A/N: Patrick finally meets his target assaliant but is outmatched. Team PASM comes to the rescue but struggles to fight against the criminal trio. And to make matters worse, Patrick has demonstrated a frightening massive amount of power. What will happen next? Before you read this, I suggest that those with weak constitutions may want to leave.
Chapter 45: Vengeance
The ground trembles slightly.
The air suddenly became suffocating hot.
Chills are running down everyone's spines.
Patrick stands facing his own team and Cinder's team. He breathes loudly and heavily it's more of an aggressive growl. He is unleashing a massive amount of energy from the rage he feels.
Everyone is speechless at the sight of him. Akira, Selena, and Marlene know he can be very scary, but this is beyond definition. He is more of a monster than a human.
"P-P...Patrick?" Selena says in a petrified whisper.
Marlene turns to Emerald. "Whatever sick trick you're playing, cease and desist this instant!"
"I-I'm not doing this." Emerald says. Emerald turns to Cinder. "Boss? What do we do?"
"What do you mean? We just take him out. Appearance or not, he's still the weak maiden's brother as he is!" Cinder says.
Cinder summons two Glass Swords. Mercury and Emerald position themselves to strike as well. Altogether, at once and with incredible speed, they all strike, and their weapons hit the ground. Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald are confused. Patrick was here just a moment ago, and just a second before their weapons made contact with him, he was gone.
"Where did he go?" Emerald asks.
They search around all around their surroundings. They only see the girls of Team PASM but no Patrick. Unbeknownst to them, a shadow is moving on the ground. The shadow moves close to Cinder's Shadow, then a long claw comes from the shadow and swipes at Cinder's Shadow. Cinder lets out a painful yell, and right where her shadow was struck dark claw marks appeared on Cinder.
Emerald and Mercury turn to where the blow happened, but find nothing. They looked down and spotted the moving shadow. Mercury takes action and stomp-shots onto the shadow. The Shadow is still upon impact. Mercury gets a closer look at the shadow, only for chains of pure darkness to burst right out of the shadow and entangle Mercury. The shadow rises out of the ground, taking form until it turns into Patrick, who is glaring at Mercury with his burning eyes and grinning sharp teeth.
"Is...He..." Mercury says.
Emerald is just as shocked as Mercury is. "Using..."
Cinder finishes the sentence but with anger and disappointment. "Magic!"
Patrick commends his magic to launch Mercury into the air. Patrick instantly vanishes and then reappears right above Mercury. He delivers a powerful strike with his feet, sending Mercury crashing to the ground. Emerald is astonished to see this but doesn't have a second to take it in, for Patrick instantly appears right behind her. He summons explosive magic in his hand and blasts it at her. Emerald is sent flying and crashing against the wall, with her Aura flickering.
With Emerald and Mercury out of the way, Patrick turns to Cinder, speaking in a deep demonic voice. "KILL! THE! BITCH!"
Cinder puts on a serious expression, and summons glass swords. "Come and try!"
Patrick and Cinder are at a standstill when Patrick instantly vanishes. Cinder keeps her guard up, trying to get a sense of his killer instinct. The second she catches it, she turns and blocks an invisible strike, shattering her glass weapons. Cinder summons another Glass Weapon and blocks another invisible strike. Cinder keeps up with the incoming attacks, but they are coming faster and faster, eventually, she couldn't keep up and starts taking hits. Cinder's able to block every other attack but becomes weakened with each later blow.
When the attacks stop, Cinder is weak and exhausted, her Aura flickering. Before she can even catch her breath, Patrick reappears and leaps onto her. Patrick has Cinder pinned down, strangling her by the throat. Cinder grabs hold of his hands trying to break free but doesn't have the strength to overcome it.
Emerald and Mercury charge at Patrick from behind. They leap to deliver their blows, but Shadow Chains pierces out of the ground and shackles them in place. Cinder and her team are doomed. Cinder is being strangled to death and Mercury and Emerald are trapped, and as they struggle to break free, the chains tighten. Cinder gasps for air, asphyxia beginning to overtake her.
Suddenly, a blast of an ice slash strikes Patrick. It doesn't do any harm, but it does disrupt his concentration. His grip on Cinder loosens and the Shadow Chains instantly vanish, dropping Mercury and Emerald.
Patrick stands. He turns to the direction where the attack came. He finds Akira standing against him, her blade out at hand. "Patrick, I don't know what's going on but you don't want to do this." Patrick doesn't say anything, just growls and cracks his neck. Akira doesn't like it, but she knows she's going to have to fight him. Akira draws her sword back for a strike. She charges with a shout, and she strikes at Patrick, only to have him sink into the shadows.
Akira keeps her eyes on Patrick's Shadow, as it dashes all around the ground. Akira sees Patrick's Shadow rushing toward her, and she braces herself. "Third Sword Form: Shatter!" Akira unleashes a wave of earth shards directly at the shadow. Upon impact, Patrick's Shadow splits into two, each going around the earth shards and merging at the end. Once in front of Akira, Patrick jumps out of the shadows and swipes a claw at her. Akira manages to dodge it in time. Patrick is delivering swift swipes at Akira, of each of them Akira manages to either dodge or block.
Selena stands aside watching the battle going on. Akira's in trouble and she needs help, but at the same time, she doesn't feel like she can fight Patrick, despite the monstrosity he is now. She decided to try something else. She summons all her willpower and focuses on her Siren song. As she sings, Patrick's attacks come to a halt, but instead of being subdued, his body quivers in rage. He lets out a roar, then turns towards Selena and starts charging at her on all fours like a wild animal.
Selena kept singing until she opens her eyes and is horrified at the sight, and her song turned into a scream. Patrick makes the strike onto Selena, but at the last second, Marlene slams Selena pushing her out of the way. Patrick turns towards Marlene and Selena, growling in a furious rage.
"I don't know what happened. My Semblance doesn't work on him." Selena says.
"It looked like it enrages him instead." Marlene says.
Patrick slowly creeps towards them growling. Selena and Marlene realize what he's about to do, and begin to panic. "Patrick, calm down. It's us. Your friends." Selena tries reasoning with him, but it's not working.
Akira sees Selena and Marlene are in trouble. She thinks quickly about what to do. She looks at her hand, trying to create Chi, but only makes a fainting light and it fades, as well as exposes her aura flickering. "My Aura's too low to use my Semblance...I can't use Zantetsuken..." Akira then turns her attention to her sword, looking at all the Dust containments within the hilt. "...Maybe if I..."
Patrick slams a claw to the ground, sending a wave of shadow toward Selena and Marlene. Once the shadow reaches them, Shadow Chains shackles them in place. Akira sees the danger and takes immediate action. Just as Patrick starts charging toward them, Akira dashes in between. Selena and Marlene are surprised to see Akria and try to warn her, but she tunes them out as she holds her sword in place.
Akira sets her weapon to be loaded with all the dust, with every element within it, and the blade becomes overwhelmed with magical energy in every color. Akira draws her sword back, over her shoulder. "Ultimate Sword Form:" Patrick delivers his strike, and Akira does the same. "Heaven's Blade!" Akira's Sword and Patrick's claw made contact, unleashing a devastating force that blew everything away, shattering the very ground, and as well as unleashes a blast of Dark Magic and Elemental Dust to the sky.
Patrick and Akira are locked in place. Akira grins her teeth and grunts as she pours all her strength into holding Patrick back.
Selena and Marlene stand back and watch the combat with astonishment. They start cheering for Akira. Nothing changes between the two. Akira's sword becomes overwhelmed by a mixture of dust overload and Patrick's strength. It cracks until finally it shatters and Akira is knocked back from the loss of balance and sudden force.
Akira sits up, looking with shock at her weapon. Broken. The sounds of Selena screaming fills Akira's fox ears. She sees Patrick stomping towards Selena and Marlene, dragging one of his claws through the ground. Selena grabs her staff, shooting firebolts at Patrick, but are having no effect on him at all. Patrick swipes the staff out of Selena's hands. Patrick growls as his claw fuels with dark magic.
Selena feels life flashing before her eyes as Patrick raises a claw to strike, and the last thing Selena sees is a figure rushing in between and taking the blow. Patrick's claw rends through Akira's remaining Aura, tearing the flesh from her torso and stomach.
Selena looks at the sight of blood and fear leaves her speechlessly shocked. Akira crash slides across the area until she hits a wall. "AKIRA!" Selena screams.
Patrick's about to make another strike but comes to a halt when Emerald's voice hits his ears. "Cinder!" Patrick turns his attention to Emerald, who she and Mercury are trying to awaken the unconscious Cinder. "Come on! Wake up!"
Patrick's neck cracks. "KILL! THE! BITCH!" He starts stomping towards them while dragging his claw into the floor.
Mercury hears Patrick coming. "Oh, great. Just what we need." Mercury stands and charges toward Patrick. He leaps to deliver a kick, but Patrick grabs Mercury's mechanic foot and crushes it in his claw then tosses Mercury aside. Mercury crashes to the floor, grabbing his crushed foot. "Hey! Do you have any idea how long it takes to repair these!?"
Patrick still stomps towards Emerald and Cinder. Emerald sees Patrick coming for them and is overwhelmed with fear. He moves closer and closer, and just about five feet away, Patrick is sent flying when he is struck by an Atlesian Paladin and crashes into a hole in the wall. Emerald is surprised to see this. "Authur's Paladin?" Followed by a burst of maniacal laughter coming from the large machine.
Patrick pulls himself out of the wall, and lands on his feet, glaring and growling at the Paladin. Tyrian speaks from the machine. "You know, it's no fun unless I'm getting my own hands dirty." Tyrian grabs the levers on the control center. "But in your case..." Patrick's claws become engulfed in dark energy. "I'll make an EXCEPTION!"
Both the Paladin and Patrick charge toward each other. When in range, they deliver blows at each other, and each one ends up either blocked or dodged. While the fight goes on, Mercury struggles to stand and walk but ends up collapsing every time. A large man approaches Mercury, who looks up at him in surprise.
"Hazel?"
Hazel offers Mercury a hand. "Come on. Let's go."
Patrick fights off against Paladin Tyrian. Aside from taking several hits, Tyrian is able to block and dodge each attack. Finally, the enraged boy has had enough. Patrick conjures shadow magic and slams it to the ground, sending a wave of shadow toward the Paladin, and once it's underneath it, spikes of darkness burst out of the shadow and impale the Paladin.
Patrick turns to his enemies, who are making their way to the airship. He lets out a roar and starts rushing toward them on all fours. Emerald can hear him coming and then turns. "Uh, Hazel?"
Hazel turns to see Patrick coming at them. He sets Mercury down. "Get them on board." Hazel takes out Light Crystal Dust. "I'll buy you time." He injects the crystal into his body, charging himself with electrical energy. Patrick leaps onto Hazel, but Hazel still stands his ground and grabs hold of Patrick's claws. Both of them use all their strength to push each other. But no effect. Patrick digs his claws into Hazel's hands, and Hazel softly grunts from the injection. Hazel gives Patrick a headbutt, which only does little effect, but enough to distract him for Hazel to lift and throw Patrick back.
Patrick only went as far as several feet, and during that moment of vulnerability, Hazel injected Ice and Earth Dust Crystals into his arms. Just before Patrick can get back on his feet, Hazel smashes his fists to the ground, ending a wave of Ice and Earth shards toward Patrick, encasing him in ice.
With Patrick incapacitated, Hazel returns to the airship. The ice begins to crack. Hazel can hear the rumbling, he turns to look back and sees Patrick breaking free until the ice explodes. Patrick lets out a roar in his freedom. Patrick glares right at Hazel. "KILL! THE! BITCH!" Patrick charges towards Hazel and then leaps, only to get crushed by the Paladin.
Tyrian laughs maniacally as he smashes Patrick with the Paladin's fists, speed increasing. Tyrian's laughter becomes louder and crazier as he pounds Patrick into pudding. Soon enough, the whole area is fogged with concrete dust.
Eventually, the Paladin comes to a still all of a sudden. Tyrian watches the screen with amusement. The fog begins to clear, and it shows Patrick, pushing the one Paladin's fist back. He glares and growls right at the Paladin. Tyrian tries to commend the Paladin to release Patrick's grip but nothing happens.
"Oh! My, my. You're a feisty one, aren't you?" Tyrian says with a laugh.
Once back on his feet, Patrick summons combust magic in his free claw, which forms into a fist, and delivers an explosive punch that sends the Paladin flying back. The second the Paladin crashes, Shadow Chains appear and shackle the giant machinery in place. With that done, Patrick begins channeling a massive amount of power. The very ground rumbles. Rubbles shake and dust is blown.
Combust Magic forms form in Patrick's claws. He raises the magic above him as it grows and grows until it reaches twice his size. Tyrian smiles with amusement at the beautiful sight of destructive power. Patrick glares right at the Paladin and then throws the combust magic right at it. As it's sent flying, Tyrian flips the ejection switch. He is sent flying just a second before the combust power hits the Paladin.
The Paladin implodes at first then the devastating magic unleashes a major explosion. One that would have blown half the temple in its destruction.
Tyrian is soaring high to the sky, looking at the explosive scenery down below. He then sees the airship flying by. As it passes, Tyrian grabs hold of the side handlebar with his tail. As they are getting away, Hazel pulls Tyrian inside. "I must admit, I thought you were a goner back there." Mercury says to Tyrian.
Tyrian lets out a devious smile followed by a crazy chuckle. "Oh, he most certainly was a worthy adversary, Mr. Black. But I wouldn't let myself go down that easily."
Hazel sits in the co-pilot seat. "Cinder was lucky back there. That kid had some ferocious power unleashed."
Arthur focuses on piloting the ship as he speaks. "Nonetheless, we got what we came for. Let us report back to Salem about what has happened. I'm betting that Rufus fellow will want to hear of this as well."
As the airship leaves, Patrick faces in the direction where it previously was. He sees it's now gone, and so is Cinder. In frustration, lets out a deafening roar. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" As soon as his screams are out, Patrick begins to change. His teeth return to normal, claws retracting, hair reduced and returning to the color brown, and above all else, his eyes return to normal.
Patrick collapses, falling into unconsciousness. Only a few seconds later, Patrick begins to awaken. He moans tiresomely. He gets up on one foot and knee, rubbing his head. "Oh...Gods. My head..." Patrick opens his eyes, taking notice of the mass destruction that has happened in this temple. "What...happened?"
Patrick lowers his hand but becomes surprised by the sight. The tips of his fingers, it's covered in bloodstains. He looks around until he finds a trail of claw marks. He follows the trail, step by step. Soon enough when he comes close to the end, he finds a blood pool. He looks ahead and is surprised by what he is seeing.
Selena and Marlene are cowering, Marlene holding tightly onto Akira, who is out cold with large cuts on her body, and Selena holding her staff out as if really to attack. Both of them look ghastly horrified as if witnessing their worst fears come to life in the form of the Grim Reaper.
"What...are...you?" Selena says, her voice shaking and struggling to get the words out.
Patrick is confused, but looking at the state Akira is in and then at his own blood hand, he realizes it. He doesn't have any memory of what happened, but there's no denying it. His hand shakes as he fearfully stares at it, his vision blurring and ears turning deaf, barely even hearing the sounds of incoming airships and sirens.