Readers I present to you...Zabel's attack part 2. Enjoy!
7
I sighed as I played the events of my perfect day over in my head. First, I was locked inside a truck filled with zombies, I won a free flight into a pole via Morrigan's boot leather express, and now I was watching as a zombie-like mob slowly made their advance towards us.
"I'm open to suggestions," I said immediately.
"I don't know," Morrigan responded. "As strong as I may be, I won't last against all of them."
"It's strange," said Talbain. "Zabel couldn't do this before."
"Maybe he improved in his powers," Morrigan said.
Talbain shook his head.
"Somehow, I don't think so. Right now, it'll be best that we find Zabel and put a stop to this."
Just then, I noticed that the guitar music had stopped. At first I thought that maybe he could still be in the stadium, but I was reminded of his disappearance in the truck.
"Any idea where we should start?" I asked.
Before Talbain could answer my question, the air was filled with an unearthly cackling. All three of us looked upwards and saw someone…or something standing on the top of the stadium.
"Is that Zabel?"
His appearance had changed. His skin was now blue from what I could tell and his abdominal area wasn't all there.
"Welcome mates! So'ry yo'v missed the conce't," he yelled. "But yo' can still listen to me new song at the afta pa'ty!"
Remembering what had happened earlier, I covered my ears just as Zabel began his guitar solo. Around that time, I noticed the zombie-ish mob quickening in their pace towards us.
"Oh crap!"
"Daisuke, do you know martial arts?" Talbain asked suddenly. I stared at him quizzically. "I've seen how you moved back when the Cerberus attacked."
I tried to remember, thinking up what I could tell him. I had to think fast because of the approaching mob.
"I studied kyokushin when I was eight," I quickly said. "Why?"
"Because you and I are going to cover Morrigan unless you feel that you can handle Zabel."
I grimaced at the comment. After seeing Zabel's new appearance, I figured that he was something far from human.
"I'll take my chances with the mob," I said.
Talbain smirked.
"I knew you'd see it that way," he said, pushing back on his glasses. "Morrigan is the only one who can reach him right now anyway. Now then, let's begin."
As soon as he said that, some man charged at him from a nearby gift shop. In the blink of an eye, Talbain delivered a kick to the man's face. It happened so fast that I almost missed it and from the looks of it, the man didn't even see it coming for he crashed quickly into the ground. I then noticed someone running at me from behind. I managed to dodge the weapon that he swung at me ducking and felt a small breeze as it whizzed over my head. When I turned around to face him I saw that he was armed with a lead pipe. Before he got a chance to hit me, I delivered a kick to his chest, knocking him to the ground. He didn't get up again. Another guy around my age charged at me and threw a punch when he was near enough. I merely stepped to the side and grabbed his arm then flipped him over my shoulder. An even bigger man caught me in a surprise bear hug. I was able to move my leg behind him before he lifted me off the ground and pushed back with my upper body. As he began to fall, his hold around me loosened and I was able to twist my body around and drill my fist into his stomach. The man released me and backed away doubling over. Seeing that he wasn't going down I jumped and sent a kick to the side of his head, slamming him into the ground. However, I didn't see another teen behind me. By the time I had noticed him, he was already bringing the steel object that I figured was a knife, down from over his head. Suddenly, Talbain appeared to my aid and hit the teen with some attack that I didn't even see. I was amazed by the power of it for it sent the teen spiraling a few yards.
"Morrigan, go now!" he yelled.
I looked towards Morrigan who had already reverted to her succubus form and watched as her wings dispersed into bats. They fluttered around her hips and then took form and solidified into two miniature jetpacks. An inferno erupted from the both of them and she rocketed into the sky and towards the stadium where Zabel was waiting. I felt Talbain press his hand on my shoulder.
"We should follow," he said.
Fighting through the mob to get to the stadium was a bit tiring. After closing the doors, we had locked them with the nearby bars, almost completely sealing ourselves inside. Tiredly, I placed the last bar over the last door in the stadium. Just as I took a step back and sighed, the people outside began pounding on the door. This startled me, but I kind of relaxed knowing that it would be hard to bust through steel doors anyway. I stared hard at the door. This seems pretty familiar.
Night of the Living Dead. I guess hanging out with Rikku does pay off.
Suddenly, a hand latched onto my shoulder and I jerked in surprise. I slowly turned my head towards where the hand was coming from and saw Talbain giving me a stern look.
"Let's go," he said stoically.
"Don't do that!" I retorted.
I grimaced as I watched a smirk appear on his face.
"I understand if you're afraid. You can stay right here while Morrigan and I fight Zabel."
I stared at him for a moment then brushed his hand from my shoulder and turned to him, shaking my head.
"I won't forgive him for what he did to my friends."
With that I walked passed him and started for the main area of the stadium. When Talbain and I got there, we were expecting to find Zabel fighting with Morrigan but we didn't see either of them. Instead we got nothing but silence. Before I could ask "what happened to them", something soared through the air and crashed through the drums that were set on the stage. Morrigan hovered down and landed gently in front of the stage. As Talbain and I drew closer, some kind of zombie rose from the debris. Its skin was blue and its face had decayed so much that it looked like a skull with blue skin and red eyes. I was disgusted by the apparent mouth that was in place of its stomach. The leather pant were torn, but as soon as I saw the union jack that was still intact on the right thigh I instantly recognized who he was.
"Do you give up now Zabel?" Morrigan asked.
The thing addressed as Zabel cast a glare at Morrigan then at Talbain and I as we made halfway down the stairs leading to them.
"Three agains' one ain't fair mates!" he yelled un-humanly as he picked up his guitar and jumped up. "Le Marta!"
Suddenly, a six foot tall lavender speaker rose up behind him. The oddest thing about it was the pair of eyes that were on top of it. Talbain stopped running and so did I. he looked back at me with an urgent look in his eyes.
"Daisuke, Get down!" he yelled.
"Let's Rock boys and gals!" Zabel yelled then strung his guitar.
I lay prone with my head covered on the midway platform as I felt a powerful gust hit me. I heard Talbain yell above me. When I looked back, I saw him crashing through the wall in the back of the stadium. After a moment, the gust died down and I looked up in awe at the destruction. One section of the stadium actually caved in, craters were formed where benches once were. I looked back and saw numerous large holes where the exit doors once stood. I heard a disgusting chuckle from Zabel.
"Must've hit me own slaves," he said with what looked like a grin. "Aw well, if any of 'em got killed, I can always get new ones."
I stood up and saw Morrigan lifting herself off the ground. She must've sensed the fore-coming danger as well. I heard some grunts and saw debris movement behind me and looked to see Talbain stepping over a large rock and back into the stadium.
"Well that's certainly a new trick," Talbain said, dusting himself off.
"Are there any others you like to show us?" asked Morrigan.
I looked at her and saw that devilish smile on her face again. It was evident that she was enjoying herself.
Before I picked myself off the ground I picked up a broken pole, stood up and stared at Zabel. I grimaced when his attention shifted towards me and grinned darkly.
"Well now this is interestin'," he said.
He pulled one of the strings on the end of his guitar as if it were a chainsaw. That's when I realized that his guitar was actually a chainsaw in the shape of one and before I knew it, he lunged at me with it over his head. Their wasn't any time for me to react and so I suspected the worst, but just then I saw the afterimage of Morrigan planting her foot onto the side of Zabel's head, sending him flying sideways. I smiled at her as she landed gently in front of me then sighed in relief.
"Nice save."
She looked at me and winked then we both turned our attention to Zabel. I heard him mumble a few obscenities as he got back to his feet.
"Yo' blokes really gon' and done it now!"
He pointed at Morrigan then She and I noticed a huge shadow at our feet. Morrigan looked up curiously while I watched in horror as some giant purple ball swallowed her and stared incredulously as I processed what just happened.
"That thing ate Morrigan!"
"Well that's one problem out the way," said Zabel.
I glared at him. "And now…"
He trailed off and we saw something bright from the corner of our eyes. We both looked up and saw fire in the form of dragons. I watched as the dragons sped towards Zabel. He narrowly dodged them and they hit the ground then exploded.
"Daisuke, you try and figure out how to get Morrigan out of that thing!" Talbain shouted as he ran down the rows of benches towards Zabel. I looked to my left and saw that the giant ball had shrunk down to the size of a basketball and was now bouncing down the stairs.
"What the-- You little bastard, get back here," I yelled as I took off after it.
Now I wasn't paying any attention to how Talbain was fairing against Zabel in his human form. After seeing him earlier, I was sure that he was doing fine. I however wasn't doing so hot. The little ball that just had my friend for a snack was pretty hard to catch. I dove for it when I thought I had it, but it slipped through my hands. As I watched it bounce away, it stopped and slowly spun around. I noticed the ridiculous smile on its face. Is it laughing at me? It then turned around and continued its bouncing away. I glanced over to my right and noticed a nice perfect sized rock and chuckled evilly as I picked it up. I stood up quietly and smiled devilishly as I tossed the rock in my hand.
He's not gonna know what hit him.
I pitched the rock as hard as I could and nailed the creature dead on. I watched for a few seconds and saw that it wasn't moving.
Did I kill it?
I walked towards the ball thing and poked at it with my foot. I realized that I didn't kill it and only knocked it out, then picked it up.
"Hey wake up!" I yelled at it. "Cough up my friend!"
The thing merely blinked at me, then stuck out its tongue.
"What the—I said cough her up dammit!"
I inserted my fingers into the ball's lips and tried prying the mouth open. That plan was stopped short when it tried to bite me.
"So that's how you wanna play!"
I turned the ball face down and began shaking it violently. My plan was to make it throw her up and if that didn't work, I could always try carving it open like a Christmas turkey. I smirked as I watched Morrigan slowly sliding out the thing's mouth. She was covered in green goop so she it the ground with a juicy plop. Tossing the ball aside somewhere I went to her side.
"Hey Morrigan are you okay?"
I got a groan as a reply. I then held up three fingers to her face.
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Nine?"
I stared at the fingers incredulously.
Well, at least she's okay.
She sat up holding her head.
"Ow," she said. "What happened? And why am I green and sticky?"
That's when Morrigan and I heard some kind of explosion. We both looked up and saw Talbain sliding our way on his back. I looked towards Zabel who was lying on his back as well, but he was smoldering. I guess Zabel isn't the only one who learned new tricks. He slowly sat up and glared at Talbain.
"Yo' mangy mutt!" he said. "You broke me ax!"
He jumped back onto his feet.
"You'll pay for this!"
I noticed him sinking into the ground and realized that he was escaping. I got up to try and stop him.
"N-no, let him go!" Talbain said, causing me to stop. I looked at him to protest. "He'll be back and besides, shouldn't those people be coming around soon?"
I hung my head.
"Yeah…" I said softly, letting my protest die in my throat.
Ten minutes later, the grounds were covered with police officers and paramedics. I found myself sitting on the back of an ambulance truck letting one of the paramedics treat the long cut that was just above my left eye. I winced as she began rubbing it with alcohol. She finished off by patching it up.
"You're one of the lucky ones," she said. "Take care yourself."
Just as she walked away, Jun walked towards me. I smiled ruefully at her.
"So much for our date huh?"
"Well, it wasn't all bad," she said, smiling at me. "Too bad I don't remember much of the concert. It must've been crazy,"
I stared at her in disbelief. She doesn't remember?
"What do you remember?" I asked.
"Everything up until where Rikku and I went with Mr. Talbain," she replied. She looked towards the stadium. "Whatever happened must've been terrible."
"There was an explosion," I said. "We were lucky that no one was seriously injured."
She stared at me emotionlessly at first then smirked.
"Liar," she said, catching me off guard.
How did she know? Was it really that obvious? I grimaced now knowing that I was going to have to spill the beans to her about Morrigan being a succubus and Talbain being a werewolf and Zabel/Lord Raptor being a zombie trying to take over the town. I was surprised at what Jun said next.
"Usually, you never lie unless you have a real good reason to," she said. "I guess I'll let you go this time, but please tell me what really happened later okay?"
I gave her a sheepish smile.
Sure Jun, I'll tell you everything, someday.
We both heard a car horn and looked to see a red car waiting nearby.
"That's my mom, I'll see you later Daisuke," Jun said sweetly, then kissed my forehead.
I watched her as she left and remembered how much I loved her. I remember telling her that in middle school and we did go out for a while. It was at the beginning of high school was when we decided to just be friends. The love I have for her now is more like a love between siblings, maybe even deeper. I stopped thinking about it in fear of giving myself a headache thinking about it. I looked up and saw Morrigan approaching me. Thankfully, she had returned to her human for and had somehow gotten that strange goop off of her.
"It looks like the police bought that story that Kreutz gave them," she said.
"That's good to hear," I said as I watched her take a seat next to me. "So how did Rikku take it?"
"I couldn't tell you. He apologized on how the date turned out and if I didn't stop him I was afraid that he might cry."
I rolled my eyes. That's Rikku for you.
"So, how'd it go for you?"
"Unfortunately, Jun saw right through me," I sighed. "Don't worry she didn't demand the truth from me."
"Well, that's alright I guess," Morrigan replied. "We'll have to tell her eventually."
I silently agreed.
"And besides, I actually had fun tonight,"
I smirked at her.
That's not surprising.
"Too bad I couldn't get what I really wanted tonight though," she said, looking towards the night sky.
I raised an eyebrow at her as she then placed her head on my shoulder. What in the world is she talking about?
"I really…wanted…to be with you," she said softly.
I looked away from her after this little revelation. She said that so softly that I almost didn't catch it, although I wished that I hadn't. I couldn't tell whether she was just teasing or she was really serious.
"Hey Morrigan?" I said softly.
She didn't respond. At first I thought she was ignoring me, but then I heard steady breaths coming from her and realized that she had fallen asleep. I guess what went on tonight really wore her out. I couldn't believe she left me hanging like that.
"How unfair." I muttered.
The next day at school went on pretty normal enough. I thought it was a little funny on how no one who was at the concert could remember what happened. I thought it was funnier when some people tried to make up what went on last night. Alas, I am once again cursed with the truth. Things were pretty normal between me and my friends even thought I couldn't stop thinking about what Morrigan said before she drifted off to sleep. Thankfully, I didn't have practice after school that day and resolved to ask her about it. Halfway, on our walk home together, I decided it was now or never.
"Hey Morrigan, I was wondering… about last night," I reluctantly started. I stopped to look into her eyes only to find that she had completely vanished on me and I began to panic. My panic soon turned into relief once I found her standing a few feet behind me. The only odd thing was that a younger girl in a red skirt and white t-shirt had wrapped her arms around her waist, stopping her completely. I approached them to see what was going on. As I drew closer I saw that the girl had pink hair like Jun's except that it was shorter and lighter.
"I found you…big sister,"
My eyes widened. Did she just say what I think she said? I looked up at Morrigan, who had dropped her school bag and had the girl in her arms.
"Who is she?" I asked.
Morrigan's gaze shifted from the girl and onto me. The smile was different, like that smile of true happiness she wore as she slept last night—not that I was paying any attention of course.
"Daisuke…this is Lilith," she said. "She's my younger sister."
I stared at her for a moment. After hearing her say that, I muttered the first thing that came to my mind around that time.
"Aw…crap."
Now I know that Lilith is actually a part of Morrigan's soul, but it is implied that Lilith is Morrigan's younger sister and I'm basing this storyline from that. Well, now that this chapter is finished, do you think you know what's going to happen next?
