Chapter 23
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Two Days Later…
In the capital of quadrant three, Alura was on his knees, praying. Alura quickly opened his eyes and raised his head slowly. He then stood up from his knees and walked out of his tent, squinting towards the sea. Just as he did this, the outline of a ship appeared in the snowfall, sailing towards the harbor. "Everyone look!" a Coastal Guard soldier yelled as he pointed at the shadow, prompting all three thousand Coastal Guard soldiers to turn and look. There in the sea were the silhouettes of hundreds of warships, and at the head of them, now the only completely visible ship, was Captain Thorne's. Alura's eyes widened with shock as he saw the sand-colored wood creep through the snow and stop at the harbor of quadrant three.
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'Is that… Captain Thorne?' Alura thought to himself with wide eyes, just as Thorne stepped off his ship, a villainous grin on his face. He wore a fur coat on his shoulders, but his arms were not in the sleeves; he had no shirt on, and on his right pec was a tattoo of a crab. "That's one of the twelve titans of the sea!" a Coastal Guard soldier said with a distraught tone. "Everyone get into your positions… this war is starting now!" Alura yelled as Thorne, Chopper, and Jester all walked onto the snow-filled grounds of North Estoria's third quadrant. "Now let's start this party, boys!" Thorne exclaimed just as the other warships docked. Thorne's words caused hundreds of Pathfinders to pour out from his and the other warships, running at the shocked Coastal Guard soldiers.
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Alura pulled out a circular device and put it to his ear, his face riddled with surprise. "This is Vice Captain Alura; the third quadrant has been breached…!" Alura said frantically. Each of the other Vice Captains reacted to this news with complete shock. "Cooper, you're the only one that can make it there in time," Himá said quickly as she turned to him, but Cooper was already gone. "Yes, ma'am," he said over the circular device as he ran towards quadrant three. Alura looked at the battlefield as Thorne's subordinates clashed with the Coastal Guard soldiers while Thorne stood on the harbor, smiling at the chaos he had caused. "Jester, make sure nobody can take our flank. Chopper, you take that grey-haired boy… I want Dead Leg Cooper," Thorne said with a grin as he looked at Cooper, standing beside Alura.
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"Are you alright?" Cooper asked as he approached Alura. "I'm fine. It seems like Thorne is going to make a move soon. What should we do?" Alura asked in a curious tone. Cooper uncliped his Coastal Guard jacket, letting it fall onto the snow beneath him. "We'll just have to make a move first," he said with a smile, looking back at Thorne. "CT. F Just make sure to keep as many of our men alive as possible; I'll try and deal with Thorne." Cooper said as he jumped down into the chaos of battle. Alura bent down and placed his hands on the ground. "Protect them, huh?" he said with a straight face. Chopper was slicing down multiple Coastal Guard soldiers, but then his blade clashed with something tough.
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There in front of him was a wooden soldier, blocking his machete. "Is this… your technique!?!" Chopper yelled as he looked at Alura, whose eyes were now gleaming with an emerald green light. Chopper put more force into his swing, slicing through the wooden soldier in one swing. "It doesn't matter how many of these things you send at me; I'll reach you soon!" Chopper yelled as he cut down dozens of wooden and Coastal Guard soldiers, trying to reach Alura. 'As long as I can keep this distance from him, then I can create enough time for our numbers to take over,' Alura thought to himself as a single drop of sweat fell down the right side of his forehead.
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Cooper was standing in the middle of the battle as Thorne stepped through a crowd of fighters and approached Cooper, about ten feet away. "You wanna tell me how you got here so fast? I was sure that Alura would be the only captain guarding this quadrant," Thorne said with a smirk. "I don't think the details really matter. You working for Greybeard now?" Cooper asked in a condescending tone. "Ehh, I don't think the details matter," Thorne said with a smirk as he let his fur coat fall onto the snow. Both men grinned simultaneously before dashing at each other, Cooper reeling back a devastating kick with his right leg while Thorne reeled back his right fist. The clash caused wind to blow around them as they both seemed to be evenly matched.
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Thorne extended his arm, pushing Cooper back, but Cooper still landed on his feet. As he snapped his head up, he saw a large spike flying toward him, and although he was able to dodge it, Thorne appeared next to him, reeling back a devastating punch. "You're mine, Dead Leg!" Thorne yelled with a maniacal smile on his face. Just as his punch connected, it sent Cooper flying into the quadrant wall. "COOPER!" Alura yelled, snapping his head toward their fight. "Hey! Pay attention to me!" Chopper exclaimed as he was now about twenty meters from Alura. This realization caused Alura to sweat even more as he pulled out his Monophone. "Himá, come in," he said while beginning to breathe slightly heavier.
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"I'm here; what's the situation?" Himá asked in a concerned tone. "Not good. Chopper and Jester are laying waste to our soldiers, while Cooper is engaged with Captain Thorne, but… I do not know how much longer we can last. We need more reinforcements, or we'll lose quadrant three," Alura said in a slightly panicked tone. "Stay in your positions," Cooper said over the Monophone. Alura snapped his head toward Cooper just as he was walking out of the hole in the quadrant walls. "I may have frightened you, Alura, but just keep aiding our men," Cooper said with a straight face, getting into a running stance as he placed both of his hands on the ground. Thorne spread his arms out with a wide smile. "This is war, Dead Leg; you better start acting like it," he said as sparks of black lightning began to crackle around his fists.
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"Cooper, are you sure?" Himá asked over the Monophone. "I'm fine; just hold your positions," Cooper said with a slight smile as black lightning began to spark around his legs. Thorne then dashed at Cooper, five-inch spikes protruding from his arms, prompting Cooper to dash at him as well. 'Whoa, they're fast!' Alura thought to himself as he was sweating profusely. Cooper and Thorne clashed, black sparks flying from the center of their attacks. Cooper then raised his left leg in an attempt to hit Thorne in the ribs, but a large spike protruded from Thorne's ribcage, trying to block Cooper's attack. Thorne's eyes widened with pure shock as Cooper completely destroyed this defense and still connected his kick into the ribs of the Titan, sending him a few feet away.
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Thorne snapped his head up, boasting a wide and villainous grin. "So you really have grown, Dead Leg?" Thorne asked with a slight chuckle. "Kalan couldn't teach me how to use Aura, but I think I got a good sense of it," Cooper said with a sly smirk, causing Thorne to chuckle boisterously as black lightning spewed from his body, crashing into the ground of quadrant three. "Let's see then!" Thorne exclaimed. Cooper stood there with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. 'Even though I haven't had much practice with it… I can win,' Cooper thought to himself as black lightning began to spark from his legs, crashing into the ground of the battlefield, just like Thorne's did.
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Alura was still touching the ground of quadrant three, his eyes still glowing green, and now he was panting loudly as if he were trying to catch his breath. He looked up with a cold stare as he saw Chopper cutting down multiple soldiers, smiling at Alura while he did so. 'His hand-to-hand combat is fierce; there is no way I can beat him in a close-up fight, but… I won't let it get to that. I need to take a more proactive role,' Alura thought to himself as his eyes returned to their original color and he stood up. This caused all of the wooden soldiers to crumble to the earth. "You giving up already? The fun hasn't even started yet!" Chopper exclaimed as he cut down one more soldier and then dashed at Alura. "No, this is just the afterparty," Alura said as he reeled back, and his eyes began to glow with that beautiful emerald green.
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Chopper's eyes widened as, behind Alura, stood a twenty-foot-tall giant, completely made of grass. Alura swung his fist in the air, prompting the Grass Giant to stretch its arm out in an attempt to punch Chopper. Chopper smiled widely as he placed his palm toward the giant arm. "Bear!" Chopper exclaimed as a skeletal jaw of a bear wrapped around the giant's elbow, and as Chopper closed his hand, the bear jaws completely dismantled the giant's arm from its body. As the arm fell to the ground, Alura's eyes widened slightly, but Chopper was chuckling at him, now only about twenty feet away. "At first, I thought you were using wood or just the earth in general, but it turns out this is all just grass, isn't it?" Chopper said with a smirk as he pointed his machete at Alura. This fact caused Alura's eyes to widen with shock.
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Chopper was right to make this assumption, as clumps of earth or wood can be rather difficult to destroy, but Alura had neither of these elements. Alura possessed the Grass Berry, a level one Eloka berry. Even with his strong level of mastery, this fact was hard to overcome in most circumstances. Chopper burst out laughing as he realized he was right. "A Vice Captain with a weak Berry… oh, how the government has fallen," Chopper said with a sly grin, but Alura had had enough of this mockery. "Shut up, you lapdog!" Alura exclaimed, causing the giant to run at Chopper, but Alura suddenly clapped his hands together as the giant ran.
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The grass giant slammed its one remaining fist down in an attempt to hit Chopper, but he dodged it, then sliced at the arm of the monster. Although Chopper had cut the other arm of the giant off, his eyes widened with shock as Alura appeared beside him, a katana made of grass in his hands. Chopper blocked the attack but barely, and as the giant fell to its knees and then onto its back, Alura began to press Chopper, swinging at him with multiple deadly strikes. Chopper blocked the first strike but was cut in the cheek by another slash, causing him to jump back in an attempt to gain some space, but Alura would not give him the chance. Alura threw his palm up towards Chopper, and just as he did this, two giant hands made of grass sprouted from the ground, one on the left and one on the right side of Chopper.
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Chopper was completely taken off guard by this sudden display of power. 'Even though his berry is considered weak, he's able to make pretty good use out of it… that's a Vice Captain for ya,' Chopper thought to himself as the hands began to try and crush him. Chopper smiled as he completely dodged the attack and sprinted at Alura with blinding speed. 'How is he faster now? Was he playing around before?' Alura thought to himself as he clashed with Chopper unexpectedly. "To make a level one berry look this powerful, even against me, is an impressive feat… but this is as far as you go, Vice Captain Alura," Chopper said with a grin. He then jumped back into the air and pointed his palm at Alura. "Tell me how this feels… HIPPO!" Chopper yelled as the large skeletal jaw of a hippo trapped Alura in its teeth.
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Chopper closed his hands, and although Alura tried to dodge, his fatigue had caught up to him. Alura stood there with a face of pure shock as he held his left shoulder. "I think you dropped something," Chopper said as he began to chuckle boisterously. There, lying on the ground beneath him, was Alura's arm, completely decapitated from his shoulder. Blood was pouring from his shoulder, but Alura's face had returned to its normally calm demeanor as grass began to cover his wound and stop the bleeding. "Oh!" Chopper said with an amused smile on his face. "This is a fight, so stop talking so much," Alura said calmly as he stood up, but now his arm had been replaced with an arm made completely of grass. "I'm sorry… I'm just having so much fun!" Chopper said as he pointed his machete at Alura, still boasting a wide smile on his face.
Chapter End