Part 25: Blow Me Away
The two of them stare each other down. Xeeres is glaring at Xaldin with a look of both anger and pain. The pressure of the gauntlet on his burnt arm is excruciatingly painful, but if he gave even the slightest sign of weakness, Xaldin would work it to death. Xaldin's spears appeared around him. He throws one at Xeeres, who side steps and rushes at Xaldin.
Xaldin turns, throwing his hand forward. A cluster of lances thrust out in front of him. Xeeres dives forward, spinning and exploiting the small opening that is left in the cluster at Xaldin's torso. He lands spinning ad punches Xaldin full on in the diaphragm with his right hand, sending him sliding backwards. Xeeres winces from the pain of using his right hand. He hadn't done a sonic boom punch because the sheer pain of using one would have been too much for him to take, but avoiding using his right arm would have given away his weakness. But, that didn't matter. His own strength was sufficient enough. He smirks at Xaldin.
Xeeres: You don't spew poison when I hit you. That makes things so much easier.
He disappears and punches Xaldin in the gut with his left hand before he can react. Xaldin's eyes widen in pain and shock as Xeeres buries his fist deeper into his stomach. He gets sent sliding backward again and as he slides back, Xeeres rushes at him gain. As Xeeres rushes at him, Xaldin sees him and grabs on of his spears. He stabs it into the ground, stopping himself. He turns, avoiding Xeeres's punch and stabs at his face. Xeeres leans his head back, avoiding the stab. Xaldin pulls the other spear from the ground and stabs both at Xeeres simultaneously and Xeeres side steps, avoiding the strikes.
Xaldin continues the attack, adding more spears with each completed strike. Xeeres manages to dodge them all, but is unable to counter due to the distance created. Xaldin stabs out with his left hand, two more spears appearing beside the one in his hand and Xeeres jumps back. Xaldin turns, throwing out his right hand and sending out spear. Xeeres stops on his heel and turns out of the way, avoiding the spear. A whirlwind forms around the spear that pulls Xeeres and sends him into the air. Xaldin performs a jump attack and dives down at Xeeres while he's in the twister. Xeeres vibrates his left hand and sends out a shockwave that sends him spiraling to the side and out of the way of the attack.
As Xaldin hits the ground, the twister stops. Xeeres lands with his back turned to Xaldin and Xaldin stabs at him. Xeeres turns, avoiding the attack and slams the back of his left fist into Xaldin's side. He comes full circle and punches him in the face with his right hand. Xaldin stumbles back and Xeeres keeps on him, preventing him from recovering. Finally, Xeeres throws a right handed punch that is noticeably slower and Xaldin dodges it. He pulls out a spear and stabs at Xeeres, cutting into his left thigh. Xaldin pulls out another spear and stabs at his face. Xeeres grabs the pole and turns, elbowing Xaldin in the side of his face.
Xaldin lets go of the spear and it fades as Xeeres comes around for a right cross. Xaldin pulls out another spear and stabs Xeeres in his right shoulder. Xeeres stops, stunned from pain as the spear fades, and jumps back before Xaldin's next attack. Xaldin uses "jump" and comes down at Xeeres as his foot hits the ground. Xeeres stops, grabs the spear in both hands and turns, throwing Xaldin down the Great Maw. As Xaldin catches himself, he looks up to see Xeeres dashing at him again. By the time Xaldin recovers, Xeeres is too close for a counter attack. He slams his half closed fist into Xaldin's chest and closes it completely, creating a shock wave that drives Xaldin into the cliff face.
As Xaldin hits the wall, he is driven further in by Xeeres's foot. Xeeres continues to kick Xaldin at high speed in the torso and face, driving him more and more into the rocks. With the completion of the last kick, Xeeres turns and drives his fist into Xaldin's gut. Xaldin vomits blood from the force and vibration and his eyes bulge slightly as the sonic boom drives into his stomach. Xeeres steps back and looks at Xaldin, who's driven, unconscious and lifeless, into the wall. He sighs in relief and starts to walk away.
Xeeres holds onto his right shoulder and limps slightly from the gash in his left thigh. Great, now his arm and leg are bleeding. The pain was incredible, almost too much to take. In fact, it would have been, had his right arm not gone completely numb from the shear intensity of it. He makes it right to the end of the Great Maw, on the opposite end from the Crystal Fissure, when two Dragoons dive down at him. He jumps back, avoiding them, and kicks a third in the head, killing it. The two other turn to him and he jumps forward, killing the both with a kick to the head, one after the other.
He lands and looks back toward the Crystal Fissure to see a mass of at least forty behind him. He sucks his teeth in aggravation.
Xeeres is down to his last ten Dragoons. He's managed so far to avoid using his right hand. One of them dives down at him and he grabs the spear before it hits the ground. He turns, slamming it into another one and takes the spear as they fade away. He thrust the spear behind him, stabbing one through the chest and killing it. He brings the spear up, blocking another's attack in front of him and turns around, blocking another. The second Dragoon is knocked off balance and Xeeres starts to turn back, throwing the spear into another one. He jumps and kicks straight out, killing the first one. The second one recovers from being knocked off balance and stabs at him from behind. He wraps his leg around the pole, bringing himself around and swinging his leg through its neck.
He lands as another one flies at him, charging with the spear straight out. He leans forward, avoiding the attack and kicks straight up, knocking the Dragoon upward. He then flips backward and slams down on it, stomping it into the ground. Another swings at him from the side and he kicks out, blocking the attack, and flips backward with his foot straight out, kicking through the attacker. The ninth one stabs at him as he's standing from the attack and he grabs the pole with his left hand, pulling the Dragoon closer to him and palms through its head. The last one stabs at him from behind and he avoids most of it, but gets a pretty deep cut across his side and he turns and slams the back of his fist through its head.
When he finishes attacking he's facing the Crystal Fissure. He glares in shock and anger as he sees Xaldin charging his Dragoon Laser. Because of the position of his last attack, he's forced to do what he was trying to avoid the entire time, use his right hand. He lunges forward at Xaldin, cursing under his breath, as Xaldin fires the beam at him. Xeeres's right fist vibrates and he punches forward at the laser. He's only a few feet away from Xaldin, the sound barrier creating a shield around him as he forces his fist through it.
The pain is borderline intolerable and getting worse. The force of the vibration, the weight of the gauntlets, the force of the laser, the burn, the stab wound, all of it building into one giant payload of agony as he forces his fist forward into the beam, at Xaldin. For a moment that seemed like forever, he could feel his arm give. He couldn't take it, it hurt too much, and to top it all off, the adrenaline rush was making the phantom fatigue and remnants of poison start to act up again. Losing would be easy, and would be oh so nice at this point, but rarely is what needed to be done easy. He grits his teeth and forces his fist through the sound barrier, past supersonic, into hypersonic speed, punching through the laser beam and into Xaldin's face. The punch lands directly on Xaldin's nose and sends him rocketing into the wall next to the opening to Crystal Fissure.
Xeeres lands on one knee, his right arm hanging lifeless at his side, blood trailing his mouth from the reawakened poison. He gets up and walks to the crater in the wall where he left Xaldin. He can see him, alive, but just barely. Xaldin looks up at him, and then passes out. Xeeres walks back to the cliff edge and opens a dark corridor. He walks through.
Xigbar steps down steps down at the entrance to the hole that Xaldin is in. He looks around at the battle ground, smiling a little to himself. He laughs a little and whistles.
Xigbar: Man! That kid is impressive. Beating Roxas, Riku and Toxin, then going on to beat Xaldin, and with an injured arm. He truly is an amazing fighter. Glad I followed Xaldin.
(Flashback) After Xeeres passes out from fighting Toxin, Xigbar steps down beside him. Xigbar had been watching the whole fight, standing upside down in the air, anxious to see Xeeres's combat skills in a real fight. He saw him have a play fight with Riku, heard Roxas complain about their fight, and was actually disappointed in this one. Sure he'd taken the fight seriously, but Toxin's powers made it difficult for him to do anything.
Xigbar pick him up and walks through a dark corridor. He steps out at the entrance to the Borough from the Bailey. He sets Xeeres down there, knowing that Leon and Yuffie are on their way, and smiles down at him.
Xigbar: Good luck Champ, hope to see you in action for real someday.
(Out of flashback) Xigbar looks out at where Xeeres had walked through the corridor and smirks.
Xigbar: You did not disappoint me one bit Champ. Glad I saved you. I really do hope you make it.