“W-What was that? I-It sounded like you said… S-Said you wanted me to kill your dad?” Roy feels a chill run down his spine as he stutters out his question.
“Hm? Yeah, that’s what I said. What, is that too much?”
Pandora’s request leaves the table silent. Clearly, the idea of killing isn’t what’s unnerving Roy. Still, he takes a breath in.
“I know what it’s like. A quest for revenge, that feeling of your heart’s burning desire for the ultimate retribution. If that’s what you want… I can sure as shit handle an old geezer.” Pandora raises an eyebrow, dismissively shaking her head at Roy’s sudden confidence.
“Dude, if you fought him right now, he’d kick your ass all over the school.”
Defensively, he leans in. “He would not!”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you know the weakness of a vampire?”
Roy raises a brow. “S-..Sunlight? Garlic? Wooden stake to the heart?”
“All you’ve ever seen about vampires is in movies, huh?” Pandora frowns as an automated bot places their food on the table. Roy looks at it, intrigued for a second before it blasts off at the speed of sound to its next customer, leaving behind a dust trail.
“Well?”
Roy folds his arms and sarcastically replies, “Oh, I’m sorry! What was the question again?”
“Chatterboxx, this is serious. I know with other Nightborn you can guess, fight for hours until they exhaust, but vampires are the real deal, okay? There’s a reason why you don’t fight them on the streets. Why? Because if a vampire is on that street, everyone else is already dead!” Roy rolls his eyes while taking a bite out of his taco nonchalantly.
“Pandora, ghost stories like this don’t scare me. I’ve fought things that would make most people corpses. Anything with a life can be killed. Especially with a blade like mine. That’s why you asked me, remember?” Pouring more sour cream onto his taco, Roy’s expression remains unchanged; confliction battles in his eyes.
With a sigh, Pandora finally accepts defeat. “Okay, fine… just know you can’t outright challenge my dad in the first place. You aren’t high enough on the power totem pole yet.”
“Ugh, this again? How often do I have to tell you I’m tough as nails!”
“Dude, I’m not knocking your abilities. That’s how duels work in this school. As per the Sleepy Hollow Dueling Registration rules… Ahem,” Pandora holds up one finger.
“Rule 1: At the start of a school year, all students start with zero duel wins.” A second finger pops up.
Rule 2: To increase school rank, you must win as many duels as possible from students/clubs above you.” A third, and so on.
“Rule 3: Students, clubs, and faculty who are ranked within the top 10 cannot be challenged by any student, club, or faculty member outside of it other than rank 11 being able to challenge rank 10.
Aaaaand rule 4: Duels are not necessarily to the death. A duel winner is determined by whoever the last person standing is; if their opponent is dead or simply unconscious, it does not matter.
You get all that?”
Roy sits dumbfounded. A few questions scratch at his mind, but only one prevails as the least complicated, most straightforward and least likely to make him sound like a complete novice. “One question… When do we start?”
Pandora smirks, grabbing the new kid’s arm and lifting it into the air. “You ready, Chatterbox?”
“Born ready!” His heartbeat accelerates in the most euphoric of ways. “Before a fight, I always feel like Rocky Balboa before Apollo Creed… But this is different. My future isn’t about knocking off hotshot Apollo; this is the big leagues now… I’ll be taking on Ivan Drago!” He admits shamefully, excitement in his grandiose voice. Pandora shakes her head with a chuckle before clearing her throat.
“REGISTERING FOR THE TWENTY-TWELVE SLEEPY HOLLOW DUELING LEAGUE… ROY McCoy, the…” Pandora’s announcement for Roy is put on pause. He needs a tagline. No one would waste time on a bottom-ranked human. Then, while she scanned the anime knowledge base that festered in her head, it hit her!
“ROY McCOY, SUPERNATURAL SAMURAI, IS READY FOR YOUR CHALLENGES!” The once quiet and reserved Pandora shouts out in the food court. The way her brow shines with sweat and her smirk turns to a blush adorned grin of pride highlights how much this moment means to her.
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Roy laughs as several students stare at the duo, his teeth shimmering as he stands heroically. “This means no matter how long it takes for a challenger to arise, Roy McCoy will be waiting to kick their a—!”
SLICE!
A sharp pair of wings nearly cuts his head off! Had he not moved his head slightly to the left, this game would’ve ended before it even got started.
A thunderous, warm voice claps above the duo. “Roy McCoy! I hear you’re new around here! Worry not, a challenger has arisen from the depths of hell itself! Consider yourself unlucky, samurai. Your first challenger shall be the burning Phoenix knight himself, SUN ARRIR!” Hovering with authority flies a tengu, his dark purple feathers boarding black while blue hair dye stained a flared-up mohawk.
Roy’s agape mouth quickly shuts, the blood running down his cheek wiped away with his curled index finger. “So you’re my first opponent, huh? Okay then, you feathered fuck… I accept your challenge!” All traces of worry are erased from the samurai’s face, only a crazed smirk remains to accompany his authoritative point.
Erupting into excited cheers from the students eating at their tables, the food court shifts into the perfect arena for a fight to the death, the roof opening up completely to allow infinite vertical distance.
“ROY McCOY, THE SUPERNATURAL SAMURAI VERSUS SUN ARRIR THE SCORNED PHOENIX! GET READY FOR THE BLOOOOOOOOOD BATH!” Announces a student on top of a table. As Roy rushes towards the tengu, who flies full speed ahead, no student takes a breath.
Not a soul is breathing!
Not a soul who isn’t named Roy McCoy, that is.
CLANG!
The sound of Roy’s katana clashing against Sun’s talons finally pops the bubble of oxygen all the onlookers were collectively holding onto. “A head-on approach? Hahahaha! Your tactics are most amusing, samurai! Most who accept a challenge from me die cowardly fools!”
“You’ve killed people? Ha! Let me guess… You talked ‘em to death!” A twirl accompanies the samurai’s quip, his blade meeting both of the tengu’s wings in mid-air!
“Yes! Hide your fear behind petty insults! My steel wings will shred through your words AND flesh like cheap paper!” While the wings in question were 100% organic, the strength and durability is steel-like in its effectiveness.
“My usual trick for flying guys isn’t going to work. Cutting through these things is out of the question!” Roy thinks aloud as he falls on his feet to the floor below.
Bored of Roy having the first turn, Sun slaps his wings in front of him, the wind rippling towards his foe. While the swordsman staggers backwards, the winged aviate takes to the sky, his talons outstretched to grapple his prey. “Skyward, we go! Can you keep up?!”
“Gonna have to delay that flight, asshole!” A large dust cloud engulfs the two. Oohs and aahs ring from the crowd. Pandora watches between squinted eyes, one hand on her hip casually. Still standing firmly in the middle of everything is Roy, who blocks off Sun’s flight plans using his long flowing robe, absorbing the attack within the cloth.
“What do you know? Cool, comfortable, and perfect for blocking giant chicken attacks! Got anything better?” Roy quips cockily.
Sun scoffs. “I am a PHOENIX! My powers were granted to me by hell ITSELF! You’ve experienced but a fraction of what I’m capable of!”
“Then show me… HOW SERIOUS YOU ARE!” Roy swings his blade towards the yapping bird’s face, only to be blocked AND grabbed via Sun’s beak! His cocky grin soon fades as they’re launched into the air like a rocket, tightening his grip to the hilt of his katana. “Shit! If I let go now, I’m dead!” The students on the floor watch in amazement, cheering and pumping their fists. Pandora folds her arms now, less sure of Roy’s fate.
“Do you ever stargaze, samurai?! Hoping that one day, your mortal life can sit amongst the sun, moon, and stars?!” Despite having a blade locked between the top and bottom of his beak, Sun can still monologue with ease. “Heaven and hell are a construct, boy! It matters not how prepared you are for battle if your biggest weakness is the born flaw of humanity! For your place is on the ground, samurai… Not in the sky amongst the SUN!” The tengu flies so high into the air now that Roy has to shake off how lightheaded he’s beginning to get. Focus on something else… Focus on how annoying this guy is!
“Y’know, I keep hearing that shit! That humans can’t reach the same level as you Nightborns. Maybe that’s true… M-Maybe we can’t soar like your kind… B-But you want to know something, Sun?” Roy spits out his name, oxygen tightening, becoming scarcer and scarcer with every second they speed toward the atmosphere. Seconds remain at this altitude.
“And what might that be, samurai? Employ your final mortal message before falling to earth!”
“Th-That’s the thing… I don’t stargaze. I'll drag you all to my level if I can’t be on yours!” Using the last of his strength and a swift double kick to the chest of the flying foe, Roy rips his katana away from Sun’s beak. As he falls, he snags the tengu’s right talon, ripping him from the sky down with him.
“H-HAVE YOU GONE MAD?! YOU’LL SEND US BOTH TO HELL!!” Sun yells in a panic, flapping his wings as quickly as possible to maintain aerial momentum. Roy holds on for dear life, flapping along with him like a flag on a pole.
“There you go throwing around shit like Heaven and hell again! Don’t you know? Man invented your little pleasure place!” Roy smirks. Gotcha! Sun’s face flares red.
“Th-THE ARROGANCE! What proof do you have to back up such absurd claims!?” The two hurtle toward the food court at full speed, an aura of fire highlighting their outlines. Roy slowly climbs himself backward so his back faces the panicking tengu, whose speed decreases as they get closer to the ground floor. Roy raises his clenched fist before throwing his katana as hard as he can at the quickly approaching school.
Fing!
With his blade landing into the wall of the food court, the samurai grabs onto it, twisting it out of the wall, and finishing the maneuver with a wall bounce onto the back of Sun. “My proof? Try reading the Bible, asshole!” Lifting the katana above his head, Roy slams it into Sun, plunging the blade in one hole and out one it creates.
“G-GRAAAAAH!”
The pair slam into a bench, their descent halted by Roy’s blade stabbing into the table below. “I-I see n-now… Your spirit does not seek power… You’ve got vengeance in your heart… T-Tell me, samurai… there was no honor from you… why?” Sun gurgles, blood covering Roy’s hands and the table below.
“You already hit the nail on the head. I’m not fighting in this blood-sport for glory… I’m doing it because someone needs to die. When it’s a fight to the death, there aren’t any rules. There’s no honor between killers… Now, go to hell.” With ease, Roy retrieves his blade with a simple pull, then lifts it high above the fading beast. Then…
SLICE!
Blood spurts all over the place as the tengu’s head rolls off the table and near Roy’s feet. Silence… Soon, it becomes an uproar of cheers.
“THE WINNER IS… ROY McCOY, SUPERNATURAL SAMURAI!” The announcer from earlier decrees. Chanting follows.
“Roy! Roy! Roy! Roy!”
Despite the rush of battle slowly flowing from his body, the joyous cheers of his name, even the highly fantastic no-look sheath of his blade, leaves him silent. It’s not until Pandora walks up to him that a wide grin spreads from ear to ear. “Damn! Didn’t know you had it in ya, chatterbox.”
Panting, Roy looks down at her shortly before jumping off the bench. “That impressed you?”
“Huh?”
“Pandora, you haven’t seen anything yet! I’m going to shove my sword so far up your dad’s undead ass he’ll be choking it up!” Roy exclaims, pumping his fist. Pandora’s shock soon devolves into a fit of hilarious laughter!
A contagious fit of laughter.
“Ahahaha! Holy SHIT, chatterbox, y-you’re straight up INSANE! P-Pfft, ahahahaha!”
“Ha-hahahaha!”
The cheering at this point has faded. The excitement is over for the peanut gallery as they all funnel out of the food court. The only two who remain are Roy and Pandora, laughing in the face of death.
…As the bloodbath was just beginning.