Did you know you can listen with your skin?

Feel the air fluttering against the back of your neck. Heat caressing it in subtle, barely-there waves. Moisture in the atmosphere.

As Finn repeated time and time again in Flying Sword School: Don't listen only with your ears.

And that's what saved Finn from getting taken out in the eye.

Finn sensed the arrow once it pierced into his radius. It sent ripples of air ahead of itself to herald its arrival, vibrating like tuning forks in Finn's green hair and striking his crown like a gong. Swerving to the side with a strong swift step, Finn slashed a sword out and intercepted the Spirit Shackle, releasing a flash bang of purple energy into the air.

Finn's awareness emanated off him like the bristling mane of a Luxray. His sword gleamed in the realm's strange light.

"I don't want trouble." Finn's voice was calm like a rock in a cool pond. "Let's just walk away, no hard feelings."

Gerald Kaiser

OOC: Outfit - as in avatar!

The Decidueye lunged forward, its arrow morphing into a green sickle. Finn's gut tightened in a ball of bile.

"Dafutou, help me!"

Finn's Scyther burst out from his Pokeball and let out a grating hiss. The Leaf Blade struck squarely across the insect's chest but barely scratched his scaly armour. Fuelled by indignation, the rattling inside Dafutou's thorax shot up into a horrible shriek. His blades glowed like bug eyes - Dafutou used X-Scissor!

Finn panted. Even though he made his career teaching his students to fight, getting into a battle was always its whole own thing. Much more so if your opponent was this skilled and bloodthirsty.

Who was this masked villain? What did he want?

The pulse that drummed underneath the skin of the cave wormed into Finn's mind.

"Oh, fuck!"

In a black blur, Finn's assailant slashed out at him with a deadly blade. Just in the nick of time, Finn parried the swipe away with his sword and retreated a few steps away to safety. As the heat that flashed in his gut died down, Finn realised that something red and warm trickled down his forearm. A minor cut that could have been worse if he had reacted just a second later.

Finn was too distracted by the Pokemon to realise that his opponent had gotten close. He wouldn't be making this mistake again.

"I'm warning you. Turn around now."

Finn drew his second sword and brandished them both before him with the nerve of a Gallade.

This man might have pulled a fast one on him, but he had been facing Finn the traveller. Now, he was facing Master Flying Sword.

Gerald Kaiser

Everything around Finn fell apart like a tree on fire. Mantis and bird clashed above them - the Scyther's blades seared again, going in for another hit, but Decidueye hit him in the chest with a deafening, decisive crack.

Dafutou fell like a crushed insect. Smoke trailed in the air like the ashes of a fighter plane crash.

"No!" Finn roared, wracked with shock. That Brave Bird hurt. It really only just dawned on him that Gerald wasn't fighting just to win but to kill.

Finn took a step back to cover his partner. He tightened his grip on his swords.

"You ok, buddy?" Finn muttered, a bitter heat rising in his gut. He kept his focus soft and sharp at the same time, but his voice trembled. His gaze remained strong, tracking his foe's movements while willing, hoping, that Dafutou was still conscious. Not just conscious - still alive.

Dafutou managed a feeble nod. Despite that fracture in his shell, he pushed himself up by his blades, letting out a defiant hiss. An iridescent glow emanated from his body, like the sheen of a bug's eye - Scyther's Swarm activated!

Finn snarled. The Swarm in his soul came to life too.

But just before he slashed outwards, Gerald threw a scatter bang at his feet. Finn darted backwards but still shielded his eyes, holding his swords in front of him in an X. Little flecks of earth peppered his forearms, stinging the cut Gerald gave him. Finn hated how he was constantly being put in defence. He was a good fighter but only when his opponent had morals.

Finn withdrew, and Dafutou advanced. As Gerald edged inwards, the Scyther leaped up and over his trainer, striking down on Gerald with a Swarming X Scissor. While Finn was still restrained by his honour, the Scyther was not, and his natural killing instinct rushed like hot venom to his eyes and claws.

Gerald Kaiser

Finn's muscles tightened up all over his body like he was using Defence Curl, but the hit he was dreading never landed. Futou, Finn's Scyther, warded Gerald back by a good few feet, but would their respite last long?

Gerald released an electric terror so tall and bright it lit up the dark belly of the sky. Finn's fringe stood on end in the tingling air.

What the fuck is that thing?

Finn had only ever seen news reports about these creatures. They were things out there, things of modern myth; he wasn't meant to see one himself. The realness of the situation crashed over him like ice water. Was that shiver from the static in the air or his fear?

Transfixed, Finn stared as the Xurkitree started to shine.

Cables slashed through the air like metal whips flying with magnet force, launching a glowing bomb in their direction. The Zap Cannon glowed so densely it warped the space with its gravity. Finn could feel the air ionise all around him, sucking him into the missile's awful beauty...

The beast was fast, but Scyther was faster.

Shrrngg!

Cloaked in speedy light, Futou threw Finn over its shoulder and blitzed clear out of blasting range. Finn felt the world spin around him in a mad rush of light and cloudy shadow, and an immense shock wave that rumbled right into his bones. And then, his back slammed into the hard ground. 

Finn's vision cleared and he saw Futou looking down at him with intense concern. He could feel the tip of his fringe sizzling from the Zap Cannon's crash radius. 

"Thanks, buddy." 

Finn shook off the alien dust from his sleeves. The distance between him and his enemy gave him clarity, and with that vision came wrath. This bastard had him running, avoiding, dodging, for far too long. 

"Bawang, you're up!" 

The Xurkitree was tall, but Finn's Gyarados towered over him. The dragon's fangs flashed like swords and his red eyes looked like alien suns. 

It might be stupid for Finn to use Bawang against an electric bomb-slinger. But Finn had taken a leaf from Gerald's book. 

"Go!" 

With a sky-splitting roar, Bawang released a Hurricane from his mouth that cycloned outwards at a howling speed. Not at the Xurkitree - but Gerald. 

Gerald Kaiser

Bawang's attack was vicious, but Gerald was annoyingly always one step ahead. Finn grimaced as he saw a Froslass throw up a Protect, nullifying what could have been an instant kill.

Yes, kill. Finn was at that point now. The purple sky groaned as if it bemoaned the loss of a soul to suck on.

Finnegan wanted to sink a blade into Gerald's chest. He hated how the bastard made him dodge and dance like he was a child bullied. Almost without effort, Gerald took away every honour and pride that Finn held close to his chest. Finn tried fighting back, but his attack was a useless gust of wind against a solid shield. The sky yawned above him, resonating with a cavern inside his chest that oozed darkness black like a Darkrai's soul. It was hopeless. He almost wanted to cry.

But all things considered, Finn valued survival over pride.

"Hold them here," he muttered. Bawang roared and torrents of cold flood water exploded from cracks in the ground, engulfing Gerald's side of the cavern in a Whirlpool.

It was time for the master to fly. With a baneful look, Finn recalled his Gyarados and leaped onto Futou's back, and the speedy mantis blitzed out with a Quick Attack. Humbled, Master Flying Sword has flown the coop.

Gerald Kaiser

MP Count:

- 60 MP (10 MP per IC post in a Postdormitum Battle/Mission.)
- 150 MP for completing a Postdormitum Battle.
- 300 MP for "losing" a Postdormitum Battle/Mission.
- 10 MP for incorporating the realm's mutations or feelings of paranoia in a thread

Total: 520 MP