Chapter 17 - A Golden Experience PT1
"Ah… So the players are going to converge on the prize, now…"
Standing atop a ruined building, a masculine figure shrouded by darkness overlooked the route which Division 2 would be taking. How or why the figure managed to figure out that this would be the route they'd travel, was unknown… just like what the figure looked like considering the darkness came from the shadows from the sunrise in distance. Furthermore, the figure's intense gaze along the route almost seemed like he had been… calculating, planning for something ever since he first stepped foot on this viewing area. If that was truly the case however, well, that would be one of the many mysteries surrounding this figure, much like the figure's appearance, mentality, personality among multiple others that, as of right now, would remain shrouded within the fog of illusion.
However, what this illusion DIDN'T hide from the world at large about him… was how he seemed to be equipped with a Suitcase, one that looked STARKLY like the one that Ryouko carried. It had both the same size as well as the shape of it, whilst he carried it within his right hand's grasp. Only, several differences could be noted between them: one, there was no sign of blood anywhere on it, making it look practically undamaged. Then there's the second difference: that it had a differing colour scheme to it with this being a brownish golden colour, along with how it seemed to 'shudder' slightly due to the contents inside.
Contents of which he had 'liberated' from its 'confinement'.
"Well, its to be expected of course, since this IS revolving around HER plan for this world… that foolish woman. As much as she claims to have such 'grand' goals, ideals and sees herself as superior to the mortal man, she has lost sight of the one true truth regarding her identity… and true stature within the grand plan for the future…"
The figure spoke these words with no small amount of disappointment, of dismay and internal frustration with this so-called 'woman' whilst seemingly shaking its head, clenching both its apparently occupied fists tightly. Yeah, BOTH fists, for whilst his right hand held the handle of the briefcase, the LEFT one on the other hand… it held something FAR more noticeable in comparison:
In his left hand, the figure held a long Gun, shaped like that of a rifle, though there were several stark features to take note about it. First, the Stock had a golden, ornamental appearance with black as its secondary colour, which attached itself to a set of golden, winding tubes which spiralled together to about half of the Rifle's full size, ending in a single barrel. Two black, long and cylindrical pieces formed a U shape from the Rifle's base to its tip where a single bullet could be seen locked and primed, ready to fire. If anything, as confusing as this weapon looked, it had many similarities to a Single Shot Rifle. Though, a difference between normal ones and this one would be that the whole weapon carried a sense of… danger, to it, a sense which far surpassed that of a normal version. Like, this weapon held secrets to it so deep, so high scale that normal weapons couldn't even BEGIN to compare…
Sort of like the Guns which a certain black dressed fighter forged with his powers.
Glancing down at his weapon, the figure released a soft sigh, not even looking behind him as he raised it, then pointed it behind him over his left shoulder to shoot a single round… one which blasted apart a small HORDE of incoming Noise before they could even be seen as a threat by Division 2, leaving their presence along this route forever lost to the annuls of history. What's more, was it did this the moment it made contact with the first Noise, then released a shockwave behind the said Noise which obliterated the others no matter how fast they could have tried to flee. This Gun… after it had fired, a new bullet got 'loaded' into position from within the winding tubes before it got locked into place like its predecessor, a process which didn't even take a second which raised the possibility of this weapon being capable of simultaneous rapid fire.
Lowering the Gun, the figure released a sigh, before glancing down at the rattling Briefcase.
"This one's getting anxious. Guess that means they're getting ready to mobilize… well then, lets go see your chosen candidate, shall we?"
Things finally went underway, and SHADOW couldn't have been more relieved yet tense at the same time.
Once everyone had mounted their vehicles, they drove off. Their formation being a cross shaped one, with the black cars surrounding Ryouko's pink one, which had its own defence in the form of SHADOW on top of it. The teen stood tall with his hands in his Coat pockets whilst he eyed their surroundings in case of incoming oppressive attacks, allowing the coat tails to flutter in the breeze along with the rest of his outfit. The male wasn't a fool, he pretty much mentally confirmed that there would be an attack on them and, if his instincts were accurate about the strength and resources this third party had in this case, then these men may not be enough to counter it.
Speaking of those men, SHADOW had to admit that, for the amount of info that they had, they definitely had the preparation down solid as he glanced at the various Cars surrounding the one, he stood atop of. The intent behind this formation, according to Genjuro, had been so that they could defend her car on all sides, cause with the route they would be taking, whilst it indeed seemed like the quickest route to their destination it also had the most dangers to it, hence the defence convoy's formation. Each of the men inside were armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns for varying situations, even some handy military grade combat knives. Not so effective against the Noise, that was what he and Hibiki were for, but against human opponents? Whole new ball game.
With a shake of his head, the teen pulled himself out of those musings and stared ahead, seeing that they were approaching what looked to be a highway built over the ocean, heading to another portion of the City. If they were to be attacked by an outside enemy, then SHADOW guessed that this would be the prime time for them to strike… something which had sent his nerves into overdrive whilst a light bead of sweat born from nervousness appeared on his brow. The reason why he thought this was because not only was it a narrow path through the city, but it held multiple pillars for support over a large water body. With his experiences, SHADOW believed they could strike by destroying the pillars or parts of the highway, stripping away their defences or they could just launch one big aerial assault. Either or worked well since they would be in a large, open space and the most vulnerable to attack. At least before they did have the buildings as cover, but not this time.
After wiping his forehead to clean it with his right arm's sleeve, SHADOW stood tall, closing his eyes and listened to the humming of the Car's engine beneath his feet, clutching his Schlagen and Orkan respectively to calm his nerves. This would mark the first time he had ever fought alongside people other than Hibiki, since he usually fought solo against the Noise back in the past, so his nerves… weren't exactly calm like a river at the moment.
[Just think of this as another simple hunt, partner. These foolish humans are simply walking targets full of holes, and you have the itchy trigger finger.]
Fortunately for him, he had a helpful partner with the name of Vritra, something which worked wonders for him as SHADOW felt his nerves settle down significantly, just from hearing the Evil Dragon's voice. Kind of weird, but hey, when one has fought with someone else before for a long time frame, they do tend to form a strong bond. 'Yeah, your right Vritra… still, with how long we've fought together, that has to have affected our Synch Rate, right? What's it at now?'
[75%]
'Huh? Am I doing something wrong? I guessed a little higher there…'
[Nothing to be worried over, you haven't given me reason to limit my power from you so far, partner. Through these years, you've conversed with me, asked my opinion on things and taken them into account. You haven't done much wrong in my eyes, us monsters simply have trust issues, a lot of us do actually. Think about it, we are always hunted by 'Heroes' and 'Gods' for whatever reason. Be it due to conflict, pride, whatever, therefore us having trust issues is only a natural occurrence.]
'Ah, that makes sense. Still, it doesn't change the fact that, one day, I hope to have finally gained your complete trust Vritra. One day…'
…
…
…
…
…
…
… BOOM!
SHADOW's eyes, as well as everyone else's, when all of a sudden a part of the road collapsed in front of them, leaving a big ass hole in the highway ahead of them that had eve extended to the barrier at the side, meaning that should the Car on their left fall into it, destruction and death would likely follow. Instinctively, SHADOW reacted, performing a roundhouse kick and launching a wave of his flames over to the Hole, watching it solidify into a metallic platform which (luckily) managed to retain enough strength to allow the Car on their left to drive across unharmed.
This happened all under 3 seconds, by the way.
'Whew… I knew that learning to alter my Omnimatter's properties from flames into metal would be a good skill to have. It's like that white-haired dude with that loli vampire and rabbit girl from that edgy isekai's transmutation skill, only I have an insanely mouldable material to work with.' SHADOW thought as he looked around for any more signs of imminent destruction, deciding not to focus on the fact that he had been right about this whole thing. Now that they had been attacked like this, the teen put his mind on high alert, not to mention he could hear the sounds of alarm made by Hibiki and the others after the whole thing had occurred just now.
[I assume then that you only saved those Adults simply due to you and Division 2 being allies?]
'Pretty much. Most adults are the same pieces of garbage to me anyways, although there's a more practical reason: Whoever this third party is, they have a large amount of resources at their disposal which means that they will have more than one means of attack. If they control the Noise, especially. We'll be able to use them to deal with any human opponents who will likely come our way in the near future.' SHADOW replied to his partner, already raising his respective guns in preparation for another attack, even having adopted a stance similar to a crane he had once seen a picture of in a Manga he'd read about this school of girls carrying weapons to 'discipline' boys into acting the way they do. 'Correcting' them as they had called it. The reason why he took this stance…
BANG, BANG!
… Became apparent in the next few seconds as several holes opened up along the Highway ahead of them, forcing the Convoy to try and evade them the best they could. However that would have ended with multiple casualties, something SHADOW didn't believe would be good for their side so he would just kick out blasts of flames from his feet to create metallic platforms, allowing the Convoy to pass through unharmed.
"We're under attack! No confirmation, but it's likely the Noise!"
"Seems like they took action quicker than anticipated…"
A sound transmission came from beneath him, one which he recognized the voice as Genjuro's from Division 2's HQ. SHADOW wanted to say the phrase 'no shit, Sherlock!' at this moment, but refrained since there wasn't enough information at the moment, not to mention he still had some doubts as to whether or not this was really the Noise's doing. Doubts which got put to rest…
Within the next few moments.
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-!
In an instant, from their left side multiple Noise shaped like the aerial ones seen at the Concert 2 years ago, burst out the Ocean and twisted themselves into spiralling drills the moment that they reached a high enough altitude, quickly shooting down like a rainfall of arrows towards the highway… ahead of them. A curse escaped SHADOW's lips as he held both his Schlagen and Orkan, launching rounds from both at the Noise after choosing the ones which, according to his mental predictions, would hit the Highway and obstruct them the most.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-!
Rapid Gunfire sounds filled the air, the sources being SHADOW's weaponry as he unloaded like he were opening the infernal gates to the underworld upon the foolish Noise, said creatures falling right into his weapons' line of sight like they didn't care anyways, resulting in them being blown RIGHT into oblivion by some big fucking guns (yeah, you fans of that certain demon killing franchises know what I mean #smirk#). Though, SHADOW did wish he could have over 9000 guns at once right now, as seeing them all unloading their rounds into the enemy like they would in that scenario would have been like listening to some sweet ass music…
Of destruction, that is.
'Still, there's so many of them… just how many did this party have to summon for this to be possible?!' SHADOW wondered as he saw more and more Noise shoot out of the water, still attempting to reach their goal and not minding the shredded sight of their brethren as they got torn apart into nothingness. 'This HAD to have been planned in advance, knowing that Division 2 would take this route. There's no way that this third party could have created such an elaborate, expansive trap like this otherwise, it'd be too difficult!' Yet, even as he mowed them down and the Noise still kept coming, SHADOW still kept enough brain power to consider the bigger scenario taking place here.
[Check your right side, more enemies inbound!]
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-!
The call from his partner, one which got followed up with a notification from Genjuro seconds later, made SHADOW curse under his breath. Following the sounds of more Noise surfacing from the Water, the black dressed male acted like the living turret that he was and turned so that both his arms, one on the left and the other on the right, pointed towards the incoming Noise on both sides. During the turn, he had decided to swap out his Orkan for his Metzelei, the large Gattling Gun already rotating its barrel by the time the turn had completed itself so it could let out its steady stream of black, fiery bullets upon the Noise coming from the right as well.
"Report, everyone's status!"
"A-ok on our end, Genjuro! SHADOW san is keeping the Noise from destroying the Highway for us and providing support to the Escorts. Good thing you decided against following on a Helicopter, lad, otherwise you could have been shot down then turned into swiss cheese."
Inside the Armoured Car, SHADOW heard Ryouko's cheerful response to the urgent transmission from HQ, causing him to sweat drop… though it soon vanished as SHADOW returned to his most important task right about now: making sure each of them got through this Highway relatively safe and sound. He had to admit though that this situation, as intense and gunfire filled as it was, made him feel less like a person and more like a human turret, something which he got reminded of a browser game online called Tower Defence by. 'Still, Ryouko DID have a point there, Genjuro being present on a chopper like he had originally stated he would, likely would have ended with hm being shot down by one of these Noise, which wasn't acceptable. The guy's pretty much the link holding Division 2 together along with keeping them on a… tolerable path, so if he were to expire here… I doubt I'd be able to stomach the new replacement since most adults are trash.' SHADOW thought as he soon had to switch to Donner and Schlag, his previous weapons having to be dismissed from service for the time being just like his Orkan.
The way that his weapons worked, or rather his Guns to be more specific, was that they could function as a way to better launch his ranged fireball attacks, the ones which he had used back in Asmodeus's Palace. He had made them using the 'transmuting' skill which he'd developed through the shifting of his Omnimatter, turning it into the metallic mould which would be the foundation for all his weapons and constructs. He still was limited to weapons for the time being, as it had been stated by Vritra recently, but should his Synch Rate with him improve further that would change, and he could use this ability in a much more… diverse manner. The possibilities would be endless, and he could imagine just how much he could add to his arsenal this way.
However, that wasn't the only method in which these weapons could be used for, as instead of just simply using them as means for his power to be let out more effectively without wasting it, SHADOW could simply 'recreate' the bullets for each Gun and store them within them for future usage, effectively creating 'Magazines' of which he could use to attack his enemies instead of relying on his main reserves like he had done with his fight against that dumb ape previously. The reason why he had chosen to develop THIS method, as according to Vritra his reserves had become significantly large thanks to their high Synch Rate and all the intense training he had done over the last few years, was so that he could preserve his power for the near future, as if his instincts were correct then it would be likely that the enemy would make their personal appearance sooner rather than later, an appearance in which they would be at full power whilst SHADOW himself, in that scenario, wouldn't. Not very favourable if one asked him, so he had developed 'Magazines' for his Guns so that he could use them for a prolonged time whilst still retaining his full power for his fights with the enemy. They were mainly for taking out the 'small fry' in essence, so they wouldn't be as effective against stronger opponents like that Ape or perhaps that lone woman who used that Staff, but SHADOW bet that could change in the future. The most amount of Magazines he'd made were for Donner and Schlag however, with the rest being given second priority since these babies were what SHADOW had predicted he would be forced to draw out, which turned out to be right in this situation as he used them in place of the other Guns to protect the Convoy.
He SO hoped that they would be getting this over with quickly though, since this method had taken a LOT of prep work from him beforehand.
By the time that SHADOW's Magazines ran out for the dual Handguns, the Convoy made it to the other side of the highway safely, causing the masked teen to release a sigh of relief as he lowered his arms, slumping slightly as he fell to one knee. His arms ached like all hell from firing for so long and so much, which would fade in a short moment, but it still remained present enough for him to notice. Still though, with his actions having prolonged the safety of their escorts meant that none of what had happened had gone to waste, so that was something which he had taken solace in. "Ugh… that… was some intense gun action…" SHADOW mumbled under his breath as he looked around, eyeing the various cars before looking to the various roads surrounding them, searching for more attacks.
Silence wasn't something which could provide comfort in this scenario, and everyone involved knew it. 'Too quiet… they must be doing something. What that is I'm not sure, and I don't like it. Best to stay on guard…' SHADOW thought, narrowing his crimson eyes at his surroundings. Since the Convoy entered the other side of the Highway, those Noise had stopped their little assault from the ocean, likely either because they had lost a considerable portion of their numbers or whomever was controlling them (he bet that the third party WAS controlling them due to how he had observed their behaviour) Fortunately, none came within his visual field, although that alone also caused a wave of worry to surge through his chest.
All the while, Genjuro and Ryouko conversed with one another over the radio, trying to conclude their next course of action.
"Genjuro, my boy, shouldn't we pull out? That Chemicals Factory is one big pile of Dynamite. If we go there, then Duradal…"
"I know! But upon analysing the trajectory, it seems the Noise were going for the Escorts not you, which SHADOW thankfully put a stop to. This means that they are likely under sentient control!"
[Something which we confirmed with each other, but alright. Now that we're on the same page here, we should focus-]
Before Vritra could finish the sentence he had been trying to say whilst the car drove over a pothole cover which lead to the city's underground canals, when the black car behind them drove under it, suddenly a HUGE Geyser of water burst upwards like a volcanic eruption, launching it into the air and into another building before SHADOW could properly react, resulting in that car's destruction. A Loud eruption of smoke and dust followed, along with the loud booming sound that signified the end for those inside. 'Shit, fuck!' the black dressed teen cursed in his mind, especially since not too long afterwards a similar thing befell another of the black cars, lessening their escort's numbers to two. 'Wait a minute, are you shitting me?! They're-!'
"The Canals! The Noise are using the underground Canals to attack you all!"
Things weren't looking good for them, SHADOW realized as the remaining 2 cars made it a point to avoid the pothole covers, learning from the mistakes their colleagues had made in their final moments. Not only did they lose half of their total forces, but upon looking upwards the male faintly caught the sight of something… blinking. His eyes widened when he soon realized what it was, quickly reaching out and forming a fist over the front of the Car's trunk.
"Ugh!"
"You alright there, SHADOW san?!"
"Not really!" the Teen countered the alarmed and concerned voice of Ryouko behind the steering wheel, all the while Hibiki herself had frozen up in horror, her heart nearly jumping outside her chest as SHADOW brought his hand back to him from his current position of on all fours over the Car's roof. Opening it, he found the remains of… what looked like a bullet, still steaming, embedded inside his gloved hand, not enough to break the Skin, but enough to make it so that he'll be feeling it when this was all over. "Looks like we got ourselves some Mercenaries, guys! Just intercepted a Snip-" Instincts flared up again as SHADOW formed his Shield in one hand, and his Daito in the other. The Shield gave an audible CLINK sound when something metallic collided with it, whilst his Daito was reflexively swung upwards to slice through something small. He didn't need to check what they were though, especially when he saw several bullet casings land on the roof beneath him. "Multiple Snipers! Looks like they were lying in wait for us since the beginning, cause they're firing at me from all over the damn place!"
"EHHHHH?!"
A cry from Hibiki escaped the Car, but SHADOW couldn't answer her back since he had to preoccupy himself with blocking and slicing through Sniper fire. His shield and sword swinging skills could be considered superior to his use of Guns, hence why he had been able to do this, all the while these weapons wouldn't drain any of his reserves. A win in his eyes for this situation, although it further supported his theory about this third party being someone with resources, power and a possible figure of high authority.
"Little Genjuro, we MIGHT need a bit of a plan here! Things are going to get dicey really quickly if we don't do something, and like, pronto! If we have Snipers, then there's a good chance these are the same people who targeted Defence Minister Hiroki!" Ryouko called out over the Radio, hoping to get a response from the Division 2 Commander.
A response which swiftly came back to them.
"Tch, is that so… very well, I have an idea! If these people want the Durandal so much, then we have to take it somewhere dangerous and then settle it! That Chemicals Factory's a prime Candidate here."
"And what of our chances?"
"… Very low. But that's just fine, we're improvising! Men, follow Ryouko's lead, get to that Factory immediately!"
"ROGER!"
Driving through the streets, Ryouko did so like a mad woman in order to avoid the majority of the Sniper fire whilst SHADOW took care of what he could on his end. Though, the Sniper fire seemed to be almost specifically trained on the car itself… or rather, on SHADOW specifically which it didn't take him long to notice and grow suspicious over. However, he refused to ponder on it for the time being since, well, he WAS currently defending not just himself but multiple Cars in a Convoy after all. It wasn't easy to do regardless though, since it always seemed like they knew EXACTLY which corners they'd turn at, what streets they'd take, and even their overall destination when their plans got cut short like this, which only further cemented the theory that these people knew what would be happening and had set up ambushes for them.
Fortunately, the route which Ryouko had taken had turned out to be the shortest one, which resulted in them reaching the Factory's entrance within a good 6 to 7 minutes. Though another reason why they had gotten there so quickly, aside from the roads being bare for the day, would be due to Ryouko's almost monstrous-level driving, nearly throwing SHADOW off the Car's roof more than a few times until he figured out how to balance himself according to how to predict the crazy scientist's movements.
'Note to self: never ride with Ryouko unless absolutely necessary…' The black dressed male thought, his face almost turning green by the time they neared their destination. Were it not for the urgency of their situation he would have found an isolated place to throw up his dinner last night though as they neared the entrance to the Chemical factory…
MORE trouble struck.
BOOM!
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH!
At once, a couple of Slug shaped Noise burst out from a short distance ahead of them like sharks surfacing from the ocean to snag at some serial prey, leaping forth towards the black car in the front. One can guess which was the prey in this situation, eh? But if not… Upon seeing them, SHADOW's eyes turned into saucer's behind his Mask, a curse escaping his throat as he quickly jumped forwards, leaping off Ryouko's own vehicle before flipping into a rapid rotation. He ended up throwing out his Daito into a repeated spinning slash, slicing through the Noise before they could destabilize the black car of which he then landed on, standing up to then go and make to seal the hole cover shut. To stop more Noise from getting out through there…
BOOM!
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH!
'God fucking DAMNIT!'
[Truer words have never been spoken.]
Vritra's words went largely ignored, though it didn't mind this one bit right now, since SHADOW hard more sounds of the ground erupting behind them. Looking to the source, the black dressed male growled when he noticed several more Noise, these ones shaped more like humanoid ones that quickly darted forwards, becoming long streaks which slammed into the rear black Car's backside.
"Guaaaah!"
"Uoooooh!"
"Shit!"
Startled cried escaped the car's interior as they started to veer off course, heading into a wall close to the Chemical Factory. SHADOW, knowing that they would be having enemies on all sides and would likely need as much help as possible, proceeded to jump off the front black car…
"Hah!"
"?!"
CLANG!
…Only to instinctively raise his Daito and block a strike from a large Staff, one which belonged to a certain blonde fighter who came at him from the right side and totally blindsided him. A shrill gasp escaped the black dressed male's lips at this occurrence, with only a couple second's worth of time to ascertain his attacker's true identity, though he didn't need even that long if the smell he got combined with what little details he'd seen (bit of the Staff, a few tuffs of blonde hair, and the corner of a mouth twitching upward implying a smirk) were to be believed.
"Y-You!"
"Yeah, hello you rowdy fan. Leaving the stage without hearing for the encore isn't very polite, you know."
This brief exchange pretty much confirmed who the attacker had been in SHADOW's mind, although he couldn't do much at the moment to respond. Nevertheless, the surprise attack caught the black dressed male completely off guard, like a guy suddenly barging into a young girl's room while she had been training kind of surprise. Therefore, even though SHADOW had managed to block the strike at the last second with his Daito, the sheer impact and force behind it sent him flying away from all THREE cars, leaving SHADOW unable to see how the last black Car fared… though, the sound of it blowing up along with the other one pretty much confirmed it's destruction.
Even in the air, the teen had to curse himself, so much prep time he'd made before, WASTED! All because of this surprise attacker!
… He would be paying for that one, of THAT he became certain.
With that in mind, his fury combined with the feeling of having his draconian pride insulted caused the male to recover his bearings and quickly proceed to play damage control. Kicking the attacker off him, SHADOW flipped himself backwards into a double back flip, resulting in him landing on the ground before repeating the action a couple times to get some more distance, all until he planted both feet onto the concrete at once, sliding across it till his momentum got completely halted. Glancing upwards, SHADOW finally came face to face with his attacker, said guy casually stepping towards him like a model on a catwalk, twirling his Staff in one hand as fast as a set of helicopter blades.
'Ah, I see that smug ass smirk is just as annoying as I'd remembered…' the male couldn't help but note inside his mind. Deciding to follow proper curtesy even though this guy didn't deserve it for blindsiding him like that (though to be fair SHADOW HAD done the same to him, not like he'd admit that) "… So, we meet again, Golden Sun." SHADOW declared, using his free hand to pat down is Trench Coat, fortunately his hood had stayed over his head during that instance before since he didn't want this guy coming after him during his civilian lifestyle, but even if it had fallen he still had his black Domino mask to keep his identity secret.
Far off from his position, SHADOW notice Ryouko and Hibiki come under fire from the Noise, the latter carrying the suitcase containing Durandal whilst doing so. Seeing this made the teen scowl inside, biting down his instinctive desire to run on over. He would have tried to go help the two out, however SHADOW believed that this guy, Sun, wouldn't let that happen. The way he'd kicked him earlier implied that he had wanted to split him off from the rest of the group, which made him suspicious about whether or not this guy was working with the third party or not. 'Likely he is, judging from how he had interacted with that armour user back then, not to mention he seems to know more than he lets on about the overall situation…' the teen thought to himself.
"Yup, and I gotta say, been looking forward to this ballad of ours for a while now. Whilst my 'colleagues' take care of your friends, how about we have our own encore, cause I've been waiting to settle the score with you for a WHILE now." Sun responded, glancing over to where SHADOW's gaze had flickered to for a brief split second, noticing how that cream haired Gungnir user refused to abandon Durandal, something which would have went along with the plans SHE had. He had to give her credit for that, as she quickly activated her Symphogear after chanting it's holy chant, that girl reminded him of his childhood friend in the guts department. Thus, as she started to take on the Noise with some surprising level of skill compared to what he had heard from his friend about her, Sun's attention returned to SHADOW, whom had let caution take the reins and stop him from attacking in that moment.
"Hmph, well then, lets start with this then: how do you like your meat?"
"Huh? Wait, what?"
BOOM!
"?!"
"I prefer my meat to be roasted well, like well-done steaks, myself."
SHADOW, in reality, hadn't attacked himself cause he had been too busy puling the same move which he had back during the Kamoshida Palace incident, keeping Sun distracted whilst discreetly guiding a small fireball from his Purgatory Dragon Flames to his feet. Upon him asking that question and getting that response however, SHADOW had simply clicked his fingers, detonating it RIGHT beneath his feet. The result?
A black eruption which knocked Sun right into the air.
Igniting Purgatory Flames beneath his feet, SHADOW jumped forwards, gaining a huge level of speed which allowed him to close the distance between them in an instant. Thus, as Sun's back was facing him with his head facing downwards, the male reverse swung his Daito to the right. He also added in some Purgatory Flames onto his weapon too, in order to test out one of the theories which he and Vritra had been cooking up… but before his blade could meet the guy's flesh, Sun extended his Staff down towards the ground, stabbing it into it and then letting it's extending self to pull him higher into the air. This not only resulted in SHADOW's slash missing, but it also provided Sun with the opportunity to fall right back down on top of him after letting go of his weapon, allowing the lad to perform a Drop kick on top of SHADOW's head.
"Guh!"
A low grunt escaped the black dressed male's lips as he got sent crashing into the ground with extreme force thanks to that blow, and by the time the dust settled he had started to regain his true composure as he slowly crawled back onto his feet, Daito still in his right hand. 'Ugh… gonna have to create another opportunity to test that theory out, Vritra…' SHADOW mused, getting a grunt of agreement from his partner as he saw his opponent come right back down to the ground. With his Staff returning to its original size, Sun gave a deadpanned stare towards the black dressed male, who responded in kind…
All before the two charged at one another.
Hopping into the air, Sun helicopter spun his Staff above his head before gripping it near it's rear tip, and then bringing it down on his opponent. SHADOW blocked by raising is Daito in a horizontal position whilst placing his free hand atop the blade's back edge, providing an extra bit of stability for a couple seconds before angling the weapon to the side and going for a reverse pommel strike, one which Sun stepped back to dodge and then spun his Staff to deflect a follow-up diagonal slash from the black dressed male.
'Hmmm… something's up here, Vritra. I sensed this before too, but there's something about these two which is bugging me… I don't like it…'
[Its Discourse, kid. If I were to give an educated guess, I would say that these two have been having a bit of a quarrelling for a long time, to the point where its negatively impacting their Synch Rate. Such things CAN happen with Synchrogears and their users, actually.]
SHADOW never got the chance to respond to that, thanks to his golden-haired adversary. Said foe had taken the initiative and jumped forwards into a repeated series of helicopter kicks to the head, ones which SHADOW parried with his Daito before sidestepping the following overhead smack, Sun not being done there as he twirled into a baseball swing without giving his opponent a chance to counter. THIS attack succeeded in striking SHADOW in the gut, sending him sliding backwards but not much else since he'd formed various thrusters over his shoulders to use their force to keep him from going too far.
This whole exchange only lasted about 5 seconds, by the way, with both of them once again eyeing each other up like two wolves, eager to pounce upon the chance… before they charged forth once again, eager to get a clear winner in their little spat.
Chapter End!
Ahhh, cliffhangers, gotta love em #evil smile#.
Anyways, here's the next chap for you all. Originally I wanted to have all the action in one chapter, but considering how it turned out thus far I decided to split it in two. Whilst this means this arc may continue for another couple chapters or so, it will also give me some time to properly devise certain techniques and styles that the two warriors can utilize against one another, most notably Sun since I little experience writing many staff-based users fighting before. At least compared to sword users.
In any case, with this being the first half of the fight, I chose to focus on what SHADOW did and how his presence changed Fine's plans for stealing Durandal. If you ask me, the fact that she had a weapon which could summon and control Noise was SEVERELY underused in this season. I could EASILY see things like THIS being possible, heck one could potentially use the Noise as a functional military force with that Staff of Solomon, so I wanted to showcase just how versatile the Staff's ability's can be when applied more creatively. Plus I wanted to showcase just how prepared SHADOW can be when situations arise, along with his creativity when applying his powers, something I believe is QUITE crucial in a battle. Like my OEG's MC Nico, having as many options as possible on the battlefield can do WONDERS for saving lives.
Anyways, hope you all liked the chap, and look forward to the next one, the epic climax potentially.
PEACE OUT!
