Chapter 111: Team Deathmatch

Chapter 111: Team Deathmatch

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Team Deathmatch

The layered barrier I'd set up shattered almost the instant that crooked bolt of light touched itbut it was enough to give me a moment to respond. Recognizing the attack, I Accelerated as much as I could afford to, speeding up both my mind and body.

As I did, I was able to clearly see what was happening. The barrier shattered not instantly, but in pieces, cracks spreading from the hole that had been torn through it. At the center of that broken opening was a twisted bolt of lightning, spreading out from the point of contact like the branches of a tree. Forks formed in the lightning as it took an almost uncertain path towards me, winding one direction and then the other and occasionally shooting off other branches and tributaries. Like a blind man's hands, I saw those streams reach out and try to map out a path to earth, seeking the connection that would ferry Violet's great power.

This wasn't lightning, not really. These were the step leaders that charted the lightning's course, something vastly slower in comparisonthankfully. They were slow enough, in fact, that I had time to think and prepare, even as my body sluggishly tried to catch up with my mind as the fingers of my right hand curled. Spreading my sight through the whole of my skin, I took in the world around my, focusing first on the many trails of light before me. Paths were born as others faded, but at the moment I saw only three that seemed likely to reach a destination and so marked off a general area where they were likely to land even as fingers began to curl.

Turning my attention past the forks of lightning, I saw that a pillar of light had stretched down from Bianca's hand, falling on Olivia's position like the hand of Godor it should have, at least, but as it entered the pulsing, growing sphere of power that surrounded her, it abruptly bent at an angle and swung like a living thing to scythe down buildings in a wide arc, clearing everything between Olivia's tower and the river, likely in preparation of Azure's eventual attack. Olivia faced the sky, standing fearlessly in front of the blast that curved impossibly around her, and her arms were relaxed at her sides.

Even so, I could see beads of sweat forming on the skin of her face for the exertion of controlling so much space, the beginnings of tension forming in the muscles of her neck and back. Like Azure, she'd had no choice but to go all out from the very beginning, as pacing herself would mean nothing if she lost in the opening seconds of the battle.

But it made sense, I thoughtViolet had left, considering Olivia able to hold off Bianca's attack. My left hand began to twitch closed as I peered carefully at the patterns of Aura the surrounded my youngest sister, trying to get a feel for the area around her over the vast distance between us. After a moment, however, I shifted my attention again, focusing on Xihai for a moment to command her to act before focusing back on the city. Olivia was in place to hold of Bianca and Violet had struck at me, which left Sienna, Shani, Indigo, and Azure. I'd bet anything that Shani was preparing an attack and Sienna a defense, but while Sienna would likely focus on protecting Azure, who would Shani go for? I was too far away for her to focus on me first, but would she try to help Bianca? Go for Indigo? Attack her twin?

I'd need to keep an eye out, but I suppose I had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

The fingers of my right hand finally closed and I focused the power I'd gathered between them, forming a Thunderbolt in a flash of light. Taking aim, I called upon Vulturnus and felt him slide into the attack as easily as Crocea Mors did into my blades. Flicking my arm out, I sent the glowing spear hurling through the air with all the speed I could muster. It sank into the ground perhaps five meters away from me, driving deep into the stone, but even before it landed, I could see power rising from the attack. The opposite of the downward leader, the upward stream reached into the sky, guided by my and Vulturnus' will. In moments, it touched the nearest of the leaders, curving its path away from meand lightning struck with a brilliant, purple flash.

I shifted my perception of time, as well as my movement through it, and danced back a step, my other hand rising and hurling a Magic Missile into the distance. I monitored its flight with part of my face and focused on the new arrival. Where the lightning had struck, Violet now stood, both of her eyes now brightly glowing orbs. Her right arm had ceased to be made of flesh, unraveling into a crooked, writhing claw of violet energy, massive in comparison to her left hand, and though the fight had just begun I could see patches spreading over her body like veins of electricity. Though she seemed to have no irises or pupils, I felt it when her eyes focused on me and light shone from the back of her throat when she smiled.

"Hey, little bro," She said, her voice odd modulated as if static were disrupting her words.

"Hey, sis," I said and triggered the Thunderbolt. Lightning flashed up around her and Vulturnus rose with it, crafting a form out of the destructive power. Violet's attention immediately shifted, her mutated arm already reaching out in reflexive response. With a blinding amount of speed, her hand touched Vulturnus and the both of them were abruptly gone.New novel chapters are published on

A moment later, I saw lightning flash in the clouds above us, noted the rough location, and went back to work. Focusing on my flying Missile, I saw it enter Olivia's range and abruptly change direction, curving hard to the right when it hit one of the many patches of Aura my sight revealed. Four more Missiles formed in my and Bai Hu's hands and were immediately in flight. I saw Olivia shift in place, trying to get a bead on me even as she kept back Bianca's assault, but all she saw were four more attacks. One reached the edge of her control and was hurled down and right, the next penetrated several meters before flying straight up, and the remaining pair both turned hard to the right, even though the landed meters apart. None of the attacks came close to her and wouldn't have even if they hadn't been interrupted, but it worked as a test.

All around her, in a steadily growing sphere, were layers of Aura, each broken up further into multiple parts. Some patches were darker than others, some twisted into whorls or slid like brush marks across a particular layer, but there were hundreds and more grew with ever second, even as existing ones shifted. Above her, I saw Bianca turning her narrowly focused blast to strike at different areas of the sphere, forcing Olivia to focus and adjust, and I paid close attention to how the sphere around her changed in the process, considering. At the moment, Bianca seemed focused on wearing her down by forcing her to change and adapt constantly, looking to exhaust her before the sphere could grow large enough to take in anyone else, but

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt a change and more stepped leaders fell from the sky, angled behind me. Vulturnus was still far above me, somehow seeming weakened and drained, but too far away to help right this moment regardless. I made do without him, another Thunderbolt forming and flying after a moment's aim, positive side directed upwards and streamer stretching high. Lightning flashed once more and Violet reappeared, veins glowing more brightly as electricity crackled around her and wiggled its way under her skin.

"You've gotten pretty fast, Jaune," She continued as if our conversation hadn't been interrupted, hand reaching down to grasp the Thunderbolt and tear it from the ground. Without so much as a pause, she lifted the blast to her mouth, teeth sinking into the energy before tearing a chunk away. The mass as a whole lost its shape and twitched, rising out and down her throat as she literally devoured the attack.

I waited patiently for her to finish, turning and watching the city behind me out of the back of my neck.

"And you're as fast as ever, Violet," I replied politely, still focused.

Her smile widened slightly at that, trails of light shining between her lips. From behind her concealing hair, I saw the glow increase as the light spread outwards from her eye socket, consuming skin.

"Figured out the lightning thing, huh?" She asked.

"I read a lot of science books," I shrugged and explained. "The hardest part is just being able to actually see what's happening and react to it."

"Heh," She chuckled. "Well, even if you say that, only a few people have ever done it. I'd say it's pretty impressive, Jaune."

"Thanks," I answered, watching her carefully. She just smiled at me, completely still for a momentand then her arm unraveled further, exploding into dozens of stepped leaders again. I could just barely see them, but with only meters between us, there wasn't time for another Thunderbolt, much less a chance to dodge. I had only a moment to take in the sight and determine which leader would touch down first

Several massive structures within the dome began to glow, making me roll my eyes.

Of course there's be a giant laser.

"Let's go," I said, using Xihai's power to modulate the sound into something I could hear normally, just to see if I could. "Time to, uh, melt their ice caps or whatever."

Xihai nodded seriously, having no idea what I was talking about and seeming completely unbothered by that fact.

The core idea, however, seemed to translate just fine.

I brought up my arms and let Bai Hu rise around me once more. At once, I saw Azure's creations turn their twisted attentions my way, but it was too lateXihai thrust out a hand and the nearest of the gateways exploded inwards, water rushing through the opening. I felt the current pull me along and brought down my hands with all my might, Accelerating as I went and pushing myself through the opening the moment before Sienna reacted, freezing the areas over the gateways in response.

It was a bad move, made worse by being exactly what I expected. I reverted Xihai back to her spiritual state and drew her past the physical barriers before recreating her inside and then

And then I began to swim.

I swam as fast as I could, drawing upon my Acceleration, Bai Hu, and every other speed booster I had. I made a score of laps around the dome's circumference in a fraction of a second, starting high and going lower with every ten or so revolutions. The massive beast below us tried to react first, but Xihai turned the water in the dome against him, not so much using it to hold the beast down, but simply asserting control over several carefully picked regions of the interior. The dome was packed tight with water and with all the ways in or out sealed, there few places for the water to go and she simply reduced those options yet further.

It tried to rise, but the water refused to flow past or around it, pinning it down by simple refusal to move or be compressed. It tried to fight anyway, tried to lift the unspeakable weight above the boundary Xihai erected, and it wasted precious seconds on the futility, seconds where I continued to swim. The friction against my skin boiled the water on contact and Xihai split her focus to aid in the process as the ice on the inside of the dome swiftly began to melt. I heard Azure catch on to my plan at the sight, hissing something to Sienna about pressure cooking, but I didn't stop swimming. Moving in steady circles, I raised the heat and pressure higher and higher, directing it with Xihai's natural power even as my passage shattered buildings. In some places, I was gliding on steam more than I was swimming, which was actually kind of fun.

Well, for me that is. The rising temperature and my catastrophic displacement of water seemed to be wreaking havoc on the fine machinery within Azure's city and the steam was making the massive creature squelch in displeasure. Abruptly, an impossibly solid wall appeared in front of me and I narrowly avoided running into it as ice gathered upon its surface and nearby structures. I merely adjusted my course around it, swinging sharply again as several more walls appeared to try and box me in, but I saw them as they form and twisted sharply out of the way. Seeming to have enough, Sienna brought both of her hands down and made two walls in the sphere, freezing everything from the center to the circumference as if marking out the area of a giant slice of pie, filling the area inside with ice in the process.

That seemed like my sign to leave, so I dove hard the moment I saw the structures forming, heading for the bottom edge of the dome before Sienna could start taking shots at me again. Xihai peeled the edge of the creature up as if lifting the corner of a rugelecting another squelch of displeasure in the processand I hit the dirt full force, calling to Ereb as I did.

As easily as if I'd gone down a slide, I went right under the dome and continued upon my merry way, waving back at my sisters as I left, sure they could see me somehow. At the very least, I could see themand I could see them pouting at me. Well, they probably thought they were frowning in displeasure, but really, Azure had never been able to get past a pout.

That should keep her busy for a little while, I thought as I rose to the surface. I hit the air in a moment and my momentum carried me high into the air until I caught myself on a platform of air. Withdrawing Bai Hu again, I slid an illusion of absence over myself and knelt, looking down to see Xihai slithering atop the surface of the water.

Without a word, we both reached into the river beneath us, at once pushing and pulling at it. I focused my power and felt it spill out of my, flowing like water poured onto a smooth surface and yet trying to form something solid.

A skill has been created through a special action! Continuous manipulation of mana has created a skill with flowing elemental power, 'Tsunami.'

I didn't release the attack just yet, watching Violet and Bianca rage in the sky, light against lightning. Olivia was still expanding her territory, Azure and Sienna making repairs, and for the moment I had time to myselfso I used it. I charged the attack for most of twenty seconds, hanging silent and unseen in the air as my siblings clashed.

And then I let it go.

What seemed like the whole of the river rushed forth, flooding its banks and then rising high. Water came gushing down from its mouth and up from the sea, Xihai helping me feed the attack and push it forth. It rose over thirty meters into the air, then fifty, and then even higher as it hit shore, before crashing into the city of Vale like a fleet of airship.

Glass shattered. Buildings fell. Neighborhoods were flattened as water poured forth and crushed it beneath Nature's might. Bianca rose and Violet arced high into the sky, but Shani, Indigo, and Olivia had no choice but to weather the attackand I felt them do so, bright in my mind as Xihai whispered their locations to my thoughts. Keeping my illusion tightly around myself, I leapt down, landing in the mud and debris at the edge of the river and prowling quietly

My scroll started ringing. An alert popped up to inform me of it, but more then that I could hear it, even I my inventorymy Clairaudience at work. Except, no one should have been able to reach my scroll in Naraka; it wasn't a place that got much in the way of reception.

Given that, there was really only one possibility as to who it might be and a glance at the incoming signal confirmed it. I considered ignoring it, truly, a part of me half-expecting what was going to happen, butin in the end, I heaved a sigh and answered, solely because I knew it would make her happy.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Azure Beam!" She shouted into my ear at the top of her lungs, drawing out the last word.

A moment later a column of light as wide as a small neighborhood slammed straight into me and threw me through most of the city.