Disclaimer: See chapter one

Mimic12355- Well if liked that, then you'll enjoy this.

Aki Kitsune- I tried to get them to be as even as possible. And yeah, Jehuty does take more of a beating in this.

chero 666- Hahahahahahaha!!!

Videogame Fan- Have to make the fight look good, right?

Chap. 30

Kapow!!!!!! Shrrrkkkkkkkkkk!!!!! Kkkssssssssssshhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our battle continued… I have forgotten how long we have been at this. What is a span of a few minutes felt like eternity to me. The pain and fatigue I felt before was gone, replaced by the driving desire to defeat Anubis. But I knew I was tiring. We both were.

Kssssssssshhhhhhhh

As our weapons crossed, the surge from the strike rattled through me harder than before. 'He's pressing it; going all out now in using full force.' That proved that he was low on strength. But the fact that I felt it as such proved that I was too. I pushed it aside and backlashed against his lance. Anubis parried, but it came out sloppily and my blade nicked him in the leg. Frustrated, he retaliated by striking back with the other end of the lance, smashing it right into my face.

"Gmmmmhhhhh!!!!!"

I felt my body soar back, ready to hit the wall (again). But then a flash of inspiration hit me and I let my body drift for a moment before curling into a ball. Then with a flap of my wings, I somersaulted around and my feet smashed into the wall. I soon followed up by blasting right back at Anubis, much to his surprise. It wasn't until my sword connected with his lance that I realized that I had just copied the move Nephtis used on me when we first fought on Vascillia. 'Nice to see that it is just as effective on him as it was on me.'

However, surprise quickly turned to anger as Anubis struck back, hitting my shoulder. Grunting, I returned the favor with a rising slash, but he simply warped, disappearing before my sword could make contact. Irritation flared within me. As long as he kept doing that, it would take that much more time for Aumaan to awaken. Already, the beads of energy in the center were beginning to pulsate faster. Anubis's body soon materialized before it.

"It won't be long now. Soon Aumaan will awaken and we will herald in the glorious destruction that awaits all." He raised his lance high, "Starting with you, Jehuty!"

He was right. I couldn't waste any more time. So rather than respond to his raving, I shifted toward his position. But he merely smiled and warped again, this time near the far end.

"Come on, Jehuty. You're starting to move like a LEV."

It was an obvious taunt, but I didn't care. I rushed at the maniac (ironically, like a maniac) and fired a couple of bolts. He simply raised his shield and deflected them. Soon after, he followed up with shots of his own. I circled and rolled around them, still moving toward him and my sword unsheathed. But with a sliver of movement, he dodged to he side, but not fully as his hexagon-serrated wings caught my face and stopped me flat like a fish in a net. It was embarrassing to say the least, but that was soon cut off by the pain of his lance stabbing into my back. He then whirled around and tossed me aside. I managed to recover though. I was fortunate that he hit me with the butt end of the staff of he might have run me through. I whirled around to face him, but he was gone (also again!). But I didn't bother to look for him this time. Rather I stayed right where I was. I had been letting my desperation get the better of me. I had to focus solely on defeating Anubis and strangely enough, forget Aumaan. As I began to sense his presence, I remembered how off-guard he was when I flipped off the wall. Perhaps I could use the traits of the others as well.

"Ha!"

Anubis had come into form directly above me. Seeing him, I immediately dashed away, flying around as fast as I could. I soon circled around and came at him, firing my bolts of energy to which he shielded. He then lowered the shield as I closed in and brought out his staff. But rather than attack, I flew right over his head. I saw him blink in surprise as I passed overhead and he turned to follow. I circled again and fired some more, with him putting up his shield and me flying over again.

"Just what do you think…?"

'Now!' I stopped a meter after I flew overhead, turned around and shifted right at him. He was surprised by the speed and was pushed forcefully. Just like when Vic attacked me that time we met. I heard him strain under the pressure and then warp away, with me right on his tail. When we re-materialized, he moved in to attack for a change, stabbing forward with the lance. And now it was my turn to parry his blow. Then I slid my sword along the length of his staff, heading right for his hand. But he lifted his arm up and prevented it. In return, he swung forward, his arm being reeled from the back and slapping across my close block. I shot my elbow forward, hitting Anubis's face. But the blow was light and he grabbed my throat.

"Raahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

Energy surged from him to me, razing me with sheer pain. I grabbed hold of his hand in a desperate effort to get free, but all I managed to do is bend his elbow. The pain was becoming too much and my vision was fading.

"Sleep, Jehuty. Sleep for all eterni..."

Suddenly, my eyes snapped open and I lurched forward and bit Anubis's arm. The crimson evil roared in pain and back away.

"Treacherous dog!"

In rage, he lashed forward with the staff again, with me deflecting it once more. Then I counterattacked, but he parried it sideways and swung toward my head. I managed to duck under the attack, rotate around and slash in an upward cross, but he blocked it and pushed back. This went on repeatedly, with none of our blows getting through to each other. I realized that this fight wouldn't be decided by our styles of fighting. This fight, this battle, would be settled in one blow. One moment…

And it came sooner than I thought…

Anubis had backed away once again and warped toward the center of Aumaan. I followed in pursuit, but by the time I reached him, he was charging with dark Metatron energy. I was too close for him to use his Plasma Burst, so that meant he would use his Demon Slash. And I had shifted too close to avoid it. Leaving only one choice…

'This is it.'

In a flash, my body surged with the light pure energy of Metatron. I forced myself to rush the energy into my blade, readying my own attack; the Crescent Slash. We were so close to each other that our energies interlinked with each other, sending further energies scattering all over the place. Then it came. The moment we knew would come.

That singular moment…of destiny.

"It's over! You're finished!!!!!!!"

Our energies were unleashed in that clash; my Crescent Slash swirling and meeting his Demon Slash. The force was so great and the light so bright, yet it lasted for only a moment and then it ended.

Yes, Anubis. It is over.'

I saw it as if it was in slow motion. My attack had ripped right through his lance a split second before it could make contact with me. But more than that, the Crescent Slash had cleanly sliced his arm off as well. Surprise and pain both overcame his facial features as the force hurled him back, smashing right into the wall and rebounding off of it. He staggered to right himself, but by the time he could even try, my sword was at his throat.

"All those who have suffered…all those who have died...just for your sick dream of destruction." My blade shifted closer, "Is it worth it?"

Despite his battered condition, he still managed to chuckle, "Hehehe. Absolutely. Everyone was of no consequence. They were just scum anyway. My only regret was that I didn't get to see them all die."

I couldn't believe it. Even now, after all that had happened and all that he had done, he didn't feel any remorse whatsoever. And that sickened me worse of all. My blade arm trembled with untapped anger and fury and Metatron began to unconsciously fill my body once more. This madness had to end…now!

-"They're waiting for you now!"-

My blade shimmered brightly and I gave my crimson twin one last look. Long ago I said that the only thing we shared with the Metatron blood within us. Strangely enough, I had hoped that there was something more. Something else that made us alike. But now I knew. We were twins, but we were also polar opposites. As opposite as life and death; good and evil; light and dark. And as such I would feel some remorse and possibly regret for what I must do.

But that wouldn't stop me from doing it…

"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I spun around with my final Crescent Slash. My spin became as a white halo as it ripped right through Anubis's body. The scream of Anubis shook throughout the entire area, but was shortly cut off by his exploding body. I watched as it flew back into the wall and exploded on contact. It was over.

Anubis is dead.

But I wasn't allowed even a second of relief before a rumbling alerted my attention. My head snapped around franticly before I located the source. The energy beams had stopped pulsating and a bubble of pure light formed in the core, growing steadily outward. Despite all my fighting and battling, I was too late.

Aumaan was awakening!