"Right." Matt clapped his hands together. "Let's go."

They took the elevator up to the zenith of the building. It didn't jar and stop in place like Matt expected. Soon there was a pleasant ding, and the doors slid open, revealing a wooden hallway with red carpet. This was strange, seeing as how the rest of the building was brick and mortar like other buildings, but here it looked like they took a trip back to olden times.

At the end was Geese's henchman, surrounded with a group of the white robotic knights. They stood in front of a red curtain.

"Welllll-well, look who we've got here," the staff wielder said, twirling his weapon casually. "Guess you boys don't know when to quit, do ya?" He let the staff rest against his shoulders. "Looks like it's up to Billy Kane to teach you a lesson you should've learned the first time."

"We've got a lesson of our own for you to learn," R.D. said, placing his shotgun against his shoulder while stepping forward. "So let's get started. Ready, Matt?"

Matt lifted the same foot again. "Ready."

"Kill 'em!" Billy shouted, and the robots leapt at them.

"Silver Tomahawk!" Another shockwave of wind tore through enemies, and Matt leapt into the fray proper.

As two of the robots flew through the air at him, R.D. brought the Bone Jack down into his hands, aimed upwards, and fired.

The blast was deafening, as a gout of flame and smoke erupted from the three barrels of the shotgun, tearing into both robots and shredding them mercilessly apart, scattering chunks of white armor, circuitry, and robotics backwards across the room.

R.D. pumped the shotgun again, expelling the spent shells, and grinned. Turning slightly, he aimed and fired, detonating another robot.

The robots were easily cleared out this time, and their torn bodies lay scattered about the two fighters. Billy Kane grit his teeth. "You little..." The ends of his staff burst into flames, and he leapt at R.D., twirling his improved weapon. "I'll show you!"

Tossing the Bone Jack away with a clatter, R.D. stared at the incoming attack, and frowned imperceptibly at Billy Kane. The flaming weapon cleaved downwards at his brow, then shuddered to a halt as R.D.'s right hand, encased in the blue-white energy of Godhand, grabbed it around the top and stopped it cold. "It's time for your lessons," he stated coldly. "Listen up, there's gonna be a test on this."

Staring at Billy Kane for a moment, his other hand ignited and smashed into the staff's middle, dislodging it from his hands. It spun upwards into the air, and R.D. snatched it in the middle when it came down.

"Lesson number one! Don't break into people's houses."

Spinning the weapon in his hands, he swung it downwards and smacked it into Billy Kane's stomach, bending him over at the middle. The staff whipped up and smacked him in the chest, knocking him up off his feet for a moment.

"Lesson number two! Don't kidnap people's friends."

As Billy Kane was standing back up straight, his staff swept out and smashed him across the face from the right, then came back around the opposite direction and knocked it back the other way. R.D's knee shot forward and slammed him backwards into the air, and then the amnesiac teen began running after him, catching up and spinning the burning staff around to catch him in the back, halting his flight and knocking him to the ground.

"Lesson number three! Do not ever piss me off."

Seizing Lumiya's power and channeling fire energy, R.D. swung the staff back like a gigantic club, and flame exploded out all around his body. He swung the club around in a tight circle, like it was a gigantic fireball, striking Billy Kane as he was pushing himself up. It swung around again and struck him once more, and then R.D., holding the staff up above him and covered in flame, speared it down and forwards, causing a small but potent explosion, sending Billy Kane, smoldering flames at the ends of his clothing, flying across the room. Ileyna's hair whipped in the direction of his flight as she watched, startled.

"That's it for today's lesson."

Billy Kane smashed hard into the doors of the elevator, bending them in as he bounced off of them, and hitting the ground, utterly defeated. R.D. spun the staff overhead as the flames dispersed, and slammed one end into the floor, his back facing Billy Kane.

"You failed."

Edited by RisingDragon on October 28, 2008 at 17:34:46.

Matt just stared at Billy Kane's unconcious form for a few moments.

"...that was AWESOME!" he cried out.

Swinging the staff into both hands, R.D. growled and snapped it in two before tossing the pieces to the side. Ileyna was staring in awe at what had happened.

"Damn straight. He had it coming to him," he said, turning to go pick up his shotgun, even though it was out of ammo. "Has Helena gone anywhere, Ileyna?"

"No," she said after a few moments.

"That asshole better not be doing anything to her." Matt socked his fist. "Otherwise he's gonna get a one-way trip on the Ass Kicking Train."

In the back of the room, R.D. broke open the Bone Jack and reloaded it with the ammo he had also had in the Thunder King, then brought out the motorcycle to put the gun back into one of its storage compartments before reversing the vehicle back into a cube.

"Well, I say we rip him a new one regardless of what he's done to her," R.D. said, tossing the cube back into his satchel. "I owe him for that Reppuken he nailed me with."

"Right!" Matt now faced the curtain. "Ileyna, stay out here. Yell if anything happens."

The girl bit her lip. "Um, okay."

"Let's go," R.D. said, taking hold of the fire energy again and creating a tiny ball of flame. He flicked it onto the end of the curtain, and it ignited, the flames almost instantly consuming it to reveal what was behind it.

Before them unfolded a massive arena.

It was made of wood, with larger, more exquisite red curtains. Statues of fierce Eastern dragons encircled the space, joined by fires burning atop of long, golden torches.

Across the ring squared off in red paint located in the center of the room, there was a man, with his back toward them. He didn't move immediately as Matt and R.D. approached.

"It's about time you showed up."

Geese Howard turned around.



"I've been waiting for you."

Interlacing his fingers together and pushing them outward, cracking the knuckles, R.D. grinned in an almost predatory fashion. "Yeah, well, your flunkie back there was a hard learner. Took a bit for our lesson to get through that hard skull of his."

"We'll be takin' Helena back now, if you don't mind," Matt said, pointing at Geese.

"I'm sorry," Geese said, who wasn't sorry. "She's got something I need." He glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, near a railing of wood, was Helena, tied down thoroughly in a simple chair. "Though I'm not sure what'll happen if I do take out the Omega Essence from her body. It might be the only thing that's keeping her alive right now."

Matt's eyes widened. "You're with Magister?"

"I figure if he's going to take my Omega Essence eventually, I might as well use it for his purposes," Geese said. "That way I can use its power to take over the whole earth while I'm at it." He grinned. "Plus I thought it'd be fun to give my friend Akio something to worry about."

"Wait... you have Omega Essence as well!?" R.D. growled, his expression darkening. "How in the hell did you get your slimy hands on it!?"

Geese shrugged. "Who knows. One day I woke up and I just had it. Of course, I didn't really know what it was then, but now that I've used it for a while...well. Let's just say that I'd rather add the girl's Essence to my collection."

"You're just a toady, Geese!" Matt shouted. "You're gonna pick up Essence for a guy who doesn't even care about you!"

"I'll worry about that later."

"Then again, you're not even gonna get Helena's Essence in the first place!" Matt lowered himself into a combative pose. "We're gonna take you down, RIGHT NOW!"

"Heh. All right, then..." Brining his arms to his side, Geese beckoned at them with a hand. "Come on."

"S'your funeral," R.D. growled, stepping forward. He began to run, then leaped into the air, twisting his body into a corkscrew before letting fly with a spinning kick at Geese's head.

"Heh." Geese easily captured R.D. by the ankle. "Too easy!" With a spin, he threw R.D. toward the wall.

There was fire burning from the torches, so he could draw from that. Opening his hands, Matt imagined warmth flowing to them, until his fingers burst into flames. "All right, let's DO IT!" Rushing at Geese, Matt started shouting, unloading as many different punches as he could think of, each one burning with fire.

With ease, Geese knocked away an incoming blow and thrust his plams directly into Matt's body, unleashing a burst of energy that sent him hurtling back.

Flying through the air, R.D. managed right himself, and stopped his flight by planting his left hand and feet against the wall. He pushed off and dove to the ground, making a quick roll at Geese's backside before launching himself into an uppercut strengthened by the Godhand attack.

Geese lurched backwards-the Godhand uppercut was close, and he stared as it barely missed the tip of his nose. Immediately he bent and swung into a reserve kick using his rear leg, aiming at R.D.'s exposed ribcage.

R.D. cried out as the attack struck, knocking him backwards, onto the floor. He quickly righted himself, sweeping out with a reverse side kick, following by spinning in the air as he jumped and kicking in the same direction with the opposite leg.

Both kicks grazed against Geese's arm. Before R.D. could land, his knee shot up into R.D.'s midsection.

"Blitz Ball!"

Geese quickly dropped his foot and turned around, throwing up a wall of energy to deflect Matt's low-flying fireball.

"Blazing Salvo!" Cutting the air, Matt fired a wide row of fiery bullets that shot toward Geese. The crime lord rushed foward, knocking them aside with his own arc of energy before taking a big step, entering a sideways fist blow that caused Matt to double over before he was kicked away.

Geese's blow sent R.D. flying backwards, smashing into the wall behind him and sliding down it. Pushing himself back up, R.D. flung his arms out to either side, channeling plasma through them and into his hands--floating before either palm, the two eldritch-blue spheres of energy manifested.

R.D. flung the sphere in his right hand at Geese, causing it to explode into a fairly large plasma burst. Spinning, he threw the one in the left hand after it, it exploding into an identical blast wave that was surrounded by two spiralling red energy balls.

Geese spun about and threw out his hands. Instantly, a tremendous field of energy erupted from his hands, colliding with the plasma bursts R.D. had thrown.

Geese laughed over the energy struggle. "You're WEAK!" Pushing outward, he drove the field of energy toward R.D..

R.D. yelped and dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. As he came out of the roll, he drew both Phase Blades and activated them with a slashing motion, and charged.

As he neared Geese, he slashed upwards while channeling fire energy, and his weapon burst out in violent flames. "Ryuuenjin!"

"Ha!" Geese slashed a wave of energy, and it collided with the Ryuuenjin, dissipating both attacks. Geese followed up with a quick kick that shot out, knocking R.D. back.

"You're startin' to piss me off!" Matt swiveled Geese about by the shoulder, actually managing to strike him in the stomach with a heavy blow, following up with a kick to the face that made the crime lord stagger. "Now, R.D.!"

Bringing himself into a battle stance, R.D. activated the Godhand in both hands, causing them to ignite with bluish-white flame. An aura, much like a snarling dragon's head, appeared around him for a brief moment, and then he was charging at Geese.

His fists swung out over and over again, gaining in speed until they were moving like blurs as he punched dozens of times at Geese. Suddenly, his right hand swung out. "Godhand..."

His fist rocketed out at an upwards angle, aiming for Geese's solar plexus for a devastating blow.

"SMASH!"

Edited by RisingDragon on July 6, 2009 at 19:17:19.

Geese doubled over, blood spilling from his mouth. The impact finally caught up with him, and he tumbled away, near the edge of the arena.

Matt watched him when he didn't move right away. "...did we get him?" He got his answer when Geese sat up, bracing himself on his hands for support.

"...I'm going to stain my hands with your blood." Leaping up, Geese arced his arm and fired the familiar cutting wave of energy at R.D.. "Reppuken!"

"Oh, f--"

The Reppuken struck R.D. and sent him flying into the wall, cratering against it before falling to the unforgiving ground.

"Fucking... ow."