Chapter 39: Death Match
"Now you see Aurie," Vecks began, casually chatting with her in the engine room. The power cells needed to be changed from time to time, and thanks to the systems redundancies, they could be changed in flight. "The meaning of life is quite simple really, all it is-" THUMP! The ship began to shake violently!
"Vecks! Whats going on down there?" Septero asked over the intercom. "The power's dropping rapidly! Hurry up and get those cells in place before we die!" Vecks and Aurie gave each other a rather pained look.
"Septero," Aurie said over the intercom. "They're already in."
THUMP The ship shook violently and the lights began to flicker.
"Lets go check it out!"
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Bridge
"Septero! What the heck is going on!?" Fera yelled. Septero was looking panicked. The power was beginning to fail rapidly, in less then ten minutes there wouldn't be any and the cells had already been changed! Doing everything in his power, he tried to steer the ship, but the throttle was also out of control!
"I don't know! It's as if all our power is being drawn into the engines! If we don't slow down, we'll either soffocate, freeze, or if we crash into something, burn to death!" Septero yelled back. Vecks and Aurie arived not ten seconds later.
"Aurie! The navigation is down, get on the sensors and see if you can get them up! I'd rather fly at blazing speed knowing where I'm going!" Aurie nodded and sat down at the panel.
"Thats weird. This is working at full power!" She stared at the readings for a moment. "It's almost as if whatever is doing this wants us to know where we're going!" She remarked.
"Bout time you figured it out." Said an o-so familiar voice. All three looked at the shell of the cock-pit that provided a visual. A black portal appeared, followed by a mage robed in black garments.
"Lyxwal." Vecks said bitterly. Lyxwal cracked a smile.
"Yup, thats me! You see, I have gone to all the trouble to throw together a little party, and you're all invited! It's on my world of current residense, and I wanted you here as fast as possible, so I decided to give you're engines a little boost." The mage commented as the he kept perfect pace with the ship.
"A phantom image. There is no other way that he could be keeping pace with us outside our ship!" Septero identified. Lyxwal chuckled at this and wagged his finger back and forth.
"Untrue. I assure you I am all here, how else could I do THIS!" Lyxwal raised his hand and pointed a finger at the three. A beam of light sprung from his finger tip, passed through the glass without even singing it, and went through the cabin.
There was the sound of a dull thud.
"Adalline!" Septero went over to her with Aurie. Vecks only stared at Lyxwal.
"Not good! She has a really bad hole in her shoulder!" Aurie commented, casting a healing spell. "She'll be fine, but it's gonna take her a while!" Aurie commented to Septero. Septero was releived for the moment, but now he was also ****ed. He went over to the glass in front of Lyxwal, and stared the dark mage down.
"I don't care where you take us, just land this bird so I can rip your heart out and show it to you!" Septero threatned. Lyxwal lowered his hood, showing off his face to the group, a smile plastered on him.
"You might find that last part more difficult then you think, but ok, I think I can risk it now." With those spoken words, the ship suddenly slowed and then stopped. Raising his right palm, Lyxwal conjured a dark portal over the whole ship, pulling into corridor of darkness.
"Let the games begin."
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Dystopia
"I hope you'll find my home to your liking. I'm rather fond of this place. The misery and sorrow of the world peeked my intrest, and I decided to set up shop while I was here." Commented the twisted magic-user. The ship was now on the ground, surrounded by ruined buildings, broken streets, and a magic field, specificaly designed for summonings.
Septero, Vecks, Fera, and Aurie all exited the ship, leaving Adalline in the med-center. The Med-center was by far the safest spot on the ship, so it was probably better that they leave her there anyway in her condition.
"Alright Lyxwal, lets get this show on the road!" Vecks commented, beginning his chant for a higher leveled fire spell. Septero drew Tide and Fera readied her blade. Aurie readied her own weapon, and began chanting something unfamiliar.
"No." Lyxwal said plainly, floating in the air several feet above the ground. The group paused for a moment, looking confused. "You see, certain...Circumstances, prevent me from acting at this time. However, I brought you all here, not so you could play with me, but rather, him." He said this last part, gesturing to a short round figure in a white cape. The figure was humanoid, but hidden beneath the white cloth so effectivley, it only looked like an egg from even a short distance.
"This is my very own creation. I'll let you guess what he is for your own, but for now, I feel introductions are in order." Lyxwal snapped his fingers, and the figure twitched slightly. "I'd like you all to meet Sukram. Sukram, meet dinner!" Lyxwal snapped his fingers once more, and in that instant, a trail of white stretched from the egg-like figure to Septero. It was the figure!
The shrill cry of steel on steel rang out!
"D@amn, this f ucker is fast!" Septero commented. The figure had been revealed. He was short in some ways, but tall in others. Hsi legs were extreamly long, and had multiple extra joints. His chest was remarkably slim and long, and his arms were also freakishly long and slim. Every inch on this monster was covered in plate armor that seemed to defy the possible amount of weight this thing could carry. He also wore a wooden mask over his face in the shape of a yin-yang symbol, with long white hair flowing out the back.
"You'll find he's quite strong too, and his blades are quite dangerous too. I hope you all enjoy!" Lyxwal laughed as Sukram drew a second blade from thin air keyblade-style! Septero forced the creature back with tremendous force, and sent him several shadow bolts as a parting gift.
"Elmekia Lance!" Vecks called. A spear of white light shot out from his palm and penetrated each shadow bolt, adding their power to it's own, staining it black. This spell was designed to attack an opponents mind, and a direct hit could easily cause mental collapse in even a demon.
"Amplification!" Aurie let loose her own spell! The black spear sudden surged with power and speed, and struck the creature with nearly five times its intended power! There was a brilliant explosion of bright sparks and shadowy shreds.
"Nice Aurie, when did you learn that spell?" Fera commented. Aurie raised her fingers in a victory symbol.
Then she hit the dirt!
The creature had landed on the ground without even a sound, and charged its way for Aurie with unmatched speed, intending to decapitate her! Had she not been paying attention, she wouldn't be breathing now.
"What the f-" Was all Fera got out before the thing sicked it's blades on her. Her left eye opened and her eye-patch burned off in an instant, unvieling two blood-red eyes. Her fangs jutted out in an instant, and her body spasmed slightly before resuming her normal pose. This transformation took place in less then a fraction of a second. Her blade blocked the creatures left blade, and her hand cought the right.
"This guy is fast!" Aref commented. "Alrighty then, lets try this!" Aref applied great force to her hand and snapped the right blade in pieces before backing a single pace, and then charging head first, both hands on her sword.
"Tribute 7!" Aref slashed seven times in rapid succession, faster then the eye could possibly hope to follow. After the first six were blocked, the creature's remaining blade splinted into tiny pieces, and the seventh nearly impaled him on his heart, had it not leaped high into the air.
"Dragon Slave!" Vecks had been chanting unnoticed the whole time. The very instant the creature jumped, Aurie cast another amplification spell on Vecks, and Vecks launched a suped-up dragon slave!
It missed.
"Kyuukyoku Gensou!" Septero let loose! His blade glowed bright green from life force, and cought the dragon slave, absorbing it directly into Tide. Plunging the blade into the creature's chest, he nailed it to the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion! Fire and ash went everywhere. Had Fera, Vecks and Aurie dived behind the ship and raised it's shields to max, draining the last of it's power reserves left, they would have been killed themselves!
When the dust settled, the barrier fell, and the ship was unharmed. There was no crater, due to the vast majority of the dragon slaves power being forced into a single point. Septero limped away, dragging Tide behind him, back towards the ship, his thumb held up, and a smirk on his face.
"Impressive!" Lyxwal clapped. Vecks resumed chanting and Aref kicked off the ground for the mage.
"But not THAT impressive!" Lyxwal snapped his fingers, and a sudden gust from the center of the blast trailed smoke and flames as it shot out for Septero! The dark warrior turned, and hit the ground in a single motion.
The creature was alive! It's armor had changed from gray to black, and seemed to have welded together into a single piece of armor! However, it's cape was the same length, and not even torn. Although, it was split down the center, like a pair of wings. It now held two longer, new blades in each hand.
Aref had come to the rescue this time. She had realized what was happening in mid-air, and thrown her blade as hard as she could, knocking the creature off course, and saving Septero, but leaving her unarmed as she veered away from Lyxwal and landed on the ground.
"Magical Immunity." Vecks remarked.
"What?" Aurie asked. Lyxwal started to laugh as Vecks finally figured it out.
"YES! Thats precisley it, and as I am sure you have alredy guessed, this lovley creation of mine is a chimera! A rather special one too. A joint chimera! The armor is a living being that has been sealed off from the astral side, rendering immune to magical attacks, and very resiliant to physical attacks. The inside is my own creation, and I'm sure you have seen it's powers for yourself to know just how deadly it is. Your dragon slave combo only merged them closer together, aiding in it's transition to stage two!" Lyxwal cackled like it was some sort of sick joke on his part.
"Stage two?" Aref asked. Lyxwal turned, and the creature remained still.
"Yes, as in a transformation! This thing has another one up it's sleve to, one that will finish you all, and grind your bones into dust! Sadly, I doublt you'll live to see it kill you." Lyxwal made this comment, and then doned an odd look, confused at his own words.
"There is a silver lining though." Vecks said. "Not only is it vulnerable to physical attacks and magic of the sort, but I'm willing to bet that until it evolves, it's magical immunity has been drastically reduced!" Vecks revealed. Lyxwal looked at him angrily.
"That still leaves you with the problem of if you can kill it before it kills you! Sukram, attack!" With that command, the creature side stepped Aref's blade and charged for Vecks with even greater speed then before!
"Barrier!"
"Balus Wall!" Aurie and Vecks both raised a defence. The creature slammed into the double barrier and bounced off like a bullet on steel, but shattered the defence. Septero rose and slashed hard and true at the creature as it passed by him, leaving a deep gash in it's side. The creature was unshaken, and moved with the momentum and charged at Aref, who was still unarmed.
The creature slashed with both blades faster then the eye could follow at Aref! Aref deflected two strike with her own hands, and then managed to back away, blood trailing from each palm.
"Double Blood Sword!" Aref used her own blood to conjure two short swords before her wounds healed from her homunculous regeneration. A solom look was on her face as she charged for the stage two creature. The creature met her head on, and both locked blades, each matching the other flawlessly in an almost surreal dance of death.
"Shadow Snap!" Septero tossed a needle of shadow into the shadow of the creature, pinning it's feet in place by magic! The spell normally bound a person entirely, but in this case, it only slowed the creature down, which was just what he wanted.
"White Thunder!" Aurie called! A bright light from her hands shone for an instant, and then a moment later, electricty coursed through the creatures body. Magic resistance or not, lightning still hurt regardless. The creature was stunned for a few moment, and pained, but made no sound of pain.
"Aeroga!" Vecks called forth a wind spell over Aref!
"Whirwind!" Using the wind spell to amplify her attack, Aref spun around like a top, and slashed repeatedly and deeply into the creatures chest like a buzz saw set to kill! The attack went on for several seconds before stopping. The creature had numerous gashes in it's armor, and silver blood trikled from each one. It stood for a few moments, and then fell to the ground.
"Too late." Lyxwal spoke.
Light surged from the spot where the creature lay, and everyone immediatley backed away as quickley as they could, Aref grabbing her sword as she ran for cover. The wind howled and the temperature rose with flames. Thunder crashed, and then, all was silent.
"Meet my greatest creation!" Lyxwal boomed with an amplified voice. The figure the stood now, was the very creature that had been trying to kill them, but aside from the mask that it work, it had changed drastically.
It was now large, it's torso nearly as big as Vecks alone, and at nearly seven feet tall. It's legs were massive, like might oaks, and it's arms were titanic in nature. It's entire body had merged with the armor, which resembled a dragons scales made into plate now, and was all silver. In the creatures left massive hand however, was the most terrifying thing of all.
"Keyblade!" Septero identified the weapon at a glance. The blade was long and slender, and was shaped much like Soul Eater, however this blade was not black, but silver instead.
The giant took a step forward, the ground shook beneath its weight. After a few steps it stopped, and stared at the dumbfounded party that opposed it. With alarming speed just like before, it charged for Vecks, and slammed it's fist into his gut, rendering him unconcious instantly. Aurie began to speak, but had'nt even finished a single word before the creature struck her with the back of it's keyblade. She had dodged back, and only received a minor cut.
Septero charged in and attacked the thing with Tide, but the creature didn't even move. His blade bounced off like a harmless toy! The creature raised its palm, and a jet of silver light struck Septero, bringing him to his knees.
"Tribute seven!" Aref cried and struck the creature six times on its blade, hoping to shatter it. However, when she brought down her seventh strike, the keyblade remained, and deflected her attack. A shockwave pulse knocked her down and put distance between it and her, and Vecks, who was still doubled over in pain, but had woken up.
"Beautiful! Stunning! You didn't even stand a chance against it! It's too fast, it's magic resistance is too high, and it can't be stopped!" Lyxwal laughed at the failure of the group for a while, before speaking again. "Sukram! Leave the magus alive, but kill the rest!" The creature responded by lowering its head in obediance, and then walking towards the still standing Aurie, keyblade drawn.
"Blitz!" a voice called out! From the heavens, a lance struck the ground in between Aurie and Sukram! Light pulsed, and then a surge of energy shot from the lance and for the creature. Instinctivley, the creature leapt back, but then was slammed into something, and the light struck it!
The creature fell to the ground for a moment, but then pushed its self up and away with one arm, to meet its new oponnent.
His new oponnent was very tall, about a half foot shorter then the creature. He wore a red robe with a black jacket overtop. His face was hidden under a large, perfectly round hat, and a mask pulled over his face, however, a single feature about him gave him away.
A single, white wing.
"Kayne!" Aurie yelled! Vecks and Septero looked to see their old friend, and Aref looked very confused.
"Who is that?" She asked.
"Thats our old buddy Kayne! He left just after you joined us, remember?" Septero offered. she still looked kind of confused. A light chuckle left Kayne, who pulled down his mask, and lifted his hat off his shoulder, tossing it to the side.
"Been a while I suppose. Would have jumped in sooner, but I only just got here myself." Lyxwal looked angry, but not overly so.
"This changes nothing! Sukram will dispose of you with ease!" Lyxwal said. Kayne looked towards him, raised his hand up high and in his direction, and gave him a rude hand gesture.
"I highly doubt that! Not only am I a lot stronger then I used to be," He trailed off for a moment, summoning his lance from the ground to his hand, and then slinging it onto his back. "But I'm willing to bet this things magic resistence doesn't mean sqwat to THIS!" As he said this, he drew from the sheathe on his side, a long black katana. Flicking it lightly in his hand, the blade flashed for a moment, and then transformed!
He now held a keyblade! Like his katana, it was long and black, and the second blade at the end was in the shape of a small slim scythe. He smiled broadly at the creature.
Kayne slashed the creature! He had moved so fast it was as if he teleported, and swung his blade! His keyblade met the creatures six times before the creature could even realize what had happened. This time, the attack was successful, the creatures keyblade snapped in two.
"Wind Razor!" Kayne called out, slashing his blade down on the creature, leaving a deep gash in its armor, followed by a strong gust that blew it back a short distance. Reaching into his robe, he pulled out three small daggers. Tossing all three at once, they stuck to the creatures hard shell.
Without flinching, Sukram called his keyblade back and charged back for Kayne, who blocked his blade, matching his strength, but the look on his face meant he couldn't match its endurance.
Thats when everything fell apart for it.
"Kyuukyoku Gensou!" Septero called on the absolute last of his energy reserves to imbue his blade with life-stream one more time. He had snuck up behind the creature and plunged his blade into its back and through its chest and ripped back out again, a small hole being punched in its armor in the space between the three daggers! The creatures strength failed, and Kayne forced its weapon away from him without creating more distance.
"Ultima!" Vecks called out. A surge of energy fluxed from his staff and into Kayne's keyblade, magically enhancing it greatly. Then a voice called out right after it.
"Barrier!" Aurie cried. This was no ordinary barrier however. She put her all into the spell, a split second after Ultima had been cast. The spell was strong enough to defend against even a first class wizard's Ultima, and with the spell cast inside the barrier, it had no where to go, focusing the damage into pin-point area instead of are of effect.
The Ball of light that now held an ultima and a rather unhappy chimera surged with bright light so intense that everything went blank for several moments before dying down. The barrier faded and a surge of light escaped, sending up a dust cloud.
When it had cleared, Kayne was still standing, but a few paces back and leaned on his keyblade like a cain.
The creature still stood.
However, it wasn't moving. A faint cracking sound was heard, and then several clangs! The armor fell to the ground, leaving behind something humanoid in shape, and of a size that would be considered extreamly physially fit, but little more beyond tall. The creature looked just like a man, except for the fact that it was silver, but even this was not so, it was more like a silver suit had been grafted to someones skin.
Then, its mask cracked! The mask crackled, and then splintered apart, falling to ground in pieces, as if it had been made of stone. The face was familiar, but really only one person recognized it.
"Markus." Kayne said. Markus stood there, staring into space, his eyes open, but his mind unconcious. Lyxwal swooped down in front of him.
"It seems I must make a tactical retreat, but know I will be back!" Lyxwal yelled out the cliched curses, and then conjured a portal away from where they were.
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Several Days Later
After the battle, it is always the healers who save the day. Aurie had used up a lot of her power with the intense barrier, but still managed to pull everyone through with flying colors.
"So Kayne, I thought you were leaving us forever! What, did you change your mind or something?" Vecks teased him. Kayne simply chuckled at this remark.
"Nope, I lied. I have been training for the last ten years! When I finally finished, I came straight here, my master told me you'd be here, and he was right!" He said, taking a long drink of Sake from his bottomless flask.
"Ten years!?" Everyone shouted at the same time.
"Yee-up! Special training dojo! Time passes a lot slower there then the rest of the universe. My master Glenn's training even awoke my memories!" He said cheerfuly. He offered Septero a drink, but he refused, so Kayne just drank some more.
"Wow!" Aurie commented. "But, what do you think happened to Markus? You told us the whole story, why is he still in the dark, and you aren't anymore." She questioned. Kayne simply shrugged, and drank some more Sake.
The group finished there meal, replaced the power cells in the ship, and then took off. They had to find out where they were first, since they hadn't come here on there own, but they really hoped it wasn't as far as they thought it was.
"Ahhh, it's good to be home!"
Ok everybody! New chapter for you all to enjoy! Mostly battle heavy, and I don't think I explained everything, so if I happened to miss something, let me know.
Good Chapter!
One thing though,
- stop making up new spells for Aurie, and use the ones she already has, kay? I mean I count three new ones from this chapter alone.
Well, yeah, that was kind of the point. I got tired of putting her on defence!
As if anyone uses their powers anyway.
Well, I won't add anymore, but it would be more then a bit of a hassle to go back and change the chapter now.
That, and other then ice, I honestly can't think of the other offencive attacks at the moment. Sorry.
How long will it be till you get your next chapter in, Sak?
I come back January 6th so take your time.
:D
OH YEAH! Now I remember!
Sorry, I completley forgot about them!
I feel remarkably silly.
I can just go change Holy Shock to White Thunder, it would probably be the same concept.
Holy Shock sounds more corny too.
>_>