Legend Of Dragoon Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Dragoon II ❯ The True Terror of a Brother ( Chapter 32 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
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Chapter 32) The True Terror of a Brother

The armor Derreck wore was full-bodied, like when Rashe'm was a Dragoon, not like when Liza was. The blue of the armor was also a darker hue, with a look of torture running along the surface. After Derreck made himself known to the group, he had shown no signs of his possibly faked illness. Relief flooded Liza, as she figured that her brother had been under the control of the man named Tiras, but was now free. She ran towards the hovering figure of her brother. Rashe'm and Al tried to hold her back, but she ran past anyway. She couldn't understand why they'd keep her from her brother, who was now better.

Except, he wasn't. They saw what she didn't. Derreck was weilding one of the energy weapons of his creation, a long and slender sword, and he was getting ready to slice. Liza continued towards her brother, all sounds blocked out except her heartbeat. As she came closer, she opened her arms to embrace her brother in a hug. Just over a yard from her brother, she stopped. She didn't know what made her stop, so she turned quickly around to see that Orrin was shouting. Actually, all three were shouting, but Orrin's voice was the only she heard. And then she felt it.

The blade wasn't long enough to slice through her, as Derreck had intended, but it merely grazed her back. She immediately fell to her knees and passed out. Derreck laughed menacingly before saying, "Dear, dear Liza... Just how STUPID are you? I was hoping to do this the easy way, but I guess I'll have to go with plan B." In a flash, Derreck charged at Orrin. Al and Rashe'm had no time to respond, so in that flash, Orrin also disappeared among the three. When they were able to recollect what had happened, they agreed that Rashe'm should go take care of Liza, and Al would search for Orrin. Al didn't have to look for Orrin, though, because as soon as Rashe'm had pulled Liza back to the group, Derreck returned holding an unconscious Orrin in one hand, and in the other, the purple stone.

Rashe'm was immediately tending to Liza, taking out both his red stone and the white stone. As soon as Derreck spotted the white stone, he sneered, "So, that's where that one went off to. I was going to get a two-for-one deal off of this little shit, but I only found this one on him." He dropped Orrin onto the deck. "I would have drowned him in the ocean, but he poses no threat." Every word Derreck spoke made Al's blood boil. He wanted to put all his energy in telling Derreck off for what he was doing, but he knew that it would be pointless. Instead, he readied his axe to lunge at the maniac, but Rashe'm stopped him.

"Look, Liza's healed enough for now, but I'm the only one able to fight him. I'm the only one with a Dragoon Spirit." Al sighed heavily, "Then get rid of him, and quick." Rashe'm replaced the white stone in his pocket, and with a flash, became the Red-Eye Dragoon. Continuing to taunt, Derreck mocked, "Oh, ready to fight now, are we? Well, I should say that you'll be in Hell before you can kill me." Derreck held up the hand with the stone of the Darkness Dragoon. To Al's and Rashe'm's amazement, the stone began shining. Derrecks armor shivered, and then began to transform, melding, twisting in sickening patterns and ways, growing, thickening. It was a ghastly sight, unnatural as well. As the light dimmed, the monstrous form that Derreck beheld was horrid. The two armors had melded together, forming sickening swirls of purple and blue, creating black in some areas.

Rashe'm made no move, except he smirked. "This should be an interesting fight." Derreck's face formed in a grimace to match his abomination armor, "Don't get cocky, you'll never win." With another smirk, "We'll just have to see about that..." and Rashe'm charged at Derreck. He was quickly parried by Derreck, and was thrown half the boat's length before he righted himself in the air. Derreck, believing Rashe'm was out of the way, turned his attentions to Liza again. "I do believe your time has come, Liza.... Time to DIE!" Rashe'm rushed back, and went from head-first to a thrusting kick. He made impact with Derreck before he could reach Liza, and was forced out over the water.

"Good man, Rashe'm," noted Al, "just be careful." Rashe'm zoomed off after Derreck to fight where no one would be jeapordized. Al took the opportunity Rashe'm gave him and collected Orrin. Now all Al could do was wait. He couldn't help fight against Derreck, he couldn't force Liza and Orrin awake. He just had to wait. So he watched Rashe'm and Derreck, hoping that nothing terrible happened. Rashe'm was madly dodging the flurry of spells that Derreck directed at him. He couldn't get very close to Derreck because Derreck would send out some sort of pulse if he ever got near enough to attack. The battle was looking fruitless.

The battle raged for nearly ten minutes when Al noticed Orrin stirring. In another minute, Orrin opened his eyes, saying, "What's happening, Al? I don't remember what happened..." Without saying anything, Al pointed out to where Rashe'm and Derreck were flying and battling. Orrin stared at the scene for some time before he turned to Al and asked, "Why did he do this? And HOW did he do this?" Al sighed, "I'm in yer boat in wonderin' why. All I can figure is it's somethin' to do with Liza. Now, how, I think he was able to pull that fancy little trick off because of that "Energy Manipulatin'" he told us about. It's lucky that Rashe'm had the white stone... or Derreck might've used it too, and then we'd probably all be dead now." Neither said any more, and they returned their attentions to the battle progressing.

Rashe'm was quickly growing tired, and he was showing it too. He was lagging in his flight, and the sword clashes pushed him further and further back. He charged at Derreck once more, and their swords clashed again. As the swords grinded in the test of who could push whom back first, Derreck goaded, "Awww, is poow widdew Washe'm tirewd-tirewd?" Rashe'm growled, "You're going to choke on those words, you bastard!" Derreck sneered and replied, "Oh, really now? I guess if that's going to happen, I shouldn't do THIS!" At point blank range, Derreck cast another spell, hitting Rashe'm square in the chest. This time, Rashe'm didn't get blasted back. He just fell. And he fell and he fell, until Al and Orrin heard a faint splash.

Without any interference, Derreck returned to the ship and immediately grabbed Al and Orrin by the necks. As they struggled to breath, they also grabbed the warped armor on his arms to try and dislodge themselves, to no avail. Derreck laughed his twisted laugh and said, "Who do you think I should kill first? Who? Liza? I can have my fun with her after you two. She's out cold and she's too weak to do anything anyway. So, WHO shall I kill first?" To tease them, Derreck turned their muffled grunts into a conversation. He pulled Orrin, who was still dangling and thrashing, closer to him and after "listening", he said, "What? I should kill Al first? Oh, my, that's so heartless of you, Orrin. I would have imagined that you would have given yourself up first..." And then he did the same with Al. "Kill Orrin first?? You're just as heartless, you fat fu-"

Derreck stopped cold when he felt a gloved hand close on top of his head. It was impossible! Who else could be on the ship that would be able to even touch him? Liza was out cold, Al and Orrin remained in his grasps, and Rashe'm had to be dead! His curiosity was eased when he heard Rashe'm mutter, "Time to eat your words, shit head." Derreck felt extreme heat coming from the gloved hand. He was still too much in shock to do anything. In an attempt to at least try something, he let go of Al and Orrin, letting them fall to the deck of the ship. Rashe'm took Derreck higher up, away from the others, before unleashing his own spell. "Flaaaaame..... SHOT"

The forms of Rashe'm and Derreck disappeared in a cloud of smoke and embers. Except for the falling ashes and embers, and Al and Orrin gasping for breath, everything else became still. Even the roaring sea seemed to quiet. What seemed like an eternity passed before anything happened. A figure began to descend from the smoke cloud. Inch by inch, he creeped from the cloud, until a discernable piece of red leg armor became visible. Rashe'm descended holding the limp body of Derreck in his arms. Each of Rashe'm's wing beats dispersed more and more of the cloud from around him. As soon as he touched the deck of the ship, a flash enveloped him and the Dragoon armor disappeared. Both he and Derreck fell to the floor of the ship.

Al and Orrin rushed over to Rashe'm. Al, getting there first, checked to see if Rashe'm was still alive. It hadn't looked like Rashe'm was breathing at all. When he felt a pulse, he sighed with relief. "I'm glad yer safe, my friend." Orrin arrived to Rashe'm's other side, and watched the motionless body. When Rashe'm spoke, it startled Al into almost falling backwards. "You know, you could have just asked me if I was ok, Al..." When Al got back up, he laughed as heartily as he could and wrapped his arms around Rashe'm. "I'm so happy, I could kiss ya." Rashe'm merely muttered, "Please don't."

"Heh... sorry. Just an expression." laughed Al. Everything turned to awkward silence again, until Rashe'm said, "Al, you should go check to see if shit head is dead or not." Al nodded, and went over to Derreck, checking for a pulse. "He's still alive... but from the looks of it, he'll be out for a long time."