ROUND TWO
"Attention passengers." Cid's voice suddenly blared over the PA System on the airship, "We will be landing shortly. I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far and I hope you will enjoy the ride after we lift off again."
"What's he mean by passengers?" Erik asked Justin jokingly, "There anyone else on here? And how many times is he going to land this thing?" Justin laughed and went back to playing his game of pinball. This would be the fourth time Cid had landed the ship.
Jeremey looked up at the speaker in the room and smiled slightly. He then looked at Kaylie who lay on his shoulder her loving eyes looking at him. His hand had gone numb minutes ago from her laying on his arm, but he didn't care. She smiled and leaned up to kiss him again, their tongues entwining over and over again passionately.
"I love you." She said after breaking their kiss, "And I don't ever want to lose you." She laid back down on Jeremey's shoulder and put her arms around him. He looked at the top of her head for a few moments before replying and closing his eyes.
"I love you too." He held her close to him, making him feel secure, like he could take on the world. "And you won't lose me. So don't worry about that..." He closed his eyes again and held her as if they were the only people in the world. She sighed and buried her head in his shoulder sleepily.
"It's only 4:39 baby," Jeremey said looking at the clock in the room, "How can you be sleepy?" She shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"Today's been a very tiring day." She replied without looking at him. Jeremey nodded and noticed that he was very tired himself. His head nodded sleepily for a moment before he forced his eyes to open.
"Hey," He nudged her head with his shoulder lightly, "What's wrong? It seems like something's been bothering you these past couple of days.." Kaylie was silent for a moment before sighing and looking up at him, her eyes full of worry.
"Do you really love me?" She asked him, her voice full of hope. Jeremey rocked his head back.
"Of course I do." He said cocking his head to the side, "Is that what's been bothering you?" She nodded before burying her head in his shoulder again.
"It just seems like you're ashamed of me, that's all." She said still looking away, "I don't know what to believe anymore. I love you Jeremey, I really do. But you just, you don't seem like you love me..." Jeremey gnawed on his bottom lip before replying.
"I do love you." He said quietly, "I'm not ashamed of you, I have no reason to be.. You're the best thing that ever happened to me.. Hell, you're the best thing that probably ever will happen to me." He closed his eyes and sighed. Tears were slowly forming in Kaylie's eyes. Not tears of sadness, tears of joy.
"Thank you.." She said in quietly, happily. Jeremey nodded and held her tightly, closing his eyes sleepily. Sleep took him slowly and he was half-conscious when he heard three quick taps at the door. He forced his eyes open and nudged Kaylie in the head to signal for her to get up. She sat up on the bed and Jeremey got up and shuffled sleepily over to the door. Yawning, he opened the door to see Erik standing in the hallway. He looked in the room to see Kaylie sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling contently. He looked back to Jeremey.
"So what was going on in here eh?" He asked jokingly. He smiled goofily and Jeremey simply cocked his eye smiled.
"Nothing." He looked out in the hall, nobody was in sight. "What do you want?" Erik backed up a step and looked around the hallway himself, even though he knew nobody was out there.
"Uh, when Cid lands this time, everybody's planning on going outside to chill." He replied cocking his head to the side, "You guys wanna come?" Jeremey frowned, thinking. He looked to Kaylie who shrugged then shook her head. Jeremey then turned back to Erik and nodded.
"Yeah, we'll come." He said, "But, uh, when's he landing?" Suddenly the PA System blared with Cid's voice and Justin and Wesley's in the background.
"Alright boys and girls," He said, "We will be landing in three... Two... One." There was a sudden jolt as the ship landed on the ground. Jeremey looked around and sighed exasperatedly and looked at Erik.
"You go on," Erik nodded and turned, "We'll be right there." Jeremey closed the door and turned to Kaylie, who looked back at him lovingly. He walked over and sat beside her on the bed. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Shouldn't we be going?" She asked him looking up at him. He closed his eyes and smiled tiredly.
"I didn't say WHEN we'd be out there." He turned to her smiling lovingly and they kissed passionately once more.
"Well, it seems as though they are landing once again." Sephiroth turned to look at the people watching the scene in the light. Garland's eyes glowed brighter every second and Kuja seemed to be shaking with anticipation. Ultimecia was looking away from the light, not caring what happened. He was in a very good mood, soon the boy with the Hyperion would turn on the others and they would be out of the way, leaving only room to carry out his plan.
"We need to decide who fights them next Sephiroth..." Kuja said impatiently. Sephiroth smiled and nodded to Garland.
"Garland," Sephiroth said, "You can have another try at them." Kuja looked from Sephiroth to Garland then back. He frowned like an angry child and clenched his fists. Sephiroth was punishing him for spite. He couldn't take it, he needed action, he needed to fight.
"That's not fair!" He shouted, "I wanted to go and you knew it!" Sephiroth snickered and looked from Kuja to Garland. Even Kuja shouting at him could not put a damper on his mood, nothing could. They were going to win and he nothing could stop them.
"Fine, play rock, paper, scissors for it." Kuja turned to Garland smiling. This was his game, Garland didn't stand a chance. They went through the motions staring into each other's eyes.
"Rock." Garland said emotionlessly.
"Scissors!" Kuja cried triumphantly before realization hit him, "Damn!" Garland turned to walk out chuckling.
"I will kill them this time Sephiroth!" He called over his shoulder, "Do not worry." He disappeared into darkness for the second time that day. Sephiroth smiled broadly and looked to Kuja, who scowled at his bad luck.
"Don't feel so bad Kuja," Sephiroth said, "There's always the small chance that Garland will lose. If that happens, you will have a chance eventually." Kuja frowned and slumped his shoulders.
"Man, what's taking them so long?" Justin said looking around. The group was outside the airship relaxing while Cid checked out the ship. Erik was deep in conversation with Wesley. Petey was off by himself, presumably being ill-tempered to the rest of the group. Chas and Millie were, surprisingly holding hands and walking around the airship. Finally, Jeremey and Kaylie walked out of the door on the airship holding hands,
"Oh great.." Justin muttered to himself. It made him sick to his stomach. Kaylie was supposed to be his. Jeremey was one of his best friends and all, but Kaylie was his soul mate, not Jeremey's. He didn't deserve her, he wasn't good enough. Justin had asked Kaylie and she had turned him down only to ask Jeremey out three days later. But he would never think about harming Jeremey over a girl, friendship was more important than that.
"Hey guys!" Jeremey called over to Millie and Chas as they walked around the ship. They waved at Jeremey but didn't stop. Jeremey noticed they looked a lot happier now. Jeremey nodded and proceeded out of the door into the little clearing Cid had landed them in. It was a fairly large field, but smaller than the one Chas and Jeremey had sparred in the night before. It was maybe 200 yards from tree line to tree line. But Cid, obviously playing around, had landed the ship twenty feet away from a tree line.
"Where's Cid at?" Jeremey asked Justin, who pointed to the other side of the airship before turning to walk away to talk Erik and Wesley. Jeremey stood for a moment looking around the clearing before nodding to the side of the ship. "Shall we?" He said to Kaylie, who closed her eyes and nodded.
Approaching Cid Jeremey slowed his walk until his footsteps were barely audible. Sneaking up behind Cid slowly he looked at Kaylie and put his finger over his mouth in the 'no talking' symbol. Kaylie smiled and covered her mouth. He was almost on Cid when he turned around and their gaze met; Jeremey's with fierce resolve and Cid's of searching. The world seemed to stop for a moment then they both gasped. They had scared each other. Kaylie laughed uncontrollably.
"Yeah.." Jeremey said embarrassed, "So, what exactly are you looking for?" Cid looked from him to the airship then back again. Jeremey looked around the field again. Something didn't feel right, it felt like something bad was about to happen.
"I'm looking for cracks or deficiencies in the hull." He leaned in close to look at the hull, "There appears to be none." Jeremey looked at Kaylie and shrugged then proceeded to walk around to the other side of the ship where the rest of the group was. Approaching Erik, Justin, and Wesley he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Wesley looked up at him then behind him and his eyes widened.
"Oh, damn..." Wesley muttered before Jeremey turned to look behind him. What he saw made him freeze in his tracks. Garland was approaching them with the sword of Ragnarok again in the same manner as on the oil rig, but this time he was walker faster with no intention of slowing down. Jeremey felt fear rising in him but couldn't help but smile at a challenge.
"Damn.." He said summoning his gunblade, "Why's all this gotta happen so fast? Hey guys, I think we should all be in on this one..." He heard the others getting up and summoning their weapons. Fifty feet away Petey turned to watch the oncoming battle and considered summoning his weapon, but thought better of it, they would feel his wrath soon enough.
"Uh, Jeremey," Justin said, his voice shaking, "You think this is a good idea? I mean, maybe we should run?" Jeremey looked back at him slowly before realizing that Garland was less than thirty feet away. Jeremey gripped his gunblade tight and readied his mind and body for the fight ahead.
"Here we go.." He said to himself before charging Garland. Jeremey spun twice increasing the momentum of the blade before attacking Garland. The blades of the two weapons collided and the force of his own attack knocked Jeremey back. Garland saw this as his chance to strike and attacked with an upper slash to which Jeremey blocked but he was knocked thirty to forty feet in the air and ten feet away from Garland. Garland's eyes flashed and he charged to where Jeremey would most likely land.
"Ah, shat..." Jeremey said falling upside down as he saw Garland charging at him. Chas and Erik were in his way to Jeremey. They engaged him in battle, Chas swinging down and Erik doing the same. Garland didn't even slow down, he blocked the attacks easily and knocked the two away in the manner he had earlier that day. Jeremey's eyes widened and he brought the gunblade up to block as Garland horizontally slashed. The blades collided again and Jeremey was knocked screaming into the forest fifteen feet away. Garland stopped and turned slowly to the remainder of the group.
"Your leader is vanquished," He said with a hint of pride in his voice, "You all soon will follow." The group stood frozen in fear for a moment.
"Jeremey..." Kaylie said quietly, "No.. It can't be.." Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto her knees. Weeping quietly she could not believe that Jeremey had died. "No. He's not dead. He's not!" She leapt to her feet quickly and fired the pin wheel at Garland, who had not been ready for the attack and ducked barely in time, the blade slicing off his right bull horn on the helmet. He stood slowly and watched the blade come back to Kaylie, who caught it and scowled at him triumphantly.
"I am going to enjoy this..." Garland looked at the bull horn on the ground and then back to the group. Chas and Erik walked in front of the group trying the serve as guardians, a useless gesture; they would not save the rest. Slowly, menacingly, Garland approached the group with his weapon in one hand. The children readied themselves and Garland laughed, they would all perish.
"Come on!" Chas shouted as he and the rest of the group charged at Garland. Chas and Erik were the first to try their luck against Garland. Chas swung the Buster Sword in a upward slash while Erik swung the Shimmering Blade down. Garland dodged Chas' attack barely and blocked Erik's easily. He kicked Chas in the stomach, sending him flying away ten feet. Suddenly Justin pushed through the two and swung his weapon for Garland's right hip. Garland pushed Erik away quickly and blocked the attack. Justin pushed with all his might but gained no advantage.
"Dammit!" Justin screamed angrily as Garland pushed the weapon away slowly. Garland chuckled and grabbed Justin by the shirt collar before throwing him into the air in the same manner as Jeremey. Garland planned to do the same thing he did with Jeremey, he began running and was almost to Justin when the Buster Sword was stuck into the ground in front of him. Garland couldn't stop and tripped over the weapon, landing face first and sliding three feet. Justin laughed before hitting the ground, being knocked unconscious.
"Ha!" Chas said pointing at Garland and holding his stomach, "Like that do ya?!" Garland stood slowly and turned to look at Chas, his burning yellow eyes flashing angrily. Chas realized his mistake and backed up warily, his weapon in a defensive position. Garland attacked mercilessly and Chas could barely block. Garland swung horizontally and Chas blocked but was knocked back about a foot, to which attacked again swinging downward. Chas blocked but was knocked to his knees, Garland's eyes flashed triumphantly before kicked Chas in the mouth, making him flip and land on his stomach unconscious. The Buster Sword dispersed a moment later. Garland's head suddenly pitched forward and he turned around to see Wesley standing behind him with his fists balled ready to fight.
"C'mon bitch." He said tauntingly, "You've been fighting guys with swords. Let's see how you do against a real fighter." Garland cocked his head to the side and swung his weapon in a horizontal slash to which Wesley responded by ducking and letting loose a flurry of punches on Garland's stomach. The dark knight stumbled back holding his stomach, how could this boy hurt him through his armor? He moved in again and swung the blade down with one hand. Wesley dodged and hit Garland with a haymaker, sending him stumbling sideways holding his jaw. He looked at Wesley again, his eyes flashing angrily.
"One more time boy." He lunged, to which Wesley retaliated by dodging to the side and jumping in for another haymaker. Garland ducked and brought his head back up making sure his remaining bullhorn caught Wesley in the jaw. Wesley stumbled back holding his jaw and Garland approached him slowly. He hit Wesley with an uppercut that sent him flying five feet unconscious. Garland stood looking at Wesley's limp body before something that resembled a tire iron flew by his head. The item flew around in an arc, coming back to it's master, Millie, who looked extremely pissed off.
"You.." She muttered in rage, "You son of a bitch!" She charged at Garland, spun around twice, ducked as Garland swung his weapon and came back up swinging her weapon at Garland's face scratching the helmet area around his eyes. Garland stepped back surprised, grabbed her by her ponytail and threw her to the tree line, her head hitting a tree limb, knocking her unconscious. He turned and saw the boy with the Hyperion staring at him curiously. Garland smiled and the boy nodded behind him. Garland ducked and the pinwheel blade shot past his head again.
"This is pretty fun.." He said looking at the unconscious group before turning to face Kaylie. Her face was contorted in anger and sadness. He could see she had been crying, and he felt a little happier. She caught the blade on her forearm and clenched her fists and ran to him picking up a thick tree limb as she ran. Holding the limb in her left hand she fired off the blade with one free finger. As the blade shot toward Garland she ran faster. Garland ducked as the blade shot at his head and Kaylie swung the tree limb smacking Garland in the face, knocking his head back as the blade came back.
Garland snarled and swung around to smack the blade to the ground with the sword. He then spun around and hit Kaylie with the back of his hand, knocking her ten feet unconscious. Garland felt pride rising inside him, he had defeated them. He had defeated them all. He turned to finish the job when he saw Erik charging him ready to attack. Garland's shoulders slumped and he let his sword go limp in his hands for a moment.
"I forgot about that one..." He said readying the sword and walking slowly to Erik, who still charged fiercely. Erik brought the heavy sword down and Garland blocked with a slight difficulty. Erik smiled and slid the blade of his weapon down the length of Garland's causing sparks to shoot in all directions, one stray spark flying into Garland's eyes. Garland shook his head and leapt back, his focus diverted for a moment. Erik took this opportunity and swung his weapon at Garland's head. Garland, just recovering leapt to the right and Erik's weapon chopped through one of the thick spikes on Garland's shoulder plate.
"Damn.." Erik said as Garland stood and looked at the severed spike then back to Erik. Garland's yellow eyes flashed angrily and spun twice and swung his weapon horizontally. Erik blocked but was knocked twenty feet. He got up to see Garland charging him and stepped back slowly. Garland swung the blade down and Erik blocked, placing one hand on the blunt side of the blade near the point to reinforce the block. Garland pressed down on the blade and Erik's knees buckled under the pressure, but still he held on.
"I'm the last one..." He said to himself, "I can't give up.." Garland snickered, the boy had courage, but he would die like the rest. Garland suddenly brought his foot up, kicking Erik in the stomach, sending him flying back 10 more feet. There was nothing more he could do, he was in too much pain. He clutched his stomach as Garland walked up to him menacingly. Garland put his foot on Erik's chest triumphantly.
"Now, you die." Garland raised his weapon, the point aimed at Erik's chest. He was about to bring it down when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey!" He turned to see Jeremey standing at the tree line he had knocked him into looking tired and slightly angry, but determined. He had small cuts on his face and arms, presumably from flying through thick trees "I'm not done with you yet. Time for round two lumpy." Garland looked at Jeremey slowly and lowered the sword. He turned his body to Jeremey and suddenly charged with amazing speed. Jeremey only had time to duck as Garland swung the Ragnarok sword at him. Instead of rolling away, Jeremey leapt back and brought the gunblade up in an uppercut slash and pulled the trigger as the blade cut across Garland's face. The cut emitted a white light before exploding like a cherry bomb.
"Yes!" Jeremey cried and looked around to all his friends unconscious, save for Erik, who was still conscious, but in a lot of pain. He suddenly heard a dual voice laughing. His eyes widened and he looked back at Garland as the smoke around his face cleared. The plate on his helm covering his mouth was split in two, but was still covered his mouth. Garland reached up, grabbed the plate with one hand, and ripped it off. Inside the helm there was nothing but blackness, save for the burning yellow orbs that constituted for Garland's eyes.
"No more playing around boy.." Garland said as grabbed Jeremey by the top of his head and threw him back toward the ship. Jeremey hit the ground, bounced, skidded, then rolled for about five feet. He stood and ducked as Garland swung his weapon viciously. Falling back he brought the gunblade up to block as Garland brought his sword down, Jeremey cursed his rotten luck. He kicked Garland in the stomach quickly and retreated a couple feet before launching an attack of his own.
He swung the gunblade horizontally and allowed the blade to bounce back when Garland blocked it, then lunged. Garland moved out of the way and brought his sword down to which Jeremey responded by leaping back and bringing his blade down. Garland block and pressed on Jeremey, who pressed back. They stayed this way for almost a minute, neither gaining the advantage.
"You're good boy.." Garland said pressing down on Jeremey, "You have the mark of a hero. But it's nothing new, I have killed many like you before, and I will kill you." Jeremey snarled and pressed back down on Garland.
"Yeah, well, I'm different." Jeremey was losing his footing slowly but surely. He was getting tired and wouldn't be able to hold this position much longer. If he even slipped once it would all be over, Garland would kill him. He was going to die, he knew it, there was nothing he could do. Suddenly a huge sword blade came down on Garland's left shoulder the armor being crushed by the force the blade was brought down with. Jeremey leapt back with a surprised look on his face.
Garland's eyes went wide as the sword continued going through his body. His body started folding around the blade before it was finally pulled out, a victorious Erik holding the Shimmering Blade. Garland fell to his knees and white light started shooting out from various cracks in his armor. His entire body started convulsing and his armor began to crumple like paper. A huge white beam of light finally shot out of his 'face' and he screamed in agony before his armor collapsed, sending a blue shockwave out. Jeremey and Erik were knocked back by the force.
"Damn.." Jeremey said as he got up and looked at the armor laying on the ground, the ragged purple cape blowing in the wind. "That was messed up.." The armor started dispersing slowly, large firefly looking lights floating up as it did. He looked around at all his friends who had been knocked unconscious.
"What are we gonna do?" Erik asked him holding his stomach in pain. Jeremey shrugged and sat down.
"We should wake them up and see if they're alright, but..." He said as he collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and dismissed his gunblade, "I don't think I'll be able to man... I'm too... Tired..." He finally passed out and Erik was the only one left, so he turned and started to the airship to find Cid.
"Attention passengers." Cid's voice suddenly blared over the PA System on the airship, "We will be landing shortly. I hope you have enjoyed the ride so far and I hope you will enjoy the ride after we lift off again."
"What's he mean by passengers?" Erik asked Justin jokingly, "There anyone else on here? And how many times is he going to land this thing?" Justin laughed and went back to playing his game of pinball. This would be the fourth time Cid had landed the ship.
Jeremey looked up at the speaker in the room and smiled slightly. He then looked at Kaylie who lay on his shoulder her loving eyes looking at him. His hand had gone numb minutes ago from her laying on his arm, but he didn't care. She smiled and leaned up to kiss him again, their tongues entwining over and over again passionately.
"I love you." She said after breaking their kiss, "And I don't ever want to lose you." She laid back down on Jeremey's shoulder and put her arms around him. He looked at the top of her head for a few moments before replying and closing his eyes.
"I love you too." He held her close to him, making him feel secure, like he could take on the world. "And you won't lose me. So don't worry about that..." He closed his eyes again and held her as if they were the only people in the world. She sighed and buried her head in his shoulder sleepily.
"It's only 4:39 baby," Jeremey said looking at the clock in the room, "How can you be sleepy?" She shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"Today's been a very tiring day." She replied without looking at him. Jeremey nodded and noticed that he was very tired himself. His head nodded sleepily for a moment before he forced his eyes to open.
"Hey," He nudged her head with his shoulder lightly, "What's wrong? It seems like something's been bothering you these past couple of days.." Kaylie was silent for a moment before sighing and looking up at him, her eyes full of worry.
"Do you really love me?" She asked him, her voice full of hope. Jeremey rocked his head back.
"Of course I do." He said cocking his head to the side, "Is that what's been bothering you?" She nodded before burying her head in his shoulder again.
"It just seems like you're ashamed of me, that's all." She said still looking away, "I don't know what to believe anymore. I love you Jeremey, I really do. But you just, you don't seem like you love me..." Jeremey gnawed on his bottom lip before replying.
"I do love you." He said quietly, "I'm not ashamed of you, I have no reason to be.. You're the best thing that ever happened to me.. Hell, you're the best thing that probably ever will happen to me." He closed his eyes and sighed. Tears were slowly forming in Kaylie's eyes. Not tears of sadness, tears of joy.
"Thank you.." She said in quietly, happily. Jeremey nodded and held her tightly, closing his eyes sleepily. Sleep took him slowly and he was half-conscious when he heard three quick taps at the door. He forced his eyes open and nudged Kaylie in the head to signal for her to get up. She sat up on the bed and Jeremey got up and shuffled sleepily over to the door. Yawning, he opened the door to see Erik standing in the hallway. He looked in the room to see Kaylie sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling contently. He looked back to Jeremey.
"So what was going on in here eh?" He asked jokingly. He smiled goofily and Jeremey simply cocked his eye smiled.
"Nothing." He looked out in the hall, nobody was in sight. "What do you want?" Erik backed up a step and looked around the hallway himself, even though he knew nobody was out there.
"Uh, when Cid lands this time, everybody's planning on going outside to chill." He replied cocking his head to the side, "You guys wanna come?" Jeremey frowned, thinking. He looked to Kaylie who shrugged then shook her head. Jeremey then turned back to Erik and nodded.
"Yeah, we'll come." He said, "But, uh, when's he landing?" Suddenly the PA System blared with Cid's voice and Justin and Wesley's in the background.
"Alright boys and girls," He said, "We will be landing in three... Two... One." There was a sudden jolt as the ship landed on the ground. Jeremey looked around and sighed exasperatedly and looked at Erik.
"You go on," Erik nodded and turned, "We'll be right there." Jeremey closed the door and turned to Kaylie, who looked back at him lovingly. He walked over and sat beside her on the bed. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Shouldn't we be going?" She asked him looking up at him. He closed his eyes and smiled tiredly.
"I didn't say WHEN we'd be out there." He turned to her smiling lovingly and they kissed passionately once more.
"Well, it seems as though they are landing once again." Sephiroth turned to look at the people watching the scene in the light. Garland's eyes glowed brighter every second and Kuja seemed to be shaking with anticipation. Ultimecia was looking away from the light, not caring what happened. He was in a very good mood, soon the boy with the Hyperion would turn on the others and they would be out of the way, leaving only room to carry out his plan.
"We need to decide who fights them next Sephiroth..." Kuja said impatiently. Sephiroth smiled and nodded to Garland.
"Garland," Sephiroth said, "You can have another try at them." Kuja looked from Sephiroth to Garland then back. He frowned like an angry child and clenched his fists. Sephiroth was punishing him for spite. He couldn't take it, he needed action, he needed to fight.
"That's not fair!" He shouted, "I wanted to go and you knew it!" Sephiroth snickered and looked from Kuja to Garland. Even Kuja shouting at him could not put a damper on his mood, nothing could. They were going to win and he nothing could stop them.
"Fine, play rock, paper, scissors for it." Kuja turned to Garland smiling. This was his game, Garland didn't stand a chance. They went through the motions staring into each other's eyes.
"Rock." Garland said emotionlessly.
"Scissors!" Kuja cried triumphantly before realization hit him, "Damn!" Garland turned to walk out chuckling.
"I will kill them this time Sephiroth!" He called over his shoulder, "Do not worry." He disappeared into darkness for the second time that day. Sephiroth smiled broadly and looked to Kuja, who scowled at his bad luck.
"Don't feel so bad Kuja," Sephiroth said, "There's always the small chance that Garland will lose. If that happens, you will have a chance eventually." Kuja frowned and slumped his shoulders.
"Man, what's taking them so long?" Justin said looking around. The group was outside the airship relaxing while Cid checked out the ship. Erik was deep in conversation with Wesley. Petey was off by himself, presumably being ill-tempered to the rest of the group. Chas and Millie were, surprisingly holding hands and walking around the airship. Finally, Jeremey and Kaylie walked out of the door on the airship holding hands,
"Oh great.." Justin muttered to himself. It made him sick to his stomach. Kaylie was supposed to be his. Jeremey was one of his best friends and all, but Kaylie was his soul mate, not Jeremey's. He didn't deserve her, he wasn't good enough. Justin had asked Kaylie and she had turned him down only to ask Jeremey out three days later. But he would never think about harming Jeremey over a girl, friendship was more important than that.
"Hey guys!" Jeremey called over to Millie and Chas as they walked around the ship. They waved at Jeremey but didn't stop. Jeremey noticed they looked a lot happier now. Jeremey nodded and proceeded out of the door into the little clearing Cid had landed them in. It was a fairly large field, but smaller than the one Chas and Jeremey had sparred in the night before. It was maybe 200 yards from tree line to tree line. But Cid, obviously playing around, had landed the ship twenty feet away from a tree line.
"Where's Cid at?" Jeremey asked Justin, who pointed to the other side of the airship before turning to walk away to talk Erik and Wesley. Jeremey stood for a moment looking around the clearing before nodding to the side of the ship. "Shall we?" He said to Kaylie, who closed her eyes and nodded.
Approaching Cid Jeremey slowed his walk until his footsteps were barely audible. Sneaking up behind Cid slowly he looked at Kaylie and put his finger over his mouth in the 'no talking' symbol. Kaylie smiled and covered her mouth. He was almost on Cid when he turned around and their gaze met; Jeremey's with fierce resolve and Cid's of searching. The world seemed to stop for a moment then they both gasped. They had scared each other. Kaylie laughed uncontrollably.
"Yeah.." Jeremey said embarrassed, "So, what exactly are you looking for?" Cid looked from him to the airship then back again. Jeremey looked around the field again. Something didn't feel right, it felt like something bad was about to happen.
"I'm looking for cracks or deficiencies in the hull." He leaned in close to look at the hull, "There appears to be none." Jeremey looked at Kaylie and shrugged then proceeded to walk around to the other side of the ship where the rest of the group was. Approaching Erik, Justin, and Wesley he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Wesley looked up at him then behind him and his eyes widened.
"Oh, damn..." Wesley muttered before Jeremey turned to look behind him. What he saw made him freeze in his tracks. Garland was approaching them with the sword of Ragnarok again in the same manner as on the oil rig, but this time he was walker faster with no intention of slowing down. Jeremey felt fear rising in him but couldn't help but smile at a challenge.
"Damn.." He said summoning his gunblade, "Why's all this gotta happen so fast? Hey guys, I think we should all be in on this one..." He heard the others getting up and summoning their weapons. Fifty feet away Petey turned to watch the oncoming battle and considered summoning his weapon, but thought better of it, they would feel his wrath soon enough.
"Uh, Jeremey," Justin said, his voice shaking, "You think this is a good idea? I mean, maybe we should run?" Jeremey looked back at him slowly before realizing that Garland was less than thirty feet away. Jeremey gripped his gunblade tight and readied his mind and body for the fight ahead.
"Here we go.." He said to himself before charging Garland. Jeremey spun twice increasing the momentum of the blade before attacking Garland. The blades of the two weapons collided and the force of his own attack knocked Jeremey back. Garland saw this as his chance to strike and attacked with an upper slash to which Jeremey blocked but he was knocked thirty to forty feet in the air and ten feet away from Garland. Garland's eyes flashed and he charged to where Jeremey would most likely land.
"Ah, shat..." Jeremey said falling upside down as he saw Garland charging at him. Chas and Erik were in his way to Jeremey. They engaged him in battle, Chas swinging down and Erik doing the same. Garland didn't even slow down, he blocked the attacks easily and knocked the two away in the manner he had earlier that day. Jeremey's eyes widened and he brought the gunblade up to block as Garland horizontally slashed. The blades collided again and Jeremey was knocked screaming into the forest fifteen feet away. Garland stopped and turned slowly to the remainder of the group.
"Your leader is vanquished," He said with a hint of pride in his voice, "You all soon will follow." The group stood frozen in fear for a moment.
"Jeremey..." Kaylie said quietly, "No.. It can't be.." Her knees buckled and she collapsed onto her knees. Weeping quietly she could not believe that Jeremey had died. "No. He's not dead. He's not!" She leapt to her feet quickly and fired the pin wheel at Garland, who had not been ready for the attack and ducked barely in time, the blade slicing off his right bull horn on the helmet. He stood slowly and watched the blade come back to Kaylie, who caught it and scowled at him triumphantly.
"I am going to enjoy this..." Garland looked at the bull horn on the ground and then back to the group. Chas and Erik walked in front of the group trying the serve as guardians, a useless gesture; they would not save the rest. Slowly, menacingly, Garland approached the group with his weapon in one hand. The children readied themselves and Garland laughed, they would all perish.
"Come on!" Chas shouted as he and the rest of the group charged at Garland. Chas and Erik were the first to try their luck against Garland. Chas swung the Buster Sword in a upward slash while Erik swung the Shimmering Blade down. Garland dodged Chas' attack barely and blocked Erik's easily. He kicked Chas in the stomach, sending him flying away ten feet. Suddenly Justin pushed through the two and swung his weapon for Garland's right hip. Garland pushed Erik away quickly and blocked the attack. Justin pushed with all his might but gained no advantage.
"Dammit!" Justin screamed angrily as Garland pushed the weapon away slowly. Garland chuckled and grabbed Justin by the shirt collar before throwing him into the air in the same manner as Jeremey. Garland planned to do the same thing he did with Jeremey, he began running and was almost to Justin when the Buster Sword was stuck into the ground in front of him. Garland couldn't stop and tripped over the weapon, landing face first and sliding three feet. Justin laughed before hitting the ground, being knocked unconscious.
"Ha!" Chas said pointing at Garland and holding his stomach, "Like that do ya?!" Garland stood slowly and turned to look at Chas, his burning yellow eyes flashing angrily. Chas realized his mistake and backed up warily, his weapon in a defensive position. Garland attacked mercilessly and Chas could barely block. Garland swung horizontally and Chas blocked but was knocked back about a foot, to which attacked again swinging downward. Chas blocked but was knocked to his knees, Garland's eyes flashed triumphantly before kicked Chas in the mouth, making him flip and land on his stomach unconscious. The Buster Sword dispersed a moment later. Garland's head suddenly pitched forward and he turned around to see Wesley standing behind him with his fists balled ready to fight.
"C'mon bitch." He said tauntingly, "You've been fighting guys with swords. Let's see how you do against a real fighter." Garland cocked his head to the side and swung his weapon in a horizontal slash to which Wesley responded by ducking and letting loose a flurry of punches on Garland's stomach. The dark knight stumbled back holding his stomach, how could this boy hurt him through his armor? He moved in again and swung the blade down with one hand. Wesley dodged and hit Garland with a haymaker, sending him stumbling sideways holding his jaw. He looked at Wesley again, his eyes flashing angrily.
"One more time boy." He lunged, to which Wesley retaliated by dodging to the side and jumping in for another haymaker. Garland ducked and brought his head back up making sure his remaining bullhorn caught Wesley in the jaw. Wesley stumbled back holding his jaw and Garland approached him slowly. He hit Wesley with an uppercut that sent him flying five feet unconscious. Garland stood looking at Wesley's limp body before something that resembled a tire iron flew by his head. The item flew around in an arc, coming back to it's master, Millie, who looked extremely pissed off.
"You.." She muttered in rage, "You son of a bitch!" She charged at Garland, spun around twice, ducked as Garland swung his weapon and came back up swinging her weapon at Garland's face scratching the helmet area around his eyes. Garland stepped back surprised, grabbed her by her ponytail and threw her to the tree line, her head hitting a tree limb, knocking her unconscious. He turned and saw the boy with the Hyperion staring at him curiously. Garland smiled and the boy nodded behind him. Garland ducked and the pinwheel blade shot past his head again.
"This is pretty fun.." He said looking at the unconscious group before turning to face Kaylie. Her face was contorted in anger and sadness. He could see she had been crying, and he felt a little happier. She caught the blade on her forearm and clenched her fists and ran to him picking up a thick tree limb as she ran. Holding the limb in her left hand she fired off the blade with one free finger. As the blade shot toward Garland she ran faster. Garland ducked as the blade shot at his head and Kaylie swung the tree limb smacking Garland in the face, knocking his head back as the blade came back.
Garland snarled and swung around to smack the blade to the ground with the sword. He then spun around and hit Kaylie with the back of his hand, knocking her ten feet unconscious. Garland felt pride rising inside him, he had defeated them. He had defeated them all. He turned to finish the job when he saw Erik charging him ready to attack. Garland's shoulders slumped and he let his sword go limp in his hands for a moment.
"I forgot about that one..." He said readying the sword and walking slowly to Erik, who still charged fiercely. Erik brought the heavy sword down and Garland blocked with a slight difficulty. Erik smiled and slid the blade of his weapon down the length of Garland's causing sparks to shoot in all directions, one stray spark flying into Garland's eyes. Garland shook his head and leapt back, his focus diverted for a moment. Erik took this opportunity and swung his weapon at Garland's head. Garland, just recovering leapt to the right and Erik's weapon chopped through one of the thick spikes on Garland's shoulder plate.
"Damn.." Erik said as Garland stood and looked at the severed spike then back to Erik. Garland's yellow eyes flashed angrily and spun twice and swung his weapon horizontally. Erik blocked but was knocked twenty feet. He got up to see Garland charging him and stepped back slowly. Garland swung the blade down and Erik blocked, placing one hand on the blunt side of the blade near the point to reinforce the block. Garland pressed down on the blade and Erik's knees buckled under the pressure, but still he held on.
"I'm the last one..." He said to himself, "I can't give up.." Garland snickered, the boy had courage, but he would die like the rest. Garland suddenly brought his foot up, kicking Erik in the stomach, sending him flying back 10 more feet. There was nothing more he could do, he was in too much pain. He clutched his stomach as Garland walked up to him menacingly. Garland put his foot on Erik's chest triumphantly.
"Now, you die." Garland raised his weapon, the point aimed at Erik's chest. He was about to bring it down when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hey!" He turned to see Jeremey standing at the tree line he had knocked him into looking tired and slightly angry, but determined. He had small cuts on his face and arms, presumably from flying through thick trees "I'm not done with you yet. Time for round two lumpy." Garland looked at Jeremey slowly and lowered the sword. He turned his body to Jeremey and suddenly charged with amazing speed. Jeremey only had time to duck as Garland swung the Ragnarok sword at him. Instead of rolling away, Jeremey leapt back and brought the gunblade up in an uppercut slash and pulled the trigger as the blade cut across Garland's face. The cut emitted a white light before exploding like a cherry bomb.
"Yes!" Jeremey cried and looked around to all his friends unconscious, save for Erik, who was still conscious, but in a lot of pain. He suddenly heard a dual voice laughing. His eyes widened and he looked back at Garland as the smoke around his face cleared. The plate on his helm covering his mouth was split in two, but was still covered his mouth. Garland reached up, grabbed the plate with one hand, and ripped it off. Inside the helm there was nothing but blackness, save for the burning yellow orbs that constituted for Garland's eyes.
"No more playing around boy.." Garland said as grabbed Jeremey by the top of his head and threw him back toward the ship. Jeremey hit the ground, bounced, skidded, then rolled for about five feet. He stood and ducked as Garland swung his weapon viciously. Falling back he brought the gunblade up to block as Garland brought his sword down, Jeremey cursed his rotten luck. He kicked Garland in the stomach quickly and retreated a couple feet before launching an attack of his own.
He swung the gunblade horizontally and allowed the blade to bounce back when Garland blocked it, then lunged. Garland moved out of the way and brought his sword down to which Jeremey responded by leaping back and bringing his blade down. Garland block and pressed on Jeremey, who pressed back. They stayed this way for almost a minute, neither gaining the advantage.
"You're good boy.." Garland said pressing down on Jeremey, "You have the mark of a hero. But it's nothing new, I have killed many like you before, and I will kill you." Jeremey snarled and pressed back down on Garland.
"Yeah, well, I'm different." Jeremey was losing his footing slowly but surely. He was getting tired and wouldn't be able to hold this position much longer. If he even slipped once it would all be over, Garland would kill him. He was going to die, he knew it, there was nothing he could do. Suddenly a huge sword blade came down on Garland's left shoulder the armor being crushed by the force the blade was brought down with. Jeremey leapt back with a surprised look on his face.
Garland's eyes went wide as the sword continued going through his body. His body started folding around the blade before it was finally pulled out, a victorious Erik holding the Shimmering Blade. Garland fell to his knees and white light started shooting out from various cracks in his armor. His entire body started convulsing and his armor began to crumple like paper. A huge white beam of light finally shot out of his 'face' and he screamed in agony before his armor collapsed, sending a blue shockwave out. Jeremey and Erik were knocked back by the force.
"Damn.." Jeremey said as he got up and looked at the armor laying on the ground, the ragged purple cape blowing in the wind. "That was messed up.." The armor started dispersing slowly, large firefly looking lights floating up as it did. He looked around at all his friends who had been knocked unconscious.
"What are we gonna do?" Erik asked him holding his stomach in pain. Jeremey shrugged and sat down.
"We should wake them up and see if they're alright, but..." He said as he collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and dismissed his gunblade, "I don't think I'll be able to man... I'm too... Tired..." He finally passed out and Erik was the only one left, so he turned and started to the airship to find Cid.
