*An hour or so earlier*
*Up in the mountains Sanada, Jade, and Gael had spent most of the day following the railroad tracks to catch up to the train that abducted Ryuuji. After exiting a tunnel the three finally saw the train, parked in front of the fueling station. The three quickly ran to the fueling station to investigate along with Hibana’s drone. While Sanada and the drone went inside to investigate, Jade and Gael inspected the train in search of clues. Sanada saw nothing inside the office of the station. The floors were wooden with a few wooden chairs, an antique desk and a few monitors that were turned off. Upon finding nothing, Sanada stepped back outside to rejoin the others. He saw Jade sniffing around the train, literally. While Gael used his powers to search for auras*
(Sanada): No sign of anyone inside. Any luck out here?
(Jade): Yeah, they were here. I’m picking up Ryuuji’s scent along with those two men and a third unknown assailant. Looks like they picked up Ryuuji and went on foot from here.
(Hibana): And the snow seems to have covered their tracks.
(Gael): Only physically.
*Closing his eyes, Gael concentrated and began to see auras. He saw Sanada and Jade’s auras which were green and purple respectively. He could even see a yellow aura emitting from Hibana’s drone. Focusing on the snow he began to see red, yellow, and orange footprints heading up the mountain*
(Gael): I know which way they went. Up the mountain.
(Jade): Lead the way.
*As the three were about to head up the mountain, the ground beneath them began to warm up. Jade was the one to sense and kicked Gael away. The ground beneath Jade and Sanada crumbled and the two fell down into a hole. Before Gael had a chance to react and assess what just happened he was hit with a fireball and fell into the snow. The fireball came from Vincent who was laughing and snapping his fingers as he danced toward the hole*
(Vincent): Aww man, two of them fell down the hole. Guess I should head down below and see if she’ll need any help finishing off those two.
*As Vincent turns around to leave, he was met by Gael who punched him in the face which sent him flying off to the side. Gael had slight burnt marks on his haori*
(Gael): Cheap shot, asshole.
*Vincent sat up and laughed*
(Vincent): Well I am digging this. I didn’t think you would get up from that attack. Let’s see how you handle this. Fire Grid Form 117: Pyro Barrage!
*Vincent’s hands lit up and he began shooting fireballs at Gael who summoned his bo of light and began deflecting them away. Gael closed in on Vincent as he deflected the fireballs and tried to hit him by the staff but Vincent jumped out of the way with one fireball in his right hand. Clapping his hands together, he focused on Gael*
(Vincent): Fire Grid Form 120: Solar Ray.
*A beam of fire shot from Vincent’s hand and headed toward Gael who blocked the beam with his bo staff. Using his strength, Gael managed to deflect the beam up into the sky but in the process his staff got sliced in two. The beam was so hot that it actually managed to cut through the light magic. Vincent was undeterred and refocused the beam back toward Gael who rolled out of the way. The beam chased after Gael as he ran toward Vincent with the broken remains of his staff in his hands. Once within striking distance, Gael struck the left side of Vincent’s arm and leg with the pieces of his staff to knock Vincent off to the side a little bit. Vincent recovered and opened his hands to reveal tiny red orbs of fire. He tossed them up into the air as Gael charged at him. Vincent tried to strike him with a fire fist but Gael dodged with a sidestep and jumped up to grab Vincent’s arm into an armbar. Gael managed to drag Vincent to ground with him and tried to transition into a triangle chokehold but Vincent managed to escape Gael’s grip*
(Vincent): Fire Grid Form 130: Firestorm.
*Looking up in the sky, Gael could see the orbs of fire begin to fall and he quickly rolled out of the way to avoid getting hit*
(Vincent): Fire Grid Form 137: Heatwave Stomp.
*Vincent’s right leg became surrounded by fire as he stomped the ground with it releasing a heatwave that knocked Gael back. Gael was slightly hurt but still ready to fight he returned to his feet and saw how far away he was from Vincent who had gathered a flame in his hand and clapped his hands together to prepare for the Solar Ray*
(Gael): *Inner Thoughts* Shit. I let him get distance from me. That fire ray of his is too fast and my staff will break in half from the heat.
*Gael shifts his body as he prepares to charge and Vincent smiles waiting for him to make his move*
(Gael): I’ve got 50/50 chance to dodge. If I’m wrong and that thing hits my head I’m done for.
*Sweat slightly fell from Gael’s face as the only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing*
(Vincent): *Inner Thoughts* Waiting to see who’ll make the first move. Alright, I’ll play with you.
*Vincent fires his Solar Ray at Gael who listened to his intuition and dodged to the right to avoid getting hit by the ray. Gael then charged at Vincent who tried to hit Gael but the ray couldn’t catch up to him. Gael made it to Vincent and was about to punch*
(Vincent): Very good, but not quite good enough.
*Gael could feel heat emitting from his right side, left side, and above his head. They were fire orbs*
(Vincent): Fire Grid Form 149: Nova Bomb.
*The orb on Gael’s right side exploded releasing a blast of fire magic followed by the orb on the left and then the orb above his head*
(Vincent): Fire Grid Form 150: Solar Palm
*Vincent struck Gael in the chest with a flaming palm strike. Gael let out a grunt of pain before biting down on his teeth and delivering a high kick to the side of Vincent’s head. The attack caught Vincent off guard and dazed him allowing Gael to recover from the barrage of attacks but it wasn’t long enough. Vincent snapped out of his daze and prepared to fire another Solar Ray at Gael. With such little distance between them there was no way Vincent could miss and no chance Gael could dodge. Before Vincent could release his attack he was shocked from behind by Hibana’s drone and brought to one knee*
(Hibana): Run!
*Heeding Hibana’s words, Gael got up and ran. Looking back, Gael could see Vincent recovering from Hibana’s attack and fired off his Solar Ray. Gael quickly jumped behind the train for protection but felt a slight burning sensation on his left side. He looked down and saw the ray had slightly burnt him*
(Hibana): Are you still breathing?
(Gael): Yeah. Thanks for the save back there.
(Vincent): Damn. Wasn’t fast enough.
(Gael): This guy’s attacks are way too fast and I can’t get close enough to strike him.
(Hibana): That guy looked familiar so I did some research. It turns out he’s Vincent D. Brice the baseball player.
(Gael): Baseball player?
(Hibana): His pitches were said to be some of the fastest ever seen.
(Gael): So what’s he doing with the Citizens?
(Hibana): Apparently, he took bribes to injure other players with his pitches. Once he was caught he was booted from the league.
(Gael): Well that explains why his attacks are so fast. Any weakness in his attacks?
(Hibana): Nope. He’s got the perfect game plan. That ray of his for long distance attacks, pyro bullets and firestorm for mid-range, and those fire bombs protect him at close range. He’s got no openings and all he has to do is bide his time as you get more exhausted. You don’t have a prayer against him.
(Gael): *Chuckles* Thanks for morale boos-
*Before Gael could finish his sentence the train was assaulted by pyro bullets courtesy of Vincent. Gael quickly jumped out of the way to escape the explosion from the train caused by the multiple attacks. The drone meanwhile flew to safety and hovered above him*
(Hibana): I don’t see any openings but I have an idea that could put you on equal footing. There’s a restroom in the station, head towards it.
(Gael): A restroom? How’s that gonna help me?
(Hibana): I’ll explain when we get there. This is a risky play, so there’s a chance this may not work.
(Gael): And if it doesn’t work?
(Hibana): Then you better be ready to die.
(Gael): That sucks.
(Hibana): No, what sucks is you just sitting there with a 100% chance of death as opposed to my plan which gives you a 20% chance of winning. So what sounds better to you?
*Gael gets up and starts running toward the restroom just as Vincent had jumped over the wreckage of the train and spotted him going inside*
(Vincent): Oh come on. I was just starting to have fun.
*Vincent goes after Gael and the drone. As he enters the building he hears the sound of things being broken*
(Vincent): If we’re playing hide and seek you’re doing a terrible job at hiding.
*Vincent can hear the noise coming from the restroom. He approaches the restroom as water can be seen pouring out of it and enters. Once inside he sees that all the sinks, toilets, and urinals have been destroyed allowing water to pour out nonstop. Even the fire sprinklers were going off nonstop. He looks around searching for Gael and the drone but see neither. One of the stalls opens and out comes the drone who charges recklessly at Vincent. Not fazed by this in the slightest, Vincent holds out his finger and shoots a pyro bullet which goes flying through the drone. The drone falls to the ground Keanutting down from the damage it had received*
(Hibana): It’s up to you now. Win.
*Just as the drone Keanuts down, Gael drops from the ceiling and kicks Vincent in the back which pushes him into the restroom where he slides across the floor. As he slides, his whole body becomes drenched in water. When he stops sliding he turns around to see Gael is also drenched and has a yellow aura surrounding his body*
(Vincent): There you are. Now let’s get back to our fun time.
*Vincent tries to create a fireball in his hand to prepare the Solar Ray but can’t create it because of all the water being poured down on him. Gael took advantage of this and struck Vincent with a punch that hurled him toward the wall*
(Gael): Haven’t you heard? Fire doesn’t mix well with water.
*Gael delivers a second and third punch to Vincent. When Gael tried to go in for a fourth punch, Vincent caught it with his hand and delivered a flaming right hook to send Gael into an open stall*
(Vincent): I don’t need bullets to put a mangey mutt like you down.
*Vincent tried to deliver a fire punch to Gael but he jumped up to dodge the attack and fired a sphere of light energy at Vincent to send him flying backward into a destroyed sink. Once Gael returned to the floor he lunged at Vincent who grabbed Gael by the face and tossed him to the ground. Gael dodged another one of Vincent’s punches and returned to his feet as Vincent pursued him. The two fighters took turns blocking each other’s attacks with their hands until Vincent managed to get a clean hit in which pushed Gael back a little. Vincent grabbed Gael by the collar to pull him back in for an attack but Gael bit his hand to get loose and then delivered a headbutt to daze Vincent. As Vincent staggered backwards, Gael spit out the blood he got from biting Vincent and then slid between his legs to get behind him*
(Gael): Wild Pulse!
*Gael struck the spine area of Vincent with his palm and elbow to deliver a shockwave of light magic into Vincent’s aura. Vincent has never felt an attack like this before. The move is shocking as it is devasting. He wants to turn around and retaliate but his body won’t listen to him. It’s as if his body has completely Keanut down. Gael follows up on this attack by throwing Vincent headfirst into a mirror with such force that it shatters instantly. Gael then lifts him up onto his shoulders and drops him to deliver a knee strike to the back of his head. Vincent soon fell to the floor looking up at the ceiling still barely conscious unable to move his body. Gael finishes him off with a jumping double stomp to his head unleashes all of his light magic and making the whole building shake. Vincent was unconscious as Gael let out a sigh of relief that he had won. He dragged Vincent out of the restroom and put up the out of order sign on the door. He takes one final look back into the restroom and sees Hibana’s drone lying on the floor*
(Gael): Thanks, Hibana. I couldn’t have done this without you.
Author’s Note: This chapter was all about Gael facing the odds, being persistent, and coming out on top. In the last volume, I gave Jin a moment to stand out and did one for Hibana and Alita, so I wanted to do one for Gael as well. Out of the four I do consider Gael to be the most experienced fighter so I wanted to showcase his ability to adapt, take chances, and never give up. This fight took huge inspiration from Yuji vs Choso in Jujutsu Kaisen. That was one of my favorite fights from season 2, and I liked the choreography and setting in that scene. But what about Sanada and Jade? You’ll just have to wait until next week to find out. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.