Chapter 6: How Have You Been?

Now that the two had gotten a little bit of space, it seemed that the battle had restarted as both parties had taken a few breaths to re-energize themselves and would initiate a proper encounter with their fists. Neither Louise or Dante were fighters that lived on the battle field, but because of their circumstances currently and their knowledge of the other's power, the two just couldn't help but imagine what the fullest extent of their strengths are.

Dante had made the first move! Running forward, and throwing his right hand forward at Louise's neck, Once she noticed where the punch was aimed at, she backed up to try and duck under for a counter! However, Dante had predicted such a counter before he even started to attack, so his blow had been retracted and the kick which Louise aimed for was met with a similar kick!

" You're not bad, You have a little bit of insight and can actually think, It's hard to imagine that you were that little girl that'd cry at every instance of pain. "

Dante used his other foot as a pivot to jump back, but Louise wouldn't give him the chance! She had lunged forward with an explosion to suddenly accelerate her body towards him! Once she had gotten close enough, she used another explosion to aim for a flying and spinning kick! To her dismay, Dante had caught her foot, and kept her stationary in the air.

" I really want to know though, what have you been up to? "

Louise broke the stalemate before Dante had tried so himself, using another explosion to force his arm to recoil back and for the kick to land. She wasn't done however, using more of her booming prowess to get an essential combo of kicks which was ended with a headbutt. Dante had a blocking stance up, by the time the third kick had landed, and was only left with a single scratch on his face from the second kick, he backed up for a second before answering back.

" You know, stuff. It's been a while, I'd love to get to know you more, but you really need some work on your fighting skill! "

This was met with a response of…

" Oh yeah?! I've been fighting my whole- "

Louise had been interrupted as the masked boy finally came to her, extending his arm, which caused Louise to frantically cover herself, but she had been interrupted as his foot suddenly had gone upwards, breaking her block, with him finally closing in on her, his right hand had been placed on her shoulder blade, and his left holding out her other arm. His face leaned in quite close to her, as if they were part of a ballroom dance group.

" I'm easily able to do something like this… "

Louise's lips pursed forward, and a frown appeared on face another discharge occurred near her chest, forcibly abducting her opponent's hand, to a normal person, resistance would equate a shattering of the bone; however, due to his reflexes, Dante's arm had extended letting the girl go.

" You're really trying to get a reaction out of me, huh? "

The girl's legs had been spread apart, her right foot slightly forward and her knees bent. She had been in a ducking position as both of her arms were distal. The noirette had broken a sweat, the usage of her abilities in this fight were much more excessive compared to experiences in the past.

Breathe in… Breathe out… Deep breaths, girl.

She thought about her father's advice for when she panicked as a child. The girl's eyelids had shut itself, an almost meditative look.

Think about the bigger picture and—

A sudden rush in adrenaline caused the teen's eyes to open up, hearing all but a few words along with a single footstep that came from her foe's direction.

" Don't get distracted during a fight, dumbass! "

With Dante taking up a majority of her field of vision, the girl gasped internally, her instincts taking over with her foot suddenly causing the ground to crack due to another outburst which had sent the girl flying backwards at blistering speeds, with her senses coming back mid-flight which caused her to land safely. The sheer volume of the explosion compared to the proximity of the teenager's foe caused him to fly back as well, slamming straight into the white walls of the laboratory.

I… dealt a major blow, huh? Something's off…

Just what is his ability?

It was unnatural… Louise watched as her friend had quickly gotten up, recovering from a blow that could easily shatter a spine or skull, seemingly completely unharmed as he tried rotating his arm, seemingly winding it up. He didn't even look like he was hurt! In fact, he was laughing it off!

I could try testing for it maybe I cou-

The demolitions-woman had been interrupted with the voice that emanated from her foe.

" You pack a punch, but I know you can do better… "

The man bent his knees, with his hands on his cheeks, with his left side forward. Compared to his pose in the past, this was a surprise. Upon careful analysis, anyone could tell that before… he wasn't even trying! Before, his pose was sloppy, trying to combine eastern and western fighting styles haphazardly, but now he had a proper boxer's pose!

A shock had gone down Louise's spine, a feeling which someone of her prose had never felt before, true and utter fear. With the initial shock going away, seemingly, Dante had closed the distance between them, causing a sudden and brief shriek from Louise which she had then extended her arm out of pure reflex, and a discharge with an output of a half a kiloton of TNT occurred.

This blasted Dante back, leaving him with tattered clothes, and a bleeding head, however, unbeknownst to anyone… he had gotten back up. Much to Louise's surprise and fear.

" How… how are you alive!? What even are you!? "

She had been holding back this entire time in fear that she'd destroy either the building or the man in front of her…

" Pfft, Louise. "

Again, due to her panic, he had closed the distance between them, his little chortle had gone unnoticed as he now started his assault on the slightly exhausted Louise, using the girl's extended arm to grapple onto her and pin her down onto the ground using his weight.

" Just give up. "

Louise's mind had gone blank, after hearing this. Rather than pure dread and fear… she felt anger, with pain accompanying her.

" You know… if I were a normal person, I'd be defeated by now, but… I have a little bit of a kick still in me. "

Dante had immediately let her go after hearing those words, jumping back and landing on his feet right before an explosion had occurred.

" So. There's a lag between when you want to blow something up, and when it actually happens? Of about half a second? ���

Louise smiled, her confidence back in herself. Her resolve was that she'd use the extent of her abilities unknown to anyone right now.

Why am I doing this…? This is just a game for the scientists to test our strength, so why do I want to try so hard? Is this a man's pride? Probably, despite me not being a man.

Again, another switch, his arms flexed with his hands above his head his left foot forward, left heel raised and right foot back.

Louise took an entirely different stance, standing straight with her left arm extended and her left hand supinated before her fingers had curled forward, taunting him.

Dante had a smirk on his face, his own black hair waving across the fake wind which the scientists had put… his eyes slid over to stare at those men observing them from afar.

Come to think of it, they've been changing the air pressure, the wind speed and direction and the temperature. So this really is a test, huh?

He immediately made the first move, leaping halfway towards Louise before his field of view had been covered by Louise herself, which in a split second, had been switched with an explosion, accompanied with an excruciating amount of pain. All he could see around him was yellow, and sudden forces acting on his body, sending him flying in every direction possible before suddenly shifting in jerk and sending him another direction. By the end of it… he ended up on the ground. The man had slowly gotten up and looked around, the room had been tattered in black, with rubble flowing from every corner. The once pure white test chamber now looking destroyed.

" You may continue your spar. "

An ominous voice came from the speakers, being so engulfed in the fight made the two almost forget that they were being observed.

As Dante had gotten up… he looked at his hands, which were covered in blood, along with his chest… he felt lightheaded. Across the room… was his foe.

She was completely unharmed.

" You… you were holding back huh? "

Dante's back had been arched, his arms loosely aimed for the ground with his head also pointed to the ground.

Louise had a smile on her face, she walked forward the barren and broken landscape, slow steps…

" You knew that I wouldn't kill you, I just increased my output just so I could have a chance at beating you… Now, get off that silly stance, I already know your ability. "

Dante had finally fixed his posture, a wide smile on his face, despite it being covered in scratches, many of which could have been on his eyes, rendering him blind.

" Clever girl, but this is all the reason I need to protect you. You're too slow in realizing. Besides I've already been assigned to help you. "

" Now what the hell are you talking about, Dante? "

" You'll learn after today. Trust me, you'll meet a specific someone. "

The two in unison…

" Let's end this then. "

Battle had continued in a similar fashion, now that the two were close to each other… it seemed that a standoff of power was to be made. A powerful wind had blew between them, the tension increasing in the atmosphere, the ground started to crater as well, shattering the floor slowly.

Dante ducked under, cocking his arm back as he attempted an uppercut, and to the scientists, on the observation bay, everything had gone white… the ground had shook, it was almost like an earthquake was occurring.

Once everything had settled… the glass protecting them had shattered, and as they made their way back to the arena…

The two warriors switched places, One standing, and one on their knees… the one on their knee had fallen.

" You were close, Dante. "

Louise had won.

The girl decided to leave the arena, looking at the clock that was inside the observational bay, and the damage she had did, it seemed that it was time to leave…

" Louise! Where do you think you're going?? "

The scientists had yelled at her through the speakers, her head titled around and faced the white coated group of men and women.

" You need to clean everything up, right? I'll be making my leave now. "

She looked back… staring at the defeated foe… She spun around, with her right foot being the pivot point, and jumped towards the man, flipping him around and carrying the man like a princess.

" I'll… take care of him, so can we go now? "

The scientists had looked at each other, the data the two had given was more than enough for the day, plus they needed to explain the thousands of dollars' worth of damage that these two superhumans had created…

" Fine then, you're allowed to go. "

Louise gave a smile, carrying the man into the elevator, past the white hallways of the laboratory, through the glass door of the entrance and finally outside… the blue sky shined brightly, the sun still overhead. Left, and right. The clean and modern streets were all the same, the only difference being that in front of a car was a woman.

A white haired woman, contrasting her own black hair, and orange eyes to contrast her blue eyes. Her outfit wasn't ordinary either, a gothic and nearly Vantablack dress with white frills at the bottom which reached ankles, along with black heels.

" Give me Dante. "

The woman wasn't alone, Louise looked left and right, and noticed people watching her… girls with veils… along with a coil and a wimple to add on. Their tunics varied in length…

Nuns?

The woman who seemed to be controlling these people stepped forward, one foot at a time, she had taken out a parasol as well…

" I said… give me Dante. "

Louise backed up, jumping a meter or so backwards.

" I'm taking care of him. Who are you? "

" I should be asking you the same thing, girl. "

She could tell, the woman in front of her had started to lose patience. Their pleasant smiles had neutral looks had gone astray.

" I'm a friend of his, I can take care of him until he wakes up. "

" And I have the ability to completely heal my servant's wounds. "

" … Servant? "