Blessings of Anathema

Chapter XLVII: Ken IX

We left the Monastery and began to walk back to the nearest city limits in order to find a ride back to Berlin.
"So what do you think about all that?" Pablo asked me. I shrugged. "I'm not too sure. This whole thing is just turning into more and more of a mess. I don't know if I should even be involved anymore." I said.
Pablo looked over at me. "What do you mean?" He asked. "After I lost my arm, I went back to Ariana. She cried in my grasp and begged me not to become involved anymore. Even coming here, the potential risk is enough to break that promise." I said.
Pablo just stayed quiet, staring ahead. I chuckled "You know, she's flying out soon. To keep me in che-" "I don't think you're taking this seriously." Pablo said, interrupting me. "This isn't a game. I've almost died, Dalton almost died, Proph almost died, you almost died.... what is it going to take for you to understand that this is real!?" He finished with.
His tone of voice was becoming quite demanding. "I'm fully aware of the realism of the situ-" "Are you!?" He said, interrupting me again. "Because now you're bringing us someone who doesn't have any knowledge on the situation or any combat knowledge at all, she's dead weight." He finished with.
That upset me a bit, the way he's talking about Ariana and talking to me like I'm a child. "She's not dead weight, she can hold her own." I said. "Well that's a relief, at least one of you can, maybe she won't lose an arm, Tin man." He said.
I was shocked. Where is all this coming from? My surprise quickly turned to anger. "Tin man? Know your place and go sit on the sidelines like always,water boy." I said. We stopped walking and he turn to me and looked at me with anger. "You better calm down. Your brother isn't here to save you this time." I said. I started to laugh.
Something suddenly came up from the ground and wrapped around my ankles, then yanked them into the soft, muky land. I couldn't step out, something is holding me down.
Pablo ran up and kicked me from underneath my chin, knocking my head towards the sky. He then spun and kicked me across the face. The grip on my ankle was released and so the force of the kick knocked me across the ground.
"Why don't you do us all a favor and go off somewhere to rust." Pablo said.
I stood up. Clothes know filthy. So it's really come to this? I dropped down and touched the ground. I can use the heavy water in the area to accelerate the speed of my lightning. Lightning traveled quickly through the ground and at Pablo. He leaped into the air and created a tiny wave with the water in the ground, causing the lightning to become stuck in it.
I stopped the current and ran at him. I swung at him, but he through up two arms and blocked it. So I used my other arm to reach around and grab the back of his neck and pull him toward me, Kneeing him in his gut. This caused him to gasp, shooting saliva out his mouth. He took control of the spread salvia and turned them into tiny needles mid air and stabbing them into my back.
He's definitely better with his Yurie than I thought he would be. When I turned around, he had hundreds of tiny water balls floating in the air. Alright... let's do this. I formed lightning around my left arm, similar to a blade and got in a stance to defend myself.
The water balls started coming at me. I sliced my arm into the air, creating lines of lightning to fly at them, hitting and destroying them all. He stopped most of the falling water and reshaped them into stairs and ran at them, stepping up on them and leaping at me.
He swung and stuck me across the face, knocking my head to the side. I kept my balance and swung back, connecting to his ribs with my metal arm I then used lightening out the other arm to wrapped around him like a web, electrocuting him. He screamed out for a second before using water break it off of him.
I came back at him and as soon as he opened his eyes, I punched him in the center of his face, sending him flying across the ground. I ran at him and swung my leg to kick him but water shoot up and wrapped around that leg, traveling all the way up my body. It wasn't until it reached my chest that I realized this is a water snake. It tightened heavy around me and then bit my neck.
I squeezed in pain and Pablo jumped up on my shoulder, stepping off and twisting around, kicking my back, leaving me to fall face first into the ground.
He sat on my back and grabbed my neck. I used my lightening to push out a shockwave. At this distance it isn't very strong, but it's enough to separate us. As soon as his grasp loosened, I through up my elbow, hitting him in the rib. I then twisted and punched him across the cheek with the other arm. He slid off of me and I rolled out from underneath him.
We stood up and faced each other again. I began to charge a large amount of lightening in my hand. So large that I seen Pablo's eyes widened. I through my hand toward him. "Electric flare" I said, sending a heavy amount of lightning towards Pablo. He pulled a large amount of water out the ground and the last second and the two elements met and collided.
Neither one out powered the other. They stood in a stale mate. My lightning was traveling inside his water but couldn't push through. He can't move and I can't advance.
This reminds me of when I was little. Me and Odessa would jump on our waterbed as hard as we could to attempt to pop it; but we could never break through. What was we thinking? We would've gotten killed if we broke that mattress. I chuckled to myself and released the beam of lightning.
He stood in the ball for a few more seconds before releasing it. We just stared at each other. Suddenly water burst from the ground, covering my vision of it. I felt a heavy blow to my side, knocking me into the air. I landed of the ground and gasped for air. It knocked the wind out of me.
When I gathered myself and looked over, Pablo was completely confined inside of water. However, the water is taking a shape.
As he walked toward me, I realized.... he's inside of a giant water serpent. I stood up and the serpents tail came at me, I dodged it but it hit the ground next to me, creating a large hole. That thing has some power. I can't take many shots from it.
That has to take a ton of stamina to maintain. I doubt he has enough energy to dodge anything. So in that case. I lifted my hand into the air and sling it at it, leaving a bolt of lightning straight towards him. The lightning connected across the serpents head and exploded, blowing half of it up. However, it immediately was repaired.
Alright, I'll just need to really push my limits. I slung my arm over and over, hitting the serpent from many directions, blowing it constantly to pieces. However, it would almost immediately repair itself.
I was so focused on my Attack that I didn't even notice the tail was sneaking up beside me. It lashed at me and I managed to throw my arms up at the last second to block it, however it's force still knocked me into the air and across the ground. I sat up and started breathing heavy. This thing is tough. Imma have to go all out to defeated. My best Attack against his. I slowly stood up, staggering.
Sorry if this seems like I'm copying you, but I need to get rid of your vision. I charged another batch of lightning around my hand, this time thrusting it into the air. "Light bulb" I said, leaving a large flash of light to cover the area, blinding him. I ran at him at full speed and leaped into the air. I focused all my remaining energy into this final attack.
Lightning began to gather around my entire metal arm. I once used this attack to break down an entire mansion at once, ran by sex traffickers. Which is where it gets its name....
"Fist of Justice!" I yelled out, swinging with full force down at him.
His vision came back seconds before I made contact. His eyes widened and his quick reflex's sent the Serpents mouth at me. I swung down as it lunged at me and they made contact.
A heavy force was created, sending a loud boom across the area and blowing both me and Pablo back. We were slung against the ground, both rolling and sliding for a long distance.
When I stopped I just laid there on my stomach, completely exhausted. I caught my break somewhat and used my arm to push myself up into a sitting position. When I looked up Pablo was still laying down on his back.
He sat up and looked at me. We're both a mess. Completely beat up and worn out. He suddenly cracked a smile at me. I was surprised at first but then I smiled back....
And we both laughed.