The U-Knight held his claymore at the ready, preparing for battle.
The first of the three skelementals to make a move was Yunze, although rather than initiate the fight, they simply flew off to the side to observe from afar.
The skelemental horses charged directly for the U-Knight, their heavy hooves sending shockwaves along the grass as they tugged Sevya’s chariot forward like a speeding car.
A voice rang out from within the U-Knight as he held his hands over his chest:
EARTH!
A massive pillar of dirt and rock shot out from beneath the U-Knight, launching him high into the air, although the pillar did not survive long, as Sevya’s chariot crashed into immediately afterwards, reducing it to naught but dust in the blink of an eye.
As the knight soared through the sky, Sinzen suddenly appeared in front of him, waving hello.
The U-Knight swung his claymore, seeking to slice the red skelemental in half, but it was to no avail. The blade sliced through red flames instead, with Sinzen having relocated himself to ground level in the same motion.
“Oh, you are much too slow, Mr. Knight! Speed is the key! Today’s audiences have dreadfully-short attention spans! Speed, speed, speed!”
The skelemental held his arms out to either side, snapping his fingers on both hands. On the far side of the battlefield came a blast of red fire, emanating from the ground like a geyser. When the flames died down after making their flashy entrance, they revealed what appeared to be a rotary cannon made of red bones.
As the U-Knight landed back onto the floor, the red rotary cannon immediately began to kick into action, firing out dozens of flaming bullets directly for him.
The knight took off running as quickly as he could in order to keep ahead of the barrage of bullets, intending to move around the cannon in a sort of shrinking circle route in order to close the gap and destroy it directly. Standing his ground blocking the bullets would just lock him in place, leaving him vulnerable, and the cannon was firing too quickly to activate another Install to attack from afar.
But before the U-Knight could complete his plan, another burst of crimson fire erupted from the ground, and when it dissipated, in its place arose a massive skull, easily twenty feet in height, jaws lined in jagged fangs, seeking to devour him.
The U-Knight lashed out with his claymore in an attempt to slice the jaws of the massive skull, knowing he needed to act quickly or the shots from the rotary cannon would catch up with him. However, the claymore passed through the skull without making any contact whatsoever.
The knight paused as his heavy sword struck the earth, and the fangs of the massive skull phased through him like a ghost. The bullets of the rotary cannon acted the same way once they reached him; nothing but illusions.
Sinzen, now floating in the sky above the knight, rested his chin in his upturned palm. “Oh, drat! The truth of my trick hath been revealed!”
When the U-Knight raised his head to look up at Sinzen directly, it cost him. Sevya’s chariot returned to the battlefield like a flash of lightning, already in the midst of trampling over the shining silver-white knight seconds before the thundering hooves and wheels could be heard.
The U-Knight was thrown aside by the mighty skelemental chariot, bouncing multiple times until he finally came to a stop. His armor had been cracked in numerous places, though he did appear to still be alive and conscious.
Sinzen, having suddenly appeared right beside the fallen U-Knight, knelt down, offering a pat on the back. “Might I suggest removing that helmet of yours, Mr. Knight? Though it is beautifully-crafted and obviously a very integral part of your look, it seems to limit your awareness.”
The knight threw another slash at the red skelemental, but he was, of course, long gone by the time the blade bit at him, having teleported to the passenger’s seat of Sevya’s chariot.
As the chariot adjusted itself to turn back, the U-Knight reached a hand down to his torso, tracing his fingers along some of the cracks in his shining silver-white armor.
A considerable amount of blood stained his fingers, though of course this blood quickly transformed into silver-white particles that then drifted away into the night sky.
Clenching his hand tightly around his claymore, the knight was suddenly encased in an overwhelming sheen of purple light for but a moment, and then, the knight was gone.
Sinzen let out a sigh. “Leaving before the show could even truly begin… Tsk, tsk, Mr. Knight!”
Beside him, Sevya remained stone-still, dim green eyes transfixed on the location the U-Knight had been but a few moments ago. He should have been slain by that attack, she thought to herself. It was as direct a running-over as one could take, and it had caught him completely unaware, too.
The strange knight certainly was….well, strange.
* * * *
ULTRA KNIGHT
* * * *
“You got a boyfriend?”
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Sariah took a sip of her drink. “No, and if you ask any more questions like that, I’m leaving.”
Chuckling to himself, Zane shrugged his shoulders, spinning his bar stool away from her, back to facing forwards. “Alright, alright, I’ve emptied my clip of ‘em all. I’ll behave.”
The bar was quiet and relaxing; a place Sariah honestly wouldn’t have minded relaxing in on her own leisure time. There weren’t many patrons inside, the music playing was present but not overpowering, and the building appeared to be closely connected to the bakery next door, as it smelled like delicious pastries rather than sweaty men and cigarette smoke like other bars.
“So what brings you to little ol’ Rushuna?” he asked as he began to roll a coin between his fingers.
“The attack on that warehouse, obviously,” Sariah replied curtly, annoyed he’d even bother pretending not to know. “I’ve been asked to investigate, and, ideally, smooth things over between Vash and Leotera with my findings.”
Zane brought his glass to his lips and chugged the contents. “And how’s that going?”
“Why even ask?” she said with a sigh. “I’m sure you were watching me investigate the entire time. That’s why you were waiting for me after I’d spoken to a witness, wasn’t it?”
He flipped the coin up into the air before catching it. “Bullseye. Well, sorta. I wasn’t watching you because of your investigation, I was actually watching you because of that fat ass you’re packing.”
Her brow furrowed. She was almost certain he knew that she wasn’t buying into this whole “sleazebag flirt” angle he was pulling, so why did he keep wasting her time by going back to that well over and over again? It was too obvious a character to actually get offended and smack him over his stupid comments, so what kind of reaction had he been trying to get from her?
When she turned to face him to ask a question, she noticed his eyes were locked onto her chest. He grinned and winked, then, just before Sariah could push herself up from her seat, he said, “Nice necklace. Where’d you get it?”
He was referring to the necklace she kept underneath her shirt, a fact which gave her pause. It shouldn’t have been visible to him at all, really…
It could have been a bluff on his part; perhaps he was trying to get her to instinctively look down at it to confirm its existence, or perhaps it was nothing more than a quick joke to break her composure, even if only for a second. But again, a nagging feeling from within pushed her towards believing that he made all of his silly comments with a serious purpose in mind.
“Gift from a friend,” she answered.
He flashed her another of his fanged grins. “Good balance of truth, believability, and vagueness.”
She watched, silently, as he flipped the coin one final time, then said, “They’ll attack again tonight.”
Sariah raised a brow. “And how do you know that?”
Zane chuckled. “I guess I don’t know that for a fact, so maybe it’s a bit of a shot in the dark. You planning on staying over to keep an eye out?”
“Seems like the smart thing to do.”
“I got a bed if you need a place to crash.”
Sariah finished her glass and got up from her seat. “The inn will be fine, thanks.”
* * * *
ULTRA KNIGHT
* * * *
“Wondrous!” King Garn Chameel squealed, clacking his big lizard claws together as a video feed appeared on the screen before him. He had been trying (and failing) for the past day to get back in touch with the heads of state of the three nations currently caught in a feud, without much luck. However, it seemed he had finally gotten through!
Well….sort of. While he had been hoping for three different video feeds to appear, one for each of the three nations, only one actually did. But still, it was better than none, right?
“Salutations!” he greeted. “How fares your day, Regina Dao?”
He was speaking, of course, to the Regina of the Jura Dinosty, Dao (“Regina” is what the female head of state is referred to as). She was a huge saurian woman covered in shimmering gold-and-gray scales, with rows of swords sprouting from her back like spines, cutting an even more imposing figure than King Garn himself.
“I am well, Garn,” Regina Dao stated, her voice deep and explosive, echoing around the enormous throne room she dwelled within. “Though I do not see the point in continuing to hold these meetings.”
King Garn sighed, his head drooping low. “Unfortunate! But you are not exactly wrong….it seems President Beryll and God-King Cahira are no longer interested….”
“Have you spoken to either of them?”
The big lizard man shook his head. “No…Regretfully!”
“Nor have I,” said Dao. “But I have heard that Beryll is convinced that village of hers was attacked by Leoteran soldiers, and that Cahira is insulted that Leotera would ever make such a cowardly strike.”
“What do you think, Regina Dao? Curiously!”
The saurian ruler exhaled through her nostrils, taking a few moments to think it through. “I have battled with Cahira a few times, and an attack like this seems far beneath their standards.”
King Garn’s face brightened, even at the mere prospect of solving this ordeal peacefully. “Wonderful! So you believe this to be a misunderstanding?!”
“Perhaps,” Dao replied. “Though Beryll is certainly a shrewd woman. I do not believe she would be so quick to point to Leotera without good reason.”
The saurian ruler’s massive jaws split wide open as she bellowed out a massive yawn that was strong enough to shake the video camera recording her. “If you’ll excuse me, Garn, I’m to retire for the evening. I will not be attending any more meetings unless other heads of state are involved. I see no point in doing so.”
“Understandable!” Garn said with another sigh. “Stay safe, Regina Dao!”
“And you as well, Garn.”
* * * *
ULTRA KNIGHT
* * * *
Indeed, the inn was fine. The owners were a very hospitable family who didn’t even give Sariah time to say “hello” before they were offering food, more comfortable clothes so she didn’t dirty her church uniform, massages, foot rubs, and even some time to play with their new puppies.
Of course, Sariah turned down everything other than paying for a room (and a free cookie), retiring for the night or some peace and quiet.
As she began to undress herself, her necklace came uncovered, the silver-white lens of the locket glinting in the moonlight seeping in through the open window.
She took hold of it between her fingers, pressing it against her chest for a few moments.
When she was all finished, she climbed into the bed, tossing the blanket over herself.
As far as the investigation had gone, while she hadn’t come to a definitive answer just yet, she certainly had many new things to think about. The relatively-light amounts of damage that had actually been done to the warehouse, Lita’s supposed sighting of a skelemental, and, of course, that weirdo Zane.
She recalled his words from earlier at the bar, with him stating that the attack would repeat this night as well. Sariah was very willing to believe that, which was why she didn’t plan to sleep for any longer than an hour or so, but she also didn’t want to stick around by the warehouses themselves, in case her being spotted caused the attackers to withdraw, and perhaps never return, in the event that they were going to strike again.
She would simply rest while she could, and then, if the next attack began, she’d hurry over there as quickly as she could, and deal with the situation as needed, whether that involved simply recording the incident, or even fighting them off.
However, she wasn’t even afforded a proper hour’s worth of sleep before the attack began, and the attack hadn’t even been directed at a warehouse.
Instead, a crossbow bolt fired in through the window of her room, aimed right at her chest.