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Tormented Self Fire danced with metal as the Inferno Fiend's flaming gauntlets bounced off Motarius' silver sword. The two of them fought in the snow-covered streets of Sacrinia. All around them, Paladins, Priests, and other Mystics came to watch the fight, but all of them knew better than to interfere. Vince alternately attacked and blocked, lashing out whenever he had a chance and retreating whenever Motarius struck. Unfortunately, Motarius' blade gave him tremendous range advantage. Despite his efforts, Vince couldn't reach Motarius to even touch him. Yet, fighting with his fists, Vince was far more agile than the Mystic. If only Motarius didn't step back every time Vince attacked, Vince could have gotten him. However, Motarius not about to back into a wall. The Mystic was leading them in circles. Finally, Vince took a short step back and threw a fireball at Motarius. When the Mystic deflected it with his sword, the Inferno Fiend rushed him. Pushing Motarius' sword aside with his left hand, Vince landed his right fist right on Motarius' left shoulder, bashing his open wound. Motarius leapt to a distance and clutched his shoulder. "I see you're taking advantage of a fresh wound of mine," Motarius commented. "I'm still tired from a fight against a powerful Dark Mage. Taking advantage of that, too, I see. Perhaps it's time to play my own advantages." With that remark, Motarius tossed his silver sword onto the ground besides him. Glowing brightly, the blade soon transformed into the young blond-haired, blue-eyed woman again, this time wearing a light purple dress. "Ophelia certainly has some beautiful fighting skills," Motarius said. "Today, you'll get to see some of them." Ophelia smiled, then raised her arms, creating flower petals from her hands and shooting them at Vince. He had seen Ophelia use these petals on the Dark Mage Rousseau before, and they were deceptively sharp. Motarius then added a volley of Holy Shots to the attack. Vince zoomed to one side to avoid the projectiles. In a short time, though, he approached the building on the other side of the street, so he threw a fireball at Motarius and Ophelia. The Mystic simply formed a Holy Shield to protect himself, but in doing so, he halted his own attack. Vince used this short pause to double back and give himself room to run. However, Ophelia then dashed along the street. Now, she and Motarius could attack Vince at an angle. Such a coordinated attack gave Vince very little room to flee, so he responded by kneeling down and putting up a fire shield. "Motarius was the one with the shield," Vince thought. "And Ophelia's magic is... I wonder how well she can defend herself against my flames." In a swift movement, Vince extended his arm through the flame barrier and threw a fireball at Ophelia. The girl, however, simply collected a mass of petals in front of her, which blocked the fireball. The petal barrier did burn, but it was so thick and strong, one fireball didn't make much of a difference. She easily resumed to shooting petals without delay. Before Vince could throw another fireball, the petals stopped right in front of his shield and--though Vince knew it was biologically impossible--blossomed into complete flowers. Then, they sprouted stems and vines, which tired to reach around his shield. Surprised, Vince turned his shield to deflect the vines, but the moment he did, he opened himself to Motarius' attack. Before he could correct that mistake, a Holy Shot hit him and broke his concentration. The fire shield dissipated, and all the vines grabbed him up and held him in place. More petals came from Ophelia and embedded themselves in Vince's armor, only to bloom into more flowers and more vines, tightening the snare. On the other side, Motarius threw Holy Bolt after Holy Bolt at him, each one bringing him pain as the Holy energy burned his Dark Fiend body. Vince let his body set itself on fire, producing a flame aura. He burned through the vines all right, but by the time he did, Motarius' Holy Shots had already done their damage. Staggering back to his feet, Vince ran toward Motarius. However, right as he reached him, yellow threads appeared out of the air and tied him against themselves. Again, Vince found himself snared. This time, Motarius summoned more and more thread. Vince tried to burn off the Angelhair Snare with his fire aura, but progress was too slow. Motarius smiled. He waved his hand and turned Vince around so he could see what it was. Now, facing Ophelia, Vince saw what Motarius had smiled about. A cage of branches was forming just outside of Vince's fire aura, summoned by Ophelia. The branches grew increasingly thicker. Then, thorns sprouted from the branches, covering most of the cage, all of them pointed at Vince. The thorns were three or four inches long. Suddenly, the whole cage collapsed inward, and all the thorns impaled Vince like an iron maiden of vegetation. Shouting in pain, Vince soon became aware that Ophelia was casting a second spell. Vince struggled, but the snare was too strong. He tried to burn his way out, but the Angelhair would not burn very easily. Ophelia completed the spell, and a giant bolt of Holy lightning struck down from the Heavens, landing a direct hit on Vince, blowing the snare and cage apart and sending Vince bouncing down the street. "I have to go now, my love," Ophelia said, and she became the silver sword again. Motarius picked up his silver Ophelia, still smiling. "I can finish this battle easily enough," he said. "Between she and I, I'm sure we did enough damage. Now, to finish it! You remember Scales of Justice, don't you?" Vince remembered with horror the first time Motarius used Scales of Justice on him. Now, Motarius threw his left hand into the air, and it emitted a blindingly bright light. This time, however, Vince could barely see. It looked like Motarius was holding something, a glowing pair of scales. The scales then fired a beam of Holy energy at Vince. It was interesting how the Scales looked different. Perhaps it was because he fought Motarius in an open space. Last time, they were fighting within the shell of a robot Vince had just destroyed, and in that tight space, Motarius didn't need to focus the Scales' energies into a narrow beam. One thing was the same, though. That was the sheer power of the attack. When it hit him, it blew him several more yards down the street. However, Vince quickly regained his footing and pushed against the force of the Scales, determined to reach Motarius. Not only was the light blinding, but it was also burning through him, tearing him apart. Soon, his red inferno armor was completely wiped away by the light, and his helmet tore off, letting his long, red hair free. Still, despite the pain, he had to reach Motarius if he wanted to win this battle. Then, Vince noticed Tina, lying on the floor, and it triggered something in his mind. He remembered. No, he couldn't fight now. He had more important things to do. Vince dove out of the way of the Scales of Justice and landed by Tina, slamming the street with flames. The asphalt cracked and he and Tina dropped into the sewers. Grabbing his girlfriend's sister, Vince ran away, sprinting down the sewers. It wouldn't be the first time he used them to escape. "Don't bother," Motarius said, and several Paladins stopped in their tracks. "He has her death on his conscience. Slowly, but surely, he will break down, and then, he'll be an easy target. Until then, it would be a waste of time to try to hunt him down." The Mystic picked up his sword and walked away, worried not about the Dark Fiend of the Inferno anymore, but about revenge against the Dark Mage. Vincent Zeng slowly walked into the Omicron camp, carrying the limp body of Tina Chen. When Alice and Robert saw him, they ran up to him, shouting cries of "Oh, by the Heavens!" and "What happened!?" Stephanie, however, simply stood there, watching from a distance, too shocked to move. "I'm sorry," Vince said immediately, crying. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident." Vince pushed Alice and Robert aside, ran to Stephanie, and lay Tina at her feet. "I'm sorry, Steph," he cried. "I'm sorry." The two of them stood there for a moment as Steph began to understand. Then, she burst into tears and grabbed hold of Vince. The two of them stood there, holding each other, crying over Tina's death. "This is my fault," Vince thought bitterly as he, Steph, Alice, and Robert held a private funeral for Tina. "Because of me, they took her away and got themselves capture by Ragnarok." His last memories of Tina, those of her parents yelling at him and blaming him, appeared vividly in his mind. "Because of my carelessness, she died today, when she shouldn't have, when she didn't have to." He replayed in his mind the explosion, Tina flying off the roof, then falling, falling, falling endlessly. "Damn it! I hate how this goddamn Dark Fiend crap keeps destroying everything I important to me. Why me?" They buried Tina in a park just outside Sacrinia. Robert and Alice had carved a beautifully intricate tombstone to decorate her grave. Stephanie, kneeling over the grave and crying, had to be dragged away by Robert and Alice. There was work to be done. Before Vince left, though, he walked up to the gravestone. "Her last words..." he thought. "She didn't even bother to forgive me." Vince slowly stood up and walked away, pausing only once to look back upon Tina and her final resting spot. That day had changed them all. Vince found that he no longer cared about battle. In fact, fighting sickened him. Any related to death sickened him. In a few days, he went to Strikov and resigned as Lieutenant. Although surprised, Strikov understood Vince's sorrow and let him quit his officer's job. Robert's woe became a renewed determination for work, as he redoubled his efforts in Recon. Soon, his excellent work brought him plenty of attention, and some spoke of him becoming the new Lieutenant. Alice, who was normally talkative and joyful, became quiet and reserved instead. She acted mostly the same, except it always seemed she had something on her mind. However, Tina's death didn't affect anyone as badly as Steph. They rarely saw Steph anymore, only at missions or meals. She stayed in her tent, studying so many different books that Vince quickly lost track of them. She even studied well into the night. Once, Vince awoke at three in the morning, and the light was still on in her tent. "Well, she was her sister," he thought. "She knew her longest, and I guess it's only natural that her death would stress her so much." Vince wanted to approach her and comfort her, but whenever he entered her tent, Steph was concentrating on her books so much that Vince felt unwilling to disturb her. Also, a twinge of guilt haunted him every time he saw Steph, for he had killed her sister. "I'll let her be for now," Vince said. "She'll get over it." Vince, Steph, Alice, and Robert had to stay away from Sacrinia, for they were as wanted criminals with the Alliatus society. However, the other Omicron members frequently visited the city. There were no other Mercenary Camps there, so there was little fighting. It was a rather simple task to ask the Alliatus headquarters for emergency relief supplies for their camp. In addition, many Omicron members could finally find jobs rebuilding the city. A few new members came, but many members left. Among them was Jack, who really didn't want to fight anymore. "Neither do I," said Vince, "but if I go for a job with Alliatus, they'll imprison me or something, since I'm a Dark Fiend." Within a week and a half, they managed to bring electric power and running water to the Mercenary Camp. That's how Vince could watch TV that day and how he spotted what he did in the news. "There is report of a Dark Fiend in Trioustan," said the news anchorman. "This Dark Fiend has black hide and long, tangled hair with no clothes, armor, or distinguishing marks. Unfortunately, we have no picture of the Dark Fiend, but we can assume it's highly dangerous. Seventeen deaths have already been reported in Trioustan Park." "A Dark Fiend without clothes, armor, or distinguishing marks," Vince thought. "That can only mean an un-upgraded Dark Fiend. Me, Lydia, Steve, Jennie, and Gregor are all upgraded, so that leaves only... Chrissy..." Vince turned off the TV and quickly scribbled something on a sheet of paper. Then, he snuck into Stephanie's tent. She was busily studying, as usual, so she didn't notice him. Vince left the note on the floor of the tent, hoping she'd notice it eventually. Then, he snuck into Robert's tent. Robert was away on a Recon mission, but he had left his car keys where he always left them--next to his pillow--so Vince took the keys and left. Next, Vince sought and found the green car. He unlocked the doors, entered it, and drove away, heading for his hometown, Trioustan. "No more," he said, looking back toward the people of Omicron. "I'm leaving." A few days later, Vince found himself in Trioustan. It was a quiet, peaceful town, rebuilt after the damages of the war. Apparently, like in Tiel, the war had come and gone, leaving the townspeople to themselves. As soon as he arrived, Vince visited his old home. It had been rebuilt, although somewhat hastily and sloppily, and someone else was living there now. The same was true with Stephanie's house. Apparently, the survivors were taking whatever they could, even other people's houses. Vince drove his green car--technically stolen from Robert, but Vince didn't care anymore--around Trioustan, looking for any sign of Chrissy. The news report had said the park, but there was nothing there. He even checked the entire city, several times, but there was no sign at all. No ice. No premonitious feeling. Vince quickly gave up, but as he drove through downtown, he heard something. "Run!" a voice cried out. "It's coming." As he neared the intersection, three horseback Paladins turned the corner, and the one on the right ran into Vince's car. Both the horse and the Paladin went over the car and landed behind it. Vince quickly hit the brakes and stopped the car. "Jones!" one of the other Paladins called back. "Are you all right?" "Forget me," the Paladin named Jones shouted back. "Save yourselves! Run!" As the other two Paladins galloped away, something ahead shot toward Vince's car. Instinctively, Vince popped open the door and dove out. Whatever it was, it was long, sharp, and transparent. Looking through it distorted his vision. It was as if someone had twisted the very fabric of reality to form a spear. This ether spear shattered the engine of Vince's car, shattered the windows, and tore right through the body and hit the horse, cutting through its side and splattering its blood. The Paladin quickly climbed to his feet and ran, but a distortion in the air pulled him off the ground and sent him flying back around the corner. Vince heard a deafening scream and blood, gore, and the Paladin's armor splattered into the intersection. Then, Vince felt it. There was a Dark Fiend nearby. "Chrissy!?" Vince asked aloud, hoping very much that she was here. He didn't even care if she was a murderer now, lurking in his hometown. Something came around the corner, but it wasn't Chrissy. It was a Dark Fiend, but Vince had never seen it before. He looked like an un-upgraded Dark Fiend with his simple body and undecorated black hide. His hair, however, was as black as his hide. "What?" Vince said, surprised. "You're not Chrissy! What are you?" "I am the Dark Fiend of Doom," the Dark Fiend replied. "And you, you are a Dark Fiend as well, but you're nowhere near as strong as I am." "Are you the one behind all these killings?" Vince asked. "Yes," the Dark Fiend answered. "I've never met another Dark Fiend before. Are you here to join me, my friend? Together--" "No," Vince asserted. The conversation brought back an old memory. Vince remembered his original task. The Dark Fiends were created to destroy, and Vince wanted to protect, especially his own hometown. "No, I'm here to stop the killings." "You fool!" the Doom Fiend shouted. "There will never be an end to the killings, for it is my right, my right and my duty to destroy everything. You are a Dark Fiend, but if you will stop me, I will destroy you, too!" Twisting the ether in front of him, he threw another ether spear at Vince. Immediately, Vince summoned forth the magma that became his armor, and he became the Dark Fiend of the Inferno again. "An upgraded Fiend versus an un-upgraded Fiend," the thought flashed through Vince's mind. "This fight should be one-sided." Without delay, Vince created a barrier with his flames, but the ether spear simply pushed the flames aside and kept going. Vince only avoided an impaling by diving backwards, but the spear still cut a deep scratch in his armor. Throwing his momentum, Vince shifted the backward dive into a roll so he could get back on his feet. Immediately following, Vince threw several fireballs at the Doom Fiend, but the other dodged them all, moving at such incredibly high speeds that he blurred existence behind him. Vince thought that maybe this would actually be one-sided after all. |