Hot Water

Christian slid up to the door and jerked on the handle. "Damn!" He whirled around to Odette. "Do you know anywhere we could sneak out?"

She caught up with him and shrugged. "How would Nikki have done it?"

He looked around the hall and his eyes landed on the nearest window. He went to it and looked on either side of him to make sure the coast was clear before he let his hand turn into a naginata blade and wedged the tip between the sill and the frame.

Odette watched him and kept checking for any possible passerby. "Don't break it."

Soon the window popped open with a sound that quickly echoed through the halls. The students paused for a moment to make sure no one was coming before they quietly slipped out through the opening. Christian went through first and took Odette's hand to help her through. On the ground he couldn't help but notice his fortunate view as she lifted her olive dress enough for her legs to have more flexibility. She hopped down next to him in the grass and went to the parking lot.

Odette stopped when she noticed William's motorcycle was missing. "They must have gone into the city." She looked to Christian. "We don't have a vehicle."

Once again he paused in thought and glanced around for his options. When his eyes fell on a bright red sports car that he knew belonged to one of the teachers (who happened to dislike him) he gave an evil grin.

The redhead looked between him and the car. "No."

He approached the shiny vehicle and hissed, "Yes."

Dr. Stein's shoes scuffed on cobblestones as he spun and swung the black zanbato. The monster evaded and latched onto a near wall again, already bearing a few gashes here and there from where it failed to move quick enough. But it certainly wasn't giving up; it only seemed to become more ferocious. Nikki had since managed to pull William's motorcycle out of the way and took cover around the corner where she crouched with a hand cradling her cheek where it still burned and bubbled painfully. She felt faint but she wasn't bleeding. That Kishin monster's acid spit apparently took a toll. She sighed while she peeked around the corner, watching her teacher fight. She wished there was something she could do. But even if she transformed halfway, she would only get in his way. Besides, he didn't look like he needed it anyway. He didn't bounce around the enemy as much as she thought he would. He didn't need to. He had a particular range of motion that so far hadn't deviated far from about a ten-foot radius around him. Instead of jumping away, he only feinted and dodged. And for having never used William as his weapon partner before, he was doing very well. Dr. Stein kept landing regular hits. He did not get closer or try for more damage, probably because he had observed the acid saliva and didn't want to risk William being burned, too. But one thing was for sure. When this battle was over, she and William were still in hot water.

Dr. Stein thrust his left hand forward for another soul wavelength charge. The monster screeched and staggered into one of the near buildings, this time denting the brick with its weight. William's voice sounded from his black blade. "Let's finish it."

"If there's acid in its blood, too, you'll be burned badly."

"Well, let's find out! Come on, before he gets up!"

Dr. Stein stood his ground while the monster rolled off the wall and the brick crumbled down behind it in the hole it had left. Its knuckles curled against the cobblestones with a frustrated growl as it pushed itself up. William also grumbled something similar to frustration when Dr. Stein only shifted his weight to prepare to engage in combat again.

The monster leaned into a drunken charge until it seemed to regain enough balance to attack. This time the scientist leaned far backwards to evade a swipe of its claws. He countered with an upward slash with the giant blade. William's razor edge sliced clean through the Kishin's arm and severed it cleanly at the elbow. The monster shrunk back against the wall and its maw opened with an ear-splitting scream as it tucked its nub into its side and hobbled backwards. Stein immediately looked to the zanbato.

William's face and naked torso appeared in the steel. "I'm fine. Go for it."

The meister flicked his chin up and switched his stance from defensive to offensive. Just before he decided to charge, the monster threw its head back with a rattling roar. With sickening cracks of bones and the fizz of steaming blood, the previously severed arm was starting to bubble at the nub and flesh began to grow and mend around a newly formed bone. Soon the arm had completely regenerated and the monster had about-faced to them. Dr. Stein sighed through his nose.

Nikki stepped around the corner. "Professor?" Her voice squeaked in concern.

William's reflection gritted its teeth. "Well, its blood isn't acid, just go for the damn head."

The Kishin mutt weaved into a sprint towards them with its tongue out and lashing like a whip. Dr. Stein flowed through his library of evasive maneuvers, also being sure not to allow the zanbato to be caught by it either. His opponent had become faster and more nimble if it was at all possible. The teacher kept his jaw clenched and went on avoiding its deadly tongue while looking for a striking range.

"Come on, just get in there!" William growled loudly, unaware of his wielder's caution to protect him. Stein didn't respond and landed a heavy punch with another thoroughly charged soul wavelength attack from above. The monster slammed into the cobblestones and created a small crater under it with the force of the attack stacked on its weight.

The scientist swung and the black blade split through the monster's neck. The beast hit the ground again but the head was not completely severed—rather it hung by a hinge like the lid of a tin can. The eyes rolled around wildly and its tongue fell out and unraveled. Realizing his strike wasn't a success, Stein raised the giant sword over his head for the final blow. The Kishin's hind foot jerked up and struck the meister in the back, throwing him over his head and further into the street.

"Are you okay," William said from the blade, his voice lower now.

With a stiff groan from his throat, the teacher sat up and began to stand as if his bones were too old to be taking such hits. "I need you to try and resonate with me again."

"You—we're not ready for that. Just the last session I managed to stay in your grip, remember? And even that didn't last long."

Stein watched as the skin of the monster's neck began to reattach itself, resembling stringy cheese before it became one again. "We don't need it to last long but we need it now."

Instead of replying or arguing more, the zanbato was silent again and the teacher could feel him open his mind up as he had before. It wasn't as detectable as it was with Marie, nor as automatic, but it was there and it should be just enough. The teacher repositioned his hands on the handle and wrapped his fingers tight. From afar, Nikki watched as a familiar glow enveloped their immediate area, stretching farther than hers ever did with Tim. How was that possible? This was the first time they had ever partnered with each other, right? Perhaps Dr. Stein was just that powerful. When the monster's head had fully reattached to its neck, it lunged forward once more with jaws wide open. Stein bent his knees and his muscles all tightened in preparation as he closed his eyes and attempted to meet his weapon in that void as they had tried time and time before.

William opened his eyes and shuddered at the way his heart thundered against his breast. His breath was inevitably a little quick as he stared forward towards the shiny black piano with the candlelight flickering delicately across its surface. Upon hearing a low clicking sound to his left, he turned his head to face the feminine shadow figure with its shoulders twitching almost excitedly. Though it was facing him, he couldn't quite feel it looking at him as he normally could with its lack of eyeballs. It looked through him this time. William slowly turned his head to the right. There stood a tall spindly figure; it was a man—or once a man. Its face looked as if it had resembled features he knew not too long ago but a human mouth was replaced with a jagged line that divided its face to each ear. In place of human eyes were what William knew to be Kishin eyes from their telltale vertical orientation, mere slits in the skull and unwelcomed viewports into a dark abyss. Each eye bore a red glow from the center. William stared without blinking as the tall lanky figure stood partially hunched over with audible labored breathing and cloaked by ragged garments that may have once been an intact long coat. Its head began to rotate. William's mouth came open when a large screw became visible from its temple. Its void of a mouth snapped open with strings of saliva.

Dr. Stein sprung into the air above the monster. He directed all his weight downward again, keeping the edge of William's blade under him. Together they cut through the air with a sharp wind that passed on either side. Stein turned his body as the zanbato came down on the monster. In a blink, his feet were on the ground again, now facing the opposite direction. The resonance aura dissipated and with a huff, the scientist rested the sword on the ground, looking up at the monster. It stood utterly still for a moment before it began to sway. It towered over them for only a second more before it tumbled to the damaged cobblestones. When its body struck the ground, the impact knocked it into two halves, the slit ending somewhere at its waist. But as for its head and shoulders, they were split asymmetrically. And with a part of the brain now spilling out onto two different parts of the street, there was no hope of it regenerating again. Dr. Stein stood and popped his neck with a slight wince of discomfort.

Nikki came closer now, her bare feet stepping on one stone at a time. "Holy hell."

The meister took a breath and dug in his pocket for his glasses. "Both of you get back to the school."

William returned to his human form and took a few steps away from the scientist. When the teacher didn't look at him, he opened his mouth, about to ask what the hell just happened with their resonance. But at the moment he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "… Thanks… for—"

"I'll see to it that you're both punished."

William scoffed. "Fine. Whatever." He picked up his motorcycle.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Stein used his coat to clean the lenses of his glasses.

The student turned to him after having put his bike back on two wheels. "For what?" he said incredulously.

"Disobeying the rules is not what I'm going to have you punished for. Engaging an enemy of this rank without permission or thought to Nikki's well-being was extremely inconsiderate."

Nikki came closer. Her head now bore a raw spot from the acid burn though it had stopped bubbling. "It's not his fault, Professor. I came with him because I wanted to."

"I know. That's why you're both being punished." He put his glasses on and stared at them harshly. Though the intensity of his eyes didn't quite make it to them, for they were both distracted by the broken bridge over his nose, causing them to sit horribly crooked on his face.

William didn't speak but pointed to his own face vaguely.

Dr. Stein angrily swiped them off and shoved them back in his pocket. He wrinkled his brow when he heard the roar of a high-powered engine. Everyone turned when a small red sports car pulled into view in the street. Christian screeched to a stop behind the steering wheel of the car with Odette in the passenger's seat.

"Holy smokes!" Christian hopped out at the view of the dead Kishin monster lying behind them, but flinched when he saw their teacher. "Oh…"

"… Good job, Professor!" Odette chimed nervously.

The scientist gave a dull stare. All the students averted their gaze. "Everyone back to school. Now." He started towards the car. When Christian went to get back in the front seat, glancing at his sister in worry, Stein waved him away from the door and took the driver's seat.

Nikki looked to William with a sad expression before she got in the back of the car with her brother. Odette looked at him, too, before Dr. Stein drove away.

William huffed under his breath before mounting his motorcycle and speeding away after them back to the castle.