Dark Side Of The Moon

Chapter 8: Vortex Infinitum

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The Guilty Gear series is the rightful property of Arc System Works. Some of the characters are being borrowed for non-profit purposes.

"..."-Indicate Speech

'...'-Indicate Thought

:xXx:

"I hope you prove a better challenge than those worthless Knights, Corrupted Flame. This is quite the opportunity for me to face such a fearsome foe...that is, if the rumors of your power hold true."

Justice claimed, her eyes holding a glint of anticipation. Alternate-Sol grinned under the shade of his hood.

"Bring it, bitch! Just remember...you brought this on yourself, so don't blame me for what happens to you."

The former Knight said. Justice's eyes narrowed into slits.

"My, we are quite confident...let's witness how long that holds out."

She said as the clips of her shoulder pads raised up. Heat gathered at the center of the pads, distorting the air. Alternate-Sol's Fire Seal began gathering heat as well, turning the blade bright crimson. The dragon's flesh started to melt slowly. Justice released her Gamma Ray at her opponent who at the last second stood and ripped his sword free from the dead dragon's body in a large arcing swing, causing a giant explosion of red flames that decimated the dragon's carcass from existence. The massive beam reached the flames, but were unable to penetrate the wall of fire that enveloped the former Knight's body. The land was charred black from the tremendous heat as each attack calmed to a small sizzle. The air remained distorted, bending and twisting each other's vision of the other. Justice's arms crossed as she stared down at her enemy, a gleam of respect in her golden eyes.

"That display of power was nothing short of magnificent. To halt one of my most powerful attacks head on...you do possess incredible power for a mere Human."

The Commander Gear said, her arms going to her sides. Alternate-Sol lowered his blade. He let it tap his leg lightly as he stared at Justice without a trace of emotion across his face.

"You going to bore me with so much talking? Hurry and fight already."

The former Knight said in a casual slurred tone as if he were half awake, tossing the remains of his tattered cloak. No more words were spared as the two charged at each other in earnest, intent on ripping one another to shreds. Justice formed a Michael Sword with her hand before swinging her arm with tremendous might and speed, but was met with an equally vicious strike from the Fire Seal in Alternate-Sol's possession. The impact from each successive strike jarred their bodies as sparks lighted the night sky and the clang of metal on metal filled the air. Alternate-Sol finally found an opening to capitalize on, moving to the side to evade a downward swipe of Justice's talons. He brought a flame covered fist to her stomach, knocking the wind out of the surprised Commander Gear before bringing his other fist through the sphere of fire that struck Justice prior, causing a large explosion that sent her off her feet. Not letting up his advantage, the former Knight ran to her descending body with Fire Seal scraping the ground. Flames surrounded the blade like a lit match head as Alternate-Sol took to the air, catching the Commander Gear cleanly in the back so that she flipped over. Now aligned with her head, he twisted his body to build momentum before his fist met with her face at high speed to leave a trail of fire in it's wake. There seemed to be a small pause when the attack connected before Justice was sent back through the air like a rocket. She remained airborne for a good while before colliding with the black earth, taking an equally long time to skid to a stop. Sol turned to Slayer.

"Do we really need to watch me kill her again? Can't you speed things up, old man?"

He asked Slayer, but the Vampire shook his head. Sol sighed and just decided to continue watching as his other self walked casually towards Justice's location, which was obscured by a fog of black dust that arose in the wake of her landing. Before the former Knight could make his way to the end of the trail, he was attacked from behind. He guarded against Justice's tail as it jutted from the ground but hadn't planned to have the Fire Seal's hilt ensnared as the tail wrapped around it. Justice attacked from the front of Alternate-Sol leaving him to guard with his other arm, but without the sword, he could not prevent those claws from sinking into his flesh. Regardless of the pain, not a single sound escaped his lips, even when Justice's claws extended into tentacles and destroyed his arm from the inside, crushing muscles and tendons. Blood leaked out from the several punctures that now covered his arm.

"Your quite the Human, Corrupted Flame. I'll give you that much credit. This attack would leave normal Humans in so much pain that they would scream out in agony and pray for their God to save them."

The Commander Gear claimed. Alternate-Sol smirked.

"God? Why would I want to deal with such a hassle? Just get it over with or it might be you who ends up dead."

He said, releasing the Fire Seal and using his now free hand to punch her cleanly in the chin and causing her head to reel back viciously. Justice instantly used her own free hand to destroy his arm in the exact same manner as his other one. Still he remained silent, as if immune to the pain.

"Even without your arms and the hopelessness of your situation, you don't just break down like a normal Human would. I'm impressed."

She said. The former Knight held his smirk, as his eyes looked at her in a condescending manner. This look he regarded towards her left her seething in violent rage. In an instant she retracted her fingers to normal function, spinning around to deliver a strike with the back of her hand to the side of Alternate-Sol's head. His body was sent twirling through the air for a scant few seconds before landing hard on his face. The process of getting up proved difficult without his arms, and the former Knight could only rise up to a kneeling position. Once again did he look at her in the same fashion, as if he had already won the day, and that earned him another strike that was powerful enough to rip his head piece off his forehead to land in the far distance. Before he could rise again, Justice's hand was clamped around his throat before lifting him up into the air to dangle slightly in her grasp. Something on his forehead caught her attention.

"You...possess the emblem...so, you are a Gear. How surprising! That there was a humanoid Gear I hadn't known to exist in all these years. But, the reasons for your great power are made clear to me now. Killing you would be a waste, so I'll just have to control you instead. Now revel in the destruction of the Human race and atone for the murder of so many of our brethren you took with your own hands!"

The Commander Gear ordered, dropping Alternate-Sol to his feet. The newly discovered Gear regenerated his arms back to their former shape and then went to grab the Fire Seal. He stood still for a moment before turning to face a questioning Justice. The Commander Gear barely had enough time to evade an incoming slash of the heavy blade. Alternate-Sol advanced on her with greater speed. Justice was too shocked at what she was witnessing.

"How dare you...your not following my orders!"

She claimed. The newly discovered Gear's only response was a slight grin appearing on his face, baring elongated fangs as his eyes became animalistic, the pupils becoming vertical slits. His nails extended into claws.

"We're not done yet, bitch!"

He declared, his voice deeper and wild. The Fire Seal came down hard as Justice defended with her forearms, the armor cracking as the blade bit deeply through the armor to cut her skin. Blood seeped through the cracks soon after and Justice let out a hiss of pain.

"Impossible! No Gear should be able to resist my orders! How can you be defying me...?"

The commander Gear had to know how such a thing was possible, but was not given the satisfaction.

"Ponder that in hell!"

He claimed as he dislodged his sword free from her arms. He went on the offensive once more, only this time, Justice was ill prepared to face him. She had never had to face a Gear in true combat since they were all under her control. Nor did she ever expect to face such a fearsome and powerful Gear such as this. His whole left arm with blade in hand surged with the intense heat of his fire magic as he sent his fist crashing into Justice, followed by his right fist that crashed with the same explosive force as the previous one. He concluded his Tyrant Rave Omega with a powerful upward slash of the Fire Seal, blasting the Commander Gear with a massive wall of flames that seeped off the blade's surface. The force of the final blow sent her spiraling through the air with great velocity. Before She fell to the ground, Alternate-Sol was already underneath her, planting his sword deep within the black earth to summon forth an eruption of spiraling fire to send her body even higher up in the air. The sweltering heat had already charred and melted most of her armor black, and Justice could barely keep a grasp of her consciousness as her vision remained obscured by red haziness. A great roar that surpassed the sound of the crackling flames was emitted underneath her. For a few sparse seconds, Justice's vision became as clear as crystal.

"This...power...I sense..."

She said softly to herself, watching her enemy as he clutched his forehead with his hands. His crimson emblem went dark, spilling forth with a black fire that consumed his entire body. The Gear fell to his knees as his arms went to his sides, hands and feet sprouting even longer claws while large black wings and tail sprouted from his back. Justice's eyes went wide in realization. This being was the true power of Gears, in all it's raw and savage glory bared forth before her very eyes.

"So this is it...but if ...by your own hands...I have...no regrets..."

Her eyes closed as her words were drowned out by the bellowing of the inferno and the war cry of the Gear beneath her. Her emblem's light went dim as she lost complete consciousness. Before the black demonic creature that was the true form of Sol Badguy could ascend to deliver the finishing strike on Justice, his heightened senses picked out another being close to his location. To prove his point, a familiar voice soon followed.

"Is Justice's power weakening? The Gears are no longer moving!"

That had been Ky's voice. Not wanting to be exposed as the Gear he was by the Holy Knight, Alternate-Sol growled deeply low in his throat and focused on regaining his humanity. The black fire that surrounded his body now seeped back into his emblem before regaining it's former light and heat. The flames that held Justice suspended cooled down to a sizzle to let her body fall back down to earth. Alternate-Sol stood on his feet that wobbled slightly, letting out a few haggard breaths. Using the last of his reserve strength, he located his head piece and fled the scene. Ky was there a few moments later to survey the area, or what was left of it. He was barely able to locate Justice's body since it blended well with the remains of the land.

"This fire and lava...could it have been...?"

Ky pondered to himself out loud. Only one fit the bill for the time of destruction caused here that came to mind but the man could not be found. Ky shook his head to regain his posture. Even as he inspected Justice, he could not tell whether she was still alive. Regardless, no chances would be taken. Ky was determined to have Justice sealed away where she could do no more harm. He could hear the distant sound of many people marching here now, and knew it had to be his fellow Knights who would be able to come here quickly since the Gears were no longer moving to provide any interference. He turned to see the many battalions coming into view.

"ATTENTION ALL UNITS! THE TIME HAS COME TO SEAL JUSTICE!"

He yelled. Roars of joy followed as the Knights heard the news and passed it on to their allies. The cheering continued to grow and grow.

:xXx:

Everything went black again as Sol stood besides Slayer.

"Tch...damn boy scout always get's in the way of everything. I wasn't even able to deliver the final hit."

He said, throughly annoyed. Slayer simply stroked his elegant beard for a bit.

"It doesn't really hold much significance when your other self will get another opportunity to end things once and for all. We should move onto other things, Sol. There isn't much more to be seen, but I'm sure your curious to see what may become of Dizzy in the alternate time flow."

The Vampire said. Sol looked genuinely curious for a few seconds before scowling.

"Hey, I thought you were going to show me where That Asshole was from the beginning! What's with all the sidetracking, old man!"

Sol was not given a respond by Slayer, but the scenery came into view now. The two were standing in front of the remains of some ruin hidden in the grove of a forest. Sol recognized the young woman who sat down, playing with a small squirrel in her lap. Beside her were a few scampering rabbits and an infant dragon that was napping curled up like a ball.

"That it..."

Sol said slowly. Dizzy had a serene smile, something he had never seen before, yet her eyes held a deep sadness as she sat there beside a very shallow river. She tensed up along with the animals as she heard footsteps approaching. She let the squirrel off her lap to scamper away with the rabbits deeper into the forest, the infant dragon following not far behind. She gave Alternate-Sol a sideways glance as he walked into the clearing, laying his tattered cloak on a broken pillar. He stopped on the other side of the small river, crossing his arms. A nearly finished cigarette dangled from his lips. Dizzy simply continued to stare at him as he did not make any movements.

"You are...another bounty hunter?"

She asked softly, before her eyes turned from him to looking to the ground. Not many would let themselves be known outright, usually trying to defeat her with underhanded sneak attacks. She was quite curious on exactly who the person was.

"If I am?"

Alternate-Sol spoke in his lazy drawl, like he just woke up. Dizzy's frame became even more tense.

"I don't wish to fight. Don't Gears have the right to live? All I want is to live here...quietly and peacefully."

She told him, standing up. If her words touched him in any way, it didn't show. In fact, he sneered.

"Live quietly and peacefully, huh? One who can't even retrain the monsters within will never have those things."

He responded calmly. The cigarette fell from his mouth to flicker into ash by a ring of fire that rose up from under his feet, making his hair rise up for a second before falling back into place. He took a step forward to get into his casual stance as the Fire Seal tapped against his leg. Dizzy took a sharp intake of air as she took a step back, arms crossed to clutch her shoulders.

"Please! Stay away! I haven't done anything wrong!"

She pleaded, the arms she wrapped around herself beginning to shake, as if trying to hold something back. Alternate-Sol scowled.

"Blaming them? They're extensions of yourself. The blame is all your's."

He declared softly. Her breathing became erratic. It was not much longer before she was going to be taken over by Necro and Undine.

"I...please leave...before it's too late..."

Her words of warning went unheeded as bright light consumed her body.

:ToBeContinued:

Note: Sorry for the major delay, but my computer's been having some major technical difficulties and I lost the original chapter 8 and had to start from scratch. I know I said things would conclude between Sol and Slayer by this chapter, but it will actually conclude in chapter 9 and then go back to Sol and Dizzy. Again, I apologize and hope everyone has a nice Thanks Giving.