Tomoki's Pride

Mira narrowed her eyes at Azumi. “You’re one of the people Yusato told me about. One of his friends that betrayed him. Right?”

Azumi winced at that. Her shoulders rose as she wet her lips. She took a few deep shallow breaths while Mira, Azalea, and Saria glared at her. “I am.”

“And you think we’d want you to come along with us?”

Saria stood next to Mira, holding her shoulders. “Yeah. What if you betray us too?”

Azumi awkwardly ran her hand up and down her arm. “I never wanted to do that to him. I was just afraid.”

Mira let her spellbook dangle at her side as she walked up close to Azumi. She furrowed her eyebrows at the girl. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt him?”

Azumi flinched back under Mira’s surprisingly powerful gaze. Then, slowly, her eyes traveled back to Mira’s face. She looked Mira in the eyes, her hands at her chest. “I do. I know it was wrong. I haven’t ever been able to forgive myself since it happened.”

“Enough you two,” Azalea said firmly. She sighed. “We could definitely use your help, Azumi. Feel free to come along with us.”

Azumi’s eye lit up at Azalea’s words. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” She bowed to Azalea.

“Don’t get me wrong. I will still be watching you. But right now, we need help. That’s all.”

“Right…Of course.”

“Now that that’s settled. Let’s get going.” Azalea flipped her cloak behind her. “We have to go find Yusato.”

***

“He was waiting for me?” Yusato asked inside Raidos’ head.

“Seems that way,” Raidos said. He looked over at Tomoki brandishing a sword.

“I wanted to make sure that I was the only one who made it to the tenth floor.” Tomoki grinned. “So, I decided to take care of you once and for all.”

“Raidos,” Yusato said. “Don’t kill him.”

“Don’t kill him, you say? You do realize that he wants to kill you, correct?”

“I know…But I don’t want Tomoki to die.”

“The same man who betrayed you?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Yusato said. “I didn’t want you to kill Nix back then either.”

“Sorry, but that’s the price you paid for my power. This body is mine now.”

Dark matter accumulated around Raidos’ body as he slowly walked forward. Tomoki kept his sword at his, walking toward Raidos as well.

“So, you really want to fight me then?” Raidos asked, his grin lifting into the edges of his cheeks.

“You bet I do.” Tomoki held up his sword underneath his chin as his reflection shone inside of it. “The less competition the better. I’ll be the one who makes it to the tenth floor and gets that reward.”

The other silhouette left the shadows revealing itself to belong to Mahina. “Tomoki. You don’t have to do this.” She tugged on his sleeve and Tomoki yanked his arm away. “Not now, Mahina. Just stay back and watch.”

“Tomoki…”

The black aura around Raidos swirled and hissed. His eyes flickered in excitement as he drew his sword. “Very well then. Come and get me.”

“NO!” Yusato cried out from inside Raidos’ mind.

Raidos ignored him and readied his sword as Tomoki’s feet clapped against the ground.

An array of fireballs shot out from Tomoki’s palm. Raidos swung his sword at the fireballs. The embers scorched the metal, causing Raidos’ eyes to widen in shock. “What?”

A rope of flame lashed out at Raidos and he summoned black tendrils to counter it. The two attacks canceled each other out.

Embers spewed out from Tomoki’s mouth before he shout out multiple fire bullets. The fire bullets grazed Raidos’ shoulders and knees while he tried to dodge out of the way.

Black energy formed around Raidos’ sword as he swung it forward. The darkness sword met with Tomoki’s flaming blade, the searing heat, seeping deep into Raidos’ skin.

“He’s stronger than before,” Yusato realized. “A lot stronger. His magic is on a whole other level now.”

Bursts of fire shot up from underneath Raidos’ feet, knocking him back. Tomoki pointed his sword at Raidos and several beams of fire fired off from the tip.

Smoke billowed around. Raidos grunted in frustration, his spikes becoming larger and sharper. “What a nuisance.”

“Had enough, Yusato? How does it feel to finally be on the other side?” Tomoki scoffed as the smoke cleared away. “I was so sick of you and your perfect grades. You didn’t even seem to realize how annoying it was.”

Tomoki ran forward, slashing his sword at Raidos. Raidos countered with his own blade. “And then when we got to this world, you were praised for being perfect again. All because you could use that captain’s sword. You always completed your quests with flying colors.”

Turning up his nose, Tomoki sliced his sword down. “How obnoxious. I was so glad to finally be rid of you…If only you had died that day. But I’ll take care of that right now!”

Raidos grew out his tail and wrapped it around Tomoki’s sword before quickly tossing it into the lava.

Tomoki growled as his nose crinkled up in disgust. “Why you…” He opened his palm and a sword made of blue fire formed in his hand. “You’re gonna regret that punk.”

Swinging his flaming blade down, Raidos met it again with his own. Dark vines shot through the air aiming for Tomoki. But the vines all melted away upon impact with a flaming shield.

Tomoki slashed and slashed at Raidos, never once slowing his movements. The fire chipped away at Raidos’ sword as he grunted.

More dark energy gathered around Raidos’ blade, reaching into the fire sword. It morphed around in strange shapes before overtaking the flaming sword completely. The dark matter shifted into spikes and pierced through Tomoki’s stomach.

“Tomoki!” Mahina cried out for her brother.

“I said just watch,” Tomoki said, clutching his bleeding stomach. “I can handle this on my own.”

Raidos ran around Tomoki shooting out several dark spheres at him. Each one had a larger impact than the last.

“Damn you, Yusato!”

A tornado of fire formed from within the lava and came rushing for Raidos. Raidos held his sword back and sliced right through the tornado, the fire spilling through the air.

Flaming fists came right for Raidos’ face as he swerved out of the way. Embers caught his skin and he winced. His fist striking into Tomoki’s gut caused him to double over.

A sharp knee to the chin knocked Tomoki off his feet. Tomoki flipped in midair, kicking Raidos in the face.

The fire around Tomoki grew even hotter and more intense as he scowled and clenched his fists. “I won’t be beaten by you, Yusato. Not in this…not in this world. This is where I shine!”

Tomoki’s fists ignited even more as he rushed forward. Raidos bent his knees as a black mass of matter swirled around him like a barrier.

“NO!” Yusato cried out like a banshee. “DON’T KILL HIM!”

Spikes protruded out from the black barrier, ready to jut right into Tomoki’s body. As Tomoki rushed forward, he was blocked off by a wall of water.

The water carried him over to safety. Raidos blinked in confusion. “Huh? What was all that?”

“You’ve come so far only to end up as this.” The sound of a calm and casual stride accompanied by a carefree voice. “I’m disappointed in you, Yusato.” Leo stood in front of Raidos and flicked his hair out of his face. “Should I just put you out of your misery?”