The swordsman leapt out of the way of Diablo's fist with an amazing form of agility, jumping backwards and landing with incredible grace on one of the boulders that had been dislodged from the ceiling only a little while ago. He shifted his stance for a better grip on the unsure surface and analyzed Diablo from a distance, holding one hand to the frame of his glasses in case it allowed him to see a little bit better. Ravendor was amused by this, laughing a laugh that was drowned out by background static. "§†îll åŠ Ëvã$ÎVË áš Èv£®, M¥ ƒ®ÎËñÐ." He said, pleased. "†H0ÜgH ï HØÞë ýôÛ ¢áñ ÐÖ bˆ†£R †hÀñ †hÀ†!"
"I hope you can put up a fair fight." The swordsman retaliated, matching Ravendor's amusement with a brand of his own. Their words were courteous and formal, but behind them, the emotions backing them were cold and bitter. It was like two snakes trying to out-hiss one another. "The Guardians know that you've never been able to do that before. Do you really wish to fight me? You will lose, Ravendor, golem or no. I am just warning you, first."
"HmÞh… à hÜMÅñ ßêlíÈvë$ HÊ ©ñ ßÉå† mÉ?" Ravendor wondered out loud, unaware of the swordsman's true form and mistaking him for a simple human. "Ï AÐMî† †ha† †Hî§ ÏŠ íñ†érÈŠ†ÏÑG… QÜì†Ê ÎцéRȧ†íñg…" The bandit leader focussed hard, and fought away Jet's reprogramming for a while, attaining his full holographic shape. It felt better this way, despite not being able to feel his original body in the state he was in. The only thing he could settle on was Diablo and this image. "Vêr¥ wëll. ΃ ŸØÜ (añ Ð뚆rò¥ †hΊ mȆal ßØП, †HÉÑ ¥¤Û màý §þèÁk WΆh Më ÐíRÈ©†¥."
"I will be looking forward to that." The demon half-growled, half spat. He had lost his pleasant edge and was now just blunt and irritated. Just talking to Ravendor was pissing him off. The dark-haired man nodded once and bowed gracefully in mid-air, his hologram disappearing as he straightened back up again. The way he carried himself, his air of superiority, it made the swordsman's blood boil. He looked back to his comrades and made a gesture that they should stay away, his expression softening as he addressed his friends. Comforted by their presence, he smiled and felt better. "Please let me handle this. Don't get in the way." He said, winking. "Thank you."
Waiting for a short while, both he and the golem did nothing, sizing up each other's strengths. Then he realized that Ravendor was waiting for him to make a move, allowing the demon to have the first strike. He didn't want to engage in an endless stalemate, so he acted. The swordsman jumped into the air with the grace of a ninja, using part of Boomerang's memories to help him more with better agility. If Diablo was strong, then he had to be fast. The rush of the jump somehow put him in a good mood, a burst of adrenaline kicking into his system.
He alighted on Diablo's right shoulder and smirked, rapping his knuckles against the side of Diablo's head and trying to get an echo. "Hello? Is anybody in there? Ravendor, are you home?" He leapt out of the way when the golem swatted at him and hit his own armor, the swordsman landing on the top of Diablo's head and using it as a stepping stone to reach the machine's other shoulder, effortlessly using his dexterity to leap away from Diablo's attacks. He was taunting him, playing with him, while deep in his mind, the swordsman was performing his own kind of in-depth analysis. He just needed time, he had to buy some more time. In addition, he had to keep the golem's wrath away from the others, and redirect it towards himself. Ravendor was after him, anyway.
Falling to one knee as he touched down on the golem's other shoulder, he uttered a playful "Boing!" as he sprung several meters into the air when Diablo tried to hit him once more, landing lightly on the back of the monster's hand. Before he could be forced off or captured, he brought his sword straight down through the thick armor, testing the strength of it's defences. He tensed his muscles and bore down upon the hilt, feeling a moderate amount of resistance before it passed through the metal and embedded itself in the weaker tissues within. Sparks rose from the wound and trailed up the blade, attacking the swordsman's nervous system as soon as it touched his flesh.
He gritted his teeth and yanked the weapon out to cease the attack, while Diablo turned up the heat on it's armor, steam and heat waves rising from it's skin. The swordsman slid his feet back slightly and felt that the soles of his boots were beginning to melt. He couldn't stay up there any longer. He looked up and avoided another attack, intentionally losing his balance and falling off the golem's hand, still drawing on Boomerang's athletic ability to flip himself over in mid-air and land in a crouch, the bottom of his boots smoking and slightly warped. He coughed once, quietly, and stood up, running his gaze down the length of his blade. The end, which was scratched just a little by breaking through Diablo's armor, shimmered and pulsed, the scratches rippling out of existence. Now Kuronegaiken looked absolutely spotless and shined even more in his hands.
"You cannot catch me," He taunted, a glint of mischief in his eye, "You cannot harm me. But, I believe that I may have found a way to harm you." He scuffed the back of one of his boots on a flat rock, peeling away the melted rubber. He brandished the sword as Diablo raised both hands in answer to his words, materializing twin orbs of fire that burned and spluttered in the machine's possession. The swordsman stood firm and didn't even flinch as the golem hurled the flames directly at his body, not dodging, and refraining from even shielding his eyes. All he did was close them and exhale a breath, waiting and smiling.
The fire washed over him like an inferno of punishment, but he remembered his long stay in the infernal region, and no longer feared the smoldering torture of incineration. He felt the rise in temperature but not the pain itself, the rushing flames whooshing by like a summer Filgaian breeze. His aura protected him from the attack, triggered by his fire medium and ward. He waited for the flames to die down and stomped out a few lingering sparks himself, the floor under his feet charred and blackened. Diablo seemed to pause, unsure. It did not predict this turn of events at all. The swordsman fanned a little bit of lingering smoke away and nodded, answering a question that had not been spoken. "Yes, I bear an immunity to fire. It is the power of my fire medium, and my connection to the Guardian, Moor Gault. It is unfortunate that this golem you command is also of a fire element, is it not?"
Diablo made a noise that sounded like a growl, he had obviously upset the person residing within the great mass of plated armor. The golem stepped forward and the floor shook, thundering towards the demon in front of him with it's thick metal fingers hooked like claws. The swordsman felt a twinge of anxiety run through his mind as he watched the monster close in on him, the heat increasing every second while Diablo let out an inhuman roar, one that sent shattering vibrations throughout the room. Good… Whispered the demon in his mind, Get upset. Lose your temper. Come closer, get in range. You were always far too emotional, Ravendor. Sometimes I wonder how you managed to live so long… No more, I will end your life now. Yes… Come closer. I just need… a little distraction…
The huge machine came to a stop above the demon's body, lacing it's fingers together and raising it's arms above it's head, preparing a crushing hammer-blow that would shatter solid stone with barely any effort at all. On a living body, it would kill within a second. The swordsman raised his head and looked up at Diablo's face, then knelt, like a page waiting to be knighted. His ears focussed on a sound behind him, and he bet his life on a silly chance, trusting somebody that he never would have believed in before…
The resounding clang of lead hitting armor surprised everyone including Diablo, the consciousness within registering that he had been shot and turning the golem's great mass to see the origin of the attack. The swordsman, who had his weapon up and positioned in a protective maneuver, expecting an attack, lowered it after a few moments and stared after Diablo's distraction, letting out a deep breath. He barely expected it, but that attack seemed to signal in his cavalry. It didn't do any damage, but it was distracting the machine enough for the demon to gather his wits and plan out a new method of retaliation. He had one, he just had to get himself and the others ready.
Dario's arms were shaking so badly that he couldn't aim his weapon as well as he needed to, the few rounds he had fired making no mark on the monster within the center of the room. The bandit was near the entranceway, his knees knocking together in intense fright with his teeth chattering and his trigger finger quivering and hysterical. "Die! Go away! Stay away! Just die, already! Dammit, die, die, die!" He emptied the rest of his bullet clip and backed into the wall, falling on his behind. Dropping his now useless pistol, he stared at the golem and felt as though fear itself was going to kill him. He had never seen anything so frightening before.
The swordsman lowered his blade and narrowed his eyes, but he knew a lucky break when he saw one. He turned to the others sharply and barked out an order. "Virginia! Gallows! Catherine! Anybody who can utilize an ARM! Get into a firing squad position and reload your weapons to their maximum capacity! When I give the signal, be prepared to fire all of your rounds precisely at the target! Stay focussed and do not hesitate!" The three people standing around Jet reached for their ARMs and did as they were told, having the common sense not to argue with a demon. Virginia reluctantly left Jet's side and unholstered her twin pistols, Coyote was unhooked from Gallows's side, and Catherine picked up the discarded Gungnir from the ground, brushing a bit of dirt off the wood-grained end. They reloaded, but Catherine had to take her hand from Kaitlyn's to do so.
She separated herself from her mother and ran towards Dario, making both Catherine and the swordsman freeze and call out her name at exactly the same time. Kaitlyn came to a halt next to the bearded bandit and turned towards her parents, shaking her head. "I'll be okay! Don't worry about me any more!" She informed them as calmly as possible with a giant golem looming and slowly approaching her, grabbing Dario's shoulder and shaking it. "Mr. Dario! Mr. Dario! Get up, please!" He appeared to snap out of his frozen terror and wildly glanced at the girl, his feet moving of their own accord and shakily pushing himself up, using the wall as a support. Kaitlyn looked at her mother one more time and pointed towards the golem, as a curt reminder. Catherine battled something inside her and finally nodded, getting into position between Virginia and Gallows, raising Gungnir so it could be fired.
…Kaitlyn, be careful…The swordsman thought as he watched the girl take a grip of Dario's wrist and led him towards the others, like a shepherd guiding one of their lost sheep. But, she seemed to know what she was doing, and didn't look afraid anymore. She didn't fear Diablo, who had paused to watch Kaitlyn take Dario away. Ravendor wouldn't hurt her, either. Ironically, of everyone stuck within the ruin, Kaitlyn was the safest of them all. At least he had that to rely on. Right now, all the demon needed to focus on was the monster in front of him and the firing squad behind him.
I have to break through and deal damage at the same time. I only have one shot at this attack, and I cannot cut through the armor and injure him at the same time. No, I will drop his defenses while… the others… yes, yes… that shall indeed work!
"Ravendor!" The swordsman called out in the loudest and most forceful voice he owned, echoing a few times in the wide expanse of the chamber around him. The golem half turned towards him, paused in some kind of calculation, and then made the demon the center of his attention once more, roaring in pure primal rage. The swordsman felt his ears ring from the sound and endured it until it faded, loosening his body and taking up a more offensive attack stance. "I will not let you puppeteer that golem any longer! It has an AI! It lives! You have violated it's soul, threatened, kidnapped, hurt… I will allow this no longer! En Guarde!"
He broke into a run, experiencing the thud of his heart in his chest try and fall in sync with his footsteps, his breath catching in his throat. He judged distance like a pole-vaulter, reaching a point and coiling his leg muscles, thinking and trying to set his mind back into the morning, where he had handled Todd's weapon and rediscovered his lost sword art. The dark purplish colouring of his eyes bore a few slight specks of red in them as he built force in his sword-arm and propelled himself towards Diablo's stomach, praying that his attack had not failed. Wood was one thing, but ancient metal…
I must do this right!
"Shadow Boomerang Maximum!"
He angled himself in the air and hit Diablo's stomach feet-first, out pacing gravity and throwing himself towards the golem's left arm like a ball in a pinball machine. He put pressure on the limb and made a flying leap from arm to arm, holding Kuronegaiken out at a right angle to his hand and fiercely digging the blade into the metal-plated front as he moved. The effect was a long gaping wound opened up across the machine's stomach while the swordsman lowered the point of his target landing a bit and caught Diablo's left arm like an acrobat catching a horizontal pole, swinging himself down towards the ground. He landed, felt his body protest to the insanely swift move he had performed, and he fell flat on his stomach, letting out a lungful of breath.
The demon pushed himself up on shaking arms, unaware if he had even made a scratch or not. He rolled to one side and saw Diablo hold a hand to a huge gash on it's front, while within the wound, faint outlines of cables and it's inner workings were revealed to the world. It's weak spot. The swordsman wanted to get up and strike a commandeering stance, raise his sword and shout, but all he settled for was falling onto his back and coughing, pointing weakly to the monster. "Use your gatling attack now! Fire right into the wound! Hold nothing back!"
He was staring at the ceiling when he heard the sound of gunfire suddenly ring through the cavern, unmoving, just keeping his gaze on the darkened roof above him. He smelt the gunpowder in the air and clenched his fists together as a long deep tortured moan cut through his mind like a knife, Diablo's voice, and abstractly, Ravendor's as well. They were both in pain, and though he knew that he should not care a whit about the dark-haired man anymore, he somehow did. It was disturbing. He frowned and rolled over, finding himself lying on top of his frozen blade. Kuronegaiken did not make a very comfortable mattress.
Catherine yanked out the used-up clip from Gungnir's underbelly and took a moment of time to wipe the tears from her face that refused to stay hidden, dropping the discarded magazine and procuring a new one from a pocket of her dress. She had come prepared. Snapping it into place, she resumed her assault on Diablo's body, taking the attack in waves with the other two so that while one of them was reloading, at least two more were coving their backs and keeping the flow of bullets consistent. Discarded shells littered the floor and echoed their light tinkling sounds around the room, adding a faint undertone to Diablo's long wounded cry.
The golem stumbled and crashed into the wall, it's cables and wiring severed by the bullet rain entering it's fragile inner system. Dust was thrown into the air as the stone was pushed away, the great crimson machine now occupying a small part of the wall, miraculously not destroying it. Twitching with arcs of electricity flaring into life and dying, the soft lights of machinery peeking though the long wound dulling and losing their electricity, the charge bleeding out of the body and dissipating into the ether. Diablo finally fell silent, and the gunfire came to an eventual halt.
Gungnir slipped from Catherine's hands and she stumbled like a zombie over to Kaitlyn, who was sitting next to Dario, the bandit's eyes a little glazed over from denial of his current environment. A mind can only take so much before it shuts down and heads towards self-deception. Dario had reached his limit a long while ago. The ex-drifter fell to her knees and hugged her daughter, though she could not find the strength or the desire to cry anymore. It felt like the reservoir in her soul had at last dried up. Kaitlyn sniffed. "You got him… You got him…" She whispered, understanding what had happened a little too well for comfort.
The swordsman nearby felt something uncomfortable sink within his body. …We got him… He mimicked in his mind.
Gallows checked his pockets. "Just in time, too," He remarked, "Those were my last few bullets. I thought that bastard would never die." He patted Virginia on the back, who was looking at her smoking pistols with silence. Her clips were empty as well. The demon got up and stumbled over to the others, leaning on his sword and using it slightly like a crutch. He had dirt in his fur and hair, but was wearing a tired smile, hoping that it would set the minds of the others at ease. He paused when he came to Jet's untouched body and embedded the end of his blade into the ground, crouching and placing the back of his hand against the boy's pale face. Gallows watched him do this, a sharp stab of alarm racing through his mind when he took a closer look at the boy's body. His lips had turned blue.
Jet had stopped breathing.
†††
Virginia pulled Jet's head into her lap and carefully wiped the blood from the corner of the boy's mouth, brushing Jet's hair away from his eyes. Gallows, kneeling and taking Jet's pulse again, felt a huge drop in the pressure of the blood that his heart was pumping to his bruised and wounded limbs. He was losing his pulse. Jet was dying. The Baskar priest gritted his teeth and cast another heal spell over the android's body, though the arcana could do no more than what had already been done. The sparkles of magic settled into the android's body, and then faded away, barely easing Jet's suffering. Swearing under his breath, Gallows clenched his fists and looked away.
And then he felt a hand plant itself in the gap between both his shoulder blades, pressing down and then glowing with it's own kind of signature aura. The swordsman knelt behind him, closing his eyes while extending his arm. He spoke. "You can still heal him, Gallows." He said while spacing his fingers, the glow of his aura spreading up his arm. "I will lend you my power. Take it, and try again." The swordsman grunted and activated one of his more special mediums, waiting for the rush of the spell, and the osmosis that would follow soon after. "Life Drain… Esoteric… Arcana… Retraction."
Energy was sucked out of the swordsman's body ferociously, mercilessly, ripped from one aura and transferred like a lifeline through his arm into Gallows's body. The priest held his breath as a wave of intense power washed through him like a tide of strength and vitality, settling into his veins and igniting his blood on fire. The source of his magic, the arcane reservoir itself fed off the raw power and grew, while behind him, the swordsman wheezed and fell to the floor, weakened and drained. Yet still, he was smiling as this happened, Kuronegaiken dulling and weakening with him. He caught the look Gallows gave him and shook his head quietly, talking like he had a sore throat. "Do not worry about it, this is my repayment for stealing your energy at Westwood Station. Go on. Treat Jet again."
Not questioning anything that might give Jet a chance, he held out his hands and tried again, whispering words that would trigger the spell. Gallows wordlessly remarked on the insanely large flow of power coursing through his body, this could be no less than a borrowed demon's strength, he decided. It was explosive, yet, somehow, it filled him with a kind of sadness, receiving an imprint of the two souls sacrificed to make up the new demon's aura. One of them felt hauntingly familiar, while the other was foreign and strangely sinister. Involuntarily, Gallows shivered.
"Critical heal!"
The energy within was expelled by the advanced arcana, and the silver-haired android's body was suddenly engulfed by a pure shining light, bright enough to force the eyes of all around him closed by it's intensity. Jet was pulled upright by an invisible force, absorbing the curative light through his skin and filling his weakened aura to it's maximum capacity. From the midst of the light, he opened his pale lavender eyes, staring skywards had the ceiling not been in the way, letting out a breath of stale air. A crawling and discomforting feeling in the midst of his ribcage was his snapped bones knitting together and holding firm, while the inner tissues of his body regenerated and reached good health. Jet could feel a warmth spread through every fiber of his being as the outward light sunk into his chest, fading and making him stronger. Overwhelmed, he leant back into what he later found out to be Virginia's lap, reaching the land of consciousness once more.
She gasped and then burst into tears, the impact of Jet's recovery finally settling into her mind. The youth blinked dully, letting out a small cough and touching the sleeve of Virginia's dress and wrist gently, still not all there, but fairly coherent of his surroundings. "Look… I said… don't be… worried. I'm fine… just… fine… Only a little tired… is all…" He tried to smile, and made a pretty good attempt at it, but this only made Virginia cry harder. Jet half-closed his eyes and smiled, there was nothing he could do to shut her up. If she needed to cry, then he wasn't going to stop her. He felt too weak to even try.
The swordsman was shaking off Catherine's offering to help him up, getting onto two feet under his own power. Picking up Kuronegaiken and leaning on the weapon slightly, he waited for his healing factor to replenish the energy he had lost, a lukewarm series of waves cascading up his body recharging his lost energy stores. He took some nice deep breaths, and then felt like himself once more. He raised his weapon slightly, and slotted the blade into the space in the small belt around the waist of his coat. The spiked pommel caught on the fabric and held it there just as well as a sheath. Looking at Catherine and Kaitlyn, he smiled, stepping backwards and away.
He chuckled. "I'm back." He said, fixing everyone present with a benevolent gaze. Without notice, his right hand strayed to rest upon the handle of his blade, and he adjusted his glasses, then brushing some of his grass green hair out of his eyes. "Thank you. You protected me when I couldn't protect myself. I owe you more than I could ever repay. Virginia, Jet, Gallows. Catherine and Kaitlyn. Thanks." But then, something uncertain and almost cold settled around the swordsman's demeanor, so that his smile appeared twisted and it's warmth mocking, while his mahogany colored eyes gleamed with hidden intent. "But…" He continued, taking another step back. "It is not over yet. Jet Enduro, stand up."
Jet heard him and struggled to stand, having to heavily rely on Virginia for the support. Gallows also stood and leant the boy his shoulder, so he could lean on them both. The swordsman faced those three, cutting Catherine and Kaitlyn out of his interest. He rapped his fingers on the grip of Kuronegaiken, raising one hand to his chin. Catherine noted the expression being hidden behind her husband's eyes, it was the glint of a madman not quite sure if he should be kind or not, or if he should carry out his plans. The swordsman almost seemed to be having a conversation within his soul, trying to determine his decision. "Good." He almost purred, pulling Kuronegaiken an inch out of it's confinement, so a small shimmer of blue caught their eye. "Just like before. Just like I remember it. My friends, will you do me a huge favor and humor this old demon here, please?"
Virginia was confused, and didn't mind openly showing it. "Clive?" She asked, holding onto Jet carefully like he was made of fragile glass. "What's wrong? Are you okay? A favor, what do you want us to do?" This was beginning to remind her of his episode on the train, where he had tried to wind Jet's arm off in a deadly arm-lock. He was wearing that same bemused, condescendingly pleasant smile. Catherine, close by, recognized it as a subtle mimicry of Ravendor that he had unconsciously picked up through all those years of friendship, and was unaware that he still used it, even then. Had this situation been less serious, Catherine would have smiled.
The swordsman motioned to the trio of drifters standing in front of him, pulling Kuronegaiken out of it's place and pointing with that, which made Virginia and the others very uneasy. Asides from wondering exactly where he had gotten the weapon, she really wanted to know precisely what he was going to do with it. He flicked his wrist a little, three times, to accentuate his next statement. "Three humans, just like the three I fought, so long ago. A girl, a construct, the artificial being, and a man with long brown hair. Yes, just like this." He agreed with himself, and then nodded. "How fortunate it is for me to see this image reproduced after two thousand years of waiting, of anticipation. I am familiar with this. Virginia, Cecilia. Jet, Rudy. Gallows, Jack."
Jet didn't have any idea on what he was going on about, and frowned, shrugging off the support Virginia and Gallows were giving him to stand up by himself. He was feeling better now, physically, but on the inside, he was fraught with confusion and an increasingly sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "…You ain't Clive, are you?" He asked gruffly, involuntarily shooting a glance at Catherine who watched them not too far away. Her face was totally neutral, and analyzing. The swordsman smiled and then shook his head, raising a hand as if to say 'no'.
"It's complicated." He admitted, holding the edge of his glasses frame with two fingers as he thought on how to explain. "I am me. That is all I have to know. For you, who I am is entirely up to you to decide. Please understand me, I have been waiting so long for this. I want you to fight me, now, and hold nothing back. I am asking you three humans for a rematch, to make up for the battle I lost so many years ago. Jet, please understand, this is just something I have to do. And…" His voice gained an almost evil tone. "It is something I was meant to do…"
Gallows recoiled out of expectancy of Virginia's impending outburst, shrinking away into his center of gravity and squeezing his eyes shut. The drifter leader cut a swath in the air with her hand, the other one clenched into a fist. "Clive, are you crazy?! You want us to fight you?! No! No way! Not again! We're your friends, remember? All we want to do is help you. Calm down, we killed Diablo, and we have Kaitlyn and Jet is better. All we have to do is stop Ravendor and we will be finished. Don't you want to-"
Virginia felt the tip of Kuronegaiken lightly pierce the thin skin of her neck, drawing a tiny little bead of blood that was absorbed by the blade and converted into inner power. Her arms fell to her sides, though her fingers were spaced in agitation and alarm. Jet was caught between acting and standing still, knowing that if he made a brash move, Virginia could be killed. He didn't want to take that chance. The boy looked towards the swordsman, who held a guarded expression, which became a smarmy smirk. His aura was cold, like sub-zero temperatures.
But the scariest thing was, they could tell that he, who they believed to be Clive, was doing this of his own free will. "If you really are my friends… If you really do wish to help me… Then banish this shadow that lurks in my heart!" He narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs, tightening the grip on his sword and pulling it away, getting into his basic attack position. Kuronegaiken glinted happily, anticipating bloodshed. Jet grabbed his gun. Virginia silently shed a tear. Gallows just stood there, dumbfounded. The demon swordsman's voice sent shivers down all of their spines, and Catherine backed away up against the wall, taking Kaitlyn with her.
He stepped forward. "Quench my loneliness, once and for all!"