Family Troubles Part One

	The crowd roared as the two combatants walked to the center of the ring. Guy and Gal were facing each other in the tournament, victor goes to fight Hermes. Each one had managed to win their respective bracket, but only Gal had the easy time. Guy was barely struggling, his plans the only thing that made him continue. Despite Hiro’s healing, he was still bruised up. Regardless, he had to continue onwards.

	Gal could tell he was forcing himself to fight. She had decided that the only way was to make this fight end quickly. But even still, she knew he would like her to fight with all she has. And so, she will.
“And now ladies and gentlemen, we are here at the finals of the Otherworld tournament!” the announcer shouted. “In the left corner, a woman that burns a fiery red, her swords able to cleave through rock like nothing else, GAL SHOUJO!” At that, half the crowd burst out, chanting.

	“GAL, GAL, GAL, GAL, GAL, GAL!”

	Gal smiled at the crowd, waving and blowing kisses at them. [At least some people care for my work, unlike Guy does. But even still, I got to make him stand down. No more fooling around,] she thought to herself.

	“And in the right corner, a man relying on nothing but his tools and a mind of steel, a shocking display of wit and magic, give it up for GUY SHONIN!”

	“SHONIN, SHONIN, SHONIN, SHONIN!”

	“Blow it out your ass, demons.” The crowd couldn’t hear his complaining due to their roar, but it made him feel better about the comrades he had to beat down. Seriously, some of them hit hard, fucking Akio. At least he got give PJ a piece of his mind and send him down to the gutter where he belongs.

	As the announcer continued talking, Guy and Gal looked at each other, staring each other down. “You know I have to take you down, Gal. Who knows what would happen if Hermes got a hit off you.”

	“Me? What about you? You can barely stand. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you continue. Even with Thanatos, you can’t stop him. Hell, without Thanatos, you couldn’t even have gotten this far. Why didn’t you just stay in the school like-“

	“AND IT’S THAT ATTITUDE THAT MADE ME WANT TO GET THIS FAR!” Guy shouted. Gal looked at him shocked. “For the past two years, I could only sit in the backlines, casting the odd spell here and there while you stood in the front, taking care of the Ghouls, the Seekers. And now, here I am, fighting for once. And now, I’ll show you what I’m made of.”

	“Guy, please be-“

“And now, let the match, begin!” The announcer shouted as a gong was rung.

	As soon as that happened, a few swords appeared in front of her. She quickly pulled out one sword and struck, cutting them down quickly. Clicking her tongue, she pulled out the other five and holds them between her fingers. “Fine, if you’re going to behave like a brat, Nee-chan will just have to discipline you.”

	“Come at me if you can! And never have I called you that!” Guy shoots out more swords, adding chains in the mix to try to hold her down. Gal cuts through them cleanly, her advancement picking up. “Oh no you don’t!” Guy then shoots out some magic bolts in addition to the swords, stopping Gal.

	Slashing through, Gal pivots, bobs and weaves through the flurry of attacks, making her way past the field of death to the middle of the arena. Growling in anger, Guy throws one of his Frost Swords at her. “Just take a nap!” The sword lands right in front of Gal, exploding and instantly freezing the ground and crawling its way towards her. Before it can even get to her foot, she jumps back, creating more distance between them.

	Guy then fires off his Wind Swords, the real swords and the ghostly apparitions making their way to her. She cuts down the real swords, but is unable to do much against the ghosts so she ducks under them, slight scratches from the razor winds.

	At that time, Guy was chanting out a spell, a faint glow surrounding his body. That meant the swords stopped for a time. Taking advantage of this, Gal runs forward, clearing the distance in blink of eye. Right before she could even get to him however, he finishes his chant. “Dual Mind.” The glow then fades away from him, right as he teleports away from her.

	“W-What?!” Gal looks around trying to get an idea where he was at before sensing something move a ways from her.

	“Oh dear, it seems Guy has made a hasty retreat! Where will he pop up next?” Said the announcer.

	“There!” Rushing there, she makes a slash before being stopped by a shield. “Tch!” Unleashing a barrage, she chips away the shield nearly cracking it before it explodes. Rolling, she’s able to evade most of the damage, but she still took some the blast. However, it seems Guy didn’t evade so well either.

	Out of the smoke, Guy leaps backwards, firing magic bolts at her while also shooting swords at the same time. Gal evaded the swords, while cutting the bolts and quickly makes her way towards him. “I heard you made a new magic spell. Supposedly allows you to do two things at once. How’s that like?” She says, as if she’s talking about the weather.

	“Oh, that’s easy. It feels like THIS.” Guy shoots out a massive fireball while he throws a sword at Gal. She takes a step back, thinking it’s going to explode but is surprised when something else happens. “Sword Fiend!” Black flames erupt from the fireball as it seemingly grasps the sword and strikes with it.

	Blocking, she’s pushed back from the heavy strike. The fireball changes shape, taking a form of a fiery mannequin. Disgruntled, she engages in combat as she notices him chanting, eyes closed. The mannequin may not be fast, but it’s durable and strong, about as strong as her. She hacks and hacks at it, but no damage is done.

	Guy’s chanting grows louder, and louder as he reaches the end of his spell, until his remaining eye opens. “GRAVITY CRUSH!” A black orb hovers over Gal and the mannequin before it bursts and slams into them. Gal is brought to her knees at once and the mannequin dissipates, unable to hold its form.

	Gal shouted as the increase in gravity made her fall down, feeling herself get crush, the ground around her indented as well. “Look at that! It seems that Gal may be in difficult situation. What will she do get out of this?” She struggles up trying to get to her feet, noticing that Guy’s chanting was reaching a new peak. Looking up, she could see what he was doing.

	“Double Meteor!” Two large meteors started to fall towards Gal, the combined size enough to flatten her. “With this, I’ve won!”

	Struggling to get up, she tries to reach for her back, her only sword not unsheathed. “Not yet, just need to grab it….just a little bit more…..” Right before she could grab the hilt, the meteors hit.

	Silence was heard from the audience. The class was only looking in surprise. Guy’s breath was the only thing that could be heard. Panting heavily due to the mental strain and fatigue, he slowly casts another spell. “Search.” Using this, he tried to locate if Gal was down or not. As he took a look, a red flash was seen. Turning around, he saw nothing. Looking again, he felt a lick of flame touch his cheek. Again, he looked, but found nothing. It wasn’t until he felt the slash to his chest that he knew he was in danger.

	“Guah!” he shouted as he felt himself fly back from the hit, banging against the wall. In pain, he quickly casts a minor buff spell, his wound already cauterized.

	“I told you I wouldn’t let you continue,” Guy looked up and saw Gal, scuffed and damaged, but still standing, her hair a fiery red, eyes blazing as well, sword point at him, “And I will make sure you don’t.”

															END PART ONE