Aisha shook her head sadly. "No. If Ziatoch Himself attacks you, you must run, or He will just destroy you. While your powers are great, you are nothing compared to Him. All you can do is run, and pray."

The Daughter of Dawn turned to Alasea. "Have you accepted your destiny now, Alasea?"

"I..." she said, trailing off, "Yes. I accept."

Aisha nodded, smiling. "Good. You must go now. Return to my home, and you will find a truck you can use to get to the Gateway."

"Eh, I can take him," Matt muttered. "But I've got more important things to do."

"Is running away that important to you?" a familiar voice interrupted from behind them.

It came to him quickly-a deep, sinking feeling of dread in his chest, compounded as Matt turned to face the newcomer.

"Or can you spare some time for me before you go?" Malvettix finished, tipping his head foward and glancing up at his mortal enemy. He grinned. "I promise you I won't take long."

Matt almost growled. "Malvettix!"

R.D. drew one of his Phase Blades and activated it, readying himself for battle. Alasea also drew her short swords.

"Why is it we always have to fight someone each day?" he asked no one in particular, thoroughly annoyed.

"Who are you?" Aisha said, her eyes narrowing, "How did you get past the barrier?"

"The barrier?" Malvettix's grin never left his face-something that seemed very unnerving to Matt. "I didn't notice one coming in. But if it was supposed to keep me out, I guess it didn't do a very good job."

"If you're here to kill me, you're outnumbered," Matt said, preparing to draw his energy blade.

Malvettix's face eased into more serious features. "I have no fight with the rest of you," he replied, staring at Matt but addressing the others. "You may leave in safety."

"F*** you," Hugo snapped, pointing his pickaxe at Malvettix. "I ain't gonna stand here and let Matt fight you alone."

The dark one smiled again. "Yes, you will."

With an offhanded gesture, his shadow spread across the landscape, taking up a large area around him. Small, hunched creatures of darkness arose from his shadow-they were joined by small armored warriors with blades for hands and helmeted beings with curled toes. They all bore bright, burning yellow eyes.

"Heartless," Hsien-Ko spat, her arms receding into her sleeves as she prepared for battle.

"Now..."

Malvettix brought his hands together, and spread them apart. As he did, a black length spread with his gesture, until it resembled a long, black staff. He took this staff with one hand, and from one end, a wicked curved blade shot forth, making the whole weapon a scythe.

The dark one grinned. "Shall we?"

"Let's GO!" Matt shouted, drawing his energy blade. With a yell he leapt at Malvettix, sword point before him.

((I wasn't aware I was, Juno, I was just continuing to get back up after being knocked down lol))

ZetsumeiRyu: You may have made me... You may have given me alot of strength, but that strength, combined with my Saiyan and Dragoon strengths... That should be enough you... I won't give in to you...

R.D. readied himself as the Heartless surged in at them. "C'mon, you ugly motherfuckers!" he shouted as he threw himself at the horde, his blade screaming through the bodies of the shadow creatures.

Aisha also readied herself for battle--taken by surprise, the Pillar could not remove so many beasts on its own. She drew her weapon, the Shinokage, and summoned up a whirlwind. It escalated into the sky, and the Daughter of Dawn forced the tornado forward into the seething mass before she and Alasea charged into the fray.

Easily the Heartless fell under attack, be it R.D.'s blade or Hsien-Ko's claws, Hugo's shots or Aisha's tornado. But, like roaches, more arrived from the shadow along the ground, and in mass numbers they mindlessly charged.

Blades sung as Matt and Malvettix clashed. Their styles were as evident as the opposites they were supposed to be-Matt's high-powered slashes and straightfoward technique faced off against Malvettix's ranged, elegant strikes.

Finally, an opening, and Matt took it, thrusting into Malvettix's ribcage, then pulling out his blade to knock aside the dark one's scythe and send a enraged slash across his enemy's face.

As Malvettix stumbled, clenching his face, Matt grinned. That was a pretty damn good shot, in his opinion.

But Malvettix was laughing softly to himself, and as he looked back in Matt-the wide, black and bloody gash across his features closing up-it became louder.

"It's not going to be that easy," Malvettix promised.

Matt smirked. "Wouldn't be fun that way."

Malvettix gestured, and his long coat leapt foward, the ends forming blades of shadow that shot at Matt, who did what he could to deflect their attacks.

"Okay, time for something new," R.D. growled. He forced a hand forward, concentrating. He soon started blasting away at the Heartless with Light Beams and Lightblasts, each shot proving to be fatal to the creatures of darkness. As he fired off the light-energy attacks, he thrust his Phase Blade in the air, charging it with lightning energy and causing a massive golden blade to extend from the weapon. He roared "Cho Shinkuujin!" as he spun and slashed, firing a massive electrically-charged blade beam from the weapon.

Meanwhile, Aisha was sending down bolts of lightning and lashing out with flattened sonic waves into the hordes of enemies. As an added bonus, she created a gentle whirlwind pillar underneath Hugo's feet, lifting him into the air and giving him the perfect turret position.

The two locked weapons, and each struggled to overwhelm the other.

"Let me help you!" Helena said, appearing by Matt's side.

"No!" Matt shouted, pushing his blade into Malvettix's scythe. "I've got it!"

"You should listen to her," Malvettix remarked. "After all...you cannot defeat me."

He pushed his scythe to his right, bringing his blade with it, and slammed his hand into Matt's neck.

As soon as Malvettix seized Matt, the inherent dread within exploded into a tremendous force. Deformed and decayed images of his past, his present, his future, exploded through his very form.

"Do you understand now?!" Malvettix cried out, his sadistic features becoming more and more deformed, his eyes wide in terrible glory. "You cannot defeat fear ITSELF!"

It all descended into Matt's chest, and he screamed in geniune terror.

"Matt!" Helena cried out.

R.D. fought off a couple of the armored Heartless, his Phase Blade easily cutting through the armor, then turned when he heard Helena's cry. He saw Matt being overpowered and gathered energy into his hand, forming the Godhand attack. With a flicking motion, he fired off a large plasma burst at rapid speeds at Malvettix.

The burst thankfully struck Malvettix, and he was knocked backwards, releasing Matt, who landed with an audible thump.

Helena backed away, clenching her head, her eyes wide.

Alasea and Aisha found themselves surrounded within the swathe cut by R.D.'s Cho Shinkuujin blade wave. They looked at each other and nodded, then dove forward in opposite directions as a massive tornado formed around the Pillar of Dawn. It expanded, but didn't last long. However, as the Heartless strayed near the structure, a ray of light shone from the top of the Pillar, and smaller rays of energy began striking down any Heartless that wandered too close.

R.D. rushed through the battlefield, trying to get to Matt and Malvettix, but he had underestimated the prowess of the Heartless, who were making his journey to them rather difficult.

There was no domineering thought other than to survive. Eyes wide, Matt scuttled backwards in the dirt, away from the dark one. "Get the hell away from me!" he shouted at Malvettix.

Helena hunched over, her fingers curled, digging into her face, as if she was in pain.

OOC: Please do not interfere with this battle, Juno.

R.D. broke free of the horde, firing off a combined plasma shot into the seething mass of Heartless, before dashing forward and putting himself inbetween Matt and Malvettix. He held his weapon out by his side, which his legs spread evenly. His head was lower slightly, and he glared coldly at Malvettix. He said not a word, but his eyes said everything needed.

"It's all coming back to you now, isn't it?" Malvettix said, easily rising from the ground. "All the things that you've denied and buried for so long...they'll never disappear no matter how hard you try."

The scythe returned to him as he leaned his head back. "How does it feel?"

"Shut up!" Matt shouted at Malvettix, scrambling to his feet, but with unconvincing stability.

Malvettix grinned. "Don't worry. I'm doing you a favor, you know. Better for me to strip you of your defenses and leave you in the cold rather than have someone else do it for you."

But the following laugh showed no concern, only hateful pleasure.

"Shut up and leave him alone," R.D. said. He spun his Phase Blade in his hand and brought it forward, gripping it with both gloved hands firmly. "If you want to get at Matt, you go through me first."

Alasea broke free of the horde and found herself near Helena. She rushed over to her. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Like I said before, I have no fight with you," Malvettix replied. "But if you are eager to die, I will assist you."

Short claws jutted from Helena's fingers. "Get..."

Her back muscles swelled, and the back of her dress slowly began to split. "...get away from me..."

It was strange looking at Matt's face and seeing it as an enemy's. It was unnerving. Despite that, R.D. steeled himself for what was to come. His foot slid back slightly, and suddenly R.D. blasted forward, bringing his sword to his side and slashing viciously as he closed in on Malvettix.

Alasea backed away slowly, her eyes widening. She quickly realized what was happening, and nodded shakily. "Be careful!" she bid her as she turned and ran back into the fight.

Wielding his scythe with one hand, Malvettix blocked the slash. The other side of his coat wrapped around, and shot at R.D. as a blade of darkness.

Pain wracked Helena's body as she collapsed to the dirt, her newfound claws digging into the earth. Emerald scales spread across her skin, her legs stretching painfully into a more feral shape as the beginnings of a heavy, armored tail slid out underneath her.

ZetsumeiRyu: Vagabond, you wanna run away like a coward that is your business, but a Saiyan does not run away from a fight... You go, I'll fight alone if I must.... *he walks away from Vagabond , towards the castle*

R.D. grunted and threw himself to the side to dodge the coat, but he didn't move quick enough, and the dark blade left a gash on his arm. Nevertheless, he pressed on, spinning around and leaping, slashing upward with a flaming blade while shouting "Ryuuenjin!"

"Next..." Meta simply said, seemingly unsurprised by the Za-Fuzen's appearance, "is the recruitment of the enemies of my enemies." She grinned malevolently. When she reached the Gates, she heard a slight noise. While walking, she bowed down, and picked up a black cat with a white snout and white socks. "Aww, look at that. I've got a pet already." She said in her cutest tone. She smiled. "Soon, a lot more shall be my pets."

Malvettix swiftly turned, knocking away R.D.'s blade with his scythe, and in the same loop, he turned and slashed at R.D.'s body.

Matt just stood there, trying to will his body into action, but his feet remained still.

R.D. backed away from the force of the parry, and narrowly dodged the slash from the scythe. His free hand ignited with the flames of Godhand, and he thrust it forward, lashing out with a Shotgun Cannon. The multiple plasma bursts blasted forward at Malvettix.

"Hurry it the fuck up!" he shouted at Matt, getting frustrated.

He wanted to move, to fight, but never had it been so hard to take a step! The weight cast upon him was too much to bear, too difficult to move against. Caught in the storm of his own world, he failed to even notice the pain Helena was experiencing, failed to notice her cry of anguish as large wings burst from her back.

The blasts hit home, and Malvettix stumbled backwards with each impact. But, as soon as the blasts had hit, the minor holes they had blown into Malvettix were reversed, until it appeared that R.D. had never shot him at all.

"It will take more than that to defeat me," Malvettix said. "I suggest you spare yourself the effort and allow me to finish what I've started."

Edited by The Helldragon on December 18, 2006 at 1:53:20.

When Meta reached the Gates, she saw a man walking up to her, a man in red, arabic-style clothing, including pants, strangly enough. He stopped in front of her.
"Who are you?" He asked Meta.
Meta glared at him for his rudeness. "Give me your name and I shall give you mine." She said. The man looked at her for a moment, then answered.
"Gilgamesh." He said. "Working only when paid."
Meta grinned. "Good, follow me and you shall be."
Gilgamesh thought about this for a moment. "Very well. What is my first task, my lady?"
Meta thought for a second. "Find me a horse. The best you can."
Just a blink of an eye later, Gilgamesh had gone again.

R.D. ignored Malvettix's commentary, instead rushing forward as he spoke and launching a powerful uppercut with the Godhand attack.

Meanwhile, Aisha's tornadoes were tearing apart the ranks of the Heartless, gathering them up in large bunches and throwing them far out of the valley.

Malvettix caught R.D.'s rising fist. "Very well..."

His trademark grin split his face, and he raised his other hand, fingers transforming into claws of pure darkness. "Let's see what you fear..."

But something caught his eye, and he flung R.D. aside as an emerald scaled dragon, fangs flashing, leapt at him, tackling the dark one to the earth and proceeding to tear at him with its claws.