Destiny (Anime Style)

Chapter 4: Thank You

It seemed to be over for Leah... She was laying on the floor with her leg gravely injured and without a single way to defend herself from the monster in front of her, much less try to escape.

Nonetheless, even though she had already closed her eyes while hoping for this to be over quick, someone else appeared out of nowhere, carrying her out of the way just before the Archon's punch landed on her.

"Are you ok?" the mysterious figure asked while still holding her tightly, after which the human girl opened her eyes, only to finally realize who was it that saved her life.

"Ra... Ravi... You actually came" Leah muttered between tears.

"Of course I came" the bluenette replied with a grin. "I just couldn't leave without my very first friend"

Just then, Wire and Cybel arrived too. "Oh, thank the Traveller! Are you ok, Leah?" Cybel asked, relieved to see her dear guardian alive.

"Yeah... Well, except for my leg, I'm totally fine" the young girl replied while rubbing her leg.

"Seems like Ravi arrived just in time" Wire added.

Then, the fallen archon turned around and startled when his gaze met none other than the 'scavenger' he had been waiting for this whole time.

"Ohhh? It's you. Now this is what I've been expecting" the monster claimed with a malicious look, only to then turn over to his subordinates. "I don't want any of you to interfere, is that clear?! I'll kill these 2 myself!"

Following that, he turned to face Ravi and the others again.

"Would you care to tell me why exactly did you come here, scavenger? I hope you don't plan on saving that girl and running away like you always do. Today, I finally have you cornered. Today I'll crush your skull with my bare hands!"

This was bad... Even if Ravi had awakened his powers, he was still a complete amateur at using them. He had no chance of defeating such a big and strong opponent like the fallen archon.

"Wire, where's the ship?" the blue-haired boy asked in a serious tone.

"We left it at the bottom of the skywatch" Wire bluntly stated.

"I see..." he then turned to face Leah. "Can you move?"

"Eh?" Leah replied while in pain.

"I'm asking you if you can move"

"Well, I think my leg might be broken... So, not really"

"Okay... In that case stay behind me. I'll protect you no matter what!"

The human girl found herself shocked after hearing such strong declaration... And then, as Ravi turned around to face danger once more, she felt something different in him. The young boy never showed any interest in this guardian stuff before after all, but now he was willing to risk his life in order to keep her safe.

"HAHAHAHAHA... Protect her? You?!" the archon asked while mocking the young boy. "You sound like one of those guardians who supposedly have amazing powers and abilities"

"Yeah? Well... who knows?" the blue-haired boy replied while getting ready to fight. "Maybe that's what I'm aiming to be now"

"Oh, Really? Well, I guess that's only fitting for someone like you"

"What are you trying to say?"

The archon stood firmly and got ready to attack. "Isn't it obvious? Those 'guardians' may seem righteous and almighty... but in the end, all they do is hide behind walls without acting, and you are just like them... A COWARD!"

The monstrous figure charged over to Ravi at great speed and landed a potent punch, which the bluenette was barely able to block with his left arm.

"Ugh!" Ravi groaned from the hit, after which he was inevitably sent flying over to a wall at one side.

"RAVIIII!" Leah screamed, desperately.

"YOU SEE? THIS IS HOW WEAK YOU TRULY ARE!" the fallen monster yelled once more. "GUARDIAN OR NOT, YOU ARE STILL A PATHETIC SCAVENGER!"

The archon attempted to punch Ravi once again. Nonetheless, this last one managed to move out of the way at the very last second.

'This is bad!' the young boy thought while exalting due to the amazing strength the fallen was displaying. 'I never expected him to be this strong. My left arm is all numb and my back hurts from crashing with that wall. If he had landed that blow on me just now... I probably would've died!'

"So, what are you planning to do now, scavenger? If you wanna run, you can go ahead... but this girl here wouldn't follow you, would she?"

Ravi had no choice but to keep on analyzing the situation as fast as he could. 'One of his punches was able to break that wall. He's strong and fast, so trying to avoid his attacks probably wouldn't work forever. If I want to win, I must face him head on... I must land an attack on him!" he ended up concluding with a worried face, only to then charge towards the archon with a fist surrounded in flames.

"F-fire?!" Leah asked herself, confused and surprised since she never actually witnessed how Ravi managed to awake his powers earlier.

"Hmph! So you choose to fight. Very well!" the archon finally claimed while getting ready to receive the fire punch.

"TAKE THIIIS!" Ravi finally screamed while punching the big fallen with all he had.

And so, after a very strong and powerful shockwave originated from the young boy's attack, he and Leah startled in fear at the fact that the archon... wasn't hurt in the slightest.

That's right... That monster didn't even flinch. He took Ravi's flaming powerful punch head on... and didn't flinch.

"What? Is this really all you can do? What a disappointment" the archon claimed in a joking voice, only to then punch Ravi one more time.

However, the monster didn't stop there... He continued to beat Ravi up for quite a long time while trying to make the poor boy understand the difference in strength that existed between the 2 of them.

"How pathetic!" the fallen enemy continued while handling Ravi almost like some sort of punching bag. "You know? As archon of a Fallen squadron, I had to pass through various challenges and battles to acquire this much strength and rank. Unlike you, I don't go through life taking what I can and just surviving from it! You get what I'm saying? You won't ever reach my level if you stay like the rat that you are in your tiny hole!" he finally stated, only to then punch Ravi one more time with even more power than before.

"GAAAHHHH!" the blue-haired boy groaned again while being sent flying backwards and hitting the ground hard a few seconds later.

Following that, the fallen monster approached him once more, ready to finish him off. Nevertheless, just before he could even attempt to strike, Leah intervened by throwing the archon a tiny and completely ineffective rock.

"Huh? What do you think you are doing?" the archon asked Leah as this last one limited herself to look downwards with teary eyes.

"Hu... humanity... our world... OUR LIVES!" the young girl claimed while crying, desperately. "Do you and your men just... took everything from us with the same cruelty you are showing right now!?"

Ravi startled at Leah's words. He certainly had no idea that the Fallen did something like what she just described. "Ohh? Are your species still angry about all that? What a pathetic race. It's not good to blame others for your own failures, you know?"

"Eh? Wh-what are you... talking about?"

"Don't you understand?! MY people just wanted something, and YOURS just so happened to have it" the fallen finally claimed while shocking Leah with what he was trying to imply. "What happened to your race was the result of all of us doing what we needed to do in order to survive"

The archon left Ravi alone and then slowly approached Leah with intent to kill her.

"The fault is yours for not being strong enough to defend yourselves... JUST LIKE YOU AT THIS VERY MOMENT!" he finally yelled while getting ready to attack.

However, at that exact second, Ravi too got back up and rushed to the fight without caring about the consequences.

"You are coming now, aren't you, scavenger!?"

"YOU ARE WROOOONG!" Ravi yelled as he managed to get a firm grip of the archon's bulky arm.

"Heh! Go ahead! Your attacks don't work on me! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME!"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT WHETHER I CAN OR NOT! A GUARDIAN'S DUTY... IS TO PUT THE WELFARE OF OTHERS IN FRONT OF HIIIIS!"

'What the...? This looks different than before' the archon thought and startled in surprise after realizing that Ravi's fire punch looked totally different this time: stronger, hotter, brighter...

In other words... more powerful.

"TAKE THIIIIS!" Ravi finally yelled in rage while landing his punch on the big fallen enemy, causing a great explosion that sent everything around flying away and off the Skywatch, including the fallen and of course... Leah herself.

Nonetheless, just before the human girl completely fell off from the metallic structure, she was saved once again by the bluenette boy who, after a long struggle, managed to get her back on solid ground.

This last one however, couldn't help but to widen her eyes in complete shock and concern at fact that the right half of Ravi's shirt was totally burnt... as well as his whole right arm. The young boy had released more heat than he could control and ended up hurting himself on the way.

"R-Ravi, your arm" Leah muttered with a crazy worried face.

"Forget about it, we don't have time" Ravi added while panting from exhaustion "We have to go while we still can. I don't think that was enough to kill..."

Just before Ravi could finish, the ground behind him crumbled. The monstrous archon was still alive. Ravi's attack did hurt him, but... not even enough to knock him down by any means.

'No... It can't be' the blue-haired boy thought in complete shock as both him and Leah turned around to face the enemy again. 'That... that was all I had, my full power!'

"That wasn't half bad, scavenger" the archon added while slowly standing back up. "To think you were still hiding some strength. You are more capable than I thought"

This was terrible... Ravi had very serious injuries on both arms. And even though he could still move his right one with difficulty and a lot of pain, he had no other tricks up his sleeve. 'Think! Think fast" the young boy thought with desperation. "Th-there has to be something I can do! A way to get everyone out of here!'

At that moment, and against all what he originally planned to do, the bluenette offered the archon something completely unexpected.

"We... we can give you the ship! Why don't you let us go?!"

"Let you go? You must be crazy!" the four-armed monster yelled in a mocking but ruthless voice. "After all the crap you and your stupid antics made my men pass?! There's no way! I told you, remember? I said I would crush your skull, didn't I? I SAID... I WOULD KILL YOU AND THAT GIRL BEHIND YOU, DIDN'T I?! YOU REMEMBER, RIGHT?! YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN... RIGHT?!"

The archon was crazy. He got ready to attack again and immediately charged at both humans, ready to kill them once and for all. Ravi on the other hand, didn't lose a single second and carried Leah on his arms while barely managing to dodge the attack.

Both teenagers hit the ground due to the shockwave, but avoided a fatal blow nonetheless. What is more, due to the impact, the archon's arm got stuck into the floor, giving the young boy a few more seconds to plan on what to do next.

'Think! THINK!' Ravi thought while still panicking. 'What's the best move right now?! Would we be able to escape if I carry Leah? No, there's no way! This monster's too fast! But what about the ship, maybe we can use it to escape! No, that guy would catch us before even turning on the engines! What about asking for help?! What a stupid idea! There's no one but Fallen around us! No one would come to help us!'

Every single idea Ravi could think of was useless. And so, as he clenched both of his fists in sign of determination, he finally concluded what was the very last option he had left given the circumstances.

'Damn it! There's only 1 thing I can do right now! I must fight... AND WIN!'

The blue-haired boy stood up once more. His clothes were torn apart and his condition was simply terrible. Though he didn't really have time to worry about that.

"Listen to me, Leah" he started. "When I say it, you, Cybel and Wire must escape. I'll try to buy as much time as possible"

"Ravi..." Wire muttered with concern.

Then, the blue-haired boy continued. "Even if your leg hurts, STAND UP! Stand up and escape with the ship!"

"You will... b-buy time?" Leah asked with fear on her face. "NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU SAW IT! YOUR ATTACK DID NOTHING TO THAT BEAST! AND BESIDES, YOUR ARM IS..."

"I KNOW... AND I DON'T CARE! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" Ravi finally yelled in return, startling both ghosts and leaving Leah speechless.

And so, a few seconds later, the archon finally freed himself and got ready to attack for the last time. "LET'S DO THIS, SCAVENGER!" the monster yelled while rushing towards Ravi.

'Here I go!' Ravi thought while activating his fire on his burnt up right arm and going for a punch... for the last time as well. 'I WON'T GIVE UP!'

"SCAVENGEEEER!"

Both powerful attacks clashed in a never before seen display of raw strength, creating a huge shockwave which hit everything around, including the remaining Fallen, and causing the dust and wind to fly in every single direction.

"YEAH! THIS IS IT SCAVENGER!" the archon yelled while slowly gaining terrain over the human boy.

This last one was really starting to give in. Though the truth was... he had something far more important to worry about. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO NOOOOWWW!" the blue-haired boy yelled to none other than Leah herself. "GO! RUN AWAY WHILE YOU STILL CAAAAN!"

Ravi's right arm was burning even more, he was definitely in pain, and he just wasn't strong enough... However, despite all that, he continued the seemingly never-ending clash without hesitating.

'Wh-why?' Leah asked herself while in shock and crying, desperately.

"YEAH! YOU TRULY ARE THE BEST, SCAVENGER! ENTERTAIN ME MOOOREE!" the archon yelled once more while slowly crushing Ravi into the ground.

At that exact moment, while being buried alive, a very simple but impactful thought came into Ravi's mind...

An important phrase which did manage to end up engraved into his head for good...

...

'A guardian's duty is to put the welfare of others in front of his!'

...

'I'm sorry... little buddy' Ravi thought with repentance. 'I won't be able to turn into your guardian after all'

As the young boy was being pressed into the floor little by little, a few tears began falling from his eyes, proving that he was in fact suffering a lot.

'Don't give up! Don't give up! Don't... give up!' thought Ravi even in this situation.

But then, just before the monstrous archon got to finish him off for good, a tiny and really weak lightning suddenly hit the big fallen in the head. "STOOOOP!" Leah yelled while crying inconsolably as Ravi, who was still barely conscious, heard her desperate and heartbreaking cry.

"Huh? Really? Do you wanna die that much?" the archon asked the young girl, sarcastically. "Well, just wait a little longer. Once I'm done with him, it'll be your..." He then stopped mid-sentence while in complete shock at the fact that Ravi was... fighting back yet again.

"AS IF... I'D LET YOU DO THAAAAT!" the bluenette yelled in a rugged and potent voice while slowly getting back up.

"Wait... WHAT?! YOU... YOU STILL HAVE THIS MUCH STRENGTH?!"

Ravi's flames grew even more and they looked so powerful and... bright. They even covered his whole body. "THIS ISN'T... ALL I HAAAAVEEE!" the young boy claimed with determination while concentrating all of his fire on his bare and already gravely burnt fist. "I WON'T LOSE! YOU HEAR MEEEE!?"

And so, Ravi finally landed one last punch on the archon with all the strength he had left and even more, breaking past the monster's brutal defense... and striking him directly in the face.

"JUST... BEGONE ALREEAADYYYYY!"

The big fallen was sent flying backwards, crashing against the giant metal structure. He was down for the count.

Then, as Ravi found himself barely holding on and at the verge of passing out, Leah remained speechless and in complete shock while crying and making memory of something that someone important in her life once told her...

...

"Leah, I know it's hard for you, and I can't blame you for trying to avoid everyone and everything..."

...

Simultaneously, before losing consciousness for good, Ravi stood up straight one more time and yelled a potent victory cry to the sky.

'Even though... you know nothing' Leah thought while still crying her heart out.

...

"...but remember my words. I'm sure that one day you'll meet someone..."

...

Then, a huge mix of relief, happiness and gratitude invaded the young girl, and as she kept on watching Ravi barely holding on, she finally fell on her knees while breaking down in tears.

'Even though... you know nothing about me'

...

"...Someone that will change your life forever and will be important to you"

...

The human girl couldn't take it anymore...

She raised her head and stared directly at the brave and kind of childish boy in front of her, only to then finally mutter something she had been wanting to say this whole time...

Since the very first moment Ravi made her smile...

"Ravi Azarov..."

...

...

...

"...Thank you"