Morph just watched the demon leave. However, when he saw a sparkling purple thing inside the demon's hand, he cursed. "Darnit! That must be the Soul Piece we should be collecting here! After him!" He shouted, and he took into the air, flying after the demon. He didn't even wait for Ryan to respond this time.

Ultima slowly walked around looking for anyone in sight"damn i doubt anyones around..."He continued looking for an hour and finally gave up and sat down."where the hell am i now anyway...?"he looked around seeing nothing but trees and plants.

Rugal forced an opening. "Kaiser Wave!"

The dark fireball streaked past the blades and toward Matt but the blades reconverged, forming a ring that neutralized the fireball as it struck the sudden defense.

Landing on the ground, gripping his bleeding arm, Rugal glared at Matt, who was still seething, still aching for carnage. Still, he just had to make a smart remark. "I guess you were serious after all."

"Shut up!" With a mighty wave of Matt's Psycho Buster, the air was sliced with enough force to send Rugal spiralling to the dirt.

"Of course I'm f***ing serious!" Matt shouted. "I have to be! Time after f***ing time some asshole like you or somebody else tries to kill me just so they can get their damn hands on THIS!"

He smacked his other hand soundly on his chest. "I didn't even want this damn thing in the first place! But NO! The whole damn Multiverse thought it was f***ing funny and now I gotta get it where it's supposed to go or we're all screwed!"

Before Rugal could get up Matt was on him, the boy's foot keeping the would-be ruler pinned to the ground.

"And let me tell you something, BITCH!" he screamed. "I'm sick and TIRED of the CRAP!"

Psycho Buster slammed into the earth, smashing Rugal's head into the ground.

"SICK and TIRED of ALL you BASTARDS trying to KILL me and KILL my friends JUST to get your DAMN HANDS on this thing!"

With each pronounced word Matt slammed his fist into the earth again and again, pummeling Rugal's face.

"I'm NOT gonna let you DO this ANYMORE! I'm gonna get the OMEGA CORE back where it's SUPPOSED TO GO!"

He raised Psycho Buster's fist high, his white, angry eyes gleaming with rage. "And I'm not gonna let anyone stop me from getting this damn job DONE!"

The last punch was one of even tetonic force, and the earth shook with its impact.

(OOC: If it neutralizes all superhuman, supernatural, and magic abilities, wouldn't all three of them drop to the ground? o__O)

Even R.D., who was the least perturbed about things in the world thanks to his amnesia, was stunned as he watched Matt's rage manifest itself. He look upon Rugal and felt a bit ill. Alasea was looking at Matt with a pale face twisted into something akin to horror.

Edited by RisingDragon on October 23, 2006 at 14:26:31.

Breathing heavy, Matt withdrew Psycho Buster's bloodied fist, took a moment to witness the severe injury he had caused, and stood back to his full height. In his anger he had pounded Rugal's head into its own personal crater in the ground-there was no way of coming back from that kind of assualt.

"YEAH!" Hugo shouted, as Hsien-Ko hobbled up to the Mettaur, her own eyes fixated on the carnage. "Nice job, Matt!"

Out of habit, Matt flashed a thumbs up with Psycho Buster's bloodied fist.

In his own state of weariness, he failed to notice the looming figure rising behind him, its gaze burning like something out of Hell.

R.D., however, did notice.

"MATT!" he screamed, "BEHIND YOU!"

R.D., despite his own weariness, reached out and seized the First Cipher energy and prepared to assault the looming figure.

Edited by RisingDragon on October 23, 2006 at 16:29:08.

Matt turned just as Rugal, eyes burning with a power unseen, grabbed the boy's shirt collar and lifted him with great ease.

There was an uneasy calmness in Rugal's hold, however, and Matt's immediate suspicions were confirmed with Rugal-or not-spoke.

"You have honed your powers well," a voice spoke out of Rugal's body. "I am glad that you have reached a level of strength high enough to challenge me. But our battle is not finished yet."

"...Rugal?" Matt asked.

"This body was Rugal's, but now it is mine." On a silent command, Rugal's body became enshrouded in hellish purple flame. "Once I modify it you will be able to recognize me."

The purple flames seem to melt Rugal's former appearance like paper, burning away his skin and hair. Underneath this old flesh was a familiar form whose bulk filled in the fabric of Rugal's clothing quite tightly.

When the face matched those familiar red eyes, Hugo's own eyes widened. "...oh, shit."

Matt could only mutter-

"Akuma."

R.D. swore when he heard the name. He remembered hearing that Akuma was the one who struck down Bison before Matt could. Quite suddenly, the Phase Lance appeared in R.D.'s hands, released from Matt's hold, and R.D. readied himself, wondering what Akuma planned to do.

===Rooftop===

Re-Tuul watched calmly as Rugal became Akuma. "Well now," the Khaglessi said to his companion, "This is quite interesting."

As the Phase Lance materialized in R.D.'s hands and power filled him, Re-Tuul turned his gaze on the amnesiac teen. "Quite interesting indeed," he murmured.

"That's Akuma?" Hsien-Ko gasped. She could feel the extent of the dark warrior's terrible power from her position, and it made her shudder, just a little bit.

"So Rugal did kill you," Matt said, the fatigue apparent in his voice. "And he stole your power."

"I am my power," Akuma replied. "Rugal Bernstein thought foolishly that he could control me, and now he has paid the ultimate price."

Matt's eyes were blank as his mind sorted out what he had done. "And after I killed him, you were free to take over..."

"Exactly."

"Okay, then...um...why are you holding me up, then?"

Akuma glanced at Hugo. "To make sure the robot did not attempt to shoot me until I had fully taken over."

"Are you saying I don't got a good f***ing reason to shoot you?!" Hugo snapped, waving his pickaxe.

Matt sighed. "Look, just put me down, and we can finish this all proper, okay?"

Akuma lowered Matt until the boy's feet touched solid ground. "No."

"What?"

"I said our battle was not over, but you are worn from your battle with Rugal to provide a proper challenge to me." Akuma's brow furrowed. "And there are still realms of power you have not begin to cross into."

"Akuma, I don't want to fight you," Matt remarked, his words beginning to degrade into a tired slur. "Not now, and probably not later."

"It is entirely your choice." Akuma turned away, and, raising a hand, quickly ripped the sleeves off of his new, old jacket. He held the torn cloth up before him. "When you are ready...you will know where to find me."

Somehow, Matt felt he had to take these words to heart, and he slowly nodded. "...okay."

Without another word, Akuma dropped the cloth and simply began walking away.

"...that's it?" Hugo stomped forward to Matt's side, glaring at Akuma's back. "We just gonna let him go like that?"

"Yes, we are," Matt remarked. "And let me tell you why."

He promptly collapsed to the ground.

R.D. watched Akuma walk away tensely before letting go of the First Cipher energy. The pain that followed was light; apparently his body was getting used to the energies. Though he was positive it'd start all over again once he unlocked another Cipher.

He deactivated and seperated his Phase Lance, and sheathed the weapons before walking over and helping Matt up. "Well, I'd say it's a good thing we arrived when we did," he said with a chuckle.

Alasea nodded and helped Hsien-Ko up now that she was apparently awake. "So now what do we do?" the teen girl asked the others.

"Get sleep, get booze," Matt muttered, drowsy.

"I second the booze," Hugo said.

"But you're a robot," Hsien-Ko said.

"Doesn't mean I can't knock it back," Hugo remarked.

"Heh, sure thing, Matt," R.D. laughed, "If we can find anything."

R.D. started helping Matt walk back into the city, with the others in tow.

"Uhm... do we even know where a place to stay is?" Alasea asked idly.

"Let's just break into a place," Hugo said.

"I'd prefer to go to a hotel, if there's one around," Mei-ling replied, a bit cross at the Mettaur's suggestion.

"Humph. Fine."

"Well, I'd say we could sleep outside in the wilderness..." R.D. said, trailing off.

"Oh hell no, R.D.!" Alasea shouted, "I am not sleeping in a monster-infested field!"

R.D. rolled his eyes and snorted, "I kind of figured that out already, Alli."

He narrowly avoided Alasea's foot.

"I ain't sleepin' outside," Matt muttered. "We're lookin' for a hotel."

"Fine, fine," R.D. said, looking back over his shoulders, "So what exactly did you guys do after me and Alli got thrown off the cliff?"

"We went looking for you," Matt said. "More of those beast monsters we fought tried to kill us but I distracted them long enough." He tapped his chest. "Followed your life sign, I did."

"Ah," Alasea said, "We... uhm... didn't go looking for you guys."

Alasea gave them a sheepish, apologetic look; R.D. shrugged.

"We decided to go find my place, and we found it. Got back some more of my memories, but not much. Got an extra sword, though," he explained, "And then I felt Rugal. So we fought our way here, and... you know the rest."

Morph had started falling to the ground when the wave passed him. Thank god the ground wasn't too far away. When he neared it, he turned his body in the air, and immediately launched himself back upwards right after touching the ground, sending himself flying upwards, towards the demon, blades ready.

Re-Tuul grinned at Akuma's retreating back.

The Khaglessi chuckled and replied, "A little from column A, a little from column B. And you? Do you plan to fight Mr. Willard when he's developed his strength?"

"Indeed," Re-Tuul murmured, "Except he still has a long way to go before he has reached the very height of his power."

With a flap of his wings, Re-Tuul took for the air, leaving unseen.

"We gonna stand around all day or are we gonna find a place to stay?" Hugo asked.

"Despite the rudeness of Hugo's comment, I must agree with him," Mei-ling added.