*Camera turns on*
*The camera sees that ZS Connor and Dark Prelate Mitchell are the ones commentating.*
*Compared to last time, they seem more prepared.*
ZS Connor: "Welcome back to our segment."
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "Yeah, welcome back..."
ZS Connor: "Today's chapter is a bit different from the past ones...Mainly involving the focus of this chapter.
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "Mainly, it contains a battle of a more defensive nature than previous…"
ZS Connor: "And that's all we can say before we have to start the chapter.
*Nothing happens.*
ZS Connor: *Looks at Dark Prelate Mitchell* "That's your cue…"
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "...Ah, right…" *goes to start chapter*
*Chapter 5 Starts*
Chapter 5: The Reptile Warrior
The travel back to Ylisstol had taken longer due to a diversion involving barbarians and a village being defended by a merchant. After sorting out that mess, the group continued on their path.
Once arriving back at Ylisstol, the group had split up as those involved with the planning of the war heading off to the palace, while everyone else was in the barracks. The remaining hours left in the day were used to begin acquiring more camping gear and tents to accommodate the new people that joined the Shepherds' cause.
A day passed and the day itself was uneventful, mostly in the fact that nothing interesting happened.
Of course, as the sun set and night took over...There was actually something that happened that would qualify as 'interesting'...
Just that it got everyone involved...involved in stopping a very sinister plan.
With the moon out in the sky, Chrom was out in the castle courtyard lost in thoughts about the future. At some point, Sevon and Lenora were out and about in the courtyard when they found Chrom out by himself.
Eventually, a conversation formed about what had Chrom up at night. It was about the war that just started earlier...and a more detailed explanation about what happened in the past.
The Avatars were told of the conflict between Ylisse and Plegia…..How the 'crusade' turned into a war that went on and on for years, the violence and desperation that led to farmers being sent into battle to die...That all happened and stopped 15 years ago.
Chrom went further on to explain how that affected himself and Emmeryn. He mentioned how this legacy that was passed onto Emmeryn was difficult at first...but time and efforts made peace exist since then. The experience also made Emmeryn who she was today… A symbol of peace for Ylisse. But it also made people like Gangrel use that as an opportunity for their wicked intentions.
Chrom started the end of the conversation with a comment about Gangrel, that he would finally understanding the concept of peace when death finally came to him. This was also followed up by a comment implying that while he would have Gangrel killed, Emmeryn wouldn't, nor would Chrom want her to.
This caused 'Marth' to arrive and show 'him'self again, where he praised Chrom's comment. After revealing how he got in, he gave his warning that Emmeryn would be assassinated that night...When he needed to show proof, he did so by stopping an assassin from wounding Chrom...however, another assassin showed up and destroyed Marth's mask. When Chrom killed the assassin and turned towards Marth, however… … …
"Wait, you're—You're a woman?"
Marth smiled a little. "And quite the actress, too. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out until just now."
An explosion sounded, however, cutting off their conversation, resulting in them running off to handle the attack that was going on.
Word quickly broke among the barracks that an explosion had gone off, meaning that everyone had to wake up and be ready for whatever follows.
Connor and Daniel took that as the sign that the next event they already knew about was starting. The group had met further inside the castle near a room that Emmeryn was placed in for her own safety.
Chrom relayed the information he got and the current plan was to defend Emmeryn from any assassins or other threats that planned to show up tonight. The Avatars were placed in charge of the tactical decisions and time went by as everyone waited for the attack.
Connor decided to set up a improv sniper spot as he keep watch for anything that wasn't friendly. Meanwhile, Daniel was using Shadow Fury on clusters of enemies, rapidly blinking from enemy to enemy, attacking them. While waiting for his power to recover, he would simply strike with his Warp Scythe and Warp Blade.
This cluster fighting found its way towards the area Connor was watching. A few enemies approached Daniel before getting sniped off with sniper rounds. Having to reload, Connor watched as Daniel continued to pick off more enemies.
Unfortunately, Connor spotted a large group of 15 enemies advancing on Daniel's current location. Deciding to intervene, not with his sniper rifle, but his Norfleet rocket launcher.
After aiming and using his best judgment about the splash zone of the slag rockets, Connor fired off a salvo of three rockets.
The three slag-inducing rockets speed off towards the large band of enemies...exploding when they reached their targets. The resulting explosion sent slag everywhere, coating the enemies completely in the purple goop...
And also coating Daniel in it as well…
Connor quickly replaced the Norfleet with one pistol that he referred to as a City Watch pistol and made his way to assist Daniel.
Three enemies just got their vision cleared...as they each got shot by a bullet. Their comrades were still doing the same as three more fell. This continued till the last 5 got picked off by Daniel using Shadow Fury.
Noting that Daniel was still covered in slag, Connor made sure to say, "A sincere apology...That was never meant to happen."
"... … ...This smells...horrible...I envy my Protoss Companions and their lack of noses…" Daniel replied flatly.
"...Yeah, you do smell terrible. I mean...You will still be able to fight...despite the loss of surprise with that stench." Connor said before altering his words.
"Yeah…" Daniel replied, "Let's just get this battle over with so I can get myself cleaned up…"
"Then let's move...and strike while we still can." Connor said before heading off with Daniel to a different part of the castle.
Gaius just recently got recruited by Chrom, but already, he was running into trouble: a pair of Axe Wielders, who were just a few moments ago working with him.
One of the Axe Wielders approached, ready to attack… … ...only to stiffen up and fall over, a stab wound in his back. The other Axe Wielder panicked, looking for his partner's killer… … ...only to drop dead as well. This time, the falling Axe Wielder revealed a petite young woman, who had hair divided in color between brown, pink, and white, with clothing matching the color scheme. Her eyes were brown on the left and pink on the right. She had a smug look, looking down at the assassins she just eliminated before looking up at Gaius.
"Say, nice work…" Gaius offered. The girl gave a nod in reply, her smug smirk remaining. She then pulled out a piece of paper, writing something down, before passing it to Gaius.
"My name's Neopolitan. Wanna help me take more of these guys down?"
"Uhhh...sure…Scribbles..."
Neopolitan smiled, and gestured for Gaius to follow, who did.
Elsewhere, another recently recruited ally was fighting of the attackers. Her name was Panne...and her appearance was currently 'different'.
As she participated in battle, she took the form of what is best described to be a giant killer rabbit. If Connor was there to witness Panne fighting, he would have made a joke referring to something involving a sacred explosive device.
As the assassins and other attackers started showing up less and less, Connor and Daniel decided to take an offensive push to locate any remaining enemies outside of the interior of the castle.
They splitted up, as Connor turned invisible to get the drop on anyone he just as he lost track of Daniel...Something was forming in his mind...that he forgot to mention an important detail.
Meanwhile, Daniel cleaved his way through the enemies as he found, occasionally releasing a burst from Shadow Fury…
...Soon, he came upon…
"Emmeryn was supposed to be an easy target... You will pay for interfering in my designs!" said...Validar.
Daniel turned towards the man, realizing he now had a chance to strike down the one in charge of this whole mess…
While that was going on, Connor spotted the two...and that Daniel was still covered in slag...That's when his eyes widen in panic.
His memory finally jogged itself as he remembered the other 'hazardous' effect of slag...That anyone coated in it would take more damage from any attack that landed on them.
Daniel charged at Validar, but the Sorcerer managed to get an attack off: Daniel's Aura and Shields were depleted by previous attacks, and he was weakened slightly by additional attacks by mages and archers...which means when Validar's attack struck Daniel… … ...
...And blew his arm clean off…
To say that Connor was going to be standing still after watching that...was to assume that retaliation was not going to happen. Connor sprinted like a madmen towards Validar, invisible and armed with his sword to attack.
He wasn't the only one to arrive: Chrom, Sevon, and Lenora also arrived, and were horrified by what happened to Daniel…
...And all were confused when, when Daniel's arm struck the ground, it shattered into a pile of silver coins.
Validar didn't notice, though...what he DID notice was Sevon and Lenora. "Well, well... Ha ha ha! Oh, I know you both... Submit to me, and perhaps I might honor you with the truth!"
"Ain't gonna happen, wise guy…" came a voice from the floor, as Daniel pushed himself over to the pile of coins...before absorbing them back into himself...and regenerating his arm.
Connor admitally just spoke out loud saying, "What?", which distracted Validar for a second. He also made sure to move back...having a feeling he didn't want to be near the Sorcerer.
Daniel stood up. "I guess it's time to kick this into overdrive…" And then...Daniel began to mutate….
*Music Track: "Burakawani Theme"*
He looked like he was wearing his normal clothes, with some differences, such as they were made of scales and matched his body's new color scheme of orange, brown, and white. His head resembled that of a Cobra's, with a narrow snout and a 'hood' on the back of his head, with snake-like fangs in his mouth. His 'collar' resembled a coiled snake, and he had turtle-like shell on his back, while his legs resembled those of a Crocodile's stretched to the length of a human's, although his feet remained human-like.
Daniel had turned into the Reptile Greeed, under which identity, he takes the name 'Davos'.
"...That's a new trick…" Connor said as he maneuvered over to the other Shepherds.
The Shepherds were shocked too: Daniel just transformed into some kind of monster…
Davos then...raised his head up off his shoulders, revealing his collar to ACTUALLY BE snake coils, then lunged his head at Validar, who only barely dodged Daniel's Cobra Strike. Daniel pulled his head back, and then struck again, Validar dodging again. This repeated for a time.
"...What in hell am I watching?" Connor said out loud, before deactivating his invisibility to let the others know he was there...and that they weren't going crazy by hearing voices after seeing Daniel transform.
The Shepherds briefly jumped, but were still more surprised and shocked at Davos's act.
Davos then began running at Validar...before retracting his limbs and head into his turtle shell and began rolling, Validar's spells bouncing harmlessly off it. When Davos closed, he released his limbs and head again, before lunging, striking Validar with his claws...before biting down HARD on his shoulder.
Validar crumpled to the ground. "No... This is... all wrong... How could... you have known the plan…" And like that, he (supposedly) died.
*End Track*
Davos stood there briefly...before shifting back into Daniel. He sighed, before turning back towards the others. "...I guess I got some explaining to do?"
"No...You don't explain at all...We understand everything that just went on…" Connor sarcastically noted as he keep his sword ready.
"... … ...I sense your sarcasm…" Daniel replied.
Chrom offered, "Why not...start at the beginning?"
"I can't necessarily do that, but...on my journeys, a Scientist implanted me with 10 Core Medals...Core Medals being a form of O Medal, which are these medals…hold on…" Daniel then ejected some kind of medals from his hand, showing them to the others. They were orange, and depicted the image of a Cobra on one, a Turtle on another, and a Crocodile on the last one. "These medals turned me into a creature called a Greeed, literally a being powered by Desire...no matter WHAT is desired, I can draw power from it, and as the Reptile Greeed, I can generate another form of O Medal, the Cell Medal, by just being in close proximity to a person with a strong enough desire…This is much less effective than the creation of Yummies, though..."
Connor just flatly said, "In english please…"
Daniel took the medals and reabsorbed them. "I was turned into some kind of entity literally given essence by the power of Desire. My 'essence' is themed after reptiles…And because of that, I gain more power when near a strong enough desire...although creating additional creatures of desire and harvesting them is MUCH more effective..." Daniel tried to simplify.
Connor got that part...somewhat. "Let me guess, one benefit from this power is to...attach limbs back…?"
"Actually, it's the fact that my ENTIRE body is now made up of Cell Medals and my 10 Core Medals: so long as I retain my primary Core Medal, 2 other Core Medals, and a significant number of my Cell Medals, I can regenerate from just about any wound…" Daniel explained, "Which is what makes me so dangerous, at least without the cap I have on how much I can produce at a given time...think about how a Reptile warms itself in the sun before it is active: I can generate Cell Medals until I reach a certain cap, and I have to siphon some off before I can make more…"
Daniel then remembered something. "But...it's best if I have ALL 10 of my Core Medals…"
"So...In a short summary, you're hard as hell to kill...and that's just assuming you even get hit and actually take damage." Connor said after thinking.
"Pretty much...basically, to kill me, you'd have to deplete the amount of Cell Medals in my body enough to where I just collapse into my composite medals, take the Cobra Medal with my consciousness in it, and destroy it…" Daniel replied.
"...Speaking of death...Where's the guy you fought and should be dead...from being attacked by that chimera reptile form of yours?" Connor pointed out after Daniel stopped talking.
"... … ...I don't know…" Daniel replied, when he saw the guy was gone.
After the battle, the Shepherds regrouped, and Chrom caught up with Marth, who revealed that they just avoided a future where the Fire Emblem was stolen. Then, after a conversation between Panne and Emmeryn resulted in Panne joining the Shepherds officially, it was announced that they would be taking Emmeryn and the Fire Emblem to the Eastern Palace, for their safety.
As for the group, their current plan was to protect Emmeryn as she was being led to the Eastern Palace.
*Camera malfunctions as it switches over.*
ZS Connor: *Seeing that the camera is making noises, tries to see what's possibly wrong with it.* "Hmmm…."
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "You see anything wrong with it?"
ZS Connor: "No...Everything looks fine. *Touches the camera with his hand and quickly pulls it back in mild pain.*
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "Or not..."
ZS Connor: "Yeah, visually it's fine...But physically...It's overheating to the point it's making noise...I'm going to get it shut down...Make sure to end the show." *Leaves the camera's view to do so.*
Dark Prelate Mitchell: "Well...that's that...see you next time…"
*Camera turns off.*