Aaron E Nowack wrote:
Read, enjoy, and please C&C! It... is... your... DESTINY!
No, my Destiny is to find the Girl, and shortly thereafter, drown
horribly.
On second thought, your destiny sounds better, evil-twin.
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
-Winston Churchill
I seem to remember that quote being used for a fairly cheesy movie
involving crashed planes and time-travel.
Anyway. As always, feel free to completely ignore anything I say,
because the longer I talk, the more likely I am to say something
stupid. Like using 'say' when I really mean 'type'.
Mordrangar laughed harshly. "No, little human," he said, mouth
settling into a fanged grin. "I expect you to die. Slowly." With
these words, Mordrangar's claw swept forward to impale Jadeite. The
former general leapt out of the way, narrowly dodging the attacky.
The attacky what? Well, I suppose as a claw, it does have qualities
of attack-ness about it...
As he landed, Jadeite formed a ball of pure flame between his
hands. With a wordless yell, he sent the rapidly expanding fireball at
the Dragon, who with a snort swatted it out of the air, sending it to
tear a massive hole in Jadeite's front line.
Pure flame, of course, being heated carbon atoms, from what I remember.
No, really.
"Pathetic," the Dragon of Earth commented as he surged forward,
nearly crushing the impudent human underneath his scaled coils.
Ryu: You know, I have a daughter named Makoto who throws around
lightning bolts.
Err... don't mind me.
Jadeite stumbled backwards as the Dragon pulled itself to its
full height, towering over the battlefield like a colossus. He lightly
tapped the ground before him, whispering, "Rolling Inferno." The wave
of flame and explosions sped towards the Dragon, which tried to get out
of the way, its massive bulk for once a liability.
Yeah, but with the Gargantuan Size defect you automatically gain a
few extra hit-dice. It's all good.
But Jadeite knew the attack was nowhere near strong enough to
seriously harm the beast. Clenching the Flame Diamond tightly in one
gloved fist, he kept up the offensive, rushing forward behind a screen
of white-hot fire, which seemed to do nothing more than irritate the
Dragon.
See?
A quick swipe from one of its claws sent Jadeite to the ground,
grasping at his now wounded shoulder. The Dragon loomed over the human,
poised for the killing blow. "You were not as challenging as I
expected," Mordrangar said, knowing that he could impale the human with
one of his claws faster than Jadeite could get off a spell that could
hurt him. "I almost pity you."
Wounded how? Are these claws large enough that they should be
spreading bloody bits of Jadite-shoulder abour the arena of combat?
Narrow enough that severed and chipped flakes of bone are scattering
the area amid the spray of blood? Did it merely smash against the
general's presumed armor and bruise him to the bone while slamming
him to the ground? Or was it just a colored flash before the number
'542' appeared over Jadite's head, only to be replaced by the
flashing yellow triangle that indicates that it's Jadite's turn again?
Er... don't mind me. On a bit of a rush from actually finishing a
fanfic....
At this, Jadeite smiled, even as he clutched the bloody mess the
Dragon had made of his shoulder. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at
the gargantuan serpentine chest hanging directly over his head. "Save
your pity... for yourself," he gasped, opening his fist to reveal the
glowing Diamond. "Hellfire!"
Bloody mess... nice.
Even as the Dragon's eyes widened in anger at its mistake, a
pillar of flame launched up from Jadeite's palm, rapidly expanding as it
slammed into the Dragon's scales. Contained by Mordrangar's bulk, it
expended its excess energy on the Dragon.
Repetition, 'as'.
Jadeite rose to his feet, muttering a spell of healing that,
while not completely removing the injury he had suffered, managed to
numb the pain and restore function to that arm. Jadeite looked up as a
low growl was released from his opponent's throat.
A shower of white sparkles, and the number over Jadite's head is
'320', flashing in green...
Flames already gathering in his hands, Jadeite smirked once
more. "You'll have to defeat me first." And with that, the battle was
joined once more.
Yeah, but it's a scripted battle anyway.
It was also good to be spending some time with the two of them.
Mamoru was always a bit of a loner, but Tamori had also been rather
scarce the past few weeks, as had Ikawa and Motoki. Shoju sighed
inwardly for a moment. Things had gotten pretty boring at times without
his friends to hang out with. But he knew that these things went in
cycles, and that probably in a month or so he'd be seeing them so often
he'd get sick of them.
Shoju: Hmm... according to this cycle, they hang out with me more
often every time a new Final Fantasy game is released... but Final
Fantasy XI is going to be an online game! Crap!
Meno followed the group for a while, hoping that they would
split up and therefore allow him to determine which was the cause of the
faint signal, but it quickly became obvious that they were not planning
to disperse for some time. A pity, but not a major problem.
Meno *reaching into a satchel*: Tear gas... I love the yakuza.
Of course, the court had hardly known anything but chaos since
Jadeite's sudden return, in any case. Many of the most powerful
Overlords had fallen, either to the Senshi or to their new ruler. One
moment, the Mountains of Desolation were a vassal, the next they were a
deadly enemy.
Come to think of it, the palace was almost always filled with chaos.
It would explain a fair bit....
"Replacement for the energy I expend, and a quarter of whatever
profit remains. And... an up-and-coming Overlord who owes me a favor,"
Asphara replied.
Gorhan nodded. "Agreed. Come, let us plan this further..."
Hm. Gorhan either sucks at politics, or really needs someone else's
power to pull this off. Well, youma aren't too bright from what I
can figure, really.
Sachiko nearly groaned. "Um... they're... kind of private
people. They probably wouldn't appreciate it." She quickly departed,
not giving Uji a chance to ask another question.
Uji frowned at Sachiko's departing figure. She was acting...
evasive. That was unusual for her, Uji knew, even though the two were
not particularly close. Something was up... and Uji was quite curious
as to what it was. With a sigh, Uji headed off towards campus,
wondering how he was going to kill an hour.
Repetition, 'departed', and maybe 'Uji' -- a few of those instances
could be 'he' and still work quite nicely.
"Speaking of which," Ami began, "I've located something that
might explain why Jadeite has shown up after so long." She activated
her computer, accessing the proper entry in the databases. She jumped
slightly when a beep uttered from the device, and quickly punched in a
sequence of keys, frowning.
'uttered' doesn't seem to work very well here -- it's a word I
thought was much more associated with speaking. Perhaps 'issued'?
"Nothing..." Ami said, trailing off. She paused for a moment,
then continued. "Just a false alarm. Anyway..."
Usagi: Even I could have told you that installing Windows on that
machine was a bad idea.
Ami: Oh, hush.
"Not quite, Ami said. "Apparently, though the crystal does
weaken... it would still be impossible to escape one without powerful
aid from the outside. At least, if not more, powerful than the caster."
Well, if it weakens, one can assume that it does so at a given rate;
eventually it'll be weak enough that anyone could break it. Might
want to explain that the weakening is gradual, though....
"Nothing really," Meno said. "Just the results of a little side
project of mine. Anyway, what about Hoshi, Tamori?"
HEH! This is great. Alike, yet not. Very nice.
Meno nodded. "Let's go then. Just the two of us... any more
might scare him off."
Meno: Come on, Hoshi. You know you want to try being a pseudo-magical
boy with strange powers.
Hoshi: Will it get me chicks?
Meno: You'll have the power to fight for truth, justice, and the
Japanese way!
Hoshi: Will it get me chicks?
Meno: You can save humanity from evil!
Hoshi: Will it get me chicks?
Meno: You'll be the staunch and upright defender of all that is good
and right in this world!
Hoshi: Will it get me chicks?
Meno: *sigh* YES, it'll get you chicks.
Hoshi: Okay. As long as I don't become some yaoi-esque pretty-boy.
"Urawa Meno. I have something I need to talk to you about.
It's important."
Hoshi: Okay.
Meno: Thanks for letting us in. Hoshi, we're here to talk to you
about your religion.
Tamori *pulling out a copy of Watchtower*: Yes, Hoshi. Are you happy
with your current spiritual beliefs?
Hoshi nearly growled out his reply. "Get out. I don't know
what game you two are playing, but I'm no part of it. If you're lucky I
won't call the police."
"But.." Meno started, only to be silenced by Tamori.
Tamori glanced towards Hoshi. "We're sorry." He quickly ushered
his friend out of the dorm building, than turned towards him. "What the
hell was that?! You messed up, and now we've let a civilian in on our
identities!"
Woooo... this scene is very much from Hoshi's PoV (in most spots) so
this sudden PoV shift is a bit jarring.
Hoshi smiled and mouthed his own pleasantries. His headache
seemed to be coming back... but at the moment it was only a dull roar.
Suddenly...
"...no choice but war..."
"Are you all right?" Michiru asked as Hoshi seemed to nearly
pass out. The man was slumped over their table, clutching his head.
PoV shift again.
The youma burst into the cafe, draining energy as they went.
All in their path slumped over, unconscious. They did not kill their
victims, for that would be a waste of time and effort. Living, they
would recover, and become a source for later energy drains as well.
Oooo! This should be interesting!
In a relatively quiet corner of the cafe, Aihara Hoshi lay
forgotten. He clutched his head, the incredible pain making all that
had come before seem trivial. Had he been coherent enough to form the
thought, he might have wished for an energy drain to send him into the
blissful darkness of sleep.
Ah, drat.
The Dragon ignored the insignificant attack, instead choosing to
take the offensive, forcing Jadeite back with swipes of its powerful
claws. Jadeite stumbled away, dodging each strike as best he could.
Realizing that this situation would quickly lead to defeat, Jadeite
summoned forth the power of the Flame Diamond once again.
Infinite use items rule.
The white beam sped towards the Dragon, its sheer heat causing
the air to shimmer and the ground beneath it to liquefy. Mordrangar
summoned what protective magics he could, but they failed him, as the
firebolt stuck the Dragon of the North midway between its brown eyes.
Mordrangar: Ack! Big Guard! Shoot -- why can't I use Blue Magic? Arg!
This time it was Jadeite's turn to scream, as the wave of molten
rock slammed into to him, searing his flesh and introducing him to new
meanings of the word pain. The Flame Diamond fell from Jadeite's
nerveless fingers, quickly rolling out of sight. An ordinary human
would have died instantly, but Jadeite as far from normal. Nonetheless,
it was still a potentially crippling strike.
Oh, it won't hurt too bad once the nerve endings are fried.
This was only a momentary reprieve, as the chasm quickly began
to close as rapidly as it had opened, putting Jadeite in danger of being
crushed by tons of solid rock. Had he been unwounded, it would have
been a trivial matter to escape, but the dark lord was hanging on the
consciousness by a measure even slimmer than that with which he was
hanging onto the canyon wall, and was in no condition to summon the
strength necessary to escape.
Repetition, 'as'.
Nyxan smiled, another bolt of dark energy growing in its hands.
"Not particularly." The youma Overlord released his attack, then
vanished. The bolt of shadow did little more than irritate the Dragon,
but the firebolt that arrived from the opposite direction did more
damage.
Now THAT is a smart General.
Mordrangar turned around once more, to face the barely
recognizable form of Jadeite, who had taken advantage of Mordrangar's
momentary distraction to recover his wits and escape from the chasm.
His face was a mass of burns, and his clothing was nearly nonexistent.
However, thanks to the General's powerful magic, the wounds were already
beginning to heal. Jadeite smiled, and prepared his counterattack.
Jadite: Good thing I always cast Regen before the battle.
Pluto gave her a worried look, but Neptune merely nodded and her
own Talisman vanished. At this, Zeus smiled and took a step back. It
looked as though the new policy of avoiding conflict with the Senshi
would actually bear fruit for once.
It's a step from there to talking on the level. Absolutely.
Zeus struggled to his feet, face set into a grimace. The Senshi
obviously could not be trusted, if they couldn't even hold a truce for a
handful of seconds. "Thunder Bolt!"
Or, you know, not.
It was as though a dam he had never known existed had been
destroyed. Everything was suddenly so clear. New memories were open to
him, memories of an ancient time, of another civilization. Power flowed
through and around, a dark power that was his to command. And with
three words, similar to those with which Sachiko had shocked him a brief
time ago. he summoned that power to battle.
Uh-oh.
Jadeite took a few steps forward, until he stood only a few feet
from the Dragon. "Mercy is for the weak," he replied. "Inferno!" A
raging whirlwind of flame obscured the former general for a moment,
forcing the Dragon back, but when the flames died down, Jadeite had
fallen to one knee from the effort.
Must equip the Fire Armor, and cast Merton. That'd do it.
Mordrangar was first to recover, shaking his head. "Fool! I
will destroy you!" The very earth heaved beneath Jadeite, sending him
flying once again.
Now HERE is a question for you.
That phrase 'the very earth' is meant in the sense of a planet, yes?
But then, if it is, then it's not really Earth, is it?
Jadeite smiled, and, feigning unconsciousness, used a tiny bit a
magic to adjust his flight path. His opponent laughed as he noticed the
direction of Jadeite's travel, and opened his mouth wide once more.
The eyes of both armies were now fixed on the struggle, which now seemed
about to end.
Repetition, 'now'.
The forces of the Mountains of Desolation hesitated, and then
one by one they lowered their banners and dropped their weapons.
Jadeite's army surged forward, shouts of victory filling the air.
Jadeite himself turned towards his Generals, and smiled as his sword
vanished. "Victory," he half-whispered, savoring the word.
o/` Final Fantasy Victory Music o/`
Jadite has gained 3000 EXP, and 0 GP!
Jadite has gained a level!
The war in the Dark Kingdom was over.
Jadite has gained control of the Dark Kingdom!
1) This story is now officially more than half over. Just so you know.
Mmm.... Can't wait to see more.
2) As always, kneel and worship before those brave souls who choose to
preread my horrible, horrible writings. They are: Angus MacSpon,
Chaeotica,
and my ever-loving sister Rebecca Nowack. Or, if kneeling and
worshipping
isn't your thing, just read Angus's excellent fanfics, and pester him
about
the next chapter of Sailor Moon 4200.
You have almost as little faith in your skill as a writer as I do in
mine. I hereby award you a Tin Shinji in recognition of your humility@
3) Please do C&C this, if you read it! It's muchly appreciated!
Please write more of this, if I C&C it! It's ALSO muchly appreciated!
4) Previous chapters, as always, can be found at Fanfiction.Net or
http://www.geocities.com/anowack/
Eeeeexcelent....