WHO: Peter Petrelli, Azula, Toru, and briefly, Faith Lehane WHAT: Beginning of the End WHERE: Dracu-vamp's hidden base WHEN: Sundown RATING: HIGH STATUS: log ; COMPLETE
Sending the messages seperately to the vamps seemed to do the trick. Now Peter was just waiting to be given access. Once he had Faith, she was going straight back to the Hyperion, where Claire and Nathan were waiting for her. No matter what state she was in. Meanwhile, Peter was here, waiting.
They thought the medallion was everything, huh? He hadn't scratched the surface of his powers with Raidon. Not nearly. Wait until this asshole saw just what Peter Petrelli was capable of. Let them see why he was the Champion of the Powers That Be.
He tapped his foot impatiently. "[You're late, Toru]," he called out in flawless Japanese. "[If Faith isn't here in fifteen seconds, you're going to lose this little opportunity.]"
A laugh came out from the darkness as the mist that would become Toru began to swirl into a recognizable shape. Raidon had told him to ignore the Champion, to take his victory already and be satisfied. But that was so boring. Kumiko had merely laughed at something the wind told her and had danced off into the night, off on a hunt of her own.
"[Japanese]," the vampire responded, matching the language and ignoring the question for now. "[Impressive Champion.]"
There were growls in the shadows as his boys moved around them, staying back as ordered while Toru had his fun.
"[And what if I was to tell you that I maybe accidentally killed her already?]"
Azula stayed back too, entirely unsure of what they were saying but not wanting to make things somehow worse by reacting too early. There was too much of the stratagist in Azula for that. And so she waited.
She did wonder just for a moment why Toru was taunting so much about the Slayer. Azula would have killed her by now. In fact probobly a while ago. But he seemed to be having his fun with her and that was, she supposed, fair.
Toru intrigued her. Even now. And so the Firebender hid in shadow, surrounded by his men watching the battle of wills. It would prove interesting.
Peter arched a brow as the vampire approached, and lifted his wrist, looking at his watch. "[I explained that already, Toru. If she's dead, then you lose. And what power I have will destroy the Scythe before I destroy you and yours. You have five seconds left.]"
He wasn't willing to walk away. But he was willing to start. To give the impression that he would. Then use whatever abilities he had, invisibility, phasing, whatever, to search until he found Faith, no matter what state she was in.
But let her be alive, he thought, even offering the thought in what might have been considered a prayer. Let her be alive.
Toru stared a moment, wondering if the Champion could really do what he claimed. Stories of the Champion of the Powers That Be had spread the world quickly, the name becoming almost as feared as the legend of the Slayer herself. First it had been the Vampire with a Soul, the demon with a face of an angel, or so the stories went. Before he took on the Senior Partners themselves and vanished. Some said dead, others said in hell. And then this one was chosen to take his place. Peter Petrelli. They'd even heard his name on the other side of the world, supposed powers the likes of which had never been seen in this world before. Raidon, cautious bastard as he was, hadn't wanted to come to LA because of those very rumors.
But Toru was not his brother. Toru was confident in his strengths, they'd kept him alive-- well, undead-- for many centuries now. He smirked at the Champion, white fangs showing briefly before he turned, switching to an older form of Japanese as he murmured orders to his general, who turned to drag the unconscious Slayer forward, throwing her roughly to the floor just in front of Toru's boots. The vampire couldn't quite suppress the giggle at the sight of her, he'd had a lot of fun in those hours with her. As had Azula, and Toru couldn't wait to see more of her Firebending in action. Her flames had done a good job making pretty patterns on their captive's skin, complimenting the knife cuts beautifully.
He rested one foot on the ex-Slayer's back, keeping her in place as he looked mockingly at Petrelli.
"Well here you go. Now give me what I want and you can take what's left of her."
And still, even now she stayed back, eyes not leaving the Champion, where he was, any moves he might make. She was the contingancy. If it came to battle she would unleash her flames and they could beat a hasty retreat. The Slayer, Kumiko had told her, was not important now, without her powers. If it got them the source of Petrelli's powers then they could have the now powerless woman back. Or...they could try and kill the Champion.
Azula had been perfecting her firebending again, on the girl and with Kumikos help. It would take time her lightning was still not as it had been. But she was getting there. And she could still do some damage as the Slayer had discovered. Also if worse came to worse she knew the secret of that Scythe, what it did and what power lay in that little crystal they kept.
So she had a bargining chip if she needed it. Really she was here, involved in all this because Toru really did intrigue her. She focused her breathing, ready in case her bending was needed.
Peter's eyes narrowed. "You're not the one who has shown any honor, Toru. Let me see her. Examine her. We made an arrangement, and if she meets my conditions, then you can have what you came for." He slid his fingertips under the collar of his shirt, drawing out the heavy chain with the gaudy medallion. Uncovered, the pulse of power it held was even stronger.
"Only a few steps left in this little dance. It would be a shame for you to miss them by failing now."
Toru laughed before the expression faded and he looked sharply at Petrelli.
"Very well then."
A jerk of his head had some of his soldiers moving to surround Petrelli, blocking off his escape, as Toru smiled darkly.
"A precaution, you understand. Don't want you stealing the girl and running off and not giving me my present."
As soon as he was satisfied that his squad had the group secure, he lifted his foot before casually nudging the girl forward, making her roll towards the Champion.
"There, you see," he smiled patronizingly. "Alive and oh so very human, just as I promised. I am a vampire of my word Sir."
Well, he was when the word suited him. And this time it did. Trading the powerless girl for the Champion just made sense. Besides, once he was dead there was nothing to stop Toru going back and killing the girl anyway. Logic. It was a concept the overly hesitant Raidon never quite grasped. Toru looked at the mediallion, amost hungrily, wanting nothing more than to give it to his Lady and see the havoc she could bring with it.
The soldiers surrounding them didn't trouble Peter. He didn't have to try and get past them. There were more tricks up his sleeve than simply what they had seen.
He stepped forward and knelt down beside Faith. It hurt to see the damage, the way her skin had suffered. The backs of his fingers gently stroked her cheek, nearly a caress. A few drops of healing power, hidden under his concern. Not too much. Claire and Nathan would be waiting.
I'll see you soon, Faith, he whispered to her mind. I'll fix this. I promise.
Then he put his hand against her chest, and concentrated. An instant later, the woman was gone, the only sign of her presence being the faint snap of air rushing into the space she had just occupied.
Peter's eyes snapped up, looking for any advancement from the vampires. "Now we can continue," he said. Standing, he reached up and yanked at the medallion. The chain snapped at his tug, and he threw it to the ground in front of Toru.
At least he didn't have to deal with the stupid thing anymore. That necklace was starting to chafe.
Not many things could make Toru loose his cool, not after this many centuries. But seeing the girl just vanishing like that seemed to be one of them. He snarled, his face shifting into his vampiric features, with none of his usual holding back. His shape shifting abilities allowed him to choose which features he showed off the most, but now he was truly looking like a vampire of his world, eyes yellow, forehead furrowed and his fangs clearly showing.
"That was cheating," he ground out, the fury clear in his tone. "This better be worth it."
He bent down to pick up the mediallion. Only to drop it moments later when the damn thing exploded in his grip. The skin of his hand burned painfully, causing another roar of rage.
"Did you really think you could trick us?" His feral eyes turned on the Champion. "Did you really think you could trick me? I've been killing bitches like you since before your great grandmother was born."
He would enjoy killing this one. Killing him, ripping his insides out, tearing out his eyes and making him eat them. He would break this damn Champion.
The explosion was a surprise. And that was putting it lightly. The unexpected eruption almost had Peter ducking for cover before he realized what had happened. And since Jaenelle wouldn't have added a spell like that without warning, Peter decided that he would be having a brief conversation with his wife when he got home. The more immediate problem, however, was the enraged vampire.
"No," Peter answered, summoning every ounce of Petrelli arrogant he could muster into the word. "I thought I could trick you. You were the only one gullible enough to take my offer."
He resisted the instinct to raise a shield. Let the vampire attack. Keep the advantage. Let him tear, rend, slash. As long as possible, keep the advantage. They would think he was powerless now. Hold that.
The vampire snarled again, the stinging pain from the explosion starting to fade.
"You have no idea what you've just done," he sneered. Gullible? He thought Toru, master vampire, killer of Slayers, was gullible? He was in for a whole lot of pain.
And besides, that trinket of his was the source of his power, his strength. Without it, the Champion was no more than the average annoying human that he could eat for breakfast. Toru's smile became hungry as he looked at the human and leapt at him, vampiric speed allowing him to cover the distance easily, before he began to rain down punches at him.
"Just for that," he hissed. "I am going to break every bone in your body."
And now, the Fire Nation Princess could help. She had decided on tactics already. Blind the Champion now he was powerless. Burn him. Toru had said he wasn't bothered by a slightly charred Champion, so that was the principle on which she was working.
She blocked off the alley. Closed it off on both sides with a wave of her hands closed off both sides in walls of blue flame, trapping the former Champion, Toru and the members of the army in the ally with them all. Petrelli would not escape, would not run.
Also it just gave things that gravitas it had been lacking.
Another column of flame shot up just in front of the Champion. Let it blind him, Give Toru his oppertunity. Her part in things done for now Azula leaned one foot back against the wall and waited.
Thanks to the explosion of the medallion, Peter was a bit more prepared for random flashes of light and fire. Amazing how some things you could adapt to. He was more focused on the flurry of blows from Toru. This was the difficult part - difficult, but not impossible. A combination of illusion and pure willpower, to resist reacting to the blows, and to slow how he was healing from the wounds. Slowing or suppressing any of his passive powers had always been a struggle, but he wouldn't risk cutting them away completely. There was too much at stake. So for the moment, Peter let his body take the pain, flinching and even crying out when his wrist was snapped while trying to deflect the blows.
The fire wasn't from the vampire. That much, he could tell. Vampires were more flammable than
a Molotov cocktail. Which meant the bastard had someone else here. Hypocritical asshole.
Rolling with the punches (in a way that was far less metaphorical than he usually preferred), Peter fought to get an arm free, with enough room to reach for his sword.
Toru laughed savagely as Azula did what she did best and sent blue flames around them, trapping Petrelli in there with him, relishing in every snap of bone, every spray of blood.
"Was it worth it Champion?" He crowed triumphantly. "You're going to die here and then she and all the other whores will be next."
Still, he had to admit that the Champion gave a good fight, reaching for the sword, causing Toru to laugh again.
"Do you really think that will help you? Do you? Are you that stupid?"
Raidon had come home crowing about offering Petrelli that one free shot, letting him stake him and see just how his kind could reform.
"I can't die Champion," he leaned down, his tone taunting as he aimed another kick at Petrelli's ribs. "You can kill me and kill me and I won't ever die. I am the true immortal."
Another punch, this time aimed squarely for the jaw, before Toru stood back. "How much will I have to beat you before it sinks in? Ballpark figure."
Azula watched more than a little amused at how easy this was. Some Champion he had turned out to be. But it was like the Avatar. One thing. One thing and you could take them down so easily. With Aang it had been one short sharp burst of lightning. Of course he hadn't died due to the little water bitch but she had gotten closer than anyone to ending him.
And here she was about to witness the hero of another place be taken down. Destroyed.
And she was going to help. Because she could.
He was down, ready to die and Azula helped, sending a long tendril of fire shooting toward the Champion, engulfing him in flames just for a few seconds. She wasn't planning to kill him. That was for Toru to do. But he would hurt.
It was the feeling of the fire, coupled with Toru stepping back for a moment that decided things. Time to end the charade. The fire ripped across his skin, and Peter couldn't help his scream, mind flashing once more to those days he had been captured, subdued, tortured, and tested. Fire had always been a favorite. Not anymore. Rage ignited, and Peter dropped the illusions of lingering bruises. The fire was blasted away from his skin, and in that instant, he was back on his feet.
A smirk curled on his lips as he looked at Toru, feeling his skin knitting back together and healing over. He drew his katana with the broken wrist, spinning the blade in his hand as the bones settled with a nearly audible click.
"Ballpark? You'd have to break Hank Aaron's record." The katana spun again, and Peter leveled it in an arc resembling a baseball swing, this one aimed straight for the vampire's arm.
Toru actually paused and blinked, before the preservation instinct kicked in and he dodged.
"You lied to us," his face twisted with disgust. "Your power doesn't come from that, it comes from you." He looked Petrelli up and down. "Just what kind of a freak are you?"
Still, the sword would do little against him, of that he was confident. Dracula had taught them well, taught them the secrets to true immortality.
The only issue was, it would seem, just how in the hell were they to kill this irritating son of a bitch now?
"Azula," he called. "Your Highness. Perhaps I could trouble you for some assistance with this one. It seems he doesn't know when he should give up and die."
What was he?
Once her name was called Azula tilted her head slightly to the others skulking in the dark and ordered them silently to wait. They were not hers to command but leadership came easily to Azula and the men listened.
She stepped out into the light and cast a haughty gaze at the Champion. "It probably would have been more prudant for you to play dead. But I know your type. You just can't keep down can you. Can't accept defeat."
At that Azula pushed out her arm. To Peter who would have seen waterbenders in action, Azula's attacked were decidedly more ordered, less fluid but not lacking grace. It was a dance as much as any form of bending, but with a carefully controlled anger at its core. Flame flew from her hands and her feet as one attack after another found its way to the Champion. She wasn't playing to hurt anymore either.
"I'm a new breed." Peter's answer echoed what he had told Raidon earlier. When the fire rushed at him, this time, Peter turned into it, raising the hand not holding the sword. No holding back now. He'd seen Katara's waterbending ability enough to see the similarities. The spark began in his raised hand, and then a thin wall of fire, his own blue fire, was surrounding him, Peter himself safe under the flame he was controlling, the flame that would not burn him.
A minor shift in his weight, and the push of pyrokinesis to deflect his heat shield, and the flames that were assaulting him were racing instead at Toru.
Toru snarled furiously before he quickly turned to mist. Even so, the flames singed at his skin, causing him to turn angrily at Azula when he did reform.
"Can't you control that a bit better?"
He turned his feral gaze onto Petrelli, his lip pulled back in a growl.
"If you ask me you should be put down as a mutt."
The sword was pretty. Maybe stealing it from the Champion would make Kumiko do the happy squealy dancing thing she sometimes did. And there would be some real satisfaction in cutting his damn head off with his own weapon.
But he needed those flames down. He needed the Princess to actually control the damn things. He glared at her impatiently, waiting for her to get the message.
The problem for Toru of course was that Azula wasn't listening. Not moving at all, All that Azula could do was stare. In horrified shock as the man deflected her flame. Right at Toru yes but that wasn't what the Firebender was most offended by.
His shield of flame had been BLUE. How dare he! That was a rare gift and this..this...
Her expression was pure fury as the flame was deflected finally away from Toru and back to Petrelli, but it was growing in size. Growing in fury as Azula's anger grew. She did not like to be bested. It had happened twice in her life and both times had cut her deeply.
She twirred her hands sending short sharp blasts of flame at Peter. It was a tactic that had served her well against the avatar when first they had fought.
"If you ask me, you're the one growling like a rabid dog." Peter flicked his wrist, the hand holding the sword, and seized Toru by the head with telekinesis the instant the vampire had reformed from mist. Without giving an inch, or even a second to react, he used all his might to drive the vampire down, slamming his face into the pavement. "Down, doggie."
Then there was a small break in the fire. For an instant. It was enough. Peter switched his defense to offense, dropping the wall of fire and matching the bolts of fire with chunks of ice, the elements crashing in the air and breaking apart like a skeet shooter. Until one long stream of ice was sent directly at the woman who was the source of the flames.
It was at some point between getting his face ground into the pavement and seeing Petrelli sending ice at Azula that Toru came to one very painful realization. His brother had been right. And Raidon would never let him hear the end of it now.
That was an infuriating thought.
"Azula," he called out as he got up, staggering slightly and being forced to duck as the shards of fire and ice flew around the area.
"Azula, we might want to start thinking about Plan Strategic Exit now."
He looked between the ice weilding Champion and the Firebending Princess.
"Just a thought. You get back to me on that."
He glanced at the soldiers around them, directing them into new positions with dark eyes and angry jerks of the head. Azula may want to stay, but he was about to get out of here while he still could.
The Ice hit Azula mostly because she was too stunned to even think of dodging it. Two elements at once. No one but the avatar could do that and she was certain there was only Aang here with that power.
She was encased momentarily, she would get her way out soon but Toru was fleeing. Couldn't blame him, she would have done in the same thing. Still she was more than a little annoyed.
She set to work freeing herself, but for now at least the Champion was free of her flames.
Peter saw the motions Toru was making, and his eyes flashed, literally, with fire. "Running away?" Now that the assault of fire upon him had ceased, Peter had a few moments to gather his strength. The firebender's graceful display of power had given him an idea. Peter raised his hands, the blade of his katana raised to the sky for a moment. Then ribbons of blue fire flowed out from him. It only took a few moments for the sun-hot flames to ravage through the number of soldiers present.
All around them, ashes and dust fell. Peter was starting to feel the strain of using so much power at once, but he wouldn't show it. There had to be a way to finish this bastard. He just needed a little more time to get there.
The blade of the katana lowered until it was straight out, pointed at Toru's chest. "[Shameful coward,]" he spat, reverting back to Japanese to add to the insult. "[Your ancestors would have fallen on their swords rather than retreat. I was right. You have no honor.]"
Toru rolled his eyes with a scowl. Raidon would be less than impressed admittedly, but Toru himself valued continuing his unlife a little longer above honor.
"[I'm a souless demon, what did you expect?]" he retorted, also in Japanese, before he looked around at the dust of the soldiers, starting to reform. But slowly, too slowly. The force of the fire would have left them disorientated, scattered. Literally.
"What are you doing here?" He reverted back to English, looking at Petrelli with something close to bewilderment. "This isn't your world, not any more. It belong to us now, me and my family. The Witch, she changed things. Activated the Slayers and now, now we feast on them. Where once vampires could go entire centuries without meeting a Slayer, now, their blood makes us strong."
He actually laughed, his arms spread wide. "You can't stop our kind Champion. Even if you achieve the impossible and kill me, how long do you really think it'll be before another comes to take my place? Another one, another hundred. Your days are truly numbered so now, I just want to know, indulge me please. What are you doing here?"
A hundred sarcastic responses came to mind. But for once, Peter pushed them aside. He was starting to understand what he was meant to do here. And of all the people to explain it, of all the ones who could have touched on that need to know, it was this one. This walking corpse that had already tortured one of his friends. So the sarcasm was left aside for the words that came as genuinely as his wedding vows had been.
"We're not done yet," he said, side stepping, blade still extended. "And we won't be done in by the likes of you. That's what I'm doing here. I'm counting off your days, vampire. You know what a vampire is? A corpse too dumb to know it's dead." His smile returned, the trademark lopsisded smirk. "You asked what I am. You want to know, Toru?" The katana spun in his hand.
"I'm the Champion."
Gripping the hilt with both hands, Peter moved swiftly, driving the point of the blade at the vampire's heart.
Toru merely rolled his eyes. The epic speech was all very nice and worthy and he was sure that it made children feel safer at night. But the night still belonged to creatures like him. It always had and didn't that just show the world how little value such words really had.
Moving faster than any human could dream to, the instincts of a demon giving him strength, he caught the blade in his hands mere milimetres from his chest, and held it there, a dark smirk across his face.
"Well you're going to be a dead champion before long"
Well, shit. Peter could nearly feel the slap on the back of his head from Hiro. Got me monologuing, he thought bitterly.
He pushed against the blade with all his strength, every ounce of super-strength and telekinesis he could call upon. Damnit, he was getting tired. It was getting harder to concentrate.
"Maybe," Peter said, grunting with effort. "But not in your lifetime."
He would kill this asshole before then. He owed Faith that much.
He was struggling. The Champion was actually struggling. Toru found it hard to contain his glee.
"Are you sure about that?" He looked Petrelli in the eyes, his grip shifting slightly on the blade.
"I have the blood of Slayers running through me and one thing you should know about vampires?"
A final burst of strength and speed had Toru wrenching the weapon from Petrelli's hands and turning it around, and stabbing the Champion as the vampire leaned in close as he twisted the blade in.
"It's always about the blood."
Azula freed herself with a final burst of flame almost as the blade slid into Petrelli's chest. She took a step closer tilting her head in curiosity.
"Well that wasn't entirely what I expected. Though I suppose you must be tight about the blood. He just...couldn't fight that which cannot die."
Though the Champions Healing had saved him before surely a wound like that, right to the chest was enough to end anyone. She allowed herself to finally relax, two jets of flame drying her clothing as she watched Toru, still with the sword in Petrelli's chest. Now he was just being showey.
"You were going to leave me at his mercy." she offered with no anger to her voice, not even a mild irritation. "Impressive, I would likely have done the same. Now go on and have your fill. I'll wait for the soilders to return to life...or...well you know what I mean."
The Princess took a few steps away with a last contemptuous glance at Peter and busied herself with drying her clothing with flame.
There was a flash of pain, and pressure - intense pressure - on Peter's chest. Trying to breathe brought a mouthful of blood. He coughed that out, just in time to hear Toru's last comment.
"It's always about the blood." Blood. About the blood.
That was it. Peter lifted his eyes, and that cocky smile returned to his lips. He started to laugh. That was it! He coughed again, spitting out blood as he laughed some more. Two staggering steps took him back from the vampire, and he grasped the hilt of his sword. Blood washed over his hand as he pulled the blade back out, and then he paused to look at the blood-soaked blade and laugh again.
"Blood!" he said, his laughter evening out as the wound in his chest began to heal. "Blood!"
And then the blade was plunged into Toru's chest. The time-stop was a strain, but a necessary one. Peter twisted the blade as it sat in the vampire's chest, smirking his own bloody grin as he watched his own blood seep into the wound.
"Why not try the blood of a Champion?"
Toru laughed despite the pain of being stabbed. Not his first time after all, and the sword was cold and metal, not the wooden stake most vampires feared. He was about to come back with another sarcastic retort when he felt something new.
Thump.
Thump.
His chest, his heart. It was beating. Eight centuries there had been nothing there, no blood truly pumping.
"Oh well now this is..."
He was alive. He was alive. And stabbed in the chest.
Toru staggered backwards, falling to the ground as the thump-thump of his heart already started to slow again, straining to keep going.
"This can't be good."
He tried to grab hold of the bastard Champion as he finally lay back, his definitely human eyes wide and staring at nothingness as he died.
Azula gasped. The still returning to life vampires no use to her. Alone facing a seemingly unstoppable champion. And a dead Toru. It was a pity, she had liked him, and together the ould have been a strong and powerful union, but now...
Oh well. Such was life. And she still had hers. That was the most important thing.
She forced her mind to Focus, Jets of flame propelling her high into the air, she would jump to the roof and she would make her retreat. He couldn't fly after all. That would be preposterous.
Peter had time to drive a fist into the dead man's face before the body had completely shifted back to human. From the damage, he plucked two things - a pair of pale ivory fangs.
Then the blue streaks shot into the air, and he knew the firebender was getting away. Peter tucked the fangs in his pocket and shot into the air as well, taking flight as easily as always. He was faster than she was, and his hands were glowing cold blue in the cooler night atmosphere.
"Going somewhere, Princess?" he said. And smiled.
She was more than a little exasperated as she noticed him, behind her, hands glowing with the blue of what could only be more Ice, and Azula did not want that anywhere near her. So she slowed her flames and came to rest on the roof looking down on the dead Toru and a great many confused vampires coming back to themselves. They looked shocked. Very shocked.
She sighed, and turned to the Champion.
"I am a Princess of the Fire Nation, and a Princess always surrenders with honor"
At the last second a blue sliver of flame sharp and deathly hot left her hand aiming right for Petrelli's annoyingly smiling face
Way to try and fool a telepath. Though, to her credit, Azula didn't know he was a telepath. Peter teleported in the air, hovering behind the princess, and using a blast of ice to bind her hands behind her back.
"Oh, I think you're going to have to deal with a little less honor than you're used to, Princess. I think it's your turn to be helpful for once."
With that, the two figures vanished from the sky.
A few moments later, the body lying in the alley vanished as well.