Alright... The time has come! The conclusion to Leo's segment of the arc! Hope you're excited for it everyone! I know I was when writing it! With this part, we'll get to the conclusion of Ciel's segement next chapter before we get back to Dante and company. And then... the true battle begins. And it'll be a grueling one for our favorite immortal.
But for now, let us see the conclusion to Leo's side! Enjoy!
Chapter 36: Obsidian Fury
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Another damned elevator…
Leo stood inside the transport with Alice next to him, tapping the handcannon in his left hand against his thigh while he grasped Bailey's katana tightly in his right.
He was a lot more rigid than usual, almost as still as a stone if his hand wasn't moving.
The boy simply glared at the crevice in front of him, waiting for the chamber to cease movement so he could step out and kill the bastard from earlier, Valâr.
Anger was all that remained within him currently, his thoughts solely focused on how he would kill that man.
Alice took notice since she could feel his murderous intent radiating from him. But she want going to let things stand as such.
And so she slapped him upside the back of his head.
"What?" He said not even glancing at her.
"What do you mean what? And what's with the attitude?" She asked him.
"I'm readying myself. I don't have time to get distracted."
Alice crossed her arms and let out a sigh, her gaze turning to the floor before she looked back to the immortal.
"Look, don't shove your head so far up your own ass you can't see straight anymore. I get that you're angry. I'm pissed at that four eyed bastard too. But if either of us go in there pissed off and blind, he's gonna tear us up before we even get a chance to get payback."
He knew that. He wasn't blind. He was… focused. Moreso than he normally was. Generally, Leo was lax, not all too motivated towards anything. But now… Now he felt empowered by the driving force within him, a force that felt as though it were slowly burning up within him, and just about ready to melt away the layers of his flesh at any moment to reveal that burning anger that lay beneath.
"You paying attention?" She said bumping the side of her hip against his to forcibly move him from his stillness.
"I am, shorty, I'm just thinking of other things too."
Her head quickly turned to him, surprise her expression before she smiled.
"I guess you weren't bullshitting…"
"About?"
"Remembering. You used to call me that all the time." Her smile soon vanished as she scowled slightly, then raised up her left leg and delivered a swift round kick to his rear, "But I still hate that name!"
Leo rubbed his rear after feeling the pain from her kick, and looked to Alice momentarily, noting she was about as tall as he was, close to 5'8. But then he looked to her luscious legs and lower, noting the heels of the skin tight, opened toed boot she wore.
They added 3 inches to her height…
"You're not fooling anyone with those heels."
"You little bastard!" She said pulling at his checks.
"Are you sure you should be calling me little?" He replied in a muffled voice, ignoring the small pain in his cheeks.
She pushed him away and crossed her arms once more, keeping her eyes glued on the door in front of her.
"Hey… I meant what I said earlier. Don't go and do something stupid because you're pissed off."
"I told you I understand already. Just worry about yourself."
"Well… As long as you understand then. Remember, don't let him touch you. Otherwise, he'll get control of your body through your nerves." Alice stated.
The same thing he did with Bailey… and Alice for that matter. Though, it seemed Alice's movements were more automated than anything. Even so, she was still very powerful. Now that she was more or less herself free from manipulation… Would it be accurate to say she'd be even more dangerous on the battlefield?
"Analysis: Reestablished camaraderie between Unit Alice and Simply Leonard has heightened the emotional status of Unit Alice." SOL spoke out.
Alice jolted at the comment, and made to reach for the small, floating machine, but it went out of reach, hovering above Leonard on the other side of the elevator.
"Damn machine..!"
The elevator began to slow, prompting the duo to ready themselves for whatever would be outside.
"You'd think he'd shut down the elevators to stop us from chasing him…" Leo stated.
"That bastard doesn't care about things like having the upper hand. Even if he had an advantage, he'd likely throw it away for his own entertainment, just to see how things play out."
Arrogance? No, it was confidence in his abilities; they're just that strong. Was his touch ability done by means of his Semblance? Or was it an alternate innate ability? There had to be more to that man.
"Your sword skills any good?" Alice asked Leo.
"Of course. I had my brother teaching me after all."
"Well, I guess we'll see just how good your skills are. Ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
The doors opened, but for Leo, they drew back slowly, allowing him to peek through to see what Lay outside. A small battalion of the superiorly modified AK 200's guarded the elevator entrance, assault rifles armed and prepped to fire as soon as the doors opened. But with how they were programmed, they wouldn't fire until the doors opened entirely, at least, that's what he assumed.
But the assumption paid of, for not halfway through opening, Leo pulled the trigger and kept firing beam after beam of his white and black Aura until it was time to cast the reload function. By that point, when the few machines remaining had time to reorient themselves, it was already too late.
Leo, with Bailey's blade in hand had already begun cutting into their numbers deftly, twirling the handcannon in his other hand into its segmented shortsword form. With a spin of his body, he lashed out with his sword as it expanded from the segments and elongated itself to slice into the crowds with fluid ease. The segments melted through the armor of the machines like they were mere scraps of paper.
Alice performed clean up any of the masses missed, popping in and out of locations around the field through the usage of the shadows on the floor. She was virtually untouchable, even when the machines tried to fire upon her in the pits of shadows, only to have blades emerge and chop them to bits. Sticking to the shadows wasn't all she did; she rocketed in and out of them from various angles, chopping up anything in her path in conjunction to Leonard's onslaught with both his blades.
Stopping them seemed virtually impossible with how fluidly they moved about the field, working together near flawlessly. It was as if they'd been working together for the longest of times, like their separation was non-existent.
Once again, Leo found himself in familiar territory, although, some of the landscape had changed. Some of the structures had been raised, a large tower in the center that lead to another floor high above.
That's where Valâr had to be…
"We have to get to that tower! I'm sure it leads to another floor above us where he's hiding!" Leo stated as he cut down the next flock of machines.
"Easier said than done!" Alice said chopping a few of them to pieces before kicking one away, "They just keep coming! It's like he's upped the ante all of a sudden!"
He was throwing the remainder of his forces at them… Perhaps it was to stall the two of them while he prepared?
This was the central tower, that much he was certain of. But why were these towers raised? What was the purpose behind it all?
The duo kept moving as they hacked away at any machines in their path, but they seemed more aggressive than usual, attacking the duo much more violently. Not only that, but their coordination kept improving with each new flock that came by, making it harder to eliminate them. If Leo and Alice didn't keep their guard up…
One of the machines, an irregular of the bunch, managed to slip through their defenses from the rear, and was about to attack Alice. However, last second intervention from Leo stopped it in its tracks, but had exposed him as well. Alice made sure to repay the measure by taking out the machine that was ready to stab Leo with its hand.
After making their respective recoveries, both continued onward through the masses, chopping the androids to bits, moving ever closer to the transport tower.
"Heh, alright!" Alice said slicing through another machine, "We're almost there!"
By this point, both had been ahead of the machines, running towards the entrance of the tower in front of them with Leo taking the lead.
The doors ahead of them were closing to block the elevator, speed was of the essence than caution at this point.
Alice caught wind of something on fast approach, something resembling a javelin of sorts but…
It didn't come from the machines. It's make resembled the white material of the structures around them, along with the black circuit-like patterns.
And it was moving straight for Leonard.
…
There wasn't much choice…
"Damn it..!"
"What is it?!" Leonard asked from further ahead.
…
It had to be now. And he had to be the one to make it if there was even a chance of besting Valâr.
Without warning, Alice had reached out and grabbed hold of Leonard by the collar of his shirt and raised him up easily, much to his surprise.
"And away..! You! Go!"
With a spin of her body, Alice had thrown Leo forward with intense force, sending him flying past the closing doors and straight into the open elevator entrance. The lance followed after, but Alice's arm intervened with its target, allowing it to pierce her arm instead.
As she thought, it wasn't only sapping her of her strength, but it was negating her Aura as well. It was a good thing it her instead, or so she thought.
Quickly darting to the doors to cover them, Alice allowed SOL to float inside the chamber with Leo, turning around shortly after to deal with the current flock of machines, cutting them to ribbons with a slash of her sword as it unleashed a net of shadow to dice through them.
But it wouldn't be long before the others showed up.
"You make sure he gets there SOL, understand?"
The small machine seemed conflicted, looking to Leo first before looking back at Alice.
"Just do as I say!"
"What are you doing?!" Leo shouted as he tried standing, only to be pushed down by Alice.
"Listen, you may not understand it now, but you're the only one who stands a chance against him currently! So..!" She spoke as she tried forcing the elevator doors shut, "As it stands, your life's more important than mine right now. Which means you need to get to the top. For all of us."
"But what about-?!"
"Gah, would you shut it already?! Can't I have my moment to look cool in front of you..?"
"What are you-?!"
Without warning, Leonard found himself forcefully pulled in, and was then bewildered beyond belief when he processed that he was currently locking lips with as she gave him a rather passionate kiss.
"That's from the both of us since she was too shy to give you one. And Leo… Don't just stick in your brother's shadow for the rest of your life. This time… it's your turn to be the hero."
With those final words, Alice let him go and shut the elevator doors, resting a hand on it briefly before smashing the button to send Leo up.
Before the doors closed all the way, she slipped through the crack and let out a sigh, moving her arm around that had already healed itself through the mixture of her Aura and the power her "body" provided for her. Although it was quick, it wasn't all powerful. She didn't have all too many chances left to heal up. Which meant… she needed to take as little damage as possible to make sure they didn't go up after Leo.
Even if Valâr was an underhanded bastard, surely he wasn't going to be that underhanded.
Maybe.
Alice ran the variables one more time in her head, the same ones she, her sister, and her mother created, just to defeat Valâr. She was at peace, knowing Leo was going to have a chance at victory. He'd have better chances if both she and Bailey were with him but… fate wasn't so kind as to provide him with such an advantage.
Regardless, it was up to him to finish the fight now. And she would protect him for as long as she could.
Again… Why again…
Why did they both throw their lives away just so he could make it?
"Analysis: Simply Leonard has entered a high emotional state-"
"I know that damn it! I know…" he spoke a little more softly, "Why did things have to happen like they did? For the first time in forever I get to see the two of them again, but… Not like this… Not like this..!" Leo shouted slamming his hand into the elevator wall, leaving a large dent in it.
SOL's tiny body turned to face the elevator door, seemingly reminiscing something until he looked back to Leonard.
"Statement: Unit Bailey Lianna once commented that there is no use in crying about events that have already passed."
A wry chuckle came from the young immortal.
"Ironic of her since she used to be the crybaby of the three of us when we were younger…"
"Simply Leonard… Both Lianna Units did not give up their lives in vain. They have both passed their hopes on to you, so you may succeed in the battle to come."
"But why me? Why me of all people? I can't… I can't do these sorts of things on my own… I can't do the things my brother can! I'm not him!"
"Correct. You are not your brother, Simply Leonard. That is why you are unique by comparison."
Leo wanted to say something after that but… He couldn't find the words.
"Analysis of your words suggests your elder sibling possesses an innate combat prowess that far exceeds any and all that would face him. You posses talents of your own and are just as capable. If Unit Bailey Lianna were present, she would tell you not to chase after your elder sibling. But to strive to surpass him."
"Something like that…"
"Is not entirely impossible. The road may be long and arduous, but it is still within the realm of possibility. It may not be today, tomorrow, the next week, the next month, or even the next year, but the day may come that you will possibly surpass your own brother. All that is required is that you make the effort to strive for success."
…
…
Why did hearing that make him think of that conversation..?
"How did you become the strongest?"
"Huh?"
Dante had been caught off guard by Leo's question. Surely he expected it from Ciel, but…
"W-What exactly do you mean by that?" Asked Dante.
"It's exactly what it means. How did you become the strongest person to ever exist?"
Dante let out a sigh, "Look Leo, I'm not all that strong. Really."
"Your exploits suggest otherwise."
"Well, yeah, but I didn't always do it alone you know? Even I had help sometimes in spite of how stubborn I was about it."
"That still doesn't change the fact you've bested hundreds if not thousands when it came to single or multi combat. The skills you possess, the power you wielded and currently wield… You're virtually unstoppable."
"Look, I'm not all that great, honest. Even I lose a fight on occasion."
"Rarely you mean."
Another sigh escaped the elder brothers lips.
"Listen Leo, power isn't everything. A person can have amazing and strong powers, but that doesn't make them truly strong. There's a whole slew of factors that determines a person's true measure of strength, especially in the different situations you face. For instance, say your powers might easily blow someone out of the water if they confronted you directly. But what if the opponent was smarter than you? What if the area around you isn't suitable to fight with your powers?"
Leo pondered the idea before he spoke, "So the force behind one's power doesn't determine all of their strength?"
"Nope. You can be as big as you want, you can be as powerful as you want, but if you don't know how to truly use your power, or understand your reasons for fighting, you can't possibly be the strongest there is. Me? I got stupidly lucky because I'm not only smart, but my powers are versatile for various scenarios and situations. Though… combat ability isn't the only thing that determines one's strength…"
Leo didn't quite understand what exactly he meant, but…
"If you aren't the strongest, despite claims and factual evidence that refute your opinion, then who could possibly be stronger than you?"
Dante smiled as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder. When he saw who he was pointing at it… Leo was fairly confused.
"I understand Ms. Kitsukami is powerful brother, but… she doesn't give me the impression of being the strongest person there is, let alone stronger than you."
"You think so, huh?" Dante said with a smile, "You'd be surprised then if you knew just how strong she is. I don't just say it just because I'm proud of Inuba or because I'm strongly biased in favor of her, but she's genuinely the strongest person I know. And, the only person stronger than me."
"You aren't really convincing me otherwise…"
"Well, your loss then." Dante said with a shrug.
"How does one become strong then? Like you, or Ms. Kitsukami?"
"Hmmm… Alright, listen here Leo." Dante said as he stood, "True strength doesn't come from the power you wield. Any idiot can have ridiculous power and succeed a lot, or get renown for their abilities. But true, genuine strength… comes from here." He said pointing to his younger brother's chest.
"From here…"
"That's right. Even in the toughest of times, this right here will be your guiding star through the darkest of nights. So long as you remember that and everything else I just told you … then you'll genuinely become someone who's actually strong. Just believe in your own abilities, and follow your desires to the end."
Leo clutched his chest, feeling the now seemingly heavy weight of that tap to his chest from months ago. His brother's words always worth their weight, but this time…
Those words felt especially heavily… and he didn't know why.
Perhaps he felt the truth of them at last? He had always written off that conversation as just his brother being silly, but…
Was he actually right?
"Simply Leonard?" SOL called out.
…
…
If his brother could do it, then Leo could as well.
"SOL…" He calmly started as he looked to the machine, "Alice mentioned I may be the only one capable of beating him right. When they said that, does that mean she and Bailey had data on him prior to today?"
"Affirmative."
"Then run it by me as quickly as you can before we reach the top. If I'm going to beat him, I'm going to need to have at least something of an idea of what to expect before I go in there. Can you do all that?"
"Affirmative."
"Good." Leo said as he stood up straight, glancing at Bailey's blade a brief moment before turning his gaze to the door, "No matter what happens… I'm taking him down for good."
Everything was white. From the streets, to the buildings, to the commonplace objects you found in a city… All had been colored white with some blocks sticking out from different sections, all with those black circuit patterns running through them.
The city center was the same, but it was more spacious than what would have been seen in any of the other towers, cleared of anything useless. In truth, nothing was useless to him here. Not in the slightest.
Still, out of courtesy for his guest that was soon to arrive, he'd thought it best to tidy up a bit and have less clutter lying around. Afterall, a performance such as this was going to require the best of conditions.
Anything less than perfect would be a disgrace.
Was it good to focus more on the stage rather than the fight itself? Valâr thought so, but other would likely disagree with him.
Setting was important after all.
Valâr sat at the foot of a long white table, a few articles of food laid out and untouched, save for the few treats he delighted himself to moments before. Eventually, he set down the apple he took a bite or two of to turn the page of the book he was reading, soon fixing his black, rectangular glasses by pushing them up a bit.
Reading was his favorite pastime outside of his… other activities.
He had found a rather interesting book a few days ago, but because he needed time to prepare for today, he couldn't read it until now, which he had time for since Valâr was waiting for the other performer to enter stage right. But the book he was reading had caught his interest greatly, making him not wanting to put it down, even if the boy showed up.
"The Man with Two Souls… Such a fascinating tale…"
It reminded him so much of a certain individual…
A loud, single tune beep sounded through the area, causing Valâr to look up from his book a brief moment to smile before he returned to it.
A minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. And soon, Leonard rounded the corner of a street, glancing around quickly before his eyes focused on the city center, spotting his target of interest.
The boy's movement was slow, carefully glancing around to ensure nothing would attack him from his blind spots. Both of his guns rested in the holsters at the back of his waist, his only weapon being Bailey's katana.
Leo was going to damn well make sure it would be driven through Valâr's heart.
"So… you've come. I was half expecting you to remain in the elevator, but it seems I gave you too little credit. My apologies."
The boy stopped at the foot of the other end of the table, glaring daggers at Valâr, who simply continued on, reading his book.
"Please, take a seat. I'll only be a moment longer."
Leo reached for the chair next to him and drew it out, seating himself in it as he rested his hands on the table, keeping Bailey's sword close.
Moments later, Valâr closed his book and placed it on the table, folding his hands together as he rested them on the long table, staring back at the boy on the other end.
"So… Here you are at last."
"Here I am." Leo replied.
"You look to have had quite the journey thus far. Won't you partake?" The man said as he waved to the food on the table.
"I refuse." Leonard told him bluntly.
"Oh? And after the trouble I went to prepare all of this for the two of us? You wound me."
"We haven't even come close to that yet." The boy spoke with an unprecedented coldness to his tone.
Valâr chuckled at that statement as he leaned himself in closer, resting his elbows on the table.
"You look as though you want to ask me something… Go ahead. I'll allow it."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do all this? Why make the towers? Why kill the two of them?"
"The towers serve two purposes. One, creating the machine army you've seen so far. Two… Well… that's only for me to know. As to why I had Bailey Lianna and Alice attempt to kill each other, with Alice Lianna following suit just moments ago… They were in the way essentially."
Leo's fists tightened when he heard that, and tried to stop from scrunching up his face.
He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. He was going to instead give him Bailey's blade. More specifically, he was going to gift Valâr's heart with it.
"Plastic dolls who can't obey orders have no use to me. It's as simple as that." Valâr said, "I bet you're wondering what exactly their purpose was, right? The answer is simple really. Bailey and Alice Lianna weren't simply given Android bodies after their illness almost claimed them just to save their lives. I didn't assist their mother in creating their new bodies just out of the gratitude of my heart."
"Get to the point, you're starting to piss me off."
Valâr chuckled to himself.
"As planned, I gave Eliza Lianna my assistance in creating state of the art Android bodies, and aided her to be the first scientist on Remnant to invent consciousness transfer. By doing so, she successfully transferred the consciousness and soul of her two daughters into new, better bodies. Thus, they survived. Years go by and their bodies become more refined and combat suitable. Living weapons of sorts. But not just any kind of weapons either."
Living weapons…
Was that the only reason they were saved? Just to be turned into weapons?
"The true purpose of Alice and Bailey Lianna was to turn them into Androids and have them become living weapons. All for the purpose… of executing you."
Leo's eyes widened in shock, his hands shaking a great deal.
"It was from the studies on you we were able to perform what was quintessentially a miracle for those two. As such, you would potentially become a problem in the future, hence why I built them around being able to kill you when the time came. Unfortunately you escaped, and even more unfortunate, their feelings for you intervened with their designated tasks."
This was all planned out since way back then..?
"Eliza managed to remove both of the Lianna sisters from my grasp before I could act considering you were my concern at the time. Since then, they've been preparing to combat me instead, all while keeping close watch of you and protecting you while maintaining their distance all this time. Sad to say their expectations didn't come to fruition given how things turned out."
Valâr picked up his apple, ignoring the shocked Leonard and took a bite from it, glancing at the boy once more.
"When their guard was at their most vulnerable, I was able to take control of Alice Lianna, and used her as the weapon she was intended to be, and a hunting dog specifically to find you. Of course, Eliza and Bailey did their best to hide you as best they could from me. But now, both sisters have fallen, and the mother unable to do a thing. And you're here. Right where I want you to be."
Leo was absolutely speechless. He didn't know what to say, much less think at this point. All he could feel was shame with how he could do nothing all this time, and they did everything they could for him. There wasn't enough he could do in any lifetime to repay them.
Except…
"Won't you reconsider having something to eat? It will be the last time before I kill you today, you know. I was at the very least considerate enough to provide a last supper for you." The man spoke with a smile most twisted.
"That won't be necessary. Rather, you should be the one to eat the meal."
"Oh? Now why is that?"
"Because you'll be the one dying today. Not me."
Valâr's smile grew wider, unable to contain his laughter any longer in spite of moving a hand to his mouth.
"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful Leonard!" Valâr exclaimed in joy as he stood and slammed both hands on the table, "I'd expect nothing less from you after so long! Now! Show me the culmination of your life's efforts so far! Show me what Leonard is capable of!"
He was going to show him alright.
The boy leaned back and raised up his leg to kick the table forward towards Valâr, who planted his own feet on the table as it flipped. A quick quick off the table with his feet, and Valâr flipped backwards, landing on his feet and thrusting his hand forward through the table, expecting to find Leonard. With the table split apart, the boy was nowhere to be found.
Valâr couldn't help but smile.
His leather gloved hand reached out behind him, raising up two fingers and catching a blade between his index and middle finger, stopping the white blade with a loud clang.
Leo's eyes widened briefly, the blade stuck between Valâr's and seeming unmoving until he let go of the blade, allowing the young immortal to leap back and put distance between them.
The man placed his arms behind his back and let out a chuckle, "Unexpected, no? Perhaps a part of you thought I would be defenseless, that I'd let my constructs do all the work. But I assure you, I am very much capable of defending myself."
That much was within expected parameters. But to block Bailey's blade with just his fingers…
"No doubt you plan on driving that blade in my heart. You're welcome try as many times as you like."
He's starting to piss me off..!
Leo charged in and swung quickly as he could at Valâr. His sword techniques weren't anywhere near as good as Dante's, but they were still passable at best. All Valâr did was dodge and block the blade with his hands and feet, toying with Leonard all the while. The boy came close, but his strikes weren't close enough.
Leo was built more for speed if anything, hence why his strength was lacking compared to his brother or sister. This fight wasn't all about raw power however. There was a trick to Valâr's defense, but he didn't know what it was, rather, he didn't have a concrete idea yet.
It was a one sided back and forth. Valâr rarely attacked, mainly sticking to defense to both irritate Leo and and exhaust him, but that was proving to be ineffective. The boy wouldn't exhaust himself so quickly.
As for Leo, he was beginning to understand why his attacks weren't having any effect as intended. He thought at first his gloves, shoes, and clothes were blade resistant, but when Leo struck at the sleeves of Valâr's shirt and pants, he saw they had been cut. Oddly enough, his skin had no cuts either, which meant one thing.
To test his hypothesis, Leo specifically struck high blows to make sure Valâr blocked with his arms and hands, and as he expected, he found his answer.
Valâr's skin had blackened briefly upon Bailey's sword making contact with his skin. As soon as the blade stopped trying to cut into him, his skin returned to normal. Leo leapt back once more and maintained his after dodging a kick to his head, eyeing Valâr carefully as he smiled.
"You'll only exhaust yourself my dear boy. Best you surrender your life to me now and avoid the trouble. I'll only hurt you more if this continues."
"We have a difference of opinion on that matter." Leo told him.
"So it would seem…"
The way his skin blackened… It only did so when Valâr was about to be attacked, and vanished after the attack ceased. It was reactionary, responsive only to incoming attack.
Knowing this, Leo had another thought pop up in his mind.
Whipping out his hand cannon, Leo fired off shots of his high density Aura infused bullets at Valâr, only for him to effortlessly raise his arms in the direction of the attacks and brush them off like they were nothing.
Just like Leo planned.
The young immortal pulled the trigger once more, only this time, nothing emerged from the barrel. Valâr was too late to react once he noticed what was about to happen, a burning beam of Aura passing through his left shoulder as his eyes widened in surprise.
"I'll give you this much, that 'armor' of yours is something tricky to bypass. Most people wouldn't ever be able to figure it out just at first glance. Your 'armor' turns 'on' only after you register potential incoming damage, and so it flawlessly defends your body wherever it'll be attacked. But… it can't possibly defend you against something you can't 'see' or don't know that's coming at you. Am I wrong?"
Valâr stood up, glancing at his shoulder and touching the hole with his finger as his flesh moved together to cover the hole, sealing it up.
"You are absolutely correct. Well done with your observation young Leonard. You've discovered a flaw, but just knowing it won't allow you to always capitalize on it. Especially since now I know of your ability."
And yet another standstill… That trick wasn't going to work as much now that Valâr would be on guard for it. Which meant Leo had to try something else.
…
If his area of emphasis was speed and accuracy, then…
Leo moved forward with with a vertical slash, making Valâr block with only his right arm. The young immortal was starting to gain ground, and eventually moved Valâr's arm out of the way and transitioned into a spinning side slash, the man using both arms this time to block Leonard. This time, he was beginning to overpower Leo, and did exactly that by pushing the teen back.
He tried to retaliate with a stab, but Valâr had stopped his hand using his left and grabbed Leo's throat with his right, raising the boy up in the air briefly before spinning him around and tossing him away.
Leo spun around wildly in the air, but after a brief moment, rotated himself around well enough to be vertical to the ground and planted his feet against the side of the building he was about to crash into. The wall cracked under his feet as he kept his blade to the left of him, and then completely shattered itself once he kicked off of it, rocketing towards Valâr at full speed.
The man raised up his arms defensively as they blackened once more, and like previous times, Bailey's sword slashed against them to only make sparks instead of cutting into flesh. Ever so present was Valâr's smile, but the smile soon faded once he realized the sword Leo had blurred out of sight in an instant, a deep cut present across his chest moments later as blood flowed from his fresh wound.
He was sent skidding back on his heels, stopping moments later to look up at Leonard, seeing him take his stance once more.
Valâr chuckled to himself as he realized what had happened. Leoanrd had found the second flaw, that being he moved far too quickly within that instant to "see" his sword.
"You've grown splendidly outside of my observation Leoanrd… Truly, I'm impressed. I never imagined you'd grow this splendidly when it came to combat. The general impression I received from you was that of a lazy introvert, but I'm not always correct."
This was getting a bit too dangerous for his liking. Anymore, and there would be trouble.
Valâr reached up to his face and removed his glasses, pocketing them immediately after as his silvery-grey eyes shone a bit brighter, the white sclerae turning black moments after as they stared back at the young immortal.
"I suppose it's time for me to get somewhat serious with you."
A flick of his hand, and Leo suddenly found a crushing force slam into him from the left side, knocking the wind out of him for a brief moment and sending him flying. Before he could think about recovering, something else slammed into the boy and sent him high into the sky before another heavy object smeared him into the floor shortly after.
Again and again a different mass crushed the boy into the ground, drawing blood from him if not but for mere moments until he was injured again.
Masses of white objects with black circuit patterns smashed and hammered Leo like a nail further into ground, burying him under a large pile of ruble with each new block that descended upon. All Valâr did was smile, and wave his hands like a composer as he brutally assaulted Leo without pause, soon after creating javelins of the same material that plunged into the ruble, spatters of red blood gushing from the cracks in the ruble.
"Dear me… This is why I don't get serious that often… A little bit of effort on my end, and my opponent ends up being defeated quicker than I can take the time to actually enjoy it. Well, what can one do? Be glad Leonard. For the first time in what's been a long time, I actually took someone seriously in a fight. Even in failure, that alone is an accomplishment of its own making. Now… Close your eyes forever more."
"Huh? You know, you're asking an awful lot of questions today Leo. Seriously now, there's no rush you know? Not yet anyway…"
"I'd still like to know. For future reference at least. Ciel and I haven't really… made any progress despite your… 'shrewd' lessons."
"Hey, I can't just give you two all the answers you know? A lot of these things have to be done on your own. Self-discovery and all that."
Leo sat where he did, simply staring back at Dante as the elder brother sighed.
"Fine… So what was the question?"
"How does it feel when you're using it?"
"How it feels huh… Well, its… It feels like you've been invigorated, like you just had a jumbo glass of energy drink and you're all hopped up and ready to go."
…
"Could there have been an even worse explanation?"
"Hey, it's what I feel, alright? Anyway, it'd probably feel different for you or Ciel. Might feel like your body's on fire. Might feel like it's enshrouded in ice. But the thing I'm certain is going to be common is that you'll feel like you're invincible. Which is true in some cases, but… Just don't get a big head about it. It offers an advantage more than anything, but it doesn't give you a guaranteed win."
An advantage…
"The more you let your feelings do the talking, the stronger you'll be. At least, that's what I think. Just remember… Should you ever manage to get it working, remember your goal. Remember why you're using it to fight. Then? You'll be alright."
"Manipulating the matter around me… That is my Semblance. Essentially, I can even rewrite whatever I'm touching to take on different properties; make it more malleable and flexible, or make it durable and tough. My skin was such an example. The ground and matter I used to crush you another. But since this is my domain…" Valâr stated as he raised up his arms, "Everything within this tower is under my control."
He looked back to the ruble a final time, smiling as he picked up his apple from before, eventually deciding to throw it away now that it was dirty.
"You gave it your best effort, but I'm afraid it wasn't enough in the end. If it were your brother, he most certainly would have accomplished victory in the end. Not only because he is stronger than you, but because he is more experienced. Compared to him, you're an amateur at best. Well, such is the way of the world I suppose." Valâr said with a shrug as he walked away, pulling his glasses out of his pocket.
He kept walking forward, his smug smile dropping as he felt the ground tremor slightly. When his head turned around slowly, he saw thin wisps of black Aura seeping through the cracks of the ruble he brought down on Leo.
"Oh… It seems this devil still has life in him…"
(Devil Trigger, Full Song: Casey Edwards feat. Ali Edwards and Cliff Lloret)
The wisps grew bigger until the ruble began to disintegrate, floating up into the sky as quickly as they dissolved until the debris finally vanished in one explosive burst of black and white.
A figure in thin, twisted black armor stood where the ruble once was, the armor segmented but spiraled around the limbs and neck, the spiral lines glowing with white energy. The underside of the forearms had small blades with large holes that faced the hands, and the legs curved blades that ran from the back of the heels to the midsection of the claves.
The face was like a black helmet-mask that had two small horns atop the head and two wide and thin white horns that faced downwards from the sides of the head and curved inwards towards the face to form a protective faceplate of sorts that left the cheeks exposed, leaving only a v-line visor. Beneath the visor glowed a pair of thin, slanted white eyes with razor sharp edges.
The most intriguing part of the figure was the dozens of glowing white vertical slits that adorned its arms, legs and body from all angles.
"I see… So this is your 'alternate form'. I wonder how it functions compared to your brother and sister. Though," Valâr said with a scoff, "I'd imagine it's much weaker than theirs."
(1:21)
A blur was all the man saw before an armored fist planted itself directly under his chin, lifting him off the ground to only to take three more powerful punches to the stomach and ribs before he was punt kicked away from the transformed Leo.
Valâr attempted to recover by planting his hands into the earth, but the force he was propelled at didn't allow him to do so, and instead, he found himself crashing into the wall, imprinting his form into it. He opened his eyes and went to move, but it was too late, Leo was already upon him and brutally assaulting him with his fists, transitioning from body shots to face shots to the body again every few punches.
Leo made for what would have been a final hit, but had been shot into the air like a cannonball after the ground raised itself to launch him. It was then Valâr something.
As Leo spun around in the air, a few of the slits in his black armor emitted short bursts of white Aura that seemingly corrected his trajectory mid air, allowing him to orient his feet into the ground.
The slits on his back quickly shot out another burst of Aura that propelled the boy towards the ground immediately, and when he sprinted for Valâr, the bursts activated again, only this time stayed on as the immortal blinked across the field in a white zigzagging motion, avoiding the large chunks of debris that Valâr sent directly his way, even avoiding the chunks that rose from the ground to trip him up.
To say Valâr was surprised was an understatement. Leo was dodging far too quickly for him to hit with large masses and presented an unprecedented speed with his movements. He was simply moving too fast for Valâr to track effectively and hit.
When Leo was about to move in and land and flying kick to Valâr's face, a wall came in between them, forcing Leo to plant his feet onto the wall as it cracked under the immense force of the momentum he had, and kick off it to put some distance between them.
"How interesting. Your Shadow Skin seems to be more technical compared your siblings. Instead of focusing on overwhelming power, yours puts an impressive emphasis on speed and maneuverability. You forget though…"
Valâr raised up both hands as an electronic hum echoed throughout the underground city, the walls, floors and buildings distorting and breaking off into chunks to float towards Valâr. Those chunks transformed into very large javelins three times the size of Leonard, growing from the tens to hundreds within a matter of a few seconds.
"All bends to my will in this domain!"
Thrusting his hands forward, Valâr commanded the javelins forward with terrifying speed, like a wave of arrows ready to rain down upon and slaughter a battalion. Leo remained were he was, shrugging his shoulder before forcing them down swiftly, as if he had just cocked a gun. By doing so, the blades on the underside of his arms expanded all the way to his fingertips, allowing him to raise them up as the gaps at the tips brimmed with white energy.
(2:33)
Hundreds of beams of black and white Aura discharged from the tips of the blades within a split second, carpeting the whole front area with super high density beams of Aura that easily devoured the incoming javelins and melted them away like scraps of paper.
In his jaw dropped stupor, Valâr failed to avoid the round kick to his stomach that launched him high into the sky, with Leonard giving chase by quickly bouncing off the walls, landing a blow as he passed Valâr to rocket him up further, and repeating the process over and over. When high enough into the air, Valâr could only watch as Leo dug the back of his heel into his face, then dragged it through while extending the blade on his leg to leave another large cut across the man's body to shoot him into the ground.
The second Leo landed, a razor sharp wave of the floor rose up like a saw and came after him, dozens more making attempts but failing to hit their mark. When the assault ceased, he found himself under assault from a massive tidal wave of the white material that made up the domain, rushing at him quickly like a tsunami.
Leo moved his arms back as thin, pyramidical, needle-like blades that glowed white hot shot out of the gaps where his arm blades were, each blade three feet long. Letting his arms down, the boy rushed forward to meet the wave unafraid, sparks trailing behind him as his blades tore through the earth before he leap up into the air. Folding his legs into his chest, the "thrusters" on Leo's back and legs sent him spinning vertically towards the wave as he kept his arms out, turning himself into a rapid saw that melted through the wall of white and dashed straight for the exposed Valâr.
The man raised up an arm and brought up rows of spikes from the ground at different angles, but with the immortal's newfound speed, he moved in between the spikes with not so much as a scratch, landing a solid right cross to Valâr's face. Staggered, Leo swept Valâr's feet from under him and tackled him midair, causing them both to tumble briefly, but ending with Leo stopping them and him sitting atop.
The teen's fists moved like a hypercharged machine; quick, furious, and unrelenting as he landed punch after punch after punch to Valâr's face, his blackened skin that protected him cracking under the fury of the deviled Leo. The slits on Leo's arms that let out short bursts of Aura with each punch made each attack all the quicker and more powerful, a force Valâr could no longer steel himself against up close.
He needed to get away.
A headbutt was thought to give him a chance, and it did make contact, but it did nothing but fuel Leo's anger as he grabbed Valâr and returned the headbutt with much more devastating effect than what Valâr delivered.
With this momentary pause, Valâr slammed his hand into the floor and erected multiple columns upwards to remove Leo from his person, the boy clawing at him furiously in response to being separated.
Another column of the material slammed into Leo's face to toss him away, the boy quickly looking up to see a colossal javelin coming his way. The white hot needle blades emerged yet again, and Leo quickly cut diced away at the monolith bit by bit until nothing remained of it.
The blades retracted into their slots as Valâr and Leo grabbed hold of the other's hands and head butted one another once more.
"This is… quite the impressive display! I must say I've underestimated your… abilities!"
Very slowly the man began to overpower Leo despite his best efforts, but activating the "thrusters" on his arms allowed him to even out the odds to keep them in a standstill as they tried to overwhelm the other.
"Even manipulating my own body to greatly strengthen my muscle fibers and tendons seems to only do so little to defeat you with sheer force! Very well!"
Valâr tripped up Leo and spun him around before throwing him far away to put enough distance between them. This was more of a last resort, one he didn't imagine he'd need since it would be a detriment to his "work".
But it was necessary.
Valâr's right hand brimmed with grey Aura as the area ruptured and quaked violently, Leonard maintaining his footing as he glared onward at the man a ways from him.
"Be honored, 'Simply Leonard'. You've put me in a position to use this. The damage will be great, but nothing I won't be able to repair within three days time. Now then… fall under the crushing weight of the power dormant in this tower!"
The boy made to move forward, but it was only now he realized he had fallen under a great shadow. And when he looked up, a monolith ridiculously larger than anything that was sent his way was falling on him.
It had to be half the size of a small mountain…
Leo wouldn't have had enough speed to remotely escape from it, not with how close it was currently.
…
There was no option of running.
As the mass descended upon Leonard, he raised his feet up one after the other and firmly planted them in the ground, outstretching his arms to welcome it before it made contact with him.
(4:27)
All of the slits on Leo's body were bursting at full force, unleashing a heavy flow of white energy as he tried to resist being crushed. With all his effort, the mass was slowly pushing him into the ground little by little until he was like Atlas, carrying the crushing weight of the earth on his shoulders until he was at last on his knees, ready to perish.
"Look at it this way young Leonard! You'll soon be reunited with the Lianna sisters in just a matter of moments! Succumb to your imminent demise! Don't you wish to see them once more?!"
It was too much…
Everything… It was all too much to bear…
…
…
Bailey would tell him to continue fighting and give him no quarter. Alice would berate him to no end for being an idiot. Thinking this brought some sort of strange comfort to him, something that was foreign in the cases of others with the exception of his siblings.
It was like a broken connection that had been remade, only to be stretched thin soon after, yet still hold.
He wanted to see them again. He wanted to! But he couldn't…
And it was because of him! He wasn't going to let the bastard get away with it! Not after coming this far!
Valâr looked on, shocked to see the mass rise slowly and see a pair of glowing white eyes emerge from the shadow beneath. It was a grotesque thing to see once he saw the full few; blood spewed from between the spirals of the armor as the small, half sized mountain began lifting evermore.
Leo was literally tearing his body apart just to move the damn debris. His whole body was on fire as he felt of much of him tearing apart and healing, repeating the same process over and over again within the span of a few seconds, his vast amounts of blood soaking into the white earth beneath him.
(5:45)
With one final push and his thrusters at full blast, the immortal finally managed to push the heavy burden off him just enough to give him enough space for what he was to do next. The white hot blades emerged once more, only halfway produced to the teens fists as he slid siege to the stone above him, his arms moving quickly like a furious machine once more as his armored fists and white hot arms blades crushed and stabbed into mass, widening the cracks with each blow.
Rearing his arm back, Leo delivered a monstrous uppercut into the stone a final time, cracks spreading out from the bottom to the top in an instant before imploding with a brilliant flash of white and black.
Shock and awe. That's all the man felt at the moment, failing to notice Leo charging his way through the air, delivering a dropkick to Valâr's face to send him skidding on his heels.
A wall, something to stop him, anything to slow him down and give him more time to think!
The first wall had been shattered. The second had fallen. The third crumbled. And the fourth wall had been broken.
He raised the ground beneath him to move himself away from Leo, furiously swiping his hands to send obstacle after obstacle the teen's way. Leonard met them unafraid, dodging around whatever he could and slicing through anything that blocked him with his white hot arm blades. Spikes emerged from the walls behind Valâr, moving around him like treacherous tendrils as they homed in on Leo.
The white hot blades had retracted themselves back into their gaps, allowing them to glow with energy once more before shooting out droves of high density Aura Beams that tore the tendrils apart in the blink of an eye. Valâr however was still a distance away.
Using the falling debris as stepping stones, Leo jumped in between each falling piece of rubble, all while avoiding the javelins that failed to meet their mark. When close, instead of hitting him head on, Leo dashed past Valâr higher up into the air. Confused by this, the man looked up and saw something else that shocked him.
Bailey Lianna's blade. It hadn't been lost, but simply discarded by Leo to use at a later time.
And all he could do was watch Leo kick off the ceiling were the sword had been planted, and drive the pristine white katana through his heart in the next moment.
(End Song)
The two crashed into the ground harshly, with Leo being flung away as he drew the sword from Valâr's body, rolling on the ground until he eventually slowed to a stop. The sleek and elegant armor adorning his figure slowly melted away, revealing his previously battered body beneath as he panted.
He was beyond exhausted…
His muscles didn't feel sore, but they didn't feel like they were all in order quite yet. Leo assumed it to be a given since he virtually destroyed the entirety of his body, save for his internal organs.
It was only now he finally understood what his brother felt every time he used his Shadow Skin, let alone what he endured to an extent. But his usage of the ability over the years must have toughened his body up to extraordinary extents as to not affect him anymore.
Dante was right… None of this is easy, especially when starting out...
The young immortal turned his head to the sound of pained groaning, seeing Valâr attempting to stand back up, but flailing about on the ground instead. Eventually, he had to resort to using the ground to lift himself as he glared daggers at Leo.
"Don't you ever fucking die?" The young immortal asked.
Whether it was frustration or exhaustion, Valâr gave the boy no response, and only laughed to himself silently as the ground shook violently. The earth upturned itself and formed around Valâr, forming a sort of sharp tip at the front that slowly moved forward toward Leo.
"Guess not…" He exhaustedly replied, reaching to his left for his handcannons that lay on the floor.
He missed a few times since his vision was doubling a bit, but eventually grabbed his guns as the pieces of the weapons slowly fell apart and combined together to form one, single handcannon.
It was a bit larger than usual with the barrel extending to a foot and a half instead of the normal one foot length.
He had one last shot within him. Making it was going to be a challenge since he couldn't even aim properly, much less lift the gun to an acceptable height from his position on the floor.
That was until he felt a pair of hands under his own helping to adjust his aim, and another pair with one hand sitting him up straight while the other stayed on the underside of his arm. Looking to his left and right he was utterly dumbfounded by what he saw.
"Hey dumbass! Don't go firing it off all half-assed! You're gonna miss otherwise!"
Alice..?
"Leonard… We'll support you to the end, so please, take care when aiming!"
Bailey..!
He couldn't believe it in the slightest! It had to be an illusion! This couldn't be..!
…
Leo could worry about his state of mind later. Right now, he had a job to finish.
The colossal pointed mass moved in ever closer, but the Lianna sisters remained as they were supporting Leo, who had now taken appropriate aim.
"Checkmate, assclown…"
A pull of the trigger, and a large, beam-like blast of white and black Aura fired off with such great intensity that even with the sisters helping resist the recoil slid back with Leonard a foot or two.
All three watched as the beam-like blast immediately pierced through the incoming debris to melt it away, encroaching upon the heavily injured Valâr.
In those last moments, all he did was smile as he bowed his head.
"Well done…"
With his final words, the beam had consumed the entirety of his body within a mere moment, leaving no trace of it as the beam continued onwards, eventually breaking through the confines of the tower before disappearing moments later. Subtle crackles of energy lingered in the air, and then vanished entirely.
"Hell yeah! There's no way he's coming back from that!"
"I agree. It's safe to say he's finally been eliminated."
Leo's arm dropped to the side as the voice of the two sisters speaking slowly faded out, and with it, his vision soon after while the sisters cried out in concern.
(Omake: Last Supper, by me)
"Come now. This feast was made for you. The least you could do is eat something before our climactic final battle. I wouldn't want you cursing me if I won because you were famished." Valâr told Leo from the other end of the table.
"As if that would happen. And I'm not eating your food. You could've drugged it for all I know."
"Who? Me~? I would never~!"
"That tone of yours isn't all too convincing, if at all."
"But you can trust me. I'd never~ do something like that."
Leo didn't trust him in the slightest bit. At all. And he never would in any lifetime
Ever.
"Please, entertain me a bit. I went to great lengths cooking everything myself you know. The least you can do is partake. I'll go first."
Valâr did so, using a fork to dig into the already cut up steak, raising it in front of Leo before he ate it.
Five, four, three, two, one…
…
Nothing.
…
Could it actually be safe?
No, he couldn't trust it. He shouldn't trust it.
…
But it looked really good…
"Fine."
Leo begrudgingly took a fork and knife in his hands and cut a piece of turkey breast from the cooked bird, slowly putting it into his mouth and chewing it cautiously.
It actually tasted great…
"Aha! You've fallen for my trap Leonard!" Valâr exclaimed as he jumped from his chair onto the table.
Of course he did…
"Fool! Did you expect there to be a peaceful moment that easily?! You're a fool Leonard!"
"I figured you'd do this."
"What..?!"
"I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew this was a trap. Honestly, drugs? How amateurish."
"Those were guaranteed to work!"
"Yes, on anyone but me. But there's one thing you forgot. I rewrote the affliction so that it'll target you instead." Leo said.
At that moment, Valâr felt the unholiest rumbling in his stomach he had ever felt in his life, and covered his mouth moments before running off.
Leonard crossed one leg over the other as he took a sip from the tea he poured for himself, relishing his victory.
(Semblance Encyclopedia 15)
"Good day everyone. Welcome to another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia, where myself and my sister Ciel make someone's Semblance a topic of discussion for the segment." Leo told the audience as he stepped onto the stage
"And today Leo's going to tell you about Bailey's Semblance! B-T-dubs, you totally kicked ass today!" Ciel applauded.
"Come now, it was nothing special."
"Yeah, your Shadow Skin wasn't all too much, but hey, the fight was something special at least!"
"My Shadow Skin has far more complexity and sophistication to it than yours, you tiny bean sprout…" Leo muttered under his breath as he looked away.
"Who say what?" Ciel asked, luckily not catching his last statement.
"Nothing. We'll talk about comparing our Shadow Skins another time. So, as Ciel mentioned, today we'll be presenting you Ms. Lianna's Semblance."
A projector screen came to life, projecting a small and cute cartoonish version of Bailey with her katana in hand.
"We haven't seen it in action really, but we'll display it for you and explain to you the details. To put it simply, Ms. Lianna's Semblance allows her to generate wind for both offensive and defensive purposes. In terms of offense, she can generate slicing waves of air with each strike of either of her swords. The pressure, combined with the force of her swing, allow her to cut through metal, since her air waves also contain traces of her Aura to toughen the waves and amplify their cutting ability. Their speed is also something not to scoff at since they travel very quickly."
The projection on screen demonstrated these abilities, before the small Bailey returned to her idle state, soon a thin, clear barrier forming around her.
"In terms of defense, she can use this wind generation in order to sway projectiles of course, however, this doesn't work so well with physical melee weapons since an enemy has greater control of their attack. Although, Bailey does have a counter for those as well."
"It's a pretty cool one too!" Ciel cut in, "Essentially, if Bailey can generate her wind at a fast enough rate, she'll go from using wind to lightning! Same concepts apply from above in terms of offense and defense, but the lightning barrier she uses for defense can actually repeal physical attacks and projectiles!"
"Sadly though, this process isn't done instantaneously." Leo added, "It takes a bit of time and continuous usage in order to 'charge' her wind up so it can transition into lightning. During that period, she has little to worry about when it comes to projectiles and instead focuses more on physical melee attacks, if any come her way of course."
The screen then projected the small Bailey resting, taking quick breaths to demonstrate a sense of exhaustion.
"It's also worth mentioning that using the lightning state of her Semblance drains her Aura significantly quicker than it does in its normal wind state. Twice as much in fact."
"Wait wait wait, you forgot the other ting!"
"Ting?" Leo questioned.
"The ting go skraa!"
Leo only facepalmed at Ciel's statement and let out an audible moan of disapproval, the latter laughing at her own joke.
"I get what you meant, but that was just terrible…"
"Hey, someone's got to be remotely funny here. And that definitely isn't you."
The brother only shook his head, continuing with his explanation.
"Lastly is the secondary effect of the lightning state of Bailey's Semblance. Considering it allows her to generate lightning, this in turn allows her to supercharge her body in order to make it move faster than normal and allows her more physical strength. Outside of large consumption of Aura, this will put a strain on her body and will exhaust her overtime, which is why she only uses the lightning state when she truly needs it, and has time to prepare it."
"A badass Semblance for a badass chick! Take some notes Leo." Ciel said pointing both fingers at him.
He only shook his, looking back to the audience, "That's all we have to present to you today everyone. This has been another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia. We hope you enjoyed it." Leo said with a bow.
"Well, that's a wrap for today! Let's go see what big brother's up to!"
"Wait, we have to cover the last few events concerning you before we get back to him!"
…
"Oh yeah… Almost forgot about that…"
"How do you forget-?!"
The brother let out a frustrated sigh with a double facepalm, then shook his head as he quickly walked off stage.
"What's his deal..? Meh, whatever! See you next time everyone!"
IT HAD TO BE DONE! Do you know how incredibly hyped I was to see that there was an actual, legitimate sequel that is Devil May Cry 5?! VERY! I almost cried tears of joy as I watched that amazing trailer and listened to that fantastic song! No joke, there was a period of three days where I only listened to that song, both the full version I listed above and the trailer cut version. So damn good... So yes, I used that song here. Why? Theme of the tune, the lyrics; they kinda fit the situation perfectly from my view. So when writing the fight scene, I kinda molded the sequence of events in tune within the time frame of the song, as I usually do when I list them in certain fights. I always feel like it'll give you an impression of what I was thinking and feeling at the time of writing the scene or fight.
But yeah, I hoped you enjoyed it. I know there's gonna be questions. Like how the hell Alice and Bailey were there. Are they actually alive? Or was that a hallucination? Or was it their ghosts that came to support him one last time before they move on? The answer to that will be revealed soon enough. So ponder it as we proceed.
With that, I have nothing left to say. So in that regard...
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.
Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!
Bye-bye now!