We stood on the wing of the sinking aircraft, looking around for any escape. Sure, I could fly, but they couldn't and I wouldn't leave them behind. Luckily, a helicopter flew in above us and Luka dove out, landing on the wing with his grapple still attached to reel us back up. "Let's go!" He said, reaching out to us.
"Luka! You came through!" I said happily.
[I told you there was a reason to keep him around!]
But before we could reach him, there was a huge splash in the distance, like something massive jumping out of the water. Bayonetta looked at me and nodded, before holding Cereza out to Luka. "Mummy! Mummy!" Cereza cried as she was handed to Luka.
"It's OK, little one, I'll be right back." Bayonetta said, drawing her guns and stepping into a portal to Purgatorio.
I sighed, knowing I'd have to fight where I'd be in the most danger I could possibly be in, before smirking. "Okay, I guess we're doing this now." I said, stepping through to Purgatorio as well.
[Fighting in your greatest weakness. Gotta give you credit for bravery.]
"Mummy! Mummy!" She cried as she was whisked to the chopper with the reporter.
We saw something cutting through the water at high speeds, before lunging out at us and attacking, destroying the wing of the plane and forcing us to jump to a new platform. "The woman fled so swiftly. I am reminded why we have come to rely upon the unreliable nature of humanity." The angel said, now standing on the water in front of us to reveal itself: a giant lizard with wings and an upside-down shark head with horns and no eyes. "A valuable lesson, but not my purpose." It prattled on, annoying Bayonetta, who grabbed a nearby pole. "I have come to evaluate you and determine whether you are worthy of your role in the resurrection of the Creator, Jubileus." Sapentia said, before Bayonetta threw the pole, keeping its mouth open and stopping it from talking more.
"I don't know what this guy's saying, but he's sounding like a DC villain, SO long-winded." I said.
[There's being menacing, then there's just being annoying.]
Bayonetta smirked at her silencing of the angel, licking her finger and touching her hip, making a hissing noise like steam. "Another talkative type. I don't think I've got time to entertain your blather. I'd much rather hear it straight from your boss." Bayonetta said.
The angel appeared to laugh at this. "You speak of our "boss"!? The resurrection 500 years ago fell victim to his human ineptitude, and we were unable to revive the Creator. However, I must thank the Sage for his witch hunts. His impetus eradicated a vile clan from this Earth." The angel explained.
"The witch hunts?" Bayonetta asked.
"Well, sorry to tell you, buddy, but Witch hunting season is over. Now it's angel season!" I said, leaping towards the angel, a blue fireball in each hand, before a massive jet of water rose from nowhere and slammed into me, sending me back to the wing with Bayonetta.
"Sai!" She said worriedly as we looked up to see who did that as he stood on the angel's head.
It was a guy with ocean blue eyes and hair, short and unkempt in the front while flowing wildly in the back. He wore a long, sleeveless, incredibly worn and tattered black trench coat with long, claw fingered gloves that went halfway up his upper arm, blue tattered pants with the left leg ripped off below the knee and shoes that looked like 3-toed dragon feet. "No, no, no, Cousin! That isn't right! It's Sai season! And the only Sai here is-" He started, before gasping and pointing at me. "You." He finished, laughing maniacally. He was voiced by Chris Parson, the voice of Junkrat.
[Oh, this guy...]
"Raijin!" I snapped. (Rye-Jean)
"That's me, alright! Dear old Daddy's been getting pretty mad at you ruining all our plans and killing my siblings, so he sent me in. You know, the guy who has powers over water, your exact weakness! Should've thought of it sooner, really. And they say I'M crazy!" He said, laughing again.
"Why are you doing this, Raijin?! You like humans! You love watching all the crazy shit they do!" I said.
"Yeah, but Pops doesn't like them and wants to enslave them. And he's one guy you don't piss off. I'm not THAT crazy! I don't want him to smack me around like he did Shuya! I have common sense!" He said.
[Dick.]
"Is your entire family this insane?" Bayonetta asked.
"He's the craziest one. And he's about to be done. Because now it's Raijin season!" I said.
"Only if you can get through my water!" He shouted, throwing a wrecking-ball sized water sphere at me.
"I have learned that the only way to defeat water... Is to BURN IT!" I said, creating a beach ball-sized fireball in my hands and launching it at the sphere, evaporating it into steam.
[Okay, seriously. Are you trying to put that on a shirt or something?]
"I've done the joke 3 times. It can now be retired.
"Thanks to his efforts, this town has become a source of strength and we've gained a foothold strong enough to orchestrate the Creator's resurrection. All that remains is awakening the Left Eye, and uniting the Eyes of the World. Then the new era of creation shall arrive!" Sapentia said, striking our platform and shattering it, forcing us to jump onto and surf on pieces of scrap.
"Come on, Sai! Come and play in the big boy pool!" Raijin taunted, following me on his own personal water spout.
"If I must, then I must." I said, clasping my hands together. "Oh, merciful Suijin, take pity on this demonic mariner." I pleaded to the god of water, readying myself for the fight.
Background Music: "Maelstrom" from The Pirates of The Caribbean
Bayonetta surfed around the angel as it slowly chased after her, firing fireballs and energy beams from the small angel faces on its legs. Bayonetta dodged the assault and activated Witch Time, attacking the monster's front right leg with Durga, unleashing a flurry of Wicked Fists that clawed and smacked the leg's weak point, destroying the angel face just as Witch Time ended, heading to the right rear leg, dodging more energy beams and even some missiles, freezing time once again and using the moment to destroy the face on the rear leg, causing the angel to dive below the surface.
Meanwhile, I was surfing on my own piece of debris, using Ghostshade to fire waves and beams of darkness at Raijin, who fired back a me with giant water fists or grenades from his gauntlets. He sent a huge wave at me, but I used a fireball to punch a hole through it just big enough for me to safely pass through, jumping up at Raijin and slicing at him several times, jumping back and shooting my hands forward, blasting him back with a basketball-sized dark fireball from both swords.
Back with Bayonetta, she surfed around, waiting for the angel to make its move, before it snapped at her from below like a Great White Shark breaching the water to snatch prey, forcing her to dodge. It fell back beneath the surface and chased after her, snapping at her again, before swimming along the surface with its fin slicing through the water like a shark, leaping from a distance and lunging at her, forcing her to dodge, crashing back under the waves, before leaping out and standing on the water again. She switched to Shuraba and went for the left front like, dodging more attacks to activate Witch Time and sliced the angel's face all to hell, destroying it and moving onto the rear face, dodging attacks and freezing time, finishing that leg off as well.
"IASTA SA PIADPH! - (Framed in the depths of my jaws!)" She announced in Enochian, summoning the massive spider demon Phantasmaraneae, terrifying the cowardly angel, who attempted to flee, but Bayonetta jumped on his back and summoned a pair of Hekatoncheir's fists to punch it in the face and grab its wings, steering it back to the waiting arachnid, who chomped down on its face and destroyed its horns and exposing a new weak spot on the angel's chin: another small angel face with a futuristic laser visor. With its job temporarily done, the massive spider retreated back to its portal.
As this was happening, Raijin bombarded me with jets of water and a number of grenades, until I was able to activate Bullet Time, leaping into the air and slicing at him several times with Diesectomy, his powerful healing factor managing to keep him in one piece as the mighty scalpel sliced through him, before I switched to Permafrost and froze him, spinning and slamming the staff down on him with all the force I could, shattering the ice, which cut him like glass as I knocked him back down into the water.
Returning to Bayonetta, She dodged a massive fireball from the angel's mouth, before attacking the Cyclops wannabe angel face on its chin. After a few hits it leapt back, then dove below the surface, attacking her from below once again and lunging at her from the surface, but she once again dodged every attack. It leapt back onto the surface and faced her directly once more, but she continued to dodge and attack the angel, smacking it around with ease.
Raijin managed to knock me back and noticed the angel being completely outmatched and sighed. "Ugh. Dad's as crazy as I am for relying on these helo-wearing pushovers. Oh well, you want a problem solved right... SHOOT GRENADES AT IT!" He laughed, rushing in and firing grenades at Bayonetta, who was forced to dodge and desperately surf around and away from the huge explosions around her.
"Oh, no, you don't!" I said, rushing in after him. Sapientia lunged at me, but I unloaded on him with Doomspore, the massive onslaught of bullets pushing him back and to the side just enough to miss me, before I rushed back as Bayonetta managed to turn around and land a few slashes on Raijin, before I swept in and sliced down with Diesectomy from the very top of the back of his head all the way down his back, causing him to cry out in pain as his blood to spill into the water, before Bayonetta kicked him away with Lt. Kilgore.
"My, your cousin is rather rude, cutting in like that." She said.
"Well, hopefully he learned his lesson: cut IN and get cut UP." I said, before the angel suddenly lunged at us again. "And now this guy's gotta learn it!" I said, one masterful slice from my scalpel naginata destroying the face on its chin, causing it to rear back in pain.
Bayonetta used the opportunity to once again summon Phantasm and Hekatoncheir, steering the angel back towards the spider, who broke off even more of its head crest stuff and the two might fists ripping its wings off, turning it into an unimpressive lizard compared to its former self. This finally enraged the demon, who roared furiously and dove into the water, spinning rapidly and creating a massive whirlpool and dove into it, waiting for Bayonetta, challenging her to come after it.
Back with us, Raijin had recovered and was now furious. "Okay, Sai! You want things to get bloody?! Then let's get bloody!" He said, pulling out one of the flying head angels and biting into it, ravenously drinking its blood. He screamed in pain as his body began to mutate, before finally turning into a massive squid, his body still visible in the squid's mantle (Google squid anatomy). "Squids are very dangerous, Sai! Let me show you!" He said, lashing his tentacles out at me.
"I've dealt with a squid way worse than you, buddy! And now he's a pair of gauntlets!" I said, referring to my Kraken gauntlets.
Elsewhere, Bayonetta accepted the angel's challenge and surfaced down into the whirlpool, meeting the angel and fighting it head on, before it created a huge gust of wind, pushing her back to the top of the whirlpool as it now unleashed its arsenal from the safety of the bottom of the pit. Bayonetta dodged the angel's many lasers and closing the distance, fighting it head on once again. It snapped and clawed at her for all it was worth, but she dodged every one of its attacks and whittled down whatever energy it had left to fight with.
"IASTA SA PIADPH!" She announced once last time, summoning the massive spider below the angel, greatly and immediately expanding the whirlpool, so fast even the angel fell off the wall it was clinging to. It screamed in panic and flailed desperately to grab onto something and avoid its fate, but to no avail as it plummeted down onto the black spider web below, dozens of smaller spiders, although still easily the size of the reptilian angel appeared from nowhere and all gathered around and piled on top of the angel, tearing it to shreds and consuming it, leaving only its head behind with a broken jaw as the main Phantasm cried out in victory and disappeared back to Inferno.
Meanwhile, I dodged water jets from Raijin's beak and his tentacles as he swung them at me horizontally to tried to smash them down on me vertically. I sliced them off after dodging them, but they'd almost immediately grow back. "Damn. I'll have to get in close and go for his body!" I said, surfing towards the mighty beast, dodging and slicing off more and more tentacles as I closed in on him. When I was close enough, he snapped at me with his beak over and over at lightning speeds, almost faster than I can blink. "I think it's time to shut your mouth, Raijin!" I snapped, dodging his beak one more time and slicing it off, causing him to shriek and flail in pain.
"Unagi!" I announced in Japanese, a massive snake like head passing under us, before the water beneath us completely turned black. Suddenly, a titanic eel rose from the depths with a furious roar, wrapping its head around the fins and mantle of the squid, wrapping tighter and tighter before crushing it in an explosion of blood, then bit and tore off the head and tentacles of the squid, tossing it into the air, where a second set of jaws shot from the eels mouth, grabbing the head and tentacles and pulling them down the eel's throat. It roared and disappeared back into the portal I summoned it from, leaving the rest of the squid's crushed and mangled body, which tore away from Raijin's out mutilated body, sinking into the depths below, leaving Raijin to float almost lifelessly on the surface. (Unagi means "eel" in Japan. It would've given it away if I translated it before the creature showed up)
End Music
I surfed up to and looked down sadly at the remains of Raijin. "I wish we could've avoided this, cousin, but I can't let your father reach his goals." I told him.
"I don't blame ya. Guy's a dick. I'd feel dirty dying for him if I could still feel anything." He said, still chuckling a bit.
[My dear brother... Is their anything you can do for him?]
(One thing... maybe. As long as you don't mind having a roommate.) I replied in thought.
There was a short pause before... [Does this mean I have to move the pool table?]
I was a bit shocked at this. (When did you get a- I almost fell for that.)
I suddenly heard the sound of a break as pool balls connected and scattered. [Fell for what?]
I sighed at this, shaking my head. "You don't have to die for him. You can join with me and we'll stop him with our powers combined. And we can watch humanity grow and prosper together... And still laugh at the stupid shit they do." I said wit a smirk at the end.
He laughed at this. "Ya had me at not dying' for him. Guess you know how it works by now?" He asked.
"Of course." I said, putting my hand on his chest.
"Almost good. Little lower." He said, smirking again.
"Yeah, not falling for it." I said.
"Eh. Can't blame a guy for trying. Fuse!" He said, his body vanishing.
I felt a familiar surge of power and looked at my body, feeling the new strength filling my veins. "Whoa. This power's the real deal. Zeidan's got nothing on us now." I said, expecting a reply from one or both of them. (Hello? Got REAL quiet...) I said, before suddenly brightening with hope. "Holy crap, are they finally-!" I started, before hearing barely held laughter, to which I sighed. "Of course not." I said.
AHAHAHAHA! Oh come on, Sai! Don't be like that! Hey, maybe a nice chant will make you feel better! Raijin taunted in my head.
"Shut up!" I snapped.
[Oh, come on, if it feels right, then do it.]
[You can win! You feel great! You! Can! Do! This!] They chanted together.
"Knock it off already! Raijin! What do I get from this?" I asked.
Oh! Me, right! Well, you can now mix water with your fire and make steam, or shoot out a mist like the stuff that comes out of fire extinguishers!
[Wait, that doesn't make sense, that's not how fire extinguishers work-]
Nobody asked you! Oh and now you get waterbender powers and can heal people! Your weakness to water is... Not gone, but weaker than it was before, too! And just like Shuya, you can tap into my full power for 5 minutes at the cost of your fire power, but you won't be able to use 'em again for 24 hours.
"Nice. Bring it on, then, Zeidan! Nothing's bringing me down now!" I snapped, raising a fist to the sky.
Oh, by the way, there's a wave coming.
"Wait, what?!" I asked, turning to see a 50 foot wall of water coming down on me. "Curse you, merciful Suijin!" I shouted before the wave knocked me underwater.
Ha! Futurama reference!
Bayonetta looked down at the defeated head of the angel, holding the Umbran Watch on her chest with a finger over the stone inside it. "I have no idea why you would want this stone. It would look absolutely terrible on you. Much too flashy." Bayonetta taunted.
"Stone? You think this is all about some worthless rock!? May Jubileus, the Creator, grace you!" Sapentia laughed as it was dragged to Inferno.
I rejoined Bayonetta and we quickly surfed upwards as the whirlpool began to return to normal, the water shooting us upwards as we returned to the human world and entered the chopper just before Luka. "Welcome aboard, Cheshire." Bayonetta said teasingly.
"Surprise!" I said.
"Oh, fucking hell!" Luka screamed, almost falling out of the plane.
[He's STILL not expecting it by now?]
Oh, my such language on that one! And in front of a child! For shame!
"Mummy!" Cereza cheered, running to Bayonetta and hugging her.
"I told you I'd be right back." Bayonetta said, looking at the girl with a smile, before turning to Luka. "Shouldn't you be, you know, flying this thing? I'm a bit occupied at the moment." She said, holding Cereza. Luka quickly scrambled to the controls as the water shot upwards once again, rocking the plane a bit, causing Cereza to scream.
"Luka, gotta tell ya, buddy. You're flying? It ain't getting no 5 star review." I told him.
"Well, so much for the subtle approach. We might as well have speakers on this thing blaring Ride of the fucking Valkyries." Luka grumbled.
"Come now. We're VIPs. You know, nothing says you've made it in life like a private helicopter." Bayonetta said with a smirk.
"Yay!" Cereza said.
"Yeah, each member of my family has their own chopper. Mine's an Apache." I said.
The only thing more powerful than a young child's wish!
[An absolute death machine.]
"Then welcome aboard Air Luka Flight 001. This is your captain, LUKA, speaking. Fasten your safety belts as this may be a bumpy flight." Luka announced like a pilot on a commercial plane as we flew closer to the massive tower in the city of Isla Del Sol.
Abaia: A giant, magical eel that lives and patrols the river Oceanus, Hell's greatest river than some believe even connects to the human world. It considers all other creatures in the river its children and protects them furiously from those who would harm them. It has beaten fisherman to death with its tail, crushed fishing boats with its body and spewed enough water to drown a small fishing village.