Drugs for days~

While Zhen Liu and the Razor Maiden were off tracking down a kidnapper that disappeared into thin air, Matilda and Zhen Hai were in the middle of a brawl with a crazy musclebound maniac with a weird goat skull mask. Granted, said musclebound maniac used to be significantly scrawnier a couple moments ago.

How Zhen Hai and Matilda got into this situation...the time has to be turned back for just a bit.

_________________Three minutes ago_____________

Zhen Hai had punted the barrel of olive oil in the exact same direction of the kidnapper, with the force akin to that of a cannonball.

A devastating blow...had it actually hit. Instead, the barrel went sailing over the kidnapper's head and somehow bounced off the street.

Matilda was rather crossed at the sight.

"You missed! How could you miss?!," she shouted in an angry tone.

In response, Zhen Hai shot her a wry smile. "I didn't."

CRASH!

SPLOOSH!

"Huh? What the-BAH!"

The barrel of olive oil smashed into a wall several feet ahead of the kidnapper and exploded in a deluge of oil and shrapnel. The kidnapper was so focused on the pieces of iron and wood that was flying towards him, that he failed to notice the sheer amount of oil that was spilled onto the ground below him.

When the kidnapper attempted to sidestep the incoming shrapnel, his footing ended up getting messed up by the oil, causing him to slip and fall. This had the intended consequence of him sliding and crashing into a pile of nearby crates, and the unintended consequence of him losing the grip on the box he was carrying.

Zhen Hai and Matilda used this as an opportunity to secure the box as quickly as possible, dragging it off the oil slicked ground and closer to their original position.

"Huh? What's this?"

While handling the box however, Zhen Hai felt a weird grainy texture on both the handles and around the air holes on the box. He quickly examined his finger and noticed a strange purplish dusting upon them. A medicinal smell greeted his nose when he brought his fingers to his face.

"Hey, Matilda. Do you know what this stuff is?," Zhen Hai asked as he presented his fingers to Matilda.

The battle maid took a quick whiff of the presented fingers before answering. A troubled look appeared on her face as she did.

"This is Sandman's Grace Powder," Matilda answered in a surprised tone, "It's a tier two aether medicine used to comatose anyone below the Aether Master level for at least twelve hours, without an antidote. It's an incredibly pricy medicine to make."

"Well that explains why neither Jin Fang or Alicia attempted to break free during the chase... Wait, doesn't that mean-"

"ROOOOAAARRR!"

Before Zhen Hai could finish sharing his thought, a loud, heart thumping roar cut him off. Zhen Hai and Matilda immediately entered battle mode as soon as the roar registered in their minds, circulating their aether as quickly as possible.

"Filthy...interlopers...," a powerful voice growled.

A hulking beast of a man with red skin, limbs as thick as pillars, hands as big as a person and a goat skull mask arose from the pile of crates. A feeling of bloodlust radiating off of him, mixed with primal strength.

"Impudent...whelps!," the red hulk growled again before charging at the two young Acolytes, arms positioned for a tackling.

_________________________________________________

"ROOARRR!"

[Tide Cutter Kick!]

[Stone Cutting Wheel!]

Zhen Hai let loose a roundhouse kick that fired off a blade of water flying towards the charging monstrosity, while at the same time, Matilda produced an aether empowered chakram and thrown directly at the monster's head.

Splash!

Ba-chink!

The blade of water dispersed against the kidnapper's skin, leaving only superficial scratches, while the chakram bounced off of his skull like it was nothing. Enraged by the attacks, the kidnapper hulk began to pick up speed.

"Shit!"

"Dodge!," Zhen Hai exclaimed while kicking the box containing their friend out of the way.

Zhen Hai and Matilda proceeded to roll out of the way as their opponent immediately rushed pass them and slammed through a wall that was immediately behind them. A large smashing sound and a huge cloud of dust and debris resulted soon after. A throaty growl followed by a pair of massive hands grabbing the sides of the hole, signaled that the kidnapper was still in fighting shape.

"Alright, what's going on?," Zhen Hai began to complain, "This guy is swinging with the strength of an Aether Master at least, why didn't he just use this power early and splatter us once we were isolated?"

"That's because he didn't have this power earlier, look."

Matilda pointed to a little spot where the kidnapper had first emerged in his monstrous state. Upon that spot was a little jade white bottle and several drops of a strange blue liquid. It didn't take too long for Zhen Hai to draw to the same conclusion that Matilda had.

"I shouldn't be surprised that this guy doped up before fighting us, but the fact that he's using some type of drug that caused his power to jump this much is-"

"Indicative that whoever this guy's boss is probably wealthier than both your clan and my lady's family?," Matilda interjected.

"Well yes, but not as...wordy."

"ROAR!"

As Matilda and Zhen Hai had finished their little conversation, the doped up monster proceeded to throw chunks of rubble at the two of them at high speeds, forcing the former to dodge while the latter smashed the projectile with a fist.

"Hah! Is that all you got-"

KA-POW!

Unfortunately, Zhen Hai's decision to smash the projectile, gave the kidnapper enough time to charge forward and land a devastating fist against his entire person.

The force of the blow was enough to send Zhen Hai back several steps, with his guard up. His hands began to shake from the sheer impact.

"Damn! My arms would've been powder if I hadn't thrown up my guard."

Matilda on the other hand, used this opportunity to throw even more sharp implements down onto the hulking man-beast, with everything ranging from knives, to shuriken to oversized needles.

A few missed their mark, but quite a few more had managed to embed themselves into the brute's flesh.

Matilda quickly landed by Zhen Hai's side, the latter whom was shaking the shakiness from his arms out.

"Can you still fight?"

"Of course I can. You still have any knives?"

"Plenty. Think we can last long enough for the drug to run out?"

"Probably, but I'm actually hoping to go for knockout."

Hearing the young Acolyte's challenge, the brute let out a roar of a challenge.

"Very well," Matilda concurred while pulling out several more knives,"You think your cousin is having an easier time?"

"Probably."

_________________________________________________

"Found!," the Razor Maiden proclaimed while pointing at a gate.

A feeling of dread began to build up in Zhen Liu's stomach, as the feeling of expectation subsided from being satisfied.

"Ya know...I should have expected this...but still..."