The Primordial Weapon

[Albert Wesker]

Things had definitely gone to hell, in the proverbial sense. And from what relatively little he had seen, if the course of things didn't change, just might end up going that direction literally, too.

The idea of fighting a "building-size" monster hadn't really been much to go on, but it was enough to give a general sense of scale, if nothing else. But the reality of it, upon actually seeing the beast was another matter entirely. Something akin to the size of the legendary pirate Whitebeard, or perhaps the Pacifista or Gecko Moriah...that was approximately what he had expected. Still huge, compared to a normal man, but not so...gargantuan as the beast that they were now facing off against. It would have dwarfed even the huge figures he had expected, just as they dwarfed a normal man. The sight of it, its sheer size, and the power that was suggested by its simple bulk, let alone whatever supernatural forces were at work within or around it, and at its ferocity as it responded to the injuries laid upon it... Every second was a struggle not to bolt and flee as far away as quickly as possible. It would have been the smart thing to do, against something so terrible.

But smart wasn't always right.

Running away would have meant abandoning the other people who had signed on to end this monstrosity's terrorizing of the area. And while he might have been able to live with himself over that, somehow or other, it still didn't make it right. And as angry as they had already made the beast, if it should win the day against the gathered hunters, there was no telling how terrible the rampage afterward would be. His personal honor, special brand of justice, and rational thoughts clashed for what seemed like far longer than the few short moments it took, until he was caught mid-leap by an explosion. So focused on keeping track of the goings-on of the situation, and looking for an opening to do some damage or other, or keep the Tarrasque distracted, he had been completely unprepared for the blast.

He had readied a lance of ice, the air around the weapon shimmering with the strong infusion of Haki it bore, and leaped up, intending to hurl the weapon straight into the beast's maw. He was completely caught unawares, only given the barest warning by a flash of fire before he was engulfed in it as well. If it could be called luck, he was lucky enough to not be caught directly in the blast, and was knocked clear of the worst of it, as much by the concussive force of the blast itself as the ensuing roar of pain and fury of the Tarrasque.

The ice man collided with a mostly-whole chunk of still-standing building, and went clean through it, landing amid a pile of rubble and dust. The roof shifted worryingly, as if it were about to come down on top of him as well. Thankfully only a chunk or two dislodged and thunked down, leaving him safe from further harm or annoyance. But he was already plenty injured and in more than enough pain. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, half-crawling, half-staggering back out of the structure, his head spinning from the dizzying impact, and his entire side ablaze with intense pain and scorched injuries. He briefly acknowledged it was a wonder he could move at all, and chalked it up to some miraculous combination of dumb luck, years of training and experience in ignoring and fighting through injury, and not taking the blast full-on to begin with.

He shook his head, trying to ignore the pain altogether, and leaped up onto the building he had just come out of, landing more heavily than intended in a crouch. He mused briefly that he just might end up with matching burn scars on both side of his body, now, as he surveyed the situation before him. While he couldn't say the 'battle' was going well, as far as he could tell no one was seriously injured yet, and they were at least inflicting damage on the hellish war machine they were pitted against. The regenerative ability of the beast was impressive and frightening, even given it was supposedly being slowed and impaired by the apparently "holy" explosives being used against it. Regenerative abilities on such a scale, outside of a Logia user being blown apart while in their intangible elemental state were entirely outside of his knowledge and experience, and anything to do with supposedly holy, blessed objects were likewise entirely foreign.

The idea of a monstrosity like the Tarrasque, and the magma spilling from its wounds, however...he understood that well enough. It was far and above his expectations, and what he had in mind to compare it against for strategy, but he was familiar with fighting such impossibilities. It didn't mean he was any less scared, or debilitated effectively right off the bat, but...he would just have to do whatever he could.

He somehow didn't imagine his particular abilities being of terrible use in directly damaging the beast, but he had other ideas to be of use.

He took a swift step forward, lowering into a crouch, and blurred forward in a dash with as much speed as he could. He darted through the air, hit the ground running, and a second later, made another leap, blurring with the speed, and slid to a halt at the edge of the that Alain had just been helped out of by Aang. He crouched down on one knee by the edge, peering down to see just how far Aang was in the darkness. It would be easy to grab him and leap back out again, with his current height in the pit...but there was nothing to get a foothold on to get a good leap back out again.

But he could make one...

"Aang! Get a good grip; things might get a little shaky in a second."

"They already are!" The young Avatar's grip faltered for a moment, and a cringe told Kuzan he had probably been injured in some way. The continuously falling rocks, most of them small and mere flakes and chunks from the walls of the split in the earth, had probably been to blame, if he were to hazard a guess.

"Things might get worse for just a second."

That was all the ice man had to say, as he clenched one hand into a fist, lowering it to the ground beside him, knuckles touching the rugged earth. After several seconds, he opened his hand wide, turned it sideways, and swept it toward him. From the wall opposite Aang, the rock cracked and split as a large spire of ice, flat and angular, burst from it, spearing into the wall opposite. It narrowed sharply as it went to the point now buried in the wall under the Avatar, and at the further shaking and cracking of the wall, more chunks of earth and rock fell in a rain, and among their number was Kuzan. "No time to climb out the hard way..."

He landed heavily on the chunk of ice bridging the pit in the earth. The distance was going to make it tricky with Aang's extra weight, but...he should be able to manage it. "Let go, Aang. Time to get back to the surface and rejoin the fight." The young Avatar simply stared at the poofy-haired man for a long second, as if trying to debate if he was crazy. A particularly large chunk of dislodged earth, nearly the size of his head, falling mere inches from colliding with one of his hands, clattering on into the darkness below seemed to make up his mind for him, and he loosened his grip, dropping the couple feet to the icy surface below.

Rather uncerimoniously, Kuzan grabbed the young Avatar around the waist, as a crack appeared in the ice -- the trembling of the earth from the Tarrasque's fury above, and the growing heat from the hellish 'blood' the beast spilled, and Kuzan's lack of complete focus thanks to injuries had left it unstable. He knelt down, flexing at the knees, and jumped. He sailed upward, easily reaching the edge of the tear in the earth, and grabbed hold of it. He hadn't quite had the height to clear it, but he swung his body around like a pendulum and tossed Aang roughly up over the lip of the chasm. He was only shortly behind, kicking off the side of the pit and landing roughly on its other side.

"Things never do end up going as smoothly as planned..." he grumbled, mostly to himself, as he rose up to return to the battle. He was beginning to wish he had minded his own business back in Camelot, and never came investigating this poor business...