Chapter XII
The Final Clash


“Where’d Vince go?” Shiro asked as he walked down a hallway. He’d lost him down that corridor earlier and hadn’t seen him since… Just then, he heard footsteps… And a distant droning… It soon got louder, and Shiro turned to look behind him as a shadowed figure came into view…

Seconds after seeing the shadowy figure, all the hairs on his body began to stand on end… “Hey Shiro…” An eerie voice said. “Wait…it couldn’t be…” Shiro said. Vince walked into view, but to Shiro…he looked different… “Vince…y—you…” He paused, unable to speak. Vince simply held up his hand. “Don't speak...” He said simply. “What's happened can't be undone, there's no need to worry about it now...” Shiro nodded, still uneasy. “Come on...we'd better find the others...” Vince said.

Floors below, near the underground garbage facility, Chase had finally reunited with Naomi and Seiko. “Damn it...leave it to Vince to delay us...” Chase grunted as they walked up a set of staircases... After climbing two floors, they exited the staircase. “Wait...” Chase said, holding out his hand. “What is it?” Seiko asked. “Ssh...” He whispered.

Chase's hearing had adapted quite well to this place, and he could've sworn he'd heard something... He stepped forward slowly, with Naomi and Seiko beginning to follow him. “Wait there...” He whispered. He continued walking and soon paused, his body frozen. He grunted. “Somethings up!” Seiko exclaimed. They began sprinting to Chase's aid, and he grunted again, his lips barely able to move. “There's something up there...”

Readying her bow, she set an arrow in her bow, and shot it into the darkness. Suddenly a tiny light flashed, and it vanished. “What the--?” Seiko said. “Come now...why would you fire at me?” An eerie voice said. “Wait...I know that voice...” Seiko muttered. Moments later, a giant light enveloped the room, and in it's path were Vince and Shiro.

“Wait...is that you...Vince?” Naomi asked. Vince smirked. “Of course...” He said. “Hello? Anyone notice me here?” Chase said through gritted teeth. “Sorry about that man...you got too close...” Vince said. By simply snapping his fingers, Chase regained control of his body. “You look different...” Seiko stated. “Heh...I'd like you to meet The Original Leder of the Lower Slums, The Lightning Overlord, Vincent...” Shiro said smugly.

“Are you serious?” Seiko asked. And he did that to Chase? Who could've easily given Vince a run for his money? She thought. “Well, enough standing around let's go...” Vince said as they heading down the staircase again.

Meanwhile, Itaku looked at Lance. “Well, you better get going...” He said. “Yeah...Chase won't get so lucky this time...” He said exiting the room. Turning back to his screen, Itaku smiled. “This truly will be a battle for the ages...” He paused, sitting back in his chair. “Entertain me...” He said, his smile turning into a smirk.
Meanwhile, this odd team of heroes stood in front of a set of 5 doors. “So guys...how are we going to pick doors?” Shiro asked. “Well, we could play rock paper scissors...” Chase suggested. Vince shrugged. “Whatever...” And so they did... Chase ended up with the first door, Naomi got the second, Seiko got the third, Vince got the fourth, and Shiro got the fifth.

They stood in the doorways, preparing themselves mentally for whatever was on the other side. Releasing a sigh, Seiko prepared to open her door, but was distracted. “Hey...” Vince said. Seiko turned and looked at him. “Don't die okay?” He asked, smiling. “I won't if you won't...” She responded, mocking a resilient tone. He nodded, his expression becoming serious.

And with that, they opened their respective doors, each of them finding themselves in a dark room.

“Heh...remember me Chase?” Lance called out from the darkness. “Lance...” Chase said into the darkness. Then, the silence was interrupted by a distant humming noise. And to Chase's amazement, his old gang's hideout, the run-down building in Illusica, appeared around them.

“Brings back memories eh?” Lance commented. Chase stood silent. “I suggested this place personally to Itaku...it's virtual reality...” He continued. Chase still said nothing. Lance was getting agitated now... “And it's also the most fitting place for you to die!” He yelled. Even in the lit hideout, Chase didn't see what was coming next... Within seconds, a pair of needles flew at him, and he dodged them, as they barely scraped his now torn shirt.

Chase sighed. “I guess it's my turn...” He said, a tone of remorse in his voice... He unsheathed his sword, and ran at Lance...

Meanwhile, no more than 100 yards away from Chase, Seiko stood in a black room, similar to that of Chase's reality before it changed... “So this is who we're up against...” A feminine voice whispered from the dark abyss that surrounded her. “Heh...this'll be easy...” A second voice said... “Who's there?” Seiko asked. “Well, you sure do get to the point...” The feminine voice said.

Again, the room flickered, revealing a group of mountains under a blue sky, and a tiny village in the distance. “Now do you remember us?” The girl asked. Seiko looked upon Sakura and Neimi, petrified.... She could barely take on one of them... How would she be able to handle them both?

“Well, enough with the pleasantries...let's get this going.” Sakura said. Suddenly, an almost near invisible string wrapped itself around Seiko arm, constraining it. “Damn...” She grunted. Doesn't look like I'll be able to keep my promise Vince... She thought. Then, out of nowhere, a ball of fire had separated the string from Seiko's arm and Sakura. And in it's path stood Neimi. “Didja need some help?” She said turning her head, smiling.

“You came just in time...” Seiko said grinning. “Now then, I believe the saying is...It's payback time!” She said, her fists igniting. “Heh...I'm with you on that one...” She didn't even need her bow and arrow for this... She'd just use her fists... She was quicker that way... Sakura grunted. “So you've got a friend...” She pulled a string from a little ball attached to her wrist. “It won't matter...” She finished.

She whipped the string at Seiko, and Naomi burned it. “Heh...is that all you got?” Naomi asked. “We've been in this building a long time...” She paused. “We wouldn't have gotten this far if we weren't able to compensate for each other's weaknesses... Sakura smirked. “Is that so?”

She snapped her fingers, and within seconds, the mountains had literally split apart, separating Seiko from Naomi, and Sakura from Neimi. “Let's see how well you teamwork is now!” She said smugly. Damn it...these guys think of everything... Seiko thought. Looks like I'll have to fight this one on my own... But she didn't have time to think of a plan, because within seconds, Sakura was throwing strings at her at almost incalculable speed.

Naomi stared down Neimi, who stood silent. Looks like I'll have to make the first move... She charged at Neimi, throwing a punch at her. And to her surprise, a whip had wrapped itself around her, and was squeezing her arm like a boa ceonstricting it's prey. She grunted, and Neimi smirked. “Face it, it's over...” She said.

On yet another battlefield, Vince stood in silence... His ears could pick up the distant sounds of fighting... But his attention was drawn away from the fighting, by the distant sound of footsteps... “So...this is the great Lightning Lord...” Trey said. Vince stood motionless, his arms at his side.

“Well, aren't you going to say something?” He asked. Vince said nothing. “Fine then...have it your way.” He said. Snapping his fingers, the room was engulfed in light. Seconds later, after the light had faded, they both stood in a run down town, much like the outside of Hell's Fortress...

“Bring back any memories?” Trey asked, a devilish smirk playing across his face. Vince still said nothing. Trey had now begun to get agitated... In his frustration, he threw a punch at Vince, who easily dodged it.

“Damn...he's too fast...” Trey said. Seconds later, Vince dodged a blow from behind, though this one was not from Trey... Standing between Zuri and Trey, Vince had an emotionless expression on his face.

“Looks like you're going to need some help...” Zuri said grinning. “******** off Zuri, I can handle this one by myself.” Trey snapped. “I highly doubt that...” He responded. “This guy's pretty tough...no one person can handle him alone...” He commented. Trey grunted. “Fine, if you want to help you can...but I don't normally fight with teams...”
Zuri grinned, pulling up his sleeves to reveal bandaged arms. Vince finally decided to speak. “If you both wanna die, that's fine with me...but when I kill you...don't say I didn't warn you...” He said. Trey looked flustered at this comment. “Arrogant p***k!” He yelled. Throwing a punch at Vince, he dodged it easily.

Zuri then compensated for his comrade's miss by spinning off him, then using the momentum to launch a blow at Vince. He dodged it again, making it look surprisingly easy. Seconds later, Shiro could be heard nearby, sitting on a nearby ledge. “Hey Vince, how you doin' down there?” He asked.

Vince flashed Shiro a smile, and dodged another blow. “No sweat...” He said. He pulled back his arm, a surge of electricity flowing through it. He slammed his hand into Trey's metallic arm, ripping it off with ease. Of course, Trey didn't feel it, because it was mechanical...but he still was angry...

Meanwhile, Chase and Lance were still fighting intensely, although it seemed Chase had the upper hand. He hacked away at Lance, who was barely able to dodge his blows. “Damn it...” He muttered. Finally, Chase had gotten tired of this... Lance was wasting his time...and he had other things to do... His sword had become enveloped in a black aura, and Chase pulled his katana back, and then quickly brought it down on Lance.

He barely had enough time to dodge, but Chase's sword still managed to slice through his arm... He fell to the ground writhing in pain, and screaming horribly. Pretty soon he became motionless. Chase sheathed his sword, and simply walked away, not even looking back.

Seiko and Naomi were still having a tough time being separated, neither was able to help the other... Dodging another blow from Sakura, Seiko regained her footing, and spun on her heels, landing a deadly punch into Sakura's jaw, sending her stumbling backwards. She grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her back, kneeing her in the stomach, then kneeing her in the side. You could hear something crack, and Sakura fell to the ground, limp and unconscious.

Naomi had finally gained the upper hand on Neimi, and was currently beating her back mercilessly. Delivering one final blow to Neimi's neck, she fell to the ground, and Naomi was pretty sure she wasn't going to get back up... Looking over to Seiko, she smiled.

Vince grunted as he wiped the metal from Trey's arm off his hands, looking at the two of them with an almost frightening cold look in his eyes... “You first...” He said, pointing at Trey. Vince extended his arms

Now, with only one real opponent left, Vince easily had the upper hand. He formed a plasma ball in his hand, and aimed it straight for Zuri. Running straight for his face, he slammed his palm right between his eyes. You could hear a horrid scream, and then silence, as Zuri fell to the ground dead. “God man...did you have to go and do that?” Shiro asked, hopping off the ledge.

Vince laughed slightly. “We'd better go...we've still got one more person to take care of...” He commented. Shiro nodded, his expression suddenly getting serious. He called over the others, and they soon headed for a nearby door...

Itaku smirked. “Looks like I'm going to have to take care of this myself...” He commented. He turned off his computers, and cracked his knuckles, preparing himself for his upcoming encounter...