Saga: Beginning of the End

[kihaku]

((OOC: Please note, the post has been edited due to time restraints))

When Jimmy arose and was about to respond the the questions Kilix posed, he was interrupted before he could even get a single word out by sudden rubbery sound, like material being stretched to it's limit. A sharp turn would reveal that Kraken's cocoon was shifting about, four huge lumps forming in the center of the oblong shape, a slimy, wriggling sound emanating from within.

Not far away, there was a calm, sinister ripping, as five sharp, talon-like nails protruded from the surface of the blackness, slowly making their way down towards the bottom of the round chrysallis. When they reached to just four inches above the ground, they stopped and retracted back into the gloom within. Through the gouges made in what had been a very strong material before, hissing laughter floated through the air to the ears of the two protagonists. Within Kraken's a growling impatience could be heard.

With a loud cacophany, both chrysallis torn open at the same time, revealing the two counterparts that'd been so similar before, though they know could never have looked more different. Harpie, breaking free, was the most drastically changed. Her ivory skin had retained it's flawless sheen, but was streached horribly over a bony frame. Her legs were now covered with black, razor sharp feathers, and her joints were backwards with sharp talons protruding from raptor-like feet. Her middle was still humanoid, shapely, sexy, though the rest of her was still more changed. Her previously ample chest was now almost completely gone, her arms had changed to wings with a huge fifteen foot span, all of it covered in the same black feathers, which ran in a tapered line down her back to her lower body. Her head was crowned with the same dark feathers, and her eyes shone black out of a face that'd remained unchanged through the metamorphosis.

Kraken, on quite the other hand, was unrecognizeable. His body was now completely of a blue and sapphire color, slimy, and very much like a sea creature. His legs were still basically humanoid, though his upper body was just a mess. On either side of his torso were five octopus like tentacles, and one other that looked like it should be on a squid, with an enlarged pad on the end. His head and face had been utterly replaced by something that looked it belonged on a sephalapod, with a large sack hanging from the back, bulging eyes with sideways slits, and an opening that looked more like a short tube than anything else. It made sickening gurgling and sucking sounds as it breathed through thin slits along it's back, sometimes slime spraying when one would become clogged with the mucus.

Without warning, they went on the attack. Harpie flew upwards and beat her wings a few times very strongly, gale force winds ripping through the air between she and Kilix, razor sharp serrated feathers intermingling with the blasting gusts, aiming to slice him and his stupid robot to shreds.

Kraken moved with surprising speed for one so changed, running just to the side of Jimmy before inhaling deeply, and blasting a stream of ice from the tube on it's face, eyes half closed as if it were angry at him. Sliding to a halt, for the slime prevented skidding, it leapt into the air, arms outspread to wrap the poor boy in it's slick, rubbery grasp.

[kihaku]

((And thus, I mercifully wielded the auto-hit rule))

Kilix, with his enhanced abilities upon the already amazing Liix natural evolutions, managed to dodge the attack Harpie blasted at him, only losing a small bead of blood to a feather that managed to cut his cheek. The slice had been very clean, surprising considering the look a feather can give. The rest of the feathers embedded harmlessly into the ground, though there had been a bystander who'd stayed behind to watch, and received a feather to the thigh for his troubles. He collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain and clutching the wounded leg. Harpie, scenting blood and hearing the screams, dived at the helpless wretch with talons extended, aiming to take his body into the air to messily devour. She was no longer the cognizant person she had been, giving over completely to instinct, and now the man had only seconds left to live.

Jimmy, though still in shock at the transformation, still had the presence of mind to duck and dodge the ice attack, though a single tentacle wrapped around his ankle. With enough strength to do so much harm, Kraken instead toyed with his victim, and flung him across the road to smash against a barrel filled with fish. Their slippery bodies flapped about uselessly as they began to suffocate, Kraken gurgling in humor. The two widened tentacles shot out from either side of him, though instead of grabbing for Jimmy, the scooped up as much fish as they could, and then shoved them down that tube in the middle of it's face. There was an abhorrent sucking sound as the fish disappeared into that maw. Gulping down it's helpings of seafood, there was another inhale and a sudden blast of chilly air, a second ice attack shooting straight for poor Jimmy.

[Jimmy Claymore]

((GAAHH Sorry, sorry, sorry forgot all about this, thanks for not breaking any bones))

Jimmy breathed out the horrible fishy air as he saw a second ice attack shooting towards him. He slipped on the fish and water but held his hands against the ground, being whipped around had broken his connection but he was quickly regaining it and finally he shouted out the attack name as the second ice attack scorched towards him
"Ororchi RYUUGAHARA" 8 Scorching red Dragon heads burst out of the pavement and took the ice attack head on, freezing in place. They stood in a glistening and delicate pose before bursting outwards, they were only Ki after all, and writhed around in the air around Jimmy. Both hands still firmly planted on the ground as more and more Ki dragons formed around him, His eyes shimered red as his demonic blood stirred in his veins.
"Heh... OK, I'm kinda losing here, which is to be expected I mean I am crap... my Other Half's the only thing I have to fight with and I keep weakening him. I'm so useless... Oh well, I guess even a weakling can beat an idiot" Jimmy grinned, he knew he was in trouble but his Demon side was slowly regenerating. Not enough for him to transform into the Beast again, not that he'd even want to, but enough to charge himself up a bit. He grinned and howled loudly, acting like the Demon everyone thought he was.

The Dragon's reared and pulsed forward, 8 wrapped around Jimmy in a cocoon whilst another 48 rocketted towards the creature called Kraken all snapping and slashing with their talons. They were only Ki constructs, he could easily dispatch them but Jimmy was still charging, once he regained enough power...

[Archer]

It wasn’t a moment after the words had left his mouth that the noise filled his ears. An unearthly screeching pierced every corner of his conscious being, as if a series of needles were being slowly skewered through his mind. His right eye twitching from the unbearable noise, he craned his neck around to behold the truly devilish sight; the black cocoons morphing and twisting in ways that seemed entirely unnatural. And then, with another rubbery howl, the sphere burst asunder, and the new Harpie was unleashed.

”Wooooooo” came a much more pleasant, if still very annoying, noise from next to Kilix’ leg. He looked down to have his eyes met by the innocent eyes of his robot.
”She’ Fugly!” he grinned.

Although the wording wasn’t exactly taking his fancy, his sidekick had a point. This new Harpie was hideous, the once supple skin now stretched thin over a maze of bone structure, huge black wings spreading out wide, with their ominous looking coating gleaming slightly in the midday sun. And even if her face was primarily unchanged, those piercing black eyes seemed to dig into a part of the soul that should have been left untouched.

With a movement comparable to Liixan agility, the creature soared quickly some distance into the air, one swoop of her gargantuan wings forcing a fierce torrent of wind upon the young warrior, the fur on his face darting this way and that as the currents toyed with them as they saw fit. Nearby, a small gopher clung tightly to his metal seat with a pair of clawed hands, beady eyes looking fearfully ahead. However, a light morning breeze was the least of his worries, as some of those midnight feathers dislodged themselves from their natural housing and began to surf the currents in search of a fresh target.

The movement was almost a reflex, the Liixan pulling his centre of gravity backwards into a backflip, causing the worst of the feathers simply to sail past and embed themselves in the ground behind him. However, the last feather to sail past caught the Liixan’s cheek, barely more than a wince leaving his features as a trickle of blood hung closely to the hairs on his face, refusing to drop into the abyss beneath it.

---

It was an average sort of day for Jonathon Rooney. He’d spent the last evening planning the days work, coming out to the fields to plough with Jebadiah, his trusty horse, and then back into the village Tavern before sunset for a good pint of ale with the lads. It wasn’t what most would call an easy life in the tranquillity of this little hamlet in Metapha, but it was calm and quaint enough for his liking. So the last thing he’d expected was a pair of crazed lunatics to start terrorising his town.

The first he’d noticed was when the young lad in the neighbouring field was seen through the corner of his eye, running for his life like there was no tomorrow. Quietly, he turned to the youth, raising his neck slightly to call out to him. “Daniel?” he queried, “Where’re you goin’ in such a hurry?”

The young boy didn’t bother with such a complex function as words; he barely stopped moving in his panic; simply raising a finger towards the floating couple as he stumbled over the rickety old fence. However, old Jon was a much more logical chap. He was a fair distance away, and the pair seemed to be more preoccupied with that fuzzy lil’ chap now anyway. It seemed safe enough to have a bit of pay-per-view before his night in the Tavern; after all, it wasn’t every day something exciting happened in this sort of place.

A few moments later, a small mechanical chap passed by, pulling a rodent out of a hole in the ground before affixing the creature to his head and carrying on his way.

It was when the psychotic couple became engulfed by the black pods that things really got interesting. Up until this point, most things that were happening had been vaguely explainable, but this was more than a little bizarre. It wasn’t too long before things got even more hectic, either, as the creatures emerged from their cocoons, now completely warped, hideous beyond belief. The next few moments passed in a blur, a rush of wind passed by, the grain in the field ruffling gently as the breeze passed by, and then a white pain in his leg overrode any other command from his body.

---

Kilix was prepared when Harpy dashed towards him in a flurry of speed, talons outstretched with deadly intent. However, this new body had made her foolish, action on base instinct alone, and a quick swivel on his proverbial heel cleared him from peril. This is all too easy, come on, where’s the challenge? he thought silently, but only just soon enough to realise his own foolishness; he wasn’t the target.

The screaming of villagers had become so constant it was almost a white noise by now, and the young Liixan had managed to drone out most of the background whining, but where his ears excelled, his sense of smell lacked. Unlike Harpy, Liixan’s had no natural sense for locating blood, and he’d simply heard the old man’s screams as just another villagers. He had to act quickly, and thusly he did, disappearing in a flash as the talons grew ever closer.

---

This was it. A moment ago he’d been absolutely fine, watching something that seemed so unbelievable that it could have been a movie, and now he was slumped on the ground, a black razor severing his leg, and a bloodthirsty monster about to tear him a new breathing hole, and he doubted it would stop there. An unworldly screech joined his own screams of terror as the creature closed in, and his eyes sealed shut so tightly it could’ve warded off hell itself.

And unless death was very similar to life, it had done. There was no excess pain, no extra sensations, nothing. He almost daren’t open his eyes for fear it would unfreeze whatever had prevented his untimely demise, but open them he did. And almost directly in his face was another’s, orangey brown fur covering every inch of it, and a buzzing barrier of energy blocking the path between himself and the bloodthirsty Witch. It was obvious that he was struggling to hold her off, talons lashing and tearing at the energy shield, but failing to penetrate it.

”What’re you doing?! the furry man snapped ”Get out of here! I can’t hold this forever!”

((I’m gonna let you take it from here. I like this for an ending.))

[kihaku]

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. Just as the Liixan was shouting his orders, Harpie beat her wings to climb about a foot, and as the farmer made a dash for safety, feather protruding from his thigh, Harpie shot forward, and her needle-like teeth punctured his body as if it were gossamer. The screaming, and agony, ended very quickly, a clawed foot raising up, latching onto the torso of the poor innocent, while the head jerked up, seperating the right shoulder, arm, and head from the rest of the body, leaving the bottom chunk to simply lay there, blood seeping into the ground. As Harpie chewed her gruesome treat, her back was turned to Kilix who was a mere thirty feet away, apparantly given over entirely to instinct, no longer caring about the battle.

Meanwhile, Kraken was well into the fight, still mostly himself, if in a new body. As the dragons came in for the attack, a gurgling laugh came from the monster. His body suddenly changed into water, whilst holding it's shape as the original form, and just as the serpentine attacks came within striking range, the water shot outwards as dozens of spikes and needles, like an explosion unseen within the depths. To make it more deadly, the spikes and such formed instantly into ice, piercing the many dragons simultaneously.

The ice retracted, and Kraken was instantly back to normal. He then rushed the boy, all eighteen tentacles shooting forward, each tipped with a tri-tipped claw of ice formed at the end.

[kihaku]

((and now, once again, the auto hit.))

Harpie, once finished chewing upon the gruesome bit of meat and bone, turned back to the Liixan with a glint in its eye, blood dripping from its chin with a sinister smirk playing across the distorted features. She slowly began stalking forwards to Kilix, head low; wings slightly outspread, talons not touching the earth to allow for quicker ascension. Kilix, in the heat of battle, had no time to mourn the loss of life, so unnecessary an end for someone who’d done no wrong to the monster, but revenge was certainly near the front of his mind. Dropping the energy shield, he reached for his twin dagger hilts and activated the bright Ki blades, his face outlined on one side red, the other side blue.

Using his incredible speed, he left an after image to distract the monster, which was easily fooled as the feline warrior fell from the sky with both blades aimed to penetrate her skull. However, the whistling of air through fur gave away his position, alerting Harpie to his inbound assault. Pulling back and inhaling deeply, drawing her wings against her chest, she slung them outwards to fire a dozen feather blades in his direction, and once the wings were free of her face, she opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful sonic blast. Reaching the feathers roughly mid-way to Kilix, their speed was enhanced by the shockwave, which in and of itself would force Kilix’s fall to be halted completely for the inky black feathers to pierce his armor.

Meanwhile, the deluge of slimy appendages was somewhat halted by the eight dragons circling around Jimmy, forming a network of glowing bodies to be torn at by the many dozens of ice claws. The heat from their Ki forms managed to mostly melt the frozen water, until Kraken realized that he was merely slapping wet tentacle against the wall that had been behind the boy, who himself was no longer there.

There was a sudden sharp pain as Jimmy’s blade sliced through three tendrils at once, leaving them half as long as they’d once been, the gleaming sword now dripping with black fluid. Kraken screeched painfully loud in pain before inhaling deeply, and then spewing forth a thick black fluid in a thick stream. When it impacted against the ground, it billowed outwards like a cloud of dust, or as one might ink would underwater. In this thick black cloud, Kraken made to escape an impending impalement. With a sound like meat slapping against stone, he slammed against the side of the church Kilix had been praying in not fifteen minutes ago, crashing through the wall as if it were made of wood.

[Archer]

((Again, sorry; life’s catching up with me at the moment.))

It took a few stunned moments before the villager regained his senses, scrabbling backwards in a startled heap to try and escape the nightmare that was engulfing his every waking moment. But, alas, there was no hope; in a sudden unexpected movement from the beast, Kilix’ hold over her was lost and the hag launched herself at the defenceless man, rending flesh from flesh and bone from bone, a wretched shriek of a desolate soul filling every corner of the sky as the Harpie feasted.

Kilix was momentarily in shock; he’d tried, but it seemed that he couldn’t save everyone, and if he wasn’t careful, he’d have the same problem with himself. The expression in his eyes rapidly changed from sorrow to rage, his hands reaching the hilts of his daggers as he faded into the background of the battlefield.

Falling suddenly from the sky, Kilix was almost sure that he had Harpie for good, before the monster turned to face him directly, her features hidden behind those midnight wings. It all happened in less than an instant; Kilix path of descent was suddenly stopped short, and a flurry of feathers were heading in his direction. The wind was making his eyes stream and his movements heavy and sluggish: there wasn’t much left for him to do but hope.

The feathers pounded heavily into his armour, the dense Dulvar armour getting away from most with little more than a heavy scratch. However, there were two casualties from this assault; firstly, a feather dug deep into his left arm, Kilix involuntarily screaming as the muscles convulsed in his arm, his dagger being unwillingly forced from his grip. The second struck in the dead centre of his armour, digging through the first layer of Dulvar and lodging itself in. However, it managed to keep the seal air tight- for now, at least, he was safe. Maybe he could use this to his advantage…

As the rush of air wore off, Kilix fell rapidly to the ground towards Harpie, his one remaining dagger held ready to pierce the creature’s body, or as a final defence. All he could do now, as he limply fell to the ground, was hope that timing came off on his side.

((Crap, I know, but I’m really uninspired at the moment.))

[Jimmy Claymore]

Jimmy had flinched when the tentacles came rushing in to smother him, and still had his eyes firmly shut as he heard the Dragon's stave them off. His energy building as a Dark Red flame surrounded him, he adjusted his hands and released one from the ground causing the dragons to thin slightly before quickly teleporting and drawing his sword simultaneously leaving Kraken to attack the wall. Screeching on the cobbles with his newfound speed he darted back and slashed upwards at his tentacles ((OOC: Now, its up to date with the stuff in Kihaku's post, ;D)). Watching the beast try and retreat Jimmy grinned viciously and his hair waved in the dark red flow of Ki from his Demonic Side. The Other Half was still exhausted but he was more than able to fight using a little bit of his inner demon's power, as the Kraken stormed through the church Jimmy pursued with a rampant grin on his face, after being repelled momentarily by the ink burst and landing in a blackened mess. He leapt into the church to try and attack Kraken as he was retreating, a gleeful smile on his face. It didn't last long though, as his face contorted with pain and he howled before dropping onto the floor his Dark Charge completely gone, he looked up in confusion and realised where he was as light streamed in. A church, religious icons and holy light bound his Demonic powers leaving him free to sleep without worry in a church. But considering his current situation, not the most helpful of abilities.

With a fearful shiver he turned towards Kraken and gradually wrapped his hand tighter around the Sealed Sword, the sparkling blue blade still shining. He held it with both hand directly in front of him and told himself to calm down, no matter how scary this guy was he could still fight him... he hoped. He took an uneasy step forward and he thought to himself
'Why am I doing this? I'm only fighting him because... wait, why am I fighting him again? I just woke up and he was attacking me... Oh man, look at him! This guy's a monster! I wish that guy with orange eyes was here, he's always so confident...'
Jimmy's uneasy pace forward was interrupted by another voice in the back of his head talking

''James... I'm coming, just hold on until I get there'

He paused, was that Gabe? She could help him, surely. His courage revived he faced Kraken stalwartly and focused on his plan of attack, teleporting so he would be in front of him ((OOC: Not sure what's been going on while Jimmy's been talking to himself so just 'in front of him' for now)); he pointed his sword levelly and his red eyes glowed as a kindling of the Demon's power returned through him. He stepped forward and slashed blindly at the Kraken hoping for the best as, despite his own self assurance, he shut his eyes before the sword landed so he wouldn't have to see it.

[kihaku]

The scream seemed to have backfired slightly, since having expelled all her air in the sonic blast, she was forced to somewhat stumble and involuntarily inhale, gasping for breath. Just as she was about to take her second breath and swoop in and take out the Liixan, the sound of a light thud alerted her to the tiny rat dropping one of his weapons, the shimmering blue stone at it’s base a testament to it’s identity. However, when the second and corpse failed to drop directly after, she knew that not all had gone as planned. Just as her lovely head began to move upwards to see where her prey had gone to, there was a hiss and a sickening thud.

Harpie’s eyes grew wide with shock, her body rigid with the sudden sensations that accompany a traumatic experience, and before her eyes she saw Kilix fall on his right side, slightly slowed by the drag given from the event that’d just taken place. Harpie finally gave a shuddering breath before her eyes glazed over, her mouth slackened revealing her pointed teeth, and she collapsed backwards. When she hit the ground, dust was thrown up about her, and the Ruby clattered to a stop a foot away from the large seeping gouge that’d been made in her head by the glittering blade.

Kraken had blasted through a stone wall as if it hadn’t been there, and was now sprawled across a set of pews, his severed tentacles bleeding a black fluid all over the once spotless floor. One set of seats had been splintered by the shrapnel rock that had been displaced by his dynamic entry, and now his slick body was coated with rock dust and splinters of wood. As he pushed himself up with some difficulty, he noticed that Jimmy was having troubles of his own, coming to the realization that they were in a holy place. Symbols of any religion, the crucifix, the Star of David, anything at all, none had any effect on the Chaos minions whatsoever, though they were still vulnerable to physical pain.

Jimmy managed to recover enough to begin attacking, whilst Kraken, still in a dark haze of pain, only had enough presence of mind to suck in once more to attempt a final ice attack, that would either waste Jimmy and turn him into a frozen demonsicle, or be wasted and turn the monster into a calamari shishkabob. With aim firmly in mind, he called up the energies to freeze the air and liquid in his lungs, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his right side. One of his bleeding tentacles had been snagged on a large sharp splinter of one of the benches he’d come to lay across, and was now digging into the already agonized flesh.

On top of that, he felt a sudden searing pain from sternum to spine, forcing him to look down in shock, clearly written across his cephalopod-like features. The Sealed Sword had skewered him, and with an unexpected violence, the ice attack blasted out his back against the wall behind him, forming cascades of chilly art against the stained glass windows, ice sickles forming on the fingers and arms of the statues of saints, all of the normally clear ice now tainted black by the blood mixing with the sub-zero attack. The ice ended up covering 83% of the surface area within, nearly blocking the hole that'd been punched through the wall.

With a final cough of blood out of the tube-like orifice on its face, Kraken fell backwards onto the remains of his efforts, a sharp spike of ice sliding into the open wound on his back to protrude out his chest, a final grizzly testament to the sheer ferocity with which they fought.

[Jimmy Claymore]

Jimmy merely stared forward, his hands still blindly gripping the Sealed Sword and shaking violently. His breathing was uneven and ragged as black liquid slowly ran onto his hands and down the blade, he let go of his sword suddenly and staggered back shaking his hands off and moaning fretfully, he rubbed it off on the floor and gingerly re-claimed his sword, he cleaned it off on a piece of cloth inside the church, his mind absently saying it was meant to be a religious icons and he was being pretty sacreligious. He turned around as he sheathed his sword to look at the grisly spectacle of the Kraken, the black ooze and his facial expression... Jimmy felt bile rise in his throat and staggered outside. He was sick over part of the church floor but it came out most where he could smell Kraken's dead body. He staggered away and shakily wiped his mouth as he collapsed against a far wall
"I... I killed him, I killed something... I... I'm sorry, I... I want my mom..." Jimmy sat in a huddled ball with tears beginning to form in his eyes. Gabe would be here soon, he didn't want to be a snivelling mess when she got here, how embaressing would that be? He could hear a sarcastic voice in the back of his head mock him for being such a coward. With a loud sniff, Jimmy brought himself together, just because he'd murdered something in a church didn't mean he was automatically going to hell. Although, the being part Demon part probably wasn't a help... he wondered where Gabe was and where that Cat-guy, Kilix, could be. He looked back at Kraken and shuddered, his mind was in turmoil again as the Demon tried to take over limiting his power yet again to what he could take without losing it. One day it was going to be too much and he would... he'd do something about it. He wasn't going to give up, not what his mom would have wanted.