Final Disclaimer: I don't own DP, and I'm probably as downcast as the rest of you about the series' looming end. But life goes on.
I would like to take this time to thank all those that have reviewed in the past. darkflame1516, enigmatic penguin, the sleep warrior, Moss Royal, Captain Deoxys, nooneluvsme, and all my loyal readers out there. I hope you stick around a while, because once I've seen Reign Storm and TUE (Which I still haven't, &$$#!) ,Sorry about that, I'll start writing part two of Way of the Ghost. Anyway, the epic climax is at hand! Read on, my loyal followers!
Chapter 20 (Final Phase: Part Two)
With his past training in the Judicator, Mallen must have based the Honshu's OS primarily on that, then modified it so that the weapon fit his attributes perfectly.
"Ah, so the old fogie comes to try and defeat me, eh?" Mallen taunted, "I thought I'd never have the honor, Colonel."
"Give it a rest, Mallen," Suzuki shouted over the intercom, "Fight like a man or die."
"In that case," Mallen said wickedly, raising his beam rifle, "I'll take the third option." A blast of green energy burst from the weapon towards Suzuki. It struck its target with an enormous blast. Everything was silent up there, until a red blur burst from the cloud and sliced Mallen's gun in half with one stroke from a red beam sword.
"Impressive, old man," Mallen chortled as he drew two long beam rifles from each shoulder, then clicked them together into one long beam turret cannon, "But can you match this?" The weapon fired a huge blue blast. As Suzuki turned around he raised his shield, which took the brunt of the blast.
"Actually yeah," Suzuki replied as he raised his own beam rifle. In turn the plasma cannons and railguns on his shoulders and hips, as well as the cannon in his suit's chest, fired simultaneously. What surprised me most was how Mallen actually wove around each of Suzuki's attacks. It would have seemed pretty impressive too if Suzuki hadn't struck Mallen's suit in the head with one foot, then sliced Mallen's turret cannon in half with a beam katar on his wrist.
"Pretty good for an old fogie, eh Mallen?" Suzuki taunted. He regreted his jibe instantly as Mallen ripped off both Suzuki's railguns and his plasma cannons. "Goodbye, old man.." Mallen hissed coldly as he ripped away one of Suzuki's beam swords and prepared for the killing blow...
OOOOO
There was a loud clang as Amainjir's blade clashed on metal. He was thrown back in surprise as I rose to my feet, wielding an enormous blade. It was a great weapon, silver from point to pommel, with a boar's head on said pommel. Had Yurei not taught me how to change my medium I would have been destroyed.
"AN IMPRESSIVE WEAPON," Amainjir glowered, "LET'S SEE IF ITS OWNER IS LIKEWISE."
"Indeed!" I charged towards him with tremendous speed. Bolts of blue and gold energy shot into the air as our blades met, lighting our battleground with hellish green flames.
"NOW LET ME SHOW YOU HOW A TRUE GHOST FIGHTS!" Amainjir roared as he leapt back. He started spinning his blade in a quick circle, until it was little more than a blur. "PAS DESOLUS!" he roared as the flames across our battleground seemed to merge with his sword. He brought his still spinning blade back, then threw the full brunt of his blast forward. I was immediately immersed in a huge firestorm. My entire body burned.
I roared with the horrendous pain as I felt like my head was going to explode from the heat. "HAH!" Amainjir's vile tones ripped through the pain, "SO FALLS ARREAN, KING OF HELL!" With one final heave I threw myself forward, cleaving my sword downwards with as much strength as I could.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" I roared as I thrust my blade through the flames, impaling Amainjir through his heart, or where it should have been. As exhausted as I was I groaned, "There is still work to do. I must go..."
OOOOO
The creature was a deadly force. Even with my great strength and skill it was hard to keep up with her. My armor had already been pierced in a dozen places, and I was slowing.
"THE GHOST ZONE IS OURS, KITAIYOU," she taunted from everywhere at once, "AND SOON YOU SHALL REST IN OBLIVION!" With one vicious stroke she sliced through the armor on my chest, whilst her four counterparts laughed coldly. As she brought her blade up for the final stroke, I raised my hand and fed an enormous blast through my sword.
It threw her back, and when I got to my feet her counterparts were gone, and she was lying pitifully, floating in the stagnant air of the Ghost Zone.
"Impressive finish," the boar beast Arrean lauded me as he approached, "Though I must say I thought your goose was cooked when she had you down."
"As did I," I replied, just as a flicker of movement behind Arrean caught my attention. I realized in an instant what it was, but there was no time. I threw Arrean to one side, just as Sumaeiya's curved sword thrust down. The pain was enormous. If not for thecut in my armor I may have lived, but her blade went through me, and I was lost, forever in darkness.
OOOOO
"I AM THE DARKNESS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN," the creature said menacingly, "I AM THE APOCALYPSE OF ALL THINGS. ARMAGEDDON IS MY SWORD, RAGNAROK MY SHIELD. I AM DOOM. I AM AS ANCIENT AS THE STARS. MY CLAWS ARE SPITE'S COLD CHILL, MY FISTS HATRED'S BURNING COALS. ALL THINGS FEAR ME. NONE CAN WITHSTAND ME. ALL SHALL WITHER AND DIE UNDER MY HARSH WHIP. I AM THE END. I AM SASSAMASHIN, KING OF DEMONS."
He was an enormous gargoyle, his entire body wreathed in muscle. Huge claws on his hands and feet gave him an edge of viciousness, as did his long whiplike tail. Long white hair grew behind four short horns on his forehead, and his body was hidden beneath a long, scaly cloak.
"WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE HERE, LITTLE ONE?" he asked me, revealing dangerous fangs, long and serrated for tearing flesh. I didn't waste any time drawing my swords and merging them.
I replied, "I have come for you." With a lightning fast movement I unleashed a powerful wave of energy. Sassamashin raised a hand to try and block the attack, but it was of little use. The full force of the blast struck him. I thought for a second that it had worked, until the blast was sucked in on itself, until no sign of it remained. As for Sassamashin, he hadn't even been fazed.
"IMPRESSIVE," he said flatly, rubbing the wrist of the hand he'd used to block my attack, "BUT IS THAT ALL?"
"No," I growled, slamming one fist against the pad on my chest. For a second, nothing happened. Then the pad sparked to life and sheathed me in white. Thick armor covered me entirely, until I appeared as a knight in full armor, white, with golden knuckles. Long golden points of light extended out behind me like wings as a great shield formed in my left hand. "Match me, King of Demons," I growled as I formed a sword in my right hand.
He stared at me for a second before he actually started laughing, "DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU CAN STOP ME WITH THIS!"
"Actually yeah," I replied, swinging my sword in an arc. A great wave of white energy flew from the blade, and as it struck Sassamashin I came behind it and thrust my sword through his chest. His blackened matter burned away, and I was able to see the pit below. Then he struck me to one side. I hit the wall of the cavern as the hole in his chest sealed itself. It took me a second to realize that he had actually separated me from the Specter, until he crushed it in one hand.
"I CANNOT BE SLAIN BY ANY ORDINARY MEANS, LITTLE ONE," he said delightfully, "I MAY HAVE ALLOWED YOU A SECOND CHANCE TO JOIN ME, BUT I HAVE DECIDED TO KILL YOU TOO." With speed that was amazing for his size Sassamashin plunged toward me and ripped the mask from my face. His enormous fist slammed into my chest, and I struck the opposite wall of the cavern. Just as I was about to drop he grabbed me, and threw me once more.
He grabbed me again, and as he threw me into the far wall he growled, "NOW YOU SHALL WATCH, AND BEAR WITNESS, AS I DESECRATE YOUR SOUL." As I struck the wall, black tendrils snaked out and held me fast. I was injured, with a terrible gash in one arm, or I may have been able to free myself.
"FOOLISH CHILD. I AM THE EMPEROR OF ALL EVIL, AND YOU ARE LITTLE MORE THAN A SHADE."
OOOOO
As Mallen's sword fell I raised one arm to defend against his attack. There was a huge flash of light as I was knocked backwards. I had barely even realized that my wrist-mounted beam katars were still intact when I raised my arm.
"The old training never wears off, does it Mallen?" I challenged, blasting towards him at full speed. My katar clashed with his sword, and I brought my shield around so as to impale him with its beam claws. He saw the move coming and used his remaining hand to grab the shield and wrench it from my suit's wrist.
He was about to kill me when a blast from behind just missed his weapon . Without even thinking he whipped around and threw the shield as hard as he could. The boy had no time to evade the retaliation. The beam claws on that shield sliced him in two.
"NO!" I roared, wrenching free of Mallen's grasp, "He was just a boy! Young enough to be my grandson!"
"So many of my men are dead, Mallen," I grated, feeling anger well up inside me, "And now, YOU'RE JOINING THEM!" I couldn't see anything but that weasel.
I charged, and slammed into him. He took the blow full on. I lashed at him with everything, hands, feet, the works, costing me my katars and bladed feet, whilst I deprived him of my stolen beam sword, as well as one of his own. I charged, and he charged. Our blades clashed, and I pushed him back.
I blasted forward, and as he tried to rip me apart with his sword I ducked under it. With one lightning movement I thrust my sword upwards for all I was worth, as a huge burning pain cut off all feeling below my knee. In our final battle for survival I lost my left leg below the knee. Mallen lost his life. However, the price was still too high.
One young life in that sky was forfeit.
OOOOO
"SO, DYNASTINA," Ninjutsa grinned icily at me, "WE MEET ONCE MORE."
"As we once met many a time, sister," I spat the word, "Now draw your swords so that I may wipe you from the face of existence!"
"AS YOU WISH," she replied flatly, drawing her deadly blades, "THE BOYS ARE BUSY KILLING EACH OTHER, SO WHY DON'T WE JOIN THE FUN?" I raised my staff as her swords came down.
There was a clang as a cloud of flame erupted from my staff, forming a large spherical cage around us.
"One of us isn't going to leave here alive," I hissed, sweeping her blades back and rapping her on her forehead.
We fazed in and out of material detection, slamming weapon on weapon, back and forth like a tide. Concussion blasts shot from our impacts as we fought, until everything inside the sphere was reduced to rubble. I fought like a demon, knocking Ninjutsa back and forth like a rag doll.
Just as victory was in sight, her ghost blade flicked out and cut across my face. I screamed and jumped back in pain, holding my right eye in my hands. Ninjutsa, with almost a giggle, kicked me in the stomach and knocked me to the ground. As she raised her sword, a broad grin of delight spread across her face.
"I ALWAYS DID DESPISE YOU, SIS--" she never got to finish her sentence, if the green arrow poking through her chest was any indication. As I looked up and the flames faded around me I glimpsed the dark shape of an eagle flying far overhead.
OOOOO
It was quiet. Men, filled with fear of a sneak attack, poked their heads out from within their foxholes, wary of the stillness. Two soldiers descended from overhead.
One stood, balancing the other as he tried to hobble around on one foot. The body of a great beast, once master of the ancient seas, was already fading into the dust. Across the valley and town were strewn the bodies of men and ghosts alike. Of two thousand, only a hundred and fifty remained alive.
The men were silent, as was a little grey ghost that smelled of sushi. Even the fiery woman was silenced, her eye wide with horror. No words can ever describe the atrocity, the sickness, the act against nature that war is.
Far off, a lone eagle screeched its anguish to the blue afternoon sky...
OOOOO
I slowly regained consciousness. My head lolled from side to side as I tried to make sense of things in my clouded head. My eyes cracked open, then slowly closed again.
A second later they snapped open just as Sassamashin said, "SO, YOU AWAKEN ONCE MORE TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING. OR IN THIS CASE, THE LAND OF THE DEAD."
I tried to struggle for a moment, but I was held fast and quickly realized it. I had failed. Kitaiyou wouldn't be pleased with that news.
"YOU CANNOT FREE YOURSELF FROM MY BONDS," Sassamashin spoke again, interrupting my train of thought, "SO DON'T EVEN TRY."
"Then why hold me like this!" I demanded, "And please, don't tell me you want to talk."
"AH, BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO DO," he replied, raising a hand, as if it was little more than polite conversation between two friends, "YOU HAVE INTRIGUED ME FOR THE LONGEST TIME, TIRRELL."
I flinched slightly, and he snorted, "STOP TRYING TO THINK I DON'T KNOW BOTH OF YOUR IDENTITIES. MY LITTLE RAVEN INFORMED ME VERY THOROUGHLY." I flinched.
Kara's betrayal was like ripping out my heart and slapping me across the face with it. "So why the interest?" I asked, trying to keep myself under control.
"BECAUSE YOU, TIRRELL, ARE A RARITY," he answered, "THERE HAVE BEEN BEINGS SIMILAR TO YOU IN THE PAST, BUT NONE HAS EITHER POSSESSED YOUR UNIQUE... ATTRIBUTES, OR THE SAME ORIGINS AS YOUR POWERS."
That didn't surprise me. There couldn't be many half-ghosts out there, if any at all, besides me. But part of what he said intrigued me. "What do you mean "other beings"? Are you saying that there have been, or are, other half-ghosts?"
"CORRECT," he replied, "BUT NONE OF THEM IS QUITE YOUR EQUAL. YOU SEE, MOST HALF-GHOSTS ARE HUMANS THAT STEP INTO A GHOST PORTAL AND SPONTANEOUSLY GENERATE A "GHOST" ASPECT OF THEMSELVES. YOU, HOWEVER, FUSED WITH A GHOST WHEN YOU BECAME... LIKE THIS. YOU NOT ONLY POSSESS YOUR OWN STRENGTH, BUT THE STRENGTH OF ANOTHER SEPARATE BEING FLOWING IN YOUR VEINS, THOUGH ONLY YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS SURVIVED."
"So," I chanced, glancing at my claws, "Do you know why I'm changing?"
"WHEN YOU WERE FIRST TRANSFORMED, PART OF YOUR HUMAN SELF REALLY WAS TURNED INTO A GHOST ASPECT, WITH THE GHOST YOU FUSED WITH LYING DORMANT. BUT AS YOU UNLOCKED MORE AND MORE OF YOUR POWERS, HE WAS AWAKENED WHEN YOU STARTED DRAINING HIS RESOURCES. I BELIEVE YOUR BATTLE WITH BLACK FIST BEGAN THAT."
I remembered that battle. That was the first time I'd used my light and dark energies. "AND THAT IS WHY I AM HERE," he said ominously, floating towards me, "I AM HERE TO END IT." Before I could respond Sassamashin grabbed the sides of my head and unfurled his cloak, which I realized were enormous wings.
An enormous wave of energy swept through me. It felt okay, for a second. And then my screaming like a rabbit caught in asnare began.
My entire body spasmed as I felt an extra set of ribs growing under the last set, with layers and layers of extra muscle around my young limbs. My shirt and pants were reduced to rags as my body swelled, and bolts of electricity coursed through my system.
My face contorted with pain as my chin thinned and extended, and a pair of horns grew from the base of my scalp and curled back over my hair, which was growing a mile a minute, until it stopped at the base of my neck. My gums bled as a set of dangerous fangs sprouted from my jaws. But what caught my attention, and thus caused me the most pain, were the two enormous wings that grew out frombehind my shoulders. Each wing was as long as I was tall, with a fold of membrane near the base of the wing extending down just above my pelvis. A small claw, or "thumb" at the wrist joint on each wing formed like a little hook.
As I screamed with pain my voice deepened drastically, until it was a massive booming roar that shook the entire cavern. Finally, the sparks stopped, and steam wound in tight curls from my aching body. My body was drenched in sweat, running off my silvery smooth skin in large droplets. My chest was heaving, and the only noise was the pathetic rasp of my spent vocal cords.
"NOW, YOU ARE AS YOU WERE INTENDED TO BE," Sassamashin grinned, forming his hand into a mirror. I looked into it, being too weak to do otherwise. And if I'd been able I would have started screaming again.
My reflection looked like a vicious beast. I looked down on what part of myself I could see. I had become the stuff of nightmares, a creature that only the darkest corridors of the mind can conjure. "Sassamashin!" I roared, my voice quickly returning, "Why have you done this to me!"
"I WISHED TO SEE YOUR TRUE FORM," he replied, reforming his hand. A broad, demonic grin cracked across his face, "BEFORE YOU DIE."
"NO!" A voice yelled from overhead, quickly accompanied by a howl of rage. Ronnie and Umbrus tried to hold back Sassamashin, but he had them bound to the cavern wall like myself within seconds. Without a word Sassamashin approached me.
Some might have been surprised, but I didn't struggle. I was done fighting. Ever since I'd begun fighting my life was filled with pain and sorrow. Sassamashin wasn't even about to use a sword or dagger or something. He would kill me with his bare hands.
"FOOLISH CHILD. I AM THE CATALYST OF THE WORLD'S END, AND YOU ARE NOTHING." His claws could cut me in two with one blow, whether he tried or not. He raised his clawed right hand.
"No," a small voice cried as his claws came down. There was a small black blur, then Kaminara's tortured visage formed for a moment out of the small patch of darkness. She looked at me with a face beyond sorrow as a lone tear rolled down her cheek.
I don't know why I said this, and perhaps I never will, but as her disgruntled face wisped away like a shadow, I murmured, "My... angel of the night." I lowered my head for a moment, and a gasp of agony escaped my cracked lips. Then I raised my head to the heavens and roared.
I poured every last ounce of doubt, despair, agony, sadness, and regret into that roar. The entire mountain resonated with my anguish. So long as there were still those poisons in my body, my roar shook, perhaps to the very core of the world. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my mourning call stopped. Even I couldn't have explained why.
For a moment, all was silent. Then, with barely even a thought, my bonds crumbled around me like dust, and I had to spread my wings to keep from falling into the abyss. I felt somehow blank, like with that mourning behind me I'd emptied out all of my misgivings. The feeling lasted for only a second. My eyes flashed open, and a gutteral growl escaped my throat.
"SASSAMASHIN!" I roared, pointing a deadly claw at him, "YOU HAVE TAKEN FROM ME MY HOME, MY FREEDOM, AND EVEN MY VERY SOUL! I SHALL HAVE MY VENGEANCE!" I launched myself at Sassamashin with all of my tremendous strength. My eyes burned like twin suns, shining golden lights in the darkness.
A great claw tried to stop me, but I simply wove around it, and with a roar I ripped my talons deep into his flesh.
"DEMON!" I bellowed, tearing away a chunk of flesh from his torso, "HELLSPAWN! TRAITOR! TYRANT! BEAST! ATROCITY!" My claws were tearing his hulking form to shreds. His bare ribs were showing in a dozen places, and wormholes were riddled throughout his form. "MURDERER!" I roared, punching an enormous fist through his chest, "HAVE YOU NO MERCY!" With the last of my strength I knotted my hands together, with my palms down, and an enormous blast of black and white energy surged down, vaporizing the remains of the great demon. The effort had drained me more than I realized.
I slowly glided down to the cliff below. After a moment of hard breathing I tried to rise, but lost my balance and fell backwards into the abyss. Just as I plunged over the lip of the pit I felt a hand grab me by the wrist, followed by a set of teeth. Working as fast as they could Ronnie and Umbrus managed to pull me back onto solid ground. I got to my feet, making sure not to lose my balance. I looked at them. Ronnie had an uneasy grin, and Umbrus was sniffing my hand curiously as his tail shot back and forth like a paddle.
As I looked down at him for a moment I grinned, then kneeled and scratched his head. "Let's go home, sis. We should meet Arrean and Kitaiyou on our way out of the Ghost Zone."
She smiled at that, then replied, "Yeah. If we don't get home soon we might as well consider ourselves grounded."
XXXXX
And so the final climactic battle of The First Portal has been decided. Bet I had a few of you guessing on who would die and who wouldn't, huh? The epilogue should be fairly short, but I'm not sure yet, so watch for it!