I will just say as a forward that I'm not the best in the world at fight scenes so have mercy on me please. I also wanted to note that Lori doesn't use the Sharingan at all because she did not have the training Sasuke did. Any lightening attacks she uses don't require the Sharingan. Since she was trained away from the village it made no sense to me for her to have the same training unless it was the fire training that Fugaku, Sasuke's father, showed them when they were little.
Truth's hearty laugh made all three of the ninja's skin crawl. Victoria begrudgingly stood up and faced him with the other two. "So the living and the dead have come to play in my dimension." He said amused. She let out a menacing growl while the other two just tensed. Truth grinned even wider. "Finally. I was wondering when you'd get tired of all the overlapping visions and memories I was sending you." "You asshole!" Victoria yelled at him while the guardian in front of her squirmed. So he was the one responsible for all those stupid visions! "How dare you try to guilt trip me with those stupid visions! I regret nothing!" She yelled. Truth laughed at her. "Oh you all regret something. You all want something otherwise no one would ever come to my realm." Naruto frowned at the creature in disgust. "Yeah. Yeah. We're in your stupid realm now let us get on with this stupid fight!" Truth chuckled at him. "My. My. You're as bold as ever." Victoria growled as his sightless gaze trained on her and Lori. "You two already know what needs to be done so do stop wasting everyone's time and get on with it." he said menacingly backing away from the trio until he completely disappeared.
Without giving the two idiots time to react to his creepy exit, Victoria let out cry of rage trying to slice them both in half. They both jumped out of the way. They ended up on opposite sides, so Victoria went right and rammed Lori with the staff part of her scythe. She felt the girl shudder under the weight of the impact as she barely blocked it with her two Sai. Victoria tried to slide her blade across them so she could cut the girl that way instead. She let out a frustrated huff when only the end of the blade nicked Lori's arm as she jumped away from her. Naruto surprised her from behind with a kunai. He unfortunately managed to land a blow to her spine knocking her forward. Ignoring the pain, she did a forward hand spring. When she was upside down she used her free hand to throw a kunai at him nicking him in the face as he dodged it sideways. She landed on the ground thinking she was safe at this distance only to have Lori sweep her feet out from under her. Victoria landed on her back her scythe falling from her hands and sliding away from her. She barely dodged Lori's lightning blade as she drove her hand in the ground where her shoulder had just been. She looked at the black-haired girl's expression in surprise. The girl was actually making an effort to kill her. That was a first. Suddenly in the girl's place she could see Laura, her counterpart in Victoria's realm, after she had killed a close friend who had been a spy. "Sometimes a person crosses a line and leaves you no choice but to kill." Victoria shook her head getting rid of the vision. She dodged Naruto who had ended up behind her again. This time he had tried Rasengan. Victoria didn't have time to counterattack before Lori's oncoming lightning blade would hit her. So, she rolled to the ground roughly and clapped her hands together slamming them on the ground. (1) A lightening pillar shot up from the ground forcing Lori to pull back her attack and giving her time to get her scythe. She narrowed her eyes. She was going to have to step up her game.
Looking out of the corner of her eye she saw the blonde's attack coming this time ramming the back of the scythe into his sternum. She then turned around and hit the blonde in the middle of the torso with the scythe's stem. He was knocked away several feet so she could focus on Lori. They had the advantage tag teaming on her right now, but if she could just keep her at bay long enough…She blocked the Sai she threw her way. Lori rushed her successfully nicking her face over the scythe. Victoria launched the girl backward and jumped several feet away from her. She looked over at Naruto. She jumped just in time to dodge yet another attack from behind. They were obviously trying to hit her weak point in her back to limit her use with the scythe. She scooted farther away refusing to let either of them out of her sight for now.
As they both rushed, one with Rasengan and the other with a lightning ball she had no interest in experiencing, she saw her moment. Faster than either of them could keep track of she grabbed Naruto's arm throwing him at Lori. Knowing he wasn't able to turn off the attack at that stage Lori bent backward turning off her lightening ball and dodging his Ransengan. Victoria attached her scythe to her back slamming her knee into Lori's stomach as she came back up. Lori grunted doubling over. Knowing the blonde would recover quickly Victoria did a bunch of hand signs very quickly then slapped her hands together and slammed them on the ground. She grinned as the blonde was surrounded by a purple ring and incased in rock hard ice. The same attack Lori had used on her at the Kage Summit.
Before she had time to celebrate though, Lori was up again. Her eyes widened in surprise when the girl made the sign for a fireball jutsu. She high tailed it out of the way as fast as she could. She grimaced as her ankles got a little singed. She ran around the girl and drove her elbow into her shoulder blade. Lori gave a yelp of pain rolling away from her. Victoria grinned in triumph. Unfortunately, she had forgotten one tiny detail about this universe's Keeper of the Gate of Darkness. The Key Keeper came was a package deal. She cursed as Tallah's chakra swirled around the girl. Lori's skin peeled with the brunt of the chakra making her look a little bit more terrifying than before. At least she only had her to deal with. Naruto wasn't getting out of those binds anytime soon.
Lori rushed her faster this time successfully stabbing a Sai through her arm. She winced jumping away from the girl before she could grab her neck. Victoria watched her move as she did her best to just dodge the girl's attacks. She narrowed her eyes. She had more strength and chakra like this, but Lori refused to use the Sharingan out respect for her counterpart's death. She couldn't help but wonder if Laura would've done the same for her if she had died. She shook her head of those thoughts. She did not feel guilty. She did not feel guilty. The girl in front of her was weak for not using all her assets because of sentimentality. She clapped her hands together and sent a current of lightening through the ground to deter the girl. Lori stopped short of the lightening stream narrowing her now slitted, red eyes at her. Victoria eyed her warily. Even without that asset Tallah wasn't like the other Bijuu. She didn't just lend her chakra to her hosts. She almost went as far as merging with them. The scaly pattern on the girl's arms was a testament to this. She had to find a way past their defense.
She had to move quickly though. She cursed again as she dodged the twin pillars of fire Lori had just launched from her arms. She'd have to use her ninja tools. Then she could get to her scythe. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Her scythe. Knowing the girl would think she was going for her weapon Victoria rushed at it. As expected Lori saw it and rushed after her with her Sai. Victoria grinned as she caught the dragon by surprise by knocking the Sai out of her hand with her leg. Thinking she had her, Victoria was surprised when the girl grabbed her leg, pulled her forward, and wrapped her hand around her neck. Victoria cursed. Lori slammed her into the ground the back of her head hitting it hard. She gasped as her vision blurred. Victoria trembled in the other girls grasp not able to move enough to escape. To her surprise though, she wasn't dead yet. Her vision cleared enough up enough for her to gawk as Tallah's chakra disappeared. As she looked at Lori's eyes though, she realized why and grinned. She couldn't kill her. She still saw the other one. Yore. Why did that make her so sad? Without wanting to she saw the scene in front of her blur. She saw a younger Lori and the horror across her face as she felt the sword imbed itself into her abdomen.
Victoria shook her head with a growl. She deserved this! Victoria knocked the girl's hand off her throat and before she could do anything about it she kneed the girl in the ribs. Lori coughed up blood as Victoria felt the blow crack a few of the girl's ribs. To add insult to injury Victoria kicked the girl in the stomach making her roll onto her back. As the girl rolled over Victoria grinned because it was obvious. She had won, and there was nothing else Lori or her Bijuu could do about it.
Lori panted there on the ground. Her skin was burning where Tallah's chakra had peeled pieces away. She was pretty sure Victoria had broken a few ribs. She clenched her fists in frustration. Now was not the time to lay still. She grimaced as the girl kicked her in the stomach. She couldn't make herself stand. She looked at Victoria and frowned. She was grinning ear to ear waiting for her. She didn't need to attack Lori anymore. She knew she was winning. The only thing Lori couldn't figure out was why she hadn't made her move yet. Frustrated, Lori tried to stand but failed. Victoria's smile disappeared giving her a frustrated look she didn't quite understand. "You're giving up?" She asked. All trace of malice was gone from her voice. Lori looked at her foe's face. The traces of insanity that had dominated her body only a few moments ago were gone. Her eyes, those eyes that had been fueled by hate only moments ago were dead.
The girl in front of her had raved about ending her life as punishment. Yet here Lori was defeated on the ground, and she looked completely empty. "You're pathetic." Victoria said simply. Lori didn't know why, but it was in that moment she truly saw through the lie she didn't even realize she had accepted for so long. The words Airi had said to her in that room truly sank in. Her counterpart or not, the girl in front of her wasn't Yore. Yore was dead, and no matter what she did to try to make that right nothing would change. She would still be dead and it would still be her fault.
Victoria and Naruto both gaped in surprise when a massive grin lit up the girls face and she laughed. She laughed louder and longer than she had in a long time. "You know what?" she said to the girl in front of her. "You're right." Victoria blinked in surprise her grip tightening around her scythe. Lori just laughed more. "I am an absolute freaking idiot." Lori stood shakily steadying herself enough to walk around. "Y'know," she said looking at Victoria. "I don't really care if you hate me or not. I'm gonna tell you a story, and you're gonna listen." Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she said following the raven's every move with her eyes. Lori walked around retrieving her Sai as Tallah felt worriedly at the girl's subconscious. "Before I came here to face you," she said. "I asked Airi something. Y'know the bridge builder of this dimension who, if I'm not mistaken, looks exactly like the bridge builder you almost bled dry to get here." Naruto's eyes widened inside the glass casing he was still trying to get out of. Victoria gave a low growl. Lori scoffed at her. "Anyway, I asked her how different she thought my life would be if had stayed away from the compound that night. Oh yeah Naruto did I ever tell you Itachi actually asked me to stay with you that night. The one night no one actually cared if I stayed at a guy's house." She laughed when Naruto blushed violently out of embarrassment. "Well in response to this heartwarming explanation as to how all of this could've been avoided, she basically told me I needed to focus on the now and stop running. I was angry at first, but it made me realize something." Victoria got into her fighting stance watching Lori pause in front of her. "I've spent all this time feeling sorry for myself. Punishing myself because I thought I would get some kind of redemption for what I did to Yore. And you know what? Standing here in front of the women who slit her best friends throat open so she could live, the only one I feel sorry for is you." Victoria tensed her eyes widening in anger.
Lori, feeling more energized than she had in a while grinned a maniacal grin that put Naruto to shame. "You know what else?" she said. Tallah grew excited knowing exactly what the girl was doing and more than willing to help. For the first time in two years she and Tallah completely combined their chakra. Her red chakra swirled around Lori. Her eyes turned red again and the animal eyes overlapped with her Sharingan. Her teeth sharpened showing the beast trapped within her and the ground around her shook with the force she was emitting. Tallah's chakra blew Victoria back a couple of feet. Before the girl even had a chance to right herself Lori had both her Sai at the girl's throat. "I've gone over the night Yore died a thousand times and nothing I did would've changed a thing." Victoria kicked her in the stomach making Lori loose her grip. Naruto, energized by Tallah's blast of chakra, finally broke free of the ice prison. He was about to rush to help, but was surprisingly stopped by the fox. "Stay where you are baka. This is their fight now. Don't dishonor that." Naruto, listening for once watched as Lori and Victoria fought. Their movements were so fast now that they were almost a blur.
Victoria couldn't tell if she was panicking or just plain pissed at this point. Anything she threw at Lori was being countered. Victoria pulled back for a blow in what she thought was the girl's blind spot, but Lori dodged the girl kicking her right in her chin. "Did Ali promise to keep you alive?" Victoria struggled to her feet holding her scythe. The dragon girl was giving her a run for her money. Her eye was swollen, her hair had come out of her braid, and her elbow and lip were both busted. Lori didn't look that great either, but she had a feeling she was getting the short side of the stick right now. She dropped her scythe to the ground and just charged aiming her lightning at the girl's side. Lori deflected it and dragged the girl across the ground throwing her to the side. "Is that why you hurt them?" Lori taunted her. "Shut up." Victoria said wiping her lip. She could see Naruto watching them in the background. Why wasn't he helping anymore? She faked behind Lori and tried to drive her hand through her back. Lori side stepped and cracked the girl's arm with her elbow. **** that hurt. Didn't matter.
"Did she hate you when you betrayed them?"
Fist to chest blocked. New bruise.
"Did you get angry when you realized they couldn't help you?"
"You don't know anything." Kick to sternum blocked. One of her Sai was stuck in Victoria's thigh. I don't feel guilty.
"But that was never it at all was it? You've just been lying to yourself too."
Victoria could still see Naruto watching in stunned silence. He was an idiot. Ali was an idiot too. Victoria's vision blurred. She could no longer see the girl in front of her. She could only see Ali. Ali, the girl who had failed to find a way to keep her alive. Ali, the friend who was never angry no matter what she did. Ali, the sister who only cried when she had cut her neck open, forcing the girl to open the portal to her salvation. She hated them, all of them, every one of them who had dared call her family…. but she hated herself more.
Snapping, Victoria gave an inhuman cry. She grabbed her scythe aiming to slice whatever apparition was in front of her in half. Lori grabbed her arms roughly and shot her leg out at the girl's knees. Victoria's legs buckled as the girl shattered her right knee cap. Lori stared at her turning off her Bijuu mode. Without a word she picked up the girl's scythe and broke it in half. Victoria's eyes widened. She glared at the girl angrily. She tried to punch her only for the girl to roughly catch her fist in her hand. "I…don't…feel…guilty…" she protested weakly. Lori just stared at her sadly. "Tell the truth." She said. Victoria looked down and for the first time in a long time she cried. Naruto walked a little closer, but stopped when she looked up angrily. "It's not fair!" she yelled. "I shouldn't have to die! It's all your fault! I didn't do anything wrong!" However, the image of Ali played in her mind again and she whimpered at the pain coursing through the girl's face. "You're right." Lori said making both Victoria and Naruto look at her in surprise. Her voice had changed. Looking at the girl's eyes she quickly realized Tallah had taken over speaking. "This is wrong, and you shouldn't have to die. It's not fair, but no one ever said the universe was fair." Tallah/Lori bent down looking her straight in the eyes. "You were always going to die. Whether or not Lori and I were there changes nothing. If Yore hadn't died in the mines, Saya would've died from her illness earlier (2), Hitomi would've died in battle, and you would've died from your organs failing due to all the experiments the government alchemically performed on your body. Truth knew it, I know it, your other counterparts knew it, and you know it too. You always have."
Victoria felt the tears flowing down her face. "I just wanted to live." She said quietly. Was that so wrong? Naruto looked at her sadly like she was broken. Then again in a way she was broken. She had been for a long time. Somebody had to die. Somebody always had to die. Saya died for her clone, Hitomi died for her pleasure, Yore died for the Jinchuriki, and now she got to die for the universe. Victoria stared at her hands. She felt a hand touch her on her arm over her mark. She looked at the dragon girl's face realizing Tallah had switched with Lori. She expected to find anger and determination in her gaze. To her dismay, all she saw was remorse.
She laughed at the girl's face the tears abruptly drying. "Y'know what? I'm as guilty as hell." She told her. "Don't you pity me. Don't you dare." She said, her voice cracking slightly. Naruto was silent moving towards her as if he thought he could help. The idiot even looked like he was about to cry. She looked back at the girl in front of her. Reality was blurring again. Lori wasn't there anymore, but it wasn't Ali this time either. This time it was Laura giving her that sad stern look she usually did when something was wrong. She gripped her arm hard digging her fingernails into the Victoria's mark. "I'm so sorry." She said. Victoria blinked more tears out of her eye. Reality had completely escaped her. In the end though, that didn't really matter. Her sister was there, and everything was going to be ok. "Laura," she chocked out at the image before her. "Why can't I stay?" The girl in front of her cried silently and gripped her hand over her mark. Victoria only had a few seconds to brace herself before she ripped through the rose marking burning her essence from the inside out. She knew pain. Then warmth. Then nothing.
(1) Just in case this wasn't understood, the guardians don't have to use the symbols for alchemy because they work with Truth on a daily basis. Being a marked a Guardian means they have seen the truth like Ed and Al did because devoting their lives to keeping the universe in balance is their price.
(2) In the Blazeblue game Saya was described as being very sickly as a child.
Victoria's death was really hard to write. I knew from the beginning she was going to die, but my struggle was who she was going to be at the end. I intended for the character to be a villain, but I wanted it to become apparent that she wasn't devoid of emotion. I ended up writing her to be a parallel to Lori. Lori was overridden by guilt over Yore's death. This guilt warped her into taking actions based on despair rather than love even though good intentions were her aim. Victoria, on the other hand, was also corrupted by the guilt of succumbing to the darker aspect of her will to live. Her guilt over hurting the closest people she had to family took the opposite effect. It warped her into taking actions based out of anger, and ironically her desire to run away from the guilt she was denying. I originally wrote a sappy death for her because she originally wasn't a horrible person and I wanted that to stand out, but I realized even though she was capable of remorse she was too far gone in her madness in the end to actually feel remorse towards Naruto or Lori. So, I opted for Laura, Lori's parallel in the FMA verse, and ended it with "Why can't I stay?" This is another inspiration I took from the character Fred in Angel. It may seem cruel to end her with that question, but sometimes bad things happen to good people and there isn't an answer to why. In the end, that's just what stuck to me.