Chapter 5
Shadow sat beside Blade, he couldn't bear to even consider leaving the sneasel alone in his state.
"I'm gonna tell my dad, he'll make sure Cleave goes away for this." Pyre spoke up.
"No…please, you'll only make it worse…" Blade seemed genuinely afraid of the idea. "Please don't…"
"Pyre's right, your dad is a sick fuck and needs to be locked up!" Rai struggled to not raise his voice.
"It is Blade's decision ultimately." Shadow didn't like the idea, but if it made Blade comfortable he'd allow it, for now. "So do as he says, if Cleave acts out again, I will give legality the chance it is owed. Should that fail, I will see to his suffering personally."
"Okay, if you guys are sure. I won't object." Rai frowned slightly.
"Guys seriously, I need to tell my dad!" Pyre wouldn't budge.
"Pyre, please, I'm begging you…" Blade frowned.
Pyre couldn't stand seeing him like that. "Fine… but if anything happens I'm telling him immediately!" He gave in, just for the sake of his friend.
"You guys should get going, just cause I'm in here doesn't mean you should miss school."
"Blade is right, the two of you should go."
"I meant all of you."
"If you believe for even a moment I would leave you alone, you are sorely mistaken."
"But Shadow…"
"I will not miss out on anything, I receive superior education at home anyway."
"I…okay, fine if you're sure…"
Shadow gently kissed Blade.
"Alright then, no worries, we'll see you after school." Pyre gave a sweet smile and hugged Blade gently.
Rai gave a simple wave and the two stepped out of the room.
"Shadow…I'm scared…" Blade began as he shifted slightly on the hospital bed. "I've never seen my dad that upset, he's hit us before but…but never…"
"I know Blade, banish your fears darling, I will never let him hurt you again." Shadow gave a comforting look.
*Later Elsewhere*
"Guys, I know this is kinda crazy to say, but I'm worried about Blade." Nagi spoke softly as the four ice types approached Starfall Academy.
"Me too, he looked a lot worse than Dad usually leaves us." Gladius added.
"But Blade's always been the weakest of us, it probably wasn't even that bad." Bardiche chimed in.
"Exactly, he's a spoiled little shit anyway." Anelace seemed off, guilty somehow, as if she didn't believe her own words.
"Should we check on him after school?"
"You ask that like Shadow would let us." Anelace scowled. "It's pretty damn obvious he doesn't trust us."
"But he's our brother, I know we're mean to him a lot but I just, ya know, I'm worried." Nagi gave a pleading look. "That's gotta count for something, right?"
"Probably not. At least to Shadow."
"Well I'm going, with or without you guys." Nagi declared strolling into the academy.
*In an Alley*
"Arceus, what happened here?" A voice came from behind Ember. The braixen was kneeling at a crime scene, looking over the most recent victim of whatever horrendous creature was killing them.
A wartortle lay covered in blood, its shell was torn off, and there was a large hole where its heart should have been.
"Couldn't tell you. But this is creating a pattern." The braixen looked back, seeing Mare Nightshade.
"A pattern?"
"Yes, one in every five recent victims appear to have had their hearts removed." Ember stood up and stepped away. "Similarly one in five are seemingly tortured to death. Given the numerous lacerations, and time of death."
"I see." Mare scanned the body himself. "The wound looks inflicted by some form of claw, it's too messy to be done by any form of blade or surgical instrument." He glanced around the scene. "What else is there?"
Ember stepped to a nearby wall that happened to be splattered with blood, and a strange almost ghost-like blue fluid. "There's a path from that garbage can there, showing signs of a struggle. And this strange fluid here. Forensics didn't turn anything up last time, and it doesn't help that each victim has a different fluid like it nearby."
Mare looked it over before slipping a glove on and scooping a small amount onto his clawed finger. "Strange, it doesn't seem to be blood of any kind. And," Mare hesitated as he noticed it seemed to sparkle like a gem stone. "Strange. It's possible that whatever left this behind had some form of gem based diet. It would be wise to have this checked for any similarities with a sableye?"
"I will give that suggestion to the boys in the lab, goodness knows we need any lead we can get." Ember looked around one last time. "So, what's the deal, why are you getting involved personally?"
Mare glanced back. "I have theories, but it is currently wild conjecture. That said, my motive is the survival of the citizens of Firelink. And my own family of course."
"Good enough for me. You're lucky the chief doesn't mind getting outside help."
"Yes, because you and your fellow officers could actually arrest me." The purple Darkrai chuckled. "I jest, I'm just a civil servant."
"Yeah, I can tell." Ember joked back. "Well, forensics is gonna need the place locked down so you may want to check the other crime scenes. You have four more to investigate after all."
"Quite so, please keep me apprised of any developments." Mare turned away, slipping off the glove he'd used before tucking it into a small bag and pocketing it in his suit jacket.
*Starfall Academy*
"Alright guys breaks almost over!" The infernape called happily.
"Man, I didn't know we had whole club days!" Pyre smiled happily.
Rai was seated beside him. "Oh yeah, you only just joined the battle club right?
"Yep, mom wouldn't let me after uh…"
"After ya burned down the band room and all its equipment?"
Pyre frowned. "It's not my fault I'm passionate."
"You played the drums so hard everything caught on fire." Rai chuckled and wheezed with laughter. "And you didn't notice until you finished your solo haha!"
"Ha ha, very funny!" Pyre chuckled as well, he had to admit it was rather funny in hindsight.
"Hey you two, got a question?" Nagi was standing before them.
"Great, what do you want?" Rai seemed hostile.
"The others aren't as worried as I am, but do you know how Blade is doing?" They seemed silenced. "I just, I've never seen him look that hurt and it really worried me."
"He's doing." Rai stated plainly.
"Yeah, he would barely talk to us when we were at the hospital earlier. And he barely spoke to Shadow too." Pyre frowned worriedly.
"Ugh, Ann you idiot!" Nagi stomped on the ground. "Can't just keep your jealous mouth shut grrr…"
"Don't act like you care about him!" Rai stepped forward in a threatening manner. "How many times did you help beat him? You don't get to worry about my little bro anymore."
Nagi was surprised. "You see him as a little brother? Hehe, you're definitely better at being siblings than us. Please, keep him safe, I know that doesn't mean much, but still…" She turned to walk away.
"There's an idea, maybe Blade should join the battle club, that way he'll be able to defend himself!" Pyre spoke up as Nagi continued away. "I'll grab him a slip after school and take it to him, his mom is usually nice so she should sign off on it."
"Great idea Pyre! And we can look out for him while he's here!"
As Nagi walked away she grabbed on of the sign up forms, if Blade did join, she would show up too, to look out for her brother.
The teacher stood in front of the class. "Alright, well now that the warm ups are out of the way. There's a tournament with a rival school in a few weeks so it's about time we start properly training. So it's time you met our team captain, my son."
A monderno stepped out from behind him, dressed in a similar outfit, but purple, and with glasses. "Hi, I'm Gohan, and I'm the team captain."
"You're not serious right, what's four eyes gonna do?" A Machop called from the other side of the room.
Neither was insulted by the remark. Goku smiled. "Yeah, he's a bookworm, but Gohan's as tough as they come, and I couldn't be more proud!"
Pyre was practically bouncing in place. "Oh oh oh! Over here! Mister Goku!"
"Oh, what's up Pyre?"
"Can I spar with him, please please please!" The charmander was shaking with excitement.
"I dunno, what do you think Gohan?"
"I'll take him on." The monferno nodded.
"Okay, then get ready, I'll let you both cut loose since I know you can take it."
The club members stood off to the side as the two quickly took their places.
"You ready for me?" Gohan asked taking his glasses off and tossing them to the side. He raised his arms in a ready position.
"Haha I'm so excited!" Pyre lifted his own arms clenching his fists in preparation.
"Begin!"
The two rushed forth ready for the battle to come.
Pyre opened with several quick jabs toward the chest.
Gohan blocked each strike and retaliated by kicking his opponent hard in the gut.
Pyre stumbled back before grabbing the monfernos leg and pulling him straight into a right hook.
The punch off balanced the monferno, tossing him into the air, but he recovered landing with little effort.
Pyre advanced, spitting fire at the monferno to obscure his vision.
Gohan simply leaned back, planting his hands on the ground and flipping, causing him to kick Pyre in the face.
"He wasn't lying, you really are tough! But how far can ya go!?" Pyre smiled wide as flames burst up around him swelling with his energy.
Gohan glanced over seeing his father nod approvingly. "Alright then, let's do this!" The monferno took in a deep breath as flames began swelling around him as well.
The two fire types let loose the buildup of energy resulting in Gohan's flames glowing a brighter almost golden color, and Pyre's were glowing a bright orange as if to match.
The two acted almost instantly, colliding fists several times, neither able to pass the others defenses.
After a few moments of this, each punch and kick began finding their mark, but for opposing reasons.
Gohan was doing his best to block and counter each strike, but Pyre had completely abandoned defense, his raw offense was allowing him to overcome the monfernos incredible defense and skill.
The two refused to give any ground. In a surprise, flames welled up around the monferno again and the already golden flames seemed to intensify with a single tongue of flame drooping from his head in tandem with what seemed to be a crackle of electricity surrounding him. And suddenly, it was as if the monferno was a completely different fighter. Three punches, one to his face, then two to his stomach sent Pyre stumbling back. As he looked up, he felt a heel kick land to the back of his head and he was sent into the ground.
Just as the Charmander stood up he felt the back of the monfernos hand strike him from behind, tossing him forward. He barely managed to recover as the fire ape closed the distance almost instantly.
Pyre felt his heart beating faster as he glanced into the crowd, and he felt it. It was as of both his heart, and Rai's were beating in equal excitement and worry. Just as Gohan's next punch connected to Pyre's stomach, he grabbed his arm. Flames burst up around them, and now Pyre's flames were completely golden as were his eyes, along with a similar crackle of electricity around his body.
Pyre used the surprise to his advantage letting loose a barrage of punches against the monfernos stomach, seemingly pushing the air out of him, before ending with a powerful punch to the face, sending the fire ape sliding back.
The two were smiling wide at each other as the slowly stepped forward, the brilliant golden glow of their flames died away instantly as they clasped hands, shaking happily.
"Wow, and you're one of our newer recruits?" The monferno smiled wide.
"I am, and my gosh you're incredible! I've never met anyone else who's flames can change colors."
"Yeah, I learned it from training with my dad!"
"Lucky, nobody else in my family can do it."
"Well, you're in the battle club now, so we can teach you!"
"Wow, you guys are incredible!" Goku rushed over. "Glad to see you've been keeping up with your training son, and Pyre here is gonna make an awesome addition to the team!"
"I know, I can already see a few of your weaker points, so as team captain, I'll help ya work on those!" Gohan smiled.
"Thanks, I've always had a passion for this, but uh, I kinda destroyed the band room with my passion once so I haven't been allowed to join for a while." Pyre chuckled and looked back toward the other students, noticing Rai making motions to say he had to step away.
*Meanwhile*
"Well, I would prefer you stay for longer, but since most of what happened to you is bruising that will heal in a few days, it seems you'll be discharged by tomorrow." Shadow frowned.
"I know, kinda surprising, but the doctors said nothing else was wrong. And yes I did let them check down there."
"When they discharge you, I will take you back to the manor."
"I need to at least see my mom first, ya know?" Blade poked the Darkrai.
"If you are certain."
"I am." Blade leaned back.
"I do hope the two of you are hungry," Codsworth's voice came. "I have brought what is considered by the common rabble to be, food." The Lucario held up a bag and a tray of drinks.
"Ooh smells like Mcdandy's!" Blade smiled and made a beckoning gesture with both hands. "Gimme!"
"Yes, of course, enjoy your not copyrighted or trademarked fast food." Codsworth handed the bag to Shadow, and he gently rested it beside Blade. The sneasel reached in and pulled out a container of fries and nuggets.
"Ooh my favorite!"
"That's why I had Codsworth get it. Thank you Codsworth, you are irreplaceable as ever." Shadow complimented him as he took one of the drinks and began sipping it.
"Thanks Codsworth!" Blade smiled at the Lucario as he began to dig into the food.
"Hmm, school should be out by now. I'm sure Pyre and Rai will have stories to tell." Shadow had looked down at his watch. "Will that not be riveting?
"Definitely!" The sneasel took his own drinking sipping it down thirstily.