Chapter 15 - You're a Horrible Support

"That's them?" Gyutaro asked, leaning closer to Locki as the two stood in front of the doors to one of the Tigertooth gang's hideouts. They had gotten rather horrible luck, and it took almost the entire night to find them.

"Probably."

The demon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean probably? Can't we just go in and check?"

"We could, but I doubt that they," Locki saw the several gang members who were keeping tabs on the two from the windows as well as the larger bouncer who nervously glanced at Gyutaro and Locki. He could see the clear unease and wariness in their eyes. "Would let us in."

Now that was the correct reaction. The teen had questioned the average intelligence of the Tigertooth gang after the other group had thought they could take him on with just normal humans. While he wasn't the most renowned mage, Locki still had a bit of a reputation as one. And these people, after being so close to the three mages in their gang, seemed to understand the difference between themselves and Locki and Gyutaro.

"Hahaha," Gyutaro purposefully took a few steps forwards, grinning as he saw the men in the windows flinch and the large bouncer in leathers take a few tentative steps back. "Then what are we waiting for? An invitation?"

Locki smacked his lips as he looked at the building. Gyutaro had gotten a little antsy as they found three bases that showed no sign of their enemies, and Locki was also annoyed at their luck as they had wasted most of their night on just finding this hideout. That probably was made harder by how the building looked no different from its surroundings.

The building itself had no distinguishing features. A similar three-story, cubical building with an even number of windows on each level. Stacked stone held its walls up, and Locki caught the top floor was actually alight.

The leader of the Tigertooth likened his gang to a business, and had a very strict hierarchy over the whole thing. No one was allowed on the top floor without his admission, so that meant that the buildings without lights on the top floor would mean he wasn't in. And sure enough, Locki saw the window open from the top floor.

A large, barrel-chested man poked his head out the window. His white hair was braided into three large braids that hung over his right shoulder, showing that the tips of each had a large, curved blade at the end. Thick mutton chops lined the side of his square jaw, and they stretched out as a large toothy grin revealed incisors large enough to count as small knives.

"Well, I heard about two rats sneaking around our turf, and wondered if we'd have a part before the sun rose. Its about time you two got here." The man said, jumping out the window without a second thought.

He stood a massive six and a half feet off the ground, looming over Locki and Gyutaro like a mountain. His muscles bulged, but Locki's main attention was on the long, white and black striped tail that extended from the man's back. Claws extended from his fingertips, further cementing his magic in Locki's mind.

Tiger soul. It was certainly one of the more dangerous of the animal kingdom, so Locki knew he'd have to be careful not to underestimate the man's physical prowess. Normally, those with Take-Over Magic tended to be brutes who could pull off truly crazy feats with just their bodies alone.

"Do I have to come out, boss?" A drowsy voice spoke up from the building. Out came a long purple haired man who wore pajamas of all things.

Locki had to take a few more seconds to realize that yes, that man was wearing pajamas. Why? He had no idea, but his attention was taken more on the long spear in the man's hands. It had to be at least ten feet long with a large, triangular spearhead at one end. Oddly, the teen noted that the center of the triangular edge seemed to be hollow.

He wondered if that man was someone with Holder-type magic, but that was quickly put to rest when his Curse didn't strengthen. Pursing his lips, Locki eyed the last mage of the group. The young guild master already had their profiles, so he knew their names and roughly what they looked like. As such, he wondered why the last man stuck in the back with most of the non mages.

They were distinctly different from the others. He covered himself in dull, thick-looking armor. Vambraces and greaves ran up their forearms and shins, and a large cuirass covered their upper body. Locki tensed as small, intricate magic circles glowed on the tips of the man's fingers.

"Hey, guild master, that guy's in weird clothes to you too, right?" Gyutaro asked, pointing to the spear wielder in pajamas.

Locki paid more attention to the guy already casting magic, but kept the other two in his sight. "Yes… those are pajamas."

Gyutaro hummed quietly. "And are pajamas some kind of powerful armor here?"

"No, those are normal pajamas."

"Huh, mages are weird." Gyutaro decided, watching the rest with visible amusement.

It wasn't that difficult to understand why. The leader of the Tigertooth gang, Has Hearth, was shirtless entirely, exposing his thick muscles coated in body hair. His only clothes were the short shorts that stopped a couple inches short of his knees. Even his feet were uncovered, showing that he even had sharp claws that extended from his toes.

Locki paid attention to the man in pajamas. Not much was known about Ryzot Eeluffall, but there wasn't much information about his victims either. His magic seemed centered around something that affected bodies. However, the man's drooping eyelids and untensed posture spoke of inexperience.

"You guys seem rather comfortable here." Has laughed loudly, walking towards the two with all the confidence of any mage that faced a group of normal people. "Are you all talk or do you actually have something to back you up?"

"That depends," Locki stalled, stepping a bit closer. He got Has and Ryzot in his range, feeling just how strong his Curse affected them. "I heard you guys had some shady dealings. You wouldn't happen to be working for a cult, would you?"

The teen tensed as he felt his Curse strengthen a bit. He had expected it, but the confirmation only added to his annoyance. The last vestige of hope he had for those minor gang members overhearing something wrong was now dashed.

"Where did you hear that, little boy? Didn't your old man tell you not to stick your nose into things you shouldn't?" Has asked, still smiling. Locki could see the man didn't place him in his eyes. He was still the young master of Scarlet Hand no matter how much he tried to change.

Locki felt Gyutaro step near him. The demon impatiently asked, "When do we stop beating around the bush?"

"I second that!" Has laughed, and suddenly, Locki felt the man move.

The teen's focus was mainly on the man in the back who was casting some magic, but the second the large Take-Over Magic user moved, Locki felt the man cross from the edge of his range to almost right in front of him in a heartbeat. Locki's heart jumped up to his throat as the ruined Rune Woven Armor started to cover him.

"Has Hearth!" Locki yelled in a panic, and his eyes finally caught the large man. He had arrived in front of Locki and had already launched a punch straight for his head.

Like that, time seemed to slow as Locki felt his eyes narrow in on the threat.

A huge hand took up most of Locki's vision for a second as he struggled to take in everything. Almost at the same time, the edge of a scythe came in front of the fist right as it was slowed down by Locki's Curse, and the teen caught Gyutaro leaning backwards with his arm outstretched with a blood scythe grasped tightly in his hand.

The fist met the blade of the scythe between the man's middle and ring knuckles. Yet, Has did not slow down. He pushed forwards, splitting his hand all the way up to the middle of his forearm to hit Locki with his bloody, broken limb.

Locki hurriedly raised his armored arms up in time to feel the sheer impact. The air in his lungs rushed out in a quick wheeze, and he felt his arms slam painfully against his uncovered face right before his feet left the ground.

The sky and ground traded places for the teen as he shot backwards, tumbling uncontrollably down the road. He had half the mind to tuck his head into his hands as he bounced across the road several times before he crashed through a wall.

Stone and mortar crumbled on impact as the teen found himself inside an empty room. His gaze blankly stared out the hole in the wall, watching as stone and dust trailed down to the floor.

Groaning in pain, Locki slowly pulled himself off the ground. He saw Gyutaro and Has had started fighting after he was launched away. The demon seemed to have a better time than him as Gyutaro could dodge most of Has' attacks, and the few times the man slashed the demon with his claws, Gyutaro recovered almost instantly.

However, the same could be said for his opponent. Gyutaro had stabbed and slashed Has several times with his own hand scythes, but Has just ignored the injuries as they closed shut in a burst of steam. Not as fast as Gyutaro's healing, but the demon couldn't hit Has that often as the tiger soul enhanced man seemed to have more speed.

That was until Ryzot joined in. The spear-wielding man stealthily leaped in, landed a stab on Gyutaro as Has distracted the demon's arm and Locki watched as the wound began to fester and bubble. Gyutaro also noticed this immediately and didn't hesitate to remove his arm, growing another one in a second. Though, now the demon stopped hitting Has as often as he kept a close eye on the spear-wielding man who circled around the two.

Locki stumbled through the hole in the building, drawing the attention of the gang leader. Has said something to the last mage, and they immediately gathered a group of ten normal people to run Locki's way.

"Don't get in the way, boy!" Has yelled from their position, and Locki saw their claws and tail disappear.

A gray magic circle expanded behind him, and the man's muscles expanded rapidly as he grew to a colossal eight feet tall. His arms became prominently larger, trailing all the way down to the floor with his forearms and fists becoming comically larger. Two curved, ivory tusks extended from his mouth as he roared.

Gyutaro rushed the man as he changed. The demon leaped onto the man's body, ripping open large, gaping wounds in the man's chest that exposed the man's rib cage. However, Has just laughed, grabbing Gyutaro easily with one of his large hands. Gyutaro hurriedly slashed the hand, coughing up blood constantly as it clamped around his waist.

"[Animal Soul]," he yelled as he slammed Gyutaro into the ground. The stone-paved road cracked in a spider web before it exploded upwards and outwards in a shower of debris and stone. "[Chimera Elephant]!"

"Shit!" Locki cursed, covering his face as a buckshot of stone sparked against his armor. He briefly caught the figure of Gyutaro's mangled body fly through the air; the demon's twisted limbs and bleeding wounds healed while he shot through two buildings in the opposite direction of Locki. A cloud of dust marked the demon's flight as the young guild master watched Has' massive frame chase after his guildmate, following behind was Ryzot.

They had completely focused on Gyutaro as the large threat.

Locki frowned to himself as he started to chase after them. He didn't get far before he had to lean out of the way of a large sword that chopped right at him.

"Gastly." Locki said, carefully looking around. The largest clouds of debris had cleared to reveal ten men who carried a variety of weapons surrounding him. Behind all of them was the only armored mage of the gang.

Gastly's body floated out of his shadow, causing a few apprehensive glances at the little ball of gas. The Pokemon's signature poison smog started to spread around Locki's feet. Oddly, Locki found several blue fires that appeared around Gastly as it stared down the men.

"I'm sorry I have to do this." The mage said. His relatively ordinary features offered a sincere apologetic smile. "The boss' orders are kinda hard to ignore, so I got to distract you. It's been a while since he found someone who won't die instantly when he goes all out, you see."

Locki felt his Curse's potential hold over the man strengthened after his apology. It was a little off-balancing, really. The man truly was sorry, and he meant all of what he said.

"You have a very rude way of apologizing." Locki said, gesturing to the armed men. In the back of his mind, he knew that Gyutaro could survive. The demon wouldn't die instantly, so all he needed to do was focus on his own fight.

"I'm not really much of a fight, sorry." The man said, awkwardly smiling. He waved his hands as if the notion that he was a fighter was funny.

Locki pursed his lips, feeling his Curse continue to grow on the mage. He took a longer look at the man known as Redson Bit. Redson's files didn't really say what his magic was, but the teen had seen the magic circles appear on his fingertips, and even now, those magic circles glowed as he gestured around.

"You're a support-type mage." Locki said, feeling his Curse confirm him.

Redson clapped, nodding happily as the magic circles on his fingers glowed. "I knew you would figure it out. You see, I have heard about you, Locki Wyn. I always wondered what another support-type mage would be like, and really," Redson shook his head. "I am disappointed."

Locki's eyes widened as the normal people who surrounded him moved much faster than they should. He acted fast, rushing after Redson right as he saw everyone charge him.

He clenched his teeth as two swords fell on his armor. Once again, his breath was taken from his chest as they sparked against his stomach and chest, failing to even dent his armor. But the impact was enough for him to feel it.

Definitely not normal human strength or speed, he noted. However, they didn't seem to be that strong or fast. It was only the quantity that made them difficult.

Locki hurriedly stepped to the side as someone tried to stab him with a spear from behind the two swordsmen. Before he could catch his breath, he arched his back, squinting his eyes as sparks were created from a winged spear that trailed across his chest. His eyes widened as he saw an archer, who stood next to the confident Redson, notch an arrow. Behind him, he knew that another five members with similar weapons were already breathing down his neck.

"Gas!"

"Ah!"

"Shi– argh!"

Locki backpedaled away in a panic from another sword as an arrow missed him. In that moment, he saw that the blue fire that appeared around Gastly had somehow flown at the people behind him, catching their clothes aflame. They screamed as Gastly's chuckles echoed out.

"Back away now!" Redson hurriedly yelled, letting Locki have a moment to breathe. "Stay away from the blue fires; they're slow, but dangerous."

Locki tried to keep track of everyone, noticing how Redson was right. Whatever Gastly had done, those fires were slow and meandering. They gave him a more protected back, and at the same time, slowed the reinforcements of Redson's enhanced. It even injured the five behind him.

Still, that advantage disappeared as the blue magic circles at the tips of Redson's right fingers changed to green. The injured men still burned as their clothes refused to stop burning, but their wounds began healing. Blackened flesh fell off as pink, tender skin grew underneath only to be burned again in a repeating cycle.

Locki purposefully stood closer to Gastly, looking at the men who cried out in pain as they were healed and burned again and again. The teen could see the worry on Redson's face as he watched the gang members burn.

"Do you want to talk this out?" Locki asked confidently.

Redson chuckled awkwardly, losing his previous calm. "I guess its hard to hide, should understand it, right? This feeling of being a strict support mage."

Locki nodded, trying to estimate how strong his Curse on the mage was. "We're pretty weak. What more can you do? It is what it is." he looked over at Gastly, signaling with his eyes. "Can you cut it off?"

The Pokemon bobbed happily, but Locki stopped it from stopping the flames. He shot a look at the Tigertooth mage, drawing a look of realization from the man. He sighed and ordered his men backwards.

"[Make them drop their weapons], too." Locki said.

Redson bit his lips as he looked over at the men who were being healed, but complied eventually. Their weapons clattered on the ground as Locki finally gave the okay for Gastly to release their flames. The enemy mage heaved a sigh of relief as everyone just looked at each other.

In the distance, Locki heard the sounds of combat. He peered over Redson and his subordinate's shoulders to see a massive red arc that rose up from the ground, going through one of the buildings and into the sky. The building that was hit slid down a clean cut that marked the path of that red arc, crashing into the ground as a plume of debris rose up into the sky. More buildings seemed to collapse in response as large clouds of dust told the story of some fight happening in the distance.

"Should we sit down and talk?" Redson offered with a weak laugh. "Normally, I don't really like to fight, and this is only because Has would hurt me and my men if I didn't do what he asked. You should already know what he's like…" he waved with a mirthful smile. "He's all about the next fight, so my magic is seen as a disappointment for him."

"I get that." Locki said, crossing his arms. He trusted Gyutaro's regeneration, but the longer things dragged on the closer the sun came to appearing. However, he knew that he shouldn't show any signs of apprehension. "I'm not one for fighting, either."

"Haha, so you get that. Yeah… we all have to depend on our allies, but working together, we can be stronger. People just don't get magic like ours, right?"

Locki stilled. Three people seemed to have entered his Curse's range, but as he casually glanced behind him, there was no one there. A few more looks revealed a slight distortion in the air. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the mentality of a Support-type mage– I mean, we all have people we care about, so I find it fitting that we have ways to help them." Redson laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

Locki's face warped in confusion. "I think you're overthinking it. There's no way that's true."

"Well, you… don't get it, do you?" Redson's face twisted in disgust. "You must think all magic is about hitting someone harder; like a brute. How can you even call yourself a Support-type mage? Your allies are your greatest strength." he shot a look at the fight in the distance. "No wonder why you don't even care about your friend over there. You're a shit support."

Locki grew a little annoyed. "You don't get it. I never had anything useful. It was always me by myself. You can't be a support with the shit I had."

Redson scoffed, glaring at Locki. "You don't look alone to me. Besides, you don't need impressive magic to support your teammates. Now!"

Locki sighed, clamping down on everyone in his range with his Curse. The three people behind him slowed to a crawl, and Gastly hissed at the shimmering figures that suddenly appeared. Locki glanced at the humanoid figures with interest; he hadn't expected Redson to actually make other people invisible, but his Curse allowed him to affect them so long as they entered his range. Though, he wondered how he was going to reapply it as he needed to actually see them.

"I guess we both were stalling." Locki said, narrowing his eyes at the gang members who slowly leaped towards the weapons they discarded.

Redson's magic circles changed to red, and Locki hurriedly dodged out of the way as three arrows shot towards him. He frowned as the three archers had positioned themselves outside his range while they notched and shot their arrows faster than normal.

"Gastly, use more of that fire." Locki said, easily moving out of the way of the next volley of arrows. Two struck uselessly against his armor while the last he tilted his head out of the way to dodge. They were dangerous, but only for his head. He had already dealt with much more dangerous and faster projectiles.

"Gas…" Gastly muttered weakly, and Locki looked back to see only five blue fires appear around the floating ball. He clicked his tongue as he ducked out of the way from a thrown spear. Another member who stood outside his range had started to attack him like the archers.

Redson's eyes widened as more blue fires appeared and began trailing to the slowed gang members. And five magic circles changed to green to counter Gastly's ghostly fire.

Locki bit back another disgruntled sigh as more armed men charged at Locki from behind, and he felt the strain as he added them to the group of people under his Curse. Sweat began to drip down his nose as he kept everyone under his slowing Curse. He never thought there would be a number limit, and shot a worried look in Redson's direction.

His gaze changed rapidly as another explosion followed by a plume of dust rose off to his right. Locki's heart jumped into his throat as a scream reached his ears and a massive number of red arcs shot randomly into the sky, slicing into buildings off in the distance.

He bit his lip as he alternated his gaze between the mage caught in his Curse and the direction of Gyutaro's fight. Behind Redson, there were three archers and a couple more gang members who looked desperately at the downed form of the mage. There was little doubt he could finish off the enemy mage if he didn't care about stamina and rushed everyone, but that came with the danger of more and more people dogpiling him to help the mage.

Idly, Locki remembered the man's words in the back of his head.

"...I guess I am a shit support." Locki mumbled before turning off to run towards Gyutaro's fight. He shoved several armed men out of the way as he cut through the alleyways towards his guild member.

"Where are you going? We're not done fighting this out!" Redson yelled behind him.

Locki found the man chasing after him alone, running much faster than his normal human counterparts. Gastly hovered beside the teen, and he found the Pokemon much weaker than normal. The guild master didn't answer his pursuer as he looked at the companion who had never left his side from the start.

He had always been trying to solve everything on his own. Even when a great helper came in the form of Kagura, he never thought to ask for help in the situation. The same applied for the demon twins; he forced them into his employ, threatening them as the only way to maintain his control on things. It was just like how he had done the same when he realized his guild master responsibilities, but now he understood that it also applied to how he viewed his magic, too.

He was a support. No matter how many times he tried to rush into combat, use his new Curse to actually do things and try to somehow make everything alright, that wouldn't change how he was fundamentally a support. Someone who needed other people to help him finish off the enemies he slowed, to capitalize on the openings he saw and to pick up the slack where he knew he had faults.

And it only took a man who viewed his nature as a support as a positive to realize how dumb he was being.

"Let's go support our guild member, Gastly." Locki said, looking off as the sounds of Gyutaro's fight grew closer. A rare smile creased the teen's lips. "After all, what is a guild master without his guild?"

"Gas!" Gastly bumped into his shoulder, and he nodded at the Pokemon.

"Right, Kagura did say you guys like being named. How about Wisp because… you know…"

"...Gas."

"Would you like Kagura to name you?" Locki asked, watching as Gastly hurriedly shook its body.

"Then, Wisp is the best you're gonna–"

He was cut off as Gastly's body suddenly glowed, changing rapidly. The smoke that always trailed after it started to be sucked into its body as it grew larger and six large horn-like structures appeared on either side of its body. Two large streams of gas solidified into a pair of three clawed hands that floated next to its body.

"What the hell is that?!"

Locki ignored Redson behind him. "Did you really not like the name that much?"

"Haunt!" the Gastly(?) said, placing its hands on his shoulders.

"I guess we can figure this out later." Locki offered as he arrived at the next battle. He looked at Gastly's new form. "I'll trust you with my back... partner."

"Haunter!" The Pokemon's reply was never more positive.