feral | sting eucliffe

XL | PF

Episode 40: Poison and Fire!

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NATSU ROARED, pummeling back guild members at an insane speed as fire burned from his fist. Continuing on and on, he grew confused when the fire suddenly flickered out into nothing. A man with teal hair and red eyes smirked before disappearing suddenly, a girl with bright pink hair and pretty blue eyes taking his place. 

She giggled cheerily, "Hi, I'm Riku and I'm sorry to say that today will be your death day! Please, fight me all you want, but you truly don't stand a chance!" Doing a peace sign, she twirled around before hurling a ball of bright blue flames at Natsu. Natsu quickly slurped it up, grinning widely. "Jokes on you, bimbo! Fire attacks don't work on me!" 

She smiled sweetly, tilting her head. "Aw, are you sure about that, Mr. Fire-Dragon-Slayer? You see," The girl snapped her fingers, hopping off of the rock and near his hands as he crumpled to the ground. "I don't think you should underestimate me so early!" Natsu curled his arms around his stomach, coughing. "What the Hell is happening to me?"

Happy cried out for his friend, a whip creating a divide between Riku and Natsu. The girl jumped back, landing daintily on the rock again as she smiled. Her blue eyes landed on the glint of Lucy's keys, smiling softly. "Oh, a celestial wizard? That's a new one!" She scratched her cheek, finding amusement in this. 

Happy shook his best friend with his small paws, "Natsu! C'mon, Natsu! You got to get up; you just have to!" The male writhed in pain, letting out another strained cough. Riku grinned widely as Lucy asked about the pink-haired female's actions, grip tightening around her whip as she questioned her. Riku tilted her head, a sickening smile on her face.

"You see Ms. Celestial-Wizard and Mr. Fire-Dragon-Slayer, I have two types of magic and when I mix them together, it's lethal! Get this, it's such a pretty color! Don't you think?" She held up a blue fireball on the palm of her hand, a pretty smile adorning her face as she waved her hand. "Blue; the exact shade that matches my eyes too!" Riku grinned.

Natsu grumbled, slightly getting up. "It doesn't matter. We're going to stop you anyway. In fact, one of our guildmates has the other key! You don't stand a chance!" Lucy shot him a warning look, brown eyes widening. "Natsu! We weren't supposed to say that!" Riku tilted her head, blinking as a form popped up in her hand.

"Oh, this guy? Yeah, no! He was such a terrible plaything too! In fact, I'm pretty sure Kuroko got record time with him!" She smiled sweetly, but the scene was all, but sweet. In one hand was Chase's limp form, the coin out of his hand and away from his grip. She held up the coin in her other hand, the text reading Unworthy. 

Lucy's brows furrowed. Why was the text so bold all of a sudden? And wasn't it something different? She shook her head. Her mindset should be focused on getting Natsu up and kicking this girl's ass. Natsu stumbled up, wiping his lips. "Even for a villain, your monologue seems to be too long, y'know? I think it's time we focus on the battle!"

He charged forward as Riku dropped Chase suddenly, Happy catching him last minute. As Lucy ordered him to carry him away and to a safer spot, she watched them dance. Blue and red clashed in a furious motion of swipes, scowls, and kicks. Natsu let out another fire dragon roar, flipping and returning to the blonde's side. 

Riku growled as half of her clothing scorched to a crisp. "How—" She started, but Natsu quickly cleared it up. "—it seems that I've taken in enough poison at my time. Apparently, the effectiveness of poison and venom can change as it's used, who knew?" Lucy even seemed startled, not grasping the concept as he referenced to one of their earlier missions.

"Back at Stella, we were all bit by Nikos's snake. I guess his venom simply nullified yours," He grinned widely, his fist lighting aflame as he flew towards Riku. The female let out a shrill scream, dodging attacks and launching attacks with her own flaming blue fists. Although Riku was known as a criminal, she was more used to her opponents dying on the spot.

She never had to deal with close-range attacks or an opponent suddenly recovering from her own swings of fire and poison. A rage of blue fire emitted from Riku as she attempted to shoot Natsu back with a wave of flames, failing as Lucy quickly swung her new, yet familiar key. "Gate of the Water Bearer; I open thee: Aquarius!" 

The angry blue-haired female scowled, a vase of water in her hands before shooting a spiral of it towards the opponent. Her tail swished furiously, "Such a pest! I hoped to rest and maybe relax a bit after reuniting with this bimbo, but I guess I have no choice to be thrown into the mix!" Lucy shivered. She knew she'd definitely earn a scolding from the zodiac too.

Riku growled, "You want to complain?! Well, you asked for it!" She rushed at Aquarius with a fist full of fiery blue fury. Natsu quickly intercepted it, landing a fire dragon wing attack right on her cheek. He sent her flying, her body hitting the ground and tumbling for a few moments before coming to a stop. Aquarius—calming down from her rampage—turned to Lucy.

"Honestly," She briefly closed her eyes before opening them, staring at the blonde girl. "I was wondering when Shirazu would finally return my key to you." Lucy grew teary-eyed at the brief moment of fondness; a rare moment that showed just how much the zodiac truly cared for the celestial wizard. "I told you I'd get you back, Aquarius." She smiled.

The zodiac nodded, "And I didn't doubt it for a second." She must've closed her own gate, the water swishing one last time before erupting into sparkles. Lucy smiled fondly down at the key before putting it with the others, glancing over at Natsu. The male was busy staring off into the distance, thinking about something. "What is it?" She blinked at him.

He shrugged lightly. "Just wondering where that man from earlier went to. My guess is he's one of the henchmen too."