Luis vs Cell, Part 3

"Damnit, I can't keep this up any longer!" I grunt as I spit up a glob of blood and a tooth as I struggle to stand up. But wait a minute...neither can he! I notice that Cell's breathing grew ragged, and that at one point, Cell switches from using his Mitochondria to evade attacks to parrying them regularly. I smirk and stand up, letting my Tornado-Drill Fist fizzle out. I'm even bloodier and more battered than before. "Seems I'll have to buy a new hoodie again."

Cell's Cursed Ability makes it so that his body can slip through whatever he pleases, my ability allows me to control wind. While Cell has to constantly mediate what he slips through and what he doesn't as well as which parts of his body become selectively permeable, sounds complicated, right? All I have to do is think about the wind and shoot it out of my hands. What I'm getting at here is that the rate at which I lose Cursed Power using my wind is far slower than the rate at which Cell loses his Cursed Power while using his mitochondria. Meanding, while he is almost out of Cursed Power, I still have enough left in the tank to finish him off!

Slowly, I begin walking towards Cell, which then speeds up into a jog, until I'm running full speed towards Cell in a mad dash! I bring my hands high into the air, as my wind between them begins to swirl and take shape, forming a giant katana of wind, just like with during the Pro Slayer Exams. I grasp my katana tightly as I continue charging Cell.

My second wind.

"Luis Tramontana…" a low voice ominously growls to me. The voice that I hear everytime I enter my second wind, a horrifying yet familiar voice. "Rip his heart out."

"Oh…I plan too…" I whisper back.

I leap into the air as I swing my wind sword downwards, ready to deliver a final slash. But my plan goes awry when Cell simply slipped through it yet again, before bringing his knee up, snap-kicking me away, and sending me flying.

But just in the nick of time, before Cell can demolish me with a kick, I bring my arms up to block and instinctively pour my Cursed Power into them, my arms swirling with dark blue energy. So when Cell snap-kicks me away, sure, he sends me flying, but on top of that, I notice one major thing.

His attack didn't hurt my arms.

"I did it…" I softly say as I stare down at my hands. "I did it, I really did it! I used Cursed Power to reinforce my body, like Grover did during the exams! What did Slayer Hrakai call it, Cursed Power Barrier? I used Cursed Power Barrier!" I then cheer.

"He poured Cursed Power into his arms to block my attack?!" Cell cries.

"Damn, it seems he's not out of Cursed Power yet!" I roar. I bring my hands up, forming a small ball of air in between my hands, and launching it towards Cell. "Wind Control: Air Bullet!"

"Don't you know that it's futile?!" Cell roars as he slips through my attack, my Air Bullet slipping straight through Cell.

But what Cell failed to realize, is that I hid another attack within my Air Bullet. Because the second that my Air Bullet slips through Cell, I shout: "Hurricane Expand!" My Air Bullet then explodes into a powerful tornado, which wraps around Cell, shredding up his body with my speedy, slicing winds.

"Shit, I need to reactivate my Mitochondria!" Cell cries his body begins to glow a sort of minty blue-green-purple color. But when Cell tries to reactivate his Cursed Ability, blood explodes out of his nose, forcing Cell to grunt in pain as he drops down to one knee. "Damnit, I'm out of Cursed Power already?!"

Meanwhile I form another Sky God's Katana and charge Cell again, leaping high into the air and bringing my wind sword high above my head, as my hurricane around Cell dissipates.

"That attack again?! How does this brat still have Cursed Power left?!" Cell roars.

"Feel the wrath of my video game super attack!" With a roar, I swing my Sky God's Katana downwards, slashing straight through Cell, who howls in pain, as a bloody gash forms across his body. I then slam my wind sword into the ground in front of Cell, before it can dissipate. "Do you know what they say about wind?!" I ask him.

"No, what do they say?!" Cell cries, sounding panicked.

"That wind has the greatest eroding force out of any element. When you think of natural disasters you think of a volcano, or an earthquake. But the truth is, a hurricane or even a tornado is far more dangerous."

"Wind is the strongest element!"

With a roar, the blade of my wind sword expands outwards, wrapping Cell in yet another hurricane, shredding up his body with my speedy, slicing winds. My hurricane instantly begins to grow thinner and thinner, as I run out of Cursed Power, slicing up Cell's body more and more. Blood explodes from my nose, but I ignore it. Cell howls in pain from my hurricane, until eventually I close my fist, the sign for my attack to end. My hurricane instantly condenses into a singular long, thin needle, slicing through Cell's body!

"How…could I lose my dream of freedom…to this kid?!" Cell roars.

"Cause you made the mistake of messing with a pissed-off weeb video game nerd!" I roar back

Cell lets out one final howl of pain before collapsing to the ground, just as my sky needle dissipates.

I stand above Cell, panting heavily and soaked with blood. My body is riddled with broken bones, and I feel even more messed up than with my fight against Slayer Haraki. I stare at Cell for a few seconds, who doesn't budge, not even an inch. And then…I collapse to the ground, certain of just one thing:

That I'm the victor.

***

"So I'm leaving you paralyzed for good," Nick says as he aims his gun-hand at Inmate Zero, which begins crackling with electricity. "Electricity: Thunderbolt!" Nick shouts, but before he can even fire his lighting blast at Inmate Zero, a large, purple-colored cube made out of Cursed Power spawns around Inmate Zero.

"Woah!" Nick cries as he stumbles backwards.

"King? What are you doing?" Inmate Zero asks.

In the blink of an eye, a man teleports into the room besides Inmate Zero, inside of the purple cube. "Ah, Ace, my old friend, how have you been?" The man -assuming to be King- booms. King is wearing a gold crown studded with jewels on his head, as well as a multitude of expensive, majestic ornate cloaks and robes hanging from his shoulders. Underneath them all, King wears a black gown with a red upside down cross on it. In King's right hand, is a long, ornate scepter, with a golden jewel at the end.

 "I haven't even captured the person we're here for," Inmate Zero -or Ace- says. "I'm not done here."

"There's been a change of plans. We learned something new about opening up the portal to Hell, and we need you back to the church," King explains, before turning to face Nick. "You don't mind if I steal him from you, right, Slayer Hachi?" King smirks.

As a reflex, Nick's entire body begins crackling with electricity. "And who are you, King?" He growls.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" King smirks. An ominous, dark purple, almost black Cursed Power then explodes out of King, one so ominous and so potent that it forces even Nick -the strongest Pro Slayer- to take a step backwards.

"Shit, what's up with this Cursed Power?!" Nick shouts over the roar of King's Cursed Power. After a few seconds, King's Cursed Power subsides back into his body, as Nick drops down to the floor on one knee, panting and sweating heavily.

"Now, we'll be going now," King smirks as he raises his scepter a few inches off of the ground. "BLACK PRISM!" King booms as he slams his scepter back onto the ground, and instantly, both he and Ace teleport out of the room. The purple cube then fizzles out seconds after.

"What…was that about?" Nick softly asks as he pushes himself off of the ground.

***

I must have passed out because when I wake up, I find myself surrounded by the others.

"Ohhh…I need steak…" I groan as my stomach lets out a mighty rumble. "Bloody…red steak…"

I then peer up and see three eager pairs of eyes staring back at me. Grover's, Austin's, and Jamie's. "Oh, hey guys," I nonchalantly say. "What's up?"

"Dude…you look messed up…" Jamie winces.

"So do you!" I snap motioning to the bloody gashes covering the entirety of Jamie's face and arms.

"We just finished beating our inmates, and you?" Austin asks. Austin's body is littered with bloody holes, some large, some small.

"Hey, where's Ella?" I ask, causing a shriek to come from behind me.

"Behind you!" Grover laughs. Like Austin, there's a couple of puncture wounds in Grover's flesh, and the blood soaking his face makes him almost unrecognizable.

"Hmm?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at Grover. I then turn and look up, seeing Ella peering down at me from above. When I realize what's happening, both of us blush. "Why am I using your lap as a pillow?" I nonchalantly ask.

"BECAUSE YOU NEEDED TO BE HEALED!" Ella cries as she swiftly turns away from me.

"Not that I mind but, couldn't you have just left me on the ground?" I ask.

"I wanted you to be comfortable…" Ella stammars.

Grover laughs.

"She didn't do that for me…" Austin grumbles.

"Aw, how cute!" Jamie swoons.

I can't help but to laugh. "I LOVE BEING A PRO SLAYER!" I shout, accidentally saying that line out loud.

Eh. Every good manga needs some romance now and again, right?