Chapter 11: Battle Royale
Even though they had him outnumbered, Bianca, Ken, and Autumn have been overpowered by Vulcan Faust. All of their strategies, tricks, and techniques didn't stand a chance against his unusual powers. As the battle was coming to an end, Lock rushed to aid his comrades in the fight, having completed his objective. He now stands against the Man on Fire, filled with determination and rage.
"Lock..." said Bianca as she fill to her knees in exhaustion.
"Bianca, get Autumn and Ken behind cover." Lock demanded.
"What? You're not going to face him alone, are you?" asked Bianca as she struggles to stand.
"What choice do I have? We have two down and you're injured. We won't get far if we run and if we get outside, we'll have nowhere to go." Lock looks around the destroyed room and sees the damage done to it. "The front entrance is blocked off by rubble, the glass is shattered, and everything is burnt to a crisp...It looks like a bomb went off in here."
"I'm guilty for that." said Faust. "My semblance is the ability to take all damage I've received from bullets, explosions and energy weapons and launch it back at my enemy as a wider and much more powerful attack. I also have control over fire due to some.....unfortunate circumstances." Faust says while closing his eyes with a pained grin.
"I see. So then my bullets won't help and detonating my Ember Knives will make things worse. Thanks for the info. Only one problem: I didn't ask you about your powers. So why tell me?"
"Because since you're friends were bested in a three on one fight, I thought you'd need a handicap. Even a descendant of the Snow family was defeated by me. I can't tell whether I'm happy or disappointed " Faust replies mockingly.
"Right." Lock takes off his hat and tosses it to Bianca.
Lock dashes forward at booming speed, catching Faust by surprise as he dodges Lock's sword. Faust counters with a right hook, but Lock jumps on top of his arm and kicks Faust in the face, knocking him backwards and staggering him. Lock proceeds to slash at Faust a consecutive amount of times before dropkicking him onto the ground. Faust stumbles as her is getting up after Lock's relentless assault.
"You're different from those girls. You're actually trying to kill me, aren't you?" asks Faust.
"So what if I am?" asks Lock
"Then I'll have to get serious!" says Faust as he puts on brass knuckles and takes off his coat.
Faust charges at Lock with a powerful, fiery punch. Lock dodges it but Faust uppercuts him and proceeds to kick him in the stomach, pushing him back. Faust continues the attack, forcing Lock to dodge and block his punches until he get's punched in the stomach. Lock grabs onto Faust's arm and pulls himself up close to him to deliver a headbutt to his face. Lock weeps Faust's legs, knocking him on his back, then proceeds to throw a large number of flaming Ember Knives into the air. Lock then shoots Faust in the leg, to keep him distracted by the impact long enough for the Ember Knives to come raining down onto him. Faust was struck by the downpour of Ember Knives, depleting his aura.
"Against anyone head on, you'd have the advantage in power. However with these eyes and my speed, it's a lot more difficult for you to counter and attack. Although the only reason I was able to win was because the girls softened you up for me." Lock says while looking down on Faust.
At that moment, the doors are blown open and the rubble that was blocking them is completely destroyed. The explosion covers the room in dust as Lock turns to look at what caused the explosion. Walking into the main hall were four girls, one wore sunglasses and had a metal arm, another had sword that was parking with electricity, another one had a tattoo that covered her right arm, and the one in front of them held a guitar and had piercing red eyes. She looks at Bianca from behind one of the fallen columns and see Faust lying on the ground next to Lock's feet, covered in Ember Knives.
"Iris, go check on her. Amber, you get Faust." says their leader.
Amber runs over to Lock and Faust. She stops to look at the Ember Knives surrounding Faust and the looks at Lock, who eyes turn back to black. Amber slowly walks past Lock and starts removing the knives off of Faust. The other two girls approach Lock with serious looks on their faces.
"Who are you? Reinforcements?" asked Lock as he gripped his sword.
"What's your name?" asked the red eyed girl.
"It's bad manners to ask someone their name without giving yours first." said Lock.
"Of course. My name is Kali Tepes. The one with the sunglasses is Amber, the one checking on your friend over there is Iris, and this cutie right here is Kelly. Together we're Team KAKI." Kali declared. "Now then, who are you guys?"
"Lock Noire. My friends can introduced themselves. As for what we're doing here, it's basically to stop a terrorist from causing trouble."
"I see." Kali says as she picks up an Ember Knife.
"So are you guys from the academy? You have a team name so you must be students." Lock inquires.
"Sort of. We're substitute huntresses."
"Substitute?"
"Yeah. And our assignment was to capture Faust...." Kali throws the knife at Lock. His eyes turn yellow and he catches the knife between his fingers. "...And to capture four troublemaking kids that might show up here." Kali says as Amber and Kelly pounce at Lock from the front and back. Using his speed, Lock moves out of the way before they could hit him. He then snaps his fingers and detonates the Ember Knife that he left behind, knocking both Amber and Kelly to the ground. Kali then appears above him but Lock dodges as she slams her guitar onto the ground. Kali runs towards Lock as Amber and Kelly approach from behind. Lock waits until they get closer and fires his weapon, causing him to spin around and slash them all. As they fall to the ground, he throws Ember Knives into the air and they land in a circle around them. Lock snaps his fingers and the knives explode around the girls.
"Well that was unexpected..." Lock says with an exhausted tone. Lock looks over to Iris, who is put into submission by Ken and Bianca. "Oh! You're awake. About time." Lock says
"Will you shut up? Technically I'm still recovering from when YOU blew me up!" Ken says in anger.
"Don't use your injuries as an excuse." Lock says while walking over to them.
"What'd you say?!" Ken shouts as she stands up and marches towards Lock. "Listen I-" Ken is cut off by Lock petting her head with a smile on his face.
"Glad to see you're not hurt too bad." Lock says as he walks away, leaving Ken to blush and hold her head. "Now then since the others didn't want to handle this peacefully, how about we force you to take us to whoever's in charge."
"Lock..." said Bianca as she fill to her knees in exhaustion.
"Bianca, get Autumn and Ken behind cover." Lock demanded.
"What? You're not going to face him alone, are you?" asked Bianca as she struggles to stand.
"What choice do I have? We have two down and you're injured. We won't get far if we run and if we get outside, we'll have nowhere to go." Lock looks around the destroyed room and sees the damage done to it. "The front entrance is blocked off by rubble, the glass is shattered, and everything is burnt to a crisp...It looks like a bomb went off in here."
"I'm guilty for that." said Faust. "My semblance is the ability to take all damage I've received from bullets, explosions and energy weapons and launch it back at my enemy as a wider and much more powerful attack. I also have control over fire due to some.....unfortunate circumstances." Faust says while closing his eyes with a pained grin.
"I see. So then my bullets won't help and detonating my Ember Knives will make things worse. Thanks for the info. Only one problem: I didn't ask you about your powers. So why tell me?"
"Because since you're friends were bested in a three on one fight, I thought you'd need a handicap. Even a descendant of the Snow family was defeated by me. I can't tell whether I'm happy or disappointed " Faust replies mockingly.
"Right." Lock takes off his hat and tosses it to Bianca.
Lock dashes forward at booming speed, catching Faust by surprise as he dodges Lock's sword. Faust counters with a right hook, but Lock jumps on top of his arm and kicks Faust in the face, knocking him backwards and staggering him. Lock proceeds to slash at Faust a consecutive amount of times before dropkicking him onto the ground. Faust stumbles as her is getting up after Lock's relentless assault.
"You're different from those girls. You're actually trying to kill me, aren't you?" asks Faust.
"So what if I am?" asks Lock
"Then I'll have to get serious!" says Faust as he puts on brass knuckles and takes off his coat.
Faust charges at Lock with a powerful, fiery punch. Lock dodges it but Faust uppercuts him and proceeds to kick him in the stomach, pushing him back. Faust continues the attack, forcing Lock to dodge and block his punches until he get's punched in the stomach. Lock grabs onto Faust's arm and pulls himself up close to him to deliver a headbutt to his face. Lock weeps Faust's legs, knocking him on his back, then proceeds to throw a large number of flaming Ember Knives into the air. Lock then shoots Faust in the leg, to keep him distracted by the impact long enough for the Ember Knives to come raining down onto him. Faust was struck by the downpour of Ember Knives, depleting his aura.
"Against anyone head on, you'd have the advantage in power. However with these eyes and my speed, it's a lot more difficult for you to counter and attack. Although the only reason I was able to win was because the girls softened you up for me." Lock says while looking down on Faust.
At that moment, the doors are blown open and the rubble that was blocking them is completely destroyed. The explosion covers the room in dust as Lock turns to look at what caused the explosion. Walking into the main hall were four girls, one wore sunglasses and had a metal arm, another had sword that was parking with electricity, another one had a tattoo that covered her right arm, and the one in front of them held a guitar and had piercing red eyes. She looks at Bianca from behind one of the fallen columns and see Faust lying on the ground next to Lock's feet, covered in Ember Knives.
"Iris, go check on her. Amber, you get Faust." says their leader.
Amber runs over to Lock and Faust. She stops to look at the Ember Knives surrounding Faust and the looks at Lock, who eyes turn back to black. Amber slowly walks past Lock and starts removing the knives off of Faust. The other two girls approach Lock with serious looks on their faces.
"Who are you? Reinforcements?" asked Lock as he gripped his sword.
"What's your name?" asked the red eyed girl.
"It's bad manners to ask someone their name without giving yours first." said Lock.
"Of course. My name is Kali Tepes. The one with the sunglasses is Amber, the one checking on your friend over there is Iris, and this cutie right here is Kelly. Together we're Team KAKI." Kali declared. "Now then, who are you guys?"
"Lock Noire. My friends can introduced themselves. As for what we're doing here, it's basically to stop a terrorist from causing trouble."
"I see." Kali says as she picks up an Ember Knife.
"So are you guys from the academy? You have a team name so you must be students." Lock inquires.
"Sort of. We're substitute huntresses."
"Substitute?"
"Yeah. And our assignment was to capture Faust...." Kali throws the knife at Lock. His eyes turn yellow and he catches the knife between his fingers. "...And to capture four troublemaking kids that might show up here." Kali says as Amber and Kelly pounce at Lock from the front and back. Using his speed, Lock moves out of the way before they could hit him. He then snaps his fingers and detonates the Ember Knife that he left behind, knocking both Amber and Kelly to the ground. Kali then appears above him but Lock dodges as she slams her guitar onto the ground. Kali runs towards Lock as Amber and Kelly approach from behind. Lock waits until they get closer and fires his weapon, causing him to spin around and slash them all. As they fall to the ground, he throws Ember Knives into the air and they land in a circle around them. Lock snaps his fingers and the knives explode around the girls.
"Well that was unexpected..." Lock says with an exhausted tone. Lock looks over to Iris, who is put into submission by Ken and Bianca. "Oh! You're awake. About time." Lock says
"Will you shut up? Technically I'm still recovering from when YOU blew me up!" Ken says in anger.
"Don't use your injuries as an excuse." Lock says while walking over to them.
"What'd you say?!" Ken shouts as she stands up and marches towards Lock. "Listen I-" Ken is cut off by Lock petting her head with a smile on his face.
"Glad to see you're not hurt too bad." Lock says as he walks away, leaving Ken to blush and hold her head. "Now then since the others didn't want to handle this peacefully, how about we force you to take us to whoever's in charge."