Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[KingofPie]

The demon is still disoriented by the time-limit induced de-fusing, when he sees Sarada come right at him.

And he barely has enough time to raise his hands in panic. "NO WAI-"

The demon's head turns left, right, up, down, over and over and over again. Certain punches elicit flickers of flame to shoot out of his eyes, nose, and ears as if they were blood, but there is no defense whatsoever.

Sarada might delight that each punch causes a unique and explosive sound effect thanks to this fire, almost like fireworks with the bass turned up.

---

Watching this savage beating, the human Ryu Shingen, quickly stands, turns, and runs, leaping up to engage in flight. Zaofan, lying bloody and dying on the floor, even with his eyes swollen shut, raises his hand at Ryu, activating the Woven Path, and cutting off Ryu's access to ki-flight. Ryu is essentially grounded on the Lookout, his escape cut off.

Sasheem, having pretended to have the wind knocked out of him by Shingen, got up after observing more of the fight. This demon man had some techniques that's be useful to learn. But he also had a very clear weakness...that was also useful to learn.

The demon man, as it turned out was some type of fusion between a demon and a man. And now thay they had reverted to their individual selves, Sasheem figured they'd be easy pickings for his comrades. ...which would be annoying if either one was killed before he could learn anything.

"Ahhahahahahaha!" Sarada laughed gleefully at the display. The demon's head was just snapping back and forth like one of those cartoons. But! There was no resistance, no defense, and thus, no fun.

After the umpteenth hit to the face, she sighed. "Bored now. Time for you to die." She thrust out her hand toward the demon and enveloped him in a tremendous red blast that careened off into the sky.

Sasheem glanced towards Sarada....the demon seemed like a lost cause now, so onstead, the Majin floated towards the human Ryu. He raised his hand towards him, a ki blast forming in it....Sasheem then turned to Zaofan and asked, "What do you wanna do with this guy anyway?"

[MrSandman]

"Feh." Even in his forcibly hushed tones, his grudge is clearly audible. "Just because we need to help them, doesn't mean that I'm comfortable with this plan. I like my soul! It's where I keep my essence!"

Before Zaofan offers his hand, he asks, "What should be expected in there?"

"That....will be a bit difficult to explain. Where Etrina is being held...isn't a normal place. You can't just walk into it, I'll need to slip you in through a crack....and then it will only be your soul. Once your in, you just need to find Etrina....and....convince her to leave with you. Believe me....it'll easier said then done. Fate has a way with twisting your priorities. But of everyone, you have the best chance."

Chrona tosses the magicite to him. "Hold onto that....one you and the other get inside, I'll need Ishtar and Asha'rah to kick up a fuss....and in the distraction I'll help you out a bit more."

[Cyke]

Mere moments after the de-fusion, a ginormous head, roughly the size of the Lookout, fills the sky, casting a shadow over the Lookout itself.



"MWA-HAHAHAH! RUN, MORTALS! YOUR FATE IS NOW..."

...and his giant eyes see Ryu and Belphegor separated.

"RYU! Oh, jeeze!"

The giant face then transforms into a giant plume of black and crimson milky substance, like large amounts of wispy smoke. It flies towards Belphegor...

"Ahhahahahahaha!" Sarada laughed gleefully at the display. The demon's head was just snapping back and forth like one of those cartoons. But! There was no resistance, no defense, and thus, no fun.

After the umpteenth hit to the face, she sighed. "Bored now. Time for you to die." She thrust out her hand toward the demon and enveloped him in a tremendous red blast that careened off into the sky.

Sarada's blast totally encompasses the demon Belphegor's body, but the smoke then intercepts the beam, the beam flying straight through it.

The crimson smoke then flies turns into a trailing ball and flies to the other side of the Lookout...

Sasheem, having pretended to have the wind knocked out of him by Shingen, got up after observing more of the fight. This demon man had some techniques that's be useful to learn. But he also had a very clear weakness...that was also useful to learn.

The demon man, as it turned out was some type of fusion between a demon and a man. And now thay they had reverted to their individual selves, Sasheem figured they'd be easy pickings for his comrades. ...which would be annoying if either one was killed before he could learn anything.



Sasheem glanced towards Sarada....the demon seemed like a lost cause now, so onstead, the Majin floated towards the human Ryu. He raised his hand towards him, a ki blast forming in it....Sasheem then turned to Zaofan and asked, "What do you wanna do with this guy anyway?"

Zaofan opens his mouth to respond to Sasheem, only to spit out blood. "GULK!"

Ryu Shingen turns to face the floating Sasheem and the heavily injured, blinded Zaofan, looking the Majin straight in the eyes. The ball of smoke lands next to him, and out pops the Crimson Cloak, also levitating itself -- its robes are in complete tatters thanks to Zaofan's much earlier Mega Optic Blast before the chase. Sasheem will notice that the actual Cloak bears the same pentagram that Shingen drew onto the paper talisman.

Ryu raises his finger to the Crimson Cloak. "Where the hell have YOU been? You couldn't have dropped by sooner?!"

Before the Cloak can respond, his senses disturb him. He catches sight of Ishtar, the true architect of Wilheim and the Princess's arrival on Earth. Without needing words, the sheer energy coming off of Ishtar is enough to alert him that she should've been the one true target of this farce. Had they known, of course.

Ryu continues his tirade while he is enveloped by Shinku's cloak. "And what the hell is 'Vitalmancy?' Why didn't you tell me about THAT, you no good mothe--"

The cloak swallows Ryu and Shinku, turning into a spiral until it contorts into a ball. The ball then rises to the sky and expands until Shinku's face once again covers the Lookout. He taunts directly to the Lookout.

"Zaofan, thank you for introducing us to your friends. Now we know what they do, and where they live. We invite you to visit us some day, too."



The face then contorts back into a spiral, a whirlpool that turns into a ball, which then disappears in a pop. The pop leaves behind a thin shockwave of wispy crimson smoke that harmlessly passes by everyone and every thing, smelling of brimstone.

The sky clears, light is restored properly, and any trace of Ryu, Belphezor, or Shinku no Manto are long gone. Zaofan, eyes still swollen shut, painfully sits up. He tries to speak again, only to spit up more blood. "GAK!" He gets to his knees, and tries to stand up by leaning on Bojack once more, spitting out smaller and smaller amounts of blood. "Ptchoo, ptchoo --! help...!"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"That....will be a bit difficult to explain. Where Etrina is being held...isn't a normal place. You can't just walk into it, I'll need to slip you in through a crack....and then it will only be your soul. Once your in, you just need to find Etrina....and....convince her to leave with you. Believe me....it'll easier said then done. Fate has a way with twisting your priorities. But of everyone, you have the best chance."

Chrona tosses the magicite to him. "Hold onto that....one you and the other get inside, I'll need Ishtar and Asha'rah to kick up a fuss....and in the distraction I'll help you out a bit more."

"Just tell me where our Aunt, is, Chrona. I will handle the rest." Ishtar comments, somewhat amused by how it has played out between her step-sister, and Asha'rah.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

She nods.

“Please, by all means.”

using Ki Althena inflates her muscles and bone a small bit , and her height increase from 7'6" to 7'8". she then says to Eva " this is Efficiency Mode it grants a 4 x boost in power and it's highly efficient ." "it's mainly use for conserving stamina my power level in this mode is 160,000 ." she then reverts to her original size.

after that she just uses Ki to increase the size of her leg and arm muscles just enough for there to be noticeable difference. she then says " this is boost mode it grants a 6x boost in power and boost strength & speed." " it doesn't sacrifice too much stamina but there's still loss of Stamina compare to Efficiency mode." " my power level in this mode is 240,000"

Althena then uses Ki to bulk up her entire body to the point where it's a mountain of muscle and her height increases to 10 feet . Althena then says to Eva" this is Power mode it grants a 8x boost in power and boost strength tremendously but suffers in speed and stamina." " in this mode my power level is 320, 000 ." Althena than surges more Ki though her body until a red fiery aura surrounds her body and glowing red lines of Ki appear on her body, and her eyes turn completely white .


Althena then says to Eva " finally this is Max mode which grants 10x boost in power giving both a tremendous boost in strength and speed . " "however it comes with a great cost Max mode has massive Ki drainage. " "it is a technique that should only be use as a last resort." " in this mode my power level is 400,000 but because of the rapid drainage in Ki it drops to 20,000


" in the book of Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam the most recommend mode to use is Efficiency Mode". " no Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam master include me would ever recommend going straight into Max mode ." " it's just not worth it." " even now as I'm in this mode I can feel my Stamina and Ki rapidly draining."

" you can see the visually see Ki leaking out from my body." " the mode is really powerful but at the same time impractical."

[Cyke]

"That....will be a bit difficult to explain. Where Etrina is being held...isn't a normal place. You can't just walk into it, I'll need to slip you in through a crack....and then it will only be your soul. Once your in, you just need to find Etrina....and....convince her to leave with you. Believe me....it'll easier said then done. Fate has a way with twisting your priorities. But of everyone, you have the best chance."

Chrona tosses the magicite to him. "Hold onto that....one you and the other get inside, I'll need Ishtar and Asha'rah to kick up a fuss....and in the distraction I'll help you out a bit more."

Zaofan catches the magicite. "Me, eh? Far be it from me to turn down a challenge," he says with some hesitancy. "Let's get this over with."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Mere moments after the de-fusion, a ginormous head, roughly the size of the Lookout, fills the sky, casting a shadow over the Lookout itself.



"MWA-HAHAHAH! RUN, MORTALS! YOUR FATE IS NOW..."

Just as Sarada was about to kill the purple demon, then move on to roughing up the human, a... gigantic head appeared. "...huh?"

...and his giant eyes see Ryu and Belphegor separated.

"RYU! Oh, jeeze!"

The giant face then transforms into a giant plume of black and crimson milky substance, like large amounts of wispy smoke. It flies towards Belphegor...

...and then turned into some kind of smoke-like stuff and flew toward her. "...what?"

Sarada's blast totally encompasses the demon Belphegor's body, but the smoke then intercepts the beam, the beam flying straight through it.

The crimson smoke then flies turns into a trailing ball and flies to the other side of the Lookout...

"...hey!"

Zaofan opens his mouth to respond to Sasheem, only to spit out blood. "GULK!"

Ryu Shingen turns to face the floating Sasheem and the heavily injured, blinded Zaofan, looking the Majin straight in the eyes. The ball of smoke lands next to him, and out pops the Crimson Cloak, also levitating itself -- its robes are in complete tatters thanks to Zaofan's much earlier Mega Optic Blast before the chase. Sasheem will notice that the actual Cloak bears the same pentagram that Shingen drew onto the paper talisman.

Ryu raises his finger to the Crimson Cloak. "Where the hell have YOU been? You couldn't have dropped by sooner?!"

Before the Cloak can respond, his senses disturb him. He catches sight of Ishtar, the true architect of Wilheim and the Princess's arrival on Earth. Without needing words, the sheer energy coming off of Ishtar is enough to alert him that she should've been the one true target of this farce. Had they known, of course.

Ryu continues his tirade while he is enveloped by Shinku's cloak. "And what the hell is 'Vitalmancy?' Why didn't you tell me about THAT, you no good mothe--"

The cloak swallows Ryu and Shinku, turning into a spiral until it contorts into a ball. The ball then rises to the sky and expands until Shinku's face once again covers the Lookout. He taunts directly to the Lookout.

"Zaofan, thank you for introducing us to your friends. Now we know what they do, and where they live. We invite you to visit us some day, too."



The face then contorts back into a spiral, a whirlpool that turns into a ball, which then disappears in a pop. The pop leaves behind a thin shockwave of wispy crimson smoke that harmlessly passes by everyone and every thing, smelling of brimstone.

The sky clears, light is restored properly, and any trace of Ryu, Belphezor, or Shinku no Manto are long gone. Zaofan, eyes still swollen shut, painfully sits up. He tries to speak again, only to spit up more blood. "GAK!" He gets to his knees, and tries to stand up by leaning on Bojack once more, spitting out smaller and smaller amounts of blood. "Ptchoo, ptchoo --! help...!"

"HEY, GET BACK HERE AND TEACH ME HOW YOU FUSED!!!"

Sarada was so, so, so very confused. She didn't know who any of those guys were, what they wanted, why they wanted it, how they knew where the Lookout was, why a giant head just appeared out of nowhere, how that Demon guy fused with his brother or why they suddenly defused soon thereafter, why he and his brother looked so freaking different than they did just minutes earlier, or, and most importantly, why they didn't take Sasheem with them with then left.

So many, just so many questions left unanswered.

She fell to her knees, pounding her fist into the ground. "I'm just so confused. Please, someone explain what just happened."

[KingofPie]

Mere moments after the de-fusion, a ginormous head, roughly the size of the Lookout, fills the sky, casting a shadow over the Lookout itself.



"MWA-HAHAHAH! RUN, MORTALS! YOUR FATE IS NOW..."

"What the hell?!" Sasheem asked. Thus day wound up being ar more eventful than he'd anticipated. What the hell was with the big face?!

...and his giant eyes see Ryu and Belphegor separated.

"RYU! Oh, jeeze!"

The giant face then transforms into a giant plume of black and crimson milky substance, like large amounts of wispy smoke. It flies towards Belphegor...



Sarada's blast totally encompasses the demon Belphegor's body, but the smoke then intercepts the beam, the beam flying straight through it.

The crimson smoke then flies turns into a trailing ball and flies to the other side of the Lookout...



Zaofan opens his mouth to respond to Sasheem, only to spit out blood. "GULK!"

Ryu Shingen turns to face the floating Sasheem and the heavily injured, blinded Zaofan, looking the Majin straight in the eyes. The ball of smoke lands next to him, and out pops the Crimson Cloak, also levitating itself -- its robes are in complete tatters thanks to Zaofan's much earlier Mega Optic Blast before the chase. Sasheem will notice that the actual Cloak bears the same pentagram that Shingen drew onto the paper talisman.

Ryu raises his finger to the Crimson Cloak. "Where the hell have YOU been? You couldn't have dropped by sooner?!"

Before the Cloak can respond, his senses disturb him. He catches sight of Ishtar, the true architect of Wilheim and the Princess's arrival on Earth. Without needing words, the sheer energy coming off of Ishtar is enough to alert him that she should've been the one true target of this farce. Had they known, of course.

Ryu continues his tirade while he is enveloped by Shinku's cloak. "And what the hell is 'Vitalmancy?' Why didn't you tell me about THAT, you no good mothe--"

The cloak swallows Ryu and Shinku, turning into a spiral until it contorts into a ball. The ball then rises to the sky and expands until Shinku's face once again covers the Lookout. He taunts directly to the Lookout.

"Zaofan, thank you for introducing us to your friends. Now we know what they do, and where they live. We invite you to visit us some day, too."



The face then contorts back into a spiral, a whirlpool that turns into a ball, which then disappears in a pop. The pop leaves behind a thin shockwave of wispy crimson smoke that harmlessly passes by everyone and every thing, smelling of brimstone.

The sky clears, light is restored properly, and any trace of Ryu, Belphezor, or Shinku no Manto are long gone. Zaofan, eyes still swollen shut, painfully sits up. He tries to speak again, only to spit up more blood. "GAK!" He gets to his knees, and tries to stand up by leaning on Bojack once more, spitting out smaller and smaller amounts of blood. "Ptchoo, ptchoo --! help...!"

"..." ignoring Zaofan, Sasheem takes another, quick glance at the talisman he now held. That magic big face cape-thing had the same symbol. Maybe that thing was the true blood magic master...It was difficult to say right now the Lookout's assailants were gone.

If Sasheem wanted to learn anything from them, he was certain that the talisman was key...though he had no clue how to use it yet. The Majin looked at the currently dying-of-blood loss Zaofan. "Hey, how do you know those demon assholes anyway?" He asked, paying no heed to the current state of his comrade.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Zaofan, eyes still swollen shut, painfully sits up. He tries to speak again, only to spit up more blood. "GAK!" He gets to his knees, and tries to stand up by leaning on Bojack once more, spitting out smaller and smaller amounts of blood. "Ptchoo, ptchoo --! help...!"

"Oh!" Sarada stood and was quick to give Zaofan a shoulder to lean. "Jeez, you need to be more careful, Zaofan. You can't get stronger by getting beat to **** like I can. Hahahahah!!"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Ishtar watches Shingen's demise unfold somewhat ... bored. In the end, he had been nothing more but another human manipulated by Lesser Demon.

As the man, and demon floundered about however, the Oni paid rapt attention to what it did to flee ... and waiting until the moment before its escape was assured; the Oni sliced off a fragment of the cloak and scooped it up before wandering back to Zaofan.

A few charges later, and the young Cook would find his wounds mending, slowly, as two blasts of the White Haoma struck him dead-center, as Ishtar turned the cloak fragment over in her hand.

"Hmm. He was particularly stupid, for a Demon."

[Cyke]

Just as Sarada was about to kill the purple demon, then move on to roughing up the human, a... gigantic head appeared. "...huh?"



...and then turned into some kind of smoke-like stuff and flew toward her. "...what?"



"...hey!"


"HEY, GET BACK HERE AND TEACH ME HOW YOU FUSED!!!"

Sarada was so, so, so very confused. She didn't know who any of those guys were, what they wanted, why they wanted it, how they knew where the Lookout was, why a giant head just appeared out of nowhere, how that Demon guy fused with his brother or why they suddenly defused soon thereafter, why he and his brother looked so freaking different than they did just minutes earlier, or, and most importantly, why they didn't take Sasheem with them with then left.

So many, just so many questions left unanswered.

She fell to her knees, pounding her fist into the ground. "I'm just so confused. Please, someone explain what just happened."

"What the hell?!" Sasheem asked. Thus day wound up being ar more eventful than he'd anticipated. What the hell was with the big face?!



"..." ignoring Zaofan, Sasheem takes another, quick glance at the talisman he now held. That magic big face cape-thing had the same symbol. Maybe that thing was the true blood magic master...It was difficult to say right now the Lookout's assailants were gone.

If Sasheem wanted to learn anything from them, he was certain that the talisman was key...though he had no clue how to use it yet. The Majin looked at the currently dying-of-blood loss Zaofan. "Hey, how do you know those demon assholes anyway?" He asked, paying no heed to the current state of his comrade.

While Sasheem looks at the talisman, he'll see a single, tiny ball of orange-red light trace the pentagram in the same manner that it was marked in the first place.

Zaofan's legs give out, and he collapses back down to a sitting position, holding Bojack upright, spitting hopefully the last of the blood to speak, breathing heavily through his nose. His head is pointed at no one specifically, a consequence of his swollen eyes, but it still hangs tilted and towards them. "Blegh--! That was... that was my original teacher, Ryu Shingen. Master Assassin. That big... ghost... thing is a Yokai of some kind. Calls itself the Crimson Cloak. Shingen was never that strong, but I guess the Yokai had something to do with it. They captured me because they sensed some kind of dark energy that we all carried back from Terra. They're all attracted to blood magic and... Vitalmancy, I guess. That's ...how they found the Lookout, by sensing Wilheim and the Princess." He spits out more blood to the side, and continues.

"We were on Terra so little, but we brought enough residual energy back for them to notice. But apparently the natives are super-saturated from living there. The demons wanted to find a way to travel to Terra and absorb all that dark energy. So, I escaped to try to stop them," he explains as he wipes his mouth.

"When I first fought the Crimson Cloak, I sensed two ki signatures. I thought they were two of Shingen's agents. I sensed the same two signatures on the way here, and again just now. I guess they were two halves of a... fusion. They combined before I got here." The chef then pauses in regret and shame. "I'm-- I'm sorry for bringing the fight to you all. But we beat them."

Ishtar watches Shingen's demise unfold somewhat ... bored. In the end, he had been nothing more but another human manipulated by Lesser Demon.

As the man, and demon floundered about however, the Oni paid rapt attention to what it did to flee ... and waiting until the moment before its escape was assured; the Oni sliced off a fragment of the cloak and scooped it up before wandering back to Zaofan.

A few charges later, and the young Cook would find his wounds mending, slowly, as two blasts of the White Haoma struck him dead-center, as Ishtar turned the cloak fragment over in her hand.

"Hmm. He was particularly stupid, for a Demon."

"You'll get no argument from me," Zaofan says as he coughs up but finds himself gradually improving.

"Oh!" Sarada stood and was quick to give Zaofan a shoulder to lean. "Jeez, you need to be more careful, Zaofan. You can't get stronger by getting beat to **** like I can. Hahahahah!!"

"H-hah! It hurts to laugh," Zaofan says as he gets up to lean on Sarada. He then addresses the assembled warriors. "If everyone can..." he breathes deeply again, "...come closer... NO, closer...!"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

While Sasheem looks at the talisman, he'll see a single, tiny ball of orange-red light trace the pentagram in the same manner that it was marked in the first place.

Zaofan's legs give out, and he collapses back down to a sitting position, holding Bojack upright, spitting hopefully the last of the blood to speak, breathing heavily through his nose. His head is pointed at no one specifically, a consequence of his swollen eyes, but it still hangs tilted and towards them. "Blegh--! That was... that was my original teacher, Ryu Shingen. Master Assassin. That big... ghost... thing is a Yokai of some kind. Calls itself the Crimson Cloak. Shingen was never that strong, but I guess the Yokai had something to do with it. They captured me because they sensed some kind of dark energy that we all carried back from Terra. They're all attracted to blood magic and... Vitalmancy, I guess. That's ...how they found the Lookout." He spits out more blood to the side, and continues.

"We were on Terra so little, but we brought enough residual back for them to notice. But apparently Wilheim and the Princess are saturated from living there. The demons wanted to find a way to travel to Terra and absorb all that dark energy. So, I escaped to try to stop them," he explains as he wipes his mouth.

"When I first fought the Crimson Cloak, I sensed two ki signatures. I thought they were two of Shingen's agents. I sensed the same two signatures on the way here, and again just now. I guess they were two halves of a... fusion. They combined before I got here." The chef then pauses in regret and shame. "I'm-- I'm sorry for bringing the fight to you all. But we beat them."

"You'll get no argument from me," Zaofan says as he coughs up but finds himself gradually improving.

Sarada listened carefully as Zaofan finally had the time to explain in full what the hell was going on. The "Demon Guy" was actually his former teacher, Ryu Shingen, an assassin. That he wasn't nearly as powerful as this in the past meant that the giant head, Crimson Cloak, somehow boosted his power. They both wanted Wilhelm and the princess to drain them of the blood magic they were saturated in by living on Terra for so long.

Feh.

Nothing more than predators and poachers. She would give at least Ryu credit; at least he fought them straight up instead of trying to sneak in while everyone wasn't looking. Regardless, he was due for an asskicking for taking Zaofan, and that was exactly what they gave him.

As for fusion, Zaofan apparently didn't know how he did it, but did confirm that it was some kind of temporary fusion.

"I see. They'll be back, in that case. As long as Wilhelm and his princess are here, they'll keep coming back." That was a double-edged sword. They wouldn't be safe until Ryu and Crimson Cloak were both dead. On the other hand, fighting an actual demon and.... yokai(?) was exciting. As long as he was fused, that was.

"Hey, what the hell are you apologizing for? That was the most excitement I've had in months! There's nothing better than a good fight to get the blood pumping!"

"H-hah! It hurts to laugh," Zaofan says as he gets up to lean on Sarada. He then addresses the assembled warriors. "If everyone can..." he breathes deeply again, "...come closer... NO, closer...!"

Since Sarada was literally right next to him, she leaned in close.

[MrSandman]

The door to the manor shattered with one well placed kicked.

The remainder of the Maze had been conquered, much more easily then even Etrina would have expected of herself. Of course, the lack of parsic and chrona might have accounted for the ease compared to the past....nonetheless she took it as a much needed sign that she had definitely improved beyond what she had been capable of in the past. All that remained now was to give her father a piece of her mind and finally see this chapter of her life come to a close.

"Good....Very Good. I had honestly expected you to have taken a bit longer." Her father mused out loud, floating over the entrance hall in wait for his daughter. A bemused expression lit up his dark features. "Its been a long time since you've been home....tell me, does it bring back any memories?"

"Only the worst ones..." Etrina spat as she walked in. "....So are you ready to admit I've won...Or are you going to sic those two on me next....."

For a moment aiden seemed to consider, then shook his head with a smirk. "No...I think you've proven yourself against the pawns well enough. I admit your worthy of being my daughter..."

"......It makes me sick when you say it like that......Just tell me where my..." Etrina would have continued, but her senses were overwhelmed almost immediately by the energy coursing from the floating figure.

"...I said you were worthy to be my daughter......we've yet to see if your worthy to be the Scion...."

Holding out his hand, the elder stoltengarde muttered arcane words.



Magic aura the color of blood formed around his extended palm, and bringing up his other hand he dragged his nail down the length of his arm...drawing blood that flowed upwards instead of down, collecting in his hand before expanding into a blade. "Hemomancy....the blood of a stoltengarde, lets see if your magic can match me."

Etrina had barely enough time to conquer her own blade of ice before Aiden shot forward and unleashed a fully of slashes with his own. Etrinas ice was hardened by magic, but so too was Aidens blood....so much more so that it chipped effortlessly away at Etrinas creation. In an effort to put some range Etrina allowed the makeshift ice sword to shatter, manipulating it into a cloud of ice particules to blind her mage father as she flipped backwards and brought up a wall of ice in defense.

Only a fraction of a second later the wall was shattered by red bolts...several whizzing by her head while on sunk deep into her leg. Her father emerged from the cloud, his grinning face closing this distance in an instance. His blood sword was now a blur...and though etrina could make his speed, the superior power of his magic ensured her ice blades would crack long before his did.

So she needed to beat him in technique.

Leaping back again, Etrina attempted a maneuver she had been working on for sometime. Rather then allow her flip to complete.....The young ice mage flash froze the condensation in the air and immediately time locked it in place, creating a ice foothold in mid air that she caught with her foot and pushed against to change her direction mid leap and propell herself over her father. Aiden, having been preparing a lunge for the landing spot....was ill prepared and received a gash along his back in return.

"Hur....." Aiden spun, the blood loosed from his back would flying out and quickly hardening into a spray of needle shard projectiles that he launched with his own sword thrust. Etrina countered with another barrier of ice, but this time it was more to block his vision for a moment...long enough to use time dilation to speed up her movement and launch herself over the wall as the wave of projectiles and her fathers sword crashed through...delivering a powerful kick the the mans head as she passed over, then sweeping the legs out from under him as she landed...all of which happened in barely under a second.

With a thunderous crash, the elder stoltengarde hit the ground...his blood sword spinning around the floor before collapsing into a pool of liquid.

"Do you yield yet?" Etrina asked, mercilessly aiming the tip of her ice spear over the downed mans head.

".......Hehehe....ehehehehe......Yes.....Yes...... that is quite enough.....I'm so proud...."

"Shut up!!" Etrina snapped, and in an manner uncharacteristic of her she kicked him hard in the stomach. "I'm....done with this. You....you put me through the worst years of my life....You made my mother suffer. I didn't do this to make you proud....this is to prove a point. I...don't....need you in my life ever again. Once this is done....your going to get the hell away from me and my mother....and if I ever see you again. I'll find a way to make you suffer worse then I did." Her eyes flashed with naked rage.

"Now....take me....to my mother...."

[MrSandman]

Zaofan catches the magicite. "Me, eh? Far be it from me to turn down a challenge," he says with some hesitancy. "Let's get this over with."

"Just tell me where our Aunt, is, Chrona. I will handle the rest." Ishtar comments, somewhat amused by how it has played out between her step-sister, and Asha'rah.

".....Yeah.....I suppose this is it...isn't it." Chrona smiled, but for a moment she seemed a little....melancholy.

"So.....Going over the plan once more, just to make sure your all on board. One...Each of you will tap into the link produced by the Mages foci, they can use translocation magic to transport each of you close to where you need to be. It's not 100% accurate....but it'll be enough."

"Second...Ishtar. You want to fight our aunt right? That's good...you'll need to pull her attention for as long as possible. Fight her if you have too....but you can't kill her. The goal is to stall and distract, you'll know why when you get there."

"Third....Asha'rah. Parsic will still be regenerating from the trashing you gave her....she won't be combat ready, but.....well......." Chrona paused, and let out a sigh. "I will be.....So there is a pretty good chance you'll have to kick my ass a bit. To be more specific, shes me with a bit of a time dilation. She'll try to play along...but under my aunts orders she'll only be able to hold back so much. Make it look real...but again, don't kill her."

"Finally.....Zaofan. Once your inside, I'll take you to where you need to go. Retrieve Etrina at all cost.....and remember, you may have do some heavy convincing to pull her out of Fates grasp. Shes a manipulator....the worst kind, and she'll dig her claws deep into your...uhh....girlfriend...wife...how far long were you two at this point? Anyways......do what you have to and bring her back. After that....Erosa will take care of the last part."

[Cyke]

".....Yeah.....I suppose this is it...isn't it." Chrona smiled, but for a moment she seemed a little....melancholy.

"So.....Going over the plan once more, just to make sure your all on board. One...Each of you will tap into the link produced by the Mages foci, they can use translocation magic to transport each of you close to where you need to be. It's not 100% accurate....but it'll be enough."

"Second...Ishtar. You want to fight our aunt right? That's good...you'll need to pull her attention for as long as possible. Fight her if you have too....but you can't kill her. The goal is to stall and distract, you'll know why when you get there."

"Third....Asha'rah. Parsic will still be regenerating from the trashing you gave her....she won't be combat ready, but.....well......." Chrona paused, and let out a sigh. "I will be.....So there is a pretty good chance you'll have to kick my ass a bit. To be more specific, shes me with a bit of a time dilation. She'll try to play along...but under my aunts orders she'll only be able to hold back so much. Make it look real...but again, don't kill her."

"Finally.....Zaofan. Once your inside, I'll take you to where you need to go. Retrieve Etrina at all cost.....and remember, you may have do some heavy convincing to pull her out of Fates grasp. Shes a manipulator....the worst kind, and she'll dig her claws deep into your...uhh....girlfriend...wife...how far long were you two at this point? Anyways......do what you have to and bring her back. After that....Erosa will take care of the last part."

"It sounds like Ishtar and Asha'rah can defend themselves. But will *my* powers work in there? Will I be defenseless if it comes to battle?"