Dragon Storm: Chapter 31: Rio, Yun, Shayde, and Andal, Desperate Effort Vs. Desperate Effort!
#31 of Dragon Storm
Author's Note:
Hello again you guys! Not much to say I guess. I just want to say thanks for the support! Please enjoy the chapter! ^_^
SoFurry Cast
DS-Rio: http://ds-rio.sofurry.com/
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A Soviet Dragon: http://a-soviet-dragon.sofurry.com/
Yun95: http://yun95.sofurry.com/
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Eveser: http://eveser.sofurry.com/
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Naraku: http://naraku.sofurry.com/
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Aresues: http://aresues.sofurry.com/
ASCII Artwork:
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from Jorn Berger
I do not take credit for this artwork.
-PREVIOUSLY ON DRAGON STORM-
"My great tuning fork blade was never intended for dueling, you know!" Yun said while a gust of wind blew past them both.
" Same here, buddy! Mine is for killing those foolish enough to blockade me!" Shayde said while feeling the gust of wind fly past him also. This made waves in the silver grassy plain that stretched out as far as the eye could see; every wave sparkled with the flow of the wind.
"Tsk! He has a tad more power in wielding the blade, well then in that case..." Shayde thought and then rushed at Yun.
"Hmph. Such a monotone effort. I take back what I said about you being better then Rio." Yun said as he raised his sword up, high into the air and parried downward to block Shayde's attack.
After Shayde's attack was blocked he quickly jumped back and staggered back into his stance. Something was wrong. Shayde couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew that he had been watching Yun's movements and therefore he couldn't grasp why he felt this way. Just then Shayde's vision got blurry for a few seconds and then quickly returned back to normal again.
"What was that sword attack just now? At first glance, it looked like a downward sword parry, except the roles for hitting are reversed... damn it! Unless I don't finish him off for good... he won't let me move forward." Shayde thought to himself as the wind pushed Shayde's fur, which caused his fur to sway along the flow of it.
======================= (Meanwhile) ============================
Rio was walking calmly along the shore of the island and headed right for the docks. Rio's red and black highlights hair was flowing in the gusty breeze as he approached the docks slowly. He could hear the seagulls chirping and flying up above, and the sound of the waves from the ocean splashing against the docks. Rio was close enough to the docks now, that he could see General Andal and the passed out May on the docks, just as Yun said.
" Andal... you have been a pain in my ass since the very beginning. I will be the one to finally stop you!" Rio shouted as he proceeded to walk onto the docks.
OPENING#2:
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Sha la la I know that someday
I will find what I'm chasing after
I pray that light will shine into your heart
And set your empty soul ablaze
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My desire to see you just once more
Is so strong I cry till my heart's torn
Fireflies have flown into summer
And they will never come back again
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You left me with a kiss on my lips
And told me that you had to go
And although I was sad
I just nodded my head
And then you walked away and left me
I trembled and cried with grief
_ Sha la la I know that someday_
I will find what I'm chasing after
I pray that light will shine into your heart
And set your empty soul ablaze
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Sha la la my dear beloved
I can still see your precious smile
The dazzling light shining from the moon
Illuminates tomorrow's way
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Let it shine; let it shine, to brighten your way!
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I do not own Hotaru no Hikari .
Dragon Storm
CHAPTER 31: Rio, Yun, Shayde, and Andal, Desperate Effort Vs. Desperate Effort!
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Rio walked onto the docks and observed the seen. May was lying dead still on the docks while General Andal was standing right in front of her. He viewed Andal's cloths; he was covered head to toe in a normal military general's uniform. He was covered in his golden feathers and staring back at Rio with his jet black eyes. Andal's expression instantly told Rio that he had a thing or two to say to Rio about something or another and after awhile of silence General Andal spoke. Although it was hard to hear him over the splashing waves of water, Rio still focused on what Andal was saying just to make him out.
"This is the end of the road for you!" General Andal shouted while glaring at Rio.
"General Andal! I remember last we met on the battlefield!" Rio shouted back while closing his eyes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - (Flashback: An earlier event) - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Just then General Andal pulled out an H&K MP5 and started firing it at Rio. Rio quickly dodged the rapid gunfire and dived for where his S&M 9mm and sword was. Wild Horn was in the way of a few shots and nearly evaded the gunfire and shot at where Rio dodged. Rio saw this coming and quickly strapped the sheathed sword around him and jumped out of the way and shot his handgun at Rock Lizard who simply turned his back and the bullet was blocked. He then exited the room while laughing. Meanwhile Wild Horn's bullet ricocheted off the wall and knocked General Andal's machine gun out of his hands.
"Why you!" General Andal muttered.
May panicked and reached for the cross bow on her back and aimed an arrow at Rio in midair and fired it. Rio quickly grabbed it and snapped it in half and landed right behind her and exhaled a fireball at Tiger Wanghu and was about to use May as a hostage. Just then however War Wolf used his G.O.N. to control Rio's arm and made him aim his S&M at his face and forced him to press the trigger. However it was too late. Rio had already unclipped the magazine and all the gun did was make a click noise. Tiger Wanghu dodged the fireball and rushed at Rio and went for an uppercut. Rio was still shocked by what War Wolf did and the hit landed. This sent Rio into the air and Cross Wing smiled as she shot off her PSG-1 sniper rifle. Rio could do nothing and got shot by Cross Wing. Blood spurted out and Rio landed on the ground with a thud.
" I never miss my shot!" Cross wing said with delight.
Just then General Andal reached his H&K and started to fire it again. Everyone got out of the way and shot their weapon at Rio. Rio Struggled to get up and as Wild Horn's shot only hit him, dodged everyone else's. Rio screamed in pain and shot a breath of fire at them all making them all dodge it and fire back. Rio quickly jumped on the wall and started to run on it very quickly. Rio dodged all the incoming bullets by wall running and jumped off when he reached the corner of the room. When he landed there was a grenade that landed with him that somebody threw. Rio quickly got on all fours and dashed out of there. The grenade exploded and Rio had hoped on top of the bed and dashed past everyone. Cross Wing and War Wolf started to bleed heavily. They knew Rio was fast, but not that fast. Just then Rio's skin started to pulse red repeatedly. Rio knew his time had finally come.
"I don't feel like I'm going to lose!!" Rio shouted while grinning evilly.
Wild Horn tried to warn everyone to get down, but it was too late Rio blasted a mid sized fire ball and it hit General Andal. He stops, dropped, and rolled, and screamed. His feathers were burning off of him. May ran to his side while Rio hoped on top of Tiger Wanghu and clawed him over and over and over. Wild Horn shot Rio in the side and Rio fell to the ground in pain and blasted a giant fireball through the wall. Debri fell and the building they all were in shook badly. War Wolf dashed at Rio while being on the floor and slashed him with his pitch-black sword. Rio used his red and black sword to block the sword when he sliced a second time. Rio did a crazy break dance to get up and lifted himself into the air sideways and kicked War Wolf in the face sending him flying. He crashed into the wall behind Wild Horn. Rio hoped up and jumped about firing off mid sized fireballs and everyone dodged them and fired back, but it was no use, Rio was just too fast. Meanwhile May finished healing General Andal and he got up and knocked her out of the way and tossed a C4 into the middle of the room. Every one saw this and took cover. The whole building exploded and everyone was cover in debri and smoke was everywhere.
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" Any last words Lazz?" General Andal asked.
Lazz looked up then back down again. There was nothing he could do. He could not think of anything right then. He prepared himself to die. However just then General Andal fell to the ground in pain and had a small charred burn on his back. Lazz quickly looked up in amazement. He could not believe the luck and timing of what just happened. May quickly jumped back and pulled out a silver whistle.
"You're the one from before!" May said.
" Holy shit Jesus! RIO!!!!" Lazz yelled.
Rio was standing there watching his own blood red embers fall to the ground then looked at Lazz. He chuckled a little and then closed his yellow eyes and smiled. He still looked the same as Lazz could remember him. He was a red dragon with black stripes and had skin not scales, however he did have a little hair on his head that had highlights, which made him look handsome. He still had on his carefree style of clothes a Bergende shirt with a black dragon on it and a green vest, and his cargo pants. He also had his Smith & Wesson 9 mm semi automatic handgun out and was holding on to it tight. He wore silver and black fingerless gloves with small metal plating. He was happy to see his partner and his friend after all this time; it made him sway his long tail side to side.
Just then May blew her whistle and almost instantly a giant group of Griffin soldiers cluttered at the door. General Andal got back up and watched as Rio began walking toward him. He tried to punch him, but Rio suddenly disappeared then a few second later reappeared by Lazz.
"Why you! You will pay for making me look weak!!" General Andal said.
" Let's go Lazz! " Rio said as he held out one hand to try and help Lazz up.
"After the last time we fought Rio he should not even be able to move. Just what is going on here? I didn't heal him I got knocked out and just woke up myself. Furthermore, how did he find Lazz and escape from everyone effortlessly? Something fishy is going here..." May thought.
Lazz reached for Rio's hand and got up.
"Don't worry Lazz! This time I will protect you!" Rio said and stood in front of Lazz to protect him from all the griffins.
- - - - - - - (Flash forward: Dragon Talon Island Docks) - - - - - - -
"Ah! However that was no true battle! I was only testing you to see what kind of dragon you were. The judgment is decided! All of my griffin soldiers have told me that you are a true warrior. However, all I see is a dragon that has his head in the clouds. Nevertheless you will make a worthy adversary. You know of the international world Olympics don't you?" General Andal said while using hand gestures.
"Yeah I know it!" Rio said as he opened his eyes again.
"I was able to rank top 10 out of all the anthros there!" General Andal said as he crossed his arms.
"Heh! You must be a real threat in the " Eating contest"!" Rio said sarcastically and chucked slightly.
"Hmph. There are events that I do excel at. For example, Shooting, Swimming, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Equestrian, Modern pentathlon, and much, much more!" General Andal explained while his gaze never leaving Rio.
" Huh? So you want to have a contest to see who will win?" Rio said and tilted his head to the side.
"The sport is different, but the spirit is the same!" General Andal shouted while taking a step forward and pulling out his H&K machine gun.
"This is not going to be FUN Andal! This is just plain killing! Violence is not a sport!" Rio shouted and pulled out his black and red katana.
" We shall see if there is any iron in your words!! Listen Rio; you will be playing by my rules now! I'll release May as soon as I get what I want! Of course, since I want you dead... there is only one way to do this, you and I are going to fight to the death!" General Andal said as he proceeded to point his gun at May.
" YOUR INSANE!!!" Rio yelled while taking a step forward.
"Refuse and May will be gone forever! Your at my mercy!" General Andal shouted and pointed to a leg shackle near Rio's end of the dock. The dock was so that there was a square opening in the middle of the docks pathways. And just above the opening was a giant anchor.
"Alright... fine. Let's fight..." Rio muttered and placed the leg shackle to his left leg and locked it shut on him tightly. He noticed that the shackle's chain led up to the giant anchor and the same with Andal's shackle from his end.
"Notice how we are both securely fascine to a massive and giant anchor hanging just above us. We shall play a deadly sport! Notice how there are three buttons engraved onto both ends of this dock, three on my side and three on your side. Now, thirty seconds after a player's buttons are all pressed the anchor will drop to the bottom of the sea!" General Andal explained.
".........." Rio remained silent.
" Hah! Now look below you, near your feet. That yellow box is your button counter, but it also contains the key to your survival. When one player's counter reaches zero, the other player's box opens revealing a key that unlocks his shackles. Remember, you'll have thirty seconds to free yourself before the anchor drops." General Andal explained.
"So the loser of this fight will be dragged to the bottom of the ocean while the winner frees himself at the last minute." Rio summarized.
" That's right Rio. Quite ingenious... isn't it?" General Andal asked and then chuckled evilly.
" But wait! If I win will you try to kill me as I am undoing my Shackle or take May as a hostage at any time?" Rio asked.
"Heh! Oh I haven't forgotten about May, she is my daughter after all, but I will get to her shortly. Also, in case you refuse to fight back and use only your super speed to avoid all my bullets and cause no harm to my three buttons, or me, well... I am already a step ahead of you Rio. You see, if there is no winner after sixty minutes within this fight, then the giant anchor will automatically drop, sending both of us plummeting to the bottom of the sea." General Andal explained.
"YOUR CRAZY!!! YOUR JUST TRYING TO FREAK ME OUT, HUH!?" Rio yelled and took a step back, but the chain from Rio's shackle restricted Rio's ability to move freely.
"Sorry, but I am not doing any such thing! This is all apart of my plan! And speaking of plan, here is the final piece of my plot!" General Andal shouted and pointed to May who was now being carried away by a lone griffin soldier and placed against a small crate and then strapped to it while still remaining passed out.
"MAY!!!" Rio yelled.
Suddenly, the crate May was strapped to was lifted into the air, and May with it just above the square opening. The lone griffin soldier was inside of a crane machine that was on one side of the squared dock and was ready to push the button to drop the crate and May with it at any time.
" MAY!!! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS ANDAL!?" Rio yelled in rage at this point.
"I'm afraid that the anchor won't be the only thing getting dropped. I've taken extra measures to make sure no one interferes. You wouldn't want anything to happen to poor May, would you? She is your friend after all! Isn't it your dream to protect your friends Rio? How could you let something like this ever happen? Your no hero, your just a failure!" General Andal stated.
"Heh! You heard him Rio! Make one false move and I'll push this button releasing the crate into the sea and taking May with it!" The lone griffin soldier stated.
"Hmph. Now that everyone knows the rules and everyone seems to be familiar to the fighting why don't we start the show! Oh! That's right I almost forgot, I wouldn't want May to miss out on all of this." General Andal said and pointed to the lone griffin soldier who in turn pressed a button inside the crane machine and shocked May until she awoke.
" Arggh, umm... arhn... where I'm I? Huh? Hey, I'm trapped! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!" May screamed at the top of her lungs, her vision still fuzzy from the earlier tranquilizer.
" Now then, there's one last matter... You are not to use your fire breath no matter what! Also, there is to be no reloading after your whole clip is out! And lastly, if you try to hit my griffin soldier then I will simply kill May myself. Now that everything is in place let us begin!" General Andal stated and smiled evilly.
"Dad!? I-is that you? Where are we?" May asked in a weakened tone of voice.
"May! Save your strength!" Rio shouted and swung his hand back in rage.
"Always keep your eye on your opponent, Rio!" General Andal said and shot his H&K machine gun wildly at Rio's side of the dock.
Rio dodged the incoming bullets and side stepped out of the way using his super speed. However... Rio was in shock when he noticed that General Andal was not aiming for him, but rather one of Rio's buttons instead. He had pressed one with a bullet and the yellow box near Rio's feet now displayed the number 2. While Rio was taking this in General Andal seized the moment to fire at Rio himself. Andal successfully landed three shots on Rio. One on his side and two on his left arm, in the shoulder area.
"ARGGHH!!!" Rio yelled and fell to the ground in pain.
RIO!!! DAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" May asked in fear.
"My job! Unlike you, you traitor!" General Andal replied firmly.
"........................" May remained silent.
"I...argh, I'm not...out yet!" Rio said firmly and stood back up; however, he struggled to do so.
"Hmph. Like I said before, this is the end of the road for you!" General Andal said calmly and smiled.
"D-Damn it! This game has been set up so that no one will come to my rescue. Also, this game will last for only one hour, but since I'm losing blood and fast, I won't be able to hold out that long. Additionally, My handgun can't hold as much ammo as his machine gun can... so I am at a disadvantage here. What do I do now?" Rio thought to himself.
==========================(Meanwhile)===========================
"Hmph. You look surprised, Shayde." Yun said calmly.
"I'm guessing there is more to your attack then just a simple parry" Shayde implied while trying to focus his vision.
"You mean you didn't know? Sound travels faster in the cold then it ever will in the heat. Look around you pup; we are on an ice-cold island! I have the advantage here! With each sword swing I have been sending small waves of sound into your rather large canine ears and messing up your balance as well as your eyesight. However, it seems that you are storing up some heat inside you to resist against it and ward away the sound waves. Your pretty clever, but you can't keep that up for much longer." Yun explained and laughed.
"Hmph. Fine then. I guess you leave me no choice." Shayde said and dug into his pocket for his golden lasso and sheathed his sword.
"Hm?" Yun muttered.
Suddenly, Shayde unsheathed his sword and a large energy wave emitted out and headed right toward Yun. However... Yun saw this and decided to dodge it by jumping up.
"Last time I used my sound wave against his energy wave they canceled each other out! If that were going to happen every time, then I'd rather not waste the Quintessence on it- huh? What the!" Yun thought to himself, but then found himself bladeless.
" My tuning fork blade!" Yun exclaimed while still in the air, but then noticed a larger energy wave headed right for him in the air.
Suddenly, Yun opened his mouth and released a large massive amount of liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen cryogenically froze the energy wave and stopped it in its tracks. Yun finally landed on the frosted grassy plains with a soft thud. He then noticed that Shayde was holding his tuning fork blade because he had lassoed it when Yun's guard was down due to avoiding the first energy wave.
"A distraction, huh?" Yun said.
"Yup. Did you know... that swords become fragile when heated."? Shayde said while heating up Yun's tuning fork blade and then slamming it on the ground, thus destroying it as it crumbled into pieces.
"............" Yun remained silent.
"Impressive. I'll give that much to you Yun! You who can manipulate sound using a tuning fork as a weapon... I guess that means that in order to use your sound based attacks you have to first create some sound and sync your timing with sound manipulation. It must be easier to do when the sounds last longer. So, that's why you used the tuning fork blade. A tuning fork can hold a sound for a while, and the longer it would hold onto it, the better for you, huh? Too bad I figured you out though." Shayde explained calmly while standing in a stance as if to curl some weights. Suddenly, Shayde's Quintessence levels were rising rather quickly.
"What is going on pup!? Why is your power increasing so fast?" Yun asked in shock and took a step back.
Suddenly, enormous amounts of heat waves shimmered around Shayde's presence. His Quintessence levels were increasing and fast. Yun watched in shock and watched as the frost-covered blades of grass slowly watered away and then shimmered a deep forest green. Just then, a gust of wind flew past Yun rather quickly. All the grass blew in the flow of the wind.
"Activate... first gear!" Shayde said calmly.
To be continued.............
Author's suspenseful questions:
Will Rio be able to analyze his situation and free himself?
Looks like Shayde has a few moves to his name... what is this new attack? First Gear!?
Though it looks as if General Andal could just kill off Rio right off the bat, why has he decided to play a deadly game instead?
Why is Yun going out of his way to return a favor to General Andal? And will this put a damper on Rio and Yun's friendship?
Tune in next time!
THANKS FOR READING! XD