Beast Brawl (1)

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “Um… who are you?”

“The name’s Tyler Ward!” He yelled. “Now what’s your name!?”

“Uh, my name’s Marion,” I said.

“Marion, huh? Great!” he yelled again.

He’s so loud. Why is he yelling so much?

“Now, with that out of the way,” Tyler said quietly before pointing at me and yelling again. “I want those marshmallows!”

“Oh, um, you can ha-”

“You!” he interrupted. “You have a strong aura! Let’s fight! Winner gets the marshmallows!”

“Wait! We can’t fight!” I yelled, but he didn’t listen.

“Of course we can!” He yelled back. “But, first things first! Do you have a weapon?”

I need to get him to listen to me

“No, but listen. I don’t-”

“Liar…” he growled as he grabbed the handles of his blades. I felt a threatening aura coming off of him. But why? I didn’t- oh wait…

“I-I have a dagger, but I don’t really know how to use it,” I answered.

“Hmm… even if that’s true in order to have an aura level equal to mine you must be really strong!” he yelled. “Now we just have to fight!”

“Wait! I’ve been trying to tell you-!”

“Yeah yeah! Winner gets the marshmallows!” he yelled as he got down on all fours.

“No! That’s-!”

Before I could finish my sentence he sprang at me, closing the distance between us in less than a second. The only people I’ve seen move this fast are my father and Oliver.

He headbutted me in the gut and the force sent me flying back into a tree. I fell on my knees as I struggled to regain my breath.

“Hahahahahaha!” Tyler laughed. “Like that? That’s a special move of mine called Beast Bolt!”

“Please… stop…” I said while catching my breath. “I don’t want to fight you…”

“Stop?! But why!?! The fight’s just beginning!” he shouted. “Come on! I know you have a strong power! Just use it on me already!!!”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said.

“Huh!?? But-! A-are you underestimating me!?!!” he yelled. “Grrr!! I’m strong, darn it! And I’ll prove it! I’ll prove I’m stronger than you!!”

“You probably are stronger than me-” I said, trying to calm him down, but that only seemed to make him angrier.

“Don’t try to pander to me, you jerk!!!” He yelled as he pulled out his two blades. “I’ll make you acknowledge me for real!! I’ll make you fight!”

He then put the blades together, holding them up like a giant X. Where they intersected at the hilt, I could see a small orb of swirling crimson and magenta energy. A nightmare core.

“Wait! Stop!”

“Double Blades Nightmare Style, Art One!”

He then crossed his arms as he held the blades at both sides and jumped at me. I would’ve tried to dodge, but he was too quick. I attempted to block by letting my power flow into my arms, but the slash went through me altogether, causing no physical damage.

“Happy Nightmares X!”

I fell into a trance. For a moment it was silent, like the world was completely devoid of sound, of feeling, of anything at all. The next instant, a searing pain emanated from where he had slashed through me.

My head began to ring like a bell as I was pounded with a torrent of bad memories.

                “I’m sorry, but I have to leave…”             “What have you done!?”

“Mom…”                                          “Stay away you demon!”

Stop it…

                                                                                          “If you don’t give her up right now-!”

“She’s too dangerous to be left alone!”

                                                                      “A war… because of me…”

                   “I can’t believe she can just stroll around so peacefully while we go and die because she was born a monster…”

Stop it… Stop it… Stop it…

                                                    “That girl is a beast!”

“Ahhh!!!!!”                                                                                                                    “No! Wait! Please!”

“If you start killing people I won’t stand by and let that happen! If you follow the path of bloodlust then I will become your enemy!”

“So you came to me to make a deal? Very interesting…”

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop It!!!!!!!!!!!!

I immediately came back to reality as I fell over from the force of an impact.

“I think that’s long enough,” Tyler said. His swords were once again sheathed, but his right arm was now covered in fur like his tail and head were, and I could see sharp claws on it.

“You started turning more grey so I decided to punch you.”

I stood up. Apparently, while I was in that trance I had subconsciously spread my demon form… Whatever.

“So are you ready to fight me now?!” he asked.

“Fight you?” I then burst out into laughter as I spread my Demonic Fury into Complete Veil. “If a fight’s what you really want… then I’ll be sure to beat you into the ground.”

“Now I’m getting excited…!” Tyler said.

…

\\\ Oliver ///

“Crap! Crap! Crap!” I yelled as I put some distance between me and the kaiju.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared now, Oliver my man,” Jessica said.

“Of course I’m scared! It’d be unnatural not to be!”

“Just use your arts on its underside and you’ll be fine!”

How does that even work again? I’m having a hard time believing that the shisu arts are made specifically for countering this kind of beast. But, I have to try something…

As I contemplated what to do, the skrullbear kaiju had a much easier time making its decision. It bent its massive legs, bringing its body close to the ground before springing up towards me, knocking down several trees as it soared through the air.

What the hell! How is my sword gonna help against that!?! Think! Think! What am I gonna do?! I don’t wanna be crushed! Maybe if I-

While I was still thinking about what to do, two gigantic hands made of dirt sprang from the ground in front of me, intercepting the beast.

“Don’t just stand still!!” Jessica yelled at me. “Do you want to die?!”

No.

Of course I don’t want to die, dammit!

I need to do something! Anything!

The kaiju pushed back the dirt hands, making them crumble. It’s time for me to pull my own weight.

I took a deep breath as I fixed my posture. I activated Miracle and launched myself forward, to the right of the kaiju. As I zoomed by, I unleashed my attack.

“Shisu Style, Third Art: Flying Razor!”

I spun through the air, cutting into the side of the kaiju. It let out a screech as I split open its flesh, causing blood to spurt out of its wounds. After landing a few feet away I looked back to see how much damage I had inflicted.

If a human had lost that much blood, it’d be a major problem, but for a beast of this magnitude, it’s barely enough to be counted as an actual wound.

As I looked at the cuts I had made, I noticed them growing smaller before they shut completely, leaving no visible trace there was ever a wound save for the bloodstained fur.

“It can regenerate too…” I said in disbelief.

“All kaiju can regenerate,” Jessica said. “But it can’t do it forever. Try cutting a leg off or something.”

“Easy for you to say! I doubt I’d even be able to cut through something that thick in one go anyhow!”

“Why don’t you just use those fire arts that you used against the Armored Ground Titan,” Jessica said as she brought out her metal core. “That should work right.”

I guess I have to try.

The kaiju turned and looked toward me. It doesn’t seem happy. At all.

It swung its massive tail, fling some trees toward me. I quickly activated Accelerate and ran out of the way before turning to face the beast again.

“Here goes nothing…”

…

\\\ Marion ///

I looked at Tyler as we stood a few feet apart. I wonder if he’ll make the first move, it’s probably better to wait anyway. If he’s as proficient as I think he is then he’s probably mastered the second art already, and I already know what a pain that can be.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to attack me!?!” Tyler yelled.

“I’d rather not go first,” I replied.

“Fine, but remember I gave you the chance…”

Tyler then grabbed both swords by the hilt and bent down as his tail rose straight up in the air.

“Double Blades, Art Twelve: Sphere of Influence X!”

I got a distinct feeling that I should back away, but as I began to lift my foot the tip of his tail pointed directly at me. There was a tree behind me, so I jumped back and to the right, but I was too slow in my movements.

Immediately, he sprang towards me and ripped both blades out of their sheaths, creating a slash through the air like an X. He caught my arm with his move and the tree behind it as well, ripping both apart.

As I stumbled back a bit from the blow, Tyler started yelling again.

“Haha! How do you like-!!?”

Before he could finish his sentence, I ran up and kicked him in the stomach. He flew back a couple yards and his swords fell out of his hands.

“You finally shut up,” I said. “I was beginning to wonder if it was even possible.”

He quickly jumped to his feet.

“Heh, heh… You are strong…” he chuckled. “You just got your arm chopped off and you still attacked me like nothing had happened.”

“Well it might as well have not happened,” I said as I held up my regenerating arm. He watched as it finished healing with awe.

“Cool…” he said. “This is gonna be fun!”

“Fun? You can’t be serious…” I scorned. “Don’t you realize it’s hopeless? You couldn’t possibly beat me.”

“We’ll just have to find out, won’t we!!” he said as he got on all fours again.

“Improvised Special Move: Beast Bolt! Threefold Retrieval!”

He then sprang, staying low to the ground, and bounded off of two trees before returning to his original position. After he stopped moving, I noticed that his swords were now dangling off his tail from their hooped hilts.

He sheathed his swords before getting on all fours once again.

“After taking a hit like that and seeing that you can heal, I can’t really hold back anymore, can I?”

After saying this, his breathing began to get more ragged, more beastlike, as grey fur spread across his body, completely covering him. As this happened he began to speak coarsely.

“Feral Fury: Complete Veil!”

So his flair’s like mine then.

He let out a howl that echoed through the night sky.

…

\\\ Oliver ///

I heard a howl coming from the direction Marion went in. I hope she’s okay but I really can’t spare the effort to check.

“Shisu Fire Style Art One: Hidden Flame!”

I cut into a leg of the skrullbear kaiju and burned the wound in one movement. It let out a screech as it flailed its injured limb, near hitting me if not for Accelerate.

I put some distance between me and the beast as the ground began to rumble. The Armored Ground Titan rose up, grabbing the attention of both me and the kaiju.

Jessica then snapped and the titan rushed the kaiju. It grappled the kaiju and held it in place. Jessica snapped and the dirt tentacle came pouring out of the armor again, constraining the kaiju further.

The kaiju struggled in the titan’s grasp as it tried to break free. It then swung its tail wildly before slamming it into the head of the Armored Ground Titan. The impact smashed the head into pieces with a crunching sound that resounded throughout the night.

“What the…”

I was barely able to cut into that thing’s armor, but this kaiju just broke it with the sheer force of its tail. This really puts into perspective the first rule when battling kaiju…