Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ Shigeki's Final Act ( Chapter 24 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

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Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 24: Shigeki's Final Act

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Rubio slid down Valentino's back and said his name in broken up fragments as Shigeki watched with devilish glee in his eyes.

"I hate interrupt your little love fest over there but in this act of the play of life- I'm the main character," the man boasted, drunken with power.

Valentino turned and unsheathed his sword, asking his fallen comrade if he was alright. Rubio made a pained noise and told the assassin that he was fine and that it was only a small stab wound and nothing that he couldn't handle. The silver haired man also remarked that it was a cheap shot.

"That low-down little bastard," Rubio growled in pain and hatred.

"Wind Scythe Strike!" Ryouzonia sent crescent-shaped wind energy blades through the air at her enemy. Shigeki turned around, apparently shocked by the speed that the objects have gained on him. He tried to dodge but was hit. The attack exploded on contact and sent the man flying.

XxXxXxXx

"Ugh...My head," Sari rubbed her aching head as Hisamichi asked her if she was alright. The spunky girl let him know that she was fine. The red-headed boy let her know that Kajuji was dead in a sorrow-filled voice as he lowered his head. Poor Valentino must have been suffering so much.

"Poor Valentino," Sari said ruefully, her voice echoed his thoughts.

"He looks like he's adjusted well," the red-head glanced over at the assassin, who stood his ground and wore a slightly distressed version of his usual appearance.

"What it looks like and what it is are two different things," the aqua-haired girl looked over towards Valentino, "he seems emotionless but look in his eyes."

"His eyes creep me out. They remind me of a doll's eyes. They are too vibrant to be real and have the same void to them. Gazing into the void of his eyes could almost put someone in a trance," Hisamichi replied.

"I can tell that he's really sad. Hey, I have a question," Sari looked to Hisamichi.

"Yeah?"

"I cannot let you take any more lives," Ryouzonia declared from her point in the sky, high above the two of them.

"Blow it out of your hole, bird brain. I don't have time for the likes of you," Shigeki insulted the elder of the Republic. The bird-like woman opened her wings as feathers rained down upon him with their sharp quills headed towards his body. At the last possible moment, the terrorist threw out his hands as a large, white light shone vibrantly, forming a shield around him and deflecting the feathers.

As a response, Ryouzonia stabbed the end of her scythe into the ground and called fourth an earthquake, which shook the ground around them violently, causing it to split. Sari and Hisamichi yelled as they struggled to keep their footing.

"Do you know what Shigeki said by that last comment?" Sari requested the trembling red-head.

"What last comment?" Hisamichi seemed mystified by her sudden question.

"When he said that Valentino should show his true form," the girl wanted to know if any of the ex-terrorists had an idea of what he could possibly be talking about.

"I don't know what he meant by that at all. I didn't even know that Valentino was an experiment," although it would explain a lot of the man's strength.

"What are you, retarded? How can you not know that?" The girl fumed. Hisamichi was ineffectual as far as information went. Of all of the people she chose to talk to, she had to pick the one with the least familiarity. It was her luck.

"I hadn't been working for Ibuki for very long. I'm a rookie...Well, was a rookie," the red-head explained himself.

"I see."

"Now, see my coat of arms!" Shigeki shouted in a crazed voice as he flung open his blue coat as at least one-hundred knives flew out at high speed and shot towards Ryouzonia, who managed to weave in and out of their reach. The elder then called out an attack called Bursting Gale as she stopped so quickly that her feathers shot forward with the force. There was a pause, and then bursting winds knocked the man backwards and flung him into a nearby wall.

"Ryouzonia's doing well," Sari praised the elder's fighting style.

"That's probably why everyone else is letting her fight him alone," Hisamichi pointed out. No one was helping Ryouzonia but she was holding her own and didn't really need any help at all. Maybe she would even beat the power-crazed Shigeki. Who knew? It would be great if that was a possibility and it may be, since no one had ever seen Ryouzonia fight much at all so they didn't know of what powers truly laid behind her blue feathered exterior.

"Shigeki's men killed a lot of her people. I think she's trying to avenge everyone who's died," Sari didn't blame her for wanting something like that, for she herself wanted it too. She hoped that the bird-woman could pull this one off. One way or another, everyone who died in vein, including her parents, would finally be able to have some conclusion in their lives and be able to rest in peace.

Ryouzonia flew down at the olive-skinned man with her scythe drawn, ready to strike him. Shigeki said 'here we go' as he pulled out a long, gold-plated sword with fancy, ocean-spray designs on the hilt and tip. The man jumped forward as both of their weapons clashed and between the force the wind surrounding Ryouzonia's weapon and the magical force behind Shigeki's sword, the both of them were deflected backwards but Ryouzonia wasn't going to give up by simply being repelled.

She swiftly dove down at him once again and shouted out the word 'velocity' as her speed greatly increased as she neared his blue-clad form on the ground. Ryouzonia nearly took off his head as her wind scythe barely grazed his form but the wind pressure behind her still managed to blow him back a few feet.

"Damn...Black...Dragon!" Shigeki held his sword up as a large, snake-like dragon emerged from the blade and swirled around, headed towards the blue bird-woman.

Ryouzonia spun around and shouted 'Crystal Typhoon' as her tornadic winds dematerialized his black, fog-composed attack as if it were nothing.

"They seem evenly matched," Agata carefully examined the two fighter's skills as they battled each other in front of them. If Ryouzonia were to lose, at least she'd know how to possibly defeat Shigeki or find a weakness in his fighting skills. So far, it was a pretty well-rounded burst of attacks but it could turn in the other's favor within a matter of seconds, especially if one of them makes the slightest miscalculation.

"Why aren't any of you helping her out?" Sari asked. Weren't they all in this together? "Aren't we all supposed to be helping defeat Ibuki's men?" She felt bad just watching and not only that but she couldn't let her comrade go without help. They came all this way, she came all this way- to avenge her parents and the many people whose lives and homes had been taken away by the terrorist armies. Sari couldn't just sit back and watch.

"Not to sound lazy or anything but why should we jump in if she can handle it herself?" Vincent asked.

"You did sound lazy," Sari muttered.

"I wasn't trying to."

As the two of them spoke, Hisamichi gazed into the conglomeration of parts that used to be Valentino's son. He didn't know what to feel staring into something so frightening, not to mention something that once resembled a human. No matter how frightening it was, however, he felt a wave of sorrow wash over him. It didn't matter what it was, the feeling of cold death was all around and the atmosphere of a funeral was heavily present in the air.

"Was that...?" He asked as he glanced at Valentino, who nodded in response to his fragment of a question. Then he was smacked across the back of the head by Sari. "Ow!" The red-head cried out as he held the back of his head.

"Could you be any more rude!? He just lost his son and you have to insult him like that?" The girl criticized.

"Its fine," Valentino dismissed. It was a reaction he was all-too used to being an experiment himself; he knew what it meant to have people question it in a slightly disturbed tone as Hisamichi had done.

"How can you say that?" Sari would be fuming or feel hurt if someone had said that to her after something like that happened. This was one of those instances in time that she just didn't understand him at all.

"We don't need any more problems," the assassin replied. Getting emotional and arguing over the subject would just make them seem like a dysfunctional team to the enemy and possibly exploit their weaknesses and such a thing could not be uncovered through something insignificant. "Vincent is right. There would be entirely too much confusion if we all rushed in there like that. We'd end up accidently hitting each other with our attacks or weapons."

"See? I'm smart," Vincent boasted as he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.

"Lucky guess," Sari muttered in irritation.

"So mean..." The bounty hunter fake-cried.

Valentino was silent as he watched the battle.

"Hey, Valentino," Agata shouted to him from across the room a few feet. The red-eyed assassin faced her in response as she inquired how come he didn't want to face off against Shigeki. Valentino simply stated that his ties didn't lie with him.

"But didn't he do all of those crazy things with Kajuji?" Vincent asked.

"That was Professor Gaiga. Shigeki occasionally checked on this experiment," the red and black clad man said.

"But isn't Professor Gaiga dead?" Zidane asked.

The assassin nodded. "Kajuji killed him so I have no mission with them. My true ties lie with Ibuki-sama."

"Well, after I'm done with him there won't be much left," Rubio clenched one fist shut as he applied pressure to his chest with his other hand to subside the bleeding. He was going to make Ibuki pay for all of the suffering that he had put Valentino, his son and all of those innocent people through as well as the members of his group.

"Rubio-sama..." Valentino looked a little flattered that he would say something so kind. Rubio had the most appropriate timing when it came to things like that. He was happy that the other man could show that he wasn't just a misunderstood psycho but at actual human being.

"Don't worry; I'll kill him for you too," Rubio smiled at his secret lover. That was a solemn promise.

"News for you, if you could kill him alone, then you wouldn't have needed all of us," Sari stated. After all, when they first met, she remembered him telling her and Vincent that he was trying to go against Ibuki but he needed help. Why get cocky now, Rubio?

"...Well, I'm confident in my abilities...because I don't have anything dragging me down anymore. I'm not Ibuki's play thing. I'm no longer a part of him in any way. I don't love Angora anymore and I no longer have a job. Oh...and Valentino..." Rubio looked at the black-haired man.

"Yes?"

"Don't call that monster sama," Rubio frowned and said that phrase in a tone that nearly verged on being a command.

"But I'm the monster," Valentino glanced down in shame.

"I don't think you're a monster at all," the other man's voice was lower now and more soft than his previous statement.

"Huh?" Vincent tuned in on their conversation when it caught his ears. He wondered what they were talking about and decided to eavesdrop.

"Say what!? You mean you don't hate him anymore?" Sari outburst. When did this happen? One moment they were enemies and then they were friends all of a sudden? What the hell was going on?

"I haven't for a while. We've been fine with each other for a while now," Rubio had forgotten that he hadn't made anything official to the group about their 'making up'.

"Rubio-sama...Don't say that..." Slight sorrow filled the other man's eyes as he continued to stare at the ground. Every once in a while, he would glance up to check on Ryouzonia's progress. Unlike the others, he didn't keep his eye off of the battle at hand and was very alert on his surroundings.

"What? We are just fine with each other."

"Not that," Valentino didn't have a problem with him saying that they were friends but he didn't want him to be further confused on the monster issue, especially when he knew nothing about what secrets he hides, even now.

"The thing about being a monster?" Rubio asked.

Valentino nodded.

"Well, it's true. You're not a monster. Not a monster. Not a pawn. Not a test subject. I don't care if you're the walking omen with 666 branded on you. I care about you and if I have anything to do with it, you don't ever go back there again," he leveled the assassin with a stern look in his glass blue eyes. It was a promise of devotion and he would have rather have died than let Ibuki kill or entrap Valentino again.

"I...Don't know what to say..." The assassin was flattered and had to try to hold back a slight blush.

"How about thank you?" Sari inquired.

"...And you're not dying on me."

"I don't plan on it," Valentino told him, his voice soft and kind.

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Ryouzonia and Shigeki were still battling it out, clashing back and forth with their weapons and attacks. The two bounced back and forth across the room as they dodged and attacked each other over and over again. Neither one of them backed down as they relentlessly assaulted each other with everything they had. Ryouzonia fought for the sake of her people and those who had been slain by Ibuki's tyrannical forces and Shigeki fought for power and the infinite struggle to control humanity and subjugate them to his leader.

"Wearing down?" Ryouzonia breathed heavily. The constant fighting was beginning to wear her down, even though she didn't want to admit her weakness to her enemy.

"Are you kidding?" A thin layer of sweat adorned the terrorist's skin and his long, dark-brown hair was unkempt and stuck to his face. His ponytail was also messy and coming undone from being slammed around and moving quickly.

"Wishful thinking," Ryouzonia was truthful. She didn't know how much energy she or the man before her had to lose. There was no doubt in her mind that this would be a close fight.

The two of them charged at each other once more, their weapons clashed over and over again but at a much slower pace than they had before. Shigeki swung his sword over his head, leaving his stomach open as the bird-woman kicked him and sent him flying.

Quickly thinking, the man dug his feet into the ground to stop himself. He slid across the floor, then jumped up and used the wall as leverage as he flung himself forward and spin-kicked her in the beak. This caused the bird woman to slide back a few feet. Ryouzonia opened her wings up and came to a complete stop.

"This hardly seems fair," Udo remarked and Zidane questioned him as he glanced at the other man. "We're all sitting here, doing nothing while she's out there fighting. Watching this entire blood spill is making me antsy," the spiky-haired assassin smirked viciously with a lusty and excited look in his light blue eyes.

"Cool your jets. This isn't our fight anymore," Zidane warned. Udo couldn't just go jumping in there whenever he wanted to. He might ruin something for Ryouzonia and he didn't want the younger man to be the cause of their downfall because he let a little blood lust get to his head.

"Well, someone had better die soon or I won't be responsible for my actions any longer," Udo warned.

"I do have to say that I feel a little guilty for just standing here and watching," Ionna agreed and the look on her face did more than confirm it.

"Shigeki has done things to all of us but we can't interfere," Zidane knew how badly everyone, including he himself would like to just go in there and tear the other man to shreds but they had to wait and let Ryouzonia settle this on her own first if she could. They were all ready to help her if she needed it.

There was no reason for any of them to go into the fight, especially if they were currently winning.

"What if Ryouzonia can't win?" Hisamichi didn't want to sound negative but there was always that chance and it scared him to think about it.

"Then I'm going in!" Sari jumped on the offer.

"I'll be right behind you," Udo seconded that statement.

"You people are so quick to fight," Zidane sighed. It was futile to even talk to people who were so hard-headed and ambitious. He pulled out a cigarette and began to smoke. "You should just have faith in Ryouzonia. She's the elder of the Baztok Republic. She knows what she's doing. Besides, if anyone should have a vendetta against Shigeki, it would be me."

"Heh, after I'm done with him, there won't be anything left," Udo smirked in sadistic joy.

"Hopeless!" Sari threw her arms up. It was just like him to say something like that at a time like this. She swore that he could in cooperate sadism into anything.

"You act like you want her to lose so you can pick up the rest," Vincent commented, a little offended if they truly doubted her that much.

"No, I just want to repay him for locking me in that coffin," Udo had a deep-set frown.

The bounty hunter sighed. "I feel kind of bad too actually."

"Zidane is right. Don't interfere. We may cause them more harm than good," Valentino advised.

"We don't have a choice. We have to wait it out," Rubio agreed. It was the best thing to do without severely affecting the fight one way or another.

"Damn..." Udo really wanted to just go in there and rip Shigeki's limbs off and torture him in unspeakable ways but he knew that he had to keep his psychosis in check the best he could until he got that opportunity.

"I just hope that Ryouzonia can handle it from here," Loreli continued to watch the two fights.

"It's not that I doubt her abilities, it's that I feel responsible for what happened between the Republic of Baztok and Ibuki. Also, I feel that this is our fight as ex-terrorists," Udo replied. Revenge was the perfect opportunity, not only that but they would revoke themselves of their bad names by earning the names of heroes as a result. It was just the thing they needed to be able to return back to an at least semi-normal life.

"But Ryouzonia wants to do this alone. She's entitled to her own fight. She made the decision to take him on by herself. We should respect that decision," Zidane remarked. He'd want them to do the same for him if the case was reversed. It was about honor, not revenge and above everything else, he was morally correct without force.

“She is very wise and no doubt older than us," Rubio pointed out. Being as smart as she was, she probably knew her own limitations and when to call out for help when she needed it. The silver-haired man would place his faith in her. After all, she had helped them all so much and it would be very rude of them to just act like it made no difference one way or another.

He would stick by her side, no matter what her decisions were.

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"Ha!" Ryouzonia charged at the enemy once again with her sword drawn, ready to deliver what seemed to be her final blow.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Shigeki asked psychotically as he stared down the face of death as it inched ever closer in the shape of a long-bladed sickle.

"I will never give up. I fight for my people with the bravery and honor that they would for me," the woman made a heart-filled speech as she drew back her weapon for the stab that would defeat her enemy.

...or so she thought...

"Pathetic!" The dark-haired man nearly laughed as he threw his hands in front of his form and shouted 'Dark Shield' as a black aura surrounded him and blasted the blue bird backwards with such force that it nearly made her left go of her weapon. Ryouzonia had been hit so hard that her body made a thump against the magical barrier. It was a large blow to the already tired elder.

"Ryouzonia!" Sari shouted in worry and dismay as she witnessed what had happened.

'This is NOT good!' Hisamichi thought. The hit was brutal and definitely something to worry about. Especially since Ryouzonia didn't look like she was getting up any time soon.

Shigeki smiled in devilish glee at his vulnerable enemy as he stomped his foot and summoned a fissure, which split the ground and headed towards the weak Ryouzonia, who slowly lifted her head to see the crack headed towards her.

Thinking quickly, Ryouzonia used the last of her strength to push off of the ground and successfully avoid the attack. She landed on her feet a distance away and directly to one side of the fissure.

"Think again," Shigeki's voice calm and dark. The woman had fallen right into his trap as he simply pointed two fingers up as his brown eyes flashed with delight.

"Huh?" Ryouzonia questioned in shock as the ground below her glowed. She didn't have enough time to think before she heard the words 'Heaven's Wrath'. A scream could barely be heard by everyone as they frantically called out for her before everything disappeared into white.

...To Be Continued...