Chapter XXXII: Sound Off With Sommelier
Nightshroud: Well as of now there are eight members left. Amnael (I), the unrevealed member (II), Valon (III), Alister (IV), Vanessa (V), Bankotsu (VII), Sommelier (IX), and Dr. Veinslay (X). And and there's also Kurama (VIII), but he defected from the Org so he's no longer a member. Well, I know everyone's waiting, so let's start the fight! Don't forget what Sommelier looks like. Here's a refresher: He has black hair, slicked back except for one hair that hung in front of his face. He had a triangle shaped beard, coming to a peak at his lips. He has thin, black upside down triangles underneath his grayish blue eyes. He wears a black tie, a black suit vest, white buttoned shirt, black pants, and black boots.
"Well, it seems my opponent has arrived," Sommelier said, standing up.
"Who are you?" asked Kai harshly.
"You're quite the rude one," he said amused. "My name is Sommelier, and since you caused some difficulties with our Heartless experiment, I now have to dirty my hands fighting you."
Kai pulled out Soul Eater and smirked. Sommelier gave one last sip from his wine glass and stood up.
"As you wish."
He held his hands out and a weapon appeared in his hands. It was like a silver staff. It was thick towards the bottom, thinned towards the middle where Sommelier put his right hand, and widened out at the other end, shaped like a tuning fork.
Kai raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What are you going to do, feed me to death?"
Sommelier laughed and gave a superior look. "Ignorant boy, don't mock a weapon till you see what it can do."
"Then enough talk," said Kai. Sommelier smiled and nodded. Kai was shocked as Sommelier ran at him unforseen speed. He swung his staff at Kai, who jumped back in time as it slashed in front of him. He smiled at having dodged the attack, but Sommelier gave him a sly look and laughed. Kai looked puzzled until his ear suddenly ached and he felt a wave of dizziness and nausea. He stumbled back and fell, then suddenly threw up. Sommelier laughed and crossed his arms.
"What? No smart comment?"
Kai weakly looked up and said, "What-what did you-do?"
Sommelier walked closer till he stood in front of Kai. He grinned down on him, enjoying seeing Kai on the ground in misery.
"My tuning staff allows me to manipulate sound. That attack managed to throw off your equilibrium."
"But-but how? I dodged it!"
"Hahaha! It wasn't meant to hit you. I can bend the sound and direct it to wherever I choose. In this case I directed it to your inner ear, the center of balance in your body."
Kai grinded his teeth. He looked up and Sommelier and the room were swimming in front of him. He grabbed Soul Eater and slashed at him, but Sommelier easily stepped out of the way to avoid the attack. He took his staff and hit it to the ground, sending off a soundwave that blasted Kai back into the wall.
"You should have held your tongue and saved the embarassment, fool!"
He swung his staff and Kai felt a soundwave slam into his side. He was thrown into the wall, then shot back into another wall.
"Useless! You can't even stand!"
He closed and threw his head up in a laugh. His ears (since he uses sound he has greatly enhanced hearing) picked up a sound, and when he opened his eyes he was shocked to see Kai right in front of him. He quickly jumped back as Kai slashed at him.
"Ugh...he's better than I though. I better keep on guard."
In a flash he swung his staff at Kai, who ducked and covered his ears. Sommelier quickly grabbed it and slammed the forked part into Kai's chest, blasting him backward.
"Sound Drill!"
Kai kicked off the ground, kicked off the wall, and shot Dark Aura at Sommelier. Sommelier dodged to the side, then swung his staff and sent a blast of sound into his other ear. Kai cried out as he sank the ground, clutching at his ear as blood dripped out (eww...that sounds nasty). Sommelier lifted his staff as an invisible barrier appeared around them.
Meanwhile, Kai suddenly realized that he didn't hear any sounds. He snapped his fingers and suddenly thought:
"There's no sound anywhere..."
He suddenly was in the back by Sommelier's staff and knocked across the floor. As he unsuccesfully tried to stand, Sommelier kicked him in the face, then blasted him with a soundwave. Kai got up and saw Sommelier come in for another attack, and instinctively slashed, cutting Sommelier's left arm. Sommelier winced and jumped away, holding his arm. He lost control of the sound barrier, and Kai felt relieved as his sense of sound came flooding back.
"Even in this state he's managed to strike back at me. No wonder he's so dangerous."
Kai rushed forward and swung Soul Eater at Sommelier, who blocked it with his staff.
"Dark Aura!"
With his free hand, Kai blasted Sommelier with Dark Aura, throwing him across the floor. As he stood up, Kai appeared behind him and kneed him in the back before slashing across his back. Sommelier regained himself and angrily blasted Kai back with a soundwave from his staff. As Kai tried to get up, Sommelier smirked and tapped the bottom of his staff to the ground. At first the sound was barely noticeable, but Kai suddenly felt the ringing get louder. His body felt paralyzed, and he looked to Sommelier for an explanation. Sommelier laughed and obliged him an explanation.
"You see, I sent off a sound vinration, with an special frequency. Once it's picked up by the brain, it begins to cause weakeness, paralysis, and even hallucinations."
Suddenly Sommelier laughed and it seemed to Kai that he was facing dozens of Sommeliers. They looked at him and said in a warped voice:
"How can you fight now? Even if you could move, you wouldn't know where to strike! It's pointless!"
He took out his Kronos Stone and activated the seal around them. Sommelier grinned at Kai as the seal came fully into place.
"Now, I think I'll have some fun before I kill you."
He pointed his tuning staff at Kai and said, "Slicing Soundwave!"
He directed a concentrated blast of sound at Kai that cut across his side. Kai was still weak from Sommelier's last attack, and he was still seeing hallucinations. Sommelier kept using the Slicing Soundwave attack to cut Kai all over his body. Kai suddenly charged his darkness, and the room seemed to grow black.
"What's he up to?" thought Sommelier with a frown.
Kai held the darkness, but he didn't seem to be able to muster enough strength to move. Sommelier shrugged it off and began to attack Kai again. As Kai was thrown to the ground, Sommelier laughed arrogantly.
"I think it's time I finished you for good. Accept the darkness as serve as a sacrifice to the Kronos Seal!"
He lifted his tuning staff to deal the finishing blow, but Kai suddenly lifted the darkness and he stopped as he saw a shadow extending from Kai through his legs. His eyes widened with surprise as Shadow version of Kai (like the one you fight in Neverland with Sora, or in Twilight Town as Roxas) rose up behind him and bound him from behind.
"Impossible! H-how?!"
Kai smirked weakly. "I darkened the room so you wouldn't notice me extend my shadow until it was behind you. And to borrow your own words, I think it's time I finished you for good! Shadow Tendrils!"
The doppelganger let loose one of its hands. Darkness sprouted from its fingertips and shot through Sommelier's chest like spiked tendrils. He cried out and sank to the ground in shock. The doppelganger sank back down into the shadow and withdrew back to Kai as the Seal of Kronos encircled Sommelier.
"No! It can't be! Aaah!"
A red light shot from the seal, taking Sommelier's heart with it. His body faded, and Kai promptly sat down and laid on his back, sighing with relief.
"That was close. I wonder how the others are doing...Reyna...I hope you're okay."
Nightshroud: Good fight, eh? Yay! I worked hard on this one, though I must admit it came to me very naturally. Well we will now go back for the climatic finish of Reyna and Co.'s journey through Twilight Impasse. I won't be able to update tomorrow (soccer game and a test), but look for an update on Friday! Review and leave some love! ;)
Next chapter: Bankotsu: A Requiem to the Dying Embers