Luis vs the Pyromanic, Part 1

he Pyromaniac fits Nick's description to a tee, dressed in red, fierce eyes, and spiky brown hair. But the biggest give away was the fact that, you, know flames shot out everywhere upon his arrival.

As for clothing, the Pyromaniac wears a dark red baggy, sleeveless shirt with a black and gold stripe going down vertically on its left side. He wears big, light red fingerless gloves and black, raggy sneakers with matching red stripes. As for pants, he wears dark black skinny jeans which were ripped up in various places. He has leather straps (one coming from the right shoulder, one under the red armpit, and one under the left armpit) going across his chest which connected at a point on his right breast which had a red symbol for fire on it. Dual pistol holders hung from these leather straps on his back. The pistols are dark silver colt 45's with white barrels which had a flame decal on each side. On the right side of both barrels was a meter which I'm sure what it was for. On his right arm is a tattoo that reads: "4/9/2012." Four years ago. What's the date about?

The Pyromaniac laughs a psychotic laugh. "HAH HAH HAH, demon! That's another one down!" The Pyromaniac then turns to face me. "Good job saving that kid, but I don't need your help. Leave the demon hunting to me and get out of my turf!"

Even the way he speaks is crude and angry, just like his appearance. He truly feels like a Pyromaniac. "Chill, man, I'm just doing my job! My name's Luis, and I'm a Pro Slayer. What's your's?" The Pyromaniac takes a deep breath in…then out.

"YOU DAMN PRO SLAYERS!" He roars. "ARE YOU ALL DUMB?! WHY WOULD I GIVE YOU MY IDENTITY? THINK LOGICALLY! BESIDES, YOU ALL SUCK AT YOUR JOBS. MY DEMON HUNTING SKILLS FAR OUT PLAY YOURS'. I'LL KICK YOUR ASS, I'LL KICK ALL OF YOUR ASSES!"

If only I had a nickel for everytime someone said they would kick my ass. "What the Hell, you're…kinda an asshole," I say to the Pyromaniac.

The Pyromaniac pauses. He walks up to me and sticks his face right in mine. "Say that again, Slayer…" he growls.

"You're an asshole," I reply, straight to the Pyromaniac's face.

"Luis!" I hear a voice cry. I turn to where I heard the voice, seeing Ella and Austin running up to me.

"Luis, is that him?!" Austin calls to me.

"Yeah, this is the Pyromaniac!" I answer.

"So that damned Hachi called up his little reinforcements after all," the Pyromaniac growls, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"You met Slayer Hachi?" I ask.

"Yeah, he said he was gonna get his "squad" or whatever to fight me," the Pyromaniac answers. "The Pyromaniac, that's me?"

"Yeah, you've earned quite the reputation by now," I answer. I don't know how I'm chatting so lax with my opponent. Probably because he's just a kid, like me. A kid forced to take up arms against his will.

"So, Slayers, what the Hell do you want with me? I'm just helping you out!" The Pyromaniac furiously asks.

Ella, Austin, and I exchange nervous glances, not sure who's to explain the situation to our crazed little Pyromaniac here. Eventually, Austin speaks up.

"Well , you see, you think you're helping us out by slaying demons, which you are, but that probably causes excess property damage and certainly doesn't care about the loss of life," Austin explains.

"That's because the life of one boy is worth letting go off so I can kill that demon! They're the real threat here!" The Pyromaniac shouts. "When a demon attacked my parents, there wasn't a Slayer in sight! So I'm just doing what they couldn't do!"

Ah, I see. So that's his trauma.

He's just like me.

"Hey, man," I say, slowly approaching the Pyromaniac. "Listen, what happened to your parents, I get it. I've lost people too, and I've been attacked by demons too. But if you just join the Pro Slayer Organization, you can kill demons legally all you want once you become a Pro Slayer!"

"So I guess you're the one Hachi wanted me to meet," the Pyromaniac unenthusiastically grunts.

"And I suppose this is what Nick meant when he said that I can relate to you," I grunt back, equally enthusiastic.

"You damn Slayers...JUST STOP MEDDLING IN MY BUSINESS!" The Pyromaniac roars. "I dont have the time to spend moving up in the ranks until I can kill demons on my own free will! So just leave me alone!" The Pyromaniac draws his two pistols and aims them at us, spraying flames everywhere, just like oa flamethrower. Ella, Austin, and I duck under the grand blaze, as the Pyromaniac scorches the surrounding area.

"The guy just won't listen to any reason!" Austin cries.

"What the hell, would you cut it out?!" I snap.

"Fine," the Pyromaniac answers, as he ends his flamethrower-like attack. "I'll make you a deal. You there, the one in blue, listen up because this only applies to you. We'll have a one on one fight, using anything at your disposal. If somehow you manage to beat me, then I'll become a Pro Slayer but if and when I kick your ass, you'll leave me be and tell that damned Organization to leave me the Hell alone!"

I raise an eyebrow at the Pyromaniac. "Just one problem," I say. "I have little to no action in the Slayer Organization. So even if you win, I have no authority to call the Slayer Organization off from hunting you!"

The Pyromaniac is speechless. "You…suck," he says. "Fine. Scratch the last part. Just tell Hachi and the rest of his squad to leave me alone when I win," the Pyromaniac orders. "He creeps me out."

"Sure, whatever…" I sigh.

"Oh, and one more thing," the Pyromaniac continues as he points to Ella. "You, girl in the pink school uniform. Once I win this fight, you'll become my girlfriend."

Ella, Austin, and I are dumbfounded.

"WHAT?!?!" Ella and I shriek.

Austin chuckles.

"You heard me. She's pretty," the Pyromaniac replies, quite matter-of-factly. 

"What the Hell?! Y-you can't j-j-j-just-" I stammer.

"Just what?" The Pyromaniac sneers.

"YOU CAN'T JUST ASK THAT OF SOMEONE?!" I cry.

"Why not?" The Pyromaniac asks, just as matter-of-factly as his explanation before.

"Leave Ella out of our business!" I snap.

"I'm too young to get married…" Ella whimpers.

"Who said anything about marriage?" Austin asks. "And calm down. Arranged marriage is illegal here."

"Fine. Scratch that last part," the Pyromaniac replies, before turning back to me. "Remember, when I win you and your Slayer buddies leave me alone. And, iff somehow -against all odds- that you manage to win, I'll join your shitty organization."

"Right…" I reply.

"Anything goes in this powers, weapons, fighting styles. We have a deal?" he asked me. "Yeah..." I said. Okay, now I'm serious! We shook on it. "Pretty girl, you'll be the ref." The Pyromaniac demanded. "R-right!" Ella stammered. She called to me. "Um, yeah…" I answered. "He's so losing this," Austin muttered under his breath.

The Pyromaniac then turns back to Ella. "You, pretty girl, you'll be our judge," he orders.

Ella blushes. "R-right!" She stammers, flustered by the Pyromaniac's compliment.

"Hey, no flirting with my Ella-I mean my squad mate!" I stammar.

The Pyromaniac and I walk to the center of the mall food court. "Ready?" He calls to me. The Pyromaniac then turns back to face me and aims his pistols at me. In response, I draw my katana, clutching it tightly with two hands.

"R-ready," I answer.

Silence.

"Cute girl!" The Pyromaniac snaps.

"Ah, right!" Ella stammars. "Um…begin!"

The Pyromaniac starts our fight by firing off dual bullets towards me. Quickly, I bring my katana up to block, and the Pyromaniac's flaming bullets explode against the flat edge of my katana, forcing me to stumble backwards a few steps, and kicking up a cloud of smoke and flames.

"Woah…go Luis…" Austin sarcastically cheers.

 "Good luck, Luis! I don't want to marry a stranger!" Ella desperately cries. "Please…"

"He's so losing…" Austin sighs.

When the smoke clears, I see that the Pyromaniac is right on top of me! He flips his left pistol around as a steady stream of flames flare out. The Pyromaniac then punches towards me, his attack's strength and speed enhanced by his pistol's flame exhaust. I try to duck under the Pyromaniac's fist, but due to the speed of his attack, I don't have enough time to dodge, and the Pyromaniac's flaming fist hits me square in the side of my head, causing my face to wip to the right.

Damn, he's fast! But I don't get a chance to recover. The Pyromaniac follows up his powerful punch with a relentless assault of blows, all enhanced from his flame exhaust, sending me flying backwards. But before my back can slam into the wall behind me, I use my wind to catch myself and set myself steadily back down on my feet.

"Woah!" I exclaim. Almost feels like flying.