Mahou Sensei Negima! Fan Fiction ❯ The Thirteen Seals ❯ Encounter ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: Encounter

 

Firedude: Next chapter! First reviewer, woo!

 

Tikigod784: I meant direct references to the Greek gods themselves, but to say that I wasn't thinking about God of War when I made these spells would be a lie.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Negima! or any of it's characters.

 

Firedude: Ready? Set? On with the show!

 

Mahora forest: where we left off.

 

Rikimaru continued along the path in the pouring rain. His clothes were soaked and he was beginning to sneeze, but he pressed on. The path was getting muddy and it was becoming increasingly harder for Rikimaru to keep his footing. Multiple times he had slipped and fallen, but he would get back up and keep moving. This sucks... I like the rain, but this is too much. Rikimaru detected that the crabs were nearby and stopped in his place. He looked over a small hill in the trail and beheld a clearing. The clearing was small and was surrounded by trees, except for the far wall of rock.

 

Rikimaru spotted Ako leaning against the wall of rock, unconscious and bound by magic ropes. As Rikimaru detected, there were three demon crabs around her. Rikimaru took a deep breath and prepared himself. Alright... there are four of them... I got a sword, kunai, a hand gun and enough energy left for two more spells... I think. Alright, I think I can do this! Rikimaru reached for the handle of the sword and gripped it tightly. One... two... three! Rikimaru jumped up and dashed forward. Rikimaru quickly unsheathed the sword as the crabs spotted him. “GUUURRRR he's here!” the crabs abandoned their positions around Ako and darted towards Rikimaru.

 

One crab stabbed one of its claws downward at Rikimaru. He dodged to the side and slashed off the crab's claws. The crab stumbled back in pain and Rikimaru lunged forward and slashed down upon it. He was not skilled enough with a sword to break the shell completely, but he left a huge crack. The crab used its remaining claw to attempt to strike Rikimaru in the side, but he jumped back and avoided it. He paid so much attention to the crab in front of him, he did not notice two more sneak around behind him. By the time he noticed one of the crabs slammed its claw down on Rikimaru.

 

He reacted quickly and held the sword above his head to defend himself. Luckily, the sword was so sharp the crab's momentum against the sword caused it to cut its own claw off. Whoa! That's sharp! The crab screamed in pain and also stumbled back. Rikimaru took the opportunity to throw one of the kunai at the crab. It stuck the crab in the belly and cut through it like a hot knife through butter. The crab wheezed loudly and collapsed on the ground and turned to ash.

 

...I think I got it. He turned back around to the crab he was fighting before and lunged at it once more. The crab put up its claw to defend, but Rikimaru slid under it and stabbed the crab in the stomach with Setsuna's sword. The crab screamed as well and turned to ash. Rikimaru dug himself out of the ash and grinned. “Now I get it! You're shell may be indestructible, but you stomachs are unprotected.” Rikimaru triumphantly pointed at the crabs and stated “You're going down!” The two remaining crabs took a few steps back. “GUUURRRR you little brat! I'll split you in half before you can even get close to us!”

 

The crabs firmly planted themselves in the ground and shouted “GUUURRRR Water! Become my sword and shield! Water slowly covered both the crabs like armor and spikes protruded from their backs and their claws doubled in size. Shoot, things are going to be harder than I thought. Rikimaru took firm stance with the sword and waited for the crabs to attack. Then without Rikimaru expecting it, one of the crabs shot a stream of water from its mouth and struck Rikimaru square in the chest. The water pressure propelled him back a few feet and caused him to almost hit the wall of rigid rock.

 

Rikimaru's chest began to hurt him badly and he clutched it in pain. Crap! The wounds didn't reopen, but it still hurt a lot! Before Rikimaru could recover from the blow the other crab lunged forward and stabbed at Rikimaru. Not knowing what else to do, he ducked and the crab's claw went right over his head into the wall of rock behind him. He whipped out the hand gun and took aim at the crab's belly. He pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Damn it! I left the safety on! He quickly rolled to the side only to bump into the other crab.

 

The crab grabbed him by the torso and lifted him off the ground. “GUUURRRR scream pathetic monkey! Beg for mercy!” as the crab's claw tightened on his rib cage he kept in a wail of pain. He fumbled blindly with the gun, trying to find the safety button. And just as it felt his whole rib cage was going to break he found and pressed the button. He then blindly pointed and fired three rounds at the crab. The first two hit the crab in the eye and temporarily knocked away the part of the water shield covering it. Then the third round managed to hit the crab's eye before the shield could be restored.

 

“GUUURRRR my eye!” the crab threw Rikimaru to the side who, rolled and took aim once more at the screaming crab. He shot three more rounds at the crab's belly. The same thing happened as before, the first two rounds knocked away the shield part and the last one pierced the stomach. The crab then collapsed to the floor and turned to ash. Rikimaru had no time to celebrate his victory though, because the other crab bashed him hard in the side.

 

He flew over into a tree and grunted on the impact. He turned over to witness the crab charging him. He blindly pointed the gun forward and randomly fired off five rounds in the crab's direction. He heard a high pitched scream and a thud and looked over. A pile of ash was all that remained where the crab once was. Rikimaru slowly sat up and felt a sharp pain in his chest. Alright, this time I'm sure my wounds are open again. It did not matter though. The battle was over and Ako was safe. It would be a pain though to walk back like this.

 

Rikimaru went into a kneeling position and said “Apollo, please repair my mortal body.” A ribbon of sun light descended from the sky and wrapped around Rikimaru and it healed him. He stood up and moved his body a little to make sure it worked. “If only dad could see me now.” Rikimaru walked over to Ako and tapped her shoulders. “Hey Ako, are you alright? Please wake up.” Ako's eyes fluttered open and she spoke drowsily “…What? Wh-who's there?”

 

“Don't worry Ako it's me, Rikimaru.” Suddenly Ako's eyes shot open wide and she practically shouted “What the hell are you doing here!?” Rikimaru blinked surprisingly. “Ummm… I'm here to rescue you… Is your cheek okay? It looks pretty bad.” Rikimaru moved his hand towards Ako's cheek, but she shook her violently to keep his hand away. Tears welded up in her eyes and she pleaded “You must leave now! It's a trap!” Rikimaru was taken aback, but he couldn't reply because something heavy struck his neck. His vision went fuzzy and his head fell into the mud. As Rikimaru slowly lost consciousness he let the rain hit the side of his face and he listened to Ako desperately calling his name.

 

Mahora Dorm: Six hours later

 

Setsuna awoke when a beam of morning sun light struck her face. “Good morning Setsuna!” She sat up and was greeted by Konoka's smile. She looked to the bed next to her and saw that Kaede was already up and left. “It's time for school Setsuna! I made a box lunch for you, I hope you like it…” Setsuna smiled “Thank you Konoka.” Suddenly Setsuna's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. “Where's Rikimaru!?” Konoka put on a confused expression. “Huh? Who is that?”

 

“I'm sorry Konoka, but I have no time to explain!” Setsuna bolted out the door with Konoka right behind her. “Setsuna! Wait up!” Setsuna ran out of the dorm in time to catch Negi. “Professor Springfield!” Negi turned around to Setsuna. “Oh, hello Setsuna. How are you this-?” Before Negi could finish his sentence Setsuna was right in his face practically yelling “Have you seen Rikimaru around!?” Negi was surprised by the suddenness of her question. “N-no Setsuna! I haven't seen him since yesterday!”

 

Setsuna gritted her teeth and ran towards town to catch a train. “Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have let him go alone!” Negi stood there surprised as Konoka ran passed him. “Wait Setsuna! You need to explain this to me!” Negi recovered from his shock and chased after them. “Wait! Setsuna what's happened to Rikimaru!?”

 

Mahora Academy: 30 minutes later

 

Setsuna, Konoka and Negi were now practically sprinting through the halls of the school. Asuna walked into the hallway and saw the three running towards her. “Negi, Konoka and Setsuna what's up?” Setsuna and Konoka shot by her and Negi cried out “Sorry Asuna! We're busy!” Asuna blinked and shouted after them. “Hey! Don't leave me out again!” Asuna took off after them in a fury. As they continued their sprint down the hallways Haruna, Yue and Nodoka were walking down the hallway each carrying a stack of books. “I don't care what you two say! I did not eat those meat buns! It was that pervert!” Yue replied with her typical indifferent look “Of course you didn't Haruna…”

 

Setsuna and Konoka whizzed by them and nearly knocked over all three of them. “H-Hey! Be careful!” Nodoka was dancing around on one foot, trying not to drop her books. Just as she started to fall over backwards Negi caught her and brought her upright. “Th-thank you professor Springfield!” Nodoka said shyly with a slight bow. “Oh no, it was no-.” As Asuna ran by she grabbed the back of Negi's collar and carried him as she ran. “So you have enough time to talk to Nodoka, but not me!?” Negi called back to the girls “I'm sorry girls, but I have to go now!”

 

As they got farther away Yue leaned over to Nodoka. “Now's our chance…” Nodoka looked over at Yue while she was still blushing. “Wh- what!?” Yue didn't change her expression and explained “It is obvious Negi is up to something big. We can help him out and it will give us a chance to be with him.” Nodoka digested it for a minute and smiled. “I… I guess you're right.” Yue, Nodoka and Haruna took off down the hall after them.

 

Setsuna practically broke through the door to the Dean's office. “Dean Konoe!” Konoe looked up from the book he was reading at his desk as the small wave of students came into his room. “Have you seen Rikimaru?” Konoe appeared to be troubled. “No I can't say I've seen him. Has something happened?” Setsuna remained silent for a minute. I'm sorry Rikimaru, but I need to tell him. Setsuna took a deep breath and spoke.

 

“After Rikimaru wandered away from us, he met Ako and more crab demons appeared. They must've mistaken her for someone close to him and they kidnapped her. His pride was hurt enough as it was and he didn't want anyone else to clean up his mess, so he came back and borrowed my sword and went after them. I told him that if he wasn't back by morning, I would send a search party after him.” Dean Konoe was silent and Setsuna bowed. “I'm very sorry Dean Konoe…” The room was silent until Setsuna said “Uhh… who's Rikimaru?”

 

Dean Konoe looked over to Asuna and stated “I'll explain this it all in a bit Asuna. Last night I did detect Rikimaru in the forest, but I thought it was nothing. I suppose that's where the crabs are too.” Setsuna nodded. “If I have your permission Sir, I'd like to take this group up there now to search for him.” Dean Konoe nodded and Setsuna turned and began to walk out. “Wait we're still confused!” Setsuna looked over at Asuna and said “I'll explain on the way.” Kaede appeared in the door way and called to Setsuna “Hey Setsuna, I'm missing some kunai, have you seen them?” Setsuna grabbed her wrist and dragged her along. “You're coming with me too.”

 

As all the students left for the forest Prof. Takahata entered the room. “What was that all about?” Dean Konoe looked up at Takahata and frowned. “Takahata… do you think I made a bad decision… inviting Rikimaru here?” Takahata shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I can't say, I still don't even understand the reasons you brought him here.” The Dean stood up and looked out the window. “It's just… if he dies now we're all doomed…” Takahata remained silent for a bit before saying “You know, if that seal can do what we think it can do… then he'll be okay won't he? Worse comes to worse one of them comes out and he can't control them…” Dean Konoe turned around and gave him a grim look. “That's what I'm afraid of…”

 

Mahora Shrine: A little while afterward

 

Mana was sitting at a desk cleaning a rifle when the phone rang. She dropped her cleaning tools and walked over to the phone. “Mahora shrine, Mana speaking.”

 

“Hello Mana? It's Setsuna. I was wondering if you saw a boy with spiked red hair come up the forest path last night.”

 

“Is his name Rikimaru?”

 

“Yes! Yes it is!”

 

“I haven't seen him.”

 

“What? Mana stopped screwing around!”

 

“I'm not screwing around. I have to go, bye.”

 

“Hey! Mana!?” Mana hung up on Setsuna and sighed. She walked over to the table and reconstructed her rifle. Looks like I have to go clean up his mess... Mana slung the rifle over her shoulder and walked out of the shrine and up the forest path.

 

Mahora Forest: Meanwhile

 

Rikimaru's eyes opened slowly and adjusted to the light. He squinted for a minute but then his vision cleared. He looked around and saw that Ako was no where to be found. “Ako! Where are you!?” He looked around, but she was no where to be seen. He heard a sinister laugh behind him and whirled around. No one was there, but the laugh still rang out throughout the area. “Show yourself!” He heard a foot step sound out from the forest and he turned to see an odd looking creature holding Ako's bound up form under his arm.

 

The creature had face that resembled an anglerfish with a lure, teeth and scales to match. One arm was clawed and the other was a lobster arm. He had a large shark fin protruding from his back. He was shirtless and had on black pants with a light blue sash. “Who, or what the hell are you!?” The creature dropped Ako at his side and she immediately looked up and yelled. “Please Rikimaru! Forget about me! Just run!” The creature kicked Ako and yelled. “Shut up!” He turned his gruesome star towards Rikimaru and loudly proclaimed “I'm Oushu! Ocean lord of the demon council! We've been waiting for your arrival Rikimaru.”

 

“What do you want from me!?” Oushu began walking forward and pointed his lobster arm at Rikimaru. “We want the seal on your right hand!” Rikimaru looked down at his hand. His glove must've been removed in his sleep, because the seal was showing as bright as day. “That seal is the only thing that can defeat us! That fool Konoe tried to seal us away in an alternate dimension, but it was only temporary. The only thing that can stop us is that seal. I tried to remove it with a spell in your sleep, but apparently its impossible at the moment. So I'll just have to do the next best thing.”

 

He took a fighting stance and smiled. “Rip your arm, clean off!” Rikimaru gripped one hand into a fist and pointed the other at Ako. “Fine, we'll fight, but just let her go!” Oushu laughed and said in a mocking tone “Do you really think I'd let her go just because you asked? No! She will watch you suffer!” Oushu then lunged forward at Rikimaru. He reached for his sword, but all his weapons were gone. Instead he dived to the side as Oushu's claw went by his head. “Hey! Where are my weapons!?” Oushu laughed and jumped forward once more. “Did you think that I'd let you keep them for our fight!? I hid them somewhere. If you can find them, you're welcome to use them.” Oushu's clawed hand almost struck him in the face, but he jumped out of the way once more.

 

Rikimaru took a chance and kicked him in the face. The kick connected, but Oushu did not even flinch. Rikimaru then released a flurry of punches to Oushu's torso, but they too had no effect. In the middle of Rikimaru's punching Oushu whipped his lobster arm around and nailed him in the side of the head. Rikimaru flew to the side and hit the ground hard. Before he could looked up the lobster claw was around his throat. Its grip tightened and Rikimaru began losing air. Oushu laughed and stabbed him in the chest with his clawed hand. Rikimaru held in a shout of pain and gritted his teeth.

 

He then got close to Rikimaru's face and whispered “I'm going to make sure you suffer in front of her.” Rikimaru looked to the side and saw Ako crying hysterically at sight of Rikimaru's torture. He then raised his hands and began to furiously punch him in the face, but as he lost air he began to lose the energy to keep punching. Damn... is this where I die? His gaze trailed over towards his right hand and he starred at the seal. This thing has only brought suffering upon me and all those around me. Oh well... at least now it will end... suddenly a gun shot rang out across the forest and Oushu flew off of Rikimaru.

 

He sat up and saw Mana at the entrance of the clearing holding her rifle. “Don't move slime! Are you two okay?” Rikimaru began to sit up but he felt a hand crab the top of his head. “Where do you think you're going?” Rikimaru looked up and saw Oushu standing there with a gun shot in his side. “Water! Bind this pathetic soul into his place.” Suddenly water burst out of the ground and bound Rikimaru's feet and hands together. “I'll take care of her first!” Oushu began walking towards Mana and Rikimaru called out “Damn it Mana! This is my fight! Let me fight this!” Mana looked over at Rikimaru then at Ako and stated bluntly “Well, it's obvious that you need help.”

 

Mana aimed her rifle at Oushu again who was checking her out. “Hmmmm… my my, you certainly are a lot more filled out than that other girl aren't you? How about it? I spare your life and give me some action.” Mana answered by firing a bullet dangerously close to his feet. “That's my answer.” Oushu got upset and bore his teeth. “I always get what I want and whether you're willing to or not!” Oushu lunged forward at Mana with such speed that Mana could not land a shot on him.

 

He swiped his clawed hand down and ripped part of the front of her shirt off nearly exposing her chest. She cursed out loud and struck him in the side of the head with the butt of the rifle. He flew onto the ground and Mana shot him three times in the torso. He stopped moving and lied motionless on the ground. Rikimaru sighed and looked up at Mana. “Nice job Mana…” Mana looked between Rikimaru and Ako and frowned. “I'm sorry I had to save you Rikimaru…” He looked away form her and replied “Yeah, whatever…” Mana began walking over to Ako who stopped crying and tried to figure out how to undo the magic ropes.

 

Just then Oushu jumped back up and charged Mana. Ako noticed him and shouted “Mana look out!” Mana turned around in time to be talked to the ground a few yards away. She could not reach her rifle and Oushu was holding her down. “You're going to pay for that, I always get what I want... but you know.” Oushu took his clawed hand and stabbed Mana in the liver. “I'm feeling pretty hungry, you wouldn't mind if I ate your liver do you?” Oushu drove his finger deeper into her liver and Mana let out a cry of pain.

 

“No! Leave her alone! It's me you want!” Oushu looked over at Rikimaru and smiled. “Don't worry, you're next!” Mana continued to shout out in pain and Ako began crying again. Rikimaru watched helplessly as he cut deeper into Mana. No... no this isn't right! Why... why is it every time someone tries to help protect me they're hurt instead!? I won't let it happen again! I won't! I won't! I won't! Suddenly a purple glow came from Rikimaru's right hand. Oushu turned his attention away from Mana and stopped stabbing her liver. He got off her and she clutched her liver trying to stop the bleeding. Oushu dried out in frustration “Damn! I shouldn't have fooled around so much! I should've just killed him like I was supposed to!” On Rikimaru's right hand the second dot stopped flashing and lit up like the first one.

 

Firedude: There it is! I know the end was kind of violent, but it was kind of necessary review and tune in for the next chapter!