398 replies to this topic

[Steel Samurai]

If Steel's sword had had a brain and eyes, Shadow's maneuvering might have confused it. Unfortunately for him, it didn't. Steel raised his left hand to his face, two fingers pointing at the sky. He closed his eyes . . .
"Shunpo."
And disappeared. A split second later he appeared behind Shadow, his Odachi seeking the blood of Shadow's right shoulder.

[JRPomazon]

As the ball of dark magic came blasting toward Jordan, Crowe smiled assuming that the attack would make contact. History seldom repeats itself however. Jordan leaped into the air over the attack and launched his spear at Crowe. Crowe noticed the attack coming and leaped to the side, the spear piercing the ground that he once stood on as the dark magic blast exploded in the other side of the room. Jordan recalled his spear as he landed back on the ground and held it in midair by his side rather than take it with his hand. Crowe's hands glowed red, annocing a fire-based attack. Sure enough, a large fire ball shot forth at Jordan, destroying some of the pews that had been in the way of the attack. Jordan swung the spear that had remained in his hand and dispelled the flames into the air.

The attack ultimately was a diversion, seeing as Crowe had vanished and reappeared behind Jordan, his hands glowing golden yellow. A large pillar of earth emerged from the grey stone floor and knocked Jordan into the air. Jordan quickly gained control and balanced himself in midair before landing on the ground. However, another stone pillar burst from the ground he was about to land on, making his landing more of an impact with a wall. Jordan fell to the ground, crash landing face first onto the stone floor. Only a few seconds into the fight and Jordan's body was feeling sore.

Jordan quickly got to his feet and leaped into the air. He lunged down with his spears at full speed, hoping to make contact with Crowe. Jordan's spears pierced Crowe, through his heart and gut. However, no blood was shed from his pierced body and his face remained calm. Crowe's body suddenly burst into dozens of leaves, scattering themselves in all directions? A replacement technique? Jordan turned around to see Crowe casting his next attack. Several hundred white magic needles came rushing at Jordan, who only had a split second to think about what he was going to to do to avoid them. Jordan did the only thing he could think to do, he ducked. Sure enough, all of the spread rushed over his head. It was perhaps the greatest moment of luck Jordan had ever experienced in live combat.

Jordan got to his feet and rushed at Crowe again, lunging his spear at the gray clothed monster. Crowe sidestepped the attack, then countered with a roundhouse kick to the head. Jordan didn't expect Crowe to use a physical attack on him, his body swayed from the hit. Jordan recovered and regained his balance, his cheek was red from the impact of Crowe's foot. It was a good thing Crowe didn't wear steel boots. Jordan noticed that one of Crowe's eyes where red, an unusual color seeing as the other had remained ice blue. Jordan knew this change would mean something important, but couldn't quite figure out what.

Edited by JRPomazon, 13 December 2007 - 04:01 PM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow grimaced in pain as his shoulder stung; where did Steel get that speed from!? He wasn't this fast before, and there's no way in hell he could've gotten that much speed through training so soon.

Then it hit him. The eyes, working for Crowe, this extra strength... Crowe had formed a pact with Steel. This explained everything.

Shadow took a look at his sword, which was stained with only a few specks of blood. He'd aimed for Steel's side, but guessed that he grazed his arm out of sheer luck due to his newfound speed. He got a better result out of that than Shadow did. "Well, I guess this makes things more interesting..." Shadow snickered; if Shadow was going to serve as entertainment for Crowe, he might as well have some fun doing so.

Shadow changed his tactics, simple close-range combat wouldn't be enough for a stronger foe; his best tactic was to stick to ranged attacks for now and wait for an opening. Ignoring the wound on his shoulder, he took the Fire Rod into his right arm and blew fireballs at Steel.

Shadow pondered something while he attacked; if the eyes were Crowe's part of the pact, then what would happen if Shadow got rid of them? Would the pact be broken? He doubted that he could defeat Steel with his extra power, so he'd have to act on this hunch and hope for the best. He'd have to wait to get a clean shot at Steel's eyes.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 13 December 2007 - 04:52 PM.

[JRPomazon]

Crowe had taken the opportunity to beat down Jordan with a series of kicks and punches. Exploiting the weakness of using spears as weapons, close quarters combat cornered Jordan. Unable to block, he had to grin and bear the flurry of strikes. Jordan leaped back from Crowe and released his spears into the air. As they hovered at his sides, Jordan began moving them in a circular motion using the wind. As he moved his hands in a circle, his spears followed suit. Crowe noticed the motion of his weapons and decided to move in before he could cast a powerful attack.

Jordan leaped back once again, evading Crowe's attack. At this time, the spears didn't require Jordan to move his hands to spin. Jordan decided to rush to the offensive, his two spears spinning like windmill blades at his sides. As he made a slashing motion with his arm, the corresponding spear would follow the movements. In short, he had turned his two spears into floating spinning blades. Jordan began his strike, slashing at his opponent furiously. Crowe meet each attack with an act of evasion, jumping and ducking at every split second. Slash, evade, slash, evade, the battle continued like this for a time. Eventually, Crowe slipped up and received Jordan's spear slash across his upper chest. Crowe backed away and checked himself. His robe was cut, his chest feeling a sharp sting.

Crowe winched in pain, his smile left his face. Crowe's hands glowed blue, preparing to change his strategy. He raised his arms at Jordan, creating a torrential rush of water from his hands. The ability to create such immense quantities of water in such a short period of time was something to be admired, if only the attack weren't focused on Jordan. The water got Jordan at full force, pushing him back to the wall at the far end of the room. As the water receded from Jordan's body, he had noticed that he lost his spears while he was washed away.

They were in the middle of the room, cast in different directions. Crowe's hand glowed blue once again, only this time it wasn't water magic. He slammed his hands into the ground as a shock wave of icicles sprouted from the remains of the water that was on the floor. This was far from good. Jordan got to his feat and avoided the blast of ice that came bursting from every damp part of the floor. As he ran, he noticed his body was becoming heavier. Next thing he knew, his lower body was covered in ice. Unable to move, Jordan struggled to free himself. Crowe walked slowly towards Jordan, conjuring a sword out of white magic.

[Steel Samurai]

Steel narrowly dodged the ball of fire aimed at his chest, his arm getting slightly singed in the process. He only had enough energy for another 7 flash steps, assuming he controlled the release precisely. It had been years since he had used the technique, and though he had accomplished the first step with relative ease, he would need to concentrate to perform the rest with similar precision. The fireball was extinguished as it hit the pillar behind Steel, leaving a blackened circle on the site of its impact. Apparently Shadow was going to try to keep him at bay so he couldn't attack with his sword. A good plan. Too bad the fireball was much to slow to accomplish his goal. Steel bent down, ostentatiously to adjust his metal gauntlet, displaced by Shadow's attack, which had resulted in a scratch on his upper arm. He looked down at his arm for a split second. If Shadow had any kind've combat reflexes he'd take the shot without thinking. Without waiting to see whether his opponent did, in fact, have any reflexes, Steel disappeared again. His sword arced with lightning speed towards Shadow's right arm with just enough power to sever the muscle should it hit.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow looked closely at Steel as he readied his next attack; it looked like he was charging up for another "Shunpo" or whatever he called it. He'd almost lost his arm the last time Steel tried this, and he was determined not to let that happen again. When Steel looked ready to do the attack, Shadow used his magic boots at the last moment and rocketed into the air, making sure to drop a bomb below him, which almost immediately vanished as Steel raced along the ground where it was. He assumed Steel kicked it away inadvertently. He didn't completely avoid the samurai's attack, however -- it grazed his right leg -- but it was a better result than last time. He'd have to come up with a better countermeasure for that attack should Steel try it again.

He didn't quite have time to think of one, though. Even though he needed maximum output from his boots to get away, he forgot that he was inside. He barely had time to raise his hands in defense before he got slammed into the stone ceiling. Again, it turned out better than it could have, his fingers had scrapes instead of his palms, which would've made it a bit annoying to hold his weapons; would've been far worse if he didn't raise his hands at all. Rather than just stay there and be a target for another Shunpo, he used what upward momentum he had left and planted his feet on the ceiling, then rocketed down to an area of ground that Steel wasn't near. This gave him enough time to think of a counterattack incase another Shunpo came his way, and he got himself ready; since he was in mid-air, another one was sure to come real soon. To give himself more time to prepare, he put his Fire Rod away and threw another bomb

Edited by Shadow_Link, 13 December 2007 - 10:20 PM.

[JRPomazon]

Crowe walked with his newly conjured weapon towards Jordan. Even with the advantage, he bore no smile. His sword glowed a faint white color, clearly a weapon with holy properties by just looking at it. Jordan continued to struggle, even though he knew it was futile. What else could he do? Wait, there was something he could do.

"I've waited long enough to kill you." Crowe said as he crept closer.

"All the centuries of being trapped inside this wretched form have almost drove me mad. Now. . . now I can finally discard the past and take the future for myself!"

Crowe's eyes were wide open, the anticipation for his blood lust was horrifying and practically emanated off of him.

"What would you do with the future?" Jordan asked, his fighting will yet to be extinguished.

"Anything I want." Crowe replied, raising the sword for a clean cut. He was planning to sever Jordan's head.

Would this be the end? To come all this way only to die now? But, why was he here, this Jordan of the Whirlwind Spear? He came seeking battle against a being that took the lives of others. Was it for justice? For revenge for what he did to Gwen? For his own ego? No, it wasn't really for any of these things. As Jordan searched his soul for anwsers, he discovered something rather shocking.

"Have I . . . forgotten what I've been fighting for?" He muttered to himself.

Crowe overheard these faint words and held his sword back. If his enemy was to suffer from inner torment before death, it would be quite amusing.

[SL the Pyro]

(Just an OOC note, I'm going to be gone for the weekend starting at 2:00 PM my time tonight.)

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken had run for a long time, barely avoided the strikes and fires of the dragon's attacks. He even tried a few swings with his sword, but the scales deflected it like it was nothing.

"I can't win..."

Ken cried out in pain as the dragon's claws nicked him - which translated to Ken's smaller size as gashes in his arm.

"I can't win..." Ken repeated to himself.

He laid at the base of a pillar, staring up at the dragon. It held a terrifying gaze.

"There's nothing left to fight for... It's pointless..."

Ken covered his eyes and waited for the end.

<"Do you really believe that?">

Ken dared to look up. Time had frozen place. And, sitting before Ken, was a wolf with fur that gleamed the color of silver.

<"Someone else nearby is asking similar questions.">

Ken wanted to speak, to ask questions, but his body refused to obey.

<"You never lost your reason to be, your reason to live. You just forgot it.">

There was silence.

<"Young one, you are verging adulthood. I can help you no more. The path laid before you is one which only you can go down. Remember your reason to be, Ken Miyamasa the Platinum Wolf.">

And just like that, the silver wolf disapeared. Time resumed it course. Ken looked up at the dragon.

"My reason to be...?"

What was left? Then it hit him.

"My memories, I can still chase after my memories!"

[JRPomazon]

The ice Crowe had cast begun to spread all over Jordan's body. Almost 75% of him was covered, the cold chill emanating throughout his body. Crowe's smile began to return to his face, feeling as though victory was a certainty.

"Damn. . . I never would of thought I'd be frozen to death. I suppose. . . this is a first." He said jokingly.

The ice ceased to grow, possibly at Crowe's command.

"I wasn't aware that you fought for something. I thought you just enjoyed battles." Crowe commented.

"To be honest Crowe, You took the fun out of it for me, with the constant attempts on my life and what not."

Jordan let his head drop, tired from the strain of the ice.

"There was a time where I thought I was the best, an defeated warrior who could conquer any opponent. Then an old man came by and showed me how wrong I was. Next thing you know, he spares my life and I become his apprentice. As his student, I became attached to this old man, perhaps he became something like a second father to me. He later passed away but told me I've got a great burden to carry for the sake of someone I've never meet. He saw something I didn't and it bothers me to no end."

Crowe chuckled.

"So, to search for the meaning of those words, you became the companion of Ken and Shadow, perhaps believing that helping their goals would in turn serve your own. How very self-centered."

"Hey, we all have needs." Jordan remarked.

"I've been fighting for someone else this entire time, that's the cold hard truth. I'm not sure how long I've been like this, perhaps my entire life has been for this."

Jordan closed his eyes, no longer struggling to free himself.

"So here I am, frozen and unarmed. I couldn't help my companions and I couldn't help my master's daughter, not to mention that I pretty much screwed off my calling in life. It all seems fitting somehow."

"Quite." Crowe complemented.

Crowe took his sword and jabbed it through Jordan's chest. Jordan gagged, blood beginning to flow from his mouth an wound. His eyes wide with pain, an expression of untold agony covered Jordan's face. Crowe watched every last moment with delight, knowing that once Jordan drew his last breath, his suffering would end.

"Damn it. . . my throat is closing in on me. . . I can't even breathe. Am I. . . am I dying? Damn it, I'm dying. . ." he thought as his body ached with pain.

The sword was taken out of his body and dissipated into the air.

"I don't want to die. . . at least not like this. . ."

Edited by JRPomazon, 17 December 2007 - 12:24 AM.

[Steel Samurai]

Steel closed his eyes momentarily to sense how the battles were going. Damn. Things were getting dangerous out there. Time to finish things up here. Steel opened his eyes only to be caught in the explosion of the bomb SL had thrown seconds earlier. He crossed his arms in front of his face as the shockwave blew him backwards. His body instinctively twisted and turned so he landed, catlike, on both feet, skidding for several meters. From within the smoke in front of him a fireball suddenly issued, catching him off guard as it slammed into his chest and blossomed into a red flower, flames licking his body. The water emblem, given to all high ranking Fortress officers, hanging from his belt protected his somewhat from the heat, but when the smoke cleared his leather clothes were tattered and a long, ugly burn seared his chest. Steel tried to move, but winced from the pain. He focused, and felt the dull throbbing gradually fade. He was aware of the pain, but only in the sense that he knew it was there. He looked up at Shadow Link.

"I'd love to stay and play a bit longer, but I'm afraid it's time for me to leave, and in order to do that, I'm going to have to take care of you. Don't worry. This won't kill you. It won't even hurt in a few years . . . much."
Steel sheathed his Odachi, and drew the blade by his side. The Dualist Blade.
"She hasn't seen any action or tasted blood for the last hundred years. Time to give her a little air."
Steel tightened his grip on the blade and closed his eyes. He concentrated, building his anger. He had found it rather difficult to achieve, this part of the first release. Summoning anger was not extraordinarily difficult, but righteous anger was another thing entirely. It took him approximately half a second more to achieve this state of the first release than the other. He thought of Katara's death, Laz's cruel injustice, and the heinous crimes committed by Khuffie. Winning this fight could help him right those wrongs . . . somehow. Steel didn't pause to think about it, the key to achieving this state was to let one's emotions think. Think about a battle too much, and you might be convinced that you were in the wrong . . . or the right, and, depending upon the situation, each could be equally dangerous. The anger rose in his mind, clouding his thought, and suddenly Steel's eyes snapped open. Two blue, pupilless orbs stared down the length of the Dualist Blade at Shadow Link. The blade itself emitted a faint blue radiance, the color of the strongest Light Magic. Faster than eye could see, Steel ran towards the boy, his blade clutched in both hands at his side, the tip pointing towards the ground. As he reached the boy he brought it up in a powerful rising strike, the line of attack, if it hit, would put a slice in the boy's stomach and graze his ribs, then cut the two tendons connecting his right arm and chest. Painful, certainly, but not fatal or even debilitating, assuming the boy was healed soon.
The blade rose, small particles of light seeming to fall from the blade like water droplets. Steel stopped, his back to Shadow, the dualist blade extended in front of him. An arc of faint blue light was rapidly dissipating behind him. He mechanically swung the blade downwards, flinging any blood that might be on it to the ground, and then turned. Had he made contact?

Edited by Steel Samurai, 18 December 2007 - 12:06 AM.

[SL the Pyro]

Shadow could also feel it; the energies of his friends were waning, while that of the enemies were not. Not good. He twitched as he felt the light magic building in Steel's new sword; he didn't know that the samurai possessed magic power, let alone a light variant. Steel too had obviously sensed the danger they were in, and had the intention of ending this fast. REALLY not good. This altered Shadow's original plan, which was landing on the sword and giving Steel a swift kick in the eye socket through his mask; though Shadow had a better tolerance for light than Z, he still wouldn't be able to stand on the sword if it was charged with light.

So Shadow switched his plan; try to get an attack at Steel's face, and at the same time putting as much distance between them as possible. Two things made this complicated. First, any attack other than a boot would kill him if directed at his eye, due to the velocity of the Shunpo he was sure Steel was planning to use. 2nd, he was more then definately going to take some damage from this. As they say, though: no pain, no gain.

And so Shadow tried his move. The moment Steel looked ready to do his little speed-up trick, Shadow hopped off to the side a bit with a boot ready to connect where Steel's face was going to pass; no need to use the magic in his boots, due to how fast Steel would be going. All he could do was aim for the mask; he knew where the head was going to be, but not the eyes; this would be up to sheer luck if he hit one or not.

As Steel passed by, he felt his light-charged sword slash across is leg; THAT hurt like hell. His leg wasn't cut off considering he landed fine on it, but it was in agonizing pain and now paralyzed for a moment. He was just glad he'd moved, or that would've been right in the gut. It happened so fast, he had no idea if his boot nailed Steel's eye OR the mask. Shadow limped to turn around, seeing Steel do the same. The mask would be cracked up all to hell if he'd hit, but did he do it in the right place, or at all?

If he did, he only hoped his theory about those eyes being the product of Crowe's pact were true; it could buy Jordan some time to get out of the mess he was in, since Crowe would have quite the dizzy spell.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 18 December 2007 - 01:36 PM.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

"I'll find a way..."

Ken's injured arm barely gripped his his sword, the other arm trying to cradle it. He looked up at the monster that was the prison of his mother's soul. His eyes locked with that of the dragon's. He was afraid, but he would not let it show.

"Come on. What are you waiting for?"

The dragon snorted, and lifted another of it's heavy claws to strike. Ken gripped his sword with both hands.

"Ken . . . Please . . . Run . . .!"

The claws came in a heavy sideways swipe, crashing through the pillar. Ken ducked, but he was still struck by a portion of the dragon's mass. He was tossed over a few meters, leaving his body in an even worse condition. He barely held onto his sword, but he held on nonetheless.

The dragon had made a serious mistake though. Large amounts of ceiling began to fall, crashing against it's scaly hide. It roared in pain as the heavy masonry crashed down, striking it's body all over. Ken could only stare in amazement as the dragon struggled to shake the heavy masonry off. It could barely move.

"Ken . . . Here . . . Now . . . Please . . . Strike . . ."

A symbol began to glow on the dragon's forehead.

"What?" Ken wondered.

He recognized the symbol, looking down to his sword. The symbol was the same as the one on his blade.

"But, mother..."

"Please . . . Do not let me . . . be a monster . . ."

"I can save you!"

"Do not risk death for my sake . . . Please . . . . . . My son . . . Free me . . . Show me your power . . . And cut the chains that bind . . ."

Ken struggled in his internal thoughts for what seemed an eternity.

"Now . . .! My soul . . . it is not worth saving . . ."

The dragon was now putting more effort into freeing itself. Ken looked up.

"... If that is what I have to do!"

Ken picked up the sword, feeling heavier than ever. He ran as fast as his body could, trying to scale the dragon's large body while it was still down. It tried several times to shake him off, but managed a grip on its scales.

Ken finally climbed over some rubble that trapped the dragon's neck. The symbol glowed brightly.

"Your power . . . Use it . . . Free me from this bond . . .!"

"My power..."

Ken then felt that familiar resurgence of memory, like when he remembered how to turn into a wolf.

"My soul, that is my power!"

Ken's sword began to glow, shedding a pale blue light. Soon, body and weapon shared the same soul. Ken lifted the heavy sword, blade pointing down, and then drove it into the dragon's head.

The blade met heavy resistant from almost nigh-impenetrable scales. Slowly however, the blade began to drift into the monster's head. It roared in pain, thrashing about. Despite all that, it refused to die. Ken held on steadfast, keeping a death grip on the blade as he poured his soul into its metal.

[JRPomazon]

Crowe clenched his chest in pain, but his actions were not from Jordan's previous attack.

"Arcus. . . Damn, the dragon has fallen. I never thought that youth would have the strength to topple one of the most powerful beasts in creation. But how. . ."

Then everything seemed to come together.

"His mother. . . Ken's soul and her soul must of had some link between them. If I had known that I would have never used that soul for the dragon. I never imagined that one soul could prove to be such a obstacle."

Crowe turned around at Jordan, who continued to bleed heavily as he remained bound by the ice.

"Now that I think about it, maybe I did." He said as a smile came back to his face.

Crowe concentrated his thoughts to Steel as he telepathically communicated to him.

"Steel, retreat from your fight and report back to the sanctuary. It doesn't matter if Shadow is alive or not, I've already killed Jordan. Why don't you tell him that before you go."

"Way to go Ken. . . I shouldn't have doubted you. . ." Jordan thought to himself.

The light in Jordan's eyes had all but faded. He coughed up a large amount of blood, his head jerking back. Jordan slowly closed his eyes and went limp. However, on his face he had a smile. Jordan of the Whirlwind Spear. . . was dead.

Edited by JRPomazon, 19 December 2007 - 06:33 PM.

[Steel Samurai]

OOC: Steel's mask is actually a cloth one, covering only the lower part of his face.

Steel sheathed the Dualist blade and turned, his back to Shadow. He touched his hand to his face and looked at it. Blood coated his fingers. The cut, caused by the hobnails on Shadow's boot, ran along the bottom of his eyesocket. Half an inch higher and his eye would've been gone permanently.
"I am told that when light magic is strong enough to take physical form, as it has here, it acts like a purge on those closely attuned to dark magic. The more serious the wound, the less time it takes, spreading through the bloodstream, eventually completely purging the body of dark magic, unless stopped by a simple compress of clover placed over the heart. With a wound as relatively slight as yours, it will take days to finish, but it will be painful. Very painful. I would advise you to treat it immediately." He stopped, a voice sounding in his head. "It seems your friend is dead. You might have been better served to attack me all at once after all."
Steel walked off, heading towards the inner sanctuary.

[SL the Pyro]

(...NOW you tell me! I thought it was a simple face-mask. Gah.

...Also, I'm wearing boots. And I don't have long toenails... >_> If you're operating under the impression that I'm a demon, please stop.)

----------

Shadow collapsed to one knee, the numbness on his leg setting in. He knew what Steel said was probably true, as he could feel that Jordan's life energy was faint. Very faint. With a wounded leg, Jordan would be totally dead by the time Shadow got there.

If Steel was going to go after Crowe, he'd better get his butt in gear.

Although Shadow couldn't really trust Steel right now, since he was working with the enemy and not to mention as much of a pain in his side as ever, so he'd have to do something. First, he'd need to get rid of the numbness for now, preferably before the pain Steel mentioned set in. He pulled out one of his last potions he'd bought from the town, an anti-paralysis potion -- his last one. He downed it without hesitation, and with in a minute the numbness was gone. This wasn't permanent, so he'd have to get his butt in gear, too.

And so he did, using his magic boots to search the pathways of this place. After what seemed like 10 dead ends, he encountered a massive red dragon. Out of reflex he drew his sword, only to realize that the dragon was already dead; the gash on its head was proof. He also say Ken sitting nearby, battered and bruised. He'd had one hell of a battle, it seemed.

Shadow walked over to Ken, pulling out another potion; this was for healing wounds, and his second-last one. He planned to save his last one for Jordan, in the off chance that he was still alive when he got there. "Drink this, Ken, It'll heal your wounds."

[Steel Samurai]

OOC: Hobnails SL, Hobnails. Not toenails. http://en.wikipedia....nail_(footwear) Be grateful I even gave your boots them, boots with hobnails automatically are 50% more awesome. Sheesh.

Steel stepped into the inner sanctuary, going immediately to the side of the princess. It appeared she had not been disturbed. Good. It would not do to present damaged goods to Lord Juno. He turned to Crowe.
"I take it the warrior is dead then?" Steel paused, deciding his next course of action. He closed his eyes, tuning himself into the auras of those around him. Crowe seemed the same as ever . . . that shouldn't be right. He focused on Jordan. No. Not all dead. Mostly dead. Big difference. With all dead, the only thing one could do would be to check his pockets for valuable items. Mostly dead, however, meant there was still some life in him. His next course of action would depend upon the next words to come out of Crowe's mouth.
"What are your intentions for the other two then?"

[JRPomazon]

Crowe turned around to greet Steel. This meeting would the first they had with Crowe's face exposed.

"The other two warriors are too damaged to do anything now. I'll just flush them out latter with the last of the golem brigade." He responded.

He looked over at Jordan's corpse.

"He came here in order to save someone. A woman he denied to have feelings for, although it was quite obvious he was infatuated with her. I sealed her soul inside her own body, turning her into a living vegetable and it seemed that it drew him to me in no time. A worse fate than that of Katara, at least in my opinion."

He turned back to Steel.

"You should be glad Katara is dead Steel. She would only be a hindrance."

The sound of chains being shattered echoed throughout the saunctuary. Crowe began to glow an eerie white.

"My power has been released. . . at long last. . ."

-----------------------------------------------------

There was light. A bright light that covered everything. In the center of this light was a massive gate, made of a strange black stone. It was at this gate that Jordan stood in a sea of white.

"So, this is the afterlife." He said to himself.

The blood on his body was no longer staining him and he felt relieved of all things. Pain, weariness, stress, worry, all of them were gone as he stood in a place where time stood still.

"Well, it's been some time Jordan."

A familiar voice called from the light. A figure in the same green armor as Jordan appeared from the light. His face was old, a gray beard hung to his face as his dark eyes remained steadfast and almost piercing. He was well bulit for someone his age.

"Old man. . ." Jordan trailed as he saw his master for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Jordan took a closer look at his master, noticing that his scars were no longer on his face. They didn't seem to carry on with him to the next life.

"Why the hell are you here, brat?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

Jordan, surprised at the question almost preformed a face-fault.

"Isn't it obvious, I'm dead."

The old man walked over and punched Jordan.

"OW! Why did you do that for!?" Jordan asked as he rubbed his cheek in pain.

"You fool, you can't be dead. Don't you remember, you've got someone's destiny on your shoulders."

"Enough of that bull already, I couldn't care less who. . ."

Another punch made contact.

"You what!? Say that again brat!" The old man responded, no longer patient with his student.

He looked at Jordan, who no longer showed that familiar light in his eyes. He had no more fight. The old man sighed, seeing that much damage had been done to his student already.

"Crowe is a great opponent, but he isn't going to be your last. The title you carry, the title I had in life means you don't lose, even when your body is broken and your spirit cast into doubt. You've fought plenty of battles, but you ain't done yet. The destiny you carry, is that of a simple man who just wants to spend his days in peace. I think you should understand this by now."

Jordan nodded. He didn't quite understand what his master meant, but from what he said he would be able to understand in time. The old man grabbed Jordan by the collar.

"You understand brat? Now, go back and beat the crap out of that wraith. You have my permission to unleash all potential force the wind can offer you."

"Yeah, I got it." He responded.

The old man let him go and turned around and began to walk away.

"Jordan." He said to Jordan.

"Yeah?"

"Please. . . save my Gwen. Don't let her suffer anymore than she already has."

The old man began to walk off again, his form merging into the light.

"Yeah. . . I came to Crowe to save Gwen. It seems I'll get another chance."

From a distance, the old man stood by with a man no older than Jordan. His amber eyes seemed to glow as he watched Jordan fade from sight.

"You think he'll do better this time Pharos?" The old man asked as he crossed his arms.

"Don't know, but I can only hope what awaits him in life is more forgiving than it was for me."

Edited by JRPomazon, 20 December 2007 - 01:54 AM.

[Steel Samurai]

Steel stiffened at the mention of Katara's name. He closed his eyes, trying to suppress the anger rising within him. He failed. His eyes snapped open. His pupils were gone, and his irises a piercing blue, far bluer than they had been when wielding the dualist blade. Much faster than a normal eye could see, he drew his Odachi and drove it to the hilt into Crowe's back. A grunt escaped from his lips at the unimaginable pain. He brought his face close to Crowe's shoulder, and snarled in his ear, his voice like a freshly sharpened blade.
"Katara was an angel. The one truly good thing in my life." He ripped his sword out of Crowe's body horizontally, cutting halfway through his torso. "You made your last mistake, sorcerer." Jordan's lifeforce was growing. Steel turned around and staggered a couple steps, no longer able to ignore the pain from his burns and the pain he had caused by slicing through the one his soul was bound to. He toppled to the ground, instinctively rolling into the shadows, becoming nigh invisible. "Told you . . . you'd regret . . . giving me my sight back . . ."

[JRPomazon]

"Heh. . . imagine that. . ." Crowe stammered as his body fell on the ground.

His body began to vanish, his tattered robe was all that where left behind. However, the mass legion of souls began to form and meet above Crowe's fallen body. A dark cloud began to form. Without the seal keeping his power back, Crowe took full advantage of his wraith abilities. The dark cloud began to form into a human shape, slowly resembling the monster that severed the souls of hundreds centuries ago. His transformation was complete, his humanoid body glowed an eerie white as it burned like a gray flame. His eyes glowed white, shedding a light that gave no warmth.

"I must say, that hurt a lot Steel. That was quite the betrayal." Crowe said as he shouted into the darkness.

He could see Steel in hiding, but would not strike him down. He would show him mercy and ignore him until boredom set in. However, his game of cat and mouse would be delayed. There was a faint sound. Gradually it got louder. It was a cracking noise, emanating from Jordan's body. Crowe turned his head.

"No. . . " He muttered as the sound got louder.

The imprisonment of ice that held Jordan back was shattered into tiny shards, almost becoming a dust. Jordan stood before Crowe, slowly regaining his stance As his head remained lowered. He called his spears back from the far ends of the room and grabbed them in his hands. Jordan rose his head, his eyes showing no regret and no fear.

"I had a chat with my master in the afterlife. Thanks for giving me that moment." Jordan said calmly.

A whirlwind appeared around Jordan's body, the wind making a massive howl.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken could barely stand himself up. He gratefully accepted Shadow?s potion, but he still did not feel to well. He felt dazed, like he was not quite there. A good portion of his soul was still resting in his sword, showing itself as a bright blue shimmer upon the blade?s alloy. Ken was now trying to recuperate, with his soul displaced between two places. When he stood up, he nearly fell over. Even his eyes looked somewhat empty.

Wounds were no longer a problem.

Ken looked to the gate that had opened to the inner sanctum. He almost blacked out when he tried moving on to help Jordan, seeing the bright light that came from down the long hall. He collapsed to the floor, barely maintaining consciousness.

?What? what is happening??

[SL the Pyro]

(Whoops, I thought Hobnails were something along the lines of "Hobbit Toenails". My bad, sorry.)

----------

Shadow kelped Ken up, leaning him over his shoulder. He also saw the light, and with it a rush of power. "Whoa... from what I can tell, Jordan just went from half-dead to totally alive... he's still got some fight left." he said, a smirk growing on his face. "I hope you shake your daze off soon, I'd hate to miss out on the fun." he told Ken, slowly carrying him as he walked. Running with a dizzy person wasn't the greatest of ideas, he'd have to keep it slow until Ken recovered.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 20 December 2007 - 12:41 PM.

[JRPomazon]

OoC: Well, the time has finally come where I get to write the final battle. Yay. If you have trouble trying to figure out what Crowe looks like now, he resembles something like this (minus the mask):


Ok, here we go. (Heh, battle music. Decided to copy S_L's idea.)

IC:

Crowe, in his natural form stood where the remains of his human body rested. Jordan, who showed no signs of surprise or fear, looked upon the fearsome appearance of his foe. The wind that encompassed Jordan began to wane slightly, it's howl softened.

"Are you not surprised?" Crowe asked Jordan.

"This is my true form. With it, all of previous power has been restored to me."

Jordan chuckled.

"I'm not really impressed." He said.

"I expected something more. Then again, you never cared much about appearances."

"True. It also seems that you've come back to life. Seeing as you had died once, killing you again will be child's play now."

"Heh, that's cute. You think I'm going to let you kill me twice?"

The whirlwind around Jordan's body began to move at full speed once again. Jordan dashed at Crowe at the speed of sound, moving faster than ever before. Crowe barely had time to see the attack coming, let alone block it. However, he was no longer burdened with a solid body, meaning he could merely shape his form in anyway he pleased. This was shown as Jordan's spear went threw holes Crowe created in his body, avoiding a direct hit.

Crowe quickly moved to the offensive, attempting to tear at Jordan with his bare hands. It turned out that his bear hands had become demon-like claws, the fingers themselves appearing long, jagged and sharp. He raised his hand and briskly slashed at Jordan, attempting to cut him to ribbons. His hand was blocked by Jordan spear, which levitated above Jordan's head and held back the attack. The both of them leaped back, deciding to rethink their strategies based on the raw data they musted from their brief confrontation.

Crowe felt his body begin to ache. He looked down at his wraith body only to see that he had taken several small hits. How was this possible? Crowe looked back at Jordan, who appeared to be on his guard as he was still circled by the wind.

"I see. . . it's that infernal wind. . . it cuts aways at my body. . ." He thought to himself.

Jordan had vanished from his sight. Crowe looked around, attempting to find his opponent. Then a large sensation of pain coming from behind. Jordan had come from behind and slashed Crowe's back. Crowe immediately vanished and reappeared from the side, attempting to rend Jordan's body. Jordan's second spear came from below and severed his ghostly claw from his thin arm. The hand dissipated into the air and Crowe vanished once again, reappearing to the other end of the room.

He looked at his severed hand, not expressing any pain whatsoever. Slowly, it began to regenerate back from where it was cut. The other cut on his back and the small wounds on his body from Jordan's wind had healed as well. With this body, he would be able to heal most of his wounds quickly. Jordan smiled.

"Well, I take back what I said. I'm impressed."

Jordan's spears were released from his grip and began to levitate by his sides.

"I"m still going to win though."

"What makes you so confident?" Crowe asked.

"Because I don't lose. Not now, not ever."

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken looked to the battle. He sighed.

"Shadow, just go on. I shall catch up. I need to stop for awhile, and Jordan will need all the help he can get."

[Steel Samurai]

Steel was fading in and out of consciousness, but he was eventually aware of the actions taking place around him. Jordan seemed to be holding his own against the wraith, but battles could change quickly. Steel was in no position to aid him, the pain of cutting through Crowe's human form had begun fading as soon as his soul was freed, but the large burn on his chest was debilitatingly painful. He smiled. Assuming SL hadn't taken anything to numb the pain, he would likely not be able to move right now due to the pain of the light magic slowly coursing throughout his veins. Just payment for the burn. Hmm . . . The pact was still in effect. Crowe should still feel any pain felt by Steel. Perhaps . . . Steel readied himself, and then slapped the raw burn on his chest. A gasp escaped from his lungs at the sharp pain. Would Crowe feel the same?

[SL the Pyro]

"You sure?" Shadow said, getting a nod from Ken. "Alright... take a breather, then." He leaned Ken against the wall and started dashing down the hallway. The pain in his leg was still being numbed by the medicine he'd taken, though he didn't know how long this would last. He'd have to be quick.

Within a moment, he'd reached his destination. He saw Jordan and some massive black thing -- he assumed this was Crowe -- duking it out. Steel was slapping the burn on his body; so the pact hadn't been broken yet, it seemed, and Steel was trying to take advantage of that. Talk about taking one for the team.

With his leg ready to go numb at any moment, Shadow wasn't in the best condition to fight. But Steel slapping himself silly gave him an idea; he ran along the edge of the room to the swordsman. "You got guts to try that, I'll say that much... but you can't give him much hell on your own. I hate to suggest it, but can I use you as a punching bag? Promise I won't break any bones..." He then remembered the potion he had been saving for Jordan; didn't look like he needed it now. "Oh, and I got a healing potion for you after. You up for it?"

Edited by Shadow_Link, 22 December 2007 - 07:11 PM.

[JRPomazon]

On Crowe's weightless body, a white mark appeared among the gray on his chest. He clenched the mark with his grotesque hand, wailing in pain.

"Aaaagh! Steel . . . HOW DARE YOU!"

"Steel?" Jordan thought. "That man from before? Shadow's opponent? Wait, if he was here then Shadow was. . . no. . . it could be so simple as that. For some reason, he was able to hurt Crowe. Well, you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Crowe's body began to shutter violently. from his chest and back, new arms began to sprout. As the fully surfaced, they launched in every direction and targeted the shadows. The got something. A man was pulled from the shadows as a set of large hands grabbed him away.

"Was he here the whole time?" Jordan thought.

"I was going to save you for later after showing you delusions of your beloved Katara's death over and over. Now I'm simply going to KILL YOU." Crowe said to the man before him.

"Oh SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" Jordan shouted as he leaped into the air and send his spears at Crowe.

Another set of arms caught the spears, Crowe chuckling to himself at Jordan's attempt. However, Jordan was still moving in. He reached for his pouch and grabbed his carving knife.

"Are you serious?" Crowe asked as he send several sets of his new arms to tear Jordan to piece. However, they broke into several pieces before reaching the target.

"WHAT!? How did they. . ."

Crowe's words were left unsaid, seeing as Jordan was now in close range. Jordan with his old knife in hand sliced the area around him. The strange part of these slashes were that they were at the air around Crowe and not directly at him.

"What kind of joke is this?" He asked Jordan.

"The kind I laugh about in the end."

The hands that were holding Steel and the others that were scattered around Crowe fell to pieces. Jordan's spears were released from their grip. Crowe immediately vanished and backed away to the end of the room Jordan was previously. Jordan secured Steel, noticing that his chest was bleeding.

"Pact-Partners, go figure." Jordan said to himself.

He rested Steel aganist the stone throne Crowe had sat in previously.

"Thank you for the help, but I really don't want anyone to die because of this monster. Even a man like yourself doesn't deserve such a fate."

"How?" Crowe said as he still clenched his chest. "How did you sever my arms with a simple carving knife?"

Jordan turned to Crowe.

"Wind manipulation has many purposes. Creating gusts, controling objects in midair and finally, using air currents to extend and sharpen blades."

"I see. . . even though you had only a carving knife, you were create an incredibly long blade from it and sever my arms from my body."

Jordan placed his knife back into his pouch and called forth his spears from the ground.

"Yup, that's right." He said.

After the quick lesson, Jordan swung his spears horizontally, creating a massive gust of wind.

[Steel Samurai]

Crowe was, apparently, insane. Had he killed Steel, he himself would've died. Well. It worked. Steel patted the small pouch on the back of his belt. Two glass objects clinked reassuringly. This was risky, should Jordan prove ultimately unsuccessful it would be down to the wire against this fool, and if he took too much more injury wise he would be unable to supress the pain, making it difficult to fight, and spelling certain death. He might even have to use that. But it seemed as though this young warrior knew what he was doing. Steel would simply have to trust that he could win. Steel drew a short dagger from its sheath on the scabbard of the Odachi. Time to do a bit more damage to this sonuvabitch. He hesitated, drew a deep breath, and then plunged it into his thigh, bashing his chest with his other hand. The pain almost knocked him unconscious. He sure as hell hoped Jordan would use the opening this should give him.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Ken sat in the corridor for awhile, just trying to maintain a steady breath rate. He wished he could do something, but he could barely move.

"I wish I could help them..." he muttered to himself.

"You can, Ken."

Ken looked up, eyes filled surprise.

"M-mother? I thought..."

"... that I was gone forever?"

Ken marvelled at the spirit before him. She was drapped in ceremonial robes that made her look as though she were royalty. Ken finally found the energy to lift himself up, and brought himself to embrace her in a hug. She smiled and petted his raggedy hair.

"Ken, I can not stay here."

Ken looked up to her.

"Why not?"

His mother's expression grew meloncholy.

"That is how it must be. Ken, I was bound to die in the eventuality of time."

"But-"

"My soul is set, Ken. Yours, on the other hand, has much to do. Ken... You have wanted to be a hero since you were small. Just remember what makes a hero noble; his will to stand by his beliefs, and to fight for what is right. Remember that, Ken..."

And just like that, she disapeared as though she were sand on the wind.

Ken stood for awhile before recollecting himself.

"The right thing... The right thing... Your right." Ken concluded. "And that right thing... It is to fight to protect. I remember that."

Ken picked up his sword and went on, ready to fight.

As he walked in, Ken gripped his sword, and sent a piece of his soul in like before, and then let it come back. He repeated, and eventually the sword pulsed with a light in time with his breathing. He would be unconscious for sure after this, but the time to act was there. Ken looked up at Crowe's montrous form.

"You know, I think I pity you. You don't know what it is like to live. All you can do hate and reach for power. All you can do is consume like some mindless beast. And to that end, I have no intention of letting a monster like you upon the world!"

Ken ran forth and struck with his soul-shrouded blade.

[SL the Pyro]

(OOC: oh, very well, just treat my previous post like it happened after Pomazon's)