Leopold lifted his wand again, '' finish it he yelled.
The shadow road and charged forth. Eric focused, clenching his fists and taking a fighting stance, ready to defend himself. The shadow threw a punch but Eric dodged instinctively barely missing a blow. Arthur knew this was going too far, that his brother was going too far. ''I have to do something'' he thought, watching as Leopold's shadow puppet towered over Eric, its fists pounding the the floor with deadly force.
without hesitation, he sprinted forward.
The shadow was persisted in the fight, it threw a swift straight punch, it's massive arms aiming for his face. Eric froze, caught between dodging and bracing himself for impact.
''No...its too quick i cant dodge it.''
When everything seemed over that instant- that the attack was inevitable- He had no chance of winning....
Arthur drove in.
Quickly he grabbed Eric by the collar and yanked him further backward just in time.
'' You alright ?'' Arthur asked quickly.
Eric coughed, brushing dust off his T-shirt. '' yeah....I've been through worse.''
Arthur glanced at Leopold '' Enough! Leo, seriously this is going too far.''
Leopold tilted his head, standing there with his wand raised, smirking arrogantly behind his summon. '' Arthur the saint.'' he called, his voice sounding mischievous.'' You really don't know when to stop. So I'm guessing this is a 2v1 now?''
'' You're going to regret this Leopold, you messed up dad's study, and his guest.'' Arthur said.
The shadow beast roared loudly, almost sounding like it was giving a warning.
'' And you think i care? the maids will deal with this mess. why on earth should i stop when I'm having so much fun, my new that civilian brat doesn't seem to know his place, and noww!...My morale-less older brother has come to join the fight. How lovely.''
'' Shadow puppet.'' Leopold called.
Instinctively the monster growled in response.
''Bruise them.'' he commanded.
The shadow puppet reared back again, ready to strike- its eyes focused on the duo.
Arthurs eyes widened. ''Lucia!'' he shouted, calling out to one of the siblings. '' Quickly the camera! Take us to the field!''
Lucia, a girl with blond hair and glasses, stood there hesitated for a split second, immediately she snapped herself back to her senses. Reached into a bag and pulled out a vintage camera. '' Arthur!, make sure you're all within range!'' she cried.
The shadow puppet raced toward them eyes glowing with killing intent. Arthur and Eric stood still, waiting for the right moment.
Once everyone was within range.
Arthurs eyes widened. '' Lucia, now!'' yelled.
Lucia nodded quickly, swung her camera into position, fingers trembling. with one quick click-FLASH!-the entire room exploded in a burst of blinding golden light. For a second, everything froze. The air felt weightless. The room fell eerily silent. The room fell into a silence. When the light cleared -Arthur, Eric, Leopold, and the shadow puppet-were gone.
Lucia blinked, lowering the camera. From the slot beneath the lens, a photo slowly slid out. she caught it mid-air, heart pounding. On the glossy paper, the image of the four appeared on the photo, perfectly captured inside one frame.
She exhaled shakily. ''Thank goodness.., that was getting out of hand.''
But it didn't end there. Before she could relax, a faint glowing tear appeared on the paper. Her eyes widened '' oh shit.'' The photo was tearing. '' oh no-no, no, no!''. She wasted no time, without thinking she dashed toward the window, flung it open, and hurled the photo outside. The moment it reached the outside- WHOOM- the tear opened completely creating a rift, like a tear through the fabric of reality.
Out of the rift the four, -Eric, Arthur , Leopold, and the shadow puppet- shot out, thumbling onto the grassy training field behind the Ranvier Manor. The rift disappeared and a blank photo fluttered to the ground. Eric groaned, pushing himself off the ground, dazed and bruised. '' Ahh?... What...what just happened, how are we outside?''
Arthur rubbed his eyes. '' Lucia's morale is powerholder based,'' he said between breaths. ''She has a camera which can use to trap and relocate anyone with a photo, pretty cool right?.''
Eric blinked, still stunned.'' You mean...we were in a picture?''
''hehehe yeah pretty much, welcome back to reality.
But as expected, they got no break period, cause before Eric could respond, the ground trembled. The shadow puppet roared loudly. Across the field Leopold stood tall, brushing the dust from is coat, smirking wickedly.
'' Oh i swear i will make this guy bleed.'' Eric thought.
Arthur tensed, stepping protectively in front of Eric. '' Get behind me, he's not done yet.''
Eric didn't really care, he tightened his fists. His breath came heavy as a revengeful smile drew across his face. '' Neither am I.''
[30 minutes in the battle.]
The duo were still going at it - bruised, panting , but not yet broken. The shadow sprinted toward them, transforming its hand into a sword. Arthur and Eric dashed across the grassy field, dodging each slice and cut by inches.
'' Eric left!''
''I got it!'' Eric replied, sliding under a clawed strike that tore through the air where his head had been a second ago. They worked in sync, weaving, dodging and blocking every attack with what ever they could find, but the shadow wasn't stupid, it mimicked they previous attacks and moves. It learned-and it adapted.
''Scatter, We have to split!'' Arthur shouted. '' confuse it!''
'' No problem my guy.''
Quickly the boys broke apart, dashing in opposite directions. The puppet hesitated for a second, its glowing eyes flickering between them, but remember it had adapted. So it lunged straight for Arthur.
Arthur's eyes widened. '' Crap- why me!!''
The beast swung. Arthur ducked, rolled, and felt the gust of air slice past his ear. '' Oh shit that was close.'' Then it came again, arm transformed into a spiked ball, the puppet raised struck. Arthur moved fast, dodging and sidestepping.
Then-an opening.
The monster raised its arm for a fatal strike, but it's chest was exposed. Arthur grinned. '' Got you.'' He dashed forward, planting one hand on the ground for momentum, spun around, and launched himself upward-both feet smashing right into the shadows chest. The puppet staggered back, its smoky form trembling while Arthur flipped midair and landed on one knee.
Eric saw the moment, he dashed forward, leapt, and landed on the monsters back, wrapping his arms around its neck like a feral cat clawing for dear life. ''yeehaw! how do you like that, huh!?''
But like i said earlier. It adapted. The monster roared, thrashing wildly, a third arm sprung from its back, grabbed Eric by the shirt and hurled him straight across the field right into Arthur.
''Wha-''
WHAM!
The two crashed into the dirt, rolling until came to a stop. Arthur groaned, brushing grass and dirt out of his hair.'' Eric...you alright?''
''Yeah,'' Eric coughed while he clenched his chest, '' I think I broke something.''
Leopold laughed.
Arthur sighed'' now it has three arms now.....,'' reaching into his pocket. '' Guess we're doing this the hard way.''
Eric stared at him ''We are doing this the hard way.''
Arthur chuckled while he reached into his pocket, pulled out a ring and slipped it onto his finger. With an incantation the metal shimmered with runic light, glowing bright blue. Like magic, a rapier formed in his hand- thin, elegant, deadly, with it's blue gold designed blade with a golden hilt. looking like something straight out a fantasy novel or movie.
'' You could have done the sword thing earlier!!?.'' Eric blinked, dumbfounded. ''wait- didn't your brother say you don't have any powers?''
Arthur smirked, twirling the glowing blade. '' He's right. I don't. But, my uncle's a system-based user. He pulled this beauty out during his dungeon quest. Gave it to me to ' keep my self out of trouble.''
Eric smirked back, cracking his knuckles. '' yeah, looks like that's working really well for you ,huh?.''
Arthur's grin sharpened. ''Bruh, shut up and cover me.''
And after that funny conversation, they charged back to the -
BOOM!!!.
A massive shockwave crashed tearing the field, sending dust, grass and debris flying. Everyone was thrown off balance. The air crackled with energy as blue-white sparks drew in the air.
The wind howled violently. The sky dimmed as dust and debris swirled around them in a raging storm. Eric shielded his face with his arms. Arthur dug his rapier into the ground to steady himself as the ground quaked beneath his boots. Slowly, the rumbling began to fade. The wind died while the sparks dimmed.
Arthur and Eric squinted.
Step by step, a figure emerged from the curtain of smoke-calm. His outfit was sleek and tactical .A masked man wearing dark blue trimmed suit. Metal streamlined plating guard on his shoulder arm, like armor designed for speed and precision. His hair long, floating and glowing white.
He had a black metallic band marked clearly with the number 8.
He glanced around, Calm but commanding. ''What happened here?''