Chapter Four - Strong

Stepping forward, it revealed itself from the deep smog that now laid behind it.

Whatever it was, it wore dark-red armor over its entire body, with a lining of black armor under it—and giant, white spikes protruding from various places. . It was at least seven feet high, and . . . staring down between myself and N. Its face wasn't human. Almost feral, its head was shaped to that of a blunt dragon, with the top-part of its face overlapping its jaw.

Its void, yellow eyes shone brightly through the blaze of fire and smoke.

". . . It's over," N said as though he was lacking in breath.

Slowly, it began to drag that large hammer forward. The corpse of Ghetsis cracked and shifted as the weight was removed, for it to sturdily drag along the charred ground.

"Mm . . ." it voiced, eyes focused on myself.

I stepped back, before it crushed its hammer into the ground. The momentum of the move caused it to speed forward faster than I could see, giving but a foot of space between it and N in just a moment.

Its hammer spun upward, before crashing down on N. All before he could even react—or myself. I receded more-so as it pushed on its hammer to cause his body to snap beneath the pressure.

I stumbled back, watching the creature loom over N with an expression that would be nothing but sadistic.

Slowly, it stopped, before looking to me with a slant in its eyes.

"You're the only one who's going to fight me, huh?"

I was caught without words. All I did was stumble back more-so.

"Or are you just going to let me kill you?"

My stepping stopped, and I stared back at it. Slowly, I reached over to my side and pulled out my sword, before drawing it to hang in my hand—visibly shaking.

"Good," it said, before lifting up its hammer and letting it clunk against its shoulder. "No point in killing so many people unless it's fun, right?"

Slowly, my sword rose upward, pointing at him.

". . . What are you?" I asked.

"I'm Groudon, god of all land on this planet."

I eyed from him to his weapon—a large great-hammer. Its handle was taller than myself, and the head of it was massive—with a spiked back and a large, squared-off front. Its red color matched its owner's armor, which had a sheen that seemed as though it had been polished recently.

"And who are you?" it asked in return.

"I . . . my name's Daniel," I answered.

"Daniel? Human name, huh?"

". . . Y-yeah. . . ." I looked behind myself and paced somewhat, almost holding a stance.

"That's weird because you're not human."

". . . What?"

"At least part not-human. One of your parents was a legendary Pokémon," it tried to explain.

My stance sort of fell, causing me to look behind myself questionably, before back to it.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Mhm. . . . A human as strong as yourself wouldn't exist. I would've killed you too if that was otherwise," it told, twisting its foot into the body it stood on.

All I could do was let my eyes shuffle about, looking myself back over—what this thing was calling a half-god—dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

It felt like something I had to be inclined to believe. Not as though it would matter . . . since it didn't change much.

". . . And what's that matter?" I asked.

Its eyes looked away from me, before returning. It took on a wickedly wide grin, which revealed its white teeth.

"It means our fight is going to be fun."

I looked to the body he was standing on. N . . . he was definitely dead. And Ghetsis just a few steps back was, too. . . . If I were any smart person, I could decipher that this thing . . . Groudon . . . could kill a lot of people.

If I didn't stop him.

[Start Song: "Metal Gear Rising OST Soundtrack 'It Has to Be This Way' HD"]

A squint was followed by a frown as a thought came into my mind—about possibly stopping a technical "god."

But that wasn't how I was raised—to believe in that sort of stuff.

My sword rose to a stance, where I held it in front of myself as a guard.

"Y'know, you're wrong about that 'god' thing. . . ."

"Hm?" it queried.

"There's only one God . . . and it's not that Arceus of yours, either," I told, taking an exhale out. I finally managed to stop shaking.

It eyed at me for a moment, before leaning its head back and nodding—smiling.

"That's the spirit . . ." it spoke.

Raising a hand of its own, the ground began to shake viciously. I was able to stay in my stance, but if felt as though he was summoning up a magnitude-ten earthquake. Distantly, I could hear buildings crumble under the motion—myself definitely sure it was coming from him.

But his actions were without intent to kill—but instead—leaving himself to crouch down in a kind of "getting ready" motion.

A flash of light shot into my eyes, before the scene revealed itself to be as it was prior. Standing upright was that thing—Groudon—staring at me as wind instantly kicked up. Embers and smoke seemed to fly out in every direction, leaving me to raise a hand and hold it upward in protecting my eyes from the wind.

"Are you ready, Daniel?" Groudon asked—his hammer still held on his shoulder.

"I am," was my short answer.

"Then fight for your life, and the lives of your friends! Or die trying! I want it all from you!" it shouted, taking its other hand and bringing down its hammer.

By the end of his yelling, I found myself in front of him—having run over the distance—before immediately taking a swing in at his midsection. Swiftly—as though his weapon had no weight—he pushed my attack up, before using his spinning momentum to swing at my side.

I ducked myself under it, before thrusting my sword upward at his stomach. The bar of his handle twisted my arm around from doing so, before he brought it up into the air and downward at me. I flipped myself over his shoulder, before taking a direct cut at his back. His armor not only took all of it, but my sword only made a small scratch, before he turned around and swung at my feet.

My foot matched the head of his hammer, before I jumped over it and aimed my sword at his face. He quickly moved himself over, evading all but a small cut on his face. His hammer twirled in between his fingers, before smashing down on where I had been—still passing to land.

I shifted my weight around his swing, landing with a hand on the ground, before digging my foot into the ground and pushing myself forward at him. I managed to get a stab in along the shoulder-part of his armor—again, making no progress into it—before turning myself around and slashing into the belt-part of his suit. My sword flawlessly danced in my hands, spinning for momentum before I turned around and took another cut at his back—moving along with him as he kicked his legs out and brought out another swing at me from down-up.

A sidestep left me just inches away from the swing, before he quickly changed momentum and made a horizontal swing. I took another duck under that, before he brought the weapon in and made a jabbing motion with it.

Twisting with my wrist, I slashed upward on the chest-part of his armor, before making two rapid slashes in the same direction. He returned with another smash at the ground, spinning his body to give the attack more speed. I jumped out of its direction, but he continued to spin his body like a side-ways top—bringing his hammer downward again.

I jumped back to gain more distance, before he brought his hammer into the ground again, then looked at me. He stomped one leg forward, before out-reaching with his weapon as another swing. A crouch allowed me to get under it, before my low stance let me walk forward and pounce toward him.

Directly aimed for his stomach, I harshly stabbed into the platemail he wore. My sword rebounded off, but I took another swing at his hip, managing to make a deeper cut into his side—actually hitting something. He tried to make a swing at me, but I slid over to his opposite side, comboing two slashes together—now managing to break through whatever sturdy defense his armor had. Finishing off my movement, I twirled my weapon into a downward movement, cutting down the length of his back.

His closest leg to me kicked at me in a straight direction, but I moved out of its way, having his heel to land on my shoulder. I made an outward-facing slash as I prepared my sword, before stabbing forward and just past his leg.

My stabbing motion gave me space to move back as I slid to a stop, before looking back to that Groudon.

He had been heavily breathing, with steam simmering off the few cuts I managed to get in on him.

Quickly, his head jut up—along with his hammer—before he leapt forward at me. All before I could get past it, his hammer connected with my chest, launching me forward at least ten or so feet.

As I hit the ground, I tumbled sideways a good few times, before managing to roll up to a stand. But just as soon as I had recovered, he was there once more, catching my feet with the bar of his hammer and tripping me over. All while I was in mid-air, he reached his hammer backward, before slamming it down right into my stomach.

I hit the ground hard, feeling my ribs practically crunch under the pressure, before Groudon's foot came around and kicked me up off the ground away from where I was.

Barely, I managed to land on my feet, placing a hand on the ground and coughing up blood. I faltered some in kneeling down, but managed to pick myself up and get to standing.

Yet again, he was right there with me, bringing his hammer around to slam into my left arm. I felt a crack in that area, before he continued and swung at my hip, knocking me to the side. And at that, I saw him about to take another swing right down onto my head. I kicked my leg off against the ground, managing to get myself up before he would land.

I jumped out of range from him, taking my eyes off to look at my arm. It was crooked, and definitely broken. I fell somewhat with a shout in pain, then tried to regain a stance. My attention snagged onto him, leaving a moment's pass of time, before I took my sword and charged him.

Using my one arm, I swiped downward at him. He blocked it off with an upward block, but I twisted my arm around and swung from the side-up on him, catching his stomach again. The end-part of his hammer came to hit me in the jaw, before he spun himself around to swing the head into me.

I blocked it off with my sword, being dragged backward a couple feet. Heaving with tiredness in my eyes, I fell to the ground, my non-broken arm supporting my weight and holding my sword at the same time.

I couldn't lose to this guy.

It was visible that I was running out of fuel—from the pain and sheer exhaustion of the fight. He saw it, bringing his hammer up to an open position—hanging on his shoulder.

My fist banged into the ground as I made pained noises, struggling to stay up. I didn't want to lose. Not only would I die, but the rest of my town would follow with me.

And I wouldn't lose to this guy.

Instantaneously, my head picked up to look at him, before I forced myself forward at him.

As I swung ahead, he brought his weapon to block my attack. But again, I swung, just to be blocked yet another time. Another swing followed, picking up much faster than the prior two. This one caused him to stumble, before I turned around and made a wide-arc in my next attack. His attempt to block was stopped, as he staggered back from the sheer force of my sudden attacks.

With his given opening, I dove downward, cutting past his leg—deeply. I spun upward, and slashed way up his back, before following a pulled-back cut against his shoulder. All without embedding my sword too deep, I moved myself through the wide arc beneath his legs, before cutting up his chest and into his chin.

My attacks had left him staggered, and with the opening available, I charged in with my sword aimed as it had been before. Accompanied by this was a wild shout, before I buried my sword into the side-part of his stomach. This time, I had made a cut much deeper than any other—making it far past his armor.

In a roar of pain, his free hand grabbed me by shoulder, before throwing me off of him. I tumbled just once, before skidding to a stop and standing up.

There I found him, down on one knee, clenching his side. The cut I made was definitely going to be enough to decide the rest of the fight—despite my own condition.

"Is that all you have?" I asked, daring to prod at his ability.

His head quickly came up, before he grit his teeth together.

"Not at all, you half-breed," he managed, before standing up. He took on a pose with his hammer, but only held it in both hands—not in defense or attack. The wind stopped kicking around in random directions for a second, before seeming to suck inward towards where he was standing. I leaned myself back against the howling wind, trying not to get dragged into the direction.

In a flash of light—much more long-lasting than the prior—a shining sound cut through the surroundings before revealing Groudon's newer figure.

Although not much different, the black markings on his skin and armor were now glowing a white, hot orange, which included his eyes.

"Now it gets interesting!" he shouted, before rushing back at me.

His hammer came at me head-first, but I intercepted it with my sword, causing it to redirect upwards and away from myself. I stabbed in at him, but he swung my attack out of the way, now trying to slam into the ground that I stood on.

I shifted far out of the way, now on his side and taking at another cut. His weapon's bar blocked out my attack, before swinging down to my shoulder. I stepped out of its path, allowing me to cut into his side. But just as quickly, he embedded his hammer into my shoulder, pushing me back bluntly.

As he swung another time, I followed the same direction with my sword, parrying his attack off, before he would bring down into another direction. I did the same yet again, before following the similar motion a few times.

Finally, his hammer made it past my sword, knocking my arm up, before slamming into my chest and causing me to fall back. But I stayed on my feet in a rush of adrenaline.

He was yet again open, panting more-so than he was before. So, I followed in with a slash wide across his side. With a clean cut through, I followed through at his calf, before back upward across his back. I used my foot to catch myself at his neck, before slashing downward into his chest. I hit the ground with a thump as I fell off him, before rolling back up to stand.

Weary, he stood still and faltered, before dragging forward and swinging around his hammer. Much slower than before, I moved out of its way, before swinging downward at his head. He managed to bring his hammer up to block it. Again, I swung, trying to break down his guard to get the one vulnerable place possible.

Another swing, and a slice sounded through the air, before Groudon's arms parted with one piece of his hammer in each—my swinging having managed to break it apart.

Seeing this, I cocked my arm back, before running toward him.

"DIIIE!" I shouted.

[END SONG]

My sword embedded into his chest, piercing all the way through both ends of his armor. As if on a similar queue, the thick smog of soot and embers blew away in a wave, instantly revealing a cloudless sky above. The fires nearby turned extinguished, and Groudon collapsed to his knees—with my sword still in him.

I stumbled backward, taking hands off my weapon and standing in a bent posture. Looking at him, his eyes had ceased to glow, and it looked as though he had turned dormant.

". . . Even with my Omega, you beat me," he muttered, mouth barely moving.

Devoid of an answer, I tiredly stared at him—my face half-covered in blood.

". . . You're pretty strong, kid. It was fun. . . ."

Quietly, he laughed some.

". . . I'm . . . I'm not going to be the last legendary to come down here, though. . . . Many more are coming. . . . Too many for you to handle."

I hefted a breath, not replying as I moved my free hand to my broken arm.

". . . Nice fight."

Just as he last spoke, his body began to partially break off and turn to ash. But with no wind nearby, all it did was fall to the ground, before burning up. I watched this unfold, heaving in my breaths.

Eventually, it looked as though he was completely gone.

At that, my vision blurred, before I fell back and blacked out.

For the song linked to the chapter, you'll find it in the middle of there where it really starts to go. Listen to that if you want that extra feeling or whatever~. Can't link it, though, so just look it up.