The Tears, the Stars, and the Heavens Above

Alright, Safer, Bloodsword, change in plans! I'm sure we're all tired of waiting for Angelfire to finish so we can begin our super-awesome finalè battle. So I decided, since Tiroth hasn't even been around for a while, we should just stop waiting and let the havoc commence. That's right. It begins now.

IC:

The uninviting, stainless steel halls of the underground base issued a hollow “clank” with each of the dragon-man’s booted footfalls. His eyes were locked almost sightlessly ahead, paying little heed to Terrin Tankira, who followed closely. The elf’s eyes flicked curiously around the massive structure as they traveled deeper into the base’s core. The tastelessness of these drab, endless corridors didn’t bother Drake; this underground, city-sized base was his home, however restricting. Topside and the holosims provided ample exercise anyhow.

“You are fortunate to see this, Tankira,” he said unenthusiastically. “The Alliance has remained a secret from the common world for thousands of years. To meet one of its elite is a blessing, but to see one of its many hidden homes is a miracle.” He did not turn to see the man’s expression, nor did he care much. He half expected a scowl and snide rebuttal, but smiled slightly when none came.

As the two approached an intersection, a familiar sound echoed in the dragon’s ears. “Unca Drake, Unca Drake!” A small girl wheeled around the corner and alighted on his chest—a remarkable feat, considering his size. For a girl of only seven, she was quite fast and strong. Drake laughed and crossed his arms as a seat for her, and she stared up at him through long, brunette bangs in childlike glee.

“It is good to see you too, Terra.”

The girl giggled, eyes shining. “Fly me, fly me!” she cried excitedly.

Drake was reluctant to answer; there were more pressing matters on hand, and he needed to speak with his brother and the general urgently. With uncharacteristic fatherliness, he spoke to the child. “I’m sorry, angel, but it will have to wait. Uncle has something he needs to take care of.”

“Hmph. Never figured you for a parent,” remarked Terrin.

Drake tossed a reprimanding glance over his shoulder to see a joking smirk on his ally’s face, but quickly returned his gaze to his niece. Her lips pouted, and eyes swelled up in that irresistible way, but the dragon knew she was feigning. He chuckled lightly, but shook a finger at her. “Later, angel. Uncle needs to talk to your daddy first.”

She turned her eyes away and crossed her arms, clearly unappeased. “Oh, fine…”

“Terra! Terra, come back here!” The voice was a little high, but more amused than upset. Terrin stepped past Drake, obviously recognizing the voice.

Blitz wheeled around the corner, nearly slamming into the dragon-man, and stumbled back in surprise. “Drake! When did you get back?”

“Oh, you noticed I left?”

Amy hastened behind Blitz, coming to a halt before the dragon and taking a disgruntled Terra into her own arms. But while the cleric fondly greeted her brother-in-law, the fire innate’s eyes were locked in disbelief on the elf.

“…Terrin? Is that you?” he gasped.

The elf grinned smugly, resting one hand on his hip and the other on his indestructible blade, the Yuthian. “Yes, I grew tired of my old look.”

Blitz laughed as his daughter leaned from her mother’s arms and hugged him. He returned the hug, but should have known she wanted something in return. “Daddy, Drake won’t fly me!” she complained. The swordsman was about to reply, but his wife spoke first.

“Come on outside, darling,” she cooed sweetly, walking down the corridor from which Drake and Terrin had come. “I’ll play with you until Drake is finished with work.”

Quickly forgetting her Uncle’s rejection, Terra squeaked in delight.

“So, what brings you here?” asked Blitz to his elven comrade as his wife and daughter disappeared from sight. “There will be a banquet in a few nights, so if you care to stay...”

Drake interrupted quickly. “Blitz, I have some bad news. Terrin and I met in a cavern where a fallen angel was aspiring to overtake the surface world. The Heavenflame was there, too.”

Blitz raised an eyebrow, genuinely interested. “…And?”

Terrin continued now, concern evident in his voice. “Something strange was happening to Tokumaru. He seemed borderline insane, and fought with a ferocity the likes of which I have never seen.”

“It went beyond retribution,” mused the dragon. “This was something less of vengeance, Blitz. I believe the Heavenflame Samurai may be deranged, driven mad by some internal source of power.”

Blitz tried to grasp all of this, but he could hardly imagine Tokumaru going insane. His eyes rolled downward in thought. “But…he fought against the fallen angel, didn’t he?”

Terrin nodded. “Certainly. But I agree with what your brother has said. Tokumaru is losing his mind, if he hasn’t already. Something must be done, or he may once again become that demon of ages past.” A deep-seated hate filled the caster’s green eyes, a fist clenching instinctively. “I will see no friend of mine reduced to the level of those other filthy humans.”

The fire innate scowled, one hand rubbing his forehead. “Are you guys sure about this?”

Drake was about to say something, but was prematurely interrupted by a rumbling. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet shuddered, causing all three to stumble to the walls, and then the base’s floor split apart with a groaning of steel and a thunderous crack. The three looked on in disbelief at the resulting chasm so deep that its bottom was lost in darkness. The quake slowly subsided, though the hollow thundering still echoed throughout the base.

Blitz screamed something, but it was drowned out by the roaring of the earthquake. The dragon-man could not make out what his brother had said, but turned his eyes to see the Wielder of the Sword hurtling down the hallway at full throttle, the elven caster in hot pursuit.

Drake’s eyes widened in realization. “Amy!” He made to follow his comrades, but a massive, hideous shape appeared before him, blocking the dragon’s path. He skid to a halt and stared at the creature in revulsion; a ten-foot, newborn demon had risen from the chasm. Its body was lanky and somewhat misshapen; bile-colored skin partly covered an exposed, throbbing ribcage. The creature had not even been dried of embryotic fluid; nevertheless, it assailed the dragon-man with a ravenous howl.

Drake met the wretched thing dead-on, thrusting his claws into the cursed beast’s throat, and yanking aside. The top half of its skull came away with a sick splat, and its body flopped lifelessly onto the ground, spilling its tongue onto the cold steel.

The dragon once more turned to follow his comrades; the demon had already delayed him too much. But then something directed his attention to the crevice. As he peered over the edge, he swore incredulously. An endless number of the repulsive creatures were visible far below, wings carrying them higher and higher toward the dragon.

OOC: You know the prickly feeling up your neck you get with a CJ burst, mainly from music? Well, at the end of Star Wars III, when Lars and his wife were holding Luke, and the slow orchestra was playing the slow Star Wars theme… and then BOOM, the string ensemble came in and the camera angled towards the twin-sunset… It wasn’t just a small creep-up of hairs prickling. It was a BLOODY EXPLOSION. Normally CJs ruin my BA writing, but this… I’ve never felt. This is by far the greatest CJ boost I’ve ever had. And I intend to use the Betrayal by Anakin as fuel, for reasons you both know. This will be a Star Wars inspired piece, especially the first paragraph, which, by the way, is the best piece of literature I have ever written.

BiC: The night sky hung beautifully, galaxies and nebulas floating endlessly in the dark vacuum of space. Adventures of any kind could be happening in the distance, wars, betrayal, and the rise and fall of whole galactic governments. But what was it to the heavens of the Universe, the lands beyond even the fabrics of space? Heaven, the Ether, Olympus… was it all an enigma? Were they all connected by a single Force, being, or false reality? No one will ever know. It is the fabric of the mind and spirit that is so limited to everything we are, everything we must be, and everything Destiny holds for us.

Chaos is an insane set of mind. It can bend whole worlds in its grasp, and even change the face of all we know. Heaven, Hell, and even the Ether itself can be torn apart by its power. Lives of even the strongest of the strong have been taken in, turned away from the Light, and forced into the Dark as they are bent. Even the Gods themselves cannot deny it, particularly a certain God, one of Fire that not even the biggest of stars can produce.

This God was a kind one, whose life had begun peaceful and strong. His parents, Lords of all the Gods in his Domain, quarreled endlessly. However, this God decided to side with his beautiful Mother, Goddess of Women, and angered his father, Lord of the Gods, into throwing him out of their Domain. For a whole day the kind little God flew threw the sky, until finally, he crashed on the small island of Lemnos, crippling his legs forever more.

But the God remained kind. He never yelled, nor did he make a fuss. Not in the infinite vastness of his life, once, did he make a fit. That is, until a span of 24 years, a blink of an eye in his immortality, changed him forever.

A small, lesser Demon known as Naoru snuck into his Domain, climbing the greatest of the great mountains, Mount Olympus, and stole the God’s Serum of Flame. This serum would determine who would gain power from the God, governor of Fire and Forging, next. However, the demon tried and failed hundreds of times to open the bottle, or smash it, but to no avail.

After a few months, the Demon came across a young boy, the son of the most heinous of unions: That of an Angel, known as Khayoro, and a living Mortal, known as Mae. In Naoru’s attempted murder of the boy, the Demon spilt the serum onto the boy’s arm, carving it away, and changing the boy’s life forever. The kind God was easily alerted of this, and had no choice—not that he didn’t want to—to give his Fires to that boy, and allow the boy to become more powerful than anyone else. The God of Fire and Forge, Hephæstus, saw faith in his new Apprentice, Tokumaru Kyô.

* * *

“I want answers, NOW, Eris!” the deep voice screamed.

“And what answers do you want, My Lord? Heehee!” cackled a young feminine voice.

“Tell me why my disciple, my apprentice, the very human who makes me feel as if there’s hope for the mortals, is a RAVAGING DEMON like the bastard who stole my Serum!”

“Hahaha! You’re so funny, Hephy!”

Light flooded into the dark room, the chambers of Ares, God of War. The light came from the fire of Hephæstus’ wheel chair. Sitting 20 feet tall, the monstrous Hephæstus lifted the cowering Eris, Spirit of Chaos, by her gown’s collar.

“YOU SHALL ADDRESS ME AS HEPHÆSTUS, GOD OF FIRE AND FORGE!”

At that moment, Ares, clad in a Gold suit of armor, burst in upon his chariot, eyes alit with anger.

“Put her down, Hephæstus!” he yelled, his deep bass voice screaming loudly.

Hephæstus held a large hand out to his brother.

“Ares, you shall back down, otherwise I will be forced to ignite you in the FIRES of my Forge!”

Ares’ brow furrowed.

“Hephæstus, why are you choking my lovely Eris like this?”

The God of Fire let Eris down, and turned his chair to face his brother.

“She is the Spirit of Chaos, and is responsible for all things bad that happen in the mortal world,” Hephæstus said sternly.

“And what has happened that is so horrible?!” Ares snapped.

“My apprentice, Tokumaru Kyô—”

“The mortal you are supplying with power? What trouble could that idiot cause?”

“HE IS NO IDIOT! His mind has been possessed by the Darkness left over by Naoru, the demon which connected him with me. Eris allowed this to happen, for she controls the chaos of the world. I demand we have her punished in a way far worse than that of Prometheus!”

At that moment, a dark hole appeared in the floor of Ares’ chambers, and out sprouted the gallant, dark, and tall God of Death, Hadés.

“Now, now,” he consoled, easily seeing the quarrel from his palace in the Underworld, “my nephews, quit this babbling over a stupid mortal!”

The God turned to Hephæstus.

“Son of my Brother,” Hadés continued, “this pathetic piece of dirt known as Eris did not take the sanity from the one you call Tokumaru.”

Hephæstus, on the verge of tears—his care for Tokumaru spanned very far—, gritted his teeth at his Uncle.

“Then who did? My apprentice has turned into a Demon again, and this time, I fear it may be worse than we could ever imagine!”

Hadés sighed, addressing for Ares and Eris to leave the room.

“It was my mistake, Hephæstus,” Hadés said, closing his eyes. “I should have had Hermes send the microscopic demons within Tokumaru’s bloodstream across the River Styx long, long, long ago.”

Hephæstus looked down in anger.

“Then what are we to do…?”

“Take heed, my nephew. Tokumaru is indeed powerful… but if he is to become one with the Ether as you wish, he will have to undergo this trial. His companions have great faith in him… and they can… pull things off that not even you, I, or your Father could do. Have patience, Hephæstus.”

The God of Fire sighed, and engulfed himself in a portal of flame, returning him to his home on Lemnos.

* * *

“My lord,” spoke a small demon, looking up at his Master in the top flight of Miiazu Castle, “should we go along with plan Alpha?”

Shrouded in darkness, hazel-turned-red eyes alit with flame looked deep into the eyes of the small demon, a sword of Chaotic black fire at his side.

“Do as you have been commanded, my Servant. And remember, Servatis a Maleficum.”

“Yes, lord Kyô… We all Serve the Maleficent…”

“Good… good. You have learned well in my short time as your Lord.”

“…Thank you, Lord Kyô. Will you be accompanying us in this siege?”

The great Demon shrouded in darkness then rose, revealing his black Kimono, flaming with dark, black fire. His irises, like the Demon who made him into this form, were purely red, and his sword had a continuous Cyclone of Fire surrounding it.

“Indeed I shall, Masanji-kun,” the Demon said, smirking slightly. “Let me, Tokumaru Kyô, make the final transition into Darkness. I shall destroy the Wielder of the Sword and the Caster…”

The small demon looked up to his master curiously.

“Pardon my asking, Lord Kyô… but… why are we kidnapping a Mother and her Daughter if we intend to destroy the Wielder of the Sword and the Caster?”

In seconds, the small demon erupted into fire, leaving only behind a pile of ashes. A stern look was crossed over Tokumaru’s face.

“First item: Never question me,” Tokumaru said, bolting out the window and unfurling his black Angelic wings. “Second item…”

And as the wind blew through his hair, the Darkness within Tokumaru appeared in his mind to speak.

If we… are to kill that bastard… the Wielder of the Sword… the one who shunned me out before… we have to do it in the worst way possible. When we kill him… it shall be in front of his own wife and child. And the Caster… oh, the Caster shall face the most cruel death of all. He prevented the me from resurfacing by befriending you… and for that, he’ll burn for all eternity. I won’t even need to lure HIM out…

Tokumaru nodded.

“I shall do as I am instructed, my Lord. They will pay for their sins…”

* * *

The Demon landed softly on the ground, his light sandals making the slightest of indents in the grass. A light wind permeated the area, and for once, Tokumaru was enjoying the cold. His sword shook slightly in his right hand, not with nervousness, but with excitement; the newborn Demon was ready to taste blood. Sensing that he was in the right place, he smirked, and bent down to the ground.

“Erueo exita terra!” he screamed, and suddenly, the earth beneath him split in two, leading deep into the confines of the Earth. Tokumaru fell within the crevice, of which continued to get deeper and deeper, until it finally stopped as it reached a large plate of metal; the Heavenflame Samurai wasn’t finished.

“Ignum FERUM!”

Instantly, seemingly without a source, the steel began to melt open, revealing two females, one a child, another an adult. Both stood in terror, looking up at the Demon as he gave a twisted smile back through the ceiling. With slight delay, both girls screamed.

“Hush, you’ll wake the neighbours!” cackled Tokumaru sarcastically as he swooped down, fetching them both in his grasp. “I think you’ll like it with me, the one who’s going to kill the one you call Blitz, and the one you call Terrin!”

The adult female struggled hard to free her and her child, shooting concentrated forms of the Ice Element at her assailant, but to no use. Tokumaru’s fire was just too hot, and after only seconds, the adult female had begun to feel overheated.

“Daddy, daddy!!!” the young girl screamed, hot tears running down her face, “Save us daddy, please!”

Just as Tokumaru reached the surface, an explosion of flame followed him from two figures, both flipping out of the hole in synchronization. They both brandished swords, one known as Supernova, and the other, Yuthian.

Tokumaru chuckled under his breath, and immediately threw the two females into the air, encasing them in a cage of fire high above the battlefield.

“Amy, Terra!” one of the figures yelled, looking up to his family. The other figure stood perfectly still, glaring at Tokumaru.

“I see then…” the figure said, “Then you really are evil…”

Tokumaru laughed.

“You can’t honestly tell me you didn’t expect it, Caster?” he said cockily, holding his sword casually. “I’m the Heavenflame Samurai, and am the host of the remnants of Naoru, the Demons that control me. I’m going to twist your face into fire, Terrin; I hope you are prepared!”

“Lies,” Terrin snapped coolly. “You are most certainly not the Heavenflame Samurai. You are an evil being that possess him entirely. And I guarantee you…”

“Guarantee me WHAT, Caster?”

“…That your short Demon life shall end here.”

OOC: Okay, so yeah… CJs wore off about halfway through there. ^_^

Undeterred by the now demon samurai’s words, or the confidence that emanated within them, Terrin stepped forward cautiously, ready for Tokumaru to make the first move. Blitz moved forward next to him, mirroring his actions. Terrin was grateful for this, because he did not feel like fighting alone. Not after all that had happened down in the black catacombs of the earth’s deepest crevice.

Tokumaru’s crimson eyes lit up with excitement… something that seemed to Terrin to be a twisted leer… and darted forward, his feet skimming the soft grass yet not fully touching down. There was a high pitched whistling noise for a brief second, and simultaneously Blitz and Terrin ducked out of the way and threw up their respective blades. The Hinotama smashed horizontally against both blades at once, having swung once at their heads and then come around to stab out at them.

From this position, Terrin could just glimpse the half of Tokumaru’s face that wasn’t shrouded in an inexplicable shadow. The elf glared with rage at his once friend, now twisted by his inner demons… and watched as the samurai smiled back.

Blitz forced the Hinotama’s tip down to meet the dirt, and lifted a foot against the blade, kicking himself away from the lock, and flying a few feet into the air. As soon as this happened, Terrin backed calmly away, not bothering to hold the Yuthian blade into a defensive position. Tokumaru yanked his blade out of the ground effortlessly, and raised a fist to meet a ten foot ball of ultraviolet flames that had shot from Blitz’ palm as fast as an arrow. The super-heated raw element burst apart on contact with Tokumaru’s open hand, but this was fully expected. The scene lit up with a bright flash of light emanating from the elf to the samurai demon’s far left, and Tokumaru whipped around, twirling the Hinotama around his fingers, weaving a magical barrier to protect himself from the massive spinning vortex of supercharged Posative fire. The barrage smashed into him full force, and he dug his heels into the earth so he wouldn’t be blown into the air by the impact, and for a few seconds he remained thus, bracing himself, until the fiery infusion tore the barrier apart and struck his open body, sending ugly char marks down his arms, chest and face, just like the grass around him that had already been reduced to smoldering cinders.

Once the fire receded, Tokumaru lifted his arms, wincing. His face had a long, ragged open cauterized slash across it, caused by the Posative fire. His arms were blackened also, though not slashed. Glaring with pure hatred at Terrin, the samurai lifted his arms, and unexpectedly dropped down to the ground, slamming his elbows into the parched ground. Shockwaves flew from the impact points, where cracks were spiking across the ground, and upended Terrin and Blitz both, sending them onto their backs, completely baffled by the attack.

Tokumaru whirled around, spun the Hinotama in his fingers, and ran forward to slash Blitz’ throat open, but was startled when from the fire innate’s uplifted fingers shot ten pillars of bright, ultraviolet searing hot embers. Tokumaru was quick enough to throw his chest back and avoid the worst of the maneuver, but even he could not fully avoid the blow, and the ten shafts spiked up his chest, tearing through his already darkened shirt and ripping the skin on his stomach in neat lines.

“Bastard!” shrieked the demon in the samurai’s body, but Blitz was already on his feet, and gathering his specialized element from the air around him.

OoC: Sorry… it just didn’t turn out how I had hoped. This post, that is. The fight is going to rock ****, we all know it ^_^... but sorry about this post. I totally improvised. *Shrug*

OoC: Happy now, Scott?

BiC:

As Tokumaru’s eyes burned holes through the swordsman’s skull, energy flowed into the fire innate like rivers. The heat rolling off of his enemy’s body was potent indeed, and he called to it. The Heavenflame must have sensed this, for a sick, twisted grin spread across his face, and a bolt of pain suddenly shot through Blitz. “Gaaaugh!” The energy must have been tainted. He stumbled backward, struggling to keep the Supernova poised in defense, but Tokumaru lunged in for the kill.

SHING! A blur of metal cut across the demon’s path, shearing through clothing and flesh. Terrin stood defiantly before the deranged samurai, Yuthian still raised to parry. “Get a grip, you idiot! You’ve been possessed!”

The crazed samurai did not seem to fully comprehend the elf standing before him. That insane grin was set solely upon the Tear, even as Terrin’s indestructible sword dove into his chest. Blood poured freely from the wound, but the demon was not fazed in the slightest.

Blitz watched in morbid fascination. “What the Hell has happened to you, Tokumaru?” he muttered in disbelief. And why is he so set on me? That particular thought sent a chill down the innate’s spine. Why did Tokumaru want him dead? The swordsman’s eyes wandered upward to meet those of his beloved who gazed back in worry. Though the flames did not harm his wife or daughter, Blitz could not stop himself from wincing.

That spike of tainted energy had taken him by surprise, causing him to release all of the elemental force he’d gathered. There was no time to collect more if he was to help his elven friend, and so he shouted to his ally: “Terrin! Hit me with your flames!”

Guard faltering for the slightest instant, the elf kicked away from the deadly dance of blades and looked at the innate in disbelief. “What?”

“Just do it!”

OoC: Happy, Scooty? ^_^

BiC: Hating himself for actually trusting his instinct, (although it had served him well in the past), Terrin turned, threw a fist into Tokumaru’s nose, which sent the samurai stumbling backward, clutching the protrusion on his face as blood leaked between his fingers, and the elf wheeled around to face Blitz, who was hunched over slightly, his gaze fixed directly on Terrin.

“You’d better be right about this, Blitz!” said Terrin, anxiety evident in his voice. The elf took a deep breath, let it out, and, pulling together a coalesced knot of Posative fire from the molecules around him, let it loose from his palms in a raging torrent in the form of a stream, that was wild, yet contained into a straight blast. It shot forward and quickly reached the Keir, though it struck him freely in the chest, but didn’t explode in embers as it would for an offensive maneuver. The fire simply went straight into his torso as if Blitz was a ghost… yet it did not emerge out his back.

For five seconds the two friends remained this way, until Terrin released his hold on the Posative flames, and turned around to see Tokumaru raising the Hinotama up, his nose now a bloody gash on his face.

“Come and get it, you bastard!” shouted Terrin, grabbing hold of the elemental molecules around him again. The samurai obliged, rushing forward across the earth and firing out a wall of bright flames ten feet high, rearing up from the earth and traveling directly in front of him as a direct barrier.

We can break it if we release our fire together! thought Terrin. Turning even as the possessed samurai drew closer, Terrin shouted something to Blitz, then whirled quickly around. The massive fiery barrier was ten feet away and closing rapidly…

“NOW!” screamed Blitz, and the duo raised their hands, even the one holding their swords, and shot two searing rivers of fire from their arms, purposefully crossing them halfway through the air and crushing them against the fire barrier Tokumaru had conjured.

The wall burst apart like a pane of glass, the magic that had gathered it sending whispers into the air, carried off by the wind. Undeterred, Tokumaru shot forward and rammed Terrin in the stomach unexpectedly with the pommel of the Hinotama. He had meant to stab the elf, but the smashed barrier had knocked him slightly off balance, and he settled for knocking the wind out of his former friend.

OOC: *insert witty Scott worship title here* :XD

BiC: Tokumaru retracted the Hinotama coolly, the wicked smile on his face turning to a dark grimace. As Terrin regained his balance, the samurai clenched his fist, a dark fire beginning to radiate all around it. A light crackle of power-filled lightning zoomed around his hand; Terrin looked up in shock, although not revealing it in his face, before he was sent flying backwards by Tokumaru’s attack. In an instant, the Supernova came down from behind the samurai, however… Tokumaru merely grasped the blade by the blade, flipping Blitz entirely over his head, landing him hard on his back.

What are you doing?! the voice within Tokumaru screamed.

“I won’t fight them here, Master…” Tokumaru whispered to his mind. “This kind of battle has to be special.”

That’s deviant thinking, Host! We will kill them here and NOW. Enter phase RAGING INFER—

“I will not,” snapped Tokumaru under his breath, kicking off into the air. “Inferno is enough for now. Besides, I must take them elsewhere.”

Why?!

“Even in your control…” Tokumaru said, sending a trail of flame behind him to snatch the imprisoned Amy and Terra; Blitz and Terrin instantly gave hot pursuit. “I will forever live by Bushido. Whether I be an Angel, a Demon, or nonexistent, Bushido is the greatest of Codes, and is where all my loyalties lie.”

The samurai then shot off at breakneck speeds, coating the Fire-cages with a protective pressure-barrier, and sent off at more than Mach 1. The sound barrier broke, however, Blitz and Terrin had no trouble keeping up. Sunset in the distance, Tokumaru’s eyes kept dead ahead, towards a spot that both he and his attackers knew well.

“Blitz,” asked Terrin to his companion as they flew, “can you feel that energy?”

Blitz nodded.

“I sure can…” he said, “we’re coming up to where the Demons within Tokumaru were last their strongest.”

Terrin sighed.

“And T’lemenheim, the remains of the Castle In the Clouds, are swarming with demonic energy from the Isukumi problem. But it still doesn’t make sense… why would…”

Why would you want to go to that decrepit old ruin site?! yelled the Demon within Tokumaru.

“That is not of your concern,” Tokumaru said, still rocketing through the sky. “I have made the greatest mistake in allowing you to form unto me, and I intend to live out the consequences of doing so… in the name of Bushido.”

Oh shut up! Bushido is nothing but a lie to you now. You obey my rules, and—

“Bushido,” Tokumaru snapped, “will never die. As long as it lives, the true Angel within me lives. Why do you think I haven’t just slaughtered them both already? We both know I’m capable of doing it in an instant. I choose not to… because it would be against the code of Bushido.”

The Demon remained silent from then on, and just then, the sight of a large, ruin-filled crater lay on a distant prairie straight ahead.

OoC: God, I'm loving this.

BiC:

“It doesn’t matter why,” Blitz said, his face set in grim determination. His eyes focused on the orb that carried his wife and daughter rather than the speeding Heavenflame. Underneath his mask of steel, he was very worried. “He’s going there one way or another, and we’re fighting him one way or the other. All that matters that we can snap him out of this before he does something insane. There!”

T’lemenheim came into view then, its once awe-inspiring keeps and towers nothing but a massive jumble of rubble. An explosion alighted beneath the fire innate’s feet, sending him soaring into the air. The crazed samurai wasn’t too far ahead now. This was where Blitz had gained the power to resurrect his beloved wife, Amy, and he refused to lose her again. First my worst enemy kills her, and now this… Bastard, Tokumaru!

Blitz’ feet slammed into T’lemenheim’s shattered remains; bits of rubble flew from beneath his feet from the impact. Terrin appeared nearby on the top of a wall that had crumbled over a tower, standing regally to befit his elvish heritage. Tokumaru was higher than either of them. Only the upper half of the main tower had collapsed, and its remains made a nice perch for the angelic demon. Amy and Terra, no longer visible through the thick sphere of flames, were hovering at least a mile above.

As the three stared one another down, a silent challenge was made. The energy here was thick, running in streams through the airways. Blitz called to it, and the rubble around him instantly ignited. It’s so raw… The swordsman channeled a deep collection of the fire element into his weapon and felt the blade tremble in response. With a pleased grin, he thrust his blade toward his friend-turned-enemy. A brilliant light engulfed its surface, and the blade narrowed, growing absurdly longer. When the brilliance had faded, what remained was the Flare: a glorious red katana.

“Tokumaru,” spoke the First of the Tears calmly, “I have no desire to kill you. But you’ve taken my family captive, and I don’t take kindly to that.” Now his eyes narrowed to slits. “If you so much as lay a hand on either one of them, I’ll slit that possessed throat of yours and feed your corpse to the savage dragons of Y’vakka Prime. Got that?”

OoC: Shorter postie.

BiC: Tokumaru’s form became a dull blur, and Terrin was given a brief second to act. Luckily realizing what was about to happen, he threw himself sideways off of his perch, just as a tongue of flame smote into the destroyed tower he had been standing on, turning it in a fraction of a second into a shower of embers and rubble. The elf landed down on the charred rocky ruins of the once triumphant fortress, rolled, and came to a stop beside Blitz. Together, they raised their blades and watched as Tokumaru’s dark form sprinted across the rock, his face a mask of pure, poisonous hatred.

This time, however, no barrier of fire leapt up to protect the demon. Terrin and Blitz both silently agreed on what to do next, and just as Tokumaru jumped forward to swing the Hinotama in a wide arc to strike at them both, they spun gracefully around the attack and whipped their respective swords at Tokumaru’s back. The demon threw his sword above his head, stopping both swords with a resounding clash that rang through the smoky air about them. Blitz and Terrin pushed with all their might to break the tenacious sword lock, but the demon in Tokumaru’s body had somehow modified his strength to twice what it had been. It was impossible to break it.

A surge of energy bolted through Tokumaru’s body, and unexpectedly radiated out in the form of the air element, sending the two fighters reeling, and allowing the samurai to regroup and prepare for another attempt at slaughtering his enemies.

OOC: WoTS, you’ll have a blast from the past with this one.

BiC: Sensing his energy level depleting, Tokumaru tapped deep within the power of his Demon, temporarily coating his energy field from the air, and hid himself deep behind a half-collapsed dome. Clutching his chest, the samurai took a deep breath, and let his hand fall to his side. A small flame erupted from it, dancing merrily around in his hand. His lungs slowly contracted… and a small tear fell from his left eye.

“Heph… Hephæ… Hephæstus…” he muttered, trying to contact his former Master. “Please forgive me for this… but… I must finish what I have started.”

What are you babbling on about now? snapped the Demon within, Hephæstus means nothing to you, understood? Now, get up there, and show them the power they’ve caused by holding me back within you!

Tokumaru’s face pivoted sadly, and a few more tears ran down his face.

“As… as you command, Master,” he said, turning his face to a stern frown. The flame on his hand then enveloped his whole body, and an insane dome of the fire element shot forward, reducing everything in its path to ash as an awing power radiated from Tokumaru. He was stepping up a notch, and both of his enemies caught onto it immediately. The Heavenflame then stood up and turned around, the same cool expression latched onto his face. Holding a fiery hand out to his combatants a few feet away, he yelled:

“Come. Let me show you the awesome might of the Raging Inferno!”

Terrin looked to Blitz lightning quickly.

“Raging Inferno?” he asked, flabbergasted.

Blitz nodded solemnly.

“It appears so… but… such power generated this time from him being in Raging Inferno… hell, I’d expect this from—”

“Eternal Inferno?” Tokumaru interrupted, red lighting crackling all around him. “You tease, Fire Innate. With this Demon inside me, all my forms are multiplied tenfold. Inferno is as powerful as Raging Inferno, Raging Inferno is as powerful as Eternal, and from then on, I am unmatched. Allow me to demonstrate the fact that now, Raging Inferno can do things like it couldn’t ever before accomplish!”

Blitz then felt a tinge of power shoot through the atmosphere that he hadn’t felt in years, and instantly tensed.

“Terrin,” he said sternly, watching Tokumaru be engulfed in flames, “Terrin…”

Terrin double-took back to Tokumaru and Blitz.

“What, what?” the Caster asked, watching Tokumaru shoot off into the air.

“For the Love of God…” Blitz responded, backpedaling, “RUN.”

Terrin looked at Blitz with complete disgust.

“…What the hell?! Why would we—”

“RUN.”

“WHY?!” Terrin yelled, however, wasn’t returned. The Caster then looked to the sky, and saw a ravaging Fire Dragon swirling in the sky, beginning to come down upon them. The mighty Dragon roared, all the trees in the area—ones that had regrown since Terrin and Tokumaru’s fight the previous year—burned to the ground. In an instant, the dragon exploded upon the Earth, sending flames shooting for miles.

Just as the smoke from the Hinotama Ryû no Amakakeru cleared, Blitz heard Amy scream.

OOC: By the way, you guys should be sufficiently injured by that thing. ^_^

Even as the fire innate turned to retreat, the massive, snakelike pillar of flames came down with a deafening roar, and all of T’lemenheim was instantly engulfed in a burning maelstrom of sparks and embers. Blitz’ skin blazed from the heat as he careened through the air, yet still absorbed as much of the energy as his body would allow.

The dragon’s onslaught dissipated, yet the ancient castle’s remains were charred black, and all foliage around the ruins was gone. This place was now a wasteland, just as every other battlefield the Heavenflame had lighted upon with wings of flame. Blitz’ feet hit the ground, skidding back. He knew not where Terrin had landed, and didn’t have time to consider. For the instant he touched down, a shrill cry of pain echoed in his ears.

Blitz’ singed skin caught fire at the sound, and in an instant he was hurtling toward where he knew his wife was being detained. Tokmaru was there, directly next to the cage, and Amy was clutching her shoulder as a stream of blood ran down the limb. The fire innate’s eyes bulged; the blue irises bled red with hate, and all he could see was a gray tunnel between himself and this twisted samurai who had just harmed his wife. “You son of a *****!”

SHING! The flare slipped right through Tokumaru’s guard, and a wave of fiery energy encompassed the both of them. Engulfed in the series of chain explosions, both Tear and Heavenflame dropped to the ground like stones, their blades a blur of flashing, red lights as they clashed again and again, unseen even by their own eyes.

As the pair struck T’lemenheim’s remains, a cry of hate rose from the back of Blitz’ throat and out from his body came a shockwave of all-encompassing, white-hot flames. Tokumaru stared into blinding light unflinchingly, knowing its significance, but drew up the Hinotama to knock away a lightning-quick volley of supercharged sunbombs. Then, in a blur, the Wielder of the Sword shot out of the holy light, not an inch of his body visible for the flames that consumed him, the Ether angled for his enemy’s neck.

“God damn it,” were the first words to leave the elf’s mouth as he lifted his head and shook it vigorously to clear it of the ringing. Terrin had not been as fortunate in landing as Blitz had been. When the explosion had occurred, he was much closer to the center, and he had been blasted into the main tower of the castle, crashing directly through it and out the back of it, landing down flat on his face, causing the sharp rocks to send jagged bloody gashes arcing across his fair face.

Wiping tendrils of blood off his face and flinging the drops off his hand, he searched around for a brief second, and uncovered the Yuthian sword, which was laying a few feet away. He seized it firmly and turned to view his surroundings. The main tower that he had been thrown directly through obstructed his view of the battle, but flashes of bright light periodically lit up the scene…

They must be going sword to sword. Damn it… gotta help him!

Summoning up Posative, he launched himself into the air and shot quickly around the massive, yet destroyed, main tower, prepared to deal back an onslaught of fire. He flew into the open, and shot directly toward the two flashing figures below, feuding in periodic sword locks that sent bursts of embers shooting into the air around them. The cage that held Amy and Terra stood only feet away from them.

Terrin was about to fly forward and join the fight, when he suddenly halted himself in midair. They’ve both ascended, and though my power has increased… there’s no possible way I could stay with that fight. ****… what do I do? I need to somehow ascend, but I can’t just do it compulsively!

While he hovered in midair, struggling with his dilemma, a particularly violent flash of bright ultraviolet light emanated from below, and he glanced down. Letting out a gasp, he threw up the Yuthian sword and deflected a large ball of fire that had shot from the demon samurai.

Alright… that’s it. Ascended or not, I can’t just let my friend fight him alone.

Terrin angled his body, and shot down quick as a bullet toward the fight, intent on helping on whatever level he could to save Amy, Terra, and Blitz.

“Daddy!” cried Terra in childish fear as the two ascended fire-users clashed in another heated swordlock. Her shout alerted him, and his eyes moved slightly to note Terrin coming at Tokumaru from behind. The Heavenflame hadn’t yet taken notice of the elven caster, so Blitz poured all of his strength into the swordlock, holding the deranged samurai at bay. Then, just as Terrin drew dangerously close, the Tear slipped aside, and Tokumaru stumbled forward from his own inertia.

Squish went Yuthian as it slid into the demon’s back. Tokumaru’s face showed no pain as he lurched free of the weapon, whirled around, and brought the Hinotama across the elf’s flinching face. A thin, red trail of blood seeped from the wound in his cheek; he was too startled to react in time. Terrin was instantly blown away by a massive fireball from the demon’s fist, colliding with the main tower once more. The entire wall shuddered at the impact, and then T’lemenheim’s sole, surviving structure began to crumble right atop the Caster.

Blitz’ eyes went wide in shock and rage. “No!” he cried, lunging toward the still crumbling pile of rubble, but found the Heavenflame’s heated weapon right between his eyes. Abruptly halting and leaping away from his enemy, he prepared to unleash the energy he’d gathered from Terrin earlier and the fire dragon mere moments ago. Tokumaru surged forward, his feet never quite making contact with whatever surface happened beneath them. The two of them clashed again, fiery katana against ethereal shortsword, in a shower of red and sea-green sparks. Worry filled the swordsman’s mind, but he couldn’t break away from his enemy long enough to back up his ally. “Tokumaru, you crazed psychopath!” he shouted in boiling anger. “You attack my brother, kidnap and harm my wife, and now you’re trying to kill your only friends left in this world? What the Hell is wrong with you?!”

But the Heavenflame only narrowed his eyes, returning the hatred in Blitz’ twisted face, speaking not even a single word. The Hinotama hummed quietly, giving off a high-pitched whine whenever the Ether’s power emerged to invisibly meet its own.

“Answer me!” The Ether slipped aside, and its adversary blade slid forward, tearing through the swordsman’s shoulder. Amy’s cry of fear and worry echoed in his ears, but the heated metal didn’t cause too much pain as it split his flesh apart. Blitz’ own ethereal weapon came up and thrust into the shoulder of the Heavenflame’s swordarm, sea-green ether element exploding from its surface on contact. Neither allowed the slightest traces of pain to show in their expressions as each blade yanked free, letting blood flow freely from their wounds. Still, the possessed samurai did not answer.

“Filthy coward!” In an instant, the blades met again with such force that both were knocked away. Tokumaru angled for Blitz legs on the rebound, but the Ether came low to parry, knocking the Hinotama away and uppercutting for the demonic angel’s chest. But the samurai’s weapon moved with startling speed, repelling the thrust and delivering a slash to Blitz’ left arm in one, seamless motion. A grimace flashed on the fire innate’s face, and he was forced to backstep to avoid a follow-up that would have lopped off his head.

Terrin! he exclaimed inwardly as the Sword of Firestorm darted forward to be parried by Blitz’ ethereal weapon again. I could really use some help, here!

A distant shout alerted the slightly occupied elf of his friend’s distress. However, all he could see was a pitch black blanket enveloping his body. He could feel, though not see, the millions of bricks crushing him under their infinite weight. His lower torso was pinned by a massive boulder, and his head was caught between two similar structures, all broken apart by his numerous contacts with the tower. The pressure was staggering, enough even to slowly compress and kill the most resilient elf… him.

Terrin struggled against the massive weight, using all of his might to try and shift even some of the rock, but it proved impossible, even with his abnormal strength. He slumped back, and felt tears slide down his face. Already, he could feel his own warm blood soaking the ragged dull red mantle he was wearing over his worn and old clothing… and the elf realized that he had been impaled in the stomach. He could not yet tell if his organs had been crushed, punctured, or anything of the sort, but he prayed they hadn’t… even though he was dead anyway.

Dead… leaving this world like so many others have… when I still have so much to live for… Courtney and my soon-to-be daughter… the Stars… Blitz and the Tears… even Tokumaru, the Heavenflame samurai I used to know…

The urge to live filled his bones, but he could do nothing… nothing but lay there and feel his face going numb, which was being pressed against by a massive rock, like the rest of his body. It seemed so easy to release the tension in his muscles and to just die there… to forget about all else…

And quite without warning, Terrin’s Posative Force molecules burst to live, overflowing with super-heated energy, rendering the thought of death a ridiculous idea. He opened his mouth, and his eyes widened, staring up into the blank darkness of the rocks confronting him…

Then light burst from his eyes and mouth, and he let out a bellow of utter bewilderment, feeling power leak into every inch of his tired, battered body. Breathing raggedly, he forced his arms from their pinned position at his sides, and shot them upward, smashing apart the rock and rubble holding him in place. Every single rocky molecule above him melted because of the sudden heat generating from the elf. They melted so fast, in fact, that it appeared to an onlooker as if each stone glowed white for a second, then simply disappeared.

Now laying on the loose rubble that hadn’t been effected by the Ascended explosion of fiery Posative, Terrin glanced over, to see about 100 yards away, Blitz and Tokumaru high in the air, circling each other and periodically smashing against each other, causing fiery embers to shoot up into the atmosphere from the convergence point. Blitz was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the demon samurai’s increased strength…

“YOU WON’T CONQUER US THAT EASILY, YOU DEMON BASTARD!” hollered Terrin, his voice slightly deeper, and the force emanating from it having increased tenfold. Both of the feuding swordsmen actually stopped fighting to turn and fix a look of astonishment on the elf, who had now risen high into the air.

Without another word, Terrin gathered together a knot of Posative Fire from the heated molecules floating about him, and sent it out in the form of a massive column of flame, arcing through the air so quickly that a mortal eye could not possibly keep up with it, and smashing full tilt into Tokumaru, tearing through the clothing covering his torso, and slamming him down into the ground below Blitz and the floating cage containing Terra and Amy. Hundreds of rocks and thin tongues of ember shot up when Tokumaru made contact with the ground.

“A taste of your own medicine,” whispered Terrin menacingly, and he shot forward to join Blitz once more in the fight.

OoC: Terribly sorry if I went overboard with the description.

“Tokumaru, you crazed psychopath! You attack my brother, kidnap and harm my wife, and now you’re trying to kill your only friends left in this world? What the Hell is wrong with you?!”

Stop…

Persist.

“Answer me!”

I said… Stop.

Do as I say. Persist.

“Filthy coward!”

This is wrong… he’s my friend…

I am the only friend you have now. Persist.

I… I can’t!

“YOU WON’T CONQUER US THAT EASILY, YOU DEMON BASTARD!”

Why are you making me do this?!

Kill. The only thing you know to do is KILL. Now PERSIST!

A mound of flame then raced into Tokumaru’s body, launching him hundreds of feet away. At that instant, the very fabric of time within Tokumaru’s mind froze, and inner conflict began to rise within him. His life almost at the hinges, the demons within him had no choice but to talk sense into him. Their ravaging voices strong and proud, they echoed throughout Tokumaru’s mind, beating the walls of his skull apart.

Get up! If you don’t stand, they’ll slaughter you right now!

I’d rather die… Tokumaru snapped inside his mind, than spend another waking moment with you inside my mind. The Wielder of the Sword and the Caster are the two greatest friends and allies I have ever, or will ever have. I’d trust them to deliver my soul unto the Afterlife, and I would be sure that their wills would lead me safely across the River Styx.

You don’t seem to understand, Samurai. As you get stronger, my grip over you continues to get more powerful. If you don’t stand up this instant, I’ll make you stand up.

Burn in Hell, you son of a *****.

Fine then, you’d like to play this the hard way? You’re going to slaughter them now, right here. Hell to Raging Inferno, I’m sending you to the top!

NO! With you inside, amplifying my prowess, they won’t stand a chance!

My point, Samurai, my POINT!

NO! Rggh… stop… GET OUT!

Enter phase… Eternal Inferno.

Please, don’t harm them more! Just… let them kill me, and you can find another host!

It’s to late for that now. I’m going to show them the true might of Naoru Aurashino’s will…

…WHAT?! YOU CAME FROM THAT BASTARD?!

Dormant he lies… until we present him the enslaved body of the one who trapped him in the Aliyuras Stone, and the heads of the companions who granted you your ultimate form, Eternal Inferno. Now… SILENCE.

And in that instant, Tokumaru’s good consciousness became more clouded than ever, and a sea of flame erupted from his unconscious body. Time began moving once more; Blitz and Terrin stood in awe, looking at the demonic transformation about to take place. However… with Terrin’s new ascended form, a nice boost of morale for he and the Wielder of the Sword followed.

OoC: Thank you, my doppelganger, for this awesome idea. I had to tweak it to make it work without, you know, destroying the Earth. Heheh...let's see how our samurai friend reacts to this!

BiC:

A gentle wave of flames suddenly expanded from the Demonflame’s body, undulating and growing until it had reached his two enemies. They each tensed in preparation, but the fiery embers caused no pain. Then, in one more moment, the wave expanded into an ocean. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but soft, fiery embers and heated, red air. Then the fiery wings appeared to turn solid, now seeming more like blood than fire. Those soft, hazel eyes turned a matching hue, and the lips now bore a fierce snarl. Something about him denoted mindless, incomprehensible power, though his body had not changed much at all.

…Guess it’s time to give this a shot, then. “Terrin, hold him at bay!”

The command needn’t be repeated, for the elven caster shot forward like a bullet, Yuthian ablaze as it clashed with the cyclone of fire in a blur of sparks. A burst of wind element shot from the elf’s palm, colliding with the Heavenflame, but Tokumaru only grunted in response and pressed his blade harder. Terrin’s eyes widened in surprise at his adversary’s increase in physical strength as his indestructible sword was slowly pressed back, but he struggled to overpower the enemy.

Alright, here we go, thought Blitz to himself, hoping to dear God that this would work. He thrust the Ether into the charred stone at his feet. Then, holding his hands a foot apart and concentrating his energy between them, he effortlessly generated a super-heated sunbomb the size of his fist. Now the tough part… As he focused his will upon that orb of flames, the swordsman began to sweat. Every ounce of his power was active now, closing in on this potent orb. Then, with a start, he saw that it was indeed condensing. His idea was going to work!

A quick glance at his elven comrade revealed that Terrin had escaped the swordlock and was now bathing Tokumaru in a rain of furious slashes, some connecting—albeit almost harmlessly—but more being repelled by the fiery Hinotama.

Knowing he had to act quickly, Blitz exerted every force in his body on this small ball of flames, watching it slowly grow smaller and smaller until it was hardly the size of his fingernail. Just…a little…more! And then it was done. A bolt of fear pierced the swordsman as he immediately called upon the Ether’s powers over gravity, concentrating the singularity’s influence to a cubic foot, and turned his attention back to the borderline omnipotent samurai.

“Hey, you! Demon-spawn!” That got the enemy’s attention. An explosive burst of fire element sent Terrin skidding away, but both remained poised to attack at the slightest flicker of movement. Tokumaru’s eyes drilled through Blitz’, but he was too excited about his new technique to be intimidated. “Do you know what happens when you get too close to a black hole?”

A tense silence passed over the battlefield. The Heavenflame did not answer, but Blitz knew well that his adversary did not possess such knowledge.

“Even light, the fastest known thing in this universe—faster than you—can’t escape it,” he continued. “If you get in its range, there’s no escape. Once you’re there, it slowly begins to tear your atoms apart, sucking them in. Then…poof!” He moved his hands close together, then thrust them away to illustrate. “You’re gone.”

But the Heavenflame didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by this as he aimed the Hinotama directly at the swordsman’s head, and without so much as a flick of the wrist, sent it hurtling forward.

Blitz redrew the Ether from its resting-place at his feet and slashed the blade away in one smooth motion, and then followed with another lightning-quick slash at his singularity to send it straight for Tokumaru.

OoC: Yeah. You heard me.

BiC: Zipping back and forth, Blitz and Tokumaru slammed blades, the singularity of a Sun Bomb circling madly around them. Albeit causing a good amount of stress on Blitz’ body to sustain such a technique, the Wielder of the Sword kept strong against his former friend. He had seen this form of Tokumaru many times before, but had only battled it once. Parrying a roundhouse slash by the Heavenflame, Blitz’ gave a slight smirk.

“You’ve gotten insanely more powerful since we last fought, Tokumaru…” he said solemnly, turning his smirk into a grimace. “However, that does not mean I have not. Your reign of terror shall end here, samurai.”

“Blitz is right, Demon,” yelled Terrin, jumping into the fray as he swung the Yuthian gracefully upon the Hinotama. “Our friend is dead, and all that is left is this Demonic Husk. With your help, I have evaded death, and wrought forth from the fires of my Posative an unmatchable force. Together, Blitz and I shall make you pay for your transgressions.”

Tokumaru kept a neutral face, turning to match Terrin’s strikes. His sword, a concentrated (and denser) collection of flame upon a hilt in the shape of a blade, flew with deadly accuracy, matching his black hair that floating in the sucking wind of the Sun Bomb Singularity.

“Your arrogance blinds you, Caster…” spoke the samurai, backflipping, and landing on the blunt of the Supernova, then flipping off backwards. “My strength matches both of you… entirely.”

“You contradicted yourself there,” snapped Blitz, doing an inverted roundhouse slash to meet Tokumaru’s blade.

He looked to Terrin, and silently nodded. Terrin returned the nod, and instantly, the two spiraled inwards in a dazzling array of flames, both being countered successfully by the Hinotama. Tokumaru then backpedaled, sending two plumes of flame to his left and right to collide with his enemies. However, Terrin then ducked down, jetting under the flame in a mad dash to Tokumaru’s feet, while Blitz flew up into the air.

“Terrin, NOW!”

At that moment, the Caster rammed the blunt of the Yuthian Into Tokumaru’s shins, causing the demon to fall to his side. Almost instantaneously, Blitz redirected the Sun Bomb Singularity to Tokumaru’s position, allowing Terrin some slack to retreat; Tokumaru’s body quickly started to be sucked in. However…

In a last desperate attempt, Tokumaru shot a jet of thick, black fire—that of which was denser than what made his sword—at Terrin, wrapping it around both the Caster’s and his own wrists. Strong as he was, Terrin kept a firm grip, having no choice but to hold if he wanted to stay alive.

“Augh!” yelled Terrin, clawing at his wrists. “You filthy *****!”

Tokumaru’s other arm dangled insanely toward the black hole, already loose in its socket.

No… no, no! he thought crazily, hanging onto his flames for dear life, Alex, ALEX!

Through all the commotion, Blitz saw at the end of Tokumaru’s wrist a bright red glow.

“Terrin, look!”

Being sucked into the wormhole was a small bracelet, floating past Tokumaru’s thumb.

Tokumaru’s demonic eyes were riddled with the tears of his good soul, and in an instant, the bracelet latched onto his index finger, seconds away from total annihilation.

“No!” Tokumaru screamed, “NO!”

And in an instant, the bracelet floated into oblivion, and an insane explosion of flame from Tokumaru’s hand followed; in Blitz’ sight of this anger, the Sun Bomb Singularity dissipated completely.

OOC: Let’s just say, he’s more angry than Drago on St. Patrick’s Day.

The black hole was gone, Blitz was two feet behind Terrin, his feet resting uncertainly on the edge of a tiny structure jutting partway out of the ruins of T'lemenheim, and in front of the hovering elf was the former Heavenflame friend of his, now transformed and distorted not only by evil, but the rage to couple a burning sun in all it's raw magnitude. Waves of hot searing invisible fire swept over the duo trying to combat the demon, emanating, of course, from the new form of Inferno hovering directly in front of them.

"NOW DIE!" shrieked Tokumaru, blasting forward with the Hinotama flipping around his fingers faster than could be followed. Terrin was ready. The sword came in for a jab at his chest, and he deflected it with a sweep of his arm, coming around to elbow Tokumaru in the side of the head, which sent him back a few feet in the air, but he shook it off and dove back toward him... only to be halted in midair by Blitz, who had dived forward and ramrodded the Supernova into Tokumaru's arm, easily impaling the flesh and sticking out of his inner bicep, blood caking its surface, which quickly melted away at the intense heat radiating about them.

Tokumaru looked not only unfazed, but angrier at this irksome swordsman. He forced his injured arm back, and the Supernova sword slid out of it with a sickening noise halfway between a thump and something being dragged through slime. With his other arm, he backhanded Blitz in the side of the face, sending him reeling... Terrin gathered together a massive plume of the fire element and let it loose in a raging torrent, slamming it full on into the samurai demon's chest and sending ugly char marks up and down his already scorched chest. Snarling with pain and displeasure, Tokumaru shot forward with the Hinotama ready to taste Terrin's impaled heart...

And again, Blitz dive-tackled the posessed samurai in midair, sending them both careening down to the ruins, where they crashed deep into the destroyed rocks and sent ashes up everywhere. Terrin growled, twirled the Yuthian blade between his fingers stylishly, and shot down to the hole where he had seen his two friends crash into. Flames shot out of it periodically, and coarse shouts echoed up. Not scared in the least, the elf jumped inside.

Shrapnel flew in every direction as Blitz slammed the Demonflame into a massive stone slab. The rubble collapsed on impact, and both of them crash-landed, rolling and skidding through the charred dirt, all but blind in the darkness. Their heat lit up this cavernous clearing inside the rubble, more than spacious enough for a battle. Still pinning Tokumaru to the dirt, Blitz thrust the Ether at his chest again, aiming for the heart, but a bolt of flame sent him flailing away.

Standing, the Demonflame glanced at his wrist to find his son’s bracelet gone. His teeth ground in rage, and his mind became further blinded by the heat which engulfed him.

Bang, bang! Blood spilled from a tiny, circular wound in each of the samurai’s shoulders. Blitz quickly holstered his magnum, but not before Tokumaru let loose a jet of flames to engulf the weapon, instantly disfiguring it into a heap of useless metal.

Hell! Casting the weapon away, the Tear raised his shortsword again and bolted forward in tandem with his enemy, their blades clashing furiously. Another jetstream forced Blitz to dodge aside, but the frenzied cyclone that was the Hinotama didn’t hesitate to pierce Blitz’ chest. “Augh!” he cried, backpedaling to avoid a follow-up, and nursing his wound. But the Demonflame was already moving forward again. The fire innate rose his blade, feeling slightly drained, and knowing there was no way he could parry the attack.

At the last moment, Terrin landed in front of him, delivering a flaming strike at Tokumaru’s head. A few hairs drifted lazily through the air, but the samurai had not taken the blade at all.

“Miserable curs!” he cried in rage at his two opponents. And no sooner had the words left his mouth than the entire cavern suddenly lit with an intense, furious explosion. Blitz nearly passed out as his body slammed into the wall of disheveled stone surrounding them, and he knew without looking that Terrin was suffering the same fate. Before his feet could even hit the ground, another explosive burst slammed into his body. He closed his eyes tightly in reflex as the shockwave pinned him deeper into the crumbling wall. Then another wave of flames hit him, and through the roar he could hear the cavern shaking dangerously. Yet the Demonflame’s onslaught would not relent.

Blitz deliberately allowed the next wave to course over him, drawing in as much of the heat energy as he could, and repeating with the next. His body was screaming in agony with the intense collection of fire element that coursed through his mortal frame as it begged for release. And release it did gain as the fire innate let loose a shockwave of greater intensity than all of the demon’s combined. The cavern melted away in a white-hot radiance, leaving all three blinded momentarily.

A loud crash brought Blitz’ senses back online. T’lemenheim’s remains were crumbling around them. Another crash sent a jolt through the innate as a pillar of stone landed not three feet from him, sinking deeply into the baked earth. Amy! he cried silently, and felt his body rocket upward on a geyser of flames. He sent a fireball directly above him, blasting open the surface and hurtling out into fresh air. Amy still held Terra securely in her arms, trapped in Tokumaru’s cage. She breathed a sigh of relief on seeing that he was all right, and Blitz’ mind eased slightly at the sight of his wife.

The surface of the cavernous opening suddenly peeled away, and Terrin was standing next to him, closely followed by the Demonflame. Tensing his muscles and readying his Ether engulfed in sea-green haze, the Wielder of the Sword prepared for his enemy’s next move.

OOC: Let the stronger part of the build up to the climax begin.

BiC: Tokumaru paused, jolting his head forcefully downward as he screamed in agony. Holding his index and middle fingers up, the Demonflame rose his hand to the sky, and instantly a large fireball erupted from them, cascading high into the Earth’s atmosphere; the ball of flame traveled at the same speed an object would fall back to earth’s surface, namely 9m/s^2. Tokumaru then fell to his knees, grasping his wrist in horror as his superheated hand caused steam to rise into the air.

“B… By… By the time that…” he stuttered, keeping a firm look at the ground as his two fiery opponents looked back at him, “By the time that that fireball reaches the peak of its ascension, it will have tripled in size. Its destination lies a few metres away, screaming in a cage of my most protective flames…”

Blitz clenched the Ether angrily, gritting his teeth.

“You sick bastard…” Blitz seethed, “How can you… how can you just—”

“Blitz, look…!” Terrin said, nodding his head towards Tokumaru. “I think he’s… no… could it be? I actually think he’s… weakening! The tears, the sadness, the rage going on between him and his inner demon… I think its all killing him—from the inside.”

Blitz’ eyes widened in curiosity.

“Why, Terrin…” the fire innate said, amazed, “I think you might just be right!”

But before either of them could say anymore, the earth around Tokumaru cracked deep, deep into the earth, and a sea of magma shot out from the earth around the Samurai, who then jolted gracefully out of it, hanging softly in the air. His brown eyes were now completely drained of their hazel tint, and had been replaced with a fiery red. However… only Blitz saw behind that, deep into the Demon’s facial expression. An extremely small hint, but Tokumaru’s eyebrows fluttered down sadly.

Tend… they seemed to say to the Wielder of the Sword, Tend to your wife… we both know you can stop that Fireball from reentering Earth’s troposphere.

Tokumaru, ever so faintly behind his demonic face, nodded at Blitz, who then jolted off into the air. Terrin could sense the meaning behind his friends departure; besides, the elf wanted a piece of Tokumaru all to himself.

Terrin slowly paced around the floating demon, keeping a stern eye upon his former friend. Red hot energy-lightning crackled between them, emanating a soft glow as it slowly dissipated back into the Ether, being followed by another stream.

“So,” Terrin said, “it’s just you and me now, Demon.”

Tokumaru twirled the Hinotama expertly in his hand.

“Indeed it is… elf,” Tokumaru replied, placing himself in midair Niman stance. “Indeed it is.”

Terrin continued to pace around Tokumaru slowly, swirling his own blade in response.

“You’ve taken the Fire Innate out of the battle for a reason, haven’t you?”

Tokumaru nodded.

“I have, elf.”

“Explain yourself.”

Tokumaru closed his eyes, holding his Niman stance almost perfectly still.

“Your friend…” the Demonflame said, “Tokumaru Kyô, is no more. I am the demon that lies within him, coursing through his veins as a very part of his consciousness. As your rival and friend, I have always wanted to best you, whether it be at brains or on the battlefield.”

Terrin shot a disgusted look at the demon.

“Are you saying you plan on defeating me?”

Tokumaru returned Terrin’s look.

“Surely,” the Demon said, “I have told you of my first battle with Blitz, correct?”

Terrin readied his blade, the almighty Yuthian.

“Every detail,” he said in a sneer.

Tokumaru clenched harder on the Hinotama’s hilt.

“Then you should learn from Blitz’ mistake with Blaisek. Messing with gods will make you dead.”

Gracefully, Terrin leaped into the air with a blast of Wind Posative, and slammed his blade against Tokumaru’s.

“You’re calling yourself a God…?” he seethed, keeping his anger controlled. “Then it’s true. The Tokumaru I once knew is completely gone… he’d never compare himself to the power of a god.”

Tokumaru broke the deadlock then, swinging the Hinotama crazily fast in a lunge at the elf.

“The power of HEPHÆSTUS can’t stop me,” the Demonflame—mainly the demon within Tokumaru—screamed, “now that I’ve achieved demonic Eternal Inferno!”

Terrin groaned angrily, returning each of Tokumaru’s blows just as easily.

“Hephæstus…” Terrin said respectfully, “is what gave you that power. I might not worship him, but it sickens me to see you disrespect a god like that. It’s like me calling Posative a piece of rotting ****, Tokumaru! Do you not understand that Hephæstus is having to give you this power beyond his will? You and Hephæstus aren’t just Lord and Disciple, you’re ONE BEING!”

Tokumaru spun around angrily, cutting a deep gash in Terrin’s shoulder. However, this left him open for Terrin to send a hard thrust through his gut, only going in about an inch, and missing any vitals. A mad rage lashed over Tokumaru’s face as he saw Blitz returning down to Earth with the fireball in his hand, having absorbed all of its energy into him.

“One being or not,” Tokumaru snapped, “I have his power, and I shall continue to exploit it!”

“EXPLOIT IT?” Terrin yelled, “Tokumaru, you’ve been GIVEN that power because Hephæstus trusts your judgement! You are no god, you’re no longer my friend, and you’re going to DIE HERE!”

Tokumaru then leapt up, dodging an attack by the now-returned Ether and its Wielder, and flew insanely fast through the air, landing within Amy’s cage. Blitz’ eyes gained a tint of horror as Tokumaru then grabbed her by the hair, and placed the Hinotama to her neck. Terra cowered in fear, sharing a mutual feeling with her father.

Snarling at his two opponents, Tokumaru yelled:

“WE SHALL SEE WHO SHALL BE DYING HERE!”

And in an instant, blood shot out in every direction, and the wife of the Wielder of the Sword began to die. Tossing her onto the bottom of the cage, Tokumaru stepped out, and held an cataclysmically-enraged finger at Terrin.

“…And when I’m done here, Caster…” Tokumaru threatened, “I’m going straight to Regnad to deal with that ♥♥♥♥hole of an alliance you call the Stars.”

OOC: Sufficient anger? I think yes.

OoC: Mood music. Crank up the bass, treble and volume, and let the awesomeness commence.

BiC:

Her life force faltered—he could sense it slipping away. The Demonflame’s taunt went unheard. Blitz’ mind reeled in disbelief as he saw the blood spill from his wife’s throat. Tokumaru… The gray tunnel between himself and the crazed samurai constricted, now only a thin line. Hate rolled off him in waves as heated as the flames that consumed him.

Then, in a white-hot explosion bright as though the sun had been reborn, the fire innate faded away. The intensity of the flames coursing around his body threatened to devour him alive, but he consumed them nonetheless. Raw hatred in the form of fire element surged through his frame, which should have cut his life short. But instead, mortality lifted away like a veil.

“I vowed never to become this again,” he said to himself, eyes still locked onto the Demonflame who stood over his wife’s crippled and dying body. “But it doesn’t matter anymore.” His face contorted in rage as he raised the volume of his voice sharply, addressing his enemy with the point of the Blazing Ether. “Tokumaru! I’m going to kill you!”

Completely unaware of anything but himself, his wife and the crazed demon, the Celestial shot up faster than even Tokumaru could track. The Blazing Ether plunged into his flesh, tearing through sinew and bone alike, catching on a few strands of muscle as it retracted. A godlike power shattered the air around them as another slash sent a bewildered Demonflame hurtling toward the ground. Blitz was on him even before he landed, slamming both feet into Tokumaru’s chest and ripping through flesh with his faster-than-lightning, ethereal blade. Blood sprayed out of the countless wounds appearing in the demon’s body, but he appeared unfazed.

The Celestial’s eyes blazed red, and with a mighty cry, he loosed a volley of fire element directly into the Demonflame’s chest. Both of them were engulfed in the immediate explosion of flame, and in the all-encompassing whiteness that followed, their blades clashed with fierce, blinding speed. The ringing was lost in that superheated, white void.