Ch 23 – Valkyres Blade
***Quick note on the last chapter – it broke the word-count for Tournament, making this story the longest I've ever written!! BOOYA!!***
Zell span, thrusting his hand out to slam into the wood of the tree, sending chips, shattered bark, and dust flying in all directions, before turning with unhindered speed and slashed out with his foot, the boot crashing into the stomach of a Valkyre and sending her flying into the underbrush, out of the fight.
Zell and Dee's time in the Immortal Universe was beginning to run out, and as the final day drew near Zell and Dee had upped their training, moving from wooden dummies to stone ones, moving from stone dummies to the monsters that roamed the forests that surrounded the city, before finally taking each other on in massive sparring rounds, some of which lasted hours. So now, the two fighters tested their skills against the girls they had trained beside for the past month and a half, not only to test their skill, but for another reason. To make Dee an honorary Valkyre.
Dee was over the moon with excitement. Not only was her father going to take her with him, but she was beginning to near his experience level, almost matching him move for move, their training making her a deadly combat machine. The Valkyres that had once snorted in her directions for being a freak of nature, born from copulation with a male and not Reborn like the rest, were now sniffling away and tending to their wounds as Lorelei sent in another wave, these ones carrying staves.
The Valkyres ended their training like this, with one girl having to fend off the rest of the team, first against one girl, then against two and so forth until the team was exhausted or the girl fell from the constant battle. It was a test of skill, stamina, speed and strength – and so far nobody in recent history had reached as far as Zell and Dee had. Judging by how far a girl could last against this gauntlet, the Mistress of the Valkyres judged her rank within the teams. So imagine Lorelei's surprise with a touch of horror when Dee slapped aside the entire team without batting an eye.
Zell turned and grabbed the last girl, one of the ones carrying a wooden shield crudely made out of one of the destroyed trees, before tossing her over to Dee – who jumped up in the air and executed a mid-air spin kick, her bandaged foot slamming into the girl's midriff and causing her to rocket into the group of ten girls that advanced on the father/daughter pair.
Zell smirked and winked at Dee, giving her a thumbs up. Not only were they improving alongside each other, almost to the point where Zell sometimes wondered just how much more he could progress, but they also read off each other effortlessly – coming back to back they could perform any number of moves with almost no verbal coaching, not to include any set-up attacks that they numerously performed, one of the pair launching an attacker into the air – only for the other to finish the helpless victim off with a jaw-shattering blow or a bone-crunching kick.
Right now, however, the highly-trained Valkyres had managed to separate the two, a group of five squeezing Zell away from Dee and pushing him away from her as the rest of the group fell on Dee, swarming her with the long staves they swung with deadly accuracy.
Zell back-flipped and rolled, dodging and ducking, spreading his legs wide as a staff stabbed through the gap he had made before cocking his head to the side as another staff whistled past his left ear, the elongated piece of wood drawing back and stabbing again for Zell to only drop low to the ground, going down on his belly – and reaching out, gripping a girl's leg who had gotten too close and tripping her up – before rolling to the side as four staves suddenly pieced the grass on which they fought, the SeeD spinning along the ground like a tube of Zell – to come up with the staff in his hand, spinning it expertly over his head before facing off with the attackers.
Zell was never one for weaponry – but he had been trained in armed and unarmed physical combat, and although he only ever used weapons in a pinch (and even then if he was really desperate), he had decided early on in life that he'd rather bop a guy in the head then crack him in the skull with a 2x4. However, as Lorelei had recently told him, 'Every advantage is an advantage worth using' – and Zell figured that Azel wouldn't expect the fist-fighter to whip out a pair of nunchakus or a long Bo staff when push came to shove. Thusly he had taken a few pointers from the female fighters to brush up on hid rusty martial art weaponry skills. Thankfully he had only needed a week of training to remember what Baku had taught him.
Spinning the staff again, twirling the long piece of wood over and over in his hands, creating a semi-shield in front of his body, he pushed forward, taking one girl on the chin and sending her spinning into the air before crashing the staff down on another girls' weapon, the two warriors pushing against each other for a brief instant – before Zell ducked and rolled backwards, allowing a girl who had tried to stab him in the back to take her friend in the chest, sending her back with a cracked sternum as Zell flipped up to his feet and, drawing the staff long his hands so he held it like a bat, swung it with deadly speed, the staff snapping as it cracked against the girl's neck, sending her to the ground without much more then a whimper.
Zell dumped the broken half in his hands to the ground and turned to the remaining two Valkyres, one of the girls still holding her stick whilst the one his tripped flipped up to her feet and taking her stance. Moving forward as the staff-wielder approached him, Zell caught the staff as it was swung down powerfully, the wood being caught in his bare hands as if he had just caught a base-ball – before Zell ripped the staff from the girl's grasp and, spinning it around quickly so he had a better hold on it, swung it across the girl's faces, knocking them to the ground unconscious, out of the spar for good.
Zell cricked his neck to the side, looking over at Lorelei with a smug grin. He hadn't even broken a sweat. He watched as Lorelei stuck her tongue out at him, before leaning on the staff as he turned to watch his little girl in action.
* * *
Dee wasn't in any strife.
In the middle of the group of girls, the blond warrior-woman's body seemed to move with a mind of it's own, her arms and legs tracing across to be mossed by the stabbing staffs time and time again, the Valkyres surrounding her beginning to get frustrated by the fact that she was no less then three feet away from them and surrounded completely – yet was unable to hit her.
It was only when Dee realised that Zell was finished and was watching her that she began to fight back, a huge grin on her face as she suddenly back-flipped on top of a girl, Dee's feet crushing the girl's shoulders and forcing her to the ground before Dee reached out, placing her hand on another girl's shoulder for support as she swung her body up to slash her feet against the other three girls, sending them spinning before grasping her support girl and head butting her from consciousness, dropping her limp body almost as an after thought before smiling over at Zell.
Zell shook his head with a laugh, before waggling his finger at her. "What did I tell you?"
Dee nodded with a sigh – "No showboating…right Daddy…" – before skidding to the side as a staff was speared at her, the staff flying straight through her long hair as her head bucked to the right. In retaliation Dee fell low to the ground, tripping up her attacker before jumping up and slamming her elbow into the girl's stomach viciously, causing the girl to curl up into a ball and whimper.
Dee stood up slowly, realising that her previous attack had knocked out the rest of the girl beside the one she had just neutralised, and turned to Lorelei, smiling at her as she approached. "I think we're done now, Miss Lorelei. What's next?"
Lorelei ran her fingers through her fiery red hair, a pained expression on her face as she watched the stretcher-carriers come onto the field and pick up the hurt girls. "That's was 'what's next'. You've sent all the able-bodied students to the hospital. All that's left is your final test, before you become an honorary Valkyre."
"What's that, Lore?" Zell asked, frowning as he walked up to her. "I thought she was already a Valkyre."
"No, Zell. She was only a student, in training. The last test is to come…" She said – before something beeped in her pocket. Lorelei pulled out the device and flipped it open, pressing a button before speaking into it. "Lorelei…oh, hey baby. Yes, they're with me…" She said, looking up at Dee and Zell, who exchanged glances. "…So you're all set now? Is there any rush? …I see. Well, Dee still needs to perform her final test…can she meet Zell and you in R&D in about thirty minutes? Okay…okay, I will be careful. Yes…I love you too, hon."
Lorelei snapped the device shut before returning it to her pocket, looking up at the two as she talked. "That was Aries. The Tear has been finalised. All we have to do is now load the control info into Dee's brain and you'll be all set to go."
Zell had been losing sleep waiting for those words to be uttered. "Yes!! C'mon, we haven't got anymore time to waste!!" He cried, running for the silver Streaker, the long sliver-like spaceship the SeeDs had been dropped off at the Ruins with. He turned and beckoned for Dee and Lorelei. "C'mon! Gotta make like a tree and leave!!"
Dee moved to follow – before Lorelei stopped her. "Stop!" She barked. "Dee still has one more test to finish before she becomes a Valkyre."
Zell stopped, frozen in mid-run – before spinning to face the two girls, scuffing the ground with his boot. "Aw, c'mon Lore!! She's just kicked the entire team's ass!! Can't you give it to her by default or something?"
"No." Lorelei said grittily, reaching up and pulling off her coat, tossing it away to reveal the spring-like muscles beneath the cloth. "She has to defeat me first."
* * *
Zell frowned. "Uh, come again?"
"Dee has progressed far enough for her to become an honorary Valkyre, that's true. But she's advanced so far that she now has the right to challenge me for the Mistress title, to lead the Valkyres in their battles. And, in accordance to the Immortal's tradition, I must challenge Dee to single combat until one of us is deemed the winner."
Dee looked at Lorelei with wide eyes. "Mistress…I cant fight you! You're too good…I'd never be able to beat you!"
Lorelei scoffed at Dee's words, beginning to move through her stretches. "Don't flatter me, Dee. You had enough power to defeat me when you came out of the Rebirth chamber – your unconscious skill was just dormant, that's all. And whilst I'm all for peace and love – there's nothing I like more then a good challenge."
Lorelei smirked at Zell. "I would have challenged you too – but if word got out that I was beaten by a man, I'd never live it down."
Zell frowned…before chuckling. "'Beaten by a man'…'beaten by a girl'…I get it…"
Lorelei finally finished off her stretches before facing off against Dee, speaking over her shoulder at Zell. "You can make your way back to the city. Aries will be wait for you in the R&D room. It's the same place that we revived your friend, the frozen one. Now go – we need to be alone."
Zell nodded, realising that the rest of the wounded had been taken off the field and the stretcher-bearers had gone back onto the ship. "Okies…Good luck, Dee. Remember to keep yer guard up." He said with a smile, before flashing with red fire – and disappearing into the woods, the Haste cutting his trip back to the city in half.
"I will Daddy!!" Dee cried, waving after him as he disappeared into the darkness…before she turned back to Lorelei, her game face on.
* * *
Lorelei watched as Dee sighed her breath out of her mouth slowly, through her teeth like Zell did whenever he was annoyed. "I really don't wanna do this…" Dee said quietly.
"I'm not giving you a choice, Dee." Lorelei said gruffly. "you either defeat me, or you don't become a Valkyre."
Dee bit her bottom lip. All of her short life she had strained to become an honorary Valkyre. It had been all she was good at – fighting and war strategy. The concepts of art regarding paintings or music were foreign to her. The endless dance of battle was what she was good at, was what she revelled in, the fluidity of her technique, the song of sweaty flesh hitting sweaty flesh, the rush of her blood pumping through her body…
…She wouldn't have be surprised if she had found it orgasmic, had she any concept of sex.
Dee finally sighed out one last sigh and took her stance, an aggressive stance with her legs spread far apart and her arms curled before her, her fists balled. "Fine. But don't be surprised if I beat you."
"Funny…that's what I told my Mistress." Lorelei muttered – before jumping from her spot, launching herself high into the air in a perfect leap-kick.
* * *
Dee ducked the kick easily, bending her body backwards as the foot flew over her head with speed, followed by the calves, thigh, abdomen – and then Dee made her move.
Following through with the bend-back, pushing her body backwards and thrusting her hands out to support herself, Dee let her legs spring up from where they had ben situated, her feet gliding up through the air to crack into Lorelei's back, sending the Valkyre skittling across the grassy ground, her missed attack suddenly interrupted by the surprise attack.
Dee allowed her body to flip back to her feet before going on the offensive, turning and running for the recovering Lorelei – and smashing into her with a crash-tackle, pummelling the older-woman's body into the ground and causing the two of them to skid through the grass, green blades and rich brown dirt erupting everywhere as Dee literally pushed Lorelei's body through the ground with her forward motion.
As inertia began to take Dee's body back into control she flipped up and off her tutor, flying gracefully through the air to land on the balls of her feet, hands up and feet spread in her stance, ready for anything.
The dirt and grass had built up where Lorelei had finally stopped, her hand reaching up to the edge of the little trench Dee had made using Lore's body, and pulled herself up out of it, her white uniform now stained a brownish black with wet soil, her fiery red hair matted in it. Dee half expected, judging by the way she was moving slowly, that Miss Lorelei was about to explode in anger – but all she did was face her student and smile, shaking her head suddenly to rid her hair of the dirt. "Excellent counter – and an impressive attack. You truly have advanced well since Zell began training you. But now the gloves come off."
Dee blinked. She hadn't ever heard the expression before. "Why? Do they hurt your hands?"
Lorelei shook her head and sighed. "You still have much, much more to learn, Dee…" She said with a small smile – before stepping out of the trench and advancing.
Thrusting out with her hand flat like a knife, Lorelei watched as Dee ducked it easily and went in for the counter, Dee's small fist seeming to move like lightening as it curled out from her side, aimed for Lore's stomach – before Lore suddenly slashed her hand down, the chop taking Dee by surprise and in the throat, causing her to cough and forget the counter.
Falling to her knee Dee clutched her throat – before Lorelei kicked out, her foot slamming into Dee's side and sending her tumbling away. Dee rolled to a stop almost instantly, her mind somehow pushing through the debilitating suffocation she was feeling to stop the roll before it rendered her unsure of her surroundings – and rolled backwards as Lorelei's knee embedded itself into the grass, mere seconds away from penetrating Dee's smooth stomach.
Dee rolled to the side onto her belly – and, lifting her body up off the ground with her hands, slashed her foot out, catching the recuperating Lorelei by the back of the knee and tripping her up perfectly, the Head Valkyre landing on her back with a grunt – before screaming out as Dee wrapped her arm around her head and jammed her arm behind her back in the perfect grapple lock.
With her arm around Lorelei's neck Dee had the power to suffocate her, and interlocking her arm behind her back caused excruciating pain to shoot up the limb and render the rest of her body useless – almost. Lorelei could feel Dee's sharp breaths against her ear, and judging by the strength of the grip on her arm and the shortness of breath Dee had, she hadn't fully recovered from the stab to the throat. Exhibiting willpower rarely shown anywhere Lorelei managed to bring her body forward, inch by excruciating inch, lowering here body down further and further, almost to the point of lifting Dee off the ground – before snapping her head back, the back of her skull cracking into Dee's face, the girl squealing in pain as she let go of Lore and stepped backwards, clutching her face in pain.
Lorelei shook her arm a few times to get the blood flowing again, before stepping forward and launching a devastating spin kick, the heel of her foot crashing into Dee's hidden face and sending her to the ground. Crouching down next to the girl, Lorelei reached down, grabbed a tuft of blond hair and, pulling Dee's head up, smashed her fist into the girl's face, making sure that she was staying down.
Dee managed to take two unprotected hits to the face before coming to what little senses she had left, slapping the hand holding her hair away before gripping both sides of Lorelei's face and head butting her powerfully, both women crying out in pain – Lorelei because it felt like her nose just broke, and Dee because she didn't do it quite right and her face had already been burning with pain from the beating she had received before.
Lorelei toppled back like a felled tree, falling to the ground onto her back, her hands on her beautiful face as blood began to run from her nose – before widening her eyes with shock as Dee jumped up and landed on her brutally, her elbow jammed directly into Lore's stomach. The Valkyre leader lost all of the air in her lungs then as Dee ground the elbow into her gut – before doing it again, and again, just to make sure she got the point.
Rolling up and onto her feet, Dee allowed Lorelei to regain what little breath she had left and stand slowly, wobbling slightly but still able to fight. Dee's face felt like it was about to explode, and she could feel the trickles of blood coming from her nose and from her split lip running down her face. Pain was nothing new to her – the Valkyres were always trained to have high pain-thresholds, and besides – Daddy had more then once given her more then enough pain when sparring. She remembered being sent flying one time when he showed her the Meteor Barret. She had stepped into way without warning to see just how powerful it had to be. She hadn't remembered just how she had gotten there, but she had woken up in the city – a good five miles away from the training field.
Lorelei was in mortal agony, unable to comprehend just how this Newborn had so much energy and strength within her. Must've been something in Zell's genes…he must've been born one hell of a fighter… Lorelei thought, wincing as she probed her stomach. Dee's vicious attack had rendered her immobile for a few seconds as the latent agony melted away. It was taking all her strength to remain standing and keep a grim face on.
Dee suddenly took her stance and approached Lorelei, one second seeming to be regarding Lore with something like innocent curiosity – the next suddenly ramming her fist into her tender stomach, lifting Lore's body up and off the ground slightly with the sheer power of the attack, before slamming the next fist into her stomach, this one also lifting her off the ground slightly.
Lorelei had to do something, and lifting her arms wide, slapped them against Dee's ears, the attack making Dee's eardrums vibrate wildly and cause Dee's brain to feel like white-hot needles were stabbing in and out of her synapses. Screaming out, Dee dropped to her knees once more, holding her hands over her bleeding ears – before Lore lifted her chin with one hands and sucker punched her directly in the face, sending her tumbling backwards to lay still on the ground.
Lorelei then fell backwards on the ground, landing on her bottom and holding her stomach, her breaths coming out in short gasps as she tried to regain some strength. Her eyes were wide and she grit her teeth as she watched the supine form of Dee move suddenly, rolling over onto her belly before pushing herself to her feet, not easily – but she was obviously not displaying the bone-weariness that Lorelei was feeling.
Dee turned to see her Mistress sitting on the ground clutching her stomach, the look of agony suddenly retreating to be replaced by the mask of stone as Lore realised that Dee was watching her. "Are…you okay, Mistress?" Dee asked, concerned, wiping the blood from her ears and nose as she stepped forward with worry…
…To be batted away by Lorelei as she spoke through gritted teeth. "Why? Are you ready to give up?" She asked with a pained smile, pushing herself to her feet and taking her stance with a wince.
"No." Dee said simply, putting a hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side, no fear or worry in her body language at all. "But I think you need medical assistance."
Lorelei grimaced and spat, seeing that the saliva that flew from her mouth was stained red – before looking up at Dee. "After our match. Now, attack!!"
Dee shrugged – before suddenly appearing before Lorelei, going from an easy standing position five feet away to suddenly appear within Lorelei's arms, her hand held out – to flick Lorelei in the head with her forefinger almost causally.
There was no power in the attack – it's not like it would have destroyed rocks and sheer wood – but it was enough to topple Lore once more, the woman blinking as her body suddenly creaked backwards without resistance – to land on the floor with a thump, the limbs and torso meeting with the brain and protesting to this outrageous physical abuse.
The brain half-heartedly realised that there was no stopping Dee, and Lorelei immediately relaxed her stiff muscles, allowing her body to go limp as she spoke up. "You…you never were using your full potential, were you?" She asked slowly, blinking up into the clear blue sky with tears in her eyes.
Dee suddenly appeared in her vision, a happy smile on her face, the trail of blood oozing out of her nose suddenly turning crooked by the lop-sided grin. "Nope!"
Lorelei snorted. "Figures…well, that's it. You've beaten me, Dee. You're officially the leader of the Valkyres. Now, help me into the ship. I can't move my legs." Lorelei paused, frowning slightly. "…Or arms."
* * *
Zell had showered, dressed and was currently scratching his head in confusement at the contraption he beheld before him when Dee entered the Immortal's R&D centre excitedly. She looked around hurriedly, her hands trembling slightly as she looked around for Zell…there he was. He was looking at something in his hands…
The thing suddenly went off, a sticky substance spraying from the end of the device and splattering all over two Immortal researchers as they passed Zell. The force of the blast knocked Zell's hand back a little, and made the two ladies stick to the wall as if someone had blasted them with a glue gun.
Zell blinked in surprise, before placing the device down gently and backed away from it…and turned to smile as he saw Dee. "Hey there hon!! You gotta see some of the things in here, they're so cool! I'll never be able to work out how to work them, not in a million ye…"
Zell's words were suddenly cut off as Dee ran up and crash-tackled him to the floor in a big hug, squealing with glee as she did. "I passed, Daddy, I passed and now I get to lead the Valkyres!! Isn't that great?"
Zell was smiling with happiness on the outside as he gently released her grip on him and stood up slowly. "That's cool, hon." So that's what it's like whenever Rinoa does that to Squall…freaky. "So, what happened to Lore? Is she alright?"
Dee wiped a bit of blood off her chin and waved him away. "Nah, she'll be alright, she's tougher then she looks."
Zell's grin was wide as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a hanky, holding it to Dee's lip gently. "Obviously…" He said lightly, regarding the bruising that Dee's face was beginning to show.
Dee took the hanky from his hands and held it to her lip, watching as the red stain on it began to grow slowly. "Oh…this…well, I didn't go all out until later…"
Zell laughed out loud and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay, hon. It's good to let yerself get beat up a bit. It helps to gauge how strong your opponant is, and helps remind you what you're fighting against. But you gotta learn how long to take it before you have to throw down and fight back." He lifted her chin with his finger, looking her face over before nodding, as if checking a piece of fruit. "…you let her go a bit far, hmmm? The ear-pop might've deafened you had you not turned your head slightly to deflect the attack a little. That's what you did, right?"
Dee nodded with a tired sigh. "Yes Daddy. Just like you taught me."
"Good girl. Now come on – Aries is gonna show you something cool."
* * *
Aries had watched the entire show with a not so happy look on her face. She sighed audibly and tossed her long blond hair back a little when the smiling father and daughter approached her, her voice pained. "Need I remind you, Zell, that this is a research facility, and therefore also a scientific lab. If you're going to do gymnastics, please keep them outside."
The Dinchts looked at each other meekly, Zell a little more then Dee as he pointed over at the pile of chemicals eating away at the floor with a flurry of Immortals running around it in bio-chem suits, trying to control the acidic combination. Dee frowned. She hadn't done that when she had hugged Daddy…
Aries began to walk through the facility again. The entire place was like something out of a spy movie to Zell – as they walked through all kinds of noises sounded, pops, fizzes, sparks, and several levels of explosions. Immortal women walked everywhere, their stark white robes trailing after themselves as they moved from task to task, some wearing yellow glasses, some wearing rubber gloves, some running for the door in bio-chem suits holding small vats of acidic chemicals which looked like it had been scraped off the floor.
All kinds of different devices and contraptions sat around, just begging to be fiddled and played with, at least in Zell's eyes. This was the Weapon R&D facility too – so all these things were extra fun to play with…although Zell could tell why they had never allow him entrance in here until now. I think they began to regret it when I chewed that bubble gum…I wonder if that dummy has come down yet?
All around them as Aries picked her way to the Universal Tear part of the floor they were on were feasts for the eyes for the SeeD. Aries finally took them to a table just near the end of the room where numerous Immortals stood around the table, some of them writing in little clip-boards, some tinkering with metallic contraptions. A small group of them stood in the corner of the table, surrounding something like a football scrum diving for the ball.
Aries approached them and cleared her throat softly. If Zell couldn't tell better the girls literally jumped out of the way, one or two bowing/curtsying as they scurried off…to let Aries smile and hold her hand down at the small device lying on the table innocently. "Dee, allow me to introduce you to the Universal Blade."
Aries picked the device up and handed it to the girl, who turned it over in her hand slowly, as if it was made of gold. The thing didn't look anything special – wires and diodes sprang out all over it. It was square, about two inches wide by seven inches long, and had what looked like a small knife-blade dug into the side. Pressing a small button within all the wires made the knife flick out like a switchblade, and Dee looked down at it was a curious smile.
The edge of the blade looked sharp – infinitely sharp. As a matter of fact, Dee couldn't see the edge at all – as the blade's edge tapered off the edge seemed to fuzz, like something out of focus. Dee brought the knife closer to her eye to try and see the edge – before Aries reached out in a hurry to pull her hand down. "You wouldn't want to do that, hon."
"Yeah…" Zell muttered with a sigh, lifting his hand to show the Cure scar that laced across it, before pointing at the table-top and at the slice drawn deep through the metallic surface. "It can cut through just about anything like a LionHeart through wood…"
Dee blinked, before looking down at the blade with wonder, her mouth wide open. "So this is what Trinity has been talking about…" she gasped – before slapping her hand over her mouth.
Aries sighed, rolling her eyes as she closed the blade back into the wire-covered handle carefully and put it back on the table. "Doesn't anyone here know how to keep a secret?" She said with a shake of her head.
Zell was laughing under his breath as Dee looked at him with wide eyes, her hand still over her mouth. He waved his hand at the device on the table. "Go on, Aries. Give her the spiel."
Aries rolled her eyes again with a smile before looking at Dee before looking down at the device. "The Universal Blade has been in production for many years, even before the SeeD's arrival. It was originally within our Reborn facility, designed to find a way to a universe with a male presence to repopulate our planet, but after the Hearts'…rude arrival, it was moved to the Weapons facility. It would be a major tactical advantage within the strategy of any wars we have to fight."
"The Blade, though complex in design, was based on a simple premise. An Immortal with the right combination of nanomachines-enhanced cells within her body can activate the blade and 'cut' a hole within the universal fabric that separates all universes. The blade, as you can see, doesn't have an edge – the edge, in actuality, as a high frequency combination of loose nanomachines and the atoms of a metal that Zell is quite aware of." Aries picked up what looked like a metallic glove – the Orihalcon covering of Zell's Uber-Ehrgiez Gauntlet. The Orihalcon had been the only thing to survive the super-powerful Flare that Azel had blasted Zell's body with – the metal looked a little scorched, but still attained most of it's usual shine.
Zell was peering intently at what looked like a pillow that was lying on the nearest table. His finger was almost touching it when he looked up at his name. "Oh yeah…Orihalcon. That shit is gold, huh?"
Dee remembered the 'metal' that Zell and his team had been wearing when they had come into their universe. Zell had told her all about it – he said it freaked him out a little, that the one called Quistis never knew wether it was alive or not. "What is this stuff?" She asked Aries with a confused frown. "If it can do all of what Daddy says it can do, then how can it do this?"
Aries blinked as a sudden explosion erupted next to them, the smoke clearing to show Zell, finger extended to where he had poked the pillow, his arm and face scorched almost black by the sudden flare. Aries shook her head, almost in disappointment, before looking at Dee as Zell wiped the black stuff off his face, surprised slightly but unhurt. "To tell the truth, the samples we took from Zell's gauntlets haven't given us any clues. It's emitting some kind of radiation we've never seen before, and our scientists has no idea how it's able to meld to any substance it can and still be supple enough to allow total movement. We were able to cut it on an atomic level eventually – it took almost every scientific genius we had to figure out how to. But eventually we were able to cut a small piece off and tune it into the frequency of the nanomachines that run along the edge of the blade. Somehow it's able to do what we couldn't – which was tear through the Universal Fabric."
Dee nodded, watching Zell walk away with his hands in his pockets, whistling nonchalantly. He had obviously heard it all before. She smiled and looked down at the Blade. "So, how does it work?"
Aries smiled, walking over to the other side of the table and grabbing a laptop from one of the scientists before coming back. "This laptop has all the information that Julius Garner was able to accumulate during the SeeD's travels through the universes they visited. It holds everything we would ever need about the Arches and the activation 'magic's' that Rinoa was using to make the Tear to the universe they were going to. Now, we've able to run a synthetic copy of the radiation from the magic's through the Orihalcon using the nanomachines and have been able to make Tears into the universes that Zell has visited."
Zell didn't stray far. Now he was watching two Immortals innocently, his hands stuffed into his pockets as the ladies – eyeing the SeeD curiously – proceeded to close a small handbag and place it on the ground, before backing away slowly. Zell watched them hide behind a large shield before walking forward, crouching down next to the handbag. It didn't look dangerous…
Dee looked down at the laptop with wide eyes. "Are you telling me that we can go and visit Zell's home-universe?! Wow, how exciting!!"
Zell smiled as he looked up at Dee from his examination of the handbag. "That's right, babe. You'll get to meet all of daddy's friends!"
"It's the first priority of the mission to go back to Zell's world and get in contact with his SeeD friends before continuing on to fight the Hearts." Aries said gravely. "It would be best all around, anyways – the SeeDs would need all the help they can get if what Zell told us, and what we saw of him and Azel's fight, were true."
The handbag Zell was examining suddenly opened – and a large white balloon suddenly exploded out, knocking into the SeeD and sending him flying out into the wall – or what he thought was a wall. Flying through the air into another invention the Immortals made, Zell rammed into an invisible web just before hitting the wall, the web making him bounce into it, before bouncing back – but not out. Stuck fast and upside down, Zell sighed audibly as his body wobbled, like a ball thrown into a sticky net. "Fine. I'm not going to touch anything else, as long as someone gets me down."
Dee shook her head with a giggle and looked down at the device, picking it up again. "What it can do sounds cool…but it looks a little…well, naked?" She asked, running her finger over the wires and diodes sticking out of the contraption.
Aries snatched the thing off of Dee's hands and placed it down on the table again. "You'll have to forgive me if it looks a bit ruggish…the outside shielding hasn't been put on yet." She looked down at the thing and sighed again, shaking her head. "It does look a little disappointing, doesn't it…but at least it'll do the job."
A group of Immortals finally lowered Zell to the ground, where he allowed himself to be released before walking back to the ladies, brushing down his coat. "Well girls, waddya say? You reckon we give this puppy a test-spin?"
Both Immortals looked at him dumbly.
Zell rolled his eyes and sighed. "Test it out?"
Aries blinked. "Oh! Of course. Lets…'test this puppy out' then…"
The High Mistress frowned and shook her head as she walked over to the table again and picked up what looked like a great big syringe-gun, the vial within it filled up with a silver liquid. She turned and smiled at Dee. "Well…this may look bad, but I'll assure you it's a painless procedure…relatively."
Dee paled and ducked behind Zell. "Um…does it have to be in a needle? Cant I drink it or eat it or something like that?" She asked, her voice quivering slightly.
Zell laughed, turning and grabbing Dee by the shoulders before picking her up bodily and placed her down in front of him, directly into Aries' sights. "Aw, c'mon Dee – it's only a little prick, and then it's over."
"Easy for you to say, Daddy. You're not about to get stabbed in the neck with an inch of cold stainless steel."
Zell frowned. "In the neck? Ow…that's gonna sting. Ah well, better you then me."
Dee turned then, her eyes wide with shock as she looked up at her father. "Why you heartless…" Was all she got out before Aries pounced, the syringe in her neck, injecting the contents, and whipped out before Dee knew what was happening.
"There, all done." Aries said.
Dee blinked, placing her hand on the site of the injection and bringing it back to look at it. The procedure had been so quick there wasn't even any blood.
Zell laughed, patting his little girl on the shoulder with a big grin on the face. "Ah, the old 'distraction' routine. Usually gets me every time too, hon. Don't feel too bad."
Dee blinked, before turning to Aries. "Now what?"
Aries sighed. "We wait for the nanomachines to hand-shake with your biological makeup, settle in, and re-arrange you synapses to compensate for the information you're about to receive. Just like your Information and History injections, really."
Dee nodded, waiting for the information to come to her. The nanomachines were already worming their ways through her system, flooding her brain, each one tasked with the sole purpose of giving her the information she needed before destroying itself by turning into protein and allowing the body to break it down. Thanks to Dee's genetically increased metabolism and martial arts training, the procedure was done in less then a minute, the blond girl blinking her blue eyes – before looking up. "Okay…I think I'm ready now." She said slowly, the new information blossoming in her mind as if it had been there for all her short life.
Aries handed the girl the Blade now, confident that she had the skill to handle it.
Dee opened the Blade with the flick of a wrist, the Blade jutting out of the handle like every normal switchblade handle, the edge out-of-focus as usual. Raising her hand to dig into the wires and electrodes poking out of the device, Dee found the activation switch and flicked it on.
Almost immediately the blade began to hum, the entire knife beginning to shake and vibrate with energy as the Trilithium batteries hidden deep within the handle (guaranteed to outlast your Immortal life or your money back!!) made the nanomachines leap and bound with the atoms of the Orihalcon. Almost as soon as the humming began the blade began to vibrate even wilder, before the whole thing became out of focus – except for the tip. Now activated and aggravated by the nanomachines, the Orihalcon began to shine – like a bright line of light along an out-of-focus knife-blade.
Holding the knife up high, Dee took a deep breath – before slashing it down, the knife making a quick swish noise like most knives did when swung through the air at such speed – and looked up in utter amazement.
The air that she had cut was suddenly split open, like a piece of loose cloth that had a long tear through it. Beyond the Universal Tear were trees, grass, and the smell of burgers wafting through the breeze. The sounds of birds chirping and children laughing in the distance wafted through as well. It was a stark contrast to the bleak and futuristic background of the Immortal Weaponry R&D facility.
Zell blinked, his shock over-come as he closed his eyes and sniffed, the smell coming through the Tear setting off several alarms in his mind – primarily the ones regarding his stomach. "T-Burgers…Balamb Red-Woods…home!!" Something snapped in his mind and Zell ran forward, nudging Dee aside to jump through the tear and into his home world.
* * *
Zell hadn't jumped through, to be exact – he had leapt, like a man leaping for a life-line of a rope tied to a speeding Garden Car as the bomb behind him was seconds from detonation. He came up in a roll – to look about himself, the long grassy fields of the Alcauld Plains surrounded him. To his left was the Alcauld Forest, home of some fantastic wildlife and monsters – to his right was the gigantic crater made by the missiles as they had narrowly missed Balamb Garden during it's miraculous escape all those years ago. And also, in the far distance, Zell could see the smoke rising from the chimneys of Balamb, his home.
Zell had to bit back the tears as he sank to his knees, sensing other people coming through the Tear as he placed his bare hands onto the grass and felt it's rich texture, his skin growing goose-pimples as a soft breeze blew in from the north Albatross Archipelago.
Aries' words were full of wonder as she looked about herself, her hands raise to her mouth as she spoke, tears coming out of her eyes almost as fast as Zell's. "This is your home world…your words did it no justice, Zell, no justice at all…"
Dee walked forward in awe too, flanked by three Immortals as they passed through too, and looked up at the gigantic mountain before her. "My gods…" she whispered, looking over at the forest too, the trees infinitely smaller then the ones in the Immortal World, framed by the clear blue sky and the warm sun glowing down happily on them. "It's so beautiful..."
Zell looked up at the people cooking on the beach, not half a kilometre away. He could see who they were – the guy who ran the Weapon store, the owner of the Balamb Hotel ('where the sea breeze will blow you away'), the old lady who lived next door – and Ma.
Zell blinked, standing slowly, only barely able to hold himself back as his SeeD-trained eyesight drank in her every detail. She was moving slowly, her skin a pale pallor like nothing Zell had ever seen. She sat by herself as everybody else laughed and was merry, looking out at the ocean from her seat on a blanket, only looking up every now and then to say something quietly before resuming her ocean-gazing.
She…she must think I'm dead, huh? I mean…it's been a month. I had no way to get back, even if I survived, which seemed impossible to Squall and the others, obviously. They had been hit hard too, according to the video-feed I had seen – but they were prepared for the eventuality, they were soldiers – not like Ma. Ma has always expected me home, even with the Sorceress Quest.
The shock must've been unbearable for her, Zell realised. She must still be grieving his death – his true death.
He remembered all the off-hand remarks that he had said about his 'deaths' over the pass, laughing it of with her and Angel as they had sipped soda and regaled the 'good old days' – when the enemy was Ultimecia and Squall had led them to victory against. Zell made a solum vow, there and then, to never joke about Life magic ever again.
He made to move forward, to walk up to her and hug her with all his strength – before a hand placed itself gently on his shoulder, making him look up – at Aries. "Zell…we have to go. There's not much time left." She said, beckoning to the Tear. Slowly it was beginning to close itself, the rip in the space/time continuum beginning to repair itself slowly. "If we are trapped here, we will not be able to get back. "Aries explained. "Julius wasn't able to get the address to our world, remember?"
Zell bit his bottom lip, his tears spilling to his cheeks as he looked back at her. "She looks so sad, Aries…so damned sad…"
"You'll be seeing her real soon – I promise."
Zell nodded – before turning and walking up to the Tear, allowing the ladies to go through first before he stepped in, his body half in and half out – and turned to speak softly into the wind.
"I'll be back soon, Ma. You just wait 'n see."
…before he stepped straight through the Tear, back into the Immortal world, the sterile interior of the facility nothing compared to the world behind them being shut out.
* * *
Staring into the ocean dully, her mind wandering, Ma Dincht blinked as she thought she heard something, turning to look out over the empty plains to the gigantic mountain, as the wind seemed to pick up the words and toss them in her direction.
"…be back…wait n see…"
Ma had no idea how. She had no idea why. But she simply knew.
For the first time in almost a month, Ma Dincht smiled, before looking back out at the ocean, her grin growing as the words reverberated in her mind. "I'll be ready, cup-cake…you just wait n see."
* * *
Wow!! There you go!!
Um…if anybody has any queries or concerns regarding the idea of using an Orihalcon-charged blade to cut hole through Universes and jumping through them…kiss my ass. You try to figure out a way for Zell and Dee to carrying around with them Universal-Transportation devices without looking conspicuous.
Also, did you like the whole 'James Bond' bit? I got to admit, Q had to be the best addition to the Bond lineage I have ever seen…especially GoldenEye. I loved the bit where the dude walks into the telephone booth, only to be pressed against the wall by an inflatable balloon within the booth. Gold.
Oh, and BTW – this chapter will send Twist In Time clear out of Tournament's range in word-numbers. This is the biggest story I have ever written!! BOOYAAAAA!!! I just needed to tell you that again!!
