Disclaimer: Don't own…things…
A/N: Computer crashed and took everything I had with it. Sorry for the delay but I'm always late anyway, aren't I? Summer is coming up so huzzah for that.
Engel: Sacrifice
Chapter Twenty-Four
Failure
'I wake from a nightmare now
In the day it haunts me
It slowly tears me apart
With dreams of a distant love
I'm a wandering satellite
Somewhere in the wasteland
I see you smiling at me
A vision out of my dreams
Will everything change?
Take the pain away
Lead me with your light
Heading for the sun
Leave the sadness behind
Crossing oceans dry
Yeah'
– Final Fantasy Spirits Within (Lyrics from Sprit Dreams Inside)
Demonte's body froze in horror. The people…the people he was sent here to kill was…
…Them…?
All this time…how could he be so ignorant not to see it!? How could he be so blind!? He felt lied to, cheated, something precious and valuable stolen from him. This wasn't happening, he convinced himself. This wasn't real. How COULD it be real!?
"…What…?" Was all he could manage to say. His arm trembled as he brought it up to his holster. Then as fast as the horror had hit him, sudden rage filled within him and he drew his black revolver, holding it at Meryl's head.
She gasped, stepping back only minimally.
"You? YOU'RE the Alchemists!?" He turned his head to look at his so-called 'friends'. 'Why them?' He asked himself. 'Why did it have to be them?' "And all of you cheap bastards over there are the Insurrection Task Force, aren't you!?"
"Demonte…" Doc had stepped forward, but the gun in Demonte's hand held him back.
"Stay back or else this bitch gets it!" Demonte cocked the gun, pushing it closer to Meryl's forehead. He turned back to Meryl, his breath becoming heavy. It fell against her face like the fog that enveloped that very planet. "You want to know who I am, Meryl?" He hissed. "I am your worst nightmare. I am the man who has been haunting you and your 'Granus Team' for the past four years. I am from Hell, a Mafia that you should have already heard of." He took pleasure from seeing the fright on Meryl's face. "I am here to KILL you…"
"Demonte," She shook her head. "Listen to me, whatever has happened…"
"Nothing's happened!" He spat. "This was all planned from the start! Why do you think that I drug you all to Roklen under the assumption that KNIVES was running this show?"
Meryl became paralyzed. Her heart was pounding fiercely in her chest.
"But I surprised you, JUST like you surprised me," Demonte said. "And regardless of whatever kind of friendship developed between us before, I have to kill you now. It's my job."
The finger on the trigger tightened as Meryl's breathing matched Demonte's. BDN stood in the background with the rest of the I.T.F., unsure of what was going to happen.
But the moment was broken as a large wave of fire came blazing from down the street, turning buildings to ashes.
"Watch out everyone!" Doc pulled his attention away from Demonte and Meryl for one moment as he jumped to the front of the crowd, his small arms outstretched. His brown robe rippled behind him as a large zephyr began to spin into the center of the city.
Everyone shielded their eyes from the typhoon as Doc gritted his teeth, ignoring the severe storm. The terrified crowd watched as the fire edged closer, consuming the city streets and then collided with the tornado. The flames became caught up in the wind, circling around its target but never striking directly. Then all at once the flames disappeared, and the wind died down shortly afterwards.
"Hocus Pocus and other magic tricks." A voice cut through the fog like a knife as a body strode towards them. "How pathetic."
Demonte took the gun away from Meryl's head and followed the gaze of everyone else. As the figure approached, he realized he recognized the man standing in front of them.
"That's the man from the bar…" Demonte whispered hoarsely.
There he stood with his striking silver hair, his dazzling gold colt, his slick black trench coat, and his blood-coated glasses. This man held an eerie aura, one that Demonte seemed to know well.
"You!" BDN withdrew his Dynamos and aimed it at the man. "You escaped once, but not this time!"
The man chuckled, and held his pale face in his hand. "You amuse me. Certainly you're not lead to misbelieve the stupendous power I hold, do you?"
BDN's face remained unchanged.
"Very well then," The man laughed. "Then perhaps I should show you."
"Who are you!?" The voice belonged to Jessica, her blue cloak standing out through the crowd.
"Names mean nothing to me," The man laughed. "They are so insignificant. However if you must know, I will tell you. I am Vash the Stampede, in my true sinister form."
Every face in the crowd emulated each other's reactions like one big mime. The man who had dubbed himself 'Sinister Vash' stalked forward, his hand on the butt of his golden colt. A long knife had been welded on the end of the gun, sharp as a razor. But his coat matched that of Vash the Stampede's, down to the last button. However this man's coat was Cimmerian and his golden buttons mesmerized the crowd. His eyes were concealed behind his circular red glasses, and silver strands fell into his eyes as the rest was pushed back into a spiky bush of hair.
Could this man possibly be Vash the Stampede?
The hand that held the Dynamos trembled with fury and uncontrollable anger. BDN's eyes narrowed, but his concentration was clouded. "Sinister Vash my ass! Who the hell are you REALLY, you poser!?"
"I am just who I said I was," Sinister Vash continued to walk towards them. "There is no such thing as a 'poser' as you call it. You all are one thing…and that is extinct, just like the man you call 'Vash the Stampede'. He is I and I am him."
"Where is Vash then!?" The voice belonged to Badwick, who was wedged in between Jessica and another man wearing a ragged brown cloak with shaggy brown hair.
"He stands before you," Sinister Vash replied. "In a new shape and in a new form. But NOT as the man you once knew."
"Shut up!" BDN charged to the front of the crowd. "I've had enough of your lies! You die now you bastard!"
"Brilliant, stop!" Ingway and Jean both barricaded BDN's path, pushing him back.
Sinister Vash merely chuckled. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. And THIS is the Granus Resistance Party? A bunch of pathetic whims such as yourselves?" Sinister Vash drew his colt. "I'll have the pleasure of killing you all."
Doc turned back to Demonte, who still had Meryl by the arm, but the gun was held loosely at his side. Doc knew that this man called 'Sinister Vash' could not be beaten without strategy and if it was true that there were others lurking about…
Doc's thoughts were interrupted as more gunshots reverberated in the air. Eyes were turned in several directions, stunned.
They had been ambushed.
"Hell yeah!" Came a loud and booming voice from in the distance. Demonte instantly recognized the voice as Descartes. Behind him came Tonis, Loose Ruth, and Stan. Opposite of where they were coming came three more members of the Hell's Mafia.
"Good job in distracting them while we got here," Loose Ruth tipped his hat to Sinister Vash.
"I didn't do anything for you," Sinister Vash snorted. "I had planned on killing them myself." Neil followed in behind Loose Ruth.
Then a thunderous boom echoed across the plains as the ever-so-large Nebraska Family circled the I.T.F. and Alchemists from all sides.
"And here we come to save the day!" Sang a female voice who sat from atop a monster of a woman. Ringlets of blonde hair hung into her eyes as she wore a body hugging black dress, which ended just above her thighs. (If it was any shorter, it could've been a belt.) A long green cloak flowed behind her as the monstrous woman chugged through the city, demolishing buildings and any other sorts of obstruction in her way.
"Well now, where have I seen this picture before?" Came a familiar voice from the other monstrous figure coming from the opposite end of the massive woman and the girl. It was none other than the Professor, the red spectacle hanging from his eye. "Ah yes! The Enora Precipice right?"
Meryl gritted her teeth. How could this happen? Why did things end so badly?
Several more unfamiliar members of Hell's Mafia stood around the Alchemists and the I.T.F., pushing them all into the center.
"This is splendid," Rohgsworn puffed off the end of his cigar as he finally entered the scene, Cliff Schzzarre trailing behind. He glanced past the crowd and to the short man in the center. It was Doc. "The cat and the mouse, no? This scene seems awfully familiar to that scenario…"
Doc looked back at the tall leader of Hell's Mafia.
"So where do you have to run now, my precious Alchemists? Although it was not easy to find you, I will admit that it was ALL TOO EASY capturing you…"
Doc closed his eyes, sending himself deep into his subconscious. He found the power to communicate telepathically, a skill that only he could do and could not be done by anyone else unless he provoked the power first.
"We're surrounded…" Doc sent the message to Meryl.
"I know," She responded as he sent his power to her. "But all is not lost."
"Of course not," He nodded slightly, not daring to turn to face her. "There's an underground aircraft under this city. However, getting to the underground base may prove to be a tad tricky."
"Then how can we do it?" Meryl glanced around to the other three Alchemists, Elizabeth being among them. "It's big enough for everyone right?"
"Of course," Doc responded. "There's only fifteen of us here."
Meryl paused for the moment. Rohgsworn was still taking in the satisfaction of 'capturing' everyone. "Let's start a commotion then. Then we'll tell everyone to head west." Meryl looked left and then grimaced. "But the Nebraska family is over there."
"Marilyn or the Professor?"
"The Professor and Gofsef."
"Leave them to me."
Meryl nodded. "All right, on the count of three then…"
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
Meryl turned to look at Demonte. "Sorry about this, Demonte." Demonte looked down at her as she brought her knee up and thrust it into his crotch.
"GUH!" Demonte doubled over, crumpling to the ground. Meryl turned to the Alchemists as she grabbed her gun and held it high above her head.
"Goshu etna xifon muryu fairca e odru!" Meryl shouted to the Alchemists in a foreign tongue as she turned, her right arm glowing.
"What?" Badwick turned to one of the Alchemists.
"She wants us to head to the underground base!" The Alchemist female with blonde hair told him. "Everyone move!"
All guns were withdrawn from their holsters and quickly the crowd was heading west. Doc turned to the Professor and Gofsef and began to chant a spell. Another large vortex began to develop and swirl around the square.
"Follow me!" Ingway shouted to the men and women behind him.
"What the hell?" Stan's mouth was left agape as a stampede of men and woman began to storm left. Stan reached for his gun and aimed it at the Alchemists.
Elizabeth, her purple cloak rippling behind her, began to make shapes with her hands in the air. Her long violet dress swayed around her ankles as she closed her eyes.
The wind around the Alchemists suddenly intensified and thunder flashed in the sky.
Elizabeth finally opened her eyes and faced left, her loose green hair flailing behind her. Another man, clothed in a dark gray cloak stood back to back with Elizabeth, lightning surging up and down his body.
"We make a flashy duo, eh Azayla?" The man chuckled, his back still pressed against hers.
"Never mind the bloodshed, Rhetrah," She said, droplets of water beginning to form in her hands. "We have to create an illusion so that our comrades may escape. As the Alchemists of Granus, we are sworn to protect our allies." She turned her head slightly. "Water conducts electricity," She hinted.
The man named 'Rhetrah' temporarily tuned himself to the gunfire and shouting in the streets. Then the sound of the vortex caught his attention. "And with Keahnu's power, it will be the perfect diversion."
"All right, we've got ourselves a plan." Elizabeth watched as the droplets spun themselves into a much larger pool of water.
Meryl dashed past the stampeding crowd back towards Rohgsworn. 'Nothing can be resolved unless he dies.' Her body temperature was rising as sweat trailed down her face. Dark energy materialized around her right arm and began to migrate up and over her shoulder.
"Get them!" Tonis ordered to his comrades as he engaged himself in the battle. Loose Ruth stood in the back, aiming his revolving rifle at random members of the I.T.F.
Ingway was in the front, maneuvering his way around the gunfire, his own gun in hand. He was halted in his footsteps as the mighty Nebraska family barricaded his path.
"And just where do you think you're going!?" The Professor peered over the hold that kept him attached to Gofsef's upper body.
"Crap," Ingway muttered as Jessica and Badwick reached his side.
"Take cover!" BDN roared from in the background as he dropped to the ground, shielding his head.
The other members of the I.T.F. quickly mimicked his actions as the wind began to pick up in celerity and the lightning became much more deadly. The maelstrom within the Town Square brought the gunfire to an abrupt stop as the tsunami that had been formed at the hands of Elizabeth melded with the spinning cyclone.
Everything from loose debris to whole buildings were caught up in the swirling torrent and it was almost impossible for the allies on the ground not to get sucked in as well. The man in the gray cloak still stood by Elizabeth, electric currents still playing on his fingertips.
Thunderous quaking erupted from within the planet's crust as bolts of the deadly lightning shot from the ground like geysers and it sent a majority of Hell's Mafia fleeing from their current position.
Meryl still stood only several feet away from Rohgsworn, her body illuminant with fire and purple lightning.
"It's no good, Sir," Cliff told his leader. "We have to pull back. None of us can match their Forbidden Magicks just yet."
"They're just placating us," Rohgsworn's eyes darkened. And then an evil smirk played upon his face. "Of course, we could slaughter them if we'd like to." His eyes drifted to Sinister Vash, who stood unmoving like a puppet waiting to be commanded. "But that would be too easy now, wouldn't it?" His gaze fell back to Cliff. "We know who the Alchemists and the I.T.F. are now and what a marvelous thing that it turned out to be Demonte's only 'friends'. It's the pain of living that makes us prey upon the weak and not feel any remorse."
"Then what?" Cliff asked.
"Call everyone back to the base outside of town. This is an unnecessary fight to be fought, especially since they had a backup plan all along. We'll send for the main forces and attack Granus all at once."
"What about him?" Cliff gestured to Sinister Vash.
"Battle-talk should be saved for important things Cliff," Rohgsworn said as he turned away, retreating from the battlefield. "I know where he is now. It won't do him any good to run. So just leave him there. After they abandon him, he too will know the pain of living."
Cliff stepped back slightly, and nodded across the battlefield to Descartes, who frowned.
"What's he doing?" Tonis asked.
"He wants us to pull back," Descartes answered as he began to retreat from the battlefield. "Rohgsworn's orders."
"But why!?" Tonis argued. "We have those magic-dealing Alchemists right where we want them!"
"We have no right to question Rohgsworn's orders," Loose Ruth laid down his revolver and patted Tonis' back. "Just do as you're told."
"What?" Meryl watched as one by one, the enemy began to retreat back to the hills. "What are they doing…?"
"Henai!" Meryl turned her head. BDN was struggling against the wind to get to her. "They're pulling back! Let's get to the base!"
"But what about them!?" She gestured to the retreating Mafia. "We can't just let them go!"
BDN watched as her dark aura died down with his distraction and found it as a window of opportunity. He quickly snatched her arm and began to yank her towards the underground base. "If they're retreating then it's the perfect excuse to get the hell out of here."
"But what about Vash!?" She pulled against him. "We can't just leave him!"
"If it's true what 'Sinister Vash' said, then he's one of them, Mer!" BDN looked back at her. "We can't dawdle around any longer Meryl! And as a member of the I.T.F. it's my duty to protect the Alchemists. Are you going to make me go to drastic measures to ensure your safety!?"
Meryl's eyes became moist and she slowly shook her head. "But that can't be Vash…It just can't be…"
BDN didn't have the patience to wait around any longer. "Meryl these emotional problems of yours need to cease. We're in a war dammit!" BDN abruptly stooped forward and picked Meryl up effortlessly, tossing her over his back.
The Nebraska family that had once barricaded the way of the I.T.F. had been temporarily distracted by the maelstrom, as Gofsef's mobile stability could not endure the cyclone being pushed against him. Overheated, the monster toppled backwards and landed on all fours, protecting him and his father from the storm.
"Onwards!" Ingway pushed his comrades forward as he watched the Nebraska Family closely, wary of their actions even still. BDN was the last to pass Ingway, Meryl still hanging over his shoulder, thrashing about.
"LET ME GO BRILLIANT! I WON'T JUST LEAVE HIM BEHIND AGAIN!" Meryl screamed at the hefty man. Her gun was still in her hand.
"That's the last of them," BDN told Ingway. "Now let's get out of here while those maniacs are still distracted by Keahnu's storm."
Ingway nodded and caught eye of the black Taurus. "Don't be reckless Meryl," He said as he grabbed the gun out of her hand.
"You agree with him too, don't you?" Meryl shot him a deadly glare.
Ingway ignored her and he started up the hill, BDN on his heels.
Ingway shut the hatch behind him after the three entered the underground base.
"They're most probably waiting for us on the aircraft," BDN said.
By now, Meryl had calmed down and was lying like dead weight against BDN's back. Ingway caught sight of her melancholy face and it pained him so. She was always such a determined, upbeat woman. But ever since she was reunited with Vash…
…Well, he had more important matters to concentrate on now.
The underground base was not so large, just very deep. BDN and Ingway continued down the spiraling staircase, leading further and further down below. Time dragged on for seconds…minutes…and it even seemed like hours.
"Damn you Demonte," BDN finally muttered under his breath. "You stupid traitor…"
"We should've known it all along," Ingway huffed as he rapidly hopped down each of the steps. "That's why we've always been so cautious as to who we travel with and talk to. We were careless this time."
Meryl remained silent.
"That won't happen again…" BDN gritted his teeth. "And then Vash…How could I have been so fooled as to believe that lie back in Orleans?" He chewed on the possibility for a bit longer. "So there really WAS a 'Vash the Stampede'? Not just a 'Vash' as we all knew, huh?"
"Shut up," Meryl spat. "Just shut the hell up would you? You don't know anything."
"And neither do you," Ingway responded. "After all you haven't seen him in four years have you? You don't know what he's been up to all this time. You don't even know his ulterior motive."
"Then why did we just leave him behind!? Why didn't we at least try to find out the truth!?" She was beginning to come unraveled again.
"Unless you have a death wish, Henai, there was no point in doing so." Ingway turned away from her. "There's the airship."
The path came to a halt as a large piece of machinery came into view. It was a war aircraft, painted gray to camouflage itself in the sky. The ship wasn't very tall, but actually quite wide.
"Executioner, dear friend, it is good to see you again," BDN grinned as he patted the side of the ship and looked at the panel to the side of the door. He tapped his fingers against several of the numbers and then paused.
"Access granted," The ship told them as the locks unlatched and the door was opened.
"Brilliant! Ingway!" Doc was the first to greet them. "Thank God you made it back alive. Quick, we're just about to launch the Executioner." Doc caught sight of the black figure over BDN's broad shoulder. "Henai?"
"Don't bother with her right now, Doc. She's an emotional wreck." BDN told the small man.
"Shut up BDN and put me down," She growled as the man set her down on the ground. She stood staring at him for a moment and then looked at Ingway. "My gun, Ingway."
"Don't shoot anyone, Henai," He told her as he handed her the gun. She accepted the gun and then paused again.
Then she quickly turned and belted BDN with the butt of the gun. He stepped backwards, his hands automatically going to his face.
Doc and Ingway froze in horror as they watched this monster of a woman, her eyes black, shove her gun back into her holster, scowling. "You still don't know anything, BDN." Her words were icy. "We didn't have to leave them behind."
She turned on her heel and was down the hall before any of them could respond to her actions. The slamming of a door resounded harshly against their ears, and all at once, it hit them as to what exactly happened back in Roklen.
BLD: Awwww…the group is all separated now. How do you feel about that, Demonte?
Demonte: --' ::His arms are folded tightly over his chest and he's hunched over:: …
BLD: Demonte?
Demonte: --' …
BLD: ::Pulls out a chocolate candy bar:: Demonte, I'll give you this candy bar if you say something… ::Dangles the candy bar in front of Demonte's face::
Demonte: …COOL! FREE CHOCOLATE! ::Snatches the chocolate out of BLD's hands, quickly unwraps it, inhales it, and then resumes his melancholy disposition::
BLD: O.O' …Demonte?
Demonte: --' …
BLD: …Whatever…Please R&R and constructive criticism is always welcomed, etc, etc, no flames, etc…sheesh…
BLD