The Red Wand
Chapter XII: For The World
(Play Wild Arms The Best –rocking heart- Battle VS Lord Blazer)
The group stared at the hideous creature. Aura glowed a fierce white light. The Infinity Eight nodded to one another.
All of them focused on their avatars.
"Ike! Corbenik!"
"Tarvos!"
"Macha!"
"Gorre!"
"Fidchell!"
"Ore no Magus!"
"Innis!"
It was down to Haseo. He focused on the thoughts of his friends, of The World…
"Koi…Koi! Ore wa…koko ni iru…SKEIIIIIIITH!"
The ring of light surrounded Haseo, whose form changed into the glowing white, hulking beast of a creature. Humanoid in shape, with eight glowing yellow energy blades floating behind its back.
Xenmaru watched, with a look akin to jealousy on his face. What's wrong? Nothing…just not fair is all. Oh come on, we could take him! Not that…look at him…he's got all those friends…I've got two AI. It's just…irritating. Well…we're up. You can kick his ass for being lucky later. Yeah…later.
With a clouded mind…Xenmaru focused his thoughts on the link between him and Cubia. This might not work y'know. That thing might be able to beat us. It's worth a shot. Besides, don't you humans fight the best when you have something to protect? You don't exactly have a life anymore…but there are countless lives that are tied to this world. Yeah…if anything…it'll be for them…thanks Miko. That's what friends are for…right? Yeah.
"Mezame…CUBIA!"
A ring of light enveloped him as well…and when it shattered, the draconic form of The Hidden One, Cubia, was present.
Aura glowed brighter, as the three of them floated into the air, and shot towards the monster.
The beast flapped its wings, and a torrent of razor sharp feathers flew at the three. They split, Aura going up, Skeith going left and Cubia going right. Aura shot down towards the beast with blinding speed. It tried to put up a barrier, but she cut straight through it. There was a small flash of light as she made impact, and the beast roared in pain. However, to thwart the coming attack from Haseo, all three heads fired small, but potent beams of energy out of their mouths, catching him in the blasts. The beams were continuous…or would have been had Cubia not appeared beneath the beast, and punched it in the sky.
"Legion's Reach."
Cubia flapped its wings hard, and waves of small branching red blasts flew into the creature. The creature flapped its own wings, and the torrent of feathers blocked most of the energy blasts. However, that left it open for an attack from Haseo. Before the beast could recover, it was assaulted by several lances of energy that flew from behind Skeith. Aura then re-appeared and began pelleting the creature with small, but powerful energy spheres.
The creature put up its barrier, which blocked the attack.
Skeith zoomed past the barrier, and hacked away at the monster with his scythe. The beast roared in pain, and the snake headed tails flicked. Suddenly Haseo was bombarded with twisters of fire. Skeith flew back, and Aura once again slammed into the creature, at the same time Cubia appeared and smashed its fist into the monsters top head, both of them frustrated.
"Stop…"
Aura crashed into its left head.
"Not…"
Cubia roared, sending a sonic blast into the monster's side, knocking it away.
"DYING!"
Aura and Xenmaru yelled at the same time, as Haseo charged in again, swinging wildly, causing massive damage to the creature. It repelled them all with a barrier that snapped into place out of nowhere, and then fired a beam of energy at Cubia. Aura flickered into view in front of him, and slashed her arm to the side. Her own barrier snapped into place, protecting both of them.
"Nice trick."
"Thanks…I've been replaying some of the memories you shared with Alicia…you'll have to explain to me how some of those moves work…"
From within Cubia, Xenmaru smiled. "When we beat this thing, I will."
"It's a date then."
The creature fired another beam, this time at Skeith. Aura vanished, and appeared in front of him, blocking that attack as well.
We have to finish this…
"Aura! Haseo! Cover me!"
Immediately, Aura knew what Xenmaru was planning. She nodded, and fell back to a defensive position. Haseo charged in, firing blast after blast, keeping the beast distracted. Every time it would fire a potentially fatal attack at either one of them, Aura would step in, and block it.
The kite like object on Cubia's back began glowing. 'Tails' like on its lower half began appearing on its top. It began spinning.
Aura slammed into the monster, shattering its barrier. Skeith rushed in and slashed wildly.
Energy gathered towards Cubia's mouth. The cross became a glowing disk.
The monster roared at the two of them, unaware of what was coming.
A glowing light appeared in Cubia's mouth. Its head rose.
Armageddon
Aura slammed into the beast one final time, and then dashed away. The beast turned, only to see a huge beam of energy come tearing at it. It was about to put up its barrier, when a wave of energy slammed into its heads, courtesy of Haseo. The energy beam engulfed the monster, causing a huge explosion.
They floated down to the ground.
"Is it dead?"
"I…think so…"
For a few moments…nothing happened. The dust cleared, and nothing was there.
"We won."
"WE DID IT!"
Haseo and Aura celebrated.
Xenmaru wasn't convinced. That was too easy.
He was right.
A wave of force came from nowhere. The sheer power behind it was enough to knock Haseo and Xenmaru out of their avatar forms. This had the added effect of knocking the rest of the infinity eight back into existence, and flat on their backs.
The creature reformed, and roared in annoyance.
Foolish Beings. Why do you fight your destiny of destruction?
"We choose our own destiny! A virus like you wouldn't understand the meaning of anything but destruction!"
I need not understand. I need only destroy, for that is my purpose.
Kuhn was going to retort, but Xenmaru spoke before he could.
"No."
Everyone, even the snake headed tails on the creature, turned to the young man.
"That is merely what you were created to do. You're nothing but a program. Evolved, yes. Self-aware, yes. But you're still a program. You cannot ignore the 'destiny' you yourself have been given…simply because you cannot fathom that you have a choice. That you can be given a choice. A virus is nothing more than a patch of data, twisted to form a malicious action…but rewrite that data, replace a zero with a one, and add in a few more pieces of code, and that virus becomes a vaccine. Morgana, became self-aware, and was filled with fear at her death. She corrupted herself, her programming, and the one she was meant to create, all because of her selfishness. And because of that, she created you as well."
Everyone was stunned, even Mikoto, who was living in the 'mind' of Xenmaru.
Xen…
"I cannot speak for the others, for their reasons are their own…but I fight not for humans, or children, or life or even myself. I fight for The World. The World and all those who call it home. The creations of humans that exist for one purpose, and then become discarded, the AI, the Programs that have called this place sanctuary. Sanctuary from their foolish, selfish human creators, that made them for one purpose, and then discarded them. For those that made them just to be objects to use, to control, and ignore as they saw fit. The World…where all are welcome. You would be included as well…if your very existence didn't threaten the fabric of this reality. If your existence, your very presence did not corrupt, destroy, and distort the world that surrounds you, you would be more than welcome…but it does. And that means we must destroy you, so those that live here can be in peace."
Xenmaru started charging an attack.
"I didn't want this life. I didn't want to die so early, I had plans, dreams…wishes. But I was killed. Killed by an ignorant program that became self-aware like a human, a program that acted like a human, not caring of anything but itself, even if for only a moment. And I was trapped here, my mind turned to data, my body destroyed from my mind vanishing. To this day, I cannot get used to this form. My mind is that of a human dammit! I want to eat again! I want to be able to sleep! Hell I wanna have a god damn stomach ache so I can take a shit again! I want to be human! I want to live a human life! But I can't. This body doesn't allow for it, this WORLD doesn't allow for it. I can still feel pain; I can still feel the cold and heat. Hell I can still get dust in my eye for crying out loud! But Aura can do that to, hell so can most of the AI in this world. Fuck I'd love to see Aura become human! She'd have a hard time adjusting to human life, just as I'm having problems being data! She'd have to get used to eating, sleeping, bathing, all sorts of things that programs don't need to do! Hell I'd LOVE to see that bitch on her period! (Here Aura blushed.) Would she be the bitchy type? Would she be even quieter? Or would she be the wild hormone driven type? Hell, fuck that, I'd like to see her in the fucking SACK! (Now Aura's face turned beet red. Some of the other men started chuckling.) But that won't happen…for her or for me…because I'm stuck here…"
Two orbs of light appeared in his hands.
"But hell…if I'm stuck here…that makes this place my home…and you know what?"
The light became nearly blinding.
"If this is my home…then I'm sure as hell not going to let you take it away from me."
(Play Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: His World –Crush 40 Version-)
He slammed his hands together, and a huge beam of light shot from them, crashing into the monster's heads.
The monster roared and pawed its eyes.
A wave of force emanated from him, surprising all present. Energy flew off of him in waves.
You're not gonna…It's the only thing I can do. That thing started it all, and it will finish it. But…you'll…I know…I'll miss you too. But hey…it's for the best.
"What the hell…how is this possible?"
Aura stared in amazement. "Because he's the Shinigami…"
A glowing red staff appeared in his hands. He flipped it over and grabbed it from the tip, the rounded part with the cross. He then vanished. No ripple, no sound, just there one moment, and gone the next. He brought the staff down on the creature's left head, dodging its right as it bit at him, and slamming down on the middle. He flipped off the nose of the middle, and spun, slashing both other heads. The monster brought its paw down on him, only for him to vanish, and a series of slices to suddenly appear racing up its leg.
The beast roared again, as Xenmaru re-appeared on its back. He dodged the balls of fire, gales of wind, and torrents of water. He jumped off the creatures back, and stabbed his weapon into its side, creating a huge black gash as he slid down. He then used the staff as a spring-board to propel himself towards the creature's hind-quarters. He twisted himself past another fireball, and used that movement to send himself below the beast, where he summoned his staff and slammed it into the creatures hide again, swinging underneath it, and over to the other side like a gymnast.
"My gods…why didn't he do this before?"
"I don't think he could…look at him…he's using everything he has to do this…"
"But how? Human data or not, he's still in the form of a normal character…how is he dealing so much damage?!"
"Because he's the Shinigami. Much like Tsukasa was chosen by Morgana, and Kite was chosen by myself…He was chosen by Cubia, the last defense of The World itself. Like Haseo was marked by Skeith, and Endrance was marked by Macha…he has a connection to this world that goes beyond all logic. When he first logged in, he used an Edge Punisher's weapon against her…something that shouldn't have been possible. He's always had a powerful link to this world…one strong enough to defeat an AIDA without data draining it, both in, and out of avatar form. Where Haseo holds the Xth form from his endeavors as Skeith…he holds the form of Sword Master…a warrior of honor and grace…master of blades of all forms. Of course I plan on making his class an official class after all this…"
"Wouldn't that…diminish his efforts?"
"Not really…he's the only one that can use that staff after all…"
"Good point."
Xenmaru raced along the monsters back, to the nine snake headed tails. Each one used its own method of attacking. Some bit, some launched fire, others wind, or water, or lightning, or darkness, or rays of light. He evaded and countered them all, slicing through each one in return. The heads dropped either to the ground, or to its back, the necks spraying a black, fluid like substance. He ran back along, tossing a few waves of black flame onto the fluids, and also burning some parts of the creature. He ran to where the wings were, and dashed up one, slicing off each feather till he reached half way, and then made one big swing, creating a crescent blade of energy that ripped off the rest of the wing, the black fluid spraying everywhere again.
"My word…he's so…elegant…"
"Don't tell me you're gonna go after him now Endrance."
"Lords no…nobody could ever compare to you Haseo."
"Right…" DAMMIT!
"Zefie…do you still think he's a burden?"
"I'd like to go back in time and smack myself for that Morgana…I really would."
"HELL YEAH! KICK SOME ASS XENMARU! DON'T YOU DARE LOSE CAUSE I STILL GOTTA BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU FOR DEFEATING ME ALL THOSE TIMES!"
Everyone present sweat-dropped.
"So he beat you too, huh Natsume?"
"Five freaking times! The last time I didn't even land a hit on him!"
"Damn…and it took me a bit to beat you…and I only did it once…"
The young man raced along the ground, evading the enraged stomps of the monster before him. He leapt into the air, slicing through its other leg, and slashing it, cutting it off at the top, causing the monster to topple over. He then spun like a saw, and cut through the right head.
"It's done! He's gonna win!"
He cut through the left one, splitting it in two, right down the middle.
"Its over! That thing's beat!"
Xenmaru hopped away from it.
This is it…I've got only one shot…if I don't do it now…it'll just regenerate. Zero…It's the only way Miko…it's my only chance. But…to do such a thing! You know I wont go that easily. Besides…they are still present. They can be used…I'll miss you…and I you. But we'll see each other again soon.
Aura frowned. "He's hesitating…wait…no…he can't be!"
Morgana's eyes widened. "He wouldn't…"
Zefie stared. "He would…"
He spoke.
"Not as gone as I thought huh?"
Aura had tears in her eyes…she knew what he was going to do. "Nowhere near it."
"Good. Payback's a bitch."
He flipped the staff upright. He began to glow, and raise into the air. The last remaining head stared in fear.
No…what are you doing?!
"Finishing you off…for good."
He rocketed towards the monster's last remaining head.
NO!
The staff tip slammed into its forehead, right between the eyes. Xenmaru twisted the staff as if he were turning a key. A brilliant silver light shot from the very center of the staff's cross. There was an explosion…
And everyone's vision went white.
The end. It's done. It's over. There will be an epilogue. I did this on purpose, the ending is unfufiling, I know. This was intentional. The epilogue…will surprise all of you…and leave you wanting a sequel. Yes, a sequel is planned, more on that in the epilogue.
Yamimaru: The whip signifies Macha's femininity. Not to mention we all KNOW that if a whip were a usable weapon, Endrance would have picked that instead. If you noticed, the whip sent out energy waves much like the ones Avatar Macha's claws did.
Rainfire: Oh you wont have to worry about Xenmaru for a loooong time after this…yeah, I always did have a flair for picking the right music for the moments. It's how I write. If a segment of the chapter has a song that needs to be played, I play it, and loop it.
Wolfy: Plushy received. Aina's color's inversed because of the three orbs, a fragment of Alicia, a fragment of Xenmaru, and a fragment of Cubia, all fused with her. Sucks that you have a time limit for the internet. But it takes less than that long to read one of my chapters so…
PirateCaptainBo: Xenmaru was under orders to Data Drain Aura and Alicia from Alicia herself. Since she's the other half of Aura, and Aura is basically the Goddess of The World, she's higher up in the corporate chain than CC Corp is. Because if Aura decides she's tired of The World, there ain't SHIT stopping her from wiping it out. You actually got Yata's and Ovan's nicknames reversed. Ovan was Shine-Specs and Yata was The Mask. Ovan got his name from the numerous times during the games that his glasses would reflect glare, even in dark areas. Yata got his name from his Avatar, which has a fuckload of masks.
Well, this is the last real chapter. The epilogue is just that, an epilogue, it will be short, and confusing. And it will leave you wanting more. I hope you all enjoyed this, cause I had fun writing it…and as stated above, yes, a sequel is planned, but not for a while. I might post the first chapter sometime in the near future, but don't expect it to be updated for a while. I'll probably focus on it once Vol 3 hits US stores.