Episode 43 Tide’s Revenge
Silver gazes at the woman wrathfully, her face twisted with rage. “You…dare show your face again to me…Midori?!”
“Ah, so you remembered my name,” Midori mocks.
“Of course I do,” Silver heaves hoarsely, her hands clenched so tightly around her bow that they have become snow white. “How could I ever forget the name of the woman responsible for killing Tide?!”
“Killing Tide…?” Wake murmurs with quiet astonishment, glancing from Silver to Midori.
The smirk disappears from Midori’s face. She frowns deeply at Silver, her eyes narrowed. “I’m responsible for killing Tide? Do you honestly still think that? It was he who got himself into that mess. He has no one else to blame for his death but himself. You cannot put that blame on me…when you were the one who killed him in the first place!”
Wake gazes open-mouthed at Silver. “Silver…is that true?”
Silver does not reply. She stands still, her bow lowered at her side. Suddenly, she raises her bow again, pointing it at Midori. She fires.
With a flash of golden light, Midori disappears, deflecting the arrow and then reappearing by Wake’s side. She grabs him from behind and holds him by the throat before he has a chance to react. Wake struggles weakly, but fails to break free from her clutch.
“Let Wake go!” Silver roars. “This is between you and me.”
Silver directs her bow towards Midori again. However, Midori relents, and pushes Wake aside, knocking him to the ground. He falls to his knees grasping his throat and breathing heavily.
Following another flash of yellow light, Midori pounces on Silver, who jumps back and fires twice. The two arrows sing through the air but ultimately fall to the ground having missed their target.
Midori appears on Silver’s other side. Silver turns again, her heart racing. ‘Fast!’
Quickly, Silver moves to load another arrow into her bow. However, Midori kicks Silver, throwing her back. Meanwhile, another burst of golden light escapes from Midori’s hands. Silver jumps behind a tree, letting the tree absorb the blow. A smoking hole appears in the middle of the bark.
Silver peers out from behind the tree, her eyes narrowed and her breath ragged. ‘She’s faster than should be normal…and what exactly are those lights?”
As Silver glares from behind the tree, Midori saunters towards her. “Come on now, are you going to hide all day?” she taunts.
Several blasts sound from behind Midori all of a sudden. She flips over in the air; a plank of golden light intercepts the bullets flying towards her. The bullet shells fall to the ground, sliced cleanly in half.
Wake lowers his gun, grimacing slightly. “Hey. I’m a part of this battle too.”
“Wake!” Silver cries, leaping out from her hiding spot. “Stay out of this. This is my fight!”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, Silver,” Wake replies, “we’re a team, remember? I’m not gonna stand around while someone else bullies my partner. I’ll shoot ‘em down no matter who it is, even if it’s a woman!”
“Hmph,” Midori laughs, “you’re very brave, boy, but you don’t know what you’re up against!”
She fires several rounds of that same golden light. Dropping to the ground at the last second, Wake feels a chilling breeze over his head as the lights sail over his head. They slam instead into two trees behind him. The trees snap like twigs, falling to the ground with a thunderous crash.
Wake glances behind him at the devastation, whistling. “Phew! That was a hell of a shot!”
“Lady Silver!” cry several of the soldiers watching the battle unfold. Some of them are quivering with clear apprehension. “What should we do?!”
“Stay back, you fools!” Silver howls back desperately. She glances at Midori, who sneers back. “Don’t you dare come any closer! Wake and I will take care of this!”
“Hmph!” Midori repeats. “A wise strategy.”
“All right!” Wake shouts, pumping his fist. He raises his gun again, joining Silver at her side. “There’s no way we’ll lose two on one!”
“Be careful, you idiot,” Silver scolds in a soft voice, “we can’t be too reckless. We don’t know what her full capabilities are.”
“I thought you said you knew her,” Wake replies.
“Yeah, but I’ve never fought her before…”
Wake glances at Silver, noting the icy determination in her gray eyes. “All right then. You obviously have a history with her, but I’m not gonna bother you about it right now. We have a fight to take care of first!”
With a shake of her arm, Midori unleashes another blast of yellow light. Holding it still, it now takes the form of a large bow and arrow. The light is emitted from a red handle in her hands.
“A bow and arrow…?” Silver whispers, narrowing her eyes.
“Yes,” replies Midori, “this is my Fatalist ability. A lightning-fast arrow with the ability to cut through nearly anything. That is not my only ability, but it shall be enough to defeat you!”
“So she’s another bow user too, huh?” hisses Wake. He readies his finger on the trigger of his pistol. “We’re all projectile users here.”
In the meantime, Silver and Midori stare at each other with hatred flaring in their eyes. They both dig their heels into the ground, readying themselves to dash at each other.
It happens in a flash. Silver sprints straight at Midori, screaming at the top of her lungs. She frees an arrow from her bow; it flies through the air.
Midori counters the attack. A beam of golden light whips past Silver and crashes into the trees behind, felling yet another evergreen. It collapses to the ground with a crackling roar.
Silver ducks long after the attack has passed, her breathing heavy. She strings another pair of arrows, searching for Midori.
The latter appears right behind Silver without warning. “Silver!” Wake shouts. He raises his gun, firing two rounds at the Fatalist.
Turning at the last moment, Silver ducks again as Midori fires a razor sharp beam of light over her head. The sparkling attack singes the topmost strands of Silver’s hair.
Midori disappears again in a flash, reappearing on top of a branch of a nearby evergreen. Wake looks up at her, tracking her with his eyes. “Damn it…she’s too fast!” he whispers to himself.
He raises his gun again, aiming to shoot her down. “Where are you pointing?!” Midori screeches behind Wake. He turns, but not quickly enough. She kicks out his feet from under him, throwing him to the ground.
A flash of golden light escapes from Midori’s hands. The blast leaves a smoking crater in the ground where Wake had been lying. He scrambles back to his feet, dirt and mud all over his clothes, having rolled away at the last moment.
“Oh? Like an animal, you run away well,” Midori smirks, raising her bow again. Wake directs his weapon at her as well. She fires a narrow beam of light straight at Wake.
Rooted to the ground and unable to react in time, Wake merely watches as the beam of light flies towards him at sonic speed. Silver dashes forward and pushes Wake out of the way, the two of them collapsing to the floor in a heap.
Silver quickly gets back to her feet, staring hatefully at Midori. She pauses momentarily, as if almost digesting her hate for the Fatalist. Pointing her Asianic Bow at Midori, Silver narrows her eyes with deadly precision. “For the sake of Tide’s soul…I swear that I will kill you!” she hisses.
The arrow sings through the air, heading straight for Midori. She swipes at the arrow before it makes contact; the arrow falls to the ground. In the next second, the arrow bursts with a hissing sound as a noxious green gas escapes from its head.
Midori leaps away, summoning a barrier made of the same golden light as her arrows to protect herself. Nevertheless, she breathes in some of the gas, coughing vigorously as it enters her lungs. Midori bends over, the poison stinging her vivid green eyes as well.
“Damn it…” she coughs, screwing up her face in a grimace.
Silver smirks triumphantly. “Do not underestimate my poison arrows!” she cries. “This particular batch of poison is a quick-killing poison; your nervous system will shut down within two minutes, causing you to suffocate to death. I am only sorry that you will not live long enough to suffer like you made Tide suffer.”
“That again?” Midori wheezes. Wincing with an eye closed, she continues to frown. However, she slowly returns to an upright position. “Do not fool yourself, you pathetic woman…a Fatalist such as myself will not be taken down so easily!”
With lightning speed, Midori lets loose a shaft of lightning from her bow. It flies through the air and pierces Wake directly through the shoulder, leaving a smoking hole the size of a coin.
Wake immediately falls to the ground, grabbing his left shoulder and screaming in pain. He writhes about, as the wound continues to smoke.
Rushing over to her comrade, Silver bends over him worriedly. “Wake! Are you all right?! Wake!”
“Y-Yeah…” he groans, grimacing himself.
“Damn it…I meant to kill him with that hit…” Midori moans. “Nonetheless…that should be enough to do the job.”
Silver suddenly turns her attention back to Midori. Her eyes widen in confusion. “You…should be dead by now!”
“Hmph!” Midori laughs gloatingly. “I suppose that means that my attack worked!” Indeed, Midori now stands freely, without any sign of having been recently poisoned.
—END FORTY-THREE—
Basically, get ready for about six weeks’ worth of fights.
Starting with Team Silver/Wake vs. Midori. Bets are on. Who you got?
[ ] Complete victory by Team Silver/Wake
[ ] Victory by Team Silver/Wake with Silver hurt
[ ] Victory by Team Silver/Wake with Wake hurt
[ ] Complete victory by Midori