An End To The Madness

Kamui's wicked grin grew wider as Azure's arm was removed from his body, the faint glint of the bracelet he word shimmering in the faint sunlight as it careened in to the wall with a bloody crash. It wasn't necessary at this point, Azure was dead, it was over, and now Kamui was just playing with his food. Offering that little light at the end of the tunnel, that little chance for vengeance. It was what was still driving Azure, that burning passion to not go whimpering quietly in to the night. It was worthless, of course, but still rather comical all the same. As that severed limb, leaving a trail of blood smacked against the wall, Kamui couldn't help but laugh. Loud, maniacal laughter that bounced off the wall and elicited a massive chittering of the monstrous creatures that riddles the ceiling and walls around them, as if they were sickeningly laughing along with him. It wasn't difficult for Kamui, the masks. He was the Sugiuran of Deceit, intricate weaves of lies and deceptions were as simple and natural to him as breathing to a human or being a self-righteous asshole was to Azure. Even still, this joy in despair, the thrill he felt at the look of sheer hatred and anguish on Azure's face...well...this was a mask he very rarely got to wear and he was going to enjoy it.

"Mighty Azure, is this all you have?"

Kamui could not help himself, goading him even further. It was too perfect, too fun. The response was succinct, it had to be since the adjective was keeping the man from speaking, but the look of pure unadulterated rage was so...so delicious. It made the last year so worthwhile, it justified the hours, the time, the expense. It justified every time he cow towed to these people, every time he said sir, every time he followed the stupidly boring orders, every time he babysat the recruits, every time he wasted breath on the Vanguard. All of it was made beautiful in this moment.

"AZURE THAT LOOK IS AmAzINGGGG. Is it finally dawning on you? Your protections have been steadily stripped away, your strongest allies broken apart with fighting within and without. In you final moment even your memories, your emotions, your love fails you. You desperately cling to that single goal, vengeance even when you know if you get it, you'll still die here alone, unknown, unwanted. Desperately holding on to that last thought, that last thread to life..."

As he spoke, activity swirled around him, the Juin Beasts were getting more and more excited, more and more loud as they scuffled along the ceiling and floors around the two as Azure clung the now lifeless body of Kamui's special little creation. It was a shame really, Kamui was hoping it'd manage to kill Azure and he'd find his experiment a success, but even in his hampered state Azure proved a little too much for the thing. It'd be useful information for later though, science was always a building and progressive process. The data here would only lead to stronger Juin beasts...one more legacy for Azure to enjoy. Kamui raised one hand in the air, pointing to the sky before slowly leveling it upon Azure's beaten, battered, and broken form. A soft grin painted across his now rather deranged looking features. As soon as the finger leveled, bestial wails rocked the entirety of the base. Every human member of the Vanguard that had staffed the lunar base, every well meaning human fighting however they could to protect the Earth beneath them, wailed in animalistic hunger, wailed as their twisted, corrupted forms wanted nothing more than to tear in to the one they once called commander, one they once called leader, one the once called savior.

"...that vengeance, allow me to take that from you now."

It seemed like the entire building descended upon Azure. Juin beast after Juin beast flung themselves through the air, collapsing on all sides toward Azure, masses of twisted limbs, razor sharp claws, monstrous maws, all chittering and wailing with hunger and rage. Azure's whole world closed off, no light shone through to him, Azure's entire world was the monstrous remnants of his people, his Vanguard, on all sides his failure to protect them descended. All sides except one. A solitary path, a lone unmolested lane to the one who orchestrated it all stood across the circle along the ground to the red tressed man at its center, the object of Azure's hatred, Azure's rage, Azure's vengeance. Kamui was about to take the last of him, the last bit of pride he had left, and then he was going to use it to bring devastation to everything Azure had ever held dear. He should have known better than to make Kamui put up with Hayden.

Kamui's expression slowly shifted from one of sadistic and deviant glee, giddy at his marks suffering, his pain, his agony, every delightfully painful emotion, to one of slow dawning realization that Kamui was now in trouble, that his life was now on the line and at risk. Azure dashed down the small avenue blowing by the encroaching zombie horde as the Iramasha stumbled and bumbled through the crowd, his singular goal in front of him. Two more steps, one more step, each foot crashing upon the cold metal ground as Azure's fist soared through the air, his last ditch effort to bring down the monster before him, the one who crushed everything he had held dear. The fist landed, the sickening sound of bone and sinew crunching and breaking under the weight of his blow as an unearthly howl left Kamui's lips, pain and agony that would only be exceeded by Azure's own as the fist tore through Kamui's ribcage and shot right out through his spine. Kamui's screams slowly abated as the life was drained from him and his strength faded, the light in his eyes snuffed out as his green blood slowly trickled down Azure's remaining arm...

"I told you, I would take it."

The sickle blade erupted through Azure's chest, piercing clear through his heart and jutting out proudly in to the air, prostrating itself to the galaxy above as the form Azure had punctured slowly shifted, Kamui's features fading away to be replaced by one of the zombies, the decayed face drooping down its skull as Azure's blood dripped off the sickle's blade. Kamui stood behind him, having used a replacement seal with one of his many little pawns, completely untouched. The now deceased creature would slump off Azure's arm as the sickle raised his now increasingly lifeless body in to the air, Kamui letting the weapon float above his circle as he slowly paced around the edge of it, the rest of the monsters excitedly circling around the seal Kamui had placed on the ground.

"Thank you, Azure, do you know how long it would have taken to drag you to the middle of the seal after I killed you? Thirty, maybe forty seconds? No one has the time for that. Now see, the seal you're currently on is a special one. It's like one of my normal explosive seals, you've seen those, but this one is specially attuned to be used with sonic vibrations. I practiced a bit with the Oscillating Air Mine but that doesn't have nearly the power behind it that I need. I needed a stronger source of sonic energy to make this work, thank you for your contribution."

As that word left his lips, whatever was left of Azure's consciousness would feel itself being tugged as if by the navel. The chain at the end of the sickle began to grow a sickly green as Kamui began to rip Azure's soul from his body. The green light trailed down the length of the chain before resting inside the lantern, causing it to glow a vibrant green that illuminated the mass of monsters swarming around the circle. As Azure's soul continued to be drained from his body, Kamui spoke again, mostly at Azure and for himself, but speak he did all the same.

"As someone who used sonic vibrations to fight with, you must really appreciate how difficult it is to really attain resonance over a mass this size. I mean I spent months, literally months, just on that one equation trying to find just the right potency and frequency I would need to completely destroy this base and this hunk of rock, you know, really make a statement. Of course, they won't actually KNOW it's me. They'll think you did it in some desperate attempt to even up against the invading Shadowfall, kind of like that hilarious effort there, or they'll think Shadowfall did it. Then apart from that, when the moon shatters and the debris falls down to Earth, spreading my lovely little creations here, they'll think they're some Shadowfall weapon, or, even better when they notice the Vanguard uniforms, they'll think you were experimenting on your own troops. Oh it's just so beautiful in its execution isn't it, Azure?"

As the last of the green light began to seep from Azure's being and in to the lantern, Kamui spoke once more, the maniacal fervor fading from his voice and slowly, steadily, showing something beneath those masks, a new mask of relative sincerity, one of almost penance. The green light faded, Azure's soul finished relieving itself of his body, now leaving him as a literal husk, Kamui spoke once more, an almost somber tone.

"I did respect you, Azure. The goal was admirable, it's one I share for my people...unfortunately for my world to return, yours needs to die. I'll put you to good use."

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With that Kamui's hands slammed down on the large seal as a brilliant light emanated off the ground. As soon as the light died, the first explosion hit. Booming throughout the entirety of the base and the very moon itself. That was when the very ground itself shifted as the sound, the power stolen from Azure and measured to the absolute frequency necessary, steadily began to break apart the moon. The seals he had placed across the rest of the celestial body bounced the waves back, rebounding them in on themselves and further tearing apart and destroying Earth's Satellite. As the second rebounded boom came back to him, Kamui pulled the sickle out of Azure's body, recoiling it to his side for a moment and as Azure's body fell from his suspension, the sickle lashed out once more, effortlessly cleaving through his withered neck and relieving the once great Azure of his head. The beheaded corpse would fall in to a heap on the ground as the head flew off until Kamui caught it neatly, conjuring a knapsack and placing the tortured cranium inside the appropriate carrying case. Kamui was thorough, he was not going to let any bit of the body go that could serve a purpose. As the third boom coursed through the moon and the facility itself was literally torn in half from the force, Kamui and Azure's head would disappear in to thin air, his plan completed and his monsters prepared to rain down upon the planet.