Chapter 14 – Angel's Heart, Devil's Destiny
The world is still in its process of completely merging with the world of SoulCalibur. The world has been consumed by the darkness, as Night Terror's reign is about to begin, but Leonsritt won't let that happen.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT WITH MY WORLD?"
Night Terror laughed at the question.
"Is it not that simple? I want it for my own."
Night Terror levitated.
"This world is full of souls... And I plan to eat them all..."
"Like that's going to happen!"
"You plan to stop me, boy?"
"Just watch me!"
Cassandra, Hilde and Tira prepared themselves as Leonsritt rushed towards Night Terror. He looked at Leonsritt, as if he read his next move. Leonsritt jumped and raised his sword but Night Terror grabbed the blade. Leonsritt felt as though he was being pulled. Night Terror threw him to the ground. Leonsritt felt the pain in his back as he hit the floor.
(Damn, I forgot I'm weaker now, so I can't do anything...)
He got up as the girls rushed to him.
"Leo, are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
"Tira, Cassandra! Let's go!"
Hilde and Tira rushed to Night Terror. Cassandra looked at Leonsritt and joined Hilde and Tira. Night Terror landed on the ground and dashed towards the girls. Cassandra jumped and raised her sword in the air but Night Terror caught her in the air by her waist. Tira rolled to face Night Terror's back, but was taken down by his massive tail. Hilde dashed from Night Terror's left, ready to attack with her short sword, but Night Terror threw Cassandra at Hilde. Leonsritt got up and saw as Night Terror threw his girlfriend at Hilde.
(Shit! I gotta do something...)
Leonsritt dashed at Night Terror. He spun with his steel paddle, hitting Night Terror's back, following with an upper slash and slammed his sword back down. The impact of the last hit had made Night Terror stagger. With all the girls recovering, they saw Night Terror stumble a bit. They rushed at him and sequentially attacked the beast. Hilde started by jabbing him with accurate speed, with Tira kicking him in the face and lastly Cassandra elbowing Night Terror twice in the back...
"GRAAHHH!"
Night Terror fell slowly, as if there was no gravity...
"That oughta teach ya!"
"Nice one, Cassandra!"
"YOU FOOLS!"
Night Terror recovered. He held Soul Edge in reverse hold and threw it like a boomerang at the girls. They had no way to block the oncoming blade, but Leonsritt got in the way, blocking it in time.
"Get to him while you still can!"
The girls ran to Night Terror, but the were hit by the beast's tail. He called Soul Edge back to his hands. Suddenly, he was struck by a small sword and a thunderbolt.
"Guh! What the hell?"
Cassandra got up and saw someone very familiar to her.
"Sis... sister?"
"Well, well, well... if it isn't the other daughter of the decrepit old baker you call a father..."
"Silence!"
Leonsritt saw the person...
"Is that... Sophitia?"
Cassandra saw her older sister fighting off Night Terror. She fended off every attack Night Terror threw at her.
"You will pay for what you did to my husband!"
"As if, you bitch!"
Night Terror grabbed Sophitia and threw her to the ground...
"Sister!"
"DIE!"
Leonsritt struck Soul Edge's side, making the blade miss Sophitia's chest. He grabbed her from her arm and pulled her out of Night Terror's grasp. He carried her to the girls.
"You bastard..."
Leonsritt faced Night Terror. He locked his eyes on the beast. Night Terror had energy flowing out of him.
"GRAAAAAHHHH!"
Leonsritt's rage had taken over. He ran to Night Terror and begun his flurry of heavy strikes on him. Night Terror laughed as Leonsritt had kept striking him. Soul Edge had been chipped and a shard of it had fallen off. Night Terror had pushed him off and struck him on his gut. Leonsritt coughed up blood and fell to his knees. Night Terror picked him up and threw him farther.
"Leo! Get up!"
Cassandra yelled as Leonsritt looked up and Night Terror landed a strike to the gut with his talon.
"LEO!"
Cassandra, Hilde, and Tira looked in horror as Leonsritt had coughed up more blood. Leonsritt had weakened quickly. He looked to the side, and saw the girls looking in horror, but he saw something shine right next to him.
(A Soul Edge shard...)
"Well, well, well... I guess this is the end for you..."
Night Terror raised Soul Edge, with the tip facing Leonsritt's chest. Night Terror had tried to force the blade on his chest, but Leonsritt kept struggling to push the blade away from his chest, and managed to direct it away from him. Leonsritt kicked Night Terror on his chest, making him stumble back. Leonsritt grabbed the Soul Edge shard and got up, backing away. Cassandra saw the shard on his hand.
(What's Leo thinking with that Soul Edge shard...?)
(I hope this works...)
Leonsritt prepared himself for the pain. He gripped the shard tightly and stabbed his right arm with the shard. Cassandra, Hilde and Tira looked in horror. Night Terror looked at the attempt and laughed.
"You're such a foolish human, aren't you...? That's not gonna work..."
Leonsritt held the pain in. He looked at Night Terror. His arm bled, but he managed to grab the steel paddle. He felt a sudden surge of power throughout his body.
"I won't let... Soul Edge take... my sanity..."
Leonsritt struggled to keep himself on his feet.
"I may harness the power of evil..."
Leonsritt fell to his knees. Cassandra ran to Leonsritt.
"Leo, why'd you do it?"
"Because, I want to protect you... and the others..."
Cassandra looked at Leonsritt.
"Go... I know you can do it... you did it once... you can do it again..."
Cassandra ran back to the girls.
(Thanks, Cassandra... I needed that...)
"Don't you get it? Your feeble little mind won't resist..."
"Shut... up..."
Leonsritt got up and held the steel paddle...
"What?"
Leonsritt's body was emanating a black aura.
"I may harness the power of darkness... but..."
The aura grew bigger. Cassandra and the others grew in fear.
"I will use this power... to protect those I care for..."
Leonsritt let out a yell of rage...
"NIGHT TERROR!"
Night Terror felt intimidated by this power.
(There's no way... this human can handle my power...)
Leonsritt dashed at Night Terror and attacked with swift, but powerful blows. Night Terror kept fending them off, but let his guard down. Leonsritt landed an uppercut to Night Terror's gut, causing him to fly a few feet in the air. Leonsritt swung his steel paddle backward and threw it at Night Terror. He blocked the blade, but little did he know that Leonsritt appeared behind him, landing an elbow to the back. Night Terror landed with a harsh thud, then receiving a heel drop to the back. Leonsritt landed on his feet and backed away from Night Terror.
"Guh... damn, that was too much for me."
Leonsritt fell to his knees again. Night Terror laughed.
"What's so funny...?"
"Like I said... You are such a fool..."
"Wha—AUGH!"
Leonsritt started cringing in pain. Cassandra and the others ran to him.
"Leo, are you alright?"
"Leonsritt, what's wrong?"
"Oh, no! Are you okay?"
Leonsritt let out cries of agony...
"You feel what I feel... You and I are linked, now that the Soul Edge shard is in your arm..."
"What the hell do you mean? GAAAHHH!"
Night Terror lifted his claw and pulled Leonsritt to him, as if he was tied to a rope. Night Terror flicked his claw down, slamming Leonsritt to the ground.
"I, on the other hand, do not feel the pain you inflict or receive..."
Night Terror let Leonsritt go and he stabbed Soul Edge on the ground. He picked up Leonsritt and grabbed him by the neck. His claw had then slowly turned in to a hand...
"So you see... I..."
Leonsritt looked as the arm continued to change. It followed on half and revealed that he was turning into a human person. Cassandra and the other girls looked at the transformation.
"AM..."
Leonsritt was looking at himself...
"YOU..."
Dark Leonsritt threw Leonsritt to the ground once more. He coughed up blood. Dark Leonsritt walked to Soul Edge and pulled it out of the ground.
"I AM YOU!"
He looked at a bloody Leonsritt. Lying on the ground, without any strength, Leonsritt's fate was sealed. Dark Leonsritt lifted the blade once more, aiming the tip towards Leonsritt's heart.
"Your soul will belong to me..."
As he prepared to pierce the blade on to Leonsritt...
"NO!"
Dark Leonsritt felt something hard and heavy hit him. It was Cassandra's shield. He turned to look at her. Cassandra had a furious look on her. She ran to Dark Leonsritt and attacked him on all directions.
"I WON'T LOSE HIM TO YOU AGAIN!"
Cassandra lashed out her anger on Dark Leonsritt as a heavily weak Leonsritt got up, but fell to his knees. Tira and Hilde ran to his aid and helped him get to a wall. Hilde took out a little vial.
"Take this. Isabella gave me this. She told me whenever one of us was in a bad condition, to drink this."
Tira held Leonsritt as Hilde fed the liquid to Leonsritt. He felt weak to drink but it had soon slowly started to revitalize him.
"Thanks... Hilde..."
Cassandra kept attacking Dark Leonsritt. He had stopped her blade with his bare hand, and threw her to the ground. He placed his hand on her neck and started to strangle her.
"Guh...!"
"DIE, YOU WORTHLESS BITCH!"
Cassandra was suffocating within his grip. Dark Leonsritt laughed as he started slamming her head to the ground. Leonsritt felt a little better. He saw Dark Leonsritt slamming Cassandra to the ground as he strangled her. He ran to him.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
He tackled Dark Leonsritt, causing him to let go of Cassandra's neck. Leonsritt ran to Cassandra and picked her up.
"Cassandra! CASSANDRA!"
She opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw Leonsritt. There was blood on her mouth. She was too weak to talk.
"Please, you can't do this to me..."
She lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek. Dark Leonsritt saw and laughed cynically at them.
"You saved... me..."
She smiled and tears ran down her face.
"Cassandra, no..."
Her hand had let go of his face, and her eyes closed.
"No..."
"THAT ANNOYING LITTLE BITCH GOT WHAT SHE DESERVED..."
"NOOOO!"
Leonsritt fell to his knees and cried. Hilde and Tira looked in horror. Sophitia saw what had happened to her sister and she cried.
"What the hell? YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"
Dark Leonsritt got up and grabbed Soul Edge...
"What's the matter? I have one less thing to worry about..."
Leonsritt walked to the girls. He placed Cassandra on the ground. He got up and grabbed the steel paddle. He had a black aura emanating from him once more.
"You... You son of a bitch..."
"You just don't understand, do you? You can't hurt me... Even with the power that belongs to me, that won't help you... So why don't you just give up...?"
"I... I will never FORGIVE YOU!"
His black aura had started changing to a purple color.
"Why don't you die already...?"
Leonsritt had let out a surge of power. This time, it changed his body.
"What the hell is this... power...?"
Leonsritt had become a demon. His skin turned to a pale white, and his hair turned silver. He grew fangs and horns. He spread out his six wings and spikes protruded from his forearms.
"You will pay for what you did to her..."
He grabbed the steel paddle...
"YOU DEGENERATE SON OF A BITCH!"
Both Leonsritt and his dark self were clashing blades. Leonsritt attacked with fury as Dark Leonsritt had parried his attacks.
"What's the matter? Too slow to eve—GAH!"
Dark Leonsritt felt a hit to the gut. He coughed up and extreme amount of blood. He felt another blow to the face and landed on the ground. He sat up and looked at the blood he left on the ground.
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!"
Leonsritt kept his assault on him. Dark Leonsritt landed a hit on Leonsritt's ribs and he staggered. Dark Leonsritt began his flurry of attacks, but Leonsritt countered with his own. Dark Leonsritt and Leonsritt crossed swords once again and struggled to push each other.
"Eat this, you feeble human..."
Dark Leonsritt raised his free arm and an energy ball had appeared on his palm. Leonsritt did the same and both aimed the energy at each other's chests. They both flew off from each other.
"LEONSRITT!"
"LEO!"
Dark Leonsritt got up on his feet and walked to Leonsritt. He was too weak to move and he reverted to his normal self.
"The shard's power wasn't enough... was it...?"
With the last of his strength, he got up and ran to him...
"It's useless..."
Dark Leonsritt lifted Soul Edge and aimed it at Leonsritt's chest but both stopped in their tracks. Hilde, Tira and Sophitia saw as both blades seemed to have pierced both.
"This... isn't the end..."
Dark Leonsritt was coughing up even more blood. He saw the steel paddle piercing him on the chest. Leonsritt completely missed the blade. Dark Leonsritt collapsed and his body faded slowly. Leonsritt fell to his knees and he looked as his dark self disappeared. Hilde and the others looked at Leonsritt. Cassandra opened her eyes slowly. She looked around and saw Leonsritt's body on the ground. She got up. She walked slowly to Leonsritt. He was unconscious. She kneeled next to him...
"Leo... wake up..."
Cassandra placed her hand on his cheek. She had a tear running down her face once more. Slowly, Leonsritt opened his eyes. She smiled and cried. She held Leonsritt tightly as he embraced her...
"Ugh... GAAAAHHHHH!"
"Leo, what's wrong..."
Leonsritt grasped his head in pain.
"What the hell is going on!"
"Leo!"
His body floated in the air. His body let out a black aura that covered everything. The girls were standing on nothing...
"Leo! What's wrong?"
Leonsritt stopped moving. He looked at the girls, and gave them a sickening smile.
"I told you all, this isn't the end..."
Soul Edge had appeared on his hands. Half of Leonsritt's hair turned white, his eyes a menacing yellow, and his skin turned a little dark.
"I am your worst nightmare..."
Now destiny lies on Cassandra's and Leonsritt's own hands.
Author's Note: Well, I thought this would be the last chapter but it isn't. It took me a while to think of some action for this chapter. Thanks to Yoko Shimomura for her awesome compositions of Kingdom Hearts music, get creative on this story. And like always, I do NOT own SoulCalibur or anything else, except my OCC.