The Red Wand
Chapter V: The Last Avatar
Part 2
(Play .hack Game Music: CD2 str10 – Cubia Recollection)
Xenmaru looked to the sky above him. A large blue creature floated over the desolate land, glowing fiercely in the night sky. His vision blurred, and suddenly he was seeing a birds-eye view of the creature. Blue horns stuck out from its head, four glowing blue eyes on a demonic looking face, and a large gaping maw. The body was not more than a slab of land with a gigantic crystal protruding from the bottom, a strange black figure inside a pulsing blue orb. The creature's mouth slowly opened and energy gathered within.
"That…doesn't look like it will be pleasant."
The creature loosed a roar so powerful it sent shockwaves from its body. The invisible waves of force impacted upon the young warrior, and he was sent flying through the air. Behind him, in the direct path of his movement, a glowing, multicolored rift appeared.
Not again…
He was sucked through the rift, and it closed as his vision went black.
Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground…
"Phal Repth!"
The glowing light of healing enveloped Haseo, emerging from Atoli.
"Thanks! Now, Sparrow Counter!"
The Multi Weapon dashed towards one of the many barbell looking creatures. He brought his blades up, across the creature's weak point, and then back down, slamming a wave of force into it.
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"That's IT?!"
"PhiAniZot!"
Morgan summoned darkness laden claws from beneath the earth to attack another creature. They repeatedly tore at the Guardian AIDA.
78
78
64
90
"Oh come on!" The creature retaliated by firing three tentacles at her, all which she barely dodged.
The group was not fairing very well. Five AIDA versions of the Twilight Guardian had appeared. The mysterious voice laughed at their efforts, even though they managed to take down two of them. Zefie was doing her best to protect Aura and Aina, efforts that were rewarded with many injuries.
"Dammit!"
Haseo was annoyed. "I'm tired of this!"
He focused his thoughts on his Avatar…
"Koi! KOI!"
Nothing was happening. "What?!"
The Voice laughed. "Useless! Do you think me a fool? I have bound your so called Avatars! The Fragments of Morgana you hold will not work here!"
Ovan, attempting to keep the mood from souring stated. "Well…That puts us in a pickle now doesn't it?"
Aura stood watching, Aina in her arms. They all fight to protect me…and yet again, as it was before, I do nothing but run…my program may not give me the power to harm…but I can still protect! This is my…no, OUR world! I will not give it up to an imposter!
One of the Guardians had Pai in its sights. Its core glowed. A single tentacle shot from it.
"Pai look out!"
She turned and saw the attack heading for her, but could not move. She closed her eyes, readying for the inevitable pain.
NO!
A spark, one never seen before, appeared in Aura's eyes. She quickly set Aina down, and then flickered and vanished. She re-appeared right in the way of the attack. Her eyes flickered purple for a moment, and suddenly a dome of light appeared around her. The attack slammed into the dome, completely nullified.
"What?!"
The sphere began to shimmer. "You may be me, you may be a copy, but whatever you are, I can at least match your power!"
The sphere flared with light, the energy washing over the group, healing and buffing them entirely.
"I may not be able to attack…" Here, she held out her hand, a staff that looked as if it had a large crescent moon at the tip, with an orb floating inside it, appeared in her hand.
"But I can still help! I won't run away anymore!"
"So you've decided to join the futile struggle. It matters not! You cannot attack, as well, you still cannot use your Fragments of Morgana!"
And with that, the battle began anew.
Unknown Location…
"Blasted thing…DIE ALREADY!"
Xenmaru launched himself at one of the floating orbs only to bounce off a wall of light.
"Dammit, Physical Tolerance AGAIN?!"
(Play .hack GAME MUSIC: CD2 – str20 Final Cubia)
The battle had been going on in a pattern for a while. Xenmaru had found himself hurled on top of the tree like creature he saw, only instead of blue, it was purple. Immediately he was assaulted by branch looking things. He'd drawn his blades and hacked them off, and charged the skull thing. It beat him back with another sonic roar, serving only to piss Xenmaru off. He had learned that the creature, apparently named Cubia, had the ability to spawn random branches in the middle of its attacks and block his path. The branches themselves were easy to kill, but the frequency it summoned them was irritating.
Ark Bullet
And of course there were its other attacks. For this one, four beams of energy would twist their way to Xenmaru, and wherever they hit, be him or the area, would be a pretty big explosion. He was quickly running low on healing items, and even lower on patience. And those floating balls with claws on them…
RENGEKI
"LOTUS FLOWER!"
He leapt into the air, and spun his body. All five spheres that had surrounded him took damage. Three of them faded.
"PhiAniZot!"
Claws of darkness reached up from the depths of hell and engulfed the two remaining spheres. Enough damage was dealt to kill off the two of them, sending the biggest one shooting around the area before it vanished. He looked, and noticed the health was at 0.
"Huh? Wait, what? YES! WOOHOO!" He started dancing around like a court Jester, laughing.
"Take THAT! In your…face…?"
Sephira Returner
Xenmaru watched as its health rose back to full.
"BULLSHIT!"
But it wasn't done.
Chaos Gehenna
"Huh?" The creature opened its mouth. A small light appeared between its jaws. The light grew and grew. Xenmaru, expecting the sonic blast again, placed himself firmly on the ground, Scythe in front of him, ready.
However the wave of force never came. What did come however, was a gigantic beam of pure energy.
"Ahh…balls."
The beam engulfed him, making an insanely large explosion. When the dust and light cleared, he was on the ground, health at 1…and in serious pain.
"God…that…hurt…"
He slowly rose, using the rod part of his scythe as a cane.
Dammit! This…thing…its so fucking CHEAP! How am I supposed to kill it when it just comes back from the dead?! I have to find a way to take it out in one shot…because if I don't…I'm gone…but how?
He remembered how the sonic blast required it to open its mouth.
Wait…maybe…if I can get to its head…but…no, the damn thing'll kill me before I get there…
"It is my belief…that some of Morgana's power…has gone to you."
Wait…Morgana has the power to alter the world as she sees fit…meaning…if I have some of that power…I can…
He focused on healing his wounds. Suddenly, his health shot from nearly nothing, to over halfway. He could push it no further however.
Good enough…now…I need a plan…I don't think any of my weapons will do anything, even if I hit its core.
While he thought, he nimbly dodged the attacks sent his way, while attacking back without notice. His body, flowing like liquid, moved on auto-pilot. He didn't notice, but not a single attack touched him, his body releasing a faint glow.
Wait…don't I have that Staff? Could that do something? As he thought this, in his free hand (he had unconsciously switched to his Katana) the staff appeared.
Awesome! I know what to do now! I just hope this works…Hang in there blondie! I'm on my way! And you better not die Morgana-teme! That pleasure is mine and mine alone!
Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground
Zefie was guarding Aina, reflecting any attacks sent their way, while tossing out healing items and spells when Aura couldn't reach them in time. Suddenly, she heard something.
"Hang in there blondie! I'm on my way!"
She blinked. "What the hell?"
"Zefie-nee-chan?"
"It's nothing Aina…I just…thought I heard something."
If that was that player…
Morgana had just dodged another Data Drain attempt.
"You better not die Morgana-teme! That pleasure is mine and mine alone!"
Xenmaru…what have I done to make you hate me so?
Zefie called out.
"Everyone hang in there! We've almost got her beat!"
A loud "Yosh!" accompanied that statement, as everyone fought on with renewed vigor.
This battle was a lesson for them all. A lesson on how much they relied on their Avatar's abilities. Whether it be the actual transformation, or the added abilities they offer, the Infinity Eight learned from this battle, their Avatars are powerful tools indeed…but the weakness of them is that they rely on their power far too often.
RENGEKI
Weapon Change!
"Lotus…FLOWER!"
Again, he leapt into the air, sending waves of energy out from his spinning body. The spheres backed off. He smirked at them and then vanished in a ripple of air. He re-appeared behind the branches blocking his way.
I can't go far…but I can FUCKIN' TELEPORT! OH HELLS YES!
He ran towards the skull.
Legion's Reach
Branches shot from the sides of the skull at Xenmaru. Confidence renewed, he leapt on one of them and ran on it while swiftly evading the others.
Cubia roared in annoyance.
Jihad
Thunder roared from the sky. Torrents of lightning bolts rained down on Xenmaru. Having no defense, he took the attack, health dropping again. He clambered back to his feet, and pushed forward still.
Cubia's four eyes narrowed.
Meggido Flame
Four spheres of burning flame shot from the holes on the sides of the Skull's head. They rocketed towards Xenmaru who smirked.
Apparently it forgot where I was standing…Anyway, I'm close enough…
Xenmaru leapt into the attack, only to vanish in the ripple of air, and re-appear above the Skull as it roared in pain from its own attack.
Distraction!
He hurled his Scythe with all his might at the creature. The blade embedded itself directly in the center of the Skull's forehead. Cubia roared with pain and anger, a light appearing in its mouth. The light grew as Xenmaru fell towards the skull. This was it, all or nothing.
He held out his hand and the Red Staff appeared in it. He twirled it around his head.
The light grew.
Xenmaru continued to fall, evading the branches shooting towards him at blinding speeds.
The area began to distort, like a bad signal.
Cubia opened its mouth further, energy gathering.
"That's right…open wide…for a nice big helping of shut, the fuck…"
The light reached its climax, and as it was about to fire, Xenmaru slammed the staff's tip into the light with all his strength
"UP!"
There was a loud rushing sound…and then his vision went white…
They were all tired. The tax on their minds and bodies was immense as they fought constant Guardians. What made matters worse, is that three of the new wave fused into one big ball of goo, with a ring in it. It nearly had Aura once, and again it nearly deleted Morgana. Combined with the two remaining Guardians, they were screwed. A quick spell from the goo ball, knocked Zefie and Saku away from Aina, who was also knocked into the pedestal that once housed the Aura statue.
The goo ball sent a wave of force out from it, disabling everyone else.
"Aina!"
"And now…you will be the first to fall!"
The orb glowed and fired a single tendril of goo at her, charged with the bracelet's power. Aina closed her eyes, flinching.
Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes only to see the tendril frozen in place, wiggling as if it were fighting against something. Suddenly the area's colors inverted, and a large Cross Shaped Staff appeared in front of the tendril. Morgana's eyes widened.
"What is this?!"
"Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
A glowing multicolored rip appeared. From within, Xenmaru walked out.
"Xenmaru-nii-san!"
He looked at Aina. "Hey kid, not too late to join the party am I?"
Ovan couldn't help but smile. The boy had vulgarity, but when dealing with his sister, at least the few times he did, he always treated her with respect, almost like an elder brother. Yes…continuing our lives in this world was indeed a good choice.
"Who the hell are you?!"
"Oh geez not another disembodied voice…I already have one of you in my head, I don't need to be hearing another."
Oh…and here I thought you loved me…Oh be quiet you…
"Alright…Disembodied Voice. I've got a life claim on the pink haired child looking one. And she's being protected by the rest of them. So that puts us in a quandary. You can A) Call off your…balls…and leave us in peace, or B)...and this is the one I like better, I smash them, and go after you."
"Fool! You are NOTHING to me!"
"Well then you must be LESS than nothing, because you STILL haven't killed a single one of them."
The voice growled.
"Not to mention…" Here he stared at the big orb. It gave off a faint glow, a stream of sparkles heading to the sky. "If I'm right, big boy over there is tied to you…and if I kill it…you're gonna feel it."
"As if you could! You may have some ability outside of normal players, but you cannot defeat this!"
The sphere pulsed.
Xenmaru smirked. "Well then…" He drew his blades, which had changed drastically.
"We'll have to see."
Hope this is good enough. The next chapter will have an unexpected Avatar battle…and a good deal of explanations.
PirateCaptainBo: I doubt Albiro or Lyco will be showing up at all…but I think I can pull something off in the explanation of how Zefie got the way she was…as for PS3, personally I say don't bother. 2 works for now. Wait till 3 becomes a crapload cheaper.
Wolfy: Hah, what can you expect? The poor guy just got killed, literally, by a computer program. That and he's still a teenager, he's bound to have a foul mouth. Just don't be surprised when Zefie starts matching him curse for curse. She's gonna be a wild one!
Yamimaru: the Anti-Aura exists…well…you'll find out next chapter. All I can say is watch SIGN and pay very close attention to what's happening to Aura while she sleeps. As for Cubia being a program to protect Aura, I think you might be right actually. I've been trying not to read too much about it because I wanna see it for myself. I knew Harald made Cubia to do SOMETHING about balancing out a certain power, but to protect Aura…that's something I don't think I've encountered, but it would make a bit of sense really.