"Very well, but I suggest we at least inform Dargor of the events that may turn the tide of our slowly decaying world. Maybe he'll give us his whole force...maybe." Bryant suggested before then going to the teen's idea. He seemed to know a bit more than Bryant, so Bryant was forced to trust him.

"Then what's your army?" Brandon asked as Bryant then took his time to think about Dargor and his shadow people. They would be in peril soon, if not already for Dargor's meddling with Gouki in Japan. But war was coming and Bryant knew they would need allies just as bad as Bryant and company did.

Meta noticed the creature scurrying away from her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked at it getting away, then turned her attention back to the arena. There were more important things than little cowardly creatures running away from her.


~ Japan ~

Maya put up a bit of a doubtful expression. "But... there are people daddy trusted, and they turned out to be really bad people." She said in a slightly sad-sounding tone as she walked with Alasea, holding on to her hand.

Edited by Morphman on November 1, 2007 at 21:48:58.

"You'd have to show me on a map where Dargor's place is," R.D. said, frowning, "As I don't know where it is. Like I said, large jumps with Chaos Control is difficult, so I could easily overshoot if I'm not careful. But, that still raises the question on how you'd get a hold of the Dragon Tribe."

R.D. looked over past Bryant towards the living room, seeing Alasea walk in with the now-awakened Maya.

Alasea looked down at Maya and squeezed her hand gently, smiling reassuringly at the girl. "R.D.'s my friend, and I can trust him," she said, "And as for the other three, if they turn against us, me and R.D. will protect you."

"I'm sure the dragon tribe will know where they are." Bryant said, simply. He knew that, and hopefully they would be willing to help. Bryant had sat himself back down and leaned on his hands, fingers intertwined. Brandon turned, quirking a brow. A rather peculiar thing to say...he looked back to RD.

Maya looked around the group she saw. She didn't see Mercy, only grown-ups, three of which Alasea apparantly didn't trust. Maya rested her eyes upon RD for a moment, having heard that Alasea apparantly trusted him. She pointed one of her fingers at him, still holding Alasea's hand. "You look weird." She said in the blunt manner of a child's statements.


~ Nightmare Realm ~

Meta looked around as she suddenly saw the fighter's stopping in the midst of combat and everyone within the large hall turning their faces and eyes towards her. The expressions upon them seemed awkward to her, unusual. "Heh." She let out, then stood up. "Rumor travels fast, I hear." She directed her words to the crowd, albeit speaking in a manner as if she was addressing merely herself. She let her eyes wander over the crowd. "Yes, I am the new Keeper of the Dark here. Anyone got a problem with that?"

The amnesiac teen sighed at Bryant's statement. "You don't get it, do you?" he said, "The Dragon Tribe are most likely at Antarctica, and they are not going to leave to pick up a human army. Not in the middle of a war."

R.D. raised an eyebrow at Maya when the girl pointed and spoke. Just how am I weird-looking? he wondered. "Good morning to you too," he said instead, keeping an eyebrow raised at the girl. This ought to be interesting--he had no memory of ever having to deal with young children.

Edited by RisingDragon on November 2, 2007 at 13:01:47.

"Well I guess we're going to have to go with the army you mentioned. I'd like to know what it is, please!" Brandon said fiercely, annoyed by the fact he was ignored earlier. Bryant didn't respond anymore. Apparently he didn't make it clear that the tribe could direct them after the battle with Sheena. Even if that weren't the problem, it wouldn't be that big of a sacrifice if the Knightriders turned out to be valuable assets, but that would have to wait until Japan.

"Ugh." Meta landed rather hard on the sandy floor of the fighting ring. As she tried to get up, she noticed that the sand had an odd colour, and felt slightly wet, as if it had been soaked with blood. A bit of a strange smirk appeared on her face. So they want me to prove myself, eh? She thought to herself.

"Fine then." She uttered, then got up and stretched her back to stand at her full height. "Any of you who wish to die, come and fight me then!"


~ Japan ~

Maya looked up at Alasea after having apparantly decided that the others present were not gonna be a threat to her. "Where is breakfast?" She asked. "I would really like some now."

R.D. grinned and leaned back in his chair. "Juno's army, of course," he said, clasping his hands together in front of him. "They've been hunting the Seven Beasts for a while, and they've already defeated one of them. I imagine that they'll be headed after Sheena at some point. We can attack her with them."

Meanwhile, Alasea chuckled as the boys had their argument. She looked down at Maya when she asked her question and said, "Just a moment or two." She let go of Maya's hand and strode over to the kitchen. As she did, she looked over her shoulder and asked, "Anything in particular you'd like?"

"Do you have pancakes?" Maya asked Alasea. "I like those with honey or peanut butter and jelly."


~ Nightmare Realm ~

Meta looked around at her assailants. The gorillaphant ad the griffin seemed the most threatening to her, but she knew she shouldn't underestimate any of them. She heard the Nightmare God's voice within her mind, and answered him.

No. They want me to prove myself, than I shall do so on my own.

"Heh, one move?" She said to the Griffin. "You're lucky I'm not psychic, I would've killed you with a mere thought."

Her hands ignited with energy, just as she normally would have in a situation like that, but instead of purely elemental energy, the energy was crackling, black and purple, alien to the feel, yet it somehow felt familiar to her.

"If I can defeat the four of you in one move, I guess there is no need for waiting. Come at me."

Meta ducked and moved gently out of the way to avoid getting hit by the dark energy balls and the shadow vomit. She covered her ears as the Griffin let out a wail, and she fell to her knees. The Gorillaphant that was storming at her didn't seem to be affected by the wail. When she saw the creature coming at her, she got up and reached out with her hands to block the creature's giant steel hands. She did not know the creature's full strength, but she guessed that, if she indeed was the new Keeper of the Dark like Xoquoxitill had promised her, that she would be able to block the attack easily. Afterwards, she would grab the Gorillaphant by it's arms and, with the same amount of strength that had allowed her to stop it's attack, throw it at the other three creatures present, after which she would unleash blasts of the strange energy she had surrounded her hands with at the foursome.

Meta looked around her, seeing the creatures that had opposed her destroyed and the entire colosseum having collapsed, with all the spectators having fled due to fear of being erased from their petty existance.

"Wow." Was all she could say. She held up her hands and looked at them in awe. Suddenly, a grin came to her face, and her eyes seemed to get a bit of a wild look to them. Then she started to giggle, before the giggle became laughter.

"This is great!" She said in her glorious triumph. "I didn't try to overdo it but I just did it like that!"

Meta looked around at the rubble she had created, the malign look still on her face. It quickly changed to a more casual, slightly serious expression, as she now realised that she had gained a lot of power, and that it perhaps might be enough to beat Hydro the next time she faced the Dark Beast.

"Juno?" Bryant questioned, a bit warily. Brandon looked down, at Bryant sensing the discomfort in his voice. Bryant then nodded at bit calmed.

"I guess I'll have to thank him for being so stupid back in hell, for allowing Naze to escape..." Bryant mumbled to himself. He remembered back when he was inside Blazen's mansion, when it was considered his memories and mind. He and Juno attempted to stop Maya from going to Naze, however Juno was preoccupied with Maya to bother with Naze. That is why Naze escaped...Bryant hadn't heard or seen of any of them sense.

R.D. nodded, "Juno. I know you had the assassination mission against him, but if you're with me, I'll prevent you from facing Juno's... unpleasantness. But now, we have business to attend to."

R.D. stood up from the table as Alasea quickly set about making pancakes for the girl. "Alli, I'm taking the Hartnetts out to scout," he said, causing the girl to stop and look behind her.

"Why?"
"I don't trust NightShade, that's why," he replied, putting a hand on his hip, "He might not show up, but that doesn't stop him from sending others to attack us."
"Will you be alright?" Alasea asked, concern in her voice. "I mean, you had a dangerous battle with him yesterday."
"I'll be fine," he said, "If I can hold my own against NightShade and FINAL, I can handle anything NightShade sends at me."
"Alright," she said, going back to her work, "You be careful out there."
R.D. nodded, then went towards the entryway. "Come on," he said to the Hartnetts, "Let's go before something ambushes us."

===In the Nightmare Realm===

He was one of the few humans who stood in the Colosseum in this unholy realm. He was clad in brilliant silver plate mail, a large, kite-shaped shield strapped to his arm, cobalt in color and depicting a simple silver dragon on its front. A full helm was held between his arm and side, the only opening on it being a thin slot for the eyes. A large, expertly-crafted sword was attached to his cuirass' back, clad in a black scabbard. Brown eyes stared out beneath the scraggly black bangs of long, rugged hair, and his face was craggy and harsh-looking, showing the stubble of a beard starting to grow.

The warrior had participated in this colosseum many times since he arrived in this hellish realm, using it to train himself, to become even stronger. He developed mental guards, to prevent the incident that put him here in the first place from happening again. Battles raged on, drowned out by the roar of the crowd. Monsters surrounded him, each one cheering on the battles before him. It was strange, most of these things he would kill in an instant back when he was still alive.

His eye caught the sight of a ebon-skinned woman being thrown harshly out of the stands into the battlefield just as the last battle was mopped up. An eyebrow raised up as the demon shouted out the declaration that this woman--the Keeper of the Dark?--would participate in the battle. Coming here, he had quickly learned of the Keeper of the Dark and of the Nightmare God. If this woman was the Keeper of the Dark, she'd have untold power. And being thrown out so unceremoniously into a colosseum by her subjects? Yes, it was time to leave.

The man quickly made his way out of the stands and into the stone corridors of the colosseum, winding through hallways he had just memorized the paths through. The man fitted his helmet over his head, and strode out the massive portal doors. He did not care what would happen to this place--he had hardly endeared himself to the denizens here, having viciously killed some of their best fighters in battle.

He hadn't traveled long before the colosseum was completely destroyed. His armored form was flung roughly away by the winds, and the man bounced uncomfortably down a hill, his armor jarring with each impact. After a moment or two, he stopped moving, and soon picked himself back up and gathered his discarded equipment. He looked back at the smoking ruins, and frowned before putting his helmet back on.

With the commotion that was bound to be coming, it was time to leave this hellhole and return to the world he lived in, under the cover of chaos.

The wild madness that had come with the power started to subside again, to slowly wither away and disappear not much time later. Meta bowed her head and her eyes closed, preventing the vision of the colosseum turned into rubble from burning itself into her mind. She bowed down, set herself on the ground on one knee, and put a hand on the cold, red, wet sand of the colosseum floor. Xoquoxitill's words rang through her mind.

This technique is a personal favourite of mine. It allows you to communicate with the realm and sense anything happening in it.

She tried to focus her newly gained power within her mind as well as the ground of the realm, thinking that that would allow her a view of the surface of the realm, even of places far away from her in the physical aspect of things.

It worked. She had firmly focused on not overdoing things this time, despite the fact that this technique seemed to be harmless and incapable of destroying anything, save perhaps her own mind by showing horiffic visions that she couldn't bear to see.

With her mind's eye, she viewed the hordes of DarkSteel creatures running for their lives, away from the colosseum, away from the rubble and destruction, hoping that they would be spared, that they would not be killed by the new Keeper of the Dark. She smiled at their attempts to flee, she considered them unworthy of going after. Besides, she might need them later, these pitiful minions. They might be strong, although she herself certainly was a lot stronger, as had been proven by her so easily destroying her opponents, as well as the place of battle and anything else in the near vicinity. Her mind's ear also hear the noise of something crashing down, and when she turned her mind's eye, she saw to her surprise that it was a stand of some sorts, or a cart, with big yellow and red letters on it spelling out "POPCORN". She did not know whatever this "popcorn" was, but she didn't care, she just giggled at the fact that it had come falling out of the sky, and enjoyed the fact that she had apparantly launched it into the air.

She looked further, beyond the monsters that were fleeing, because they did not interest her, not now, not anymore for the time being. Emptyness came next, wide open space, strangely shaped hills in dark colours, and then she noticed a shining figure, clad in armour. Her mind's eye lingered on the figure for a moment, inspected him, his --in this realm-- otherworldly appearance and weaponry. After having looked at him for little over a minute or two, and her mind's ear having listened to his movements, but not having heard a voice speaking out, she turned her attention away from him, and her mind returned to her body.

Meta opened her eyes and let out a sigh. The experience of using the technique Xoquoxitill had spoken of had been great, giving her a tingling feeling within her chest that was weird, but one she enjoyed. She rose up from the colosseum floor and cast a look at where she had come from. She turned and started to ascend the rubbled stone stairs, careful not to stumble or trip over whatever lay there due to the damage she had caused to the building. Within her mind, she thought of contacting Xoquoxitill. She remembered that he had spoken of one other god with equal skill and power that could possibly help her, only one other, no more no less. She wished to know the name of that god, and where she could find him, her, or it.

Bryant and Brandon followed him, Veronica staying behind, upon Bryant's instructions. Bryant had walked beside Brandon, the two following RD out the door and into the wilderness outside. Brandon gave another glance before he looked back to RD. Bryant was already moving ahead towards the nearby woods. Keeping his pair of 9mm ready at his sides.

As R.D. stepped down from the deck of the house, the cobalt, violet-blue, and silvery-blue plates of the Dragon King Armor appeared around his form. "Just yell if you see something," he said, looking about, "I'll not be far from here."

R.D. looked up into the air and then jumped upwards, activating the thrusters on the back and boots. Once he cleared the top of the forest, he held himself aloft with wind energy and let the visor of his helmet close down, activating its scanners. Almost immediately it detected something inhuman.

R.D. whipped around towards the Pillar of Dawn and spied the familiar black shape of Lee. Growling, he activated the matter converter and created the two hip cannons and torso cannon. "Heads up!" he shouted down below, "Enemy at the Pillar!"

Alasea detected the presence almost immediately as it appeared, and R.D.'s shout reached her soon after. Her hands stilled, her work interrupted as she stretched out her senses and drank in the power of the Pillar of Dawn. Outside, R.D. rocketed towards the Pillar and the intruder, covered in the radical blue aura of Lumiya's power. He cut his flight short nearly two dozen feet in the air, several meters away from Lee. He armed both arm cannons and aimed all five weapons at Lee.

"Certainly didn't take you long to get back here, Lee," he growled at the shadow creature as the Pillar of Dawn began to shine brightly as it responded to the Daughter of Dawn.

===In the Nightmare Realm===

The armored man continued his harsh trek, moving through the alien landscape, slowly gaining ground from the ruins of the destroyed Colosseum. Hundreds of DarkSteels were rushing past him, each trying to get further and further away from the newly-crowned Keeper of the Dark. He himself never hurried and never slowed. He kept his pace even. There was no need to wear himself out by running, especially with this heavy plate mail he wore.

No, he would conserve his strength for when it was needed: when he escaped this hellish prison.

R.D. kept his aim steady, gritting his teeth behind the visor when Lee addressed him. He hated that fucking name now, tired of people addressing him by a title whose meaning he couldn't remember. Few people didn't address him by such: Alasea, Matt, Hugo, Helena, Aisha. Friends, few and far between.

Oh well.

"And give me one reason why I should let you see her," he stated emotionlessly, keeping weapons trained on the transformed Greek.

Bryant wasn't too far behind RD, having both 9mm's aimed at Lee. He didn't fire, but kept aim steady. Brandon was next to him, holding the SADAR close. Both waited for RD to fire or to lower his guns before they did anything more.

Meanwhile, inside, Veronica had froze and crawled to a nearby window. She pushed herself up and looked out to see Lee, again. Yeah, not good. She bit her lip, nervous.

Slowly R.D. relinquished his hold on the wind energy, and using the thrusters, lowered himself to the ground. The hip cannons folded back into place, but R.D. still kept one arm aimed at the shadow creature. The ring of light around his wrist pulsed softly.

"Why are you here?" he inquired quietly. This one had better explain himself before he gets the chance to talk to Alasea. Sure, Lee was more honorable than their other opponents, but until he proved himself otherwise, he was still an enemy.

Maya watched as four of the five others went out of the room and disappeared out of her sight. Moments later, she noticed that Alasea seemed to look a little upset, and she had stopped working on the pancakes. "What's wrong?" The little girl asked the big one.