MINDSPRING- Alright, alright. You win. Here it is, the real ending to A New Beginning, which so many people wanted. The final battle, for real this time. Hope you guys like it, and don't forget to review. :) I listened to a song called My Last Breath by Evanescence for this, to get the mood right. But be warned, because of that, it is really gory… Not even kidding guys, this is bloody. Worse than Stephanie Meyer's description of Bella giving birth, I think. I warned you. I'm sorry in advance.
Ike woke again, for the third time that night, drenched in sweat and his heart pounding. The moonlight was slanted on his pillow, giving everything a strange glow and not helping his nerves at all. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. His eyes were haunted, but at least this time he hadn't woken up screaming. Ike could not get the image of the battle out of his head, the blood, the gore, and Lyssa's limp body in his arms…
He ran, ran straight to the heart of the huge mob that was screaming for their blood, and raised his sword. In the second before he swung to kill the first man he came to, he saw himself reflected in the hard brown eyes, sword raised and face contorted in a harsh battle cry. He felt no emotion as he drew the sword back and plunged it deep into the man's chest. He was impassive as the dark blood instantly flowed, heavy and ghastly, from the deep wound. He felt no remorse as the man opened his mouth in surprise, and terror, and screamed. Ike stood above him, his eyes and heart colder than the steel they stood on as blood trickled from the man's mouth, and with a final heave, pulled his sword, now wet and glistening blood, out of his chest. The man crashed to the ground, dead before his unseeing eyes were closed.
All around Ike, the battle was raging, blood was spilling, and anguished cries of men filled the air. Ike looked up to see an Arwing playing a vicious game of cat-and-mouse with one of the Brotherhood ships, and Meta Knight's ship easily destroying a small fleet with one large blast. Ike gripped his sword harder and grimly smiled; this was not going to be a very fair fight.
He looked to his left, and saw Marth, Link, Pit, and Ganondorf all lined up, blades out and ready. Ike vaguely registered that Ganondorf had never used his sword before now, not even for the Tournament, before his next enemy appeared. This man looked more experienced with his weapons, and he smiled wide, like an animal about to attack, whipping two razor-sharp long swords around his body before they started to circle. As cries of pain and small victorious yells filled the air, Ike and his opponent stared at each other, waiting.
Ike heard it before the man did. An explosion, following by a hissing and groaning sound, finally followed by the sound of something very heavy, falling very fast. He looked up in time to see a huge piece of groaning metal from a Brotherhood ship burning and twisting in mid-air, straight towards the group of swordsmen. Ike, his heart pounding from the adrenaline, screamed, "RETREAT! NOW!" At the top of his lungs. Luckily, they all listened to him and jumped back immediately. As they backed up, hands still clutching bloody weapons and ready for an attack, eyes hard and jumping from face to face, the ship crashed into the first wave of the Brotherhood soldiers.
The groans and whimpers of men being slowly crushed by a burning piece of metal is something Ike never wants to hear again.
As those men slowly died, and their cries faded and their bodies stopped twitching, a loud cry of hatred from their fellows rose up among them, and for the first time Ike felt fear knotting his stomach. The ship had completely blocked their view of the remaining thousands, and Ike felt vulnerable, unsafe, and completely and totally alone. He gripped his weapon tighter, and looked back to where the rest of the Smashers, Lyssa, April, and Medina included, were holding off the other advancement of enemies.
Ike saw Peach, Zelda, and Samus tag-teaming, backed up to one another as they slashed, kicked, and shot at men who advanced on them, thinking girls easy prey. He smiled sarcastically, thinking That's the last lesson learned for them. The Smashers who could use projectiles, like Luigi and Ness, were standing behind them all, shooting and aiming over heads. Another explosion from above; two Arwings had just come out of a double attack on a large transport and were spinning through the air, expertly dodging the pieces that flew from what had once been a well built ship.
Now, it was all quiet on the western front, the western side of the stadium where the swordsmen were holding up the front lines against the much larger, but less coordinated opponent. The air hissed with apprehension, and as Ike glanced around him, he knew the others felt it as well.
Link murmured, his eyes not leaving the fallen ship, "They're planning something."
"Doubtless," Marth replied, resting the tip of his sword on the ground and kneeling next to it, hands still on the hilt.
"I bet those fools are planning to scale the ship," Ganondorf laughed darkly, sarcastically. "They do not realize how hot that metal will be. If they try to ascend in, they will be burned rather badly." He grinned again, and the strange glint Ike saw in his eyes, he realized with a lurch that Ganondorf thought this all a joke, and was taking a sadistic pleasure in the awful killings of these men. Ike shuddered and turned to face Pit.
"Pit, do you think you could fly up very fast and see what they're doing? It's quiet, way to quiet for my liking."
Link immediately faced Ike. "Too dangerous. If they have weapons, he could easily be shot out of the sky."
Marth, still kneeling and facing the ship, bowed his head and murmured, "It'll be what they expect. If that ship could just hold them there until Queen Daisy's fleet arrives…"
Ike nodded, although he felt angry at being so harshly denied, and they stood, waiting. The ship piece was huge, molted and burning, the paint hissing off. It covered the entire length of the stage, completely cutting off the attackers. The sky, once so clear and blue, now was dusty and smoky, difficult to see through but not to hear. The sounds of a ship exploding and then falling echoed in their ears, and as they crashed somewhere unknown, Ike felt a pang of pity for just that reason: that the pilots would die unknown, like so men here, now…
Chiarina appeared next to him suddenly, and Ike said, surprise in his voice, "Chiarina! Are you all right?"
She was acting extremely odd, bent low in a fighting stance. Her pupils were dilated, and she was panting, clutching two red swords. Her hair spilled into her face, and she was sweating heavily. She did not appear to hear him, and was apparently holding a conversation with her sister, because at that moment April appeared next to her and said loudly, "Her troops have come! She's sending in the Air Force to assist the pilots and to bomb those bastards." She nodded over to the east front. April then bent and touched her sister on the shoulder, whispering something in her ear.
Chiarina straightened and said suddenly, worry and fear on her face and in her voice, "Where's Lyssa?"
A still came over them all, and turning around and around to find her, Pit suddenly said, "No time! They've breached it!" With a cry, lifting up his swords and flying up a few feet, he cried, his voice ten times stronger and louder than ever, "Troops! Move out!"
A vision of his goddess, Palutena, appeared before them all. Cries of shock and disbelief rang out as she lifted her hands and waved them, disappearing as soon as she had appeared. A thousand small angels flew down from the heavens, and from over the edge of the stadium as the Brotherhood blasted apart the ship with dynamite. The cherubs, shouting insults and distractions at them, dropped rocks and pieces of burning ships onto them, raining on the,, almost turning the sky black.
With an almost animalistic screech, Chiarina leapt forward, swords raised, and met the oncoming soldiers, alone. Ike quickly shook himself out of the shock and moved to follow her. The rest of the swordsmen and April followed.
For at least twenty minutes, the fighting did not stop, nor the bloodshed. The sounds were still thundering in the sky; ships being blasted apart, shots, crossing of blades, steel on flesh, grunts of effort, battle cries and rallies, and the awful, awful sound of men dying were all Ike could hear. Finally, the men started to thin, while the bodies of the dead began to pile. Ike turned and saw that the eastern front was the same, and with a start he saw Peach. She was sobbing uncontrollably, unused the violence and brutality of war. She knelt in the middle of it, pooled blood soaking her skirts and turning it red. No one noticed her except for him.
That was when he started feeling pangs of horror and regret.
Ike was brought back to his fight when a large man tried to lope his head off. Luckily Ike ducked, kicked the sword out of the way, and slashed the man's stomach open. He turned, sickened, before he could see the outcome of what he had just done.
Finally, the welcome roar of a thousand fresh soldiers was added to the mix of sounds, and Ike looked up to see Queen Daisy's men storming the remaining Brotherhood. Those that were not already killed were herded onto ships waiting to take them to a high-security prison for the rest of their lives. The dead silence of a battle hard fought descended on them all like a heavy cloth, and no one made a sound. Ike began to think that it was over, finally it was over, and he smiled tentatively at the others, and they returned it back. All were still jumpy, and leaped a foot at the slightest sound. They turned to walk back to the center of the stage, and to meet with the others halfway. Lyssa saw them coming and smiled, and waved.
That was the last thing she would ever do.
At first, it just appeared as though she had frozen in that position to make them smile a bit more, but as the red circle began to appear where her belly-button should be and her eyes slowly widened in pain and looked down in disbelief, they stopped. A sharp point grew from her stomach, and more blood oozed out. She gave one last final, "Oh," and collapsed on the ground.
Ike, his heart hammering and his mind screaming, saw the man with malevolent red eyes standing over the body, grinning evilly. And the next thing he knew, Ike was holding Lyssa in his arms as she breathed her last, and the headless body of the man was just a few feet away.
Marth touched Ike on the forehead, worried immensely. Mete Knight stood on the bed, a damp towel pressed to Ike's forehead. He wasn't responding to their efforts to bring him back to the present, like he had been for the last few days. They were leaving tomorrow, and Ike had not spoken to anyone since the battle.
Marth knew it had wounded Ike deeper than anyone could have ever imagined, straight to his heart and soul. That blank look on Lyssa's face, which Ike had been reflecting in his eyes, still haunted everyone, but not as much as it had Ike. Marth bit his lip and sighed.
He leaned back and shrugged at Meta Knight, who got nimbly down from the mattress. Ike's eyes closed, and he fell back on the pillow, saying to the surprised but extremely thankful pair, "I'm getting better. It's a process. I'll get better."
Marth nodded, even though Ike couldn't see anymore, and looked out the window where the moonlight was slanted on a white marble grave in the back of the garden, surrounded by flowers and notes, and small gifts. Even from here, Marth knew what it said by heart.
Sacrifices for peace are man's greatest victory.