TOKYO
Chapter 14
Showdown the First
They were back at Ars Magica, getting ready for the next fight.
"How much control," said Zelgadis, who could now stand without undue difficulty. "do you have over the Neifirst persona?"
"Uh, more than she had over me, which is none," said Nei, and then laughed. "I've always had more self-control, anyway." She had changed into the (now reparied) purple leotard, and now there was no way to tell the difference.
Actually, there was. Nei seemed to have a greater sense of power about her, that had nothing to do with physical appearance.
"I know you recovered Neifirst's body so that Zio wouldn't," said Zelgadis, "but why did you have it placed in a liquid-proof container?"
"So I could get complete control," said Nei, and walked over to the large black box that stored Neifirst's erstwhile body.
"Zel and Rune haven't seen this yet," muttered Nei as she opened the top, exposing her moribund twin's form.
"Ugh," said Rune. "Looks kinda watery ..."
"You ain't seen nothin' yet," said Seifir, smirking.
Nei placed a hand on Neifirst's head. There was a blue glow, and Neifirst seemed to awaken ...
Behind her, everyone jerked into combat stances.
But Neifirst only looked up at Nei. A smile crossed her face, as if she was finally at peace. And then her body melted away into the liquid form of the biogenetic material.
There was a collective sigh from everyone (including Zero and Dita, who didn't need to breathe but they knew how to emote).
"That," said Ranma, "was awesome."
"Is there anything more that needs to be discussed or done?" said Rufus, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time (which is why Zero had been next to Zelgadis).
"No," said Zelgadis smoothly. "Shall we go then?"
"Yes," said Rufus. "We shall."
Dita stayed behind with Zelgadis this time, since she really wasn't as good in a fight as the others. Nei used her Ryuka technique to teleport the group to the chamber where they'd fought Neifirst.
"I'll go first," said Rune, and opened the door to the next passageway.
There was a D-Elm-Lars standing there, looking surprised inasmuch as it was possible to tell with the mask. "What the ...!? Holy crap, it's L--"
Rune blasted its face with a fireball, and it collapsed backwards, dead.
"They never learn," said Rune. "Let's go."
They had just finished cutting a swath through a large group of both Fiends and monsters of Zio's own creation, when Rune abruptly turned around. "Okay, I've felt all your stares on me at various points for the past fifteen minutes," he said. "What's up?"
"What was that D-Elm-Lars about to call you?" said Rufus, always one to deal with topics of conversation with a maximum of speed towards the point and a minimum of tact.
"He was going to call me Lutz," said Rune, leading the way through a large archway. "I'll tell you about it --"
A gigantic bird with an eagle-like beak swooped down at them from above with a screech.
"A frickin' Zuu!" exclaimed Seifer, raising his gunblade.
"-- later," finished Rune, shifting his grip on his staff.
Ranma ran up and gave it a vicious kick to the side of its head. Rufus, Zero, and Vash fired their guns, Seifer and Rune used fire spells, Soma cast a spell that caused a large number of scythes to fly out and tear through its wings, and Nei --
-- threw a beam of yellow light that tore through the Zuu's body. It let out an agonized squeal, collapsed to the ground, and vanished in a cloud of pyreflies.
All eyes turned to Nei. "What the hell was that!?" exclaimed Seifer.
"Uh ... NaThu?" said Nei, looking a bit embarassed.
"Okay, that was definitely a Technique," said Rune, "but I've never seen any variation on NaThu that powerful."
"I ... didn't even know I could use any of those lightning Techniques ..." said Nei nervously.
"Perhaps Neifirst knew them," said Rufus. "Regardless, may we please continue?"
Rune crossed the passage without another word and pulled the opposite door open.
Immediately, the atmosphere changed.
The chamber they entered was colored in green and black, with a still greater sense of dread than the rest of the Air Palace, which they had more or less gotten used to. It was a long throne room, with a black pathway leading to the other end, at which was an altar, a statue of Dark Force hanging over it.
"Rune Walsh," said the voice of Zio, standing behind the altar, and every syllable dripped with hatred. "It's good to see you again, alive."
"The feeling is mutual," said Rune, smirking as the group approached. "Nice decor you've got here. Didja import it directly from your Tower, or is it just modified."
"An alteration, although frankly I didn't do much," said Zio, approaching them. "But I'm sure you're aware that things are a little bit different this time."
"That's right," said Rune. "We're now eight to one instead of five. And this time, they're all as powerful as I am."
"Oh, I know," Zio purred. "But I'm referring to the fact that I'm working directly for the boss this time."
There was a pause. "I'm not going to bother doubting that," said Rune, "but I promise you this." He raised his staff. "Everyone here is gonna be alive, when this fight is over, for me to explain to them what the hell we're talking about."
Zio laughed. "Oh, I'm sure they'll find out in any case ..." His eyes glowed red. "... once they awaken in the afterlife!"
The room faded away, replaced by a blue mist. Zio waved his hand, and his Magic Barrier appeared.
"Oh no you don't!" said Seifer. "Dispel!"
"Just thought I'd make sure," said Zio. "NIGHTMARE!"
A face appeared above him, but this time it wasn't that of Dark Force. It was humanoid, feminine, and had sleek grey skin. Her eyes were closed, but when she opened them ...
It was like Dark Force was in the room again. Dark Force, except that they couldn't fight it directly. And their target was much smaller.
Seifer reflexively fired his gunblade at the face. "No! Attack Zio!" said Rune, raising his staff like a shield. The sense of oppression dissipated somewhat, as if it really was a shield. "You guys attack Zio! I'll do what I can to hold him back!"
Zio laughed out loud. "You won't be able to touch me!" he crowed. "I am invincible now!"
"Not ... quite ..." said Rufus, raising his shotgun. "Bolt3!"
A veritable shower of lightning tore through Zio's body. His face contorted in a grimace of pain as the smell of ozone filled the air ... but when the lightning dissipated, so did the grimace, replaced by a feral grin. "Anyone else want to try anything?" he said viciously.
Seifer raised his hand, and Eden appeared. But Zio simply threw a ball of darkness at it, and it exploded in a cacophonous shower of sparks. "Sorry," said Zio. "Guardian Forces won't avail you now. My turn! BLACK TORRENT!"
The woman's mouth opened, and a gigantic cascade of fire and blackness. Zio caught it in his hands, and threw it at the group. There was a tremendous explosion of light and sound, and they all felt a sensation of simultaneously being frozen and scorched ...
Zio grinned as all eight of them collapsed on the ground. "Anyone left conscious?" he said, almost cheerfully.
"Not quite," said Soma, pulling himself to his feet.
"Ah, the vampire," said Zio, grinning. "But nobody can withstand me one on one ... Are you prepared to face these odds?"
"He doesn't have to," said Rune, pushing himself up. "He's got one of the greatest Espers ever on his side!"
"I once thought I could never kill a man," said Vash, wincing as he stood up. "But I know I can kill a monster!"
Nei got to her feet without a word. Her face showed no pain, or fear, or anger -- just a grim determination, a silent vow that anyone who tried to cross her would find themselves disinclined to cross anyone ever again.
"S'matter?" said Zio, grinning at her. "No pithy comment to make?"
The girl was silent for a moment, as if concentrating on something. Then she raised her hands, and a blue glow began to surround her. And, to the surprise of all, a ghostly image of herself appeared above her, hands raised in an identical pose ...
And then she grinned back at him, and it was a hundred times more vicious. She raised her hands from her sides in fists, extending her claws. "Hi there," said Neifirst. "Remember me? This is the phenomenal might of the Numan project, turned right back at you."
And for the first time, Zio's smile cracked.
"Let's hang back and use long-range attacks," Rune muttered to Vash. The blond-haired gunman nodded hearty agreement.
Neifirst charged forward, claws swinging. Zio's difficulty in using his magic to keep her from dismembering him then and there was nothing on how hard it was to deflect the claws of the projection.
Then she stopped and ducked, striking a pose. A bullet from Vash and a Tandle spell from Rune both flew through Neifirst's image, which didn't even flinch, and both slammed directly into Zio's chest.
He let out a cry of rage, and swung his fist. Mirroring it, a black sphere collided wiht Neifirst, who winced at first, but then snapped into a feral grin again. "That's what it looked like when Rufus attacked you," she said helpfully.
A small white bat flew over Zio's head. It morphed into Soma, who plummeted, his sword pointed straight down, and he swung it as he landed, shearing Zio's arm clean off his shoulder.
Zio screamed. It was abruptly cut short as Neifirst raced forward and ran him through with both sets of claws. He shook as another bullet from Vash hit his stomach.
Rune moved forward for the killing blow. Zio snarled, opening and closing his mouth a few times, but no sound came out.
Then he was surrounded by shadow. The woman's face, now contorted with rage, was glowing more brightly, and Zio stood up, his eyes glowing a brighter shade of red. "BLACK TORRENT!" he screamed, and the blast engulfed them, knocking them all to the ground.
Only one remained standing. "It is done," said Zio, grinning. "I have defeated them all ... and now this world is mine!"
"Not quite," said a voice behind him.
Zio whirled. "You!" he said. "What are you, anyway?"
"I'm part-vampire," said Soma, standing straight up. For some reason, it looked for an instant as if he was wearing a tuxedo -- but no, he was still wearing the same white jacket and blue jeans. His eyes had a strange yellow coloration to them now, with red irises. "Don't you know what a vampire is? Or did you just hear the term, and knew that it applied to me, without bothering to find out what it meant?"
"A kind of demon," said Zio, his composure slipping.
"Oh, yes," said Soma, and he grinned, baring his teeth. And now he had fangs. "A very special kind of demon. I'm practically darker than you are, Dark Magician Zio."
Zio smirked then. "You have no idea," he said. "You have no idea what you're up against if you say that -- and you've seen Dark Force in action."
Soma raised his hands. "Then give me your best shot," he said.
Zio laughed. "Gladly," he said. "In fact, now that I don't need Dark Force, I'll give you my best shot instead of getting any help from Her." He raised his hands. "BLACK WAVE!"
The black tendrils flew out towards Soma and struck him in the chest ... and he didn't even flinch! He was bathed in an aura of shadow as he said, "Thanks. I didn't know how well I'd do without some sort of recharge!"
Zio felt the first twinges of fear. "What are you!?" he exclaimed.
"Just call me Dracula," said Soma, and Zio could only stare agape as he flew towards him, sword raised to swing ...
There was a clap of thunder as Soma sliced off Zio's head, and the dark magician's body disintegrated in a terrific flash of light. The air crackled with released energy, and the woman's face disintigrated in a shower of sparks, her face locked in a grimace of hatred.
Rune was half-sitting up. "What was that?" he gasped.
"Save it for later," said Soma. "Do you have anything that can revive Nei?"
"What? Oh ..." Rune got to his feet, and raised his staff. "Rever!"
The Technique surrounded Nei with a pearlescent glow, and she sat up shakily. "Wha ...?"
"Get us out of here, quick!" said Rune. "From the sound of it, the Air Palace is starting to fall!"