Chapter 9: Agression

A Chapter by Andrew Akuna

Agression

Xero tried to blast Vlad backward, but got black sparks once more. Vlad grinned, infuriating the panther. Xero grabbed Vlad by his jacket and pushed him backward against the wall behind them.

"Before I kill you, WHY DID YOU HIT ME ON THE HEAD?!" Xero made a fist, then opened his paw, extending his claws.

Vlad smirked and placed his right paw flat on the wall. Silver sparks ran down the wall, then before Xero could even consider reacting, he was uprooted by a concrete fist that blasted from the floor. The fist pressed him to the ceiling, then sank back into the floor. Xero fell to the floor.

Xero looked up, then tried to breath fire, but still got smoke.

"Alright, someone care to explain whats going on?" Vlad asked, walking over to a chair at a desk in the corner.

Longinus continued to shiver in his corner, muttering to himself as he rocked back and forward.

"You, talk." the older wolf said, pointing at Xero as he struggled to his feet.

"I could ask you the same thing." Xero replied, spitting blood on the floor. "Someone sent that quivering mess into my forest!" He pointed to Longinus.

"And your point?"

"Everyone knows that I kill anything canine that steps beyond that gate."

"So why didn't you kill him?"

"I won't answer dumb questions."

Longinus staggered to his feet and held on to the wall as he moved toward a chair near Xero.

"Okay, someone tell me why he's all freaked out." Xero said, pointing at Longinus again.

"What do you already know?" Vlad asked, pulling a cigar and a zippo lighter from his coat.

"Not much, just that some shadow user ripped up a bar and mutilated a couple furs." Xero replied. "Quite beautifully, I might add. The chains were a nice touch."

"Shut up." Longinus managed to say.

"What? You aren't gonna tell me it was you. You're not capable."

"SHUT UP!" Xero was blasted backward and off his feet by a burst of black energy, the force of which knocked him into a wall. Longinus gasped and turned away from Xero and Vlad. Xero was too stunned to get up right away. He sat there and stared incredulously around the room. He looked to Vlad and pointed to Longinus. Vlad nodded and walked over to Longinus.

Xero finally sprang to his feet. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Both Longinus and Vlad looked up at the panther. "How is it that he can use dark magic now when I'm still unable to use my powers?!"

Longinus shakily lifted a finger to point at Xero's left arm. Xero looked at his arm and the collar pulsed again. Longinus quickly slammed his fist on the ground. Black sparks fired around his fist before he pulled it back up, forming a bucket from the floor just before vomitting.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain it." Xero replied. "By the way, dark magic makes you sick. Don't use it."

"You're an Eternus, right?" Vlad asked. Xero nodded. "What is your anchor?"

"My left arm." The tattoos under his fur slowly ignited, stretching up his arm and across his torso. As the tattoos lit up, so did Longinus's collar.

"And there's our answer." Vlad said, walking over to the panther. He turned to Longinus. "Your collar, right?"

Longinus nodded.

"Your anchor reacted negatively with his."

"Meaning?"

"Your abilities got switched."

With that, Xero went ever so slightly berserk. The dam of the panther's self-control, in that instant, was obliterated. He lifted the nearest table with all that was positioned on it and politely smashed it against a wall. Vlad snapped his fingers and the air around Xero was suddenly a cloud of flames.

"Black Halo!" Xero roared. He only got a slight black aura that dispelled the flames, but vanished just as quickly as it formed, but that was not the only effect of his words.

Longinus let out a howl and grabbed his head with both hands before Xero's dark sphere surrounded him, making Vlad quickly jump away. The sphere released wave after wave of powerful darkness, shattering nearly everything breakable in the room as Longinus screamed. His body was not used to the strain of dark magic use. He curled up and fell out of his chair

The anger at not being able to use his powers changed into sick pleasure, which formed a demented smile on Xero's face.

"I see...Does this mean I can control you?" Xero said, stepping toward Longinus.

"PLEASE STOP!!!" Longinus cried.

"But I'm having so much fun!" The light of the tattoos and the collar intensified, resulting in the black sphere growing in power.

"Panther, thats ENOUGH!" Vlad shouted, trying to get closer to the younger wolf.

"No!" Xero shouted in return. "My power will be used, even if not by me!"

Vlad growled and pounded a fist on the floor, making yet another concrete one burst from the floor and smash Xero into the ceiling, then slither back into the floor. The blow broke Xero's concentration and dispelled the black sphere.

"B*****d!" Vlad shouted before rushing over to help his brother back onto his chair.

Xero chuckled as he got to his feet.

"Things are going to be quite interesting from here on..."