by xingy
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no oh no. Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno.
This was not good, not good at all.
Xianghua gulped as she glanced around at her surroundings: a dark metal stone completely surrounded by hot molten lava at the bottom of a pit in what had to be the bowels of the earth.
Not a very welcoming environment.
Forcing her eyes shut, she attempted to calm herself. An unsteady hand held her sword as her knees trembled. She hadn't been this scared since. since Kilik had gotten that marble stuck up his nose.
And THAT had been scary. Xianghua winced at the thought.
A sharp shake of the ground, quickly followed by another shake and another, however, abruptly brought her back to the present.
Footsteps.
Headed this way.
Xianghua drew a shaky breath as her sweaty palms tightened the grip on her sword. Still, she wasn't prepared for the monstrosity that stepped before her: the huge purple arms, the rippling muscles, the evil glaring eyes, the enormous metal axe. the sheer ugliness. She gasped.
Astaroth.
What had she been thinking? There was absolutely no way someone such as herself could defeat him! It was impossible, pure and simple. Forget destroying the Soul Edge; at that moment, the only thing Xianghua wanted was to go home.
Even marbles (and all the horrors attached with them) were not as awful as the fate she faced. As if reading her mind, Astaroth's mouth split into a menacing grin, his rotten teeth shining through as he let out a quiet, cackling laugh.
A small whine escaped Xianghua's lips.
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no. Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno.
************
Astaroth had had a fairly good day thus far. After waking up bright and early, he had been happily surprised to discover that there were just enough Lucky Charms left in the box for his breakfast. Yummy.
After consuming the delicious bowl of rainbow puffed sugars, he took a quiet stroll from his house down to the pits of the fighting ring (carefully dragging his beloved axe behind him - to conserve energy, of course).
He really hadn't felt like spending the day in such a depressing environment, but he hadn't much say in the matter. Oh well, it mattered not; he'd win and leave as quickly as possible. Perhaps there would even be time to feed the birdies later.
Stepping into the darkened ring, his metal axe scratching the rock noisily behind him, Astaroth was surprised at the tiny, young child who stood before him.
In fact, he had an instinctive urge to give the girl a cookie. It was an odd sensation, to say the least.
Xiang. Xinanhuan. no, that wasn't it. Xianghua? Yes, yes, that's who it was. Xianghua.
Puny child.
And she looked completely terrified (if that word even began to describe her expression). Ah yes, it would be a very happy day indeed, Astaroth thought.
Maybe he'd even have enough time to chat with the squirrels.
Maybe. but for now, his focus lay on the fight ahead.
As if summoned by an unforeseen force, the two opponents stepped toward the center of the ring.
It looked as though Xianghua's unsteady feet would simply collapse from under her, Asatroth observed somewhat humourously.
His heavy axe lay behind him as he gazed wickedly down at the diminutive girl trembling before him.
He gave her thirty seconds to live, tops.
Preparing to begin the battle, Xianghua held her sword in front of her, the blade shaking slightly in her grip.
Chuckling deeply, Astaroth clasped his other hand around the thick handle of his heavy metal axe and, giving a mighty tug, jerked the weapon into a fighting position.
Then froze.
Something wasn't right.
No, something was very wrong - very wrong indeed.
Risking a quick glance behind him, Astaroth was stunned to discover that his axe, his beloved weapon of death, still lay on the ground, his strong hands firmly clutched around the handle.
A look of confusion crossed his features.
A quick glimpse at the girl, and he could instantly tell she was as confused as he was; eyebrows knitted together, eyes staring curiously at the sight before her.
Astaroth swiftly looked back at the axe - his axe - lying on the ground. Anger swam through him and, with another fierce upward motion, he tried to pull the weapon from the ground.
Absolutely nothing happened.
What the heck was going on? Astaroth's tiny brain fumbled for the answer.
The metal blade of the axe gleamed in the molten light, as if mocking him.
He glanced at the child again.
And immediately halted.
This time, the girl held no look of confusion - that particular emotion had been completely wiped from her face.
In its place stood a much different emotion.
A much more horrifying emotion.
One of sheer evilness.
Her eyes, which had been narrowed to slits, glared ominously in the dark depths of the pit. Her trembling had ceased; she now had a firm grip on the handle of her sword.
Astaroth gulped as the girl took a silent step toward him, her lips cracking and forming a smile that seemed inhumanly wicked.
Turning, he repeatedly tried to raise his large axe from the ground that had claimed it, his muscular arms seeming to have no strength at all.
A brief look at the girl and he jumped back, not loosing the grip on his weapon, his only hope for survival.
She was much closer now than before - only ten feet away, and quickly closing the gap.
His mind erupted in a blind panic. WHAT was happening?
Several more jerks on the handle of the axe proved as helpless as the others. The weapon would not move from its place on the dark stone below.
A quiet (yet evil, of course) chuckling brought his thoughts to a grinding halt.
The girl was right beside him, the blade of her sword gleaming.
A swift swing, and all was done.
So much for feeding the birds.
************
A job well done, the triumphant Xianghua thought as she exited the battle platform, any unearthly evilness gone from her features.
She had a date to keep with Kilik, so she had better hurry.
And she must remember to thank him for those magnets she had never believed would work.
But had actually turned out to be quite useful.
Quite useful indeed.
