It's September 11th, and I last updated on June 26th. Oof. My own fault really, whenever I had free time I spent it playing Tears of the Kingdom. Such is life, I guess.
Chapter 12: Dragon
The battle had begun. Leventhan blew another burst of fire towards the trio. While Raphael and Zion moved to dodge, Sushie counted with a burst of water. Much to Zions amazement, the two were dead even, neither one budging.
Using the moment to his advantage, he rushed Leventhan, and delivered the strongest right hook he could muster. The blow clearly bothered the dragon, but did little to interrupt his clash with Sushie.
Almost as if anticipating each other's moves, both Sushie and Leventhan disengaged their clash. Sushie dove into the nearby forest, while Leventhan looked to Raphael who was coming in with his talons ready to strike. Leventhan swiped at Raphael with his claws, forcing the Raven to break off from his attempted attack.
Zion delivered a quick kick to the dragon's long body, it's length working against it. However, Leventhan then turned to face Zion with anger clearly evident on its face. Thankfully, before Leventhan could attack, he was instead struck by a burst of water from within the forest, this strike having enough power to make the dragon roar with anger.
It attempted to bite him, but he was able to dodge, then came the claws. One, two, three different swipes, but Zion was pulling away from the dragon.
'Knowing I'm one of only three guys in the sky makes air maneuvers a much safer bet. I'm sure that raven won't come too close to me, knowing the same thing.' Zion thought while retreating backwards.
Leventhan was about to give chase, but was hit with a burst of water from within the jungle canopy.
"If you insist on hiding, then you can burn within the jungle!" Leventhan yelled and unleashed a torrent of fire all over the nearby jungle. Some of the trees were damp, and didn't catch fire quickly, but other, smaller and dryer patches of jungle immediately became an inferno.
Zion was about to call out to Sushie, knowing she was in there somewhere, but cooler heads prevailed and he instead used the opportunity to charge at Leventhan in an attempt to hit the back of his head.
The dragon didn't turn to face him, but Zion saw the electricity building up in its horns. He immediately dove downward, which proved to be the right call, as Leventhan then turned and unleashed what looked and felt like an emp blast.
Zion landed to the ground hard, but on his feet. His suit was throwing up multiple error signs, but he still had power. The problem was, he landed in the middle of the pathway, making him easy to spot. He met eyes with Leventhan, the hatred evident in its eyes.
"You puny little thief, your feeble resistance won't hold out for long. I've lived and fought for longer than you can possibly fathom. You-" the dragon was struck with another burst of water, while Raphael came in with a headbutt to the dragons back.
'Even in a fire, your shots are on point, girl!' Zion cheered in his head. While Leventhan was now preoccupied by the giant raven, Zion saw Sushie move out of the corner of his eye. She dove out of the burning jungle, and into the waters below the cliff. 'Alright Zion, what's the plan here? Hitting him just seems to piss him off. How do we win this?' He thought to himself.
It was at this moment that he felt the ground rumble beneath him. Leventhan was still trying to hit Raphael, so it wasn't him causing this. Turning around was a sight he would later describe as both silly and majestic, as a stampede of Yoshi were quickly approaching his location.
"What are you doing here?! The dragon's on the warpath for me! Get away while you can!" Zion yelled at them. He was promptly ignored as the yoshi ran past him, and towards the dragon. Once they got closer to the cliff edge, they proceeded to bombard him with a wide array of assorted items. Some were hard looking, some looked sharp, others looked like various eggs with different colored spots on them.
One of the yoshi stopped and spoke to Zion, "Those of us who want the dragon off our island have united to help fight it. Never underestimate the power of yoshi!" He shouted before joining the rest of its kin.
Upon getting pelted by the seemingly never-ending onslaught of projectiles, Leventhan blew a torrent of fire towards the Yoshi herd. However, it was intercepted by Sushie shooting forth her own water stream. While in the river, she could feel her power flourishing. Noticing the water stream, Leventhan then took aim at Sushie, but was again interrupted by Raphael who delivered another headbutt to the dragon's long body.
"That's enough! I've had it with you cretins!" Leventhan shouted while gathering lightning between his horns. The orb that grew between them began sending forth multiple currents of electricity. Some hit the yoshi herd, causing them to scatter about. Some hit the water, causing Zion to be concerned for his fish friend. Worst of, however, was Raphael, who took a direct hit and plummeted to the ground with a thud.
"Shit, Raph!" Zion yelled, attempting to reach the giant bird, but another blast of electricity singed the ground between the two of them. 'What should I do? If we can't stop that electric attack we're done for. Think damn it!' Zion didn't have long to think, but an idea did come to mind. He reached into the small pocket in his armor, and pulled out the capsule that was the cause of all this commotion. 'Okay, I got plan A and plan B. Let's hope one of them works.'
"Hey, Leventhan, this is yours isn't it?!" Zion shouted, gaining the dragon's attention, and ire.
"Yes it is, and you'll pay for your life for your thievery!"
"If I return it to you, can we forget this whole exchange ever happened? Let bygones be bygones?" Zion said calmly. He looked over towards Raphael, who was rolling on his side, off towards a part of the jungle canopy that wasn't on fire, before turning back to look at Leventhan 'I doubt he'll say yes at this rate, but at least I bought Raph some time to get away.'
Leventhan snarled, "It's too late for bargains, you and your allies have infuriated me long enough. I'll see you all burned to ashes."
Zion sighed, "Plan B then," he tore open the capsule, and grabbed the flower, squeezing it between his hands. He could feel the power affecting both him and his suit
Leventhan roared, and charged Zion. Whether it was to bite or consume him, Zion didn't know. What he did know was how to read the wonderful lines he saw from his helmet.
Weapon systems online
Power output 100%
Zion smirked. When Leventhan was close, he dodged to the right. Out of his armor, just above his left hand, extended a blue glowing energy blade. He swung as hard as he could. Even without seeing, the roars from Leventhan told him that he did damage. Turning around confirmed it as he saw the blood running from the side of Leventhans mouth.
"DAMN YOU!" Leventhan began to charge electricity again. Zion flew towards the cliffside and went downward, taking cover from the electric currents that were being sent everywhere.
"Zion, over here!" Looking to the water, Zion spotted Sushie swimming towards him. "I can keep countering his fire attacks, but that electricity will do me in quickly if I'm not careful. Any ideas on how to take this guy down?"
Zion looked up, confirmed that electricity was still being shot everywhere, then looked back down to Sushie. "I have an idea that might tilt the odds in our favor, but I'm hard pressed to say it would for certain. That said, if it works we might actually pull off a victory."
Sushie nodded, "Alright, so what's the plan?"
Leventhan was looking back and forth at the cliff edge. He knew Zion had dove off the side. He was ready to continue the pursuit, but was also anticipating Zion to show himself again. Sure enough, Zion did rise up from the cliffside, but only slightly.
Zion raised his right arm, and aimed at the dragon. Just like his left arm, energy formed, but this time as baseball sized orbs that shot out towards his opponent. When they connected with Leventhan, it was apparent that while they indeed dealt damage, it wasn't as significant as the energy blade had been.
'Makes sense,' he thought to himself, 'the blade is more concentrated since it's still being fueled by the suit.'
Leventhan shot a short burst of fire, but Zion ducked down beneath the cliff before quickly coming back up at a different point.
After seeing how fruitless the shots were, Leventhan charged at Zion who again dove down, but this time went down the river slightly in an attempt to get some distance between them. Leventhan didn't let him get far as he quickly caught up and overtook Zions position before attempting to consume him.
With the fraction of a second he had, Zion fired a shot into Leventhans mouth, who screeched in pain. Zion then backed away to regain some distance, but only slightly. Plus, his eyes never broke away from looking at Leventhan.
"You think you're so damn clever don't you? Well no matter how much you irritate me with those attacks, you'll never be able to stop me!" Leventhan began to charge for another electrical bombardment. However…
"SUSHIE, NOW!" Zion yelled.
Leventhan hesitated for only a moment, but that was all they needed. Sushie came in from behind the dragon, having created and launched her most powerful attack.
"TIDAL WAVE!" Sushie was controlling and riding the wave and jumped off just before it collided with Leventhan. Being surrounded by water while harnessing electricity resulted in Leventhan feeling his own electric attack backfiring.
"GAAAAHHHH!" Even though he was submerged, he roared in pain. After a few painful seconds passed, the water receded and Leventhan was left to try and catch his breath. He would, however, not be afforded that luxury.
Quickly and stealthily, Zion had rushed the dragon, energy blades extended, and deftly swung at both the horns. The blows were solid and clean, slicing directly through both horns.
Leventhan again roared in agony, "AAAAHHH! MY HOOOOORNS!"
Zion backed away, his attack successful and his cover blown. "I'm certain you needed those for your electric attacks. And since my partner here negates your fire attacks, it looks like you're on the backfoot now."
During the skirmish, the yoshi herd had reassembled and now made their presence known by lining up on the cliffside. Although looking quite worn, Raphael had gotten back on his feet and stood behind some of the yoshi.
"Last chance, just leave the island peacefully, and we'll pretend this never happened," Zion bargained one last time.
Leventhan growled, before roaring loudly. "Unforgivable! I would sooner die than surrender to you miserable insects!" He roared loudly again, and unleashed his fire towards Zion.
Zion didn't flinch, he knew he had nothing to fear. His thoughts were proven right as Sushie, who was now back in the water, shot back to negate the fiery threat. Leventhan let his focus on the fire slip, but was then distracted by the yoshi herd bombarding him with an untold number of projectiles. Zion seized the moment and charged. Flying just over the torrent of fire, he readied his blades, and aimed right between the eyes. The blades struck true, stabbing right into Leventhans skull. Both of them yelled loudly. While the blades had indeed pierced Leventhan, they hadn't gone all the way through.
Leventhan thrashed about while Zion continued to push his blades in. However, the thrashing was preventing him from finishing his opponent.
"RAAAHHH!" Another voice joined in the chorus. Raphael had flown underneath Leventhan, and delivered the strongest headbutt possible on the opposite side of its skull. Between the force of Raphaels strike, and Zions push, the blades dug deep.
"Reroute all energy to blades, override code Sigma Zero Four! NOW!" Zion shouted a voice command.
His suit essentially powered off, but the blades within Leventhans skull exploded with energy. Zion swung with all his might, and cut downward through Leventhans head and eyes.
Leventhan gave a loud gasp, roar, and began to plummet into the water. Zion pushed off and dove towards the cliffside, but he was too far to reach, and crashed into the water alongside Leventhan. His suit still hadn't reactivated after the last blow, so he was sinking. Worse still, due to the suit integrity being damaged, he was taking on water and starting to drown.
Thankfully, before he even had time to panic. Sushie came up underneath him and began to ascend to the surface. After a few short seconds, they breached the waters surface, upon which he swiftly removed his helmet. They were then greeted by the sight of Leventhan sinking deeper into the water, and the sounds of cheering yoshi.
Sushie gave a heartfelt laugh, "Looks like we finally won!"
Zion couldn't help but smile and laugh in return. He patted Sushie on her side, "Sure looks like it, couldn't have done it without you partner. I'm sure when you tell this as a story later that you'll be breaming with excitement."
Sushie started to snicker at the awful joke, before they both laughed.
Whew, not including the time spent not writing, that fight scene took a LONG while to write, hopefully it came out alright. Battles have always been hard to write for me, but I DO like writing them. Please let me know how I did, I welcome any feedback.