Persona - Fracture

First Blood

April, 8 BP – Before Peace

"Damnit!"

Sparks flew as Dominic's spear suddenly appeared, blocking Hisuke's blade with a loud clang. Seeing his surprise (in his mind) attack wasn't effective, the black-haired boy retreated a bit.

...and then back stepped again as a storm of bullets hailed the ground near him, courtesy of Rufus. Rufus only gave a grunt of annoyance and reloaded his guns.

"Listen kid, we don't have to fight! Let's just go our separate ways!" Dominic tried to persuade the child soldier in front of him. Even though Hisuke is hostile, Dominic didn't want to fight a child, no matter where his or her allegiance lies. Justice didn't work that way.

"..." Hisuke remained silent, showing no reaction to Dominic's plea. The only clue that could have been his reaction is the spike of killing intent around him, which caused grasses to wilt under his feet.

"Dominic, you bleeding-heart! Can't you take a look at his face!? That face is the face of a murderer!" Rufus admonished from afar while firing another hail of demon energy-infused bullets at the child soldier, which the latter deftly avoided.

"But I... He's just a child Rufus! A child!" Dominic tried to retaliate while blocking Hisuke's relentless swings, and so far it worked well. He couldn't be on the defensive though, so his best bet would be to knock this child out and carry him back home to undergo rehabilitation.

"I don't care! Child or no child, he's an enemy, Dominic! You just can't realize that!" Rufus barked, holstering his guns and drawing a scimitar from within his robe.

"Grhh..." Dominic couldn't find a good response to that, so he just kept parrying Hisuke's attacks. This is wrong; a child this young shouldn't be a soldier, let alone be devoid of emotion.

"The bounty hunter's right, Dominic; Do not hesitate to fight back." Hisuke's words took him by surprise, and he narrowly missed the black-haired boy's sword aiming for his head.

"Wh-What are you saying!?"

"I don't like preys that don't fight back. It takes the fun out of hunting." Hisuke narrowed his eyes as he continued his barrage, which Dominic barely managed to block.

"You hear that, old friend! You don't need to hold back against this... this monster!" Rufus's right arm glowed with a purplish, unearthly glow. Pitch-black streaks began to appear across his right arm, and his shadow released stray black energies.

"If Dominic won't do it, then I will! Umbra!" From Rufus's shadow, tendrils of shadow surged forth, aiming for Hisuke's vital area; the heart.

"Hm." Was Hisuke's response as he dodged every single shadow, with one grazing his left arm.

Dominic could only watch in horror as his old friend attempted to murder a child not even ten years old by the looks of it. Sure the child was a wanted criminal, but it was a child for Justice's sake!

"You're going down first then, bounty hunter."Hisuke's eyes shifted from the horrified Dominic to Rufus, then noticed a bright purple glow from his right arm. For a slight second, his eyes widened slightly.

"That..."

"Eat this, criminal! Fulgur!" Rufus aimed his right arm into the sky, causing blue thunder to strike across the grassland. Hisuke gritted his teeth and tried his best to avoid the random thunder strike, slowly but surely moving closer to Rufus's position.

"So, bounty hunter, you've been blessed with the Glyphs, huh?" Hisuke's only answer to his question was another stream of bullets from Rufus's left arm and blue thunder raining down even more, devastating the battlefield and causing small craters with every touch.