With a Bang (2)

If he was asked what serious fights he had been in before, Jason would say that he hadn't been in many. It was precisely because Oliver followed the rule to never get into a fight that didn't help them out. Of course, Jason had experience with beasts and animals in the Hunting Grounds, but that was the end of it. He was not experienced in fighting with humans beyond a straight-up brawl. 

Normally, this would not be a problem to Jason. He was a Delver who smelled someone coming from miles away, and normal humans might as well be snails to him. Which was to say that only beasts who could also use mana were his equals. 

Seconds into the fight, Jason knew he had been too arrogant. 

His ears rang from the previous explosions, and his nose twitched from the smoke that clung to the air like a film. The series of platforms he ran on felt a little too small as he dodged away from another pebble that the redheaded girl sent his way, clicking his tongue when it didn't explode like he expected. His eyes looked back and forth as he took in the scene around him, head pounding and taking stock of everything in an instant. 

Around him, dust and smoke covered his vision from previous explosions. Something he learned was that the other Delver could somehow adjust her pebble bombs to either be fiery explosions or filled with smoke, leading to the platforms they fought on to be covered in a thick smokescreen. 

However, even with his strongest senses hampered, Jason never truly lost her. 

Feet pounding on metal stole his attention, and he whirled around as the Calderone's Hunting Hound was upon him in a whirlwind of limbs. She burst through her makeshift cover right as Jason turned to her, and the teen could see a hint of surprise as he did so before her reaction was masked with a slasher-like grin that hid any other emotions. Instead, she just sunk down into a low crouch and slammed a kick under Jason's guard.

A gasp tore open his lips, and the teen reeled backwards. He was unprepared for three more kicks that peppered the arms wrapped around his head and another that struck his knee, forcing him to kneel. 

Jason blinked the tears from his eyes, catching movement and dodged left instinctually. He learned of the impact from the rush of air nearby followed by a hollow thud vibrated with the metal platform. The force of the blow was strong enough to open up a small area in the smoke cloud around the two.

The redhead's smile looked a little more at ease as she let three pebbles tumble free from her open palms. Jason felt a surge of panic within him as he caught sight of some familiar illegible scribbles on the three pebbles. He backpedaled into smokey cover right as he saw the girl raise her hands into the prayer-like hand sign she had done earlier. 

A cloud of red overlapped with his obscured vision, and Jason cursed as his back hit the solid concrete pillar. At the same time, he could only bemoan his luck when he saw portions of the rudimentary mana domain had started to dwindle in spots; like the mana was absorbed by something. 

"God dammit, you're annoying…" Jason complained aloud, sinking into a crouch and covering his head with his hands. 

Heat and sound washed over him. Clenching his teeth as hard as he could, Jason weathered through the blasts around him. However, the second he felt the initial attack was over, another explosion knocked him back against the concrete pillar. 

The teen held back a scream as he felt his skin grow warm and blister. His body felt hot as mana flushed through his system, and it was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him as his skin sizzled from the heat that encompassed him. 

Then, another explosion hit him and the platform he huddled up on rocked back and forth. He felt the platform tremble as it tilted downwards, and Jason hurriedly leapt up from his crouch, knowing that the metal protrusion was about to fall. The series of chained explosions continued to go off, but that was the last thing on his mind as he rushed across the platform. 

Jason felt his ears pop and hair burn as he pumped his arms and ran. His body was a mess of burns and bruises as he pushed more and more mana through his limbs, welling strength up from the energy as he threw himself through the cacophony of sound and heat. 

Eventually, the teen burst through the field of timebombs, tumbling onto another ledge. Smoke clung to him like a cloak, and Jason sucked in air deeply as he coughed out black smog. Tears coated his eyes as he blinked debris out of them, but the worst damage was definitely the burns that littered his skin. 

His shirt was a tattered mess as a litany of numb, blackened splotches covered his arms and legs. Thankfully, his torso hadn't suffered as much as his limbs as there were only a couple of red and white spots across his stomach and chest that sent shivers of pain up through his spine. 

Still, as he continued to squeeze as much mana out of the four mana veins near his heart, Jason noticed that the numb burns on his arms and legs started to tingle. Feeling slowly returned to his limbs as he stood on shaky legs. The red splotches on his torso that ached in agony also started to grow more bearable with time. 

Despite all his injuries, Jason felt his lips curl into a vicious smile as he looked up at the redhead Hunting Hound who perched on the edge of a higher ledge. Nearby, the staircase of platforms he had just ran on creaked and groaned as it broke from from the bolts that held it to the concrete pillar, falling down and crashing into more platforms below. 

"Ya know, bloodhounds are pretty nice pets where 'M from." The redheaded Delver spoke with a smile, slinging her legs over the side of the platform. She looked around for a moment before she met his gaze again, covering herself with her coat. "Ya look a bit cold like that, Bello, need a coat?" She pulled at her large coat with a laugh. "I can warm up a pet." 

Jason snorted and raised his hands again. His hearing was still coming back in, and he could barely feel the burns on his arms and legs, but he focused the rest of his senses on the Delver. 

She laughed, fanning herself in the process. "Don't stare at a lady with such an intense look. You might give her the–" 

Jason tensed as the Delver threw herself off the ledge towards him. Two stones were gripped in her palms as they met in her hand sign, but instead of a large rudimentary mana domain, a small one built up around her palms. She then threw the stones at him, which he dodged before they burst into clouds of smoke. 

 "–wrong impression."

Swiveling to the source of the voice, Jason swung his arm as hard as he could. He carved a trench through the smoke, but found no one there. 

His stomach clenched the second he felt no contact, feeling a kick impact just below his sternum. It didn't hurt as much as last time, and with his previous experience, his other arm snapped up to grab the leg that shot through the smoke towards his head. A gasp of pain rang out from the other end as his fingers dug into the Delver's skin. 

Jason then ducked out of the way as a pebble flew towards his face, jumping in the same moment and dragging his unwilling participant along with him. Smoke rushed past his face as he found himself in the air, grinning down at the girl who ragdolled behind him. He caught her face slightly panicked as she dug in her coat's inner pockets, and he found that she had pulled out a pebble and started to dig a fingernail onto its surface, carving something on it. 

A small explosion on the platform they were just on pushed away the smoke, and Jason pivoted in the air to plant his feet onto the surface of the concrete pillar next to them. The second his feet gained traction, he twisted his core and swung his unwilling passenger down onto the platform. 

She hit with a loud bang, gasping and bouncing off the metal surface. Jason then kicked off the surface of the pillar, leaning forwards to run down the side of the concrete. The female Delver hurriedly rolled away as Jason slammed down into the platform hard enough to shatter the bolts that held it to the wall. 

The ledge started to fall through the air, and Jason dug his fingers into the surface to hang on. His eyes locked onto the redhead who flailed around the second the ledge started to fall; she quickly calmed down, but the second of panic was all Jason needed. With his hands holding onto the falling platform, Jason kicked out and felt his feet hit the other Delver hard enough to drive the air from her lungs. She shot off and hit the side of the pillar, cracking it on impact. 

With his nuisance out of the picture, Jason then turned to the new problem. 

His platform flipped around as air caught it, and Jason was spun around randomly as he clung to the metal with his fingers. As he flipped around, he caught sight of another staircase of ledges that he fell towards. 

Images of getting crushed between the two pieces of metal ran through the teen's mind before he grit his teeth and tensed. He didn't know if he could handle such an impact, but he didn't know where he would fly off if he tried to jump off his current transport. 

With those thoughts in mind, he flexed his hands and arms, pulling his chest to be flush against the metal platform. Barely a second passed before he was sandwiched between two hard ledges, tasting blood in his mouth. His nose flattened against his face; fingers jammed into the metal; and his feet spasmed as they crunched against the two platforms. 

Still, he lived and was honestly surprised he was walking away with his ribs coming out of his back. A blanket of pain lasted for a moment, and splotches of darkness wavered on the edge of his vision, but he pulled himself out of it as mana filtered through his body and filled his limbs. 

Spikes of pain echoed through him as he pushed the metal ledge off him, tearing burnt and healing skin as the jagged edges of metal bit into him. Jason muffled his cries of pain and pushed the platform to the side where it broke apart into pieces. 

With the small moment of reprieve, Jason took the time to breathe in and out. His body was a mess. Blood pooled down at his feet from the multitude of wounds across his limbs and torso, and the teen tumbled a bit as he stood up, leaning on the concrete pillar nearby for support. 

He looked over to the edge of the platform he was on, knowing he put in a good enough showing. There was nothing stopping him from giving up, but as he started towards the edge, a treacherous thought spun into the back of his mind. 

The redheaded Delver countered his senses, and from the start of the free-for-all, it was as if she had been targeting him. The Calderone Familia couldn't have known he was coming as both Oliver and Mikey had said he was a last minute entry. Unless, they had been lying. 

A sort of cold terror warred in Jason's mind for a second. He shook his head, taking that thought out of his mind. And it was almost reassuring when he heard something clink along the metal surface next to him. 

Once again, he could lose himself in the moment. 

Adrenaline and mana filled his arms and legs with purpose, pushing him away from the noise. Heat blossomed on his back as the pebble bomb went off behind him, but Jason already made it a good distance away from the worst of it. 

As he was looking for them, Jason found more pebbles falling around him, hitting the floor with whisper-quiet jingles. He couldn't trust his hearing too much, and made the split second decision to scoop up a large shard of the broken platform he had ridden down, bringing it up like a shield as he ran forwards. 

Explosions surrounded him once again. He weathered through them better this time, ignoring most of the heat and shock waves as they battered his body. 

When he came through this newest assault, he followed the redheaded Delver's familiar scent, catching her as she jumped across two platforms that were a little ways up to drop more pebbles. He noticed she was limping on one leg and hunched over as if in pain when she landed. However, the problem was that she no longer tried to close the gap, sticking to a distance. 

As the pebbles approached, Jason hurriedly hid behind his makeshift shield. The explosions hit him a second later, engulfing him in fire and force. His teeth clenched as he was forced to brace his shield with both hands, kneeling down as the explosions were keeping him pinned. 

He knew he needed to move soon. Still, he didn't start immediately. He counted each explosion in his head, knowing from her timebomb field strategy that he bombs could be set to explode after a certain time. At the same time, Jason saw how she had carved that one pebble when he had her in his grip. It made sense that she wouldn't carve the odd symbols in before she used them, else she risked blowing herself up. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Jason knew it stopped her from mass producing bombs of varied times without serious preparation. After judging the time it took for each pebble to fall, Jason grinned as he counted exactly seven seconds between salvos of explosions. There was a bit of variation thrown in there, but he supposed it was more that she threw them or something to affect their fall time. 

Either way, the confirmation on his assumption was all he needed. 

Jason counted down another seven seconds after another wave of heat washed over him. After his internal timer, he popped up and swung his makeshift shield upwards, feeling something impact it. Small, ruby explosions lit up his vision, and he caught sight of more pebbles thrown off from their fall by his intervention. 

At that moment, the falling pebbles stopped. Whether she was confused or wary, Jason didn't care too much. 

He didn't waste his chance, gripping the warped metal of his shield hard enough for it to deform in his hands. The smoke from the previous explosions still hung in the air, obscuring his vision further. Still, he had a rough idea where the Hunting Dog was, and barely gave it a second thought as he launched his shield where he thought she was. 

The shield tore through the smoke, and Jason didn't get a chance to see if it hit or not as he sprung into action. The only indication he got was a loud shriek of metal on metal and a startled scream. He hurried around the ruined platform staircase, picking up scrap and shoving it into his pockets or just holding it in his right hand. 

Jason abandoned his actions the second he heard something hit the floor nearest to him, turning on a dime to jump towards the pillar's graffiti-covered walls. His free left hand dug into the wall as he used his momentum to propel him upwards towards one of the nearest platforms above. This one had a hanging rope ladder that he grabbed, using it to run sideways along the wall as pops of explosions echoed from below. 

His gaze snapped up mid-step, finding that he had crossed the wall of smoke that obscured his vision. The redhead had thrown the rest of her pebbles off the side of the platform she was on, and he could see she was in the process of carving into another pebble when she caught sight of him. He toothily grinned her way as her eyes widened. 

Using her slight distraction, Jason's right arm shot out, releasing the scrap in his hands like the bullet from a gun. The other Delver squawked awkwardly as she stepped away from the edge of her platform, narrowly dodging the buckshot of metal shards that stabbed into the underside of her platform and surrounding concrete. 

Jason wheezed out a laugh from his pained lungs as his shoddy plan worked momentarily. He then focused on his feet, gripping the rope ladder tight as he used it to guide him to another singular platform. It was an awkward landing as he hit it and rolled over its surface, planting his fingers into the metal to stop him from continuing to roll off. 

From here, he could see a path to the ledge the redheaded Delver was on. He once again used the same strategy to run up the concrete pillar, grabbing another rope that hung from another platform before he started to descend. Simultaneously, the teen kept his gaze trained on the lone platform above him, throwing more metal scrap her way every time she tried to pop out and try to attack him. 

When she finally realized she couldn't attack him, Jason found that a smokescreen suddenly engulfed the platform. He cursed when pebbles then began to fall over every side of the platform, exploding at random intervals. Several times, Jason had to correct his pace to dodge the random pebbles only to find that they didn't explode. 

Still, the teen also did the same, throwing whatever scrap in his hands into the smoke cloud. His advance was slowed, but he eventually built up enough height and momentum to jump the rest of the way onto the platform. 

He rolled on impact, swinging his arms around rapidly to disperse the smoke. Jason then clicked his tongue in annoyance as he found no one on the platform with him. In a slight panic, he spun around, trying to look for any trace of–

A flash of red appeared in the corner of his vision, and Jason pounced before he registered his actions, hitting the familiar red coat. Yet, his heart leapt into his throat as the coat just wrapped around his fist. 

It was only when two slender arms reached over his shoulder and gripped his neck between their biceps that he understood he had been played. Soft, sweaty skin pressed up against his burnt back, and Jason's eyes dilated as the Delver's hands met in front of his face. 

Her hands were steepled where her fingertips were pressed tightly together. It might have looked like a prayer if her thumbs weren't coiled together between her palms. 

Her red-shaded, rudimentary mana domain expanded around them by the time Jason's reacted. His hand hurriedly clamped around her own, eliciting a loud crack of broken bones, and he shivered as a soft moan of pain whispered into his right ear. Her breath was hot on his neck. 

"Ya gonna rip me apart now, too? Like you did to Donnie." She said, causing Jason to freeze. 

He only paused for a moment, but it was enough. The mana domain around them had been filtered into the floor of the ledge they stood on, and Jason looked down to find the same symbol the Delver had carved on every pebble was now enlarged below their feet. It glowed a malicious red in his eyes right as Jason felt arms tighten around his neck. 

"My name is Cecilia." The Delver said in a breathy sigh, almost like a confession to one's lover. 

"Crazy bitc–" Jason started before he was cut off by the largest explosion he had endured. 

His ears instantly popped as he was consumed by the massive fireball that appeared below him. He blanked out from the intense pain that assaulted him from everywhere, feeling as his arms and legs lost feeling again. The shock wave hit him next, hitting him like a solid punch to the gut as air was ripped from his lungs. 

Air felt impossible to breathe. Everything was hot and cold, and Jason only came back as his mana continued to fill his body. His vision was spotty as he tumbled bonelessly through the air, barely feeling the wind on his skin. 

Oddly, he found the experience silent. He was in a daze as the world spun around him. Colors blended together into a large mess of sights and blurry collages. 

Something still clung to him. Jason couldn't really feel much at the moment, and all he knew was that there was pressure around his neck. His fingers struggled to grip onto the person who hung onto his back, but he eventually managed to silently tuck them into his chest as his back slammed into a ledge. 

His breath was once again driven from his lungs, gasping desperately as pinpricks of agony went up and down his spine. He didn't know how long he spent trying to draw a breath into his lungs, but it felt like hours before he tasted the cool air, taking it in like a drowning man. 

Jason felt like his entire body was a bruise as every breath wracked him with pain. His chest hurt, his head throbbed violently, and his limbs simply refused to move no matter how he wanted. It was the first time he had ever been driven to this point after he became a Delver, and sinking terror started to dig into him. 

Was he going to die? Like this? 

His heartbeat was the only thing that kept him from spiraling further, but it was only a bandaid to the gushing wound. Irregardless to his inner turmoil, with every thump of his heart, Jason felt mana spread through his body. The energy diffused through the four mana veins next to his heart, returning feeling to his body at a slow, snail-like pace. 

The first to come back to him was his fingers. He felt the rough, blackened skin on his fingertips, rubbing against the solid floor below them. Next was his arms. They felt like someone attached buildings to his wrists as he struggled to prop himself up, falling onto his back as the feeling of a needle running along his nerves came every time he tried. 

When his hearing finally came back, Jason heard the soft whistle of a pained laugh nearby. He turned his head to see the blurry image of who he had instinctually cradled in the fall. The coppery taste in his mouth turned sour as he tried to ineffectually glare at the cause of his problems. 

Cecilia just continued to laugh as she too laid on the ground, refusing to move. No, she was not refusing to move. She also was as injured as he was. Maybe a bit better off, but Jason didn't know what her Innate talents were to really guess. 

The redhead then turned to him with what he assumed was a smile. "N– not fair, Bello…" she whispered between strangled breaths. "Ya c– can't just save me. It ain't right to yer partner to pull back when we're so close…" 

Jason coughed up smoke, trying again to prop himself up. This time, he was able to get his hands underneath him, and slowly, the teen regained control of his shaky limbs. He was still in no hurry to fight again, so he just pried the red coat off his arm when he punched it. 

It was crazy how it had miraculously survived the explosion. He studied it for a moment, seeing symbols sewn into it at parts. However, he was less interested in it currently. He was more preoccupied with wondering why Cecilia's coat could survive the explosion when her –if you could call them that– clothes could not. 

He moved lethargically, turning out every single pocket. Only when he made sure nothing remained inside did he flip it so that its inner pockets were facing him before he draped it over Cecilia, covering her naked body. The girl seemed to pout in his blurry vision, but he ignored it, hoping she really wasn't doing that. 

"Are you going–" Jason coughed, feeling his lungs burn with his words. "Are you going to continue fighting?" 

Cecilia just chuckled again. "D– depends on what I get if I do?" 

"Seriously? Are you trying to kill me or flirt with me?" 

"Why can't they be both? When we're tryna kill each other… It doesn't get more intimate than that." 

"Crazy bitch…" Jason decided on, laying back down as he felt more feeling return to his limbs. He didn't want to get in another fight when the both of them weren't capable of moving. At the same time, he refused to follow through with the crazy Delver's idea of killing. 

He didn't want to kill someone again. Even if it was a detriment to him. 

"C– crazy hot bitch." Cecilia chimed in from her spot on the floor. 

Jason's eyelids twitched, wondering if he should go back on his decision.