Ch 31: Furtim Bovis, the Stealth Bullet vs. Levitas Curator, the Weightless Guardian

With Mythra down, Scott must hold his own. Douglas is set on finishing things quickly to pursue Grey and Amy, and despite his training, is Scott truly ready to fight a Revenant to the death?

            Laughing, Douglas showed little concern as he said, “Not a bad trick kid, but if you think you’ve won anythin, you’ve got another thing comin!” Gathering EDE into a mass in his hand, he crystallized it into a black chakram with four blue curved blades evenly spaced around the edge of the weapon. Then as Douglas raised a hand at him, Scott heard the ice beneath him beginning to rumble. Moving aside just in time, he slipped on the ice and slid away as an icy spike burst out of the ice. Struggling to his feet as Douglas skated across the ice to him and struck out with his bladed chakram, Scott blocked with his staff over and over. Breaking apart from each other, as Douglas summoned up another spike, Scott somehow managed to keep his footing as he fled from ice spikes. Watching him flee, Douglas laughed and shouted “Incoming!” As Douglas hurled the chakram at him, glowing with a charge of EDE, Scott quickly retracted the whip back into a staff and knocked the deadly throwing weapon away as he continued to run. However Scott soon saw it was not that simple, as the chakram spun through the air almost as though it had a will of its own and started chasing after him. Now fleeing from ice spikes and the chakram, Scott made a break straight for Douglas. The villain stood there calmly as Scott came at him, and after Scott got reasonably close he fired a lightning bolt from his hand at Douglas and prepared to strike with his staff. However Douglas quickly raised a hand and an ice wall rose up between him and Scott, effortlessly blocking the lightning bolt. Surprised, Scott struggled to stop on the slippery ice, and colliding with the wall of ice he fell back on his behind just as the chakram sailed over his head and sliced the wall in half. Scott scrambled out of the way on all fours as the top of the wall came crashing down at him, and grabbing hold of the chakram as it sailed back to him, Douglas let the broken pieces of the ice wall melt back into the frozen lake as he sighed and said, “You know kid, I think we’re done. This is just too pitiful. I’ve got better things to do.”

            Starting to walk away, Douglas stopped as he suddenly sensed a great rise in Scott’s aura, and turning to look back at him, he muttered, “Holdin’ back even though you’re getting’ your a*s kicked this hard?” As Scott stood up, his entire body seemed to crackle with electricity. Glaring at Douglas with lightning charged eyes, Scott said, “I didn’t want to risk it since I still don’t have much practice, but it’s the only trump card I’ve got! Time for you to feel my Thundering Wrath!” With a chuckle, Douglas said, “A new ability too eh? And you’ve even named it. Well, let’s have at it then!” Raising a hand to summon another ice spike, Douglas was quite surprised as Scott closed the distance with inhuman speed and struck with a powerful blow from his staff. Taking the hit straight in the face, Douglas sailed over the ice and skidded across it until he at last came to a halt. Getting up, as he wiped blood from his mouth, Douglas started laughing and said, “That was somethin else kid! What you’re doin is just plain nuts though! Actually removing your body’s limiters by stimulatin your nerves with electricity… Sure, it gives ya inhuman speed and reflexes and all that jazz, but it’s sure to be hard on your body, even if you only use it in brief intervals!” Speeding forth, Scott struck him again with a lightning charged punch, and chasing after him as he went flying through the air, he continued to combo him with strike after strike, juggling him while airborne. Ending his combo with a final powerful strike, Scott sent him sailing across the ice again to land sprawled on his back, and as Douglas struggled up slowly, he said, “Looks like I’m gonna have to get serious as well…” Douglas returned his chakram to a mass of EDE again, and as it squirmed and molded itself into a new shape, he now held a sleek, long barreled rifle and was sporting high tech looking shoulder plates with repulsion generators in them, as well as a high tech looking visor. Also, floating around him were several small orb shaped devices. Taking off his shades, Douglas stuffed them in his pocket and lowered the visor over his eyes as he said, “Been awhile since I brought out my Furtim Bovis!”

            Staring at Douglas’ Furtim Bovis, Scott grit his teeth and thought to himself, “This could be bad if this Grand Anima Weapon gives him as much power as Mythra’s…” Grinning confidently, Douglas called out, “Well whatcha waitin for? I’ll even let ya have the first move if ya hurry it up!” Charging his staff with lightning, Scott zipped forward and swung at him in the blink of an eye. Yet incredibly, Douglas disappeared as though he had been an illusion, and as Scott looked around for him, he heard Douglas call out, “Over here!” Looking behind him, Scott barely noticed Douglas floating up in the air, and aiming at Scott with his rifle, the villain fired a shining blue bullet at him. Using his lightning speed, Scott evaded the bullet, which struck where he’d been standing and exploded in a blast of cold that froze everything within three meters into a block of ice. As Scott jumped onto the ice block and leaped up at him to strike, Douglas disappeared once again. Landing back on the ice, Scott shouted, “Are you too scared to fight me anymore Douglas?!” Hearing Douglas laughing, Scott turned to look behind him again, and as Douglas drew a bead on him, he replied, “Sorry to tell ya kid, but a battle ain’t always so easy as a straight up fight!” Scott sped towards him, but Douglas vanished once more. Thinking quickly, Scott began to generate an invisible, harmless electrical field from his body over the area, trying to root Douglas out. After a moment of concentrating on the field, Scott sensed a disturbance in the electrical field and barely managed to move away once again as Douglas’ stealthily fired ice bullet shot at him. Calling out to Scott again as his bullet missed the mark, Douglas said, “Hoho! Not too shabby kid, now I get what that electrical field showing up on my sensors is. You’re using it to try and track my movements aren’t you? Well good luck with that! My stealth field makes me completely undetectable!” Scott looked in the direction of his voice just in time to see him disappear again.

            Scott’s face showed his frustration as he thought, “How do I fight what I can’t even see?! I have to calm down and think. I’ve sensed his bullet coming once, so if I can manage to figure out the direction they come from and reach him before he reacts-” Suddenly Scott sensed not one but three bullets passing through his electrical field, all from different directions. Moving at lightning speed, Scott escaped the freezing explosions as he thought, “Those bullets came from different directions all at once! How can he be in three places at the same time?!” Then Scott remembered the floating devices he saw around Douglas when he formed his Grand Anima Weapon. There had been five, and two looked different from the other three. His thoughts interrupted, Scott turned to look in the direction of Douglas’ voice again as he called out, “What now kid? Give up yet?” Scott saw that around him now were just three of the small floating devices. As Douglas disappeared again, Scott sensed another three bullets passing through the electrical field. Getting out of the way, he fired a lightning bolt from his staff in the direction one of them had come from. Striking the device that had been in stealth mode, the destroyed pieces of it went clattering across the ice. With an unconcerned chuckle, Douglas exclaimed, “Not bad, but I’m over here!” He disappeared again as Scott looked over at him, and this time Scott sensed only two bullets coming. Moving away again, Scott destroyed another of the devices with a lightning bolt, but Douglas simply called out, “Try again!” 

Confused by his lack of concern, Scott called out, “Now who’s the one who’s getting boring?! I’ve figured out what’s going on and destroyed your decoys! The same old trick isn’t going to work on me!” Laughing, Douglas said with a sarcastic tone, “Well I guess I may as well just give it up and go home! I sure can’t outsmart little ol’ you…” Feeling something was amiss, Scott thought to himself, “Is there more to this trick than the two decoys?!” Sensing the ice bullet coming, Scott moved and turned to fire a lightning bolt from his staff at Douglas’ location. However the moment he came out of his lightning fast movement, Scott sensed a second ice bullet coming from the front. Caught completely by surprise, he barely blocked it with his staff. The bullet exploded with freezing power, and as he was engulfed in the icy explosion, Scott heard Douglas call out, “Predictable move there kid.” Frozen up to his neck in ice, Scott saw Douglas appear in front of him. A lone decoy came down to join the two other floating devices around him, and as he grinned smugly, Douglas said, “Sorry kiddo, guess I outsmarted ya after all huh? I knew ya were a real smart aleck, so I changed the images projected by my decoys to show my sensor orbs were missing. Naturally you’d assume they were the decoys, and that’s why ya thought I only had two of em right?” Gritting his teeth as they started to chatter from the cold, Scott glared at him as he struggled to break free. His right arm sticking out of the ice, Scott tried to use it to break himself out, but was having little luck. Chuckling at the look on Scott’s face as he squirmed, Douglas said, “Calm down kid, fact is ya lost. Just be happy I’m showing a little mercy here. I’m sure a tough guy like you won’t die from the cold before someone comes and saves ya. Anyway, I got places to go, people to kidnap. It’s been real.” He walked away as his Furtim Bovis disappeared.

            Hanging his head in defeat, Scott thought to himself, “Why? Why can’t I find the strength?! I’ve tried so hard to become strong enough to fight against Altera Veritas! Is it really impossible for me to reach the same level as Grey or Alexander?! Grey defeated the last Revenant with only a few scrapes and burns, and Alexander fought against Grey on even ground, even after he’d been possessed by the Nameless One! Since then they’ve become even stronger, and here I am after all that training, almost as useless as before!” As he waited there trapped in the ice, the memory of what Mythra had said before came to mind. Out of curiosity, he’d asked about how one could summon a Grand Anima Weapon, and she’d told him, “You wanna know how eh? Honestly it’s not all that hard in theory. Anima Weapons are created when a mass of EDE is influenced by the wielder’s essence, their soul. The Grand Anima Weapon however, takes another, more powerful form from a strong feeling you’ve deeply engraved in your heart. There’s really no better way I can describe it.” Thinking about her words, Scott thought, “Right now the only thing I feel in my heart is my desire to protect my friends…” Focusing on that thought, he said to himself, “I wasn’t able to hold up my end of the promise I made with Grey before, and if I let Douglas walk away I’ll be failing again! Help me keep my promise! Give me the power to fight beside my friends and keep them safe! Just like Grey!” Summoning a mass of EDE into his hand right hand, Scott felt a surge of power from within. The mass of EDE twisted and churned, taking a new form as it crystallized into a mighty looking silver halberd, a weapon with a spear point and an axe blade, green designs upon it to match Scott’s own deep green eyes. Grasping it in his hand, Scott felt tremendous energies flow through him, as though it was amplifying the power of his lightning affinity. Scott heard a voice in his head speak the name of his Grand Anima Weapon, and he whispered it to himself in awe, “Levitas Curator…”

            Stopping as he felt the incredible surge of power from Scott, Douglas turned around saying, “D****t, I’m getting sick of this…” Pausing as he saw Scott standing there, freed from his prison and crackling with electricity as he held his Levitas Curator, Douglas muttered, “Uh-oh… I’m gonna have to bring out the big guns for this!” Quickly Douglas summoned his Furtim Bovis again and disappeared. Scott simply raised Levitas Curator into the air, and a slight bit of nervousness in his voice, Douglas called out, “What are you up to now?” Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot from Levitas Curator up into the air, and thunder rained down from the sky and struck Douglas and his decoys. Falling to the ground, Douglas slowly got to his feet as Scott walked towards him. Managing a weak laugh, Douglas said, “Not quite sure what happened there kid! How’d you find me?” Smirking, Scott said, “I didn’t. The lightning was drawn to the highest point out here, you and your decoys.” With a look of understanding, Douglas said, “Little sneak…” Then with a smirk of his own, Douglas added, “Pretty good, but I’m not gonna be beat that easily! Time to put up or shut up!” Quickly he flew backwards across the ice, raising a hand and calling an ice spike, and Scott moved away quickly as it rose up at him. Continuing to fly backwards in tactical retreat, Douglas put great distance between them, and as Scott pursued him he raised his rifle and began firing rounds of ice bullets, alternating between pulling the trigger and summoning more ice spikes. Evading easily with bursts of lightning speed, Scott charged after Douglas, letting Levitas Curator’s spear tip scrape along the ice. Douglas raised a wall of ice between them, but leaping high over the ice wall, Scott faced the palm of his hand down at Douglas and fired a bolt of lightning down at him. Aiming up, Douglas met Scott’s attack with an ice bullet, and through the chaos of the blast of lightning and shards of ice, Douglas drew a bead on Scott as he landed and opened fire. Sensing the bullet pass through the electrical field, Scott used the power of Levitas Curator and erected a barrier of electricity around himself. Electricity sparked crackled around the bullet as it struggled to penetrate it, and as it simply reflected off, Douglas muttered to himself, “Well that’s handy…” Closing the gap with his lightning speed, Scott swung at him with Levitas Curator. Blocking with his rifle, Douglas was thrown back by the force of the strike, and as he sat up he could see his rifle was broken, a massive gash in the side of it. Quickly looking around, Douglas spotted the high tech EDE weapon Scott had disarmed him of earlier. Getting up he quickly flew over to it, but Scott was one step ahead of him. Coming to stand between him and the weapon, Scott leveled Levitas Curator at him and said, “I don’t think so.” Grinning, Douglas said, “Well, well… Clever little sneak…”

            Douglas tapped his right boot upon the ice, and a knife blade came out the front of the boot. Quickly he launched a kick at Scott, who blocked with Levitas Curator. Pushing against the bladed boot, Scott said, “Don’t make me finish this! Give it up Douglas!” Grinning as he pulled back his bladed boot, Douglas said, “Sorry kid, this is a fight to the death now! Let’s see if you’re man enough to take on Altera Veritas! Fight me with all you have no matter what!” With another sweeping kick he forced the hesitant Scott back, and raising an ice spike beneath the high tech weapon, he knocked it into the air and raised a hand up to catch it as it sailed towards him. Twirling it in his hand, Douglas said, “What’s with the hesitation kid?! Ya could have had me there! Ever since we met out here on the field of battle, I’ve been getting the feeling ya wanted to prove yourself and protect your friends! Now ya won’t even finish what you started?! This is a battle kid, there’s no good or evil here, only friend and foe! Got it?” Gripping Levitas Curator tightly, Scott shouted, “Hypocrite! You’re the one who spared my life before! I don’t want to kill you, I just…” With a quiet laugh, Douglas said, “Ya wanted to win, right? Regardless of how I choose to operate, you’d better learn how to kill if you’re gonna be fighting against us Revenants kid. If you can’t do that, pack up and go home, you’re done. No more talk. Get ready to finish me, cuz I’m going for the kill from here on!”

            Scott leaped back into the air as Douglas lunged forth and struck at him with his double bladed ice sword. Resolving himself, Scott muttered, “D****t…” Raising Levitas Curator, Scott used its power. Spinning wheels of lightning appeared around the heels of his shoes, and using electro magnetism the lightning wheels generated force against the planet’s own magnetic field, allowing him to fly high into the air. Holding his mighty halberd as though he was going to throw it like a javelin, Scott began channeling electrical power into it. Looking up at Scott, Douglas quietly said to himself, “That’s it kid, show me everything you’ve got!” Gathering EDE a moment, Douglas cast aside his ice spike sword and formed Furtim Bovis one last time. Willing the floating orbs to link up with open ports on his rifle, he aimed up at Scott and shouted, “Try this! Cold Fusion Barrage!” The barrel of his rifle glowed brightly as he powered up a massive attack to match Scott’s. Up above, Scott now held an incredibly enormous Levitas Curator that seemed to be formed of all the lightning he had poured into it. Shaking off the last bit of hesitation within him, Scott hurled the gigantic halberd of lightning down at Douglas. Seeing Scott’s attack coming down at him, Douglas opened fire with a massive beam of freezing power. The two attacks sped towards each other, and as they clashed, Scott’s lightning halberd sliced through the icy beam and continued towards Douglas. Lowering his rifle, Douglas stared up at the halberd as it came down at him, grinning as he said, “Damn! Good show kid…” As the halberd slammed down on him, Douglas disappeared in a flash of lightning. Smashing through the ice, water erupted into the air like a geyser, crackling with electricity as it rained down around the gaping hole created by the lightning halberd. Scott summoned Levitas Curator back to him, and it shot forth from the water as a lightning bolt. As it reached him Scott took hold of it, and it once again became solid. Looking down at where Douglas once stood, Scott took in the fact that he had just ended another person’s life.

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

Wow! Awesome chapter! I am sorry I didn't review it sooner. I was at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagra. I loved the flow this chapter had, the dialogue was flawless and I really, really love the way you describe the battle! I like the jeering going on between Scott and Douglas. Nice touch!

I am sad that Douglas is dead, but judging by his last words “Damn! Good show kid…” I can't help but think that he'll be back. I think this because no one goes out with a complement to their adversaries, they go out with insults or something like that. Although this does add to the cockiness of Douglas's character, I think that he will indeed be back.

All In all, great chapter as per usual with you! Keep writing!

~Ryan

[KeithKVH]

Thank you for the review! No worries, sounds like you went somewhere interesting. ^^

Douglas' return I will let you speculate on, but there are few characters that you don't learn more about even if they do die beforehand. You'll be learning a bit more about the Professor later on, and whether he returns or not Douglas' character hasn't been given much detail yet either so the same can be said of him.

[Ryan Henderson]

Sounds interesting, and you bet your sweet buttery biscuits I will speculate on weather or not Douglas comes back...