R.D. rolled out of the way, the bladed wing slashing into his right pauldron for his trouble. Stabilizing his flight quickly, the amnesiac clenched his left hand, causing the power and lightning to flare around it. With another flap of his wings, he shot forward at Malvettix a short ways to make it more difficult to counter. "Tenrai... Hadouken!!!"

He thrust his left hand forward, and the power exploded out of it, the immense force shoving R.D. back in the air. Gold lightning flared out around him, forming into a sort of protective spherical shield around him. A massive beam of blue energy, dwarfing both R.D. and Malvettix's human bodies, lanced through the air, surrounded by hundreds of white fireballs.

Kalmar gave a rare chuckle at the woman's reply. "Yes, I guess you are correct. I think a small adventure to retrieve a toy for you is in order.. especially after what you have done for me."

The Demon Hunter watched as Blazen inspected his new weapon, nodding approvingly at the wicked looking sword.

"So, shall we get this quest underway? Or is there anything else you would like to inform us of beforehand?"

Malvettix brought his arm before him, and both wings curved in front of him to block the Tenrai Hadouken. The massive energy blast disparsed in many directions, pouring over and under the wings as the beam pushed the dark one back through the air. Grinding his fangs, Malvettix threw out his arms, parting the wings and dispering the last of the beam.

On some silent command, the familiars flowed together into one shadowy mass, which reformed into a nightmarish weapon, brimming with dark energy at the fanged barrel. "Devil Pulse!" Like the Dark Blast, it fired an explosive beam of dark energy, but more focused and powerful.

Edited by The Helldragon on July 21, 2007 at 22:59:05.

R.D. growled in frustration as the Tenrai-Hadouken was deflected, and threw himself out of the way of the Devil Pulse. He barely avoided it; he could feel the heat of the dark energy through his armor. Using the aura wings, he flew upwards into the air high above Malvettix. As he sheathed the Phase Scythe, a ring of light appeared around his right wrist, while energy pistons extended from the forearm. He activated the scanner in his visor interface and readied his weapons.

Energy gathered into R.D.'s right fist as he spun around in the air, facing Malvettix. As he stabilized, the hip and shoulder cannons swung into firing position as energy gathered into their barrels. The scanner locked onto Malvettix, and R.D. fired his armor's Full Salvo. Twin red-and-azure beams lanced from the two shoulder cannons, while another pair of golden energy blasts erupted from the hip cannons, and a concentrated ray of green energy blasted out from his fist as the pistons slammed down, launching all five beams at Malvettix.

===In Germany===

"Yeah, don't get killed," Ellie said, "And next time, don't pick a fight with a Daughter of Dawn. It's bound to end in disaster."

"Devil Pulse!" The darkness beam fired again, smashing into the beams R.D. sent at him. Briefly, the two opposing forces struggled.

"Your armor certainly has a great amount of power," Malvettix remarked, "but you won't be able to defeat me."

His eyes narrowed. "That honor...is not for you."

As the wings rose, the ends shifted into demonic fanged cannons, smaller versions of the one firing Devil Pulse. "Devil Pulse Imperium!" They fired their own beams, which swirled into the main beam, magnifying its power.

R.D. was forcing as much power into his armor's weaponry when Malvettix fired the Devil Pulse Imperium. Oh you damn godmoder... He snarled as the beams he had fired were shattered, and the massive beam lanced through the air into R.D.

The amnesiac teen screamed as he disappeared within the massive explosion, as smoke and fire billowed out everywhere, and the world seemed to shudder from the shockwave.

Edited by RisingDragon on July 22, 2007 at 1:23:46.

The Templar threw X to the ground. X caught his breath.

"How... how did you find me?" He panted.

The Templar smiled. He pulled out a giant two handed sword and chuckled.

X dove for the crystal-bladed sword and brandished it.

"Is that...?" The Templar's eyes widened. "My, your power has grown greatly if you think you can wield that."

For the first time, X smiled. "Let's dance, you and I."

"I will keep that in mind, Daughter of Dawn. We will return with this 'Perfect Weapon'.. I am not so weak as to die on some fool's errand." Kalmar spoke calmly to the woman, but a hint of venom underlaid every word.

"Alright, Blazen.. shall we?" The Demon Hunter motioned to the mountains in the direction Ellie had pointed them in.

Blazen rolled his eyes as be began to turn towards the mountain. Like he would head a warning like that. Blazen was never one to turn down a fight, no matter the chances.

"Yeah...whatever." Blazen mumbled, "Let's go Kalmar." He then said, walking for now.

Kalmar quickly caught up to Blazen and slowed to match his companion's pace. The day continued to pass by in silence as they slowly ascended into the mountains.

Blazen took the first step on the rugged surface of the mountain. He slid the sword down the back of his jacket, it between his shirt and jacket now. The cross kept the sword from falling down his jacket and out.

Blazen then leaned forward and took another step forward. The mountain wasn't too steep now, but there was no made path. All there was were rocks and chipped areas of the mountain. Thus the two would really need to climb. Blazen stepped forward further, leaning forward still in case he slipped he would go forward against the mountain.

The sun was nearly set now and the moon would be soon to rise. The glare of the sunset sun was what little light of day left to give clear sighting of what was in front of the two. Blazen however would not stop, he would trust that the little light of the moon would be enough to see and continue up.

Kalmar followed his companion up the rough mountainside. The sparse vegetation that clung to life near the base slowly gave way to rocks and dirt as they climbed higher.

Suddenly a faint energy signature caught Kalmar's attention, and he stopped momentarily to orient himself toward it.

"We're close.. I can feel it." With that he began climbing again, only with renewed vigor and purpose.

After we find this Perfect Weapon', I will prove to that woman that I am no weakling. Kalmar's thoughts were still focused around the Daughter of Dawn that had imprisoned him so easily.

Blazen looked over to his companion a bit questionably, but just nodded. He looked back up, grabbing a ledge and pulling himself up further. He grabbed another and continued to climb. The sword in his jacket began to poke him a bit through his shirt, but he wasn't bothered.

"How close?" Blazen asked, a bit of the way up now, hugging the mountain side.

"Depending on the strength of this weapon she spoke of, we could reach it before the moon reaches it's peak.. or by sunrise tomorrow."

Kalmar grabbed a ledge and almost lost his balance when the rock crumbled beneath his grasp. The stones echoed as they skipped down the mountainside, leaving the man with one arm dangling out into the abyss behind them.

He quickly found another hand-hold and pulled himself upward, still hoping to finish this quest quickly.

"I have this feeling inside me.. it's telling me that there is something waiting for us. A weapon with the amount of power Ellie described could not simply sit around without some simpleton being drawn to acquire it."

Edited by Fallen on July 22, 2007 at 13:39:21.

"I am not about ready to fight someone else who'll take two of us to kill, Kalmar, so shut up." Blazen commanded, "If we don't think about something like that then it won't happen." Blazen tried to assure, but he felt the same, sadly.

Blazen soon found a larger ledge, pulling himself up with both hands to find a small cave and a fairly large plateau. He rolled on, after lifting a leg onto the edge. He stayed low, hardly trusting his balance at the moment until he was further away from the cliff.

"You think it could be in there?" Blazen asked Kalmar, who he would assume would be right next to him.

"I wish that trick worked, Blazen. Yet so far, the mastery of such mental magic has escaped me." Kalmar spoke as he pulled himself onto the newest ledge they had found. He commando crawled away from the edge before getting into a kneeling position.

"Hold a moment." Black flames seemed to slowly appear from Kalmar's armor, covering his entire body as he closed his eyes. A few moments later the flames vanished and he stood, looking at Blazen and back at the cave mouth before speaking.

"It seems that is the start of an intricate network of tunnels. The weapon's energy seems to be resonating from higher up, yet also from within the mountain. So our choices are as follows." Kalmar held up his hand and as he counted their options he held up a finger for each.

"One, we may enter and search underground for this weapon. Two, we continue to climb and hopefully find a more direct route to the weapon. Or three, go back to Ellie and ask for a map." Kalmar chuckled as he shook his head, "I for one think that our best bet is any option but the third. That woman gets on my nerves."

"Despite you and her differences, the third sounds nice, but most likely she doesn't have one. So for the other two...I suggest we take both. One continues on and the other goes underground." Blazen suggested looking into the cave, "I think I should go down there, I can light my way better than you can." Blazen added, because he'd rather not have to continue climbing and would leave that to Kalmar, if he could.

Kalmar nodded at Blazen's suggestion and walked over to the rock wall and started climbing again.

"I will see you inside then. Don't get lost.. or eaten." With those words hanging in the air the Demon Hunter began his monotonous ascent, using every available hand and foot hold to prevent himself from slipping.

Blazen nodded with a smirk and lit up a hand. He turned to the cave and began in, the mouth being lit up brightly by the flame held. The light went further than a torch could provide and thus made it more suitable.

Blazen stopped at a turning point and peaked down the way, turning off his light. He then flicked a flame down the tunnel. It skipped a few times before finally stopping at a giant moving structure. The structure turned, showing it was a giant centipede.

"Don't get eaten." Blazen repeated as he showed himself with another flame in hand. The centipede slammed the back end of its body against the wall as it turned to Blazen. Blazen smirked and ran at the creature, who ran at him, opening its mandibles, ready to devour Blazen.

Blazen shoved the flame down the centipede's mouth and jumped back. The creature wailed in pain from the heat but then went at him again. Blazen snapped his fingers and the flame inside the giant insect grew and burned through the creature. It bellowed further in pain and soon the entire tunnel smelt of burning bugs. The smoke left through the cave's mouth and Blazen walked through easily enough, only to lose his footing and fall down a shaft.

Damn you, Blazen, Kalmar continued to tell himself as he lifted himself onto a ledge and rolled for cover. A large reptile-like bird clawed the ground where he was only moments before, shrieking at it's lost prey.

The Demon Hunter looked behind him and realized he was in a small opening, and the Perfect Weapon's energy signature seemed to be getting stronger. It's either that, or kill those beasts and keep climbing.

After a very few moments of deliberation Kalmar decided to enter the tunnel. He crawled through the opening and on into the darkness, hoping there was nothing ahead of him. He hardly had room to move, but to fight would be a different matter.

Edited by Fallen on July 22, 2007 at 14:42:17.

Blazen landed with a thud, a loud one. He groaned and slowly pushed himself up. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, being sure he had a clear view. There before him...was darkness. Just darkness. He groaned again and stood, leaning against a wall he was lucky enough to land next to.

Blazen lowered his head a bit. He was very dazed from the fall and could hardly believe he wasn't knocked out cold. He pushed himself off the wall and slowly began forward. He stumbled and felt something catch him. He turned and there was a flash, of a tall man, in a suit. Blazen saw the man's emotionless purple eyes before it seemed like nothing was there. He shook his head again and continued on.

Blazen ran into another wall and reached up for a ledge, luckily he found one and pulled himself up. There was another tunnel. Blazen lit up a flame and saw that the tunnel went up ward. Lucky him. Blazen then trudged forward, a bit shaken from the fall still. He stumbled slightly back forth, but he was able to stay on his feet.

Ellie was sitting down on her bed in her house, reading a book Aisha had given to her as a gift when the woman had first scouted her out for the Daughters. She was humming when a thought came to her.

"Maybe I should've given them the map to the mountains," she mused, then giggled. "Oh well, too late now."

Kalmar finally reached the end of the tunnel he was crawling through and found himself in a small room. There was a tunnel leading down through the floor, but that was the only way out besides the way he had just come from.

"Wonderful. It's a good thing i'm not claustrophobic or anything of the sort." Kalmar began inching his way down the tube when something pulled on his leg and he lost his footing, crashing into a worm-like creature. It had attached itself to the walls with it's mouth pointing toward the entrance, awaiting some idiot to try and go down it.

"It must be my lucky day." The Demon Hunter shot a corrupted energy beam through the creature, effectively blasting it to goo moments before he realized the shaft went on. He fell downward into the darkness, his body colliding with the walls every few feet.

Edited by Fallen on July 22, 2007 at 14:53:24.

Blazen continued forward before hearing something coming down the tunnel...fast. Blazen paniced, but found another tunnel to his left and ran in quickly. He watched as some figure slid down the tunnel. Blazen sighed in relief and continued down the newly found tunnel.

Blazen felt a bit crowded soon as the walls seemed to close in on him. He must be near the peak if things are becoming narrower. Blazen then found shaft, or rather it found him. However, this time he was able to catch himself on the other side before he fell. He pushed himself back up and leaned against the wall.

"I'm tired of falling." Blazen said breathlessly as he closed his eyes. He needed a rest for now, that fall did a number on him, and he hardly noticed until now.

Malvettix let out a horrible laugh, "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!" It was safe to say that the fool ought to be out of commission for a while after being hit by that attack. Now he could focus on more-

"Smooch to the motherfuckin' DUUUUUDE!"

Malvettix turned his head just has a heavy, red armored fist smashed into it, courtesy of Matt. It seemed like your normal powered punch, yet Malvettix shot back a great distance as the result, plummeting to earth before recovering in midair. He landed just as Matt landed-his eyes fell on the red arm.

"Allow me to introduce you to my new friend!" Matt said, clenching his fist, his other hand in his pocket. "I call it Strong Arm Tactic! And you're gonna get REAL acquainted with it!" He shot at Malvettix, brandishing Strong Arm Tactic. "Let's GO!"

Kalmar hit the ground and slid across the pitch-black room, slamming into the opposite wall with an audible thud. He groaned and sat up slowly, looking around with cautious eyes.

What he saw was a huge pile of bones, from random creatures. Some he recognized as human, yet there were many others that he did not know. Throughout the ceiling there were a multitude of holes, much like the one he had just fallen down.

"I guess this is those worm's.. boneyard." Kalmar shuddered at the thought and went to a random hole. He sent corrupted flames soaring up through the tunnel, and upon hearing the worm-like creature die he began ascending it.

Gotta get there somehow, he thought, hoping to find the 'Perfect Weapon' before something happened to it.

Hearing the shriek of the dying worm, Blazen awoke from his just few moments nap. His vision was a blur at the moment, thus he was confused on where he was. He finally remembered and stood up with a yawn. He then felt a quick jolt of pain and fell back against the wall. That was followed by what seemed a mocking chuckle. Blazen looked around for the source, but found none. He sighed and began his trek to the weapon.

Already it seemed like hours have passed sense they began on this search. Blazen had a strange feeling it would be all for naught. He wasn't sure, but something just whispered in the back of his head, saying it would be. He sighed and began to feel an incline, he was going up again. Hopefully, Blazen was going in the direction of this weapon...hopefully.

"Very well!" Malvettix dashed back toward the fight, toward his intended adversay. "Let's test this new power of yours!" His claws flashed as they reared to strike. "How will you destroy me with it? Tell me! How will you do it?!"

"Like this, BITCH!" Matt snapped as he threw Strong Arm Tactic foward. He had done it quick enough to smash into Malvettix, driving into the dark one's face. The impact sent Malvettix flying back the way he came with explosive force. The punch was a wild one, with a big enough swing that Matt had to reposition himself due to the weight of Strong Arm Tactic.

Edited by The Helldragon on July 23, 2007 at 1:05:17.

Kalmar reached the top of the tunnel and stood up straight, stretching out muscles that had the feeling of being cramped for hours.

He began thinking about time and wondered where Blazen was. I hope he didn't get eaten, Kalmar thought with a wry chuckle.

"Blazen!" The Demon Hunter called out into the cavern, hoping his companion would be able to locate him. He summoned an orb of corrupted fire and let it float to the top of the cavern. The orb grew as it ascended, soon enough to light the cavern.

Though this was not for the Demon Hunter's benefit, it was for his companion. If he was close enough to see the light.

Blazen's ears perked up a bit when he heard his name. He turned around and looked down the incline. He stepped down a bit, toward where he thought the source was.

"Kalmar?" Blazen called back, hoping it was him.