[ Closed ]

[velvet_zealot]

Who: Yazoo (velvet_zealot) and Cloud Strife (mirageof_deceit)
When: After this conversation
Where: The Flooded Ruins
Format: Action-prose...ish?
What: Cloud has questions that he wants answered. One thing leads to another, and...
Warnings: ...impending violence and hero torture lie ahead. :O

Comments

[velvet_zealot]

[Steel trap jaws snapped at Cloud as he leapt over the barbed tail, barely missing the man's lower half. In return, the snake received a wide gash across its snout from Cloud's sword, tar-like blood oozing out of the wound, splattering onto the stones below, and splashing into the dark water.

An ill-tempered hiss rolled off the snake's tongue; the tongue lapped at the air, tasting the various scents of its prey mingled with the scent of its own blood poisoning the air. Torn between three morsels, it made a snap decision and caught the last Shadow Creeper by a hind leg as it attempted to dodge the still hammering tail. The beast of tainted Lifestream was tossed upward into the air with a growl, claws extended, but the large snake readily gulped it down upon its descent, black mist flowing from in between its clamped jaws, accompanied by a sickening crunch.

It caused Yazoo's eyes to narrow as he watched, his fingers to clench around Velvet Nightmare all the more tightly, index flexing against the arch of the trigger. His fall in the water had no doubt roused the leviathan from its slumber... and now he and Cloud had it to contend with, as well as each other. Just perfect.]

[mirageof_deceit]

[While he attack was successful, the way that the serpent ate the Shadow Creeper was interesting. It was all too much like the Midgar Zolom with a mouth and an eager appetite like that, and he was not planning on being on any menu at this point. He was pretty certain Zack would nag him, and he was avoiding that as much as possible.

Changing direction after his slash, he landed with a skidding halt on the same side of the creature as Yazoo. Two targets might confuse it and not allow it to focus on one of them. That would give him time.

He set the Ultima Weapon in a defensive position and the other materia on his bangle shimmered to life as he summoned up a magical spell. Far above him, a rock formed from the energy and began to streak towards the snake in the form of Comet. He didn't know why he didn't summon up two - one other for Yazoo - but that was the decision for the moment. They had to work together, he supposed.]

[velvet_zealot]

[From the moment Cloud had cleared the enormous snake, Yazoo had trained his gun upon him, the barrel following his every movement, finger testing the trigger, debating silently whether or not to pull it... and yet, Cloud didn't attack him. Instead the ex-SOLDIER, for reasons Yazoo couldn't even begin to understand, focused his attention solely on the serpent.

There was a part of the Remnant that wanted to yell, "I'm your opponent, don't turn away from me!" but the instant he saw that familiar green glow surround Cloud, he knew better.

Realization dawned. Terminate the interruption, and then deal with the traitor. It was that simple.

Turning his attention, along with Velvet Nightmare, back toward the water serpent, Yazoo was able to see Comet as it struck the creature, causing its body to flinch, its head to rear back, and its spiny tail to crash down into the water. The force sent a large wave toward Cloud and Yazoo, but the Remnant was first to act.

As the water rushed over the fractured paving stones toward them, Yazoo pitched himself toward Cloud, catching him by the back of his collar and swinging him out of the way. Not a moment later he was darting back out of the path of the falling wall of water, finger clenching on Velvet Nightmare's trigger, and bullets flying free toward the open mouth of the beast.]

[mirageof_deceit]

[His comet spell hit accurately enough, but the giant snake was also rather tough. He suspected that it had taken heavy damage with the way that it flailed around, but the scales also did a good job hiding it from view. If little else, his materia spell had served to make it angry instead of just hungry.

He shifted his weight as the water pitched over the stone, and he watched the wave rise higher and higher, realizing that it was going to be interesting to get out of. He apparently didn't need to worry as his collar was suddenly seized, and he was thrown backwards out of the direct reach of the wave. His skin beneath where Yazoo had nearly come into direct contact shivered as if suddenly cold.

The water splashed over his boots and hitting up against his knees, but he launched up and over Yazoo's flying bullets. His sword flashed as he returned to combat close-range with the snake, using quick less forceful slashes to the head and neck region this time.]

[velvet_zealot]

[Although the wave retreated back into the water, the snake did not, and while Yazoo's bullets connected, embedding themselves into the roof of the creature's mouth, it did nothing to deter the beast from attacking them.

Rearing back its head, it lunged forward, jaws snapping as it tried to catch hold of Cloud first, and then Yazoo. The Remnant was narrowly missed, but used the close range opportunity to fire off a few more shots, this time into the snake's amber eyes. At the same time, Cloud's slashes split the scales open along the snake's neck and head, once more causing the dark, oil-like blood to ooze free from the gashes and stain the ground.

However, these new injuries, coupled with its sudden and painful blindness, caused the snake to frantically lash its tail around once more, the spiny ridges slamming down into the walkway, then ferociously from side to side, striking at pillars and anything else within reach.

It was on its last legs... it was now or never.

And with Cloud distracted, Yazoo altered the aim of his gun one more time and fired off a shot toward the ex-SOLDIER's back.]

[mirageof_deceit]

[It seemed that its scales weren't tough enough to hold out against Yazoo's accurate shots either, which was nice. It was interesting that they went from trying to killing each other to working together, but he also knew that it wouldn't last long at all. When the snake was dead, they would fall back on the old ways.

His sword slashes hit true, which pleased him. The flailing serpent did not, and he grunted as he was batted backwards in it's frantic lashing about. It forced him to concentrate on the tail rather than his open back, but he felt better about deflecting aside the tail before he heard the shot.

It was only out of pure instinct that he dodged to the side, but a burn in his right bicep indicated that their alliance was melting away. He threw the silver-haired man a venomous look before leaping in to finish off the snake creature with a hard two-handed slash to the flailing neck area.] You're next, brother.

... /ogles another pretty Cloud icon ahur

[velvet_zealot]

[A geyser of viscous blood sprayed the stonework road and the great snake let loose a gurgling hiss; its body collapsed in a heap, unsettling the path even further, water foaming up from in between the cracks of the masonry, and all but spilling over the edges of the remaining platform, inundating it at the serpent's body coasted back into the deep and out of sight.

That left just the two of them... as it had begun, as it would end... and Yazoo was eager to be the last one left standing.]

Idle threats. Of course... if you mean it, show me.

[And, as if to revive the rush of adrenaline, Yazoo fired again at Cloud, this time aiming for the ex-SOLDIER's legs, to get him on the run, or - in the event they were struck by the bullets - immobilize the rather agile (and quite troublesome) threat.]

[mirageof_deceit]

[The falling serpent was enough to satisfy him, and he watched the corpse splash back into the murky water and out of sight again. He stared across the cracked and broken walkway at the other, eyes narrowing in annoyance. It was time to stop taking this fight lightly, he supposed. If he put in half as much effort as he did to take Sephiroth out, he was certain that Yazoo would be defeated.]

T'ch, that means you want me to actually try. Very well....

[He shifted his footing as shots began to fly, parrying aside those the came in accurately before he simply smirked and advanced forward. His right arm still bled from where he had been grazed, but he protected the wound well as he picked up speed before sprinting the rest of the distance. Blue energy began to form around him as he crossed the distance, traveling down the Ultima Weapon. Leaping into the air, he crossed the rest of the distance as he slammed Braver down where Yazoo was standing in hopes of simply cleaving the other in half.]

[velvet_zealot]

[As bullets ricocheted off Ultima Weapon with a resounding clang, ex-SOLDIER and Remnant came together once again in a head-to-head clash.

The sound of steel on steel pierced the air. The roar of additional masonry crashing into the water drowned out the sounds of heavy footfalls. Footfalls that brought Cloud closer to Yazoo; footfalls that brought Yazoo closer to Cloud.

Their eyes locked at the same time as their weapons, glowing blue Mako-infused boring into virulent green Jenova-infected. Beneath the brunt force of Cloud's second onslaught, however, Velvet Nightmare did not hold up as well as it did previous; the cry of the gun's steel casing as it began to warp was enough to cause Yazoo to try and draw back, lips curling into a grimace, black pupils contracting into razor-thin slits... but it was too late. The momentum Cloud had built up pushed Yazoo to one knee with a grunt, forced him to look up at the other man, hatred contorting his naturally dispassionate expression, turning it into one that was markedly ugly.]

[mirageof_deceit]

[His blade might have been stopped, but he could tell that his sword was going to live through the combat more than the long-ranged gun-type. He pushed more of his strength in as his feet returned to the ground, and he stared intently at Yazoo as the other warrior faltered. It wasn't the first time he had brought an enemy down to knees in front of him, but it was the first time anyone as close to Sephiroth.

The hate for him caused a smirk to appear as he shifted his blade so that it slid up beside the other man's neck.] Yield, or I'll remove your head from your neck. [The glow of his eyes showed that he was perfectly capable and willing to carry through his threat.]

[velvet_zealot]

Yield?

[He was left without much of a choice, but that didn't mean the gears had stopped turning; the Remnant refused to remain at the mercy of Cloud for long.]

How generous of you... when you're surely itching to kill me, hm?

[Tilting his head to the side, boldly exposing more of his neck to the edge of Cloud's sword, Velvet Nightmare was released and the gun clattered noisily to the ground before Yazoo. He didn't stop there, however. With his hands free, he raised them, palms empty and skyward for Cloud to behold, then pushed himself to his feet again... slowly, carefully... buying himself time to reassess his current situation and plan his next move.]

Lower your sword, now. I'm unarmed, after all...

[Which was as close to actually yielding as he would get. Ever. And that didn't mean to say that he was about to honestly yield now, either...

...not if he had his way.]

[mirageof_deceit]

What can I say? I'm a generous kind of guy.... [That wasn't to say that he could take away his generosity when it suited him more, but for not bringing Yazoo to knees was more than enough.

He watched silently as the odd gun-type weapon clattered to the ground, and he allowed Yazoo to rise without too much of an issue either. He kept his blade at the silver-haired man's neck, but his gaze swept to each of Yazoo's raised hands to look for hidden weapons or materia slots in a hidden piece of armour. It appeared to be all clear.

Slowly, he pulled Ultima Weapon away and allowed the blade to return to his side as he stared at a younger version of Sephiroth.] How did you create those black creatures out of black mist?

[velvet_zealot]

[So trusting, thought Yazoo smugly to himself. Of course, Cloud's confidence was no doubt the fault of his inexperience in dealing with the Remnants, a fact which Yazoo had no qualms using to his advantage.]

...The Shadow Creepers? It's funny you should ask about them... [He shifted his left foot forward, caught the grip of his gun under the toe of his boot, and then shoved it back behind him, sending it skidding over the ground.] ...when it's me you have to worry about!

[No sooner the words had left his mouth that he was following the weapon, springing backward and kicking out his legs in order to knock Cloud back and put distance between him and his adversary once again.

Of course, the moment he found a suitable time to make his exit, he would take it. And, with the mist rolling in thickly now, it seemed that time was not far off.]

[mirageof_deceit]

I already defeated you, so you're not a real concern to my well-being. [His eyes followed the slide of the weapon backwards, but he made no move to send Yazoo to the ground. He wanted answers right now, and he had figured out that physically Yazoo was not really too much of a threat to him.

His sword came up and knocked aside from of the remnant's feet, though he took the other to the chest. He grunted as he was forced backwards a few feet, but the blow felt like something had bitten into his skin rather than just hit him. He rubbed at the area before narrowing his eyes at the other man.]

How did you make those shadow creeper creatures? [There was more of a demand to his voice as he started to cross the distance again. If he had to put Yazoo back on the ground to get his answers, he would without hesitation.]