The Custodes

Chapter 13 - A Monster In The Dark

-his hand was no longer there. There was a sudden flash as Zuro's charred hand fell to the ground, blood spurting from his severed arm which looked to be extremely cleanly cut. Zuro shouted in rage, clutching his stump as his eyes darted around, locking on a figure who was suddenly over by Neo, his sparking blue blade slicing through all the tendrils binding him and destroying them in mere seconds. Neo landed unsteadily on his feet, but Noah's hand on his shoulder kept him from falling. The two shared a split second glance at each other before turning to Zuro, watching as he placed his palm to his stump and cauterised it with his powers in one quick motion, before glaring daggers at the pair of them. Neo spared a glance in Synthia's direction, watching as Axel hurriedly pulled her further away from Zuro just as Kelsie came running over, almost immediately dropping down beside her to start healing her. He turned his gaze back to the red eyed man, clenching his fists as darkness swirled around them threateningly. "We'll kill you Zuro." He said, surprisingly calmly, as the man in front of him took a defensive stance, his good arm readied in front of him "You can't take all of us." "Now that's where you're wrong." A grin was suddenly plastered across Zuro's face as he stared straight at Neo, not even looking at Axel as the boy came to stand next to him "I'm just getting warmed up. Only using one hand makes it a little more challenging." "Enough talk." Axel said, firing a relatively weak beam at Zuro's shoulder, leading to him simply turning to the side to let it skid past harmlessly. The one shot was all it took for the trio to spring into action, with Neo and Noah darting forward while Axel hung back to charge more beams. Neo swung a dark fist at Zuro's head but he raised his arm and caught Neo's forearm against it, blocking it before forcing his fist back. Noah aimed a jab at Zuro's abdomen with his sword, but a tendril wrapping around his wrist stopped him from seeing it through. He sent a quick, burning shock up his arm which disintegrated the tendril, then swung his sword at Zuro's neck rapidly. The man caught it with ease, then with a flick of his wrist snapped it clean in half, gripping the blade half as he dodged another of Neo's punches before spinning completely around the boy and slamming the blade straight at the back of his shoulder. Just in time Neo coated his shoulder in darkness, strong enough to minimise the damage but not enough to completely deflect it. Zuro's momentum caused the blade to pierce right through the dark barrier, cracking it apart as two inches of the blade sunk into Neo's shoulder and caused the boy to shout out in pain. A large red beam flew from Axel's palm right at Zuro, but he managed to jump back and leave Neo with the blade sticking out of his shoulder, instead turning his attention over to Kelsie, who was still kneeling beside Synthia as she healed her. "Don't you d-" Axel started to shout at Zuro, but the man was already bolting towards the girls. He flicked his wrist as he rapidly approached, sending a beam of his own at Kelsie as she still focused solely on healing her friend. The girl looked up at the last second, eyes widening as the beam came right for her, until suddenly a figure was in front of her and taking the hit clean on, negating it completely. Noah's side erupted with blood as the beam practically obliterated it, but the boy barely even cried out as he was hit, instead just gritting his teeth tight as he clutched his injury. When he pulled his hand away a tightly woven electrical net was in place over the wound, sealing it closed as well as it could and stopping any more blood from spilling out. "I don't think so." Noah muttered, before his hands suddenly lit up with electrical energy and he lunged at Zuro. He punched with incredible speed, aiming for the man's head, then ribs, then chin, each hit being dodged, blocked and dodged again respectively. Noah refused to let up, charging his feet with electricity as well as he began mixing up his attacks with kicks and knees too. Zuro was keeping up with him almost effortlessly, not throwing a single attack of his own as he watched with amusement at Noah's attempts to land a hit. He was being pushed back however, constantly having to step in different directions to narrowly avoid one of the swings, and before he even knew it he was a long distance away from Kelsie and Synthia. It was then Zuro realised that he was now back next to Neo and Axel, but before he could get a glimpse of either boy one of Neo's dark fists smashed into the back of his head. He cursed as his entire body lurched forward at the sheer force of the hit, only for him to be hit with a brutal electrical punch in the abdomen from Noah. He fell backwards past Neo, rolling once before landing on one knee as he shook his head, quickly brushing off the attacks that certainly would've killed any normal person. He silently reprimanded himself for not realising what Noah was doing - deliberately forcing him back rather than trying to actually deal damage in order to both keep him away from the girls and allow Neo to get a hit in. A beam came flying at him from the side but he rapidly jumped up above it, hovering himself in mid air as he remained floating relatively high above the three boys. Neo glanced at Noah and Axel to check they were both still good to fight, then looked up at Zuro, scowling. "Get the fuck back down here." He said, firing two black beams at him. The man raised his hand and blocked both of them at once with extreme ease, looking at Neo with boredom "You've gotten better, but I'm quickly getting tired of this. You don't really think you'll be able to do anything, do you? I don't believe you understand how little damage you've actually done." "Then why are you hiding out of reach?" Neo fired back, causing Noah to look at him with an uncertain expression "Neo, I think-" "Fine! If you don't want me to give you a breather, I'll just up the ante." Zuro said with a grin, before his hovering trick ceased to be and he fell to the ground, landing on his feet. "Much better." "Neo wait!" Noah tried to shout to him but the boy was already running towards Zuro, too close to back up now. Neo immediately jabbed at Zuro's face once within reach, but the man ducked under it and sent a swing of his own at the boy's rib cage. Neo staggered backwards as it connected, clutching his ribs as he wheezed slightly and glaring at Zuro. He most definitely held back with his hit, but it was still enough to completely wind Neo and cause his ribs to ache intensely. The man returned to his position, a patronising smirk on his face but not following up the attack, which frustrated Neo by itself. Before the boy himself could attack Noah was rushing past him, two electrical weapons in his hands which Neo couldn't quite make out. He flicked his right hand and the whip-like spark he was holding flew out from his hand, wrapping around Zuro's wrist as the man simply watched, unmoving. In his left hand Noah had a gauntlet of lightning coating most of his arm, and right on the knuckles was a single sharp yet short blade. The whip suddenly pulsed greatly, causing Zuro to flinch as he was hit with an electric shock, and in that moment Noah swung his bladed fist towards the man's side. Just as the tip met with his torso, Zuro grabbed Noah's arm, managing to completely overpower the hold the whip had on him. Noah only had time to gasp before Zuro dragged him past his side, then smash his kneecap into his abdomen. A gargled cry of pain filled the air as Noah crumbled to the ground, before being kicked to the side by Zuro. Neo cursed, flicking his wrist and sending a wall of darkness right into Zuro, who turned rapidly and punched right into its centre, breaking through it easily. It was enough of a distraction though, since as soon as he emerged from the darkness a red beam came flying straight into him. Zuro had a split second to raise his hand, catching the beam head on before it dissipated, leaving his palm slightly singed. "How the hell did he just catch it?" Axel said from behind Neo, sounding both shocked and infuriated. "You were lucky to catch my hand in your attack earlier. It won't happen again." Zuro said, before rushing towards Neo. He sent a punch at the boy's face, leading to him instinctively darting to the side, but as he did a tendril caught his feet and sent him falling backwards towards the ground. Before he'd even landed however, Zuro's foot came crashing down on top of his chest, slamming with incredible might and practically burying him in the dirt. Neo coughed up blood immediately, his vision going blurry as he tried to focus on the dark sky above. As he lay there he heard Axel firing more beams, none of them connecting, until they were cut off by him screaming out in horrified agony. He knew he had to get up, but the pain in his chest was like nothing he'd ever felt before, as though his bones were crushing his organs. There was a sudden spark and Noah was beside him, having teleported across the grass field to assist him. He reached down and wrapped one of Neo's arms around his neck, trying to heave him up with all his might "Get up...you need to...get the hell up...Axel, he-...we're going to die...if you don't-..." Neo used his other hand to push himself up along with Noah's assistance, glancing over in to the direction he'd last heard Zuro. He was currently in the middle of a fight with someone - Synthia's vague figure was starting to come into view - and from the looks of things, she was fighting with everything she had. Zuro wasn't fighting back mind you, simply dodging and blocking her furious flurry of attacks, but at least he was being kept busy. Over on the ground near the pair was Axel, laying on his back and still conscious by the looks of things, one hand placed against the opposite shoulder as he clutched-