Aurin ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He needed to reach the first aid room as quickly as possible and then return to Ruby. Blackjack or not, he couldn’t leave her in her current state. Once he found something to clean her leg with and it was bandaged up, he would defeat the others and bring an end to this round.
Gorunze let out a clanking wail as he was struck in the head by a sword from out of nowhere. He collapsed on the ground as a Chopchop backflipped away. Upon landing, the insect braced itself for retaliation.
“And there goes one,” said Spade from the shadows.
“Another cheap shot,” said Aurin through gritted teeth. “Is that all you’re good at?”
Spade chuckled and gestured towards the monitor. “If you’d found me before I found you, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. It was very good of you to try and help Heart.”
“I will help her. Once I’m through with you, Jackson.”
“It’ll be much faster if I defeat you, Aurin. Once you’re done, the game ends and the rest of us are free to leave.”
“And I won’t be free to leave?”
Jackson laughed dryly behind his visor. “Nothing is ever as it seems with the Ashmore family, Aurin. Expect the unexpected. Now, are we going to battle or what? I’ve been looking forward to teaching your Breminia a lesson after last time.”
“You’ll have to earn that right,” said Aurin, holding up his tamer glove. “Breminia, you’re on watch. Keep an eye out for any cheap tricks and intervene as necessary.”
Spade’s head dipped slightly as he observed Aurin. Gorunze was banished and immediately replaced by Quetzel.
“That’s your chosen monster?” asked Spade in disbelief. “A pathetic showing, Aurin. Or are you trying to insult me?”
“Quetzel, show him you’re not the weakling he believes you to be.”
The sky serpent let out a hissing screech as she weaved through the air, making her way in a zag-zagged motion towards Chopchop. The armoured insect swung his mighty blades, looking to slice the yellow snake in two. Quetzel had been spending copious amounts of time training her speed and was agile and fresh enough to dodge each of the blows.
Jackson snorted out a robotic laugh. Aurin could tell the man was smirking, but he would not be baited into a response. Quetzel would speak for herself and show the mercenary what he refused to recognised.
As Chopchop’s strikes grew fiercer and quicker, Quetzel picked up her own pace and twirled and swirled more rapidly. It was exhausting trying to keep up with the Chopchop, but she wanted him sluggish before she used her elemental powers. As it nicked her tail feather, she knew that she was going to be injured soon if she did not enact her plan.
Flicking her tail as she soared into the air, she knocked Chopchop’s helmet down, obscuring the swordsman ant’s eyes momentarily. Drawing in a deep breath, she blew hard as Chopchop adjusted his helmet. Too slow to brace himself, he was knocked off balance. With a ram of her Quetzel’s head, Chopchop was taken down and slid several yards away.
“Impressive,” said Space with a chuckle. “But that is nothing compared to—”
The Blackjack was cut off by an intensely sharp gust of wind that almost threw him to the ground alongside his monster. Chopchop had been halfway to his feet before he was knocked right back down again.
“Gale force blast!” ordered Aurin.
Quetzel harnessed her energy, channelling it into a single laser-like burst of air. As it erupted from her mouth like an energy beam, spiralling wooshes of air surrounded it, spreading outwards and dissipating. The beam struck Chopchop’s armour, blasting its breastplate into several chunks. It clicked and screeched as it was flung backwards, before slamming into a vending machine and crumpling the front. Several drinks fell into the trough and one of the cans burst, spitting fizzy cola all over the downed ant.
“Eugh,” grunted Spade, steadying himself. “This isn’t the end, Aurin. Go and tend to Heart, and we will resume our battle soon.”
With the toss of a smoke bomb, Spade disappeared. Aurin knew rightly that Spade cared little about what happened to Ruby, rather he was waiting for Aurin to be whittled down so he could claim victory. Once, Jackson had wanted to show he was powerful enough to defeat Aurin at full strength, but it had become clear that Aurin and his team were well outside his reach in terms of power and skill.
Wasting no more time, Aurin ran along with Quetzel and Breminia flying after him. He kicked in the door to the first aid room and tossed the drawers, searching for what he needed. He grabbed a pair of scissors, some bandages, and aloe vera gel. He initially picked up a bottle of rubbing alcohol, but thought that might things worse rather than better. After filling his arms, he rushed back up the stairs where Ruby was lying whimpering. When she heard Aurin coming, the whimpering stopped.
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“Aurin, be careful!” she called out, pointing down the corridor.
Quetzel and Breminia rushed in front of their tamer, using their wind and water powers to divert an incoming barrage of icicles.
“I thought we were on the same side,” snapped Diamond, kicking the ground as he stared at Ruby.
“What are you playing at, Nolan?” asked Aurin. “Ruby’s injured and we don’t have time for any of your nonsense. Her wound needs treated first and then we can fight.”
“Oh, in that case,” said Diamond with a shrug. “No. No, that isn’t going to work for me.”
“What’s wrong with you?” asked Ruby, her voice strained. “You treat me so callously when we’re supposed to be teammates. And you wonder why I alerted Aurin to your ambush?”
“Do you enjoy being a traitorous worm, Nolan?” asked Aurin. “You throw away my trust, the trust of the Underground Dojo, and now you betray the last people who will have your back; the Blackjacks.”
“It’s not about trust,” said Nolan, scoffing. “It’s about gaining power and becoming the best, yeah? Master Ashmore is the one to align myself with and nobody else.”
“You bet on the wrong horse,” said Aurin. “Let’s finish this. No more running. Quetzel, you’re up again.”
Diamond nodded to the shadows and his Pillaberg appeared, surrounded in a barricade of icy stalagmites. With a blink of its lone eye, the stalagmites rose into the air and turned, focusing their points directly at Quetzel. She hissed at the icicle construct, and the monster hurled the heavy projectiles.
A furious tornado whipped up with Quetzel at the centre. As the icicles neared her, they were flipped away. They were sent spinning through the air and crashed against the ground, the walls, and the ceiling, shattering into hundreds of pieces.
Quetzel charged towards her opponent, brining her tornado with her. She barrelled through an erected ice wall, which barely slowed her. What she had not expected, however, was for Pillaberg to encase itself in a thick outer layer of ice. She slammed into it, cracking the ice, but Pillaberg remained unharmed within its shell.
“Kyeeeeess!” screeched Quetzel, having been injured all the worse by her own maintained momentum. Still tired from her battle with Chopchop downstairs, she was not in optimal condition, and her tornado vanished, leaving her vulnerable.
With a swing of ones of its lumpy hands, Quetzel was smacked through the air by Pillaberg and was nearly taken to the ground. She stabilised herself at the last second, flying upwards and backwards to avoid the follow-up barrage of icy shards Pillaberg summoned.
“You need a second wind,” said Aurin, rummaging in his pocket. “Catch!”
Diamond did a double-take as he saw an orange, almost golden, sun-shaped shard flying through the air. Quetzel caught it, wrapping it in her tail.
“Stop her!” Diamond ordered, but it was too late.
Pillaberg’s icy spear rebounded off the glowing Quetzel, who was lengthening considerably. Her body thickened, her wingspan widened, and her tail feathers flowed further back across her head. As the light faded, Quetzel emerged as her final stage of evolution; Quetzalia.
With a caw, she mustered up her newfound strength and charged towards Pillaberg. It tried to harden itself once more, but it was not enough. Its ice cracked and the sturdier than ever sky serpent smashed into its eye. Its weak point struck, it toppled backwards and fell unconscious.
“Agh!” called Diamond, thumping a fist into his hand. “No matter. Angree!”
He dismissed his Pillaberg and his Angree appeared in its place. The wooden, puppet-like Minakai yelled in a great rage as it beat its own chest. It flexed its arms and then swung for Quetzalia, who effortlessly weaved out of the way of the fist.
“Don’t waste your efforts,” said Diamond. “Full power!”
“Your mistake to make,” said Aurin with a shrug.
Angree’s fists glowed green as it channelled its nature elemental power into its hands. It unleashed a devastatingly fast series of strikes in mid-air, but Quetzalia sped away. Even as Angree pursued, throwing punches as it ran, Quetzalia was too slick to strike. The intense flurry of blows was quickly tiring the nature elemental, who had to stop after half a minute. It panted, its arms feeling heavy as it held its fighting stance.
“Your Minakai are much stronger than you ever pretended,” said Aurin. “But it’s you who is weak. You lack strategy, Nolan. You could have been so much more.”
“Shut up!” cried Diamond.
Quetzalia somersaulted in the air, bringing her tail up high and then slamming it down onto Angree’s head, knocking the exhausted monster out with a single, solid strike. Its knees buckled and it fell into a heap on the floor. It did not stir as everyone stared at the defeated Minakai.
“No!” howled Diamond, dropping to his knees. He pounded the ground in frustration, making grunts and screeches like a child having a tantrum. “No! No! No!”
“Give me your card and get out of here,” demanded Aurin, holding out his hand.
Diamond arose, tore off his mask and flung it down the stairs. Nolan’s curly hair was dishevelled as he pulled out his glasses and put them on. He looked at Aurin with utter contempt for a moment before taking out the Ace of Diamonds. He held it between two fingers and flung it, allowing Aurin to snatch it from the air.
“I’ll see you later, yeah?” said Nolan, turning around the departing. He muttered obscenities as he walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the looping corridor.
Free of distraction, Aurin hurried over to Ruby and kneeled beside her. “Stay still,” he said, taking the scissors and cutting away the scraps of burned clothing that could rub against Ruby’s wound.
“Don’t take away the parts fused to my legs!” she yelped, her eyes wide with fear.
“I wasn’t going to,” said Aurin. “Do you know how many times Luna and I have had to deal with burns during training? Nothing quite this bad, but she taught me the basics of how to handle them some time ago.”
Aurin ordered Breminia to spray a light mist for a minute to keep the wound cool and clean away any loose debris. The flesh was raw and had quickly swollen, but it was manageable for the time being. Aurin wrapped Ruby’s leg in a bandage, making sure it wasn’t too tight, and helped her back to her feet.
He took her on his back, carried her down the stairs, and set her in a chair where she could wait until the second stage of Alfred’s game had concluded. As Aurin was about to take his leave, Ruby began laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Aurin asked her.
“The game has ended for me,” said Ruby, shaking her head with an odd smile on her face. “I’m not sad like I thought I would be. I’m happy, if you must know. Dear, sweet Aurin. I feel bad about mocking your heroism before. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” said Aurin. “Just try and keep out of trouble from now on.”
Ruby smiled, this time it was a genuine smile that showed how beautiful she was despite her current dishevelment. “Keep a tight hold of what makes you who you are,” she said. “The cynical can always be proven wrong in the end.”
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Aurin's Team:
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