Hello all! it feels great to have time to write again, although i'm still pressed for time with all the football training and my job. This fic is nearing completion, something i 've been looking forward to. completing this fic will be a milestone in my life, because it will mark the fuirst full length project i've completed. I'll be honest, my Zelda fic (aside from being horribly written with amature written all over it) was cut short because 1 i ran out of ideas) and two, i was getting tired of writing it. But this is a different story (sorry bad pun .).
anyway, here is the thirty seventh installment of Believe in Me.
Story
thinking
"talking"
Emphasis
(me talking)
Enjoy!
Believe in me
By: Flashgunner
Ch. 37: "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick." –Teddy Roosevelt
There he goes again. Ciel watched her crimson knight engage in battle. It was strange though. Countless times in the past had she called upon and sent him into battle, but it seemed different, no… it looked different. Zero's movement no longer looked so cold, or so frozen in step and technique. Perhaps it was the expiation of what Iris had left behind in his heart that caused him to discard his shell and end his dissimilation from his true feelings. He now looked so free and, dare I say, happy. A word up until now would never have been used to describe Zero. Ciel closed her eyes, sighed, and blushed a little as she thought of how much the two of them had been through and how things will most likely end up if… no… when they survive. All I can do now though… is encourage him! "Go Zero! Fight!"
"RAH!" Zero switched the triple rod from spear mode to staff mode and swung the staff back and forth to knock out the prelude of the swarm ahead. He followed up with a massive back flip that catapulted him over the cluster of enemies. Upon landing he caught one Vile on the edge of the staff and swung him into an approaching group, then wound up and delivered a mighty blow to a Vile sneaking up from behind, sending it in the opposite direction at quite a high velocity.
Recovering quickly, Zero used his momentum to jump towards another Vile and slam him to the ground with a downward swing. Before landing he used the ricochet of the previous blow to bounce back and sideswipe a Vile in the face behind him. And continue the rotation to knock out another approaching. Noticing a circle closing around him, Zero ended the rotation with a 360 degree leg sweep, tripping every Vile within a seven foot radius.
One Vile, managed to jump over the sweep, but he probably would have been better off not doing so. The conclusion of Zero's violent rotation met the Vile in mid air, sending it through a section of the wall high up near the Ceiling faster than one could blink. Zero began delivering mighty blows, one right after another, each swipe knocking down four or five enemies at once. One tried to get behind Zero, but you'd think Vile had learned by now that it was ineffective. Without looking, Zero spun the staff around and delivered a concentrated blow to the Vile's chin, sending it flipping through the air like a helpless rag doll and falling on an approaching group.
Twirling the staff back and forth across his body, Zero took a few steps back and intercepted an incoming Vile with a similar chin blow; only this one absorbed the Vile's momentum completely, letting it fall to the ground as if it had jumped in place. One Vile, tried to use it's comrade as a surprise and jump from behind it. Zero immediately struck the Vile so hard that it was up against the wall on the other side of the room. The Vile stood up and grunted to itself.
"This is not good… I need more!"
Two Viles managed to get a hold on the two ends of Zero's staff between attacks. Zero saw this not as a problem, but as an opportunity. He swung on the now supported bar to kick two Viles ahead of him, then arm chopped the two holding the staff in the face. The bar dropped from their hands as they stumbled back. Zero kicked the bar into an approaching Vile and caught it as it bounced off the enemy. Quickly he used the staff to support himself as he kicked two incoming into groups behind them, causing a domino effect. Suddenly one grabbed Zero from behind.
What?! Where did he come from?! Zero quickly hoisted the Vile off his back using the staff as a lever and faced the crowd. Suddenly, even more Viles seemed to appear out of thin air. Zero knocked away another enemy behind him, and then looked around. More and more Viles kept appearing until Zero found himself surrounded by a giant swarm of his old enemy. He began attacking in any direction connecting with whatever was in his way. Zero began spinning violently before and after every move, to keep the Viles from getting to close to over run him. He took to the air in an instant as a Vile dove for his legs. Using the staff as a support, he thrust it into the Viles back and began spinning in circles around the staff, knocking out anything that got close. As he spun he began to charge the energy in the staff.
Zero seized the spin and got punched in the face right after. Holding firm, Zero unleashed the energy, causing the ends of the staff to spark with energy. He began twirling the staff as he swung it around, hitting anything that just happened to be in the way with not true target in mind. Eventually the Viles caught on and began dodging the formidable attack.
As the energy dissipated Zero turned to see a Vile land on him and pry the staff out of his hands. Before Zero could counter, the Vile kicked him in the stomach, sending Zero through the hoard of Viles. Zero quickly saw the predicament he was in. "Hienkyaku!!" Zero was gone from the spot in the blink of an eye; he began weaving through the crowd of Viles in hopes to find some means of attack. As he approached the wall, Zero kicked off the surface and began jumping off the heads. They grabbed at his legs, but zero concentrated on moving lightly and efficiently, that was, until a Vile came hurling through the air and tackled him. They tumbled to the ground and the Viles began piling on top of Zero to hold him down.
Zero was forced down onto one knee as he tried to fight back the pressure being applied to him. One Vile got right up into Zero's face.
"Hehehehe… You see Zero… in the end, what drove me was more powerful!" Zero kept struggling.
"Zero! You can do it!" Ciel yelled from the sidelines. It was quite a change for her. In the past whenever Zero was in danger she would freak out and lose her cool, but now… now she was so confident that he would win no matter what. She knew he would win. "Give him everything Zero!" Zero managed to lift his right arm and curled his hand into a fist.
"So naïve to the end, eh Vile?"
"I hardly think you are in any condition to taunt me Zero……" Zero's fist was now glowing with energy. "What?!"
"Vile, did you already forget what I said before we fought?" Zero's fist began to shine brightly. "I…" Zero managed to lift his other knee off the ground. "WILL…" Zero straightened his legs. "FIGHT…" Zero brought his body upright. "FOR…" Zero was now standing up with the Viles still piled on top of him and he raised his glowing fist above his head. "CIEL!! RAKUHOUHA!!" Zero suddenly dropped to the ground again and pounded his fist into the floor. A massive wave of energy erupted from the ground and formed into an expanding dome around Zero. The Viles flew in every direction, as the explosion of energy pinned every single one of them to the wall and cieling. As the energy dissipated, bodies began raining down from above. Suddenly, the Viles began to vanish in bright flashes of yellow light. Zero and Ciel watched as the light show lessened the body count one by one, until there was only one remaining. Vile propped himself up on his elbows.
"What? What's happening?" He looked down at his belt and saw the copy box crackle and fizz out. "No!" He began fiddling with it as Zero progressed toward him. Vile, noticing this, began trying to regain his footing franticly. Once he failed to do so he stared up at his old adversary. "Heh….heh heh, well! Good fight Zero wasn't that fun?" Zero stopped directly in front of him. Vile was desprately thinking of ways to save himself. "Yeah, it was enjoyable! You liked it! I really… uh… really put your abilities to the test huh?" Zero called his arm cannon and pointed it at Vile's head.
"Get lost." Zero charged and fired; and that was the end of that. Zero's weapons detached form the wall and Ciel's makeshift prison shorted out. She calmly stepped out of the doorway and trotted towards him. "Are you alright?" Zero was first to ask as he reclaimed his weapons. Ciel smiled cutely with her eyes closed.
"Me? I'm not the one who just fought a thousand identical twins."
"It was no…"
"…big deal, right?" Zero raised an eyebrow and let out a soft chuckle. "I know you too well Zero." Zero finished recalling all of his weapons and smirked at her.
"You know me huh?"
"Oh I have my knowledge…" Ciel taunted him.
"Have you ever known me to do this?" Zero suddenly stepped forward and picked her by the waist, slinging her over his shoulder and heading out the exit.
"AAAH! ZERO!" yelled a VERY red Ciel as she pounded on his back.
"Huh? Who's that talking to me?" Zero joked as he turned around twice while walking through the new brightly lit corridor. "Oh hey! This looks like the exit! It'll be great if we can get out without running into Colonel."
"That's peachy… now put me down!"
"I don't know… you might get stuck in a force field again." Zero laughed as Ciel gave up trying to get free.
"Ok, ok fine." Zero put her down in front of the door. "Well wasn't that an adventure?" Ciel playfully glared at him, a little frazzled, but she was happy. She was still in awe of how much Zero had changed in the course of a few weeks.
All his emotions were bottled up for so long… maybe he's just trying to cut loose a little bit. Heh… I'm not complaining, I like him much better this way.
"Alright, in all seriousness now, stay close to me when I open this door. For all we know Colonel still may have some nasty surprise waiting for us." Ciel refocused.
"Okay… I'll be right behind you." Zero pressed the button on the door panel and it hissed open. Upon stepping out, Zero immediately noticed where they were.
"This is…!" It hadn't changed much, in fact the only difference was that it had been dug up and battered a little bit. "… So THAT'S why the interior looked so familiar!"
"Zero where are we?" Zero looked around. The building formed into an L shape, with roads that led out in both directions. Within the right angle of the building there was a grassy field with a large inactive fountain in the center. The statue on the fountain was a large R. Further out past the fountain and the field, was an enormous radio tower, made for communication and air traffic control for airfields that were once nearby.
"This is Relpliforce Headquarters…" Zero answered. Ciel was astonished by the extinct site that lay before her. "Colonel must have dug it up to use as his base of operations."
"Very perceptive Zero!" Zero's head snapped towards the radio tower.
"Colonel…"
"You didn't think you could just leave could you?"
"I was hoping you'd be taking a nap or something!" Zero yelled back, annoyed. Colonel rocketed from the tower and landed heavily in front of Zero. Ciel yelped and hid behind Zero, clinging to his arm.
"Unfortunate for you, but how fortunate for me…" His eyes shifted to Ciel and then back to Zero. "Now I can really carry out my revenge." Zero noticed the glance.
"This time you leave Ciel out of it."
"I'm afraid that's out of the question." Ciel clung to Zero's arm tighter.
"Dammit Colonel! Why can't we just settle this like we used to?"
"Because I need to even the score!"
"The score? But… oh no…"
"You know exactly what I mean don't you."
"For God's sake Colonel!" Zero pointed angrily at the soldier. "How many times do I have to tell you that Iris' death was an accident!" Colonel pointed back at him.
"And how many times do I have to tell you that I don't give a damn what you say!" Colonel drew his sword and pointed it at Zero. "Your death will not satisfy anything! Her death will make you feel the pain and suffering that I have! THIS is the revenge I now seek!" Silence. Zero's arm fell back to his side and he stared at the ground.
"…………………heh."
"Something funny Zero?"
"So that's your revenge huh?"
"What are you babbling about?"
"Knock me down and kill Ciel in front of me…"
"Yes…"
"What a shame…"
"Excuse me?!" Zero raised his sight from the ground and faced Colonel.
"Colonel… you are dead set on this revenge… I can tell… its just like back in the day, every time you had your mind set on something you would pursue it passionately until it was fulfilled…"
"What are you getting at?"
"It's a pity that you won't achieve it."
"WHAT?! How high and mighty we sound! I'll make you eat those words!" Colonel's wrists sparked with the energy of rage and he sprung at Zero as Ciel dove for cover. There was a bright flash the instant before impact and Zero stood exactly where he had been, donning his black armor, with the blade of Colonel's sword stopped against the palm of his hand.
"I won't be eating anything… Colonel… you cannot beat me, because I've discovered something. Something that will give me the definite advantage in this battle." Colonel withdrew and stepped back.
"Well what is this so called discovery of yours?!"
"Why don't you come find out for yourself?"
There was a silence. The old stare down. Unlike his bout with Sigma however, Zero found that he did not run through past battles in his mind. The only battle that concerned him now, was the battles of the present and the battles of the future. Unlike Colonel, Zero had accepted his past for what it had become. He was through holding old grudges and past mistakes. There was no looking back now, but Zero needn't worry about that, because now he was only looking in one direction……… forword.
As if their minds worked in synch, they both called out to each other, "EN GUARD!"
--To be continued--
ALRIGHT its here... the final battle. BUT NOT the final chapter! As i mentioned before (or at least i think i have) there will be three or 4 more chapters plus the epilouge after the main storyline is concluded. I just a few extra things that were on my mind that i couldn't work into the main story.
Once again i thank all those who read and review this fic, you guys are awsome!
Please read and review!!
Flashgunner over and out!