"These things just won't die!" Nikolaus shouted, as yet another marionette stepped out of a cloud of dust left behind by one of his dynamite blasts.
Zeni, Legacy and Janus were engaged in a fierce melee battle on one side of the battlefield.
Watch this for reference
"Use the Crack Fic Force!" LL shouted, raising his hands and summoning a huge crack fic energy whirlwind out of which pedobear dolls, cakes, kirby dolls, fish, and cornflakes came flying out that swept through the marionette ranks.
"Time to end this..." Eterna said, panting heavily as she impaled an unfortunate marionette on something long, dull red, and pointy. The unlucky marionette shrieked in pain as it shuddered violently, before suddenly falling limp, the red glow of its eyes dimming before fading out.
"What? But...How?" Xaosite asked, bewildered. He has been throwing everything he has at these marionettes and nothing had seemed to work. But suddenly, with the help of something simple and pointy, this girl had made short work of the seemingly invincible marionettes.
"...this is my blood..." Eterna said, wincing as a crackle of energy raced down the spear of blood. "It's like my blood fortress...I have to keep feeding it blood to make it work." She explained, turning around and slashing through yet another marionette. "Crimson Moon Executioners were created with...failsafes in nanites in their blood....so I can use my failsafe....to...deactivate...and...kill...them...." Eterna wheezed, staggering and leaning on the blood spear.
"You don't seem too hot there...." Epsilon said, appearing beside her.
"Yeah? You try getting y-your blood drained out..." Eterna said, giving Epsilon a rather irritated look.
"Well, if this works..." Epsilon said, pulling Ryoko up. "Go on, Ryoko."
"You do know that I can't reconstruct a physical interface in a mere few minutes, don't you? Not with my systems half-smashed with your games earlier." Ryoko said testilly.
"Yeah, I know, but all I need is for you to bridge it into her mind...somehow get her buffer interfaces inside her head." Epsilon said. "That would suffice."
"And in simple English that is....?" Eterna asked.
"Just wait and see." Epsilon said, nudging Ryoko forwards.
"I can just muck up her mind, for all you know." Ryoko said snidely.
"Oh yes? Did you like the virus?" Epsilon asked. "Because I have lots more, in many different configurations too. Do you want to try my yuri!Yuki virus?"
"Well...here goes nothing..." Ryoko sighed. "You're giving me a hand, right?"
"But off course." Epsilon nodded. Together, they leapt forwards towards Zeni.
"Zeni! I've returned! Me and Ryoko have decided to join you, and we also extend a request for an alliance from the DITE!" Epsilon shouted.
"Oh, go on, I'm interested." Zeni said, still fighting fiercely with Legacy and Janus.
"Yeah, here's our PROPOSAL!" Epsilon shouted, once they were close enough as he shot out a cabled claw which latched itself onto Zeni. "Now, Ryoko!"
"Executing..." Ryoko said, her eyes glazing over as she held onto Epsilon.
"....ah, cute....and?" Zeni asked.
"What?!" Epsilon gasped. "How...why..."
"Ah, I see..." Zeni chuckled, parrying a slash from Janus while dodging another hockey puck shot from Legacy. "You see, it would work if there was a Zeni or some element of a nice Zeni trapped inside me, as you thought there was. But you see, I AM Zeni....and as far as I'm concerned, Hanabi and Hanako serves me well as Marionettes."
"But...." Epsilon began.
"Sorry....I hate to break it to you, but you failed." Zeni sighed, raising a palm towards Epsilon. "Come, h
Ifrit"
The huge fireball that was Ifrit rammed Epsilon and Ryoko deep into the Spire, crashing through its entire width, before coming out the other end and exploding as they crashed into a resistance battleship that happened to be fighting on the other side of the spire.
Meanwhile, back to Zeni, Locke, and Nikolaus...
The huge chunk of stone behind them under which Unknown had been crushed suddenly glowed bright as hundreds of alchemic runes criss-crossed its way up from beneath the stone. As suddenly as it started, the stone block exploded into dust.
As the cloud of dust and smoke dissipated, Unknown stepped out, his face set with determination.
"S-Stay away f-from Zeni...." Eterna panted as she threw another blood spear at an incoming marionette. "I-If you know w-what's good for you..."
"It's my turn, Eterna." Unknown said, patting Eterna on the back.
"No....I didn't m-mean it l-like that....she WILL kill y-you....I d-don't want her to suffer from killing a-a loved one a-again." Eterna's breathing was getting even more ragged.
"What?" Unknown asked, blasting aside an offending marionette.
"His name was...Alciel Brunestud....that was 9.000 years ago....we were young, still u-under the influence of the C-Crimson Moon. But Z-Zeni found l-love in a y-young Sh-Shinsou, Alciel...." Eterna said, impaling two more marionettes. "He turned i-into a d-dead apostle for h-his own i-ideals....w-we killed him on orders f-from the Crimson M-Moon..."
"Well, I ain't dying that easily, not tonight, not while I've got this light I must protect." Unknown said, lifting a hand to his heart. Zeni, meanwhile, had
summoned Odin who was now charging through the ranks of Neko Arc Army.
"R-Remember those words..." Eterna said, straightening up slowly, all the while eyeing Unknown. "....there will come a day....when y-you will r-regret falling in l-love with a C-Crimson M-Moon Executioner....b-but until that day comes....cherish those w-words..."
"Regret exists not in my dictionary." Unknown said. "For the mistress of the night smiles upon me....there is no more room for regret in my life."
"V-Very well..." Eterna said, aiming a stab in Unknown's direction. Unknown didn't even flinch as the marionette behind him shrieked in pain as the blood spear stabbed it right over Unknown's shoulder.
"Wish me luck." Unknown said, before leaping up towards Zeni.
"You're going t-to die....y-you don't n-need luck..." Eterna wheezed as she fell to her knees, her last blood spear dissipating. "Ugh...must....recover..."
"Zeni!" Unknown shouted, as Zeni threw Janus and Legacy into the walls of the spire, allowing them a little privacy. "Zeni...I know you can hear me in there....I heard your voice earlier....So respond to me Zeni....show me a sign..." He pleaded.
"I AM Zeni, you fool!" Zeni laughed, as she raised a palm towards Unknown. "You've chosen to not trust me and you've betrayed my love. You will now.....Ugh....AAAAAAAARGH....damn you...can't you be a good girl and stay down?! NO!" Zeni shouted, suddenly clutching her head. "Ugh...BLOOD FORTRESS!"
"Zeni! Fight it! I know you can!" Unknown shouted, hammering on the blood fortress.
"Stay there and be a nice boy...while I sort out this....this bad girl..." Zeni hissed through gritted teeth.
"ZENI!" Unknown shouted, as Zeni screamed once more.
Suddenly, the blood fortress gave away, as Zeni looked up towards Unknown, her eyes a pure emerald green, just as they normally are. "Unknown!" She cried, holding her arms out.
"Zeni!" Unknown sighed in relief as she grasped Zeni and held her close. "Zeni....don't worry, I'm here now, and I'll never let you go again."
"Unknown...I was so scared....it's still inside me....please, save me..." Zeni pleaded, looking up into Unknown's eyes.
"I will..." Unknown said, placing a hand behind Zeni's head. "I will...." He moved closer to Zeni's face, before locking his lips around hers as he began an ancient spell of purification to remove the darkness.
He suddenly gasped into her mouth, his eyes flying open in shock, only to look into Zeni's smirking eyes.
But he held on tight, desperate to finish the spell, despite there being a huge vampiric blade stuck through his heart.
Zeni started to gasp and struggle, her yelps muffled by the kiss as the yaoi darkness within her felt itself being driven out by the force of the spell. In one last desperate move, she lifted one palm towards the heavens....
"BAHAMUT SIN!" She screamed into Unknown's mouth.
OOC: This is another really cool video link I think you should see :lol:
The huge beam of energy arching down from the Crimson Moon hit the two of them squarely, ripping Unknown away from Zeni and crushing him under the force of billions of rushing positrons.
EEEEEEE
Meanwhile, back on the ground...
"She's your sister, can't you do something?!" Locke asked, exasperated.
"....yes, I can...." Eterna sighed, watching as Unknown failed his attempt. "....I've been fooling myself...I know there isn't a chance for Zeni to recover...."
"No chance?" Xaosite asked. "You're practically throwing away all the odds here. There's always a chance. Ask the dies, if you don't believe me."
"Not this time." Eterna said. "...I can do something. She and I are a Crimson Moon Executioner pair...and I was created as her fail-safe as she is mine..."
"So you have some way of deactivating her powers or something?" Nikolaus asked. "Then why didn't you use it sooner? Heck, why didn't Zeni use it on you back when you were against us?"
"...because the failsafe means death." Eterna said, a dark look passing over her face. "And activating one activates the other."
"Y-You can't seriously be thinking of....killing Zeni?" Legacy gasped, having arrived in time to follow half the conversation. "And killing yourself too?"
"....it's been fun, everyone....but I'm sorry, I can't fulfill our promise..." Eterna smiled a bitter, weary smile, as she pulled a new blood blade out of her wound.
"Eterna!" the group cried after her as she leapt up into the sky towards Zeni.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Urgh...uuhh..." Zeni gasped, as half the yaoi darkness floundered a bit around her, trying to get back in.
"I'm sorry, sis..." Eterna said, tears flowing down her cheeks as she appeared before her, a rather long dull-red blade held in one hand.
"E-Eterna?!" Zeni gasped, looking around, before noticing the blade. "No...No...not that! You're mad! You'll kill yourself!" Zeni shouted, panicking, her body still not being able to move with the darkness half-removed.
"I want to save you, Sis. And this is the only way....I love you, sis. I always have. And I don't want to see you suffer anymore...so..." Eterna pulled her blade back as far as she could before thrusting forwards as hard as vampiricly possible.
Zeni shrieked as the blade pierced her heart. The nanites in the blade's blood immediately dispersed into Zeni's bloodstream, activating the failsafe system within Zeni. At the same time, Eterna's failsafe activated, causing her to double up in pain. Her tears flowed freely, not out of pain, but out of anxiety...did it work? Is her sister free? Or will her sacrifice be in vain?
She gasped when she felt a pair of hands touch her head. She slowly cautioned a glance upwards as the pair of hands gently guided her face upwards. "Sis..." She murmured, as she looked up into Zeni's serene, tearful face.
"You baka..." Zeni could only chuckle, as she blinked away her tears. Eterna could see the darkness escaping from her sister, but she couldn't care less. She leapt forwards with what strength she had left and pulled Zeni into a tight hug...a hug she knew would be their last.
"Why, baka?" Zeni beat back a sob, whimpering into Eterna's shoulder. "I never wanted this...you're the last person I want to see dying..."
"But you're the last person I want to see suffering..." Eterna said, not feeling the pain anymore. There was nothing left but bliss as the two were enveloped in a gentle bluish white glow as everything else around them, the gloomy tower, the battle, the pain, all dissolved into pale white nothingness. "And we're together now...that's all that matters..."
"We are shadows....and we will fade back into the darkness from whence we came from...but I couldn't care less, as long as you're with me." Zeni smiled. "My silly little sister."
"Sis, you're...so warm...I don't feel cold anymore..." Eterna smiled happily. "And I'll never ever feel cold anymore, as long as you're there."
As everything slowly dissolved into white, Eterna could see Zeni mouth something....she couldn't hear it...but she knew what it was. She just tried to hold on as firmly as she could for as long as she could....
...until there was nothing...
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
"Zeni and Eterna sort of...evaporated..." Nikolaus observed. "But....isn't that the darkness, hovering about?" He asked, watching as the darkness started to gather and absorb crack energy.
"That doesn't...look good..." LL said, looking around to the others. "That is the soul embodiment of everything that is yaoi. It is strong, determined, and it will not back down without a fight."
"Then we'll give it one..." A voice said from behind them.
"GMF?" LL asked. "Xellos-sama?!" He gasped, noticing the figure grinning behind the GMF.
"We can talk later. But for now we must defeat this monstrosity." the GMF said, her grip on her claymore tightening. "I know I have a lot to answer to, but for now, allow me this one chance to at least destroy this wretched darkness."
"We're behind you." Nikolaus said, nodding.
"I like these odds." Xaosite said, grinning. "Let's give Lady Luck a night she will never forget."
"Nice knowing you all..." Twin Blade sighed, watching as the darkness took on a somewhat humanoid form.