edelweiss - &team

23

Riki's mind churned, desperate to find a way to give himself an edge or at least stall until the others arrived. At the side, the bulb of the streetlamp encased in glass flashed pathetically, before it died out again. And with that, an idea slipped into his head.

Hikaru took a few slow steps around Riki, eyes fixated on him, his tentacles moved in unison along with him. Riki crouched low, ready to attack, before he sprung forward, all his energy spikes thrashing and stabbing at Hikaru. As Hikaru deftly dealt with every blow, Riki managed to reach into his pocket and grab the only objects in them, which he swiftly flung off to a side. Hikaru, too absorbed in deflecting Riki's attacks and returning the favour, didn't notice his sleight of hand.

As Riki's energy wanned, he opted for a more passive method, having the spikes cross before his body to defend himself from Hikaru's relentless tentacles, also ducking behind whatever he could to shield himself, benches, trees and more.

"You haven't changed," Hikaru purred, "You're still small and cowardly."

"Well, I won't disagree with that," Riki conceded, narrowly rolling out of the way as one of Hikaru's tentacles came flying towards him, smashing a park signage to smithereens.

"How long can you avoid me for?" Hikaru was completely at ease, close behind Riki as he ran in circles.

"Not for long, yes. But, unluckily for you, I remember the only weakness you have," Riki panted as he shakily got to his feet, right where they started the fight.

Cocking his head, Hikaru responded,"I don't suppose it's my killer personality?"

"No, it was fire, wasn't it?"

Hikaru's smile slipped a fraction, "The only one with fire abilities is Hayate and last I heard, he's dead."

"Well, you may have taken my scythe but you forgot to take something else from me?"

Hikaru's nose wrinkled in confusion, and in that split second of Hikaru's hesitation, Riki dove to a side and grabbed something; a tree branch with the tip set on fire.

Alarmed, Hikaru pulled his tentacles back, recoiling from the sight of the burning branch. "What, how-"

There was no other way to defeat Hikaru, Riki knew from his years of living that a head-on fight with Hikaru would result in his painful demise. When they first began the fight, with the streetlamp, Riki was reminded of the clear glass dice he had in his pocket. Hikaru had only one weakness, his energy tentacles were no match to fire. Riki, a light manipulator, couldn't summon flames. But he could create them.

"Light and prisms. Basic science," Riki grinned, a proud glint in his eyes.

"Brat," Hikaru spat out. "Eh, I'm used to that," Riki shrugged.

Before Hikaru could react, Riki shot forward and threw the branch towards Hikaru, who managed to drag all but one tentacle out of the way, which was burnt the second the fire touched it. With a slash of his hand, Hikaru detached the burnt tentacle, wincing in pain, as the tentacle was part of him. Riki could see the dangling thread on his pinky finger starting to elongate again, which meant Hikaru was trying to grow the tentacle back. Acting fast, Riki returned to his stash of burning sticks and hurled them at Hikaru madly.

Hikaru now wore an ugly scowl, he was in pain from having to cut away too many tentacles, so in a last effort he sent one remaining strong one towards Riki, who barely managed to dodge but stumbled and fell to the ground.

Thinking he regained his upper hand, Hikaru stalked towards Riki, seething in pain but starting to regrow his tentacles. Cold dread pooled in Riki's stomach, wondering if it was all too little and too late. Then-

"Hey! Riki, you-"

Riki had never been so grateful to hear Yixiang yelling. The trio were approaching, all shocked at the sight of a mildly destroyed park and a familiar face. Hikaru knew the fight was over, so he managed to send a sliced-off tentacle flinging towards them enough to deter them from approaching before he fled through the trees.

As the three older immortals ran over, Euijoo's hands flew to his lips and he exhaled swiftly, his fingers moving as though he was blowing a kiss. From his fingertips a swirling, abstract gold form billowed out, glittering brilliantly. It quickly took the form of a sleek crane, which tossed its head and gracefully shot after the retreating figure. As the golden bird vanished behind the dark clouds, Riki managed to sit up with Fuma's support.

"Did he get away?" Yixiang asked. Nodding grimly, Euijoo added, "I've sent a crane to track him, at least."

As Riki went in search of his scythe with Fuma, Yixiang walked close to Euijoo as they headed back to meet the others. Euijoo's eyes were slightly unfocused as he shakily treaded through the grassy area.

"How is it?" Yixiang asked carefully, grabbing Euijoo's arm when he stumbled. Euijoo shook his head as though to clear his mind, then replied, "He's moving very fast. And he's attacked my crane a few times but nothing I can't handle. But it's strange..." He trailed off, his attention had drifted back to his crane.

"What?" Yixiang prompted again, but Euijoo shook his head, dismissing the thought and bringing his mind back to the present state. Euijoo dug out the cards, then gasped softly when the card marked with Wrath revealed the name Hikaru. Riki and Fuma came running back, Riki gleefully clutching his scythe firmly this time. Without further delays, Euijoo unfolded the talisman and they were brought back to the others.