Hello.
Welcome to chapter 8.
I do not own ToS or RK. I have a lot of references to RK (Ok, I stole a lot) in this chapter, so some of you may not understand some parts. Orois' Jinchu, for example, was borrowed from RK's antihero Enishi.
On with the fic.
Two Worlds, One Soul
Chapter VIII – Confrontation
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To Kratos's horror, a terribly familiar sound was heard over the chaos.
Snick.
The darts whizzed everywhere, striking couches, walls, paintings, lamps, vases, everything it seemed, but people. A dark shaped loomed in the smashed windowframe, staring coldly at them with unemotional ice-colored eyes as darts flew from him.
"YUAN! THEIR WEAPONS!" yelled Kyle, dodging darts.
(Insert "End of a Thought" here)
Yuan hit the "release" button on the Bladecase, and its contents soared through the air to their respective wielders. Sheena immediately dove behind the couch and began to summon Origin. Genis and Raine began casting spells as soon as their weapons reached their grasp. Lloyd, Kratos, Zelos, Presea, Regal, Yuan and Colette rushed Orois as soon as they were armed, hoping to stop him by sheer weight of numbers. They all tried to get to him first, but the window proved to small, and Yuan blocked the way for everyone else. He quickly spun his sword-thing rapidly to deflect the storm of darts, but he couldn't get them all, and soon went down. Regal passed him back to Raine for healing.
"Aaron! Kyle! Sam! Stay back! This man is far out of your league!" yelled Kratos over his shoulder.
"Really?" Said Aaron, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Quickly, the three headed upstairs and out of range.
"Sonic Sword Rain!" yelled Lloyd, stabbing rapidly at the dark shape in the window. Somehow, Orois emerged from the onslaught unscathed. He snapped up his arm, and there was a bright flash. Lloyd lay sprawled half-out the window, staring swirly-eyed at the stars. Orois grabbed him roughly by the collar and hauled him out of the way.
"Double Demon Fang – Hell Pyre – Victory Light Spear!" cried Kratos, the combo sending Orois sailing into the tree outside. He was sprawled across a lower limb, and was just starting to recover when Presea and Regal entered the fray.
"Fiery Infliction!" she said, lopping of the tree limb and barely missing Orois himself. The branch plummeted, and Orois after it.
"Dark Moon – Dragon Rage – Eagle Fall – Swallow Dance!" Regal's combo slammed into Orois, sending him soaring against the brick-and-steel garage. On impact, he was struck instantly by Colette.
"Triple Ray Thrust!" Each successive chakram hit him higher and higher up the garage wall, until the roof's overhang prevented him from ascending further. When nothing remained to hold him up, he free-fell foreward, smacking down hard facefirst with a sickening crunch.
As he landed, he was hit again by Genis, Raine, and Sheena.
"Ray!"
"Indignation!"
"Follow it up! Prism Shards!"
Orois barely had time to curse his own aura before he was hit with shards of light the size of minivans that blew a giant hole in the garage wall, leaving him cut and battered inside as bricks and mortar rained down upon him. Sheena didn't even give him a chance to stand.
"I call upon the source of Heaven and Earth and everything in between! The King of All! I summon thee, come, Origin!"
The four-armed man appeared and blasted the spell-sword with a powerful ray of white light. Orois was lifted up and thrown back against the inner wall, then slid down and fell facefirst onto the floor. He did not move.
"Whoa…where the hell did he come from! I though you said he was dead!" said Zelos.
"So did I …." Said Kratos.
"Oh well, we've finished him off now…" said Lloyd, striding over to Orois' unconscious form.
"Lloyd! Be careful! It will take more than that to fell him!" cautioned Yuan from the door.
"I've taken on Yggdrassil…how tough can he be?" asked Lloyd, to no one in particular.
"Little boy…some of us are more powerful than that fool…" a cold voice whispered.
"Huh? Who said that?" asked Lloyd, bending down over Orois.
"Lloyd! Look out!" shouted Regal. His warning came too late.
Orois shot out a black-gloved hand, grabbing Lloyd by the throat. Lloyd cried out and struggled to escape, but his efforts were in vain. Orois held fast to the red-lad youth. He brought up his other hand, and a spark flashed from his fingertip. Lloyd slumped and went limp, unconscious. Orois swirled his enshrouding robe, and they disappeared in a cloud of purple-black smoke.
Aaron, Kyle, and Sam got the shock of their life when, on their way out to help, Orois materialized in front of them. Sam immediately stepped into action, smacking him upside the head with a trusty skillet from the kitchen. Orois, seeing stars, staggered backwards, dropping Lloyd as he fell over Kyle's outstretched foot. He careened backwards, landing hard.
Grinning, Aaron took up his trusty duct tape.
Two hours later, he awoke. At first, all he saw was blackness. He could hear people moving around him, but the could not distinguish anything other than deep, impenetrable darkenss.
"Hey, he's awake." Said a female voice.
Click.
Instantly, bright light drilled into his eyes, turning total blackness into stark white. It was as if a miniature sun had ignited in front of his eyes. He cried out in pain and surprise. Slowly the pain faded, and the world came into focus. He was in a large room, lit only by a naked bulb hanging above him. He tried to move, but found he could not. He looked down, and saw he was bound in probably six rolls of duct tape to a stiff wooden chair. He was completely enshrouded up to his neck in the accursed grey tape. There was even a strip of the infernal substance across his mouth. Several people stood around his chair, only one of whom he recognized.
"…." Said Orois, matching frosty glares with the Seraphim.
"…" was Kratos' reply.
They stared at each other in total silence. Neither gave even an inch of ground in their battle of wills.
How in hell is he still alive? And what is he doing on earth? And why did he attack me? Kratos wondered silently, his icy gaze drilling into Orois.
What is that bastard doing here? On Earth? And how is he still alive? It's been what, 4000 years? He doesn't look any different! Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll still have my Jinchu! Orois held Kratos' gaze.
The tension in the air was so thick that you could slice it with a knife.
The two arch-enemies glared at each other, slowly leaning closer and closer until their fierce eyes were merely inches apart. You could almost see the sparks flying between them as they both struggled for the upper hand, neither willing to give in. The instant just before they both swore their eyes were going to explode…
Kratos slipped.
Overbalanced as he was, he couldn't stop himself as he tumbled foreward and smashed into Orois. Their faces collided, and Kratos grunted as blood dripped from his nose. Already a large lump was forming on Orois' forehead as his head lolled back, swirly-eyed.
After a few minutes of healing (as in a first aid spell for kratos and a bucket of cold water to wake up an unconscious Orois) the interrogation began.
Kratos glared at Orois.
Orois glared at Kratos.
"…" said Kratos.
"…" said Orois.
"OH MARTEL, GET ON WITH IT!" shouted Yuan. He stalked over to Orois and grasped the duct tape over his mouth. Orois had an instant to brace himself, and then…
RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Orois' scream echoed throughout the entire house and deafened all the occupants for a good ten minutes. When they recovered their hearing, Yuan spoke first.
"And just how the hell did you survive?" he questioned.
"That blast…ripped the fabric of spacetime…and sent me here, about four thousand years ago." He said, grimacing. The removal of the tape had apparently removed his lips too.
"And you're still alive…how, exactly?" asked Sheena.
"I believe we can answer that." Said Aaron. Kyle nodded.
Kratos raised an eyebrow. "You can?"
"Mm-hmm. He's got an exsphere in each dagger hilt." Said Kyle, holding the beautifully crafted knives.
"So what? We've got exspheres, but we're not immortal." Said Lloyd.
"Yeah…but these feel different. Different from normal exspheres and Cruxis Crystals." Said Aaron.
"How can you tell that? I can sense their mana signature, but I don't see how you can…" said Genis.
"Neither do we. We can just sorta sense the energy coming off it. The best way to describe it is like the tingling you feel right before lightning strikes." Said Kyle.
"Your exphere, Kratos' Cruxis Crystal, and these ones here all feel slightly different. I really don't get it." Said Aaron, looking as puzzled as Lloyd
Raine jumped into Ruin-Mode, her eyes practically glowing with excitement. "FASCINATING!" she exclaimed, jumping up. "To think that you, who've never been exposed to exsphere resonations can instinctively tell..." she trailed off, then lunged at the frightened pair of Terrans. "I…MUST…EXAMINE!" With that, she began to chase them around the room. Sam joined the chase to save her little brother from his imminent dissection.
"Raine! Cut it out!" she cried as they ran upstairs, "Listen to my, you ruin-crazed maniac!"
Zelos chuckled. "Yep, that's my Ultra Cool Beauty for ya."
Sheena cuffed him. "Give it a rest for once." She said, rolling her eyes.
Orois watched all this with a sort of detached amusement. Unbeknownst to them, he had already freed his hands beneath the duct tape, and was reaching for his hidden knife. Soon it would be time. He just had to wait a little longer…
"Now." Said Kratos, turning back to him, "How did you live this long?"
"If I had one guess, it'd be that all that energy mutated my exspheres."
"Hmm."
"…"
"What have you done…these four thousand years?"
"I've been in a country called Japan. A long time ago, they were a very militaristic society. I fit right in. I had the time of my life during the Bakumatsu…they called me a Hitokiri…I met this wonderful man named Enishi…good times, good times." He sighed, obviously recalling past experiences. "So. A Cruxis Crystal. I should have known…"
"What do you mean?" asked Kratos. He couldn't have known of Cruxis Crystals, he head 'died' before Mithos first produced them.
"You think those pathetic Terrans upstairs are the only ones who've played your videogame?"
"Ah." Said Kratos. Inwardly, he was disturbed that a world's worth of people knew so much about him.
"Speaking of Enishi…" Orois said, "He had a little policy he lived by. It said: If Heaven will not cast judgment, then we on earth will take it upon ourselves. He called it Jinchu. You asked why I survived, Kratos. I survived to deliver the judgment Heaven has neglected to give you. I have come, Kratos, for Jinchu."
With those ominous words, a knife sprouted from the duct tape binding Orois and he slit himself free. Before anyone could react, he dropped his shoulder and slammed Kratos in the gut, sending him flying backwards into Sheena, Zelos, Colette, and Regal. All five collapsed. He dashed across the room, and repelled an attack by Presea with a roundhouse kick that sent her sailing into Genis, knocking them both out. He rushed at Lloyd, but was stopped as Yuan's blade sailed past his face like a buzzsaw of death. He jumped back to avoid it, but found himself flying towards the wall again as he was hit in the back. Before Regal's handiwork could take it's full effect, he vanished in a cloud of purple-black smoke.
(Insert "Full Force" Here)
"Quickly! Upstairs!" yelled Kratos.
Orois once again appeared in the living room. Snatching up his knives from where Aaron had apparently dropped them as he fled from Raine, he made a dash for the door.
"NOW!" yelled a voice. A cord was pulled taut, and Orois found himself hurtling facefirst toward the unforgiving wooden floor. Tucking quickly, he rolled to absorb the impact and sprang out of the roll into a kick that sent Raine to the floor. Pushing off, he leapt nimbly back across the room to engage the remainder of the company.
"Get him!" yelled Zelos, rushing in with his sword drawn. Orois countered the slash with an X parry, and a kick to the groin sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.
Colette was the next to fall. Her sailing chakrams were sliced in half by Orois' flashing knives, and a pommel to the temple felled her.
Presea ran at the assassin, her axe raised. Orois dodged her strikes with inhuman reflexes, and a sharp blow to the neck with his hand sent her down.
"PRESEA!" yelled Genis. He didn't even bother with spells. He rushed in and tried to whack Orois with his kendama. His slow attack was dodged like it wasn't even there, and a boot to the face sent the little tyke sailing backwards, sprawled unconscious overtop the love of his life.
Regal lasted a bit longer, as even Orois had a hard time keeping pace with the expert fighter. Greaves rang on knives as they flashed across the space, jumping tables, chairs, and bookcases as they fought. As Regal leapt backwards over the couch, his foot snagged, and that was all Orois needed to get in the blow that ended it.
Sheena's cards, even magically reinforced as they were, were still nothing but paper in the face of razors. They were shredded, and Sheena quickly fell to a flurry of blows that even ninja reflexes couldn't defend against.
Next, he was charged by the three terrans, wielding a strange array of makeshift weapons. Aaron stayed back, chucking steak knives with suprising accuracy. Orois caught them or deflected them away with his blades, but it was distracting enough that Kyle could get in a couple of shots in with a pool cue. One of them hit Orois in the temple, giving Sam a change to bean him with a three-foot rod of pepperoni. It broke in half, and Orois turned the pool cue to sawdust, freed from the distraction of Aaron's knives, as he had run out. The earthlings retreated as Yuan and Kratos advanced.
They slashed and parried and riposted, neither party gaining an inch, but not giving an inch either. Kyle couldn't help but be reminded of the final battle scene in Star Wars: Episode I with Darth Maul vs. Qui-gon and Obi-wan. They danced a dance of death across the deck, dodging with lightning speed, slashes and stabs missing by nanometers. The scale of battle was still perfectly balanced. At least, until Lloyd joined the fray.
"Dad! I've got a plan!" cried Lloyd.
"No! Lloyd, stay back! He's after you!" yelled Kratos.
"Actually, I'm after you, dear Kratos." Said Orois, in that sort of whisperey voice that you can somehow hear no matter how noisy it is.
"Just follow my lead!" Shouted Lloyd, "Rising Phoenix!"
Kratos took the hint. "Hurricane Thrust!"
Yuan followed suit, "Thunder Explosion!"
"Follow it up! TRI-ELEMENT STRIKE!" Kratos shot along the ground, Lloyd jumped up and came in above him, and Yuan somersaulted up and came down from above.
Orois was hit like he'd only been hit once before. Pierced in three places, he was battered by wind and rain, scorched by flame, and electrocuted by lightning all at the same time.
He fell to his knees. He bled heavily on the decking, but there was a cold smile on his face. As he began to stand, cool blue light flooded from his mutant exspheres, bathing his wounds with their healing rays. He stood completely, and his wounds were gone. With renewed vigor, he flashed back into the fight. Yuan was down in an instant, draped across the deck railing. Kratos was locked once again in a duel with his enemy. Lloyd could only look on helplessly as his father struggled. Then…it happened. Kratos' reserves finally gave. His defense faltered. Orois struck. Kratos staggered, and fell to one knee as Orois backhanded hin with the flat of his blade. Lloyd ran in with a cry of "DAAAAAD!" but Orois fell on him in a whirlwind of strikes. Lloyd was no match, and was soon bleeding from dozens of light cuts. Tired from the fight, he knew he didn't have a chance, but he kept fighting on. He had to. He had to protect his friends and the ones he loved.
"Lights out, Lloyd." Said Orois. The last thing Lloyd saw was a black-gloved fist coming straight for his face. To tired to bring his defense up quickly enough, he slipped into darkness again.
Orois quickly grabbed Lloyd and leapt up onto the deck railing. Kratos looked up to his enemy's face. Orois was silhouetted against the crescent moon that was his symbol, holding his son unconscious over his shoulder.
"Kratos…know this before I go. You've failed. You've failed Anna, and you've failed your son. Let that haunt you, and know that this is only the beginning."
He vanished.
Evil, I know. Not only the cliffie, but the long wait as well. Well, I apologize. I needed this beta-ed and then I couldn't get to my computer for a couple of days. So here you are.
Thanks for reviews, the next installment's comin' soon.
Bye.
