Chapter 51

Yay... past 100,000 words on this work.

Ha... that feeling when you write a certain part of a chapter before E3.

I felt groggy, and damn my head hurt.

"Ugh..." I opened my eyes with a sigh, cracking my neck with a hiss of pain. "Ow! That hurts..." Letting the pain fade I sensed the presence of someone nearby, yet not hostile. With little strength inside of me I managed to stand and address whoever's there. "Hi."

"Hello." It was Virgil, in a meditation-like stance. His arms rested on his crossed legs and his eyes were closed. "So you're awake."

"Yeah." I looked around. The room was dark, with vertical bars blocking much of any possible view I had.

Wait, vertical bars?

I frowned, walking forward. The bars were cold and rusty when I touched them.

At that moment I felt the cold spread throughout my entire body, and I grunted as a brief painful feeling rushed through my wounds... which I should've had, like, I ton more of. What the heck?

"My guess is they healed us mostly so they could easily make us Faced Mechon," spoke Virgil, eyes still closed. "Yet no enough so we could just break out of this cell."

"Y'know, I feel like they woulda just drugged us," I spoke.

"Eh... maybe Egil wants us Outsiders to have sharp senses so we can immediately go out there and fight." Virgil opened his eyes and stood up, cracking his neck and stretching.

I was quiet, shaking the bars. Linked to the ground, and my lack of current strength made punching through them would be next to impossible. "Huh..." I let out a sigh. "Hm..." Reaching out with my senses, I noticed that they were no swords of any kind in the nearby vicinity. "Man... they took our swords away."

"Yeah, makes my damn blood boil," muttered Vergil. "So..." He looked to me now. "What do you wanna do?"

I sub-consciously held my right hand to my left arm and rubbed it. At that second I felt the cold metal of a ring contrast against my rather warm body. Pausing, I switched hands and felt the ring on my right arm.

"Hmph!" My gauntlets and greaves formed, forming just over my hands like they always did.

Vergil smirked. Holding out his arms, his own larger gauntlets formed, as did his greaves. Increased his height maybe a half foot, I guessed.

"Y'know... I should've figured," he spoke. "These gauntlets are pretty small and stuff, easy to miss."

"Still don't think I could personally punch through it though," I mused. "Huh..." And my Soul Trigger reserves... of course, they're drained. "Hey." I turned to Vergil again. "Punch me a few times."

"Gonna restore enough energy to morph?" he spoke, settling into a ready stance.

"Well, I bet you wouldn't be willing to get punched a few times just to break out, yeah?"

"RAH!" He slammed his fists into me.

Already I could sense the internal bleeding, the organs being shoved as my body was thrown aside, some arteries breaking, ribs breaking and shattering.

"UGH!" I staggered back, eyes clenched shut. "Ow... that... really hurts!" I panted out with a groan. Yet, a fleeting energy started to rise from within me. "Man..." I sighed, opening my eyes again. "Okay, fine, let's do this."

It was painful.

"Well that was fun!" grinned Vergil as he followed me out of the cell, bars forced out of the ground itself to be lain haphazardly on the ground.

"For you," I muttered, reverting to normal. "It freaking hurt."

"Heh. Your idea!" Vergil rushed out the narrow doorway into a bright hallway. "C'mon, let's go!"

I rolled my eyes and dashed out behind him. I looked out and paused. "Huh... where are we?"

"It kinda seems like we're on an airship or something." Virgil smirked. "Heh. Memories of playing Etrian Odyssey IV are coming back. Good game."

"I didn't really like it," I spoke without thinking. "Though... only played the demo, so... eh." I shrugged as the two of us walked down one of two directions down the hallway. "The airship felt kinda weird to me."

"You kidding? That part was great!" spoke the Outsider. "Hmph... well, for me. You have... eh taste in video games."

"Hey, screw you," I muttered. "Hm... huh?" I peered around a corner and into a large, dark room. I could sense stuff... something large and metallic, smaller chunks of metallic sharpness, and...

"It's our swords," spoke Vergil, walking closer to the pieces of metallic sharpness.

"You can tell?" I spoke.

"Yeah... it's like my sensitivity to the world just got jacked up a bunch," he replied, tossing one of the long, slender metal pieces. As it neared me I could sense it was my sword.

Catching it I settled the blade on my back. "Alright... ARGH?!" I gasped as lights suddenly flashed. "Ugh..." I shook my head with a grunt. "What..." My throat went dry as soon as I saw what that large metallic object was.

"That's Egil's Mechon," I spoke, my hands clenching into a fist. "Yaldabaoth, I think... and if it's here..."

"So you Outsiders have awoken."

I turned towards the voice. "Egil."

"Andrew." He stared back at me. "The Outsider from another world."

"You know my name?" I wondered aloud. "Huh... I don't think we've interacted that much? I mean..."

"Mechon drones," spoke Virgil, hand on his katana. "Bet he tailed your group."

"And you... Virgil, one Outsider of many." Egil smiled.

Loud cracks rushed through the air. I looked behind me and whipped my sword out to deflect a punch. "Whoa?!" I staggered back from the impact.

"Hey." A smirk, and I could now fully see the metal armour encasing the person before me. "It's been a while, Andrew."

That... I stared hard at the fighter, squinting. Then the memory of a fiery punch and kick came back to me. "Tyler."

"Bingo." He snapped his fingers.

"Tyler?!" Virgil stared at the Machina Outsider. "You... the hell happened to you?!"

"I cut him down," I spoke out of reflex.

"You..." Virgil growled. "I'm really gonna kill you."

"If I don't do it first." Tyler rushed to me. My attention snapped to him and I raised my sword, striking to deflect a punch, leaping over a kick, then-

"...!" I grimaced at the pain howling through my wounds, and a punch knocked me into a wall, bending it upon impact. "Ugh!"

I rose with a grunt. "This is going to be great fun." I paused, frowning. "Where'd Egil..." There! I stared towards his Mechon, and his voice rushed from it.

"Now, perish, Outsiders! You shall become Faced ones like your friend here!" he shouted.

"He's not my friend!" I spoke.

"Hmph. Tyler wouldn't attack me, we're best-" Virgil was cut off as he swung his katana to block a punch. "Ugh... Tyler, the hell are you doing?!"

"I..." Tyler smiled. "Can't... stop..."

He can't...? "Huh?" I froze as a familiar presence came out, albeit covered up somewhat by several metals. "No..."

Jake grinned. "Miss me?"

"Not really if I'm honest," I replied. "I mean, fighting you sucked. Your usage of Ether freaking, just... ugh."

Jake laughed. "Aw, c'mon, man, don't be that way!" He drew his sword. "Let's have some fun."

How generic. I stared hard at the Outsider before me. "Geh... fine." I breathed out. "But I ain't gonna lose."

He smiled. "With a spirit like that, my brother would be proud at how far you've come."

"Would he now." I swung and our blades met. "Well... uh... he... might be if I... don't cut you down?"

Jake sighed. "Seriously. That the best you've got?" He slashed, knocking me off balance before a swift kick forced me to the floor.

I got up, my peripheral vision noting Vergil's blade clashing with new metallic gauntlets of Tyler's before dodging a swipe from Jake. "Tch!" With a groan I rolled, using my greave to deflect a stab with a kick. "Damn...!" I'm hurt and he's really strong, probably 'cause of his new Mechon body! This one's a doozy. I sighed, brandishing my sword. "Stab Strike!" I took a long step forward as I forced the blade forward.

"That's what I want to see!" Jake grinned, snapping his fingers. A large circle of Ether rose in front of me, blocking the Art.

I can't sense him? I frowned. Is the Ether jamming my senses...? Stepping back I looked around. "Huh..."

Jake leapt over his shield, a faint green glow surrounding his sword as he struck. "RARGH!"

I grunted, managing to pull my sword out in Whip Slash, reflecting his attack. "Cross Slash...!" I lunged, a wide cut across the chest before he could fully recover. Yes!

"RRGH!" Jake roared, his Soul Demon materializing. "Alright... now you've got me mad!"

"Good!" I utilized my own Soul Demon, and the translucent beings crossed blades. I found a smile on my face as the demons' swords clashed several times. "Let's rock!"

Jake laughed. "Confident, yeah?!" He leapt closer, the faint glow of Ether around his sword stronger now. "Well, that's good!"

"Is it now..." I grunted, moving back for a wider swing he evaded. "Tch!" Manipulating the Demon, mine slashed several times more, which Jake's own Demon countered against. "Hah..." I clutched at my wounds. That probably wasn't such a great idea. I hissed and formed the greaves. And the Soul Demon thing... no way mine will outlast his!

Jake frowned, pausing. "Huh..." His Soul Demon faded away. "What're you thinking there...?" He brandished his blade, causing some Ether to land on the ground near me.

I released my own Demon and took a step back, swallowing. "Thinking about how I'm gonna beat your ass."

"Hm... nice." His eyes narrowed. "Kinda wonder how you got the ability to manipulate a second Soul Trigger, though. Hm... probably 'cause you're the special Outsider."

"You say that like it's so desirable," I spoke. Hm... wonder what'd happen if I jumped out the nearest window...

Aw, geez. Those random thoughts are coming back. What'm I gonna think about next-

STOP SHIPPING RWBY CHARACTERS! Except for Ren and Nora, that's definitely canon. Ooh, and... hm... they should make freakin'... Devil May Cry 5 already! Though not a Stella Glow 2, the multiple endings for that would make it near impossible, and the fact that the developer, Imagepoche or something fairly close to that, has gone out for bankruptcy, and maybe I should go catch up on RWBY, only watched Season 4 before it lost my interest. Oh, and that one thing on YouTube explaining My Hero Academia as Badly as Possible, damn, gonna go watch that again, that rocked.

I palmed my face. "Bloody hell." I flinched as sudden movement processed through my senses, crossing my arms to guard against a diagonal cut. "Ugh!" Pushing back, I forced the other swordsman back. Gonna maintain focus for now, though...

And Corrin with Azura, though not really Lucina and Robin anymore. Hm... kinda like our favourite scale-tipping tactician with Sumia or Say'ri... not Olivia, like her too much with Henry, so-

"STOP IT!" I shouted. "UGH! DAMNIT!"

Jake deadpanned. "I haven't even done anything to you."

I shook my head. "Ugh... no, not you, just... the weird thoughts in my head likely to end up having detrimental effects on my health and wellbeing considering you want to kill me at the moment."

"Huh. Well..." His Soul Trigger activated once again. "Hope you're not distracted now... that wouldn't be fun."

"...Maybe." I utilized my own Soul Trigger, using a swift punch to knock back his ghastly demon's sword slash. "Alright..." Gotta end this quick before his Ether gets to me. I crushed an invisible tarot card within my grasp, activating my Time Slow Talent Art. "Gotcha!" I pulled out my sword, thrusting it forward, right at his throat. "Jackpot!"

A few inches from his throat he moved with an astonishing swiftness, deflecting my stab with a bare hand to instead cause it to graze his neck's side. "Yo..." Jake's demon thrust forward, and I gasped as it impaled through a rather impressive amount of my body.

"Ugh... RRGH..." I growled as the sword lifted me into the air. I have to...!

"And to your earlier comment... yeah, kinda desirable to be the special Outsider. After all... you have a freer will then the rest of us put together."

"Wha..." I gasped. No, have to focus! "ARGH!" I forced the Soul Demon to manifest, and it cut off the blade of Jake's demon.

"Huh?!" He staggered back. "What the... hmph."

I fell on my feet, ripping out the sword still within me, which faded within my grasp. "Hah..." I've lost too much blood... and even with my Soul Trigger active, this really hurts! I swallowed, staggering. "Ugh..." I recoiled as Ether splashed on me. "Nuh!"

"..." Jake stabbed me. "I'm gonna take your power... like how you took mine."

"How cryptic," I mumbled, before he ripped his sword out my side. "TCH?!"

He leapt away. "My turn to say jackpot." He grinned, reaching out to his face with his free hand. He mimicked ripping a mask off, his skin darkening, clothes seeming to mend together into a long cloak. He smiled, lips a red line.

I glanced down to myself. Huh. My clothes kinda fuse together too. I looked back up. "So... you have two Soul Triggers now, yeah?"

"Just like you," he smirked. "Ever wonder how?"

"Not at the expense of a ton of exposition," I replied. "I can only stay like this for so long, plus if this were a game or a book or something, that would break the pacing in half."

Jake shrugged. "Fair. I will say that it depends on the Outsider's willpower, though." He moved forward.

My grip on time must've slipped, because he had landed a cut to the back of my shoulder before I could shift to face him.

"Ugh!" I winced. He's too strong... I can't face him! I withdrew my sword, dashing away. How to escape, though...?!

Tyler was in front of me, the intensity of his fire licking me before his fist knocked me against the side of the room, causing a dent.

"Damn." I wiped blood from my nose. The Soul Demon was gone now.

Wait... a dent?

I sensed the infrastructure's bonding were weaker at my back, likely due to the fact I was punched into it.

If I can cut through it...

Geez, what am I, Zoro?

I shook my head and stood, drawing my sword. "Well, that wouldn't be so bad."

"What would?" Jake slashed, and I raised an arm out of instinct, the gauntlet coming as an afterthought.

A great afterthought, however, as he landed a harsh, jagged slash to the limb instead of cutting it all off.

He used a palm to slam me deeper into the wall. "Hmph... trying to run?"

I spat out blood. "You're not wrong." C'mon... just a little more and... I reverted with a gasp. "Ugh..." At the same time, time rushed back to normal.

Tyler was in front of me, a kick slamming me deeper into the widening indent.

"You... GET BACK HERE, TYLER!" roared Virgil, and I could sense projected slashes rush forth and graze the two Outsiders in front of me, making them stagger.

Now.

I concentrated a swift, sloppy aura around my sword and stabbed it backwards. The hole I punched through caused a cool, harsh wind to blow in.

"Rah...!" I growled, increasing the aura's intensity, managing to rip a narrow vertical line in the side.

Jake grunted. "Trying to escape, huh?!"

I whipped my head back to him, blocking a wide swing. His strength was enough to force me through the small hole, and I hissed as it ripped the skin around my back and both arms off, causing my bleeding to worsen.

"You... YOU'RE NOT ESCAPING THAT EASY!" I hear someone speak. and a humanoid shape lunged through the now larger gap after me.

Shit! I thought. That's not good! "Ugh!" What am I gonna...?!

A platform of pure ice formed below me, and I let out a loud gasp as I hit it, hissing as it cooled my exposed lower layers of skin.

"Hey, Andrew!" I heard someone call, and I opened my eyes to see Shulk land beside me. "Whoa," he grunted. "Slippery..."

"Wha..." I looked around. "Where... how'd you get here?"

"A vision," he replied, drawing the Monado. "That ship was in it, so...!" He swung, causing Jake to block. However, Shulk's greater strength was enough so that the Outsider was forced back, and he fell, missing the platform. "When I saw you drop out of it, I knew you'd need help."

I groaned. "Thanks... to say the least..." I sighed. "I'm a messed up at the moment."

"I can see." Shulk looked over the side, at Jake. "Hm... alright, let's go back so Sharla can patch you up." He helped me up, supporting most of his weight. "Melia!" he shouted.

I looked forward, and the princess utilized her staff, creating more ice platforms to the two of us back to the rest of the party.

"Phew..." Shulk took a leap, then another, and we were back on solid ground within a few moments.

I grunted, falling. "Oof," I spoke. "That's a lotta damage..."

"That's an understatement," spoke Sharla, shooting a round into me. "Geez... do you even know how worried we were, with Shulk telling us you went off to go fight someone?"

"I don't if I'm honest," I replied, standing with a wince. "Though you're free to lament at me about how I'm an idiot."

Melia sighed. "Do not act so foolishly," she spoke. "After Dunban died..." Her eyes closed and the princess looked away before continuing. "I have no desire to have to face another companion's death."

"Yeah, sorry." I released a sigh of my own. "I..." Don't. "Promise not to get so reckless."

"Good!" chirped Riki. "Riki worried about Andrew after he no see him when Riki go for his shift!"

Hm... if Sharla heals via Ether... she's weakening me to heal me, I thought. Ain't that a bit of a contradiction? I shook my head. "Whatever."

"What is it?" asked Shulk, removing his chin from his hand.

"Nothing." I grunted. "Are we moving out?"

"Yeah." Shulk walked forward. "C'mon, guys... we have a lot of ground to cover."

The party followed, though I gestured to Sharla to wait a brief moment.

"Thanks for healing me without asking questions," I spoke, scratching my hair. "It's... definitely something I don't thank you enough for."

She nodded. "Well, I feel that it isn't my business to pry too much unless you want to tell me." She reloaded her gun; it was a different one then before.

Different...? How? I frowned.

"Something wrong?" asked Sharla, looking back. She had moved forward. "Do you still have wounds that need healing?"

"Oh..." I checked myself over. "Nah... I'm good. Thanks, again."

She nodded. "Like Melia said... none of us want to see you dead." Her gaze hardened for a second. "So it'd be nice if you stopped taking off by yourself like that. Bring at least one of us along, okay?"

"Mm... alright." I saw her give a satisfied nod, before running after everyone else.

I let out a breath. Better catch up with them, too.

I looked up to see the ship moving farther away, to a large structure in the distance.

As I began to move after the party, I felt something tingle at my weak, Ether-overdosed senses.

Whatever it was, it gave me a bad feeling.