Death in the Rain (log)
Who: Sora [doortothedark, Roxas [oathtooblivion] and Vergil [yamato_devil].
Where: Some back alleyway someplace. By the way, it's raining.
When: 1st April. Night-time or very late evening.
Summary: Vergil is fighting a demon but can't win against it - que Sora entering to help out with the later asistance of a very reluctant Roxas.
Notes: We were... bored. XD
A loud clash echoed down the deserted alleyway as the two blades crossed once again, metal grating on metal as the pair fought for dominance in what had become much more than a simple confrontation.
The rain was coming down hard, large pools of water mixed with diluted blood forming on the uneven ground as more blood oozed down the walls at each side, illuminated by the full moon, which shone eerily through the clouds that had gathered.
Panting softly and gritting his teeth, Vergil scowled darkly and rested his hand against the edge of Yamato, ignoring the pain that resulted from his own blade cutting into his palm as he increased the strength he was putting into keeping it steady, his arms shaking slightly from the resistance he was receiving from his opponent.
It was a higher class demon, one that he had never seen before. How it had even gone unnoticed for so long was a question he would need to answer after he had killed it, although the creature was certainly putting up a fight the heavy-looking broadsword blocking most of his advances near effortlessly, His endurance was being pushed to the limit and although the creature had sustained a number of serious injuries, it didn't seem too bothered by them. He was beginning to lose ground, feeling himself being pushed backwards as the demon slowly advanced on him, the swords scraping together as they continued the battle of strength.
I need to end this, now. He thought, broadening his stance a little to compensate for the demon's advancing moves before he thrust Yamato upwards, knocking the broadsword out of the way and giving him the opportunity to flip backwards and increase the gap between them. Blue electricity crackled around his body as a faint glow appeared a split second before he Triggered, all four of his wings spreading out as he flexed his clawed fingers before folding up tight as he lunged forward, moving faster than the naked eye could see and impaling the demon on Yamato, gripping the demon's shoulder at the same time and digging his sharp, black claws into it's tough flesh. He twisted Yamato violently within the creature's chest, blood spilling from the deep wound that ran right through its body as he abruptly ripped Yamato out, reverting back to his human form as the demon fell backwards and hit the ground with a loud thud, remaining motionless. He slumped a little, staggering backwards until he felt the cool wall against his back, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall, he attempted to catch his breath, his body trembling lightly from the physical exertion. "What… was that?" He asked himself, relaxing a little as he felt the cool rain hit his face.
Being caught in a rain shower this hard was not deserable, and very few people were daring to endure it. Sora, however, had spent the day at quite a distance away from home, and now found himself charging forward, near to blindness, making his way back home. He was soaked through and wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, unless it involved taking a turn someplace. After a while, however, he realised he didn't know where he was going: slowing, he stopped, looking around him a few times, concluding that he must have, in fact, taken a wrong turn.
Making to turn back the way he came, he started slightly as a flash of blue obscured his vision. Spinning around, he ran to the end of the alleyway, stopping just as he came to the source of it - not some sort of wire flaring from the rain, however. Some sort of fight.
Unmoving, he watched as the creature fell to the ground, the man seemingly believing it to be dead and resting his head on the wall. Looking back to the demon, Sora flinched. It wasn't dead. It was moving.
Running forward, he pulled out his keyblade in a flash, yelling in Vergil's direction. "It's not dead! Watch out!"
Cold blue eyes immediately snapped open as he heard Sora, but before he could even react the demon was back on it's feet, weapon in hand. In a flash it attacked, lunging for Vergil and plunging the broadsword through his stomach, the half-demon's eyes flashed briefly before glazing over as blood oozed thickly around the broadsword that now had him impaled to the wall, a pool of crimson already beginning to form at his feet as the demon smirked sadistically and licked its thin lips, exposing its deadly fangs in the process.
Vergil struggled to keep his eyes open, the blood loss already taking its toll on him as Yamato slipped out of his hand, falling to the ground with a loud clatter just as the demon abruptly ripped the broadsword out of his body, only to drive it forward once again, this time through his chest. Hissing in pain, Vergil's legs buckled beneath him, but pinned to the wall he could do nothing but struggle to remain on his feet as the demon prepared to deliver the final blow.
Sora dashed forward, feeling a little unnerved at plunging into battle with an enemy he usually didn't fight. However, determination outruled his fear, causing him to halt behind the demon's back and start hacking into it's flash. This did little more than seem to irritate it, as would a parent being kicked by a child. However, it did gain some response, the demon turning to get rid of the pest that was bothering his concentration.
Seeing this, Sora stepped back a little, taunting it in an attempt to get it to charge after him and free Vergil. "I'm over here! Come get me!"
The demon looked him unemotionlessly, eventually pulling his sword out of the wall, making his way over to Sora, Sora gulping and bracing himself for whatever he was about to be let in for.
Falling to his knees the moment the blade was removed from his chest, Vergil closed his eyes and tried to find the strength to stand again. Managing to retrieve Yamato, he gripped the wall with his free hand and shakily pushed himself to his feet once again, blood thickly staining his clothes now as well as pooling around his feet.
Somehow mustering up enough strength to summon his Phantom Blades, he directed them towards the demon and watched as the glowing blue energy swords lunged forward, piercing the demon's tough skin and shattering upon impact.
Just as the demon was about to lay his sword down on him, it stopped, seemingly going through some sort of pain. After a few seconds, Sora realised it was Vergil - back up again even though he'd been toying with death only seconds before.
Seeing this as an opening, Sora used his lower height to his advantage, darting forward and spinning his keyblade full circle across the demons legs several times, before thrusting it upwards - causing its expression to go ever the more darker, deciding the child before it was not as feeble as he looked.
Roxas had been watching the fight between Vergil and the demon for some time now, hidden in the shadow of a building. He was loathe to help Vergil, but there was also the fact that it was a demon, and if Vergil didn't stop it, it would be very dangerous. Roxas had no experience with demons before, but to him they were just more intelligent Heartless - nothing too difficult. Or so Roxas hoped. So he would continue to watch. But something definitely caught his attention when the phantom blades struck the demon (he winced at that point, the memories of less than a week ago all too fresh) and it staggered back to reveal - Sora.
Roxas didn't think twice this time, summoning his Keyblade and charging at the demon. Before he could strike, however, his Keyblade suddenly turned towards Sora with a will of its own, but not to indicate he should be fighting Sora. Is it telling me something? He tried to tug it back towards the demon half-heartedly, his expression one of silent disbelief. What's this thing doing...?
About to strike the demon again, Sora felt his hand being pulled towards a slant, just catching the edge of the demon in the process. Part of him wondered what it was doing - it was not unheard of for it to want to do something - but from what he could see, it looked like it was going for Vergil. Adverting his eyes, he saw what it was actually pointing at. A blonde hair boy about his age. He'd met him once. Or maybe... more than once.
"Roxas?" he questioned, jumping back slightly to avoid beind hit again by the demon in his distraction. As he spoke Roxas' name, his keyblade flashed, returning to being under Sora's control. What's... what's going on?
Roxas did not reply; his eyes were still fixed on his own Keyblade. At the same time as Sora's, his own flashed and he found that it, too, was back to obeying him - and just in time, because the demon had turned to swing its sword at Roxas who managed to parry, but almost lost his balance from the sheer force of the blow. This thing's not a Heartless, that's for sure... Sora's gonna have to wait.
Intervening before things got too messy, Vergil grit his teeth as he knocked the keyblade out of the way, Yamato clashing with the broadsword as a result.
"Get out of here. Both of you." He snapped before he flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two by the larger blade. He still looked unsteady on his feet, his healing powers not working properly due to how physically drained he was, but for as long as he could remain standing, he was going to fight. "This is not your fight. Leave now!" He hissed in pain as the demon struck again, almost forcing him to his knees with its strength as he struggled to hold Yamato above his head, blocking the larger sword.
At Vergil's command, Sora's eyebrow's raised, watching as Vergil turned the demon's attention back to himself once again. "No way! I'm not leaving!" he said, sounding more stubborn than determined, darting over to Vergil's side to push away the heavier blade the demon was holding. "You're hurt. I'm not just leaving you here."
For a split second, Roxas thought Vergil was turning on him before he knocked his keyblade away - but apparently Vergil had decided to play hero and fight the thing alone. Either that, or stupid pride would not allow Vergil to let the pair of them assist him. Roxas thought the second was most likely.
"Forget about him, I'm sure he can handle it alone," Roxas said to Sora, motioning to Vergil. "He's doing us all a favour." By allowing himself to be killed, he thought privately, but didn't mention that part.
"I'll manage." Vergil answered darkly as Yamato clashed with the broadsword yet again. He didn't really have the strength to be continuing the fight, how he was even standing was completely beyond him, but he didn't allow himself to think about such things. "Your presence here is only a hinderance, leave!" He snapped rather abruptly before dodging another attack, stumbling a little since he was rather unsteady on his feet, his injuries causing him a great deal of difficulty.
Sora looked between the pair, his face straining, as if trying to decide what would be best. Part of him wanted to be the 'coward' and run away. Part of him wanted to leave a fight which had nothing to do with him. But the other part of him saw someone being brutally injured. And he didn't want to stand for that.
"I'm not leaving," he repeated profusely, making another move towards the demon, connecting a series of attacks to its sword arm, in an attempt to make it less weaker. That, for one thing, would most definately help.
"He said he's fine alone," Roxas replied, stepping back from the fight somewhat to keep out of the way and resisting temptation to roll his eyes. Roxas would rather the demon was worn down by Vergil, and then Vergil was defeated which left the way clear for them to finish the demon. Two birds with one stone. "You do know who this guy is, don't you?"
Sora shook his head, continuing to hack into the demon's flesh. "Sure. But I'm not about to let someone else be taken away by.... heartless or demon or whatever this is!"
"You'd save the life of a murderer? What good's that gonna do? He'll just kill more people," Roxas said, irritatedly brushing a mixture of wet hair and rainwater from his eyes. He made a movement as though about to help, but hesitated. He was adamant on not helping Vergil, but would Sora be able to handle things himself? Roxas doubted it - the demon was more than twice his height, and probably twice as strong...
Grimacing as the demon's blade cut across his shoulder, Vergil swiftly dodged another attack, unsure of how much longer he would actually be able to keep this up. He had never encountered anything as strong as this and it was wearing him down drastically, he'd lost a lot of blood and felt light-headed as a result, but that was the least of his problems. "You heard him," he sneered between deep breaths, trying to recover what little energy he could in a short amount of time. "Leave." Swiftly raising Yamato defensively, he blocked another strike.
Sora was about to open his mouth to reply when the demon changed tactics, once again spinning round to catch him off guard. He jumped, but just a tad too late, his right side being caught against the heavier sword. Wincing as he flew backwards, he landed on the floor again, proceeding to crouch down with pain, his right side crippled, holding his free hand over the wound. The agony of the wound hit him as he landed, his face screwing up as if screaming silently with pain. The rain didn't help, making it sting all the more, but Sora dared to endure, dragging himself up against the wall, his face set, before plunging back to the ground again. He still seemed determined to fight.
The demon was turning on Sora again, sword raised, and Roxas resigned himself to do what he no longer had much of a choice about doing, and that was helping them. Vergil, he still didn't give a damn about, but he wasn't prepared to watch Sora be killed. He darted forwards - not directly at the demon, but from the side, leaping at the last moment and throwing all his weight into plunging his keyblade into the demon's stomach.
It met its mark, and the demon gave off an eerie howl, staggering backwards. Roxas' keyblade was stuck fast, so he stepped back and allowed the keyblade to appear in his hand again. Panting slightly, he continued to ignore Vergil but glanced over his shoulder at Sora. "Can you still fight?"
Sora looked up at Roxas at he came charging over, still heaving slightly from being caught in the side. At Roxas' question, he looked down at his hands - one, covered in blood. He nodded. "I think so," he said, once again using the wall for aid to help himself up with, leaning against it for a few seconds, before summoning his keyblade up from where it had fallen. "I'll fight."
"You can't." Vergil answered flatly as he staggered back, his back hitting the wall as blood dripped from Yamato. The demon was looking increasingly worse for wear, but unfortunately, he was faring no better. It was coming down to endurance and he just didn't have enough to withstand the kind of punishment he was being dealt.
Sora blinked, looking over to Vergil. Despite Sora's pain in one injury, Vergil had been hit over and over again, and looked worse off than ever. He wanted to help. "I'm not just going to give up," he replied, staggering over to where Roxas stood, before forcing himself to stand upright, pain etched across his face.
"Neither can you, anyway," Roxas pointed out, looking over Vergil's rather battered and sorry state without sympathy. "Sora's in better condition than you are." With that he raised his keyblade again, this time taking the demon head-on, his keyblade meeting the broadsword with a clang. Neither Sora or Vergil could afford to receive any more blows, so Roxas reasoned that if the demon was occupied with him it left it wide open to attacks from Vergil or Sora.
Not allowing himself to be outdone, Vergil lunged forward, taking advantage of the demon's distraction and slashing across its chest with Yamato before finally plunging the nodachi into its stomach, smirking a little as he turned the blade, making the wound even worse before he forced it upwards, slicing deeply across it's body. "You're just humans," he sneered, his face contorted with effort and pain "If it kills me, you wont stand a chance."
As both Roxas and Vergil fought the demon, Sora lifted himself up, trying to clear his mind, just avoiding toppling over. He'd fought things way stronger than this. He wasn't about to be put down. Once again he ran forward, hacking on the open side of the demon, chaining his attacks together. "But.. if we all fight together, we'll beat him," he resolved, taking a short break from chaining his attacks to reposition himself.
Roxas didn't give a reply, too focused on keeping the demon's attention on him. If the demon moved away to try and attack Sora or Vergil, his keyblade would rush to meet it and drive it back; he was causing the demon no end of frustration, and it was obvious the demon was becoming stronger as it drew on its last reserves of energy and power.
Abruptly pulling Yamato out of the demon's stomach, he took a step back and Triggered again, using the last reserves of his energy to enhance his power, lunging at the demon again.
Sora continued slashing across the demons upper and lower back, and side, edging further and further round to where Roxas was. By accident, on one of those slashes, his keyblade recoiled back and hit Roxas' for a brief moment - but something seemed to happen to both keyblades in the process.
Roxas watched in astonishment as his own keyblade vanished into Sora's in a flash of light, the now single keyblade glowing brightly and humming with what felt like power. Instinctively Roxas laid a hand on the hilt and the keyblade grew even more brighter. Nodding to Sora as if he should do the same, he raised the keyblade to point it at the demon.
Still in shock, Sora instincitly lifted up the single keyblade, Roxas doing the same thing. As it reached its target, a faint glow began to cover the very tip of the keyblade, proceeding to grow brighter and brighter, casting over the demon, who seemed trasnfixed with the light it was giving off - the keyblade gave off one final glint, before the growing power surging within it was released, heading forcefold into the demon in front of it, the keyblade now shaking so hard it took all of Sora's strength just to retain it's balance.
The demon tried to keep its stance, but it was slipping back. The overwhelming power of light that was issuing from the keyblade appeared to be too much for it. Sora hoped it was, since the keyblade was growing more and more out of control.
Summoning his Phantom Blades and launching them at the demon, Vergil darted past the pair as he drew on what little power he had left as the gauntlets and grieves appeared around his hands and feet, changing his demonic form. Sending a second wave of Phantom Blades at the demon, he jumped up and slammed his foot down onto the creature's skull, hearing a satisfying crack as the blow connected before he used his momentum to flip backwards, landing a short distance away and reverting to his human form before he fell to his knees, panting heavily.
The keyblade seemed to be draining both Sora and Roxas' energy, and the beam of light seemed to be receding as they grew increasingly tired. With the demon knocked flat, Roxas allowed the light to flicker and die, and the light around the keyblade faded, Roxas' keyblade once again his own and seperate from Sora's. Panting, he lowered his keyblade and looked cautiously across to the fallen demon. "Is... is it dead?"
Sora, seemingly more tired than Roxas due to the fact he was also injured, forced his eyes to look at it. "It better be, after all that."
Vergil groaned and forced himself to stand once again, striding over to where the demon had collapsed and tapping it with his boot. "Mm, it's dead," he answered emotionlessly before glancing at the pair. "But I didn't need your help. You got in the way."
Roxas glared at Vergil, making no move to dismiss his weapon. "Believe me, I didn't want to help you. I was just helping Sora. Aren't you gonna at least say thanks to him for saving your hide?"
Sora dragged himself back up from where he had been half standing with his hands on his knees, doubled over. He shifted forward and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder, saying in a slightly quieter tone than before due to increased tiredness, "It's alright. This is just what I do."
"Hn, next time stay out of things that do not concern you." Vergil replied bluntly as he limped away.
Roxas' empty hand clenched into a fist as he watched Vergil go; it would be just so easy to finish off what the pair started a week ago, but fighting Vergil now in such a weakened state was beyond cowardice. Then again, did things like bravery and cowardice apply to people like Vergil, whose victims were most likely helpless themselves? He battled with himself for a moment, but finally released a sigh and the keyblade vanished.
"Fine," he muttered, more to himself than to either Vergil or Sora.
Whatever Roxas' resolutions were to just let Vergil walk away, Sora did exactly the opposite, running a few steps in his direction before giving up, choosing just to shout instead. "Wait! At least.." he faltered, loosing whatever he was about to say as Vergil walked further out of sight.
Vergil glanced over his shoulder, his stance waivering slightly. "What?"
"Are you going to be okay like that? You don't look too good..." Sora said, his eyes seeming to fill up with worry.
"I'll manage." Vergil answered flatly, it wouldn't matter how many injuries he had sustained in a few hours.
Roxas' patience finally wore thin, and he snapped at Sora, "Why do you care?! Just let him go already."
Sora seemed rather taken aback at Roxas' sudden turn on him, stumbling sideways. "Just... he's hurt, isn't he?" he said quietly, his voice starting to fail him.
Vergil frowned "I am not hurt." He interrupted.
"See?" Roxas said to Sora, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "He wants to limp off and bleed to death in peace. You should take a look at your own wounds."
As he was about to say something to Vergil, Sora was cut off by Roxas. Looking down, he saw he was still bleeding at his side, and his legs were worse for wear. "Ah... ha.." he replied feebly, once again falling to the floor.
Without uttering another word, Vergil strode off, shaking his head.
Roxas took a final glance at Vergil, glaring after him, then his attention was back on Sora. Still not at all impressed with the way Sora had acted towards Vergil, he asked somewhat icily, "Need help?"
Sora, doing his best to suspend himself from actually falling over, shook his head. "No. I'm... al... ri..." he started, but never got to finish that sentance, for he had collapsed from exhaustion on the ground in front of him.
Roxas grinned despite himself and his worry for Sora, kneeling down and hoisting Sora back up, draping one of Sora's arms across his shoulders for support. "Can you lean on me like this and walk?"
Not wanting to waste any more energy speaking, Sora simply nodded back to him, trying his best to keep himself upright, finding it a lot easier to do so with Roxas' support. Managing to find a faint trace of voice he could spare, he muttered "Thanks.."
Roxas glanced across at Sora. "Is your home near here?" If it was, he'd walk Sora there. "If it's not, you can come to my house if it's closer." Roxas had plenty of bandages left from what he'd used on his arm and leg wounds previously that Sora could also use for his injuries.
Sora opened his mouth, trying his best to think straight with the fog that seemed to be covering his sense of thought. "I think..." he began, but never got any further, having finally reached his limits and passing out.
Where: Some back alleyway someplace. By the way, it's raining.
When: 1st April. Night-time or very late evening.
Summary: Vergil is fighting a demon but can't win against it - que Sora entering to help out with the later asistance of a very reluctant Roxas.
Notes: We were... bored. XD
A loud clash echoed down the deserted alleyway as the two blades crossed once again, metal grating on metal as the pair fought for dominance in what had become much more than a simple confrontation.
The rain was coming down hard, large pools of water mixed with diluted blood forming on the uneven ground as more blood oozed down the walls at each side, illuminated by the full moon, which shone eerily through the clouds that had gathered.
Panting softly and gritting his teeth, Vergil scowled darkly and rested his hand against the edge of Yamato, ignoring the pain that resulted from his own blade cutting into his palm as he increased the strength he was putting into keeping it steady, his arms shaking slightly from the resistance he was receiving from his opponent.
It was a higher class demon, one that he had never seen before. How it had even gone unnoticed for so long was a question he would need to answer after he had killed it, although the creature was certainly putting up a fight the heavy-looking broadsword blocking most of his advances near effortlessly, His endurance was being pushed to the limit and although the creature had sustained a number of serious injuries, it didn't seem too bothered by them. He was beginning to lose ground, feeling himself being pushed backwards as the demon slowly advanced on him, the swords scraping together as they continued the battle of strength.
I need to end this, now. He thought, broadening his stance a little to compensate for the demon's advancing moves before he thrust Yamato upwards, knocking the broadsword out of the way and giving him the opportunity to flip backwards and increase the gap between them. Blue electricity crackled around his body as a faint glow appeared a split second before he Triggered, all four of his wings spreading out as he flexed his clawed fingers before folding up tight as he lunged forward, moving faster than the naked eye could see and impaling the demon on Yamato, gripping the demon's shoulder at the same time and digging his sharp, black claws into it's tough flesh. He twisted Yamato violently within the creature's chest, blood spilling from the deep wound that ran right through its body as he abruptly ripped Yamato out, reverting back to his human form as the demon fell backwards and hit the ground with a loud thud, remaining motionless. He slumped a little, staggering backwards until he felt the cool wall against his back, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall, he attempted to catch his breath, his body trembling lightly from the physical exertion. "What… was that?" He asked himself, relaxing a little as he felt the cool rain hit his face.
Being caught in a rain shower this hard was not deserable, and very few people were daring to endure it. Sora, however, had spent the day at quite a distance away from home, and now found himself charging forward, near to blindness, making his way back home. He was soaked through and wasn't paying much attention to where he was going, unless it involved taking a turn someplace. After a while, however, he realised he didn't know where he was going: slowing, he stopped, looking around him a few times, concluding that he must have, in fact, taken a wrong turn.
Making to turn back the way he came, he started slightly as a flash of blue obscured his vision. Spinning around, he ran to the end of the alleyway, stopping just as he came to the source of it - not some sort of wire flaring from the rain, however. Some sort of fight.
Unmoving, he watched as the creature fell to the ground, the man seemingly believing it to be dead and resting his head on the wall. Looking back to the demon, Sora flinched. It wasn't dead. It was moving.
Running forward, he pulled out his keyblade in a flash, yelling in Vergil's direction. "It's not dead! Watch out!"
Cold blue eyes immediately snapped open as he heard Sora, but before he could even react the demon was back on it's feet, weapon in hand. In a flash it attacked, lunging for Vergil and plunging the broadsword through his stomach, the half-demon's eyes flashed briefly before glazing over as blood oozed thickly around the broadsword that now had him impaled to the wall, a pool of crimson already beginning to form at his feet as the demon smirked sadistically and licked its thin lips, exposing its deadly fangs in the process.
Vergil struggled to keep his eyes open, the blood loss already taking its toll on him as Yamato slipped out of his hand, falling to the ground with a loud clatter just as the demon abruptly ripped the broadsword out of his body, only to drive it forward once again, this time through his chest. Hissing in pain, Vergil's legs buckled beneath him, but pinned to the wall he could do nothing but struggle to remain on his feet as the demon prepared to deliver the final blow.
Sora dashed forward, feeling a little unnerved at plunging into battle with an enemy he usually didn't fight. However, determination outruled his fear, causing him to halt behind the demon's back and start hacking into it's flash. This did little more than seem to irritate it, as would a parent being kicked by a child. However, it did gain some response, the demon turning to get rid of the pest that was bothering his concentration.
Seeing this, Sora stepped back a little, taunting it in an attempt to get it to charge after him and free Vergil. "I'm over here! Come get me!"
The demon looked him unemotionlessly, eventually pulling his sword out of the wall, making his way over to Sora, Sora gulping and bracing himself for whatever he was about to be let in for.
Falling to his knees the moment the blade was removed from his chest, Vergil closed his eyes and tried to find the strength to stand again. Managing to retrieve Yamato, he gripped the wall with his free hand and shakily pushed himself to his feet once again, blood thickly staining his clothes now as well as pooling around his feet.
Somehow mustering up enough strength to summon his Phantom Blades, he directed them towards the demon and watched as the glowing blue energy swords lunged forward, piercing the demon's tough skin and shattering upon impact.
Just as the demon was about to lay his sword down on him, it stopped, seemingly going through some sort of pain. After a few seconds, Sora realised it was Vergil - back up again even though he'd been toying with death only seconds before.
Seeing this as an opening, Sora used his lower height to his advantage, darting forward and spinning his keyblade full circle across the demons legs several times, before thrusting it upwards - causing its expression to go ever the more darker, deciding the child before it was not as feeble as he looked.
Roxas had been watching the fight between Vergil and the demon for some time now, hidden in the shadow of a building. He was loathe to help Vergil, but there was also the fact that it was a demon, and if Vergil didn't stop it, it would be very dangerous. Roxas had no experience with demons before, but to him they were just more intelligent Heartless - nothing too difficult. Or so Roxas hoped. So he would continue to watch. But something definitely caught his attention when the phantom blades struck the demon (he winced at that point, the memories of less than a week ago all too fresh) and it staggered back to reveal - Sora.
Roxas didn't think twice this time, summoning his Keyblade and charging at the demon. Before he could strike, however, his Keyblade suddenly turned towards Sora with a will of its own, but not to indicate he should be fighting Sora. Is it telling me something? He tried to tug it back towards the demon half-heartedly, his expression one of silent disbelief. What's this thing doing...?
About to strike the demon again, Sora felt his hand being pulled towards a slant, just catching the edge of the demon in the process. Part of him wondered what it was doing - it was not unheard of for it to want to do something - but from what he could see, it looked like it was going for Vergil. Adverting his eyes, he saw what it was actually pointing at. A blonde hair boy about his age. He'd met him once. Or maybe... more than once.
"Roxas?" he questioned, jumping back slightly to avoid beind hit again by the demon in his distraction. As he spoke Roxas' name, his keyblade flashed, returning to being under Sora's control. What's... what's going on?
Roxas did not reply; his eyes were still fixed on his own Keyblade. At the same time as Sora's, his own flashed and he found that it, too, was back to obeying him - and just in time, because the demon had turned to swing its sword at Roxas who managed to parry, but almost lost his balance from the sheer force of the blow. This thing's not a Heartless, that's for sure... Sora's gonna have to wait.
Intervening before things got too messy, Vergil grit his teeth as he knocked the keyblade out of the way, Yamato clashing with the broadsword as a result.
"Get out of here. Both of you." He snapped before he flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding being cleaved in two by the larger blade. He still looked unsteady on his feet, his healing powers not working properly due to how physically drained he was, but for as long as he could remain standing, he was going to fight. "This is not your fight. Leave now!" He hissed in pain as the demon struck again, almost forcing him to his knees with its strength as he struggled to hold Yamato above his head, blocking the larger sword.
At Vergil's command, Sora's eyebrow's raised, watching as Vergil turned the demon's attention back to himself once again. "No way! I'm not leaving!" he said, sounding more stubborn than determined, darting over to Vergil's side to push away the heavier blade the demon was holding. "You're hurt. I'm not just leaving you here."
For a split second, Roxas thought Vergil was turning on him before he knocked his keyblade away - but apparently Vergil had decided to play hero and fight the thing alone. Either that, or stupid pride would not allow Vergil to let the pair of them assist him. Roxas thought the second was most likely.
"Forget about him, I'm sure he can handle it alone," Roxas said to Sora, motioning to Vergil. "He's doing us all a favour." By allowing himself to be killed, he thought privately, but didn't mention that part.
"I'll manage." Vergil answered darkly as Yamato clashed with the broadsword yet again. He didn't really have the strength to be continuing the fight, how he was even standing was completely beyond him, but he didn't allow himself to think about such things. "Your presence here is only a hinderance, leave!" He snapped rather abruptly before dodging another attack, stumbling a little since he was rather unsteady on his feet, his injuries causing him a great deal of difficulty.
Sora looked between the pair, his face straining, as if trying to decide what would be best. Part of him wanted to be the 'coward' and run away. Part of him wanted to leave a fight which had nothing to do with him. But the other part of him saw someone being brutally injured. And he didn't want to stand for that.
"I'm not leaving," he repeated profusely, making another move towards the demon, connecting a series of attacks to its sword arm, in an attempt to make it less weaker. That, for one thing, would most definately help.
"He said he's fine alone," Roxas replied, stepping back from the fight somewhat to keep out of the way and resisting temptation to roll his eyes. Roxas would rather the demon was worn down by Vergil, and then Vergil was defeated which left the way clear for them to finish the demon. Two birds with one stone. "You do know who this guy is, don't you?"
Sora shook his head, continuing to hack into the demon's flesh. "Sure. But I'm not about to let someone else be taken away by.... heartless or demon or whatever this is!"
"You'd save the life of a murderer? What good's that gonna do? He'll just kill more people," Roxas said, irritatedly brushing a mixture of wet hair and rainwater from his eyes. He made a movement as though about to help, but hesitated. He was adamant on not helping Vergil, but would Sora be able to handle things himself? Roxas doubted it - the demon was more than twice his height, and probably twice as strong...
Grimacing as the demon's blade cut across his shoulder, Vergil swiftly dodged another attack, unsure of how much longer he would actually be able to keep this up. He had never encountered anything as strong as this and it was wearing him down drastically, he'd lost a lot of blood and felt light-headed as a result, but that was the least of his problems. "You heard him," he sneered between deep breaths, trying to recover what little energy he could in a short amount of time. "Leave." Swiftly raising Yamato defensively, he blocked another strike.
Sora was about to open his mouth to reply when the demon changed tactics, once again spinning round to catch him off guard. He jumped, but just a tad too late, his right side being caught against the heavier sword. Wincing as he flew backwards, he landed on the floor again, proceeding to crouch down with pain, his right side crippled, holding his free hand over the wound. The agony of the wound hit him as he landed, his face screwing up as if screaming silently with pain. The rain didn't help, making it sting all the more, but Sora dared to endure, dragging himself up against the wall, his face set, before plunging back to the ground again. He still seemed determined to fight.
The demon was turning on Sora again, sword raised, and Roxas resigned himself to do what he no longer had much of a choice about doing, and that was helping them. Vergil, he still didn't give a damn about, but he wasn't prepared to watch Sora be killed. He darted forwards - not directly at the demon, but from the side, leaping at the last moment and throwing all his weight into plunging his keyblade into the demon's stomach.
It met its mark, and the demon gave off an eerie howl, staggering backwards. Roxas' keyblade was stuck fast, so he stepped back and allowed the keyblade to appear in his hand again. Panting slightly, he continued to ignore Vergil but glanced over his shoulder at Sora. "Can you still fight?"
Sora looked up at Roxas at he came charging over, still heaving slightly from being caught in the side. At Roxas' question, he looked down at his hands - one, covered in blood. He nodded. "I think so," he said, once again using the wall for aid to help himself up with, leaning against it for a few seconds, before summoning his keyblade up from where it had fallen. "I'll fight."
"You can't." Vergil answered flatly as he staggered back, his back hitting the wall as blood dripped from Yamato. The demon was looking increasingly worse for wear, but unfortunately, he was faring no better. It was coming down to endurance and he just didn't have enough to withstand the kind of punishment he was being dealt.
Sora blinked, looking over to Vergil. Despite Sora's pain in one injury, Vergil had been hit over and over again, and looked worse off than ever. He wanted to help. "I'm not just going to give up," he replied, staggering over to where Roxas stood, before forcing himself to stand upright, pain etched across his face.
"Neither can you, anyway," Roxas pointed out, looking over Vergil's rather battered and sorry state without sympathy. "Sora's in better condition than you are." With that he raised his keyblade again, this time taking the demon head-on, his keyblade meeting the broadsword with a clang. Neither Sora or Vergil could afford to receive any more blows, so Roxas reasoned that if the demon was occupied with him it left it wide open to attacks from Vergil or Sora.
Not allowing himself to be outdone, Vergil lunged forward, taking advantage of the demon's distraction and slashing across its chest with Yamato before finally plunging the nodachi into its stomach, smirking a little as he turned the blade, making the wound even worse before he forced it upwards, slicing deeply across it's body. "You're just humans," he sneered, his face contorted with effort and pain "If it kills me, you wont stand a chance."
As both Roxas and Vergil fought the demon, Sora lifted himself up, trying to clear his mind, just avoiding toppling over. He'd fought things way stronger than this. He wasn't about to be put down. Once again he ran forward, hacking on the open side of the demon, chaining his attacks together. "But.. if we all fight together, we'll beat him," he resolved, taking a short break from chaining his attacks to reposition himself.
Roxas didn't give a reply, too focused on keeping the demon's attention on him. If the demon moved away to try and attack Sora or Vergil, his keyblade would rush to meet it and drive it back; he was causing the demon no end of frustration, and it was obvious the demon was becoming stronger as it drew on its last reserves of energy and power.
Abruptly pulling Yamato out of the demon's stomach, he took a step back and Triggered again, using the last reserves of his energy to enhance his power, lunging at the demon again.
Sora continued slashing across the demons upper and lower back, and side, edging further and further round to where Roxas was. By accident, on one of those slashes, his keyblade recoiled back and hit Roxas' for a brief moment - but something seemed to happen to both keyblades in the process.
Roxas watched in astonishment as his own keyblade vanished into Sora's in a flash of light, the now single keyblade glowing brightly and humming with what felt like power. Instinctively Roxas laid a hand on the hilt and the keyblade grew even more brighter. Nodding to Sora as if he should do the same, he raised the keyblade to point it at the demon.
Still in shock, Sora instincitly lifted up the single keyblade, Roxas doing the same thing. As it reached its target, a faint glow began to cover the very tip of the keyblade, proceeding to grow brighter and brighter, casting over the demon, who seemed trasnfixed with the light it was giving off - the keyblade gave off one final glint, before the growing power surging within it was released, heading forcefold into the demon in front of it, the keyblade now shaking so hard it took all of Sora's strength just to retain it's balance.
The demon tried to keep its stance, but it was slipping back. The overwhelming power of light that was issuing from the keyblade appeared to be too much for it. Sora hoped it was, since the keyblade was growing more and more out of control.
Summoning his Phantom Blades and launching them at the demon, Vergil darted past the pair as he drew on what little power he had left as the gauntlets and grieves appeared around his hands and feet, changing his demonic form. Sending a second wave of Phantom Blades at the demon, he jumped up and slammed his foot down onto the creature's skull, hearing a satisfying crack as the blow connected before he used his momentum to flip backwards, landing a short distance away and reverting to his human form before he fell to his knees, panting heavily.
The keyblade seemed to be draining both Sora and Roxas' energy, and the beam of light seemed to be receding as they grew increasingly tired. With the demon knocked flat, Roxas allowed the light to flicker and die, and the light around the keyblade faded, Roxas' keyblade once again his own and seperate from Sora's. Panting, he lowered his keyblade and looked cautiously across to the fallen demon. "Is... is it dead?"
Sora, seemingly more tired than Roxas due to the fact he was also injured, forced his eyes to look at it. "It better be, after all that."
Vergil groaned and forced himself to stand once again, striding over to where the demon had collapsed and tapping it with his boot. "Mm, it's dead," he answered emotionlessly before glancing at the pair. "But I didn't need your help. You got in the way."
Roxas glared at Vergil, making no move to dismiss his weapon. "Believe me, I didn't want to help you. I was just helping Sora. Aren't you gonna at least say thanks to him for saving your hide?"
Sora dragged himself back up from where he had been half standing with his hands on his knees, doubled over. He shifted forward and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder, saying in a slightly quieter tone than before due to increased tiredness, "It's alright. This is just what I do."
"Hn, next time stay out of things that do not concern you." Vergil replied bluntly as he limped away.
Roxas' empty hand clenched into a fist as he watched Vergil go; it would be just so easy to finish off what the pair started a week ago, but fighting Vergil now in such a weakened state was beyond cowardice. Then again, did things like bravery and cowardice apply to people like Vergil, whose victims were most likely helpless themselves? He battled with himself for a moment, but finally released a sigh and the keyblade vanished.
"Fine," he muttered, more to himself than to either Vergil or Sora.
Whatever Roxas' resolutions were to just let Vergil walk away, Sora did exactly the opposite, running a few steps in his direction before giving up, choosing just to shout instead. "Wait! At least.." he faltered, loosing whatever he was about to say as Vergil walked further out of sight.
Vergil glanced over his shoulder, his stance waivering slightly. "What?"
"Are you going to be okay like that? You don't look too good..." Sora said, his eyes seeming to fill up with worry.
"I'll manage." Vergil answered flatly, it wouldn't matter how many injuries he had sustained in a few hours.
Roxas' patience finally wore thin, and he snapped at Sora, "Why do you care?! Just let him go already."
Sora seemed rather taken aback at Roxas' sudden turn on him, stumbling sideways. "Just... he's hurt, isn't he?" he said quietly, his voice starting to fail him.
Vergil frowned "I am not hurt." He interrupted.
"See?" Roxas said to Sora, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "He wants to limp off and bleed to death in peace. You should take a look at your own wounds."
As he was about to say something to Vergil, Sora was cut off by Roxas. Looking down, he saw he was still bleeding at his side, and his legs were worse for wear. "Ah... ha.." he replied feebly, once again falling to the floor.
Without uttering another word, Vergil strode off, shaking his head.
Roxas took a final glance at Vergil, glaring after him, then his attention was back on Sora. Still not at all impressed with the way Sora had acted towards Vergil, he asked somewhat icily, "Need help?"
Sora, doing his best to suspend himself from actually falling over, shook his head. "No. I'm... al... ri..." he started, but never got to finish that sentance, for he had collapsed from exhaustion on the ground in front of him.
Roxas grinned despite himself and his worry for Sora, kneeling down and hoisting Sora back up, draping one of Sora's arms across his shoulders for support. "Can you lean on me like this and walk?"
Not wanting to waste any more energy speaking, Sora simply nodded back to him, trying his best to keep himself upright, finding it a lot easier to do so with Roxas' support. Managing to find a faint trace of voice he could spare, he muttered "Thanks.."
Roxas glanced across at Sora. "Is your home near here?" If it was, he'd walk Sora there. "If it's not, you can come to my house if it's closer." Roxas had plenty of bandages left from what he'd used on his arm and leg wounds previously that Sora could also use for his injuries.
Sora opened his mouth, trying his best to think straight with the fog that seemed to be covering his sense of thought. "I think..." he began, but never got any further, having finally reached his limits and passing out.