As these chapters are the final chapters, I ask that everyone please review. I need to know that I'm doing a good job (or if these chapters suck).
Wave Battle: Harpuia of the Storm
(Play Song: Final Battle-Decision/Tales of Symphonia)
Zero found herself in an environment much like Dragon Sky's Satellite, but there was a red hue in the background. The ground was much like a maze.
"Xerox, I have a bad feeling about what's ahead," Zero said.
"It is Harpuia after all," Xerox said, "He's the strongest of the Four Guardians after all. If he's using the last of the Satellite Administrators' power, then we're in serious trouble."
"But didn't Harpuia act a little strange?" Zero asked walking forward, "He seemed like he was sad about something."
"Honestly, that guy is just plain weird," Xerox said, "Nothing he does makes sense."
Zero thought hard about that though. Ever since she met Harpuia he had been one giant enigma to her. He spared her in their first encounter, tried to persuade her to join them in their second encounter, then saved Kitty just to make her happy in their third encounter. He knew that she was the reincarnation of Phoenix Heart, and he seemed to be somewhat reluctant in this attack.
And the way he looked at her...
"Xerox, do you think he's-" there was an explosion up ahead that caught their attention, "What was that?"
"I think it came from the next area! Luna, let's move!" Xerox said.
"Right!" Zero said nodding. As she ran, once again she was struck with the lack of Viruses present. A Level 3 Mettaur here or there, but nothing super serious. Did Harpuia not use Viruses?
It took a minute, but at the end she saw the teleporter up ahead. It had a symbol of a dragon's head on it. She didn't waste any time. She jumped through the teleporter, afraid of what she would find on the other side.
When she arrived, she saw a sight she never though she would see. Harpuia was standing in front of Aries, and he had his swords out. He looked like he was attacking Aries.
"Kid!" Xerox shouted.
"I know! I'm going!" Zero said. She ran over to the fight, confused as hell as to what was going on.
"Harpuia, I'm disappointed in you," Aries said calmly, "This sudden refusal to follow my orders."
"I'm sorry Master, but you're taking this war too far," Harpuia said, "I can't allow you to continue this."
"Harpuia!" Zero called out running up to them.
"Luna!" Harpuia called out in response.
"I see," Aries said darkly, "This is what turned you against me. No matter. You will carry out my final order, whether you want to or not." Aries held up his hand, and a large amount of the Nightmare Virus began to flow downward to where Zero and Harpuia was.
"Luna, look out!" Harpuia shouted pushing her aside.
"AH!" Zero cried out as she fell. When she looked up at Harpuia she saw more Nightmare Virus flowing into him. It was like a fountain. Harpuia was groaning in pain, "Aries, stop it! You're killing him!"
"Ah, so you show sympathy to an FMian," Aries said, "Despite the two of you being enemies, how interesting."
"AMian, FMian, human, it doesn't matter! Harpuia is a person! If you don't stop this he'll-"
"AUGH!" Harpuia screamed. Zero looked up at him and saw he was pulsating with red energy.
"He has triple the amount of Nightmare Virus in his system!" Xerox exclaimed, "Not even one of the Four Guardians can handle this much!"
"Harpuia, delete Zero!" Aries commanded, "Let's see how well you'll fair against this Phoenix."
"ARIES!" Zero shouted as he teleported away.
"Kid, don't forget about him!" Xerox commanded. Zero looked and saw Harpuia trying to fight it, but whatever fight he was having inside his head he was losing BAD.
"H-Harpuia!" Zero cried out.
"L-Luna... Xerox... please... delete me!"
That hit Zero hard. Did he say what she though he said? He wanted her to...
"Are you kidding me?" Xerox asked.
"Please...! Kill... me...! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
In a big explosion, Harpuia's form began to change. Zero had to cover her eyes from the wave, but when she opened them she saw Harpuia, only now he looked like Dragon Sky with sharper edges. The monstrous dragon roared loudly, pushing Zero back.
"No!" Zero shouted.
"I... can't control... myself... much longer...! Luna... you and Xerox must... delete me..." Harpuia begged through the monster.
"Kid, we ain't got a choice!" Xerox said, "If we don't delete him now he's going to leave the ship and go to Earth!" Zero looked down and cried tears of sadness and anger, "I hate it too, believe me, but Harpuia's in a lot of pain right now! The least we can do is relieve Harpuia of his pain!"
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Zero could hold in the tears. She knew Xerox was right. This was the only way to save Harpuia, but she hated it. She hated that she had to destroy Geo's body. She hated how she had to kill Val months ago. She HATED that she now had to do this to Harpuia, the only Guardian who truly was a good person. He wasn't evil, and he wasn't looking for a good fight. He was a soldier following orders. Now though, he was on the list of people Zero had to kill for the greater good.
"Why Xerox? Why is this happening? Why do all the people I care about have to die?" Zero cried, shocking Xerox.
"L-Luna..." Xerox said softly.
"I'm so sorry Harpuia!" Zero sobbed, "You saved Kitty for me, and even helped me defend Cyber City from one of your comrads! You never went farther than carrying an order, and you were always an honorable warrior! To make up for everything you did for me, I'll give you a warrior's death!" she looked up at Harpuia through her tears and activated her Z-Saber.
"Wave Battle! Action!"
(Play Song: Fighting the Spirit/Tales of Symphonia)
Harpuia flew past Zero, who rolled out of the way, and then flew straight up in the air. As he flew around in the sky, lightning bolts came down onto the ground, but unlike her fight with Dragon, the bolts of lighting were huge, and they were coming down really fast. He must be going insane right now, Zero thought as she ran around the field frantically trying to dodge the attacks.
Harpuia flew straight up into the sky out of view. A few seconds later a ring of lightning came down, but Zero rolled to the side out of the way, as she knew what was coming next and didn't want to be trapped. Sure enough, the ring landed on the ground and a large bolt of lightning came down in the center, forming Harpuia. He instantly charged at Zero and whipped her with his tail, forcing her back. When she got up she readied her Z-Saber, praying that he would do the same attack.
Thankfully, he charged up a ball of electricity in his mouth, and then shot a ball of electricity at Zero. Right when she slashed at the orb though, Harpuia shot another orb at her. Now she had to hit two of them back! This was already looking bad.
For a long time it was just back and forth between them, but after a couple of loooooooong seconds Harpuia missed and got hit by one of the orbs, a second later he fell down knocked out. Zero wasted no time rushing over to Harpuia with a Heavy Ax Battle Card activated and slashed at him with it. Harpuia got up and roared at the ceiling sending lightning down onto the entire area. Zero wasn't able to block the attack and fell back, and Harpuia flew up into the sky again.
Zero activated a Recovery 500 Battle Card to heal, and then got up and began running around the entire field as lightning came down around her. The bolts had gotten much faster and a little bigger, making it harder for her to run. Harpuia flew up out of view, but this time the bolts began coming down in weird patterns away from Zero. An entire wall of lightning came down in front of Zero, and rushed towards her. She activated a Barrier Battle Card to defend herself, but she wasn't ready for Harpuia's follow up attack. He tackled her knocking her back, and doing massive damage.
"We're running out of healing cards!" Xerox shouted.
" I know Xerox!" Zero responded as she pulled out a Recovery 300 Battle Card, "We have to fight smarter!"
"He's getting ready for the orb attack!" Xerox said, "Brace yourself!"
Zero nodded as Harpuia landed in front of her. He charged up his attack, and then fired two orbs at Zero. She used her Z-Saber to slash them back at Harpuia, almost getting hit a few times. Eventually the orbs moved too fast for Harpuia and he got hit by one. When he was knocked out, Zero activated two Wide Swords and slashed at him while he was down. She ran away when Harpuia stirred, and activated her last Barrier Battle Card right when he roared making the lightning come down on the field. He then flew up into the sky again.
"L-Luna... r-r-r-run... away... can't... control... AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Harpuia flew into the sky, and the lightning began coming down in strange patterns again. Instead of hearing him call out the attack, Zero heard Harpuia scream out in pain again as the tornado od electricity came down and began chasing her. It seemed like it was much faster than Dragon's version, and it went longer.
After a few seconds, the tornado went into the center of the field. Harpuia flew down into the tornado making it explode. Zero blocked the explosion, but it still left her hurt. Harpuia wasted no time rushing over to Zero, who moved to the side JUST in time, and then continued flying around in the sky, sending lightning bolts down everywhere. This was getting insane. The attacks were coming faster and harder now, so much that Zero could barely get away.
The ring of electricity came down, but Zero slipped away just in time as it hit the ground and Harpuia came down. This time after he charged up the orb attack, Harpuia fired three orbs at Zero. It was so bad that Zero had to use a Long Sword so she could get two of them at once. She dodged to the side making one hit the ground, but then slashed the last two back at Harpuia, who although he hit one back, the other one got him and knocked him down. Zero poved away from the last orb, and slashed wildly at Harpuia with everything she had. It looked like he was stirring, but she got one last good slash on him, piercing his armor.
"Thank you... Luna..." Harpuia said before his entire body exploded. When the smoke cleared Zero saw Harpuia lying down on the floor in his EM form, his swords lying at his sides.
"Harpuia!" Zero shouted running up to him. She knelt down to him and sat him up, "Are you alright?"
"Luna..." Harpuia said smiling, "You're so pure... even now... you're wish for me... to hold on..."
"I don't get it Harpuia," Xerox said, "You were the FM King's right hand soldier. Why did you attack him?"
"I'm... not really sure..." Harpuia said, "When I saw how hard Luna... was willing to fight for her planet... Something inside of me... changed..."
"Did you know that I was Phoenix?" Zero asked.
"Not right away..." Harpuia admitted, "Aries... confided in me... after you stormed our fortress... last Earth year... Told me... that the only one... who could Wave Change with Xerox... was Phoenix's human... reincarnation..." he slowly handed Zero one of his swords, "Cassiopeia absorbed all three Satellites... to add to it's... power... The only... way to stop it now... is to destroy... the core..."
The Wave Space they were in began to shake, "What the hell is going on?" Xerox asked.
"Cassiopeia is... preparing... to fire at... Earth..." Harpuia said, "Luna... you must stop him... you must..."
"Harpuia...!" Zero cried holding his hand tightly, "I need to know! Why did you help me?"
"My only reason... was to make you... happy... You were so... sad when I... first met you... and knowing that... my master... was the cause... of that sadness... I had... to try... to save you... but I see that in the end... you chose the devil... over me..."
It was then that Zero finally understood Harpuia. She was surprised she didn't realize it sooner. Harpuia... was in love with her. Knowing that made his death hurt even more.
"Tell me Xerox..." Harpuia said, "How does it feel... to Wave Change... with a human...?"
"It's a wonderful feeling," Xerox said sadly, "It's both empowering and assuring, like you know you can get through anything. You and the human become one entity, and are closer than any two people could ever be."
"I... see... I wish... that I could... have been your... partner... Take care... of her... Xerox..."
"I will..." Xerox said sadly.
Harpuia looked peacefully, "Leviathan... Fenrir... Phantom... I'm coming... to join you..."
He slowly faded away, leaving his swords behind him. Zero walked over to the other sword and held both swords together. The two swords turned into a Battle Card, this one showing a picture of Harpuia in his Battle Form. The picture was a side view of Harpuia looking down seriously, but he held up one of his swords. Lightning was behind Harpuia in the picture, and the ID on the Card was "Guardian's Blade".
"Xerox," Zero said, "We have to stop Aries. We can't let him destroy Earth."
"Then let's not waste any time," Xerox said. The teleporter appeared ahead, and Zero ran through. Even though she was in the zone, she was still aware of the tears she shed for those who died because of this war. Tears for Valerie, for Ariel, for the Satellite Administrators, for all of the Four Guardians, and for Geo...
She was going to end this war... for them.