Tag, You're DEADE
Alexa was led down a series of twisting, white washed hallways. An overwhelming sense of dread began well up within her, and she shivered as they descended several flights of stairs. She followed the witch out of the stairwell and into a long passage, at the end of which stood a plain white door. Marcus was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, nodding off on the verge of sleep as Raena approached. He blinked sleepily at her, making no effort to quiet his yawn.
"Everything's good to go."
Raena scowled, ignoring the Dark Weapon. Marcus winked at Alexa, pulling the door open and gesturing for her to enter. But she couldn't move, shivering in place as fear and hopelessness paralyzed her. Raena gave a tired sigh, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry dear, it's really quite friendly." She thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, in that emotionless way that machines are."
A machine? The witch patted her on the head.
"Don't get too down on yourself. You and your friends made a valiant, if pointless, effort to stop me." Raena sneered, forcing a little cry from Alexa's lips as she took firm hold of her short scarlet hair. "Sadly, the process should be quite painless if you don't resist. Oh well."
With that Raena shoved Alexa hard, sending her staggering into the dark room. The Demon Sword cried out, turning to run back into the hall, but the door was already closed. She pounded against it with her fists, but the nondescript barrier would not budge.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to stop shaking. Get a hold of yourself! What would Roland think if he saw you like this, trembling in the dark like a lost kitten! You're a Weapon Alexa, time to start acting like one!
With a shuddering breath she opened her eyes and turned around. There was a plain wooden chair sitting in the circle of light cast by a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. She approached the chair cautiously, trying to see what lay behind the reach of the light, but the dark was impenetrable. Cautiously she settled into the chair, shifting uncomfortably as her mind raced to come to a plan. Maybe I can attack it when it doesn't expect it. Distract it long enough for me to find a way out.
Something in the darkness shifted. Alexa froze, knowing that her adversary stood just beyond the threshold of light and dark. She looked over her shoulder to see that no one was behind her, but when she turned forwards again she found she was no longer alone in the light.
It had a humanoid, vaguely masculine form. It wore no clothes, but it's entire body was featureless, smooth and nondescript, reminding her of the plastic mannequins that clothes were displayed on in store windows. It looked almost harmless, save for the fact that its toes and fingers tapered into pointed claws. Its entire body was a single solid shade of deep purple, almost black. Alexa sat frozen in her chair, unable to carry out the attack she had just envisioned. It loomed over her, arms limp at its sides. She found her voice.
"What are you?"
There was a low humming noise, like the sound of a printer warming up before use, and the construct spoke in a genderless computerized monotone.
"Operating System: DEADE." It spoke in a halting manner, overemphasizing individual syllables. "Next query."
It wants me to ask a question? Alexa eyed the construct suspiciously. Well, it can't hurt.
"What does DEADE mean? Is it an acronym?" There was a whirring noise as the machine processed her question.
"Operating System: DEADE, disambiguation..." A few more seconds of whirring. She wondered where it spoke from, since it had no visible mouth. "D-E-A-D-E: Density Enhanced Arcane Doom Engine." Alexa swallowed hard. That doesn't sound good.
"Parameters set." It took a step towards her, and as much as she wanted to run she found she couldn't move from the chair. "Initiating Adaptive Resonance Algorithm."
"Wait!" She cried, holding up a hand for the machine to stop. It complied. It's worth a shot. "Cancel Adaptive Resonance Algorithm!" It was the best she could muster, commanding the thing to stop in its own jargon. For a moment it seemed to hesitate, whirring quietly.
"Request denied."
It reached a clawed hand out to her, her eyes widening with fear as it's pointed index finger gently poked her forehead.
"Establishing uplink." The whirring sound returned, and Alexa's vision began to blur. A feeling of lightheadedness quickly overcame the Demon Sword, her breathing becoming shallow as the machine's wavelength brushed against her own. It has a soul?
"Uplink established." Alexa sunk into semi-consciousness, DEADE's voice resounding within her skull.
"Begin."
Alexa shot upright, breathing hard. What happened? Where's DEADE? Stumbling slightly, she stood, looking around. She found herself in a sunbathed grove, its perimeter surrounded by lush trees and brush. Vibrant green grass covered the ground, and in the middle of the grove was a large pond of clear blue water.
The Demon Sword didn't immediately know where she was, but she felt safe. It's beautiful here. The surface of the pond rippled, but Alexa was too busy taking in her surroundings to notice. Is this my soulscape? She turned to look at the pond, and frowned. Far from the shore, at the center of the pond, was a smudge. It was as if someone had blotted ink onto its surface.
But the ink blot grew, quickly covering the entire pond. Her chest tightened as she rushed to the shore. What's happening? Slowly a shape began to emerge from the pond's center. She gasped as DEADE rose from the water, standing stark still in the inky pool.
"Uplink: Successful. Soulscape access granted."
DEADE waded through the inky water to the shore, Alexa staggering backwards as it approached, the grass around its feet wilting as it made landfall. "Sensors identify recipient wavelength pattern as: Hostile. Initiate wavelength repression routines."
Alexa growled as she changed her forearm into a blade. "Repress this!" I have to win. If I can't defend my own soul against it, how will we ever be able to beat it on the outside? She pushed off the ground, sprinting at it with her blade raised over her head, but it made no move to avoid the blow and Alexa sunk her blade into its shoulder.
They stood for a moment in this manner, and Alexa blinked. I don't understand, why didn't it try to dodge? It whirred for a moment.
"Activate countermeasures."
DEADE reached up, encircling her throat with its clawed hand and lifting her off her feet. Alexa freed her blade from its shoulder as she struggled against its grip but before she could begin to resist the construct threw her back, sending her tumbling painfully over the grass. She rose to her feet, coughing, in time to see that her attack had left no mark on DEADE's strange body. Damn. She took a moment to catch her breath before coming to a realization. We're in my soul! To some extent I control what's possible here. Taking a moment to even her breathing, she closed her eyes in concentration. Time for a little more firepower.
A grin spread across her face as her other forearm became a sword blade.
"You forgot that this is my soul, so I get home field advantage!"
She charged at the machine, springing at it and slashing with both arms. Her smile widened and she pressed her attack when she saw that it was now actively avoiding and deflecting her blows. Not so confident now are you?
It struck her stomach with an open palm, sending her skidding backwards. Alexa shuddered as two more sword blades emerged from her body, each running along one of her shins. She ran at it again, now using slicing kicks in combination with slashes from her arms. DEADE's attacks seemed effortless as it caught one of her shin blades in its forearm and hit her in the center of her chest with a palm strike, once again sending her skidding back.
Alexa coughed, cursing under her breath. I'm not done yet! She hissed as small blades sprouted from her knees and elbows. Again she charged the construct, slashing furiously with the various blades protruding from her body, and again it caught her in the stomach with a palm attack. But this time she was ready for it, sprouting blades from her heels to dig into the ground and keep her from skidding away as she swiped an arm blade across its chest and spun her back to face the machine.
"Get out of my soul!" A dozen blades erupted from her back, skewering the construct like a limp doll and spilling its nameless fluids onto the ground at their feet. They stood tangled in this manner for a moment before she stepped away, her blades disappearing and leaving DEADE's broken frame to stand on its own, twisted and bleeding.
A smile crept onto her face as color and vitality returned to the wilted grass around the invader's feet. That wasn't so bad. Then came that dreadful whirring, and the machine spoke.
"Countermeasures... Activated."
Instantly all the plant life in the grove wilted, the pond dried into a cracked husk and the blue sky faded into a murky red. The force of DEADE's wavelength forced Alexa to her knees, hands clamped over her ears in a desperate effort to block out the terrible screeching that filled the air as the machine's injuries disappeared.
"Wavelength repression operating at target frequencies. Resonance stabilizing." Alexa cringed as it took a step towards her, its stomach churning wavelength beating down on her like a merciless rain.
"Please... stop." Alexa whispered, trembling. She was exhausted, mind, body, and soul. Unconsciousness beckoned, and she struggled weakly against its embrace, her determination sputtering like some beleaguered candle. DEADE loomed over her crumpled form, observing, whirring quietly. A menacing, inky silhouette against a bloody sky. Faceless, mechanical, and unfeeling, like some terrible brooding god. Given shape in the squirming brain of a witch and given life in some shadowy foundry, this was the enemy.
This was DEADE.
Raena spoke sternly to Rafael and Marcus.
"Now that the procedure is complete, Lila and I will take DEADE back to the keep." She held out the cloth wrapped Eye of Vengeance to the Chainswordsman. "I will return for the Eye once DEADE has been properly stored. Can I count on you two to defend it until our return?"
Rafael nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Our vigilance shall be unmatched!"
"I'll leave it to you then." Raena rolled her eyes, giving Marcus a cold look as he cleared his throat to speak. "What is it?"
He shifted uncomfortably under the witch's stare. The chainsword might've been insane, but the Raven Lady's gaze was enough to send chills up even his spine.
"What do you want done with the Weapon?"
She waved off his question, turning to go. "We have no more use for her. Do what you like."
Marcus grinned, but Rafael called out to the witch as she began to walk down the hall away from them.
"Lady Raena, if you don't mind me asking, have you heard from the Knight recently?" The witch gave him a curious look. "He disappeared shortly after we captured the Weapon. Do you know where he's been?"
"At the keep. Apparently he was wounded by a Shibusen assassin." Rafael blanched, even Marcus seemed unsettled.
"What? How is that possible?"
"Don't be so naive." She bowed her head, the brim of her hat hiding her face from sight. "The Knight is strong, but he is by no means invincible."
Her robe roiled around her like an angry sea, a chuckle dancing across the walls as she slipped inexplicably out of sight.
"A reality that I fear escapes him."
Isabelle found some twisted satisfaction in watching the Arachnophobia foot soldier squirm at the other end of her axe, Jackson's blade buried somewhere in the masked man's guts. With a quick kick to his chest she pulled Jackson free, leaving the mortally wounded man to flounder in the snow while she swept the legs out from another, dropping another maimed body onto the quickly reddening powder. Her Weapon's shouted advice and warnings went unheard as she sunk deeper into her stupor, each move dictated only by violent instinct as she carved a path of carnage across the icy battlefield.
The Shibusen landing force had marched inland almost unopposed upon disembarking from their transports, Sid's column of Shibusen operatives and DWMA students weaving lazily through the hilly landscape while Stein's strike team made a beeline for the magnetic field at the heart of the Alaskan island. Arachnophobia's ambush, while fully anticipated, had been fierce and decisive. With the column shattered Shibusen's forces found themselves in disarray, fighting scattered skirmishes across the snowy landscape.
Chris and Kyla had been with her earlier, but Isabelle had lost track of them as the fighting intensified. Friendly faces became rarer and rarer as the Axe Meister continued her bloody march through the snow in search of enemies.
Luckily for her, a lone teenage girl made a pretty inviting target for marauding bands of Arachnophobia soldiers.
Another masked fighter crumpled before her, missing an arm and leg, before his body vanished and left a faintly glowing red orb in its wake. The severed limbs however, remained, adding two more gory reminders of her prowess in the snow. She stood for a moment, panting, trying to gain her bearings in the unfamiliar landscape when she spied a stone tower peeking over a nearby hill. The problem was, the tower was moving.
Eyes narrowing she adjusted her grip on Jackson, starting up the hill in a crouch. There had been rumors that Arachnophobia had deployed golems created and operated by mercenary enchanters, but Isabelle hadn't expected to come face to face with one of the hulking constructs. To any rational person facing a golem alone was folly, but Isabelle was in a less than rational state.
At the crest of the hill the golem came into full view. Its cylindrical body was supported by two comically short legs, arms thicker than redwood trees dragging stone knuckles through the snow. Its windswept face hung almost thirty feet in the air, the twisted caricature of a laughing skull, but the earthen groan of its straining limbs was the only noise forthcoming. The golem was accompanied by an entourage of four Arachnophobia footmen in tight formation, one in front, in back, and one on each side. It was the ideal layout for defending the golem against crippling attacks to its diminutive legs, the most logical tactic for downing the formidable machine.
But again, logical actions were not among Isabelle's virtues when violence was upon her.
Silhouetted against the blazing northern sun, Isabelle hefted Jackson over her head and bellowed a roar of challenge to the lumbering golem. Her bun had come apart at some forgotten moment in the fighting, so her shoulder length blonde hair flowed freely on a breeze that smelt of blood and sweat. Her amber eyes blazed with unbridled anger, the blood that wept freely from a cut on her forehead completing her fierce visage. She seemed completely at home amongst the carnage, the very avatar of savagery.
The golem ground to a halt, facing its challenger with hands clenched into fists the size of Volkswagen Beetles while its escorts readied their weapons. But it was too late, for Isabelle was already airborne with Jackson drawn back to strike.
"Fimbulvinter!" Weapon and Meister cried out in unison, the golem sending a punch rocketing towards them in vain as Jackson's empowered blade split the tempered stone. Its escorts could only stand aghast as their charge crumbled under the single sundering blow, ice and shattered stone raining down about their heads as the golem collapsed into an amorphous heap.
Isabelle tried to free Jackson from the rubble as the vengeful soldiers approached, but he was thoroughly embedded in an ice sheathed chunk of golem giblet. So she turned and sucker punched the nearest soldier in the gut, doubling him over in time to crack his mask with a knee to the face. The first soldier crumpled with blood seeping from the cracks in his face plate as another leapt at Isabelle with a machete only to have his shoulder painfully dislocated in a bloodied black blur. The third hesitated just long enough for her to take firm hold of a sizable chunk of golem wreckage and whip it across his face, shattering his mask and spraying blood across the snow. She raised the rock over her to strike again but his last unhurt companion swept in from the side and tackled her to the ground. His hands groped at her throat to no avail as she kneed him in the stomach and forced him onto his back, straddling his chest as her partner returned to human form and engaged the other three wounded footmen with one of his half moon axe blades running along his forearm.
The soldier beneath Isabelle squirmed in vain as she pulled away his spider mask, bloodying his nose with the first punch. Her aimless, withering anger found expression in her fists as they became slick with that familiar red fluid, the fleshy resistance that met her knuckles only goading more violence from her tired limbs. Choked cries for mercy became pained gurgles and then silence, but it wasn't until Jackson pulled his Meister off the corpse that peace once again found the snowy grotto.
When clarity returned to Isabelle's thoughts she found herself pinned against the icy ground with Jackson straddling her waist, fear evident as he breathed words of comfort.
"That's enough Isabelle, that's enough."
Blood caked her face and hands, stiffening fingers already numb from the cold as she tried to lever herself upright. But Jackson wouldn't let her budge.
"Let me up, we have to go help..." She muttered weakly, her strength gone with her anger, leaving her feeling hollow and spent.
"No." Isabelle blinked at his forceful tone, searching his face for an explanation. She huffed, trying again to sit upright to no avail as Jackson took hold of her shoulders and held her firmly against the snow.
"What's your problem Jackson!" She tried to sound indignant, with little effect.
"What's my problem?" He spat with a frustrated look. "What were you doing out there Isabelle?" His Meister averted her amber eyes as the scolding continued. "Going off alone in the middle of the battle? Going after a golem, alone! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" She scowled up at him. "You can't keep doing this, you're out of control-!"
The Demon Axe's eyes widened in abject terror as she silenced him with a kiss, darting up to find his lips with her's before another word could escape them. Jackson's stomach did a somersault, his face reddening with heat despite the biting cold. He became acutely aware of the precious few inches that separated their bodies, the way her golden hair fanned out in the snow, and the numbing warmth that blurred the line between his mouth and her's.
A full three seconds passed in this manner before Jackson broke the kiss, scrambling desperately backwards as if he half expected Isabelle to unhinge her jaw and swallow him whole like a thirty foot long anaconda. Instead Isabelle stood, brushing the snow from her backside with little ceremony and looking skyward at the smokey Shinigami skull that floated on the breeze.
"There's the retreat signal. We should get back to the boats." Her professional demeanor had returned, and when her eyes settled on Jackson he couldn't find even the slightest trace of a blush on her cheeks. "You coming?"
"What?" He asked, dumbfounded. Jackson couldn't believe it. She was literally acting like nothing had happened.
There was a hint of annoyance in her retort. "Did I stutter?"
Jackson opened his mouth to argue, but her cold stare quenched his will to fight. He rose with a resigned sigh.
"I'm coming."
Heat suffocated the desert like some heavy wool blanket, unwelcome weight on Roland's shoulders as the Strider jaunted across gently undulating dunes, its talons leaving Y shaped imprints in the powder behind them. The swordsman squinted at the gleaming white rectangle that poked into sight while the Strider twisted its articulated neck to face it, the rhythmic beat of its feet against the sand pausing as it adjusted its course slightly. The golem slowed to a smooth stop, Roland craning his head back to scrutinize the imposing building.
The Ivory Tower Hotel's modest six stories were exaggerated by the emptiness of the surrounding landscape. A low cream colored wall encircled a sun stained plaza with a decrepit and empty fountain, the faces of its little winged cherubs worn smooth by the desert's windy lash. Once well kept hedges were now withered fences of bramble, neglected by tenders long absent. Spiraling mosaic patterns wreathed the tower's grand entrance of gilded glass, missing tiles rendering whatever narrative the mural told incomplete. The building itself had a sort of battered elegance, the scarred edifices and balconies suggested that it had once been a jewel of the desert, an oasis, a paradise.
A paradise lost. The paved road that ran north and south from the rusted iron gate disappeared into the sand not a hundred feet from its origin, leaving the hotel an island with its bridges to the land beyond the desert sea buried under that same devouring golden powder.
The circumstances that had led him there seemed beyond coincidence, they practically stunk of intervention. He assumed that the Knight was somehow responsible, but the presence of Castle Prometheus cast doubt on even that. To have set that up, he would've had to move the castle. Or have built it there over night.
But there was no time for pondering now, for movement in one of the top floor windows was accompanied by a familiar spatter of scarlet. It was only there for a second but Roland seen what he needed. Urging his mount forward the golem planted a three toed talon atop the wall and levered itself over the decorative barricade, paying no mind to the open gate only a few feet away. The swordsman halted the Strider some distance away from entrance as he considered with the possibility of guards. Fighting his way though six floors of guards unarmed didn't seem like a very logical thing to do, but then again the entire misadventure across the desert had been rather unintelligent in the first place. At this point, Roland was more than willing to redeem himself with a little out-of-the-box thinking.
The evenly spaced balconies marching up the sides of the hotel offered an interesting possibility of reaching Alexa's room without actually entering the building, but with only the clothes on his back and the water canteen given to him by Abraham scaling the side of the building seemed an impossible feat. Perhaps he could somehow access the ventilation system from an outside duct, or sneak in through a service entrance. Perhaps the Strider could be utilized to create a diversion of some sort, allowing him to slip inside unnoticed. Or perhaps...
"Hey." Roland gave the golem a pat, and it twisted its articulated neck to look back at him. He gestured to the sixth floor window where he thought he'd seen Alexa. "Do you think you could get me up there?"
To the golem it was less a question then a command. Without so much as a squawk the nimble stone bird rushed forward, springing to the overhang just above the hotel entrance with piteously little effort. After taking a moment to consider its next move the Strider crouched and leapt straight up nearly ten feet, catching the edge of a nearby balcony with one of its talons and levering itself onto the cramped ledge. Roland clung desperately to the golem's neck as it scrambled from balcony to balcony in this manner, more than once coming within a hairsbreadth of losing its grip on the derelict platforms.
Despite many close calls, after less than a minute of jaunty climbing the swordsman staggered from the back of the kneeling Strider to steady himself against the railing of Alexa's balcony. The golem received a look that was somewhere between aghast and impressed. "Abraham sure knows how to make a golem."
His compliment ignored by the suddenly passive bird, Roland stole a glance into the room through the sliding glass door. It seemed remarkably well kept in contrast with the hotel's exterior, a plush and luxurious suite if he ever saw one. Seeing no one he eased the door open just enough for him to slip through sideways, eyes roaming for any sign of the guards he expected to burst from unseen crannies at any moment. But the room's only inhabitant was curled into the fetal position on the grandiose bed that dominated the wall opposite the balcony, her short blood red hair standing out against the creamy sheets that were wound tight around her body. He crossed to the bed, shaking Alexa's shoulders and hissing into her ear with barely restrained urgency.
"Wake up Alexa, it's time to go!" But his Weapon barely stirred, pulling the sheets closer and mumbling incoherently under her breath. "Alexa?" Again, no, response.
Roland cursed quietly as he checked the bar of light underneath the door for any sign of disturbance. The fact that his partner was still alive would have to do for now, her apparently comatose condition could be dealt with back at the DWMA. He wrestled the sheets from the Demon Sword's grasp and scooped her limp form into his arms bridal style, nudging the sliding door open with his foot before stepping out onto the balcony where the Strider still waited. Setting Alexa down gently against the wall, he removed his leather belt and buckled it around the base of the Strider's neck to serve as a much needed hand hold. After propping her up in the golem's carved saddle he sat down behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist while his other hand took hold of the Strider's makeshift collar in a death grip.
"All right." He muttered, hugging the golem's body with his legs. "Ground floor please."
It became quickly apparent just how fortunate it was that Alexa was unconscious during their descent. The Strider, taking the path of least resistance, opted for a six story free fall to the courtyard below. The result of this venture was, as one might guess, less than ideal. Though the golem succeeded in landing on its feet the heavy stone talons punched almost two feet into the courtyard's ornately tiled drive way, rooting it in place and fouling its landing. Unable to properly absorb the shock from the impact with its feet immobilized, the Strider gave a single violent convulsion that threw its two passengers from its back as it fell into a crumpled heap. Roland managed to pull Alexa to his chest as his back met worn tile, skidding to a painful stop several feet away from his incapacitated steed.
He lay there admiring the sky between stinging breaths. Well, that could've been worse. Alexa curled up beside him, clutching helplessly at his shirt with her eyes squeezed shut, a troubled look clouding her features. The hairs on the back of his neck bristled as she twisted with a whimper to rest her head above his heart, murmuring for a moment before falling silent. A twinge of guilt played through the valves of his still beating heart. Hold on Alexa, I'm gonna get you out of here.
"My, you are tenacious." Roland was up in a second, crouched protectively over his incapacitated Weapon. Rafael and Marcus stood side by side, framed by the hotel's faded entry. Dried blood stained the shoulder of Rafael's white blazer, and a cloth wrapped bundle hung at his waist. "I must commend your determination, a shame that your journey should end in failure."
In a flash of dark red Marcus disappeared, Rafael leveling his partner at the crouching swordsman. "Come on Raf, let's make this quick!" He flashed a malicious grin from his reflection in the teeth of his chainsword form. "I wanna see what kind of fun we can have with his partner."
Roland rose slowly, glare from the furious sun hiding his eyes behind his glasses. "You're going to regret letting me hear that." He hissed, the knuckles of his clenched hands white.
The weary boy's soul stirred, flowing into his tightening fists as Rafael gave Marcus's ripcord a forceful tug. The Dark Weapon's engine roared to life, Marcus's cackle carrying over the grumbling machine. "Come at me four-eyes! We just brought a chainsaw to a fist fight!"
The swordsman had struck Rafael as an analytical, intelligent person. So his bafflement at Roland's unwavering charge was understandable. Lashing at the ground in front of him he showered Roland with a hail of stone chips, thrusting Marcus through the dust without another moment's hesitation. The rounded tip caught Roland in the shoulder, and he clamped both hands against the flat of the blade to stop Marcus's gnashing teeth from gaining further purchase. But Rafael had all the purchase he needed, and with a demur grin gave Marcus's trigger a forceful squeeze.
Shreds of olive green cloth and blood were thrown against the faded tile of the courtyard as the chainsword's teeth carved greedily at Roland's shoulder, eliciting an unadulterated cry of pain from his chapped lips. He didn't dare let his grip on Marcus slip for fear of loosing his arm to the bladed chain, so with a roar he smashed his wavelength into the Dark Weapon through the palms of his hands.
Marcus's mad laughter quickly became shouted curses at the sting of Roland's wavelength, and when Rafael tried to pull his Weapon back he found that Roland's grip would not be so easily negotiated. With a quick kick to the solar plexus he succeeded in sending Roland staggering back to where his Weapon still lay unconscious.
Roland dropped to one knee and shook Alexa by the shoulders. "Alexa, you need to wake up!" Rafael was approaching now, revving Marcus for ominous effect. "Alexa I need your help!" He stole a look over his shoulder as the chainswordsman closed the distance between them, savoring his seemingly inevitable victory. Roland's blood cooled, his face set with determination. He had not crossed a hundred miles of desert, almost died of dehydration, and scaled the side of a six-story tall abandoned hotel to die now.
"Alexa!" He took firm hold of her shoulders, scowling down at her. "Wake-" Her body went rigid as he bombarded her with his wavelength. "-UP!"
Clear blue eyes snapped open just as Roland scooped his Weapon up and leapt out of Marcus's way as he pulverized the ground where they had just rested. Alexa gasped as if she was taking her first breath in a hundred years, clutching desperately at Roland's bloody shirt as he dodged another attack.
Her eyes quivered at the sight of her Meister's gruesome wound. "Roland, you're-"
"Not now! Transform!"
She obliged, taking her weapon form in his outstretched right hand. He came! Warmth welled up from somewhere within her as their wavelengths brushed against each other without the sting of rejection. He came for me. He cares.
Now with a blade of his own, Roland went on the offensive. They battled back and forth across the courtyard for a few livid seconds but it quickly became obvious that Rafael had the advantage of being rested, while Roland had barely recovered from his journey across the desert. Alexa's heart beat fast as Roland began to falter. No! She tried to buoy his strength with her own, but against Rafael's vicious attacks her embattled Meister continued to lose ground.
"Roland!" She called, her face reflecting in her blade. "Follow my lead!"
The swordsman grunted affirmation, and Alexa's soul rose to meet his. She shivered involuntarily as their wavelengths began to mesh, whimpering as they enveloped one another in a spiritual embrace. A fierce grin played across her face as electricity skittered across her blade. See Roland? See what we can do?
Rafael forced Roland to one knee with a pommel strike, pulling his chainsword back for one final strike.
"Soul Resonance!" Roland and Alexa cried out in unison, the Demon Sword glowing blinding white as Marcus screamed towards them.
"Storm-Blade Cestus!"
Sparks rained down on the scarred tile as Marcus's teeth screeched helplessly across Alexa's new form, Rafael sent reeling back as Roland knocked the Dark Weapon aside and stood.
Alexa's claymore form was nowhere to be seen. Instead Roland's right arm, starting just below the elbow, was completely encased in a large onyx black cestus forged into the smooth shape of a wolf's head. A lining of fur, the same bloody scarlet as Alexa's hair, was visible where Roland's arm disappeared into the hefty gauntlet.
A smile tugged at the corner of Roland's mouth as he rolled his shoulders, testing the weight of Alexa's empowered form. "This, is more like it."
He was at Rafael almost too fast for the chainswordsman to react, blocking Marcus with his cestus before sending a fist into Rafael's gut with a stinging wavelength attack. Without missing a beat he pushed Marcus aside and snapped Rafael's head back with a brutal uppercut, the metal wolf's muzzle connecting with his chin and sending him flying back.
Rafael struggled to his feet, dazed, gently fingering his bruised jaw.
"Roland! What are you doing?" The swordsman looked down to find that one of the wolf cestus's eyes had opened, Alexa's own fierce blue eye twisting in the socket to look at him. "I'm a Demon Sword, not a boxing glove!"
"Umm..." Roland took a moment to examine Alexa's new form, brows furrowed with puzzlement. "Where's your blade?"
"You idiot! It's... well it's right..." Alexa's visible eye darted back and forth for a moment, Roland stifling a chuckle as she glared at him. "Oh shut up! This is new to me too!" The Demon Sword's eyes suddenly seemed to brighten. "Wait, here it is!"
Alexa's wolf jaw hinged open slightly, and with a hiss a silver edged, steely gray blade emerged from the bowels of the cestus. It was almost identical to her normal blade, but longer and broader, and the deep red line that ran down its center was bent into the shape of a lightning bolt midway down the blade. Little ribbons of electricity danced across its surface, filling the air with the occasional crackle and pop. Now it was Alexa's turn to laugh. "Now, that's more like it."
They turned their eyes to Rafael, who stood pale faced and swaying a dozen feet away. "Alexa, I think that package on his belt is the Eye of Vengeance."
"We might salvage this mission yet." He could hear a mischievous grin in her voice. "Remember that paralysis thing we did in the pyramid?"
With no further coaxing he was off at a dead run, keeping low to the ground with Alexa trailing behind him. Rafael sunk into a defensive stance with Marcus braced against his hand, blocking the rising slash that split the tile at their feet and blackened the stone with probing rivulets of electricity. Taking a single quick step back Roland whipped Alexa towards the chainswordsman in a backhanded strike that singed the cuffs of his white sports coat black as energy jumped from Alexa's blade and crawled along Marcus's teeth to his Meister's naked hands. Gritting his teeth against electrical burns forming on his knuckles he drew his Weapon back to strike again, but Alexa's blade disappeared back into her shadowy maw with a hiss and Marcus's chain tore up sand stained tile as the blow missed utterly.
Stepping past the chainswordsman Roland whipped Alexa across his back, her blade reemerging and drawing a bright red line from one shoulder to the other, oozing scarlet staining Rafael's white coat like a crooked smile. But it was the unseen deluge of electricity that flooded in through his wound that dropped him to his knees, muscles clenching spasmodically as the nerves around the wound misfired at the disturbance.
It was when Rafael was incapacitated in this manner that Roland reached down and casually plucked the wrapped bundle from the blonde's belt, thumbing aside the cloth to reveal a gilded hexagonal plate of untarnished turquoise with a stylized Egyptian eye emblazoned on its face. Tossing the Magic Tool's linen trappings aside Roland slipped the Eye of Vengeance into his pant pocket, paying little mind to the still twitching Rafael as he made for the rusted iron gate.
"We're done here." The swordsman muttered. Alexa returned to her human form beside him, beaming.
"I guess it all worked out in the-"
"Now wait just a minute!" They spun to find that Rafael had risen yet again, holding Marcus loosely with one hand as an insane smile stretched across the rogue Meister's handsome face. "You're not the only ones with a Resonance technique!"
His laughter was quickly drowned out by the scream of Marcus's engine, their souls ballooning in unison and whipping up a flurry of dust. Roland and Alexa tensed, but their worry quickly proved unwarranted.
"Soul Reso-!" The two were silenced as the Strider burst from its entrapped position, reaching Rafael in a single step before whipping its head around like a ball and chain, burying its face in the Meister's gut and sending him crashing through the Ivory Tower Hotel's tasteful glass doors with all the grace of a wet rag.
When he didn't reemerge the golem turned back to Roland and Alexa, loping over to the pair and kneeling. Roland climbed aboard without hesitation, reaching a hand down to help the dazed Alexa onto the Strider's back.
"Where'd you get this thing?"
She raised an eyebrow at his dry laugh. "It's a long story. Believe me."
The Strider's lurching step forced Alexa's arms around her Meister's waist, the horizon reflected in her clear blue eyes.
"Where are we going?"
To Roland's quiet relief the avian golem passed through the open gate instead of vaulting over the wall.
"Home."
A/N: Dang, a lot of stuff went down this chapter. So glad I managed to get another one done before school starts.
: ' D
Anyway, reviews are awesome.