Chapter 10

"Chiffon, are you crazy we can't do this." Varen complained as they walked back into the auditorium. She had dragged him back to the room forcing him to change back into his Nightingale uniform while she did the same. Afterwards she had dragged him once more back towards the auditorium.

"Of course we can, she said use the facility however we want." She explained. Between arguing with her and then the trip to and from the room nearly an hour had passed since she originally proposed the idea. Their group was still sitting at the table waiting in anticipation.

"I don't think this is what she meant Chiffon!" He continued to argue making her pull him harder.

"You're nervous here right? So, show them what you can do. People from all over the world have heard about you, but know nothing about who you are or what you're capable of. You won't get another chance like this." She explained.

"You sound like you just want to have fun and play around." He sighed and she stopped turning to face him.

"No, I will fight you the same as I did before. I expect you will do the same for me and show the same level of courtesy." She responded.

"We could get hurt Chif." He said, but in his mind he really was more concerned with his own wellbeing.

"Scared?" She asked poking him in the stomach with her finger.

"Stop it, I'm not scared I just don't think it's a good idea. There's still a lot of people here." He said slapping her hand away. A lot of people had left the room, but a substantial amount remained talking with one another or continuing to eat.

"Please? Just once more I want to face you to see how much you've grown." She asked sadly. He took a deep breath and slumped his shoulders nodding at last. She smiled again and pulled him up onto the ring prepared for Pandora to fight one another.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Varen said as she left him on one side of the ring and she moved to the other.

"Don't hold back on me Varen. Don't you dare make me feel like I'm not worth your time." She said turning to face him from across the ring.

"Go Varen, try to make it past ten seconds this time!" Attia cheered making everyone at the table laugh.

"Poor guy..." Andre said sadly shaking his head.

"What's going on?" Cassie asked sitting down with everyone else at the table.

"They going to fight?" Kyoichi asked sitting beside her.

"Chiffon is a very proud Pandora even if it doesn't always show. She is strong, intelligent, and from a woman's point of view I admit she is quite beautiful. With that being said there is a small side of her that enjoys indulging in braggadocio. This time she wants everyone to see her Limiter. She wants everyone to understand just how strong he is, and that he is hers." Elizabeth explained.

"You almost know her better than me!" Ticy exclaimed in surprise.

"No Ticy, not even close. I just understand people quickly and the reasons behind their actions. This will be good for him and she knows it. At the same time, she can take pride in the fact that he chose her. Quite romantic really." Elizabeth continued.

"Romantic? Fighting each other? You West Genetics Pandora are a strange bunch." Kyoichi said making Cassie laugh.

"Volt weapon deploy!" Chiffon called out as her clawed gauntlet appeared around her arm. Varen reached out summoning his sword leveling it in front of his body. The lights caused from their weapons coalescing into existence drew attention making people stop and look. Most began to gather near the ring to watch.

"Everyone in this room knows the name Chiffon Fairchild." Elizabeth said watching as the two stared at each other.

"And?" Attia asked looking at Elizabeth who glanced back.

"After tonight, they will know Varen's name too."

"Acceleration!" Varen yelled bursting forward towards Chiffon. A collective gasp spread through the room as he ran. For nearly everyone there no one had seen a man use Pandora abilities. The volt weapon alone was enough to leave everyone in shock. That same man now charged ahead towards Chiffon Fairchild, the strongest Pandora in the world and around the room no one dared breathe.

Chiffon stood in place as he spun gripping the sword with both hands. He brought the blade around in a strong horizontal slash aimed at her mid-section. Her gauntlet flashed forward catching the blade along the large portion of the guard the covered the back of her hand and up her arm. In the same motion she ducked low sweeping a leg out trying to catch Varen off guard. He took a step back lifting one leg so her foot passed harmlessly under it bending his knee and snapping it up high towards her head. Her speed matched his own as she stood lifting her own leg high kicking his foot away with her own.

"What am I seeing?" Charles asked coming up behind Cassie and the others at the table. Roxanne accompanied her as the both watched the fight unfold.

"So the stories were true. About him I mean." Roxanne said.

"Depends on what you've heard." Arnette said.

"Why is when I watch them I feel…strange?" Charles asked out loud. Arnette laughed lightly looking over at the small Pandora.

"He has that effect on Pandora." She said.

Varen dove backwards as the clawed gauntlet slammed forward with incredible speed. He quickly slashed his blade upwards parrying Chiffon's second thrust forcing her arm up high. He stepped forward with his shoulder trying to shove her back just as her body split apart.

"Tempest turn!" Her voice called out creating multiple copies of Chiffon that dashed around Varen. He sucked in his breath reaching down, shifting the mechanism on his sword to release the auxiliary blade. He spun circles letting the twin blades reach out to fend off Chiffon's tempest turn. Without knowing which one was the true copy he had to treat each one as if it were her. Missing one parry could mean the actual Chiffon would strike him down.

Everyone in the room was now fixated on the battle happening. More people were congregating to the auditorium after hearing the sounds of Varen and Chiffon. A series of windows were situated higher up around the room. The second floor either had rooms or hallways with windows that looked down over the auditorium. From one of these windows Arnette noticed Dr. O'hara watching the fight no less intently than all the Pandora and Limiters gathered inside.

Varen dove forward rolling with the momentum to avoid two simultaneous slashes from identical copies of Chiffon. As he came to a knee he slammed the pommel of his sword into the floor causing a shockwave to spread outwards. He looked up as a blue smoky flame encircled his eyes.

"Freezing!" Blue lights raced out from below him in all directions hoping to entrap Chiffon. For a fraction of a second one of the copies looked him in the eyes before leaping high into the air to avoid the freezing field. It was enough to tell him that she was clearly the real Chiffon. Copies would not be affected by the field and as projections would not be concerned with avoiding it. The real Chiffon, however, would have to react.

"Acceleration!" He shouted dashing towards the Chiffon that had looked him in the eyes. His sword connected against her gauntlet and she let her projections fade to refocus on his counterattack. He brought both arms back before thrusting them both hard ahead enhanced with the speed of his acceleration. Chiffon dropped her gauntlet low and slashed upwards with her backhand leading the way. Varen gasped as her gauntlet shattered his offhand sword. Her hand rotated reaching up and grasping the blade of his main hand pushing it high and away. Lights flared around her body as a second gauntlet formed around her left arm that now pierced forward towards his chest.

"It's over, he can't…" Roxanne said, but stopped as Arnette arched her back suddenly her eyes flashing open wide.

"Scythe Machina!" Varen yelled pushing his now empty left hand forward towards Chiffon's second gauntlet. A long pole formed into his grip with a long curved blade spreading out from the top that he pushed into the palm of Chiffon's offhand. Her mouth opened in shock as he locked up with her, his sword held in her main hand and the scythe held in her left.

"What the…" Roxanne's mouth now hung open unable to speak. Arnette grabbed her chest catching her breath staring up at Varen in disbelief.

"How?" Arnette said through labored breaths. Varen shoved with all his strength forcing Chiffon back a step untangling his weapons from her gauntlets. Chiffon spread her legs in a wide stance her gauntlets set ahead of her. Through their shared stigmata Varen could tell she was trying to comprehend what just happened. In truth he wasn't even sure how he did it. It was just instinct that made him try.

"Who or what is he?" Charles asked. Like everyone else she could not take her eyes off the spectacle unfolding before her. Everyone in the room found it difficult to take even a breath or blink out of fear of missing something.

"So, this is the Justicar?" Cassie asked in awe.

"Yeah, this is him." Attia said without looking away.

Varen clenched his jaw rolling the scythe around his body while slashing between the spinning pole with his sword towards Chiffon. She covered herself with the large guards of the gauntlets letting his blade slap harmlessly off the surface. Between her gauntlets he could see the glow of her yellow eyes. She must have opened them for a moment before the glow disappeared and her eyelids slid shut. Chiffon slashed her gauntlets in a cross pushing the scythe and sword aside. She crouched low spinning on a knee her claws reaching out in a whirlwind of metal. Varen jumped high over her head twisting in a corkscrew as he did letting his left hand rotate once in an arc before landing on his feet behind her.

"No way!" Roxanne shouted slamming her hands on the table. Chiffon stood facing Varen her chest rising and lowering quickly with her breath. She looked down seeing her black leggings torn exposing a section of her thigh. A bright red line began to trickle blood down her leg. She looked back up at Varen as he set his feet once more the scythe reaching out ahead of him, his sword held high.

"He hit her!" Charles exclaimed leaning on the table between Arnette and Attia.

"Can he beat her?" Cassie asked and Elizabeth turned to face her.

"No, not even close." Elizabeth answered.

"Acceleration!" Chiffon yelled pushing herself towards Varen. Her claws swiped hard at him forcing him to backpedal quickly to block her attacks. Their weapons became a blur as they slashed at each other wildly. Varen spun his weapons in a wide arc when Chiffon took a step back trying to keep her at a distance. Instead she dashed forward towards him as he brought his sword ahead in a thrust.

All at once they stopped looking into each other's faces. They both breathed heavily and everyone in the room fell silent. Varen's sword tip rested against Chiffon's stomach. He had held back at the last moment before plunging it into her body.

"I got you." He said between breaths. He was still in shock from the whole fight. A smile crossed over her face and she shook her head.

"That would hurt, but it is not a mortal strike. You gave up your defense for a wounding blow. For that you are now dead." She said and he felt the tips of one of her gauntlets against the area where his jaw met his neck. He swallowed hard realizing that she was right. She had also held her strike back at the last second. Had it been a real fight he would have impaled her midsection on his sword, but her gauntlet would have torn his head clean off his neck. She would live, he would not.

"Damn…" He sighed his shoulder slumping. She pulled her gauntlets back letting them dissolve away. Varen released his control on his and Arnette's weapon as well and bowed towards Chiffon.

"Thank you for not holding back. That was everything I could ask for." She said happily grabbing a cloth out of her pocket and wrapping it around her leg.

"That was terrifying." He admitted and she giggled grabbing his hand and leading him back towards their friends. Beside Scarlett O'hara a group of girls watched as Varen and Chiffon began to talk excitedly with their friends at the table. Everyone in the room began to crowd around trying to ask questions.

"They're…incredible." One of the girls said and Dr. O'hara turned to face her.

"Don't be discouraged, those two are unique. Work with me and I will make sure you are just as strong." She said and the girl nodded.

"Yes, doctor. Let's make this project a success."