Pretear Fan Fiction ❯ One and Only ❯ Chapter 20

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Neikona
The battle between Drake and Brian has finally arrived at last! See what happens when the group splits into 2 groups to find Drake and Bethany!

Anime/Manga: Pretear Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.25.2005 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 622 | Status: Completed

Chapter 20
 
Author's note: Okay, no more playing around. Here's the story. The anime's not mine.
 
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Goh's feet gently and awkwardly found the ground next to the tree. Ashlee landed directly behind him, and she looked anxiously around, examining the tree with wide, alert eyes. Her hands slowly rose up and grasped Goh's arm. He glanced back at her, and then looked ahead of him, his jaw set as he slowly walked towards the trunk of the tree.
Soon, Kei and Elora landed behind them, walking towards them slowly and carefully. One by one, the knights dropped to the ground and followed Goh and Ashlee to the large trunk of this colossal tree. The Pretears and Sesame followed up last, and all gathered together, awaiting instructions.
“I'd say let's split up in two groups,” Sesame said. “One goes clockwise around the trunk, and the other goes counter clockwise. Search for any clues as to the whereabouts of Bethany and Drake. If you do find anything, you know what to do.”
“Right,” everyone said in unison. They split up, with Ashlee, Goh, Kei, Elora, Mannen, and Kim in one group, while Himeno, Brian, Hajime, Hannah, Shin, Shannon, and Sesame went the other way.
 
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“Come on, Goh!” Mannen whined. “We've been walking around for an hour now! We're still not halfway around this tree! Can't we sit and take a rest?”
“No,” Goh snapped. “We don't want to be off our guard if something happens.”
“Goh,” Ashlee said softly beside him. “I think we should take a little rest. The kids are getting tired, and so am I.”
“And don't worry,” Kei said. “I'll stand guard. We need our strength in case we have to fight.”
“Like we're ever gonna see any action,” Kim grumbled to Mannen beside her.
“I know,” Mannen sighed. “This has to be the lamest thing in the world. I mean at least last time there were a whole mess of demon larvae we could fight. Now there's just… nothing.”
“Which means you should be more on your guard,” Kei said, raising his eyebrow at them.
“Uh… Kei?” Elora said. He looked at her and found her face pale and her eyes wide as she looked above his head. Looking at the faces of the other knights, which weren't too far off from hers, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Hearing a loud laugh, he stumbled back to where they were and looked up. There, he saw exactly what they were looking for, and exactly what they all hoped they wouldn't find.
“Himeno,” Ashlee said softly through telepathy, “I think we found them.”
 
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Himeno stopped in her tracks when she heard Ashlee's voice. Something in the way she said it told her something wasn't right. The other knights saw her stop and they turned to look at her.
“Hayate, did you hear that?” she asked.
“Yeah,” was his grim reply.
“What do you make of it?”
“I don't know, but it's not good.”
“Guys! We need to find the others!” Himeno said to everyone. They didn't ask any questions. Everyone launched off, and flew as fast as they could. They had just made it to the other side of the tree from where the groups split up.
After flying for about five minutes, they heard a scream off in the distance. They knew where they were headed, and they wouldn't like what they'd see.
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Ashlee narrowly missed a large spike that was aimed at her, but she fell hard on the ground with a thud. She grimaced and looked up towards Drake and Bethany, her eyes growing wide when she saw a blast of sound headed her way.
Goh ran in front of her and extended his hand, creating a fire shield to protect them both. When the sound wave passed without harming either of them, he quickly helped her up onto her feet and looked up, jumping back into the air with a determined look on his face.
Meanwhile, Kei and Elora were struggling against Drake, who threw dark energy blasts at them continuously, not letting them get in an attack. Mannen and Kim tried desperately to freeze the daggers and spears that were headed towards the other knights, acting as defense as the others were offence.
“Guys, this doesn't look good!” Elora said.
“Oh, it's about to look much worse!” Drake laughed. He pointed his hand down to the ground, and dark energy poured from his palm. Beneath him, the ground began to grow black, and something began to grow. The knights watched in horror as not one, not two, but ten demon larvae began to sprout from the ground. They all roared and stretched to their full height.
“Attack them!” Bethany shouted.
The dark demons surrounded the six knights. Goh grabbed Ashlee's hand and stood tall; ready to fight to the end if he had to. Kei stepped in front of Elora and glared at two demon Larvae in front of them. They were not going to lay a claw on her if he had anything to do about it.
Mannen got into position and glanced at Kim. “Get behind me.”
“Why?!” she protested.
“'Cause… you're a girl, and you can't fight very well!” he said.
“Bullshit!” she shouted. “I can fight just as good as you!”
“Look, I don't want you hurt, okay?” Mannen said, his face growing red as he stared at the demon larvae in front of him. “You're… you're my only friend, and I don't want to lose you, okay? So just shut your mouth and stay behind me!”
Kim went quiet and stared at him with wide eyes. “Mannen…”
“Damn,” Kei said to himself. “Where are the others?”
 
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Himeno lunged with her sword drawn to the nearest demon larva and plunged it into its heart. She watched as it cried out and began to dissolve, two more taking its place. She backed up as they approached her, and she ran into something behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Brian standing there, his back to her, as he faced three demon larvae.
He looked at her, sweat and blood lining his brow. “Where are the others?”