Mikey, Ralph, and Jin vs Supurasshu, Part 1

Slowly, my Sky God's Katana begins pushing Kaze back, and when Kaze notices this, his eyes widen in shock.

"You're a good teacher, Slayer Kaze," I begin to say with a smirk. "You taught me about using the same wind to attack multiple times as to not waste Cursed Power, because of you, I learned how to fly, and also, how to condense your Cursed Power in order to take control of your wind." My Sky God's Katana pushes Kaze back even further, who grits his teeth in frustration. "But unfortunately for you, I have the best teacher of them all! He taught me Cursed Power Techniques, about turning my Cursed Power into wind rather than just using it to control wind, and to use both my wind and my Cursed Power to attack at the same time!" I shove Kaze off of me, sending him stumbling backwards, our two wind weapons fizzling out.

"So now…I'll show you the apex of what I can do!" I shout as I aim my left palm at Kaze while chambering my right hand. Wind begins swirling around my right hand, as I stockpile Cursed Power into it. I then thrust my right palm forwards, while chambering my left hand, firing off a powerful dark blue emission of Cursed Power Kaze's way, who begins his Cursed Power reinforced arms up to block. Wind then begins swirling around my right hand.

"WIND CONTROL: SPIRIT STORM!"

The wind around my palm then begins to fire outwards, forming a spiraling beam of wind like a sideways tornado, or like a ranged version of my wind blade, which hugs my Cursed Power beam, wrapping around it as it flies towards Kaze.

"Not…bad…" Kaze growls. "BUT I'M A PRO SLAYER, I CAN'T LET MY JUNIOR BEAT ME!" Kazde knocks my Spirit Storm away before swiping his hand towards me, sending a powerful gust of wind flying from behind Kaze and colliding with my Spirit Storm. Our two attacks clash, but this time, I feel myself slowly getting pushed back.

"Damnit…damnit…" I growl as I dig my heels into the desert floor holding my ground. "I can't lose…not to another wind user!"

Our two attacks continue battling it for dominance, until Kaze's attack pushes past my Spirit Storm, flying towards me with a powerful blast of wind. All I see is an explosion of light gray Cursed Power and blood, as I feel my body get shredded from Kaze's wind. When the explosion subsides, I'm laying on my back, staring up at Kaze, who looms over me.

Kaze forms another shuriken out of wind, holding the edge of one of its blades up to my neck. "Now, do you admit defeat?" He asks.

With a grunt, I struggle to push myself out of the sand and stand up, but I'm barely able to get a foot off the ground, before collapsing down onto my knees. I peer up at Kaze, my body trembling. Why do I feel like this? I've never been one to attempt to do something when I know it's futile, so why…

Why do I refuse to admit defeat so badly?

"How…how are my teammates?" I stammer.

"They're both knocked out already. I caught you three up in my tornado earlier because I knew it would send the other two flying away, but not you," Kaze answers.

I grit my teeth in frustration, gripping my hands in the sand so tightly they begin to bleed.

"You can't win. You're a Fake Fūjin. Just admit defeat," Kaze orders.

Since when…when did I hate to lose?

Am I changing after becoming a Pro Slayer…or are these my true feelings?

"I…" I stammer as I look up to face Kaze, who scowls at me in response, tears forming at the edges of my eyes. "I admit defeat."

And so, with some commentary from the announcer, Astra and Ronbun are carried off the arena in stretches by a team of Medical Slayers, as they check on mine and Kaze's wounds.

What do I do now?

Go watch one of my squadmates' matches, I suppose.

What else can I do?

***

"Let the final match of the second round of the New York Interborough Competition…begin!" The announcer booms.

"So Slayer Supurasshu, huh? She's a water user on a river terrain, this match is gonna be tough! Especially for you, being a fire user and all!" Ralph comments, completely ignoring Mikey's previous line.

The river terrain that the three Junior Slayers find themselves battling in is a stoney area, with multiple branching, connecting rivers running through it on all sides. Off in the distance, is a small forest. Right now, the three Junior Slayers are standing on some of the many rocks that lay in the rivers.

"Don't patronize me!" Mikey snaps as he draws his dual pistols

"Why do I have to be with the hot head…" Jin sighs to himself.

The three Junior Slayers' conversation is interrupted when the water in the river behind Mikey begins to rise into the air a bit.

"Mikey, look out!" Ralph calls as he constructs a bow out of his golden Cursed Power, knocking it back. Ralph fires off an arrow at the rising water, but it's too late. The water "leaps" out of the river, as if it's sentient, and takes the shape of a blade of water, slashing Mikey across the back of his hands, before retreating back into the river on the other side of Mikey.

"The Hell was that?!" Mikey snaps as he grunts in pain, forcing him to drop his dual pistols.

"It looks like the water…moved!" Ralph exclaims.

"Slayer Supurasshu must be nearby controlling the water," Jin explains.

"Alright, where is she?!" Mikey cries as he snatches his dual pistols off of the ground, aiming them upwards and turning around frantically, desperate to catch wind of Supurasshu.

But that's when another blade of water leaps out of the river, flying towards Mikey again. "Over there!" Mikey cackles as he turns to face the water blade, aiming the barrels of his dual pistols at it. "Exploding Flame Bullets: Embers!" Mikey shouts as he shoots a bullet out of each pistol at the water blade, but the blade weaves around Mikey's bullets and continues flying towards Mikey, slashing him across the hands before retreating back into the water, causing Mikey to stumble backwards a bit.

"Supurasshu is nowhere around here!" Mikey snaps as he spins around frantically, desperately searching for Supurasshu.

"Yeah, and In this wide open area, there's nowhere to hide!" Ralph replies as he searches for Supurasshu as well.

"Unless she's under water," Jin chuckles.

"Or in the forest," Ralph adds, pointing towards the forest in the nearby distance. 

"Though that would require Slayer Surasshu to have an abnormal Cursed Power range."

Mikey gets into a running position and aims his dual pistols behind him, which begin spewing a small fire.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Ralph asks.

"I'm coming after Supurasshu, she must be in the forest!" Mikey answers. "Don't follow me!" A rush of flames then spews out of Mikey's dual pistols, and, by using those flames to enhance his speed, Mikey takes off towards the forest. "Exploding Flame Bullets: Flame Exhaust!" Mikey's flames kick up a cloud of smoke, causing Ralph and Jin to literally eat Mikey's dust, leaving the two standing there, coughing and waving away the smoke from their faces.

"Should we go after Mikey?" Ralph asks as he turns to face Jin, who turns back to Ralph and shrugs in response.

***

After a few brief seconds, Mikey makes it to the opening to the forest and steps inside.

"Where are you, you annoying water-woman? Is this some stupid Rule-Breaker ability?" Mikey grumbles as he looks around the forest, searching for Supurasshu. "You've gotta be around here somewhere!"

But what Mike isn't aware of is that Slayer Supurasshu…has already been found.

***

A moment after Ralph and Jin take off running after Mikey, a blade of water leaps out of the river again. Ralph and Jorid pause midstep, as Ralph constructed his golden Cursed Power bow, anticipating an attack.

"Mikey must not have found Slayer Supurasshu yet," Raph says as he knocks back a golden Cursed Power arrow.

"Good, more chance for the two of us to show off," Jin smirks as he punches a fist into his palm.

But rather than slashing the two Slayers, the blade of water leaps out of the river fully and lands on the ground, before rising into the air and taking the shape of a human.

"Whaaa…?" Ralph and Jin marvel at the display.

The "water human" then begins to take color, turning into a woman wearing an aqua-blue suit; Slayer Supurasshu.

"Whew, good thing I managed to get Slayer Kaen away from you two!" Supurasshu begins to say as she wipes her forehead. "He's a monster! I'd hate to have to fight him again!"

"Woah!" Jin cries as he stumbles backwards a few steps.

"I thought your Cursed Ability was to control water, not turn into it?" Ralph asks Supurasshu.

"I've leveled up a bit," Supurasshu smirks. "Ever since I almost lost to the Pyromaniac and Slayer Hachi came to save me, I've vowed to become a laughing stick of the Slayer Organization no longer!"

"Well I've got bad news for you-" Jin begins to say as he charges Supurasshu. "Because you're fighting me!"