To dine in hell(HH, and all of his characters)

ooC: Ya wanted it, here ya go. bear in mind this was wrote at 4:00 in the morning and I made it up on the spot. But yeah, have your character come in however you want, then I kill them. Fun, yes?

BiC:

The trees where ripe with colour. Over head the sun shewn perfectly through a cloudless light blue sky, to the garden below. The plants where in full bloom, and the apples in the orchard where ripe for the pickings. The stone blocks that combined together to form a small walk way through the center of the vast garden where made from only the purest of marble, and where shimmering brilliantly. Despite all this, however, the garden was all but empty – the students must have been busy with assignments- except for a single man.

His hair was a dirty blond, and almost dull looking in the shade; despite his Asian heritage. He face was perfectly formed so that he both looked imperfect enough that he would intimidate no one, it was still framed so proportionally fine that one might have concluded it was a special project of an artistic God. He was not tall by any means, standing a fair bit shorter the the norm height, yet as he leaned against the apple tree at the end of the path, he seemed to give an air of dominance of the world around him; as if he was larger then his physical presence seemed to indicate.

The man opened his eyes slowly to display his odd coloured eyes. They where a gray, so dull it seemed to show a stark contrast to the fantastical and flamboyant appearance he gave out. Yet inside them was unfiltered wisdom, and just by looking at them a well minded individual could conclude that this young man was well beyond his year; but also that he still had more to learn.

With a small movment of his hand he flipped the page of the book he was studying intensely, then second later filled the page again. Other then those slight moments he stayed perfectly still as he read, other then the one time he stretched out his hand to catch an apple that bounced off his head after it fell from it's perch.

Suddenly he dropped his book nosielessly to the ground, where it would stay for the remainder of it's life. Looking forward with his dead eyes he watched as a single man entered the garden he had called home for the last two hours. His hair was an awkward purple colour, giving him an almost punkish feel at the very first glance. His face was harsh, consisting of sharp well-defined angles. His face seemed almost permanently contorted into a strange sneer that gave neither an air of respect for the people around him, or care for himself. He was fairly tall, but almost menacing in the way his deep black cloak fluttered around his strong structured and well defined body.

His eyes where deep and black, and seemed stuck in his ever present glare. His eyes seemed almost impossible to read, while at first they seemed like nothing more then an unrepentant killer with a taste for blood, if one was to look at them for any length at time they might catch the sudden change from a killer to a man curious to figure out his own existence.

He walked slowly towards the blond haired man, his slow movements showing his purpose was not that of a casual manner. His left hand -that was wrapped in a dark glove- was almost constantly placed at the pommel of the sword at his waste as if he was ready to fight off an attacker at any moment. He stopped at the edge of the marble path not caring enough to walk onto the soft lush grass, “Kazaisu,”

“Aye, that is what I have been known to go bye. Would you like something?”

“You are to come with me,” The man spoke harshly and in as few as words as possible.

“May I ask to why? It seems to me you might have mistaken me for someone else, I have no business with the likes of you,” He replied with indignation, giving no respect to the fierce air the man gave off as shown by the way he callously bite into an apple half way through his sentence.

“It seems someone has challenged our position, as teachers”

“Challenged out position? As in they don't think of fit to teach people at this dome? Seems arbitrary to do such a thing when the teachers are chosen by the building itself,”

“Regardless; the dome as arranged a battle. We must attend,”

“Between us?”

“No, we are to fight alongside a man named Derrick; the opponent is unknown.”

“Three of us? All fighting together? I sure hope this opponent is strong, I would not want to waste my time against futile enemies,”

“Come with me, and you'll see,”

“of course,” The blond haired man followed after the dark man, quoting a piece of poetry as he walked:”
The One remains, the many change and pass;
Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly;
Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity,
Until Death tramples it to fragments."

The battle field was vast. Stretching man miles until they where blotted out by mountains on all sides. In the center of the war zone was a small town that looked like something out of western. On the top of the roof of the largest building stood a single man. Or rather the culmination of man kind.

The blond haired blue eyed man was what could only be described as perfect. His face was perfectly formed, and his body sculpted like a Greek Adonis. His small smiled revealed pearly white teeth in perfect order, and the white suite he wore gave him an almost impossible air of mystery. He looked strong and courageous, yet fool hardy and wise. His radiant eyes showed both compassion, and passion. He looked -and acted- like both a perfect gentleman, and a hard working business man. He was the result of many years of hard work, a result that could only be praised as the miracle of science. Yet all of that, he would give away for a single thing...

The man was checking his newly perched sniper rifle when a flash of light in the center of the town distracted him. Looking through the scope he saw two men, a taller dark clothed man, and a smaller blond haired man. I would be lying if I said he wasn't tempted to try out his new toy. Sighing he put down his new tow behind a crate to save it for later, and elegantly leaped off the five story building to greet the new comers.

Landing almost noiselessly the two turned to him as he spoke, “Tsuukai and Kazaisu I presume. It is a pleasure to meet you, I am derrick.”

“What's with you people using my full name...” Kaze remarked in a tounge in cheek manner.

Ignoring the man to his right the Master of Shadow spoke, “How much longer till the challenge,”

“Without even glancing at a watch the man already knew, “One minute fifteen seconds,” he spoke with deadly accuracy. The three did not say another word, each one counting the time in their head. Waiting for the challenger to appear, little did they know that it would not be as expected.

OoC: Well... because I'm bored... and fail at lfie, I'm gonna join this battle as I was asked to. ^_^

BiC: The dark clad man and the mage stared at each other for a moment. "No. Goddamn. Way." Each word was clear, concise and specific. There was absolutely no way this would work. Of that he was completely certain. In fact, they both were, however, it had been left by Zorlo for them to do this... so they didn't have much of a choice. After all, you didn't respect someone’s wishes if you didn't do as you were asked.

"I know... it sucks," the Quincy stated as he crossed his arms and looked at the slightly shorter Replicator. "Still, we have to fight against these assistants of ours in order to keep Z's dream alive. If he didn't want us to fight, he wouldn't have left us strict orders to fight against these guys."

"Do we even know who the hell we're fighting?" Zachary protested as he narrowed his eyes at Monroe.

The dark clad man simply shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. "All I know is that two of the guys were at Z's wedding, and the third guy I met once before. Back before I became a Quincy."

"And... that tells me nothing. So it’s just three enemies?"

"Three confirmed foes. Although because Z was slick, he hid the notes of the other two TAs so we couldn't have an edge. But, aside from just the three that are already there, there are said to be others. Apparently our other foes must not be too powerful, since Z didn't include who they were."

"Leave it to Z to leave us guessing. Damn bastard," the white haired boy stated as he stretched the fingers of his left hand out and then crossed his arms. "Still... I don't like this... if he planned to have us do something this stupid, why not at least tell us."

"Well, Zach, it isn't much of a test if he, ya know, TELLS US!" Monroe responded snidely as he looked at the door that he had been told to pass through. "Anyway, on the other side of this door is the battle ground. Why not head through."

"No. Chance. In. Hell!" Zachary stated as he looked at Monroe. "You and I are about as likely to work together as you and 'denza being best friends. Some things just don't work."

"Well then, you relinquish your position as a teacher. Get the hell out!"

The ice mage scoffed at this and looked at Monroe disdainfully. "Fine."

The door swung open and the resilient fighters entered. After all, it wasn't like they had been given a choice.

"Their here," Tsuukai said shortly as his body was slumped in a half hearted way against a building breaking the awkward silence. The other two looked at him speculatively, both of them expecting to be the first to realize when the opponents had come.

"How do you know that?" Kaze said gazing Tsuukai's way.

"There are two of them. One of them is named Zachary, the other Monroe. They are friends of Zorlo. Zachary is an ice-innate and has the ability to replicate others abilities, and the other is a Quincy."

"you haven't answered my..." Kaze's question was answered as the sounds of arguing suddenly flooded their ears. Tsuukai only smiled confidently as the other two looked at each other with looks of confusion in their faces. Tsuukai lifted himself into a standing position and walked forward a few steps his eyes looking straight forward in pure determination.

"Kazaisu you will take on Zachary. Derrick you will fight Monroe," Tsuukai said in a commanding tone bring sharp criticism to light.

"Who died and made you king," Kaze snapped, his smooth image was always broken when other tried to order him around.

"I am the strongest of us," Tsuukai said not with blind arrogance, but with a perfect assessment of the situation at hand, "Furthermore I was the first to sense their presence. Or, if it is my decision you question, allow me to explain. Kazaisu as a mage you will be far better against a man like Zachary who can change from long to short distance at a whim. And Derrick can outlast Monroe in a long distance fight. I will wait here as I suspect the challenge will be harder then just that, so I will take on new comers as they arrive."

"But.."

"Shutup," Derrick said coldly as Kaze started up again, "Your arrogance wont help us. If you can find a flaw in his assessment then please point it out, but I can assure he is most correct. If you have a problem with the way he said it then you need to grow up and have no place in the real world."

"Everyone's always against me," The Wind mage remarked in a tongue in cheek way as he leaped into the air and flew towards his opponent.

"Tsuukai was it? Your eyes are as black as hell, so I hope you fight like a demon because you will need it," the Assassin said as he used the full force of his legs to land on the roof he hid his sniper rifle.

oOc: If you saw my first post as setting up a contrast between the physical appearance of my main three, then see this one as setting up a contrast between the personality of the three characters.

OoC: It's cool. Makes things more interesting. ^_^

BiC: Monroe smiled as he listened to the Master of Shadows speak. "This guy probably doesn't even know what it means to be a Quincy. Oh, and he got your powers wrong," the dark clad man stated as he laughed. Zachary shrugged as he crossed his arms.

"Don't doubt the Master of Shadows, Monroe... that guy is really strong. If he's here... we're possibly in trouble."

"Actually, it seems he has no interest in fighting. Its just us against these two other guys with him," the Quincy stated as he looked at the man who was staring at him down the scope of a sniper rifle. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to do," the dark clad man stated as he quickly used his Hirenkyaku to move out of the line of sight of the sniper rifle as an initial move.

"Oh great, leave me why don't you. No, God forbid you tell me what we're up against. No, you just rush off and go fight the person the dark eyes guy wants you too. No, don't help the man who has to help you. Ya know, that might be smart in the long run."

"Now you know how I feel," a blonde man stated as he sat on nothing behind Zachary.

"And you might be?"

"Kazaisu, at your service," the man said with a bow. "Although you can call me Kaze."

"I'm Zachary Leos. I guess we're supposed to fight or something..." the Replicator stated as he held his hands out and created his two short swords. The miniature scimitars he held tightly in his hands shined slightly against the sun. "Nothing against you personally, but it seems Z and that purple haired guy set up something without any of us noticing. So... whenever you're ready, lets get started, eh?"

o=)------------- Meanwhile -----------(=o

As fast a Monroe had moved from the line of sight, he appeared behind Derrik and smiled. The assassin looked up from his sniper rifle and looked at the man behind him. "You're a lot quicker than last time we met. But still, I saw you move three times. The first one was to get out of my line of sight, the second was a quick move towards my perch, and the third was landing on the perch, right?"

The Quincy laughed as he crossed his arms and looked at the white clad man. "Impressive. Being able to read each of the start of my movements, but I doubt that you could follow me the whole way."

"Who could say? You could be right, but who knows but me?"

The archer laughed as he focused his photon energy that started radiating from his glove into his bow. "Well then, if you really could, then I'm pumped." Monroe's body blurred for a second as he appeared behind Derrik. "Now then, let's test that theory!" Monroe said as he released his first arrow towards the "Perfect" human's back.

Derrick did not miss a beat, turning swiftly he deflected the oncoming photon missile with the sword that sprung from his forearm. Pushing off the momentum of the spin he flew forward slashing downwards only hitting the blur that the technological Quincy left behind. Side stepping Derrick slashed to his right following the Quincy’s trail. The Attack missed it’s mark physically, but on a different level it was a bulls-eye; ‘I can see you’ that is what it was saying.

Monroe flashed out of normal human sight, for but a second, reappearing on a building across from the one Derrick inhabited. Two flashes of light, and Derrick was already on the move. The Perfect Assassin dodged one arrow completely as he lunged towards the edge of his building; the other cut his suite on the shoulder but did not touch the skin.

Now jumping from building to building is never something I would suggest you do, for it is quite dangerous, but when someone is also shooting photon arrows at you as you jump. Well then it’s damn stupid. Even Derrick didn’t manage to make the jump without a scratch; as when he was jumping a single arrow managed to hit his Katar like blade snapping it off; the meaning of the attack was clear 'I can still hit you' . However for someone as professional as Derrick it was to be expected that he didn’t even lose a drop of sweat; even managing to perform a strange roundhouse kick off his landing to the chest of Monroe knocking him to the ground.

“Are you finished sparring?” Derrick said coldly leaning on his cane, as the technical Quincy lifted himself up.

>>>>>---<<<<<

It was plain to see that Zach and Kaze really where not all that interested in fighting each other. Kaze would step back a few steps blocking an offensive of martial arts. Then Zach would be pushed back slightly as Kaze turned in to he offensive with a series of well-preformed kicks. Every few turns The wind mage would use a spell to trip Zach up, or the Former Ice innate would slash a few times with his blades changing the pattern slightly. Even then, however, it was clear to see it was hardly a serious fight.

“You aren’t going to defeat me if you keep fighting like this,” Zach said slashing forward.

“Neither will you, “ The Archmage replied ducking the blow and coming up for an uppercut.

“Who said I was trying to,” Derrick said stepping back dodging the blow.

“Purple hair over their,” Came the reply with a furry of kicks.

“I don’t like him watching us,” The Replicator replied leaping over the other, “What you say we take this battle else where,” He finished dashing towards the other end of the city.

“Deal,” Kaze said bursting after him.

The Quincy dusted himself off as he stood up and looked at this man. Clearly the two were just about even in any way one could think of. There was only one minor exception that the dark clad man came up with: this guy's skin was hard as diamond. A minor difference, yes, but a difference all the same. That one measly strength gave this man a minor advantage.

Monroe turned his hand so his palm faced up and opened his hand. His bow became a flash of neon green for a moment before it seemed to be absorbed into his glove. "No sense trying to put distance between us or wasting time playing cat and mouse with you. If we're gonna fight, we're gonna fight like men, right?" the dark clad man asked as he started walking towards the "perfect" assassin.

Derrik followed suit and walked towards the Quincy without any real hesitation. "I've got no objection to that," the white clad man commented as the two stood a few inches apart. The fingers of Monroe's left, gloved hand cracked as he balled his hand into a fist and threw a punch. The perfect human followed suit and threw his own punch.

Both recoiled as their punch connected with the other's face, pushing them back slightly. The Enhanced human slid his right foot back to brace himself as he threw a punch with his right fist, connecting to the Perfect human's face and pushing him sideways. Derrik didn't hesitate long as he shifted forwards threw a powerful uppercut that that caused the dark clad man to stumble backwards to the chin.

"Enough," the Quincy muttered as he spun around and drove his foot into the white clad man's sternum and pushed him slightly off the ground and slightly backwards. "I'm gonna bring you down. Not sure how yet, but by the time we're done, you'll regret having fought me again!" A powerful punch from Monroe's left fist drove into Derrik's abdomen and pushed him slightly farther back.

As the perfect assassin's body lowered, the dark clad man made his move. Quickly spinning around, the man delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the man and sent him flying through the wall of a house around where they were fighting. The Quincy watched the hole in the house with keen eyes, waiting for the man to emerge. "You can come out when you're ready. I know you're not dead, but still, that was a shocker, right?!" the Enhanced human called with a smile and a hint of mocking in his voice.

o=)------------ -----------(=o

Zachary continued to dash off, heading for the outskirts of the city. As well as the ice mage knew, Tsuukai was easily strong enough to fight on par with Zorlo, so the thought that someone that powerful was watching over his fight with another man not nearly that powerful sent a small wave of fear down his spine. The Replicator held a pair of Metalloid Ice short swords, still warming up and preparing to use his real weapons shortly.

The Archmage of Wind continued to float along and almost fly slightly off the ground as the two continued to move. "Far enough!" the mage said as a pata sword formed of ice on his right arm and struck at the red haired warrior. The amateur sorcerer slid to a stop and blocked the strike with the flat of his sword and found himself being mildly pushed back as the strike hit.

"Far enough?" the Replicator asked as he leapt back and held his swords firmly as he smiled at Kaze.

"Far enough," the man said as he snapped his fingers and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky crashing upon the amateur sorcerer.

The lightning bolt cracked as it struck something, but the ice mage stood up and uncrossed his ice blades and looked at the mage. "Your magic is pretty good. That lightning blast would have caused some real damage if I hadn't been paying attention, but don't think that lightning will work against my ice weapons," the ice mage stated as he crossed his swords and smiled.

"Let's go!" Zachary commented as he moved forwards and slashed his right sword quickly at Kaze, intent on seeing how strong this man really was.

"Through a wall, your tactics never change," He commented from the dark dust filled hole he was in, "Let us finish what we could not last time," Charging forward as dust flew off his suite from the remains of the wall, he stayed low to the ground. When he got close enough, he attempted to use his low position to attack with an uppercut palm strike with his right hand, however the other grabbed Derricks wrist with his right before it could connect, 'predictable," Derrick muttered grabbing the other man's wrist with the same hand and twisting his arm, while pushing down on the man's head with the other; all of which where sued to propel the Quincy's face into Derrick's well time knee.

Monroe's Head whip lashed backwards giving Derrick an opportunity to deliver a satisfying kick to the gut. As the man went flying through the air, Derrick took flight over him, aiming his knee down as he fell. The Quincy landed and saw the attack, quickly rolling away from what would have been devastating knee. As Derrick removed his knee from the hole in the roof he created, Derrick had a chance to get to his feet, delivering a swift boot to the head knocking Derrick over but not down; the White clad assassin you see sued the momentum to back handspring onto his feet.

The Two ended up staring each other down, a little blood rolling down both of their mouths, and while neither would admit it one could clearly see the hint of a smile on their faces as the battle intensified.

Monroe mad the neck move, charging forward. However, at the last second the Quincy leaped over the man and twisted in the air to face him. The move would be for naught as Derrick saw the plan and delivered a kick as the man's feet hit the ground sending him sliding towards the edge. As the quincy tried to regain his balaence as he teetered on the edge of the building, the white clad clone moved forward in an attack.

The Quincy would have none of it, ducking the punch and grabbing the man's arm, he threw the perfect human as hard as he could off the building and through the wall of the building across the street.

o=)------------ -----------(=o

"Playing for real?" Kaze smiled as he easily blocked the man's replica blade with his own Pata ice creation, "Well Then let's Get This Show On The Road!" No hesitation was in the Man's cloudy Grey eyes as he pushed the blade aside and lunged forward.

The Ice innate pushed the blade to the side with one of his weapons, and with a fantastic looking twisting move slashed on the other side. it was not to be as the blade was harmlessly blocked by Kaze's wind shield. Less than a heart beat late, Kaze's free hand was pointing at the innate's face, and as to be expected from a mage a sharp ice arrow blasted forth towards Zachary.

Zach easily side stepped the first attack, but was forced to retreat several yards as more ice spears, as well as wind blades, came flying at him from all directions. While Zach was clearly a better's swords man, and hand to hand fighter, the points went to Kaze when it came down to magical prowess.



Elsewhere Tsuukai was sitting cross legged in the air, his eyes closed. With his second sight he watched Zach and Kaze go at it-as he was unable to read Monroe or Derrick due to their lack of magic-. Tsuukai was not very interested though, when it came down to it neither could match the master of Shadows on the Terms of Physical powers, or magic talents. Something was missing, the Dome would not let him off this easy.


Edit: HH! SEE THAT LAST PARAGRAPH! Get your bozos out here so Tsuukai can have some fun slaughtering them, savvy?

Monroe watched as the roof of the building Derrik had smashed through the wall of shattered and the white clad man landed on the roof. He spit a little bit to the side and looked at the Quincy. The dark clad man had already wiped the blood from his mouth and narrowed his eyes at his foe. "You know what, you really depress me. I'm happy we finally get to settle our dispute one on one, but that doesn't change any of the facts."

"What 'facts' are you babbling about?" the perfect assassin said as he pointed his guns at the Quincy. "After all, you don't honestly think you can defeat me."

"No, perhaps I can't. After all, I was the prototype of the Enhanced Human Project. The project that was probably the predecessor to the project that created you. After all, the government first tried to create humans from the dead and that failed. I destroyed all of the things you could call my "kin" myself. I couldn't bare to think what would happen to those mindless hunks of flesh without their commander, the only other sentient and thinking Enhanced human that was made."

"And now, you are born. A man who's not really a man, but something produced to have ideal genetics and powers. Still, you may be "perfect" in terms of your powers and strength, but you're an imperfect person. You had your flaw, like I did. So, you and I aren't so different. You're almost like a son born of the failures that created me. Kinda interesting when I think about it," the Quincy stated as he laughed and smiled.

Derrik, however, had heard enough. The man rocketed through the air and began to flurry a barrage of punches and kicks at the dark clad man. Monroe didn't hesitate as he evaded, blocked, deflected and redirected the man's onslaught of moves. "No matter how hard you work, you'll never be more than my shadow, since I was the first," the dark clad man stated as he caught one punch and blocked a kick with his own.

The perfect human pushed as hard as he could, forcing Monroe to slide backwards towards the edge of the roof. "Still, there is one thing that separates us!" Monroe said as he reeled his head back and butted heads with Derrik, causing the man to stumble back a few feet. "I've got something to live for," the Quincy said as he quickly spun around and kicked Derrik in the chest again, sending him flying over to another building.

"Now then, if you want to kill me, try harder. I know you've got more than this!"

o=)----------- ------------(=o

That last attack brought back memories to the ice mage. Memories of when he could do things like that. Memories of when he could make ice his main weapon to throw at people without it having articulated shapes that were really effective and powerful weapons. Still, something didn't sit right for the ice mage for a few moments as ice flew towards him.

A volley of ice blades moved towards the Replicator and he smiled. Sure, he couldn't create normal ice or make simple things as easily anymore, but manipulation of ice was still well within his powers. The amateur sorcerer raised his hand and smiled. Suddenly, the oncoming ice projectiles stopped. "Well, that was easy," the Replicator noted as he spun around and pushed the ice blades backwards.

Kaze quickly sidestepped the attack as he continued to float and launched a few air blades the ice mage. Quickly, the red haired warrior slashed his swords fiercely and cut through the blades of wind as he moved towards the Archmage of Wind. The wind mage didn't hesitate as he blocked a slash from one of Zachary's swords and leapt over the follow up that came after his first slash.

The Grand Archmage of Wind flew back a few feet to give himself room as he began to devise something, probably a plan. Still, Zachary already had his plan. Quickly, the Replicator tossed both of his swords at Kaze, intent on using them like a pair of boomerangs to slow down Kaze and give Zachary, himself, some time to plan.

“So, what are we doing again?”

Flickering light outlined three figures in the darkness of the forest, the half-distinguishable shapes of leaves and vines surrounding them. The speaker stood flanked by the other two, his arm outstretched before him. The man to his left, distinguishable from his cloaked companions by his large wide-brimmed hat, also held an arm extended, the illuminating flame sitting upon his open palm.

“We are to fight with teachers of the Dome for the right to be fully fledged instructors ourselves,” the man on the right answered, his form nothing but a hulking shadow, meager light unable to penetrate his concealing cloak and deep hood. The man in the middle arched an eyebrow, his confused expression subtlety outlined by the vying flame and shadow.

“But I’m not even an assistant. Why did you call me here?”

“Well,” the flame pulsed and swelled as the man holding it talked, better illuminating his face. “Zorlo said that there were ‘extra surprises’ waiting for us, so we figured we’d need your help. Besides, you deserve a teaching position as well.” Pain flooded the middle man’s face, his eyes downcast. His right arm fell limp by his side, his left crossing his torso to clutch at it.

“I . . . there’s no possible way I could—” The flame wielder’s unoccupied hand flew up, striking his comrade firmly in the side of his jaw.

“What the hell did I tell you?” he asked angrily, his striking hand grabbing the other man by the front of his cloak. “Stop moping around! You still the same as you ever were! The same person you’ve always been, and no demon will ever change that!” The struck man sighed, absentmindedly rubbing his jaw.

“I know . . . I know. It’s just . . .”

“Just nothing!”

“If you’re done, we still need to leave,” the man on the right spoke up coolly, interrupting the other two. “We’re already three hundred and forty six seconds late.”

“Yes, yes,” the flame wielder sighed, releasing the middle man. Sighing as well, the scolded man put his arm back up, fully extending it. The black sleeve hung loosely on the arm within, the end dangling as if it were the clothing of an adult worn by a child. Dark liquid caught the reflection of the light as it was brought into existence, a ring of droplets around the man’s hand. The ring began to spin, the droplets swelling and combining. With a flick of his wrist, the man sent the ring out a few feet, the flowing liquid expanding as it floated along. Within seconds, the ring had become a fierce torrent, flowing in an oblique shape large enough to accommodate a fully grown man. A speck of light winked into being within the ring, rapidly spreading to fill it.

The man on the left clenched his fist, extinguishing the flame in lieu of the almost blinding light of the portal. Straightening his jacket, he boldly strode into the ring, disappearing from view. The man on the right quickly followed suit, the maker of the portal entering last, with the ring fading into nothingness as he disappeared.

<====}=0 – 0={====>

“Whoooo, it’s bright,” the man with the hat said, shading his eyes.

“Targets are two hundred and forty three meters away, to the northeast,” the cloaked man announced, his face still hidden in the shadow of his hood despite the bright sun.

“Then,” the man with the hat reached up and grasped the hilt peeking over his shoulder, “let’s go!”


OoC: If you couldn't it out, it's Lhaeo, Kashet, and Skif. Lhaeo will take on Kaze and Zach, Kashet will handle Tsuukai, and Skif will go for Derrick and Monroe.

Monroe’s words had about as much effect as his blows. Striking, cold, and harsh to anyone who seemed to be within reach, however, they where only effective if the other party had the lack of will to feel them. The man called Perfection by his creators picked himself up from the ruble, and with clean clear movements brushed himself off thinking little of either. Not that either didn’t have a point only that they where incorrect in the point they where trying to make. As Monroe spoke Derrick realized for the first time he was expected to have a reason to live, beyond himself. As if he was not worthy of drawing breath unless he had someone beside him for who to draw breath for, but at that same time would that person not be drawing breath for Derrick? As neither would have, by the logic of Monroe, the right to draw breath by themselves. Therefore is it not rational to think, that if both are drawing breath for each other, then they should be worthy of drawing breath for themselves? In such a case, Derrick had come to the conclusion, he had as much reason –if not more- to live then Monroe. So in such a way Derricks cold hard skin allowed him to dust off the attacks that rained down on him, his cold hard logic gave him means to shrug off the mindless verbal weaponry of his so called “superior by order of creation,”.

Derrick was not one for words; he tried to keep them few and far between. Oh it was not that he had little to say, he just preferred to let his actions speak. After all, anyone can threaten to kill another, but it takes a different mindset completely to move forward to that task. So with all the swiftness and precision of an Olympic class boxer he moved forward towards his opponent, ignoring the sounds of new blood clearly ringing in his ears.

o=)----------- ------------(=o

Tsuukai was bored up until that point. He was bored no longer. It had not taken him long from the arrival of this newest batch, to Tsuukai deciding which he would fight. As a matter of fact it took him less then one second to realize their presence and pin down the one he deemed most challenging. It was that demonic looking thing of course, it’s bony hand glistening in the midday sun, that is who he wanted to fight and for not other reason then because he thought he was the closet thing to an adversary he’d find in this forsaken town. He moved with precision, leaving no foot misplace, and no route left untaken. It’s not that Tsuukai was ungodly fast that allowed him to intercept the demonic looking figure, it was the fact he knew how to intercept him, where, and how to get their in the shortest amount of time.

Falling from a building he landed softly on the ground below, stopping the beast in it’s tracks. Speaking no words Tsuukai unsheathed his saber, and held it towards the bony apparition. The man, known as Skif, replied with a sickly smile, charging at the shadow warrior.

o=)----------- ------------(=o

“they’re here,” Kaze said with a staunch laugh, his body in midair as he dodged an attack, “it’s about time someone showed up,”

“Well what are they waiting for,” Zach asked impatiently turning their direction, “They sure are slow, I can only hope they are faster than this in combat,”

OoC: That last sentence, it's really about you HH =D

OoC: I know I said I probably wasn't going to post... but I'm gonna post here so that maybe, by some small chance, HH will have posted when I get back on monday. ^_^

BiC: Monroe leapt down from the building he stood upon and smiled as his body hit the ground. Following suit of the Perfect Assassin, the time to fight was never better than what it was now. The Quincy had made his peace with words and now sought to fight. And fight. And keep fighting until only one fighter was left standing. It was under this logic that the dark clad man charged so recklessly and intently into the battlefield before him.

Normally, people think before they begin striking each other like mad men. Normally, people take some stake in the fact that to kill another person means to destroy what exists within the boundaries of another person. Normally, human beings have some stake in their own existence. Well, this was one of those cases where that wasn't true.

Monroe and Derrik fought like demons. A flurry of punches, of kicks, and of all other manner of blows filled the air with the sound of bone crushing and flesh shattering terror. Still, even as fist struck elbow or forearm, or knee struck thigh, or skull struck shoulder or collarbone, the attacks were each more and more tenacious. Still, despite his best efforts, the Quincy had to admit that Derrik's advanced muscle and tissue structure made him a strong challenge.

A powerful sweep aimed for the dark clad man saw the archer leap backwards and do a back flip into a landing. The Quincy watched the blood drip down his face idly as he stood quietly. Between the exchanges that had just ended with Derrik, the former assassin could feel the pain that covered his body, and yet he could throw it away as easily. Pride kept him upright. He wouldn't lose to this advanced version of himself, and that was why he would fight.

o=)------------ ------------(=o

Zachary spun the Metalloid Ice blades in his hands as he stepped to the side and saw the approach of the hat wearing man and a cloaked man. The Replicator smiled as he spun his swords in his hand and held his arm out. Still, that didn't stop Kaze from kicking him in the back of the head. The amateur sorcerer looked back at the wind mage and scowled slightly. "I was saying stop."

"Oh, sorry, I thought we were still fighting," the Grand Archmage of Wind stated with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Kaze. Anyway, it looks like we've got more interesting foes to fight," the ice mage stated as he threw one of his swords at the cloaked man. The white haired man moved slightly, revealing the white hair beneath his cloak, and caught the blade. In a few moments, the man's fingers had crushed the blade into Mana dust that floated away.

"Well, he just crushed your blade. You should be more careful with those," the blonde mage stated with a smile.

"Its fine," Zachary said as fire and ice began to erupt from his left and right palms. In seconds, Azul and Rosso formed in the Replicator's hands and he crossed them over his chest. "Anyway, warm up is over. I'm going to use my real swords now." Kaze simply laughed.

"You can have the guy with the hat. Zorlo said something about him being the "God of Elements" or something, but this guy doesn't know that. Anyway, you can fight him, since I'm sure the Grand Archmage of Wind shouldn't have any problems defeating a god, right?"

The wind mage laughed. "Don't worry about me," he said, gripping his right arm with his left and looking confident, "I'll tear him apart."

"As for me," the amateur sorcerer said, "I'll fight you," the mage said as he pointed at Kashet and started to run sideways. The white haired man didn't hesitate as he followed on the Replicator's tail. Zachary could tell already this guy would be fun to fight.

Go blow a Donkey, we'll fight whomever we damn well please NOW POST!

OoC: You people really underestimate my characters. And fail to comprehend what I was actually suggesting, but fine. We'll do it your way. And you pick strange and confusing match-ups. Well, just Lhaeo and Kaze, I suppose, but still. It's like you're asking for an arse-kicking.

IC: “So,” Lhaeo began, smiling as he flexed his fingers and shifted from foot-to-foot, “just how short was it?”

“How short was what?” Kaze asked in confusion, floating upwards above the rooftops.

“The straw you drew, to have to fight me,” Lhaeo answered playfully, also rising into the air. Kaze’s ears reddened, and he drew back his hand in anger.

“You’re the one out of luck!” He whipped his hand forward, firing off a blade of wind. Almost lazily, Lhaeo held up a hand and caught the slashing wind-blade. His fingers twitched, shattering the attack into harmless whips of air.

“I sincerely hope you have something other than that. Elemental attacks won’t get you anywhere with me. Like I said, you got matched up with the wrong opponent.”

<====}=0 – 0={====>

Kashet sent the nanomachines to work, perfecting his body, and shaping it into something completely beyond what should be obtainable. All fat and unnecessary substances were purged, converted into extra adrenaline and enzymes. All of his muscles were retuned, recreated to optimal efficiency to get the best of both speed and power, while reducing useless bulk. Extra calcium and minerals were augmenting his bones, hardening them to a neigh unbreakable state. Even his skin was changing, becoming metallic in nature, though unlike any metal known to man, being both extremely flexible and strong.

And all the while, he kept his eyes on the man who had challenged him, catching glimpses of the warrior between breaks in the buildings. The two broke through the narrow alleyways into street of considerable size at the same time, each skidding to a halt.

“This should be good enough,” Zachary said happily, twirling Rosso and Azul before crossing them over his chest. Kashet said nothing, his right forearm lengthening under cover of his cloak until it nearly reached the ground. All organic material in his forearm was converted into the hardest metal it could possibly be constructed into, fattening and sharpening into a razor-like blade. His left hand too, changed. The layer of protective metal his skin had become thickened, his fingers becoming talons.

“Not a talker, eh?” Zachary asked, taking a stance “Well, I guess that’s fine.” The red-haired man shot forward, kicking up the dust on the road behind him. Kashet stood calmly, his eyes tracing the paths of the twin blades as they circled over the charging man’s head and flashed out to the side before coming back up and slamming down towards the cloaked man’s head. At the last possible second, his talon-hand shot up to intercept the blades, catching them both. Using Zachary’s momentum to his advantage, Kashet twisted and turned, heaving the charging man up, over, and into the ground. At the same time, his sword-arm came up from the confines of his cloak poised over the sorcerer.

<====}=0 – 0={====>

His arm still concealed in his long sleeve, Skif caught the shadow warrior’s blade, the weapon’s edge cutting a small line the in folded fabric but going no further. Skif though, as a whole, did. The force of the man’s attack pushed the Minish back, his boots making small furrows in the road. Without hesitating, Tsuukai’s left fist darted forward, slamming into Skif’s face. The elementalist released the man’s saber and skipped back, whipping his left hand towards the shadow warrior and releasing a horizontal rain of needles. Tsuukai’s blade was a whirl, deflecting the majority of the attack, with the remainder embedding themselves in the outer layer of his jacket.

“Fierce,” Skif commented to himself, pinching his nose with his left hand. His resolve hardened in face of Tsuukai’s aggressive counter, Skif slammed his foot against the ground, powerful shockwaves rolling out from it. Nearby buildings cracked and crumbed as the earth shook, literally moving in waves. The moment in which Tsuukai stumbled was all Skif needed. Demonic speed propelled him forward, his bony fist drawn back. The shadow warrior’s saber was up and defending, but without any balance or stability behind it, it proved a useless barrier.

Skif’s fist broke through the feeble defense and slammed into Tsuukai’s face, sending him flying. Grinning as the score was evened, the elementalist went to for the extra point. His foot slammed down again, the ground before it folding up as a large wall. The blonde-haired man’s other hand pressed against the wall and pushed, the rock barrier sent after the tumbling shadow warrior. The wall caught up with the man and shoved him into a building. And then through it.

OoC: hehe, You forget what truly makes Kaze unbeatable.

Ic:

Kazaisu laughed.

It was not a sinister or evil laugh, yet it had no gaiety usually attributed to laughing. It was both cold and warm, friendly and threatening. As if he couldn't decide what to feel, he decided to feel everything at once. Kazaisu, though it was not him. Suddenly stopping the blond mage looked forward at his enemy a smile on his face, a blood thirty sweet smile, "Wrong...wrong wrong all wrong. You misunderstand, I got exactly what I wanted. A Challenge." The mage stood straight, arms at his sides, "I will enjoy this...A marionette with a master, and a slave without an owner. To be to do, and in the end more then you could, let us be happy the God of wind doth smile upon our efforts- Demented wind Puppet" Shimmering light engulfed the mage, pieces of the white light twisted together slowly forming threads and beads that lay over the body of the mage tying him down and lifting him up. This was the demented wind puppet, threads of wind around his body invisible and undeniable. Pain becomes second thought, muscles useless. Wind alone powers his body, the strength of which beyond compare. This is what it meant to be the Grand Archmage of Wind, to go from powerful magic to unstoppable speed and strength without blinking. Kaze's body dropped to the ground as his powers in wind dropped, leaving him on par with the God. "Frozen Touch,"

Before the God had time to see the frozen right hand of the Mage it was already upon him. With speed so fast a god would blink Kaze had his hand on the cheek of the true god, freezing it cold. Without giving him time to react he maneuvered into a kick shattering the glass and sending the God flying. Kaze dropped lightly and without effort, letting his power surge through him. This was the power of Kazaisu, not of Magic or of Brawn, but of brains.

-----------------

Derrick felt no pain. He rarely did. Sometimes he wondered if he was created that way...to feel no pain as his body got torn apart. Well that was not true, he felt it but ignored it as one would ignore a beggar. They traded blows in quick succession, the two of kin. They did not falter, nor stop for any reason. The rages of battle else where where like a pin dropping so insignificant and pointless.

"You can't win," Derick said calmly ducking a blow," It's a matter of physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction," His fist moved up but was blocked, "Each time you punch my cheek it hits back with as much force as you put it. No matter how many times you hit me it wont matter, your hand will be ash before you do any damage. If you fight like this you wont win,"

"Why are you telling me this," Monroe grunted.

"because you can do better,"

---------------

Tsuukai eventually landed on the other side of the building he was thrown through. He picked himself up, dusted himself off and shrugged off the attack as if it was nothing more then a paper ball. Closing his eyes the Shadow master could see Skif on the other side, holding out his hand Tsuukai sent out two viscous waves of shadow energy. The first ricocheted into the building he was throw through, exploding with such force the purple flames sent debris hundred of meters in the air, leaving room for the second shadow wave to move forward striking and exploding on a slightly startled skif directly.

Not wasting any time Tsuukai charged into the dancing flames, a blade shrouded in shadows in his hand.

OoC: This took me forever to write, my computer kept sucking >_<

Monroe smirked. Then laughed, and finally looked at an unfazed Derrik. The Perfect Assassin was correct in his analysis. Monroe had known that fighting this man the way he was wouldn't work, but pride had stopped him from changing his actions. His arms shook from the shock from the punches he had landed. His knees shook violently from where his shins had slammed into the man's body.

Derrik was truly different than Tanya or the Commander. Although they were among the genetically engineered, or reengineered, they still carried heavily human characteristics in their bodily compositions. This man was nothing like a normal human.

"Skin hard enough to block bullets. Reflexes fast enough to block or dodge bullets. Strength enough to punch a hole through six inch steel plating. Intelligence enough to out move entire squads if you need to. You're nothing like the subjects before you. Still, you're imperfect. Not quite human enough."

There was no response to this. Well, no wordy response. A series of high caliber bullets moved at Monroe. The Quincy quickly moved and evaded each bullet as if he were in the middle of a dodge ball game in school and were the last man standing.

The sound of two heavy clips hitting the ground told the dark clad man that his white clad counterpart had emptied two clips, about fourteen, possibly more or less since Monroe hadn't been counting, bullets. The sound of a new slide being inserted told the dark clad man the game was on again.

The archer moved quickly, dodging bullets again. This time, however, things were different. These weren't normal bullets. These bullets were somewhat different. They moved much faster than the bullets that had just been fired. High velocity bullets. Man, is nothing sacred in this world? the Quincy thought idly as he continued to try to read and dodge the bullets.

If all had gone well, he would have walked away from four clips of bullets unscathed. Unfortunately, not all had gone well. Although the bullets hadn't ripped him apart, they had left him somewhat weaker than he was. Four of the speed bullets had managed hits. One had lodged itself in his right thigh; a second in his right shoulder; a third had skimmed his neck, breaking the skin and causing blood to flow from the fresh wound; the last one had nicked his face, leaving a bloody line down his right cheek.

"You're fun," the dark clad man stated as he held out his left hand. His right arm shook a bit from the small bullet lodged in it. Still, he could overcome that small bit of pain for now. In an instant, a bow formed in the Quincy's hand, and the next, Derrik had been blasted back by a quick Photon arrow to the chest. The smoking, burned hole in the center of the man's chest said it all. This was now a fight to the bitter end.

o=)------------- ------------(=o

As for Zachary, a similar series of unfortunate events were unfolding. Although he had narrowly, and I mean narrowly, evaded the downward strike of the cyborg's bladed arm, the ice innate, who had found himself disarmed, now wound up evading fast slashes from a long blade, and clawed swipes from a talon.

Before this fight, if the Replicator had known nothing else, he would have known that nanomachinery was inferior to the genetic super soldiers that Derrik and Monroe were. However, on this day, he gained knowledge that such machines could possibly be greater, depending on what they did.

From simple observation, the amateur sorcerer could tell that this man had made himself a living weapon. His arms were metallic blades. His body was probably some kind of insanely strong armor. All in all, this man was the embodiment of a sword. He was the living embodiment of a weapon. Moreso even than Monroe or Derrik, Zachary would say at the time.

Still, that didn't matter. With each swipe of a blade, the red haired mage found himself being pushed farther and farther back. What he really needed was a distraction or something. Something to grant him some time to counterattack. A slash from the silent man's blade cut a nearby tree down, and chance presented itself.

The Replicator leapt onto the falling tree and pushed himself upwards and off. In reality, he had only put a little bit of distance between himself and the mechanical man. Still, a little distance was all he needed. In a flash, a bow formed itself in the ice mage's right hand; and a sword, which then became an arrow, in his left.

"I am my own sword! Vanquisher of my foes!" The ice mage drew back his bowstring and aimed closely. There was no chance he could hit from a distance, but if his target was close enough, he could strike. He had to strike this foe, or else he wouldn't have a chance to move to his next strategy.

Behind his cold, featureless mask, Kashet’s eyes widened as the sorcerer pulled back the bowstring, the tip of sword-arrow no more than a yard or two away from the cloaked man. Power surged in Kashet’s left arm, the limb extending and the claws digging into the air-borne tree. Zachary released the arrow, and Kashet’s extended arm pulled, dragging the suspended tree trunk between the two men. Like a bullet, the arrow shot through the tree, exiting the other side and connecting with Kashet’s right shoulder. The two opposing forces struggled against each other, the tip of the powerful projectile digging into Kashet’s metallic skin several centimeters.

Quickly slashing up at the blade-arrow and knocking it away, the cloaked warrior beat a hasty retreat, his limb shortening and tightening on the tree like an overgrown club. The white-haired man looked up through the slits in his mask, quickly scanning the width of the street. The red-haired sorcerer was gone.

Behind-above-below? A million possibilities flashed through Kashet’s computer-enhanced brain, spinning his around to take in a three-hundred-sixty view of his surroundings. A brief flicker of a shadow passed over him, and without a nanosecond’s hesitation, Kashet’s whip-like arm launched the tree trunk straight up. The second blade-arrow skimmed along the trunk of the tree as it flew up towards the air-borne Zachary, continuing down to just barely catch the edge of Kashet’s cloak as he dodged to the side.

<====}=0 – 0={====>

Purple flames exploded around Skif’s arm as the wave crashed against it, the blast blowing hunks of debris in every direction. His hair whipping wildly around his face, Skif angled his bone arm and ripped through the attack in time to see Tsuukai charging in behind it, sword poised. The minish braced himself as the shadow warrior’s sword came down on him. The sword crashed against the elementalist’s arm like a meteor, purple flames engulfing the blade with savage rage. The saber pressed against the triangular plate of Skif’s arm, the sword and shield at a trembling standstill as the dust of the explosion cleared.

“You’re way tougher than I had though you would be,” Skif said, grinning in the face of Tsuukai’s incredible attack. In a flash, his arm slid out from under Tsuukai’s saber and bashed it aside, liquid stone spreading out from his other fist to flow back and cover it in a stone shell as it rocketed into the shadow warrior’s stomach. A slight wheeze of air escaped the purple-haired man’s tight-lipped mouth as he was pushed up into the air. Tsuukai’s saber flashed through the air below him, skimming Skif’s belt as he flipped over backwards and brought a foot swinging up to launch the man in the opposite direction he had come from.

Quickly spinning on the ground, Skif came back up in a crouch, the stone covering his left fist re-liquefying and falling away. Raising his fist over his head with a huge grin, the minish brought it slamming into the ground, a row of stone spikes launching forth after the shadow warrior.


<====}=0 – 0={====>

Lhaeo couldn’t stop moving, or else suffer Kazaisu’s powerful blows. The puppet mage darted through the air like a rag doll, his limbs a flurry of movement. Lhaeo’s course was smoother, the god avoiding the mage’s attacks in large swoops and curves. Spinning rapidly on his side, Kaze came barreling in at the cleric. Doubling over, Lhaeo swept under the spinning boy and brought his hands together. A huge blast of wind exploded from them to collide with the puppet mage, launching him further away to give Lhaeo every second he could get to think.

He’s using wind to control his own body?

Kaze halted in midair, quickly rocketing back at the God of Elements. A swirling globe of wind surrounded the god, the mage’s flailing limbs battering vainly against it as wind repelled wind.

He’s using his magic to surpass the limitations of his own body; greater power, speed, and movement than he could normally obtain.

Lhaeo abandoned the smooth movement of free-flight in favor of the quicker method of launching himself away as Kazaisu’s attacks broke through his swirling shield. Re-angling himself to face the god’s new position, Kaze went into another spinning frenzy, waves of bladed wind flying from his arms and legs rapidly. Quickly drawing his twin kodachi’s, Lhaeo slashed through each wind-blade with the speed of a god.

However, it is a useless technique against me. No matter how he uses his wind, I am still the Master of Elements! His wind is completely under my control! I can redirect his wind away from body if I wish!

Kaze brought his legs together in a combined twirling of wind and launched himself at the god, feet first. Twin tornados of wind burst from Lhaeo’s Japanese blades, the blonde-haired warrior-priest hurling them in quick secession at the mage. Flames explodes from their hilts, the blades becoming two wide-sharpened rockets.

“But if I did that, it just wouldn’t be any fun!”

The imperfect assassin slid across the rooftop smoking-wounds creating a trail to the point he stopped. Before he could get to his feet to assess the damage he was forced to jump and roll away as another arrow flew like a missile towards him. Getting to his feet yet another scraped across his shoulder singing his clothes and skin. Even with skin as hard as diamond a burn will still cause damage. Carefully leaping into the air as a blue streak blew the floor he was previously standing on to shreds he with drew his shotguns.

Managing four shots before he touched down again, the Assassin looked up to se his opponent was not their, vanished into thin air. The Mystery was solved seconds later as an arrow burst into his back sending him into the rooftop, and a second through it. Dust filled his eyes when he finally opened them seconds later.

It was pitch black, like night he thought, and the small hole of light he created was like the moon always taunting him. Looking up from his back Derrick counted five floors between him and the roof, even for a genetically created human it was a long fall. Picking himself up he wondered why the Black Clad man had not followed suite to continue his battle. “A Trap most likely,” He murmured to himself in a way that was a bit out-of-character for the usually quiet man.

Trying to get his bearings is when he formulated a plan; in the room he landed where five wooden load bearing pillars, If they where to fall so would the roof, Monroe along with it. The always-resourceful Derrick reached into his coat and pulled some white twin, working quickly he secured grenades to the pillars and tied a piece of twin to all of them. Walking Calmly out the door in front of him, his back and chest still smoking, he looked up with a stern emotionless glare to the roof. With a soft tug the pins all released, and ten seconds later with a resound thud they erupted. Like Dominos it caused a chain reaction as the building swayed and eventually imploded upon itself, hopefully with Monroe on top.

--_--_--_--_--_--_--

The spikes burst forward at super sonic speed, giving Tsuukai almost no time to react. Jumping backwards he avoided one but another pierced into his left arm, lifting him into the air. Hanging off the high spike from his arm no blood seemed to seep from his wound as Skif watched by with a sense of malice and glee on his face. Slashing through the spike the Master Of Shadows dropped to the spike ridden ground, and without even blinking tore the spike from his left arm. A Hole Clearly enough to see through was the result, but still no blood. Than a funny thing happened, the hole molded back together, twisting and forming back into the shape of an arm.

Skif Didn’t look impressed as he readied his next move. Tsuukai of course would not let this happen, a spear of Shadows was already in the master’s right hand, and with remarkable force he hurled it forward, The Minish dodged the main blow but the explosion and shockwave afterward caught him slightly off guard, the force pushing him backwards. Not wasting a step the Part Blood-Demon was ready for his next attack.

Before the smoke cleared a swarm of tinny needles pierced through like a swarm of killer bees. Calmly waving his hand in front of his face Tsuukai created a wall of shadows that caught the poisonous pins in their tracks. Not wasting any time Tsuukai grabbed two daggers and threw them forward towards his enemy then quickly withdrew his bow and launched a flurry of arrows sliding through his shadow wall and continuing forward, the power of shadows behind them.

--_--_--_--_--_--_--

He saw the two missiles and reacted, doing many things in a very short span of time. Firstly: he cast a spell which gave him control over water particles in the air, and use them to create ice, Second: He gathered many particles together really fast to created a wall of ice blocking the missiles from him, Thirdly: H added more water into the mix to create what could on be called an explosion of steam expanding in every direct thanks to good old high school chemistry, and Finally: he used this massive wall of stream as camouflage, bursting forward towards his flying enemy. Laheo barely had time to react when he felt the Kaze’s fist at his cheek. With a knee jerk response Kaze’s enemy moved away weakening the blow, however it meant something important; that the grand Arch mage Of Wind could reach the God of Elements.

“Don’t take me lightly,” Kaze said sternly, a sick smile on his face, “I am called the Archmage of Wind, and I can assure you that name is not just for show. My Mastery over wind reaches farther then you can imagine, and more power far greater then you expect. Do not think you, even with your power, can match my Mastery of the sky, it is my domain and I would protect it with deadly force if it comes to it. If you take me lightly, then you will die. That I can assure you,”

“Who exactly do you think you are talking to,”

“It doesn’t matter,” Kaze said, turning and looking upwards towards his air born opponent, his cape fluttering lightly behind him, “God or man, Angle or Demon, Man or Women, it does not matter to me. I am the Master of the Skies, it is a title I hold with honour and dignity, anyone who dares to take away my title will feel my wrath.”

“And that mans,”

“Oh don’t worry, you will know.”

OoC: That will do. Also FTR: When Kaze is controlling his body using wind he can no longer preform any other wind magic.

Monroe did, indeed, stand upon the building. He hadn't taken the initiative to strike because he needed to pry the pellets out of his body. With the help of a little bit of photon energy to melt the pellet, the metallic ooze left slowly leaked out of each wound as Monroe removed his finger from melting the bullets out and cauterizing the wounds. As the pain subsided, the Quincy looked down at the roof and listened carefully.

There had been a very slight click. A few seconds passed before it clicked what had just been set off. The building shook as explosions erupted at five points in the building. Suddenly, the building collapsed, and the dark clad man couldn't help but fall with the building. The archer felt a wave of pain rush through his body as he laid on the ground for a moment and looked up at the sky.

It was odd. The sky was clear. Almost too clear on that day. The Dome had placed the two artificial humans into a familiarly unfamiliar setting. Everything hurt. The entire weight of the five-story fall now helped to pin the dark clad man to the ground.

The ground cracked slightly as something seemed to move. Derrik walked towards the Quincy as he continued to lay down on the ground in extreme pain. Nothing but pain and anguish seemed to fill up in his body. Still, he couldn't move... Nothing would budge in the slightest at that moment.

Still, the perfect assassin now stood over the Enhanced human. Derrik said nothing. He didn't have to. After all, that was the kind of guy Monroe had labeled him as. He would act much sooner than he would gloat. The white clad man raised his foot over Monroe's head and readied to strike.

The foot came down quickly. For most people, following the movement that had just happened would have been next to impossible. Still, for Monroe, something odd set in. The dark clad man propped himself against a building, using it for some support.

The archer couldn't help but smile as he looked at the perfect human. The Quincy slowly forced himself to stand up straight and smirk slightly as a glow covered him. The neon green of his arrows suddenly moved around the dark clad man violently. Slowly, the glow changed into green strings around his body, which seemed to wrap and pull everything together.

"Ransoutengai. These strings will let me continue to fight even until I've become a corpse." I have to be careful. Using Ransoutengai to keep me standing up is great and all, but I do have one problem... it limits my use of it as an offensive weapon. Still, I don't need that much. Just enough to lynch this bastard!

"This is a fun game, let's continue," the Quincy said as he leapt backwards onto a building. Now all he had to do was lure this man along. It wouldn't be that easy, Monroe knew, but the time would come.

o=)------------- --------------(=o

Zachary watched as the tree flew towards him. His last arrow had almost no effect, and now he found himself staring down the threat of a giant tree slamming into him and possibly crushing him. If this had been Zorlo or Monroe, Zachary noted, escape would have been easy. However, for the ice mage, this trick would be very hard.

Still, the Replicator also kept a few new tricks handy. One of which had been something someone very important to him had helped him develop. Clenching his bow tightly, the amateur sorcerer closed his eyes and focused on it. I haven't had a chance to actually test this in battle... I have no choice though. It’s my best choice.

Wind began to swirl around the ice mage's right hand as a green blade slowly formed in his hand. "Gale Edge... the weapon that the person I care for the most helped me creates. I'll use it!"

"I am my own sword, vanquisher of my foes!" the Replicator stated as the green blade glowed brightly for a few seconds as it became a magical arrow. The amateur sorcerer drew the arrow back and aimed straight for the center of the tree. There was no escape, but at least he could strike first.

Zachary loosed the arrow. The magical arrow moved quickly, much faster than his other arrows. The Gale Edge arrow moved quickly, striking the tree and ripping through the center and bursting out directly at Kashet. Both fighters had little chance to do anything aside from take the oncoming attack.

The tree struck the Replicator hard, knocking him a few feet farther backwards. The amateur sorcerer's armor cracked and some blood erupted from his mouth as he fell backwards. After falling a few yards, his body ripped through trees painfully until the red haired warrior hit the ground with a thud. His body hurt for a few moments, but what the mage saw in the distance was somewhat rewarding. Or so he hoped as he watched the odd man who didn't seem to move.

Kashet was not a human. Not anymore. He was an ungodly mix of man, machine, and beast, with extreme knowledge of things both scientific and mythical. His brain worked with the Ingenuity of Man and the speed of a supercomputer. He watched and calculated everything, filing the minutest detail away in the dark corners of his mind. So when the blade-arrow burst through the base of the tree-turned-missile, it was met with a plan already half-formed in Kashet’s mind.

With less than a thought, Kashet’s armor-skin detached itself from his frame form head to toe, the man beneath falling away behind it, his nerves and muscles bare without their skin. The arrow rocketed down, slamming into the detached armor frame. Even without Kashet behind it, the armor-skin stood strong and independent. The arrow drilled through the chest of the free-standing armor, scratching Kashet’s exposed muscles as he fell away. Staggering back, Kashet brought a hand to his skinless chest, feeling the slice across it.

But he wasn’t skinless for long. Patches of metallic gray appeared across his frame as the nanomachines went to work, rebuilding his armor-skin anew. Without weapons or armor for the moment, Kashet fell back into the shelter of a tumbling down building and dropped to his knees. He placed both hands on the bare ground, the nanomachines instantly beginning to draw up materials form it, least they used his own core flesh to replace the armor. The cloaked man began to reform his blade-arm as well, be stopped as a new idea came to mind. Lurching, the man’s body extended and twisted.

Bent and clawed legs grew from his torso as his body lengthened, his head sloping back into a serpentine form. Powerful claws dug into the earth, and shiny armor plated clinked. Steel bristles sprouted from behind the base of Kashet’s changed head and along his spine. Electricity skipped along the beast’s scales as he coiled around itself, stretching the new limbs. Slowly, Kashet brought a glowing yellow eye to a hole in the wall, watching as the red-haired mage approached the empty armor frame that still stood in the middle of the dusty street. He waited until the mage had reached up to poke at the empty armor, then exploded from the crumbling building in a shower of debris.

OoC: Behir

<====}=0 – 0={====>

Lhaeo frowned, his gaiety gone. Who was this fool, who would lay claim the realm of the gods?

“You encroach upon that which is not yours, friend,” Lhaeo called out sternly. “The gods hold mastery over the sky, not you. Kalecia will strike you down herself, should you dare to continue proclaiming yourself as you do.”

Kazaisu laughed.

“What do I care of the gods?” The mage shot forward, Lhaeo dropping down beneath his outstretched fist.

“The gods are useless! Fools all!” The Archmage changed directions, swooping down towards Lhaeo in a kick. The Elemental Master dodged the kick with a flourish of his coat and dropped the rest of the way to the ground. Kaze turned and looked down on the blonde-haired man, laughing.

“Very well,” Lhaeo reached beneath his jacket, withdrawing a golden chain. The silver figure of an open hand, fingers surrounded by the elements, swung at the end of it. “Then the gods will strike you down for your blasphemy, should I fail to do so first.” The warrior-priest brought his hands together, the pendant swaying on the end of the chain between them as he chanted. Kaze blasted down, feet first. Lhaeo stood still, praying as the Archmage rocketed down at him. The human puppet was mere yards away as the chanting reached it’s climax, the ground on either side of Lhaeo erupting.

Twin pillars of stone shot out of the ground, both slamming full force into the proclaimed Master of the Skies. A third rose up across from Lhaeo, slamming into Kaze from behind and pinning him in a stone vice. His chanting ceased, Lhaeo held out a hand, and a blue hilt appeared in it, a huge length of blade with it. The Elemental Master leapt into the air with zanbattou in hand, soaring up and landing upon the stone grip that held the Archmage.

“Let this be the judgement of the gods,” he proclaimed, looking upon the blasphemous boy with eyes of black and silver.

<====}=0 – 0={====>

Skif ducked as the sharp whistling of thrown blades alerted him to the knives, feeling them pass overhead. Rising, the minish waved his bone hand in a wide circle, blood forming behind it and spreading to form a wide shield. And just in time, as black arrows pierced the smokescreen to bounced against the floating blood shield. Grabbing the shield, Skif darted to the side, hoping to move around the smoke. An arrow flew out of the smoke to pierce his bicep, but the warrior ignored the wound, dashing out of the debris-filled street and into a corpse of trees that had overcome part of the empty city. Quickly extracting the arrow, Skif dropped into a crouch and closed his eyes. An aura invisible to human eyes seeped from the warrior, quickly drifting through the trees and into the surrounding city.

Skif’s right eye snapped open, the blood-red iris glowing brightly. He saw everything, and all at once. Several dozen meters to the west, Tsuukai waited with bow in hand, perched on the lip of a building. Smiling, Skif held up his hand. Blood appeared there, floating in a hundred little droplets. They swirled in his hand a moment, then shot up into the air. Another hundred droplets were sent southward, and another north. Guided by what his Dark Aura showed him, Skif eased the three groups closer and closer to where Tsuukai roamed, the dark warrior cautiously searching nearby buildings and piles of rubble. Then, as the cloaked man ventured into a relatively open area, two groups of the blood bullets surged towards him, swirling into a ring several meters wide around him. The third group floated overhead. Then, without mercy, they fired out as if from a machinegun, all around him, and raining down from above.

Zachary leapt back quickly as the twelve legged beast erupted and lunged at the Replicator. The ice mage stared at the creature shakily and smiled. It had taken a lot of time and training to get ready for this fight. Well, it hadn't been this exact fight the ice mage had been training for, but any fight like this. One where his strengths weren't enough. He would require some other tactics and skills he had picked up from different people.

Arietta's arrow had already done its best, but it seemed that it wouldn't be enough. Much to Zach's chagrin, this fight would require more than just the arrow that had pierced his heart. He still had several other people who had lent him some powers, and he wasn't about to save them if he could avoid it.

Kashet's massive, metallic dragon form lunged as Zachary looked at it. "A dragon..." the Sorcerer of Blades said, relatively unimpressed by the fact it was a dragon, but oddly fascinated by the features. Still, response was required, or else the Replicator would meet a rather painful fate in the next few moments.

The dragon's head lunged forwards suddenly, and the ice mage smirked as it did. Had this dragon fought him a little while ago, this attack would have been deadly... now, however, this dragon wasn't like to have a chance to strike effectively.

The strike was both fast and accurate, but it still missed the target. Well, to be more exact, the target wasn't where the blow had been aimed. In fact, as Kashet skidded to a landing on the ground, he looked around nervously for where his foe was. Clapping noises filled the air as the Replicator stared at his target with a smile and pointed at the creature. "I've gotta admit I'm impressed by that form... still, I keep a few tricks ready for when the fight comes to me," the ice mage stated with a smile.

"Vuelo. That's the name that the man that taught me a version of his movement skill called it. It means "flight." Essentially, it requires an extremely high powered bit of movement but even allows me to effectively evade in the air."

The ice mage held his right arm out as he stared at the creature and looked thoughtful. "Some people say there is only one weapon worthy of slaying a dragon, but I'm not too sure. I'd say two, but I'll give those people the benefit of the doubt and give it a try," the Replicator stated as water swirled out from his hand and slowly formed a spear. "Leviathan. The legendary sea serpent... made with the help of my girlfriend's sister... somewhat reluctantly, if I might add."

The Replicator gave the spear a few good swings as he got a feel for it, but then took a spear stance and kept his gaze fixed upon the creature. Kashet, also, had kept his gaze fixed on Zachary since he had reappeared, but seemed to be planning on a movement. The dragon creature struck suddenly. A powerful charged quickly ripped through a good number of trees as the Sorcerer of Blades snuck out of the attack, even if just narrowly this time.

Quickly taking to the trees, the ice mage moved from tree to tree, moving into a place where he could hide. The dragon-like creature looked around, the same emotionless look the creature had kept even in a humanoid form remained steady and stern upon the beings features.

From a tree, the Replicator emerged, his spear glowing white with magic as he thrust the tip of the spear into the Behir's back. A loud clank rung out as the blade struck the hard, metallic armor, but a second, more rewarding, crack followed. The spear slowly froze the armor and, after pulling the weapon up slightly, the ice mage stabbed the tip of the spear through the dragon's back, causing Kashet to cry out in pain.

The creature struggled violently, finally throwing Zachary from his spear and through a tree. The ice mage rolled into another tree, which caused him to stop. The Replicator slowly stood up and looked around in a somewhat dazed manner. He could barely see Kashet as his sight continued to shake, but he could tell that the dragon had removed the spear and tossed it away.

The Replicator frowned at the creature's actions and felt the ground shake slightly. Looking behind himself, the red haired warrior noticed pillars of earth erupting from the ground and began to ponder quietly.

Still, standing in the open was nearly a suicidal move, so he quickly ducked into a secluded area to think silently to himself. As things stand... I'm in trouble, and I can guess Kaze's probably in a similar situation. I realize now I made a bad decision to not fight that Lhaeo guy... and instead the guy I knew nothing about. Well... if things are hard for us both, maybe Kaze will listen to reason?

Zach's thoughts were rudely interrupted as the tree he had taken refuge in snapped in half as Kashet swiped it with great force. The Replicator leapt up and quickly created another spear. The tip began to glow again as magical energy focused into the tip, and a powerful toss echoed out an even louder crack than the first one.

The force of the blow brought Kashet's twelve legs bearing down. Although the dragon had been brought to its knees for that moment, the ice mage didn't have a moment to spare. Although that attack had stunned the behir, it wouldn't be stalled for long.

Quickly leaping upwards, back into the treetops to rely on the cover they provided, the Replicator moved towards where he could see the pillars of stone. A bright light seemed to emanate as a massive sword appeared in Lhaeo's hand. Zachary immediately acknowledged that he had one option for an entrance.

Deduced is the better word for how he came to that conclusion, seeing as he quickly summoned up a spear, focused magical energy into the tip, and threw it with all the might he could muster. The god looked up just soon enough to watch as the blade impaled him and froze the spear into his chest with the blade poking out his back into a tree where he was pinned for the moment.

Zachary landed nimbly and smiled as he looked at Lhaeo. "Only entrance I could deem the way I should enter," he commented, smiling at the god as the Sorcerer of Blades turned his attention to Kaze. "Looks like you could use some help," Zachary said as he created Azul and Rosso and through the red blade, cutting the bindings that held the Archmage and freed him. With a powerful burst of wind, Kaze was free from his prison and landed next to Zachary.

The forest behind the two shattered into splinters as Kashet stopped before the two, staring at them with the cold, mechanical stare the man was capable of. Before long, Lhaeo had removed himself from the tree and was now standing as a threat again.

"Looks like I should have probably take Lhaeo, and you should have taken that... thing," Zachary said, jerking his thumb at Kashet. "What do you say to a temporary truce?" the ice mage asked, smiling. "After all, my weapons are a sorcery on par with godly magic, so Lhaeo's magic is worthless for controlling my weapons, and your lightning can short circuit the metallic dragon, or melt him. We need each other, I think, so we might as well give an alliance a try. If you really want, we can duke it out when we're done with these two."

Zachary smiled back at Kaze as he spun his short swords in his hands. "What do you say, huh?"