[Gold leaf Forest]
[Author's Note]
Not far from Moon City was a forest, Gold leaf forest. The forest consisted of a rare species of golden leafed trees. A famous tourist destination for those visiting Moon City. Every day as the sun sets or rises, the whole forest would glow golden creating a breathtaking Image for those watching. This Forest also has a very interesting myth, They say deep within Gold leaf Forest exists a tree that grows a single golden fruit every 50 years and that anyone whosoever takes a bite from such fruit, will gain immortality...
••••••••••••••
Running through the forest like a bullet was Thea. With every step, a short bursts of flames would ignite under her boots and launch her forward. She masterly manoeuvred her way through the trees, not allowing them to slow her down. Not too far behind her was the red titan Juggernaut, who didn't bother to move around a tree.
'Bam!'
A tree fell after Juggernaut ran through it like a tank, not suffering even a single scratch.
Seeing that they were far enough from the city. Thea stopped and turned around, only to jump up and land on a tree branch seconds later.
'Boom!'.
Something big and heavy landed directly where Thea was standing before, causing a huge cloud of dust and dried leaves to rise.
Standing on top of the tree branch, Thea tried to gaze through the cloud of dust, only to see a shadow of something huge coming her way. 'Is that a tree?' Her sword shaped eyebrows furrowed.
With quick and practiced movements, she pulled her Katana out and swung it forward. Easily cutting the massive tree in half, just as her blade finished cutting through the tree, a massive red fist appeared directly near her face, only seconds away from reaching her head.
As if she foresaw it coming, Thea bent her knees and allowed her body to free fall to the ground. She could feel the power radiating from the fist as it passed above her head. 'That could have killed me'. She then twisted her body and landed on her feet. Only to jump away from were she was standing seconds after landing.
'Boom!'
'How is he moving so fast?'. She thought to herself as she sheathed her katana and hid behind a tree, using the cloud of dust as cover.
'Grrr!'
With a bestial growl, Juggernaut stepped out of the crater he made on the ground. Each stomp creating a booming noise that reverberated throughout the whole forest. His face was that of extreme anger and frustration as he could no longer spot his prey. His red eyes were practically beaming, as his head moved around, trying to find that annoying human. To be unable to land a single attack on his target whilst he had suffered multiple injuries, even losing an arm, greatly Infuriated him and it hurt his pride.
*Sniff*
*Sniff*
Juggernaut picked up a scent that was
coming from a tree on his left. Without wasting a single second, he launched towards it.
Sensing the incoming attack. Thea stepped out from behind the tree and held the hilt of her katana. With her eyes closed, she took a deep breath and then released the air in her lungs, as a red aura began to cover her whole body. She then pulled one leg back and then lowered her body. Her movements, unhurried, even as the red titan was rushing towards her.
[Fifth release...]
Her eyes opened, followed by her katana slowly being pulled out.
[Flaming Dragon]
With the red aura rushing towards her blade, she vertically swung her katana towards Juggernaut. Creating a red arc that rushed towards him, that arc then morphed into a huge flaming dragon that opened it's maw, threatening to swallow Juggernaut whole.
"ROARRR!".
Juggernaut was momentarily stunned by the incoming attack but he didn't retreat. Instead, he took it head on. With a forceful stop, Juggernaut open his arms wide and grabbed the mouth of the dragon just before it swallowed him. He could feel and smell his own burning flesh, it was gruesomely painful.
"ROOOARRR!".
The blazing dragon struggled to get out of Juggernaut's hold. And so, it did what any other dragon would do...
Juggernaut felt the heat radiating from the dragon suddenly intensifying. But he was to late. The dragon breathed out a flood of flames directly on Juggernaut, to the point that Juggernaut's figure was obscured by the flames. The surrounding trees started to catch fire, only for the fire to suddenly extinguish as if under some sort of manipulation.
The flood of flames lasted for only 20 seconds before it die down, leaving the whole forest obscured by black smoke. Thea tried peering through the black smoke to determine the fate of the fiend but was unable to see anything due to the thickness of the smoke. She then tried to rely on her other senses. With the whole forest being drowned in silence, she closed her eyes and listened in for any abnormal sounds she could pick up on.
She could hear the sound of rustling leaves caused by the calm wind, a gentle flowing stream not too far from where she was, the sound of crickets and a heartbeat... Wait! a heartbeat?. Thea abruptly opened her eyes and tried peering through the black smoke again. She could vaguely see a giant figure through the smoke. ' He's alive'. She grabbed the hilt of her katana and prepared for any sudden attack but none came, the figure only stood there doing nothing, as if... Dead. But, Thea did not allow herself to be fooled, she could still hear the fiends powerful beating heart.
As the smoke finally cleared enough, Thea could finally see the condition Juggernaut was in. Charred skin so black it looked like charcoal, one of his eyes was burnt shut while his white hair was burnt off, leaving him bold. Of his three remaining arms, two of them were gone, the only notion of their existence being the burnt stumps. The once powerful middle class demon was now reduced to this miserable state.
There was another thing Thea began to notice, some parts of Juggernaut's charred skin were slowly beginning to regain their original red colour. ' He's already starting to heal'. She frowned as her hand tightened on the hilt of her Katana. 'This is my chance, while his still semi-conscious'.
Thea then entered her stance, her arm firmly holding the hilt of her Katana. Without wasting another second, a burst of flames ignited under her boots, launching her forward at tremendous speed. Within seconds her blade was inches away from Juggernaut's neck. ' It's over'. At least that's what she thought, because at that very moment, Juggernaut who was semi-conscious' suddenly lifted his remaining arm and used his fingers to hold the blade of Thea's Katana that was a few inches away from his neck.
"What!" In her shocked state, Thea watched as Juggernaut's charred skin began to rapidly regain it's original red, followed by his three missing arms and white long hair growing back whilst his closed eye opened. That's not all, Juggernaut slowly began to grow taller, going from 350 centimetres to 365 centimetres while his brawny body became even more robust. He was stronger and even more frightening than before.
Thea tried to pull her blade back but it wouldn't budge. 'Shit!'. Suddenly she felt the air leaving her lungs, followed by a numbing pain on her back before her vision blurred. Through her bloodied vision, she saw the red titan looming above her. 'The hell just happened?, I didn't even see him move'.
She could see a row of collapsed trees behind Juggernaut and her katana a few metres away from her.
She then lowered her eyes to her body and saw her awkwardly bent arm, making the corner of her lips twitch in annoyance. Ignoring her arm, she tried standing up but just as she succeeded, she saw Juggernaut move again, this time she could clearly see him.
He lowered his arm and grabbed her by the hair, lifting her up. He then brought her to eye level, his face no longer showing the anger from before instead, Thea could almost make out a smile. 'Damn, that hurts'. She said as she tried to bear with the stinging pain of having her hair being pulled.
Juggernaut's red eyes dimmed for a second before brightening up again, he then pulled his fist back and then shot it forward, striking Thea directly on her stomach, making Thea feel the uncontrollable desire to puke her insides out, but she held it in. Grinning through her bloodied teeth, she said: Is that all you can do?... Ugly".
"Ptooey!"
She spit her bloodied saliva on Juggernaut's face.
Infuriated and filled with disgust, Juggernaut threw her up and grabbed her by one leg and then swung her to the ground.
'Boom!'
She smashed face first on the ground , her brain rattling. Her vision became blurry again as she spat out the blood that was building up on her throat. 'Fuck!'. Just as she was beginning to regain her senses, she felt a sudden pull again.
'Boom!'
Thea could literally feel her chest sinking in, she was starting to find it a little hard to breathe.
'Boom!'
"Son of a bi—"
'Boom!'
She heard the sound of a bone breaking. "That's enough".
'Boom!'
Just as Juggernaut was about to swing her up again, she showed extreme flexibility by twisting her waist and kicking Juggernaut directly on the lower jaw, forcing him to let her go.