A little while after Nariko and her group were captured, Kai and Legola found themselves deeper inside the fortress, looking for the former group.
"Ooh! That was fun!" Kai declared, the archery duo having slipped out of a narrow grate and fell to the ground.
"Wouldn't call it fun, but…" Legolia said. "Looks like we're pretty deep inside the temple. Still no sign of the others, though."
Kai's face fell at the elf's words as she gazed out at the tower before her. "Why did you leave Kai, Nariko?"
"Not for reasons you might be thinking." a voice said as Tanya descended down to the ground, surprising Kai a little.
"You fly?!" Kai asked.
"Not on my own. It's due to my Flight Gear." Tanya said.
"Glad to see you didn't get caught, Tanya. Where did Bohan take the others?" Legolia asked.
"He imprisoned them and Nariko in cells, but I'm not sure he's gonna keep them there for long. I followed them to their cells, and I overheard Bohan telling his disfigured son to take them to The Pit. I can only guess it's a combat arena." Tanya said. "Who knows what kind of things he'll send at them. We'll get them out of there but first, we need to get the Heavenly Sword back. Bohan has it stashed away in another part of the temple. Kai, you and Legolia get the sword. You're probably gonna have to do a lot of running and jumping to get there though."
"You know Kai likes to jump!" Kai giggled.
"...Good." Tanya nodded. "Go get to it. I'll see to getting Ethox out of the mess he's caught himself and the others in…again." she said as she took off.
"Guess it's you and me for a little longer, Kai." Legolia said. "C'mon, let's go find the armory."
"Kai can do that, Legolia." Kai said as the two made their way through the fortress, sniping any of Bohan's soldiers in their path before reaching what seemed to be the arena as they saw Nariko and the others along with some of her fellow clansmen as they looked up to see Bohan, Roach, and the Heavenly Kings on the stands above.
"Welcome! What a glorious day this is. To celebrate the capture of the Heavenly Sword, I invite you all to indulge me in my little distraction." Bohan laughed. "The rules are quite simple…last man standing, lives! Everyone else dies. Enjoy!"
Nariko quickly picked up a sword as she and the group looked at her clansmen.
"Well, that's stupid." Aqua said. "I mean, we're not going to fight each other! Am I right?"
The clansmen looked between each other, then turned to the group before they all charged them.
"Bohan pits neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother and they're all too scared to do anything else but fight. But these people don't have to die." Nariko thought. "There's an attack my father once taught me…you can paralyze the body for a time, still keeping their mind alive."
"Basically put them in a state that simulates death then." Simon said. "Shouldn't be too hard."
"We'll play defense, give you openings." Ethox confirmed as the group formed up. "Sorry, guys…but we gotta knock you out!"
From there, the group battled against Nariko's clansmen. They played defense for a time, making sure not to kill the clansmen. Nariko was able to use the paralysis technique to incapacitate all her fellow clan members until she and the group were the last ones standing.
"We are the last ones standing. Now let us go!" Nariko called
"We're not gonna play your sick game and turn on Nariko!" Ethox said.
"Clear out the bodies. Patience my darling. It's not over 'til I say it is!" Bohan said. "Roach, it's time for your pets!" he said to his son.
"Now you're all in trouble!" Roach laughed as he pointed at the group and the gate near them opened up.
"Where are you, Kai?" Nariko asked.
Up above, Kai and Legolia watched the transition into the second round.
"I dunno if Nariko can handle whatever that big ball of ugly's got as pets, even if the others have her back." Legolia said. "We'd better find the armory and get Nariko the Heavenly Sword, fast."
"Uh-huh, no time to waste! This way!" Kai said as they crossed over the arena's cage from above and headed to a locked door on the other side, probably guarded on the other side. "Helloooo?!" Kai yelled into the recepting speaker.
"Aww! What did you do that for?" the voice on the other end asked. "Now my ears are ringing!"
Kai and Legolia nodded to each other as the latter moved into a good ambush position. "Open the door!" Kai called, doing her best Bohan voice.
"I'd just finished cleaning them as well!" the voice said to himself. "What? Ohh, the door.. Er. That room's only for commanders. I'll need the correct password."
"Guffelumpaloopa." Kai said.
"What?! Must be my ears… What did you say?" the voice asked.
"I'm new here. I don't know it." Kai said.
"Well then I suggest you talk to the Commander in the West Tower!" the voice said.
"I'll do that!" Kai said.
"Tanya, we found a way to the armory, but we need a password to get in. Someone in the West Tower knows it." Legolia communicated.
"You mean the tower that's filled with fireworks?" Tanya asked.
"Fireworks? I love fireworks!" Kai said.
"Then maybe we can force the commander out of the tower by blasting him out?" Legolia asked.
Liking the idea, Kai got to a good position and with a well placed arrow straight through the door, set off the fireworks in the west tower, causing a colorful bomb to go off from the inside as the commander was blasted out. Before he could react, Tanya landed down in front of him and aimed her rifle at his genital area.
"Unless you want to lose your manhood, I'd suggest you give me the password to the armory." Tanya threatened.
"Monkey-Peaches!" the commander quickly replied.
"What?" Tanya asked, confused.
"The password. It's Monkey-Peaches." The commander said.
"And now I question this army's integral code with passwords like that. But in any case…" Tanya said, knocking the commander out with the butt of her rifle. "The password's Monkey-Peaches, ridiculous as it sounds." she communicated.
Legolia nodded, and then knocked on the door to alert the watchman.
"Password?" he asked.
"Monkey-Peaches!" Kai responded.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" the voice said before laughing. "Just fooling! Had you going there for a minute though didn't I? Sorry, things get rather boring around here. Come on through." he said as the gate opened.
"Boring?!" Kai asked as she readied her crossbow. "Twing twang!"
Back with the group, something was approaching from the opened gate as its appearance was fully revealed. They looked to be a fusion between a man and an orangutan with extremely long and sharp claws. They have armor plating on their arms, legs and shoulders and run similar to orangutans or other primates found in the wild. Finally, they appear to be covered in black fur with the exception of their faces, which are hairless and are human in resemblance.
"What is that thing?!" Aqua cried in
"It's an orangutan…. Wait, a man… no, I got it! It's a…. An Oranguman!" Ethox coined. "It looks tough. Think you can handle it without the Heavenly Sword, Nariko?" he asked, but Nariko was deep in thought.
"The boy's question seemed to make me think about the Sword. I never thought I'd miss it, but now I long to hold it once more, and let it tear through the flesh and bone as it was meant to do. Without it I feel…empty."
The Oranguman attacked the group ferociously, despite it being one on five. It was fast on its feet despite it being so big, as it attacked the group with sharp metal claws.
"This thing's fast, and strong too!" Ethox said.
"I'll block its attack, you and Nariko hit it after I pin it down." Darkness advised.
"RIght. But don't go crazy and see what it can do to damage you." Ethox said.
"As tempting as it would be to have this primate man try to slice me with its claws, shaving away my armor… we are in a gladiatorial arena. Survival overrides gratification." Darkness said with a noticeable sigh.
"So you are capable of self control when you really put your mind to it…impressive." Nariko complimented.
The Oranguman charged in and went for Nariko, but Darkness got in the way and blocked its attack fully, not even leaving any openings for pleasure. She locked in its arms as Both Nariko and Ethox went in for the kill.
"Sorry, big fella!" Ethox said, whacking the Oranguman upside the head as Nariko followed up with a Power Stance slash that felled the beastial man.
Bohan and Roach were living it up, laughing at the performance. "Very entertaining, VERY entertaining!" Bohan said.
"Is that the best you can do?!" Aqua called.
"Oh, not even close, as there's more where that came from." Bohan replied. "Let's heat this little game up! Send in the dead one!"
Just then, the door opened up, letting a truly horrifying monstrosity into the arena: it resembled an Oranguman, but its fur was ratted, and several patches were missing, blackened, rotting skin showing underneath. Its human face was also rotten, with black veins covering most of it.
Molded Oranguman
"Dammit! Eveline even made Molded outta these guys?!" Aqua yelled.
"Without the Heavenly Sword, we can't kill this creature!" Darkness said. "What do we do?"
"Don't back down now. Hold on until Legolia, Kai and I get there with that hunk of metal!" a voice came from Ethox, Aqua, Simon and Darkness's comms.
"Tanya?" Ethox asked before smiling. "We'll keep fighting. We haven't lost yet!"
"Let's see if this thing can take the heat." Simon said as he equipped Ignis Araneae Yo-Yo. "We'll hold out as long as we can… until the Heavenly Sword is back in Nariko's hands."
Kai, Legolia and Tanya proceeded forward through the now opened way to the armory, as they raced to get the Heavenly Sword back in time. They took a gondola and rode on it as they sniped any soldiers that tried to attack before soon approaching the armory and spotting the Heavenly Sword as Kai removed it from its pedestal before she stopped in front of something else.
"Kai, what's wrong? We have to-" Legolia started before she realized what Kai was looking at: a stuffed and dried corpse of a woman. "By the gods…do these people have no shame?! This is what I'd expect of goblins back home, but…Kai?" the elf realized that the girl's eyes were far away as she looked at the corpse.
"You have to hide, Kai. Now, here among these rocks. No one can get you. My darling Kai, be my strong brave daughter. I won't be long, I promise. I'll be back soon." A woman said to Kai in a flashback before it showed her again as Kai looked happy to see her, only to reveal it was Flying Fox holding the corpse of her mother.
"Peek-a-boo, little one." Flying Fox cackled as Kai screamed in fear in the flashback before she was screaming in real time.
"Kai? What's wrong?!" Legolia asked in concern.
"Mummy!" Kai cried as she collapsed to her knees.
"Mummy…?" Legolia was confused for a moment before realization hit her. "No…this is your…?!"
"Enjoying my trophy?" a voice asked as the Flying Fox landed from above as Kai screamed in terror. "Fancy meeting you again, Little one." he said as he threw one of his blades at her, only for it to be shot out of the air.
"You're one of Bohan's top commanders, Flying Fox, I take it?" Tanya asked, being the one who shot the blade out of the air.
"He's the one who killed your mother, isn't he Kai?" Legolia asked Kai, who crawled back as she held the Heavenly Sword.
"Oh, she does remember me! I had hoped that I made an impression on her!" Flying Fox said as he threw another blade at her, this one being kicked away by Tanya.
"Legolia, you and Kai get the sword to Nariko." Tanya ordered. "I'll handle this clown."
"Okay!" Legolia said. "C'mon Kai, let's get the sword to Nariko. Tanya's gonna take care of the big scary guy with the blades, alright?"
"Oh, yes! Do run, little one!" Flying Fox taunted. "How can I chase you unless you run?"
Legolia took Kai by the hand as the two ran, a still frightened Kai looking back at Flying Fox and Tanya.
"You're truly an unpleasant man, you know?" Tanya inquired. "Not that it matters to me; I'll kill you either way."
"You just have to last until I count to ten, little girl." Flying Fox said. "I'll count to ten, then you'll be dead, and the I'm coming for my little friend." he chuckled darkly.
"Ten seconds? You won't last five." Tanya said as she pulled out her gun, and Flying Fox drew another of his blades, shaking the rest of them in a menacing manner.
Back at the arena, the Molded Oranguman was soon reinforced by a troop of 6 regular Orangumen as Nariko and the others were soon overwhelmed. But just when it looked like they were done for….
"NARIKO!" a voice called out.
"Kai?" Nariko asked as Kai and Legolia were seen swinging from a rope.
"NARIKO! THE SWORD!" Kai called, throwing the Heavenly Sword to her as she caught it. Legolia then jumped off the rope as she joined the battle, Kai swinging off to find a place to hide.
"Hope I'm not late to the party." Legoia said, drawing an arrow.
"We were actually just getting started." Simon smirked.
"Good. Cause I just saw something really nasty back at the armory, and I need to take my anger out on somebody!" Legolia said.
"Luckily for you, there's plenty of target practice. Now…" Simon started. "Let's rock, baby!" he said to the Orangumen.
(Cue: Divine Hate- Devil May Cry 3)
The Orangumen and their Molded accomplice charged into battle, but this time the group was ready for them as they engaged them. With the Heavenly Sword back in her hands Nariko took on the Molded Oranguman as she started slicing into it, while the others took on the other six.
"Can you take the heat?" Simon asked before masquerading with Phantasmaraneae as he stabbed his stinger into the ground. "Hope you enjoy your blood boiling!" he said as lava erupted underneath two of the Orangumen, reducing them to nothing but ash.
Ethox used Claw Booster to slash down two more as he finished with Tiger Rampage, followed by Aqua and Legolia teaming up to freeze the others. Nariko then sliced through the Molded Oranguman, cutting them down to size.
"That should clear the room a little!" Ethox said.
"We're not gonna get anywhere fighting waves of henchmen though…" Aqua said, before looking to Roach. "Hey, Meatbrain! Are you gonna stand there and watch your pets get slaughtered?!"
"Come down here and face us like a true warrior should!" Darkness added.
Bohan growled, turning to his disfigured son. "You heard them Roach, It's your turn now! Take care of them and get me my sword back now!"
"Go get 'em, Mister Roach!" Eveline cheered the disfigured prince on.
"Kill…Kill…Kill…Kill…Kill…Kill…Kill…KILL!" Roach chanted before he leapt down into the arena, wielding twin blades.
Fighting for Father
Roach
"He's even bigger up close…" Aqua noticed with slight worry.
"And uglier." Legolia said.
"Guys, be nice." Ethox chided.
"Ethox, he's trying to kill us!" Aqua yelled.
"He's also just doing what his dad says. He doesn't strike me as a bad person." the Nobody said.
"As evil as his father or not, he's still our enemy." Nariko said. "He will not stop us here!"
"Never said he would." Ethox said. "Let's go guys!"
Roach proved to be faster than he looked. He started the fight by rolling up into a ball and charging up a spin dash attack, hoping to bowl anybody in his way over. As he revved up, Legolia directed him to one of the torches in the arena as he charged, Legoilia dodging at the last possible second, making him crash into the torch and break his ball form.
"You missed, you idiot!" Bohan yelled.
Roach quickly recovered and clashed blades with Nariko and Ethox. He used the armor on his back to deflect Legolia's arrows, and keep up with the group as well.
"We gotta get that armor off him, he's too burly to cut into!" Legolia said.
The group wore Roach down with misdirection and parrying his attacks, until he got his swords stuck in the ground. Nariko took the opportunity to run behind his back, stab her swords into his armor and rip off a couple plates.
"Come on, Roach, you blundering oaf!" Bohan called from his box seat.
"Not really feeling the love from dear old dad, are you big guy?" Legolia asked Roach.
Roach didn't respond, but the group could see a sad expression on his face for a moment before he shook it off.
"You musn't talk about Daddy like that!" Roach insisted.
"Yup, you've definitely got daddy issues. Wanna talk about them instead of trying to hack us to shreds? I'd definitely prefer that to what we're doing now, if you don't mind!" Aqua tried to persuade.
"Stop playing with them and kill those wretched brats!" Bohan said.
"But they're hurting me! They're hurting my head!" Roach replied.
"Nothing compared to what I'll do to you!" Bohan yelled.
"You shut up! You don't deserve to be a dad!" Ethox yelled up at Bohan in anger.
"Don't talk about Daddy like that!" Roach said, going back on the attack, breaking Ethox's anger.
"Whoa!" Ethox said, avoiding Roach's assault.
"Maybe wait to scold the parent until after the son's out of earshot?" Legolia said.
"Good call, sorry. I got caught up in the whole thing." Ethox apologized.
"You just can't help but feel sorry for the lunk, can you?" Aqua asked, avoiding one of Roach's slam attacks.
"I can't help it, he's Bohan's son and he treats him like this?" Ethox asked, whacking him upside the head. "I'm almost scared to find out what happens if we beat him."
"Maybe the only way to win is not to play." Legolia said. "He might be strong enough to bust down the doors of the arena. Get him to move to the door."
The group played hardball with the disfigured heir as they made him do multiple charge dashes, all directed at the main door to the Pit, making him ram it over and over to try and break it down.
"C'mon, buddy! Even you know this is pointless! Why waste time trying to beat us if you know your dad is gonna yell at you?!" Ethox said.
"Stop it! Stop talking!" Roach demanded, swinging at Ethox as they clashed blades.
"You're a complete waste of air! What do I need to do to make you understand, eh?" Bohan called. "Do I need to kill your pets?"
"Nooo… Don't Kill pets." Roach replied, shoving Ethox away. "They're my only friends."
"No, you're wrong, Roach!" Roach suddenly heard Eveline in the stands, seeing her. "I wanna be your friend!"
"I'll do it… I'll do it for you, friend!" Roach said, looking more determined than before.
"Aw, that's nice." Ethox smiled…for all of five seconds before Roach charged. "Yipe! But not for us!" he said before he narrowly avoided Roach's attack.
"And now he's really trying to kill us! Great!" Legolia complained.
"Get behind me!" Simon called as he pulled out Tartartus and formed the halves together into its door/shield form. He blocked against Roach's heavy strikes, Simon even being pushed back a bit.
"We can't hold out much longer! Roach is actually fighting like he means it this time!" Aqua said.
"Don't worry." Simon said. "Liftoff!" he called as a large mechanical arm popped out of the door and uppercutted Roach into the air.
But Roach wasn't done yet, as he actually rolled into a ball in midair and prepared for a midair spin dash.
"This is our chance, get him to aim at the door so he can break it!" Ethox called as the group corralled at the main arena door so that Roach aimed right at them. He then charged, prompting the group to dodge, and make Roach smash the door. And then right on contact, an explosion from the other side blew it open, which forced Roach back as he flew into the air… right onto the cage above.
(end song)
"EVERYONE! We have to get out of here!" Kai said, being beside Tanya, as the one who blew the door open.
"You guys sure caused a racket. Hope I didn't interrupt anything." Tanya said.
"Nope, we're good. We just had a little bit of a stint with Bohans son." Ethox said as they exited the arena.
"What happened to Flying Fox?" Legolia asked.
"Oh, he won't be bothering us for a while." Tanya smirked. "He'll be too busy recovering from the shock…of losing an arm."
Back with the Flying Fox, he was laying on the floor of the armory, clutching his severed right arm as he looked at it laying a few feet in front of him.
"That child…what a thirst for blood…" Flying Fox hacked as he tried to will himself back to his feet, but couldn't. "I can't let myself die yet…not before I take care of that unfinished business…"
Just then, his eyes caught sight of something else, something rolling towards him. With some effort, he picked it up with his left hand, then lifted it in front of his face to see what is was: a greenish-bluish jewel.
"Now what's this…?" the sadistic man wondered aloud before, as his vision began to wane, he heard a voice:
"Hear me, o child. Receive my blessing, and deliver judgment upon those unworthy of salvation. This is the word of God."
These were the last words Flying Fox heard before he blacked out, as his body began to fade, and a black heart rose out of it and began to take another shape…
