Sage and Lissandra were crouched behind a pillar, avoiding the heavy-caliber machine gun fire that Jacen's death machine was pouring at them. The bipedal mecha had two massive arms, each with a plasma blaster located in the "palm" and three sharp metal "fingers." It had four gatling cannons in it's chest, a large cannon on each shoulder and what looked like a ray projector in it's "head."
Thick armor plating surrounded the cockpit area, and a series of jets and hover projectors on the legs and feet allowed it to move around at a frightening pace for something so large. The armor over the cockpit also protected the occupant from psychic probes and attacks, as Sage soon found out. When he popped out from cover to send a shot from his Red Handgun at the machine, the minimal effect it had showed that the armor was quite resilient to conventional attack as well.
"Well...that didn't work." Lissandra stated, as the machine began to move towards them rapidly.
"Yeah, I noticed..." Sage replied, as the two of them moved to another pillar for cover.
On the other side of the room, they could see Lorna sending shards of ice at the mech's legs. It had no effect, and the barrier of ice she hastily formed to block it's counterattack barely gave her time to get behind cover. Yokote cast a quick Foie tech, doing minimal damage before hiding behind the other pillar with Lorna.
Looking behind the mech from his vantage point, Sage saw that Brom had flanked the mecha and was leaping at it with his daggers outstretched. He seemed to be attacking the bot from behind, where it's defenses looked minimal.
When the upper body of Jacen's machine swiveled around and caught Brom midleap with one of it's claws, everyone was surprised.
Wow...that thing is far too maneuverable. This is going to be difficult. Lissandra thought. The four of them peeked out of cover and began assaulting the machine with everything they had, but it swiftly turned to attack them, suppressing them with bursts of gunfire as it held Brom captive in it's steely grip.
Brom flailed uselessly, unable to reach a vital part of the mech's arms. Jacen tightened his grip, taunting him.
"So, you wish to fight me? Hah! Bow to my awesome power, and die at my feet!" Increasing the pressure on Brom's torso, the screech of bending metal could be heard as Brom's outer casing gave way. As the pressure increased, loud snaps could be heard as his internal support structures caved in and shattered. Jacen increased the pressure until Brom's body seemed to shrink, like a can being crushed in a trash compactor.
"Damn you! Stupid...fleshbag..." Brom railed in frustration, but his voice soon cut off as the damage to his body grew. Squeezing the motionless figure of Brom, Jacen turned to the wall. Slamming his right fist into it with a powerful blow, he released his grip on the nearly-destroyed Brom. Brom sank into the crater, sparks flew from his body, and he stopped moving. The lights in his optical sensors dimmed, and his body went into emergency-repair mode. Raising the left arm of his mech, Jacen trained his palm-mounted blasters on Brom and fired, temporarily ignoring the flurry of attacks that commenced on his back.
"Brom!" Sage shouted, as the four remaining members of the group unleashed a furious assault on the mech. After a five-second blast of plasma, Jacen's wrath was spent. When the smoke cleared, all that could be seen of Brom was a twisted hunk of blackened, battered metal.
Jacen turned back to the group, who were all too far away from any decent cover to make it back before he struck.
"Now, you die!" He began blasting with all his might at the four, who quickly scattered.
Jacen trained his two shoulder cannons on the group and fired. As they dived for cover, Sage's telekinetic barrier sprang up, shielding them from the massive explosion. Jacen opened up with the gatlings in his mech's chest, but Sage was able to block those shots too. Since the barrier extended from him outward, the four moved as a group towards one of the pillars. As Yokote, Lorna and Lissandra made it behind the last remaining pillar in the hallway, Jacen powered up the beam projector on the mech's head and fired.
The pink anti-magi beam struck Sage squarely in the chest, and seconds later a volley of gatling rounds followed, as the beam deactivated his telekinetic barrier.
Sage felt several sharp pains in his shoulder and chest, the force of the bullets pushing him back and spinning him halfway around. As the world around him faded to black he felt Yokote drag him behind cover by his good arm. With a soft "Oh" the encroaching curtain of darkness filled his vision, and he knew no more.
Jacen's gloating laughter filled the room as Lorna tried frantically to stop the flow of blood. Lissandra looked at Sage as tears began to stream down her face. Yokote simply stood, stoically gazing at Jacen with a murderous rage in his eyes.
"We have to stop it from moving around so much. If I can distract it, could you take out it's leg jets?" Lissandra said, wiping her eyes and turning to Yokote.
"I...believe so. But what do you plan to do about a distraction? And...what about Sage?"
Lorna looked up at them, her hands glowing with healing energy. Blood was slowly leaking from several gaping wounds in the right side of Sage's chest, and his right arm was fairly well torn up.
"I basically froze his body. I've slowed down his metabolism, and if I have enough time I can heal him. But it's rather hard to concentrate with that thing stomping around. I can put Sage in suspended animation and help you..." Lorna said.
"No. We'll handle this. Just please keep him in one piece." Lissandra replied. As Yokote watched her, he saw her face harden.
"My powers just came back. I'm not quite as powerful as Sage with his telekinesis, but I can use it. I'll use that as a distraction. Also...Jacen hates me the most. I can get him to focus solely on me. When I give you the signal, Yokote...try to take out at least one of his legs." As Lissandra stood, she faintly heard Lutz's voice in her mind.
"Lissandra... good luck. I'm going into dormancy so I don't drain any of Sage's energy. "
"Ok, Yokote...you ready?"
Lissandra produced a Diska of Braveman from a capsule within her robe and stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Jacen...this ends now! I'm going to make you pay for all the horrible things you have done." Lissandra said. Surprisingly, the mech's guns grew silent.
"Lissandra...you ruined my life! You have no right to preach to me." As Lissandra kept him occupied, Yokote dashed from the other side of the pillar, keeping his sabers held low.
Lissandra railed at him as she began using her powers to gather debris behind him. "You are killing people over a rejection for a date? You are insane..."
Jacen glared at her, then raised his arms to begin firing. It was at that moment that Yokote struck. He leaped at the robot's legs, slicing the knee joints with his sabers. Sparks and flame leaped from the destroyed engines. Unfortunately for Yokote, that was not enough to incapacitate the machine.
Jacen whirled about and began assaulting Yokote furiously. The Esper Guardian dodged shots, trying desperately to get back within sword range.
As Jacen prepared a blast from his shoulder cannon, a photon blade from the forgotten Lissandra lodged itself in the cannon, causing it to explode. With this distraction, Yokote was able to rush the mecha, dodging gatling fire with a speed that rivaled X's.
"Hmph. Fool. I will destroy you!" Jacen said, blasting at Yokote.
"I doubt that. Your weakness comes from within, not from without. A heart and mind that only exists to dominate others is a weak one. True strength lies in what you are able to accomplish for others, not what you can take from them. I refrained from killing you because I though you could be redeemed. I was wrong..." Yokote said, managing to slash off one of the claws as he dodged a punch from the mech. The gatling barrels spun futilely, emptied of their ammunition by Jacen's constant firing. One cannon was a smoking ruin, and the other was far too unwieldy to hit the rapidly moving Esper.
Inside the mech, Jacen began to worry. I can't hit him, and that is sending blades and rocks at me whenever she gets the chance. Why won't they just die!
Jacen aimed a punch at Yokote, but his aim was thrown off by the photonic blade of Liss's weapon impacting his arm's elbow joint. It did little damage, but the force of the strike threw off his aim. As he regained his balance, Lissandra began to telekinetically pummel him with debris. Distracted as he was, he was unable to avoid the leaping slash that took his mecha's remaining shoulder cannon and working arm off cleanly. Yokote's custom sabers were obviously more than sufficient to cleave the mech's armor. Jacen staggered back in the mech, barely able to keep control over it. A few more strikes from Yokote and several large rocks later, and Jacen completely lost control of his stolen weapon.
The mech toppled forward to one knee, and the cockpit opened. Jacen climbed out, disoriented by the severe beating he had taken. As he dropped to the ground, he was charged by Yokote and Lissandra. Lissandra's Caduceus uppercut caught him underneath the chin, knocking him to the ground. He rolled onto his stomach, and came out holding a small control device. Getting slowly to his feet, he managed to press one button on the control before Yokote kicked it out of his hand.
"What was that?" Lissandra asked, stepping forward menacingly.
Jacen simply threw his head back and began to laugh. "Hahahahaha! You may have beaten me, but your tomb will be here as well. This place is a storehouse for weapons of old, and is filled with explosives. The self-destruct has already been activated. Face eternity with me, Liss-urk!"
The "urk" was from Yokote rushing towards him and stabbing him through the chest with one of his two photon sabers. As Jacen pitched backwards, Yokote raised his other blade and cleanly decapitated him, shearing his head off with a single stroke.
"Anyone who seeks power simply to abuse it is not worthy of either power or continued life." Yokote said, turning to Lissandra. The two began to walk back towards Sage and Lorna, sheathing their weapons. Lissandra had picked up the control pad, and seemed unable to stop it. A counter on it read 45 seconds, which she relayed with a gasp.
"Yokote...we have to get out of here! Now. Let's grab them and go..." They passed under the archway with the stairs, heading towards Lorna and Sage.
Unfortunately, Jacen was as incompetent with explosive timers as he was with combat. An enormous explosion ripped through the building, leveling most of it.
When the smoke cleared, the two groups were pinned beneath load-bearing structures, separated by about thirty feet of piled rock and stone. Liss and Yokote were underneath the surprisingly durable staircase arch, and Lorna and Sage were sheltered between the pillar they had been beside and another half-destroyed one that had fallen to rest on it. The clear Dezolian night sky was visible through cracks in the shattered masonry.
Inside the VR Field, Nei rushes at Danielle, who easily dodges her kick by sidestepping and responding with a backhand to the face that knocks Neifirst flying.
"Hah! You can't beat me. Just give up now..."
Neifirst slams into the wall of the VR field, then slides down to slump against it.
In the mines, Sigma's ring of soldiers stands with their weapons at the ready, locked in a standoff with the Dreamchasers and Cranberry's group of Baranz Hunters. Sigma simply floats smugly, his arms crossed as he faintly glows with power.
Fifteen of the troops wield Kaladbolgs, ten have Dragon Slayer swords, and five are armed with small Blade Dance daggers. All are dressed in white uniforms, and have the same blank look in their eyes. With a wave of Sigma's hand, they get into battle stances.
"Fools...consider this a test. If you can defeat these soldiers, you are worthy to be killed by me."
"Worthy to be killed by you? Please...could you sound any more like a wannabe villain from a video game? Jeez...and you say you are my clone. Pathetic." X quips, drawing his Calibur.
Sigma snarls with rage, then points one hand at the group. "Kill them all!" At his signal, the first trooper rushes at Kiara, who ducks under his sword swing and quickly takes him out with her Kamuis. Cranberry jumps, startled. She quickly recovers to cast Shifta and Deband on the group as Axios weakens their enemies with Jellen and Zalure. The soldiers attack en masse, their sub-par abilities partly compensated by their numbers.
Nova dodges a strike from one soldier's Kaladbolg, backing up to fire at him with his Yas mechs. After four shots, the weapons let out a soft click instead of their usual loud bark. He curses, and is saved from being gutted by Black Raiden, who intercepts the over-brave soldier in the middle of his lunge, striking him down with her Double Cannon. Nodding slightly at him, Raiden moves to intercept the next minion, blocking his Kaladbolg hit with one blade of her crystalline double sword. She fells him with a quick kick to the temple, then quickly selects her next target.
Striker fires a blast from his Guilty Light at an onrushing dagger trooper, knocking him to the ground as the massive photon shot sears through his armor. Whirling, he turns to see the tiny figure of Cranberry beset by two soldiers as she is slowly backed into a corner. She blocks the first hit from the Blade Dance with her Windmill, delivering a quick Foie to the unfortunate soldier's chest. Ducking under the clumsy swing of the next, she retaliates with a vicious three hit combo that knocks the man to the floor, unconscious. The red, ornate blade of his Kaladbolg falls from his limp hand.
Axios is facing off against three dagger troopers, and with an awesome display of skill dispatches the three of them with an intricate pattern of deadly hits from his double saber Rokujou.
Axios dispatches the last of his attackers, then narrowly dodges a wild swing from one of troopers carrying a Dragon Slayer. The massive purple blade cleaves the air by his head, and he dodges to the side to avoid the follow-up swing. As he side-steps, two Kaladboldg soldiers rush him. He brings Rokujou up to block the strike from the first, but the second manages to get past his blade. He leers in triumph as the soldier with the Dragon Slayer heads toward Axios.
Suddenly, the white-uniformed soldier stiffens, the blade of X's Calibur cutting into his back. He falls, soundlessly as X sends a Foie at the over-eager soldier with the Dragon Slayer. Axios overwhelms the soldier that was pressing his blade against Rokujou's. He buffets him in the chest with the handle of his Twin, sending a Gizonde charge through the metal that stuns the man, dropping him to the hard metallic floor of the mines. The Dragon Slayer soldier who first attacked is taken out by a skillful double attack between X and Axios. Looking up from the fallen minion, Axios gives X a slight nod.
"You seem to be doing a bit better."
"I feel like I'm starting to regain my strength. That, or these guys are just really pathetic..." X says, grinning.
"Probably a bit of both." Axios replies, firing off a Rafoie at a group of three soldiers who were watching the main battle. The fiery wave hit against a shield, doing minimal damage. The soldiers jumped, startled by the sudden attack. Their relflexes seemed slow, but when Sigma moved his hand slightly, they snapped to attention and charged at X and Axios.
A few feet away, Nova is dodging attacks left and right, hurling energy shurikens from his Flight Cutter at the soldiers around him. One blade lodges in the chest of an onrushing soldier, making him plummet to the ground. Two more are cut down by his weapon, one dropping his saber near Nova. As Nova steps forward to retrieve the man's saber, Sigma blasts the weapon into slag. Nova jumps back, but thinks better of sending a blade at Sigma when he is jumped by four soldiers. One tackles him from behind, knocking him to his knees. As he falls forward, another raises his Dragon Slayer for a powerful downward strike. His face keeps it's eerily blank look as the blade begins to descend.
"Well, that didn't work." Nova said, rolling to the side to avoid the clumsy attack. He kicks out, sending his attacker sprawling. The three other soldiers raise their weapons, but a dark purple blur interjects itself between Nova and his assailants, cutting them down in a frenzy of Double Cannon slashes. Black Raiden turns and helps Nova up, supporting him while he Restas his twisted knee. The blade that was aimed for her head is melted by a Foie from Cranberry, who is standing behind Striker, launching techniques. The Fonewearl flashes Raiden a smile before going back to the task at hand.
Kiara is surrounded by a ring of soldiers, all of whom think to attack at once. She dodges a few strikes, but the sheer volume of the soldiers brings her down. She is set upon by ten opponents at once, each swinging their weapons wildly. She leaps upward, out of the crush, but is caught in mid-air by a Dragon Slayer hit. As she falls to the ground, her body exhausted by the escape from Zionus' troops toe the mines, she feels a strange peace come over her. Well...even if I don't make it out of this...at least it was fun.
The ring of soldiers closes in on the fallen Kiara, who manages to dodge the first few strikes with her Kamuis. One soldier slips in behind her, but as he raises his Kaladbold for a striker to the back of her head, he is hit in the face by a blade flung by Nova. He staggers, and his torso is pierced by a Guilty Light blast from Striker. Kiara casts a hasty Rabarta and gets to her feet, as the others move to support her.
With a wave of his hand, Sigma halts his troops.
"Hmmph...pathetic. I shall give you a true test. First of all...your techniques make this far too easy."
Sigma begins chanting, as a ring of energy appears around the perimeter of the room. As it closes in, Cranberry raises her Windmill. The Deband spell was renewed, but as the ring of energy closes in, her Shifta technique fizzles out. The floor is now solid white, glowing faintly with arcane symbols. The Resta that Cranberry attempted to cast on Kiara did nothing, not even draining her mental energy to cast it.
"Nul. Now...to revive my loyal servants, and continue the test..."
The soldiers who had fallen rise to their feet, glowing with a faint grey aura. Sigma snaps his fingers, and the soldiers begin to stalk towards the group, now standing in loose formation. The soldiers pick up speed, charging with no battle cry. Within heartbeats the battle is joined, the desperate Dreamchasers fighting for their lives against the renewed vigor of Zionus' troops. Sigma watches, laughing to himself.
Inside the VR field, Danielle's head suddenly snaps up. To her, it feels like an alarm just went off between her ears. She drops the limp body of Neifirst, whom she had grabbed by the throat, holding her and gloating over her victory.
Ugh...what the hell? What's wrong with me? The world around her fades to black, and inside her mind she sees the figure of Ayame walking towards her.
"Danielle...I know you felt that. It's Zionus, channeling power through X's clone. We are the only ones that can stop him..." Ayame says, a pensive look on her face.
"What's this we stuff? I'm in control right now..."
"Yes, but my younger self sensed that too. Her concern for X will soon override your control."
"Tch, that little brat...?"
"Yes. If you subvert yourself willingly, you may be able to regain control more easily. Otherwise...she will force you back."
Danielle glared at her alter-ego. "Why are you so reasonable, and the brat so annoying? I don't like you, but I hate the 'young you' even more."
"I am unable to gain control at this time. I am the balance between you two. As long as strife exists between the two of you, there is not much I can do."
"Dammit! Ah...I can feel her strengthening now. The brat's freaking out right now. You were right. I hate that..." Danielle warps back to her abode in the landscape of Ayame's mind, temporarily giving in to Ayame's request.
The older version of Ayame stares into space for a second, then disappears as well, retreating behind the hard-won barriers she had painstaklngly built. She watches as the younger version of herself regains control, and with the return to consciousness is rendered relatively powerless once more.
Ayame opens her eyes. She is laying in the medical center, of which she has become very familiar as of late. Neifirst is on the bed beside her, looking rather worse for wear.
In the mines, the furious battle rages on, as Sigma's minions attack relentlessly, forcing the hunters into a smaller and smaller area, ringed by their blades.
Nova is fighting for his life. He and his companions are surrounded, dodging the gleaming blades of nearly thirty divinely-powered troops of Zionus. A soldier lunges at him, stabbing viciously with a Kaladbolg. Nova sidesteps, kicks the man in the stomach and follows it up with a Flight Cutter blade to the back of his neck, dropping the trooper. He picks up the Kaladbolg, then hurls it into the chest of an approaching trooper.
He turns, nearly running into the massive purple blade of a Dragon Slayer. He is saved by Striker, who backhands the man with his Guilty Light, a vicious blow that knocked the hapless soldier back ten feet, the sound of crunching bone echoing through the mines. Nova nods and goes back to watching for the next attack.
Kiara dodges a furious series of attacks from some Blade Dance Daggers, blocking the converging blades with one Kamui as she uses the other to open the man's throat. She is set upon by three soldiers at once, but is saved by the arrival of Axios, who cuts down one of the men with a strike from his double-bladed photon saber. He blasts the other in the face at point blank range with a massive jolt of Gizonde, as Kiara dispatches the third with several precision strikes. Her and Axios end up back to back as the soldiers move ever closer. With their ranks beginning to thin, the remaining troops grow more bold.
Cranberry bludgeons a soldier with her Windmil as his wepon heads for X's unprotected back. X dispatches one Kaladbolg trooper that made a wild swing, veering away from the point of the red blade to flatten him with his Calibur. Cranberry attacks again, but is knocked down by the headlong rush of two soldiers. X covers her as she falls, stars filling her field of vision as she struggles to regain her footing. She lets out a small whimper as five soldiers rush them. X makes a valiant attempt, but the weakness Zionus forced on him leads to him being overwhelmed by the 5:1 odds within seconds. He is knocked to the ground as a Dragon Slayer trooper appears. The soldier raises his blade, his face an expressionless mask.
His mouth opens soundlessly a second later as his neck sprouts a crystalline purple blade. Raiden withdraws her weapon from the dying man, whirling to meet the four remaining attackers in a deadly tapestry of attacks. Seconds later, four dead bodies litter the ground as Raiden returns to her guard position. Sparks fly from a gaping wound in her shoulder, but she stoically endures the damage the dying man's lucky strike inflicted.
With a few last attacks, the battered and bruised Dreamchasers stand triumphant.
Sigma lets out a soft laugh, white light beginning to glow in an aura around him as a single pristine wing extends from his back.
"Perhaps you are worthy to die by my hands. The void awaits. Prepare to be judged!"
Ayame rises from her bed, a little unsteady but otherwise fine. She is caught by Leah as she nearly topples forward.
"Honey...don't try to move. From the readings we obtained, Danielle drains most of your energy when she appears. You need to rest." Leah begins to gently steer her back to the bed, but is shocked when Ayame throws off her arm.
"Auntie Leah! Uncle X is in big, big trouble...I have to go help him."
"Ayame, how do you know all this?" Leah looks on, surprised. Despite Ayame's matured physical appearance, she seems to have regressed in emotional maturity. Poor girl. It's probably because of all the stress she's been under.
"I just know. I can feel it all swirly and tense in my head. Zionus is going to hurt him. I have to go!" Ayame began to struggle, but was soon stopped by the appearance of Labyrinth.
"The Dreamchasers just activated their coded distress signal. It seems you were right, Ayame. We are unable to teleport them away, as a shield is interfering. The distress signal itself is very distorted. It's strange..."
"How did you know they were in trouble?" Ayame asked, a look of panic growing on her face.
"You were raving about it when we brought you here. Apparently, the alerts that were supposed to go off didn't activate when the distress signal was sent. Nova had the transmitter for it, and activated it about fifteen minutes ago. We are assembling a team to go to their aid now."
"I want to go too!" Ayame said, rising suddenly from her seat on the bed. She cast a quick Resta on herself, letting the super-powered technique restore her body's reserves.
"Ayame, if you could heal yourself...why didn't you do it before?" Leah asked, a puzzled look on her face.
"The bed was comfy..."
Ayame dressed quickly, after healing Neifirst with her level 50 Resta. Nei's body was fine, but her pride was rather wounded. She sat on the bed, staring a hole into the wall. Labyrinth called Leah, Keiko, Neifirst, JiEin and Ayame into his office moments later.
"We've found them. They are in the mines. There is a distortion field set up that prevents close scanning, but we have found the signal. There is an energy signature there that matches Zionus..."
"Zionus is there? That can't be good..." Keiko said, leaning against the wall.
"No, Zionus is still in his citadel. This is similar in power and type to him. Weaker, but not by enough to make much of a difference. We have no one that can handle this. It's nearly as strong as the first Danielle manifestation. And we don't have an army to throw at it. I'm open to suggestions." Labyrinth said, sitting back into his chair.
"Can we teleport them out?" JiEin asked.
"No. We cannot teleport in, either. The shield interferes. The closest we can get is the forest, but that area is swarming with Zionus' troops."
"We have to try. We can't just leave them there to..." Leah said, her voice nearly cracking on the last word.
"I want to help, too." Ayame piped up, beginning to bounce up and down in anticipation.
Labyrinth stood. "Very well...I suppose you are all volunteering to accompany me?"
Nodded assents from all showed that they agreed.
"We will be leaving in five minutes. Prepare yourselves." Labyrinth left the room, soon followed by the other members of his squad as each headed to retrieve their gear.
A heavy, oppressive silence hung in the air as they began to ready themselves for battle.
In the mines, Sigma flaunts his power by bending his knees and crossing his arms over his chest, dropping into the classic "power-up" stance. The aura around him glows more brightly, and small pieces of debris around him begin to levitate off the ground.
His lengthy power-up sequence was interrupted by a blast to the face from Striker's Guilty Light. The blue wave splashed against an invisible barrier inches from his face. He retaliated with a blinding ray of white light that struck the android squarely in the chest, sliding him back with the force of it's impact as it burned through his armor plating. He fell to the ground as Sigma stopped the flow of deadly energy. Sparks jumped from the hole in his torso, as his systems shut down for self-repair.
Raiden let out an electronic scream of rage and charged Sigma. He stood, staring at the onrushing Hucaseal. Lazily dodging her attacks, he caught her blade in mid-air and lifted her bodily, flinging her away. He laughed cruelly as she hit the nearby wall with tremendous force, sliding downward to lie still on the ground. The purple glow of her eyes faded as she shut down, a jagged shard of metal impaling her through the crack in her shoulder's plating.
Sigma dropped into a crouch, forming a ball of light in his left hand into a pillar of light. He brought his right hand to the pillar of light at his side, performing an elaborate motion of drawing a katana. He withdrew a gleaming blade of pure energy from the 'sheath', brandishing it about with a martial arts flourish that proved he was made from X's genes.
"Ok, that's it! Every moron thinks they can use a katana..." X said, glaring at Sigma."
He was answered by a slight movement from Sigma's left hand, beckoning him to attack. The blade from Nova's Flight Cutter was sliced in half in mid-air, as Axios and Kiara rushed him. X hesitated for a split second, thinking.
Elsewhere, Hell froze over as an armada of pigs took flight.
I don't think we can beat him like this...I need to use my conduit. That's the only thing that will have enough punch to take him out.
X suddenly heard a voice in the communicator in his ear. Nova spoke, loud and clear. "We'll keep him busy for as long as we can. Please hurry with the conduit thing. I can't promise you more than a minute."
Kiara and Axios reached Sigma at the same time, attacking in a coordinated assault. Their attacks hit an invisible barrier, doing no damage. His blade cleaved the air repeatedly as they managed to avoid being gutted. X was straining, frantically trying to summon the strength to use his conduit as he watched the Dreamchasers get cut down one by one. Cranberry, after seeing there was little she could do for the droids with her techniques blocked, withdrew a Diska of Liberator from a capsule and joined the fray.
Sigma was toying with them, effortlessly dodging their strikes, reveling in his power...
In the forest, Labyrinth's group cuts down the few guards in their way as they rush towards the stranded Dreamchasers.
Sigma dodges a concerted attack from Kiara and Axios, weaving his way around their blades with nonchalant grace. As Axios leaps at him, Sigma sends his beam katana through his shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain. He dispels the blade, then gloats over the pain-wracked Fomar. A quick Trimate from Kiara is enough to keep him from bleeding to death, but the damage was so intense that Axios was unable to move his arm. As Sigma walks towards Axios and Kiara, he is hit in the face by several energy disks from Nova and Cranberry's weapons. Sighing in disgust, he warps over to them
"That is highly annoying, little pests. It ends now." He punches at Cranberry, but the tiny Fonewearl dodges and hits him with a fully charged Diska strike to the face, charging it with her life energy. The attack does minimal damage, most of it's destructive force being dissipated by his shield. She grows woozy, and is nearly unconscious by the time he backhands her to the ground. As he turns on Nova, Kiara launches her Split-Image-Slice attack, splitting into four copies of herself to rush him.
Three energy beams and a Angelic Scream have the shadows dispelled and Kiara nearly in a coma.
He turns to Nova, laughing. The Ramar is breathing heavily, clutching a Flight Cutter in his right hand, a look of defiance in his eyes. His dark hair is being blown about slightly as Sigma's aura moves the air around him.
"If you beg for mercy, your death will be quick..." Sigma says, a look of utter contempt on his face.
"Go to hell."
"I'll be sure to send you there. Eventually..."
Sigma begins his assault as X can feel his conduit reopening. If anyone was watching, small flickers of black lightning can be seen to jump off of him, slowly building in intensity as he strains his body to it's limit.
Sigma warps over to Nova, delivering a punch to his solar plexus that doubles him over. He follows this up with a kick to the face that leaves Nova sprawling on the ground. Sigma was still holding back, but it didn't make much difference to Nova. He felt something rupture inside him as every breath stabbed into his lungs. The world slowly turned grey, but with an enormous surge of willpower he managed to drag himself to his feet. He was knocked down by a nonchalant backhand from Sigma, who was laughing again.
"Why do you still persist? If you merely ask, your death will be painless."
"No. I'm not going to die today. You are..."
Sigma knelt, lifting the nearly dead Ramar by the front of his uniform. He held his left hand about a foot away from Nova's body, then enveloped him in a low-power energy blast. After about five seconds of this agony, Nova could take no more and screamed once, a bloodcurdling sound. Heartbeats later he slipped into the waiting abyss in his mind, his body forcing him into the oblivion of unconsciousness. As he hit the ground, he regained some semblance of awareness. Reaching to the small of his back with his non-broken arm, he withdrew the Spirit Raygun he kept there and began feeding it with his technique energy.
Sigma dashed towards X, who had still not gained enough power to transform. He broke the blade of X's Calibur with his bare hands, then charged up a massive white halo of energy. He fired the Angelic Scream at point blank range, right as an enormous yellow bolt from Nova's gun slammed into his temple. The unexpected attack knocked him to the side, causing his attack to simply graze X instead of ripping through him.
Nova gave a weak smile, the gun dropping from his limp hand as his willpower gave out. He fell into darkness, gladly welcoming its embrace. He was still breathing, but not very deeply.
Nova's distraction gave X enough time to gather the last bit of power he needed. With a rush of released energy, his conduit sprang into life, a sable wing shooting from his back as the power of the Profound Darkness surged through him. Black lightning crackled around him as he got to his feet, his shirt hanging in tatters and shreds from Sigma's atttack.
X lets out a yell of triumph, a wave of dark energy radiating from his body as Sigma's tech-nul field is dissipated. He rises off the ground, glowing with power.
"Sigma...time to die. You copied the wrong person. There is only one X!"
The scions of Darkness and Light moved as one, each drawing a blade of energy. They were mirror images seen through a filter that distorts and inverts light, the only apparent difference between them being that where Sigma glowed white, X glowed black. The light and shadow rushed at each other, blades meeting in a furious assault as each released his rage.
Everytime their swords met, shockwaves radiated through the room. The two dueled, a more even match seemingly incomprehensible. It was if they could read each other's soul. The battle grew in intensity, each combatant pouring more power into his strikes.
I can feel myself getting weaker...if I don't end this now, I won't be able to. I can use the conduit, I just can't sustain it for very long. If it wasn't for this mag, I would've already lost the transformation. He seems to have a nearly limitless supply of energy...
X finally got a hit in, kicking Sigma in the face as their aerial battle escalated. They flew to opposite ends of the room, each gathering power for a definitive strike. Lunging forward as one, they met in the center of the room, their blades combining to create a bright flash that obscured all sight for a time.
Labyrinth's group had made it into the mines, and were now surrounded by a ring of Sinows and Baranz. The security systems had been tripped, and the situation looked grim. Ayame ducked a punch from a Sinow Blue, blasting the robot's torso apart with a massive Foie. Locking onto an energy signal, she felt it strengthen.
It's Uncle X! Yay!
Locking onto the signal, she used the distortion in the field to warp past it, materializing in the room. She gazed around, first encountering the slumped figures of Striker and Raiden. Her pace quickened as she encountered the Dreamchasers. Green sparks flew from her hands as she administered Resta to them. Axios groaned, looking up at her. "Help...X..." he managed, before falling over.
Ayame continued onward, finding Nova. She healed him, then turned as she felt an evil presence behind her. She gasped at the sight of X being held aloft by what seemed to be his exact duplicate. Both of them had long wounds in their sides, but X's seemed worse. His clone had a bright wing jutting from his back, but X's conduit seemed to be deactivated.
"Drop him, now!" Ayame cried, sending a powerful Zonde blast at the man she would soon now as Sigma.
Sigma opened his hand, letting X drop to the floor with a thud. He bowed his head, the slowly turned around.
"Little girl...it's time to die. I grow weary of indulging you mortals..."
Labyrinth's voice sounded in Ayame's ear. "Ayame, where are you?"
"I found them. I can break the barrier, if you warp them out. Please hurry." Focusing all her technique power, she released a ring of pink energy that reverbrated through th e room. Seconds later, her hands sprang up, creating a shield of pure energy to protect her from Sigma's assault. The sound of telepipes being activated rang throughout the room as the Dreamchasers, Cranberry, Black Raiden, Striker and finally X were warped to the safety of Resistance HQ.
"Ok, Ayame. We got them. What about you?"
Ayame spoke, a tone in her voice entirely different from any Labyrinth had ever heard. The only being to ever hear the voice of her 'older self' was Danielle, who was watching gleefully from the back of her mind.
"I'm going to end this. Goodbye, Labyrinth." She removed the headset from her ear, casually dropping it to the ground. With a twist of her heel, she crushed it with one stomp.
She straightened, gazing into Sigma's eyes. "So...you're the clone of X. Zionus's little pet. A pathetic existence. Time to get rid of you..." Ayame raised her hands, gathering power for a second before firing off her Shadow Flare technique. It hit Sigma's shield, cracking the weakened barrier with ease. He was drained from his battle, and for the first time a hint of worry crossed his face.
"Insect! I will end you." He began to glow with energy as he rose off the ground. Ayame simply smiled, then began to assault him with every technique in her arsenal.
In Zionus' citadel, the insane god feels his creation weaken. His scream of rage echoes throughout the building as he releases a blast of energy that levels his throne room. The girl has interfered for the last time...I shall prove to these sheep why I am the Avatar of the Great Light. Zionus reinforces Sigma with new power, boosting the aura around his minion with but a fraction of his divine might.
Sigma's newfound strength suprises Ayame, and an Angelic Scream slams into her, knocking her into the ground. As a second, much more powerful attack screams towards her, she releases her hatred. A split-second later, Danielle stands, crackling with purple lightning as her sable wings extend. Channeling Darkness, she blocks Sigma's shot with a soft laugh.
"Well...this will be fun. I've always wanted to kill a conduit user... The fact that you look so much like X is a bonus." Danielle chuckled evilly, her blood-red hair blowing in the sorcerous wind created by the exertion of the two divine powers.
"Demon, you will die at my hands!" Sigma gathered power, sending a wave of energy through the mines that shook the foundations of the complex.
Danielle yawned, raising her hand to her mouth. "Wow...you think you can make my world shake? Bring it on, you choirboy reject. Hmph...at least X is somewhat cute. You are just...annoying. As much as I would like to kill him, I think you'll do to play with for now. I've been rather bored..." Laughing the patented laugh, Danielle released the mental block on her conduit, letting the pure power of the Profound Darkness flow through her.
Elsewhere, Lissandra and Yokote begin to dig through the rubble of the bandit base. Lorna leans in, staring at Sage's serenely peaceful face.
"He's all mine now..." She puts her face next to his, savoring the feel of his soul as she prepares to feast.
Lorna stared at Sage, feeling an old hunger rise within her. He was alive, but completely unconscious. Normal healing magic had saved his life, but the damage had left him in a coma.
Hmm...I could infuse him with the life energy I drained from those bandits. That would make him feel much better. But to do that, I have to link to his soul. And...since I'm doing such a nice thing, I deserve a treat. I'll bet his soul is delicious. Besides, if he happens to wake up, I'm certain he'll enjoy himself. It seems like we will have plenty of alone time here...
She reached down and gently cupped his face. A look of peace settled over his features as she began to transfer the energy to him. She smiled as his breathing strengthened, and leaned down to kiss him deeply. Her highly attuned senses felt his soul stir, and she mentally embraced him with her powers as her arms slid around him. As the healing energy began to flow from her soul to his, she began to test the edges of his essence with her powers, getting a feel for his soul. She could sense the presence of Lutz's strong will intertwined with his, and the feel of it was intoxicating to her. Ooh...twice the meal for half the work. I like this...
She embraced him more tightly, feeling his body begin to recover. She gently reached to his soul with hers, letting the fluctuating energy fields come into synch.Just as she began to 'pull' lightly on his soul with her powers, a psionic scream echoed in her mind.
"Lorna! Back away from him, you demon. You will not take his soul..."Lutz's voice resounded through her head.
"Lutz, you old grouch...I'm trying to help him. If I don't jumpstart his life energy, he might never wake up. Meaning your moldy old self would be trapped inside his mind until his body finally dies. That would be a long, long time. Are you sure you want to deal with that?"
"If you are trying to help him, why are you beginning to eat his soul?"
"Because...I have to connect with him to transfer the life energy. And he'll enjoy this. It's not going to hurt him. Think of it as me expanding his horizons..."
"Lorna, you never change. You always think that your way is the best, and that you have the right to choose their path. You try to cloak your selfishness with altruism, but it is all a sham. You are a monster."
"You're just jealous. You had me once, and felt true bliss. Then you rejected it. That's why you are so bitter."
"I, like most people, do not like to have my very essence devoured by a soulless monster like you! You have tried to manipulate people into making your view of the world a reality,and many died in the process. You are a monster. You coerce people, use them up and discard the shattered, brittle husks that are left."
"But I did it for them..."
"You did it so you could gain power. You haven't changed in all the centuries since your first attempt. You are a selfish, conceited, heartless monster that uses people like they are livestock."
Lorna has drawn back completely from Sage, and their are faint tears forming in her eyes. She shakes herself, then reestablishes the mindlink with Lutz, who is still railing at her.
"You are just as bad, Lutz. You manipulate people to fulfill your little schemes, all in the name of the "Great Light." If this thing is so great, why does it force the people to do it's will? Why doesn't it protect them itself? It's using them like puppets. At least I make the people I encounter enjoy themselves, instead of shuffling them around like pawns on a damned chessboard! You take away their free will just as much as I do, yet you hide behind your so-called 'holy mandate'. That's absurd."
"At least I don't have to hide my activities. My actions take place for the good of the people. Yours are for your own pleasuring. I serve a higher purpose. You serve your own lust. People are incapable of grasping what true 'free will' is. Without someone to guide them, they would descend into anarchy and chaos."
"And be able to actually choose what they want, instead of being led around like little pets!"
"And you take such good care of your pets, Lorna. Remember those farmers that defended you until their dying breath, against those who wanted to burn you as a witch? You made their family members cut them down while you escaped."
"Their family members wanted to attack and destroy the other village! I tried to talk them out of it, and they called me a witch. I didn't want to hurt them, so I persuaded those farmers to talk to them. I didn't want to see anyone get hurt..."
"So you left them to die? You could have used your powers and stopped the conflict, but you didn't want to endanger the fun you might have had. You are pathetic."
Lorna is sobbing freely at this point. " I wanted them to work it out on their own. I didn't want to have to step in and do it for them. I was trying to help them..."
"Right. You are a monster, incapable of truly caring about others. You will never sacrifice your amusement to help another. You will never change. Stay away from Sage, or I will be forced to deal with you."
"Why didn't you step in and help them? The Espers could have stopped that war."
"It did not serve a higher purpose to interfere in that conflict. It was not our place."
"Oh, I get it. When you need something done that your precious little miracle-worker hands can't handle, people are your 'greatest asset.' When they actually need anything more than cryptic advice and 'tough love', it's 'not your place'? That's heartless and cruel."
"We do not promise to make the world a perfect place. It is impossible. People are too flawed..."
"If you just give up that easily, it is impossible. You must at least make some kind of effort."
"Oh, you mean do like you and enslave them for your carnal desires? I won't sully my hands with that, demon."
Lorna stares at Sage, quaking with rage as she continues to transfer energy to him. Tears are running down her beautiful face as she ponders Lutz's words.
Lorna increases the flow of healing energy from herself to Sage, seeing the color begin to come back to his face. As the link strengthens between them, she can feel herself begin to inadvertantly absorb part of his essence into herself. By sheer force of will, she stops this. Placing both hands on his face, she intensifies the healing energy, her palms beginning to radiate an ethereal blue light.
Her efforts are answered by the sardonic mental voice of Lutz piercing her thoughts.
"Well, couldn't resist could you? I knew it. If it ever comes to postponing your own enjoyment, you are incapable of doing it. At least monsters are honest with their deprevations. Your evil has no place in this world, and neither do you."
"Then why don't you stop me from healing your precious host right now? You can't. You call me evil, and say I have no place...yet you need me. There is more to life than black and white, light and dark, good and evil. You can't comprehend that, because you are no more or less human than I. Lutz, your problem is that you can't empathize with the people you are trying so hard to 'help'. You feel like you have to lord over them, because they are incapable of choosing their own path. If they never gain this ability, you will always have to control them. Or are you so insecure of your place in the world that you feel you have to make yourself needed?"
"You always did like to twist things around to your benefit, Lorna. You say you want to help them, and yet, what have you ever done to help? Every attempt you've made to intervene has ended in tragedy. If you were actually attempting to help, and willing to give of yourself to do so, you might not be such a miserable failure..."
Lorna reacted to this as if he had physically slapped her. "You have the audacity to call me a failure? I'm not the one that's been trapped in an orb for centuries while others do my dirty work."
"At least when I chose to intervene, I don't get the ones that believed in me killed in a petty little play for power."
"You don't get it, do you? I know I've made mistakes. I'll admit it. The difference is...I can see my mistakes. I can learn from what I did wrong, instead of chalking it up to 'fate', or 'destiny' or whatever lofty-sounding excuse you feel like pulling out at the time.
My ego is not so much on the line that I feel like I have to be proven right. I can admit when I'm wrong. You can't. That is why you never actually do any real good. You sit back, and let your 'plans' succeed purely on the desperate struggles of the humans. If you were willing to put some effort into it, you could have made their lives a thousand times better, yet you didn't. You feel it's 'not your place'.
Well, I have news for you...life isn't just about life-threatening battles and universal crises. There's a lot of living left to be done in between all that. Until you can realize that, you will never be truly effective as a 'Guardian of the Universe' or whatever pompous title you have effected for yourself."
"Hmph. You rail about how you have changed, and how you have learned from your mistakes, yet you still drain Sage. You cannot deny what you are. You are a parasite..."
"Fine. I'll prove it to you." Lorna increased the flow of energy, the bright blue glow suddenly lighting up the darkened space they inhabited. She reached out with her powers, gently brushing against Sage's soul with hers, a lingering caress. As his breathing and hearbeat returned to normal, life and color flooded back into him.
"See, I told you. I didn't drain him. I just...nibbled. Now leave me alone, you old fool." Lorna broke the link, pulling back her essence as she gave one last brush of her senses against Sage's soul. She sighed, then wiped her eyes. Sage was breathing deeply now, apparently asleep.
"Well, that's over with. Now...we have to get out of here." Lorna reached outward with her tired senses, contacting Lissandra and Yokote.
"Hello. Sage is alright. I would suggest you go try and find Brom. As soon as Sage comes to, I'll get him to free us."
"Can he handle that in his condition? I tried moving it, but I'm too drained from the battle..." Lissandra asked mentally, a strong undercurrent of worry in her voice.
"I'm very good at what I do. He's fully healed. His body is just resting from the process. He should be waking up any time now. Good luck finding Brom."
"Alright. Keep in contact, please." Lorna broke the link, steeling herself with a few deep breaths as overworked mental passageways refused to relax easily.
With a slight giggle, she leaned down and kissed Sage, breaking the small sleeping spell she had placed on him as a form of anesthetic.
Sage felt himself drift upwards, out of a formless, shapeless void. He came back to himself, wondering briefly if he was alive or dead. He soon felt the soft, warm touch of a pair of lips on his, and his eyes opened slowly. Lorna was leaning over him, her chest pressing against him as she kissed him. She seemed to be enjoying herself a bit too much...
When Lorna felt him stir, she slowly pulled away, sliding her hands down his sides, placing her hands on the ground to push herself up.
"Well, good to see you, sleepyhead. Feeling better?" she asked, a slight smile playing on her face in the close darkness of the niche where they were trapped. The space was illuminated by a small, glowing blue orb held lightly in her left hand. With her right, she brushed back a stray lock of blonde hair as she contemplated him with that same amused smile on her face.
"How...what happened? I remember being hit, and then nothing but blackness. Did I die? Are the others ok?" he asked, still a bit confused by what was going on.
"No, not quite. You almost did, though. Jacen hit you with his vulcan cannon, and we almost lost you. Lissandra and Yokote are fine. They are above the spot where we are now, searching for Brom. It seems Jacen triggered a self-destruct sequence that nearly brought the place down on top of us. We've been trapped here about...two or three hours. I've been trying to heal you, and that grouch Lutz keeps interfering. He made it far more draining than it should have been..." Lorna said, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, leaning back slightly against the debris pile.
"Hmm...that's odd. Well, thank you for saving my life. If you don't mind me asking...what were you doing when I came to?" Sage said, a slow blush apparent on his face in the glow of Lorna's witchlight.
"I was waking you up, of course. If I hadn't put you in a sleeping trance while I transferred the energy, you would have been in a lot of pain. For that particular trance, the only way to be awakened is, well...you now the tales about the kiss of the prince 'waking the sleeping princess' and all that? It's kind of the same thing, only in reverse."
Sage stared blankly for a second. Lorna smiled, and replied "You seem rather disappointed. We are stuck here, if you'd like to discuss our arrangements more closely. It's nice, private and cozy..." she said, leaning towards him slightly with a mischievous, nearly feral grin on her face. He blushed brightly, turning away to look at the roughly oval space they were trapped in.
"So, um...how are we going to get out of here?" he asked, desperate to change the subject.
"I was hoping you could help with that, dear. I'm very tired from the whole 'saving your life' thing." Lorna answered, smiling at him.
"Ok, I can try." Sage braced himself, opening up the links to his powers, flexing his mental muscles experimentally. As the blocks were released, he felt Lutz's presence in his mind.
"Have a good nap? I was busy saving your soul while you were sleeping. Lazy child..." Lutz chided him.
"Gee...let's see you take some anti-vehicle rounds to the chest. Oh wait, that's right. You can't, because you are a disembodied presence that needs me to exist."
"I would warn you to be cautious around Lorna...some events transpired that you need to know about. However, now is not the time. Let us work to get you out of this tomb. I am still rather weak, so I will provide a reserve for you to draw off of if you need it."
"Alright, thanks."
Sage took a few deep breaths, then reached out with his telekinesis, testing the weight of the rubble. With a flexing of his powers, he created a telekinetic dome around himself and Lorna. He pushed outward, straining slightly at the unexpected weight of the debris. Pushing harder, he began to see black spots over his eyes.
His breathing quickened, and with a last burst of power he freed them from the debris, shunting it aside with a wall of telekinetic force. His overtaxed body pitched forward for a split-second, barely saved from hitting the ground by Lorna's surprisingly strong embrace. She pulled him close for a second, giving him a light squeeze before releasing him. "Good job! Rest for a moment, and we can go find the others..."
Sage slumped forward, catching himself on his hands as he let his body rest. That was odd...she's usually not quite that grabby. Not that I mind, but still. She's acting strangely. I wonder what Lutz was talking about...? The softly twinkling stars of the Dezolian sky illuminated the area as he gazed around.
Lissandra and Yokote had succeeded in finding Brom's mangled figure, and between the two of them they were able to carry the badly damaged android back to where Sage and Lorna were freed. After an ecstatic greeting of the now fully-healed Sage, they began to examine the extent of the damage.
Inside the headquarters of the Resistance, X, the Dreamchasers and Cranberry's group of Baranz hunters are quickly shuttled off to the medical wing. Doctors and nurses bustle about, assessing and beginning to repair the damage. Leah, Keiko and JiEin are waiting outside as they are approached by Labyrinth.
"It appears they will be fine. We cannot get a teleportation lock on Danielle, though." Labyrinth said.
"Danielle...? Dont you mean Ayame?" Leah asked, a puzzled look on her face.
"The few scans we have been able to collect have shown that Danielle has manifested again. The combined energy out put in that area of the mines is growing rapidly. I hypothesize that Ayame deliberately allowed Danielle to manifest in order to fight X's clone." Labyrinth said calmly.
"Can't we get her out of there?" JiEin asked.
"At the moment, no. She could teleport herself out, if past performance is any indication. She does not seem to want to leave, and we cannot get in because of the interference given off by the rising levels of ambient energy. We either must wait until the interference has died down, or simply wait on her."
The group settled into a morose wait, resigning themselves to the terrible anticipation.
Deep within the mines, Danielle faces off against Sigma.
A slight wind begins to blow, caused by the coalescing energy fields interacting as the two conduits draw from their opposing sources of power.
Danielle's blood-red hair starts to blow around in the breeze as she studies her opponent. Crossing her arms over her chest, she flips her hair over her shoulder and smirks.
"I'm not really all that impressed. You are supposed to be X's clone, but well...I didn't think they came any more pathetic than him. You've proved me wrong. The whole blond thing really throws me off. That, and you have no fashion sense. And you're abyssmally weak. Tch...I'll make your death quick, don't worry. I can't promise it won't be horribly agonizing, but at least it'll be quick. I've got stuff to do..."
Sigma turns livid at this taunt. With a roar of rage, he fires a beam of white light at Danielle's head. With the smallest amount of movement possible, she leans out of the way and lets it vaporize the wall behind her.
"Can't even aim correctly. Did they mess up on the recipe when they made you? If this is what they were trying to make...well, I would ask for a refund. The brat could probably make a better 'clone' than you in her 'Happy Caek' toy oven."
Sigma gathers power, his wings appearing on his back in a blinding flash of white light. He swoops towards Danielle, rapidly firing beams of energy at her. She simply stands, examining the nails of her right hand with a critical eye. As the first of the deadly beams streak towards her, a minuscule flick of her wrist is all it takes for a purple energy field to pop up around her, absorbing his fire harmlessly.
"Do you ever stop talking? You and your pathetic uncle. I should kill you both. Not only are you arrogant, headstrong and impulsive, but you have no respect even for those far greater than you. You will bow before me as you die, wench!"
Danielle looks up from examining her nails as he begins to rapidly assail her shield with energy blasts. She yawns, stretches, then runs a hand through her hair. Letting her hands drop to her sides, she sighs.
"Um...did you say something? I wasn't really paying attention, because you are really boring. You have this monotone voice, and you ramble. I need some wholesome violence to occupy me...you ready?"
Sigma's answer is an incoherent outburst of pure rage. He swoops towards her, blasting away furiously. As one of his beams hits a weak point in her shield, the redirected energy beam hits her wrist, leaving a slight burn. She curses, and brings her burnt wrist to her mouth. A quick Resta and the burn is gone, but the anger it produced is still there.
"Alright, that's it! I was going to let you play your little game, but you are boring me. Time to die, chuckles."
She stretches, gathering dark energy as her feathery black wings appear out of thin air. Her eyes burning with rage, she levitates off the ground as a purple aura appears around her. Sigma's shots are blocked with her bare hands as she powers up.
When he fires off an Angelic Scream at her, she sends it flying into the wall with the merest flick of her wrist. Before he can retaliate, she fires a two handed energy beam at his chest, catching him in midair and pushing him backwards as the deadly purple beam pulses for a second.
Stunned as he is, he is unable to avoid the massive Demon Roar she sends flying at him. As he is surrounded by a cloud of smoke, she forms four of her death orbs and makes them home in on him. When the four glowing black orbs meet on his body, they erupt into a massive explosion that creates a deep crater in the solid metal of the floor.
Laughing softly in triumph, she is astonished to see Sigma emerge from the crater apparently unharmed.
He brushes dirt off of his uniform as he stands, smiling smugly at her.
"Really...you'll have to do better than that." As he says this, he forms his energy katana, drawing it from its 'sheath' as he commences his attack, the shimmering white blade cleaving the air as he rushes towards her.
Sigma rushes towards the stunned Danielle, brandishing his energy blade. She backs up, the shining blade barely missing her face. The force of Sigma's swing carries him past the airborn Danielle, the sword cleaving through the thick metal flooring of the mines as if it was paper. His swing turns him around fully, slashing a deep trench into the flooring.
Danielle whirls to face him, her hands glowing with energy as she unleashes a barrage of purple energy balls. The orbs streak from her palms, rushing towards Sigma, each detonating with a powerful explosion as they connect. Sigma staggers from her furious attack, briefly sent backwards by her salvo. He regains his balance in mid-air, steadying himself with his outstretched wings. He points one palm towards her, arcane symbols gathering around his hand as a pinpoint of white light forms in the center of his grasp.
"Now, you die. Saint Beam!" he cries, as the ring of arcane symbols begins to spin rapidly. White lights flow from his palm, gravitating to Danielle and forming a ring of energy around her. When she tries to move, she runs into a bluish-white barrier of seemingly solid light, trapping her in a small area. The glow from Sigma's hand grows in intensity, nearly blinding her as a massive sphere of white light forms in his hand.
Feeling the massive power this attack is channeling, her efforts to escape are redoubled. She grows frantic as Sigma pours more and more energy into the spell, the orb growing to become taller and wider than he is. With a shockwave of released power, he unleashes the attack, the kick of the blast pressing his hand back as the orb is split. From the sundered orb, an enormous beam of holy energy is sent streaking towards the imprisoned Danielle. She manages to bring her hands up, creating a shield of energy as the blast hits her. She is enveloped in white light, and over the roar of the blast a scream of agony is heard.
Elsewhere, near one of the settlements on Ragol.
A white flash of energy encompasses one of the small farming settlements. A farmer and his son look up as a god descends from the heavens.
Zionus hovers above the small field of grain, enveloped in blinding white light. He looks around the area and begins to laugh.
"Pathetic fools. I am the beginning and the end. You shall be redeemed, freed from the toils of your limited existence. Worship me in death, and rejoice!"
"Lord Zionus. Please...spare my children. We have sent tribute to you, O' Holy One." The farmer is on his knees, bowing deeply as he trembles in fear. His son huddles beside him, looking to his father for a protection that will not come.
With a wave of his hand, Zionus levitates the farmer. He sends a beam of energy through his chest, holding the beam until a pile of cinders is all that's left. Firing a blast near the young boy, he knocks him to the ground. He hovers over to the village and launches a massive two-handed blast at the town square. A dome of white energy erupts from the now decimated town, as the few survivors flee from their burning homes.
All but three are cut down in Zionus' murderous rage, the white beams of light he fires burning everything they touch. He floats off as the three children gaze in sorrow at the destruction of everything they have ever known
In the mines, Sigma's Saint Beam finally tapers off, spending the last of it's destructive potential. The arcane field shatters into quickly dissolving shards of light, and the blinding glare fades. Danielle is crouched on the ground, moaning softly in pain. From what can be seen of her, her body is scorched and burned all over. Gaps and tears in her now-tattered clothing show that a large part of her body is covered in burns. As she looks up at Sigma a single tear of pain-filled rage slides down her cheek.
"You...bastard. This was one of my favorite outfits. You are going to die for that."
As she stands, a few bits of her charred uniform fall to the ground. Regaining her footing, she gathers power, her purple aura glowing as her wings reappear. She glares at Sigma, her long red hair flowing over her chest, augmenting the scanty covering of the remnants of her clothing. She casts Resta on herself, healing the burns and soothing the wounds Sigma's blast left on her.
"I hope you enjoyed that. You won't get another chance."
"Hmph. At least I have something to look at while I kill you." Sigma says, laughing softly as he blasts away at her. Letting out a wordless scream of hatred, she dashes away from the path of his beam. She takes to the air, flying in a spiral pattern as she retaliates with her own energy beams. The two flit around rapidly, neither managing to land a substantial hit on the other.
Danielle feigns being hit by a beam, and drops slightly to the ground. As Sigma closes in for the kill, she hits him with an enhanced version of Ayame's Hex technique. The arcane symbol that forms around him out of mid-air persists for a second, then disappears leaving a faint purple glow behind. She charges ten death orbs, sending the shining black spheres at him one after the other in rapid succession. His hastily erected shield is able to block the series of explosions, but the successive blasts are disorienting. Danielle rushes towards him, unleashing the massive Demon Roar she had been charging. It impacts against his chest, pushing him back with the force of it's flight. A split-second later, it explodes, enveloping his body in a wave of pure energy. As the smoke clears, he rises from his kneeling positions a bit unsteadily, smoke wafting from his battered body. He shakes his head, steadies himself and gets into a combat position identical to X's, legs braced widely, sword held above his head. Glaring at Danielle, he beckons for her to attack.
She smirks, then lowers to the ground. "Oh, you think you are impressive with that sword? Hah...this should be fun. Yet another idiot overcompensating with a large katana."