Yazoo strolled through the trashed halls of the Healin medical facility at his leisure, stepping over fallen equipment and ceiling tiles delicately as he searched for either his brother or for Mother. The sound of the great sea serpent, Levithan, slithering through more distant corridors could be heard in the earthly rumble that rippled the vast puddles spreading over the linoleum tile floors. The silver haired gunman moved with a catlike grace through the corridors, and a similar distaste for the water, which was soaking unpleasantly into the cuffs of his jeans.
Here and there along the way lay the bodies of staff and patients who'd found themselves in the path of the gigantic snake, pitifully crushed and mangled, occasionally rent in half. The coppery tang of blood wafted and waned, blending with the antiseptic smells of the hospital into a gruesome and familiar perfume that reminded Yazoo sharply of the miserable years he'd spent trapped here. The vision of the halls and laboratories in ruins was indescribably gratifying to him.
Loz had made his way immediately for the lower portions where they had once been held, in hopes of finding Kadaj, and at least casing the place for new armor, and perhaps even weapons if they could be found. Yazoo sincerely doubted they'd be so lucky as to come across such finely constructed firearms as the twin Velvet Nightmares, or as entertaining as Loz's Dual Hound. But at the moment, whatever they could come across would simply have to serve.
Inside rooms too small for Levithan to have wriggled into, patients and doctors still huddled in fear, none of them daring to venture out. The sight of Yazoo passing with immunity served only to confuse and instill further terror, especially in those who had seen the havoc wreaked by the younger silver haired brother just the day before.
Only Shin-Ra security dared move about in search of the creature's summoner, most of them little to no match for either monster or man. He'd dispatched several MPs already as they'd attempted to hinder him, getting a feel for the different levels of spells available for his use, scorching portions of hallway with fire and lightning, creating vast frozen slicks from the watery floors with blasts of sub arctic ice.
Walking through a burn field he'd just created, not too far off from the radiology labs, the middle child slowed and stopped, smirking softly as he realized who the ten-man garrison had been set up to cover for. The smoke cleared gradually to reveal the petite blonde assassin, firearm trained directly on him, looking impeccable in a brand new tailored and pressed blue suit. Her chocolate eyes, though warm in hue, were cold and hard as the rocks of the North Crater where they'd first faced off. Where Yazoo had shot her down.
The medical care of Shin-Ra bordered on the miraculous though, to those important enough to receive its full services. He was not surprised in the least to see her standing, even after all he and his brothers had subjected her to.
They stood in complete silence, regarding one another, challenging with their gazes, rather than bothering with superfluous words. It had been a long time now since Elena had been that chatter box novice trying to taunt her opponents to intimidate them, and Yazoo had never been a man of very many words. The red-head would have tried to tear the boy a new one for the loss of his guns and his aged civilian clothes, and Yazoo took it almost as a mercy that this girl would not be nearly so infantile and talkative.
They moved on some unspoken cue, Elena pulling the trigger on her gun, Yazoo dodging only a hair-split second sooner than the round got off. The bullet grazed through the wing of his silvery hair, severing several translucent strands which floated, shining, to the floor. The lightning that he threw chased Elena's rapid steps as she shot forward to engage him, scorching walls and tile but failing to find their mark.
Elena's next attack hit home. At first Yazoo wasn't exactly certain what had happened. Something struck him, though he couldn't see it, and it caused no physical impact that pushed him in any given direction. Then in a flash of horrific realization Yazoo knew that he was now completely unarmed. Some how the TURK had cut off his ability to use the Materia that were now a part of him, and the momentary shock gave her the opening she needed to land a shot with her gun.
The shell impacted with shattering force into Yazoo's left shoulder, only missing something vital thanks to the gunman's own dampened reflexes. Even taken by surprise, he could move at least fast enough to save his life, grunting loudly through gritted teeth as his whole left side exploded into unspeakable, searing pain. As the force of the impact spun his body, he whipped out with one long leg, knocking the barrel of the gun off course for its second, near point-blank shot, the wall spewing evaporated sheetrock where the bullet struck.
But Elena was a better fighter than to lose her grip on her gun so easily. However, close as they were now, it was difficult to get the firearm in position to shoot. Yazoo was simply too nimble, and more than able to deflect even with his favored arm now out of commission. They'd never been able to train any of the boys out of favoring their left hand, but Yazoo had probably been the most successful in approaching ambidextrous.
Still, Elena was more skilled with hand to hand combat than Yazoo. When it came to the three brothers, they really were best suited for the weapons to which they'd been assigned, which would have put her in a tight spot if she'd come up against Loz. But TURKs weren't permitted to specialize. They had to know how to handle the fight as it came to them, so the gunman suffered in his state of disarm.
Given this, Elena was able to gradually push Yazoo back, forcing him to retreat further and further down the hall. There was no where really for her to corner him, but as they traded blocks and blows Yazoo began to slowly wear down. The crimson sweater failed to hide the profuse bleeding from his the wound in his shoulder, just staining the thickly knit fabric all the darker. Relentless motion kept his heart rate elevated, quickly pumping volumes of precious scarlet vitae through his dilated veins and out the ragged hole.
Landing a hard kick square in Yazoo's stomach, Elena finally propelled him back far enough that she could get off another shot, this one grazing his ribcage, on level with that fiercely beating heart. She wanted nothing better than to explode the vital muscle into a million bloody shreds and the longer he evaded her expert shot the more hell bent on that specific target she became. It was that particular twisted organ, that vacant seat of the human soul that she wanted to eradicate, more than any other part of him.
Nothing lived there but a putrid corruption of emotion that she could hardly bring herself to even compare to love. A sick devotion to a warped family that all together needed nothing more than complete extermination from the face of the Planet. She had born witness to it, been subject to the unspeakable violence it invented in her time captive to Jenova's children, and its evil and perversion were beyond compare. In Elena's mind it would be a mercy to every party involved to simply dispatch the deranged creature to whatever hell he was destined to.
Her next two shots missed entirely, the third slammed into Yazoo's upper arm as he rushed her, throwing his body into her and grabbing for the gun. The struggle was brief, succeeding only in speeding another shell straight through Yazoo's upper thigh, taking the leg out from under him. As he fell Elena's knee shot up, connecting hard with his sharp chin, propelling him backward as he continued down.
Yazoo was both shocked and angered by the sudden turn of events, not accustomed to actually sustaining this much damage, cursing himself for being taken by surprise and letting her get in that first critical shot. He landed in a violent sprawl, looking for all the world like a marionette that had suddenly had its strings cut, but stunned for only a short moment before he was fighting to get his limbs back under himself.
Elena strode up quickly, kicking the wounded gunman over roughly as he'd pushed up on his good arm. Laying him thus flat out on his back, she planted the heel of one boot swiftly and forcefully between the young man's lanky legs, taking small revenge in leaning her weight into it as she leveled the barrel of her gun. Yazoo's spine arched hard under the sudden burst of intimate agony, presenting his heaving chest a perfect target for Elena to take her shot.
Strangely, though, Yazoo felt no pain as the explosive roar of the bullet tore the momentary silence wide apart, and his world blossomed brilliant crimson before finally going dark.
Author's remarks: I don't know enough about combat to effectively describe grand battles like those fought in Advent Children… I hope you'll all forgive me if this is about the best I can do. :3 There probably won't be many even as long or intense as this, but we'll see.
Translations: Not a single one.