R.D. was forced to cancel his second full salvo, dismissing the cannon weaponry completely. He landed on the snow, but was too late to stop Keiser as he decimated Derek in single combat. "No!" he shouted, jet-skating to Derek's reddened form, stopping and kneeling. He ripped off his gauntlet and pressed the white-clothed fingers to Derek's throat, trying to feel for a pulse.

He felt none.

"Dammit!"

There was a keening roar as the dragons mourned the loss of those who had fallen. The human-form Bronze Dragons crossed their swords and stabbed them into the snow, holding fist over heart and bowing towards the body in reverence.

Edited by RisingDragon on June 9, 2008 at 0:54:26.

The Bronze Dragons stepped away and transformed back into their true, gargantuan forms, looming over the gathered armies. Some of the dragons wandered among the slain, using their tails to sweep snow over their forms. Later, they would return here to bury the fallen.

R.D. stood and stepped away from Derek's corpse, using the matter converter to repair his broken gauntlet. His fist clenched tightly.

"I had hoped to avoid this," a female's voice, soft and child-like, suddenly announced. R.D. spun, turning towards the Bronze Dragons. Each one had lowered their heads in an unmistakable bow as something small and winged made its way over to the group. The creature was draconic in its features, and only the size of a large dog. Its hide was a light pink color, and its neck was framed with a short, red mane. The dragon's eyes, yellow-green in color, glowed softly as it fluttered over on long dragon's wings.

"We caught word that Sheena had set a trap for your army," the young dragon said, "And we rushed to stop it. We were too late, and it has come to this."

"Who... who are you?" R.D. asked, his voice hoarse. There was something about this dragon that made him uneasy. Something seemed to stir in his chest as he opened up the visor of his helmet. The dragon turned her eyes towards R.D. and stared at him for a brief moment.

"I am Relayia," she said softly, settling down on her haunches in the snow. "I am the current leader of my people, the Queen of Dragons."

The small dragon bowed her head slightly to Juno as he spoke, and ignored the rest. After raising her head back up, she looked over those who had gathered. "Sheena has called for one of Xastra's elite, the one known as ZetsumeiRyu. We can feel him due to his draconic nature. He cannot hide from us," she explained, "And that is how we found out about the trap that was set. But we believe there is more to this that will come later.

"I have come to make an alliance between our two armies," she continued, folding her wings against her body. "Alone, either one of us will fall and not accomplish anything. That much is certain. We must stand against Sheena as a united front if we are to stop her. In return, when this battle is over we will follow you as you strike at the other Six Beasts of the Dark Apocalypse. Our claws and our fires will supplement your blade. Do you accept?"

Relayia nodded once. "It shall be so," she said, and she looked out over the group. "The first step is to understand your enemy. And to do that, we must tell you about the past, and the creation of the Seven Beasts. You must know of how we defeated Sheena in the past."

The young dragon reached out with a claw and swirled the snows, which became silvery liquid at her touch. Liquid turned to mist and spread out into a large circle hovering in the air before the group. Within the misty screen, images began to appear, reflecting the past memories told in the words that Relayia spoke.

"The Seven Beasts were created by Kuro, for the sole reason of him being able to. He had no particular plans on what to do with them, and thus the Seven, for a while, controlled the planet. At this time, Sheena appeared before us. She was unusual, and unique among dragons, but we did not understand her origins. We didn't know what she truly was," Relayia explained, her voice bitter as the screen displayed the massive dragon surrounded by the smaller true dragons. "A price we would pay for after we had welcomed her among the Tribes."

"The world was full of turmoil as Sheena's brethren terrorized the planet, and it was our appointed duty to fight against them. But at the Gates of Thares, we were betrayed. We were attacked from within by the Ice Dragons, and Sheena herself appeared to destroy us. The battles were fierce. Sheena was always a cunning opponent, full of lies and illusion. And with her brute strength, courtesy of the Dark Balance, we had no hope of taking her on in a direct confrontation," she continued, motioning as the screen displayed the ruined Gates of Thares, where dozens of dragons and ice dragons fought violently in the skies above. "When we lost the gateway cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, we knew it was time to put an end to it. She had gathered the peoples of both cities and slew them mercilessly, while the humans in the surrounding regions figured it that they were cities of sacrilege, Sodom and Gomorrah had become a hiding place for the Ice Dragons, and it was a place of death. In the end, our fires are what destroyed the two cities and cleansed it of the ice dragon filth that filled it. Not God, but us.

Two cities burned as dragons rained fire down upon them, the explosions tearing through the ice dragons as they fought back. Relayia's eyes stared coldly as the image changed to depict two people: Kuro and Awai, side by side, as they met with the Dragon Tetrarchs. "We plead our dilemma to Kuro and Awai to stop Sheena and her treachery. They agreed. But we knew Sheena would find out if we did not do something. The plan would fail if Sheena caught wind of what we had in store.

"One dragon, a young one barely a century into adulthood, one full of hopes and dreams, and a courageous spirit like none other, went ahead and assaulted Sheena's base, and challenged the Dark Goddess of the Ice Dragons to a battle," Relayia said, and R.D.'s eyes widened as a familiar dragon, blue in color with blazing yellow eyes, raged through the air, pursued by a furious Sheena. "That dragon was Bahamut. He was nowhere near as strong as Sheena. But he was cunning, and crafty. He held Sheena off by challenging her pride as a dragon, and maneuvered her away from her base. By the time she realized Bahamut had lead her into a trap, it was too late. Kuro and Awai had sealed her away, leaving us free to lick our wounds, and wait for the day of the Final Rise, where we would fight her again."

The final images were depicted on the screen, as the two Balances lashed out with their powers at Sheena, sealing her away and ending the war the dragons had fought for so long. The screen wavered and disappeared, leaving snow to fall in its place. "Sheena has bore a grudge against Bahamut ever since," Relayia said quietly. "She was defeated and humiliated by a dragon far younger and far weaker than herself. She will not allow herself to fall into the same trap once more."

Matt sighed. "I knew I should've brought a book."

"Sheena must be destroyed," Relayia said, "We cannot hope to seal her away as was done before. The Ice Dragons prove to be too much of a nuisance when we normally engage her in combat, and tend to inadvertently become shields for her during battle. Sheena will need to be separated from the rest of her brood. Kujo will also need to be removed, either driven off or killed.

"As I said before, ZetsumeiRyu is present as well. Undoubtedly he is the one commanding the two who attacked earlier, and there may be at least two more with him. If so, they must be separated from Sheena as well." Relayia turned her stern gaze onto Juno. "As you know, ZetsumeiRyu was created from what was left of Jaden Yuki, or DragonFire. However, we have recently discovered that Yuki's soul is no longer present in his body, it having been removed some time ago. He is no longer your old friend. Aim to kill if you engage him in battle."

Finally, the Queen of Dragons turned and settled her gaze on R.D., and he felt uncomfortable as it became piercing. "You, R.D.," she started, "You will be vital to this. I do not like it, but because of recent events, you will be Sheena's most prominent target."

"Me?" he said, pointing a thumb at his chest. "Why me?"

"As I said before, Sheena beared a terrible grudge against Bahamut. When he died, he performed the Binding Ritual."

Now R.D. felt very uncomfortable, and for little doubt as to why--now every dragon had turned their gaze to him. His back itched underneath the armor. "Binding Ritual?"

"Long ago, we dragons learned how to perform the Binding. When a dragon dies, they can choose to bind their souls to an ally. Their body is reformed into a special, summonable armor called Bound Armor, much like the armor you wear now," Relayia explained, patient as she knew R.D.'s knowledge was horribly limited thanks to his condition. "When the Binding is performed, the host's eyes turn a different color, and have been noted to glow on occasion."

R.D. frowned. So that's what had happened to him. That's how he had gained his Dragon King Armor--it was literally Bahamut's flesh. And Bahamut's soul was inside of him?

"... because of you, my father still lives on inside of you. Sheena will also know this, and she will come after you in an attempt to destroy Bahamut. You yourself will also feel unnatural emotions regarding her."

Hold the phone.

"Father!?" he said, his voice strangled. The dragon nodded.

"Bahamut was my father. When he died, the title of King was passed down to me, his only daughter. It is only done when the King of Dragons is killed prematurely, before the end of their reign."

This was getting creepy.

===Repli-Earth===

The hour passed uneventfully, and soon the J-Bird was hovering over the silent city of Paris. Here, it was still snowing--it was as if the unnatural weather patterns Earth had experienced when the Q-Parts, or rather the shattered Pas-Q Machine, had been broadcasting their incomplete power of the planet had been copied into Repli-Earth as well. Without the sun, the cold city was eerie in its appearance.

Soldato-J looked for the largest clearing he could find closest to the Chasseur base, and directed the J-Bird to land in it. Renais began barking out orders to ready the crew into entering the base, once they arrived at it.

"It is not so simple as that," Relayia said, her voice flat as she spared a glance at Dokuro. "The body is converted into energy. That energy binds with the host's body, and crafts an armor based both off of the original being, and design to suit the needs of the host. R.D.'s Bound Armor changes appearance, however, when certain conditions are met. It is something found in some Bound Armors. I cannot elaborate more into the matter, without R.D.'s permission."

R.D. fell silent. He knew what she spoke of--after all, the Dragon King Armor had changed in appearance, and had grown more powerful, when he forcibly unlocked the Fourth and Fifth Ciphers on Lumiya.

"We must get back on track. R.D., I will not order you to do this," Relayia said, turning back to the amnesiac teen. "But you may be able to fulfill a role similar to what my father did when he first battled against Sheena. Because you will be her primary target, she may ignore the other fighters. This will leave her open to attack from the others. But it may not work--Sheena does remember how she was defeated last time. If you choose to do this, you must be on your guard--Sheena is possibly the most terrible enemy you have ever faced."

Well, I know at least two things that'd give Sheena a run for her money, R.D. thought sourly, thinking of Core Genesis and Dragon Drive FINAL, after Matt had lost control of the entity. Slowly, R.D. nodded his acceptance. "I'll do it. Its the least I can do. I owe Bahamut a lot for saving my life."

Relayia nodded, the ghost of a smile on her face. She soon turned back to the rest of the assembled group. "Remember, if Sheena finds herself distracted by R.D.'s presence, you must use it to your advantage. But you must make sure that few Ice Dragons are in the area. They will protect their mistress with a fanaticism rarely found in any species."

Edited by RisingDragon on June 9, 2008 at 22:57:53.

A dragon swooped in from the skies, landing in the snow before the group. Towering over the group and clad in dark blue hide, the dragon stepped over the few heroes and moved over towards Relayia, who looked at him expectantly. "You were right," it said in a surprisingly feminine-sounding growl, indicating the dragon's gender as female. "There are others ahead. Two beings, both unidentifiable. It is most likely a trap."

Relayia looked back down and closed her eyes. Snow lifted up off of the frozen plains, and settled over Derek's corpse. As with the other bodies, they would return for them later, when the battle was over. For now, the snows would preserve the bodies, and the wardings woven over them would keep everything else at bay. "Warn the rest of the Tribes," she commanded, unfurling her wings and lifting off. The other dragons spread their wings and took to the skies, gliding in the air as Relayia, trailed by the Bronze Dragons and R.D., made their way over to Juno.

"You heard what Seril informed me of," she said to the Ancient. "Be ready. We are not out of the storm yet."

R.D. walked slightly ahead of the group as they traveled, using the Dragon King Armor's scanners to scout ahead. Behind them, Relayia sent a few dragons off on errands, messages to other dragons informing them of recent events and of the new alliance. Their orders were for the rest of the Dragon Tribes to regroup with her and the army. The order was clear--the Final Rise was approaching, and destiny was at hand.

R.D. suddenly stopped as a frozen lake came into view. He raised a hand to signal for the rest to stop. The scanner had picked something up--two life signs, ahead at the top of the hill. He backpedaled to Juno, Reckoning, and Dokuro. "Seril was right. There are two lifeforms up ahead, next to the lake. They're right there as if waiting for something... us, I imagine."

Static flickered across the scanner's HUD, and R.D. cursed. "I'm being jammed," he said as he deactivated most of the functions--it wasn't totally interfered, as the scanner wasn't actually an electronic device. He wasn't sure what it was, but didn't care. "I think they know we're here."

"Be careful," Relayia said, fluttering up to them. "They come."

Dragons took to the air as the enemies appeared, roaring angrily as they readied their potent magicks. The winged beasts began casting detection spells on each member of the group, allowing them to better detect the speedy figure when it came in to attack again. Relayia floated high in the air, powerless when it came to fighting--she was simply too young. Around her, the Bronze Dragons awaited her orders.

R.D. motioned for the others to stand back. "Take care of the guy back there. I'll hold this one off."

He stepped forward and readied himself to stand against this female. Sure, she was a looker, but at the moment R.D. didn't care. For one, she didn't hold a candle to Alasea or Helena, and two, she was the enemy. He thrust his hand out to the side, and a Phase Blade appeared in his hand, activating it and causing its crystalline blade to shoot out. "I'm not the kind of guy to hit a lady," he called out to her, "But you're not acting like a lady."

"What are you waiting for?" R.D. said, cocking his head to the side. "I'm already attacking."

And suddenly R.D. disappeared, as Chaos Control's time power came into effect, and he was right behind the woman, spinning around with a vicious roundhouse kick aimed at her abdomen.

R.D. swore and barely canceled his attack in time, throwing himself back and bringing the Phase Blade up to his side, waiting for his foe to attack. That's a neat trick, he thought sourly. Good thing I know plenty of neat tricks myself.

Relayia narrowed her eyes as she watched the female produce the metallic substance. That could be a problem. She motioned for one of the Bronze Dragons to approach, and began to fill him in on what she planned.

R.D. swore, unable to keep track as the girl body-checked him, sending him flying back into the snow. His armored form, heated by the energies suffused into the armor, cut a groove through it, but he quickly stopped and leaped back to his feet, aiming and firing a Sonic Boom at the woman in order to hit her with the quick counterattack, or at least drive her off. He followed up by leaping high into the air, propelling himself using the thrusters in the back of the cuirass and the boots.

R.D. looked down for a brief second as he flew, and swore. That did not look too good. He increased his thrust and flew higher, outdistancing the Crysis before spinning around and thrusting his right hand out. A large, silver drill shot out of his hand and expanded, engulfing his hand and wrist and becoming larger as it started to spin. He thrust it out at the incoming attack only moments before it struck, and there was a blaze of white power as it clashed against the Giga Drill he created.

It cleared within moments, and when it did, it revealed R.D., hovering in the air with the Giga Drill arm held at his side, the entire drill bit covered in a bright white aura of power, swirling and pulsating at the tip. Okay, that's a neat trick, he thought briefly, knowing that the Crysis was held within the Giga Drill. "Hey lady!" he shouted down at the metallic woman, "Ya dropped something! Have it back!"

As he roared, he swung the Giga Drill back downwards at the woman, and it flung the Crysis, which had now been converted into pure, raw energy, out of the Giga Drill. The attack flew back at the same speeds the Crysis had flown after him, streaking in at her rapidly and filling her vision.