Chapter 44-Noah+Anemoi vs Gambino, Part Two

"Wind Charge, Level Two: Skywards Tornado!"  Anemoi shouts as she draws her katana then swings it upwards, causing the wind before Anemoi to begin circulating then rise into the air, forming a tornado.

"Saturate it, Noah!"  Anemoi shouts.

"I see where you're going with this," I smirk.

"Water Charge, Level Three: Squirt Gun!"  I then shout as I thrust my hands towards Anemoi's tornado, firing off a ray of water towards it.

Upon making contact with Anemoi's tornado, my water begins to spiral along the circulating winds, saturating Anemoi's tornado.

"Cloud Charge, Level One: Misty Terrain!"  Anemoi shouts as her saturated tornado begins to expand, saturating the air within our chamber, and forming a small layer of clouds a few feet above our heads.

"What?!"  Gambino cries, "The Water Charger and Wind Charger combined elements to create a whole new E-Charge?!"

"When you combine Water Charge and Water Charge, you get…Cloud Charge!"  Anemoi smirks, "An E-Charger alone can only do so much, but when they're fighting alongside they're fellow E-Chargers…new elements can be created in real time!"

"Alright…" I smirk as I resume my Charge Stance.

"Water Charge, Level One: Bullet Rain!"  I shout as I thrust my hands towards Anemoi's makeshift cloud then twist them, taking control of the water that I had stockpiled within the air and manipulating that in order to make it rain needle-sharp droplets of water upon Gambino.

In a panic, Gambino resumes his Charge Stance.

"R-Rust Charge, Level One: Decay!"  Gambino stammers as he aims a hand at my Bullet Rain.

Upon making contact with Gambino's hand, my rain droplets decay, but there are too many droplets for Gambino to defend against, and my Bullet Rain pierces Gambino, causing him to shriek in pain as blood erupts from his wounds.

My Bullet Rain then subsides a few moments later, causing Gambino to limply drop to the ground in a pool of blood.

"Alright, Noah!"  Anemoi cheers, "Let's keep this up!  Kick Gambino while he's down!"

"Right!"  I smirk as I resume my Charge Stance.

"Water Charge, Level Two: Rapids Claw!"  I shout as water begins swirling around my hand, which I then swings towards Gambino, firing off a blade of water from each finger.

Anemoi then resumes her Charge Stance as well.

"Wind Charge, Level One: Crescent-Moon Slash!"  Anemoi shouts as she draws her katana and slashes it towards Gambino, firing off a crescent-moon shaped blade of wind from her slash.

Our two spells fly towards Gambino, before slashing into him, causing Gambino to howl in pain as even more blood spurts from his wounds, and he's sent flying backwards.

"One more time!"  Anemoi exclaims as the two of us resume our Charge Stances.

But before the two of us can prepare our next spells, Gambino slowly pushes his bloody body off to the ground and begins twirling his mustache again.

"No…" Gambino weakly croaks, "I can't let my empire…end here…I created this Crime Family to avenge my dead wife, and I'll be damned if I let these two PUNK ASS KIDS end it…!"

Gambino's eyes gloss over as he touches his hands to the ground.

"Rust Charge, Level Four…" Gambino growls.

"-DIE!"

"Die, huh?"  Anemoi comments, "What a spell name…"

Gambino then touches both hands to the ground, and subsequently, the iron ground beneath Gambino's hands begins to rust.

Gambino's rust then begins to spread, reaching every corner of the room, and infecting all that it touches with Gambino's Rust Charge's decaying effect.

"Crap, we have to run!"  Anemoi cries as the two of us leap back to invade Gambino's oncoming rust, but the moment that Gambino's rust spreads to mine and Anemoi's feet, I can feel the soles of my shoes begin to decay, causing me to yelp.

"Gambino's rust is eating through our shoes!"  I cry, "It'll eat through US next!"

"Leave this to me!"  Anemoi replies as she resumes her Charge Stance.

"Wind Charge, Level Three: Cloud Haven!"  Anemoi shouts as she draws her katana then sweeps it across the floor, summoning a small updraft from below, which lifts Anemoi and I into the air.

"Woah!"  I cry as I frantically flail by arms in a desperate attempt to keep balance, "This feels weird!"

"At least now, Gambino's rust can't touch us," Anemoi smirks.

"But I thought you only have two spells?"  I ask.

Anemoi pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs.  "WHY would I reveal my hand in front of my opponent, Noah?"  Anemoi sighs, "Think rationally.  Didn't your Master teach you better than this?"

"H-he did," I sheepishly answer, "But I forgot in the heat of the moment…"

"Either way, we've got Gambino on the ropes," Anemoi replies as she resumes her Charge Stance, "We just need one final push."

"R-right," I reply.

"Wind Charge, Level Three: Cloud Haven!"  Anemoi shouts as she draws her katana and swings it forwards.

"The same spell again…?"  I ask.

This time, rather than being lifted into the air by an updraft below, I feel a tailwind come from behind, which sends Anemoi and I flying towards Gambino.

"WAAAH!!!"  I cry over Anemoi's howling wind, "IS THIS A DIFFERENT SPELL?!"

"NO!"  Anemoi smirks, "IT'S SIMPLY A SECOND APPLICATION OF THE SAME SPELL!"

As Anemoi and I fly towards Gambino, Anemoi resumes her Charge Stance, so I do the same.

"Wind Charge, Level One!"  Anemoi begins to shout as she draws her katana and holds it up, wind wrapping around its blade.  The wind wrapped around the blade of Anemoi's katana then condenses, forming a tornado around her katana.

"Water Charge, Level Two-!"  I begin to shout as I raise a hand then curl my finger back, razor-sharp blades of water swirling around my hand.

Anemoi's wind continues pushing the two of us towards Gambino, until we're hovering directly before him.

"So that level two spell of yours can also serve as a melee spell, huh?"  Anemoi smirks.

"I see your level one spell can as well," I smirk back.

"-RAPIDS CLAW!"

"-CRESCENT-MOON SLASH!"

With a roar, Anemoi swings her katana towards Gambino as I slash my hand towards him, but before other of our spells can connect, Gambino resumes his Charge Stance.

"RUST CHARGE, LEVEL FOUR: DIE!"  Gambino roars, and the rust flakes covering the iron floor below him explode, causing Anemoi and I to cry in pain as we're sent flying backwards.

"W-Wind Charge-!"  Anemoi grunts as she attempts to catch the two of us with her level three spell, but before Anemoi can finish chanting her spell, Anemoi and I slam to the ground on our backs, making contact with Gambino's rust at last.

Gambino's rust infects then eats through our clothes in an instant, and Anemoi and I scream in pain as Gambino's rust then begins tearing into our backs.

"W-we're gonna die…" Anemoi grunts.

"Th-this is impossible…" I wince, "GAMBINO IS INVISIBLE!"

"I SHALL HAVE YOUR HEADS, WATER CHARGER, WIND CHARGER!"  Gsmbino roars.

But then…the unexpected happens.

Gambino's rust begins creeping across Gambino's legs, causing Gambino's skin to turn into rust, then flake off.  Blood begins to seep from Gambino's cracked-off skin, although he doesn't notice.

"Do you see that, Anemoi?"  I ask.

"Yeah…" Anemoi answers.

The two of us then turn to face one another and smirk.

"ONE LAST ATTACK WE GO!"

One last time, Anemoi and I push ourselves off of the ground to face Gambino, then resume our Charge Stances.

"Water Charge…" I begin to say as water begins swirling around my hand.

"Wind Charge…" Anemoi begins to say as she draws her katana.

"Level Four-!"  I continue as I swing my hand towards Gambino.

"Level Four-!"  Anemoi shouts as she thrusts her katana towards Gambino.

"-TYPHOON!"

"-HEAVEN-PIERCING GALE!"

With a fierce battle cry, my water and Anemoi's wind begins flying towards Gambino, then merges, forming a powerful blast of Water and Wind.

"So you were holding back a level four spell too, huh?"  I ask Anemoi with a smirk.

"Nah," Anemoi smirks back, causing me to raise an eyebrow.  "I just created it now!"

Our combo spell then makes contact with Gambino and explodes, wrapping the man up in a vortex of water and wind.

"TWISTER CHARGE: HEAVEN-PIERCING HURRICANE!"

"RUST CHARGE, LEVEL FOUR: DIE!"  Gambino roars as he thrusts a hand towards mine and Anemoi's fusion spell, and upon making contact with Gambino's hand, part of our spell begins to rust then wither away.

"THIS WON'T…STOP ME…!"  Gambino roars.

"WE'RE STOPPING YOU NOW, GAMBINO!"  Anemoi roars back.

"LET'S GO, ANA!"  I roar.

Gambino roars.

We roar.

And then…in one final push…mine and Anemoi's combo spell knocks Gambino off balance, causing him to fall to the ground on his back.

And his hair goes flying off in the process…

"So that was a toupee, huh?"  I gasp.

"And a crappy one, at that!"  Anemoi laughs.

Gambino screams in pain as his very own rust -his own element- begins to eat away at Gambino's body, as blood spurts into the air.

"ALL I WANTED…WAS TO AVENGE MY WIFE WHO WAS KILLED BY BANDITS!"  Gambino screams, causing my eyes to widen.

Anemoi and I watch in horror as Gambino's rust decays through his skin, then his muscle, and then his bones, until there is nothing left of Gambino.

"Nevel…" Gambino softly says to himself, "I was so ashamed of my dorky name…the name I casted aside long ago…"

"Ana…huh…?"  Anemoi asks herself with a sad smile, "I like that…"

And then, once Gambino has withered away for good…all of the rust flakes off of the iron floors and walls of the room.

All that's left of Gambino was his toupee…

I frown as I stare at the spot of the ground where Gambino once laid.

"We…won…" Anemoi pants.

"We killed him…" I softly say.

"No," Anemoi replies, "Gambino's Rust Charge killed himself.  His hubris of using such a huge spell led to his downfall."

"But we pushed Gambino into his rust," I sadly reply, "We killed him."

"Noah…" Anemoi sighs, "You can't go around feeling bad for every jackass you fight, just because they have a semi-sad backstory."

"I suppose not…" I frown.

"Now…" Anemoi says as she places her hands on her hips and begins to look around, "How do we get out of here?"

Before we can continue, Anemoi and I then hear a voice from above, and the two of us peer up to where we heard the voice, seeing Khione, Old-Man F, and Mary crouched over the entrance to the hole that Gambino sent Anemoi and I down through.

"Noah!  Anemoi!"  Khione cries as she waves to us, "We're here!"

"Kgione!"  I reply with an excited smile, "Old-Man F!  Mary!"

"Noah!"  Old-Man F and Mary happily exclaim.

"We beat up some guards, and they led us to you!"  Flint explains.

"And look-!"  Khione adds with a cheeky grin as she holds up a sack of gold coins, "We're filthy rich!"

"Great, now that you guys are here, you can get us out of thi-!"

But before I can finish, I fall face-upwards onto the ground.  I then hear a second this, which signifies that Anemoi has fallen as well.

The last thing that I hear is the screams of my friends as they desperately call my name.

"NOAH"