Unmei Force Shattered Heroes: Fallen Light
With all six pieces of Richard's own being collected, the bearers immediately returned the GFS Ryujin, ready to bring back Richard to fight once more.
However, amidst the victorious moment among the allies for recovering Richard, there was a much more sinister and malicious battle happening beyond the reach of the GFS Ryujin, as currently, in a world plagued with beings such as Miramon birthed from Miracles, a large-scale battle was occurring. Siege, managing what strength he could, was taking cover behind some rubble of the wasted battlefield. Bodies were scattered of his comrades who had already fallen. Those who were left, normal soldiers included, as well as allies of the home world, rushed to Siege's side.
"Siege… Please… tell me we're going to come out on top with this!" Allison pleaded, as the group barely dodged a massive soul blast from the soul sorcerer and master necromancer, Sorthax, a man of dark skin tone and black and green robes, an eerie green aura around him as he laughed, absorbing souls left and right to increase his powers.
"Allison… I'm not going to cut corners with this… I think this is the end of the road…" Siege coughed, holding his abdomen in pain, as he was soon being healed up by a dark skinned woman in a floral dress, the Esper representing the Goddess Nefertem, Asenath.
"You must fight on! We've come so far in this world! For everyone!" The woman would say as Siege coughed and shoved her back.
"No… there's still hope… I didn't want to do this… but we need to call for help. We've lost too many allies here. Drew, Q, Djoser, and so many others… I refuse to let anymore die by this madman." Siege remarked, as suddenly, a woman crashed near the group, appearing to be in punk rock clothing, with valkyrie wings on her back, her body singed as she had long dark hair with blue streaks, as Siege looked to Allison and thrust her something. "Here."
"Huh? What is…?" Allison asked, before seeing what it is. "Is this…?"
"Emergency transport back to the Hall of Origin. You need to get the Unmei Force gathered. I'll do all I can to hold the line with what Espers we have left." Siege remarked. "As well as others."
"...You better survive until we get back." Allison said with a scowl, before pressing the button and warping back home, as Siege hopped up, soon approached by a tan man holding a spear as he had floating extremities about his back side.
"Hah. Ready to dive back in?" The Esper representing Nezha, Li Ling, quipped with a smirk.
"Hah. More than ever. Asenath, get Leora and Elaine healed back up. Raditz's group should be back before too much longer." Siege remarked, before he rejoined the Valkyrie. "Ready for another round, Brynn?"
"You kidding?" Brynn tiredly chuckled, raising her split guitar halves. "I could do this all day… Haha…" Brynn was lying, but it was done to keep spirits high.
"Like the attitude. Let's go." Siege smiled, as the battered trio rushed back into battle.
As the six bearers of Richard's pieces stood over Richard, as Yukari began to fiddle with the boundaries of reality in order to facilitate the process, with Elma and Patchouli doing all that they can to provide the magic and energy to assist, as the fragments flowed into Richard's comatose body.
After the energies were gone into Richard, there was no response from the life-pod, before there was the sound of faint beeping from the linked heart monitor, as the pulse slowly rose back to a standard rhythm, and Richard's body was slowly livening up, with the paleless returning back.
"It… It worked…" Gus remarked, with surprise.
"Brother…" Heiwa teared up, before she then hugged the life-pod. "...Thank god… We were able to save you."
"When you wake up… we're going to have a real talk about how stupid you are…" Kaguya muttered to herself. "...But first, I'll have to kiss you to make sure that you're really there, for all of the worry you caused me."
The rest of the Unmei Force roster then came in, seeing what had happened.
"So Richard will make it, will we, Yukari?" Remilia asked Yukari. "It would be a shame if all of those efforts were wasted in trying to bring him back."
"I assure you, it worked as intended." Yukari nodded back. "...It will still take some time for him to heal his own soul and psyche from having to forcibly tear it apart himself… but he will recover all the same. And the life-pod will immediately open for him… when the time is right."
"I still can't believe the things we've gone through…" Suika remarked with a shake of her head. "All of the things we have been through… it truly was one hell of an experience… for all of us in fact.:
Allison immediately burst into the room, her expression completely pale, and her wounds visible
"Allison? What's wrong?" Gus asked. "Allison, you're-!"
"Problems… massive… MASSIVE problems!" Allison panted.
"The hell you say!?" Hitomi asked in shock.
"Sorthax has gotten so much stronger and worse… and Siege took it upon himself, upon us all, to try and bring him down… but we've lost 90% of our forces, only down to Siege, myself, some footsoldiers, Raditz, Ryinma, and the Gijinkas… as well as many of the Espers we befriended before battling Sorthax… We need help. We need it ASAP." Allison stated harshly.
"Oh my God…" Weiss remarked, hand over her mouth.
"There's… there's no way Siege would ever fall like this! Ever!" Popol exclaimed.
"Is there anything we can do? Anything we might be able to muster?" Android 21 asked.
"I… wish I was strong enough to help…" Della remarked sadly.
"Ryinma's down there!?" Yun exclaimed. "We have to go and help them!"
"Not with the lack of power, you don't." Yukari stated, shaking her head. "...And it would be better that someone keeps guard over Richard. As his close friend, you should do that, while Gus leads the rescue effort."
"But I…" Yun argued, before he then stopped himself. "...Alright. I suppose that this is better for me. At least I still have others here in case someone tries to take Richard's head right when he is about to come back. Just… Please, all of you, get Ryinma back safe and sound. I beg you."
"Consider it done. Let's go. Now." Allison firmly stated.
"I don't intend to fail." Gus declared firmly, before looking at the Unmei Force members. "We'll need all hands on deck for this one. Something tells me that Sorthax won't go easily."
The group then allowed Yukari to open a sukima right to the battlefield, as the Unmei Force members were shocked to see what had become of most of the members, seeing the unmoving bodies of several members of the Soldiers of Fortune.
"Thrasir… Lif…" Reisen remarked, as she saw that both of their hands were held together, as if they decided to remain together, even if death would claim them. "...I'm sorry that we couldn't save you."
"Akuma. So even demons can fall…." Meiling remarked, seeing that Akuma had died standing on his feet, wounds everywhere, while Malori and Velerosa laid dead nearby.
"Over there!" Heiwa stated, before rushing over to Neila, who laid slumped against the rock, as there was blood everywhere on it, as the silver-haired fox-kin had her back rested against it, her blade flat on the ground next to her. She weakly raised her head, to see Heiwa.
"...H…Heiwa… c…chan…?" Neila asked.
Heiwa then walked over, and grabbed Neila's hand.
"Neila!" Heiwa exclaimed. "Are you alright? You look so terribly wounded! Please, hang on, we can-"
"I'm… sorry… I… I… don't… have… any strength… left in me… getting… getting… sl… slee… …sleepy…." Neila would only say, as her head slumped to the side, hitting the ground, her final breath leaving her body.
"Neila? Neila!" Heiwa shouted, as she shook Neila hard, as if it would wake Neila up. "You… You've just… just fainted from the blood loss, right? You can't really be dead…you were stronger than me as well, and you were such a kind friend… Please, wake up… someone, please help her!"
"...I can't." Elma shook her head, as Heiwa turned around, as there were tears in the kitsune's eyes. "...I can already tell that what was left in her was gone to say those last words. She's in a better place."
"No…" Heiwa muttered softly, as she remained silent, silently crying at the death of a close friend, as Chen could only look on with a morose look in her eyes.
Gus looked around at those who had been lost to Sorthax, as his hands clenched into fists at the injustice of it, before he then took a few deep shuddering breaths to calm himself.
"... We can't save them now. All we can do… is save what remains." Gus declared with a low voice. "It's what… what all of them would want."
"This… This is truly a terrible event… I really didn't think that this could happen." Marisa remarked, biting her lip.
Meanwhile, they also saw the remaining forces not fighting Sorthax gathering up, seeing Raditz holding a wounded Ryinma, while the remaining Espers of the world, Leora, Elaine, Jin Yuyao, Donar, Lin Xiao, Asenath, and Berenice were trying to formulate a strategy to move forward, the Gijinkas resting up as well.
"We need a goddamn plan and we need it now!" Raditz exclaimed. "At this rate, we'll lose everyone else! And we've lost far too many!" Raditz added.
"What can we do… with every soul of our world, Esper or not, that he takes… he grows exponentially more powerful…" Leora said with a look of concern.
"Raditz!" Gus shouted. "We're here!"
"How hurt are all of you? What happened down here, to have this many people dead?" Reimu asked.
"We thought it was the usual routine mission." Ryinma coughed. "A simple disturbance in a world that needed our attention but…"
"Sorthax… that damned necromancer sorcerer is as tough as they bloody come…" Raditz growled. "He owned Siege 1 on 1 not long ago…"
"And how did you manage to retreat safely? Did Siege manage to hold them back for you to recover?" Meiling asked.
"Nah. Thank Akuma over there." Raditz remarked, as the group saw the standing corpse of Akuma. "He managed to muster enough Satsui no Hado and Power of Nothingness to blast Sorthax enough to get us a window, and we booked it as far as we could…"
"The Miramon got us split up a bit, but it seems we're back together… what's left of us, anyways…" Alexandria admitted.
"...As grim this situation is… we can't hope to beat this foe alone." Gus stated. "And if we don't come to Siege's rescue, he'll die all the same. Let Elma help you all recover what you can, before we head back into the fray. Tell us, what did you notice of his powers?"
"If any of you let your guard down, for even a moment… he'll suck your soul. That's how a lot of our warriors have fallen." Raditz remarked, as Elma began to heal the group with her magic.
"Don't give him an opening to charge at all. His spells are lethal enough." Leora informed.
"Even his non charged spells are deadly. Don't give him a single opening for any of them." Elaine stated, before the group suddenly saw a tri-burst of energy afar off, as they suddenly watched a triple assault occur, as Li Ling was unloading hellacious fists upon Sorthax.
"Tremble! AT MY POOOWEEEER!" Li Ling yelled as he punched Sorthax, who easily blocked his fist, as Li Ling grunted, trying to free his hand.
"We'll never give in!" Brynn yelled, slamming her axes into Sorthax as he froze up a bit, as Siege rushed forward in massive power.
"TEXAS… SMAAAAASH!" Siege yelled, punching Sorthax in the abdomen and sending him flying through the air, as multiple necrotic spells smacked into the trio, sending them back near the others, all three of them littered with wounds. "Ghk… d… damnit…" Siege cursed.
"That didn't look good…" Gus remarked. "Hurry, Elma, I don't think Siege can handle this fight for long!"
"I'm trying… I just need a bit more time!" Elma declared, as Gus looked between the wounded members, and Siege's fight back and forth with concern in his eyes.
"We just need time to come up with something! Something to finish this fight for good!" Allison exclaimed. "Come on! Someone! Anyone, think of something!"
Siege coughed as he hoisted himself to a sitting position, looking around at the dead bodies of his allies, the hundreds, thousands of allies who had fallen trying to fight against this monumental threat. The monumental obstacle to victory that was Sorthax. Siege was running out of ideas on how to take him out… unless… unless…
Siege stood up, before looking back at everyone else, as his eyes immediately landed on Gus. "...Get everyone out. Now."
"Siege, what are going to do?" Gus asked, as his own worry was beginning to mount up.
"...For those of you willing to die. Then stand by my side. We'll finish off what needs to be done." Siege would soon say.
"...I've lost everyone else…" Brynn remarked, standing next to Siege. "Losing my life to save what's left… hah… that's not a bad trade."
"Same here… I'm not about to let this scumbag have his way." Li Ling would say, smirking as he began to gather aura.
"I told you I would fight by your side till death… if you die today. I join you, my brother." Donar would say, standing next to Siege.
Asenath would only watch on, having been hit in the crossfire, before granting the last of her powers to Siege and those standing for a small boost, as Siege lowered his head.
"...Thanks Asenath." Siege would remark, before pulling out something. Something that caused Gus' eyes to widen in utmost shock that Siege would ever have in his arsenal, evident from the pulsating dark red coloring to it:
A Finale Spell Card. A Spell card which trades the life of one or some… to finish off an insurmountable threat.
"How did you…!?" Gus remarked, before the truth dawned upon him. "...No, you're saying that the only way that Sorthax can be defeated… is if you take him down with you!?
"It's me he wanted from Day 1 anyways, Gus… grab the Espers that remain, get all of my allies I have here… return to the Hall of Origins and the GFS Ryujin. …And if Richard wakes up after the battle…" Siege would remark, before he pulled something out of a portal. The thing he pulled out was a weapon of sorts, looking to be a rifle at base, but having the ability to transform into a light ax, being red and gold in color scheme, and looking like it could be attuned to magic. "My gift to Richard. The SealSplitter. Any magic foe who comes face to face with this bad boy is going to be in a world of hurt… and… leave him this too." Siege remarked, tossing the SealSplitter to Gus, along with a recording player, with one entry in it. "...Now go. The three of us here… we've made our choice. We've got a fight to finish." Siege would say.
"Siege…! …No…!" Allison cried out with tearful eyes as Siege sadly smiled.
"...Take care, my love." Siege would smile before he, Li Ling, Brynn, and Donar turned to Sorthax.
"Bwahaha…. Have you finally conceded defeat, soldier? Ready to surrender your soul?" Sorthax asked wickedly.
"Far from it, you egotistical fuck." Siege growled, before revealing his spell card. "Declare… Finale Spell…!"
Arcane rainbow lightning struck all over the area, as the foundations of the world itself shook, as a surge of power rushed into Brynn, Li Ling, and Donar, before doing so for Siege himself.
"Ultimatum Sign: THE END OF AN ERA!" Siege yelled, as a rainbow light erupted from the four combatants, their appearances not changing, except for rainbow aura coursing through their body and eyes, as shown in their veins.
BGM: Ultimate Battle - Dragon Ball Super OST
Siege, Li Ling, Brynn, and Donar would immediately collectively bum rush Sorthax, as Sorthax was assaulted with a large array of attacks by the squad of four.
"You fools still stand against my might like this? You shall all crumble under my might!" Sorthax yelled, as his explosion of power sent the four of them flying backwards, as they recovered and unleashed another salvo, stronger than the one they initiated, as Sorthax was battered by the attacks, seeming to be shocked that they were dealing some damage to him. "Wh… what?"
"Eat this!" Li Ling yelled as he and Brynn unleashed a combination of massive flurry punches that bashed and battered Sorthax, while Siege and Donar rushed into Sorthax with massive fists, as Sorthax flew backwards and crashed into rubble, before he rushed out of it, as he clashed fiercely with the quartet of opponents in the sky, as they sent shockwaves of power throughout the wasteland battlefield, before Sorthax was sent soaring again, being followed up by being beaten around some more by Li Ling, Brynn, and Donar, before being spiked down by Siege, as the four of them suddenly unloaded a salvo of rainbow blasts from above upon Sorthax, who rose up and roared in defiance.
"How!? How can you all muster this strength!? I should be far stronger than you all! I took the souls of all your friends!" Sorthax yelled in defiance.
"Yet you fail to understand the power of hope in the sight of desperation! It's time you learned your place! Balance will be restored!" Siege yelled as he and the Espers rushed at Sorthax again, who weathered their blows further, before being knocked backwards as the four of them began to charge up.
"KA… ME… HA… ME… HAAAA!" The four of them yelled, each firing a unique Kamehameha wave that hit Sorthax dead on, as he did all he could to push back, but Li Ling would have none of it.
"JUST… DIIIIIIEEEEE!" Li Ling yelled, his extra extremities suddenly unleashing a stronger blast of energy that sent Sorthax coursing through multiple buildings and rubble. The smoke cloud remained for a moment, before Sorthax rose yet again, and charged, only to be met with massive rights from Siege and the group, stunning him a good while before Siege looked down at the retreating group.
Gus quickly looked around, before seeing Elma give the all clear signal.
"Siege… you will go down as a true hero for all of this…" Gus stated. "If only we had more power… then this wouldn't have had to happen. We're leaving."
"Siege…" Sanae could only say, before she and Reimu created a barrier to protect everyone from any errant attacks that might head towards them.
With all of the surviving members of the Soldiers of Fortune healed up, they were carried out by the help of several of the Unmei Force members.
"Hang in there, sweetie." Elena stated. "We'll make it out of here alive. We've already lost too much today."
"Elena…" Alexandria stated.
Koyomi was straining herself, trying to help Raditz along, as Meiling decided to help the deinonychus Therianthorpe to carry her guardian with her.
"Still need some time before you can lift me, don't you, Koyomi? Heh heh heh…" Raditz chuckled, before coughing gently.
"Don't strain yourself. You've already been hurt badly enough as it is." Koyomi advised Raditz.
Meanwhile, Heiwa quickly transformed into her adult form, before scooping Ryinma in a princess carry, much to the latter's embarrassment.
"Did you… really have to carry me this way?" Ryinma asked.
"I had to bring you back to Yun. He wants you back very badly." Heiwa answered back, before closing her eyes solemnly. "I already lost a close friend to all of this."
"Heiwa…" Ryinma remarked, seeing Neila's fallen body.
As Gus began to retreat, he noticed that there was a faint reaction from Kiana's fallen body, as her entire figure was torn apart, and her blood was spilt, but she still seemed to have life in her.
"Wait, there's someone still alive!" Gus shouted, before rushing over. "Kiana, can you see or hear me?"
Kiana's only response was to lift her head, revealing that her eyes were almost lifeless from the lack of energy in her, before she then collapsed.
"Quick, someone get her through the portal first, and get immediate medical aid. She could die on the table if we're not fast enough!" Gus shouted.
Antonio and Eruza nodded to each other, before they picked up Kiana, hanging her between them, and striding through the open sukima in a mere moment.
As the group retreated safely through the sukima, Gus took one last look at the battle before him, as Siege was giving hell to Sorthax.
"...I hope that there will be a time where we will see each other again." Gus muttered, before stepping through it, as it closed behind him.
"...I hope so too, Gus. I hope so too." Siege would say, before he, Li Ling, Brynn, and Donar yelled in power and sent Sorthax flying sky high into the air, before they each grabbed hold of him.
"Wh-what!?" Sorthax exclaimed, suddenly seeing the rainbow veins on the four of them pulsate and expand.
"This is your end!" Li Ling yelled.
"For everyone you killed, everyone you took from us! This is your ending! No encore for you!" Brynn yelled.
"This is a fitting ending! For us, and you both!" Donar yelled.
"Sorthax… GO TO HELL!" Siege yelled as the four of them yelled, as they began to evaporate and rainbow light began to encapsulate Sorthax.
"No… no… no…! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sorthax yelled in agony as a pillar of rainbow energy suddenly erupted.
"Guess this is really how it ends…" Siege remarked, before he then had a melancholic smile on his face, watching the pillar of energy grow rampantly. "Sorry, Richard. Guess I won't get to see you come back."
The energy then pierced through the world, engulfing it entirely with everything in it before fading away… and Sorthax, as well as Siege, Brynn, Li Ling, and Donar… were no more…
2 weeks after Siege's final sacrifice to save the Multiverse…
Despite the time that had passed, and the signs of his improvement, Richard still hasn't recovered enough to be conscious, let alone awake. But due to the fact that Yun could have sworn that he saw several tears stream down Richard's face, within a few moments after the group returned, it seemed that Richard sensed Siege's death, even in the realm of unconsciousness. Everyone, both of the defunct Soldiers of Fortune, and the Unmei Force, were left in a period of mourning, as they forgone most of their original routines to comfort those who had lost their comrades and allies in that decisive battle. Allison would take Siege's gifted weapon, as well as the recording, into the room Richard was in. Because Yun had told them all that Richard had cried while he watched him, Allison decided to put the two items next to the life pod, and go ahead and play the recording for Richard just in case he was actually alive, as Allison left the room soon after.
Within Richard's comatose psyche…
Siege would soon walk into the blackness that was the current state of Richard's psyche, as the only view seen of him was Richard's point of view, with the soldier seeing that Richard was sitting on the ground, arms around his legs, head lowered, as Siege had a melancholic smile on his face, just as he began to verbatim his recording.
"...Hey pal… still sleeping well?" Siege would ask. "I bet. You're sleeping like a baby all this time. Hang in there buddy, I know your friends are gonna get you out." Siege remarked, before he slightly looked away for a moment. "I… got something to tell you… by the time you hear this… well… I've… I've pretty much died. I… recorded this message just before my team and I, most of them anyways, left to confront Sorthax. …And… uh… yeah… didn't go too hot pal… I'm… not with you, anymore. Not physically." Siege would say, allowing a pause for Richard's psyche to comprehend the words.
"S… Siege…?" Richard asked, his voice faint and weak, as his head raised, before looking back. "W…What are you saying?"
"You probably don't believe me, do you?" Siege asked with a small chuckle. "...Well… I wish I could tell you that it had some merit, buddy…" Siege sighed. "I'm good as gone… Sorthax was the enemy that finally managed to deal with my overpowered ass." Siege chuckled.
"Siege, I'm sorry…" Richard weakly stated, clutching his own face with a hand, fresh tears running down his cheeks. "I… I caused all of this in the first place… If only I never tried to do all of this… then I could have been there to help you… I… I couldn't be there to help you… It's my fault that you were gone like this… it's my fault… as it always has been…"
"Aw jeez… I guess I better keep this brief. You've probably already gone into self blame mode… buddy, this was never your fault. I don't want you to ever think that. You were the bestest bud I could have ever asked for… and I wanted to see you wake up. But… I can't anymore. So… instead, I left you something. A weapon I tailor made just for you. A rifle and a lightweight axe in one, made to not only channel magic, but cut through it like hot butter. I know I could have used it on Sorthax but… well… It seemed better fit to give to you one day… so… here it is. Right beside ya, when you wake up… and… when you do wake up… don't you ever give up, okay buddy? Don't ever lose hope. You don't blame yourself for this. I brought it upon myself. With that said…. This is the last you'll hear from me, pal. But I'll always live in the hearts of you and whatever is left of the Soldiers of Fortune. Well, we're not the Soldiers of Fortune anymore. Not enough of us left to be that. From now on, they're in your and Gus' care. Go give our enemies hell, buddy…. I'll watch from the stars of the spacial realm. This is Siege Sukui… signing off one last time." Siege finished, before fading away from Richard's psyche in a shower of light particles, and in the real world, the recording stopped at the same time.
"Siege…? Siege…!?" Richard exclaimed, as he looked around his entire mindscape, before he then slowly turned back to the spot where Siege was, before he then turned around. "...You had to go before I did… Damn bastard… you didn't deserve to go before I did… you didn't…"
And so, Richard slowly wept in his own mindscape alone, as his own physical body began to weep again.