Luis vs the Pyromanic, Part 2

"How weird…" Austin mutters to himself.

"Huh? Why is that?" Ella asks.

"Well, you see, unlike my guns, those dual pistols from the Pyromaniac aren't made of Cursed Power, rather, they're real guns. However, the bullets from those dual pistols as well as the Pyromaniac's flames are made out of Cursed Power. The Pyromaniac is loading his Cursed Power into his dual pistols to use as ammo, then turns his Cursed Power into fire, like Nick's lightning, to attack," Austin explains.

I circulate my wind around my katana's blade, resembling a miniature tornado. The tornado grows thinner and thinner, until it just barely wraps around my blade. "Nice!" I exclaim, before turning back to face the Pyromaniac, and bringing my katana high into the air above my head. "Wind Control: Hurricane Slash!" I shout as I slice my katana downwards, sending a powerful gust of slashing winds flying towards the Pyromaniac.

In defense, the Pyromaniac angels his dual pistols downwards. The Pyromaniac then shoots out his flaming bullets, which explode against the ground, sending the Pyromaniac flying into the air, dodging my Hurricane slash.

"Jeez, I need to learn how to do that with my wind," I grumble.

A rush of flames then spews out of the Pyromaniac's pistols, keeping him steadily levitated in the air. "What's up with you yelling out some weird attack name when you strike?" He asks me.

"Dunno," I answer. "It's a Pro Slayer thing. Helps us distinguish between our abilities easier in combat."

The Pyromaniac smirks to himself. "Well I ought to try that!" He exclaims. The Pyromaniac then aims his guns backwards, releasing another rush of flames, which send him flying through the air towards me. "Phoenix Dive!" The Pyromaniac shouts as he lands a devastating flaming tackle on me, sending me stumbling backwards again. Again, I use my wind to help keep me from falling.

"His Cursed Ability, it's like…exploding…flaming bullets," I grumble.

"My what now?" The Pyromaniac asks as he lands back on the ground.

"Your Cursed Ability," I answer. The Pyromaniac raises an eyebrow at me. You know…your superpower?" I suggest. Still, nothing. Does this guy…not even know about Cursed Power and he's slaying demons?!

"I don't know what the Hell you're even saying, but it won't matter when I burn you to a crisp!" The Pyromaniac roars as he aims his dual pistols at me, firing off another volley of bullets, which I counter by coating my katana in wind and slashing outwards, blowing the bullets away. 

The Pyromaniac then charges me, using his flame exhaust to get in close as I raise my katana up, wrapping another tornado around it. "Wind Control: Wind Blade!" I shout as I slice my katana downwards, using the tornado wrapped around its blade to increase its slashing power. The Pyromaniac counters by bringing his dual pistols upwards in a cross, catching my katana.. The Pyromaniac then hooks his dual pistol round my katana as my tornado dissipates, catching my blade, before knocking me in the face with one, two…three elbow strikes, blood squirting out of my nose from the impacts.

The Pyromaniac then shoves me off of him as I yank my katana free, the two of us putting some distance between ourselves. I then prepare another Hurricane Slash as the Pyromaniac aims his dual pistols at me. The Pyromaniac fires off another volley of bullets at me as I slash my katana downwards, sending another powerful last of wind his way. Our two attacks collide in an explosion of fire and wind. I shield myself from the blowing winds and cloud of dust the collision of our two attacks kicked up. When the explosion subsides, huge, powerful scorch marks are left all across the ground.

 "So I guess it is like the saying...wind really does enhance fire? Never seen that before in person," I say to myself.

The Pyromaniac fires off another round of flaming bullets this way. I'm careful as to not use my wind to block the bullets, since last time the impact caused by the collision caused by the flames and wind was a little too much to handle. Instead, I raise my katana to block the bullets, expecting to feel the impact of a mini explosion. But instead, when the Pyromaniac's bullets make contact with my katana, a rush of flame extends all across my blade, igniting my katan on fire.

"Ah!" I cry as I throw my katana onto the ground and begin stomping on it, in a panic to extinguish the flames. "Go out! Go out!" I cry. Eventually the flames subside, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

"What's so special about that sword," the Pyromaniac asks as he raises an eyebrow at my embarrassing display.

"This katana…it's the only memento I have of my father," I say, and when I do, the Pyromaniac's face softens. For an instant, he looks more sad than angry, but then his face returns to his usual pissed off expression a moment later.

"What happened to him? Your father, I mean," the Pyromaniac asks.

"Dunno," I shrug. "He just up and dipped one day. I'd like to find out why, but my mom refuses to speak about him in any regard. And I don't have any other family," I answer.

"How old were you?" The Pyromaniac asks me.

"Five," I answer. "I barely remember him, but enough so that it hurts."

The Pyromaniac is silent for a few moments. "I was nine when my parents died," he eventually says, breaking our silence. "A demon killed them. No Pro Slayers came to their rescue in time. Strange thing is, there weren't any other demon related casualties in the area."

"May ninth, 2011?" I ask.

The Pyromaniac nods. "All I remember from that demon," the Pyromaniac says as he grits his teeth and balls his hands into fists, so tightly that blood begins to seep through his fingers. "Is her striking red hair!" He roars.

"Her? Hair?" I ask.

"Yeah, a humanoid demon," the Pyromaniac answers. "Some look human, just with claws and fangs and horns."

I can see the pain in the Pyromaniac's eyes. He's truly hurting, remembering his past.

"What's your name?" The Pyromaniac calls to me.

"Who, me?" I ask.

"Who else would I be talking to?"

"Luis, my name is Luis."

"I'm Mikey."

"Are they…becoming friends?" Ella asks. Austin simply shrugs in response.

"So, you seem friendlier now, you wanna join the Pro Slayer Organization?" I tease.

"Still on that shit?" The Pyromaniac, no, Mikey sneers.

"Well I've given up on you at this point," I reply. "But you know what? I'm still going to win this fight, and I'm still going to complete my mission. I don't care about becoming a high ranking Pro Slayer, I don't even care about becoming strong. Because as long as I'm strong enough to protect the family that I still have, that's all that matters!" 

"In the Slayer Organization, you'll never get a chance to save your family!" The Pyromaniac shouts. "You know how hard I worked to get to this point? Day after day, week after week, no sleep, no food, just training! Stealing to survive. Living on the run so I don't get caught...do you know what it's like?! You...some random nobody like you ...you don't have the right to become strong! I'm the one who needs revenge! You Slayers... you vow to become wrong to protect the people you love, then you ignore everyone else?! It's horrible! Dammit...why didn't you Slayers help me?!" Towards the end there, Mikey's raging shouts…turned more into pleas of sadness.

"Oh, and you think my life is perfect? I've lost people I loved, I've seen them DIE in front of me! But I'm not a coward like you. I didn't escape into a fantasy world filled with psychotic revenge, I stayed in the real world and accepted it! I've met people who have involved me to change, and I'm trying! I'm sorry that the Pro Slayers couldn't save your parents, I really am! But the truth is...the truth is…I don't have time to worry about other people's problems when I'm too busy worrying about my problems and the problems of those in front of me!" I roar back.

"Alright, Slayer I'll admit, you got your issues. But that doesn't change the fact that the Slayers are a useless, miserable group! But enough said, we'll never see eye to eye, the two of us...let's just settle this here and now, with our fists! Just so you know, I've been holding back a lot!" Mikey shouts.

"As have I!" I reply.

I unsheathe my katana as Mikey aims his pistols at me

The end of our second mission is almost at a close.

And I will end this mission in success.

Mikey fires another volley of bullets at me. He's started every bout with that attack that I've become accustomed to blocking it. And so, I do. I raise my katana up to deflect those bullets which explode against the flat edge of my blade, tainting it with soot and scorch marks. Now that I mention it, I'm covered in soot and scorch marks as well, and my clothes have been burnt up, so yet again, it looks like I'll need to buy a new hoodie after this. The surrounding area has become heavily burnt up by Mikey's flames and cut up and blown about by my wind as well, over the course of our battle.