The hope of Rhodes Island, against four of Reunion's elite assets. One could say that this matchup is easily considered unfair and brutal. And of course, it would be an annihilation for one side given the unequal ratio of strength. Unfortunately, fate has already chosen the side who will overpower the other.
Can you guess? Well, let's wait and see, for you will see just how unfair the tides have waved.
In a standstill, facing one another as the dust winds blow at their feet on the battleground. The atmosphere between opponents has never been heavier, seeing that whoever wins this battle will surely win the entire war.
"Isn't this unfair?" Tempest remarked, as he holds his sword at the ready. "It's you four against me alone, so the balance greatly favors the Reunion faction."
"So? What's your point." Shullshatterer spat back at him. "Killing you by all means possible is a must. Though, fairness won't matter anymore once you're dead."
"Really hellbent on killing me huh..." After that, he then glances towards the three girls beside Skullshatterer. 'Ami, Nino, and Lana.... they sure have changed.' He lets out a smile. 'Hmm, might as well see how much they changed then.'
"What's that stupid smile for huh?" Nino irks.
"Oh nothing, just wondering why Vortex's lackeys are here." He feigns ignorance, in the most cocky and annoying way possible.
"You got a problem with it? Well we're strong enough to kill you, so might as well take your life and tell him when he comes back." Ami piped up.
"Vortex coming back? Hahaha." Tempest laughs. "He's never coming back, he's dead. I killed him."
Ami, Nino, and Lana didn't like what they heard.
"Impossible, he would never die by the likes of you." Lana exclaims proudly.
"Oh he did..."
*zoom*
"...and this proves it." In a flash, Tempest was now between the four who has yet to react to his speed.
"Wha?!/What!?/Nani!?/Eee?!"
But before they could do anything, Tempest let out a spontaneous release of wind which blows them away from him. Heading in different directions, they couldn't land properly from the whiplash they received.
"C-Crap! Should've seen that one coming." Nino complains as she staggered back up. "Damn him, where is he?!"
"Right behind you."
Hearing that voice, she wastes no time on quickly reeling her arms backwards to stab him with her combat knife, only for her it to lock with Tempest's sword.
"Great speed, agility, and reactions. But sadly no strength." He said before they both clash ahead.
'T-This guy, how is he keeping up with me!' She thought as she continues maneuvering her attacks and dodges, it was at that point that Nino decided to use her trick move.
Stancing her left leg forward and left hand downward, she heads in with a right overhead stab. Tempest quickly shifts to block it, but then, using her spatial arts, the knife hovered down as it lands on Nino's left hand which was positioned under Tempest's open stomach.
"Die!"
*clang*
"W-What?!" Nino gawks as her attack was blocked with the bottom tip of Tempest's sword. 'He read that move?!'
"Nice attack ther, Vortex taught you that didn't he." Flicking the knife up with his sword, Nino's grip falters as her arms fly up before being kicked in the gut.
"Fuaaghk!" She recoils in pain as she drops to the ground on her knees, eerily clutching her pained region.
"Didn't even last thirty seconds, though I praise you for almost catching me off guard with that underhanded move." Tempest compliments. "A shame that Vortex couldn't see his squad member writhing in pain."
Nino looked up at him with hate and scorn.
"*profanity* you!" She roared. "You have no right to say his name!"
"Who gives a damn about that? Why don't you make me shut up? Oh that's right, you can't." He plays with her. "You know why?"
Tempest kneels as both their eyes meet.
"You're not good enough, you lack the power in your strikes. Speed and tricks aren't everything you know."
"Nino, you're not good enough, you lack the power in your strikes. Work on that, speed and tricks aren't everything you know."
She widens her eyes at his statement, the resemblance was too uncanny.
'H-His words, how-'
Nino couldn't think for long as she was kicked on the face without mercy, sending her away onto a nearby boulder, her body then falls as she lays down unconscious.
'Her power still isn't that much, but at least she got better.' He mentally felt proud.
*whizz*
Sensing the flick of the air being ripped through, he abruptly ducks as a sniper bullet whizzed past his hair by a short inch. Looking back, he sees Ami from afar pointing her sniper at him. And she wasn't very pleased that she missed.
"How?! That bullet was travelling more than a thousand kilometers per second!" Ami stomped her foot in irritation.
'Ami, dealing with her should be easy.' Tempest thought as he started rushing towards Ami.
"Oh no you don't!" She then started firing her sniper in bursts.
As each spinning bullet started making it's way towards Tempest...
*cling*
With a simple swing of his sword, he easily deflects the oncoming bullets with perfect precision and ease. And all those shots were focused on his head too.
"Really?! What the heck are you!" She couldn't believe that her bullets were useless against his perfect defense. "N-No!"
Before she realized it, Tempest had reached within her proximity. He swipes his sword up and disarms the sniper from her grips.
"Grr!" Ami flips back while grabbing the machete from her hip.
But as she landed, she couldn't even use the chance to get into a stance, for Tempest's sword had already touched the tip of her chin.
"Did you really think that nothing could stop your bullets?" Tempest coys with her.
'I-Impossible! Only Vortex-sama could do such a thing!' She thought to herself.
"Oh and by the way, why were you only aiming for my head? Were you really that confident in your rifle skills and accuracy? Did you really think that you could kill me? How cute."
He then disarms her machete in a split second before closing in on her and whispers in her ear...
"You may be good in long distance battles, but you're nothing without your rifle."
"Don't be cocky just because you can shoot Ami, you're practically nothing without your rifle."
Ami staggers back, not just from his words, but also from the pain below. Tempest had bashed both her kneecaps causing her legs to bend in the wrong direction.
"Aaaaah!!" An ear piercing scream fills all ears as Ami cradles down on her dislocated kneecaps.
'Sorry Ami, you're too dangerous to be left alone, so I can't let you move freely.'
After dealing with Ami, Tempest then starts walking away from her, finding his next opponent amidst the field.
It wasn't long before he had met his next foe. For just a few meters ahead of him stood a very pissed Skullshatterer, clutching his weapons with steaming anger.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Tempest agitated him as he points his sword at his enemy. "But please, I don't want to fight, li-"
"DIE!!!" Skullshatterer didn't listen to him as he launched a grenade shell towards Tempest.
On pursuits toward Tempest, he quickly slashed the air with a gashing wind scythe, making the bombshell explode on air, but then came Skullshatterer through the smoke swinging his sword at Tempest.
*clang*
Both swords clash in a duel, then another clash came, and another. They fight with unrelenting force with one hoping to kill while the other merely rebounding the attacks.
"We can talk about this you know, it doesn't have to end with bloodshed." Tempest incites him as he blocks a downward swing from the enemy sword.
"Shut up!" Skullshatterer yells as they continue to fight each other. "You claim to save the infected, yet you kill them in cold blood!"
"As I've said, they cho-"
"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S WRONG!!!" The masked enemy kicks the hilt of Tempest's sword making him pull back. "Can't you see?! We're only fighting to be treated rightly!"
Skullshatterer gave him no leeway as he rushes in towards a defending Tempest.
"I've heard that you have a sanctuary for people like us, a place where we can never feel mistreated." He conversed. "But Tempest, have you ever thought about the others who aren't in your damned safe place?!" He fires a point blank grenade shell blasting Tempest away.
Tempest jumps back and staggers a bit from the explosion. His eyes jolt forward to see Skullshatterer not in attack mode. He remembers his words, and he realized that it had meaning to it.
Both of them stopped attacking now, and because of it, Tempest acted first, but in words.
"I thought about it you know." He said. "That is why I work hard every day. So that every progress I make can save those who were abandoned and treated unfairly. I want to give them the life they deserve, simple as that."
But...
"But that doesn't change how the uninfected see us Tempest!" Skullshatterer roared as Tempest flinched. "Give us the life we deserve? Don't *profanity* with me! You want us to stay in isolation away from the rest of Terra? You want us to be sheltered like we're helpless and needy just because we suffer from Oripathy?! You're not making sense here!" He stomps the ground. "Saving us by giving us a place to live like everyone else is not the answer! The uninfected, they still shun us away since they don't give a crap about us. Living knowing that the people in the cities still see us abnormals, that's pathetic, no one wants to live like that Tempest!"
Tempest was listening to every word uttered by Skullshatterer, and unfortunately, his words had a point.
A point that Tempest managed to overlook.
All Tempest ever thought of was to give the people infected with Oripathy a place they can enjoy, yet he didn't take into account what other things he would be giving them without him knowing what he gave.
And just by a little amount, he started doubting his goal...
...just like before.
"...being treated right." Tempest whispered.
"Tempest!!"
Both of them look to the side to see the rest of the Rhodes Island and LGD forces closing in. In front was Ch'en, Amiya, Dr. Fumi, Texa and Exusiai, and Franka and Liskarm.
"We're going to back you up Tempest!" Amiya yells from afar.
But then.
"Don't let them near Skullshatterer and Tempest!" A Reunion defender shouted out.
In response the Reunion forces made a defensive line between the two and the Rhodes Island forces.
"Dammit!" Ch'en cursed as they couldn't move forward to aid Tempest.
Luckily, no one was making any offensive moves which left Skullshatterer conversing with Tempest some more.
"Do you even realize what you're trying to do? Even if you were able to accomplish your narrow goal, it still doesn't change the fact that normal people still treat us like garbage. Do you really want people to think of us like that, let alone have their way with us?"
"N-No! That's not-"
"And if you really think that what you are building is a safe haven, you're dead wrong! All of them will see what you made and think of that place as a garbage disposal for unwanted people infected with Oripathy. And do we want to accept that calling? That we are trash?! You're goal is basically trying to build a dumpsite for every city to dump their human garbage!"
"..." Tempest grits his teeth in shame.
"You have killed many innocent infected individuals in trying to achieve your corrupted fantasy. You're despicable, you're saving no one!"
Each word that enters Tempest's ears only made him feel remorse, guilty, and contrite.
"You're a marauder, a murderer, a menace to all infected people. You should be ashamed. Just kill yourself, you're only making our problems worse Tempest."
"no... no... i'm... not..." Tempest was having a slight case of mental breakdown, but due to his strong mental composition, he clings on.
But...
"You're the reason why we suffer Tempest."
That sentence brought up something that Tempest never wanted to remember.
'Oh no.... STOP!!!'
"You're a disgrace to our clan!"
'I-It wasn't my fault!'
"It's your fault that Fauna is tainted with Oripathy!"
'I-I never meant to hurt her...'
"No one needs you, just rot away in a desert for all we care! And take Fauna with you, she's nothing but a useless piece of deadweight!"
'D-Dad... M-Mom... don't leave us...'
"You're nothing but the catastrophe incarnate, no one loves you, no one needs you."
'...just stop... all I wanted was... for us to be happy...'
"Leave, just go somewhere and do what you always do, cause death and destruction."
'....'
*drop*
That was what everybody on the battlefield heard, the sounds of knees dropping onto the sandy ground. Curiosity struck each one of them so they look on to the source of that ominous sound.
And there they saw, Tempest on the floor, shaking, in despair.
In his mind, there was hope before it vanished. Just a tiny flicker against the wind. With the open eyes of his child self reaching out, fingers extended. In that instant he had lost sight of his goal.
His wretched ambition.
He saw that dying ember and brought the winds to a cold howl. What has happened to him, how is it that all the good he was trying to do only lead up to see the suffering of others and made it all the worse?
The uncertainties got to him, it wasn't the first time he had experienced this type of breakdown. In fact, this was the third time this happened. It all stemmed from the past trauma of his origins, the suffering he had gone through, the things he lost. And now, the reason of it now was because he was blind to see what his ambition was doing to others.
He intended it for good, yet it brought an unexpected conflict which far exceeds all the good he has done.
And that breakdown could mean one specific thing, and it was not the anxiety and depression he experienced.
It's far worse than that.
The barrier that has been suppressing the unacceptable feelings and memories that had been bottling up from his last breakdown, has now faded once more.
It was free.
He was free.
His arts was free.
The true power within has lost it's mental shackles, and the barrier imprisoning it has been severed.
The catastrophe of a thousand winds has been unleashed.
.
.
"Now!" Skullshatterer yelled.
Hearing the signal he gave out, four arrows flew from the bushes and impaled Tempest's sides. And if that wasn't enough, Skullshatterer shot his grenade launcher at Tempest to deal the final blow.
*boom*
Everyone looked toward the black smoke that popped up from the explosion, suddenly a figure shot out from the smoke with speed and crashed in between the Reunion and Rhodes Island forces.
The figure rolls on the ground for a bit as it stops a bit later, and behold, it was the unmoving body of Tempest. His mouth spurting blood, his chest not expanding, and four arrows lodged at the right side of his stomach. His uniform was both scarred and bloody, his hair was also covering his closed eyes which only sealed the life he now lost.
And the sight of him brought both terror and triumph to all.
*cheers*
The entire Reunion army had cheered from the victory, they had managed to kill Tempest, their greatest foe. They praise Skullshatterer and Lana, their victors.
But for Rhodes Island... well, they were horrified.
"Tempest!"
They quickly rush to his body with Ch'en leading first. She crouches down to the ground and brings his lifeless body to her lap.
Finding no time to utter her words, she puts her ear over his mouth and her hand on top of his chest, feeling for any trace of life.
She was desperate, her eyes had been holding off her tears, her mind unaccepting the reality of the state of her beloved.
'No! He's not dead! He can't be!'
But all hope was gone, no pulse, no breathing.
Tempest was dead.
Ch'en only sat there with shadows over her eyes, the pain was there, yet she could only grit her teeth and arms as a single tear drops down her cheek.
No words were uttered, the tension was too heavy for them to say a single word. Operators were clutching their uniform writhing in grief of a fallen comrade. Amiya was sobbing with her hands cupping her face, Dr. Fumi clenched her fists as she sobs with closed eyes.
There was nothing left to do, Rhodes Island has lost their best operator.
"Finally, he's gone.." Huffed Skullshatterer. "This battle was a joke, he died by dropping his guard in a pathetic way. Stupid."
"But at least he's dead." From beside him was Lana, holding the bow she used to kill Tempest. "After all that crap he spurted about him killing Vortex-sama was all for show, he was utterly easy to crack. Pathetic."
"He might be dead, but the battle is still not over."
"Right, time to eradicate the remnants of our enemy." Lana starts preparing her bow. "...it's getting oddly windy and chilly." She shivered.
The area had been quite windy for some reason, and it only started getting more stronger to the point where the torque got more noticeable.
"....something's wrong." Lana surmised. "The area got more windy, and it's getting more and more stronger by the second."
"The hell? There shouldn't be a catastrophe in this area." Skullshatterer replied, his coat flailing more by the second.
On the other side, the Rhodes Island forces started noticing the sudden shift of weather conditions.
Ch'en looked around her to see the rest of her squad acting frantic while they brace against the winds.
"W-What the hell is going on?" She asked herself with her face looking a bit sore and chapped from the tears.
"Look up!" Amiya chimed. "The clouds... they're gathering..."
The situation had gotten more bizarre, the winds were picking up speed and the clouds were also clumping above them. The scene looked that of a catastrophe brewing in the area, but it was so sudden making the everyone in the battlefield stand in stupor.
'Why is there a catastrophe here?!' Ch'en thought to herself. 'Just what is happening?!'
*rustle*
Rustling sounds rose from behind her, so as she looks back, her eyes widen as much as it could.
"Y-Y/N?" Ch'en uttered his name aghast, and even the other operators around her look in shock as Tempest had risen from the dead.
His body was stiff, arms at the sides not intending ti budge, and even his head was hung low, not bothering to look forward.
Not minding the people around him, he slowly walks forward as he sways his body in motion. Many people could only see the scene unfold as they couldn't comprehend what was happening, it was so surreal.
Stopping just a few feet away from the group. Tempest's body began to faze out.
Green lights appeared on top his head as sparks of yellow and green crinkle on top of him. It continues to sparkle until it suddenly dispersed, revealing a bright glowing green halo on Tempest's head with an unnatural shape of multiple overlapping crescents.
On the sides of his head, two pairs of black jagged bones instituted itself spontaneously as it sculpts and hardens into four vouivre like horns pointed forward as its stem bent back a bit.
At this point, Tempest had faced up looking towards the gathering dark clouds. He slams his eyes open to reveal his red irises now colored in glowing green.
He utters with a dreaded smile.
"In the eye of the tempest, there's no more high and low, no floor and sky." Tempest muttered.
His gaze then drops down to the front where the Reunion forces stood with fear from the catastrophe and from him.
"Suffer the force of a thousand winds. It's time for judgement."
▌│█║▌║▌║ To be continued... ║▌║▌║█│▌