Don't ever back down
Don't ever turn around
My end has come
So now I come for you
Now obsession rules my mind
This commotion makes me blind
Searching out who ever runs
Or has stolen away my life
"Don't move." The quivering words had no effect on Shade as she instead quickly turned and fired a quick shot from her handgun, taking the rifle that had been in the man's hands before the body finished falling to the floor and tossing it to Cloud, who caught it easily and turned to survey the platform they had just come across. Axel was starting to get annoyed that he didn't have neither his rifle or chakrams at his disposal but made use of the daggers while they continued on, hoping to find something similar to his beloved gun.
When they started coming up to the next room Shadow went first, into a large almost cemetery-like setting. There were a couple rows of what looked like holographic tombstones that were separated by the path in between them leading to the next exit. The mood in this room was more darkened due to the more deeper colors that made up the decor. "Geesh. Who died?" Axel said, walking into the room.
"No one." She smirked, looking at the writing. "These mark the moments when Xemnas' had his most disappointing moments in his organization. When each one came to an end and he considered the act redeemed he would have his loyal dog, Saix, make a new stone for it."
They were quiet. "Wow, someone is a drama queen." This earned him a chuckle from the other two who just nodded in agreement.
When they heard footsteps from behind all three spun around and had their weapons ready, watching as the apposing pair did the same, the sound of metal being handles heard by all. It was quiet again as they took in the pair of Sephiroth and Zack, standing there with wide eyes, at least, Zack was. Sephiroth was his normal calm and collected self.
"So you really didn't die." He breathed, staring at her in disbelief.
A small smirk appeared on her face. "Apparently not. Unless you plan on changing that." She nodded to his gun that was still leveled with her. He quickly caught on and gave a nervous chuckle, lowering the weapon.
At the moment Zack seemed to recall something. "Right, Axel, ran into your brother and he told me to get these to you." He pulled out his chakrams that had been hanging from their handles on his back and passed them over. "Those things are heavier than they look."
Axel grinned in response and handed the daggers back to Shadow, while smoothly spinning the weapons. "Thanks man."
"Good to see you are well." Sephiroth nodded at the other two then looked at Shadow. "You stole my codes."
"And utilized them well." She replied, resting her gun on her shoulder casually. "How have you been Commander Sephiroth." Her use of his title didn't escaped him, he figured she must have been apologizing in some way.
"Fine, however I had to replace one of the team leaders, that didn't sit well with me." Aka: Don't do that again.
Shade nodded in acknowledgment of the statement. "If both our sources are correct then Xemnas should be up ahead." She turned to Axel and Cloud. "You two start heading back and meet up with the others, make sure they got out safely."
"And leave that psychopath up to you? Not gonna happen." Axel said.
"We will check to see if he has allies. If not, the two of us will retreat and regroup at the entrance." Cloud said calmly. Axel was about to protest but a slap in the back of the head by Cloud, who hadn't looked away from Shade, caused him to mutter in annoyance instead.
"Sounds good." She brought her gun back down. "Let's go."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible." They looked up ahead to see Saix standing there, with some huge weapon in his hands. At least as long as himself, it was almost like a huge double-sided ax that was exceptionally wider and thicker than most normal ones. He looked with disdain at Shadow. "You never seem to cease bringing problems into other peoples lives."
"I owe your boss a little favor in return for the parting gift he left me." she replied calmly, and Axel remembered how her tattoo had been cut through, holding back a wince. "So you can either step aside and let me continue on or I'll just kill you ahead of schedule."
"No no no." Axel said, stepping up with a grin. "I need to have a little talk with are angry friend here." Saix let a low growl come from him.
"Watch your tongue insect."
"That's more than likely not going to happen." He replied, then spoke to those behind him. "I'll take care of tough guy here, you guys go on up ahead." Cloud stepped up next to him and gave a small nod to the redhead, who seemed to accept the partner.
"Got it." Shadow said, just as Saix let out a roar and charged them. She could see he seemed more intimidating when he was angered, but also more blind to strategies. So while he was engaged with the other two she ran up with the Team Commanders up behind him and through the exit.
"Worst case scenario, they walk away with a couple broken bones." Zack said, chuckling slightly at the thought of Axel not being able to play Halo correctly for a couple weeks.
"Tifa wouldn't be pleased with either of them." Shadow said in agreement, quickly taking up to the wide spiral steps. "Zack, if it is clear head back."
He frowned slightly, but then looked over at Sephiroth and decided he could take of her for a little bit, sure she was tough to watch over but he had years of practice of making sure she didn't kill herself. They'll be alright. He decided.
The platform seemed to overlook the entire building and the dark city surrounding it. A light rain had started up again and fell upon them, cooling off their bodies considerably. Shadow enjoyed the feel of it on her bare arms and let it help her clear the chaos that was labeled her mind. She had always been a sucker for the rain, and growing up in the dreary city hadn't dampened her feelings for it at all. "Has Saix been defeated so easily?" Xemnas asked, standing at the other end of the platform, overlooking the eastern side of the city.
"No, but he is easily distracted." Shadow replied, keeping the smirk off of her face. "I thought you taught him better."
"Unfortunately he was prone to his anger issues." Xemnas sighed, turning to face her. "Why is it you insist on rebelling against me?"
"I was bored." She replied sarcastically. "Because you selfish bastard, you need to learn that you won't always be given anything you want. Everyone has boundaries."
"Oh really? That hasn't seemed to stop you before." This time a scowl came across her features.
"Yes, however afterwords I would regret breaking those boundaries, unlike yourself, who would instead just crave more. Unfortunately there are others out there who would gladly help you pursue your sick goals, don't want them to have that chance. That's why I keep coming back, and this time will be the last seeing as you'll be dead in a couple of minutes."
"Harsh words for someone who doesn't deserve their rebuke."
"I'd beg to differ." She growled, bringing her gun up. "Now get your lazy ass ready, I refuse to kill someone unarmed if they have the chance, and none of your lackeys are here to do the work for you."
"Oh, such a shame." Shade looked over and Sack and nodded his head.
"I'll catch up with you later." Then she glanced at Sephiroth. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."
"Now why would he do that?" They spun around and saw a new face appear. A tall and lanky man with sharp features stood just a few feet behind Zack. However, what caused Shade to frown was his hair. Long, spiky, and pink.
"Dude, what happened to your hair?" Zack gawked.
"Good question." Shadow smirked at the scowl he gave them, not loosing the look as he pulled out the long scythe. "Change of plans. Sephiroth, Zack, would you like a share in the fun?" Laughing once again came from behind them and she turned to look at Xemnas, who was now dangerously close to the edge. "Don't you dare." She hissed. The last thing she saw was the smirk that he had on his own lips before taking a step back, disappearing over the edge. "Hell no!" She yelled running after him.
"Shade! Wait!" Zack called, but it was useless as she went and disappeared over the edge too.
"Shall we?" The taunting voice of Marluxia said, and Zack suddenly found the fuel for his fight.
XXXXXX
"Xemnas!" Shade yelled, the free fall pushing the stray strands of hair from her face as her rifle rested on the sling and behind her back and out of her way as her body angled into a dive. She could see the angled roof coming up below them, a little to quickly for her liking but there was no going back. His silver hair was still in plain sight as he landed harshly but started to smoothly slide down, his feet still stable underneath him. She scowled, and when she was twenty feet from the rooftop she kicked off of the edge of the building behind her, launching her forward before doing a front flip and landing on the roof, the impact jolting her but not doing as much damage as it would have with direct impact. She left the guns alone as she pulled out her two daggers she had used in her fight back at the gym.
When she saw the two solid rods he pulled out of nowhere she grinned, finally getting her challenge.
The roof ended and he dropped from view, but she didn't worry as she came up to the point, her feet underneath her so when she hit the edge she jumped up, lessening her distance some as she dropped to the ground around fifteen feet below. She quickly stood up and saw she was on a platform, wall to her left and railing to her right that overlooked a large almost blank pad that she had to go through at the entrance of the building, a display platform resting above the exit to overlook it. When it sounded like something had cut through the air she spun to her right and brought her daggers up just in time to keep the metal from slamming into her upper shoulders.
Grinning, her foot came up and slammed into Xemnas' chest, sending him back a few feet before she took her own weapons and charged him. She moved quickly and with precise moves, and even though he was just as swift to allow him to avoid anything lethal, he soon had cuts starting to appear on his body. It wasn't until he found an opening after she just brought her leg down from a roundhouse kick that he took one of his own weapons and was able to slam it into her side, causing her to cry out as the pain seared her right side.
Shade stumbled back and growled a curse, ducking to allow another attack to go over her head. "That little hit already put you out of commission miss Shade?" He taunted.
But in return she just smirked, straightening herself and bringing her daggers back up. "Nothing like a little pain to remind you you're alive." He scowled at her and charged forward, leaving her to back up towards the railing. To his surprise, she didn't waste a moment before she jumped up, her feet landing on the thin railings, but she didn't worry about imbalance since a millisecond later she took a step back dropping off the edge.
Xemnas didn't hesitate as he jumped down after her, expecting to see her ready at the bottom. However, when she was nowhere in sight as he dropped near the edge of the platform that was surrounded by pitch black, he immediately wondered if her calculations had been wrong and she was laying in the abyss below, no doubt dead. "Idiot." He muttered.
"No, professional." He cried out in pain as something slammed into the back of his legs. Shadow had been hanging on the edge of the platform with her hands before quickly rising up, her legs coming up and swinging forward as she balanced on nothing but her hands and locked arms, using enough force to kick into the back of his kneecaps. As he went down her let her legs drop onto the platform to take the tension off her arms, quickly climbing back up. Xemnas was just getting ready to get up but she raised her leg high before bringing it down, the heel of her boot painfully connecting with his spine.
His cry of pain satisfied her as she took out the daggers, acknowledging that she had to finish him sooner or later before everyone started to worry. A malicious grin came across her face at the thought of revenge. It was nowhere close to professional, but right now, she could care less.
XXXXXX
"He just won't die!" Axel yelled in frustration as he dodged another attack by Saix. Cloud came from behind him and tackled the man to the ground, causing him to drop his weapon, leaving Axel a chance to drive a point of his Chakrams into one of his arms, a yell of fury the response. Saix took his other arm and pushed himself off, effectively kicking Cloud back with his leg as her reached for his Claymore with his undamaged arm. Axel attempted to attack him again before he could but was caught off guard as the weapon was suddenly slammed into his side, effectively sending him flying a few feet back.
That hurt. He thought with a wince, attempting to get back up, pausing as the large shadow suddenly loomed over him. He slowly looked up at the form of Saix growling at him. "Nothing but a waste of air." Saix growled.
Axel couldn't help but laugh, earning him a brief look of confusion. Cloud came from behind him, before driving the dagger painfully into his shoulder. Saix let out a yell as he spun around, but he left himself exposed. With a final ounce of strength he forced himself up, taking his weapons and driving them into the back of the blue haired man's neck. His cry slowly died off, before the large body fell with a solid 'thump' to the ground.
Axel grinned at Cloud, who allowed a small smirk on his face. "Been waiting to do that ever since we got here."
XXXXXX
Shade you idiot! Zack yelled in his mind, suddenly avoiding the scythe that was mere inches from cutting his head off. After watching the girl disappear over the edge the pink haired man had wasted no time in initiating the attack. In Zack's opinion he thought the man was crazy, and not just because of his looks. He had that air of arrogance about him, which lead the raven haired man to believe that he had never even heard of Sephiroth. That was no doubt going to be his downfall.
Zack raised his gun and fired off a couple shots, but was surprised to see the large base of the scythe deflect them easily. A sudden pain filled the side of his head as the long handle of the weapon was used to slam into him, knocking him tot he ground in a disorientating way.
The fuzzy sight of a smirking Marluxia was replaced with an empty space, and filled with the sound of an almost girlish curse. Sephiroth had stepped in, using Masamune to effectively leave a large gash in his side as he calmly let the sword cut through the air. Zack rolled out of the way as the scythe fell back to the ground, the handle still in its wielder's hands, before quickly coming back up to somewhat sloppily block the long sword that came for him.
Sephiroth had trained with this sword for many years, and had known how to use it to its fullest extent, something no one else had known how to do. He'd also made it a point so that whoever outwardly opposed him wouldn't live long enough to tell others about their fight with him. He had studied the way his opponent used his weapon. While he did seem to have learned the techniques, he had yet to learn how to execute them fluidly.
Sephiroth side stepped the attack as the scythe came straight down for the direction of his shoulder, then proceeded to quickly make a turn and swipe at him horizontally. Masamune easily blocked the attack, before he twisted his wrist to bring it straight up, cutting Marluxia's chest from the bottom up, effectively ending with a deep gash in his upper shoulder.
The pink haired man seemed slightly distressed about the wound, but Sephiroth couldn't tell if this was due to the fact he was neatly cut open with a river of blood flowing out of him, or due to the fact his clothes were ruined. Marluxia weakly brought the scythe around, but a gunshot rang out and the the body quickly crumpled to the ground, the bullet having torn its way through his throat.
Sephiroth merely nodded to Zack, who was lowering the gun, before walking over to the edge where Shade had jumped off and looked over, studying the distance. "Let's regroup with the others."
"What about Shade?" Zack asked. "She could be seriously injured after a fall like that."
"She didn't fall, she jumped, therefore she knows what she is doing." He calmly replied. "Now let's go, I don't wish for Yuffie to order an airstrike for fear of us being dead."
Zack chuckled at this. "You seriously think they'd listen to her?"
"No, I think she'd do it herself." Zack's full out laugh could be heard as they walked back down the stairs, leaving the bloody mess behind them.
XXXXXX
But I've already said
Don't ever back down
Don't ever turn around
My end has come
So now I come for you
Xemnas currently had a deep gash on his upper right arm, possibly two broken ribs, a fractured leg, and a throbbing shoulder where Shadow had effectively landed a solid kick with her heavy boots. Shade, in turn, had a deep cut that spanned the length of her stomach, a deep hole in her shoulder close to the bullet wound where a dagger had been lodged in, possibly a twisted ankle, and a gash on her forehead.
Both were matched in levels concerning speed and agility, however, since both had different fighting styles, the battle had yet to lean in favor for one of the opponents.
Currently they were in a large room, a small passage way leading into it. One wall was completely made of glass, letting in the light of the bright moon that had yet to be obscured by the clouds that provided the light rainfall. The other two tall walls were solid and finished off the room. Shadow briefly wondered what it would look like to through Xemnas out that large and pretty window. She grinned, but then looked at the watch that rested on her wrist. It was nearing eleven that night, and she still owed the guys a couple of beers.
She looked up at Xemnas, who in turn had a look of disdain on his features. She knew he wanted to say something, could see it in the way his mouth was just partly open, breathing heavily through it. Shadow tilted her head slightly, and then allowed a small grin to appear on her face, gaining the desired effect. "Wipe that smirk off of your face." Xemnas growled.
"No." It was short, simple, and stated as a fact. "But while we're talking, I'm going to give you an option." He arched an eyebrow, and she continued. "Don't ask why, but I'm willing to let you live and in turn pay for your actions in the jail cell the local police have reserved specifically for you. Or we can just continue what we've been doing the past half hour and I'll kill you."
"Why is it you would wish for me to spend years in a cell unharmed when you've been dying for this revenge for so long?"
"Dying for it? An overstatement, I assure you. However, it definitely would please me to see you suffer. But I want to at least keep a small piece of the honorable aspect I have gained from others, and this includes allowing you to choose a fair trial. So, what will it be?"
Silence stretched on, before broken by a low and menacing laugh.
"I don't plan on spending the rest of my life in a cell." He replied.
Shade nodded in an understanding way while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Very well then. Shall we continue?" They spoke as if they understood each other, which in an almost alarming way they did.
Xemnas simple nodded, before speaking again. "However, I wish to try something." She watched as he took the two metal rods and tossed them to the side of the room, allowing the weapons to land loudly and roll farther from them. "Hand to hand if you don't mind."
Shade didn't reply as she took her belt that holstered and sheathed various weapons before also tossing it to the side, removing the other weapons from her body and doing the same thing. Both now stood weaponless, but not defenseless.
It was quiet a few seconds, before they moved at the same time. A few steps and they were on top of each other, with Xemnas blocking the quick punches aimed for him, his hands coming up at the right time to push them away before retaliating with his own. Shade held back a grimace as one struck her shoulder but even as his hand was pulling back her knee came up, slamming into his ribcage and causing him to double over. She was going to follow up with slamming a fist once again into his spine but grunted instead as her back suddenly connected with the hard ground, the older man having tackled her to the ground from his position.
They wrestled, but soon he had her pinned to the ground with her hands held firmly at her side. "Now should I give you a slow and painful death? Or a quick and humiliating one?"
She rolled her eyes in response, judged the distance, then didn't hesitate in slamming his head into his, loosening his grip just enough for her to break her arms free, the palms of her hands slamming into his chest before she slid out from under him. She flipped over and was about to get up before something grabbed her foot.
Glancing over, she only had time to predict what he was doing before both hands gripped her lower leg and he was standing, a yell tearing through his throat as she was suddenly swung around, flying through the air before slamming into the ground again, this time on her side. The barely healed cut that now deformed her tattoo flared and she ground her teeth in pain, slowly pushing herself up. "Just face it, I'm better, more powerful, and more deserving than you." He hissed.
"That's the most deranged 'logic' I have ever heard." Shade replied slowly, rolling her shoulder and taking a quick assessment of herself and the situation. When she noticed he was looking more pissed off she tried to think of how to take advantage of this. "Please, share your incompetent stupidity."
A roar came from him as he charged her, and she immediately had the plan in her head. She stood her ground, watching as with each millisecond he was closer to ripping her to shreds. A low breath escaped her and she let her body loose its tense stance.
XXXXXX
You trip on everything
I'll take your tired breath
I can't feel anything
I live to see you to your death
A new heart with me
As might be just as quick
Through your tortured expense
'Cause I'll never back down
Xemnas didn't know what happened. First she was there, trying to fight off the pain he had so gladly caused her, and then she had a look of complete serenity on her face. Either her mind had finally broken down or she had come to terms with death.
If only.
His blind charge had cost him. He thought she was weak enough that more careless movements wouldn't matter. However, instead of her throat in his hands, slowly cutting off her oxygen and giving him the perfect view of watching the life slowly fade out of her eyes, she wasn't in his sight anymore.
His body was slammed into the ground, his chest flaring with pain as it struck the solid floor and he felt his arms jerked harshly behind him at a painful angle, and he couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped him. A heavy boot was placed on his back, and more pressure was placed on his arms. "No!" He growled.
A sickening snap resounded and another howl of pain escaped him as his arms fell limply to the ground, no longer usable as the harsh feeling flowed through them and the broken bones. He heard the mercenary sigh, then gasped as she sat casually on his back, one foot planted on either side of him, but unable to see the arms that hung off her bent knees. "Why can't you leave the innocent people out of your line of work?" A simple question, and he was slightly startled to hear it sounded sincere.
"Why should I tell you?" He growled.
"It would be polite." She said calmly. "I mean, honestly, if you hadn't dragged that family into this mess I would have left you alone. A released convict had gone, taken in a woman and her daughter, given them the care and love they needed, and was an honest workman. He made something out of his life. He was only doing his job." Xemnas said nothing, only seething as she gave the small speech.
Apparently she detected this, and a sigh escaped her. Two hands placed themselves at certain positions around his head, firmly grabbing it. His eyes widened when he realized what she was about to do. "Should have taken the first option." The crack that followed wasn't sickening, wasn't followed by pain, it simple signified the ending to the miniature war that had raged between them, one that had interfered with the lives of others who should never have been dragged into the fray in the first place.
Don't ever back down
Don't ever turn around
My end has come
So now I come for you
Don't back down
I'll drive you down
I'll beat you to the ground
My end has come
So now I come for you
Don't back down