Post by Marautis on Jan 6, 2016 6:37:18 GMT
Marautis leaped forward promptly, bringing his right fist forward and driving it into the stomach of Calamaridus, who would coil up in pain as he body took the hit and was lifted off the ground. His foe hanging atop his fist which remained lifted and in contact, Marautis would then thrust his arm upwards to toss the small body of Calamaridus into the air, before performing a forceful spin kick to knock the airborne prince back onto the sand upon which the two battled.
It had been roughly a bit over a month since Marautis had captured Calamaridus and taken him hostage after their last battle. He initially intended to interrogate him for information regarding the Zoonamites and his parents. The interrogation had gone as planned; Marautis had learnt that he belonged to a race of aliens called Zoonamites. Calamaridus informed Marautis of the origins of his race from what he had read and many beliefs that had stemmed from their dispersal throughout the universe. Calamaridus’ father had been affiliated with a few Zoonamites and Calamaridus revealed what little he knew about the race. Although upon further questioning about his parents, Marautis found, Calamaridus had nothing left to offer. Marautis’ parent’s whereabouts remained a mystery at this stage.
Calamaridus and Marautis had become unlikely friends though, after a few days together they found they had a lot in common despite the 7 year age gap. Over the space of the past month or so Marautis had spent a lot of time sparring with Calamaridus and developing his power. Calamaridus, who also seemed to be very knowledgeable about the outside world, beyond the confines of the ocean, had taken the time to teach Marautis the ways of the world, as well as teaching him English too; his friendship had proven valuable.
On this particular morning the two sparred on the tropical white sands of Marautis’ home, where the two had been residing the past month. Marautis used his weights to lower his power level to that approximately of Calamaridus’. The two of them found that through rigorous sparring sessions that their power had begun to steadily grow over time. Sparring sessions had become a regular morning occurrence for the two boys.
“This is too easy,” Marautis taunted to his grounded opponent.
“Yeah, yeah, let me warm up a little first,” replied Calamaridus, picking himself up off the ground and launching his own offensive.
His small body launched into action, charging Marautis. A rapid fire barrage of punches soon met the torso of Marautis, knocking him back a few steps before he had time to react accordingly. This would then waken his senses though, allowing him to prepare for further attack.
Calamaridus would continue by attempting a sweeping right hook directed at the head of Marautis. This was stopped easily by Marautis who would grip his opponent’s fist mid-air, before pulling them in towards his own body. He would then step back quickly and leave his right leg lingering in place of where he formerly stood, sending his opponent tripping over said leg and tumbling to the ground.
“Not fast enough,” Marautis grinned.
Calamaridus although tumbling, would still manage to land in a crouched position. He directed his palm out, sending off a super charged ki ball from this position. The point blank range of the attack limited Marautis’ time to react and he was hit with the orb which burst into a small blast upon impact with his body. Then through the small explosion Calamaridus would launch his body, his left leg outstretched attempting to jump kick Marautis. This too would connect and knock the Zoonamite warrior flat onto his back.
“That seemed quick enough,” Calamaridus would return the jest.
Marautis rose back up to a standing position, “You were lucky to get that one, just remember who the one in weighted clothing here is,”
“Go on then; drop it,” encouraged Calamaridus.
“I’ll wait until I have a reason to, you’ll have to show me you’re worthy of my full power first,”
“Oh I’ll show you alright,” laugh Calamaridus as he would make another charge. Marautis stood defensively, prepared to intercept the incoming youngster.
Calamaridus approached with his elbow outstretched, attempting to heavily swing it into the gut of Marautis, his attack not swift enough as Marautis side stepped him and returned fire with an elbow of his own, taking Calamaridus by surprise, connecting and sending him backwards off his feet. Then before the young prince had landed, Marautis would draw his knee up into the boys falling body, driving it powerfully into his back, winding him, then allowing the boy to drop.
Calamaridus’ face cringed up in pain as he landed, though the young boy would keep his wits about him. Keeping his feet and hands beneath him before landing, allowing himself to spring back up with a quick somersault backwards, the boy was back on his feet.
Marautis wouldn’t grant him any respite however, he was upon the prince again, marching forward and delivering two fierce blows with his firsts, the first aimed at the head of Calamaridus, the second at his gut. The young boy would counter quickly though and send his forearms up to block the two punches, diverting them by connecting his arms to those of Marautis’, knocking the punches off course. He then raised his foot before him and delivered a heavy kick to the chest of the fish man, who stumbled back after the attack connected.
Calamaridus would follow this by moving forward and lowering his body to work a sweeping low kick across the shins of Marautis, attempting to knock him off his feet. Marautis however counteracted this by stepping back to avoid the kick then reaching down swiftly to grasp the boy by the ankle. Calamaridus would gasp in horror as Marautis’ grip tightened upon him. The young boy would rag dolled almost, his body dragged up by the ankle and Marautis’ second hand grasping him around the neck. Marautis pulled him in close, bringing the body of the boy to eye level to deliver his final words.
“I think this ends now,” he would cackle. He would then give the boy a few seconds to process this and perhaps a chance to reply with his own wit.
“Oh, ok then,” replied the boy through a raspy voice, producing his own wicked grin. Sending his arms together quickly and forming a ki ball between them. Marautis looked down in disgust as he felt the heat emanating from the attack that he assumed was meant for him.
“You brat!” he chortled, tossing the boy back into the air, attempting to distance himself.
Calamaridus would only grin as he finalised his blast attack and sent it hurtling towards Marautis before he would have time to react. It connected forcefully and exploded upon impact blowing Marautis back down onto the sand beneath him in a spectacular array of light. Calamaridus would land upon his feet to be met with a dead silence as Marautis lay flat on his back processing the events that had just transpired.
The silence would follow as Marautis gathered his thoughts and composed himself and Calamaridus would stand proudly with a pert grin stretched across his face. Marautis rose to his feet gingerly, returned the grin, though his own was slightly more sinister in taste. “That was a good shot, but I think I’ll show you something new now. This one hopefully surprises you, see how you handle it.”
The boy’s grin was soon wiped clean as Marautis spoke; he knew the fishman meant business. Marautis widened his stance, planting his feet firmly into the ground, concentrating his centre of gravity and taking up a strong posture. He brought his elbows down to his sides, making a 90 degree angle with his forearms. The palms of his hands facing inwards and opposite each other, Marautis pulled his shoulders back in preparation. Lowering his shoulders once he had brought them back and bringing a slight crouch to his knees.
“I’ve been working on this for a while. Every day in fact while we battled, I whittled away at perfecting it. You may not have noticed actually. In a sense one could describe this training as cloaked or disguised; however I never consciously made an attempt to conceal it. Every day though I tried this and it never came through. I fell short every time by a small margin. This time however feels different. This time I know I can surpass my previous failures and succeed,”
Calamaridus replied, “Huh? What are you even talking about? Every day our training has been the same pretty much. We practice our melee skills, some blasting practice, manoeuvres the usual stuff. I haven’t seen you do anything different at all. I’m so confused right now, and that look on your face doesn’t help either…”
Marautis simply laughed at the small boy, readying himself to prove his point. He began to charge the ki in his body. The flicker of the ki would travel internally and manifest itself in the palms of his hands, forming a small orb. Electricity arced out of the orb; it’s power dense yet dynamic. His entire body would tense up, veins bulging from his limbs as Marautis began to generate even more levels of power; in turn making the orb grow.
“This might appear simply as my Marine Detonator Blast, but no. This is twice as deadly, twice as powerful. I’ve perfected the art of condensing my ki further than I could before. Now I can generate a much more power attack that has a greater capacity for destruction; that takes my fancy. Every morning we trained and I launched Marine Detonator, I would push myself further and further every day. Striving to generate a greater power each time I launched it. I felt myself grow every single time but it seemed so out of reach. Until today that is, I feel stronger, more in control than ever before. This is something new, this power is totally foreign to me, but I like it. I do apologise that you have to be on the receiving end of this, but, think of it as a little demonstration of my faculty. You never know, you might learn something.”
Calamaridus found himself in awe; speechless up until this point. This was a different side of Marautis, a seemingly ruthless and extremely power hungry Marautis. He didn’t like what he was hearing and he didn’t like the look of this attack. He would have to escape. Not now, or Marautis would still be able to track him down and fire his attack, he would have to wait until the last second. That’d be risky, but it was a risk he had to take. What started as a simple training session had suddenly grown tremendously sinister. Marautis seemed to be almost prepared to fire his attack. Calamaridus chose not to speak; it came across as if Marautis’ wouldn’t listen either. Instead, Calamaridus simply prepared himself, his attention trained, his body ready for action.
“It took me a while to think up a name for Marine Detonator. I’m not the best when it comes to naming my battle techniques. Though the time I spent training this one meant I gave this a great amount of consideration. How does… ‘Nautical Detonator’ sound? No points for originality, only points for fatality.” Marautis gave a final threatening chuckle before he could no longer focus on his entertaining dialogue. His concentration was now drawn to the final stages of his attack.
The ki orb had grown to quite a reasonable size. Though comparable in size to Marine Detonator, its power was much greater and this was clearly observable. The small sparks of electricity that once emanated, now jolted out in larger bolts, almost uncontrollably. The orb shifted on its axis, its power levels reaching the limits of Marautis’ management. It would be time to release it upon its prey; to unchain its potential and unleash a wrath of destruction not even imagined by Marautis. The damage this thing would do would no doubt leave a scar upon the island; it would be a spectacle to behold. If anything it would be a trophy of sorts Marautis could claim to. These thoughts would have to wait as it was time to level Calamaridus.
Marautis acquired his aim and trained the orb before him upon Calamaridus. He drew his arms back swiftly and in an almighty thrust forward, the orb was released from his control and took upon a path of its own. It moved through the air with speed, which would only snowball as it travelled. It’s trajectory being the small frame of Calamaridus. Though with a small frame came a light frame. With a light frame came the greater capacity for speed. That particular capacity Calamaridus possessed. His focus had been readying for this and when the moment arrived, he sprang into action. The young prince moved into a low crouch position when the attack had been launched, not bothering to note it’s encroaching arrival or it’s phenomenal speed, he wasted no time in taking off into the air above. Merely a blur to Marautis who looked on in confusion as the small boy took off into the air, making an easy appearing ten foot jump. He appeared to hang in the air as if by a string as the furiously turbulent orb sailed directly beneath him and sailed aimlessly off course into a far off rock cliff on a surrounding island. It connected with a gigantic crash, shattering the cliff completely in a huge cloud of dust and rubble which reached out over the ocean, chopping up the surrounding waves.
Calamaridus avoided the blast and landed solidly back onto the sand beneath, looking up defiantly at Marautis. Whose grand plan had come to an unexpected end so soon, with what could only be described as tragically undesirable results. The young boy sent his hands to his hips and awaited Marautis’ reaction, as the dust and rubble behind him settled.
“Well that wasn’t as great as you built it up to be,” he taunted.
Marautis’ pupils dilated, his breath returned to him after such an exhausting effort. He spent a few short moments taking in the events just transpired, before he would rigidly begin to speak.
“You merely hurdled over my attack? After all that, you just leaped over it. That blast should have annihilated you, and you know it,” Marautis spoke calmly at first, but his voice would sharply rise in volume.
“You are going to pay for that you ungrateful spawn! If that scared you then, you wait until what I conjure up now; I’ll make sure I’m not to miss this time! Before I had only imagined my powers stretching this far, but… that was easy. I appear to have more capacity than I first thought. Before I was showcasing my strength and power, perhaps now I should, experiment with it a little more?!”
It had only been seconds, but Marautis’ disturbing demeanour returned and the failure of his last attack only seemed to spur him on further into irrationality. He felt an anger rise in him. This anger twisted and mangled his spirit, bringing him into a pure rage.
“You’re going to feel the full extent of my power now!” he announced.
Calamaridus gulped nervously. He had only just avoided the prior attack by the skin of his teeth. It may have looked easy but that was pushing the boundary for Calamaridus. If an attack was made by Marautis that surpassed the strength of his prior one then the young boy would have no chance of escape. Maybe he could try to take down Marautis physically, before he got the chance to begin to charge this attack. Would it even be possible for the fishman to take his power to an even higher level than that of Nautical Detonator? Calamaridus didn’t want to leave that to chance, he moved off the spot upon which he stood now, charging Marautis, preparing to engage in combat.
Marautis awaited the prince’s arrival. Taking him by the throat immediately, giving the youngster no time to even launch his assault. Tightening his grip, Marautis tossed the boy up with ease, his small body lightweight, made this an easy feat. Then launching his own body into the air, Marautis would deliver a fatal spin kick. This connected with an immense force and upon hitting Calamaridus, knocked him back down, with Marautis’ large foot stamped down onto his chest where the kick had in fact landed. He held Calamaridus in place with his foot, not allowing the boy to move.
“Heh, nice try, but you had you go and evade my blast before; that riled me up exceedingly. My powers spiked, you’re no match for me and you’re going to face an attack even stronger than the one before it. You’re doomed,” Marautis then bent down to take the boy by the throat again and hurled him back onto the sand. He would prepare to launch his attack.
Calamaridus simply laid there for a second, regaining his composure and gingerly rising to his feet once more. He didn’t have a counter for this once, Marautis was simply too strong. He had failed to even stop him before the attack was launched, but now his fate seemed sealed. His only option would be to return with a blast of his own. Hand to hand combat was useless at this stage. He could perhaps lessen the damage if he returned fire with a powerful blast of his own. His was no special attack with a fancy name but it would serve its purpose. If he wanted to stand any chance against Marautis he would have to commence charging himself.
Marautis had widened his stance. He planted his feet firmly into the ground, lowering his centre of gravity. Centring his balance remaining strong through the core his body tightened. Beginning with the muscles in his toes; they began to flex and stiffen in response to his rising power. The tension travelled up his body like a wave, moving from his feet into his calves, upwards further into his thighs and his core. Marautis breathed heavily, in a deep trance of concentration that couldn’t be broken. His back heaved up and down with the struggle of maintaining this meditation like state. His chest tightened, up through to his neck and finally to his cranium. His whole body had reached a state of tight tension. He felt his blood pressure rising sharply, though he would keep his breath slow and steady to combat this while simultaneously allowing his power to grow. Veins grew and would crawl up and down the limbs of Marautis, pumping blood, fulfilling their role in this attack. His hands slowly rose up, shakily and tense, they arrived at his sides like before. Marautis clenched his fists and in a giant roar he charged his ki, allowing his power to further surge.
“Huuuaaaaaaaaaaah!” his deep gravelly voice thundered and rose out of his lungs with a vengeful anger. A faint blue aura formed around him, barely noticeable, but still clearly there. His body would begin to shake, more and more violently as his power increased. He had never reached such a peak of power before, it was exhilarating; the surge of the ki through him, coursing through his body with a foreign, exciting vigour.
“Huah!” He thundered again in a forceful grunt, signally his phase of charging had commenced and his power had tapered off. He now reached a steady, maximum power level.
Calamaridus watched on in deep concern, how would he ever match such a feat? The small boy had never known such power. He’d never compete with that but still, he had to try. He too would then widen his stance, bringing his arms to his sides, entering a deep state of concentration. A violet aura emerged, encasing his body as the young boy lifted slowly a few feet off the ground. His body then too would shake as Marautis’ had moments ago. A few small grains of sand would whip up beneath him and fly a few feet at first. Displacing themselves a few feet away before landing. This would intensify and larger piles of sand where hurled metres away in great clouds of grainy fury as the young boy charged his ki.
Marautis observed in amusement, “Heh, not bad, but you won’t get anywhere near my level child!” he teased. He merely waited on the spot for the boy to finish his theatrics before he would continue with his attack.
Another minute or so passed and Calamaridus had finished his charging. Wrapping his body up into a tight ball for a second, allowing the ki to pool thoroughly in his body before flailing out his limbs into a star like position as his power surged; of course to nowhere near that of Marautis.
“This should be enough!” he announced as his small frame returned to the ground.
“You call that enough?! Oh that’s poignant,” Replied Marautis “Let’s get on with this, shall we?”
Marautis outstretched his arms like he had done many times before, turning his palms inwards to face each other. He sent his forearms into a 90 degree angle with his elbows, pulling them in tightly to his sides and tensing up.
“You remember Marine Detonator don’t you? And I’m sure I won’t have to remind you of Nautical Detonator? I haven’t quite thought of a name for the next gear up, but let’s see how it goes?” Marautis cackled, commencing his attack.
A small, dense orb of ki formed in no time and began to develop quickly. Calamaridus wouldn’t have much time to mount a response attack. He’d struggle to charge something that would even remotely stand a chance of challenging that but the sooner he started the more time he would have. The more time he had the better the outcome for himself.
Calamaridus sent his own arms straight up, palms to the sky. Shifting his stance slightly wider to balance properly, this would be his counter-attack. Calamaridus tensioned his body and allowed the ki to form in the palms of his hands, hanging above his head proudly. An at first small purple orb of ki emanated, however this soon would grow in size, perhaps even matching that of Marautis’. He knew however it was much weaker it still appeared though rather impressive. The power of his attack would rise; he had never charged something this powerful before, he adopted the wicked grin he had seen upon Marautis’ face before. Now he knew why the mad fishman had been grinning as he had before.
Marautis’ attack intensified, arcing out bolts of electricity and beginning to rotate on its own axis, signalling the finality of its power. This orb though much smaller than both Marine and Nautical Detonator’s, it was much denser, much more powerful. He noticed his comrade the young prince was charging his own attack, impressive in size, perhaps bigger than Marautis’? Though it was nothing, a big ball of air, it had nowhere near the density or power. Still, for the young boy it was an achievement, surely he would be proud of that.
“Heheh, looks like you’re enjoying this Calamaridus? This has been a good spar. I never would have imagined it’d get this wild and fierce, but I like it. It’s time for me to finish you now though. If you call that big balloon above your head a counter-attack then I wish you luck with it. You’ll need it most undoubtedly. Hehehe,” Marautis cackled, saying his final words to the boy. Now it was time to launch this thing. Lifting his right leg his body swayed as Marautis took a shaky and slow step forward; then following suit with his left leg. Bending further at the elbows this had brought his arms in and also his attack, allowing him to thrust with his full weight. Exerting his full strength, Marautis shoved forward, using his strong back muscles and legs to support his own stance, while he chest and arms pushed forward, finally, conclusively, expelling his attack. Releasing it upon Calamaridus, he would only now have to wait and watch in amazement.
This was it, Marautis had launched his attack and it was time for Calamaridus to respond.
“Heeeeh!” letting out a rather high pitched cry, Calamaridus put every last breath of energy into his attack. He swiftly dragged his arms down from above him attempting to throw his attack two handedly. It was a colossal effort and took all the strength in his body to complete it. Just as he had seen Marautis do, Calamaridus launched his own counter-attack. The two attacks on a crash course towards each other, moved with hostility. Calamaridus would lower his tired and aching body to a single knee. He brought his arms up over his face, crossing them and attempting to shield himself. His body braced for the incoming impact. This was going to hurt.
The attacks collided in a gargantuan explosion. The force of the connecting orbs, reverberated the air surrounding. Marautis and Calamaridus felt the shift in air pressure begin to blow them back, even before the resulting explosion engulfed them. All vision was lost and a bright light erupted as a result of the huge energy beginning to dissipate.
Marautis simply felt himself knocked back onto his behind and connecting with the sand, he had escaped relatively unscathed. The same could not be said for his friend. Calamaridus’ body was thrown twenty odd feet into the air and landed heavily on the opposing shore to the blast. Landing like a limp ragdoll on the sand; he was unconscious.
Marautis himself was slightly dazed, his body begging for much needed rest and recovery. His vision would gradually return, blurry at first, but eventually back to its original state. As he sat there on his behind, supporting himself with his arms outstretched behind him, he spotted Calamaridus a good 50 feet away. Being too tired to move he used to energy sensing to pick up the vital signs of the prince to confirm he was still in fact alive, and not in a critical state. Of course, he was, Marautis knew his attack wouldn’t do fatal harm to the boy, and the surroundings upon which he had landed did not damage him.
This was a good outcome; the two of them would recover in a few hours. For now though Marautis needed sleep, his body dreary and weakened from such a huge effort. He fell back onto the sand and allowed his stomach to heave up and down, sucking in the moist sea air as he drifted off to sleep.
[ WC = 4,472 ]
[ This is the flashback of Marautis actually learning Nautical Detonator and Poseidon's Trigger ]
[ Requesting PL for this thread, Heavy Weight gain included ]
It had been roughly a bit over a month since Marautis had captured Calamaridus and taken him hostage after their last battle. He initially intended to interrogate him for information regarding the Zoonamites and his parents. The interrogation had gone as planned; Marautis had learnt that he belonged to a race of aliens called Zoonamites. Calamaridus informed Marautis of the origins of his race from what he had read and many beliefs that had stemmed from their dispersal throughout the universe. Calamaridus’ father had been affiliated with a few Zoonamites and Calamaridus revealed what little he knew about the race. Although upon further questioning about his parents, Marautis found, Calamaridus had nothing left to offer. Marautis’ parent’s whereabouts remained a mystery at this stage.
Calamaridus and Marautis had become unlikely friends though, after a few days together they found they had a lot in common despite the 7 year age gap. Over the space of the past month or so Marautis had spent a lot of time sparring with Calamaridus and developing his power. Calamaridus, who also seemed to be very knowledgeable about the outside world, beyond the confines of the ocean, had taken the time to teach Marautis the ways of the world, as well as teaching him English too; his friendship had proven valuable.
On this particular morning the two sparred on the tropical white sands of Marautis’ home, where the two had been residing the past month. Marautis used his weights to lower his power level to that approximately of Calamaridus’. The two of them found that through rigorous sparring sessions that their power had begun to steadily grow over time. Sparring sessions had become a regular morning occurrence for the two boys.
“This is too easy,” Marautis taunted to his grounded opponent.
“Yeah, yeah, let me warm up a little first,” replied Calamaridus, picking himself up off the ground and launching his own offensive.
His small body launched into action, charging Marautis. A rapid fire barrage of punches soon met the torso of Marautis, knocking him back a few steps before he had time to react accordingly. This would then waken his senses though, allowing him to prepare for further attack.
Calamaridus would continue by attempting a sweeping right hook directed at the head of Marautis. This was stopped easily by Marautis who would grip his opponent’s fist mid-air, before pulling them in towards his own body. He would then step back quickly and leave his right leg lingering in place of where he formerly stood, sending his opponent tripping over said leg and tumbling to the ground.
“Not fast enough,” Marautis grinned.
Calamaridus although tumbling, would still manage to land in a crouched position. He directed his palm out, sending off a super charged ki ball from this position. The point blank range of the attack limited Marautis’ time to react and he was hit with the orb which burst into a small blast upon impact with his body. Then through the small explosion Calamaridus would launch his body, his left leg outstretched attempting to jump kick Marautis. This too would connect and knock the Zoonamite warrior flat onto his back.
“That seemed quick enough,” Calamaridus would return the jest.
Marautis rose back up to a standing position, “You were lucky to get that one, just remember who the one in weighted clothing here is,”
“Go on then; drop it,” encouraged Calamaridus.
“I’ll wait until I have a reason to, you’ll have to show me you’re worthy of my full power first,”
“Oh I’ll show you alright,” laugh Calamaridus as he would make another charge. Marautis stood defensively, prepared to intercept the incoming youngster.
Calamaridus approached with his elbow outstretched, attempting to heavily swing it into the gut of Marautis, his attack not swift enough as Marautis side stepped him and returned fire with an elbow of his own, taking Calamaridus by surprise, connecting and sending him backwards off his feet. Then before the young prince had landed, Marautis would draw his knee up into the boys falling body, driving it powerfully into his back, winding him, then allowing the boy to drop.
Calamaridus’ face cringed up in pain as he landed, though the young boy would keep his wits about him. Keeping his feet and hands beneath him before landing, allowing himself to spring back up with a quick somersault backwards, the boy was back on his feet.
Marautis wouldn’t grant him any respite however, he was upon the prince again, marching forward and delivering two fierce blows with his firsts, the first aimed at the head of Calamaridus, the second at his gut. The young boy would counter quickly though and send his forearms up to block the two punches, diverting them by connecting his arms to those of Marautis’, knocking the punches off course. He then raised his foot before him and delivered a heavy kick to the chest of the fish man, who stumbled back after the attack connected.
Calamaridus would follow this by moving forward and lowering his body to work a sweeping low kick across the shins of Marautis, attempting to knock him off his feet. Marautis however counteracted this by stepping back to avoid the kick then reaching down swiftly to grasp the boy by the ankle. Calamaridus would gasp in horror as Marautis’ grip tightened upon him. The young boy would rag dolled almost, his body dragged up by the ankle and Marautis’ second hand grasping him around the neck. Marautis pulled him in close, bringing the body of the boy to eye level to deliver his final words.
“I think this ends now,” he would cackle. He would then give the boy a few seconds to process this and perhaps a chance to reply with his own wit.
“Oh, ok then,” replied the boy through a raspy voice, producing his own wicked grin. Sending his arms together quickly and forming a ki ball between them. Marautis looked down in disgust as he felt the heat emanating from the attack that he assumed was meant for him.
“You brat!” he chortled, tossing the boy back into the air, attempting to distance himself.
Calamaridus would only grin as he finalised his blast attack and sent it hurtling towards Marautis before he would have time to react. It connected forcefully and exploded upon impact blowing Marautis back down onto the sand beneath him in a spectacular array of light. Calamaridus would land upon his feet to be met with a dead silence as Marautis lay flat on his back processing the events that had just transpired.
The silence would follow as Marautis gathered his thoughts and composed himself and Calamaridus would stand proudly with a pert grin stretched across his face. Marautis rose to his feet gingerly, returned the grin, though his own was slightly more sinister in taste. “That was a good shot, but I think I’ll show you something new now. This one hopefully surprises you, see how you handle it.”
The boy’s grin was soon wiped clean as Marautis spoke; he knew the fishman meant business. Marautis widened his stance, planting his feet firmly into the ground, concentrating his centre of gravity and taking up a strong posture. He brought his elbows down to his sides, making a 90 degree angle with his forearms. The palms of his hands facing inwards and opposite each other, Marautis pulled his shoulders back in preparation. Lowering his shoulders once he had brought them back and bringing a slight crouch to his knees.
“I’ve been working on this for a while. Every day in fact while we battled, I whittled away at perfecting it. You may not have noticed actually. In a sense one could describe this training as cloaked or disguised; however I never consciously made an attempt to conceal it. Every day though I tried this and it never came through. I fell short every time by a small margin. This time however feels different. This time I know I can surpass my previous failures and succeed,”
Calamaridus replied, “Huh? What are you even talking about? Every day our training has been the same pretty much. We practice our melee skills, some blasting practice, manoeuvres the usual stuff. I haven’t seen you do anything different at all. I’m so confused right now, and that look on your face doesn’t help either…”
Marautis simply laughed at the small boy, readying himself to prove his point. He began to charge the ki in his body. The flicker of the ki would travel internally and manifest itself in the palms of his hands, forming a small orb. Electricity arced out of the orb; it’s power dense yet dynamic. His entire body would tense up, veins bulging from his limbs as Marautis began to generate even more levels of power; in turn making the orb grow.
“This might appear simply as my Marine Detonator Blast, but no. This is twice as deadly, twice as powerful. I’ve perfected the art of condensing my ki further than I could before. Now I can generate a much more power attack that has a greater capacity for destruction; that takes my fancy. Every morning we trained and I launched Marine Detonator, I would push myself further and further every day. Striving to generate a greater power each time I launched it. I felt myself grow every single time but it seemed so out of reach. Until today that is, I feel stronger, more in control than ever before. This is something new, this power is totally foreign to me, but I like it. I do apologise that you have to be on the receiving end of this, but, think of it as a little demonstration of my faculty. You never know, you might learn something.”
Calamaridus found himself in awe; speechless up until this point. This was a different side of Marautis, a seemingly ruthless and extremely power hungry Marautis. He didn’t like what he was hearing and he didn’t like the look of this attack. He would have to escape. Not now, or Marautis would still be able to track him down and fire his attack, he would have to wait until the last second. That’d be risky, but it was a risk he had to take. What started as a simple training session had suddenly grown tremendously sinister. Marautis seemed to be almost prepared to fire his attack. Calamaridus chose not to speak; it came across as if Marautis’ wouldn’t listen either. Instead, Calamaridus simply prepared himself, his attention trained, his body ready for action.
“It took me a while to think up a name for Marine Detonator. I’m not the best when it comes to naming my battle techniques. Though the time I spent training this one meant I gave this a great amount of consideration. How does… ‘Nautical Detonator’ sound? No points for originality, only points for fatality.” Marautis gave a final threatening chuckle before he could no longer focus on his entertaining dialogue. His concentration was now drawn to the final stages of his attack.
The ki orb had grown to quite a reasonable size. Though comparable in size to Marine Detonator, its power was much greater and this was clearly observable. The small sparks of electricity that once emanated, now jolted out in larger bolts, almost uncontrollably. The orb shifted on its axis, its power levels reaching the limits of Marautis’ management. It would be time to release it upon its prey; to unchain its potential and unleash a wrath of destruction not even imagined by Marautis. The damage this thing would do would no doubt leave a scar upon the island; it would be a spectacle to behold. If anything it would be a trophy of sorts Marautis could claim to. These thoughts would have to wait as it was time to level Calamaridus.
Marautis acquired his aim and trained the orb before him upon Calamaridus. He drew his arms back swiftly and in an almighty thrust forward, the orb was released from his control and took upon a path of its own. It moved through the air with speed, which would only snowball as it travelled. It’s trajectory being the small frame of Calamaridus. Though with a small frame came a light frame. With a light frame came the greater capacity for speed. That particular capacity Calamaridus possessed. His focus had been readying for this and when the moment arrived, he sprang into action. The young prince moved into a low crouch position when the attack had been launched, not bothering to note it’s encroaching arrival or it’s phenomenal speed, he wasted no time in taking off into the air above. Merely a blur to Marautis who looked on in confusion as the small boy took off into the air, making an easy appearing ten foot jump. He appeared to hang in the air as if by a string as the furiously turbulent orb sailed directly beneath him and sailed aimlessly off course into a far off rock cliff on a surrounding island. It connected with a gigantic crash, shattering the cliff completely in a huge cloud of dust and rubble which reached out over the ocean, chopping up the surrounding waves.
Calamaridus avoided the blast and landed solidly back onto the sand beneath, looking up defiantly at Marautis. Whose grand plan had come to an unexpected end so soon, with what could only be described as tragically undesirable results. The young boy sent his hands to his hips and awaited Marautis’ reaction, as the dust and rubble behind him settled.
“Well that wasn’t as great as you built it up to be,” he taunted.
Marautis’ pupils dilated, his breath returned to him after such an exhausting effort. He spent a few short moments taking in the events just transpired, before he would rigidly begin to speak.
“You merely hurdled over my attack? After all that, you just leaped over it. That blast should have annihilated you, and you know it,” Marautis spoke calmly at first, but his voice would sharply rise in volume.
“You are going to pay for that you ungrateful spawn! If that scared you then, you wait until what I conjure up now; I’ll make sure I’m not to miss this time! Before I had only imagined my powers stretching this far, but… that was easy. I appear to have more capacity than I first thought. Before I was showcasing my strength and power, perhaps now I should, experiment with it a little more?!”
It had only been seconds, but Marautis’ disturbing demeanour returned and the failure of his last attack only seemed to spur him on further into irrationality. He felt an anger rise in him. This anger twisted and mangled his spirit, bringing him into a pure rage.
“You’re going to feel the full extent of my power now!” he announced.
Calamaridus gulped nervously. He had only just avoided the prior attack by the skin of his teeth. It may have looked easy but that was pushing the boundary for Calamaridus. If an attack was made by Marautis that surpassed the strength of his prior one then the young boy would have no chance of escape. Maybe he could try to take down Marautis physically, before he got the chance to begin to charge this attack. Would it even be possible for the fishman to take his power to an even higher level than that of Nautical Detonator? Calamaridus didn’t want to leave that to chance, he moved off the spot upon which he stood now, charging Marautis, preparing to engage in combat.
Marautis awaited the prince’s arrival. Taking him by the throat immediately, giving the youngster no time to even launch his assault. Tightening his grip, Marautis tossed the boy up with ease, his small body lightweight, made this an easy feat. Then launching his own body into the air, Marautis would deliver a fatal spin kick. This connected with an immense force and upon hitting Calamaridus, knocked him back down, with Marautis’ large foot stamped down onto his chest where the kick had in fact landed. He held Calamaridus in place with his foot, not allowing the boy to move.
“Heh, nice try, but you had you go and evade my blast before; that riled me up exceedingly. My powers spiked, you’re no match for me and you’re going to face an attack even stronger than the one before it. You’re doomed,” Marautis then bent down to take the boy by the throat again and hurled him back onto the sand. He would prepare to launch his attack.
Calamaridus simply laid there for a second, regaining his composure and gingerly rising to his feet once more. He didn’t have a counter for this once, Marautis was simply too strong. He had failed to even stop him before the attack was launched, but now his fate seemed sealed. His only option would be to return with a blast of his own. Hand to hand combat was useless at this stage. He could perhaps lessen the damage if he returned fire with a powerful blast of his own. His was no special attack with a fancy name but it would serve its purpose. If he wanted to stand any chance against Marautis he would have to commence charging himself.
Marautis had widened his stance. He planted his feet firmly into the ground, lowering his centre of gravity. Centring his balance remaining strong through the core his body tightened. Beginning with the muscles in his toes; they began to flex and stiffen in response to his rising power. The tension travelled up his body like a wave, moving from his feet into his calves, upwards further into his thighs and his core. Marautis breathed heavily, in a deep trance of concentration that couldn’t be broken. His back heaved up and down with the struggle of maintaining this meditation like state. His chest tightened, up through to his neck and finally to his cranium. His whole body had reached a state of tight tension. He felt his blood pressure rising sharply, though he would keep his breath slow and steady to combat this while simultaneously allowing his power to grow. Veins grew and would crawl up and down the limbs of Marautis, pumping blood, fulfilling their role in this attack. His hands slowly rose up, shakily and tense, they arrived at his sides like before. Marautis clenched his fists and in a giant roar he charged his ki, allowing his power to further surge.
“Huuuaaaaaaaaaaah!” his deep gravelly voice thundered and rose out of his lungs with a vengeful anger. A faint blue aura formed around him, barely noticeable, but still clearly there. His body would begin to shake, more and more violently as his power increased. He had never reached such a peak of power before, it was exhilarating; the surge of the ki through him, coursing through his body with a foreign, exciting vigour.
“Huah!” He thundered again in a forceful grunt, signally his phase of charging had commenced and his power had tapered off. He now reached a steady, maximum power level.
Calamaridus watched on in deep concern, how would he ever match such a feat? The small boy had never known such power. He’d never compete with that but still, he had to try. He too would then widen his stance, bringing his arms to his sides, entering a deep state of concentration. A violet aura emerged, encasing his body as the young boy lifted slowly a few feet off the ground. His body then too would shake as Marautis’ had moments ago. A few small grains of sand would whip up beneath him and fly a few feet at first. Displacing themselves a few feet away before landing. This would intensify and larger piles of sand where hurled metres away in great clouds of grainy fury as the young boy charged his ki.
Marautis observed in amusement, “Heh, not bad, but you won’t get anywhere near my level child!” he teased. He merely waited on the spot for the boy to finish his theatrics before he would continue with his attack.
Another minute or so passed and Calamaridus had finished his charging. Wrapping his body up into a tight ball for a second, allowing the ki to pool thoroughly in his body before flailing out his limbs into a star like position as his power surged; of course to nowhere near that of Marautis.
“This should be enough!” he announced as his small frame returned to the ground.
“You call that enough?! Oh that’s poignant,” Replied Marautis “Let’s get on with this, shall we?”
Marautis outstretched his arms like he had done many times before, turning his palms inwards to face each other. He sent his forearms into a 90 degree angle with his elbows, pulling them in tightly to his sides and tensing up.
“You remember Marine Detonator don’t you? And I’m sure I won’t have to remind you of Nautical Detonator? I haven’t quite thought of a name for the next gear up, but let’s see how it goes?” Marautis cackled, commencing his attack.
A small, dense orb of ki formed in no time and began to develop quickly. Calamaridus wouldn’t have much time to mount a response attack. He’d struggle to charge something that would even remotely stand a chance of challenging that but the sooner he started the more time he would have. The more time he had the better the outcome for himself.
Calamaridus sent his own arms straight up, palms to the sky. Shifting his stance slightly wider to balance properly, this would be his counter-attack. Calamaridus tensioned his body and allowed the ki to form in the palms of his hands, hanging above his head proudly. An at first small purple orb of ki emanated, however this soon would grow in size, perhaps even matching that of Marautis’. He knew however it was much weaker it still appeared though rather impressive. The power of his attack would rise; he had never charged something this powerful before, he adopted the wicked grin he had seen upon Marautis’ face before. Now he knew why the mad fishman had been grinning as he had before.
Marautis’ attack intensified, arcing out bolts of electricity and beginning to rotate on its own axis, signalling the finality of its power. This orb though much smaller than both Marine and Nautical Detonator’s, it was much denser, much more powerful. He noticed his comrade the young prince was charging his own attack, impressive in size, perhaps bigger than Marautis’? Though it was nothing, a big ball of air, it had nowhere near the density or power. Still, for the young boy it was an achievement, surely he would be proud of that.
“Heheh, looks like you’re enjoying this Calamaridus? This has been a good spar. I never would have imagined it’d get this wild and fierce, but I like it. It’s time for me to finish you now though. If you call that big balloon above your head a counter-attack then I wish you luck with it. You’ll need it most undoubtedly. Hehehe,” Marautis cackled, saying his final words to the boy. Now it was time to launch this thing. Lifting his right leg his body swayed as Marautis took a shaky and slow step forward; then following suit with his left leg. Bending further at the elbows this had brought his arms in and also his attack, allowing him to thrust with his full weight. Exerting his full strength, Marautis shoved forward, using his strong back muscles and legs to support his own stance, while he chest and arms pushed forward, finally, conclusively, expelling his attack. Releasing it upon Calamaridus, he would only now have to wait and watch in amazement.
This was it, Marautis had launched his attack and it was time for Calamaridus to respond.
“Heeeeh!” letting out a rather high pitched cry, Calamaridus put every last breath of energy into his attack. He swiftly dragged his arms down from above him attempting to throw his attack two handedly. It was a colossal effort and took all the strength in his body to complete it. Just as he had seen Marautis do, Calamaridus launched his own counter-attack. The two attacks on a crash course towards each other, moved with hostility. Calamaridus would lower his tired and aching body to a single knee. He brought his arms up over his face, crossing them and attempting to shield himself. His body braced for the incoming impact. This was going to hurt.
The attacks collided in a gargantuan explosion. The force of the connecting orbs, reverberated the air surrounding. Marautis and Calamaridus felt the shift in air pressure begin to blow them back, even before the resulting explosion engulfed them. All vision was lost and a bright light erupted as a result of the huge energy beginning to dissipate.
Marautis simply felt himself knocked back onto his behind and connecting with the sand, he had escaped relatively unscathed. The same could not be said for his friend. Calamaridus’ body was thrown twenty odd feet into the air and landed heavily on the opposing shore to the blast. Landing like a limp ragdoll on the sand; he was unconscious.
Marautis himself was slightly dazed, his body begging for much needed rest and recovery. His vision would gradually return, blurry at first, but eventually back to its original state. As he sat there on his behind, supporting himself with his arms outstretched behind him, he spotted Calamaridus a good 50 feet away. Being too tired to move he used to energy sensing to pick up the vital signs of the prince to confirm he was still in fact alive, and not in a critical state. Of course, he was, Marautis knew his attack wouldn’t do fatal harm to the boy, and the surroundings upon which he had landed did not damage him.
This was a good outcome; the two of them would recover in a few hours. For now though Marautis needed sleep, his body dreary and weakened from such a huge effort. He fell back onto the sand and allowed his stomach to heave up and down, sucking in the moist sea air as he drifted off to sleep.
[ WC = 4,472 ]
[ This is the flashback of Marautis actually learning Nautical Detonator and Poseidon's Trigger ]
[ Requesting PL for this thread, Heavy Weight gain included ]
