Red vs. White, Round 2! The clash of the Two Heavenly Dragons shakes the Earth, and the unforgivable rage from the past awakens!? Pt. 1

(In Kuoh Town about 6 years ago)

"All right! Today is the day, I finally beat you!" Michael points at Vali as he grins with the utmost confidence to beat his rival.

In the park in town was an empty playground to which a young Michael and Vali stayed in. The two had decided to stay nearby in the field portion of the park since it gave them lots of space to move through. For Michael it would be another attempt to get back at Vali and finally get a win at something. No matter how hard he tried, he could never win and it lists from racing, eating contests, and even the painful staring contests.

He could never win at anything, but he was determined to win today with the challenge he picked.

"Oh really, and just what do you have in mind?" Vali said with a neutral expression.

"Hehehehe!" Michael laughed childishly, "For today's challenge, we're going to do-!"

Suddenly a change of scene occurs as the two young boys now stood in front of two large, tall trees.

"Tree climbing!" Michael declared as he pumps his fist in the air, "The first one to the top is the winner!"

"Tree climbing, you're joking?" Vali looked at Michael with narrow eyes.

"Haha, I, the Great Hanamura never jokes when it comes to challenging you, jerk. So, do you take my challenge on or not, perhaps you are just afraid of losing to me and finally admitting I'm absolutely better than you! Hahahahahahahaha!" Michael laughed immaturely until he opens his eyes to see that Vali wasn't standing next to him anymore, "Huh? Hey, where are you going?"

Michael looks behind himself to see Vali walking away.

"I have no interest to take part in any of your childish games, loser. If you're so intent on climbing a tree then do it yourself." Vali rejected the challenge.

"But you just can't walk away if you do then this is my automatic win!" Michael shouted as Vali continued to walk away.

"It's not a real challenge if your opponent doesn't concede to it at all." Vali responded, "Come back when you actually have something entertaining for me to do, loser."

Normally the silver haired boy was passive and bided his time actually doing these childish games in the past. Azazel would always leave the pair alone to handle some business before coming back the few last hours until evening. He hated the thought of being sucked up into these contests, but being bored is something he can't tolerate. But after going through this annoying scenario of playing such trivial games, it's gotten really agitating to take part in it anymore.

Grinding his teeth at being called that, Michael rushes after Vali and yells,

"You, jerk! Don't just walk away like that, and like I said before, I am not a-!" Michael stops in his tracks to see a nearby flash of light almost blinds him, "Ack! So bright!"

Moving himself from the range of light, Michael shakes his head and looks around for whatever did that.

"Huh, what was that just now?" Michael looked up in wonder before he catches sight of the ray of light which blinded him, rather curious he followed it intently.

"I wonder where this light came from..." Michael who was blinded yet fascinated by it followed the light's trail to a couple of bushes, pushing them aside he gasps in awe at his discovery, "WHOA!"

Right in front of him were a pair of goggles which looked to be brand new. Well, there were some smudges on the lenses and a little of the goggle's paint started to chip away, but it still looked mildly used, so he saw no difference. Picking them up with a breathless expression, Michael smiles,

"So cool~!" Looking around he attempts to see if any passerby had dropped the goggles while walking. He could have expanded his search for the owner who may have dropped it but instead he decided,

"Hehehehe! Well, since I can't find the owner, this automatically becomes mine!" Michael laughed at his sudden ownership of the goggles as he carries it and looked at them closely in pure happiness.

"Hey, loser what do you got there?" Vali who returned asked from behind Michael.

"Oh my Jesus! Don't sneak up on me you, bastard!" Michael quickly spins to face Vali and hid the goggles behind his back.

"You're still a waste of space if you can't even sense my presence when I don't even try to hide it." Vali sighed and shook his head, "Now what's that you got there?"

"Why do you care? I thought you said the trivial things I do aren't entertaining?" Michael tried to steer clear of what was behind his back.

"I did, but not being able to do anything is even worse, my boredom has sunken me so low that I have to ask you of all people to show me what they got, so what is it?" Vali looked conflicted/annoyed with his feelings toward the matter.

"Oi! Stop making it sound like it's such an ordeal to even know about my business!" Michael shouted.

"Whatever. Are you going to show me or are you just going to be holding your arms back like a moron the entire day?" Vali crossed his arms.

Looking peeved and a little pressured, Michael decides to give himself up and show Vali the goggles, "Fine, I found these awesome goggles in some bushes and decided to keep them."

"I-I see…"

Michael kept his eyes closed as he expected another one of Vali's degrading quips about his childishness or his idiocy, and infatuation towards shiny objects. But that didn't happen which made the boy attempt to see why he wasn't getting insulted, and that lead to a paralyzing discovery.

*STARE!*

It was Vali staring at the goggles intently as his eyes too looked at them with the same excitement Michael did from before. The boy's eyes shine as he gazed upon the goggles, the scene was at first off putting but made Michael understand. A huge grin grew on Michael's face as he coughs,

"So, is that all you have to say?" Michael knew of the interest in Vali's eyes.

Catching onto that, Vali quickly masks that face with one of disinterest and says, "Ahem! Of course, those goggles aren't the least bit impressive, they seem to be really used with the chipping pant and those filthy smudges."

Realizing this for himself, Michael could still tell Vali was interested in the goggles like him. He may be trying to hide it, but the few glances he gave back to it proves him right. Smiling, he understands that no matter how stuck up or mature Vali may have seemed he still was a kid just like him. In fact, this just gave him an idea. If Vali likes the goggles then he would somewhat take anything involving it seriously, which would mean Michael could finally get the boy to take him serious in their challenges.

'I wonder…' Michael thought as he saw that both boys were so intent on having the goggles he grinned,

"Alright, time for today's challenge to commence!" Michael yells as he got an idea.

"Just what absurd nonsense are you spouting about now?" Vali raised an eyebrow in question.

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean!" Michael laughs, "For a chance to win, I hereby challenge you to a fight to determine who gets to keep these goggles!"

"A fight?" Vali said.

"Yes, a fight me against you, mano-e-mano!" Michael saw the unsurprised look on Vali's face.

"That sounds absolutely pointless, you know how this will end, usually with me being the winner." Vali looked away and crossed his arms.

"Shut up! Like you'd ever be the winner this time since we're putting these babies on the line!" Michael indicated the goggles, "And just to warn you I have no plan on losing, these goggles will absolutely be mine and I will finally beat you!"

"Hmph! Like I said pointless you expect me to take part in some fight over some used goggles?" Vali asked.

"Of course you saw them the same way I did, so you have to take this seriously! A man who doesn't even care to fight for what he wants isn't man at all!" Michael shouted.

"You do remember we're only 11 years old, right?" Vali reminded.

"Rrrgh! Enough of that! Are you just going to make excuses like the chicken you are, or are you going to fight for these goggles like a man!" Michael ignored Vali's last comment and urged the boy to fight him, an opportunity came up to actually go against a serious Vali with everything there's no way he can back out now.

'I'm sick and tired of always losing today is the day I finally get a win.' Michael's steeled eyes grew with confidence.

"So do you take the challenge or not, I won't back down no matter what and show you I'm not a loser." Michael sounded less like the arrogant boy he was now someone who meant business.

"…!" Vali notices this and rubs his chin, something inside of him felt anxious and eager? What is that he was gaining some excitement from the black-haired boy?

'This feeling? Why do I suddenly feel the urge to actually fight this kid?' Looking off to the side, Vali begins to think things over about the offer, 'Before, I would've just shrug off his stupid challenges and get things over with but now I actually find myself curious to engage in combat with him.' Deciding things over Vali finally chooses to go along with his curiosity and figure out his sudden eagerness.

Sighing while shaking his head Vali replied, "Fine you win, but it still won't change a thing, but knowing how the past results where I guess it won't last more than a single minute."

"Grrrgh! It's not going to be like the last time!" Michael raised his fist in anger, somewhere inside of him he felt a little happy that Vali accepted the challenge.

"Right, like the other 47 times you said it, the end will always be the same and you'll just end up as a pitiful loser." Vali smirks and closes his eyes as he acted all smug.

"You bastard that's it! Today is the day I school your ass, and I'll prove that I'm no loser and that I'm actually better than you!" Michael shouted once more.

"I'm standing right in front of you, shouting constantly like that isn't a sign of being better than me." Vali shook his head.

"Whatever let's do this for these goggles. We'll decide who's the better one out of the both of us!" Michael declares.

Standing farther apart from one another both Michael and Vali stood on a field readying themselves before their fight begins. On a lone branch atop a climbable tree hung the goggles, their prize for whoever won. Looking at one another with serious expressions Michael was the first one to think,

'This is it, my time to finally show Vali up and prove I'm truly great.' Michael hardened his glare towards the young boy.

"…" Vali remained quiet as he kept his usual neutral expression, which pissed Michael off since he couldn't read the guy's emotion at all.

"Okay then since we're doing this let's start off with a countdown from 3 to 1." Michael explained.

"A countdown huh? I never expected someone as uncivilized as you to come up with that. Honestly, I expected you to come barreling at me without warning. So, I must congratulate you for proving you actually do have an inkling of thought in that brain of yours." Vali mocked Michael hoping to get the boy's old angered response.

But that didn't happen instead Michael just started,

"3…"

Vali looks up to see Michael trying to get into a fighting pose with the very little experience he has. He could actually see the boy wasn't playing around; taking this fight very serious. Getting that weird feeling of eagerness, Vali grew ready in his more leveled fighting stance and faced Michael.

"Hmhmhm, seems like you really are serious, so I guess I'll go along with it…" Vali smirks.

Suddenly the focus of the scene between the two boys was blinded by the sun up in the air which rays blocked the entire image until it started to die down to reveal something else…

(Present, 6 years later)

*WHOOOOOOOOSH!*

The sun's light rays dimmed down to reveal a rocky wasteland with no signs of life whatsoever only the vast emptiness of the forgotten land. Shining upon two figures, the sun reveals Michael standing across from Vali. Both were glaring at one another with their opposing auras slowly rising.

"If we're going to take things seriously, then let's start over because of my abrupt statement." Past Vali's voice echoed, "…3."

Vali readies himself by raising his guard, he predicted that the one to make the first move would be Michael, so he decided to stay patient and watch things play out. He felt very assured that he could handle any attack that Michael throws his way. However, he still kept wary because of Michael's abnormal fighting patterns. The goggled teenager had a tendency to do things out of rhythm which could be used in his favor to catch his opponent off guard.

Smirking, Vali knew that to gain a better advantage would be to take things slow and manage to stay patient. By doing that he'll gain access to any openings, and from what he could examine from Michael's current stance; there were already multiple openings.

"…2." Past Michael's voice echoed.

Taking a few short steps forward, Michael slowly crept towards Vali while holding his fighting stance. He tried sizing up his opponent before acting, but saw no current opening that he could take right off the bat. This could be one example of Vali's talent, especially, with close combat. Grinning, Michael decided if he couldn't find an opening, then he'd just have to make one.

[Boost!]

He starts to stockpile his strength just in case as he prepares to do a head on assault using the touki covering his body. Automatically, he starts to maximize the output as best as he currently can to enhance his physical abilities.

A few seconds of silence came over them as they themselves instinctively went off by a countdown, subconsciously. Getting close to the final count both unconsciously announced the last number,

""1!""

Michael kicked off the ground to initiate the first attack as he charges at Vali as he spins his body around while coating his entire right leg with touki. Increasing his speed, Michael made sure to aim the attack for Vali's head.

"Hm!"

*Thud!*

Vali raises his forearm to catch the kick with little effort even though it almost took him by surprise by how fast Michael was, "Nice try. You may have gotten faster, but that won't do much if you don't bother to put much power into the kick itself."

"Too bad for you, jerk. I wasn't even trying to get you with this feint." Michael mocked him, as he slowly pulls his leg back from Vali.

"What?" Vali questioned, until he realizes the flowing aura of touki around Michael's body which increased the fluidity and the speed of his reflexes. With a close-up advantage Michael lands on the ground, a couple of inches from Vali and clenches his fist.

"Because I was trying to get close enough to do this!" Michael leans in and dug his fist directly into Vali's gut.

THUD!

"…!"

Vali focused enough of his demonic energy to harden his muscles took the attack with no damage, but the notion of almost being caught off guard angers him quite a bit.

"You…" Unbeknownst to him a small magic circle formed itself on his midriff.

"Not strong enough eh? Then how about this!" Michael intended to attempt another kick to Vali's head.

"Hehehe! Don't think that I'll allow you to get away with that a second time." Vali copies the same action almost perfectly.

*KHIN!*

Both the kicks clashed and forced the two apart.

"What the-?" Michael gasped, 'He copied that attack to cancel out my own?'

"Hmph!"

*BAM!*

"Argh!"

Catching Michael off guard, Vali uses this chance to elbow the teen in the jaw, causing him to stagger back, but that wasn't enough to flinch Michael back as the teen continued to just barrel on in with both fists ready.

"Not yet!" Michael grunts as he fires his first few punches at Vali, who cocks his head back and forth dodging it. The rapidity of his blows was impressive and well thought out as Vali had to try and predict each attack's intended destination.

"Good, your hits are getting harder to read this time. You made some good progress over these last few days. But that still won't change a thing if you can't land a single hit!" Vali reaches out and grabs onto one of Michael's wrists stopping his punches.

"Guh!" Michael grits his teeth as he was forced to one side as Vali places a single hand in front of his face.

"Now fly away…" Vali's hand emitted a dangerous white aura.

He was about to fire a blast of dragon power at point blank range!

Learning from the last fight, Michael knew that he needed to get Vali to stay in one place or it'll be difficult to lay a finger on him. So, with a little trouble, he was able to latch his trapped hand onto Vali's hand as the other latched onto Vali's other wrist.

"Got ya now!" Michael roared as he uses his free hand and aimed it at Vali, who was unreactive to the incoming attack…no, he wasn't too slow to realize this, he was-!

"Do you honestly believe that the same trick will work on me twice?" Vali remarked as he stopped his premeditated attack and caught Michael's fist before it reached him.

"Uh-Oh!" Michael gasped.

"You're an idiot, if you believe that I'll be stupid enough to fall for that." Vali smirked.

"I know." Michael smiled out of nowhere.

"Excuse me?" Vali blinked.

"That's why I didn't use touki for it!" Michael grinned as he starts to lean back initiating his second part of the attack.

"…?"

[Boost!]

Michael boosted the power of his Touki and channeled it into a single point.

Vali's eyes widened as he just now realized how easy it was to catch the hit. So, if the touki wasn't transferred to the fist, then where would it have gone?

Looking down, Vali saw Michael slowly lean back and suddenly jump straight up, while now holding onto both of Vali's wrists with a grin. Realizing what was going to happen, Vali clicked his tongue.

"You clever little-"

*SWIIIISH!*

"The Great Hanamura Kick: Boot to the Head edition!" Michael flat out named another basic technique after his own name, he still felt proud of it no matter what anyone else would say. But that was to say he would feel mostly proud of it; if only it didn't fail to connect against Vali's chin.

"Crap!" Michael noticed how fast Vali released his grip on him, and used a pulse of demonic power to force his hands off the dark silvered haired male's wrists.

"Ngh…!" Vali grits his teeth as he was barely able to dodge the attack with how fast Michael shot his foot through their linked arms. Had he not figure out the attack beforehand, then it really would have connected and left substantial damage. The only thing that Michael's swift kick did was snip off a few strands of Vali's hair.

Seeing the apparent changes in Michael's fighting style, Vali started to look a little excited and showed a little smirk before calming himself down.

'Yeah, if I continue like this I can make him get serious!' Michael grins as he lands a couple of feet away from Vali.

"Making a trick, within a trick. I should have seen that one coming, considering that you do tend to be stubborn when it comes to childish pranks." Vali insulted.

"Well, then that must make you an idiot because this childish guy pulled something over your eyes!"

Michael responded back much to Vali's annoyance as being called that by Michael was something he could not tolerate.

But ignoring that statement, Vali decided to finally engage his opponent.

"If you don't mind, I'll take my turn now." Vali starts to slowly lean forward while aiming his left fist to Michael's face.

'He's going too slow. What is he talking abo-?' Michael thought as his guard grows lax.

[Michael, focus! You'll get hit if you don't raise your guard!] Ddraig warned his partner.

"But he's going too slow to eve-?"

*BAM!* *BAM!* *THUD!*

"Aaaaaaaagh!"

Michael received a sharp punch to the cheek followed by a jab to the stomach ending with him receiving a swift kick to the chin. Spiraling in the air, Michael was trying to understand what had just happened before he gets himself together and lands a couple of feet away from Vali.

"What the hell!?" Michael panted and wiped his bloody lip.

"It's sad that you actually fell for that. Honestly, I was worried that you'd at least catch on to my delayed stance. Well, I guess that's my fault for having the slightest glimmer of any expectation in you at all." Vali mocked.

"Grrr! Shut up!" Michael clenches his fist as he focused his dragon aura into his hand. The amount that he collected was far too great for him to control on his own, but luckily the arm bracelet that Azazel gave him managed to maintain the amount of power to a controlled form.

The bracelet shimmered with a bright pink light as it completed its function.

'Isn't that one of…?' Vali examined the arm bracelet.

"Take this! One of my special attacks!" Michael starts to breathe calmly as he surrounds his entire arm with Touki along with adding the destructive effects to the dragon sphere as it now swirled with red and white aura.

"Special attack?" Vali repeated.

"Yeah, and it's been a while since I used it. Not to mention that you'll be the first one, that I seriously mean to use it on. Unlike…last time." Michael gritted his teeth at the bitter memory as a flash image of a crying Koneko flashed in his mind.

Watching upon realization of what Michael meant, Akeno exclaims, "That technique!" Akeno remembered that move it was the same one, he had used on Riser's Queen from the Rating Games.

"…" Koneko watched closely in silence, she had heard Michael had gotten angry over her sudden retirement during the rating game and used such a dangerous technique out of rage against the Riser's queen. Feeling compelled to watch, she wanted to see just how serious the move that he's about to use was really worth avenging her loss.

"Now eat this! My new and improved Dragon Burst Drill!" Michael roared and fired the sphere which shot out a rapid, intense wave of red/white aura in the form of a beam, its appearance looked very dangerous. However, to Vali, he just shrugged it off as another attempt to intimidate him.

"If you're trying to scare me with such a showy attack, then you must be insane." Vali raises his hand and created a file of thick barriers protecting him from the front intending to negate the attack, but…

*PRAAANG!* *PRAAANG!* PRAAANG!* *PRAAANG!*

"What?"

Vali gasped as his barriers began to shatter as only a few remained while the rest that got broken dulled out the brunt force attack. Any more power backing it up, then it would have reached Vali in no time.

Intending to do just that, Michael continued to pour more power into his attack disregarding his increase of dragon aura.

*PRAAAANG!*

'He's actually pushing me back?" Vali grunts as he tried to put more defense into his barriers, but the drilling beam hitting against them always seemed to whittle down their recovery rate.

"Hah! How do you like that, asshole? Don't underestimate, the Great Hanamura! Now all I have to do is-!"

*THROBB!* *THROBB!* *THROBB!*

Michael stops midway and gripped his arm in pain, "Gargh!"

Azazel exclaimed, "That brat! Didn't I tell him not to push it past his limits?"

"Michael-san." Asia worriedly cried.

The numb feeling of pain grew back in Michael's arm. It was severe, but it distracted his concentration with his attack which needs a whole lot of it if he wanted to boost its power to overtake the last of the barriers.

'Did this seriously just happen?' Vali thought as he was able to hold back the blast which power has started to dwindle down in size until it dispersed, 'The added effects of the Touki produced a much stronger blast. How exciting. But for some reason, I dislike the notion that I've been almost caught off guard by this loser's attack more than once.'

Vali glared at Michael in annoyance as the creeping feeling of dissatisfaction slowly welled up within him, but he didn't feel it towards Michael, yet. So, he had no clue where it was directed to.

"Gurgh!" Michael's arm twitches in pain, "Oh come on! This again? But I'm wearing the bracelet!"

[You are, but that still doesn't mean you can't go over the bracelets limits. You still receive the little amount of power it couldn't control for you.] Ddraig advised,

[Just look at it now.]

Following Ddraig's advice, Michael looked to see that the dragon was right about the bracelet as it was starting to crack under the pressure that Michael applied to it with his Dragon Power.

[Pushing your dragon energy unconsciously could have done much more than make your arm go numb. If you hadn't have used Touki to shield your arm, then it would have been much worse.] Ddraig explained.

'You're right. If it wasn't for that tip that the Ero-Ossan gave me it could have been much worse.' Michael clenched his fist and nodded, 'I've been getting help from him a lot lately, so I can't keep messing up like this.'

"I have to give you props, Hanamura. That attack was impressive, but not completely effective. Do you seriously think using an attack that you can barely handle could beat me?" Vali raises both his arms once he sees Michael raising his arm in the air.

[Boost!]

"I don't know. Usually stuff like that works whenever I fight someone who pisses me off? Oh, and guess what? You're pissing me off, too." Michael swings his arm and uses another call along with his boosted energy.

[Blade!]

*SHIIING!*

"So, let's fix that." Michael growled as he charges at Vali as he brandished Ascalon.

"We'll see about that."

"Hyaaaaaah!"

*SHIIIING!* *WHOOOSH!* *SHIIING!* *WHOOOOSH!* *SHIIIIIIIING!* *BANG!*

Getting close enough, Michael swings Ascalon with horizontal to vertical arcs to assault Vali, but his inexperience with a blade was his downfall once Vali caught on to his inexperience to easily dodge his attacks.

"I take it that you have no experience with a sword do you, Hanamura?" Vali dodged a swing to his right shoulder.

"Hah! You must be joking! I've been practicing the way of the sword for a long time now! So don't think that this will be a walk in the park for you!" Michael shouted as he thrusts his blade at Vali, who all but leaned back to get away from its range.

"Oh, really? Then how long have you trained with that thing?" Vali asked.

"Well, uh… I mean, I've been using it for the past…" Michael tried to lie.

[Day. He's been using for only the past day when he got it.]

"Wow, how sad pathetic." Vali laughed at Michael's pitiful display of swordsmanship.

"Ddraig, why!?" Michael shouted, "You're supposed to be on my side!"

[I am on your side, but dragging it on with your pointless gloating will just prolong the fight. Stay focused and pay attention.]

"Why you…!" Michael seethed with anger.

"It seems you can't even control that dragon of yours, Hanamura. It saddens me to see how you, the host, are constantly getting support from your, partner. I mean rea-." Vali went on to talk about Michael's relationship with Ddraig until…

'Now while he's talking!' Michael thought as he clenched his clawed fist, 'Element of surprise!'

{Vali, in front of you!} Albion warned.

"Hm?" Vali opens one eye at the warning.

[Boost!]

"Extend!"

"Tch!"

Michael extended Ascalon's longer blade at Vali, who was didn't pay attention on time to dodge the blade's edge completely.

*SCHLICK!*

The edge of the blade grazed his cheek.

'Hah! Got him!' Michael smirked.

"Tch!"

Seeing the blood trickle down from his face, Vali gritted his teeth in a little anger at being even grazed by the teen and suddenly disappeared from where he stood.

His speed was phenomenal, even when he wasn't using his sacred gear, he was still able to elude Michael's sight.

"Huh, where did he go?" Michael looked around frantically for Vali.

"Sshhh! I'm right behind you…" Vali whispered from behind Michael.

"H-Hu-!?"

*BAM!*

"Bluurgh!"

Instinctively whipping his head around Michael met the blunt side of Vali's elbow connecting against the side of his head.

"…!"

*PIIIIING!*

"Ugh!"

Vali forces his palm forward and created a pulse of demonic power that forced Michael back with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What's wrong, Hanamura? Can't keep up?" Vali wiped off the blood on his cheek then licked it off. He would make sure the punk wouldn't get so much as a scratch on him, unless he was truly serious in the fight. He just needed to gauge his strength before continuing.

"Hah, you kidding? I'm just getting started!" Michael wipes his lip as he decides to go in for another attack.

"Really? Then I hope that you're ready for this."

*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!*

"Oh, you have got to be kidding m-!"

*BAAAAAAAAAANG!*

Vali extends his hand out and fires a merciless barrage of dragon powered energy volley blasts at Michael, who covered his upper body with his arms and guarded his entire body with Touki to deal with the brunt force of the attacks. Still rushing through Vali's ongoing attack, Michael still struggled to take even little steps to get through the almost endless blasts because of the continuous blasts the only thing that could be seen was a large cloud of dust which surrounded the entire field.

"Still needs a little more…" Vali muttered to himself as he increased the power behind the volley blasts and sent out a few more infused with different elemental attributes mostly: Fire, Lightning and Ice.

*DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!* *DON!*

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

"There we go." Vali smirked as he saw that the damage being dealt was exactly the amount he wanted.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeag-ngh!" Michael screamed in pain as the endless barrage of magic bullet pelted against his body, but he still pushed through to gain at least some more distance from Vali and since this heavy, dense cloud of smoke was forming with every blast coming his way he had an idea ready to go.

XXX

Watching from the outside were the leaders, the occult research club, and part of the student council (Sona and Tsubaki), who viewed upon the huge crystal ball like image in the sky which revealed the two facing off. If it were possible the leaders would find, who was responsible for making that separate space. But with Azazel asking them to please hold off on the search surprised them as the man kept watching the two young men fight without looking away from the screen, understanding Azazel's wish the other leaders decided to just relinquish themselves to the request and watch.

"Michael…" Rias watched in worry as the fight seemed to be growing more in Vali's favor.

XXX

"That should be enough for now." Vali stops his barrage to look at the large cloud of smoke he created, "Now let's see what kind of state you're in."

Vali watched for a moment as the smoke started to clear only to see a bright red light emanate from within.

"Dragon Shot!" A huge red beam of concentrated dragon power aimed directly at Vali.

"How basic." Vali jumps high into the air.

*DOOOON!* *CRASH!*

The red beam tore through at least 3 rock formations before exploding a distance away.

"Impressive, but you still lack control. Now let's see you reveal yourself, loser." Vali slowly lands back on the ground while looking through the smoke as it clears.

[Boost!]

"How many times do I have to tell you?"

Rising from within the smoke was a shining red light as Michael boosted up his strength while hiding within the smoke as it slowly lets up to reveal his somewhat injured body. The blows of the different attribute magic bullets could penetrate his Touki clad body, but it wasn't that harmful to completely defeat him.

Looking satisfied with how Michael was still standing after receiving that merciless attack, Vali smirked and could only grow more excited in what he was currently doing now.

[Boost!]

"I am not a Loser!" Michael grabbed onto his right wrist as a bright red, shining ball of demonic and dragon power floated over the tips of his index and middle finger. Slowly raising the ball of power at Vali, who stood ready to dodge it.

"Another attack like before? Keeping this up will force you to run out of energy." Vali sighed as he wanted this fight to pick up already.

*Bwoooooooooooon!*

"Hmm?" Vali noticed the ball of energy growing brighter.

[Boost!]

"Shut up…" Michael panted heavily as he mentally strained himself into concentrating a certain condition for his next attack,

"You should be worrying about yourself… You still haven't been taking me seriously, and I've had it! So, I'm going to make you get serious with this attack. I'm finally going to make sure you have to use your Sacred Gear."

[Remember, you should only pour enough power that you're comfortable with using.] Ddraig reminded.

'Don't worry, Ddraig, I've got this.' Michael thought as he smirked once he saw the magic circle he placed on Vali's chest reveal itself once.

"You're going to make me use my Sacred Gear with just a single attack? I'd like to see you try." Vali narrowed his eyes, challengingly.

'Okay, Michael remember... Use the demonic power as a trigger while allowing the dragon energy to shoot out like a shotgun!' Michael focuses his aims towards Vali, who was prepared to dodge the attack.

"If you honestly that believe such a straightforward attack will get me, then just do it. I'll prove you wrong like always." Vali instigated Michael to shoot.

Smirking, Michael laughed, "Okay…you asked for it! So, don't complain like a baby after receiving a taste of my Dragon Multishot x 5!"

*DOON!*

A thin beam of red dragon energy shot itself at Vali who tried to make sense of the name,

"Multishot?"

Dodging it by jumping up in the air, Vali smirked, "It was easy to dodge, but by the looks of it. It didn't seem to matter if I did. Hanamura, are you sure you actually placed that much faith into this attack because I still have yet to use my Sacred Gear."

"Heh, Dragon Break!"

*SNAP!*

Michael snapped his fingers and activated the small magic circle placed on Vali's chest.

*DWOOON!*

*SWEEERVE!*

The thin beam of energy redirected itself back at Vali, who was seen still floating into the air about to land.

"It's coming back?"

*SWOOOSH!*

Vali wondered then unfurls his 4 pairs of devil wings to evade the attack by flying side to side, looping around in the air, and even forcing it to crash and disperse against a rock formation, but the beam still endured and followed him.

"You can't escape!"

*CRACK!*

Michael shouted then bit his lip as the arm bracelet cracks once more, he had barely used it and yet the power that he used would always be over his limit.

[Michael, you've used too much power again! At this rate not just the bracelet, but your body will sustain critical damage.]

"Look, everything is fine. Besides with this attack, I'll make sure that Vali will get serious against me." Michael laughed, "And I can't pull anything lame looking, or else I'll look like a total chump compared to what Vali did to those magicians earlier!"

[This is a battle between the Welsh Dragon and Vanishing Dragon. You shouldn't use it to show up your rival, in this fight you may lose your life. Wouldn't it have been faster to fight him with your Balance Breaker and force him to do the same?]

"Hehehehe! Who said anything about me dying?" Michael grinned then sounded serious, "I know I sure won't. I finally got this chance to prove I'm just as better than Vali and I'm not going to blow it!"

[…]

"He's always been ahead of me in everything. From the simplest of skills to the most difficult of challenges. I couldn't even imagine myself accomplishing most of the things he does. He seemed perfect doing whatever he wanted, and I couldn't beat him even once." Michael clenched his fist,

"It was really frustrating, knowing that I could never even beat someone better at everything than me. I was jealous. I even felt that if he actually went all out in anything I challenged him in, then I would lose for sure. But after that day, we fought over these." Michael fixed his goggles,

"I found that he was actually taking me serious and I can't explain it, but I was really happy. I was happy that I found myself getting closer and closer to beating him. So that's why I've decided if I wanted to make him respect me, then I'll just have to force him to use all of his power!"

Michael nodded as his eyes shone with determination.

[*Sigh!*]

"I may seem selfish, but put up with it for a little while longer OK, partner?" Michael rubbed his nose.

[I knew that trying to persuade you would be a waste of time, so I won't even bother. But it's because of that selfishness, you were able to get this far, so do your best, Partner.]

"Osu!" Michael encouragingly nods as he readies himself in a stance, while raising up his touki to cover his body.

Still getting chased, Vali still checked on the beam, which was starting to catch up to him. He was sure his speed would outmaneuver it, but it appears it was catching up with him. No, wait, it was catching up and matching his speed to boot.

'It's not getting shaken off. What is making it follow my body?" Vali wondered then realized a flashing glow on his chest to where he discovered the magic locator circle Michael placed on him. Smirking in astonishment, Vali thought,

'Using a marker to make sure his attacks would follow me? That's brilliant. You're making this really entertaining, Hanamura!' Vali stops his flying away and places his palm out towards the beam approaching him.

XXX

"He stopped?" Xenovia wondered why Vali would stop in front of an attack like that.

"Is he trying to take it on headfirst?" Irina wondered out loud as well.

XXX

"This will be too easy, if I can't just dodge it, then I'll crush it with my own hands." Vali gave a smug grin.

Upon it enclosing in on him, Vali grasps the thin beam like it was child's play. He would have dodged it, but decided to test it out himself as he tried to crush it and see how long it would last. But as soon as he did his finger suddenly were forced away from the attack. Widening his eyes, Vali could feel that this attack had hidden layers within itself with tons of energy.

"It seems you realized the secret of my attack!" Michael raised his hand about to snap his fingers, "It's different from my ordinary dragon shot, but don't worry its not that different. With the help of the boosted gear and my inability to control magic as well as my friends. I managed to multiply its power and explosive output to match that of a shotgun!"

"…!" Vali's eyes widen, "You mean…!"

"That's right! That attack has at least 5 Maxed out Dragon Shots crammed into one and your about to eat it!" Michael roared.

"5 Dragon Shots merged into one?" Raynare gasped at the thought considering she saw the destructive capabilities of one Dragon Shot before, but the thought of more compacted into one felt a little overwhelming.

'This is bad. At this range it might cause me some trouble, I have to retreat and-!'

Vali made consideration to draw back, but it was too late.

"Blow away!"

*SNAP!*

*BAAAAAAAAAANG!* *DOOOOOOOOON!*

The beam intensifies as it grew larger and shot itself at Vali, sending the teen higher up into the air. Vali was unprepared and struggled to fix himself from being pushed back by the blast.

"Nrgh!" Vali gritted his teeth.

"Uoooooooooooh! That's not all! Here! Have another!" Michael roars louder and snapped his fingers once more.

*BAAAAAAAAAAAANG!* *DOOOOOOOOOOON!*

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoh!"

The Dragon Shot's power multiplied by itself as it exploded against Vali's hands a second time. Things were getting too drastic that the pressure forced Vali to catch the attack with both of his hands. Cursing himself for letting his guard down more than once, Vali roars and manages to stop the attack from advancing as it slows down.

'He's starting to push it back? Then it looks like I have to use the remaining 3 shots in one go!' Michael attempted to do that but then a numbing pain entered his arm.

*THUMP!* *THUMP!*

"Guuuurgh!" Michael's arm recoils in pain as he gripped the arm he snapped his fingers with.

XXX

"What's happening to Michael?" Rias gasped as she watched Michael experience extreme pain, but from what he was the one doing all the attacking.

"He said that attack was equivalent to a shotgun, correct? Then that must be why he's feeling pain." Sirzechs answered.

"Shotgun?" Asia tilts her head in question, not very informative about guns.

Walking up besides Asia was Raynare, who was explained,

"A shotgun holds enough horse power to bring a large man down with one shot, but for every shot it makes, it has a drawback, or what you call a recoil. Usually there is a momentary waiting period before another shot is fired. There's also…Asia-chan?"

"Drawback…recoil…shot…" Asia muttered.

Raynare noticed the smoke coming out of Asia ears, who still tried to process the whole shotgun information while trying to connect it to Michael's situation.

"What she's basically saying is that the brat's attack is hurting his arm every time he uses that technique." Azazel simplifies the explanation.

"Then why doesn't the mutt just let the attack do it by itself, Azazel-sama?" Mittelt asked as she watched Michael's pained expression in worry. What? No, she wasn't worried over that stupid devil mutt! Don't get the wrong idea, you idiots! Silly IDIOTS!

"I don't know. That's something you should be asking him instead of me." Azazel rubbed his chin the smirked,

"But if I were to make a guess, I think he believes his explosive power is more effective while being kept under control which is probably why he decided to use it like this. An untamed explosion is much simpler than just letting it do it by itself, don't you all agree?"

Akeno nods silently to herself as she remembered the magic lessons she had with Michael and once, he so much as tried to form and higher-level spells with little control it always ended in a big explosion.

"So, he was able to make due with one of his biggest issues and turned it into such a powerful attack?" Xenovia watched in awe.

"But the pain that he's feeling…" Rias had worry filled in her eyes, the thought that she couldn't help him in this battle and could just only watch as he gets hurt was torture for her.

"Must be the full brunt of those explosions, he lets loose with each shot of his attacks. His fingers are the trigger and the arm is probably the barrel where he controls the power shunted at Vali." Raymond takes it upon himself to say.

XXX

"Now once more!" Michael bites his lip to dull the pain, and snaps his fingers once more releasing a powerful ton of explosive energy at Vali.

"This is starting to look a little troublesome." Vali grunts to himself as he sees how far back he's being pushed up into the air, "Incredible, he's able to do so much of this after training for only a few days? He must have done something unusual after out last fight!"

Grinning with a battle-maniac expression, Vali could only laugh, "Hahahahahahahaha! Incredible, Michael Hanamura! You're meeting all the expectations of my plan completely!"

Yes, very soon…in fact, it's so soon that he could just let things play out after this attack is over!

"I don't know what you're laughing about, but prepare to take on my next attack!" Michael places both hands forward, "Double Barrel!"

*SNAAAAAAAAAAAAP!*

*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*

The blast skyrocketed as it made Vali lose his grip on the blast and get hit by the attack, which now made contact with the magic circle marker on his chest. The blow from the energy was so dangerous that Vali gritted his teeth as some blood was forced to come out through them.

"Erck!" Vali tried to push himself away from the blast, but it still followed him no matter what he tried, 'How careless of me...'

*BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!* *DOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!*

*KABOOOOOOOOM!*

The massive energy beam carried Vali high up into the air and filled the sky with a giant red explosion.

"He got him!" Irina smiled happily for her childhood friend.

"That unstable amount of power was used to his advantage, but it still left a considerable amount of damage, and more…" Katerea adjusted her glasses.

"And more?" Serafall looked to Katerea, who points to Azazel, who looked at Michael with a disappointed expression.

Only groaning at the sight, he just shook his head,

"Idiot…"

Panting in exhaustion while trying to ignore the numbing pangs going through his arms, Michael shook his head and grinned, "There...now he'll have to take me serious." Michael felt accomplished as he watched the explosion still light up the sky after his attack. His arms felt double the recoil after that last dual shot. This power might have been beneficial, but it was also deadly for the user should he go over his own natural limit.

Touki would have held back the pain, but he chose not to use it or else the explosiveness wouldn't have been that effective. And knowing how using weak attacks only make Vali more of a smart-ass, Michael decided to shut his arrogant mouth up with one of his new powerful, signature moves.

[Partner, the arm bracelet…]

"I know…" Michael looked to see a few more cracks on the arm bracelet grow more and more before it…

*CRACKLE!* *CRACKLE!* *CLING!*

Fell apart and broke into pieces onto the ground, it tried its best to maintain Michael's power, but the poor thing just couldn't keep up with the boy's recklessness.

"Whoops! I guess that I should have been more careful with it, huh?" Michael laughed.

[You fool this isn't the time to be laughing that was supposed to be used for your Balance Breaker. Now you'll be fighting in danger while having the chance of damaging yourself along with you going against an opponent, who can fully use their Sacred Gear!] Ddraig scolded.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make do. Am I right?" Michael chuckled and gave his signature grin, "So let's start that countdown and get serious!"

[Were you even listening to me? I told you if you use your Balance Breaker now, you'll be at risk of killing yourself! If you had just used it in the beginning of the battle or released those restraints, you're master placed on you, then things wouldn't have gotten this bad!]

"So, what? I wanted to fight him at his level without using Balance Breaker! It was a matter of pride, Ddraig…" Michael muttered and crossed his arms with a pout.

[No, it was a matter of selfishness and being stubborn!]

XXX

Looking at a mirror image of someone she knew, Katerea groaned and pinched her temples,

"Oh dear, Maou…"

"Huh, is something the matter Kate-chan?" Serafall looked back to her adviser.

"Yes, because apparently Kai has a servant as selfish as him." Katerea groaned.

"Really?" Serafall blinked then shakes her head, "No, that's not true! My Kai-chan is way more selfish and stubborn than anyone I've ever known, including me!"

"You shouldn't being saying that like it's a good thing!" Katerea sweatdropped.

A familiar voice suddenly laughs,

"I don't know...it's been working for me, a lot, and I've managed to live this far, so…"

"Not now, Kai!" Katerea turns to see Kai scratching his cheek and watching the brawl between the two Heavenly Dragon. But then takes a few seconds to register this before, she whips her head back to spot the man standing right near her, along with the others, who were shocked by his sudden presence, except for the leaders.

Everyone exclaimed,

"Kai/-chan/sama/Nii-sama!"

"Yo." Kai simply raised a hand and greeted everyone.

"Kai-chan!" Serafall tackles Kai, who withstood the tackles force and pets his wife's head to which she replied with nuzzling her head against his hand, affectionately.

"Nii-sama? When did you get here?" Sona asked.

"Well, it was actually by coincidence, but I made it just in time to help your peerage with an Evil Dragon case in the gym, see?" Kai points over his shoulder to the Student Council members, along with what seemed to be a battered Saji, who was leaning on the shoulders of Tsubasa Yura, and Momo Hanakai.

Nearby, a worried Ruruko Nimura watched out for her senior's health.

In the arms of Sona's knight, Tomoe Meguri was a sleeping Shura. While staring at the cute boy, Tomoe wore a content expression on her face.

"Everyone!" Sona and Tsubaki rushed over to the group.

"Shura-chan!" Serafall then casts Kai aside with a push and rushed after them as Katerea just gave up on restraining the woman.

"Kaichou! Please help, Gen-chan! His wounds are very critical!" Momo cried as she and Tsubasa placed the injured Saji on the ground for Sona to look over.

"His injuries looked grave, but they're healing fast, so he'll be alright. It would be best just to let him recover this way and regain all of his lost stamina all at once." Sona noticed the work of her brother-in-law already taking root on Saji's body and wished to leave it to heal normally so Saji would be back too full health.

"S-Saji-senpai…" Ruruko looked at Saji with teary eyes and held onto his hand while awaiting his recovery. She seemed to be fond of Saji.

"It's alright. Gen-chan, will be okay. I know he will..." Momo placed a hand on Nimura's shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. There were some tears in her eyes as well, it would seem that she felt the same way about Saji and is going through exactly what Nimura is probably feeling.

"Just what happened in there?" Tsubasa asked.

"We don't know. Everyone was frozen the entire time, except for Saji-kun and Shura-sama. Anything else than that is beyond our knowledge, Fuka-kaichou." Reya Kusaka informed.

"I see, then the only ones, who would know are these two…" Sona decided to touch up on this issue later.

But meanwhile with Tomoe and Serafall.

"Awww~! Look at how adorable he is…" Tomoe blushed as she looked at the innocent expression Shura made while sleeping.

"Excuse me, may I please have my precious Shura-chan back now?" Serafall was impatient to hold her own child but asked nicely at first.

"Awwwww~! But do I have to? I just want to hold onto him just for a little while longer…" Tomoe rubbed her cheek against Shura's. Sona, who watched this just remembered about Tomoe's little thing for little boys.

Before Sona could intervene, she stopped once the atmosphere turned ice cold around them.

"Huh?" Tomoe looks up to see something terrifying.

"I won't ask you again. Give me, my son…" Serafall had on a beautiful smile, but the strained/angry voice that she had beneath it was terrifying. Not to mention the rise of her icy, cold, blue aura surrounding her was flaring each second with annoyance.

"H-Hai! Forgive me!" Tomoe immediately concedes and hands Shura over to Serafall while everyone else who exhibited the scene just sweatdropped.

"My dear, Shura-chan! Don't worry, Mama won't ever let you out of her sight again!" Serafall cries loudly as she held Shura, so tightly that the boy's face was turning blue.

"Onee-sama, you're suffocating him…" Sona pointed out.

"Huh?" Serafall stops and freezes upon hearing that.

"Shishishishishishi! That's my beloved, Sera-chan for you." Kai doted on Serafall in pride.

"It's nice to see you finally arrive, Kai." Sirzechs approached his friend and adviser.

"Oh hey, how have things been going for you guys so far?" Kai greeted.

"You're late." Grayfia harshly stated.

"Ouch! Grayfia-san that was a bit uncalled for, don't you think? Besides I actually have a reason for tha-!"

Kai tried to explain himself, but then Katerea from behind pulled both his cheeks.

"No more excuses, you knew about the meeting and made things difficult by not showing up!" Katerea scolded.

"Yeash, I-I understahnd, pwease, let me gao." Kai nods not at all phased by the cheek pinches.

Walking up to Kai next was S. Michael, who smiled, "It's been a while, Son Kai."

"Hm? Oh, if it isn't Michael, or er… Well, since there's two of you now. I guess I'll have to call you something else…" Kai pulled himself away from Katerea's tiger like grip on his cheeks and rubbed them.

"I see, then how about Brother-In-Law?" S. Michael smiled innocently.

*GLARE!*

Suddenly receiving a cold glare from the back of his head, Kai shook his head and said, "No, no, that won't do at all. It seems rather long…and dangerous for me if you keep bringing that up."

Kai whispered the last part as he noticed that Serafall was staring at him with a couple of ice-cold, blue eyes which had a dangerous glint in them.

"I see, I understand." S. Michael nods.

"So how have Agnes and Gabriel-chan been doing?" Kai asked in a silent whisper.

"They're quite fine. In fact, Agnes just had a small cold on our trip to Japan, so we managed to take care of that a couple of days ago." S. Michael whispered back.

"Thank you… for taking care of them both, while I was forced into absence because of my…current disposition." Kai referred to his devil well-being.

"There is nothing to be worried about, she was actually thrilled with the thought of seeing you once more that see forced me to bring her along. It was the least that I could do for the son of…" S. Michael didn't finish as Serafall pops in between their conversation.

"Hmmm? Is there something you guys are talking about?" Serafall leans mostly on Kai with an accusing glare, "Kai-chan?"

"Nope, nothing, we're fine right, Michael?" Kai sweatdropped.

"Yes, indeed, Kai-dono." S. Michael nods in agreement.

"Hmmmmm?" Serafall said with suspicion.

"I see that you've been rather busy like always, Simian Brat." Azazel approached Kai with a familiar presence that the two knew each other.

"Yeah, a little, but seeing as to how you handled things I decided to take things easy you, Dusty Old Crow." Kai smiled with the same exact airs that Azazel was giving off about him.

Did the two know each other? These thoughts ran through everyone's minds.

"Kai, have you two met each other before?" Sirzechs who had no clue about the two ever making contact questioned.

Both of them shaking their heads at the same time replied,

"No, never met him before in my life."

"No, never met him before in my life."

Sirzechs sweatdropped and said, "I see."

Turning to Rias and her peerage, Kai greeted, "Oh, hello there, Rias-sama. How are things going?"

"Kai-sama, it's been…" Rias casts her gaze to the ground as she couldn't give a straight answer, not when someone she cared about was in a fight that could very well end with his life being lost.

"No need to say it. I understand." Kai shrugged then turned to Koneko with a serious smile, "Also, it's nice to see you too, Koneko-chan. I hope you have been doing well."

"…Y-Yes, Kai-sama…" Koneko answered with a strained voice.

Noticing something, Kai narrowed his eyes as he thought, 'I sense that this orb and that dimension are a part of someone's senjutsu and since I can feel a presence similar to Koneko-chan's then it must be her...' Kai felt the hidden Ki surrounding the orb, it may have been suppressed before, but if the user were to maintain it for the spectators to watch while maintaining a dimension, then it would be obvious to track down the senjutsu user.

"Things seem to be oddly cheerful here, I'd expect everyone to be concerned with the dragons fighting in that dimension."

Hearing a new voice everyone turns to see an approaching Zethyr carrying a knocked out Kiba on his back. The man had placed his suit's jacket over the teenager's body to cover up a few of the untreated wound.

"So, you finally made it? I actually thought that you weren't going to reveal yourself." Kai said.

Looking up at the battle between, Michael and…yeah…the battle between the Heavenly dragons, Zethyr responded,

"Since he's preoccupied at the moment, I doubt that he'll have the time to focus on my presence being here."

Looking a little shocked to see the "Dawn Lucifer" himself, Rias took a glance at the injured Kiba on his back,

"Yuuto!"

"Kiba!"

"Kiba-kun!"

"Kiba-san!"

"Yuuto-senpai!"

Seeing the Gremory Peerage approach him, Zethyr placed Kiba down on the ground and backed away from the group. Gathering around him, Asia attempted to heal him, but was shocked when she saw that most of his wounds were already healed except for one. There was still a huge gash across Kiba's chest, which still bled out, but was reduced after a while. Asia tried her best to heal it, but the depth of the wound was too hard for her to make a full recover on it. The only thing that she was capable of doing was to slow the bleeding.

"So, did you have some trouble on your end?" Kai asked noticing the cut on Zethyr's cheek.

"It was more of a nuisance than trouble, but I guess you can say that it's been dealt with." Zethyr groaned.

"My, my, if it isn't the Original Lucifer's descendant it's quite nice to that you've chosen a different path than your fellow kin." Azazel smiled as he knew that there were a few smart devils, who chose to cast away their pride for the betterment of their race.

"Governor-General." Zethyr narrowed his eyes as he seemed to be familiar with the Fallen Angel.

"Z-Zethyr, when did you get here?" Katerea stuttered, she broke out of her professional facade.

"I've been here for quite some time now, but may I have a report on the current issue?"

"Y-Yes, right away. Well, once we engaged the enemy, we were able to-!" Katerea was interrupted.

"Zethyr."

"…"

Zethyr looked around and stopped when his eyes met Sirzechs'.

The two were both looking at each other with serious stares, this caused some dreadful tension to rise higher.

Realizing something, Kai turned to Katerea and starts to push her away from Zethyr a bit, "I forgot that these two don't really like each other…we should go now…"

Nodding in agreement, Katerea followed Kai away from the two "Lucifers."

"You seem to have given us false information regarding your family." Bringing up some past information, Sirzechs wanted an answer.

Zethyr closed his eyes, and remained complacent with his answer.

"…" Sirzechs analyzed the man for a few more seconds before stepping down, he didn't want to force any answers from him in their current situation, but he will need an explanation about the devil-halfling that was battling Michael-kun, but later after everything was neatly concluded.

XXX

With Michael, the teen still looks up in the air to see the explosion still light up the sky, waiting patiently for Vali for to make his move.

'Did he honestly take that attack rather than just using his sacred gear?' Michael wondered but that guess was proven wrong once.

{Divide!}

A familiar call was heard from above the air as the large explosion was getting divided in half. Michael knew that meant Vali finally used his Sacred Gear, but what happened next was a real shocker to him.

{Divide! Divide! Divide!}

Being reduced the explosion compressed itself and flowed into the figure floating in the middle of the explosion. Soon disappearing, the figure was revealed as a white dragon armored man with his wings of light drawn out.

{Vanishing Dragon Balance Breaker!}

"He's using his Balance Breaker already?" Michael had expected him to use his Vanishing Drive, as Vali slowly descends, he approaches Michael, but still stays flying in mid-air.

Clapping his hands, Vali laughs, "Impressive! You were able to force me this far, I must say you've definitely improved over these past couple days, Hanamura."

Glaring at Vali, Michael remained silent as his eyebrows twitched, the pressure of aura Vali's balance breaker gave off was incredible, and from the looks of it he's finally taking him seriously.

"What's the matter aren't you going to spout on and on about how you made me use this form? Maybe gloat about how powerful you are while talking about yourself in the third person like you always do?"

Vali then kept making guessing before he says,

"Or is it, you felt as though you bit off more than you cou-?"

"Why are you in your Balance Breaker?"

*Whooooooosh~!*

A couple of seconds passed once Michael interrupted as the wind blew against them.

"Excuse me?"

"Why? Why are you in your Balance Breaker form already?" Michael said with a straight face.

"What do you mean you, loser? Isn't this what you wanted? I'm taking this fight seriously." Vali answered while holding an offensive stance.

Shaking his head, Michael said, "Why didn't you use your Vanishing Drive instead?"

"…? What?"

"I want you to use your Vanishing Drive, dumbass!" Michael shouted, "Damn, are you stupid or something? You can't rush this fight; there's all sorts of pacing you have to follow! You can't just skip to the final form already, ya dumbass!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! That is the last thing I want to hear from you!" Vali sounded offended, being called that insult was really damaging, especially, if it came from Michael twice.

"What's the matter with this now? We can actually get serious like you complained about before?" Vali questioned, "Why the sudden hesitation?"

"Yeah, you're right. I wanted you to take me serious, but…but…if we get too serious, then I won't be able showcase my new awesome technique against your Vanishing Drive ability, and I don't want to fight you in Balance Breaker, yet!"

Michael shouted his selfish answer which not only confused Vali but everyone on the outside as well.

"You're not serious, right?"

"Hm!" Michael nods in complete honesty, "Now change back into your regular form, so we can do this correctly!"

"What? Why should I listen to your orders, idiot?" Vali insulted and narrowed his eyes.

"Fine then, if you don't change back, then I'll have to compromise before we continue our fight…" Michael rubbed his chin in thought.

'Is this really happening?' Vali thought in disbelief, at this rate his plans were at a standstill if things won't go his way, then it will get boring fast.

"Oi! This could go a lot faster if you helped me in the thinking, dumbass!" Michael shouted angrily.

Mad at the insult, Vali, fires a magic bullet at Michael and exclaims, "Didn't I tell you? You're the last person, I want to hear that from!"

Dodging to the left of the attack, Michael stuck out his tongue and pulled down his eyelid, "Beh! You missed ya, dumbass!" Michael then started to think once more,

"Now let's figure out a solution."

"…" Vali started to leak a dangerous killing intent towards Michael, who paid no mind to that.

XXX

Watching from the outside, everyone watched the scene with only 2 expressions most of the younger devils and bodyguards were taken off guard by Michael's selfishness.

"Is he actually serious?" Sona sweatdropped.

"That's Michael-kun for you, honestly, why can't he stop acting so selfish at times like this?" Irina shook her head.

"Michael-sama…" Raynare facepalmed.

"That idiot, if he doesn't really try against Vali-sama, then he'll die!" Kalawarner shouted in worry.

While the young participants of the meeting were skeptical of Michael's actions, but the leaders on the other hand.

"Hahahahahahaha! This is priceless! Even the brat's illogical selfishness can stump Vali's calm demeanor!" Azazel was busting a gut from his laughing, from behind him was Raymond who hid a smile while crossing his arms.

"Hmhmhmhm! Oh my, Michael-dono can't seem to take things seriously if it doesn't go his way." S. Michael gave a small chuckle.

"He's a very interesting one, isn't he?" Sirzechs gave an amused smile towards Grayfia, who even cracked a small smile, herself.

"Hahahahaha! He's so serious even though it's not that big of an issue!" Serafall laughed while clinging onto Kai.

"Shishishishishishi! It appears Michael-san is a lot more selfish than I am after all!" Kai laughed.

"I correct my last statement, the two of you are on par with each other when it comes to this." Katerea sweatdropped but couldn't help but crack a smile herself.

The only one among them, who wasn't laughing was Zethyr as he continued to watch the fight while make an observation about the current Welsh Dragon.

'Not too long ago, the tension here was so high that everyone was choked up on it, but after a while when the red dragon emperor started spouting off nonsense in the middle of a fight determining life or death, everyone around here started to freely express worry and the enjoyment of his attitude.' Zethyr thought as he experienced this power before, the power to attract others around him whether they be ally or enemy,

'I have heard that the Red Dragon Emperor was possibly the Reckless in all of history, but for him to make a situation of potential death into a laughing matter isn't something that normal. He certainly holds a power many few as individuals have, and one of that very few is standing right next to me…'

Zethyr takes a glance at the laughing Kai,

'Son Kai, it seems that it's apparent that this boy is your student for him to hold the same attraction on others like you did before… No, it can't be that you must have realized this boy's talent all along since you possess this ability as well. Could it be that you knew of this happening because of your shared…?'

Zethyr's train of thought stopped once the fool known as the Red Dragon Emperor spoke out once again.