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Selle turned away from Buddy for a quick second as he started over to the dugout. Already, compared with all the carnage and violence surrounding and permeating the air around him, that few feet of shallow trench seemed just as inviting to Selle as warm, comfortable bed. But, there was a problem. Namely the insane amounts of SOLDIERs and Galbadian infantrymen literally hacking each other to pieces right in between him and his current destination of safety. There had to be a quick, protective way through to the relative sanctuary of the low bunker...
And no sooner had the gambler voiced the quandary in his head than a chap with spikey-black hair and a huge sword chopped through, cutting a swath in the ranks of Galbadians, and providing a nice little path just wide enough for Selle to walk through. He couldn't see the gentleman's face, being as it was obscured by the splashes of blood and dust from the gritty battle, but he promised that should he ever see that man in the city, and they were coincidentally near a pub, then the gambler would gladly buy him a drink. Maybe even challenge him to a friendly game of cards... but that was beside the point. The road was clear, and so was Selle's avenue of escape to hide and ride out the battle in relative comfort and anonymity, unable to be found by either Galbadians or Shinra. With a relieved grin on his dirty face, he turned to shout Buddy over to start the crossing to the trench and to share the meager protection...
...only to watch his newfound friend start charging in the opposite direction, bloodlust in his eyes, katana upraised, towards a massive purple man with bat wings and who apparently was holding the entire SOLDIER contingent at bay all by his lonesome.
Quite frankly, Selle was at a loss for words.
Was this man DEAF as well as mute!? Selle had just shouted at him that there was shelter that the two of them could ride out the battle in with limited exposure to hostile forces, and he just up and ignored him? What kind of idiot would forsake a chance to save himself, in a battle he didn't even want to be in, no less, and apparently rush to his doom for a battle against such a monstrous, wretched demi-god as that thing!? Selle kept his eyes looking in widened disbelief. Deaf, mute, and suicidal... the gambler really knew how to pick the winners in this horse race, didn't he? It must have been a death-wish that this unspeaking madman was having. That was the only plausible explanation for why he would rush off like that. After seeing this purple winged man in action, at a distance, even Selle could tell that he was formidable, quite possibly a match for any mortal man, and certainly for Buddy. Even as he thought these things, purple-tinged energy bolts in the shape of swords lanced out from his hands and smote several SOLDIERs, the finest warriors Shinra could afford, effortlessly! Even as far away as the gambler was from the creature, his heart felt pangs of fear because of this almighty destroyer for the Galbadians. It was a fool's errand to stand up to something like that and expect to live, let alone beat it...
Fine. If that half-cocked braincase wanted to kill himself against the demon, let him, thought Selle viciously, but I'm not about to follow him to my death! Unlike some suicidal nutters he recently met, the gambler prided himself on his self-preservation. The laws of mankind, stretching back for generations and generations as how human's ancestors managed to survive the elements and bloodthirsty creatures of prehistoric Gaia, were ingrained in every person's mind. It would be foolish to not heed them! Selle, for one, would do what his forefathers did eons ago, and when the fight or flight choice was presented to him, he would wisely turn tail and run the other way. After all, it's helped him in the past plenty of times. So, he resolutely turned his back and was about to cross through the rapidly-thinning gap to the safety of the trench...
...when an odd thought crept into his mind. The thought was, He's your friend.
Ridiculous! Selle didn't have any friends. He was always that drifting gambler who roamed from town to town, scraping together a living from the dull minds of others, chased some skirts every now and then, and was generally thought of as little more than a plague among honest folk. Yes sir, he had done a dandy job of making people hate him, and all he was doing was just being himself, something he wouldn't have any other way. And yet...
For those few moments that the two had spent in each other's company, fleeting as it was, Selle couldn't help but grow fond of that enthusiastic, mute, insane man.
Not to mention the fact that if he did win in his little suicidal bout(even though he was guranteed to die against the demon), Buddy would technically have a bigger body-count than Selle, and would therefore have the pleasure of a free round at the next bar...
So, in complete disregard of his past motivation to get to safety, he found himself hesitating, between running off to the trench, or to go with Buddy and at least make sure that he didn't get himself killed. Selle's eyes grew tortured, he gnawed his bottom lip with indecisiveness. What should he do? What should he do? Suddenly, it hit him like a rock to the head. He would solve this thorny problem the way he always did with sticky situations like these: gamble. Quickly (seeing as the Galbadians were beginning to retake the gap and it was shrinking rapidly), the gambler fished out his lucky coin, and flipped it into the air. Heads, he would flee. Tails... he would, regrettably, fight. Lazily, end over mythril-ridged end, it sailed and ended up in Selle's brown-gloved hand. He tipped his sunglasses fractionally to see the result.
Tails.
At first, all Selle could manage was stunned silence at his reversal of fortunes at this outcome. And then...
"GODDAMN IT ALL TO THE BOWELS OF BLOODY HELL!!!"
Ruefully, he stowed the coin back into his jacket pocket, checked the ammunition still in his revolver, and went jogging off after his nutty friend. He may have been known as a cheat and a slippery fellow, but Selle never wormed his way out of a bet. It was a little rule of his. Still, as he followed Buddy, he couldn't help but think despairingly, This is a really, really bad idea...
The battle was on in full force now. And it seemed that the Galbadians were forcing the SOLDIERs onto the defensive. This certainly wasn't a good thing for those few pitiful souls who were just fighting for their lives in this chaotic stew of human bodies and severed limbs, such as Selle. But then again, it made the defeat of that demon lord all the more imperative. They forced him off the playing field, they would all go home safely. At least, the gambler was hoping feverently that it meant such an appetizing thought. Anywhere was better than here...
No sooner had he thought such a thing than the situation suddenly began to get worse. A blue cloud of Mist, rather insubstantial and not detrimental to the eyes at all, had enveloped the field of war, cloaking everything within its radius. It had no noticeable effects on the gambler, but as he was trying to reactivate his Protect barrier a second later, since it had ceased suddenly, he found that he couldn't do so. Worriedly, he checked the small pouch in his gray pinstripe jacket where he kept his special Mako-enhanced bullets, and despairingly found that they, too, were unresponsive. Instead of the vibrant green glow they usually held, the clear capsuls were now a dull gray color, stripped of their magical properties. Well, if this mysterious fog was responsible for this phenomena, was his pistol unable to fire? As far as Selle knew, it didn't operate on magic at all. But he needed to test it to make certain that he could defend himself...
As if on cue, a Galbadian saw the gambler and rushed him, his sword raised high above his head and swinging down, ready to cut him asunder with a single swipe of his deadly blade. Panicked, Selle pointed his handgun and, without thinking, pulled the trigger. As it always has, the bullet shot through the barrel and hit the charging soldier right between the eyes, sending him sprawling backwards into the bloody dust. Selle had squeezed his eyes shut during the soldier's charge. He had no idea why, maybe because of the likeable thought that his death might've been less painful if he wasn't seeing it coming. So, when he opened his eyes slowly to look at his handiwork, he turned his deep brown eyes to his gun, and said in a voice dripping with irony, "Well, I guess we solved that little mystery, eh?" Indeed, it seemed that the mist obscured magical powers drained from Gaia herself from forming into coherent forces, but not chemical reactions already prevalent upon the Earth, like the lighting of powder to send a bullet out of a gun. Smiling slightly from the fact that he wasn't totally without options yet, Selle continued to jog forward, following Buddy.
Finally, Selle climbed up a steep incline, looking over the slaughter that the demon-man was causing, and seeing that Buddy was charging right into it. With the blue mist around, he saw some of the SOLDIER's movements starting to become lethargic, as if they were swinging their swords through gelatine. Well, it was to be expected, after all. With so much Mako energy running through their veins, these SOLDIERs were prime targets for the magical-hampering fog that cloaked every one of them, drawing them into a weakening stupour. Indeed, it seemed like the tide was turning from the element of surprise gained by Shinra, to Galbadian hands. This was very worrisome. The Shinra forces had to regroup and form some semblance of a counter-attack, or they wouldn't stand a chance. Where was Sephiroth to rally them? Well, that question was answered during Selle's run over here. Apparently, he was locked in mortal combat with a rather attractive-looking woman, who appeared to be holding him off with her bare hands! My, my, if Tifa could see her handiwork, even she would feel jealous... but those were thoughts best saved for another time.
Rolling over soem fallen bodies to provide a form of cover, Selle looked at the flying creature before him. Even as far away as the gambler was, he could feel the fear for this beast cling to his heart like an icy-cold hand, squeezing the warmth from it. But, he also looked over to his friend, Buddy, apparently rushing to his demise for combat against the fell demon. From that, determination set in, and Selle pulled out his pistol. He would only have one shot to use before the demon noticed him, so he had to make it count. Using the body as a brace to steady his aim, Selle looked down the short barrel, and sighted a mark. The wing joint. If he made a direct shot right at that point, it would definitely put one wing, maybe both if he was lucky, out of commission. And with this obscuring mist covering the field, if the demon had any healing spells, he wouldn't be able to use any of them. Sweat poured along the gambler's face, dripping down his chin. His white teeth clenched in concentration. Just one shot... please, God... make it count...
His eye locked onto that spot at the demon's back, Selle fired.
Everything seemed to slow down dramatically. The bullet plowed through the mist-drenched air as it sped towards its mark, and with a sickening impact, it hit perfectly. Ichor poured explosively from the wound, tendons snapped, a few bones split, and nerves began to shut down almost instantly. The wings suddenly lost their motivation to ride along the currents of air that propelled them, and became little more than two great sheets of webbed flesh. Pain would no doubt be rocketing up the demon's spine at this very moment. Selle grinned victoriously at his lucky shot, thinking at the creature nastily, You think you're all hoity-toity now? Let's see how you fight with your wings clipped, boyo... Knowing that he didn't have a great deal of time before he was discovered, Selle quickly fired off three more shots at the now-grounded demon and ran to find more cover.
Charging head first into quite possibly his own death… Buddy's head was screaming obscenities at him for not thinking this through, but at the same time, his mind kept drifting to the bounty that this guy must have had on his head. He was still a bit a ways away from his target and these ridiculous Galbadian soldiers and mercs kept try to get in his way! An inner battle of the subconscious complimented the fight going on in the world in front of Buddy.
Guard! A soldier brought his gunblade down on Buddy, with Buddy making a quick thrust to support himself after the man swung down. This is nuts! Look at that guy, he's taking on all those SOLDIERs at the same time
Spin! Buddy used the momentum he had to parry the gunblade away from him and make a quick turn on his left foot to get to the backside of his current assailant. Forget fear, do you know how much money this is going to rake in? He's gotta have a bounty as monstrous as himself!
Counterattack! Buddy raised his sword hand his into the air, as both men had their backs turned to each other. He jolted his elbow back and knocked the guy in the back of the head sending him sprawling to the floor. Buddy would leave him there to let somebody else finish him off. Money ain't worth a DAMN if you're dead and can't enjoy it! What about this guy Selle?
Charging! Buddy started to build momentum again as he started heading towards the demon. But another man stepped in front of his path. He held up his hand, steadying it on top of the other. In his hand was…Shoot! A gun!.
Shot! A shot rang out in Buddy's ears as he tried to side step. The noise reverberated and shouting in his eardrums. They've got a white mage unit setup. I saw them at the top of the hill! Dying won't be dehabilitating. …And what about Selle?
Hit! Even with the protect shield shining from the hit, the bullet cut through his skin and tore through to the other side. Or at least that's how it felt. Buddy couldn't give it any though and provide the gunner a chance for a second shot. His arm twitched and that was a good enough of a response for the time being, showing him that his muscles weren't completely useless and that the shot had probably just grazed him slightly, but, it still hurt. Selle, the guy was looking out for you earlier… And then you threw him down the side of a cliff!
Shift! Buddy reached the shooter before he fired off another shot. Buddy looked down the nozzle of the gun and pivoted a bit in time to see the light of the shot leave the barrel and listen to that dreadful noise again. He missed and Buddy's eyes shifted to look at the soon to be dead man in front of him. Yeah, I did it to save him from the Galbadian's.
Cut! Buddy cocked his sword a bit to align the sharp part of the blade to prepare to inflict the greatest amount of damage he could. He brought the katana down and across the chest of the man. The sharp edge cut deep leaving a groove in the chest, spilling his blood to the floor. Right! Because you didn't want to see him get hurt.
Moving on! Buddy brought the sword outright and ran by the severed man. The katana connected once more with him cutting the side of him and quite possibly making it deep enough to slice open the stomach as well. There was no time to see though. Buddy was sure that he would be more concerned with staying alive than retaliation…he hoped. That's my job though. It was a natural reaction to protect him.
Ram! A mercenary for Galbadia ran across Buddy's path and barely managed to notice the mute man to his side. He carried a large shield on his side and raised it as he noticed Buddy. However Buddy just plowed straight into the side of it. The force of impact from the side instead of the front knocked him on his ass and gave Buddy the ability to continue on without much hindrance. Yes, it was a natural reaction, because deep down you didn't want to see him hurt. He didn't offer you any money to protect him after all, so there goes that excuse.
Damn that subconscious, it was right. Selle was the only person to approach him the entire time he was in that ridiculous site they call a camp. Selle had brought Buddy out of his frustrated slump just before he ran off. He had taken a gamble on Buddy and saved his life from the back when Buddy didn't notice what was behind him. It was quite possible that the first steps of camaraderie had set in between the two.
Blue mist! What? Blue mist? What the hell was this stuff? His step slowed down, to readjust his bearings? The Demon was still in front of him, but he had stepped in…no…it just appeared…it was everywhere Buddy could see. No time to figure what this was, Buddy had to finish this war and killing off this demon seemed like a good place to start. He went back to full sprint, but started to feel his mental energy breakdown and evaporate, so to speak. Mana, the source of magic resided in the mental prowess of the individual, was his mana being drained?
Collapsing! SOLDIERs from all around him were beginning to collapse or show signs of intense weariness. Damn, what was their problem? They were supposed to be the elite of Shinra and Buddy was out running each one of them now at high stamina. Maybe he was better than SOLDIER? Fat chance!
Focus! Directly in front of him was the enemy, his personal directive. He closed the distance between them and was yards away, when a sudden tear in his wing formed from nothing. It was a hampering attack. Without wings the demon couldn't fly. Good. Buddy mentally thanks whoever had done this massive favor for him, then began the attack.
With such a massive size, it wouldn't be difficult to get a few quick cuts in, before he went for the heavy strikes. He dropped to his side, letting physics carry him underneath the demons wings and behind his back. He let his katana slide across his lower legs near the feet, going in to cut the tendons in his ankles. Buddy didn't give himself time to see how bad the damage was to his legs, or even if he managed to connect at all. He pushed up with his arm and brought himself upright to the back left of it. Was he always this big and scary looking? Buddy tilted his blade to the side and used it to throw dirt up into the air, trying to blind the monster. Seriously, he wasn't this scary looking from far away! He made a quick movement it front of the creature trying to slice across the torso of it and brought himself to the other side. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Every time he looked up, the demon seemed to look more terrifying than before! He thrust the katana toward his good wing and brought it down in an attempt to cut it. Now to silence it! Wait! The mana was already drained from Buddy and apparently others engulfed in the blue mist, was this guy drained of magic too? Too late, Buddy had already jumped in the air was traveling towards the back of his neck. The symbol shined on Buddy's sword as he was about to completely the ultimate irony, to be silenced by a mute. He brought the hilt down on the demons neck to finish it…
Word count: 1325 Rogue Bonus: 1325 Total Word Count Thus Far: 9435
The Blade drives through the man's chest as Belzera drops down, his body smoking slightly from Blue's ruination, his wings outstretched as the bullet disables one of the wings in an amazing shot that ignored the demons incredible defences. However Belzera chuckled as pure darkness erupts from the wound as Dark Eborus starts its cruel merciless work. The Demon could not help but laugh maniacally as he absorbed the last of Fides' life from him, his body restoring itself moments after he was grounded by the ace's shot and the broken tendons repairing using the life force he had stolen from Fides' and only a second later the Demon stood up, the Darkness dissolving off of him as she swings the Adonis cleaning most of the loose blood off of it.
"To the sharpshooter"
The Demon declares with a wide grin, his terrifying aura still holding back the SOLDIERs, and as many many images flash through his mind accompanied by various voices of the past, while a bunch of dirt flies into his eyes from buddy's attempt at blinding the demon.
"Thank you for revealing the reckless fool charging me"
DEMON! Foul Demon!? Belzera!? You betrayed us?! Your heartless you know that Belzera?! Why help such a monster?! I will kill you for your betrayal you backstabbing demon?! Weren't you one of the good guys Belzera? Heh, we meet again Belzera! Who put you in charge!?
The Demons wings stretch out again as he looks up into the sky and stretches out his arms as if welcoming something, but he was revelling in the memories. His knees bending. Yes... I am a Demon, and there are Heroes here that have some brain power. He exalts in his mind, ecstatic as he launches himself high into the air above the battle field, narrowly avoiding buddy's attack aimed for his neck, spinning through the air looking as natural as an eagle as he does. He voice still booms out over the battle as he stops just below the clouds themselves, he takes a moment to wipe the dirt from his eyes. He then breathes in deeply his arms now aimed down at the ground beneath him.
"I'm sure Sharpshooter, you are a good man and if you survive this I'd be more than willing to pay you to join Galbadia's forces. Midgar is a blight upon Gaia's earth"
The Demon smirks wildly as behind him appear in an explosion of mist several barrages worth of Adonis appear across the sky behind him, the demon was not aiming to kill anyone with such a wide dispersal of his barrage, his aim was to put them off balance.
The Demon's eyes lost their focus.... A memory hit him hard, along with a familiar voice
"In this age of war an destruction, I know I cannot depend on myself no longer..."
The voice of Morpheus spoke from the corner, his head looking down to the floor as he exposed his true weakness in character. He and an unseen figure clothed in darkness stood in this darkened chamber, Morpheus turned around as his blue eyes looked upon the burning yellow eyes of this enigmatic and unseen figure yet his identity would soon be revealed. Morpheus stepped forward as he spoke out.
"In this world, you understand it much more than those ignorant puppets do... Quite ironic for someone not of Gaian origin. You are not a simple tool for my own means, General, instead you are something capable of far much more... I can give you your wish, and many wishes in actual fact... You want to be reunited with her after all..." Morpheus looked upon this man, to be precise - this demon. The two had a storied history with each other and a long running rivalry - Ever since Morona had taken Lily under the wing of the Hive, that was where their conflict began. Morpheus had also entitled this demon - General. "General... I know you want to see Jasmine once again, given time... I can grant you that wish. But, untied... together! We can be capable of great things across this world... With our union we can pursue the truth, and you can fulfil the path you were destined for... and ultimately - defy the Brotherhood and bring them to ruins." Morpheus smirked as the shadows of this warrior cleared...
"General... General Belzera of the Last Covenant, you shall lead my armies... and myself to victory in this war."
The Demon smiles as his eyes refocus on the area beneath him and thrusting his arms forwards his unleashes his barrages down upon the horde of warriors far beneath him a large spread of the blades. The Demon then drops down swooping towards his single target right now, moving behind the Barrages, using them as a cover as the warriors beneath him where all forced to dodge the swords, including his target.
"Can the originator do any better than the copies I've faced"
He shouts as Zack firing off quickly a hecto-flare towards the Elite, who jumping back brings the buster blade around blocking the powerful surprise attack, before swinging the large blade above his head to knock away several of the approaching Adonis' The demon reacts and spins around smashing his Adonis down onto the buster blade before flying up high into the air again to avoid the counter attack before he swoops around, grinning as he could taste the fear of the SOLDIERs now, most where weakened and seemed to be suffering from the void of magic that Belzera could feel around him. The Demon mercilessly flies through crowds of the Soldiers, using his speed to boost the force of each slash, cutting several men open before looping upwards avoiding Zack's blind swing at him as Belzera then twists around behind the Elite cutting through more and more men repeating this game of cat and mouse with Belzera cutting down the grunts in their fear and confusion while evading Zacks attempts at attacks and counters with aerial grace.
"I guess you guys never went to Nibelhiem, lucky for you Zack Fair, born from Gongaga and who should of become one of Hojo's plaything along with cloud before you died"
the Demon says spinning up into the air a little distance away from Zack and smiling faintly at him. Lowering Adonis for a moment, his back facing up the hill, away form the sharpshooters sights.
"If you, Sephiroth and a grunt named Cloud had gone to Nibelhiem, Sephiroth would have found out that he like the previous owner of that Buster Blade and gone berserk burning down the town and wounding you and Cloud eventually leading you to be killed by Shin-Ra."
Belzera smiles warmly for a moment before he spins around and cuts a SOLDIERs chest open and flies back up into the air, turning around to fact Zack once more, however he was no longer swooping down into the SOLDIERs, he was now staying high in the sky, darting through the sky above them all, smirking softly as he spied who he thought the Sharpshooter had been. He swings Adonis down in his direction as a purple orb of light forms at the tip of the blade.
"DODGE, Hecto-Flare"
He shouts down at him as he fires off the Hetco-flare towards the man before he flips back in the air and flies down towards Buddy, a dozen blades appearing behind the demon as he flies straight at Buddy, smirking as the 12 Adonis's followed the demon as he twists around.
"Barrage!"
The demon chuckles firing off the twelve blades towards buddy as the Demon spins himself in the air and smashes the Adonis down into the earth, digging into it. He Grunts and then pushes himself up into the air sending dirt up into Buddy's face as the demon arches backwards and twists in the air and flies back towards Zack, who was now rushing him as well. The buster blade was pulled behind him, half raised obviously ready to be swung at him. Belzera's Adonis was trailing loosely at his side, the demon chuckling faintly, the adrenaline pumping through he veins.
"How many times must I show Gaia what I truly am?”
The demon asked himself as he recalled the city of contego
Belzera stood at the top of Contego's walls, smiling as he watched the approach of Morpheus's forces.
"Today.... Today is the day..."
Belzera smiles as the siege towers approach their position
"Today is the day when I shall show the forces of Gaia why I am a DEMON LORD!!!"
Belzera summoned his blade Adonis as he unsheathed his Flametongue from his back. Adonis appeared in a swirl of purple mist, it had been summoned from the very depths of the demons soul.
The Siege Towers crashed into the City Walls, Belzera ran forward both blades held low by his side. He burst past General Beatrix and jumped up into the Air twisting his body in the air as three Elite Knuckles and a towering Colossus Knuckle disembarked from a siege tower. Belzera laughed and twisted his body quickly and released Adonis from his hand, it flew true and ran straight into the head of one of the elite's knocking it back slightly.
"FALL BEFORE ME!!"
Belzera screams as he lands on his Adonis which was lodged in the head of the elite, Belzera brings his foot forward and then back onto the hilt of Adonis sending it straight though the elite's head causing it to let out a horrifying scream before collapsing and fading into nothingness leaving Adonis on the floor, Belzera landing gracefully on one foot smiling.
The other Elite's and the Colossus Knuckle stop and turn towards the demon who with a simple kick flips the Adonis up into the Air, an Elite charges at the demon bringing its weapon around trying to clip the demon, Belzera laughs and twists out of the way and places one hand onto the Elite's shoulder blade and pushes himself up flipping over the Elite as the second elite swings its blade into the side of the first injuring it.
"Nice move"
Belzera laughs as he lands on his tiptoes before springing up into the air as the Colossus Knuckle brings its blade in low aiming for the Demons legs. The Demon spins in the air and grabs the now descending Adonis in his left hand and then lands behind the Colossus knuckle with a smile on his face
"Come on, show a Lord why your warriors"
Belzera smirks and lowers both of his blades to the ground as the trio rushes him, the two elite's prepare to slash across the demon while the Colossus Knuckle goes for an over head smash. Belzera's eyes flash as he sees their strikes coming. He rolls forwards towards the Knuckles evading their slashes, Belzera springs up from his roll both blades thrust forward towards the chest of the Colossus knuckle as it prepares to bring its blade down, however the demons strike goes straight into its chest halting the Knuckles overhead smash, in fact halting it completely.
"Unlucky"
Belzera smirks and pushes the blades in further and further making the Knuckle scream whether in anger or pain it didn't matter, the two elite's stopped and turned as they heard the scream and brought their blades around towards the demons sides, but Belzera easily lifts his legs up and showing off his nimbleness he wraps his legs around the colossus Knuckles neck and pulls the two blades out from his chest with barely a grunt and then lifts his torso and the blades up to look the Knuckle in the eye. He smiles before bringing the two blades down and removing the knuckles head with two slashes the Knuckle then fades away causing the demon to fall onto his back.
"that may have been a mistake"
Belzera laughs and looks up and the two elite's lifting their blades up to skewer him where he lay.
Belzera thrusts the Adonis forward as Zack slashes with the buster sword, the two blades smashing each other away, however Belzera had the advantage as the Adonis reformed in his other hand, allowing the demon to thrust forward again, running the key shaped blade into the SOLDIER elites gut deeply, he doesn't however pull the blade out instead he releases his grip completely and leaps back as Zack slashes towards the Demon, who narrowly avoids the blow, whistling as the Adonis vanishes from Zack's body leaving him with a bleeding wound which would further sap the weakened SOLDIER.
“You know if you hadn't been weakened already Zack, you might have had a chance”
He grins widely his fingers pointing at the ground in front of Zack as a circle of purple mist surrounds Zack, who swears under his breath as Belzera lunges at him tackling him as 12 Adonis's form around them both, Belzera grinning as one hand grabs the Buster sword while Zack smashes his fist into the demons face uselessly.
“Demon Barrage”
The Demon mutters as the 12 Adonis's fly towards them, the demon grinning and launching both of them up above the blades as the sonic boom hits them both higher up into the air, knocking them both away from each other. The demon twists around in the air and dives at Zack who is being dragged back down to the earth because of the swords weight.
“Gravity is a bitch”
The demon chuckles as he grabs the warriors leg tightly and starts to furiously flap his wings harder and harder pulling the pair into the air, the Elite warrior struggling in the demons grasp. The Buster preventing Zack from attacking the demon properly due to its weight, the demon just whistling as he dragged them both higher and higher into the sky.
“I hope your not afraid of heights my dear boy”
The Demon says as he starts to twist, preparing to spin. Tensing himself the demon pulled Zack around and then tosses him higher up into the air before chuckling as he held out both hands towards the SOLDIER as he summoned forth two rows of Adonis's pointing straight up towards the unlucky airborne warrior. The Demon then summons forth Adonis in his left hand and swings it backwards before launching forward the two dozen blades towards Zack, the sound of the sonic boom shattering through the skies as Belzera slip streamed behind it picking up speed as the Adonis's cut and slashes through the helpless soldier, then Belzera rammed his shoulder into the warriors chest before moving away a little as he slashes across his midriff before he twists his whole body around and flip kicking the warrior in the chin sending him up a little higher as the demon spins and fires off the Adonis into his gut again skewering him again for even more damage to the warriors beaten and bloody body, however the assault wasn't over as the demon flies straight at him again, smashing his head into his gut and grabbing his legs and swinging him around and then throwing him down into the ground.
“BARRAGE”
The Demon shouts out as a dozen blades fire from behind him, still forming from the mist as they impact the Warriors body as he falls, the demon however continues to launch barrage after barrage towards the Warrior before he grins and summons forth another 12 blades around him and flies straight towards the falling warrior.
“I'm not going to show you any mercy”
The demon mutters reaching back and grabbing two of the blades above his shoulder as he fires off the dozen, dragging himself along with them at super sonic speeds smashing into the Soldiers body even harder, the blood now flying from his mouth as they both fall together. The Blades fade into the mist and the demon grabs the warriors shoulders and pulls into a spin as he steers them both up, pulling them from their fall. Belzera licks his lips and then lets go of Zack as he launches him into the crowd of SOLDIERs that he had been leading and allows himself to loop through the air before positioning himself above where Zack had crashed. The Demon watches as the Dust settles and grins as Zack pulls himself to his feet leaning on the Buster sword for support, glaring up at the demon, his eyes shining with determination. The Demon chuckles admiring the mans determination and drops down to the ground, folding his wings away behind him he summons forth his Adonis and walks towards Zack slowly, his eyes fixed upon the SOLDIERs.
“I do respect you, you were the normal man in the array of freaks, Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis. I know a lot about Shin-Ra and they disgust me, they really do”
The Demons eyes are firm as his mood drops from the playful thrill he had while he was fighting to a serious hate filled expression as he slowly approaches Zack, he was cutting down all of the grunts that ran towards him brutally. Zack was lifting his Buster sword up ready to defend himself. He smiles softly and looks towards Buddy for a second.
“They are one of the biggest manufacturers of Fiends on Gaia, second only to Sin. Their reactors suck the life out of Gaia, once Galbadia found out about that they knew they didn't want it”
The Demon breathes in and then lunges straight at Zack, who counters by swinging his blade up, managing to connect with the demon, slicing across his chest and knocking him backwards and onto the floor, where he lay sprawled out helplessly on the ground. Zack pants and smiles as he moves over the demon and raises the Buster blade over the demons chest, the tip of the blade aimed at the demons heart, who lay unmoving. Zack breathes in and prepares to lower the Buster blade down as the demon sighs. A purple pencil point orb of light rips straight through the elite's chest, the Tips of the demons fingers hand been pointed at Zack since he had started moving towards the demons apparently helpless body.
“I'm Sorry, but I did say no mercy and this was the best way to finish you off.”
The demon says as he rolls out of the way of the falling SOLDIER Elite, the grip loosening upon the buster blade. The demon stands up and grabs the buster blade before he hefts it up over his shoulder, his other hand gripping the hilt of the sword tightly, breathing in deeply before he hefts it down on the SOLDIERS neck seperating the head from the body in one savage blow. He then kneels down and grabs the Severed head of the Elite before he launches himself into the air.
"Your Elite is dead you grunts of Shin-Ra flee back to your masters now"
Then with the Buster Blade swung over his shoulder and Zacks severed head in the other hand, he leaves the rest of the SOLDIER as he flies across towards where Blue and Sephiroth now stood, hovering high in the air the demon starts to spin around, holding the Buster Blade like it was a hammer in the hammer throw event. He was building up speed and force before he fires it off towards Sephiroth, quickly following behind the buster blade, summoning forth a barrage of Adonis's which he fires towards the Legendary Soldier, supporting Blue who he saw tightly holding onto the Masamune. Smiling softly the demon slams into the ground next to the Sorceress as the Barrage of Adonis's rain down upon the Legendary warrior who leapt back in order to avoid the Buster Blade which was now impaled in between Sephiroth and the pair of Blue and Belzera.
“I assume that you are the reason why no one can cast Magic any more my dear sorceress, but never the less I bring you a trophy from the Soldier Elite Zack Fair who attempted to lead an assault upon us, now I am here to help you push back this monstrosity they call Sephiroth”
He says calmly staring the Legendary warrior of Shin-Ra's elite in the eye as he then drops the head down onto the ground before them both and speaks coldly towards the living legend that now stood before him, motionless and cold himself.
"Unless of course the monster would rather flee than end up like his comrade here"
Word Count: 3464 Zack Defeated: 3000/3000 words Sephiroth: 2995/5000 words Exp: 346.4
Despite everything that had happened up to this point, Buddy couldn’t imagine anything greater then the look on the beast’s face when he realized he was silenced! Midair and traveling down on the Lucavi, his katana handle glowed with the power of silence magic, and in Buddy’s mind illuminated the hope that he would bring to Shinra for defeating this monster. He would be a hero of Midgar amongst the ranks of Sephiroth and other 1st class SOLDIER’s. Scantily clad women would surround him, desperately wish to receive just a insignificant portion of his attention. The children of the city would gather around him to hear the stories of his single-handed victory over Galbadia, with Selle making a small appearance in his tale also. The people would follow him from bar to bar, as he whimsically decide where he would want to be that night. His small home in Sector Six would be decorated with trophies, plaques and a key to the city….wait his little place? He wouldn’t have to live there anymore! No, he would have a massive home above the plate. The Shinra would gladly put him up for his mighty feat. Life would be good and he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing for the rest of his life.
Daydreaming was a dangerous thing in mid battle and before Buddy could fully realize it, his perfect future detoured down a different path. A Swing and a miss! Oh no! A slew of panicked expletives was all Buddy could muster up as he katana’s hilt was brought down through the empty air where the demon once stood. He managed to turn his head in time to see the simple twist away from his attack. He had missed completely and now his vivid dream of the future was now mucked up and twisted into something different. Was he going to be able to make it to the future now?
Buddy landed onto the dirt where the enemy should have been. The dirt was hard and compacted in from the demon holding the main line of SOLDIERs by himself and his sense of smell was filled with the pungent odor of fresh and drying blood. His sword lay loosely in his hand as Buddy simply watched the demon take to the sky. With minimal effort, he took to the sky with grace and dexterity, leaving the world behind him, and hopefully leaving the battle too.
…Nope, not so lucky. Buddy’s hopes that this monstrosity was leaving were quickly dashed has he stopped inched from the cloud line. Buddy stood up a looked to the sky at what now appeared like an angel of death. Buddy’s breathing became heavy as he listened to him speak to the entire battlefield singling out one lone sharpshooter. Whoever it was had crippled him, leaving his wing tattered and useless just seconds ago, but some unforeseen power had allowed the demon to recover within seconds as if nothing happened at all. Buddy was entranced by the demon, the world became silent around Buddy as he watched the mist grow around it. It was a strange feeling right now, as he knew the world around him was panicking. Soft voice could be heard in his subconscious, strangers yelling to get back in formation or retreat back to the camp, others were trying to figure out where the magic had gone. Buddy just kept his stare straight up towards the heavens. There was movement around him; men and women scrambling to find some sort of weapon to use, lifeless bodies falling by the sword even made a loud, but at the same time, soft thump in the dirt. Buddy gulped, even his swallow seemed to take forever and was noisy as hell, but his eyes never lost sight of the demon in the sky. The mist surrounding him consolidated into blades, very much like the ones he was wielding a few seconds ago. And then they began descending…
A vast bombardment of blades came hurdling towards the earth now. All Buddy could do was blink at the sight of so many destructive weapons. And then time seemed to reassert itself into a more correct flow, everything that was soft and defined, turned instantly into a mesh of noise as the first Adonis struck the ground and explode in an upheaval of dirt and shrapnel. Then it was followed by another. And another. And another. And another. The earth seemed to unexpectedly come alive, as each blade struck it. It didn’t matter if there was someone or something in the way or not, the earth always did the same thing and exploded in a large blast when the Adonis made contact.
Finally Buddy’s sword dropped from the loose grip in his hand. It was only a matter of time before the sweat and dirt he wore on his palms wasn’t enough to just let it sit there. As Adonis mutilated the world around him, Buddy slowly, in his nearly entranced state, automatically reached down and picked up the katana from the ground. He fumbled around trying o pick it up without even looking away from the demon as the screams of the men and women around him, of both Galbadian and Midgar/Shinra rang loud as the Adonis failed to discriminate against ally and enemy. Everything was in a state of mass chaos now. But then a hero came forward…
Unaffected by the madness that had taken over the battlefield, the famous 1st Class SOLDIER, Zack Fair, stepped up to plate. He might not have been a Sephiroth, but this guy was a hero in his own right. It brought Buddy out of his frightened state enough to get a grip with himself. He looked around, it seemed like the mass assault from the sky was done, at least for Buddy…for the time being. Zack was a different story. The demon lord charged down from the sky to meet him and Buddy started running in the same direction. There was a surge of confidence that seemed to grip him as he watched Zack prepare himself for the demon. Before Buddy could even get close however, the two became locked in their own personal affair.
It was then that the Demon pointed out someone. Specifically singling out his marksman assailant, it was Selle! Wow! Buddy couldn’t help but be impressed at the accuracy Selle had. If it really was him, then the distance between them when the shot was fired was nothing to laugh at! Then as in all wars, the unfortunate occurred. The demon muttered some words and a small beam of light instantly traveled towards Selle. Buddy lost all control of his limbs as he subconsciously sprinted for the destination of his new found friend. Regrettably, instead of returning to Zack, the demon turned his eyes onto Buddy.
With eyes as big as dinner plates Buddy made a quick one hundred eighty degree turn and sprinted in full force away from the airborne fiend. His feet were already pounding against the earth like hammers as he tried to remember direction on how he was supposed to sprint, unaware that this kind of stuff came naturally in a fight or flight situation. He was running at full speed, probably for his life, and as most people would, Buddy took a crucial split second to turn his head and look behind him. Instantly face forward again, he immediately wished he hadn’t done that. That damned purple mist was forming around him again and that meant more blades were coming!
His heart was racing as it tried to pump as much adrenaline into Buddy as he could handle. His sword was grasped in his hand so firm that his knuckle was turning white from the lack of circulation. He had to think! What was there to think about though except for “RUN”! There! He spotted an unmanned shield lying on the ground. Did he have the time to slow down enough to pick it up?. He had to take the chance. He changed his direction slightly and dash to the metal tool. He was almost there, he would have to slow down for a split second to pick it-
CRASH! The first blade slammed into the ground narrowly missing Buddy by centimeters. The dirt that blew up and away from the ground nearly caught Buddy in the eyes as he instinctively pulled his arm up to protect his face from debris. He ran through the cloud of falling dirt and shrapnel, leaving his hope behind, the shield had to of been destroyed by the impact of the Adonis. Wait! As if the heavens opened up and cast a beam of illuminating light for him, Buddy exited the cloud and watched as the shield was tumbling through the air. The impact blast had apparently knocked it up and away sending it careening through the night sky, almost as if it was asking Buddy to retrieve it! Buddy, who hadn’t stopped or slowed his escape attempt in the slightest, reached out and grabbed at the leather strap that revealed itself to him in its rotation. With his sword hand, he dropped the blade and the sound of its metallic body, nearly made Buddy want to cry for his loss. He hadn’t ever thrown that thing away before. This wasn’t the time to reminisce however, and Buddy grabbed the shield and pulled it to him, gripping it tightly with his now free hand.
CRASH! a few seconds after the first blade attacked him, the second of many landed inches from where his feet were. The impact sent earth all over Buddy, as he run his fullest to get away, he was slowed down a little now, thanks to the added weight of the shield he picked up. The katana weighed next to nothing, but this shield however was built to withstand heavy blows and as such was required to be heavy...in most cases. Buddy had heard of elements that were as hard as diamonds, but light as a feath-
Stop! He couldn’t be distracted by his own thoughts right now. The rain of dirt finally ended and Buddy caught something in the reflection of the material of the shield. A flash or purple! Buddy threw the shield to his left, backside and- GONG! The Adonis struck! A ringing sensation flooded his ears now. Buddy gritted his teeth in pain, the Adonis had thrown the shield into Buddy’s body, making contact with his shoulder blade. Buddy opened his mouth wide to scream in pain, but all that came out was silence. The impact also set him on a new course Buddy hadn’t intended on taking, but worked none the less. He was now headed back towards Selle’s location!
Without seconds to spare, Buddy pulled the shield in front of him again and used the reflection of it to judge the next attack. DAMN! He wasn’t just being trailed by blades, but the demon as well! Didn’t he have anything better to-GONG! The next blade struck the shield while Buddy was still holding it forward and it yanked it away from his hand. The pain from the leather strap being ripped from his palm was excrustiating and Buddy grabbed his hand with the other as he tumbled in the dirt. As luck…Luck? Ha! It was that damned penny of his wasn’t it? As luck would have it, Buddy took a few ungraceful rolls in the dirt, imitating an imperfect wheel while in the fetal position, but was able to land on his feet in a slower, but still quick, sprint. He grinned at his dexterity. He had eluded the angel of death this far. How much harder could it be?
He continued his sprint with the demon lord behind him as the next crashed to his right. Fear struck him again as his cocky grin left his face and was replaced by his teeth grinding against each other. As more dirt was lofted into the air, Buddy made a split second decision and made a right degree angle. His opponent was still traveling with him in basically a straight line, right? So a sudden change in direction might- CRASH! The earth in front of him was destroyed by a speeding purple blade… He took his next step and tripped into the hole created. If time wasn’t seemingly slowed down for his escape of the blades, it certainly slowed down to an agonizing state now.
Slowly he felt his foot make contact with nothing. The earth should have been there, but there was no time to react to the sudden disappearance to it, to the sudden small and insignificant crater left behind from the impact of the Adonis. Then his feet hit the ground, but it wasn’t stable footing. He tried to compensate for the misstep, but inadvertently ended up making things worse. The muscles that allowed his feet to move ripped and pulled abnormally. Pain slowly made its way across Buddy face, as he hit the ground face first. His mouth opened to let out the air being forced up from the landing of his stomach and dirt made its way in. He then bounced a little from his stomach onto his backside letting more precious air out! He didn’t even have time to open his eyes to see what was coming.
The remaining Adonis slammed into the air he was in followed closely by the demon himself. Buddy was pierced by several of them. If Buddy hadn’t swallowed enough dirt before he was certainly going to get a supplementary serving now. He choked on the dirt as the demon apparently had nothing more to do with him. He hacked and then wheezed as he tried to get back the air he lost while trying not to inhale too much dirt. He hadn’t really realized that he had been struck by several of the Adonis yet. Then the cloud of dirt settled.
He was lying on his back and little streams and small puddles of blood started to build around him. SHIT! DAMN! SHIT! DAMN IT! He started to panic at the sight of him skewered. Several of the remaining Adonis were scattered around him like a fence. A look of disbelief mixed with fright was all over his face now. What do I do? I don’t know any healing spells! What do I do? His breathing was heavy and uncoordinated, his heart was racing and his brain was having a breakdown! He was going to end up exactly like the others he faced off against earlier. The demon had taken off without any sort of notice to Buddy. When he realized he couldn’t do anything else, he simply took off to the sky! It was exactly what Buddy had done to the Galbadians he crossed with earlier. It was a total disrespect for life. Even on the battlefield, Buddy should have had some sort of respect to the men that fell before him, but there was none, they left the world and Buddy didn’t care. Perhaps it was necessary to kill at points, but was there enough room in Buddy to allow a bit of respect for the dead?
Where are the white mages? His mind shifted gears instantly. Where are those idiots?!? I’m dying! He looked back to the Adonis that pinned him to the ground. There was still pain, but with the reality slowly setting in of his situation, it didn’t seem to affect him all too much. Damn, I’m not going to get those drinks from Selle am I? He plopped his head down onto the ground. He could still hear the yells and screams and explosion, but it was all softer and quieter.
Truth be told, the damage to Buddy hadn’t been bad. Yes he was cut and skewered like a shish kabob, but the area weren’t vital and with a expert white mage, he would probably be back on his feet in no time flat. It was then that he noticed the demon’s voice. He couldn’t see it, because of his position, but it told him of the fallacies and atrocities of the Shinra. A company he had previously dedicated himself to protecting as Head of Security in the building. He knew that the scientists there were working on abnormal projects and he knew that the Mako energy was pulled from the planet, but why didn’t Galbadia want it anymore? Was there something truly dangerous to Mako energy? Or perhaps siphoning Mako? It didn’t make sense right now. Buddy couldn’t think properly in his state anyway, his mind kept drifting from one thing to another, as flippant as street merchant who just found out you didn’t have any money.
Buddy let his head fall to the ground. It hurt a little bit, but when the pain left it meant that he passed out. When he would wake up later, it would be in the warm care of beautiful hospital nurses…right?
Word Count: 2810 Rogue Bonus: 2810 Total Word Count Thus Far: 15055
((OOC: Buddy Exits, but lives to fight another day!))
OOC: true however that doesn't answer whether the +1 weapon is from the Beating of Zack and doesn't seem like Blue got anything extra from half beating Sephiroth which was nearly as much WC as Zacks defeat.
So yeah tl;dr version Belzeras bonus from killing Zack = +1 Sword is or is not Buster Sword stolen from corpse? Is Blue getting Bonus from half killing Sephiroth?