"Cobra!" Brain called from the ground. "Where do you think you're going?"

Erik looked back at his guildmaster with a smirk on his face. "I'm gonna put the Lightning Empress out of commission. She's a tough one though, so I'll need a bigger battle field."

"Take care of her quickly." Brain growled, turning back to face the Allied forces.

Cubellious finally landed deep into the heart of the forest and Erik stepped off of the purple serpent.

He could hear Jasmine's feet hitting the ground as she approached the area. "Leave us, Cubellious." Erik ordered. "I'll call for you once I'm done here."

The purple snake hissed and flew off.

Jasmine arrived in front of Erik, a few feet away from him. Her chest rose up and down rapidly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Long time no see, babe." Erik smirked. His eyes ran up and down Jasmine's body. "Well you've certainly grown up."

"E-Erik . . . w-why . . . h-how . . ." Jasmine couldn't form a single sentence.

"First of all, my name's not Erik anymore. It's Cobra. And secondly, I'm not the weak little boy you knew as a kid. I've got magic now, Jasmine." 

"B-But . . ."

"I can hear it, you know." Cobra walked forward, closing the gap between him and Jasmine. "You're still in love with me." He brought his left hand up and caressed her cheek. "Your heart skipped a beat just from my touch alone. Are your feelings for me that strong?"

Despite her feelings, Jasmine gritted her teeth and slapped his hand away from her face.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled. "Now, answer me! Why are you here? Why did you leave?" Her eyes were practically pleading with him to say, "I've missed you" and "I'm sorry I left."

Cobra chuckled, finding Jasmine's vulnerability amusing. "I'm a member of the Oración Seis now." He informed her. "Have been for a while. I'm a new man, a different man than the weak little brat you knew eleven years ago! And now, I'm a Dragon Slayer too. Just like you."

"So, is that why you left? To learn magic?"

"That's part of the reason."

"Then what's the-"

"It's none of your business. I left and that's, that. Man, is your self-esteem that hurt over being dumped?"

Jasmine's eyes widened. She felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, but she'd rather die than to let Cobra see her cry.

"It's time to grow up, Jasmine." Cobra said. "Now, let's settle things like adults!" A reddish-black aura glowed around Cobra's body.

He's got a great amount of magic power. Jasmine thought, secretly amazed.

"Why, thank you." Cobra grinned. "And just so you know, I can hear your thoughts. I'll know what move you're about to make, before you make it. Keep that in mind, will ya?"

You can hear my thoughts?

"Yeah. I just said that. Thanks for testing it out."

Then I guess you won't mind me telling you that there's something coming for you.

"What?" Cobra's eyes widened, and he looked behind him. "There's nothing there!"

I know.

"What?" Cobra growled, "You-" As he turned back around to face his opponent, he was kicked in the face.

"Lightning Dragon's Claw!"

Cobra was pushed back while Jasmine landed safely on her own two feet.

"You're gonna regret doin' that." Cobra hissed.

"Not my fault. You're the one who fell for it." Jasmine retorted.

Cobra just growled in response. "Poison Dragon's Scales!" A wave of miniature reddish-black boomerangs flew towards Jasmine.

She jumped and dodged the first two, but Cobra snuck up behind her. "Poison Dragon's Roar!"

Hit with a direct attack plus the poisionous scales, Jasmine plummeted, face down, to the ground.

"I'm not letting you off that easy." Cobra warned. "Poison Dragon's Spiral Jaw!" Poison came from his feet and he spun around, creating a spiral with his feet, and kicked Jasmine in the head.

Landing on the ground, Cobra looked down at his opponent. "I can hear it, you know." He said, "The poison flowing through your system. It's slowing you down as we speak."

Jasmine chuckled dryly. "Yeah, right." She rose to her feet and faced her enemy. "This ain't nothin'."

"Bring it." Cobra smirked.

The two wizards went into a full force physical battle. No magic. No spells. Just fists and feet.

At first, their fists connected and power radiated from the blow even though there was no magic.

Then Cobra punched Jasmine in the jaw.

Jasmine punched Cobra in the chest.

The marron haired male punched Jasmine in the stomach.

The black haired female kicked Cobra in the stomach.

Punch after punch, kick after kick, the two kept going at an incredible speed so fast that the average bystander wouldn't be able to keep up.

Once the two were satisfied with the use of no magic, they stopped, facing each other in a standoff.

"You know what I noticed?" Cobra asked.

"What?" Jasmine narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me if I'm wrong, but you've never hit me with an attack in a lethal area."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, earlier you'd only hit me in the chest, arm, or stomach, which could be lethal if you used magic. Why won't you attack me for real, Jasmine? Are your feelings for me causing you to hold back?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jasmine growled. "Of course, I'm not holding back. In fact, I'm gonna finish this right now."

"Is that so?" Cobra smirked, "Then allow me to help."

In an instant, he was directly in front of Jasmine. His right arm was covered all over with reddish-black scales and he had dragon claws instead of fingernails.

It looked like he had turned part dragon!

Without saying a word, he plunged his claws into Jasmine's right thigh.

She threw her head back and, on instinct, screamed from the pain.

"That's it." Cobra chuckled. "Scream some more!" He pushed his claws in deeper.

Jasmine screamed again, but not wanting to satisfy his demands, she covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Why aren't you fighting back, huh?" Cobra grunted. He squeezed the muscle underneath the penetrated skin with his claws.

Jasmine clung to Cobra's left shoulder with her free hand. Her body was shaking, rattling with pain.

Yet, fighting back never once came up in her mind.

"You love me." Cobra stated calmly. "That's why you won't fight me seriously. You can't bare the thought of harming me, can you?"

Jasmine's knees became weak and she began to fall backwards. However, Cobra wrapped his free arm around her waist.

"Say it." He demanded.

"Huh?" Jasmine asked, although her voice was muffled.

Cobra looked straight into Jasmine's eyes. "Tell me you still love me." He demanded, "Say it!"

The lightning mage kept her hand firmly over her mouth, but her eyes widened at Cobra's demand.

Becoming impatient, Cobra acted fast and bit one of Jasmine's fingers. He pulled her hand away from her mouth, bit it harder (enough to draw blood) and spat it out of his mouth, tossing the now limp hand to the side.

He pushed his claws in deeper into her thigh, the white claws touching bone.

Jasmine screamed again as her eyes began to water with tears.

"Say it!" Cobra shouted. "Tell me you love me!"

"FINE! I LOVE YOU!" Jasmine shouted at the top of her lungs, the tears running down her cheeks. "I've loved you . . . all of these years . . . and yet, . . . I didn't want to."

Cobra stared at Jasmine for a moment before signing. "I knew it." He pulled his claws out of Jasmine's thigh, blood all over his fingertips. Then he removed his other hand from Jasmine's waist, causing her to fall.

She fell on her back, her body still shaking. Her vision was already blurred from the tears.

"You finally said it." Cobra smirked, "Thanks!" Then his face became serious. "Now, you've gotta go to sleep for a while. Sorry, babe."

Cobra raised his poison covered foot and brought it down on Jasmine's head.

She instantly lost consciousness.