Detonation (Shinsou Vaan Osiris vs Felicity Rhyolite)

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

An arrow had flown harrowingly across the dark Council of Five chambers, instantly obliterating the gaunt, marble frame of the statue to Shinsou’s left and showering him in a shrapnel cloud of classical embellishments. Its destructive power was not a shock to him at all; the Telgradian knew all too well what that bow was capable of, and what a second arrow could do to him should he hang around to allow it such purchase. Thus, he moved, circling carefully but quickly around his unsteady prey like a hyena around a wounded gazelle.

As expected, a second arrow was already nocked. Through hazy eyes and on rubber legs, Felicity was admirably doing her best to fight the effects of the poison. She was looking for him, unafraid but impaired, defiantly declaring her presence in the room both mentally and physically.

She's tough. Keep your distance. Think it out. Shinsou instructed his more impulsive side as he continued to move amongst the column cast shadows, circle-strafing around the Neanderthal. Again, there was a raging urge to leap in and start hacking. Again, he had to tell himself there was a bigger picture. Activate her rage, and let Senkai do the rest later. Make sure whatever damage you do, counts.

Felicity’s balance was already starting to improve, such was her tenacity and durability, but he still had time. His apprentice’s arrow sat menacingly on the taut bowstring, the flare of her watery eyes burning from behind the mask of emotions and illusions.

In some ways, the Telgradian was proud; she hadn’t rested on her laurels for too long in his absence, turning from a scared little girl to something more resembling a mighty warrior in the time they had spent apart. But he knew his own power, too, and now loomed malevolently on the fringes of his diminutive opponent’s blurred periphery.

The progressive use of his rarely displayed abilities had been matched only by the growing confidence of the Telgradian in himself. For too long, he had hidden what he was truly capable of from everyone, including even his best friend Storm Veritas. Perhaps it had been fear of showing weakness, or wanting to stay unpredictable. Perhaps it was even a matter of respect. Now, though, Shinsou realised that holding back was ever futile in the face of overwhelming adversity. Against Felicity, he had long since learned the hard way that letting go of his pride and fear, and releasing the full extent of his power, was the only way to disrupt the sheer nightmare of her radiation abilities and superhuman strength.

Carving the air before him with Enpera, Shinsou shimmered with arcane light. Inaction was suddenly arrested by the shearing impact of metal through stone as he plunged his prized possession into the floor beneath him. The resulting shockwave ripped a trench that travelled from the tip of the blade toward and underneath Felicity, from which dozens of jagged stone stalagmites ripped through the beautiful marble and gold flooring of the council chamber and viciously stabbed upwards.

It was all part of a plan; a plan that started with getting Felicity to bleed.