Chapter 15: Finishing Up This Mess
-South City Zone-
The fight on the south side was well underway as the evening sun set further behind the horizon giving rise to twilight.
Jett summoned a scythe made of shadows that seemed to expand and shrink as he saw fit. Though it was his main weapon of choice it would occasionally turn into different styles of weapons at will, he was like a walking arsenal.
Nitro blitzed across the docks, changing both the friction of his feet and the one under Jett as he threw a boosted punch. The idea was to get as much impact as possible and throw Jett off balance but the man was just too dexterous.
"Tsk tsk," Jett wagged his finger as he used the shadows beneath his feet to hold onto the boardwalk before transforming the scythe into a shield and blocking Nitro's strike.
"Shit, that's unfair!" Nitro complained, as his fist was now being sucked into the shadowy shield.
"Life's not fair buddy boy," Jett mocked, "At least if you don't kill me then I can give you guys a reward."
Blake Prime used the opportunity to dive in from behind, aiming at his waist while Blake-13 tried to use her own shadows to restrain him but to no avail. The Prime's attack was easily dodged as Jett used his shadows to spin himself around, throwing Nitro in the path of the blade.
Blake-13 tried her best to control the darkness but it refused to budge, it was like playing tug of war with a concrete wall. Still… she figured if she kept trying then something had to give.
"Dude why are you so damn strong?!" Nitro gasped as he got up from the dog… er cat pile he landed in.
Jett simply gave another bow, "When in doubt, cringe it out…"
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!" Nitro roared before throwing himself at his enemy once more.
"You are confused, it was like that time Percival contracted Ligma," Jett said with a wistful glance at the sky.
"Who the hell is Percival?!" Blake Prime almost fell over in confusion
"Ligma balls!"
"?" Nitro made a strangled noise as he felt his brain cells die.
-West City Zone-
With Luna's team things were looking rather dire… for Hex and Yang, that was.
Percival apparated a plush sofa out of thin air, picked up Luna and placed her on it while serving her various baked treats and expensive-looking fruit drinks meanwhile Yang and Hex were fighting the sword-wielding slimes.
The translucent creatures were physical enough to deal damage and stop their movements but they seemed impervious to their attacks.
Aura strikes did little more than push them back and Hex's chains weren't enough to lock them down.
"Luna! A little help here?!" Hex called out as she dodged out of the way of the glowing sword.
The young dragon looked nervously at Percival, "Um… Mister Percival, you're being awfully nice but I should really help out my friends…"
"Do not worry Miss Luna, they wish to defeat me, so they must take on my guardians. I myself am not a fighter, I am a cook and a healer, so worry not if they get brutally maimed, beaten to death and or eviscerated. So long as a single hair of them remains I can recover them." He said calmly.
Luna looked mortified, "WHAT?! I can't let that happen!" she immediately got up.
"Do you wish me to not fight them then?" he asked while tilting his head.
"We need to defeat you but I can't let them get hurt, I don't want them to get hurt…" she said worriedly.
Percival nodded, "As you command, Miss Luna has decreed she does not want you hurt, so…" he turned to them, "Hex and Yang, do not get hurt."
"THAT'S NOT HELPFUL AT ALL!" Yang-13 yelled as she blocked the oncoming slash with Ember Celia and fired back, knocking the slime on its back. It quickly recovered and was on the attack once more.
"Is there anything else you wish me to do?" Percival asked her, "Your wish is my command."
Luna's eyes narrowed, she couldn't defeat him in head-on combat, she could tell that much. Even if he didn't attack back, he was still far too durable she wouldn't make a dent. He also seemed to follow her every command rather literally.
She pondered for a moment before an idea sprung to mind.
"Mister Percival," she started, "There is one thing I'd like from you."
He knelt in front of her, "Yes, anything."
"Defeat yourself." She commanded.
"As you wish, my lady." Percival instantly stood up, called off his guardians and pulled out a giant mace from thin air. It was magnificent and ornate, seeming to glow its own sun-like radiance.
With all of his strength, Percival smashed the mace into his own head, denting the helmet and falling over with a loud thud.
Luna just stood there blinking in bewilderment, "That… worked? What?"
Yang and Hex suddenly stopped fighting and, just as confused, met Luna at Percival's downed body.
"Just like that? He… killed himself?" Hex looked in a mix of confusion and horror.
Luna felt extremely guilty, "I didn't think he would go that far… oh gods I just ordered a man to kill himself! OH, WHAT DO I DO?!"
Yang-13 scratched her head, "I…uh… I'm just as confused as you guys are…"
Percival's body began to dissipate, "Remember to eat good food… and kick your brother in the ass... also if you meet a person named Scarlet Nihilus, run very far away." he said through paused breaths, though it sounded more like someone pretending to die.
"Uh... may I ask why those last two things?" Luna asked perplexed.
"Your brother is... a dingleberry... and Scarlet is batshit insane and a bad influence..." and with those last words, he finally disintegrated into black pixels, leaving everyone extremely confused.
-South City Zone-
Back in the South, Blake-13 was managing to overpower Jett's shadow control. While Nitro and Blake Prime kept him distracted she was working tirelessly to overwrite his dominance of the field.
If only they could disrupt his concentration for a moment she could…
"HEY NITRO!" Blake-13 yelled to her friend.
"Yes grand ninja master cat lady?!" he yelled back while narrowly dodging Jett's attacks.
"I need you to break his concentration! I don't know how but just do something!... Also, what's with that name?!"
He snickered, "It's how I differentiate between you two in my head...?"
"Never mind forgot I asked... just do the thing..."
Jett let out a hearty laugh, "My concentration is as impeccable as the future is inconsequential! Nothing can stop me!"
Nitro suddenly had a flashing memory, of another Nitro giving CPR to Jett, and the extremely awkward interaction that followed. It seemed the system was giving him the answer.
"OH… oh no…" Nitro grimaced.
"What? Did you figure it out?" Blake Prime asked mid-fight.
Nitro didn't say anything as he dropped his fighting stance and calmly walked over to Jett.
The shadow user stopped his stance as he saw Nitro calmly approaching, "Ah, so you've given up I see. A wise choice indeed. It is good for one to have the foresight to know when to stop, like when adding hot sauce to soup! Ah, it reminds me of when Blake's cousin Bofa tried to eat it after…"
Blake Prime almost fell over, "Who the hell is Bofa?"
Immediately Jett spun around like you just said his trigger word, "BOFA DEEZ… MMFF!?"
He was instantly silenced when Nitro grabbed his head and smashed their lips together.
Blake Prime who was the only other one focusing on the fight felt her jaw drop at what she was seeing… it was just like in her romance novels!
Instantly Jett's brain lost all function and Blake-13 was able to gain the upper hand.
Warping the shadows to her will she cried out, "NITRO OUT OF THE WAY!"
The redhead boy jumped back just in time for massive pillars of shadows to slam down onto Jett's dazed face, knocking him flat onto his back and out cold.
The chess piece rolled out of his pocket, onto the floor and into the waiting hands of Blake Prime.
"Wow… that was… unexpected…" Blake Prime said while holding onto the chess piece.
Jett's body began to dissipate into pixels as he got up from his downed spot, still slightly dazed. "Never… did I ever… want to experience that again…"
Nitro blushed and wiped his mouth, "It wasn't easy for me either… you're not even my type!"
Jett shivered, "Neither are you mine…"
As he disappeared into nothingness, Jett threw up a middle finger to the sky, that was the last they saw of him.
-North City Zone-
Up north, the most heated battle Ruby Prime had ever seen was underway.
Nova was going head to head with this Scarlet person. The sheer ferocity of their blades clashing was enough to separate the raindrops that pelted the earth like bullets from the sky. Lightning crashed and thunder rumbled aiding in the symphony of the fight.
She was out of their league, even with the five days of training it still wasn't enough for her to keep up with them. It was enough for her to be able to see the insanity but not enough to follow.
"You're stronger than the Nova from my world," Scarlet said with a smirk as her gigantic sword clashed with Helios.
Nova summoned his fire and tried to erupt a pillar under Scarlet's feet forcing her to dodge aside. The prince was sweating, this was a real battle.
"I didn't expect you to be this good," Nova said wiping the rain from his eyes. Neither of them had managed to inflict injury on the other, their Aura was only being used in the attacks they were dishing out.
Ruby-13 stepped up, drawing Crescent Rose and standing beside her fiancé, "Mind if I join in? I know two-on-one isn't fair but we're kinda on a timer… no hard feelings right?"
Scarlet clapped eagerly, "OH PLEASE DO! I can finally go all out!"
Nova blanked again, "That's such a cliché line to use… then again I haven't exactly been using my all either…"
Scarlet snapped her fingers and the giant sword split into two blades. In her right hand was a black steel katana with a simplistic design while in her left hand was a white blade almost pure white aside from the red decorating the hilt.
"Now I can really get going!" she grinned widely, a red, menacing aura began to overflow around her as her eyes turned bloodshot. A white mask appeared over her face that covered it completely.
The spastic girl from before was gone, what they saw now was someone completely different, it was like a raging monster.
In the blink of an eye, she was already behind Nova. The echoing boom of the sound barrier being broken followed a few milliseconds after but the dragon was already prepared.
In that split second he had transformed into his female form, and accompanying the bodily transformation was the growing of horns and a pair of flaming wings sprouted from her back. (A/N: Heads up in case it gets confusing, Nova uses she/her pronouns while in female form)
Ruby-13 adopted a similar form as her silver eyes began to shine brightly until the same silver shroud Ruby Prime saw in their fight came. The translucent horns sprouted from her head, her eyes turned draconic and scales began to form over her features.
This was no longer a fight between normal people. This had become a fight between monsters.
Nova caught Scarlet's right blade with her draconic arm while Ruby-13 clashed with the white sword. The resulting collision sent ripples across the landscape momentarily stopping the rain.
Ruby-13 charged her Aura and Silver Light into her free hand and sent a supersonic fist toward Scarlet's face, knocking her high into the air.
Nova grabbed onto his fiancé and flew high into the air before tossing her onto Scarlet. Ruby-13's arm tattoo began to glow furiously as she sped toward Scarlet. Rearing Crescent Rose above her head, the scythe became enflamed in silver and orange.
Scarlet used both blades to block the oncoming strike, "Oooh that's scary!" she commented through the mask, "Horns, bloodlust and you have fangs! CUTE! Let me show you mine!" Scarlet whipped her head back such that the mask flipped up for a moment. Ruby-13 caught a glimpse of a smile wider than humanly possible, rows of jagged monstrous teeth and eyes as pitch black as the night sky.
"I can shoot stuff too!" Scarlet said cheerily as both of her swords began to glow with red energy.
"Not a chance!" it was Nova, high above Scarlet in the air as she was generating a gigantic sphere of raging fire. It burned with the intensity of a miniature sun and crackled explosively with the magic of the Fall Maiden.
"Oh fuck me…" Scarlet mouthed as she used her enormous strength to throw Ruby-13 off before directing the charged red energy at Nova. Simultaneously Nova had thrown the fireball at Scarlet, the two attacks clashed in the air resulting in a violent explosion that lit up the night sky as if it were day for a brief moment.
Ruby Prime was stuck on the ground watching the entire ordeal pensively. There had to be something she could do, she was so tired of feeling useless…
"Think Ruby… think! What could you…" she had been observing the fight long enough. There had to be something she could do!
An idea sprouted.
"This could work…"
Meanwhile, the aerial fight was going on, Nova was using her flames to provide covering fire while Ruby-13 engaged in close quarters. Ruby was superior in terms of skill and proficiency with her weapon while Scarlet had stronger speed and overall physical capabilities.
Still, two of them at once were providing a challenge, every time Scarlet tried to space herself to shoot out those energy attacks, Nova would be waiting to blast her with intense fire or slash out with her flaming scythe.
It was like a deadlock, with no way out but to keep close quarters.
"Keeping the fight close range huh?" Scarlet said through grit teeth, "Well, sucks to be you but I can handle that just fine!"
Suddenly Scarlet disengaged the blade lock and charged Ruby-13 with a series of incomprehensibly fast attacks. The sword slashes were a blur to the point where Ruby-13 couldn't block them all.
Nova blasted Scarlet from behind while she was distracted, giving Ruby-13 a moment to breathe as she took the engagement.
While Ruby-13 was recovering she spotted her counterpart on the ground giving her a signal… it was hard to understand at first but eventually, she understood.
"Take the fight back to the ground, Ruby's got an idea," she said to Nova through the bond.
"Got it, the question is how?"
"Let's play catch!"
Nova caught the idea and summoned all the fire she could muster in the moment and exploded it on herself.
"W-WHA?!" Scarlet was forced back from the explosion and right into the waiting arms of Ruby-13 who grabbed her with the scythe like a hook.
"I think you need to be grounded!" Ruby-13 used all of her momentum with Petal Burst to fling Scarlet to the ground, smashing the girl into a crater.
Nova grabbed Ruby-13's hand keeping her airborne, sharing a silent nod they both aimed their scythes at the downed Scarlet, Silver and bright orange flames erupted around both weapons.
"HAAAAAAAAA!" They yelled in unison as they rocketed to the ground, blades aimed at Scarlet like a spear drop.
Scarlet looked up just in time to see the oncoming flaming scythes of death, "Oh… wow maybe two on one was a little too much…?"
The couple crashed into her with such force the crater deepened, the earth shook violently, and Ruby Prime had to use her semblance to get herself temporarily airborne to avoid collateral damage.
When the dust settled, Scarlet was standing there blocking both scythes with her two swords. The chains around her arms spread to the floor anchoring her while the red energy had all but been used up.
Scarlet was covered in burn marks and scratches, her hair was a mess and she looked exhausted, "Holy shit this is fun! Best fight I've ever had!" she exclaimed happily.
Meanwhile, Ruby-13 and Nova were incredibly spent, Nova's flames had died down and she looked about ready to collapse while Ruby-13's Silver Shroud had dissipated back into her red cloak.
"You're… nuts!" they said simultaneously.
Scarlet chuckled, "I guess you're done huh? Couldn't beat me even with two of you…ACK!" she felt the sharp pain of cold steel piercing through her back.
Looking down, Scarlet found half the blade of Crescent Rose appearing from her chest, "W-What the…?"
"Did you forget about me?" Ruby Prime said from behind, and Scarlet slowly turned her head to the other Ruby.
"S-Shit, I totally forgot…" she coughed out blood as she crumpled to her knees, "F-Fuck… that was a good one…"
Ruby Prime felt bad, "Not really one for sneak attacks but…"
"All's fair… totally fair…" Scarlet choked out, "Shit… I guess you win… congrats guys!" she beamed and held out the chess piece to Ruby Prime.
The red leader grabbed it and held Scarlet's hand, "As crazy as you are, we might've been good friends…" she said with a bitter-sweet smile.
Scarlet chuckled, "We are… in another world… or at least… we were…" her body began to disappear, "It really was nice… seeing you guys again. It made me… really happy…"
As she evaporated into black pixels, they couldn't help but wonder just who Scarlet was, and what role she had to play in all of this. What did this trial even mean?
Were these fights meaningless?
No…
Ruby knew. This system never did anything meaningless. There was something larger going on… but what…?