originally posted in:The New Dojo
"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.
English
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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.
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Phoenix left a massive crater where he landed, but what was more alarming were Zane's hands. The punch he landed on Phoenix were burnt because of his blue fire wings, which Zane had brashly punched through. His armour was melted to his skin, metal painfully being superheated and burning Zane's flesh inside it. As the smoke cleared around Phoenix, something was eerily noticeable... a large avatar made of glowing blue and dark ash had manifested itself all around him, a rib cage and a skeletal arm. It was awfully similar to JJ's Rage and Despair ability, albeit expanded on a much larger level. [i]"The abilities of the second former lieutenant, JJ1042. Release, [b]Sorrow and Scorn.[/b]"[/i] The glowing skeletal hand forms a large blade made of pure blue fire, which follows Phoenix's hand as he slices forward. As the avatar of the blade slashes horizontally, it releases a massive wave of cobalt flame that engulfs Zane. The fiery wave is formed up of flaming silhouettes, men, monsters, figures in armour - everything that his fire has consumed.
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He screams as the fire engulfs him, his shirt burning off and his aura strained to shield him. He fell to the ground, breathing heavily. "This...Is some bullshit...."
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[i]"No, Zane. This is the spirit of the true Dojo, living through this spiteful vessel of mine. This is for the forgotten warriors! THIS IS FOR THE FORGOTTEN HONOUR!"[/i] he shouts as his wings blaze a brighter cobalt blue. Sorrow and Scorn burn away as Phoenix draws his flaming katana and grenade launcher. He roars, weaving the flames tightly around the two fighters as darkness begins to radiate off of his armoured body. [i]"IF ATONEMENT IS TRULY POSSIBLE FOR A KILLER, THEN SHOW ME! SHOW ME THAT A WARRIOR IS STILL A WARRIOR AFTER ATONEMENT, ZANE! COME NOW, DRIVE YOUR SWORD THROUGH MY BURNING BODY! AT LEAST GIVE YOURSELF THAT HONOUR IN MY EYES! SHOW ME THAT YOU ARE TRULY ZANE!"[/i] For a single moment, Zane's vision darkens like a heartbeat of shadow. Then it is the same once more, but it was definitely something - a bad omen of sorts?
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He stood, his aura brightly radiating off him like a beacon. He breaths heavily, and extends his injured arm, various weapons floating around him as he conjures his new Buster sword. "God damn it Luis....Fine!" He planted his feet into the ground, then dashed forward, sending the floating weapons at Luis and unleashed a heavy slash.
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The slash literally tore the shadowy silhouette of Phoenix in two, but something was wrong. As the shadows faded away, it revealed a much more slimmer figure. Almost... Feminine. Zane watched as his wife was torn in two by his own blade, bisected by his massive buster sword. The final look in her eyes was one of horror and fear - terror at her own husband ripping her in half. Phoenix's voice rang in Zane's ears: [i]"Now, let me see the true face of a killer."[/i]
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His buster sword dropped to the ground as he fell to his knees, speechless. Tears flow down his eyes as his thoughts race. His sadness is quickly replaced by fury as he cries out.
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[i]"Yes! Yes, that's it! Show me the true Zane! SHOW ME YOUR HATRED!"[/i] Phoenix reappears in front of Zane through the fire. He is without armour now, his Filipino skin scorched and burnt, ash replacing chunks of his flesh. He is only 5'7, almost the size of a boy compared to the raging Zane. He spread his hands out as if to embrace Zane, sporting a twisted grin. Darkness began to envelope the two, leaving only the Hateful Phoenix and the furious Zane in a void of nothingness. Luis stood there, burning away, awaiting Zane one last time.
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[spoiler]Goooood. GOOOOOOOOOD. [/spoiler]
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He stood, trembling with anger as he raised his hand to Luis's face. "Il be taking this back now....." The shadow dragon tattoo that scared Phoenix's face seamed to come alive, slivering down Zane's right arm and wrapping itself around it. He then lightly placed his hand on Louis's chest, and pushed him back with a wave of darkness.