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This article, Chapter 47 - The Fulbore Brothers, is the property of Flame Lizard and cannot be tampered with or referenced without his permission. |
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Amber waited patently for Armeria to finish picking a locked door that she and Shelly had come across at the top of the staircase. Part of the door was rusted, making the job particularly difficult, not to mention noisy. Maybe it was just the echo in the stairway, but Amber could swear every noise they made must have been audible for miles.
Finally, the doorknob clicked open and Armeria removed her arm from the lock "I got it."
Amber immediately tried to push the door open, but it only moved a few inches before ceasing up. "Dammit, open!" Amber yelled angrily, throwing her weight against the door.
The effort payed off, the door unstuck itself and swung open. The girls where blasted by a wave of frigid night air, and Amber shuddered when her blistered feet hit the metal roof of the prison. Shelly ran past her, looking out over the edge of the complex to the lights in the distance.
The full moon produced just enough light to see; better even than when they where inside. Empty streets and abandoned buildings for miles in all directions, save for a drainage basin that lay next to the complex. "There." Shelly pointed to a nearby structure; a two-story warehouse on the other side of a wall encircling the property. "Amber, come look at this."
Amber followed, taking a moment to rest her sore, bleeding feet. Following Shelly's pointing, she found the building and began gauging the distance. Her eyes darted from the building to the street, and slowing a look of irritation fell over her face. "Um... That won't work."
Confused, Shelly glanced over the side again. "Why not?"
Amber remained silent, but Armeria answered after a moment. "I won't be able to fly back up here from that height."
Her eyes widening, Shelly looked at Amber. "Is that true?" Amber didn't say anything, but her expression was all the answer she needed. "Ok well... We'll both go at once."
"Can't." Amber said, messaging her forehead in frustration. "She can only carry one person at a time. Any more and we'll drop like a rock." She took another look over the edge, huffing in frustration. "And she can only fly around twelve feet off the ground, so we can't just jump down to her either."
Desperate for ideas, Shelly began scanning for a new target. Unfortunately, the warehouse was the tallest building around. Without options, she stepped away from the ledge and pointed. "OK, you go then."
Amber was shocked, quickly shaking her head. "I can't leave you here."
"But if I go first, then Armeria will be stuck down there with me." Shelly argued. "And you won't be able to use any of your weapons if any more bandits show up."
She couldn't argue the point, but Amber still refused. "And what if they catch you? Who knows what they'll do to you." Shelly crossed her arms and shuffled uncomfortably, but Amber continued regardless. "You're not the best fighter, Shelly."
She seemed hurt by that last comment, but they where at a stalemate. Neither one of them wanted to leave without the other, but they where so agonizingly close to escape that they couldn't just turn around.
"What to do, what to do?" A man's voice echoed across the dark rooftop, sending both the girls on high alert.
A bright floodlight flashed to life, illuminating a small shack at the far end of the roof. It looked newer than the rest of the prison, but shoddily assembled. Two bright windows faced them on either side of an opened door, where they could make out the silhouette of a man approaching them. Amber yanked Shelly behind her, readying for a fight. She could make out several other silhouettes lining the roof as well; they'd been surrounded!
As if to accentuate his appearance, a dull rumbling shook the roof as the man from the shack stepped into the light. He carried himself well, dressed in a sharp green dress shirt under a white vest. A neatly trimmed beard, black fedora and sharp, piercing eyes that the girls both found familiar. He was clapping, mockingly applauding their near escape. "So close to freedom, yet unable to proceed without one of you sacrificing yourself for the other." He clasped his hands together, looking amused by the situation. "How incredibly irritating that must be."
Some of the others began to laugh, while Amber glared at them. "What do we do, Amber?" Shelly whispered.
"Ah, but you must be confused. My apologies. Allow me to formally introduce myself." The man removed his fedora and slowly bowed to them. "My name is Django Fulbore. And, I suppose you could call me the guild master of Bloody Smile."
Geno rolled over a table, which was sliced in two the second he was clear. He rushed across the room at Hyde racing against the retracting blade of the dark mage's weapon. In their brief exchange, he noticed that the blade couldn't change direction when extending, and was planning to use that to his advantage now that the weapon had already extended.
Step after quick step, Geno raced across the room. And it worked, a flash of worry fell over Hyde's face when he realized his weapon wasn't fast enough. He tossed a chair at Geno, trying to slow him down, but Geno used the chair as a step and launched into the air.
He swung down at Hyde with Scox, but by then it was too late. The half second Hyde had bought himself payed off, his weapon had shrunk down to a manageable size just in time for him to parry Geno's attack. Geno spun when he landed and thrust his leg, which Hyde blocked with his forearm.
The blow knocked him back, and he had to catch himself on a nearby table. "Wow..." He whistled, twirling his sword between his fingers like a stick. "You’re pretty quick for a big guy, huh?"
Geno grunted in response. Not for Hyde's sarcastic tone, but more because it was becoming harder and harder to focus. The illness from... Whatever it was Shelly said he'd eaten was coming back, and it was coming back much worse this time. His vision was blurry, his head pounded, and he felt off balance. Either it felt worse than it was, or this guy was dense as hell for not noticing something was wrong. Not that that was a bad thing; if Hyde didn't know he had an advantage then Geno wasn't going to spoil things for him.
He looked down at his chain blade, gazing into Scox's half opened, quivering eye. He could hear the weapon's voice in his head too; the usual chaotic laughter replaced by the dull moan of a wounded animal. The weapon conjured from Geno's own blood was suffering the same effects as he was, probably not a good sign.
"Hello?" Hyde waved to him, standing closer now. "You spacing out, buddy?"
Snorting in annoyance, Geno rushed him again. Two quick slashes, one from the right, then from the left, both of which Hyde parried. Hyde raised his arm to make a thrust, but Geno threw his shoulder into Hyde's chest. The blow winded him, enough that Geno saw an opening. He too raised his arm and swung down in an overhead chop. Hyde defended, bracing his weapon with both hands and catching Scox just above the hilt. Pressing the offensive, Geno grabbed Hyde's wrist and yanked him closer, throwing his forehead into the man's cheekbone.
Doing so bought him a second, but also brought his headache to the forefront of his mind. Dizziness paralysed him, leaving him unable to fight back when Hyde grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his knee into Geno's chin.
Now, Geno really hurt. He stumbled away and fell to his knees next to half a table that Hyde had previously sliced in two. He didn't feel like he was moving, but the world was shaking around him. "Damn, you really are one tough son of a bitch..." Still never losing the smile on his face, Hyde stood up and wiped a trickle of blood off his chin. "I swore I hit you hard enough to put you on your ass." He bounced his weapon off his shoulder again, preparing to make another strike. "Maybe I really am starting to lose my edge."
Geno tried to move, but he couldn't. The blade of Hyde's weapon flashed through the air, leaving Geno with one option. "Stinger Tail!" He gripped Scox tighter, and the blade launched off it's hilt. Segmenting into pieces, Scox whipped through the air and swatted the blade aside.
A trail of dust launched into the air as Hyde's weapon scrapped across the ground, leaving him stunned. "Wow!" Hyde whistled, looking like he was happy that his strike had missed. "Now that: that's cool."
Geno slowly got up again, and Scox's segmented blade waved behind him like a snake. "You're not the only one who's got a weapon that extends." A slight grin cut across Geno's face, and he readjusted his headband to keep the hair out of his eyes.
A sudden roar echoed through the halls. Geno jumped and looked to the nearest entrance, half expecting there to be a monster standing there. "Was that... Jak?"
"Eyes front, asshole!" Hyde dashed at him, making a quick jab at his stomach. Scox's segmented blade brushed him off coarse, but he still managed to leave a shallow cut across Geno's hip when the sword extended.
Geno followed up, the tip of his chain blade lashed at Hyde like a snake; striking and recoiling at lightning speed. Hyde parried each strike, hoping from foot to foot and deflecting anything that got too close. After a few seconds, Hyde made a wide slash and knocked Scox away, then thrust his sword at Geno.
The two of them had at least eight feet between them, but that didn't mater when Hyde's blade extended once again. Geno ducked and spun out of the way, using the momentum to slash at Hyde.
Without the time to retract his blade again, Hyde leapt backward. Scox sliced a hole in the stomach of his shirt, a lethal wound where he a millisecond slower. Using the same trick Geno just used, he turned and swung his still extended sword back at Geno
Geno's weapon reeled back into a small blade just in time to block Hyde's strike. He rushed in again, trying for another charge. He was farther away this time though, Hyde retracted his weapon and readied for another clash.
This time, Geno started with the kick, a move that Hyde didn't anticipate. He stumbled back with a grunt, making a desperate, blind slash. Geno ducked under the strike and spun again, thrusting Scox upwards at Hyde's face. Hyde brought the flat part of his weapon down to defend himself, and just as the two where about to clash, Geno called. "Stinger Tail!"
Scox exploded forward, shattering Hyde's weapon and continuing into his forehead.
The hat he'd been wearing fell away, split opened from visor to crown. A mist of blood sprayed through the air, and Hyde fell onto his back.
Geno fell as well, the pain he'd been trying to ignore finally catching up with him. His ears where ringing, vision gone blurry, but fighting the urge to pass out. "Got'a move..." He urged himself. "Really got'a move." He picked up Scox, which instantly retracted into it's sword form again, and pushed off a nearby chair to get to his feet.
He only made it a few steps before a familiar voice said. "And where're you goin'?" Geno whipped around in disbelief, Hyde was standing again. Blood trickled from a cut that ran from between his eyes to his hairline, but despite this he only seemed more awake now. "Damn man, you're cold. You almost kill a guy, then walk away like it's no big deal."
Geno tensed up; he knew he'd hit him, there was no way he missed. But he couldn't refute what he was seeing, Hyde was on his feet. Worse, the cut didn't even look that bad. It bled, but was nowhere close to the kind of damage he was trying to do. He looked down at Scox again, and noticed his hands had begun to shake. "Dammit..." He mumbled, guessing that was the reason why his last strike hadn't hit the mark.
"To bad for you." Hyde laughed again, but his expression changed rapidly when he looked at his now broken weapon. "Aww, man! I liked this thing!" He seemed more saddened than upset, but tossed the weapon aside all the same. "Oh well: god giveth, god taketh away." Hyde extended his hand, and another weapon appeared with a flash of light. This one was bigger; a two handed, single edged blade. "Ready for round two, jackass?"
Geno huffed, amazed that Hyde was actually waiting for him to answer. He took a deep breath, trying to focus, but the pain he was in made that pretty much impossible. "Great..." He mumbled to himself. "Requip."
"Told ya I'm a collector." Hyde spat, resting this new weapon over his shoulder. "Warning though: you ain't going to break this one." He took hold of his weapon with both hands, swinging it off his shoulder like a golf club. The tip of the blade dug through the ground, raining sparks into the air.
Geno was confused. They where half a room apart, was he just showing off or-? A glowing crack in the floor darted out from under a table, straight at Geno. He instinctively dove aside, not waiting to find out what it was. Mid roll, he saw the crack collided with the wall, which began to swell. A sudden explosion blinded him, and Geno was thrown back a good few yards by the blast wave.
He landed on his back, surrounded by shards of concrete. He rolled up to his feet to see Hyde standing on one of the tables, his blade resting over his shoulder. "What the hell...?"
"Nice, ain't it?" Hyde bragged, holding his weapon upright for Geno to admire. "I call it the Linchpin. Modified it myself; stuck a bomb lacrima on the end so now anything I cut explodes." Looking like he was enjoying himself, Hyde swung the blade again, dragging the tip across the ground.
Another crack zipped across the ground, but Geno wasn't about to be caught by the same trick twice. He leapt up onto one of the tables, jumping from one to the other to avoid the ground entirely. He passed the crack mid jump, and there was another explosion behind him two tables later.
He hit the ground again a few yards away from Hyde, readying for another strike. Hyde stepped back as well, keeping more of a distance between them than their last clash, having learned from his last mistake. He drew his sword up and rested it across his shoulder, readying for the next attack.
Using Scox's shorter length to his advantage, Geno made a false swipe upwards. When Hyde swung his massive blade to counterattack, Geno stopped and quickly hopped back, making another slash from the side before Hyde had even finished his swing. A shallow cut appeared on Hyde's chest, but he'd managed to move out of range before Geno could do any worse. He dragged his weapon across the ground again, leaving a glowing crack at his feet.
The two combatants leapt apart as the floor between them exploded, littering the area with chunks of concrete. Geno's glowing red eye appeared through smoke, and Scox's segmented blade ripped through the air. "Stinger Tail!"
A quick swing of Hyde's sword brushed Geno's attack off course, where it sliced through the bar top behind him. A pipe burst when Geno's weapon retracted, beginning to flood the room. Hyde covered himself, scampering away as to not get wet. Using the distraction, Geno wiped some of the blood off his chin and drew a cross over his shoulders and neck. His other eye flashed a brilliant blue as he dashed out of the smoke, and he drew another weapon from the back of his neck. "Mammon!"
The massive blade tore through a table on it's way to Hyde, who desperately back stepped again. The two blades clashed, and Hyde's blade dug through the floor. Another crack shot up the wall, exploding when it hit the bottom of the balcony. The entire metal frame was blown away from the wall, clattering to the floor with a defining racket. Pressing the attack, Geno stepped close and made a quick slash with Scox. The idea was to knock Hyde off balance, using his fear of the blade chain's reach.
The blade didn't extend however, and Hyde stepped back just far enough for Geno to build up the momentum for a massive overhead chop with Mammon.
Hyde braced his weapon with both hands, catching the massive blade with his own. He buckled under the force of the blow, dropping to one knee, but grinned up at Geno through the blood between his eyes. "Wrong move!"
Before Geno could act, Hyde's blade began to glow orange, and an explosion knocked them both apart. Geno flew backwards, feeling like his arm had been torn from it's socket. He rolled to a stop, losing hold of both his weapons in the process.
"Aaaaggghh..." A pained voice filled his head, and Geno's glowing eyes opened to see Mammon's eye staring right back at him. A long crack ran across the side of the weapon, emanating from the point where the two blades had struck. "You can't keep this up, Geno." The voice said again. "Finish the fight."
Geno pushed off the ground, grunting in annoyance. He almost fell over; the explosion had dislocated his arm. "Shut it..." He growled in annoyance. He knew Mammon was right though, he was fading fast.
He'd need a new strategy. He couldn’t use two weapons now, what with one arm dislocated. Hyde was probably weary of Scox's range by now, and weightless as it was to him, Mammon was too cumbersome to use effectively with his senses dulled. Luckily though, Geno still had a third option.
"Damn!" Hyde jeered, grabbing Geno's attention. "A short chain-blade, a big cleaver that you somehow can swing with one hand..." He looked happy despite being covered in blood; both his and Geno's. "You got some nice toys dude."
Geno stood up again, gathering both Mammon and Scox in one hand. "Wait till you see my next one." The glow from Geno's eyes faded as both weapons dissolved. Before the blood finished flowing into his veins, he drew another sigil on his arm and called. "Agrus!" A broken broadsword erupted from his arm, and Geno took a fighting stance.
Hyde however, looked disappointed. "That's your ace in the hole?" Geno ignored him, tightly gripping the hilt of his weapon in preparation for what was hopefully the last clash. "Dude, if you hadn't noticed, your sword's broke." Hyde waited for him to respond, but not for too long. He threw his sword up onto his shoulder, and clutched the hilt with both hands. "Alright, whatever..." This was good. Fighting unconsciousness and with only one arm to use, Geno couldn't let this take too long. And hopefully letting Hyde take the offensive would cause him to slip up.
Sure enough, Hyde charged. He took a few steps before swinging his sword, aiming to send another explosion Geno's way. Part way though his swing though, Geno flicked his wrist and tossed Agrus at him. Hyde stopped dead, bringing his blade up to defend himself. The glowing crack raced across the floor, but Hyde's attention was on the broken broadsword spinning through the air. Something was wrong though, it was too high. Not an actual attack, it was a...
Just as Hyde realised it was a distraction, he looked forward just in time for Geno's fist to connect with his nose. He recoiled in shock, and an explosion on the far wall blinded him.
Geno caught Agrus backhanded, and drove the jagged end of it's broken blade into Hyde's shoulder. "Dammit!" Hyde swore as blood gushed form the wound. He shoved Geno away and made a blind slash with his sword. He was off balance though, and spun with his swing. Geno quickly ducked under the attack and, with Hyde's back now to him, made a quick upward slash.
Hyde gasped, dropping to his knees as a long, crimson line began to appear across his back. His still glowing sword fell from his grasp, and he splashed down onto the semi-flooded floor without so much as a word.
Geno fell as well, but he caught himself on a nearby table. Everything came flooding back the second he took his first breath. "Son of... A bitch..." He muttered between pained gasps for air. There was no way Hyde would be getting up after that. Not under his own power, at least.
As Agrus melted and returned to his veins, Geno immediately turned to leave. He had to catch up to the girls, especially now considering those explosions must've done a pretty good job of signaling their presence.
He left through the first door he could find, along a long corridor with no lights. He kept his hand on the wall the whole time, partly to keep his balance, and partly because the low lighting and his fading vision made it almost impossible to see. He barley had the strength to keep his head up, looking at the floor throughout his trek.
It wasn't until he hit the bottom step of a staircase that he finally looked back; a staircase that he'd just descended. The girls where headed for the roof, why did he just go down a staircase? He couldn't remember the reason, or much of anything from the last little while, for that matter, but it was really going to piss him off if he'd circled back to that underground canal again.
He pushed open the first door he could find, revealing a brightly lit room on the other side. This one was definitely a bar, even more so than the last. The floors where wooden instead of concrete, partially working neon signs littering the walls, and a musty smell of food that had gone way past the expiration date hung in the air.
"Least I'm not going in circles..." Geno chuckled to himself.
"Who's that?" A voice filled the pub, setting Geno on edge. A man in a green hoody popped up from behind the bar top, holding a half-eaten hamburger in one hand. He stopped chewing when he saw Geno though, tossing his food aside and gaining an ecstatic grin on his face. "Oh man, you're one of them. Those dumbasses who busted Jasper!" He leapt over the bar and landed hard on the floor. "Awesome. Guess the first point goes to Oran." He said, gesturing to himself and cracking his neck. "That'd be me, asshole."
Geno clutched his forehead. "Ah, crap..."
Next Chapter – Fight or Flight