Blue_XIII

Nobody Gets Out Alive

Jul 30th, 2019
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  1. [02:06] "Disappoint you? Do you think this is some kind of fucked up game?"
  2.  
  3. ---
  4.  
  5. Isaac incinerates the regent infront of him with ease.
  6.  
  7. Stories spread of him besting Sors Ultovex in a straight duel.
  8.  
  9. Taiga Rowan tells him, with perfect seriousness, that Isaac is one of the strongest mages in all of Agartha.
  10.  
  11. ---
  12.  
  13. The guards he motions to step into line with with practiced ease. Siegfried may be a fool, but he is a fool with years of experience. He is not too fool to realize what was happening here. Isaac stands high atop the mountain, and miles below is Siegfried, a wolf barking at the moon. The bloody-toned masks of the shogunate match the countenance of their Lord's, and Siegfried would appreciate the décor if not for the fact that he had much bigger preoccupations.
  14.  
  15. "Calael Kang worked to make the lighthouse a place of salvation. Anyone can get a second chance - no matter who they did, or whothey were, or what they've become. You have no right..." His fists clench. They shake. Every iota of his being thrums with righteous indignation. "It is not your toy. You'd treat a vampire there so that they can be free from their curse...not to serve you."
  16.  
  17. Energy fizzles to life around him. Electric blue, a sharp contrast in every regard from the man across from him. Both born in Huang, one stood at the top of the world, and the other..? Rabble. Filth. Less than a commoner, a vagabond, who'd abandoned his family to see the world. It was no wonder that Isaac thought him beneath his notice.
  18.  
  19. "There is no hope for the future while men like you exist. It was never any people, or place - the real enemy is the kind of corruption that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt."
  20.  
  21. ---
  22.  
  23. There was never going to be any other way, was there?
  24.  
  25. ---
  26.  
  27. "And that corruption is standing right infront of me."
  28. (Siegfried)
  29. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  30.  
  31. [02:07] Rai Ieyasu whispers something.
  32. [02:15] The changes on his face are a sight to take in during the moment, each little flash of anger. The way his brow furrowed and his nostril flared. As the aura of blue essence coats Siegfried and makes the atmosphere weigh down with the pulse of magical power, the black winged demi-angel remained standing where he was. His feathers shuffled within his wings and they unfold out, but he stares forward - still smiling.
  33.  
  34. Trained guardsmen complete their initial movement and now surround the young man on his left and right flank. Two to the side, three to the east. They watch him intently through the gaps in their ruby gemstome masks, waiting.
  35.  
  36. "Ah, how shallow of you, Siegfried. What an easy conclusion to come to. Look at you - are these your convictions? 'This man took away my necromancer, so he must be evil'. Please."
  37.  
  38. "Learn your place."
  39.  
  40. A thousand black thousands then join his two wings, taking them out at least two meters to either side- a sudden beat of his wings lifts Isaac up into the air, floating above the challenger. "Beneath me," he casts a long shadow from up above, and in that moment a dozen etheral swords of unlight form around him, each sharp tip pointed directly at Siegfried. Isaac grins in anticipation, "Run. Run as fast as you can."
  41. (Isaac Shimasu)
  42.  
  43. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  44.  
  45. [02:29] "My convictions...are far, far greater than that. But you'd never understand."
  46.  
  47. ---
  48.  
  49. He stands infront of Magdalen, a hail of swords from the divine buffeting him as he fraily raises his arms.
  50.  
  51. His body being sent catapulting through the woods by Zeno Morvan's jet of energy to the chest.
  52.  
  53. Back to back, him and Taiga fight, only one of Siegfried's arms even operational.
  54.  
  55. ---
  56.  
  57. "I've watched you since Reimara Academy, when you backed Aurora while she beat on a child. You told Lea Elisheva to watch as her father died," he pauses as the men surround him, and the swords are painted at him. His heart beats, rapidly, a thousand times a minute - it could burst out of his chest at any minute now. "The world is on your side because you have rank, and because you have strength. You play by rules that you write, and you're going to tell the greatest lie that a liar ever played on history, Isaac Shimasu:
  58.  
  59. That you were a good man."
  60.  
  61. He remembers Lei Jin's last words.
  62.  
  63. That none would do anything but sit idly by as Isaac enacted his will, did questionable things and flaunted around a woman as a war trophy.
  64.  
  65. "And my father...a man who fought injustice at every turn...who fought against the wicked until his dying breath...won't be remembered at all."
  66.  
  67. In that, he finds strength. Like a quasar, he lights up the night, wreathing himself in azure energy as the swords and the soldiers surround him, like Isaac's own personal symphony of madness. There'd been a similar scene to this one, a few years back -
  68.  
  69. When he'd talked to Sors Ultovex in much this same way.
  70.  
  71. "Taiga Rowan never ran. Not when faced with a man as wicked as you. So neither will I."
  72.  
  73. The blade of a Gehennan chieftain, gifted to him by his departed father, given to him by Quincy, is strapped to his back. The blade he'd picked out with Clara is strapped to his lower back, and at his hips, twin swords from the Elisheva brothers.
  74.  
  75. "I could debate morality until I was blue in the face with someone like you. But it's like trying to sing about colors to a man born blind and deaf. Slavery. Cruelty. Murdering your opposition. Even if there had never been a Clara Ultovex, Isaac..."
  76.  
  77. Siegfried and his many swords stand tall, ready to fight for what he believes in.
  78.  
  79. "This was bound to happen eventually."
  80.  
  81. ---
  82.  
  83. Lightning struck.
  84.  
  85. ---
  86.  
  87. There's a leap into certain peril, with his sword's steel singing in the winds of the storm.
  88.  
  89. Everything about Siegfried contrasts and contests everything Isaac Shimasu is -
  90.  
  91. And, infantile as his command over magic was, he placed every iota of his being into working a miracle.
  92.  
  93. Siegfried...
  94.  
  95.  
  96. You chose this. Remember that.
  97. (Siegfried)
  98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  99.  
  100. The blonde haired boy who lived in the city for his entire life was there. Hearing and watching the entire thing. This Shogun was really ready to hurt someone else for standing up for what they believed in and who they cared about. Just like his friend's brother.
  101.  
  102. Don't do anything stupid.
  103.  
  104. There were words of his friends ringing through his head. But what kind of hero would just stand there and let something like this happen again? He wasn't there to fight by the side of Lei Jin, he instead opted to protect the innocence the little one that he left behind in death.
  105.  
  106. Soldiers were surrounding the guy. It wasn't a fight that Kah Zam thought the other man could win. Probably not even with his help.
  107.  
  108. But unfortunately, this little hero was not of an ordinary pedigree. He was raised to believe that no standard was too high for him to meet. If he was going to protect the entire world, he had to start doing all he could possibly muster in the here and now. It had to start with this poor, misfortunate and unwise man who would attack someone of high social and government power in his own city, all for love.
  109.  
  110. "...I... hate... villains."
  111.  
  112. The words rang out with the crackle of thunder. Without hesitation, he put his goofy blue-black mask on. A brand new rifle was unslung from his back. A replacement for the bow that he usually toted around. Less cumbersome.
  113.  
  114. Only then would purplish sparks form around him... igniting into a flamelike plasma.
  115.  
  116. "I hate people who hurt others... with their words and the things that they do both...."
  117.  
  118. The rifle itself started to heat up. Lightning was already zapping out of its barrel, nearly uncontrollably. There was a clear passion in the things he was saying and doing, backed up by witnessing and hearing of events.
  119.  
  120. "...and most of all... I really hate people... who take away my friends' loved ones."
  121.  
  122. If nobody else was going to help this guy, Kah Zam was. He did his best to charge with a burst of potent lightning magic through the soldiers, and he attempted to shoot Isaac Shimasu with a lightning bolt!2
  123. (Kah Zam)
  124. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  125.  
  126. [02:35] The bolt of Kah Zam flashes against Isaac and sends a wave of sparks that electricity the man for a moment, his entire form blue - and yet, when it fades, he is still smiling at Siegfried. The attack cast by the boy didn't even cause him to blink, let alone deal any damage. It was as if the wind was passing by and he didn't notice it.
  127.  
  128. Nonetheless, the guards turn their attention on the child, while Isaac deals with the real challenger.
  129. (Isaac Shimasu)
  130. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  131.  
  132. [02:44] Siegfried runs bullheadedly forward, trying with all of his might.
  133.  
  134. The raw destructive power that Isaac is able to unleash - the jets of flame scorch the ground, send him billowing back, and him, wreathed in a brilliant azure shield, hack and slash at the blessed shogun as if every molecule of him could be set on fire and he'd still try to strike him down.
  135.  
  136. The battle is not in Siegfried's favor.
  137.  
  138. ---
  139.  
  140. Faster, faster...
  141.  
  142. I have a 5% probability of victory.
  143.  
  144. ---
  145.  
  146. As despair sinks into his mind, as he grits his teeth and readies himself for the confrontation with the black-winged angel, he thinks of hot cocoa. The lighthouse. Calael. Noel. Taiga. Niklaus.
  147.  
  148. Clara.
  149.  
  150. The reaffirmation of everything he's ever fought for is why he gets up, and keeps fighting.
  151.  
  152. "I'm just getting started."
  153.  
  154. The battle would continue.
  155. (Siegfried)
  156. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  157.  
  158. [02:46] There is little restraint from his challenger...carried on dark wings in the sky above, helfire rains down on the swordsman. He is enjoying himself.
  159.  
  160. "If you see her, it'll be while you're tied up, bloody and beaten. I hope you're ready for your reunion!"
  161. (Isaac Shimasu)
  162. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  163.  
  164. [02:48] His blade has never felt so heavy.
  165.  
  166. He fights with everything he has, and only hopes that it will be enough.
  167.  
  168. "YOU WILL NOT LIE IN THE FACE OF GOD! THIS IS NOT JUSTICE, ISAAC!"
  169.  
  170. The battle would reach it's climax.
  171. (Siegfried)
  172. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  173.  
  174. [02:48] As he arrives on the scene, off to the sidelines awkwardly, the youngest Kang watches on with a look of worry, and concern to his features. He wants to raise Spiritforce, and he almost does as he moves to free it from the restraints on his back.
  175.  
  176. .. But it's not his fight, and he can only hope for a good (Siegfried) outcome of this. Instead, he holds Spiritforce upright and leans on it lightly. Sapphires drifted about his form carefully, in a warding manner.
  177. (Percival Kang)
  178. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  179.  
  180. [02:49] ** Isaac Shimasu has inflicted an injury upon Siegfried. ("Permanent Injury", "Permanent Injury", "Permanent", "Severity: MODERATE (-10 Vit)") **
  181. [03:08] It's not something he enjoys, he realizes, despite the manic grin and the way his eyes are lit up - even as the adrenaline makes his heart beat as heavy as the war drums that sounded as they marched upon Dusk, or the sharp sting of pain whenever Siegfried struck true and found the mass of metal he wielded clashing against Isaac's arcanium-plated armor. It isn't satisfying. Not like when he faces off against the terrors that threaten everything he cares for. This is different.
  182.  
  183. "You're just a fool that doesn't understand this world."
  184.  
  185. To dance with someone as agile and as forceful as Siegfried, the demi-angel must fly low, if he wants the oppressive crimson flames to truly burn and enroach on his victim. When he swings forward, there is a black smoke that accompanies the blood-tinted fire which travels like serpents, a seperate entity, tangible and real. They harass Siegfried, binding against him, disorting his senses.
  186.  
  187. And in that black fog, there is the unending assault of crimson blades. Flashing past him, spearing into his spirit, chipping away slowly but surely.
  188.  
  189. "You don't know who I am," it is then he feels the pull of anger, a glare that could stop a beating heart. His eyes were intense with the reds and oranges of Hel. "Or what I am." Another strike followed - the demi-angel was battering down the defenses of the swordsman, seemingly unending in his chain of attacks. A whorl of flame seemed to momentarily engulf the man before him, leaving minor burns before disappating -
  190.  
  191. - and then, while blinded by heat and smoke, Siegfried feels a sharp stalagmite of crystal stuck into him. Right below his breastplate, nestled beneath his wrist and on an angle, spearing the man where he stood. A twist and turn forces him towards his knees, splicing through muscle and flesh. "If you truly cared about her, this wouldn't have happened."
  192.  
  193. "All you did was make demands."
  194.  
  195. "When you are no one."
  196. "When you are not my equal."
  197. "And when you offer nothing."
  198.  
  199. The demi-angel watched him with a steeled expression. His eyes are embers beneath his black lashes, burning.
  200. (Isaac Shimasu)
  201. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  202.  
  203. [03:12] A fight had broken out in the streets of Huangzhou. It was between a man whom he considered his mentor, and the man whom he feared the most in the world. This was a battle that would decide the fate of many lives. But for Tobias, the outcome would change his life entirely.
  204.  
  205. He could only watch. Simultaneously, he both feared and hoped for the best outcome. With clenched fists, he lived vicariously through Siegfried. He felt every blow taken, he silently cheered at each one Siegfried landed. His heart was racing, thoughts flooding his mind.
  206.  
  207. 'Win, Siegfried!'
  208.  
  209. It wasn't to be. And when it ended, Tobias couldn't stop himself.
  210.  
  211. "Siegfried, no!" he screamed, giving his position away. He couldn't help it. As a boy who wore his heart on his sleeve, his emotions came to the forefront immediately. To Siegfried, he must have been cursing the fact that Tobias needed to be here right now, of all places. Truthfully, he only traveled to this place in order to find his friend.
  212.  
  213. Yet, he found another friend in her place. Gravely injured and at the mercy of the one he feared. If Tobias walked this same path, is this how it would end for him? He refused. This wasn't going to end well, was it?
  214.  
  215. If he was in the correct frame of mind, he wouldn't have reached for his staff and called his flames. He wouldn't have pointed it at Isaac Shimasu, clad in golden holyfire. Yet, he did all of those things. He did everything that would get him killed in this situation, just as he did in Dusk.
  216.  
  217. "Leave him alone!"
  218.  
  219. And the very child that was trembling in Isaac's throne room stood to oppose him now, prepared to be pathetically swept away. One day, he'd run out of opportunities to learn his lesson.
  220. (Tobias Ulrich)
  221.  
  222. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  223.  
  224. [03:32] As fast as he is, as relentless as is his assault, battering Isaac with ceaseless blows that seemingly never relent, as bright as his flame may burn...
  225.  
  226. It cannot eclipse the sun.
  227.  
  228. There is a decisive moment in their battle - and it is the moment that Siegfried understands he was far, far over his head. What he was was a man...rabble, filth. And so he acted as rabble did. On the roads, there was only one way things could be decided. In this world, justice was striking down the wicked - further complications only would impede progress.
  229.  
  230. Isaac Shimasu has dueled beast and man that outstrip his power by an incalculable amount.
  231.  
  232. Siegfried bounds from building to building, dodging as blades and javelins descend from the heavens and aim to skewer him like the meager mouse that he was. Like a man fighting a titan, he clashes blade and stave with the cretin, attacks being barely repelled by magically-enhanced armor and barriers erected just in the knick of time. Hope slowly begins to dwindle away...
  233.  
  234. While he runs, and runs, and runs, skittering like a mouse, eventually, a javelin finds purchase in his hip, taking away the one thing Siegfried has going for him as a combatant -
  235.  
  236. Mobility.
  237.  
  238. The man looks up and into the eyes of a demon, and in his palm he sees it open it's gaping maw and command him to die.
  239.  
  240. His blade narrowly is raised in time for him to be struck by a pyroclastic kaboom that could level half a city block, blowing him off of his feet and sending the Gehennan war blade hurtling across town.
  241.  
  242. And then?
  243.  
  244. ---
  245.  
  246. You could've just stayed home.
  247.  
  248. ---
  249.  
  250. The light leaves his eyes as a crystal pierces his breast. Blood careens from his mouth, spilling over and onto his chest, trickling down and onto his pants leg. The energy that'd thrummed so defiant, like an electric current tearing through the river, is distilled, and dies. He staggers backward, his brain going into panic mode, trying to get him away from this, this...
  251.  
  252. Neither man, nor beast...
  253.  
  254. It could only be divinity.
  255.  
  256. His flesh is torn asunder, and he is wounded, grievously, life certainly in peril.
  257.  
  258. Those eyes never leave Isaac's. Even as he seems to be dying, even as he is dressed down, insulted, belittled, the defiance in his heart beats on...even if aforementioned heart were to be exposed by the mercilessness of the duel.
  259.  
  260. The spirit persists where everything that made his body operate long ago submit.
  261.  
  262. If he were to die, it'd be on his feet, with this crystal still in his chest.
  263.  
  264. ---
  265.  
  266. Taiga and Siegfried stand together, with the boy supporting him, having just turned fifteen. Taiga bled all over him, but he'd won.
  267.  
  268. The scene transitions, and it's just Siegfried, by himself. No one stands aside him. He is merely defeated...alone.
  269.  
  270. ---
  271.  
  272. "..."
  273.  
  274. This is total, ultimate defeat.
  275.  
  276. But even in the face of possible death, he faces it not uttering even a single complaint...
  277.  
  278. But with a grin, as he goes unconscious, and yet remains standing, the smile refusing to wipe away.
  279.  
  280. Isaac said he knew not what the man was, but as chaos incites in the streets around them..?
  281.  
  282. They know who you are.
  283. (Siegfried)
  284. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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