Saga: Fortune Favoured?

[Ryan - Loki]

Bedoe, ‘The Stone Stronghold’ or even ‘The Dead Land’ . The land of Bedoe is not known across Dragonia for it’s beautiful grassy field or it’s almost heavenly flora, in fact it is known for the complete opposite. To look across Bedoe is to look upon a horizon of jagged mountains, their peaks decorated in snow and frost, and hollowed valleys. These sights stretch on as far as the eye can see. The days are short and the nights are long in Bedoe, the temperature matching this, sometime, dangerous cycle.

The mountains that cover at least eight five percent of Bedoe’s surface are a cold, isolated, and disturbingly silent place. Usually the only sounds that echo through the land are that of the wind, its eerie howl one of the many sources of tales and myths of monsters and ghosts that have been passed down through the centuries. The monstrous peaks stretch eerily into the usually cloudy sky, at points creating the illusion that the land and sky were connected by giant stone pillars. Few men ever ventured far into the mountains alone, or even accompanied, without great reason, and even less dared to live there. The isolation could drive the most sane to insanity, and has on several occasions. But sometimes, as said, it is necessary to travel to such places.

It had barely been minutes since the small group - made up by Cham, Elena, Kihaku, Dimitri and Ryan - had departed from Rues. There was a part of Ryan that didn’t wish to allow Zolomon to slip away from him, or that he had been partnered up with him as to keep him in some form of check, as well as the wish that both Reiaz and Elena could have been around for him to protect them - it was obvious that Kihaku could look after himself - but in this unusual situation he could do nothing more than judge the three Chaos Spirits on their judgement, and that’s what he planned to do until the situation was resolved. However, Ryan was happy to have been partnered up with his friend as trusting your companion was probably the most important thing in a situation were a life, especially your own, could be at risk and he knew he could trust Dimitri so.

They were now over the country of Bedoe.

Off of the coast of Bedoe reside several small island all under the rule of the Bedoen empire, four to be exact, all of which were as uninhabitable as the main country is, but one in particular was somewhat different from the rest. Just off of the eastern coast of Bedoe resides a uninhabited island under the rule of Bedoe. This island wasn’t uninhabited for the same reasons as the Bedoen mountains but more because the mountains surrounded the island completely, erupting out from the depths of the sea like the stone walls of an impenetrable fortress with walls, vertical to such a point that it was impossible to clamber up the mountain. Upon the other side a vertical drop from such heights that could put fear deep within the bravest of men; if a person was to fall from the top of the mountain they would fall for several minutes, having plenty time to dwell on their inevitable doom, before it was forced upon them by the harsh waves as they crashed against the mountainside.

It was here that Ryan and Dimitri were be heading.

Glancing across his left shoulder Ryan looked upon his companions through his hair, which was flapping about in the wind in front of his eyes. He could see them all, all of them relatively spaced out to an extent but somewhat grouped together at the same time. “We’ve reached our destination.” Ryan exclaimed. The sentence was aimed towards Dimitri but directed to the entire group for the same reason, to let everyone know that he and Dimitri would be departing from the group in a few seconds. “God speed everyone, and may the Elder Gods watch over you.” and with a slight bow of the head Ryan leaned over to his right, tilting his body away from the group and beginning his decent towards the island.

The decent passed relatively quickly considering Ryan’s weight and the speed he was travelling at, gravity lending a helping hand along the way, and sooner rather than later Ryan’s feet softly, and elegantly, pressed down upon the dry mixture of soil and sand that covered the majority of the land on this island, and all of Bedoe. Ryan’s eyes quickly darted from side-to-side taking in his surroundings for any signs of immediate danger or of the final Chaos Spirit known as Dramanius, his hand lightly resting upon the hilt of one of his Twin Reavers. Unfortunately there seemed to be none as of yet, the search would continue longer.

[dimitri]

With a smile, he departed with Ryan as he said his own farewell to the others who were traveling with them. Upon seeing the island in which they would force a triangularion to find Dramanius, he felt a small chill go down his spine as if to warn him of something. This was definately going to be the first step in bringing forth one of the hardest battles ever faced. He had seen what Reiaz was capable of first hand and if this guy was supposedly stronger than them, well, that could spell disaster for much of Dragonia. Safe to say that he wouldn't have that now. Dragonia was his home and he was ready to do all he could to defend the planet and those he cared about on it.

As he landed softly on the ground, he looked over at Ryan who was seemingly ready for the fight to start now, as if Dramanius was waiting for them to do battle already. As usual, his good friend was tense, yet confident, in his abilities and knew that he was in for it now. Still, he couldn't really feel anything odd about the area, but then again, he wasn't exactly sure about how this whole triangulation thing would work. The only thing he was really concerned with is that this whole bit might just reveal their location and while separated from the rest of the group, it may lead to some problems.

Walking over to Ryan, he rested a hand on his shoulder to give him a slight calm to his tense attitude. "Relax a bit bro, we're just going to find the guy now. The hard part won't start until later." Truer words have never been spoken from his lips as he turned to see the nightmare and shadow land behind them for the triangulation ritual. He figured Kihaku wouldn't be too far behind, but still, the look of those two irked him. A monster looking thing and a faceless human shaped being, it was just creepy to him.

[kihaku]

After the crew had split up, and Kihaku took his leave to speed off towards Metapha, his goal on the western coast. Meanwhile, the Jiaoimasu and Joshuen were left to their own devices in a rather creepy valley with no one for company but a faceless Shadow Form and a featureless were-wolf Inner Demon. Not the best of circumstances, but they could've been a whole lot worse.

Like now.

Without any sort of warning, the heads of both Chaos entities snapped to one side, as a pair of dark blurs shot towards the pair of warriors without sound or energy emission. At the exact same instant, a foot crashed into the back of both Ryan and Dimitri, sending them skidding across the rocky floor to come to a stop two dozen feet from where they'd been standing. In their place now stood two individuals of a similar height to the warriors they'd just attacked... in fact, the exact height.

One stood five foot nine, and stood with his hands to his sides. On his body was draped a traditional chinese style robe of the smoothest silk, a deep indigo in color with black designs scrawled into its surface. Smooth black hair hung back to the shoulders, with just a bit hanging forward into his pale face. Pale, icy-blue eyes stared forward from a stoic mask, a face devoid of emotion simply staring in disdain at such easily felled victims.

"Disgraceful that we should be sent to destroy such pitiful beings."

The second attacker was much more enthused about the successful onslaught, a smile plastered across his features. Slightly shorter than his companion, this one wore black pants with a black belt, along with a simple grey shirt and deep indigo cloak. In his pale hand, he held a sword of a familiar construction, though he held it with the tip facing backwards, the base of the blad nearly flush with the bottom of his hand. Pure white hair crowned the top of his head, hanging down though not too long, allowing deep-set, black eyes to gleam maliciously at the two on the ground.

"As much as I'd love to agree, it still felt good to get that out. Blood-breath was getting on my nerves, and I needed to hit something."

The two persons, standing on the verge of pitched battle, were nothing else than mirror copies of the two felled protagonists, if alternately colored. "Dramanius was right though, no problem what so ever."

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: As to stop some confusion I’ll be posting Ryan’s speech as a different colour blue than Dimitri’s within this thread, just so you both know.)

It was true that Ryan was somewhat tense. The truth of the situation had finally stuck him in full swing, although he had thought as much all the while. He had no idea what Kihaku, Reiaz and Elena, as ‘Chaos Spirits’, were actually capable of, but he could only assume that as Dramanius was such a dangerous problem that the Chaos Spirits had to be extremely powerful beings, and Dramanius even worse. This obviously didn’t bode well for our brave warriors, and could prove fatal if he and his blood-brother were the two unlucky souls to stumble upon him.

No. I’d much prefer that I found them than anyone else suffer a possibly terrible fate. I only wish Dimitri wasn’t here to possibly suffer it with me. he briefly thought. With his greatly heightened senses Ryan could almost see the opposite wall of this gigantic gorge, this feat not as difficult as describe due to the lack of terrain and/or objects blocking his view. He could understand now, more than ever before, why the Samurai had named the land of Bedoe ‘The Dead Land’.

Ryan’s observation of the surrounding area was briefly interrupted when his companion and blood-brother placed his hand upon his shoulder, causing Ryan to turn his head to look at him. Dimitri’s words were spoken swiftly and truthfully. Even if they were the ones to have the misfortune of discovering Dramanius it was obvious that he wasn’t near them at the moment; they could relax. With a short smile Ryan exhaled a relatively long breath. “You are right brother,” he agreed, removing his hand from the smooth material that covered the hilt of the Reaver he had been touching. “But we have quite the distance to cover before we can move on the meet up with the rest of our comrades once more.”

At that Ryan looked back over the untouched valley as he moved his leg as if to begin walking, however what happened next was completely unexpected. Before his foot could even completely leave the floor a sudden rush of excruciating pain suddenly appeared in the centre of his back. They were under attack, but before this thought could even register over the overwhelming pain within Ryan’s mind the sheer force of the said attack had sent him flying through the air, gravity quickly taking over as his body hit the floor and was sent skidding through the dirt and sand for roughly twenty feet.

“Argh…” Ryan groaned as he began to push his body up off of the floor. As quickly as he could Ryan managed to push himself up onto one knee before finally standing tall once more, all the while he could hear his attackers conversing about him and Dimitri. Arching his back inwards Ryan stretched his back as it clicked, somewhat dampening the pain, that was until a new area of pain registered. Along his right left arm the very material from his top had been burned away, along with a layer of his skin, through the sheer friction from his short tip across the ground; not to mention that he was covered in dirt and sand as well. Finally, holding his left arm in his right, Ryan turned around to face his and Dimitri’s attackers.

The first stood at a rough height of five foot six, if Ryan’s observational skills didn’t deceive him. This one wore black trousers that were adorned with a thin black belt, along with a simple grey shirt and deep indigo cloak. In his pale coloured hand he held a sword of a familiar construction, while his pure white hair crowned the top of his head, hanging down though not too long, allowing deep-set, black eyes to gleam maliciously at the two on the ground. This one didn’t look as emotionless as his companion, rather he was much more stimulated about the onslaught that they had just completed, a wide smile breaking across his features.

The second stood at a height of five foot nine, ironically the exact same height as Ryan did, and had his hands to either side of his body. Upon his body a traditional Chinese style robe, with the shimmer appearance of the smoothest silk of a deep indigo colour with black designs scrawled into its surface, was draped. Smooth black hair hung back to the shoulders, with just a bit hanging forward into his pale face. Pale, almost emotionless looking, ice-blue eyes stared forward from at the two warriors they had just floored, a face so devoid of emotion it almost resembled that of a corpse.

It was the second of the two that he looked at that drew Ryan’s attention, although that wasn’t to say that the first wasn’t as extraordinary as the second. It was as if they were looking into a mirror, but not quite as they’re mirror images were different, distorted in specific traits in their appearances. For quite a few moments silence was all that followed the voices of their attackers, or if you rather the other copies of themselves, as Ryan was astonished to how this was possible, and he gathered the same thoughts were running amuck within Dimitri’s head as well.

“Where you both came from I don’t care.” Ryan’s voice was stern and emotionless, just how his samurai training had taught him to be when necessary. “Just know that I already have a copy of myself haunting this world, and I don’t require another…” with that said Ryan moved his bodyweight onto his back leg, his left, as he slipped down into a stance. He moved his hand down to one of his Twin Reavers and slowly unsheathed it, moving it in front of his body and holding it out in front of his body.

It was obvious from their words that these copies were sent here by Dramanius to defeat them. This showed several things about the way that Dramanius thought. There was always the factor that he was too cowardly to fight his own battles, but that profile didn’t fit a being with so much assumed power. Sending copies to defeat the originals was a clever move indeed, this showed intelligence. It could be assumed that these copies had a full arsenal of all their abilities and knew how to utilise them efficiently, just as they did. Was it truly possible to defeat yourself? Ryan HAD defeated Loki in the past but the two of them were completely different, they were no long copies of each other but now two separate entities. This was completely different. Only time would tell.

[dimitri]

(OOC: Please, I wend darker blue, take the regular blue, my eyes burn from reading it lol)

With a soft smile, he removed his hand from his brother's shoulder and let his hands fall down freely to his sides. One hand rested simply in his pocket while the other dangled free outside of any grip other than the fingerless glove that adorned the extremity. Shaking his head, he spoke to Ryan with his mind, I heard that. If I didn't know any better, dear brother, I would say that you've gotten soft on me, or forgot just what I'm capable of. "Or does the scar on Loki's chest not remind you of the power I have, when I was at my weakest." He had a cocky and confident smile, or so it would seem to everyone else, but he knew that his brother would know better.

Ryan had just taken his first step to start surveying the area when he felt a sharp pain flow up his spine and down his legs, the puling of the waves reached his brain instantly. The initial impact came with such an unexpected force that it felt as though it was multiplying the pain that he was going through. If that wasn't enough, the fact that he was flipping uncontrollably, landing on his elbows, forearms, knees, until he finally got to his feet and finished sliding back, using his bare fingers to grip the sandy soil of the Bedoan island. He took several heavy breaths as he made his way back up to his feet.

Just standing upright was a pain all in itself, holes in the clothes from where he landed during the rolls left burn marks that once he stretched his limbs out, the contraction of skin antagonized the pain immensely. He winced slightly but continued to open and close the reach of his limbs to get used to the burns as he began to notice the two new faces that arrived and had currently cut off he and his brother from the two aides given to them by Kihaku and Reiaz. It wasn't long before he began to notice the characteristics of each of them individually.

They seemed roughly the same height, size difference was at most four inches. He never really had his brother's eye for detailed character watch, but his own measuring up never seemed to fail him either. After the initial size reading, there was really nothing out of the ordinary that he hadn't seen before, which was odd for an occasion such as this. Normally, when an invading force seeking to take control of the world came by, they stood out like a sore thumb, but these two looked like everyday people. It looked like it was time to put simple glances aside and start noticing details.

The clothing, chinese silk, dual blades, black pants, grey shirt, single blade that resembled, no, it was a copy of Luciendar. He shook his head again and let out a small laugh as he noticed it. He might have been shocked under any different circumstances, but the training he had finished not so long ago brought him face to face with this same situation. This was a challenge he knew he could easily pass, but several other questions went into his mind right about now. Regardless, this would all be a good test of skill that he was itching for. Pulling the original Luciendar out of its holder, he smiled and held it tight with both hands, he was ready for a fight.

[kihaku]

The two Chaos entities moved purposefully and without sudden movement to stand behind Ryan and Dimitri, while the two copies of the warriors simply stood there, gazing at the two originals with a look almost akin to disdain. As the original Jiaoimasu drew his Twin Reavers, so did the doppelganger. The long blade of the Dimitri-double gave a small rasping sound as the tip of the weapon was dragged along the ground, a slow move forward being made by both copies.

“You cannot defeat us, just as we cannot defeat you. We function at the highest level you can possibly attain, without ever tiring. We are the perfect replacements for the new world.”

The anit-Dimitri sniggered, “You were so pathetic! One hit, and you’ve already been injured, bleeding even. Don’t you think it might be better for you to just give up now?”

The large were-wolf Inner Demon growled in response, a deep, primordial rumble sounding from deep in its chest to echo mightily off the sides of the rock face. The Shadow Form made no sound, but gave its own answer when its hands and forearms sudden shifted about, molding themselves into blades of the purest black, and wickedly sharp on a graceful point.

The Ryan copy gave a small smirk, the first facial expression he’d given this entire confrontation. “I guess not. It makes no difference anyhow.” His right foot moved forward threateningly, “You’re not fit for our new world!” At that, both copies seemed to move in a blur, dashing in for the attack at inhuman speeds. In a flash if ringing blackness, the Twin Reavers gave a slicing, scissor-like slash for Ryan’s midsection, while the dark shadow of the Luciender sliced through the air for a lethal thrust for Dimitri’s head.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: Dimitri has given me permission to control his character slightly in my posts, and I have likewise with him controlling my character somewhat. Don’t worry Kihaku, it wont be anything TOO big.)

It seemed that both Ryan and Dimitri had sustained some form of small wound from the previous attack against them, but nothing that would cause their actions in the immediate future to be anything less than what was needed of them, despite what their copies believed to be true. Either way, it wasn’t within Ryan to go down without his honour, and he knew that it was the same for his blood-brother. Things were going to get uglier before this day was over, but uglier for who?

After Ryan had spoken his copy once again began to speak, though completely ignoring that what Ryan had previous said to them both. In truth Ryan expected a little more from his own copy, maybe a little more honour in his nature or respect towards their adversaries, but it seemed that they held none whatsoever, despite them being copies of their original selves.

Dimitri, or at least the original Dimitri, had not spoken a single word since the attack, unless one would count a groan or two immediately after the initial attack that is. He hadn’t even said anything within Ryan’s mind. This wasn’t particularly like Dimitri, as he was usually quite the talkative person when it came to his blood-brother, but Ryan could quite instantly tell from the stance that Dimitri had slipped into that, like himself, he was ready for a battle.

So there they stood, the last of the Jiaoimasu and the Joshuen clans, side-by-side, both holding one sword out in front of their bodies, the both of them almost in identical stances - Ryan’s stance being slightly more loose. Without another word both of them stood there, listening and watching their copies carefully. They could not allow for another upset, it could spell disastrous for both them and in turn Dragonia.

Please, this battle belongs to myself and Dimitri…do not get involved. Keep a watchful eye, and an ear, out for Dramanius. That is your job. Ryan wasn’t particularly sure how the two Chaos monsters behind him worked, it was something that Kihaku or the other two Chaos Spirits hadn’t been particularly informative on, but reaching out with his mind Ryan tried to deliver his message to both the creatures. Whether this would work or even if they’d listen was unknown to him, but he had to try, his honour would not allow these two foes to go undefeated by any other hands than his or Dimitri’s.

There was no time for either of them to even chance a blink, and neither of them dared to try. It seemed luck was on their side this day, or that even the Elder Gods were indeed watching over Dimitri and their messenger, as both the copies suddenly went on the attack, moving at speeds that blurred even Ryan’s advanced eyesight. If they had blinked the situation would have surely proved fatal.

“The world is not yet yours!” Ryan quickly retorted, but there was no time for conversing any longer, the battle had begun. Without speaking another word, or using what little time he had left to think, Ryan let go of the Reaver he had been holding and turned towards Dimitri. Jumping into the air the samurai unsheathed his remaining Reaver and kicked his feet forward, directly against the copies version of Luciender. The kick was with both feet, solid and unrelenting, and quickly forced anti-Dimitri’s attack to be forced to the right of its target, Dimitri’s copy stumbling off somewhat with the sword - the copies entire right side was now exposed.

Meanwhile, the Reaver that Ryan had let go of simply floated in mid-air where Ryan’s hands had released their grip upon the blade’s handle, but this lasted but a millisecond from when contact was broken. Almost instantly, as if the blade had a mind of its own, it cascaded through the air like the flowing water of a river, to come up in-between the copies two Reavers and block the X swipe attack. It was an attack that Ryan often used, and an attack that he knew how to block very well.

(OOC: After writing this out I think I may have auto-hit one of your copies Kihaku - you know, the whole ‘kicking the sword thingy’. If I have, as I’m too tired to realise properly, then just inform me and I’ll make the required changes.)

[dimitri]

He couldn't honestly say that the hit was a harsh blow, but the fact that it came out of nowhere just irritated him so much more than he would have thought. He shook his head a bit and cracked his neck, his feet placed firmly in his stance. He took a quick glance over to his brother and smiled, noticing that he too was ready to begin the fight anew. This was going to be interesting and considering that they were facing supposed exact replicas of each other, he knew it would also be a lot of fun for them.

As the slight burning sensation from the scratches caused by the ground faded, his stance loosened to that of his brother's. Considering that his one trip to heaven and meeting Master Katsumoto, he was taught much and he knew the ways of the Samurai, though he too kept his own ways, which, in terms of style was slightly more brutish and power centered compared to the finesse that Ryan had. Speaking of which, it became pretty clear that the copies knew of the strengths and weaknesses of themselves too, made apparent by the his own dark version's headstrong attack directly at him, looking for a fatal blow. It was himself alright, but one when he is pissed off and can't think any better.

Regularly, he liked to keep some distance between him and his opponent, but his dark half was clearly a bit more impatient than he was. He was pulling his sword back to his side to meet the incoming blade with his own horizontal slash, but that plan was slightly, correction, majorly changed now that he saw coming in from above him, his brother and making a clear strike at his dark half. It veered him off the course of his attack and right into the strike of his horizontal blade which he took at his now exposed right side.

Thanks for the assist brother, he said mentally to him as he turned his attention to a distracted clone of his brother. He was probably now locked in with Ryan's floating reaver and that left him open to a series of soul shots fired directly at him. This was just a minor ruse to distract him while he ran up towards him, aiming to pick up the floating Reaver and begin his own dual bladed attack, one slash aimed for the neck and the other from Luciendar aimed for his stomach, both seeking to do some serious damage.

[kihaku]

((say no more, I'll allow the kick))

The quickly misguided blade of Dimitri's copy forced the blade tip to bury into the dirt, which in turn forced the clone to lose its grip somewhat on the weapon. When the Luciender came in to strike at the exposed area of his body, there was a sudden piercing cacophony as the edge of the fabled Joshuen weapon struck what appeared to be spirits of a most malignant nature, forming a barrier between Dimitri and his doppelganger. It lasted only long enough for him to move on to attack the Ryan clone before it disappeared, the copy-Luciender in full-grip.

With a swing upwards, he pointed the tip directly at the airborne Jiaoimasu, and spoke, "Soul Lance." The very same high-pitched shriek came again as an inky-blackness erupted from the bladetip, half an inch in diameter and sharper than any spear head. It rocketed towards the samurai with the speed of an arrow launched at close range, while the clone quickly followed it into empty space after the warrior.

The Ryan-clone was not surprised to find its path barred by an unforseen technique, and as such was quick to find a way around the problem. With a quick release of one of the blades, it gave way under the pressure of the singular Reaver, spun in midair as the samurai's weapon sailed past, and was caught deftly in the same hand. As the soul shots came in for the beginning of a solid offensive, a quick defense was mounted as either blade was used to easily deflect the incoming souls, the force of which amounted to less than an inch of ground given.

Now as Dimitri neared for the attack, slashing at his midsection with both a Reaver and the Luciender, there was a blur of deep indigo as the doppelganger shot into the air and tucked into a front-flip, using the momentum to strike at the back of Dimitri's head with both of the Reaver-clones.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: Sorry for the hold up Mike, Jason, I’ve been really busy of late. I’ll do my best to keep everything moving from now on.)

Despite Ryan’s speed, and ability to think while acting, it seemed that it had all been insufficient when compared to the said abilities of their doppelgangers. It seemed that Ryan’s quick thought strategies hadn’t been the success that he had hoped for; alas they hadn’t even caught the copies off guard in the slightest.

The plan that involved him leaving one of his two Reavers floating in mid-air to stop his own copy in his tracks hadn’t worked exactly to plan. The Copy cleverly outwitted his original self by quickly releasing his grip over one of the blades. It gave way under the pressure of the singular Reaver, spun in midair as the samurai's weapon sailed past, and was caught adroitly in the same hand, using the situation to completely benefit himself. The Jiaoimasu copy had then easily deflected away the several soul shots with the side of his own blades before tucking himself into a forward flip and evading Dimitri’s attacks, moving through the air above, and behind him. With Dimitri now open, through no fault of his own, the clone attacked.

In the end it seemed that Ryan’s plan had possibly done more damage to their efforts than it had done good, but not everything had been unsuccessful.

First and foremost it seemed that Dimitri and himself were working together on an almost supernatural plane of thought, both of them seemingly reading each others thoughts and movements to the point where their partnership was almost flowing in complete harmony; something usually not easily achieved. Dimitri had taken the Reaver that Ryan had left behind as his own and had attacked with it and Luciender, just as Ryan had hoped he would. Good work my brother; let the blade of the Jiaoimasu protect you.

Secondly, and possibly a more important factor than even the two of them achieving the bond they seemingly had, Ryan had indeed saved Dimitri’s life by kicking the copy-Luciender away from impaling his head, although he knew that his brother would claim he had everything under control. A small, uncontrollable smile cracked across Ryan’s face, but this smile soon faded as the disturbing realism of his current situation began cascading down upon him.

Dimitri’s copied had quickly rectified his situation, gaining a strong grip upon his sword once more, and with a swing upwards the copy pointed the tip of his clone-Luciender directly at the airborne samurai, and muttered two small words that caused a sudden rush of shock to consume Ryan, despite him having never heard the two words phased together before; "Soul Lance”. This could only mean trouble.

Ryan had seen Dimitri in action before but he had never heard him mention, or ever see him use an ability by the name of ‘Soul Lance’. There was the possibility that he had simply not heard of it before, or perhaps it was true what the copies had said, maybe they were themselves but at their absolute peaks, that way it was quite possible that they knew abilities that Ryan and Dimitri had not yet achieved, or even knew about. Of course all this was pure on-the-spot speculation.

Rushing out from his thoughts Ryan’s eyes focused on the tip of the sword, for he knew it was from this area of the sword that the majority of Dimitri’s soul attacks originated from, when suddenly an inky-blackness erupted from the blade tip. Roughly half an inch in diameter, it increased its speed rapidly towards Ryan much like an arrow launched at a target at extremely close range, while the clone quickly followed it into empty space after the warrior.

Whether it was luck, intuition, a sixth sense, quick thinking or even divine intervention is irrelevant, but nevertheless at the last possible second before the soul lance impaled the relatively young samurai Ryan’s arm moved as he flew through the air causing the soul lance to impact against the side of the blade Ryan still had within his grip.

The sheer force of the soul lance was far more than the strength of Ryan’s right arm, despite that being his stronger arm, which forced Ryan’s arm to buckle under the pressure and the blade to fall back against his torso. The force of the lance was quite literally crushing his ribs as he flew backwards through the air, his free hand grasping the actual blade of the Reaver to try and use his entire strength to relieve some of the pressure upon his chest. It was at that moment that he struck gold with an idea, perhaps divine intervention wasn’t too far from the truth.

Despite the soul lance being entirely formed of souls, or at least that’s was the assumption that Ryan had come to, the sound of metal on metal clanging together rang out through the air as a handful of sparks finalised the moment. His free hand now bleeding from holding the blade of the Reaver, he slowly lifted it and pointed it towards Dimitri’s copy, who was currently moving through the air towards him. Almost instantly the small sparks, which were now level with the copy of Dimitri due to his sudden charge towards Ryan, had erupted outward into a burning explosion of fire, almost surly completely submerging the copy.

They, or more correctly Ryan, had underestimated just how much these copies were alike, or even superior to them both, but Dramanius and his copies had made a vital mistake too, they had underestimated the living soul of a person; it wasn’t over yet.

[dimitri]

(OOC: Sorry Mike, I know I sent you a PM and Ryan did too. This auto hit is allowed by Ryan since it's dragging on a bit too much.)

It seemed that even though they were facing each other's clones and not their own, they were still faring well compared to the originals. Surprisingly, it would appear that they weren't just trained to deal with themselves, but with whoever they came in contact with. They were very well rounded clones indeed, but definitely had that extra burst that made them more trouble than they were worth. Though the battle had just begun, the sooner they ended the thing, the sooner they could find Dramanius and bring back that fleeting peace that Dragonia so constantly sought.

Ryan's doppelganger was indeed everything he thought he would be, well rounded and agile, but he did notice a flaw in how he acted. He really was acting as though he was fighting Ryan and not himself. It was interesting because the copy had assumed that Ryan, being more precise with the reavers, would aim for a common point and strike, however, he wasn't like his dear brother, he was more random and sporadic which apparently caught the clone off guard. He had only focussed on the slash aimed for his midsection and seemingly completely ignored the one going for his neck. He tried to vault himself over both of the blades which was a clear failure.

Slightly after leaving the floor and noticing what the false Ryan was doing considering how he tucked his body for the flip, he knew exactly what he had to do. He began a tuck and roll directly forward, but not until after he felt some leg come off with the blade that was originally aimed for his neck. The amount of damage was irrelevant at the moment considering that his first priority was to avoid the aerial assault that threatened his life yet again. One thing was for sure, the copies were out to get them and were being straight to the point, but not really overly strategic. That also seemed to be a bit of a downfall compared to the original Ryan...not so much himself considering quick fights are what he preferred, but Ryan was exceptionally strategic as was his other half.

He was able to avoid the slash that aimed for the back of his head, probably due to the fact that he was hurt and it either slowed down his jump or made him retract his slash from the sudden pain. Now however was his chance to strike back. He was now halfway through the roll and was charging up a soul wave, it was enough to do definite damage but it wouldn't be enough to kill him considering the short span of time he had to form and charge it. Still, he had a plan for that too. After completing the roll, he stayed down on one knee, and shot the wave at what would be midsection height once he landed, hoping that the landing on the bad leg would let him buckle and he would fall to more damage.

Flying directly behind that was the reaver that Ryan had loaned him momentarily for his last strike. It flew straight and cut through the air, whirring as it sliced the atmosphere around it. It hurried directly to what would be the center of his stomach once he landed, looking to impale him on the blade and end this quickly, or half of it at least. He should only be so lucky though, these things were faster, more agile, and a definite menace. Regardless now, he mentally relayed to his brother, Call back your other Reaver. Whether it was to be stained with blood or not like the blade of Luciendar from his leg, was yet to be seen.

[kihaku]

The clone-Dimitri wasn't at all prepared for the sudden burst of flames, but wasn't at all defenseless. Times used to be where such a quick counter-attack would have killed him, but now, just as the Joshuen was stronger for Ryan's training, so was the doppelganger for being created at just this point in time. Searing red flames engulfed the copy, and just as it seemed his proverbial goose was cooked, there issued a scream from within the blast that was far too high-pitched to be that of a carbon-copy of Dimitri.

As the flames subsided, a huge half-dome looked to have protected the doppelganger's entire front side, perfectly opaque, reflecting no light, and writhing as if in agony. The shrieking had stopped, but now it appeared that the bubble of protection was moaning in agony, several voices melding together in what sounded like a cacophony emanating from a torture chamber. The half bubble was flowing darkly from the tip of the anti-Luciender, and as the smoke cleared faces could clearly be seeing flowing across the surface of the defense.

A woman's features, twisted in immense pain, slid slowly across the face of the dome, followed by that of a young boy, and again in an opposite direction by that of an old man.

"Please, Dimitri, stop it! You're hurting us, this isn't what a Joshuen does!"

"Mommy, I'm burned! It hurts so badly, please, make it stop mommy!"

"Dear gods in heaven and earth, why can I not find peace even in death!?"

The bubble then instantly retracted, as if sucked back into the copied blade, though the writhing darkness did not disappear from it's surface, and faces could still be half-seen sliding across its gleaming length. It was then slowly drawn upwards as the black eyes drew their gaze slowly from tip to hilt, and then back to the Jiaoimasu. An arrogant, ivory smirk spread across his lips, the grip on his weapon tightening so as to pale his knuckles.

"Ahhh... the sweetest sound in the world."

Though Ryan's copy was already injured, it wasn't much of a victory, considering that both of the original warriors had been caught unawares and leveled before words or gazes could even be interchanged. Landing on his feet and one of his hands, blade flush with the dirt, icy-blue eyes snapped upwards just in time to see the incoming attacks. With the agility of... well, a samurai, and the flexibility of a contortionist, he performed an unnatural split of his legs, the soul wave blasting just above his back, and the Reaver barely grazing the top of his body, cutting a silken thread that hung loose from the robe. The instant it was severed, it disappeared as if made of smoke.

"Dammit... one down." It was not his clothes to which he was referring. An incalculable distance away, he felt the pang of defeat as he experienced the connection of him and one of his commrades sever, indicating that one clone had already been taken down. One point of triangulation was already lost, now the other five had to be doubly secure.

With inhuman speed, the clone righted itself and dashed both slightly to the right and inward, both Reavers held out as if to form the v-shape of an arrowhead. With a single smooth motion, both hilts of the blades were brought together, and there was a very loud sound, like a metal beam breaking, and together with a brilliant flash of blue light, the blade of one reaver shot towards Dimitri. Attatched at the very bottom, was a night black chain, making no sound, and moving through the air as if gravity had no effect on it. The other end of the chain, after wrapping around the doppelganger's wrist, was fastened to the other hilt of the brother blade.

[kihaku]

Before Ryan could retaliate, or Dimitri could launch a counter-attack, there was a concussive blast to the east of the battle ground, and the two Chaos entities appeared to have been rather busy. Between the two of them was a perfectly drawn circle, with a six-point star with each apex touching the edges of the circle. Purple arcs of electricity raced across its surface, before shooting off on a tangent, and smacking both doppelgangers square in the chest. As if caught like fish on a hook, they were drawn in despite their constant struggle to get away.

”No, DAMMIT, WE CAN’T LOSE!!”

“I TOLD you not to switch opponents!”

Before any more rebukes could be exchanged, they were sucked down into the earth. The electricity immediately ceased to flow, and from the edges of the circle, black ooze began to flow. It seemed almost liquid as it raced along the design drawn in the soil, giving an audible concussion, like a small scale explosion, as the Chaos Energy hit a node. When the roiling midnight finally hit dead center, there was an almost painful boom, throwing the Chaos entities aside, and casting a shaft of indigo light into the gloomy sky.

The two creatures then stood and moved towards the two warriors, and the Shadow Form kneeled down, drawing words in the dust.

“Spell started. We wait.”

[Ryan - Loki]

It was much unlike the young samurai to stall in battle but alas, that was exactly what had happened. From observation it would appear that he had frozen due to the sheer power that the clone of Dimitri had at his disposal, power that Dimitri hadn’t even begun to grasp in his life at this point in time, but in truth this was not the reason, not even close. The soul shield that Dimitri’s clone had erected to save himself from the immense burning of Ryan’s fames was completely created from the countless souls within the sword, hence the name of the ability and much like all of the other abilities in Dimitri’s arsenal. Upon the intense flames scorching the front of the shield a thousand different shrieks rang out through the air, as if the thousands of souls instantly all felt the burn of the flames.

Hurting innocents was something that Ryan never had any intention of doing, in fact that was exactly what he fought to prevent, the reason why he hunted his brother with such fierce consistence. In a matter of seconds he had done just that what he had sworn to fight against, he had become Loki. This is why he froze, and if the clone had taken this chance of weakness to attack then Ryan would have surely met his end, but the Elder God’s were surely playing a hand in today’s events.

During Ryan’s moment of weakness his train of thought instantly began to rectify itself. Loki, and those like him, chose to kill the innocent people of the universe, that was what made them evil, Ryan on the other hand had cause pain to those souls unwillingly, in fact it had been the clone who had known what pain he was to cause them upon erecting the shield in the first place. With a shake of the head Ryan came out of his daydream as the entirety of the situation that he had missed came rushing back to him.

Suddenly two bolts of purple electricity seemingly appeared from within the very dirt below their feet and shot out towards both of the clones, attaching to them. Like a fishermen with his fishing line the bolts of electricity quickly began to drag both of the struggling clones towards its centre, a perfectly drawn circle with a six-point star with each apex touching the edges of the circle within it. With one final cry of outrage from both of the clones they were sucked beneath the earth, the electricity that had been flowing across the surface of the symbol instantly ceasing to flow and a black ooze began to flow from the outer rims of the circle.

“…What is this sorcery?” but before Ryan’s question could be answered by anyone the show continued onwards. As the ooze finally reached towards the centre of design it became instantly apparent that only evil could come of this. “Get down!” Ryan shouted out to Dimitri. With that Ryan dived against the dirt to his right and threw his hands over his ears. At that exact seconds the chaos energy exploded upwards, the boom painful to the ears despite Ryan having already covered them.

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear the ringing that remained from the boom Ryan forced himself off of the floor and up onto his feet once again. His clothes were now covered in dirt and dust, not to mention the several rips and tears in the material that resided across the entirety of his body as well as several blood stains upon the white material too. Ryan’s eyes were instantly draw down to words that had been drawn down within the dirt “Spell started. We wait.” it couldn’t have been more directly or blunt of a message, bit that didn’t matter, all that was left to do was wait and prepare for the final confrontation.

Ryan had no idea if Dimitri remained uninjured from his battle with the samurai clone, or if he was even alive, but if he wasn’t there would be a time to mourn - that time was not now, Dragonia was still on the brink of destruction with only a handful of brave warriors standing between peace and oblivion. All the actors had taken their places, they had learned and delivered their lines, and soon the curtain would fall. The end was nea