Power pushed to its limit (1 other person)

As the flux of spirit energy from Carcaroth continued to indicate a mental conversation between him and Kerel.

"Getting tired yet Carca?" I said in a slightly maniacal tone as Kireza's personality began to meld with my own. I slammed my sword down in an attempt to relive Carcaroth of his own sword, but missed as my vision flickered, and tiny particles became visible to me. It seemed that I had been fighting long enough for the Dark Matter in the air to become moderately stabilized. I smiled at Carcaroth, and jumped back avoiding a sword swing, aimed at my sword arm.

"Dark Matter Shift!" I shouted as I pointed a finger at Carcaroth. The air in front of me shimmered, and suddenly 3 sapling sized stalagmites appeared, the points facing Carca, and flew towards him.

"Not really," Carcaroth replied as he dodged the incoming objects. They seemed different from what he had been dealing with before. Was it a new, more powerful technique?

Seems you'll have to get up close this time, Kerel commented. That technique isn't going to just go away.

What is it? Carca asked as he dashed towards Azerik.

Have no idea. Just make sure you don't get hit.

Yeah, I kinda figured.

Carca twisted in mid-air, and he felt the demon's presence grow stronger. It usually signalled when he was about to take control, or when he was about to fire a particularly powerful spell.

Nothing happened.

Quick, you need to aim and fire this one straight at him.

Why can't - ?

Do it!

Carca raised his hands and aimed straight at Azerik. Still holding on to that strong feeling, he fired.

A terrible colossus of fire burst out of his hands, burning with a fierce flame as it raged towards Azerik. Carcaroth stared awestruck, not being able to fathom where such a huge beast had come from.

Now's your chance! Go!

He dashed ahead. The colossus let out a terrible roar.

"DARK MATTER SHIFT!" I yelled louder this time. The air shimmered, and a wall of steel materialized in front of me, taking the brunt of the enormous inferno headed towards me. I jumped back to avoid the heat of that soon emanated from the melting steel wall. I felt drained from using the Dark Matter Shift, but not enough to slow me down too much. The wall I had summoned had not been particularly thick, and those rock spikes had been child's play.

Carcaroth emerged out of the dust and fire that had been mixed together in the explosion. His sword swung out, meeting Azerik's blade with great force. He could feel Kerel's powers run through his veins. He had to use it. He needed to use it. He could use it.

Gripping his sword even tighter, he swung again, sending a blast of fire along with the slash that had Azerik dodge in order to not get hit. Carca followed up with a combo of other strikes, both with the sword and with Kerel's fire magic. Anyone who would have seen the battle from afar would have seen nothing but two vague figures and a flurry of lights. It was barely possible for Carca himself to keep up with his own moves. His instincts had taken over, guiding his hands for him. It was not like when Kerel possessed him - Carca could never know what the demon would do next with his body. Now, however, it was like someone had read his minds and made his body move in the way he had subconsciously planned.

He let out a roar as he swung his sword again, and a great wall of fire erupted from it, almost as big as the colossus. Without hesitating, he pursued Azerik further, as the wall came crashing down on them both.

As the wall of fire crashed down, I leaped into the space between spaces, and came out mere feet from where it touched down. I knew by instinct that Carcaroth was unharmed by the explosion, Kerel's fire shield protecting him from the flames, but was unsure if his landing on the hard ground had had any adverse effects.

I could have blocked the flames again with my Dark Matter Shift, but using it the third time, would allow Kireza complete control of my body, considering that the power was really his, and I wasn't quite ready to allow him control.

"You okay Carca?" I called in the settling dust, "the fun''s only getting started!

"I'm fine," Carcaroth replied as he appeared from the smoke, swinging his sword in fast and deadly swipes. "Just you worry about yourself."

No matter how Carca's powers grew, he was evenly matched with Azerik at almost all times. They only got some weaker attacks in at each other, but they did not sustain any major damage or wounds. The most they got were a few bruises and cuts.

How much further can you guys go? Kerel said with a small hint of annoyance in his voice. Honestly, it's pretty boring at this point.

Either we fight or one of us surrender, Carca replied as he ducked away from a strike. And that won't be me.

Obviously.

Carca sent off another inferno blast to keep Azerik at bay. He was beginning to feel warmer, perhaps a warning that his body was closing in on its limit. Kerel seemed to notice it too, as he stopped doing what he was doing (humming) and began focusing on the battle more closely.

Let's hope you can handle the heat for long enough.

I had realized some time ago, that the two of us were evenly matched in terms of power. The winner of this battle would be decided by skill (physical and mental) and a little bit of luck.


"You should let me take over," said an echoing voice inside my head, "I'm much stronger than you."

"Not anymore you're not," I thought in response, "ever since we made the pact to regain my Lycan powers, the power split between me, you and Sumasshuyochi was distributed evenly among us. You very well that our real power lies in when I change to one of my lycan forms. Anything before that is just you and Sumasshuyochi taking turns fighting."

My attention refocused on the battle, and I dodged a strike that was aimed at my face, laughing with the strange mixdd voice I had been using since I had donned my Hollow Mask.

"Not that this isn't great Carca," I said in a tone that was somewhat sadistic (the echoing quality of the mixed voice making it much more so), "but I think its time I brought out the big guns!"

Suddenly, as if from no where, 9 black spheres appeared surrounding Carcaroth from all sides. A 10th one appeared in front of me, and I began to fire hundreds of Getsuga Tensho into it at a speed that was barely visible. The black and purple blasts erupted at random from the sphere's surround Carca. He made to dodge them, but instead of heading towards him, they collided and formed a larger version of the sphere I had around his entire body. Inside this enormous purple sphere, everything had stopped, time had forgotten that the space inside that sphere existed.

"GETSUGA KANGOKU TENSHO!" I shouted as I used my Trans-Dimensional Flashstep to warp around the sphere, slashing wildly, hitting Carcaroth in both non-fatal, and spots that could be fatal if not looked into. In 10 seconds, I had carved the sphere up, white lines lining the dark exterior of the mass of energy. I stepped back, and the sphere disappeared, showing Carca perfectly healthy. He seemed confused for a moment, but then he made to attack me, and thats when it happened.

First a small cut appeared on his left cheek and he stopped to touch the minor wound, wondering how it had happened. Then a large gash appeared on his arm and he dropped his sword to grab at it in pain. Then, slowly, but with increasing speed, cuts and slashes began to appear at random on Carca's body, the time that had been locked from the sphere, slowly but surely returning. He attempted to attack me several times as the damage was done, but I dodged with little effort, and watched as the blood loss took its toll. By time all the cuts had appeared, Carcaroth was lying in a pool of his own blood. By this time, I too was weakened, the energy it had taken to do this, had me completely drained. I dopped to my knees, then sat down cross legged next to Carca's unmoving body. My mask shattered and disappeared.

"I'd call this a draw," I said smiling weakly, "You're half dead and bleeding towards the last half, and I'm completely out of energy, susceptible to any last second attack you could halfheartedly make...I think I should probably stop the bleeding now..."

I clapped my hands, and placed them on Carca's back. There was a flash of blue light, and a spark of electricity, and the more serious wounds he had sustained closed, and the bleeding stopped.

"All your internal injuries are still there," I said flopping over to lie on my back, "but you should be able to travel in order to see a doctor or something..."

I turned to look at him, and I grinned.

"That was a good fight," I said holding my hand out awkwardly for him to shake, "I think you and I could get along. Your mental will is something special Carca...is it alright if I call you that?"

His hand shot out. Carcaroth's eyes had once again become yellow, but they were different. He was no longer Carcaroth, but he was not Kerel either.

He caught Azerik by the throat. Azerik, who was completely drained of energy, had no hopes of defending himself.

"The battle is over when one of us dies," said a cold, furious voice that was seething with hatred. As he spoke, the flaming aura around him began to get out of control. As the rest of the wounds began to close, it began.

A sharp pain shot through his arm, and he groaned as he flung Azerik away. It had only been there for a brief second, but in that tiny moment Carcaroth had regained control. He tried to stabilize it, but the anger overcame him once more. It was not like when Kerel took control, in which Carca would just be pushed away. No, this time it was he himself who was influenced. This mindless fury...

His body had reached its limit. The powers that coursed through his body were much greater than anyone had anticipated, but they were not stopping. At this rate, his body would collapse under the pressure.

Kerel was not there. Where was he? How - ?

Then he felt it. The demon's presence was stronger than ever. He could feel him, but in a different way. As though... they were the same person.

Carcaroth gripped his head. His body had begun to ache under the pressure of his energies. It was an energy he could not even recognize, it was not his nor was it Kerel's. What had happened to them? Who was he?

AAAAAH!

As Carcaroth heard Kerel's scream, it felt as though someone had cracked open his skull. His energy sank drastically. He fell to his knees, coughing and struggling to breathe. Inside his head, Kerel was swearing.

What the hell happened? What was that?

I... don't know...

He could not explain it, but for a moment - that rage-filled, uncontrollable moment - it had felt like he and Kerel had become the same person. It had nearly destroyed them.

He glanced over at Azerik, who seemed to have suffered no visible injuries aside from a slight burn from the fiery aura that had surrounded Carcaroth. He seemed to be on his guard, but he made no attempt to attack.

"Are you calm now?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah..." Carca replied. "Yeah..."

He moved over to a larger stone, sitting on it. After pushing his limits to the extreme, he felt more tired than ever. He was in no condition to do further battle. As Azerik was not, either, it surely was a draw.

"A draw it is," he muttered.

"You almost had me worried there," I said trying to laugh but ended up coughing, "tell Kerel he needs to work on his people skills."

I struggled for a minute, then managed to stand up and walk over to Carcaroth.

"Like I said before," I said putting my hand out for him to shake, "I think you and I could get along...Kerel and Kireza might also I think, if they can get past their similarities."

Carca slowly took his hand, shaking it a little before letting go.

"I doubt it," he muttered. "About Kerel and... Kireza, was it? Kerel isn't someone who 'gets along' with people..."

He coughed lightly as he looked around. Their battlefield truly was a battelfield - the ground was scorched to the point where it had become dark grey, the trees were burned away, and big cracks in the ground showed where they had collided or hit with their energy strikes. He felt a little bad for being responsible for the destruction of a once peaceful and healthily growing area. Then again, he was also glad that no-one had been around to get caught in the cross-fire.

"Thanks for the battle," he said quietly to Azerik. In his mind, Kerel was still churning over what had happened.

Alright, time to go, the demon said.

Why?

I intend to find out what happened, and therefore we will need to go to the person who can tell us.

Oh... right.

Carcaroth made a short bow to Azerik. "I need to get going... but thanks nonetheless. Maybe we'll meet again sometime."

And with that, he turned around and walked away.

"Kerel might not admit it," I said to myself as Carca walked away, "but he's attached to you kid...and look at me with the body of a 17 year old, calling him a kid....Kerel, depraved and destructively violent as he is, is sentient, and therefore has what some people might call 'human' emotions. He's emotionally attached to you at this point, and he would get along with Kireza I think...they're too similar not to..."

With that, I clapped my hands together, and slammed them onto the ground. A blue light flashed, and electricity sparked, and most of the damage we had done was reversed, as the things we had destroyed repaired themselves. The trees we had killed, remained as such, being beyond my ability to resurrect. I was gone before the process had finished, in the space between spaces.


[IT'S OVER!!!]