Andrew Marsh
9:39am, March 01, 2007
[Edit]
[Delete] | I've been wanting to do this ever since it happened. I went ahead an re-wrote the entire final battle between Ash and Kael in a form that's more readable than chat logs. It's about 5 pages, so you're in for a bit of a read. Check it out:
Kael sat in his office within the walls of his personal villa on Tatooine. He was already reading the reports of the two “terrorists” who attacked a Republic Official. He grinned deeply, for he knew that he was the catalyst of their deaths. When suddenly from behind him came a warrior’s cry, and a sword thrusting towards his back. Seemingly out nowhere appeared his old nemesis Ash. Kael leapt out of the way of the oncoming attack, and drew his own sword from the wall. “Strike a man in the back? My now we are starting to be a lot alike aren't we?” Kael uttered. He summoned his armor to his body, standing before Ash powerfully, and proclaimed, “I’ll take great pleasure in one of our deaths to be sure, oath breaker.”
Ash stood tall and said in a commanding voice, “My only Oath is to destroy the link from our world to this one... your artifact is destroyed, and when I'm done, I will offer my soul in exchange for those two children.”
Kael rebutted as he started to circle his enemy, “Really? Perhaps your previous incarnations’ memories are a little clouded but let me refresh your memory, Ash old bean… Your promise to me… Your promise to her!”
Ash responded, shrouded in anger, “My only promise is to the Gods... those two deaths were not their will... They were the will of the rift in our worlds... I feel it now... The god of punishment... he's laughing right now... the goddess of compassion she weeps for the girl.” Ash swung his sword for Kael’s throat, his hand being guided by the sorrow of the gods. Kael deflected Ash’s blade with his own, and swung back at him. Ash brought his sword up and they locked together. The night sky began to grow darker by the moment.
Kael growled, “Don't bother me with your fucking Gods you worthless piece of trash. Do you know what dedication is!? Do you?! When it’s not being shoved down your throat by some kind of force beyond yourself? Do you know what discipline is!? DO YOU!? A promise to a God is no more important then a Promise to a Person, you fucking repulsive rodent! She is gone because of you! What was wrong, your precious "Gods" didn't think she was good enough?!”
“Her death was you own doing! You let the rift widen... it took her in!” Ash proclaimed. His eyes were tainted with his hatred for Kael.
“Bull-fucking-shit! She was your charge! Winterheart Was YOUR responsibility! I left her, I sacrificed my happiness for her and you promised that you would protect her! And you failed! You FAILED!” Kael shouted as he ripped his sword free from Ash’s, and swung it down at him with hellish fury. Ash sidestepped away from the attack, but Kael’s words left him shocked.
Ash cried out, “You bastard! Your vicious Empire! You took everything from both of us in that world and in this one! Tonight there will be blood! In her honor and of the three blessed children!”
Kael shouted, “How dare you claim to have been there! How dare you claim to know her in this world...? I have searched the mind of this universe’s Kael and have found that Winterheart did not come to be! She was denied rebirth, cast into a universe where only Death could claim her while you, you and your "gods" could survive. What fairness is that of your Gods?! She was Good, She was True, and she was better then either of us and yet, here we are...” Kael let out a devastating strike towards the ground, setting off a shockwave that made the walls of his villa crumble, and the roof come clean off. The hatred inside of Kael came to a boiling point. The gods denied Winterheart her rebirth in this universe, and only let the cruel in. In his mind Ash broke is promise, and he was a direct link to the gods that betrayed him. Ash struck back at Kael with a ferocity that matched his nemeses.
“This world wasn't even meant for us! It's comforting to think that Winterheart could have thrived in this world, but she'd come to be as wicked as we have become! Even if she was reborn... she wouldn't be the one that we both loved and you know that! And now... now you and I have nothing but this hatred, our families have been stripped away, our respective Empires have been demolished!” Ash shouted. Kael destroyed everything that Ash ever held dear to his heart. He left Ash alone and empty, but Ash knew that Kael wasn’t the only one that needed to die tonight. It was then that Kael’s daughter Eden arrived carrying the body of Rachel, her daughter, and one of the “terrorists”. She didn’t come alone though, in her mind, infused with her own soul was the soul of a young man named Toxic, who was the other one labeled as a terrorist by the Empire. She watched the two men rage onward.
“My Empire is strong!” shouted Kael, “Winterheart was never Given the Chance! She was never offered the chance to be whatever she pleased! Your "god" Ash, Not mine! I worship at no temple. I owe my self to no higher power! I made myself. I didn't have to rely on any Higher Authority! I'm not like you, Ash! I made myself! You’re a whipping boy for two idiotic Beings!” Their swords met again continuing to send out shockwaves, devastating the landscape around them. Ash stepped back, getting into a defensive stance.
“Your empire is ruined Kael! You are ruined... those two murders are going to be traced back to you... you'll be nothing!” he said, “Let me do what should have been done along time ago Kael! We can go meet Winterheart together!”
Even during the fight Kael tried to cover himself, “People die, Ash. There is no evidence to support it by my order they died, nor was it by my order. You can go face her to explain your shame and beg for her forgiveness. I on the other hand have a Galaxy to rule!” He let out a roaring yell and let out a shockwave of crackling energy, tearing the marble floor apart like a boat cutting through water. Stone and debris flew about the area. Ash came exploding out of the wall of debris bringing his sword down across Kael’s chest.
“People die when it's their time! Not when a mistake in the order of our worlds decides it!” he shouted as he attacked. Kael brought his sword up to deflect the attack, but the force behind Ash’s sword was so strong that it sent Kael flying through the air. He slammed through what used to be a wall, landing on his back. He quickly rolled to his feet, and let out another shockwave of energy, tearing the side of the building apart. Ash slammed his body through the falling building with explosive force, sending his sword out to stab Kael. Kael brought his sword up quickly now that Ash is on the offensive, and guided Ash’s sword down to the ground. He stepped down on Ash’s foot, and slammed his spiked shoulder into Ash. Ash winced in pain but quickly leaned back swinging his sword at Kael’s midsection. The sword pierced Kael’s armor, and he rolled wit the strike, stepping back. He did not know how badly he was hurt, but he could feel the warmth of his own blood underneath the armor. He brought his sword up to attempt to slice ash up, starting in between the legs. Ash brought his sword down to deflect the strike.
He spoke quietly, “You've failed Kael... We've both failed...” Kael muttered something under his breath, cursing Ash for mentioning their failures again. Ash ran at Kael trying to stab him where the armor was sliced open. Kael stepped out of the way and extended his blade outwards to try to slice the oncoming Ash across the chest. Ash tried to change his momentum, but he wasn’t fast enough. He got a clean cut across his chest, but he leapt forward anyways, letting out a fierce overhead strike. Kael tried to deflect the blow, but the force of it sent Kael down to one knee. Ash’s sword smashed into Kael’s spiked shoulder blade, shattering it. The blade continued down, about an inch into Kael’s bare shoulder. Kael grinded his teeth in pain, and sent a punch, with his spiked gauntlet, towards Ash’s inner thigh. Ash fell back, letting out a pained grunt. He spoke to Kael in a growl, “Your daughter... you bastard! You let the rift swallow her up! She's just a shadow of something that never even happened!” Kael rolled to his feet and held his sword low.
He spoke calm in collected now that he had the upper hand. “My Daughter is who she is by choice. She chooses the paths she walks, no one else does. A bastard I may be, Godless even. But at least I am Godless Bastard who has forged his own path and not kneeled at the feet of the great jokes of this Universe!” Kael began to raise his arm up in an attempt to separate Ash’s jaw down the center. Ash pushed up with his good leg, and reached out to stop Kael’s arm.
Ash glared at Kael as he began to question him. “You could have saved her soul. The mercenary could have stopped her sire... but you kept him away and damned them all... for what? To protect your worldly assets?!” Kael gazed into Ash’s eyes with determination.
“Had I not known that I was dead already, I would have mourned my own loss.” He said, and suddenly he let out a blast of electrical energy from his blade, that struck them both. They both were tossed through the air in an explosion of white, yellow, and blue sparks. Ash landed on his back, his form was smoking from the current that coursed through him. Kael let out a yelp of pain as he landed. His wounds tore open more as he hit the ground. He started to slowly stand, his armor, a blackened smoldering heap. Ash stabbed his sword into the ground and began to stand as well. Kael began to walk towards Ash slowly, dragging the edge of his sword across the ground. Blood was beginning to drip out of his boot from his injuries. His body shuddered in small spasms in places that were heavy affected by the electricity. All that was left in his mind was the need to kill his enemy, while Ash could only think about his survival, even though he knew it was not to be. Small flashes of Eden, Toxic, Rachel, Winterheart, and the days when Ash and Kael were friends flashed through Ash’s mind.
Ash looked up at Kael and said in a strained voice, “We’ll all go back… together…” He leapt forward at Kael swinging his blade out. Kael stabbed his own sword into the ground, deflecting Ash’s attack. Kael let out a primal roar and he sent himself forward, to smash into Ash. Ash’s eyes darkened for a moment, as he sent his sword forward at the unarmed Kael. Kael backhanded the flat of Ash’s blade, hurling himself at Ash. The blade lowered and pierced the side of Kael’s midsection, tangling the sword in the torn segments of metal. Kael punched Ash in the face, but Ash held his ground. Kael kneed Ash in the gut, knocking him back a bit. Ash let out a punch straight to the part of Kael’s armor that was sliced open. Kael let out a painful scream as he fell to one knee. The pain in their bodies was beginning to become unbearable. He attempted to take out Ash’s knee with a ferocious punch, but Ash leapt away, taking his sword with him. Ash stood before Kael, his hands to his sides, beckoning Kael to strike him down. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were glassed over as he waited. Kael grabbed his sword, using it to slowly bring himself to his feet. He tore his helmet off and walked forward, gripping his side where Ash’s sword struck. He gazed at Ash with unbridled hatred as he approached.
Kael growled, “What’s wrong, boy? Why don't you just die already?” He spit some blood onto the ground and flashed a half hearted frown. “You may destroy my hatred, but the Universe will bow to the name of Kael in the end. No Gods, no pathetic forces of good or evil. Nothing will stop me. I've been killed before. Death is an inconvenience, nothing more to me. I spit in the face of your order. I laugh at the rules of your Gods. All their power and they couldn't stop one man, and they will not. They… will… not… The power of an ideal, the strength of your dedication to it. That’s more powerful then the Gods wrath, judgment or power. Sacrifice for the ideal is not death per say, that’s a paradise when no one can touch you. Now… Die!”
Ash stood unarmed and commanded, “Do it Kael... plunge your sword through my heart... It's all I have left... and it's the thing you hate the most.” Kael stood shocked for a moment, not wanting to believe that his foe would give in so easily.
“What?!” he barked. “May you have the peace that I never could.” Kael brought his sword down at Ash’s arm, slicing it clean off at the shoulder, and then pierced his sword through Ash’s chest. With Ash’s last bit of strength, he reached out, grabbing his falling sword, and plunging it through Kael’s back, piercing both of their hearts. Kael looked at Ash with empty eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder. He started to stumble backwards, freeing himself from Ash. Blood dripped from his lips as he looked around frantically, and then he fell on his back. Ash dropped to his side and said his final prayer.
“You sacrificed your own happiness... but she lost hers that day too... she suffered from that day on... and now we die in her honor, and I will give my soul to them... so that another may live...” those were his last words before his soul passed on. Eden calmly approached Kael’s side and kneeled before him, saluting the man.
“Will you rest now father? Is your quest finally complete?” She asked. Kael looked up into his daughter’s eyes.
“I said a long time ago, we die for our ideals, but death is only an inconvenience.” The color in Kael’s face flushed away as he lay on the ground lifeless.
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