." She continued with an irritated expression.
"R-right." Rebecca said. She looked a little frightened on the outside, but secretly she was squealing with excitement on the inside. "Finally! I'm going to get the best chance!"
…
Rebecca just managed to make it in time for the bus to Mononoke Arcade. She was huffing and puffing as she had to race over to the stop. This would be due to her taking an extra little time to make herself a bit more presentable in Ethan's eyes. She now wore a navy t-shirt with white trimmings along the collar, a black short skirt, black leggings, high-heel shoes and a black cotton jacket. She also carried a small bag which was connected to a belt she wore around her waist.
She pulled out a small make-up mirror and held it out in front of her, wanting to try and make sure she looked well.
"I hope he likes it." She said out loud to herself.
"Like what?"
The girl jumped up into the air from the sudden surprise. She dropped the mirror, which clattered all the way over to the source of the voice. Rebecca turned around and, much to her surprise, saw Tsukune. He was wearing a white button shirt, blue jeans and convex sneakers. He carried his backpack over one of his shoulders.
"Hi Rebecca. You coming on the trip?" he asked.
"I… uh… you're coming too?" she asked.
"Yeah. Ethan was planning on going there alone, mainly because he was just wanting to look for something there, but after he heard more about it he thought we'd all like to come." He explained. He then pointed behind with his thumb. "The rest of the gang should be along soon."
At this, Rebecca felt her world shatter. She had hoped that she would be alone with Ethan, bt that opportunity now came to an end. Tsukune noticed her discomfort and raised an eyebrow.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Rebecca was silent for a moment, fidgeting with her hands. "I… Tsukune, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure." Tsukune answered.
Rebecca took in a deep breath and exhaling before speaking. "I… I have … feeling for Ethan and I want to tell him. I just… don't know how." She said. as soon as she admitted this, she felt like some sort of weight was lifted from shoulders.
As she smiled, Tsukune grinned back. "I was wondering when you would say it out loud."
At this, Rebecca looked at him with widened eyes, clearly surprised. "You knew!?" she exclaimed.
Tsukune scratched the side of his face with his index finger. "Uh, well, Yukari was the first to figure it out. She told me soon after though." He admitted. Seeing her becoming slightly uneasy, Tsukune raised up a hand in sign of good faith. "Relax, we agreed to keep it silent until you tell him."
Rebecca calmed down after hearing this. "Thank you."
"No problem." He said. he then looked a bit more serious as he spoke again. "Tell me… are you sure about your feelings?"
Rebecca nodded in response.
"Well… in that case you need to tell him. It wouldn't be fair to keep it a secret from him." Tsukune said.
"Yeah… you're right." Rebecca admitted. She then looked at him with slight awe. "You really do have some words of wisdom sometimes, don't you?"
"What do you mean sometimes?" Tsukune replied.
Rebecca couldn't hold back a few laughs, which in turn caused Tsukune to laugh as well. Unknown to either of them, unfortunately, the rest of the group travelling to the arcade were hiding behind some bushes. Among the group was Ethan, who wore a black, long-sleeved shirt, grey geans and hiking boots. Moka, Kurumu and Yukari wore the same weekend gear they had before from before the play, Mizore who wore her usual gear, Gin in tracksuit pants, a sports jacket and sneakers and Rodrigo in, surprisingly, a tuxedo.
"Do you see the way those two are talking!?" Kurumu asked angrily.
"Oh, I see it." Mizore said calmly, but her anger was present in her facial expressions.
"Oh my, quite the drama going on here." Rodrigo commented as he adjusted his tie.
"Maybe it's all a misunderstanding?" Moka suggested, while holding back a strong jealously herself.
"Moka could be right." Yukari stated, knowing full well it couldn't have been the scenario they were all thinking, but went along with it because it was entertaining.
"Another one? How does he do it?" Gin said with a waterfall of tears pouring out of his eyes.
"That's what I'd like to know." Ethan stated, grinning at his friend.
Kurumu clenched her fists tightly and glared with great fury at the two. "There's no way I'm letting anyone else go after my destined one. We've got to break them up."
"I don't think they were going out to begin with, Kurumu." Ethan said to the succubus with a deadpanned tone.
"Then we've got to make sure it stays that way." Mizore said.
Ethan sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have invited you lot." He said. he then stepped out of the bushes on his side, making sure to hide the fact that he and the rest of the group were spying on them. When he was in plain view, he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, catching the attention in the other two. When Tsukune turned and saw him, he smirked, while Rebecca suddenly blushed.
"Hey Ethan. Where's everyone else?" Tsukune asked.
"They'll be here… speak of the devil." As Ethan started speaking, the rest of the group all walked up behind him. The girls put on smiley faces, holding back their jealousy, Gn was wiping his eyes with tissues and Rodrigo still adjusting his tie. Yukari was giggling to herself, which many found unusual but didn't focus much on.
"Okay, now that we're all here, all we need now is the bus." Moka said.
"Isn't it supposed to be here by now?" Rebecca asked.
Ethan grinned and held up his hands, holding up three digits and lowering them one by one as he counted down. "Three, two, one." Upon finishing, they all heard the sound the bus horn blaring, causing all but Ethan to jump. The bus slowly came up to the group from the tunnel, turning around and parking right in front of the tunnel. The door opened to reveal the same bus driver that had driven Tsukune and Ethan to Yokai Academy in the first place.
"Hey kids. You want a ride?" he asked.
Ethan smirked and turned to the rest of the group, motioning for everyone to get on the bus. "Come on! We're burning daylight!"
"Alright, let's go." Tsukune said, jumping onto the bus. Rebecca followed him in, which caused the girls to glare at her from behind. The girls quickly dashed onto the bus. Taking this opportunity, Ethan motioned for Rodrigo and Gin to huddle up for a moment.
"Okay, we should probably do our part to make sure that no one kills each other" Ethan stated. "As entertaining as it would be, I'd rather not cause trouble for the time being."
"Quite right. This place is supposed to be an escape from hardship, not the center of it." Rodrigo commented.
Gin made a cheeky smirk. "Plus, it would be no good if their bodies got damaged in anyway, then there'd be nothing good to look at." He said.
In response, Ethan grabbed him by the throat and squeezed with the strength of a car compactor. Ethan looked calm, but his eyes were glowing again.
"Please don't speak of our friends like that… unless you'd rather lose use of your… 'little buddy'."
Realizing what Ethan meant, Gin began to whimper like a frightened puppy and held up his hands in defense.
"That's what I thought." Ethan said, his eyes returning to their original color. A second later, he released his grip on Gin and let him fall back onto the ground. As soon as he landed, he moved so quickly into the bus, Rodrigo and Ethan were sure that he used his super speed.
Rodrigo looked at the pyrokinetic with surprise. "You weren't joking, were you?"
"Not when my friends are being harassed in one form or another." Ethan answered.
With that, the two entered the bus and took their seats, Rodrigo beside Moka and Ethan beside Yukari. Yukari looked at Ethan with small grin, trying her best to hold back a giggle. Ethan noticed this, but he chose not to ask about it.
"I wonder if it's there?" Ethan thought.
As they went into the tunnel, they were soon in what seemed like a realm of shifting colors. Tsukune and Ethan were a little surprised to have not noticed this before, but neither said a word.
"So, what are we all going to do when we get there?" Moka asked excitedly.
"I'm going to check all the clothes stores and bakeries. That way I can get ideas to impress my Tsukune." Kurumu blurted out.
"Snow cones. Maybe some browsing around to see what's there too." Mizore said.
"Don't know, we'll see when we get there." Moka said.
"Same." Yukari said, suddenly appearing behind Moka and hugging her head. Ethan raised an eyebrow, surprised how Yukari was able to move so quickly. He was about to say something when he suddenly felt a pain shoot through his right arm. He let out a grunt of pain and grasped onto his forearm.
This didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the people on the bus, who all turned in alarm after hearing him. At this point, even if it was just a small grunt, they could tell that Ethan was trying to hold something back.
"Ethan, Are you okay?" Moka asked in alarm.
"… yeah. I think." Ethan answered. He looked down at his hand. At this, he looked at it as if there was something new about it. As it turned out, there was.
"That's weird." Ethan said.
Tsukune looked in with curiosity. "What's weird? Are you growing a new hand?"
"That'd be quite intriguing!" Rodrigo commented.
"No." Ethan stated. "Look."
Ethan held up his hand for everyone to see. They all looked in and saw part of the aura that would appear when using his staff, only it was thicker this time and clearly flowing around his hand.
"You're right. The aura's never acted like that before." Kurumu said.
"Why do you think it's acting like that?" Rebecca asked.
Ethan shook his hand, hoping that the aura would disappear. He growled slightly when he saw that it wouldn't fade. "No clue. But it's driving me up the wall at the moment."
At this, Rebecca became worried. Not only was Ethan having problems that could affect his mood, which can cause major problems if anyone tried to annoy him, but it could hurt her chances of confessing to him.
She looked over towards Tsukune, thinking that he could get some help from him later on. However, as she looked at him, Kurumu, Mizore and Moka saw her, causing their levels of anger at her, which were already high enough, to further enhance.
"Okay… maybe there is something going on after all." Moka thought.
…
After fifteen minutes of travelling on the bus, they finally came across an exit shining through the multi-colored realm. The driver zoomed through the exit, which lead them to something entirely different. They were now in a car park outside of a market place, which was right next to a full blown mall.
When the girls got out of the bus, they suddenly became starry eyed at the many possibilities for shopping. Tsukune, Rodrigo and Gin were quite impressed with the whole structure and were interested to see what was there. Ethan, however, had something different on his mind.
"WOW! THIS PLACE LOOKS SO AMAZING!" Yukari yelled.
"LOOK AT ALL THE STORES!" Kurumu exclaimed,
"Nice." Mizore said.
"I can't wait." Moka said cheerfully.
"Same." Rebecca followed.
The boys all looked at the girls, Tsukune, Gin and Rodrigo confused by how excited they could be over a shopping area, while Ethan simply grinned at their excitement.
"Now if we make it out of here in one piece…" he said to himself quietly.
"Huh?" Tsukune heard Ethan and turned to face him. "You say something Ethan?"
The pyromancer shook his head. "No. Let's get going." He said as he started walking off.
…
As soon as they all entered the shopping center, the girls from the newspaper zoomed away from the group, hoping to find as many places to check out as possible. Tsukune, Gin and Rodrigo all went off to find somewhere to eat, to which Tsukune said that it was to feed the appetite they got after the bus journey.
"We were only on the bus for fifteen minutes." Ethan stated with a look of confusion.
Rebecca was also confused, that was until she saw Tsukune give her a small wink. Realizing that he just gave her the opportunity for her to be with Ethan. She then turned towards Ethan, who now looked at her with a surprised look.
"Don't you want to see what this place has, or something?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "No thanks. You said you had something to do here, right? I'd like to help if I can."
Ethan was silent for a moment, making Rebecca worry that she may have been intruding on a private matter. Ethan, unexpectedly, smirked.
"Sure. We'll grab a bit to eat after." He stated. With that, he made his way towards a certain direction. Startled by his sudden movement, she nearly tripped as she tried to catch up with him, causing him to hold back a small laugh.
As she recovered, she grinned widely at him, glad to see that he was still willing to walk beside the girl.
As they walked off, Mizore's head popped out of a trash can. He had observed the whole thing, causing her to become completely confused.
"Hang on. If she's into Tsukune, then why's she hanging out with Ethan?" she asked out loud.
Deciding not to think much on it for the time being, she jumped out of the bin, brushing off some rubbish sticking to her, and went off to see what Tsukune was up to.
….
"Uh… this is the place you wanted to check?"
Rebecca, understandably, looked at the small unit with a bit of worry. The windows were tinted black, the wooden frame around the entrance looked rotting and damaged and there was a sign written on the door that said "Enter at your own peril".
"This the place." Ethan stated. He looked over toward Rebecca and saw that she was nervous. "You okay? You don't have to go in if you don't want to."
Rebecca quickly shook her head. "N-No, it's fine." She said.
Ethan raised an eyebrow, convinced that she still wasn't comfortable. Instead of saying anything, he just moved towards the store and opened the door, the sound of wind chimes going off.
"WHO'S THERE!?" came a new voice.
Rebecca jumped, Ethan raised a fist in preparation, and the owner of the voice shot out of the store like a cannonball. He bashed right into Ethan, causing him to skid backwards, but he didn't falter. Instead, he grabbed onto the stranger and used his strength to slam him into the ground.
He turned the stranger onto his back and ignited his fist, holding right over the assailant's face. Ethan saw that it was a small, elderly man with a thin, grey goatee and large, bushy eyebrows.
"Is this how you treat your customers?" Ethan asked.
"I don't have customers." The old man said. "They're all afraid of what I have to offer. What a bunch of sissies."
Ethan extinguished the flames around his released the old man. "Yeah? Well I hear that you have something I need. I'm willing to take the risk.
The old man's expression was blank for a moment, but morphed into a look of cocky confidence. "I like you kid. What do you need?"
Ethan helped him back onto his feet, to which the elder led the way. Rebecca had looked at the seen with confusion, unsure of what to make of the situation. She sighed and followed the two in. As she entered, she was surprised to see what it was like on the inside.
Despite the appearance on the outside, it was well kept on the inside, shelves stocked with various items, from books to vials of different potions, each labelled properly so as to not mix anything up. She looked to where Ethan and the shopkeeper were, to find said shopkeeper on the counter, sweeping it with a brush, while Ethan squatted down to look in under the counter, more specifically at the old tomb underneath.
The shopkeeper eyed the boy with mild curiosity. "That what'cha looking for kid?" he asked.
Ethan nodded. Rebecca was slightly confused by this. The old shopkeeper saw her confusion and proceeded to explain.
"That old book is a record of monsters that are said to be either extinct, rare or notoriously difficult to get near due to their vicious nature. The author was said to have been tracked down by one of the creatures from that book before being torn to shreds by said monster." He then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, seemed like a lot of trouble for a book."
"So how did you find it?" Ethan asked, his eyes becoming cold and stern, much to the surprise of Rebecca.
"A friend of his held on to the book for a while, but he became homeless after something that happened in the human world. She sold the book to me for food money." He suddenly stopped sweeping as his grip suddenly tightened around the broom. "Someone found him dead a couple of weeks later."
Ethan stood up onto his feet and looked at the old man with a calm expression. "How much?"
The old man eyed him with a hint of concern. "You sure boy? Didn't look like anyone who had that book lived for very long." He stated.
Ethan gave the shopkeeper a blade-like smile. "What's life without a little risk?"
A few minutes later, Ethan and Rebecca walked out of the store, with Ethan holding the tomb under one of his arms. Rebecca, surprisingly, was eating a cup of frozen yogurt that the old man threw in for free.
"So… what are you hoping to find in that book?" she asked after swallowing another spoonful of the frozen treat.
"Information on two things." Ethan said. "One, Phoenix's."
At the mention of this, Rebecca's eyes widened. "Phoenix's?" she asked in bewilderment.
Ethan nodded. "Let's just say that I heard something about them and… if I'm ever to confront them, I need to be prepared."
"But wouldn't they already be in the encyclopedia for monsters back in the school library?" Rebecca asked.
"Not the kind I'm looking for." Ethan answered darkly.
Instead of feeling scared by what he had said, which was what normally happened to people who heard him speak like that, she stared at him with concern. Deciding not to push any further into that particular topic, she asked about the other thing he wanted to research.
"Let's just say that there's someone I'm wanting to do a bit of research on... A royal ass." Ethan answered.
This only served to confuse Rebecca, but she let the matter drop. After a couple of minutes of walking, Rebecca abruptly stopped. Ethan had taken a few more steps before he noticed that there was some distance building up between them. He turned to see her standing perfectly still and looking down towards the ground.
Ethan could tell that there was something bothering her all day. He didn't bring it up in case it was a sensitive issue, but now he was losing his patience.
"Alright. Tell me what's up with you."
Rebecca looked up towards Ethan with a startled expression. She then put on a fake smile, trying to hide off her negativity.
"What are you talking about? Everything's fi-"
"It wasn't a question." Ethan stated. His glare wasn't as stern as other times, but it was enough to show that he was serious about wanting to know what was up.
Rebecca tried to think of another excuse, but she could tell that Ethan would have none of it. In the end, she let out a sigh of defeat and walked closer to Ethan. When they were now directly in front of each other, Rebecca spoke again.
"Ethan… there's been something I've been wanting to tell you." He said.
"Keep going." Ethan said.
"… Ethan…" she was hesitant to say what she wanted to say, but she knew that if she didn't say it now, she wouldn't be able to at all. "I think that I've… fallen for-"
"HEEEELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"
Rebecca jumped after hearing that, while Ethan tensed and looked where he heard the yelling. Part of him wasn't surprised when he saw that it was coming from the old shopkeeper they were doing business with earlier. What did cause him to raise his brow, however, was that he was being chased by a four students, each one in partial transformations. The one closest to the old man had furry arms, claws and the hind legs of a dog. Two of them had a set of sharpened teeth, like sharks, and fins sticking out of their elbows and backs. The fourth had a large tail which looked like it was made of iron and had the head of a spiked mace at the end of it.
"What are they chasing him!?" Rebecca exclaimed.
"Don't know, don't care, let's just beat them." Ethan answered.
With that, Ethan ignited his fists and charged at the group chasing the old man. The leader must've been wholly focused on the old man, as he didn't see Ethan charging at him with flaming arms. Ethan made a blade-like smile as he struck the leader in the face with a powerful right cross, causing the leader to fly backwards.
He was launched backwards past his followers, all of whom were startled at how strong Ethan was. The leader, however, proved to be more agile than Ethan thought, as he spun mid-air and dashed towards Ethan. Ethan formed the flames into gauntlets and raised a forearm up in defense as the leader swiped a clawed hand at the pyromancer.
The leader was about to strike again when Ethan gave him a quick jab to the nose, causing the opponent to recoil his head back and hold on to nose as it began to quickly bleed out. he looked back at Ethan with an face full of fury.
"How DARE YOU!" he roared.
Ethan shook his head. "If I had a Yen every time I heard that." He said. His face morphed into a look of seriousness. "Now, why were you chasing after that guy?"
The leader lowered his hand, revealing that his nose had healed. "Why do you think? Didn't you see what that guy sells? He's nothing but a freak and needs to be taught a lesson."
"That's rather rude, don't you think?" Ethan commented. He ignited his fists again, only this time allowing the flames to travel to the palm of his hands. "What gives you the right to harass someone just because of what they sell?"
In an instant, the leader of the group vanished, reappearing behind Ethan. He threw a knee into his lower back, which struck and caused Ethan to stumble. Before the assailant could land another hit, Ethan let himself fall onto the ground and shot out a foot into his opponent's leg. Ethan used his strength to add more force behind it.
Unfortunately, the opponent was already gone.
Ethan, guessing what his next move would be, swung his foot around, hoping to hit the hind legged enemy behind him. While, as it turned out he was behind him, the figure vanished again. As of now, this enemy proved to be more annoying than Gin when Ethan first fought him. Ethan got back on his feet and looked around, only to see the leader's lackeys laughing at Ethan. The pyromancer didn't care much, but he really wanted to beat him up already.
"You going to keep running?" Ethan asked.
With that, the figure stopped directly in front of Ethan. He gave him a blade-like smirk as he quickly lowered himself and elbowed him in the stomach, the force of the attack sending Ethan backwards and on his knees.
"ETHAN!" Rebecca cried. She was about to rush over when the lackeys gathered around her.
"We won't hurt you, but we can't let you stop the boss." One of the sharks said.
"Yeah, he's been wanting to beat the crap out of Drake for a while now. He doesn't want anyone to interrupt him." The other said.
At this, Rebecca froze. "What do you mean?"
"True." The mace-tailed grunt said. "He only harassed the shop keeper to attract Drake's attention. He won't last long now."
As they talked, Rebecca simply glared.
"Get out of my way." She said sternly.
At this, the three stooges laughed at her, thinking that she was joking.
"Or what?" the first of them asked.
To respond, the silver tips of her hair glowed, as well as her eyes. As they did, she raised a hand up into the air, forcing the ground underneath them to blow and send them all flying through the air. As they landed, Rebecca held out her fists towards the two shards; she opened her hands, creating a shockwave that sent the two sharks flying into a nearby wall.
The third had landed on his feet and glared at the girl. His appearance slowly began to change, he skin turning charcoal and scaly, a mane growing around his face, fangs forming in his mouth and claws forming on his fingertips.
Rebecca narrowed her glowing eyes at him. "A Manticore."
"Forgive me." He said and he went down on all fours and pointed his tail at her. As he did, the spikes shot out of his tail, all flying towards Rebecca.
She held out her hand at the spikes, causing the air to ripple. When the spikes hit the ripple, they stopped mid-air and were soon turned into ash. The Manticore was surprised by this, as none could never dodge, never mind block, his spikes like that before. Deciding against his better judgement, he charged towards the girl.
Rebecca responded by swinging her arm like a sword at the Manticore. As she did, another shockwave was sent flying at him It struck him, sliced into him by half an inch, but mainly sent him flying back a few feet onto his back. He was about to get up, only to find the girl stomping her foot onto his newly inflicted wound, causing him to grunt in pain.
"Don't associate yourself with someone like him." She said.
The Manticore was slightly surprised by this. Rebecca's hair and eyes suddenly stopped glowing, followed by her quickly running off to help Ethan. As she ran off, he thought about what she said to him. While it wasn't much, it somehow struck a chord with him. He sat up, feeling the wound already starting to heal, and looked to where the girl was going off to.
"God have mercy on any who face her." He said to himself.
…..
"You don't think that she has a thing for Tsukune?"
After Mizore had seen Rebecca and Ethan go off together, she had crossed paths with the other girls from the club, who were just about to get something to eat. After they came across a nice-looking ice-cream bar, they got a quick bite to eat, where Mizore had reported what she had seen to the group.
Mizore had nodded towards Kurumu. "That's right, Kurumu. I think that we got the wrong idea, and that she's actually wanting to be in a relationship with the human volcano."
Kurumu pondered on this for a few seconds, suddenly clapping her hands together with a joyous face afterward. "Well, as long as she doesn't try to steal my Tsukune, then it's fine with me." She stated.
At this, Mizore formed eyes claws and pointed them at Kurumu, who responded in kind by elongating her fingernails.
"He's not Your Tsukune." Mizore growled.
Two basins suddenly appeared over the two, each one striking a single target.
"No way! He belongs to Me and Moka!" Yukari cried.
Moka was about to say something when, all of a sudden, the ground began shaking, causing the girls to cease their argument and look around frantically.
"What's going on? Are we having an earthquake?" Kurumu asked in a panicked voice.
"If you ask me, it's more of a fire-quake." Mizore stated.
"Ethan?" Moka suggested.
"Hey, guys!"
All turned to see Tsukune running towards them.
"Anyone see where Ethan's gone too?" the boy asked.
"We were wonder that ourselves to be honest." Mizore said.
At this, Yukari grinned, knowing that Ethan would normally get into a fight when there was some kind of threat occurring. "Well, if it's Ethan, we should get a good show of him beating some bad guy senseless." She said confidently.
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a sound of something crashing into the ground behind them. They all turned to see someone struggling to get out of the newly formed crater. As they focused their eyes on who it was, they were all surprised to see who it was.
"ETHAN!?" they all screamed in unison.
Ethan, now batter, bruised and had a bit of his own blood on his shirt, grinned back at them. "Hi Tsukune, girls." He said.
Before any of them could say anything, a bout of maniacal laughter suddenly filled the air. Ethan looked up towards the roof, only to see the person he was fighting staring down at him.
The opponent had now taken on his full monster form, which proved to be more shocking to the girls than Ethan. The opponent's full monster form was, in fact, a Werewolf. This one, unlike Gin, had light, brown fur instead of grey. He was also a lot faster than Gin, which made it difficult to land a hit. Ethan considered raising his body temperature to the point he would burn anything that came in contact with him, but he had little energy to spare as of now.
The wolf looked down at Ethan, a fang-bearing grin forming on his face. "What's wrong, Drake? Getting tired already? And here I thought you were tougher than this."
Ethan smirked at him as flames began to form on his hands again. "I'm just getting warmed up." He said. as he was about to move, however, Moka ran up to him and pulled him back. He looked back at her and asked her to let him go.
Moka shook her head in refusal. "Can't you see that you're in no condition to fight? If you just charge in he'll kill you." He said. her grip on his arm tightened as a lone tear went down the side of her face.
"I don't want any of my friends to get hurt anymore."
That single sentence caused something to spark within Ethan. Seeing the level of pain in her eyes, a pain that she seemed to be holding in for a while, had caused something inside of him to shatter. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt a strong surge of emotion flow through him. He gritted his teeth and looked back at the wolf, who laughed haughtily at Ethan.
"Oh, so this pup is still wanting to fight, huh?" he asked.
Ethan was about to answer when he felt a strong surge of pain flow through his body, causing him to collapse onto his knees. The newspaper club went over to him, now full of worry. As the wolf saw this, he prepared to launch off of the platform, intending to home in on his kill.
However, this was interrupted when something, or someone, socked in in the side of the face and sent him flying. Luckily for him, he found a railing to grab onto and stop the momentum. He looked over to see who it was that hit him.
Gin stood where he was standing a second ago, his full wolf form present for all to see.
"Still feeling lucky, amateur?" Gin asked cockily.
The enemy wolf growled at Gin, furious at how he was taken by surprise like that. He was about to move again when he felt something latch onto his wrists. He looked at his wrists and saw that they were being restrained by… water?
"It appears that our young friend is in need of a lesson in manners!"
Rodrigo suddenly appeared beside the young werewolf, his body now formed of only water as he glared at the one who attacked his friend. Before the wolf could do anything, Rodrigo shot out a tendril of water struck the wolf hard in the gullet. Gin appeared behind the wold, spinning through the air and brought his foot down on the younger pup like an axe, striking him in the back of his head.
The lighter colored wolf proved to be more resistant than Gin thought, as the pup turned and struck Gin hard in the jaw, disorienting him. Rodrigo tried to attack with another tendril, but the enemy wolf used his speed to dodge, causing Rodrigo to hit Gin with full force instead, knocking the second year student out cold.
Rodrigo unintentionally reverted to human form from his shock at having accidentally "Oh dear. Gin, I am so very sorry!" Rodrigo tried to tell him, despite the fact that Gin was now unconscious.
Taking his chance, the wolf appeared behind Rodrigo and hit him across the back of his head, knocking the theater lover out cold.
"What a nuisance."
"GIN! RODRIGO!" Yukari cried.
Her cries alerted the wolf, who now had his eyes back on Ethan. The pyrokinetic was breathing heavily, but he didn't seem to be in as much pain as last time. The wolf grinned sinisterly as he prepared on his canine face.
Moka looked at the wolf and saw where he was looking. Before she could say anything, he was already zooming towards Ethan.
Time had seemed to slow as the enemy wolf was getting closer towards Ethan. Moka tried desperately to reach out, hoping that she would reach him in time. Deep down… she knew that she couldn't make it. But she wasn't sure of what else to do.
"Damn..." Ethan said to himself.
The wolf crashed into the ground, creating a larger crater in the ground and the force blew the club members off of their feet. Kurumu unleashed her wings and used them to make a controlled landing, Yukari summoned a cushion to land on as well as one each for Mizore, Tsukune and Moka to land on. They all looked to where Ethan was standing, paralyzed with fear, fear of losing their friend.
"That's… that's not possible!" the wolf cried.
That statement caused confusion for them all at first… that is until they saw that there was no sign of Ethan in the crater. No one could understand what had happened.
Ethan suddenly appeared behind the wolf, a look as sadistic and chilling one would expect from the devil himself plastered on his face.
"Well, well, well… look who got cocky." He said with a spine-chilling tone.
The club members looked in both awe and fear at their friend. They could sense it… his power had suddenly recovered, increased even. None were sure how it could've been possible.
However, Yukari gasped as a possibility suddenly entered her mind.
"His aura... it was a sign." She whispered.
Moka heard her, to which she looked at her friend with a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"
Yukari's eyes widened as the thought continued to circle through her mind. "Ethan's powers… they're evolving."
Ethan continued to look at the pup with this same look, causing the pup to shiver slightly. Ethan flexed his fingers and let out a small, dark chuckle.
"Time to put this thing to the test." He said.
Ethan dashed forward with great speed, not having to rely on his unnatural strength this time. It was as simple as taking a step forward, allowing his body to move at a speed as great as his strength. Using the momentum, he kneed his opponent to knee him in the nose, followed by Ethan spinning in a forward direction, grabbing the wolf by the head and flipped him over. He thrusted the wolf into the ground, but he didn't use as much force to create a crater. Instead, he pulled the wolf by his legs, switching back to his strength to throw the wolf in a random direction. As the wolf flew, Ethan switched back to his newfound speed and zipped past the wolf, only to stop in front of the enemy as he was flying by. Ethan used his strength again to punch him hard in the chest, shattering a couple of ribs in the process. Ethan allowed the opponent to fall to the ground. The pyromancer looked down at his opponent with a look of grim satisfaction.
The pup looked up at Ethan with angry eyes. "You… you can't beat me. I am the strongest in the academy." He said.
"You want to know something?" Ethan asked. "You're nothing but a cunt driven by a thirst for power… and it was your downfall."
The wolf lept back into action, this time taking wild swings at Ethan with his speed. Ethan however, with his own heightened speed was able to perceive them more slowly, allowing him the opportunity to dodge the attacks more easily. He allowed the pup a couple more attacks before deciding to end it.
Ethan clicked his fingers and summoned a flame grenade, which he threw at the wolf and flipped back. In his rage, the wolf slashed the grenade, causing it to explode and coat the wolf in the fire. When it had faded, the wolf was revealed to have returned to his human form.
Ethan smiled at his unconscious form, debating whether or not he should… 'finish' the job. However he decided against it. He looked over to his friend, who all wore looks of pure awe on their faces.
Ethan looked at them with confusion. "Oh, come on. What now!?"
…..
Well, that was a bit more eventful than I thought it would be."
After the eventful day, the group had decided to call it a day and head back to the academy. When they returned, they were all gathered in the canteen, where they had been talking about what they had been up to before the were-pup and his lackeys decided to pick a fight.
"I can't believe that there were that many stores!" Yukari said.
"Makes sense, you would need to have as many things as possible available to keep the students entertained." Mizore said.
"Didn't help me." Ethan said.
At this, all turned towards him. Tsukune had been the first to speak.
"Hey, Ethan… why would those guys want to fight you? You didn't do anything to them, did you?" he asked.
Ethan shook his head. "Wasn't sure what that was all about at the time, but I went to talk to the chairman about it."
"What did he say?" Kurumu asked.
Ethan leaned back and let his head relax as he spoke. "Apparently, the pup was a friend of the class rep. Seems like lizard-boy has disappeared and no one knows where he went to. So the pup blamed me and tried to get revenge."
Everyone was on alert after hearing this.
"He disappeared? But we all heard that he went home." Moka said.
"Turns out the chairman made that up as well. He didn't think it was a good idea to start a panic in the school." Ethan explained.
At this, they all looked much for afraid. Gin looked like he was about to wet himself even. However, they were broken out of their panicked mind-frames when Ethan clicked his fingers, summoning a small flame on his thumb.
"What's with the worry? If there is something going on, we can take care of it. That's what we do these days, remember?"
Tsukune smiled at Ethan, happy to see that he's taking a more positive outlook on the situation. "Well, you and Moka seem to be doing a better than the rest of us in that department. You even got a new power out of it."
In response, Ethan vanished and appeared right behind Tsukune, tapping him on the shoulder and causing Tsukune to jump high into the air from fright. Everyone couldn't help but laugh at the antics of the two.
"I'm going to have a lot of fun with this." Ethan said. With that, he started making his way out of the canteen.
"Hey, where are you going?" Gin asked.
Ethan looked back shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know. Think I'll head back to my room. Talk to you guys later." He said. he was about to continue when he remembered something. He looked back at Rebecca. "Hey, Rebecca."
"Hm?" the girl in question asked.
"Weren't you trying to tell me something earlier?" he asked.
"… It can wait, don't worry." She responded hesitantly.
Ethan was slightly annoyed by this, but he opted to let the matter drop for now. he wasn't in the mood for interrogating anyone. As he left, All the remaining people looked over at Rebecca, all with inquisitive expressions.
"Okay girl. Spill the beans. What's this thing you're wanting to tell Ethan?" Kurumu asked.
Rebecca's face was starting to turn red, but Tsukune gave her a reassuring nod, telling her that she can trust them. As such, she took in a deep breath and said-
"I think… I'm in love with Ethan."
Tsukune looked down at his watch and inwardly counted "Three… two… one…"
"WHAAAAAAT!" all except for Tsukune and Yukari cried.
"Nailed it." Tsukune thought happily to himself.
…..
Ethan had returned to his room and was now resting on his bed. He sat still for a few moments, pondering on how he could've gotten super speed. Granted, he unlocked his strength when he fought against Saizou, and now he went head to head with a werewolf, go speed was necessary.
"Maybe I can unlock these powers depending on who I fight." He said to himself. As he did, a sinister smile came across his face. "Maybe inner Moka can help me out with that."
Deciding to put the idea behind him for now, he reach into a bag and pulled out the tomb he got from the old shop. He heard that, while the shop keeper was a little shaken, he would be alright and the business would continue to run. It was just as well, as Ethan had gained an interest in seeing what else they had to offer.
He opened the old text and flicked through the pages. While he knew he could find more information on Phoenixs here, he had something else on his mind instead. He suddenly stopped flicking when a familiar image caught his eye. This image was of a boy around his age wearing a distinct hood and carried a scythe. He may have looked different in this picture, but Ethan recognised him instantly, causing him to form another blade-like smile on his face.
At the same time, the hooded figure was sitting on a tree outside Ethan's room, looking in through a window, now more than interested to see what will happen to this boy now that he unlocked a new weapon in his arsenal.
Either way, both were thinking the same thing.
"This is getting interesting." They both said simultaneously.
And with that, I'm going to wrap it up here. Let me tell you, I actually had a fair bit of fun writing this chapter. To be honest, I was originally planning on having super speed as Ethan's first power, but I decided against it, thinking that the strength would be a better choice for his character.
Also, in case anyone asks, because I was asked about this before, since Ethan's not invincible, he's going to have a fair number of scruffs that he will be outmatched in. However, that doesn't mean he'll put up more of a fight.
Okay, I'll finish speaking here. If anyone has anything they want to share about the story, PLEASE don't be afraid to speak your mind. Did you think this was good? Bad? Mediocre? Feel free to speak your mind.
Right then, talk to you all later and I hope you all have a nice day.