Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney
Turnabout Of The Night
by Derald Snyder
The Hunt- Part 2
(AKA Neptunevania: Al Poker's Curse)
November 14, 1:00 PM
Al Poker's Castle
Throne Room
It was deathly quiet compared to the chaos in the courtyard, only the sound of Chaos Heart's feet touching the ground being heard after flying in through the window. Slowly the CPU began to advance through the chamber, holding her weapon at the ready... "I can sense your presence, vampire... reveal yourself!"
A low, evil chuckle was heard, Rei turning to her right... and there was Al Poker, lounging lazily on a tall throne, a wineglass in one hand... He was no longer clad in his janitor's uniform, but now dressed in attire more befitting of a classic vampire... namely, a white dress shirt, black slacks and matching dance shoes, and a blood-red cape tied around his neck. "Miss Ryghts," he spoke, his voice smooth as velvet, "I must say, you arrived earlier than expected. I barely had time to get comfortable..."
"We have a device that tracks your evil aura, worm," Rei explained. "How do you think we found your locker where you hid the Combat Cross?"
"So that's how you found it. And then you destroyed my padlock to get in. Naughty, naughty," Al smirked.
"Can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," Chaos Heart shot back. "You should know, given the shit you pulled to cover your tracks! What I did was a technicality in comparison!"
"True enough," the vampire conceded. "Still, in a way, I'm glad you were the defense lawyer for that hunter... you gave me exactly what I needed to complete my plans. Not to mention, I get to see your HDD form in person... how delectable." He licked his lips, causing the bluenette to shudder in disgust.
"Pathetic worm... no, despicable monster! Your kind doesn't belong in this world!" Rei declared.
"Ah, but it is not by my own hand that I come to the world of the living," Poker countered. "Rather, it is the darkness in the hearts of men that calls me... those who wish to pay me tribute!"
"Tribute?!" the CPU cried in disbelief. "You mean like the lifeblood that you suck out of men and women alike? When you turn them into thralls and make them your slaves?!"
"You're one to talk, Rei Ryghts," Al chuckled as he sipped at his wine. "After all, did you not try to enslave all of Gamindustri a few games ago?"
"Your words are as empty as your soul!" Rei shot back. "I didn't ask for this power, you know... it was thrust on me! But at least now I do my best to serve the common people, like a proper CPU should! But mankind ill needs a ruler such as yourself!" She accentuated this last statement with her pointer finger.
The vampire frowned at this, tossing aside his wineglass, which shattered on the floor as he stood to his full height. "What is a man," he growled, "naught but a miserable little pile of secrets! But enough banter, let us dance! And I shall lead!" With that, he disappeared in a brief beam of light...
(Music- Nothing To Lose- Castlevania: Harmony of Despair)
Chaos Heart did a quick 180-degree spin, and sure enough, the vampire was there launching a mid-sized firewall, which the CPU easily overpowered with an energy ball of her own, hitting Al square in the chest and pushing him back a ways. "The old 'teleport and attack from behind' trick? Really?" she deadpanned.
"It was worth a try," Poker shrugged, before teleporting again... only to reappear right in front of Rei, driving a knee into her groin and grabbing her neck as she doubled over! He then opened his jaws, going for the jugular...
(Oh no you don't!) thought the bluenette as she pulled herself backwards, thrusting her leg into Al's midsection and flipping him onto his back behind her! "Not this time, maggot!" she growled as she righted herself, only to realize that her enemy had vanished again...
The CPU suddenly felt heat under her feet, jumping back as a pillar of fire erupted where she had just been standing! She weaved and twisted as several more fire pillars burst from the floor... (He's trying to box me in!) she realized, before suddenly feeling pain in her left arm as Poker slashed at her with a rapier!
Chaos Heart turned and blocked a stab with her own weapon... despite the difference in size, she was finding it hard to push the rapier away, so she simply took to the air to get some distance, firing a few blasts which were evaded as Al teleported again. Out of the corner of her eye, the goddess saw the vampire reappear a short distance away, launching a spiraling storm of fireballs at her-
-which crashed and extinguished uselessly against her stone shield. "Damn," Al muttered as he cautiously approached, only to get grabbed from behind as Rei slammed him face-first into the shield!
"You may be able to teleport, fool," Chaos Heart crowed, "but I can move fast enough to make it seem like I'm teleporting!" She slammed Poker's head into the stone again, but he dissolved into a swarm of bats before she could continue, which reformed a short distance away. Al then charged with his rapier pointed forward, but Rei blocked with her weapon, the two then exchanging blows like an old-fashioned sword duel.
Chaos Heart hissed as her adversary landed a hit on her upper left arm, drawing some blood. Jumping back, she declared, "I grow bored of this. LIGHT OF..."
Al Poker's eyes went wide with fear.
"ABSOLUTION!"
November 14, 1:14 PM
Outside Al Poker's Castle
The top of the tallest spire of the castle was suddenly destroyed by a pillar of red light, causing everyone fighting in the courtyard to turn and look. "Masteeeerr!" Several of the demons cried. However, a swarm of bats was seen descending from the destruction, swiftly reforming into Poker's human form.
"Don't think you can get away that easily, worm!" Chaos Heart declared as she emerged from the dust and smoke, swiftly flying down with an overhead slash, which Al just managed to block with his rapier. Rei gritted her teeth as she pushed downward, sending the vampire careening towards the water, then firing an energy ball after him...
Only for Poker's cape to reshape into a pair of leathery wings, allowing him to pull up and avoid the blast. Growling in frustration, Rei hurled her weapon at the bloodsucker, who simply batted it aside with his sword, only to suddenly be hit with an elbow to the gut! "Gotcha, bastard!" The goddess then grabbed Poker by the chest, his body suddenly enveloped in red energy as he screamed in pain... He was then sent flying away a short distance before the energy detonated, falling limply from the smoke cloud that resulted, Chaos Heart following up with a double-footed kick that sent Poker plunging into the water with a small geyser!
Meanwhile, all fighting in the courtyard had halted as everyone observed the fight between Al and Rei. "Wow, she's really kicking butt, huh?" Uni observed.
"Seems sucking Miss Rei's blood didn't increase his power that much," K-Sha mused.
"Maybe..." Simone said with eyes narrowed.
"Impossible!" a demon gasped in dismay. "The Master cannot fall so easily!" Several others grunted in hesitant agreement...
Chaos Heart slowly floated down until her feet almost touched the surface of the water, trying to look down below... "C'mon, maggot," she muttered, "You can't play dead forever..." Just then, the water erupted a few yards away, Al Poker gasping for breath as he flipped onto a small flat rock. He had lost his rapier, and his cape and clothes looked somewhat tattered. "Pathetic, vampire," the CPU crossed her arms as she slowly floated closer, "Even after sucking my blood, you're only barely surviving my attacks..."
Poker chuckled as he stood straight and cracked his neck. "Impressive, Ryghts. It's clear that you still retain much of your power as a final boss, even after your defeat by the other CPUs... But you of all people should know this about final boss fights..."
"What's that, peon?" Rei raised an eyebrow.
"There is always... a second phase!" With that, Al assumed the classic DBZ 'power-up' pose. "Now look upon my true form, and despair! Rrrrroooooooohhhhhh!" The vampire suddenly bulked up massively, shredding his clothes off his body as his skin turned green, his head becoming snout-like as goat's horns grew out the top, his eyes turning completely blood red!
(Music- Black Night- Castlevania: The Arcade)
"HOLY SHIT!" Rei recoiled at the sight of the transformation. (He... he's huge!)
"Uh-oh...!" Uni and K-Sha said in unison.
"I knew it," Simone deadpanned.
The transformed vampire chuckled sinisterly at his adversary's reaction. "Yes," he spoke in a guttural tone, "time to die!" He then roared as he launched himself at Rei... "You're mine!" The goddess rapidly ascended into the air to avoid the charge... only for Poker to slam into her from the right, smashing her into the castle's outer wall, causing a small indent. "What was that about barely surviving?"
Chaos Heart responded by blasting out the wall behind her, causing the two to fall into the castle, the CPU pulling in the same direction as their fall, just managing to throw the monster off her, before turning over and blasting her foe to keep him off her. Al simply shrugged off the blasts, hitting Rei with a massive punch that sent her flying back outside! He then flew after her to follow up with another devastating blow-
-only for the CPU to summon her weapon and block just in time. "Not bad, worm," she grunted, "you've gone from lying in the dirt to crawling through it..."
"We'll see who eats dirt!" Poker taunted, thrusting forward with his fist, the sheer force sending Rei flying back uncontrollably, crashing into the cliffside near the top! But then a significant chunk of cliff was vaporized by a red sphere of energy, Chaos Heart flipping back and landing with both feet on terra firma, her weapon at the ready. The vampire charged forward again, Rei quickly rolling out of his path, then turning and unleashing an energy wave from her weapon, hitting Poker in the back and eliciting a short yelp of pain.
(Good, so he's not invincible,) thought Rei as she took to the air again... only for Poker to appear above her, smashing the goddess with a double-fisted down swing, which sent her through the edge of the cliff and into the water!
"How do you like it, Rei Ryghts? Is it refreshing?" Al taunted his fallen opponent... only to suddenly get pelted with several bullets! Raising an arm to ward off the attack, he looked up to see Gold Form K-Sha, her twin guns smoking with discharge. "Foolish girl, do you wish to die first?!" He opened his mouth and fired an energy beam...
"No, YOU die first!" declared Black Sister as she flew up from behind K-Sha, overpowering Poker's beam with her own blast and hitting him square in the face! The monstrous bloodsucker recoiled slightly as he roared in pain, covering his face with his hands! "He's all yours, K-Sha!"
"Roger, Uni! I will now annihilate the enemy! Full Weapon Attack!" the ex-mercenary declared as 'Drive Away' began playing, blasting Poker with both machine guns, then flying up and intoning "Final Missile!", three gold-colored missiles launching from her weapons apparatus! For his part, the vampire tried to catch two of the missiles with his hands, only for them to detonate anyway as the last missile nailed him dead-on! "Fire homing laser!" K-Sha cried, a massive red laser firing and hitting her target full force, resulting in a massive mushroom cloud!
"Direct hit! Way to go!" Uni cheered as the EXE drive music faded out... only for 'Black Night' to reassert itself. "Uh-oh, boss theme's still going...!"
"Not bad," Poker's voice spoke, "but not nearly good enough!" K-Sha realized the voice was coming from behind her, but too late, getting hit with a megaton punch that sent her flying and skidding along the top of the cliff, losing her Gold Form and going unconscious. "And as for this thing...!" The monster grabbed the weapons apparatus that had been left behind, and crushed it into worthless scrap metal with some effort.
"Why you-! TAKE THAT! EX Multi Blaster!" Black Sister cried in anger as she shot a bright blue beam of energy at Poker, who held out his hands to catch the blast, managing to block it with some effort, leaving his hands slightly burnt. The vampire then charged at Uni, only for her to simply fall below his swing, then point her gun up and blast him right between the legs! "Bulls-eye!"
"Gwoooooohh-!" Poker screamed in pain as he doubled over, his eyes extremely wide, his minions also grunting in dismay. "You little bitch...!" He flew down at the goddess, only for her to rocket up into the air, then swerving to dodge his follow-up.
"You may be fast, but only in a straight line!" Black Sister taunted as she flew and weaved in a three-dimensional pattern to make herself a harder target to hit.
"I only need to hit you once!" the monster shot back as he tried to keep up. After a minute, he managed to get close enough to swing again, only for Uni to jump off his head and flip behind him, blasting him in the back! But then Poker flipped backward and fired another mouth beam, forcing the CPU Candidate to block, the blood-sucker then following up with a massive kick which, despite being blocked, sent Uni flying past the cliff's edge and sliding across the ground! She managed to roll with the impact and right herself into a three-point kneeling position, eyes widening as Poker charged at her again, no time to react-
-but then Al was body-checked by Chaos Heart, the tackle sending him off-course, missing Uni and forcing him to roll several times to regain control and stop. "Did you forget me already, worm?!" the bluenette snarked. Pointing her weapon at her foe, she intoned, "LIGHT OF ABSOLUTION!"
Poker gasped and crossed his arms in a blocking position, before he was engulfed in an angry red pillar of light! "Whoa, nice one!" Black Sister said as she instinctively put up a hand and closed an eye from the wind generated by the attack... But then the light faded away, showing Poker's hulking form still intact! "No way...!"
"Damn you! That HURT!" the vampire screamed as he charged at Chaos Heart, his body now covered in several burns, the CPU barely blocking the attack with her weapon, though she was sent skidding back several yards!
(Impossible! No one's ever survived that attack before...!) Rei thought in panic as she took to the air again, barely dodging another swing, only to get caught by the monster's tail and sent back to the ground. However, she managed to recover and flip and cartwheel out of the way of another mouth beam, Poker then getting distracted by another blast from Uni, allowing her to get some distance away.
"Give it up, vampire!" another voice called out, Al turning to see Simone Rondo standing a few yards away. "We're obviously too much for you to handle!"
"You! You're a fool to challenge me, human!" Poker growled as he floated closer. "With the power I have gained from Rei Ryghts's blood, I am now invincible and all-powerful!"
"Some all-powerful," Simone snorted, nonchalantly flipping a lock of her hair, "You can't even kill the lowly vampire hunter!"
Al Poker's eyes widened with rage, raising a fist... "A problem I mean to rectify... RIGHT NOW!"
"SIMONE!" Uni screamed as the monster swung- only for the hunter to roll away, Poker's fist instead smashing the jug of holy water, setting his fist aflame!
"Gaaaahh! Not again! Damn you!" the blood-sucker screamed in pain as he shook his hand frantically to try and extinguish the flames...
"Now, Lady Noire!" Simone yelled, even as Black Sister swooped in and grabbed her out of the danger zone.
"Huh...?" Poker looked up to see Lastation's CPU floating in the sky, in her fully-powered NEXT Black form.
"This is your end, vampire!" the next-gen goddess declared, as 'Drive Away' began playing... "INFINITE SLASH!"
Poker screamed as he was viciously slashed twelve times over with no time to react or block! "Arrrggghh! This can't... be happening!" he roared in agony, several glowing lines on his body where Noire had slashed him!
"Will you just DIE already?!" Chaos Heart yelled in frustration as she fired an energy blast, Simone also smashing the vampire with her morning-star as Uni flew by! The combined attack was finally too much, as Poker's body violently ripped apart into several bloody chunks! The remains were soon consumed by fire, leaving nothing behind but large burn spots on the grass.
"It can't be! The Master has fallen!" a demon gasped in shock and horror, as the undead skeletons and possessed armors began to fall apart.
"Flee! Flee for the caverns! For any dark place you can find!" another demon cried. "Every demon for themselves!" The evil creatures scattered and fled in all directions in abject panic.
"Yeah, that's right! You better run!" Black Sister cried as she took a few potshots at the fleeing monsters. "Cause when we heal up, we're coming after ALL of you!"
"Uni, that's enough," Noire ordered as she powered down to her normal HDD form. "We'll hunt them down soon enough..." Something then occurred to her. "Wait a minute... where is K-Sha at?"
"K-Sha...? Oh no! I forgot!" Uni gasped as she set Simone back on the ground. "Sh-she got punched out by that vampire, and...!"
"I've got her," Rei said as she floated up with the unconscious schoolgirl in her arms. "Just checked her pulse, she's not dead by a long shot... here."
"Thank you, Rei," Black Heart nodded as she took K-Sha from her fellow CPU, gently laying her on the ground. "K-Sha... K-Sha, wake up, it's Noire..."
"Hnnnnghh..." K-Sha groaned as her eyes slowly opened. "Nnnn... Noire...?" Her lips turned upward in a gentle smile. "Oh, Noire... you look so pretty, you're actually shining... agh, too bright!" She squinted from the light shining behind Black Heart's form...
"Wait, that's not Noire, that's...!" Black Sister gasped as she looked up into the sky, the other women following her gaze... seeing a familiar yellow-white ball of light reassert itself in the sky, which slowly returned to its normal blue shade.
"The brilliance of the sun has vanquished the horrible night," Simone stated with a relieved smile. "It's over. We've triumphed."
Hearing this caused the others to relax as a wave of relief washed over them. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," Rei grumbled. "I seriously hope this doesn't end up being the norm every damn time I take a case in Lastation... And I thought that drama with the Dragon Killer was bad enough..." Hearing a rumbling, she looked up to see Poker's castle collapsing into rubble. "Figures. Now that the final boss is dead, his lair self-destructs..."
"Happens all the time," Simone shrugged. "At least I don't usually have to run for my life before the vampire's castle collapses..."
"Well, that's convenient," Black Sister deadpanned.
"I'm just glad to see the sun again..." K-Sha said. "Sorry I wasn't much help against that blood-sucker..."
"It's fine, K-Sha," Simone disagreed. "You did what you could. Even I was surprised at how fast Poker could move, especially at such a large size..."
"I second that. I was barely surviving myself!" Uni concurred. "If it hadn't been for Rei, I would've suffered the same fate..."
"Anyway, let us return to the Basilicom," Noire stated. "Even though the sun has returned, we should still reassure the populace that the danger has passed. Also, we need to nurse K-Sha back to health..."
"Fine by me," K-Sha sighed happily. "Noire's going to give me some tender loving care~"
"Heh..." Simone couldn't help but chuckle. "Lady Noire and K-Sha... Never thought I'd see it happen in a million years..."
"J-Just what are you implying?!" Black Heart gasped as her cheeks reddened. "K-Sha and I are just friends! D-don't try to read anything else into it! Anyway, let us return!" With that, she ascended rapidly into the sky before turning and flying back towards the capital city...
"Same old Noire," Uni smiled. "Anyway, could you carry Simone back, Rei? You're stronger than I am in HDD, so..."
"Fine," Chaos Heart assented, wrapping her arms around the blonde, the trio rising into the air. "Just be thankful I did your case pro bono, Rondo, or else I'd be seriously thinking about charging extra! You're welcome, by the way."
"Trust me, you have my deepest gratitude, Rei Ryghts," Simone said with a smile as they flew off...
*To be concluded...*