originally posted in:The New Dojo
Zane felt the heat from atop his old grave, the heat was familiar, but it couldn't be him, could it? He heard of his friends death, but never saw the body. Whatever the case may be, he intended to find the source of this power, and confront it.
He walked down the hill, his cloak fluttering in the wind as he tracked the heat. Zombies tried to get in his way, but a few well placed strokes with his blade and thermal destroyers made quick work of them, the flame tornadoes engulfing the hoard.
English
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Zane found the figure standing amidst a burnt courtyard, blue fire swirling all around it. He felt the whispers of each tongue of fire speak to him in a thousand different voices, all telling the same story.... But Zane could not hear any of it. The figure held a zombie in one of its massive extra arms coming from its lower back. It held it up in front of him as the burnt body of the undead tried reaching feebly for him, only to have the figure raise his left hand and fire a blast of superheated shrapnel through it. The shot was so powerful, it ripped the undead in half from its stomach, leaving only melted flesh at the seams. The massive arm threw the top half of the zombie away, landing at Zane's feet.
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He kicked the zombie away, and placed a hand on his blades hilt, ready to draw at a moments notice. He spoke, but only a word, and however the figure answered would determine his next action. "Phoenix?"
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The figure raised its armoured head to Zane. "[i]Do you hear them... Zane?... No... No one does..."[/i] His voice is gravelly and distorted through the metal, as if his entire throat had been scorched by fire. His words radiated from the armour itself, everything he said emanating from the engraved plates of burnt ceramic. [i]"They tell the same story, over and over. Yet you, along with everybody else here, shall never here it... What a shame. They tell me of such wondrous things. Telling me the same story of exile... What does this place offer you now, Zane? It is set aflame not by the fires of my own doing... But of your "people" and their feeble attempts at playing politics, always being the hero. The hero, the God... There are no gods."[/i]
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GASP HOLY SHIT
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His hand remained on his blades hilt, unsure of his next action. Perhaps he could reason with the figure. "This place...This is my home, simple as that. Has been for three years now. It offers me a chance to relax with my wife, lead a calm life." He motioned to the carnage around him, anger rising. "I hate infighting, reminds me of my childhood at Abaddon. People fighting the government for supplies, public assassinations to inspire fear. It's not Fûcking needed, just talk your problems out and reason with each other.
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[i]"Yet can't you see the truth of this place? There is prejudice against your own members, Zane. The infighting now escalates to every simpleton's grab for their "ultimate power," and I trust must say: This place hasn't changed one but from the last time I left it."[/i] He chuckled, the whispers of his flames intensifying to more aggravated voices - yet even still, Zane could not hear their words. [i]"Do you remember why I cut out my tongue, Zane? It was because this place would heed my words no further. It was because I was exiled for doing what had to be done to keep this Dojo alive. But that is of no matter now. Be it your words or mine... Peace has been broken. And the peacekeeper, the war monger, the parish and the martyr has returned to show those who break tranquility that there is something terrifying lying in wait; hiding in consequence. Ready yourself, Zane. And rejoice, because I give you this chance to ready yourself out of what little honour I can hold on to."[/i]
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He sighed as he drew his blade, this was going to be a tough fight. The last time the two clashed he was barely able to win. This time would be different, he would give peace to his friends restless soul. He gathered his aura around him and ran forward, his blade low to the ground and generating friction and sparks.
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[i]"Allow me to show you what I felt, Zane. The greatest love turned into the deepest hatred."[/i] As Zane rushed Phoenix, the old peacekeeper sheathed his sword and grenade launcher and held a hand out. A shadowy bow took form in its hand, draining even the flames around it of light. It was like an inverse torch, sucking illumination within instead of giving it. He nocked an arrow made of darkness within his bow and shot it at Zane. [i]"Do you remember this, Zane? The bow's name is Likritus O'Nirim. This was the bow of the Shadow Archer, Jams. Or have you forgotten an old ally such as him already?"[/i]
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"You think I'd forget about him? I'm offended....." He slid under the arrow, barely dodging it and got back up and continued his charge. "Don't forget, you have my mark as well!" He reached the armored Phoenix, spinning and unleashing a powerful slash.
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Just as the blade was about to hit Phoenix, something grabbed Zane's sword arm from behind. A large shadowy arm, clawed with scales made of smoky darkness, dug into Zane's forearm. The arm seemed to be rising from Zane's shadow, which had indeed darkened - it seemed that Phoenix had anticipated Zane's dodge. [i]"I never forgot, Zane. I never forget."[/i] Nocking another arrow, he fired the shadowy projectile point-blank . The fire gathered behind Phoenix, intensifying Zane's shadow as the dragon's arm remained, immobilizing his sword arm.
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The arrow longed itself in Zane's left shoulder, and he grunted from the pain. He flipped his blade so that it was pointed directly at Phoenix and fired a laser beam at his chest. "You and your damn darkness....."
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Phoenix is sent back by the blast, kicking up dust and smoke from the air. But as the cloud of ash clears, Zane sees Phoenix getting up... a large, glowing manifestation around his chest dissipating. [i]"On the contrary, Zane, this is not my darkness. This is yours. My flames have taken the abilities of Jams, your shadow dragon, and two more old lieutenants of the Dojo. Through his new host of mine... I can manifest anything my flames have devoured."[/i] Darkness begins to dance within Zane's vision, the entire area getting slowly darker despite the fire surrounding the two.
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He steps out of his armor and sheaths his blade on his back, his armor turning back into data and flowing into his belt. His aura flares around him, and his hair turns silver as he enters redemption, his aura shielding him from the darkness. "I've cleansed my darkness, and this was the power I gained!" Sliver and black clawed gauntlets cover his arms, and he pushed off the ground, quickly getting next to Phoenix and delivering a swift and powerful punch, his gauntlet tearing into his armor.
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The gauntlet may have torn through the exosuit, but it gave away too easy. A Venom Inc. exosuit wouldn't break like that - it was as if Phoenix manipulated the armour so that it would allow for Zane's fist to break through. Beneath the armour, Zane's hand was incinerated and burnt all to Hell by the raging inferno within. Phoenix aimed his grenade launcher point blank at Zane and squeezed the trigger, firing a 40mm shell of superheated shrapnel that shredded through his armour, the molten ceramic shards ripping through his body.
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He screamed from the shrapnel, and his aura quickly isolated the shards to prevent a quick death. The gauntlet protected most of his hand from the damage, and he leapt back. "It...Would seam your actually trying to kill me...."
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Phoenix laughed. [i]"You've come back from worse. You've come back from the dead. So do it once more - call on your power, summon up your demons, become God! But would you like to know the truth, Zane? There are no gods. There is no God. There is no Hell for demons to summon up, only demons like you and I. Demons who live for the fight."[/i] He holstered his grenade launcher and sword, ash gathering into his hands to form a simple acoustic guitar, inscribed with the fiery runes like Phoenix's armour. [i]"Do you remember who's this is, Zane?"[/i]
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He presses his eyes together, thinking. "I....I don't. It seams so familiar though...."
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[spoiler]Seems* lol. Seams are something different.[/spoiler] [i]"This is the guitar of Woodchuk, Zane. One of the first lieutenants of the Dojo alongside you and I."[/i] He strummed the cords of the guitar, creating a sound wave that sent Zane back a little. [i]"Of course, I modified it a little to make it more effective."[/i] Strumming all of the cords at once, he sent a large blast of sound towards Zane, creating scars in the ground it sailed over.
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His hair turned back to normal, his gauntlets also fading as a black and white overcoat covers him. Twin energy sabers form from his hands, and he dashes around the sound attack, running past Phoenix at incredible speed and surrounding him with laser beams. "Good old woodchuck, I miss the bastard you know?" The laser beams pass through Phoenix, electrifying him and dealing high amounts of shock damage.
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The walking suit of armour and flame merely turns through the electricity. [i]"I feel no pain. I see no evil. And I know I am righteous."[/i] Phoenix plays a riff on the guitar, releasing an AOE blast wave of infrasonic energy. It blows Zane back as the lasers are stopped by the sheer force of the sound, sending him flying back. With one hand he draws his grenade launcher and fires two shots: one at Zane in mid-air and the other below him on the ground.
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He quickly forms two clones that take the grenades for him, vanishing shortly after. He lands in the ground, skidding to a stop. "Man, is this just not possible?"
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[i]"Come now, Zane. Truly a veteran such as yourself knows that this place is but a rotted corpse compared to the days of old. It may have been chaotic and disorderly, but you once led a proud sect of warriors. And now? Now everybody is caught up in their own sad politics, only fuelled by prejudice to fight each other. Where is the honour in that?"[/i] Woodchuk's guitar dematerializes into flames as Phoenix holsters his grenade launcher, holding his hand up to the air as blue flames encircle it. [i]"Through me, the honour of the Old Dojo lives on. A small ember turned into a raging inferno of defiance, for through my blade, they will not be forgot."[/i] Jams' shadow bow, Likritus O'Nirim, burns into existence in Phoenix's hand as he fires a single arrow of darkness into the sky.
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His aura flares around him as he stands, his hair spiking up and turning back to silver. His gauntlets reform, lighting striking around him. He speaks to himself out loud. "No. I can't afford to fall here. Sera and Rorek are depending on me. I promised Mira I'd get them back!" He digs his feet into the ground, gathering force. "I won't die until that beast is dead!" He launched himself at Cobalt, delivering a heavy punch that knocks Luis into the air.
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[i]"A family?"[/i] he whispers with a twisted laugh, [i]"you're a killer, Zane. A fighter, a warrior. Did you think that you could erase your past sins so easily? Have your forgotten yourself already? Let me remind you of who you truly are, then."[/i] As the shadowy arrow strikes the sky, a shockwave of darkness and purpose figure strike across the heavens above. Black arrows made of darkness rained down from the sky, each of their arrowheads tipped with purple shadow-flame. But this was not the cobalt flames of Phoenix. [i]"I knew him as Oliver. You knew him as LeftShark."[/i] The black arrows rained down on Zane as Phoenix's flaming wings flapped, allowing him to hover in the air he was knocked up into. Each arrowhead burnt through Zane's armour, striking in two different forms. The first was the fire - the flames of LeftShark lancing through his body like a storm of violet infernos. The second were the shadow arrows of Jams, that slammed into Zane and encased him in darkness.
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He focused his aura into his core, then released it in an explosion that cleared away the darkness and numbed the pain. He lept up into the sky, air dashing to Luis and charging aura into his fist. "I know I'm a killer, but even a killer can atone his sins!" He got behind him, his fist brightly glowing with aura and power. "Eat this, Meteor Blow!" He slammed his fist into luis's back, sending him rapidly crashing into the ground, an explosion of aura enveloped him it it detonated.