'Break In and Separation' - Chapter Four
~*Ikira*~
I held out my arm as a catch precaution for Luke. The pile of debris from the building was unsteady and even I had trouble finding a good hand hold to scale it. Finding a decent foot hold was even harder. Luke managed to slip off of the pile without breaking anything but a little skin on his right elbow. Though his landing was far from graceful, he at least landed on his feet. I released my grip from the piece of steel that I had found my grip on, and then started dodging and running down the steep hill of stone, metal, wire, and all other sorts of dangerous building materials. I made it safely down to the bottom and kept running, Luke taking up a run next to me and we whirled around the corner. Dante's shop was completely ruined, so it was obvious he was not there. We ran until we saw another pile of ruble. Luke and I slowed our frantic run to a quick walk and then to a halt. I could scale it, and then help Luke climb over. I heard something from the ally behind us, Luke paid it no mind and walked over to our current obstacle. I then heard a hellacious scream from behind me. It wasn't human, and any demon worth my time wouldn't be stupid enough to do such. I pivoted on my left foot and brought my right leg into the air and into a 180 degree vertical split. I saw the demon wielded a scythe, from what I could tell it was too dull to be kept. I caught it as the blade came down, and yes, it was a piece of crap blade not worth fighting with. I then brought my heel down at a speed no human could ever accomplish. My axe kick took the demon's skull with it and it shattered when my heel hit the pavement. The demon's body then disappeared in a shower of sand. I had read about them. It was one of the 'Seven Deadly Sins' as they were called, each hailing from a separate level of hell supposedly. I didn't get a close enough look at that one to be able to tell which one it was; though frankly, I didn't care at the moment. I was more interested in how I pulled off that kick; I had never done one in my life. And for me to do that kick with such accuracy, speed, and power, was honestly scary to me.
"It was Rykira's move. She taped into your natural instinct to turn and fight it. Then she simply used your un-tapped natural skill to hit it. You had seen the move preformed, so you knew what it was. Rykira just made you do it."
Thanks to Luke's explanation, I now knew how and why I did that. Apparently, Rykira was becoming more and more apart of me each day. I let that thought sink in as I walked over to Luke, who had found himself a set of grips in the ruble and held his hand out to me. I took and he helped me get to the top. I turned and helped him over and then we both jumped down. Having landed safely, I looked around. The sign I saw was the 'Love Planet' neon sign and it told me one thing: I sure as hell wasn't going to work anytime soon. I stood and started to walk towards the tower that is until I heard a growl that screamed 'get the hell out'. Luken had stepped up beside me and had heard it too.
"What do you suppose it is, Luke? It sounded to feral to be anything I can think of, and way too loud to be anything of the human world."
His answer shocked me, as he normally knew what the hell was going. He had no clue what it was. Either way, we continued up to where the gate should be, instead we found a wall of ice.
"Whatever let out that growl earlier probably did this, so we know one thing. It controls ice."
Great just what I needed, an elemental creature that can probably tear me in two if he looks at me hard. Thanks for the morale booster Luke, really I loved it. NOT! Damn, this was not my day! I growled in my throat and Luke looked at me like I had two extra heads. I glared at him and he backed off. I walked up to the wall of ice and mentally told Rykira to have a field day. I felt a wave of heat rush through my body; all she had been waiting on was the go ahead to flood my system with her power. I then slipped into a braced stance and pulled my fist back, placing it beside my hip. I stayed there, tensed and with my eyes closed. Luke probably knew what was going on better then I did, but I knew one thing, this was going to hurt my shoulder like hell and my fist even more so. I snapped open my eyes and my fist rushed forward on impulse, connecting with the barrier of ice. I stayed there. Then suddenly twitched. The damn wall was still standing.
"MOTHER FUCKER! STUPID ASS WALL OF ICE! BREAK!"
I had jumped back before my rational thought kicked in and sent a fiery sick-kick rushing toward the wall. By the time the word 'break' came out of my mouth the wall was crumbling from the impact. I stopped then and there, my foot still suspended in air, and blinked. Twice. Three times. A fourth, and then a fifth.
"Oww. My foot, my fist, and my head hurt."
I then realized that my fist was already bruising and my foot probably was as well. My temples were pounding and I felt my heart beat in the three previously mentioned places. Damn Rykira, your powers had side-effects. I lowered my foot and experimentally stood on it. Fortunately, I could still use it. I then started to walk into the tower through the newly re-opened entrance. Luke was looking at me like I was mentally unstable. Okay, so maybe I was, but I was more interested in finding Dante...
~* Vergil *~
I had watched the young girl attack the wall where the gate was. Apparently, Cerberus had placed a barrier of ice up to keep Dante from walking away from his challenge. The flames were obviously hellion in nature, their variation of reds being the most apparent sign, the proof being how they changed the tone of her hair as she used them. Making her hair more red then blonde.
Her companion, the blonde haired angel, looked up. He knew I was there, and he could easily reach me. He chose to follow the girl inside the tower however. He was a fallen angel. This was going to cause problems if they were not taken care of quickly.
'Arkham knows something I don't. Those two have something to do with it. I'll have to watch him closely.'
~*Ikira*~
I had been looking around this room for a while now, and I had found nothing. Luke had remained on the ground floor and was staring intently at a strange statue. Three skeletal angels. I chose not to look at them, for their expression really gave me the creeps. I walked down the stairs and then noticed something, a very dim light. I walked over to it and stepped inside the cage like contraption beneath it.
"Hey Luke. I found something. I think it's an elevator of sorts..."
I was looking around inside the thing, when it moved. I lost my footing, having been standing on my tippy-toes to look at the top of it more closely, and tumbled to the floor of the thing. It shot upwards and I did the first thing that came to mind, I screamed. The first intelligible thought to go through my mind went through after it was too late to do anything. I called out my cousin's name and I saw him watching me go up the narrow tube that acted as a shaft for the cage I was now in. There was nothing he could do as I disappeared from his sight behind a wall.
I then sat and placed my back against the wall of the carrier and waited for it to stop. When it finally did, I stayed put, hoping the thing would move, as it had when I stepped into it. Unfortunately, it didn't. I slowly stood and walked out of the carrier, treading lightly as to not make enough noise to alert anything in the room. I spotted another statue, similar to the first in that it was three skeletal angels, but in a different posture. I knew there was some reason for them, I didn't know what though. I shook off the strange feeling it gave me and walked up the stairs beside it. I saw a quickly fading red glow. Chances are it was some sort of power source for the elevator. My coming up in the elevator must have used the last of it, hence why it was fading. I slid over to it and touched the still slightly glowing crystal; it shattered and the small fragments of it seem to fade away as soon as they landed. I sighed and turned around, if it did have some power left in it, it didn't have that now. I then noticed the double doors across the room. I jumped down from the balcony I was on, landing safely beside the statue. I walked over to the doors and pushed open the right one. I stepped through and pushed it closed behind me. I then took a second to look around the room. It looked like a dilapidated crypt, though in the center I saw a beautiful siren statue, behind it a wall of lit candles. There was a pedestal of sorts at the base. I sat there and leaned against the statue. I had to clear my head and think of a away back to Luken. I had the brawn that was needed to survive this tower and him the brains. I knew enough to survive, and I knew he could fight if he had too, but he had the information of all of the puzzles this tower held and how to beat them. I didn't have that knowledge, and certain enemies where going to block his path that he could not beat on his own, or so I thought.
I would have eventually put it all together, but the creaking around me told me I wouldn't be able to yet. I looked up at the creatures around me. All of them were Sins. Pride, Lust, Greed, Envy, Sloth, and Gluttony, but no Wraths. They would have made things easier, but oh well. By now, my hair was falling from its place in the ponytail, shadowing my face.
I really didn't want to deal with all of this. I growled slightly and my eyes flashed red again. They then faded into a murky blood coloring. It felt like I was watching a video as I stood.
Rykira…
I would let her have her fun.
These Sins would wish they had never stepped into our world.
Because now, Ikira was no more.
Rykira was back.
