*Disclaimer: where is my disclaimer!?*
"Speech"
"Thought"
Song lyrics
Flare
Flare struggled to keep standing; the pain of her wounds and the amount of blood she was losing disoriented her greatly.
"And yet you still fight?" the large ape said to her, as he began walking toward Frost's corpse with a glowing object in his hand, "You're strong, a lot stronger than most of the others we've harvested; it's almost admirable."
He jabbed the sharp end of the object into Frost's body and it stopped glowing, he then began walking towards Ascad's corpse, the silver object in his hand glowing brighter once again as he approached it; as it did when he approached Frost's body.
"Thirty-four now", he said as he jabbed the object into Ascad, "you will join that number, then your little friends who ran off will as well; don't think that they're getting away from us, my boys will bring them back here any minute now."
He took his axe out of Ascad's corpse and began walking towards her now; Flare attempted to get into a combat stance, but one of her hind legs gave out, causing her to collapse in the dirt
"Why do you still resist, can't you see there's nothing left for you? All you can do now and accept your fate." He continued walking towards her, twirling the silver object in his hand along the way.
"I'm sure you want to know the "why" of our actions; since you've lasted this long, I'll humor you." He said as he stopped a couple feet away from her, and put his hand to his chin
"You see, 5 years ago out in the desert we found a…found...a-…what is that noise!?" he shouted as he looked at his subordinates, who shook their heads and shrugged, being as confused as he was.
Flare gave him a confused look, until she listened closely and heard…something; like some kind of music was approaching them, at a fast speed as well
LET MY SOUL BE A SILENT SWORD, CONCEIVED IN THE FIRE OF WAR!
Something jumped out of the bushes; stabbing one of the apes in the back with a spear of some sort, a snap could be heard as the make-shift spear broke into two pieces as the creature quickly slid around to the front of the surprised ape, and then stabbed the remaining piece of its weapon into the ape's head
I AM THE RUTHLESS BANE…
It grabbed an axe off of the fallen ape and threw it at another ape to its left, hitting it directly in the forehead
…OF THE WICKED WORLD AND I PRAYED ON THE KILLING FLOOR!
It then grabbed a spear from a nearby body and did a little twirl with it as it assumed a combat stance
WHEN I CARVE MY NAME ACROSS THIS PLACE, IT IS TO DEFILE ITS VAIN AND VILE WAYS!
POV shift- general
"A spear, not my strong suit; but I'll have to make do for now." Michael quietly said to himself as he assessed the situation
"Alright, twenty-eight of these things; twenty-seven little ones and one big guy, most likely their boss." He thought as he waited for an attack to come his way
"Well that was an unexpected turn events; but I have no time to waste on a thing like you." The large ape said as he simply flicked his wrist in Michael's direction, signaling his subordinates to attack while he kept his focus on Flare
The apes looked amongst their ranks as they began to spread out and surround Michael while four charged towards him
With every breath like a threat for tomorrow's embrace
When the first of them got within swinging distance and they swung their axe at him, he made a move to block or deflect the incoming attack with the spear's shaft; much to his surprise the shaft was durable enough block the attack, he then used the blunt end of the shaft to hit the ape in the face 7 times in quick succession
As if sensing the threat behind him, Michael drove the spear's tip into an ape's leg as it tried to attack from the rear; Michael brought the spear's tip to the ape in front of him and drove it into its heart, the ape behind him met a similar fate as she quickly spun around. The third ape attacked from the right, striking him in his ribcage, he let out a shout of pain as he could feel some of his ribs crack from the force.
And the battle is my way; I will go this path alone.
Michael dodged their next hit and head-butted them, the sound of their skull cracking was evident as they fell. Before the fourth ape could react, he had the spear's tip in his chest; the shaft broke, leaving the metal in his chest
Michael then lifted the impromptu staff above his head and broke it into 2 pieces; he then began to unleash a flurry of attacks on the shocked ape; finishing with stabbing the two pieces into the ape's neck and upward through the chin.
I will take unto my prey, this I know.
Michael gripped his damaged ribs as he grabbed a nearby axe; the sound of one of his damaged ribs realigning itself was heard over everything else.
"What have I gotten myself into?" he thought as he tried his best to ignore the pain of his bones repairing.
"Hmm, the way this axe is shaped, along with its weight; it's not meant to cut through cleanly, it's made to make sure it takes several hits to cut through what its being used against." he pondered as he examined his current weapon "Still with the right amount of force, I can kill most of these things in one hit; but that big one though, I might need to resort to Hades for that one."
"Oh come on now, there's only one of that thing!" the large ape shouted at his troops, "attack all at once, don't attack in waves, just kill it NOW!"
Twelve of them began running towards Michael while the others stood by, ready to attack
"Not gonna be able to fight all of them at once now am I?" he thought as he reached into his explosives bag, "Semtex is probably my best bet right now."
ALL OTHERS WILL FALL! (Guitar solo)
Michael readied his axe and broke off into a full on sprint towards the opposition, this surprised the apes watching from the sidelines, but they kept vigilant watch in case Michael changed directions
"One shot Michael, you screw this up and we're in for a world of pain." He thought as he got closer, clutching the grenade in his hand
When he got in striking distance of the first ape, Michael faked a hit and did his best to dodge the incoming attacks as he primed the grenade; he then threw the grenade at the ape in the center, he was hit in the right side of his ribcage once again as he prepared to run.
"That spot just healed." Michael groaned as he ran
The apes on the other hand seemed confused as he ran off, they turned their attention to the ape in the center of their little group; he seemed to be looking at something on his arm, the item was glowing and beeping, the light seemed to blink faster along with the beeping.
"Are they really that stupid?" Michael thought as he stopped to look at them just standing and staring at the grenade on their comrade's arm
The inevitable explosion went off as Michael charged back at them, axe at the ready
"That probably killed at least five or six of them."
LET MY WILL BE A VIOLENT PATH, TO TEAR APART WHATS LEFT!
Before the survivors of the blast could react; Michael had already driven his axe into one of them, splitting their skull; he moved onto another, striking the forearm and moved onto the shoulder, then struck at the neck, decapitating them.
ALL WILLS FALL DOWN AROUND MY FEET WHEN I SPEAK WITH THE WORD OF WRATH!
Michael swung at his new target, which deflected his attack with a club; Michael was struck on the head from the side, and then was hit in the right of ribcage as he stumbled, the sound of more of his ribs cracking was heard.
Michael shouted as he gripped his side while delivering a blind swing, the attack connected with a random ape's collar bone
Another ape attacked from the side with a spear, Michael jump out of the way before the attack could connect; he then struck the spear's tip with his axe and grabbed the sharp metal before it could hit the ground and drove it into the shoulder of his current attacker
WHEN I CARVE MY NAME ACROSS THIS PLACE, IT IS TO DEFILE ITS VAIN AND VILE WAYS!
Michael swung the axe at the ape, striking their chest, the attack was followed with a quick punch to the head; he dodged an attack coming from behind and watched as the ape was speared by his comrade. Michael elbowed the stunned ape and brought the axe down on his head.
The apes on the sidelines watched as Michael dispatched the wounded; the large one however just looked annoyed with what he was seeing.
"I'm beginning to see why so many of you were killed so easily all those years ago…" the large ape mumbles while face-palming, he turned to look at Flare who still struggled to keep conscious, but looked stunned by the feat going on in the distance.
With every breath like a threat for tomorrow's embrace
The large ape huffed in annoyance and readied his axe as the silver object disappeared from his hands with a burst of purple fire
"HOW ARE YOU ALL THIS INCOMPATANT?! YOU ARE FIGHTING ONE OPPONENT, it should be SIMPLE enough to attack all at once and overwhelm them with superior numbers." He shouted as he began charging towards Michael, "I GUESS IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE YOU'VE GOT TO DO IT YOUR SELF, and IF NONE OF YOU HELP ME IN THIS SIMPLE FIGHT; I WILL SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE WHEN IT IS OVER!"
"Well, I guess it can't be helped now can it?" Michael thought as he watched them charge; he set down his axe and reached into his pockets along with Hades' holster, "Two in the chamber, you only need to use one Michael."
AND THE BATTLE IS MY WAY; I WILL GO THIS PATH ALONE!
He pulled out the adrenaline shot he had and checked Hades' cylinder to see if there was a shot aligned with the barrel; upon seeing that there was, he injected the adrenaline shot into his neck and waited for the inevitable adrenaline surge.
I WILL TAKE UNTO MY PREY, THIS IS I KNOW!
"Young's notes said something about an abnormal amount of adrenaline being produced by my heart." He thought as the world slowed down around him
He took a deep breath as he cocked back the hammer of his revolver
ALL MY LIFE WILL SING THE PAIN, MY SUFFERING WILL SHOW!
"Ready. Steady." He readied his gun and focused on his target; the big ape, "NOW!"
IN THE FIGHT I'LL FIND MY NAME, THIS I KNOW!
He pulled the trigger
Amily
Her head jerked up from her resting place as another explosion rang through the air
"What's going on over there?" Terra muttered, "Ascad and the others must be giving them some real trouble if there aren't more of them following us."
Since the attack happened they've been running for almost half an hour now, with four or five apes chasing after them; they only stopped at the moment because Amily had gotten tired
"I'm surprised we managed to lose those apes." Terra said as she looked around them, "You'd think they would be better trackers given how well they fight."
Upon finishing that sentence Terra hung her head low; remembering the sacrifice of her friends
"We all could've gotten out of there Ascad", Terra said sadly, "Why'd you make that call?! They wouldn't have been able to catch us if we ran deeper into the forest, you and Flare could've had a family, and Frost-"
Terra stopped talking when she felt Amily hug her foreleg
"P-please don't cry Terra."
"I wasn't gonna cry Amily", Terra assured to the young girl, "I'm just saying that Ascad and the others didn't need to stay behind; we all could've gotten out of that fight, not just me and you."
"There were a lot of them Terra, if we all ran they would've just chased after us."
"I know that, but we could've out ran them and kept hidden somewhere; this forest is so big, it would've taken them a long time to find us."
"They still would've found us if we hid, they were probably in this forest for a long time."
Terra looked at Amily with a defeated look, she was right; there was no way for all of them to get out, no matter how much she denied it.
"It's just that… It's just hard to accept that they're… they're gone." She said as tears formed in her eyes
Amily shared the same defeated look that Terra held; suddenly it was replaced with a face of determination
"W-We sh-shouldn't let their sacrifice be in vain waiting to be killed in this forest", Amily said as she turned away from Terra, "We should keep going and get to warfang and tell their story, we can't let them have died for nothing!"
Terra looked at the young girl with a surprised look, then wiped the tears from her eyes as she put on a sad smile
"You're right Amily, no sense in waiting for those apes to find us", she said as she stood up, "Flare wouldn't want me to cry, Ascad wouldn't want me to just sit here, and Frost would want me to…uhh…want…me…to…uhh…wouldn't want…me…to…not waste my time moping in this forest!"
The two of them began walking, listening closely to their surroundings for any kind of danger
"We won't be safe if we spend another night in this forest", Terra quietly said to Amily, "There's another mountain range up ahead, once we get there we can look for a cave to rest in; after we get a good night's sleep we can continue onward. Ascad said we had four more days of travelling until we reached warfang."
Ten minutes pass as the two continued onward, jumping at every little sound of the forest; once being startled by a family of rabbit jumping out of a nearby bush, which proceeded to jump back the way they came
Amily is further ahead jumping about in the brush of the forest; she stops cold as dread fills her body when she hears Terra give a shout of pain
"I should've been more careful", she heard Terra hiss
Upon turning around she saw Terra's left hind-leg was caught in a trap; the trap itself looked like a mouth full of sharp teeth had pierced through her scales and held her leg in place
"H-hey don't worry Amily, I can get this thing off if I-", she pulled her leg forward, "gah, Damn that stings!"
The next few minutes was spent watching Terra attempt to remove the trap from her leg, none of the attempts were successful
"Amily", Terra said after an uncomfortable silence, "I'm…I hate to ask this of you; but I need you…to…I…need you to go ahead without me."
Terra held up her claw before Amily could protest
"There's no sense in both of us staying here, I'll get out of this thing eventually." She said as she pointed to the trap, "You go on ahead and find a cave for us; I'll catch up to you when I get free, ok?"
"P-promise?" Amily asked in a sad tone
"I promise you" Terra said comfortingly
Amily embraced Terra in a long hug before setting off towards the mountain, she looked back one last time before disappearing into the undergrowth
"Well, looks like you're stuck here for a while Terra", she mumbled to herself, "Now, how do we get this off without cutting off our own leg?"
She pondered this for a few minutes before a sudden rustle caught her attention
Michael
Michael fell to his knees as the last ape ceased to live, taking off his helmet as he did so. His face has a few bruises and scars that the apes inflicted when they struck his helmet, the impact of each hit did little damage, but still did enough
He gripped his side as he spit out a little bit of blood, his damaged bones having pierced his lung; causing some internal bleeding
He stood up, still gripping his side, and began walking towards Flare; hoping that he had at least saved someone
A somber guitar riff began to play as he walked pass the flag the apes flew, the flag reminded him of the Nazis; the colors chosen and the design etched onto it: the red background, the white circle, and the black symbol of a dragon being killed.
Upon reaching Flare he checked to see if she was breathing, but alas she was not; having bled out during his fight with the apes
Did anyone survive?
"I always hated this song", He thought as he reached out to Flare's body
I swear I heard your voice form beyond this si~i~de
He pulled a scale off of Flare's body, having been loosened with all the damage inflicted onto it; he began walking towards Ascad's as he placed Flare's scale in his pocket
Does anyone still try?
He struggled to pull the scale from Ascad's body, but it eventually came off; he moved onto Frost's body
Does anyone still hope to set their eyes beyond this place?
After getting Frost's scale he walked towards the flag and tore off a portion of the red fabric and made a scarf from it
"You're no hero Michael; let these items be a mark of shame and a reminder of this fact." He thought as he went over to pick up his helmet
Where angels fall and darkness reigns, where time dissolves the brightest flame (EVER THE SAME)
He began walking back towards where he set down his gear, as he walked he saw noticed a figure dressed in all black watching him from the other side of the clearing
"S̟̤͎̘͍͈͗͊̂̿͛͋͂o̴̷̡̦͕͍͑̿̈́̾̃̇̊ǫ̻͎͍̖̙͖̣̃ͨ̏̓͢n̤ͭ̎ͯ̓̑̃͡", a voice suddenly filled his mind, causing him to blink from a small headache; the figure disappeared as he opened his eyes
Whether I'm the last one alive or ascend before my time
He picked up his gear and cleaned his face off
Better I'm the last one alive, than a soul den~i~i~ed
He set off in the direction the dragons were originally heading, no clear goal in mind at the moment aside from getting the rest of his gear back
End of chapter 4
Hooray for bluescreening
Michael's equipment:
Hades (revolver): 1 bullet
Red-curtain (shotgun): 0 shells
Maria (desert eagle): 4 shots left in current magazine, no extra magazines
An axe
Body armor w/ helmet
Ivan's journal
Dom's iPod
The laptop and camera
7 fragmentation grenades
2 semtex grenades
4 flash grenades
2 incendiary grenades
"Universal" charger
Assorted cables
Food: should last another 4 days
Water: until the end of time
Stimpaks: 19 needles
Morphine: 5 needles
Heavy gauze: 18 patches
Alcohol/disinfectants: 2 bottles (small)
Adrenaline shots: 4