Orso Fiction 032

Orso Fiction 032-To Earn Respect
“Oh dear…”, Tammaro said, stopping suddenly.

“What’s the matter?”, Taylor Houston asked. Before she could finish, Tammaro was running.

“If we don’t hurry, we’re going to have to bury a body!”, Tammaro shouted. “I can feel Edmondo’s killing intent from here!”

---

“Which one of you…is the strongest…?”, Edmondo said, his wicked smile growing. Adelina stepped forward.

“I am.”, she said confidently, her ring blazing with purple flames.

“Cloud Flames…”, Edmondo said, igniting his entire axe with the same flames. “Your weapon?”

“A gift from your uncle.”, Adelina said, moving to open her box. Before she could, Edmondo was already within slashing range, and she was forced to jump back.

“Old man Osvaldo?”, Edmondo asked. “Before, I thought you were just some low-level herbivores…but now, if you’re working with Osvaldo…”

“Herbivores?”, Malvolia asked, plunging her lit ring into her own box, releasing a Mist Wolf. “Lycaon! Tear him apart!”

“Clearly Osvaldo’s work. Ugly. Weak.”, Edmondo murmured, as he readied his axe. He held himself limply, none of his muscles tense. He stood with an air of apathy and superiority. As the wolf lunged at him, he whipped his axe at it at blinding speed. Lycaon yelped as his side took the impact of the axe, and the blade sunk into his skin, through his fur. “Not worth my time.”

“Lycaon!”, Malvolia shouted, returning him to his box. “Adel, he’s tougher than the other ones…”

“Stronger…oh, my…”, Edmondo began, sighing. “My brothers are so willing to avoid a fight…Any time someone as strong as you battled a Ferraro, and didn’t die…you were being treated like a child.”

“Is that right?”, Adelina asked, reigniting her ring. “I’ll teach you to waste my time.”

“You’re not at my level.”, Edmondo said simply. He took one slow step closer, then a full-speed dash, his axe ready to slice her. There was a clang of metal, and purple and red sparks filled the air.

“How about me?”, Tammaro Ferraro asked, holding his ruby-covered knife to his brother’s axe.

---

“So you’ve administered the drug?”, Sonia asked.

“Yes. Six doses.”, Osvaldo said. “They reacted just as expected. They belong to me now.”

“Only six?”, Sonia asked.

“What kind of man wastes his time on a broken puppet with no strings? There was no sense in administering the drug to Faustino. His body is too ravaged to function as my servant, and besides, his soul is too pure for the drug to function.”

“Ah, so he’s like the little girl.”, Sonia mused. “Which made it very easy for me to control her sisters.”

“Yes…”Osvaldo said, flipping through some pages, barely listening. “I seem to recall you requesting seven Box Animals and Darkness Boxes…It appears you only needed six.”

“Don’t be like that.”, Sonia teased. “I had to take one for myself, they really are so nice…”

“Of course.”, Osvaldo chuckled, slamming his book shut. “Those, as well as the Hell Holes, are my finest creations. The ultimate tools of darkness.”

“Speaking of…”, Sonia began. “How exactly do those work?”

“It’s quite complex, of course.”, Osvaldo answered, disliking, as a magician, having to reveal his secrets. “The box holding the animal is connected at the end to a Darkness Box that absorbs darkness from the body directly. Rather than release the animal outward, it seals it within the body, where it manifests itself in the user’s traits.”

“I do love picking your brain…”, Sonia said with a horrific giggle. “What makes that insidious little brain tick?”

“Not so insidious as yours, sister dear.”, Osvaldo said, his own smile growing darker. “My boys, as far as I know, feel nothing. You’re the one poisoning a little girl.”

“She’s proving an excellent motivator for the girls.”, Sonia cackled. “And I’m so curious…what exactly is that Sky Box on your desk for?”

Osvaldo picked it up, feeling its weight in his hand. He tossed it up once, and caught it.

“I suppose I can’t blame you for wanting a Darkness Box...I myself couldn’t resist keeping one for myself. This one is the superior Hell Hole, far greater than the other six. It will be inside me tonight.”

“I thought the process was exceedingly painful.”, Sonia said with a smile.

“It is.”, Osvaldo said. “For the…purer people. For myself, I expect a little numbness at best. I will instruct my boys on the procedure so they can do it for me.”

“Oh, you demon…”, Sonia laughed. “They’re not just your lab rats, but your assistants, now?”

“But of course.”, Osvaldo laughed. “Just a few more days, sister dear…”

“Then we’ll prove to Berenger the absolute value of power and wisdom, above courage.”

“And once I’ve acquired the Arcoferro, I’ll be able to test them…”, Osvaldo said, juggling a vial of the black liquid. “…and how they react to extreme darkness…”

---

“Hello, Tammaro.”, Edmondo said with the slightest of smiles. “What brings you here?”

“I came with the Orso.”, Tammaro answered. “Won’t you stop trying to kill these girls?”

“Ah, but they work for Osvaldo.”, Edmondo said. “That, and I dislike them.”

“Well, how about you just put the axe down for now, huh?”, Tammaro asked, trying to sound cheerful. “You’re not easy to hold back.”

“Then stop. We’ll talk once I’m done hunting.”

“Oh, I can’t let that happen, brother. The Orso are a bit touchy about your sort of murdering rampages. Silly people, I know. Likable enough.”

Edmondo stepped back, and resumed his limp stance.

“Ah, wow. I got you to listen to reason.”, Tammaro said, before his eyes widened as Edmondo lunged at him with his flaming axe. “No I didn’t!”

---

“Whew…”, Mike said. “He seems kind of crazy.”

“A little, yes.”, Jess agreed. “Are we really letting this one inside the base? Maybe we should invest in a straitjacket? Also, handcuffs. And a ball and chain. Maybe four. Balls. And chains.”

“Leave him to Tammaro.”, Taylor said. “Hey, Roses!”

Adelina looked up to see the Agents.

“Well, this got more obnoxious fast…”, Adelina muttered. “We already know the terms we’ll decide on.”

“When the seventh Arcoferro reveals itself, we’ll meet. Seven one on one fights. Winner takes the metal. If one side doesn’t walk away the absolute victor, a battle royale will decide who gets the metals.”

“Six one on one fights.”, Adelina said. “You won’t be involved.”

“I can deal with that.”, Taylor said.

“Now…the deal calls for us leaving with the Cloud Arcoferro.”, Adelina reminded her.

“Right…We’ll get on that…”, Taylor said, scratching the back of her neck. “Tammaro, how is the discussion going?”

“Fantastic!”, Tammaro shouted, trying to avoid being too close to any pillars, in fear of Edmondo breaking them with his monstrous strength. “I haven’t even died yet!”

“Would you like help?”, Taylor called back.

“If you can find someone suicidal enough to-“, Tammaro began, until he saw Taylor step forward herself. “Oh. Yeah, sure, be my guest.”

“Edmondo, for the purposes of our arrangement, you’ll need to surrender that Arcoferro.”, Taylor told him.

“I don’t even know if I respect you enough to make this for you. Why on earth would I give it to an enemy?”

“The Arcoferro only work in sets of seven, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So…it doesn’t matter if they have six, and we have one.”, Taylor said, confidently. “Because as soon as we want, we could take them all back.”

“You talk big.”, Edmondo said. “But I can’t tell…are you worth my time, or are you just another herbivore…”

“Test me.”, Taylor said with a smile. “I’ll show you just what an Orso can do. I’ll drag you back to our base kicking and screaming, if I have to. You’ll be begging us to let you make that weapon for Trevor.”

“An Arcoferro, for the right hand man of the family my father hand-picked…I must confess, the idea interests me. Why don’t you prove it to me, if you’re worth my time?”

“Come at me.”, Taylor said, releasing her Sky Kinkajou. The monkey-like creature wrapped across her shoulders. It yawned once, and closed its eyes, laying down.

“Interesting animal.”, Edmondo said, the Cloud Flames on his axe burning even brighter.

“The kinkajou has a lot of names…”, Taylor said, as if she wasn’t listening. “The honey bear, and the lion monkey, are two of them. Bear, lion, monkey. That covers all three of my comrades’ animals. Amber here is all the fury of a polar bear, all the majesty of a lion, and all the force of a gorilla…in one cute little package. Amber…Cambio Forma. Modo Ofesa.”

The kinkajou screeched in agreement, and began to glow orange, slowly changing form into a long staff. Taylor grasped it expertly, leaving no doubt of her ability with the weapon.

“Scettro di Segreti…The Staff of Secrets. Now, Edmondo. I’m a busy woman. Why don’t we settle this with one big attack? I’d hate to have to reveal all my tricks to these girls…”

“I like the way you think.”, Edmondo said, the flames on his axe growing ever larger. “Let’s do it.”

Both of them held their weapons above their heads, and the temple was silent. Tammaro, the Roses, and the Agents were spellbound by the brilliant orange and purple flames. Suddenly, as if both of them had heard some cue, both brought their weapons down. Each burst of flames shot at the other, resulting in an intense explosion of purple and orange in the middle. All the spectators felt the intense heat and pressure of the two weapons clashing. When the flames had cleared, Taylor fell to her knees, burned. Edmondo glared down at her.

“What was that?”, he growled. Taylor smiled up at him.

“My boss would have killed me if he knew I destroyed such an important temple…”, she laughed. “Of course I put all my power into keeping you from breaking things, instead of protecting myself.”

“Do you know how stupid that was, to think you could fight me so recklessly, and expect to survive?”

“I did, didn’t I?”, Taylor asked with a smile. “Are you done your temper tantrum yet?”

Edmondo closed his eyes and let out a chuckle. Then, he began to laugh wholeheartedly.

“If you have this kind of insane, stupid, courage…I think I’m…the word is…excited…to meet your boss.”

“Are you ready to come with us?”, Taylor asked, already knowing the answer. Edmondo put his hand into his pocket, drawing a purple piece of metal. He turned to Taylor after looking at it for a moment.

“With this, I’m putting my honor in your hands.”, he said. “Promise me. Promise that you will take this back.”

“Jess!”, Taylor called. Jess stepped forward.

“Yes?”, she asked.

“Win.”

“Understood.”

“There you have it.”, Taylor said with a smile. Edmondo threw the Arcoferro to Adelina, who silently caught it.

“Number six.”, Mike said softly. “Next time…”

“Next time, we’ll be at war…”, Allison murmured.

“Worrying about that won’t solve anything.”, Taylor said, turning, her coattails swirling after her. “We’ll win. That’s all we need to do.”

---

“Two days.”, Bradley Ratliff thought aloud, watching the other Officers fight the practice robots. “Two days left.”

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