Flare in the Wind

Ralphie rushed toward Yumiko and crouched next to her, "Yumiko-cupcake. Are you hurt? Can you stand?" He wondered and expressed his worry.

"Not done with the nicknames, huh? I'm fine, thanks." Yumiko answered, grabbing her forehead, shaking her head, and accepting Ralphie's hand.

"I was overconfident and didn't think she could summon rayguns. Seriously, who would've predicted that?" She explained, glancing at Naeve.

"Well... Yeah. Technology nowadays is beyond anyone's expectations. Would be useful to have some of it on the ship." Explained Ralphie, keeping his arms close to his pockets.

"Don't need to tell me twice. Could come in handy in the future. But I don't think we're gonna get any here. This place is mildly rusty, and I don't think we can steal their technology from out of nowhere." Yumiko explained, stretching her arms over her head.

"I'm flabbergasted, Parth. You still haven't cleaned the room of that cook? How embarrassing." She laughed, grinning at him with a side glance. "Tsch, that confidence is gonna get you killed, Naeve. As I see, you didn't clean your part either." He called, looking with a frustrated look.

"I at least put that swordswoman through pain. But I don't see much of a struggle with the cook. Say, have you gotten soft? Usually, you didn't hold back your powers?"

Her persuasion irritated Parth and forced him to grunt and clench his teeth. "Do you ever shut up? You've been yapping to no end. Give it a rest, will you?"

Naeve reached for Parth's shoulder and giggled. "Aw, what an honorable man. Worried about beauty like me? I already thought I wouldn't get any attention from a big boy like you." Parth knocked her arm away and sighed. "I don't have time to deal with your nonsense. Some people need removing." He exchanged eyes with Ralphie and Yumiko.

"Then why don't we remove them from our sight? I call bids on the swordswoman. I wanna bring her down." Naeve's mouth shaped into a huge smile while Parth extended his arm, elevating a piece of wall. "Do as you please, but stay out of my way. I have some unfinished business with the cook. Time for him to learn the recipe of defeat."

Ralphie ensured Yumiko could continue the confrontation, "Yumiko-cupcake. Can you-?" She interrupted him, "I sure can. Don't think for a second I'm done. I just started."

Ralphie nodded, then gazed with her into their foes. "Are you two done? I won't wait another minute. It's time to show you, pirates, that coming here was a bad idea." Naeve swept her arm to the side and summoned a portal into which she reached and pulled out a new blade.

"Stay sharp, Ralphie!" Yumiko dove her torso and launched into a sprint, dragging her swords behind her, trailed by a blue trace. "You know. Unlike pirates, I don't have a problem. Do you know why? Because a lady can never be the best swordmaster without a selection of weapons!" Naeve laughed and dashed.

Yumiko stretched her left sword past her shoulder, the sunlight reflecting in her blue eyes. "If you use guns, spears, or any other weapon? Then how could you be a swordmaster?!" Yumiko slashed forward, drawing a horizontal line as did Naeve. They clashed with their blades, "Who said I wanna be the best swordmaster? My one and only duty is to cleanse this world of pirates like you!"

Their blades rubbed against one another, putting as much strength into their hands as possible. "Then you can kiss your job goodbye." Yumiko pressed more pressure into her blade and pulled through Naeve's defense, forcing her to back away with a grin.

Naeve captured her footing and skated her soles on the floor. "Sounds like someone's woken on the wrong foot this morning," Naeve swiped her arm in a circle, "And I tend to fix it!" Portals appeared behind her, and spears peeked from inside, "Dancing Claw Illusion!" She propelled the spears one after another, darting in Yumiko's direction at incredible speed.

Yumiko weaved through them and cut through several until closing in on Naeve. But her path got interrupted by another bunch of spears speeding in her direction. She managed to deflect or cut some but didn't escape unfazed and received several wounds across her body.

Naeve stepped forward, summoned a portal on her side, and dragged out a chain, which she threw and wrapped around Yumiko's body. "Chains as well?!"

Naeve pulled the chain behind her back, "Like I said, swordswoman! I can summon anything I imagine!" She hurled Yumiko in the air behind her and slammed her against the wall.

The chain vanished into particles, summoning a rifle in her hands, aiming it at falling Yumiko, who bounced off the wall upside down.

"Moonlight Vortex!" Yumiko illuminated her blades with blue light and spun at high speed, unleashing a relentless force that swirled through the room and acted as wind to blow the bullets away.

She shifted upright and dropped to the floor with outraised arms, squatting upon landing and dashing closer to Nave. "You're being too confident," Laughed Naeve, "That'll be your downfall!" She summoned another blade in her off-hand and sped in close combat with Yumiko.

They exchanged blows one after another and collided with their blades repeatedly.

Parth propelled the crumbled pieces forward while Ralphie kicked through them.

He kicked toward Parth's head but missed after he squatted and dodged. Parth repeatedly avoided multiple assaults and pointed his palm at Ralphie's stomach. "Away with you!" He stunned Ralphie's body, lifted him in the air, and propelled him into the distance.

Ralphie's body bounced off the wall as Parth suddenly lifted a pillar from the floor, smashing it into Ralphie's abdomen.

Ralphie fell to the ground but landed and vanished from Parth's sight.

He popped behind Parth and dragged his sole in a roundhouse motion, ramming his instep into Parth's head and sending him flying through the doorframe into the headquarters' middle.

The main lobby had multiple staircases and layers of indoor balconies that looped around.

As Parth collapsed and smashed his body into the lobby's bottom, Ralphie stepped onto the indoor balcony and between the destroyed fence, sharing a glance to the bottom.

Parth sat up, holding his forehead. "Blessed Sun," A yellow silhouette materialized beside Ralphie and phased into his body, surrounding him with the colors of the sun.

"Blessed Sun?" Asked Parth, standing up and grinning. "Do you think that scares me? Some coloring show?" He wondered, but Ralphie seemed composed.

"I wouldn't exactly name it a coloring show. It's a bit more complicated than that. "It's a technique I've been working on, but nothing major. It's mostly another extension of my attacks. Consider it an 'upgrade.'"

His right foot began burning with yellow illumination. And in an instant, he leaped into the air, preparing to dive at high speed, "Solar," He descended at an incredible pace, practically becoming as bright as the sun itself.

Trailed by a solar trace, he became invisible to the eye, and before Parth had time to react, Ralphie appeared above him, "Crusher!"

Parth's eyes widened in astonishment. He noticed Ralphie's illuminated body popping in front of him and saw his grave expression, "It's over." The light around him expanded into particles and revealed his colors.

Ralphie rammed his heel at Parth's skull, and suddenly a loud and aggressive cracking sound reverberated through the room.

Ralphie crushed Parth's body into the ground and on the impact, spread an intense succession of preemptive vibrations through the floor; a rapid shockwave of flickering energy.

The yellow light exploded as it reached a particular height after erupting into the air from beneath his feet.

The floor fragments were thrown around and driven away by the rumbling wind that was created when a line of yellow flashes exploded.

With a footprint visible and squeezed in Parth's face, Ralphie removed his foot and stood among the wreckage. "Looks like that's it for you, agent. Make sure to find a doctor." Ralphie claimed, grabbing a lighter and igniting a cigarette. "Now. Let's see how Yumiko-cupcake's doing."

Parth was defeated. One less opponent to deal with.

To be continued...