Grand Voyage- Log 112

Log 112: The Little Dragon
Mercuia continued to tumble through the air, her body almost flipping in a complete circle several times, such was the way she fell. And she would have struck the ground too, taking an immense amount of damage at best and dying at worst, if it weren’t for the intervention of a certain former bounty hunter.

Sirius lunged across the room, seizing the World Noble-turned-pirate and pulling her into a protective hug, crashing into the wall thanks to the speed of his own motion. As the smoke from the impact slowly faded, he dropped to his knees, allowing Mercuia to roll down to the ground much more gently than the fall would have allowed her. This done, Sirius placed one hand on the floor, forcing himself up.

“Oh?” Georges raised an eyebrow, “this is certainly unexpected. The mighty Sirius, helping someone beneath him?” As he spoke these words, Skyra landed smoothly behind him.

“Heh...” Sirius chuckled, forcing himself fully to his feet, “shows how much you two... or three now, I guess... know.”

“Not like you,” Jungu grunted simply.

“Heard ya the first time,” Sirius grunted, popping his neck with one hand, “but this is a special occasion. And I always pay things back, right?”

“Ugh...” Mercuia grunted, one of her eyes opening, the other following at a much slower pace. She pushed herself up slightly, regaining her bearings. “What...?”

“Oi,” Sirius said simply, now standing directly in front of her. She looked up, acknowledging his words.

“Can you still fight?” Sirius asked, looking back at her, “the flying one, I mean. Georges and Jungu I can take on just fine, but flying enemies are a pain in the ass.”

Mercuia thought it over for a moment, and then smiled while nodding, her determination returned. “Yeah!” she said, standing up fully as well and walking beside Sirius, facing down the Executives before them.

“Then get going,” Sirius said, crouching, “I’m gonna finish off these two real quick.”

“Real quick?!” Georges laughed, leaning back and flexing his muscles as if on reflex, “do you not remember, Sirius?! The days we used to spar so often, the amount of wounds that we managed to inflict on you? It was more than any other member, if I recall correctly! Do you agree with me here, Jungu?”

“Crush him,” Jungu growled, breathing what appeared to be steam out of his nostrils as he smashed his fist into his other, open palm.

“You see?” Georges turned back to Sirius, “what makes you think this will be anything like a quick figh-?”

“You punks seem to have forgotten,” Sirius grinned, his incredibly sharp teeth glinting in the light, “who exactly won all those little fights of ours.”

''It was a small mountain. And it was a mountain of bodies.''

''Not dead, mind you. Erik Khan would not have permitted the wanton slaughter of hundreds of loyal ‘fangs’. But beaten to a pulp, unable to move, speak, or remain conscious? Perfectly acceptable, as it turned out.''

''Georges lay a few inches from this pile, his own face streaked with blood. Jungu lay beside him, completely motionless, face also stained rained and eyes shrouded in shadow. Clearly he wouldn’t be of much help in the remaining battle, as short as it would almost certainly be. So, defying all of his muscles screaming at him to stop, the Kill Wrestler forced himself to his feet, staring up with a mix of apprehension and horror at the figure who stood atop the pile of defeated foes.''

''To any ordinary person, it would have seemed like an animal lost to time, a beast that wouldn’t hesitate to devour anything that it could, that would annihilate whole species if it was hungry enough. A creature that lived for battle, for the hunt, for the feeling of crushing its opponents; no, prey, under it’s claws and paws.''

''But for Georges, all he saw was a man. The second-in-command of Deathwatch, the strongest of all of Khan’s ‘fangs’, whom nobody could crush even if they tried, and many had, Georges and Jungu coming the closest. He was Sirius, a beast that they couldn’t even hope to touch for long.''

This beast looked up to the invisible sky and almost howled.

“Tch,” Georges growled, biting his lip, “and you think nothing’s changed from back then, do you?”

“Kill him,” Jungu snarled, pulling another bone from out of his pocket and clamping his jaws around it.

“Seems like you still don’t get it,” Sirius grinned, a black aura seemingly forming around him, conjured up by his fighting spirit alone, “then I guess I’ll just have to remind you of that little fear you felt when I had beaten all of you.”

The black aura whirled around, taking the shape of a wolf...

“Oho?” Skyra laughed, taking slightly into the air again, her wings flapping gently as her feet floated a mere inch off the ground, “so you desire to fight me again? With full knowledge of what occurred last time?”

Mercuia stood firm, crouched slightly and with her hands at her sides, splayed out slightly with her palms facing the floor. The former World Noble gave a simple nod, confirming her enemy’s words.

“Poor girl,” Skyra sighed, her wings beginning to move at a much greater speed, pulling the bounty hunter up and into the air, “well, don’t get all fussy if I defeat you easily again, you cute little dragon.”

“Cute and little, huh?” Mercuia asked, looking down.

“...?” Skyra tilted her head slightly.

“I made a promise... actually, it’s the first time I’ve ever made a promise like that,” Mercuia continued, the wind slowly picking up around her, “and yet I didn’t feel excited like I usually do... it’s odd... I felt... a bit more...”

The wind swirling around the former World Noble suddenly exploded outward, becoming a fierce tempest! Even Skyra had to pull back slightly, so as not to get her wings caught in such a treacherous flight area. Mercuia looked up slowly, her eyes fierce and ready for anything her opponent could throw at her.

“...Angry, I’d say.”

As if from nowhere, whitish-blue scales began to manifest themselves upon parts of her arms, legs, and cheeks, a single patch appearing on her forehead as well. They came into existence so fast, and yet with a sense of progress, as if they had grown there. The girl’s eyes changed as well, becoming a bit more reptilian and nature, and accordingly, much more cold than the warmth they had previously held. The wind around her increased to that of a gale, knocking anything that wasn’t immediately laid down into the air and back, causing pure pandemonium around her being.

Mercuia’s eyes finished their glance up, matching Skyra’s evenly.

“So, I’m a ‘little dragon’, am I?”

~End of Log~

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