GUILTY GEAR

The Wedding Night

The Series

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Conceived and Written By: Sheo Darren

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Disclaimers

           I don't own anything here but myself, my created characters and the story itself. I would also like to announce that I should be able to update this fan fiction every weekend, usually on late evening on Friday or early morning Saturday (to my American audience, it's Friday morning or Friday evening).

           Some important dates of note: March 28 is my graduation from high school. March 31 is my birthday.

           Oh, and if Miss Akira (Taka Ichiko's real-life girlfriend) is reading this, please, send me your honest opinions, either as a review or an independent e-mail. I'm very open to suggestions and discussions.

           Now go read and enjoy and review.

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The Wedding Night Series

"All Good Things Must Come To An End…"

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Part Three of Five: Tears

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From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning

with thane and captain rode Thengel's son:

to Edoras he came, the ancient halls

of the Mark wardens mist enshrouded;

golden timbers were in gloom mantled.

Farewell he bade to his free people,

hearth and high seat, and the hallowed places,

where long he had feasted ere the light faded.

Forth rode the king, fear behind him,

fate before him. Fealty kept he;

oaths he had taken, all fulfilled them.

Forth rode Théoden. Five nights and days

east and onward rode the Eorlingas

through Folde and Fenmarch and the Firienwood,

six thousand spears to Sunlending,

Mundburg the mighty under Mindolluin,

Sea kings' city in the South kingdom

foe beleaguered, fire encircled.

Doom drove them on. Darkness took them,

Horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar

sank into silence: so the songs tell us.

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           The mysterious woman fell silent once more, as the fortunes of battle now turned against the heroes. It was always like that, always that the forces of good seemed small and pitiful compared to the forces of evil. Victory could only be won with great sacrifice. And in the end, victory did not seem such a great prize in comparison to all that had been lost in order for the war to be won.

Jam Kuradoberi. Testament. Hotaru Howard.

And yet, for all they were worth, they would still fight on.

"Doom drove them on. Darkness took them, horse and horseman; hoofbeats afar sank into silence: so the songs tell us.

"So the songs tell us," she murmured quietly, "But there are things even the bards cannot sing of, and men will only know of them when the times is aught. Not before; only after.

"For we must live through them, and even if we die in them," came the sad hope of it all, "We will live within them forever, the glory and memories wrought ours forever.

"Forever…"

                                                                                *         *         *

             "Elde, where are you going?"

"I'm going on ahead. We're taking too long. Yuuki might be overwhelmed already." Even as the Swordsman No More spoke hurriedly, they could all see the 'small' shapes in the sky, the foremost of the battleships that led the Anti Sho Tsuzuku Fleet. Already Earl Osborne was receiving transmissions from the lead warship, the Eternal with Lux Clyne in command, coordinating their moves for the coming battle. There was no time to lose.

"Then let me come with you."

"No. It's safer here. Believe me, where I'm going is too dangerous even for someone like Yuuki or me or even Sheo himself. I can't afford to risk your life there."

"But–"

"No 'buts'. Chloe," he said all of a sudden, turning to the girl who was his self appointed rival when it came to Kirika. "Please protect Kirika for me. Don't let any harm come to her."

"Hai." Even though she hated him for taking Noir away from her, Chloe knew the young man cared for Kirika immensely. "I swear."

And then Kirika tightly hugged the youth who was once Elde Talonn. "Come back safe, Elde," she murmured, knowing she could not help this time or even accompany her beloved, trusting in him and his power to keep himself safe. "Come back to me safe and sound. And I love you."

He held her hands softly and turned to kiss her forehead. "I will," the Wanderer promised with a smile that well might be his last. "And I love you, too."

Then he reluctantly stepped away from his fiancée as the Wings of Eternity flared to life and he was gone in a storm of white feathers.

Closing her eyes, hands clasped tight together even as Chloe put a reassuring hand over her shoulder, Kirika prayed it be true.

                                                                                *         *         *

           Suffused with the evil power of his heritage, Rock slowly stormed towards Sho Tsuzuku, murder in his eyes, the flames of evil his weapon of revenge.

Behind him were the ashes of Raziel, whom he had killed just a few moments ago, insignificant and forgotten.

To the side was the unmoving form of his beloved wife Hotaru, dead at Raziel's hands, Itokatsu the ferret bewailing its mistress' abrupt departure into whatever afterlife awaited. She seemed so peaceful at death, so still, the delicate nature of life proven by the almost effortless way she had passed away, not even time enough to breathe her last.

A tiny part of Rock's heart wished that it would be a happy place for her, indeed, unlike this world she had so recently walked.

If only that was true.If only it was someone else's blade rather than Raziel's.

Hotaru was not just dead; she was forever gone. There was no spirit to find a way home; Raziel's sword devoured souls as wolves would sheep. Once a person's soul was gone, the person herself was gone as well.

He remembered the first time they met. They were opponents then in the so called 'King of Fighters Maximum Mayhem' tourney held by Kain R. Heinlein. Rock had come to prove himself a real man and so shed the chains of unhappy fate that bound him to his 'deceased' father Geese; Hotaru sought out her missing brother Gato, a man tormented by his heritage just as Rock was. Though Rock defeated Hotaru, there were no hard feelings at all between the two of them. In fact, they became friends in a fashion, and Hotaru later helped Terry to save Rock from turning into a wretched being just like his father Geese Howard. Thus, they fell in love and married, and the rest was history recorded in the earlier portions of this fan fiction.

But now Hotaru, his lamb, his beloved, his darling, was dead. There was no way she could come back or be brought back. No way at all.

If he had to, he would burn everything away he had and cherished just to get her back. He would sacrifice his dreams, his person, even his life. He'd rather die than live alone without her. He'd been living alone for so long that it is perhaps the only thing he fears.

But now was no time for grief. Now was not the time for softness, not for love and care that his father had so callously dismissed, not for the memories of delirious happiness he had with Hotaru.

Now was the time for vengeance.

Sho Tsuzuku smirked and gestured haughtily at rock. "Have at thee, boy."

Somehow his father's image was superimposed upon this heartless bastard. The flames of anger within Rock's heart blazed into a veritable firestorm at that imagery, and his aura without raged like wildfire.

"I will destroy you."

"Come on, boy. Try it."

Rock howled in fury and attacked.

                                                                                *         *         *

            "Let us see," the Box of Doom said evilly, smiling as it did so, "Let us see who the 'real trash' is, shall we?"

A wave of pure evil energy leapt from the Box, creating a half mile wide bubble that surrounded it and its opponent Ranma Saotome. Then from behind it emerged seven girls, seven cute but powerful girls, all loyal and raring to fight for their Master to prove their loyalty.

"Ikumi. Nayuki. Shiori. Kaori. Sayuri. Unknown. Kanna." The Box of Doom seethed with cold amusement. "Destroy Ranma Saotome."

"Utterly, Master?" Ikumi asked coolly.

The smile of evil came again upon the cardboard box's painted face. "Yes," it said. "Utterly."

"Bring it on," Ranma said as he got into his pose.

He nearly regretted saying that.

He was outnumbered seven to one. He was fighting seven opponents whose combined powers were pretty formidable enough, even compared to his. He was facing attacks that he couldn't believe actually existed: Colorful plastic scissors and safety knives made out of ice and the Ultimate Keroppi Plushie Strike, anyone?

Worst of all, he was fighting girls.

And you know that in the Ranma universe, any and all girls can hand Ranma's ass to him without breaking a sweat.

"But this is Sheo Darren's fan fiction set in Guilty Gear!"

"Has Sho failed to inform you of my special power?" The Box of Doom laughed. "I can create a small field around me that conforms to whatever reality I wish it to be. I've deployed the field already around us. Guess what dimension I used? YOURS, of course!"

"I shall not lose to you!" Ranma unleashed a souma burst that sent the EFZ girls reeling back.

"Ikumi." The Box of Doom sounded very pleased. "Pull the team back. I myself will personally handle this fool."

"Yes, Master." The EFZ girls moved to do its bidding, leaving the Box on its own to face the powered up Ranma.

"What can a box like you do to me?"

"Nothing. But," it added, "My true form can."

Thus saying so, the Box of Doom fell apart to reveal smoke and fire and brimstone and–

"What the hell? True form?"

A form rose out of the tattered cardboard sheets, a form tall and menacing. It had long slick greasy hair and pale deathly skin and a tight leather outfit with D rings and boss handles and a handsome face that made all the EFZ girls giggle in dreamy admiration. It held a customized quadruple electric guitar in its hands, the same one that Michaelangelo the heavy metal guitarist used, the one with four necks and four sets of strings. And when it spoke, it was in a synthesized, raspy, pitched voice that heavy metal and rocker fanatics would recognize as one of the best in the business, albeit one of the weirdest as well.

"This is my true form, Ranma. Gaze upon it and mark it well. It is the last thing you will see before you die."

"You're–"

"No longer the Box of Doom," said the sinister figure as it strummed experimentally on one of the string sets, grinning insanely as it did so. "I AM THE GOD OF HEAVY METAL! I AM PLAPLA_VENGEANCE (a.k.a Plave for convenience)! NOW: FEAR ME!"

Chibi angel wings appeared at Plave' back, and then lines traced themselves towards Ranma, highlighting him as weapons targeting reticules would while Warning: Danger signs were appearing out of nowhere. Plave grinned and hit his quad guitar's strings hard, yelling: "QUAD KAIGYAKU HOMEOSTASIS!"

Waves of musical notes streamed towards Ranma. The martial artist though to block– but Plave' attack, basically EX I Nou's Gamma Ray Overdrive, could not be stopped by a normal block. Ranma was overwhelmed by the attack and nearly floored.

"Kisama…" The Anything Goes fighter struggled to stay on his feet, bloodied and battered as he was by that single blast.

"Interesting," said the Box of Doom/Plave with a touch of malice. "You're as resilient as ever versus a real male threat. It appears I have to rinse and repeat."

In a matter of moments, Plave had turned Ranma's situation into desperate. The Box of Doom's final form began unleashing attacks coming from all kinds of rocker people: Freaky Furikuri alien rocker (Haruko Haruhara/sledgehammer guitar strike); anti-alien Section Chief rocker (Oji the Section Chief/mega laser); space opera rocker (Basara/VF-19 Kai missile strike); real-life Gothic rocker (Rob Zombie/turn target into bat and chew it up real good). Ranma was literally bounced all across the landscape, developing intimate contact with Mother Earth via so many hammer blows to the ground and flying in the sky courtesy big explosions.

But he was still standing, and then Ranma began to laugh. "So, a true challenge to me has finally risen. It has been a long time since I fought a serious opponent. Now: Feel the power of God-Ranma!"

"What?" Then Plave and the EFZ girls stared as Ranma rapidly began to take on size and presence and power, rising up and far above them.

                                                                                *         *         *

            Millia and Venom fell back in alarm as the mass of blackness that was entirely of shadow rose far above their heads. "I think," the excessively handsome senior Assassin said in what was probably 'Understatement of the Year', "That we are in trouble."

"I'd agree." Then they both had to jump for their lives.

In a move they could never have imagined possible, Darkness had merged himself completely with Eddie, forming a new Shadow being whose powers were a combination of Guilty Gear parasite and Shadow Skill villain. Now useless, Zato's body had been carelessly cast aside by the new creation. Venom made mental note to get his former Master's corpse and give it a proper funeral.

But right now, they had a bigger problem to consider.

Darkness/Eddie molded its fluid shadow-mass to form a hydra-like beast with a dozen huge serpentine heads and fangs as long as a man's arm. Hissing, the ebony monstrosity came straight at them.

                                                                                *         *         *

            His cruel laughter rung within I-Nou's mind even as every other part of her was numb with damage, bleeding and pained by injuries too many and deep to shrug off.

Lucia was simply too powerful. The handsome but cruel Dark Bring was in the fullness of his power, at his sadistic worst. He switched sword identities easily, making his tactics unpredictable, and his attacks were overwhelmingly destructive. I-Nou had put up as good a fight as she could, but even possessing powers as That Girl had given her, she wasn't enough.

It was even worse. Lucia was a brutal person who enjoyed humiliating his opponents and making them suffer in immense pain. Each blow was meant not only to injure, but to insult, to make his victims suffer every waking moment.

Badly injured, unable to continue fighting, I-Nou slumped to the ground.

Forgive me, Mistress Yuuki… I have failed…

Helpless, she could only watch as Lucia approached, almost able to feel the malevolent intent he had in store for her. He grasped her chin firmly and hauled her partway up, bringing her face almost up to his own. There was a sadistic leer in his eyes, taking pleasure in her broken state.

"I wonder," asked Lucia most cruelly, "I wonder how failure tastes?"

So saying, he bent his head down to kiss I-Nou full upon her crushed lips.

She wanted to scream, then, but she couldn't. Her voice tightened up within her. Inside her mind I-Nou felt as if a wall stood between her and her body. She couldn't make herself move. She couldn't even scream. She could only suffer in silence.

It drove her mad. She railed and thrashed and threw herself at the wall, pummeling it, bleeding. Again and again and again, she hurled her broken body upon the barrier, but slumped at last at the footing of her opponent –her own inability–, defeated.

Power…

I need more power…

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             "You have a Voice." Yuuki's words came to mind then, clinical, precise. "Your power's source is your Voice. Your power is in your Voice. Your power is your Voice. Use your Voice. Feel it. Sing. Sing out your feelings, your emotions, your mind, anything. It is power when sung, your Voice.

"But beware: It is, after all, the Voice of a deadly siren. It is the Voice of a slumbering banshee…

"It is the Voice of a monster…"

She sang. It was not a song as all knew it, not a song with words and lyrics. It was a song that ran purely on Voice. Voice was Song. Song was Sound. Sound was her. The song was her Voice. She was her Voice.

She sang.

The wall shattered.

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            The darkly wild light that flared to life in her emerald cat-eyes was the first indication to Lucia that the fight was not yet over.

As with many warnings, it came too late.

According to mythology, banshees are undead specters of elven females who had turned to evil by curse or choice. They are among the most fearsome of the undead because of their deadly keen –a magical amplification of their voice that slays all mortals who hear it– and their powerful evil nature.

The first mind-rending wail shattered the ground all around them for perhaps fifty meters. A stunned Lucia, not expecting any attempt of a counterattack or even the slightest idea of it, was hurled aside by waves so powerful that they almost seemed solid material, a sledgehammer blow delivered by sound alone. Around him, plants withered and small animals died.

Again she screamed her murderous keening cry, epitome of all the pain she felt and wished to share. Again she lashed out, her voice serving as weapon and life, smashing Lucia repeatedly, a killing weapon. Already her wounds had rapidly healed, not a trace of a scar at all, no reminder that she had been so close to death only seconds ago.

Marlene was aside, forgotten, impotent, unneeded.

Her mistress had found a far more powerful weapon and was now awakening it, preparing to use it to the utmost.

Wiping away the blood from a small cut on his lip, Lucia's eyes were despite his self dancing with anticipation. This might be fun, the Dark Bring thought gleefully as he brought his sword up and let his evil power surge out once more. This is more fun this way…

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            Sephiroth was a deadly foe, unbelievably fast, Masamune his offensive weapon while he parried with Kamigami. Hotsuma knew well the seven-foot long katana's special nature to cut through any solid material– such as his scarf, shortened by a length after it missed him but collected something else in payment.

The two feet or so of scarlet silk fluttered weakly where it lay on the ground. In a gesture of contempt, Sephiroth pinned it to the ground with Masamune. "You're slow, human scum," taunted the Jenova super soldier a small ball of flame gathered in one hand. "Is that the best you could do? Let me turn the heat up: Fire Materia!"

Hotsuma kept moving. To answer the taunt was to delay. To delay was to invite death. Elemental Materia blasts shook the ground with power, but only illusions perished, decoys serving their purpose effectively: The real ninja always ahead of his doom by a few steps. Only a few steps, but they were enough… barely.

"What happened to the great ninja Hotsuma? Cloud Strife or even that Chipp Zanuff character would have posed a better foe for me than you, fool." The flames backlit Sephiroth's tall frame eerily, green Mako eyes glowing in a sinister way. "Are you ready to die now?"

"Your arrogance precedes you." Hotsuma was not affected at all by the show of force. "But the true warrior relies not on arrogance, but on quiet reputation backed by skill."

"Then show me your skill." It was clear the superhuman had no respect for him, a vulnerable moment of egotism that was exactly what the ninja was waiting for: An opening. "Let us see if there is credence to the legend!"

"As you wish." Saying so, Hotsuma disappeared.

Despite himself, Sephiroth blinked. That proved to be his downfall.

At the precise moment that he blinked and let his guard down for just one second, Hotsuma –fast as thought, keen as the edge of his weapon, the true definition of a ninja master: Fast, unseen and deadly– attacked. That single second was enough for a flurry of lethal slashes, expertly delivered one after the other from different directions, the demon sword Akujiki keen and unmatchable. Then Hotsuma reappeared a dozen feet behind his foe, his dark blade slowly sliding back into its sealing home.

The world hung still for a moment.

With a slight tinkle of metal, Hotsuma decisively sheathed Akujiki.

Shuddering as blood sprayed from his fatal cuts, Sephiroth fell on one knee. Hotsuma was turning back to finish him off when he heard the first killing howl that was his ally's darkest incarnation.

Behind him was laughter of a most evil nature.

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Dark I-Nou didn't notice or worry or pay any attention to Hotsuma's surprised reaction. She didn't care anymore. She was losing herself in her Voice. All of her kind did. It was her first time to unleash, and she knew no sort of control over herself, thought of no discipline to regulate her Voice. She lived on her Voice and let it out and lived it out fully, screw the consequences whatever they may be.

She liked it.

A Banshee, a Siren, a creation that lived and died and killed with her Voice.

Dark I-Nou sang her song of death.

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"Do you really think a mere ninja can defeat me?" Back on his feet, Sephiroth was laughing despite his extensive –supposedly fatal– injuries. At his hand, a Materia Orb glowed fiercely. "I am above your pathetic race! Let me demonstrate how!"

The Materia Orb flared, bathing him in its curing field. The deep wounds disappeared, healed completely. Again he laughed.

"Now, let me show you what I can do!" Another field of power appeared, this time green and radiating Mako energy from which emerged a host of Jenova spawn, hideous mutations created by Shinra Corp's genetics experiments with ancient technology and DNA, murderous monsters that fed upon human flesh and misery. They all swarmed towards Hotsuma.

The ninja hit the first half-dozen or so with precisely placed kunai darts that buried themselves in vulnerable eyes or throats. But the life-urge within the monstrosities was strong, overriding normally lethal or incapacitating injuries, driving them on to kill and destroy. Akujiki cut through their flesh easily, but they pressed forwards, forcing Hotsuma into a slow retreat that would be his destruction.

This battle was hopeless, indeed.

                                                                                *         *         *

            "SHINE KNUCKLE!"

Without absolutely any semblance of effort at all, Sho Tsuzuku halted the Overdrive attack using only one hand. Then he batted Rock away with a careless swat that nevertheless sent the Garrou fighter flying a good twenty feet.

The blonde fighter landed on his feet and stopped his backward motion only barely. Ignoring the pain the sledgehammer like blow dealt him, he surged forward again, launching repeated combos. Sho Tsuzuku effortlessly defeated each and every attack, smashing Rock back again and again.

"No!" His angry words were all the more ironic, having been spoken by Raziel only a quarter of an hour ago. "This is impossible!"

"Your dark power is impressive, boy, even more powerful than Raziel's." Sho Tsuzuku smirked. "But you still have a lot to learn."

"Damn you!" But hiRock'ss next attack was blunted and turned aside, just like all the others.

"I assume that the truth of blondes being stupid is true, but you push the upper limit, at that. Your girlfriend died for a fool," the villain cruelly added insult to injury, "A wasted death, indeed."

"Shut up!"

"Don't it realize it, Rock? It wasn't Raziel who killed her."

"Shut up!"

"It was you. You killed her, Rock. You killed Hotaru."

Suddenly Rock couldn't control himself anymore. An inhuman howl tore from his chest, the power surging wildly through him, flaring out from his body and igniting all things around him. Whatever remained of his sanity and consciousness and conscience were drowned in the overcoming waves of rage. Kill, kill, kill, kill, urged the power. Kill.

His eyes burned purple.

Kill…

"Rock!"

Someone was clinging to him, desperate, frightened. Rock was slowing down, and in anger he pushed away at the interloper while he kept his gaze fixed squarely on Sho Tsuzuku's smirking mug. He couldn't let anything distract him from his ultimate goal. He couldn't stop. He couldn't falter. His anger drove him on. His power kept him going. To stop was failure. To fail was to die.

Whoever it was ignored his arm and tightened hold of him, ignoring the blazing aura of evil that coated him, ignoring the pain and the injury she sustained, only praying she could reach the person she loved before it was too late–

"Rock! Rock!"

His name, she was calling his name. Her voice was familiar; impossible but familiar. He had to look, despite all his training and battle fury, because a tiny part of Rock Howard recognized that voice and that name. He looked, and his burning heart suddenly went cold.

It was Hotaru.

That can't be…

"Yamete, Rock… Onegai, yamete…"

She's dead... Hotaru's dead… I saw her die…

"Rock!"

I killed her…

"How?" The word was faint on his lips, disbelief marring his handsome face. "How can this be?"

"The power, Rock… it's consuming you." Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with fear for his sake. "It's destroying you even as it strengthens you. Let it go, Rock. Let it go."

"My power… the only thing to defeat…"

"No, Rock. Your power cannot defeat Sho Tsuzuku. A greater doom awaits him than yours. Your power will never destroy him; it will only destroy you. And me."

"I…" He didn't know what truth was and what was lie. "I killed you…"

Her grip was warm and firm and all too real; her heart beat strongly beneath his hand. This was no ghost, no undead spirit or restless soul. Hotaru was alive.

"I'm alive. I'm alive because of you."

He began to cry, and though his father would have laughed at the sight he did not care.

"Let it go, Rock. Let it go."

His fury dying away in a rush that left him breathless and without strength, the dark flames limning him dispelled at last, Rock suddenly sagged to the ground. Hotaru caught him as he fell, just as she had done years before when she had saved him from falling into the darkness. Just as she had done so now, again, and just as she would do for him however many times he would fall in the future.

She loved him so.

"At last. At last…"

"Not again." Greatly exasperated by the scene, Sho Tsuzuku could almost plead with Heaven, he was that annoyed. "I've had it with the idea that 'love will conquer all'. Why can't I appear in a fan fiction where such a silly notion is dismissed and where the couples just get to the hot wicked sex part? I've got a lot to fix in this world when I rule it at last, starting with these two..."

"I would not think so, Sho Tsuzuku."

The super villain broke off his rant. Though it wasn't the voice he was expecting, Sho Tsuzuku was slightly wary. "You…"

The man smirked in a very familiar manner; indeed, Sho Tsuzuku had copied that patented smirk, refining it into the ultimate sneer. "Indeed. After fighting Terry for what feels like eternity in Lone Wolf SIX's Abyss, I think a change in opponents is in order."

Beside him, the dark haired girl in a dark blue version of his fighting costume didn't even sigh as she sometimes did. Misaki Howard had indeed learned a lot from her adoptive father, as he had learned a lot from her as well.

It was Geese Howard and Misaki.

                                                                                *         *         *

            "Walang himala…"

That was what came into Plave's mind, a quote taken from a famous local actress' most memorable movie. "There is no such thing as a miracle."

The Nerima fighter swelled into Godhood, towering above Plave and the EFZ girls in the way Tokyo Tower dominates the Japanese skyline. His power could not be measured: It was infinitesimal.

"Kami-sama!" Ikumi was in real fear as she instinctively recoiled away from that presence, holiness being lethal to vampires. Her reaction was most ironic: My God!

"No," the voice of the mysterious woman spoke within her mind and the mind of her companions. "He is not God. He merely takes on a so-called 'godhood', an influx of power so immense that he begins to appear as if he is God, so powerful he becomes. But he is not God. None can become God, not him or Sho Tsuzuku. Not even Sheo Darren."

"Then how do we beat him?" Plave snapped. "Tell me!"

The woman was silent, offering no answer.

"I'll take that as, 'I have no freakin' idea', should I?"

Before Plave could add another smartass comment, Ranma stepped on the rocker boss and ground him into the rock and soil with one giant toe. Lightning sprung from his hands, scattering the EFZ girls easily.

"I AM RANMA SAOTOME!" thundered a voice great as mountains and deep as seas, a voice resonating with power. "MY WILL BE DONE!"

                                                                                *         *         *

             "Sephiroth!"

Everyone glanced upwards as something flew over them very fast– and someone fell down from it, heading straight for them, yelling a familiar battle cry as he swung an equally familiar sword. The sunlight from the person's back blinded them, making a counterattack or a parry impossible. The gigantic eight-foot long three-inch wide sword, its huge blade solidified Materia energy, disintegrated the Jenova spawn with a single blow of might and magic.

Cloud Strife hauled the Materia Blade with one hand up in preparation for his next blow. A grim smile was on his youthful face, and he glowed with newfound strength and purpose, not at all like the broken and helpless individual Sho Tsuzuku had shown the Chapter of Ten only a few days ago. It seemed as if Cloud had found something that profoundly changed him, freeing him from the self inflicted bonds he had laid upon himself in his guilty and sorrow, reborn in glory as the Phoenix rises from the ashes of its own funeral pyre.

"Cloud Strife." Sephiroth's face twisted with hate, his green Mako eyes glowing angrily. "I thought you were dead."

"I was." He rested the back of his weapon on his shoulder, smiling confidently and with reason to do so. "Until two girls helped show me I was still alive– and should live accordingly as I should: Soldier, hero, and Swordsman. Right, girls?" Cloud called out.

"Yatte yaruze!"

"Ikimasu!"

Athena Asamiya and Justine Harrier landed separately but simultaneously, flanking him in an unrehearsed but clever maneuver. Both girls had contrasting dress: Athena wore her bright red two piece/headband/boots SVC Chaos boss costume, her shining short sword and shield at the ready; Justine was in a dark blue leotard with black highlights and short pants, her red hair tied up with a big bow and black fighting gloves on her hand. Already brimming with their own perky enthusiasm, they were further infected by their friend's confidence and seemed ready to go take on the whole world.

"It's time to take a stand," Cloud said firmly. "Girls," he added, "Back up Miss I-Nou. She'll need your help."

"But, Cloud!" They were obviously disappointed and worried; they'd rather fight alongside him, it was clear.

He gave them a gentle smile, one that they recognized was copied from the Wanderer. "Please," he said, and that request did it. Athena and Justine reluctantly but faithfully did so, heading towards Lucia Rareglove and Dark I-Nou.

"Which just leaves you and me," Sephiroth said to Cloud, his anticipation evident, Kamigami and Masamune drawn.

The blonde Soldier was on one knee, the Materia Blade held before him, as if he was praying. Beside him, Hotsuma stood in silent respect even as he kept an eye on Sephiroth, who was arrogant enough to give them a few moments to ponder over their deaths– not knowing that it was life in their hearts that flowed bright.

"Aeris," he murmured almost imperceptibly, taking strength and courage from the name and the memories of her that lived vibrantly in his heart as though she was alive. "Aeris. Aeris. Aeris…"

And indeed she was, if only in his memories and in his heart, and he knew that somewhere out there, Aeris was alive and waited for him in a time for the future. That mysterious woman had said so.

And it was enough for now.

His eyes alight with battle, he advanced, the memories of Aeris in his heart accompanying him as surely as Hotsuma did.

She would live and fight in him, with him, for him.

Aeris Gainsborough would fight with Cloud Strife.

                                                                                *         *         *

Geese Howard placed himself squarely between his son and Sho Tsuzuku. "I would not think so, Sho Tsuzuku."

"Geese!" Hotaru and Rock were stupefied. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your lives, what else?" The Most Powerful Man In The World laughed coarsely. "You were impressive enough earlier, Rock, but you do not have to be a villain to be powerful. Only I can be evil and powerful in the family. You take more after your mother as it is. Stay with Hotaru; I will handle this."

"Finally developed a father persona, eh, Geese?" Sho Tsuzuku had had enough of people stepping in to help other people. "You think to challenge me as well?" The super villain launched a massive beam of energy that incinerated everything before it.

But Geese had a counter ready for action: "Double Reppuken!"

Compared to the energy beam, the Double Reppuken was quite small and certainly had much less firepower. But, to Sho Tsuzuku's surprise, the first Reppuken stopped his attack cold. And that was when the second Reppuken follow up smacked dab into him.

Sho Tsuzuku frowned as the front of his costume was smudged. "This begins to be annoying." He began to launch more and more huge projectiles. However, Geese merely stepped up using Double Reppukens to counter the attacks coming his way.

"You countered my super powerful beams with Double Reppukens? How can you do that?"

Geese laughed. "You forget: Game physics. My Double Reppuken can counter any kind of projectile Overdrive!"

"You really are your son's father…"

Thus, Sho Tsuzuku picked up a random fan boy and threw him at Geese–

"Predictable! Shinkuu Nage!"

–and the fan boy was promptly mauled by the ultimate command throw.

"Useless," Geese gloated as he flung the broken punk aside.

"Not really. That was not an attack, but a probe." Sho Tsuzuku got into his battle pose, said, "I see your weakness now," and then attacked.

Geese made ready to counter the new attack. But it happened to be the one kind of attack he could not properly defend against, being a boss character and thus having one glaring little weakness that even newbie gamers could take advantage of.

"Sweep!"

Sho Tsuzuku used a Sweep attack to knock Geese off his feet and put him squarely on his back. Then the super villain waited until Geese got up and then swept him again… and again… and again… Then he picked the hapless fighter up, created a tall building out of nowhere, went up to the highest floor–

"Why, you son of a–"

–And dropped Geese from there. Then he took the elevator down and came back to gloat over the badly broken Geese, the latter all but defeated by the only attack that could really hurt or kill him: A drop from a multi story building.

"You're… more evil… than I… ever was…"

"Thank you. I consider that the highest form of compliment, coming from you as it did. And now," Sho Tsuzuku raised his hand and created a big ball of destructive force that would incinerate Geese with one hit. "Prepare to die for real, Geese Howard."

But the two adults had forgotten one thing –or rather, one person.

Her adoptive father in mortal danger –he had never been any kind of father to his own son (not eve an bad one, at that), but with her influence Geese had been somewhat reformed–, forcing herself to move faster than she had ever done before, Misaki Howard darted beneath Sho Tsuzuku, grabbed the front of the very surprised villain's clothes and hurled him into the air with all her might. Then, the former minion of the Box of Doom gathered all of her Tension and executed the Overdrive she copied from Geese, an attack which the latter had improved vastly in their training together:

"RAGING FORCE!"

When the dust cleared, Sho Tsuzuku was nowhere in sight. Gasping for breath and drained by her exertions, Misaki nevertheless turned to aid her 'father' first. "Mister Howard, are you okay?"

"Hardly," the man coughed, "Since he did throw me down a building, a sure way to permanently damage me."

"Gomene, I wasn't able to help you at once." Misaki choked back tears. "I was a bad daughter, I think… Worse than Rock, even."

"Heh. Little girl, you should not shed tears for the man who was once the most evil in the world." Geese actually grinned despite his pain and patted his adopted daughter gently on the head. "I'm the most powerful man in the world, remember? I am Geese Howard."

"And the name I've taken is Misaki Howard, remember?"

"Perhaps it is not too wrong," he allowed with the same cocky grin, "To call me 'Dad' instead of Mister Howard? Eh, little girl?"

"Sure," Misaki agreed, wiping back her tears and smiling. "If you call me Misaki instead of 'little girl', that is."

"Deal. Misaki."

"Yes, Dad."

"Ah, the newfound love of a father and a daughter," an evil voice commented, jolting the duo from their tender moment. "All that is needed to complete the sweetness of this cloying moment are the tremulous playing of viols and a shower of flower petals."

Unharmed and very much alive and evil, Sho Tsuzuku smirked at the father adopted daughter pair. "Your sweetness is, to quote the late Fibrizo, sickening. Especially considering Geese was once the most feared villain in the world– until I came along."

Misaki got up and triggered her Instant Kill mode. "I'm not going to let you hurt my Dad!" She charged forward to finish off the arrogant villain: "DEADLY RAVE!"

Sho Tsuzuku let her come in before he let himself fall on the ground.

The Deadly Rave missed.

"Impossible!" Misaki couldn't recover from the shock of the moment, even as her body began to waver due to exhaustion and using her IK.

"You forget," Sho Tsuzuku said in a mockery of Geese and Rock from earlier. "Game physics. You cannot attack an opponent down on the ground when KOF rules are in place."

"But this is a Guilty Gear fan fiction!"

"Yes, yes, but I really preferred the SVC Chaos settings, so I fiddled with the system a bit."

"You cheater!" she protested

"Ah, have you observed that just now? I'd have thought you were smarter than that."

Then Geese was back up again despite his injuries, gritting his teeth as he put himself in front of Misaki, shielding her from Sho Tsuzuku. "Misaki, escape. I'll hold him off so you can escape."

"But–!"

"Go! You must live, you and my son!" He could see that Hotaru was already moving the unconscious Rock away. "While you two live, I live as well! Now, flee!"

"Shigau!" Misaki planted herself beside him, immovable. "I won't leave you!"

"Foolish girl," he breathed, but Geese was pleased with such loyalty. "Very well, then. We stand together."

"Are you ready?" So saying, Sho Tsuzuku prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

"Enough."

                                                                                *         *         *

           As the last of the effects of his Teleport faded away in the form of feathers of light drifting to the ground, the Wanderer found out firsthand how bleak the situation was. Only a few of the Guilty Gear fighters were still fighting. Jam and Testament were dead. Ky and Dizzy were borne down by their grief. I-Nou had gone berserk. Hotsuma was hard-pressed by Sephiroth. Hotaru was badly injured, and Rock was worse off. Geese was crippled and Misaki was tired. Fortunately Cloud, Athena and Justine had arrived, but Sol and company were still not here.

Several of the Chapters had been defeated. But the most powerful of them were still up and about, and the battle seemed in general to favor them now. Sephiroth and Lucia were powerhouses. Darkness/Eddie swept through the area like the Exxon Valdez oil spill. And Ranma had taken the term 'God Mode' literally, transforming himself into a deity with corresponding powers.

Just how do you kill a virtual god?

The worst thing was that there was no sign of Yuuki Darren.

It was the lack of warning that served as a warning clearer than any other. If he had been any lesser warrior, perhaps the attack would have been unnoticed until too late. But the Wanderer was no mere Filipino youth decked up in a cool costume, but the Swordsman No More. Hiryu parried the incredibly fast blade that would have disemboweled her master even as he coolly regarded his attacker with such a neutral expression that would have been a hard one to beat in a poker match. There was no stress and no pressure on him at all, his mood observantly cool and unshakeable calm. It was a 'mission face', taught to him the hard way by his predecessor who herself played a complex game to test his worthiness to become what he was now.

"Damn." The traitor had a false smile as he spoke, but he was clearly able to admire excellent sword skills when he saw them. "You're pretty good with that sword."

"Johnny-san." Dark black eyes were faintly filled with regret but not the slightest bit of surprise, as the Wanderer asked rhetorically, "Not you, too?"

"I'm afraid so, kid. Now, I've never met you, but you seem to know me pretty well by the looks of it."

"My sensei and May would be greatly disappointed to learn of that."

The enigmatic comment piqued Johnny's interest, enough to make him back off a bit and consider this newcomer. The Jellyfish Pirate had seen this young man appear out of nowhere, recognizing the latter from the wings of light Sho Tsuzuku had warned him that one of Sheo Darren's creations possessed. His backstab routine had been as perfectly planned and executed.

But this boy –he seemed only twenty or so, quite young in Johnny's reckoning– had been aware of him from the start, it seemed. He had let the attack come in to make a point: There would be no more easy pickings in this particular battlefield, not with him around to even the score.

"Do I know you," Johnny tried his charm in order to bring this formidable opponent into a more relaxed state, one easier to kill him in, "Or are you messing me up?"

"Neither, though I do know of you. May I ask a question?"

"Shoot."

Without any aplomb, the Wanderer asked: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

When Johnny blinked and kept silent versus that question, the swordsman in black decided to continue: "You were a good guy. Your father was killed by Gears, but you kept no anger for them. You even took care of a half-Gear: Dizzy. You adopted May and all the Jellyfish girls and taught them as best as you can, gave them a father figure and a life to live. But now you've thrown it all away.

"I don't believe it's just because of sex." There was genuine sadness in his voice, compassion for a lost soul. Johnny was, after all, not wholly evil like the Box of Doom. The pirate was in a fashion a Swordsman, too, one who defended the right. "You've grown tired and disappointed. I know that feeling. The very same thing happened to me once before. I was just barely able to pull myself out of it, but thanks to the people I love, I saved myself. You have many such people, but you chose not to ask for their help.

"I pity you, Johnny-san. I really do.

"Let me help you. I can talk to the others, ask them to forgive you. It'll be hard for all of us, but we'll manage." The Wanderer held his weaponless arms out wide in a gesture of peace. "Please. At least, we can try."

For a moment, it seemed like the reasonable plea would work. Then, Johnny dismissed the offer with a careless wave of his arm and a toss of his head.

"I don't need your pity. You try being good all your life," he told the idealistic warrior, "And then life screws you up totally, and then come back here and tell me with a straight face that you'd continue being good. Try that first before you pontificate to me. This world kills ideals like yours, and it kills idealists like you as easily.

"I'm no hero. I can't protect or save anyone. Neither can you. So stop being a hero," Johnny snapped acidly. "Heroes die in the end, and their girls are left to cry over their graves as the world burns down around them. Remember that, Mister Hero."

The expression of personal hurt and sadness in the younger man's face told him how much his remark had hit home. The young man who had once been Elde Talonn, Swordsman, remembered a girl he had loved from so long a time ago it seemed to him, when Kirika had been only whispers in the wind. A girl named Hitomi Barrens, a girl he promised to love and protect with his life. A promise he had failed.

For the sad reality the Wanderer must face, his nature and power and curse as the eternal journeyman on the road that was life, was to live beyond all others, bound to the world firmly as protector and traveler– and as prisoner.

He would live on forever, but watch all those he love die and leave him all alone.

I can't die. All others die in the end, every one of them. But I can't. I will live on forever as all those I love slip away from me into death's embrace. Just like Hitomi. Just as Kirika and Takane-sensei and all the others I love will be.

He ignored the grey mist that cloaked him now, ignored the golden coins that came his way and bounced off his clothes, ignored Johnny closing in, a Level 10 Mist Finer Overdrive in the works. He knew it was all for naught, after all.

He could not die.

Above him, a meteor flared.

                                                                                *         *         *

            It was the sensors that woke him up, an 'alarm clock' in the sense, telling him that he had arrived at his destination. Now was the time.

SYSTEM CHECK. SYSTEMS ALL GREEN. CHECKS COMPLETE. NAV SYSTEM ON. DROP ZONE VECTOR CONFIRMED. SHELL UP. BRAKING THRUSTERS ENGAGED. SHELL IMPACT IN FIVE AND COUNTING.

In the words of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault...

"PREPARE FOR LANDING!"

The impact threw up a massive cloud of debris into the air and all around it. Steam roiled from the meteor, egg shaped and outright man-made, which had all the looks of a spaceship drop pod, heat sinks steaming from the atmospheric reentry.

And then the armored ablative shields peeled away like so many flower petals, the thick metal shell falling away to reveal–

Seated upon his throne as a majestic king would, the blonde man was very still. On his shoulder was a little robot girl the size of a human hand with pink hair and dressed in a genie. They seemed both asleep, they didn't even move–or breathed.

His costume was very familiar, the white and blue robes he wore and the slender sword at his side clearly belonging to only one person left alive: Ky Kiske.

But Ky was in girl form and cradling Jam a distance away, Furaiken forgotten at her knees. If that was Ky, then who was this guy who looked like him/her except for the–

SYSTEM ON.

LED eyes suddenly lighted up with a crimson red glare, and then they all noticed the blue green armored skin and the steam that escaped from release vents, and heard the creaky sounds of joints that hadn't moved for some time, taking a moment for the lubricating oil to smoothen the jerky movements into almost human proportions. The being who looked like Ky stood up, and then his chair folded up and retracted into his back, and an armored panel closed, sealing him completely, ready now for battle.

It was Robo Ky.

                                                                                *         *         *

            "Enough."

Yuuki Darren looked mildly annoyed and a bit worked out. Her arrival was in the nick of time, too. The pendant around her neck was pressed against its mistress' chest, the jewel stilled for now, asleep.

"Ah, Yuuki." Ever genial for a guy who was just about to obliterate two people from the face of the world, Sho Tsuzuku gestured expansively to his foe. "What took you so long? I've been waiting for you, entertaining myself on these pathetic side shows while I waited for you to finally arrive. Or is it that you rightfully fear me?"

"No, but I did learn quite an interesting amount of information from a so-called 'lackey' of yours." That Girl crossed her arms and pursed her lips a bit.

.

            Yuuki was not surprised at all when she heard the muted crack and felt the passing of a bullet that came close to parting her hair. Here somewhere, camping in a secure position like all good snipers in Counterstrike or Quake do that makes them hated by their opponents, was the Mauser-toting Taka Ichiko.

"I'm not going to waste my time with you, Taka." That Girl put her hands on her hips and made a show out of scanning the entire area around her, though the chances of her spotting the sniper were very low. "If I beat you up, Akira will be hot on my heels to avenge your honor. Believe me if I say that's the last thing on my agenda; Mina can afford to deal with her, but I'd rather not, especially not at this time."

"So," returned his voice from somewhere nearby, "You're not afraid of me, but you're afraid of my girlfriend, is that it?"

"Sheo Darren is afraid of Akihiro Tanabe's sister Mawsi. And I'm not afraid of Akira; I respect her a lot for her exemplary fighting skills."

"My real-life girlfriend or Sheo's insert character of her via Rival School's Akira?"

Suppressing a sigh of annoyance, Yuuki answered: "Both. Especially consider that she's probably reading this fan fiction right now, though no reviews or flames have been forthcoming her way." She then thoughtfully decided to add: "At least, not yet."

After a long moment of silence, during which she imagined a sniper scope's crosshair marks were being fixed upon her head, Taka Ichiko said, "You know, I'm in the middle of a crisis right now. I have a big decision to make."

"Oh?" She tried not to be sarcastic. "How so?"

"I'm considering a switch in alignment, you see. If I stick with Sho here and he wins, I get a pretty good deal of getting to do whatever I want to do. But on the other hand," and here was the big 'but', "The other Sho is the real Sho, and the real one usually wins over the fake one. Usually."

"Mind elaborating?" Yuuki's curiosity had been perked and for good reason. This might just be important…

.

             "And that's the grand story of why I'm late. Satisfied now?"

"I really should remind my minions to stop revealing critical pieces of information," grumbled Sho Tsuzuku as he wrote it down on a notebook for further reference. "Especially sensivitive stuff about my origin."

"Enough's enough, Sho. You've had your fun messing with them and with me. Do you know how much I hate it when people uselessly waste my time? But of course you do know." It was clear from the coldness in her voice that Yuuki had reached the end of her temper's endurance. "It's in your nature to belittle people like they were insignificant worms, when in fact the most insignificant of them are far more alive and important than you.

"Oh, I know your tawdry little secret, Sho Tsuzuku. I've learned it just a while back. You're like a virus: You force your way into a story and then infect all the good files, corrupting them, until everything becomes a bad apple just like you. Bill Gates was a baby compared to you in terms of world domination.

"Bu that's not all, is it? You're a special kind of virus. The longer you stay in a system, the more power you accumulate. Given enough time, you can take over this entire world– this entire dimension. That's why I've got to stop you now, before it's too late. And that's why I won't listen to you anymore or wait this out too long.

"Get ready, Sho." That Girl was dead serious. "This girl is going to kick your ass back to where you came from: Nothingness. And I start now."

Sho Tsuzuku went so far as to clap his hands in mock admiration. "Brave words, Yuuki Darren. To paraphrase your own words, it would have taken any other person until the next installment to figure it out, Ky Kiske being the primary example. I so admire you that I think I will give you want you want.

"You want to fight me, Yuuki Darren? Fine," he drawled. "Prove yourself. Defeat the ace up my sleeve. Then, you can fight me at last."

"Not again." Exasperated now, the vermilion haired girl thought a complaint to the heavens was in order. "Why is it that he always gets to have flunkies take the fall for him? I mean, come on! Waste of perfectly good bandwidth, what with those new servers starting to fill up again!"

That Girl's eyes went wide, though, when she saw who came out from behind Sho Tsuzuku. "You!"

"Hello, Yuuki," coolly said the boy without any emotion at all. "It's been a while."

Yuuki stared in disbelief at Loki.