29: Almost Perfect

Preparing for their escape, Vic had set up a turret that would shoot out a laser that would drill through whatever they were in. After they made a complete hole, they'd have Hiro go through it since he can turn into a ball of light. Hiro didn't like the idea as if he runs out of mana midway, he'd be crumpled. He didn't have much of a choice.

Dan was starting to worry ever since Heath left. Nate chasing after Heath but never came back. He goes up to Laura who was passively involved in the situation.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Un," She nodded. "Daijoubu da."

"Kangete, kore wa owari ka?"

"Souda to ii."

"Ore mo," he sighs. "Heath and Nate, doko?"

"Futari ga tsuyoi darou na. Shinpaisuna."

"Darou?"

Daijoubu da = I'm fine

Kangete, kore wa owari ka? = Do you think it's over?

Souda to ii= I hope

Ore mo = Same

Doko = Where

Futari ga tsuyoi darou na. Shinpaisuna = They're strong, right? It'll be okay

Darou? = Right?

Right after their conversation, spikes of mana was felt from the edge of the cave. Dan turns to the passage way and started running towards it. Laura grips her scabbard and slowly followed behind him. 

Volta was curled up after she regained her balance. Well, mostly. She saw Dan running with Laura. "Daniel...?" She suddenly muttered. Sam was sitting beside her, trying to keep her sitting up. Volta's eyes widened as she hastily got up, running forward, chasing after Dan.

Sam grabs her wrist and held her, "you shouldn't be running yet."

"Hanashite," she pleads.

Hanashite = Let me go

Sam grits his teeth then lets her go, then got himself up and chased behind her. He screams as they were leaving, "you guys got this right?"

"We'll be fine, stay safe," Vic said.

"You guys too."

Dan and Laura quickly made it to the room where Heath and Nate were on death's door. Dan crouches down to Heath and feels his heartbeat. "He's alive, how's he?"

"Alive too."

"This was Shujin, right?"

"I believe so."

Volta then catches up to the two, along with Sam.

"Volta? Sam?" Dan notices. 

"What happened to them?" Sam asked.

"They fought Shujin, I think," Dan replied.

"We should take them back with the others," Laura suggested.

"Yeah," Dan agreed.

Dan grabs ahold of the two's gravity and took them back to the original room they were in. They just laid Heath and Nate next to each other, they didn't know how to deal with an electrified patient, they just hoped that they'll be okay.

Vic started to drill through the cave, she made the drill create a hole with the diameter of 1 meter, in case Hiro ran out of mana mid teleportation and wouldn't be crumpled to death. She felt like she had gone through at least 5% of the cave in the past 10 minutes. If it keeps going at a steady pace, they'll reach the outside in a little over three hours. 

By twenty minutes, Heath and Nate woke up, incredibly weak. They were conscious but Dan told them not to move a muscle. They were completely out of mana and exhausted, not to mention numb in pretty much 80% of their body.

"We'll get out of here soon enough, so you two just shut up and lay on the floor," Dan said with a grin. "What kind of idiot goes to fight the strongest alone?" Dan chuckled, dissing Heath.

"D- Dan..." Heath manages to whisper.

Dan leans in, lending Heath and ear, "what?"

"Fuck you..." Heath slurred.

"Hah," Dan chuckled.

"Dan," Laura called.

"What's up?" He turned to her immediately.

"I sense something coming."

"Oh, great," Dan stood up and used Mana Sense to see what it was. "One beast?" Dan was starting to get wary.

The beast brought itself in the room very humanlike. It was blue with big horns on its face. Razor sharp teeth that could chew through metal. From its waist below, it wore black baggy pants. On its right hand, it held a blade that emitted foreign mana.

That's a maniacal level, Dan. Jon warned.

I can tell. Is it stronger than the one in Idly City?

Far stronger.

Without a sound, the beast was in front of Dan, raising its blade up high, ready to slam down as hard as it could and cleave Dan in two.

Dan erects Black Veil and the blade clashes against the dome, but rather than being repelled, the beast persisted. Managing to cut through the veil, Dan rolls to the right, dodging it safely.

Sam threw one of his blades at the beast. The blade hit directly at its head, bouncing off like a rubber ball against a wall. Sam was visibly irritated as he recalls the blade back to his hand. Laura draws her blade and swings to cut the beast at its tendons, but her blade barely manages a scratch.

Volta runs up as fast as she could, she lands her fist right at the beast's chest, throwing it across the room. It crashes at the wall near the passage. It immediately got back up, as if it wasn't even damaged.

"Volta," Dan called. "I need you to bring that thing to the other room."

"Okay," she nods.

Dan reaches out and grabs the gravity of the beast and moves it along the passageway. The beast suddenly releases a surge of energy that freed itself from Dan's grasp. It dropped to the ground and manages its footing.

It can counter my spell?

It can manipulate its own gravitational pull.

"Hit it, now!" Dan yelled.

Sam runs up to the beast and clashes his blades, throwing the beast off balance. Volta rushes in and lands both of her fists on the beast's chest and knocked it all the way to the other room. Dan, Laura, Volta, and Sam rushes to the other room, meeting the beast that was already on its feet.

Dan loaded his arms as Black Gauntlets wrapped around his arms. Volta was pouring lightning out of her body as she was ready to fight. Sam was unsure whether he should join in the fight since he can't exactly hurt the beast. He grips his blades tighter as rage filled his heart. Laura was shaking as her fear paralyzed her.

Volta reaches at the beast's foot, hitting it at the side of its knee, forcing it to kneel. Dan runs up as fast he could to deliver a follow-up. He punched the beast directly at its face. Rocking its head back slightly, Dan then felt his left wrist held tightly. The beast jumped up, bringing Dan along with him. 

The beast slams him against the ceiling then dropping down immediately. Dan casts Black Envelope: Full, covering his entire body. The beast starts increasing its own mass that, dropping quicker and heavier. Dan then slams to the ground, equal to being crushed by a full metric ton.

Dan struggles to breathe as his vision starts to blacken and began losing consciousness. Volta grabs the beast by its waist, knocking it off of Dan, letting him breathe in air.

Volta didn't understand why, but she was suddenly fueled by an emotion she had forgotten. She was fucking pissed off. Crushing the beast against the wall and releasing a barrage of strikes at the beast. Her strikes roared like thunder, echoing through the entire cave. Making the entire ground tremble.

Despite all her efforts, the beast manages to catch her wrist and lift her off the ground. She tries to break the beast's grip but it wouldn't budge much. The beast threw her across the room and had her crash against the opposite wall.

Sam runs up to the beast with both blades in his hands. The beast slowly charges back at him. Sam clashed his blade and knocked the beast off its balance. Sam slashes the beast's abdomen then ducked preemptively to dodge a hook from the beast's left. Sam pivots under and got behind the beast. He stabs the beast at its side, managing to pierce shallow. He then slams his hand against the butt of his blade and pierced deeper each hit.

Sam drags the blade out to the side and causing the beast to bleed profusely. Sam knew bleeding wouldn't kill a beast. The beast pivots around and brings its blade around. Sam lifted his left blade and blocks the beast's attack. Sam brought the other blade and clashes it against his other blade. Swinging the sword and the beast's hand back.

Like a speeding truck, Volta spears the beast and slammed it against the wall. It then took no time to shove Volta back a few steps. Driving its fist to her abdomen, making her wheeze. Then the beast slams its right elbow to her temple and she gets thrown to the far side of the wall and was completely knocked out.

Sam looks over at her and was concerned, only to find a fist's shadow looming over his face. He was knocked to the far backside of the room and was completely knocked out.

The beast raised its blade to Laura, challenging her. It charges forward, speeding towards her.

Laura was stuck in place, frozen. She was in stance but her muscles tense up, she couldn't pull out her blade. The beast raised its blade, ready to cleave her in two. As the blade drops lower, the blade was obstructed.

Dan raised both his hand high, with Black Veil to cushion the strike a little bit. It broke apart easily but managed to ease the blow. With Dark Gauntlets focusing at the blade's impact point, Dan was able block it.

The amount of force the beast had was overwhelming, piercing through Dan's flesh gradually. Dan grunts as he takes the pain.

"Laura, run!" Dan yelled. 

Laura takes a few steps back, not a word she uttered.

The beast released the blade abruptly and went low to wrap its hands around Dan's back. 

Huh? Dan was completely baffled and wasn't able to defend. Even if he did knew it was coming, he couldn't have defended against it anyway.

The beast was able to take him down with a technical wrestling move. Dan tried to push up but couldn't budge. Even changing the gravitational pull, it was able to counter his control.

It mounted on Dan and hammered down its fists on Dan's face, repeatedly. Blow after blow, sending shockwaves through Dan's bones, gradually fracturing after each strike. If it was ten seconds late, he'd been dead.

In a flash of light, circling around the beast and coming in from the side. A spearing takedown that pushed the beast off of Dan. Dan quickly stood up to see Volta holding back the beast. The beast lifted its knee to strike her abdomen, nearly knocking her out. It then grabbed her hair and lifted her off the ground.

Dan ran as fast as he could to save her the beast drove its fist to her stomach and she slammed flat on the ground. Blood gurgling out of her mouth as she was completely out cold.

"Volta!" Dan panics, he closed the gap between him and the beast instantly. He jumps and lands a devastating uppercut right to the beast's chin. He knocks the beast off balance.

The beast was quick to recover, with its right hand, it grabbed Dan's wrist and slammed its left arm against Dan's elbow. Hyperextending his arm, nearly breaking it. The beast then followed up with an elbow strike to Dan's forehead. Knocking him nearly unconscious. As Dan was losing control of his body, his legs shutting down, the beast drove its fist to Dan's chest and knocked him to the wall. 

The beast reached its hand out and its blade recalled to his hand. It then faces Laura and began approaching her.

Fuck... Doushou? Laura started to panic.

No matter how much you train, no matter how honed your skills are, no matter how talented you are, in the worst case scenario, you show who you truly are. 

Doushou? = What do I do?