*HUFF*

Raj and Zephyr were sent flying out into the courtyard and the grassy lands that surrounded the tree house, or so it seemed. It was hard to tell who was flying whom because the way they hand clenched around one another's necks made it impossible to do so.

They crashed with a boom, separating suddenly as Zephyr pulled out a blade. Raj's aura rippled and the world around them seemed to darken.

Zephyr's heart skipped a beat, but by then, four palms of Chaotic Particle Force had appeared in the air. It looked like silvery black beads of polished sand had come together to form the incarnations of a devil's hands. Almost instantly, they crashed down.

Raj saw red.

"You son of a bitch, you think you can cuck me? I'm going to rip you a new asshole! Let's see if she still likes you after your face is a meat patty!"

Zephyr quickly brandished a blade, Water Force pooling around him spirals as he began a dance. Unfortunately, whatever dance he had prepared was completely stifled.

Two of the palms grabbed onto the snaking rivers of water and ripped them apart, sending a rain of benign water into the surroundings. At the same time, the remaining two surged forward, one slamming against the ground with a BANG! and the other slapping at Zephyr.

The world rolled and whined, wind being moved about with such speed and forcefulness and the air pressure alone left deep trenches in the ground.

Raj's two palms of Earth Force collided at the same time.

Zephyr's balance was thrown off by the shaking ground, and that left him unable to do much else other than leap backward, hoping to mitigate some of the damage.

He couldn't.

His blade shattered and inner organs trembled, blood pooling out from his lips as his back slammed against the thick hide of a tree.

His body shuddered as he slipped down, barely managing to catch a glimpse of Raj coating himself in an armor of sparkling silver-black particles as he gave him a leaping kick into the chest.

"Damn, I didn't know he could be so graceful," Franco commented.

"That was damn near a perfect split, huh?"

"Looking like an Oompa Loompa turned ballerina out there."

Raj couldn't seem to hear anything at all as he wailed on Zephyr.

"Fight back, dammit! You weak piece of shit, shouldn't you have three heads and six arms?! You think you can suck me like this?!"

Raj's fists fell like the rain, practically kneading Zephyr like dough. The latter had already stopped fighting back, but Raj didn't seem to notice, his rage building like a towering tempest. The more pathetic Zephyr was, the angrier he seemed to become.

The Spirituals and Half-Spirituals were in absolute shock.

They had no prejudice against humans... at least not in the normal sense. If not, why would they come to an event hosted by one? However, they still had their biases and they naturally believed that humans could live in harmony with them because they allowed it, because they were kind souls who believed in equality for all.

But seeing a Half-Spiritual get beaten up by a human like that... and even the fact it was Zephyr, who had placed well in the Gathering of Kingdoms... It felt surreal.

By that point, the commotion had finally alerted those deeper on the inside and Savahn along with Yuri came rushing out.

Yuri's eyes widened. "Raj! What are you doing!?"

She rushed down to stop him.

This voice only made Raj angrier. "Dammit! If you protect this piece of trash, I swear I'll never talk to you again!"

Yuri froze, not understanding what was happening. She looked toward Aina and Savahn helplessly, trying to get some help. She really didn't understand.

As for Zephyr, who thought he had been saved, he fell into another pit of despair. Hadn't Yuri come to help him? Why was she just standing there now? Where was the help?

Raj picked up Zephyr by his neck, huffing out deep breaths before tossing him toward Yuri.

A crumpled mass of bruises, broken bones and blood rolled to a stop just before her feet, leaving her without the words to speak.

"There you go. I returned your boyfriend back to you in one piece. Shouldn't you be thanking me?" Raj said through heaving breaths.

Yuri blinked. "Boyfriend?"

Raj froze, then coughed. "Ah, misunderstanding, misunderstanding..."

Yuri looked down at Zephyr, then back up toward Raj. Content © 2024.

"You..."

"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" Raj rushed forward, stepping over Zephyr and covering her lips with a palm. "Don't do it, if you say what you want to say, then I'm gonna have to have a quippy come back, and then it's going to start an argument that goes on for the next week, so let's just pretend I didn't say anything, okay? Okay!"

Yuri suddenly bit down on Raj's palm.

"You bastard!" She yelled after she got her lips free. "What do you take me for-"

Since a palm didn't work, Raj used his lips instead.

Milan whistled and James broke out into cheers that were much too lewd for the occasion.

As for Yuri, her eyes widened, then her anger dimmed a bit, but then it flared back up. Sensing that, Raj pushed his tongue into her mouth and it was like her flame had been doused again.

Raj was just about to succeed when he felt his lungs screaming.

He came up for air, putting his hands on his knees.

"Dammit... huff... Gimme a sec... huff... This bastard was... huff... no shame... huff..."

Yuri snapped back to reality and she was about to unleash another torrent of curses beneath the jeering laughter of everyone, but this time it wasn't the heaving Raj that interrupted her.

There was a rumble and then there was an approach of guards.

Leonel frowned as he looked over.

The small squadron pushed their way through the gates, their leader frowning as well when they saw Zephyr crumpled into a pile with a pair of lovebirds standing over him.