Nightshift 44: The Coliseum
[Warped in from here.]
When Guy's eyes opened, it was almost as if he was waking up, and yet he knew that wasn't the case; he was standing, with a weapon in his hand, and somehow feeling far more comfortable than he had in weeks.
His gaze was on his feet, and it took him a few seconds to let everything sink in. He was wearing boots. His boots. ( Read more... )
When Guy's eyes opened, it was almost as if he was waking up, and yet he knew that wasn't the case; he was standing, with a weapon in his hand, and somehow feeling far more comfortable than he had in weeks.
His gaze was on his feet, and it took him a few seconds to let everything sink in. He was wearing boots. His boots. ( Read more... )
Of course, the God-General knew he should've approached this situation more carefully, but it'd felt like such a long time since he had access to his powers. And besides, it made enough sense that whoever sent them here in the first place wanted them to fight, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered returning their possessions in the first place. If that were the case then Sync didn't mind providing some entertainment as long as it coincided with his own goals. After all, he was nothing more than a tool anyway. Who could blame him for wanting to have a little fun while he could?
Yet the sudden booming voice was enough to deter his concentration for a moment. It sounded as if it resonated throughout the entire coliseum, and it took the God-General a few seconds to pinpoint the source.
'... Who was that guy?' Because Sync's mind had been elsewhere he hadn't been able to pick up the familiarity at first. Yet it didn't take long for him to realize that the voice was something he'd grown all too used to over the past week and a half. However, some small part of him was in disbelief at how he was now witnessing Landel in the flesh, as if attaching the voice to an actual being was out of place in itself.
Sync regarded the Head Doctor with a passive expression, burning the image into his head through narrowed eyes, before suddenly shooting his arm back out at Guy as he finally unleashed his arte.
"Thunder Blade!"
Upon the God-General's words a giant spear of lightning materialized high above where Guy stood, crackling once before shooting down towards the blond's general direction.
If there had been any questions he wanted to ask regarding the man, he'd be more than happy to let someone else do it for him.
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He turned to the right, to where that voice was coming from -- and for once, it wasn't entirely filtered through a loudspeaker. The man was right there, and despite the fact that Guy had been in the institute for what he thought was a decent amount of time, this was his first time seeing the man with his own eyes. The weirdest thing about it was that Landel looked almost normal. Middle-aged, dark hair... The fact of the matter was that nothing really stood out about him other than his maliciousness.
Still, Guy wasn't allowed a chance to speak up even if he'd wanted to. He heard Sync's voice yelling out a command, and he remembered the attack as if it had been only yesterday that he'd last been on the receiving end of it. His body remembered the timing, and he sprung into action, darting out of the way right as the charged spear shoved into the floor, causing dust to fly up around it.
It took only a few seconds for the dust to clear, but in that moment he heard the Head Doctor finishing up whatever he had been saying to Claude. Guy was glad that someone was trying to get answers, though it wasn't very helpful to him when he was too distracted by Sync's onslaught to pay proper attention.
However, the message came through clearly enough when Guy suddenly felt a sharp pain cut through his chest (where the zombie bite should have been, he vaguely realized), causing the orange of his outfit to be stained with blood. He gasped out and then fell to his knees -- the cut wasn't fatally deep, but it had taken him by surprise. Where had that come from?
He glared over at Sync, wondering if he was somehow responsible or if this was something else entirely.
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Yet the God-General quirked an eyebrow when the Head Doctor raised his hand, looking about the arena for their due punishment. However, his attention immediately fell back on Guy just as the swordsman fell to his knees, the dark red stain on his shirt visible even from where the teen stood. Of course, the timing wasn't lost to Sync, but there was the possibility that it may have just been a delayed reaction from his attack. He wouldn't be surprised when it came to slow minds like Guy.
"What's wrong Guy? Getting tired??" There was no ounce of sympathy in the replica's voice, however, as he lifted his head high enough to show off his sneer. Sync had no code of honor, and he'd be damned not to snatch any opportunity he could take, no matter how filthy it was.
This was why he dug his boots into the ground and propelled himself forward, charging at Guy with unmatchable speed. Sync pulled back his arm, creating a tight fist with his right hand before swinging down with every intention of striking the swordsman in the face.
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Still disoriented, not to mention distracted by Anise's pained gasp that came from behind him, Guy wasn't prepared to get out of the way of Sync's attack. The God-General's punch connected, knocking Guy onto his back, hard. He had never doubted the Tempest's strength, and he could already feel a bruise forming on his cheek as the blood continued to drip down his chest.
Guy was nothing if not a quick fighter, though, and he immediately reasserted his grip on his sword and swiped out at Sync with it -- bringing the fight in close put them on a more equal level.
He heard the Head Doctor's words from above him and caught enough of the explanation that he felt newborn anger giving him the energy to fight even harder than before despite the wounds he'd already accumulated. So Anise had been injured, too? He didn't even have the luxury of making sure she was okay, but he knew one thing; he needed to fight relentlessly, which was something he was completely willing to do considering his opponent.
But then he had to wonder: had he received this injury because of Claude's hesitation? If that was the case, then chances were he was going to continue to have to brave attacks that he was powerless to block. He didn't believe the Head Doctor's apology for one second, and he would have cursed the man more directly if he wasn't busy focusing all of his attention on Sync.
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One would think that getting a 'helping hand' from the Head Doctor himself would receive at least the slightest bit of amusement, but Sync was anything but grateful. It was almost as if they didn't trust him to finish the job on his own, which would only lead to Claude and the rest his idiot friends pinning Guy's inevitable death on something completely unrelated like this. It figured that he couldn't even enjoy this one thing.
The replica threw Landel a harsh glare, teeth grinding together as he bit back his poisonous words.
No, this was Guy's fault. If the swordsman had just kept to himself then he wouldn't have had to drag spineless bastards like Claude into the picture. Ha! It served him right for trying to make friends in a hellhole like this!
"Looks like it'll be to the death. Just like old times," Sync announced bitterly, raising his head high to meet Guy's eyes with his own condescending glare.
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The girl would stay safe if he continued to fight, and he was just going to have to hope that Dias and Claude could stall for long enough that the Head Doctor was satisfied.
Then again, with that man watching them from up on his throne like that -- it was hard to imagine that he would let them slip by without going all the way. That was one thing that Sync had said that Guy could agree with.
In any case, the only way he was going to get a proper attack in on the God-General was if he got back up to his feet, and so Guy used his sword as support as he dragged himself back up. Even with that look that Sync was giving him, the swordsman reminded himself that he couldn't lose his head. He was usually very good at that sort of thing, but all of the extenuating circumstances was making it a little more difficult.
He didn't hesitate, however, in drawing in close to his opponent as he thought through his next attack. He drew his sword close to him and then pulled on the fonons that seemed to be plentiful all of a sudden. It didn't take him long to choose out an Arte. "Beast!" he announced, and he flung his sword arm forward and watched as the transparent blue figure of a beast appeared and rammed toward the Tempest with a roar; hopefully, this was something Sync couldn't dodge as easily.
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Looking away from Guy, the God-General scanned the coliseum, quickly catching sight of the red stain lingering in the air. Of course, he couldn't help but laugh at the sight. What the hell did Anise think she was doing? Did she really think she had a chance against someone like Landel? From the looks of it the arte was considerably weaker, giving the God-General the impression that she was still bogged down by this institute's seals.
Unfortunately, with his attention now fully on the scene before him, Sync hadn't the time to dodge Guy's sudden attack until it was too late. Green eyes immediately cast back down at his opponent just as the swordsman announced his attack, grimacing at the sight of the transparent beast heading straight for him. His arms criscrossed in front of his face, the same green lighting snaking out at all directions when the arte connected.
"Augh!" The force of the attack was more than enough to knock him back, the God-General's back sliding against the coliseum's floor. However, Sync suddenly forced the bottom half of his body upwards, performing a back flip and landing on his feet in a crouched position. He graced Guy with a wild grin, giving the blond a quarter of a second before immediately retaliating.
"That's more like it!" Already he was rushing towards the swordsman, suddenly twisting off the side in an attempt to confuse the latter before striking a fierce uppercut aimed at his jaw.
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Of course, it didn't help when he kept wondering when he might get another unexpected injury somewhere, but he was going to have to hope that Claude could keep up his end of the fight. As much as Guy wanted to stay tuned in to every part of this situation that they'd landed themselves in, the fighter in him was completely aware that he couldn't afford to do that.
The fact that this attack actually connected filled him with a satisfaction that got him even more eager to keep up the fight. He watched Sync's recovery with little surprise; as small as he was, Sync was well-trained and he wasn't about to go down easily.
Guy prepared as Sync rushed him again, trying to follow his movements while also attempting to forget about the way his face was throbbing and the blood was still continuing to seep down his chest. While he wasn't bleeding profusely, the exertion of the fight certainly wasn't helping.
However, Guy wasn't just going to leave himself wide open to get slugged in the face again. The moment Sync drew in, he jumped back and then swung his sword down toward the ground, belting out the name of yet another Arte; it was coming back to him as if he'd never stopped using his powers: "Demon Fang!" A wave of energy went bursting from the sword and sliding across the ground, heading straight toward Sync.
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Guy had already beaten him several times, and even killed him once in the end, but with no friends to come to his aid he'd be damned to let the latter believe that he actually stood a chance.
Given that they were still technically fighting in close quarters, Sync couldn't completely evade the Demon Fang when he was recovering from the latter's dodge. The attack managed to hit, ripping into the side of his pants with angry streaks of red clawing up his calve. The God-General paid no mind to it, however, already preparing to counterattack with something much more powerful. The God-General's body acted on its own, performing a short back flip before unleashing his next arte.
"Cyclone Blaze!"
Sync could feel the heat of the flames surrounding his entire form as he launched himself at Guy.
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If something bad happened to her...
Of course, the only way to prevent that was by fighting tirelessly, and so that was what Guy intended to do. However, Sync had one advantage in that he wasn't likely to get distracted by whatever peril the other participants might be in. Recognizing the attack by its name when Sync called it out, Guy winced as he realized that he had very little chance of dodging it.
Lo and behold, he was more or less a sitting duck as Sync rammed into him, the flames surrounding his body scorching Guy's skin as he yelled out in pain and stumbled back.
There was one good thing about what had happened, though; while he was now in even more pain than before, the fire had cauterized his chest wound, so the blood flow would now be significantly less. His clothes were still singed and that hit had taken a lot out of him, but that didn't mean he was beaten.
The moment Guy could find the strength to move, he swung out with his sword, wanting to get Sync away from him before the younger man could follow up with a series of punches and kicks after all that.
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Sync didn't even offer a hint of a smirk when his arte connected, watching listlessly as the latter's flesh seared from his chest. Unfortunately, before he could throw the swordsman off balance the God-General found himself dodging away from the latter's meager attack. The swing itself managed to tear into the front of his uniform, though it barely grazed into his own skin. Of course, why would something like that ever harm him? If Guy planned to kill him then he better step up from this lousy performance!
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While the wound on his chest that was still slowly bleeding - the one he had taken from what had to have been Claude's inaction - didn't heal even a small bit, the burns became less severe and his face wasn't hurting nearly as much anymore. Centering himself like that really did help in a pinch.
It also gave him that burst of energy that he needed to really let loose. Knowing that he couldn't hesitate any longer, he raced toward Sync and wound up with his sword.
He didn't waste any time, yelling out "Tiger Blade!" as he was propelled into the air with a series of slashes before he came down with one final strike, relishing the feel of his blade tearing into his opponent -- and had he felt some resistance, the hardness of Sync's mask and then the satisfying feel of it cracking under his strength?
As Guy landed he took a quick hop backward, intending to get out of range until he could move in with yet another Arte. However, right as he was preparing something else, he felt another phantom wound start to tear open at his torso. Dammit! How was he supposed to win when he continued to have to fight two different battles, one of which it was impossible to win?
He wanted to look over to the other half of the room and see what Claude was up to, but Guy resisted. If he did that, then his friend would have to deal with even more guilt, and he didn't want to force that onto the younger man. He just had to focus on Sync...
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But the God-General didn’t get the chance to when the swordsman finally attacked, raising his arm to repel the first slash. However, the blond forced him to remain on the defense, trying to match Guy’s sudden speed. In an attempt to block a lower slash, however, Sync left his upper body wide open, the blade slicing deeply into his right shoulder while specks of blood dotted the clay floor. The attack caught him by surprise, but before he could recover the latter was already descending upon him with his final strike.
There was a loud clang! as metal collided with metal before one of the two caved against the pressure of the arte.
Flying shards of metal ripped into Sync’s flesh, cutting deeply into the skin underneath his, now exposed, eye. Blood began to pour down his forehead from where the mask had been pressed down from the force of Guy’s attack, matching with the deep patch of red that surrounded his shoulder. In the end the severity of the attack broke off three fifths of his mask, though what was left stubbornly remained hooked to his face. For the first time since the start of the fight, pain began to cloud Sync’s mind.
Yet that did nothing to stop him. Instead of being impressed the God-General's anger skyrocketed. Why the hell didn't Guy fight back like this sooner? If Sync hadn’t already known that the blond was too stupid, he would’ve been under the impression that the swordsman was just playing around with him!
“Bastard!” Now there was nothing to hide the murderous glare that Sync gave Guy, already rushing towards him in a fit of rage. Clenching his left hand into a tight fist, the God-General swung upwards in another fierce uppercut.
However, Sync couldn’t care less if it actually connected. In reality, the swing served as nothing more than a distraction while he prepared for his real attack, right hand clenched in the same manner. All of a sudden the God-General twisted his body, outstretching his arm as he shoved his right palm into the middle of the swordsman’s chest. A purple flash appeared at the point of connection, seemingly harmless at first, before the ghastly symbol of the curse slot carved itself right into its victim.
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While he could have been angry at his friend, Guy knew better than that. It was Landel and his sick mind that had come up with this coliseum, and he was the one who was to blame for this. Guy could have yelled himself hoarse trying to damn the man who was only a matter of feet away, but he knew it was pointless. There was just no way to get through to a person like Martin Landel; he'd learned the same sort of thing from Van.
Guy really had destroyed part of Sync's mask, and while he did take some pleasure from the sight, he'd only added to his opponent's anger.
Guy did his best to pull back from the uppercut, making it so that Sync's fist only grazed his jaw, but then he was assaulted by a whole different kind of pain. It flared through his chest with a familiarity that made his arm throb. He knew what this was, and he felt his fighting spirit switch into a sort of panic as he flinched back and fell into a crouch.
The curse slot. He glanced down just as the purple light was fading, and felt his stomach twist with nausea. He'd thought he'd been long rid of that thing, and here Sync had just given it back to him. Guy took all of that fear and converted it into a controlled rage as he jumped to his feet, ignoring the way his movements were becoming sluggish from the blood loss.
"What did you just do?!" he snapped, though not loud enough to grab the attention of the other participants. He ran back toward Sync, not caring how his attacks might pull at his wounds. "Sword Rain Alpha!" he yelled, and his sword flung out at the God-General with a series of jabs that was certain to tear into Sync's chest and torso just as Guy's had been. It was about time he evened things up. Sync deserved so much more than that for what he'd just pulled.
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The God-General's laugh, loud and arrogant, rang out in response to Guy's raging demands. It was a good thing the latter's anger was so amusing to witness; he could've very well cut off any sort of conscious thought in the latter's mind until he was nothing more than a mindless drone. However, the prospect suddenly became more tantalizing when Guy rushed at him with a fury of jabs, forcing the God-General back into a defensive stance. While there was no doubt his speed matched with Guy's own swiftness, the combined pain and exhaustion seeping through his body was making him more sluggish.
Sync bit back a cry of pain when the blade's tip finally tore through his chest, partially exposing the symbol drawn there before a stream of blood trickled down his skin. This quickly descended into a domino effect, several more jabs connecting into Sync's body, though he'd be damned to lie down and take everything like this. The God-General willed himself to focus on the swordsman's pattern of attack, dodging or blocking any remaining advances before rushing back in.
Spinning his body in order to gain momentum, the teen immediately performed a series of hard kicks and punches with the very intent of forcing Guy not to attack. He just couldn't afford the latter swinging his sword so recklessly, which meant digging under any of the swordsman’s weaknesses and exploiting them to their full potential. The teen was relentless as he produced wave upon wave of strikes, finally finishing the combo with his chosen arte.
"Reaper's Toll!" At that time a bright blue flash encased his right fist, Sync immediately unleashing the charged attack as he swung forward with all his might.
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It was that very feeling that reminded him that he would never be as good of a person as Luke. Despite all of his friend's immaturity, Luke would have never gotten pleasure out of something like this. He would have had the resolve to do it, but he would have been struggling with guilt each time he swung his sword.
Then again, Luke had never had his mind toyed with by the God-General. Guy didn't even want to think about what Sync might try to do with the curse slot if he survived this.
Unfortunately, it looked like both of them were just taking turns when it came to going all out on each other. After finishing up with an Arte like that, Guy didn't have the immediate energy necessary to block or move away from Sync's barrage of attacks. He did his best to move his arms up to block his face and his chest, but that didn't stop each punch and kick from hurting.
It was as he heard the name of another Arte called out that he realized he was in serious trouble. He cried out when Sync's powered-up first connected with his left arm a final time, and in a strange twist of fate, the bone cracked once again -- in a different place, maybe, but this still counted as the second time that Sync had broken his arm.
Finally, as the Arte finished, he had a moment in which he could take a rest, and he forced himself to back away from his opponent even though his arm was throbbing unbearably. He was really going to have to break out all the stops in this case, and he started to wonder if he could gather up the amount of fonons needed for his Mystic Arte...
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