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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 16, 2007 8:04:10 GMT
Tseng grabbed Jared and held him back in the chopper. "Absolutely not. No discussions on this one, partner." He said firmly.
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"F*@k this..." Rufus said, pulling his sword and his gun from his holsters and running for the ship as fast as his legs would carry him.
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Sephiroth didnt take his eyes off Xima, slashing the alarm with his sword to silence it, sending a shower of sparks onto both of them. He raised a boot off the deck, slamming it down on her sword-hand, pinning it to the floor roughly, then he pointed the blade at her throat. "Dont think I'm going to let you die that easily "dear" sister... Your going to suffer more. Your 'maternal' position in our bloodline means nothing to me... Mother is all there is and all there ever will be..."
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 18, 2007 6:16:58 GMT
There was a loud crunch under his boot as something in her hand gave way. She suppressed a groan. "Mother is dead," she bit out through gritted teeth. "Evolve or die, brother."
She coughed blood onto his blade. Her free hand, shaking with agony, reached for it, wrapping her fingers around its spine and struggling to push it back... her results were not impressive...
****
The baby hadn't stopped wailing since they'd crossed the Wutai border. Jared could barely hear himself think. "But Tseng...! She's dying!"
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 20, 2007 22:09:15 GMT
Tseng held him firmly in place, but glanced off towards the ship desperately. What if the kids were right? "Look, your father is with her, my job is to protect you both, and I cant let you go running into danger."
------------------------------
Sephiroth smirked down at his badly battered sibling. "I'm no stranger to dying... and the concept is not as impressive to me as it is to others... Death is old news and FREQUENTLY conquerable."
"Perhaps I can fix that." Rufus' voice said.
Sephiroth turned quickly, but before he even saw the Shinra leader, a hail of hot lead blasted right into his back, flinging him off of Xima and into the bulkhead. Rufus charged forward, not letting up. He continued to send straffing rounds of machinegun fire into the abombination until he collapsed to the deck of the Patran vessel. As soon as this happened, Rufus re-loaded the weapon, hurrying to his mate while keeping his eyes locked on Sephiroth's body.
"Are you still breathing?"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 20, 2007 22:21:18 GMT
Xima gritted her teeth and nodded. "I can breathe just fine. I just can't move my legs." She coughed onto the back of her hand, sliced by clinging to her brother's sword, and blood came out mingled with her spit. "The signal is still working..."
The memetogram materialized again. To Rufus, she was faint and hazy, her voice almost inaudible. "The signal can only be terminated by initiating emergency protocols as commanded by maternal or alpha signal."
****
Jared looked at him pleadingly. "I can protect myself!"
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 20, 2007 22:26:30 GMT
Tseng looked him in the eyes, holding him by the shoulders and dropping down to his knee to be at eye level. "I know that, you know I believe you can take care of yourself. The fact of the matter is though, if something DOES happen to them in there, you need to make it out of here and if I let you go in after them... Chances of getting away are slim to none."
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"Come on then, do what you need to do..." Rufus said, carefully lifting her up off the floor and helping her to the computer panel, which, miraculously was still intact after the fight. Stealing a glance at Sephiroth's still motionless form in the corner as he did.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 20, 2007 22:37:02 GMT
Jared suddenly paled. "You're more right than you know."
****
A pair of clear tentacles reached out for her blood-soaked hands...
A pair of gauntlet blades fell against their necks on either side. "Can't let you do that. Sorry."
Anouther voice from somewhere behind the assailant. "Ami, what the h**l?!"
"I'm sorry, Cloud," Ami replied, her eyes trained on Xima and Rufus. "I couldn't tell you until now."
"Tell. Me. What?"
She tensed. "We can't shut it down. The signal has already reached the Survivors. If we cut it now, they'll be lost. They'll die alone."
Instinctively, the sword was in his hand. "The h**l you say! You want more of them here?"
"They are my family! I can't abandon them!"
"I don't believe I'm saying this. Back away from Shinra, Ami. Let them slice that signal to h**l."
"No."
"Don't be an idiot! Get back!"
Another sword, this one at Cloud's neck. "Sorry to have to do this. I was kind of thinking you were starting to warm up to us." Kadaj's voice was a low hiss.
It was a standoff, pure and simple.
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 20, 2007 22:59:30 GMT
Rufus struggled visciously to free himself from the grip, his increased strength made it VERY difficult for Ami to keep a hold of him. "This is what you get for trusting the likes of them, Strife... At least we have the decency to make it up-front that we want you dead."
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Tseng looked back and forth from the ship to Jared a few times. "Alright listen... Maybe your right about them being in danger, but YOU stay here with your sister, keep her safe, I'll go take a look and I PROMISE I'll come back and get you if they need us. Agreed?"
--------------------------
As the warriors were locked in their standoff, motion caught all their attentions at once. "I grow weary of this petty juvinile soap opera you all have going on.... I shall end this... and all of you." Sephiroth said, rising to his feet again, his sword in his grip again.
"Let me go!" Rufus shouted as the abomination rose again. "Let me get my gun, damn you!"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 20, 2007 23:14:05 GMT
Jared thought it over and nodded curtly. "Right!"
****
Ami growled with frustration and shoved Rufus and Xima face-forward against the computer array. The flexible material it was made of bounced and stretched under their weight, but even so Xima winced and screamed as her wounds made themselves felt on impact.
She dodged their flailing limbs and faced off with the Nightmare. He's wounded... if I'm lucky that means he'll be slower than usual...
Cloud advanced into the ship, trying to figure out how to shut the beacon down, but a hand shot out and pulled him roughly back through the gate. "I don't think so!" Souba and Final clashed. Kadaj glared. "It's nothing personal, Strife. But I'm not letting my people die!"
Loz and Yazoo closed in. Cloud observed them in his periphery... and the fight was on.
Xima's legs continued to refuse to cooperate. "Rufus, get off me... I can still end it..." Her hands were shaking as she strained to not give in to shock.
****
Back in town, Reno and Rude were idling at the Inn. "Why did WE have to get the boring job, yo?"
"Somebody had to look after the civilians."
"Yeah... but why is it THOSE guys always get all the fun?"
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 20, 2007 23:19:44 GMT
Sephiroth looked around the room grinning. "Close quarters... Too many combatants... Too many opposing forces... Pure chaos with nitro-glycerine... My favorite kind of battle." He said, raising his blade. "So sister... You seem to have gone for a very butch style as of late... Starting to wish YOU'D been born the alpha male?"
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Tseng rushed over the snow caps of the mountain towards the ship, he saw footprints ahead by the entrance... Lots of them. "damn it..."
--------------------------
Inside, Rufus let Xima lean on the controls. "I know... Do it, I'll cover you." He said, snatching his gun off the deck and leveling it at Sephiroth.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 20, 2007 23:33:46 GMT
She pulled back into defense stance. "More like a nod to where the real power came from."
"Regenerating... regenerating..." A couple of fragile nodes in the computer had ruptured and were reforming. The computer's overall responses had slowed to support the repairs... Xima was linked to the mainframe and her eyes flickered as she navigated the interface...
Outside, blows were trading fast and furious. Yazoo locked the blade with his pistols. "Stop this, Cloud. You are still part of us."
Cloud pulled away one of the smaller blades and made a fierce swipe that drove the Remnant back.
Loz tried to cut in from behind. "Can't you tell we're holding back?"
A blunt sword handle to the back of the head was the only response he got.
Kadaj knocked the smaller sword out of Cloud's hand and was blocked by the larger. "What would you do to turn back Nibelheim?"
His fury did not abate. "You... all of you lied to me..."
"No. We just left out inconvenient parts of the truth."
Loz broke off from the fight and barreled towards the ship again. The signal's strength was already diminishing. He charged up the pile bunker and engaged his speed materia to take Rufus on while his attention was still on Sephiroth...
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 20, 2007 23:38:35 GMT
Just before Loz reached Rufus, a strong form tackled him in the ribs painfully, sending Loz and his attacker tumbling down the snowbanks. Rufus turned just in time to see Tseng and Loz plunge down the hill.
-----------------------
"Power? Heh... I'll show you power..." Sephiroth said. Without warning, he zoomed across the room, obviously not slowed by his injuries and drove his shoulder right into Ami's chest, knocking her back, then swinging his sword at her midsection, where it collided with her's just in time.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 20, 2007 23:58:42 GMT
She glared into his eyes... and her own suddenly began to glow red... like a small firestorm dancing in her irises... "That stung, you son of a--"
Crimson lightning licked out of her arms, shocking Sephiroth squarely in the chest, throwing him across the room against a stasis tube. "How's that for power, b***h?!"
****
Loz and Tseng kept on rolling until they hit a ridge and got the wind knocked out of them. "D**n..."
Loz struggled to his feet. "Duhh, what are you, stupid?" He got painfully to his feet. "What do you Turks got against the concept of family, anyhow?"
Without warning, he lunged at Tseng, driving the pile bunker directly at his chest.
****
Xima was decoding the final failsafes. The system was taking a disturbingly long time to process her biological codes. Maybe I'm too human after all... no, please, not that...
She doubled over and winced, a broken rib still calling for attention. She tried to focus...
****
"Yazoo, take Rufus!" Kadaj faced off with Cloud. "This one's mine."
Yazoo nodded and sprinted towards the evil marksman, spweing lead.
Kadaj and Cloud circled each other. "Weren't you ever curious as to why I called you my brother?"
Apparently, curiosity wasn't one of Cloud's virtues. He attacked, driving Kadaj into the defense.
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 21, 2007 6:01:59 GMT
Rufus remained calm, doing his heritage proud as he stared down the sight of his weapon, aiming carefully... And fired. The bullet blasted forward and struck Yazoo directly in the collarbone, sending his feet flying out from under him as his torso was flung backwards and he hit the ground hard, blood pouring from the wound.
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Tseng knew he wouldnt be able to dodge in time, so he simply whipped his gun in front of his chest and allowed Loz's weapon to impact the ammo clip. As the electricity zapped it, Tseng released the lock on the clip, leaving it trapped against the magnetic tip and jumping back as the ammunition inside exploded, blowing Loz's weapon to pieces.
-----------------------
Sephiroth cringed, looking at his sister. "Well... This will certainly be fun..." He said, lunging once again, sliding in low and upper-cutting her in the jaw like his fist was a sledgehammer. Ami flew off her feet from the impact and in mid-air, he slashed his blade across her back, opening a gash through the Turk uniform she was adorned in.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Sept 21, 2007 6:34:35 GMT
Almost in disbelief, Yazoo reached to touch the gaping wound with his fingertips. Dark, green blood covered his hand.
He pushed himself back up, haltingly, the pain horrendous. I can survive this. I can survive anything.
Because... I'm already dead.
"Your form has improved, Mr. President," he sneered. "But if I'm still standing when those bullets are gone..."
He forced his arm to straighten, Rufus dead in his sights. "Die."
He braced himself and pounced, zooming through midair for the ship's entry port, blasting away with the arm farthest from his injury. There wasn't enough room to send his creepers ahead as a shield-- nothing but speed would save him now.
Rufus' new sixth sense couldn't help but feel the pain Yazoo drew his power from... like there was something ripped out of his soul... suddenly, he recognized this strange power as grief... what had he lost?
****
As the weapon blew up literally in Loz's face, the force of the blow threw the two men apart, six feet in both directions.
Loz skidded to a halt, but his arm and hand were both seriously mangled. He struggled to get the flaming apparatus off his arm and tossed it aside. "You unevolved d**k..."
He pulled his arm into his coat and went back into the melee one-handed, a cement-block-like fist barrelling at hyper speed towards Tseng's head. The Speed materia turned him into a blue blur...
****
Kadaj locked Cloud's blade between his own. He pushed their weapons above eye level and ground them hard to the left to keep Cloud from getting the Final back out. "Even then, when my mind was a ruin, I respected you."
He could see the pupils dilate. He twisted just that one inch further, driving a boot into Cloud's chest at the same time.
Cloud found his own sword being pointed at him. Kadaj looked down coldly. "Now tell me why you forgave me." He pulled back to strike.
Cloud rolled and sprang back up, hooking an arm over the spine of his weapon and trying to wrench it away.
****
Ami shrieked as the gash cut through to her skin. She threw her weight in midair to face Sephiroth and aimed her fingers towards him. Please... I still don't know how this works... but please work again, just one more time...
The red bolts licked down his sword and culminated in a ball of energy that exploded right in his face. She slammed against the wall, against a chamber full of fragile seedlings. The impact disconnected a life support line and the entire ship interior was suddenly engulfed in fog.
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Post by mistervillainman on Sept 21, 2007 6:52:18 GMT
Taking advantage of the mist, Sephiroth moved silently around Ami, completely obscured by the fog as he recovered from the attack. Taunting her as he moved invisibly around. "Your light balls wont save you, sister..."
----------------------------------
Tseng braced and took the hit, flying several more feet back and ended up near a very large ravine... Tseng rolled onto his stomach, making sure it looked as though he was just in a HUGE amount of pain... Which he was. However, he was also slapping a new ammo clip into the gun he was still clutching. Waiting until Loz was right on top of him, Tseng spun around, putting the gun barrel right to Loz's knee and squeezing the trigger. The blast took Loz's knee apart and then Tseng brought the barrel of the gun up with all his might, slamming it into Loz's chin, knocking him to his back.
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Still holding his composure, Rufus shifted his aim and shot the door control box just to the right of the opening, the door beeped and slammed shut just as Yazoo passed through the opening, he quickly found the crushing weight of the steel bulk door slamming into his body, pinning it in place. Rufus grinned and quickly ran to his opponent, kicking the gun from his grip. "Looks like your not standing anymore. Now, be a good boy and dont distract me while I try to keep us ALL from being slaughtered by Sephiroth..." He said, hurying back to Xima.
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