"Hello, Humans..." The pink-haired Arcadian said, smiling wildly as his hungry eyes glanced over all of their faces. "You fear smells wonderful-"
Shen Wuhan appeared in front of the Arcadian, kneeing him in the face and grabbing him by the throat, throwing him into a bookshelf.
"You are not welcome here Arcadian..." The man said, getting into a fighting stance as The Arcadian stood up, his childish face displaying glee.
"A Keymaster huh?" He said as he smiled wildly. "And I was starting to think this was just going to be a free meal."
Shen Wuhan rushed forward, kicking the Arcadian in the face.
The Arcadian took a swipe at him, his hand passing harmlessly through Shen Wuhan's body as the man grabbed a book and slammed the spine into the Arcadian's face.
Shen Wuhan dodged an attack, kneeing the Arcadian in the ribs and sending him flying opposite of them, quickly rushing toward him as he vanished and reappeared three times before kicking the downed Arcadian in the face.
"Ahh!" The Arcadian yelled, jumping up and catching Shen Wuhan with a swipe of his claws just as the man went for another kick.
Slicing his underbelly, The Arcadian tried to go deep, failing however as the man dodged, holding his stomach.
Shen Wuhan looked at the blood, gritting his teeth and flashing forward, grabbing a sword on display and stabbing it downward at the Arcadian.
"Ah... So annoying," The Arcadian said, grabbing Shen Wuhan's face and gripping it tightly.
"Huh?" The man questioned as he was flung back, dropping his sword and soaring toward a bookshelf. Feeling something break as The Arcadian rushed forward, Shen Wuhan tried to use his power once again.
"Lower key users like you always run out of juice after a while, so much concentration you need to use your power... And such a high cost," The Arcadian smiled as it outstretched its claws, raising them.
"Die!" The Arcadian said, his claws soaring down toward the shocked Shen Wuhan.
*Thud*
The claws sank into the ground, a foot on top of them as Theriault stood between the two, looking at Shen Wuhan.
"I assumed your key was more powerful, but you were just good at using it huh?" He said, smiling a little as he looked down at the man. "You're one of the few from this family that I like... So I'll do you this favor."
The pink-haired Arcadian yanked his hand out from under Theriault's foot, slashing at him. "Get out of here human!" He yelled, his angry expression turning into shock as he saw Theriault smirk.
"Geez Che... So feisty," Theriault muttered, kicking his leg out and landing it square in The Arcadian's, Che's, stomach, sending him flying through a bookshelf.
"You... Does Cloud know you're around?" Che asked, standing up unfazed by the attack.
"Well of course, we had a little encounter, but he thought it would be more entertaining to fight the head instead of me..."
"That's because he knows you're not his to kill... And don't be mistaken, he wants you dead!" Che rushed forward, enraged at the mere sight of Theriault.
"Yeah... I'm sure he does, too fucking bad huh?" Theriault said, kicking Che in the jaw and grabbing his leg as he flew back, redirecting his body midair and smashing him through the stone wall of the library, sending him flying outside.
"You evacuate your family Wuhan," Theriault said, using the man's first name as he stepped through the hole he had created in the library wall. "I'll help your family out before I leave..."
...
Meanwhile, Shen Bo fought with Cloud.
"I didn't expect you to block that," Cloud said, sounding pleased as he slashed at Shen Bo once again, this time moving faster and stepping in.
Shen Bo slid the claws along her sword, stepping past Cloud and slashing the sword in a downward arc. Cloud barely dodged the blade and his smile got even wider.
"I think I'm going to enjoy this," He muttered as he sheathed his claws and attacked Shen Bo.
"Quit talking," Shen Bo said, inches away from Cloud's face as her sword shone in the moonlight.
She jumped back, slashing her sword across Cloud's body with impossible grace as she flipped and landed in the middle of the courtyard.
Cloud, his eyes wide as he looked down and saw his jacket cut open, a thin line of blood falling from his cut.
"You impress me more by the second, your sword can pierce my skin? Tell me," Cloud said as he took off his jacket, his heart beating faster than the flames as they spread from building to building. "Is this love?" He finished, vanishing from his spot and slamming his fist into Shen Bo's face at supersonic speed, sending the woman sliding back.
Shen Bo quickly shook off the monstrous attack, kicking out as he tried to get close and slashing in an upward arc to the right when he rushed in again.
Cloud dodged the strike, the blade passing in front of his face as he ducked under it and slammed another fist into the woman's ribs, smiling as he delivered a knee to her solar plexus and slapped her across the face.
"My heart's beating so much! Use your key!" He yelled, crazed as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground.
"Fine..." Shen Bo said, her eyes glowing slightly as Cloud was sent flying back by a flash of light. Suddenly, Shen Bo stood up undamaged, while Cloud dropped to a knee, the pain suddenly erupting throughout his body.
"Ohh... What an interesting ability... You gathered the damage from my attacks and then released it all back to me huh?" Cloud said as he stood up, unsheathing his claws once again. "But that makes me wonder... What are the limits?"
Cloud surged forward, clawing at Shen Bo with more force as she blocked the strike, tanking a kick to the leg and dropping her bodyweight to get her sword past Cloud's guar, slashing through and jumping away, prepared for the next attack.
Cloud looked at the small cut on his side, another small trickle of blood escaping. "Maybe your sword isn't all that I made it out to be..." He said with a disappointed look.
Cloud vanished, reappearing and grabbing Shen Bo by the throat, kicking her sword out of her hand. "Your key is way more interesting than that crap," He said as he squeezed tightly, kneeing her in the stomach and slamming her down into the concrete face first.
Shen Bo's lungs begged for air, something they couldn't give as Cloud tightened his grip on her throat, cutting off her oxygen as he punched her again, kicking and clawing her, slamming her face into the concrete, trying to create as much damage as possible.
"Go ahead..." He finally said after a minute, bracing himself as he let her go and stood up. "Send it all back," He told her again.
Shen Bo struggled to move, her eyes glowing slightly as Cloud clenched his teeth.
"Ah…" He said as the flash came, subsiding and leaving Shen Bo perfectly fine, though her face showed much more fear than before as she grabbed her sword and held it tightly in defense.
"God… Damn it!" Cloud yelled as he felt the damage he had inflicted on Shen Bo be transferred to him, the power he had beaten his opponent with becoming his pain in a split second.
"Ahh…" He sighed in relief, looking at Shen Bo with a smile. "It's kind of like fighting myself... Well that's enough of a handicap, let's get serious."
Cloud smiled cruelly as he rushed Shen Bo, the woman barely able to dodge the razor-sharp claws now gunning for her throat instead of the unfatal areas they had been aiming at during the fight.
"Why, why are you doing this!" She yelled, not expecting an answer as she slashed down with her sword, turning her body to avoid a kick from Cloud.
"Because it's fun, terrorizing and killing beings who believe they have a chance is… Fun," Cloud said, elbowing her in the back of the head and shoving his hand through her heart, smiling as Shen Bo widened her eyes, dropping her sword to the ground with an echoing clatter.
"No!" A voice screamed as Shen Yi ran into the courtyard, barefoot and being closely followed by Jinnouchi.
Cloud looked at the dying Shen Bo with a cruel smile. "Ah… That's a little weird, I thought I was fighting the family head… But it seems she just arrived," He said, feeling the power of the love key.
A flash of light exploded as Shen Bo got up, causing Cloud to drop to his knees next to her.
"I was waiting for a fatal attack demon," Shen Bo said, a mocking smile on her face as she began to stand up.
"Fatal? Arcadians don't have hearts," Cloud replied, grabbing her throat with his claws fully outstretched, stabbing into her as Shen Yi and Jinnouchi jumped in.
Jinnouchi activated his power immediately, kicking Cloud in the side and making the Arcadian slide a few feet away while Shen Yi crouched down next to her mother.
"M-Mom," She managed to say as Shen Bo looked up at her, the woman's eyes were empty, cold as if she was long dead.
"Ah… My daughter, you must ensure the family's survival, this isn't how it was supposed to happen…"
In the courtyard, the sound of screaming started dying down and the flames raged even harder like they were trying to snuff out the entire estate.
Shen Yi looked at her mother, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Wait no you can't!" She cried. "I'm not ready, I'm not even married, I've never even been outside the estate, mother no please!" She cried again, grabbing her mother.
"Then…" Shen Bo started to say as she reached up and touched her daughter's cheek. "Go."
With that, The Shen Family head was no more.
_
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