[Guilty Gear] Three Degrees to the Right, Part 11
Title: Three Degrees to the Right
Fandom: Guilty Gear
Part: 11/12
Characters: Sol, Ky
Rating: PG-15
Warnings: violence
Notes: Speedy recovery.
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII
Three Degrees to the Right
Part XI
It was really hard to come up with a sarcastic reply when the kid was giving him that smile.
Nothing was as disarming as sincerity, and Sol was forced to admit that despite everything, he had been waiting for the second shoe to drop, for some kind of ulterior motive to manifest itself. This was a world were saints were either idiots or liars-he had been around, after all, to watch them preach and die, or preach and run, their talks of kindness and doing good only holding up as long as they had something to exploit.
Once upon a time, he'd been dumb enough to be lured into believing in something, and had to find out the hard way that the only way not to end up getting stabbed in the back was to anticipate the worst in any person he met. Not the most joyful principle to live by, perhaps, but certainly the most sane.
I don't remember anyone who would've looked a monster in the eye and said 'welcome back', though.
"Is that thing running alright?" Ky's question drew him back to the present, and he nodded curtly.
"…It'll be enough for the time being."
The limiter had suffered, of course, requiring a lot more conscious effort on his part to maintain his appearance. For the moment, though, the core seemed stable enough.
Sol rose, the makeshift tourniquet around his thigh clattering to the ground. He'd almost forgotten that the kid had put his belt there. Beneath the flecks of blood, the engraved word was winking up at him, taunting him with its simplicity.
Shaking his head, he stepped over it and crossed to where the Furaiken was resting, the dirt crunching under his bare feet. Behind him, the kid had knelt down, tying the belt back around his waist. He didn't even bother to wipe off the stains, half his uniform streaked with Sol's blood.
"Let's get out of here." Sol pulled the weapon from the ground and tossed it back to Ky, who caught it with one hand.
"That… won't be easy." Ky turned his gaze to the distant ceiling, faint light streaming through its cracks. "Your fight caused a number of cave-ins on the way. Blasting through could collapse the entire tunnel system on top of us. But… there's some kind of construction platform above. We could get out through there… provided we find some way to climb up there first, of course."
"No time for that," Sol said, gauging the distance to the opening. Even if they were to climb the mounds of debris, they still wouldn't manage to reach the structure. "At this rate, we'll end up gassed like rats in a hole."
"Do you have a better idea?"
Sol reached up to adjust the limiter. "Might as well… cat's out of the bag, and all that."
Ky's surprised gasp got lost in the rush of the wings ripping free, expanding to their full length once again.
"Hey, wait a second, are you-?"
"If you want to climb, be my guest."
"No, but-"
Without further ado, Sol grabbed him around the waist, and kicked off in a cloud of dust.
Something in him was delighting in the utter foolishness of it all, the rush of air, the startled shout ringing in his ears and the near strangle-hold on his neck, the fact that he had finally managed to throw the kid off balance.
The rest of him was concentrating on shutting out his body's protests, the barely healed places threatening to fail him. The landing took him two tries and was a lot less graceful than he would have liked, sending both of them sprawling onto the platform.
"…Ow," Ky finally managed, still trying to regain his breath as the metal grating shivered to a stop beneath their weight, staring up at him with huge eyes. "You show-off!"
"You make a terrible Lois Lane, kid."
"I have no idea who the hell that is," Ky panted, "but I have the feeling once I find out, I'll have to feed you your teeth."
"Heh, you're welcome to try."
It felt natural to go back to this, back to teasing and ruffling the kid's feathers, watching him bounce between wide-eyed incredulity and furious glares. Better than the doubt and discomfort of the past few hours, trapped in a situation beyond his control, entirely dependant on another's kindness.
Well, there /was/ that other option, but that idea's best put in the box of things we don't like to think about…
He had never liked hemming and hawing his way through decisions, anyway. If Ky could live with a calculated risk, there was no reason why he couldn't return the favor, at least for the time being. No choice, in fact, unless he wanted to return to square one with even more problems than he'd started out with, but he hated feeling like he was forced to do things.
The ensuing silence was broken by a loud crackle. "…mmander? Commander?!"
For a second, they both stared at each other, blinking at the unexpected voice.
"You might want to answer that," Sol pointed out eventually.
"Commander? Do …ou read? Comm…der!" The voice was almost frantic.
Ky reached down, unhooking the radio headpiece from his belt. "Kiske here."
"Oh! Oh, thank God! We thought-!"
More crackling, accompanied by the shrill screech of a microphone being yanked away, before the voice on the other end was replaced by Andreyev's calmer tone. "We've got a warning from the bombardment commando, sir-they'll be arriving in twenty minutes and refuse to delay the dropping."
"What's your status?"
"Ships are pulling out as we speak. I can only give you rough estimates for the moment, but it's looking good. Recovery from all outlined locations was successful, sir."
Rubbing a hand across his eyes, Ky allowed himself a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You've done well."
"Thank you, sir. Is everything alright? We can't seem to get clear readings on your coordinates. Is Sir Badguy with you?"
"You could… say that. Get off," Ky bit out, shoving at his shoulder, and Sol decided to let him go.
"…Pardon?"
"We're underground, Lieutenant. I can't tell you our exact position, but we'll be up shortly."
"We'll confirm your location as we go, then. I assume you have no objections against a lift, sir?"
Ky smiled, clambering to his feet. "None whatsoever."
"Understood. We'll be there ASAP. Please prepare for a rough take-off; we've got company."
The line went dead.
Sol adjusted the limiter again, the wings pulling back into his flesh with a wet sound, and turned to Ky, who was already halfway up the ladder. "No fun until all the odds are stacked against us, huh?"
"…Actually, I could do with a really boring day for a change."
---
They emerged in the shade of a half-destroyed overhang, part of what might have been scheduled to become a subway station ages ago, but was long since deprived of its purpose. The buildings surrounding the street were in the same condition, blackened and ruined, ash and dust whipping through the air like snow.
Everything was so quiet that the sudden crackle of the radio boomed like an explosion.
"Coordinates confirmed, sir. We're approaching from-" A loud noise interrupted the operator, followed by a bout of swearing in Russian, before Andreyev took over the line again. "This goddamn thing's tailgating us! Please get ready, Commander. This might get rough."
"Lieutenant-!" Ky didn't get further, because Sol's hand reached around him, clamping his mouth shut. Bewildered, he threw a sideways glance at Sol, who had gone very still. And then, he heard it, too, a low, keening cry, accompanied by the buzzing sound of giant insect wings.
A moment later, the enormous bulk of a dragonfly was gliding past them, its underbelly nearly skimming the street. It was low enough that its many eyes could easily peer beneath the overhang, but either it didn't notice them, or it simply didn't care-first the head passing by, then the body, its wings loud like rotor blades, the swaying tail knocking the overhang out of the way almost by accident.
Ky flinched as the roof was torn away, collapsing behind them in a heap. As the Gear passed down the street, the hand slowly slid away from his mouth.
"Did it miss us?"
"No." Sol's voice was grim. "It's just got bigger fish to fry."
Ky didn't even need to ask, only needed to follow his line of sight to a bright silver shape spiraling towards the ground, desperately trying to shake off a larger shadow in pursuit.
As they watched, a ray gun blast finally hit its mark, ripping into the creature's side. Crippled and smoldering, it fell out of the sky, distracting the approaching dragonfly momentarily-its body curled in on itself, the many pointed legs sinking into the smaller Gear. As the airship zoomed past, the dragonfly paused before letting go of its prey, resuming its chase.
"Oh holy-!" a voice burst from the radio.
"There's another one!"
"Main cannon down, sub-cannons scramming!"
"We can't fire, we'll get blown to smithereens if we do!"
"Pull out, we can't-!"
"Negative. Take her down, helmsman."
"Sir-!"
"Do it!"
Amidst the shouting, the ship continued its mad descent into the street below, the Gear still hot on its tail.
"…How well can you aim?" Ky murmured.
"Not well enough if they keep jerking around like this. They won't be able to pull up fast enough."
"Then we'll have to make them stay out of the way." Ky stepped out into the street, the Furaiken already simmering in his hand. "Lieutenant! Can your ship stand missing two right-wing propellers?"
A small pause, followed by an audible intake of breath. "…Let's find out."
"…On my signal."
The power was already flowing towards his outstretched hand, gathering in his palm until it felt like his entire arm was burning up. The magic was pushing against the constraints of his body, demanding to be released, but he refused, his gaze set on the two approaching shapes, one looming behind the other.
"Now!"
On cue, the ship swerved abruptly to the side. Its right wing rammed into the ruins lining the street, tearing through the walls.
With a quick prayer, Ky let go of the spell.
A white-hot spear of lightning went hurtling down the street, a fireball only a split-second behind. The dragonfly had no time to react, the fury of the magic colliding with its side in a large epxlosion.
Ky staggered as loud cheering broke out over the radio, the newly wingless creature plowing into the row of buildings in the ship's wake. A hand grabbed his arm, helping him to keep his balance as the airship slowed its approach, opening its cargo hold.
"They're not serious about this," he muttered weakly, already resigned to the fact that this was going to hurt. A lot.
"Probably can't risk a landing anymore."
"That's crazy."
"No risk, no fun."
A smirk, before he was lifted again like a rag doll, Sol throwing both of them into the oncoming maw.
---
For a moment, the world seemed to lose all sound.
There should have been something-the engines screaming, the debris scattering, the wind rushing past his ears-but he could hear only silence. Time slowed almost to the point where he could feel his lungs expanding to draw a breath, could feel the fingers digging into his back, the jerk as he was twisted around in mid-air-
The impact jarred the world into focus again, time speeding back up as they plowed across the floor of the cargo hold, rolling a few times before coming to a standstill.
"…Ow," Sol finally ventured from underneath, voice muffled by his neck.
"…You," Ky breathed, trying to get his bearings, slowly realizing that they were still alive and mostly whole. "You're insane. Stir-crazy."
"That surprises you how, exactly?"
Ky lifted his head to observe the Furaiken, its blade all too close to their sides, and sighed. "It's a miracle you didn't skewer us both."
"Psh. No gratitude."
"I'd be grateful for a warning," he shot back, trying to disentangle himself and shaking off the dizziness, various parts of his body notifying him that they very much minded being made to move right now.
Sol groaned, sat up and popped his dislocated shoulder back into place.
"Good lord," Ky murmured, inadvertently catching a good look of the new patchwork of gashes and bruises blossoming on his back. "You're a mess. "
"I think I'll live."
"I love how this would be followed by accusations of masochism if I were to say the same, but somehow it's perfectly alright for you. Do the words 'double standard' mean anything to you?"
Sol twitched when he tried to brush away the remnants of his uniform. "Stop that."
"Didn't we already do this?"
The beeping of the intercom cut off Sol's retort, the shrill little sound demanding immediate attention.
"Welcome aboard, Commander," Andreyev's voice sounded tinny from the speaker on the wall, but his relief was audible even from the small device. "My apologies for the… unconventional boarding. We'll be arriving back at main base in about four hours-they are setting up defenses against possible fallout as we speak. I've arranged for copies of all transmissions to be taken to the captain's cabin." A small, uncertain pause. "Do you require any assistance, sir?"
"Thank you, Lieutenant, we're fine. I'll be up shortly."
The intercom clicked off, and Ky sighed, clambering to his feet and offering a hand to Sol, who naturally refused to acknowledge it. "Let's go get you patched up." He glanced down. "…And find you some pants."
Behind them, the last yellow sliver of evening sky was swallowed by the cargo bay slamming closed. The airship continued to climb, the hull muffling the noise of the first bombs going off, spreading their deadly veil over the ruined city.
-TBC-
----
A/N: Whew, and we're almost done. XD Next up will be the final chapter, so I hope to see you there. Anyway, C&C is welcome and appreciated, as usual. Thanks goes to raging_tofu for betaing.
Authorial Post-Its:
- Oh come ON, like I was going to pass this up. Actually, from an aerodynamic standpoint, Sol should be completely unable to lift off due to sheer body mass, but whee. Gear magic!
- If action movies can ignore the laws of physics, so can I.
- Well, tails need room and all. XD
<< Return to Part X? | Continue to Part XII? >>
<< Return to Guilty Gear Index | Return to Fanfiction Index >>
Fandom: Guilty Gear
Part: 11/12
Characters: Sol, Ky
Rating: PG-15
Warnings: violence
Notes: Speedy recovery.
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII
Three Degrees to the Right
Part XI
It was really hard to come up with a sarcastic reply when the kid was giving him that smile.
Nothing was as disarming as sincerity, and Sol was forced to admit that despite everything, he had been waiting for the second shoe to drop, for some kind of ulterior motive to manifest itself. This was a world were saints were either idiots or liars-he had been around, after all, to watch them preach and die, or preach and run, their talks of kindness and doing good only holding up as long as they had something to exploit.
Once upon a time, he'd been dumb enough to be lured into believing in something, and had to find out the hard way that the only way not to end up getting stabbed in the back was to anticipate the worst in any person he met. Not the most joyful principle to live by, perhaps, but certainly the most sane.
I don't remember anyone who would've looked a monster in the eye and said 'welcome back', though.
"Is that thing running alright?" Ky's question drew him back to the present, and he nodded curtly.
"…It'll be enough for the time being."
The limiter had suffered, of course, requiring a lot more conscious effort on his part to maintain his appearance. For the moment, though, the core seemed stable enough.
Sol rose, the makeshift tourniquet around his thigh clattering to the ground. He'd almost forgotten that the kid had put his belt there. Beneath the flecks of blood, the engraved word was winking up at him, taunting him with its simplicity.
Shaking his head, he stepped over it and crossed to where the Furaiken was resting, the dirt crunching under his bare feet. Behind him, the kid had knelt down, tying the belt back around his waist. He didn't even bother to wipe off the stains, half his uniform streaked with Sol's blood.
"Let's get out of here." Sol pulled the weapon from the ground and tossed it back to Ky, who caught it with one hand.
"That… won't be easy." Ky turned his gaze to the distant ceiling, faint light streaming through its cracks. "Your fight caused a number of cave-ins on the way. Blasting through could collapse the entire tunnel system on top of us. But… there's some kind of construction platform above. We could get out through there… provided we find some way to climb up there first, of course."
"No time for that," Sol said, gauging the distance to the opening. Even if they were to climb the mounds of debris, they still wouldn't manage to reach the structure. "At this rate, we'll end up gassed like rats in a hole."
"Do you have a better idea?"
Sol reached up to adjust the limiter. "Might as well… cat's out of the bag, and all that."
Ky's surprised gasp got lost in the rush of the wings ripping free, expanding to their full length once again.
"Hey, wait a second, are you-?"
"If you want to climb, be my guest."
"No, but-"
Without further ado, Sol grabbed him around the waist, and kicked off in a cloud of dust.
Something in him was delighting in the utter foolishness of it all, the rush of air, the startled shout ringing in his ears and the near strangle-hold on his neck, the fact that he had finally managed to throw the kid off balance.
The rest of him was concentrating on shutting out his body's protests, the barely healed places threatening to fail him. The landing took him two tries and was a lot less graceful than he would have liked, sending both of them sprawling onto the platform.
"…Ow," Ky finally managed, still trying to regain his breath as the metal grating shivered to a stop beneath their weight, staring up at him with huge eyes. "You show-off!"
"You make a terrible Lois Lane, kid."
"I have no idea who the hell that is," Ky panted, "but I have the feeling once I find out, I'll have to feed you your teeth."
"Heh, you're welcome to try."
It felt natural to go back to this, back to teasing and ruffling the kid's feathers, watching him bounce between wide-eyed incredulity and furious glares. Better than the doubt and discomfort of the past few hours, trapped in a situation beyond his control, entirely dependant on another's kindness.
Well, there /was/ that other option, but that idea's best put in the box of things we don't like to think about…
He had never liked hemming and hawing his way through decisions, anyway. If Ky could live with a calculated risk, there was no reason why he couldn't return the favor, at least for the time being. No choice, in fact, unless he wanted to return to square one with even more problems than he'd started out with, but he hated feeling like he was forced to do things.
The ensuing silence was broken by a loud crackle. "…mmander? Commander?!"
For a second, they both stared at each other, blinking at the unexpected voice.
"You might want to answer that," Sol pointed out eventually.
"Commander? Do …ou read? Comm…der!" The voice was almost frantic.
Ky reached down, unhooking the radio headpiece from his belt. "Kiske here."
"Oh! Oh, thank God! We thought-!"
More crackling, accompanied by the shrill screech of a microphone being yanked away, before the voice on the other end was replaced by Andreyev's calmer tone. "We've got a warning from the bombardment commando, sir-they'll be arriving in twenty minutes and refuse to delay the dropping."
"What's your status?"
"Ships are pulling out as we speak. I can only give you rough estimates for the moment, but it's looking good. Recovery from all outlined locations was successful, sir."
Rubbing a hand across his eyes, Ky allowed himself a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You've done well."
"Thank you, sir. Is everything alright? We can't seem to get clear readings on your coordinates. Is Sir Badguy with you?"
"You could… say that. Get off," Ky bit out, shoving at his shoulder, and Sol decided to let him go.
"…Pardon?"
"We're underground, Lieutenant. I can't tell you our exact position, but we'll be up shortly."
"We'll confirm your location as we go, then. I assume you have no objections against a lift, sir?"
Ky smiled, clambering to his feet. "None whatsoever."
"Understood. We'll be there ASAP. Please prepare for a rough take-off; we've got company."
The line went dead.
Sol adjusted the limiter again, the wings pulling back into his flesh with a wet sound, and turned to Ky, who was already halfway up the ladder. "No fun until all the odds are stacked against us, huh?"
"…Actually, I could do with a really boring day for a change."
---
They emerged in the shade of a half-destroyed overhang, part of what might have been scheduled to become a subway station ages ago, but was long since deprived of its purpose. The buildings surrounding the street were in the same condition, blackened and ruined, ash and dust whipping through the air like snow.
Everything was so quiet that the sudden crackle of the radio boomed like an explosion.
"Coordinates confirmed, sir. We're approaching from-" A loud noise interrupted the operator, followed by a bout of swearing in Russian, before Andreyev took over the line again. "This goddamn thing's tailgating us! Please get ready, Commander. This might get rough."
"Lieutenant-!" Ky didn't get further, because Sol's hand reached around him, clamping his mouth shut. Bewildered, he threw a sideways glance at Sol, who had gone very still. And then, he heard it, too, a low, keening cry, accompanied by the buzzing sound of giant insect wings.
A moment later, the enormous bulk of a dragonfly was gliding past them, its underbelly nearly skimming the street. It was low enough that its many eyes could easily peer beneath the overhang, but either it didn't notice them, or it simply didn't care-first the head passing by, then the body, its wings loud like rotor blades, the swaying tail knocking the overhang out of the way almost by accident.
Ky flinched as the roof was torn away, collapsing behind them in a heap. As the Gear passed down the street, the hand slowly slid away from his mouth.
"Did it miss us?"
"No." Sol's voice was grim. "It's just got bigger fish to fry."
Ky didn't even need to ask, only needed to follow his line of sight to a bright silver shape spiraling towards the ground, desperately trying to shake off a larger shadow in pursuit.
As they watched, a ray gun blast finally hit its mark, ripping into the creature's side. Crippled and smoldering, it fell out of the sky, distracting the approaching dragonfly momentarily-its body curled in on itself, the many pointed legs sinking into the smaller Gear. As the airship zoomed past, the dragonfly paused before letting go of its prey, resuming its chase.
"Oh holy-!" a voice burst from the radio.
"There's another one!"
"Main cannon down, sub-cannons scramming!"
"We can't fire, we'll get blown to smithereens if we do!"
"Pull out, we can't-!"
"Negative. Take her down, helmsman."
"Sir-!"
"Do it!"
Amidst the shouting, the ship continued its mad descent into the street below, the Gear still hot on its tail.
"…How well can you aim?" Ky murmured.
"Not well enough if they keep jerking around like this. They won't be able to pull up fast enough."
"Then we'll have to make them stay out of the way." Ky stepped out into the street, the Furaiken already simmering in his hand. "Lieutenant! Can your ship stand missing two right-wing propellers?"
A small pause, followed by an audible intake of breath. "…Let's find out."
"…On my signal."
The power was already flowing towards his outstretched hand, gathering in his palm until it felt like his entire arm was burning up. The magic was pushing against the constraints of his body, demanding to be released, but he refused, his gaze set on the two approaching shapes, one looming behind the other.
"Now!"
On cue, the ship swerved abruptly to the side. Its right wing rammed into the ruins lining the street, tearing through the walls.
With a quick prayer, Ky let go of the spell.
A white-hot spear of lightning went hurtling down the street, a fireball only a split-second behind. The dragonfly had no time to react, the fury of the magic colliding with its side in a large epxlosion.
Ky staggered as loud cheering broke out over the radio, the newly wingless creature plowing into the row of buildings in the ship's wake. A hand grabbed his arm, helping him to keep his balance as the airship slowed its approach, opening its cargo hold.
"They're not serious about this," he muttered weakly, already resigned to the fact that this was going to hurt. A lot.
"Probably can't risk a landing anymore."
"That's crazy."
"No risk, no fun."
A smirk, before he was lifted again like a rag doll, Sol throwing both of them into the oncoming maw.
---
For a moment, the world seemed to lose all sound.
There should have been something-the engines screaming, the debris scattering, the wind rushing past his ears-but he could hear only silence. Time slowed almost to the point where he could feel his lungs expanding to draw a breath, could feel the fingers digging into his back, the jerk as he was twisted around in mid-air-
The impact jarred the world into focus again, time speeding back up as they plowed across the floor of the cargo hold, rolling a few times before coming to a standstill.
"…Ow," Sol finally ventured from underneath, voice muffled by his neck.
"…You," Ky breathed, trying to get his bearings, slowly realizing that they were still alive and mostly whole. "You're insane. Stir-crazy."
"That surprises you how, exactly?"
Ky lifted his head to observe the Furaiken, its blade all too close to their sides, and sighed. "It's a miracle you didn't skewer us both."
"Psh. No gratitude."
"I'd be grateful for a warning," he shot back, trying to disentangle himself and shaking off the dizziness, various parts of his body notifying him that they very much minded being made to move right now.
Sol groaned, sat up and popped his dislocated shoulder back into place.
"Good lord," Ky murmured, inadvertently catching a good look of the new patchwork of gashes and bruises blossoming on his back. "You're a mess. "
"I think I'll live."
"I love how this would be followed by accusations of masochism if I were to say the same, but somehow it's perfectly alright for you. Do the words 'double standard' mean anything to you?"
Sol twitched when he tried to brush away the remnants of his uniform. "Stop that."
"Didn't we already do this?"
The beeping of the intercom cut off Sol's retort, the shrill little sound demanding immediate attention.
"Welcome aboard, Commander," Andreyev's voice sounded tinny from the speaker on the wall, but his relief was audible even from the small device. "My apologies for the… unconventional boarding. We'll be arriving back at main base in about four hours-they are setting up defenses against possible fallout as we speak. I've arranged for copies of all transmissions to be taken to the captain's cabin." A small, uncertain pause. "Do you require any assistance, sir?"
"Thank you, Lieutenant, we're fine. I'll be up shortly."
The intercom clicked off, and Ky sighed, clambering to his feet and offering a hand to Sol, who naturally refused to acknowledge it. "Let's go get you patched up." He glanced down. "…And find you some pants."
Behind them, the last yellow sliver of evening sky was swallowed by the cargo bay slamming closed. The airship continued to climb, the hull muffling the noise of the first bombs going off, spreading their deadly veil over the ruined city.
-TBC-
----
A/N: Whew, and we're almost done. XD Next up will be the final chapter, so I hope to see you there. Anyway, C&C is welcome and appreciated, as usual. Thanks goes to raging_tofu for betaing.
Authorial Post-Its:
- Oh come ON, like I was going to pass this up. Actually, from an aerodynamic standpoint, Sol should be completely unable to lift off due to sheer body mass, but whee. Gear magic!
- If action movies can ignore the laws of physics, so can I.
- Well, tails need room and all. XD
<< Return to Part X? | Continue to Part XII? >>
<< Return to Guilty Gear Index | Return to Fanfiction Index >>