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The River The Dark Fiend of Fire was pinned to a tree by a powerful jet of water. The Dark Fiend of Water, who had previously been Sally Jennings, was the one who controlling the water. The Water was slowly extinguishing the Fire. Suddenly, the Fire Fiend's black hide and red hair melted away into flame, which was quickly extinguished by the water. From beneath the Dark Fiend's skin, Vincent Zeng rolled away from the tree and onto the dust floor. "I don't get it," Vince thought to himself. "I've been in the water lots of times as the Dark Fiend of Fire, and I've never been hurt this bad. Well, at least my human form doesn't get hurt much by the water." Vince rolled aside to evade a sudden stream of water. The water tore through the dirt, carving a long, small hole. Vince peered into the hole. Not a drop of water remained. "The water is gone," Vince thought. "Of course! It's not ordinary water. It's water-elemental magic. That's why it hurts my Dark Fiend form so much." Vince stood up and ran for Sally. She fired a burst of water toward Vince, but he merely hopped aside and continued running. As he approached, he dodged a few more water shots. When he was close, Vince let the flames transform him into the Dark Fiend of Fire. However, at this short distance, it was hard for Sally to miss. She fired a burst of water, blowing the Fire Fiend away again. As Vince rolled across the floor, being pushed by the water magic, the sharp pains came back. Quickly, he reverted to his human form and crawled out of the stream. "As soon as I get close, she blows me away with the water," Vince thought. "Wait, Lydia used that exact same tactic the first time we fought. Maybe I could use the same counter tactic." Vince transformed in the Fire Fiend again. He lobbed two fireballs upward so that gravity would pull them back down to hit Sally. He ran, hoping that Sally would be too busy blocking the fireballs to blow away Vince, just as Lydia had been distracted by the bricks. However, Sally did not fall for the trick. She fired a water blast at Vince, knocking him away again. As Vince was forced to return to his human form to protect himself from the water magic, Sally fired water upwards, annihilating the fireballs while they were mere inches from hitting her. "Okay, that won't work," Vince thought. A water blast came flying toward him. Vince noticed that the current had caught a small boulder. Quickly, Vince dove out of the way, dodging both the boulder and the water. The boulder smashed into the tree to which Vince had previously been pinned, knocking it over. Shards of wood splattered all around the broken stump. "Hmm..." Vince pondered. "I think I can use those." Vince became the Dark Fiend again, ran toward the stone, picked it up along with a rather large wood fragment, and hopped away to avoid a blast of water, which washed away the rest of the wood. Then, Vince ran toward Sally, hopping left and right to dodge more streams. When Vince was as close as he had been on his first attack, he dropped to the floor and reverted to his human self. Sally blasted him with water. She saw the water catch a body, so she pushed it along down the dusty dirt field. However, that which Sally had pushed was not Vince, but the boulder he had been carrying. The piece of wood Vince held in his hands was long and sharp, and he had plunged it like a stake into the ground to hold himself firm and steady against the current. Sally had mistaken the stone for Vince, just as he had planned. Then, because the stone was farther away, Sally had to lift her aim slightly, leaving just enough space below the water stream for Vince to fit safely. However, the water stream blocked her view of Vince, so she was completely unaware as to what Vince had done. Vince crawled on his belly a few feet closer to Sally to get in good distance. Then, Sally stopped her attack. To her surprise, the Dark Fiend of Fire leapt up from right in front of her and pummeled her. Vince bashed Sally with his fists repeatedly. Then, one final kick knocked her down and several feet to the side. As the Water Fiend climbed to her feet, she said to her opponent, "If you want close range combat, so be it." She threw a few water balls at Vince. As soon as they splashed across his body, Vince was paralyzed with pain. In this moment of weakness, Sally attacked. She pummeled Vince with her own fists and finished with an uppercut. Vince rolled across the ground, rolling toward the gorge. He managed to stop himself from falling in, but his necklace slipped off his neck and went into the gorge. Vince reached for it, but missed. It fell into the rapid river at the bottom. As Vince was about to dive in after it, he felt a hand, wet with water elemental magic, grab him. "You're not getting away," Sally said. "The Shadow Disruptor," Vince cried out through the pain. "I need it. Otherwise, Ragnarok will find us." Sally ignored the statement. She instead threw Vince across the dusty field, away from the gorge. Vince hit the ground hard. However, he used the remaining momentum to roll himself onto his feet. Sally threw more magic water balls, but Vince reverted to his human form, so that the water would splash harmlessly on his body. Suddenly, Sally rushed forward and pummeled Vince, smashing him in the face, ribs, and gut. Vince fell backward, landing with a quiet thud and a sigh of pain. Climbing to his feet again, he coughed into his hand. There was blood. Sally rushed again. Vince speedily transformed into the Dark Fiend and blocked the punches with his arms. Then, when Sally threw balls of water magic, Vince reverted to his human form. The water had no effect on Vince, because the Dark Fiend of Fire was away. Then, when Sally rushed to attack, Vince became the Fire Fiend again and slammed Sally with burning fists and kicks, knocking her down. "Cheap tactics!" Sally said as she slowly stood up. "Transforming all the time so that my attacks are useless." "Hey, it works," Vince replied. Sally quickly tossed some water balls at Vince. Vince, like before, reverted to his human body to counter it. Then, he saw Sally blasting at him with another water stream. In response, Vince let himself fall to the right to dodge it. Turning the fall into a roll, he swiftly moved behind Sally. Sally could not turn around in time to prevent Vince from grabbing her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her neck, choking her. Then, he caught fire, and the Dark Fiend of Fire was burning Sally with a blazing aura of fire. The Dark Fiend of Water groaned as she tugged on Vince's arms, trying to free herself. Suddenly, magically produced waters burst forth from the ground, launching Vince into the air. His body was wet with water magic, causing tremendous pain. As he landed, the water dried off, having already finished its attack. Vince climbed to his feet. Waves of water were swirling around the Water Fiend, creating a shield for her as well as a pool for ammunition. Vince ran in for an attack. He zoomed sharply to the right to avoid an incoming water blast. However, Sally turned, wielding the water stream like a giant whip, much faster than before. Just as the water was about to reach him, Vince reverted to his human form. The water element didn't hurt him, but the current hit Vince a glancing blow, knocking him to the ground. However, he was now close enough for a fistfight. Vince rolled under the water whip, jumped to his feet, and charged in to attack Sally. She turned the water stream around to knock him away, but Vince leapt with all the strength his human legs could bring him. He sailed over the offensive stream of water, over the defensive swirling waters, and landed behind Sally. Vince tried to punch her through the liquid barrier, but the instant his hand touched the swirling waters, he was dragged by his arm to Sally's front side. There, she blasted him with water, sending him a long distance down the dusty field. Vince lay there on the dirt, beaten and bruised. Then, he heard engines running. He looked up behind him and saw a truck and a fleet of motorcycles. Grey-uniformed men and a Mystic were approaching on these vehicles. "Ragnarok," Vince said to himself. "They're here." Before he could get up or otherwise move, four or five Ragnarok soldiers hopped off their bikes and pointed their rifles at Vince. Motarius, silver sword in hand, climbed off his bike and walked up to Vince. "The Dark Fiend of Fire," Motarius taunted. "Fallen in battle?" "Water's over there," Vince calmly said without pointing. "Of course," Motarius said with cool, contained emotions. "I'll take care of her. In the meantime, don't you dare try to escape." As Motarius walked over to confront Sally, two of the Ragnaroks picked Vince up while a third handcuffed his arms behind him. "Those are magically enchanted cuffs," the Ragnarok said. "So you won't be able to use your Dark Fiend abilities and escape." Elsewhere, several Ragnarok soldiers were firing at the Water Fiend. However, when the bullets hit the swirling waters, they bounced away at odd angles. Occasionally, a bullet would hit a Ragnarok ally. Still, no bullet could pierce the liquid shield. Then, with one quick motion, Sally used a stream of water to brush them all away. When she saw Motarius, she fired a stream of water at him as well. However, Motarius simply held up his left hand. Holy energy coalesced to form a shield, which blocked the water. Sally intensified her water attack, but it could not pierce Motarius's defense, just as the bullets could not pierce hers. Motarius was virtually untouchable. Then, Motarius began chanting. Yellow strands suddenly appeared out of the air and tangled themselves around Sally. All of her water spells--both the attacking stream and the defending swirl--disappeared. Wherever the yellow strands touched her body, smoke and steam rose, making a hissing sound. Sally screamed in pain. Motarius then fired several blasts of Holy energy at Sally, dealing tremendous damage to her. Motarius ran up to her and smashed her with the hilt of his sword. Sally body hung limp on the yellow strands. Motarius chanted quickly and quietly, and the strands melted away. The Water Fiend fell to the ground, unconscious. Then, the black hide became water, which then flowed away, leaving only Sally Jennings, the human, behind. The Ragnarok soldiers were in awe after seeing Motarius fight. While they were distracted, Vince swiftly jumped up and kicked two of the soldiers who were escorting him. As he ran for the gorge, the soldiers began firing at him. While running, Vince held up his arm and adjusted his body. He took the bullet through his left wrist, but in the process, one of the cuffs had been broken. Then, he dove into the gorge. As he fell, he slammed his right hand into the cliff wall, which moved upwards at a fast pace. Vince's right arm was badly scraped, but now the cuff was completely broken off. Before he landed in the river, a flash of flame transformed him into the Dark Fiend of Fire. He landed with a mighty splash in--and this made Vince glad--ordinary water. "Mandragon, send the Wyvern," Motarius said. "The rest of you, detain the girl." As Ragnarok soldiers went to deal with Sally, Mandragon, sitting inside the truck, pressed a few buttons on a control panel. The back of the truck opened, and the Wyvern, the metal bird, flew out to chase Vince. Vince did not realize that the Wyvern was chasing behind him. He was too concerned with the Shadow Disruptor, so he swam as fast as he could with the river. "It has to be at least five miles away," Vince thought. "The Shadow Disruptor only hides things within a five mile radius, and I'm not being hidden." He swam on the surface of the water, pulling the water alternately with each arm. He kicked his legs for added speed. However, the rapid river made it incredibly difficult, throwing him left and right, knocking him into rocks, stones, and cliff walls. In addition, the fight with the Dark Fiend of Water had weakened him. Still, he swam, for his life truly depended on it. Vince heard the shot, but had no time to react. He felt a sharp, stinging burn in his back as the plasma bolt hit its target. Vince turned over and started swimming the backstroke so that he could see the Wyvern. He threw a few fireballs, which bounced right off the Wyvern's metal hide, not even singing it. Then, as the Wyvern was about to fire a second plasma shot, Vince submerged. The plasma boiled a few gallons of water above him, but Vince was safe underwater. Vince saw a few more boiling patches of water as the Wyvern continued to fire its tail-mounted plasma gun, trying futilely to shoot Vince through the water. Vince swam underwater, frog-style. It wasn't the fastest method, but it was the safest, for it was the only method he knew that didn't require the surface. Besides, the current would push him toward the Shadow Disruptor, so he didn't have to worry about not catching up. Then, Vince saw bullets ahead of him. He rolled quickly to the left to avoid them. Vince was forced to swerve desperately to the left and right as the Wyvern fired its machine-gun turrets. The surface glare made it nearly impossible to see where the Wyvern was aiming. This made Vince as good as blind. Vince took a string of bullets to his back. He coughed out bubbles of air and blood, then decided that it was safer on the surface. It was better to have to deal with plasma shots as well as bullets than to have to dodge bullets without knowing where they were. Then, as soon as Vince surfaced, he was pulled out of the water. Reacting wildly, Vince looked up. The Wyvern had legs. "No, no, no!" Vince yelled as the Wyvern began bringing him back the other way. Vince set his fists on fire and began punching the jointed knee of the legs. In response, the tail bent down to shoot Vince. Quickly, Vince twisted his body upward and kicked the tail, knocking it up. The plasma shot, instead of hitting Vince, hit the Wyvern's legs. They broke, and Vince dropped back into the river. As Vince desperately swam, the Wyvern fired its machine guns and its tail-mounted plasma gun, forcing Vince to dodge left and right, back and forth for his safety. Finally, he saw it--the dark orb hanging on the necklace. The current was dragging it toward a nearby waterfall. Vince swam with all his remaining energy in a straight line for the Shadow Disruptor, letting a few bullets hit him so that he could reach it faster. Vince grabbed the necklace. Then, he saw the Wyvern flying down at him, aiming a little to the side so that it could cut down Vince with its razor sharp wings. Vince let himself fall off the edge of the river and down the waterfall. The Wyvern flew down and hovered in front of the waterfall, but it could not detect Vince anywhere. In addition, it had lost Vince on its Magic Radar. It turned around to face the waterfall, and saw nothing. Then, it turned back toward the river and slowly scanned the scene. Suddenly, Vince, the necklace back on his neck, burst forth from the waterfall and landed on the Wyvern's back. The Wyvern flew back and forth, trying to shake Vince off its back. However, Vince clung to the Wyvern's robotic neck. Then, the Wyvern pointed its tail toward Vince and fired. Vince quickly shifted himself to one side, so that the Wyvern's plasma gun ended up shooting itself. Vince took advantage of the newly formed hole in the armor on the Wyvern's back. He gathered up flame energy in his hand to form a burning fireball and threw it into the hole. The explosion threw Vince off the Wyvern's back and into the river. From there, he saw thick, black smoke rise from the Wyvern's back. The Wyvern's flight was no longer steady. It staggered back and forth, falling and rising as its hover mechanisms wavered. In its death throes, it tried to shoot Vince with its machine guns, but the turrets simply burst into flame and fell from its body. It tried the same with its tail plasma, but that gun suffered a similar fate. Then, the Wyvern lost complete control over itself and fell straight down. As it landed in the water, the Wyvern exploded, sending hundreds of gallons of water and steam in all directions. With the battle over, Vince reverted to his human form and let the river's current take him to wherever it would. Mandragon looked into a hand-held device. It had a miniature monitor that displayed graphs and stats. Suddenly, it went blank. "No!" Mandragon yelled. "The Wyvern has been destroyed." "That Dark Fiend of Fire has evaded capture many times," Motarius said gravely. "He's a lot stronger than we thought. Still, we may be able to convince him to turn himself in. Let's go to his hometown, Trioustan. There, we might find what we need." |