ZetsumeiRyu: Vagabond, do not give up, show no fear.. We can win this, if you are as strong as you say you are, then tap into that power, give it everything you've got!! *suddenly, a hint of DragonFire shone from ZetsumeiRyu* I won't give in, I will kill Xastra... I swear it... *he looks at Xastra* Xastra!!! You do NOT control me any longer!!! I will NOT obey your foolish commands!!! I am DragonFire!! A Saiyan, a Dragoon warrior, and a friend to Juno and the others!!! I swear on my life that you will die!!!!!!!! *he backs away a bit then charges at Xastra again* If I die, I'll take you with me!!!

R.D. entered the house and quickly found Matt. He looked at the statue on the table, and frowned thoughtfully, thinking of how the dragon continuously helped them in battle.

"How does that thing work, anyways?" he asked.

After a rather short walk, flight, and stepping through a portal with the destination of Hell, Meta stood before the gates of Tartarus, the Eternal Prison Of The Gods. Here, none but the mightiest of the world's enemies were kept away from all other Realms, except for those who had escaped the grasp of the ones in charge of Tartarus, and those too powerful. However, she should be able to find interesting things in there. Beings who would follow her, beings whose eternal loyalty she would gain.

"Well, it's like..." Matt folded his arms, trying to find a way to describe it. "I get colors."

"Colors?" Hugo made a rude noise.

"Shut up, it's true. It's like..." Matt's hands tried to gesture, to make a sign of what he experienced. "Ever since I got it I've been seeing colors in the back of my head, and we communicate that way." He shrugged. "Hell, I don't know."

R.D. cocked his head to the side and thought.

"Perhaps its the mind's way of translating foreign feelings," he mused, "So maybe you and the dragon communicate through your feelings? It makes sense. If you're aggravated or in desperation, it comes for to help you out."

"There's gotta be more to it..."

Matt shrugged again. "Eh, I'll figure it out tomorrow. I'm goin' to bed."

R.D. nodded and left the room. He saw the women return, looking refreshed from their bath. He stepped passed them, touching Alasea's shoulder briefly to reassure her before exiting the house. He looked up at the sky, which had quickly reached nightfall, and wondered about his memories.

He drew one of his Phase Blades and begun practicing with it, letting his body go through the motions while he thought. After a while, he could feel someone watching him. He stopped and looked over at the house, seeing Aisha watching him in front of it.

She made her way over to him and spoke. "Your memories might be missing, but it would seem your body remembers how you fought in the past."

R.D. stared at the girl. "Do you know who I am?" he asked.

Aisha nodded. "You were... quite the traveler, R.D. You went from place to place, hunting the Khaglessi, among other monsters," she told him, "And eventually fought them on an island off the coast of America. I take it you went back there after you lost your memory?"

"Yeah. Ondal said I should go there. Turns out I only struck down eight of the Khaglessi before being attacked by a Ruinsman Beast. I dispatched it, but by then Re-Tuul had left."

"Everyone had thought you'd destroyed all of them. But Ziatoch recruited him, it seems. What will you do?"

"I'll do what needs to be done. These monsters seem intent on bringing me to Ziatoch. If he wants me so badly, he'll have to pay in blood first."

The two remained silent for a while After a bit, Aisha posed a question to him.

"Would you like to spar, R.D.?"

The amnesiac teen looked at the redheaded woman for a bit before nodding.

ZetsumeiRyu: Xastra, you are the fool, I agreed to let you do this to me, but, I sealed some of my other self deep within this body.. You got my soul yes. But only plart of it... *a bright white light shone from hisa body that sent Xastra flying backwards* You will not live to see another daylittle man.... As long as I breath I will not give in to your evil... I am not ZetsumeiRyu, I am not your creation... I am DragonFire! And I am a Saiyan!!!!! *he continues to dash at Xastra to attack no matter how many times he is stopped* I WON'T GIVE IN TO YOU!!!!

Sleep came easily to Matt-he was pretty beat, after all. Fighting does that.

So when he heard the soft, omnipresent hum that was enough to gently wake him up, he briefly wondered if it was one of those crazy dreams people had every so often. After a bit he dismissed it, and settled back down again.

Matt.

Okay, that was clearly a voice. Matt sat up quickly, glancing around with nearsighted vision. "Who's there?"

It's just me.

Then she appeared before Matt-like a shimmering phantasm she appeared in the darkness-soft-lined and long, sleeveless dress flowing, she looked upon him with timid eyes.

You remember me, right? she asked.

Matt knew just what to do.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Halfway through their match, R.D. and Aisha stopped as they heard Matt's scream. Cursing, R.D. ran into the house with his Phase Blade still active.

He pulled open the door and peered inside to find--Matt screaming at nothing.

R.D. stared at Matt. "Just what the hell is going on?" he asked irately as Alasea sleepily wandered down the hall to check up on him.

"What the HELL is your problem?!" Hugo snapped, leaving his rest mode as Matt pulled out his energy sword and wildly slashed at the air.

"KILL IT!" Matt shouted, slashing and slashing through the slender phantom before him.

Mei-ling now entered the room, followed by Hsien-Ko. "What in the world is going on here?" she demanded.

"I think Matt's finally lost it," Hugo concluded.

"Do you not SEE THAT?!" Matt exclaimed, gesturing at the ghost.

They can't see me, the phantom said.

"...oh." Matt dismisses his blade. "No wonder."

Hugo raised his pickaxe is exasperation. "Who are you even TALKING to?"

Matt suddenly gestured, and pointed at the ghost with two fingers. "Reveal Thyself!"

In a flash of brilliant, pale light, the ghost suddenly became visible.

R.D., Alasea, and Aisha stared at the phantom in the room.

"... okay, so maybe Matt isn't entirely crazy," R.D. said, "Does anyone else see that?"

"I see it!" Hsien-Ko exclaimed, pushing past her sister to get a better view of the phantom.

Matt raised a finger. "It's a her."

"But...who are you?" Mei-ling asked the ghost.

Now visible to all, the phantom's voice lost a lot of its ethereal quality. "I..."

She looked at Matt. "I'm the dragon."

R.D. blinked.

"... okay," was all he said.

"...wait a minute." Matt looked toward where the statue sat. The miniature stone dragon had vanished-only its stone base was left behind. He pointed at the base. "...you're the dragon that's supposed to be on that statue but isn't there for some reason?"

"Yes," the phantom replied. "...it's a long story."

Matt sat down on the bed, leaned foward and rested his arms on his knees. "Lay it on me."

R.D., Alasea, and Aisha waited for the phantom to tell her story patiently.

"Long ago..." The phantom's sad eyes became distant. "I was a normal girl. My father and his men were on an expedition to an island named Persior, where they discovered ancient ruins of a previous civilazation thought to live at least fifteen hundred years before us."

Her lips tightened. "I was also with the group. My father felt I had much to gain from the experience. But we never knew what awaited us within the ruins."

Matt frowned as he folded his arms. Why did this sound so familiar to him?

"After some investigation, my father determined the Persior to be highly fanatical in their worship," the phantom continued. "Everything within the ruins pointed toward the worship of a great winged serpent, whom the Persior seemed afraid to name. They called it the 'hateful angel of the heavens', and their lives were devoted around pacifying the beast."

She looked down. "We found out why."

"...what happened?" Hsien-Ko managed to ask.

The phantom glanced back up, but the ever increasing sorrow in her features only seemed to build upon itself. "The expedition lead us to a large room, with a large sphere of stone engraved with runes, resting on a large base. My father believed it to be some sort of 'pathway' and he tried activating it."

Matt's eyes widened. This WAS familiar! That was the portal R.D. had used to pull him out of that demon's nightmare zone!

"But..." The phantom's lips drew tighter. It seemed painful to even think of it.

An uneasy pause followed before Mei-ling spoke up. "If you don't want to tell us the rest now, that's fine."

"No...you have to know." The phantom took a small, shuddering breath.

"...we activated the stone, but it wasn't a path. It was a cage. And when we opened it, it released something...something that flew inside me and died...but left something behind."

Now Matt stood up-maybe it was the Core, maybe it was his own intelligence, but he think he could figure out what happened next.

"I..." The phantom clenched her trembling fists by her sides. "I couldn't control it. It consumed me...changed me...into that...that monster."

Hsien-Ko frowned. "The dragon..."

"The dragon," the phantom repeated, softer. "I killed the whole expedition like that. Like a monster."

R.D. gave the girl a sympathetic look. He knew what it was like to utterly destroy a group. Granted, he was the human and the group were the monsters, but it didn't really matter. It was a still a slaughter.

"... what happened after that?" Aisha asked quietly.

"I was about to leave the room when someone appeared before me," the phantom replied.

"What'd he look like?" Hugo asked.

"He was tall, and wore a long black and white robe," the phantom replied. "And he wore a hood."

Matt was about to open his mouth, but only through sheer force of will did he keep it shut.

"I don't know how, but he calmed me down," the phantom continued. "He told me that though I was bound to my new fate, there was a way I could redeem myself for the deeds my other half had committed. So I was sealed in the statue."

She looked at Matt. "I was waiting for you."

"Me?" Matt made a confused face. "Why?"

"I needed someone to host my power," the phantom explained. "The being that entered me had powerful psychic abilities, abilities that you easily share due to your powers. I am nothing more than a manifestation of that power."

Matt blinked. "...a Stand?"

The phantom nodded. "Yes. A Stand. Your Stand. The man told me that, one day, you would no longer have the powers of the Omega Core, but your journey would still continue. I resigned myself to being your Stand, so that you would have the ability to continue that journey...and would hopefully allow me to gain my redemption."

R.D. cocked his head to the side.

"What's a Stand?" he asked Matt and the phantom simultaneously.

"A Stand is a manifestation of psychic power," Matt explained. "Normally, only Stand users can see other Stands. But Stands can do a lot of crazy stuff. People usually think they're ghosts since they can't see them, but I guess this one's a different case."

"Still, it's not like you need one," Hugo said. "You're already pretty strong as it is."

"That's true," Matt agreed. "Still..."

He looked at the phantom. It seemed her story was true...and she had to suffer for God knows how long because of it.

"I know you have incredible power already," the phantom said, looking down. "But I ask you...please take me with you. Please...please allow me to redeem myself for my crimes."

"I ain't gonna leave you!" Matt suddenly interjected with a gesture, without even thinking it over. "It ain't your fault and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you suffer more because of it!"

The phantom's pale features brightened. "Really?"

"Really." Matt grinned, and held out a hand. "Welcome to Team Awesome..."

He paused. "Um...what's your name again?"

"...Helena." With more confidence, the phantom straightened. "My name is Helena."

"All right, then, Helena." Matt took Helena's hand and briskly shook it. "Welcome to the squad."

"Well," R.D. said, offering his hand to Helena, "I'm R.D., the most competent of this team."

Alasea also walked over and offered her hand. "I'm Alasea," she said, then pointed to each of the other members of the group, "And this is Hsien-Ko, Mei-ling, and the little ray of sunshine on the bed is Hugo."

R.D. pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "That's Aisha, but I don't know if she'll be joining us on our misadventures."

He then turned to Matt. "Team Awesome?" he asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That's right!" Matt countered. "Team F***ing Awesome! And I'M the most competent here, you're just the most sane!"

"I don't think we can argue with that," Hugo muttered.

Helena shook the hands offered to her-her grip was still uneasy and reserved. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, this is nice and all, but we're all pretty tired and I'm sure we can continue with this discussion in the morning," Matt said, spreading his hands.

"Matt, don't be rude!" Hsien-Ko snapped at the boy.

"It's okay," Helena said, crossing her hands. "We can all talk tomorrow."

"Very well." Mei-ling turned to leave. "Good night, everyone."

"Yeah, bye," Hugo muttered, powering down as the sisters left.

R.D. rolled his eyes. "If you're the most competent, why are you the one with most attacks that've blown up in your face?" he asked, not really even caring to hear an answer.

R.D., Alasea, and Aisha bid Matt and Helena goodnight, with Aisha saying she'd set up a room for Helena if she needed one.

R.D. and Alasea walked down the hall to their respective rooms. "So, what do you think of Helena?" Alasea asked.

"Hmm," R.D. murmured, "She's as cursed as the rest of us, I guess. I think we'll be finding out just how screwed up this world really is soon."

Leaving her in silence, R.D. entered his room and got into bed, quickly falling into a restless sleep. Alasea looked at his closed door with an air of sadness before entering her own room and following suit.

With the huge quantities of massive gravitational and sound energies, the Gates of Tartarus just crumbled in front of her. Meta walked through the rubble and clouds of dust and darkness, ignoring little critters that crawled out of the destroyed Gates already. These were but mere tiny bugs of this Realm. She needed at least mice. Or even better, rats. But of course elephants would be great, too.
Meta walked slowly into the World of the Abyss, into the deepest darkness. Though... true darkness? No, for incredibly hot fires shot up from holes in the ground, lava streams flew around, the ground shifted at every step, the air vibrated violently, lightning surging through. Loud noises of agony, anger, hate, fear and despair could be heard, loud, even though they came from far away. A sadistic grin grew on Meta's face. "I like it here already, though it could use a woman's touch." She spoke, as she walked further into the Eternal Prison.

Meta stopped on a large rock, a cliff, and peered with her bloody red eyes into the darkness. She grinned, then shouted aloud. "Anubis! Kerberos! Fenrir! Cometh forth, thy Canines of Carnage, you Dogs of Death!" She shouted.

In the Hellish, night-like environment of Tartarus, something stirred. They were coming...

(OOC: Hell - I mean - Tartarus yeah.)

Near the foot of the cliff, several dozens of yards below Meta, the half-jackal Anubis stopped, his golden necklace twinkling, and his skirt-like clothing flapping around his furred legs.

"What is't?" He spoke in a raw voice, as he looked up. "Ahh, is there a new Cleopatra?" He asked, semi-humerously.

Behind Anubis came another being, a dog larger than the largest mortal horse. Three large heads with glowing eyes, snakes crawling in their furry necks, acid dripping from their jaws, and their snake-headed tail whipping. A raw, monstrous bark came from all three heeads. "Masterrr... where master Charon?" They spoke through a kind of animalistic telepathy. "Where masterrr???"

Third, a deep, heavy rumbling could be heard. The earth shook, the winds moved violently, the flames shot up higher as the third of the beings came forward: Fenrir! Fenrir, the six-and-a-half mile long wolf!