Lina looked down at her right hand. She held it out like she was clutching a ball and a ball of fire laced with lightning appeared in her hand. She clenched her fist and the ball of magic dissipated.
'Damn idiotic bandits,' Lina thought darkly to herself. 'Insulting me by comparing me to Sailor Magic. They found out how nasty I could be.'
Lina shook her head and chuckled softly to herself. 'I wonder what happened to that black dragon those bandits had. It fled so fast that I think it might be up near Sairagg by now. Oh look, some of the bandits still want to play. Hmm. I wonder what those powers are. One feels off. Oh well, no use worrying about it.'
Lina headed to a crossroads and turned around. "Come on out. I know your there."
Lina smirked to herself as she saw the second in command of the Dragon's Fang bandit group walk stiffly out and glared at Lina.
"I see you got the staff out of your butt," Lina said, smiling. "Maybe you should watch what you say next time."
"I don't understand. You hate Sailor Magic more than anyone else does. Why do you go around killing bandits?" the bandit sub-chieftain snarled.
"Ah. That. I don't hate her. I hate being compared to her all the time," Lina said darkly. "As to the fabled war between the two of us, she did kill a Mazoku that I was hired to defeat for free. I was out a bit of money because of that."
"Still. You should be one of us," the bandit said.
"Nope. I was hunting bandits before Sailor Magic ever showed up and I'm going to keep hunting bandits," Lina cheerfully said. "Of course it also helps getting rid of the stress of being compared to Sailor Magic all the time. Why don't you head back home and shovel out stables. It seems that you're good at that."
"Why you little witch! Come on out guys!" The bandit called.
Five men burst out of the surrounding forest. Lina smirked, as she saw that a few of them were still bearing some of the more creative injuries. She thought the guy with a fork in one ear and a spoon in the other looked rather annoyed. The guy wearing a bent poleaxe for a necklace also seemed to be a bit upset with Lina. Lina shifted the bag of loot from her right shoulder to her left and was about to cast a spell, when a shout was heard.
"All right! That's enough!"
Lina and the bandits turned to see a tall blonde haired man carrying a battered sword. Lina's eyes widened, as she felt that both powers were coming from the man. Narrowing her eyes, she focussed on the dark power and her eyes were drawn to the hilt of the sword the man was carrying.
"Cute. Really cute. I wonder if that guy knows he's carrying an entrapped Mazoku around as a sword hilt," Lina muttered.
"Who are you?" the bandit sub-chieftain called out.
"If I gave you my name, you'd only get it dirty," the man said and grinned.
Lina rolled her eyes upward and thought, 'That was bad, but I've said much worse as Sailor Magic. I really need to figure out how to control those compulsions.'
Lina watched a bit amused as the swordsman dispatched the last of the Dragon's Fang bandit group.
"Thanks for your help. Mister?" Lina said.
"Oh. My name is Gourry Gabriev," the man said. "Where are your parents, little girl?"
Lina rolled her eyes upwards once more. "Zephillia. I'm on my way to Atlas City."
"Alone? That's too dangerous," Gourry said in shock.
"I'm used to it," Lina said, shrugging. "By the way, did you know that your sword hilt is actually an entrapped demon?"
"What?" Gourry asked in shock. "How can you tell that?"
"Hmm. Oh? It's just a talent I picked up a while back," Lina said.
Gourry fumbled with his sword. He resheathed the sword and used a pin to remove the blade. He brought the hilt back out with no blade attached.
"Light come forth!" Gourry called.
Lina gazed in shock at the sword and then gave a rueful chuckle. "That's how that was done. The sword is some sort of Mazoku. It doesn't feel like the few I've encountered. It's wrong somehow."
"You don't want it?" Gourry asked, still in a state of shock.
"Do I want a demon for a sword? Hmm. No. Not really. That's an interesting way to take care of a Mazoku and it helps others deal with other Mazoku. I'll have to remember that," Lina answered. "By the way, my name is Lina. Lina Inverse."
Gourry resheathed the Sword of Light and shook his head. "At any rate, I'm going to act as your bodyguard for the time being."
'I got rid of Naga and now I have him to deal with?' Lina thought with a grimace. 'At least he doesn't seem affected by that sword too much. I wonder how he does it.'
Elsewhere, the wizard known as Zolf was reporting to Zelgadis. Zolf was wrapped up in mummy bandages and was fuming a bit.
"I almost got the statue when that Lina Inverse girl showed up. I got hit early on in the attack. I think playing dead is what saved me from the horror that followed when the bandit chieftain made those disparaging remarks about Lina being so inferior to Sailor Magic," Zolf said.
"What happened then?" Zelgadis asked.
"Things got really nasty. The dragon had two swords shoved up its nostrils and had its tail encased in ice the last time I saw it. It was flying North with its tail between its legs. I think it broke even a Golden Dragon's flight speed," Zolf said with a shudder.
"Making any comparisons between Lina Inverse and Sailor Magic causes Lina Inverse to get that nasty?" Zelgadis asked, shaking his head. "I don't see why people still do after she does stunts like that."
"We're going after her, aren't we?" Zolf asked.
"She has it and we really need to get it," Zelgadis replied.
"Great, just great," Zolf muttered and shook his head. "There is just something I have never understood. Why hasn't Lina Inverse and Sailor Magic had a fight with each other yet? Both have to know of each other and yet there is not a single story about them ever meeting, besides the one story where Sailor Magic killed a Mazoku for free after Lina had been hired to deal with it. Even in that story, they never met."
"I checked that out. It seems that they try to avoid each other. If Lina hears that Sailor Magic is in the area, she immediately leaves the area no matter what. Sailor Magic seems to be the same way, but she's a lot more elusive. Somehow, they can sense each other," Zelgadis explained. "They don't like each other, so they stay away from each other. I guess it's because they are too different in their methods. Sailor Magic gets rid of Mazoku for free and Lina claims the treasure of the bandit gangs she destroys."
"The Demon Slayer and the Bandit Slayer," Zolf stated. "I hope that they never do fight."
"I don't think they will. Sailor Magic is a bit more generous to Lina than Lina is to Sailor Magic. After Lina Inverse vanished for a month, Sailor Magic refused to be persuaded to go after bandits, saying that that is what Lina Inverse does and she just sticks to getting rid of Mazoku," Zelgadis stated.
"Why did Lina Inverse vanish for a month?" Zolf asked.
"No one has been able to figure that one out," Zelgadis replied.
"What are some of the rumors then?" Zolf asked.
"The most popular is that Lina was going to be arrested for being so hateful to Sailor Magic and she just vanished, the town was later attacked by bandits and no one would stand up to them. It took several heroes to stop that bandit gang. If the town hadn't tried to force Lina Inverse on the Sailor Magic issue, she would have destroyed the bandit gang and the town would have been spared the attack."
"Well, that's nice. I just hope we can get it away from Lina without causing her temper to flare up," Zolf said. "If she was weaker, I'd use trolls to scare her into giving it to us."
"Yes, she is powerful and very dangerous," Zelgadis stated, nodding his head. "We're going to have to be careful. I'm just glad that Sailor Magic isn't involved in this mess. Things would really get out of hand fast."
See other episodes by Disruptor
(Posted Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:55)
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