Chapter 14
"You're such a disappointment, you know that?" Shadow heard a familiar voice. He recognized it, and quickly jumped up. Instead of find the evil doppelganger of himself that he had been fated to fight, however, he found a very different one.
"You? But, does this mean it was all a dream?" Shadow asked.
"No, it was real." Damian said. "However" Damian stood up as he said this. "You, you stupid son of a bitch, got yourself killed."
"Killed? You mean I'm dead?" Shadow asked. "I can't be dead, I have to go, I have to save Aerith. She's still alive in the other realm!"
"I know, hence while you're here, instead of here" Damian said, snapping his fingers and turning the surroundings into an inferno.
"Then what am I doing here?"
"I'm going to remind you of something." Damian said.
"and what's that."
Damian lept at him, tacking him to the ground. "fight me and find out." he said. Shadow kicked Damian off of him, and lept to his feet. The golden sword he had used for so long appeared in his hand. He looked as Damian charged at him wielding two Masamunes.
"What the!" Shadow gasped, blocking as the the blades came swing down at him. He blocked, and jumped away in hopes of composing himself. He hardly had the time to do such a thing, as Damian continued at him, striking over and and over again. Shadow didn't have time to block each attack, feeling the skin open up as the blades sliced open his skin. He focus on defending his head and torso, knowing that those were the important parts of him. He felt it all coming, the power he had once held in his hands. Using his newly refounded skill, he disarmed Damian, but the apparition was quick to generate a replacement weapon, now wielding Masamune in one hand, and the equal and opposite Murasame in the other. Again, he charged forward, but again, Shadow fought back, and disarmed him, this time literally hacking his left hand off. The two men stopped, watching as the hand fell to the ground. Shadow looked back towards Damian, shocked to find his newly appeared hand grabbing his face. Suddenly, Shadow felt his body began to burn. He felt like a searing heat was running through him beneath his skin. He struggled, but Damian held fast.
"Welcome back Shadow, I hope you appreciate the return of your ultimate weapon."
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Aerith watched as her brother approached the building. The guards outside readied their weapons, prepared to defend the last remaining HQ of Shinra. The guards outside resisted feebly, knowing their deaths were already inevitable. They watched as their enemy slowly reached up over his shoulder, grabbing the handle of his sword.
"Fire!" Someone yelled.
Aerith was deafened by the roar of gunfire, even up on the 10th floor. Down in the courtyard, a smoke had risen from the burnt gunpowder, slowly drifting away in the wind. As it cleared, the guards were unsurprised to find Damian unharmed.
"Aerith!" He called out. "You throw these lambs to the lion, but I really have a taste for venison tonight. The good news is that, today, it ends." He rushed forward at a particularly fat commander, who fell backward into the dirt whimpering. The other guards watched, frozen in fear as Damian chopped the commander's head clean off. The guards ran for the exit of the courtyard, attempting to flee. Damian could of easily ignored them, and went to find Aerith, but instead, he chased after them, swinging his sword like a mad man. He cut down every last one of them, and then he entered the building, and started up stairs. He cut his way through any resistance, until he found himself outside her door. Smiling, he slowly pushed the door open.