Battle in Lowtown

[soul-of-artemis.livejournal.com]

Who: Grobyc, Maria
What: An archer fights a cyborg controlled by an evil cat. Much better than it sounds.
When: Afternoon
Where: Rabanastre, Lowtown specifically
Rating: PG-13

Criminals always had to make her work difficult, didn't they? They couldn't just sit around and make themselves available for capture, no! Instead, they had to freak out and run when a bounty hunter showed up and said "How are you?" Or at least, this one did. Maria didn't see herself as that threatening visually, but apparently her huntress persona had become so well known amongst the lower rung of Rabanastre's criminals that she had to run around as a civilian most of the time or else half the citizens would stare at her and flee. That didn't make her look completely suspicious at all, no of course not.

Her current target, a bandit of one of the local thieves' guild, had managed to give her the slip for the time being. Naturally, he managed to hide himself in Lowtown where he figured there was simply not much light and lots of hiding spaces. Maria had expected this of him. She let out a little sigh as she watched the man walk nervously past the building whose roof she was perched upon. He seemed to think he'd given her the slip, did he? Of course, that was all but folly. A true hunter never gave up on the trail just because they lost sight of their prey. No, a real hunter stayed on the trail for days or even weeks until finally their prey was within their grasp.

As the man entered a less occupied street in the undercity, Maria followed close behind. She removed her bow from her belt and took an arrow from her quiver as well. It wasn't an exploding arrow, of course. She wanted to just catch the man, not blow his head off. With the arrow nocked and waiting to be pulled back, she kept her eyes clear for the right moment. The back of the man's hood would make a fine spot, as the arrow would dig into the wall and keep him from pulling away just long enough for her to slip down and cuff him.

‘Remember that this is merely a test of your current combat prowess…But nevertheless, do not allow yourself to be taken off guard and captured. Is that understood?’

If Grobyc had any emotion, he would’ve rolled his eyes after hearing the constant command orders built into him by Lynx. But he was spared of such distractions, and only focused on the task ahead, his eyes sliding back and forth, scanning every little corner of the city for a good foe. Lowtown was home to no such people, other than this Snow he had heard about, or this Judge Ralse. Good and evil, even in this form he never grasped a simple world based on basic black and white. No, this world was merely shades of grey.

He was hungry for a good challenge, perhaps the only emotion left within his cybernetic body. His eyes trailed down at his skin, perhaps the only thing left to remind him that even he is still part human. But his thoughts derailed, his sensors finally picking up someone with a high energy signature.

“Target-acquired,” he stated, rising up from his spot, cracking his neck. “Commence-destruction.”

He leapt off the edge of the roof, sailing towards the thief in his sights. He landed behind the bounty, the earth beneath his feet crushed by his weight. His large body blocked Maria’s view, and he did so on purpose, practically taunting her to come on out. The thief foolishly turned around just in time for Grobyc to raise his hand, catching the bounty effortlessly by the throat. The thief struggled, and even whipped out his dagger, stabbing Grobyc’s arm. But the machine did not falter nor flinch as the blade sunk into his arm. Not even blood rose from the wound.

Beads of sweat trickled down the man’s forehead, and he said with fright. “What are you!?” He stared into the empty gray pools that were Grobyc’s eyes, finding no emotion, no mercy like other bounty hunters had given him. No, he was going straight for the kill, and he squirmed, kicking the cyborg and trying to escape.

The bounty hunter had been in the process of pulling the arrow back when the cyborg took the time to appear. Startled, she nearly dropped the arrow. Where had he come from? He certainly hadn't been there before! She frowned as she saw the newcomer taking hold of the thief, and her eyes widened as the bounty couldn't even get away. So he was another bounty hunter, perhaps? And a strong one, from the look of him. That certainly wouldn't do. She'd been tracking this thief for hours, and she wasn't about to lose him to another hunter.

She hopped down from the roof, bounced off an awning, and landed only a few feet away from the struggling thief and his captor. Maria's bow arm went up, and not even a second later did she once more hold the arrow in position, its feathered tail lightly pressed into the undrawn string. She had it aimed for what she figured was the armor covering the newcomer's left arm.

"Hey, I don't know who you are, but get your mits off my target. I have to make a living, and you're not helping. If you're another hunter, though, I'll let you have the next guy...or maybe a free drink at the local bar. Whichever you want, just not both." she said, smirking lightly at the last bit. The thief, recognizing her, paled even further. So now there were two hunters after him? His luck was the worst!

So this was Maria in the flesh...He shrugged; perhaps the bounty hunter would make for a good warm-up before he found Snow. His eyes shined with an emerald blaze, numbers and symbols obscuring his vision as he accessed his main drive. They told him all he needed on the brave huntress aiming at him.

“Maria, class-B-hunter. Specialty: long-range-combat.”

Energy seeped from the front of his hand holding his prey. Seeing him struggle was pathetic, and he tilted his head. Humans, while interesting, often confused him to no end.

“You-brought-this-upon-yourself…” The new blade shot out from his arm, piercing through the thief’s neck with little effort, the blood quickly dried from the intense heat by the plasma blade, leaving no time for it to trail down his victim’s neck. The body limped, and the blade vanished, allowing the thief to fall lifelessly to the ground. Staring at the body, part of him wondered what he should have felt. Regret and sadness for taking a life? Joy for slaying a criminal? Disgust for crushing such a weak insect? “What-is-Grobyc-supposed-to-feel?”

The huntress just stared, stupified, as he killed the thief right then and there. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and for several moments she didn't know what to do. Another bounty hunter, or so she assumed, had just killed a bounty! Not by accident, as sometimes happened, but in cold blood! That was the one thing they were not supposed to ever do! Without thinking she ran over to the two and knelt by the deceased thief.

"What...you...you killed him!" she growled. She snapped her head up to glare at the cyborg, then jumped up to her feet fast. Her hands clenched tighter around the bow and arrow in her hands until the arrow shaft itself snapped under the pressure. "Who the hell are you!? What gives you the right to murder someone, even if they are a thief?!"

“The-thief-was-in-Grobyc’s-way-of-Grobyc’s-true-target,” he answered bluntly and with no emotion as always. “What-gives-any-being-in-this-world-the-right-to-harm-one-another? But-enough-talking…”

The cyborg raised his fists, his knee rising slightly, the foot leaning on the tip of his shoe. This talk held no more interest for Grobyc. He needed to follow his programming, and that meant testing his systems out on someone. She may not have been Snow Villiers, but she would do. But a manner of honor from his past life was still persistent; and he wanted to fight Maria at her best, not earn a cheap kill.

“You-wish-to-avenge-thief’s-death…then-prove-to-Grobyc-Maria-is-stronger!”

'Why is he talking so strangely?' she wondered. There wasn't much time to dwell on that for the time being. He was actually intent on fighting her, and she couldn't very well run away. Odds were she would just be followed, and she'd be too tired to fight back when he caught up. Maria made a little 'hmph' noise and let the broken arrow in her hand fall to the ground with a slight clatter. She quickly retrieved another arrow and nocked it fast, letting it fly only half a second after pulling it out. Shortly after she let it go, the archer began going backward along the street to gain more ground. While her skills with knives was nothing to sneeze at, she only had the single dagger on her person, and her skills with the axe on her hip were not up to par. As such, she needed to stick to long range as much as possible.

As predicted from an archer. The blur that was his hand caught the arrow, the tip nearly hitting his eye. At such speed and power, a normal being might not have stood a chance, but Grobyc was…unique. Still, he questioned his own speed, recalling how easily he subdued Loz with lightning fast speed. Perhaps the tune-ups had wore down this body…But for now, he continued and raced after Maria, snapping the twig in his hands and discarding it to the ground.

He held back his fist, and punched forward. “Rocket-Fist!” And as the name implied, his fist detached itself from Grobyc’s arm, heading straight towards the archer, leaving a small trail of smoke in its wake.

She was already dipping off to the side when she saw him coming. 'F-Fast...' she thought. Her surprise doubled as his arm came right off and flew at her. She nearly avoided taking the flying fist to the face, but managed to get down low enough that it sailed above her head. She didn't waste any time in bringing more ammunition out from her quiver. However, this time she took three out at a time and fired them all in rapid succession. However, to do so she made sure she was first well out of the way of any other flying limbs he shot at her.

'A robot...? But he looks so human...' she wondered, recalling the somewhat incorrect term from when Citan mentioned them once before. There wasn't any time to worry about that. She shook herself out of it and reached for more arrows.

A barrage of arrows headed for the torso of Grobyc, and despite his heavy weight, he spun to the side. However, not even he dodged them all, and an arrow sunk into his flesh arm. Nothing too damaging, and of course, pain was absent from Grobyc. But clearly they were not meant for a kill; it was only a distraction. With his prey so far, she had an advantage, for now. Leaping into the air, his own fist came towards him, locking itself onto his arm. He caught it, and screwed it back onto his arm, and turned his attention towards Maria.

The dark aura formed around Grobyc’s body, and he held out the small black orb known as an element. It was sloppy, but it might give her a reason to take this fight seriously. “Gravity-Blow.”

A sphere of dark matter appeared in Grobyc’s hand, quickly growing to roughly three times the size of both Maria and the cyborg. With a single push, the ball of gravity launched itself onto the streets and right towards Maria. Realizing his own vulnerability, Grobyc flipped in the air, partly from the recoil, and landed below, racing towards Maria yet again.

To say she was shocked to see not even a flinch from having arrows embedded in his chest would have been an understatement. She ducked to the side of the gravity ball, dodging it only by a hair, but even as she looked up he was running at her again. She tossed Yoichi's Bow off to the side, a plan in motion for later use of it, so it wouldn't get broken. Her hand instead reached for the silver axe on her belt and brought it up to bear. She didn't want to use the weapon so soon, but until she could get him back out of close range she would have to rely on both it and her dagger. Said stiletto was pulled out of the sheath on her hip and held in her left hand.

'C'mon Maria, don't chicken out. After all, this should be easy! All you have to do is put your hand on him and he'll break...like every other electronic thing you touch.' She resisted laughing at that thought, as it was hardly the place and time for laughter. She rushed to meet Grobyc headlong, but swerved to the side at the last moment and threw a Firaga at him.

The sphere of energy vanished the moment it passed by Maria…and when it crashed into the building near her, leaving nothing but a giant gaping hole. At least Grobyc now knew his elements were up to speed with the rest of his upgrades. He questioned Maria’s motives however as he saw the axe. According to his files, Maria, while skillful in close-range as well, was far better off being with long-range. He did not stop his pursuit, and raised his fist, preparing to strike Maria’s weapon and test out the real strength of this body. That had to wait however, as flames spouted from her hands when she dove off to the side.

Immediately he raised his arms to defend himself against the force of the magic. His resilience came through for him, and he merely slid a few feet away from Maria. He put down his arms, his skin scorching with heat. Perhaps now was the time to test out the elemental system. It may have failed against Sephiroth, but surely this time it would work. “Activate-Shiva-Mode.”

His eyes glowed with a tint of blue, and ice formed from his fingertips, unleashing the chillness of a cool mist and struck the ground beneath Maria’s feet. Spikes formed, and just as quickly, sprouted into endless pillars of sharp ice. Such was the power of a Blizzaga.

She was smiling as she saw the magic hit him. Finally she seemed to do at least a little bit of damage! However, the smile vanished as she heard "Shiva." All at once she realized what that meant, especially when she felt the air around her get colder. With a yelp, she pitched herself backwards to avoid the jagged ice shards that shot up from where she stood only a moment before. One of the shards managed to slice into her left calf, and she had to bite her lip hard to keep a sound of pain from escaping. Her right arm flew out suddenly, flinging the axe at the ice pillars. In the end, the metal was stronger than the magic, and it cut a clean swipe through the shards as it flew past them toward their caster.

Maria pulled herself up to her feet, though she staggered a bit as her left leg protested. The cut was deeper than she thought, but it was nothing that would slow her down too much. A quick Cura took care of the bleeding and most of the pain. The huntress steeled herself and hurried over to where her bow had been discarded. If she could get more distance, she could finally use the trump.

Grobyc shook his head, watching as Maria ran towards her bow. Rule number one when dealing with Grobyc: never turn your back. His eyes glowed again, and the ice melted around him. No longer had the chill air been present, but replaced with the rumbling of the earth. Eyes shining golden, he held out his hand. “Activate-Titan-Mode.”

The ground before him shook furiously, citizens that had not fled fallen onto their rumps, but the mass concentration was focused on Maria’s steps, each forming a crack within the streets. Pillars shot up from the ground, both trying to halt and kill Maria.

Evading the pillars proved to be difficult, as she was only able to stay barely one step ahead of them. Just as she was getting ready to take one of her special arrows from the quiver, a pillar of earth shot up under her. She fell off the thing as it rose higher, and landed awkwardly on her right foot. She bit back a hiss as a small movement of her foot told her it was broken. Magic would fix it up enough for her to walk on it at least as far as Citan's clinic, but there wasn't any time for that. Somehow, she had to still win this fight.

"Oh hell..." she grumbled as she tried to scoot further away. She managed to remove the remaining arrows in her quiver and held them ready. Even if she only had one chance to land one on him, it should be enough.

This fight was almost over. That much he gathered based on the injuries his opponent suffered. But even Grobyc knew that a caged animal was often the most dangerous of them all. An orb fell from his chest, the shine of darkness peaking through. It was time for one of the final tests: summoning. “Diablos,” he called the name of his summon, and felt the darkness course through his body and circuits.

He dashed towards Maria in a blink, reappearing above the young huntress. He held back his hand, a ghostly demonic hand surrounding it. “Maria-loses,” he stated.

She somewhat expected him to come closer to finish her off. As such, she had the arrows nocked and ready to fly by the time he'd summoned Diablos and made his way over. Instead of cowering from the hit that was ready to fly at her, she offered a taunting smirk as she aimed at his chest. "Sorry baby, but I don't die that easy."

Maria released the bowstring, and let the arrow fly the short distance between herself and her opponent. Two others followed suit thanks to her preparation. These three were the special kind of arrows she saved for certain occasions; they exploded on contact with their target.

A cunning tactic…had Grobyc not relied on the power of Diablos. His eyes blinked with the aura of darkness and gravity, and the arrows froze in midair before falling to the ground.  But just as he resumed his assault, the ground beneath him exploded thanks to the arrows, knocking the cyborg far away from Maria. His back struck a nearby wall…and went right through it, landing in a heap of rubble in another person’s home. Buried beneath the pile, even he had no knowledge as to where Maria was now.

His arm twitched, the energy blade coming alive on its own. He raised an eyebrow at the malfunction. The armor he wore had finally been fully tested…and it was a failure.

Spots swam in Maria's vision as she tried to make sense of what she was looking at. A broken shop sign lay in her lap, designed with a picture of a small leprechaun riding on a cat. Odd. The explosion had knocked her for a loop as well, and she was propped up against a broken and splintered door of a nearby shop. Its owners would definitely have a fit when they returned.

She tried to get up, but blinding pain shot up both her legs and in her arms. Shrapnel from the explosion had been embedded in her limbs -but thankfully not her torso where the vulnerable organs lay- and there was still that broken ankle of hers to worry about. Maria hauled herself to her feet and used Yoichi's Bow -it was more than sturdy enough for the task- as a crutch as she limped along to the building she deducted the cyborg had flown into. She spotted her dagger and axe along the way. The axe was too far away to pick up, but the dagger was within an arm's reach. She sheathed the stiletto, figuring the axe could wait til later. She had something more important to do. Suddenly Maria started laughing as she considered the situation. "Firion and Leon would be sooo mad at me."

Her mirth was subdued as she found the house he'd landed in. She could see just well enough to know he was in there, perhaps under a pile of rubble. The huntress eased the last of her exploding arrows out of the quiver and propped herself up on a wall so she could fit the arrow to the bow again. Gods, she was tired. After this mess was over, she had plans to go take a nice, long hot bath and relax the day away after getting healed.

"I know that didn't kill you, so c'mon out. I got one last fight in me." she said, tense as she waited for him to appear again.

With the energy blade from his arm, he cut through the rubble he was under easily, and stood back up. His own body had been littered with the filth this town had to offer in the form of grime and dust. Nothing too damaging, and his main concern had been the malfunction of his weaponry. Shaking his head, the darkness reappeared, cloaking his body like fire.

Recalling one more test, he held out his hand. The air tore, literally, and a massive weapon just as large as the cyborg emerged. His right arm fell off, allowing the gears of the new weapon to connect to him. Grabbing the handle of the gun, he lifted it, aiming it right at Maria. The violet energy emerged from the tip, focusing into the single beam he needed to destroy all in his path. A tad extreme, but he needed to test Porre’s weapon after it had been damaged.

“Strong-Arm!”

The beam fired, and Grobyc grew curious. Given the explosion radius it would create, would Maria sacrifice her life so these humans could be spared, or dodge and possibly live with the guilt of several lives lost? A part of him grew interested at this.

Panic swelled through her as she saw him get up, and it reached a crescendo when what she thought was a cannon attached itself to his arm. For a moment, she thought she was honestly going to die. Images raced past her thoughts: those of life spent with her brother Leon, Firion and Guy, of Fynn being burned to the ground, of metting Princess Hilda and joining her cause, of killing the Emperor who sought to kill them all, of meeting that weird doctor she thought of as her friend, of the many people she still had yet to meet, and of that ranch out in the prairie she intended to someday own and live out the rest of her days. 'No...not after all of that...I forced my way through the end of the world once, and I'll do it again!'

The answer came in the form of a Limit Break. "Artemis Soul!" she shouted, firing the exploding arrow at the beam. Along with it flew a volley of up to forty arrows, each made of brilliant light. The beam exploded on contact with the multitude of bolts, sending more debris flying and causing the ceiling above to gain a brand new hole in it. Maria braced herself against the wall, huddled to protect her head and torso from the flying particles.

For the first time in this entire fight, Grobyc was actually surprised. To his knowledge, no one had ever actually taken his attack head on, nor had they ever succeeded. One arrow flew past his machine however, and struck his chest. He gasped in pain, feeling the energy slicing through his systems. Sagging over, he ripped it out, watching his blood fall to the floor. He chuckled, if only slightly. He didn’t know he could bleed.

Arrow in his hand, the warmth spread through his being. Maria had put everything on the line, and in the end it paid off. Was that the power of the human spirit? But when the arrow faded from his palm, he stared back at Maria. His eyes lit green once again, scanning both himself and Maria’s condition. Numbers flashing before his eyes, he shook his head and knelt down, putting back his arm where it belonged. Based on the statistics, another blast like that might just end this battle once and for all.

Lifting up his hand, he prepared a barrage of darkness, courtesy of Diablos. But as he gazed onto her tired form, his hand slowly fell back to his side, the dark aura faded. For an unknown reason, part of him didn’t want to kill, didn’t want this to continue. Recalling his orders, he was ordered to test, not to kill. Whatever this feeling was, he would have to investigate further.

“Mission….failure…” He held out his palm, a dark portal opening for him. He quickly stepped inside, taking one final glance at Maria, and vanished into the darkness where he belonged.

The huntress' chest heaved as she panted for breath, crumpled against the wall. Wood splinters had stuck themselves into her at all sorts of placed, and a goose egg was forming on her head from where a brick had hit her. 'I probably look like hell.' she thought, laughing under her breath. She won, so she definitely had to remind herself to cheer later. Now was not the time.

Maria eased herself up from the floor, taking her bow with her, and moved slowly toward the door. Yelling from a squad of soldiers could be heard, and she managed to get into their line of sight before falling down again. The soldiers pointed at her and one of their medics came by. Several other people who had been injured during the fight earlier were being loaded up as well. 'As always...you guys are the last to show up.' she thought bitterly as she was loaded onto a stretcher. Thankfully, they left her weapons alone, save for the axe which was still off in the street, and she fell unconscious as she was carted off to the closest healing facility.