The Forgotten

Chapter 24: Piper Vs Stratus

The struggle raged on, Piper pushing his Oblivion against the unbreakable Buster Sword. The two swords pressed together, the Buster sword just above the handle to the Oblivion. Piper gritted his teeth and pushed harder, forcing Stratus to stumble back. Akira and Gale ran forward to help but a burst of flames erupted in front of them, blocking their path. Piper dropped to his knee and spun his leg round, tripping Stratus. Using his momentum he spun on one hand and flipped up to land on his feet gracefully.

"You! Stay out of this!" he ordered to the two behind the flames. Stratus got to his feet, anger in his eyes.

"Do as he says. Let me handle this!"

"You sure?" shouted Gale over the raging flames. His nod was enough for her and she stepped back, Akira following shortly after.

"Good." Piper raised his sword to his head, the handle just in front of his forehead as the flames died down. Thrusting his hand forward, another flame flew from his hand. Stratus raised the Buster Sword, blocking the attack. The flames died down and Stratus rushed forward, his hand outstretched and firing his own flame towards Piper. Piper smiled and began spinning his Oblivion at great speed, held out before him now. The flame connected and was sent hurling back towards Stratus who barely dodged, singing his shirt. Piper took his chance and leapt forward, placing a boot cleanly into Stratus's abdomen sending the teen to the floor.

"Stratus! Come on get up!" yelled Gale from the sidelines. Stratus did just that, climbing to his feet clutching his chest.

"You're better than I thought Piper. Let's get this warm up over with and onto the real fighting. Ready?" Asked Stratus, a grin ever present on his face.

"I was born ready boy." Was Pipers response. He lunged forward, bring the Oblivion into the Buster once again, the blades bounced of each other before clashing again, And again. The fourth caught Stratus of guard, he ducked and sliced at his chest ducking the swing of the Buster sword. Stratus clutched at his chest, the blood seeping through his fingers.

"Ha! Just like your father!" Piper laughed, the room only enhancing his laughter by repeating it over in an echo, mocking Stratus.

"No!" Gale began to run forward but Akira grabbed her arm, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Let me go! He needs my help!" she protested, fighting back her tears, she needed to be strong and would not show her weakness.

"Let him be Gale. He needs to fight this one by himself. He will be fine." Reassured the Assassin.

"Stop laughing!" grunted Stratus, getting to his feet. He released his hand from his wound, only to clutch at it again, gritting his teeth.

"Maybe you should heal that." He laughed again.

"Shut it!" yelled Stratus.

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"Yuffie!" cried Vincent, diving to knock her to the floor, just missing the beam of energy that shot above them. Red looked up quickly, noticing four Mecha fighters in front of them, the leader held out a beam cannon. Replacing the usual machine gun. Before he could even react he was bombarded with bullets from the other three Mecha fighters. Vincent and Yuffie got to their feet, Yuffie creating a wall around her and Vincent.

Red proceeded to dodge the bullets, leaping around the rooftop. He jumped to the top of the elevator and cast a wave of lightning over the attacking robots. Before the attack could hit the lead Fighter cast Reflect and deflected the lightning to Red, who was hit and knocked to the floor, his fur standing on end and his body smoking.

"Red!" screamed Yuffie. Vincent noticed Red's motionless body and his normally stoic expression changed to that of anger and sadness.

"Yuffie, go get Red. I'll hold them of." He instructed Yuffie. She nodded and ran to where Red lay. Vincent unbuckled his Death Penalty and aimed it towards the Machines quickly, before opening fire. His gun shot back with shear force and he flipped another bullet into the gun and shot again. His bullets bounced of the Lead Mecha fighter's tough exterior. Despite his futile efforts he continued to fire, keeping the fighters distracted long enough for Yuffie to help Red into the wall she had created.

"My bullets aren't working." He informed the ninja.

"Damn! This wall wont hold forever!"

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Clank! The two swords stuck once again, Piper shifted his arms, using both ends of his Oblivion to push Stratus towards the wall. Stratus struggled to keep up with the fast movements of Piper and eventually fell backwards. Piper spun his Oblivion and stabbed the end into the ground, Stratus rolling out of the way at the last minute. Stratus swung his leg round trying to trip Piper but missed when Piper flipped backwards, still holding his Oblivion. He landed soundly and removed the blade from the torn up mat.

Stratus struggled to his feet, out of breath. Piper just smirked at this and stabbed his Oblivion back into the mat.

"How about we try hand to hand combat now." Mocked Piper as he stepped away from his Oblivion. Stratus took this chance and charged Piper, swinging his sword frantically at the man.

"Stratus! Calm down!" Cried Akira from the sidelines. The teen ignored Akira's pleas and kept attacking, swinging the heavy blade at his opponent. Piper just kept jumping backward and shifting slightly, easily avoiding the boys sluggish attacks. Stratus dove forward, getting nothing but air as Piper jumped over his head, landing behind him. Stratus turned on his heel and swung his Buster Sword but Piper ducked in time. Piper jumped back, grabbing the handle of the Oblivion as Stratus rushed forward again. With a simple thrust upwards, the two blades collided and a loud crack filled the room. The Buster Sword had shattered in two. Piper used the momentum of his blade to slip backwards on one hand. Stratus just slugged forward, the broken sword dropping to the mat, dragging the teen to his knees with it. The teen just stared in shock at his fathers prized possession laid broken at his knees. The 'Unbreakable' Buster Sword had broken.

"I'm sorry. I forgot how feeble that old relic was." The sounds of Piper's mocking drove Stratus over the edge and he charged with eyes that could tear holes through the toughest of metals.

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"Vincent. What are we going to do?" yelled Yuffie; she held the unconscious form of Red in her arms.

"I'm not sure Yuffie. You have any Phoenix Downs?" he asked in response.

"No. I'm all out." Vincent just sadly nodded at her answer. "Shit!"

"Wait. I have an idea. I need you and Red to get out of here. Okay?" He gave her a stern look that told her not to question and she nodded. She got to her feet and stepped back, giving Vincent one last look before running to the far end of the roof, taking cover behind the elevator shaft. The Mecha Fighters kept firing, the bullets still being deflected by Yuffie's wall. Vincent got to his feet; he ruffled through his pocket and pulled out a red orb the size of his palm. He clicked into a free slot on his Death Penalty and raised the gun to his head, the barrel pointing to the sky. The orb began to glow as the wall began to fade, the effect warring of.

Yuffie just looked on, he head peering round the corner as Vincent stood completely still. With a swift hand movement he shot his arm to the side as the ground began to shake, causing the building to shake with it. The wall faded even more, one step closer to falling and leaving Vincent open for the bullets to hit. And she couldn't even do anything about; she was out of Magic Power. The ground continued to shake violently, then began to crack as a part of the roof collapsed. All of a sudden a huge demon like creature burst through the ground next to the building, towering them. On a second look she could see it was a Zombie, a trickle of blood seeping from its left eye. What was this? She had never seen a summon like this before.

The Mecha fighters froze as the beast rose from the ground, it's head shot back and then a light began to emit from its left eye. With a snap of its neck it's head shot forward, releasing an invisible force that caused the air to ripple and a loud ping sounded followed by an explosion.

Vincent watched as his newly acquired Summon Anima caused one of the Mecha Fighters to explode. Then another, and another until the only one left was the Lead Mecha. He shifted his gaze to Anima, and the zombie like creature unleashed its final shot and the last Robot exploded into pieces.

----

Stratus swung at Piper, eye's a blaze with his furious attacks. Piper just dodged and occasionally blocked. After a few minutes Piper got bored and blocked one of Stratus's punches by raising his arm, vertical to the ground and following through with an elbow to Stratus's nose, smashing it with a loud crunch and then a quick shot to his knee. Stratus collapsed to his knees, clutching his nose as blood poured out of the broken bone.

"I'm disappointed Stratus. I though the son of Cloud Strife would be a challenge. Oh well." With this, Piper raised his Oblivion to Stratus neck.

"No!" cried Gale, throwing her two knives at Piper, he used his Oblivion to deflect the projectiles. One into the roof, lodging it in whilst the other flew back towards Gale and cut her lower leg cleanly. Akira was at her side quickly as she seethed in pain.

The room suddenly shook and a piece of rock landed just where Piper was standing, he dodged just in time. The rest of the ceiling gave way with it, creating a barrier between Piper and Stratus. Akira took this opportunity, carrying the limping Ninja with him towards Stratus.

"Come Stratus. We must get out of her with Lance." Ordered the Assassin.

Stratus did not reply, just go to his feet, still holding nose and grabbed his broken sword, slinging it behind his back before grabbing Lance and following after Akira.

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