Three Day Storm

#13: Of Cures and Remedies

X X X

Kazuki had forgotten how hard it was to fight an enemy that knew all of your moves. When they knew how and when you acted, it became almost impossible to defeat that enemy.

Distracted by his thoughts, Kazuki wasn't prepared when the panther lunged for him and succeeded, deadly jaws closing around his forearm. He had to twist to retaliate and as he pulled away, he lost his balance. Gravity threw him to the ground, arm still caught between the teeth of his predator and tearing the skin. In the half-second it took to land, Kazuki knew he had lost the fight.

An oversized paw planted itself in the middle of his chest before the man could move to try and get up, jaws tightening on his arm to reinforce the notion. Thin trails of blood leaked their way between savage teeth as the panther towered over him, growling as it held onto him.

With a wince the man took the hint and stilled, trying to remind himself firmly that this wasn't real – he wasn't actually injured, he wasn't actually going to die... he wasn't allowed to, anyway. Kazuki closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain in his arm. He had a job to do, had a goal to find and an Emperor to retrieve. He wasn't weak, he couldn't die on his back like some amateur from Lower Town. What would the others say if he did? Ban would make a remark about dying like a girl, he knew that. Shido, Ginji... they'd never forgive him – and Juubei... how could he do that to his greatest friend?

He didn't know why, but for some reason, Juubei's image floated to the front of his mind.

"I will heal you."

"Juubei?" How – where? Kazuki's eyes snapped open, expecting to be greeted by the vivid yellow eyes of the panther. Instead, his heart skipped a beat as he saw something completely different. "- Juubei!"

His friend was kneeling over the top of him, a needle in one hand and bearing a weary smile as he gently let go of Kazuki's wrist – a clean, undamaged wrist. "Hello, friend -" Juubei was cut off as Kazuki sat up completely, arms sliding around the broader form to pull him into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Juubei," Kazuki told him in a voice muffled against his shoulder, "I almost gave up."

He smiled as he felt Juubei return the hold. "Defeat does not suit you, Kazuki," he heard Juubei say, "I would not let it happen that way."

"Thank you, Juubei," Kazuki sais, letting go and moving to stand.

Juubei copied the motion. "I do not know how the others are faring, but I feel we must find them."

Kazuki agreed with a short nod, looking down the virtual street, then back the way he had come. Where the panther had come from, and why it had vanished? Had Juubei fought it off? He would have to find out later on – they had to find the others first. "Let's go."

With a nod of assent from his partner, Kazuki moved off in the direction he'd been going originally. He knew that there would be no exit back the way he'd come – the only way out was forwards. He heard Juubei fall into step just behind him and was comforted by it – he wasn't alone anymore.

X X X

Meanwhile, Shido found himself wondering why they didn't do more recovery jobs outside of the city. With both hands deep in his pockets and his charm riding around his neck, the Beastmaster was trekking his way along a rocky mountain ridge courtesy of the VR unit he'd entered. It was creative, he'd give them that – but it was achingly devoid of the life you found on the side of a real mountain. Out of boredom he kicked at a stone, watching as it skidded through the dirt, creating a trail of dust before it slid over the edge of the ridge. With nothing better to do he followed the path the stone had taken, wandering up to the edge and looking over with disinterest.

Well, now. He hadn't expected to see that.

Shido found himself standing very still, suddenly wishing that he was on a very different terrain. He watched the little stone slide the rest of the way down the hill, collecting a range of smaller fragments along the way. It created a fair-sized noise, one he was certain would alert the goddamn Basilisk of his presence.

Coloured a vibrant green, the reptile was slowly making its way along the ridge below. Shido was certain it had to be as big as a house. As he watched the stones gather speed and noise, Shido made a quick decision. It would be better to ambush than to be attacked. Crouching down, he gathered his strength and leaped from the edge, somersaulting through the air with a cry of, "Beast Mimicry – Air Dragon!"

By the time he landed the Basilisk was aware of him, rearing up with its mouth open in an ugly hiss. Lunging forwards, it was swift to close the distance between them but Shido was swifter for the moment, jumping into the air to avoid being bitten by fangs bigger than him. He landed on the body of snake itself and instantly leapt to climb higher – his path was cut short by the tail slamming into him.

Thrown to the side, Shido slammed into the side of the cliff backwards.

X X X

Fucking birds.

Poised halfway along the ridge, where he'd been before the damned Roc went for him, Ban watched with a smirk as it peeled itself off of the face of the cliff. He had every intention of beating the crap out of this fake enemy, partially out of sheer dislike for the whole scenario.

Mostly, it was because he'd dropped his glasses and it was all the fault of that damned bird.

Ban took a moment to look around again, just in case they were closer than he thought. After all, anti-Jagan glasses were expensive to acquire and hard to replace. Taking his eyes off the enemy didn't worry him – this was nothing compared to his last visit to a virtual sparring match. It was a shame, actually, that this bird was a complete fabrication – he couldn't kill it... though he could make it wish it was dead.

The Roc had taken to the air again, circling through the sky overhead. Ban watched it shift angle and descend again, shrieking at him as it came in for the next attack.

Ban waited until the very last moment before jumping into the air, a hand lashing out to strike at the bird. It worked, his inertia providing enough time to grab the creature around the neck, fingers clamping down on the glossy black feathers. He began to fall backwards then, the hold forcing the Roc to fall with him. They plummeted towards the earth together, the Roc battering him with its wings as it tried to separate from the man before they both hit the ground.

Ban braced against it, twisting them around so that the lousy bird would take the brunt of the fall.

They hit the ground at full force and Ban was already making his next move, letting go of the bird and bounding away. Stopping a distance away, he was content to stand and wait for the Roc to pick itself up, his grin malicious as he watched it move slower than before.

It didn't cross his mind that a true virtual enemy wouldn't be affected by the injuries he'd given it.

X X X

Shido had promised himself to find out just who had designed this Basilisk – he had a bone to pick with them, that was for sure. With a grunt of pain he picked himself up from the hard ground he'd just been thrown into, pulling at his energy reserves to get his balance and strength up to par. "I hate snakes," he muttered to himself, a wary eye on the reptile. Arching into the air, the Basilisk watched him acutely, forked tongue sliding in and out of its mouth as it waited for him to make the next move. Shido didn't know what irritated him more – that he hadn't yet landed a blow on the beast, or that it seemed smug about that fact.

Shido was an excellent fighter in his own right, and his reputation was a well-earned one. But the Basilisk was better – faster, stronger, and it had the will of the Brain Trust on its side to boot. For the moment, it had the upper hand.

Gathering himself, Shido sprang forwards, determined to make progress this time around. He successfully made it past an attempt by the Basilisk to slam him backwards with its body, but it was too fast, too good for him to avoid the rebound. For the second time that tail whipped through the air, choosing to curl around his frame and squeeze tightly.

With his freedom stifled, Shido snarled and with the last of his breath switched to the mimicry of a rat, twisting his body to try and bite into the scales which were wrapped around him, before they constricted any more. He was rewarded with an angry hiss from the snake and a loosening of the hold around him – enough for the man to wriggle free and drop back to the earth.

Though Shido knew it wasn't much, there was no time to stop and observe the level of damage he had done. He landed in a crouch which turned into a roll so that he could absorb the impact of the fall, straightening afterwards with every intention of pressing his split-second advantage.

As he stepped forwards, the move was interrupted by the sound of three rapid strikes to the ground. Shido was glad that he'd recoiled when he did. Three glowing needles spiked the ground in front of him, delaying his march forwards.

His immediate thought was that they had been spat at him by the Basilisk – after a second look, he knew that wasn't the case. "Juubei?" he demanded, twisting to look for the fighter. Sharp eyes found his silhouette on the cliff face overhead, Kazuki's leaner frame next to it. Juubei leaped forwards and landed next to him, offering a smile as he boldly ignored the snarling, hissing Basilisk that Kazuki had now engaged with.

"This fight is mine," Shido warned, watching the Threadmaster's involvement with distaste.

Juubei shook his head, head turning in the direction of the sparring match. "I do not think that is an enemy you have value in defeating," he answered. "The Beltline has tricked you."

"That's none of your business," Shido told him, more than a little agitated at being interrupted this way. He took a step forwards -

Crunch-

-and quickly retracted it. Shido glanced downwards and followed it with a noise of surprise. He stooped to pick up a pair of now-quite-battered purple tinted glasses.

"When was Ban here?"

X X X

To be continued.