Guardians Downfall Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Date: December 6, 2776
Location: Weapon Structure, Leben
Akutenshi and Haki proceeded further into the structure. The room they were in was much larger than that of the entrance. A large desk was at the center of the room with hard light holographic displays showing the weapon's systems as well as defense barriers. On both sides of the rooms were statues of Gods, their names etched into placards at the base of their feet. They slowly swept through the room, clearing it, then took a deep breath. They looked at each other and then towards the next set of double doors. Akutenshi placed the tip of the blade against his belt and it melded back into the belt with the nanites and unholstered his PR-MK2 Rifle, a rather small Plasma Rifle, and they moved up to the double doors and opened them. The room behind the doors was dark, and Akutenshi could feel a presence within it. They proceeded in, clearing the room as they went, until they heard a chuckle echo from the darkness.
"Brother!" Said the voice. "It's so good that you made it here."
Akutenshi snarled and glanced around the darkened room trying to locate him. "Kai." He said in a low voice.
"Yes brother! Have you come to play!" Said Kai.
Akutenshi shook his head in disgust, "This isn't a game Kai!" He shouted. "You need to realize this!"
Kai laughed, "Of course I know it's not a game. People are dying, and my side is close to achieving its goal. But I want to have a little fun, so why not make this war into a game?" He said.
Haki growled and shouted "You son of a bitch! Show your damn face! Quit hiding within the shadows and face us!"
Kai laughed again, "Oh, fine......but be warned, I will have to kill you both." He said. Kai stepped out into the light, in front of the large staircase going up to the next floor holding blaster in one paw, and short nanite sword in the other paw. He was wearing a grey trench coat, with a black UGSM BDU underneath it, and light armor attachments to the chest, groin, and legs. "Now, I've shown myself, who wants to go first?" He said as he aimed the blaster at the two.
Akutenshi glanced at Haki, got a short nod, and they both opened fir. Kai laughed maniacally as he dodged the first few shots then leaped out of the way of the rest, flipping backwards and landing on his feet. He then returned fire to which Akutenshi raised his right paw up and a barrier formed around the two of them and the Plasma slammed against the barrier and turned into white glittering dust.
Haki snarled as he fired several more shots towards Kai who raised a barrier and the Plasma that hit the barrier turned into white dust as well. "Shit!" Akutenshi shouted as he the white dust start to move around the room, forming into multiple spikes. "Barrier!" He shouted as the spikes spun around Kai and came towards them. They both raised their paws, barriers forming in front of them as the spikes slammed against them. They dissipated into a cloud of white dust again and Akutenshi raised his left paw to start controlling the right dust, and could feel both he and Kai fighting over control for the particles.
Kai smirked, "Oh, a battle of wills huh?" He said as he raised his left paw and fired several shots towards Akutenshi. All but one of them missed him, the one shot hitting his left leg and knocking him to the ground. The small barrier around the left leg sizzled and regenerated, but he had lost and Kai now had control over the particles. Using his left hand he continued to fire at Haki then towards Akutenshi who was attempting to dodge the shots and Haki who remained behind his barrier, unable to make a move.
Akutenshi reached out, once again, with his paw and felt Kai's control start to battle his. This time, however, Akutenshi won the struggle. He motioned his right paw to guide the white dust and made it form into a spear as it surged towards Kai who had stopped firing at Haki and had risen a barrier once again to protect himself. Akutenshi motioned the spear and it slammed into Kai's barrier, breaking away slowly but surely. Kai smirked thinking he had avoided the attack, when Akutenshi closed his fists and the white dust that had scattered around Kai exploded in a chain reaction. Kai screamed out in pain and, when the smoke cleared, he stood there with a several scratches along his muzzle and a stream of blood running down his left arm from his shoulder. Akutenshi grinned as he stood up and began to fire at Kai. Bolt after bolt of plasma impacted on the already damaged barrier, chipping away at it, and Kai howled with rage.
Kai brought his right paw towards the fire and Akutenshi could see a surge of grey light circling through and around Kai's right arm and a grey magical circle formed. Akutenshi could hear the sound of thunder and looked up to see a dark cloud forming above him and Haki and he bolted to Haki's side and they both raised their right paws upwards forming a double layered shield as small meteors began to pour from the clouds impacting the ground around the two and exploding. Akutenshi and Haki strained to keep the barriers up as the first one started to crack under the attack and shattered. The Meteor shower continued, and just when Akutenshi thought Haki would lose his barrier, it ended. Haki dropped the barrier and collapses to his knees, panting. Kai grinned at the two, taking joy out of the show in front of him. Akutenshi snarled as he walked towards Kai, and time seemed to freeze once more. Akutenshi looked around the room, expecting to see the Lord of Time walk out from the shadows, however instead he saw a gorgeous Red furred Wolf step out, dressed in a standard UGSM Flight suit. Her eyes met his, and she nodded to him.
"Who...are you?" Akutenshi asked.
She sighed, "I'm the sister of the one that is the cause of this entire war. My name is Yelarin." She told Akutenshi.
"Why are you here?" Akutenshi asked.
Yelarin seemed to smile at him, then it vanished and was replaced by a look of sorrow. "My brother, Rauh, is here. As of this moment, Time itself is in flux and the Gods can now intervene. I am sorry for the pain that Rauh has caused you. He will pay." She told him.
Akutenshi looked over at Kai, and gasped. around Kai was a dark aura that seemed to snuffing out any semblance of his aura, and he looked over at Yelarin. "Why didn't I see that sooner?" He muttered to himself. Something felt off to him with the aura, like it didn't belong to Kai, who's rage filled face glared over at the spot Akutenshi was at.
"It's simple, you're new to the powers granted to you as a Protector. And in the heat of the moment, well, it can be hard to notice those details." Yelarin stated. "Kai isn't himself at all. He is far too mentally damaged to even return to his old self. Rauh made sure of that." She looked over at the Wolf then away from him, towards the stairs that went up. "As a Protector, it is your job to make a choice." She said as she slowly made her way towards the stairs and began to ascend them, "Either to save, or destroy. You work for both sides, your job is to maintain order. Too much of a good thing can tilt the scales in a horrible direction, too much of a bad thing will tilt the scales in the other direction. Protector Bloodlines, your Bloodline in particular, was selected because of how the members of your bloodline have behaved. They valued the wisdom of the Gods, however they also acted on their own to protect. Therefore, the old Gods chose to grant your ancestors with the Protector Title." She was now halfway up the stairs when she took a deep breath, and said, "If you believe Kai can be saved, you may attempt to do so. However, know that he is your half brother, and his past is not something that you can just watch and try to mend. He's been beaten, tortured, brainwashed by Rauh and if you fail to repair the damage done to him, you will become weakened, and he will kill you and your friend."
"So, hearing this I should just kill him?" Akutenshi asked, staring up at Yelarin.
Yelarin looked down at him, now almost to the next floor and smirked, and shook her head. "My Father is the God of Justice, but he also believes that anyone can be saved with enough will power. While I don't fully agree with his practices, I do acknowledge that, maybe, Kai can be saved." She chuckled to herself as she vanished to the floor above, and called down to Akutenshi "You have only two minutes now to make a choice! Good luck Protector!"
Akutenshi looked from where she had vanished to the upper floor, over to Kai and sighed. He was far too dangerous to let live, but at the same time, hearing that Kai could be saved meant that Akutenshi should attempt to. However, he didn't know what to do to help Kai. This hesitation, he knew it would mean the death of both him and Haki, but he could not take someone's life knowing full well that he could be saved. The area around Akutenshi flickered, almost like it was phasing completely out of time itself, and Akutenshi could feel a familiar aura appear in the shadows. "Lord of Time." Akutenshi said, softly.
There was a chuckle, and the Lord of Time, now a Ferret in a black sweater and brown khakis walked out from the shadows. "I know, I look different." He said, his voice calm. "I've extended the time dilation that Yelarin placed here. We have a few extra minutes to chat."
Akutenshi nodded to him, "I forgot," He said to The Lord of Time, "That Gods can willingly change their appearance."
The Lord of Time chuckled and nodded to Akutenshi. "Oh yes, very much. You wouldn't know how many times I've been around you mortals and just enjoyed watching you." He said. "However, I can tell you're in a dilemma."
Akutenshi's ears twitched in annoyance, "Nah, thought I was just sitting here with my thumb up my ass" He responded.
The Lord of Time chuckled and smiled, "Ah, the sass from some of you mortals is truly entertaining you know. Now, the question is, to save Kai or kill him?" He said to Akutenshi.
Akutenshi looked down at his feet, and took a deep breath. "Well," He said, "If I attempt to save Kai and fail, it'll mean the end of me and Haki as well as the end of Leben. If I Kill him, and I know full well I can, It saves us energy and time. But the question for me is, can I take the life of a man that can be saved? Should I?"
The Lord of Time sighed deeply and walked up next to Akutenshi and placed a paw on his shoulder. There was a Jolt of energy between the two's connection and everything darkened around Akutenshi. "Now," Said The Lord of Time, "You will see what I see. Caution, there are spoilers."
And with that, The Lord of Time vanished beside Akutenshi and he was placed in the same room where the three of them were fighting, Akutenshi standing over Kai's body with his rifle aimed at Kai's head, a hole in it from him firing his weapon. He looked over and Haki and then proceeded up the stairs. Akutenshi followed himself and Haki up the stairs when everything melted and suddenly, he saw himself sitting against a wall with Everont standing only a few feet away from him. Behind him a Red furred Wolf wearing a UGSM Flight Suit and a Black furred Wolf stood fighting, their weapons clashing and both of them firing magic at each other. Everyone's eyes welled with tears and he shouted "How could you! He was your brother! He needed your help!" Everont stumbled forward and then collapsed on the ground and stared at Akutenshi, the look of terror in his eyes, and Everont reached out a paw towards his son and whimpered as he took his last breath.
Everything around Akutenshi began to bend around him and the colors and lighting seemed to be swallowed up by darkness, and he appeared next to himself, a knife sticking out of his chest with Haki on the ground a few feet away, Kai on top of him strangling him. After only a few more minutes of struggling, there was a sickening snap, and Haki's body lay still. Kai slowly got up, tears in his eyes, breathing heavily. He turned towards the stairs and stumbled towards them, then grabbed his head and screamed out in agony. Akutenshi ran over to his side to see what was wrong, and could see that he was sobbing, mumbling to himself about how he could do the things he did, that he could feel himself being split apart, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell over, barely moving. It then fast forwarded and Akutenshi stood in a room, not much could be made, but he could see Yelarin fighting Everont, and ramming some type of weapon through Everont's chest, killing him, and forcing Rauh to appear. The two fought, with Rauh eventually coming out on top, and then moving into the shadows laughing.
Things reset, and the different other variants of time continued to play until Akutenshi couldn't take it anymore! He closed his eyes, his heart racing as he heard the screams and cheers of all possible futures, the wonderful speeches, the sorrow filled talks, to silence. He opened eye, breathing heavily still, looked around, then opened both eyes and The Lord of Time appeared. "You handled that far better than most mortals." He said to Akutenshi, chuckling. "You handled a mere thirty different permutations of time, different points of time, and are still sane. Or well, luckily, you came close to the edge of insanity at the twenty-ninth permutation."
Akutenshi steadied his breathing, feeling a few tears trickle out of his eyes and he looked into the eyes of this God, and asked, "Is this what you see all the time?"
The Lord of Time gave him a nod in response, "Yes, it is. But I see thousands of different permutations of time within a single second now, beforehand, oh maybe a millenia ago, it took me hours to sift through at least five hundred." Akutenshi stared at The Lord of Time in awe, but then his eyes caught Kai and he felt his heart ache. "And now, you have a choice to make. You know what ability is needed, it is the same as with Cale. Walk towards Kai, and place your paws firmly on his shoulders, then your forehead to his, And focus. Once I resume time, you will need to do that and then fight the very insanity that grips young Kai, help him see the light. Well, that is, if you choose that option. I'll be watching Protector!" And with that, The Lord of Time faded away, and Akutenshi rushed towards Kai and placed both his paws on Kai's shoulder, then his forehead to Kai's and time resumed.
Kai gasped, surprised that Akutenshi had appeared in front of him, and began to squirm, trying to get away from him. "What the fuck?!" He shouted as he tried to shove Akutenshi away with the butt of his gun.
Akutenshi hushed him, bringing a paw to the back of Kai's head and stroking the fur on his head, and could feel all the surroundings around them fade away. Kai had stopped moving, and Akutenshi could hear Haki's voice, and said out loud "Haki, disengage!" He didn't know if the Liger heard him, but he knew that now was chance. He couldn't just kill Kai, he had to try and save him. However, he wouldn't spend too much energy trying to rescue him. If it proved useless, he would break the link and kill Kai. They both stood there, in the darkness, Akutenshi's mind connected to Kai's. Akutenshi could feel Kai's pain and grimace as it bombarded him, but he raised his defenses even higher, now trying to stop the flood of emotion from overwhelming him. "Kai, you need to calm down!" He said.
"Gah! How?!" Kai demanded to know.
"Take a deep breath damn it! Then exhale slowly, continue it until you gain control! I can't help you if you don't gain control of your emotions!" Akutenshi responded.
"Who says I need your damn help?!" Responded a voice, it sounded similar to Kai's, but different. "Who says I don't enjoy what I'm doing!"
"Gods, help me! Please, someone help!" Responded a young pups voice, "Gods why?!" It said as it morphed into Kai's voice.
"Just kill me! Damn it just do it! End it all" Came another, distorted variant of Kai's voice.
Akutenshi whimpered in pain, put kept connected. "Why is this happening?!" Screamed another variant of Kai's voice, it sounded like him as a teenager.
Akutenshi hushed Kai, feeling his emotions begin to disappear, and he lowered his barriers and allowed both of their minds to fully connect. Akutenshi stood in a dark area, and in front of him, a distorted image of Kai, wielding a blade. "Get out of here...." It said to Akutenshi. "This is my home, my place to control!"
"No it's not!" Akutenshi said as he raised his right paw towards the distorted image, a magical circle formed and it a bright white light shot forward and pierced the distorted image that screamed out in pain as it vanished. Akutenshi then proceeded forward, alert. Distorted image after Distorted image, Akutenshi made his through the darkness until he came to a well lit room. On the other side was a man, same features at Kai, but a more muscular build and dark blue eyes staring at Akutenshi. Behind the man, was Kai chained up against the wall, the look of fear in his eyes as he watched the bigger man walk towards Akutenshi.
"Well, you did choose to try and save him, unfortunately, you're too late." He said to Akutenshi.
"Oh?" Asked Akutenshi.
"Yeah, all the damaged variants of Kai have already done what they needed to, even defeating me won't save your brother." Responded the man.
Akutenshi grinned, "We will see about that." He said to the man, then bolted forward, a shimmering green sword forming in his right paw. The man's eyes widened in fear as Akutenshi closed the gap between the two, and sliced the man clean in half who faded into nothing. He took a deep breath and walked towards Kai and knelt down in front of him. This Kai was fully naked, and Akutenshi's ears flattened in embarrassment as he stared down a certain area then back up to Kai's face "Kai...." He said softly as he gently reached out to caress Kai's face. "Wake up, it's time to go."
Kai's body moved slowly, then looked up at akutenshi, and there was a hint of glee in his eyes. "Brother?" He asked.
Akutenshi smiled and nodded. "This will only take a second Kai, be patient." He told Kai as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, images of Everont standing in front of Kai, laughing as a Lothian shocked Kai, the screams of a mother to her pup to run, but was quickly silenced. To Everont screaming at Kai's face, forcing him to submit. There was a myriad of different toture methods, some physical, some emotional, that Everont had used against Kai to break him, until the images flashed to the present, and Akutenshi smiled. He began to use what magic he could to heal the mental damage, but knew that it wouldn't do all the way, but he could feel Kai relax. He opened his eyes and unchained Kai from the wall and helped him stand up. Kai stared at Akutenshi, then hugged him tightly and started to sob. "It's alright," Akutenshi said, "I'm here little brother......let it out now." He held Kai tightly for another few minutes, then everything returned to the room that they had been fighting in. Haki stood right behind Akutenshi, staring in disbelief at what he was seeing. "Listen," Akutenshi said as he let go of Kai and looked into his eyes. "Haki is going to get you help, but you need to trust him and not cause any issues ok?"
Kai stared up at Akutenshi, apparently unable to speak now, and nodded. Akutenshi motioned for Haki to take Kai and told him to go someplace safe. "What about you?" Asked Haki.
"I've got a friend upstairs I can rely on, don't worry. This will all be over soon." Akutenshi responded as he made his way towards the stairs. He had saved Kai, and didn't feel any weaker than when he had first gone up against Kai. Hopefully, he could stop his father, and find out the truth about Kai.