Bullet with Butterfly Wings/Synopsis

## Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Ralabast has come thundering down on the Bull, but the Bull withstands his attack and uses his horns to overpower Ralabast. He stands up, hoisting Ralabast over his head, goring his midsection with his horns. From the sidelines, Kagan cries out a denial, held tightly in the arms of the Monkey King. The Bull takes Ralabast and piledrives him into the ground shouting "Now!", getting a roar out of the struggling chimera. Romulus jumps in and bites down on Ralabast's shoulder, calling him weak in his defeat.

Looking back at the Monkey King, Kagan rages, stating her intention to kill them all, clawing at his arm. Kagan finally shapeshifts into a flock of birds and escapes on fast-beating wings. The Monkey King allows that she might do as she claims but not just yet. He calls up a cluster of vines which braid themselves into a shaft, and taking that shaft up in his hand, he casts it at the flock that is Kagan. As it approaches her the shaft flares out into a funnel-shaped net of vines, and she is gathered up and forced back into a single body. As the furious Kagan plummets back to the earth wrapped up in netting, he tells her there is something she needs to see.

Romulus struggles now to hold Ralabast in place, keeping a firm grip on him with his jaws. The Bull complains he can't hold him, losing his grip on Ralabast's fur, saying he's still too strong even as Ralabast gets his wings free and takes flight, carrying the pair with him up into the air. Once fully airborne, Ralabast sheds the Wolf and the Bull, letting them fall in turn to the earth below him. Hovering above, Ralabast tells them they aren't enough.

The crosshairs of a scope are centered on Ralabast. The soldier that had been investigating the destruction of the pumping station is lying prone behind the sniper rifle he has deployed on the crest of a ridge. The sight of the great chimera startles the man into swearing when he realizes just how big Ralabast is. Continuing to watch through his scope, he calls in the contact. He tells his handler this isn't like anything they had in the files. He claims the aberrations are operating off the scale on power, then he asks for a recommendation of action. He recommends an airstrike, but an unheard response gets the reaction he expected as he states he didn't think so. He takes a hard look through his scope, focusing on the combatants. Ralabast is preparing to strike the Bull, who has him by a horn, and the soldier claims he can end this whether they like it or not, giving no indication of who he's talking to.

Kagan fights against the netting, but the Monkey King tells her not to bother since he can make them change shape to anything she can, and she isn't strong enough to break them. Then he tells her she needs to focus less on fighting him and more on watching them. Speaking dismissively of the other two Zodiac members, he tells her those asses are here because they have a chip on their shoulders, then he claims he's not there to settle a grudge because he doesn't hold grudges. He tells her he's got his own plans, and there's some things he needed to see. And he does see. He indicates that Ralabast isn't what he used to be.

Ignoring the Monkey King's commentary, the furious Kagan rages in the netting, telling them they will not, they cannot take him from her again. Her rage and desperation give her the strength to destroy the net, despite the Monkey King's claims. As he leaps into the air in pursuit of the now airborne Kagan, he admits he was wrong about her being strong enough. When he lands on her back between her wings, he tells her he wasn't wrong about Ralabast. He points out that at one time it would have taken all twelve of the Zodiac to fight him, and it would have been even money at that. He claims there is something wrong with Ralabast.

As they crash into the ground, she tells him he knows nothing. Kagan gets the upper hand and holds the Monkey King down, but he's not fighting too hard to get free. He reminds her Ralabast is the oldest and strongest, he is he who rises in might, he is Ralabast … and he says he's trying to kill himself. She brings all her focus to bear on Ralabast and the fight he's engaged in. The light in his eyes suddenly flares into cerulean brilliance just as the Monkey King tells her Ralabast can't do it by himself, that he needs someone to do it for him.

Kagan's attention is drawn to the trees of the forest as they begin to shiver and quake, shaking the snow off their boughs. Deep underground, the roots of those trees suddenly wither and die, releasing their hold on the soil. Up on his ridge, the sniper-soldier is startled by the quaking of the trees, standing up to watch in horror as trees topple over in the snow, precursor to an avalanche. The Monkey King explains that Ralabast has a long history of surviving, so he's going to fight, and that's a problem for everybody. Kagan sees the truth of his words, so she takes flight again, this time with the Monkey King along as a hitchhiker dangling from her ankle.

Billowing snow begins to cloud the sky, threatening to blot out the sun as a full-blown avalanche gets under way. Holding a huge boulder above his head, Romulus tells Ralabast that maybe he'll be stronger in the next life.

The avalanche closes in, overtaking Romulus and his rock.

## References

1. ↑ The Artist in the Ambulance
2. ↑ Bullet with Butterfly Wings **Justin\_Jordan** Aug 22, 2020 *in a reply to* **Bear.exe** Aug 22, 2020