There was a pause in the Crystal chamber as Starlet stared dumbly at Crusader, her mouth hanging open. Crusader didn't change much, although she lowered her hands for a moment. Ogopogo merely sat there and stared at her. But Leviathan took the opportunity to act. Moving quickly, and keeping his eyes on Crusader for signs of movement, he quickly went around the perimeter of the room and toward the fallen Odin. Odin continued to smoke and not move as he did so, and he feared greatly for him. But he also kept his gaze fixed on the developing situation, wanting to know what was going on next.
At last, Leviathan reached him. He had moved fast, and if every second wasn't lasting an eternity to him, he would have known he was there in no time. Odin was laying face-down in a crumpled heap on the floor, still smoking from the attack that had been done to him. Leviathan's heart raced with fear as he closed in on him, and finally reached him. He bent his head and addressed the warrior esper.
"Odin…" He spoke, his voice fearful and low.
However, Leviathan was most surprised to see Odin almost immediately raise his head off the ground. It continued to smoke, but he managed to put his arms underneath him as he rose and propped his head up. He grunted a bit through his blackened face at the present situation. "What a nuisance…falling for the same trick twice…" He grumbled aloud.
"Odin…!" Leviathan piped, snapping his head back in amazement and looking shocked. "You're…you're alright! I thought Crusader killed you!"
Odin grunted again, and winced a bit in indication that he was sore. He struggled to push himself up on all fours, at least on his knees. "Lightning…is still the bane of my existence…" He explained slowly. "But with my new power, it will take more than a stronger version of Tiamat's attack to do me in. Mind you…" He grunted yet again. "…It still hurt, and had I been in my old state of power it definitely would have killed me…but I think I can still fight."
"Mother…" Starlet announced, drawing the room's attention back to her. She still stared at Crusader in confusion.
After a moment, Crusader's looks suddenly softened, and a glimmer of who she used to be returned. "Daughter." She announced simply. "My dear...you survived the Four Fiends as well…"
Odin didn't wait for another word of exchange. He immediately shot up to his feet, albeit weakly, and cried out to Starlet. "You can't listen to her, Starlet!" He boomed. "She's Griever! She's always been Griever! She tricked us all!"
Starlet turned to Odin and stared at him a look of horror. Evidently, she must have known it. She had begun to feel the evil power long before coming there. But still, seeing that it was Crusader, seeing that she was the one behind it all…that was too much for her to bear. She had always had the closest relationship with their matron. She slowly began to shake her head at Odin in denial. As she did, tears began to fill her eyes. "No…you're lying…" She slowly uttered. Then, face more tight she spat out louder, "You're lying!"
"It's true, Starlet!" Leviathan insisted. "Look at your feet! Look at what she did to me! My old tail's still laying there! Look at Odin! She did this to him to! She's the one who lied to us! She sent the Four Fiends to kill us!"
Starlet continued to shake her head no…but at the same time she couldn't deny it. Her eyes wandered to the floor, and sure enough a piece of Leviathan's tail lay there. And Odin looked fried once again as with lightning like before. A part of her brain could have denied it…said she was seeing an illusion and nothing more…that the real Griever was actually one of her family members trying to trick her. But she knew that she sensed only one evil force in the room…and it was so potent that she knew it was standing right in front of her. Yet she still couldn't believe it. Not someone so sweet and loving as Crusader… She slowly looked up to her old matron and addressed her.
"It's not true…" She spoke again. "Tell me…tell me, Crusader…mother… Tell me they're lying. I'll believe you, whatever you say."
Crusader smiled even more softly than before as she stood there. When she spoke, her voice was plain and smooth as always…and yet her words were death.
"Starlet…my dear…you've always been my most loving child. You've grown into a fine young woman. And as a fine young woman…between two mature ladies as ourselves…I know you can bear the truth. You're strong-willed. I know it…so don't disappoint me by not being strong now. My dear…it is time to put away childish things and forget about the past. Today, you must think of your future. You must think of our future. Your brothers…they made the foolish, wrong choice. They weren't wise…not like you. They chose death when the world lay theirs for the taking. But I know you, Starlet…you are faithful. You won't do the same."
Starlet turned white as a sheet. The words rang cold in her heart. "No…mother…you couldn't."
"My child…" Crusader went on, extending a hand out to her. "Take my hand. Be brave, and continue to show the love for me you always did. We need never be apart again. From now on, you can be at my side…the princess of this world…a title worthy of your power and beauty. Forget these ungrateful siblings of yours around you. Seize your destiny. The world is yours now. Cement our bond as mother and child. Help me to do away with them…and there can be only us together forever. The power of the Crystal can be ours alone. Show your loyalty…show your quality. Take my hand, my daughter…" She extended the hand out farther to her, urging her to take it.
Leviathan panicked for a moment. Starlet would be little trouble to handle, but he almost couldn't bear to do it. Why? …He honestly didn't know. The thought of him laying a finger on her to do evil disturbed him. And though he feared Starlet would take Crusader on her offer, he feared more how much it would hurt her to know the truth about their matron. He nervously waited, fearing what choice she would make. He and the others watched Starlet as she trembled uncertainly. They watched as she looked at the hand before her and breathed slowly, echoing through the room. They held their breath…as she began to extend her hand out to Crusader's…as Crusader's face lit up in delight…
…But then, she pulled her hand back.
"…No…" She half-whispered. "No…no, it's…it's not right…"
"My child…" Crusader called gently.
But Starlet shook her head now. "No…this can't be true…it just can't. My mother…she'd never do this evil…" Abruptly, Starlet turned up and looked to Crusader. Her eyes were beginning to release tears now, and her stare was pleading with her. "Crusader…matron…this isn't you. It…it must be Griever. He's controlling you or something. He's put some spell of madness on you or something. Remember…remember who you really are… You love us. You care about us. You'd never hurt us…"
Leviathan felt a thorn in his stomach, realizing that Starlet was only deluding herself and that this was hurting her so much. But Crusader only added to it. Her face went vivid with rage, and she shot her hand back and lashed out at Starlet. Her voice was so wicked and loud that Starlet recoiled in fear from her, seeing Crusader for the monster she truly was…
"How dare you insult me like that! How dare you think I could be manipulated, out of my mind, that I wasn't always perfectly in control!" She hissed. "You silly, stupid girl! I am perfection! I am a god! You dare to degrade me by even suggesting a thing, that my mind could somehow be imperfect!"
Starlet's lip quivered. Her eyes shimmered as tears continued to roll down. She nearly dropped to her knees, begging with the monstrosity. "It can't be…" She spoke, both to herself and Crusader. "You…you have far too much love in you…to be capable of such wickedness…"
"'Oh, you have far too much love in you to be capable of such wickedness'!" Crusader mocked bitterly, impersonating Starlet and filling the esper with more fear and horror. Leviathan wanted to rip Crusader's head off right there for her evil against Starlet, yet he continued to hold back. "Stop blubbering, you fool! Here I thought you were mature enough to handle adult things…and you're whining like a toddler! Stop groveling and join me…or you'll suffer and die just like your stupid brothers!"
Crusader's last words echoed throughout the chamber. She continued to stand there and fume. The other espers stared at the scene, but did nothing. Starlet, still dripping tears, gasped one last time before bowing her head against her chest. There, Leviathan's heart ached to hear her continuing to cry for a few moments, softly and slowly. Crusader scowled at her, waiting for her to make her choice. After a few moments, however, Starlet raised a hand to her eyes and wiped them clear. She sniffled, but then stopped crying and began to smooth out again. After a moment longer…Leviathan at last heard a faint word.
"…I hate you."
To that, Crusader looked puzzled, and turned her head to Starlet. "What?"
"…I hate you." Starlet repeated, a little louder, after a pause.
Crusader frowned. "I know I didn't just hear what I thought I-"
"IHATEYOUIHATEYOUIHATEYOU!"
Starlet screamed this as she suddenly shot back up to her feet. Her face was red with anger now, and she glared at Crusader hatefully. Tears were still in her eyes, but she was livid with rage now. Crusader actually stepped back at her sound.
"You…you…I don't even know what to call you!" She screamed. "You never loved us! You never cared about us! You never loved anything! All you've done is hurt people! All you've ever done is hurt people! You made those monsters to kill the humans! You've tortured innocent children! You ordered the Fiends to kill us all! You beat Bahamut and Wyvern for trying to stop you! And you spat any love we had for you back in our faces! I would have done anything for you! I thought you cared about me…but all you ever cared was that I not get in your way! I loved you unconditionally and you tore my heart to pieces! All you care about is yourself! And you dare to call yourself my mother! You…you're…you're just a greedy…miserable…horrible old witch!"
That last word hung in the air and echoed throughout the chamber. Leviathan stared hard at Starlet. She was hurt, yes…but she was now turning her sadness into righteous anger. She wasn't going to let Crusader's wound stop her, but strengthen her resolve to stop her. Leviathan admired her even more. She was in pain…but she was indeed a strong woman. She was stronger than what Crusader said she was…and she was stronger by far than Crusader.
But as for the monster, she merely crossed her arms again, kept a plain face, and spoke back calmly. "Finished?" She asked. "Finished with your babbling, brainless expression of primordial emotion, as if it meant something? You're acting just like the humans did…they always thought making these bold little speeches actually made their lives have any meaning before I annihilated them with a wave of my hand. You're as meaningless as they are, Starlet. All of you are. I am the god here, and I am the only one who truly matters in any scheme of things on any scale. And so…if you are quite finished…I will end your childish life."
Starlet continued to fume and pause for a moment, glaring right back at Crusader's simple, confident stare. She didn't move for a moment. But then, when she did break, she immediately turned and marched boldly over to the wall…straight for Zantetsuken. When she got there, she grasped the hilt, and with a firm pull yanked the blade out of the wall. It was heavy, and immediately her arms fell to the ground along with the blade. Crusader chuckled at her, but Starlet ignored her. Instead, giving a grunt and strain, she raised the blade with both hands and managed to hold it in front of her. It was a struggle, but she pointed it at Crusader and looked determined.
"I'm warning you, Crusader." She challenged. "Stop this right now. I'll kill you if I have to."
Crusader bent her head back and bellowed another deep, dark laugh. This one was more merry than before, for now she truly was amused. Her horrible chatter echoed through the chamber for a few moments, before she finally lowered an amused face to Starlet. "If you could only truly know how ridiculous you both sound and look." She confidently answered. "Your brothers are much mightier than you, Starlet, and they're a joke to me. And you…pathetic as you are…barely holding that sword…think you can beat me?"
"I'm warning you!" Starlet shot back. "I didn't do this before…I didn't think I could control it and I didn't have a sword…and I don't think I can control it now either! But if I have to kill you…even if my brothers get in the way…I will! Lich wasn't the only one who could transform!"
Ogopogo, Leviathan, and Odin all raised eyebrows at this. Ogopogo, still close to the thick of things, immediately slinked away against the wall. But Leviathan was overwhelmed. When and where had Starlet learned how to transform? And what did she mean by it? Was this the secret she was holding back all these months? Now, the espers were on the edge of their seats. But Crusader was totally unmiffed.
"You're much weaker than Lich, obviously…and his transformation only doubled his strength. You really think some little change you can make to yourself with help?"
"I'm serious!" Starlet yelled. "I'll really do it! Stop this now!"
Crusader merely crossed her arms again and smiled. "Go ahead. See where it gets you."
Starlet swallowed stiffly. She trembled a moment. One would think it would be at Crusader's confidence…but Leviathan knew better. She was afraid of her own power. The female esper exhaled sharply, and licked her lips nervously.
"Alright…" She uttered…and then added, "I'm sorry."
Starlet immediately planted her feet against the ground and closed her eyes. Her face went tight and her muscles locked and stiffened. For a moment afterward…nothing happened. But then, all at once, the ground began to shake a little. It quickly increased, and became a full blown tremor. It reverberated throughout the entire cave, and soon small bits of dust began to fall from the ceiling. The espers marveled at this and stared at Starlet, but Crusader was unaffected. She continued to smile at her and waited. Starlet began to sweat. Beads formed on he brow and began to roll down her skin. She kept straining, and began to make a grunting noise. Heat began to wave all around her body, and the trembling continued to increase. Her teeth showed, and they were grit ferociously. Odin and Leviathan blinked in surprise, looking at what was going on…looking at the effects she was having…
But that was nothing compared to what happened next.
Abruptly, Starlet's two hands parted as the tremor suddenly turned more violent. More heat began to wave off of her, and she seemed to begin to glow a white color. But as her hands parted…she no longer was holding Zantetsuken with one hand…but had two Zantetsukens in either hand. Odin gaped in shock at the sight. But that was nothing. Abruptly, Starlet began to grunt and strain, making a sound like she was in pain. As she did…her voice grew deeper…stronger…and a sound like ripping flesh began to be heard. Most suddenly, it appeared that her two arms ripped in half and went down on her body. Leviathan blinked in shock, and stared at the sight…only to find something even more amazing. Starlet now had four arms…and each one had a Zantetsuken in it.
"No way…" Ogopogo spoke.
"Impossible…" Odin echoed.
But Starlet wasn't done. She suddenly screamed out…and as she did her voice began to grow deep and monstrous. She bent over forward in a hunching position…as her muscles suddenly began to grow dramatically. All over her body, they began to swell and enlarge. Her bones also lengthened, and she began to grow taller. In no time at all, she was as tall as Crusader…and then continued to get bigger to reach giant size. Her dress ripped and formed only a loose, ragged cloth tunic about her body as she continued to grow bigger. But her face was the worse. As the espers stared in wonder, a great deal of her hair suddenly fell out and toppled to the ground. In the heat she carried around her, it burst into flame as it did so, beginning to fill the chamber with foul smoke. Two face-sized bald spots were now around her ever-growing head. Much to Leviathan's amazement…and disgust…he saw two faces began to slowly push their way out of her skull in those spots…almost like birds pushing free of eggs. Both of them were dark and fearsome. One quickly began to turn bright red, and a horrible scowl was painted across it. It opened its eyes, and blazing red looks were in them. On the other side, the face turned a dark blue. This one smiled in a large, merry expression…although it was so monstrous and grotesque it was hardly humorous…and its eyes burned blue. Starlet kept her own face, although it grew bigger and bigger along with her body.
At last, she exhaled…her voice now the sound of a giant hulk. To Leviathan's displeasure, all three faces sighed as one. They worked independently, however. The blue one looked around menacingly, the red one cracked its jaw, while Starlet's own calmly looked up and looked down on Crusader. She stood ten feet tall now, and she brandished two of her swords while rotating two of her arms. The quaking slowly stopped, and the heat vanished, but Starlet still seemed to have a white aura about her. Crusader's eyebrows were raised a little. But other than that she didn't look scared.
"You forced her to unleash me." All three heads spoke as one, deep and booming at Crusader. "I am the embodiment of Starlet's righteous anger. No longer am I Starlet. I am Ashura."
The thing's voice echoed throughout the chamber even more loudly than Crusader's had. It certainly boasted considerable strong looks. The espers stared at it, waiting for its first move. Crusader, however, was calm as ever.
"Ashura, eh?" Crusader addressed. "Well, Ashura, you're as foolish as Odin. You'll easily be felled with a single simple spell now that you have four swords." The villian pointed a finger at the new arrival. "Giga-volt."
As before, a giant bolt of electricity lit up the room as it formed from nowhere, and immediately went down to strike Ashura in one of the swords. But now…something different happened. Ashura, with blindly speed, shot backward in the blink of an eye…so fast that the lightning missed it all together and struck the ground instead. Sparks and pieces of pebble rubble flew up, but no other damage was done. Crusader might have looked intrigued…but didn't have time to. Ashura darted back forward in a moment and smashed one of its elbows into Crusader's face. Much to everyone's shock, especially Crusader's, the monster was ripped right off of her feet for the first time and sent flying like a bird through the air, head first, and smashed into the stone wall in the back of the chamber. Odin and Leviathan, seeing this coming, barely dashed around and out of the way before Crusader connected…not just hitting the wall but hitting it so hard that she crashed into a part of it, and the wall crumbled around her and fell down around on top of her. Right before connecting, Leviathan just managed to catch a glimpse of Crusader's face still frozen in the position of shock as her head remained snapped one way.
Crusader didn't stay down long, however. Immediately, she threw the rubble off as if it was dead leaves, and shot into the air. At first, Leviathan though she was jumping into the air…but soon found out he was wrong. She was levitating, flying under her own power. She ascended into the sky of the chamber, hands down at her sides, and smiling down on Ashura as she rised up. No lasting damage appeared to have been done.
"Well, I misjudged you, Ashura." She confidently addressed. "I guess I'll have to use one of my mid-range attacks on you." With that, still flying in the air, Crusader smacked both of her wrists together and formed an open clamshell with her palms. She aimed it right at Ashura, and spoke calmly her new attack. "Deen."
Immediately, purple light erupted from Crusader's hands. This new attack took a new form. Rings of purple light came forth from her, each one gleaming in a circle that burned and contained heat…almost like a Pyrin fireball. Only these were in ring form, and they shot out in a steady, straight, single-file stream right for Ashura. All together, they formed a line or ray aiming for her. All in the room could feel the heat from this, and sensed its deadly power. But Ashura merely watched it come.
At last, as the attack was about to hit, Ashura quickly squatted, planted her feet, crossed two of her arms in front of her in a guarding motion, and stood still. The Deen attack soon impacted right where her arms were crossed in front of her, blocking right in front of her head. To the amazement of the espers, the rings impacted on her arms, leaving purple light, small eruptions of blazing energy, and smoke pouring up…but no damage whatsoever. Ashura grunted under the attack for a moment…but then suddenly used her gathered strength underneath her legs to propel herself upward, straight for Crusader. As she did, she cried out a roaring war cry, and uncrossed her arms. The sheer force of it not only dissipated the nearest Deen ring, but the shock traveled forward and broke up all of the remaining Deen rings, in effect canceling out the entire attack. Crusader now had time to gape in surprise for a moment at that…right before Ashura smashed the skull of all three faces right into hers, with the full impact of her leap behind it.
Crusader's face turned to agony and pain as it snapped back for a moment, along with her whole body. It seemed another hard blow had been landed. But it lasted only a moment, before her eyes opened again, filled with anger, and her teeth grit. Abruptly, she used her own flying power to throw herself back forward, and this time swung one fist forward and punched Ashura dead in Starlet's face. Now, it was Ashura's turn to express pain, as her body was flipped over from the impact in mid-air so that she went sailing back to the ground head-first. The espers watched, and expected her to land with a heavy impact on the stone ground. But as she sailed back down, moments before landing, Ashura suddenly seemed to recover completely from the blow, flip herself over, crouch, and touch down much more lightly on her feet on the ground. She still slid back from the impact, however, and as she did her feet dug two long trails into the solid stone at her feet. But despite kicking up more stone and debris, she did halt after a moment, and didn't look the slightest bit worse for wear. The espers were duly surprised.
"That's…amazing…" Odin remarked, forgetting that he was once again surpassed for the moment, so long as someone was doing damage to Crusader. "She's actually matched Crusader."
"No…" Leviathan remarked, knowing the true situation through his enhanced powers. "…She's surpassed Crusader."
Ashura paused a moment, but then shot back into the air at Crusader again. In an instant, she was on her, and swung one of her blades right at her head. Crusader quickly ducked in mid air, and launched a kick at Ashura's side. The thing quickly lowered an arm and blocked the blow. Crusader, however, undaunted and speedy, swung a fist at her face next. But the thing had arms to spare, and quickly raised up another to block that hit, while at the same time stabbing forward with another arm. Crusader quickly sidestepped it, but there was no way even her speed could keep track of all Ashura's limbs. No sooner had she dodged than Ashura brought up a muscular leg and smashed it in the side of Crusader's face. The force ripped her right out of the air and sent her flying to the wall. This time, she was so fast that she not only impacted into the wall, but she went right through it. A loud smashing resulted, and large rocks and debris rained down behind her as a cloud of dust rose from the impact. Leviathan, shocked, quickly inched his neck out so he could look into the hole. But he saw nothing but a long rock tunnel, dug in the ground from the impact of Crusader. Far at the end, the gray light of the outdoors shone through, but there was nothing else. There was no sign of the beast.
Ashura landed on the ground and stood straight and tall. She looked around with all six eyes, trying to watch and see where Crusader would strike next. For a moment, there was nothing. But then, in a flash, the ceiling ruptured from overhead, right over Ogopogo. The esper yelped and ran for cover as rocks rained down, but that wasn't the half of it. Another Deen attack had been fired, and now the rings of purple light shot down through the air like an arrow and struck Ashura right in the back. Purple energy exploded behind her, and the thing expressed its first real agony as it arched back and yelled in pain.
Moments later, the Deen attack broke off, and Crusader came rocketing back in like a bird diving for prey. She had formed herself into a humanoid projectile, her feet extended in front of her as she sailed straight for Ashura's back. Ashura herself hunched over in pain, grunting and groaning from the latest blows. But just as Crusader was about to hit, one of her arms sprung to life and swung a Zantetsuken behind her with lightning speed. Crusader's face turned to surprise, and she had to struggle to halt herself to keep from getting her legs chopped off. But despite her speed and strength, the blade still cut a nasty gash right through her armor and into her leg. The monster yelled a horrible cry of pain as it drew back, and Ashura quickly spun around to meet her.
But before Ashura could renew her attack, Crusader flew into a rage. She darted back forward and smashed her own fist across Ashura's face, The blow snapped her head down viciously to the side, and the impact was so hard that the ground shook beneath it. Still pressing, she immediately gave Ashura an uppercut, sending her upper body flying back up again. She then moved to give her an iron palm in the stomach. But as she was trying to, Ashura's head suddenly rotated, putting the red, angry face there instead. In a flash, the thing turned its two lower arms upside down, jabbed its blades into the floor, and then raised one to catch Crusader's fist right as it was coming for her. Crusader saw this, and, sneering, she swung her other fist, only to have that caught too. Crusader was soon trapped in Ashura's grasp, and the giant held her tight as it swung its head forward to smash as hard as it could into Crusader's face. The fiend fell back a bit from the power, as Ashura's own blow shook the floor. Yet she recovered quickly and began to pull away, even as Ashura raised her two other blades to do a cross slash. She managed to rip back just as Ashura crossed the Zantetsukens in front of her, but even as she broke free the blades cut into her chest lightly, slicing off sections of her breastplate armor and leaving a bloody X in her chest.
Her face livid with rage, Crusader shot back into the air, extended her palm, swept it back and held a moment, and then swung it forward. "Arc-sect!" She cried, her voice no longer calm. Blue energy immediately gathered around her hands, and as the others watched, the air seemed to condense,mimicing her outstretched fingers. In an instant, it suddenly solidified as a cold snap flashed through the room, and to their horror five giant ice shards had been formed, and each of them now flew from Crusader's hand and straight for Ashura.
The giant grit all three of its teeth, but then darted forward after the attack. One by one, it raised its arms and cleaved the incoming ice-shards in two. One…two…three…four…each time sending ice shavings and particles of water everywhere. But she could only dip to try and dodge the fifth one, and she barely made it. The giant ice crystal still sliced into the edge of her shoulder, and the cold, numbing power was so strong it seemed to actually hang onto Ashura, ripping her backward and making half of her body stumble. But even as it did so, the thing gave a murderous cry. As the ice crystal pulled it, it crouched and leapt once again, and soon sailed straight for Crusader. Part of her body was pulled back, and so she swung the top fist of her other arm, and with all her strength smashed it as hard as she could right into Crusader's stomach. The impact shook dust from the ceiling, and Crusader crumpled around the hand as the air was knocked out of her. Yet not stopping there, Ashura pulled back the arm, continued to let the momentum make her sail forward in the air, went by Crusader, and then formed an elbow and swung back, hitting Crusader in the back of the head as hard as she could. Crying out in agony, Crusader was sent flying to the ground from the power of the hit, face first to the stone floor. And this time, she couldn't pull herself out of it. She landed hard and face first, and as the espers stared in shock, her face was roughly slid against the stone floor to the point of digging it up in her wake. Black shards flew everywhere as her face was roughly scraped against the ground, and her body limply went with it.
Crusader finally came to a halt, but didn't get up right away. Ashura landed, and immediately turned and glared at Crusader. Its heads spun, and Starlet's face once again reappeared. Her lip was bleeding and she had a rapidly swelling black eye, but she continued to stare out at Crusader. Her shoulder bled and her back still burned and sizzled, but it was obvious that it would take much, much more to put her down. She wasn't even sweating.
"This is unbelievable…" Odin remarked. "I didn't think two such powers existed."
"It's a miracle." Leviathan added. "Crusader's tough, but Ashura's still outclassing her. In the end, she's the one who's going to come out on top."
Crusader finally began to rise. Her movements were slower now. She was dirty, her armor was chopped up, and blood was still dripping from her wounds. Her hair was messy, dusty, and disshelved, and she had to roughly brush it out of her face to smooth it. As she got up and turned around to face Ashura, her face frowning and dark, the espers saw that blood had come out of her nose and was smeared across her mouth and chin. She spat up more on the ground, and raised a hand to wipe grime and black dirt from the scrapes across her face.
"You must see now." Ashura addressed. "The power of my anger is horrific. Somehow I'm managing to control it at this time, but already it thirsts for more battle. I can't afford to give you another chance. You must surrender now or perish."
Crusader didn't show the slightest fear. She stared darkly back, her eyes blazing with anger and hate yet the rest of her calm and collected. The espers watched and waited. Leviathan was glad Ashura was doing so well. He began to sense the division in her power and Crusader's. Ashura was slowly widening the gap. However, fear was also in him…for that is also what Bahamut did before he blew Tiamat away. He was earnest to see Crusader's reaction to these new events, and fearful that she wasn't showing any looks of fear herself.
Crusader finally cracked a smile. "You should have been my princess, Starlet…Ashura…whatever you wish to call yourself now." She cooed. "I can see now your strength is more than worthy of placing you at a status beyond the Four Fiends of the Elements. I am surprised you have become this strong. I see now…it wasn't Odin who killed Tiamat, it was you. And no doubt it was so easy that his face was frozen in horror to the very last." Crusader paused a moment, and then chuckled a bit. She lowered her eyes menacingly, and the air grew cold. Leviathan felt fear at her confidence and her malice.
"And yet…your fight is over now. You haven't the slightest possible chance of defeating me."
To this, everyone, including Ashura, raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Crusader raised her burning, dark eyes and chuckled again at Ashura. "You poor fool…even in your stronger form you are still inferior. Use your brain or brains or whatever you have. I suppose to germs like you and your siblings you may think I am strong in my current form. Indeed, I put any of the Four Fiends to shame. But did you really think that I could have commanded them so easily at this puny level of power?" She guffawed. "I'd have had to beat up Tiamat every other week to keep him in check. Surely you must have wondered why they always addressed me as 'he'…"
Leviathan felt his heart begin to race. Something wasn't right here. Something was not the least bit right. At once, he felt as if the tide to the battle had already turned, and they were in mortal danger. But Ashura kept standing there, and Crusader placed her arms at her sides as she continued to grin. Her hands balled into fists, and she beamed her bloody teeth for Ashura to see.
"Watch closely." Crusader instructed. "This will be the most marvelous…and final…thing you'll ever see."
With that, Crusader grit her own teeth and bit down hard. She shifted her gaze away from Ashura and stared at the floor. She began to quiver as her muscles tightened. Leviathan realized at once that she too was transforming, just as Starlet had. Only this one was much worse. Almost immediately, the ground began to quake as badly as before. The ceiling rained both dust and debris, and Leviathan felt a great deal more power arising from within the monster before him. He and the other espers stared in fear, their hearts racing and blood running cold, looking to see what monstrosity would appear next.
Abruptly, the transformation began. The remains of Crusader's chest armor abruptly exploded. As they did, new armor…thick, cruel, irregular and spiked in odd places, erupted from her chest andsurrounded her torso. This armor was plated and dark black, much more evil and lacking any of the luster of the previous armor. But in addition to that, Leviathan noticed that the torso on which the armor was hanging had grown too. It was now burly, ripped, and huge, making the limbs and head attached to it seem small by comparison. Crusader continued to stare and focus, as not only heat but golden light began to shine off her body. It formed faint lines like flame and hung over her.
Then the next part came. The tops of her shoulders suddenly burst up into a new size, much thicker around than before. But to the espers' horror, this time Crusader's skin was ripped off. It fell to the ground in fleshy threads, and behind it was left nothing but more thick, cruel armor. It made a sickening, flesh tearing noise…and soon did so again as her biceps and triceps bulged as well. It contined to do it on down the line, ripping the flesh off of her old body and replacing it with oversized black armor underneath, all the way to her hands. But there, it changed. One of her hands sloughed the skin off to form a meaty, powerful black gauntlet. But her other hand seemed to explode from her body as her five fingers were replaced with three massive, claw-like fingers that erupted from her wrist. Her forearm quickly bulged on that arm, and soon she was left with one "normal" arm and one gigantically misshapen claw of an arm, all tottering along with the torso on her tiny legs. But that didn't last long either, as her legs soon bulged and cast off all the old leggings and flesh there too, growing into much bigger, well-armored, yet irregular legs.
All that was left was Crusader's tiny head on her now giant body. Abruptly, she closed her eyes and craned her neck to the sky. As she did, she cried out…now also a powerful, deep, male tone. Most suddenly, the side of her head swelled, and a moment later a giant length of metal ripped forth from out of the side of her skull. Ogopogo screamed in fear. Leviathan and Odin shot back in terror. Ashura stared in grotesque amazement. The length of metal quickly curved around her head, and soon more spikes of metal shot out all over her body, giving her irregular blunt spikes over the whole of her flesh. On her back, two long spikes formed armor across her shoulders.
As for her face and head, it quickly began to swell and tear the flesh as well, revealing more black armor underneath. But where it didn't, the armor erupted from her head, went flat, and placed itself down on her face. Her mouth vanished under a large piece. Long ridges of metal for a neck guard grew around the side of her head. The rest of her swelling head soon was covered with the same black thick armor. All but her eyes were enclosed, which also swirled and morphed as well. The skin around them turned the same black as the armor, and became a rough, scaly texture. The color of the eyes burned a new red and yellow, and blazed with an inner light.
By now, a few fist-sized rocks were falling from the ceiling, and the floor was rather dirty. But the transformation ended. Crusader at last relaxed. It was no longer a her. The form of this new armored warrior was that of a man, and as she breathed it had a male voice that was deep and echoing through the plate over its mouth. The trembling and yellow flame vanished, but the heat continued to radiate off of it. The new monster looked up to Ashura, who was still holding back and gaping at the thing. For a while, it let her do so, but then it calmly crossed its arms in front of it.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha…" She…no, he echoed. "What do you think of my 'official Griever outfit', little Ashura? My former power is as nothing compared to it. None of the Four Fiends ever dared to even look at me the wrong way in this body, so it will be interesting to see what it's capable of."
Ashura held back a bit longer. Leviathan watched this scene with horror. Crusader's power had grown more than he thought possible. A part of him, seeing Ashura holding back in fear, wanted to scream out to her to not be scared and not give up without a fight. Yet another part of him, the larger part…realized already that it was hopeless. Even now, he could already sense that Ashura was totally outclassed compared to this thing.
But Ashura didn't give up. In the end, she frowned, resumed her battle appearance, and crouched again. She reached out and seized the swords left behind and took them up again, and swung them in a circle as she brought the other two to bear. Then, giving a powerful war cry, she suddenly leapt off and shot at Crusader like a bolt. This time she moved much faster, far transcending her former speed as she went forward. Leviathan barely kept a watch on her, and didn't even see it as she extended two arms out in a stabbing motion while holding the other two at the ready. He might not have noticed it at all…
…except for the fact that Crusader sidestepped the stabs even faster, and responded by pounding his one normal fist deep into Ashura's side.
Instantly, the wind was totally knocked out of the thing. Ashura managed to croak in pain for a moment before all air was removed to enable it to express agony. The force of the blow shoved her back a little despite charging, and she stiffened for a moment in her old position. But then, Crusader removed his fist, and Ashura immediately collapsed to the ground on all "sixes". She didn't totally fall, and managed to hold herself up. But she gasped and wheezed against the ground. Blood began to run out of all three of her mouths as she lay on the ground, helpless to get up. Crusader kept his arms crossed and looked down at her disdainfully.
"Nice blow, eh? I'm not used to my speed and power myself in this body."
Ashura looked up to him, but was unable to do anything other than dribble blood and breathe. After a moment or so, however, Crusader did something new. He raised his claw arm and reached behind himself, and grasped one of the spikes. After that, he tightened up and buckled a moment…before appearing to rip the spike right out of his body. Only it kept going once he started to rip out, and grew wide and thick as it continued to be pulled. It kept going too, seeming to have been stuffed into nothingness before and making one wonder where it came from. Finally, it finished being pulled, out, and Crusader held it before him. Only then was it clear that it wasn't a spike at all…but a very long, sharp, cruel-looking sword.
"And what do you think of this?" He sneered. "My own blade…the Mortsuken. Far superior to any other blade in existence, for it's forged from the most powerful being in existence…me."
However, Leviathan had thought that Crusader had just made a mistake. Bringing out a sword was a bad idea when fighting someone with four arms and four blades. Ashura seemed to pick up on that as well. She stared at Crusader for a moment longer, but then suddenly sprung up and back to life with renewed vigor. Then, moving at blazing speed, the thing renewed its assault on Crusader, attacking with all four arms at speeds that would stupify any normal fighter.
And yet, to the esper's horror, Crusader's new form seemed to have speed as a speciality. Despite the size of his sword and oddly-shaped body, he moved just as fast as ever…so fast that he soon appeared to have four arms himself. It was as if Crusader could be in multiple places at one time, and sparks flew off from the impacts of swords as he blocked each and every one of Ashura's attacks. Even when the thing attempted to stab him with all swords at once, he still somehow blocked against them. Seeing this, Ashura redoubled her strength and efforts, but it was doing no good. She couldn't get through.
At last, Crusader seemed to get bored. Moving even faster than he was now, he abruptly swung his other fist through the storm of clashing blades and smashed it into Ashura's stomach. The blow was so strong that the fist embedded itself up to its wrist in Ashura's body. The thing cried out in pain as its assault was abruptly halted, and crumpled over the blow. But that was nothing. Immediately as Ashura's head came down, Crusader removed his fist and pointed his open palm right in Ashura's face. "Mort-kelvin."
Again, the deadly red light gathered in his hand. But this time, Leviathan could tell that it had grown stronger along with his transformation. The energy erupted from his hand and ignited point blank on Ashura's head, creating a potent red explosion of burning vapor. The move was so hard and strong that Ashura snapped back like a stone skimming across water. She flew back in a blur, light and vapor trailing from her head, before she smashed into a wall. Now, it was her turn to smash clean through the mountainside, leaving a trail of ruined stone and dust behind her as she tore a new tunnel in the chamber. Crusader retracted the fist and stood straight and tall in the center of the room. He made no indication of fighting or readiness anymore, but just stood there silently for a few moments.
However, much like when their roles were reversed, Ashura finally launched a new attack, shooting out of the ceiling and barreling straight for Crusader. She too was attacking him from behind.At last, Ashura reached him, and swung her blade at him. Crusader did not move, and Leviathan saw why. Ashura was doing a bluff move, trying to make Crusader think she was trying the same move he did. Sure enough, after swinging one blade, she quickly leapt up and attempted to sail over Crusader to attack him from the other side. But Crusader saw it. Abruptly, as she went over, he threw himself to the ground, planted his hands there, brought his legs up, and delivered a dual kick right into Ashura's stomach, sending her flying back up into the air.
The thing tried to stop herself this time, but still she smashed against the ceiling. Rocks and dirt rained down, and the whole room shook from the impact. Still, Ashura recovered, and with a grunt and groan peeled herself off the ceiling. But then, she quickly reacted, for Crusader was already on top of her again. The monster brandished his blade and was coming to attack at blazing speed. Ashura struggled to bring up a blade to guard against it…but it was too late. The beast swung its blade up and swung it right through the nearest appendage. As the other espers gaped, one of Ashura's arms went flying from her body, spiraling blood all the way. Ashura's three heads cried out, and quickly held the wound in pain with one arm, dropping the Zantetsuken out of the hand to do it. The other two arms formed an X to intercept another chop from Crusader's Mortsuken. The two blades caught it right as Crusader jabbed for her chest. But no sooner had he done that, then he released the blade, and simply extended his monstrous claw right for Ashura's throat. He seized her tightly, making her choke and gag. Then, with a tremendous effort, he threw her over his head and straight for the floor…pausing only to use his other hand to take up the Mortsuken again as she went down. Ashura sailed to the floor like a shot, and this time had so much power that she didn't slide. Rather, she smashed a huge crater into the ground, sending stone shards flying up everywhere on all sides. She looked like a rag doll as she did so, and didn't move initially on landing.
However, Ashura still hadn't given up. After the initial pause, she grit her mouths and forced herself to shoot back to her feet. Once there, her neck rotated again. Her face went from being Starlet's to being the blue face. She looked ready to attack again after that, but she hesitated before doing so. Crusader was still hovering overhead, and preparing a new attack. He had shifted the Mortsuken into the claw, and was now pointing his gauntlet at Ashura. For a moment, she stared at it in puzzlement, but then spikes suddenly erupted from it. Ashura jumped back a little in surprise…only to look again and see that they weren't spikes at all. They were needles…lining his knuckles and pointed right at her. Crusader's red eyes narrowed. "Blow Fish."
A hailstorm of razor-sharp death instantly erupted from Crusader's hand. The needles shot out of his fist and barreled straight for Ashura. But no sooner had the old needles left than new ones came into place, and then fired as well out at Ashura, forming a steady stream of long, six-inch, thick needles headed right for her. The thing gaped a moment, but then quickly raised both blade arms and began to furiously swing them aroundy. As the needles hit, they were deflected from the blades and were sent flying in all directions. This, of course, meant the espers also had to dive for cover as they struggled to watch the battle. With her free arm, Ashura shielded her face and eyes from being stabbed. Despite her power and speed of countering the move, it wasn't without pain. Leviathan watched her battle the endless stream, and saw occasionally one needle would imbed itself in her hands or forearms. About ten of them hit the hand guarding her face. Ashura yelped in pain each time, but kept guarding. The needles weren't meaningless hits after all. Each one led to a considerable amount of blood running from where they landed
Suddenly, as soon as the attack started, it had ended. The needles stopped coming, and the assault was over. But Ashura had barely lowered her blades when Crusader lunged at her again. This time, one of his armored knees were put forward, and he proceeded to smash Ashura right in the head. Again, Ashura was ripped off her feet and sent flying backward, and again she smashed into the wall. She didn't go all the way through this time, but she did imbed herself in it. The crash was so loud that it shook the chamber hard, and a few rocks rained from the ceiling along with dust. The place was becoming very unstable, Odin realized. But Leviathan was concerned with the battle and watched what was happening. Rocks had fallen on Ashura again, and for a moment she lay there with only her feet protruding. Crusader calmly landed and waited for the next move.
At last, the rocks began to shift and tumble. Slowly, one after another fell off and to the ground, as the one beneath picked her way out.The bruised, beaten form of Ashura rose. But she was wobbly now, and didn't look good. Her head had a massive gash on the blue forehead, burns covered Starlet's face, and blood ran freely out of all of their mouths. Her skin was cut and bruised all over, not to mention littered with black dust. Her one arm still bled. Her chest only stiffly rose and fell, indicating broken bones. Each of her arms had several of those bloody needles in them, the ends of which some had broken off. But worst of all, Leviathan could sense her strength. It was falling steadily now. Each new blow robbed her of more. She'd soon have nothing left. Crusader's, by comparison, hadn't diminished.
Stop it, Starlet… Leviathan wanted to say. He's going to kill you… And yet, at the same time, he realized not fighting wouldn't save her either. It wouldn't save any of them. At Crusader's new power, they were nothing. Even Bahamut's Megapyrin couldn't beat him now.
At last, Crusader raised his one gauntlet hand and pointed it at Ashura. The others secretly wished Ashura to run, to not waste her life on this. But she would not. She breathed heavily and fear was in her eyes, but she didn't back off. After holding a little, she exhaled, and then raised her blades and crossed them in front of her, guarding again whatever was going to come next. Crusader seemed to think this was amusing as strange rays of light emitted from his hand. They seemed to form a rainbow prism in the air, and swirled around in a circle as they did so. Leviathan couldn't sense much power in this gesture alone, but soon Crusader followed it up saying, "Aqua Rake."
This turned out to be the most unusual attack yet. Rather than come from Crusader's hand, the attack seemed to materialize in mid-air. Abruptly, the air condensed and gathered behind Crusader, forming large pockets of either bubbles or water in the air. But the moment they formed, they began to rush forward, straight and true, right toward Ashura. They moved incredibly fast, as if gravity was pulling them and they were moving faster and faster as time went by. Ashura stood her ground, not moving or budging in the least, and preparing for the attack. At last, one of the first bubbles hit her, and immediately burst and splashed all over her.
Ashura instantly screamed in agony, and the espers gasped as they saw why. The bubbles were full of boiling hot water, that instantly burst into steam the moment they were ruptured. And now, Crusader was sending about a hundred of them at her. Ashura opened her eyes again in fear, but it was too late to escape. One bubble after another struck her in rapid succession. Ball after ball of burning hot liquid splashed, flying through the air and effecting such a wide range that it was impossible for anything to stop it. She couldn't dodge, and hit after hit impacted her. Each bubble erupted and doused her with more and more burning liquid. Her body was soon soaked and steaming, and red burns came out from all over it. What strength she had left was boiled away, but Crusader continued to pummel her…laughing…in torture.
At last, he broke it off, and Ashura fell to the ground, her body red and steaming. She lay limp and unmoving as her flesh continued to burn, snap, and hiss. Crusader, on his part, calmly walked over to the fallen opponent. She never even moved to try and get out of the way, or writhe to get her bearings back. Crusader soon stood before her, and proceeded to take up the Mortsuken again, stick it in his back, and then seem to insert the sword back into his armor and flesh. Indeed, he stiffened and grunted a bit as he did it, but soon he had pushed it back in to the point of being a single nub spike. That done, he calmly reached down with his claw and seized Ashura by the neck, then raised her up from the ground and held her in the sky. She never reacted, only made a small noise as Crusader grasped her burn hard.
"Had enough?" The monster mocked her. Ashura, of course, didn't answer. "Good. I'll kill you then."
With that, Crusader threw his head forward and smashed his metal helmet hard and strong into Ashura's forehead. When he pulled it back, blood trailed from her head to his. Ashura never even reacted to the sickening blow, producing a likewise sickening crack. However, her body reacted. A burning sound suddenly came on the air. A sizzling and snapping occurred. Slowly, Ashura's body began to wither. Zantetsuken dropped from her hand, and with a glow of light, the two remaining blades suddenly pulled themselves together and became one again. The stump of one arm and another arm itself made a flesh ripping sound, and then fell from Ashura's body and instantly crumbled into dust. Ashura's head spun so that Starlet's dead-looking face was aimed forward, and then the other two shrank back into her skull. Hair quickly grew over the new bare skin as Ashura returned to normal size, only burnt, bloody, and dressed in white rags. She had reverted back into Starlet.
"Hmm…you're 'righteous anger' seems to have expired. You're nothing more than a bug like your brothers now." Crusader said this, but then lightly tossed Starlet over his shoulder like a piece of trash. She sailed through the air, and would have smashed into the ground again after a moment…had not Leviathan suddenly shot out, quickly twisted his coils into a catching position, and caught Starlet on the way down. He cradled her gently as he did so, easing into the throw and holding her firm. Once she landed, he quickly rested her body on the ground. Ogopogo and Odin rushed over as well, but Leviathan didn't notice them. He focused only on Starlet.
She was pale and going cold…seeming like she was already dead. The trauma alone could have killed her if the injuries didn't. The needles were still embedded in her hands, and she was still covered with burns and gashes. Leviathan gaped at her in pain and horror. He thought of saying her name, but didn't know if she could even hear him. At last, he rushed over and seized the nearest needle with his teeth and yanked it out. He quickly began to yank out the others.
"Starlet…" Ogopogo murmured. "She's so still…"
"Worry about yourselves, children."
For a moment, Starlet was forgotten as the espers turned and looked to Crusader. He had turned and was facing them now. Inside, Leviathan's anger blazed. He wanted nothing more than to see him cut in half by one of his Aqua-jects. But he knew it was useless. They couldn't do anything now. At this stage, none of them could beat him. And so they sat paralyzed, staring at him blankly.
"No more heroics, then? No more puny attempts of valor?" Crusader murmured. "You brats are always in such a ready mood to die. Why not try your luck again? I'm looking forward to utterly cutting you down and beating you within an inch of death for daring to think you could do the slightest thing to me."
Leviathan stared back silently, as did the others. Ogopogo began to quiver and cringe, no doubt thinking of quitting again. Leviathan, on his part, refused to. It might be futile, but Ashura knew it was futile when she stood up to the Aqua Rake. He'd fight too, and began to generate another Aqua-ject inside him. As for Odin, he was without his sword, which lay across the room, but still he tightened his fists. He was ready from the start to die in a blaze of glory. He wouldn't give up. Soon, they'd initiate the last part of this battle…
But then, the espers noticed Crusader change. He suddenly raised his head, and seemed to stare not at them but behind them. They paused a moment, wondering if they were seeing things. But when they realized they weren't, they too turned and looked behind to see what it was that Crusader was focusing on.At the entrance to the chamber,the latest arrivalhad come.
Wyvern grinned confidently, arms crossed and red wings unfurled as he framed the doorway.
"Time to die, Griever."
Bahamut got the news at a bad moment. He had just touched down in the emptied Ultima Nexus and began to cram nectar into his mouth when he felt it happen. A good aura, until then, had surpassed Griever and seemed to be winning. But at that moment, the dark aura that was already so strong that it filled the world grew stronger yet. Now Bahamut could feel it distinctly where he was. The good aura vanished…and now he could sense his brother's power had just arrived at the location as he finished eating. He hadn't wasted any time, but had quickly focused all the mental power he could muster to try and send Wyvern a message.
Stop, Wyvern! Please stop! Don't fight that monster! It'll kill you!
Whether or not Wyvern could hear him didn't matter, for he didn't move. Bahamut struggled to alert him with this message, begging him not to fight. Wyvern was seriously overestimating himself again, and this time it would cost him dearly. The gap between him and Griever was far too great. But no matter how hard he tried, the aura stayed where it was. Bahamut realized that even if he was getting through, Wyvern had grown too cocky with his power. He wouldn't listen. At the same time, Bahamut began to realize that Jadea's horrible prediction may have been right. He had said that he could possibly raise his power a hundred fold greater than what Bahamut's had been when he first learned Pyrin. And if that was right…then Bahamut doubted even he could win.
At any rate, that time was over. He turned himself around and unfurled his wings. Much to his pleasure, he realized that he hadn't been fighting the Four Fiends anywhere near his real strength. He hadn't eaten anything for six months, devoting all his time to training. As such, he was in a much weaker state. Now that he was full and energized, he realized his power had shot up far higher. One last time, he scanned the world below. His sensing abilities were strong now. He saw that Phoenix's power, along with Palad's, had already abandoned the humans and were on their way. Bahamut didn't know whether to be happy or scared because of that. They had no chance against Griever…but without them they might all die.
As Bahamut took off again, rushing as fast as possible to Griever's lair, he wondered if indeed Wyvern might be first to die before he got there…
To be continued...