Dragonball M, Chapter 3: In Blood, Bone, and Ash! The Way Forward Unlocked!

[grampagen]

The formation of the blazing beast was so immense in its explosive radiance, that Held found himself shielding his eyes, only for a moment. He was dumbfounded--if only for a moment--at what the Red Raider had decided to wield against them.

It was at this moment, Held had began to wonder if perhaps they had poked a bit too harshly at the bear--or Lion, as it were.

She very swiftly went from barely contained anger, to ice cold fury. Words were deemed insufficient at this juncture. Only blood would satisfy Willa.

...Well....getting her off her game was the goal. So Mission accomplished, I suppose.

Had Willa been gracious enough not to orchestrate the operation of the Ki Beast so immediately, Held might have taken a moment to marvel at the intricacies of it's formation, before devising some sort of plan to dispatch of it.

As things were, it stalked towards it's prey in a manner that one would expect from the King of Beasts--on earth, anyways--shattering stone with each step, before raising a paw to slash them into oblivion.

To this, the Nevadian froze for a second, as if struggling with something.

Damnit.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he focused his energy, glancing at the earth beneath him. His energy dissipated, the Nevadian thinking better of it as the tip of his spear touched the ground.

Runic Art: Transumtation!

The earth beneath the feet of both Acrosian and Nevadian suddenly jutted upwards by several yards, creating a platform that ran about eye level with the beast. If nothing else, it would give them a moments reprieve from the pain Willa hoped to deliver.

.....Knowing our luck, she can pass on that strange energy to her Lion as well. Last thing we need is to get bisected by it.

Held's Runic Art had rendered itself just in time, and as the two were lifted from the ground on their floating platform, they observed a few things.

As the Red Lion's claws swept forward, it being a creature manifest of ki carried a killing intent that radiated past its reach, and as it swiped the ground before it was struck by its wake - quite similar to the impact of the Rose Flares, albeit without the flourish, the only tell was behind the strike itself. In an instant, the ancient manmade facades in the stonework were in an instant struck bare, as if flayed from the ground. Spiderwebbing beneath it in the foundations were the reactive crystals, capturing the light of the ki as it passed.

The second was that Willa floated at the core of the beast, and its mane wreathed her fury like a suit of armor. From eye level her position was near its heart. Distilled hatred burned in her eyes as she swung the Sword of the King again, and the beast followed.

[grampagen]

[I][CENTER]
A Scream sounded, one not heard as much as felt, and within the deep hole before him was a brilliant light so intense Ochazuke would be momentarily blinded well before the blast wave drove him upwards. From a distance the mountain seemed to expand momentarily, then collapse....as if taking one last breath before the ground ignited, a wave of energy blasting out and tearing the ground asunder as it passed over the mountain and then ruins below.

High above him....The Queens Empowered form, already in combat with her age old mortal enemy, would feel her limitless fount of energy vanish but a moment before the shockwave below washed over the two. She stumbled, her superior smirk fading as she seemed to...and long last...be lost for something to say.....and amiss the chaos, a form was quickly approaching the two from the rear as Zaofan was closing in. Above them....the floating mass that had been broken off the top of the mountain began to drop, falling into the Yucatan Crash that has been forming between it and the ground.

There it was again, a primordial beckoning issued between spaces. The ground shook, and the mountain ignited, but the cacophony that followed from beyond the edge of his mundane senses Ochazuke felt it rake against his bones; frigid, creeping it spread, like the crystalline expansion of ice drawn from water as the Wintry north suspended it crystalline. The essence of the Void a paradox as mercurial as it was filled with the rot of stagnation. The calm brought from meditation was ill sufficient to set him at ease; this was no parasympathetic reflex, the knowledge of what dwelt behind the veil, behind the First of the ancestral Guardian's house, was a twisted thing. One that he could not suffer to persist past today.

Rocketing past from the impact as his Valiatium Staff extended, Zaofan's trusty katchin staff was now wreathed in a composite of his own ki and a rudimentary form of the magic gathered from Persephone herself in a volatile mixture he kept at bay.

Just like blooming spices, he thought to himself. Steady in the realm of the familiar, what he knew, this was far more for his own comfort than anything he truly understood; in so many words this felt about as sensible as keeping one hand on a stick of dynamite as the fuse burned. He had a scant few second to do something with it.

"Zao. Charco is still in there." A familiar voice crept into his ear over the Capsule Comm.

"As long as that thing Rex has twisted himself into remains, there's a chance he can be saved," Ochazuke said. The words of that Islay creature were still fresh in his mind, and though he could only watch the boy die, if his soul could be saved, he would not fail him in this. First they all had to survive this.

Zaofan rocketed past, and Ochazuke drew once more upon the latent powers within the Earth. By the path of Wolf and Bear, his instincts had sharpened. As the brothers met in the middle, they exchanged a look, and Ochazuke lay his hand out, adding a burst of additional power to reinforce the staff, Ishiki Toei stabilizing the reaction of Pot Au Feu held fast from end to end.

The dead city of Amdapour was destroyed. Now they would bring Persephone's throne down to meet it.

With a great shout, Zaofan cradled his staff over his shoulder, and brought its myriad construct up, dragging through the sky for a moment before bringing it crashing down over the Guardian's Lookout.

Meanwhile, Ochazuke sped off. His drew a fist to his side, and with it what remaining powers he could muster. Arthur's Ring never felt so heavy than it did at this moment, but there was one more debt yet to be paid.

Closing in on the construct clone of Persephone, it would come down to seizing the moment.

Shoshin Hiei, nothing else but the moment existed in his mind; Mushin Nehan, the execution would have to be flawless.

All of his training to this point, the clarity of his sight, that would all he could rely on at this moment, as he rushed this second Persephone in all haste. A display that would, perhaps, seem as futile as it was mad.

[KingofPie]

Held's Runic Art had rendered itself just in time, and as the two were lifted from the ground on their floating platform, they observed a few things.

As the Red Lion's claws swept forward, it being a creature manifest of ki carried a killing intent that radiated past its reach, and as it swiped the ground before it was struck by its wake - quite similar to the impact of the Rose Flares, albeit without the flourish, the only tell was behind the strike itself. In an instant, the ancient manmade facades in the stonework were in an instant struck bare, as if flayed from the ground. Spiderwebbing beneath it in the foundations were the reactive crystals, capturing the light of the ki as it passed.

The second was that Willa floated at the core of the beast, and its mane wreathed her fury like a suit of armor. From eye level her position was near its heart. Distilled hatred burned in her eyes as she swung the Sword of the King again, and the beast followed.

"Well, it's clear we must separate her from that blade!" Blizzar spoke as he used his telekinesis to swiftly swing the floating platform horizontally to avoid the strike. "Easier said than done, as is the norm for any of these exploits. Before we even think about that, we'll need something to contend with that beast..." The Arcosian trailed, nodding at Held. "Just...try to preserve as much of these ruins as you can."

[Miburo]

Held's Runic Art had rendered itself just in time, and as the two were lifted from the ground on their floating platform, they observed a few things.

As the Red Lion's claws swept forward, it being a creature manifest of ki carried a killing intent that radiated past its reach, and as it swiped the ground before it was struck by its wake - quite similar to the impact of the Rose Flares, albeit without the flourish, the only tell was behind the strike itself. In an instant, the ancient manmade facades in the stonework were in an instant struck bare, as if flayed from the ground. Spiderwebbing beneath it in the foundations were the reactive crystals, capturing the light of the ki as it passed.

The second was that Willa floated at the core of the beast, and its mane wreathed her fury like a suit of armor. From eye level her position was near its heart. Distilled hatred burned in her eyes as she swung the Sword of the King again, and the beast followed.

Had the Nevadian been of fairer skin, one might have seen him go pale from the casual display of power put forth by the creature, skinning portions of the stone cavern bare with it's touch.

No. It's power was such that even the stone beyond its reach was not safe from it's wrath.

It seemed as if Willa and the creature were of one mind, her blazing hatred giving form to the creature before them. She was the heart, the lifeblood of this manifestation, her movements controlling the lion like a marionette on strings.

Looks like I might have been a tad optimistic in my estimations, Ocha.

"Well, it's clear we must separate her from that blade!" Blizzar spoke as he used his telekinesis to swiftly swing the floating platform horizontally to avoid the strike. "Easier said than done, as is the norm for any of these exploits. Before we even think about that, we'll need something to contend with that beast..." The Arcosian trailed, nodding at Held. "Just...try to preserve as much of these ruins as you can."

The Nevadian breathed a slight sigh of relief as the Acrosian maneuvered them out of the way of the blazing Lion, if only for a moment. They were of one mind on this matter, it seems.

"Yeah..." Held replied to his comrade, his keen mind analyzing the data his equally keen eyes had provided. They needed that sword to break Willa's hold on her beast, and to save Jack most importantly.

Unfortunately, Willa had made what Held found to be somewhat difficult to begin with, absolutely daunting. So immense was the creatures ki, so formidable was it's body, surrounding Willa, that it was practically a suit of armor.

To pierce it's hide deep enough to dispel the technique, or to reach Willa herself through her burning armor was not a trivial matter when faced with such a reactive foe, who seemingly melded offense and defense into one.

Even if they managed to avoid every blow from the beast, it meant nothing if they could not pierce into it's hide.

Still. It was hardly impossible. The piercing of things was something the Nevadian had a particular penchant for.

This was to say nothing of the mighty Unicorn itself.

After all, if even mighty Dragons fell beneath the point of the Horn, what hope did a Lion have to avoid such a fate?

Runic Art: Stagnation-- Inverse Runelogy

The tip of the Nevadians weapon was flicked outwards as magical power radiated as a symbol--a rune--with a hue of silver came into being at the point of the spear. His hand was extended slightly, and the rune moved towards the shoulder of Blizzar with surprising speed, attaching to him much like a brand.

The seal of immobilization was meant to restrict speed and movement, a curse robbing one of their freedom. The inverse of the spell was a blessing, allowing the Acrosian to go forth with a speed and vigor that surpassed the limits of his form as mystic energy flowed into his being.

"Hmph." Held replied at Blizzars request, slightly offended that Blizzar saw fit to say the quite part out loud. "Do I strike you as a collateral damage kind of guy? No one likes collecting broken things."

Besides, Ochazuke would probably have my head if I just ran around wantonly destroying his heritage....

With that, the Nevadian turned, wincing slightly at the injury still plaguing his leg. His attention turned on the large gold and silvers spears he had left near the opening of the cave, twelve yards or so away. The spear he had at this moment was shorter than both, unsuited not only to the type of battle Willa had forced them into, but the acts required for victory.

He bounded off the platform, jumping as far as his body would take him as he descended towards his tools, as his mind focused on it's task.

Well, at least summoning him shouldn't be a problem. This is exactly the type of battle that should get his blood pumping...

[grampagen]

As the battle raged below in the mouth of the chamber housed in Ancient Vermillion, high atop upon a platform upon the pinnacle of the chamber, Ochazuke witnessed the clash of two spirits. With a blinding speed, hands crossed, limbs clashed, and as Kenshiko pressed forward towards the masked man, and the force and energies lashing about at this range made storms seem silent and their plasma flares cold where they scraped the sky. The Techniques of Ten etched into the Tiger's Eight Limbs that cut with dedication, and with the Phoenix Fire channeled through the artifacts of the Master upon her arms and brow, the energies issued from shook the very pillars that held the space beyond Zxu'ro's Gate aloft.

Her technique was as perfect as Ochazuke had ever known it to be, and witness to an aspect of the lost Phoenix School, he saw how she graft the inherited knowledge of her martial line upon it. The Tiger's Smashing Fist ablaze with a fire that folded the ki of the enemy within itself to lengthen its fangs and seize it in its jaws. Her aura swelled with the expansive Aura of the Lion she had tamed and upon two fists at point blank range she threw them forward. Immediately an expanding sphere enveloped Kenshiko and the Masked Shadow, wild and raging as cast from the furnace of tenacious will, and as it passed him by Ochazuke struggled in his flight-deprived state to keep his grip before managing to pull himself to their level as the sound of shouts and burning echoed in the silence. The ground below the two combat swelled alight, and trailing, gleaming, into the entrenched path towards the seven seals surrounding them.

Locked in combat, it was uncanny that the only thing he heard between them was the sound of Kenshiko's laboured breathing. When the light dimmed, the Masked Man stood before her, hands aloft and held in a guard he knew all too well. The sidewinding path of the Snake had guided his hands, and the Dragon uncoiled between Kenshiko's arms as she'd loosed her technique. But here, bound by the wrists, it was by the Crane form Tensho that parted her hands and cut through her energy entirely with lethal precision. From where he stood over her now he pressing his leverage, the former Tiger Master struggled against his grip.

"Get out of my way!"

No response, no reply, not even a hint of anything in the empty eyes of the red Tengu mask. As she fought to seize some advantage in the clinch, the Shadow loosed his grip, freed his palms, and fired a Kamehameha point-blank into her torso. With a cry of anguish Kenshiko was shot backward and dragged underneath the column of energy as it shot off into the grey pseudo-skies above. Slowly she stood from the bloody trench her body had carved under its weight into the stone, her left arm flayed and singed from the shoulder to elbow as she pressed herself upward, seething at first, then collapsing to a knee with a gasp.

Ochazuke was still some distance away. Every second that passed carried with it precious blood from his arm where Excalibur had cut it, and even with the splint of Ishiki Toei slowing its flow, he hadn't much time. But witnessing this foe's sublime nature through the enhanced sense-awareness of Kyokushin Keihatsu, he noticed that from where the Shadow stood, unmoving from where he'd cast her off, it radiated a subtle power that ebbed within the rocky stage below it. Compared to his Kru, bloodied, fatigued, and drawing upon an internal strength, the Shadow could hardly be said to be a living presence at all as he understood it. Kenshiko's aura surged, and her presence flickered out, concealed beneath Tiger's Stripes. The shadow took a heavy, sinking stride forward, paired hands before him, and as the stance rooted, he knew it all too well.

Upon the web of the Spider he listened through the technique of the Bear. He drew much of his strength from the environs, for the blood loss was palpable, but as he did so, he could feel the pulse of the Leyline issuing from below. To illuminate the nature of this masked enigma Muhen Sekai Keihatsu drew upon the power of the Earth itself.

So did this phantom as it took the Crane to deathly precision, and as Ochazuke stared into the well of manifest energy that animated this Memory of the Battle God, he found something staring right back at him that was in much greater magnitude than the figure of the man before him.

Then breaking through the air, two paired crescent blades lashed out. When they struck upon the phantom's iron arms they shattered, yet within the charged fragments they bloomed with lances of energy that fell inward and pinned him in place. Kenshiko emerged, her fist wreathed in a bristling aura as she struck out her fist intent on taking the Phantom's head, a lethal play she must have put into practice countless times.

With the thinnest of movements, her strike seemed to glance off target, her aura cutting into the brow of the mask as it slid off. The Ghost of the Chamber seized upon her fist and grounded her with a single hand, threatening to crush her limb even as she strained to pull away from this compromised position. Gnashing her teeth, Kenshiko stood as firm as she could, and as the hatred flew from her lips, the more strength seemed to pour into the shadow.

"...you were here...the entire time...could have stopped this...all of this..." Though her voice was firm, tears fell from her eyes. "If this is all you really are...then end it already!"

BGM: Intertwined

The eyeless holes of the mask surveyed her impossibly as her aura raised, its free hand raising a finger to a single point, until suddenly it found it could not move, immobilized upon the Woven Path.

Flying in with a kick at full extension, Ochazuke struck the Shadow full on in its centre mass with all the speed of the Wolf and the Bear, forcing it to guard as the first impact fell; then came the second, as Zanshin Touki exploded to blast its defenses wide open for the follow-up, the paired palms of Kongosho striking its very energy like a burst of iron wind that broke its clutches, forcing it to step back. Creating some space between the two, he offered Kenshiko a hand, and stubbornly, she swat it out of the way as she stood.

"...Get the hint, Zosui. I told you to stop following me..." Kenshiko growled.

"There's nothing I can do to make up for the past. I know that well by now. If this is the price I pay, then so be it," came the reply. "Zosui is dead, but the memory of the Twin Tigers of Ori City lives on. Though, I wonder what she'd say if she found you backing down like this?"

Casting off his traveler's cloak to keep unencumbered, Ochazuke faced down the phantom. As his fighting spirit gathered, Kenshiko detected a subtle change had come over his more familiar aura, and found there the piece of herself that had been missing for more than seven years now, hidden plainly in another place she'd never find.

"She'd tell me not to wait up, she was a slacker and a drunk. Then after the first fall, she'd show herself-"

"-and tell you how got got there." The Memory of the Battle God that stood before them in an instant gathered the power of the Hidden Hand, its aura hollow and filled with the shadow of beasts far too familiar, and a hand still more familiar with wielding them in tandem.

Yet against the very incarnation of the hatred and bloodshed that had festered between the Ten Hands over ten thousand years and all the power held within them, Ochazuke chose to stand beside her.

[grampagen]

The Nevadian breathed a slight sigh of relief as the Acrosian maneuvered them out of the way of the blazing Lion, if only for a moment. They were of one mind on this matter, it seems.

"Yeah..." Held replied to his comrade, his keen mind analyzing the data his equally keen eyes had provided. They needed that sword to break Willa's hold on her beast, and to save Jack most importantly.

Unfortunately, Willa had made what Held found to be somewhat difficult to begin with, absolutely daunting. So immense was the creatures ki, so formidable was it's body, surrounding Willa, that it was practically a suit of armor.

To pierce it's hide deep enough to dispel the technique, or to reach Willa herself through her burning armor was not a trivial matter when faced with such a reactive foe, who seemingly melded offense and defense into one.

Even if they managed to avoid every blow from the beast, it meant nothing if they could not pierce into it's hide.

Still. It was hardly impossible. The piercing of things was something the Nevadian had a particular penchant for.

This was to say nothing of the mighty Unicorn itself.

After all, if even mighty Dragons fell beneath the point of the Horn, what hope did a Lion have to avoid such a fate?

Runic Art: Stagnation-- Inverse Runelogy

The tip of the Nevadians weapon was flicked outwards as magical power radiated as a symbol--a rune--with a hue of silver came into being at the point of the spear. His hand was extended slightly, and the rune moved towards the shoulder of Blizzar with surprising speed, attaching to him much like a brand.

The seal of immobilization was meant to restrict speed and movement, a curse robbing one of their freedom. The inverse of the spell was a blessing, allowing the Acrosian to go forth with a speed and vigor that surpassed the limits of his form as mystic energy flowed into his being.

"Hmph." Held replied at Blizzars request, slightly offended that Blizzar saw fit to say the quite part out loud. "Do I strike you as a collateral damage kind of guy? No one likes collecting broken things."

Besides, Ochazuke would probably have my head if I just ran around wantonly destroying his heritage....

With that, the Nevadian turned, wincing slightly at the injury still plaguing his leg. His attention turned on the large gold and silvers spears he had left near the opening of the cave, twelve yards or so away. The spear he had at this moment was shorter than both, unsuited not only to the type of battle Willa had forced them into, but the acts required for victory.

He bounded off the platform, jumping as far as his body would take him as he descended towards his tools, as his mind focused on it's task.

Well, at least summoning him shouldn't be a problem. This is exactly the type of battle that should get his blood pumping...

As soon as Held's intentions aligned towards the reclamation of his weapons, the Lion of Vermillion surrounding Willa surged its flaming body forward with a roar filled with a sound like the immolation of a blast furnace roused as it turned its attentions directly towards his course.

Its jaws opened wide, and a dozen trails of energy, each akin to the solid cascade of explosions inherent to the Rose Flares shot towards him in pursuit.

For the moment, Blizzar upon his platform seemed to have escaped the Colonel's attentions.

[MrSandman]

There it was again, a primordial beckoning issued between spaces. The ground shook, and the mountain ignited, but the cacophony that followed from beyond the edge of his mundane senses Ochazuke felt it rake against his bones; frigid, creeping it spread, like the crystalline expansion of ice drawn from water as the Wintry north suspended it crystalline. The essence of the Void a paradox as mercurial as it was filled with the rot of stagnation. The calm brought from meditation was ill sufficient to set him at ease; this was no parasympathetic reflex, the knowledge of what dwelt behind the veil, behind the First of the ancestral Guardian's house, was a twisted thing. One that he could not suffer to persist past today.

Rocketing past from the impact as his Valiatium Staff extended, Zaofan's trusty katchin staff was now wreathed in a composite of his own ki and a rudimentary form of the magic gathered from Persephone herself in a volatile mixture he kept at bay.

Just like blooming spices, he thought to himself. Steady in the realm of the familiar, what he knew, this was far more for his own comfort than anything he truly understood; in so many words this felt about as sensible as keeping one hand on a stick of dynamite as the fuse burned. He had a scant few second to do something with it.

"Zao. Charco is still in there." A familiar voice crept into his ear over the Capsule Comm.

"As long as that thing Rex has twisted himself into remains, there's a chance he can be saved," Ochazuke said. The words of that Islay creature were still fresh in his mind, and though he could only watch the boy die, if his soul could be saved, he would not fail him in this. First they all had to survive this.

Zaofan rocketed past, and Ochazuke drew once more upon the latent powers within the Earth. By the path of Wolf and Bear, his instincts had sharpened. As the brothers met in the middle, they exchanged a look, and Ochazuke lay his hand out, adding a burst of additional power to reinforce the staff, Ishiki Toei stabilizing the reaction of Pot Au Feu held fast from end to end.

The dead city of Amdapour was destroyed. Now they would bring Persephone's throne down to meet it.

With a great shout, Zaofan cradled his staff over his shoulder, and brought its myriad construct up, dragging through the sky for a moment before bringing it crashing down over the Guardian's Lookout.

Meanwhile, Ochazuke sped off. His drew a fist to his side, and with it what remaining powers he could muster. Arthur's Ring never felt so heavy than it did at this moment, but there was one more debt yet to be paid.

Closing in on the construct clone of Persephone, it would come down to seizing the moment.

Shoshin Hiei, nothing else but the moment existed in his mind; Mushin Nehan, the execution would have to be flawless.

All of his training to this point, the clarity of his sight, that would all he could rely on at this moment, as he rushed this second Persephone in all haste. A display that would, perhaps, seem as futile as it was mad.

Time slowed to a crawl as Ochazuke approached, and though weakened...He could feel the force of of her power pushing against his advance. The Queen slowly turned to face him, her confusion at the events finally giving way to a look of hatred that distorted her cold but beautiful features into something far more akin to her current station. Long had to the cold fire in her heart burned for some sort of vengeance against the one who had destroyed her kingdom....yet for the first time in ages, it had been succeeded by the hate towards another.

A ignorant, foolish, contemptible speck of man.

High above her, Zaofans swing brought her temporary clone down upon the descended mountain peak, smashing through it and then into the dark sun hovering below. The air flashed with a surge of power, and then the heavens were lit in a conflagration of energies, both destructive and otherworldly.

and as they washed down over them Persephone finished her turn and extended her palm towards ochazuke....her arm shimmering as stored power pooled and prepared to fire.

[grampagen]

Time slowed to a crawl as Ochazuke approached, and though weakened...He could feel the force of of her power pushing against his advance. The Queen slowly turned to face him, her confusion at the events finally giving way to a look of hatred that distorted her cold but beautiful features into something far more akin to her current station. Long had to the cold fire in her heart burned for some sort of vengeance against the one who had destroyed her kingdom....yet for the first time in ages, it had been succeeded by the hate towards another.

A ignorant, foolish, contemptible speck of man.

High above her, Zaofans swing brought her temporary clone down upon the descended mountain peak, smashing through it and then into the dark sun hovering below. The air flashed with a surge of power, and then the heavens were lit in a conflagration of energies, both destructive and otherworldly.

and as they washed down over them Persephone finished her turn and extended her palm towards ochazuke....her arm shimmering as stored power pooled and prepared to fire.

Swiftly as he approached, Ochazuke saw the Mad Queen raise her palm, still preparing to fight even as her kingdom fell to rubble around her. Her would be subjects rebelled, her many-angled masters silenced where they pushed through the intersection with the Void, and yet still she persisted in her attempt to right the message from her alleged higher power.

Zaofan pulled the extended staff, smashing it through the Lookout and dragging it down through the clouds, the enshrouded Bojack staff alight as the winds and snows howled, and as the misty veil above the Mountain parted, it seemed to bring with it the dawn as the sun began to rise.

Throwing his hands to the sides of his face, Ochazuke would then drive the light into her newly regained mortal eyes like a spike.

"Taiyoken!"

[MrSandman]

Swiftly as he approached, Ochazuke saw the Mad Queen raise her palm, still preparing to fight even as her kingdom fell to rubble around her. Her would be subjects rebelled, her many-angled masters silenced where they pushed through the intersection with the Void, and yet still she persisted in her attempt to right the message from her alleged higher power.

Zaofan pulled the extended staff, smashing it through the Lookout and dragging it down through the clouds, the enshrouded Bojack staff alight as the winds and snows howled, and as the misty veil above the Mountain parted, it seemed to bring with it the dawn as the sun began to rise.

Throwing his hands to the sides of his face, Ochazuke would then drive the light into her newly regained mortal eyes like a spike.

"Taiyoken!"

Unfathomably piercing light flooded her vision, but the queen did not blink. In the end, her eyes...like her body....were crafted from the magicite, a conduit for her dream bound soul. She had no fear of the light of a sunrise....

....so why did it hurt to look at?

She had barely seen the sun when she was alive...hidden from the wyrms during the day, hidden from her people after the ascension, an ageless sleep in a realm without a true sun. All that remained was the memory of a crystal clear sky, a cold but bright star shining down.

A noble knight holding aloof her creation with pride.

Caliburn did not reflect the sun, it merely absorbed the light as any tool of the void would....and yet in his hands it was like a second sun had risen. It was so bright....so bright.

Persephone mentally flinched, screamed in rage and let loose a blast of all consuming void in the direction of the flare as her unblinking eyes glowed white in reflection.

[grampagen]

Unfathomably piercing light flooded her vision, but the queen did not blink. In the end, her eyes...like her body....were crafted from the magicite, a conduit for her dream bound soul. She had no fear of the light of a sunrise....

....so why did it hurt to look at?

She had barely seen the sun when she was alive...hidden from the wyrms during the day, hidden from her people after the ascension, an ageless sleep in a realm without a true sun. All that remained was the memory of a crystal clear sky, a cold but bright star shining down.

A noble knight holding aloof her creation with pride.

Caliburn did not reflect the sun, it merely absorbed the light as any tool of the void would....and yet in his hands it was like a second sun had risen. It was so bright....so bright.

Persephone mentally flinched, screamed in rage and let loose a blast of all consuming void in the direction of the flare as her unblinking eyes glowed white in reflection.

As the rousing of magical energies and that twisted nether that cut from the void pulsed, it seemed the effect of the solar flare had some unforseen consequences. When the Queen screamed her fury as she lashed out, that was the tell that called for swift and evasive action.

It seems that has managed to capture her attention.

The Void shot forward at a wide angle; it would be difficult to avoid it at this range. Applying Zanshin Touki to his flight aura, Ochazuke violently altered his course as he forcefully slipped to the side, slipping around Persephone and her attack entirely in an attempt to steal away with the queen's familiar, Morgan.

[MrSandman]

As the rousing of magical energies and that twisted nether that cut from the void pulsed, it seemed the effect of the solar flare had some unforseen consequences. When the Queen screamed her fury as she lashed out, that was the tell that called for swift and evasive action.

It seems that has managed to capture her attention.

The Void shot forward at a wide angle; it would be difficult to avoid it at this range. Applying Zanshin Touki to his flight aura, Ochazuke violently altered his course as he forcefully slipped to the side, slipping around Persephone and her attack entirely in an attempt to steal away with the queen's familiar, Morgan.

Shooting around the distracted Queen, Ochazuke shot around her and quickly used his senses in tracking down the wayward apprentice familiar.

He had to descend closer to the gaping hole, the mountain and the lands around it collaping in to fill it void left by the destruction of the tomb, but soon he could spot the mage laying upon the ground....weakened but still alive. She had been caught in the destructive aftermath of the blast and seemed to only just be recovering....though the ground where she was laying was dangerously close to caving downwards into the abyss.

Nearby...he could see another form resting upon the ground. That of Erosa, who seemed to had taken a massive beaten......in addition to her ki...magic....whatever sustaining her colored slightly off from normal.

[grampagen]

Shooting around the distracted Queen, Ochazuke shot around her and quickly used his senses in tracking down the wayward apprentice familiar.

He had to descend closer to the gaping hole, the mountain and the lands around it collaping in to fill it void left by the destruction of the tomb, but soon he could spot the mage laying upon the ground....weakened but still alive. She had been caught in the destructive aftermath of the blast and seemed to only just be recovering....though the ground where she was laying was dangerously close to caving downwards into the abyss.

Nearby...he could see another form resting upon the ground. That of Erosa, who seemed to had taken a massive beaten......in addition to her ki...magic....whatever sustaining her colored slightly off from normal.

Landing nearby, with a swift application ofIshiki Toei he reinforced the ground, using his ki to rebuild the solidity of the ground for a time as he moved to Morgan and Erosa. Hoisting the former up first, he then moved over to the Id.

"Time to leave."

[KingofPie]

The Nevadian breathed a slight sigh of relief as the Acrosian maneuvered them out of the way of the blazing Lion, if only for a moment. They were of one mind on this matter, it seems.

"Yeah..." Held replied to his comrade, his keen mind analyzing the data his equally keen eyes had provided. They needed that sword to break Willa's hold on her beast, and to save Jack most importantly.

Unfortunately, Willa had made what Held found to be somewhat difficult to begin with, absolutely daunting. So immense was the creatures ki, so formidable was it's body, surrounding Willa, that it was practically a suit of armor.

To pierce it's hide deep enough to dispel the technique, or to reach Willa herself through her burning armor was not a trivial matter when faced with such a reactive foe, who seemingly melded offense and defense into one.

Even if they managed to avoid every blow from the beast, it meant nothing if they could not pierce into it's hide.

Still. It was hardly impossible. The piercing of things was something the Nevadian had a particular penchant for.

This was to say nothing of the mighty Unicorn itself.

After all, if even mighty Dragons fell beneath the point of the Horn, what hope did a Lion have to avoid such a fate?

Runic Art: Stagnation-- Inverse Runelogy

The tip of the Nevadians weapon was flicked outwards as magical power radiated as a symbol--a rune--with a hue of silver came into being at the point of the spear. His hand was extended slightly, and the rune moved towards the shoulder of Blizzar with surprising speed, attaching to him much like a brand.

The seal of immobilization was meant to restrict speed and movement, a curse robbing one of their freedom. The inverse of the spell was a blessing, allowing the Acrosian to go forth with a speed and vigor that surpassed the limits of his form as mystic energy flowed into his being.

"Hmph." Held replied at Blizzars request, slightly offended that Blizzar saw fit to say the quite part out loud. "Do I strike you as a collateral damage kind of guy? No one likes collecting broken things."

Besides, Ochazuke would probably have my head if I just ran around wantonly destroying his heritage....

"Hmph, like entering a rejuvenation chamber, almost," Blizzar concluded, wanting to shadowbox a bit to feel out if the strain and pain now were as far gone from his body as they felt before he apologized. "You must forgive me, old friend. Adventures with the M-Fighters tend to always get a tad, chaotic, after all. One tends to have certain expectations."

With that, the Nevadian turned, wincing slightly at the injury still plaguing his leg. His attention turned on the large gold and silvers spears he had left near the opening of the cave, twelve yards or so away. The spear he had at this moment was shorter than both, unsuited not only to the type of battle Willa had forced them into, but the acts required for victory.

He bounded off the platform, jumping as far as his body would take him as he descended towards his tools, as his mind focused on it's task.

Well, at least summoning him shouldn't be a problem. This is exactly the type of battle that should get his blood pumping...

As soon as Held's intentions aligned towards the reclamation of his weapons, the Lion of Vermillion surrounding Willa surged its flaming body forward with a roar filled with a sound like the immolation of a blast furnace roused as it turned its attentions directly towards his course.

Its jaws opened wide, and a dozen trails of energy, each akin to the solid cascade of explosions inherent to the Rose Flares shot towards him in pursuit.

For the moment, Blizzar upon his platform seemed to have escaped the Colonel's attentions.

With Held hopping off the platform, Blizzar did the same but in the opposite direction, kicking off the platform by compressing his leg muscles and leaping high above Willa and her Lion of Vermillion. He slowly raised his ki in middair, focusing and allocating all his energy to his right arm whilst mentally focusing on Willa with his telekinesis. Then, raising his right arm into the air, he activated his, "Doom Buster!" attempting to yank the Red Raider captain upward towards him in the midst of her own assault, in order to leave her open for Held's attack.

[grampagen]

"Hmph, like entering a rejuvenation chamber, almost," Blizzar concluded, wanting to shadowbox a bit to feel out if the strain and pain now were as far gone from his body as they felt before he apologized. "You must forgive me, old friend. Adventures with the M-Fighters tend to always get a tad, chaotic, after all. One tends to have certain expectations."


With Held hopping off the platform, Blizzar did the same but in the opposite direction, kicking off the platform by compressing his leg muscles and leaping high above Willa and her Lion of Vermillion. He slowly raised his ki in middair, focusing and allocating all his energy to his right arm whilst mentally focusing on Willa with his telekinesis. Then, raising his right arm into the air, he activated his, "Doom Buster!" attempting to yank the Red Raider captain upward towards him in the midst of her own assault, in order to leave her open for Held's attack.

With the increased momentum from the fall, combined with the concentrated surface area of his attack, with the renewed energy bestowed to him by the runic spell Blizzar's punch falls between the shoulders of the Vermilliion Lion. Augmented by both the ki and telekinesis, Blizzar would find his right arm was, effectively, insulated for a time.

As his fist fell, he managed to blast a hole through the aura, and Willa began to move where she hovered within its frame.

Where she was suspended there her attention turned to Blizzar, and her Lion's movements were suddenly stilled in the motions of its last attack.

"Do you think I'll hand over the Earth to you?" The Colonel spat as Blizzar pulled her upward, Excalibur gleaming at her side. "By Arthur's blood, it shall never fall under alien hands, never again! Prepare to die!"

There was a struggle at first, for she was contending against his telekinesis, but as Blizzar descended, she drew the sword up for a slash from below.

[grampagen]

BGM -Guardians/Rising from Ruins

Blood furnished the ancient pinnacle atop the chamber, and as the energy rose through the quarry-veins, they shone a light that led to nowhere. Under this long, empty sky, the fearsome shadow stalked the apex of the temple.

Ochazuke's breaths were ragged. He pushed himself upon quaking hands, his right hand slick and red with that unhealing wound nearly causing him to slip as he lift himself from the stony trench, and his knees shook as he pressed his feet to the floor. The stance was firm, he had stood upon it countless times, and yet a vibratto of ki shocked through the bloody palmprint impressed in his side as the ki attacked from within like a poison.

That was an old Snake technique, as it was written. He'd indexed the knowledge from his all-too brief sessions with the Majin that he'd been unprepared to take the strike from a more fundamental angle. Careless. Were it not for the training of his internal defenses, it would have been lethal; as of now it still left him racked in burning pain. Fire combatted fire as Karura no Kaen gradually burned the venom out, and with it a portion of the fog in his vision as he rushed back in with lethal abandon behind the Tiger Master.

The strength embued in the Master's Bracers and Circlet had sustained Kenshiko for a time as the Shadow of the War God struck out, but as the enhanced power and speed she had brought to bear loosed itself, without the knowledge of Mara the Wolf or the Bear Clan the light within them had gradually begun to face with each clash. Slowly, the volume of energies she could expend lost their lustre, the rapid shift of Toshin no Omkage's techniques from the Kamehameha itself to her own Eight Limbs of the Tiger School ;ole an impenatrable mirror. Yet stubbornly she refused to yield to this dark reflection of Zxu'ro, for the technique inherited from the Tiger King, Bya Kau was a hard style, valuing persistence and efficiency in equal measure to strength, and the difference between pretenders of the arts and a true master was the ability to seize the moment when it came.

The Shadow of the Battle God, however, was wise to this, for from Ten Hands in an instant rose the Bodhisattva's Ten Thousand, burning ki casting limbs in the gold of the lost age; closed fists, open palms, long fingers, or claw and fang, for every possible angle it shot forward with such blistering speed, the escalation would counter anything she could throw at it.

Kenshiko's eyes narrowed, but did not blink even when facing this wall of death. The last of the ki Ochazuke had gathered to the artifacts she moved to her legs, and shifting her stance, if this was her last move it started purely from instinct, and her jaded eyes began to glow with a faint green.

Ten Thousand. Ten. Five. from the frame of a man, it started with two. It started with the first punch that flew noiselessly, faster than the air that would shatter, and between blows she met it with a sway. The ki burned her face from the riptide behind the punch, pain shot through her eye as it welled **** in an instant as she endured.

Enhanced with the slashing aura of her house, the Sergeant of the Red Raiders struck cleanly, countering the blitz with The Lion's Roar alit upon a precise teep push-kick. Sent sideways against nearest target, it flew swiftly to counter the next thousand punches, yet all for naught as it landed in the Toshin Spectre waiting hand, one thousant steps ahead and prepared for this entrapment.

Bait.

The Phoenix Fire lit up a smashing overhand left aimed to return to the favour to his long, red mask; the first success as it was forced to guard, and Ochazuke found his opening. The red ray of a Dodonpa carried the Dragon's Fire and struck the War God straight on, joining the Hidden Hand of the Phoenix in bathing this illuminate pinnacle with accumilated hellfire. Though the War God threw up its guard, and it may as well have drawn armour shut against fluid attack, for the ki it had brought to bear was fuel for the consuming flame that enveloped and encircled their foe. Drawn from its aura as it simultaneously consumed it, fire was paid back with fire, and the spectre was for the first time given complete pause.

Kenshiko fell into the stance, roused the last of the ki embued into the artifacts ensnaring her arms and brow. Seeing her there, Ochazuke felt something within as she started the sequence. It was something familiar, nostalgic, resolved to clarity as if a dormant memory had suddenly recrystallized with complete fidelity.

What is this...? I've never seen it before

Yet somehow he knew it as if it was my own. It the same to his eyes as it had been in times long ago, and he'd known it whenever he'd pushed forward, spurned on by a sentiment he'd left behind and only rediscovered. Before the death of Charco, the pain of Totoma, even the common ground he had with Zaofan, it came back to this.

It all began with a reverse thrusting elbow. Like a spear it came crashing through the narrow gap in its guard, the Lion's Mane subsumed by the Tiger's Fangs and it struck clean, and something set deep within him moved on its own accord. His heart leapt.

There you are....

The pain could not be denied, and yet despite the bloodshed and fresh wounds, from the well of life-energy within there Ochazuke somehow tapped into an unknown source of power. Set astride the field of his fighting mediation, he recognized the source of the fiend's power around him. It had taken some time, but as the Genki drawn from this place gathered to him, it had animated something he'd thought he'd left buried long ago. Spurred to action, he felt the guiding hand of a teacher.

Ajarn Kaibyo...you see us, don't you?

That day when he lay dying, he fought in vain to stem the bleeding from his heart, holding the elder of the Tiger Twins close as she died in his arms. Imbued in that last spark of kikojutsu, her last will, her very soul impressed into him to carry on their dream to discover the original art and end the feud.

Hard intertwined with Soft. The Material the vessel for the immaterial. The spirit within guidance for the intention. Ten thousand years and ten million expressions protruding from that distal origin suddenly became meaningless to this fight, but for the memory set deep into the scarred platform here at the pinnacle, and as Ochazuke stood beside Kenshiko, the student fell in lock step beside his master, and as he rediscovered the soul he carried within into his second chance at life, so did Kenshiko finally put her trust in her last student, and guided by the memory of her departed twin they unleashed hell.

The Orthodox Tiger Strikes cut through the ancient patterns of the rival clans, for she had read them before, and began to rend them from the phantom's being. Each strike Kenshiko landed off of a hard read led to a cross counter, every bit of damage she sustained in the exchange, she now shaved off a piece of Toshin no Omokage's power, and with each created opening, Ochazuke, witness to the fundamental patterns of the techniques that yet eluded him, seized upon and absorbed it. Rather swiftly he gained the strength to keep up, even as she slowed, she found the openings to push him forward. A small smile filled her bruised visage, for she recognized the steps, so much like her own; so much like the Shadow's. And by the same techniques of the Genki Dama, Ochazuke had absorbed the energy from their environs, the Leylines of Old Vermillion, into himself. Drawn straight from their opponent, the Shadow amplified itself with the Bear's strength, and the Crane Apostate did the same.

"So this is what you wanted..."

It was all so tiresome, so futile. In the end, he realized, they were fighting a subliminal impression.

A ghost.

The wound he received from Excalibur had run out of blood to bleed, and so he knew this was the limit. Ochazuke stopped and folded his weary arms before him. Toushin no Omoikage threw its fist forward and Kenshiko was helpless to do anything but watch.

When the intersection of the souls collided, a great impact shuddered down the entirety of this realm set apart that it reached as far as the the Lion of Vermillion there in the arena of Old Avalon, shaking the walls about Blizzar, Held, and their foe the Colonel even from this distance...