*Flashback*
*A few days before the operation*
*A human man with medium brown frilly hair and black eyes was walking down the streets at night and eating a hamburger. He wore a green jacket with a red scarf, black pants, brown boots, grey snowcap, and grey mittens. As he enjoys his hamburger he starts to walk down an alleyway. As he walks down the alleyway, he is suddenly lifted off the ground via wire tied around his left leg screaming his head off. He finally stops near the top of a building hanging upside down and comes face to face with Dust*
(Dust): Hello Andy. Word on the street is you’ve been meeting with human supremacists. So tell me. . .WHAT ARE THE HUMAN SUPREMACISTS UP TO!
(Andy): I don’t know what you’re talking about! I swear to Faven!
(Dust): Swear to me!
*Andy begins to fall to the ground and screams in sheer terror. Before he hits the pavement, he stops and gets pulled back up to where Dust is*
(Andy): Okay! Okay! I did meet with them down at the Reload Bar. They asked for me specifically. Looking to upgrade their weaponry.
(Dust): Why?
(Andy): They’re planning for something big. Something they’re calling Hunting Day.
(Dust): What is that?
(Andy): I don’t know. They didn’t say anything else about it. I told them I was out of the game and that they would have to find someone else for weapon deals.
(Dust): Who were the buyers?
*All of a sudden Dust’s phone starts to ring. He pulls it out and sees that Le Fey is the one calling*
(Dust): Excuse me for a minute. I have to take this.
*Dust answers the phone and walks away from Andy*
(Dust): Hello? Hi Le Fey, how’s it going?
(Le Fey): Hi Dust. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.
(Dust): Nah, nothing too important. To what do I owe the call?
(Le Fey): It’s about Ryuuji. He’s been having night terrors ever since he got back from Bludwood. Did anything bad happen while he was there?
(Dust): Nothing I know of. Did he happen to mention what the dreams were about?
(Le Fey): They were about him, losing control of his powers and burning everything around him to ashes. Including people.
(Dust): Yeah, that’s definitely traumatizing. Anything else?
(Le Fey): As he slept, I heard him mutter Cyrus’s name.
(Dust): Cyrus? What the hell is he mentioning that bastard’s name for?
(Le Fey): I don’t know, and he won’t talk to me about it. I’m really worried about him. I know you guys have an important operation, but I don’t think it’s wise for Ryuuji to go.
(Dust): Probably. But you know how Ryuuji is. He’ll ignore his own problems to focus on other things.
(Le Fey): I know, which is why I’m reaching out to you. Please keep an eye on him. If he won’t talk to me maybe he’ll talk to you.
(Dust): Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him and get him to open up. Even if I have to get physical with him.
(Le Fey): Hopefully, it won’t come to that, but if you have to I understand. Thanks, Dust. I feel a little better.
(Dust): Any time Le Fey. Take it easy.
*Dust hangs up and returns to Andy*
(Dust): Sorry about that. Now where were we? Oh yeah. Who were the buyers?
*Andy begins to descend toward the ground screaming once again*
*Flashback ends*
***
*In the monastery, the room that Dust and Ryuuji were in was shaking as the two fought. Ryuuji shot fireballs at Dust who deflected them away with his swords. As Dust deflected the fireballs he moved closer to Ryuuji. When he was within striking distance of Ryuuji he swung his swords downward diagonally only for Ryuuji to jump back and escape the attack*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 20: Pyro Breath
*Taking a deep breath, Ryuuji exhales and shoots a string of fire at Dust who runs away from the attack but Ryuuji’s fire chases after him. Dust runs up a pillar to escape the fire and then shoots off a wire from his wrist to another pillar. Dust then zips over to the pillar and continues to zip around the room to disorient Ryuuji who can’t keep up with him. When Ryuuji’s fire breath finally stopped, Dust zipped toward Ryuuji to attack him*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid From 12: Fire Spin.
*Ryuuji began to spin around creating a tornado of fire that covered his entire body and protected him from Dust’s attack. Dust’s sword bounced off the tornado and Dust flipped backward to land on his feet away from Ryuuji. He looked down at his swords to see that they were slightly melted from Ryuuji’s fire attacks. Ryuuji stopped spinning as well*
(Ryuuji): Something is odd. Despite not knowing you my body can’t help but tense up whenever you attack. Who are you?
(Dust): Someone who doesn’t buy into your hype.
*Speaking Elfan, Dust’s swords disappear and get replaced with two black gauntlets appearing on his hands*
(Dust): And I’m about to make you remember the one guy who’s not afraid of you.
*Dust charges at Ryuuji*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 25: Heat Ray
*Ryuuji’s eyes were lit red and he fired a fire beam from his eyes. The beam was fired in Dust’s direction who just smiled and snapped his finger to instantly disappear. Ryuuji stopped his attack as he wondered where Dust disappeared to. He looked around only for Dust to appear from his blindside and deliver a left hook to his jaw. Thanks to his divergence ability a second hit sent Ryuuji flying into a pillar. Ryuuji quickly recovered from the attack and saw Dust charge at him once again. Ryuuji shot a fireball at him and Dust once again vanished*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 149: Nova Bomb
*Four fire orbs surrounded Ryuuji as he began to look around for Dust. All of sudden Dust’s hand appeared from the right and snatched one of the fireballs and disappeared. Ryuuji looked to his right but it was too late the hand was gone. Dust’s hand appeared again snatching another fireball and then again and again until he snatched up all of them to leave Ryuuji defenseless. Ryuuji was about to conjure up more fireballs but it was too late, Dust reappeared and struck Ryuuji in the chest with a charging elbow strike. The strike as well as the divergence was painful but Ryuuji fought through the pain and stood his ground. He was about to strike Dust with a fire fist but Dust revealed his spider legs and each one was carrying one of Ryuuji’s fire orbs. The orbs were now purple and as Ryuuji struck the first one it exploded releasing a blast of dark magic that struck Ryuuji. He was in a dazed state and took a few steps back just as Dust threw the remaining orbs at Ryuuji. Once they were near Ryuuji they exploded and sent him airborne. As Ryuuji was falling downward, Dust ran underneath him and delivered rapid punches to his back. Dust delivered one final punch which sent Ryuuji back into the air and flipped him over. When he came back down, Dust once again delivered rapid punches to his body and finished with an uppercut. The divergent punches sent Ryuuji upward and he hit the ceiling of the room with the back of his head. As he fell back toward the ground, Dust jumped up to deliver a kick but Ryuuji grabbed his foot. Using his momentum, Ryuuji spun around in the air all while keeping a hold of Dust’s leg. Ryuuji landed his feet and slammed Dust to the ground back first. At first, Dust groaned out in pain but then he snapped his finger to disappear and reappear above Ryuuji where he spun around in the air to gain momentum for an axe attack. However, Ryuuji blocked the attack with his arms and pushed him away. Dust backflipped through the air and landed on his feet*
(Ryuuji): You are certainly strong. I now know why my body was tensing up so much. It’s excited to fight such a strong opponent.
(Dust): Oh don’t worry. I’m just getting warmed up.
***
*As Dust was fighting Ryuuji, the others managed to catch up to Cinder in another room*
(Rika): You’re not escaping that easily, Cinder. Give yourself up. You’re surrounded and outnumbered.
(Cinder): But not outmatched.
*Cinder’s right hand glowed blue and she shot a blue fireball at the group who scattered to avoid getting burnt. The first to charge at Cinder was Ember. Leaping into the air, Ember’s right foot caught on fire she attempted to hit Cinder with a dropkick but Cinder dodged the attack with a sidestep. However, Ember continued her attack after landing and did a handstand where she began to spin around as her feet still emitted flames. Cinder blocked Ember’s attack with her hands and grabbed her feet where she flung Ember into the wall back first. Cinder then saw Sanada running toward her and shot pyro bullets at him. Using his sword, Sanada deflected the bullets away and took a swing at Cinder who jumped out of the way. Looking down, Sanada could see that he was on a rug but before he could move Cinder pulled the rug out from underneath him and he fell backwards*
(Cinder): Fire Grid Form 15: Burning Stomp.
*Cinder ran toward Sanada and jumped in the air where her feet caught fire and she landed on Sanada’s chest, stomping it. Sanada groaned in pain as Cinder dodged Gael’s bo staff of light. Cinder stepped off Sanada as Gael charged toward her, swinging and thrusting his staff in an attempt to hit but she managed to dodge all of them. After ducking his final attack, Cinder’s ignited her left hand and shot it upward with a palm strike to break the staff in two and then hit Gael in the chest with a palm strike from her right hand to send him flying backwards. Sensing an attack from above, Cinder did a handspring backward to avoid Amarti’s metal disc which got stuck in the ground. Setting her sights on Amarti, Cinder changed at him only to get cut off by Zia who appeared before her and took a swing with her kukris. The first slash missed but the second one managed to scrape Cinder’s upper left arm cutting her shirt in the process. This distracted Cinder momentarily and allowed Rika to leap over Zia and deliver a kick to Cinder’s chest to stun her. Zia and Rika rushed Cinder where just as they were about to slash her their attacks hit two blue spheres of fire. Upon contact, the spheres exploded and sent the two ladies flying*
(Cinder): Fire Grid Form 149: Nova Bomb.
*Cinder’s remaining two spheres were destroyed by Raika firing lighting bullets at them. Cinder remained unfazed and charged at Raika*
(Cinder): Fire Grid Form 61: Flame Whip.
*A whip made of blue flames appeared and she swung it at Raika who ducked the attack and charged at Cinder. Raika’s guns and Cinder’s whip clashed with each other before they pulled back their weapons. Raika fired a shot at Cinder who dodged by tilting her head to the left. Raika attempted to shoot Cinder’s foot but she moved it backward just in time to avoid getting shot. Bending down, Cinder spun around to sweep the legs of Raika to take her down. After Cinder returned upright she attempted to strike a still dazed Raika, Hibana used her electric yo-yos to bind Cinder and shock her. At first Cinder groaned at the pain but then she powered through it and concentrated on her body. Setting her body ablaze she managed to burn through the yo-yo’s binds. With the yo-yos destroyed, Hibana was defenseless and lacked the experience to know what to do next. Seeing her as easy prey, Cinder charged toward Hibana with her right fist catching fire. Before she could strike Hibana, Jin jumped in front of her and used his umbrella as a shield to protect her and absorb the attack*
(Jin): Sorry, but if I let you hurt her he’d never let me live it down.
*Hibana ran for cover as Jin pushed Cinder back and pressed a button to turn the umbrella into a sword. Despite being an amateur when it came to handling a sword, especially when compared to Sanada and Rika, Jin had studied and watched enough videos to get a handle on the basics. However, his moves were easy to read and Cinder had no trouble dodging them. She managed to knock the sword out of his hands with a flame kick, but he was not defenseless. Grabbing two balls of metal from his utility belt, Jin manipulated them into iron tonfas and went on the offense trying to hit her. Amarti attacked from behind with his blade disc but Cinder sensed the attack coming and deflected the attack along with Jin’s attack to leave them both defenseless. Cinder smiled as she struck the back of their necks with chops that sent them to the ground. Cinder didn’t have time to rest as Nate and Jade attacked next. Nate used his quick jabs to attack Cinder but she was able to dodge the attacks*
(Cinder): Fire Grid Form 100: Heatdouken.
*Cinder launches a medium-sized orb of fire at Nate which strikes his chest and sends him flying backwards into Amarti and Jin. Jade grabbed Cinder from behind and began to squeeze her with a bear hug*
(Cinder): Let me go.
*Tossing her head back, Cinder delivered a headbutt to stun Jade who released the bear hug*
(Cinder): Fire Grid Form 202: Fire Drop.
*Cinder then gripped Jade’s face and swept her legs releasing an explosion which sent both her and Jade through the floor and in the room below which was the mess hall. They crashed through a table as Cinder was the first to her feet while Jade laid there in pain. As Cinder looked around to confirm her location, Sanada, Raika, and Gael jumped down the hole followed by the others except for Hibana*
(Cinder): You’re certainly a persistent bunch, I’ll give you that. Fire Grid Form 137: Heatwave Stomp.
*Setting her right foot ablaze, Cinder stomps and unleashes a wave of fire magic. Aside from Jin and Gael, everyone was quick to dodge the attack by either jumping or ducking. The attack shattered the glass windows and hurled Jin and Gael into the walls. After dodging the attack everyone charged at Cinder who began fighting off everyone one by one using various Fire Grid techniques and skills she learned over the years. She always made sure to isolate everyone and kept the fight to a one-on-one affair to avoid being overwhelmed by the group. However, despite the multiple attacks the group was still ready to fight and knew that it was only a matter of time before they had her. After she had finished taking down Nate, she got hit with a dropkick from Ember that sent her into the next room. Cinder quickly returned to her feet and could see Jade getting ready to charge in and was preparing to dodge, but she realized she couldn’t move. She looked down and saw her right foot was covered in ice. With no other choice she braced for impact as Jade delivered a shoulder tackle which knocked Cinder over*
(Jade): Glad to see you could make it professor.
*Out of corner of the room Morgan could be seen his wand glowing blue and pointing at Cinder*
(Cinder): So the Ice Scholar finally arrives. It would appear the odds are starting to slip from my favor. Under normal circumstances, I would stick around to end this, but my other commitments take priority over you. Another time, knights.
*As everyone enters the room and charges at Cinder, she creates a wall of fire and jumps out the window. She shatters the glass and then unleashes a hang glider from her back to glide through the air safely. Back in the monastery, Morgan uses his magic to put out the fire and Raika reaches the window hoping to see if she can get a shot off*
(Morgan): Don’t bother, she’s too far away. Is everyone alright?
(Ember): Yeah, we’re fine. But damn did she make us look like a bunch of idiots.
(Morgan): So she was that strong.
(Sanada): She was quite agile and smart in her battle. I can see why Ryuuji had a hard time besting her in battle.
(Morgan): Speaking of Ryuuji, where is he?
*All of a sudden the monastery shook*
(Amarti): That’s probably him right now fighting Dust.
(Morgan): What?
(Hibana): Guys! We have to get out of here. This place isn’t safe. Between our fighting and the damage caused by Dust and Ryuuji, this place could collapse any minute.
Author’s Note: Hello! Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. In this chapter, I wanted to establish Cinder as a viable threat to the team. I’ve built her up in previous chapters as someone who’s on the same level as Ryuuji, so I felt it was important that I deliver on that. While Ryuuji was more of a powerhouse, Cinder is more agile and evasive. She does a better job making use of her environment, being more analytical, and knowing when it’s time to retreat, but still being confident and methodical in her fights. She’s outnumbered, but she does a good job keeping the team separated from each other and taking everyone down one at a time to keep the odds in her favour. She’s confident that she can win until Morgan arrives because of his history with Ryuuji, strategic mind, and magic he could easily get everyone to coordinate against her and exploit weaknesses in the Fire Grid techniques to give everyone the edge. Choreography for this chapter and Cinder’s fighting style was largely inspired by Bishop from TMNT (2003). He was one of my favorite characters from that series, and I liked how, in his first episode, they established just how much of a threat he was to the turtles and how he would continue to be a threat who could hold his own against them. Also, the opening scene with Dust was inspired by the interrogation scene from Batman Begins. Cinder has escaped and is still a threat, but next chapter, we’ll be focusing on a fight I’ve had on the back burner for some time, Dust vs Ryuuji. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.