Tadhg dashed across the flooded buildings, weaving around a hail of fiery blades descending from the sky as Nemesis gave chase. The Charizard relentlessly fired down on the fleeing king with smoke seeping from his breath. He continuously reignited his maces, fanning the flames for larger and sharper flaming, projectile blades.
Tadhg stopped and spun his sword around. "Terra Firma!" The edge extended into a wide guillotine-like blade, cutting through the storm of fire blades.
Nemesis beat his wings and ducked under the extending sword. What a bothersome technique. "Conqueror's Scorching Wrath!" Flames built up in his mouth, and he fired down a blazing ball of heat.
"Terra Nova!" After retracting his sword, he extended it longways and pierced through the flaming orb. The attack detonated prematurely, splashing down a wave of heat over the area. He retracted the blade and jumped back from the raining embers. "Agh…!"
"Conqueror's—" Tadhg raised his sword as Nemesis swooped down and clobbered into his guard with his fiery maces. "Weapon of Justice!" The enlarged fire maces burned against the claymore before releasing a burst of heat, blasting the Meowstic away.
"AAH!" Tadhg fired his Terra Nova into a passing building and reeled himself back onto a rooftop. Just as he recovered, Nemesis flew in again and nearly took his head off with the flaming mace. Tadhg barely blocked it with the claymore's guard.
Nemesis scowled. "A pampered prince like you believes he has the will to take on a top commander of New Chariot? You dare invade our capital?! This is why I can't stand the young! You might as well just submit before the rest of your kingdom burns to ashes!" He applied more power into his swing and sent Tadhg flying again.
Tadhg hurtled across the city, passing over several fights taking place around him. He fired Terra Nova into a passing building and launched himself through a window for cover. He disengaged his domain from his sword and activated it across the walls.
"Ex Oblivione!" He channeled and fired a beam of distortion out the window, mostly to gain the commander's attention.
Nemesis took the bait and soared toward his location. He smashed through the walls and lunged at the king. "Got you—"
"Tempus Destruitur!"
A moment of time erased, hurtling Nemesis into the future where he had struck down on Tadhg's last position. Just as he realized, the king's claymore struck down on his shoulder and flattened him into the floor with overwhelming strength.
"Gravity Blade!" Tadhg shouted.
Nemesis grunted in pain before spreading his wings. "Damned brat! Conqueror's Field of—"
"De Integro!"
Nemesis felt himself being crushed again by a second blow. Glaring through his peripherals, he spotted the brief phantom of the Meowstic repeating his Gravity Blade attack. Annoyed, he tightened his muscles and swung against the gravity. Tadhg jumped back and narrowly avoided the mace.
"Conqueror's Weapon of Justice!" He reapplied the flames overtop his maces and rushed Tadhg down. "Burn!" Tadhg ducked in time as the maces crushed the wall behind him, though he lost his balance over the edge. Nemesis raised his weapons again. "Got you now—"
"De Integro!"
Tadhg suddenly jumped off, leaving Nemesis to jolt forward from a heavy strike from behind. He looked back, catching a glimpse of a psychic phantom in his image striking him down with maces. They didn't carry the same fiery attributes, but delivered great force with their psychic energy.
The domain collapsed without Tadhg's presence within. The king glided across the air on his Psychic, landed on the flooded buildings, and took off running. Nemesis regained his senses and chased the fleeing king.
"Conqueror's Breath of Blades!" He exhaled onto his maces and fired down flaming blades.
"Domain of Space-Time! Semper Primus!" He quickly expanded his domain across the air and tossed a stone he had on his person. He switched places with it, leaving the stones to be incinerated in his place. The second he swapped, he spun and swiped his sword. "Ineluctabilis Gladius!"
A psychic slash appeared across Nemesis' wing and detonated. "AAGH!" He lost control of his flight and careened toward the water. He blasted Tailwind to throw himself onto the buildings instead, crashing and rolling to his feet. "Conqueror's Breath of Blades!" No sooner after landing, he fired another barrage of fire blades in Tadhg's direction.
Tadhg raised his hand toward them. "Tempus Fugit!" A psychic wave projected from his hand and passed over the blades. They all vanished into wisps of purple smoke.
Nemesis stretched out his wings once he recovered and soared ahead with his maces wrapped in fire. "DIE!" He spun, building momentum in his weapons, and brought them down on Tadhg.
Tadhg braced himself with Psychic and blocked the downward strike, feeling the ground crack under his feet. He grunted against the dragon's greater strength, his legs buckling and dropping him down to one knee. Maintain concentration, Tadhg. Calm your emotions. Recite advanced mathematics. Focus on keeping the mind sharp.
Nemesis reared one mace up and slammed it back down, crushing the roof under Tadhg's feet. The king hissed from the burning pain in his muscles, but stayed strong in his stance. Psychic energy blazed from his eyes as he tightened his body and mind and pressed back against the Charizard's strength.
Nemesis' growls flared the flames around him. "This world is going to Hell with brats like you taking charge. You think you have what it takes to face the new world? We're the ones who brought forth your present, yet you brats come along and act like you have everything figured out!"
Tadhg smirked weakly. "Sounds like you've got your own issues to work out. Has the emperor really been that much of a thorn in your side?!" He poured one last burst of psionic might through his arms and parried Nemesis' attack back.
The Charizard staggered, but used his wings to balance himself. He clashed his maces together and rushed the fleeing king down. "Oh, if I had the chance to cave his skull in, I—"
Tadhg snapped his fingers. "And the past has caught up with the present."
A barrage of fiery blades appeared from the air and blasted across Nemesis' back. He strained himself to remain standing as smoke hissed off the back of his armor. He gazed back at the lingering embers in the air. My own attack? The one that disappeared? He sent it into the future?
Tadhg used the momentary confusion to escape to the further reaches of the city, cancelling his domain on the way out. Nemesis snapped back into attention and flew after the king. "Conqueror's Breath of Blades!" He swung and rained down another barrage of fiery blades.
No time to cast the domain over my sword. He formed the spinning cube and expanded it across the new area, catching a group of allies and enemies within it. "Semper Primus!"
The fiery blades fell onto his position, but lit up an unfortunate Honchkrow soldier in his place. Nemesis ignored his burning comrade and watched Tadhg disappear into the colliding armies. Too many soldiers were clustered together, and there were innocent civilians clustered on nearby rooftops.
Nemesis scowled. How callous. He aims to use my own soldiers and the bystanders as a means to deter further attack. You underestimate me, King Foirbeis.
Tadhg moved through the colliding armies, slashing down soldiers in his way and swapping places for his knights to take unaware soldiers by surprise. He glared back at the sky, where Nemesis hovered in place. How will you respond, Commander Nemesis?
Nemesis rolled his shoulders and exhaled smoke. "In war, you have to do what is necessary to grasp victory. My men will forgive this transgression." He reared his head back and started sucking in a deep breath.
Tadhg stopped, cutting down a soldier charging at him, and squinted at Nemesis. "What the…?"
One of the soldiers held back a sword strike when he noticed Nemesis' stance. "Commander Nemesis is launching an attack! Everyone, shields up!" The soldiers immediately stopped fighting and bunkered together underneath their shields.
"While they're down…!" a knight yelled, rallying his allies into attacking.
Tadhg's eyes widened. He shouted, "Knights of Umbra Clock, retreat!"
"Huh?!"
Heat glowed within Nemesis' chest and swelled up his neck, charging into a ball of heat within his open maw. His skin radiated in the same energetic glow, casting a blinding orange hue over the sky above. The shine of his form cast the knights' attention toward him, where they staggered in realization.
"Retreat!" The knights turned and ran for the water.
That won't work. Nemesis swelled more and more power through his maw until he felt himself reaching his limit. Look upon me, you wretched inferiors! May you become ash across Telo Martius!
"Conqueror's—"
"Domain of Space-Time!" Tadhg instantly deployed the cube-shaped barrier over the area as his knights continued to flee into the water.
"War Cry of Incineration!" Nemesis jerked his head forward and fired a massive, spiraling laser of heat and flame from his maw. The release of this technique instantly set the air around it ablaze, its aura growing hotter the further it traveled.
Tadhg reared his claymore back and braced himself as the heat alone burned his face. The water around him began to boil, alerting the knights to swim onto the nearest rooftop. Tadhg remained firm in stance and cast aside the pointless doubts rising up in his mind.
The laser passed through the domain and was a second away from incinerating the king where he stood. The white-hot aura consumed the building and cast the king into an impenetrable light.
"Quo Fata Ferunt."
In a flash, the entire domain collapsed back into Tadhg's hand, taking with it the entirety of Nemesis' attack and containing it with the white-hot cube trembling in his hand. Tadhg quaked under the immense power he was keeping in stasis, feeling his limited time ammunition dwindling rapidly in an effort to contain the energy.
He crushed it within his hand and transferred the energy into his sword, where he fired a laser from the tip that arched across the city. He dropped the claymore and collapsed onto his hands and knees as the lasers plunged beneath the water in the further reaches of the city.
"…Release."
An explosion of steam erupted from one quarter of the city, carrying with it a shockwave that blasted across the flood's surface. A heavy mist followed afterwards, instantly engulfing the rooftops in an unbreachable fog. Soldiers still stuck in the water felt the waters churn and diminish around them. The water level had sunk dramatically.
Tadhg panted softly, feeling his body quake from the strain of collapsing his domain so hastily. He looked at his hands, trembling from the purple sparks dancing off his fur. I can't…activate Domain of Space-Time for a moment. That took a lot more out of me than I expected.
"It seems I've brought you to your knees, King Foirbeis." The young king glared as the Charizard commander descended and hovered just above him. He looked winded himself, panting softly from the recoil of his own attack, but looked ready compared to Tadhg himself. "Excellent. You will be joining your father shortly."
Tadhg scoffed. He grabbed his claymore, jabbed it into the ground, and pushed himself up. "I…won't back from a fight…"
Nemesis smirked. With a snap of his fingers, all the bunkered soldiers rose back into position and trained their spears on the helpless king. Worst of all, all his knights had retreated to the other rooftops, leaving him by his lonesome.
"Ugh…" Tadhg staggered back, keeping himself up by his sword alone.
Nemesis clashed his maces together, reactivating their flame mode. "As arrogant as that self-righteous Krokorok. Did you really think you could take me on by yourself?"
Tadhg panted softly before grinning. "I was kind of hoping. Shame. I sent my wives off to do the fighting, too. Guess I won't be able to call for them in time."
"I'll be sure to send your mangled corpse back to them." Nemesis raised his mace. "He's powerless. Kill him now!" His soldiers roared and charged down the powerless king.
A smirk crossed over Tadhg's face. "Guess you were right. Mind lending me a hand, Harlow?"
The soldiers recoiled as Tadhg's shadow sprouted two massive, clawed hands, swiping and battering the soldiers off the rooftop. Nemesis stumbled back in alarm. "What the—"
The shadow claws retracted, and another form phased out from under Tadhg's shadow. Skill Hunter Harlow, or Melissa as the king knew her as secretly, grinned teasingly. "You just had to play the hero king, didn't you?"
"Wouldn't you have done the same in my place?"
"I'm not big on killing, but…spiritually? Yes, I would've." She pulled out her hilt and channeled Jet's Surging Strike through it. "You sure you don't mind me helping you?"
"Consider it a show of trust…between two royals of east and west," he whispered.
Nemesis growled. "What the hell? When did you—"
Melissa grinned. "I've been hopping around kicking butt when I saw Tadhg flying by, so I hitched a ride inside his shadow."
"You can do that, too?!"
"Yep!" Her gaze narrowed, shining in silver. "And now I've gotten a pretty good read on you, too…Faithless Imitation! Nemesis Style—" The water blade disappeared, and a flaming mace took its place in her multi-purpose hilt. "Conqueror's Weapon of Justice."
Nemesis growled and flared up his own maces. "Oh, I've been looking forward to this."
Melissa handed Tadhg one of her ration bars and asked, "Can you still fight?"
He bit into the bitter-tasting ration, feeling its beneficial nutrients erupting through his body and restoring some of his stamina. He rose to her side and lifted his claymore with Psychic. "With you by my side, I would say our odds have increased exponentially. Shall we proceed?"
"Heh. By your command, King of Everything."
A heavy mist encompassed most of Telo Martius after Tadhg's counter, lowering the water level significantly. With the mist spreading out over the city, battles became obscured, shutting down most long-range units and forcing close quarters combat. For a moment, the fighting had been disrupted as everyone got a read on their bearings.
Jet and Terminus were not impeded by this sudden change.
The fog split open as the two soldiers hurtled themselves across the city, their natural weapons slashing and clashing together. Jet slithered through the air in his Aqua Jet while Terminus kept just on gusts of wind from his Tailwind. No matter how far apart they were in the mist, they seemed to have a natural sense for where the other was.
Due to Terminus' greater size, he managed to overpower the airborne otter and strike into his scalchop. With a blast of his Fatal Edge, he sent Jet flying in a shower of stone.
Jet deflected the stones before plunging beneath the water. A second wave of blazing stone hurtled through the water. He turned and swam deeper, gliding just above the street while the rocks bombarded from above. He could sense Terminus chasing alongside him based off the angles of the raining rock fall. He turned a corner and disappeared through a gap between two buildings.
Terminus leapt into the air and reared his arm back. "Fatal Wind: Cleave." He swung and fired down a giant slash of wind, splitting the water apart with two giant waves forming.
Jet rode atop one of the rising waves and jettisoned back into the open. He captured the water around his scalchop and twisted it into a drill. "Endless Ocean—" He thrusted and hammered the spiral water into Terminus' chest. "Typhoon Fury!"
Though painful, the Kleavor's tough carapace kept the water from breaching. Terminus flexed his body and shoved Jet's attack off. "Fatal Break." Clusters of sharp rock formed around his axe hands while a dense orange aura flared up around them. "HA!" He swung and hammered into Jet's guard.
Jet held up with his scalchop before being sent flying back into the waves, which soon crashed back down over the city. He braced himself for the plunge, keeping his bearings against the churning currents. He recovered immediately and took off swimming again.
Terminus tracked his movements and reared his arms back. "Fatal Edge!" He swung and fired an even more dynamic cluster of blazing rock, streaking through the air like a hail of Pin Missile. Each stone exploded against the rooftops or plunged beneath the water, aiming to snipe down the fleeing Oshawott.
Jet kept pace, using Aqua Jet for an extra boost to get ahead. He grunted irritably. This is nuts. Jason or Melissa would've found a way to break through his armor by now. My best bet is to wear him down until he can't fight anymore.
Jet emerged from the water, using the heavy mist as cover as he clung to the side of a building. He kept his eyes and ears sharp for the flying Kleavor. He gripped his scalchop tightly, unaware of the tiny cracks forming on its surface.
He picked up on the Kleavor's footsteps as he landed nearby. Jet moved quietly along the wall while Terminus scoped out his position in the mist.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into," Terminus taunted. "What are they fighting for again? Do you think you'll be heroes at the end of the day? What do you suppose will happen when you succeed in your mission?" He scoffed. "My role in all of this is to carry out the emperor's will. He sees the futility in fighting for peace, and I am but his weapon to point toward the threat."
"…" Jet continued scaling around the building, staying out of the Kleavor's line of sight.
"Do your leaders even have a plan? What happens when someone stronger than them comes along? Someone who wants their own version of peace? And what happens when someone after that wants to establish their own peace? There's always someone stronger, boy. No matter what good you think you're doing, there will be someone who'll surpass them."
"…" Jet took a deep breath. Endless Ocean—
Terminus glanced over his shoulder. "That's why it's our job to be their weapons, right?"
"Rapid Wave Passion!" Jet burst out from the mist with the serrated water ribbon trailing off his shell.
"Fatal Break!" Terminus instantly spun around and blocked Jet's strike, feeling the sharp water grinding against his axe hand. The extra cluster of rocks acted as armor, though excessive as it was. The aura around his hands intensified, and he struck back against Jet's attack. "That's why Nero is counting on me to win!"
Jet growled. "Your emperor will fall! Because I will protect Jason and Harlow's wills! They will win!" He landed and rebounded with Aqua Jet.
Both soldiers clashed their weapons together, sending out waves of energy they distorted and ruptured the roof under them. Between Jet's slashing prowess and Terminus' brute strength, they were almost evenly matched.
Almost.
"Fatal…Break!" Terminus used his greater size to push back on Jet and slammed him through the roof.
Jet's armor and Aqua Jet protected him for most of the fall, feeling his body tremble with each floor he smashed through. He plunged back into the water, lying motionless for a moment. His eyes snapped open as the water suddenly started splitting above, and he had half a second to roll and dodge the cutting breeze.
"Fatal Wind!" Terminus dove down and spun, using the force of his swings to part the water away. He landed on the soaked down and brought his hands down in a violently series of chops.
Jet rolled and parried against the row of chops. He kicked Terminus' arm away and raced up his greater size, delivering a swift slash to the head. It briefly stunned the stone mantis, setting Jet up to bring down a flowing ribbon of slashing water across his body.
"Rapid Wave Passion!" He finished his attack and leapt away, watching the sharpened water coil around and slash into Terminus.
However, once more, his tough armor kept him from heavy injury. He repelled the water aside with the might of his aura and watched the otter flee back to the surface. He followed after on a gust of wind with his arms reared back. "Fatal Edge!" He fired cluster after cluster of blazing rock.
Jet blocked one, which blasted him into the air. He reactivated Razor Shell and furiously cut down all the rock hurtling at him. The cluster increased in numbers, forcing him to swing faster and harder. Even as he cut through the rock, the sharpened pebbles that flew off scraped along his arm, one even cutting across his cheek.
"Agh…!" Jet lost his concentration and immediately turtled inside his armor as the rocks exploded against him. In a blaze of orange aura, he sailed through the air and crashed down across the buildings, his body skipping off rooftops and the water's surface.
Terminus kept chasing, jumping along on brief gales, and fired down more Fatal Edge. Jet used Aqua Jet to plunge himself below the water and circle around the raining rock shower. The misfired rocks flew across the city, detonating into clusters of soldiers and knights in the distance.
"Fatal Maelstrom!" With a twist of his body, he brought down a whirlwind of laceration. It touched down on the water and spiraled across the surface, obliterating any structure caught in its path.
Jet jumped out of the water and landed in the path of the approaching whirlwind. He removed the rock clanging inside his hood and touched the gash across his left cheek. It stung, but nothing he couldn't power through. He shook his head clear and glared at the whirlwind.
"Maximum Output—" Jet braced his arm and channeled his aura into the edge of his scalchop. "Flood!" The roof shattered under his feet as a massive beam of water erupted from his shell.
It struck and pierced through the slashing whirlwind, disrupting its form. Terminus summoned another gale and rocketed himself out of the way, crashing down onto the rooftops. "Fatal Break!" He raced toward the Oshawott amidst the firing.
Jet quickly dispelled the attack and activated Razor Shell in the nick of time, guarding against the stone mantis' brutal strike. He kept his footing and pushed back against Terminus. "Not…again!" he growled.
Terminus amped up the aura around his axe and pushed his weight down on the otter's guard. "Don't act like we're on the same level." With all of Jet's attention on guarding the attack, Terminus reared back his foot and kicked the otter square in the face, punting him into the air.
"GAH!" Jet cried with blood spraying from his nose.
Terminus caught up with the airborne otter and slammed his axe hand down. "Fatal Break!"
Jet careened into the water, his armor clipping the edge of a roof before he plunged below. He pierced through the water and slammed into the flooded street, coughing up blood on impact.
C-Crap. He cracked his eye open, and his heart nearly stopped at the sheared metal across his chest. If he hadn't been wearing the new armor, that attack could've gouged his chest open. His attacks are getting stronger.
His eyes widened at the myriads of orange lights twinkled above the water. Recognizing the danger, he kicked off the ground and torpedoed through the water, dodging the storm of Fatal Edge projectiles. They struck down with far greater force than before, each one sending crippling shockwaves through the water. Jet gasped out as one passed over him, rattling his senses.
Following after, a blade of wind cut across the water and split it open, throwing Jet out onto the soaked streets. With the water parted, Terminus dove from the sky and nearly crushed Jet under his axes had said otter not blasted himself away with Aqua Jet.
"Tau—" Jet tried to activate the move, but Terminus moved faster and hammered his axe across the otter. It struck against the gash in his armor, slicing the surface of his chest. "AGH!"
Terminus' cold stare illuminated in the same blazing aura surrounding his axes, beaming down on the helpless otter. "Worthless. You are their knight? How disappointing."
Jet raised his scalchop, screaming out in pain from the shock of another strike. More cracks formed over his scalchop, to which he was becoming aware of. It was being held together by the layer of energized water surrounding it, but it wouldn't last forever. All he could do was hold strong and keep fighting.
"Th…They're counting on me…to win!" Jet growled.
Terminus scowled. "If this is how you show your commitment, you're nothing but an utter disappointment!" He lunged forward, his aura blazing even brighter. "You have no right to hold up their honor!"
Jet slashed and parried against the stone mantis' heavy strikes, each one pushing him further and further back. The water started dropping down again, but Terminus kept the flood parted with another burst of wind. Jet braced himself as it became another whirlwind of laceration.
"Fatal Maelstrom." Terminus clashed his axes together. "Such weakness has no right standing before glory. I ironed out all weakness from my body so that I may better serve Emperor Nero. A weakling like you will become another casualty of war!" He lunged again and brought down his axes.
Jet kept on the defensive, swinging his scalchop wildly with his life mere inches from being cleaved apart. His eyes shook frantically trying to find an opening in the mantis' attack strings, but doubts crept to the surface. His reaction time slowed, his hostility weakened, and his mind wandered.
Why was he so weak? Was he poisoned? Were his injuries worse than he thought? What was slowing him down so much?
Why…Why was he so weak?
Was this the best he could do? Was this all he was good for?
Was he going to fail Jason? Melissa?
Why couldn't he be stronger for them? Why, after everything he trained for, was he finally confronting the end of his path? He was supposed to be the strongest. He was supposed to be Jason's second-in-command. What right did he have wielding that title? Was it nothing more than a name?
Why couldn't he be as strong as Jason?!
Why…Why was a helpless, meek rabbit getting stronger than him?!
Why?! Why?! WHY?!
Year 902
"Permission to speak, sir?"
Jason glanced at the Oshawott sitting beside him. The two of them were hanging out in the trees of the Forbidden Forest, overseeing the covert construction of Fort Lucus. Their travels across Virdis had led to them meeting many interesting faces, many who followed the Pikachu's desire to topple the corrupted powers that be.
Jet didn't really care about any of that. He would go to the ends of the earth if Jason so demanded. He never once questioned his superior's decisions.
That said, the thirteen-year-old otter had to ask.
"What?" Jason mumbled.
Jet stiffened and saluted him. "Sir, it has been an esteemed honor traveling alongside you, and I am honored to be bestowed the role of co-leader—"
"It's not a big deal, Jet."
"However, I've…been having thoughts as of late."
Jason glared. "Like traveling out on your own?"
"Ah! No, never! I would die for you, sir!"
"…Ugh." Jason pinched between his eyes and sighed. "Of course you would…"
"Huh?"
"Nothing, nothing." He shook his head and asked, "What's been bugging you?"
Jet frowned. "It's just…I've been wondering why."
"Why?"
"Why. As in, why did you choose me? Why did you choose me to travel with you? You said you had just started out on your journey to learn more about Virdis, and that I was your first travel companion alongside Eadwulf. So, why did you seek me out?"
Jason shook his head. "I never said I sought you out. I just happened to be passing through Lyngholm when I saw you freaking out in the street. Felt like you needed something to take your mind off things. You looked like you were being cornered by monsters."
Jet nodded, glaring down at the fort. "It felt like that. There's no one in this world worthy of my trust. But you're different. I could sense the fierceness in your stature, and I knew you were someone strong that I had to follow."
"…" Jason sighed. "Jet."
"Yeah?"
"What do you value most about me?"
"Why, what's there NOT to say? I could list everything amazing about you—"
"Then what about my strength intrigues you?"
Jet grinned. "Are you kidding? You're the strongest there is! You're so fast and cool and unstoppable! I've been training my hardest in the ruins, but I could never match your greatness! I wish I could be half as talented as you!"
"…Talented, huh?" Jason closed his eyes. "It's funny. When I first found you, it didn't occur to me that you and I were once connected through time. I carry the blood of Hawthorne, and you…you carry the blood of Tyson. I suppose one could say it was fate that drew us together."
Jet laughed, unable to hide his blush. "Come on, now you're making me feel awkward!"
"But Jet…"
The otter paused, noting the soft shift in Jason's tone. "Sir?"
Jason sighed. "I understand you look up to me, but don't sell yourself short. Tyson was a man of great renown just as much as Hawthorne. That means you're just as strong as me. Maybe more."
Jet laughed awkwardly. "Me? Stronger than you? That's ridiculous. No one's stronger than you."
"…" Jason looked ahead. "Jet. If we're going to do this, to create this guild, I'm not sure what will happen in the future. And there will be times where I'm not strong enough to win. That's why I need someone like you as my wings."
Jet tilted his head. "Your wings?"
"If you view me like a king, then a king needs someone who can protect him."
"Heh. Seriously, you and I are not even in the same league. You would be protecting me." Jet smiled sadly at the leaves above. "All I'm good for is following orders, and I'm pretty content with being your weapon."
"…" Jason sighed. "So, you could never imagine yourself as a king?"
"Never in a million years."
Jason chuckled quietly. "You know, even though I hate the monarchy systems across Virdis, there was always an aspect about it I fantasized over."
"Like what?"
"The idea of a king being the perfect embodiment of power. Order, compassion, strength. I could never be someone like that. But you? It'd fit you."
Jet tilted his head. "Me? A king? You think so?"
"Why not? You're…stronger than you give yourself credit for. A weapon breaks. A soldier improves. And a king rises. If there's anyone who could surpass me, it'd be you."
All throughout the lone street, the water parted against an intense gale of slashing winds forged by the indominable Terminus. With the path cleared and walls of water surrounding the street, he continued his assault against Jet, who tirelessly defended behind his cracking scalchop.
Each strike came down like a hammer to a stubborn nail. No matter how many times Terminus struck, Jet kept up his stance and screamed through the pain blazing throughout his body.
This was nothing like what they faced as just thieves. This wasn't some rogue alchemist, potion-dealing lackey, or black market boss. He couldn't even compare this to his brawls with the west's knights. This was beyond anything he faced, beyond anything he tackled since his training in the ruins.
"Fatal Break!" Terminus swiped his axe hand, its blade scraping briefly across the ground, and slammed into Jet's guard.
The horizontal slash swept Jet off his feet and sent him hurting through the street. He crashed against the lacerating winds holding back the water, wincing from the sparks and grinding of his armor. He kicked off with Aqua Jet and propelled back at Terminus.
"Surging Slash!" He channeled his Aqua Jet through his scalchop and blasted himself ahead with its condensed power.
Terminus met the otter's strike and stood his ground as their blades connected. His heels sunk through the softened street, and he nearly staggered from the heavy impact. He had to admit, despite Jet's size, he was putting up more of a fight than he anticipated.
He should've broken ages ago. Whatever hellish training he went through can't be undersold. He clenched his teeth. But I've also plunged my body through hellfire! "Fatal Break: Tyrant's Wing!" More and more stone clustered around his arm, warping his axe into a giant, jagged blade of stone. With its newfound size and power, he overpowered Jet's strike and sent the otter flying.
"GAH!" Jet's body skipped off the ground with pieces of his armor flying off. His hood was mangled, the right side had been sheared off, and blood sprayed out from his shoulder. He quickly dug his scalchop through the ground to catch himself.
"Fatal Edge!" No sooner had he landed, Jet's vision became eclipsed in a wall of blazing rock.
"Endless Ocean: Typhoon Fury!" Jet twisted his water blade into the biggest drill he could conjure and charged through the storm of rocks. Screaming his lungs out, he barreled through and reduced the rocks to dust. He encased himself in Aqua Jet and rocketed the rest of the way toward Terminus.
"Will you learn?!" Terminus swung his empowered Fatal Break again and clashed with the water drill.
Jet growled. "Rain of Savagery!" He twisted the drill and catapulted himself in the air, avoiding Terminus swing. He rapidly swung at the air, creating hundreds of water blades around him, and fired them on top of Terminus.
The stone mantis stood his ground and growled as the blades burst across his tough carapace. "Fatal Break: Twin Tyrant's Wing!" He gathered stone around both axe hands and formed giant stone blades. He kicked off the ground, barreling through the water knives, and brought both his axes together for a pincer attack.
Jet blocked one side with his scalchop while using his armored sleeve to stop the other. Blood sprayed through his clenched teeth as he gasped from the impact. He felt like a piece of hot steel wedged between a vice tightening little by little.
Terminus growled at the pinned Oshawott. "I will never stop. I will keep fighting for the emperor's goals. I won't allow some useless thieves to topple everything the emperor stands for!"
Jet growled. "Your emperor…shouldn't have brought his damned war to the west, then! Maximum Output Flood!" Clutching his scalchop tightly, he fired a full-powered geyser of water that pushed one of Terminus' arms away. With himself freed from the stone vice, he used the remaining water pressure to spin through the air and turn his attack into a downward Surging Slash. "That's why we're ending it!"
He landed a clean strike atop Terminus' head and spiked him out of the air. Terminus crashed hard into the street, blasting up chunks of stone around him and rattling the wrecked buildings. Jet turned his scalchop to the sky and hurled himself down with another Surging Slash. He spun to build up his momentum and brought down a second attack atop the buried mantis, further shoving him below the street.
"Because I'll never stop fighting for Jason's cause and Harlow's dreams!"
"…Such imbalance."
Jet jolted up as a flash of orange light ignited through the cracked earth. "What the—"
"Fatal Edge: God's Punishment."
He blasted himself away, shielding himself as a barrage of blazing stone rent the street in a cataclysmic eruption. Like lava spewing from a raging volcano, Terminus' Fatal Edge bombarded the streets without discretion. Everything was a target for his destruction, obliterating buildings, shops, and more.
Jet wished he could say he got outside the blast range, but that was wishful thinking. Instead, he used what little of his armor that remained attached to shield against the rock shower. He was caught between several explosions, screaming out in agony as his body was violently thrown about in a symphony of blasts.
Terminus rose from the earth like the dead returning to live, scorched earth dripping off his carapace. All but his greaves were torn or incinerated off his body while his carapace remained as intact as ever. He lifted his axe hands, which blazed in a cluster of tightly packed rock.
"Once more, Fatal Edge: God's Punishment!" He scarred the air with a twin slash and brought about a great storm of blazing rock, each one the size and shaped of sharpened battering rams.
Jet pulled himself out from the smoke and roared at the second wave of attacks. "Endless Ocean: Rapid Wave Passion!" He charged into the line of fire, cutting his way through rock as explosions went off behind him. He had to hold onto his scalchop with both hands to cut his way through each stone, his muscles screeching desperately for rest. He ignored the pleas of his body and kept pushing forward even as blood dripped over his eyes.
He crossed through the storm and dealt his attack across the Kleavor's chest. Terminus grunted, but stood his ground and retaliated with a heavy chop into the otter's smaller form. Jet blocked it with his left side's armor, but nearly passed out from the pain as Terminus almost completely punched through. He felt the stinging slice across his side, quickly blasting Ice Beam over himself to freeze the worst of his wounds as he went hurling through the air.
"Fatal Edge!" Terminus continued his endless onslaught with a storm of stone projectiles.
Jet twisted his body and flung into the walls of water. Ignoring the lacerating winds that held them up, he plunged his scalchop through and gathered up the water around it. "Wrathful Wave Cleave!" He swung with all his might and fired out a massive blade of water across the air.
It tore through Terminus' attack and struck down in front of him. He jumped out of the way, wincing as serrated droplets flung off and sliced across his carapace. He's brutally efficient, I'll grant him that, but he still cannot punch through my armor!
Jet fell out of the air, catching himself within his Aqua Jet to soften his landing. He pushed himself onto his feet, trembling and panting through his ailing form. He staggered briefly, feeling a nauseating headache overtake him. He forced one eye open, fighting through the mental assault, and focused his attention on Terminus through the smoke.
I can't breach him. Even if I'm hurting him, none of my attacks are doing anything substantial. Agh! Why am I so worthless?!
A brief flash of a scared, vulnerable Buneary passed through his mind.
…Worthless?
Terminus clanged his axes together. "Still have some fight in you, Forester? If you want to talk big, show me with your actions! Fatal Break!" Reapplying the layer of jagged stone over one hand, he charged down the weakened otter.
Jet growled. Worthless? "Surging—"
But he was too slow. Terminus got in much quicker and sent the Oshawott flying with a heavy blow. A cut appeared over Jet's forehead, and his hood had been completely sheared off. Even still, he roared through the pain and took aim.
"Maximum Output Flood!" He fired the concentrated blast of water, rocket himself back at the same time.
"Fatal Wind!" With a downward slash, he split the beam in two and let it obliterate the ruined buildings behind him. "Another!" He fired another blade of distorted air.
Jet raised his scalchop high. "Surging Slash!" He struck and split the wind blade around himself, sneering as its remnants sliced his face. "Aqua Jet!" He shot himself out of the air and rushed down the stone mantis.
"Fatal Current!" Kicking up a storm behind himself, Terminus rushed forward at blinding speed. He weaved around Jet's Aqua Jet and, with a flick of his wrist, diced it to pieces.
"AAAGH!" More of Jet's armor was torn apart, leaving only his left arm protected by the loose sleeve. He dragged his hand through the softened street, seething through clenched teeth. "Endless Ocean: Rain of Savagery!" Having lost all rational thought, he blindly fired off an array of water blades fueled by his hatred.
Terminus crossed his arms and tanked the incoming attacks "Your will is weakening. What an unsightly demeanor. Is this the Forester's Loyal Soldier I've heard rumors of?" He charged forward, tanking the water blades as he channeled energy through his axes. "You're nothing but a screaming child!"
"SHUT UP!" Jet rushed forward with water exploding out from his scalchop. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Fatal Break!"
"SURGING SLASH!"
Both soldiers crossed their blades down the middle, striking with all their heart. Sharpened water and stone erupted around them, tearing through the street and buildings. In a contest of wills, no other could match the blind determination of these two beasts. Nothing but a bloodthirsty stubbornness to destroy anything that impeded their goals.
But like the weapons they were, one was bound to break.
Jet…broke first.
The damage done to his scalchop reached its limit, and Jet could only watch in horror as his scalchop was torn apart by Terminus' attack. Shrapnel of shell fired back into its wielder, piercing into his body and face like bullets while Terminus' attack raced to cleave him in two.
In a last-ditch effort, Jet used the last of his protection, sacrificing the armored sleeve that remained of his armor. Even that wasn't enough to fully protect himself as the sheer power of Terminus' attack alone sent ripples of explosive power throughout the Oshawott's body before casting him away like a cannonball.
Jet slammed into the wall of a building at the end of the street, vomiting up bile and blood on impact. His eyes rolled back as he felt his mind wavering. Darkness crept in around him as a deathly ringing sounded around him. Were these the fabled death knells that rang before one's passing?
Bloodied, bruised, and weaponless, Jet slid off the building and landed on his feet, though it was clear he wasn't standing of his own volition, but pure happenstance. His body swayed back and forth, deciding if he should die on his face or on his back. He couldn't decide, nor could he think through the pain rupturing across his body. It was the only thing he could feel and think. An endless noise that screamed like demons.
Terminus approached the swaying Oshawott, flicking the blood off his axes. He scoffed at the pathetic sight. "Some soldier. Is this really the best the Foresters have to offer?"
"…"
"I'll look forward to slaughtering your precious superiors. Their dreams will die by my hands. Let that be the memory you take into the next life." With that, he turned his back to the Oshawott and began to walk away.
Jet continued to sway, his body rapidly shutting down from fatigue. Or maybe it was death coming to claim his soul. Maybe it was deserved. He failed. He failed to uphold Jason and Melissa's orders. Their dreams. Like the useless weapon he was, he broke at the most important time. All he could ever do was try harder and harder to appease those he looked up to so that he wouldn't be cast aside. That was the fate of useless tools.
How could he ever face them as such a worthless tool?
They would never accept this defeat.
His parents abandoned him.
Brinley tossed him aside like trash.
Now he was going to be thrown away by the two people he cherished more than anything in the world.
He failed.
He failed.
He was nothing but a failure.
A worthless tool.
Worthless tools deserved to be thrown away.
"Why not? You're…stronger than you give yourself credit for. A weapon breaks. A soldier improves. And a king rises. If there's anyone who could surpass me, it'd be you."
"You're one of the strongest people I know, and I have you to thank for my growth. I know we didn't get along very well at the beginning, but I'm proud to call you my friend. That's why I'm asking you, when the invasion starts, to fight your hardest and never give up. Fight for what you believe in, and promise me you won't fall in battle. I want you, just as much as everyone else, to see the Virdis I wish to create."
…That wasn't Jason or Melissa, though.
They wouldn't throw him away. They've always counted on him to succeed. Not as a weapon, but as their friend. And weren't they counting on him to win this war?
They're all fighting for this shared vision of peace and prosperity. Even Jet wanted to believe that vision.
That's…That's why he was so envious of the bunny. Why he felt so conflicted with his feelings.
All this time, you were just some weak bunny who I thought got lucky, but you've gotten stronger. You and Jason. I admire you both, but I've always admired you from behind. As I keep stopping to admire you, I keep falling further behind. While I'm getting stronger, you've been speeding ahead of me, and now I can only see your backs while I'm racing to catch up. No, even then, I just saw you two as an insurmountable force. I stopped trying because I stopped believing I could be your equal.
I could never understand these jumbled feelings for you two. Is it admiration? Worship? Love? I can't understand any of it. I was raised to think of others before myself. I was just a tool to make your lives easier, and I cherished that feeling of usefulness. I still want to be useful to you both. I want to be your weapon!
…But now, if I'm going to carry your dreams on my back, I can't just be the weapon. These shackles that I've placed on myself, each link representing my devotion to you, have also been holding me back. How could I possibly see myself surpassing a god and goddess? But you would want me to take hold of my own hilt. If I am to become your wings, then I need…to become something more!
A second away from falling onto his back, Jet suddenly lunged to life and stomped his foot down, tightening his muscles. His face twisted into an agonized scowl, fighting through the pain wrecking his body, before turning his head toward the sky and letting loose a guttural roar from the depths of his soul.
His shout stopped Terminus in his tracks. He cast a bewildered scowl over his shoulder. "You've got to be kidding me."
Jet panted, shaking off the trembling in his body, and scowled back at the stone mantis. "You…and I…aren't finished yet."
Terminus turned himself around and scraped his axes together. "How is it that you're still standing?"
"Because…I promised her…that I wouldn't fall to the ground. No matter what."
"You promised?"
Jet curled his fists. "Jason is a monster on the battlefield, and Harlow is constantly finding ways to get stronger. I couldn't stop myself from admiring them from behind, but now I see that's been holding me back." He raised his fists at the mantis. "Not anymore."
Terminus scoffed. "You have no weapon. You intend to fight in this state?"
Jet growled. "I'll fight in whatever way I need to. I have to get stronger for them. No. Not just stronger. If I'm to burden their hopes and dreams upon my shoulders, then I have to do more than catch up with them. I'll surpass them both so that no one will ever take away what they treasure most!"
"Tch. You're insane."
"Call me crazy all you want! Even if it means I'll die, I won't forgive anyone who mocks their dreams!" Jet took another step forward and shouted, "So, stand and fight me, you asshole! I'll cut down anything that gets in their way! That is what I desire most!"
…
…
…
"Have ye finally realized thy purpose?"
Jet's eyes widened as a disorienting pulse echoed through his head. He clenched his eyes shut and grabbed his head, screaming as a splitting, burning headache overtook him. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Terminus staggered in alarm. "What the—"
"Do ye feel the burdens of thy shackles tethering ye to the earth? What is a weapon without its master? A soldier who would do anything to serve his rulers."
Jet collapsed onto his hands and knees, clawing into the ground as he growled through the burning pain. A thick, silver mist steamed off his body and from his clenched eyes. White hot cracks glowed across his mangled body as if his skin was chipping apart. "Aaaaaaagh…!"
"If ye wish to plunge thyself into Hell for them, wield thyself as thine own spear!"
Jet opened his eyes, which glowed in silver with a prominent blue iris in the center. He stomped his feet down and pulled himself back up, fighting against the unending pain. The ice he coated over himself shattered from the pressure exuding off his body, yet his wounds were rapidly closing.
"Undo thy chains and brandish thyself as the spear that'll rend all who tarnish the image of thy king and queen!"
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Terminus recoiled as Jet unleashed a vicious cyclone of silver light from his body, blowing away the lingering mist in the air. He plunged his axes into the ground to hold himself down, glaring through the intense rush of light. He felt an immeasurable well of power exploding out from the Oshawott all at once. It was unlike anything he could sense before.
What is this?
He could see Jet's body staggering within the epicenter of the whirlwind, his form twisting and stretching. He grew taller, his limbs stretched, and his presence became all the more palpable. Terminus couldn't explain the grand display before him, but he recognized the process unfolding.
"Shit!" He rushed toward the cyclone. "I need to cut him down before he finishes! Fatal Brea—"
A blue slash rushed out from the cyclone, forcing Terminus to stop. Without even turning around, he could hear the sound of a building sliding off from itself, having been sliced down with the most precise, even cut imaginable. He felt the stinging vapors of that blade which had grazed his cheek.
"Wha…?"
A pair of silver eyes shined brightly through the cyclone. Jet held his hands out, and light flowed through each, taking shape into a hardened object that he grasped. He reared the objects back and cut the cyclone to ribbons with a single swing, scattering its silver light over the air.
Terminus backed away, keeping his stance raised and staring cautiously at the reborn figure stumbling out from the lingering light. His eyes widened as he beheld what stood before him. "What the…?"
Before him was no longer the screaming Oshawott he nearly battered to death, but a reenergized, confident, and fierce Dewott dressed only in the greaves that remained of his armor. Light blue scars from where he had been cut had rapidly healed upon evolution, the most prominent being the scar across his left cheek. In his hands were newly formed scalchop that shined in a silvery luster.
However, that wasn't what surprised Terminus the most.
The shells that had pierced Jet's body had taken on a new form. Shell-like markings could be found over his bare body. The back of his hands, arms, and around his neck. They almost resembled tattoos, but they clearly had some texture to them. Shell-like plating warped around his feet, shoulders, and down his spine. It was natural armor.
Jet breathed a sigh, expelling a cloud of steam through his teeth, and raised his glare at the stone mantis. "My Endless Ocean…was always underdeveloped. But now?" He scraped his newly formed scalchops together. "Now I can see its potential so much more clearly."
Terminus glared cautiously at the Dewott before raising his axe hands, reigniting the aura around them. "Have you finally closed the gap between us?"
"Tch. I don't care if you're stronger or weaker than me." Jet crossed his arms together, one scalchop glowing blue while the other glowed silver. "All the same, I'm keeping my word. I'll cut down anyone who stands in Jason and Harlow's way. That's my desire. I'll surpass them both, then I'll carve a path toward their dreams. And I'll start…by cutting through that unbreakable armor of yours."
Jet Fyrewalker
Son of Tyson—Awakened