R.D. instinctively raised his arms up as the wall approached rapidly. He felt as if a wave of ice-cold water swept over him as the darkness overtook him, and he shook his head slightly and shivered. Looking up, he saw himself in a strange new world, one that seemed to suit Dragon Drive FINAL.

There was a low, dull droning sound echoing in the back of his mind, lurking. Again he shook his head, trying to reorient himself. R.D. looked up, and his eyes locked onto the crimson ones of FINAL. He could feel the hate in its burning gaze, but R.D. refused to let it scare him.

"Wh... what's wrong with you!?" he shouted at the entity as he readied himself. "Why are you doing this!?"

Dragon Drive FINAL raised a claw. Its left wing suddenly warped beyond control, contorting into an elaborate, serpent-like creature layered with random, twisted spikes over its surface. The metal snake extended over to R.D., lashing with its fangs.

R.D. dove to the side as the serpent-wing came in, causing the appendage to strike the ground where he had stood. He quickly got back up and aimed his arm cannon at FINAL, firing a concentrated stream of fire from his fist.

"Dammit, Matt, do even realize what you're doing!?" he yelled at Dragon Drive FINAL as he attacked.

The serpent retracted and reformed into its wing shape as Dragon Drive FINAL raised its arms. From the black sky, pillars of broken, black earth hurtled downwards, one pillar destroyed by R.D.'s returning fire.

As one pillar was carved apart by R.D.'s flame shot, he leapt into the air, blinking away sudden afterimages in his eyes. He fell downwards towards an island, turning onto his back while firing upwards with both cannons. With each shot, the pistons slammed down simultaneously to fire a large beam that shredded a pillar.

Four of the attacks were destroyed by the shot, but R.D. found his aim was getting thrown off. He landed roughly on the island and fired another shot at another pillar, only to miss and have it crash down into the island, throwing it off balance. Swearing, R.D. leapt from it and grabbed a hold of another isle's edge.

(OOC: The slashes being done aren't magical energy wavy things or anything of the like, just normal, plain slashes with a lot of power. Meta is right in front of Hydro, he is within reach of her non-oversized swords. Hydro wouldn't have enough space to swing his weapon all around, he would have just enough space to block. And that's that.)

He made it to the top of the tower, and gazed out at the bleak landscape. The entire place seemed to strange and abstract, yet at the same time was so incredibly familiar that he felt at home.

He noticed the cloudy sky, which was gray except for one spot which was orange like a sunset. The rest of the land gray, empty and decrepit, like the world after some sort of apocalypse.

He soon became aware of a presence behind him. As he turned, he almost fell to his knees unconsciously. Standing--rather, hovering--before him was a woman. She carried herself with authority and though, while not physically outstanding in either direction, would still be considered beautiful by virtue of the airs that she carried.

Even so, there was something unsettling about her.

"You have come," she said, in a way that made it clear that there would be no dispute in this conversation. "You have failed in more ways than I would have thought possible, child."

"My name is--" X protested in vain.

"In this world," She replied, "You have no name."

"But..."

"Quit your sniveling."

It was about this time that X had had enough. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened, and he had a hunch that he knew where he was.

"Don't take that tone with me." He said, less of a demand and more of a fact.

"Oh? And where do you get off having that authority?"

"Because this is my mind, you bitch. And dead or not, I'm not about to let you boss me around in here."

"Dead? You are not dead. And I would have helped you return to the waking world, but... I do not feel like it any more."

"Tell me, if I were to die, what'd happen to you?"

"..."

"I thought so. Now, you will help me."

The woman chuckled. "I will help you, if only because you amuse me, child."

"My name i--"

"I thought we established that I do not care." X opened his mouth in protest, but the woman raised her hand. "Hush. Let us not waste our time in idle conversation. I will lend you some of my power. Use it wisely."

At those words, the world faded away and X felt life returning to him. Soon even the woman disappeared from view.

As R.D. was swerving to avoid the pillars, Dragon Drive FINAL's right wing melted over its extended right arm, transforming into a highly technological cannon of massive power. Meters filled as energy gathered to the weapon, until it was released in a tremendous red beam, streaking toward the islands.

As FINAL's wing transformed, R.D. had pulled himself up onto the island. His eyes narrowed as he saw the new cannon, and he leapt up off of the island into the air. The thrusters in his boots and cuirass ignited and propelled him up towards his opponent.

"Dammit, Matt!" he shouted as he soared, "Stop it now!"

Energy gathered into the barrel of his torso cannon as Dragon Drive FINAL's weapon charged up, and simultaneously they fired. An azure-and-red wave of plasma erupted from the cannon straight for the beam, striking and stuggling against one another for a brief second as the energy condensed. It shone brightly for a brief moment before exploding in a wave of iridescent light.

Charging through the brilliant light, Dragon Drive FINAL lashed at R.D. with a stabbing claw motion aimed at his chest.

He had hoped to use the explosion for his own benefit.

Seemed FINAL beat him to the punch.

R.D. was just beginning to move as he saw the ominous winged form of Dragon Drive FINAL piercing the blazing shroud. He couldn't react in time, as FINAL got closer, the droning in his head got louder. The bestial entity's claw struck hard against the Dragon King Armor, shearing through the metal with ease and cutting through the flesh just underneath the collarbone, the tips of the claws bursting out of his back.

The two of them were propelled down into one of the islands, effectively pinning R.D.. The amnesiac teen coughed up blood upon impact, unable to cry out. His hand gripped FINAL's wrist as R.D.'s eyes narrowed, staring directly into the burning eyes of Dragon Drive FINAL.

"Y-you know," he forced out, gripping harder, "She... she wouldn't have... wanted this, dammit..."

FINAL kept its claws in place. It didn't seem to move.

"Wh-why won't you..." he growled, his left arm shaking from the effort of trying to remove FINAL, "Understand that... she would've wanted you... to live?"

It seemed he had no choice. He didn't want to, and he'd still try, but if he couldn't get through FINAL to reach Matt... he'd have to destroy him.

I'm sorry.

"Fine..." he spat, his arm shaking even more where FINAL's claw had pierced his left side, "I have no... choice."

His eyes flashed yellow, and a streak of lightning illuminated them both.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power," he snarled, forcing himself back up as his right hand ignited with Godhand and condensed into a bright green light. "It's burning grip tells me to defeat you!"

His glowing hand shot up, palm open, at Dragon Drive FINAL's glaring visage, intending to grasp and force it back.

"Shining FINGER!!"

The Shining Finger smashed full-force into Dragon Drive FINAL, throwing the creation back a great distance. It hit the ground hard, skidding across until it came to the edge of the island they were on. Almost immediately, it recovered, standing back up. Its claw grasped its cracked, injured face.

R.D. was up on his feet, blood flowing from the wound in his chest and his right arm crossed over it. The glow of Shining Finger blazed for a few brief seconds before fading out, and R.D. looked up.

"We can't keep going on like this!" he cried out, glaring at FINAL, "We were supposed to protect the Multiverse! Not destroy it!"

FINAL whipped its claws foward, as if to launch an attack, but all it did was spread its palm, and nothing else. More of a threat than anything, but at least it wasn't attacking.

R.D. flinched and raised its own arm instinctively, but stopped short of activating Godhand when he saw that FINAL had not attacked. That annoying droning continued on. Green eyes met red in a battle of wills.

"We fought so hard, dammit!" he yelled at the entity, blood and spittle flying from his mouth, "So we could return the Omega Core to its rightful place and prevent it from wiping out everything!"

Images of the temple's destruction and the terrible battle that followed flashed through his mind. He saw Helena's corpse fall to the ground with a sickening thud.

"We fought to stop Core Genesis from wiping everything out!" he shouted, "We knew the cost! Helena gave up her life trying to stop Core Genesis from destroying the Multiverse!"

His final cry seemed to echo throughout this dead zone.

"Don't let her sacrifice be in vain!"

X was aware of his surroundings long before he truly became conscious. He was in the same ruined city, in the same spot he had fallen, but Tracer was nowhere to be found.

In his place were two lower-ranked Templars and a robed man with a katana.

"Look, look. I know Remnant-sama wants this jinchuriki ASAP, but even so..."

"For the last fucking time," One of the Templars shouted, "This isn't Naruto and he's not Gaara!"

Suddenly a purple energy surrounding X's body, pulling him to his feet and moving his limbs through force of will and not through muscles.

"Ah, ah!" The Katana-man cried, "Looks like X-kun is awake!"

The Templar charged at him, both their swords drawn. X lifted his head, revealing a sadistic-looking face with yellow eyes as opposed to his normal blue-green.

Moments before impact, the purple energy literally exploded. A giant pillar of light shone from the earth and could have been seen from space. The energy was such that it could even be felt across the multiverse. This was not--as some would have guessed--because the energy was so vast--though it was of a very respectable strength--but because of its very nature to be felt and noticed by as many as possible.

Later, at the moment of impact, the Templar swords collided with X's chest... and shattered. X grinned an evil grin and smashed the two Templar together, crushing them both in a second.

Suddenly, Katana-man was behind him. X turned and grabbed his sword, which he then snapped with the same lack of effort.

"Ah, very good. X-kun. In that case, I surrender. Remnant-sama can wait."

X paid no heed to him, but instead walked over to his broken sword, which had little left beyond the hilt, save for an inch of blade.

"In any case, it's good that as a civil nomad and a Kensai-saint such as I, that we can come to a peac--" He gurgled, blood spurted out of his mouth. X had stabbed him with the sword.

"W--why?" He managed.

The grin came onto X's face again. "I once stabbed a man in Kenya... wanna know why? It's cuz I wanted to watch him die, kick the bucket, shove off this mortal coil. Gotta say, it's highly overrated." He picked up the sword and walked off, energy still flaring across creation.

Edited by Mega X.exe on September 17, 2007 at 6:47:07.

Its claws spasmed, as if Dragon Drive FINAL had seemed to lose control over itself. With considerable effort, it clecnhed its claws, dragging its limbs slowly to its sides. It tensed, trying to move, but something kept it at bay. R.D.'s words must've had some effect on the entity, but would they be enough?

FINAL's head stiffly moved up and down, trying to regain some semblance of control.

Suddenly, it screeched, expanding its wings in one last ditch effort. Transparent images of Dragon Drive FINAL manifested about the entity, amassing a small army of ghostly clones. All of them screeched as they flew at R.D. en masse, lashing with their claws in various directions.

"Shit!" R.D. swore, running off to the side and leaping off of the island's edge. Along the way, he gained numerous cuts in his armor, but luckily none of them managed to pierce through, unlike the one attack of FINAL's that was currently making his left shoulder throb painfully.

He knew they were flying after him over the edge. As he fell downwards, R.D. turned himself around and thrust his arms up at the legion of copies. Light and darkness gathered into his fists as the arm cannons appeared, and as the twenty pistons slammed down, a pair of Sonic Booms were fired, effectively creating a wall of power for the legion to fly into.

The clones smashed into the Sonic Booms, almost all at once. The resulting display of power burst out in a tremendous explosion of light and dark, surging past both sides of the conflict. As both R.D. and Dragon Drive FINAL were knocked away, the dead zone dispered in an array of streams of light.

To Hugo, on the outside, it seemed like only a second had passed since R.D. was engulfed in the blackness. Before he could cry out, the darkness was banished, and two figures were sent flying from the results with a tremendous force. "Shit!"

R.D. was rather surprised when the two Sonic Booms dispelled the strange world they were in, and he found himself hurtling backwards through the air at high speeds. And at this rate, he was going to fly into the colorful abyss.

His hand shot out and grasped the edge of the farthest island, stopping his flight with a jolt that nearly unhinged his arm. Growling, he pulled himself back up onto the battlefield and quickly looked about for Dragon Drive FINAL.

Dragon Drive FINAL grasped the broken ground, as it tried to rise in the midst of the impact crater it had formed. It was a struggle-its limbs still seemed like they weren't under its total power, as if they were rejecting it. Still, it had managed to stand, and glared up at R.D..

Hugo blinked. What was wrong with FINAL?

R.D. finally found Dragon Drive FINAL, on an island far from his position. When he noticed its struggle, he arched an eyebrow in confusion.

What the... is Matt trying to wrest control?

"Ugh," he suddenly grunted, spitting out some blood. He was in bad shape, and it was probably only going to get worse from here.

"Come on, Matt!" he shouted, "Don't let it control you!"

"Come on, DAMMIT!" Hugo shouted, waving his pickaxe.

Dragon Drive FINAL screeched in defiance, confused and angry about seemingly everything. Noise pierced the air as heavy, green wind blew foward from behind FINAL, streaking toward R.D.. As it passed him, his body became momentarily paralyzed all about, unable to move.

R.D. once more raised his arms up in an instinctive cover as the whirling emerald cyclone swept around him. He realized then that he probably was screwed. He felt his control ripped from him as he was held prone in the air, arms and legs held back and his armored chest prone before Dragon Drive FINAL, all the way across the Eternal Sanctuary.

"Dammit... Matt," he grunted, struggling to speak as he fought against the paralyzing winds.

Within the emerald wind, Dragon Drive FINAL stared at R.D., with those red eyes that seemed to constantly accuse the world of unforgivable deeds. Its wings spread as it extended its arms.

The right hand brimmed with crimson.

The left hand shimmered with gold.

Even with the green wind surrounding the two warriors in a wide hurricane, Hugo could still see them within, and as he saw FINAL prepare its attack, he swore. Dragon Drive FINAL was going in for the kill. It was going to finish it with Hell and Heaven.

"R.D.!" the Mettaur hollered. "Get outta there!"

R.D. struggled and fought, bending his arms and legs back. They felt like they'd break if he continued to struggle. His eyes flashed golden once as the two opposing energies appeared in Dragon Drive FINAL's lethal claws, and emerald eyes stared into crimson as the left hand spiraled with unholy flames and the right resonated with holy light. They challenged FINAL, egging it on to finish the battle, for R.D. refused to back down.

He'd defeat this monster and save his friend, or die trying.

Dragon Drive FINAL brought its claws together before its chest, clasped them together in a single cage.

Hugo had to do something. "R.D.!" He began running toward the green hurricane.

Rockets flaring along its wings, Dragon Drive FINAL shot toward the immobilized R.D., Hell and Heaven driving toward his chest.