I do not own Black Clover or any of its characters.
Undersea Mission
Dane frowned as he sat, alone, in an empty room. He had expected that when he was summoned by name along with Asta, there'd be something important for him to do, but Julius's right hand, Marx, had asked him to wait in the room and left. Almost an hour ago.
"Sorry for making you wait," Julius smiled, walking into the room. "I needed Asta first, and then I wanted to have a quick chat with you before heading to the conference."
"Not a problem, sir," Dane smiled. "I wanted to thank you for promoting me, and for giving the Black Bulls fifteen stars at once."
"Well, from the report Yami gave, you more than earned both," Julius said. "I had heard that Raya was injured in the battle. How is she?"
"She's fine, now, sir," Dane said. "She just needs some rest."
"That's good," Julius smiled, then sighed. "Now, your impulses. Yami mentioned that you said they've been unusually quiet recently."
"Yeah," Dane nodded. "Ever since I fought Licht, or maybe since I lost to him, they've been silent. I had assumed that they were just...sated for a while, but that was almost three days ago, now, and they still haven't returned."
"Is there any chance they've been cured?" Julius asked.
"If they have, I'm going gambling after this," Dane said.
"I thought as much," Julius nodded. "I have a theory that your impulses may have finally selected a specific target. It's possible that they are merely sated for a while, but if they have selected a target, sated or not they'll return if you enter the same room as the target."
"You think Licht is here?" Dane asked.
"I doubt that," Julius said. "We'd have a lot of issues if he was. I just felt I should warn you about what I believe to be the case."
Dane nodded.
"Now, to the matter at hand," Julius said. "I would like you to create something for me."
"Create something?" Dane asked.
"That's right," Julius nodded. "Your magic is unique in its ability to create virtually anything. I would like you to make me a sword."
"What type?" Dane asked, holding out his hand.
"Hm, let's see," Julius considered. "Something light, but efficient for both slashing and stabbing, and durable enough to be used extensively."
Dane nodded, and a diamond metal sword rose from the ground. It was a standard bastard sword in shape, but with the blade separated from the guard slightly, not unlike Asta's first sword, though not as far. The ends of the guard's arms were decorated by prism-cut rubies, the pommel was a diamond cut into a conical spike, and as he offered it and the scabbard he'd created to Julius, Julius smiled radiantly.
"So, it's true," Julius mused. "You really can create a unique metal with it." He accepted the sword, taking a couple of test swings. "It's perfect. Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir," Dane said.
"Now, I have one final favor to ask," Julius said. "I understand it's a lot to ask, but I was wondering if I might be able to borrow one of your spirits. I understand they can inhabit weapons."
"They can, sir," Dane nodded. "Each gives the weapons different magical properties. I can't let you take Raya, for obvious reasons, and Goro isn't able to be used in that manner, but Fei, Nue, and Ko are all useful. Did you have one in mind?"
"What effects do they have on weapons?" Julius asked.
"Ko, my giant fox spirit-"
"Giant fox?" Julius frowned. "I thought he was a wolf."
"A lot of people do," Dane nodded. "It took me a while to be able to remember he's a fox, too. Anyway, he has the ability to extend the reach of the blade, and enhances the speed of your strikes by performing something like Reinforcement Magic on the muscles in your arms, but he doesn't increase the weapon's overall destructiveness. Nue increases the weapon's overall power and durability, and uses Reinforcement Magic to increase your strength, but it sacrifices speed to do it, and Fei makes the weapon totally weightless, allowing for much faster strikes, but reduces the power of the strikes, and allows you to use a fairly basic Wind Magic spell where you can slash the sword to send out an arc of razor-sharp Wind Magic."
"I see," Julius nodded. "So of the three, Fei has the best speed and range but the lowest striking power, Nue has the best power but the worst speed and range, and Ko is the middle ground."
"That's right," Dane nodded.
"I'll take Fei," Julius decided. "I need speed more than striking power, and even a weightless blade can cut through flesh easily enough."
"Very well," Dane nodded. "Fei, you're going to be sticking with Julius for a while. Stay in his sword and teach him how to use your powers."
As Fei possessed the blade, brilliant, white flames roared to life along it.
"If the sword breaks, Fei will go back to his home, wherever that is, and I'll have to summon him again," Dane warned. "And if you happen to be getting ready to fight Licht, I should warn you. That metal can't withstand Licht's magic for long."
"You've never learned how to reinforce your weapons, have you?" Julius asked.
"Reinforce my weapons?" Dane asked. "By channeling mana into them?"
"That's right," Julius nodded. "It's how Yami's sword, which is only steel, can clash with anything he feels inclined to, so long as he doesn't run out of mana."
"That...actually makes sense," Dane nodded. "Thank you, sir."
"No, thank you," Julius smiled. "Now, as much as I would love to stay and continue discussing magic with you, and as much as I would love to bring you along to the Captains' Conference, I'm afraid I have to ask you to return to your squad now."
Dane nodded. "I understand, sir. Thank you again for the promotion."
Julius nodded, and Dane left headquarters, heading to a nearby broom shop to finally get something besides Fei to ride on. Then, he flew back to the others, where they announced the good news. They were going on a mission that involved going to the beach in the morning. Dane headed to bed, deciding to rest in case the mission ended up being more of a pain than expected, like their day off had been, and early in the morning, he met the others for the trip. Captain Yami was apparently already there, supposedly checking on something, so he'd meet them there, and Finral couldn't teleport them there, because he had somehow never been, despite their destination being a beautiful, warm, beach resort all year, where he could get his fill of girls in bikinis.
"Where's Fei?" Vanessa asked.
"He's looking after Raya," Dane said. "They're old friends, so he's worried about her. Of course, she's just waiting for the chance to harass me about going to the beach, so I'm sure she'll take the liberty of summoning herself once we're there."
"Hey, where's that person who's always blowing smoke and making that growling noise?" Noelle asked.
"Grey's back there," Dane said, jabbing his thumb behind himself at Gordon. "And also refused to spar with me so that I could see what their magic can do."
"Well, can you blame me?" Gordon called back, everyone staring open-mouthed. "You scare me!"
"Hey, I told you, I'm calm right now!" Dane called back to him.
"Well, yes, but that could change as soon as you fight!" Gordon pointed out. "You haven't fought since that battle, so that could just be what your impulses are waiting for!"
"Hold on," Noelle said. "I thought his name was Gordon. And since when does he actually speak?"
"Watch," Gordon, said, then in a cloud of smoke, had retaken his usual, enormous form, groaning out a cloud of smoke.
However, the broom couldn't support Grey usual weight, so he transformed back to Gordon and flew back up with the rest of them.
"So, that was actually Grey this whole time?" Asta asked. "And if that's Grey, what happened to the real Gordon?"
"He wasn't in the house this morning," Dane said. "I had Ko sniff around and everything, but he was gone. I assume he probably left early. And just in case he didn't, I left him a note apologizing and blaming Grey."
"Hey!" Grey shouted. "That's not nice!"
"You're welcome to fight me," Dane offered.
"No way!" Grey shouted.
"Will you fight me, then!?" Luck grinned.
"Hell no!" Grey snapped. "You're even worse than Dane! At least Dane's a decent person when his impulses aren't bothering him! You're psychotic all the time!"
"How about this," Dane said. "You fight smear the ground with Magna and we'll watch."
"I'm not fighting anyone!" Grey shouted.
"What makes you think he'd smear the ground with me!?" Magna demanded.
Everyone gave him a blank stare.
"What!?" Magna demanded.
"You're the weakest person in the Squad," Dane said. "Not counting Finral, since he's not a combat type."
"At least someone recognizes I'm useful," Finral said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't go that far," Dane said dismissively.
"Hey!" Finral shouted.
"We should see it any second now," Magna said.
"See what?" Asta asked.
"The ocean," Magna said. "I've never laid eyes on it."
"Me neither!" Asta said, both staring ahead at the ocean. "Do you think it'll be much longer?"
"I figured we would have seen it by now," Magna admitted.
"You two are idiots," Dane said.
"You're already looking right at it," Noelle said. "See all that blue?"
"No way!" Asta shrieked. "I never imagined it would be so big!"
"For you two, since you clearly don't know anything about the ocean, don't drink it," Dane warned. "It's salt water, so it'll taste like shit. Plus, kids are constantly peeing in it."
"Ew!" Noelle shrieked. "Why would you say that!?"
"What?" Dane asked. "It's true. Fish pee in it."
"Fish live in it!" Noelle shrieked.
"Oh, really?" Dane asked. "You live in the hideout. Do you pee there?"
"In the toilet, yes!" Noelle snapped.
"Do you live in the toilet?" Dane asked.
Noelle shrieked in annoyance, firing a ball of water at him, only for him to raise an arm, transforming the water into air just as it touched his palm, then rolling from the resulting draft, ending up right-side-up again.
"That's enough, you two," Vanessa sighed. "We're almost there."
Dane raised his hands in surrender, and a few minutes later, they'd landed and all changed into their bathing suits and scattered. Grey went out into the water in his usual form, laying on a turtle-themed float ring in a black one-piece bathing suit that extended up over his shoulders, like a girl would wear. Dane stared at Grey in confusion for a few seconds as he, Vanessa, and Charmy got comfortable to tan.
"Is Grey a girl?" Dane asked.
Vanessa and Charmy both looked over at Grey, then shrugged.
"Good question," Vanessa said. "Better question, with both of us here, and as adults, why are you paying attention to another girl?"
"Oh relax," Dane snorted. "You both know you have my attention."
He glanced at them. Charmy had chosen a tight, one-piece bathing suit with horizontal blue and white stripes that didn't show off much skin, but that hugged her body tightly and matched surprisingly well with the cotton bracelet she'd formed to keep herself as an adult. Vanessa, on the other hand, wore probably the skimpiest bikini Dane had ever seen. The top was almost entirely strings with a tiny narrow triangle of fabric to cover her nipples that only barely concealed her areolas, and the bottoms had a strip of fabric barely wider in the back than the front, which said a lot since the front was barely an inch wide, doing very little more than covering her slit, and the back would definitely end up covering nothing if she walked around in it. All-in-all, he loved both of their choices of bathing suits. He himself had opted for a pair of black swimming trunks with cargo pockets, one of which held his new bracer, which still had no spell in it, yet.
"So, did you choose whose healing spell you'd copy, yet?" Vanessa asked.
"Not yet," Dane said. "If I could choose, I'd say I want Mars's Phoenix Cloak, but...I doubt I'll have the chance for that. At least not until we fight a war against him. And I'd have to not kill him until after."
"That's true," Charmy said. "It does seem like a useful one."
"It's one of very few that also regenerates stamina," Dane said. "At least from what I could tell from fighting Mars."
Just then, Vanessa began to laugh. Dane and Charmy looked over at her, and she pointed past them. They both turned to look, and Dane groaned as Charmy shrieked, blushing and covering her eyes. Magna wasn't wearing a swimsuit. He was wearing a loincloth.
"I could have gone my whole life without ever seeing that, and been perfectly happy," Dane groaned. "Vanessa, pass the alcohol."
Vanessa chuckled, passing him her bottle, and he took several swigs before passing it back. Just as he did, Grey dropped down onto a towel beside Vanessa, having transformed into her, complete with the same skimpy bathing suit.
"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be helping Finral flirt," Vanessa smiled.
"I was for a while, but it got boring, so I came to hang out with you," Grey smiled. "Gotta say, I love this bathing suit."
"So does Dane," Vanessa grinned. "Oh, hey, any chance you'd be up for a three-way with me and Dane? I'm sure he'd enjoy having sex with two of me."
"Pass," Dane said.
"Seriously?" Vanessa asked. "How come?"
"Can you imagine what Raya would say if I had sex with two of you?" Dane snorted. "I'd rather not listen to that lecture."
Grey laughed. "That's alright. I'm choosing to pass, too. No offense, but you're not my type."
Dane raised a hand dismissively. "No offense taken." He glanced over at Charmy, only to see she'd left to try and smash a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded. Except instead of hitting the watermelon, she passed it and hit Asta in the head. Dane snorted, then set his head back down.
"So, Grey," Dane said. "When are we fighting?"
"Grey left," Vanessa smiled. "It's just us."
"Damn," Dane sighed. "I'll get them to fight me."
"Dane!" Raya cheered, yanking him up from the ground into a hug. "It's been so long!"
"It's been like three days," Dane sighed, extricating himself from her, seeing she was in her human form so that she was at least in something that could almost pass as a bikini. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to have fun!" Raya grinned. "Let's go play in the water!"
"Raya I'm tanning," Dane groaned, but she dragged him out into the water anyway.
Vanessa hummed thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes slightly before a smirk formed and she took a drink of her alcohol. "I wonder..."
She stood, joining Raya and Dane in the water for a myriad of different ways to play ranging from passing a ball around, to playing monkey in the middle, to Dane and Vanessa trying not to let Raya drag them underwater. Then, finally, Yami had gathered them, and subsequently buried them all up to their necks, including Raya, so that he could yell at them for slacking off while also giving them a briefing about their mission. They had to get to an underwater temple, but the mana was so strong that the currents were too strong for anyone, including skilled mages, to make it to the temple alive. And on a full moon, when the currents were just weak enough to make it there, they would need to ride someone's Water Magic in order to reach it alive. That left Noelle as their only hope, and as they had a week before the full moon, Yami gave her a week to learn to control her magic. Then, he dragged them all out of the sand by the head, telling them where to find the hotel they'd stay in for the week.
The next few days passed quickly. Every day and late into the night, Asta helped Noelle train her magic control in case it went wild. And every day, the others all spent all day slacking off, Vanessa, Charmy, and Dane making more than a few trips to somewhere more private. And then, finally, the night before the full moon, they went to see how Noelle was doing, only to find that she'd lost control of her magic. They began to call out to her, cheering her on, except for Dane, who walked over to Asta and a girl he didn't know who wore a white, shell-patterned dress with dark hair in a long, wavy ponytail and shells decorating her hair.
"How's she been doing?" Dane asked.
"She's got this!" Asta said firmly.
"She's been trying too hard to control her magic," the girl said.
"Who are you?" Dane asked.
"I'm Kahono," she introduced herself. "Who are you?"
"Dane," Dane said. "You don't want to get to know me."
He watched with the others as Noelle's magic continued to rage. Then, finally, it worked. The raging mass of Water Magic transformed into a sphere of water with enormous bubbles floating around it. It was a perfected spell. She had done it. And then, she passed out, the sphere exploding apart and dropping her. In an instant, Asta had charged forward, catching her and landing on a boulder. And then, she slapped him, sending him flying. Luck and Magna used their magic to make fireworks. Dane glanced at Kahono, but she was gone. He walked over to Charmy, and she held out a short rib for him, having brought three platters for Noelle, only to begin eating them herself. He smiled, accepting the rib, and ate it as he stared out at the water. His options would be limited in the water, since his magic wouldn't have much molecular variety to work with. If it came to a fight, he'd be at a disadvantage.
"Worried?" Charmy asked.
"I'm expecting to meet the Eye of the Midnight Sun again," Dane admitted. "And in the water, my magic's...extremely limited."
Charmy nodded. "We can handle whatever we find."
Dane nodded. They all headed back to the inn together, and spent most of the next day sleeping, Dane only waking up to have a late lunch and a late supper with Charmy and Vanessa before they all gathered to head to the Underwater Temple. Dane reached back to his sword, then released it, instead drawing the Magic Tool dagger he'd gotten at the dungeon but had never used for real. But he'd tested it in training. He wished he had Fei to use with it, but if he had to swim, Nue would be extremely useful, and Raya made the dagger arguably as dangerous as his magic without his Grimoire, but only because he lacked training with her powers for the same reason as he didn't fight with her often. He didn't want her to see him in the grips of his impulses.
"You're finally going to use that thing?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah," Dane nodded. "Nue and Raya would make it useful, but I haven't decided which to use yet."
Vanessa nodded. "And your bracer?"
"Nothing yet," Dane said.
Vanessa nodded, and a few minutes later, Noelle had successfully cast her spell again, ferrying them out to sea. Except, Grey was in their normal form and was filling the water sphere, except for Noelle.
"We're kinda squished here!" Magna complained. "You're big enough without the floatation device!"
"Is this gonna pop!?" Asta shrieked as the float ring compressed against their bodies dangerously.
"Come on!" Finral shouted. "Change into someone smaller!"
Grey was enveloped in a cloud of smoke, transforming into Charmy. "Well, peons, is this better?"
"Much," Dane groaned. "Even in my armor I couldn't breathe. Couldn't you just be in your true form?"
"True form?" everyone asked, including Grey.
"Well, you're constantly being other people, so why should we assume that your really big form is real?" Dane asked.
"That's fair reasoning," Magna admitted.
"That's crazy!" Grey said.
They dove under the water, and everyone began to stare around at the beautiful ocean floor. However, before long, they reached the currents, and the gentle, beautiful ride turned decidedly less pleasant. And then, ahead of them, they saw the problem. There were dozens of cyclones ahead of them.
"This is what it's like when the mana's at its weakest!?" Finral shrieked.
"Man, this strong magic region is somethin' else!" Asta yelped.
"Uh...This bubble thing isn't gonna pop on us, is it?" Magna shouted.
"You've gotta be pretty scared, being a Flame Mage and all," Luck said.
"Please!" Magna scoffed, terrified. "I don't know what you're talkin' about! I've never been scared in my life!"
Asta, Grey, and Charmy began to cheer for Noelle, only for her to snap at them. Vanessa began to turn green, and Dane pulled her hair back, beginning to rub her back. Then, finally, they were through the cyclones and in calm waters again. Vanessa sighed, leaning against Dane as the color began to fade from her cheeks, and he continued to stroke her back as he looked around at the ocean floor again. It was beautiful, and there were dozens of different kinds of sea life that they didn't get to see anywhere else.
"It's beautiful!" Vanessa smiled.
"They got all kinds of funky lookin' animals down here," Asta said.
"Yeah, just look at that fish!" Finral said. "It's glowing like crazy!"
Dane spotted the fish in question, which was glowing with blue mana. "It's magic."
He set his palm against the side of the spear, and a spike of ice rocketed out, stabbing the fish. It retracted instantly, and he pulled the fish in, narrowing his eyes. Then, he tossed it to Charmy, who cheered, catching it easily.
"Hey, look!" Noelle called out. "Those whirlpools! It's a magic barrier!"
"What was your first clue?" Dane asked, staring at the barrier. "The fact that what you called whirlpools are just spirals of water, or the fact that there are dozens of them arranged into a dome?"
"Shut up!" Noelle snapped. "It's an extremely powerful one! My magic won't get through."
"Alright, kid, you're up," Yami said, pointing at Asta. "Give that thing a nice big slash with your sword."
"Captain Yami," Asta said.
"Yeah?" Yami asked.
"The problem is, this was my first trip to the beach, and it taught me something really important," Asta explained. "I don't know how to swim!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Dane sighed. "I'll just use my magic to clear the barrier."
Yami ignored Dane, lifting Asta by the back. "Good thing you won't need to swim." He began to walk forward. "Alright, you're probably gonna need to hold your breath for this." He stopped as Asta began to freak out. "I'm the captain here, so that means your pace is my pace, and my pace is the pace, ya got that!?"
"NO!" Asta shrieked.
"Ready, and-" he hurled Asta out of the bubble, and Asta screamed the entire way to the whirlpool, which he exploded through with his sword.
They all followed Asta through the opening, and Noelle dropped her spell on top of Asta. Dane walked to the edge of the ledge they had landed on and stared ahead at the temple. It was a massive formation of what looked like yellow coral with a door in the front, a large, round regiment on the ground with spikes sticking up off of it, then a higher rounded section attached to the highest of the spikes, more spikes sticking up from that section. The temple was surrounded by a massive field of matching coral formations that the temple sat atop, the rest of it all green.
"Dane!" Charmy called running over. "I cooked the fish! Here's your half!"
He smiled, thanking her, and ate it, staring ahead at the temple again. The fish didn't taste any better than what she usually cooked, but he felt it giving him a small boost in his mana as he ate it. Yami payed Charmy a cupcake in exchange for a ride on her cotton, and she happily agreed, sharing the cupcake with Grey, who was still disguised as Charmy, but Dane stared around at the coral they were passing, quickly grasping the scope of the situation. The others were complaining about being bored and the lack of trap spells or attacks, but Dane was staring at windows on the coral they were passing.
"This whole thing is..." Dane breathed, staring down at the coral.
It was all part of the temple. Or it was all a city. And as they landed in front of the temple, they realized the answer. It was a city, and as soon as they were spotted by one of the human residents, they were swarmed by almost the entire city, all of whom were unbelievably excited to have visitors, especially Magic Knights. Several people began to fire off questions about his life as a Magic Knight at Dane, but he turned, walking away from them, and stepped up beside Yami.
"The temple's occupied," Dane said, glancing at the temple. "What do we do?"
Yami demanded to know who was in charge, less than politely, but the people there misunderstood that he was being rude and simply thought that was how he talked, so they copied his way of speaking in order to direct him to the High Priest before volunteering to take them to meet the High Priest.
"You're not very friendly, are you?" a woman with long, blue hair in a ponytail and a plain white dress asked.
"Don't take it personally," Dane said flatly. "I hate people."
"Fair enough," she smiled. "I'll stop bothering you."
She walked away, and Charmy caught up to Dane, taking his hand. He glanced at her and smiled, then looked to the top of the stairs they were climbing, toward the temple. After another couple of minutes, during which time Grey flirted while looking, and sounding, like Gordon, and Finral freaked out about it, they reached the temple, and the door groaned open.
"Make sure and tell the High Priest hello from us!" one woman called after them as they all walked inside.
"We'll talk more about the outside world when you come back, okay!?" a man beside her called.
Asta waved back at them. "Yeah, and thank you!"
"Well, good luck," the man said.
"Don't thank us yet," the woman said.
The door finished closing, and Dane sighed. "It's gonna be a fight after all."
"Sounds bad," Yami nodded. "Try to control yourself if your impulses return."
"Will do," Dane nodded.
They stopped as they reached a large, open room, finding an elderly man in a white robe with long eyebrows, a long, thin mustache, and long, white hair floating in the air behind him, winding like a serpent. Then, Asta and Noelle began to scream behind them, and Dane turned, seeing a massive, grey sea creature with a triangular head, large, black eyes, and huge, pointed teeth. It lunged as Asta claimed that it might be peaceful, only for Dane to twist his foot, a spike bursting from the ground and impaling its head just as Magna, Luck, and Gauche blasted it. Dane retracted his spike, then walked forward to stand beside Yami at the front of the group.
"I love it when we have exciting visitors!" the man laughed. "It's been years! Yes! Welcome to the Underwater Temple!" He held his hand next to his face with two fingers extended. "I'm the high priest of this subaqueous structure."
"Wait, this freaky geezer is the one in charge here?" Magna asked.
"That wasn't the most neighborly welcome you gave us, ya old fart," Yami stated.
He laughed. "I can't tell you how much I enjoy catching people off guard like that!" the man cackled. "Did you see how they reacted? Delightful!"
"This guy needs a new hobby!" Noelle snarled.
Just then, the fish broke apart into steaks before fading, all just as Charmy was going to try a bite. Dane narrowed his eyes. He didn't trust this man. Creating something that big was supposed to be really hard for people, with certain exceptions.
"You came to my temple to seek the Magic Stone, didn't you?" the man asked. "If you want it, you'll have to play a game with me, first!"
"What kind of game are we talking about?" Asta asked.
"How about a game of crush the geezer," Dane growled.
"Down, boy," Yami said. "Curb it. We're not here to fight."
"He is," Dane growled.
"Well, are you ready?" the old man asked. "The name of the game is...'Find Out How Squishy the Boobs Are!'"
A sand fist slammed down on the old man's head, extending from just in front of Dane. It wasn't solid enough, or a hard enough impact, to actually hurt him, but it proved a perfectly clear point, and forced him away from Noelle and Vanessa, who he'd moved to grope even as he spoke. And as soon as the sand fist had retracted, Noelle punched him, knocking him to the ground before beginning to stomp on his back.
"How about we play this game instead!?" Noelle snarled as the old man cried out in pain over and over.
"Hey!" Asta shrieked. "You can't go beatin' up the high priest! He's som kind of big shot!"
"So what?" Noelle demanded, still stomping on him. "I'm royalty."
"It was just a joke," the high priest said as Noelle finally relented and allowed him to stand.
"Hands to yourself," Dane said coldly. "Don't make me crush you."
"Sounds like your impulses are coming back," Luck said, partly in warning and partly excited.
"Now I'm going to show you exactly how not funny I think that kind of joke is," Noelle growled, a sphere of water hovering over her hand.
"I really don't think that's a good idea, Noelle!" Asta warned her.
"Alright, enough playing around," Magna said. "We really didn't drag our butts all the way out here to play games with you. How'd you know we were after the Magic Stone, anyway?"
The old man grinned back at Magna creepily. "You'd be surprised how well these old eyes still see. So, what are you going to do? Your kingdom needs that stone. Doesn't it?"
"How about I break one bone at a time until you beg us to take it," Dane offered.
Asta simply shrieked at him, then yelled at Magna, Gauche, and Luck for plotting to beat up the old man and take it by force, then at Finral, Vanessa, and Charmy for not caring about the Magic Stone at all.
"Aw, haven't you made up your minds yet?" the old man asked. "Play with me, and not only will you get the Magic Stone, but I'll round up the temple's loveliest ladies, finest drinks, and tastiest food. We'll have a magnificent banquet! What do ya think? Shall we play?"
"Yeah, let's do it!" Finral, Vanessa, and Charmy cheered.
"No," Dane growled. "He knows us. He's baiting us into playing a game we can't win."
"Is that seriously what's more important to you!?" Asta demanded. "I'll play the game cause of our mission, not some stupid party!"
"I said no," Dane snarled.
"Oh, let's just play," Noelle sighed.
"I said, NO!" Dane exploded. "We have no idea what this game is, what the rules are, or how to win! Are you all fucking stupid!?"
"What'd you call me?" Yami snarled, gripping the top of his head, only for Dane to knock his hand away.
Dane's right hand flashed up at Yami's head, only for Raya to appear at his side, catching his arm and sweeping his legs and slamming him to the ground. Dane went rigid instantly, staring at the stern expression on Raya's face.
"Breathe," Raya instructed.
Dane complied, taking several deep, shaking breaths, and forced himself to calm down. As he did, he realized several things. Yami was holding the hilt of his sword, the old man was grinning widely at him, and Charmy was kneeling beside him, offering him a cupcake.
"Thank you, Raya," Dane said, pushing himself up slowly, then taking the cupcake. "Thank you, Charmy." He set his hand on top of her head. "Sorry, Captain. I'm good."
"You'd better be," Yami said. "We don't have any choice but to play."
Dane nodded, eating his cupcake before standing and turning back to the old man.
"Alright, old man," Yami said. "You want to play so bad? Take on this master gambler."
"Go get 'im, Captain Yami!" Magna cheered.
"Okay, so what game is it gonna be?" the old man asked.
"Dice?" Yami asked. "Roulette?"
The old man cheered. "A brawl! A real Temple Battle Royal!"
As he continued to cheer, Dane's gaze fell to the floor. It was bad timing. Now, of all times, his impulses were at an all-time high.
"Temple Mages, come on down!" the high priest called, his Grimoire shimmering, hovering in front of him and open. "Game Magic! It's time for Temple Shuffle!"
As he spoke, shining, white-blue magic flashed up from his Grimoire, forming doors along the walls before something leapt through each, the light fading. All of them wore the mask of some kind of sea creature and a white and blue robe.
"You summoned us, High Priest?" the nine new arrivals asked as one.
"Finally, Mages from the outside have come to visit us!" one of them said.
"This is gonna be fun!" a feminine voice cheered.
"I'm not sure," a male said in a raspy, cold voice. "They don't seem as impressive as we'd thought." He chuckled darkly, his personality reminding Dane of Jack the Ripper.
"A bunch of talking fish!" Asta panicked.
"They're masks," Dane said. "Raya, I'm going to have you in my armor so that you can control it if necessary."
Raya nodded.
"Alrighty!" the old man shouted. "Let's get started!"
"Right now?" Asta panicked.
"What are we starting!?" Noelle asked.
"A fight," Dane said as the old man cackled.
"Are you ready?" the old man asked. "Okay! Let's go!"
Water exploded up in a pair of semi-circles around the two groups as Asta shrieked that he wasn't ready. Then, as the water began to fall back toward them all, Raya vanished. Then, the water crashed down and suddenly the ground was gone, Dane being swept through a submerged tunnel. Then, he crashed down in a cavern alone.
"Uh, testing, testing, can you all hear me?" the old man's voice spoke from all around Dane. "As you may have noticed, you have been separated and placed in various spots throughout the temple."
Dane rolled his eyes, beginning to walk through the cavern as the old man explained the rules of the game. A nine-on-nine battle in which incapacitation or surrender meant loss per person, and the victor side was the one who either wiped the other out, or had the most players left when the game ended. Then, he warned about having set trap spells. Dane stopped, frowning as something occurred to him. Including him, there should be eleven people. Yami was probably excluded for being too strong to be fair, but that should still leave ten.
"You there," a man said from behind him, Dane turning and seeing a Mage in a robe and wearing a mask that looked like a Great White Shark.
Dane drew his sword, but the Mage raised his hands.
"You and I are not included in the game," the man said. "You have been deemed too violent to hold the game safely. High Priest Gifso knows all about you. It also wouldn't be fair if you use that spirit that stopped you from attacking your own captain. We felt it best to bring you here and have me explain it to you so that you didn't immediately fly into a rage when your friends went missing but you stayed behind."
"I see," Dane narrowed his eyes. "Alright. How do we get back to wherever your High Priest and my captain are?"
"About that," the man said. "I don't trust you. I'm not letting you near him."
"Not your choice," Dane growled. "Get out of my way, or I'll crush you and find the path myself."
The man watched Dane in silence for a moment, then nodded. He motioned for Dane to follow, and Dane sheathed his sword, walking after the man in silence, keeping his guard up. They walked for a long while, passing through many long, winding tunnels and large open caverns without saying a word. Finally, they passed into a larger chamber and the man stopped, reaching up to his mask. Dane's impulses spiked instantly, and Dane stomped his foot down mid-step, sending a handful of stone spikes exploding forward and into the robe, only for the robe to be empty. As he watched it fall limp, his opponent landed ahead of him, grinning wickedly.
"Not bad," they commended him. "You're a sharp one, picking up on my intention to fight."
"You," Dane growled, staring at the Beast Magic user from the Nean fiasco. "Shit."
Vetto chuckled. "You're a strong one, for sure, but you're not strong enough to face me."
"You're probably right," Dane agreed, drawing his sword. "Raya, Nue."
His armor shone as Raya possessed it while Nue's purple flames erupted to life along his sword.
"Unfortunately, it's not as simple a matter as me having the luxury of deciding not to fight you," Dane said. "And since you singled me out right off the bat, I'll have to give you a warm welcome myself."
Vetto grinned wickedly, crouching. "Beast Magic, Bear Claw."
Leave a review.