Hammerdown and Black Mist

I put my hands behind my head.

"Long time no see aha." I chuckle.

"Indeed." Klein continues to sit at his desk, unmoving.

He looks over at Emerald.

"I see you're still here." He says to her.

Emerald doesn't say anything. I speak up.

"So I assume you know why we came?" I ask.

"I have a pretty good idea. I thought you'd come earlier if I'm being honest. He replies.

"Well, sorry to keep you waiting." I say.

He continues to stay seated in his chair. He seems to be watching us intently, observing every little movement.

"...I've heard of your efforts in the battle yesterday. You did quite the number on my troops. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Saffire went would you?" He glares at us.

"Never heard of her." I respond.

"Haha, I see, I see. Always the funny child. Now, let's say we finish up with this idle chit-chat yes? I have some important paperwork I was filling out and I'd like to get back to it as soon as possible." Klein smiles.

I nudge Emerald to get ready and she takes a battle stance. I draw my blade.

"My thoughts exactly." I say.

"Perfect. Now..." He takes a deep breath.

With one swift movement, he stands up, flinging his desk across the room directly at me and Emerald.

"Now!"

Emerald dashes to the left and I slice the desk in half.

"You'll both be dead in minutes." His hammer flies out of a closet behind me into Klein's hand, narrowly missing me.

Emerald lunges down at him, left leg out to land a kick on him. Klein grabs her by the ankle and throws her into me, followed by his hammer. I just barely push her off of me, saving us both from the hammer strike. He rushes in, picking his hammer back up and swinging multiple times in succession.

I duck and sidestep, before landing a few punches and kicks of my own, but Klein's too bulky, so it doesn't do much. He swings his hammer upwards, hitting me and sending me into the wall. 

"Urk!" That hurt.

Emerald bounces off the wall, before charging up a green arrow and hitting him in the shoulder. That appears to have staggered him a bit.

"Link!" She calls out.

"On it!" 

I launch a stab at him, surrounding the vicinity in blue flames.

"Gah!" He grabs me by the throat.

"I told you, you'd be dead in minutes." He looks at the clock on the wall. "And would you look at that, it seems your time is up."

Emerald jumps closer to save me, but Klein controls his hammer to swing around off the ground, soaring into her and knocking her into a shelf.

"Emerald!-"

He slams me by the throat into the ground, tightening his grip.

"Your father will understand. Don't worry, dying here will allow you to atone for what you've done."

I can't breath. I grab onto his wrist, trying to pry his hand off but I can't. I even surround my body in flames but his armour leaves him unfazed.

"G..Ge...t.....off!" I try to kick him up but nothing works.

I look over at Emerald, who is laying in the debris of the shelf she flew into.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I dragged you into this.

I'm...sorry.

*BOOM*

Klein quickly looks up. His grip loosens slightly which is all I need to slip out and rush over to Emerald. She slowly opens her eyes and we both stare at the noise.

There's a massive hole that was blown in the wall of Klein's office, I see a helicopter flying outside, piloted by a familiar face.

"H-Hardy!" I call out to him.

"A certain someone felt like she owed you some help!" He calls back to me.

The side door to the helicopter opens, and standing there, is a girl, her light purple hair flowing in the wind.

Klein grimaces. "Saffire."

He picks up his hammer and hurls it at the helicopter, but Saffire manages to catch with her giant fists and she jumps through the hole in the wall into the office.

Klein retracts the hammer back into his own hands.

Saffire flashes a smile.

"Hey everyone! Sorry I'm late haha..." She rubs the back of her neck.

Seems old Saffire is back.

"Link's betrayal was disappointing but you? I suppose to put too much faith in you." Klein says before swinging at her, but she holds back the force with her arcana, sliding back a bit.

I finally stand up and run back in, actually managing to land a few slashes on him while he's occupied with Saffire. Emerald shoots multiple quick shots then one big green one, making him stumble a bit.

"Everyone! Back up!" Saffire calls out.

Me and Emerald both hop back a bit, then Saffire jumps up, vertically flipping over and boosting herself downwards using the roof. She grabs on to Klein's chest and proceeds to blast him through the floor, multiple layers down to the first floor.

Me and Emerald stare down the giant hole Saffire made. Both Klein, and Saffire are out of sight now.

"Holy shit..." I say.

"Cmon." Emerald jumps down.

"W-Wha- Wait up!" I jump down too and follow.

I end up in the main entrance hall, and I see Saffire and Klein trading blows in front of a statue of Klein. Saffire is mostly taking the defensive as Klein attacks her with a flurry of hammer strikes, but she gets the occasional punch on him, which usually damages him enough to slow him down.

I take my chance to jump on his back, lighting my sword on fire and stabbing him through the shoulder.

"Fuck!" He swings me forward, crashing into Saffire.

I drop my sword and the fire from my sword begins to spread, lighting the carpet on fire. Emerald shoots an energy arrow through the back of Klein's knee, causing him to kneel a little more.

"W-What is happening!?!" He yells.

The fire continues to spread throughout the castle.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Klein controls his hammer once, making it fly in a circular motion in an attempt to hit us all.

"I-I...CAN'T. DIE!!!" He charges me, but I flip over him, slashing his back.

He turns around.

"Y-You worthless pieces of trash!!!" He throws the hammer again, missing.

"Look like someone's getting desperate. What was that about being dead in minutes?" I mock him, slowly making my way towards him.

"Shut up!!! You're nothing but traitors!!! And that filthy demi-human too!!! Bottom feeding pieces of shit!!!" He screams.

Saffire approaches him too, as Emerald stays perched up on a stair post. The fire is getting bad. Saffire speaks up.

"You're way too arrogant general. Sorry, but I'm not sure what you expected. The world isn't your playground. Peoples lives have weight. You can't throw away your soldiers like nothing and think it won't come back to bite you." She says.

"Yes I can!!!! What gave you the right to speak to me traitor?!?!?" He's losing it.

"Tell me what you know about Kamikaze. Maybe prolong your life a little longer." I demand.

Klein scoffs.

"Why would I-" His eyes go wide.

Emerald tilts her head.

"What's up with him?" She asks.

"I've never seen him like this." Saffire says.

Klein chuckles.

"Ah... I see... I should've know this would happen. Of course he would-" Suddenly, Klein disintegrates into a cloud of pitch black mist.

"W-What just happened?!" My eyes widen.

Saffire's face turns pale and Emerald tilts her head.

"Some kinda suicide?" Emerald suggests.

"N-No way... Even if Klein was backed into a corner he wouldn't kill himself. I don't even know what kind of power that is..." Saffire is in shock.

What the hell? I know we came here planning to kill Klein but I wanted to at least get some answers out of him before he died... What could've happened? He seemed surprised at first too, almost like that was some sort of punishment for losing...

"Uh, we can think  outside. This castle is crumbling. We gotta go." Emerald says as she hops off the stairs and starts running out the main gate.

"Right!" I follow a and turn to Saffire. "Come on!"

This breaks her out of her trance and she follows after us, as the castle begins crumbling to the ground.

"pant, pant, pant." We almost got crushed.

The three of us flop onto the grass for some much needed rest after such a big fight. I hear the sound of a helicopter landing near us. Must be Hardy.

Hardy jumps out of the helicopter and helps Saffire up.

"Nice work you guys. I didn't actually think you'd be able to take down General Klein by yourselves but, you proved me wrong." He commends us.

"Piece of cake..." I force out, still lying on the grass.

Emerald stands up and talks to Hardy.

"So, where's Kamikaze?" She asks him.

"Woah there, maybe take it slow for now. You deserve a break from all the action." He holds out his hands.

I stand up next.

"Oh, right. Something weird happened after we beat him. He didn't die from us. He disintegrated or something. Do you know what that means?" I ask.

"Disintegrated? You sure you didn't do that with your arcana?" He looks confused.

"Na, my arcana doesn't do that. Not to that extent at least." I respond.

"Never heard of something like that happening... I'll look into it for you." He says.

"Thanks." I look off into the distance.

"So, what are all of your plans after this?" He asks.

I look at Emerald, then back to Hardy.

"Well, we still gotta take out Kamikaze... But also, I wanna find the cause of Klein's death." I tell him.

Emerald nods in agreement and Saffire looks down.

"I think I might head down to the rebellion base next... I work better in armies." She says.

"Thanks for helping us Saffire. We'd be dead if not for you. You too Hardy."

They both smile.

"No problem!" They both say at the same time.

I pat Emerald on the back.

"You ready to head out Em?" I ask her.

"...Em?" She asks in annoyance.

"Well like your brother calls you big sis Emmy. You're Em now!" I smile at her.

"...Let's just go." She hides her face from me.

We both begin walking off, and I wave goodbye to Saffire and Hardy.

"I'll see you two around alright?!" I call out.

"I'll hold you to that!" Saffire waves back.

"Don't get yourselves killed on me now!" Hardy yells.

I turn my back and together, me and Emerald leave the hill. In search for General Kamikaze, and in search for the thing that killed General Klein. I know the battles are far from over, but I also know there are still many things to find and discover, and people to meet. So, as we walk down the hill, sunset in the distance, I can't help but think. This will be quite the entertaining ride.

Klein Arc: Complete