Here's your warnings: This is a nice little fic involving death, gore, battle, and disillusionment. Enjoy! *snicker*
disclaimers:
"Buss to Gate 23" by Sky Cries Mary, not me
RW not mine either :o(
He twirled in a slow circle, taking in all the horrific, bloody aspects of the scene he'd created in this room. It had been an utter massacre, leaving the rest of the house untouched.
All of them were dead by his hands and not one of them had stood a chance - not without their armor. The woman and the tiger had fallen under his assault, as well. He held those lethal, clawed extremities up before his eyes. They were slicked with the hot, red lifeblood of his host's friends, and were quickly cooling in the unnatural, mechanical chill of the air conditioning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Junk for sale
No bail
First class male
Pulled my tail
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Slow.
That's how their deaths had been - slow and lingering once he'd caught them with his unapproachable speed.
His eyes flashed a dark, devious crimson in the face of his small, stolen body. There was only one of them left. When he returned home, that boy would die, as well.
The rending talons he had used as his only weapon were drawn back into their sheaths, leaving not a trace of their existence, and the blood absorbed into the skin. A look of utter euphoria flashed across the youthful face. This was only the beginning of his feast. The rest could be devoured after the last boy was crushed under his power.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cut my wrist
Goodbye fist
Hello bliss
Bluest kiss
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Near the door lay the prone form of Halo. His too handsome face had been ripped from his skull, leaving an oozing mass of flesh that would turn heads in a way the young Ronin had never experienced during life. His chest was partially collapsed in on itself in a most nauseating fashion. The mush made of his insides seeped from gaping wounds and spilled across the ruined carpeting like a grotesque work of modern art.
The Flirt might have still been kicking if he'd had time to call his armor before the grasping claws of his attacker had found purchase in his easily shredded flesh. That hadn't happened, though.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Last time
Out of mind Now I'm fine
Now I'm sick
Now I'm rich
Take a lick
Cheap trick
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Against the far wall of the living room (the parasite smirked at the irony) pinned a foot off the floor, the red stained blades of his own swords thrust through his ribs, was Wildfire.
Ryo Sanada, the mighty leader... He had gone down under the lightning quick assault easily. He'd never even seen his death coming. Instead, he'd ruffled the hair of the host in a good humor and said something to make him laugh. That had been in the entry hall, leaving Ryo completely unaware of Halo's fate until it was far too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sell your junk
Call me punk
Call me drunk
The sink's been sunk
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Splattered across the walls was a gory horror show that put even the most terrible of Hardrock's movies to shame. A glance at the barely recognizable form of the round-faced teenager brought a profane grin of satisfaction to his borrowed lips. Hardrock's sad remains rest broken and torn across the stained upholstery of the couch. It was almost a sick parody of how he had lain there to watch cartoons, with the way his limbs twisted at odd angles and the neck laying slightly askew.
If he'd had time to summon his armor, he might have defeated this new enemy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Smell the night
Avoid a fight
Walk left not right
The blind have sight
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Warrior of Trust lay sprawled in terrible passing in the middle of the large room's floor. His only wounds were the deep and dreadful slashes across his throat. The last faint, lingering twitches of his body spilled the final traces of blood from his veins to the carpet.
No more would he putter around in the kitchen, make graceful dives into the nearby lake. Cye Mori had been vanquished simply, stunned into a momentary inaction upon seeing the ravaged bodies of his three friends. That had been his downfall.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They see your feet
Their eyes their street
Dead poet's been beat
They hang like meat
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
White Blaze, the blasted mystical tiger, that beast was scattered in uncountable pieces around the room. The animal had lost everything in a face-on battle, attempting to save the already-dead Ronins and the woman and boy that would soon be home.
The host body had taken a few minor slashes from the short encounter, but a quick infusion of healing energy had taken care of the severed hand and filleted legs. A bother such a magnificent beast had been bonded to such a weak companion and unwilling to trade in for a new banner of loyalty. Still, the lifeblood would be a grand addition to the feast.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
This is a book
No notes no hook
No laws no crooks
Good and bad looks
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The woman, she was a gruesome heap of limbs at the feet of Wildfire. She'd fought valiantly for one so delicate and powerless. In the end, though, like her friends, she too had gone down under his demonic strength.
A pity that such a flower had been plucked so young, but she had been far too knowledgeable of her own mind to have given him anything of real use.
He paused to look at the primitive time-keeping device these mortals used and, from the memories of his host, knew that the last of his intended victims would be home soon. Licking a small patch of one bloodied wall clean with an expression of purest rapture, the beast made his way to await Strata on the stoop.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Blood's been bled
From foot to head
Then me instead
The words I've said
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yuli!" Rowen called to the young boy sitting on the front steps. He adjusted the way the straps of his bag sat over his shoulders and continued walking toward the large home.
"C'mon! Hurry up! I've got something to show you!" Yuli cried, suddenly jumping to his feet and bouncing enthusiastically.
Rowen laughed and kept his casual pace. "Is it that important?"
The boy's head nodded wildly in response.
"I'm coming. Keep your shorts on, kid."
The beast grinned.
"Faster, Rowen! You have to see this!"
Pausing at the lack of commotion in the yard and the house, Rowen narrowed his eyes and asked, "Yuli? Where are Mia and the guys?"
Stalking down from the stoop, the disguised demon grabbed up the Ronin's hand and said, "They're inside. You need to be in there, too, Rowen."
Feeling suddenly uncomfortable with the strangeness Yuli was exhibiting, Rowen snuck a hand into his pocket, fingering his armor sphere. He tried to remain calm, his heart pounding harshly in his breast. No one could be reached through the bond he shared with the other Ronins. Something was wrong, he knew it. He could feel it in his bones.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fall out like silk
Echo like guilt
Old flowers will wilt
I'm white as milk
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yuli yanked on his hand one last time and dashed into the house, leaving Rowen walking toward the door at his own pace. He slowed until he stood silent just outside the doorframe. Rowen felt his heart sink low in his stomach. That scent. He knew it.
Death.
There was no movement inside. None other than Yuli - and even that stopped soon.
Clutching a hand tight around his orb, Rowen pulled it from his pocket and stepped through the door. "Ryo?" he called. No answer. "Sage? Kento?" Again, no answer.
The young Ronin wandered farther into the hall until he reached the wide arch the opened upon the living room. He was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him.
"Cye...!" he whispered, that crumpled body being the first to meet his wide, astonished eyes. His heart pounding loud, his breath coming in short gasps, Rowen turned. He grew pale, and paler still, with each new horror he saw. Grasp going slack, the crystalline sphere dropped from his hand to the gore-strewn floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Don't shed a tear
Find nothing to fear
The end is near
The audience cheers
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Bad move, Strata," taunted a voice that had once belonged to a little boy. Whatever it was, it stood behind the Ronin.
"Was it you?" Rowen asked wearily.
"Who else?"
"What did you do to Yuli?"
The creature laughed and pounced, taking Rowen down hard to the carpet. Straddled over the warrior's back, the demon leaned down close, letting his hot, fetid breath roll over the face of his final victim. The tips of his claws slid forth, digging through the thin material of Rowen's clothes and drawing out tiny, bright pools of blood. "Do you really want to know?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
You feel so big
For fire you dig
Hot veins run cool
Who killed the schools
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rowen howled in pain as those claws slashed deep furrows down his back. Searching desperately for the sphere he'd let slip from his fingers, his vision grew blurry. A deep blue flash of light drew his eyes to the side. There it was!
He reached for it, painfully aware that he would die if he couldn't touch at least the tip of a finger to it. A stray thought flitted through his mind that he would most likely die anyway. "No!" he cried, feeling the demon's talons near his fragile skin for another raking sweep.
Thrusting himself forward that last fraction of an inch, Rowen connected, grabbing up the precious item - and insane strength of the possessed boy threw him across the room.
There was a sickening crunch as ribs cracked under the blow, he struggled to draw in air, still the orb was held tight in his fist.
"Time to die, Strata!" the creature bellowed with a depth of sound not physically possible for the youthful body it inhabited.
Unable to do more, Rowen mouthed his words of summoning, calling upon his armor. An added prayer that he wasn't too late never reached his lips as the transformation began.
Yuli's body struck the moment the summoning was complete and Rowen heard the bones in the boy's legs shatter as his feet came in contact with the dark blue metal over his chest.
The event jarred the archer's form, sending him sliding to the floor gasping as the impact shot lancing pain all through him, aggravating his wounds. As his sight cleared a bit, Rowen watched in shock as the thing in Yuli's shape climbed back to its feet, the broken legs that twisted and crunched with every tiny movement hampering it not in the least.
"What are you?" Rowen breathed in terror, struggling to control his fear.
"Your death."
The demon-boy flew at him, claws extended to their fullest. Fangs, before unnoticed, glinted malevolently in the grinning maw.
Rowen reacted faster than he'd ever done before, dragging his bow forward and swinging it like a club to bat the thing away. Yuli dropped to the ground with a thwarted howl. Trying to run, Rowen found the movement to much for his fractured ribs to handle and slowed to a near walk. Clutching his bow tight against his chest, he swung about and saw the demon crawling again to its feet.
Drawing back on his bow, Rowen leveled an arrow on the creature. "Show yourself," he growled.
A rictus grin spread across the boy's face...then the young flesh exploded, flinging bloody bits of carnage to all corners of the already ravaged room. No longer did the evil beast inhabit the body of Yuli.
"Oh god..." Rowen felt as if he was going to be sick. No, he knew he was going to be sick. He swallowed hard, forcing back the rising bile. Before him stood a creature that he'd seen only in his darkest nightmares. Tall. Sickly thin limbs and features. Skin the color of rotten meat. A stench of the same. Bulbous black eyes that seemed to devour the light stared hard into his soul. Rowen released his arrow.
The demon only laughed when the missile drove into its chest. Ripping it out the monster began to move closer. "Don't fight me. You can't win."
Rowen stumbled backward, not daring to glance at the floor and see what had tripped him. He notched another arrow and let it fly as the demon followed him. Again, the shaft was torn out and tossed aside. One more step back and he bumped up against another wall. There was only one thing left he could try.
The demon stopped in the center of the room, standing over the ruined body of Cye.
Collecting himself, setting his shoulders and chin firmly, Rowen drew back on his bow once more. Steeling his gaze, he began to speak the words of power that floated inside him. "Arrow..."
Give it up!" the demon shouted.
"Shock..." The power was drawn in, coalescing in luminous strength.
"It's over, Strata!"
"Wave!"
The arrow flew, striking the demon deep. Rowen was driven to hide his gaze from the blinding brilliance that then filled the room. A piercing shriek ripped at his ears and keening words were barely understandable.
"I'm not done with you! I'll find a way back and you will die just like your friends!"
A roar rushed over Rowen, knocking him to the ground as something akin to a supernova blasted him into unconsciousness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I'd drop out too
If I was you
Your kiss so blue
And love so new
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
His eyes fluttered open some time later. He knew not how long a time had passed since he had fallen. Again, his wide, dark gaze landed on the shattered remains of his friends. Staring over them for a long, unmeasured span of time, a reaction finally set in and he murmured, "No..." Those sad eyes blinked as heavy tears of despair and loss spilled and slid down his pale cheeks.
Pushing weakly to his feet, Rowen dismissed his armor. Stumbling across the floor, he collapsed to his knees beside one of his broken companions. "Cye," he sobbed, "why did this happen? Who could let it happen?"
Shakily, he turned his head, looking, but of the demon there was no sign. The wicked beast was gone... vanished from the room, the house... from this realm?
His sight fell on a blond mane that was mussed in death as it never had been in life. "Oh, Sage..." His voice cracked with his growing grief. "Even if I were a healer like you... or Cye... there's nothing I could do... for any of you. It's too late."
Crawling along the red-stained floor, Rowen wept his way to the hall. Then, sliding away from the awful scene in that room, the archer leaned against the clean wall.
"What can I do? Ancient, help me." When there was no reply, Rowen wiped away the still falling tears. "You've left me, too, haven't you?" A choked sigh worked through him. "I can't do it alone and that's what I am. What good is one, small archer - even with the armor! - against the entire Dynasty?!"
Filled now with an angry strength, his dreams and convictions shattered beyond all repair, Rowen stood. Striding into the kitchen, he searched out the box of matches and returned to the hall. He struck one against the box and dispassionately tossed it into the living room. Pausing only to make sure it had caught, Rowen snatched his coat from the hall closet and walked outside.
"Goodbye, guys. Maybe we'll see each other again. Maybe not."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I love you so
But I have to go
Too high too low
Goodbye Hello
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He stood outside the burning building that had been the closest thing to a true, loving home he'd ever had. Inside were the bodies of the only friends he'd ever known. Strewn there, as well, were the now smoldering bits of the small boy he'd come to regard as a younger brother, the spirit of the demon banished from this realm - as far as he could tell.
Rowen sighed. He'd done the only thing he could and destroyed the horrible beast that had slain his friends.
He slowly turned and began to walk away, gripping his crystal sphere tight in his hand a moment before throwing it deep into the dark and forbidding wilderness surrounding him. The Ronin Warriors were dead. Let Talpa have this world that would let good people die so horribly.
He didn't care anymore.
END (???)