Chapter Seven Single, Black Wing

Sephiroth kept crouched, his legs coiled like springs and his mind set for battle. His sword's blade was pushed out slightly from his thumb and his free hand was ready to take hold of the handle in an instant.

"Make haste, Aya. I'm not sure if even I can take this blasted beast alone."

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Aya arrived at Central Park rather loudly. She was driving at high speed and breaking every driving law conceived. If it had not been for her sirens blaring, Aya would have been pulled over several streets down.

Aya ran a red and kept racing down the streets and full-speed and then saw the familiar trees of Central Park. Aya hit the brakes, sliding on the road and just outside of the gates. Aya grabbed her Gunblade and then ran into the park. However, an officer noticed that she was carrying a weapon.

"Hey, wait you-!"

However, Aya was well out of earshot within a few seconds and looking for any sign of Sephiroth.

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Speaking of which, the man in question was still in his same posture and had his eyes on Eve. In fact, it was very likely that he had not moved at all in the last few minutes. He was growing impatient, which was quite a surprise to his stock.

"I might as well start this."

However, Sephiroth noticed Aya out of the corner of his eye and readjusted himself.

"Fashionably late, I presume?"

Aya ran at full speed, seeing her sister.

"Eve!" she yelled.

Aya's younger sister looked down the street, seeing Aya run full-bore.

"Sis?" Eve wondered.

"Run! There's something under you!"

"What are you talking about?"

On cue, a series of tentacles burst from the ground and began flailing about. Eve screamed at the top of her lungs, but was quickly quieted as a lightning-fast blade sliced through the appendages.

"This goes without saying," said Sephiroth "but retreat to somewhere safe until further notice."

Sephiroth cleared Eve's path with a spell.

"Now!"

Eve ran as fast as she could and past her sister. Aya's eyes were affixed into a glare at the creature below the ground, full of rage.

Sephiroth was fending off the limbs reaching for him, cutting them and spilling their blood on the ground. He dodged one, flipping and immediately had to dodge another.

"I hate the large brutes." he mumbled.

A gunshot was heard and a large shell ripped through a tentacle, smashing the grass beneath it.

"Get out of there, now." Aya growled.

"If you insist, though I need to inflict a small bit of damage first."

Sephiroth stepped off of a tentacle, going airborne. When he reached the apex of his ascent, he held his sword high with one hand.

" Jingoku no Ame!"

Sephiroth swung his blade and send a black wave downward. The blow caused a wave of acidic liquid to rain down on the creature below, searing it with the solvent. A scream was heard as Sephiroth landed next to Aya.

"That was rather unnecessary." Aya commented.

"Much is in life, but we do it anyway."

Sephiroth noticed various creatures slinking around the trees.

"Well, it seems they've brought a brigade this time." he commented.

"Let 'em come."

"Which do you prefer? The large brute in front of you, or the small army behind?"

"I'll take the thing that tried to hurt Eve."

"I suppose I'll take care of the scum."

"You gotta problem with that?" Aya glared.

"No, not at all, milady."

Both adults stepped towards their battles. Sephiroth held his blade at eye-level, the point of it at a GOLEM's chest.

"Come."

The GOLEM did so, going for Sephiroth. The man stepped to the side, but the GOLEM swung its laser-blade at him. However, Sephiroth grasped the blade with his bared hands, though not being burnt. Sephiroth smirked and then gave the GOLEM's arm a firm tug, ripping the arm from the shoulder socket. The GOLEM was then stabbed in the head and sliced horizontally.

Sephiroth moved to his next target, a mutated tiger. He leapt over the beast as razor-sharp claws attempted to slice him. He cut whilst he leapt and killed the creature instantly. A set of fangs were upon Sephiroth, but he shoved his hand into the beat's mouth and burned it from the outside. Sephiroth confidently smirked.

"Tch, not a challenge."

Sephiroth narrowly dodged a GOLEM's hand, a scratch appearing on his face. Sephiroth read the movements of the GOLEM without difficulty, though the thing was still quite fast. He then felt a laser-blade cut his coat and he leapt onto a tree. He looked over his shoulder at the cut.

"Blast, this thing was expensive." he grumbled.

A laser-blade cut a limb Sephiroth stood on and he retreated again. The two GOLEMs charged at Sephiroth, but he was in an odd stance. His left leg was out, right leg inward and almost touching the ground.

"Soudai Kaihou!"

Sephiroth lunged forward, hitting the GOLEM with the laser-blade in the abdomen and then ripped upward with his sword. Without stopping, Sephiroth spun, striking the GOLEM in the waist, stomach, and chest. The GOLEM burst in a bloody geyser and stained the ground with its fluid.

The other GOLEM turned on its camouflage, appearing invisible. Sephiroth wasn't fooled. He merely played the fool and waited for something to come. That something was in the form of a strong hand gripping the back of his neck and attempting to lift him of the ground. However, the GOLEM's hand was sliced off and then it received a kick to the face from Sephiroth's powerful leg.

The GOLEM went crashing, its neck broken and face crushed. Sephiroth landed and looked elsewhere, seeing he still had many things to be rid of.

"How bothersome." he mumbled.

Sephiroth sheathed his blade and faced a wall of creatures descending on him. He remained steely, not moving an inch. A GOLEM came first, raising his arm to strike Sephiroth down. However, the GOLEM was sliced in two by Sephiroth's now unsheathed blade. Sephiroth didn't stop just there, he kept moving and his blade began to violently glow.

"Nin no doki!"

What happened next was titanic. A vortex of light began shredding along the ground towards the NMCs and they could do nothing to stop it. The cyclone reduced the creatures to nothing but atoms within moments. Sephiroth sheathed his blade and looked at Aya's battle.

"She seems to be holding up well. I wonder how much of her rage can be suppressed?"

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Not much of Aya's inner anger was being held back. She had the eyes of a berserker and the voice of a mute. She didn't yell or even speak; she merely wanted to kill this thing that had threatened someone she loved.

The creature seemed slow, its movements like a slow-motion part in a film. She slashed at tentacles, putrid blood and waste falling to the ground as she hacked and slashed at the beast. Screeches pierced the air, but Aya didn't hear them, she merely cut and fought.

A tentacle came from Aya's blind spot and struck her, sending her far in one direction. The beast went for a second strike, but Aya was up again and didn't seem to care for any wounds she had sustained. Instead, she just pointed her hand at the creature.

"Burn, you bastard."

Blood-red flames shot from Aya's fingertips and scorched with such an intense heat that branches twenty feet away were singed. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at Aya's outburst, admiring her sudden lack of reluctance to use her powers.

The beast went for another strike, but Aya merely leapt over a tentacle, making a jump of at least fifteen feet. Bringing her gunblade down on the appendage, she pinned it to the ground and then set the entire thing ablaze. The beast screeched as Aya withdrew her weapon from it and readied for another assault. Brushing her hair out of her face, Aya glared.

The creature shrieked, wondering how a mere woman could damage it so severely. A huge eye erupted from the ground, blinking at Aya. Aya just sighed, bored.

"You're one ugly bastard."

The creature seemed to glare, its eye beginning to glow. Aya raised her gunblade and charged, but then she saw a monolithic blast of light that began ripping apart the landscape.

"Shi-!"

"It seems my lady is rather careless."

A barrier was erected, splitting the beam down the middle and sending it away from Sephiroth and Aya. Aya, slightly annoyed, glared at Sephiroth.

"Stay out of my way."

"Not when you're about to be vaporized."

"Shut up and stay out of my way."

"Quite proud." Sephioth sighed.

Sephiroth lowered the barrier, allowing Aya to fight once more. And fight she did. The beast was eviscerated quite nicely, the gunblade flashing and slicing with odd-colored blood splashing onto the ground in an artful fashion.

"Just die, damn you!"

Despite the damage Aya did to the NMC, it refused to die. A tentacle, more precisely a stump of one, struck Aya in the back, sending her into a tree. Tired, she didn't move.

Sephiroth smirked, more than relieved that he could act now. Unsheathing his sword, he stepped towards the creature. The single eye looked upon him.

"Let me show you something of great power."

The creature snapped one of its tentacles at Sephiroth, though he evaded it with little difficulty. Swiping his sword, more of the appendage was sliced off.

"Shichikami no Funzen!"

What happened next could not have been humanly possible. Sephiroth moved at a level of speed that seemed too fast to see. What seemed to happen with the naked was something that couldn't be seen slashing at the beast, its limbs falling and even more blood staining the ground. When Sephiroth ended the attack, the creature was miraculously still alive.

"Well, you're a stubborn one." he smirked.

Sephiroth sheathed his sword.

"Very well, I'll show you this."

Tensing, Sephiroth readied himself.

"Sakurasen."

One strike, that's all it was, merely a simple strike and then the NMC vanished. Sheathing his blade, Sephiroth went over to Aya, who had passed out a few minutes before.

"Milady is asleep, it seems."

Sirens were heard, lights flashing into the night.

"So, your cadre is a bit late. Oh well, no matter."

Sephiroth cradled Aya, her weight being nothing in his arms. Sephiroth smirked, taking Aya into the night with an odd, black wing jutting from his back.