Fractured Tales

The First Fight

Word Count: 1,155

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[Part Two of "...Or So They Hoped"]

Rainbow Steve wasn't exactly sure what he was meant to do here. He was only newly created when the "Leaders" sent him to this kingdom. Surprisingly, it wasn't on fire, but violet steves—or at least, what Rainbow assumed were violets—were trying to escape before they were caught in the crossfire of this war. He only knew so much about his kind before being thrown into battle.

   Flying above was the one he was born to fight. He looked exactly as the Leaders described him to look like, not to mention with the color scheme a steve would hear about in fairytales. However, when his red eyes landed on the multicolored steve amidst the crowd of violet, he gave a grin, flying down to his level.

   "I see the Leaders have found some new way to try getting rid of me." He commented, studying this new opponent. "It's quite a shame they just couldn't see things from my point of view."

   Rainbow did his best to not appear intimidated. He tried to stand tall, back straightened and halbert in hand. It was given to him by the Yellow Leader with the excuse that it was a "backup" weapon from the Yellow Kingdom. It confused Rainbow why such a weapon was kept in storage, but chose not to ask questions until after this fight—if he even made it out alive.

   His enemy stared him down. "What's wrong?" He sneered. "Can't find the words to speak?"

It wasn't fear that kept Rainbow silent; in fact, he felt nothing at all in that moment. He was too focused on remembering what the Leaders told him about this adversary. They gave him a brief rundown of his powers, as well as Rainbow's own power set and demonstration of how to find each ability, but nothing more than that before teleporting him here.

   So much for going in fully prepared.

The enemy spun his battle axe in hand. "It appears you have nothing to say. Well then," he lifted the weapon, taking a more defensive stance, "your move, hero. Let's see how well those Leaders prepared you to face me."

Rainbow was slow to lift his halbert. The weapon was somewhat heavy, almost taking two hands just for him to lift it. But being part yellow steve gave him a bit of physical strength, as well as knowledge on how to fight. They were considered the military and powerhouses on the Chromatics, after all.

Using his energy, he closed the distance between himself and his enemy rather quickly, ending in a clash of battle axe and halbert. The enemy was briefly, very briefly, taken off-guard by the burst of speed, barely managing to lift his weapon in defense before he was struck. However, he was pushed back by the force of Rainbow's halbert as their weapons separated, both now forced to their sides.

Rainbow was the first to recover, swinging the halbert in an arc towards the other's torso. It just barely missed as they jumped back, seeing its blade miss by a margin too close for comfort. Rainbow became relentless after that point, swinging and clashing his halbert with the other's battle axe, not giving the other a break for some time.

It was after a particular clash that the adversary got an opening as Rainbow recovered for another blow. He raced forward, swinging the battle axe and knocking the steve back. He lost his balance and fell, halbert clattering to the ground.

The enemy slowly stepped forward, weapon held out at his side. His red eyes held malice and amusement as he stared at the hero.

"You're good," he remarked, "better than most steves I've come across in this universe. But sadly, not good enough to defeat me."

Rainbow held a hand over his chest, using the other to push himself up, just to scream out in pain as lightning flurried down upon him. It was excruciating, like everything in his being was supercharged and splitting apart. It took great effort just for him to get the strength to push himself up again, a shaky hand reaching out for his halbert. Despite the pain, it returned to his grip.

He lifted the weapon, using the axe and blade to absorb the lightning raining upon him. The weapon was electrified, crackling now with energy. He pointed the halbert at the one raining lightning, sending a burst of electricity in his direction. It made contact with the other, a shout leaving him as he was forced back several blocks, almost knocking him into a house.

Taking a chance, Rainbow raced forward again, jumping high into the air. The halbert was crossed defensively over his torso, ready to strike his downed adversary as he kneeled to recover. He looked up at the last second, seeing Rainbow falling closer to him. But just as the hero's weapon would make contact with his neck, he was gone, Rainbow landing in a crouch where he once was.

The hero's eyes went a little wider. "What the-?"

He was suddenly struck in the back before he could think, knocking him down again. This time, he rolled over to block another strike from the battle axe, using both hands to keep his weapon from being forced closer to his chest. He breathed heavily, but refused to back down. He barely knew any steves outside of the Leaders, but still felt a burning need to keep them all safe from this being. If he didn't do it, who else would find the strength to face him?

He sprung to his feet as the opposing weapon was knocked away again. Tapping into his orange steve abilities, he created a sphere to trap the enemy. It wouldn't do much, but it gave him a moment to plan another attack.

It didn't take long for the other to get free, red eyes staring daggers into Rainbow.

"Maybe I underestimated you, hero." His voice held a hint of anger, barely detectable in the forced calm of his voice. "You're stronger than I thought you would be. Alas, if you weren't so insistent on saving the steves, you and I would have made such good allies."

Rainbow narrowed his eyes. "You know nothing about me."

"Don't I?" The other laughed. A wickedly amused look formed in his red eyes. "I've figured out more about you than you think. You didn't even have to say a word for me to know."

Rainbow paused for a minute. The red steve part of him didn't believe it, like it was a trick, a bluff even.

"...What are you?" He demanded after a moment. His multicolored eyes glared at the being across from him.

The enemy grinned. "Stick around and find out, hero. I'm sure you'll piece it together eventually."

   More determined now than before, Rainbow sprung forward, their battle resuming.

   But this would only be the first of several battles to come.