Chapter Text
Chapter 19: He's a phantom
"Lifeweave: Aura Blade!"
Ray lept into the air, his sword glowing orange. Swinging it down, the slash shot out, splitting several bandits in their path in half. After that, they surrounded him, attacking the lion from all sides. Ray's arms, however, bulged and moved faster than before, his slash cutting down all who approached him with ease.
Letting out a mighty roar, he went for another swing. But he was thwarted as a man came out of the ground and grabbed his paw. He immediately tried to kick him, but his foot went right through. And just as the man went for a knife, Ray used his monstrous strength to toss the intangible man away. The bandit, though, landed on his feet and dusted himself off.
He had black and white hair and wore a long brown trench coat with black pants and a shirt. He wielded a single dagger, but that intangibility in front made Ray weary.
"You animals always have to shed on my coat. How annoying." The bandit raised his hand, and his group stopped in their tracks, backing away from the guards of the gate.
"I don't speak to outsiders, and certainly not bandits. f*ck off." Ray pointed his sword at the bandit, but the man showed no fear and stepped forward.
"Then small talk aside,. You have some people that belong to me. We're also looking for the spearman bard who's been f*cking up our operations. Give them up now, and you'll live to see tomorrow."
"f*cking knew it," Ray swore under his breath. He pondered his options, thinking of what to do. On one paw, there were countless bandits in front of him, not just a meagar force. He felt he and we were going to struggle to repel the attack, but we could do it with some proper strategy. But with the introduction of the boss, he doubted that would be the case anymore.
On the other hand, all he had to do was give away the people stored in the gatehouse, and problem solved. Almost zero risk, and no casualties on their end. But as a lion working for the omega, he didn't have to think twice about his decision. Leaping forward, Ray thrust his sword through the man, and the bandits around him were shocked as their boss was swiftly impaled.
"May the depths of hell celebrate your death."
"Heh. Didn't you already forget what my ability was?" The lead bandit stepped to the side, phasing through Ray's sword. He then attacked the lion, kicking him in the stomach.
As Ray staggered, he drew himself a dagger and brought it down, but Ray caught it, twisting the bandit's wrist before going in for a kick of his own. His foot, however, phased through his chest, and he instead retreated back to the gate before the bandit could retaliate
"Rudeness aside, if you're done with your pointless struggle, allow me to introduce myself. I'm D. Phantom, Paid Intern of the Dark Hydra. Now that you know, you can dread the enemy you made this day."
Dark Hydra? Those f*cks again. Of course, I had to run into them now.
"Intangibility doesn't make you invincible. It is just very annoying to kill. I'll demonstrate that for you personally." Ray's legs glowed orange as he and the rest of the guards drew their weapons. Phantom and the other bandits on his side saw this and prepared their own weapons.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Three verses… uh. I don't f*cking know. It's just not a good idea." Phantom warned.
"I don't cower in fear when I face death. I only pray that I can cheat long enough to kill my target. You're not getting the prisoners, and you're certainly not getting through this gate."
"Well, if you're that confident,. I'll look for my men. Speaking of which, get em."
Phantom seeped into the ground, and the bandit archers fired off a volley of arrows as the other rushed into battle. Ray stepped forward and swung his blade, cutting away all the arrows. He then dragged his sword across the ground, disappearing from sight in a cloud of dust. The bandits stopped and blew the dust away with their magic, but they were shocked to see the three guards gone.
"Where did he-?"
Ray came from the sky and punched the ground, sending tremors through the earth that knocked everyone off their feet. As they were recovering, he brought his claws down on a nearby bandit, then swung his sword to take out three more.
One of them got up and ran at the lion, but their arm was grabbed by a tentacle and was dragged through the air. Once the bandit reached the tentacle's owner, he shifted his arm back to a human fist and punched him right in the jaw. He then transformed his arm once again and swept away any nearby enemies.
The final gate guardian flew into the air with her wings and dove down to the ground. Swooping in and tackling several bandits at once, she landed on the ground and drove two daggers into another.
As she was attacked from behind, she unfurled her blade-like wings and blocked the two attackers before retaliating with a dagger of her own.
The fight continued on, with the guards killing as many bandits as they could, but they pushed back due to the sheer size of the force. The fight continued on with the guards holding off the bandits for a short while, but they were pushed back by the sheer amount. They all had taken some damage, but Ray kept on fighting to buy time as the other two fell.
As he was going for another attack, his sword was shot out of his hand, and he was suddenly grabbed by two bandits. Holding him by the arm, a masked bandit rushed in with his spiked mace and swung it. Ray, however, threw up his legs, catching the bandits hands between them. Lifting the bandit into the air, he slammed him into the ground. He then backflipped, escaping the grip of the two bandits, before slashing at their necks with his claws.
"BRING IT ON!" Ray roared, his cuts and wounds slowly closing as his muscles bulged. Being closed in on all sides, Ray glowed orange as he prepared an attack. But before he could, Phantom rushed in out of nowhere and swung for Ray's neck.
Thinking quickly, the lion tried to duck, but he wasn't fast enough, as his face was cut instead.
"Damn it, not the eye!" Ray yelped. Covering his right eye with his paw, he focused his last good eye on Phantom as he circled him.
So this is what Neila sees? Poor kid. Ray grumbled. With his sword nearby, he picked it up and stared down at Phantom.
"Sorry, I'm late. Apparently stabbing a bitch wasn't enough to kill them." Phantom scoffed. Ray took notice that he only had one dagger now but was still unsure of how to approach him. His only plan now is to stall long enough to live.
"Since you idiots can't jump correctly, I'll handle things here. You should go inside and find our men. We gotta leave before that bard arrives."
"Yes, Phantom!"
"Not a chance!"
Ray tried to run towards the gate, but Phantom followed and threw a punch at his face. Ducking the punch, Ray's leg muscles bulged as he kicked at Phantom. But the kick went through him, demolishing a tree behind him.
"How pitiful." Phantom punched Ray in the face, launching him back into several trees. The lion barely had a moment to recover as he took a knife to his hand while guarding his neck.
Spinning on the ground, he tripped Phantom up with a few kicks, then lept back as his entire body bulged. He then charged forward, but Phantom seeped into the ground before he got hit. Afterward, his body tensed up as a great pain surged over him.
"You Adreni-Lions are very annoying but, oh, so limited in your abilities. That muscle enhancement of yours will only be your downfall."
"Get away from the Delta!" The winged guard fell from the sky and stabbed Phantom. Her attack went through, though, but she recovered with a roll and tossed her dagger, much to the same result.
The octopus came in, swiping at his neck. Phantom, though, just raised his own knife and cut off the guard tentacle as it approached.
"Taylor! Feil, you're hurt! Get out of here!" Ray ordered.
"We're not leaving you die, Delta Ray; we just..." As Feil spread her wings, both of them fell to the ground. With blood gushing out, Feil screamed in pain, only for her to fall silent as her throat was slit seconds later.
"Feil!" Taylor yelled. "Lifeweave: Octopod Mayhem!"
Leaping into the air, Taylor transformed into a black octopus and launched dozens of punches at Phantom. The Intern laughed as his weapon and legs glowed white. Leaping into the air, Phantom diced up the tentacles and firmly planted the knife into Taylor's beak.
Falling back down, Phantom grabbed onto Taylor's body and used the momentum to toss his right back into the ground. There was only a crash from what Ray could see as bits and pieces of tentacle fell from the sky. Slowly walking over, Ray viewed Taylor's corpse as it lay mangled on the ground.
In just a matter of seconds, they were dead. They barely even finished what they were saying, and all he could do was watch. A single tear fell from his eye, with Phantom landing simultaneously as it hit the ground. He stood behind Ray, a quirky grin on his face as he cleared off his dagger with one of Feil's feathers.
"Sorry that we were interrupted. Now we can get back to where we were."
Ray looked back at his enemy with nothing but fury on his face. Ripping off his tattered shirt, he cleaned off his blood before tossing it to the ground.
"Seriously, no banter? No, "I'll kill you, bastard!" Just silence? Why can't you guards just be enthusiastic for once? I'm trying to kill you, not make you depressed."
"My strength will rise above you, and my speed is unmatched in all of Foo."
"Finally, some last words. Now you'll have no regrets."
"In case you decide, there's nowhere to hide, because hell is where you're going too! Planet Boost!"
"What!"
In a puff of smoke, the demi-human turned into a full lion and attacked Phantom with a newfound might. He was relentless, attacking every vital point possible in an attempt to kill him.
The paid intern was forced on the back foot as he struggled to phase through every attack.
He finally got a chance to unleash a counterattack as Ray lost his footing. But that attack was then easily parried, and Ray's claws drove deep into Phantom's chest. Scratching with all his might, Ray's arm's bulged as he violently ripped them out. He then leapt forward as Phantom writhed in pain, extending his leg as his muscles bulged once more.
"Lifeweave: King Lion Collapse." King Phantom, his stomach ripled as he was launched through several trees. Struggling to get back up, Ray ran and kicked Ray further into the ground, not letting up his assault until he jumped back.
"Ugh. Damn you body... stay with me!" Ray struggled as his legs tensed up; a surge of pain flowed through them. Meanwhile, Phantom got up and jumped, bits of Ray's claws fell to the ground as he went intangible.
"Impossible… how?"
"I have you figured out now. When you phase a part of your body at a time, you leave others vulnerable. A fast set of strikes can easily overwhelm you. It also seems you can't start a phase in a place if it's compromised. I have to thank my claws for that one." Ray explained.
"Well, la dee da. You think you have me figured out. Well, news flash, all you did was sign your grave."
"Resonance of Celestia. Fall Constellation: Ursa Major
Resonance of Celestia. Greater Bear: Ursa Major
A brown aura erupted from Phantom's body, forming the form of a massive bear in the sky. The bear let out a mighty roar that could be heard throughout the sanctuary, then shrank itself and entered the chest of Phantom.
"This magic? It's otherworldly."
"Correct, you are you savage feline. This is the special magic granted to the paid interns of the Hydra. The Resonance of Celestia. And instead of an explanation, how about I give you a demonstration? [Claw of the Bear: Nebula!]"
/~/
"[Galaxy Sun, Galaxy Moon!]"
Alray raised his hand to the sky, summoning a sun and moon in the sky. Calling down scorching and radiant beams of energy, Alray cleared hoards of the bandits approaching them. He was the first on the scene, along with a few other guards in the area. He held the spell
"[Melodic Magic: Eclipse!]" Combining the two spells together, the eclipsed sun crashed into the bandit forces and exploded.
"Everyone spead out!" A bandit yelled. At his command, the legion decided to split up, climbing on buildings and moving between alley ways to avoid bunching together. They then began to unleash volleys of arrows onto the sanctuaries ground forces, forcing them to fall back behind a building
"Alpha Alray, reinforcements have arrived!"
"Tell them to take cover and spread them out. And block off all of Gate Street. We cannot let them through!"
Alray peeked his head out for a second, only for an arrow to narrowly miss him, hitting the wall beside him. "Damn it. We gotta take those archers out as well. [Planet Stardust Road]"
Alray flew forward and punched one of the archers in the face. As the others aimed their bows at him to attack, the glitter that followed him fell onto them and exploded. Leaping off the Roof, he slid down the building and rushed into battle with the rest of the fighters.
With their combined strength, they pushed back the bandit attack. Alray himself ran through hoards of the bandits with his magic and grabbed the bandit in the tiger mask by the neck, slamming him to the ground.
"Call off your forces, and you'll live." Golden energy flowed into Alray's hand as his grip strengthened. But all the tiger did was laugh in his face and drop his chain.
"Mages, fire now!"
"What?"
"Melodic magic: Lightning Storm!"
The clouds around the sanctuary turned dark as lightning cackled from them. All the bandits hid as lightning began to strike. Alray released Tiger and ran back, deflecting a bolt that was about to hit someone. But seconds later, another bolt struck and hit another.
"Mages! Cover!"
"Yes, Beta. Power of the earth, rise as my cover. Protect us from the elements so we may recover! Melodic Magic: Earth Fortress!"
The earth began to rise, and the forces of the sanctuary ran inside the earthen fort. Alray peeked his head outside, only to pull himself back in as a bolt almost struck him.
"Damn, I didn't see that coming."
"We just need to take out the head, Warlock." Hertsith asked.
"Think you can identify them?" Raising his finger, Alray pointed it at one of the mages. But as he was about to fire, a light fell from the sky and crashed into the group of mages. The spell then suddenly ended, and the sanctuary forces ran back out to finish the job.
"Nice job, Alray!" Herthsith smiled.
"Uh, that wasn't me."
"Then who was?"
"It looks like the Ken'bitch captain was responsible."
"Really." Herthsith looked over to where the light fell and saw Flores fighting against the Tiger Bandit. She was amazed by the display of skill, watching him use powerful spells and lifeforce to dominate the chained scythe wielder.
At one point in the fight, Flores was surrounded and attacked by several other bandits. But the ground under them opened up and swallowed them, trapping them in the ground. Leo then suddenly appeared and hit Tiger with a surprise uppercut, effortlessly knocking him out.
"Uppercut finished, not bad."
"Eh, melee combat is more Shiku's thing. I'll stick to magic next time. [Star Rock]"
A rock appeared in front of Leo's staff and flew off, colliding with a bandit rushing at them.
"I still say learn some moves in case you're in a melee situation. Cinder, Fonhare, stay safe."
"Alright pops." Fonhare and Cinder lept out, clearing through hoards of enemies with their combined flame drill technique. Flores looked proud at his pets, almost as if he could shed a tear. Unfortunately, he couldn't cry on command, so all he could do was look touched.
"Beta Leo!" Alray shouted. Running up to Leo, he quickly saluted.
"Alray, are you well?"
"Yes, we have some injured from the lightning, but we're holding them off. We just need to secure the gate."
"Flores and I can handle that. We just need a path forward."
"Well, I've always wanted to try a galaxy-level spell. Let's test it." As Flores raised his hand, a ball of flames rose from the ground, burning the feet of the bandits at the gate. As the ball completely formed, it popped out of a boy who fell flat on his face."
"Oww," Tommy groaned.
"Is that Tommy?"
"Oh no, he followed us." Leo panicked.
"Oi, what the deal, kid?" Tommy was picked up by the collar, but he smirked.
"That wasn't my plan, but I'll gladly take full credit. Now take my spell, Fantastic Overload: Mega."
Tommy reached into his bag and tossed a charme on the ground. It began to burn but quickly put itself out.
"Aww man. Did I mess this one up too?"
"Whatever kid, you dead!" The bandit raised his fist. But as he did, the disc on the ground flashed white as it exploded. The explosion engulfed many of the bandits and even damaged some of the buildings. But Tommy was instead launched away and caught by Flores before he could hit the ground.
"That also wasn't my plan, but I'm willing to take full credit!"
"Dude, are you okay?" Flores asked.
"Indeed! This cloak provides resistance to fire and explosions." Tommy declared.
"How many have you been through to have something like that made?"
"Uhhh… So, Mr. Leo, what's the plan now?" Tommy avoided.
"We'll just clean up the rest on the main road. [Attack Order]" Deploying a field on the ground, Alray shifted his stance, acting as if he were wielding a greatsword.
"No way, the infamous order skill legends speak of. You're-"
"Yeah, yeah, a hero. You can glaze me later."
"Glaze?" Alray asked.
"Whatever. I'm going to blow everyone away, so be ready to move Leo."
"Allow me to help, then."
"Power of the sun, shine your light, expand yourself, and quell this blight. Power of the moon, shift your phase, weave your light into a heavy haze. Strengthen the hero with your grips combined and form a might eclipse. [Melodic Magic: Eclipse!] "
Summoning a miniature sun and moon into the air, the two combined, forming a solar eclipse. Suddenly, a pop-up appeared within Flores view, directing Flores to use Boomerang Flag in tandem with Alray's eclipse. Being a sucker for cool stuff, Flores followed the command of the system and raised his flag, absorbing the spell.
As his flag glowed black and orange, Flores tossed his flag towards the hard, causing a massive explosion that dwarfed Tommy's in size. The aftermath led to a few destroyed buildings, along with the front gaze completely blown apart. But the bandits who were guarding the gate were gone as well, so half a success at least.
"Woah, that's more potent than I expected." Flores eyes widened.
"Yeah, combo skills can do that. We can worry about the damage later; let's go." Leo took off running with Flores, overtaking him seconds later.
"Wait! I'm not a babysitter!" Alray exclaimed. But by then, Leo and Flores had already disappeared.
Sigh. "So these discs explode, huh?"
"Well, not in the way that it's intended but yes."
"Good enough. Lets start setting them."
/~/
Leaping through the air, Phantom came down, attacking Ray with a translucent purple bear claw.
Ray lept out of the way and attacked, but his attack phased through, and the claw on Phantom's other hand slashed him across the cheek. Phantom then went in for another slash, but Ray slid under and bit him on the leg. He then waggled the intern around a bit before tossing him away.
"It looks like you can't phase while you're attacking either."
"Not like that information will do you any good! Scratch: Dwarf" Swiping his paws, two slashes of energy flew at Ray. Picking up his sword in his mouth, the Lion clashed with the slash. He struggled at first, forcing him to enhance his muscles to be able to deflect it. Soon after, however, Phantom came down from above and kicked Ray into the ground.
Struggling to get up, Ray tried to enhance his muscles once more. But his body failed to react. So he instead tried to use lifeweave, but he lost his focus as Phantom pressed him back into the dirt.
"Goodbye Lion. It's been fun. Jaws of the Bear: Neutron!"
A pair of massive purple jaws appeared above Ray's and bit down into his neck. At first, there was a clank with no damage being dealt. But seconds later, the jaws grew more powerful, and the teeth continued to penetrate deeper and deeper into his neck. Ray struggled to escape, grunting in pain as he forced his muscles to enhance in an attempt to block the pain. But as the jaws got stronger, and his muscles starting to fail, all the lion could do was close his eyes.
Apologies Omega. I've failed you. The lion sighed. See you soon, Reiana.
"[Planet Holy!"
Coming from the sky in a beam of light, Flores landed and blasted a beam of light that crashed into Phantoms torso, blasting him away. Leo then came out of the ground and summoned a wall that Phantom crashed into. That wall then fell, crushing the bandit instantly.
"Feil, Taylor." Leo looked around the battlefield, seeing the events of the battle. After looing for a bit, he gasped and ran over to something. "Ray! Ray! Are you okay!?" Leo exclaimed
"C–c-could be b-better." Ray gasped.
"Thank Miguel, you're alive! Flores, are you a healer?"
"I got nothing. And my bandages are in my bag?"
"I k-knew l-l-letting you in... w-w-was a b-bad id-d-ea."
"f*ck off, I didn't expect this to happen. f*ck, I'm sorry."
"Just f-forget me. H-h-help the t-town." Ray pleaded.
"Don't worry about it. Alray, the civilians, and the rest of the guards are handling the leftovers. The initial outbreak is accounted for."
"He's s-so getting p-promoted."
"Indeed. Let's get him back inside; there's an infirmary we can take him too."
"Don't you ignore me!"
Phantom came out of the ground, thrusting his knife at Flores neck. Kicking his foot up, Flores knocked the knife out of his hand and went in for a punch. His punch, though, went right through.
Flores felt a chill up his spine as Phantom phased through his body. On the other side of the hero, Phantom caught his knife and went in for a stab to the back. But Leo got in the way and took the hit, his body turning to stone as the knife shattered on his skin.
"f*cking beast replicas!"
"Ya!" Leo kicked Phantom, launching him away.
"Him again? Who is this guy?" Flores grumbled.
"Phantom. D-dark Hydra. Paid intern. Intangibility." Ray passed out on the ground, and Leo covered him with a slab of stone.
"Someone from the dark hydra. And he's a paid intern like Lee." Leo surmised.
"The power of phasing is an annoying ability as well. Almost near the level of annoying as an auto dodge. [Waypoint banner: Territory Claim.]" Flores opened his hand and grabbed onto the marking flag.
As on cue, Phantom got up from his kick and ran at the two with his claw.
"Umm, Flores, are you sure about this?"
"Don't worry. I saw this once on TV." Flores ran forward as Leo was confused.
Tossing his flag forward, it went through Phantom. At the same time, Flores activated his Blazing Flourish and swung with a Beginners Flourish, but those two also went through.
"How many times do you have to attack to understand?"
"Not much. Waypoint banner!!"
As the flag went through Phantom, Flores appeared above where his flag was and swung downward. "Advanced Flourish!"
"Hide of the Bear: Dwarf!"
As Flores swung down, the translucent form of a bear appeared and took the hit. Phantom then turned around, swiping Flores with his paws and launching him into a tree.
"Ow. How?"
"You think I'm an idiot. Do you know how many weebs try that move against me?"
"Recognize? That's from... wait. Knows what a weeb is." Flores gasped. "An otherworlder."
"And knows anime moves." Both of them gasped.
"You're another worlder!" Both of them guess at once.
"That's why you have the broach; Tylia put a hit on you."
"... sh*t, so that's how you've been tracking me... Wait, that's a hit!? I thought it was for potential recruitment!" Flores exclaimed. "f*cking Lee. Trying to kill me from the grave." Flores grumbled
"Master Longinus didn't bring you here. And since you're attacking our forces, I assume you're trying to mess with our territory. Well news flash, buddy, we have claim over this world, so you and your deity can f*ck off."
"Longinus? Deity?"
"Don't play dumb, Claw of the be-"
"Pillar Strike!" Three pillars of earth rose from the ground and shot themselves at Phantom. The distracted intern was hit by the pillars and carried away.
"Look, I don't know what you two are talking about, but we need to stop him now!"
"I know. We just need to capture him alive. He knows something. Something about a Longinus; the spear pierced Jesus."
"I don't give a damn about Jesus. We're killing this guy, Flores!" Leo demanded.
"Damn. Assertive Leo is scary." Flores muttered. He got up from the ground and cracked his knuckles. He looked down to his side, seeing the scratch mark he received from the attack, but he shrugged it off and covered it up with some paper. "This dark hydra sh*t is getting on my nerve. Now I see why Lizen has a grudge."
"Well, it seems that he can't phase if he can't see the attack coming. So we need to jump him."
"Now you're speaking my language. Let's kick some ass, Leo. [Bastion Dash!]"
Flores zoomed forward and slashed at Phantom, who had just escaped the pillar. The intern saw this and leapt into the air as Flores's entire body phased through his. After landing, he turned around and ran at Flores, but the hero stopped himself and turned back around, swinging at Phantom's magic paw to stop it.
After some struggle, Phantom jumped through Flores's entire body and kicked him in the back. When the hero retaliated, he seeped into the ground and burst out seconds later with an uppercut to the hero's face.
Just as he was about to slash at Flores once again, Leo came from behind and shot a stalagmite through his leg. Grunting in pain, Phantom removed the stalagmite and threw several slashes at Leo. But Flores got in front and deflected them all.
Flores then used another bastion dash to rush at Phantom again.
He braced himself, ready to phase through Flores's flag. But instead, Flores feinted the attack and wrapped his leg with paper instead.
As Phantom was confused, he phased through the paper, only to receive a stone fist to the face from Leo. Flores then came from behind, cutting his back with an advanced flourish.
"Well, would you look at that? You can only phase parts of your body. Is that because you can't do a full phase? But you have to jump every time you do a full phase. Is that how you end up in the ground?"
Flores and Leo continued their attack, and Phantom struggled to adapt. They struck in almost perfect unison, and were always on both sides of him. If he phased one part of his body, the other parts would be hit instead by the other. And focusing on both at once was difficult too. Leo would always use his earth magic to disrupt the focus on Flores, and Flores would always be moving, making any attack he sent very unpredictable.
"[Avatar of the Bear: Neutron!]"
With no other choice, Phantom clasped his hands, growing to a massive size with his bear avatar. With the amount of damage he took, his avatar looked as injured as he was. But it was still massive, none the less.
"[Strenght Order!]"
"Earth, rise into the skies; hold the thing that threatens our eyes. Flow quickly; save us now. Multiple pillars to... help us now! Damn it!"
Phantom raised his foot and brought it down on the two. Flores used his hands to catch it, but was quickly becoming overwhelmed.
"Leo, what the f*ck!?"
"I panicked, okay!"
"Damn it all!"
Flores increased his arms and legs with Hanzou and pushed the foot further up. Flores held it for about thirty seconds, and he could already feel his legs start to fail him.
On the flip side, Phantom's foot began to fizzle out along with the rest of the avatar.
"Leo. Now!"
"Alright! Earth, from the land, rises to the skies. Seize the load that binds our allies. Carry and grow, grasp and throw, and push them aside so we may go. Power of Gaia, hear my command. Remove this Ursa from this land."
"Galaxy Hand!"
A massive hand of earth shot out from the ground and grasped onto the ursa's leg. Stepping with all his might, Leo moved in synch with his hand and punched the avatar.
Phantom was knocked over, and Flores himself fell to the ground, huffing and puffing from the amount of weight he held.
"Goddamn… I never thought I could squat that much."
"I'm not finished yet!" Bringing his fist down, the earth followed his movement once more and pounded the avatar into the ground. The avatar shattered, and Phantom fell to the ground as the hand punched him as well.
"Leo… Are you open to recruitment?"
"I'll think about it. Now, imma tap tap out."
Leo dropped his staff and fell to the ground next to Flores, breathing heavily as well.
"You good, bro?"
"Mana exhaustion—holding a spell that massive was a bit too much for me. Same goes for him."
"Who said that!?"
"Phantom limped out of the hand, his translucent bear arm looking cracked with holes all over.
"f*cking hell, man. Don't you ever give up?"
"Mana Elixers, bitch. I can do this for days." Phantom teased.
"No healing elixer, though?"
"Broken. But I don't need it to finish you off. That vassal weapon is quite cool, though. I might take it after I kill you."
"Try it. Territory Claim!"
Flores rushes forward and throws his flag.
"Don't think the same trick will work twice!"
The second it went through, Phantom swung his paw upwards. But he hit no one, and Flores ran at him with a punch.
Phantom noticed and immediately turned back around. He took a punch to the face, but then retaliated by grabbing Flores and slamming him to the floor.
"This is my win. Ursa Grip: Dwarf!"
Phantom's hand grew, his paw closing around Flores neck. He gasped for air and reached out his hand. But Phantom laughed.
"Would you look at that? Your weapon abandons you. You don't have that tech as well, huh?"
"No… they just… have… a habit of… running off."
"What?"
"I didn't use… waypoint… banner. Boomerang… flag." Flores wheezed.
Suddenly, a flag came from behind and struck Phantom in the chest, the end reaching Flores hand.
"Let's see… who'll last. Blazing Flourish!"
Flores' flag caught on fire, and he pushed it in and out to keep the flame burning. Sure, being choked was painful. But it doesn't compare to having your insides on fire.
Flores accounted for this, and soon enough, the paw holding him vanished as Phantom phased through the flag and knelt on the ground.
"Boomerang Flag"
Not wasting any time, Flores ran forward and toss his flag at Phantom once again. The intern phased through, but in one swift motion, Flores leapt through his top half and pointed two hands at Phantom's back.
"Star Dual Holy!"
Two beams of light escaped from Flores hand. One phased through the upper part of his body, while the other eviscerated both his legs.
"Victory."
Flores fell to the ground, struggling to catch his breath. He could still feel the lingering feeling of Phantom's paw on his neck, and it took a bit for that feeling to go away.
Looking over to Phantom, he watched as the intern tried to crawl away. With no hesitation, Flores swapped to his Prism Trumped and shot a beam of light.
Phantom didn't see the attack coming. And the second he looked at the flash of light, it was too late, as the beam suddenly went through his brain.
"Okay… now victory."
Flores fell to his knees, looking over to the gate. It was silent; the sounds of fighting were nowhere to be heard. His thoughts wondered a bit, thinking of how the fight ended and in who's favor.
Feeling guilty, he forced himself up but fell as his legs gave out on him. Instead of hitting the ground, however, he hit the Stoney back of Leo, who struggled to hold him.
"Geez, you're heavy."
"Leo… I thought you were out."
"It only takes a bit, like recovering from a sprint."
"I'll keep that noted." Flores coughed.
"You've really gotten strong, Flores. I'll handle the rest from here."
"But the town, I need to stop them. They're here because they followed me after all."
Flores flinched as several white explosions rang out from the city.
"We got it covered. No need to worry."
"Bu-"
Leo raised his fist, his entire arm turning to stone over Flores head. "It's an honest mistake. It's not your fault. We got it from here!" Leo politely exclaimed.
Flores flinched again, not expecting the sudden anger from the meek dog.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Sorry."
"No problem." Leo's arm turned back to flesh as they reached Ray's tent. "I think you should go to sleep; you must be tired."
"Not a bad… idea."
Flores passed on Leo's back, his weight crushing Leo. With a sigh, Leo transformed, picking up both Flores and Ray and taking them inside.
/~/
Meanwhile in Foo
"Of course I have guard duty during Taco Fest. How evil is that witch?" Shun complained as he tinkered with his guns.
"We're shortstaffed as always, you should know." Lizen clapped back.
"Right, because Flores ditched us. Is he getting a demotion for that?" Shun put his guns down as he heard a knock at the door.
"Probably."
"He should." Flores opened the door, and a woman stood outside of it. Immediately, she lunged into Shun and held him by the neck.
"Evening Shun." She sung.
"Swift. I thought I said, Wait for tomorrow."
"Oh, but I couldn't help myself. I'm dying to let it out." Swift went in for a kiss but jerked back after noticing Lizen.
"Umm. Do you mind?"
"Well, I'm not closed to the idea of a threesome." Lizen joked.
"Out, now!" Swift demanded.
"Alright alright. See ya Shun."
Lizen left the room. The second the door closed, Swift pushed Shun away and gagged.
"Ew. I almost kissed you."
"f*ck off, and why are you here? A woman sneaking into your room at night and not wanting sex is a bad omen." Shun scoffed.
"That's cuz it is. D. Phantom is dead. And the rest of his bandit groups in Foo are in chaos!"
"Stop yelling, you idiot. Also, Phantom died? How the hell do you die with intangibility?"
"f*ck, should I know. Someone has to tell this to the boss and I don't have the rank to do that yet. So get off your ass for once and do something useful."
"Says the girl who does nothing but watches someone all day." Shun muttered.
"What was that!"
"Nothing. I'll inform the boss."
"Good." Swift grabbed the knob to the door, but Shun stopped her at the last minute.
"Hold up. To make this seem more realistic-"
"I'm not stripping in front of you. f*ck off." Swift opened the door and left, leaving Shun dejected.
"She'll come around sooner or later. Now what to do?"
