*On the night before the big battle between Shadow Eye and Javan, the members of Shadow Eye held a meeting to go over their strategy for tomorrow*
(Amarti): Now if I know Saber, I’m sure this is the match-ups she’ll want. Jade, you’ll most likely be fighting against Lola, she’s the only person I can see matching you in speed and strength. The other one would be Brodie as his defenses and tenacity are dangerous. However, I want Brodie to focus his attention on Jin and Gael.
(Gael): You’re having us fight against an old man?
(Raika): Do not be fooled by his age. In his youth, he could have easily been more than a match for any of us.
(Amarti): Not to mention, he’s the best chance you guys have at winning. If you were to face anybody else from Javan your chances of victory our less than thirty percent. And that’s with you guys teaming up.
(Jin): Ouch.
(Morgan): The truth hurts, but it’s a truth you both have to accept.
(Jade): You’ve both made good progress over the week, but it just isn’t enough to face off against Javan. At least by yourself.
(Amarti): Which is why it is important that when the battle starts you two must meet up with each other. If you fight separately, you’ll be defeated.
(Sanada): Think of yourselves like this. You’re a spear and a shield. The spear is a good weapon for attacking but without the shield it’sopen to attacks. The shield is good protection, but without the spear, it has no offense. Separately, they have good uses, but put them together and they make one great combination.
*Gael and Jin sat there thinking about what they just heard from everyone and started to think back to their training where the two realized that in order to defeat Jade they had to work together. They quickly came to the realization that all the training they’ve been doing this week was to get them prepared for their fight with Brodie. They came to realize that their whole mission in this battle was to take down Brodie and no one else. While they both were a little frustrated that there was nothing else they could do in this battle outside of beating Brodie, Zia’s threat kept them from speaking out and doing anything stupid. They decided that Brodie would be the one they would vent their frustrations out on*
***
*Returning back to the present. Jin and Gael were staring down Brodie seriously while he smiled at the two young knights*
(Brodie): Alright guys, whenever you’re ready.
*Brodie said in a laidback manner. He was clearly looking down on the young knights. While a part of him was taking this seriously and had every intention to win, another part of him couldn’t help but look down on the young knights and wasn’t expecting much from them*
(Jin): Ready to get wild, Gael?
(Gael): I was born wild.
*Gael materialized his bo staff and charged at Brodie who guarded against Gael’s attack with his large stone bucklers. Gael thrusts his bo staff at the bucklers multiple times attacking in different areas before jumping and kicking the bucklers a few more times. Brodie’s defenses remained unphased from the onslaught of attacks Gael dished out. Brodie tore his bucklers apart and was getting ready to attack Gael only to have his attack blocked by Jin coming in with his large shield. Gael then leaped up to jump off the shoulders of Jin and tried to strike Brodie from above only for Brodie to use his other buckler to protect himself from the attack. Using his strength, Brodie pushed back Jin and Gael*
(Brodie): *Inner Thoughts* Using a spear and shield strategy. Not bad.
*As Brodie was getting ready to charge at Gael, Jin used his metal manipulation abilities to transform his shield into a mini gatling gun*
(Jin): Suppressing fire~!
*Jin began firing wildly at Brodie who used his bucklers to block the bullets. As he was blocking he noticed that the buckler on his left was beginning to crack from the rapid fire. The buckler was then completely shattered by Gael who ran up and shot off a light sphere at the buckler to leave Brodie defenseless on his left side. Brodie was shocked by this, but had enough awareness not to take his eyes off of Gael which left him open to an attack from Jin’s spirit. While Brodie was focusing on Gael, he failed to notice Jin’s blacksmith approached from the left, jumped up and smacked him upside the face with a mini hammer. This allows Gael to follow up with an attack of his own. His body begins to glow as he lunges his foot forward to attack*
(Gael): Wild Carnage Dance!
*Gael unleashed fifty strikes upon Brodie which were a combination of kicks, punches, and palm strikes which sent him flying backwards as he crashed through a tree. Once Brodie crashed through the tree, Jin went to rejoin Gael*
(Gael): You think that did it?
*The tree that Brodie crashed through was lifted off the ground by him and thrown at Jin and Gael who ducked the tree*
(Jin): I’m going with, no.
(Brodie): Not bad. You kids are certainly surprising this old knight. Looks like fighting you will be worth it after all.
(Gael): Well that’s frustrating, it doesn’t even look like any of my attacks fazed him.
(Brodie): Kid, you don’t get a nickname like the Stone Fortress for nothing.
*Brodie stuck his left hand on the ground and it began to glow orange and form a new buckler made of stone*
(Brodie): I won’t be falling that easily.
(Jin): Then I guess we’ll have to hit you even harder.
*Brodie slams his right fist on the ground which makes stone spikes erupt from the ground. The stone spikes separate Jin and Gael from each other. Brodie made his way to Gael for a surprise attack. Gael was caught off guard when he saw the buckler on Brodie’s right arm was replaced with a battering ram. The battering ram slammed into Gael’s chest knocking the wind out of him and the buckler smacked Gael across the face before Brodie finished his assault by grabbing Gael by the face and kneeing him in the head. Gael fell to the ground just as Jin managed to blast his way through the spikes with his gatling gun to see the damage done to Gael. Jin focused his attention on Brodie who charged at Jin with his battering ram. Jin quickly morphed the gatling gun into his large shield to block the attack. Jin then took out a machete sword from behind the shield and thrust forward only for Brodie to sidestep the attack which just brushed past his beard. Jin quickly stopped himself and spun around with the machete only to miss Brodie again who ducked this time. Just when Brodie was about to counterattack, Jin dropped a smoke bomb from his shirt sleeve which blocked Brodie’s vision. Brodie stopped his attack and quickly got out of the smoke to avoid getting attacked. Once he was out, Jin came leaping out of the smoke with tonfas in his hands. Jin quickly went on the attack swinging wildly at Brodie who used the buckler to protect himself. Jin soon jumped back and pressed a button on the tonfas which unleased a flamethrower from each one. Brodie used the buckler to protect himself from the flames which managed to hold up from the heat. Brodie then charged where he got burnt from the flames a little but managed to finally use his battering ram to strike Jin in the chest. He triumphantly smile but it quickly turned to a frown when he realized he didn’t feel any flesh from the attack. He looked up at Jin’s chest to see the blacksmith spirit from earlier taking the hit for him.
(Jin): Yeah.
*The spirit grabbed the battering ram tightly before Gael came leaping in from the side and smashing the battering ram in two with an axe kick. As the spirit disappeared, Jin launched himself forward and speared Brodie to the ground. Brodie quickly kicked Jin off of him and rose back to his feet only to see Gael right in front of him*
(Gael): Wild Pulse!
*Gael delivered a power palm strike infused with light magic to the stomach of Brodie which lifted him off the ground. Gael quickly got underneath him and fired off another Wild Pulse attack to send Brodie even higher*
(Gael): Jin! Now!
*Hearing Gael, Jin fired his hand cannon to shoot Brodie. As soon as the cannonball made contact it exploded. Jin soon fell to one knee breathing heavily. The constant use of his metal manipulation abilities was beginning to wear him out*
(Gael): Don’t pass out yet this fight is far from over.
(Jin): Don’t worry. I’m still good to go.
*After being hit by the cannonball. Brodie soon fell to the ground in pain but managed to return to his feet. His clothes were damaged from the blast and he ripped the remains of his shirt off. He then reached behind his back and pulled out stone tonfas*
(Brodie): Nice going, young knights. Now it’s on!
*Gael formed his bo staff of light while Jin pulled two balls of metal and manipulated them to form a double-bladed sword*
(Jin): We’re gonna make you fall!
*Jin, Gael, and Brodie all charged at each other until their weapons clashed. The three knights were locked in an intense fight as they kept blocking and dodging each other’s attacks. Brodie would be able to kick one of them away and turn it into a one-on-one fight, but whenever one got knocked away the other would step up to fight him and the other one would quickly run back into the fight. As Brodie kept fighting between the two he would notice the differences between them. Gael’s style of fighting was wild and unpredictable. He would flip through the air, spin around, aim low, and strike with more power. Jin’s style of fighting was amateurish and focused. Despite not being skilled with his sword like Gael, his strikes were focused and precise. There wasn’t any wasted movement, and his defenses were solid. Even though he wasn’t a pro at using this weapon, he knows the basics and was using them effectively to his own. Eventually, Brodie’s tonfas crumbled from the attacks, Jin’s sword was knocked away, and Gael’s bo staff got broken in two. Brodie kicked Gael in the stomach which left himself open to Jin who punched Brodie across the face. Brodie retaliated by punching Jin across the face and delivering a hammer fist to his jaw. Gael recovered from the kick to deliver a kick of his own to the back of Brodie’s neck and then tried to punch him only for Brodie to catch the punch and pull Gael in for a headbutt. Not to be outdone, Gael delivered a headbutt of his own which rocked Brodie and allowed Jin to deliver a back elbow to the side of Brodie’s head. Gael followed up with two back fists before Jin formed brass knuckles and delivered an uppercut to Brodie on his jaw. Brodie looked to be out on his feet and the two went in for the kill as Gael hit him with a high knee and Jin punched him with his brass knuckles. They struck Brodie simultaneously and as he began to fall backs he gritted his teeth, formed his hands into fists and pulled himself back up refusing to fall. Jin and Gael were stunned by what they were seeing. This guy just took two powerful hits head on and refused to go down. Beating his chest and letting out a mighty roar, Brodie egged the young knights to charge at him again. They accepted his offer and charged at him where he managed to duck their fists back by falling on his back. He then kipped up and delivered a roundhouse kick to both of them. Gael managed to duck the attack but Jin wasn’t so lucky. Brodie did another roundhouse kick where this time he nailed Gael*
(Brodie): *Chuckles* This is fun!
*Jin delivered a punch to Brodie’s head, but Brodie leaned into the punch to reduce the effectiveness of the hit. Jin punched Brodie a few more times, but Brodie kept leaning into the punches until he delivered a forearm shot to Jin’s face followed by a chop to his chest, another forearm, another chop, forearm, chop, forearm, chop, forearm, chop, and forearm to knock Jin down*
(Gael): Hey! Old man!
*Brodie turned around only to be greeted by a superkick courtesy of Gael which staggered Brodie a little*
(Gael): Don’t think I’m through with you just yet.
*Brodie delivered a punch across Gael’s face who fell down*
(Brodie): Come on! I was told you were a wild dog. But I don’t see that at all. All I see is a pup barking as loud as possible. Show yourself. Show me who you really are. You haven’t been able to do that yet, right? Bring it on. I’ll take on whatever wild move you can dish out.
(Gael): Oh really?
*Gael gets back up with a mischievous smile on his face and rips off his shirt*
(Gael): You wanna see just how wild I can get? Okay. This is a new move I’ve been working on. I can only hold it for five minutes, but that’s more than enough time to go all out and take you down.
***
*Flashback*
*Sometime during the week before the big battle, Gael was sprinting around the temple with Ryuuji running beside him*
(Ryuuji): You guys appear to be getting better at fighting Jade.
(Gael): Yeah, we’re so close to beating her. I can feel it. Still, even with all this training, I feel that it won’t be enough to get the victory in the Kragnarok. I need an ace up my sleeve. Something to catch my opponent completely off guard.
(Ryuuji): That would be smart to have. You’ve made some pretty creative moves with that light magic of yours. I’m sure you can come up with another move.
(Gael): Easier said than done. I’ve been rattling my brain all week to come up with a move to fire off at my opponents.
(Ryuuji): And I think you’re going about this the wrong way. Instead of trying to fire off your light magic, why don’t you try using it to make your body stronger?
*Ryuuji’s words caught Gael by surprise as Ryuuji began to speed up and run ahead of Gael. As Ryuuji took off in front of him, Gael focused on Ryuuji’s feet and saw flames shooting out from the soles of his shoes which gave him a boost in speed. Gael ingrained this image into his mind as it resonated with him and gave him an idea*
*Flashback ends*
***
*Back in the forest, Gael bends his knees and slams the ground with his left fist while resting his right hand on his right thigh. As soon as Gael slammed the ground with his fist, strange rune signs that were glowing a bright yellow began appearing on his arm and eventually spread throughout his body. A yellow aura soon covered his entire body and Gael stood back up smiling confidently. Back at the observation tower, everyone watched amazed at what they were seeing while Ryuuji sat there smiling like a proud father*
(Brodie): Ohhh~. That’s definitely impressive. I can sense immense power coming from you. But do you really think that’ll be enough to take me down in five minutes?
(Gael): No. It’ll take you down in three minutes.
*All of sudden Gael vanishes and Brodie sensing the attack coming quickly created a buckler just in the nick of time to protect himself. Gael instantly appeared in front of Brodie and tried to punch him, but Brodie got his buckler up just in time to block the attack. The buckler barely withstood Gael’s attack and Brodie was pushed back. Concentrating, Brodie launched his stone spikes with one of the spikes lifting Brodie up above the forest trees as he prepared for Gael’s next attack*
(Brodie): *Inner Thoughts* Alright. I can’t let him hit me. It’s over if he does. He’ll most likely try to do another instant attack with that speed of his and once he does I’ll block it and deliver an attack of my own to take him down.
*Looking at his arms. Brodie saw he had a buckler on his left arm to defend and a battering ram on his right to attack*
(Brodie): *Inner Thoughts* I’m ready for wherever he attacks.
*Brodie soon sensed an attack coming from above and quickly lifted his buckler up to block the attack and swung his battering ram upward with all of his might to strike Gael. Except it wasn’t Gael who he struck, it was Jin. Jin used his metal manipulation to create a hammer and struck the buckler with all his might before taking a defenseless hit to the stomach and chest area*
(Jin): Got. . .you. Fall.
*Jin smiled before passing out and began falling to the ground rapidly where he was caught by his ninja spirit by using the last of his magic powers to summon it before he attacked Brodie. Once the spirit landed safely on the ground it vanished leaving Jin’s unconscious body. Back with Brodie, he sensed another attack coming from below and prepared to intercept it just like with Jin only to see that his stone buckler and battering ram were crumbling and left him with nothing. As he wondered what happened, he quickly figured out that it was because of Jin’s attack. When Jin attacked he slightly heard a high-frequency sound. That sound that Jin released with his hammer caused his stone weapons to crumble. With nothing to protect him or attack with, Brodie was given no choice but to take Gael’s attack head on which was an uppercut. Brodie was sent into the air only to receive a punch from Gael who used his light magic and speed to fly in the air and punch him across the face. Gael followed up with a third, fourth, and fifth punch which flew through the air diagonally from each other before he appeared above Brodie with a sphere of light in his hand*
(Gael): Wild Star Barrage!
*Gael flew down and slammed the ball of light into Brodie and the two came falling down to the ground. As soon as they hit the ground a tower of light shot up for a few seconds before disappearing. Back on the ground there was a crater in the ground with Brodie lying motionless inside of it and Gael standing next to it looking down at Brodie as the runes on his body started to disappear*
(Gael): Damn. I guess it did take five minutes after all.
(Brodie): Uggghhhh~. Now that. . .was wild.
*Brodie passes out*
(PA System): Brodie Nagata and Jin Hephaestus have been eliminated!
*Gael ran over to check on Jin and make sure he was alright. Once he saw that Jin was still breathing and just passed out he took a sigh of relief*
(Gael): You crazy bastard, what were you thinking?
***
*Flashback begins*
*Sometime before Kragnarok begin. Gael was showing Jin his move*
(Gael): So, what do you think?
(Jin): That’s amazing! When did you learn to do that?
(Gael): I got the idea from watching Ryuuji. I call it, Wild Caliber. I allow the light magic within me to flow through my body and make me quicker and stronger. So far I can only hold it for five minutes, but if we use it on Brodie I’m sure we can take him down. The only problem is we’ll only get one shot to pull it off.
(Jin): That shouldn’t be a problem. When the time is right use it. I’ll give you the opening. You just make sure to take him down.
*Flashback ends*
***
*Back in the forest, Gael had tears welling up in his eyes*
(Gael): We took down the fortress. But how can I enjoy this victory if you’re not here to share it with me, you idiot? We were supposed to win together!
*The tears began to fall from Gael’s face as Sanada and Raika arrived as well as the medical drones to pick up Jin and Brodie*
Author’s Note: This was quite an emotional fight. Shadow Eye takes their first L in the battle but are still in the lead. You would think Gael and Jin would have the advantage in this handicap fight but when you’re going up against a veteran knight the numbers don’t matter. That’s what I wanted to convey with this fight. While Jin and Gael are good and will no doubt get stronger they are still young and weak when compared to everyone around them and have much to learn. Even though they won Brodie was still the stronger knight. We’re nearing the climax of Kragnarok and this next fight will be one for the books. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.