When Demons Attack

*Humans who hold the fate of the world in your hands,* begged Dan Darium, *Take my powers to aid you in this fight. Only you can stop these fiends from destroying our home. But, please, find the lost child, and make sure she is safe and sound once more.* With those words, he transformed into a Medium. Jacob Invoked him just to learn his single Lore, Apocalypse, but planned to put Odoryuk back on right after it was done. Dan Darium may be able to stop time, but it would all be useless if the person who cast the spell had no idea what to do with himself while it was in effect.

"The foolish Guardian, he has no idea what he has gotten into. Your kind are no more than slaves, you should know your place kneeling at my feet and licking my boots. Now, I will teach you to respect your betters," Kaibutsu said. He slashed out at Sierra, who dodged with relative ease.

The gunner asked him, "Is that all you've got? I've seen better shots coming from a dead cat than you. Just try to take on the mighty Sierra Kenju." She picked up the Pineapple ARM, and fired it at the Demon Lord. Silently, she wished she could get a hold of a Bazooka or a Rail Gun, they were said to be the most powerful ARMs in existence, that could be confirmed, at least. Many rumors still existed that spoke of ARMs that existed before her time, with power she could only dream of.

Kaibutsu laughed. "You must be the girl that Kachikina cursed. I take it those fools at Baskar were able to find a way to reverse the effects. No matter, I will still be victorious. After all, you may have a strong spirit, and masterful synchronization, but you're still just a human."

He began to charge up the Darkness Spell. Sierra knew what to do, and countered with her Phase Gun. Both attacks struck each other, and began to fight for supremacy. Surprisingly, Sierra wasn't losing her edge at all, it was as if the two were equally matched in terms of power.

'How can this be?' wondered the Demon Lord, 'This mere human child, being able to hold her own against a superior being. She must have some sort of special power that I am unaware of. But what could it be? Certainly, this must be what destroyed the strike force in ancient times.' Then, something began to go through his mind, something he had never felt before. It was fear. Fear of death, fear of failure, and fear of being killed by a race that used to be no more than slaves to his kind.

Suddenly, the spells of the Phase Gun cut through Kaibutsu's magic. He was knocked back against the wall. When the Demon looked up, he saw Sierra standing over him, Kyoku on her shoulder. The ARM she was fighting with was pointed directly at his head. She could pull the trigger anytime, and end his life, even an idiot could realize that Kaibutsu was in a real bind.

"Now you know never to underestimate humans. We can be just as strong as you Demons if we put our mind to it and work hard enough. Your overconfidence has cost you your life, Demon scum," she stated, coldly. Her finger was about to move towards the trigger. Sierra hated killing, but someone who would murder all of Filgaia was someone she'd make an exception for. It was this creature who was responsible for so much pain and suffering, he had no concern for the people on the planet at all. At least Sierra possessed a code of ethics that she lived by to keep her from becoming a monster.

But before the gun went off, Kaibutsu showed her his last trick. He used his sword, and slashed her across the front. Then, he teleported off. Sierra fell to the ground, clutching her injured midsection. Never in her life had she hurt like she did at the moment. For once, she wanted to just swallow her pride, and ask for help. But the wound was too painful for her to talk. Even Kyoku's yells to try and get her to say that she'd be ok wasn't enough reason to concentrate on anything but the pain.

Luckily, Sasha could see with her own two eyes that Sierra was in pain. She stepped forward, ready to heal her. But when she removed the girl's arm from her stomach, she realized something strange. Sierra wasn't bleeding at all. In fact, except for the slash across her midsection, she looked perfectly normal. The princess decided to get a better look. What she saw, shocked her.

Lyle inquired, "Sasha, what's wrong? You look pale. Is something the matter with Sierra? Can't your magic do anything for her wounds?" He walked over, wanting to try and help the girl with Berries if magic couldn't do a thing. Lyle grabbed a Mega Berry, and squished it for its juice. Then, he placed the juice on the infected area. The wound began to close, and Sasha's magic finished the job.

The princess looked at Lyle. "You mean you didn't see it? Sierra didn't bleed from a wound of that magnitude. She's got some sort of power about her that you and I can only fathom. It's just like what was written in an old story, when my ancestor. . ." She suddenly stopped short.

"Why did you stop?" asked Jacob, "What is it about your ancestor's story that is similar to Sierra's, that would make you suddenly get pale and fail to explain the situation to the rest of us? You're usually not afraid to talk Sierra, so please tell us what is wrong. If you're sick, we'll get you a healer."

"I'm fine, Jacob, it's just that I've found something out that I don't think Sierra really wants to know about herself," she replied. The princess held something up, and the others turned to see what it was. Even Sierra careened her head, wondering what had spooked Sasha out like that.

It appeared to be a small chunk of metal, broken by a cutting tool of some sort. The angle of the cut matched the angle of the blow that had been struck against Sierra, exactly. Not that anyone could quite figure out why Sasha was spooked from just that one piece of metal.

She stated, "This is a chunk of metal that I found embedded in Sierra's body. It's not a weapon piece, it looks to be metal plating of some sort. The angle of the cut seems to suggest that it was torn off of a bigger piece when that Demon slashed her in the stomach. Sierra, I think you just might be the missing child who was sleeping in these ruins, the sister of my distant ancestor."

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Yeah, it was kind of a no brainer. If you know what Rudy looks like, you would think his sister would be similar, and Sierra is.