Alasea giggled slightly. "Yeah, its sort of like that," she said, "And there are a lot of Reaverbots there. When we got to Kattelox, we found Juno and talked to him about how we'd garnered the attention of two of the Seven Beasts. He was able to assign us a squad of Reaverbots, but shortly after we got attacked by one of Donovan's minions, and then again by a monster named Diablo."

Alasea remembered what had happened after that: Diablo had continually summoned more and more monsters for them to fight while he dueled R.D.. The only reason they were saved was when a dragon showed up and attacked the monsters.

"We were saved by a dragon, believe it or not," the Daughter of Dawn recounted to her two charges, "And not just any dragon. It was Bahamut, their king, that saved us. He'd help us out a number of times during our adventure."

===In Repli-Earth===

"What makes you say that?" the crewmember next to Jim asked, having heard the man mutter as he washed the oil off of the steel walls. As he washed, he looked over his shoulder to spare a glance at Matt as he went about replacing some part in EnRyu's leg unit.

===In Paradise Lost===

The mask of Ziatoch's form still looked over Lust imperiously, as the black tendrils retracted, dripping black fluids that sizzled as they struck the dead ground.

You are not to harm Damian, the Eternal commanded of the vampiric entity, Nor shall you harm any other of My minions. Damian! Take this one to the depths of Shayol Ghul. Let him feast upon his pick of the prisoners that have taken. Choose from the cache belonging to those loyal to My rival. I have other plans for the natives that have been captured.

"Mmmm. Kid falls outta the sky and Taiga just up and trusts him with robot repair. I mean...I don't think Taiga's crazy or anythin', but that kid's got that weird armor attached to him...God knows he's not something else out to get us."

Now Maya's little mouth hung wide open as she stared at Alasea in disbelief. "Bahamut?" She uttered, her voice even higher than it already was normally. "Th-the big... shin ryu?" She whispered the words softly, as if speaking them aloud would make them any less true and awesome. The young girl then fell silent for a second, before starting to smile wildly and beam. "I pet him once!" She stated.

Alasea blinked at Maya's reaction. "Really?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "How'd you accomplish that?"

===In Repli-Earth===

The crewmember near Jim spared the man a sidelong glance, pausing his work for a moment. "Well, we've got that J fellow around too, and he wears strange armor. But I don't see you complaining about him."

"Yeah, well, J helped us out...but he was a Zonder, too." Jim went back to sweeping. "I dunno...I guess I'm just cautious. But I'm gonna be keepin' an eye on that kid..."

(OOC: Just a note, the emerald flame was propulsion from R.D.'s back, not the actual attack.)

Red and orange metal struck the icy drill, causing sparks to fly as R.D. and Kujo entered a contest of strength. A tectonic shockwave was released by the Shell Bullet, and R.D. found himself forced back by the recoil of the blow. Grunting, R.D. landed back on the Riptide's deck, pivoting as he landed in a circle. Tiny flakes of metal fell to the deck from his fist, disintegrating into prismatic dust as they touched.

As the amnesiac teen landed, the triple-missile launcher above the cabin locked on and fired one of its cruise missiles, sending it straight at the ice beam and detonating, canceling the attack. R.D. launched himself back up into the air back at Kujo, cocking his fist back once more.

"Annihilating Second Bullet!"

The middle bullet piece on R.D.'s back broke apart, releasing another jet of emerald flame. Flying faster than before, R.D. spun in the air and sent his fist out in a vicious right hook at the ice drill, the strength of his attack now doubled from his first Bullet attack.

===In Repli-Earth===

The man grunted. "You do that," he said, returning to his work, "Just don't get in trouble."

The moment Ziatoch gave the order, Damian was moving his arm toward Lust once again. "As you wish, my Lord," Damian said simply, as for at least the third time in the hour he was enveloped by Gouka. He really did need a more fancy way to transport than just being consumed by Evil Fire.

The result though, was instantaneous. The twisted and warped space-looking stone let out a slight movement of dust as the two landed softly. "Come, Lust," Damian said softly, leading the way into Xobelisk.

"Well, it was not very easy..." Maya said, her grim fading only slightly away from her face. "I met him once when I was with daddy while he was talking about how hard it is to make dragons or sumthing like that. I tried to get up un 'Mutie's back by climbing in a really really big tree and jump down, but I missed." The little girl hung her head. "My butt still hurts." Immediately afterwards, she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sowwy." She muttered very softly, only slightly hearable behind her hands.

Alasea smiled slightly and pat the girl's head reassuringly. "It's okay," she said, "Don't worry about it."

Sitting back down, the teenager said, "So, where was I? Oh yeah. Well, Bahamut saved us and told us to escape. He provided us some super-boat to cross the ocean with, while he ended up fighting Sheena, who apparently followed him. We were chased by monsters across the sea, but we managed to evade them, thanks to Matt."

Leaning back, Alasea looked up at the ceiling. "Naturally, we got attacked again when we got back onto the mainland. We were really popular back then."

===In Germany===

All was silent for a long time after Ratayu disappeared. Then there was a thundering sound as Kalmar, in a fit of rage, slammed his mutated fist into the ground. "Dammit!" he yelled. All of this damn hard work to secure the Sword of Perfect Darkness, only for it to be stolen right from under them.

The Devil Guardian Armor disappeared in particles of violet light that scattered from his body. Trotting over to Blazen, he frowned, checking him over. In Blazen's critical condition, it took them days to get back down the mountains, with all of its pitfalls and mutated inhabitants, where Ellie waited at the Pillar of Dawn.

"What happened?" she said in a hushed voice as she rushed over, looking at them. Kalmar laid the fallen God on the grass, and Ellie knelt down, spreading her hands out and channeling the Pillar of Dawn's power across him to heal his wounds. Blue light emanated from her hands, casting a pale glow on Blazen's body.

"We were attacked by a mutated Devil Guardian," Kalmar said gruffly, clenching his mutated claw into a fist, "I was able to defeat it, and it did... something to me. And then we got attacked by some man in armor. He took Kinslayer."

Ellie's eyes shot open wide, fear suddenly evident in her eyes. Kinslayer stolen? One of the Seven Perfect Weapons, stolen!? "No!" she said, almost shouted, "No! We have to get it back!"

"I know!" the Demon Hunter growled, "But that freak kicked our asses like it was nothing!"

The silence was pregnant as they waited, Ellie continually healing Blazen. Their minds raced--Ellie with what to do, on how to get Kinslayer back, Kalmar furious on how easily he had been defeated yet again. "You said the Devil Guardian did something to you," she said slowly. "What exactly did it do?"

"After I beat it, its body turned into shadows and wrapped around me. When it was done," the Demon Hunter explained, "I was wearing... this."

With a thought, Kalmar closed his eyes, and particles of violet light settled onto his form, creating the Devil Guardian Armor once more. When he opened his eyes, they glowed a dark crimson beneath the black visor. The entire frame flexed as he moved, causing vermilion light to pulse along vein-like lines in the fabric beneath.

Ellie's eyes widened in shock. "It Bound to you?!"

"Bound?" Kalmar asked, the term escaping him.

Ellie sat back, her healing continuing without her as she weaved flows of power into a healing rain over Blazen. "Some creatures can willingly sacrifice themselves and bind their souls to someone they respect. Their body forms into armor that can be summoned at any time, called Bound Armor. And the armor is exceptionally powerful. The process usually changes the person's eye color. And they can glow... kinda like yours are doing right now."

By some miracle, Kalmar paled as the armor was dismissed, a remarkable feat considering his complexion. "You mean... I have another demon's soul stuck in me!?" he roared. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. Not another monster lurking inside of him like some sort of disease. Bad enough his wife infested him with the soul of a Za-Fuzen monster! Now he had two beasts within him, along with his own.

"It's not like that!" Ellie said quickly, "Its different. This won't try to mutate you, its a symbiotic relationship. Its given you its power. The two of you are one now."

Ellie looked down as she stood up, brushing dust off of her skirt and loincloth. "I'm surprised that a Devil Guardian can Bind," she said, "Dragons are the most noted for Binding."

"Here," she said, holding a hand out to Kalmar's arm, "Lemme heal you."

Edited by RisingDragon on March 6, 2008 at 23:38:41.

Blazen groaned a bit, awaking. He attempted to sit up, only to cough up some blood that found its way into his lungs. He fell back again. His head was pounding as if several bombs were exploding in his head, and wouldn't end. He held his head weakly with his left hand. He couldn't feel anything but that. The shouts and cries of both parties were dulled out by the pounds of Blazen's blood in his ears. God the pain. It seemed to him that at any moment his head would split open and his ears would explode from the excess blood.

"Kalmar?" Blazen asked weakly, faintly. He tried to see, only making shapes. Blazen prayed to god it was him, and the other was that one girl. Blazen head began to pound harder. Unable to hear a response anyway, Blazen groaned louder, his head getting worse. His groaned soon turned to sharp hisses of pain then to horrific shouts. The pain increased rapidly like the heart of a person going from walking to sprinting. Blazen began to roll around on the ground, holding his head. He rolled into a fetal position. A dark aura would cover Blazen's body, black fire in a tight circle around him.

Blazen's hands that were tightly gripping his head soon let go. The pain wasn't gone, but Blazen's mind was at the moment. The aura and fire remained as Blazen's clothes and such changed accordingly. The god slowly stood, a blank stare in his eyes. His tri colored eyes soon became a solid purple. He stood, handing his body towards the two. He panted, seeming to be rid of the pain. Then suddenly he jerked his head and body up, standing up straight. Life returned to Blazen's eyes. Blazen straighted himself into a perfect posture. His heels clicked together an a pole of fire was made between his palms for him to lean on. And so leaned he did.

"And so I return..." The god said unemotionally. Then in that instant, after the words were said, the god darted forward. He seemed to indistinctly recognize the daughter of dawn, targeting her. Blazen, or whatever took the form of Blazen now, swung his pole, it being made of fire. The fire would slash across her face and blast out to set her on fire. After that deed would be done, Blazen then would quickly, and skillfully duck down, assuming an attack, then jump back and over Kalmar. Blazen would face his body downward and fire a burst shot of black flames onto the demon hunter, only to land behind him. The God's back would face the two, a new pole made to replace the old.

"Blazen?" Kalmar said, uncertain as Ellie tried to heal his wounds. The Daughter of Dawn also looked over at the God as he awakened, glad he was alright. However, it soon turned to horror as Blazen's body begun to show signs of possession, and she quickly backed away. Kalmar's eyes widened as the dark aura appeared, and he was suddenly filled with terror--this power was unlike anything else he had felt before, even when they had fought against Donovan.

As he backed away, he clenched his fists, filling them with a bar of dark mist, and his giant demonic greatsword appeared. Ellie's hand flashed with light, creating her own weapon, but Blazen moved too quick for her, and the fire-pole struck her hard across the face. She was sent sprawling backwards, slamming hard into a rock and bouncing.

"Ellie!" Kalmar shouted, looking at her as it happened. He quickly turned and struck, slashing with his greatsword. The black blade cleaved the air in a horizontal swing, but Blazen had already managed to duck under it, and the flames struck him in the back as Blazen jumped over him. Rolling with the burns, which were only minor for someone like him, Kalmar flipped around and thrust his clawed hand forward, launching a wave of crushing darkness at the God.

Veronica ducked to the side as the ice beam came down. She grunted as she landed, obviously unable to help much more. Veronica gave a 'tch' of frustration before retreating back into the cabin. There Bryant was reloading his SADAR then quickly fired on four more dragons.

"I think we need more firepower." Veronica stated between pants. Bryant nodded, reloading his rockets once more.

"I know, but this is all we got." Bryant responded, shooting again.

"What about the Earthquake?" Veronica asked hesitantly. Bryant paused as he reached for a rocket. Bryant then dug into his pocket finding the cube that was the tank.

"Let's just hope the place won't sink." Bryant then chucked the cube onto the deck. With a great light the tank formed next to Brandon.

Bryant and Veronica jumped in, as Brandon continued to fire, covering them. Bryant and Veronica got into a couple of places quickly. Bryant got onto the main guns on top. Bryant then took aim and fired the two rotating barrels into the sky. Veronica did a bit of searching for a use for her. Then, she brushed on a large blue button. On the button was a sticker saying 'The Boom Button'. Of course her womanly uneasiness made this emergency enough, so she decided to use it. She pressed the button.

Outside Brandon was then bumped by something ejecting from the tank. He looked over to find that a cannon came out. Following it were several others, seeming to cover the tank like a porcupine around the main gun and around the windshield. Bryant quickly jumped onto that spot, dragging his ammo with him.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Brandon yelled, covering his head. The cannons then, without command other than Brandon's words perhaps, all fired at once. They shot off rockets all peppering the sky with explosions. There must have been nearly fifty cannons shooting and shooting into the sky. Brandon braved to stand. His head was ringing from the explosions but he could see all the explosions well. With a grin he fired up the chain gun again, and began firing from his point.

"CRY SOME MORE! AHAHAHAHAH! CRY SOME MORE!" Brandon roared and laughed manically as the cannons continued their assault along with Bryant's and Brandon's.

. . .Germany. . .

Blazen gave a grunt as he quickly responded by spinning the pole that sat between his hands. With a single hand he spun the pole rapidly. The dark energy was nullified...then absorbed. Blazen placed the pole onto the ground. The stared blankly at Kalmar for a moment before then keeling over in pain. With several coughs some dark mist and tar like liquids were expelled from Blazen's body. Blazen then began to stand again, straight. Some of the tar liquid would drip from his mouth before being wiped away.

"It seems this body won't accept the darkness..." Blazen mumbled before planting himself once more firmly. Blazen would then shove the pole into the ground. The pole would drill a hole into the ground. Once the hole was made Blazen would lunge forward once more. This time his intent was physical damage. With skill and wariness of the great sword, Blazen would begin to run to the left, then jar to the right before cutting back to the left. At this point Blazen would be fairly close to Kalmar, and hopefully confused the demon-slayer. Blazen would then drive a fist into Kalmar's face.

"Blazen, what the hell are you doing!?" Kalmar yelled at his comrade, ducking under the punch and driving his shoulder at the God of Fire to knock him back. If he succeeded, he'd grab Blazen's wrist and fling him back over his shoulder, into another rock. As he moved to attack, Ellie stirred, then quickly got back up and readied her giant sword.

Blazen was indeed tossed, but seemed effected little. He landed on his feet, balancing himself on the top of the rock. Blazen then created another pole of fire, placed it on the ground, his palms holding strong and leaned forward. He thought about how to handle the two. Ellie was Blazen's main target. Whatever intentions the whatever was inside Blazen, wanted the light carer gone and in darkness. Blazen then would allow this pole to dig into the ground, through the rock. The rock cracked and crumbled. Blazen jumped off.

Then once the second pole was within the ground, both shot up from under Ellie. They would both pass by her arms, hoping to disarm and temporarily disable her slightly. Blazen saw less threat within her than he saw in Kalmar, ironically enough. Blazen then would, once Ellie would be disabled, run back to Kalmar. He wouldn't attempt a punch but went for the same spot. Blazen, instead, created a ball of dark fire and would jump back and shoot the fire, aimed at Kalmar's face.

Ellie rolled between the two flaming poles in a deft maneuver, getting her hair singed in the process. As she alighted back on her feet, she hopped off to the side while swiping with the Rakukojin, sending out a whip-like tendril of white flame at the God's back. As the girl attacked, Kalmar managed to duck under Blazen's attack, the flames missing him by mere centimeters. Clenching his mutated fist, reddish-black flames enveloped it with Devilhand. Rising up smoothly on his legs, Kalmar made a vicious uppercut at Blazen's chin, hoping to knock him backwards.

A miscalculation, a grave one at that. Once the whip took a wack at Blazen's back, the spirit within Blazen quickly knew of defeat. The being had used much of its energy already and with the expelled darkness from before it only grew weaker. Blazen was knocked down into the that was Kalmar's and Blazen fell back first. The being took a moment to decide as the shell remained motionless on the ground, blood seeping from the bitten tongue.

"It seems...I have miscalculated." Blazen finally spoke, seeming to wake up. He sat up, then stood up, wiping his mouth and lips. He then turned to Kalmar, the blank purple eyes seemed to try and pierce his soul, and more importantly judge the amount of darkness within that soul. The eyes continued to read for a moment before the body began to seem to hang. It was as if every bone in the body was dislocating.

"You may not have me however. I shall be free...and I shall devour all of the darkness within all life. There shall be a new day...a day where there is no night or day. Where there shall be no gods or demons. All it shall be...is dark." Blazen said, unemotionally. With only the legs still firm, Blazen then lunged forward at Kalmar. The being would regain control of his body then, jump around Kalmar. Blazen would aim a palm near the back of Kalmar's neck. The black fire, covered in darkness warped together for another effort at a life. The ball then would shoot out. It would race past Kalmar's neck at break-necking speed. The ball would then suddenly open up and attempt to swallow the daughter of light within the darkness that was manifested by the being. The darkness would attempt to eat away at her and destroy the light within her.

Kalmar's neck craned as the blast shot past him, and Ellie's eyes widened in shock. She barely managed to throw herself out of the way. A dome of darkness expanded from the rock it consumed, and as it cleared, it was gone.

"Blazen!" Kalmar roared in desparation, flinging himself back from Blazen, "Get a hold of yourself!"

"It's not him!" Ellie shouted, pushing herself up. She glared at Blazen, her humor gone. She was breathing heavily now; she recognized the attack Blazen had used against her. Only one person was known to have used such an attack, and that gave her more than enough reason to fear.

"What!?" Kalmar said, looking back, "Then who is he?"

"It's..."

She breathed again, bringing Rakukojin up with both hands. "It's Naze Nightfield."

Blazen stood, the being within him, seeming to ponder that name. Naze Nightfield...yes...that was its name, his name. The purple eyes seemed to give a bit more life, but not of Blazen's, of Naze's. Blazen regrew his pole, placing it firmly between his clicked together feet. He leaned forward on the pole of fire. For a moment he stared at Ellie, Naze seemed to have gotten more and more popular over the centuries. This almost made him smile...almost.

"Yes...Naze, that is me." Blazen said monotonously. He looked down to the pole, or his cane perhaps. Though it was not his cane, it was a fine substitute, well for this situation, it was. Blazen then twirled the pole a bit. He stopped it and placed it under his armpit along with his left hand holding it. Blazen then began a walk in an outside circle around the two, his head into the sky, seeming in thought.

"It...has been awhile sense I fed." Blazen looked back directly at Kalmar, "You seem like a source of darkness..." Blazen almost made it seem like a compliment rather than just a fact. He stopped after walking in a half circle, keeping the distance. He placed the pole back on the ground with a slow nod.

"But in order to feed...I must be released..." Blazen continued, then spreading his arms out, dropping the pole as it became sparks, "Then kill Blazen. Kill him now so that I may feed. I, the darkness, command you Kalmar. Kill Blazen and feed me." Blazen commanded, though kept a very bland tone.

Maya giggled a little. She was greatly enjoying Alasea's story. It certainly was different from the fairy tales her mother used to tell her. It was more like those stories she overheard her sister talking about at rare times, the ones that were hardly ever mentioned when it her presence was known. "So," The young girl giggled, "are you not used to being popular?"

"Kinda," Alasea replied to the girl, "But honestly, it wasn't me who caused us to be so popular. They were pretty much after Matt and R.D. the whole time."

Suddenly, she frowned. She remembered exactly what happened next--the Demon Hunter.

"At first they were just after Matt," she said slowly, "After an artifact he had. But after we ended the battle on the mainland, someone named Kalmar Uverth attacked R.D. and nearly killed him. I don't know... what... that man is. He had a demon's arm, and seemed to think that killing R.D. would redeem him or something. I don't know why, but when R.D. beat him, he spared him and let him leave. But he's been paranoid of meeting him ever since."

===In Germany===

"What!? No!" Kalmar yelled, bringing up his greatsword to defend himself. "I'm not killing my friend!"

Kalmar! Ellie's voice suddenly sounded in his mind, I can stop Naze! I have a plan, but we need to hold him off before I can enact it!

"Friends?" Blazen questioned quirking a brow, "You have no friends, Kalmar. You are a demon, a being lower than that of even scum!" Blazen then said with a bit of venom. He then seemed to take a deep breath as if to recollect himself. He exhaled through barely parted lips then looked back the demon slayer.

"But I can change that..." Blazen continued in a more clam tone, "I can make your arm no longer become a curse. I can make you live your life as you would again. All I ask is you use it...one...more...time." Blazen placed a hand on his chest, indicating he wanted the body to die. Naze wanted freedom and would go to whatever lengths to get there. He would lie if he must. But would Kalmar know that?

There was a shockwave of power released as Kujo stopped R.D.'s attack, and his eyes widened in shock. This isn't gonna end well, he thought, struggling to pull Shell Bullet from the beast's grasp. "Okay, that was impressive," he shouted over the din of combat to Sheena's second in command, "But can you beat this hand of mine, burning red!?"

The armor panels on his left gauntlet shifted over his hand as he activated and condensed Godhand, channeling fire and light into it. A ring of fire blazed from his back as R.D.'s hand glowed a bright reddish orange. "It's loud roar tells me grasp victory!" he continued his battlecry, thrusting his hand forward at Kujo's head. "Bakuretsu God FINGER!!"

A powerful stream of light-infused flame erupted from his glowing hand, blasting out in a stream at Kujo's head. If this didn't dislodge him, R.D. thought, then things were gonna turn ugly.

===In Germany===

Kalmar opened his mouth to respond, readying to say--

"No!"

Kalmar looked at the side at Ellie's sudden shout, and suddenly threw himself to the side as a globe of SaintFlame flew through the air at Naze. "I'm not gonna let you free, Naze!" she shouted, readying Rakukojin for battle as she leapt up into the air.

Blazen threw a leg around, kicking the globe to the side, allowing it to crash into part of the mountain. It wouldn't have hurt the body enough to kill it, so why suffer the discomfort? Blazen then landed as Ellie jumped into the air. He stood straight, watching the giant blade. Naze opened his arms out, as if to accept the blade.

"Yes, Ellie, do the work for him..." Blazen said blandly. It really didn't matter who killed Blazen, as long as the body was broken, Naze would be free.

A rocket streaked through the air, landing just in between the two elemental streams R.D. and Kujo used, erupting them in a massive explosion. R.D. found himself dislodged, the Shell Bullet damaged along with his armor, but grinned down at Brandon and gave him a thumbs up. As he fell back through the air, the third and final bullet piece disintegrated into emerald flame, and R.D. rocketed up through the air at Kujo's underbelly, fist leading the way.

"Exterminating Last Bullet!!!"

===In Germany===

Even as she readied her giant sword, Ellie was readying the spell needed to defeat Naze for good. But instead of attacking with her weapon, her foot lashed out in a quick side kick, aimed at Blazen's head, one that should send Naze flying across the clearing to the side, and into the rocky slope of the mountain.

Edited by RisingDragon on March 16, 2008 at 16:54:50.

Blazen had caught her ankle when she attempted such. This wouldn't do as a killing attack, not at all. Blazen squeezed on her ankle, noticing how fragile and soft it felt, of course, contrary to that, she wasn't. This was a Daughter of Dawn after all. Not one to be taken lightly at all. So, without much other thought, Blazen would then instead push her to the side, in a way so that she would need to spin to catch herself. And when she would, Blazen would quickly come up behind her. He would squeeze her hand holding the giant blade and raise it to Ellie's neck. Blazen would also take hold of her other arm, to prevent any interruption.

"Now Kalmar," Blazen would begin once more, "I give you one more chance. Kill Blazen, or the girl dies." Blazen ordered, still in a very bland tone. Blazen would then push up the blade, closer to the daughter's neck.

Kalmar froze, unable to do anything as Naze held the girl hostage, throwing Ellie around until she was held into place. But even as he watched, Rakukojin disappeared into particles of red light, dispersing quickly. With the weapon no longer threatening her, she quickly nodded her head forward, then threw it back at Blazen's gut, hoping to surprise Naze and force him to loosen his grip on her.