Round Two: Zolomon VS Elias

[A Dragonian]

Legends of Dragonia: Tournament 2006--
Esperanza Edition:
Round Two: Viva la Dragonia!

Match: Zolomon VS Elias
Final Score: 3 - 2
Location: Metapha
Starting Date: Monday, September 4^th, 2006
Ending Date: Saturday, September 15^th, 2006
Judge: Jimmy

Reminder - Be sure to be well informed of the Rules and Format of each match. Be sure to include your surrounding area; remember, YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING ON THE TOURNAMENT GROUNDS! The first person to post can set any additional conditions, such as the weather or the exact location of where the two are fighting, to further the environment. Also, be creative with what you do, and be sure to have fun!

[zolomon]

(OOC: Hey, dude! I'm looking forward to this, let's give everyone a good fight, kk? ^^ Good luck! (tho hopefully worse than mine ))

After a sudden white flash Zolomon realized he was high in the air, much higher than would be healthy, as suddenly a flock of geese flew just overhead. "What the..." was all the words Zolomon uttered before his descent began. Well, some would call it descent, most would call it lethal plummet towards the ground. The noise of the air rushing past his ears was like standing next to a train as it rushed by. By any means, not a pleasant experience.

So different thoughts were going through Zolomon's head as he soared to the ground, flying through the white puffs of clouds between him and his destination, which seemed so close, in reach in fact, but when one came close enough the seemingly dissipated into nothingness. Some of the viewers were scratching their head with curiosity concerning the vampire's dull facial expression, even when he was about to hit the ground very hard and painful. Yet they couldn't help but think about what thoughts could currently be coursing through the vampire's head.

At the moment it was regret on the part of his last fight. First his foe didn't arrive for half an hour after the fight began, and then, when he finally did arrive, Zolomon barely had managed to really get into the fight as it was already over, the vampire titled the winner of the bout. And things had really only just become interesting. 'Feh... just my luck...' Zolomon figured and looked down as he neared the ground with ever-increasing speed. The clouds were already behind him, and the cameras panned out from beneath him, showing the cerulean skies and several pure white clouds, spread out through the heavens like tiny wisps of smoke, and Zolomon, contrasting with the light skies as a small black dot, coming closer every second.

Since he was high above ground, the vampire figured he might as well take a look at where he was supposed to be fighting, and for a moment he had a strange feeling like he'd been here sometime before. It reminded him of a time long, long ago, when he went to hell to attain his cherished scythe. He was curious as to why, but in a moment he realized it. This place was just like the Gates of Hell in his world. He couldn't mistake the misty, almost mystical mountain range for anything. The strange cold, and yet extremely hot presence was unique and incomprehensible even today, many, many years after his last venture to this place.

Zolomon figured the mist would play to his advantage in many ways. It obscured vision and would be a useful ally for him, as darkness wasn't here to back him up this time, giving Zolomon an advantage since his opponent wouldn't be able to sense his presence either, while the thick mist wasn't an obstacle to Zolomon much at all. In fact, thanks to the water in the air, his sense of hearing would be sharper than ever.

When the ground finally came too close for comfort, Zolomon flipped around, turning his head up and feet to the ground, suddenly slowing his fall to a crawl and touching down lightly. Zolomon took one quick look around at the jagged stones and bare cliffs, thinking about the true wildness of such an area. It wasn't a jungle, which was usually what people think with the word 'wild', but it was a different kind of wild, dangerous in its own sense and definitely unbending to the will of man. It carried a feeling of ageless air, which was breathed by the very first in this world, and of an ancient land, much like the enormous tree in Zolomon's last fight location, the sharp rocks standing as a monument for what was here thousands of thousands of years ago.

Zolomon stood up straight and cracked his neck with two violent jerks of his head to both shoulders. He was here and ready, all that remained was to await his opponent and see what he was capable of. The lack of fight in the last round had gotten Zolomon's blood pumping and he was quite bloodthirsty at the moment, his eyes filling out black and nails growing long and sharp. The look in his eyes sent a cold shiver down the viewers' collective spine, and they felt that this time Zolomon would be quite a bit more dangerous than last time. Oh, how they were right...

(OOC2: Sorry about the semi-crappy post... it started out nice, but stopped being so near the end... hate it when that happens >_> )

[jak]

((Hey mate, good luck, let's have a good fight.))

Elias was quite pleased after his last fight. His opponent, although strong mentally and physically, was no match for Elias' skill, and was knocked unconscious during the fight, bringing it to a premature end. Elias had spent the time after his first fight mainly hanging around in bars, a bit of relaxation to heal the minor wounds he had received. He had even gotten himself into a bar fight, which turned out very bad for the person who started it, coming over to him completely drunk and saying, "I luuurv you! Give me a hug!", which Elias ignored until he started drooling on his armour, by which time the drunk had promtly flown out of the window of the bar. Technically you couldn't call it a fight because the opponent was knocked unconscious upon impact with the lovely glass windows, but still, everyone wanted to buy Elias a drink after that just so he didn't throw them though a window.
As soon as Elias heard he had won his fight, which didn't suprise him after he incapacitated his opponent, he headed over to the stadium to find out who he was fighting next. Similarly to last time, he had to beat off the fans, especially the women, but that's what you get for being known. Watching the boards for a few minutes there was a flicker as the results from round one changed to the listings for the second round. Scanning through the board he noticed his name.
[Zolomon VS Elias, Metpha]
"Metpha... interesting..." Wondering what terrain he was going to be fighting in, he decided he would do a CTR (Close Target Recce) of the area before the fight started, whether his opponent was there or not. A few minutes later after he indulged himself in the activity of signing a few ladies tank tops, he disappeared leaving an after image of him with a wide smile on his face, which promtly faded away.

* * *

Elias appeared in the mountain ranges of the Metpha island, and looked around. Thick mist and fog covered the landscape, and a network of valleys looked like scars on the earth. Not knowing exactly where he was fighting until he got teleported, Elias just flew around blindly, taking in as much of the area as he could. Suddenly there was a tingling in his body and with a flash disappeared, instantly reappearing in a new location.
Falling is a strange feeling... usually the organs in the body lift up usually inducing a sense of nausea. The rapid flow of air around the body usually bewilders the person before making it seem like they are travelling faster than they are.
This however, did not affect Elias. Being in the TSF meant he had to do lots of airborne assaults and was a fully qualified parachutist. However, due to the lack of a parachute, falling would have to surffice.
The terrain below Elias was much similar to the stuff he had seen on his CTR, which lasted all of five minutes. Soon the ground was fast approaching, and Elias could see someone, presumably his opponent, through the dense mist. Just before impact with the ground Elias froze, just a few inches away from an arse plant on bare rock, he rotated his body onto his feet and face his opponent. "Hello there, I would be your opponent, and I presume you are mine." Elias bowed slightly, before looking around the immediate area, trying to gauge it for a fight. It seemed fairly neutral, althought the fog was annoying, so Elias might have to rely on his ears more than his eyes, which was no problem.
Turning back to Zolomon, Elias said calmly, "Whenever you wish to proceed my friend.", and he placed himself in a relaxed fighting stance, bouncing up and down on the spot and loosening his joints. Elias had found the key to being good at something in life is just to relax as you do it, and let your body think about it. And more times than not the body knows what to do and you just let it flow. Elias closed his eyes and tried to conserve his energy, wating for his opponent to start the fight.

[zolomon]

Only moments after his own arrival, Zolomon noticed someone approaching him from above quickly. "At least this time he isn't late..." the vampire sighed and watched as his opponent stopped himself only inches from the ground, turning around and standing up firmly to face him.

"Hello there, I would be your opponent, and I presume you are mine," the man said and bowed courteously. For a moment Zolomon's rather grim expression lightened, seeing someone else who appreciated somewhat cultural behavior in-between the madness of life, and he bowed in return. But that was only a fleeting moment, as in the next instant he was already prepared to go.

His opponent, on the other hand, felt it was a good moment to take a look around. Zolomon's left eye twitched. He knew that this world had quite powerful contenders, he KNEW it, remembering the Samurai he had met some time ago during his run-in with the Saiyan army, yet he felt everyone thought little of him and it was really getting on his nerves. Did he look like someone not to be taken seriously? "Whenever you wish to proceed, my friend," his opponent, called Elias as he was told be the people running this event, told him in a relaxed manner and proceeded to warm his body up, taking a rather loose and open, yet easily controllable defensive stance. Either he was a professional or overconfident, it would be revealed in a moment.

"So I shall..." he said and watched his opponent, waiting for a good moment. Then Elias closed his eyes, and the vampire knew it was the moment to strike. Zolomon took three quick steps in his direction, quickly opening his coat, then with the third step he kicked off the ground and disappeared in somewhat of a blur of navy, his sudden burst pulling the mist in a short trail after him.

Predictably enough, he appeared right in front of Elias, this time testing purely his reflexes and ability to make life-saving decisions in an instant. Zolomon's palm sailed right past the right side of his face, intended to miss, as a stab, yet aiming it so that the nail of his middle finger would leave a scratch if he didn't miss. After it, using the momentum of the thrust, came an elbow strike to Elias' nose, after which Zolomon flipped around so that his back wouldn't face his opponent, aiming a blow to his head coming from a strange angle above him, his fist going all the way to the ground, making the vampire hold his face but a foot above the ground. He instantly clenched his fist even tighter, his hand moving back up for a return hit, which never came, instead replaced by an awkward kick to the side of Elias' head, as Zolomon had managed to stand on one foot and distract him with his hand, seeing if he could predict even such a move. Surely, right after it came the very same return blow with his fist, finishing off the lightning-fast combo with a fist aimed at the man's gut.

Zolomon skidded back several feet and crouched down, opening his palms and frighteningly turning them into dangerous-looking claws, an even more dangerous, cold flame in his eyes. The audience gasped at his sudden and incredibly fast series of attacks and at his feral look. The fight was on.

[jak]

Whether it was to Zolomon's knowledge or not, as soon as Elias had arrived he was already surveying his opponent carefully, taking in his physique, the way he moved, how he stood. Slowly he tried to assess the Vampires skill, which proved hard considering he hadn't done anything. He seemed quietly confident, and looked strong. Despite the brief analysis, the only way Elias would truly find out what his opponent was like was to fight him. Fortunately that was what was about to happen.
As soon as Elias closed his eyes, his opponent made a move, precisely what Elias expected. As soon as Zolomon took his first step Elias knew he was on the attack, trying to take advantage of his supposed 'bilnd' state, but his disappearance took him by suprise. Luckily the attack came from the front, and as the first palm strike came in, Elias bent backwards, the attack going nowhere near him. Using the momentum as he leant back he kicked off the ground, doing a backflip; Zolomon's elbow strike consequently missing. Elias' front leg whiped round towards Zolomon's groin, the second towards his chin. As Zolomon's next attack came in, Elias merely side-stepped to avoid the blow, and whilst Zolomon was down low Elias aiming a powerful kick to his back. The next attack however was very perculiar, the punch that seemed to be heading towards Elias vanished, and out of the corner of his eye Elias saw the kick coming towards him. Quickly briking up his hand he formed a ball of confusion ki, ready to block the attack. Should the attack carry on, Elias would be knocked off his feet, but Zolomon's leg would be immobilised temporarily due to the freeze ki. In any event, Elias fired off a powerful palm strike of his own towards Zolomon's face, and easily blocked the Vampires final attack, attemping to grab his arm and twist it around before he could withdraw it.
As Zolomon skidded back Elias knew it was now his turn to be on the offence. Unlike when he was fighting Chameleon, he wasn't going to hold back on Zolomon. His initial display of speed and power were slightly disturbing, and Elias knew there was no point in giving him an easy ride. Noticing how the Vampire seemed to have claws now at his advantage, Elias decided to even the stakes as he drew his sword from its scabbard. Holding it with both hands high above his head, he made a quick charge towards Zolomon, jumping towards him doing a flying kick as he brought the sword down at lightning speed towards Zolomon's skull. As soon as Elias' feet touched the ground he turned to Zolomon and made a horizontal slash at his chest and pivoting on his feet he twisted around and went for another slash to his legs followed by a stab at his chest. Jumping backwards he formed a ball of confusion ki in his hands, and fired it at Zolomon, and just before the ball was about to impact Elias teleported behind Zolomon and went for a palm strike to the back. Elias finished off the attack by flying above Zolomon and firing a barrage of ki balls at him from above, aiming for his head, shoulders and chest mainly. Remaining up in the air Elias sheathed his sword and prepared himself for Zolomon's next attack.
Back in the stadium the commentators were going wild, as were the crowd. "Wow we have seen a terrific display of power here from both contenders! They both seem to be giving it all they have! These guys look like they aren't going to hold back! And I hope for the crowds sake they don't!"
The stadium was filled with cheers and shrieks as they chanted for the fight to go on.

[zolomon]

(OOC: at one point you said that you defended with confusion Ki, and a moment later you said it was freeze Ki, so I just went with the latter)

Obviously enough, his opponent hadn't closed his eyes without expecting an attack, and Zolomon was pleasantly surprised to see his first attack go completely off. Even more, Elias used the created movement of evasion to counterattack, landing a blow to the vampire's groin that most men would consider lethal, and a less vital kick to his chin. However, at the moment Zolomon wasn't stoppable so easily, the pure rush of blood keeping him going, despite any injury. Finally he would face someone that could test his strength even if not to its fullest extent, yet, for all he knew, his opponent could be holding back himself.

Zolomon's trick attack succeeded, although it seemed that Elias had formed some sort of defense in the last moment, making Zolomon's leg numb and lifeless. During his return blow, instead of hitting his opponent Zolomon himself took a palm strike to the face, and his own palm strike was intercepted, Elias twisting the vampire's arm in an unpleasant angle. 'Let go!' Zolomon shouted in his mind and for the blink of an eye his arm radiated his Dark Matter energy, quite simply forcing Elias' hold to come off. The vampire limped back, due to the effects of his opponent's strange Ki, but, forcing some more of his Black Matter through his own veins, Zolomon forced the Freeze Ki out of his system and just in time, as now his opponent was attacking.

Elias drew a sword and a tiny smirk crept onto Zolomon's face as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation. He threateningly raised the blade above his head and charged, as the vampire tensed his senses for a moment to improve his reaction. He was curious how versed with the sword was his foe, and he would find out in short moments. First Elias jumped in the air, trying an aerial assault from above, a basic yet effective move, but it was rendered useless when Zolomon violently knocked Elias' blade aside with a powerful swing of his claws. However his opponent used the momentum Zolomon's deflection had caused, aiming a horizontal slash towards Zolomon's chest. Stepping back Zolomon dodged it, the tip of the blade running straight across is coat, yet not leaving any mark. He took another step back in order to evade another swing, this time aimed at his feet, seeing Elias draw his blade back for a stab.

For a moment different thoughts and courses of action ran through Zolomon's head, and he decided on the potentially most dangerous and flashy one. After all, this WAS a show... Just as Elias was retracting from the stab, the vampire lunged in his direction, in a move that would seem suicide if they could actually see his movement, but it was far from it. Zolomon quickly jumped, taking a step off Elias' blade and bolting in the direction that Elias' back was facing. It seemed his plan was successful to this point, as Elias also jumped back and fired off a Ki blast at the direction where Zolomon had been a moment ago, yet wasn't any more. Right now he was a little bit above and a little bit behind him, aiming a potentially very painful stomp to the back of his opponent's neck, hopefully knocking whatever ideas for continued attacks his foe might have.

Most people realized where Zolomon actually was only after he had landed behind Elias and was turning to deliver a low punch to his left side. But Zolomon's plan was disrupted when his opponent suddenly disappeared from before him and appeared just behind. If not for his superhuman reflexes, he wouldn't have even noticed Elias' disappearance and attack, but Zolomon managed to stop his palm strike with one of his own just in time, a small bubble of forced air pushing the mist away for a second. However, his opponent didn't stay on the ground for a classic melee struggle, instead deciding on continuing his assault from the air with a long barrage of Ki blasts.

--

"It seems that Elias has Zolomon pinned to the ground with this attack, what will our dark contender do?" the commentator shouted, even though he himself realized that words were unnecessary and the fighters spoke for themselves. Even more, nobody was actually listening to him and the small portable data pad indicated that everyone had disabled the commentary feature. For a short moment in time he felt like the loneliest person in the world, not needed by everyone, but the thought was pushed back moments later when the entire audience gasped in surprise. A number of small green lights appeared in the tiny LCD screen he was holding in his hand and a grin appeared on his face. 'Like a phoenix I rise from the ashes to return to my previous glory!' he thought, while saying: "It seems that, when forced into a corner, Zolomon has decided to use some strange darkness inducing technology, giving him some time to recuperate!" The man was on top of his game.

--

However, his assumption wasn't quite correct. When Zolomon saw that his opponent was attacking with a number of ki blasts, he knew there were once again several things he could do, and this time he went with the one that assured the greatest chance of success. In an instant Zolomon drew the longsword at his side, and the plain, common-looking blade turned into an elaborate navy blue weapon, matching Zolomon's coat and glowing in a blue tone of darkness.

As soon as Zolomon released the Longsword of the Night, the dark aura around it expanded rapidly, creating a large dome where sunlight was completely nullified. The Ki blasts hit and exploded, creating another thick layer of dust that further made any sight through them impossible. Also, Zolomon wasn't just biding his time and hiding himself, only letting everyone, especially his opponent think he was. At the same moment when the darkness of the Longsword engulfed him and the nearest surrounding, Zolomon bolted forward so as to move away from the Ki blasts, yet not making one sound. In a matter of seconds the longsword was sheathed, probably never even seen by most due to the speed of Zolomon's handling, the handle detached and re-attached, this time to the blade of a halberd. A second later he held the unusually large Halberd of the Damned in his left arm, running through the mist below his opponent soundless. He jumped at a large piece of rock, protruding from the ground almost like a jagged blade, and rebounded from it, leaping high into the air, above Elias, who was still looking down. Zolomon raised the Halberd above his head and it roared in a terrifying manner, sending cold shivers down the spines of even the most courageous.

That was the first sound he had made since drawing the Longsword, but it was most decidedly too late, unless his opponent was truly inhuman. Zolomon swung the blade with all his might, yet it wasn't to cut his opponent. The force of the swing, coupled with the Halberd's own mystical powers, released a mighty gust of force, for lack of a better word, being visible only as a giant distortion in space. The power was released only a couple of feet above Elias and would be nigh-impossible to dodge, especially considering that Zolomon had supposedly gotten there without being noticed. The might of the force was great enough to bring all but the most resilient foes to the ground quick and hard, as Zolomon was still better in scuffles on ground level.

Whether or not the blow hit, his opponent hadn't really anywhere to go but down, Zolomon ready to launch more attacks like that if necessary, despite the considerate strain they created. Taken to the ground forcibly or not, Elias hadn't time to even take a breath, as the beast had been unleashed and he was its prey. Zolomon attacked from above just like Elias had before, only with the Halberd as his weapon, the hatred of the damned adding to his strength considerably. If the blow hit, Elias would be taken to pieces from the sheer strength, if not, bits of stone would be flying everywhere and the next attack would already be upon Zolomon's foe. A horizontal swing aimed at the upper body was followed by a thrust of the fist. Zolomon quickly flung the halberd behind his back, holding it in his one free arm by the very end, making it parallel to his other hand, then thrusting it forward for another jab, just after the punch.

Instead of drawing the halberd back for defense or continued swings, Zolomon let it go, allowing it to continue its course forward, soon following it, grabbing it by the middle, then ducking right in front of Elias, leaping up with a punch from below, resulting in a very potent uppercut, followed by an axe-kick to his left shoulder and a diagonal slash of his halberd, finished by a very powerful blow with the end dull of his weapon. Zolomon leaped at Elias, aiming to take his return attacks head-on and not cowering in defense.

The audience was, so as not to be rude, flabbergasted and shocked at the display of skill and power these two fighters displayed. This would be one they remembered for much longer than just the week of the tournament. This would be one for the books...

[jak]

((OOC: Sorry mate it was meant to be freeze ki, I’ll leave it so it doesn’t look like I’m tampering with old posts, sorry… Also apologies for the late reply I was at work yesterday and was knackered when I got in and been at college today so sorry.))



Elias was pleased that he managed to land some blows on his opponent, even if they didn’t do much damage. He knew the point of the tournament was no to annihilate his opponent but to show skill in how you fight and show yourself on the battlefield. It seemed to be going well for Elias, however his faint manoeuvre seemed to backfire on him, a stomp landing on the back of his neck, doing a little damage but not enough to stop his next attack.
Elias became very worried as soon as his opponent seemed to disappear. Elias saw him reach for what he thought might have been a sword, but soon after Zolomon was surrounded in a vast envelope of darkness which seemed to absorb and destroy the light around it, rendering the Vampire almost invisible. Flicking a switch on his utility belt, Elias tried to listen for Zolomon since he was invisible, but alas he seemed to be silent as well. His ki blasts seemed to add to the effect of darkness surrounding Zolomon, and for once Elias was incredibly alert.
Suddenly a battle cry emerged from behind him, making Elias jump in shock, but little did Zolomon know that he had made his mistake by making a sound. Elias had activated the speed implants in his muscles and as soon as he heard the piercing battle cry from behind he was able to react to it, at incredibly enhanced speeds. Turning amazingly quickly, Elias saw a halberd being brought down on him in slow motion. The power erupting from the halberd was only inches away, but using his speed Elias went to ground, the attack barely missing him, the tail end of it catching his leg sending him in an incredibly fast tumble to the floor. Coughing up some blood violently Elias saw the Vampires next attack coming in, a forceful blow which was about to disintegrate him. Rolling sideways the attack smashed into floor, pebble dashing Elias with stones and rocks, causing cuts and grazes on his face. There was a flurry of light as Elias’ nanobots made their repairs helping restore his strength as he scrambled to his feet. Drawing his sword Elias brought it up vertically, grabbing the tip of the blade and blocking the horizontal swing from Zolomon, and jumping back Elias narrowly avoided the fist thrust. Elias managed to deflect the following jab with his blade but it collided with his elbow, sending a shudder down his arm, causing Elias to drop his blade. Teleporting away Elias quickly summoned his sword using telekinesis and returned in to the scabbard on his utility belt.
Zolomon’s ensuing attacks caused no problem for Elias as he had regained his bearings after his earlier close encounter with the Vampire’s halberd. Elias leant back as the uppercut came in, swinging his body around and deflecting the blow with his leg, also avoiding the following vicious slash from Zolomon’s halberd. Elias ducked the blow from Zolomon’s weapon which brushed though Elias’ hair, causing no more damage other than a few split hairs.
Seemingly not wanting to give Elias room to breathe, Zolomon launched himself at Elias apparently trying to help him defend any ensuing attacks, but Elias simply flew over him and perched on some rocks a mere ten metres away.

---

“And here we have just seen an amazing feat of defensive work here from Elias. His amazing reactions prevented Zolomon’s initial attack with his halberd doing it’s full damage, and Elias narrowly missed being obliterated completely from this tournament. As we have seen Zolomon is clearly powerful on offence, and Elias on defence. It will be interesting to see how the two cope with the opposites of these.”
The commentator looked though all the screens in front of him displaying the battle occurring in Metpha. “After Elias’ brief stop he seems to be on the attack now, and we can see him charging at Zolomon, a large ki ball formed in his hands. Wait a second –“ The commentator paused and the crowd gasped. “Elias seems to be, well… everywhere! He seems to have duplicated and has surrounded Zolomon. What is happening!?”

---

As soon as Elias finished teleporting repeatedly around Zolomon, leaving after imaged surrounding him in a dome, all of them with a ki ball, life signs and a power level; Elias activated his stealth generator, rendering him completely invisible, and he teleported behind and above Zolomon, just inside the ring of after images. Only then did Elias unleash the ball of confusion of ki, and after doing so, he immediately teleported, sending a beam of freeze ki; and teleporting again a ball of confusion ki. Elias repeated this attack so that from Zolomon’s point of view he would be receiving a barrage of ki balls and beams from all angles.
As soon as the last inferno ki ball left his hands Elias teleported behind Zolomon, unleashing a blast bomb attack, sending a beam of ki which incinerates pretty much anything on impact.
Not wanting to give Zolomon a chance, as he was clearly adopting the same attitude with Elias, he ran and did a powerful flying kick towards Zolomon, aiming for his gut, following up the attack with a powerful knee strike aiming for the Vampire’s chin. Hopping back Elias pivoted his weight on once foot bringing his leg around in a sweeping roundhouse kick aiming for Zolomon’s leg, and consequently leaped towards Zolomon with a powerful elbow strike towards his jaw. Brining his arm back, Elias went for an extremely powerful ‘haymaker’ punch towards Zolomon, but the attack was designed to miss, as Elias formed some confusion ki in his other hand, and using the momentum of his arm to swing his arm around Elias span and less that a few inched away from Zolomon released the ki ball, aiming for his chest to cause the maximum spread of brainwave disruption. To finish off his barrage of attacks, Elias leant back and bringing both his hands together he went for a hammer strike to the top of Zolomon’s back, before leaping high into the air in a defensive position, trying to regain some of the energy he had used on his powerful assault.

---

“Well slap a dress on me and call me Sally! If that isn’t an incredible display of power from Elias here! I can say one thing! This fight is going to get bloody! And I’m glad I’m not fighting these warriors!”

---

The battle was way underway now, both fighters completely focused in their goal to beat their opponent. Elias managed to spare a thought for his fellow TSF soldiers in his regiment, half wishing they were here on Dragonia, if only to see him fight in the tournament, he hoped he would of made them proud, and wondered if he would ever see them again.

[zolomon]

(OOC: Hey, no worries, dude, I know how life gets. I posted a bit later too, so I hope you don't mind )

It appeared that this Elias was quite a peculiar character, almost completely dodging the Halberd's blast at such a small range. Furthermore, he deflected or dodged most every other attack Zolomon had thrown at him, making the vampire raise an eyebrow. Was he truly in over his head? ...Nah...

However, a strange thing was after Zolomon's attack from above, the blow had sent small bits of stones and rocks flying in all directions, some straight at Elias' face and, from the smell of blood, Zolomon KNEW that he was cut, even if a little bit. But moments later he seemed completely well again. Zolomon was curious, yet decided not to pay much attention. After all, this was a tournament and the death of his opponent didn't matter. Although this wasn't the thought Zolomon was thinking... he was more interested in whether his opponent could grow his head back if he tore it off.

Zolomon's final defensive assault stopped when Elias jumped over him, landing on a tall rock some twenty feet behind the vampire. Zolomon quickly skidded to a halt and turned around. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed he couldn't get the upper hand over this extremely resilient foe. For a moment the thought of releasing the Scythe of Hellfire or even transforming into his True Darkness form, yet he quickly swatted those ideas away like annoying flies. It would be a disgrace to go all-out so soon in the tourney, no matter who he was fighting against.

Zolomon, holding the halberd behind his back in one arm took two quick steps in Elias' direction, then broke into a run, but suddenly stopped when his opponent disappeared from where he stood. Moments later Zolomon realized his view was being obscured by a large number of Elias' all around him, popping up like little bunnies during mating season. 'What the fuck?' was the only thought that ran through Zolomon's head as he raised the Halberd up in both arms and crouched down, preparing for whatever attacks his foe could have in mind. He would either assault him with all of his copies or, perhaps, start firing Ki blasts, both of which Zolomon didn't like, yet one of which he would have to deal with sometime very soon.

He was completely surrounded by a dome of Elias’s, yet he felt something strange about it. He could see the blood coursing through their veins, or it seemed like he could... but for some their body heat was slowly fading and the vampire knew there was something amiss. Suddenly he heard something behind his back. He turned around, but there was just a ball of Ki coming in his direction from above. He heard the sound again, to his side this time, but as Zolomon cast his eyes in the direction, he saw nothing at all, and, if there had been anything at all, it was disappeared again, a Ki beam coming straight at him. Zolomon seemed to get some kind of idea on what was going on, but it was just half the trouble, as he still needed to defend himself somehow. Unleashing the Scythe he could quickly summon a globe of fire to protect himself against much anything his opponent could throw at him, but he still didn't want to use his favorite weapon so soon.

Instead Zolomon decided to do something else. Something appeared, hugging his body tightly like a second skin, then quickly expanded and became like a thick layer of vapors coming off Zolomon's body. It also spread onto the Halberd, and he quickly deflected the two Ki attacks. If the barrage wouldn't last too long, he could shield himself with the Black Matter and not harm his own energy reserves too much. Luckily his senses allowed him to tell where Elias was blasting from, now it was all up to his body to keep up. Demonstrating a speed unseen of him up 'til now, Zolomon used the Halberd to deflect and destroy nearly all the blasts coming at him, only a few hitting his defensive aura, making the vampire wince, yet none doing the intended damage from their launcher (or launchers?). He was doing pretty well, when suddenly he felt a terrible pain shoot up his right leg. The Black Matter was beginning to drain him, as the barrage was continuing a bit longer than he would consider healthy.

"Ah, shit..." Zolomon cursed, falling to one knee and instantly taking large number of blasts. The barrage was violently tearing up the ground around him from the blows he took; he couldn't last much longer like this. Suddenly Zolomon stood up and swung his halberd around him. The force of the swing, coupled with his Black Matter energy created such a gust of wind that it brought up a swirling wall of debris and stones, breaking through Elias' copies both above and to Zolomon's both sides, also stopping all attacks that were on their way. Zolomon's breathing was heavy and this battle was really starting to take its toll, although he was far from finished. At that instant Zolomon heard a lone noise far behind him and he dashed with all his speed, disappearing from where he stood and appearing right before Elias, hitting his arm with the staff of the Halberd so that the blast that was intended for Zolomon instead soared into the sky and crashed into a tall cliff far beyond human line of sight.

--

"Ladies and gentlemen it seems, in fact, that Zolomon, struggling against all odds has actually managed to survive Elias' onslaught! However, it seems that Elias is yet to be through with his attacks, engaging the dark fighter in close quarter combat! Up until now Elias has seemed to hold the upper hand in their hand-to-hand scuffles, and does Zolomon still stand a chance?"

Arguments were starting to break out in the stands about who was going to win. Zolomon was at the losing end of this fight, everyone could tell, and many were starting to grumble about betting on the wrong fighter. After all, at least 60% of the people here weren't in it for the entertainment, but for the chance of cashing in some major dinero. Some were unhappily slumped in their seats, thinking about switching the channel, as the person they bet on was barely managing to not get his ass kicked, not to mention doing some damage himself, but there were those who realized this fight was far from over.

--

Zolomon wasn't bruised or cut, but for some strange reason he seemed older than before, if even just a little bit, older and a bit tired. Yet the determination in his eyes was unmistakable. It seems Elias had hardly expected him to get this close so soon and a slightly half-assed jump-kick was aimed at Zolomon's stomach after just two steps forward, yet the follow-up knee thrust to his jaw would have sent the vampire tumbling backwards if he hadn't jumped back just before it came.

Elias quickly continued his assault with a sweep to Zolomon's forward foot, but he quickly raised it just so that his attack would miss, putting it down as soon as his foot had passed, then pushing the elbow strike out of its course with a well-timed palm thrust. He saw the next attack coming also and knew something was amiss when it was clearly going to miss (although to an average person that attack would seem quite intended on a hit), and immediately noticed the Ki ball in Elias' other arm. He leaned back ever so slightly, so as to give the illusion of not noticing, and attempted to knock the Confusion Ki ball away with his left arm, infused with a small amount of Black Matter for extra protection.

However, at that very moment everything went haywire in the vampire's head. The world became inverted and he wasn't quite sure what the hell was going on, as he had the image of holding a small baby that was spitting purple marshmallow geese into the air, which came together in a giant flock, taking the unified shape of a zeppelin, then exploding and raining toenails with ice-cream. He tried to move his left arm, the one he remembered as holding his Halberd with, yet ended up wiggling his left toe. 'What the shit is going on?' he thought, then suddenly felt a horrible pain in the back of his head. Moments later he understood exactly where he was: the ground, and a thumping pain on his neck was very prominent when it came to what he felt like. He didn't quite understand what happened, but he sure as hell didn't want to go through that again, whatever it was.

How long was he on the ground? Did he pass out? Zolomon heard one of the tournament officials screaming something in his ear about responding about whether he was alive, but then he heard someone in the background shouting that he was alive and awake and that the fight could continue, abruptly ending the transmission. Zolomon grunted and struggled to his feet.

--

"Oh, no! It looks like that Ki blast to his arm and crushing hammer blow to his head has finally taken down the seemingly invincible Zolomon! Elias, as it seems, through an incredible display of power has beaten his opponent to the ground and he isn't moving!" Groans and moans came from all over the stadium. The fight was over and people were switching over to the other fights. Oh, well, it was good as long as it lasted... But suddenly the commentator seemed to come alive and the cameras switched from Elias to the dark character on the ground. As soon as they switched the audio commentary back on everyone could hear the commentator shouting with excitement, the small avatar showing him in the bottom right corner of their screens jumping up and down.

"Ladies and gentlemen this is unbelievable! It seems that the dark, mysterious fighter is still capable of carrying on! What a guy! Ladies, look out for him, it looks like he isn't one to *end* quickly!" he shouted as Zolomon stood up, tilting his head to both sides and stretching his neck. There were some displeased shouts from the females in the audience, while most where giggles and wishful sighs. Zolomon's blood made him a sex icon on its own, giving him the legendary looks and sex appeal that vampires were notoriously known for. It's not that he was just attractive... it was a supernatural characteristic of his race: he couldn't much help it if he wanted to.

--

But ladies were the least of thoughts in his mind at the moment, as he had something else to take care of at the moment. Once again Elias had retreated to the relative safety of the air, and Zolomon again had to get him down. He potentially could do the same thing he did last time, but he had to give this opponent more credit that that, he deserved it. And then an idea struck him.

Zolomon looked at Elias in the distance and grinned, then began running in his direction. He suddenly stopped on his right foot and jumped, but something he didn't quite expect happened at that moment. The continuous use of the Black Matter had affected his right leg more than anything else, and it seemed like it still hadn't recovered. Zolomon's jump was cut painfully short and just flew up to Elias' feet. Reaching for him with his right arm, Zolomon got to the peak of his jump, Elias just outside his reach, and began his descent, but something unexpected happened once more, this time for Zolomon's opponent.

As if jumping again in the air, Zolomon moved forward for a couple of inches and grabbed onto Elias' leg, his nails sinking into the material of his boots and potentially into his foot so that his grip wouldn't loosen no matter what. Immediately the tip of the vampire's halberd was pointed at Elias' chest, but no the one with the blade. Suddenly he executed nine extremely fast stabs, the speed of execution, range between the two fighters and Zolomon's position making evasion nigh-impossible, each aimed at one of Elias' nine vital points. If successful, this would disable his Ki outlet for 10-20 seconds and weaken his physical strengths temporarily as well, and the main idea was to render Elias flight-less.

Just as the jabs were done, Zolomon threw himself up, just above Elias' right shoulder, aiming a devastating swing of the staff of his Halberd in a circular spinning motion, bringing Elias once again above him, then quickly grabbing the fighter by the hair and throwing him back towards the ground with all his might, adding a little Black Matter to stun Elias' mind from the flow of evil and increase the power of the throw itself.

As soon as Zolomon was on the ground he was already running in Elias' direction, Halberd drawn back for a swing. Just as he reached his opponent, who had most probably already gotten back on his feet by now, Zolomon swung, but his right leg giving out at the exact moment once again, making the blow unexpectedly go towards Elias' left knee instead of his ribs. But the vampire didn't stop there, instead rolling up to just beneath his opponent, aiming a sudden jab of the halberd from right below Elias.

He quickly jumped to his feet, took a step back and held the Halberd in both hands, holding it by the very end with his right arm, and holding the left in front, supporting the halberd's front end with just two fingers, resembling how the monks of Shoaling held their spears in Zolomon's world. With a vicious shout Zolomon began a long series of lightning-quick jabs, holding his left arm still, while quickly moving his right arm forward and back, taking steps forward simultaneously. The jabs were pretty much innumerable, and most people saw nothing but a blur between the two fighters, then suddenly Zolomon tripped and fell on both knees, seemingly collapsing in exhaustion, holding himself up on his arms. He was panting heavily and felt his age showing, watching as the skin on his hands was slowly becoming wrinkled and his hands becoming thinner, whittling away.

--

"Oh, no! It seems that even Zolomon has a limit! He has collapsed to the ground and seems to be struggling to keep the fight going! Will Elias use this situation to put his foe down... permanently? We can only wait and see!" Uneasy murmuring filled the stands as people were beginning to think that their once replaced faith in Zolomon was placed wrongly for the second time in the same fight. But then they heard something, that first sounded like a quit whispering, a chanting of some sort, then soon grew into the booming voice of the vampire, making some quickly turn down the volume of their stations.

--

Zolomon was tired, he hadn't felt like this since his fight with the Saiyan army, yet he had been much stronger that time... Then he realized it. He hadn't fed for over a week, and it was showing. His power limit was much lower, as was the time he could go. What could he do? Was he going to lose? "No... I'm not done yet..." the vampire whispered. "I'm not done yet... I'm not done yet..." he repeated, his voice becoming louder with every time. His arm found the halberd and he eerily got on his feet, though it looked more like he floated to his feet, his lips moving all the time, repeating the same chant over and over again. A gentle breeze began blowing around him as he straightened up, looking at his enemy with the full intent of destruction in his eyes. The halberd was in his right arm, the blade half-immersed into the rock out of its sheer weight.
"I'M NOT DONE YET!!" Zolomon screamed and the wind around him exploded into a hurricane. Zolomon was invisible behind the incredible wind created by his power output. Even if his power wasn't Ki, there was nobody that couldn't feel it, and even some people in the stands with a high spiritual sensitivity could feel energy radiating from their screens, such a terribly great and evil energy it was...

Meanwhile to Elias it would seem like Zolomon had disappeared in the hurricane, when suddenly an enormous sphere of force emerged from it, just like the one launched at him some time ago, yet this one was at least twice as large, incredibly fast and many times stronger, ripping up the rocks that were not only in the nearest vicinity, threatening to destroy most anything that came into its path. Where it was launched from stood Zolomon, Halberd of the Damned in his right arm, emanating a majestic, strong and determined energy. Obviously, he was not done yet...

[jak]

((OOC: Mate just do you know, my stealth device would mean you wouldn’t be able to detect my heat signature (it explains it in my profile) and also be careful you’re doing a few auto-hits (throwing me for example), which I’ll let slide as they don’t really do that much, but just so you know.))

“As we can clearly see here at the stadium this fight is progressing at an alarming pace, both fighters going all out on their opponents, determined to win. Zolomon has shown a terrific feat of power so far and hopefully this won’t cease. Elias has also been holding his own in the battle, doing great defensive work as well as some very tactical attacks.” The commentator paused for a moment, and then realised no one was actually tuned in to the commentary as they were completely absorbed by the fight in Metpha. A little saddened, he cracked open a can of beer and took a massive gulp as he watched the proceedings on his screen.

---

Elias was hovering in the air, carefully surveying his opponent, his senses buzzing for the slightest implication of an impeding attack. His eyes twitched in their sockets as he tried to keep an eye on Zolomon and the surroundings at the same time. He knew his opponent was not one to give an easy fight, and so far looked like he wasn’t holding back, so Elias was determined to give him a fight he will never forget.
Zolomon’s grin was slightly unnerving, and as soon as he began to move Elias was ready for an attack. As Zolomon jumped, his leg seemed to buckle under his own weight and he stumbled, his jump barely reaching Elias. As the Vampires claws sunk into Elias’ boots, the Terminode let out a violent kick with his other foot aiming for the Vampire’s face, which would be hard to block since both his hands were in use.
As the Halberd came into view, a shudder went through Elias, and a split-second later Zolomon’s barrage of attacks all connected, dull thuds echoing every time the Halberd struck. Elias however, was completely undamaged, as he used his telekinetic ability to drag the particles of air together to form small areas of highly dense air, which simply stopped the Halberd as if it were stabbing into a rock.
Once Zolomon’s onslaught was finished, Elias drew his sword, aiming for a slash to the chest of the Vampire as he brought the blade up to parry the incoming swing of the Halberd, but suddenly Elias was uprooted from his perch in the air as he was thrown viciously to the floor. However just before impact Elias teleported, and using the vast momentum of his body he appeared just behind Zolomon, barely inched away from colliding with the Vampire. A thud followed as Elias’ body connected with the harsh rock below him, but he quickly picked himself up, knowing Zolomon was not finished with him yet.

---

“Wow another great tactical move there by Elias, I’ve not seen that one for a while. This fight is surely hotting up folks and Zolomon doesn’t even look like he’s broken a sweat!” The commentator paused to gulp down some more beer, which added to his increasing intoxicated state. “Ash you can cleaaarly shee, Eliash hash decided to do some shwordplay, hish blade at the *hiccup* ready. I love Eliash… he’sh sho shexy…” A few peculiar glances came from the crowd in the stadium as they looked up towards the inebriated commentator’s box. “I love you…”

---

Despite the state of the commentator, he was right about Elias, his sword held high in a powerful fighting stance. Zolomon was fast approaching, his halberd held back. As he swung his leg buckled once more, catching Elias off guard, the blade of the halberd sliced across Elias’ thigh, a jet of blood souring into the air.

---

Cries echoed out through the stadium as people saw the state of Elias’ lacerated leg. “This might be it for Elias,” said the second commentator, the first having past out shortly ago, “his leg seems pretty bad, a deep wounds… but wait a minute, there is some strange glow around his leg... what the…”

---

What the commentator could see were Elias’ nanobots in action, easily repairing the leg in a matter of seconds after receiving the wound. As the Vampire’s second attack came in, Elias swung with his sword and merely knocked the strike away, but putting some force behind it hoping to dislodge the halberd from Zolomon’s grip.
Another onslaught of lightning fast jabs were deflected by Elias’ sword as he activated his Terminode speed implants, allowing him to react amazingly quickly to the attacks, nullifying each one of them in turn.
“No… I’m not done yet…” echoed through the air, getting louder each time, Zolomon on the floor wrapped in the cocoon of his own arms. Elias was worried for a moment, was Zolomon in trouble? Was he actually in trouble? Not wasting any time, Elias channelled a mass of inferno ki through his Terminode sword, and striking it into the ground a channel of blazing inferno ki blasted its way towards Zolomon. Elias knew he was down, but from what he had seen of Zolomon so far, he knew he was not out.
The wind began to pick up as a low whistling broke out through the area. Dust began to pick up and a column of air began to emerge, engulfing Zolomon, shadowing him from view. “What the…” Elias murmured under the dull sound of the wind. Suddenly the light warped in the area as a huge sphere of energy came into view, powering towards Elias, the ground being torn up, it leaving a path of destruction in it’s wake. Summoning as much energy as he could, Elias formed a huge sphere of freeze ki in front of him, trying to match the size of the force heading towards him. Upon contact with the freeze ki the force was stopped dead, only some of it breaking through, knocking Elias off his feet. Turning the weapon on his enemy, Elias used his telekinesis and threw the force back at Zolomon. This guy is gonna get me killed…

---

“And what a brilliant defence of a potentially life ending attack! Elias however doesn’t appear to be unscathed, his is bleeding from cuts and grazes on his body…” The crowd chanted for the fight to go on, willing both fighters on with all their might.”

---

Time for some speed… Elias thought as he activated his implants lodged in the muscles of his body. Instantly they began to work in overtime, Elias’ speed so great time slowed down for him. Charging at blistering speeds towards Zolomon, he reached him in a split second, aiming a jab with the blade of his sword to Zolomon’s chest, the blade glowing with freeze ki. Jumping over him Elias went for another strike, slicing down the Vampire’s back, this time confusion ki flowing into the blade. Jumping down low Elias went for a final slash to Zolomon’s bad leg, hoping to strike with a burning blade glowing with blazing inferno ki.
Still in his enhanced speed state, Elias went for a barrage of strikes with his sword, which could barely be seen by anyone he was moving so fast. He made strikes and slashes and stabs towards the Vampire’s torso, chest, head and legs. To finish his barrage of attacks which lasted barely a few seconds, he went for a powerful strike down from high, hoping to bury the blade into his opponents shoulder. Retreating slightly, Elias fired off a barrage of ki attacks, balls and beams, as he returned to his normal state. Going towards Zolomon again, he went for a powerful jab to the Vampire’s face, before rotating 90 degrees for an elbow strike to Zolomon’s chin. Freeze ki then lined Elias fist as he went for another punch to the torso of Zolomon, and jumping over him in the air he went for a spinning double roundhouse kick to Zolomon’s face. Retreating once more, Elias finished off his mass of attacks with a blast bomb, firing off two large balls of inferno ki, followed by an incinerating beam as he formed two balls and brought them together, unleashing a powerful heat wave aiming to incinerate whatever it touched.

[zolomon]

(OOC: Sorry, I usually make it a principle not to read my opponents profiles so as to make a reaction to a situation more believable. It's better to be surprised at your opponent’s abilities than to act surprised, right? And I edited that bit, sorry about that.

And, just so you know, I don't auto-hit. Period. I just don't bother writing 'Zolomon attempted' every time or 'if that didn't work, Zolomon did this and that', but I realize that I might have not made it much of a choice for you in that instance, so I apologize, it wasn't on intent. But I don't auto-hit. Ever. )


Though rather predictably taking a kick to the head after latching on to Elias' foot and getting a rather nasty cut on his chest (afterwards cursing himself for such stupidity), it seemed that Zolomon's actions were successful to some point, as he had gotten his opponent back on the ground once more, even though he seemed quite prone to flying around.

Overall, Zolomon was unpleased with his performance. Not only was he taking lots more damage than his opponent, he had to repeatedly come up with ways on how to get the bastard down to the ground. 'God dammit, I have to learn to fly, for shit's sakes...' Zolomon cursed in his mind as he assaulted his opponent. After the assault he was even less content with his own capabilities. He had only landed one hit, and the same was a fluke, when he tripped. Besides, his opponent healed as soon as it happened, while blood was still dripping on the ground from the wound Elias had given the vampire while he was hanging to his foot.

His opponent had attacked while he had been on the ground on his knees and hands, a little underhanded yet Zolomon would have acted the exact same way. Then there was surge of power, along with rage and pure killing intent. The wound on Zolomon's chest stopped bleeding as his body entered something of a suspended animation, the vampire keeping himself together with his own energy. It was a strain, but it was all he could do to keep fighting. Forcing more Black Matter onto his halberd Zolomon deflected the powerful and dangerous blast launched at him, yet feeling the heat in the very ends of his bones, a quite impressive feat considering that the Scythe of Hellfire had over time rendered him basically immune to all but the greatest and hottest flames.

His strength, pouring out of his body like water from a waterfall, mixing with spurts of Black Matter he released, some intentionally, some not so, resulting in a giant vortex around him. If someone was watching the scene from above (and, actually, astronauts quite enjoyed watching the fights from up above everyone using special telescopes with which they could see even the faces of the fighters), they could see a sudden change in the scenery. Suddenly all of the mist began swirling around the twister, receding from the far sides of the mountain range and slowly creeping together as an immense, twisting pillar around the raging vampire. He himself was surprised at his power output, the size of which he had never seen coming from himself without releasing his True Darkness form. 'Heh... I guess that screwing around with the gods actually paid off...' he thought with an invisible smirk as his power kept growing, not knowing whether the peak was coming soon or was there one at all.

As the mist disappeared from the farthest ends and kept moving to Zolomon's position, the naked stones of Hell's Gate were revealed for the first time in many years, nobody even knew to say whether something like this had ever happened before. The sharp, hostile rock formation was like a crown of thorns, threatening to cut anyone who touched it. Actually, it was quite miraculous that Zolomon or Elias hadn't seriously wounded themselves, considering the poor visibility and extreme amount of pike-like rocks pointing upwards, just waiting for someone to plant their foot on them and probably never walk again. The mountain range was colored in every shade of gray, ranging from a near-black, to a tone easily mistaken for white. Like drops of blood, blotches of red rock, mixing with the gray, giving the land an even darker, eerier and scarier look. By any means, this was not a tourist attraction en masse.

With a monstrous swing his anger, rage and hatred, mixed with that of the Halberd was launched in Elias' direction, shattering the twister around Zolomon and unleashing a truly devastating attack. And in an instant, as if nothing had happened, the mist returned in its previous place, shrouding the mythical land like a cloak, hiding it from the curious eye.

Elias stopped Zolomon's attack, releasing an almost equal amount of his own brand of unique Ki, then quickly sending it back using some kind of force, possibly telekinesis, as Zolomon figured. Despite his sudden spike of power, Zolomon knew he couldn't keep this up for long, so he had to end this quick or either hope that they hadn't much time left in the match and await the judge's decision. Because of that, the vampire was actually quite glad to see his own strength being returned after draining some of his enemy's. Zolomon burst forward and leaped straight into the force, putting his Halberd of the Damned in front of him, the blade absorbing the energy right back, making its wielder feel somewhat like taking a breath after being under water for several minutes.

Before the vampire even knew what happened, Elias was before him. The vampire's eyes could just barely follow the movement, but, unfortunately, his arms couldn't. The next instant his opponent's blade lodged itself into Zolomon's shoulder and he felt like ice was poured into his veins. Lucky for him, being undead came with certain bonuses, like being able to retain ALL normal body functions even if blood no longer coursed through his veins. He felt the attack slow his movements even further, which was a life-and-death matter at the moment, but he had no choice but to go on defending himself. Zolomon saw Elias jump over him, and realized that his body couldn't possibly follow the sudden and insane amount of speed his opponent was displaying, so the best he could do was throw his arms back and hopefully block any slash coming at him. It seems he was lucky and for a split second he felt a large pressure on the handle of his halberd, but it was gone in the blink of an eye. Zolomon only noticed the next attack when it was on its way to Zolomon's bad leg, and tried his best to jam the Halberd into the ground so as to deflect the swing, but only just managed to place it before the blazing sword just as the slash came in. Despite the fact that this was going on in speeds beyond what a normal person could possibly follow, yet to Zolomon it was a struggle against time and his limitations that seemed to drag on for hours, pushing his body to move fast enough. The swing hit his halberd, knocking it onto Zolomon's foot, which, in turn, knocked him off his feet.

Despite the block and thin layer of Black Matter to increase his speed and strength, Zolomon felt the same heat as before, it would have surely set fire to his clothes if they weren't slightly magical and fireproof (thank God for magical tailors!). Zolomon rolled backwards as fast as he could, so as not to get nailed to the ground by a well-placed stab, and just as he got on his feet, he had to defend himself from an incredibly fast flurry of attacks. Once more, Zolomon's eyes and mind could just-just follow, the problem was his arms reacting in time. With the speed Elias was dishing out attacks, Zolomon could block two or even three attempts on his life seemingly at once, using the Halberd's length to his advantage, quickly tilting it to one or the other side for the best defense.

--

There was a commotion in the commentators booth, and for a moment the viewer's attention shifted to the small room beneath everyone else, at least that of those who could actually see the small shack. There was a struggle between the short, skinny man that had been commenting a moment before and an even shorter, tubby person in a matching suit. They were exchanging slaps and finally, with a rather painful-looking full-body tackle from the newcomer, the little man flew out of his chair and the substitute commentator took his seat instead of his over-intoxicated colleague.

"Looks like we're finally getting to see the contender Zolomon Beowulve in a defensive position! And it seems like he carries himself well, despite his obvious fatigue and numerous dangerous wounds! Fascinating!" the new commentator shouted, watching the fighting in slow motion so as to actually understand what the hell was going on.

--

Elias jumped, attempting a slash from above, which, coupled with the speed of the execution, was quite lethal, but Zolomon managed to knock the blade off its course with his own just before it sliced through him. Elias jumped back and Zolomon stumbled back, almost falling off his feet. Suddenly an onslaught of Ki blasts and beams headed in his direction and this time, instead of deflecting or stopping them, Zolomon just began an extremely fast run. Even if Elias could keep up with him, his Ki necessarily couldn't.

Then Elias attacked again, obviously mimicking Zolomon's own punishing series of attacks, perhaps much better than any of the vampire's. However this time Elias' speed was toned down to something that could be called normal, when compared to Zolomon's fighting level, and he could actually make out his moves and react with relative ease. Compared to the extreme rush moments ago, this was child's play. Zolomon sidestepped the jab to his face, then leaned back as Elias' elbow flew just past the tip of his nose. Zolomon noticed the strange energy from before pulsing on Elias' fist and stopped it with the handle of his Halberd, ducking to evade Elias' roundhouse kicks, then thrusting his foot straight up while he was still in the air, hopefully knocking him on the bottom of his jaw strong enough to give Zolomon some breathing space.

Still, his enemy wouldn't quit with the attacks and Zolomon now had to deal with a number of dangerous Ki blasts. He figured he could deflect them using Black Matter to enhance his strengths and defense without putting too much stress on his battered body, but as he struck the Blast Ki Bomb, it exploded in a bright dome, knocking the vampire off his feet and straight into a large, vertical rock formation about a hundred feet behind him. It crumbled on top of him, leaving a large pile of rubble, but Zolomon was already gone when it was hit by the two Inferno Ki blasts. At first it seemed like Elias was about to fire two more, but he suddenly struck them together before him and an immense beam was launched towards Zolomon. It was time to show this boy who exactly he was fighting. If he couldn't defeat this child, he wasn't worth the title of 'Nosferatu Ancient'.

Zolomon exploded in black energy, it repelling anything in the vicinity, small pebbles, big rocks, even breaking off stones that weren't too strong. In waves the Black Matter rose from the vampire's body, disappearing into the air as soon as they got too far, and the Halberd of the Damned was trembling with its and Zolomon's combined power. He raised it over his head and met Elias' heat wave with the very tip of his blade, the two great powers resulting in an explosion of force, blowing off the jagged protrusions from the stone body of the mountain, destroying anything that Zolomon's Black Matter energy hadn't. Although to everyone watching it seemed like the vampire was doing great, he was silently cursing in his mind. He had underestimated the strength of his opponent and was now suffering from it. Some cameras zoomed in on his arms as they quickly became red and skin began peeling off. After a number of seconds they were bloody and burnt to the point where one could see Zolomon's knuckles. His entire body was shaking from the pain, the immense pressure of keepin up this power output and anger.

Then something happened. Nobody could understand what it was, only after long trials of slow-motion replay. Elias' beam dissipated, breaking up as suddenly a flash of black lightning shot through it, stopping just before the man releasing it. For that millisecond, it appeared like Zolomon's cloak had suddenly shot up and somehow turned, resembling two wings, while his eyes had become an even more unnerving black, yet now appearing more like flames.

And there Zolomon stood, his arms by his sides, halberd in right hand, small pillars of white smoke rising from both his palms, a rather disgusting sizzling sound coming from them if one could hear well enough. His hands were still shaking and blood was freely dripping onto the ground, two small puddles forming on both his sides, joined by the wounds on his torso. To be perfectly honest, Zolomon looked screwed. But right now his physical conditions was of little importance to the ancient vampire, his body long ago would have stopped running if it wasn't for his determination. The only way his body would cease functioning was if someone severed his head... probably...

Zolomon's head was slightly bowed, the hair falling before it so that one couldn't tell whether his eyes were open or closed. His hand moved and suddenly the Halberd became plain and strange-looking, the handle resembling see-through plastic or tarnished glass. He took it behind his back, under his cloak, and when he pulled his arm out again, the blade of the halberd wasn't there any more. Instead, he inserted the Mirror Handle into the sheath of his Longsword and, moments later, Zolomon was holding his Longsword of the Night, the strange navy blue blade emanating a darkness similar to his Black Matter, yet still different. "How well will you fare... in the night, with no ears?" Zolomon suddenly spoke, raising the Longsword above his head.

All of a sudden its black aura began rapidly expanding, creating a dome much larger than the one he had created before, engulfing Elias too, killing the power of the sun in a two miles radius from where he stood. He could already feel the soothing touch of the night beginning to seep through his bloody wounds, quickening the healing process, even if only slightly.

If one could see in the blackness of night, all they could tell was that Zolomon was no longer where he had stood. His silent step was truly a handy skill when defeating an opponent required a more tactical and less brutal approach. Not only was darkness intimidating to most, this darkness wasn't usual, known to have an oppressing and frightening effect on even the most bold of men and women, and not knowing your opponent's location, thanks to his nigh-invisibility and ability to move in perfect silence, was never something to encourage a fighter with.

Right now, the vampire was abusing both these effects, and reveling in the darkness as his true home. Though most would think Zolomon was hiding, in truth he was running around Elias in a large circle, too fast for most to see anything but a blur during the day, most definitely unnoticeable during the night. There was a noise to Elias' left, a stone Zolomon had kicked to hopefully divert his opponent's attention, and almost the same moment came a slash to Elias' right side. Zolomon retreated instantly, yet only several seconds later came another silent strike from right in front of his opponent, followed by one from behind a second or two after.

Zolomon returned to running in circles and felt it was time to finish these games. At one instant he swung his sword, and at that moment a Blade of Darkness headed straight for Elias. Zolomon didn't want him to die... yet... but he was curious as to see how he would notice it approaching, to mention deflecting it. Even more so... how would he deflect what followed? Suddenly Zolomon stopped, just as soon as the first blade reached Elias' position, then began running in the other direction faster than ever, quickly reducing the size of the circle. At that moment he began violently swinging his blade at his opponent and didn't stop until the Longsword's energy ran out, over a hundred Blades of Night launched at Elias from all around him with extremely small time between them. Even if he had gone to the air, above Zolomon's barrier of darkness, he wouldn't have an easy time noticing the blades before it was too late. If he would survive this, Zolomon would swallow his pride and admit that he has met an equal, and despite the vampire's general lack of feelings... he couldn't help but feel sorry for Elias at the moment. After all, he was facing a Child of the Night.

[jak]

((OOC: Ok mate no worries, and sorry for the late reply again, college and work get in the way.))

Elias was getting very unnerved by Zolomon. Their fight had been going on a good while and his opponent had displayed great powers and good use of tactical deception for attack and defence. The big swirling mist in front of Elias was decidedly worrying; the long drags of mist being corkscrewed up into the air by Zolomon’s immense power. As the mist subsided around Zolomon the landscape was apparently quite lethal in appearance, and Elias was lucky that his way able to fly or he would have to navigate the contours of jagged rocks embossed with tiny shining pieces of rarer stones.
As Elias deflected Zolomon’s monstrous attack he was surprised to see that the attack did no damage to his opponent. The energy Elias spent was wasted as the Vampire absorbed the energy from his own attack. “Damn, rookie mistake…” Elias cursed under his breath before he continued his attacks. As Elias was spinning through the air for his roundhouse kicks, he was suddenly kicked violently in the jaw and sent crashing to the ground. His next set of attacks continued as planned however, the first of which appeared to launch the Vampire, obliterating a rock formation which his body crashed violently into.

---

What happened next Elias did not expect. In fact, nobody seemed to expect it. The commentators were going crazy. “My God! What is happening there in Metpha!? Zolomon appears to have… well… for lack of a better word, ‘transformed’ the day… I think… well, darkness now surrounds the two fighters which I’m afraid we cannot see… hang on folks thermal imaging will be up in a moment!”

---

The sudden lack of sunlight… well in fact… light at all brought a harsh coldness down on the area, the temperature penetrating Elias’ skin and causing his to breath to fog up… well he presumed since he couldn’t actually see it… Using this temporary moment of silence Elias tried to regain some of the vast amounts of energy he had used. He still had some left in reserve but he could over exert himself, or use any power consuming attacks for very long.
Elias was getting worried again. He knew Zolomon was able to move without making any sound Elias could detect. That was when the stone dropped, literally, and the sound that emanated from the stone deflected all around Elias, bouncing off all the objects nearby allowing Elias to form an image of the area using his hearing. That was when he saw, well detectecd, a figure moving towards him. Knowing instantly it was Zolomon Elias drew his sword and brought it up where he thought the Vampire was. There was a loud clash as the two swords connected, but Elias, being caught off guard, was sent reeling to the floor, blood dripping from his hand as Zolomon’s blade had sliced into his hand after being parried by Elias’ sword. As Elias nursed his hand another strike came in catching him in the leg. Rolling over on his side he narrowly missed the next attack which just missed his neck. “I’m a sitting duck with no fucking light!” Elias was still on the ground, in pain, waiting for the next attack to finish him off.

---

“And here is an unusual change in events. Looking at the thermal image here I think we can see Elias on the ground, and Zolomon appears to be circling him! This could be a very bad end for Elias. He needs to get somewhere he can see!”

---

Elias took a brief moment to assess his situation. He was blind. Zolomon was silent. He was unable to detect him very easily and there was no doubt another attack due. In short, he was screwed. Despite the grim situation Elias decided not to give up. “ZOLOMON!” Elias screamed at the top of his voice, the sound echoing throughout the area. Suddenly a violent image appeared in Elias’ head. An object moving at high speeds towards him. “AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!” Screamed Elias’ lungs, his voice continuing for many seconds, primarily encouraging him and secondly allowing him to see what was happening. There was a loud clink as Elias deflected the blade which nearly chopped his head off, and the scream still emanating from his lungs, now in terror, revealed the mass of other blades flying towards him. His mind reeling Elias did the first thing that came to mind. He lay flat on his face and concentrating with all his energy he formed a large vacuum using telekinesis above his head. Balancing the difference in pressure air rushed to fill the gap and a vast majority of the blades were swung off course and bounced violently around him. The experience was horrifying, blades bouncing and shattering all around him. Elias was paralysed with fear, until the horrible din of blades was pierced by a new sound. There was a violent slash which sounded like flesh being ripped as two or three blades violently sliced into Elias’ legs, one sticking through it, the other protruding from Elias’ thigh. One buried in his thigh too close to his groin. “AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!” Elias screamed. He was loosing blood and fast, His nanobots working in overtime. He couldn’t extract the blades as he couldn’t see them, and he knew he would bleed to death despite his nanobots if they weren’t removed fast. Suddenly he began to rise, trying to edge his way out of the darkness as he ascended. He wasn’t going very fast, he was an open target, Zolomon could finish him there and then if he chose to. As the sunlight dissolved through the blackness as Elias reached the edge, he violently ripped the swords out of his legs, lashing him with his own blood. Elias was quite high up, a trail of blood dropped plummeting down to the rocky earth beneath. Elias lay there in the sky, the sunlight warming his shaking body which had lost a lot of blood. He needed to recuperate. Christ his opponent had nearly killed him! He still might be trying to! Elias had underestimated Zolomon. He thought he wouldn’t go as far as murder but evidently Elias was wrong. The wounds on his leg were getting better as the nanobots did their work, but Elias would have to stay in the air for them to heal, he couldn’t put any pressure on them. Deciding not to attempt an attack as in his current state he would probably hurt himself more than Zolomon, Elias fired off ki balls towards him hoping to keep him at bay. Elias activated his stealth generator, being able to spare the energy since it was less consuming than using ki. He slowly moved around so Zolomon wouldn’t have a clear shot at him and prayed that he would live just a few more minutes so the nanobots could heal him.

((OOC: Sorry for the crap end I’m knackered after my four hour shift so I don’t have the energy to attack, nor does Elias apparently…))

[zolomon]

(OOC: Looks like this is going to be my last post for this fight... Thanks for a really great match, dude! You were an awesome opponent! ^^ Good luck in your future rounds!)

As Zolomon moved in to disable, for lack of a better word, Elias, he realized the folly of trying to throw his foe off using the stone, as he managed to locate Zolomon with somewhat of a sonar localization imitation. Zolomon most certainly could do it, thanks to his incredible hearing, yet he wouldn't have thought of something like that unless pressed into a corner. He was truly a worthy opponent.

The vampire ancient's first attack was somewhat successful, knocking his opponent out of balance and cutting his arm. Some blood was smeared on Zolomon's own, and he quickly licked it off, feeling an ever-so-light rejuvenation in his body. The cut to the leg was successful also, but the final strike narrowly missed its mark. Zolomon admired such a willpower to go on even when death is away at just a hair's breadth.

He was surprised when Elias actually managed to deflect the first wave of darkness headed for him, and even more so when he came up with an ingenious plan of action for defense. He really was special... Zolomon only wished they could fight it out once to the death, that would be a fight to remember, no matter who survived.

Zolomon saw the great amounts of blood pouring out on the ground, and suddenly felt an urge to just charge and drain his opponent for all he was worth. But he refrained himself, waiting to see what his opponent would do. Zolomon saw Elias rising up but, for once, decided not to. There was no need any more. In a moment he crossed the distance between the two of them and now stood under Elias, who was still rising into the air, his mouth open and drinking the blood dripping down from above, his own strength slowly yet steadily recovering.

--

Most of the viewers had to avert their eyes out of disgust as Zolomon feasted on his opponent's blood, the mothers quickly covering the children's eyes, even though they were fascinated and tried to wrestle the arms of their mothers away from their faces. The new commentator looked a little stressed out and unwell, and even the other, feeling a bit better and some sense returning to him, looked at the screen with an expression that could only be described as 'wtf?'.

--

Zolomon saw his opponent go outside his field of night and smirked. Three Ki balls were fired at him, but he, in his much-recuperated state dodged the troubled efforts with ease. He sheathed his Longsword and finally the darkness disappeared, the entire sphere shrinking into a small crystal ball on the end of the Longsword's handle. Zolomon took slow steps, seeing blood dripping from seemingly nowhere in the sky every now and then from different places, indicating that his opponent, but the blood was quickly dropping in amount, and the vampire figured that he was using his strange regenerative mechanism.

However... it didn't really matter. Zolomon could continue the fight, but the power difference was too large at the moment and he had truly appreciated this opponent. "Elias! Listen to me... let's stop this fight and wait for the judges decision! I don't want to kill you any more, you have proven yourself to be more than a capable opponent and I hadn't enjoyed a battle this much in ages... We are matched in both physical and mental areas, yet what finally let you down was your experience... you simply can't compare a mortal's life to one of 400 years... I would very much enjoy seeing you through your blade once more... so I shall not kill you today. You have earned my respect and, if anyone, you are worthy of being called my equal."

--

After all, he had nothing personal against Elias in the first place, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he ended the fight without anything against him. Yet... the audience couldn't help but be at awe. By now they wouldn't have been surprised by much anything from this mysterious contender, Zolomon Beowulve, yet for this they weren't prepared. A truce? A tie? Leaving it for the judges? That doesn't sound like something a killer... a monster would do. And yet they didn't quite realize that, even though he was a monster and a killer and much, much more... he still, as a vampire ancient... was a noble, and although it seemed non-existent at times, Zolomon always followed his own code of honor in life, as he did now.

--

Unless Elias felt he would luck out and win, this would be up to the judges. Zolomon calmly crossed his arms and bowed his head, closing his eyes and listening for whatever was going on. The nobleman pondered his fight and thought of how his performance would be rated. A heavy silence hung in the air.

(OOC: Thanks again for the great match! ^^ )

[jak]

Elias was still in great pain, but his wounds were healed, he was able to fight on. He turned to see the darkness surrounding the area disappear, revealing his brilliant opponent.
"Elias! Listen to me... let's stop this fight and wait for the judges decision! I don't want to kill you any more, you have proven yourself to be more than a capable opponent and I hadn't enjoyed a battle this much in ages... We are matched in both physical and mental areas, yet what finally let you down was your experience... you simply can't compare a mortal's life to one of 400 years... I would very much enjoy seeing you through your blade once more... so I shall not kill you today. You have earned my respect and, if anyone, you are worthy of being called my equal."
Elias dropped to the ground and winced as his legs landed on the floor. He thought momentarily as he fell, all these thoughts passing through his head.
He wants to stop the fight now? Just after he tried to kill me? He wonder edhow the judges would look upon the near death experience. Put it this way. Elias was blind. His opponent was silent. Therefore he was unable to see and or hear him, leaving only taste, touch and smell as his other senses. Then he was bombarded with hundreds of blades and his only choice was basically to get diced to pieces by them.
Elias was slightly disappointed but releaved at the same time. His opponent had done a full on attack which was nearly fatal yet Elias had held back on his more deadly techniques for fear of killing his opponent. He realised in Zolomon's case he probably wouldn't be able to kill him, him being a vampire, very old and experienced. Elias thought about what he might have done but dismissed it. I wonder how vampires cope with vacuums...? He was slightly worried at the prospect of the fight stopping because the judges would probably frown upon how much damage he had taken from Zolomon, but still, he was alive, and he wasn't sure whether the fact Zolomon nearly murdered him would help him in any way. He was pretty sure it was common courtesy not to try and kill your opponent, but Zolomon was different, and Elias didn't feel angry towards him, he felt respect. But still, a battle is a battle, and Zolomon was lucky he didn't kill Elias or he would be disqualified.
"You are a very powerful fighter my friend, and you must surely be feared by your enemies. I hope enemies haven't been made during this fight, and I look forward to meeting you again, and fighting again, although hopefully next time in a less life threatening way." Elias tried to stand tall whilst saying this, although his legs weren't helping.
"Good luck in the tournament my friend, you never know, I might see you in the final." Elias smiled widely and shook Zolomon's hand, before lifting into the sky and blasting off, plowing through the cool air.

---

Elias was back at the aid station getting his wounds attended to. He had received a battering from Zolomon but was still annoyed he wasn't able to retaliate before he ended the fight.
"I saw you're fight sir, I must admit, I'm quite amazed how you survived Zolomon's attack! We saw it all on IR camera's! How did you do it!?"
"One word lady. Luck."
"Luck?"
"Yes. Now if your done I'd like to leave."
"But what about the-"
The young nurse was cut off as Elias left the building. He strolled over to the nearest bar and bought a pint, sat down, and waited for the numbness to consume his body. The fight replayed in his mind over and over again, and he was annoyed about how Zolomon cornered him, although he did admit to himself; he didn't see a sword that induced darkness coming...
Leaning backwards the soft chair he was in began to eat away at his body and the pain drifted from his legs. Elias gave up thinking about the fight, and just hoped that he would get enough points to get to the final.

((Good fight mate, shame it had to end like that but it was a great fight.))

[Jimmy Claymore]

Godamnit, why couldnt this be an EASY one to judge... gimme a few minutes, I need to make sure I judge fairly...

Alright I wanted to go 2.5 to 2.5 but I really do need to lean towards Zolomon just a little bit, so its about 3-2. Awesome match though and a new favourite match. Awesome. Work.