= = = Bahamut's Weyr = = =

Arya looked around in response to Kaiora's question. "Good question," she muttered, "perhaps something big is going on? Perhaps we should ask one of the dragons. It might be a while 'til Robot comes back."


Meanwhile, Robot walked up to a dragon sentry who was posted deeper inside the caverns. "Kzt. We have returned from Africa. I am here to see Relayia. Is she present at this location, or might you point me towards her temporary replacement currently in charge?"

= = = Nexus, the Past = = =

"Huh?" Meta wondered for a moment why Lament thought she thought it was her destiny to take over Beta, then was reminded how she had acted before she was sent to the past. With that, it would be understandable to assume that she wanted to do that and at the time she had actually been actively trying to do so. But was it actually her destiny? Did she feel like it was, or that it should be? Dammit, this stay at the Nexus made her already start to question things she had always taken for granted, it seemed. Blasted Lament.

She sighed and closed her book, getting up as she put it away on the table for later. It wasn't up to her to relinquish rule over the City of White Metal, as the Ryhaar had chosen her as their leader willingly, without her even having asked them. On the other hand, it was also far into the future, so Lament wouldn't be able to use it for another few thousands of years, making the fight perhaps a little unfair in that regard -- though she knew it'd be hard to land hits on him. She considered whether she should tell him the truth of the matter, wanting to hide it at first in an instinctive reaction to have the possibility of gaining valuable knowledge without having to necessarily give anything up for it, but then decided that she should be honest. Okay, the basis for her decision was moreso based on the idea that Lament was one of the most powerful beings in existence rather than any inherent value in honesty itself, but still.

"I'll spar with you, Lament, but while I do desperately want to know any secret of the Balances, it is not my place to relinquish a city that is technically neither mine, nor existing right now. Or maybe it does exist, but at this time I have even less of a claim to it." She then gave him a bit of a grin. "Besides, if I'd manage to hit you, I'd start doubting you to be one of the strongest beings in the multiverse."

R.D. twisted around as another Shadow Creature began to address him, and readied his weapon--Azurewrath's blade flipped out and locked into place in line with his arm, and energy charged through its blade, causing it to shine brightly within the rapidly-darkening sky.

He was soon aware that things were off--this one took the appearance of a hooded man in black, rather than any monster. And to make thing worse, the power felt both immense and familiar--he'd felt this power before, felt this being before.

Down below, Tomoko and Alasea both felt the same feeling of dread as Donovan appeared before R.D..

"So, instead of coming out himself, your boss sent one of the Five after me, huh?" R.D. remarked, keeping his shield and blade at the ready. His face couldn't be seen with the helmet, but he grinned--his mirth was evident in his voice. "Well, I can't say I blame him. I did bring down Sheena, so it's only natural Azaleas doesn't want to see if I'd beat him too."

He didn't particularly feel that mirth, though. He had Juno, Dokuro, and Reckoning's help against Sheena, and had fought using KishouDoragon. But he had new weapons to use now. Hopefully they'd make up the difference.

Somehow--he wasn't quite sure how--somehow he knew what kind of attack was coming. Something screamed in his head what Donovan's intentions are. In the brief moment that Donovan summarized his threat, R.D. flung his shield up, causing it to split open four ways and blaze a shield of energy--just in time for Donovan's weapon to strike repeatedly against, wearing it down almost instantly until it cut through. But it was enough time to shift his body out of the way, and R.D.'s only real loss was a deep gouge through his shield, a light gouge in his armor, and the destruction of his right hip cannon.

R.D. used the momentum to spin away, using micro-bursts of his thrusters to whip around. Now that he got himself into this mess, he needed a strategy to get him out of it. It was two soon to use any of his secret weapons. But Donovan was right about one thing: this wasn't a fight he could leave.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Donovan," he remarked, bringing himself back around as the barrier on his shield flickered back into full strength. "So let's see who's faith is stronger--Azaleas' in you, or Kuro's in me!"

R.D. opened himself and channeled, drinking in as much of Lumiya's power as he dared. Beneath his armor, violet lights blazed through his skin.

For a moment, R.D. forgot to breathe--again, he had felt the impending attack, this time somewhat quicker than the last--but damn if it hadn't been fast. Still, it seems his words had just gotten under Donovan's skin.

He got his nerve back quick. "Did I stutter?" R.D. remarked, looking around until Donovan appeared. "Is Azaleas' faith in your power greater than Kuro's faith in mine?"

With a twist of his wrist R.D.'s blade cleared out several spikes, and he swung it around in a wider arc, clearing the rest from his front. "I won't stop until your false master is dead at my feet," he said, bringing his blade down. "I know what I have to do. I've taken the first steps, and even Kuro's ghost approved of the idea. Do you think you have any right to stand against me when your very creator believes I can stop Azaleas?!"

= = = Bahamut's Elseweyr = = =

"Alright, see you in a minute." Arya gave a wave of her hand as she turned, looking for a dragon who wasn't posted as a sentry by the crack, and walk up to them to "hey, what's this commotion all about?"


Meanwhile, Robot gave the dragon a nod. "Kzt. Confirmed. I will go see Seril." He turned with a whirr of his hips and walked into the direction he had been told to go - towards the waiting chambers. He seemed to be paying little attention to the commotion that was going on around in the weyr, as he entered the chambers.


= = = Nexus, the Past = = =

Meta waged her options, both curious about this secret and desiring to rather not lose a city that wasn't hers - had Lament correctly understood so? She'd rather not end up losing to him, only to find out the Ryhaar wouldn't accept handing over the City. She stared at Lament's bare chest for a moment. Maybe if he keeps it at less than a sixth then...

"I'm game." Meta declared, and instantly shot towards Lament in a blur to hit him in the head.

(OOC: Juno, just in case you forgot, Donovan should know that Xastra is an imposter thanks to Ziatoch.)

Many of the dragons, in an effort to conserve space with the human refugees in their leader's weyr, had taken on a human form with their magic. Still, they were easily denoted by the unusual shape of their ears in human form; pointed in shape like an elf's, running ragged as it became the color of their scales.

One such dragon was addressed by Arya, who turned to address her. "Ah, Arya," she greeted in a remarkably sweet voice. "There's been an incident. An Ancient seems to have been captured by Xastra's forces, and we're the only ones who are capable of rescuing them."

Which, of course, was a plan most people would find suicidal, but such was the case when people were away from the weyr for an extended length of time.

It wasn't long before Robot found Seril in the waiting chambers, also in human form. She looked harried and frustrated, and her head snapped to attention in a most unhumanlike manner at Robot's approach. "You, machine," she called, not recognizing the construct. "What are you doing here?"

(OOC: Even if he knows that though, he still doesn't know who Azaleas is. Few people do. If Meta knew, she'd be a lot further already.)


= = = Nexus, the Past = = =

"Raahhh!" Meta cried out as she twisted in a new direction on her feet and ran for Lament again. Her fist went dead ahead, her left leg came from the side right after, the other fist aching as well to hit the man's flesh.


= = = Bahamut's Anyweyr = = =

"Wait, what?" Arya exclaimed rather loudly, "an Ancient?! Wait, you don't mean Juno, do you?" It couldn't be him, could it? She remembered how he had a penchant for getting in trouble with major villainous types, but if it indeed was him, they'd need to make it a priority.


"Kzt. Excuse me, mistress Seril. You may feel at ease; I'm Robot, I was redirected here as Relayia appears preoccupied. I have returned along with Arya and Kaiora from checking out the African devastation caused by Ga--... by Ziatoch."


= = = Kattelox = = =

Meanwhile, as a battle raged near the Main Gate on another part of the island, Luke was enjoying some very tasty cherry pudding, blissfully unaware of the presence of Donovan and his minions.

"Juno?" the dragon remarked, looked confused. The same had some familiarity to her, but... ah, yes. "Ah, you mean the Maverick Bureaucratic Unit? No, I'm afraid this Ancient in need of rescuing is of the Servitor class. I am not privy to the full details, but there should be a few Ancients in the waiting chambers preparing for the operation."

"Ah, yes, that scouting team," Seril remarked, looking down as she thought. "Your report will need to wait. We're going to be leaving for China fairly soon. You'd best return to your companions in the meantime, Robot."

"There are Ancients here?" Arya was surprised by that, though given that they were going to rescue one, it'd just figure. She backtracked her memories some. She remembered some other Ancients from her travels and the fight with Muteki-Yami. "Kouken, Gatz, Geetz..." She strongly remembered Kouken, and remembered the other two names as well, though couldn't quite place faces to them.


"Kzt. Leaving for China, mistress Seril? But that's where the Castle is. Where Xastra is. Surely you don't mean to attack his castle while he is yet strong?" Robot seemed like he wanted to protest the apparently planned course of actions. It just didn't seem wise, not with five of the Seven still roaming.

Edited by Morphman on September 13, 2012 at 2:07:58

"Gatz is the name of the captured Ancient, I believe," the dragon informed Arya, cocking her head. "Geetz is the other one and is present, along with a Mother Unit and a Purifier Unit. Beyond that, I cannot say anything else with any certainty."


"Yes, we are preparing to assault Xastra's frotress," Seril told Robot. She closed her eyes briefly, as if wishing she didn't have to say such. "We're preparing a rescue operation to retrieve an Ancient that has been taken prisoner. It'll be risky, but our Queen believes the benefits will outweigh the risk should we succeed in our mission."

Edited by RisingDragon on September 12, 2012 at 17:18:02

"Ahuh, alright," Arya mumbled a little, "I'll go see them then. Thanks for the info."


"This Ancient, is he that valuable?" Robot asked, incredulous. "Is he that powerful? Or is he a great leader? Or..." His eyelights adjusted briefly, slitting, then returning back with a slight flash of orange, "does he have something we need?"

"A Servitor Unit, I believe, so not a leader but a servant of one," Seril remarked, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "He's acquired information about Elysium that, unfortunately, now lies in Xastra's hands. The others feel that leaving the situation as is would only spell disaster for us, so with the help of Lord Dargor, we'll be recovering him."

Robot stood pondering for a moment or two. "Kzt. If they haven't cracked his coding yet or forced him to willfully tell, then it would be imperative indeed. Lord Dargor, you say?" The name was not directly familiar. He could search his connected databases, but that'd take time. "Who is he? I'd presume he is more than capable if the dragons have such faith in him for such a mission."

Simultaneously, Alasea and Tomoko's mouths dropped, unable to contain their shock at the sight that now hung before them. One of the Five Beasts of the Dark Apocalypse, animunculi whose creation and power could barely be comprehended, offered up a plea of help to R.D.. Their minds could barely acknowledge what was happening as Donovan retracted his spikes and bowed his head, however momentarily, to the boy.

R.D. himself lowered his arm, and the Azurewrath's blade flipped back into a standby position as he regarded the Beast. "I can do that. But there's going to be things I need you to do so I can. This isn't an easy war we're fighting and right now we don't have a lot of time," he said to Donovan. "Not with that extradimensional bastard marching on Azaleas' castle."

R.D. shook his head. Thanks to his recent capture, he knew things about Ziatoch's plans that Azaleas' forces didn't. "It's not that simple," he told Donovan. "Ziatoch and Azaleas made a deal at some point, some sort of twisted contest on who can capture me. The deal was that whoever won, the loser had to abandon the planet."

Of course, the moment the deal had been made, Azaleas himself had attacked him and Matt and the others. That hadn't been pleasant. "Of course, neither of them intended to keep their side of the bargain. But Ziatoch managed to capture me. He extracted something from me and used me as a weapon against Gouki's forces and left them in complete disarray. Most of his bases are destroyed, and whatever survivors there were, they used something called Corruptors to turn them against Azaleas. That army's only growing bigger and its going to get bad if they managed to overpower Azaleas' defenses.

"Ziatoch has all the strength He needs to kill Azaleas, but we all lose if He wins," R.D. told him. "Make sure your forces keep up the image of loyalty and get them to hold off Ziatoch's forces. And in the meantime, have them find me a way to get to the Ventre dimension unmolested. Azaleas left bitter enemies in that realm. I'll need them to crush Azaleas, and to make sure whatever forces Azaleas has there doesn't make it over here."

That in itself was going to be hellish to accomplish. Azaleas had taken over the entire planet. Finding a way to get himself safely to it wasn't a prospect he was looking forward to.

"One last warning," he said, thinking of one of the things he had... overheard while in their custody. The same thing he had told the others when he had been freed from Daemonus' grasp. "Ziatoch was trying to create something in Shayol Ghul. Something bad. Whatever it is, it's going to make Carnax look like a sea serpent in comparison. I don't know if it's ready, but if it is, it's going to take one or more of... your kind to hold it off."

Edited by RisingDragon on November 28, 2012 at 20:20:35

R.D. accepted the paper, and glanced at it briefly as he listened to Donovan's instructions. Written in Japanese text... which means he hadn't got a clue what it said. Maybe Tomoko could read it, or Alasea could translate it. Alasea and Tomoko both grew nervous as Donovan changed form, taking his monstrous appearance once more, but R.D. didn't seem to worry--hell, it was as if he was used to this.

Which, after his time in Shayol Ghul, he probably was.

R.D. nodded to his advice. "That's fine. With any luck I can get out of here without too much hassle. It's Gouki's forces that I'm worried about," he muttered that last bit to himself before raising his voice conversationally again. "Good luck with the plan, Donovan. We're both going to need it."