Pommel Grade
In a moment, the entire situation had changed. They'd been flying along, Pommel hanging tightly to Moru's mane as they made their way back towards the group. Whether it was his distraction at conversing with Rin, or the suddenness of the enemy's entrance, Moru was caught off guard as the villain wizard leapt from above, obstructing their path completely. In the split second before they crashed into him, he rose his arm before backhanding the two, Pommel crying out in pain as she was sent flying and separated from Moru, impacting some rocks and falling down to the floor. Thankfully by this point, the water seemed to have mostly stopped and drained.
Grim, booming laughter filled the tunnel, the dark mage holding his portly belly as he looked over to the two staggering to their feet. He was humongous, at least 3 times the size of a regular man, almost completely blocking the arch of the tunnel. Disgusting grease and sweat stained his white tank top, though what was the most off-putting was the fact that it did little to hide his rolls of fat from showing. His large stomach made up the majority of his figure, making his other limbs and head look like stumpy bits of flab stuck onto his spherical form. Messy and similarly unkempt dirty blonde hair covered his head, while his eyes were beady and small. His mouth looked like he'd been punched in the jaw after binging on several years supply of candy; with only a few stained and chipped teeth remaining. Further adding to how off-putting the man was an indescribably foul odour, the closest comparison being that he smelled like death.
”Well well well, seems it takes a real big man to handle one little girl!” Taking slow, heavy and deliberate steps, the floor seemed to crack and shake after each one as he headed towards Pommel. ”Ah well, I could use a snack; and you look just good enough to eat…" Pommel flinched slightly at his words, but quickly found her spirit once again as she scrambled to her feet, still quite some distance from the vile man. "Ew! Ew! No! Don't even touch me you ball of lard! You're fat enough as it is!" The insults drew out some more laughter from the giant man, who stopped to gesture to himself. "Haha, girly, you have no idea how hungry I am. Still, you better show some respect, I am-"
"Nasty - If you ask me!" Pommel replied, interrupting him. ”No, I'm-"
"Gross? Disgusting? Foul? Ugly? A blight on the planet?" Each time he went to speak, he found himself interrupted by Pommel as the list went on. Finally however, he had enough, roaring out. ”SHUT IT!" The booming sound echoed about the room, and immediately, Pommel went quiet. ”I'm Big Gus, and you're dinner!" He declared, marching forward. The close observer would notice the change in Pommel, eyes dilating, hands trembling slightly, stiff body and the ever so slight step back. She found however, that she couldn't move, standing there plainly as 'Big Gus' closed in to grab hold of her.
Moru, who had slammed into the cave wall, took a moment to recover from the blow. Changing back to human form the young man swore, putting a hand to his head. Shaking his, which only made the pain worse, Moru focused on the reason behind it. Looking over at the wizard approaching Pommel, Moru let out a growl, cast a high speed spell. Catapulting forward Moru landed his punch but the man barely stumbled back and Moru looked at his hand in disgust. "Wow dude you would think you'd be less nasty since there was water rushing through here five minutes ago..."
With another evil grin, Big Gus shifted to look at the tiny man beside him. ”Seems neither of you can appreciate my true beauty. Why be clean when you could better use that time eating?" Turning back towards Pommel and ignoring Moru, he began reaching for the girl. ”Well, time for the entree before the main meal. Bon appétit!" The shadow of his hand cast across Pommel, and in her stupor, she still was frozen to the spot, almost not registering anything around her.
"Yo kid, you should at least run if you aren't going to fight!" Moru summoned his wings and used a high speed spell, blasting into the air and landing a punch to the side of the man's head. The blow rippled into his cheek, briefly staggering Gus, but then, he simply grinned, puffing out and bit and lightly knocking Moru back from him before laughing. ”What, that's all you've got little man?" Turning back to face him, Gus cracked his neck a bit. ”Come on, you can do better than that. Free shot, give me all you got, donkey boy." He gestured with his arms, beckoning Moru in with both to bring it on. Amongst all of this, Pommel didn't even seem to notice Moru's shout, but somewhere inside of her, it managed to get her legs moving, backing away from what was likely to be an intense battle.
Fire blazed in Moru's eyes and he spoke in a slow, calm voice. "Did you just call me a fucking Donkey?" Gus simply grinned, savouring the taste of such a strong reaction before speaking. ”Yeah, I called you an Ass. Whatchoo gonna do about it, chump?" Moru muttered something under his breath before casting three stacked speed spells and zipped up and off to the side. The large man turned to look at him and laughed. ”You completely miss-" The man was cut off as Moru made a sudden turn, casting two more speed spells to more than make up for his lost momentum, and kicked him in the face. "I'm a Horse not a Donkey you shithead!"
For a moment, Moru would seem to hang in the air with his impact. Then, slowly, the blow began to take force, Gus's head and neck receding into the bulbous fat surrounding his torso. Deeper, steadily, Moru's foot all but disappeared into the fatty remains of where his head vanished, with an unsatisfying squelching noise. Then... Laughter. ”Whoo boy! Not bad chump. My head's ringing a bit." Gus's muffled voice rose out from the squished neck hole. ”So you're a horse, right?" Gus chuckled some more, his fat clinging to Moru's leg and refusing to let it go from the compressed air suction. ”Holy Shit are you stupid or deaf?" Internally Moru was trying not to vomit. Using a speed spell Moru flew upwards, yanking his leg from the gelatinous mass of the man.
”Neither you dumb twerp! My gut magic makes me invincible!" The fat man called out in indignation, before beginning his recovery. As Moru attempted to clear some distance, there was the slow and steady squishing sound as Gus began stretching back out into shape. Finally, with a wet pop, he came free, glancing about to locate Moru. ”Alright, you had your turn, now it's mine! Come here!" Gus yelled, a thundering sound as he ran... Well, waddle-rolled at Moru. Surprisingly mobile for such a huge force, Gus lunged for the horse-man, mouth agape as he attempted to literally eat him.
Moru let out a very horse-like snicker, and flew out of the way as the ball of lard's momentum threw him past the spot where Moru had been hovering and crashing into the tunnel's wall. "I'm sorry, did you expect me to just let you eat me?" Moru glanced over at Pommel while the giant struggled to get up and turn back around. "What did I tell you?! Either fight or Run!" Hearing those words, Pommel staggered in the spot, her hands slowly going to her head and clutching it, whispering some words over and over to herself. She needed to calm down. She wasn't in trouble. He wasn't angry at her. He wasn't dangerous. He was her friend. She just needed to get moving. "R-right..." She mumbled, taking some slow steps backward before turning to run. She wasn't in the mental state to be much help to Moru at this point; she needed some space to collect herself.
Moru let out a sigh of relief. Head buried in the rubble, the blobbed fellow spun, his mouth filled with rocks. Moments later, he swallowed, giving a small, satisfied burp. ”Well It's not like I ordered my food to go, but I guess I'll have to take you out!" Puffing up his chest, Gus suddenly leaned forward, maw open wide as the rocks he ate fired out like bullets, aimed squarely at Moru's chest. Moru's attention still on the girl he didn't have the time to move out of the way of the rocks. With a grunt of pain his wings folded and he dropped through the air and towards the ground.
Licking his lips, Big Gus then looked to Pommel. Well, a runner wouldn't do. Drawing in a deep breath, he prepared a huge spit wad before launching it at the cherry head fleeing the scene. Struggling to breathe Moru focused on opening his wings and used a speed spell to catapult himself at the dark wizard, throwing off the trajectory of the spit wad just enough for it to miss Pommel. Gus's face pivoted, twisting to the side from the punch, launching his spit harmlessly to the ground beside him. Instantly, the ground began to bubble and boil, dissolving under the acid contained within, melting a small hole in the ground. Anger flared, Gus grabbed at Moru arms and body, his hand almost big enough to encompass around his torso all by itself and pin the fellow.
”Alright, enough mug shots. Forget the dessert; I'm hungry enough to eat a horse..." Glowering at Moru, Gus began to open his mouth wide, dislocating his jaw with a sickening crack. The breath alone that wafted out would be something Moru would have to spend weeks removing from himself. Inside, the saliva dripped between his gums and teeth in strands, the very same liquid that had melted rock before.
Having cleared quite some distance, Pommel turned to hear the sound of Moru in pain, and instantly her heart leapt out of her chest seeing the danger he was in. This was her fault. She had to do something to help him! Shakily, she took a few steps forward. He couldn't fight the Big Gut himself, he needed her. She had to do it. She had to use her Fuse Form. Trembling at the thought, she willed herself to move forward. She didn't need to be scared. He was an ally. He was in danger. She had to save him. She had to! Move! Just transform! Tears began to well up in Pommel's eyes, as she sunk to her knees. She couldn't do it. Even after all he did for her, even after saving her life and practically sacrificing himself, she couldn't get over her idiotic and irrational fears. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, turning her head away and shutting her eyes. She couldn't bear to watch.
She wasn't strong enough yet.
But knowing that wasn't going to make this loss any less painful.