Mayhem
Squall and Rinoa froze as a shrilling whistle filled the air and then cascaded into a series of rings.
'What the..?' Squall muttered glancing around for whatever threat had set the alarm off.
'Come on.' He told Rinoa grabbing her arm and dragging her down the corridor.
'Hey don't you think it'd be a good idea if we had our weapons?' Rinoa cried.
Squall came to a halt. Rinoa bouncing into the back of him. 'Ah... good point.' He replied slightly embarrassed and let go of her arm so they could run back the other way.
On the other side of the dormitory Zell and Aeris were also running in response to the siren. There was a flood of SeeDs and students as they all rushed to the centre of Garden, ready for anything.
Well almost anything, they wasn't ready for the sight that met them as they exited the dormitory to find Rage and Sephiroth in the middle of a massacre.
'Dammit!' Zell growled, looking at the fallen.
'My God...' Aeris whispered her eyes widening as she saw what they held in their hands.
'What is it?' Zell asked, tensing up for battle.
'ATMA Weapon... The Blade of Malevolence. It absorbs life and makes the wielder stronger.' She told him.
Zell noticed the bodies around them. 'So however strong they were before they'll be a heck of a lot stronger now.' He said softly.
Aeris just simply nodded, her jaw tightening in emotion.
They turned at the sound of running footsteps behind them and found a blade- wielding Squall and tooled up Rinoa approaching.
'What is it?' Squall hissed as he saw Aeris.
'Sephiroth and another bad Immortal.' Aeris replied simply and watched his face pale.
'It gets better, they got special swords as well.' Zell said dryly.
Rinoa peered over Zell's shoulders blanching at the sight of blood.
'Just like old times huh?' she said nervously.
The students that still possessed any sense of preservation had backed off, leaving Rage and Sephiroth in a widening circle of bodies. They finally turned and saw the group of four and Sephiroth broke into a wide grin.
'We meet again Squall.' He said happily.
'Whatever.' Squall said dryly, his jaw clenching in anger.
Zell bunched his fists glaring at the partial reptilian Rage. At his side Aeris pulled out her staff and slowly placed a foot behind her, braced for action.
Rinoa raised her arm ready to fire her projectile, Angel Wing at the first movement.
Sephiroth sighed. 'Ahh.. Purity do you really believe you can make a stand? Surely you understand what we possess?' he said to Aeris softly.
Aeris didn't reply but tightened her grip on her staff.
The six of them stood in a motionless tableau until it was broken by the unexpected. The sound of a sword swishing up into the air arcing ever higher. Rage and Sephiroth's gazes were drawn to it and Squall, now weapon-less, crossed the intervening space his fist connecting with Rage's jaw, a knee slamming up into his wrist making the ATMA weapon drop.
Zell unfroze first, grinning at Squall with respect as the brown haired warrior grasped the ATMA weapon as it tumbled from Rage's hand and brought it up in a swift arc to meet Sephiroth's attack.
Squall's own sword had only just came clattering down onto the floor as Zell pounced on the surprised Rage, now empty-handed. The two of them rolled apart along the ground, Zell slamming into the metal wall that encircled the centre of Garden.
Squall and Sephiroth had pushed each other back towards the elevator, the violet black blades sparkling as they negated each other. But Sephiroth still flowed with the power of the fallen and used his extra strength to push Squall back with a couple of strong overhead blows.
Sephiroth then had to duck and relinquish his advantage as a bladed projectile rotated rapidly through the space where his head had been. Squall took a swipe at Sephiroth's feet making him stumble back unbalanced and a thrust from Squall caught his side, tearing his top and slicing in shallowly.
Squall shivered as the power coursed up his arm, siphoning off some of the power Sephiroth had accumulated.
On the other side of Garden, Zell was slammed against the wall by Rage who gripped his throat tightly in his reptilian claws. Zell tried to bring his fists down onto the muscular arm but it wouldn't even budge.
Choking and running out of breath, he lashed out with his feet, flipping himself up so his feet connected with Rage's chin. The Immortal's grip released and Zell fell to the ground on his back stunned. Rage shook his head and rubbed his jaw snarling. He raised a booted foot above Zell and prepared to slam it down just as he had done to Mort.
Aeris jumped down from the wall behind Rage, bringing her staff down onto his head. Rage spun, enraged and lashed out with his raised foot, slamming Aeris back against the central pillar. Aeris gasped in pain, her green eyes blinking furiously as she slumped down the wall.
Rage turned his attention back onto Zell and found that the young blond had rose from the ground, his face set with anger and determination, his gloved fists entwined with each other as he swung them up at Rage, the double-fist smashing him across the face making him stumble back.
Zell leapt up planting both feet down onto Rage's chest and flipped backwards, fists outstretched so them smashed into Rage's throat. Rage's coughed and sputtered, blood gushing from his mouth. Zell swept his feet from under him so that he fell onto his back. He then stood, stomping in anger onto Rage's shoulders, a sickening crack occurring with each blow. But still Zell wasn't finished, Rage looked up at him with fear, pain and loathing in his brown eyes but was helpless to stop Zell straddling his waist and raining down blow after blow with his fists.
Zell finally stopped as Rage's mortal body lay limp beneath him, his gloves coated in thick blood and broken skin. He was breathing heavily, his cheeks flushed with exertion and spent anger. He stood and looked to Aeris, who still sat slumped by the pillar and then over to Squall and Sephiroth.
Squall wasn't having as much luck with Sephiroth. The two warriors were more evenly matched but even after a number of wounds, the silver haired Immortal wasn't wavering. Sephiroth just grinned as Squall thrust and swept at him, the black blades screeching and grinding under the force of the blows.
Sephiroth hadn't felt like this in a long time, not since Cloud. He had never been challenged so much in his life and was gladdened by the fact that Squall now too possessed an ATMA weapon, otherwise it'd have been too easy and hollow.
Rinoa hung back from the two unable to get a clear shot of Sephiroth as they both moved back and forth, dancing around the blades. She had heard a commotion going on from the other side but hadn't dared risk a look in case Squall was hurt. However now she knew she wasn't needed here she risked a glance and saw Zell in a state of fury, covered in blood and rise from his knees, his battered enemy left behind as he stumbled towards the pillar.
She had never seen a look like that on Zell's face before and it both puzzled and frightened her. Leaving the two swordsmen she ran over to Zell who now knelt by Aeris' side.
'Is she okay?' Rinoa said between breaths as Zell looked up at her his fist raising protectively.
'Just knocked out.' Zell said softly, lowering his fist and then gently moved his hand to the back of Aeris' head checking for signs of bleeding.
Rinoa knelt on the other side of Aeris and used some curative magic. 'Curaga!' she cried, covering Aeris in swirls of white and green light.
The light faded and Aeris opened her eyes. She smiled as she saw the concerned face of Zell and rubbed her head. 'Thank God I don't have a headache.' She said jovially.
She then saw from their faces and the clash of swords that it wasn't over yet. She stood slowly, Zell supporting her by holding her arm and she saw the broken form of Rage. She glanced quickly at Zell but decided against commenting.
They slowly made their way over to Squall who was dripping with sweat as he relentlessly fought Sephiroth.
'Give in to the inevitable Squall.' Sephiroth goaded as another one of his attacks were parried.
'Never!' Squall growled his body now propelled more by will than actual strength.
'So be it.' Sephiroth replied and attacked again bringing his sword down in a sharp stroke that knocked Squall's blade downwards and in the same movement flicked the blade up so it caught Squall's arm.
Squall grimaced in pain and quickly retaliated knocking Sephiroth's sword further up and thrust in the same move piercing his chest. More energy filled Squall's muscles as his ATMA weapon crackled darkly and he pushed the blade further, ignoring the pain as Sephiroth's sword bit into his shoulder. He twisted and pulled the blade back out leaving a gaping hole.
Sephiroth moved a hand to his chest in surprise, his mouth opening and shutting silently. His sword hand lowered slowly as he sunk to his knees and looked up into Squall's burning grey eyes. He then smiled sarcastically as Squall's blade came at him neck height.
Squall watched, drained by exhaustion yet fuelled by relief as Sephiroth's headless body fell to the ground. He leant down and pulled the ATMA weapon from his lifeless hand. The two swords vibrated gently as he held them together and snapped back into one blade. He then turned to the others. 'So is the other one down?' he asked and spotted the blood soaked Zell. 'I'll take that as a yes shall I?' he answered himself.
The four of them looked around at the carnage and waste of life around them. Rinoa and Aeris seemed most affected by it, Zell and Squall looked on in anger but deep inside they knew that this was a part of being a SeeD and sometimes you had to accept it.
'At least they can rest in peace, they've been avenged.' Zell said softly sinking down to the ground.
Squall leant on the ATMA weapon. 'So just what's going to happen next?' he asked Aeris.
'I have no idea... but we may be over the worst.' Aeris replied sitting down by Zell.
'I wonder what kind of time Paine's having...' Squall thought to himself as he watched Rage and Sephiroth's mortal forms fade away.
Authors Note: Kinda long chapter here.. I guess I got carried away lol. Hopefully the viloence isn't too graphic for the PG-13 rating but if it is I guess I'll have to put it up to R. So if this fic disappears from the PG-13 category you'll know where its gone to!