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tampered2007-01-08 12:38 am
crimsonmangekyo.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2007-01-08 12:38 am
Log: Complete
When; Jan. 6th, evening
Rating; R for bloody battle-schtuff
Characters; Uchiha Itachi![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crimsonmangekyo, Hoshigaki Kisameomgashark, Archerheroshirou, Tomoe Hotarusilence_bringer
Summary; The long-anticipated clash between Hotaru's "suitors".
Log;
Archer dashed forward across the rooftops. He knew where he was going. He had followed Hotaru plenty of times. When he reached his destination, he stopped. Archer looked around and waiting. He knew they'd show up. If they didn't, both of them were simpering weaklings.
Kisame walked out into the night, his wide brimmed hat pulled over his eyes. While usually a surveillance walk, it usually became nothing but a pleasureable stroll. Because, what kind of fool would try to match the might of the Akatsuki? The cold night air visible as it left Kisame's nostrils, he began to walk down the street that had once led to the place of rest and healing. The road that now led to a den of deceit. As Kisame rounded a corner, he caught in the corner of his eye a silhouette pressed against the full moon hanging in the sky. Lifting the brim of his hat a bit, he looked up. He recognized that person... "Archer-san. Good evening."
Archer dropped down to the ground, landing softly as a feather. He gave Kisame a glare. "Sharkface, where is Itachi?"
'Sharkface' grinned. "And it's nice to see you, as well. What business do you have with Itachi-san this evening?"
Archer gave Kisame a smirk. "I'm going to hand him his ass on a platter."
A thoughtful look crossed over Kisame's face. "Oh? And why is that?"
A dark shadow stepped out from behind Kisame, turning slightly to glance at Archer, crimson and black eyes leveled on grey from underneath the brim of the hat. "Because our friend Archer seems to believe that I would somehow harm our angel of darkness." A slight gust of wind rustled the black and scarlet cloak, playful fingers toying with the white strips of silk that hung from his hat and tangling them slightly as he matched his gaze to Archer's. "But I'm sure you're well aware that we would do no such thing, Kisame. Aren't you?"
When Itachi stepped out, Archer turned his eyes to look at Kisame. He had listened closely to what Naruto had said to him at a previous date. "You can talk all you want Itachi, but I'm through with it. I don't need to justify myself to you."
Kisame laughed, his eyes narrowing. "It would seem Archer-san is jealous of all the time Hotaru-san has been spending with us, ne?" Kisame took a step forward, raising his hat the rest of the way but leaving it on his head.
The Uchiha nodded slowly. "Yes, it would appear that way. But really, can you blame him? Afterall, such a young and beautiful girl, so willing to give him everything. But then, I suppose that all of that matters little to one without courage to take what's been offered to him. So what else is left for him to do but to be angered when someone lacking cowardice steps forward to take a bite of the peach?"
Archer wasn't paying attention to Itachi's words. He was wondering how to defeat both of them at once. He was going to have to use it as soon as possible. There was no sense in waiting, so Archer jumped backwards. He traced the black and white Kanshou and Bakuya into his hands. With a bright red glow, they formed into his hands.
With a deep resonance, Archer began to cast his spell. "I am the bone of my sword."
Kisame scoffed and grabbed the hilt of Samehada, not even bothering to remove his hat. "One more word, Archer-san," Kisame growled.
With an amused grin, Itachi stepped out of Kisame's way with a slight bow. "Please. Be my guest, Kisame."
Archer smiled. The more free time he had, the easier this would become. He quickly tossed both of his swords. They spun like boomerangs, whirling out and around, behind Kisame. The two swords curved back and begin to fly in a circle around Kisame. "Steel is my body and fire is my blood." With his hands free, Archer traced his bow in his left hand. In his right hand, a black sword was traced. It was the sword of Beowolf, Hrunting. He nocked his bow with the sword and drew backwards, taking careful aim.
A lip curled, Kisame raised a single hand before himself and formed a seal. In a flash, two mizu bunshins stepped from Kisame, and grabbed each of the rotating swords by the hilt. Seeing an opportunity, Kisame grabbed the hilt of Samehada and brought it forcefully down from behind his head.
Archer took careful aim with his bow. The black Hrunting emitted energy from it's tip, creating a loud noise. "I have created over a thousand blades." He let go of the string, sending Hrunting jetting for the Kisame not holding one of his swords.
The first, and then the second mizu bunshin dove in the way of the speeding missile, hoping to slow it down even a fraction of a second. But to no avail. The deadly weapon sped towards it target, and Kisame knew no way slow it down any further. Dropping his own blade, Kisame spun out of the way, feeling the arrow rip through the bottom of his cloak.
Archer didn't release his stance. He kept his bow pointed at Kisame. "Unknown to death, nor known to life." In midair, the sword swung a long arc. It crashed through tree trunks and anything in it's way. When it locked back onto Kisame, it headed directly at him.
With a flash of narrowed eyes, Itachi was in the air. A rotation, and a foot came crashing down onto the sword, weight of his body bearing down on the weapon and driving the point into the soft earth to embed itself deeply into the ground. Glancing up, Sharingan whirled dangerously as the Uchiha lept softly back out of the way. "Kisame. I suggest you take less time to do this. It appears that it will be getting more irritating soon."
Kisame turned back, a glare expressing both gratitude and slight irritation. "Itachi-san, I believe this is my fight." Turning his spin into a handspring, Kisame grabbed his weapon, and resumed the attack.
Archer grunted in dissapointment. He tossed his bow to the side and it disappeared. He held his hands out to his side. "Have withstood pain to create many weapons." Once again, Kanshou and Bakuya were traced into his hands. He readied them, preparing to take the attack.
Violet eyes slid open shakily, flinching from the lights. Bright. Too bright. Whimpering, she rolled over, gagging at the sudden nausea that rushed over her. Scraping black hair out of her face with a shaking hand, she gasped for breath, trying to quell the horrendous shaking that seemed to have taken over her entire body. Hot. She was so hot, like her whole body was on fire. The world swam in front of her, colours bleeding together and shapes blending to create one enormous cacaphony of sound and light and colour that lanced through her head with all the subtlty of a speeding train. And then pain. Pain that lanced up her arm and through her body, causing the shuddering tremors to spasm even more. Biting her lip, she tasted blood as she looked down to where the red markings on the back of one hand burned with a dull blood-coloured sheen. Archer... Staggering to her feet, she mentally concentrated, ignoring the raw knawing hunger that clawed at her mind, begging and demanding that she find some tea to quell the terrible thirst, to drown out the demons that plagued her. With a dark shimmer, her clothes changed, leaving the Soldier of Ruin standing in her place. Wobbling on her feet, she leaned against the Silence Glaive before glancing out the window. "Archer..." As if her power somehow knew that this time was different, it obeyed her this time. With a flash of dark lightning, she shimmered and vanished. Reappearing in the street, she stumbled and collapsed to the ground, the glaive the only thing holding her up. Staring through hazy vision, she could make out the shape of the ruined hospital only a few hundred feet ahead. With a whimper of pain, Hotaru pushed herself to her feet and made her way towards it, glaive acting more like a crutch then a weapon
"Tch. Bad new, Archer-san." As Kisame landed a before Archer, he brought his sword down as well, hoping to catch on the man's shoulder before his next attack could finish channeling.
Archer crossed his swords and caught Samehada between them. "Shit." Archer didn't expect this much strength from a body that small. He put his whole body into pushing back. He still continued with his magical chant. "Yet these hands will never hold anything."
Kisame spit, and pulled his own sword back towards him, the scales grating across Archer's blades. As soon as his weapon was returned, Kisame spun again, sword out to catch the chanting man in his side.
She let out a small whimper as the pain in her hand intensified, the burning spreading up her arm and into the rest of her body. Twining itself through her mind, the pain laced it's way through the torrential colours and sounds that bled into her consciousness, spiraling around one thought. Archer. She had to get to Archer. He would protect her, he would comfort her, he would hold her and make everything go away. Even if he didn't want to love her, Hotaru knew that he DID. And that small sliver of daylight in the current nightmarish darkness of her world was enough. Pushing herself forward, she managed to make her way past the debris. And sure enough, there he was. Locked in a fight with.....her eyes widened as unfocused pupils tried to figure out who it was. "Archer...."
Archer heard Hotaru whimper behind him. It distracted him a bit, so when he jumped backwards, he was a split second to late. Samehada slammed into his side and ground in his armor. With the glancing impact, Archer was set spinning in the air. He hit the ground rolling and came up on his foot and knee. Although the breath was knocked out of him, he smiled. "So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!" With the spell finished, a ring of fire surrounded Archer. It quickly spread outwards, engulfing everything in smoke. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that the battlefield had changed completely. The ground was smooth and there were no obstacles. Most obvious was all around were swords planted in the ground. "What you see here is an unlimited number of blades. The finest of blades."
Itachi controlled his sudden startlement at the changing of the battlefield as he stepped back a bit. Ruby-crimson eyes studied not only the strangeness of the landscape, but the myriad of swords. This is another dimension. Similar to my Tsukuyomi, he controls this world.
Kisame brought himself to full standing height, slinging Samehada back over his shoulder. "Ne, Itachi-san. What kind of genjutsu is this?"
Archer stepped up to the plate with the answer. "This is no illusion. This is my reality being projected on yours. It's called a reality marble. In it, I can do many things." Archer stared at Samehada, evaluating it. "For my first act, I will humiliate you, sharkface." Archer held out his hand in front of his body. A bright gold light shined from it. In front of him, in an outline, Samehada began to form. It quickly filled in leaving the complete sword in Archer's hand. "Remember when I said I was a rare sword collector? This is how I get my weapons."
"It's a close facsimile of the Tsukuyomi, Kisame. This is his realm, where he controls all." Itachi glanced at Archer, eyes narrowing slightly. "But no matter. The outcome will be the same. Tell me, Archer-san. Why do you draw her into this?" He gestured to the small form of Hotaru, who stared around her in a bewildered way, eyes huge and dark in her face as pupils contracted and dilated at random. "Don't you think that she should be resting, not involved in this fight?"
"Tch. A fake. The only humilition will be your's Archer-san." The second his line was down, Kisame's body flickered out, and appeared behind Archer's, sword raised over his head, ready to strike his opponent... or Hotaru.
Eyes blank and unfocused, she stared up as a figure loomed over her. Archer? No...wasn't Archer. Archer was red, not black. But...there was some red there. And Archer was...ok, so Archer was also black. So maybe it WAS Archer. Cocking her head to the side, she smiled at Kisame with a vacant grin and raised a hand to shakily wave at him.
Archer quickly turned and grabbed a sword out of the ground. It was Durandal, the sword who's blade never dulled. He took a quick swipe at Kisame. At the same time, 5 other swords lifted themselves out of the ground and interlaced themselves in the air between Hotaru and Kisame, providing a defense. Near Itachi, more swords lifted themselves from the ground. They glowed and elongated into darts, become broken phantasms. They shot towards the red eyed villian.
With a smirk, Sharingan spun, the tomoe blending into the tri-patterned Mangekyo. Sidestepping, Itachi avoided the swords with an easy grace borne of one who was used to seeing into the immediate future. "You'll have to do better then that, Archer-san."
Kisame was quite surprised as he watched his opponent pull a sword from the ground, and even more surprised with the quickness and ferocity that he swung it with. Kisame was also surprised that he swung faster than he did, as evidenced by the scarlet streak across his own leg.
As the steel flashed by in front of her, the swords flying into formation between her and the hazy shape in front of her, she let out a terrified squeak and backpedaled, eyes wide and frightened. THIS wasn't where she wanted to be. And it was made only worse with the grunt of pain from Kisame and the sudden warm splattering of blood across her face and torso. Reaching a trembling hand up, she wiped at her face, paling at the crimson streaks that dripped down her hand. Frantically glancing around and trying to find something she recognized, she bit back a gasp at the pain in her hand, calling out for Archer in a voice strained with fear. The Saturn-power flared, a shield of dark power crackling around her as it reacted to her fear.
Archer knew Hotaru wasn't going to be attacked, so once again he jumped backwards. He held his hand to his side and a lance was quickly traced into his hand. It was the legendary Gae Bulga, with it's cursed barbs. The tip coursed with energy as Archer swung it around his head twice. Archer widened his stance, his right hand holding the back of the lance and his left hand resting on top of the tip. He look at Itachi, keeping away from his eyes and charged foward.
She sat there, eyes gazing confusedly ahead. A blink. Then another, and suddenly her vision cleared to the sight of Archer charging Itachi with a wicked-looking lance in his hands, Itachi's hands flying in various things that she'd heard were called seals. Her mind locked onto the sight, only one thought in her head. They would kill each other. Over HER. No. This had to stop, had to stop now. Otherwise, otherwise....Scrambling shakily to her feet, she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed."ARCHER, NO!! STOP THIS!!"
Archer heard Hotaru scream, but there was no turning back. The tip of the lance glowed a bright white. "Strike for the heart! GAE BULGA!" The lance streaked toward Itachi's heart, no longer visible to the normal eye.
He knew he couldn't avoid it. The lance, whatever it was, was moving far too fast. And Uchiha Itachi was not a stupid man. But, there was one thing that he could do. Snarling, his mangekyo whirled, clicking forward through time, allowing him to see the path that the lance would take. With reflexes only an Uchiha could possess, he shifted to the side enough that the point of the lance pierced the skin under his left collarbone, a mere 3 or 4 inches from his heart. The lance ripped through bone and muscle, sending the Akatsuki flying back to the ground. But even then, Itachi was still planning. With a flick of his finger, the genjutsu went into effect, simple enough to do only what he needed it to do. To Archer's eyes, the crimson-eyed man simply vanished. And then, he was there. Appearing directly in front of Archer, mangekyo whirling. "Checkmate, Archer-san." Grabbing one of the swords that stuck from the ground near him, he thrust it forward, ramming the sharp blade through Archer's chest.
Kisame roared as he watched his partner pierced through the chest, and his inability to prevent it. He also saw Itachi improvise, and retaliate, and saw his own opportunity to do the same. Lifting Samehada, Kisame pushes the sword through Archer's other side, making sure that the scales caught into the flesh. Falling onto his knee, his own wound still pouring blood, Kisame snarled. "And the king topples, ne, Itachi-san?"
Archer dropped. The pain was searing through him. Being stabbed with a Noble Phantasm, nonetheless. With Samehada grinding at his side, he found it hard to take a breath. He managed though. And then he began to laugh. "If the king has fallen, then it is a pyrric victory. Itachi has been stabbed by the cursed lance. There is only one way to heal that wound."
He glared, red eyes narrowing despite the searing pain of the lance in his shoulder. Wrapping long fingers around the shaft, he ripped the weapon free, tossing it aside. However, his attention was momentarily drawn by something else.
All the colour drained from her face as the two swords ripped through Archer's body. Her vision went white, the only thing she could see was his form as it slumped towards the ground. Her mind blanked, the sound of her own blood rushing through her veins filling her ears until it became a roaring that drowned out everything else as the red crept into the edges of her field of view. They. Hurt. Archer."NO!!" There was a pulse, a visible pushing of the air, as if something unseen had thrust it's hand against the atmosphere. It rippled outwards from Hotaru, the ground cracking slightly, swords bending away from her before they bent back. It was as though her power had decided to receed, rushing back to her as the tide rushes back out to the sea. And then it exploded. Black lightning crackled and erupted all around her, violet energy bubbling up into a dome that formed around her small form and reflected the lighting as it expanded before pulling in momentarily and then exploding outward in a maelstrom of unleashed power. Her eyes turned completely white, glowing with the unrestrained energy that crackled up and down her body, ripping at her clothes and cracking the ground in a circle around her with it's force. And all the while, the only sound was the crackling of the power, intermixed with her screaming.
Kisame knew impending doom when he heard it, and he also knew he was in no condition to run. Quick hand seals, and the mizu bunshins reappeared. Ripping his sword from Archer, Kisame was picked up by bunshin one, Itachi by the second as they made a quick tactical retreat. They had done their damage, and now they just needed to return to their lair.
As the Akatsuki fled and the world turned back to it's normal appearance, the power faded and she dropped to her hands and knees. Gasping for breath, she forced her head up, amethyst eyes fixing on Archer's prone form where it lay on the ground. No...it couldn't be. He couldn't be dead. Half-running and half-crawling, she stumbled over to sit next to him. Her eyes widened and the tears began to flow at the state he was in. "No...no..nononononoNONONONO!! Archer, no, you can't die, you can't! I love you, don't leave me, I don't want to be alone anymore, Archer!" With a choked sob, she placed her hands over the gaping wounds in his chest that pumped his lifeblood onto the ground. Concentrating, her hands began to glow as she poured energy into them, willing the bleeding to stop, the tissue to mend. No, you can't die I won't let you die no matter what, I have to save you, HAVE to heal you. It's my fault, MY fault you got hurt, all because of me, don't die, PLEASE don't die! Gritting her teeth, she willed all of her energy into the healing, mentally reaching back into the recesses of her mind and wrenching open doors she had closed long ago, searching and reaching for more power, more knowledge. Her hands glowed brighter, until it almost hurt to look at them. Hotaru could feel her energy draining, feel her consciousness start to wane. But it couldn't she would LET it. Forcing it back, she let herself begin to smile as she saw the wounds closing under her touch. You'll be ok, Archer...
Archer was highly wounded. Yet when Hotaru came over to heal him, he knew it was a bad idea. He wanted to tell her to stop. That he could take care of himself.
However, Hotaru drained herself of mana. Without her mana, he couldn't carry a physical form. So he faded out, not enough power to sustain himself. He wasn't dead. However, being a spirit did nothing for him.
As his form faded from view, she panicked, fear quickly turning to hysteria. No, he wasn't vanishing. Wasn't leaving, wasn't going away. It COULDN'T be true. She grabbed for him, tried to wrap her arms around his torso, only to have those same arms go right through him. Backing up, she started trembling as the dam finally burst and she let out a wail of pain and heartbreak. "NO!!! Archer, come BACK!!!" Falling to her hands and knees, sobbing, it was all she could do to pull the glaive over to her before she collapsed onto the ground, shifting back to her normal form as the blackness closed over her mind.
Rating; R for bloody battle-schtuff
Characters; Uchiha Itachi
crimsonmangekyo, Hoshigaki Kisameomgashark, Archerheroshirou, Tomoe Hotarusilence_bringerSummary; The long-anticipated clash between Hotaru's "suitors".
Log;
Archer dashed forward across the rooftops. He knew where he was going. He had followed Hotaru plenty of times. When he reached his destination, he stopped. Archer looked around and waiting. He knew they'd show up. If they didn't, both of them were simpering weaklings.
Kisame walked out into the night, his wide brimmed hat pulled over his eyes. While usually a surveillance walk, it usually became nothing but a pleasureable stroll. Because, what kind of fool would try to match the might of the Akatsuki? The cold night air visible as it left Kisame's nostrils, he began to walk down the street that had once led to the place of rest and healing. The road that now led to a den of deceit. As Kisame rounded a corner, he caught in the corner of his eye a silhouette pressed against the full moon hanging in the sky. Lifting the brim of his hat a bit, he looked up. He recognized that person... "Archer-san. Good evening."
Archer dropped down to the ground, landing softly as a feather. He gave Kisame a glare. "Sharkface, where is Itachi?"
'Sharkface' grinned. "And it's nice to see you, as well. What business do you have with Itachi-san this evening?"
Archer gave Kisame a smirk. "I'm going to hand him his ass on a platter."
A thoughtful look crossed over Kisame's face. "Oh? And why is that?"
A dark shadow stepped out from behind Kisame, turning slightly to glance at Archer, crimson and black eyes leveled on grey from underneath the brim of the hat. "Because our friend Archer seems to believe that I would somehow harm our angel of darkness." A slight gust of wind rustled the black and scarlet cloak, playful fingers toying with the white strips of silk that hung from his hat and tangling them slightly as he matched his gaze to Archer's. "But I'm sure you're well aware that we would do no such thing, Kisame. Aren't you?"
When Itachi stepped out, Archer turned his eyes to look at Kisame. He had listened closely to what Naruto had said to him at a previous date. "You can talk all you want Itachi, but I'm through with it. I don't need to justify myself to you."
Kisame laughed, his eyes narrowing. "It would seem Archer-san is jealous of all the time Hotaru-san has been spending with us, ne?" Kisame took a step forward, raising his hat the rest of the way but leaving it on his head.
The Uchiha nodded slowly. "Yes, it would appear that way. But really, can you blame him? Afterall, such a young and beautiful girl, so willing to give him everything. But then, I suppose that all of that matters little to one without courage to take what's been offered to him. So what else is left for him to do but to be angered when someone lacking cowardice steps forward to take a bite of the peach?"
Archer wasn't paying attention to Itachi's words. He was wondering how to defeat both of them at once. He was going to have to use it as soon as possible. There was no sense in waiting, so Archer jumped backwards. He traced the black and white Kanshou and Bakuya into his hands. With a bright red glow, they formed into his hands.
With a deep resonance, Archer began to cast his spell. "I am the bone of my sword."
Kisame scoffed and grabbed the hilt of Samehada, not even bothering to remove his hat. "One more word, Archer-san," Kisame growled.
With an amused grin, Itachi stepped out of Kisame's way with a slight bow. "Please. Be my guest, Kisame."
Archer smiled. The more free time he had, the easier this would become. He quickly tossed both of his swords. They spun like boomerangs, whirling out and around, behind Kisame. The two swords curved back and begin to fly in a circle around Kisame. "Steel is my body and fire is my blood." With his hands free, Archer traced his bow in his left hand. In his right hand, a black sword was traced. It was the sword of Beowolf, Hrunting. He nocked his bow with the sword and drew backwards, taking careful aim.
A lip curled, Kisame raised a single hand before himself and formed a seal. In a flash, two mizu bunshins stepped from Kisame, and grabbed each of the rotating swords by the hilt. Seeing an opportunity, Kisame grabbed the hilt of Samehada and brought it forcefully down from behind his head.
Archer took careful aim with his bow. The black Hrunting emitted energy from it's tip, creating a loud noise. "I have created over a thousand blades." He let go of the string, sending Hrunting jetting for the Kisame not holding one of his swords.
The first, and then the second mizu bunshin dove in the way of the speeding missile, hoping to slow it down even a fraction of a second. But to no avail. The deadly weapon sped towards it target, and Kisame knew no way slow it down any further. Dropping his own blade, Kisame spun out of the way, feeling the arrow rip through the bottom of his cloak.
Archer didn't release his stance. He kept his bow pointed at Kisame. "Unknown to death, nor known to life." In midair, the sword swung a long arc. It crashed through tree trunks and anything in it's way. When it locked back onto Kisame, it headed directly at him.
With a flash of narrowed eyes, Itachi was in the air. A rotation, and a foot came crashing down onto the sword, weight of his body bearing down on the weapon and driving the point into the soft earth to embed itself deeply into the ground. Glancing up, Sharingan whirled dangerously as the Uchiha lept softly back out of the way. "Kisame. I suggest you take less time to do this. It appears that it will be getting more irritating soon."
Kisame turned back, a glare expressing both gratitude and slight irritation. "Itachi-san, I believe this is my fight." Turning his spin into a handspring, Kisame grabbed his weapon, and resumed the attack.
Archer grunted in dissapointment. He tossed his bow to the side and it disappeared. He held his hands out to his side. "Have withstood pain to create many weapons." Once again, Kanshou and Bakuya were traced into his hands. He readied them, preparing to take the attack.
Violet eyes slid open shakily, flinching from the lights. Bright. Too bright. Whimpering, she rolled over, gagging at the sudden nausea that rushed over her. Scraping black hair out of her face with a shaking hand, she gasped for breath, trying to quell the horrendous shaking that seemed to have taken over her entire body. Hot. She was so hot, like her whole body was on fire. The world swam in front of her, colours bleeding together and shapes blending to create one enormous cacaphony of sound and light and colour that lanced through her head with all the subtlty of a speeding train. And then pain. Pain that lanced up her arm and through her body, causing the shuddering tremors to spasm even more. Biting her lip, she tasted blood as she looked down to where the red markings on the back of one hand burned with a dull blood-coloured sheen. Archer... Staggering to her feet, she mentally concentrated, ignoring the raw knawing hunger that clawed at her mind, begging and demanding that she find some tea to quell the terrible thirst, to drown out the demons that plagued her. With a dark shimmer, her clothes changed, leaving the Soldier of Ruin standing in her place. Wobbling on her feet, she leaned against the Silence Glaive before glancing out the window. "Archer..." As if her power somehow knew that this time was different, it obeyed her this time. With a flash of dark lightning, she shimmered and vanished. Reappearing in the street, she stumbled and collapsed to the ground, the glaive the only thing holding her up. Staring through hazy vision, she could make out the shape of the ruined hospital only a few hundred feet ahead. With a whimper of pain, Hotaru pushed herself to her feet and made her way towards it, glaive acting more like a crutch then a weapon
"Tch. Bad new, Archer-san." As Kisame landed a before Archer, he brought his sword down as well, hoping to catch on the man's shoulder before his next attack could finish channeling.
Archer crossed his swords and caught Samehada between them. "Shit." Archer didn't expect this much strength from a body that small. He put his whole body into pushing back. He still continued with his magical chant. "Yet these hands will never hold anything."
Kisame spit, and pulled his own sword back towards him, the scales grating across Archer's blades. As soon as his weapon was returned, Kisame spun again, sword out to catch the chanting man in his side.
She let out a small whimper as the pain in her hand intensified, the burning spreading up her arm and into the rest of her body. Twining itself through her mind, the pain laced it's way through the torrential colours and sounds that bled into her consciousness, spiraling around one thought. Archer. She had to get to Archer. He would protect her, he would comfort her, he would hold her and make everything go away. Even if he didn't want to love her, Hotaru knew that he DID. And that small sliver of daylight in the current nightmarish darkness of her world was enough. Pushing herself forward, she managed to make her way past the debris. And sure enough, there he was. Locked in a fight with.....her eyes widened as unfocused pupils tried to figure out who it was. "Archer...."
Archer heard Hotaru whimper behind him. It distracted him a bit, so when he jumped backwards, he was a split second to late. Samehada slammed into his side and ground in his armor. With the glancing impact, Archer was set spinning in the air. He hit the ground rolling and came up on his foot and knee. Although the breath was knocked out of him, he smiled. "So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!" With the spell finished, a ring of fire surrounded Archer. It quickly spread outwards, engulfing everything in smoke. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that the battlefield had changed completely. The ground was smooth and there were no obstacles. Most obvious was all around were swords planted in the ground. "What you see here is an unlimited number of blades. The finest of blades."
Itachi controlled his sudden startlement at the changing of the battlefield as he stepped back a bit. Ruby-crimson eyes studied not only the strangeness of the landscape, but the myriad of swords. This is another dimension. Similar to my Tsukuyomi, he controls this world.
Kisame brought himself to full standing height, slinging Samehada back over his shoulder. "Ne, Itachi-san. What kind of genjutsu is this?"
Archer stepped up to the plate with the answer. "This is no illusion. This is my reality being projected on yours. It's called a reality marble. In it, I can do many things." Archer stared at Samehada, evaluating it. "For my first act, I will humiliate you, sharkface." Archer held out his hand in front of his body. A bright gold light shined from it. In front of him, in an outline, Samehada began to form. It quickly filled in leaving the complete sword in Archer's hand. "Remember when I said I was a rare sword collector? This is how I get my weapons."
"It's a close facsimile of the Tsukuyomi, Kisame. This is his realm, where he controls all." Itachi glanced at Archer, eyes narrowing slightly. "But no matter. The outcome will be the same. Tell me, Archer-san. Why do you draw her into this?" He gestured to the small form of Hotaru, who stared around her in a bewildered way, eyes huge and dark in her face as pupils contracted and dilated at random. "Don't you think that she should be resting, not involved in this fight?"
"Tch. A fake. The only humilition will be your's Archer-san." The second his line was down, Kisame's body flickered out, and appeared behind Archer's, sword raised over his head, ready to strike his opponent... or Hotaru.
Eyes blank and unfocused, she stared up as a figure loomed over her. Archer? No...wasn't Archer. Archer was red, not black. But...there was some red there. And Archer was...ok, so Archer was also black. So maybe it WAS Archer. Cocking her head to the side, she smiled at Kisame with a vacant grin and raised a hand to shakily wave at him.
Archer quickly turned and grabbed a sword out of the ground. It was Durandal, the sword who's blade never dulled. He took a quick swipe at Kisame. At the same time, 5 other swords lifted themselves out of the ground and interlaced themselves in the air between Hotaru and Kisame, providing a defense. Near Itachi, more swords lifted themselves from the ground. They glowed and elongated into darts, become broken phantasms. They shot towards the red eyed villian.
With a smirk, Sharingan spun, the tomoe blending into the tri-patterned Mangekyo. Sidestepping, Itachi avoided the swords with an easy grace borne of one who was used to seeing into the immediate future. "You'll have to do better then that, Archer-san."
Kisame was quite surprised as he watched his opponent pull a sword from the ground, and even more surprised with the quickness and ferocity that he swung it with. Kisame was also surprised that he swung faster than he did, as evidenced by the scarlet streak across his own leg.
As the steel flashed by in front of her, the swords flying into formation between her and the hazy shape in front of her, she let out a terrified squeak and backpedaled, eyes wide and frightened. THIS wasn't where she wanted to be. And it was made only worse with the grunt of pain from Kisame and the sudden warm splattering of blood across her face and torso. Reaching a trembling hand up, she wiped at her face, paling at the crimson streaks that dripped down her hand. Frantically glancing around and trying to find something she recognized, she bit back a gasp at the pain in her hand, calling out for Archer in a voice strained with fear. The Saturn-power flared, a shield of dark power crackling around her as it reacted to her fear.
Archer knew Hotaru wasn't going to be attacked, so once again he jumped backwards. He held his hand to his side and a lance was quickly traced into his hand. It was the legendary Gae Bulga, with it's cursed barbs. The tip coursed with energy as Archer swung it around his head twice. Archer widened his stance, his right hand holding the back of the lance and his left hand resting on top of the tip. He look at Itachi, keeping away from his eyes and charged foward.
She sat there, eyes gazing confusedly ahead. A blink. Then another, and suddenly her vision cleared to the sight of Archer charging Itachi with a wicked-looking lance in his hands, Itachi's hands flying in various things that she'd heard were called seals. Her mind locked onto the sight, only one thought in her head. They would kill each other. Over HER. No. This had to stop, had to stop now. Otherwise, otherwise....Scrambling shakily to her feet, she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.
Archer heard Hotaru scream, but there was no turning back. The tip of the lance glowed a bright white. "Strike for the heart! GAE BULGA!" The lance streaked toward Itachi's heart, no longer visible to the normal eye.
He knew he couldn't avoid it. The lance, whatever it was, was moving far too fast. And Uchiha Itachi was not a stupid man. But, there was one thing that he could do. Snarling, his mangekyo whirled, clicking forward through time, allowing him to see the path that the lance would take. With reflexes only an Uchiha could possess, he shifted to the side enough that the point of the lance pierced the skin under his left collarbone, a mere 3 or 4 inches from his heart. The lance ripped through bone and muscle, sending the Akatsuki flying back to the ground. But even then, Itachi was still planning. With a flick of his finger, the genjutsu went into effect, simple enough to do only what he needed it to do. To Archer's eyes, the crimson-eyed man simply vanished. And then, he was there. Appearing directly in front of Archer, mangekyo whirling. "Checkmate, Archer-san." Grabbing one of the swords that stuck from the ground near him, he thrust it forward, ramming the sharp blade through Archer's chest.
Kisame roared as he watched his partner pierced through the chest, and his inability to prevent it. He also saw Itachi improvise, and retaliate, and saw his own opportunity to do the same. Lifting Samehada, Kisame pushes the sword through Archer's other side, making sure that the scales caught into the flesh. Falling onto his knee, his own wound still pouring blood, Kisame snarled. "And the king topples, ne, Itachi-san?"
Archer dropped. The pain was searing through him. Being stabbed with a Noble Phantasm, nonetheless. With Samehada grinding at his side, he found it hard to take a breath. He managed though. And then he began to laugh. "If the king has fallen, then it is a pyrric victory. Itachi has been stabbed by the cursed lance. There is only one way to heal that wound."
He glared, red eyes narrowing despite the searing pain of the lance in his shoulder. Wrapping long fingers around the shaft, he ripped the weapon free, tossing it aside. However, his attention was momentarily drawn by something else.
All the colour drained from her face as the two swords ripped through Archer's body. Her vision went white, the only thing she could see was his form as it slumped towards the ground. Her mind blanked, the sound of her own blood rushing through her veins filling her ears until it became a roaring that drowned out everything else as the red crept into the edges of her field of view. They. Hurt. Archer.
Kisame knew impending doom when he heard it, and he also knew he was in no condition to run. Quick hand seals, and the mizu bunshins reappeared. Ripping his sword from Archer, Kisame was picked up by bunshin one, Itachi by the second as they made a quick tactical retreat. They had done their damage, and now they just needed to return to their lair.
As the Akatsuki fled and the world turned back to it's normal appearance, the power faded and she dropped to her hands and knees. Gasping for breath, she forced her head up, amethyst eyes fixing on Archer's prone form where it lay on the ground. No...it couldn't be. He couldn't be dead. Half-running and half-crawling, she stumbled over to sit next to him. Her eyes widened and the tears began to flow at the state he was in. "No...no..nononononoNONONO
Archer was highly wounded. Yet when Hotaru came over to heal him, he knew it was a bad idea. He wanted to tell her to stop. That he could take care of himself.
However, Hotaru drained herself of mana. Without her mana, he couldn't carry a physical form. So he faded out, not enough power to sustain himself. He wasn't dead. However, being a spirit did nothing for him.
As his form faded from view, she panicked, fear quickly turning to hysteria. No, he wasn't vanishing. Wasn't leaving, wasn't going away. It COULDN'T be true. She grabbed for him, tried to wrap her arms around his torso, only to have those same arms go right through him. Backing up, she started trembling as the dam finally burst and she let out a wail of pain and heartbreak. "NO!!! Archer, come BACK!!!" Falling to her hands and knees, sobbing, it was all she could do to pull the glaive over to her before she collapsed onto the ground, shifting back to her normal form as the blackness closed over her mind.