Chapter Twelve: Nihil
I easily dodged such a brash attack, jumped over his flame field, and gave Brenton a slash on his midarm. He intensified his flame field further after that; now all the ground within about five feet of him was on fire. He came at me again, this time following his punch with a kick, but I jumped over the punch and got kicked in the stomach.
I recovered soon enough to land outside of his fire field. I charged at Brenton, Sephiroth-style. I felt the flames licking my feet as I charged up to him, dodged a punch, then jumped and cut his face. I landed and slashed at his torso again before jumping back to get out of the flame field, but he followed me with a punch ready. Brenton hit me in the chest, but held on to me so he could knee me in the stomach.
I went flying after that hit. I threw up a little, and then looked up. He was coming at me again. I again dodged his punch and gave Brenton a little cut on his back, but he wheeled around soon after and kicked me against the concrete barrier. I spat up a little blood and then laid there, almost half-dead by now, eyes closed.
I guess Brenton stopped using his flame armor and field after that, because the next thing I remember is him holding me up by my shirt. I opened my eyes as best I could (my left eye would only open about half way), and took my first good look at my old friend. He was a completely different person than I remembered… but I was a different person than he remembered.
"Any last words, Dark…!" he began, but was interrupted by a lightning arrow that hit him in the back. "Damn nihil!" He jumped away, burning armor lit once again, at one of the towers that held the bridge up.
A second later, the enigma that had attacked me a while ago was standing at my side. "Get up." he told me. Then he placed his hand on my shoulder, and I felt a little better. "We will have to help each other if we are going to defeat him." the enigma told me.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Nobody."
Brenton came rushing at us before I could ask him what he meant by 'nobody.' He aimed a punch right between us, but we both dodged it, and then Brenton turned on his flame field. This time it encompassed almost the entire expanse of the bridge. I pulled out my Buster Sword and put it in the ground, then stood on its edges. Nobody jumped onto one of the pillars.
Brenton walked toward me slowly this time, but Nobody began raining electric arrows at him Brenton did his best to dodge them, but being preoccupied with Nobody, I ran across the burning bridge to give him a few hits with my Masamune, then jumped back. Being distracted by me, Nobody was able to nail Brenton a few times (turns out Nobody is a real deadeye).
"Enough! I'm ending this NOW!" Brenton yelled, clearly infuriated by our team attack. Though I couldn't see exactly how far, it looked like the entire city of St. Louis was now on fire. I heard several explosions across the town, likely cars blowing up. I was again standing on my Buster Sword when Brenton charged at me again, though I waited until he was in close range and gave him a good slash with my Masamune. The hit sent him flying into a lamppost, incapacitating him for a few moments.
Nobody then appeared at my side, standing in the crimson flames.
"This has gotten a bit out of hand. You'll need my being if you want to beat that man." Nobody told me.
"What are you talking about? Doesn't it hurt you, standing on fire?" I asked him.
"No. I don't feel pain. I told you, I'm nobody." he replied.
"Nobody…" I said, now understanding. He was a Nobody. "Okay, what do we do?"
"I'll give you the fibers of my being, and you hold your hands out in front of yourself. Say 'nihil' for the best effect." Nobody told me.
"Okay. But first, what's your name?" I asked him.
"I don't have one." he told me, then disappeared in a grey flash. Brenton had recovered by now, and was charging at me, fist outstretched. I felt Nobody's strength enter me… it felt like I was strong enough to break a mountain. I pulled out my Buster Sword and jumped up and forward from Brenton's attack, then floated for a second before shouting at the top of my lungs:
"Nihil!"
With that, a mass of grey energy poured out of my hands, completely drowning Brenton in twilight. The bridge under him also broke, drowning him in the torrents of the mighty Mississippi. I fell down, still exhausted, but I guessed I had tapped into my darkness a little, because I felt light-headed again. I noticed the city was no longer on fire before I passed out.
… about your darkness…
I guess I willingly killed one of my best (if old) friends. I didn't want to, but…
The Roy I locked deep in my heart!
