(OOC:Eeep...Its been quite sometime I last posted on this forum and yeah I was pretty busy ;P)

It struck the Wolf with a thunderous roar and the Wolf howled in pain. Soon enough, the Wolf collapsed and it did not seem to twitch or moved. Draken sigh with relief and realized that he had forgotten about his friend hanging up in the pole.

He drew out his ruby sword and looked up.He seems to be in a pretty bad shape He sliced the pole into half and then the ground begin to shook. Slowly, the pole came down and Draken was quick enough to grab Zex.

Draken placed him onto the ground and dug into his pockets. He pulled out a small sack and took out a bottle, quite like the size of a toddler's foot. Inside it was a liquid which was quite brownish. Draken threw away the cork of the bottle and immediatly opened Zex's mouth, pouring the brownish liquid inside.

"That should do it!" Draken muttered under his breath and looked around. What was surrounding him was just a lake, the dead body of the cheif and the dark-looking trees of the forest. He got up and picked up his friend. Hmm...I guess we just have to sleep in the forest for the night...

Edited by DrakenHell on August 31, 2008 at 10:39:25.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Matt mock-flailed. "Personal space!"

Renais quickly let Matt go as the others laughed. She herself was smiling. "I think you'll be glad to be rid of my remarks, kid," she said, "But if you find your friends, I think you're gonna get more of them from that robot, Hugo."

"Yeah, Hugo's a trip all right," Matt remarked. "He'll be glad to know I had someone to verbally spar with while I was gone."

Now it was Taiga's turn to approach, and he offered a strong hand toward Matt. Matt shook it as briskly as possible. "Chief, it was a real honor working alongside you."

"I'm glad to hear it." Taiga saluted. "Good luck."

Matt returned it. "Thank you, Chief. I'll do my best." He extended a big wave at the robot brothers. "Hey, guys, put in a good word for me when you get home, will ya?" he shouted. "Too bad I couldn't meet the girls but tell 'em I was swell, okay?"

"Alright!" EnRyu shouted in return, raising a hand up in a salute to Matt, along with HyoRyu, FuRyu, and RaiRyu. "You take care, you hear?"

"Right, let's get this show over with." Matt dug into his pocket for the crystal, and pulled it out as he walked away from the gathered crewmembers. "Who's ready for a light show?"

With a flourish, he dashed it against the ground, to no visible effect.

"...well, that was disappointing," Matt remarked, turning.

"Are you ready?" the Chronomancer asked when Matt faced him.

"GAHHHH! DON'T DO THAT!" Matt took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Very well." The Chronomancer extended a gloved hand, and through his power, created a rift in the air before them that swirled with vibrant colors. It produced no suction like the rift the Flux had entered in.

"Well, this is it, guys!" Matt shouted. "I'll be seein' ya!"

He probably wouldn't...but what else was there to say?

"Be careful now!" Liger called, waving. "Don't get into too much trouble!"

"You go give that Magister guy hell for us!" Hyuuma roared, as many shouted farewells welled up from the crowd.

Draken placed Zex on the ground and sat down. The light wind blew at his face and Draken smiled. He closed his eyes and he all he could hear was the gentle breeze and Zex snoring softly. Draken finally fell asleep.

.....

The sun shined and Draken woked up. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He realised Zex was still sleeping soundly, drooling. Draken chuckled to himself and stood up. "Let's get something to drink..." He walked towards tbe river and when he reached the river, he gasped. The body of the cheif was gone. Did someone or something took his body away? He then spotted something on the ground where once Wolf's body lay. He walked towards it and saw that it was ashes.

Draken scratched his chin and wondered, Did his body turned into ashes or someone burned his body while I was sleeping? But it was that someone would not have burned the body, as it might start a fire or Draken should have managed to smell the smoke as Zex usually said that he has a great sense of smell. Draken dugged into his pockets and brought out another bottle, this time it was as big as his hand. Carefully, he placed the ashes into the bottle.

Draken usually like to collect things after an incident and Zex called him crazy for doing that. Thoughts about the disappeared body made Draken forget about getting some water and he decided to leave the town with Zex immediatly, as he knew that Wolf's minions were still around as he had not killed all of them.

Matt paused before the portal, back facing the crew, and looked up at its impressive size.

Without looking back, he flashed a thumbs up. He already said what he needed to say to Papllion last night. Nothing to get mushy over in public about. She knew how grateful he was. That was good enough.

He'd probably never see any of them again, the people he had treated like family for all this time. He had to go out on a clever note.

Matt glanced back over his shoulder. "So long," he shouted, "and thanks for all the fish!"

With that he leapt into the rift, and was consumed within its swirling energy. The Chronomancer followed, and once he had done so, the rift shrank on itself until it was nothing, and the night sky became unlit once again.

"We're lost, Siegfried," a short boy with spiked red hair said.

Very slightly in front of him Siegfried walked uncomfortably in his entire set of crystaline armor. It shimmered in a way that could easily blind the unprepared from numerous angles that the boy had given up trying to look at his partner out in the sun. The long-haired Azure Knight responded irritably in a German accent, "I've told you, Lance. I know where we're going. All we've got to do is follow the sun."

Lance rolled his eyes from beneath a pair of metal rimmed sunglasses, "Is that so? Well, we've been following your track all day, and I believe we're in a bit of a bind if you're following the sun. It moves after all. Plus, I think you might have a bit of a tough time walking there. Why couldn't you have just asked directions from that farmer a mile back?"

Siegfried decided against retorting on the sun comment, as he had taken into account the movement, "Ask for directions? You'll understand when you're older, kid."

A look of pure death could be found beneath the sunglasses, but the boy's face turned slightly pink at the comment. Muttering slightly, he said, "I'm not that young."

The Knight, who had been trying in vain to get back at his partner for the sarcastic comments for most of the day, took advantage of the situation, "Oh I'm sure. So then, how exactly old are you again?"

Now fully muttering, the boy said shortly, "Twelve."

An inevitable laugh came from the blond-haired knight as he continued, "Ah that's right. I win." Siegfried laughed quietly at this but was quickly silenced when Lance gave a painful reminder of what his magic could do to him. "No need to go there, Lance." The two continued walking in a silence for a short while, until as Siegfried was glancing at the horizon in a suspended gaze, Lance spoke.

"Finally."

"What?"

Lance rolled his eyes again and said, "Stop day dreaming at the sunset, Siegfried. We finally made it." The boy made a vague gesture toward a place in the distance, not but a couple of hundred meters ahead.

Siegfried chuckled quietly, "Told you it'd work."

"You got lucky."

"I thought you didn't believe in luck."

"I don't need to believe in luck for you to be lucky."

Within a minute or two, the pair finally found themselves on moderately civilized soil of a village they had been searching for for quite some time.

There was a quiet, hollow booming sound as the interdimensional portal closed up and disappeared. There was a light scattering of dust that blew out from where the portal was, fluttering about the anomaly's leaving. The crew of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard stood there for a few moments longer, no one among them speaking after Matt and the enigmatic Chronomancer had departed from Repli-Earth.

Renais closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath, brushing a strand of red hair out of her eyes. Turning around to look back at Guy, J, Mikoto, Papillon, and the rest of the crew of GGG, she asked only one thing.

"So what more crazy shit is in store for us?"

===Argentina, South America===

A light wind was blowing over the grassy plain that blanketed the area around the village, and numerous people were walking back into the village proper as the sun came close to setting, the day's work completed successfully without incident, another day of work to be completed the following morning. One of them, a young woman with almost bronze skin and with long, brown-blonde hair tied up to the back of her head, clad in jeans and a colorful shirt, carrying a basket of picked fruit in her arms, stopped for a moment and looked back down the road with clear, hazel eyes.

She froze when she spotted one--no, make that two, two figures walking down the road. She could barely make out the second one, whose presence of was much less significant thanks to the taller, shining figure next to the person. Others were noticing the figures now, turning to look at them, murmuring among themselves as they two approached. The girl narrowed her eyes slightly to try and filter out the gleaming light and get a better look at the figures.

Please don't be trouble, she prayed silently, wishing the troubles spread out across the rest of the continent haven't reached here, where there had been a relative peace. Please don't be trouble.

Before the two had reached the town, Lance said quite clearly to Siegfried, "Dibs."

Siegfried was slightly startled from this comment, but on narrowing his eyes he saw who Lance must have been referring to. "Dibs... What? You can't just call dibs on her. Besides, how can you even see her well enough to call dibs?" The Azure Knight gave an annoyed glance at Lance and shifted his armor slightly, the dust that had caught between the plates grated unnaturally with a shivering sound.

Lance ignored the unpleasant noise for the first time that day and proceeded to simply tap his sunglasses, "Oh believe me, Siegfried, I can see her much better than you." A wide grin split his face mischevously, and Siegfried's turned red.

"Lance that's disgus-- she's way older than you!" Siegfried said indignantly as he eyed the people that were beginning to form on the edge of the village with apprehension. How friendly were these people really? He vainly brushed a strand of hair that fell over his face and used this motion as an excuse to check that his sword was still firmly strapped to his back. The people on the edge of the village didn't look unfriendly, just slightly anxious if anything. It was natural after all, especially if they'd seen the sword by now. "Lance. We really should be a bit careful on how we approach the--"

However, before his sentenced was finished he realised that his partner was no longer at his side, and had taken it upon himself to act as a scouting party and dash ahead. Siegfried's turn came to roll his eyes at the inanity before him. "Good luck trying to act like a mature adult like that, kid."

From Lance's perspect, however; he just cared more. The boy soon was at the entrance to the village, leaving Siegfried partially smogged by a cloud of dust in his wake. Deliberately walking directly for the young woman who had initially spotted them, he took a strikingly polite knee and bowed his head in a fashion that may have indicated honor somewhere in Europe, but out here the chances of procuring the same result was slim. Nevertheless, Lance hacked onward, "Would it be too much of a burden if my partner and I were to stay as temporary residents of this simply breathtaking village of yours?"

The girl's eyes narrowed a bit more for a moment as the smaller figure moved, then widened in surprise. Others raised their voices and began moving at a quick pace towards the village as they saw the same thing. She herself dropped her load in the dusty road, the fruit bouncing slightly in the basket as it touched down. She backed away slightly, then turned and ran, ducking behind a house.

She pressed her back up against, biting her lip slightly as she heard the person coming, running towards the village. She cringed slightly as she heard the person stop near the building; of all the places, the person stopped near where she was. She had to have been spotted, and she silently cursed her bad luck. She listened to him speak, and after a moment it finally registered that the person was speaking English. Running the words through her head, she translated them from English to Spanish, and quickly got the gist of it. She peeked behind the building at the person, realizing he was only a boy. Looked to be European, too. What in the hell's a European doing in Argentina? she thought.

She swallowed slightly, clearing her throat. She knew English, just hadn't need to use it in a while. She licked her lips slightly and spoke. "Who are you?" she said in English with a slight Spanish accent, her voice untrusting of the situation.

"Ahh, forgive me my good lady," Lance said, his voice cracking slightly on the last word. Embarassed, he continued on fearlessly, "My name is Lance, and my slow friend back there goes by the name of Siegfried. Might I be so bold as to ask yours?" Lance flashed a smile that he hoped would ease the tension the was manifesting in the air.

The gap between Siegfried and the village closed steadily, and he watched slightly embarassed as his partner made a fool out of himself attempting to impress a woman. Nevertheless, he trudged on, hoping that his entrance might be a little better received. As the sword shifted on his back though, he withdrew the thought with regret.

The girl relaxed slightly, but was still tense as the boy revealed his name. Luckily it was easy enough to pronounce with her tongue. His partner's name was a bit more trifling, it would seem. She banished the thoughts and decided to answer, stepping away from the wall and turning slightly to get a better look at him.

"It's... Audrey..." she said, trailing off as she caught sight of Siegfried as the Azure Knight grew closer to the village. She wasn't the only one who stared, either, the other villagers were gaping at the knight as well. "Who... are you people?"

Lance chuckled slightly and continued on in what he considered to be a heroic voice, "Us? Simply adventurers in search of something to put a soul at ease..." Lance's voice trailed off as Siegfried finally came to his side. Even Lance's bluntness could recognize that the massive crystal sword on the back of the knight would draw fearful looks; the knight had a plan, however.

With a swift motion, Siegfried undid the straps that held his sword in place and slid it from his back with ease that showed talent of the gesture. Holding the blade horizontally with one hand under the the handle and one under the flat of the blade, Siegfried took a knee as well and translated into Spanish, "Please do forgive my partner, lady. We will only be here for as long as absolutely necessary. Until then, my sword is yours." Shortly thereafter, Siegfried wished he had used a less European style of language while talking in Spanish. It might portray the wrong message that he was literally giving her his sword as opposed to using it for her sake until they left.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Audrey said in her own native language, confused and apprehensive. She'd never seen a man like this, decked out in strange armor and carrying such a massive weapon. A sword? She'd never seen any sword like this. "Who are you people??"

Nearby, the other people were talking amongst each other rapidly in Spanish, and others had appeared, having opened doors and windows to see what the commotion was. Some of the men had their hands resting on weapons they carried with them, keeping a close eye on the two newcomers as they spoke to Audrey.

Lance's face changed into a state of slight perplexion, he could understand the language, but he could not speak it in return. What was confusing to him though was as why she would ask the same question twice in a row. Siegfried, not knowing she had asked it once already, gave Lance a rueful look as if to ask why he hadn't told her. Before Lance could return look for look, Siegfried answered her question, "Just travellers, lady. Both of us our European and have had something taken for us. This item should not have any effect on you or your village, but nevertheless, we are worn and tired from our journey and seek a place to rest. Could you provide such a place for us?"

Looking back and forth between the two of them, Audrey backed up a step. "I... um, can't really help you with that," she said apologetically, reverting back to English for the time being, "You'll have to go to the hotel about that."

"Of course," Siegfried said in a good natured tone, "all I could ask for is that you point us in the direction of the hotel, and we will bothe--"

Lance cut him off abrubtly, "Siegfried, we have a problem. It followed us."

Siegfried grabbed his sword and spun in the same motion, staring up at the sky, "Son of a--" But his sentence was left incomplete as he stared in fear at the sky. The day had shifted in a second from sunny to completely overcast. Clouds were now parting around a figure, and the aperture that was being created seemed tainted on the edges. Darkness in the clouds trickled through the rest, enveloping and corrupting. Energy charged from the point and drew into one area, forming into a figure. The figure became whole, and the energy continued condensing.

Lance spoke calmly but quickly, "Gotta learn from our mistakes, Siegfried. You have to catch it this time."

A grunt came from the Knight in acknowledgement, clearly unhappy about what he would have to do. The point of energy became a fine arrow of darkness and shot from the fingertips of the figure. The entire area seemed to shake as the shot broke away from the source, heading straight toward the two warriors.

Moving quickly, Siegfried raised his sword and spun it in a circle, a trail of blue mist in its wake. The mist hardened into a circle of ice, suspended in the air. "A bit to the left," Lance muttered as the shot neared. A moment later the bolt flew through the circle and into Siegfried, throwing him to the ground. "Perfect," the boy muttered.

He glanced once more at the figure in the sky who seemed to be laughing now and then turned his attention to his partner. The Azure Knight's breath was quick but consistent, and clutched between his hand was the tip to the bolt. The tip now shone with a magnificent white color, purified by the circle it had passed through. Siegfried spoke, his voice slightly hoarse, "Can you make the shot from here?" Lance's head shook quickly, but he reached for the tip anyway.

"You've done well, bud, the rest is up to me now," he said solemnly. Without another glance at his fallen comrade, Lance turned toward the figure in the sky once more. Through increased vision of his glasses, he could clearly make out the expression of his enemy's twisted and dark face. A sneer could be discerned from the face in the clouds, and Lance's expression turned into grim determination. "Enough is enough," he whispered.

The boy took a couple of steps forward and jumped with both feet together. The moment the sides of his feet touched one another, electricity surged from his entire body, forming itself into a bubble that seemed to be carrying him higher and higher up. "This had better work," he breathed, but his voice was lost in the roar of the electricity. Slipping the tip of the bolt into a container on his belt, Lance slid his finger over a button and applied pressure to it.

A blinding light issued from inside the bubble of already retina searing eletricity, and as the light faded, Lance could be seen, fully armored in what seemed to be a shimmering opaque liquid. It did not match his every curve like some sort of suit, but rather created points and bulges as would be found on platemail.

Meanwhile his enemy watched in mild silence, seemingly unimpressed until the armor took shape. A look of horror now grew over the dark opponent as Lance clapped his hands together. As the boy drew his hands apart, dense electricity could be seen between his hands as he drew it outwards and outwards. Finally when it was stretched to his arm's length, he rotated both arms clockwise creating a circle of spinning energy. Not pausing even a moment, Lance took his hand and curled it into a fist, driving it into the circle.

Lightning shot out in the rough shape of a beam as it was pushed out of the circle. The speed grew at an intensly quick rate, and the diameter of the beam grew with the speed. A moment later, Lance's enemy was completely ensconced by the energy issued. A full second passed as Lance pushed a great portion of his energy outward through that original circle, until finally he cut the flow, panting. Still floating before him, worn but not broken was his opponent. A look of fear glinted in the eyes of his enemy, and Lance smiled behind the full helm that still covered his face.

Back on the ground, Siegfried released his breath he had been holding absentmindedly until the blast was finished. Not even bothering to look around to see who was still watching the battle, Siegfried spoke, "Best you all get inside. No telling what will happen now."

Edited by Ribitta on September 25, 2008 at 17:51:23.

As Siegfried looked up into the clouds, so did others, watching as the phenomenon occurred in the skies above them. Once the corruption and energy began to spread, worried voices broke out, and quickly escalated into screams of fear. People began to scatter, running into houses and slamming doors and windows shut. Audrey backed up a few steps before turning and running away, taking off down the street before entering into one house and locking its door. By the time Siegfried stood and spoke, no one else was present.

Lance shook his helmeted head slightly and chuckled, "You've followed us a long way, but I know your secret now. You can't win this time."

Darkened skin around red eyes narrowed with malice, but the enemy spoke ironic words, "This is not your world, mortal. You are here uninvited, and for that you must be destroyed. Do you honestly believe you can beat me? I am not God, nor His messenger. I am not the Devil, nor his either. I am the Force. I am the Purpose. I am the Collector."

"Well then," Lance said slightly amused, "I would have thought they might have sent someone with a little less importance after a simple twelve year-old boy. No? No... no matter. We're done now." Lance laughed once more, and the sound cracked the sky as he squeezed the last drops of his energy into one point that leaked only slightly into his voice. With two deft motions, Lance removed the tip of the bolt from its container and slid it into a weapon. Immediately the armor started to flicker, but Lance paid it no attention. Lance held the weapon to his face level and pushed his energy outward into the weapon. Electricity flared through the piece of machinery, and the gun glowed with a fearsome aura. Taking only a moment to aim, Lance squeezed the trigger and felt the shockwave nearly shatter his arm from the force that was only resisted by the failing armor.

The bolt screamed through the air with ferocity untold of. The trail alone left an afterimage and a slightly seared retina, but the impact itself was a glorious display. Light enveloped Lance's enemy, and the boy lowered his weapon in relief. A moment later another shockwave tore through the atmosphere as the enemy exploded in a shower of light.

Siegfried looked up in awe, now aware he was the only one still outside. As the light from the final explosion dimmed, the Azure Knight could see his partner floating slowly downwards in a sphere of flickering eletricity. Getting to his feet, Siegfried forced his aching body toward Lance.

Only a few minutes later, the door to the hotel opened from one hand of the German, the other hand preoccupied with keeping Lance slumped over his shoulder.

The hotel's foyer was lightly furnished--a light green carpet covered the floors, and two couches sat against two of the walls, separated by a small table set in the table. Magazines listed in Spanish rested beneath the small lamp adorning it. A few pictures decorated the wooden walls, and on the side opposite of the couches was a counter for greeting the guests. Due to the situation that had occurred outside, it was only natural for the two of them to find no one behind the counter as they entered the hotel.

R.D.'s eyes widened in surprise as the attacks cut through his plasma shots, causing an explosion filled with a myriad of colors to fill the air, pierced by the incoming beam. Still shocked by how easily his attacks were canceled out, R.D. was barely able to move in time, and the beam smashed hard into his shoulder, breaking off bits of armor as he was knocked back into a slight spin.

After several moments and quite a bit of distance traveled, R.D. stabilized himself, aiming the arm cannon at Sheena once more and firing rapidly, launching numerous beams of green energy at the transformed wyrm as he flew backwards, unwilling to get struck again.

(OOC: Blast it, Juno, you return and now I have to go eat, delaying any new responses to your post.)

Edited by RisingDragon on September 28, 2008 at 17:30:59.

Shock further arresting his system, R.D. brought up his shield and activated its energy barrier as Sheena struck. The sheer power behind the strike sent him flying backwards despite no contact being made--well, it was either the power of the attack, or his own exhaustion beginning to take hold. Stabilizing himself once more, he amnesiac looked about, then swore.

That debris was wild, he realized, and quickly readied himself, activating both of his hip-mounted cannons, as well as the torso-mounted blaster. Soon he was throwing himself every which way, alternating dodging the ice beams and attacking the inbound projectiles as they streaked in using the numerous cannons attached to his armor. It was these projectiles that distracted him to the point where he didn't realize what Sheena herself was planning, and only as he looked over his shoulder at a sudden wave of heat that he realized one thing.

I'm boned.

The skies were consumed in fire as the energy blast slammed into R.D.'s back and exploded, billowing out hungry fire in all directions. At the top of the explosion, a blackened figure could be seen propelled through the air at insane speeds, across the plains and towards the shore.

R.D. hit with a thunderous impact, splashing water everywhere, a massive torrent of it spreading back along the angle of his impact. In the water, he was lost, his mind on the verge of unconsciousness. His armor blackened and fractured, he sank into the cold depths.

Suddenly, all around Sheena, chaos erupted. The snows were vaporized instantaneously as rays of fire and light exploded upwards through them, and down from the chilly skies, each projectile aimed at Sheena. Following the surprise strike, hidden dragons from all over burst out of ice and snow, suddenly filling the air as they took flight on great wings, their plan of R.D. distracting the Dark Goddess of the Ice Dragons working like a charm.

Edited by RisingDragon on September 28, 2008 at 18:23:44.

Only mighty roars answered Sheena as the winged beasts streaked in for Sheena's gigantic, sinuous form hovering in the air. Now having a chance to strike at the wyrm before the Ice Dragons could swoop into protect her, the Dragon Tribes flew in tight, narrow patterns, propelled by their wings, firing more waves of magical energy and draconic fire from their maws.

Away from the action, Relayia sat on the frozen ridge of a mountain, staring out across the battlefield at the titanic creature that had slaughtered her people in the past.

This will end today, Sheena, she thought, a grim look on her small face. Either we all die trying to stop you, or we drape your hide across the land. There is no alternative.

===

He was drifting in darkness, the light fading all around him. There was only a chilling blackness that flowed all around him as he sank towards oblivion.

Something touched his mind, probing cautiously, as if anxious.

Who are you?

…

Secret? What secret?

…

I don’t understand.

…

You can offer me power?

…

… yes. I need that power.

…

I accept.

Yellow eyes ignited within the depths of the icy ocean.