Predicted Futures (Zorolo)

The fortuneteller turned the ruby amulet around in her hands. She looked like another gypsy you might find trying to make a living by conning people; large hoop ears, a robe adorned with intricate magic-looking symbols that meant absolutely nothing, long braided hair, and far too many rings and necklaces for a person to wear. The woman’s shop was no better with various charms and trinkets that were supposedly used to protect the wearer or find their true love. The kind of fake magic that makes legitimate mages sick to their stomachs. However, the woman did have one redeeming quality. She actually did know how to practice magic and simply didn’t pretend. Her magic did revolve around things such as fortune-telling which was precisely the reason Yami Christi had come too see her. The gypsy turned the amulet around a few more times in her smooth hands. Her eyes were closed to help her concentrate. “Mm, this is a difficult one indeed. The spirit who resides here has a finicky will. I can see that she will help you soon but when exactly that time will come and what will cause it, I am unable to see.” The woman opened her eyes and handed the ruby back to the summoner, “I am sorry I can’t be any more specific.”

The dark mage narrowed her eyes in a suspicious expression and then sighed, “I’m not surprised. Well, I suppose that will have to do.” She pulled out a few silver coins to pay the fortuneteller and then promptly walked out the door. Yami really hadn’t expected to find out too much information from the gypsy. Then again, even a little is better than nothing at all.

“I am curious as to why you sought out the help of the gypsy. You don’t like getting anyone’s help. Except from me and the other summon spirits.” Rya’s soul made Sevcis warm to the touch.

The summoner briskly trod down the sidewalk, “Hmph. I hate asking for help. But,” she glared at the ruby pendant around her neck, “this summon won’t talk to me all. I can’t get any information from her. I needed somebody to at least tell me something about her.” The woman’s grimace and narrowed eyes, along with her attire, drew some curious and suspicious stares. If she made eye contact with anyone, she gave them a rather nasty glare. Of course, someone like here did stand out in this city. The town seemed to have not gotten the message that the Victorian Age had gone by. Two-story building with porches and balconies lined the streets. The cobble street was frequented by horse-drawn carriages and a random person on a bicycle while gas lamps dotted the sidewalks. Woman were in elaborate dressed that covered every part of their body except their heads while the men walked around in suits and tuxedos. Every once in a while, a street urchin dressed in rages would bump into an aristocrat, no doubt taking anything that were in the pockets. Yami didn’t like this place at all. It was too clean and... uppity for her likes.

Apparently, this place didn’t like her either, for she finally became fed up with being followed by a man with a blue uniform and a badge. She whirled on her heels, taking the officer by surprise. “Is there something you want from me,” the caller demanded.

He took a minute to compose himself by clearing his throat, “Well, ma’am your presence is frightening to a few people. We would like it if you left as soon as your business is done.”

“Don’t worry,” she sneered, “I am finished and I’m putting this miserable city behind me.” She started marching down the sidewalk but turned again, “Why are you still following me?”

“I’m just here to make sure you don’t cause any trouble, ma’am. Please pay me no mind,” he bowed politely.

She growled lowly, “I don’t need to be followed around. I’d appreciate it you went on your way and left me to mine.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I’ll leave you to your business as soon as you are outside city limits.”

“Well,” she said with mock politeness, “I’m afraid I simply don’t like being followed so I’ll have to remove you myself.” She summoned several dark tentacles around the policeman which grabbed him tightly and then flung him across the city. There were several audible gasps and even one scream.

Another officer started running towards the summoner, “You! Stop!” However, Yami simply tossed a blade of darkness at him, knocking him down and out cold. At this point, people started running from the woman, intent on creating as much distance as possible between themselves and the mad woman. The summoner simply smiled. Starting such a commotion probably wasn’t a good idea but cause some discord in this stale city was rather refreshing.

I hope another officer comes along. I have some frustration I need to get out.

OoC: See, I do get things up.

OoC: I know you do, it's just how long it sometimes takes.

BiC: "Where... the ****... am I?" With those simple five words, Monroe revealed something about why he was here. The dark clad man hadn't come here to find a bounty, or even so much as to get a job. He had, for once, actually just been passing through when he had wound up stopped at the entrance of the city.

From just a simple glance, the dark clad man knew these people were at least two centuries behind the times, if not longer. Another place that found itself lost in History's infinite web that produces both change and a certain static in places where change was ill. Then again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Well, to Monroe, that logic never made sense anyway, but still, he was only passing through, right?

The bounty hunter began to walk through the cobblestone streets of the city, an odd spectacle to behold by all of the victorian dressed villagers, who were simply awed by his odd dress and lax appearance. The women all commented, at least the younger ones, about the fact he seemed a little handsome, but were quickly scattered by the older women, who had no taste for the "rebellious" and "revolutionary" kind that this man was dressed as.

Probably the funniest thing about their reaction, at least to the modern fencer, was that these people didn't know a thing about him, yet they were making assumptions about him. What queer people, he thought as he continued in his attempt to get the hell out of this town before things got any stranger. After all, something about this kind of town always held a bad kind of feeling for the former assassin. Not the premonition kind, but more of an unsettling warning of an unfought fight to come.

Same thing, really, although I don't believe in that psychic mumbo-jumbo crap, the mercenary thought to himself as he began heading down a new street. Suddenly, and with no real warning, a man dressed as a British bobby came flying at the enhanced human. Stupid feeling was right, the dark clad man thought with a mental chuckle as he swatted the man away and into the side of a building.

The woman, who darkness seemed to dance around, turned and looked at the dark clad man. "Interesting. What is your business here?" she asked, looking at Monroe.

"I was passing through, but I don't take well to being attacked by ninnies in police uniforms. Sorry, lady, but you're in trouble. I'm annoyed," Monroe muttered as he stepped forwards, getting ready to fight. "Bring it on."

Yami stared at the man for a second and then threw her head back in a laugh. All of the sudden this person wanted to fight her. Well, she had wanted someone to come long so she could take out her frustration. But she hadn’t expected a complete stranger. The summoner thought the situation rather humorous. “Didn’t you say you didn’t like being attacked by those ‘ninnies in police uniforms’? So why are you picking a fight with me?” She smiled at him as one of her eyebrows arched in curiosity.

“Because you were the one who threw him at me,” the black-coated man stated sullenly. He pulled out what looked like a sword’s handle.

The caller shrugged, “Well then, don’t blame me if you get hurt.” Four black tendrils erupted out of the ground and then whipped down at the man, intent on crushing him. He was gone barely after they started arcing downward. He’s fast... and kind of cute, too.

“Yami, is that really what you need to be thinking about?” came her sister’s disapproving voice. That only caused the dark innate to laugh again. For some reason, a challenging fight was just what she needed at the moment. It felt good to actually have her powers tested against a person who could fight back. Taking more of her dark magic, she formed a whip and lashed at the fencer. He easily rolled out of the way and suddenly was bathed in a green glow. The sword handle now had a bright blade attached to it.

The woman recoiled slightly at the sight. “He’s a melee fighter. Tch, I hate fighting melee.” Why couldn’t he be another magic-user? Then again, he certainly didn’t look like someone who would like magic. Except for maybe his sword, he appeared to be magic-free.

“I hope you’ve had your fun,” the man twirled the blade in his hand and then charged at the summoner.

Damn. Yami hurled the shadow whip at him several more times but, each time, he gracefully wove around the attack. Soon he was in her face and she put up her staff to block the sword’s green blade. He was easily stronger than she was and pressed his blade again Sevcis. The mage didn’t think to much of it until she hear her sister’s soul start to cry loudly. “Leave her alone!” She let lose a blast of darkness from her weapon, forcing the fencer backwards and away. Rya. She studied the staff to find an indent where the man’s blade had started cutting into it. If she had held that defense much longer, Yami would’ve ended up with two staves instead of one. “Rya, are you alright?”

“Yes, I will be fine. I am sorry to have worried you.”

That man should be the one worrying now. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the man, “You’re not bad for someone who just walked off the street. Who are you?”

OoC: You're just too fast for a slowpoke like me.

Monroe smiled at the woman as he continued to spin his sword around his finger, the whirring noise from the high frequency of the blade echoing in the air. The air even seemed to cry as the blade spun until the dark clad man stopped moving the blade, pointing it at the woman, holding his right hand near the end of the blade. "Monroe Vossler is my name, and this is a photon sword. I know you magical people don't much understand technology, but I'll explain it to you."

"Oh, will you now? Make it quick, I just wanted to know your name."

"Smart mouthed girls aren't the kind I go for, sorry lady," Monroe joked as he pointed the tip of the blade at the woman. "The blade of this sword is created of condensed Photon Energy that is sharp and dense enough to cut through most things with ease. Your staff must be pretty strong, almost as strong as titanium, to hold up. Be more careful. As for Photon energy, it's light particles condensed into a solid form. It has no elemental value, only scientific," the former assassin stated with a smile. "So if you're weak to light, my sword isn't light based, so don't fret," he mocked.

"Who said I'm weak to light?" she asked, gathering up dark energy around her.

"I didn't, I'm just telling you for your benefit, lady. Getting defensive about it doesn't help either of us. So, are you ready to continue?" the modern fencer asked as watched the woman. Odds are she didn't understand how his weapon worked, but that didn't matter. He'd defeat her all the same. It would just take a few well placed attacks... and not getting hit by hers. Damn magic to its core.

Monroe vanished as an orb of dark magic ripped a hole into the ground and left Yami looking around. "Where'd you get to," the summoner asked as she held her staff at the ready.

"Up here!" the dark clad man yelled from above her, letting lose a bullet from his revolver towards her. The dark mage quickly stepped out of the way as the bullet ripped a deep hole in the ground. A cloud erupted behind Monroe as he kicked the air and dive-bombed towards the mystic, who steeled herself and gathered up dark energy to attack. The green blade moved towards her quickly, but a blast of dark magic ripped into the dark warrior's chest as he moved towards her, blasting him upwards and causing him to hit the ground hard.

The dark clad man rolled over, smoke rising off of his chest from where the blast had burned him and his jacket and vest, and standing up. Well, there was mistake one. Hopefully their wouldn't be too many more.

He’s fast. Yami panted slightly. She wasn’t worn out, far from that. Rather, the adrenaline from reacting to his attack was wearing off. Then a smile spread itself across her face. This was the kind of test she had been wanting. Ever since she participated in that crazy Dome place, the summoner had been wanting to know if she had grown any stronger. Maybe this little man would demonstrate that for her. “Monroe, wasn’t it?” She made a mock curtsy, “Yami Christi. Pleasure to meet you.”

He was suddenly rushing at her from the side, “Not a good idea to make idle talk during a fight.” The caller let out a short chuckle and summoned thick tendrils all around her. The fencer hack away at the ones nearest to him but stopped the attack.

“Isn’t that what you were doing when you explained how your little sword worked?” Yami placed a hand on her hip. “Besides, you had better remember my name. This certainly won’t be the last time you’ll hear it.”

The technological man grinned back, “I’ll try. But I tend not to remember the names of people I defeat.” The sword twirled in his grip.

The caller glared at him. Men. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to knock him down to size. Pointing her finger at him, she fired a small ray of dark magic. He quickly rolled to the side but Yami easily tracked his movements. The mage kept the beam right on his tail, teasing him. Too fun.

“I thought we were going to fight, not show off magic tricks,” Monroe commented as he sprinted around in a circle. He suddenly stopped and Yami, with slower reflexes, cut him in half. She let out a small gasp of surprise before the image of the fencer vanished. “You’re not the only one with tricks,” he mentioned with a mischievous grin as he stood behind the summoner. She twirled and struck out with her staff. Monroe easily ducked under the swing and countered with his own, slashing upwards and leaving a deep gash on her upper right arm.

The demon caller cried out in pain and fired a large beam of darkness from her left hand, forcing the bounty hunter back a good distance. Taking her focus off of him for a second, she tested her arm by moving it up and down. She winced at the pain as blood stained her white sleeve. “Dammit.”

Monroe looked at her, and looked at the burned cut on her arm. "Well, look at the positive," he mocked, "at least you don't need to worry about it getting infected." The bounty hunter loosed the grip he had on his sword and let the bottom of the guard rest on his index finger as he began spinning the blade of the weapon again. The humming noise from the blade was still the same as it was. There was only one thing that bothered Monroe. Only one thing he had never taken into account as being possible. The technological warrior had never seen what would happen if his sword and a magical force clashed.

No better time to learn then the present, I guess, the dark clad man thought as he rushed towards the woman, stopping the spinning of his sword as he slashed it forwards. The summoner stepped backwards, avoiding the almost buzzing blade of the sword and thrusting her staff at the mercenary, who merely side stepped it as he brought his sword down towards her. The dark mage quickly conjured up some dark magic and thrust her palm into his chest, releasing a flash of magic that shot the dark attired man backwards.

The dark clad man's hair dripped with sweat, his face coated with a thin layer of liquid forming over it. Using Flash Step was a tolling thing to do, especially as much as he already had. Aside from the strain from the Flash Step technique, Monroe recalled his weakness to magic. Magic and his body simply didn't go together. Technology, Monroe had observed, was magic's antithesis. When the two came into contact, there was only one winner. Perhaps that was why Monroe wanted to see if his sword could handle magic. To prove, once and for all, that magic was subservient to the power of man. That technology outclasses mysticism and magic. That was the dark man's goal.

The former assassin rose slowly, swinging his sword a few times to make sure the blade was still at full capacity. After making sure everything was in perfect working order, now came the time to see just how true his theory was. True, his body was heavily damaged by magical attacks, but could technological weapons overcome magical attacks was his question. The time soon came to answer that question.

A ball of dark energy whizzed towards the modern fencer, who stood his ground and swung his sword quickly. The ball of darkness and the photon blade contacted with a powerful surge of energy. A loud cracking noise, almost like the sound of glass shattering, emitted and Monroe flew backwards, creating a good sized hole in the wall. The bounty hunter's body slid down the wall. The only thing the dark warrior allowed himself to do was look at the blade of his sword.

The blade of the sword, from six inches on up, had been completely shattered into the air and scattered into light. Magic had even overcome the greatest triumph of man Monroe had ever seen. If that was so, then how could he ever hope to surpass any mage? Monroe's fist shook in shear and unadulterated anger. A powerful, black power resonated off of Monroe as he forced himself to stand up and turned off the blade of his sword. With a quick flick, the mercenary turned the blade back on. So what if technology couldn't beat magic head on. It was still the wave of the future. A future, he noted, that Yami Christi would be no part of.

The summoner smiled in triumph at the modern fencer. She, too, had been interested in what would happen when Monroe used his energy sword against her dark magic and was far more than pleased with the outcome. I would almost say that proves who’s more superior in this battle. But she wasn’t going to let him off the hook with just some blasts of her dark magic. Yami wanted to show him just how powerful she was.

“Come on, fencer,” she taunted, “you have to have more than just that. You shouldn’t pick fights if you can’t win them.”

“Don’t worry, mage,” he spat and once again twirled his green blade, “I’ll make sure you aren’t too bored.” He predictably charged straight at the demon caller and she answered with a simply orb of darkness. However, he bounded out of the way in what Yami could only call an exaggerated jump. When she fired at him again, he had barely touched the ground before leaping again, higher than what she wouldn’t thought possible with such a light step. He as also getting closer to her by using this technique.

I’ll need to do is keep him at a distance. Distance was her second best ally in this battle, next her own magic. She had to retract that statement slightly when the technological man pulled out his gun and fired. She managed to side-step as the bullet just grazed her leg. The mage’s slight let up in offense was all that Monroe needed. He darted in close with that green sword. Not this again. She quickly blocked the first blow with Sevcis and fired a small beam of magic to break the close-contact; the caller wasn’t interested in having her staff damaged anymore. The dark-clad man dashed around the beam, and ducked slightly, drawing his sword across Yami’s right leg. She cried out in pain again and fired some dark magic to fend him off. He jumped away and was immediately ensnared by a group of thick, black tentacles.

“I was hoping you would do that sooner or later,” she muttered in small relief. Catching somebody in mid-air was much easier than trying to get them while on the ground. The light yet acrid smell of burnt flesh made her wrinkle her nose. The fact that it was her skin bothered her more than the actual smell. “I think I can make an appropriate payback,” her mouth curved into a mischievous grin and she looked up at Monroe. He was busy hacking away at the tendrils that held him. While Yami had made the magic thicker in order to hold him longer, he would be free fairly soon. Hopefully thought, not soon enough. The summoner held her staff out in front horizontally and a red pentagram appeared under as she started chanting, preparing to summon. She had the spirit already picked out. Since the fencer’s sword reminded her of lightning, she decided to use that against him. Not to mention that Raizan’s brute force could overpower a good number of people. As she continued chanting, she could only hope that the tentacles would hold long enough.

This is almost as bad as something out of a bad Japanese hentai, Monroe thought quietly as he continued to cut through each tentacle, only to have another one appear in its place. This was getting re-God-damn-diculous as it was, much less there being near violent tentacle rape that could be possible. Well, much to the bounty hunter's good fortune, this white haired woman didn't seem to be trying to do that to him, but she still had him bound by tentacles of pure darkness. That was just frustrating, since it seemed she was up to something as it was.

Well, at least whatever that woman is doing is done yet. If it were, I'd probably be in deep trouble... or being raped by the tentacles, I'm not too sure which one it is, the mercenary thought with some level of relief. However, relief didn't last very long as a tentacle grabbed his sword hand and yanked the photon blade from his hand, tossing it away. "****!" the former assassin stated as he struggled more violently, trying to fight his way free. "I'm not going to be the butt of this tentacle based rape!" he shouted.

Desperately, the dark clad man placed his hands upon small pockets on his vest and drew two smaller photon blades. The photon daggers sprang to life from their thin, box cutter like handles as the former assassin began to slice his way through his entrapment. The buzzing of the blades as they sliced through the tentacles until Monroe finally rolled away from what could have been a very unpleasant experience only caused him to have to catch his breath.

Perhaps the notion of can and will aren't good things to think about in the middle of a fight. It completely through me off and caused me to exert more energy to make means that could have been done easier. Still... that wasn't pleasant at all, Monroe told himself as he stood up and turned off the photon daggers and returned them to his jacket. The bounty hunter walked over to where he heard his sword buzzing and turned the blade off, looking at the weapon.

"No external damage. That's good. Well, with that, I should get back to..." the fencer felt a strange force erupt as he turned towards Yami. That was probably not a good thing.

OoC: *Couldn't help the humor in this post* You made it too easy. Anyway, I didn't post one hour after you this time. I waited like a good friend.

OoC: :XD That was great. Though, I have a question now. How does Monroe know what goes on in hentai, huh?

BiC:

Yami’s summoning was almost disrupted, and not by something normal like being attacked. No, it was disrupted by the fencer’s yelling of something about tentacle rape. Just when I thought this man couldn’t get any weirder. Oh well, whatever his strange interests were, they didn’t matter now that the summoner was certainly going to win this little duel. The violet flames that surrounded her, the essence of the summon’s soul, glowed brightly and suddenly condensed. “I call upon the chaos of lightning. Come, Raizan!” The purple flames sprawled outwards and took the form the four-legged creature. Raizan, shook its head from side-to-side, looked straight at the technological fencer, and opened its tri-jaw in a roar.

Monroe arched an eyebrow, “What the hell is that?”

Yami walked up beside the summon, her head as tall as its legs. “His name is Raizan. Beautiful, isn’t he?”

“You need a cat or something,” he commented, his eyes examining the lightning demon.

The caller rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t matter how many little jokes you make now. This battle’s over.”

“Really now? From the looks of it, I’m still standing and in good fighting shape. The only difference is that it’s now two against one. Not exactly fair, I might add.” His sword buzzed back to life, the blade glowing brightly. He also gripped his pistol in the other hand. The summoner almost laughed at his preparations; he wouldn’t win no matter what weapons he had on his side.

“I certainly don’t play fair,” she shot back, “Why play that way if it doesn’t guarantee a win? Anyway, it’s time to have some fun, Raizan.” She pointed her Sevcis at the fencer. The demon, who had been clawing at the ground and swishing back and forth in impatience, burst forward. He attempted to squash the dark-clad man under his claw but Monroe was able to dodge. Electricity surged through Raizan as he leapt again, this time crashing into a building. The impact hardly slowed him down as he turned to face Monroe again. What he lacked in intelligence, the demon made up in ferocity. He would keep the fencer occupied for a long time. In fact, Monroe would probably tire far before the lightning spirit did. Yami smiled.

OoC: *laughs* Ya know what, you're the second person to ask me that. ANyway, that's a secret.

BiC: Monroe floated in midair, kinda, as he watched over the strange demon that had appeared out of nowhere. Now Monroe had only two problems: the first was how to kill it; the second how to kill it effectively. Well, the quickest way to deal with these things were to shoot them until they stopped moving. The only major problem with that was how and where to shoot this creature.

As Monroe continued his slow fall, the creature charged at him again, attempting to knock the bounty hunter right out of the air and down onto the ground. The mercenary quickly kicked himself to the side using his Moon Step as he drew his revolver, aiming the projectile firing weapon readily. The former assassin clicked back the hammer and began to unload bullets, releasing three of them rapidly towards the stupid beast.

The titanium bullets ripped through the air before contacting the amazingly hard skin of the creature's head, bouncing off harmlessly, and the large arms, which seemed equally hard armor, it seemed. The modern fencer kicked the air hard again and shot himself onto a building. The lightning demon shook its head and turned, charging blindly at the fencer. Monroe looked at the beast carefully, plotting out his next move carefully. This wasn't going to be very easy.

The chamber clicked opened and the bullet casings fell out as the dark warrior pulled out six new bullets. Two of his normal, two of his ricochet, one of his scatter shot, and one explosive. Monroe smirked as he closed the chamber of his revolver and smirked as he leapt into the air as the beast charged rapidly through another building, tearing the house down easily. Another scary feat of this thing that the caller had created.

Monroe backflipped in midair again, taking ready aim as the creature charged again. This wouldn't be easy, and Monroe knew it. The dark clad man fired off his two normal bullets, watching them bounce harmlessly off of the beast's armored head. As frustrating as this was, the dark warrior was coming up with something quickly. The enhanced human slammed his feet into the ground and skidded to a stop, aiming his revolver at two lamps and bounced his ricochet bullets off of the lamps and sent them soaring at a high speed towards the monster's legs.

After a loud clang, and despite the fact the lightning summon stopped, the bullets didn't seemed to have caused too much damage. Raizen clashed his legs hard against the ground as it began to charge again. Now it was time to be clever, if not extremely stupid. As the creature ran, Monroe leapt into the air over the creature and aimed the gun, firing off the scatter shot into the beast's back, causing a light howl of pain as the bounty hunter flipped over the creature and landed on the ground, skidding to a stop.

Even that didn't work... I guess I have one place I know it would work, Monroe thought as he spun the gun around his finger with a very serious look on his face. Inside its mouth!

The demon summoner smirked at the fencer’s attempts to stop her demon. Sure, he had managed to hurt Raizan a little with his gun, but certainly not enough to slow the lightning creature down. Raizan tail swished back and forth, knocking over a lamp post and creating a small hole in a nearby house. Over the commotion of the current battle, Yami could barely hear people panicking and running as far as they could from the scene. Well, most people anyway. One more policeman in his pressed uniform came up behind the summoner and pointed his gun. “G-get out of town,” he stammered, his gun visibly shaking, “Don’t m-make me sh-shoot you.”

The dark mage snorted, “Just try.” She launched a beam of darkness at him, blowing him back a couple feet. It wasn’t enough to kill him but enough that he would be in quite a bit of pain... once he regained consciousness. A crash brought her attention back to the fight. The electric had charged at the dark-clad man once more, missing and knocking over a building with his might. If the fencer made one wrong move, he would most certainly be crushed by the demon’s strength. The idea made the summoner grin triumphantly. Nobody was perfect; Monroe would slip up sooner or later.

The demon crouched low to the ground and then leapt into the air. He landed where the technological man had stood a second earlier. Raizan’s claws gouged the cobblestone, sending a couple pieces flying. Despite the small rumble that even had Yami stumbling, Monroe kept his gun trained on the unintelligent demon. Electricity crackled across the demon’s body; he opened his mouth and let loose a blast of lightning. The fencer was almost caught unexpected and the blast sideswiped him, singeing his clothing and knocking him back a bit. Raizan then roared, moving forward to most likely crush the fencer in his tri-pronged maw.

Monroe sat up, took one look at the advancing demon, and grinned. He aimed his pistol at the demon and fired a bullet straight in its mouth. Raizan threw his head back and roared in pain. “Tch,” Yami flinched, “Well, that probably did hurt. But I doubt that’s enough to drop him.” And it probably wouldn’t have been if the bullet hadn’t exploded a moment later. The summoner gasped as an inferno erupted from the demon’s mouth and Raizan screeched in pain.

The dark-clad fencer spun to his feet and quickly reloaded his pistol with bullet, backing up as he did so. The lightning demon brought his head back down and panted, its own blood flowing freely from it mouth, splattering the ground. Electricity started surging through it body at a higher rate and Yami took a few hesitant steps back. Great. The demon was greatly wounded and what better way to go down than to take the opponent with you. As soon as Raizan started charging, whatever it hit would be incinerated by its Primal Kamikaze. The summoner took a few more steps back and gather some magic just in case she needed to protect herself. Unlike most of her other demons, this one wasn’t concerned if its summoner was nearby during an attack. If he came too close, she would be killed by her own summon. That would be an embarrassing way to die. Next time, I’ll remember to summon something smarter if I intend to stick around.

The chamber clicked closed as Monroe watched the creature's power output increase dramatically. Six of Monroe's normal bullets were loaded, but they wouldn't help right now. Whatever was going on... it wouldn't be pleasant. The electrical output began to react to Monroe's more advanced weapons, causing an annoying power increase. However, they would fry the weapons if Monroe wasn't careful.

Seconds later, the EMSG exploded from the dark clad man's side and he could feel the photon weapons beginning to short circuit. Now came the chance to be very careful, otherwise death would definitely befall the dark warrior. Even if the bounty hunter didn't get fried by the lightning, it seemed his weapons would. What else would the modern fencer have if his photon blades burned out? Well, he had his gun and his metal knife, but still, against a mage, those things wouldn't help too much.

Monroe leapt backwards as a claw fell down as the lightning creature began to charge forwards. As the output continued to increase, the mercenary found himself leaping higher and higher to prevent his weapons from being fried as another building got ripped apart. A blast of lightning moved towards the dark warrior, forcing him to quickly move downwards with another Moon Step, barely escaping the blast. The fighter landed on the ground, crushing a small bit of earth inward as the dark clad man turned to see the highly charged beast charging.

To the dark warrior, it seemed that the creature was about to overload. If that thing hits me... I'm going to die, the modern fencer stated as he leapt onto a building and decided to make his stand. The two beings stood off, and just as the giant mass of lightning struck the house, it exploded into a mass of lightning. Seconds before the beast destroyed a large part of the town, Monroe managed to use his Flash Step, along with a bit of a Moon Step to evade epicenter of the blast.

However, having only escaped that part of the blast, the former assassin didn't escape the following blast that sent lightning lancing into his body, numbing his form as he soared through the air. A powerful crash into the cobblestone pavement followed by a skidding through the ground left the weakened warrior laying on the ground. Anything that wasn't numb hurt, but most of Monroe's body was, in fact, numb.

The dark clad man wasn't sure where Yami was. Hell, he wasn't sure if he was alive, but the fact that pain still moved through parts of his body, mostly the burned parts of his chest, so that told the former assassin he was still a bit alive. Monroe's photon sword rolled towards him, the button being pressed as the device stopped moving and the blade turned on, pointing straight where it landed, parallel to the modern fencer's head. Blood dripped out of the dark clad man's mouth as he looked upwards, feeling his body begin to move.

With some luck, the dark warrior managed to move his fingers a bit. Good, the impulses are starting to return. Soon... I'll get my chance to fight back!

A moan escaped from the mage’s body, alerting anybody nearby that she was, in fact, still alive. Unfortunately, even being the distance she was from the blast, Yami had been sent flying backwards a few feet. She sat up, most of her body aching but still functional. Her head throbbed and, when she gently touched the back of it with her hand, her fingers came back with a pinprick of blood. Dammit. Her own demon could’ve killed her. Would have if Monroe had been any closer. Speaking of the fencer... Dammit again. His body was lying near the crater Raizan had left, a few blocks down from the summoner. He appeared motionless until she had caught sight of a twitch in his arm. Well, since he didn’t seem like he be doing anything more at the moment, Yami walked forward to inspect the damage her lightning demon had caused.

A shallow crater had been left at the epicenter of the blast. What buildings had been standing near the crater were now simple piles of rubble. Pieces of stone lie strewn across the ground, the street now patched with spots of dirt. However, what immediately caught Yami’s attention was an arm lying in the middle of some building rubble. It had been severed near the shoulder; the original owner probably incinerated by the lightning attack. The caller trod over to it, examined the appendage for a minute, and let out resigned sigh. As much as she hated common people, senselessly killing them wasn’t exactly what she wanted to do. “Hmph, it was their fault for hanging around in the first place. Idiotic,” she murmured, her words sounding as empty as they were.

Yami turned as she heard a groan come from the technological man’s body. “So, I see you actually did manage to survive,” the demon mage carefully stepped over the destruction towards him. “An impressive feat, but ultimately useless. I’m going to end this before it goes any further.” The fun that had permeated the beginning of this battle was gone, probably due to several reasons.

Monroe stirred and started to sit up. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing on my end.” His words came out slightly slurred and his movements were slow.

His comment caused the summoner’s mouth to curve slightly. Maybe not all of the fun. The fencer was entertaining to end. “Unfortunately for you, I seem to be in much better condition so I think I’ll be calling the shots.” She opened her palm to him and fired a small blast of dark magic, knocking the dark-clad man back to the ground. While he groaned in pain, his movement began to pick up in pace. I should probably finish this before he recovers enough to fight back.

Pain. Everything hurt. The world was a swirling maelstrom of battering and bruising that seemed to strike every part of his body at once. This feeling was something akin to being dropped from a very high place and surviving, Monroe supposed, but, at least nothing felt broken. Or, at least it seemed that way so far. There was a positive thing: at least Monroe could feel everything now, which meant he could move.

The modern fencer attempted to push himself to his feet, only to feel his right arm collapse under his weight. Well, I think she might have broken something in my right arm. That's... wait... not broken! the former assassin noted as he forced himself to stand and turn towards Yami, just in time to sidestep a blast of dark magic. My right arm is still numb, is all, the dark clad man thought to himself silently as he rubbed his arm. Absolutely no response. Well, one arm would do.

Now then, all that left was to recover the lost photon sword. To the bounty hunter's great dismay, the woman stood past the threshold of the weapon, which meant the mercenary would have to force his way through her to get it. Sadly, the dark warrior found himself with a problem. All of his step techniques were well past their limits, and even if they weren't, the former assassin's legs were nearly ready to collapse. The only thing that kept Monroe on his feet was the urge to fight on. If he wasn't careful, however, he'd burn his body out, and then, death would truly come to pass.

The bounty hunter stepped to the side and began to run, slower than normal actually, and made his move for his blade. A blast of shadow magic erupted towards him, but with a slight hobble and actually wound up spinning on his heels around the attack as it exploded. Monroe smiled as he continued to turn on his heels. The summoner watched him carefully and swung her staff, only to watch the modern fencer duck under her attack and drive his foot into her gut and throwing her upwards. Yami's body hit the ground hard and bounced up slightly.

Finally, Monroe made a mad dash, somersaulting over the blade and grabbing the handle of his weapon as he rolled over and pointed the blade at the woman. "Are you ready to dance?" he asked her with a smile. "I'm ready to continue," he told her, feeling a bit of spring return to his step. Even so, sweat was massively dripping off of his face and finger tips. It felt like his body was about to collapse, but Monroe had to appear strong still. After all, appearance was more importance in this case.

“Feh.” Yami blew some hair out of her face as she slowly came to her feet. Perhaps Raizan really had been a bad choice for a summon. The fencer, despite some hard breathing and copious amounts of sweat, looked as though the attack hadn’t been a big deal. He still had a stupid grin on his face and that green sword once again twirled in his grip. So just how am I going to finish him off? She ran her different demon through her mind, trying to figure out which one would be the best to summon. Long-range seemed to put him at more of a disadvantage than close-range and magic really hurt. So perhaps Shivra or Ifreet would be the best. Now the only question was how she would occupy him enough to summon again. She doubted he would be stupid enough to get caught by her tendrils again.

“I can come much quicker than the others. Not to mention I would love to make him pay for hurting my sister,” Rya offered.

Yami shook her head slightly, “No. I need one of my more magic-oriented demons to finish him. And even if I summoned you simply as a decoy, I might not have enough left to summon one of the others. Besides,” she glanced at the mark in Sevcis, “I’m not sure if Elotion would hold up again his sword.”

“I understand.” The summoner let out another sigh. She hated to deny Rya’s help but this battle wasn’t going quite the way she wanted.

A bullet hitting the ground near the caller’s feet startled her slightly. “Hey, are you just going to sit there and talk to yourself all day?” Monroe called, his gun pointed at the summoner.

She chuckled, “Impatient. Though, perhaps you should’ve taken advantage of my hesitation. You might have won then.” Several dark tendrils erupted from the ground around the fencer. He hacked them away and barely managed to avoid the beam of darkness that Yami shot. Well, his reaction time doesn’t seem to be suffering too much.

“Are those little tricks all you can do?” Monroe smirked and fired his fun two more times. Another tentacles rose up by the summoner and took the bullets, leaving Yami unharmed.

“I don’t think you’re special enough to see my other abilities,” the caller shot back. Though, perhaps maybe he was. After all, no one else had survived an attack by one of her demons. She formed another orb of darkness in her hand, different from her normal ones. This orb was thicker in substance and didn’t have a perfectly spherical shape. The woman smiled at it and then at Monroe. The fencer cocked an eyebrow but didn’t have much time to think about what she might be planning. More tendrils appeared around the summoner and started hurling bits of debris at the dark-clad man. He dodged some pieces and cut down others with his buzzing sword. In the midst of the attack, Yami launched her glob of poison, hoping he would only notice it at the last minute.

More tentacles. I thought I told her I had no interest in letting her tentacles having their way with me! Monroe thought silently as his sword sliced through the black tentacles and he continued forwards towards the woman. The dark tendrils continued to weave out, and the dark clad man continued to slice through one after another. However, by the time he was near the summoner, the modern fencer realized something: he was trapped.

Monroe looked all around himself, noticing the fact that darkness had began to encircle him. Dark tendrils floated from the ground all around him, and the dark warrior realized he had moved right into a trap. Good job, Monroe. You've failed again. Well, there might be a way to get out of here, the bounty hunter stated as he pressed his feet firmly against the ground and leapt into the air. This move, however, was too late, as the tentacles struck and hit him from all sides they could, encasing him in a black orb that hit the ground hard.

Still, something had occurred to the former assassin as the darkness slowly pulled back into the ground and dissolving. Something, a strange black glob, had hit the enhanced human just before he had been struck from all sides by the tentacles. Aside from the ungodly pain Monroe was in, he noticed two things: the tendrils had shattered the blade of his sword... again; and that it felt like a civil war was being fought inside of the dark clad man's body.

Blood dripped down from all of the countless wounds the dark clad man found himself with at that moment. The bounty hunter placed his hands on the ground and forced himself to push his upper body up. The mercenary felt weak. Very weak, in fact, as he grabbed his weapon and forced himself to sit on his knees. Heavy breaths left the technological warrior's mouth as he grasped the handle of his sword. Quickly clicking the sword off and then on again, the sword activated and the dark clad man shakily stood up. He looked at Yami and felt something strange.

Well, she was up to something, what was new? All Monroe knew, as he swung his sword to the side, is he had to find a way to overcome her. Quickly, the bounty hunter drew his revolver and fired off a bullet at the summoner. Hopefully it would stop whatever she was up to.

Well, that should slow him down a little more. The summoner smirked when her poison seeped into the fencer’s body. Perhaps that would even stop him from interrupting a summon. A bit of a long shot but it was worth a try. However, Yami barely got into position when a piercing pain seared through her right arm. She let out a cry and grasped it, her hand slipping slightly on the blood. The caller looked up to see Monroe with a weak smile on his face and a small trail of smoke rising from his gun. He put his gun away and rushed at the summoner, intent on stopping this battle.

Yami snorted and disappeared before the dark-clad man reached her. I really wish I didn’t have to resort to this. Though she was thankful Arios had given her this little trick. Shifting to the Demon Realm and back was nice in that it got one out of immediate trouble. However, Yami could do without the actual realm. The pieces of debris, the crater, and the city hadn’t changed. However, blood stained a good number of surfaces and the sky overhead was a deep red color. She sat down on a large piece of rubble and let out a weakened breath. This battle had pushed the summoner much father than she would’ve like. Nobody had ever survived a final attack of one of her demon and she had certainly never thought about calling a second to deal with the same person. Just who the hell is this man? She glanced over at a misty, white shape that was all she could see of Monroe in this plane. A black, more active mist also intertwined with the white but what it was exactly she didn’t know, or care.

She groaned and, overcome with pain, let Sevcis clatter to the ground. Blood still leaked from the bullet wound. The mage summoned a much smaller tendril and twisted it around the wound. The pain from the pressure was almost unbearable but at least the it halted most of the blood loss. She bent over a picked up her staff with her left arm, the only good one she had. Well, what should I do now?

“Poor little summoner is in a bit of a tight spot, no?”

Yami bolted up from her seat, “Who’s there?!” There was no reply. The voice that had called out was definitely a woman’s voice, sweet and soft but with a definite pang of cruelty. “Show yourself,” the summoner demanded, “Don’t hide yourself from me.”

“Hide? Little summoner, I’ve been with you for a very long time.”

The caller thought for a second before taking out the ruby pendant that hung around her neck. There was a soft chuckled as she stared at it. “So, you’ve finally decided to make yourself known, hm?”

“You’re not very strong,” the gem commented, getting a glare from the summoner, “but that’s not why I’m here. That man, ohhh, there’s something about him.” She gave a sultry giggle, “I would like to see how strong he is myself. You’re the only person who can bring me out so I think I’ll help you this time. Whether or not I help you later depends, though.”

Yami sniffed, “I do need some help at the moment.” She turned back to the white mist, which was floating around ground zero, probably waiting for Yami to return, “But I don’t know if I can hold him off long enough to call again.”

“...”

“Heh,” the white-haired lady chuckled, “you really want to take a crack at him, don’t you?”

“I would like to get him back for injuring my sister,” Rya said calmly. The energy pulsing through Sevcis betrayed the guardian’s real emotions.

Yami sighed and looked up to the red sky with a grin, “I have no idea if I could even call another summon after giving you form, sister. And even if I did, I don’t think I could walk away from this battle. Not with all the energy I’d will have spent.” She started gathering her magic in preparation, “But, they do say ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ right?” It took only a second for her to return to the normal plane under a blue sky. From the position she was in, the summoner returned with her back to the fencer.

“So, you’ve finally decided to show up. I was wondering if you had just skipped out on the rest of this,” Monroe commented with a grin, twirling his buzzing sword. Yami looked over her shoulder with a grin, causing the fencer to narrow his eyes in suspicion.

The caller turned to face him, “What do you say we try this again?” She rapidly shot several orbs of darkness at the fencer, hoping to entertain him just long enough. Another red pentagram formed under the summoner as a small, white soul emerged from her staff. “I call upon the Dark Guardian. Come, Rya!” Magic coalesced on the soul, forming the body of the swordswoman.

“It’s about time,” the guardian said with a small huff, facing her sister with a warm smile. Then she turned to face the fencer, giving him a devious smile that matched her sister’s.

“You can hold him off long enough, right?” the summoner questioned, preparing her third summon.

Rya unsheathed Elotion, a sword that could literally cut through positive emotions, “Absolutely.”

As Monroe lay on the ground, he noticed that the woman in white was gone. Time to regroup had come at last, and the dark clad man did little more than fall to his knees and drop his sword. He grabbed his biceps and tremored with violently spasms as he sat the on the ground. His face turned grossly pale and he bent over, rocking ever so slightly. Pain and an extremely cold sense managed to overcome the bounty hunter as he sat silently. He could almost feel the world itself bearing down upon him, trying to crush what resolve he had left.

Monroe coughed suddenly and blood splattered onto the ground as he hunched over further. Despite the massive amount of pain the modern fencer was in, he could feel the pain slowly dulling. The pain was dulling, but something was stirring in its place. Something deep within Monroe seemed to want to emerge, but the mercenary pushed this force back as hard as he could. He knew what was trying to get out, and his only goal was to keep it inside. That was a force he didn't need to step into this battle. Things would only get progressively worse then.

The dark clad man sat up and caught his his breath, grabbing his sword and standing up. Vossler turned off the buzzing blade and looked around. She was gone. He'd known she vanished, but the fact she hadn't returned made him feel a bit more confident. She'd fled, just like every other weakling he'd ever fought. Well, since she had vanished, all that meant was that the enhanced human didn't need to stick around any longer.

Instinct flared and Monroe spun his sword from his belt, turning it on and facing Yami. “So, you’ve finally decided to show up. I was wondering if you had just skipped out on the rest of this,” he told her as he pointed his sword at her. In the next few seconds, all the bounty hunter knew was that a small girl holding a sword appeared before him. Ignoring his urge to laugh, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the girl, pointing with his empty right hand.

Unable to hold back his shear insult, Monroe said something. "You conjure up a massive monster that levels a good part of the city and breathes lightning, and this pathetic little girl is the best you can call up now?" he asked Yami, narrowing his eyes at Rya as the guardian swung her sword suddenly. His hand moved quickly and his photon blade moved to block the magical sword. A buzzing noise echoed outwards as photon met magic and the two began to clash. With a quick push upwards, the guardian's sword, along with Monroe's, moved upwards and the warrior's leapt back.

Monroe spun his sword's handle in his hand and stopped it, pointing the handle, and thus the blade, slightly downwards at the guardian. "Well, little girl. Let's see if what you lack in size you make up for in strength, shall we?" the modern fencer asked as he waved her on from his hand holding his sword. He hadn't had a good sword fight in a while, and this could be fun.

Rya smiled slightly at the technological man. It had been awhile since Yami summoned her to fight. Most of the time, the summoner simply asked for her opinion through the staff. I shouldn’t let myself get distracted. The guardian’s face straightened. All she needed to do was keep Monroe occupied while Yami prepared herself. But, that didn’t mean the swordswoman couldn’t give the fencer a taste of his own medicine while they waited. She lurched forward, driving her sword at the foe. He knocked the sword aside an dove in himself. Rya spun around quickly, both barely dodging the strike and parrying the green sword.

Monroe grinned at the initial swordplay. He seemed like he was enjoying himself. Then the technological fencer came in faster at the guardian, forcing her to take a more defensive stance. Finally, he obtained his opening as he slid his blade under Elotion’s block and stabbed the guardian in the shoulder. Rya cried out in pain and the fencer narrowed his eyes in a triumphant smile. At least, it was a smile until he saw the female tense up. He was quick enough to dodge the main part of her counterattack, only getting a mild cut on his upper arm. Monroe kept his buzzing sword in a readied position. Rya glanced at the hole in her shoulder, “Attacking a lady? Not much of a gentleman, are you?”

“Never claimed to be,” he commented, his eyes set on the wound he had made, “Then again, you attacked first, so I can easily say this is self-defense.” He kept looking at her shoulder, confusion slightly visible on his face.

Rya shrugged, “Don’t expect that wound to be anymore than a mild inconvenience. This isn’t a real body, so I won’t bleed. Nor does that give you any real targets on me.”

“She called you the same way she called that massive monster. It sure bled,” he mentioned, recalling how he managed to finally wound it enough.

“Of course he did. That was his real body... in a way.” She shook her head, “I won’t explain it to you, you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Monroe snorted, “Like I care how that witch called all you any...” he trailed off as he glanced past the guardian. Soon, his expression hardened.

Rya didn’t give him a chance and charged at him. I must not let him get to Yami!

OoC: Short. <<

Monroe, in the most casual and relaxed of manners, simply stepped to the side and proceeded to kick the girl's leg out from under her, sending her head first into cobble stone. The crack that echoed out into the air as the swordswoman hit the ground made even Monroe wince a little as he spun his sword into a back hand grip and started waltzing towards Yami, whistling as if nothing was wrong the whole time. The bounty hunter heard the sound of someone moving near him and turned quickly, blocking the sword with his defensively held photon sword. The buzz again was annoying, as Rya's magical metal sword stood up to the photon energy, but the mercenary didn't care.

With a mighty push, the modern fencer sent the girl sliding backwards, carving lines in the cobble stones with her heels as she skidded. The enhanced human flipped his sword around in his hand and watched with a kind of childish smirk as the guardian rushed him again, forcing another crossing of swords. In a sudden snap, the bounty hunter thrust his fist into the girl's abdomen and caused her to rise lightly off the ground before falling to her knees and looking at the ground. "Tsk... you're no fun," Monroe stated as he started to walk away as a blade pushed into his back and out of his abdomen.

The dark clad man felt the pain rush through his side as the blade was forcefully removed and the dark clad man fell to his knees. A laugh erupted from behind the modern fencer as he next found his face being slammed, hard, into the ground. The bone shattering, or so it sounded, clash of bone and flesh sent a wave of pain through Monroe, but soon, all the pain faded. Everything went dark, and from within, true chaos emerged.

While darkness stirred inwardly, the guardian stirred outwardly, taking the photon sword from the bounty hunter's hand and tossing it away. As soon as the weapon moved even a few feet, a figure absorbed in great darkness surrounding its body moved quickly and caught the hilt of the weapon. From the handle, a black blade with orange lightning danced around it. The now possessed bounty hunter pointed the Chaos Lightning blade at the guardian as the jackal face of brown with shining blue eyes formed.

The wounds that had been incurred only seconds before healed and the dark creature smiled as it vanished and rammed its blade clean through the center of the warrior's sternum and lifted her off the ground while burning the strangely almost immaterial body she held. With a great, burning hiss, the God of Chaos tossed the guardian like a rag doll through a nearby building next to Yami.

"Damn, missed," Set joked as he took a step, the ground responding the the Chaos Lightning around him by hissing and burning. "Time to die, summoner!" the ancient god spoke as he held his clawed right hand up and fired off a massive blast of orange lightning from it, aimed to kill Yami with one blow.