'Kay baws.
-Halfway Up the Mountain, Teamwork Modu, Activate!-
Saved in the nick of time by the intervention of the student that had caused him to slip up the first place, Cororo managed to drop himself to a side, rolling out of the way of the careening beast as it did further damage to the landscape, a deep trench scarring the wrecked earth. Cringing slightly as he gingerly tested his foot, the martial artist decided that he would have play it carefully now. He took a deep, shuddering breath as he hardened his resolution again. The mask was worn once more, and his dark blue eyes became opaque as he considered his options. The Grimm was barely effected by the hammer-gun strike, and it only served to damage the card that was on its snout. Half of the tarot of Death was now gone, meaning that another strike wouldn't serve to knock the card loose, but only to make the whole point of this battle to be pointless. As Cororo calmed down, he managed to tear himself away from his obssession of destroying the monster, and started to think again.
The introduction of the new combatant as well as the reveal of the capabilities of his weapons meant that the Unicorn would now switch to close-range, and, thrusting out his hand to his hammer-wielding ally, Cororo said, tapping his foot down at the same time, “Hand, NOW.”
And just as he said that, the Grimm rushed at them, thundering hooves smashing even deeper imprints into the mountain, prepared now to simply tank and destroy.
Pyron didn't have time to think about what the kid was saying, he was just a bit unnerved when he noticed the card had been singed in his attack, thinking that it was lucky the thing was still intact. He held onto his hammer with one hand before he reached out and grabbed the other guy's outstretched hand before he started glowing blue and they started ascending quickly, stopping at around 15 meters, and he couldn't help but look straight down before asking: "So, you uh, got a plan or somethi-"
He didn't get a chance to finish before he felt the guy start spinning, round and round holding onto his hand in the air, Pyron was starting to get dizzy until he suddenly felt...lighter. When his brain stopped spinning he realized the guy had just dropped him like a sack of bricks. "OH C'MON, YOU CAN'T BE THAT MAD ABOUT THE BURNING! IT'S JUST A LITTLE OVERDONE, THATS ALL." His course was straight down, he saw the Unicorn looking straight up at both him and the kid as it began motioning a slashing movement with its horns, and he felt a sharp pain in the side of his face as the wind cut into it, his Aura beginning to take form around him in the same, unstable Ochre shade as he grasped his hammer in his hands.
As the laws of force and motion caused Cororo to rise farther up, the boy watched as his 'projectile' fell and yelled out, "HIT THE DIRT."
Hearing those great words of enouragement from his new 'air buddy' , Pyron kept his eyes focused on the ground behind the Unicorn before going into a nose dive to gain speed, he barreled over the Unicorn, he grasped the small lever near the head of the Hammer, cycling through the chambers until he hit lucky number 3, his Blue Dust round loaded up, he hit the ground with everything he had.
As the ground splintered from his strike, he made sure the ground didn't catch a break and fired off his blue round, when it collided with the ground, the thing seemed to rip the water out of the air around him, seemingly causing th air to ripple and bend like it was becoming a mirage. The water surged underneath him, forcing its way downward through the now shattered rock. It broke through faster and faster, and in seconds, he felt the ground start to shift as it had before when he tried his 'Double tap'
"This time...I got a cave-falling buddy!" He said as he charged from behind the Unicorn, lunging onto its back and jamming the shaft of his hammer between it's neck and torso creating a lock almost ensuring that he couldn't be thrown off. He almost smiled as he held onto the bucking Grimm, his ochre flames burning on his body, though he made sure to keep them as far away as possible from the card before turning his head to the sky and shouting: "ANYDAY NOW, CAN'T EXACTLY HOLD DOWN A LEGENDARY MONSTER FOREVER!"
Twenty, twenty five, thirty.
As he ascended farther up, Cororo's spin ending. The distance was now doubled, and this far up, the martial artist could barely hear what the hammer-wielder was yelling. But it didn't matter. The legendary beast of the land was now falling in the air, with the light of Pyron's flames marking out a perfect target as the two descended into darkness. From this far away, Cororo smiled in his natural, twisted manner once more, before letting it all go.
"SWAN SONG!"
Six jet plumes of dark blue Aura burst from his back, black on the outside, light blue on the inside, stopping his descent for a moment, as he redirected himself, angling his body downwards. And then, an explosion. Cutting through the air at a speed equal to the wind blades of the Unicorn, he closed the distance in an instant, evading the wild hooves of the beast in a dangerous spin as he barreled into its belly, a blow meant to distract for a moment. With the same twist, his left hand shot out and slapped the beast on the side of the head, finally knocking it loose.
The tarot card of death drifted gently for a moment, until Cororo's fist closed over it, crumpling the cheap plastic in a manner that would have been risky, if he simply bothered to think for a moment. But he didn't think, and, using his spare fist, struck a clean, pure uppercut right on the tip of the beast's chin. Following through with a twirl that was powered by his six jet-plume wings, Cororo was once again looking down at the legendary beast, eyes conveying a sense of smug arrogance before flickering into neutral once more.
Pyron was surprised at how well the plan had turned out, they had the upper hand, teh thing couldn't manuever in the air, its normally strong legs helpless as it was pinned down midair. They couldn't hurt it much, but they got what the guy had came for, the small bit of plastic that held someone's future in it.
The only issue being was that gravity didn't seem to be on their side, and he felt his grip loosen as Cororo gave the thing one right in the kisser. He slid his hammer's shaft out from under it's neck, and cycled through until he reached his Red Dust round. He was falling slower, that Unicorn flailing desperately, trying to cut the air with its horn, and the cut air only managed to stay in place, harmlessly striking agains the walls of the cavern, launching some rubble out as it slammed and slashed into the rockface. The click of the trigger sounded even clearer than usual, his ochre flames glew brighter as he heard the shot ring out in the cavern as they fell, he almost felt time move slower, that he could see the shot leave, the bright red tip cracking with the force of hitting the air, speeding up until it glew like the setting sun, filling the cavenr with a soft, yet almost blinding red light.
The light dimmed, but its effects did not disappear. As Cororo started to fall once more, his jet plumes flickering away, he noticed that there was no longer any sound. A perfect void, as all air was burnt away by the 'harmless' flame that was shot out. Excellent. Everything was sealed now, and with two seconds left of this perfect safety, he had to press his advantage.
Catching the hammer of the burning student in both hands, Cororo ignored the burning sensation in his palms as white-blue Aura formed in his hands, interacting the Dust rounds that were inside the chamber of Zoll. Energy was amplified, and links were formed, the elements of Energy and Wind bound together by Water, creating what could only be considered a Hurricane. As the two tumbled through the air, he focused solely on this combination of Dust rounds, white, blue, and purple rays of light bursting between his fingers madly, a flickering dance that slowly settled and settled, until finally...
"Combination Arts."
...and he released the head of the hammer.
He was a bit surprised when the other guy had channeled Aura not only through Zoll, but even managed to get energy from the round inside of the chambers. He didn't have time to question, think, or even make a one-liner before he subconsciously reached out for the familiar weight once it left Cororo's hands, holding it as it gave off bright sparking rays of Blue, Purple, White, and now, with his own energy, he provided a bright shade of Ochre to the mix, all teh chambers were glowing with energy that melded and meshed together, seemingly taking on the form of a barrage launching from the chambers, a veritable tyrade of color spewed forth, and he felt a grin creep across his face as he yelled out:
"...Jupiter"
He felt pretty awesome, having just fired an attack he never thought Zoll could pull off, and the end result was the Unicorn being piledriven through the rock below, still not injured in the slightest, but it managed to keep it pinned again. The lights swirled around, lighting up the newly created cavern with a light to rival tha aurora's he'd heard about in the North. Light was still shooting out, he felt his own ochre shade bounce around. He saw shades of Blue, Purple and White flash and dance before he felt his vision start to grow foggy. The rebounding energy no doubt dazed the beast, its head bucking back as though it had been hit by a flashbang. He felt his grip loosen on the hammer, and it slammed straight into the back of the beast, slamming against its head while it was dazed, throwing it off for even longer.
As it slowly recovered, the scattered vision of the Unicorn could see, farther up, a figure in blue in the air, an aurora as its backdrop.
The moment echoed...
Was it time that slowed? Or was it just a matter of perception? The radiant, scattered colors began to focus once more, blue, white, purple all gathering together into a swirling ball of energy.
...towards cruelty.
He knew that he was wasting all his energy and Aura in one strike, but cared not as the excess energy of the Jupiter swirled within the palm of his right hand. He wasn't here to win. He was now here to make a point to all those who thought they were stronger than him.
Strength won't come back.
But it was only through sacrifice that change could be made, and with a snap, he crushed the condensed ball of energy in his hand. A ring of light burst out of him, covering the circumference of the pit, before another nine joined it. One for each of his Gate Breakers. Forming a sphere-like shape around him, they revolved as he descended, twisting and distorting into a tornado of energy around his right arm.
Ame no Habakiri
Light seemed to bend around him as he fell, and with a single, definite strike, Cororo's fist met the head of Zoll.
The ring of a hundred glass panes shattering sounded through the dark arena, before a black geyser erupted not from Cororo's fist, but from the hammer. Striking the Unicorn head on, it drove the beast through the ground once more, a finale that echoed long after it disappeared down a vertical shaft in the mountain.
Shards of rock and gravel flew up everywhere, grazing and piercing the boys who had lived. But it was a good pain, the pain of being alive, and Cororo, rolling off from his uncomfortable position of handstanding on the hammer, lied on the ground, one fist clenching the plastic tarot card, and another pierced through by something incredibly sharp.
"Well..."
Pyron had barreled out before Cororo, he felt somethign digging into his shoulder before he realized that he had been stabbed through his right shoulder by a sizable chunk of granite from the rock walls. Too full of adrenaline and anxiety to care about pain, he ripped the shard out, and quickly ripped off a bit of his now tattered coat to serve as a bandage.
He noticed Cororo was still handstanding on Zoll, and, going over to retrieve his hammer, he reached down with his hand and said: "That had to be, the most aweosme thing I've done with this baby, "He said pointing with hsi thumb at Zoll's head, resting on the ground beside him. "Looks like you got the card...good...now we just gotta go an...and........." he felt his vision begin to fade as his knees buckled beneath him. "G-guess I overdid it a bit." He opted to lie down a fair distance away from the hole the Unicorn was trapped in, he could hear it screaming and neighing in fury, as if though it wanted the screams to kill the two. He looked up at the sky and felt his shoulder, somewhat starting to heal with his aura now gloing weakly, flickering on and off as if it were a pilot light. "...We never did get ta say our names...Pyron...Pyron Quemulen..." he said, staring at the sky with his eyes that felt heavy, but he knew that falling asleep here would mean death. Either from bloodloss or Grimm attack. He was panting from exhaustion, and he struggled to even say:
"You....got a name?"
Struggling to roll onto his stomach, with a groan, Cororo began to stand up, blood still bleeding freely from the hole in his hand. It wasn't a rock that pierced his hand, and there was no way in hell he was just going to leave such a precious item alone in the cave. His vision was fading, and he found himself closing his eyes more often than keeping it open. He swayed side to side, feeling the walls for that one oddity that should have been embedded in the rock surface. The slight pain of a cut awakened him once more, and, opening his eyes, the boy smiled.
It didn't exactly glitter, but a part of the Unicorn's horn was embedded in the wall. Wiggling it out, Cororo collapsed again, examingly the improbably sharp item.
Then, he said, his tone half-asleep, flicking the precious 'object' towards Pyron's direction, "Here. Cororo."
And he promptly went to sleep, because good boys slept when they were tired.
~Inside a Magma Chamber~
The Unicorn hadn't just been trapped in the hole, the Jupiter combination had driven it even further, to teh point where the ground had given way to another drop, this time, leading straight down into a magma chamber. The Unicorn flailed wildly as it fell into the boiling magma, normally, anythign that would have come into contact with the liquid fire would haven't even had time to feel it, but the Unicorn did know one thing: it was angry, angry enough that it didn't care to feel the magma against it's hide, it didn't care that it had been knocked down over 30 meters deep. What it DID care about, was that two weak, pathetic humans had just humilated it. Its massive horn had a small chip; it wasn't large, and it wasn't very noticeable, but the Unicorn could feel the emptiness where there was once space, and with furious motions, it swam through the lava, every motion breaking apart the rocky crust that was contantly growing around it as it dragged itself out.
Its vision was still foggy, but it could make out two figures against the light of day at a faroff tunnel entrance: two human figures. Thouroughly full of blinding rage, it charged forward. Many salamanders that had remained had risen from the lava beforehand, and tried to take a bite at the poor thing that had landed in their domain, until they saw it's form, the massive, thundering hooves, the serene mane that seemed to dance around its neck as though it were a halo, and the horn that now sliced distorted sickles of wind. The beast's once magnificent horn that had asserted its position of nobility, domination, and power, had been chipped. It suddenly lost value in their eyes, as if a collecter noticed a dent in a car. They charged at once, wanting to repel this intruder, no longer a monster of a being in their eyes. They were mowed down, trampled without so much as a second spared to take note: The Unicorn was gunning for the two humans, and was willing to destroy everything in its path to reach them.
