A/N: It's almost over…This is the second/third to last chapter…Now, for the reviews:
Jazminewriter: THANKS! Yes, she is. But how?
Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye: THANKS! Sorry about that. But these last 2-3 chapters will be focused on him, for the most part.
SilverStar8001: THANKS! Yay! She is!
Hollysong: THANKS! Here it is!
CHAPTER 14!
Emily jumped down from the airship above, stabbing any true chevalier's that got near her. A miniature army of other agents followed suite, evening out the battle considerably.
"Emily, how did you -"
"Bulletproof vest and a long story to tell at a later time. Right now, we need to stop this threat, Napoleon." Emily then paused. "Correction. Phantom R needs to stop this threat, Napoleon."
"Wait a second, why him?" Charlie asked.
"He's the owner of the bracelet, he's the one that started this adventure in the first place, and we need to make sure these true chevalier's don't cause any more trouble. That, and I trust him to get Marie out safe and sound. Sorry to say, but it may be best if you leave Fondue with us." Emily said, still fighting.
Raphael sighed, but Emily was right. It would kill him if he lost Fondue, his partner in crime.
"Don't worry, Phantom R. We'll be up as soon as these chevalier's are back into the dust they came from. You'd better hurry, though. J.F went up those stairs, and I don't think he's bringing down something good." Angel said, sniping a few chevalier's with her bow.
Raphael nodded, and ran up the stairs.
Raphael ran up the twisted corridor upstairs, alone. He passed some downed bodies of regular chevalier's, none of them moving. However, he could feel the weather getting more violent. Eventually he made it to the end of the corridor, where he saw the downed figure of Duchess Elizabeth.
"Duchess Elizabeth! Are you all right?" Raphael said, helping the woman up.
"I'll be fine. You must rescue Marie and escape before it's too late!" Elizabeth protested.
"I'm afraid, dear cousin, that it may be too late to save your daughter, and much less this bilge rat." J.F's voice called from above. Raphael looked up, seeing a giant robot. In one hand was a long, sharp broad sword. The other was cannon, and in the center was J.F.
"Elizabeth, get out of here while it's safe. I promise I'll get Marie back." Raphael said, balling up his fists.
"Please, be careful. My cousin is deadlier than you think." Elizabeth said, running off.
"Poor, poor Marie. She always thought that you, her knight in shining armor, would rescue her. It's a shame I have to shatter her dreams."
"You're an evil person, J.F. You broke Marie's heart for your own selfish gains!" Raphael said, balling up his fists.
"Your puny fists cannot destroy one of my life's works! This is made of both titanium and diamond! But no matter. Prepare to meet your grave!" With that, J.F charged forward, trying to slash Phantom R.
Charlie still fought in the fray, not straying too far from her father or Leonardo. Even with Emily's reinforcements, it was still a head to head battle. With the two sides too close for comfort, something would have to tip the playing field. However, with the true chevalier's popping up so fast, the reinforcements and Raphael's team had begun to get exhausted.
"There has to be some way to get rid of these things! An off switch or something like that!" Angel said, trying to reload both her ammo and arrows.
"Angel's right. We'll be doomed if we don't stop these things!" Emily said, still slicing.
Charlie looked around, and then she saw something. A large glowing Tiamat symbol was on the wall, mimicking the one on the true chevalier's backs.
"Guys! I think I found the weak spot!" Charlie said, running up to the glowing symbol. Leonardo grabbed his brother and followed her.
Charlie kicked her soccer ball at the symbol, and some of the true chevalier's fell and dissolved into dust.
However, it sent the rest of the chevalier's in a frenzy, all of them going to protect the symbol.
"Come on! It's weakening!" Charlie said, attacking it as fast as she could.
"Sorry, but we have company!" Leo pointed out, punching away the devil knights.
Charlie's attempts were not futile, though. Soon, the glow had weakened significantly and the chevalier's were turning into dust.
Just when it looked like it was over, a giant golden chevalier fell in front of the symbol, only to get a barrage of attacks thrown at it.
Just before the thing was destroyed, it did a suicidal move and crashed into the pillar behind it, sending debris crashing down.
Take cover!" Emily yelled, dodging the debris. However, a large piece of debris was falling, and it was aiming right for Charlie.
"Charlotte! Look out!" Vergier called, trying to warn her. Charlie looked up, gasping, until Leo bumped her away, before being crushed.
"Leo!" Galileo cried out, worried.
Emily ran up immediately, and started to push the rocks away, with Angel's help. "Help me move these rocks. We need to get him out from there as soon as possible. Every second is crucial!"
Charlie and Galileo ran to the wreckage, helping everyone else remove the rocks, until the very bruised face of Leonardo was seen.
"Get him to the airship immediately! This young man needs medical attention!" A woman said, a nurse due to the Red Cross on her chest. Two similar looking nurses brought a stretcher, and rested a barely breathing Leo onto it.
"I'm going with him! He's my brother!" Galileo said, following. Charlie followed him with Vergier.
"We'll be with him in a second. We need to find J.F!" Angel said, running up the staircase with Emily following.
Raphael dodged yet other blast of energy, landing a few feet away. Even though his injuries weren't major, the robot in front of him had no weakness whatsoever.
I have to stop him somehow. My fists alone can't penetrate that armor. If I that sword wouldn't slice me to bits, I could probably get a closer look at that thing. If I keep dodging, J.F's bound to get in a hit in. I can't do this alone...
"What's the matter, Phantom? Are you getting tired of your dance?" J.F taunted, firing more shots at Raphael.
Raphael than took a hit on his leg, forcing him to be knocked to the ground. He winced in pain, knowing that it would be a two to three degree burn.
"Phantom!" Angel yelled, running up to Raphael, helping him up. Emily ran up to the robot, giving it a deadly scratch, taking of the edge of the sword.
"So it seems you broke the area spell. Eat this!" J.F yelled, firing a barrage of colored bullets at the two.
"Sorry, but I don't eat the things that insane scientists fire at me. I jail food. You should try it!" Angel said, back flipping to the ledge by the stairs, with Emily following.
"I see you've gotten better. What do you say I lower the ante?"
Angel frowned. "Don't you mean up?"
J.F smirked, and then pressed a button. A ring of rocks fell down, blocking Angel and Emily out but keeping J.F and Raphael in. Then the miniature arena started to shake.
"What are you doing?" Raphael said, trying to keep his balance. Then, the arena moved down until some cracks appeared, and lava slipped out of them. Raphael jumped from rock to rock until the lava stopped flowing, and realized he was trapped.
"Phantom R, if you can't stand the heat...Get out of the kitchen." J.F said, using the jets on the back of the robot to fly up into the air.
"This brick wall is too strong... Phantom, stay alive while we figure this out!"
"Easy for you to say. You don't have to worry about being fried!" Raphael said, dodging from platform to platform. J.F had an even better advantage, now that he was high above Raphael, and didn't have to worry about the lava, due to controlling it with the switch in his hand. However, this gave Raphael another advantage; He had a bit more reaction time than before.
He's controlling how wide those lava cracks grow to force me from platform to plat form...But it drains the energy in that bot of his. I need to use this to my advantage... Raphael thought, dodging another colored bullet.
Raphael than stood with his back to a wall, the lava leaving only one platform. The one he was standing on.
"It seems that you have nowhere to run, petty thief. I wonder why Isaac said you had so much potential." J.F said, smirking.
"How do you know my father's name?!" Raphael yelled.
"You see, you had a very terrible disease. Malaria, was it? It was almost incurable back then. There was medicine, of course. However, it was extremely expensive, and your father couldn't afford it. So when we found someone of his particular talents...We struck a bargain." J.F said, grinning evilly.
"So those paintings...That's why he hid them?" Raphael asked, deep in thought.
"Indeed. He is a master painter, you know. He was one of the main keys in this entire plan. However, he couldn't work full time, with youaround. So, we may or may not have convinced him."
My father wouldn't work for people as evil as these. He wouldn't. He loved me so much...Is that why he left the coin?
"Phantom! Snap out of it!" Angel said, warning of the oncoming attack. Raphael ducked, the sword missing his head by centimeters.
"Your father didn't seem to care when we mentioned his plans to him, you know. He was just staring into space..."
"Shut up! My father loves me!" Raphael said, dodging another sword strike.
"If he really does love you...Why did he leave you all alone? Would a real father do that?" J.F taunted, flying in and out of reach.
"Phantom! You need to focus! "Angel called, trying to get his attention.
"You KNOW I'm telling the truth, Phantom R. What does your father really think? If your mother didn't go out to get that medicine for you, she never would have died."J.F taunted, staring into Raphael's confused eyes.
"Phantom R! Don't let him get into your head!" Emily called, still trying to pass the obstacle in front of her.
They're all right. But they're all wrong. Does my father really care? So many questions, so little answers...I can't take it! I feel like I'm going to explode! Raphael thought, putting his hands to his head and trying to clear his head.
The dragon bracelet then started to glow, brightly. Slowly Raphael felt his hand, a warm yellow light surrounding it. Then, the glow disappeared, leaving only a silver sword in his hand.
"What?! You couldn't possibly be the wielder of the dragon sword...You must be disposed of, immediately!"
J.F said, firing bullets at a rapid pace.
With the sword, Raphael's time seemed to slow down. He could see the bullets coming at him, like a fly on a hot day. He then raised the sword, parrying the bullet back to its sender. The robot visibly twitched, smoking for a bit.
"Looks like your robot isn't as invincible as it seems. But then again, weren't allof your failed schemes invincible?" Angel said, smirking.
"Silence! You will pay dearly for that!" J.F said, turning his attention to Angel.
"Oh, really? Then come and get me, you sad, sorry, and terrible excuse for a scientist!" Angel taunted, smirking.
"Don't you worry. I WILLget you." J.F said, firing some bullets at her. Angel simply dodged, then gave Raphael a quick wink.
She's distracting him so I can attack. But I doubt this sword can go through diamond. There has to be a weak spot, but where?Raphael thought, eyes scanning for any possible weak spot.
He saw Emily from the corner of his eye, pointing at something on the robot.
Its back? I see a red tile on there...Must be a control panel. But I can't get a clear shot without J.F turning around. Angel needs to keep his attention a bit longer...
"Now I know why light travels faster than sound. Because some people seem smart, but then you talk to them." Angel said, still avoiding shot after shot. J.F was still not fully turned, and Angel was running out of running space.
No matter. I'll have to try.Raphael thought, slowly raising the sword, and aiming.
"Well, well, well. Looks like you've run out of room." J.F said, staring at Angel.
"Need a hand, Angel? Because I know a friend that doesn't need one!" Raphael said, slashing at the red control panel.
The robot then started to frizz, and soon flew into a wall, smoking and sputtering.
"Oh..." J.F said, slowly getting up. Angel walked up to him, smiling.
"See you in jail!" With that, Angel sent a deadly roundhouse kick to his head, knocking the mad genius out immediately.
Vergier then appeared, running toward the two.
"Jean Francois, I place you under arrest!" Vergier said, placing handcuffs on J.F's hands.
The rocks guarding Raphael were going down, but at a very slow rate. The, the place started to shake violently.
"Raphael! Go up and save Marie! I'll be up there as soon as these rocks sink. Angel, Vergier, get J.F into custody and get the helicarrier ready. This thing won't hold for long." Emily said, unsheathing her sword.
"Okay. Emily, Raphael, please be careful." Angel asked.
Raphael nodded, and then ran up the stairs.
END CHAPTER 14