I'm sorry for the wait guys, holy shit! However, I come bearing gifts, as I'm going to post an extra long chapter today!
Enjoy!
"Fancy seeing you here." Elise said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head as Nashi fumed at her. Nashi was about to launch another offensive when she'd been blindsided by her friend, which was the last thing she expected to happen.
"Could you hurry up and get the hell off of me?" Nashi asked irritably, which made Elise comply quickly. Standing up next to the other dragon slayer, Nashi noticed Katsuchi's look of confusion.
"What the hell just happened?" he demanded. "Two of them, all for me?" He laughed. "Man, however was supposed to deal with you did a shitty job, black hair."
"Fuck off Katsuchi!" Another voice shouted. Nashi looked to the left to find a black haired man jumping off of a ridge, glaring at Katsuchi. "You talking shit bro?" he demanded. Katsuchi snickered.
"And what if I was Tetsu?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, and Tetsu raised his hand to his chin to think.
"Ah, whatever." Tetsu replied. "So, the pink one yours?" Katsuchi nodded.
"Yeah, and we were having a mighty fun time until you and iron face over there ruined our fun." he told Tetsu, who took his turn to snicker. Nashi watched them bicker before she leaned over to Elise.
"He a problem?" She asked, and Elise nodded.
"Iron God Slayer." She replied. "You?"
"Fire God Slayer." Nashi said, crossing her arms as Tetsu put Katsuchi in a headlock. "Did you find any useful weakness?"
"Nutshots." Nashi gave Elise an incredulous look, who shrugged. "What? it was all I had."
"Hey!" Nashi turned back to find Tetsu being the one addressing them. "No strategics behind our backs! We're busy!" Nashi noted that Tetsu's definition of busy seemed to be holding Katsuchi in a headlock, who finally freed himself.
"This certainly makes for an interesting situation, huh Nashi?"he asked. "A two on two, the better team."
"It would be." Nashi replied, putting her hands on her hips with a smirk. "if it weren't already obvious." Nashi's plot failed when Elise rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
"Oh, Nashi...shouldn't you be saying we're stronger?" She asked, and Nashi face faulted.
"I was!" She hissed at her idiotic friend, who made an O with her mouth as she realized the fact. "But you didn't seem to see that until it was too late!" Elise smiled sheepishly, and Tetsu laughed.
"Yeah, I like this!" He said, his body turning a shiny black color. "Let's do this!" Nashi prepared herself for the new battlefield. She felt better having someone at her side, but someone by Katsuchi's as well didn't help anything. Nashi was too bust thinking to be ready when they both ran together, Katsuchi's fist slamming into her stomach. Doing a back flip to avoid his next attack, Nashi ducked as Tetsu sailed over her head, grabbing his foot as he passed and throwing him back at Katsuchi, both slamming into each other. Elise took her chance as they landed in a heap, slamming both her clubs into them. Tetsu recovered first, his right arm turning into a think blade and he swiped it at Nashi, who ducked. He was bringing the blade back around, and Nashi slid out of it's range, launching fireballs at the other iron slayer to deter his progress. Nashi watched in disbelief as her attacks fizzled out against his black armor, which caused him to chuckle. "I really was hoping for more than a few dragons." he said wistfully, smirking at Nashi. "Although not everyone is as powerful as me."
"..." Nashi decided it was in her best interest to remain silent, knowing all that responding would do was get her another remark about power. She could see Elise doing her best against Katsuchi out of the corner of her eyes, and all the girls attacks melted before they even got close. Nashi dodged a few more swings from the katana and made her way to Elise and Katsuchi, tackling the god slayer down. he kicked her off and the two of them punched at each other until Elise slammed her club into Katsuchi's face, sending him flying away.
"Get Tetsu!" She told Nashi quickly. "We have to try something else!" Nashi nodded and faced the opposite way towards the other iron slayer, who was still covered in iron armor. Rushing towards him to prevent anymore swings from his katana, Nashi attempted to do anything to the armor. Slamming her fist into his chest, she heard a satisfying crack.
"Ow." Tetsu said, staring down at his chest. "That hurt." Nashi followed up with another quick punch, forcing him back slightly. Nashi was caught off guard as he rushed her with a club ready, slamming it into her stomach, which knocked the air out her. He uppercut her into the air, which allowed Nashi a brief look over the battlefield. Elise was holding her own just fine, opting for a closer, less iron attack pattern to leave Katsuchi guessing. Nashi torqued back to the other man, raising her hands over her head.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" She shouted, launching the fireball at Tetsu, throwing up a huge smokescreen. Nashi landed just in time to get another club to the stomach, effectively leaving her even more breathless than a minute ago. Crumbling into a heap on the ground as she attempted to get air into her lungs, Tetsu frowned.
"Did I break you?" he asked. "hey, Kat! I broke her!" Nashi heard Katsuchi grumble incoherently and Elise landed next to Nashi.
"You knocked the wind out of her." Katsuchi told his friend. "She probably can't breath."
"Yeah," Tetsu agreed quietly. "Want to finish this, or...?" Katsuchi laughed, one absent of the malice from before.
"Are you kidding?" he asked. "I've never had so much fun fighting people. Let's see if they can pull some kind of miraculous comeback, just for fun. Jell, I may even spare them once we win." The God Slayers continued their conversation as Elise placed a hand on Nashi's shoulder.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yeah," Nashi managed to say after she got oxygen to her lungs. "We need some kind of plan, or we're screwed."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Elise replied, earning a glare. "Got any ideas?"
"No, I tried everything while you were elsewhere."
"You didn't try everything." Nashi watched Elise carefully, trying to discern if she was serious.
"We missed last time, and Drake was there last time." Nashi replied quietly.
"We don't need Drake, and we won't miss." She reassured. "Plus, they're distracted, it's our only chance."
"Alright, alright..." Both girls took a deep inhale of breath, doing so as quietly as they could so that they wouldn't alert the God Slayers.
"Iron Dragon..."
"Fire Dragon..."
"ROAR!" The columns of magic combined on their way to the target, causing a huge explosion as they did so. Nashi smiled at the results, knowing full well that they had caught their opponents off guard. She was about to celebrate when a chuckle pierced the sound of the fire burning.
"I already told you, Nashi..." Katsuchi growled, his silhouette visible through the flames. Nashi watched the fire begin to get sucked in, as Katsuchi ate her fire. "Your fire in inferior to mine." Tetsu stood next to Katsuchi, armor smoldering but otherwise unharmed, and chuckled.
"You ladies would've had us good." he informed them. "Thankfully our magic is superior, so it didn't really hurt that much." Nashi gulped as they stood tall above her and Elise, recharged thanks to their irrational actions.
"We probably should've thought that through..." Elise mumbled.
Drake did his best to monitor his breathing as he sprinted through the woods, avoiding every attack Azzie threw at him. he hadn't meant to anger her so, he'd only tried to talk her down. After hearing so much in her head, he was convinced he could too. All he needed was the perfect way to say it...
"Gah!" Drake shouted as he tripped on a root in the ground, face planting. Recovering quickly and hiding behind a tree, he heard Azzie getting closer to his position. How was he supposed to talk down a homicidal fan girl who was blinded by rage, exactly? Throw himself at her and hope she doesn't try to kill him? That wasn't exactly a very appealing plan, so Drake elected to remain quiet as Azzie got closer.
"Why must you run, Drake-sama?" Drake heard her hiss under her breath. "Running just makes me even more pissed off..." Drake's eyes widened as she stepped out right in front of him, completely unaware of his presence. "Geez, you're irritating...but really cute..." Drake watched as she shook her head to clear the thought and the blush. "No he isn't! He is the opposite of cute, he's an asshole! He's.." Azzie whirled around in rage and met Drake's eye, and froze. Both watched each other for a few seconds before Drake decided he didn't want to die, and tackled Azzie down. They rolled around a bit before Azzie pinned him down near a ledge, and grinned. "Ha! Got you!"
"Ugh." Drake moaned, staring down the ledge he was near. In his weakened state, he really did not want to fall down that, it'd be bad. "Why are you so fast?"
"You're just weakened, Drake-sama" Azzie reassured. "I'm sure you would out speed me normally."
"Uh...huh..." Drake looked up at her as they stayed where they were, Azzie still holding him down. "So are we going to kiss, or...?" Azzie screeched in surprise and released her grip on Drake's wrists, which was the opening he'd been looking for. Grabbing Azzie shoulders and flipping her off the cliff, Drake paled when he felt Azzie's hand wrap around his ankle, taking him with her. They landed in a heap at the bottom, Drake making sure his broken rib hadn't stabbed through his stomach. "Shit, that hurt..." Drake looked over at Azzie to find her fuming. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded.
"W-why would you say that..." She hissed, giving Drake one of the most pissed off looks he'd ever received. "K-kiss you, ridiculous..."
"I was joking" Drake replied, struggling to stand as his midsection protested. "A ploy to get you distracted so that I could...Azzie?" Now Drake's eemy had gone completely red, and was shaking violently. "Uh...Az?"
"Are you saying you don't find me attractive?!" She screeched, and Drake flinched. "How dare you...!"
"When the hell did I...?" Drake began, but was cut off by a dispelling burst shot by his opponent nearly taking his head off. "Watch where you aim that, Azzie!"
"I was aiming!" She shouted back, tears in her eyes. "To take your womanizing head off!"
"Womanizing...?" Drake paled as more bursts sailed at him, and he rushed to dodge. he soon found himself in another corner, a scorned women advancing on him. Drake knew it as a bad time to recall Master Laxus telling him that hell didn't compare to a pissed woman, but he did all the same. he sighed as she got closer. "I really didn't want to do this, but it looks like I've got no choice."
"Do what, asshole?!" Azzie demanded, pouncing at him before she got her answer. "No matter, I'll just..."
"Sound Wall!" Drake utilized the offensive side of his sound magic, causing Azzie to clamp her hand over her ears in a desperate attempt to block out the insufferable noise Drake was creating. She staggered back to a reasonable distance, and Drake stopped the spell.
"What in the name of Kronos was that?!" Azzie asked, rubbing her ears.
"Sound magic." he replied casually. "I used it to the point where I could've deafened you, so consider yourself lucky I didn't...Sound Wall!" Drake acted quickly as Azzie charged again, causing her to fall back. Se tried to flee through the woods, which made Drake angry to no end. "oh, so you think you can just escape?!" Drake gave chase, keeping the deafening wall around him as a precaution. Soon he found Azzie at a cliff with a three hundred foot drop to the other side of the forest, looking quite panicked. "Done running, Azzie?" Azzie whirled to glare at him.
"You're lucky I was too busy trying to keep my sense of hearing to dispel that wall, Drake-sama." She hissed. "otherwise our roles would be reversed."
"Would they now?" Drake asked, causing the sound waves around him to ripple, which made Azzie flinch. "I think this fight is over, an animal trapped in a corner fights senselessly to protect itself."
"Now you call me an animal?" Azzie asked angrily. "Does your rudeness know no bounds?!"
"I'm not being rude." Drake replied calmly, deciding now was best for his strategy. "I'm simply saying you fight illogically in a corner, and that will cause you to die. How is that rude, caring for your life?" Azzie watched him with a thoughtful gaze, and she frowned.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Azzie demanded. "I'm your enemy, I tried to kill you, and now you'e being given the perfect chance to off me and help your friends! Why are you trying to end this calmly? Is it because I'm a girl or what?" Drake shook his head quietly.
"No it's not because you're girl." he replied. "I'm trying to end this calmly because there is no sense in fighting you, you're against everything you've done so far."
"I am no..."
"Don't lie to me, I can hear you." Drake reprimanded immediately, causing Azzie to go stiff. "Every single time you've gone to hit me, it's been regretful and with the fear that if you don't, your master will kill you. it's kill or be killed every day for you, isn't it Azzie?"
"Don't talk like you know me!" Azzie yelled, her eyes spouting more tears. "I've been through things you can't possibly imagine!"
"I've got a good idea" Drake replied, clenching his fists. "I've been captured, tortured, starved, listened to one of my closest friends get raped and I couldn't do a damn thing, one of the people I care about the most nearly passed away in my arms...We're both scarred people, Azzie. I've been through enough pain for three lifetimes." Azzie was once again shaking with rage, tears streaming down her face.
"You're life..." She murmured. "Sounds perfect." Drake's eyes widened.
"H-huh?"
"You think what you've been through was terrible?" Azzie laughed psychotically, and Drake watched fearfully as her dispelling magic enveloped her body, the white glow blinding him. "I've seen my own family get slaughtered! I watched as my own mother abandoned me on a park bench! I nearly starved in this very fucking forest before Master Kronos found me! I've been beaten consecutively for fourteen years! I've seen multiple friends of mine shot in the back of the head at the fucking dinner table for failure! You think you've been through pain, Drake-sama!?" She screeched nonsensically. "Spend a fucking day in my shoes, and you'd falter!" Azzie began to make tearful sounds as the magical pressure from her body increased. "I've wanted to die for so long, so very long...hahahahahahaha! Who am I kidding?! Kronos would find my mangled body and bring me back somehow anyway!"
Drake watched Azzie lose her mind quietly, contemplating his options. On one hand, he could let her finish, then get killed. Or he could take this chance to knock her out with poison. Drake was about to move when he noticed something that made his heart stop. The magical pressure from Azzie's body was crumbling the cliff beneath her at an incredible rate, she was going to fall any minute.
"Azzie!" Drake shouted, doing his best to stop her. "Beneath you!" Azzie stopped laughing and looked under her feet just in time to see the cliff crumble, and she began to fall. Drake watched, frozen, as she gave him a tearful smile.
"Sorry, Drake-sama." She said as the rest of the ground underneath her caved. "I really would've loved to settle this calmly." With that, she fell.
"AZZIE!"
Hehe, another cliffhanger! I plan on posting again soon, so you won't have to wait very long. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! let's try and get five!