Day Two

[Gildarts]

Face to Face
#21 Gildarts vs #09 Samus Aran

Images flashed and flickered with bolts of vibrant light from beneath his eyelids, in his numbed head he winced and recounted the discord of battle. Some golden man had hit him with a shovel, and then there was a red one, and a black one too.... A jolting sensation was brought to his fresh injury and his metal plating immediately leapt to grasp and squeeze his throbbing right hand to cool the pain ingrained in his flesh.

With a brisk glance around, the Prime could very well see he was no longer on the battlefield, Not again. His worst fears were realized as he felt oddly reminiscent of Omni's abduction. He set his injury on a back burner and thought he heard voices, with a low huddle, the crouched low in the shadows. Where was Guu? Luffy? Desco? The blaze of battle couldn't have sent them too far off.

He stealthily strode beneath the bed of stars. The crunch underneath his trudging toes would eventually lead him somewhere, but was he in any condition to fight? The gunblade was slung over his shoulder and he had rifled through the contents of the bag. What were a set of aluminum silver bags doing in there? Still, he identified the water bottles and the map, finally discovering what those numbers and letter had meant, paired together. They were coordinates and Gildarts was late to the party.

What had it been? A5... B7?? There were too many to count and the oblivious man had never listened in the first place. He had to hope as he walked and stumbled, that he wouldn't run into a dangerzone. For all he knew, he could have been in one, but the taste of death hadn't coated the air. The landmarks around him seemed nil, or rather indistinct in the dark, so he couldn't be sure which pattern of the cubes to follow or where to set his starting location.

The warrior stole some bandages from the personal collection he kept on his chest and added them to his purpled and swollen digits. It was ugly enough to look at, and he braced his arm against the nearest tree before wrapping with his prosthetic utility. So much for that hand.

A little more stillness passed before he heard the gentle crack of a branch and the bristling of a creature's movement but a few yards away. What was that? No, who? An enemy? Or a friend?

The veteran drew close, preserving his position in the shadows and peered around the splintering pine needles and dipping limbs swaying to and fro with the gentle touch of movement.

Gildarts tensed, he saw someone, a shadowy figure.

The canopy above disrupted his light, so all the wizard could see was a bulked-up suit of armor. Certain it was a survivor from the previous battle, the mage swept his movements forward and soundlessly shuffled toward him.

Too close and with the the blade of his weapon raised ready only to strike a lethal blow down and into the nook of his enemy's neck, there was a small pause. He couldn't attack a man who wasn't facing him. Not on these terms.

An advantageous announcement was made, causing the armored suit to spin around to greet his unexpected guest. "You think you can attack those kids, then retreat into the forest and still get away with it?"

With the polished gleam of armor striking his eyes, he realized it was not the man with the golden suit and loosened his grip on his weapon. Unfortunately for him, the armored enemy caught sight of any hesitation, and assigned the man's stealthy approach and the angled edge of his weapon tilted toward her as a plot of her own assassination. This was Dante's Abyss and she would use his visibly loosened grip to her own advantage.

Surprise had left him open and Samus was more than willing to take the shot. A readied fist was waiting for him and it collided with the already blood-smeared man's face. His jaw moved with the blow, not to mention the swift and crushing force of the movement almost nipped into his nose.

Another ball of steel collided with his abdomen, but the durable Gildarts was ready and waiting. He had gotten a good look at his enemy before sneaking up on him, and felt there would be no lack of skill in his adversary's hand to hand. Gildarts only had one and would have to make do.

As he faced his powerful opponent, he was glad he hadn't taken the shot.

Gildarts cradled the blade against his forearm and grasped it before it was disarmed by the hunter's next very intentional hit. The moment it was cast aside, the Hunter had expected at least some degree of distraction, for it was the only weapon that had displayed. In the next moment as Samus's trained fingers found their loop, the wounded Gildarts too had proved to be more than a challenge than he looked.

Samus had dodged the punch that skimmed her helmet easily, but had not expected such agility to be deployed in a powerful as swift strike. With a steely elbow, he had pulled his metal joint into her face until it collided with a force that cause her toes to lose the cherished balance she had used to keep them on the ruddy ground. In the next moment, her reflexes tripped the trigger of the hefty weapon that had been stowed on her shoulder.

The murderous night of the island had quelled with stifled screams of death and battle. Shrapnel pierced the veteran's skin and kissed a ribbon across his cheek; Gildarts heard the eruption before he could fathom the heat flooding to his adrenaline filled muscles. For the two battle-savvy strangers, the exchange of fists had spoken better than any words of introduction that could have fit in their place. On Gildarts' lip hung a smile, under Samus's visor, she eyed a challenge.