Saga: The Meeting

[Garoten Reklor]

So much happened at once that Kyle's battle-trained mind even had a hard time keeping up. Dramanius's companion outmaneuvered him by responding with a pacifist sort of reaction. The collision of his blade with Natas's arm was almost providential, as contact with the being's body, even for an instant, gave the AI inhabiting every piece of the Knight's armor plenty of time to gather information. It would take a few minutes to come up with anything, but the unknown being's intervention would prove immensely helpful to Kyle. Beyond that, there was something in the body language that was impossible to misinterpret. With everything in him, that man did not want to intervene on his behalf. But would the others read it the same way? They didn't know what he did - voice prints, heart rate, everything about the two made it clear they were lying - but how could he communicate that to the others with so little time?Before he really had time to choose another course, that blasted android showed up, this time set against him again.

="That's it! Let's give her a taste of the energy-shaping system this time..."=

Years of training, genetic enhancement, and a suit centuries ahead of it's time made the Knight's reaction time almost instantaneous, but Dramanius managed to beat him to the punch, launching an energy field of his own that - protected him? Evil or not, the guy was a tremendous actor. Then, out of nowhere, Ryan Jiaoimasu showed up again and confronted Dramanius while one of the newcomers simply freaked out and ran away...understandably so. Kyle had struggled with similar emotions the first time he encountered a battle...yesterday. Without the training to adapt to new and even hostile environments at a moment's notice, nobody could be expected to handle a situation like this. Then there was the mysterious appearance of a random old man ranting about armor and air. Was he talking about the Knight's armor?

Grateful for Ryan's intervention - as he obviously knew Dramanius personally and could be counted on to help stop him - the Knight decided to go all out. If the two deceivers could be defeated outright, the whole matter would be over. But once again the android meddled, surrounding him with energy lances that most definitely weren't meant for good purposes. Behind his visor, Kyle smiled. He hadn't revealed his primary purpose for wearing this armor yet, but the time seemed to have come. Suddenly white energy, crackling with electricity, expanded evenly from his outstretched palms and formed a smaller 'tepee' within the android's pink one. After a moment filled with only the crackling sound of his energy, the formation pulsed straight upward, punching through the pink energy - which, as expected, caused a violent explosion. That was why he'd used the energy, though, and the force of the explosion was easily absorbed by the Knight's own wall. Once the explosion faded, He drew Shadowbane again and prepared to take on Dramanius's companion, but Ryan stopped him with a shout.

"Get everyone out of here, now!"

Since he was the only one sure to be on Ryan's side at the moment, the White Knight took the command to heart. He grabbed the old man by the arm and scooped him off the ground, then turned to the two remaining undecideds.

"Follow me, otherwise I can't garuntee your safety."

With that, his jetpack ignited, hurling him into the night sky. After a flight of several miles, he suddenly doubled back and turned back toward the barren lands where the meeting had taken place. Content to chatter mindlessly thus far, the old man turned a wide-eyed gaze on the Knight's helmet.

"Eh? What are you doing? We just left there you young fool! What happened to garunteeing safety?"

"Sorry. I can't afford to leave an ally behind, but I need to know what you do. It's a bit of a quandry really."

The old man grinned a sly, cracked smile.

"And what makes you think I know anything, Sir Expects-A-Lot?"

"Bio-scans indicate you mind and your body are in far better condition than you'd have us believe. Furthermore, the seemingly random mention of a suit of armor was a little too clever. If you're on the side of keeping this planet safe, now is a really good time to make that clear."

The old man was silent until the two re-crossed the 'border' between the lush, well-waters Metapha and entered the deadlands where the group had originally gathered. Then he quietly spoke:

"You and your friends stop here, and I'll tell you how to save this world. "

Noting that he could somehow sense Ryan's presence less than a mile away, and that the old warrior was still alive and well for the time being, the Knight complied and landed.

((Those who choose this side, we'll be moving to 'The Ancient Secrets', also in Metapha.))

[kihaku]

Dramanius and Ryan were staring at one another as the worst kind of enemy. They stood apart, stances tense, bodies ready to act and react, to attack and counter, to kill and not be killed. Already it hadn't gone too well for Dramanius, the Jiaoimasu had grown in strength, despite the long lull of peace, and the first clash between the Last Samurai and the Lord of Hell and Chaos, the meeting of their powers and energies, had given Dramanius cuts on the back of his right hand and left cheek. The sheer magnitude of awesome strength between them had caught him off-guard, and he had pulled away damaged.

This would not happen again. Now, the Chaos Spirit... no, he had died and been reborn by Loki, and was now a Lord of Hell. Dramanius, Chaos Demon, was now staring down the man who had killed him. Dramanius smirked.

"Well now, isn't this a nice little coincidence?" His stance raised, and the tension in his muscles and body seemed to melt away. He was perfectly comfortable now, and he was going to make sure that Ryan wouldn't be. "You know, Jiaoimasu, if it hadn't been for you," he slid his right index finger across his neck, "finishing me off, your better half would never have had the opportunity to bring me back, and give me my own level of Hell itself. If nothing else... I owe you my thanks."

The unholy creature took hold of the hilt that rested against his waist, and pulled slowly. The blade, in life, had already been of demonic design; serrated in places, textured with skulls, demons, unholy symbols, and a hilt guard with spikes and thin, smaller blades, it now radiated evil in its purest, basest form. The Chaos Demon held the blade lovingly, tenderly, and it seemed to return his sentiments, becoming an extension of his body, promising to cut and sever as Dramanius wills it.

"I remember your blades, their edges biting through my neck. Now, my Deepening Sin will return the favor."

Dramanius seemed to tilt forward, his knees bending only slightly. Normally, one would describe an offensive as an explosion forward, a blast of power aimed at an oppoenent. Dramanius seemed to simply fade from view, before a whistling announced the swing of his blade. Ryan would be able to follow this attack, but only barely. Deepening Sin can in from the side, aiming to make the Samurai's other arm just as useless.

[Ryan - Loki]

(OOC: For those who are following Natas there is a new thread, also in Metapha, called 'Saga: Journeys True Beginning' where things will be continued.)

They had collided, scuffled briefly and rolled away from each other, openly greeting the instantaneous breather that they had momentarily gained. In battle, distance between yourself and the enemy was often greatly welcome. Already Ryan had suffered injury from this battle, the injury in the form of a busted lip. Slowly the blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, over his lips and down across the stubble on his chin.

Quickly Ryan moved his right arm, lifting it up and out to his right side, causing his cloak to flap outward with the movement, like a blue flame flickering in the breeze. His arm now free from underneath the cloak Ryan lifted it to his face, softly brushing the back of his hand across his lips, wiping the blood away.

Dramanius then spoke, and his words instantly brought memories back from someone Ryan had known long ago, someone who had since long passed away from this world. “There are no accidents, my son.” the words resonated within his mind almost as if his father, Katsumoto, was there at that precise moment saying them.

“There is no such thing as coincidence, just the illusion of coincidence.” Ryan replied sternly. His face was emotionless, the way of his people in battle, much how he had always been taught. Ryan merely looked on at Dramanius while he continued to speak, and soon enough he had finished, and silence once again reigned supreme over the area. The silence was only broken by the scratching of metal upon metal as Dramanius began unsheathing his sword.

Much in the same motion Ryan’s right hand also reached down to his left side. He stretched his fingers and wriggled them a little, the bones in his fingers clicking from the aches that parallel with age of a body. Slowly his fingers closed in on the soft, silk-like material that enwrapped the hilt of the sword, which made up one half of the Twin Reavers; the legendary swords of his people. Almost instantly Ryan could hear the essence of all the souls of all whom had ever called the blade theirs stir to life within the cold metal of the swords blade.

To his people a katana, which was what his Twin Reavers fundamentally were, became an extension of their soul in battle, though this belief was furthermore fulfilled in the case of wielding just one of the two Twin Reavers. The special bond that owner had with the blades was more than mere emotional attachment, it was on a spiritual and mental level as well. Nevertheless Ryan’s hand remained still, not drawing his sword, but merely waiting.

With a few short words Dramanius once again went quiet, though this time he simply began to fade from existence, a whistling noise replacing him. Instantly Ryan’s stance stiffened and his back foot slid backwards across the stone, away from his body, and the majority of his weight shifted back onto this leg; an attack was coming.

Just then Dramanius appeared once more, slightly on Ryan’s right side. The whistling noise had been the should of Dramanius’ blade moving through the air at immense speeds. Clearly Dramanius had certainly not lost any of his speed in the seven-to-eight years that had passed since their last encounter. The sound of metal against metal rung out through the air once again as Ryan finally unsheathed his blade. The metal seemed to give off the quietist of crackles against the cold air of the night, as if it hadn’t tasted air as cold as this in quiet some time.

In one swift movement Ryan pulled free the blade from his left side and brought it above his head before rapidly changing its direction and stabbing it downward towards his right air. The blade missed his arm but the dull side ran against the outside of it, as Ryan had meant for. The sound of metal clashing against metal rung out, sparks flying out and illuminating the darkness of the night, if but only for a brief second.

The sheer force behind the attack had been enough to force even the dull end of Ryan’s blade to press through his clothes and skin, a patch of crimson quickly appearing from the area. The left corner of Ryan’s mouth curled upwards in a brief lapse of emotion as pain struck him, but as quickly as it had happened it vanished once again. Ryan held his blade strong as he looked over his shoulder at Dramanius, his bicep shaking from the sheer strain. The two were held in a standoff.

“There are no accidents Dramanius… ” Ryan said suddenly through a grunt, his voice shaking somewhat much like his arm was. “So you must have been brought back by Loki, so that I may rid the world of your evil again!” Ryan had emphasised the word ‘again’ from his sentence, shouting it rather than speaking it, like he had done with the others. With this shout came a new, and sudden bout of strength, which Ryan used to fling up his arm in an attempt to force Dramanius out of the stalemate and to stumble backwards, even if the stumble was but one or two steps; it would be enough.

With the space between them now created Ryan would attempt to capitalise on the situation, unlike what he had done earlier in the battle when he had welcomed the distance. In a fluid motion Ryan followed up his initial move, turning his back towards Dramanius, his blade arm still pointing up in the air. However Ryan did not leave his back exposed to Dramanius, only a fool would do such a thing to such an opponent in battle, and so Ryan continued his turn, now having spun around in a full circle, and suddenly he brought his blade down towards Dramanius in a single swing.

It was a fast and powerful swing, the blade cutting through the air with no trouble whatsoever, with nothing but a soft hum of the metal. The attack would aim to cleave Dramanius clean in two, from head to toe, though Ryan knew better. This attack would be stopped, and Dramanius would more than likely counter with an attack of his own. This was but the beginning, not of the battle but of bigger events that were unfolding even as the two of them fought. This was but the beginning, and the end was too far away to tell what the final outcome would eventually be.

[Aion]

A prolonged sigh managed to escape from Aion's lips; once again, the ugly beast that was anarchy had transformed what should have remained a, somewhat, diplomatic argument into choas. As an ambassador of Lavertia, he'd been in these situation quite a lot, and to be blunt, was prepared for battle...or so he thought. In a matter of minutes the violence had escalated so quickly that the young warrior was left only with the choice of dodging each stray energy blast that came his way. He was useless at the moment, nothing more than a hinderance. Even in all the chaos he couldn't create a single opening to aid a friend.

Aion took heed of the latter half of Ryan's request, cursing himself silently for allowing the knight to act before him; and as quickly as he had appeared, Aion's body disappeared into thin air, leaving no traces of his existence behind.

[kihaku]

“There are no accidents Dramanius… So you must have been brought back by Loki, so that I may rid the world of your evil again!”

Dramanius was overpowered by the sudden rush of strength from the Samurai's one arm, the life-force normally reserved for a pair now coursing through one, making the ability and dexterity of his good arm well over two-fold. A metallic ring sliced through the air, and Ryan pressed his temporary advantage. Having shoved Dramanius back, the Chaos Demon was now not only attempting to regain his stance, but also struggling with Ryan's continued offensive.

The gleam of his smile shone in the gloom.

Suddenly, Ryan's Reaver would clang against something not metal: a layer of transparent platelets appeared just above Dramanius' head. Just as the edge of the blade touched the shield, the primary ability of Walling Hearts went into effect. However much strength was used to attack and hit the shield, twice as much strength would suddenly feed back into the blade, sending it in the opposite direction. If Ryan was strong enough, it would simply cause him to be pushed back. If not, the Reaver would be dislodged from his grip and sent flying.

"Chaining Hands."

Before his words were finished being spoken, the ground surrounding the Jiaoimasu would give a short quiver, before twelve lengths of thick, gleaming black chain would shoot out like bullets from a gun from under the thin topsoil, dust flying as the metal rattled, wicked teeth at the tips would try to wrap around various limbs, hopefully capturing the Samurai easily.

Dramanius was suddenly gone from view, his aura undetected, until it appeared directly behind Ryan, the tip of Deepening Sin aimed to slide deep into his back, through organs and bone, to emerge out his abdomen covered in glistening crimson victory.

[Ryan - Loki]

Ryan’s attempt to throw Dramanius off guard and cause him to stumble backwards had worked, which opened a perfect opportunity for him to attack, but as he did, as if stopped by some form of magic, Ryan’s attack didn’t hit its target; instead it slammed against a shield of sorts. Ryan, however, would not be allowed the time to be surprised by such a feat as almost exactly as the sword touched against the dense, yet transparent shield, a reaction took place.

Ryan could not explain the workings behind it, nor did he fully understand it, but as soon as the force of his own attack pressed against the shield he was met with a force almost double that of his attack, slamming from within the shield against his blade.

Though Ryan had a firm grip upon his blade it hadn’t nearly been equal to that of the force the shield had given off. This caused the blade to slip from his grip and, in turn, be sent flying back through the air, away from him. In a sudden moment of uncontrollable panic Ryan turned his head away from Dramanius and followed his sword with his eyes.

It span off into the distance, gravity quickly failing to its overall weight, as it quickly dropped through the air and sliced into the ground in an upright, standing position. Instantly memories of Seriyu and his missing sword flooded Ryan’s mind, though it didn’t take more than the stench of death that this horrid place housed, to bring Ryan back to the situation at hand.

He spun his head back round and looked directly off in front, Dramanius was looking directly at him. He was unsure as to how long his mind had been elsewhere but nevertheless Dramanius had used the time to take the advantage. His voice echoed out across the silence and almost as soon as he had begun to speak thick, black chains shot out towards Ryan from within the soil below their feet.

Ryan’s eyes widened in a lapse of emotion as the chains flew through the air towards him. He hadn’t expected this, and without the presence of his trusted sword within his grasp he felt alone, the absence of the whispers and guidance of his forefathers resonating more so than ever within his mind. In a moments notice he found his arm fly down towards his right side, his fingers outstretched, before wrapping around the familiar silk-like material of his sword hilt; the other Twin Reaver. However, before he could unsheathe it to defend himself he found his limbs and body constricted by the chains, each one holding him firmly in place.

Ryan struggled for his freedom, but alas his struggle was in vain. It was then that he noticed it. Dramanius had vanished from view, as had his energy from Ryan’s senses; this couldn’t be good. Unable to free himself, or even unsheathe his sword to cut himself free, Ryan found himself in a situation that would more than likely spell defeat and death for him. Then Dramanius reappeared. He was behind Ryan, and Ryan knew that his position was set up for an execution.

With his palm wrapped tightly around the hilt of his second Twin Reaver he had once again began to feel the presence of his great forefathers. It was then that the thought immediately struck him. He released his grip on the swords hilt and suddenly it rushed up out of its case and out into the air. It was moving freely, without the aid of Ryan or anyone else, and in a moments notice it had turned itself around and slammed itself down in front of Dramanius’ attack.

The metal of the two blade collided with great force, a small amount of sparks flashing out into the darkness of the night once more. With a show of some force, in the same manor as Ryan had done to Dramanius just moment before, the sword pushed forward in an attempt to create some space between Dramanius and Ryan. After the connection between the two blades broke the Reaver spun around in the air, slicing through the metal chain that had wrapped itself around Ryan’s right arm, freeing it once more.

Quickly Ryan held out his arm towards the darkness and the other Reaver that had earlier been forced out of Ryan’s palm came rushing towards him, perfectly slipping into his palm like a glove on it’s owners hand. In a rush of sudden movements Ryan, his hand now free and strongly gripping one of his trusted blades, he began slicing through the chains that held him. Meanwhile the other Reaver continued to move by its own freewill, as it moved towards Dramanius and aimed not one but two diagonal slices at the Chaos demon; one from the left to the right, and the other the opposite, but this was merely to keep him busy while Ryan attempted an escape.

The chains, though thick, were nothing for the power of Ryan’s right arm and his blade combined, and soon enough he was free from his shackles. Turning on his heel he faced Dramanius, who by this point would just be dealing with the second slice from the free-moving Reaver. Ryan dived forward and almost automatically the free-moving blade recoiled backwards to it’s masters side, standing upright as if held within Ryan’s left hand; though Ryan’s left arm and hand were still incapable of movement, and hidden away underneath his cloak.

A wirily smirk, one that Dramanius would more than likely recognise as it was one that had often crept across Loki’s face in the past, appeared on Ryan’s face. He darted forward on the attack once more and as the gap closed he sliced downward, from right to left, with both swords parallel, in fluent motion. That was the first attack. As this double slice finished, the free moving sword backtracked its steps, moving back across diagonally up to the right once more, while Ryan brought his right arm backwards and thrust it forward to impale Dramanius.

Ryan moved with the grace, agility and accuracy of years tutoring and training. He had experience with a blade like few he had ever met before, and even then those few had not had samurai training with a blade. Despite this he was sure that Dramanius would survive the small onslaught, and that he had plenty more tricks up his sleaves.

[kihaku]

Dramanius grunted in disappointment, his blade failing to penetrate the flesh of the Samurai’s back just one more failure to add to his list against the warrior. It was becoming all he could do to fend off the unbridled blade, which was draining valuable time he normally would have used to press his advantage. He heard a light whistle as his first Reaver flew through the air, the creak as a palm wrapped tightly about the hilt, then the metallic ring and crash as his Chains were sliced cleanly through. His brow furrowed as the Jiaoimasu was freed from his temporary prison, his second weapon letting up just long enough for him to collect his wits.

Suddenly, he was struck dumb as his Lord and Master appeared before him, his normal smirk firmly entrenched on his face, his aura of constant revenge flowing from him in waves. Deepening Sin began to shake in Dramanius’ unsteady grip, but he quickly gave himself a mental shake, snapping his mind back to reality. Loki was still trapped in limbo, and before him was merely a regrouped Samurai, fighting to survive his battle with the Chaos Demon.

Ryan was once again on the attack, but as soon as his muscle twitched, a mist suddenly formed into being from nowhere, obscuring Ryan’s sight instantly and almost completely. The flying Reaver sliced twice through nothing at all, and Dramanius seemed to have completely disappeared, the oppressive mist inhibiting Ryan’s sixth sense to only himself and a few feet.

With his back pressed against a wall, Dramanius inhaled slowly and patiently, careful not to draw attention to himself. He slid Deepening Sin into its sheath, and gently lifted himself from the ground. This was not his target, the Armor was his target. Loki would assuredly not have qualms if the Jiaoimasu perished in the process, but for now Ryan had grown in strength to a point where he had caught the Demon off-guard. For now, he would flee this fight, and leave the Samurai to struggle in the slow-to-dissipate mists. Natas, his ally, wouldn’t keep the mission alive for long without Dramanius to keep his temper in check.

“For now, Ryan, you keep your life. Do not expect the same result a second time.”

With that, Dramanius flew off like a shot, emerging from the mist and instantly picking up on his comrade. Soon, his master would live again, and power would once again be his.