Ch 24: The Show Must Go On!

Battling against Grave at the big top, Scott is in his toughest spot yet. Against such a skilled opponent, can he find a weakness in Grave's abilities to bail himself out?

            Suddenly soaring through the skies, an arrow of wind struck Grave upon his floating rock, seeming to tear through him like paper. Eyes wide, as he fell towards the ground in pieces, Grave choked, “My Sandstone Armor… was obliterated with a single strike?! Even if this is just a substitution, who could have possibly…?” Looking in the direction the arrow had come from, he laid eyes upon Saria standing just outside the rock storm with her bow in hand. Nearing the ground, as Grave disintegrated, he exclaimed, “You… brat…!” A burning piece of paper landed on the ground, the only thing that remained of Grave’s substitution. Quickly Serius rushed over to where Fox laid upon the ground and bent over him, shielding him with his armored body just as the storm of rocks fell back to the ground on top of them. Rushing over to the massive pile of rocks with Ace right behind her, Saria called out, “Serius, Fox?!” Suddenly a sonic blast burst out of the rock pile, and climbing out of the hole it made with Fox over his shoulder, Serius said, “We will survive. That was impressive Saria, I had no idea you could manage something like that.” Clearing his throat, Fox said, “Yeah, nice. By the way… you mind putting me down partner? This is humiliating…” Saria suppressed a giggle as Serius let Fox down. Wobbling somewhat, Fox said, “So looks like you’re ok and all, but you seem to have switched dates here… Where’s that Thunderfury guy?”

            At the Big Top, as he was turning to go, Grave muttered, “Both of the others were defeated? With He of the Infinite and Gabriel the Immortal gone, this should have been easy…” Then a blast of lighting suddenly burst from the sand, and Scott leaped out and came down on Grave with Levitas Curator, the halberd having become larger from being charged with lightning. Quickly Grave summoned a wall of sand up over him, and lightning crackled in the air as Scott struck it powerfully, unleashing the charge in a blast of electricity. The wall withstood the blast though, and suddenly a solid pillar of sand burst from the wall and struck Scott in the chest while he was still in the air. Landing hard on his back in the sand with the wind knocked out of him, as Scott got up, the wall of sand sank back down and Grave said, “Well aren’t you a stubborn brat? You would have been better off staying down there until I’d left…” Spinning Levitas Curator so that the tip of the halberd’s spear blade scraped against the sand, Scott gathered more static charge as he said, “I won’t let you hurt my friends!” Watching Scott spinning his halberd, Grave thought, “That technique… He’s the Thunderfury Energist…” Channeling EDE into his hand, Scott thought to himself, “I’ve got some new tricks from all my training. Time to use them!” Transforming Levitas Curator into lightning, Scott absorbed it and withdrew his staff. Channeling that very lightning into his staff, he said, “Weapon Fuse!” Levitas Curator formed around his staff, creating a new Levitas Curator that now had the staff as its handle. As Scott dropped into his battle stance, Grave muttered, “I don’t have all day…”

            Charging at Grave as his halberd scraped across the sand, Scott raised his hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning. Rising from the sand behind Grave appeared his coffin, and reaching back and grasping it by the chains attached to it, Grave swung the coffin into the bolt as it reached him, deflecting it towards the stands. Thankfully it struck too high to harm anyone, impacting against the less than conductive side of the tent, but Scott still stopped in his charge to look over at the stands in concern. Seeing this, Grave thought to himself, “What a stupid brat, leaving himself open just to worry about the worthless people of this worthless world…” While Scott was distracted, Grave muttered, “Shadowstep.” Just as Scott regained himself, Grave reappeared behind him and quickly slapped a piece of paper with a charm inscribed on it onto his back, and he barely had time to turn his head and look back at Grave before the villain said, “Pyre Seal!” The sound of the explosion echoed through the Big Top as Scott was blown sailing by a fiery blast. Bouncing across the sand, he finally came to a stop lying flat on his face in it. 

Struggling to his hands and knees, Scott couldn’t afford to let the painful burns and brusies slow him down as he sensed Grave coming, and he dove aside just as the villain came down on him and slammed his coffin into the sand where he had been moments before. Rolling to his feet, Scott channeled more lightning into his halberd and rushed back at Grave. Hefting his coffin, Grave once more used it to defend himself, swinging it upward in an arc to deflect Levitas Curator as Scott leaped into the air and brought it down in a powerful strike. Knocked away, as Scott landed back on his feet, Grave hurled the coffin at him and shouted, “Weakling!” Gritting his teeth in frustration, Scott leaped into the air with a lightning charged spinning kick and deflected the coffin as he shouted, “Who’re you calling a weakling?!” As Scott landed, Grave appeared before him with a spirit punch to the face, and as Scott reeled from the strike, Grave raised a hand commandingly and said, “You, weakling…”

            As the sand rose up around his legs, Scott struggled against its grasp, but could not move. Standing there watching him struggle, Grave muttered, “You’re really the Thunderfury Energist? Pathetic. I already knew your legendary defeat of the Black Knight was glorified propaganda, but for a weak brat like you to be so renowned among the Special Forces…” Struggling to suppress his rage so he could think clearly, Scott thought to himself, “Maybe I’m not as strong as Grey and the others, but I can do this! He’s got me pretty good here though… Wait, I’ve got an idea! He’s controlling sand here right? Let’s see if he can still control it after this!” Quickly reaching into a pouch on his utility belt, the only piece of his Special Forces uniform he hadn’t traded in, Scott drew out a small round object and poured a bit of EDE into it as he pressed a button. Shielding his face with his other arm, Scott released it, letting it fall to the ground as Grave said, “What are you-” The object landed on the sand and with a beep it exploded in a blast of water, mist, and foam. Backing away from the cloud of foam, Grave thought to himself, “Crap! What the hell was that, some form of fire extinguisher?! Even regular water would ruin the materials I manipulate, I can’t let it touch my Sandstone Armor!” Suddenly bursting from the cloud of foam, electricity surrounding him as he activated his Thundering Wrath, Scott closed the distance with lightning speed and swung with Levitas Curator. Grave barely had time to block with a dagger from his cloak, and as he struggled to hold back the halberd’s blade, Scott grinned smugly and said, “Extinguisher bombs, never leave home without em!”

            Finally managing to push Scott’s weapon aside and break away from him, Grave leaped backwards into the air, hurling throwing stars from his cloak. Scott quickly pressed a button upon the handle of Levitas Curator, which he had merged with his staff a short while ago, and as the halberd’s handle split apart it became a whip like weapon with a halberd blade on the end. Whipping it into the air, Scott swung it at the incoming throwing stars and knocked them out of the sky one by one. Landing, Grave stared in confusion as he muttered, “I gave them a magnetic charge, but they didn’t stick?!” As Scott lashed out with his bladed whip, he said, “I’m not stupid! I figured out you were using magnetism to do that, and I gave my weapon an electromagnetic charge as well to repel them!” Jumping aside as Scott’s weapon came at him, Grave said, “Humph, cocky brat! Shadowstep!” Disappearing like a shadow, Grave reappeared behind Scott, but this time Scott was ready. His weapon retracting quickly back to halberd form, Scott spun and caught Grave in the face with a mighty strike, and as Grave staggered away, Scott said, “Even if you weren’t so predictable, you can’t sneak up on me again now that I put up my electrical field! Now back to my Lightning Lash!” Pressing the button on the handle of Levitas Curator once more, as it became his Lightning Lash once more, Scott charged it with electricity and swung it at Grave, catching him in the gut with the axe blade at the end and sending him sailing into the side of the stands with a blast of lightning. As Grave staggered out of the crater he had made in the side of the stands, Scott returned his weapon to halberd form and thought, “What’s this guy made of?!” In the stands the audience was starting to look uneasy, but continued to remain and watch the battle. Feeling at his gut a moment where Scott had struck him, Grave pulled his hand away to look at the bits of sand that had come out of the crack in his Sandstone Armor. Glaring at Scott, he muttered, “These brats are not to be underestimated…”

            Without another word, Grave quickly sank into the sand. Looking around warily, unable to sense Grave with the electrical field anymore, Scott muttered, “I hope the others aren’t having this much trouble…” Then as chains burst out of the sand all around him, Scott leaped away as they closed in around him. Suddenly Grave burst out of the sand in front of Scott and unleashed a flurry of spirit charged punches and kicks. Caught off guard, Scott took one strike after another. Then with his free hand, Scott launched a powerful lightning charged punch of his own, striking Grave hard in the face. Jumping back as cracks formed in his face, Grave raised an arm at his coffin lying at the side of the battlefield, and quickly chains shot out of his sleeve towards it. Quickly pulling his coffin to him as Scott charged at him, Grave raised the coffin before him. As the coffin’s door burst open, a dark fog spewed forth. Halting his advance as the fog washed over him, Scott exclaimed, “What the…?” The fog quickly filled the ring, so thick that Scott couldn’t see anything. Searching for any sign of Grave, Scott wondered aloud, “What’s with that coffin anyways? All that sand, and now this weird fog too? There’s no way it’s just any coffin. Could that be an Anima Weapon?” Grave’s voice called out, “That’s right. Not that it does you much good to know…”

            Out of nowhere Grave struck him in the face with a spirit punch, and continued his attack until Scott managed to counter attack, disappearing as Scott swung his halberd. Wiping his bloody lip, Scott said, “Why do I always get the cowards who can’t take me on in a fair fight?!” With a laugh, Grave said, “I may have been thrown away, but I was born a ninja. I have no sense of honor or fair play. I only have my objective, my desire for this worthless existence and every worthless creature in it to be erased forever! You may not be as weak as I first thought, but you’re still nothing but a naive little brat! I’ve taken this fight lightly so far, but maybe I should teach you a lesson in pain with the forbidden technique I stole from my own clan!” Straining his senses to detect where the voice was coming from, Scott thought, “This is worse than Douglas. He’s an expert at hiding all traces of his presence, and while I’m completely blind, he seems able to see just fine! Plus I’m having trouble sensing him with the electrical field too… Wait, what is this? It’s like something else is emitting a field!” Then Scott thought in sudden realization, “Of course! He’s using a magnetic field in the same way as my electrical field! All I need to do here is create a little interference…” 

Spinning his halberd so the tip scraped the sand, Scott gathered a charge, and then he heard Grave say, “Give it up, you’re at my mercy now…” Quickly Scott raised a hand above him and unleashed an electro-magnetic pulse. Just about to strike at Scott from behind, as Grave’s field was interfered with, he thought to himself, “What?!” Sensing him immediately, Scott whirled around and struck with a powerful lightning charged roundhouse kick. As Grave staggered back, Scott channeled a great amount of EDE into his hand and unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning that struck Grave and blew him sailing through the air to land sprawled on his back. As Grave started to get up, he found Levitas Curator leveled at his throat, and Scott said, “At your mercy huh?” Glaring at Scott, Grave hissed, “Don’t get so full of yourself, you worthless brat!” Quickly Grave hurled a fistful of sand into Scott’s face. As Scott reeled, struggling to get the sand out of his eyes, Grave flipped backwards off the ground and onto his feet. Then chains burst from the sand all around Scott, wrapping around his arms and legs, binding him in place. Channeling EDE into his fist, as a dark glow surrounded it, Grave slammed his dark fist into his defenseless opponent’s gut and said, “Feel the might of the Blackhand!” Scott gagged, a crippling pain shooting through him as though Grave had punched a hole through his stomach. Grave struck again and again with his dark fists, and Scott’s eyes went wide as he began to cough up blood. At last Grave stopped, and as the dark fog began to clear, the chains binding Scott released him. Hardly able to move, Scott sank to his hands and knees, continuing to cough up blood. Looming over him, Grave said, “That’s the end of you…”

            Suddenly a blast of water struck Grave in the face. Staggering back as the torrent of water continued to assault him, Grave exclaimed, “What the…?! Stop that!” Using a garden hose, Gibolu manned the water valve just outside the tent as Dewie began dousing Grave with water. Shouting to Scott in a worried tone, Dewie said, “Don’t give up up up! Fight fight fight!” Gritting his teeth, Scott mustered his strength and rose with an upward strike of Levitas Curator, slicing one of Grave’s arms clean off. Staggering away, Grave thought, “The water, it’s weakened my Sandstone Armor!” Managing to get up using Levitas Curator like a cane, Scott gathered EDE and a yellow rune circle formed beneath him. Then ripping Levitas Curator from the sand, Scott transformed it into lightning and absorbed it. Forming his bow, he took aim at Grave and said, “Weapon Fuse!” Drawing the string back, as the bow crackled with lightning, a lightning arrow appeared and Scott shouted, “THUNDERFURY!” Arrows of lightning rained out in a torrent as Scott released the string, and veering through the air to position themselves in the air all around and above Grave, they became floating yellow rune circles. Looking around at the yellow rune circles that surrounded him, Grave clutched the stump of his severed arm and said, “Damn you!” Then the circles glowed, and from each one a halberd of lightning shot at Grave. Grave disappeared in a flash of lightning, a resounding roar of thunder filling the Big Top. As the electricity crackling throughout the air disappeared, all that remained was a burning piece of paper. 

Scott dropped to his knees and panted, and as Gibolu and Dewie rushed over to him, Gibolu exclaimed, “Fantastic! Simply brilliant! That will show him not to interfere with the powerful force that is Gibolu’s Traveling Circus!” Kneeling by Scott, Dewie said, “You gonna be ok ok ok?” Managing a smile, Scott said, “Thanks guys…” Suddenly the sound of applause sounded through the Big Top, and the three looked to the stands to see the audience cheering them. Scott heard someone shout, “Not what I expected at a circus, but an incredible show!” Another shouted, “What an intense fight, never seen anything like it!” Beaming, Gibolu quickly said, “Oh the applause, the applause! Such a wonderful sound! Come you two! Let us bow to our audience!” As Dewie helped Scott to his feet, the three smiled and bowed to the audience. Then Mythra and Mana rushed in through the entrance, Mana shouting, “Scott! We’re here!” Reaching Scott, Mythra said, “You look like you’ve had it rough. I sensed a serious battle here, but it looks like I completely missed the action again…” As Mythra started to use her healing abilities on him, Scott weakly said, “Where’s Saria? Is she ok?”

            As he walked through the entrance with the others, Fox called out, “She’s right here, lover boy!” As Saria stepped in and saw Scott all beat up, she stared in horror and said, “No…” As she rushed up to him, Scott breathed a sigh off relief and began to teeter over. Barely Saria managed to catch him, and she burst into tears and shouted, “Scott! Scott! I’m sorry!” Everyone rushed to his side, and Serius said, “Will he be alright?” Still focusing her healing power on him, Mythra said, “I don’t know. Some serious internal damage here. What could have done this?” With a frustrated look, Mythra added, “D****t, give me some space to work here! Lay him down gently Saria.” As Saria laid him down and the others backed away, Scott struggled to say something, gasping, “Saria… you…” Looking down at him with tears in her eyes, Saria said, “Don’t talk! Please…” She felt him grasp her hand as he smiled weakly and said, “You have nothing… to be sorry for… or be ashamed of… Ok?” Saria’s eyes went wide as she realized he must have somehow found her out. With a nervous look, Mana said, “Sorry, I told him after you ran off…” Saria simply grasped his hand as well and clenched her eyes shut. At last Mythra stopped healing and said, “I can’t do anything with this empty handed, he needs medical treatment. Quite a bit of it…” Meanwhile, wandering towards the entrance to the park, Grave muttered to himself, “I can’t believe my strongest substitutions failed so miserably against a bunch of worthless brats. Well, I know they’re headed to Loralu. Next time I’ll handle them personally…”

            Daemonholm Prison. Thursday July 5, 520NA. Sitting against the wall in his cell with Alexander, Grey said, “Well, I told you so…” Leaning against the cell bars, Alexander merely said, “Yes, you did…” Pulling on the restraining collar around his neck, which was giving him an itch, Grey said, “I’m getting really sick of this! Why waste three days sitting here when I could use Void Energy to take off these EDE draining collars and get us outta here?” Getting tired of explaining this, Alexander replied, “I already said we’re waiting to be chosen for the Coliseum. Prisoners are given the opportunity to fight in the Coliseum, and winners receive a pardon for minor crimes or a sentence reduction for more severe offenses. Even outsiders like us should be given that right by law after a certain length of imprisonment.” Heaving a sigh, Grey said, “Yeah but after how long? We don’t have forever you know…” Listening from the next cell over, Richter said, “Yes, we are supposed to meet up with the others in Gatria. Not to mention the impending attack Alastor may wage on Teramis.” Fully aware of this, Alexander replied, “Meeting with the Lord of the Demonfolk may be our one chance to find the Seeker, and our way back. He himself or at least one of his court is sure to attend the Coliseum, and it is then that we can attempt to prove ourselves as who we are. I have a feeling we can reason with him, as a half demonfolk like him would hopefully be less prejudiced against non-demonfolk such as ourselves.” 

Less than optimistic, Grey thought, “Why do I get the feeling this plan is full of holes…?” Looking over at the wall between their cells, Grey said, “How’re you doing Amy?” Looking after Amy as best he could, Richter said, “This prison food gave her quite the stomach ache. She’s finally managed to get some sleep…” Shaking his head, Grey muttered, “I never would have let her come if I’d known all of this would happen…” Thinking of something, Richter broke the silence again, asking, “How is it that a half breed, which as far as I’ve heard would normally be discriminated against, could become the ruler of an entire race?” This thought had crossed his mind before, and having come to one solution, Alexander said, “It may be because the demonfolk respect those who display honor, pride, and strength above all else. Though rulership is passed down through the royal family, those who take the position of Lord still must uphold these traits, and there are those who have been dethroned because they failed to do so. If he meets these requirements and has garnered the favor of some of the more prominent noble families, his pedigree may cease to be an issue.”

            Suddenly hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Grey and Alexander turned their heads to look outside their cell just as a male demonfolk escorted by two prison guards came into view. His hair medium length and dark green colored, his eyes violet, he wore black leather armor covered in steel studs and zippers. On his head were thick, twisted black horns, and from his back sprouted bat-like wings which seemed shrouded in glowing blue and purple mist. Quickly he fixed his eyes on Grey and said, “Well, well, what garbage do we have here?” Glaring back at him, Grey said, “Just who are you supposed to be, the head smartass?” The demonfolk’s eyes narrowed as he said, “I find it beneath me to introduce myself to such lower life forms as yourselves, but I suppose I can make an exception. I am Xanth Lazrath, Captain of the Daemonholm Guard. If that is a satisfactory answer, then let us get this over with. Not that I expect you peons to understand the responsibilities someone of my stature has to attend to…” Shifting his gaze to Alexander, who still leaned leisurely against the cell bars, Xanth said, “I am here because of the rumors that have spread like wildfire, saying that we have imprisoned someone claiming to be, of all things, Gabriel the Immortal. And demanding an audience with our Lord no less… Do you take us for fools?” 

Laughing quietly to himself for a moment, Alexander said, “I see your family’s renowned longevity did not pass your generation. You’ve certainly grown into a rather harsh individual Xanth. Nothing like the playful child Theraph was so proud of…” Briefly a look of great surprise crossed Xanth’s face, but regaining his composure, he replied, “I don’t know who you think you are to speak to me in such a familiar manner. My father’s name and my childhood are not exactly secrets. It is admittedly unusual for outsiders to know such things, but it does not prove your claims.” Having noticed his surprise, Alexander simply grinned. Glaring at Xanth in contempt, Grey thought, “Something tells me this guy is gonna be a complete pain in the a*s…” Then Richter called out from his cell, “Having been a soldier only a short while ago, I find it a bit strange that the officer in charge has come to speak with us himself. There must be some concern already as to whether our claims are true. Why not simply hear us out?” Glancing at Richter in the other cell, Xanth said, “Enough with the charade, we do not need something like this going around right now. I’m here to inform you that if you admit you attempted to enter Daemonholm under false pretenses we will overlook your transgressions and allow you to leave Daemonholm.” Swiftly, Alexander said, “We refuse.” Turning back to Alexander, Xanth stared at him a moment. Finally, Xanth turned to go as he said, “Then tomorrow you will be brought to the Coliseum to compete for your freedom. Velaxx kazadel…” As he walked away, a confused Grey said, “What?” Translating for Grey, Alexander said, “Die with honor…”

Reviews

[Arrinae]

Saria and Scott. My its just cute. I had a feeling they'd end up sharing feelings for one another. Grave is kind of annoying with his timing, but I like him at the same time. I'm glad I managed to catch up so quickly. Though its probably jsut due to me being a fest reader.

Well written can't wait to read the next installment!

[KeithKVH]

I'll do it in the most minimally spoiling way possible, but i will say this volume ends on a somewhat dark note, and those two particularly get the short end of it. I'll work on uploading today, it's encouraging to have someone get this far, though I have wanted to get this part out as it's starting to get good here.