Well, it's been awhile since I last updated this. Sorry for he long wait, but I've been very busy at college and had been working on a few other fics as well. I haven't had time to contact whoever is in charge of this site, and I've heard conflicting information concerning review responses. I heard someone got in trouble for responding to reviews and few people said that review responses in chapters are no longer allowed. However, I've read the guidelines several times and haven't seen any rule like thaton there. Still, just to be on the safe side, I will no longer post review responses.
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to any videogames, elements from video games, and videogame characters. They belong to whoever created/published them.
War of the Warriors: Crystals of the Sky
Chapter 8: The Other Son of Sparda
Auron had climbed up the stairs and walked down a dark hallway on the 2nd floor of the castle ruins. Eventually, he came upon a large, empty room. In the ceiling, there was a small hole that looked like something slammed through it. There was a dent in the floor below the hole as if something had crash landed on it. Studying the dent was Taki, who raised her head to glare at Auron when he entered the room. After glaring at Auron for a few minutes, she looked back at the dent and muttered, "A crystal had landed here on this very spot. Unfortunately, it seems that we were too late." Taki's cryptic words reflected the obvious to Auron. Someone or something had beaten them to the crystal.
Suddenly, a couple of soft footsteps approached the room from a different hall. Normal people wouldn't have been able to hear them, but experienced warriors like Auron and Taki could. "It seems as if we are not alone", whispered Taki. Then, a door on the opposite side of the hallway slowly opened and made a creaking sound as it did. From behind the door came a mysterious man dressed in blue. There was something strange about the figure, and he seemed to have a somewhat demonic aura.
As the man in blue slowly walked towards the light, Auron was somewhat shocked (although he didn't show it) at what he saw. The strange man looked almost exactly like Dante! The only differences between the man and Dante were that the man wore blue while Dante wore red and that the man wore his hair straight up while Dante had his hair down. Also, Auron noticed that the man seemed to be colder and more serious than Dante. Still, Auron had a feeling that the similarities between the two were more than just a coincidence. 'Could he be Dante's brother?' thought Auron. It was certainly a possibility. After all, Talim did say that they would meet both of the Sparda brothers.
The man in blue stopped a few feet from Auron and Taki. That was when Auron noticed something shiny in the man's hands. He didn't get a good look at it but he had a feeling that it was indeed a crystal. Apparently, the man noticed Auron's gaze for he opened up his hand revealing the crystal. "So, I take it that you two are after this as well", said the man as he began to glare at Auron and Taki. Auron silently nodded in conformation while Taki glared at the man and got in a battle position. The mysterious man continued to glare and said, "Foolish humans! Do you even have the slightest idea how much power is within this crystal. Scum like you don't deserve such power."
Auron grabbed his sword. It seemed as if a fight was inevitable. However, Taki walked past Auron and muttered, "Stay back, I will fight him." Then, she suddenly charged right at the man in blue.
In a blur, she grabbed her daggers in mid run and jumped into the air to strike down the mysterious foe. However, the man in blue quickly dodged the attack and began to counter. After seeing the attack coming, Taki quickly rolled across the ground to avoid the mysterious man's sword. Then, Taki ran from her foe to the nearest wall and ran up it. Taki ran across the wall for quite a while as the man in blue chased her before she suddenly jumped off and kicked the man in the face while in mid-air. The man in blue seemed slightly stunned for a few seconds but quickly regained his composure and acted as if nothing had happened. In fact, he didn't seem fazed in the least.
Taki growled in frustration but continued to attack. She lunged towards the man in blue but he side-stepped the attack and quickly ran behind her. He then attempted to attack her from behind, but Taki preformed a back flip and landed behind him. Then she tried to attack the man from behind, but he turned at the last moment and blocked the attack with his sword. For a few moments, they faced each other in a stand off until the man in blue said, "Let's end this." "I agree," replied Taki. Suddenly, they both charged at each other at the same time. Their weapons moved so fast that they were practically streaks in the air. For a few seconds time stood still. Then Taki was suddenly overcome with pain and fell to the ground.
The man in blue pointed his sword right at Taki and was about to make one final charge at her when Auron shouted, "Leave her alone! Your fight is with me now!" "Are you sure that you want to end your life so quickly?" asked the man in blue. "I won't let you spill anymore blood," replied Auron as he braced himself for the upcoming fight. "So be it," said the mysterious man as he prepared to charge at Auron. However, as the man began to run towards Auron, a gun shot rang out. A single bullet just barely missed the mysterious man. Both Auron and the mysterious man turned their heads to where the shot came from, only to see…..Dante!
"Sorry gramps, but I can't let you have all the fun," said Dante. "So, we meet again, Dante," muttered the man in blue. "Yeah, nice to see you too, Vergil", replied Dante in a sarcastic tone. 'So, this is the man that Dante told me about,' thought Auron. "What are you up to now, Vergil?" asked Dante. Vergil snickered and replied, "Wouldn't you like to know, Dante. In any case, it seems we have unfinished business." Then, Vergil quickly drew his sword. "I agree, so let's get this over with", said Dante as he drew his own sword.
In an instant, the two brothers were locked in a fast paced battle. Auron, who was watching the fight, could barely keep up with what was happening. Both Dante and Vergil's attacks were lightening fast. For several minutes, they dueled across the room. They continued to match each other stride for stride, blocking or sidestepping each others attacks. Then, Dante jumped high into the air and replaced his sword with his two pistols. While still in the air, Dante unleashed several bullets towards Vergil. However, Vergil swung his sword just as the bullets were about to hit and managed to reflect them back towards Dante. As Dante began to fall towards the floor, he noticed the bullets coming back towards him and began to twist in the air in an effort to avoid them. A few of the bullets barely missed him, while one of the bullets slightly grazed his arm, but other that that Dante landed relatively unscathed.
The two brothers glared at each other in a stand off for a brief moment. However, before they could start fighting again, a door opened. "Auron, are you ok? We heard gunshots", shouted a voice. Auron and the Sparda brothers turned towards the voice to see Talim, Chun-Li, and Cloud enter the room. "Auron, what's going on?" asked Chun-Li. Cloud, who suspected that they may have to fight, grabbed his oversized sword and glared at the Sparda brothers. Talim gasped when she got a good look at the two nearly identical men in the room and though, "Those two look familiar. Are they the ones I have seen in my dreams and visions? Could they be the sons of Sparda?"
When the strange group of people entered the room, Dante was temporarily distracted from his fight. 'Who are they? What are they doing here?" he thought to himself. It wasn't until the guy with the spiky blond hair said "Hey, where are you going!" that Dante turned his attention back to his brother. He turned his head just in time to see Vergil walk towards the end of the room and activate some sort of portal by using a crystal. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" asked Dante. Vergil turned his head, glared at Dante, and said, "This isn't over, Dante. We will finish this some other time." Then Vergil entered the portal. Dante ran to the other side of the room in an attempt to stop Vergil, but the portal was already gone by the time he got there.
"So, what is going on? Who are those guys?" asked Cloud, looking very confused. Talim and Chun-Li looked confused as well. Auron sighed and replied, "The one you see before you is Dante. The one who just left was Vergil. Apparently, they don't get along very well." "Sir Auron, are they the sons of Sparda?" asked Talim. Before Auron could answer, Dante cut in and said, "Yeah, Sparda was my old man." Talim turned to Dante and said, "Your name is Dante, right? Well, I'm Talim. It's nice to meet you." "And my name is Chun-Li", said Chun-Li. "The name is Cloud", said Cloud, who gave Dante a suspicious glare. However, Dante ignored Cloud's glare.
"Hey, did you find Taki?" asked Chun-Li to Auron. Auron looked over to where Taki had clasped on the ground, only to find nothing but a small trail of blood that led to another door. Auron followed the blood the door and opened it to find a stairway. When he got to the end of the stairs, Auron opened another door that led outside. Suddenly, Auron felt someone tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Chun-Li. "Is something wrong?" asked Chun-Li. "It seems that she has escaped," replied Auron.
After walking for some distance, Taki looked back at the castle in the horizon. She had sneaked away while Auron was watching Dante and Vergil fight each other. The wound that she had sustained from Vergil was still painful, but Taki would survive. She had experienced far worse injuries in her lifetime. 'Farewell Auron, for now. Perhaps our paths shall cross again', thought Taki.
Meanwhile, Auron was explaining everything that had happened to Talim, Chun-Li, and Cloud. "So, let me get this straight. Not only is Sephiroth after the crystals, but now this Vergil guy is after them too", said Cloud. Auron nodded in conformation. "This is just great", said Cloud sarcastically. Then Auron turned to Dante, who was starting to look bored. "So, are you going to join us?" asked Auron. Dante replied, "I might as well. I don't have anything better to do. Besides, if Vergil is looking for the same crystals you're looking for them it will be more likely to find him." "So, why do you hate your brother so much, Dante?" asked Talim. Dante sighed and answered, "That's a long story, kid. Maybe I'll tell you when you're older." Talim gave him an angry look and shouted, "I'm not a kid! I'm 15 years old!" "Whatever", muttered Dante. To stop any potential fights from breaking out, Chun-Li interrupted and said, "Well, let's go back to town to rest and stock up on supplies. Then, we will leave tomorrow to search for more crystals." Everyone agreed and they began to head back to Jonin.
In a forest far away from our heroes, Vergil sat on a rock near a small pond while thinking about recent events. He wasn't someone who usually ran from his battles but he also knew better than to fight an entire group by himself. Besides, Vergil had gotten what he was looking for. Sure, he could handle Dante on a 1 on 1 situation, and one day they would end their feud once and for all. However, if Dante made some sort of alliance with that group of people then things would get much more complicated.
Suddenly, Vergil heard the rustle of leaves and saw something move within the shadows of the trees. "Who's there! Show yourself!" shouted Vergil. "There is nothing to worry about, Vergil, one of the Sparda twins", said a smooth, deep voice. Vergil looked at where the voice had come from but all he saw was a pair of glowing green eyes. "How did you know who I am?" asked Vergil. "I have done my research, plus I've been watching you", said the voice. That last remark slightly unnerved Vergil. "Who are you?" asked Vergil.
The owner of the voice stepped forward and revealed himself to be a man dressed in black with long, silver hair. Then, the man spoke, "My name is Sephiroth, and I have a proposal for you." "What kind of proposal?" asked Vergil. Sephiroth replied, "I want you to join forces with me." "I'm not interested", said Vergil. "What if I told you that those people you fought with happen to be my foes as well?" asked Sephiroth. Vergil raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about that!" asked Vergil. Sephiroth replied, "Let me show you", and he took out two crystals and placed them on the ground. Sephiroth taped into the crystals' powers and went into a trance for a few seconds. The crystals began to glow brightly and a hologram suddenly appeared. It was an image of Auron and the others. "I have found a way to used to crystals to see what is going on throughout the world," explained Sephiroth.
Vergil began to reconsider Sephiroth's proposal. Sephiroth seemed to know a lot about the crystals, or at least more than Vergil did. If he was careful, Vergil could use Sephiroth to his advantage. "Alright, I accept your proposal, for now", said Vergil. What Vergil didn't know was that Sephiroth had plans of his own.
Characters in this chapter: Auron (FFX), Talim (Soul Caliber series), Taki (Soul Caliber series), Chun-Li (Street fighter series), Cloud (FF7), Serphiroth (FF7), Dante (DMC3), Vergil (DMC3)