//------------------------------// // Arc XXIII Episode XV: Festival Defeat // Story: Family Begins With You // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// With Applejack… The apple gal was locked in a fierce battle against the giant tiger. From its maw, Julius breathed a wide gale of electricity that fanned out in a beam in the surrounding area. Applejack managed to dodge just in time--jumping out of the way and skidding across the ground. Thankfully, the robes she was wearing managed to withstand most of the damage in the fight. Likely thanks to augmentations from a certain someone. Nevertheless, Applejack recovered quickly by hopping onto her feet. That’s when she noticed a rather large log sitting in the grass next to her. When she stood upright, she could see the tiger running at her with thunderous weight underneath its paws. With his claws unsheathed, Julius was prepared to lunge at Applejack, but she seemingly wasn’t intimidated. In fact, Applejack stared the beast down, narrowing her eyes as if she was waiting for just the right moment to retaliate… Applejack cracked her knuckles and reached for the log, grabbing it by the sides and swung it directly at Julius--! THUD! The result was a severe physical attack that caused the log to disintegrate on contact with the tiger’s face, and shatter into thousands of tiny splinters that would become lodged in his body as he was tossed aside from the force of the attack. Julius flopped along the ground, and gave a painful hiss as he slid into a nearby tree. But Applejack wasn’t done. She immediately followed this up by sprinting at the tiger, and tackling him against the tree before yelling in his face. “What do ya know about mah parents?! Answer me, ya oversized varmint!” “Dgghh!” Julius screeched under his breath. Applejack held him in place with enough strength to keep him from moving. It was enough to impress the magical cat monster. “I suppose I may have underestimated this situation as well as this young lady’s abilities. I don’t want to throw my life away, Shinji. We may have to retreat.” With Shinji… The two had resumed their battle. Keiji had activated his vampiric abilities which gave him even more strength and agility given that they were under the cover of nightfall. Once he shut his eyes, he could predict Shinji’s movements with his innate echolocation and seamlessly dodge his attacks. Unfortunately, he was still outmatched. Due to the sheer length of Shinji’s spear--dwarfing that of Keiji’s katan given that it was twice the size of the vampboy’s weapon--all Keiji could do was right defensively and wait for an opening to present itself. And ultimately, Keiji would get rather lucky when Shinji would end up distracted by his companion’s telepathic message… “...You might be right. We can ill afford defeat here--” BLAM! Keiji had used a bit of his own blood to conjure a magical projectile that he cast at Shinji from his hand. Upon contact, it exploded, which sent the viscous, coppery substance everywhere and temporarily obstructed Shinji’s vision due to being caught in what was essentially a small dome of red. “Kuso!” he swore to himself, “I can’t see shit in here…this isn’t looking too good, Jules…” With Applejack… Since the tiger had no other options in that moment, all he could do was honor the young lady’s wish. “...Your father was working with the Hishima family on growing Fuji apples,” he explained, “All I know is that someone from our syndicate was sent to meet both him and your mother. Whether it was for the sake of a meeting or something more sinister, I genuinely don’t know. If you want more details, then you should ask Shinjiro’s father. He knows all details regarding business deals between families.” Applejack paused, then fiercely gripped the tiger’s fur as she growled, “...and just where is he?” Just then, the ground beneath them started to rumble as if an earthquake had gone off. Then, immediately after, a small, controlled shockwave fanned out over the horizon of the park where they were located, and momentarily interfered with everyone’s magical abilities. Applejack lost her strength for a moment, Keiji’s vampire abilities were removed as his blood cloud disappeared, Julius’ tiger form was deactivated, causing him to return to the form of a small cat and escape from Applejack’s clutches, and Shinji’s demon was temporarily removed from his arsenal as well as the battlefield. They all looked on as the source of the shockwave came from a suited, older gentleman that approached them all. “Shinjiro. We leave now.” “Yes, father,” Shinji answered without missing a beat and quickly walked over to his father alongside Julius. Not one to accept an intrusion, Keiji ran up to the man and tried to attack him with his sword at the ready. “Where do ya think you’re goin’, ya mother--!” BLAM! “AUCH!” Only to be met with a punch so powerful that the aura of a dragon could be seen around the man’s arm as he slammed Keiji into the other side of the park--all without causing a single wrinkle in his suit no less! Upon impact with the ground nearby, Keiji coughed up blood and his sword disappeared--barely able to stand as the effects of the punch hit him moments later. Blades of air traveled through his muscles and narrowly cut at his triceps, causing him to crumple to the ground until they wore off. “Ow….ow…shit…” Hattori straightened the collar of his suit and turned to leave without another word--his son and their cat following close behind. Meanwhile, as much as Applejack wanted to pursue them, she stopped and quickly ran to Keiji’s side to check on him. “Keiji! You alright, kiddo?” “They were…too strong,” he groaned while clutching his chest with both arms, “Ergh…but at least nothing bad happened to anyone else at the festival. Just…need to check if Tiara and Spoon are okay.” “Hold on now, let’s get you to the infirmary first, alright?” Applejack picked him up in her arms, “Sunset and Fluttershy should be close by…” “...And what in tarnation did they do to ma and pa…?”