He hadn't. Copying a G-Stone was one thing. Tapping into the same kind of powers Mamoru had was different. He knew that Guy always kinda guessed around for where a Zonder core was, and that part wasn't so bad, but the rest of it...

"Try the chest!" Hugo called before Matt could reply, and the Mettaur scampered next to Matt with pickaxe armed. "It looks like the biggest area that could contain the Core!"

The Zonder reared back, lines of power pulsing down its neck, as it gathered white-hot energy and fired it towards them.

Alasea held her hand out, and two magic circles formed, one beneath her and one spreading out from her hand, creating a round shield in front of them. It took the full brunt of the attack, and Alasea strained and sweated as she tried to deflect it away from them. "Get going!" she yelled at them.

"Let's go!" Matt said to R.D., and he flew around the beam. The Zonder attempted to swing it around, but a punch to the head stopped its flow. G-Saviour shone bright as Matt wrestled with the Zonder, evading its swipes and taking some of the heavier blows so he could counterattack.

Violet light exploded through R.D.'s skin as he launched himself at the Zonder, opposite of the beam across from Matt. Above them, blue rays of energy lanced down at the robot as Ileyna provided them with covering fire.

R.D.'s blades darted out, stabbing at the leg joints of the Zonder in an effort to jam them up and halt its movements.

The Zonder bounced away from R.D.'s slashes, and then it swept around, its massive tail careening towards R.D. like a whipping trick.

R.D. let out a "whump" of air as the tail slammed into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying back into the crystalline ground--he was grateful for the soft landing as he staggered back up to his feet.

"Alli, can you corrode metal?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I can try," she replied, glancing at him. "Why?"

"Do it. Aim for the legs and cripple it."

"Got it," came her affirmative, as she readied a spell. One of the crystals on her neck began to glow brightly.

The Zonder reared back, a pitched whine charging as mass energy gathered near its teeth. But it leapt back as Matt swept in with a glowing fist.

Okay, how the fuck did he work this thing. Um...shit, he didn't remember much of it. "Ileyna!" Matt called. "Do you remember Mamoru's chant and movements? I might need some help with it!"

Ileyna heard the shout, but couldn't get close enough; the Zonder was proving too dangerous for her to try and approach. The Omega Essence within her and the Ao-Gem hanging from her neck screamed at her to stay away. Combined with the pull of the Convergence, she felt distracted and torn.

Alasea swept out her arm, her spell ready. "Let steel weaken and rust tear asunder! Fractured Armor!"

Waves of sickly light wavered about the Zonder, corroding the metal skin and trying to weaken it. "Hugo, take 'em out!" Alasea called.

"NOW, Ileyna!" Matt shouted, snapping his fingers. "NOT tomorrow!"

As the Zonder stumbled, some of its metal creaking from Alasea's magic, Hugo pressed his attack. "Force Option!" The metal ball shot forth and impacted into the Zonder with a wave of force, pushing it back. In response, the Zonder blasted it with its heat beam, sweeping it towards the others.

Ileyna darted away, down towards the others, as she called upon Mass Effect to catch the volleyed Force Option. She landed neatly on the crystal floor and ran to Matt, hoping she could still remember Mamoru's chant.

R.D. smashed his fist into the ground, rocketing up over the Zonder as it counterattacked. He chambered his fist back, clenching his fingers one-by-one into a fist as he channeled Earth energy through him. As gravity took hold again, he plummeted, straight for the Zonder Robot, and swung.

"Earth Gaizer!"

The dynamic punch smashed clean into the Zonder's head, forcing it down - despite the wavering ground, all present could still feel the tetonic impact.

"All right," Matt said to Ileyna. "Uh...okay, synch up with G-Saviour and guide me through this."

"Synch with you?! How!?" Ileyna demanded, having no idea what to do. Mamoru had been just like her, but their powers and their sources had been completely different!

"Hurry!" R.D. roared, grappling with the Zonder's head to try and keep it down. If it couldn't see, it couldn't target them... he hoped. Magic chains suddenly sprang up, wrapping around the Zonder's limbs and tail, trying to force it into the ground.

"Alright, alright!" Ileyna shouted in panic. She grabbed Matt by the wrist and opened herself to her own powers, getting ready to synch with the G-Saviour's. "What was it...?"

She wracked her memory, trying to find the one of the two of them together deep in the pit beneath Tokyo. "Curatio!" she suddenly shouted, opening her eyes up and looking straight at the Zonder. "Teneritas, sectio, salus... Coctura! That's it! Matt, that's the chant he used!"

Chains suddenly snapped, the Zonder's abilities proving too much for them, causing all of them to hear Alasea snarl a curse of frustration.

"Craaap!" Matt shouted. "Hold up!" As the Zonder leapt forward, Matt slashed the air with a chop, firing a wave of green energy that intercepted it and knocked it over. "We can't purify the core while that Zonder's still in commission! R.D.! Cripple it!"

R.D. knew the perfect weapon to try and cripple the Zonder, but there was no material for him to use.

No material, except for what he was grappling with. Closing his eyes briefly, R.D. made his decision. Light wasn't enough to fight anymore. It didn't have the needed power, and he needed more power.

As R.D. opened his eyes, he channeled, and immediately a rising thrill rose up through Matt as the very opposite of the G-Saviour's powers erupted through R.D..

R.D. lifted up his fist and screamed, causing violet light to burst out of it as he swung it down at the Zonder's back.

He was channeling Zonder Metal energy, intending to absorb the Zonder's armor for himself.

The blow hit home, and unlike before, it actually carved through some of the Zonder's armor plating, enough that it screeched in shock. It leapt backwards, and suddenly, reconfigured back into the familiar shape of the Firebird, although now it looked far more angled and sharp.

"It's getting away!" Hugo shouted as the Firebird pealed around and burst off towards the horizon.

As R.D. ripped his hand away from the gap in the Zonder's armor, chunks of metal could be seen clinging to his skin, as if they had fused to it. The molten metal could be seen twisting as he manipulated it with the Zonder Metal energies, he leaped off of the machine as it sped off.

"You won't escape from me!" he roared. His unblemished hand dove into his satchel and pulled out the violet Chaos Emerald they'd retrieved. "Chaos Control!"

The odd light of the dimension warped around them as time slowed to an unbelievable crawl. "Get it!" R.D. called out to the others, the Zonderized metal still trying to eat his arm.

For a few brief seconds, the Firebird crawled to a snail's face, but then the shimmer of Spiral energy overtook its form, and amazingly, it sped up once again.

"What the fuck, it broke Chaos Control?!" Matt shouted, switching to the wind gem and flying after the Zonder. "You cheater!"

The Firebird arced around, and the Zonder's mechanical head rose from the vehicle, firing peals of fire in Matt's direction.

Alasea quickly stepped between the Zonder and the others, her sword drawn. Her eyes narrowed as the shots came in, and she swept her blade up and out, causing light to flash in a wide arc. The attack collided with the Zonder's flames, cutting through them and causing them to warp, forming of all things, water. The liquid splashed down around her harmlessly.

R.D. grunted, gritting his teeth as he held his contaminated arm out before him. The metal writhed and pulsed with violet energy as he concentrated, willing Lumiya's power through it in unusual, alien ways.

"R.D., are you okay?!" Ileyna cried, seeing him.

He ignored the girl, growling as sweat broke out on his brow. "Time to end this!" he shouted as prismatic light exploded around him. The Zonderized metal disintegrated in an instant, becoming so much dust on the wind.

He swung his arm upwards, and Ileyna gasped in shock as his arm was vaporized into particles.

"SHELL BULLLLEEEEEET!"

"What the hell?" Hugo shouted. "What're you DOING?"

The particles began to reform, materializing into a spiral on his back, like a stylized wing. A massive, clawed arm formed over his empty arm socket, longer than his original arm was. Jagged chunks of metal settled around his right eye as his hair stood up on end.

Hugo and Matt would both recognize the weapon he used to take down Dragon Drive FINAL.

He cocked his arm down to face level, clenching his massive hand into a claw. The gauntlet split down the center, opening up as something within began to spin. "I'm trashing that damn Zonder," he snarled. "And taking Helena back from it!"

Golden light was quickly swallowed up into the Shell Bullet, causing his whole body to become alight in a bright aura. The rotor on his back quickly spun, becoming a blur that lifted him up into the air. "More power," he muttered. "And more! And more!"

With a burst of silver flame, he took to the air, streaking for the Zonder Robot. "Shine brighter!"

He closed the distance, spinning about as he swung his fist at the Zonder.

Edited by RisingDragon on May 19, 2011 at 13:07:37

The Zonder transformed back into its draconic mode and reared back, charging up Spiral power before firing a blast of flame right at R.D.. The punch cut through the midst of the beam, straight through, before impacting with the Zonder's head.

A shockwave of power erupted from the blow, and cracks burst through the entire form of the Zonder, glowing green from Spiral power, as it flew back, knocked dumbstruck by the attack.

R.D. was thrown back by the shockwave of his attack, and he landed on his feet, pivoting around to kill his momentum. He ended up in a crouch, pumping his armored fist. "Gotcha!"

"R.D., be careful!" Alasea shouted to him. "That thing's still pumping out energy!"

"Then let's finish the tale!" Matt said, scrampering into position. "Ileyna! Let's do it!" He raised his hand, extending his index and middle fingers while balling the rest. "Curatio!"

G-Saviour shone, almost in sync with the Zonder's own Spiral power.

The girl matched Matt's hand signal with her own left hand, floating beside him as her power activated. "Curatio!"

R.D. lunged forward again at the Zonder as it was down, grabbing a hold of it's metallic chestpiece with the Shell Bullet Burst. Snarling, he pulled, and a horrible metallic squealing cut through the air as he pried the armor back to expose the Zonder Core. Its violet light pulsated, conflicting with the bright green Spiral energy weaving through the machine being's innards.

Around them, binds of magic swept up and clamped down from a magic circle that formed underneath the Zonder. Alasea cursed as she flooded the spell with energy, strengthening her hold on the beast. "It's clear!" she called out to the others.

"Teneritas..." Ileyna chanted with Matt in unison, her eyes closed shut. "Sectio... Salus..."

The Zonder roared, trying to raise its head, gathering power.

"Coctura!" both Matt and Ileyna finished, and Matt pointed directly at the Zonder's core, releasing the gathering build-up of G-Saviour's energy in a wide aura.

The Zonder screeched an unearthly death cry as G-Saviour's power effortlessly began to erode its hide, and the pulsating Zonder Core began to recede, wires and armor dissolving into particles of light. Slowly, Helena's body emerged from the Core and slipped out, landing into the ground with a soft splash.

"R.D., I'm reading MASSIVE energy coming off of that Zonder!" Hugo shouted. "The Spiral energy's overreacting! You got to toss it, NOW!"

Alasea rushed over to the Zonder Robot, gathering Helena's form up in her arms and pulling her to safety. R.D. grappled the wrecked Zonder's body, smashing it with the Shell Bullet to send it into the air. He could feel the energy it was building up--the level was escalating at an exponential rate. This was going to get big.

His hand reached for the Chaos Emerald once more, flipping it up into the air before snatching it again. "Chaos Control!"

Another wave of green energy encompassed the Zonder, swallowing it up before it disappeared entirely in a crack of thunder. The Zonder vanished out of sight, sent hurtling through the cosmos off in the distance.

R.D. leaped back towards the others, gathering up more energy of his own before throwing it up in the form of a barrier around his friends. "Alli!" he called.

"Got it!" she replied, flinging up her own hand. A second barrier formed within the first, combining and strengthening it.

"Barrier Option!" Hugo called, throwing out the variable shield.

"This is gonna make some noise!" Matt added, throwing out his own shield.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, at the edge of the stars, a twinkle of green light flashed, and quickly swelled with a rising, thunderous noise, until the entire area was engulfed in a monstorous surge of Spiral power.

"Hugo!" Matt shouted over the thunder, slapping his other hand over the Mettaur's G-Stone. "Full power!"

The Mettaur's G-Stone flashed, and Matt let out a battlecry as he funnelled all of his power into maintaining his shield.

Ileyna hovered over them, bringing up her own shield to add to the others. As the energy washed over them, seeping through the cracks, Alasea drew in more of her stored power, reaching out and binding their shielding into a single coherent mass. The malleable ground shuddered under the onslaught, only growing worse as the explosion persisted.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, it began to subside, then finally die out. Off in the distance, where the Zonder had detonated, the cosmos seemed devoid of light. A distant gap of nothingness on a star-filled horizon.

R.D. collapsed to one knee, drawing in shuddering breaths. Steam rose off his body, and the lights racing through him died down as his body struggled to maintain itself after the overload.

"Are we alive?" Ileyna asked, looking about. Below her, Alasea looked down at the teenage girl in her arms, and at the tears streaking down Helena's face.

Matt looked down at Helena, who had surprisingly reverted back to her fully human form. Her bulky clothing now hung from her like drapes. "Looks like it. Some of us better for the wear...although it looks like she's out cold."

"I still detect life signs," Hugo said, retracting his Barrier Option. "She's fine." He looked to R.D.. "You okay?"

"I'll live," R.D. grunted, standing up and gripping his transformed arm. "Sorry about your car, Matt."