Sorry this took so long. As I predicted last chapter, something did happen which took some time. Finally the chapter that I've been trying to get to since... a long time.

Trick 16: Knight's of a Feather

I take a quick glance into the tunnel before looking at Tomoharu. "Seriously?"

I wasn't planning on answer, due to my own reluctance to the idea of my favorite hoodie and hair smelling like who knows, but Vriska wasn't really giving us a choice. "Get your asses down here already." She orders before mumbling "Geez it's like I'm training little girls."

"Again, probably not the nicest coach I could've found." I answer.

"That's an understatement." Tomoharu replies. Soon after he turns to me noticing I was gesturing him to the hole in the ground. "What?"

"Age before beauty, my friend." I joke.

"Fu-" He stops himself as I grin before jumping down. Following, I jump down, giving enough time for Tomo to get clear, but almost landing on a rat.

I groan in order to stop myself from seeming nervous. "Having fun?" Vriska asks, heavy on the sarcasm as she begins walking through the concrete corridor. I force a chuckle as Tomoharu and I follow.

As we go, we pass a few homeless people, all very young. Probably runaways. And all in AT. A few of them were camping together in tight groups, some solo riders were wandering or practicing intently. "What's going on, you said no one would be here." I ask in a cautious whisper.

"Hm? I meant no one but losers."

"Shit, that's a bit cold even for you." I answer, trying not to let my wandering eyes meet any of theirs.

"Ha. I can say that because I was in their shoes right before Chains became a thing." She answers, placing her hands in her pockets. She was doing a good job of making me wonder what happened before Katsumi and I showed up. However, remembering the chill of steel chains on neck I stop before I open my mouth. "You two should be the ones apologizing. They can probably see the pity on your faces, and most of them could take that emblem of yours without a sweat."

I take another glance at the nearest group. There's eyes weren't those of someone begging, but someone curious of a potential opponent. I sigh, wondering why I didn't notice it sooner. I guess Japan's making me go soft. "Fine, it's not my style to worry about random people anyway."

"What a hero." Vriska jokes. I ignore it and look to Tomoharu, who seemed to be tuning everything out. He stays dazed until we finally reach a clearing, empty of any other riders. The place was clean, and not just in comparison to the rest of the place. It looked like so one really put work into it. The dome like room was well lit enough for me to see the improvements. Table were placed around and string hung from ceilings across the room, probably to hang banners. "Thank Terzei for this." Vriska says as I slide my hand against the dark stone walls. They lacked the algae or mold that stained the walls just outside.

"What do you mean?" I ask, doing a final once-over.

"It means this a Court-Ruled territory." Tomoharu answers looking at the scale emblem that was plastered on a pillar beside him. "After Devil's Crown started Pyrone started taking territory and declare safe zones."

I hum in thought, continuing touch the walls of the room as I wander. No scratches or blood, an unusual sight for the other claimed territories. "So what was The Court doing before DC?"

"Nobody really knows, they were just a normal team ascending the ranks then suddenly-"

"Not suddenly, when Dragonbreath started idolizing some pink haired chick." Vriska answers with a blatant distaste. "She couldn't even get her super team together so she had Terzei do it for her."

"That jealousy I hear?" I joke.

"I dunno, does it sound like your teeth rattling around in the back of your mouth." She says waving her fist at me like an upset old man. I throw my hands up in forfeit, letting her get to the point. "Whatever, it's time to start for real. You two idiots are having a battle, D-Class. And this" She says outstretching her arms to displace the area. "Is your cube."

"What?" Tomo asks. Meanwhile I sigh and pace. I should've known it'd be something like this. Normally, I'd be okay with it but... I look to Vriska trying, to see if she had any reason for this. She was confident she could take both of us in a fight, and to be honest, so am I. With that I can be fairly confident she's not trying to tire us out in the web. Still, whether it's my instincts or trust issues, something doesn't seem genuine about this girl.

Though I guess I'll never know unless we try it. "Tomo, get ready." I state, putting my phone on a table to the side.

He looks at me confuse as I roll my headphones. "...What, seriously?"

"So Vris, are you holding up round counters or what?" I joke, moving to stand opposite Tomoharu.

She grunts and answers with. "Just start whenever."

"Get ready Tomo, I'm not holding back." I laugh, before snapping my fingers for the start. With a quick dash, I'm close enough for a jab, that he should see coming. I throw the punch to his face, but stop just around an inch short. Vriska groans, already annoyed. "Why didn't you dodge or block?"

"You weren't going to hit me." He answers. It's not a smug answer, it seems like he really knew.

I laugh a bit, slowly riding back to my original position. "Tomoharu, don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this because Vriska told me too. I've actually been thinking about this for a while. Remember when we had the parts war with Serow?" He nods and I notice Vriska perk up, interested herself in how that was pulled off. "You didn't even want to fight for yourself but when you had too, you weren't the loser everyone says you are. It doesn't take a pro to see that wasn't a fluke." I grin. "Next time, I really won't hold back, even if it's just to knock some sense into you."

He doesn't answer instead keeps watching. With the same signal I snap my fingers and charge in. The same pattern dash in and aim for the nose. I make the jab and as (half)expected Tomoharu dodges. Satisfied I continue, following up with a few randomly placed jabs seeing if he'd accidentally dodge into one. The dodges were clean however, just close enough to show he still wasn't planning to fight me. This feels like shadow boxing. I joke to myself. Time and time again it was becoming apparent that having hits connect was not an easy task when you're both on Air Trecks. I guess that explains why every fighter I've seen has some form of range. Still that's not really my style.

With a new step in my head, I further detail my usual fighting strategy of just hit him. Which has now become get close enough to hit him. In an attempt to mix things up I raise my fist high, cocking back for an overhead punch. "I'm trying to tell you, you can't just run." As I bring my fist down hard I raise my hind leg, hoping he can't see through it. He'll either dodge left or right. Without thinking he jumps to his right and hits a stone pillar. I allow my punch to reach the ground, opening my hand so my fingers touch the floor as I raise my legs up behind me. Mid-handstand I send a kick towards his face which he ducks under. My AT hit the stone with enough pressure to speed me into a spin. Using the momentum I flip back, fooling Tomoharu into trying to get clear of the wall. Having predicted this I extend out my leg, kicking him in the chest and back into the column.

Vriska cheers, through patronizing of course. "Hurrah and first blood of this long fight goes to the less than shining knight."

Both of us ignore her as Tomoharu wrights himself. I could tell it wasn't much of a kick by the way he shrugs it off. And I wasn't expecting much, after all, fist fighting is my style but hopefully I got my point across. "Ready to start fighting back now?" I ask. I throw a couple kicks at the air to taunt him until he attacks. I throw another letting my leg hover in the air for a second. "Trust me, you'll be tired of this long before I-"

As I talk he rushes at me. There's barely enough time for me to get my leg back down before he's close. Though it seem like that was part of his plan. Once my foot hit the ground I had no way of dodging his sweep, which connects at my shins hard enough for me not only to lose my footing, but lift me off the ground. I brace my fall with my forearm, but still hit the floor pretty hard. "Was that good enough?" He asks, still sounding as though he wants to quit.

"Not even close, I'm the guy who's gonna free the skies from DC. It'll take more than that to beat me." I answers jumping back up. I can hear Vriska audibly laugh at the entrance to this place. "So, you ready for some real bareknuckle boxing?"

He only sighs, taking a few steps back. Seeing this as another reset I snap again. However, instead of dashing this time I jump in to close some distance. Once I start coming towards him Tomoharu lifts his leg changing his stance. "Oh?" Vriska says with a curiosity that makes this a concerns. Quickly dropping his leg to the floor he raises it back up just in time to point a kick at me. In a fit of clutch reflexes I manage to meet his AT with my fist bouncing myself back towards my original position. Before I can hit the ground he dashes towards me, but stops nearly immediately after starting. There's a bang that echoes of of the reddish brown walls and once my feet touch the stone I can feel myself be blasted back, by a current of air. When the dust settles, I'm even further away from him than I was before. "What're you gonna do now, knighty-boy? Looks like that friend of your's knows some martial arts and has a few more tricks up his sleeve."

Martial arts, huh. I smirk, confident that there was going to be more to this shadow-boxing. Without resetting the round I run towards him. Tomoharu dashes back, turning sideways to dodge my punches as well as making sure he was being backed into a corner. With a quick dash manage to close a bit more distance and throw out a left hook. Tomoharu, reading this, pivots on his left foot, jumping back and swinging his right leg high. Knowing I couldn't block the counter, I jump, letting it connect with my lower arm, instead of my head or neck.

I can feel myself being pushed, sent towards the far wall with more than enough for to reach it. Before I splat next to Vriska I grab a low hanging banner. It was able to support my weight, so I loosely hung, taking some time to think. "Yo, if you could fight like this why didn't you beat those DC guys before."

He flinches at my question, but seems to consider it himself. He obviously hasn't thought about it in a while. After a few moments of silence Tomoharu sighs. "I did. Before Serow there were some other members of Devil's Crown. I beat them and-"

"Got marked, huh."

"There's power in numbers, right Damian." Tomoharu says. I can tell by his tone of voice, he has long given up the fight against Devil's Crown. I almost want to ask how things have been since the fight with Serow. With everything going on lately I barely have time to wonder what other teams are up to, as much as keeping Knightmare out the crosshairs.

"Tomo, since we already started, I'm gonna kick your ass." I began as he grunts in doubt. "But then I'm getting the team together and we're gonna find out how to deal with DC." I make sure to speak with confidence, trying to take my role as leader as seriously as I can manage. But I can feel a grin pulling at my face at the thought of hanging that mask (or whatever will be left of it) on the wall of my room.

"Whatever." Tomo answers, shaking his head and going back to his leg raised stance. I smirk and swing on the banner. Once I let go I fly towards Tomoharu legs first. To be more specific the table in front of him. I slide across, jumping once I hit the end and feel it begin to flip. My jump goes over his head and he almost turns to follow me but stops once he realizes the table is seconds away from hitting him. With a quick backlash she breaks the decaying wood and turns back to me as fast as he can.

I make a short punch to his stomach, hard enough to take the air from his lungs. Before he can jump back to recover I grab his tie, pulling him in before slamming my other fist into his cheek. He does a spin on his heels and drops to the floor. Unfortunately and fortunately he jumps up just as quickly.

Before I know it with both attacking, skillfully trying to push the other back. I lost track of how much power I was putting in my punches and judging by the soreness of my ribs and blocking arm, I'd guess Tomoharu's lost track of his kicks. As much as it hurts, it's good to see him serious. Devil's Crown is gonna be a joke soon. I think to myself with a smile before recognizing the taste of blood in my mouth. I suppose it'd be a good idea to focus on the battle a bit more. Just as I rearrange my thoughts I see Tomoharu's green and black AT above my head. I managed to block the axe kick with my right arm above my head, holding up his leg. "Sorry, Tomo, but think it's time to wrap this up." I joke, throwing a punch towards his face.

He catches my fist in his, locking me into place just as much as himself. "Agreed." He says, jumping up while pulling me closer. Tomoharu raises his other leg and kicks on my chest. He lands a few feet away as I stubble back trying to regain my balance. I can hear myself breathing heavily and if not for the lack of air in my lungs I would have complimented the kick. Just as I settle in place I see Tomoharu dash forward, and stop less than a second after.

There's a loud bang once again, air being broken is become a familiar sound. This time I could practically see the wind he had thrown at me. Changing my stance, I push my hair out of my face and wait for it to come to me with a smile. Over King here I come.

"Satisfied?" Vriska asks, as I lift myself from the hard stone floor. To be honest I forgot she was there during the actual fight. I'm grateful that we made it through without getting stabbed in the back.

I shake the thought out of my head and finally answer. "More than satisfied. I haven't fought like that since I left the US." I look at my left arm, the sleeve of my hoodie torn to shreds. Actually, I don't think I've ever fought like this. I think with a grin as I crack my sore knuckles. "So, coach, when's the next Storm Rider meeting?"

"Not for at least a week. Unless The Court declares some emergency. Why?" She answers. Walking over to Tomoharu, who lays either passed out or in a casual sleep.

"I don't feel like having my sister judge me when I go home for getting in a fight. So I'm staying here tonight."

She looks at me confused, before shaking her head and heading down one of the corridors. "Well it's not like I can go back to my place since that dragon's hunting me. I'll hang out too but I've gotta call Tav first."

It's like three in the morning, why would she be calling him? Before I let my paranoid mind get the better of me, I walk to the table to check my own phone. I turn it on and watch for alerts as I gingerly unravel my headphones. Two messages come up, but before I read them I send my sister the quick text I have set that simply reads Yeah, I'm still alive. Once I get to the actual messages I received I see one from Hansel after our phone call and the other from Tomatsu, who I haven't spoken to since Serow.

After reading them I was probably less concerned than I probably should've been. Han's message was simple We need to talk about The Court deal fast. and Tomatsu's an even more cryptic You NEED to come to the shop, ASAP BRO! I just shake my head, still tried and walk over to a table I fall asleep on. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

And unless I screw up (which let's be honest, isn't unlikely) the next chapter should be at least the start of a Parts War. though this one might take a while too.