R.D. swore as he was flung, landing painfully back onto the battlefield. He looked up to see the dragon attacking Malvettix. Good luck, Helena, he thought as he rose to his feet. He immediately ducked, avoiding the flying kick of one of the helmeted Heartless, then took off after it, severing its head and watching it burst into a cloud of darkness. He rushed back up the side of the valley hill, running over to Matt. He grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and spun him around.

"C'mon!" he shouted at his friend, "She's going to need our help!"

"I can't. I can't do it. I can't do it, I, I just-"

He clenched his head. "Dammit!" he shouted. "I can't do it, dammit!"

A solid fist landed across the dragon's face, and it was enough to send it sprawling to the earth as Malvettix quickly stood. No longer was he grinning-suddenly driven, he advanced toward Matt with crazed eyes wide, his scythe always at his side.

R.D. swore angrily. "We don't have time for you to feel useless, dammit!"

R.D. saw out of the corner of his eye that Malvettix was approaching. Like hell you will, bastard, he thought angrily as he spun and moved forward. He ripped his second Phase Blade from his waist and activated it, then slammed the pommels together in front of him. He held the combined Phase Lance behind him, then brought it up and spun it overhead before slashing it downward into a ready stance.

"Alright, asshole, let's go!" he shouted as he ran forward, bringing the Phase Lance close to his side. As he neared, he raised the weapon up high and viciously slashed downward with the lower blade.

"Oh, but you see, it's a great plan." Meta replied mischievously. "If I ally myself with them and hold most of my own troups back, having my allies suffer the greatest losses whilst we defeat Xastra's armies, they will be weak afterwards, whilst my own forces will have but declined a little." She grinned evilly.

Edited by Morphman on December 18, 2006 at 16:38:58.

Malvettix also ran foward, and leapt into the air, turning about and striking with his scythe to block R.D.'s attack. As was his trademark style, the dark blades from his coat followed suit, slashing at R.D. from both sides in a pincer movement.

Matt clenched his fists. R.D. was right, he had to do something!

Meta chuckled. "Perhaps they won't join me, but they certainly will join a certain friend of mine." She replied. Her memory of her life before the change by Xastra was pretty vague. However, she could remember some things about it. "I am certain they will join Prince Charming." She said firmly, confident. "That's right Juno, aim for Xastra, so I may stab you in your back."

Meta turned to the Za-Fuzen. "The mere fact you know of him enfuriates me." She said, fairly calm, though a hint of hate and anger sounded in her voice.

R.D. stepped back as the blades of darkness came in, dodging them. The blades of his weapon glowed reddish gold, and he stepped forward again and shouted "Shoenzan!" as he slashed upwards, a burst of flame following the strike.

"Anyway," Meta said. "Yes, Juno the Ancient. How do you know of him?" She sneered. "And while you're at answering questions, who and what are you?"

ZetsumeiRyu: I'm no ordinary Saiyan... I am the son of the legendary Super Saiyan, Broly... My power is limitless... Broly, my father, he is the strongest of all Saiyans, me being his son, I am now even stronger than he is... Broly cause massive destruction everywhere.... He came close to destroying earth... Nothing will stop me... Nothing... So don't you dare tell me there is no hope... Because there is... The other Saiyans may have fallen before this freak, but I still live, I am truly the last of a mighty warrior race... I won't let the Saiyan race die in vain... I'll unleash all of my mighty Saiyan strength on Xastra... I'll do what ever it takes... I've already seen my own planet destroyed at the hands of another tyrant.. I wont let my second home suffer the same fate... *he continues walking*

Malvettix's shadow rose before him somewhat and acted like half of a barrier, R.D.'s Shoenzan bouncing off of the defense.

"You're not worth my time!" Malvettix spat. "Get out of my way!"

Tendrils rose from his shadow and sought to ensnare R.D. in their grip. Before they could grab him, Helena suddenly rose from behind Malvettix and, in a flurry of fangs, engulfed the dark one's head within its jaws. Taken aback by this surprise attack, the tendrils writhed as Malvettix lost control, as his shadow rose around him in an effort to remove the dragon.

"C'mon, Matt, we have him!" R.D. shouted gleefully, chambering a fist back and charging it with light energy. He thrust it forward, firing off a Lightblast. The five shots of superheated light energy sped forward towards Malvettix's torso.

Black tentacles suddenly seized Helena by her round ribcage, flinging her directly in the path of R.D.'s Lightblast. Her scales were strong enough to prevent the attack from tearing holes in her, but she still roared in pain as she sprawled across the dirt.

Matt's eyes snapped to as Helena fell. "Helena!"

He clenched his fists tighter. No, he couldn't stand still for any longer! He had to act!

Wounds where Helena had bit into Malvettix quickly recovered as he focused back on the battle, his sights now on Helena. "Damnable beast! I'll make sure you don't live to try that again!"

"You leave her alone!"

With a battle cry Matt rocketed straight into Malvettix, tackling him to the ground, driving him through the earth due to his incredible propulsion.

R.D. cursed when he saw his Lightblast strike Helena instead of Malvettix. As he moved, he saw Matt finally return to the battle, and he rushed over to Helena. "You okay?" he asked her with concern.

She stood, roaring, and smacked R.D. away with one swing of her powerful arm, stomping back toward Malvettix with claws bared.

Matt grabbed Malvettix by the ankles, and with another cry he lifted up the dark one, slamming into the earth with great force.

"Get OUTTA HERE!" Matt yelled as he drove Malvettix through the ground and threw him back up into the air. As soon as he did that, he drew his fists to his sides. "Megaton..."

Even in the air, surprised by Matt's sudden move, Malvettix still had enough bearing to wave his arm, reform his shadow to create a frontal shield.

"CANNON!" Throwing his hands at his enemy, Matt fired his trademark attack, the beam slicing through the air and smashing into the barrier. Briefly the two forces struggled but the Megaton Cannon won, propelling Malvettix far, far, right over the valley itself.

Even from a distance, one could tell that Malvettix lost his aerial balance and began to fall into the valley proper. With a running start, Helena leapt in the air and began to fly toward Malvettix.

"NO!" Matt shouted at the dragon. "Don't go after him! We've got bigger things to worry about!"

With a growl, Helena turned back around, flew back toward Matt.

"Let's GO, people!" Matt shouted at the others, now without Heartless to fight.

R.D. righted himself and skid across the ground, clutching his throbbing chest. "Okay, so she's fine," he muttered. He heard Matt's order and nodded.

"C'mon!" he shouted to the others as he followed Matt.

Alasea looked over at Aisha. "Go!" the redheaded woman ordered, "I can handle this! Go with your friends!"

Alasea felt torn, but complied with the orders, running hard to catch up. Meanwhile, Aisha turned and readied the Shinokage as Malvettix landed near the Pillar of Dawn.

The group made their way toward the truck, but in the middle of the run, Helena abruptly stopped, and fell on all fours, breathing heavily.

"Helena?" Matt asked, glancing back at the dragon. "What's wrong?"

The dragon growled, and as her whole body shuddered, her expansive wings withered back into her frame, as her whole body suddenly lost its powerful mass upon itself.

"Did she have to do that NOW?" Hugo snapped. "We're kinda in the middle of something!"

"Shut up!" Like a matador, Matt produced a red blanket from his hands, and, approaching Helena carefully, laid it on her shoulders. "There you go...it's okay. Take your time."

***

Malvettix hit the slope and rolled, rolled down into the deep of the valley, the whole experience and force of Matt's Megaton Cannon momentarily disabling his senses.

But finally he stopped, and he lay there, breathing.

"...run while you can."

Malvettix reared up, tipped his head to the sky, grinning. "In the end...you will never escape ME!"

He laughed long and loud to the heavens, his voice almost mocking the holy precense of the Pillar of Dawn.

Edited by The Helldragon on December 18, 2006 at 21:25:06.

R.D. stopped with the others and kept himself to the rear of the group, looking back towards the valley, keeping his Phase Lance ready to make sure that Malvettix didn't come after them.

Alasea knelt down next to Helena. She looked up at Matt. "Is she going to be okay?" she asked him.

===At the Pillar===

Aisha kept her eyes on Malvettix as he laughed, keeping her weapon steady. She was concentrating on an ability to get rid of Malvettix for the time being... hopefully he would not try to return.

Matt watched Helena for a bit, as she took in rapid breath, the last of the scales on her body receding back in her flesh.

This is why I didn't want you to help.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"...yeah."

"Can you walk?"

"...I think so."

"All right." Matt helped up the girl now under his care, as she tightly drew the blanket closer to her frame. "We're almost there."

She nodded shortly, her body still trying to recover, and her steps were small but quick as Matt led her foward.

"Let's hustle," he said, briskly walking with Helena toward the truck.

***

Malvettix noticed Aisha, and he ceased his laughter. With a curt, formal bow, his shadow spread wider underneath him, and he sank into it, until he was gone.

The vehicle turned out to be an extended cab truck, and R.D. quickly got inside and started it up. "Put her in the back seat," he ordered, "I'll drive, I know how to run shit over easily and we've got to move. I'm done taking things to chance."

Alasea got herself into the bed of the truck. "Heh, too bad we don't have your old sniper rifle, R.D.," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. Despite her efforts, she was still tense.

Hsien-Ko helped Hugo into the bed of the truck, then climbed in herself, her claws accidentally scratching the metal beneath her and making an unpleasant noise. She glanced toward the back seat of the truck, where Matt was helping Helena inside. "I hope she'll be okay..."

"...isn't she supposed to be a ghost?" Hugo asked.

Alasea looked through the window at Helena's still form. Seeing her have a corporeal body confused her.

Once everyone was in, R.D. took off. He looked at some instructions that had been taped to the dashboard, discovering that they were directions to the Gateway. "Convienent," he muttered as he started off in the direction of the Gateway.

Matt was confounded as well, having noticed Helena's unexpected solidity earlier. How was this possible? Was the pact that he had made with Helena enough to give her the form she once had?

Helena didn't seem to notice it, the current situation weighing on her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault." After some hesitation, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault."

He withdrew it quickly, his thoughts turning to Malvettix. Never in his life had he been so terrified...was Malvettix truly fear itself?

R.D. could tell what was on Matt's mind when he spared him a brief glance.

"Worry about Malvettix later," he said as he drove, "After we've done what we need at the Gateway."

"It's hard not to," Matt replied. He looked down. "I wish I hadn't froze up...but what he showed me..."

"Well," R.D. said, seeing that Matt wasn't going to let it go so easily, "What exactly did you see?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Matt replied. "Not yet." He still felt so shaken-his hands trembled just enough for him to notice.

Instead, he glanced at Helena. "But my question is...how did you get your body back?"

"I don't know," she replied, weak. "But...I didn't want to go back in that statue anyway."

"That's good," Matt said.

In the face of this fear a new feeling swelled-a fierce desire to protect this girl, this dragon within, from whatever the world may throw at her. He found himself looking at her face, her disheveled hair, almost admiring that rather than the form underneath the red blanket.

He would be a better father than his own, that was for sure.