Chapter 11 - The Sharp-Tongued Specialist, Part 2

Azel, Mead, and Percy arrived at the Talocan district tower early the next morning. After a short time waiting, a telepad from Theophanies brought Lucia over as well. She greeted them and together the group of four started the trip to Fen's underground arena.

Percy took point at the head of the group, leading the way to the arena. He kept a close watch on his surroundings, only leading the group along ways he was sure weren't being watched. The path took the group off of the colorful and decorated main streets and into a series of back alleyways. Along the way, Lucia started up a conversation.

"So, just to be clear, Azel, you needed someone to show you how to use a sword properly for your next show, and part of the training involves being a part of his fight show."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"A show where he regularly beats challengers from the crowd within an inch of their lives."

"Well, I didn't know that part when I agreed to it…"

"Right. And after you learned about that, you invited me to come watch."

"Yeah, for moral support!" Said Mead. "Azel's gonna beat that asshole, and we're all gonna be there to cheer him on! Don't tell me you don't want to be part of that!"

"Of course I do," said Lucia. "We're all friends, right? I wouldn't be here otherwise, really."

"Thanks," said Azel. "I do appreciate it."

"But are you sure you even have a chance? This guy sounds like a professional, and you only have the experience he beat into you yesterday."

"Well, I wouldn't say Azel only has that," Percy spoke up.

"Yeah, I do have a plan."

"I hope you do…" Lucia trailed off.

"Um, Lucia? You okay there?" Mead asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about a joke, but I think it would be in poor taste."

Azel smiled. "Hey, go ahead. Didn't I give you a free pass for stuff like that?"

"Okay, I guess. I was just thinking if you didn't have a plan, then we'd all be playing into some new humiliation kink of yours."

Laughter erupted from the group. Lucia smiled as she saw Azel was one of the ones laughing.

"Heh, I didn't think you'd think that was funny!"

"Forgetting I actually have a sense of humor?" Azel said, coming down from a laughing fit. "Besides, the mental image is too good! Me on the ground beaten, tail rattling, but one look at my face tells you I'm loving every second of it!"

"I'd hate to see that happen to you, Azel, but even I have to admit that's pretty funny," Mead said, holding her own laughter back.

"We could call that Plan B, if the first one doesn't work out," Percy remarked, resulting in more laughter from the group.

"Heh, glad I could help come up with the worst backup plan ever!"

"I'm sure we've got a winner with Plan A though. Everything I know about how Fen fights went into figuring it out. Between that and Azel's quick thinking, there's definitely a chance."

Mead quivered with excitement. "I can't wait to see it in action! Then Fen will have to fall back on Plan B!" Even more laughter followed.

Percy smiled. "You know, this is nice. Barely get to have moments like this while I'm holed up in the bar."

"On that note, I think this is the first time I've ever seen you outside of the Dry Vein, Percy." Lucia commented.

"Yeah, sometimes I get the feeling you just live down there in one of the mine tunnels."

"Ha! Spirits, Azel! You thought that too? I always imagined Percy having a nice little place in one of the shafts close to the Mirage!"

Percy chuckled hearing his coworkers. "That's not too far from reality, actually. I've got a place just like that down there."

"Wait, really?"

"No way, Percy. You're kidding."

"It's true. The Marks operate out of the mine shaft, so I have a place down there to rest between working at the bar and working for them. It's not much, but it cuts down on travel time to work at least."

"So is that part of Mr. Laurent's deal, then? He gets you to work at the bar when you're not busy smuggling?"

"You got it in one, Lucia. On top of that, he gives us surplus brewing equipment in exchange for getting our fermentae on the cheap."

"Huh, I didn't know any of that…"

"Me either, Mister Laurent never said anything about it! That's like a perfect business deal! And to think my parents said he doesn't have any sense for that stuff, shows what they know!"

"Well, now you know. But I think we've been talking long enough. Get yourself ready, Azel, the arena isn't too much farther from here."

—

The arena was located in what at first appeared to be a condemned building. A long stairwell hidden behind a fake wall descended into the expansive room which held the arena proper. Some hired muscle at the entrance tried to keep the group from getting in, but the mention of both Azel and Percy's names convinced him to grant them access.

Once the group was inside, the grim silence of the outside world was replaced with loud cheering. A ring of onlooking dreamkeepers surrounded a caged arena pit sunk into the center of the room.

A fence gate and another bouncer stood before a set of steps leading down into the pit. Mounted weapons lined the walls inside, and the floor was flat unpaved ground with scattered bits of trash that had been thrown by the crowd lying around.

Fen was already there in the pit, facing down a much taller horse man. He was covered in crudely made armor and held a long spear out towards his opponent.

Fen on the other hand was unarmored, wearing little more than the same pants he had on the day before, holding a lengthy studded iron club in his right hand. He balanced the club on his shoulder as his opponent started speaking.

"Fen! You're going down today, you little shit!"

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before. Well, hurry it tha fuck up, then. Yer not even tha main event today!"

Enraged, the challenger rushed Fen, thrusting the spear out multiple times. Fen moved quickly to the right to avoid the barrage. In the instant while his attacker was still occupied, he took the club in both hands and swung it into the opponent's side.

The horse man fell to the ground, and Fen proceeded to lay into him with the club. He rhythmically struck at the challenger's armor, beating it into further disrepair. Fen started berating his would-be opponent, punctuating each word with another strike.

"How are ya this stupid? Ya'd think fightin' me so many times woulda taught ya better!"

The group watched on as the scene played out. Azel's tail started rattling as he saw Fen's opponent paying the price of failure in the arena.

"Hey, ah, remember how you said Plan B was the worst?" He asked Lucia.

"I… did, yeah. Why?"

"Well, I'm starting to think it's my best bet here…"

"Easy there, Azel." Percy said, placing a hand on Azel's shoulder. "You can't be thinking like that. Your fight hasn't even started."

"B-besides, that guy was clearly gonna lose! I, uh, I bet he didn't even have a plan!"

"He might have some brain damage too, considering his apparent loss record…" Lucia mused.

"Y-yeah! You've still got this, Azel!"

"Ah, r-right. Can't lose my nerves now…"

While Azel tried to steady his nerves, Fen whistled as he finished beating on his opponent. A white ribbon materialized around the challenger, wrapping him gently. The bundled-up challenger began floating over the pit's fence, towards a door on the far end of the arena.

Azel blinked, unsure he was seeing correctly. "Is that… another power?"

Percy was quick to answer. "That would be the Ribbon Queen, one of the other performers. Strange, didn't think she'd be here of all places…"

"Another performer?" Lucia asked.

"Ah, that's right, you weren't there when we talked about that. You see, Fen's part of a secretive group of power users who perform different acts all around Anduruna."

"Yeah, Azel and I didn't even know about them until Percy brought it up!"

"Right. And the Ribbon Queen is particularly reclusive. Her act is based entirely on exploiting the range of her power, so hardly anyone really even knows who she is, much less what she looks like."

"So what's she doing here, then?" Azel asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say she knew you'd be coming, and was curious enough to see the fight for herself."

As if drawn to the mention of the fight, Fen finally turned his attention to the group. He stared at Azel in particular, with a scowl on his face.

"Azel! What tha fuck! Yer an hour early! Ya were supposed ta be here at noon!"

"Uh, yeah, I just thought it would be better to show up early. Was I not supposed to?"

"Of course fuckin' not! Noon means noon! Half tha crowd's barely got here, an' I haven't even broke a proper sweat yet! Ya tryin' ta make me look bad?"

"In front of half the usual crowd?" Azel joked. Some of the audience started chuckling to themselves.

"I, you, that's…" Fen started. He slammed his club hard into the ground. "FUCK! Just get yer ass down here, then! Want yer beatin' so damn bad ya show up early, fuckin' amateur…"

Percy smiled as Fen continued swearing to himself. "Plan A's going great so far, Azel. Just keep the momentum going once you're in there, and you'll do fine."

"Yeah, you've got this, Azel!"

"You can do it, we're all here for you, Azel."

Steeling himself one last time, Azel pulled off his coat and handed it to Percy, then headed toward the door to the pit. The bouncer wordlessly opened the gate, letting him head down to face Fen.

Once inside the pit, Azel grabbed a shortsword from among the weapons on the wall. Now properly armed, he turned and headed to the middle of the pit facing his opponent, who was still fuming.

"Ya couldn't even keep tha coat on? Spirits fuck, ya look even more like a damn limp noodle without it!"

Azel shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint, I guess."

"Buncha spirits damned… Well? Don't just stand there noodle boy, introduce yerself ta tha crowd!"

Azel paused briefly before looking out at the crowd. "Uh, hey everyone. I'm Azel. I'm here to learn how to use this thing," he said, waving his sword in the air, "and hopefully I'll last long enough to make this a memorable fight."

Very little fanfare followed. Mead at least offered a hearty cry of "Yeah, kick his ass, Azel!" which Azel couldn't help but smile at hearing. Fen started laughing to himself.

"That's yer opening? Sounds like yer girlfriend's tha only one that bought it!"

Azel paused briefly before continuing. "So, are you going to get a sword or…?"

"Fuck no! Fer showin' up early an bein' so fuckin' annoyin', I'm gonna ram this whole kanabo right up yer ass!"

"Yeah, kind of expected that. There goes any illusion of this being training…"

"Y'know, Azel. I'm gonna let ya in on a secret. Even without all this bullshit yer pullin', I wasn't even plannin' on trainin' ya. Y'were such a fuckin' disgrace yesterday that I just feel like beatin' ya ta a pulp today!"

"Giving up on me after just one day? That kind of makes you a shitty teacher if you ask me."

"Ah, fuck right off with that! Yer a shit student!"

Azel sighed. "Can we stop slinging insults and get on with it now?"

"Yeah, fuckin' whatever! Tell ya what, if ya wanna be trained so bad, fuckin' earn it! If ya can even manage ta get one good hit on me, that's it, ya win, I'll keep teachin' ya. I'll even let ya have tha first move an' everythin'! Show ya what a shit teacher looks like…"

Azel took a stance, narrowing his body and holding his sword out in front of Fen. With a few steps, he advanced and went for a jab.

"Really? That weak shit again? What makes ya think that - What tha FUCK?"

In the instant Azel's blade closed the gap between the two, a massive wild ryuu-neko appeared from it, baring its glistening white fangs at Fen. He was quick to jump back in response, holding the kanabo out toward the beast.

"What's wrong? Surprised to see something with a bigger mouth than yours?"

A few audience members, mostly from Azel's group, laughed at the joke. Fen paused briefly, then looked over at his opponent.

Azel stood behind the ryuu-neko, with a mischievous smile on his face. A halo glowing a brilliant red hung over his head.

"Sneaky little… So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Fen growled.

In a brief instant, Fen activated his own power. A small collection of weapons flew over from the wall closest to him.

Azel narrowed his eyes and prepared himself. This is good. All part of the plan so far… In the few moments Fen was preparing, Azel thought over the details of his plan one last time.

—

The night before…

"Spirits, I'm done for…"

Azel was freaking out. As soon as he learned that he had agreed to a real fight, his tail was rattling up a storm and he started muttering incessantly.

Mead was the first to try and break him out of his spiraling. "Hey, Azel, it can't be that bad, right? It's just one fight after all…"

"One fight, one fight where I'll get beaten senseless…"

"Well, you could just not show up…"

"I could, but then I won't be able to get the show done right… I'm just gonna have to make peace with the idea of getting hurt, aren't I…?"

"Easy there, Azel." Percy said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Freaking out is only going to make it worse."

"Maybe, but I don't see how doing anything else could make it better…"

"You could try not to think about it until you have to deal with it, that could work!"

"Yeah, up until I have to actually do it…"

"Try not to think about it… Hold on. Mead, you just gave me an idea for how Azel's going to get through this."

Mead blinked. "Really? I wasn't even sure I was giving good advice or anything."

"I'm not saying it was good advice, but it reminded me of how Fen fights, and I think we can put a plan together around that."

Azel perked up. "A plan? I think something like that could work. At least I'd be going into the fight with something…"

"Better than just something, if we get it right. Let me explain. When Fen gets into a fight, he doesn't really think."

"He doesn't think? At all?"

"Wow. Fen doesn't use his brain, big surprise there."

"I don't mean it like that. It's more like a flow state from what I remember he's said about it. The plan is going to revolve around breaking him out of that."

"I think I get it. I can't beat him physically, but if I get into his head…"

"Exactly! But that's just part of it. While you're pulling Fen out of his element, you need to stay in yours…"

Azel, Mead, and Percy spent the rest of the night ironing out the details of the plan. By the time Mead needed to leave for home, the concept had been formed. It was just a matter of executing it the next day…

—

Everything leading up to the fight had been part of the plan. Arriving early, the needling before the fight started, even the ryuu-neko illusion. Everything was done to break Fen's flow state before he could even get into it. All that remained was for Azel to keep up the pressure, while remaining in his own element.

My element. The stage. It's all just another act.

In the few moments Azel had reminded himself of the plan, Fen had arranged a set of weapons floating around himself. As planned, his glare was fixed on the ryuu-neko illusion, instead of Azel.

"Can't believe yer already cheatin'… Don't ya know? It's a one on one fight!"

Fen launched his weapons point first into the ryuu-neko. To his surprise, they passed through the illusory creature with no effect. Some even ended up dug into the ground. Good, those ones are out of the picture.

Percy had also given Azel advice on how to counter Fen's power. It seemed daunting, but the power had a catch. The telekinesis effect was weak; if sufficient force had to be applied with it, it would cancel out, meaning any weapon Fen had to apply effort to grabbing would be useless to his power.

"Who's cheating? You just tried to kill something that doesn't exist. It's not my fault you forgot how my power works."

With that revelation, Azel dispelled the ryuu-neko illusion. Fen could only stammer in anger as he recalled the weapons that hadn't gotten stuck in the ground.

"Ya shitty little sneak… No one even told me about that! Thanks fer tellin' me now though! Not gonna make that mistake again!"

"I wonder about that… When it comes to my power, you can't even be sure of what you're seeing!"

Azel's halo flashed as he focused his power into his sword, and the area around him was covered in a murky black cloud. The cloud advanced on Fen until neither combatant could be seen.

"Ha! Fuckin' dumbass! Yer just as blind as me like this!" Fen gloated, before hearing Azel's sword slicing through the air to his left. He dodged instinctively to the right, letting one of his weapons block the hit.

"That was too close ta be a fluke… If I didn't hear that… How tha fuck'd ya…"

The darkness dissipated, revealing Azel to be right near where Fen heard the sword swing.

"Pit organs." Azel said, pointing to a darker sunken spot on his face, just between his eye and his nose. "A little perk of my biology. They let me see heat."

"Yer just fulla fuckin' surprises, ain't ya?"

Azel smirked. "I try."

"Yeah, well I think I've been too easy on ya so far! Time fer ya ta start dodgin'!" Fen cried, raising his kanabo for a strike.

Azel was quick to distance himself from the hefty weapon, moving closer to the wall of the pit. He used a weapon mount as a foothold to climb up to the fence, jumping before Fen launched a dagger at him.

"My leg! Fuck!" A voice came from the crowd as Azel landed.

"Ah, shit! Sorry man," Fen apologized quickly.

"Ugh, it fucking hurts! Someone help!"

Fen was about to whistle for medical help when he took a closer look at the place the voice came from. The dagger had simply gotten caught in the fence links, and no one actually seemed to be injured.

Fen noticed Azel's sword coming at him from the corner of his eye, and he swiftly turned to block it with the kanabo.

"What, ya can make fake SOUNDS now?"

"Always could. You really need to keep up." Azel said, pulling away before an orbiting weapon could hit him.

"Maybe, or maybe I just gotta shut ya up!"

Another dagger went flying toward Azel. This time, he was too slow to completely dodge, and the flying blade left a cut on his left forearm.

"Ha! How'd ya like that, ya little shit?"

Azel paused briefly as the cut began to bleed, a streak of crimson trailing down his red scales. The possibility of getting seriously hurt began to dawn on him again, and he started shuddering as his tail started rattling.

"Oh, look at that! One good hit, and there goes everythin'!"

Reinvigorated by his successful attack, Fen started putting his all into continuing the pressure. Cheering started to erupt from the crowd as he got back to his usual fighting style. It was all Azel could do to keep away from the barrage of attacks.

Is that really it then? One good hit is all I'm good for? Azel's mind raced as he dodged swings from the kanabo and strikes from the floating weapons. No, I can't start thinking like that. He just got one lucky hit in, who says I can't do the same?

As he thought it through, Azel's tail stopped rattling as intensely. Yes, he got hit, he was still bleeding, and the crowd was against him, but the fight wasn't over yet. Steeling his resolve, he focused his power into his sword to create a new cloud of darkness around himself.

"That again? Better than just runnin', I guess…"

Azel focused on Fen's heat outline from within the cloud. Before committing to another move, he thought through his plan of attack.

Gotta finish this fast, but I can't keep making half-assed attempts like before… He blocked when I blinded him, and when I distracted him with a voice. Maybe if I tried both together…

The dulling sound of his tail rattling coming to a stop gave Azel an idea. Slowly, he advanced on Fen, drawing him into the darkness.

"Guess ya really lost it, if ya think this'll work!"

"Y-yeah, you might be right about that…" Azel muttered. In the middle of the cloud, the sound of his tail rattling could be heard starting up again.

"See? Can't hide shit from me when yer this scared!"

Azel could see Fen raising his arms, ready to strike with the kanabo. I've got one shot at this, gotta make it count…

Fen brought the full weight of the kanabo down. A clang of metal could be heard, followed by a dull thud, after which the rattling stopped.

"Agh!"

Only a brief second later, Fen cried out in pain. The cloud of darkness dissipated, revealing that he had a fresh horizontal cut along the middle of his back.

"Or, you might've fallen for my trap."

Azel was standing behind Fen. Blood dripped from the tip of his sword.

"Huh, fuck. Guess I did…" Fen said, his mood the inverse of what it was moments before. He started to laugh, before falling to a knee. His power gave out, and the floating weapons clattered to the ground. "Ah, fuck that hurts!"

"Shit, I think I might've cut too deep…"

"Don't worry about it, noodle boy, I've had worse."

Fen whistled, and a ribbon materialized around the wound, staunching the blood flow.

"See? Nothin' ta worry about! More important, how tha fuck'd ya pull that off?"

"Well, once I was close enough to you, I put an illusion on one of your floating weapons to sound like my tail rattling. While you were distracted attacking that, I moved around behind you and made the cut before you knew what was happening."

"That's some sneaky fuckin' shit right there, but I'll take it. One good hit is one good hit. Ya got tha drop on me, so it's yer win."

Fen turned his attention to the audience, frowning as he saw they had just been murmuring since the fight had ended. "Hey, come tha fuck on, people! I wanna hear ya make some noise fer Azel here!"

At Fen's insistence, the crowd started cheering. Azel sighed in exhausted relief, dispelling his halo. Only a moment later, he realized he was still bleeding. "Ah, you think I could get one of those ribbons for my arm?"

"Sorry, only one ribbon can be out at a time, an' my cut's bigger. Tell ya what. Let's go to tha medical room, we can take care of these cuts in there. Bring tha whole fuckin' gang, even. I bet RQ's dyin' ta meet ya!"

Azel thought for a moment. "You know, I think I'll take you up on that."

Fen pulled himself to his feet and the two combatants left the pit. Mead was quick to grab Azel in a hug as he came through the gate.

"Azel! You did it, that was great!" She paused, looking down at his arm. "Spirits, you're still bleeding!"

"Yeah, we were about to head to the medical room to take care of that." He looked over at the rest of the group. "We can all head over together if you want."

"Yes. Let's go right now!" Mead let Azel out of the hug, staying close to him instead.

"Hold on. The Ribbon Queen's in there, right? Won't she have a problem with us seeing her?" Lucia asked.

"Yer with Azel, so it should be fine. I get tha feelin' y'all know how ta keep a secret, anyway."

"I'd say we should go. Not everyday you get to meet royalty, even if it's just a title she puts on for show. It's been too long since I've seen her, myself…"

"See? Percy gets it. So what're we waitin' fer? Let's go already!"

Fen took a moment to say something to the bouncer about "open pit time" until he got back, and rejoined the group. Together, they started on their way to the medical room. Azel smiled as he held his hand over the wound he'd taken.

A meeting with royalty, huh? Someone else who's been performing far longer than me… I wonder what she's like…