Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Glad to have finally corrected this, as there was a strange jumbling of lines that got repeated in the early portion of the text. That's now fixed!

Chapter 11: Fated Encounter

From up high, the city down below appeared measly and contemptable. Xion's vantage-point from on top a tall office building gave him an extra sense of power, as if he were a God descended to the Earth, standing on his own Mount Olympus. Below his vantage point was a world built up of weak simpletons, desperately afraid of their own shadows; quick to run and cower at the first sign of trouble. He lifted his eyes towards the horizon, which displayed a complex painting of blue and orange, the sun hanging low as the day began to fade away. Far out there, just beyond the skyline, was a power calling to him. Life itself was unknowingly drawing him to a source of great power.

"Gaia, you're pathetic," he hissed under his breath. "You left everything in human hands, and what's happened? The world has been squandered by selfishness and gluttony. And you wonder why the seal on your precious dragon is breaking? You should have left the Unborn in its rightful place." He chuckled, turning and stepping away from the ledge. "But it won't be long before I set everything right again. It's my time to take a stand and claim the power I deserve."

He slowly walked across the rooftop, his body prickling with eagerness and self-satisfaction. Soon, the power would be his; nothing would stand in his way…

… Though, it seemed fate was still going to test his resolve.

He came to an abrupt stop, hearing another pair of footsteps close in behind him. Not deterred by this mysterious figure, he cast a rather dismissive look over his shoulder to the newcomer.

"You want something from me?" He asked sharply.

Stepping out of his shadow, a young woman stood. Behind a curtain of auburn hair, her features were stern.

"I've finally found you," she said in a low voice.

His eyebrows knitted together. Had he seen her somewhere before? Something felt oddly familiar. Though, what did it matter? He didn't really care who she was anyway.

Rolling his eyes and turning away completely, he was quick to disregard her. "Look, I don't know what you want, but I'm in a hurry, so stay out of my way."

Nagi's eyes narrowed as he slowly began to walk away. No you don't! Not after everything I've been through. You don't get to walk away like that…

"Oh, I know who you are, you're the 'White Zoanthrope' that stabbed me…"

Xion drew to a stop. What…? Who is this girl? Turning, he finally took her in properly. At that second, an image in the back of his head was conjured; a memory, almost clear in his head. It was this exact same woman, looking at him in horror as he drove his blade into her fragile body. But, how could she be possibly standing before him after such a devastating blow?

"You…" He actually took a step towards her, her fearless dark eyes holding his icy gaze firmly. "… That woman… yes, though it's hard to believe…" He chuckled sardonically, a little marvelled that she was still alive, though, something in his gut said there was something different about her. "I thought I dealt you a fatal blow, but… I didn't know you were a Zoanthrope. Strange, I didn't get that feeling though…"

Nagi snorted. "Yes, well, thanks to you, after that… I…" She clenched her hands into fists, lip curling into a snarl. Those once brown eyes suddenly flashed bright red. "… MORPHED FROM MY ORIGINAL BODY!"

Xion stepped back, taken off guard. "WHAT!" That seemingly harmless woman from their previous encounter had suddenly become something a whole lot more dangerous. Her body was radiating power great enough to challenge his own. He sneered at her in disbelief of her change. "This energy… it can't be… it can't be Gaia?"

Nagi smiled at him at the mentioning of that name and he growled infuriated by Gaia's meddling once again.

"I'm afraid you're finished," Nagi challenged, settling into her fighting stance. It was time to put an end to this problem once and for all; she could finally get the retribution she had been seeking.

Xion scoffed, his whole body shaking with fury. "Fine, whatever, if that's the way you want it! I'll finish the job this time!" His arm cut through the air, his voice shrill from anger. It was symbol enough that he was determined to end her existence once and for all.

Wasting no time, Nagi charged at him, her red eyes blazing brighter than ever. She bounded at him with break-neck speed, launching a kick at him. He was surprised by how quick she could move, and only just defended her attack, though was still sent backwards by the force. But it was a short-lived attempt to gain the upper hand, as when she moved in again, he drove his foot up into her gut and catapulted her up and over him.

Swiftly, Nagi managed to self-right herself in singular somersault, landing gracefully on her feet. Her burning eyes never left his as she turned around, giving him a beckoning finger.

"If you insist." He answered the call, moving in a blur of speed, covering the short distance between them instantly, engaging her with an elbow strike.

She dodged by a bare inch, her hand parrying his arm away with a single swipe. Though, she wasn't to realise that this simple move came with a much nastier follow up, as he quickly swung around, leading into a agile spinning kick that cracked her across the face. Though the first kick to the face didn't make her fall, it was the follow up that went low that caught her out, catching her ankles.

Nagi faltered, only breaking her fall by slamming her hands against the concrete, stopping herself from face-planting. She flinched, her cheek stinging like hell. She turned to see him despicably about to ram his foot into her face again, but this time she ducked away, side rolling before launching a mid-level kick that caught his hip.

Xion stumbled away, giving her time to right herself again. She went for him again, her fist balled up tight, ready to strike that smug face in front of her. Oh, how badly she wanted to mess him up as payback for everything. But his hand snapped up instantly around her wrist, intercepting the action, quickly catching her other arm before she could attempt another strike.

He pulled her close, faces inches apart. "You're wasting my time, little girl. Is this pointless battle worth your life?"

"'Pointless battle'!" She hissed indignantly. "How dare you!" Twisting suddenly, she dropped her stance, which took him by surprise by how her weight jarred him forward, and she used the leverage to snap him over her shoulder and onto his back on the concrete. It winded him, more so when she flipped herself over to kneel on his chest, pushing his own arms back against his throat, pinning him there, feeling the veins in his neck throb as she tried to cut off the circulation.

"You little…" He wheezed out as she pressed down on his throat. He immediately let go of her wrists, instead, fighting to push her arms back. He was surprised at her strength as she was valiantly fought to deprive him of oxygen.

"You bastard! You almost take my life and you think this is a 'pointless' thing?" She snapped, fury seeping off her in waves. "You're going to pay dearly for what you've done to me!"

"Don't… count on it!" His knees fought up to bury into her gut, driving up to flip her over him, changing their positions. Now she was the one on the ground, with his weight holding her down.

"Pathetic," he murmured, amused by her evident lack of training. "This is child's play."

"You haven't seen anything yet," she said, finding an opportune opening to drive her knee right into his unguarded crotch. Needless to say, the results were very satisfying.

His weight lifted away from her as he rolled onto his side, now nursing his tenderised groin. The contorted look on his face gave Nagi something to feel satisfied about, if only for a moment, as she got back to her feet.

"You bitch," he hissed, finding some morsel of strength to get to his knees, despite his body protesting its suffering over such a cheap blow.

She chuckled sardonically. "I'm not sure what you're complaining about. You never had any balls in the first place."

Xion's eyes went wide with rage. He instantly got to his, pushing through his obvious discomfort. Just as he righted himself, Nagi struck him with a jaw wrenching punch, snapping his head to the side and almost turning him one-eighty. The next shot went into his side and he folded over instantly. Her kick however, intended to crush his nose didn't quite hit the mark as he blocked her leg, and fiercely pounded his elbow into her shin, which took her back a step with pain. He quickly rose to follow up his attack, clocking her under the chin with his forearm.

Surprised, Nagi nearly tripped backwards, nursing her jaw. She was slow to react as his hands snapped around her head, fingers tangling within her locks as he swung her around and launched her across the rooftop. She skidded across the concrete, stopping mere feet from the edge. Her head throbbed as she slowly got back to her feet.

"Did that hurt, little girl?" Xion asked, chuckling. "If you're going to fight like a skank, then I'll play you at your own level."

"Bastard," she growled, ignoring her burning scalp. "You're a fool if you think this is all just a game!"

"Oh, you're quite wrong, little girl. It's a very big game; a game of life and death. And since you're so eager to die, I'm more than happy to oblige you."

She had started to charge, taking only a few steps before he intercepted her with a flurry of kicks and punches. He was insanely fast, putting her dodging skills to the test as she moved from side to side, avoiding the majority of his strikes. Though, as hard as she tried, she couldn't keep up with his pace, and one well planted kick caught her off guard as it barrelled into her side. Her defence faltered and she was suddenly overwhelmed with blow after blow as if she were a punch bag. Face, chest, gut, legs… there wasn't one place that didn't take a beating. With an overhead strike to finish, he laughed as he cracked her behind the head and she was slammed into the concrete.

With a groan, she tried to rise, but he stomped his foot into her back. She cried out, dropping back down, the air rushing from her lungs.

"Face it, you're in way over your head," Xion goaded. "Give up and I might just spare your insolent life."

"No… I won't give up…" Nagi hissed.

He chuckled. "That's too bad. Though, I'm glad you said that. I don't enjoy dishing out mercy…"

The heel of his boot pressed harder into her spine, grinding, and she couldn't help but scream.

Fuck him right to hell! She couldn't lose. She couldn't fail herself, or Gaia. If she died now, it would have all been for naught. He won't beat me. If have to give everything, I will take him out. He won't leave here in one piece!

With what strength she could find, she fought back, latching onto the power buried deep within her. She would fight to her last breath to put down the 'White Zoanthrope'. Her battered body began to rise, resisting the foot that was trying to hold her down.

"Don't fight it, you've already lost," Xion said, a little bit annoyed at her constant struggling.

"No… NO!" Having risen high enough, she managed to force herself sideways, knocking his foot from her back, sending him stumbling. She capitalised and speared his midsection, sending him crashing back first to the concrete. She crawled over him and began laying in fists to his head, pounding away at him like a madwoman.

"GET OFF ME!" He roared, managing to kick her away from him, though not before taking quite a few bruising blows.

She stumbled back, holding her sore abdomen, panting desperately for air. The muscles in her back were starting to twinge with pain. How much longer could she keep going on like this?

Standing, Xion spat blood onto the concrete before him, eyes burning with disgust.

"I'll make you suffer, you insignificant bitch," his eyes began to glow an ominous yellow. "I'm going to tear you up so bad, they'll never be able to identify your body."

"You can try, asshole," she said, "but believe me, it's going to the other way around."

"DIE!" His voice caught in a high-pitched roar, a stark light ripping from his body as his skin cracked, splitting to make way for the armoured shell of the Unborn form. The hard muscles rippled under its tough new skin, which glowed an illuminous white. The humanity had been striped away, nothing left but what resembled a large insectoid-like creature, with deadly limbs that could carve a body to ruin.

Nagi called on her own power and began to transform herself. Unlike the visage of the Unborn, much of her physically human features remained, amalgamated with the armour plating of her counterpart. It had all the same components deep down, but the corporeal form was a completely different evolution in itself. This was what made her the 'Spurious'. The glimmer of Nagi's red contrasted sharply against Xion's white.

She raised the long blade weapon that unfolded along her arm, pointing it directly at Xion. "Prepare to die," her hollow voice cautioned.

The great white creature leapt at her, producing one of his deadly serrated blades from his arm and slashed down with lightning speed. She quickly bounded out of the way, the deadly weapon crashing into the concrete, causing huge cracks to spread over the surface.

"Missed," she hissed, and struck out with her own blade, clashing weapons with a loud clang.

They were deadlocked, testing their strength, pushing against the other to see who would break first. Despite her obvious strength, Xion was clearly unimpressed by what he was looking at. Such a pathetic creature… he thought with derision. Gaia, what were you even thinking? Trying to make your own Unborn? Disgusting… They broke their clash, spinning away from each other, before turning back to clash blades again like duelling swordsman. This inferior beast is nothing… she'll never beat me!

They were on an equal footing, matched in strength and speed. She sneered at him. "Can't handle the Spurious, can you? I'll prove I'm better than you!"

Spurious… He knew the word. Latin. Meaning copy or fake. Maybe it was funny they clashed so seamlessly, that neither could get the upper hand. They were in tune, born of the same blood. The more it dawned on him, the more he realised the depths of what she was. She was already pre-programmed to handle his technique. Despite the physical differences, they were pretty much one and the same. But there was no way in hell that he, the original would, be defeated by a crappy copy.

With her next strike, she charged at him, and he engaged deftly, spinning his blade at a lower angle, trying to catch her so he could flip her up into the air; but her weapon deflected his shot and she flipped over him, slashing downwards. He ducked and rolled, missing her completely with a counter strike which whistled through empty air.

He turned, staggered by how quick she had moved. Her lighter weight was playing to her advantage, and she could cover ground much quicker than him. He wasn't quick enough in reacting to block her next assault, meaning her blade managed to break to his defence and strike his shell, cracking against him with unbridled ferocity. Her slash managed to cut into his side, creating a near parallel gash into his frame, which instantly began oozing blood.

Xion roared, managing to backhand her across the face, sending her backwards. Enraged, he launched a flurry of attacks on her, though she somersaulted back to avoid them.

She touched her chin, smirking at him, mopping up a thin trail of blood from her lip with her greedy tongue. He roared again and charged, powerful blades tearing through the air as they tried to hit their mark, but the nimble Spurious practically danced around the barrage of furious strikes. He was getting more agitated by the minute, unable to land a definitive blow, his shots whistling centimetres from her each time.

He broke his attack chain, leapt into a roll forward and spun quickly to launch and upward attack, which managed to catch her shoulder. She let out a low hiss. Xion thought it could be a turning point, but to his shock, he noticed he had only made a small scratch on her shell.

"Did you think I'd be so easy to cut up?" She sneered.

Frustrated, he gave an ear-splitting bellow, thrusting a blade at that taunting face, but she leaned back out the way, and went in for a snap kick, a course of red electricity crackling up her leg. He grabbed her incoming foot, growling low, his grip tightening around her ankle, threatening to crush it.

She winced, remembering a situation like this when she'd faced the crow Zoanthrope; but then, she'd been the one inflicting the pain. Though, in this situation, she knew a way out.

She didn't waste any time before she suddenly bounced up with her other foot and kick him square in the face. He released her foot by mistake, and just seconds later had it cracking him in the back of the head. He fell forward onto one a knee.

This is the end for you, 'White Zoanthrope'… Her blood was boiling, keen to bring an end to this bout.

Xion turned and stood. Why the hell was he faltering to such a lesser being? The two Zoanthropes stared each other down. Xion the Unborn, shaking with agitation; Nagi the Spurious, braced and ready.

She had to keep herself from striking so recklessly. She might have had the upper hand, but that could so easily change. He was a calculating creature after all, who might easily act on any mistake. Though, the same went for her too…

… In a blink of an eye, he slashed out. The flick of the glowing blade cut past her cheek, leaving a thin slash as a few strands of her crimson hair were sliced away, blowing away in the wind.

She scowled at him, the sharpness of the cut stirring her anger. He seemed annoyed she hadn't reacted more.

I'll give you credit, you caught me by surprise then… but you won't get me again…

Time stalled, and Xion hesitated as red electricity began to crackled across her body. He was curious by this power of hers, but he was determined that if there was going to be a power play, he would be the one in charge. He raised his blade to point at her, his own electricity coursing across his arm.

Energy cascaded around them, deadly electricity a show of their ultimate power, which lashed threateningly against each other. The ground around them was cracking under the pressure. Something had got to give.

Suddenly, she moved. Before he could even swing his blade, she had slid right passed him, letting out an echoing battle cry, swinging her own blade towards the crack she'd made in his shell earlier. A flash of red exploded from the impact as he was thrown backwards, sailing across the rooftop, his transformation breaking as he slammed against the ground.

Xion couldn't believe it. It was over. He'd just lost.

No, it can't be…

He struggled painfully to stand. A man of lesser fortitude would have given up, but not Xion. He got to his feet, his whole body burning from that agonising strike. He was shaking, watching her begin to approach him slowly, coming to a stop a few feet away. Xion stepped back a few steps, his legs almost like jelly.

"Ugh." He kept firm eye contact with her, even as he gripped his wounded side. "Spurious… Gaia… copying my powers to destroy me…" He shook his head at her, sickened. She said nothing, face blank, bar the slight confused look in her eyes. He snorted, carrying on. "How could I lose to an impostor?"

"What?" She scowled with contempt. "Don't give me that! No excuses!" She snapped her blade up, aimed directly at his face. "Now, hurry up and return me to my original body!"

Xion froze for a second, confused by that statement. What… does she think I can cure her of Gaia's meddling? He began to laugh. "You seem to have come to a very mistaken conclusion that I can somehow solve all your problems. Did Gaia not promise you your humanity back if completed your task? Did you think that because we share similar power that I could somehow save you? Stupid girl!"

Nagi wasn't sure what to think. "I needed this power to survive what you did to me. This piece of me… it's you… the 'White Zoanthrope'. You can fix this…"

Xion chuckled loudly, wheezing as it hurt his wound, but the smile never faded. "You don't seem to understand. You want to blame me for being in that body." He looked into her ever confused face, bringing more laughter from his lips. It was strange, how innocent and foolish she was, chasing after him carrying that power, wanting salvation from being a Zoanthrope. How she'd got such silly ideas into her head, he'd never know. But he could feel there was more to this, that Gaia had fumbled the ball badly this time around.

Nagi stared unbelieving at him as he just continued to laugh. How could he find humour in this situation when he was only a few feet away from her deadly blade?

"Wh-what's so funny?" She asked, a little perturbed.

Xion's eyes glistened with tears of laughter. His shook his head, looking to the sky, addressing the air rather than Nagi. "Oh Gaia, you've made a big mistake."

Nagi wanted to shut him up, her patience running thin. What the heck was he blithering on about? She could easily flick her wrist and slit his throat, but she was curious. Something felt wrong about this situation?

"I can feel it. Yes, it's there, only a little, but it's inside you… the Unborn!"

Her face fell into a state of shock, blade dropping away from him. "Wh-WHAT!" She stepped back, horror tightening her chest. She knew her power had been syphoned by Gaia from the Unborn in a way, but she wasn't supposed to really be one. How could this happen? How could the Unborn itself be infesting her? Gaia had buried some knowledge into her very core when she had gifted her these powers, and she began to realise the terrifying truth of the situation. That such a powerful, controlling creature could easily slip by her defences.

Xion tilted his head, watching her fearful face with some glimmer of satisfaction. "How stupid of Gaia, skipping over the finer details. But it seems you've copied a bit of the true me as well…"

"It can't be…" She murmured, frozen on the spot. This couldn't be happening, not when she was so close to the end of her journey…

… She jumped when she realised Xion had closed the distance between them, taking her shoulders, a dark look in his eyes.

A hand came to play tentatively with her red locks, winding them around his slender fingers. "It's… too bad you're going to end as just an impostor…" He drew his face very close to hers, lips drawing past her cheek, close to her ear, his voice but a bare whisper as he spoke. "As the real thing, I'll do what I want with this power as I please!"

Her heart almost stopped. His hand was slipping around her face, tightening, his lips almost touching hers. The smile that formed on his face was almost terrifying. She struggled. "No… ST-STOP!"

In a loud scream, she lashed out, determined to get him away from her, her vision clouding red. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Nagi didn't see what she'd done, her mind sinking into a dark place, choking as the world evaporated from red to black. Her body had frozen in its position, pressed against Xion, one hand gripped to his shoulder, while the other had driven the large deadly blade right through his chest.