Huntik Heroes
Chapter 22
Okay here we go. Time to see how Asahi and Izuku handle themselves when it comes to facing down a much stronger enemy than they might be ready for. After all, I've set up Rodolfo and Sadie as being akin to nearing Shauna and Wind in rank. So I have to make it really seem that way. But I'll try to leave things on a happier note.
Also, you might have noticed that I haven't had Izuku using Caliban much. That's because I never really intended on that being his signature Titan. Caliban was Dante's closest Titan aside from Solwing. And it didn't feel right having Izuku move in on that. So, I had to set up him finding his true partner in Ronin. You'll see why in time. On with the show.
(No POV)
"So, he's clearly got a theme or preference." Asahi quipped while looking at the collection of canine like Titans. Izuku gives his old friend a withering look before saying, "no kidding. At the same time, I'm not sure on the best way's we can fight these with what we have on hand."
Rodolfo smirks before saying, "you really shouldn't strategize aloud. Especially in front of your enemy! Rush them my pack!" With a wave of his hand the various Titans charge forward while the Seeker stays back. Jirwolf creates a beam of starlight to attack, that Izuku barely dodges.
And his dodge took him into striking range of a pair of Wolf Knights. "Honorguard!" he calls out quickly to protect himself. But he doesn't have to hold his guard long. As Ronin rushes past with his sword out. Then with a quick flourish and re-sheathing of his blade, the Wolf Knights are returned to their amulets.
Izuku blinked a few times before saying, "okay. Guess a lot of styles were derived from this and other Yama Titans." His stupor is shaken though as Jirwolf attacks again and Ihimis tries to poison him. Asahi and Asura meanwhile were having their own troublesome fights. With the Titan barely keeping Doberman in place by holding it's spear. Asahi meanwhile had managed to fend off the Wolf Knights, but Kopesh was proving dangerous. Even with him using Willwall to defend.
'Crap! It's cracking! Why isn't my will strong enough today? Or maybe I'm not strong enough anymore because I used Ghostwalk!?' Asahi thinks as he sweats and tries to hold his opponent in place. This, however, leaves both boys open to renewed attacks from Rodolfo. As he casts Darkwave and Rippleburst at both from their sides of behind. Knocking each into the attacks of a few of the wolflike Titans.
Izuku's being a dangerous mix of toxins from Ihimis in his chest, and Asahi getting slashed in the side by Kopesh. The pair drop slightly before trying to use Everfight to keep going. 'I don't think it's fully working on me. Whatever that creepy wolf with green claws is, it's got a nasty ability.' Izuku thinks while wincing before Ronin returns to cover his Seeker.
Asura meanwhile can't help his own Seeker as Doberman wouldn't let him in the moment. With Asahi wincing in pain as his bleeding wound was able to reseal itself. "What the Hell do we do now?" he thinks aloud while standing back up.
"I would say you stand down and leave me to clear as much of this garbage as I can. But that seems highly unlikely that you will." Rodolfo answers before kicking Asahi in the side. He rolls over close to where Asura is, and the Titan further notices his Seeker in trouble. And that distraction is enough to allow Doberman to overpower, or rather slip the balance of, Asura. Causing the red Titan to trip and then be left open to the stab of Doberman's obsidian weapon.
Asahi feels this as his partner is returned to the amulet and Rodolfo glares down at him. "I'll make this quicker. Bladewave." Rodolfo says as the black energy builds in his hands. Before he can unleash it though, he feels something strange from his Titans. Noticing that a few of them were backing away from one side of the arena. The only thing he could describe it as is:
"Fear? No, bowing to another alpha," he says with some annoyance. Turning to see Reiko standing in an entrance to the field. With her Mitama amulet glowing, almost glowering, at the rest on the field.
Rodolfo lets out a sigh before saying, "apparently you have an impressive wolf Titan of your own. Not something I was anticipating." Reiko gulps while gently putting her hand on Mitama. "Well then. Maybe I should let her at you and the rest! Howl! Divine Beast Mitama!" Reiko called out as her amulet flashed. And the large white and red accented wolf appeared next to her.
With it's howl causing the Wolf Knights to tremble so much they returned to their amulets and the green wolf Ihimis was quickly bested by the paw of Mitama. Doberman and Kopesh stood their ground though and at least guarded their Seeker as Mitama reeled back and fired a solar blast at Rodolfo.
Kopesh was defeated, but Doberman was still able to fight. With Jirwolf floating above and trying to attack as well. Reiko was still shaking somewhat, but that changed as Izuku and Asahi were able to stand with her. Enforced by her passing their amulets they had left in the locker room.
"Wait you went into the boys locker room?" Izuku said with a snort. Reiko blushed before asking him to focus. And he did with a summoning of Caliban, Hoplite, and Icarus. Asahi gripped his Asura amulet tight before muttering, "get some rest pal. I might need you later." And he proceeded to summon Hoplite, Freelancer, and Grand Façade.
Reiko meanwhile called forth Sorcerel, Tolivane, and Storm Gladiator. "It seems your advantage has slipped away." Reiko says while casting Boltflare in her hand. Rodolfo glared slightly before sighing and touching the two amulets around his neck. "You might think that. But I have more Titans than that! Devor the heavens! Sko! Hadi!"
With that a pair of massive wolf Titans, almost on par with the size of Mitama, emerged onto the battlefield. One burning, the other shimmering with ice. Reiko's eyes and mouth were wide, and the boys weren't too far behind her. "Okay….. I guess we should have seen that coming. Still intimidating though." Izuku comments with a gulp.
Reiko shakes her head before saying, "I guess we'll find out which of our wolves is stronger. Attack!" With that, Mitama leaps in and tackles Sko to the ground. Hadi comes from behind, but the slightly bigger wolf kicks the beast in the head. Each of the Titans start to clash with everything from fists to blades, to blasts of magic.
Rodolfo meanwhile grunts as Izuku uses Nimblefire to get close and take the man out with a Dragonfist. Only to realize that the man was sturdier than he expected. And he took a Dragonfist to his face as well. He got some payback with a quick casting of Augerfrost to his opponent's feet. Which caused Rodolfo to slip.
And left the man open to an attack from Asahi. "Raypulse!" he calls out to blast the man away. Where Reiko was waiting with not just a Boltflare, but a Touchram spell as well. Which seemed to hurt the man more than any previous attacks. Izuku hummed at that before firing a Raypulse of his own and then running into to attack with another physical attack. This time a Hyperstride boosted kick.
And yet again it hurt him instead. "Shit! Okay, have a taste of Kindlestrike!" Izuku calls out while wincing from the pain in his leg. But he noticed something while attacking. "He's got some kind of passive barrier or something around him!" he informs his allies as he feels Icarus being defeated by Hadi.
Though not without Ronin and Grand Facade being able to take down Doberman finally. All around the chaos continued as the teens and their Titans faced off with the Blood Spiral hunter and his wolves. But they were not the only ones fighting.
Ruby was making progress outside of the stadium and stopped the kidnapping of dozens of people. Defeating over thirty of the Blood Spirals by herself. Death Arms and Kamui Woods were able to help somewhat, after getting past the sheer variety of powers through spells their opponents had.
"So many of them hit as hard as I can!" DA says while punching a Stormshield from one Blood Spiral before swinging around and taking out two who were coming at him from behind. Kamui meanwhile had wrapped up a few of the Seekers with his Lacquer Chain Prison but…. "And no matter how many times I restrain them, their various spells keep breaking away! Watch out!" the arbor hero said before grabbing Ruby and DA to protect them from a Bristlebind spell.
Ruby shook her head before saying, "thanks mate. You think I'd be more used to stuff coming from the ground given how Gaebolg works." She charged up a few more spells and attacked the silent soldiers around her. All the while her Titans were doing all they could to clear the Harlequins and Marauders that were terrorizing people.
In the building itself, Melissa was clearing out as many of the people and dealing with the handful of Blood Spirals who were within as well. Having Kilthane and Januseea the Gatekeeper guard the people running. As well as summoning her Silver Hunter to make sure there were few hiding among those running.
And just like the Seeker outside, she wasn't alone. Jiro had joined her and was using some thrown together speakers to disrupt some of those attacking. While leaving them open for Kaminari and Jurota to get some payback. "This is for Mineta! And Pony!" they called out before using their quirks to an extent. Jurota was able to defeat a Harlequin, but not without some injury from it's claws.
Kaminari meanwhile got creative and created a minor electric "barrier" (think just a limited Indiscriminate Shock) to stop some of the spells aimed at him or Jiro. "We've already had to fight you guys once. And we know how you do things!" he boasted before getting close and shocking one foe. Even if it led to him being punched in the face by another.
The rest of 1-A and 1-B were helping to evacuate some of the civilians from the arena. Though Toru and Aoyama noticed something odd at one point. A skunk like young man was running with the rest and he dropped a strange crystal as he tripped. "Hey what's that?" the invisible girl asked before it was kicked away.
The one who picked it up though surprised her. Momo stepped forward before reminding the pair of the bigger issue. "If he fell, you should help him up. Are you okay?" she said before handing the object to the heteromorph. Who gulped before saying, "yes. Thank you miss." He then ran off with the rest before sparing a glance back at Momo.
The two flashy and yet not members of the class looked down for a moment. Though Aoyama did raise his head slightly to watch the man as he left. His eyes narrowing in suspicion as the person escaped.
Back in the center of the arena, the Titans were thinning out and it was down to Mitama, Ronin, Hadi, and Ihimis. The teen Seekers were breathing heavy but they weren't giving up. Each taking shots from a distance to attack with magic.
"I'm not sure on exactly how it works, but I think his barrier is meant to counter close quarters quirk users. Let alone those types of spells. So, we need to attack him from range." Izuku explained earlier. And it was confirmed by the actions and reactions that Rodolfo took during the rest of the fight.
But even still, that wasn't quite enough to fully defeat the Blood Spiral. "He's been fighting plenty of heroes who attack from range as well as up close. I'm betting he's used to these kinds of tactics." Reiko said while they were all catching their breath.
Asahi though was worried because the man seemed to be getting angrier and more desperate. 'He used Chillskin and Armorburn previously to counter Endeavor's quirk. But he's not using that against us. No. He's not using them, because he has to focus all of his will on stopping or countering those elements? Maybe. But what's he going to do next?' Asahi thinks as the man seems to be surrounded by a purple glow.
Rodolfo snarled before commanding his Titans once more. "Hold them in place! Cutrace!" he shouts before charging forward with his two remaining Titans. Casting Touchrams to push back the teens. Ronin had it's hands full with Ihimis's poison claws and both large wolves bit into the other's shoulder.
"Not smart putting yourself right in the middle of the danger!" Izuku exclaims before lifting his hands to attack once more. "On the contrary. I'm exactly where I need to be. Aura! FORCE!" Rodolfo says then shouts before unleashing a massive purple shockwave.
The Foundation Seeker's eyes were wide as the blast of purple energy surged outward and blasted them and their Titans away. The shockwave was so great, several people thought there was an earthquake. With part of the stadium collapsing after the spell was done. And Melissa just barely making it out thanks to Januseea.
"What the Hell happened in there?" Ruby asked while choking out a Spiral. Izuku was on the ground and couldn't muster the strength to push himself up. Reiko was partially covered by some of the rubble from the collapsing of the stadium walls. And Asahi saw all of this from some other rubble he was under.
It wasn't much, but it still felt like it weighed a ton after everything that had happened. 'Let alone how exhausted I feel. And of course…..' Asahi thinks as he sees Rodolfo stalking towards him. The man did seem tired before nodding to the young Seeker. "Were you not a Casterwill, or at least a relative of theirs, I might make this quick. But I feel like testing something else to finish you. Darkvoid."
Beside Asahi, a black hole started opening. Sucking part of the rubble into it and freeing one of Asahi's hands. He reached up and put his hand on Asura's amulet around his neck. "New….. Newlife. You…. Think you've still got some fight in you?" Asahi mutters out as his power restores his Titan.
From within the item, he could feel the rage and willingness to keep fighting. Even with all hope seeming lost, and the two of them being pulled to the void. The young Seeker smiled in spite of himself and said, "yeah. I'm not ready to quit either. So… what do you say we give this another shot! Asura!"
Rodolfo's eyes were wide as the amulet flashed green with power. And then he felt a powerful blow. Three powerful blows in fact and was sent flying before his spell was disrupted. Asahi sat up before feeling a presence in his mind. 'How about with give this "hunter" even more of a fight than he bargained for?' he heard before looking up at Asura.
But it wasn't the Asura he'd been training with for years. Instead of two golden gauntlets on the forearms, Asura had six golden arms from his body. With gold armor around its waist and what seemed to be a circle of fire around its back and arching over its head.
Asahi looks up in shock at his old partner, especially as it gives him three thumbs up while he stands. He blinks a few times before saying, "powerbond. You've become powerbonded." With a subtle nod from Asura, the young Seeker casts Everfight once again to recover. "Looks like it's time for round two," he says while standing next to his Titan.
You probably did not see that coming. As tempting as it was to have Izuku get the first powerbond, it felt more fitting to have Asahi do it. Given his ancestor had quite the history of powerbonding with Titans. Also, I really do want to make Izuku's Ronin be his eventual powerbond partner. But they haven't really been together long enough for that.
At the same time, I felt a need to show how strong the current iteration of Blood Spirals actually are. Given that, in the show, they couldn't always destroy the backgrounds that they were fighting in. And you could consider it something like power creep or refinement of will and hate empowering them. Anyway, next chapter will have the next phase of the fight and a lead in for future chapters and exploits. Please review!