FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

Strike the Past: Chapter 2 (End)

Chapter Warnings: Kidnapping, blood (and marrow), violence, injuries, character death, swearing

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"None of you shit stains are my friends and those clothes don't belong to you," Rurik rumbled, backing up to give himself room to maneuver.

"Aww, that really hurts," Jay shrugged up his shoulders with a mock-pout, "We even went to the trouble of inviting your new friend to the party, but he didn't seem too keen on joining. We had to convince him a little bit, but he saw our side of things eventually; he even offered up his jacket and scarf as a sign of goodwill. The jacket's a little small for me, but I think it looks rather slimming on me."

The skeleton in question remained silent in Rurik's arms, but the tightening grip on his jacket gave away their anger. His partner was ill-equipped for a fight with their current injuries and this group wasn't above fighting dirty, so he had to make sure Lotus was safely out of the way first. He moved to set the skeleton back on the chair, keeping a socket on the group while whispering, "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

"Wait," Lotus maintained his grip on the taller's jacket, "Don't let the bug guy touch you, he can absorb energy; that's how they got me."

"Yeah, that's Corrin; I'll be careful with him," Rurik promised, gently detaching the his partner's hand and standing up straight just in time to duck under the right hook aimed for his skull. Whipping out his knife, he deftly slashed into the assailant's torso as he chided, "You should really know better than to try getting the jump on me Lewis."

The man dropped to the floor with a satisfying thud as the four other lackies and Jay maintained their position in the doorway with mixed expressions. He knew from experience that none of these guys were slouches on their own, but they were trash at working together in a fight; his best bet was goading them into a group attack so they would trip over each other like last time and create openings for him to pick them off.

Twirling his knife between his fingers, the skeleton casually sauntered away from Lotus's position with a taunting smirk, "Well? Any of you other sad sacks want a piece of me, or did I beat your asses too hard last time?"

As expected, three of them jumped at the provocation while Sean, a lizard monster, and Jay stood their ground. Sean was understandable; he preferred launching his fire attacks from a distance. Jay was the real problem since Rurik knew his focus had always been melee in the past; the question was whether the jackass had learned from his past mistakes or if there was some other reason he wasn't rushing in...

He was pulled from his thoughts as Garrett's claws grazed his humerus, prompting the skeleton to retaliate with a slash of his own; he smirked as the sliced through the wolf's shoulder and into their neck. Ducking to avoid Sean's fireball, he kicked the injured monster backward into Sharif; both fell into a pile of empty crates in a howling pile of limbs and splintered wood.

As Corrin tried to close in for a grab, Rurik dropped down and swept their legs out from under them, swiveling around to plant his knife in the monster's chest.

"Nnngh!"

Rurik turned toward the chair, his eye light blazing murderously as he registered an injured Lewis holding a struggling Lotus off the ground; their bloody arm was wrapped around his partner's neck in a chokehold. "Put him down!" he snarled.

"Ya ain't got no room ta make demands," Lewis sneered, tightening his grip and gaining a strangled gasp from his captive, "drop the knife or I snap 'is neck!"

"Nnn... d-don-ngh...," Lotus choked, pawing feverishly at the arm around his neck as his mouth opened and closed in a vain attempt to take in air; his good foot kicked back at his captor with little success.

"Your choice, Rurik," Jay taunted, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and a smug smile plastered on his face. Clenching his jaw, Rurik reluctantly let the knife fall from his grip to clatter against the cement floor. He shot a glare toward the man as they praised, "Smart man, now hold still and don't make any funny moves."

Glancing back to his partner, Lewis began lowering the smaller monster to the ground but kept them secured in place with their arm. Rurik was at fault for not making sure the man was dead first; until Lotus was out of danger, he would-

"AAAAAAAGH!"

Lotus had summoned a jagged bone and rammed it into Lewis's side, crumpling forward with a sharp grunt when his injured foot refused to hold him up.

Seizing the chance, Rurik elbowed whoever had grabbed his arm and dove for his knife, bolting away once he had it. Catching Lotus with one arm before they hit the ground, he spun around to lash out at whoever had given chase; he nailed Corrin in the face with his blade, relishing the shrieks of agony his attack produced.

Taking a breath to settle himself while staring down the remaining attackers as the bug monster writhed and wailed on the floor, he asked the monster pressed against his chest, "Hey, you holding up okay?"

His expression soured as Lotus wheezed out, "Y-yeah, just... really damn tired..." The smaller monster looked like he could barely keep his right socket open, likely running on fumes after that last attack.

Rurik set the skeleton down gently on the chair by the bleeding corpse that had been Lewis and murmured lowly, "I'll make this quick."

Rising swiftly to his full height once Lotus was safely situated, Sharif became the first victim as the man attempted to rush him, only to be dodged while receiving a stab to the back and a slash to the throat in rapid succession. As the body dropped unceremoniously to the ground, footfalls from behind were ruthlessly silenced without a single glance by a bed of jagged bones shooting up from the floor, impaling who he quickly identified as Garrett with a guttural heave.

Flicking the blood from his knife with a snap of his wrist as an explosion of dust swelled up around his feet, Rurik advanced slowly toward a stunned Jay and Sean while Corrin blindly crawled to where he hoped there would be safety.

The glint the skeleton's starry eye lights and the aggressive timbre of his voice promised no one would be left alive once he was through, "Come on Jay; you said this was a party... so let's party."

---

Rurik stared down at the motionless body before him; he had to admit Jay had gotten better at brawling in the years since they separated, but he had won out in the end. He kneeled down to reclaim Lotus's stolen jacket and scarf, feeling the weight of their phone in the right pocket as he wiped his bloody knife on a clean section of the fresh corpse's shirt. Rising to his feet, he caught his reflection in the cleaned metal; a few facial injuries that were likely to bruise later, but nothing serious.

Draping the reclaimed clothing over one arm, he skirted around the bodies, blood splatters, and dust littering the room to reach his companion once more. It was hard to tell if Lotus was still awake or not given their condition; kneeling down to check their breathing and pulse assured him the smaller skeleton was hanging on, at least.

Draping the black jacket over the Lotus's body like a blanket and wrapping the scarf carefully around their neck, the monster stirred slightly and Rurik softly questioned, "You still with me?" A feeble groan was the only response he got, but that was enough to satisfy him as he carefully picked up the barely conscious monster and held them close, "Let's go home and get you patched up."

Lotus let out a groggy hum and shifted his skull to lay comfortably against Rurik's chest, drifting off as he mumbled a breathy, "Thanks..."

Rurik snorted at the show of appreciation while weaving his way to the exit, minding the doorway and walls so as not to accidentally jostle the sleeping skeleton in his arms. If their roles were reversed, he knew without a doubt Lotus would have come after him just as he had, regardless of the danger; that's what partners were supposed to do, so something like gratitude was unnecessary... but it was still nice nonetheless.

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Word Count: 1,425