Super☆twinkle☆buster☆beam

Before I knew it, he had closed the gap between us and I was pinned to the ground. With one hand on my head, he slammed me into the soil with great power. I was seeing stars from the impact and unable to move beneath the suffocating weight of the massive man. But his target wasn’t me. He was already eyeing Chiyo, who was peeking from behind a tree. She made a run for it.

The man calmly got up, pressing his knee deeper into my back to upright himself, and started following Chiyo. It was a hunter. Above all they enjoyed the rush of the chase, so he would let her gain a bit of ground before going in for the kill.

It was clear that the hunter, named Verus as I would later learn, did not see us as a real threat. What could two teenagers do to a man who’d been training for a moment like this his entire life? The fight appeared to be lost before it even began. He no longer had any interest in me. Only bringing the witch to justice was of his concern.

Still seeing stars and with black spots clouding my vision, I rose to my feet. I spit out some dirt and wiped my mouth. I couldn’t give up. I wasn’t about to let Chiyo die here, before our journey had even properly started. But what could I do? The gap in strength and experience between Verus and I was simply too large. But I shouldn’t be thinking about that. Right now, I had to focus on bringing down the witch hunter.

I decided to bet everything on Chiyo’s power. It was the only way we would get out of this situation.

Going in an arch around the hunter, I made my way to Chiyo. She had dropped the backpack on the way and went a bit further ahead. I caught up to her and extended my hand.

“We need to do this together, or we won’t make it. We must work together.”

Chiyo was courageous, but in this moment all felt lost. We were – rightfully so – terrified out our minds. Her face spoke volumes, and I’m sure mine did too.

“R-right. Work together. Let’s do it.” She grabbed my hand. Then the scales of balance were tipped.

As we touched, I felt a sudden burst of electricity rush through my nerves and a spark shot out of the sword. My blood felt like it got a few degrees hotter, and suddenly I could clearly oversee the battle. I turned to face the hunter.

With eyes unclouded I could now see Verus approaching, every move he could make was clearly laid out before me. I saw him break into a sudden sprint right before it actually happened. His steel claws were aiming for Chiyo’s throat.

In an instant I saw dozens of realities play out before me. All I had to do was lift my sword into the correct position to make the one possibility where she wasn’t killed a reality.

Between Verus starting to run and me deflecting his attack, less than two seconds passed. Yet it felt like it took thrice as long. What was happening? I didn’t have the time or space in my mind to wonder. The moment I had touched Chiyo, it was as if everything changed.

Verus leaped backwards. His bored expression turned to surprise. He had clearly underestimated his opponents.

“Very well. A challenge it is.” His voice was still monotonous, but I could tell there was suppressed excitement hiding behind his unwavering mask of a face.

“Hang on!” Chiyo gasped, having noticed the spark. An idea was forming in her head.

“I need an incantation!”

A magical incantation seemed reasonable to me. I decided to place my faith in her.

Before we could do anything, I could sense that Verus was once again about to rush us. I let go of her hand and embraced her from behind so that my sword was in front of the both of us. There was no time to be embarrassed about it. Whatever caused it aside, it was clear to me that we needed physical contact for the energy boost to work.

The giant made his move.

Time came to a standstill. Verus was suspended in mid-air, one fist stretched out at us, the claws on his knuckles shone in the diffused sunlight. Everything after that happened in an instant.

I parried his claws by twisting the blade downwards. We came face to face. I couldn’t help but notice how his ashen face contrasted against his red robes.

Next came a right hook. I blocked it with all my might. Sparks shot out of our weapons as they clashed over and over again.

I saw the uppercut aimed at slicing us open before he’d even gotten in the stance to do it. It felt like I could keep blocking his moves, but I instinctively sensed that I couldn’t counterattack.

I needed Chiyo’s plan to pay off.

Verus saw the futility of his barrage and stopped. He jumped a few feet backwards again.

This was our chance. We placed our hands on the sword. An indescribable amount of power coursed through my veins.

This could work.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“SUPER”

Flames sprouted from the blade and licked at the heft. A tremendous heat emanated from it.

“TWINKLE”

The sparks now intensified. The flames turned from red, to yellow, to blue.

“BUSTER”

Chiyo directed the sword to point directly at the witch hunter.

“BEAM”

A blinding bolt of energy shot out of the tip of Serpens. Verus tried to jump to the side like earlier, but much quicker this time. However, the beam was even faster. It grazed his side, and went straight through a tree behind him.

We stood there staring each other down as the tree came crashing down with a roar. The blade glistened in all colors of the rainbow. My heightened senses dulled and the rush wore off after I let go of Chiyo. I was exhausted, like I’d just ran ten miles.

Verus faltered, sank through his knees, and started howling. He must be a wolf-man from the north, I thought. For him to attack us during the day, when his power was at its lowest, must’ve meant he truly underestimated the combined prowess of Chiyo and I.

“You have won, but I shall return to strike you down, evil-doers. The name’s Verus. Remember it well.”

He unceremoniously limped away, but we weren’t done with him just yet. Chiyo was looking smugly at the retreating hunter with her chest held high. I whispered to her.

“We’re going to steal the horse.”

She nodded as a mischievous smile danced on her face.

We both took off at the same time, I grabbed the backpack on the way, and we went towards Verus’ horse. He had noticed this too and tried to cut us off, but his wound was holding him back. He couldn’t keep up with us. I jumped on and helped her ascend, then I gave the reins a whip and we were gone.

We were now racing through the forest as trees passed us by left and right. Chiyo’s smile turned to laughter. She had to shout over the sound of the rushing wind.

“If we can defeat a witch hunter, we won’t have to worry, right? We can take on the whole world like it’s a piece of cake!”

I would’ve loved to keep that smile on her face, but I had to tell her the truth.

“Actually, wolf-men gain their strength from the moon. During the day they’re far weaker. Besides, there are stronger witch hunter living at the Inquisition headquarters in Indestria.”

Chiyo gulped.

“But that’s exactly where were going! Hey, can’t we go look for answers somewhere else?”

“No can do. We’re going to go meet my father, he owns a woodworking atelier in Indestria. With some luck he’ll help us hide while we gather information on your situation.”

With Chiyo screaming and kicking that she “doesn’t wanna”, we continued our journey south, to the capital.