The Reluctant Alliance X 2 [Duke of Clubs; MaskedLegend; Zorolo]

Turn up the heat, and flames popped up. Oh, Zorlo, you're so witty.

The fencer was moving even faster than he had before--Kellson could only see a trail of green flame as he moved. Leaping up into the air, he kicked out as he spread his wings and shot higher, grazing the side of Zorlo's head. For the first time, Kellson felt apprehensive. Normally, he was fast enough to dodge most attacks, but this was nuts. Not only that, he didn't have a sword anymore.

Dropping back down to the ground, the regicide pulled out a knife, but without much vigor. A knife against a really fast rapier...huh. Which do you think will win, boys and girls?

Zorlo skidded to a stop and spun, smiling cockily. Kellson's face remained impassive as he stood loosely, waiting for the next dash. "Don't you ever get tired?" he asked, irritated.

"Not easily!" the fencer boasted, rocketing towards him again. This time, Kellson dove to the side, cartwheeling lashing out with a steel-toed boot once more. It slammed into Zorlo's calf, and the fencer nearly fell flat on his face. He regained his balance and slowed, wincing. Kellson landed on his feet and watched the green-haired man. That leg cut seemed to be bothering him, at least when agitated. Well, now he knew where to aim for.

This time, Kellson charged, the knife gleaming in a flash of lighting. Zorlo zipped out of the way and kicked the regicide hard in the back of the head, sending him face down into the mud. Kellson threw out a hand to stop from getting a broken nose and rolled over, wincing. That'd leave a bump...bugger.

Zorlo zoomed towards him, sword outstretched. Spinning in an almost breakdancer-esque fashion, Kellson nailed him with a kick to the wounded leg that could uproot a sapling. It was the fencer's turn to go down hard, stifling a grunt.

Kellson slowly stood, letting the rain wash away the shallow cuts in his back and arms. Ideas and wild schemes flicked through his mind desperately. Maybe he could throw him off the cliff, or let Zorlo stab him and get the fencer with a knife to the face as he went. Maybe...

Ah, screw it. Kellson leaped into the air, ready to stomp Zorlo's head into the dirt.

OoC: And now, to end this battle between Zorlo and Kellson. Finally. Good battle DoC.

BiC: Amazing to the fencer, as he lay face down in the dirt, he still held no anger or frustration. A few bad moves here and there were nature, and not something he could change. A small amount of pain lingered in Zorlo's leg, but soon passed, and the green haired man simply focused himself knowing that the winged man was about to try to stomp upon the Aura Master's head. Foolish move though it was, at least he had tried something risky for a quick end to the battle then simply being foolish.

The fencer spun over, grabbing the regicide's leg as he did so, and slamming the demi-angel into the ground with amazing force. The sound to flesh and muscle crashing into solid rock echoed through the battlefield. A small laugh escaped Zorlo's lips as he pushed himself to his feet. The green haired man spun his rapier by its hand-guard as he walked about the supposed crusader. Now the only question was, how to end this battle with him.

In a moment, the sound of a blade sheathing echoed into Kellson, and anyone who was listening's ears. Releasing the handle of his sword, the fencer smiled, waiting for the demi-angel to rise. There was only one way that Zorlo could end this battle, and that was making sure that the regicide could no longer put up a fight. It might be a cruel and unusual way to go about defeating a foe, but in this case, it was the only option. As much as the fencer hated to admit it, if he didn't finish the battle this way, his foe would never stop fighting back.

Kellson stood up slowly, muttering slightly as he looked up to fencer. "The hell is wrong with you. Why won't you stay down like a normal person?!" he asked, looking at the fencer, who had sheathed his blade. "Hey, where's your sword?! Not gonna try fighting me with your bare hands, are you?!" the regicide asked, sliding his knives away and pulling his brass knuckles from his pockets. "You may not be easy to keep down, but I doubt you can beat me in a hand to hand battle," he stated.

If Zorlo had fought with his bare hands, then there was a chance he would have lost, but the fencer had another tool left at this disposal. Reaching his hands into his jacket pockets, the green haired man liberated something new to his arsenal. He removed a pair of green gauntlets that he quickly placed over his hands and latched to them. He pulled both gauntlets down, making sure they fit tightly, and waved on Kellson to strike next.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Kellson yelled, getting really angry. "Er... It doesn't matter, I'll still beat you!" he said charging. It seemed the fencer had struck a nerve in the man, and he wasn't intent on losing. The demi-angel launched a blast of holy energy, and then moved in for his attack. A straight punch for the fencer.

"Nope," the fencer said as he swatted away the energy blast and cranked back his right arm, thrusting it forward to clash with Kellson's. A sudden burst of green flame up Kellson's arm, followed by a series of cracks, pops and breaks and the regicide stepped back, roaring in pain as his he held his right arm.

The arm fell limply to the demi-angel's side. Where his fist was covered by his brass knuckles, the knuckles had cut through skin and muscle, possibly hitting the bone, and dripped blood from his hand. From the looks of what the green haired man could observe, his lower forearm had been utterly cracked or broken, it was hard to tell, but it looked like the regicide could barely move his arm anymore. HIs eyes filled with fury and he charged again at the fencer.

Zorlo smiled as he ducked under a left hook from Kellson and drove his right fist into the regicide's gut. "That's for Aleena," he whispered, pulling his arm back and thrusting his other fist into Kellson's stomach. "That's for Miss Yami." Next, the fencer suddenly whacked the demi-angel across his left cheek, stating, "That one's for Ciaran, since it doesn't seem he'll have much of you left to fight." In another split second, his other fist ripped into Kellson's right cheek, followed by the words, "And that one is for Selene!"

The fencer had only two people left to take blows for, and then he'd simply leave Kellson to either bleed to death or escape, whichever he did, it didn't matter to the fencer anymore. The green haired man hand taught the bully a needed lesson, and now was the time to finish it.

The regicide released something that sounded like a growl and punched for the fencer's face, the Aura Master merely moving his head to the side and thrust punching the demi-angel in the face, cracking the crusader's sternum, but not breaking it. The force of the green haired man's attack caused the holy warrior to tumble backwards. "That one was for Zachary." Now the fencer had only one more person to take a blow for, and this one he was intent to end it with.

Using his good arm, Kellson pushed himself until he was on his knees and forced himself to his feet. He wasn't done yet. "If that little bastard Zachary could stand up after the whaling I gave him, I'll be damned if I stay down!" he stated. He raised his middle finger and smiled. "Come get it," he stated. This time, he'd use the fencer's own arrogance against him.

"Only a fool would charge blindly in against a foe who is as tactful as you. You are planning something, and I'm not going to simply hand it to you," the green haired man stated as he slowly walked towards the regicide. The fencer strode, watching as the regicide waited for him to attack. "You know, there is a reason I have defeated you."

"Oh, and what is that?!" he asked in pure annoyance. This green haired guy had come here and been simply playing around this whole time. Who did he think he was to fight like this. These were the thoughts the fencer was almost sure that Kellson was having.

"I fight for someone other then myself. I am not here to defend my own honor, or for any personal reason, but I'm here to make you pay for your insults to Selene. Not only Selene, but all the people who's life you ruined. I'm here to make the bully the loser that is being beaten upon. Give up, I won't let you win."

Kellson seemed to get more and more angry as he listened to the green haired man and suddenly blitzed him. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" he yelled.

With a quick step to the side, the fencer thrust his fist into the regicide's forehead, the sound of his skull cracking entered the fencer's ears just before one last crack of thunder as the rain faded away. A burst of green energy erupted as the demi-angel's body flew through the air and slammed hard on his back, sliding to a stop just before the edge of plateau. The battle was done.

The Aura Master removed his sword, still in its sheath, from his belt and held it tightly in his right hand as he moved towards where Ciaran and Roery were. It was time to end this battle once and for all. The fencer burst forward, seeing that half demon had his blades placed across the soldier's neck, and with a powerful upward kick, launched Ciaran off the woman and onto the ground.

"You both wanted to fight me, so now that Kellson is dealt with, who's going to be the taker. I want to get out of here, and I no longer want to waste time here. So either pick up Kellson and leave Roery, so Ciaran and I can do battle, or stand up and fight me so Ciaran can battle with Kellson, or what is left of him.

OoC: Okay then. I)ragon, you can choose what you do now, but Zorlo's made it very clear what he wants. This is getting uniquely interesting.

He had already done this once before, and it was getting more then old. Once again the half-breed stood over her, weapon pointed at her throat, threatening to finish her off if she so much as moved a finger. Once again her opponent was trying to push her out of the way, trying to get to the next, more looked forward to battle. Once again Ciaran was underestimating her.

The very second Roery’s muscles tensioned, ready to grab the Locturis staff and impale him on it, there was a blur of green movement and the half-breed was sent flying away. Zorlo now stood before her.

"You both wanted to fight me, so now that Kellson is dealt with, who's going to be the taker. I want to get out of here, and I no longer want to waste time here. So either pick up Kellson and leave Roery, so Ciaran and I can do battle, or stand up and fight me so Ciaran can battle with Kellson, or what is left of him.”

At the mention of Kellsons name, the young woman looked over to see the winged man, broken and bleeding, imbedded in a pile of rocks. Zorlo had done this to him. A feeling of rage and determination filled her being. It was time to show Zorlo a little lesson on humility. To make him pay for what he had done to Kellson, and to show him the consequences of bringing out the fire within her.

Time seemed to slow. A few yards away, Ciaran stood, seemingly about to say something. Zorlo turned his head to look at the Locturis. No sooner had Ciaran opened his mouth to speak, had Roery snapped both guns into her hands and fired off two plasma disks at the green haired man. The fencer dodged, immediately jumping backwards and bringing his sword up to face the armored girl. The second his feet left the ground, so did she, thrusting hard off the ground with her palms, both guns already deactivated. She came at the fencer with incredible speed. There was no time for words. The aura master immediately went on the defensive, covering his right arm in green flames and holding his rapier in a defensive position.

The two collided. The gold blade sliced into Roery’s left forearm armor as she blocked the blow. A hand covered in green flames gripped around her right fist, narrowly blocking the punch. Roery’s green orbs came right up to Zorlo’s own green eyes as they came face to face, both flying with incredible speed through the air. A look of determination evident on her mud stained face.

“Not bad. But it will take more then that to beat me.” Stated the fencer with a smirk. He brought up a knee to jab her in the stomach, but was intercepted by her own knee.

“How about this?” She returned with a smirk. She raised her free leg up so the soul of her foot pointed up. She had exhausted her thrusters earlier, but that was always only temporary. After her thrusters had a chance to cool down, they where as good as new. And with that, her foot erupted in a fiery explosion that sent the two entangled warriors straight into the ground. Roery had ripped her right hand out of his grasp as they fell and pummeled his head into they ground as they hit. She then pulled back her other hand and blasted off her second thruster, punch him in the face with such force that the fencer’s head dug a couple feet into the ground. She then slammed both her feet down on his chest and thrust off him, shooting herself away from the green haired man. The armored girl landed softly and turned to face the half-breed, who instinctively raised his staff to her. The half demon scowled at her, red eye’s glowing as he took a few steps forward. He opened his mouth to speak but was once again cut off.

“You finally get your chance to fight Zorlo instead of me and you won’t take it?” The soldier asked as she raised her hand to stop his advance. “Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for the entire battle?” she inquired, pointing to the crater where Zorlo had already begun to stir. He would probably shrug off the entire attack, but at least she had stunned him a bit, and gave him a bloody lip. “Have fun with the green one, I have more important things to take care of.” She turned to face Kellson. “I’ll be back shortly.” She said as she strolled over to the injured man. She examined his wounds as she knelt beside the half conscious regicide.

OoC: And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where my imagination comes to an end. Seriously, its broke. I’ll let Duke take it from here. (You got my PM right?)

Pain.

Underneath the pain, the beast screamed, "You worthless pussy, stand up and knock that bastard's teeth out!"

The tired, hurt man replied to the beast, "Stuff it."

Kellson blinked blood out of his eyes and tried to focus. Someone was walking towards him. Who? He couldn't see straight. There were two people...identical...he was seeing double...

Something soft brushed his face as the person leaned over him. Hair.

"Roery?" he murmured, struggling to sit upright. One of his many broken bones protested violently and he decided to keep lying down.

She said something--hell if he knew what; it felt like a bad acid trip...he couldn't formulate real thoughts well--and stuck something into his arm. Kellson didn't even flinch. Everything else hurt too much for one little needle.

Haha, maybe she was shooting him up. He could use some drugs right about now. Or a hospital. Or both.

His vision and thoughts cleared. Roery's face swam into view, concerned. He could understand her now. The pain was dulling.

"--you okay?" she asked as she leaned over him, looking over his various cuts and broken bones.

"Fine," Kellson gasped, successfully sitting up. "I'm gonna go kick Zorlo's ass--"

She gently but firmly shoved him back down. "No. You're leaving."

"What'd you give me?" he muttered, somehow finding the strength to stand.

"It's got epinephrine, morphine--oh, why am I telling you? You don't know what it is anyways," she sighed, helping him to stand upright. "It'll just give you a boost to get to a hospital. All right?"

Kellson nodded mutely and tested his wings. Hurt like hell...but everything did. The shot was helping. He grinned weakly and whispered--a whisper was all he could manage-- "I'll fly backwards...keep watching your back."

She tried to look angry, but apparently he looked to pathetic to be mad at. Kellson groaned mentally. Bad sign. He must look like hell.

"Thanks," he muttered, and weakly flapped into the air, taking off and leaving the battle behind.

The demon and the fencer stood, looking at each other with a kind of unbreakable focus. The two walked about in a circle, never taking their eyes off each other. The dual sword wielder radiated with a powerful demon aura, apparently very angry and frustrated about something. Odds are, given that he hadn't wanted to fight Roery, it was that very thought. Ciaran had been forced to actually take the woman slightly seriously, and that had angered him enough to embrace his demon heritage.

Elsewhere, a green blur burst from the crater where he had last been sent and landed in front of the crater, walking nonchalantly towards the demon. His armored left hand clamped around the hilt of his sword, entirely undeterred by the soldier's onslaught. As he walked towards the half angel, he still wasn't smiling, which was a bad sign. Not anger, nor annoyance, nor rage, nor even frustration ran through his head; but rather, an extreme, to an almost dangerous level, focus.

Since the fencer had transcended his darker emotions, such things as anger no longer, or very rarely, occurred. Instead, he had the power to focus his mind, and, thusly, his power to increase his capacity a great deal. Although this wouldn't be enough to destroy a city with a single attack, it was more then enough to defeat at least Ciaran. Well, at least Ciaran as he was, since the fencer knew this wasn't the same chivalric warrior that had started his fight with Roery.

There was silence, and a cool breeze as the Aura Master and the demonic warrior stood feet apart. The green locks of the fencer's hair blew through the air as his smile slowly returned and he began laughing. An uncontrollable explosion of laughter left his lips and he leaned forwards as he continued to laugh. He was slightly embarrassed about this laughing, but it was just so funny.

Why was he so serious? So what if Zachary's sword had a demon living within it? That could be dealt with. Kellson's big mouth? Well, Kellson would have a hard time fighting for a very long time, so he was even more irrelevant then the demon in Zach's sword. As far as the fencer could see his setup, there was no reason to be so serious and he should just have fun with the battle.

"What are you laughing about?" Ciaran barked as he dashed forwards and slashed his blades at the Aura Master's exposed legs. The fencer, in all of his readiness, quickly turned his blade upside down and blocked the crossed blades of the half angel. The clang of the metallic weapons rang out as the green haired man's rapier met the silver blades of the demon just below the hand-guard of his sword.

The demon pushed his blades with all of his might, but before he knew what had happened, the fencer pushed his rapier forwards and sent the demon's blades skyrocketing into the air and landing in the ground a few feet behind them, also sending the half angel flying onto his back. The two silver swords landed on both sides of Ciaran's head, causing him to look at the fencer, slightly shocked, as he sat up and pulled his swords from the ground.

"You aren't human..." the demon muttered, readying himself for combat. "What the hell are you?!" he asked in anger as he threw a powerful gust of winds at the Aura Master.

The fencer idly pulled his sword from the ground and moved it so the blade was slightly angled upwards, pointing in the direction Ciaran was standing, as the wind came. before the wind even touched the green haired man's sword, the wind seemed to be split by something, sending the air harmlessly to both sides of the fencer. "You'd be surprised how easy controlling air is with my aura," the fencer said as he smiled calmly. All this did was further incite the demon's anger.

With a powerful stomp, the creature of both good and evil sent a massive spire of earth shooting towards the fencer. The Aura Master merely outstretched his right hand and sent the earth attack slamming into the palm of his hand, crushing the earth into dirt and pebbles. With another angry snarl, the demon began launching blue bolts of magic from his swords as he thrusted them with great fury, attempting to overwhelm the green haired man.

The fencer quickly began deflect the blue bolts with ease, using only his sword to do it. This was fun. This battle was truly fun. If Roery joined, it would be more fun, and perhaps the Aura Master would actually need to try a bit to figure a way to defeat the duo. Roery was stronger then Kellson, and Ciaran had much more powerful and much more versatile skills then the demi-angel. The green haired man was enjoying this battle, so why ruin it now?

The demon was getting more and more annoyed as he watched the fencer nonchalantly swat his bolts away with no more then a smile on his face. Finally, the demon pulled both of his swords back and focused his energy, thrusting the blades at the same time and releasing a massive bolt of blue energy towards the green haired man.

The bolt of energy moved fast and was large. No problem, really. The green haired man gathered up his aura into his sword, giving it a dark green flame about it as he slashed sideways. Apollo cut into the bolt with a great deal of ease, pushing it away and dispelling part of it. The blast moved away from the Aura Master, and he blew a strand of hair from his hands as the energy disbursed. He'd finally finished his warm up, and just in time.

Suddenly, the fencer heard talking, and then whining, and then the sound of wings flapping. Slowly, the sound of Kellson's wings flapping disappeared into the distance and the green haired man turned to see Roery drawing near. She was still breathing hard, probably exhausted from her fight with Ciaran. "Well now, since you two seem to have stopped fighting, what say we make this a bit more fair?" the fencer asked, smiling in a relaxed nature as the two looked at him. "Let's see if the two of you can defeat me. It'd be a good challenge, and I've ever so needed one for a while," Zorlo stated, holding his sword at the ready. Time for the true test of skill to begin.

Ciaran's demon form was getting the better of him, how he thought and fought. Despite the fact that Zorlo was the most experienced person he's fought so far, Ciaran wasn't putting his all into his attacks and didn't use any sort of plan. After Zorlo easily swatted away his blasts like they were wads of paper, he had to come up with something if he wanted to lay a scratch on the aura master. He had to have a weakness or some sort of blind spot.

After Kellson left the battlefield, the girl that fought Ciaran, Roery headed over to the two, looking tired and hurt but still willing to fight. Zorlo smiled, looking back and forth between the other two. "Well now, since you two seem to have stopped fighting, what say we make this a bit more fair? Let's see if the two of you can defeat me. It'd be a good challenge, and I've ever so needed one for a while," Zorlo said.

Ciaran pondered this but he looked back at Roery, questioning whether she could still fight or if she wanted to help him at all after want happened between them. He looked back at Zorlo and returned his offer with a smile and saying, "No, Zorlo. I may need help but until I find out for myself, it's me and you for now!" The fencer, still a slight smile on his face, responded, "Very well then!"

Ciaran returned his dual blades to their staff form and dashed at Zorlo who held his impressive blade at the ready as Ciaran charged. Meanwhile, he was trying to formulate a quick plan or an idea. Something, anything that might surprise his opponent with. The chaos blasts were too weak so he shouldn't waste his time and energies with that. All he needed to do was make the fencer bleed.

The moment Ciaran got a few feet away from his enemy, he brought down his staff with a blast of wind, shooting him into the air. In mid-air, he quickly sent a chaos bolt and a gust of wind right behind it. Zorlo quickly swatted the bolt away but wasn't quick enough to be pushed back by the gust of wind. Ciaran landed and held his staff above his head, glowing a a deep crimson hue. He slammed in onto the ground and cracks split the surface of the plateau and centered around Zorlo.

Now wasn't the time to use the attack completely, he'd easily dodge it... Ciaran had to distract him again. He charged again and the fencer decided to charge as well, still holding his blade with ease. Zorlo made a diagonal swipe, followed by a slash to Ciaran's waist. The half-demon parried his first swipe with his staff and barely having time to block the second attack. Before he could do anything else, Zorlo moved his back in an upward slash, knocking the staff away for long enough and lunging, cutting Ciaran's left side.

The half demon winced and backed up, out of the fencer's range. The staff wasn't doing to well in close-combat, he had to switch to the blades again. Ciaran hurried back to his opponent, feeling his demon side fading. The half demon quickly thrust his staff at the ground again, pole-vaulting through the air again, this time he morphed the staff into the dual, silver blades, throwing one at Zorlo, then landing.

Zorlo quickly moved out of the way and it landed behind the fencer. Ciaran still charged with only one sword and slashed at Zorlo. He parried and returned with a series of fast swipes, most landing a hit on Ciaran. The half demon outstretched his hand and the other blade flew through the air, hitting Zorlo in his right shoulder, knocking him off balance for a second, and returned to Ciaran's hand.

He morphed them back to the staff and slammed in once more on the ground. Zorlo, thinking Ciaran was about to pole-vault again, quicky readied himself but Ciaran sent a blast of rocks and rubble at the aura master, knocking him back onto the cracked ground of the plateau. Ciaran rushed to a safe distance and his staff glowed a deep crimson color again and Ciaran, as fast as he could, slammed it on the ground. Each crack filled with fire and erupted with a blast of heat and fire, around Zorlo.

Ciaran fell onto his knees, his demon form faded away and his muscles ached, his limbs sore and he was breathing hard. That probably wasn't enough to defeat Zorlo, but it would buy him some time and hopefully it made him bleed so he could use one of his healing abilities, not that it would do too much. Ciaran stumbled onto his feet, catching his breath and stretching, the fires still blazing.

The half breed walked close to Roery who had been watching, readying herself for any kind of conflict, whether it was against Zorlo or Ciaran. Ciaran, no longer as a demon, looked to Roery, hoping she would accept his offer. "I think... we could beat Zorlo if we worked together, miss... Would you help?"

Roery watched concernedly after Kellson, as he flew away from the plateau. She waited there for a while until she could only see two small black wings flapping away in the distance. The armored girl sighed, and turned around to face the last two standing.

“Well now, since you two seem to have stopped fighting, what say we make this a bit more fair? Let's see if the two of you can defeat me. It'd be a good challenge, and I've ever so needed one for a while,” the fencer said.

“No, Zorlo. I may need help but until I find out for myself, it's me and you for now!” came the halfbeeds answer.

“Very well then!”

Contrary to popular belief, Roery was not as drained as she looked. She could tell by the way the half breed and aura master had looked at her; that she had taken too much of a beating from Ciaran, and was no longer able to fight at her peak level. This was only partially true. And of course, her battered and ripped armor, the blood on her face and side, and the mud that splattered her armor and hair, probably didn’t help to argue their assumption. However, the time she had spent helping Kellson get off the battlefield had given her a good chance to catch her breath. There was also that fact that the cut on her face had healed completely, and her side had already cauterized and was barely noticeable to her.

Of course, there was still a level of fatigue that was weighed her down. And that mostly had to do with the magic that Ciaran wielded. The direct blasts from his concentrated magic in the form of blue bolts seemed to do a good job of zapping her strength, as did the fire that had shot up from the ground when she was sucked into the earth. All in all though, she was still very capable of, and eager, to continuing the fight.

Roery stood by the sidelines and watched as Ciaran threw everything that he had at the green haired man. She hadn’t been able to see much of what the aura master was capable of since she had come to the plateau, being to busy and distracted with the half breed. So now was the perfect chance to see what Zorlo could do. She noted how he was able to deflect almost anything with his aura, that his speed was a good deal greater then her own, and that his strength seemed to be a little more then hers also, if not a bit more.

“I think... we could beat Zorlo if we worked together, miss... Would you help?” Asked Ciaran after he had attempted to capture the fencer in another fissure of fire.

Roery couldn’t help but be a bit surprised at the offer. She didn’t think that he would so readily ask for her help, she had instead thought that she was going to need to request his help, and that he might refuse at first.

The armored girl smirked and looked over at the aura master, whose green aura was fading from him as it had blocked the burn of the flames Ciaran had attacked him with. He was still smiling.

“I thought you’d never ask.” She said to the half-breed, a smirk still apparent on her face.

“Tell me, do you wish to join the fight with Ciaran against me? I assure you, it will make this battle far more interesting.” The fencer stated as he took a few steps closer to the pair. His clothes had been just slightly burnt and his cheek a little red. He also had a stab wound on his right leg, but a side from that, looked no worse for wear. This slightly angered Roery. The green attired man had fought his way through Kellson, Ciaran, and the red headed boy, not to mention, she had buried his head in the ground, and all he had to show for it was a leg wound, that he looked to be shrugging off completely.

“I fully intend to.” The armored girl stated as she glared at the green haired man.

“Ah, good. Then—“ He was cut off as he blurred to the side, dodging a plasma disk that whizzed by his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was again cut off as Roery rocketed herself at him. The aura master stepped to the side quickly and extended his blade in the line of the female soldiers movement. She quickly moved her forearm in the way to block the blade and shot off her left thruster, spinning herself to bring her foot up at his head. He blocked the kick with his armored forearm and moved his blade, swiping her thigh and cutting into her skin. The armored girl ignored the small amount of pain and fired off her right thruster, moving her body strait at the aura master, and threw a powerful punch aimed for his head. Just then, a blue bolt of energy ripped right in between the two fighters. This immediately gave Zorlo the upper hand, as he had already moved his body out of the way before the blast had left the half breeds staff, while Roery was startled slightly as the bolt passed inches from her face. Ciaran had fired off the chaos blast after Roery had appeared to be flying right past the aura master. He must not have expected Roery to change course in mid air.

Zorlo easily took advantage of the situation and planted his feet on the ground, gripped Roery’s fist, and shoved it away, causing Roery to fly backwards strait at the ground. Her fist flew back and slammed into the earth, and almost pole-vaulted the rest of her body into the ground but she caught herself just in time, sliding backwards on her hands and feet.

“Come now. You’re both going to have to work as a team if your going to have a chance at defeating me.” The fencer said with a smirk as Ciaran had already started to charge at him.

Easy. This battle had been almost too easy. From start to finish; from sun to rain to thunder; even from foe to foe, this battle had found every way to undermine each person that stepped up to challenge the Aura Master. It wasn't too crazy to say that the warriors that stepped up had undermined themselves so far, and each ones flaw made the other weaker, which only made the fencer seem stronger, which wasn't really something he needed.

Kellson had signed his own defeat from the day he had accepted the challenge from the fencer way back when, and now he was paying for his unending foolishness. Zachary more or less had the same problem, but his was different. He wanted too much and simply wasn't strong enough to take it. A power in him had awakened to defeat the green haired man himself and the regicide. Both the ice innate and the brawler were now in bad shape, but a shape which they had earned.

Now onto the fencer's current foes. Ciaran's odd heritage made him both powerful and weak. The fact he was torn between two sides of good and evil made it hard for him to fight well as either side for long, and such a weakness would hurt him against the Aura Master. As for Roery, she was an interesting person. She had no exploitable weakness to the fencer, and brandished all of his strengths, only weaker, surprisingly.

As for their team work... well that was simply appalling, at best. Reory, who's high mobility gave her an edge in close range combat, had charged head on against the fencer and had met him in close quarters combat, and Ciaran, who did not expect her move, threw her off a bit, nearly wounding her more. It was hard to Zorlo to call them a team and take them too seriously at the moment. That was a bad thing, since the green haired man had just finished his warm up.

Oh, and here came Ciaran like a fireball to attempt to defeat the fencer again. The half-breed swung his staff with great force and collided into the green haired man's sword, pushing the fencer back slightly as their weapons clashed. Another burst of wind pushed in from behind the green haired warrior, but again, he used his aura to displace it. Wind, lightning and fire wouldn't work, and if his foe didn't see that, they were underestimating the power of his aura.

The Aura Master dug his right foot into the ground and pushed his sword forwards, throwing Ciaran back slightly and leaving him just open enough to drive a kick into his gut, sliding him back slightly. The fencer turned back as he heard a bit of noise though, and found Roery charging at him like a train. The fencer had almost no time to react, and simply smiled as he braced himself for the impact from her punch, and felt a strong blow to his head, throwing him through the air and slamming into the ground.

The fencer dusted himself, along with the rocks from the shattered ground he had hit, off as he rose to his feet. Her punch stung quite a bit, and he enjoyed it. Finally, this battle was getting interesting. Now was the time to see if the two warrior could stand their ground against him or not. He knew they could Even the playing field, they just had to be a bit more clever then they were. What a fun battle.

Ciaran was exhausted, the demon aura had left him completely and his muscles and limbs ached terribly. It was painful to move and he winced, trying to lift his staff over his head. He fell to his knees and breathed heavily, trying to stop himself from collapsing. His staff turned back into the gauntlet, binding to his wrist and wrapping around his hand and up to his forearm. Ciaran slowly stood up, stretching his limbs more, trying to get the fatigue away.

After calming himself and feeling better, he charged at Zorlo again, not making any successful attempts. Roery had better luck than him at landing a few hits on the fencer, but not many. She was faring well against him, but she wouldn't be able to defeat him by herself, Zorlo seemed too powerful. Ciaran tried thinking of a way that they could really do some damage. The halfbreed was too weak to trying another head-on melee charge and Zorlo shrugged off most of his magic attacks.

He thought for a moment. Roery would be the only one to get close and not be pummeled. Ciaran gripped his staff and it glowed blue with energy again, charging. The halfbreed headed over to Roery who was catching her breath, probably also thinking of a way to beat Zorlo.

"Roery... I have an idea," he muttered, panting a little from exhaustion. Roery looked at him and nodded. "What is it, hurry...!"

"Charge at him again as fast as you can, I'll distract him. After he's down, keep hitting him but stay in close!" he explained.

"What, he'll just slash at me with his sword!"

"Not with this..." he murmured and pointed at her with his staff, casting a dark blue aura over her. "It has properties of dark magic... it'll keep you safe for a while..." he said weakly.

Roery looked over herself and nodded, watching the aura flow around her. She stood up and readied herself, charging her boosters. She ran at Zorlo and leaped into the air, firing her boosters and rocketing toward him. Ciaran staggered to his feet and thrust his staff, sending a gust of wind at Roery's back, boosting her even faster. With his last bit of energy, Ciaran shot a blue bolt into the clouds, beams of light centering on the tip of Ciaran's staff.

He angled it at Zorlo, the light shining at his face long enough for Roery to hit him with full force. Ciaran sighed heavily again, kneeling down and planting the staff into the ground, still in the same angle, positioning it carefully. He plopped onto the hard surface of the plateau and watched the action unfold.

Roery fist hurt quite a bit from the immense impact. More so then any previous punch she had dealt so far atop the plateau. The durable, leather-like gloved armor around her knuckles was capable of slamming through a steel wall with little repercussional pain. Roery grinned through the pain, for it was most likely the hardest hit that had been dealt to the fencer so far in this battle.

The green clothed man pelted backwards though the air and struck the ground hard, creating a deep trench as he continued to fly through the solid rock. Despite the resent rain, the dry earth from below flew up into the sky, creating a large plum of dust. Roery subconsciously activated her sunglasses and changed her view to see perfectly through the dust and even the earth.

The aura master had left quite the tunnel. It reached all the way to the plateau’s end, where Zorlo was now. It seemed he was able to stop his momentum and was now clinging to the edge of the cliff. He quickly jumped the short distance back to the roof and raised a hand to his shoulder to dust himself off, but instead was forced to duck under an armored fist. The female soldier then swung her leg around towards the fencers gut, but he had already jumped into the air to land behind her. Roery’s failed attack and momentum caused her to drop over the side of the mesa, not that it mattered, as she ignited her thrusters, spun in air, and rocketed back at the green haired man.

The fight continued. Roery throwing everything she had at Zorlo, but he was always a step ahead of her, dodging each attack with a moderate amount of ease. And Roery was struggling to keep her cool.

This was it, it was down to the fencer and her. Everyone one else was out of the battle. The red headed kid hadn’t lasted long, Kellson had lasted surprisingly long, and now, even the demon angel hybrid was out of the brawl. Zorlo was still nearly at full strength, while Roery’s was dwindling. This wasn’t looking good for the female soldier. She was going to have to take advantage of her moment of invulnerability to land a few hits if she could.

Roery missed once more, flying past him just a bit before grabbing the ground and leaping back towards her foe. She threw a wide hook, which the green haired man leaned back to avoid. She then pointed the soles of her feet opposite of the fencer, shot herself forward and swung her other arm, which he avoided once more, kicking off the ground and moving to her left. The armored woman then ignited her thrusters once more, changing her direction in mid air and throwing both feet strait at the fencer gut. He quickly lowered his sword to block the attack, but was instead thrown backwards as the blade bounced off the chaos aura and forced the green garbed man to slide backwards on his feet for a while.

The aura master merely smiled as he came to a stop and stood erect. Roery stood also, catching her breath for a second as she glared at the fencer. Her unexpected move had granted her a single hit, but it had had almost no effect at all. Her body and mind strained from the speed she was forced to reach to land the single kick. But she knew she was going to have to try even harder.

She shook her damaged hand at her side, leaned forward, and like a missile, she was flying at him again.

OoC: Meeeeh... it sucks.

OoC: This battle is going to be a little strange since I can't use some of Zorlo's skills. Still, this will be interesting.

BiC: The fencer looked up at the soaring soldier, knowing she was going to try to overwhelm him with a quick move in attempts to finally bring down the Aura Master. Zorlo smiled as he lowered his sword, taking little time to rethink his strategy. Ciaran, Kellson and Zachary were all out of the picture. Zachary and Kellson were too drained to do anything, and both had left, however, Ciaran still lurked, so the fencer would have to keep a keen eye on the half demon. Still, the soldier needed to be dealt with first.

The green haired man stabbed his sword into the ground and took a defensive stance at the oncoming bombing raid that Roery was about to start. A barrage of plasma discs rained down towards the Aura Master, who merely moved out of the way, watching the soldier quickly redirect herself and throw a fierce punch. The fencer made sure his gauntlets were nice and tight as he threw a counter right hook, locking fists for a second before a powerful burst of energy erupted.

The green haired man landed a few feet from where he was standing, recovering his balance and looking for where Roery had been sent off to. The science soldier flew backwards, slamming through a large rock formation in the center of the battlefield, shattering it to not but pebbles. Zorlo heard a slight bit of coughing before one of Roery's hands appeared and grabbed a large part of still standing rock, shattering it as she slowly rose to her feet.

"It seems you still have some will to fight left. Is it really worth it?" the fencer asked compassionately, sighing a bit as he recalled he still had to fight her. "Kellson is defeated, and justice has been completed. Why must this battle still continue?" the fencer asked as he started walking towards her.

"I don't see any justice in what you did to Kellson. I'm gonna show you just how it feels. The sting of pure defeat. I don't care what it takes, but I will bring you down," Roery said as he burst into a sprint and took the offensive, throwing a quick punch that brushed past the fencer's hair. The green haired man's fist followed in suit, moving towards Roery's face, but she quickly guarded, being pushed back slightly by the attack from the Aura Master.

The green haired man raised his left hand, his fingers extended and his right hand placed behind his back. A slight shift in his footing, and the fencer vanished, intent on bringing a long desired end to this battle. A strong punch to the side, and then one to the back, and then several more punches scattered about the warrior's body. The green haired man pushed his full, natural speed to its limits as he bombarded punches towards Roery's body, intent on breaking her down enough to force a surrender.

A final punch rang out as the fencer punched Roery directly in the gut, throwing her upwards and landing into the ground a few moments later. "I'm sorry, Roery, but this battle has to end. Please, let it end with that, and do not get up. You can seek your vengeance for Kellson one day, but for now, please let this vendetta you have against me go. I have other things to attend to, and playing around with you two isn't one of them. I'm sorry, but I really can't spare any more time to this," the Aura Master stated, his urgency very noticeable. He had to figure something out to deal with Zachary, otherwise things would get worse. That was the truth.

Roery had had practice fighting someone that was much faster then herself. Zorlo was only a little fast. Granted, he was also much more powerful, but this only made things a little more tricky.

By gauging her own movements and positioning, where her arms and legs were, and how easy it would be for her to block or dodge, she had been able to predict, quite accurately, where each and every blow was going to land. Of course, this skill was little needed as long as her chaos barrier was still up, but would be crucial once it was down.

Roery observed every move he made, losing site of the fencer every now and then, but usually able to guess where the next green blur would be. His attacks were powerful. So much so, that he wasn’t thrown back at all from hitting the barrier directly. A strike to her side caused her to bend to the left slightly as the chaos shield only cushioned the blow. An immediate fist to the back as she arched her spin to nullify the impact almost completely. A few more hits proceeded and she could tell the shield wouldn’t hold up for much longer.

Her mind strained as she searched his moves for some sort of pattern or technique, observing the boot prints in the dirt that his feet left and how he carried his momentum. This all proved to be extremely difficult to decipher, what with the immense speed that the aura master could reach, and the constant barrage of fists that she could only hope to block, and was often times forced to roll with instead.

A hit to her ribs and the barrier was finally breached. The armored girl brushed her arm against his own, and rolled slightly, causing the fist to merely dent her armor. Within milliseconds a second fist came from the opposite side, slamming into her shoulder hard, Roery only slightly rolling her shoulder back after the initial impact, which didn’t help much... it actually hurt a lot. Another hit landed directly and painfully on her back. She turned her head as the green gauntlet scrapped against her cheek, taking some skin with it. finally the fencers fist came at her stomach. She bent almost completely in half just as the strike hit, nullifying the powerful punch as much as possible, but still not much. Roery flew up into the air, the wind knocked out of her, and landed on the ground with a thud a few second later

“I'm sorry, Roery, but this battle has to end. Please, let it end with that, and do not get up. You can seek your vengeance for Kellson one day, but for now, please let this vendetta you have against me go. I have other things to attend to, and playing around with you two isn't one of them. I'm sorry, but I really can't spare any more time to this," the Aura Master stated

“I could care less about your precious time...” The wounded girl stated, slowly getting to her feet. “You will pay for what you've doen here.”

She was pissed.

Her body ached horribly and thin stream of blood marked her cheek. Her mind and muscles were starting to give and she was breathing heavily. She’d had worse.

Just like always, the armored woman dashed foreword and snapped both guns into her hands, only this time she fired at the mound of rocks that she had just been smashed though. Explosions went out, sending plasma, rock and dust into the air. The eruption wasn’t anywhere close to the green haired man, and he merely watched idly to see what she was up to. Roery flew into the dust and smoke and suddenly a massive bolder flew out the other side, then two disks and two more decent sized rocks. Roery flipped and twisted, straning her body to keep up with the still flying rocks that had come up from her explosion. She flung an impressive amount of rocks and boulders of all sizes, and just as many disks from behind the screen of dust.

Zorlo had tried to avid the barrage completely but was constantly cut off as Roery could almost predict his movement and could see him clearly through the dust and smoke. He was forced to punch through or dodge most of the rocks and was able to avoid most of the plasma disks, creating busts of aura to set them off course or guarding himself from their lethal explosions.

Finally he punched through a basketball sized rock, but wasn’t quick enough to guard against the disk hidden right behind it. The plasma slammed into his glove just as an aura surrounded it. It was still able to eat through the cloth, char the chain links, and burn the fencers hand slightly.

The rock slide continued for only a second more, and the aura master was sufficiently covered in a cloud of dust that spread half the plateau. Roery dashed foreword, stepping around the green haired man, locked her hands together, and deliver a powerful strike to the back of his head, throwing him foreword a ways. She immediately followed up with two plasma disks, aimed to hit him before he could recover.

The armored woman winced suddenly and dropped one of her guns, holding the shoulder that had been punched earlier. The massive strain she had put on her body, and the deep bruises and damaged muscles were taking hold. She was breathing very heavily now, and her vision was even starting to blur slightly.

As much as she hated to admit it, she didn’t know how much longer she could hold out.

The fencer looked at the soldier and smiled. She had held her own very well, better then even Kellson, but the time had come to attempt to end this. The fencer wrapped his hand around his rapier and pulled it from the ground, looking at the woman and the state she was in. The Aura Master couldn't lie: he was a tad amazed she could still stand, even after the beating he had given her. Well, that meant good things for her future as a warrior.

The time had come to call back up the power the green haired man had used to defeat Kellson, and hope that would be enough to keep Roery down for the count. This battle was nearly over, and four enemies later, it seemed that Zorlo would be the victor, and he was even starting to get a little bit tired. The fencer rested his rapier on his shoulder, attempting one last plea to Roery before he would make it a point to end this fight. That wouldn't be too hard, but still, it did seem a bit much.

"Roery, please, stop fighting. The battle is over, and I don't see any purpose to hurt you any longer. Please don't force this fight to continue on any longer. It's purpose is over, and Kellson has been defeated. Why are you still standing here and fighting me, rather then taking care of him?" Zorlo asked, hoping to appeal to her better nature. The soldier, however, had a very different opinion on it.

The wounded woman looked at the fencer, still glaring, and readied to attack with all of her might. "Kellson wouldn't be in the shape he's in if you hadn't decided it would be a good idea to beat him to near death. I'm gonna get you back for that, and I'm sure he'll do the same when he's better."

The Aura Master sighed and lowered his sword a bit, his eyes looking at the ground. Another roll of thunder echoed, and green flame burst forth from the fencer again. He'd been kind enough to reserve this kind of power for when he needed it here. This would be the last chance she'd have to try to attack him. "All right then. I'll give you every thing I've got," the fencer said as he lowered himself, exploding forwards.

Roery ducked the fencer's first slash with a quick duck and aimed to punch the green haired man in the chest. The Aura Master spun around as quickly as he could, simply spinning around the attack and resting his rapier against Roery's back. "Aura Slash!" the fencer said as he rested his right hand on the blade of his sword and struck. The eruption of aura caused Roery to tumble forward and roll across the ground.

"Not done yet," the green haired man said as he appeared, driving his foot into the female soldier's chest and sending her rocketing into the air. "Now then, I think I'll finish this off," the green haired man whispered with a sigh as he leapt into the air, appearing in front of Roery. Resting his sword as he had moments before against her, this time her chest, aura rushed into the blade.

"No escape..." the woman whispered as she rested her gun against the fencer's head.

"Yes, but you did well. Aura Slash!" the Aura Master yelled as he ripped his blade fierce forwards, jettisoning Roery into the plateau below and ripping through the rocks. Her body left a pretty nice sized crater as the fencer stood, seemingly weightlessly, in the air. "If she gets up, I won't be amazed, but hopefully she'll decide that this fight is no longer worth it. I hope that's it," Zorlo told himself as he sighed and slowly floated down, landing a few feet from the crater. "Anyway, I need to get Zachary out of here," the fencer whispered to himself. In all of his fun, the green haired man had nearly forgotten about that boy.

Either way, it didn't matter. Hopeful she wouldn't get up this time and he could leave. If not, he'd continue fighting, but what would the purpose really be? That was hard to describe at this moment.

Roery was beat. She’d have to be stupid not to realize that. This wasn’t like before when she could still put up a fight and had a chance of hitting her opponent. She could hardly breath now, and her grandest attempts to hurt the fencer had almost no effect on him whatsoever.

The clone soldier coughed up some blood, letting it spill onto her chin and neck. Her raspy breath was struggling to get air back into her lungs and calm her breathing. Her armor was missing chunks everywhere and dirt caked blood stained her dented armor and bruised flesh. She was finished. Even if she could get to her feet again, there was nothing she could do other then make her way to the closest hospital.

The former soldier closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip. She hated Zorlo. She hated what he had done to Kellson. She hated that he was able to beat every single person on the plateau that day with ease. She hated that she wasn’t strong enough to even put up a decent fight with the green haired man.

Her eyes closed tighter and her breathing started to return to normal. The rage in her was already starting to fade as the realistic side took over. Zorlo was just too powerful. He was leagues beyond every person there. This battle had been decided before it had ever started. Roery had nearly killed herself trying to prove herself otherwise. But now it was over.

Her body protested strongly as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. She slid a leg underneath herself, put her weight on it, and rose to her feet. The blond girls nearly fell over for a split second, but righted herself and overcame her lightheadedness. So many parts of her body ached that she couldn’t decide which hurt worse.

The wounded girl took a step foreword and set her green eyes on the aura master. His face contrasted greatly from the one she was used to seeing. He was only faintly smiling, but more then anything, he looked concerned. He must not have enjoyed being forced to attack her so brutally. Well maybe that was good. Maybe it’d make him feel a little worse for using his obvious superior strength to beat up a man so mercilessly, who knew. Maybe Roery could be satisfied just with this, as it was clear she could do no more.

Roery stood before him now. A bloody trail behind her, with so much of her armor missing that it was bordering on being slightly revealing. Her dark purple and black skin and blood and dirt caked hair. It was a sad sight indeed, so different from the beautiful woman that she was at the beginning of this all. Her head was slumped slightly and her bangs covered her face. Still her emerald eyes looked piercingly at the aura master.

“You came here to deliver justice. Isn’t that right Zorlo?

“Justice isn’t something you can just beat into people. Not when you put someone’s life at stake just to prove that you’re right. Just to prove that you really do know what’s best for the world. Who are you to tell someone they have no right to be who they are? When they are capable of making friends that would fight for them, who would mourn their death, and would avenge them.

“You’ve forced your opinion into every person here. You showed a little kid and a half angel that they really do have no chance of beating you. You showed a man that his behavior sickens you, and you nearly killed him for being who he is. You showed me that no matter how hard I try, I cant ever hope of making you feel the same why that I do right now.

“You have great power, Zorlo. I just hope that one day you’ll learn to use it not just for your own gain, or your own pleasure, or even for what you think would be best for the world. Use it for what you know the people around you would want you to do with it, and know when you’ve gone to far.”

The wounded girl turned and strolled away, trying her best not to limp. She raised a hand and wiped some blood of her chin as she made her way to the end of the mesa. She glanced over to where Ciaran was out of the corner of her eye. He was still down on the ground, his magic all but depleted. He looked back towards her, nodding once in acknowledgement, and turned his attention to the fencer.

“I’m glad I got to see your skill and power. It was truly impressive, but seeing as it’s all over, I guess I'll be leaving as well... Marcus, get me the hell out of here, please...”

There was a flash of light out of the corner of her eye and the sound of rushing wind. Without looking, she new Ciaran had finally left the battlefield.

Roery looked out to where Kellson had left to. He had disappeared from view a while ago. She could only hope that he had survived. Wounds like the ones he bore could have killed a normal man. Of course, Kellson was no normal man. He had God on his side. Hopefully God was feeling merciful today...

And with that, Roery hopped of the side of the battlefield for the last time.

Zorlo watched as the two left. He was left alone upon the plateau and released a sigh of anguish. Maybe he had gone a bit too far. Still, he had settled the dispute that he and Kellson had, proved to Ciaran that there were powerful humans in the world, and proved to Roery that he held great power. Still, what did that leave for him? Absolutely nothing.

This victory had been rather hollow. Roery was right. Kellson wouldn't change, and Zorlo knew this. Then why had he fought with the demi-angel again in the first place? The fencer had let go of his negative emotions, or so he had thought, but hadn't this whole exploit just been a simple battle of egos? The fencer sighed again at just how pointless this battle had been, and let Roery's words seep in.

"Actually, Roery, you were wrong. I know how you feel, because a part of me has died here, today." A tear dripped down the fencer's face as sorrow came and passed with a single tear drop. "The last bit of my egotism I held, the part of me that wanted to always be right and prove everyone else wrong. That part of me has passed away, along with the last of my hatred for Kellson. I laugh at my old self for ever hating someone so foolish. It wasn't his fault that he is who he is, and you are right, you would fight and die for him. Knowing that he has at least one person like that is redeeming."

"I have committed man sins here today. I nearly killed a man merely defending his own principles, beat around a young warrior that is under the influence of a demon, and done battle with two people for no more then trying to defend the man I nearly killed. How can I say that I have done any right here today? If anything, those who have been defeated have gained more from their defeat then I gained from this shallow victory."

Zorlo sheathed his sword and pocketed his gauntlets, looking at his hands. "Oh, these hands of mine, so stained with the blood of others here, what shall I do? Selene, will thou forgive me for my heinous actions? Can I forgive myself for my actions?" he asked himself, looking at the sky. "Better question is if I can, for if I cannot forgive myself for what has happened, then why has it happened. I will not say I've done justice to anyone here today by letting my ego beat them around, but I will say that I have walked away knowing that what I did was wrong."

Zorlo felt it again. the same feeling that had passed when he had forgiven himself for Shinu, and his guilt had died. All of the sorrow, hatred and egotism passed, and all that remained was a calm, kind smile. "Perhaps next time I see the two of them I'll apologize. I may have fought for what I thought to be justice, but was it merely a facade so I could display my own strength?"

The wind howled loudly and blew the fencer's hair back. The rain had stopped, and Zorlo looked out at the setting sun. "However, I did defend the honors of others, and even if my methods were a bit extreme, I know that what was fought for in truth was worth more then my egotism." A sense of calm overcame the Aura Master, and his aura rose slightly, flowing freely in a relaxed nature. Any taint that had remained in his soul faded with the setting sun. No longer would Zorlo let himself be weighed down by himself. He would fight for righteousness, and no matter what happened, he wouldn't let himself become corrupted as he had so vibrantly displayed here.

The past and the aching heart of the fencer disappeared into the night and the fencer turned towards the shuffling of rocks. "Oh gods, why have I been cursed by myself? I have done so much wrong here, but I hope you shall let me redeem myself." Zorlo's voice echoed into the heavens as Zachary stood up. The ice innate shook off the rocks on him and looked at Zorlo. In an instant, the boy was knocked out again and slung over the fencer's shoulder. "Sorry, Zachary, but we've got to get going. You need to be free, and I know just the place to keep you busy while I figure out how to. That will be my first step to redemption," the fencer said as he walked over the edge of the plateau.

"Maybe we'll all return here one day. I think I'd enjoy fighting them all again," the fencer said as he began to walk, crossing thin air with ease. His lighter heart perhaps made the air seem heavier then he did at this moment. It didn't matter. Zorlo had many things to atone for, and he would start here. Not until he had undone many of the wrongs he had done would he rest. After all, it wasn't like he needed to rest anyway.

OoC: Dear God, it is finally over. GOod battle everyone. Oh, and I)man, good call. I was trying to figure out how to get Zorlo to admit he had done wrong in this battle, and you helped him for me. Thank you. ^_^