"And just like that, the Hell's Angel baron is down it would seem." Spider says as he looks at Spe-7 and Suzuka. "Your friend works very quickly."
"It would seem..." Suzuka replies. "The last thing I saw was Taiki chasing down Yaviks."
"And then I hear that she's been brought down by Taiki himself. Either he had some dumb luck or he was just that thirsty for revenge." Spider mumbles. "That girl's so fast that you could blink and she'd be gone."
"Who do you think he'll go after next?" Spe-7 asks.
"Beats me really. Any baron that dares show themselves in some sort of way is going to leave themselves open to an attack." Spider replies. "But since you guys saw Vahn out a few days ago, I have a feeling he'll be next."
"Do you have any idea where he would be hiding?" Suzuka asks. "I just want to make sure that Taiki is at least in one piece when he's all done with this."
"Oh that I honestly have no clue." Spider replies. "You'd just have to follow him from a distance." Spider replies. "You two have been doing a really good job of cleaning up the shore for me so I don't mind if you keep an eye out for your boyfriend." Suzuka does a double take and then begins sputtering.
"Wh-wh-what?! Boyfriend?! What do you mean?!" Suzuka asks. "What could you possibly mean?!" Suddenly, explosions can be heard and the pained cry of the Hangman can be heard.
"Sounds like he's already going after him. You best not waste time." Spider replies as Suzuka and Spe-7 rush off to keep an eye out. As soon as they leave Spider's lair it's clear that Taiki has drastically changed himself in his path for vengeance. He's kept his hand cannon and sword but instead of his combat bow he's taken a more destructive approach by using a grenade launcher instead and most noticeably he's using solar energy- the same kind of energy that Cayde-6 was using his whole life. He's already unleashed all of his solar energy at once, carrying a gigantic maul that would make John Henry jealous and spinning the weapon around like a tornado, incinerating any unfortunate scorn nearby him before slamming it into the ground, creating a fiery shockwave that burns the stragglers to a crisp. Once Vahn realizes just how furious the exo is he quickly retreats further in.
"GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" Taiki screams as his solar energy dissipates and he charges off to where Vahn may have hid out.
"Do we follow him?" Spe-7 asks.
"I don't know... But it looks like he's rushing inside that well." Suzuka replies. "Just like Spider said we'll have to keep our distance so he doesn't become suspicious."
"Let's head inside anyway, he could be farther in than we thought." Spe-7 says as the two slowly sneak inside. There they see that Taiki has already cleared out the entire room, leaving behind a large pile of scorn body parts that tell of him using his sword. "My gosh..."
"I don't think I've seen THIS side of him before!" Suzuka replies. "He could be further in, let's follow the trail of bodies."
"WHERE ARE YOU?! WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT SO I CAN KILL YOU?!" Taiki's voice echoes out, and the two quickly try to follow the source of his voice. The trail of bodies that Taiki leaves behind in his wake slowly dips off, but they quickly duck into cover when they see that Taiki is very close by, grenade launcher at the ready and aimed at wherever Vahn might be.
"He's become so... Bloodthirsty..." Spe-7 says in her head. "Is this even the same Taiki that we know and love?"
"I've killed all of his troops, there's no way he can just hide out like that." Taiki mumbles as he starts blasting various areas in the room before him with his grenade launcher to see if he can draw out Vahn, and after a decent number of grenades have been shot The Hangman himself does emerge- with a squadron of scorn snipers backing him up. "There you are! I knew you couldn't hide forever!"
"KILL THEM ALL!" Vahn screams as he swings his censer and slams it on the ground, creating the same fiery shockwave that Taiki did with his war hammer.
"Oh you wanna play that way huh?!" Taiki shouts as he charges up his solar energy. "FINE BY ME! YOU'RE GONNA BE NOTHING BUT A PILE OF ASH WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!" And with a terrifying battle cry he summons his gigantic maul, making the scorn snipers reel back in fear- even Vahn himself takes a step back to realize just how intent the exo is on murdering him. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL!"
"Holy-" Spe-7 cuts herself off as Taiki charges at Vahn and leaps high into the air before coming down, bringing the hammer down on The Hangman's head, stunning the baron for a few seconds- but those few seconds are more than enough for Taiki to start wildly wailing away at him. Vahn goes flying and he nearly loses his censer in the process but he recovers just in time to go for another slam. This slam barely fazes Taiki, who hits the censer directly with his maul. Vahn desperately attempts to hang onto his weapon but the censer flails around and hits him in the head, stunning him again, and Taiki's solar energy piffs out.
"Okay, looks like you're lucky. I won't burn you to death." Taiki growls. "I'll just cut you into ribbons! There won't be a body for your friends to find when I'm done!" And with that he brings out his sword and begins wildly hacking away at Vahn. One last strike decapitates The Hangman and the scorn snipers flee, not wanting to become Taiki's next target. Ghost can only look in horror at what his guardian is capable of when fully driven- he doesn't even say a word as he dematerializes and Taiki storms off, in search of the next baron, and Spe-7 and Suzuka remain just as silent.
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Destiny 2: A Lost Soul
FanfictionTaiki and the equine guardians may have survived the Red War and defeated Ghaul, but as time goes on so does the rest of the world. With the darkness advancing on the traveler's location since it woke up, and with new people in the fray that aren't...
