Kicking Dust/Episode 2

Kicking Dust Episode 2 - Battle Tournament!
Fractus gives the monarch, Gilderoyde, a report on how things went during her latest mission. Soon afterwards, Duster enters a Flydevin fighting tournament! How far will she get?
==Scene 1==
The episode opens up inside of a palace, with golden statues of powerful-looking Flydevins on display. Gilderoyde Morluda is then shown to observe them with interest, the camera shifting to show structural details of the statues, which appears to be what fascinates Gilderoyde the most.
She then walks past another hall, this one filled with ice sculptures. One Flydevin in Powder Winds attire appears to be occasionally cooling up these sculptures to keep them from melting. However, Gilderoyde doesn’t seem as interested by them.
She then enters a room with another golden Flydevin warrior sculpture, though this one appears to have rusted mechanical components - suggesting it was taken from scrap metal. There is a machine with levers in front of the sculpture, which the camera focuses on as Gilderoyde plays with them - the camera then pans up to display the sculpture’s components moving with the lever pulls, to Gilderoyde’s audible amusement.
The camera proceeds to cut to Gilderoyde’s face, with an amused smile still visible on her face. However, it then focuses on the background, where Fractus Zhantom is shown approaching Gilderoyde. Almost as if to emphasis her, the surroundings darken.
:Fractus: Monarch Gilderoyde Morluda…
Gilderoyde is slightly startled by Fractus’s sudden appearance, and she turns to face her.
:Gilderoyde: Yes, General?
:Fractus: The Drizzler’s village has been successfully conquered.
:Gilderoyde: … ah. One more step towards -
Gilderoyde coughs.
:Gilderoyde: … towards unity, right?
:Fractus: Indeed. You got it.
:Gilderoyde: Anyways, did it go with any… any hiii-
She coughs again.
:Gilderoyde: -tches?
:Fractus: Not really. The Drizzler did oppose us, for reasons I did not know, and challenged me to a duel. I won without a hitch.
:Gilderoyde: Ah… I see. Has he been sent to a hospital?
:Fractus: … yes.
Fractus glances at the sculpture.
:Fractus: Anyways, you should tend to these newcomers, shouldn’t you?
:Gilderoyde: … right!
Gilderoyde coughs twice, as she heads away. Shortly after, Fractus leaves the room as well, going in a different direction, the darkness clearing up shortly after.
==Scene 2==
Duster is shown to still be sleeping on the couch in her house. This sleeping is interrupted, however, by loud knocks at the door, which wakes up Duster, before making her jolt upwards, before carefully walking to the door and opening it. The camera then reveals the one at the door is Fractus from a low angle.
:Duster: H-hi.
:Fractus: Hello.
Fractus walks in, and takes off her helmet. The camera then shoots the camera from a high angle, close to Fractus’s head, in order to make Duster look even shorter than she already is.
:Duster: I… I assume the mission was a success?
:Fractus: Indeed it was. You should be seeing new faces around.
:Duster: I see…
Fractus then walks upstairs, where Nimbus went in the previous episode. She gently knocks at her door, causing Nimbus to open it.
:Nimbus: Hellooooo!
:Fractus: Hello, Nimb...
Fractus gives Nimbus a firm hug.
:Nimbus: Gwugh!
Fractus, noticing she’s hugging her too strongly, lowers her grip, as she looks towards a table, the camera focusing onto said table to indicate this.
:Fractus: I see you’re doing your homework?
:Nimbus: Eeyup!
She smiles proudly, as Fractus rubs her hair out of affection.
:Fractus: Good girl. I’m sure you’ll be a great sculptor later on.
:Nimbus: Weheheh, I’m sure I’ll be!
Fractus smiles in approval, before heading out of the room and downstairs, where Duster is shown to be eating a protein bar.
:Fractus: By the way, Duster. There’s a battle tournament today. I suggest you check it out.
:Duster: … got it.
:Fractus: You are my daughter, so you should be able to handle it.
Duster finishes the protein bar, crumples the wrap into a ball, and throws it into a trash can as she walks out of the house. Fractus closes the door afterwards, sighing.
==Scene 3==
It appears to be twilight outdoors. Duster walks outside, and looks in the distance at a large coliseum, before walking towards it with determination, the camera following her.
However, rather than focusing on her, the camera focuses on certain Flydevins that were in the village conquered in the prior episode. They appear to be struggling to integrate, taking confusion with the town’s customs and trying to get jobs. Duster appears to be looking at them, confusion visible in her expression.
It then focuses back to her, as she bumps into Trida and her younger brother Erifa Kyrjan, as she was too focused on the newcomers.
:Duster: Agh - oh, hey, Trida!
:Trida: Potato! Look where you’re going, hahah!
:Erifa: … Potato?
Duster blushes a bit, crossing her arms.
:Duster: I-it’s a nickname she gives me.
:Erifa: Heh. Nice.
:Trida: Anyways, are you going to that tournament?
:Duster: Maybe.
:Erifa: Heheh. You’re probably getting way ahead of yourself then.
:Duster: … why do you say that?
:Trida: I mean, Duster’s pretty skilled. I’m sure she stands a chance.
:Erifa: These are strong Flydevins we’re talking about.
:Duster: I am a strong Flydevin!
:Erifa: If you say so…
Duster shakes her head.
:Trida: Anyways, we’ll be on our way. See you later, Potato!
:Erifa: See you later, tiny.
:Duster: I… I’m not - !
:Trida: Try to not rile her up too much, Erifa. You are pretty tiny, though, Potato.
She pats Duster on the head, causing her to blush briefly, as Trida and Erifa leave.
Duster then continues her way, arriving at the coliseum shortly after.
==Scene 4==
Duster enters the coliseum - there are people wandering around, most going upstairs to the seats. She looks at the list of contestants, and there happens to be two vacant spots - the tournament will pit 8 contestants against each other in 1 vs 1 matches. She also notices Beruli is amongst the contestants, and smiles upon seeing her.
Duster then heads to a counter.
:Duster: Heya. I’d like to sign up.
:Counter Flydevin: Ahh! You’re Fractus’s daughter, ain’t ya?
:Duster: … yeah?
:Counter Flydevin: Well then, you’re in! Just, be careful… I heard ya don’t have the best record around…
:Duster: Shut up. I’m perfectly capable of winning.
:Counter Flydevin: Hahahah… well, alright then!
The Counter Flydevin signs up Duster. Duster then looks around, and notices Beruli amongst the crowd, walking up to her.
:Duster: Hey, Broccoli!
:Beruli: Hiya, Potato!! You’re in the tournament too?
:Duster: Yeah.
:Beruli: Niiiice! Hopefully we don’t have to fight… though at the same time, it could be a nice fight!
:Duster: Yeah… true!
Soon after, a bell is shown ringing, interrupting the conversation.
:Announcer: THE MATCH IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! EVERYONE, GET IN!
:Duster: Ah! Well, see you later, Broccoli!
:Beruli: Seeya later, Potato!
The two head into the arena as the camera fades to black.
==Scene 5==
Announcer: … and for the final round out of the first rounds, we have DUSTER ZHANTOM against RAVITIE DAWNE!
A bird eye’s view of the coliseum is shown, before Duster is shown entering the arena, followed by a tanned Flydevin woman wearing a shirt with wind patterns on it. She has a notably large cowlick that sticks up and curls.
Duster is shown intently observing her foe, while Ravitie seems to not take her as seriously.
:Duster: (Twister Winds, huh…)
The two get into position at the two opposite edges of the arena.
:Announcer: Alright, the contestants look set! The match will begin in three, two, one…
Duster and Ravitie lock eyes.
:Announcer: GO!
Ravitie quickly begins forming winds around herself, while Duster charges towards her, going for the offensive while covering one of her arms in stone. However, Ravitie soon starts greatly slowing her down with a gust of wind, Duster having to use her own winds to push through the winds.
Ravitie, however, suddenly unleashes a large gust of wind from above, pushing Duster down.
:Duster: Gah!
:Ravitie: Hihih, don’t get caught in the wind!
Ravitie keeps the barrage of winds from above, as she jumps up and attempts to deliver a dive kick to Duster from above. However, Duster forms a circular rock shield above herself to block this dive kick. Ravitie spin jumps off this circular rock. Duster proceeds to throw it towards Ravitie, surprising her and making her quickly dash to the side to dodge it.
Duster proceeds to dash to the side herself, dodging some incoming wind blasts from above created by Ravitie, before dashing back to Ravitie and trying to deliver a proper punch to her. She spin jumps above it, however, and attempts the dive kick strategy again - this time, however, Duster sees it coming, and sidesteps before delivering a strong punch to her side, launching her into a wall.
:Ravitie: GHHH!
She gets up, and notices Duster is not in front of her anymore. She looks up, and finds Duster is coming at her from above with another rock punch. She tries to use her winds to push her back, but Duster then suddenly increases the size of the rocks covering her arms until the covering drops from her arm and onto Ravitie.
Using her winds, Ravitie is able to keep the rock from crushing her, albeit with major physical struggle. However, this leaves Ravitie wide open to Duster, who performs an aerial maneuver to spin behind her before kicking her in the back, launching her into a wall again.
:Ravitie: Ghhhh… I give up…
She flops down, exhausted.
:Announcer: DUSTER ZHANTOM WINS!
People cheer for Duster’s victory, and she smiles to the audience, as Ravitie gets up and walks back into the arena sidelines, Duster getting back into the sidelines soon afterwards again. It then cuts to black again to indicate another timeskip.
==Scene 6==
:Announcer: Aaaalright! For our next round, we’ll have BRUNO INCRISP against DUSTER ZHANTOM!
A muscular man wearing red shorts and a similarly-colored crop top with a sun-esque pattern on it enters. He has a mohawk similar to a flame on top of his head, and appears to have a few scars. On the other side of the arena, Duster enters, and observes her foe.
:Duster: (Solar Winds? This shouldn’t be too bad.)
Bruno appears to simply glare at Duster, as the two get into position.
:Announcer: Alright! Our contestants are set! The match will begin in three, two, one… GO!
Bruno quickly starts the match by snapping his fingers, before creating a forcefield around him. Duster charges towards Bruno either way, though this is mainly in order to close the gap, and she stops and skids before creating a rock and tossing it at Bruno. It enters the forcefield, and after a bit, gets launched back at her - she sidesteps.
Bruno then charges towards Duster, attempting to get her into his forcefield. Duster therefore flies back, before taking to the air. Bruno, however, follows and gives chase. Not wanting to run away too much due to her pride, Duster creates a rock shield and then flies in a loop to bash Bruno with it. She penetrates the forcefield and forces Bruno to push back against the rock shield - however, soon after, he manipulates his flames so that they hit Duster from around the forcefield.
:Duster: Gahhh!
Duster delivers an axe kick to the rock shield in order to launch Bruno down, before creating a rock covering around her leg, extending it downwards to better shield her from the forcefield. She then dives kick down, though Bruno sidesteps and then launches his forcefield of flames in a wide arc.
Duster attempts to fly back, but the flames “swallow” her from behind, before they close in and engulf her in flames.
:Duster: AAAAAGH!
Duster tries to shake the flames off to no avail, before choosing to charge in Bruno’s direction. However, he dodges back, and launches a blast of fire that launches Duster back. She tumbles backwards, eventually flopping onto her back.
:Duster: Ghhhh… agh.
Duster lays there, her vision blurring as she takes deep breaths, wounded by the extended exposure to the flames.
:Announcer: BRUNO INCRISP WINS!
Duster slowly gets up as she heads into the sidelines. There is a cleric there, that appears to use healing magic on her, treating her burns. She storms out of the coliseum shortly afterwards. Beruli Tei, who was in the sidelines as well, looks at her with worry on her expression.
==Trivia==
*This episode originally had one extra scene after the tournament. However, it was cut and will appear around the start of Episode 3 instead because Episode 2 was getting too long and it will allow for a more natural transition to the rest of the events in Episode 3.
Category:Episodes
Category:Poisonshot