A FISTFULL OF REUNION [Closed/Atrum/Nines]

It was a good day, he had just returned from the magic council for a report of his findings on dark guilds in Magnolia. There wasn’t much but he felt the council should see it. He stretched as he walked through the woods. Nines had a thing about traveling on roads without a small army behind him. If there was no team of his, he wouldn’t travel by road. It was to avoid a possible ambush, he was sure the dark guilds were after him. He did survive a couple of Ambushes sense his return to Fiore months ago. Like that one with the Bird lady.

It wouldnt surprise him if it was because he was actively trying to find evidence of their existence. He continued to walk, he’d been walking for awhile. he’d come to enjoy it ever since he stopped carrying around the armor that he called his own. The single Gauntlet on his left arm was all he needed for now. He was pretty much unmissable in the woods though, wearing not only the colors of the magic council, but all the white as well. He was a lot quieter now though, without that armor. For protection he had given up his broken sword and had a knife strapped to his right arm. He was wearing his overcoat already as a cape pushed back so his body could ventilate from the overbearing sun.

He missed Magnolia, it wouldn't be long till he got there now. He looked forwards to starting a bar fight with Fairy Tail. He was definitely not supposed to do things like that, but the fight kept his senses sharp. He always wrote it down as “Training with Fellow Mages”. If the council found out they probably wouldn't be happy. He chuckled and pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed their fingers behind his head and looked at the cherry colored sky.

“Gotta love the dawn” He said happily.

A few hours later he knew he was nearby when he heard the calm humming. He smiled and started jogging slowly. He knew that voice, and he planned to take advantage of it. He saw the giant mans garden show up within his line of sight and started a full out sprint.

“HEY ATRUM, LETS SEE YOU GRIT THOSE TEETH” Nines hollard as he pulled his fist back for a punch directed at the crouching mans face.

It was a pleasant day, Atrum had woken up early in the mourning having set aside this day in his schedule for tending to the garden in the forest of Magnolia.  The sun was shining and that meant that all sorts of creatures would be up and about, looking for food water, and shelter from the heat of the sun.  The Garden was an almost perfect location for that, food, water, and plenty of shade.  As he set to work he began humming to himself keeping an eye out for anything that might attack him while he was distracted, it happened often enough he wasn't about to let it just happen once again.  At least not while he was caring for the garden.

The day had proceeded relatively quietly, with the very notable exception of one of those apes trying to steal fruit from the trees resulting in a prolonged tussle in where he was unable to use his magic without setting this particular part of the forest on fire.  That event was a rather unpleasant distraction, having spent most of it with no bearings and unsure of what was happening around him.  He drove the creature with a simply combination of kicks and punches that the ape wasn't willing to continue taking for a little bit of food.  Still, despite that small annoyance the day was definitely a pleasant one nothing had gone wrong for him.  

That's when he heard it, the sound of feet slamming into the ground as someone approached him.  He started to turn to see what it was when pushing his cheek directly into the fist.  Nine's momentum smashed into Atrum's cheek just as he reacted by swinging his fist under his attackers arm and into his chest, taking care not to use his spells.  The Gaint turned to his attacker in order to get a look at him before he cooked him alive, just as soon as he had a clear shot that wouldn't damage the plants he had taken care of.  He made eye contact with his attack and a fire grew in Atrum's eyes as he recognized the man who attacked him, a friend he hadn't seen for a while.  Nines the Seeker from the Magic council, an interesting man who had been gone in the wilderness so long he had missed the war.  A strange man indeed, but nor an unpleasant one.

"Nines!  It has been quite a while since I have last seen you, Where have you been?."  He started not moving from the fist.  "It is quite the pleasant surprise getting to see a friend again, that welcome of yours really lights my fire!"  Atrum said his blood pumping as he got ready for a full out brawl, Nines was tough so this fight would be fun and challenging.  He was going to enjoy this meeting, mostly because he got to punch Nines in the face.  "We can talk later though you seem to want a fight, and I am more than willing to give you one.  Now let us see you grit your teeth!"  Atrum shouted slamming pushing forwards and slamming his right fist into his friends face.

“Lit your fire? Atrum are you coming onto m-” Nines didn't get to finish the retort before Atrum interrupted him by saying “Talk later Punch now” with his fist to the lower part of Nine’s jaw, the force of the blow enough to lift the man upwards and away from Atrum. Nines stepped backwards once and let his bodies momentum roll into his ankle stopping the backwards travel. Pain Shot through his mind with flashes of light. He gritted his teeth and looked back down at Atrum with a grin. “So its like that is it? Well then…” With that Nines pulled his right fist back and pivoted his hips and came in with a cross from his left side, the gauntleted fist coming at Atrum’s face.

It was silly really, they were both really tough. however Atrum wasn’t covered in metal like Nine’s was at times. Nines never really thought about the fact that punching people with something covered in armor, hurt more than punching people with fleshy things. The flesh softened the blow, like a nice little pillow connected to a baseball bat. The gauntlet however wouldn't do that, it was pure metal, refined to protect the wielder and angled to direct blades and other physical weapons away from his body for additional protection. It was also fancy and looked nice.

Right now it was just a fist. A shiny metal fist, coming at Atrums shiny white teeth, in point blank range, a lot faster than the punches Atrum himself threw.

Atrum grinned as the blow hit him, people never seemed to learn that Atrum made up for his slowness by turning his opponents attacks into his own.  He was fine with that, his body turned with the punch weakening the blow and he wrapped both his hands around Nines gauntlet and flipped the armored man over his shoulder away from his garden.  This fight was going to get a bit messy and Atrum didn't want either of them falling into the vegetation he had care for for years now.  The giant then rushed past Nines and took a stance putting both him an nines in similar positions as when they started.  Atrum and Nines were both powerful fighters, in fact the only real difference between them on the battlefield was that Nines was more agile that Atrum was.  Atrum's people raised him as a soldier and a warrior and as far as he could tell Nines while having something similar did not experience what he did.  Atrum was confident that his experience gave him an edge, that his eagerness to throw himself into the flames of war would give him what he needed to win this match, and if not?  Then he would stand up and try again, and again, and again until he couldn't move his body or Nines gave up.  

Atrum had to force himself to calm down, his had not sated his battle lust and it was overtaking him.  He almost allowed himself to run wild something he hadn't done in ages, something that he wasn't sure he wanted to do.  Yet right here, right now, he could let loose a bit and not have to worry about the consequences.  Nines was tough he could take what the giant had to dish out.  He didn't have to worry about nines getting too injured from this little bout.  It was just these two friends saying hello after not having seen each other in a while.  He was excited, happy, and he was going to express his joy in the most appropriate manner his situation demanded; he was going to punch Nines really hard.  His mind immediately went into overdrive processing the battle information present.  Nines reaction time, how he was holding himself, how well he took a hit.  The information was cataloged and stored away in his subconscious as he watched Nines recover from his throw.  It was about now that Atrum also happened to realize that, him throwing Nines and running over here was perhaps the fastest he's even gotten from A to B.  huh, the things you realize while trying to punch your friend in the face, interesting.

Nines was surprised he lacked the punch power to even make Atrum do...anything really. Figures dude was built like a goddamn rock. Only person Nines ever met, as tough as himself. Made for an interesting sparring match. It didn't help he was airborne at the moment, due to the man chucking him like a sack of potatoes, out of the man’s garden. It was a nice garden, but too nice to have a fight in.

Nines caught himself in a handstand and did a forward flip out of the handstand. Turning to face Atrum as he moved to keep himself in range. Nines moved forwards and dropped into a slide stopping in front of Atrum and doing a leg swipe going for the fire mages feet. The young Atrum was definitely more spry than Nines would give him credit for. Didn't help Nines was technically old. He wasn’t getting any younger at least not anytime soon.

Nines stared at the worst part. Atrum apparently hadn’t figured out he lost his hat in the maneuver of throwing Nines over his shoulder. It was probably why the big guy was moving faster, that hat weighed a ton. He waited for the man to realize what he just did and freak out about it. What kind of straw was that thing made out of anyways?

The kick smacked into Atrum's leg and Atrum grimaced but leaned in the direction of the incoming kick to avoid falling over. Damn Nines had a killer swing and the feeling of metal smacking on flesh stung, this was going to be difficult, and that was going to be fun. He Growled and took a step forwards ready to throw himself at Nines until one of them stopped moving when he noticed that nines hadn't followed up on his attack, in fact the man was simply staring at him oddly. Why was he staring? Atrum blinked to himself and since the armored man across from him wasn't pressing him decided to see if he could figure out what had him caught like a deer in the head lights.

The giant tok a quick look around and frowned not seeing anything out of place and then scratched his head in confusion for a second before blinking finding no hat blocking his hand. Where was his hat? the question was calm but only because asking irrationally wasn't going to allow him to get it back and he looked about trying to locate his stone wheat hat. No where to be seen from where he stood Atrum's rational mind abandoned ship as the rage slowly flooded in. A slow but definite change in the giant's demeanor as he growled angrily the smile not leaving his face even as ticked as he was.

Interestingly enough Atrum's hat worked as a limiter, weighing him down and keeping him mindful of how hard he was fighting, so as to not lose it. Without it Atrum was much more likely to go all out and having it unwillingly removed made him literally incapable of holding back. If Atrum in his right mind could see himself now he would be embarrassed and disappointed in his lack of self control. It would be in his opinion pathetic, however the giant could help himself. The Hat was the biggest anger mine he had, even touching it might set him off. Right now Atrum was majorly pissed, not at nines specifically but more at the fact that his hat was gone at all. Unfortunately He was the only other person here and Atrum's inrrational state made Nines a perfect target.

Nines dodged the incoming grapple move that Atrum reached forwards with. The man was lost in his battle craze and Nines hated it when things like this happened. It was easy enough to fight Atrum without trying, but forcing Nines to start thinking made this fight in a way dull. Nines wasn’t a combat professional as much as Atrum was, but he was tactically sound. As the grab passed by Nines he took two steps back, and dropped to the ground with a kick towards Atrums ankles.

This wouldn't do much, Atrum was smart enough to keep his center of balance while he tried to grab someone. That much Nines knew, he also understood how much of an opening this gave to Atrum. Nines was now prone, with his leg within grabbing distance. He sacrificed his mobility and pretty much just gave Atrum a way to grab him. However it would accomplish what Nines wanted from his large friend.

The next move would decide whether Nines would lose this fight and wind up unconscious in the dirt, or if they could find Atrums hat together. Because who knows where it went, and if it wasn't on Atrums head he did shit like set his entire garden on fire.

Nines didn't want to help replant the entire thing again after last time.

Atrum's response was instant and instinctual as soon as Nines swooped down to kick at his legs Atrum jumped up lifting his legs up and bringing his knees into Nine's chin. However he had rushed forwards too fast putting too much power into his jump and his upper body kept going flying past Nines and smashing head first into the dirt his body falling on top and his neck bending as he finally hit the ground. The giants own weight worked against him here the force of the blow rattling his brain inside his skull and causing him to loose his ability to move temporarily.

The giant growled and struggled to move but found that he could not despite how much strength he put into moving. The giant growled, practically foaming at the mouth but the more he tried to struggle the less successful he was at moving. There was a shout in the back of his mind telling him to calm down if he wanted to move again, Not a conscious thought but the instinctual knowledge of his own bodies inner workings trying to tell him how to fix himself, he wasn't about to suddenly calm down so something else must be done. He redirected his anger.

Flames suddenly burst around him as the Giant snarled his rage serving as the fuel for his focus, the rage creating large flames around him as his magic power worked to repair the part of him currently malfunctioning. The Giant's rage also served as the fuel for his fire, the flame reaching high above him as he laid upon the ground not spreading out from him....yet. However it was apparent that these flames seem to be gaining energy the longer they raged in the small area they occupied, through pure anger and instinct Atrum was accessing his life force directly to repair the damage done to his body. A delicate and dangerous thing to do and he was filled with nothing but rage and determination.

Nines grinned, this was something new for Atrum to do. These flames were intense, controlled, also happy. Nines could tell from their glow. This could only mean Atrum subconsciously brought out the big guns, guns he didn't even know he had. That only meant one thing, Nines could step up his game a bit more. His right arm reached to his left shoulder, as his armor dissipated around him like flecks of light, leaving the man behind wearing a crimson long sleeved shirt. His right hand unclipped the belts holding his gauntlet to his left shoulder. There were multiple clangs and thumps as the gauntlet’s belts impacted the metal with the force of its actual release, it fell off and before hitting the ground disappeared as well. Wrapped around the palm of Nines left hand was a single black bandage, which went around his knuckles. However the entirety of his left arm was covered in what appeared to be black tattoos.

This tattoo resembled tendrils of darkness, or shadow. Infact it was so accurate of a description, it was impossible to say they didn't move, they actually appeared to move along his arm. However it was subtle at first, almost as if ones eyes were playing tricks on them. Then it just became unnoticable and the norm. Nines flexed his left arm, and said something that a persons ears wouldn't comprehend, but their soul could.

“RUiniE_GuAtrz”

The word spoke to the flames that burned around Atrum. It was tangible in the area around them that the world comprehended it, but it was untranslatable at a vocal level. The vocal sound itself was something along the lines of an instant ear piercing headache, as if your ears were ringing at maximum volume, combined with pure white noise, to connect the sounds. It should’ve been impossible for a human being to create that sound with its throat. The odd part was that the sound itself was soothing, even if its description denied that belief, soothing like realisation, truth, belief in one's existence.

However the emotions distilled in the song, the meaning would mean nothing beyond the desired effect, Nines knew it spoke volumes to a man like Atrum. Even if he didn't know what it meant.

Nines raised his hand towards Atrum and waved him forward.

(WOOHOO LET'S RAMPAGE!!)

The giant felt his flames surge and suddenly he felt clear and lucid he laughed aloud as he rose to his feet dusting himself off.  Normally his rage exploded an fueled his focus, he allowed his rage to control him, consume him, and subsequently his opponents.  This... this however, was entirely different for the first time Atrum's rage felt more like a state of being it wasn't a simple emotion as it was a concept that he had stepped into and adopted.  The giant grinned as he walked towards Nines and cracked his knuckles.

"My parents made me promise to Kill anyone I showed my true fighting style to...  Which means from this point on the only one who can kill you is me."  He said grinning inverting his feet and moving his arms in a circular motion before having them rests waist level.  His entire body tensed for a brief second before relaxing entirely, his every muscle preparing for that sudden moment of pure unadulterated violence.  A single moment of pure perfected combat expertise with explosive magic thrown in for added carnage.

Atrum's flames spiraled around him ominously changing colors, from red to green, to orange to purple, to gold and blue, and white and yellow, and many more spiraling about him as nines confidently looked on in the giants glory the two combat monsters grinned at each other as the air filled with the intentof two beings about to drop any instinct telling them to hold back, giving the oncoming battle every inch they have.  The two threw themselves at each other the giant roaring as nines smirked as he dropped down sweeping at Atrum's legs with a kick meant to knock the giant off balance.  

"You are 700 years too young to pull that one on me-"  He said having previously hopped over the sweep, only to see Nines' Fist smashing into his chin as the black tattoos danced on his arm Lifting the giant up into the air.  The giant blinked grinning ferociously, twisting in the air and slamming the bottom of his palm into Nine's arm just below the elbow.  However he was far from done the motion still carrying his blow, his hand slid lower as he continued to fall and the giant slammed the side of his hand into the spot right below Nines' Armpit.  The giant smashed into the ground and pushed himself away from Nines' instant counter, a strike with his free arm that was only slightly too fast to dodge.  the chop hit Atrum in the back of the neck, causing him to flinch as he recovered and threw his palms forwards aiming for Nines' torso intending to crack some ribs.  The two had clashing fighting styles it would hard for them to fight as they pleased without having to find a workaround for the other's combat style proper.  This was going to be fun.  "Let us rampage to our hearts content!  This day we shall destroy whatever limits we have this day!"

Nines grinned but it was kind of forced. He could feel the creature in his left arm moving around, reaching for some sort of grip. He was only half focusing on his fight with Atrum, as he had another battle to fight if he wanted to even USE his full power. The giants open palm came towards his chest, Nines could feel the blow before it made contact. When it hit two of his ribs would crack, three would fracture, and one would simply explode. The shrapnel would reduce his lungs to bleeding masses, and he would likely choke to death on his own blood.

A word was spoken, the word rang through the area around them, as soft spoken as it was, it could be heard quite clearly.

//zeCta.//

The noise made from Nines’ voice was the same as the last, an untranslatable blurp of noise, and static. When Atrums palm made contact with Nines chest, as the man didn't even try to dodge, the contact between flesh and chest seemed as if it was nullified. Nines barely even flinched, or acted as if he felt the blow. The momentum from Atrums hand stopped dead cold, as if he had struck a brick wall. The momentary confusion from the fact Atrum knew how much damage that blow should’ve done to someone, and the noises Nines had started making made him hesitate as he shifted to his next blow on the Sentinel.

The hesitation caused him to take a blow from a slap to the side of his head, as Nines had never stopped going on the offensive. The man took the blow to deliver his. The blow wasn't powerful, but it was over Atrum’s ear, a cupped hand to the hand. Nines’ mouth was moving and Atrums hearing was ringing in his left ear, he couldn't hear out of his right. Except for the clear word that left Nines mouth.

http://deSt_Y.Y.//

The static Atrum could only hear in his left ear, but in his right he could hear the words themselves. However Atrums eardrum was blown he could tell. He grinned as Nines moved in closer, the deadpan serious look on Nines’ face meant the little bastard was serious. Atrum barely dodged the mans right cross towards his face, it was hard when your center of balance was all kinds of fucked due to the loss of your hearing. Atrum brought his arm down hard on Nines’ arm and watched as he missed by more than a little bit. That was weird, he should’ve healed from the hearing loss by now. He caught Nines leg and twisted, throwing the man into a tree with a oomph.

Atrum reached up with his hand to his ear to find it was still bleeding.
What did he do?

Of course he would retaliate.

Though the method he took to do so would be a slight problem, as long as his balance was out he couldn't fight properly.  Nines was smart he did this on purpose, keeping Atrum from getting proper attacks off that was going to be a pain, but-  Atrum's eye's widened as he ducked his head underneath an oncoming branch.    Nine's had already recovered and thrown a tree limb at him The Giant wobbled back and forth as he tried to stay upright and found that nines had already closed the distance between them and struck out at the Giant.  Adrenaline had been pumping into Atrum's system since he had gotten back up earlier, he leaned towards the fist his lack of balance actually throwing him too fast forwards so his head smashed into the fist there was a cracking sound as Nines' knuckles cracked from the force of the colliding blows.  Nines took a step back only for Atum's right hand to snatch onto his fist before he could draw it back and use it to help keep his balance.  The Giant drew back his left fist in order to punch Nines but the Ghost had already countered slamming his palm into the Giant's chin lifting him off the ground and slamming him back into it.  Hells that hurt, and was a move that he used when he got serious as well.  Nines was kinda scary, though all that did was make Atrum want to fight harder.


The giant hadn't lost his grip on nines arm and he pulled forwards lifting himself off the ground grinning like a madman.  He was stronger than nines physically, his body was simply better built when it came to pure strength The Giant would win every time.  And now he lifted himself up while ines struggled to keep him pinned to the ground.  

"My blood is boiling!"  Atrum shouted slamming his left fist into Nines' face barely budging him.  The ghost of the council raised an eyebrow as the punch wasn't that powerful and gave Atrum a questioning look.  

"Was that all?"  He asked confused as the seemingly pointless maneuver causing the Giant to grin and shove his hand into Nine's mouth before he could finish talking.

"As a matter of fact!"  He shouted as the sound of cracking thunder sounded and flames erupted from Nines' mouth bursting outwards throwing him back and sending into the ground.  The giant grinned and focused the rage he felt towards fixing whatever Nines had done to him.  Finding that he now had to fight his way through what felt like an active defensive wall against whatever had stopped his healing ability.  The giant's flames spiraled around him their ever changing colors flashing brilliantly as he once again tapped into his very essence in order to heal himself he only had a few precious moments to do so because despite how devastating feeding someone a bolt of fire might be, Nines was neither a push over nor a weakling.  He had to hurry.