Chapter 12: Duels

Author's Note: I do not own anything in the story. They are the property of their respective owners.

Hermione was leading D and Kenshin through a magnificent hall with portraits on the walls. Candles provided some illumination and cast flickering shadows over everything. Just as she reached her master's doorway she heard his voice inside her mind.

Excellent, now leave them and teleport to that mortal you care so much about. When you reach him, end his insignificant existence. Hermione turned towards D and Kenshin.

"I can go no further. Go on brother, father is waiting, he's looking forward to your visit." And then she pressed a button in the wall causing a shimmering light to fall over her. When it went away D and Kenshin were alone. Together, the two pushed the door open.

Elsewhere in the tower…

Ash blinked his eyes furiously to get rid of the blinding light that had invaded his vision. Looking around, he saw he was in a narrow corridor with a door up ahead. His ears then picked up a soft moaning behind him. He turned around, boomstick up and ready, to see Tifa on the ground. He went to her and gently shook her awake.

"C'mon Tif, this is no time to be napping." Ash said. His voice made Tifa open her eyes and stand up.

"Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked, her eyes showing her concern.

"I don't know where Needle Noggin is or anyone else for that matter. All I know is that I'm getting really pissed off at all the freaking teleporting and world hopping. I hope we find something to fight so I can relieve all this damn stress." Together the two went to the door before them. Ash busted it down with one mighty kick. Inside they saw a large circular room with one person standing in the middle. The woman was young, and looked about Tifa's age. She had dirty blond hair and her eyes were blood red. That wasn't the strangest thing about this woman though. What was really odd was the fact that she was dressed in a faded police uniform and a massive artillery cannon was strapped to her back.

"You will not harm my master, mortals." The woman said with a British accent.

"Listen up, pig, I don't have time to play in your little pen here so why don't you go eat some donuts and let us through." This pissed off the vampire and she pointed her cannon at the pair.

"My name is Seras Victoria and you'll die for insulting me!" Then she fired a round from her weapon. The air was displaced from the passage of the shell. Ash and Tifa leapt to either side and crouched low to avoid the blast. Tifa then sprang up and did a lunging punch towards Seras, who saw the punch coming and blocked it with her hand. Then she squeezed tightly and Tifa felt the bones in her hand start to break. Before Seras could completely cripple her Ash was in her face and using his chainsaw to slice through her weapon. Seras used the half off her gun still remaining to slam Ash. The S-mart employee flew backwards and hit the wall, knocking the air out of him. Tifa had recovered from her pain using a potion while Ash was distracting Seras and now she started punching and kicking her all over her body. After she was finished she did a back kick that sent Seras flying into the air. Tifa leapt after her and flung her back into the ground. Then she cast a Cure spell on Ash who was wearily getting to his feet.

"Thanks, now let's send this pig to hell." Then Ash revved his chainsaw and ran towards Sera's limp form. Just as the blade was about to make contact with her flesh, Seras leapt away faster than Ash or Tifa could see. One minute she was on the ground, the next she was behind Ash and striking for his neck. Ash, sensing something behind him, ducked at the last possible moment and aimed his shotgun behind him and fired. The blast rocked Seras from her feet and took both her hands off at the wrist. Tifa then appeared in midair and landed straight on Sera's body, crushing her sternum and causing massive internal bleeding. Even with these injuries the vampire started to rise.

"I'll swallow your entrails!" She screamed in defiance. Her scream was cut off by Tifa pressing down hard on her throat. Then Tifa cast a Fire spell on Seras and the vampire started wailing like a banshee. Ash then pointed his gun right at her head.

"Swallow this." Then he pulled the trigger. Sera's head popped like a waterballoon spraying Ash and Tifa with gore. "How's your hand?" Ash asked.

"It's healed. You know we make a pretty good team." Tifa answered smiling warmly at Ash, who blushed slightly.

"Yeah, Yeah, anyway once we're done burning little miss piggy here we'll head through that door and see where it leads us." Tifa then punched Ash lightly on the shoulder.

"You're sexist."

"What? She was dressed as a cop, didn't you get the reference? Sheesh, I swear you guys need to get a sense of humor." After Seras was little more than ashes, Ash and Tifa left through the other door. There they saw a massive wall with a little ladder bolted to it. The pair looked up.

"Hope your not afraid of heights, babe." Ash said. Then the pair started climbing.

Elsewhere…

Cloud found himself standing before a door. Opening it, he drew his sword just as Vincent on the other side aimed his gun. As soon as the pair saw each other they sheathed their weapons.

"Any idea where the others are?" Cloud asked.

"None." Vincent replied in his usual monotone. The two men then went though the passageway Cloud had his back to. As they progressed the pair could see another door ahead. They both opened it. Three extremely beautiful women were beyond the door. All had raven hair and violet eyes that were tinged with red. Their dresses flowed about them like a river and they moved seductively towards the two friends. Before they had taken another step, Vincent had shot one in the chest with Death Penalty. The woman's face became a mask of rage and her fangs poked out of her mouth. The other two followed suit and rushed towards the men. Cloud leapt in the air, slicing down towards the head of one of the seductive women. She tried to block with her hands but Cloud just drew another sword out and sliced her head off. Vincent, meanwhile, had turned into the purple skinned demon known as Chaos. The other two women were dead in seconds, both being sliced in half and then burned by a bunch of flaming skulls. Vincent turned back to normal. Then the pair went through a door on the other side of the room. Long rows of stairs met their eyes and kept on going up and up as far as they could see. Without a sound the two men began running up the stairs.

Back to Ash and Tifa…

"So, I have a question for you. Is Cloud compensating for something, because, that is one really big sword." Ash asked the barmaid climbing above his head.

"Ashley, shut up! I'm not in the mood." Ash and Tifa had been climbing for what felt like hours. Ash had started telling jokes and asking stupid questions to get his mind off the monotony of just climbing up one rung after another. Finally the two had reached the top. There were some stairs that led downwards to their left but just then they heard movement coming from the stairs. They hid off to the side and saw Vincent and Cloud run up, panting heavily.

"Well, seems you've had a tough time." Ash said, smirking.

"Do you know where the others are?" Cloud asked. Just then they heard the clash of swords.

"I'm guessing where the noise is coming from." Ash said. The four went on ahead and found D and Kenshin fighting what seemed to be hundreds of ghostly figures. The four charged in and joined the fray.