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thoselethalarts · 1 month ago

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Dark Waters - Napalm

Rating: T Warnings: Explicit language, violence Class 2-D and 2-E are facing off in a defensive magic dual examination. Jade and Floyd are facing off against Nyx and Riddle, and despite their careful planning the battle goes wayward way too fast.

Once every couple months, Night Raven College held what was formally called the “Defensive Magic Joint Examinations”. It was a practical test of all the knowledge the student body gathered in the mystic arts in the form of a “friendly skirmish” between their fellow classmates. Attendance for the exams were mandatory, but even if it wasn’t the attendance rate still would have been at 100%, as every student here seemed to crave this sort of violent, cathartic release. Achieving victory was only half of their grade in this exam, but everyone always aimed for a decisive, bloody win.

Today, class 2-D and 2-E were brought together to participate in the examination, so Nyx and Floyd’s class filed in and assembled at the center of the coliseum’s arena. They were led there by their P.E. instructor Coach Vargas, and ahead of schedule, Class 2-E was already there waiting for them alongside their secondary coach Mr. Zaffiro Alston. Coach Alston was a loud and boisterous merman that stood several heads above the majority of the student body and had a laugh that shook the very ground he stood upon. He was the school’s main instructor for all the water-based classes on campus, and oversaw the school’s competitive swim team. Him and Coach Vargas held a fierce rivalry between each other, so whenever they shared a room the tension in the air was so stifling you could practically smell it.

“Ciao, ragazzi!” Coach Alston boomed as their class filed in. “Are we all ready and excited for today’s exam?!”

Coach Vargas grinned widely and placed his hands on his hips, “You know it! My classes are always looking forward to these exams, and I’m looking forward to watching them bring home victory today with their newly developed muscles!”

Coach Alston grinned back, flashing a mouth full of large and imposing fangs at Vargas, “We’ll be seeing who brings home victories today. I think you’ll be surprised at how much my students have grown! Their fins are getting stronger, Vargas, they’re sure to rip your kiddos to shreds in the first five seconds!”

Alston and Vargas were practically chest to chest, or as close as they could be with Alston's nearly 7’ figure looming over Vargas’s 5’7”. You could practically see sparks of electricity glinting between their eyes. Whenever these two loudmouths were in the same room, they only egged each other on until everyone around them was exhausted by proxy.

“Haaah… these guys have too much energy. I’m not feelin’ it today,” Floyd whined, rubbing his ear with his pinky from the volume of their coach’s combined voices.

“I hear that, but those two are never gonna let us live it down if we try to ditch.” Nyx said.

Floyd hummed in agreement, glancing across the arena and suddenly perking up and grinning with excitement, “Heyyy, it's the little goldfish~!” Floyd removed himself from Nyx’s side and dashed across the stadium floor towards the figure of Riddle, who fiercely recoiled as he was nearly run over by the taller man.

“Erk-! Floyd, I've told you countless times now to stop calling me by that ridiculous nickname!” Riddle exclaimed.

“Well it looks like Floyd is in a good mood today. Perhaps we’ll have an interesting match to watch later on after all.” Jade chuckled, approaching Nyx as the two of them watched as Floyd prodded at Riddle excitedly, and Riddle started to loudly argue with him from across the stadium.

“Yeah, so much for ‘not feeling it’, he’s flipped a complete 180° from when he walked in,” Nyx commented.

“That’s just the way Floyd is. But, I’m sure you’re familiar with that by now, since you both are in the same homeroom together.”

Him and Jade chatted for a few moments, catching up on each other’s days before the loud and booming voice of their coach made both of them cringe, “RAGAZZI! LISTEN UP!” Coach Alston shouted, his voice was so loud that Nyx was sure everyone on the opposite side of campus could hear him. “We’re doing things a little differently today! Everyone find a partner from the opposite class, because we’re having 2 on 2 matches! Your goal today is not just to win, but also to test your ability to work together as a team!”

“That’s right! I wanna see all of you give it your BEST today!” Coach Vargas chimed in, “Let’s show Class E the MUSCLES you’ve all been building these last few weeks! I don’t wanna see anyone from my class lagging behind their partners today, or I’ll be docking all your points down to zero! Now, everybody find a partner and report back to me!”

Nyx quirked a brow, “2v2, huh? Well, since I don’t really know a lotta people from your class, you wanna buddy up with me today, Jade?”

“I have no objections to the idea. However…” He motioned ahead toward Floyd, who was looking back at the two of them expectantly. The twins seemed to share a similarly knowing look, and Floyd grinned widely, hooking an arm around Riddle’s shoulders and dragging the red-faced tyrant over to where Jade and Nyx were standing.

“Floyd, if you don’t release me right this instant I swear that I’ll-!”

“I just got a great idea!” Floyd interrupted, shoving Riddle toward Nyx and pointing between the four of them, “How’s about you an’ pufferfish team up to go up against me and Jade? Coach said we gotta find someone from the other class to buddy up with, and I think it’d be a lotta fun runnin’ around with the both of you~”

Riddle and Nyx shared a stunned, quizzical glance at each other. “What?” They both asked simultaneously.

Jade smiled and left Nyx’s side to stand beside his twin brother. “That sounds like a very interesting idea, Floyd. We’ve witnessed the power of Riddle’s magic many times, but I’ve never been at the receiving end of it. And I’ve been very interested in seeing your magic firsthand as well, Nyx. Why don’t we have a little fun with each other to spice things up today?”

There was a sort of gleam in their eyes, a gleam that made Nyx feel more than a little suspicious. Nyx had known the Leeches long enough to know when there was some ulterior motive beneath their words. Nyx didn’t know what they were planning, but at the same time he was interested in facing them both in the field of combat. Magic battles between friends were way more fun than facing someone you didn’t care about.

“I mean, I guess I don’t have any problem with that. What do you think, Riddle?” Nyx asked.

Riddle shot Floyd an annoyed glare. He straightened himself up and crossed his arms across his chest, “That’s fine. I have no problems with the idea in the slightest.”

With the four of them in agreement, they announced their teams and told their battle plans to their coaches. Once the rest of their classmates found their partners, their teams were split across from one another on the coliseum floor. Riddle and Nyx sat on one side of the arena, and Jade and Floyd sat on the other side.

“Alright boys! The rules for today are simple: you’ll be working with your partner to eliminate your opponent. I’ve got your flags here in my right hand!” Coach Vargas announced, holding up a set of white ribbons with pale gemstones attached to their lengths. “As a reminder: the magestones on these are rigged so if you exceed your magical pen’s blot limit it will instantly detect it.” He snatched one of the ribbons in his hand, clutching it tightly as green magical energy crackled across his arm. On cue, a loud, low ringing noise began to eminate from the gem, and he opened his palm to reveal only the tiniest of black speckles had imprinted on its pure white surface. “If your opponent is able to snatch your flag, or if you exceed your blot limit by even the smallest amount, you’re out! Other than that, the standard rules apply: the match only ends once one entire team is eliminated. You will be considered eliminated if you’re knocked out of bounds or are knocked unconscious by any means. Punching and kicking is not allowed, but you can physically restrain each other if you’re able to. Now, first teams line up in the arena and prepare for combat!”

A pair of students from each side of the arena stepped into the ring, and with a shrill blow of Vargas’s whistle the spells started flying.

One of the best parts of the exam was getting to watch the other matches play out. Usually Nyx would place bets on different students with Floyd, but today he had someone new to chat with while he waited for his turn to step into the ring.

“Hey, Riddle,” He whispered, leaning over to his partner, “Who do you think’s gonna win? Left or right?”

Riddle raised an eyebrow at the question and frowned at him, “Placing bets? You know that gambling is forbidden on campus, correct?”

“Hey, I’m not gambling anything!” Nyx held up his hands disarmingly, “It’s just for fun, no money involved. So who’s got your vote of confidence?”

Riddle sighed softly and placed a finger to his chin in thought, narrowing his eyes as the two of them watched the spectacle unfold, “…I think the team on the left will win.”

“Oh yeah? What makes you think that? Cuz I think the team on the right’s gonna win.” Nyx said.

“You can’t be serious, the difference in their spellcasting style is very stark. The left team clearly has much greater power and control over their spells. Every spell dwarfs their opponents’ in comparison.” Riddle said.

“Yeah, fair, but look at how many more hits in the team on the right is getting in~ They’re way more fast and agile, and even if they’re not that strong they’re wearing their enemy down faster than they can get hits in. Speed vs. Strength. See, this is kinda fun, right?”

Riddle laughed softly, his mood lightening up a bit from before, “I suppose so. I don’t often think of watching these matches like this.”

Nyx and Riddle had interacted a few times in the past, but he didn’t get many opportunities to have pleasant idle conversation like this before. Getting to know the dorm head of Heartslabyul really did feel like talking to royalty, even if they were the same age, the same grade, and at the same school.

Though truthfully, making some idle conversation was also helping to relax his nerves.

Nyx and Floyd had done a few impromptu magic battles between each other just for fun, so he had a general idea of who and what he was going up against, but Jade’s casting style was entirely a mystery to him. The two of them acted very differently when they were together vs when they were apart, too; he had no idea if his knowledge of Floyd’s fighting style would still hold water once it was time to actually face him in combat this time.

“So… do you have a plan on how to deal with them?” Nyx asked.

“I have a general idea, but nothing too specific. Do you have any thoughts in mind?” Riddle replied.

“I’m just thinking… going against them together is gonna be different than if we went at them 1 on 1. From what I heard, when they’re part of the magical shift tournaments their entire dynamic is based on overwhelming their opponents with crazy combo attacks that take advantage of your blind spots and weaknesses. Floyd usually leads with water and fire magic, and I usually go with water and void magic. I don’t know what Jade leads with, and from what I’ve seen you usually use fire magic, right?”

“I excel best with fire magic, yes. And Jade usually leads with water and flora,” Riddle said, “However, it should be said that I can easily alternate between any elemental magic without any difficulty, so you needn’t worry about any of my spells being countered.”

“Cool, same here on that part. Speaking of, do you know if we’re allowed to use our unique magic during these exams?”

“To some extent, yes. However, we’re graded on our diversity of spells just as much as our spellcasting techniques. We cannot only rely on our unique magic alone in order to achieve a flawless victory.”

“Makes sense. Alright, so here’s my plan: once the battle starts, you use your unique magic to take the axe to Jade and Floyds’ heads, then both of us use wind magic to knock them out of the ring. It’ll be over before they know it, and we bring home the gold.”

“Sounds efficient, I can get behind that. Honestly, I’d rather not be in an arena with either of them longer than I must. Like you noted, their entire dynamic is based on distraction and ambush. If we give them even a moment of recovery, it’ll be enough to spell our doom,” Riddle paused and looked over to Nyx more strictly, “But, that isn’t all your plan, is it? The motto of Scarabia is to “Plan with Great Anticipation”, so surely you must have a backup that you’re contemplating as well.”

Riddle saw right through him. He was right, there was a part of Nyx that was nervous if such a straightforward plan would work as designed, for if there was anything the Leeches were good at it was their ability to throw a massive wrench into any plan no matter how carefully it was made. Still, he did have one of the most powerful magicians in the entire school on his side today, so he was feeling a little more confident than usual.

“…I think we’ll be alright, but if something does happen, then I think our best bet is to stay together and use duo magic to overwhelm them. We can't let 'em separate us, otherwise we'll be screwed.”

Riddle nodded in understanding, “Very well. If you’re confident in using duo magic attacks, then once the battle begins you may follow my lead. I’ll make sure to bring us a swift and painless victory.”

“Sounds good. You tell me where to go, and I’ll be there.” Nyx agreed.

They had a plan set. Now all they had to do was wait.

As groups of students took their turns in the arena, Nyx kept glancing over to the two eels sitting on the opposite side of the arena from him. Jade and Floyd kept smiling and snickering between each other, but there was still something hiding underneath those smiles that really bothered him. There wasn’t a chance that Floyd would so eagerly offer to take on someone like Riddle without some idea of what he was doing. Floyd was smart. He was really smart. He was way smarter than Nyx was whenever he really put his mind to something, and Jade wasn’t by any means an idiot either.

If things somehow went sideways… he might need to use his unique magic to turn the tides around.

Time flew by quicker than he thought, and soon enough it was time for their match to begin. As the arena cleared, Nyx and Riddle stood up from their seats and lined up on one side while Jade and Floyd stood across from them on the other side.

“Keep it good and clean, boys!” Coach Alston shouted at them. With a snap of his fingers, a magic barrier raised around the outer boundaries of the arena, keeping their magic from claiming casualties among their spectators. A few students from Heartslabyul were loudly cheering Riddle on, while a few others were cheering for Jade and Floyd to kick their asses.

“Wands at the ready! Get set!” Vargas blew his whistle, signaling the start of the match.

Riddle didn’t waste a breath. The moment the whistle rang he raised his magical pen and pointed it at directly at Jade and Floyd. “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!” He shouted, and flash of light shot across the field…

And suddenly a collar clamped down on Nyx’s neck.

“URK-! RIDDLE, WHAT THE FUCK?! You’re supposed to shoot that at them, not me!!” He balked, stumbling back and yanking at the collar frantically. Riddled snapped to attention, his eyes wide with shock. Everyone cheering for their dorm head suddenly went mute.

“What?! How did-?!”

“Geez, goldfish, talk about obvious~” Floyd snickered, twirling his magical pen between his fingers, “I coulda seen a move like that comin’ with my eyes closed, at least mix it up a little~”

“Indeed. I’m a bit disappointed at how predictable you’ve become,” Jade admonished. A cruel, toothy grin slowly spreading across his face, “But, you’re welcome to try again if you so desire. Perhaps it’ll be your head that’s next to roll.”

The two eels laughed at them in unison. Nyx’s mind was racing. Something was wrong here. Riddle was good enough of a magician to not make such an obvious fumble like that. If he missed with his signature move, then something had to have gotten in the way of it. Something like…

Shit! How could I forget about Floyd’s own unique magic?!

It was a move that Floyd pulled on him only once or twice during their friendly skirmishes just to mess with him, but it was burned into the back of his memory.

“Riddle! It’s Floyd! Floyd’s unique magic is making yours miss!” Nyx barked.

“I can see that now!” Riddle grit his teeth in annoyance. He raised his wand and the collar around Nyx’s neck vanished in a flash of light. Nyx breathed a deep sigh of relief. Well, now he knew just how awful that felt. He mentally reminded himself to never get on Riddle’s bad side.

In the split second Riddle took his eyes off the eels, a violent rush of wind magic sent him flying back and nearly skidding to the edge of the field. Floyd rushed past Nyx in a blur, and he snapped to attention to see Jade rushing him as well. He growled, pointing his wand upward and swung it down, firing three dark beam attacks to stop his forward assault. Jade stopped short, smiling amicably at him. “Your reflexes are impressive, Nyx. If it were anyone else, I think I could have easily taken your flag by now.”

“Don’t get too cocky, asshole. It’s me you’re dealing with, so you’re gonna have to try harder than that.” Nyx scoffed.

Any semblance of a plan had completely fallen into disarray.

Floyd was leading a one-man rush against Riddle, driving him further and further away from where Nyx was standing. Riddle paced backwards and unleashed a barrage of different spells to directly counter Floyd’s. When he drew too near to the arena’s edge, Floyd dove after his flag and forced him to leap out of the way, unleashing a wave of fire in retaliation.

“Hold them back!” Riddle shouted, “We regroup at centerfield!”

“Roger that!” Nyx responded.

It was unusual, this wasn't the sort of tactic Nyx was expecting from them. Nyx thought they were going to be driven apart and ganged up on individually, but instead the twins were driving them apart to fight them one on one. He wasn't about to complain though; if all he had to do was focus on Jade then he'd have no problem with holding his own.

“Tell me, Nyx, how much of a swordsman are you?” Jade inquired. He held his wand out at his side, summoning a long rope of water that coiled around him like a snake. The water quickly crystalized and froze into dozens of icy spears that floated at his side at the ready. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to test your abilities.”

Nyx flicked his wand to his side and summoned two bulbs of water into the palms of his hands. The bulbs quickly lengthened into the shape of identical swords made of dark water. He gripped their hilts and their blades quickly brightened and steamed as they heated to scalding temperatures. “I might not be an expert, but I think I’m good enough to kick your ass.”

The two of them locked into a fierce one on one battle. Jade hurled his icy spears at Nyx, and Nyx easily dodged every one of them. Nyx dove in at Jade with his burning water blades, slicing cleanly through the poles of his icy spears. Jade leapt back and grabbed several of his ice spears, the ice quickly melting away and swirling together to form into a long water whip. He lashed out with his water whip, finding purchase across Nyx's hip and his exposed midsection. Nyx recoiled in pain, then rushed in and leapt at him from above with his blades. Jade quickly blocked his strike with the length of his whip. Nyx took the opportunity to slip one blade out and slash at Jade. Jade leapt away, but Nyx's blade scalded his shirt and a line of his skin underneath.

An explosion of water separated the two of them and Nyx skidded back, panting heavily. He was already starting to feel winded. Jade was matching his every move on an even playing field. Thankfully, it looked like Jade was also starting to rapidly lose steam. he hunched over and gripped one knee as he struggled to catch his breath.

“Impressive… It’s rare that someone... can meet me halfway in hand-to-hand combat. Have you... taken martial arts training before, Nyx?” Jade asked, wiping away the sweat dripping from his forehead.

“H-Heh… I used to… years ago. Quit just before I came to Night Raven. This is probably one of the first times it’s really paid off.” Nyx said with a satisfied grin.

A loud explosion startled the two men, and Floyd suddenly flew over their heads engulfed in flames and thudded against the ground on the opposite side of the field. Floyd looked like he was seeing stars, wobbling dizzily as he pushed himself up into a seated position and frantically shook his head.

“Have you been enjoying yourself, Floyd?” Jade asked, lending him a hand up.

“Heeehhhheheheh~ Goldfish always puts up a HELL of a fight, it makes me wanna squeeze him the more he struggles~” Floyd trilled.

“There will be plenty of time for squeezing them soon enough. We just have to wear them down a little bit more.”

Riddle stomped up to Nyx’s side, panting hard and wiping his brow. His face was red with a mix of exhaustion and anger, as Floyd was no doubt running him ragged while he was dealing with Jade.

“This has gone one for quite long enough. Nyx, give me your wind magic, now!” Riddle commanded.

“Bwuh-? Dude, they’re still holding up really well though, I don’t think that’s gonna work!” Nyx spluttered.

“They’re weakened enough! If we don’t act now, we’ll lose our chance. Now obey my command! You’ve been given an order!”

“Alright! Fine!”

Nyx and Riddle raised their wands in unison and pointed them at Jade and Floyd. A swirl of wind magic gathered at the tip of his wand and a swirl of fire crackled from Riddle’s, before suddenly releasing and engulfing their opposition in a furious whirlwind of blazing fire.

“Hehehehehe~! That’s still not good enough, little goldfish! [BIND THE HEART]!”

Nyx could barely make out the call of the incantation over the roaring inferno. He quickly yanked his wand back and leapt away and to take cover. The torrential whirlwind of fire took a sharp U-turn and came pouring back at Riddle full force. He gasped, quickly releasing the spell and throwing up a magical shield to part the waves of fire. The inferno whirled around him, extinguishing into blanket of smoke on contact with the arena’s barrier.

“You… insolent SCUM!” Riddle yelled. He swung his wand to the side and lashed out with a barrage of fireballs. Jade stood in front of his exhausted brother, summoning columns of water that exploded into steam on contact with Riddle's assault.

“WHY DO YOU REFUSE TO SUBMIT?! WHY HAVEN’T YOU TAKEN YOUR VICTORY?! YOU’RE TOYING WITH US! YOU’RE DRAGGING THIS OUT! EITHER TAKE YOUR VICTORY OR JUST DIE ALREADY!!” Riddle shouted, his face red with fury as he unleashed a vicious column of fire onto Jade and Floyd. Another explosion of steam engulfed half the field as a wall of water met fire in the middle. All three of the men vanished before Nyx’s eyes. Flashes of light rang out from inside the fog, and as the clouds dissipated Riddle was holding Jade hostage with his wand at his throat, and Floyd was pinned against the ground with a foot pressed firm against his chest.

“I’ve had enough with your games. Now… your heads… will be MINE!”

A loud, low-pitched hum ring through the coliseum's walls made him stop in his tracks. All eyes of the crowd slowly panned over to Riddle. His eyes widened as he slowly looked down to the ribbon tied around his waist. A single splotch of blot had appeared upon the pure white magestone.

It was only in that moment that he realized the magestone on his magical pen had been completely consumed with blot, glimmering in the light as black as night. If this weren’t a “friendly battle” with plenty of safeguards in place, he would have overblotted right then and there in front of everyone.

Coach Vargas blew his whistle, “TIME OUT! Rosehearts, you’re out!”

“Ohhhhhohoh man~ That was so cool~” Floyd grinned, his pupils bloated wide and his body trembling with excitement. “Ya know you were pretty boring at the beginning, but that was one hell of a knockout~”

“Such a shame that Heartslabyul’s Red King had to be the first one to go. My, how the mighty have fallen.” Jade said with a smirk.

Riddle looked astonished, incredulous, and positively furious. His eyebrow twitched and he fiercely yanked his wand away from Jade’s throat. Waves of shame washed over him as he reluctantly stepped away from the twins. Nyx pushed himself up to his feet and Riddle roughly grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

“Do not. Under any circumstances. Let them win.” Riddle hissed through gritted teeth. He then turned and left the arena, returning to the sidelines to leave Nyx alone in the arena.

Nyx held his magical pen up to the light. The deep red gemstone was over halfway smattered with deep black splotches. He still had mana to spare, but if he kept fighting the way he was earlier, he’d be eliminated in seconds.

Riddle was right… they’ve been playing with both of us the whole time. They never wanted to actually knock us out or steal our flags, they just wanted to make us go into overblot! Now that I think about it, there were so many times both of them could’ve taken our flags but they just didn’t... they don’t want a decisive win, they want to fucking humiliate us with their victory.

Floyd pushed himself up to his feet and shook his head, feeling reinvigorated after having a moment to recoup on the ground. “Hey pufferfish! Since it’s just you now, we’ll let you take the first shot!” Floyd shouted from across the arena.

“You may strike us with any attack you’d like.” Jade smiled. He held his magical pen behind his back and leaned forward, if though to egg Nyx on to strike at his face.

Do not. Under any circumstances. Let them win.

Riddle’s words echoed in the back of his brain as Floyd danced around and Jade patiently stood there waiting for him to make the first move. Nyx growled under his breath. On his own he didn’t stand a chance against players like them…

…But maybe if he doubled his numbers he’d have a fighting chance.

“Fine. So this is the game we’re playing, huh? Alright then... let’s play.”

Nyx tucked his magical pen into the pocket on his sleeve. He took in a deep breath and clapped his hands together. A bright spark of magic loudly cracked between his palms from the impact, like an electrical socket suddenly backfiring. Deep black blot slowly dripped down from between his palms, sticking to his fingers as he pulled them apart.

“Every light must eventually fade… every heart belongs to darkness. Come forth! [Heartless Mimic]!"

As he spoke the incantation, he swept his hands forward and released the blot out onto the field like globs of napalm. The ink-black material swirled like a hurricane on impact with the ground, weaving itself into feet, legs, torso, arms, hands, and heads. Two jet black bodies with glowing yellow eyes emerged onto the arena, with razor thin threads stretching back from their limbs and connecting to the tips of Nyx's blackened claws. Nyx yanked the figures back by their strings, their bodies twitching and contorting before standing upright as normal human beings.

Jade and Floyd looked upon his craft, and two identical bodies stared back at them. The blot had formed itself into perfect physical replicas of the Leech twins, with the exceptions of having a heart shaped hole punched through the centers of their chests, and entirely featureless faces with two round, glowing yellow eyes being all that leered back at them.

Jade’s smile vanished and his eyes widened with surprise as he straightened back up again, “Oh? So this is the shape of Nyx’s unique magic?”

“Whoaaa… that’s kinda cool~” Floyd said with a smile.

Nyx’s body shook with barely restrained excitement before he burst out into manic laughter. “Hehehehe.... HAHAHAHA!! Ohh, look at them! Look at my beautiful mimics~! I haven't gotten the chance to use these models yet, but aren't they stunning?! They're a spitting image of the real thing! DAMNIT, I’m good at what I do~!” Nyx cackled, his tail wagging with delight. “I hope you boys enjoy this as much as I will! Because this is going to be... my magnum opus~”

Nyx carefully tugged on his strings, and his blot mimics twitched as they followed his commands. They simultaneously stepped forward, presenting ink-black magical wands fused into their palms. A pulse of light glowed from beneath the surface of their stones, and both at once swiped their wands out like knives to shoot beams of dark magic at the leech twins.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s puppets or people, I can still mess with any spell you send me, pufferfish! [Bind the Heart]!!” Floyd shouted. The magic beams blasted backwards before they could make contact and pierced the body of one of the mimics. Its arm blew off in a shower of blot that melted away on contact with the ground. It stopped momentarily in its tracks, its body churning and pulsing as the blot quickly swirled outwards and regenerated the mimic’s missing limb. Floyd’s smile faltered a bit at the sight. “Oh. Alright, I didn’t think they’d do that.”

The mimics raised their wands again, firing off two more condensed beams of void magic and forcing the twins apart. Floyd leaped and dodged over the shots of void magic as they came, and Jade fired a shot of ice magic at his inky counterpart. His spell found purchase and blew off his mimic’s head, only to watch it quickly reform just as Floyd’s had.

“Hehehe~ As long as I keep the spell running, I’ve got plenty of blot to keep my mimics whole. And any spell I can use, they can double my output!” Nyx snickered, stepping back and putting more space between him and the twins, “But that’s not all I can use them for~”

He threw his hands forward and mimics rushed in toward their targets like heat-seeking missiles. Nyx snapped his fingers, severing the threads connecting the mimics to his grasp. A spark of magic darted across the threads like the fuse on a stick of dynamite. The mimics bodies swelled and distended like water balloons being grotesquely overinflated, erupting into explosions of blot and showering both Jade and Floyd in the substance.

“EUGH! AAHH!! Damn it! It won't come off!!” Floyd frantically shook his magical pen as its magestone quickly went to work on absorbing the blot that had made contact with him. Smudges and droplets quickly filled the surface of the pale lavender gemstones, leaving less and less color visible in the light.

Jade gripped his magical pen, watching as his own gemstone started to quickly flood with blackness. “…So, now you’re meeting us on our own playing field. Floyd, I think it’s about time we switch our tactics from defense to attack.”

“WOW, I hated how that felt.” Floyd grimaced as he furiously shook the excess blot off his arms. “Fine by me. Let's do this shit.”

“You guys still haven’t had enough, huh? If you wanted me to knock you out that badly, then stand still and make my life easier!” Nyx clapped his hands together again, releasing more globs of blot onto the field than before. The blot whirled together, forming into ink-black forms resembling Jamil, Ruggie, and Riddle. Their glistening bodies approached their opponents, faux magical pens gleaming at the ready.

The Jamil and Riddle mimics stood in defensive positions before their master, raising their wand and casting blast after blast of void magic at both Jade and Floyd to steer the two of them further apart. Jade attempted to fire shots of magic at Nyx directly, and one of the mimics quickly stepped in to take a hit for him before regenerating the damage done. Floyd bobbed, weaved, and leapt over the incoming strikes, easily dodging them while returning fire at the same time. A large blur whizzed across the field like a streak of black lightning, and Jade shot at it reflexively. It was the Ruggie mimic, moving under the cover fire and reaching out to try and grab at his flag before his arm was blown clean off with a blast of magic. If Jade hadn’t defended himself when he did, his flag would have been forfeit instantly. Nyx’s plan was smart, it was what they used when they fought together in Magical Shift games; he was using two of his mimics to overwhelm the Leech twins with a constant barrage of spellfire, while using the third to try and grab their flags while they were distracted.

The deep red gem on Nyx’s magical pen slowly filled with blot as he kept the pressure on. Spells that his mimics cast only took half the amount of mana he'd normally require, but they were half as powerful in comparison. But power wasn’t what was important to him now, all he needed was to keep the Leeches moving until they couldn’t move any longer.

Sure enough, he could see their movements start to slow and lag behind the incoming attacks. The Ruggie mimic once again lunged out to try and grab Floyd's flag, and with a powerful kick he knocked its head clean off. He fired two more shots into its body to further incapacitate it before stumbling back and falling to the ground. “Jaaaaade…! Gimmie a hand over here!” He whined, too exhausted to make himself move another step.

Jade perked up at the sound of Floyd's voice, running against the incoming fire to his brother's side. Nyx smirked cruelly as the two of them regrouped. “Perfect. Hold it right there, boys~”

The Jamil and Riddle mimics leapt backwards, standing together side by side and pointing their ink-black wands at the Leech twins. Fire and wind magic swirled at the front of their wands, and together they unleashed a swirling tornado of fire magic, much like Nyx and Riddle did together before. Jade and Floyd pointed their wands back, together unleashing a viciously roaring wave of water to defend against the attack. Fire and water met in the middle, the arena suddenly erupted into a sea of steam and mist.

Nyx's ears flicked from side to side as he took in every sound of movement from within the fog. If there was even the slightest amount of movement, he was going to take advantage of it. Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone rushing in close before him, and with a flick of Nyx's wrist the he slung his mimics out through the fog after it. Two of his mimics threw their body weights against the presence, and as the steam cleared Nyx was greeted by the sight of Jade being pinned down against the ground with his arms held behind his back. Jade panted against the dirt and struggled against the inhuman presences, but he was too exhausted to muster up the proper strength to fight back.

Nyx laughed with delight as he finally got his first down, all on his own without needing his illustrious partner there to help him! It was one of the longest and most exciting defensive magic battles he'd ever been through, but it was time for this to finally come to an end.

“You guys are makin' this too easy~! Hey Jade, I know how much you guys have been dying to make this a spectacle to humiliate me, but I think I'm just gonna go ahead and end the suspense now, alright?” Jade struggled again, and the Ruggie mimic sitting on his back reached down for the pure white crystal shimmering on Jade's flag.

But before he could claim his prize, Nyx suddenly felt someone roughly grab him under his armpits from behind. “W-What the-?!” he spluttered before he was wrestled to the ground and yanked back into a chokehold. His mimics convulsed from the shock before suddenly collapsing to the ground like dead weight.

“Haha~ I gotcha now, pufferfish~” Floyd sang against his ear, tightening his grip against Nyx’s throat and pinning his limbs beneath his own. He'd been so focused on getting his first down that he completely neglected Floyd still hiding in the fog!

Jade shook the mimics off his back and pushed himself up from the ground. He gently wiped the dirt from the front of his shirt as he casually approached their newly incapacitated opponent. “Your unique magic is impressive, but it has one very distinct flaw, Nyx. The more of them you create, the harder it is for you to control them individually… and the harder it is for you to pay attention to your surroundings.”

“Heheheh~ You can’t do jack shit to us with them if we get this close to you! What’dya gonna do now, pufferfish?” Floyd snickered. “You ready to call it quits? We can putcha outta your misery if ya say 'uncle' and give it up!”

“Unless you'd like to keep struggling, of course. Though I doubt you have many more tricks up your sleeve under these circumstances.” Jade teased.

Nyx struggled and thrashed in Floyd's grip, but was held firmly in place by the merman's much stronger arms. Behind Jade's back he could see his mimics lifelessly collapsed upon the ground. The long, thin threads of blot connecting him to their bodies were still intact, and their bodies twitched and convulsed as he struggled.

They wanted to watch him give up. They wanted to see him accept defeat, but he wasn't about to give these guys the satisfaction that they wanted.

“…Well... you know what they say about pufferfish, right? Get in too close, and you’ll be in a world of hurt!” Nyx said.

Nyx suddenly threw his head back and smashed it against Floyd's nose, Floyd shouted and loosened his grip on Nyx's neck to hold his nose in pain. Nyx braced his feet against the ground and threw his full body weight back to knock both him and Floyd to the ground, yanking hard on his threads and flicking his fingers to jolt all three of his mimics to attention. They scrabbled up from the ground, racing across the field like a pack of lions chasing down prey as they descended upon them, brandishing nothing but their own bodies.

Jade whirled around to face the mimics as he heard them start to attention. He summoned forth a barrage of spells to try and stop them in their tracks but much like before whenever he knocked an arm, a leg, or even their head from their bodies they quickly reformed and began approaching faster than before.

Floyd groaned, deep purple blood trickling from his nose from the impact. His pupils shrank to pinpricks as he growled at Nyx in retaliation, but then he looked up and registered the heat seeking missiles fast approaching their location. Anger faded into what could only be described as amused disbelief. “What, are you serious? You know you’re gonna lose too if ya take us all out with ya, right?”

“I know, but I don't care. Cuz more importantly… I'm making sure that you guys don't win!”

Snap.

The barrage of mimics exploded, and a cascading inky wave engulfed all three of the remaining combatants in its wake.

As the wave of blot disintegrated into the dirt, a chorus of low hums resonated throughout the coliseum walls.

With his final attack, Nyx had completely saturated all three of them in blot and stained the entirety of their flags with the substance. The song of the pale magestones were the signal that all remaining combatants had been eliminated. The crowd of spectating students murmured amongst themselves over what they just witnessed. Some hyped over how their favorite fighters performed, while some started to loudly argue over who lost and who the real winner was.

“Hunh! This is a tough one, ain’t it, Vargas? That last attack obscured the whole view from back here; I couldn't get a good look in to see who was knocked out first.” Alston said, furrowing his brow and rubbing his chin in thought. “I think we’ve met our match on how far we can bend the rules with this one.”

“I think you're right. It was a pretty spectacular display, but in the end all of them were technically still eliminated at the exact same time.” Vargas agreed as he crossed his arms across his chest. “We don't rule matches like this often, and really I hate to say it... but I think we have no choice but to throw in the towel with this one.”

“We’re sailing the same ship then, ey? Alright, I'll let 'em know!” Coach Alston cleared his throat before raising his voice to the entire crowd, “The winner of this match is… nobody! It’s a decisive stalemate, everybody loses!”

A mix of disappointed groans, laughter, and “boo’s” rang out from all corners of the crowd. The chorus of displeasure was only cut short by the sound of scratchy, high pitched laughter as Floyd suddenly bolted up from the ground and started punching his fists in the air. “THAT! WAS SO AWESOME~!! YEAH!! I wanna do that again~!”

Jade chuckled as Floyd bounced around the two of them, helping Nyx raise himself up into a seated position on the ground, “That was quite an exhilarating twist to be met with. I wasn’t expecting something like that to be your unique magic, Nyx. Let alone be that how you use it.”

Floyd leaned down and grabbed Nyx’s hands, pulling on them excitedly to get him to stand up on his feet, “Pufferfish, you’ve been holding out on me all this time~?! That was the biggest rush I’ve had since I learned how to run!”

Nyx shook his hands free from Floyd’s grip, smiling sheepishly and rubbing his face to smear away some of the blot still clinging to his skin, “I didn’t think you guys would like it that much. I don’t like to use it too often, it ruins the effect when it matters most.”

“Hey, hey, can you make anything into those things? I wanna see everything you’ve got! C’mon, let’s go again!”

Nyx smirked and shook the excess blot off his hands, “Ya know, I might have enough mana for just one more-”

“You will not be doing that again!” Riddle interrupted. He approached the three men still lingering in the arena and scowled at them, “Not until your blot reserves have cleared, at the very least. Honestly, Nyx, of all things blot magic… that sort of technique is forbidden for normal mages to learn, and yet you’ve somehow gone and reinvented it as your own unique magic. If I wasn’t already oversaturated with blot myself, I’d take your head right now for the sheer audacity of putting on a spectacle like that in front of me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m aware... It’s another reason why I don’t use it often, I know the risks involved in doing it.” Nyx sighed, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. He was thankful that Riddle couldn’t collar him under these circumstances. “But hey! I did do what you told me to.”

“And what exactly would that be?”

“I didn’t let them win!”

#ツイステッドワンダーランド #Twisted Wonderland #TWST #fanfiction #Nyx Nocturne #Floyd Leech #Jade Leech #Riddle Rosehearts #🦈x🦊x🐬 - Dark Water #soul writes

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