Chapter 46

"Ugh!" I gasped, staggering from blocking a stab. "Crap...!" I rolled from a downwards strike, lunging with a punch Reyn blocks with a palm. "Rrgh..."

"Bone Upper!" he shouted, and I slid away from the uppercut. "Dive Sobat!"

"Damn!" I staggered, feeling my legs' muscles slow down. "Huh...!" I concentrated an aura around both gauntlets and shot them forward.

Reyn shifted his Driver to a defensive mode, running forward while blocking the shockwaves. "Lariat!" he yelled, stabbing into me.

"Tch...!" I summoned the Soul Demon, and it punched Reyn back.

"Whoa...! What is that?" asked Reyn, recovering.

The Demon... its weapon it wields is based on I'm using...? I drew my sword, and the Soul Demon produced a ghastly blade.

"Rrgh..." Reyn stopped, though his pupils dilated and returned to normal before lunging again. "RARGH!"

I let out a groan as I willed the Demon to slash forward with a movement of my blade. Reyn rolled from the slash and changed his Driver to... why is it-

"OH FUDGE-DOODLES AND POPSICLES!" I willed the Demon to fade and dodged the projectiles that came flying out of his weapon.

"HAMMER SWING!" shouted Reyn as he moved forward.

"Ugh...! Cross Slash!" I grunted, deflecting the Art before tossing my sword up and punching as the gauntlets formed.

Reyn grunted as he defended from the furious assault of punches. "RAGE!"

I let out a slight gasp as I sensed my punches weaken, the very foundation of muscle starting to break down a bit. I leapt over him as I used the Soul Trigger form, grabbing my sword as I landed behind him.

Reyn flinched and started to turn.

"AURA SLASH!" I roared, slashing his back as the shockwave sent him flying.

Reyn grunted, sliding to a halt. "MAGNUM CHARGE!" he shouted. "And... SWORD DRIVE!"

I willed the Demon to return, wincing at the pain as my existence shifted, unstable. "SOUL STAB WAVE!"

Reyn howled in agony as he was pierced. "UGH...!"

"Sorry," I panted, letting myself revert as well as the Soul Demon, concentrating a massive shockwave around my blade. "It's over, Reyn."

"No... it's not."

I grunted as a massive Mechon suit descended from somewhere, and Reyn stood.

"I won't let you!" I released the shockwave at him, though the Mechon drew its weapon, a Driver, dividing the shockwave, which slammed into the nearby walls, leaving deep scars.

"Damn," I groaned as the half-Mechon (I think?) Reyn entered his Mobile Suit and powered it up. "That's not good."

"SWORD DRIVE!" roared Reyn inside the Mechon, stabbing through me as it struck.

Right through the stomach...! I coughed out blood as I morphed, howling as I struggled to push the Driver's tip away.

"UGH!" I gasped as we stopped, slamming me into a wall. "Shoot...!"

"RARGH!" Reyn's Mechon kept accelerating forward, starting to bury me in the foundation of the dirt itself.

I grit my teeth. Only one way out of this.

With a growl I shoved the Driver to one side, starting to tear the tip sideways through my body as I strained against it.

"What the..." I heard Reyn say, eyes widening. "He's..."

Gritting my teeth together I fell to the side, ascending with the usage of my wings. "RARGH!" I let myself fall as I reverted to normal.

"LARIAT!" roared Reyn, the massive Driver rushing at me.

I winced, using the Soul Demon, punching. "GAH!" I recoiled back at impact, and groaned as I slid along the ground. "Dammit!" Upon finally stopping to a halt, the Demon faded away.

I threw up blood. "UGH..."

I gasped, wiping blood from my mouth as I dodged the Driver, which slammed into the ground as Reyn used Hammer Swing.

"Maybe if I..." Taking off in a swift run I ran up the side of the Driver, before leaping onto an arm.

"Sweet!" I smirked, using a gauntlet to punch a small hole through the arm. "Just SHIT!"

Reyn leapt out and forced his Driver forward, forcing me into a wall. "NOW IT'S REYN TIME!"

"Crap...!" I drew my sword, and deflected his attacks.

This is too easy... I just place it in front of me and it rebounds with so much force! I thought, before jumping away from another attack.

"Geez... STAND STILL, YA JOKA!" howled Reyn, charging forward. "SWORD DRIVE!"

"Gotcha." I reflected his attack with Defensive Reversal, and threw my sword into the air again as my gauntlets formed.

"Gomu-Gomu No... GATLING!" I roared, forcing him back. "Heh... hah... Stream Lunge!" I declared, making up a name as I lunged forward for yet another punch, this time to his face, and Reyn slammed into a nearby wall.

Catching my sword out of the air, I started to move forward when I collapsed due to the sudden insanity of weight crashing on me.

"GWURGH?!" I gasped, coughing into the sand as the foot of Reyn's Mechon crushed me. "ARGH!" I felt and sensed all the bones in my left arm break and pop out of place, expected given I had used it to catch my fall- or tried to, anyway. "RRGH...!"

"Huh... guess I should'a listened better when Mumkhar told me about that remote control stuff..." groaned Reyn, staggering towards me. "Damn... you got me pretty good, Andrew! I didn't know you were that strong."

A scream ripped out as my spine started to crack and split apart in several places.

The pain. The agony. The...

"ARGH!" I screamed as more pain beat on my senses, more bones breaking, muscles ripping, ribs shattering. "UGH-GWAH-WAH!"

"Sorry, man... but it's over." Reyn raised his Driver, wobbling a bit. "Your pain... it's over.

"IT'S REYN TIME!"

"I..."

That was my voice, right? I could talk?

"I will..."

I spat out blood as I struggled still to not be crushed into the ground.

Through the terrible pain, I forced my left palm on the ground, trying to push up.

"HAMMER SWING!" shouted Reyn.

"RARGH..." I transformed, the wings shattering as I strained, almost like the glass popping out whenever an Evoker got pointed to your head and Orpheus just- Need... more...!

I used Time Slow and managed to change my grip on my sword to a reverse grip, though sideways due to being forced on the ground.

A shockwave engulfed the sword and I rose a little. A growl came out somewhere with a little blood as I forced the broken bones of my left arm back in place by just slamming the limb into the ground.

Reyn was moving so slowly now. So damn slow. In fact...

"RRGH...!" I gasped, and forced the Soul Demon to appear in front of me, controlling its movements with my mind as I closed my eyes.

The Demon sprang up and used a shockwave-enhanced blade to cut through the leg that was crushing me.

The weight vanished, and I could breathe again- if I needed to.

"HAH-RAH!" I got to one knee and forced Reyn away with a slash to the torso, any place on his body, anywhere, just enough to-

Our weapons slammed together.

I managed a weak grunt as I leapt back, as the Soul Demon charged forward.

"MAGNUM CHARGE!" howled Reyn. "I WILL-..." He stopped. "I will..."

"SOUL AURA SLASH!" I roared, and he raised his Driver, which blocked the slash with ease.

"I'm gonna end you... and then find Shulk." Reyn glared at me. "SWORD DRIVE!"

"SOUL STAB STRIKE!" I screamed, and the Demon shattered as it struck true against the Driver. "AGHRUFGH!"

The explosion in my right arm. The pain. Oh god, the damn, endless pain. How I ever took it, endured, suffered through it was...

"UGH...!" Reyn staggered as his Driver broke into about twenty-five pieces.

I dragged my feet over to him, and he stared as I slashed his throat.

He fell to the ground.

Then I returned to normal and collapsed.

I couldn't scream. That just made it hurt more.

Couldn't move unless I wanted the pain to try and kill me even harder.

Problem was I was still bleeding. Eventually I would just bleed out.

"I... am gonna survive," I mumbled somehow through the pain. "I..."

Then the world collapsed underneath me.

Due to being face down, I saw the sea, the overwhelming blue as I fell.

I also saw a small beach where some birds rested.

There was... what was that, actually? Looked like a massive, thick pillar... And another one near it.

The legs of the Bionis?

No, these were dark, they had to be the Mechonis.

And if that were true, then-

All of it substituted for black when I crashed into the water.