Sometimes, in our lives
We all have pain, we all have sorrow
But, if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For, it won't be long
Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs that you won't let show
~Lean on Me, Bill Withers
Luce ed Ombra
Chapter Nine
Fall
[By Ultema and Guo]
His eyes widened with the sudden destruction of his cause, of course the falling of debris was dangerous, and sure the body parts were relatively disgusting, but what concerned him was the stench. Squatting down, Dante's head flung between his legs and while nothing came out, he couldn't have felt worse. An eye looked up towards what seemed to be some sort of living pile of human garbage. "For some reason, I don't want to try diplomacy on this shitpile..."
Standing up slowly, stepping to the side of Isabella, he motioned his head forwards and to the side once with a slight grunt coming out to form jumbled words and lips pressed off to the side of his mouth. Whatever details he was trying to get across, it couldn't have looked like much more than a spasm suggesting that they, "K'ck't's ass." Not quite sure of what it could possibly do, besides start to throw limbs and smell bad, he kept on the defensive for just that reason.
Looking somewhat disturbed at the fact that this pile of parts was more or less breathing -- or something, as it contracted and expanded with a more horrid scent each time (probably due to the rotting flesh that covered it), it took a minute for Isabella to actually gain any sort of composure from either the sight or the smell. Though noting that the longer this thing was around, the more likely Dante was going to die of asphyxiation, the small handgun she had produced earlier was risen upwards -- the black silhouette of the feline running down the side, and the gold lettering of F E L I S glittered for a brief moment as she seemed to plant herself firmly to the ground, opposite hand supporting the butt of the gun as she took a careful aim towards the center of the -- thing (since the center was often times the most vital part of things), and with an ear-shattering blast, were two bullets sent screaming towards their intended target, and the kick was being recoiled from.
The creature, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice the blazing pieces of metal that entered its vicinity as on contact it merely stayed still, contracting and expanding, contracting and expanding. Though a moment's wait longer proved to show that the nasty did indeed have a trick or two up its sleeve, aside from sitting still and stinking.
A portion of the limbs split, and from within arose a thin tentacle like projection with what looked like a bulb at the end. Glistening with the thick, wet substance, it wavered for a moment, before starting to emit a bright, blue-white glow and a low-pitched hum...
The odd sound and light paled in comparison to its effects. The two had only recently noticed that the falling body parts were in fact assembling themselves into self-sufficient humanoid bodies themselves. As the blue beam compressed the surrounding air, every one of the newly created dead bodies that got caught in its path seemed to be crushed slightly followed by a disintegrating effect. Not something either of them wanted to be caught in, they dove in opposite positions. Dante, taking to the air, fired rapidly and alternately at the remaining bodies below. Somehow, he managed to keep himself airborne, with both firing power and a series of jumps off of the bodies. Guns quickly holstered, his hand slid back to grasp the hilt of his sword, and drew it in an attempt to sever the wavering tentacle, which fired the beam.
His sword made contact, however, it was not on the limb, instead it hit the tail end, revealing yet another. The creature had formed legs with the parts contained inside, and scurried away much faster than he could have expected a sitting lump of dead decaying flesh was able to. His eyes immediately went to Isabella, who, like a frightened rabbit, turned tail and fled. She seemingly was the target of this attack. Occupied with shoving his way through the bodies which began to cling to him, only a few shots were made in her general direction as a heads up before he was totally consumed under a pile of the living dead.
Isabella's immediate reaction to the sound of Dante's shots was to move faster. Not because she was afraid of dying -- that wasn't the case at all, but the fact that being torn to shreds wasn't going to help her in the long run, and make her less useful all around. At least the lack of shadow didn't destroy her agility or speed, for as the multi-limbed monstrosity sped in her direction, she made a run towards the wall.
Surprisingly enough, the pile of mobile fertilizer was steadily gaining on the woman, whom at the last moment leading up towards the wall, leapt upwards and with the fluidity of the feline that was so obviously present in her, hands touched down on the cold stone, and then feet, and pushed off at the same time into a roll, before coming out of it just as quickly as she had dove into it, and she was back on her feet. The sound of a dull, wet thwack against the wall, and a shrill screech that came from neither of the humanoids present was enough to let her know to move onto the next point of business.
Her boots skidded across the floor as she turned, not allowed the time to slow down to make it as she raced her way towards her partner. A shoulder bore down on one of Dante's assailants, and with her speed, weight and force behind it, was knocked completely out of the way and into another ambling body toppling the two over like dominos. It didn't seem like her handgun was going to cut it, this time.
"Dante!!" Isabella cried furiously, clawing frantically at the walking undead in hopes of finding her partner whole under the mess. A wary glance cast behind her as the larger, whole being seemed to be getting itself back together after the initial shock of slamming headlong into the wall.
At the very bottom, under the huge pile of bodies, was Dante. A small area on one side seemed to start collapsing, bodies falling down in a row, piling up as opposed to climbing on. With a shout, a small section was pushed outward while Isabella's pulling took off enough to allow Dante out at the same time.
Coat turned brown from the residue of the decaying bodies, cuts on his face and ones on his chest were visible through his vest as well. Gasping for air through his mouth, the stench didn't seem to be a factor at the moment. Staggering to his feet, he reached down to Isabella, even though he'd most likely be using her as a leaning post more than she would, and began a trot using the energy he had before completely regaining his breath. Knocking bodies to the side, up in the air, or blasting their 'heads' off, he attempted to gain a small bit of ground and devise a strategy.
"What the hell is its weak point, soap?!" He panted out, head turning over his shoulder only to view the beast bearing down on them again. "Lets split up and attack both ends!" Not exactly allowing her much input this time around -- the time in the round was much too short to devise a real plan.
By splitting up, he obviously meant that he'd throw her in the other direction of him as he leapt to the side, sword's blade out. As the conglomerated pile of bodies charged at both, it couldn't switch to both directions at once, in fact, it almost seemed to slip onto its "stomach" and twist to the side slightly, like a dog after a hare. Dante's sword was out just far enough to pierce the belly of the rotting flesh, with an extra push from the shoulders, his blade at a forty-five degree angle, the contact released a steaming hot chunky liquid onto the ground. A cry was let out from each of the mouths on the bodies as an extension of the thing was formed and reached out towards him, grasping him around the stomach.
What could Isabella possibly do without her abilities, and the fact that her gun did squat?. The conglomeration of parts was occupied with the hunter at the moment, a swift glance around and Isabella found the only other thing she could try. Reaching down and picking up a splintered rafter that had fallen with the collapse of the ceiling, she wielded the beam of wood (which was twice her width) in the fashion of a lance. It would have been better for it to face her while he did the attacking, after all.
Her boots kicked up the loose gravel on the ground as she vaulted forward, head ducked down as though readying to use herself as some sort of battering ram, and as though to get the thing's attention she called out a loud, rumbling yell full of determination and adrenaline. As she drew nearer at an alarming speed, the sound of her boots slamming hard against the floor below, part of the creature split once more, revealing a black, churning substance about a glimmering gold orb, another wavering tentacle shot up into the air with a distinct hum, but instead of stopping in her tracks, she pressed on, and with a heave of her shoulders she had plunged the rafter deep through the limbs and towards the swirling black orb within.
There was a sharp jolt as the beam hit something, followed by the ungodly sound of a hundred screaming voices as the newly revealed tentacle spasmed, went rigid, and blasted downwards straight towards its assailant. In less time than it takes to blink, the rigid appendage had found itself lodged through the lower part of Isabella's abdomen and had her pinned against the wall with a hard thump and a low grunt.
Once again Dante found himself scrambling to his feet, this time it was he rushing to Isabella's aid. For a moment, he had forgotten that sort of thing didn't hurt her, a caustic shout emanated from the man as he ran towards the part impaling Isabella. Slowed down again by shoving through the bodies, the creature had already begun to charge up for shooting at him. The toes of his boots pressing hard on the ground, he leapt into the air at the last second, and the bright beam sliced through parallel to the ground. His legs pulled up just above the light, and staying aloft with Ebony and Ivory firing away just barely long enough to avoid being blasted to oblivion, he landed atop the creature. A downward slice with the swiftly drawn sword at the tentacle holding his partner severed it, though not releasing her, she'd have to pull out herself; it was all he could get out before the creature shook him to the ground, his legs getting caught on the way down. He stabbed inwards forcefully with hopes of landing a blow in a critical area. With a splitting sound again, he was able to slice one side half open. The bodies and scrap flesh split back revealing a larger glowing orb similar to the ones on the tentacles, in fact, connecting the tentacles. Delaying himself a bit more in order to turn to see if his companion needed help, a few gurgling noises began to seep out of the opened gut.
As soon as the wriggling had ceased, and the tentacle pinning her to the wall was severed, both of Isabella's hands already had grasped the portion closest to her body and yanked the offending appendage from out of her stomach, now wet with a thick black substance. Certainly it wasn't going to kill her, but it wasn't peachy either, as it inhibited her movement for a time until it would heal up, and without the shadows around it could take a while.
But by now, she was running on pure adrenaline. Slinging the limp tentacle aside, she was already advancing towards the gurgling, thrashing creature at a top speed.
Halfway to her destination however, it seemed that her form flickered in and out of reality briefly. With a shimmer, it seemed that each feature melded into something completely different. A flash of bright violet light, and the jangling of chains and jewelry, coupled by the distinct snort of an inhuman beast, the padding of heavy paws against the ground, and the sudden rip of flesh and a shock of crimson spray happened all at once. In another glimpse, the multi-limbed creature had been assaulted by a mammoth, accessory laden feline with a pair of dagger-like teeth a good foot and a half in length. Bright green slits for eyes narrowed, a sanguine glitter on the forehead and patterns of alternating black - blue - purple - white flooded over the sleek, taut lines of what appeared to be an enormous saber-toothed cat with paws the size of Dante's head ripped, tore and mauled its way through the rotting limbs, desperately seeking out its core.
Dante blinked in disbelief at the transformation of his partner. After a quick double take, his attention was again drawn to the multi-limbed creature, just as he was shoving his sword in towards where he saw the glimpse of the inner core, the bodies began to fall from the creature faster than usual, without regrowing or climbing to the top. The weight of the falling pieces loosened his grip as well as pulled his arms to the ground, dropping to one knee. One hand never letting go of the hilt, a gun was drawn to shoot at the almost completely barren creature in front of them. One tentacle missing, the other again charging up, the inner core was completely visible, sitting in the center of a huge conglomeration of pinkish grey flesh. Without much warning the beast began to slowly spin, though it was obviously gaining speed,
"This ain't good... Isa!" Dante shouted over the high-pitched squeal of energy; his partner, most likely right about through the bodies now, was being aimed at.
Bodies flung left and right, a flurry of fangs and battering, but at the sound of Dante's voice, the massive feline paused in its massacre only to prop itself upon its hind legs. With the sound of unsheathed metal and the ferocious call of two hellish beasts, several knife-like claws were released from their homes as liquid metal musculature worked ever so smoothly. Below the blackened hide of the giant feline, the movement of flesh over muscle was clearly visible as the raking devices were extended and lashed out at the tentacle aiming to destroy.
Dual contact, as the swipe moved through the flesh connecting the tentacle to the core, the tentacle released a searing blade of light that caught the feline squarely in the chest and flung it backwards, sprawled out against the floor with an impact that rattled the foundation of what was left of the area. Dust fell to the floor, wood cracked, stone shattered in spots as the once writhing mass of bodies thrashed about wildly in its throes, several beams of light shredding the walls, scorching them, and destroying others.
Not one to miss the opportunity to strike, Dante had already retrieved his blade by the time that the feline and creature had mutually hit each other. The distraction, and although he hated to use Isabella as one -- cringing when she was knocked backwards, it only infuriated him more -- was all he needed. Amidst the flying beams of the damaged tentacle, he charged inwards, plunging his blade towards the flesh in the center. The sound of a form of blood pouring out of the wound he was inflicting, a cry coming from some unknown orifice, and the tearing of flesh filled the air. A thrust more and his blade thrust yet deeper into the center of the now thrashing beast, and a cracking sound of it's inner core as Dante's sword pierced it.
A light emitted from the cracks, seeping out of all the holes in the brain-like center as well. Its thrashing turning into a rigidness in all directions, stretching apart, torn apart by the light from within the core, and resulting in a sudden separation into hundreds of pieces. Pieces of body and tentacles rained for a moment, a piece landing atop Dante's head as well as pieces of flesh dripping down his once shiny, red leather jacket.
Panting loudly, sweat dripped off of his chin as his legs struggled to bring him over to where the fallen feline last lay, leaving his sword where it fell.
Even in that length of time, said feline had reverted back to being the same human Isabella, sprawled haphazardly along the floor, with her hands over her head as though protecting herself from the rain of gore that spattered all around. Cuts abound, blackness leaking from almost every limb, after the rain had ceased her hands fell away from her head, only to leave her peering ruefully up from the ground to her likewise, battered companion, who, currently a wreck in all respects, just stared at her, fearing for her life. There was silence for a moment ... a lingering stare ... before ...
The sound of giggling ... slowly erupting into a shaking laughter sounding somewhere between relief and complete insanity, which had thus turned promptly into tearless sobbing, and then laughing choked between it all. Certainly this was a first time experience, from her sprawled position she managed to get herself to her knees.
" I -- aha.. I can't go on ... Let's ... let's just go back for now..."
As soon as she began laughing, Dante felt his knees shake, nearly collapsing to the ground.
"Jeeeesus, don't DO that.. "
A hand was placed on her shoulder in companionship ... they really were in this together, but what did she say? Go back? Now? That was completely unorthodox in his way of doing things ... they were in this far, there's no way they were going to go back through all that just to do it again, and who knows what else if their presence is known in this place. Nope, never.
"Soundin' good to me, babe..." He smirked at Isabella, a hand lifted her arm over his shoulder, and subsequently helped her to her feet, keeping most of her weight on him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes :D;; Sorry about the lack of updates. Been busy, lazy, tired, and occupied with Ragnarok Online (since the US server's down for ten days, I may as well update XD!!) So much more coming @_@ and a little bit of subtle comic relief provided by an unlikely duo. ^_^;
We all have pain, we all have sorrow
But, if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on
For, it won't be long
Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs that you won't let show
~Lean on Me, Bill Withers
Chapter Nine
Fall
[By Ultema and Guo]
Standing up slowly, stepping to the side of Isabella, he motioned his head forwards and to the side once with a slight grunt coming out to form jumbled words and lips pressed off to the side of his mouth. Whatever details he was trying to get across, it couldn't have looked like much more than a spasm suggesting that they, "K'ck't's ass." Not quite sure of what it could possibly do, besides start to throw limbs and smell bad, he kept on the defensive for just that reason.
Looking somewhat disturbed at the fact that this pile of parts was more or less breathing -- or something, as it contracted and expanded with a more horrid scent each time (probably due to the rotting flesh that covered it), it took a minute for Isabella to actually gain any sort of composure from either the sight or the smell. Though noting that the longer this thing was around, the more likely Dante was going to die of asphyxiation, the small handgun she had produced earlier was risen upwards -- the black silhouette of the feline running down the side, and the gold lettering of F E L I S glittered for a brief moment as she seemed to plant herself firmly to the ground, opposite hand supporting the butt of the gun as she took a careful aim towards the center of the -- thing (since the center was often times the most vital part of things), and with an ear-shattering blast, were two bullets sent screaming towards their intended target, and the kick was being recoiled from.
The creature, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice the blazing pieces of metal that entered its vicinity as on contact it merely stayed still, contracting and expanding, contracting and expanding. Though a moment's wait longer proved to show that the nasty did indeed have a trick or two up its sleeve, aside from sitting still and stinking.
A portion of the limbs split, and from within arose a thin tentacle like projection with what looked like a bulb at the end. Glistening with the thick, wet substance, it wavered for a moment, before starting to emit a bright, blue-white glow and a low-pitched hum...
The odd sound and light paled in comparison to its effects. The two had only recently noticed that the falling body parts were in fact assembling themselves into self-sufficient humanoid bodies themselves. As the blue beam compressed the surrounding air, every one of the newly created dead bodies that got caught in its path seemed to be crushed slightly followed by a disintegrating effect. Not something either of them wanted to be caught in, they dove in opposite positions. Dante, taking to the air, fired rapidly and alternately at the remaining bodies below. Somehow, he managed to keep himself airborne, with both firing power and a series of jumps off of the bodies. Guns quickly holstered, his hand slid back to grasp the hilt of his sword, and drew it in an attempt to sever the wavering tentacle, which fired the beam.
His sword made contact, however, it was not on the limb, instead it hit the tail end, revealing yet another. The creature had formed legs with the parts contained inside, and scurried away much faster than he could have expected a sitting lump of dead decaying flesh was able to. His eyes immediately went to Isabella, who, like a frightened rabbit, turned tail and fled. She seemingly was the target of this attack. Occupied with shoving his way through the bodies which began to cling to him, only a few shots were made in her general direction as a heads up before he was totally consumed under a pile of the living dead.
Isabella's immediate reaction to the sound of Dante's shots was to move faster. Not because she was afraid of dying -- that wasn't the case at all, but the fact that being torn to shreds wasn't going to help her in the long run, and make her less useful all around. At least the lack of shadow didn't destroy her agility or speed, for as the multi-limbed monstrosity sped in her direction, she made a run towards the wall.
Surprisingly enough, the pile of mobile fertilizer was steadily gaining on the woman, whom at the last moment leading up towards the wall, leapt upwards and with the fluidity of the feline that was so obviously present in her, hands touched down on the cold stone, and then feet, and pushed off at the same time into a roll, before coming out of it just as quickly as she had dove into it, and she was back on her feet. The sound of a dull, wet thwack against the wall, and a shrill screech that came from neither of the humanoids present was enough to let her know to move onto the next point of business.
Her boots skidded across the floor as she turned, not allowed the time to slow down to make it as she raced her way towards her partner. A shoulder bore down on one of Dante's assailants, and with her speed, weight and force behind it, was knocked completely out of the way and into another ambling body toppling the two over like dominos. It didn't seem like her handgun was going to cut it, this time.
"Dante!!" Isabella cried furiously, clawing frantically at the walking undead in hopes of finding her partner whole under the mess. A wary glance cast behind her as the larger, whole being seemed to be getting itself back together after the initial shock of slamming headlong into the wall.
At the very bottom, under the huge pile of bodies, was Dante. A small area on one side seemed to start collapsing, bodies falling down in a row, piling up as opposed to climbing on. With a shout, a small section was pushed outward while Isabella's pulling took off enough to allow Dante out at the same time.
Coat turned brown from the residue of the decaying bodies, cuts on his face and ones on his chest were visible through his vest as well. Gasping for air through his mouth, the stench didn't seem to be a factor at the moment. Staggering to his feet, he reached down to Isabella, even though he'd most likely be using her as a leaning post more than she would, and began a trot using the energy he had before completely regaining his breath. Knocking bodies to the side, up in the air, or blasting their 'heads' off, he attempted to gain a small bit of ground and devise a strategy.
"What the hell is its weak point, soap?!" He panted out, head turning over his shoulder only to view the beast bearing down on them again. "Lets split up and attack both ends!" Not exactly allowing her much input this time around -- the time in the round was much too short to devise a real plan.
By splitting up, he obviously meant that he'd throw her in the other direction of him as he leapt to the side, sword's blade out. As the conglomerated pile of bodies charged at both, it couldn't switch to both directions at once, in fact, it almost seemed to slip onto its "stomach" and twist to the side slightly, like a dog after a hare. Dante's sword was out just far enough to pierce the belly of the rotting flesh, with an extra push from the shoulders, his blade at a forty-five degree angle, the contact released a steaming hot chunky liquid onto the ground. A cry was let out from each of the mouths on the bodies as an extension of the thing was formed and reached out towards him, grasping him around the stomach.
What could Isabella possibly do without her abilities, and the fact that her gun did squat?. The conglomeration of parts was occupied with the hunter at the moment, a swift glance around and Isabella found the only other thing she could try. Reaching down and picking up a splintered rafter that had fallen with the collapse of the ceiling, she wielded the beam of wood (which was twice her width) in the fashion of a lance. It would have been better for it to face her while he did the attacking, after all.
Her boots kicked up the loose gravel on the ground as she vaulted forward, head ducked down as though readying to use herself as some sort of battering ram, and as though to get the thing's attention she called out a loud, rumbling yell full of determination and adrenaline. As she drew nearer at an alarming speed, the sound of her boots slamming hard against the floor below, part of the creature split once more, revealing a black, churning substance about a glimmering gold orb, another wavering tentacle shot up into the air with a distinct hum, but instead of stopping in her tracks, she pressed on, and with a heave of her shoulders she had plunged the rafter deep through the limbs and towards the swirling black orb within.
There was a sharp jolt as the beam hit something, followed by the ungodly sound of a hundred screaming voices as the newly revealed tentacle spasmed, went rigid, and blasted downwards straight towards its assailant. In less time than it takes to blink, the rigid appendage had found itself lodged through the lower part of Isabella's abdomen and had her pinned against the wall with a hard thump and a low grunt.
Once again Dante found himself scrambling to his feet, this time it was he rushing to Isabella's aid. For a moment, he had forgotten that sort of thing didn't hurt her, a caustic shout emanated from the man as he ran towards the part impaling Isabella. Slowed down again by shoving through the bodies, the creature had already begun to charge up for shooting at him. The toes of his boots pressing hard on the ground, he leapt into the air at the last second, and the bright beam sliced through parallel to the ground. His legs pulled up just above the light, and staying aloft with Ebony and Ivory firing away just barely long enough to avoid being blasted to oblivion, he landed atop the creature. A downward slice with the swiftly drawn sword at the tentacle holding his partner severed it, though not releasing her, she'd have to pull out herself; it was all he could get out before the creature shook him to the ground, his legs getting caught on the way down. He stabbed inwards forcefully with hopes of landing a blow in a critical area. With a splitting sound again, he was able to slice one side half open. The bodies and scrap flesh split back revealing a larger glowing orb similar to the ones on the tentacles, in fact, connecting the tentacles. Delaying himself a bit more in order to turn to see if his companion needed help, a few gurgling noises began to seep out of the opened gut.
As soon as the wriggling had ceased, and the tentacle pinning her to the wall was severed, both of Isabella's hands already had grasped the portion closest to her body and yanked the offending appendage from out of her stomach, now wet with a thick black substance. Certainly it wasn't going to kill her, but it wasn't peachy either, as it inhibited her movement for a time until it would heal up, and without the shadows around it could take a while.
But by now, she was running on pure adrenaline. Slinging the limp tentacle aside, she was already advancing towards the gurgling, thrashing creature at a top speed.
Halfway to her destination however, it seemed that her form flickered in and out of reality briefly. With a shimmer, it seemed that each feature melded into something completely different. A flash of bright violet light, and the jangling of chains and jewelry, coupled by the distinct snort of an inhuman beast, the padding of heavy paws against the ground, and the sudden rip of flesh and a shock of crimson spray happened all at once. In another glimpse, the multi-limbed creature had been assaulted by a mammoth, accessory laden feline with a pair of dagger-like teeth a good foot and a half in length. Bright green slits for eyes narrowed, a sanguine glitter on the forehead and patterns of alternating black - blue - purple - white flooded over the sleek, taut lines of what appeared to be an enormous saber-toothed cat with paws the size of Dante's head ripped, tore and mauled its way through the rotting limbs, desperately seeking out its core.
Dante blinked in disbelief at the transformation of his partner. After a quick double take, his attention was again drawn to the multi-limbed creature, just as he was shoving his sword in towards where he saw the glimpse of the inner core, the bodies began to fall from the creature faster than usual, without regrowing or climbing to the top. The weight of the falling pieces loosened his grip as well as pulled his arms to the ground, dropping to one knee. One hand never letting go of the hilt, a gun was drawn to shoot at the almost completely barren creature in front of them. One tentacle missing, the other again charging up, the inner core was completely visible, sitting in the center of a huge conglomeration of pinkish grey flesh. Without much warning the beast began to slowly spin, though it was obviously gaining speed,
"This ain't good... Isa!" Dante shouted over the high-pitched squeal of energy; his partner, most likely right about through the bodies now, was being aimed at.
Bodies flung left and right, a flurry of fangs and battering, but at the sound of Dante's voice, the massive feline paused in its massacre only to prop itself upon its hind legs. With the sound of unsheathed metal and the ferocious call of two hellish beasts, several knife-like claws were released from their homes as liquid metal musculature worked ever so smoothly. Below the blackened hide of the giant feline, the movement of flesh over muscle was clearly visible as the raking devices were extended and lashed out at the tentacle aiming to destroy.
Dual contact, as the swipe moved through the flesh connecting the tentacle to the core, the tentacle released a searing blade of light that caught the feline squarely in the chest and flung it backwards, sprawled out against the floor with an impact that rattled the foundation of what was left of the area. Dust fell to the floor, wood cracked, stone shattered in spots as the once writhing mass of bodies thrashed about wildly in its throes, several beams of light shredding the walls, scorching them, and destroying others.
Not one to miss the opportunity to strike, Dante had already retrieved his blade by the time that the feline and creature had mutually hit each other. The distraction, and although he hated to use Isabella as one -- cringing when she was knocked backwards, it only infuriated him more -- was all he needed. Amidst the flying beams of the damaged tentacle, he charged inwards, plunging his blade towards the flesh in the center. The sound of a form of blood pouring out of the wound he was inflicting, a cry coming from some unknown orifice, and the tearing of flesh filled the air. A thrust more and his blade thrust yet deeper into the center of the now thrashing beast, and a cracking sound of it's inner core as Dante's sword pierced it.
A light emitted from the cracks, seeping out of all the holes in the brain-like center as well. Its thrashing turning into a rigidness in all directions, stretching apart, torn apart by the light from within the core, and resulting in a sudden separation into hundreds of pieces. Pieces of body and tentacles rained for a moment, a piece landing atop Dante's head as well as pieces of flesh dripping down his once shiny, red leather jacket.
Panting loudly, sweat dripped off of his chin as his legs struggled to bring him over to where the fallen feline last lay, leaving his sword where it fell.
Even in that length of time, said feline had reverted back to being the same human Isabella, sprawled haphazardly along the floor, with her hands over her head as though protecting herself from the rain of gore that spattered all around. Cuts abound, blackness leaking from almost every limb, after the rain had ceased her hands fell away from her head, only to leave her peering ruefully up from the ground to her likewise, battered companion, who, currently a wreck in all respects, just stared at her, fearing for her life. There was silence for a moment ... a lingering stare ... before ...
The sound of giggling ... slowly erupting into a shaking laughter sounding somewhere between relief and complete insanity, which had thus turned promptly into tearless sobbing, and then laughing choked between it all. Certainly this was a first time experience, from her sprawled position she managed to get herself to her knees.
" I -- aha.. I can't go on ... Let's ... let's just go back for now..."
As soon as she began laughing, Dante felt his knees shake, nearly collapsing to the ground.
"Jeeeesus, don't DO that.. "
A hand was placed on her shoulder in companionship ... they really were in this together, but what did she say? Go back? Now? That was completely unorthodox in his way of doing things ... they were in this far, there's no way they were going to go back through all that just to do it again, and who knows what else if their presence is known in this place. Nope, never.
"Soundin' good to me, babe..." He smirked at Isabella, a hand lifted her arm over his shoulder, and subsequently helped her to her feet, keeping most of her weight on him.
Author's Notes :D;; Sorry about the lack of updates. Been busy, lazy, tired, and occupied with Ragnarok Online (since the US server's down for ten days, I may as well update XD!!) So much more coming @_@ and a little bit of subtle comic relief provided by an unlikely duo. ^_^;
