Golden Gate Empire [IC / No Longer Accepting / PG - 16]

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 17, 2015

The so called king was getting his bony ass handed to him and Morgan couldn’t be any happier. The madness from before had made way for joy as her magical bombardment seemed to have an effect.
Though it was infuriating that the castle was starting to fall about and seemed...angry at them. “How am I supposed to fix this place up if it just keeps getting worse? Ugh, so inconsiderate.” Morgan grumbled.

It seemed things were reaching their peak. A climax was near, she could just feel it. She braced herself for whatever was to come and then....Pol vanished. And everything went quiet. This was no time to relax, just the opposite. Morgan prepared for the inevitable reappearance of Pol.
She would have to go all out, no fooling around. She began to cast her spell to summon her maximum of five flaming skulls at once when the whistling sounded and Pol came back.

His attack was more powerful than any before and Morgan could feel the rage that was behind it. She reached out magically towards the roots resting around her, and they covered her body in a natural shield. The impact was powerful and she could feel it from within her cocoon. The roots shattered from the blow, but Morgan was able to avoid the brunt of the attack.

“You know what you are?” She said, panting slightly. “A relic, a crumbling old artifact like your home. No finesse, no skill, just brute magical force. You old folks really need to know when your time is up. Guess it’s up to people like me to put you down for good.” Her skulls had formed by this point and she directed them to encircle Pol. “Time for retirement, gramps.” The flaming skulls crashed into the king from all sides.

Dad · August 18, 2015

The Skies Above the World

Everything was clear. There was nothing he could not see, and there was nothing he could not detect. And yet still, for the first time since the extinction of the dinosaurs, he was surprised. He could smell it, hidden by time, and tainted by sin. But how? How had something that had been so dreadful--and long disposed!--how could it have slipped by him? And there was more than one. There were dozens, probably hundreds of them! His brow curled in disgust, and his lips frowned. The skies thundered at his command, providing immovable coverage. Below, there were two beings that drew nearer to the vermin in question. And more puzzling still, one of the two was related. By his golden view, the ones he sought were far below, possibly under ground. A rocky surface slightly skewed their position in his eyes, but they were clear nonetheless. The clouds parted, further clearing the way for him to find his targets. The ones that belonged to Gerald, that is who these two presences were. And once he was sure of this, the earth below him began to crack.

The smaller one was the relative. And the other--a second species he thought to be extinct. They drew upon a strange place, that was not known to him. Perhaps, this is where the dragons had hidden from him for all these years? There was a magical veil over this cavern. Surely, someone had protected them. The cavern roof now destroyed by his hand, Ilgad dove, falling towards the earth as a powerful beam of golden light, and crashing before Elspire and Saul, standing in the wake of the Crystal Dragon egg.

His arrival rocked the cavern, disturbing the natural presences and causing the Crystal inhabitants to flee. The Siren Song pool--having been electrified by Elspire--shriveled of life as several hidden sirens rose to the surface. And Ilgad, with a touch of his finger, turned the pool dry, causing it to boil and shrivel, showing its shallow bottom. The egg above him rocked, as if prepared to hatch, causing Ilgad to look up in disgust. He turned his back to the egg, as a warm yellow-orange glow surrounded him. His white, angelic wings folded on his back, sheathing themselves behind a blue-black armor that radiated with power. And Ilgad, with patience and curiosity, asked slowly, "What do you think you're doing?"

Maeriberii Haan · August 19, 2015

“He’s leaving us with little choice…” Nero mumbled in annoyance as he noticed the hovering steel balls around him and Camille. It was, more likely than not, employed by Gerald just so the round could be finished without spending much longer. His legs were still hurting from the giant moth’s poison, which would probably restrict his movement a bit. Other than that, he’s still really fresh and ready for combat once it was necessary to do so.

However, it’s not the issue right now. Nero stared at the boy in front of him, still looking up towards the sky in frustration of the situation they were in. From the start, Nero was not really looking forward for the prospect of fighting Camille, mainly for his own sentimental reasoning. Wouldn’t be the first time he felt something like that to a human. It’s not like he’s actually fighting for something really important after all. Even if he failed to start the event without the funding from the prize, Nero viewed it as nothing more than a mild inconvenience at worst; he could just amass funding in another way, waiting another thousands of years if he needed to. He knew that he could just throw off the match so Camille could win and survive. It’s not like he’d lose anything if he did so.

“Nah, that’s just stupid.”

Of course, to do that would be the complete opposite of what he wished. Right here, he was fighting so he could see the true spirit of mankind, the kind of spirit that ended up captivating him, amusing him to such extent that he abandoned his identity as a demon so he could meddle in their lives. Such kind of indomitability for a kind that would’ve been viewed as inferior in every aspect to demons, titans, magi, and other races otherwise. As much of a mayfly mankind was to Nero’s eyes, it was their short time in this world that allowed them to do a lot of amazing things in such a short time.

He had seen some of mankind’s best moments with his own eyes, and some of their worst ones too. They were capable of becoming holier and as sacred as angels, or even more despicable than demons. Such was the extent of the entire race’s possibility. When Nero thought that humans wouldn’t be able to top something that they did before, they surprised him again and again with their feats. They persevere in the face of disasters, and they become stronger from it. It could be said that for them as a whole, impossibility was nothing more than a word.

That was why he loved the entire race as much as he did. He looked forward for the time when the race escape from the cradle of mother earth, and soar into the space, reaching the edges of the cosmos. He knew that they’re capable of doing so with their collective spirit.

And that spirit…that was the reason he entered this tournament in the first place. He wanted to erase his doubts of mankind’s capability, and see how much their spirit would carry them. While so far his opponents didn’t give him a satisfying conclusion, it didn’t bum him much. If he didn’t get the closing he needed from this tournament, then he could just start the event from the funding he got. As mankind’s spirit was the strongest in the face of disasters, then to see it again with his own eyes, he’d just have to start one on his own.

But that was for later. Right now, yet another human stood in his way. As much as he liked him, there’s no way Nero would let him get a free win. Then again, this time he was sure that Camille would definitely show him the spirit he longed to see, one that the previous humans he faced failed to show him. The same kind of spirit that the mother leopard showed when she sacrificed himself to protect the boy. It would definitely be really regretful if her sacrifice was for nothing.

“Is it anyone’s right to play with the lives of others? It never is.

Is there any way to justify the horrible things that happened here today? There’s nothing to justify here. Death is just that, death. Nothing more, nothing less, no matter what the reasoning is. It’s the end of the line, and that’s pretty much it. Trying to justify that in any way would not change that fact that what had died will still be dead.

Is it worth it? It’s something you should ask to yourself when all of this is over. By entering this tournament in the first place, you should have been aware of what it entailed. People will die. Horrible deeds will be done. You would have to choose who was worth it and what was not. You would mess with other’s lives. And there’s nothing you can do about that, since it’s your choice that you are right here in the first place, standing before me.

Indeed, everyone that is inside of this tournament is selfish in their own way. No matter how noble their goal might seem to be, in the end it’s only for their own self-satisfaction, one way or another. Such is the nature of this, and once again, no matter how you justify it, by entering the tournament, people will die for your goal to get the prize.

Will that be a satisfactory answer for your frustrated rhetoric? I doubt so, as you were not asking for my opinion in regards to this. But it is not important.

In this forest, we are supposed to fight each other for the sake of worldwide entertainment, like gladiators, for the sake of a barely consequential amount of money offered as the prize. Is the entire thought of that frustrating? I have to say yes. The mere concept itself is sickening. But right now we are already here, so we have signed our agreement to enter this cesspool of terrible deeds. At this point, getting too worked up on it would only get you killed.

If you really hate this situation so much, then maybe you can try bringing the entire thing down? I wouldn’t care too much about what happened to this tournament, but entertaining the idea of simply stopping the entire madness is something nice to do.

However, that is for later. There’s something that we still need to finish first.”

Nero pointed his sword towards Camille as it started to be engulfed in flames. It was a declaration of his challenge towards the boy. He might have talked way too much, but he enjoyed every single part of his narrative, and he believed that it would have impact on the boy…if he survived that is. Goading people to one’s desired path is what demons like him do, and old habits die hard. Nero knew that the boy would have the strength to fight back, and maybe even triumph, but what was still uncertain was how strong his spirit was to accomplish that.

And now, he decided to find out more about it.

“Whatever you wanted to do next, whatever you wanted to do with the prize or the tournament itself, there is one opponent that you still need to fight before that. I am referring to myself, of course.

Camille, I challenge you to fight right here, right now! And…I’m sorry to say this, but even if you do not wish to continue fighting…I’ll force you to fight!

Kill me…or I shall kill you!”

VCR_CAT · August 21, 2015

Dirk Rider: Sahill Cathedral - B8

The King disappeared, causing Dirk to stand still with his two blades in hand. His Neon Burst was running out; he needed to get this stupid thing killed now before it was too late. Just then, the high-pitched whine of a whistle began to fill the room. Gripping the purple and golden blades tightly, Dirk prepared himself for whatever appeared. The Mad King appeared; swinging his large mace in a wide arc at both Dirk and Morgan. Vaulting himself backwards; Dirk just narrowly dodged the large mace thanks to his Neon Burst, while Morgan began to fling flaming skulls at the king. Smashing both swords together, Dirk combined the light-weapons to form a single, pearly-white mace. Not as big as the King's, but it was still big enough for one to think that Dirk was over-compensating for something (he wasn't).

"Look pal, I would say 'Light's out', but that wouldn't be very accurate, now would it," Dirk said with a smirk as he leaped after the flaming skulls, bringing down a large overhead-smash with his Light-Mace. "So instead, hello to my little friend!"

Saul: Cavern of Sirens

Saul stood; watching in silence as the dragons conversed with each other; his sword by his side. The sirens soon began to rise up, but Elspire was the one to decide how to take care of them. This whole situation was suspicious; Gerald wasn't one to let something like the apparent extinction of the Dragons go past him, and if the battle was in a location like this, then there was some sort of ulterior motive. Either Gerald wanted the dragons dead, save for the one that Saul was to fight, so that he would have the only one in his collection of trophies alongside the only Titan; or there was something else he wanted out of this.

Then, suddenly, Saul wasn't sure if his question had been answered or not. Bursting from the stone descended what appeared to be an angel; bright and majestic. But Saul was not lulled into a false sense of security by appearances. None of the descriptions of the location described angelic deities; and this only made matters even more suspicious. Saul and Elspire were either in grave danger, or were rescued. Knowing how Gerald worked; probably the former.

Drawing his sword and planting its head in the stone, Saul took to one knee before the angel; yet his respect was but a show. To the answer of what they were doing, Saul figured it was Elspire's question to answer; as Elspire was the one there for the dragons.

Saul was here to defeat his opponent, and advance to the end so that he may kill Gerald.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 21, 2015

Camille felt drained after his frustrated and angry words. There was a part of him that felt like giving in and giving up, was there really any reason to keep trying when the outcome is so grim?
The metal balls that swarmed into the arena after his outburst seemed to confirm his feeling. Was this his answer? Did it truly not matter what they did?

He listened to Nero with an impassive expression, but only for the first lines. His attention grew as Nero continued to speak, talking about how they had no choice in this matter. That they had to fight. And how he should have realized from the start what kind of event this was.

He let out a deep breath as Nero’s speech came to a close. Cam stared at the tip of the flaming sword in front of him. He felt...relaxed. He had gotten that frustration out, the hard part was over. Now all that was left was to finish what he started. He wouldn’t just give in, no, he couldn’t.
"You're right. Nothing I can say changes what is happening. Those who have died, and who are fated to die, cannot be saved by words. I came into this with the idea that I could win my freedom without anyone coming to serious harm. Now I realize I was being foolish. However I can't throw this chance away and waste those lives lost up until now. And that's why I won't stop here. I'll win this, and I'll do it on MY terms. Nero, I accept your challenge!"

Without any more hesitation Cam lunged forward, ducking underneath the deadly sword before him. From his crouched position he thrust his palm upwards towards Nero’s chest and activated his Force Palm, sending a concussive blast at his opponent.

Maeriberii Haan · August 22, 2015

"And that's why I won't stop here. I'll win this, and I'll do it on MY terms. Nero, I accept your challenge!"

"Then show how much you wanted to win this! Show it! Show it to me, how much do you want to triumph over me!"

Nero lunged ahead as he attempted to kill Camille in one stroke, aiming for his neck with his flaming sword. But Camille ducked at the nick of the time, and followed it with a blast of force aimed at his chest. Nero promptly used his flash step ability to get away from the blast radius. He reappeared a second afterward ten meters back, and realized that he did not manage to dodge the blast completely, as it was clearly indicated on his chest right now. Perhaps the leg injury was more serious than what he once thought.

"I see...well then, this might prove to be actually interesting."

Whispering a chant in the demonic language, Nero summoned several copies of his sword to surround Camille as he prepared several volleys of flowering chains around the small arena they were currently in. He still was not sure what the orbs surrounding them would do, but if they prove to be a problem, then Nero would crush them with his flowers as soon as they showed any signs of hostility. But even then, having chains on the ready would mean that he'd have multitude of ways to attempt to restrict Camille's movement. Even with his flash-step, Nero's leg injuries would mean that he wouldn't be able to dodge as well as normal, and as the injury on his chest showed, he definitely couldn't afford to be reckless in this battle. Camille's a dangerous opponent despite his age, and Nero would not underestimate the kid in any way.

"The curtain has been risen! Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to dance with the blades!" At his command, the six sword copies started their attempt to strike at Camille from different directions, while he himself rushed forward once more, his real sword readied on his hand.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 22, 2015

He could teleport? Camille hadn’t noticed that earlier, too focused on not dying, but it was hard to miss when it was done right in front of him. “So close.” Cam muttered. He had avoided injury but not much else. He had to step up his game.
Game, eh? A small smile grew on the male maid’s face. That’s right, this was a game of sorts wasn’t it? Everything was beginning to fall into place. He had been programmed to be able to focus when in battles but it hadn’t really been able to naturally come to Cam yet. And so he grasped onto the idea of this being just like a VR game. It even had bosses.

Cam, mind now refreshingly clear, observed the swords as they surrounded him. They were copies, obviously, but very much deadly nonetheless. He would have to find a way to dodge while also avoiding being caught unaware.
The flower objects around the arena worried him but at the moment they seemed to be doing nothing. He’d have to end things before they were brought into the fray.

He lowered his left hand and it began to hum slightly as he began charging his Stun Buster. His only chance was the moments of time the blast would give him to land a solid hit on Nero. But first...

The swords moved, all attacking at once. Cam blasted one to the side with his Force Palm, sidestepped a second and gripped the hilt. He spun and used it to block the third sword, knocking it down before dropping the sword in his hand. He had a feeling holding onto something his opponent controlled would be a bad idea.
Three more to go and Cam would move to strike Nero. Two of them came at him from the front, slicing downward in an X formation. Camille rolled under this strike and popped back up immediately. He couldn’t prevent the last from tearing a gash into his back, however.
Cam let out a cry of pain and bit his lip, hard, to stifle the noise. He had to keep going while the momentum was there.

He headed straight for Nero, well aware of the sword in the man’s hand. He paused just as he came into range and swung his leg at the man, aiming for his waist. “Hyyyaaah!" Camille’s goal wasn’t simply to hit the man but to force him to use that teleportation again. The moment he did Camille would launch a partially charged stunning blast at him. It would only give him a couple seconds to strike so he’d have to make it count. That is, if Camille could avoid getting skewered beforehand.

Astolfo · August 23, 2015

Robert Eschalotte

When the girl that was apparently his opponent floated down on wings, albeit much more gracefully than his mad dash had been, Lotte wondered just what kind of tricks that girl still had left up her sleeve. Looking around, the snake seemed to have disappeared, but he couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was wrapping around him. Arching his neck to look all the way up at the skull, Lotte muttered, "I'll eat my pants if that snake somehow flew all the way down here. Last I checked, she didn't have wings."

Meanwhile, the girl had gotten a lot closer than he intended, while he was focused on finding the giant snake that had been trying to eat him earlier. Stumbling backwards slightly as he noticed the energy gathering around her fists, he lifted his hands up in surrender involuntarily by surprise, before immediately lowering them again. At the girl's question, Lotte wondered how the hell she still didn't manage to run into the snake after having been in that weirdass skull for that long.

Something felt off though, and there were barely noticeable, but ever so slight tremors underneath the ground, and coincidentally, from right under the two of them. As it grew increasingly stronger though, Lotte started to realize the possible implications. His gaze snapped to the girl, with obvious fear in his eyes. It was luck that he managed to hit the snake hard enough to escape from her grasp the first time, if it happened again, the both of them would be dead. The logic of what was probably about to happen still dumbfounded Lotte, but there was no time to hesitate.

"DODGE OUT OF THE WAY!"

When Lotte saw the girl's expression turn confused in that moment, he ground his teeth in frustration. Praying she wouldn't attack him, he charged at her in a full tackle, slamming his hands into her chest to knock her away from the incoming explosion. He shoved her out of the way, biting back a shout as the energy from before slammed into his chest, causing him to double over in pain. That was the least of their worries, but thankfully bruises were all the pair had gotten off with.

Not even a moment after Lotte sent the two of them sprawling to the side, the hideous snake-woman from before burst out of the ground at full-speed, like some sort of tentacled, demonic monstrous torpedo. Realizing he had landed on top of the girl in quite an awkward position to say the least, his face began to turn red, but there was no time to dilly dally. The snake creature-thing was right behind them. Lotte muttered under his breath. ”Out of all the things to get cockblocked by...” Grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her up quickly, shouting as he sprinted along, dragging her with him in the complete opposite direction of that creature.

"THAT is what scared me down here! And for your note, I wasn't scared! It was simply a tactical retreat! Also, I can't have you dying right now, because I'm going to be the one to beat you, and not some shitty Medusa ripoff! That’s all there is to it! So you better be thankful!"

Noya scrambled to her feet, shoving Lotte off of her, still slightly bewildered. “What the hell!? Just because we’re enemies, that doesn’t give you a free pass to feel me up! And what Medusa rip off!? What are you--?”

But her questions were answered when Epitome reared her ugly head, cackling as she did so. “Two meals for one? I’ll eat well tonight!” Her eyes turned a putrid green, as the Medusa-like snake lunged at Noya and Robert. Lifting herself off of the ground, Noya was able to avoid the strike. With her psychic powers she gently lifted Robert out of the way, sending Epitome back into the ground.

“Can’t fly, can ya snake lady!?” Noya taunted, still levitating herself and Robert above ground.

But a more violent shaking stirred beneath the ground. Epitome erupted from beneath it, and leaped right into the faces of Robert and Noya again, venom dripping from her teeth.

Noya tried to toss Epitome back with a blast of psychic energy, but was met with a vicious tail slap to the face, knocking her down and breaking her concentration, causing Noya to drop Robert and send them both back down to earth. Epitome followed them closely, her mouth agape and stretching widely as she dived over the duo, in an attempt to swallow them both whole.

Robert shouted as he suddenly plummeted towards the ground again. Looking above him, the snake-woman thing tried to dive over the two of them, and given how wide her mouth was, it was obvious what she was trying to do.

”EAT THIS, JABRONI!”

Lashing out his gauntlet and pointing it straight at her chest, he shouted out. ”DICE! YOUR GAME’S UP, SNAKE-jabroni!” A razor-sharp blade manifested out, rocketing out towards Epitome at incredible speeds. Given how she had been leaping at them, there was no way she’d be able to avoid being impaled. The monster’s eyes expanded as fear filled her irises. Attempting to use her hair and tail to protect herself, she managed to wrap herself in a cocoon - a second too late. The blade sliced through muscle and tendon like wet paper, ripping out of her back. Shrieking like the souls of the damned themselves had come back to haunt her for all those that she ate, she writhed in pain, her reptilian tendrils slithering and twisting in the air.

She wasn’t quite dead yet though. Baring her teeth, dripping with venom, she lunged forward at Lotte, pushing him off balance as her entire weight leaned on him. The boy only smiled though, as he hammered down his second weapon from above.

”CORE!” The massive metallic pincer had her torso and body wrapped up in a vise grasp. The more she struggled, the more he clamped down on it. This weapon could bifurcate even steel, and some demonic reptile whore wasn’t going to be the exception. ”TEAR APART!” Slamming down the two jaws of the pincers together, it sheared through her entire lower torso, crushing the bone away into dust.

The battlerush started to make Lotte heady, but he wanted to show off a little bit. To who? He wasn’t quite sure himself. But one thing was certain. The viewers were going to see this creature go out quite literally, with a bang. ”CORE, UNFOLD!” The pincers retracted back, unfolding almost like a flower of sorts, to reveal a wicked and bulky gun inside. It was immensely heavy and almost impossible to use without his wings normally, but in this freefall, he could use gravity itself. Placing it directly against her head, Lotte grinned, a spatter of blood running down his cheek.

”It’s lights out, jabroni.”

Noya had been watching the last moments of the snake from a distance. The back of her skull and the locks of snakes in her hair became exploding masses of blood and brain matter as Robert unleashed a massive bullet directly into Epitome’s skull. She turned her head, not wanting to see the ending execution in all of its brutality.

After she heard Epitome’s corpse hit the ground, Noya raised her head, turning to Robert. “Well. That kill was pretty gross. Was all of that necessary?”

Landing down on the ground beside her, his Seiku manifestation bringing him to a gentle stop, Lotte glanced at her from his peripheral vision. ”She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. I might as well have fun while I’m at it, kekeke~” Looking straight at her, he took several steps. He was pretty short, but she was too, so he could attempt to at least try and have a looming aura. With a half-mad grin on his face, he stared straight into her eyes.

”Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, you’re still my opponent, y’know. But let’s be honest, I’m tired as funk, and I’m pretty sure you are too. Are you going to try me?” Smirking, he took a few steps away, before laying down on the ground to rest, making sure he could still see her out of his periphery. Despite his words, there wasn’t a chance he was going to fully disengage. Not yet. She took far less of a beating than he did, so for her, he wouldn’t blame her for trying to take the chance. Muttering in aggravation, he bemoaned to himself.

”My first tits that I touched weren’t even from some funking human, gaaahh. Damn it all. And I’m really not in the mood to fight again, and least of all her. She helped me out back there, so I can’t just hit her back right now. This entire contest is dumb as sheet.”

Noya raised an eyebrow, unsure of the situation. She couldn’t underestimate Robert, clearly. His power was very obvious. But was he really about to engage on her again, after nearly exhausting himself?

And she still had to pay him back. . . for that COP AND FEEL!

“Okay, for one, shorty,” she said mockingly. “The only things I’m interested in trying are ice cream flavors. And b, you’re way more worn than I am. Is that the longest you’ve lasted with a woman?”

Noya’s eyes glowed a light violet, as she grew excited. She could likely secure a victory here with Robert having expended most of his resources in the previous bout. An aura surrounded her, and grew to match the shape of her body before expanding about five feet higher into the air. It mimicked her movements, as Noya pointed dramatically at Robert. “And if you’re feeling cocky, I can make this much more difficult for you. So don’t think because I’m a girl you should take it easy on me. And I intend to pay you back for touching me inappropriately!”

Noya extended her fist outwards as if throwing a punch, and her aura mimicked her motion, launching a powerful translucent fist at Robert.

Cocking an eyebrow at her words, he threw himself out of the way, and whistled as he looked at the crater her attack left behind. ”My bad princess~ Would you like to try cream-flavored ice cream then?” Laughing with a lascivious expression on his face, he swung up his pincer at the ready again to block or attack as needed. ”And what would you know about lasting in bed, you little girlie? You should go back to your mother, I’m not into children.” Lashing out at her with the pincer arm in an attempt to slam her away, Lotte shouted out. ”Oh, did I touch your breasts? My sincere apologies, kiddo. They were so small I couldn’t even feel anything! I mean, hell, you could’ve been a funking man in drag with what I felt.” Swinging his weapon back and forth as he sprinted towards her continuously, Lotte let off another barb. ”I can’t tell if you should be more worried about this battle, or your cup size!”

She was insulted, a wrinkle forming above her eyebrow. “Didn’t you ever learn how to address a lady!?” she said giving into to Robert’s taunts. Noya slammed the ground with her fists, and drew her arms closed as Robert dashed towards her. The ground raised and folded as her Titan Knuckles closed the earth around Robert, kicking up large mounds of rock, dust, and rubble. She closed the gap as quickly and as rapidly as possible, creating a small earthquake beneath the aura of her hands.

Noya gasped, not sure if Robert was still alive inside of her palms. “Is he--!? Nah, someone with that big of an ego would die before his pride did,” she mumbled to herself.

Luckily or unluckily, Lotte still survived, albeit now a good deal pissed off and quite literally dirty. Groaning with pain, he collapsed to one knee, glaring at the girl in front of him. ”That funking hurts!” He busted out into laughter a few seconds later though. ”If you really wanted to get dirty with me so much, all you had to do was just ask.” Brushing off the grit and dust from his clothes, he offered out a hand. ”Come on, let’s take a break.”

Noya was delighted. She had the upperhand and apparently Robert knew it. With a nod, she graciously accepted his hand, shaking it. “If you weren’t decent looking I’d be more upset. So, you wanna give me the win, or what pumpkin?”

Shaking her hand amiably, Lotte responded, ”Thanks miss,” he grinned, poking his tongue out at her, ”but I’m here to win.” Twisting his hand around and grabbing her wrist with a grip of iron, he yanked the girl towards her, before sweeping his legs to kick her in the back of the knee and knock her off balance. Spinning around, he swept her over his shoulder, before slamming her into the ground with a heavy thud. Stepping around, he pinned her legs down by pressuring his knees against her calves, and used his hands to force her shoulders into the ground. Bringing his face directly up against hers, Lotte couldn’t help but laugh a little when he saw her flustered and angry reaction.

”It really would be such a shame to hit a face as pretty as yours. So how about you surrender, and you can get me as dirty as you want with those hands of yours back at the hotel?”

Noya squirmed, but couldn’t find a way out of this bind she was in. She became irate, growling as she spoke. “I’m going to pretend I don’t know what you meant by that last remark. Because I’m psychic, not a mind reader!” With the last of her strength, Noya used all of her telekinetic power to toss Robert backwards and free her from his grip. And as she struggled to her feet, the Titan Knuckle grinded into itself, fist to fist. She cracked her knuckles now, the Titan Knuckle doing the same. “I’m gonna teach you some manners, rude boy.” But truth be told, Noya didn’t have much stamina. She had worn herself out just getting Robert off of her back. She didn’t excel at hand to hand combat, and relied on her Titan Knuckle to make up for that. And now she had to find a victory right here.

Shrugging with an all-too innocuous expression, Lotte replied in a singsong tone. ”Oh, I was only referring to how you used your fists to slam that dirt wall around me. What else could I possibly be talking about? Or do you have something you want to tell me about?” Looking at her getting back up and charging her Titan Knuckles, he stared at her critically. ”You don’t have the energy for that. And I’m not a psychic nor am I a mindreader. But it’s quite obvious from looking at your body. Because see? I can just go and do...”

Taking several steps in a swaying pattern that was deceptively fast, Lotte leered up against her, staring down into her eyes. Thwacking her in the forehead with his fingers, he finished his statement. ”This.”

Noya stopped, a confused look on her face. Doing her best to stifle a laugh, Noya bit her lip. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hold it in, and bursted out laughing at Robert.

“Oh. Phew! You uh--ehem!--you’re funny. Wait, what are you trying to do, give me acne problems!? Don’t touch me in the face, your hands are filthy! Ugh!” She shoved Robert off, and launched a double fisted Titan Knuckle in his direction, further shoving him away. But at this point, Noya had expended almost the entirety of her energy. She couldn’t bluff any longer.

“You might be right about me running out of energy,” she said panting. “But I guess I’m desperate. I have a lot on the line here. A lot more than you.”

She remembered her eye patch. It was a source that could potentially allow her to put her opponent in an unfavorable position. Placing her hand over it, Noya glared at Robert. “And I’m wondering if both our lives are worth it.” Her thumb itched, slightly grazing the bottom edge of her golden eyepatch, as she twitched at the light that hit her face as she moved the eye patch ever so slightly. Having not removed it in such a long time, Noya found herself overwhelmed by this very feint margin of power change, and fell to a knee, leaving the eye patch over her face. “Well. I guess not.”

Her Titan Knuckle began to fade, her aura becoming dull, and lifeless. Noya raised her head slowly, and looked back to her opponent. Panting, she began practically limping at him. Her regeneration was not enough to keep her on her feet, and Noya could feel the power slipping from her. She hadn’t rested in some time. She was truly exhausted. But for the lives of those pilots, she wanted to win. And for the sake of her own goals, she wanted to press on. And so, she kept fighting. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

The double-punch was barely enough to send him stepping more than a few paces backwards at that point, but his own exhaustion was so high that he lost his balance, falling onto his rear and wincing promptly afterwards. Listening to her drone on about her cause and her lives and needs, Lotte yawned. ”Yeah yeah, I have a real reason to win too, because I’m literally in some stupid family war between me and some group of magicians. And your fists just disappeared. I guess you didn’t like fisting people anymore.” He felt a pang of guilt at watching how dead-tired his opponent was, feeling like it wasn’t really a fair fight, before he remembered he wasn’t even close to anywhere better. When he remembered the pilots had been staking their lives on him and how he rudely brushed it off with a laugh way back, it stung a bit harder. This girl had the same. Either way, two innocent people would die. He spat on the ground in disgust. Looking towards the sky or wherever the cameras would’ve had to have been, he shouted out.

”funk your sheet, Gerardo or whatever your name is..” Flicking off to an imaginary Gerald, Lotte turned back around to stare at Noya. ”I’m sorry about your pilots, but I have them too. Either way, that funker in the sky,” he pointed towards wherever the hell the hotel must’ve been ”is going to make two of them die, we can’t help that. But in our conditions, we’re not going to be able to do jackshit about that, let alone fight each other. Killing ourselves as well as the pilots is pointless. Think about it.”

Noya followed Robert’s finger as he pointed to the sky. That’s right. Their fight was being broadcasted throughout the world, wasn’t it? But what for? “This is stupid,” she said angrily. “Those pilots don’t deserve that. We don’t deserve this. And that manipulative bastard who put us in this situation doesn’t deserve the glory he’s getting from this. It’s not fair. It’s--it’s not--” her vision began to blur. Noya fell to a knee one last time. She had managed to walk the rest of the way to Robert, before falling flat on the ground, unconscious.

“It’s . . .not fair.” Noya had lost the round. And the sound of exploding metal and fire in the not too far distance confirmed that, as a single helicopter went rocketing to the ground.

Dropping to a knee when to catch the girl before she hit the ground when she suddenly passed out, Lotte sat down, letting her rest her head on his lap instead. It was certainly a lot better than the torn up, rocky ground they were just fighting in. Hearing the sound of death in the distance, he gritted his teeth in anger. With every contestant but one having to lose to become the top, that means dozens more of those people would die.

Lying down on the ground as well, his vision started to go a hazy black. Looking at the sky, he winced briefly, the sun stinging his eyes, before he brought his hand up as cover. Lotte realized he was still splattered everywhere with blood from the snake-woman thing from before, and grimacing at his own foul smell, he wondered if the hosts would come pick the two of them up. His tiredness finally catching up with him, he blacked out as well, his last move to reach out for the girl lying on his lap, as if to hold her close. Despite the fact she was his enemy, Lotte got to know a good bit about her, simply through even just fighting. He wouldn’t be able to stand it if Gerald simply killed her off like he did with her pilots. Struggling to stay awake, his hand dropped to his side limply as he too, fell into the land of unconsciousness.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 23, 2015

This post is Dad approved

As Morgan’s skulls rained down on the mad king, peppering him with explosion after explosion, Action-Jim leaped into the fray. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his stupid-bravery. He really seemed to come straight out of a cheesy movie, how does someone like that actually exist?

In any case the attack seemed to have done the trick. The explosions had caused cracks to form on the remaining bits of Pol’s armor and Action-Jim’s strike sealed the deal. The armor shattered with great force, sending bits of armor flying in all directions.

As soon as this happened light flooded into the room again. It hadn’t been all too bright before but it was such a change that Morgan felt like she had woken up in the middle of the street in a big city. The witch was filled with hope as the nagging voices that were lingering for most of the fight faded entirely.

Pol let out an inhuman shriek of rage and swung his mace in an arc, forcing Action-Jim to dodge out of the way to avoid being crushed. “This is MY HOME! YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO HARM ME IN MY HOME! SINK INTO MADNESS, WALLOW IN DESPAIR, DIE FILTHY MORTALS!"

All the king’s ranting and raving and reckless mace-swinging did was make Morgan notice something. His heart. The armor had been protecting it but now it was bare for all to see. A shriveled, blackened, disturbingly glowing thing. Utterly disgusting and oozing with the most nasty of magic. Nothing like her father’s phylactery.

Morgan stepped towards the king, pulling roots along with her. The same roots the king had shattered earlier were twisting together to form a single rope. Morgan’s boots clicked and clacked in the strangely silent room as she approached the enraged skeleton. “Careful old man, get too worked up and you might have...a heart attack.” Morgan commanded the root forward and it wrapped itself around the heart. She snapped her fingers and the roots crushed it.

Dad · August 23, 2015

Golden Gate Hotel, Lobby Bar

He sat with a glass in his hand, swirling around the greenish liquid in a clockwise motion. Two others approached the bar, a light conversation going on between them. It was Odette and Tyson, two victorious contestants. One, who's opponent had been promptly obliterated out of sheer randomness, and the other who's foe collapsed in an outright defeat. Standing up straight, Gerald strayed from his seat to greet the two victors, glass still in his hand. "Odette, Tyson. Congratulations on your marvelous victories! May I propose a toast?" he said ushering them over to the bar. Pointing to a red flask, Gerald said, "This one Tobias. Thank you." The bartender nodded, keeping his face slightly askew from the eyes of Odette and Tyson. Pouring them each a small sampling of the Dragon's Brew, Gerald, lifted his own in the air. "To victory, good health, and great fun!" Gerald said with a smile. He wasn't sure how Tyson or Odette would react to his gesture, but of course, Gerald was prepared for anything. Literally. Anything.

Valley of Souls

The match had been decided. Noya had collapsed into an unconscious state before Robert, and thus she had been declared the loser of the battle. Robert had managed to both kill Epitome in a fantastic and violent manner, as well as win over a powerful psychic, all while cursing the very creator of the tournament and declaring himself the victor. He too passed out eventually, but not before he and Noya heard a rather gruesome explosion as the lives of two pilots were lost in the process. The remaining helicopter landed not far from them on one of the Valley's two river banks. The co-pilot and a medical team of two hopped out of the helicopter with stretchers. They lifted Robert and Noya onto separate stretchers, and placed them in the helicopter for lift off. Of course, to ensure things went as planned, Noya and Robert's psyche were penetrated as their sleep was further developed. Dangerous as this was, it would not kill them, but ensure they remained sleeping until their helicopter arrived back at the Golden Gate Hotel.

And as the satellite stream that broadcasted over them came to an end, the crowds shifted to one of the last remaining streams, consisting of robots, dragons, Titans, witches, and action heroes.

Cavern of Sirens

Ilgad approved of the Titan's behavior. He had taken a knee and held his head down before the god. Either he knew his place, or he was overwhelmed by Ilgad's power. Either way, his concern lie with the half-dragon. Ilgad's voice was cold, abrasive, and condescending. "Perhaps, my question was not clear, half-breed," he said clearly. Ilgad opened a palm, and stretched it out towards Elspire. "What do you think you are doing?" Ilgad, however, didn't wait for a reply. "Perhaps, if I speak in your native tongue, you will better understand." Hissing, Ilgad's voice changed drastically as he repeated his question in Dragonspeak to Elspire. "You are a rare case, half-breed," he said, now irritated at the amount of time he was spending in this place. He began to walk around in a circle around Elspire, slowly, pacing himself. He observed the cavern carefully, picking up distinct traces of long lost magic, and barriers of protection. "Ahh, yes. This place is heavily covered in secrecy. I can see why someone of your kind would be drawn to it," he said now running his sharp talons along the wall.

Ilgad was tall, standing at more than eleven feet. His skin was very dark in color, closest to a mocha brown. He had mostly human features, including his eyes, nose, ears, hands, legs and feet. But most of his face was hidden beneath the golden helmet that he wore. It covered his all white eyes, with a thin, but strong lining breaking down the center of the helmet, visually separating either side of his face. Beneath the shadow of his helmet, fangs were visible, and his cold breath seemed to drop the temperature in the cavern by at least twenty degrees. He was muscular, and his hands bore sharp, jet black nails that resembled thin daggers. The rest of his body was covered in the blue-black plated armor that seemed to cover everything except his wings when they were outspread. And on his right side, an enormous broad sword with a solid white hilt accompanied him, sheathed in a bright, golden sheath.

"But, you. You are half human, half dragon, and twice as disgusting." Ilgad stopped behind Elspire, facing Saul, with his back to Elspire. He turned around, looking at the back of the young man's head. "The plausibility of your existence, is zero. How you stand before me is in and of itself, a crude joke." Ilgad stopped, hearing the pattering foot steps of a nearby dragon. He swung around and threw an open palm in the direction of the pattering. A massive explosion erupted east of Elspire and Saul, as a lightning bolt appeared from nowhere, and struck the dragon down on the opposite side of the wall next to them. The smell of torched flesh wafted towards them, slowly.

"I have counted, one by one, the number of extinct species that were deemed too threatening to live on. And yet, as I live and breathe, more and more extinct species appear before me. Even as I myself had reached out my hand to bring about their deaths, the dragons and Titans, still walk the earth!?" he bellowed, lowering his palm finally. "And now, you stand on unholy ground in a forbidden place, daring to bring some of the most dangerous creatures to ever live, back to life?" Ilgad shook his head in disgust. "You are covered in the sins of your ancestors. Furthermore, you are covered in the sins of the ancestors of an entire other race! And to think, you would actually believe your kind should be graced with life again? Even the ghouls are more worthy than you, and they are but a mistake." Elspire jerked around, the rage in his face very obvious.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he said stepping forward to Ilgad. "You killed my family? You killed the dragons!? And I'm the one covered in sin!? Screw you!" he said bellowing a large blast of lightning out of his mouth and directly into the chest of Ilgad. When he did so, Elspire and Saul would see a translucent green bubble form around Ilgad, as the Roar of the Lightning Dragon became nullified in an instant. Ilgad, who hadn't moved a hand, glared at Elspire beneath his helmet.

"You strike at me with magic? Do you even know where it came from?" Ilgad said leaning in towards Elspire. They were close enough now, that Elspire could feel Ilgad's ice cold breath, and see his hollow white eyes and fangs. And he whispered to Elspire, speaking of the origin of magics. "Me." Ilgad stood back up, keeping his eyes on the Dragon Egg and Elspire. "Everything your race is proud of stems from us. We are your origin and we are your ending. To strike against the hand that created you. That is truly ignorance. And it is exactly why I should strike you, and this unborn scum, down into the dust from whence you came!"

Saul inched forward behind Ilgad, but Ilgad did not move. "However, my brothers and sisters would not be pleased that I might take this upon myself once more. And, in your current state, you will barely come to claw at the air that surrounds me. And so, you should conserve your strength for the battle that lies ahead of you, Elspire Ferdinand. Your true enemy draws nearer as you stay in place." Now further disregarding Elspire, Ilgad turned to Saul, who had remained silent during Ilgad's spat with Elspire.

"And you. You who were so proud, so cautious, and so meticulous. The race of Titans--how unfortunate your ending was." Ilgad walked forwards, now within striking distance of Saul's blade. "You were mighty warriors. Great craftsmen. And destined to be the dominant species on the planet. But just as the humans fall now, you too fell. You are no exception, Saul. You are as guilty as the dragon kin. You are as violent as the humans. You are as deviant as the fallen ones. But you hold your head. So very high. You hold vengeance in your heart and strength in your eyes, but you are destined to fail. And it will be the last time that a Titan stands. I will be sure of that--"

Saul couldn't hold back any longer. Blinking away from Ilgad, he struck from behind, bringing down his impossibly large blade at Ilgad, igniting it with a white hot flame. But Ilgad didn't flinch. He did not turn around, and he did not blink. But he breathed, slowly. Raising a hand, Ilgad outstretched a single index finger, and blocked Saul's strike, causing the blade to vibrate violently, and put Saul on edge. The Titan took a quick leap backwards, as Ilgad turned around at last. He addressed both Elspire and Saul this time when he spoke.

"You strike against me out of rage, because you fail to understand how dangerous and impure your existence really is. But you fail to see the difference in our strengths.

The difference in our powers is like the gap between the high heavens and the earth.

It cannot be bridged."

Sahill Cathedral

Pol's heart had no longer been made of flesh. It was old, and crumbled to dust as Morgan's roots wrapped around them. The king grasped at his empty chest, falling to a knee as light burst through his bones. A deafening hum echoed throughout the chambers, as Pol's skeletal body rose into the air, and his head hanged. Pol chanted something unintelligible, before speaking up as he felt his magic seeping from his body. "You. Mortal beings," he uttered, as the light began to blind Morgan and Dirk. "You have entered into a world where you cannot hope to understand that in which you tread. You bring about now, a madness far greater than my own. Be ware the depths of control laid upon you by the ancient one." Laughing uncontrollably, Pol's body began to crumble, exploding into a cloud of dust, dirt, magic, and corruption. His control over the Cathedral began to peel away, the darkness receding from the walls, floors, and ceilings.

The residing magic over the Cathedral emptied into the atmosphere and vanished from sight. The Warlocks, Cultists, skeletons, ghosts, and cretins that scoured the Cathedral had either fallen to an immediate death, or scurried off to find a new home. But with Pol no longer being in control, the Cathedral had begun to collapse. The ceiling above Dirk and Morgan crumbled, as the structure rocked with instability. The remaining powers that resided inside of the now former throne room began to pull at Dirk and Morgan like a vacuum, before tossing them about and out of the throne room. They were hurled around viciously by a strange force, until they were both launched high into the air, and thrown onto the top floor of the Cathedral. They had landed in the center of the Cathedral, looking down at the staircase which led to the bottom level. If they were to look closely, the powers that had spewed them upwards could be seen devouring the bottom levels, and climbing upwards towards them. The strange, deep blue water like substance appeared to hide everything below it, with no signs of slowing down. Every wall that it touched was set ablaze, and began to seep into nothing.

Their best bet would be to settle their differences after escaping the Cathedral. Thankfully, they hand landed not far from the exit, and the doors had been blown off their hinges. And while everything outside of the Cathedral was but a dark forest, Dirk and Morgan would still have to settle their score. But they had to escape quickly, or risk both of their lives being taken into the now spreading evil that remained behind.

Oxfield Scrapyard

Fate and Arisu had arrived in a clearing, South of the Scrapyard. Only a single helicopter arrived, the other ending up screaming to the grounds of the Northern Scrapyard in a heap of fire and twisted metal. The two were ushered aboard, a congratulations to them both from the co-pilot. One for not losing their lives, and the other for one of them actually having been selected as a victor. The pilot, however, remained silent for a moment. He made a cross over his chest, muttering a solemn, "Rest in peace" to his now fallen brothers. The pilot then added two dog tags to the already numerous amount of them hanging from the ceiling beside him. In total, there were now eighteen dog tags hanging in his helicopter.

With the Fate and Arisu aboard now, the helicopter began to lift into the air, and blaze away from the Oxfield Scrapyard. The pilot flicked several switches inside his helicopter, as he said to the other three, "ETA two hours. We'll be back at the hotel in no time." But of course, Fate and Arisu wouldn't recall this, as they were put into a deep slumber by an unknown enemy. And as they slept, reassuring dreams comforted them both.

Shan'ri Temple

Dim was taken by surprise when Zig finally fought back. Unable to avoid the strike, Dim's right wing was shredded badly, hindering his pride and his strength. He honked angrily and with anguish, as his once beautiful white feathers were turned black, and his flesh became exposed by the heat of Zyg's claws. The shock of the attack forced Dim to retreat, as his sister looked on. She did her best to not be deterred by the remaining foe, but she knew that she could fight them both alone. Sum desperately increased her power, having found resolve in the temporary loss of her brother. Her flamethrower doubled in width and heat, and she began to jump about now, frantically, spreading her fire across the Temple grounds. She had now circled Zyg and Nori completely, encasing them in a ring of fire. She honked, frightened, confused, and desperate to end the battle. Her onslaught of flames continued, as Dim encouraged her from a distance.

"You must kill them, sister! Take from them what they have taken from us!"

"Dim, no! There must be another w--!"

"We will perish for all the world to see, because your fear drives your heart! Finish them!"

Maeriberii Haan · August 24, 2015

A kick…he’s not serious, isn’t he?

Camille using his sword copies to eliminate the other copies was definitely impressive, but Nero was left flabbergasted at why would he even approach him directly and land a weak-looking kick of all things. Suspecting that it was simply a feint for an actual attack, Nero didn’t waste a single second to activate his flash step once more, this time reappearing some distance away behind Camille…however, his injured leg started to act up again, and made Nero trip on the ground unceremoniously, just as he was going to go for a backstab at the boy. Annoyed by this development, Nero instead opted to activate his flower chains preemptively, having several series of them spear through the their original position towards Camille, aiming to bind his limbs while Nero summoned six more copies of his sword and fired it at the boy’s direction.

From what he could surmise from now, Camille was a short-range fighter with strong burst damage, and a reliance on his arms to deal any damage. Nero was not exactly sure whether he had any long-range moves with him, but right now he assumed that he had at least some form of it. That was a fair assumption to make now, and it’s better safe than sorry when it came to this. Still reeling from his leg injuries, Nero prepared himself for another series of onslaught at Camille. His primary target would definitely be the boy’s limbs this time. Hack them apart, and the battle should be over. Restocking his flowers on the trees above, Nero then focused his mind to control the movement of his sword copies, as he was going to make sure that Camille wouldn’t be able to do the same maneuver like what he did earlier.

VCR_CAT · August 24, 2015

Dirk Rider: Sahill Cathedral - B8

Dirk stepped away from the Mad King as Morgan basically killed it on the spot; reloading his gun and light another cigarette to stave off the crash he felt immediately from his Neon Burst. Staggering a bit in his steps as the world spun, Dirk leaned against a pillar in the room and took a long drag from his cigarette.

"Groooovvvy," Dirk sighed out; a pool of blue-tinted smoke escaping his mouth as he made the shameless reference. However, Dirk was given no time to revel in his reference as he was flung up all eight floors. Landing on his feet, and then stumbling forward onto his hands, Dirk groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He, at least, needed to get out of the cathedral immediately; but with the whole place spinning before his eyes again (thanks to the physical crash from overclocking his abilities), this wasn't easy. Running, while stumbling, Dirk did his best to side-step falling debris as he made his way towards the exit. Just as the rubble around him crumbled towards their hellish destiny below; Dirk tucked and rolled as he threw himself out the exit of the cathedral.

Saul: Cavern of Sirens

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AVm3NrVknw

To hear such obscenities spouted from the so-called "God" made Saul's blood boil. No, that was an understatement. Saul's blood was like that of the surface of the sun; churning and bursting with a righteous anger like none the world had ever seen. This... abomination... was responsible for the suffering that he's had to endure over the years, and to hear him spit all over the legacy of the Titans like the humans had done for thousands of years was too much for this ancient man. Saul's breathing became ragged and unsteady; his brows furrowed as far as the muscles in his face could push; his teeth gritted gritted so hard he could bite diamond to bits. This is the monster responsible. This is the thing that did this to Saul; to his people.

Vanishing in a burst of fire, Saul appeared behind the monster, swinging his blade with every inch of strength he could muster. And then it stopped; Saul's blade, white-hot and writhing with the flames of anger that burned deep within him, vibrated violently against the unscathed finger of the god.

"YOU THINK YOURSELF SO HIGH AND MIGHTY," Saul rawred, his voice echoing loudly in the cave. "YOU ARE A PATHETIC WORM OF A DEITY. TO THINK, ONE WHO THINKS HIMSELF SO HIGHLY CANNOT EVEN FINISH THE JOB." Saul gripped his blade as he took a step back. Had he been in a lighter mood, he would've laughed at the god to mock him. "YOU ARE A FAILURE, AND I AM SURPRISED THAT THE ENTIRE PANTHEON HAS NOT MADE A LAUGHING STOCK OF YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE. A TITAN, AND THE DRAGONS; ALL PROVEN TO ESCAPE YOUR SIGHT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THOUSANDS. LOWLY HUMANS HAVE DONE A FAR BETTER JOB REMOVING ENTIRE SPECIES FROM THIS PLANET THAN YOU HAVE EVER DONE."

Saul spat at the god's feet; the ever steadfast patience and focus of this ancient creature broken for the first time in a long time. Saul's voice quieted to a low growl, yet the weight it carried now far exceeded whatever weight his shouting ever came close to holding. "Slay me on the spot, I do not care. Your failure stands before you; your HUMILIATION. But mark my words; killing me will do nothing to save you from your fate. Even if I have to crawl from the deepest pit, I will make sure I cut you to pieces and see to it that your pathetic carcass is burned in the innermost circle of hell for the transgressions you have committed. I will see to it that you will rue the day you failed to do even the most simple of tasks of a god."

Saul gripped his blade. Whatever gap in power did not matter; death in the heat of battle meant release to Valhalla, freedom from the cruelties of the world and opportunity to strike down this god. Raising his blade, Saul let out a bloodcurdling roar as he slammed the blade of his sword on the ground; a great pillar of flames erupting and engulfing the god where he stood. The flames would not slay him, but Saul did not care.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 25, 2015

She did it! She did it she did it she did it! “Hell yeah!” Morgan shouted, laughing wildly as the so-called king went down. She destroyed such an ancient magical force, how’s THAT for a “chick who liked playing dress-up”. She proved without a shadow of doubt that she was in it to win it and all her haters could go suck a toad.

Then she was launched unceremoniously up several floors. She glanced down to see the strange magic that seemed to be eating away at the lower floors of the Cathedral and coming up. She was pissed. “What? No funking fair! How am I supposed to buy this place when I win if it’s gonna swallow itself up like that!? UGH!” Morgan blasted a bit of falling rubble out of her way with one of her skulls.

Fine, funk it, they were gonna do her like that? She’d show them all what she’s like when she doesn’t get her way.
Hopping onto her broom for better mobility, Morgan made her way to the exit. She was going at top speed to try and get out before Action-Jim. Her skulls acted as a shield from the rubble which allowed her to move to the exit in a mostly straight line.

As soon as she was out of the building she did a 180 and launched a skull towards the doorway, hoping to catch Dirk as he exited. She hadn’t forgotten the goal. She had one more fool to crush tonight. "Oh Action-Jiiiim I've got a present for youuuu" She sang as the skull ripped towards the doorway.

Camille’s moment of triumph as he saw Nero vanish was quickly replaced with shock. He had teleported, just as Cam had planned, however he was not behind the maid. Camille was thrown off by this and had to use the momentum he built up to turn around to face the man.

Who apparently had injured his leg greater than Cam realized. This was the only shot Camille had, he knew, as the chains that surrounded them started to move. And more of the swords were appearing. Cam had barely managed to avoid just the swords last time. He couldn’t afford to waste any time.

He bolted forward, pushing his body to its limits to give as much speed as possible. He dodged the best he could to avoid being trapped by the chains, even flipping once over one, and blasted a chain away with his Force Palm. It didn’t stop it but it gave an opening.

Chains, Teleporting. Swords. This guy had everything, this game was stacked against Cam, it was totally unfair and...and...”You DAMN HACKER!” Camille had taken the “Game” mentality to it’s peak. Memories of a cheating computer program flashed before Camille as he rushed Nero.
He shot the charged up Stun Buster at Nero. Hopefully the stun would also prevent Nero from striking with his weaponry. It didn’t matter if he connected, at least not for this plan, for Cam only had one option left.

He pulled his arm back as he neared the man and thrust it forward in what seemed a punch. The difference being once this “punch” reached its apex Cam opened up his fist for a short-range high-speed Force Palm. It was all or nothing, he had to cripple Nero now or be caught in the web of super power bullshit his opponent had prepared for him.

Maeriberii Haan · August 25, 2015

It should be easy, wasn't it?

Just dodge that one attack, and continue his onslaught, and-

"Ugh...!"

Nero vision darkened a bit as pain crept all over his body. The attack he intended to dodge, the blast from Camille's palm, landed squarely on his chest, and as he was rendered immobile by it, the following attack hurt him a lot. If he didn't still have some of his demonic durabilities, then he'd surely be dead now. All of this was due to his damaged leg...and Nero wouldn't have none of that. No way he'd lose here just due to a silly handicap like that. Especially not when Camille still viewed this as a game, if what he heard from the boy was right. His body was still completely immobilized right now, and for all intents and purpose, he's on Camille's mercy now.

No...no way Nero would let that to even close to be the case.

Uttering several words in the demonic tongue, Nero completely surrounded himself with layers after layers of magnified fire lily petals, all acting as a shield that allowed him to make a distance from Camille safely while waiting for his body to be able to move again. Once he regained a slight ability to move his body again, the bulb where Nero resided shattered and sent the petals constructing it all aiming at Camille, and then Nero followed it by closing his eyes and starting off his final gambit. A risky maneuver, but it's something that might seal the deal for him.

The flower chains started to emerge from the trees above and rapidly came towards the battlefield below. However, instead of aiming at Camille once again to restraint his movements, Nero instead aiming it at himself, having his limbs be bound with the chains, which then immediately became thinner each, looking slightly similar to a string now.

"This is it then, ladies and gentlemen! The last stretch of the show! Finale: Dance of the Fire Lilies!

Camille...show it to me! Show me...how strong your spirit of humanity is!"

His body, having suffering a lot of damage from what Camille had done to him, was still functional enough, but Nero did not bother to take the risk to just rely on that. What he was doing at the moment was simple enough. He's simply using his mind to control his body's movement more freely by using the flower "strings", just like a puppet. An awkward technique, so to be said, but with his ability to just conjure his flower constructs from anywhere, this should be able to allow him to attack Camille openly without being hindered with his injured legs or lowered bodily reaction time.

Following his words, Nero lit his sword on fire once more, before rushing towards Camille with it ready along with six other sword copies circling around it, all prepared to tear the boy apart.

"Let's see what you're actually made of inside!"

Mr. Hyde · August 26, 2015

Eslpire Ferdinand

Here Elspire stood, in front of an immaculate being, puzzled more than anything else. What was this thing doing in this pool in the middle of a crystal cavern? Elspire’s brain was too frazzled to even answer the being’s question. Instead, he only tilted his head in confusion. Saul on the other hand took it upon himself to bow before it. Was the being divine somehow?

He started speaking to Elspire in dragon tongue, and each word was soaked in venom. This being, seemed to be the source of destruction of every powerful race on earth. He deemed them too powerful to exist and took it upon himself to balance out the powers. He was also very harsh towards Elspire and his bloodline. Disgust could be heard in his voice every time the words half-human and half-dragon crossed his mind. This only ticked off Elspire more, this thing was disgracing his race and his mother. He had also shown his power by evaporating a dragon that had made a false move. Infuriated, Elspire shouted with anger.

”Who the hell do you think you are?! You killed my family? You killed the dragons? And i’m the one covered in sin?! Screw you!” The anger erupted from his mouth in the form of his breath attack. It was easily deflected by a green shield protecting the creature.

"Everything your race is proud of stems from us. We are your origin and we are your ending. To strike against the hand that created you. That is truly ignorance. And it is exactly why I should strike you, and this unborn scum, down into the dust from whence you came! However, my brothers and sisters would not be pleased that I might take this upon myself once more. And, in your current state, you will barely come to claw at the air that surrounds me. And so, you should conserve your strength for the battle that lies ahead of you, Elspire Ferdinand. Your true enemy draws nearer as you stay in place."

Saul took this opportunity to strike their opponent. His attack was just as inneffective as His though. Elspire didn’t expect Saul to do much if Elspire couldn’t scratch the guy. He must’ve been pretty strong if he was the source of all magic. If this being were to try and exterminate them right this moment, it wouldn’t take but merely a lifted finger.

"You strike against me out of rage, because you fail to understand how dangerous and impure your existence really is. But you fail to see the difference in our strengths.

The difference in our powers is like the gap between the high heavens and the earth.”

Elspire’s teeth grinded, his fists balled up and static could be seen building within them. His tone had changed now too, it was softer, but there was still rage behind it. “Really...who the hell do you think you are huh. Heaven and Earth? I don’t see much of anything up there but clouds nowadays, and now you’re proclaiming to be some sort of god? Who gave you that title, who gave you that right huh?! Deciding on the fates of beings you don’t see fit to walk amongst the less powerful? You claim that the dragons are a plague to the Earth?! My mother taught me right from wrong, and we defended it together while she was still with me...how dare you tell me what my kind was like. How dare you talk so pretentiously about beings that you barely know! No matter what race, there are bound to be a couple bad apples in the bunch, especially the apple race, but you can’t destroy the whole crop based on the actions of the few.”

The static that had previously been encasing his fists now circulated visibly over his entire body. His hair stood on end, and his pupils grew slim. He slammed his hand against his chest, and continued his speech. ”If I have to die here so other beings won’t, just to stop you, I wouldn’t hesitate! Everything deserves equal footing in this race called life. Especially that guy over there.” Elspire pointed towards the egg on the stone pedistal. ”That guy’s going to need all the help it can get if all of its kind are dead and gone...I can bring it up like my mom did me...I can teach it how to be a good egg. JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM ANYWAYS!?” With his speech concluded, Elspire launched himself towards Ilgad, fully realizing that he could die at any point now.

Ilgad was pleased, however. The power that resonated from both Saul and Elspire together was phenomenal, even if it was pointless. As Saul’s flames engulfed him, and Elspire dove at Ilgad, beneath his helmet he smiled. Once again the translucent shield covered Ilgad, nullifying Saul’s flames. Elspire was caught by Ilgad, who respected this one’s determination and heart. He met Elspire fist to fist, causing a violent wave of unexplainable energy to rock the cavern, and radiate over everything inside of it.

“Your words honor me, Elspire. Saul. Your lack of fear for death and your determination to go forth is perhaps the reason I have overlooked you until today.” Ilgad gently tossed Elspire backwards, into the arms of Saul. “But rest assured, you will not slip by me again. Henceforth, you will have more than one pair of eyes that is wary of everything you do. And I look forward to meeting you both again. For the last time.”

A powerful light engulfed Ilgad, temporarily blinding Saul and Elspire. It ripped another hole into the roof of the cavern, and vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Ilgad was gone, but he had left Elspire with a parting gift. The powers that radiated over the cavern had provided a great warmth, and the egg behind Elspire began to shiver. A small crack appeared down its center, and a tiny finger nail pierced the shell, accompanied by a scaled, purple paw. The rebirth of the dragons had begun again, by the same hand that had stopped it some long time ago.

Elspire was glad that he wasn’t dead, and he was glad that the being had decided against another genocide. After jumping out of Saul’s loving embrace, he picked up the egg from it’s stone pillar and watched as the baby dragon began to come into the world. The crystal dragons, now freed from their final opressor, began to gather around the Elspire and the emerging hatchling. He looked back to Saul with a goofy smile.

”Hey uhm...since I just became a dad...I’m not sure I want to do this whole fight to the death thing at the moment. Let’s settle for that tie breaker...deal?”

Zyg 0001

Zyg and his opponent were thrown out of frier, and into the ring of fire. The brother was incapacitated, but the sister was now hysterical. There had to be some way to finish this without costing them goose blood on their hands. These flames would be easy for Zyg to clear, and it would prove no problem for him to get in close, the problem being that Zyg couldn’t see on the other side of the fire wall. Not thinking too much about it, Zyg crouched and the mechanical sounds from his legs increased. He jumped into the air clearing the wall, but as he descended, his landing spot was infested with the larvae that had previously been so numerous. Zyg made sure to land so only one leg would land on the hotspot.

*BOOM* A giant explosion occured on Zyg’s right side, and he came out of the inferno generally unscathed. However, his right mechanical leg was in tatters. Zyg huffed, that metal was expensive, it would be quite the expensive patch job.

He couldn’t think about that now, he had a goose to knock out. He hobbled on one leg, balancing himself with his tail, and managed to get to the two geese. The brother’s feathers were black and charred, from where Zyg had previously struck, and the female had him in her wings. “I’m sorry guys..this might hurt a bit.” Zyg twirled 360 degrees with the force of a magnet train, using his metal tail to knock both geese out simultaneously. Their heads flew back onto the temple grounds, where both of their forehead met. Zyg fell over, wincing at the slight amount of discomfort he was feeling. Sparks and shrapnel were all that remained of the bottom half of his leg. He was in no condition to fight such a skilled warrior as Nori. He snorted, a little out of frustration and annoyance.

“I forfeit…” he yelped half-heartedly.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · August 28, 2015

Camille’s heart leapt as the attack landed. Critical hit, massive damage!....Still not enough? Nero had a lot more HP than Cam had thought. He had expected a sort of glass cannon boss fight, unconventional but not totally unheard of, but he should’ve figured it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Cam attacked the shield that Nero formed to no avail, his blows weren’t powerful enough to shatter this nearly perfect defense. He was almost caught off guard when the thing shattered outwards. The only reason Cam avoided being torn to pieces by the shrapnel was he had noticed a slight shift in the shield right before it burst.
Even so he was left with several cuts along his arms and legs, mostly superficial wounds but they still stung. And totally took him out of his gamer mind.

This was a serious threat before him. One that likely could kill him if he slipped up. He couldn’t afford to take this lightly. And with Nero apparently covering himself in a strange sort of armor, the purpose of Cam couldn’t quite surmise, and rushing him, the boy knew it was now or never.

He couldn’t let that man use those sword copies again. There was no way he’d be able to dodge another volley of those. And so he took another gamble. He rushed Nero once more, determined that this be the last time, one way or another.

The two clashed, both striking at each other with determination and ferocity. Neither of them were able to land a solid blow on each other until...
Cam slipped up, letting an attack through his guard, and Nero’s sword impaled him. Thrusting into his ribcage. The blade thrust through his body, just barely missing Cam’s lungs.

The young man’s eyes widened in shock. He had been injured before, as part of his father’s tests, but never so suddenly and unexpectedly. Nevertheless he was able to keep his cool and reached forward with his right hand, gripping the man’s neck.
“P-Please.” Cam said through gritted teeth. “I don’t...I don’t want to have to kill you...please surrender.” The threat might have sounded ridiculous coming from a man who had just been stabbed but it was his last move.

He could feel himself weaken slightly, and he’d have to activate his Force Palm soon if he wanted to win this battle. But even so Cam couldn’t bring himself to end the fight by killing. He had to hope that Nero would give up. Otherwise Camille’s chance at freedom would be taken from him just like that.

Maeriberii Haan · August 31, 2015

"Tch..."

His own resolve had faltered at the last second. Nero, at the last second, having the clear chance of killing Camille in one strike, backed down from the chance when it was already apparent before him; ending up missing the boy's heart with his slash intentionally. Seeing the boy groveling pathetically before him, Nero shook his head, wondering whether it was even right for him to entrust the boy with his hopes for humanity. In the end, it seemed that the boy was simply one of the part of humanity that wouldn't be strong enough to fight for themselves.

"You don't want to kill me? What...actually give you the right of even saying that you can kill me with the effort you've shown so far? If you want to say something like that, say it when you are on the top!

Mercy and compassion, is the privilege of the strong and victorious! If what you can do is to grovel like this, then all you can do is just to follow the flow of everything else. You said you're sick of this farce of a tournament, yet you still insist on showing that weak spirit of yours here."

Nero unsummoned his sword, and kicked Camille away afterwards, his eyes still locked at the boy in the meantime. The man still didn't know whether he should be disappointed with what Camille had shown so far, or whether he should still hold out his hope for him and the spirit of humanity he knew Camille had inside of his heart. Deciding that it would be nearing the end of the fight anyway, Nero prepared himself in his attempt to goad Camille to attack again, as the finale of the fight itself would soon unfold.

"Camille, this is not a game! If you still in any way see it in that way, remove that mental image before I kill you for that.

You are here for a reason, right? You are fighting for something, right? I don't know whether you're seeking the money prize or something else that held more meaning to you, but by fighting so far here, you must go on until you are stopped! No matter what, no matter if you have to kill anyone, move forward! That is the fate that you've assigned yourself into, and since you're such a follower of that abstract line of destiny, you don't have any choice in this matter unless you just want to die.

If you really think what you're fighting for is worth it...then show it to me! Show that you want to achieve that! Resorting to grovel to your enemy like that...it is not how you win this, young boy! If you can't show that willpower of yours and prove that you are truly worth it to go on to the next round...then I'm sorry to say this, but you don't have any right to live any further here.

Now stand up! Stand up and fight me one last time!

I will not miss this time...I shall kill you for sure, Camille!"

Not bothering to give the boy any signals of his incoming onslaught, Nero used his strings to help him dash forward, this time not even bothering to summon his sword copies as he prepared himself to launch a brutal assault on the boy using his flaming sword. There would be no more mercy now for him. If the boy wanted to live, then he needed to fight as hard as he could against the demon before him. No matter how brutal he would need to be, Nero pushed on forward, intent on having the battle finish as soon as he could. If it's for him to allow Camille to become a stronger man if he could pass this, then anything would be fine.

To kill or be killed, that was the question that the boy needed to answer right now as Nero started his chain of attacks on him.

VCR_CAT · September 1, 2015

Saul: Cavern of Sirens

And just like that, the deity left. Saul had lashed out, but instead of slaying him on the spot, the deity decided to simply leave and state that they would both be watched by him as well. Saul fumed; teeth gritted as his heavy breath growled from his throat. Elspire had said something about a tie-breaker instead. Saul yelled, swinging his white-hot blade at a nearby pillar; cutting through the pillar with relative ease. Molten stone spattered on the ground from where the blade exited as the pillar shifted down with a low rumble. Death was there; it was at Saul's fingertips. He could have died at the hands of one more powerful, but instead that being decided to torture Saul more with this horrible life.

"Fine," Saul growled, breathing heavily. "We'll go with the tiebreaker."

Dirk Rider: Sahill Cathedral - B8

As Dirk ran towards the exit, a voice range from outside the building.

"Oh Action-Jiiiim I've got a present for youuuu"

"Actually, the line goes 'I gotta present for ya--' SH*T!" Dirk shouted as he attempted to do a baseball slide underneath the flaming skull, but got his foot caught on a root or something and ended up being tossed into a sort of tumbling somersault; one of which he managed to land on his feet a couple meters away from Morgan. Once he landed on his feet, Dirk immediately shoved himself into a side roll as he flung his knife in Morgan's direction as a way to force her to move and not be ready to throw out a counter attack. Whether the knife hit or not, Dirk was on his feet; quick-drawing Dust Rider from his holster with a quick spin on the trigger guard and pointed the gun's barrel directly at Morgan's face.

"I think I've had enough special effects for one day, so how about we do this the easy way babe. Just surrender and I won't have to punch a big ol' hole in that pretty face of your's. Deal?"

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · September 1, 2015

"Actually, the line goes 'I gotta present for ya--' SH*T!" Morgan giggled as the strange man flailed around to avoid her attack.

She may have missed but it certainly provided her with an interesting explosive backdrop. She admired her handiwork for perhaps slightly too long as Action-Jim was able to pull of some crazy evasive maneuver and get her into a bit of a spot.
The knife was easy enough to dodge by shooting left on her broom, but the gun that was pointed at her...not so much. She pouted at the man, how dare he pull a gun on her like that?

"I think I've had enough special effects for one day, so how about we do this the easy way babe. Just surrender and I won't have to punch a big ol' hole in that pretty face of your's. Deal?"

“Excuse me? Ugh you’re so...so...boring! Guns? Soooo last century, why would you use those noisemakers when the world had some real power in it? Ugh...” She bit her cheek in frustration as she tried to work out what to do from here. After a few moments she let out a colossal sigh. “Stupid unfair boring over-compensating guns...” She hung her head as a couple tear drops fell down her face. “It’s not fair I just want what is mine, is that too much to ask? I guess I really don’t have a chance here..do I?” She covered her face with her hand and let out a sob.

All the while she was focusing on gathering magical energy. There were still roots around for her to control, and even if there weren’t she could form her own with a bit more effort. She began to sob louder, complaining about how she isn’t good enough and how hard she tried, as the roots began to move.
They traveled through the ground, off to the side, and exited behind her opponent. She took a deep breath and looked at the man with reddened eyes “Why didn’t you just let me win!?” She shouted as she commanded the roots to shoot forward, aiming to spear Action-Jim through the back.

Camille grunted in pain as the kick and the wound took its toll on his body. He was able to take a fair bit more punishment than many but this still was wearing on him. And then to add insult to injury Nero makes that...speech.
Something in Cam snapped.

"You are wrong." Camille said, eyes flashing with anger. "Someone like you, who thinks that only those willing to kill are worth anything, you disgust me. I thought you might be different but you're just as scummy as my father, just wanting to reach your goals no matter who you hurt. I will defeat you but I will NOT kill. But...that doesn't mean I won't beat you within an inch of your life!"

Camille let out a shout as he rushed Nero. He activated his Force Palm in not one, but two hands, blasting Nero with intense force into a tree. He wasn’t finished, he charged forward and aimed a punch for the man’s face. He began charging his Stun Buster, struggling hard to keep the charge going while concentrating on the fight.

"...You really are missing the entire point, it seems."

Being blasted back into a tree somewhat hurts, but it's not really enough to set Nero back. He dodged the punch aimed at his face and proceeded to punch the boy's chest as hard as he could, before summoning the flower chains to bind the boy's limb so that he could get away from getting pinned by him. At the very least, Nero was slightly proud that his attempt at being a demon to rile Camille up was successful. He's now fighting with all of his strength, and finally showed what kind of willpower he actually had inside of his frail-looking body.

"I'm not exactly sure how you reach that conclusion about my words, but that should not matter at this point."

Clasping his hands, Nero summoned four big flowers mid air that started to spin like a chainsaw, and fired them all towards the bound Camille from several meters from his right side.

He couldn't let himself get caught, he couldn't he couldn't...The young man twisted his arm as it began getting bound in the chain. He bit his lip and let loose his Force Palm, blasting the chain away from his arm slightly, at the cost of damaging his Stun Buster.

With his left arm freed, Camille twisted to face the chainsaw-flowers. He had to hurry and use his Force Palm to loosen his bindings on his right side as well. But the flowers were here now. He dodged out of the way of most, but was forced to blast the last one and it veered off course. However it was still spinning towards Cam and tore through his side, cutting a gash in it to match the stab wound on his other side.

Cam staggered, the pain from both attacks threatening to get through his unnatural pain defenses. Nevertheless Cam continued. He wouldn't let it end like this.

He tore off towards Nero, exclaiming as he did so, "I understand perfectly, I understand how people with power treat others, don't you dare look down on me!" As he neared the man, Cam suddenly shifted into a slide. Now at a lower angle he aimed his palm up at the man, blasting in the hopes the unexpected move would be enough to catch Nero off guard.

"It is not about power. If that is the only thing necessary to come out on top, then humans such as you will not be the one that inherited this world."

Nero grunted slightly, but he was still managed to be as articulate as he was before despite the pain that he felt from Camille's attack, which he was unable to dodge successfully. The repeated blast from Camille's palms really had damaged him a lot, but he'd still probably manage to go on if that's the extent of what the boy could do to him. He grabbed Camille on his throat as he tanked through the pain, and using his strength, threw him back before firing his sword copies towards the boy as rapidly traveling projectiles.

"Strong people. Weak people. That is simply the perception of misguided humans when it comes to how their society works. Strength does not create change.

I thought you are already aware about this fact, but perhaps my judgment is flawed."

"I don't care! I don't need to change the world, who's to say anyone by themselves have that right? I want freedom! Freedom from the pain, freedom to choose my own course, and freedom from people like you and Gerald who want to use me for their own gain!"

Part of Camille knew that Nero wasn't out to use him, however he was too far gone in his anger to register that. To him Nero represented everything he wanted to end.

Camille dodge one, two...but not three. Not four. The swords sunk into his flesh, wounding him even more. Blood splattered as he forced himself to continue. He reached Nero, wounded and bleeding heavily, but still in one piece. He started a barrage of punches and kicks, refusing to let up, pushing his body to its limits.

In the corner of his vision warnings flashed, warnings that his body, his heart, was giving out. He couldn't last much longer.

But he had to last...just a bit more. Just a bit...

"Now you're really just spouting nonsense."

Nero's condition wasn't in a much better situation than Camille's, as much as he tried to keep up his strong and intimidating front so far. The strings he used to move his own body as effectively as he did before had been cut when he used his flash step to dodge Camille's attack earlier, and right now he's struggling to even dodge Camille's punches. His stamina was waning greatly, he could barely even focus on the battle, and Camille's speed and size really made it hard for him to strike at him using his sword.

Even then, he could see that Camille was getting desperate. As he continued to assault him, Nero could clearly see that each of his attacks was more and more rabid and uncoordinated than before, not that it's saying much. One hard punch hit him in the chest. Camille really didn't seem to let his assault falter. Like a cornered rat, as he stood near the boundary between life and death Camille was at his strongest now.

That thought made Nero smile.

He stopped his attempt to dodge Camille's attacks, and instead, Nero launched a strong jab straight at the boy's face, punching his pretty face as hard as the ex-demon could and had the boy thrown backwards a bit from the force at the cost of the usage of Nero's own right hand. He could use his flowers to bind Camille's movements again, but at this point Nero felt that doing that would just sully the honor of this battle.

"Can you still stand up, young man? It'd be a shame if this battle ends now.

Freedom, justice, in the end, this world will not hand them to everyone for free. It is quite regrettable, but such is how things are for now. The world shall only grant them to those who fight for them, for those who struggled instead of accepting their destiny and become complacent.

Not to the strong ones, but to those that are determined to make a change, for their own fate or even for the world itself. That determination...that willpower is the strongest weapon you humans have.

So I reckon you'd be able to show me how much you desire your freedom with your final onslaught soon."

Putting up a tough facade. As aggrandized as his words were, Nero himself knew that he wouldn't last much longer. Camille's punch earlier had cracked through his ribs, and he was starting to have a difficulty in breathing, hurting his focus greatly in the meantime. His right arm was pretty much nonfunctional from his earlier punch at Camille. His legs were barely able to support his body now.

Knowing that he was not in a position to attack directly and openly now, Nero sighed as he ended up exerting what was left of his own magic as much as possible, generating as many phantom copies of his swords as possible around the area, all of them were pointing at Camille. Nero himself at this point couldn't count how much did he make. Without being able to move freely, probably this was the only way he could actually had a shot at winning the battle.

Was it dishonorable? Kind of.

"No remorse, just keep moving forward. No need for pity, just keep on moving forward.

This is the end."

And with those words, Nero fired the blades towards the still recuperating Camille.

"Why do you think I joined this tournament? I have a chance to take my freedom with my own hands and I won't let it be denied by you, or anyone else!"

Strong words but Cam couldn't be sure he could back them up anymore. Every movement was agony, his vision was blurring and he was losing far too much blood.

And the swords. So many swords...he couldn't dodge them all. And so he didn't try. The final push was here, Cam knew it and he was sure Nero knew it too. It was now or never.

He focused as best he could, drawing as much energy from his body as he could muster into his arms and legs. He was only partially robotic yet he still had some control over the way energy flowed through his body. He wouldn't be able to do much of anything after this final assault, no matter the outcome.

"I will have my freedom, no matter what!"

Camille went straight into the gauntlet of swords, taking the wounds as he neared his opponent. His body was slashed, and pierced, multiple times as he did so. It was by sheer force of will that Cam was even able to stand. And finally he reached Nero, for one last punch, ending in a final burst of kinetic energy from Force Palm.

And then...pain. A sudden and terrible pain. Cam looked down to see Nero's blade through his chest, his blood seeping out onto the man's hand. He blinked twice and looked up at the Nero, shock clear on his feminine features. Nero pulled the sword back and Cam felt himself fall backwards.

Everything seemed to be moving slower, and Cam could only think of what had brought him to this moment. All the torment and torture he had endured, all the frustration and loneliness. All leading him to pursuing this long-shot chance at freedom.

And now, it was all gone. Everything that he was, everything he had been, slipping away as his vision faded.

"Well." He thought. "In a way, this is a kind of freedom..."

Dad · September 5, 2015

WARNING. THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM IS RATED M FOR VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE, AND NUDITY. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The crowds erupted, as the once quiet battle between Camille and Nero was accelerated by a third party, unbeknownst to them. The silence between Nero and Cam was interrupted by their sudden thirst for one another's blood, causing a rather unusual clash between two rather odd individuals. But for those that stuck around, they would not be disappointed. Nero got off to a quick start, but Camille would not be over come by his barrage of attacks so easily. However, whittling down Camille by a series of unrelenting barrages proved to be the key to Nero's victory, as the maid attempted a rather desperate, foolhardy closing to his mission. Though his heart was radiant, and powerful, in the end, Nero proved to be too much for Camille, who collapsed in the Decadence Forest, falling unconscious, and bleeding out heavily. Nero stood over his foe, panting from exhaustion, as he fell to a knee. And not moments too soon, behind Nero on the edge of the forest, a violent explosion of fire, metal, shrapnel, and gasoline hurtled to the fields that encompassed the massive forest, setting them ablaze.

"Damn," he said placing a hand on the back of Cam's neck, taking the boy's pulse. "He's really gonna die on me." Nero forced himself to stand, as he heard his helicopter approaching in a nearby clearance. "Idiot. Rest in peace." Spotting his helicopter, Nero attempted to take Cam's body back, but was instructed differently by his pilots and co-pilot. "I'm sorry sir, we can't bring him back with us!" they called over the whirring of the chopper. "What? What!? He at least deserves a burial! What--was this ordered by your boss!?" Nero retorted. The pilots looked to each other, and then back to Nero. "I'm sorry, there's no time! You need to--! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" An explosion rocked the forest, as the sparks from the downed helicopter that had belonged to Camille's pilots had begun to reach the forest. The animals could be seen scurrying away, as a violent flame began barreling towards them all.

"Sir!"

"Gah, sheet! Cam, I'm sorry!" he called back to the dying boy. Jumping inside, and strapping himself in, Nero ordered the pilots to take off. "Go, go! Get the hell out of here!" And as they took off, a volatile explosion erupted from the forest, nearly engulfing the helicopter in flames.

"Hobbes. All those animals. Cam. Did you account for this!? Did you, Gerald!?" Nero screamed in the back of his mind. A fist balled, he punched hard into his already injured leg, hoping the pain would take his mind off of what had just happened. But it would only put him to sleep. A deep, unshakable sleep that seemed to creep up on Nero absurdly fast. The stream began to die, as the Golden Gate Hotel logo appeared once again, forcing the crowd to turn their attention to the single remaining broadcast, featuring a half-dragon, and titan.

And meanwhile, deep in the now scorching Decadence Forest, Cam's body was covered in a sickening black magical barrier, and was swallowed whole into a pit of nothing, as the forest burned. And Hobbes, who had heard the helicopter crash, was already outside of the forest, watching his home burn. On his knees in tears, he cried out to the skies. "By the gods, you will resent this! Can you hear me!? Can you!?" he screamed. He slammed his fists repeatedly against the ground, only to be comforted by the pitiful licks of Calvin, who narrowly avoided death.

But the crowd felt not an ounce of pity for Hobbes, Camille, Calvin, or Nero. For they were entertained. They erupted in cheers, boos, applause, and jeering. Gerald of course was more than pleased. Things would have ended very similarly, even if Nero and Cam had not fought.

Golden Gate Hotel Bar

Gerald smiled, as the few remaining bar patrons cheered behind him, watching the large television in front of them.

"Damn! That was cuttin' it close!"

"Close? You kiddin' me?"

"Those poor animals."

"What's gonna happen to that uh, wizard dude!?"

"He's dead, obviously."

"Show some respect!"

They were bantering over the match that had just ended. Typical. Gerald shook his head, before raising his glass. "To Nero, another victor!" Gerald said, interrupting the crowd behind him. They all cheered, as Gerald observed the expected, nasty reactions from his company. It was perfectly timed, as Gerald was now receiving a phone call on his personal cellular phone. "Excuse me dears," he said to Tyson and Odette. The old man sat his drink down, and walked away from ear shot of the lobby bar.

"Sir. There's one match remaining. It seems our final two contestants for this round have agreed to some sort of unexplained 'tiebreaker'. We don't have many details."

Gerald scoffed at this, his mood going sour immediately. But, keeping his composure, he smiled anyway. "Well. We can't have that, now can we? You know what to do." He ended the conversation quickly, and returned to his seat at the bar with Tyson and Odette.

Cavern of Sirens

As Saul and Elspire stood in the cavern, a loud metallic crash could be heard around them, and it was deafening. If they looked carefully, the natural light of the cavern was being closed off, and the native creatures began to panic. And in an instant, the entire cavern began to get very, very warm. If Saul and Elspire were to travel to any single opening to either point of the cavern, including the openings in its roof, they would see what looked to be standard metal plating, at first. However, upon further inspection, one would find that this was no ordinary metal, and it was giving off a most sinister heat. This metal, being as rare as it was, would prove to be invulnerable to magic, and able to withstand gigatons of pressure and force. No amount of strength Elspire or Saul could muster would break through these barriers. They had but one choice: fight. A winner had to be declared, lest they, and every species inside of the Cavern be boiled alive. The survival of the titan and dragon races were now on the line, as their hands were forced.

Mr. Hyde · September 5, 2015

This wasn't what he had expected...not Saul accepting a tie breaker, but having their wishes be denied. He thought that was a staple rule, that they were allowed to resolve their conflict through some sort of trial, but Elspire guessed that ratings were more important than rules at this moment.

"THIS ISN'T FAIR GERALD! WE COULD'VE SETTLED THIS NICELY!" Elspire's rage grew, but he couldn't lose control. Not this time. He took in a deep breath, a breath that took in the aroma's of the cavern. A sorrowful grimace stained Elspire's face, and he turned to face his opponent again. "I'm sorry Saul...but looks like this is the end of the road for one of us...and I don't plan on it being me...I mean...I just became a dad for Pete's sake..." he tried to crack a smile, as his grip tightened around the egg, but only sorrow showed. "It was fun...but I think that playtime's over..." Elspire placed his egg down in a safe location next to the siren's pool. As he began to rise, static ran frantically across his body. When he fully rose, a lightning bolt struck him, and engulfed his body. It was much like the time prior in their fight when Elspire turned into a raging dragon monster, but this time Elspire was in control. The creature that emerged was much more slender than the previous monster, and it's scales were golden. It's wings were much more fleshed out and looked capable of complete flight.

"This...Saul...is my true Dragon Form!" He was capable of thorough communication in this form, unlike his hulking berserk form. However, now he changed his language from English to Dragonic, and he spoke to his brethren in the cave. "Friends...your enemy is before you...we must strike him down to prevent your precious home from being your tomb....so help me!" The dragons of the cave, in fear of losing their home, rose to the challenge. The crystal dragons all roared in unison, shaking the cavern with only the power of their vocal chords. To some the noise might've led to an insane migraine, but to Elspire, it was a symphony he had only heard in his head until this point. Elspire broke his concentration on the voices to let loose a massive roar of his own. The roar soon turned into his signature attack, the True Roar of the Thunder Dragon. This attack was surely twice as devastating as any previous attack Elspire had let loose prior, and shot it towards Saul. The other dragons of the cave also used their special breath attacks, but their's came in the form of laser bullets and not a continuous stream like Elspire's.

Maeriberii Haan · September 6, 2015

“Right there at the back seat! Yes, I mean you, Miss Itakura.

I think it was time for you to tell the class about your dream for the future, so come ahead now.”

“U-uh?” The brown-haired girl woke up from her nap, and started to look around the class, still being quite dazed and half-awake. Her friends started to laugh at the sight, and her teacher just shook her head seeing Arisu’s antics. The girl, finally getting the gist of her situation after a minute, lazily stood up from her desk and went up ahead, and stood in front of her class while she still tried her best to stay awake.

“Now, Arisu, tell us what are you planning to do when you’ve grown up, will you?” Her teacher asked her once more.

“U-uh…right, right.

When I’m an adult…I want to create a way so I can live forever.”

That answer prompted her class to be silent, not really sure on how to react to that statement. Of course, everyone who were present there felt that her answer was quite…out there and illogical, but they were too dumbfounded to even laugh at that answer. The teacher just looked at her weirdly and shook her head in response.

“Why do you want to live forever, Miss itakura?”

“I…I want to have enough time to learn everything. I want…I want to know the secret that this world of ours tried to hide!” Getting prompted by that question, Arisu this time answered with much excitement on her voice. “At first…I’m thinking on having something else as an answer here. Maybe becoming a prince to save a damsel in distress, but that would just make everyone laugh at me. At first, I want to answer this and say I want to be the hero of my story like what those fairy tale books said, Miss. But…I know that it’s not really what I wanted.

I just want to know, and know more. Know more, know everything. I hate it when I got things wrong, so I want to know everything so I can’t be wrong again. And since I won’t be able to know everything just by learning everything I can in my life span…this is why I want to live forever!”

“Is that so…? Hm…maybe this is not my place to ask about this, Miss itakura, but I’m curious about how will you answer it.

After you know about everything, what then?”

"I think I'm ready now." Arisu, now looking in a really good mood after her round has been secured without her spending too much resources, left the bathroom of the hotel to walk towards Fate, the wounds she suffered from the battle had seemingly disappeared from her body. Of course, she did just kill herself inside of the bathroom and then burnt the remains to ashes there, but that's just minor details. Probably the janitor would just freak out or something, but eh, that's pretty much just her Saturdays.

"Hey, I guess as a way to...uh...show my..g-, tch, whatever.

I'll go treat you for a drink, even if I'm sure we'll get them for free anyway. Won't accept no for an answer so yeah, let's go!"

The blue-haired lich grabbed the young girl's hand, and dragged her towards the hotel's bar room. Once the two of them was there, she noticed the presence of Gerald, that certain man that gave her the chills earlier yesterday, and the girl with the eye artifact that Arisu wished to steal, along some irrelevant nameless bar patrons, all was seemingly watching the result of the matches from there. Getting herself and the hooded young girl a skirt, Arisu turned around to look at Gerald, though he then walked away so Arisu shifted her gaze to the bar patron instead.

"Hey, is it fine if an underage drinks alcohol here?"

VCR_CAT · September 8, 2015

Saul: Cavern of Sirens

Saul growled as Gerald intervened; the arena growing hotter and hotter as it became more encased. Elspire spoke about this being the end of the truce, and donned his true dragon form. Saul stood unimpressed; fully expecting what was to arrive at him. Elspire spoke to the dragons in their own tongue; one that Saul was not terribly familiar with but a couple simple words could be picked out. Either way, he had a good guess over what this was about. The Dragons roared in unison, and Saul glared at the foolish boy. So it'll come to this.

"If you wish to save your race, do not involve them," Saul growled. "This fight is between you and me; but I am not afraid to wipe out the dragons for good if I have to."

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZjBW989hrs

The assault of the breath attacks came at once; yet Saul was gone in a flash of flames, appearing off to the side by a nearby dragon and bringing his flaming blade through the dragon's skin like a hot knife through butter. The dragon's flesh let out a sizzling noise and burnt smell as smoke wafted from the clean cut that ran through the beast. No blood dropped to the ground, but the shock from the pain caused the dragon to at least pass out. It would die from the mortal wound; cautorized or not.

"THIS IS WHAT WILL BECOME OF YOUR RACE, IF YOU WISH TO FOLLOW THIS PATH," Saul yelled at Elspire; hardly intimidated by the numbers. "THIS FIGHT IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME; DO NOT MAKE ME CARRY OUT THE ACTIONS OF A FAILED DEITY."

With that, Saul gave little time to react as he let out a loud yell and thrust out his arm; a searing beam of light lancing out, cutting through any stone in its way and aimed directly at Elspire's chest.

Dirk Rider: Sahill Cathedral

Dirk groaned as the girl basically whined and complained about the gun. Jeeze, was she really that much of a b*tch? Probably. I mean, quite the looker. Quite young, but if she has the personality of a rattlesnake then that's a bit of a turn-off. Not totally, though.

"Well, if you're just gonna be a b*tch about it, sayonara crazy b*tch," Dirk began, aiming his gun at Morgan and squeezing the trigger.

Until a sharp pain lanced through his back. A sharp vine struck against against him; knocking Dirk forward and piercing through his skin, but only so far. Blood spewed from the wound, but not as fast as if the vines were a sharp knife or anything. Nonetheless, lacerations sucked. The Dust Rider fired off with a loud bang, but the bullet would miss its mark of the witch's head and would firing towards her legs or the broom.

Thankful for his upgrades that the vines did not pierce all the way through, Dirk was still pissed that the vines cut into him at all. Forming a pearly-white axe from the moonlight, Dirk spun around on his feet and sliced through the nearest vine cleanly with a bright flash.

"So, I guess you want the ugly route, then," Dirk smirked as gripped the axe, facing Morgan.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · September 8, 2015

The roots hadn't been quite sharp enough to get the job done. She shoulda just crushed him like the fly he was and gotten over with it, stupid guy must have been made of stronger material than he looked.

"So, I guess you want the ugly route, then,"

The gunshot totally missed her, and she was about to comment on it when she heard a sharp crack and the broom she was sitting on split in twain. She fell to the ground, landing on her behind onto the dirt. "You son of a jabroni! What kind of bastard does that to a girl's favorite broom, oooh you're SO gonna pay for that."

She got to her feet and brushed the dirt off her dress, unknowingly giving the man a bit of a show as it rode up just enough for a peek under.

"And sure, the ugly route. Might as well give you home field advantage right?" She called, blowing a raspberry as she adjusted her stance.

She had to focus, this guy was in her way of moving on in the tournament and she was more than willing to kill him to get there. "I may have used a lot of energy showing up Mold King back there but I have more than enough to take you on. Let's rumble."

Immediately a trio of flaming skulls flared up above her. She sent the first two right at him, and as soon as he dodged out of the way of those she'd be on his ass with the last.

Meanwhile, in an office building in a far off city, Shane Issacs watched the matches with apparent casual interest. The owner of Issacs Corp, the leading company in robotics (after eliminating the competition through somewhat questionable methods), had retired to his office to observe the tournament that Gerald had set up.

He had pulled some strings to get his latest invention, that is to say his son, into the tournament. He wouldn't waste the chance to observe how it fared in the field. Though so far he was...less than pleased.

He hadn't taken his eyes off the screen the entire match, despite how slow of a start it was, and watched the whole thing while occasionally munching on the stash of candy bars he had brought with him.

"The boy still has that illogical fear of animals, I had hoped the recent updates would have overridden that particular feature, maybe I have to adjust the chemicals themselves...hmm."

He let out a small grin as the boy brought down the moth. "A joint effort maybe but at least the weaponry is working fine, despite the limiters I installed to make sure he couldn't use the full potential. Wouldn't do to make this easy on him, research must come first."

And then the true test started, the fight with the rather...unusual entity. A demon if his studies had taught him anything. And a strong one.

It seemed the boy was pushing his limited functions to the maximum, good, that's exactly what Shane had wanted. If he pushed too far and shut down completely Shane would learn much about the limitations to the enhancements.

However he was still holding back, mentally if not physically, Shane counted at least three instances where the boy could have claimed victory by use of lethal force. The foolish boy had still managed to hold onto his frustrating ideals and morals, despite how much Shane tried to force them out of him. Some may have called it torture what he did to mold the boy into a perfect weapon, but Shane simply called it progress.

Progress that, it seemed, had been wasted on this foolish child. When the demon killed the boy he let out a frustrated sigh. All that time spent on the boy wasted. He proved to be a disappointment in the end anyway. No matter, he could start again. All the information he gathered from this experiment would help immensely in his work.

He stood up, and then realized what Gerald was doing. He was burning the forest down, which would mean... Damn it! Shane grabbed for his phone, he would contact this man. How dare he? How dare he do that to Camille's body? That body was Shane's even in death, without it being retrieved it would set him back and that could NOT be tolerated.

Mr. Hyde · September 11, 2015

The man had vanished. There was no way he could dodge an omni-directional attack unless he had teleported almost instantaneously! Elspire was sure that Saul wasn't naturally fast enough for that, so this must've been some sort of powerful magic he possessed. The next thing he knew, another one of his kin lay barely breathing on the floor. Elspire bared his fangs. He had underestimated Saul, and for that one of his brethren lie dying on the floor.

"THIS FIGHT IS BETWEEN YOU AND ME; DO NOT MAKE ME CARRY OUT THE ACTIONS OF A FAILED DEITY." In a flash, he stuck out his hand much like he had when they first encountered each other. This must've been that light attack that pierced through some rocks, Elspire would be sure to not let the attack hit him. However, it was much faster than he had anticipated, and as he weaved under the beam, it crazed his left shoulder. The burning sensation made Elspire wince, this attack was enough to pierce his dragon scales. Using his momentum from his weaving motion, Elspire took to the air. His allies watched as Elspire unfurled his wings, flapping every so often. Static formed around Elspire's fist, and he opened that fist to reveal some sharp looking talons. A tear was shed that fell to the cavern floor.

"Like you're any better than that deity...LIKE YOU HAD TO MORTALLY WOUND A FRIEND OF MINE!? AFTER I THOUGHT THIS FIGHT WOULD BE MORE CIVIL? I'm sure your strength is enough to incapacitate a single dragon, but you insisted on killing it....you monster." His roars were vicious and heartfelt. "I've underestimated you so far Saul. Your instinct to kill far surpasses mine...but I guess you've done the same as well to me! I'll end this with my own claws!" Elspire gathered the static into a very visible form of electricity in his hand. The electricity that surrounded him almost sounded like chirping. "I'm coming at you with everything I've got now..." Elspire growled, "Prepare yourself!" With a forward thrust, Elspire bolted towards Saul with his electrified talons stuck out in front of him, almost like an electric spear flying through the air. "BLADE OF THE TRUE THUNDER DRAGON!" Another harmonious roared echoed from the peanut gallery, as the dragons of the cave watched the fight not having to fear for their lives anymore.

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Golden Gate Empire [IC / No Longer Accepting / PG - 16]

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