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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 1:10:51 GMT -5
Belphegor didn't look the least bit happy about the Drain attack. He had a fair amount of magical power left, but that didn't help in the least. And then the Matarkarn went off thanks to Aniel, the reflected attack likely knocking the angel out of the fight.
"Souji, cover me," Naoya ordered. Not requested. Not said. Ordered. With the tone one might expect a general to give a private. If Souji chose to balk, it would be effecting Kaini more than Naoya. If Souji didn't realize that, it was his own fault. He gestured to Ganesha and the demon put its hand on his shoulder. It would be as strain to the glorified elephant, to get him up to the tower. But the place was free from demons, he could get Kaini healed there. However, he would have to drop his entire guard for it. Nyarlathotep shot into the air, heading for the tower Naoya was aiming for.
A team headed up by a Norn and flanked by two Orochi shifted its focus to Naoya. Unless Souji did something, they'd reach the man and likely get an attack in before he fully fled. And let's just say only an idiot would go after Naoya with the condition Kaini was in.
What Belphegor wasn't happy about admitting was that he couldn't keep up this pace. He glanced at Keiichi's remaining demon and fired off Mabufudyne at the demon and master. Aniel had destroyed itself thanks to its on Ziodyne. Belphegor quickly followed up with another Matarakarn. The battle of attrition was not going in his favor. The other team of demons in a back corner reached Belphegor, creating a bit of a wall. The other two... headed straight for Keiichi.
Naoya needed to get Kaini awake and healed, but it would rely on Souji's actions...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 1:39:30 GMT -5
It was a dang good thing that K1 had Cerberus throw up that Shield All earlier, otherwise Cerberus would have ended up being defeated himself.
"Tch." K1 tapped a couple buttons on his COMP before summoning Rangda. After another button tap, he fired off another Megidolaon, just before the team of demons managed to reach Belphegor. He only had enough energy for one more Megidolaon now... he needed to finish this quickly. And with all of those demons getting close to Naoya, he didn't have time to defend himself and everyone else...
Several large playing cards soared down from the sky, hitting the team that had been heading after Naoya. Only one of the demons was killed by it, but as it was the team leader, the Norn, the rest of the demons disappeared as well.
"I'll handle the demons. Just focus on Belphegor!" Souji yelled to K1. And while he didn't say anything to Naoya, he was also covering his escape. K1 nodded to Souji.
...I'm glad I brought him along... but... K1 thought to himself.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 1:52:51 GMT -5
Naoya appeared on the tower to the back and right of the castle. He lay Kaini down as carefully as he quickly could and held down his shoulders. He quickly pressed a few buttons and Ganesha vanished, replaced by Ameterasu. She gasped when she saw Kaini, earning a glare from Naoya. Kaini was barely out... "Nyarlathotep, remove the spikes! Ameterasu, Samarecarm or Affection, depending on his state!"
Naoya applied pressure to Kaini's shoulders, just in case. Quickly Nyarlathotep yanked the spikes from the teen's hands and feet. It took maybe three seconds for all three, the demon wasn't being careful about it in the least. Kaini remained unconscious... until the spike was pulled out from both his feet. He jerked, and Naoya was surprised at the fight left in the almost dead teenager.
He threw his weight down, causing him to slam back into the ground. He scowled as he felt the teen's collarbone break, but it would have been worse had he not applied the pressure. Kaini screamed from the break, however, something the entire battlefield would have no problem hearing.
And if things weren't bad enough... the tower made it impossible to see what was going on. Ameterasu held her hands to her chest and concentrated, hitting Kaini with Affection. For the state the teen was in, it didn't even restore one third of his energy, Naoya made sure the teenager could see his face once his eyes opened, as they had shut as he screamed.
Belphegor shot his focus towards the tower, throwing any chance he had of blocking the continued assault. His attempted Mabufudyne went off target because of it, causing him to destroy one of his own teams. He hit the wall just to the side of the door. He was doing his own demonic fashion of bleeding from various places. He grinned bitterly. He wouldn't let Abel do anything special to him... he fired off another Mabufudyne. If this didn't kill Abel, he'd have to go to another plan... he wasn't going to die quietly, in any case.
Keiichi's COMP would be reading the Bel demon at dangerously low hit points. Indeed, Belphegor was only standing thanks to the wall behind him. However, the dark smirk on his face wasn't upset... it was rather psychotic, really.
(OOC: Okay, with how much Souji likes Noaya? MISINTERPERTATIONS NEED TO BE HAD AT KAINI'S SCREAM.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 10:02:13 GMT -5
Souji went completely pale as he wheeled around, turning toward the tower Naoya had gone. What was Naoya trying to do, kill Kaini...? That wasn't out of the realm of possibility, considering who Naoya had once been... But at this moment, there wasn't time to go after Naoya. He swore under his breath. If Naoya had taken Kaini away to kill him, Souji was going to have to take Naoya down himself.
Damn you Naoya... you better not have done anything! Souji thought to himself as he hit another team with Die For Me!, taking out the two demons flanking the leader, but not the leader.
There hadn't been time for Cerberus to put up another Shield All before the Mabufudyne hit, which caused the demon to be wiped out. K1 said nothing, but summoned Culebre, who for once hadn't landed on his master's head. K1 had taken quite a bit of damage from that last one, so Rangda cast Diarahan on her master, healing him quite a bit. K1 meanwhile cast his last Megidolaon.
If this doesn't finish him off... I'm done for...
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 13:20:44 GMT -5
Belphegor scowled as Cerberus vanished, but Abel survived the hit. He saw Souji cuss, and other under circumstances might have found the situation funny. Abel's Megilodaon hit, and Belphegor all but crumpled, getting a fair amount of added damage from getting heavily pushed into the wall behind him before sliding down into an uncomfortable looking sitting position. He felt his grasp on life slipping, but wasn't quite dead yet. Alive enough to speak, in any case. although he was rather profusely bleeding from several areas. Having the blood flow speed he did, it was somewhat hard to tell.
"Hmph..." he said, the wince making it clear even talking hurt by this point, "Still... seems you're rather naive. You think that one King upon the Throne is just going to bring all the demons in line like chicks behind a mother goose..." he looked up towards where Abel stood, not quite succeeding on his attempts at focusing his blurring gaze on the teen. He closed his eyes and took in a labored breath, "...You're in for hell after you take that Throne. You might be a Bel... but you're human. At least you have Cain, I suppose, but... can your spirit take how bloodthirsty you'll have to be to keep the more powerful demons in line, I wonder..."
Belphegor lifed his hand. Abel's threat earlier... he wondered about it. Perhaps surprisingly the palm faced his own head. His eyes closed and he smiled in a way that seemed almost at a bitter peace. He hesitated, "Don't worry... my power is yours. But I won't," he winced again. He'd have to deal with what would likely be a more prolongued death at Abel's hands if he wasted much more energy, "...let you revenge the way you wanted..."
A Megidolaon fired from Belphegor's hand... at himself. It was probably already a surprise he was attacking himself, let alone that he had enough energy left for a Megidolaon. His hand fell limp the instant the attack impacted, but his straight black eyes remained open. His mouth was contorted in the bitter grin still, almost as if in death he'd won some small victory. As for Keiichi, the power transfer was already in the process of occurring. Souji would see the black mist that rose off Belphegor's faded body swirl around Keiichi before seeming to vanish... Belphegor finally faded.
=====
"....Cain...?"
Naoya narrowed his gaze. Whatever the hell Belphegor had done to Kaini, ir seemed he knew things now he hadn't before, "Tsk. At least you're alive. I hope you don't intend on trying to fight me in your condition..."
Kaini winced as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Naoya noted that all the teen's wounds weren't healed, although Affection had seemed to handle the broken bones. The ones at his hands and feet were, but in a manner that bordered humorous. His palms and feet... had scars in the shape of fairly defined crosses. Naoya was almost amused enough to chuckle. Even off the cross the Christian symbology remained.
"..... Is Ab-" Kaini shook his head, "Keiichi-oniisan here....?"
(OOC: Pausing for reactions and such. At the distance its unlikely Souji can hear them.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 13:49:29 GMT -5
K1 closed his eyes as the demonic energy faded into him. Belphegor was gone. Which meant... only Babel left, right?
And then, he suddenly collapsed to his knees. Souji ran over to help him up, but Rangda was already on that, carefully lifting the teen to his feet so that she didn't accidentally scratch him with her long claw-nails. K1 looked absolutely exhausted. And as Souji got closer, he was suddenly reminded of a question he'd asked Yuugi and Atem about the War of Bel. K1 seemed darker than he had before... it had to be the demonic energy he'd absorbed. Souji even had to wonder if K1 could truly be considered human now.
"Thanks, Rangda..." K1 said once he was to his feet. "Hey, where's Kaini and Naoya?" Despite his exhaustion, he still had that almost scary look on his face.
"I don't know... Naoya teleported off with Kaini somewhere, but I don't know where..." Souji said. They'd been gone a while... and that scream earlier... he wasn't liking where this looked like it was going.
"Let's go find them, then," K1 said. Kaini... please still be alive...
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 14:02:05 GMT -5
Naoya smirked. Kaini was having trouble sorting past from present, it seemed. He pointed towards the courtyard, "He and Souji are down there. Do you have your COMP?"
Kaini nodded. Naoya made no effort to help the teenager to his feet as he stood, "Nyarlathotep, get down there and make sure Souji doesn't do anything stupid. Knowing the idiot he probably thinks I killed Kaini, make sure they know he's alive. Ameterasu, use Affection again. I'd prefer Kaini wasn't bleeding when he got down there."
Ameterasu nodded and held her hands close again. Kaini hissed as he felt the wounds on his back sealing. For all the physical healing he was getting, he felt about ready to pass out. He pulled out his own COMP and flipped it open. A very small bitter smile spread on his face. Naoya raised his eyebrow.
Nyarlathotep spread its wings and came down near Souji and Keiichi, "Master has told me to inform you Kaini still lives. They will be joining us shortly,"
"What is with the look?" Naoya asked.
Kaini looked up, "It reacted to my decision... I need your help to get down from here," the teenager closed his COMP.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 14:13:26 GMT -5
Souji sneezed.
K1, who had been working on a mail he was going to send to Yuugi, looked up. "You alright?" Souji rubbed his nose.
"Yeah, I'm--" He didn't get a chance to finish that sentence, as the black winged demon Nyarlathotep had appeared to give his message. Souji groaned. It was bad enough it felt like he'd seen that demon somewhere before... it creeped him out. And Naoya obviously knew that, considering he was using the thing as a messenger.
"He's alright, then?" K1 asked Nyarlathotep.
"Sounds like it. Alright, tell them to hurry up," Souji said to Nyarlathotep.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 14:20:47 GMT -5
Nyarlathotep almost seemed to glare at Souji's presumption to order it. It returned its focus to Keiichi, "He is awake and as well as one can expect," - It showed no signs of listening to Souji. Hell, one could say it was having more fun harassing the silver haired teen than Naoya usually did.
Naoya had his suspicions about how Kaini had worded it, but said nothing. Even if Kaini had been both observant and fully with the world in terms of energy it was unlikely he would have missed the way Naoya was running through the evidence in his head. Ameterasu vanished and Ganesha reappeared, "Get us down there."
Ganesha placed its hands on the pair's shoulders and moments later Naoya and Kaini appeared on the ground below. Naoya saw Nyarlathotep in relation to Souji. He was going to have to ask the demon later if there was some connection between the two. Naoya wasn't sure quite how, the only thing he could come up with being that the demon world connected to more than one world. But Nyarlathotep, despite its basic nature, seemed to have more... "fun" taunting Souji. It was a bit out of line, really. Naoya returned his demons.
"Why did you need my help getting down?" Naoya stated to Kaini.
Kaini's COMP was visible. He had purposely chosen to wait for his inquiry until he was with the group. Kaini glanced at Naoya for a moment before taking a tired and sore looking step towards Keiichi, "...I've got a request..." he said. He wasn't maintaining eye contact, though. Almost as if the yet to be stated request was shameful.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 14:28:21 GMT -5
K1 lowered his COMP, his email to Yuugi halfway done. He had a pained smile on his face as he looked at his brother. Most importantly, he noticed the new scars on his brother's hands. They were shaped like crosses. Belphegor had probably done that one on purpose too. Still, unlike Kaini, he was looking right at his brother.
"...You're not going to ask me to give the throne up again, are you." It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 14:33:15 GMT -5
Naoya stepped back to allow the pair to communicate. He was closer to Souji now, "With how Keiichi was acting, you still though I'd killed Kaini, didn't you?" - It was quiet enough that unless Keiichi or Kaini were trying to hear, they wouldn't. He glanced over at Kaini to see a pained expression.
"...no. I... can I go with you when you go back to Japan...?"
It looked almost painful for the teenager to ask that, and it was pretty clear that despite working up the courage he was still somewhat divided. Naoya didn't seem surprised, though. If anything, he seemed amused. Even though his youngest brother had avoided the direct question before, it explained things. Kaini had been given the COMP by the angels. If he'd turned away... Naoya's amusement changed to a dark smirk. He couldn't claim to have expected the development, but this was a rather interesting... "bonus". He wondered if Keiichi would understand the full impact of what Kaini was asking. He had no doubt Souji would, so he shifted his focus back to the silver haired teenager to catch the reaction.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 14:42:40 GMT -5
K1 looked surprised. His brother, who had been so adamant about fighting him before, was now asking if they could go to Japan together when they left? His surprise faded to a smile and he nodded. "Of course. We can do this thing together."
He looked over at Naoya. "It's okay if he comes, right?"
Souji scowled. "I had no reason to think you hadn't killed him. Especially with that scream earlier." And as for the situation with K1 and Kaini, he couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing...
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 14:53:55 GMT -5
Naoya returned Souji's scowl. The teen really did think he was an idiot. Even if he was out to kill Kaini, he sure as hell wouldn't have done it with Keiichi raging as he had been. Nor in such an obvious manner. He looked up at his cousin as he asked his question, "Of course," he turned to Kaini, "How much do you know?"
Kaini seemed a mixture of relieved and guilty at both his siblings'... his family's acceptance. He was still having trouble sorting past and present a bit in his head, though. He had Belphegor to "thank" for that. He wondered how many memories his family had of that time... "I know enough..."
Naoya shook his head, "No. How much? You were all but ready to wage holy war on us before,"
Kaini looked annoyed and started yelling, "That was before! I know enough to know you're Cain and I'm still willing to fight on your side! I don't care what you're planning, I don't want to fight for... a..." the teen's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed. Naoya's eyes widened as the silver COMP hit the ground less than a second later.
Naoya sighed, "...He needs rest. He'll pass out again within minutes if we use Samarecarm on him."
Naoya looked at Keiichi. It was possible the teenager would blame him for Kaini passing out. It had seemed to be from the flood of emotions, after all. But he wasn't lying. If the teen didn't get some sleep he could kill himself at this rate.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 7, 2009 15:20:14 GMT -5
At the moment, though, K1 seemed more focused on helping his brother to his feet, having grabbed Kaini and was now practically carrying Kaini piggyback.
"Let's have him stay with us, tonight, Naoya. He can rest up at our house, at least." K1 said. He turned to Souji and handed him the COMP. "Could you finish this mail for me?" Souji took the COMP and took a look at what K1 had written so far.
"What do you want me to write?" Souji asked.
"Put that we're going to be back with Kaini in about an hour or so," K1 said.
"Okay." Souji looked the COMP K1 had handed him over for a bit before figuring out how these things work. After a couple minutes, he hit send.
It was fairly easy to tell where the authors had changed in the mail. The sudden reemergence of capitalization and punctuation had to be more than enough of a clue.
Souji handed the COMP back to K1. "Here."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 7, 2009 15:24:10 GMT -5
Naoya frowned, "Keiichi, let Souji take him. You're not in much better condition than Kaini."
He totally could have said, 'let a demon take him'. Looks like the animosity between the two showed no signs of dropping.
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