Championship Round: Division One!

[Jimmy Claymore]

Jimmy didn't see Zolomon's attacks, and he couldn't block them but his sword suddenly leapt from it's sheath to block the attack and slammed back in again as Zolomon began unleashing his jabs, he walked forward in an odd shambling way as the blows came forard each one skimmed his jacket and a good few hit and caused a thick bruise to well up, turn purple and yellow then fade in the space of a minute as his healing powers regenerated the wounds. Zolomon launched a wave of flame and Jimmy's body chuckled, it splashed against an invisible field of Telekinesis, heat and fire spilling onto the ground in flickering embers. Jimmy looked at him curiously, his energy flickering as it approximately maintained his level of Dark Energy. He cocked his head to one side and clicked his tongue curiously
"This isn't right. YOU still have a reserve of power. Why would I show you what I've got if you won't give me the same courtesy." His voice was ever so patronising and he looked around the area, one of the fighters was gone. He sighed in mock sadness and looked around himself
"Even though he tried to hold back on that guy, looks like he couldn't cope. Ah well, I can relate, Jimmy wouldn't have lasted like this either. So its an Archer and a... Vampire? Werewolf? Something like that, well, whatever, you don't get the lead out or try harder I'm really gonna beat you" Jimmy's body flickered and he appeared in front of Zolomon, his eyes seemed to reflect blank discs and his smile looked sharper as he spoke
"Know what I mean!?"

His fist shot forward towards Zolomon chest and he started throwing a wide combinations of punches at random, his technique poor again but helped by his increase in strength. He finished by spinnin upwards with a kick and finally stopping in mid-air upside down and loose, a telekinetic field gently shifting around him as he kept a minds eye on Nishaio, his sword fell out of its sheath but before it could plunge into the ground it began hovering again, Jimmy's body still glowing Dark Red and him smiling brightly as the Sealed Sword that Jimmy had gotten from Hyugare. It slashed wildly as if it had a life of its own trying to carve up Zolomon with random diagonal cuts. Jimmy smiled as his sword spun around and tried to cut everywhere it could on Zolomon, his back, his side and a few at his stomach and chest. The slashes were too wild though a lot of them missed because of the sheer innaccuracy of using Telekinesis on a sword. Jimmy chuckled from the air and felt his hair flopping down, red lightning coursing beneath his skin as he approached the threshold of his transformation
"Hmmm, Getting a bit close, if it turns out this is their limit I'll just let Jimmy handle it, no point in wearing myself out if I can get my Better Half to do it" this inane monologue was half muttered as his sword slashed wildly at Zolomon, one sound block would send it flying now as his talking distracted his attention.

[Tidus Revok]

Nishaio watched Jimmy launch a series of hopelessly bad attacks, although it seemed more like Jimmy's body was just being used as a weapon now. The punches and kicks aimed at him were child's play for a thousand-year-experienced warrior to dodge, but Shimato was nonetheless concerned. The evil power in the air was growing, and quickly. Suddenly, another feeling of healing/energizing came over him as Cham disappeared, having been beaten up a good bit. Somewhere deep down, Nishaio felt a little disappointment in seeing the most benevolent, albeit naive, of his opponents disappear. Now he was left to contend alone with two unmistakably evil beings...not that it worried him.

What did bother him was the way Jimmy and Zolomon seemed to be underestimating him. Irritiating or not, it did allow the Falcome a unique opportunity.

He reached into his seemingly endless quiver and produced handful of normal arrows, all of which he dipped in the deadly blood-evaporating poison belonging to his people. These he mixed in with a group of infernal arrows, all of which he launched in five volleys of three at a time. Each shot was precisely aimed, and the whole group was fired in a matter of seconds, making them all hard to avoid under any circumstances.

Jimmy's energy was now increasing rapidly, and in Nishaio's opinion, dangerously. Desiring to put an end to the situation, he activated his amulet, which turned him invisible. Then he drew from his belt pouch a group of red crsytals. He threw the crystals into the air, and grabbed the nearest ones in his right hand. As if on command, the cyrstals snapped together into a long, ropelike formation. The Abysmal whip. The weapon, taken from the body of a fallen evil, possesed the power to drain energy from who or whatever it entangled. Now its target was Jimmy.

Still invisible, Nishaio teleported close to Jimmy and let fly a handful of throwing knives to get the boy's attention. Then, in the smallest measurable length of time, he appeared on the opposite side of Jimmy and whirled the whip around toward his midsection. Either the whip would catch Jimmy, Jimmy would dodge and the whip would hit Zolomon instead, or they'd both find some miraculous way to dodge an invisible weapon hurled faster than the speed of sound; and he'd zip away and try another plan.

[Jimmy Claymore]

Jimmy watched as the whip wrapped around his telekinetic field, his energy was untouched by the whip which was a good thing as it would have probably provoked him into changing fully and showing what happens when he has his energy drained without his consent, granted he didn't KNOW that the whip drained energy but it wasn't connecting with him because of his simple field of Telekinesis. A lot of the arrows aimed at him had been caught and floated unsteadily in the air, he looked at the archer a little curiously, he was invisible but he could still sense him through his mental abilities, and with a quick flick of his wrist launched his own arrows back at him as he had earlier, treating them as homing missiles guided by Telekinesis. Normally, this level of Exertion would have Jimmy clutching his skull and blood trickling down his nose but as he was a)upside down and b) empowered by Dark Charge he seemed to be doing OK, a vein pulsed in his temple and he sighed a little complacently. He re-focused on Zolomon, the Archer was fast and dangerous but he'd deal with them one at a time for now. Who knows, he might deal with Zolomon for him by accident. Steadily though, his energy was increasing, pretty soon he was going to transform and he'd have to make do without all of Jimmy's Better techniques. But, all things considered, that wasn't too much of a problem all things considered. These two seemed focused on Hand to Hand Combat, no reason why he shouldn't try it too.

[zolomon]

(OOC: Soo... let's try this again, shall we? Oh, and one more thing, if, at some point, I don't say 'tried to' or 'aimed at' or sth like that, it doesn't mean I'm auto-hitting, you can still dodge it 'n crap, I just don't bother writing it all the time. Just so you know.)

It was needless to say something strange was going on with Jimmy's body. Not only was he about as agile as a dead raccoon, but the bruises that Zolomon did inflict disappeared like it was nothing in but a moment. It was a little frustrating, yet nothing more. Heck, if he sliced him up to bits, then burned the remains until even the ash disappears, there wouldn't be anything left to heal, really. The trick with telekinetic aversion of flames was a little cheap, but these third-grade villains all were that way, Zolomon figured. Jimmy cocked his head to the side and clicked his tongue with a wry grin. "This isn't right. YOU still have a reserve of power," the thing controlling Jimmy spoke, while Zolomon was mocking it, rolling his eyes and blankly moving his mouth. "Why would I show you what I've got if you won't give me the same courtesy?"

"Tsk... I simply don't see the need of going all-out against you. At least not yet..." Zolomon spat back, getting annoyed with this character. For all he cared, Chameleon was a more interesting opponent. He went out fast, but at least he didn't jerk around. "And don't tell me about your ass-itch or crap like that, just give me a reason to go higher and you'll get it," Zolomon finished up, raising his Scythe, holding it only by the very end, pointed at his opponent in an aggressively defensive (yes, there indeed was such a thing) stance.

"...So it's an Archer and a... Vampire? Werewolf? Something like that, well, whatever, you don't get the led out or try harder I'm really gonna beat you!" Instantly Jimmy's body disappeared in a blur, appearing in front of Zolomon in almost the same instant with a punch already prepared with love. "Know what I mean?"[/b]

But he probably didn't think Zolomon could sidestep it as easily as he did, his vampiric reflexes giving him enough an advantage over the sudden attack, and allowing him to throw a probably unexpected punch at the passing Jimmy's face, packing a little Dark Matter in it for added speed and effect. "No... I truly and honestly have no fucking idea what you're talking about. But if you've got so much time to be yapping, you MUST have more power SOMEWHERE in that demented little villain head of yours. Bring it. If you can so easily destroy me without going full-power, do it!" Zolomon replied, finally getting enough of this thing's constant taunts and threats. Zolomon finished the last sentence just before a barrage of poorly-aimed punches and kicks came at him like a gatling-gun. Though he took a few, admittedly powerful, blows, it wasn't much of a bother, ducking as the spin-kick came in, aiming the blunt end of his Scythe into Jimmy's gut from below, when he suddenly seemed to 'hang' in the air upside down, his sword suddenly coming to life and attacking in vicious, yet poorly executed slashes, though no body of a wielder gave it quite a bit more mobility than a usual blade actually in the hand of a man or woman.

Thankfully, Zolomon's reflexes and naturally excellent senses helped him go without any damage even when he didn't see the attacks with his eyes, skillfully deflecting the swings with his Scythe or simply evading them. Then, at one moment, Zolomon felt the strength behind the sword decline slightly, so its wielder was either tiring or losing concentration, which made this the moment to go.

With a mighty swing of his Scythe of Hellfire, Zolomon knocked Jimmy's blade far away, then leaped towards him so fast it was only a blur of darkness, his image seemingly going through Jimmy's body if one could even follow his movements, which an average person most certainly couldn't. There was a powerful reverse kick to the young fighter's back, then a knee-strike to his gut in almost the same moment, followed by an elbow-thrust into the left side of his face and a roundhouse kick to the right, all being delivered within the interval of one or, at the most, two seconds, all finished off by a double kick with both feet to Jimmy's left ribcage. If the powerful blows themselves wouldn't do any damage, even blocking them would come as a hindrance, Zolomon's Dark Matter screwing with the head of anything that was controlling the kid's body anyway.

The vampire skidded to a stop about fifty feet away, then noticed something nearing him rapidly. Arrows. He quickly swung his Scythe and the oxygen some ten feet from him burst into hellishly hot flames (quite literally), calling for another explosion from the two Infernal arrows in the bunch, the one common arrow simply dissipating in the heat, but Zolomon didn't expect a second volley and was caught off guard. Though he knocked the Infernal arrow with his Scythe, it exploded, knocking him off his feet and letting one arrow lodge itself into his shoulder. The vampire quickly stood up and pulled the arrow out, dropping it onto the ground, not a trace of blood on it. The vampire chuckled in his mind how tidy fighting vampires was. No life - no blood - no mess. Simple, really. Then the afro guy disappeared. Well, at least in terms of vision. Zolomon could still see him plain as day, seeing the fighter’s entire blood stream to the very smallest detail. A beautiful sight, really. He attacked Jimmy with some knives and then, from an entirely different direction, a strange crystal weapon, but was obviously foiled. For the first time in this battle Zolomon just stood aside, watching his opponents, measuring their capabilities from how they fared against each other. After all, if there was something several centuries of living came with, it was the knowledge that battles are not won by strength alone.


Well... maybe if it's a WHOLE LOT of strength...

(OOC: So, do we start the new order now? Jimmy -> Nishaio -> Me?)

[Jimmy Claymore]

(OOC: Right, I'm going to have a hard time posting tomorrow so y'know, no need to rush)

The punch had hurt him, admittedly, and the Dark energy had made it harder to heal but by the end of his combination the wound was closing, the bruise only had traces of blood running down it. The thing inside Jimmy clicked his tongue and waited as the next series of attacks came in "My point is I don't KNOW if I can, it'd help if you didn't get so bothered all of a sud-OOF!" the blunt end of the scythe knocked the wind out of the body and Jimmy had to cough a moment as his sword dealt with his opponent and he recovered, he was definitely not help by the arrows that his shield stopped and he was certain now he had no choice. A sudden blow shot him forward as his field bent inwards, he looked shocked until he felt another one they weren't hitting but he could feel his field weakening the elbow spun him around, knives shot through and narrowly missed his eye, the whip was blocked but he teleported afterwards to gain some room and, finally, the drop-kick shattered his field, he blocked the blow with his arms folded but was sent spiralling back into the ground. He bounced upwards again in preperation
"If any more arrows come shooting at me..." With no other options he began to glow white and his energy increased dramatically as he focused on his transformation. A field of Telekinesis surrounded him, after the transformation he was going to lose his Mental Powers since they were Jimmy's and he'd not be able to shield himself any more. To add to that, he'd have no weapons. Normally, a distinct disadvantage but in that bubble of raging Ki Jimmy's body began to glow as his body was changing into its most powerful state

((OOC: OK, think thats dealt with everyone's attacks, it should also fit in neatly, if awkwardly with the rest of the fight, I'll see ya guys on Friday, don't be too vicious whilst Im gone))

[Tidus Revok]

((I know I'm out of order, but it's already been cleared with the judges, since Zolomon's last post had him watching us fight.))

Nishaio smirked while his two opponents chattered. It seemed such a complete was of time and energy, even if they had been making sense. They were here to fight, not converse, but on the other hand, the idle talk between Jimmy and Zolomon allowed him a much needed moment to catch a breath and strategize. Using primarily ranged attacks was working fairly well as far as keeping him out of harm's way, but it wasn't doing a lot in the damage department. Somehow, the pale man had taken a poisoned arrow and suffered absolutely zero damage for it. He wasn't even bleeding from the wound. Nishaio was mystified, but he was beginning to get used to that feeling on Dragonia. As his daggers impacted the shield around Jimmy and the boy evaded his whip, a very important piece of information came to Nishaio's attention...
The shield could be broken.

As the Falcome slid to a stop and reappeared, he took note of another change. Jimmy was glowing brightly inside another shield, and his power was increasing even faster. It was much greater now than Nishaio's own, as far as pure power went. He smiled to himself, secure in the knowledge that he had only been fighting at a 'cruising' speed thus far. A smart warrior never used his full power right from the start - he always kept something in reserve. For Nishaio's part, he always kept most in reserve. Not until his arrival on Dragonia had he been forced to tap that reserve - at least not for a very long time. Now he was going to have to do it again. The abysmal whip recoiled from it's failed attack and shattered back into its crystal form, which he stashed in the belt pouch again. Now he had to decide on his strategy for the next skirmish. More ranged or up close...

One thing was certain - whatever he did, it should be done before the boy finished whatever he was doing, or he might manage to overpower even Nishaio. With no further thought, he surged forward, firing a dozen poison-tipped arrows at Jimmy and slowing his own stride to stay just behind them. The moment they impacted the shield, Nishaio grabbed a handful of throwing knives and sent them in a spread pattern at Zolomon, hoping to keep the strange man at bay for another moment. Since he had taken up a spectator role, Nishaio hoped he would stay out of the way for just another moment.

Now the arrows would be hammering against Jimmy’s shield. With any luck, their force would manage to punch through and the boy would be poisoned. If not, the next move would take care of it. The bow was put away and the two sword came flashing from their sheath on the Falcome’s back. Now he launched into an unbelievably intense barrage of strikes against Jimmy and/or his shield. In moments, Nishaio had already carried out over 50 slashes, jabs, and pommel punches, teleporting and leaving after images all the while. The Stadium audience would see what looked like a dozen Nishaios hammering incessantly on the boy as he powered up. Finishing with a double footed kick at Jimmy’s back, Nishaio flipped backward, whirled in a full circle with his swords to clear any sneak attacks by Zolomon, and fired another crystal arrow to finish the attack, although he had to let it go at half-charge. Otherwise he himself would be caught in the ensuing explosion.

[zolomon]

(OOC: I'm sorry, but what are you worried about? This IS the order we're posting in! Jimmy -> You -> Me I'm just a little confused, maybe I missed something? Oh, and another thing. Since you didn't specify in your post, I assume you're not invisible anymore. Is that ok?)

The vampire wasn't quite sure what he was waiting for until he saw it. Jimmy's body was once more engulfed by a protective shield, one Zolomon could actually see this time. And then came the glowing, which soon turned into shining. Although he couldn't sense Ki, Zolomon easily felt the ominous dark energy rising, washing over him like a title wave, and he was riding it all the way, a sinister grin on his face. He crossed his arms and waited, watching in anticipation of what would transpire moments from now. Rest assured, if there was any blood in his veins, it'd be pumping like hell right now.

Then he noticed something that wasn't quite to his liking. Nishaio had attacked Jimmy's shield and Zolomon realized what he was trying to do. 'Oh, no you don't...' he whispered in his mind, then burst forward, aiming for the rapidly narrowing space between Nishaio and Jimmy. It looked like he finally had a fight, and he wasn't letting some guy with a blonde afro ruin it. Surging the Black Matter into his veins one could see his skin turning darker, a dark shade of gray, as the vampire's unique energy coursed through his body instead of blood. It was extremely difficult to maintain and incredibly draining, but he attained power much greater than his usual frame could handle, perhaps the only drawback being the toll Black Matter took on his body and how fast his strength depleted, but he'd be alright...

More important was the vital boost of speed this gave him, giving Zolomon just enough time to move un front of Jimmy. He stopped instantly, holding his Scythe vertically in front of him, his movement too fast for even a blur, an afterimage of him still standing there. He spun the scythe with such strength that it knocked away the arrows that simply passed by, leaving Jimmy's cocoon of sorts unharmed. In the meantime his afterimage was 'torn up' by the red guy's throwing knives. Luckily, it seemed he wasn't set off by Zolomon's deflecting of his arrows, and the vampire watched his foe draw his two katana blades and coming at him with a broad grin on his darkening face.

The first blow was easy, but then there was suddenly a torrent of attacks coming from all around. Zolomon just whistled to himself, sighing: "Shiiiit..." This guy had some serious speed. Zolomon could barely follow his movements, not to mention react to them, and so at ten blows had gone past him by now. Cursing in his head Zolomon jumped above Jimmy's shield and raised the Scythe of Hellfire in the air over his head. The blonde afro guy probably wouldn't have noticed, but while running around and defending Jimmy from his attacks, Zolomon managed to draw a full circle around the telekinetic energy shield, which was giving off a weak, fiery light. However, when Zolomon raised his Scythe the circle exploded into a torrent of hell's flames, spinning in a giant tornado that could burn off the flesh of a human body if it was any less than three feet from it, not to mention touching the flames themselves. This guy was probably speedy enough to get out of its way, yet little more. Inside, Zolomon ordered the Scythe to protect him and Jimmy from the lethal heat, effectively giving them a moment of reprieve.

After about twenty seconds the viewers could finally see the flames growing thinner and disappearing, revealing the vampire and the boy who had been inside the fiery twister, obviously unharmed. Zolomon quickly got to ground level, just in time to catch an arrow which was stopped an inch from his face. He recognized the strange crystalloid tip as the one that he had partially taken earlier in the fight. "Please... would you give it a rest and just let the kid finish? I've been waiting for this fight for a long time, I won't let you spoil it for me, afro person," Zolomon said and threw the arrow far away, the explosion shaking the ground upon which they stood. The vampire was eyeing his opponent, waiting for him to make a move. At the moment he was in the defensive, Scythe at a ready, at least until Jimmy would be through with his power-up. Perhaps, the time has come...

[Jimmy Claymore]

Zolomon had defended the changing Jimmy for his own simple blood-lust and urge to battle a powerful opponent. The only attack that had gotten through was the drop-kick, somehow getting in before the Flames surrounded them ((OOC: Assuming this still got through so all attacks are accounted for)) Jimmy's body had spun around as the feet had hit him n the side rather than the back and for a split second his changing form was visible, only for a split-second, but his face was altering and a powerful aura building up within him. With a sudden flash as the explosion had faded away, Jimmy's shield finally shattered and his body was glowing an incandescent white, with a sudden blood-curdling and horrified scream his body finally changed in a flash of light.

Jimmy had always been fighting his own Demonic Side, unlike everyone else his was more prominent than most, it was never known how he came to possess this Demonic Blood, his Mum had died a few days before his powers finally came to the fore and he transformed for the first time. Since then his powers had steadily built and his Other Half had grown stronger and stronger just as he had. The most worrying thing was how the Other Half's personality had changed, in a sudden random transformation he was often little more than an enormously powerful animal, easy to defeat and not fully in control as Jimmy fought back, but as Jimmy got weaker and his mind lost its grip, his Dark energy slowly escalating the Other Half was different, physically he was almost the same except for the way he stood. The Feral state was hunched and dragged his claws, but after the long change, Jimmy was tired, and worn out, and the Other Half had a more free reign for his true personality to take the fore.

"That took longer than I expected"; standing a few feet from Nishaio and Zolomon was what could only be called a Demon. Pure white skin stained by dark veins beneath his skin, his thin chest skinny but toned, his legs were clad in dark black trousers and his feet ended in sharp claws, his fore-arms were covered in dark scales and his hands glowing orange claws that looked sharper than any normal hand. His face was the most worrying feature though, he had the same structure as Jimmy but skinnier, brown hair was now pale blond held in a blown back position by his horns, and his crimson eyes were now blank discs. The Demon Jimmy smiled cockily, his energy was sky-rocketting, the other two could still fight him like this but his Charge was merely escalating. He took one step forward and an oppressive wind blew down around the area forcing dust to lay down and giving them a clear streaked sky to look at as the dark orange plains stretched on as far as the eye could see, the land looked decimated normally and now there was no outside elements it was even more clear how damaged this land was. A fitting place for three enormous powers to clash, perhaps the same as what had caused this disaster in the past, either way it was going to happen.

In the hospital that had been set up (originally) for those wounded in the tournement, a young woman called Gabe was tossing and turning in the grips of a horrible nightmare
"No... No... I have to help him... Jimmy... keep fighting, the tournament doesn't matter! Don't lose, please..." Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks as she felt the poisonous, toxic aura of the Other Half surfacing.

The Demon Jimmy stretched his arms and readied his claws quickly
"OK, time to get started, Nishaio, you had the right idea so I'm not going to kill you for having courage and brains and I'm lead to believe it'll be a world of trouble for me, and Zolomon? I'm not even sure I can kill you but I guess I'll spare you too." His image flickered and with speed surpassing anything Jimmy had shown before he appeared behind Nishaio and threw a kick at the back of his head folowed by a slash with his claws aimed at his sheaths trying to take it off. He flickered again with a smile and appeaered again in front of Zolomon upside down. He grinned maliciously and swung down with a kick to his crow and again a slash at his back trying to cut his coat not him. He teleported several feet away and watched them curiously. He was still warming up so it wouldn't hurt to see what they would do.
"Hope Zolomon doesn't accuse me of Smack-talk again... Or that Nishaio guy fire more arrows, its troublesome having no shield" He sighed, he wasn't feeling very evil at the moment, maybe he'd start taunting them soon.

((OOC: Theres a picture of the Other Half on my profile if you want to see it for reference, and thanks for being patient))

[zolomon]

(OOC: I'm sorry for the crappy post, but it's 2AM and I prolly won't manage a post tomorrow (well, today), so I need to make one so as not to get my ass auto-handed to me. And apologies for skipping you out, Nishaio, but I really needed to post.)


Zolomon waited for an attack that never came. His blade sung a low tune as the wind brushed its sides, making his cloak gently sway. "That took longer than expected," said... something. The being had white skin with a dark tone under it, as if darkness was flowing inside it. A strange eye color, scales on his arms, claws and black trousers completed the look of the said something. Zolomon saw the creature's face and found several similarities between it and that of Jimmy's. Obviously, the smart-mouthed thing that had been controlling him all this time finally came forth. "OK, time to get started. Nishaio, you had the right idea so I'm not going to kill you for having courage and brains and I'm lead to believe it'll be a world of trouble for me, and Zolomon?" the creature spoke, glancing at the vampire. "I'm not even sure I can kill you but I guess I'll spare you too."

'...Whatever...' was all that crossed Zolomon's mind just as the creature disappeared. An old trick, yet the complicity of which hid in the user's strength. The faster he was, the more difficult it was to see through. This new Jimmy? Oh yeah... he was fast. Zolomon knew he'd be coming for him, but for some reason he chose Nishaio first, attacking with a kick and slash that even Zolomon had to strain to follow. Then he appeared right in front of the vampire, a pleased grin on his face, a kick coming straight for him. Instantly Zolomon threw his left arm up, taking the blow with relative ease, although he could feel the bones in his arm strain against the pure power of the attack. He rolled forward, effectively evading the back slash and took his defensive stance, but Jimmy was no longer there, instead standing somewhat further away.

Right now he was too fast, and Zolomon couldn't afford to relax in the event of a sudden attack, he probably wouldn't manage to react, not even if he was going all-out with his Black Matter. At least not now... He threw a quick look at Nishaio, to make certain how his other opponent was faring, making sure not to completely zone in on just one of his two foes, yet soon his attention was back to Jimmy. The new and, shall we say, improved Jimmy. "I like the new look. It's stylish in a modern way, though I've always been more of a fan of the classic. Yet your silence makes me wonder... is that really you? The guy I had talked to before? The lack of impotent insults makes me suspect a third personality in poor ol' Jimmy's head." Well, he had fallen low... At least that's what Zolomon thought of himself. He was resorting to insults so as to get his enemy more active, he was obviously holding back. All cocky bastards do so, he himself was no exception. Then again, fuck courtesy, he just needed Jimmy to come at him again. To see this new power, to try it against his own. And then, perhaps, he would finally... Maybe it really was time...

[Tidus Revok]

Anger was the prevailing emotion in Nishaio Shimato's mind. He simply couldn't believe the foolishness shown by Zolomon in allowing Jimmy to transform completely. Clearly the man had no idea that the point of a tournament was. With that same expressionless stare, he watched Jimmy, or what used to be Jimmy, converse some more with Zolomon. For someone so fast, a few seconds of mindless dialog could be an eternity. He was pleased when the new demon form of Jimmy disappeared. Clearly the creature was finally finished talking and moving to attack.

The expected attack came from behind, but much faster than Nishaio had expected. The kick connected and sent the Falcome tumbling forward, but the beast's claws, incredibly sharp as they were, sparked and glanced off the metal of Nishaio's sheath. Falcome craftsmanship was not going to be so easily broken. As he came sliding to a stop in the sand, Nishaio raised his head to see the monster attacking Zolomon, but to little avail. The creature was definitely much, much faster than Jimmy, and more skilled with hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps he had underestimated the boy after all...

As Zolomon dropped into yet more mind-numbing dialogue, Nishaio decided to make a move toward ending this battle. It was only then that he noticed feeling just a little weaker. Instinctively he reached up...and felt his medallion was missing, evidently knocked loose somewhere in the last couple of attacks. With a frown, he dismissed the matter. The medallion was very important, but he couldn't really stop fighting to look for it. The only option was to win the fight, thus sending both opponents off the field and allowing himself a few moments to find it without interruption. For the time being, something would have to be done to account for the loss of power, however slight it may have been.

Zolomon was still taunting the demon, evidently trying to draw it into another attack. With his eyes trained on the two, Nishaio quickly unhooked his sheath and allowed it to fall to the ground. The soft desert sands absorbed the impact of the sheath, creating the deceptive impression that it was just like any other. The same thing happened when he let his cloak fall, revealing a black shirt underneath. In truth, the sheath and the cloak combined weighed several hundred pounds. Like so many other experienced fighters, Nishaio had long made a habit of wearing weighted clothes everywhere he went. He retrieved the sheath and strapped it back on, then stretched his arms and shoulders, getting used to the sudden loss of such a large weight. Now, while his actual hits would be somewhat weaker, his speed would be increased even further, meaning he would land a lot more hits.

He decided to open up with another volley of arrows. The pale man was clearly unaffected by poison, so the Falcome decided to rely on infernal arrows first, then resort to crystal arrows if absolutely necessary later…something told him they would be.

In the blink of an eye, Nishaio was on a position a hundred yards directly opposite where he left his coat, and firing three infernal arrows at Zolomon. Another blink and he was an equal distance directly behind Jimmy, loosing five more arrows, then behind Zolomon with another three before the first arrows even made it halfway. The result was a web of arrows, all precisely fired so as not to run into one another, and timed and placed so that if either of the fighters dodged the initial volley fired at them, the other would be threatened. Now Shimato jumped straight up, gaining incredible height due to his reduced weight, and rained down a barrage of infernal arrows across the battlefield, adding a steady rain of fire to the threat of his initial attacks. Finally, he teleported back further, out of the way of his own arrows, and watched to see how the two would cope. Then he readied his own defense for a counter-attack.

[Jimmy Claymore]

Jimmy's demon frowned at Zolomon
"Not sure your one to talk about being impotent. The obvious virility joke aside, theirs no point TELLING you how strong I am any more, I'm stronger. Deal with it. My heads a LOT clearer now I've finally taken over, although I've still got his nagging little voice telling me to be merciful so for the sake of prolonging my stay I'm not going to kill you, or threaten you with it any more. I'm just going to fight. And at this rate win. And what the hell is Nishaio doing!?" The Other Half whipped around suddenly, a look of confusion and mild concern etched on his face. Nishaio had removed his weighted cloak and thrown it to the ground. He'd been wearing weights... The Demon visibly groaned even as the arrows were fired at Zolomon, he felt Nishaio appear and made a lightning fast move to counter-act as the arrows were dealt. This was a speed that the combatants were fine with but the audience would have been scratching their heads as this blur of motion was replied on slow motion camera. The final barrage of flaming arrows ceased and the dust cleared. The Other Half's upper body showed and two arrows were clear lodged in his shoulder, he growled and raised his face to show a wicked and twisted grin. He raised his hands and showed approximately 10 arrows in each, not detonated, held in his glowing claws. He'd caught 20 of 22 arrows that had flown near him. He removed the arrows and the burn and wound healed like water re-forming, he snarled a little at the Falcome and pointed a hooked claw
"Look, one general rule, don't. Screw with me. If you were trying to do some real damage you'd have aimed for my vitals. Same for you Zolomon, you're both just... so RESTRAINED! Ahhh well, I supposed I need to do something with these" with a shrug the Other Half teleported and nonchalently dropped them over Nishaio's head. As they fell he teleported and threw a vicous knee-strike that would debilitate a lesser fighter at his side as well as a quick kick to the head before he could move from the knee and moved back over to Zolomon.

The Demon was intrigued by the Vampire despite himself, Nishaio was a true warrior, and he'd know but this one...
"A vampire... Never fought one of your lot even before my current status. Ought to be fun" With a quick flicker the Other Half bounded forward and swung his claws up in front of Zolomon's face not actually aiming for him before quickly swinging them down so the blunt side would knock into his face. Before a reaction could be planned he teleported behind him and swung at his cloak curiously trying to pick it up and pull it off
"What's under here I wonder? Not a table-cloth but the principal should work". He then teleported above him and waited for a reaction as he held his claws laced almost elegantly, looking like a bizarre rib-cage. His purplish green Ki washed down to try and fall over Zolomon his chilling smile still grinning with malice
"You might have some Demon Blood but still, the poison in my Ki should be uncomfortable..." He suddenly swung his head down uncomfortably close so his horns were almost touching his cheeks and said in a whisper
"What do you want from this? What is it you seek? You aren't here just to fight, you have a reason. What. Is it" he sounded more threatening than the crude implications of before as the Demon seeked to know the answers to his questions. He didn't know if they were aware but he hadn't tried to cut either of them yet. Perhaps they would notice at some time and wonder. Or not...

[zolomon]

(OOC: Heh, I was starting to think I'll have to go on without you guys. Good to see you well and... err... healthy?)


As Zolomon was speaking to Jimmy, he heard a strange noise in the distance, like something very heavy falling down. Immediately his eyes bolted to that direction to find the other guy dropping his cloak to the ground. 'Curious... weighed clothing...' Zolomon thought, yet turning his attention back to Jimmy.

His opponent frowned, evidently as annoyed with Zolomon's talking as Zolomon himself was. "Not sure you're one to talk about being impotent..." he quipped, Zolomon restraining himself from laughing. Well, it was a good one... "The obvious virility joke aside, there's no point in TELLING you how strong I am any more, I'm stronger. Deal with it. My head's a LOT clearer now that I've finally taken over, although I've still got this nagging little voice telling me to be merciful, so for the sake of prolonging my stay I'm not going to kill you, or threaten you with it any more. I'm just going to fight. And at this rate, win! And what the hell is Nishaio doing!?" Jimmy cursed and both of them quickly turning their heads to the third fighter.

However Zolomon's eyes trailed back to the demon for a split second, a grin appearing on his face. 'Fucking finally...' Then there was the oh-so-familiar whistling sound in the air. Zolomon swung around, swinging his Scythe through the air, setting the air ablaze once more and detonating the arrows as they flew, one arrow escaping the explosion, Zolomon catching it with his left arm. The arrows were becoming quite annoying. "You better cut that shit out, it's getting old!" Zolomon swore, the menacing smile in his eyes and on his lips disappearing in favor of a more menacing, grim expression.

The vampire glanced towards Jimmy, seeing him holding twenty arrows in his arms, two gone straight through his shoulders, though he seemed quite irrelevant to them. With a menacing grin Zolomon chuckled to himself. This really would be it. Zolomon had found the one... "...Same for you, Zolomon, you're both just... so RESTRAINED!" Zolomon's eyes twitched at that and he gritted his teeth.

'What a prick, though...' he thought, watching Jimmy simply dump the arrows on top of Nishaio, as he was apparently called, and attacking him with a knee-blow and a kick to the head, then setting his sights on Zolomon again. Well, at least it seemed they both had the same idea...

"A vampire... Never fought one of your lot even before my current status. Ought to be fun..." With that the demon attacked, swinging his claws just past Zolomon's face, but with the speed of the swing Zolomon couldn't tell whether it'd be a hit or miss, so he leaned back just in case, the transformed Jimmy's palm just barely touching his chin in its return swing, though the damned could feel his strength nevertheless. Then, just as Zolomon was about to knock him one in the gut, Jimmy wasn't there anymore, instead tugging at his coat.

"Hey, what the FUCK do you think you're doing?" he shouted as he sent a powerful wave of Black Matter through his clothing. It didn't matter who it was, nobody but a direct descendant of Dracula could hold onto that thing. Well... at least nobody Zolomon had met. Then, before Zolomon managed to counter-attack, his opponent was above him, his green energy washing over the vampire, who managed to cover himself in a thin coat of Black Matter to protect himself. Surely, his opponent wouldn't try an attack of just aura unless it actually had the potential of doing damage, and Zolomon felt the energy even through his protective shell. "Demon blood? Don't be ridiculous, I've nothing to do with that kind besides killing them. And how dare you call ME restrained? What about you? Are those claws of yours simply for show? You're still not taking me seriously, which is a grave mistake..."

Then, unexpectedly, the demon Jimmy leaned close, so close that their faces were almost touching, looking the vampire in the endless blackness of his soul, straight through his eyes. "What do you want from this? What is it you seek? You aren't here just to fight, you have a reason... What is it?" Zolomon's enemy whispered to him, and in an instant the raging storm inside the vampire calmed.

They were kin... completely different, vampire and demon... from two worlds as different as day and night, at that... Yet they were kin. They were alike... and that's why he was the one. Zolomon smiled. It wasn't his usual cold, heart-stopping grin, but a clever smile, like he had something in mind. "You know, Jimmy... I'm glad I met you... Really... I had been waiting for this opportunity for quite a while... ever since I came here. If you enjoy a good fight, you'll know how to appreciate this!" Somehow, Zolomon had grown a respect for this character, though they were enemies.

Suddenly the vampire ducked, grabbing his coat by one end and swinging it around himself, turning into something of a small pyre of navy, shrinking smaller with each moment. Then, before anybody could realize what happened, he rose with an uppercut to the demon's gut that was powerful enough to pulverize a building, bulleting upwards along with it. The speed with which Zolomon had bolted upwards, though there was possibly something else that most couldn't notice, caused the ground to explode, rising a large cloud of dust and throwing bits of stone everywhere, which was fairly common in this level of fights. In the blink of an eye, Zolomon attempted to grab Jimmy's foot, tossing him back towards the ground if he succeeded, following with an instant blow to the gut with his knee, which would lodge him into the ground with such force that the ground around them shattered, Zolomon's face coming so close their noses almost touched, looking the demon in his eyes. It was probably only now that he would notice Zolomon's change, his eyes turning from a deep, endless black to an immortal flame of darkness, which didn't seem to fit inside him, leaking out through his eyes and leaving a small trace whenever he moved.

If the attacks had hit, Zolomon got off the demon, knowing that he wouldn't be too damaged by it anyway, walking for a while until there were about twenty feet between them. If the attacks missed, he just flew the same distance off, either way coming to the point where he was standing opposite Jimmy, eyeing him, now the vampire finally transformed.

Though his face hadn't changed much, the main difference was in his eyes, which revealed the power inside him to whoever dared take a good, long look. Besides that, his clothes had changed too. Instead of his elegant coat, pants, shirt and shoes, he wore a pair of pitch-black kimono pants, armbands and a matching short, sleeve-less shirt, which uncovered part of his abdomen and his new, muscular arms and wide shoulders. Obviously, he had grown a quite bit more in terms of muscle mass, though none of the viewers probably understood why. Then again, not even the change of clothes or physical structure was the most notable, his fresh pair of wings taking the crown. They were sleek, black dragon wings, covered in nigh-indestructible scales that didn't reflect light, matching his clothing. Another peculiar moment was how the wings seemed to grow out of his shirt, instead of coming through holes, leaving the impression that his new set of clothing wasn't quite ordinary either.

Zolomon stretched out his wings, together spanning about three times the vampire's height, stretching his limbs at the same time. "I'm really proud of you two, you know? Nobody besides the gods themselves has seen this form of mine yet. This is the first time I transformed in this world, so it's quite a big event. Hell, I don't even know my own power!" the vampire... no, that wasn't quite accurate anymore... the being spoke. He was far past being a vampire at this moment. "I knew it was worth letting you transform..." Zolomon spoke, a grin on his face. He crossed his arms and bent his wings around himself in a semi-circle. "So... shall we get this started then?"

[Jimmy Claymore]

((OOC: At Zolomon's request))

Jimmy's Demon tensed as he saw the blow coming and shot upwards with little damage being done to him except for a slight case of winding, but it was still far more powerful than anything else that Zolomon had shown thus far. His foot was grabbed and swung him down sharply, he stopped himself smashing into the ground but couldn't block the blow which knocked him down anyway shattering the ground into shrapnel. Zolomon took time to pause and speak but once he'd finished an ominous sigh came from behind him, the demon stood with his arms folded, a few smears of dust covered him but apart from that he looked fine, his eyes were closed although since he only had blank discs this didn't change much
"I wish you'd have done that sooner, if you'd changed earlier before my full transformation I would have had a far greater challenge. As it is, I need to up my speed for Nishaio and my strength for you. Well... it can wait" With that note he slashed with his glowing orange claws and sub-conciously focused them to make them sharper than before, true cutting instruments. He stopped after one slash and teleported in front of Zolomon before trying head-butt him brutally, he couldn't focus on Nishaio yet. When he attacked he would counter-attack but for all he knew Nishaio was either out-cold or just readying another lightning fast arrow to skewer him. He would have to trust that the Falcome would not seek to stop him yet, if he had common sense he would attack whoever won this struggle or would attack once they got under-way, either way he had to focus on Zolomon for now.

He teleported away quickly and dug his feet into the dirty, rocky ground before rocketting forward at Zolomon, his aura ignited midway and began leaking dark poisonous ki as he shot towards the Vampire. He pivotted and threw all his weight into drop-kick designed to lift Zolomon off the ground, slamming his hand into the ground he spun and swung his legs together aimed at Zolomon's knees and finally jumped up and attempted to stab him through the shoulder. He smiled cheerily before teleporting again above and linked his thumb claws together, dark purple energy formed into a glowing ball in his hands, he was going to have to charge a minute to make sure this was REALLY unstoppable, but he was keeping an eye out for Zolomon or Nishaio.

[zolomon]

(OOC: Sorry, Nishaio, we both waited for you to post, but it's long past 24 hrs...)


It seemed Zolomon's attacks were relatively successful, though Jimmy didn't seem phazed by them much at all. Not that he expected that to be fatal... Then he spoke, in his unchanging, cocky manner from behind him. "I wish you'd have done that sooner, if you'd changed earlier before my full transformation I would have had a gar greater challenge. As it is, I need to up my speed for Nishaio and my strength for you. Well... it can wait," he said and attacked with his claws.

"Meh..." the vampire muttered under his breath as he knocked his attack away with one of his newly-acquired black wings, sparks lighting his side as the incredible force behind the demon's attack met with the equal resistance of Zolomon's defense, though the vampire felt that his opponent's claws left a long scratch, obviously even his wing not being tough enough to deflect such an attack unscathed. He quickly swung both wings behind himself, aiming to crush his foe or at least give him a rough time, but he wasn't there anymore. 'This teleportation bullshit is getting annoying...' Zolomon thought as he clenched his fists tighter, keeping his eyes and ears open, his other senses tuned as highly as possible, so as to notice any incoming attacks. Nishaio shouldn't be forgotten about either.

And the attack came just after Zolomon's retaliatory swing, Jimmy's horned head rapidly nearing the vampire's own. He just hissed through clenched teeth, and instead of Zolomon's face or chest, the demon's head met with the vampire's fist, the transformation and constant surge of Black Matter aura increasing his strength at least two-fold, compared to his previous form. It seemed like Jimmy was giving Zolomon a moment to ponder on politics, while he was busy with thoughts of his own, yet it really was but a moment, and after that short moment, the transformed Jimmy was upon him once more.

In a flash, he bolted at Zolomon, Zolomon's own infinite blackness reflecting in the blank eyes of his adversary, as the white-skinned demon leaked his toxic energy into the air. If there had been anything living around here, it probably wouldn't be so for long. First came a sudden drop-kick. Though Zolomon saw it and possibly could evade it, he wanted to take it, just to see what his opponent was capable of now that he himself was in a new level. He wasn't disappointed. Jimmy's kick was mighty and fast, raising Zolomon into the air with its sheer force, yet with a quick and powerful flick of his wings, he was back on the ground, putting both in front of him and lodging them into the ground, the kick stopping abruptly against them. Just as he spread his wings came a stabbing attack aimed at his shoulder. Zolomon quickly grabbed Jimmy's arm and stopped it just before penetration.

They really were akin... Jimmy's aura was pouring out like a dam had been broken, making even Zolomon feel uneasy, while his own pure black aura drifted into the air like a fine mist, traveling for a long distance before it mixed with the air far enough for the distinct coloring to disappear. "If I had done this sooner, you wouldn't be here right now..." With that Zolomon delivered three sets of three quick punches, though they seemed more like three attacks of three separate fists simultaneously, than a set of nine punches, finished off by a palm strike to his solar plexus, releasing his hold of Jimmy's arm at the same moment.

Though he couldn't teleport and wasn't as fast as Nishaio, Zolomon couldn't complain about lack of speed. Just a moment after letting go after a short yet potentially devastating series of attacks, Zolomon appeared behind Jimmy, aiming to lodge his elbow somewhere along the demon's spine, probably an unpleasant experience, then quickly attacking with two blows to his sides using the thin part of his wings for a concentrated pressure release, after which came two blows to his back from both Zolomon's fists. The vampire wanted to continue attacking, but his opponent teleported away... again. He watched as Jimmy locked his claws together and began gathering energy for something that didn't spell good news.

Zolomon hissed and bolted towards him, seemingly headed straight for him, but quickly his afterimage soared through his opponent, while Zolomon's two hands aimed to grab Jimmy's wrists from behind, pull them back, then launch his foot into the demon's back with as much force as possible, certainly breaking his arms if it succeeded. He quickly moved back, grabbed his own wrist with his left arm, pointing his right arm at his opponent with an open palm. Suddenly his freely floating aura became concentrated and rapidly streamed in front of his palm, forming a small, black sphere, which exploded into a large beam, almost big enough to entirely consume Jimmy in it. Zolomon loved the new power. Not only had the quantity of his Black Matter risen hundredfold, its potency was many times greater also, which meant much less restrictions on his energy expenditure.

Zolomon straightened up, spreading his wings once more and crossing his arms, floating in the air. He knew Jimmy was alive. Even if each and every one of his attacks had hit, the bastard wouldn't be easily put down, even though the last blast packed quite a punch to it. He had seen his adversary's regenerative powers, which were nothing to scoff at. "Hey, Jimmy... or, should I refer to you as 'that horny guy'? Do you have a name?" It had been bugging him all along...

[Jimmy Claymore]

The Demon Jimmy head-butted Zolomon's fist and was ominously unphased by having his head smacked by the Vampire. As he held Jimmy's arm he started punching at his stomach, the Demon deftly blocked them with his palm feeling them pounding into it but ignoring the pain, and as his enemy tried a palm-strike he kicked with his leg to try and force his enemies arm back uncomfortably. Zolomon appeared behind him and the Demon felt a knee coming in from the movement of air, he spun around it and floated bonelessly in the air for a second before slamming his legs out in a splits like pattern to block the two blows for his side and spun around again to block in the same fashion but facing away. For the audience, this might look like a taunting maneuever. Zolomon was ready to stop his charged up attack by grabbing his wrists and trying to kick him, the foot shot in and met with a surprisingly hard resistance in the form of a foot again. His claws made it very hard to block anything nimbly so his feet were carrying a lot of the work for today, but his feet couldn't block the energy attack that came shooting at him
"Ah nuts..." the beam shot over where his body was and the audience gasped at the Demon's destruction. Zolomon oddly started talking to himself and behind him a voice said with a quiet quality
"Of course I have a name, but I'm not telling you it, I'd rather have you try and work out if I'm merely another side to Jimmy or A demon within him or maybe something else..." The Demon was practically back to back with him but suddenly, the Demon spun around and held his ball of Dark Energy in front of him, he whispered the attacks name and released the energy into an enormous blast of power surging out of him with remarkable force, the Demon had called the attack suddenly and it seemed to be uttered in a nano-second only to Zolomon as he said

"Armageddon flare"

An eruption of dark purple energy surged forth scorching the air and causing a crackle of power to pass through the air as the torrent of dark purple force shot at Zolomon. The Other Half teleported to the ground and spoke in a loud voice so Zolomon could hear. That attack was barely charged and teleporting had taken down the power a lot
"I have to say, your transformation is very powerful but I'm afraid you may be missing something though. Everyone has an inbuilt and personal Genkei, or limit, and this translates into normally a peak ability. An example of this is Nishaio, Nishaio's Genkei is linked to physics and his bow, his limit is how fast an arrow can fly through the air after he launches it. I thought yours was a transformation but after seeing this, I'm betting it's actually an attack of some kind. And then their's Jimmy. Jimmy's Genkei is me. His transformation into me is his limit, thats as strong as he can get. But here it get's interesting. As Jimmy has his limit, I have mine, and I think it's time I showed you a scratch..." The Demon bent its legs and a pulse of energy shot through him, his power rapidly increasing, his energy charge was at around 50% before and was now rocketing up finally stopping at 67%, he looked calmer and more determined now. His fangs sharper and his claws longer and more twisted, his horns grew longer and more elegant, his disc like eyes flickered but stayed shut.[glow=red,2,300]"I can't get fully charged, if I get to 100% Jimmy'll die. I could wipe him out now... But Jimmy has had chances to destroy me... this one time I'll let it slide. Next chance I get, I'm taking my body"[/glow]the Demon was muttering to himself but suddenly teleported. He sliced at Zolomon again with his new sharper claws, faster and stronger he began unleashing a combination of rapid slashes and stabs trying to cut along Zolomon's body, he spun and threw a thrusting kick at Zolomon's chest before appearing behind him leaving an involuntary after-image with his dash and stabbed at Zolomon's left wing trying to pierce it before floating backwards. He was right, the Other Half was Jimmy's ultimate transformation and the one thing that he was focused on was winning. Killing was no longer ruled out as Jimmy's mind was forced into submission, the Other Half floated away with a Dark purple and green aura glowing thickly around him, he hung in the air looking at Zolomon with much less interest now.

((OOC: Phew, on a side-note, Other Half hasn't had another transformation I'm just using it as a Class III move so its a bit stronger than before now))