Ch. 11 First Battle pt. 1

"How long have you all been down here waiting?"

The girl on the throne sneers. "Welcome Hei Xiong Junior. I see that you brought your fathers loyal dog with you" Her voice is soft but stern and it echoes through the giant room.

Junior shakes his head. "Listen girl. It's Hei Xiong or Junior. And seriously, how long? We didn't exactly rush down here. And what's up with the baldies? It's like they're undressing me with their eyes"

The 5 men are glaring at Junior like he kicked their puppies or something. The big guy also has a slightly crooked nose compared to the others.

Upon a closer look Junior notices the two guys on the left have metal on their legs while the two on the right have metal on their arms and hands. The big guy has his shield and lance, but the hand holding the lance looks like it's wearing a gauntlet. They look like some small time villain group a protagonist defeats in the first episode for a confidence boost.

"I was referring to you being your bastard father's son you fool" The girl narrows her eyes. "And I'm almost surprised you came yourself. But considering all the snooping around Mistral you are doing I'm not surprised you are forced to come here by yourself with an old man as backup. Although, I did expect you to march some of your lesser men down here to their death"

"I'm the fool? You are the one that blew up so many buildings in Vale and hurt my men together with innocents. If you had beef with me and my father you should have just come straight to me. It's not like my club is exactly hidden" Junior gets a bit pissed when he remembers the deaths and destruction.

"Don't forget those building held your fathers attention longer than you could" The girl says with some amusement. "I'm just so excited this will finally get done! So much time and preparation! And I'll finally get to kill Hei Xiong, wrong generation but I'll take what I can get" She flips her hair over her shoulder.

"And what did my father dearest do to you exactly? You are even younger than I am, that's a lot of waiting and planning from a young age I assume" Junior really dislikes her voice. "Unless you have a sponsor. So let's cut to the chase, why don't you just tell me who it is"

"Hahahahaha!" The girl laughs and leans back against the throne as she laughs and claps. "It seems you haven't realized who you crossed you idiot! My name is Aragog! And just like that, the bear walked right into the spiderweb!"

Derek holds out Netherlight. "It seems we underestimated our opponents this time, and what did you do? I warned you about Mistral, even showed you which areas to avoid should you decide something stupid"

Junior doesn't completely understand what he did. Maybe someone got caught, but Spider has informants in Vale. Why wouldn't he be allowed the same in Mistral?

"I didn't do anything Spider already didn't do" Junior tells Derek and then turns back to the girl. "Aragog? That's kinda masculine for you isn't it? But what did I do? And why take a swing at Vale instead of just taking me out? This isn't normal Spider procedure"

Aragog taps her fingers on the throne. "I'm here for some more personal reasons than just what Li'l Miss Malachite wanted me to tell you. Your father, he did some bad things. And the sins of the father will be paid for by his son!" She slams her fist and the throne shakes. "Hei Xiong killed my parents and tortured my brother! Without a second glance and without reason he ordered it! So while I may not have made this plan all on my own, I have altered it and I've carried it out on my own! And I'll watch you die this day, that way my family will be able to rest in piece"

"My plans can't and won't be stopped here. I am sorry for what my father did to your parents and brother. But what you have done… I'll make whatever my father did to your brother look like childsplay compared to what I'll do to you for what you've done. Now I'm done talking to you girl" Junior adjusts his tie and looks at the 5 men.

"Now why the fuck is she so confident in you lot?" Junior doesn't see why they would be held so highly, their weapons don't even have gun forms.

The big guy steps forward. And when he speak, his voice is deep and slightly distorted. "Hei 'Junior' Xiong. Do you really not remember us?"

"Gods this is so cliché…" Junior can't believe this. Did this guy really say that? "Let's cut the part out where I guess and you can just tell me"

The guys all take the cloth masks off.

"Oh! It's you guys!" Junior points his weapon towards them. "…. I'm just fucking around"

*BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!*

Three explosions come from the end of Bazooka and impact the enemies suddenly. It was the left 2, the big guy, and the right 2. Smoke and dust, the non-explosive kind, fill the air.

Junior spins Bazooka around his hand a few times. "But seriously, who are you chucklefucks?"

The big guy is the first to step out from the cloud of dust and smoke. His slightly distorted voice really irritating Junior. "2 years ago. It's been 2 long years Xiong. You may have thrashed us without a second thought, but we haven't stopped thinking about you. We've trained to the point our bones break, and then we kept going. Tell me…" The ugly bastard gives a toothy grin but most of his teeth are metal. "… How is that redhead doing these days?"

Junior stops spinning Bazooka and narrows his eyes as he gets serious. "So it's you pedophilic pissants huh? You should feel honored, I normally don't remember people like you"

"Why would I feel honored when a 2nd rate crime boss remembers us? I'd rather feel the satisfaction of when I break EVERY. SINGLE. FINGER. On your fucking hands!" The man shouts with as much furry as 5 men.

"Right. Anyway, how was jerkin it with your left hand? And is this how you thank me for not killing you guys? Because I'm not giving a third chance" Junior would enjoy this moment a bit more if he didn't get a strange vibe from them… or was it the girl. He still doesn't know how old she is.

The guy seems to have boiled over with rage. But he doesn't rush forward and attack Junior for some reason. The other 4 prepare their weapons and get ready.

Junior tosses Bazooka between his left and right hand until finally catching it with his left hand and gets in his stance. "What are you waiting for?"

"Attack!"

Junior hears Aragog's voice in the giant room. And as soon as he hears it he sees the 5 rush towards him.

Derek and Junior also run forward. They don't forget to keep in mind that Aragog herself hasn't moved yet.

Junior swings Bazooka at the big guy. But is slightly surprised when the shield takes the impact with little effects. It still sends the big guy sliding back quite a bit, but not flying across the room like Junior hoped.

A spear goes towards his side but he just deflects the spearhead to the side. He also takes a step forward to avoid a giantaxe blade that came crashing down from above his head. He also brings Bazooka up to block a katana strike that came towards his side.

Derek blocks a pair of daggers that were going towards Junior's back. He knows Junior would have blocked or dodged but he doesn't want to be forgotten. And after he blocked the daggers he kicks the man holding the daggers on the wrist. But instead of feeling metal armor, he feels metal like a prosthetic.

Either way, the kick hits the hand and sends it to the side. Derek spins and smashes Netherlight into the man… or he would have if a shield didn't block it.

A lance comes out of nowhere and aims for Derek's chest. But Junior bashes the lance down into the ground.

"Don't get focused on their prosthetics Derek!" Junior shouts and gets Derek out of his Accelerated Thoughts.

Derek swings Netherlight at the greataxe going for his back and kicks the man in his sternum. From that kick he flips backwards and brings Netherlight down on the man with the spear. The guy, who even when he blocked the strike, is driven down to a knee.

Junior dodged a flurry of strikes from the man with daggers and the multiple thrusts from the lance. He backs up and bashes Bazooka against the katana guy who deflects the blow but isn't able to counterattack because of the sheer strength and weight he deflected.

The 5 men continue to put pressure on Junior and Derek but that's it. They only put pressure on the 2. Junior and Derek continue to move around and help eachother as they slowly but surely land blows on their opponents to lower their aura.

As the fight goes on Aragog shouts commands at the 5 idiots, but it only makes it easier for Junior and Derek to know what they will be doing. Basically they are chipping away the aura of their enemies while not taking much damage or losing much aura themselves.

Junior and Derek also have the advantage of using dust to shoot and explode the 5 idiots.

After another 2 minutes Junior lands a direct hit on the big guy. He drives his club into the man's diaphragm. He can hear the air being forced out before the man goes skipping across the floor towards the bottom steps of the throne.

Aragog shakes her head while she twirls some of her hair around her finger. Clearly unpleased by the performance.

The big guy tries to catch his breath and stand up but falls down to his knees. The other idiots are also sent towards the steps. Not intentionally, it's just luck the idiots all get smacked in the same direction.

Junior rips his tattered suit jacket off his body and tosses it aside. Derek decides to keep his on as he steps up next to Junior with sweat dripping down his face before he takes a handkerchief from his back pocket and wipes it off.

"You're getting old, old man" Junior jokes.

Derek straightens his white tie. "Perhaps I might be getting too old for this shit"

Junior looks at Aragog who isn't even worried her last line of defense has been practically defeated. "What? Come to terms with your fate? Can't say I would accept fate myself but to each their own I suppose"

"Silly man" Aragog puts one leg over the other and sits up a bit. Her eyes glow brightly as she speaks again. "Don't move"

Junior's eyes widen when his body won't listen to him. He glances over at Derek and also sees he has the same problem. He can't move a muscle and he can't even talk either. He glares back to Aragog and sees a sinister and sadistic smile.

She lets her hair go and looks at the 5 idiots beneath her with her eyes that glow again. "Enough fooling around. Take them"

The bald bastards stand up and each catch a syringe that Aragog tosses to them. Without a second of hesitation they jam the needles into their necks and inject a black sludge substance.

They instantly collapse to the ground and begin shouting in pain.

"Hahahahaha!" Aragog laughs. "This will be the best! I just gave them a little something mixed with some unique dust. Did you know people can inject dust and increase their strength? It's immensely painful and it erodes the body after the aura breaks. But what happens when you manage to make a solution to heal aura and the body while the dust rampages the body? It does break the mind, but that's where I come in with my semblance. It's 'Absolute Command' and you guys can't really help but watch as your enemies power up into literal mindless beasts that will only be able to listen to me. But don't feel too bad, I'll let you have a fighting chance, after they're finished transforming. Hahahahahaha!"

Junior would really like to have his semblance now. Almost anything could be a boon at this point. But if what Aragog said is true… even if he survives this he has a whole new problem to worry about. God damned juiced up dust junkies.

And her semblance. Junior tries to think of ways to avoid being controlled without making himself deaf. No semblance can be that powerful without limitations.

"""""RRRGGGHHHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"""""

There is a final guttural shout. All 5 men slowly stand up. Whatever their aura color was before, it's now a very dark purple color. Their eyes are completely purple and their bodies… they all grew about a foot in height and each bulked up to different degrees. Their veins on their face and probably their entire body are black and visible through their skin. If this is a power-up then it looks like the 'final boss last ditch' kind of power-up.

"You two may move again" Aragog's eyes flash again. She then sits straight up in her chair and has her legs spread while her arms rest on the armrests. Her battle dress barely hiding her upper thighs. "Even if you decide to run these things will catch you in no time"

Junior can feel something he hasn't felt in a long time. And that feeling is a murderous rage. He doesn't have time to deal with Spider and whatever type of new steroid this is. Why do humans have to always conflict with eachother. And he is tasked with saving the world, yet here he is. Likely going to die and fail that nearly impossible task he's worked so hard to reach over the past 3 years. All that grueling hard work. All the long and sleepless nights. All the groundwork he's laid down, about to be wiped away.

Fuck it. Junior just has to kill these idiots no matter the cost. No point in crying over this. And after he interrogates Aragog he will deal with the rest of Spider and this damn drug.

Aragog enjoys the look on Junior's face. It would be anticlimactic if Hei Xiong just accepted his death and rolled over at the slightest sight of opposition. Her eyes glow as she commands her beasts. "Denton and Raff. Pin Hei Xiong down so he can watch"

The big guy, lance and shield boy, Denton steps forward along with the guy wielding daggers, Raff.

Derek and Junior get ready. They don't know how much stronger that weird drug made them.

The two beasts charge forward. Not wanting to be idle, Junior and Derek do the same.

Junior reaches beast Denton first and drives his left foot forward into the ground as he swings Bazooka with all his might. The clubs goes for an uppercut strike as Junior twists his hips to add some more 'oomf' to the swing.

Denton lowers the big shield to block the strike. The metal shield cries out in pain upon impact. Junior doesn't stop and follows through with the swing.

The ground below Denton gets farther and farther away from him as he flies up towards the ceiling.

Junior watches as the big guy goes hurtling upwards. He can't stop his swing and it ends up leaving his chest open.

But Derek isn't idle with Raff either. Raff initially tried to attack Junior but Derek got in his way so Raff decided to remove the obstacle in its path.

Derek shifts Netherlight into its long sword and rifle form. He needed the rifle to act as a secondary melee weapon to atleast block some strikes. Derek is forced to push his Accelerated thoughts further and further as Raff increases his attack speed. The strength may not be as great as that of a sword, but the speed is what is troublesome. And Derek himself is barely able to keep up with the daggers.

*Kra-Koom!*

The room shakes as Denton hits the ceiling. But that's only because Denton uses it to propel himself back towards the ground at an astonishing speed.

Junior avoids the human bullet by jumping to the side. Denton smashes the shield into the ground. The blow would have caused some very serious damage to Junior.

Denton doesn't waste time and peels the shield from the ground and charges Junior as he thrusts his lance at Junior's limbs.

Junior knocks the lance away from himself every time it gets close. But it's a bit too close for Junior's liking. And the strength and speed are almost too much. Any time he gets the chance to counter attack the shield simply blocks it. And his heel really wants to kick this guy's teeth in again.

As time goes on it's like Denton and Raff aren't getting tired, but like they're just finished warming up.

Derek can only keep up for so long before he gets kicked back into a wall near some spiderwebs. And with Derek out of the way Raff goes on to join Denton in attacking Junior.

"Fuck YOU!" Junior smashes Bazooka against the shield for what feels like the 30th time. But this time he poors on his aura and unleashes an aura arc.

The arc of aura clips Raff and hits the shield head on.

Denton is pushed back a few feet as he tries to hold his ground. Suddenly the shield itself completely shatters due to the continuous abuse.

Raff got sent back across the floor a little bit but gets up quickly and engages Junior again.

Even after the shield shattered the aura arc didn't stop and collided with Denton. It did some damage, but it wasn't much at that point. And it just allowed Denton to solely focus on offense now.

Junior was busy trying to deal with Raff. The daggers being a real pain when he himself only has a club and a rocket launcher. As he evaded a flurry of blows he doesn't see the side of the lance closeline him.

As Junior is flipped by his momentum Raff tackles him down to the ground and Denton piled on top of him to join the fray.

Try as he might, Junior can't gain much ground. The weight of Raff and Denton is nothing to scoff at. And the fact he's struggling against 4 hands doesn't make this any easier. He gets his face punched a few times and his sunglasses crack and shatter. He tries to gouge their eyes and jam his thumbs into their necks. He even head butted Denton but regretted it when his forehead met Dentons metal plated skull.

Apparently when Junior drove Denton's head into the pavement in the past it cracked something and the big idiot decided metal was appropriate to coat his skull in.

Junior didn't last longer than a minute before he was pinned. His aura stopped any serious damage, but he still felt one of his eyes swelling a bit and blood trickled from his forehead.

Derek finally is able to stand himself up and grab Netherlight again. He sees Junior pinned to the ground on his stomach. The huge guy has his right knee on the middle of Junior's back. And the giant also is holding Juniors arms to the ground. The dagger guy stands over Junior and looks like he's about to stab Junior in the back of his thighs.

Derek runs to attack Raff but he is surprised.

"Stop Raff!" Aragog shouts. "We can physically hurt him later. Why don't we hurt his pride and ego first" She taps her foot on the ground as her gaze goes over to Derek.

Her purple eyes shine. "Alvaro. Chris. Sal" She commands the spear guy, the greataxe guy, and the katana guy. "Kill his dog… slowly"

Raff sheathes his daggers at his hips and grabs Junior's head and forces him to look at Derek.

The older man can see Junior's beaten face and destroyed sunglasses. The right lens is shattered and the left lens of the sunglasses is cracked. And the usually neat black hair that flows to the back is ragged and a few strands are stuck to his face by the blood. And the beard is covered with the dirt and dust from the floor.

Alvaro charges with his spear towards Derek. He tries to thrust it through the man's right shoulder. But Derek dodges and swings the longsword to counterattack. Derek also fires the rifle at Chris who was about to swing the greataxe but flinches from being shot.

Derek kicks some dust and cobwebs from the ground up into Sal's eyes before he could swing the katana. He jumps next to Chris, but not before being hit by the pole of the spear on his left leg.

The longsword clashes with the greataxe and Derek shoots Sal with as many rounds as he can since Sal can't see currently.

Now Alvaro would have to stab through Chris in order to attack Derek, or go around the long way due to a machine providing a bit of cover for the old man.

But Chris begins overpowering Derek who can barely hold him back with just one hand on the longsword.

Sal gets the dirt, dust, and cobwebs out of his eyes and sees Derek shooting him. He brings the katana in a quick slash towards the man's ankles, aiming for the achilles tendon.

Derek fuels his semblance with his aura as he lets the axe fall. He twists his body and lightly jumps.

The katana ends up hitting Chris' shins. And the axe narrowly misses Derek and Sal.

Derek twists his body and places his hands on the ground. He horse kicks Chris in the jaw as hard as he can. Sal's head snaps back from the force and stumbles back a few steps.

Unfortunately for Derek, after Chris is kicked backwards Alvaro is given an opening and bashes the spear pole into Derek's ribs.

The old man is sent across the room and lands on his feet as he digs the sword into the ground to stop his momentum. He charges back at three beasts before they get the chance to fully build up their own speed.

As Derek overuses his semblance he continues to move faster and faster. He's keeping up with the three drugged up men. Dealing and taking heavy blows.

Junior struggles against the weight pressing down on him. And Raff also places a hand on his back to make sure he can't even move an inch upwards. He feels his body get pressed into the floor as he's forced to watch Derek fight. He grunts and tries to shout but his lungs can barely get enough air.

Derek takes the greataxe to the chest but also brings the longsword down on the neck of Sal who is holding the katana.

The blow sends Derek back and he collided with a machine that crumpled to pieces under his weight and force. The old man picks himself up from the scrap and tries to catch his breath.

Derek knows he probably won't make it out alive, but he plans on taking at least 2 of these things down with hims so that Junior can get the chance to survive. He also needs to hold out until a certain point.

"Hehehehe~!" Aragog giggles with no small amount of pleasure as she watches Derek get slowly beaten to death. She gives the old man credit for putting up this much of a fight.

Derek brings Netherlight back together and puts it in its glaive form.

Alvaro runs up to him and they both attack each other. Alvaro attempts to stab Derek and Derek attempts to stab and slash Alvaro with the square blade. He even tries to blast the guy with a charged shot but it misses.

Chris appears to Derek's left and brings down his greataxe. Derek narrowly redirects it and it collides heavily with Sal who has his katana nearly fall from his hands due to the sudden and heavy friendly fire hit.

Derek changes tactics to try and have them beat eachother. It requires a lot of focus on his part and the aura he is burning is starting to wear down his reserves that are also on the lower side due to the blows he's taken so far.

After another minute and things aren't looking good.

Derek redirects another slash from the katana and greataxe with both ends of Netherlight as he jumps into the air to avoid being impaled on the spear.

But that was a mistake. Alvaro spins around and hits Derek out of the air with the blunt end of the spear and he lands 30 feet in front of Junior. The old man's light blue aura shatters, leaving him vulnerable to serious damage now.

"Derek!" Junior shouts and tries to get up. "Get off me!" He pushes himself up 3 inches before Denton drives his knee into his back again. Junior falls back down to the ground hard.

"No no" Aragog shakes her head. "This is where it gets good. Keep watching" Her eyes flash.

Junior turns his head back to Derek and is forced by his own body to watch as the 3 beasts walk towards Derek who struggles to get back up.

Derek raises Netherlight and shifts it into its giant greatsword form.

Chris jumps into the air and swings the axe from his right to his left.

The exhausted Derek blocks the swing but Netherlight gets hit to the side. Derek spins with the momentum, his body more or less being pulled by the weapon. He blocks a few slashes from Sal as Chris lands on the ground not too far away.

Derek overpowers Sal, and brings Netherlight down onto the man's shoulder. This strike drives Sal onto the ground that cracks from the pressure.

*Huff* *Huff* *Huff* Derek tries to catch his breath. Alvaro brings the spear from as far back as he can and attack with a huge telegraphed swing. Derek ducks under it and shoulder checks Alavor.

But Derek wasn't expecting Alavor to continue the giant swing. The spear comes back around as Alavor gets knocked back slightly.

Derek takes the hit to his bicep. The spears pole directly slamming into him.

*Crack!*

An audible bone break is heard as Derek is tossed to the side. He rolls across the dirty ground and feels the arm barely hang on by threads. He tastes a bit of iron and his breathing becomes increasingly difficult.

Alavor does another spin as he comes to a stop and poses triumphantly.

Derek uses his left arm to help himself get up as his right arm hangs down motionless. "Give me a break already damnit" He mutters.

He looks around for Netherlight and spots it 5 feet away from himself.

At this point he can barely keep going. He shuffles his feet towards the sword and picks it up. Suddenly it feels a lot heavier than it did a few seconds ago.

"Derek!!" Junior shouts. He bucks hard enough that Denton's knee slides off his back. The sudden shift in weight causes Denton's grip on Junior's right wrist to weaken slightly. And that's just enough for Junior. He gets his right hand free and drives his thumb into Raffs left eye. It took a bit of aura but Junior was able to apply enough pressure to pop Raffs eye. Even with aura there are certain spots that are vulnerable.

"AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!" Black blood pools out from Raff's eye.

Junior is somewhat fully healed by his aura and being forced to sit still. With his body mostly free he just needs to get out from underneath Denton and get his left arm free.

Without a second thought Junior lowers his head and then drives the back of his skull under Denton's chin. Junior ignores the slight disorientation and punches Denton's inner elbow which causes Denton's arm to fold and release Junior's left wrist.

That punch was fueled by aura and definitely left some damage. But Junior doesn't worry about these two and gets to his feet as he sprints towards Derek.

Junior breaks out into his full sprint, not hesitating or slowing down as he tackles Chris who was holding the greataxe over his head as he prepared to decapitate Derek from behind. Junior tackles the guy to the ground and infuses aura into his rings to increase the force of his punches.

"STOP!" Aragog commands.

Junior freezes with his right hand raised. Chris lost his axe when Junior tackled him and was about to punch Junior as. But he is also forced to stop.

Junior glares at Aragog. "Wait your bloody turn!" He shouts and he can feel his body slowly get back under his control. It's like he is held back by chains as he tries to move. His first punch barely has any force behind it. But then he throws his left fist forward and it's like the resistance decreased. His fist connects and then he throws his right. He continues to smash Chris in the face as he breaks the chains that held his body back. He isn't sure what changed but it's gotta be the weakness of Aragog's semblance.

"Denton! Raff! Restrain Hei Xiong already! What are you waiting for?!" Aragog commands.

Denton gets over to Junior after a few seconds, but it was enough for Junior to deal massive damage to the big idiot under him who barely tried to protect himself. Chris tried to punch Junior but each time he was denied by Junior and repeatedly punched. It wasn't always the face either. Junior also targeted the throat and the serratus anterior. The serratus anterior is the muscle underneath your armpit that allows you to extend your arm. And getting punched there doesn't feel too good either since it's on the side of your ribs. Junior was quick, precise, and brutal with every punch he was able to get in. He ignored the punches Chris tried to throw at him.

When Junior noticed Denton get close he stopped beating Chris and jumped up and over some machines covered in webs. Denton and Raff charged through the machines but didn't see Junior on the other side. Raff still struggling with his vision problem.

Derek pointed Netherlight at Alvaro and stumbled his way forward. "This is a… rather unfortunate…. end"

Alvaro runs up to Derek and begins attacking once more. This time Derek is struggling a lot more and is unable to block every attack. He gained cuts over his body but avoided and major damage. He also counterattacked a few times besides just deflecting. He's too injured and tired to be running around and dodging.

Junior ran all the way down the rows of machines and got around them before he was spotted. It was far faster than he had ran in the past, but he doesn't pay attention to this fact. He continues running and hops over the row of webbed machines and gets back into the center of the room. His eyes widen as he sees Sal behind Derek who is still engaged with Alvaro.

Junior's eyes widen and he uses every ounce of energy to get to his friend. Time seems to slow down as he sees Derek defend himself against Alvaro's assault.

Derek narrowly avoids being impaled through his stomach and delivers a diagonal slash to Alavor. It was a shallow and didn't do much but it stopped the attack and knocked the beast back a step or two..

*Sch-Sklik!*

"Gah!" Derek winces and drops Netherlight. He shakily brings his left hand to his right shoulder and feels metal protruding through his chest. He looks down and sees the katana blade covered in his own blood.

Aragog smirks. "Back off beasts! Let's enjoy the show"

Junior runs forward and punches Sal who stabbed Derek through the chest. The force blasted Sal into Denton some distance away. Alvaro also backs off and doesn't engage further. The beasts regroup and stand still beneath the throne.

Derek falls down to his knees as he grabs the blade protruding from his chest and tries to catch his breath.

Derek sits back onto his heels as he falls forward, unable to keep himself up.