Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ The Unbelievable Truth About Valentino! ( Chapter 25 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

XxXxXxXx

Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Episode 25: The Unbelievable Truth About Valentino!

XxXxXxXx

"Oh crud!" Sari exclaimed as she could do nothing but watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Udo was silent; he didn't want to rule out any possibilities that she may have survived such an onslaught.

"We've got to help her," Ionna said seriously as she shot Vincent a look that silently asked for his help. The bounty hunter agreed as he slammed his fist in his hand.

"I'm up for a little face busting. Besides...This guy's a major bastard," the long-haired man smiled to himself. He was tired of sitting on the sidelines and watching the action pass him by. Vincent wanted a shot at him, and one would be all he needed to put that man's face through something.

"Let's go!" Sari cheered gung-ho about saving her ally and getting rid of a few pent up anger issues.

"No!" Agata commanded as she ran over and stood in front of the charging group with her arms outstretched. The three of them skidded to a stop and wore looks of anger.

"What?" Sari outraged. How could Agata just stand by and watch as Ryouzonia was beaten in battle? What kind of a team mate was she, anyway?

"You've got to be kidding! Why?" Vincent wondered the same thing.

"I believe that Ryouzonia can do this," the white-haired woman seemed confident in her judgment. She would not let the others interfere for honor's sake. She had faith in her team mate and wanted all of them to have faith in her as well. They shouldn't rush into things prematurely or they may come crashing down upon them sooner than expected. The more people that got involved, the more opportunities there were for screw ups.

Udo glanced over to his team mates, watching the altercations between them and eavesdropping on their conversation.

"She's obviously going to be injured from that attack! How can you say that you believe in her but refuse to let anyone help her?" Ionna was infuriated by the woman in blue's actions.

"I think she'll be fine. She seems like she knows what she's doing," Agata had said that statement just as strongly as the last. She wanted to emphasize the fact that they were merely getting in the way if they proceeded to advance. Agata would stand her ground and she'd be damned if anyone got past her.

"I'm not sitting around while she dies! I refuse to let anyone else die!" Sari shouted. So many people have died because of their efforts and now Ryouzonia was going to suffer the same fate as they were if something wasn't done! They had to act now if they wanted to save her, or Shigeki would kill her for sure.

"How can you be so cruel?" Ionna's anger growing by the second.

"I'm not being cruel," her voice showed no emotion, despite what her words were.

"We're going out there, so get out of our way," Vincent didn't care what Agata thought, even though he liked her, he would not risk any more lives for something like this. The longer that they argued over the matter, the more time that they wasted.

Agata narrowed her one visible blue eye at them and frowned deeply. She refused to move and would not heed to them no matter what. They would have to go through her if-

Sari simply walked around her, said her good-bye and jumped off into battle. If Agata really wanted her, then she'd have to come after her and hold her down but she surely couldn't do that to all three of them. The white-haired woman turned and shouted after the spunky girl, telling her to wait. As she did so, Vincent and Ionna moved around her and jumped over her form as they headed off after the girl.

"Damn it!" The woman cursed.

"Do you really think that they're making this any better for Ryouzonia?" Udo asked from his position a few feet behind her.

"Probably not. They're just making more targets," Zidane took a puff of his cigarette. It was all he could do to calm down and keep himself from going out there after Shigeki. After all that he'd been through with that man, having someone he hated beyond the shadow of a doubt in front of his face was too convenient. He wanted to kill that asshole more than anyone else but for now, he would hold himself back. As soon as the opportunity arose, however, he'd be the first to jump in and kill that bastard.

"I hope they don't think we're cruel," Loreli replied. They weren't adamant about going out there with them but they had all dealt with Shigeki before and knew that it wasn't wise to go charging in there as if they had no plan or care in the world for their own lives.

"What if they or rather she does? I never said that I was completely a good person. If they want to be stupid then let them," the scar-faced man was apathetic. It made no difference to him.

"I'm sure you're chomping at the bit to wring Shigeki's neck," Udo knew Zidane, he absolutely hated Shigeki and hated with indeed a kind word for the rage that he felt for that olive-skinned man.

"Heh, damn straight but there's a time and place for it and during Ryouzonia's fight wouldn't be the time."

After his sentence was completed, the three of them quickly shot their gazes to the ground as Ryouzonia's form came crashing down in front of them. Groaning, the elder slowly and shakily arose. Her beak was slightly open as she panted to herself. Indeed, she had been worn down from battle. Her pink eyes quickly looked in the direction of her enemy, where Sari jumped towards him with her swords raised.

"Die you sorry bastard! Rah!" The girl brought down her swords as they soon met the enemy's forearm. He glared at her from over his shoulder, which made the girl nervous at the fact that she didn't seem to do any damage. A drop of sweat rolled down her head as she laughed in a broken up and nervous way.

Shigeki simply brought his arm around and knocked her out of the way, as if she were an offending fly buzzing in his face. Ionna threw her large weapon at him but he swiftly jumped to the side. Then, Vincent was behind him and attempted to punch him in the face but the man swiftly dodged as his fist went over his shoulder. Shigeki turned to his offender as the two continued to throw a series of punches and kicks at each other.

"Why is it that I always just get smacked away?" Sari held out a trembling fist as she fumed with anger. No matter whom it was that she faced, every enemy swatted her away as if she were minor. It was so irritating!

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Hokuto peered from around the corner of a wall as he saw the four of them, engaged in battle. His light blue eyes concentrated as he watched as Ryouzonia and the three humans struggled against Shigeki. 'A fight isn't something normal around here...I wonder what's going on...' He thought as he gazed over those who stood on the sidelines. Suddenly, his eyes widened upon seeing a familiar figure. 'It's Udo...What's he doing here? I'd better see what's going on. Maybe I can help him.'

Hisamichi had his eyes laid upon the battle but as he watched the fight, he noticed something in white robes move around the corner of one of the walls. His green eyes went to the form as he thought to himself. 'Who's that?'

"I'd better keep an eye on him...Shigeki might try something," the red-head didn't know who he was and he wasn't dressed as a terrorist but he could never be too sure. None of the undercover agents and spies ever really wore the conformist blue suits that the terrorists had worn.

"I'm going to turn you in!" Vincent threw more punches at the man, who dodged his every move.

"I doubt it with just physical attacked behind you. You'll have to be better than that." This bounty hunter was truly a fool! He had no idea what he was capable of and still he tried his puny physical attacks against him? It was almost laughable! He was merely toying with Vincent and soon, he would become a little brown rat, caught in the deathly jaws of a cobra.

"Fist of the Black Wolf!" He had been caught off guard as Vincent's super-punch seemed to catch him off guard. For a moment, he thought he had seen black flames engulf his fist.

"Pressurize!" The terrorist threw his hand in front of himself as he summoned a wind that blew the bounty hunter back into the wall before he could even manage to land his special attack. The brown-haired man's body slammed against the wall, and then fell limply to the ground. A sly smirk crossed his face. "I told you, you'll need more than that to get to me."

"Dark Chains!" Ionna commanded as what appeared to be dark energy wrappings materialized from the ground and flowed upwards. They then shot forward as they wrapped themselves tightly around the enemy's body. Then a white energy burst from Shigeki knocked them all backwards and sent them flying at high speeds towards the onlookers behind her. Everyone managed to dodge them as she cursed to herself. "Damn."

Vincent sat on his knees, holding his bicep muscle as he looked down, trying to clear his blurring vision. "This is bad." It seemed that they weren't having much luck. Maybe Agata was right, they truly weren't ready to face off against him.

Hokuto concentrated on Shigeki's face. "That must be those terrorists that Udo spoke of," he glanced to Valentino. His eyes widened and he had realized who exactly the man before him was. "Valerio Valentino...He's infamous! I didn't know he was part of their group."

"You know what? This pisses me off!" Sari seethed in frustration as Ionna continued to chunk her weapon at Shigeki once more. She had to keep assaulting him in hoped that it would wear him down. At least if he were worn down, he would be easier for someone else to defeat even if she could not.

"Honestly, this old trick?" Shigeki had begun to grow bored of her repetitive attacks. The brown-haired man jumped up but her attack was different this time, the spikes on her weapon extended and nearly managed to stab him. This had caught Shigeki by surprise.

"No, I decided to jazz it up a little," the black-haired woman smiled slyly. She at least managed to get an edge somehow.

"Good job, Ionna!" Vincent complimented.

"I wish I could do something like that!" Sari was in awe at the woman's feats. Why hadn't she thought of extending weapons? That would have been cool!

Rubio silently watched the fight taking place before him. His eyes were transfixed on the site before him as those involved tussled around and fought for victory. The ex-terrorist watched intently, studying their moves in an attempt to figure out some kind of weakness in Shigeki's fighting style. Perhaps, if he could figure out one little flaw in his usually perfect fighting style, then he could help his team mates and right now, they all could use the help.

"Something wrong?" Valentino noticed the silver-haired man's concentration.

As if the assassin's words secretly commanded him, Rubio lunged forward to jump into the field with his other allies and fight against Shigeki. However, his body jolted to a halt as something tightly grabbed him by the forearm and held him back from participating.

"Ugh! What are you doing?" Rubio's head whipped around to see that it was Valentino who held him back.

"Don't..."

"Why?" The blue-eyed man was a little flabbergasted that the assassin would hold him back this time. Then his face bore an expression of anger. "Don't tell me that you're on Agata's side!"

"No...But there are already enough people out there-" Valentino tried to explain before he was cut off.

"He used your son as a science experiment and turned him against you!" That very fact alone was enough to make Rubio see red. "How can you sit back there and do that?" He nearly exploded with anger. Rubio really couldn't understand why the black-and-red clad man didn't seem to want any revenge what-so-ever! It was either heartless or ridiculous either way!

"Acting on impulse isn't something that we should do at such a crucial time," Valentino advised.

"What about Ryouzonia?"

"She's strong...She can handle herself," the black-haired assassin glanced towards the battle, where Ionna, Ryouzonia, Vincent and Sari were busy dodging magical attacks from their enemy. The situation seemed pretty hopeless as of now. It seemed as if all they could do was dodge Shigeki's energy blasts. They couldn't even manage to get in close to the man. All four of them were reduced to wide-spread attacks as well as those that could be preformed from a distance.

Hisamichi inched up to Valentino and tugged on his cape. When the long-haired assassin glanced to him in recognition, he whispered into his ear. He asked the assassin if he noticed that they were being watched and gestured to behind a nearby wall, where Hokuto watched from around the corner. Valentino looked over his shoulder at the feminine-looking boy as the red head told him that he didn't know who the long-haired male was or why he was even there but he had been keeping an eye on him to make sure that he didn't try anything out of the ordinary.

"Argh!" Sari let out a disgruntled yell as her body landed beside of the two men. "Sorry guys," the girl slowly arose, rubbing her butt with one eye closed. "That hurt..."

"Are you alright?" Hisamichi asked, concerned about her condition.

"Yeah, no sweat!" Sari smiled a tough, yet happy smile as she was helped the rest of the way up by the red-haired boy. He took a hold of her hand and helped her to stand completely up. The girl had been slumped over before.

"Are you going back out there?" Green eyes burnt into her own dark aqua ones with question.

"You bet I am! I'm gonna kick that guy's ass!" Sari looked a little irritated. "Why the hell aren't any of you guys helping!? Don't you give a crap about Ryouzonia!?" It was really heartless of her team mates to just sit around like lazy-asses and watch as she, Ionna and Vincent get the crap beaten out of themselves to try and save Ryouzonia from dying against Shigeki. What kind of team mates were they anyway?

"We're back up," Zidane took a puff of his cigarette.

"Unless it gets any worse, there's no reason to go out and fight," Udo replied.

"I agree with Agata. I think we should let Ryouzonia handle it. Hm?" Yaritza's eyes followed a form as it peered from behind the wall. It was, indeed who she had thought that it was. "Hokuto!"

"What?" Udo's light-blue eyes widened at the mention of that name. He was here? How? How did he manage to not only find out where they were but be watching Shigeki without being detected? Maybe Shigeki was too caught up in the fight to notice him spying but it didn't matter. It was far too dangerous for Hokuto to be there at a moment as crucial as this!

He hoped that Hokuto didn't get found out.

"I thought he was at home," Yaritza was shocked. She wished that he could have stayed at home and guessed that he either accidently came to that place or spied on Udo so he could watch his friend in action. Either way, it wasn't a good choice for him to make, especially since he didn't seem to have any weapons.

"Hey!" Sari exclaimed loudly before she was muffled by Udo's hand to keep from being noticed. The girl squirmed as disgruntled noises were made behind the clamped hand. "Mm! Mrghf! Mmerpf!!!"

"What are you trying to do? Give him away?" Udo scolded in a harsh whisper. "Don't bother him...Just let him be."

"Okay, okay..." Sari grumbled lowly as she glared at the man, who unmuffled her mouth.

"You know him?" Valentino overheard their conversation.

"He's my brother," the ninja explained in a low tone with a worried expression on his face.

"...and my friend," Udo admitted. He too, was worried.

"We really shouldn't involve him," Loreli wanted to try and keep any unnecessary parties out of the involvement if she possibly could.

"He's got some guts coming out here," Zidane was a little surprised that someone like him would come anywhere near terrorist activity, especially known terrorists like the Dark Renegade Corps.

"He's a ninja. He can handle himself. Don't let his looks fool you; he's quite strong and capable," the white-haired ex-terrorist informed. They didn't really need to worry themselves with protecting Hokuto. He was very capable of dealing with things himself.

"Welp, see ya!" Sari dismissed herself as she jumped away. Her hand slowly pulled away from Hisamichi's, who blushed as he looked at his hand, where the last remaining warmth was beginning to fade. He then stuck his hand behind his head and smiled in a goofy way, then stated that he was embarrassed.

"You like Sari?" Yaritza placed her hands on her hips and shot him a look.

"Please don't tell her! I want to myself," the boy pleaded. Admitting his feelings would be a perfect opportunity and he didn't want to ruin it by having someone else tell her before he could get a chance. By someone else telling her, it would take away all of the emotional value of the situation.

"Uh...I wasn't going to anyway," there was no need for him to freak out. Yaritza had no intentions of telling her, she just wanted a simple yes or no.

"Duck!" Rubio shouted as the two confused conversationalists looked ahead and jumped to the side as they dodged a sharp, cutting wind attack.

"Damn, that was close," Rubio cursed under his breath.

"Yah!" Sari charged at Shigeki with her sword drawn but her attack was quickly blocked.

"I don't have time for little girls, Dark Shield!" The brown-haired man commanded his magic to come fourth. Suddenly, a black wall of magic rose from the ground swiftly. As soon as it made contact with the girl, it blasted her and sent her form flying backwards with force. Hisamichi shouted after her as her small form hit the ground. The red-head rushed to her side and placed a hand on the side of her face, patting it lightly in an attempt to get her to stir awake.

"Huh?" The girl slowly opened her eyes. "Hisamichi? Nugh..." She groaned and slowly arose.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked in a concerned tone.

"I almost got knocked out! What do you think?" Sari snapped. What a stupid question!

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Ryouzonia's form was flung backwards into a nearby wall as she was blasted with a powerful magic attack. The elder held her shoulder and winced in pain. 'I'm wearing down. I don't know how much more I can take.' She thought to herself. No doubt the situation seemed as if it were turning in the enemy's favor now.

"I've still got to try!" The blue bird-woman said with determination as she powerfully rushed towards him and lifted her scythe as she shouted the word, earthquake.

Shigeki preformed a replacement technique. He then appeared in-between Rubio and Valentino, who both looked to him in shock. They had not anticipated that he would have come over there, but he had a plan to make things undoubtedly more interesting.

"What?" Rubio asked in nearly a whisper as he slowly turned to see his ex-co-worker standing beside of him with an arrogant smile plastered on his face.

"Shigeki!" Before Valentino could even think, he felt something prick him in the arm and worry and shock ran across his face. This was something that he never expected to happen. Something that had not happened since he had left Professor Gaiga's laboratory and the realm of the terrorists. The man was powerless as he had no choice but to face both the past and the consequences of his secretive nature.

"Valentino!" Rubio rushed to the man's side. "Valentino! Are you alright?"

"Now! Show me who you really are!" Shigeki demanded. "Show us what our research has been able to prove to the world! Show them what you really are- an experimental product of Ibuki-sama!"

Valentino clutched his chest as his breathing accelerated and he began to sweat. The man hunched over and stumbled a bit as his body began to morph before everyone's eyes. His outstretched hand grew long, sharp, cat-like claws. They were needle-like and curved as well as black in coloration.

"Valentino!!" Rubio shouted as the man's body continued to change in front of everyone. "What have you done to him!?" He then turned his angry sights upon the blue-and-white clad Shigeki, searching the man for answers to his actions and possibly to what exactly he injected Valentino with that was causing his body to mutate.

"If I go out, I'll go out in style with a suitable opponent! I'll show you all that natural born talent beats those with gifts anytime. Besides, wasn't everyone asking...What is Valentino's true form? Now see for yourselves!" Shigeki's smirk widened as he turned his sights to the transforming assassin and watched as his finger nails continued to grow to a total of five feet long. Out of his right shoulder blade sprouted a large, thin, bird wing that possessed feathers as black as night. Ghostly blue eyes widened in shock as the man who stood beside of him moments ago sprouted into something from a horror novel.

"This isn't good," Zidane had realized what was happening. He had seen it all too many times to count. "Not even I have seen Valentino's transformation."

"I wonder what Shigeki injected into him to cause him to transform," Loreli told them. He could very well have more of whatever it was and she wanted to steer clear of such an injection. She had no ability to transform but she didn't know if any of the other terrorists did.

"It's a serum that brings out the effects of experiments conjured up by Professor Gaiga. He carries them with him so you guys had better watch out," Udo notified.

"Capt'n Aeris!" Bosnia shook the unconscious woman's shoulder's violently in an attempt to jolt her awake. "Capt'n Aeris, speak to me!"

"Nugh...Bosnia?" The long-haired captain slowly stirred awake as her half-lidded gaze fell upon her short-haired friend as she tried to concentrate. Her hazy vision slowly cleared on Bosnia's form as the girl placed a hand to her chest and commented that she was thankful that she was alright.

"Valentino-kun! Valentino-kun, snap out of it!" Rubio called out, hoping that the black-haired man would notice.

Valentino whipped his head around to look at the silver-haired man and told him to move in a monotoned voice that edged into commanding. Rubio asked 'what' in a confused tone, not quite sure whether or not to trust this new form. He soon found out why he was warned to move out of the way as Valentino sent out a wave of energy that nearly floored everyone in the vicinity. Rubio managed to take the most damage considering he was in the closest proximity to the man. Yells were emitted as Bosnia and Captain Aeris were also thrown back by the blast.

"What's this? Wind Shield!" Ryouzonia called out as she managed to block the attack.

Suddenly, a flashback of what happened to Kajuji when his form busted into a conglomeration of parts ran through her head. She hoped that he didn't succumb to the same fate as his son.

The transformed man shot forward in a burst of power as he, Ryouzonia and Shigeki began to tussle. The blue-bird took to the skies and formed a bow and arrow from the wind itself. She called out the phrase 'Arrow of Wind' as she shot it down at him. Shigeki countered it with his Dark Shield and deflected the weapon towards Valentino. It managed to knock him back a few feet.

"Huh?" Ionna looked a little dumbfounded as she slowly arose to one knee to see her brother squaring off against Shigeki. "Valentino's fighting..." The woman remarked before her red eyes spied the lone wing that protruded from her brother's back. 'He must have transformed.'

"I think we should let all three of them fight," Agata glanced at the long-haired woman, in case she had any ideas about re-joining into the chaos that had already erupted.

"What's wrong with Valentino?" Sari questioned as she looked to Rubio for an answer. Surely he'd know something, considering he came from that establishment.

"These are the results of all of the experiments that Professor Gaiga has performed on him. This is his true form." As sad as it was, it was the truth and Rubio knew it all too well. There were far too many instances that he witnessed not to know that this was yet another part of being affiliated with Ibuki's association.

"No wonder he thinks he's a monster..." Sari felt bad for the silent assassin. With something that big to hide, there was no wonder that the man spoke so little.

"That is definitely freaky," Vincent commented, his eyes locked on his form in awe. He had never seen anything like that before, so he couldn't help but stare. The bounty hunter then heard a low rumble of a growl before he felt a sharp pain in his foot from the angry aqua-haired girl beside of him. She had stomped on his foot, causing him to let out a sharp, pained noise and hopped around. Clutching the injured limb tightly.

"Can't you say anything nice?" The girl scolded.

The transformed assassin sunk his massive claws into the ground below, splintering the earth and busting up the material that the ground was composed of. Shigeki let out a noise of frustration and surprise as he jumped up to avoid the shattered earth below.

"Valentino sure is quiet when he fights," Vincent commented.

"He's quiet in general," Yaritza stated. Regardless of the situation, the assassin had never really said much about anything. The person that he talked to the most was Rubio, out of anyone there. It was strange to her, considering how much they seemed like water and oil.

"You'll never be anything more than a monster!" Shigeki smirked as he swiftly dodged from side-to-side, trying his best to void Valentino's sharp claws as the mutated man slashed at him and attempted to cut off his head and mar his face. Now, more than ever, a fierce determination shone in his usually emotionless eyes.

"Velocity!" Ryouzonia dove down towards the two. She had the terrorist right in her sights as her speed greatly increased with the slope of her dive. Now was the time! There would be no escape from her!

Below, Valentino brought his claws up to deliver a fierce upper cut that would possibly kill the brown-haired man that he assaulted but then he received quite a surprise. Shigeki preformed a very familiar hand sign as the red-eyed assassin wore an expression of fear. The force in which he had brought up his arm was too powerful to stop and before he could utter a single word, blood splattered on his form.

A Replacement Technique had been preformed and Valentino could do nothing but stare blankly at the sight before him.

Rubio gasped as horror lit up his expression and the other members of his team desperately called out a single word.

"Ryouzonia!"

Valentino could do nothing but look on in horror at what he had done.

He had attacked his own team mate by accident. His claws went right through the bird's chest.

...To Be Continued...