Golden Gate Empire: Dreams of Grandeur [IC | PG-16]

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

They couldn't be allowed to get away...

 

"You make deal with General. Not us," The militia responded. "We take you to him. Alive. If you not stupid."

 

Jack let out a sigh. "That wasn't the deal," She said, cold and stern, her voice filter carrying the words with far more weight than normal. Jack watched through Hack's feed as the soldier to her left began to make a move. Idiots, did they really think she was just some bozo in a suit of armor? Before the soldiers could react, the area in the jungle was filled with a thick cloud of red smoke, small bolts of electricity sparking between the vapors. At the same moment, tethers shot from Jack's arm into the branch above her, lifting her directly upwards as shots were fired in various directions. The soldiers were coughing and twitching, feeling their skin itch and burn as the charged particles played across them and into their lungs. The Gentronites in the smoke sank into their suits, but there was only so much on their persons that could be infected. The soldier that lunged at Jack found himself grasping at thin air, then he found a pair of legs wrapped around his neck.

 

"You funkers have no idea how big of a mistake you made," Jack's voice growled, echoing through each and every soldier's hacked radio. Jack flexed her legs and twisted, slowly and surely. A smile cracked below her helmet as she listened to the soldier choking, a smile that slowly turned into a chuckle, and then a sinister laugh that repeated in each headset. And then there it was, the satisfying snap of the militia man's neck as his body fell limp.

 

The other soldiers ran from the smoke, choosing to fall back and hopefully regroup before they got a clean sight of their target once more. Jack let the dead soldier's body fall to the ground, and used her tethers to pull herself up into the trees; swinging up and on top of the branches as she sunk into the shadows of the canopy of leaves.

 

However, Jack was still tapped into the soldiers' radios and decided now was the time to rattle some chains. "I've got a message for this general JABRONI that decided he could mess with me," She started, broadcasting on every frequency these soldiers used. "If you don't want to lose any more men, then you'll stay out of my way. More powerful people than you have tried to take me down, and I'll funk you up just like the rest of them. So if you want whatever tea party bullshit you're doing here to go down smoothly, you'll leave well enough alone. I'm Jack, and you've been listening to 66.6 Jack FM."

 

Jack smiled to herself, taking out her bow as she searched for the runaway soldiers. She needed to make this message loud and clear, and nothing said that she meant business like a dead squad. Her words alone were sure to get somebody mad, and a bunch of angry soldiers running through the jungle would be the perfect obstacle for her opponents. In the meantime, all she had to do was-

 

That's when she heard the familiar alarm from Slash. Jack glanced up at her feed and saw the same creature that had appeared before. She growled under her breath, but this time was able to get a better look at the creature. If it liked Slash, then maybe should tame it; make it a mascot. How metal would it be to have a large, eldritch abomination draped over her shoulders, sleeping soundly as she made deals to clients? Bad. Ass. Unfortunately, she had neither the time nor the patience to deal with housebreaking possibly otherworldly creatures. She sent a quick command over to Slash, who, upon receiving the command, projected around himself a simple shape. From once there was a drone was now an angular creature with two swinging arms ending in bladed pincers. Slash took to his namesake and faced the wingbolt, letting out a robotic hiss as it readied its swing arms for any possible battle.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Well she wasn't shot. That was always a positive.

 

This man was a real piece of work. Bethany should be afraid but...All he was was a thug. Brazen, arrogant, piggish, and certain that he'd get what he wants. She could handle that. What she had faced so far was so much scarier if you really thought about it. Bethany had survived dozens of thugs like this before.

 

Her thoughts turned to one of her kids. Maggie. Little five year old red-head whose mother was killed by her drunk and strung-out boyfriend. Bethany had been nearby when she heard Maggie's cries and had busted into the house. He was a thug. She had broken his jaw.

 

This wouldn't be solved as easily but Bethany was a lot more relaxed once she realized that this was just another piggish thug. Granted one with a lot of help and guns. But a thug nonetheless.

 

As his men started to drag Bethany away she let out a cry of alarm and fell to her knees, having apparently tripped over herself due to the rough treatment.

One of the two men cursed at her and pulled his foot back, ready to kick her in retaliation, when the other man stopped him with some hasty words in a language Bethany couldn't understand. As the first didn't continue she guessed it was a reminder of their "general's" words.

 

"Get up." He grunted in heavily accented English.

 

Bethany nodded. "Lemme catch my breath for a second." she said, rubbing her side as though she was in some kind of pain. After a couple moments the man stepped a bit closer. "Up." he said again.

 

Bethany slipped her hand in her coat, pulled out the pistol there, and shot the man in the knee. With a pained shout the man grabbed his knee. She reached over and wrapped her hand around the other man's ankle and yanked him off his feet.

 

Surging upwards she reached out for the second's head and smashed it against the ground for good measure. Ensuring that he was unconscious before turning attention to the other man. Before he could react she swung her first and connected with the man's temple.

 

She leveled her pistol at Ife himself; a fire that the viewers wouldn't have seen before in her eyes. "As generous an offer as that is there's one big issue I have with it. I would never let my children suffer a father like you."

 

Bethany had realized during this that something was messing with her magic. It was an uncomfortable feeling that she hadn't felt before. She could only hope it wasn't permanent. She began to slowly back up in the opposite direction of Ife and his men, keeping her eye on them but also trying to listen for any changes behind her. The whole time she kept the pistol aimed at the man himself.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Basabth continued to look on at the kerfuffle, watching as Bethany handled herself fairly well against the group of thugs.  She even went so far as to best the men in hand to hand combat, obtain a firearm, and threaten them back.  Basabth couldn't help but silently cheer her on, probably against the wishes of Louis.  His head still felt a slight bit queer being so near to some of these thugs.  It was as if his connection to the shadow realm was being tampered with.  

 

"Status update."  Louis said, still lazing on his back.  

 

"Uhm...OH!  The girl held her own against the caravan.  She's got a gun now.  I don't think we should mess with her now."

 

"A gun?"  Louis sat up from his position, with a raised eyebrow.  "Basabth, when has a gun ever stopped us?  You're acting really weird."  The shadow demon rubbed his skull a bit.  

 

"Yeah, some of those guys have some funky powers I think.  It's making me feel a little woozy."  Louis chuckled.  

 

"Say no more Basabth.  You take it easy.  Jump in when I ask for your support."  Louis army crawled all the way up to the edge of the Plateau.  He could see the scene clear as day.  His shadow globbed beneath him, coating the ground in a vantablack ink.  Sprouting from the ink were three small arrowheads, pinpoint and locked on target.  The arrowheads were simply theatrics.  They would be guided by a thin string of shadow connected to Louis.  He smirked as he let them sing through the air, two headed for the thugs, and one headed for Bethany herself.  "They should've finished colonizing this place."  Louis couldn't help but add a bit of sociopolitical commentary on his killing spree.  He was a proud Frenchman, after all.  

[Hälō]

Watching as the three replicas of the angel stepped forward, Lace felt her hand move towards Beowulf. Halting herself before she could instinctively draw the broadsword from the earth, the girl felt herself smirk slightly. This guy was stronger than he looked...

 

Remembering Beowulf's enchantment, one which allowed the blade to slay beings that were never meant to be felled, Lace decided that the best course of action would be to save it as a trump card for the time being. Though that meant she would be lacking her 'big gun', it also meant that she would be able to move at full speed during this fight.

 

Besides...

 

"Looks like he really thinks he can beat us both at once..." Lace addressed Angelica without taking her eyes from the two copies that stood before them. 

 

She had another big gun standing right next her.

 

When the afterimages dashed forward, Lace the first to react. Grunting, she sprang towards Angelica, avoiding the strike of her own attacker and swiping at the afterimage intended for the other girl with a wide slash across it's flank.

 

Noting that her blade seemed to slip right through the Angelica's phantasm without effect, Lace simply shifted her attention to the solid copies as her feet hit the ground. She was sure Angelica would be fine regardless... 

 

Bringing herself to a sliding halt, Lace leaned forward for a brief moment, before suddenly dashing towards the pair of identical angels. Her tiny body became a blur of movement. Closing the gap in seconds, she brought her straight sword high above her head, swinging as if she intended to slash at the right most of the copies, only to suddenly twirly her blade in mid-stroke and plunge it into the ground at her side.

 

Using the momentum of her dash, XIII placed her second hand on the sword and swung herself forward with all her strength, attempting to greet her target with a save sidekick.  

 

[Dad]

Between Us Men

 

Clean-up had taken longer than Geno expected.  He had just lost five men, and now he had had to listen to four grieving widows and an angry son from their families.  How could this have happened right under his nose?  The coroner would have to be on his game.  There were no clear indications of cause of death, but these guys didn't just drop dead on the job.  And to make matters worse, a very dangerous individual had been kidnapped.  Removing his mask, Geno entered the lobby floor of the Northern Tower and went straight to the bar.

 

It was quite busy this evening, and most patrons were none the wiser when it came to the events that had taken place underground.  That was good.  It meant they would be able to continue enjoying themselves watching the spectacle that was this absolutely absurd tournament.  Geno sat at the bar nearest a woman sporting a spaghetti strap lace top and between a man with a very expensive looking suit.  "Gimme a malt whiskey.  Straight.  Thanks."  His drink was fixed cleanly and quickly, and Geno was given his glass.  He sniffed the whiskey deeply, as it was a smell he enjoyed.  But he would never put that liquor to his lips.  Not again.  Instead, Geno sat with his head down, and his eyes on the bar, as he began to question if he was doing the right thing.  People shouldn't have been dying like this.  And he assumed full responsibility, next to Sergei.  He sighed silently, only twirling the drink in his glass.  Something had to give.

 

---

 

Human

 

When Janey and CopyCat had escaped the hotel some fifteen minutes ago, they had been greeted by a black SUV with two armed men inside.  Bethany was thrown into the rear passenger's seat of the vehicle and CopyCat slid in along side her.  "Drive!" CopyCat had demanded.  That was fifteen minutes ago.  The ride had been silent since then.  The stress of this entire situation was causing Janey's head to tick, and she had lost a few seconds more on what used to be a one-minute timer on the bomb in her head.  She sighed and tried to calm herself down as the SUV began to slow.

 

They had turned down a few back alleys before they reached their destination at the old abandoned Helshire bank.  "Get me a connection," CopyCat said to the few armed men as he exited the vehicle.  He walked over to the opposite side of the SUV and pulled Janey out of her seat.  

 

"Let go of me, you idiot!  You're stressin' me out and I've got half a mind to blow a hole in your--!" Janey barked.  But she was slapped viciously across her face by CopyCat.

 

"Shut up, you little jabroni!  It's because of you, we're in this situation!  And now, I'm gonna make an example out of you."  CopyCat yanked Janey forward and shoved her towards the bank's doors.  "Lock this place down and get that truck out of sight.  The boss wants a distraction.  Something big.  And I have just the idea."

 

Forcing Janey to use her abilities to blow open the bank's doors, CopyCat dragged her inside and guided her down the stairs.  "What do you want with me!?  I've only ever done everything you asked!  I killed for you!"

 

"And you're about to kill again," CopyCat said.  "Move."

 

As they reached the bottom level of the Helshire Bank, the vault was wide open.  There was a large square room with broken tiling outside of the vault.  Inside were two floodlights, a wooden chair, a small wooden table, and a camera which had all been prepared.  "I should've known she could read minds," CopyCat mumbled.  He pushed the wooden chair against the wall, where the vault could not be seen by the camera.  "Sit," CopyCat demanded.  Janey did as she was instructed and plopped down into the chair.  She was growing more stressed by the second, and things were about to get worse for her.  "Tie her up.  Make sure she can't feel her wrists."

 

Janey was tied down to the chair with rope, her wrists bound but her legs free.  She began fidgeting, and CopyCat was getting annoyed.  "Keep still!  This will be a lot less painful if you cooperate.  IS THE CONNECTION READY!?" CopyCat screamed, turning around to face four armed men.  They nodded.  

 

"The generator should restore power to this floor.  You can broadcast when the floodlights come on," explained one of the thugs.  "There's a hotspot you can use.  Doesn't have a password, just connect to it."

 

"Good.  Keep your eyes on her while I get the camera ready," CopyCat ordered.  He positioned the camera in the center of the room and focused it on Janey.  The floodlights ticked on and the camera was powered on as well.  The camera's wi-fi camera searched for a connection, and when CopyCat got a signal, he grinned.  "I'll make sure this gets out to at least the entirety of the Westcoast.  It should stir the pot just enough."  Janey's eyes fell on two guards behind CopyCat, and the two guards who left the room.  It was now only Janey, CopyCat, and two of his armed men in this room beside the vault.  "You look good in this light, you know," CopyCat said, licking his lips.  "It's too bad all your good looks are gonna go to waste."

 

Janey's eyes widened.  "Are you going to rape me, you pervert!?  I'll kill you, CopyCat!  I'll kill you, I swear!" she screamed

 

"What!?  God, no!  What kind of man do you take me for!?" CopyCat rebutted.  "I've no intentions of getting intimate with you, Janey.  But I am going to make you suffer.  For all the trouble you've caused, you will feel great pain.  And if I'm right, it should set off your timer.  That bomb in your head will level three city blocks of San Francisco.  If we blow it down here, the ground will collapse and sink, killing a few thousand people.  Then everything will be in motion as humans and metahumans go to war."

 

Janey blinked, shaking her head.  "That's what this is about?  You want to start a war!?  What for!?"

 

CopyCat laughed.  "I don't even know the full extent of her plans to tell you the truth.  But once you've seen what this chick can do, believe me, you wouldn't question her either.  Besides.  Once she begins her mass operation, she's already told me that my place is safe on the other side if I do as I'm asked.  You?  Not so much.  Now shut up.  I'm about to begin recording."

 

"You won't get away with this!  Bethany will know!  Bethany will stop you!" Janey screamed.

 

"Sorry, who?  Is that the ice jabroni?  Oh, never mind," CopyCat said, as he pressed the record button on the camera.  "Are we rolling? We're rolling, we're rolling.  Greetings San Francisco!" he squealed with excitement as he stepped in front of the camera.

 

"My name--!  Actually, you don't need to know my name.  And don't bother getting used to my face, since you won't see it again for quite some time.  But this woman!" CopyCat said, backing away so that he was in focus and next to Janey.  He put his arm around her shoulder.  "This woman is a terrorist and a metahuman."

 

"What!?" she blurted out.

 

"Don't deny it!" CopyCat said, striking Janey in her face again.  "The bombings in New Mexico, three years ago.  That was you.  The bombing in Nevada in the mountains.  Thankfully no one got hurt, but that was you too!  And the bombs you've set up right here in San Francisco!  All you!" CopyCat snarled, getting in Janey's face.

 

"I didn't do anything!"Janey screamed.

 

"Liar!" CopyCat retorted, punching Janey in her stomach.  Janey groaned and coughed while CopyCat dragged on with his lies.  "I want you to look in that camera and tell the innocent people you're about to kill, that you're sorry!  You're sorry for ruining their lives and taking their loved ones!  I want you to tell them, that as a metahuman, you're a disgrace to the world!  Say it!" CopyCat demanded.

 

But Janey shook her head.  "No," she said softly.  She could feel the timer in her head ticking down again.

 

"SAY IT!" CopyCat roared.  He punched Janey in her stomach again.  "SAY IT!  SAY IT!"  With each of CopyCat's outcries, he struck Janey.  In her face.  In her stomach.  In her chest.  She coughed up blood, and the right side of her face had been bruised badly.  "You're a COWARD!" CopyCat spat.

 

Janey's eyes began to well up with tears.  She was confused, angry, saddened, and so much more.  "Why...are you doing this?" she asked, as a tear fell down her bloodied face.  "Nothing will come of it."

 

CopyCat grabbed Janey by her face and forced her to raise her head so the camera could see her face.  "Because at the end of the day, it's scum like you who put innocent people in danger.  You do untold amounts of damage, and you're never held responsible.  You are the reason that freak show is being held at a God damn hotel right here in our state!  A tournament for metahumans to kill each other and put the rest of the world in danger!  You are the problem!  You should've never born!  You should've never existed!!" CopyCat hollered.

 

Janey was reaching her end.  There was nothing she could do.  But fortunately, her captors were as stupid as they looked.  Janey looked up into the camera, then to CopyCat.  "Screw you.  I'm human," she wheezed.  "Just like you."

 

BGM:  Human

 

"You'll never be human!  You'll never be normal!  You'll never be one of us!  You're a freak and an enemy to humanity!" CopyCat belted out.  He extended a hand backward, towards the camera.  "So you can die like the dog you are."  CopyCat waved a hand to the two armed men behind the camera, and one of them handed him a pistol.  He brandished the weapon not by its grip but by its barrel, and he struck Bethany in the face again.  "I'll beat you to death!  You deserve to suffer!  You don't get to die like us!"

 

Janey's fingers twitched, as she tried not to make a sound.  With what little strength she had, she snapped her fingers and a pop occurred behind her back.  This was Janey's power at its most subtle.  The pop snapped the rope on her wrists and Janey rocketed forward out of her chair.  She tackled CopyCat to the ground and his two armed guards aimed their guns at her head.  She raised both of her hands and discharged a powerful blast at both gunmen.  Their torsos were blasted cleanly through, and they stuttered, dropping their weapons.  They fell to the ground dead, and Janey put her hand to CopyCat's head.

 

"Janey, wait!  It was just for show!  I was never gonna let you die here!  I swear!  You know I still love you!" CopyCat pleaded.

 

"Loved me?" she spat.  Blood from Janey's lip fell onto CopyCat's forehead.  "You've never loved me.  You sold me out and turned me into a metahuman.  You're the worst kind of person there is.  You're a liar and a Judas," Janey replied.  She stood up, and CopyCat attempted to scramble for the exit.  But Janey would not allow him to leave.  She grabbed CopyCat by his shirt and yanked him backward.  She shoved him towards the vault and slugged him in his face with what little strength she had left.  CopyCat stumbled backward and fell onto the floor of the empty vault.  "What are you doing!?" he squelched.

 

"Shut up!" Janey screamed back.  She took the camera from its tripod and picked it up.  She looked into the camera and began to make her peace.  "Those things he said about me are half-truths.  This is never what I wanted," she said solemnly.  "But I am human.  Those people in that tournament are human too.  And I hope they're never treated like I am.  For being different.  For having these abilities.  That's not fair.  And Bethany, if you see this," Janey said looking over her shoulder at CopyCat.  She turned back to the camera.  "I'm sorry."

 

Janey took the camera into the vault and forced CopyCat to hold it.  She pulled the door on the vault as hard as she could, using the last of her strength.  And then, CopyCat saw Janey smile, turning the camera to her.  Her face began to glow a bright orange, and Janey knew her time was up.  "You wanted to see this through to the end, right?"  Janey dragged her way over to CopyCat and took the camera from him.  "You're gonna get a personal close up, you son of a jabroni."

 

"No!  NONONO!  GET AWAY FROM ME!"  CopyCat screamed.  But Janey had pinned him down, and the camera was facing both of them.  

 

"My name is Janey Briggs.  And I'm human," she said as her face turned an unnatural shade of red, like blood.  

 

CopyCat screamed with all his might, and Janey slugged him one last time.  "Rot in pieces."

 

Janey's final words were for her, and no one else.  She felt the pinch in her head, and she gasped as the world seemed to go dark.  Her head expanded outwards like a balloon, and a violent explosion followed immediately.  It rocked the entirety of the Helshire bank and the city block on which it stood.  Because Janey had closed the vault, the explosion was contained to half a city block instead of three.  The bank's bottom floors buckled and caused it to collapse in on itself.  A nearby grocery which had closed for the night had lost a quarter of its store to the explosion.  Unfortunately, an apartment complex on the same block also suffered damage.  The top three floors were the worst, as they too collapsed in and killed sixteen people.

 

The video had already been recording live on the web, and so it would spread regardless of any attempt to scrub it from existence.  By the following morning, it would reach all over the United States.

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

...wal...

...Ra...

...Rawal...

His awareness kept fading in and out of the blackness, his head pounding, spinning and his stomach queasy from the loss of blood in his body. While he had managed to cast the spell that would end up saving his life in time, that would mean nothing if he was allowed to pass out now.

Let me...sleep...

Lord Rawal...you sleep now, your life will be forfeit.

That got him to open his eyes and look into Talis-Eye's largest eye upon recalling the memory of someone stealing away with a copy of his memories while the Eyebeast was unable to do anything. Thieves like that usually do not like the source sticking around for very long as well.

"F...fi...fine..." Rawal managed to croak, his voice only barely above a whisper as he coughed up blood. "I need to...to heal...heal more..."

Placing a hand each over the two holes on him as Talis-Eye slowly rested him against an empty spot near the base of a large tree, Rawal managed to utter an incantation without tripping over the words before his hands glowed with a sickly-green light. The light moved into the two holes before spreading throughout him, healing him over time.

You need to stay awake while the Regeneration Aura's healing, Lord Rawal.

I am aware, but I will need you to keep an eye out for anything that's not supposed to be here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wingbolt flapped once its clawed wings to get away from the thing that suddenly changed size, before lowering its wings and revealing that the creature could actually float in place. It tilted its head to one side, stuck its tongue out and bopped it between the middle of its two red triangles with the tip of its snout.

Then it began to flap away towards its partner, whom had been firing away at the Shaman whom had managed to score twice against Rawal.

[VCR_CAT]

Golden Gate Hotel - Bar

 

It was only a few minutes after Geno sat down that the man in the suit next to him spoke to him. Of course, he never took his eyes off the screen.

 

"I was wondering if I would see you again, Geno," The man said quietly, his accent thick, as he took a drink. "It has been long time."

 

Geno looked over, and examined the man quizzically. "I'm sorry, I can't seem to recall."

 

The man smiled and looked over with his sleepless eyes. "It is fine. I am Yamauchi; Shigeru Yamauchi. It has been many years; our company used to trade with Golden Gate. I think we only meet..." Shigeru paused to think for a moment. "Three times, before."

 

Geno's eyes lit up as he remembered. "Ah, Mr. Yamauchi, I didn't know you were around. I think the last time you were here was..." Geno paused as well, but as he put together how long it's been with Shigeru's appearance, his expression grew somewhat concerned. "Jesus, you're right, it has been a long time. What happened?"

 

Shigeru laughed, his voice somewhat hollow. "Something... came up. But it's no matter."

 

Geno's expression barely softened as he examined the other man. "So what brings you here? I wasn't told of your arrival, and Sergei hasn't said anything."

 

"Oh no, no. I am not here for business." The screens continued to jump between contestants, and settled on Jack as the soldiers approached her. Jack let out a burst of smoke, and the camera closed in on a shot of her choking one of the soldiers out with her legs. "I came here to watch my daughter."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Looks like he really thinks he can beat us both at once..."

 

"Even gods deserved to learn one or two things about humility."

 

The copies of the angel soon launched their attack using their afterimages, and Angelica went for the defensive immediately. The strikes managed to land a clear hit on her, but for the time being it wasn't really doing much as her spiritual core was still fine, allowing her to recover the damage using her nanites. She attempted to strike at the afterimage, but of course, they weren't tangible and soon disappeared anyway.

 

Seeing Lace's impressive acrobatics against one of the angel copies, Angelica smirked and got herself ready too. As both would have their attention taken by Lace, Angelica aimed her arms towards the copy that Lace weren't attacking, and focused the energy from her reactor into it. Since she was apparently getting upgraded, it might not be bad to test just how much could she do now.

 

A burst of concentrated energy soon would be fired at the copy, and Angelica felt that her system didn't overheat at all. Smiling at the realization, she immediately used all of her thrusters to dash forward and strike at the copy with her laser blades, before it could recover after Angelica's laser.

 

---

[Alaina]

With the Atlas safe from harms way, the guardian made sure that it was safe. Diving as far underwater as they could, the Atlas was placed under much stone, sand a seal made of magically compressed water. Once they confirmed it was safe, they went on to what was irritating them next. The Atlas was angered by something. Something magical. Other magical things. And in turn, the guardian was angered. They would let no harm come to it, and thus, would destroy that which would. Letting out a bestial roar from the depths of the sea, one so fierce even those on the surface above would be able to faintly hear, the guardian ascended. Rushing upwards, as they broke the surface of the water, a large column of water was expelled upwards, easily visible by all in the area, the water falling to the ground as if it was a miniature rain fall. However, despite this grand entrance, there was no beast or behemoth visible from it. 

 

Instead, landing on the ground was a being that appeared to be an adult female human in form. Her garb was very strange for the land she was in, having a more east Asian theme to them, her hair was long and black and she bore strikingly non-human features; two horns atop her head, a large blue scaled tail, and visible scales across her body. She didn't know what the source of the magic was, nor why it was agitating the Atlas. However, she could understand the source, or sources as it may be. And she would not allow such things to exist any longer. With an expression of single minded determination and fists clenched, the half-dragon began their march towards the first source of magic they could find. Within in her path there would only lay ruin; no tree left rooted, no stone unbroken, and no being would still draw breath. For she was the guardian and nothing would stop her. 

[Dad]

Nani!?

 

"Ohoho, look at you go," Ife commented as Bethany took down his men.  "You have so much spirit.  I can't wait to see what you are really capable of.  Bullet.  Help her to--"

 

"General!  Down!" screeched one of three Shaman.  From the shade of the tree line, three arrowheads launched themselves towards General Ife's men, their origin unknown.  One of them found their mark, impaling one of General Ife's soldiers in their skulls.  The second arrowhead pierced the chest of a Shaman who reacted a bit too quickly and placed himself in harm's way.  The third arrowhead met a stone wall, erected from the ground at the whim of two Shaman.  As the wall crumbled, Ife could be seen staring angrily at his Shaman.  

 

"Where did that come from?" Ife demanded, pointing at his deceased shaman.

 

"Outside of the barrier.  We detected it far too late," the Shaman apologized.

 

"Then we have more than one guest.  Bullet!" Ife barked.

 

The largest man among them with the enormous mini-gun stepped forwards.  "Rendezvous with the southern squadron.  Take a Shaman with you.  Kill anything that you deem hostile."  General Ife began to strip himself of his uniform jacket and shirt.  "I will deal with the last intruder here."  Bullet Time nodded, stomping away from General Ife and ushering one of the two remaining Shaman to follow him.  "As for you, girl," Ife said as his uniform hit the dirt at his feet.  "I will beat you until you tell me where your allies are.  They may hide in the trees, but this is my jungle."

 

General Ife was already quite agitated when he got a very brazen broadcast from an obnoxiously loud woman across his radio.  He snatched the earpiece from his ear and smashed it in his hand.  "Bullet!  If you find the one who used our radio, I want her alive!  I'm going to peel the flesh from her bones," Ife said, turning back to Bethany.  Bullet Time simply nodded, and continued on his way.

 

Upon closer inspection, there was a large golden and white striped tiger tattooed on General Ife's right arm.  And the closer he got to Bethany, the more she would be certain she could hear it--the tattoo--breathing.  Even with the gun in Bethany's hand and bullets loaded, General Ife marched forth fearlessly.  "Who is it that protects you?" he asked slowly, standing inches from Bethany's face.  Ife drew back his right arm, and it glowed with a sickening orange color.  "Who!?" he asked again.

 

---

 

Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru . . .

 

In the smoke, Dario's men choked.  Jack outmaneuvered them easily, taking advantage of her superior technology and use of the high trees.  Dario was not in range to help them.  They were on their own, fighting against a target they could not see.

 

"Up in the trees!" said one.

 

"Shoot!  Shoot!" someone screamed.

 

They fired wildly, instantly forgetting their training.  One of their bullets dinged against Hack, grazing its side and deflecting off into the distance.  But even with hundreds of bullets, they could not land a shot on Jack.  Hearing the commotion Cain spat at the ground, still hiding in the forest.  "Failed.  Again," he muttered.  Cain ran with purpose, intent on rejoining his allies and securing the area.  "You can't kill with guns?  Then you are useless," Cain said as he entered the clearing.  But before Cain could take another step, the ground quaked and stopped him in his tracks.

 

He cursed under his breath, unsure of what was happening.  Did someone find a way around Dario's barrier?  No.  That shouldn't have been possible.  Then, a water spout burst from the lake and showered the immediate area and forest with great amounts of water.  Jack and Rawal were both soaked, and the smoke Jack had dropped dissipated.  From the lake, a maiden emerged.  Her magical prowess resonated, striking fear into Cain and Dario.  They could sense the change in nature that she was creating.  Every step on land she took, the earth flooded with water and turned to mud.

 

Grass bloomed overwhelmingly so.  Trees sprouted buds of flowers that had been dead for centuries, and the earth was ripe with new life.  Yet, she, Xia, presented an unprecedented danger.  The combined magics of herself, Dario, Cain, and Rawal all affected the Atlas, and in turn, affected the maiden.  

 

"Cain!  What is that!?" Dario said as he ducked behind a tree.

 

Cain too immediately retreated.  "I do not know!  But it must die if we are to leave alive!"

 

Cain and Dario stepped out from their hiding places, both of them wielding daggers and pressing them against their hands.  They sliced their palms and their blood dripped to the ground as the brother shaman began to chant.  They would attempt to curse the maiden and repel her.  Little did they know, they would only enrage her.

 

---

 

Justice

 

The one who's artificial soul was bound to her.  It was at this moment she posed the least of a threat.  She lashed out with a brazen and powerful kick, but her efforts were futile.  Her leg was caught as she struck out.  "You move without purpose," the Choros said.  "Allow me to demonstrate an attack with purpose."

 

Choros yanked Lace backward with an unrelenting grip.  He slammed her back into the ground with such force that she bounced upward and left a crater in her wake.  As she rose into the air, the Choros turned its back to her in an instant that looked as though he were moving in slow motion.  In that same instance, he was facing Lace again, and his leg was extended outward.  It took some time for Lace to realize it, but she was moving backward against her will.  The Choros unleashed a mighty kick, replicating her stance and her kick.  She flew backward into the side of the valley walls and rubble began to fall over her head.  She would not be buried if she managed to stand in time.

 

The Choros placed its blade into the ground and waited for Lace to stand again.

 

Opposite Lace, Angelica fired a magnificent laser at her enemy.  Her enemy pivoted on its sword, diving and ducking beneath Angelica's attack.  Just like Lace.  As it stood up straight, the Choros turned its back to Angelica, then in similar fashion blinked towards the android before turning around again, its leg extended.  Angelica would experience a sudden weightless feeling as she was lifted off her feet and thrown backward by the Choros' kick.  She would roll and tumble like a rag doll before stopping and hitting her head on a rock.  Fortunately, she was made of metal and could recover easily.

 

"Alpha," both Choros said at once.  Their bodies shimmered and glowed a dull orange color as they waited for their opponents once more.

 

---

 

Daddy's Little Girl

 

That's right.  She was his little girl, wasn't she?  Geno shook his head in disbelief with himself when he only suddenly realized Jack was Mr. Yamamauchi's daughter.  "It seems you've got a lot at stake, letting Jack do something like this," Geno replied.  "Or, rather, she has a lot at stake.  I'm sure she chose this on her own.  She's very good at what she does.  She's well trained.  And that saddens me, I must admit," Geno added.  Geno slowly caught onto his own words.  Just how much of an impression had this girl made on him so quickly?

 

Maybe it wasn't her impression.  Maybe it was because she reminded him of Rachel.  "What will you do if she wins?" Geno asked.  Though, he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

 

---

 

No Laughing Matter

 

"You are talking about the most powerful magical tome in existence.  If it's really been found, then a lot of people are in danger.  Including your 'contestants'," she said with sarcastic overtones.  "Listen pal, I dunno who you are, but you better not be screwin' around.  We get a lot of crank calls.  And if you think this is funny, I'll fuckin' find you."

 

"Miss Koko, I swear to you, it's true.  It has to be.  The only reason I've even been able to reach you is that so many things are happening right now.  With F.A.L.L.  The sudden deaths of many good, innocent men in my hotel.  These strange anomalies happening all over the globe.  This is the only thing that explains it.  There is an acting force driving these occurrences and I believe it stems from the Atlas," Sergei pleaded.

 

Koko groaned.  "Alright.  Listen.  I'm gonna need some information from you.  And I'm going to put you in contact with two good friends of mine who will be able to verify some things.  First, let's start with your location.  Whereabouts are you located?"

 

"San Francisco.  California.  Miss Koko, who are your friends?  Who would you like me to speak to?" Sergei requested.

 

"I'll connect them now.  Stay on the line," Koko answered.

 

There was a click, and the other side of the line was silent for a moment.  Then, there was a second click and Koko returned.  "Okay, thanks for holding.  Mr. . .Sergei, was it?  This is Tyson and--"

 

"Sergei?  Sergei, what the hell is goin' on?" said Jackson on the phone.

 

"Jackson?  Tyson is with you?" Sergei asked.

 

"Of course.  Brat never goes anywhere without me, unless it's to the head or some whorehouse.  Sergei, how the hell did you get Koko's number?"

 

"Wait, you guys know each other?  What the hell?" Koko asked.

 

"Never mind that.  Kokoro, did you finish the job with Vladimir?  Is he dead?" Tyson asked.

 

"Yeah.  Took me a while but he's dead.  Why are we talking about that?" Kokoro retorted.

 

"Because it means my theory was wrong.  You didn't feel that big wave of nasty energy a few days ago?" Tyson queried.

 

"No.  Morgan told me about it, said it gave her shivers.  But I was still on the job.  You thought it had something to do with Vlad?" she pondered.

 

"Yeah.  But now that I know I'm wrong, it's a good thing we left.  Sergei.  We're on our way back to investigate.  Something bad is goin' down.  Kokoro, who are you bringing with you?"

 

"Bringing with me?  I don't even know if the threat is real yet.  I'm not just gonna start pulling my people only to find out its a false alarm," Kokoro stated calmly.

 

"Trust me.  It's real.  Have you heard from Elspire?  Or Saul?" Tyson asked further.

 

"Saul is back but Elspire is wrapping things up in the Himalayas.  I'm not sure he'll make it," she said calmly.

 

"We'll have to make due.  I'll let you know when and where.  Love you," Tyson said.

 

"Love ya.  Mr. Sergei, we'll be in touch," Kokoro said before disconnecting.

 

"Sergei, we'll be in town soon.  We're crossin' the Nevada state lines as we speak," Jackson added.

 

"Thank you all.  I'll prepare rooms for you.  Please travel safely."  Sergei breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had people he could count on.  If the Atlas had been found, was it already in the country?  If so, whose possession was it in?  If F.A.L.L. did have something so powerful, surely it wouldn't be kept a secret.  The world would know.  Perhaps the Atlas had been found but wasn't yet in F.A.L.L.'s hands.  Regardless, Sergei had to prepare for the worst.  

[VCR_CAT]

Jack
 
The soldiers down below began to fire, one of their bullets grazing Hack but, thankfully not reducing him to spare parts like the alien had so rudely done in the previous match. Taking aim with her bow, Jack began to systematically take down whatever militia men she could find; arrows loosed and lodging themselves in the chests of several soldiers, blood leaking down their torsos. Few tried to yank the arrows out, grasping the shafts and pulling, ripping skin and muscle as they did so. It wasn't long until these soldiers began to fall to the ground, but there were still quite a few that remained, and Jack needed to make sure that there weren't any more.
 
Then the earth shook, and an immediate downpour of an incredible amount of water took Jack by surprise. Both Hack and Slash returned to her side, but their movements bobbing in the air as great droplets of water burst against their hulls. Jack clutched to the tree's branch for deer life; between the shaking, the noise, and the water she was being overwhelmed by what was going on.
 
Focus, stay focused, Jack told herself incessantly. What was making that noise? What was... causing all of this? Jack looked down at the tree's branch; flowers budding at remarkable rate. She looked down towards the forest floor and the other trees; everything becoming green, plants growing all over the place. What the funk is going on?!

 

There was a great commotion in the jungle, not far from where Jack was. What militia that Jack could see was moving towards the noise and everything that was going on, and whatever it was it didn't seem safe. Whatever it was that had attacked Jack earlier, before the soldiers had shown their face, had not appeared to make any sort of move on Jack again. Whatever happened Jack did not know, but either way it meant her location was possibly safe from sight. She was presented with a few options: Move away from the noise, to possible safety or greater danger, or towards the commotion and see what she was up against. If Jack's previous match had taught her anything, it was that an outside threat such as an alien should not just be ignored. Jack needed to know what this new threat was, and she needed to know if it was something she could avoid, or if she should put it down.

 

Secretly, she hoped it was the latter.

 

 

Golden Gate Hotel - Bar

 

"It seems you've got a lot at stake, letting Jack do something like this," Geno said.  "Or, rather, she has a lot at stake. I'm sure she chose this on her own. She's very good at what she does. She's well trained. And that saddens me, I must admit."

 

"It saddens me as well," Shigeru nodded. "She has done... very, very well. I am so very, very proud, but I am so very, very sad."

 

"What will you do if she wins?" Geno asked.

 

Shigeru looked down at his drink. "I have lost... many things. It is because of her I have been forced to go into hiding. My wife, my company, it is all gone. All that is left is her," Shigeru motioned at Jack, on screen. "But she has long since rejected me. I do not blame her, I took... her future from her, to make her who she is today. I regret every minute of it." He paused for another drink. "She join this tournament for money and publicity. She wants people and weapons, and with it, she wants to bring down the rich and powerful." Shigeru looked Geno in the eye, his expression steady and unwavering. "She wants chaos, and I am to blame."

 

He looked back at the screen, the evidence of tears welling in his eyes. "So if she wins, I want to... do what I can to stop that. Even if she lose, she will not back down. Unless she die, I do not think she will quit." His grip tightened around his drink, which began to quietly shake. "I know I have lost her, and I will never get her back. But I need to save her. I need to make this right."

[Alaina]

As the girl began to walk, the land around her seemed to bloom forth with the raw amount of power she generated. Though despite this miraculous feat, the girl seemed to pay no mind to it as she merely charged forward with laser focused determination. Trees in her way were toppled, only to be replaced by new ones as she passed through the area. While it seemed to be naught but senseless destruction, it wasn't until the girl felt a strange feeling wash across her that she paused. Looking towards the two shamans, they seemed to begin chanting as they cut their palms, an action that made the girl curious but non-reactive aside from that. However, as she felt the strange feeling course through her body, she understood that these two were the cause of it, the cause of the magic. Her already annoyed face scrunching up into more frustration, the girl began to walk towards the shamans. As they continued to try their curse, a blue energy started to flow across her arm, burning bright with raw arcane force. As the shamans realized that their curse was entirely ineffective, it was already too late. 

 

With a simple punch, the girl unleashed a brilliant deep blue stream of energy, crashing into the ground near the shamans and tossing them to the side. The mere force of it had left them stunned, and while Cain was trying to recollect himself, his ankle would suddenly feel drenched. Looking at it, he would see a tendril of water wrapped around it, and then feel a sharp pain as it tightened. The man's leg then twisted at an unnatural angle, causing him to cry out in pain, as he was pulled towards the dragon girl. As his body was flung towards her, she then smacked down on Cain's abdomen. As the wind was knocked out of him, the man was left stunned as a forceful foot stepped onto his chest. Looking up, he saw the dragon girl's face filled with nothing but anger and contempt. As the foot began to press further in, the shaman went for a last ditch effort as he reached into his pocket. Pulling out a lighter, the man ignited, causing the small flame to turn into a giant wildfire shooting upwards, engulfing the dragon girl in her entirety. 

 

A small hope began to fill Cain as he felt the force against his chest lessen, only for despair to follow quickly after as a foot stomped on his elbow. Letting out a blood curdling scream as his elbow was smashed into pieces, he was soon silenced as the same foot came back down against his chest. The first stomp was enough to crush the rib cage in its entirety, eviscerating all the organs inside, only for the following ones to merely be a formality. As the man was silenced, and the flames having subsided, the dragon girl's face was filled with a fury unlike before, entirely unaffected by the fire. Looking over to hunt for the next shaman, it took no time at all as Dario hadn't moved very far. 

 

A look of desperate confidence was clear across his face, as he raised a large stone column into the air, roughly as tall as any of the trees in the forest, with twice the width. As the large stone pillar was moving forward to crush the dragon, it seemed to stop before it even hit the ground. Despite putting more force into it, the pillar did not move, and Dario's panic only started to rise. This culminated into his eyes going wide, breathless at the sight of the mighty stone construct being shattered instantly. As the rubble fell, all that could be seen was the dragon girl, one fist in the air covered in dust. Glaring at the shaman, she took off with Dario sprinting as fast as he could away from her. Though his pace could never hope to match hers, his run was cut short as a hand grasped the back of his head, effortlessly lifting him into the air. He started to scream, pray, curse, and cry all at once as the pressure from each finger started to press into his skull. And then it stopped. Nothing left to scream. Nothing left to feel. With nothing left to grasp onto, the headless body fell to the ground. The blood on her hand was cleaned off as a rush of water flowed off her arm. Though both shamans were dead, her fury was not sated. There was still strange magic around, and she would not rest until it was eliminated from the area. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Hilariously it was the general's soldier's warning that let Bethany avoid some sort of projectile through the neck. Though she did get a nasty cut across her cheek in the process. "That wasn't a cat..." She thought.

 

As the mayhem progressed Bethany could only wonder what in the world was going on. Apparently her opponent was making moves while they were still in danger of this group and Jack was off somewhere causing mischief.

 

Meanwhile she was just...standing there. Awkwardly. A random white girl in the middle of a really crazy day.

Same old same old.

 

"Who is it that protects you?"

Oh. He wasn't happy. And he also didn't care about the gun. Should she shoot him? Or would that be a waste of bullets. It feels like a waste of bullets. Waste not want not. Though Bethany didn't particularly want the gun she did need it so waste not need not? Whatever the case she should probably answer the angry glowy-tattoo man.

She considered for a moment saying that they weren't protecting her but that might be stupid. She tried to think of whatever she knew about African myths to maybe come up with some BS story but all she could remember was something about a tricky spider guy.

 

Then she remembered that Egypt was part of Africa. Somehow that always slipped her mind.

 

Going through the various Egyptian Gods and Goddesses in her head her thoughts, likely due to her recent encounters, stopped on one. Nothing to lose right? Might as well see if she still knew how to make stuff up in the face of danger.

"Well remember when I said that I killed a Snake Goddess? That wasn't all there was to it. Ever hear of Apep? Well he decided to curse me for that. It's a weird curse though, seems to affect everyone around me. As you can see." She put a hand to the cut on her face. "He has kinda bad aim." She shrugged. "That's why I'm here. Figured I'd go somewhere without many people and see if I could avoid killing others. Then you came around. Sorry about that though honestly not that sorry given the, you know, wanting to rape me thing."

 

She hoped that would at least give the man pause. But if all else failed she would resort to the classic kick to the groin.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Louis smiled as he saw his first to arrows make their mark, killing one target and gravely injuring the other.  These soldiers were easy pickings, not knowing where he was.  However, disappointment stained his face when he saw the last arrowhead deflected by some animated gravel.  They had managed to react so quickly to three attacks all launched simultaneously.  Magic was annoying.  

 

From the treetops, Basabth kept an eye on the goings on, and noticed a hulking man with a strong stature running off to the south.  The large man had a chaingun, and two of those guys who radiated some sort of aura that made Basabth feel funky.  They were leaving the scene, making Bethany and the shirtless man, presumably the commander of these shenanigans, totally alone in the jungle.  It would be a fight to the death!  Honor and skill would prove the victor.  Basabth relayed the message to Louis telepathically.

 

As soon as he got the message, he couldn't help but smile.  Here he was, belly down on a high rise of land, watching a shirtless black man fighting some tiny witch.  The scenario he had never foreseen in his entire life up to this point.  It was almost comical.  Louis couldn't help but let out a gut busting laugh.  He might have given away his position, but he didn't care.  It's not as if he had anything to fear from either of these chumps.  The trees above the two danced in the dry breeze, another wicked smile traced Louis' lips.  Basabth, from the treetops, opened his mouth to project Louis' voice.

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's not forget lucky contestant number three!!"  Louis made eye contact with a quite large shadow cast by one of the trees in the area, and made it his own to control.  From the shadow rose a blade-like tendril, which made a horizontal sweeping cut through the air, towards the man and Bethany.  

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Rawal was never one to believe in higher powers in his long life...but the sight of the Maiden in combination with the sheer projection of life that She gave could have very much turned him into a god-fearing man right then and there. He felt much of his energy and strength returning, the wounds being healed hastening just by Her presence.

Here, far away from the world of Terrestria, he had found a natural agent of the Shaping Arts as he knew them, and a true master of them when he could be considered a mere student in comparison to Her.

A Shaper is an army by himself...but this being could potentially reShape the world with Her own power as a whole.

His wounds fully healed, the resurgence of energy, of Essence, had him focus. Hands brought together with a gap between them, an sickly-green embryo began to form as Talis-Eye carefully allowed Rawal to float down to the ground. The embryo grew in size, quicker than usual from the feeding of the ambient energy around them. Soon, the one was split into two and Rawal allowed them to float to the ground.

A pair of loud cries echoed throughout the area as the embryos 'hatched' and the Ur-Ghlaaks within them grew into their proper sizes. Breaking through the invisibility, the pair rushed for the ones attacking the half-dragon with their own magics, their enlonged tails ready to completely wrap around the Shamans and throw them with unnatural might...though, they stopped upon seeing the grizzly deaths of the two Shamans before giving the best impression of a bow towards Her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wingbolts held their fire as they saw the larger-than-usual Ur-Ghlaaks charge in, the pair looking at each other from underneath their invisibility.

One of them flew over towards Jack, ready to try and find Slash again before playing with the little toy, the same one that had been torturing the poor drone.

The other flew over towards Xia in no threatening manner and allowed itself to rest around Her shoulders, almost like a scarf, half-dragon willing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Talis-Eye's POV~

They felt helpless in this fight. Those unusual people, their odd magic disallowed them their own powers when close strangely enough. Looking towards the half-dragon and seeing how most of the other creations were drawn to her in almost the same way as Rawal was, they tried to project towards her with a single message, no hidden intent behind it.

"Allow us to aid you against the others. My Lord wishes not to harm you."

[Hälō]

"Well then..." Lace groaned slightly whilst shakily bringing herself back up to her feet. It had been quite some time since she had been hit that hard...

 

Though now wasn't the time to marvel at her opponent's strength. Rubble had begun raining down on her, and it wouldn't be long before the large hole she had created was filled with rocks. Glancing up just in time to see two large boulders come tumbling down the side of the valley, Lace simply stood up straight and returned her blade to it's scabbard, doing nothing as the rocks came crashing down on her tiny form.

 

Or so it seemed...

 

"Magnum Locust!" XIII's voice echoed across the the battle field as she reappeared as a blur across the valley wall. It heralded a barrage of razor crescents that closed in on the angels from multiple directions as Lace sprinted clockwise across the wall whilst wildly swinging her blade.

 

Intent on testing a hypothesis, Lace would sneakily attempt to aim a section of the barrage towards the stone in the center in order to gauge her opponents reaction. 

[Dad]

The Maiden and the Tiger

 

General Ife smiled cheekily when the girl mentioned the god, Apep.  "Cursed by the master of chaos, are you?" Ife asked.  Either the girl had done a lot of research on Egyptian gods, or she was bluffing.  "If the curse is as you say it is, then perhaps some harm would come to me.  But if not--"

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let's not forget lucky contestant number three!!"

 

Perhaps she was cursed.  A shadow appeared before Ife's eyes, swirling past him and becoming one with the jungle.  From the shadow, a tendril with a bladed end appeared and it made a sweeping slash towards General Ife and Bethany.  Ife turned around and leaped over the horizontal slash with ease.  He spotted a young European male who was surely the source of the voice and the attack by the shadow.  "Hmm.  And how did you come into my presence?  Perhaps if my shaman had done his job, I would have seen you coming," Ife said over his shoulder.

 

"General, forgive me!  Without my brothers--my radius--it is very short!" the Shaman said, suddenly in great fear.

 

"It's too late for you, Deirdre.  You have failed me.  Yara already has your scent," Ife said, still staring at Louis from afar.  Yara.  That was the name of the tiger on Ife's arm.  On cue, a spectral image of Yara emerged from Ife's arm and landed beside Bethany.  The tiger, while intangible, was very real.  Bethany would be able to feel the heat coming from the tiger because she was so close.  

 

"General, please!" Deirdre pleaded.

 

"Yara.  Kill," Ife commanded.  The tiger's head snapped up, and her eyes locked onto Deirdre, the shaman.  Her teeth bared, and in an instant, the tiger was upon Deirdre, feasting on his flesh.  Yara did not move like most animals.  She moved in flashes or blinks.  Flashes took time for Yara to complete, but covered longer distances.  Blinks were much faster, but could only carry Yara so far.  As she ate Deirdre alive, the man's blood-curdling screams would echo throughout the forest.  Ife, of course, maintained his focus on Louis.  If Louis or Bethany were to pay attention, they would notice Ife's arm had lost its glow once Yara 'came to life'.  This, however, did not deter the General's brazen behavior.

 

"I don't need a shaman to kill you," Ife insisted.  "Stand, woman.  I will fight you both," Ife said with his eyes still locked with Louis' own.  "Yara.  Kill," Ife commanded again.

 

Yara turned around and her eyes settled on Bethany.  With a low growl, the tiger took two steps forward and then blinked.  When her image was stable again, the tiger was inches from Bethany's face, her mouth agape as she prepared to bite into the woman's right leg.

 

"You.  Let us dance the dance of the Congo," Ife challenged.  The man crouched and the muscles in his legs tensed so tightly that you would think his legs would explode.  Then he leaped with such force that the ground at his feet curled outwards with ripples.  Ife drew back his right fist and looked to clock Lewis in his jaw.

 

---

 

Holy Hell

 

"Gamma," said two of three angels.  Lace's attack was met by a glowing blue shield which surrounded two of three angels.  The shield was translucent, but it also encompassed the Godstone, protecting it.  This shield required an immense amount of concentration and forced two of three angels to kneel and stab their swords into the ground to protect themselves and the stone.  They could take no action for a set amount of time until the shield expired or was destroyed by an overwhelming force.  

 

This meant that a single Choros would do battle with all three of his opponents alone until the shield was down.  Parrying the remainder of Lace's attack, Choros went on the attack directly, reciting, "Beta" by his lonesome.  He chose Lace as his target since she was the most aggressive of his three enemies.  With a sword drawn, Choros lunged at Lace with steadily increasing speed.  As Choros reached his peak, he thrust his sword forth at Lace, but it would never reach her.

 

As Choros' arm extended, his sword transformed into a holy shield, emblazoned with holy symbols and ancient writing that only he could read.  He bashed into Lace with his shield and threw her off balance causing her to stumble and stunning her at the same time.  The shield transformed back into a sword, and while Lace was immobilized, Choros attempted to rend her body open with a wide slash.  If Lace didn't get help, she would suffer a frighteningly large wound to her torso.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Well that was quite the entrance. Bethany felt she'd appreciate the shadow man's show more if it weren't followed up by a tiger coming out of another man's arm and attacking her.

 

Bethany did the only thing she could in response to these attacks. She fell on her behind. More specifically she dove backwards without any finesse and landed on her backside with a somewhat painful thud onto the ground. While it wasn't the most elegant of solutions at the very least it kept her from the death shadows and death...tiger; for now.

 

She had seen the thing eat the shaman like it was nothing and knew that the moment it got a hold of her it was over. Which wasn't exactly what she wanted, no matter how warm it was, so it was time to fight back.

 

"Why do cats hate me today?" Bethany muttered as she created a blast of icy wind to strike the tiger head-on. She didn't know if it would work, but, if the thing could bite then it had to be somewhat solid right?

 

She began to create an ice spear above her head as she did this. Her eyes briefly flitted towards Louis. He was the enemy, too, and she could try and attack while he was distracted...no, that wasn't right. She clenched her fist as she forced the thought out of her mind. She couldn't let herself do such a thing. She'd win this her way.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

From the safety of the plateau, Louis squinted to see how their standoff was going.  Unfortunately, what seemed to be the main big bad was able to dodge his shadow's strike.  He started to pout, crossing his arms and tapping a foot on the dry savanna turf.

 

"Status, Basabth?"  

 

"Uhm...I think he's going to try and fight us and the girl at the same time."  Louis could only laugh.  It was a real knee slapper.  How did this guy have the gall, no, the balls, to say something with such a straight face.  His eyes were closed so hard they were almost in tears.  "Oh whoah that's kind of neat.  He just summoned some sort of ghost tiger thingy from his arm!  It totally just killed one of his men!"  That was the thing that made Louis stand upright.  Even from here, he could see the thing attacking the girl now.  So, he did have a chance against her.  But sadly, that guy had severely underestimated hi-, "LOUIS LOOK OUT!"  In the blink of an eye, the General had made his way to Louis, cocking his fist back and launching it with an amazing force.  

 

"JESUS!"  Louis yelled, as he instinctively put up a half sphere around his body, as black as night and dripping with some sort of inky substance back into his shadow.  Louis concentrated on making the construct as hard as possible, trying to block the punch.  Any guy who could jump that far, that fast, was definitely no slouch.  Could it be that he had underestimated this opponent?  Once the man's fist would make contact, Louis would switch from hardness, to a pool of inky liquid that would grip the man's arms with tiny tendrils.  "Basabth!  You take the girl!  While she's vulnerable and fighting that Tiger, I want you to fight too!"  

 

Basabth looked from the treetop's, his stomach shaky with anticipation.  He hopped down onto the spectral Tiger's back, and took a big bite into it, seeing if it would do any damage.  With mouthful of air, he would speak. 

 

"Aw man...I totally meant to jump on you," he directed towards Bethany, "Oh well...might as well while I'm at it."  Basabth became more voracious with his bite.  He was small, but surely he could deal some damage.

 

In the meantime, Louis waited to see if the seeds of his labor would bear fruit.  But there was one thing itching him at the back of his brain.  

 

"You know, I've gotta ask.  Why the Tiger tattoo?  I mean...I think a lion would be more your style huh?  Mane's gotta cost extra ink.  I totally understand."  

[Yui]

---

"You. Man-made creature. Your intelligence supersedes that of your allies. I will kill you last if you are present when your comrades die."

 

"I don't know if I'd call it intelligence," she chuckled, flattered with the compliment but not sure if this god thing had the right word in mind. Then, however, the fight began. The god thing split into three, one each standing near Lace, Angelica, and Mango herself, but only the one near her didn't seem to actively fight. It had mentioned it'd kill her last if she was still here when the other two were dead, but if Mango was being honest, she didn't want any of these people to die. She didn't know them sure, but that was no reason not to care. As such, as long as she didn't think anyone was at serious risk, she was perfectly content to sit right there and watch the others duke it out.

 

She was just about to ask the Choros in front of her if this guy got company often - she imagined he didn't, since he didn't seem like a very gracious host - when suddenly Lace seemed to be in a bad spot.

 

"Beta"

 

Mango had to admit. The shield thing looked really cool. More importantly, it meant the last Choros would fight everyone himself. Now, Mango was no expert or anything on uneven fights, but she was pretty sure anyone willing to fight three opponents alone knew they would win. She didn't exactly want Lace to die due to her own inaction, and if Mango didn't intervene, it was starting to look like precisely that would happen. At the same time, however, she didn't want to provoke Choros. Attacking it to grab its attention wouldn't work. She had a different idea, that hit her just as the thing was making its swing toward Lace.

 

"Hold up!" Mango called out, sprinting between the sword and Lace before raising her own swords with the intent to block the attack, closer to the base of her own swords than the tips. In her experience, blocking with the base worked better. "Don't kill anyone; I'll get her out of here!"

---

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Ugh...this update is making my system unstable...how the hell this small of an impact shut my system off?"

 

Angelica rebooted her system a while after being thrown by Choros. At that moment while she regained her optics and sensors, Angelica thought more about that moment of Choros overcoming her earlier. He suddenly appeared before her and before Angelica could withdraw her laser and strike him in close combat, he had already kicked him, turning off her system when she hit the ground.

 

What a pain.

 

Standing up, Angelica gathered intel on the situation right now. Mango had blocked an attack meant for Lace. The Godstone was now protected by three angelic beings. Of course, it would mean that the object really was vital.

 

And a target for her to destroy.

 

It wasn't like she's able to just go there and blast it with her laser however. Just like what happened earlier, that would mean that godly jabroni would just dropkick her again and ruining her chance. Acknowledging this, Angelica instead detached her limbs and turned those into liquid, which stealthily traveled around the small arena, aiming to encircle the Godstone. Angelica herself used the nanites on her body to rebuild her limbs, reducing their density and durability.

 

"Let's do this. I'm tired of waiting."

 

 

"Take this, you bastard!"

 

Firing off all her thrusters, Angelica blazed off and went towards the direction of Choros' behind area, and jetting towards him with her laser blade being drawn. Her motion detector was far from terrible, so Angelica decided that it would be best for him to engage Choros directly in close combat rather than risking herself in a vulnerable position.

 

In the meantime, her limbs, splitting into three, started to stealthily build itself up around the Godstone. She had a plan with them, but until she was sure that Choros took her assaults as a serious threat, she wouldn't be able to execute the plan yet.

 

---

[Alaina]

As the dragon girl had defeated the two shamans, she stood around looking for where the next source of magic was. However, before she could begin her hunt once more, it was cut short by the sudden appearance of some strange creatures. The girl looked at them, confused and unsure of what to make of them. They didn't resemble any of the fish that she already knew of, nor did they resemble herself or any of the humans around. She had no idea what exactly they were, but looking at them she got a distinctly foreign feeling from them. While she could tell that they weren't from here, and she could tell they were magical, she wasn't sure if they were what she was supposed to be hunting or not. However, as one went to drape itself around, she jumped, seemingly startled by this, and grabbed the creature by the tail, flinging it away from her. While she got the message from the creatures, she didn't seem to be listening to it, due both to her already apparent confusion about these beings and the fact that she had gotten such a message in the first place. While she seemed ready to brawl once more, a loud popping noise could be heard.

 

The dragon girl stopped in her tracks, as a few more were followed in quick succession, impacts being felt across the girl's body. Behind her, the victorious faces of the rest of Dario's men, their guns pointed at the girl. However, this triumph was cut short as one of them noted that, despite their shots hitting, the girl was still standing her ground firmly. The others readied their guns once more, as the girl turned around, a fury clearly in her eyes as she glared right towards them. The men were now the ones frozen in place, their grips on their guns starting to loosen due to the panic that was going through their systems. As the dragon girl let out a low growl, she then started to take in a deep breath. The gunmen started to back away, however too late it was for them. With what seemed to be a roar, the girl opened her mouth, firing out a large stream of flames that engulfed the men, causing a loud explosion of fire and smoke to cover them. Several more explosions could be heard as both the guns they held and any explosives they carried ignited, causing blast after blast to only add to the raging flame. 

 

Right. This was why she never came to the surface. Or rather, why she had came to the surface. To get to the root of the evil that was making the Atlas agitated, and to kill that very same evil. To her, there were now only enemies up here, and so she turned to face the magical beasts that had appeared before her, clenching her hand into a fist and taking a swing at the larger of the beasts. 

[Hälō]

"Hold up!" Mango called over the sound of her claws meeting Choros' blade, saving Lace at the last minute. "Don't kill anyone; I'll get her out of here!" The creature pleaded. XIII would have to thank her later...

 

Landing on her feet and bringing herself to a skidding halt, Lace spat blood down to the stone floor as she glanced over to Angelica who had just gotten back to her feet. Witnessing the other girl detach her arms and will them to melt into some sort of liquid, Lace's eyes narrowed in understanding as she brought her gaze back to Choros in order to avoid drawing suspicion what she could only assume was Angelica's plan for dealing with the stone...

 

Moments later the arena was filled with a sudden gust of wind as Angelica took flight towards Choros' flank with her thrusters. Intent on aiding her ally in her distraction, Lace tensed her body, causing a pale blue aura to begin gathering in the air around her.

 

"13th Phantasm..." Lace's voice reverberated with power as she allowed the energy from her artificial soul overflow into her physical vessel. "Stringless Puppet's Performance." 

 

"Take this, you bastard!"

 

When Angelica closed in on Choros from behind, Lace was ready. She would burst in action the moment Choros made even a fraction of a movement to dodge or counter.  In that very same instant, the stone at her feet would shatter, and and her tiny form would appear in the air at the angles' side to interrupt his action with a full powered roundhouse kick to the face. 

 

"A two for one!"  

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Jack watched the lizard girl make her way through the jungle from a distance, as she approached the soldiers that had attempted to capture Jack. She watched with a stunned silence as the lizard-girl fired what appeared to be a bolt of lightning from her fist, beat the ever-loving life out of one of the soldiers, and then proceed to stomp a hole directly through his chest.

 

"Holy sheet," Jack breathed as she watched the carnage, but it wasn't over. What appeared to be the commander of the squad had taken an interest in fighting the lizard, or was it a dragon? girl, moving in with a large, stone pillar made from his own magic. However, that, of course, did nothing as the dragon girl moved in on the commander, grabbed his head, and popped his skull like a water balloon. "HOLY sheet," Jack said, perhaps too loudly, in excitement. "That was metal as funk!" There was a quiet croo-ing around Jack, one that she barely seemed to realize was the same creature that was harassing her drones. "Quiet quiet, this sheet's gettin' good," Jack said, waving her arm in the creature's direction as she watched the dragon with rapt attention.

 

Nothing seemed to be going the soldier's way. First, one of those weird creatures got itself tossed aside, but immediately after the familiar echo of gunshots rang through the jungle, the bullets slamming in the dragon, but doing nothing more than annoying the creature. In response, the girl opened her mouth and belched out a torrent of fire that engulfed a portion of the forest. Yes, definitely a dragon. If the bullets didn't work, then Jack's arrows most definitely would have no effect unless she managed to hit something vulnerable, like her eyes or the back of her throat. Problem is how tricky those shots can be, and if she can breath fire than who knows how tough the skin on the inside of her throat was going to be. Granted, it wouldn't have scales.

 

The problem was, the dragon girl was too much of a threat; too much for Jack to just ignore. However, she would have a very minimal hope of confronting something like that head on; the match as a whole would devolve into simply who can hide from the psychotic dragon girl the longest without getting their ass filled with fire and lightning. However, Jack needed to make sure she was ready. Moving Hack and Slash into position in the air, above where the dragon was, she had the two drones ready their hard-light projections to create the same simple, angular-drone designs they had before, but away from themselves rather than around themselves. Jack herself readied her bow, and moved through the trees to get a bit closer.

 

The dragon was too much of a threat to just leave and hope it would take out the other contestants. It needed to be put down. Jack readied commands to Hack and Slash, to move the projections in to attack the dragon-girl with simple swipes, but nothing that could kill. Not that Jack even imagined that the hard-light projections could even work to penetrate those scales. Rather, they would distract the dragon girl to somewhat face in Jack's direction, and either get her to open her mouth wide or give her as good of a shot on the eyeball as possible.

 

Either way, Jack had her bow at the ready with an arrow knocked, ready to take the first shot that presented itself as soon as she could.

[Tesability Black]

~Talis-Eye's POV~

Lord Rawal, we believe we have a problem.

Talis-Eye witnessed as the Wingbolt that tried to act as a pseudo-scarf found itself flung across the lands before the strange being decided to try to take a swing at the two Ur-Ghlaak in front of her, that had bowed to her. They could feel the confusion that the creations had as well as the loud thoughts that the unique being unintentionally projected.

Why did she attack the creations like that? What's going on, Talis-Eye?

Something she was guarding has been...agitated and she's hunting the source...problem is, I think we're the ones she's now hunting, now that the other local sources of magic have been dealt with.

The Eyebeast felt the emotion of betrayal emerge from Rawal, and they could not exactly blame him. They have found something that their creator was actually willing to show deference to, and such is being paid back in being lashed out at by the same being.

Under the cloak of invisibility did Talis-Eye emerge closer to the scene, unsure of what would happen, since the mere sight of it was likely to draw fire from everything...

~~~~~~~~~~

~Rawal's POV~

Something she was guarding has been...agitated and she's hunting the source...problem is, I think we're the ones she's now hunting, now that the other local sources of magic have been dealt with.

Rawal had been looking on underneath the veil of invisibility as well, betrayal beginning to rear its head in his chest as well as hurt. Though if one pierced the invisibility, you could see where he had been punctured by the earth spears, it was clear that he had been completely healed from the impacts.

And I suspect that showing myself may just cause her to strike out at me...much like a Golem tasked to keep all away from a Barred location.

Under the invisibility, Rawal turned towards Talis-Eye and nodded. Cloak them all, and we will move. They will move on their own power, however, unless aid is needed.

I have sensed vaguely-familiar minds in one particular direction, they might be some of the other 'contestants' in this 'contest'.

Rawal only nodded before Talis-Eye lifted him and themselves up into the air...

~~~~~~~~~~

The four creations, two Wingbolts and two Ur-Ghlaaks, looked up towards the sky, as if hearing something only they could hear. One of the Wingbolts, the one that got thrown by the half-dragon, looked over toward the general direction of Slash before giving a whine. And it disappeared from view, followed by the momentary flapping of wings.

The other Wingbolt, whom had been hovering near the Ur-Ghlaak that had not been swung at, gave the grasshopper-legged creature a 'tap, tap' on the top of the land-bound creature's head before disappearing along with it from view.

The Ur-Ghlaak that had been attacked had never swung once, in fact it only dodged and never once strike back to try and make it clear that it was not hostile. After raising its head that was almost impossible to separate from the body, it soon disappeared from view as well.

And all were heading towards a specific direction...