Roleplay:In the Shadows

This roleplay is closed. Sorry!

Overview
Celia, Trinity, Zapor, and many others have been lost due to this battle. Viola City cannot be worth this much. Not to mention the current way the battle is going, who knows if there is even a rebellion army left standing. So, with everything taken into account what is keeping everyone going? Well, after Christina is sent back to the intersection to see the remaining forces an investigation into the third faction, leads her to a great secret. Lexi is sent farther into the enemy camp where she meets the princess of the Storm Family, her original assassination target. Clock-Watch must deal with a constant threat as well as his investigations into the origin between the rebellion and the government. Finally, there is Saren, drug into an ancient temple by his scythe to learn the secrets of a new power; The Reaper's Ring.

Participants
NeoExlucky

Saren the Dark Lynx

Zapor888

Darkest Shadow

Time

MaverickHunterSigma, esq.

Involved Characters
Zero Evol

Delta Radon

Eliza Hamilton

Knave Veron

Leah Dubio

Echo Radon

Saren Arcturias

Christina Transon

Lexi the Hedgehog

Clock-Watch

Nemi Harper Fey (MHS)

"The True Hero." (MHS)

Part 1 (A): Digging Deeper
Saren found himself moving to the outskirts of the city, away from Trinity and Zapor's battle and farther into the dark woods where many strange creatures were roaming, though none seemed to wish to challenge Saren. "We're getting closer." The scythe told him.

"Good." Saren said as he travelled deeper. "I'm surprised none of these creatures are challenging me, but what exactly will I be doing..?" Saren asked.

"You're going to stand there while I perform the ritual." The scythe told him. "I wasn't too sure at first, but as we fought I began to feel a prescence here. I'm sure you realize this by now, but I am not a normal scythe, in fact I am not actually the weapon at all, I am only do, communicating to you through it."

"Huh, I thought you were a talking scythe... Who manifested as a hot chick.. Oh well." Saren shrugged.

The scythe paused for a minute. "I am the Elemental Lord of Shadow, and the one who gave the power of umbrakinesis to the world." The scythe told him. "And also a male."

"Alright.. So lets get this ritual started.." Saren said, he was giddy at the prospect of what might happen.

"When we get there..." The scythe noted. "Tell me, what is your knowledge of the Legend of the Elementals?"

"Absolutely nothing at all!" Saren chirped.

"When Mobius was first created." The scythe began as the pair continuted their journey. "The elemental spirits were entrusted with creating the lay of the land. We built our own homes based on our elements, every element had some part to play in this world, except for one. Destruction did not have a place in this world, and so he decided to make one. He created a new type of element and with it, a new form of sentient beings. Demons as they are called now. The demons destroyed all of our work. My sister Void, and I were forced to call a war against our brother, Destruction, and summon all the spirits in the world to help slay him and his demons. Every spirit fought together to stop Destruction, and even the Meta came to our aid when we asked for them, and soon the demons and Destruction were sealed away in an underworld of sorts." The scythe paused.

"Afterwards, a byproduct of the demons was discovered, Humans, and because of our disdain towards Destruction we empowered their hearts with the ability to use their souls as shields and gave them the ability to use kinesis, Nature's Wrath. As a result of this, a new species was created, Mobians, and they to were given these blessings." The scythe told Saren. "However, humans and mobians alike can still be improved upon, we know this from seeing certain mobians enter a heightened state of empowerment, a super form, if you will. We know that Destruction still has a lingering effect on some people as well, as we've seen with Dark Forms and what Radon had become near the end of his life. There is an artifact that we can use to give you something that is...in between a super and dark form. Something to grant you amazing power by calling upon your dark roots, but leaving you in control of your own actions. My child...how far are you willing to go to gain power?"

"Well, only one way to find out pops!" Saren chuckled, showing his eagerness to acquire power.

"Even if it changes you?" The scythe asked. "Even if it could make you lose your power, or make you a different person?"

"It's not like I have any regrets ya know... I chose this so I'm seeing it through to the end.. So lets do this!" Saren replied, determination showing through his voice.

"I see..." The voice said as they continued through the forest. "Do you have any questions before we begin?"

"No.. Let us begin.." Saren said, a grin on his face.

The pair came upon a clearing in the forest where a small stone building stood, ruined and covered in moss. "This is it." The voice said.

"Huh.. Wasn't expecting it to be so.. Dilapidated." Saren mused. "Ah well, as long as this works I don't really care."

"I suppose it has been left to rot for years." The scythe said. "Underneath it is where the catacombs, and the temple, are. We need to head down there."

Saren entered the building, a grin slowly etching itself onto his face.

The building itself appeared to be very worn, and have the appearence of a shed, though Saren, through his power of shadows, could detect that there was a trap door with an interesting amount of darkness collected on it's lock. "You've been able to control shadows." The scythe said. "You can turn physical objects like weapons and yourself into shadows for travel, you can also wield a shadow as a weapon itself, given a form from a spirit. The question now is, can you turn shadows into physical objects. As an example, that trap door will require you to fashion a key out of shadows, which will require a large amount of concentration." The scythe paused for a moment. "So no booze."

"Got it." Saren muttered. Truthfully the closest thing he has ever come to using shadows like a physical object woukd be the times when he had spawned tendrils from someone elses shadow to bind or strangle them. Now fashioning a key to a trapdoor with a lock on it might be a tricky thing, especially when he didn't know the lock.

Saren went to examine the lock very closely for a few minutes, trying to figure out just what sort of key he'll need to create in order to open it. "Well, here goes something.." The ghost lynx muttered as he concentrated on the shadows, trying to force and mold them into corporeality in the shape of a key.

The shadows molded into a shape, but didn't seem to go into a key quite yet.

"Every element gains power from an emotion." The scythe told Saren. "Fire uses passion, wind uses bravery, etcetera but shadow, light, and void are the only three which do not, they all have a focus on the mind. Your strength from an element, where shadows and light gain power, is from the heart like all kinesis. The mind plays a big part in your kinesis with shadows as well, or more specifically, your desires. Focus on your desires Saren, what is it that you want. Money and Booze, they aren't things that your kinesis will accept, what do you truly want out of life? Why are you a Mythic Knight? Focus on these, and you will accomplish your goals."

Saren sighed, he was pondering why he even joined the mythic Knights. He wasn't friends with many of the members and they don't mesh well with his methods. "Huh, why did I join anyway.. I mean it's not like I really gave a damn.. I guess I want what I want because I don't have it..."

With that in mind, he tried focusing on his avarice, failing that he tried apathy.

The shadows took the shape of a key almost immediately afterwards. "You want what you don't have. That appears to be working. Perhaps it is power you want, after all the knights are bound to discover power in their quests. Most umbrakinetics and heliokinetics want power. The question is, what do you intend to do with this power." The voice paused. "I sought power to seal my brother away. Many umbramancers seek power for study, power to kill, and power to protect. It is the same with those of light as well. Many legends will tell you the shadows are corrupting, but so to is the light blinding. The shadows and the light go hand in hand. I suppose you cannot have shadows with out light, nor can you have light without shadow."

"Why do I want the power...? That's easy.. Because power is the key to unlimited opportunities. Not friends, not love.. But power." Saren answered, focusing on the meaning behind the words and showing an almost callous disregard for others close to him in a way.

Part 1 (B): A Shining Hope
Christina continued on her way towards the battle, when a small pebble was thrown her way. It was almost unnoticeable, but Christina would have very clearly caught it. Above her a woman's voice could be heard. "Hey Christina." She whispered as up above stood Treasure Evol, the girl from her previous adventure with Neo.

Christina looks up to see Treasure. "Treasure! How have you been?" She asked her. Coming from the tone she said it in, Christina moved on from the whole affair incident, like it never even happened. She hasn't seen Treasure since that adventure, so she was pretty excited.

Treasure jumped from the rooftop onto the ground in front of Christina. "What are you doing? Are you...apart of the war? How did you even get here?"

"If a war is what you want to call it, then yes I am." She replied, "The way I got here was a long story. But when did you get here?"

"I've been here, fighting forever." Treasure noted, still seeming a little off, as if she was hiding information. "We weren't told you were coming to. Is anyone else with you?" She paused for a minute, her expression softening slightly. "Neo?"

"If only he was." Christina sighed, "From what I've been told, he's being locked up and tortured somewhere. I feel horrible for him;it's hard to imagine the pain he's going through right now."

Treasure looked down, hiding her expression for a moment. "I...see...that will be taken care of soon. For now, I need to know something else." She paused. "Why are you with the rebellion?" Her voice held an element of respite, and in that moment it was clear, Treasure was not a member of the Shadow Legion or the rebellion.

Christina clutched her fist, "Well, the way I see is that what they're doing is just not right." She replied.

"But by fighting in a war you plan to fix this? You think combat is how we can get through this? This isn't how we fix a country, especially when your sending troops to their own death." Treasure said.

"Trust me, I always believed that violence is never the answer, but this is the only option we have." Christina sighed crossing her arms.

"No it isn't. There are multiple ways to solve this and your taking the easiest one! Why not choose to solve this peacefully?" Treasure stopped. "That's not going to happen is it?" Her hand drifted to her side where she grabbed her extendable no staff.

Christina stared at her for a few seconds with a very confused look. "You make it sound like it's an easy thing to do, Treasure. It's not like we can whip out a treaty and manipulate both sides to sign it...." Christina replied. Then she put her hands on her hips, Are you asking me to stay neutral in this?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Treasure said. "This isn't our country and it isn't our war to fight in. Your the one who is currently manipulating both sides."

"I just..." Christina paused, because she had trouble trying to say it. "I just feel like if I drop out of the rebellion that Neo and the rest of the Knights are going to frown upon me."

"Neo wouldn't want us to be fighting this battle!" Treasure noted coldly. "Are the knights going to frown at us for it, yes, but Neo would have gotten us out of here had he not been captured. Why are you all focused on fighting in the war instead of trying to save Neo? Do you know how many of us are here, trying to do that?"

Christina tried to argue against it, but she finally gave up. "Touchè..." She sighed and gave a soft smile. "You're right. I think the best idea is to put the war in our back pockets and mainly focus on saving Neo."

"Glad you see it my way, now." Treasure started. "We need to scale back a bit and focus, we need this battle taken care of, right now. Reinforcements are coming in the next two hours from your side, and that should cause the other side to flee. Leaflet and Nevermore are currently taking care of the citizens in the city, and I believe Frostpaw and Hart are running distractions right now on part of the Government's army. We should check in with the rest of your side and see how they are doing."

"That's a good plan." Christina nodded.

"By the way, we're not alone." Treasure said in a hushed whisper. "There are two people watching us right now."

The hedgecats expression turned from determined to slightly frightened in an instant, "Who?" she whispered right back. A chill ran up her spine as she shivered.

"I don't know." Treasure said. "But don't let them know we know. Lets head back to Main Street where we'll have more numbers."

Christina nodded as she walked back to Main Street with Treasure. She kept on having thoughts about the war going on and how Neo is doing, but most of them were about the condition Fey was in. She shook her head and refocused on her current goal.

Part 1 (C): The Warring Dragons
Clock Watch was still in the middle of the residental buildings when the sword resonated once more, letting him know that there was something, or someone coming. Possibly the person who was making such a loud racket earlier in the building.

"Oh, great. That's just what I needed." He muttered to himself. He hid around the corner of one of the houses. "Hopefully I can get a look at who you are now. Maybe it's just a friend? But probably not."

The person who came out wasn't a threat at all, in fact it seems like Clock hid for nothing.

"Hello?" A little rat girl asked, her fur was maroon and wiry, and she wore a silver jacket over blue heels. She looked to be about 13 years old. "Damn it...I guess they all evacuated without me..." There was something odd about her right arm, but being hidden under the jacket sleeve made it hard to detect.

Clock-Watch moved towards her. "Hello. What are you doing here? I thought this place was deserted." Just seem friendly, confrontation is always bad.

The rat girl jumped, and very quickly extending some sort of mechanism for claws to come out of her sleeve, which she poised at Clock Watch. "Don't...don't come any closer..."

Clock backed up a bit. "What!? No, no. I don't mean any harm, I promise!" He thought about the letters from before. "Do you know anything about the Storm Dragon or the Inferno Dragon?"

"W-what?" The girl asked. "Yeah...yeah I know about them. What do you want to know?"

"Just some general information, nothing much." Clock replied. The key to a good testimony is that it's simple.

"Well they both descend from the uh...origin of the country, they founded both sides and are considered the original masters of the land." The girl said. "The people who came here divided in half then, half follow the red dragon, and the other half follows the blue dragon."

Hm. The two families that everyone was talking about are probably related to those dragons in some ways. "Which side followed which dragon?" This might be a step closer towards learning about why they were brought here. Clock knew he should trust the people he was with, but he couldn't, not without knowing more.

"Well, it's hard to say." The girl said. "Back then it was just the east and west side, but now no one does. I mean, it's not like they do anything anymore..." And suddenly everything behind her went black, chains unfolded and three different locks appeared in front of her. This girl was hiding something.

Part 1 (D): The Storm Family
Lexi continuted her assault into enemy territory, leading further from the group, and farther away from the battle, as she got closer to the enemy lines, war started to become almost a non-existing thing. Buildings were fully intact, and the sounds of campfires burning wood, people chattering away, and most importantly, the abscence of cannon fire. Things were looking good on this side.

"Man, the government really knows how to keep things tidy over here..." Lexi muttered, continuing to sneak past. "Okay, where are you general..?"

Looking over everything it was easy to see all of the soldiers, but what became a surprise was seeing the princess as well, not with everyone else, but was now inches from Lexi's face.

Lexi stopped dead in her tracks from the surprise. Not expecting to see the princess, she had hoped that she hadn't noticed her.

"Hello!" The Princess said cheerfully.

"Uh...hi?" Lexi said, a bit worried and confused at the same time.

"What are you doing?" The princess asked, apparently not realizing that Lexi was on the opposite side of the war. "Are you hiding from someone? Who are you hiding from? Is it Phillip Schuyler? He always likes to do things like this..."

"Um....no..I'm actually..." Lexi started. The princess, her previous assassination target was right in front of her. But the main reason she was here in the first place was the general. Perhaps she could use this as a way to get to the general. "..looking for the general. I need to tell him some stuff." Lexi said.

The princess blinked at Lexi. "I'm a girl." She said, and slowly it was clear that she was the general.

"Oh. In that case..." Lexi started. If she was going to assassinate the princess/general, she would have to be careful about what she does. "..I..needed to tell you something!" Lexi said, making it sound as beleivable as possible.

"What is it?" The princess gasped. She turned her head around. "Is it about big brother?"

"Big brother?" Lexi asked, not knowing who he is.

"The king." The princess told Lexi. "Is it about my brother, the king?"

"Oh. No...it's not really important..it's...uh.." Lexi tried to think of a way to get the princess far and alone she could end her without anyone knowing. "...Can I..have your autograph?" Lexi internally punched herself for asking such a dumb question.

"My autograph?" The Princess asked. "You...aren't part of this army are you?"

"No, I'm.." Lexi tried to think of a good lie. "Just a fan, and always wanted to .eet you." In Lexi's mind, she knew one of two things would go down. A: The princess would find out she's with the rebellion, or B: The princess would actually buy the act.

"I know you're a spy you can stop the act." The Princess said in a hushed tone. "What's going on out there?" Something about this didn't make sense. Was the Princess against the government?

"Well..." Lexi started. If she was gonna come clean, she might as well spill everything. "The rebellion is getting their butts kicked, one of my friends is dead, the other is with the government, our whole entire plan is falling apart, and there's a jester guy. You want me to continue or do you see the struggle?"

"There is a third side of the war, I am aware." The Princess said. "Who all have you fought from their side?"

"Just the Jester." Lexi told her, slightly confused why she hasn't called for any guards.

"Only the Jester? No one else?" The princess asked. "Strange why isn't she out yet..." The princess turned for a bit and looked back at Lexi. "Tell me, when will the reinforcements for your side arrive?"

"I don't know. Our army planner didn't say anything about reinforcements." Lexi told the princess. "Why are you suddenly concerned about the rebellion? I thought the government hated freedom of speech." Lexi said, last part quite sarcastically.

"The government is concerned with the problems of the people." The princess said. "For a while, that was your side, then we found a third side to this war and now they are a bigger problem." She paused. "I'm Princess Aqua, by the way."

Lexi crossed her arms and looked away. "...Lexi." She told her. "Anyway, what do you know about this third side?"

"From what I can tell, they're are powerful and are trying to destroy both sides of the war. Right now, my troops have mentioned that polar bear has been distracting them from their goal, my guess is he's working with the Jester." The Princess mentioned.

"Great, now an polar bear is attacking...wait, how come you don't stop fighting the rebels, possibly try to join up with them, and go after the 3rd side?" Lexi asked.

"Because not all of us are for fighting with you against a common threat, mainly my brother, the king?" The Princess said. "Most of us are fighting to avoid his wrath."

"Well, it's not like I can say that it's different from our side. The rebel leader's brother doesn't even care if we get killed as long as they win." Lexi said.

Part 2 (A): The Temple of Shadows
The inside of the temple was dark and very dank, plants grew on the walls of the corridors and it was so dark that it was almost impossible to see. The room that Saren entered though seemed to lead towards a much bigger room, judging from the size of the shadows.

"We're not alone." The scythe told Saren as a foot caught itself in the trapdoor above.

"Now hold on." Eliza's familiar voice said. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"The scythe brought me here.. As a way to gain power, why're you here Eliza?" Saren asked, only reason he told her was because he figured he could at least trust her with that tidbit since they're on the same side.

"When I saw you walking out of the battlefield, I had a few things come to mind, had to know what you were doing." Eliza explained.

"Interesting..." The scythe noted so only Saren could hear. "I like this woman, despite her not being a child of mine. It is a shame I cannot claim her."

'Mine, and I'm not going to share..' Saren thought to himself. "Well, gaining power is what one usually does after being completely and utterly trounced is it not..?"

"Trounced? What do you mean? I've been watching you this whole time and you have never once entered a battle." Treasure said.

"She isn't lying." The scythe told Saren. "Yet...how did she not see the battle against that mage? I fear there are other forces at work here."

"... Huh, well either way, I'm just here to acquire power." Saren answered, a casually bored expression on his face.

"More power, huh?" Eliza asked. "I don't really know what you'll find here, but I suppose I'll come with you."

"She can't do any harm, with no kinesis it's impossible for her to gain any of the power here at all, and she could help if any animals got in here." The scythe noted. "Let's move along then."

As the trio now journeyed deeper into the dark caverns, they came to a large room with several orbs of shadow energy, similar to the shadows upstairs with the trap door. "The shadows provide many tactical oppurtunities." The scythe told Saren. "So far, you have used them for utility in the form of traveling by shadows, and offensive capabilities in the form of your combat. Similar to how Black Blood can turn as hard as concrete, so to can shadows turn into armor. Focus on what you want to protect, and the shadows will forge temporary armor for you."

Saren nodded, granted armor wasn't really something he could use efficiently as an assassin, but he tried to make the armor as functional as possible in terms of protecting him while maintaining flexibility and ease of movement.

The shadows melded to Saren's body in a strange form of armor. It was thick and very strong yet light and flexible almost as if it wasn't there.

(Describe the armor, if you want. -Neo)

The armor itself looked like thin patchwork leather strips sown together, covering his vitals and nothing more. Other than holding many pockets it didn't really have any special features or intricate designing on it.

(if you need a more visual description for it. http://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Dark-Souls-3/thief_small.jpg -Saren)

"There you have it." The voice said. "The shadows provide an opportunity for defense as well. You won't be able to hold the armor forever, not even for an entire battle with the jester, at least for now, but it can provide defense against an otherwise lethal attack.

"That's actually rather useful.." Saren said, he could do with the temporary armor trick. "Any other gimmicks I may need to know?" He asked.

"Yes, continue forward." The scythe noted. The trio moved forward into the temple finding the next part. They found a large room filled with shadows to prevent seeing forward. The only light in the room was a white almost fire-like energy in a large brazier.

"The hardest part to grasp, for any umbramancers." The scythe noted. "Saren, you are a master of the shadows. You have passed all the tests laid out for you. You have even defeated a child of destruction. There is only one last thing for you to know. Without Light there is no shadows. Shadows create light and light creates shadow." The scythe paused.

"This object is known as the eternal light." The scythe continued. "It is known to kill most people who try to utilize it's power, but you are strong Saren. I know that you can pull through it. Before we obtain the reaper's ring, your last power is to become a heliokinetic."

"Heliokinetic...? Is that some sorta sun related shit right there..?" Saren asked his scythe, walking towards the brazier holding the energy. "If it kills those who've attempted to utilize it's power in the past... Is there some sort of process to trying to harness this power or do I just stick my hand in the energy and go with the flow..?"

"Heliokinesis, or perhaps a better term, light kinesis." The scythe answered. "We're going to give you the power of light and darkness. This is going to sound strange, but you are going to ingest the energy, eat it."

"Huh.. Ingest the glowing ball of light.. Oh well, down the hatch it goes." Saren shrugged, grabbing the ball of light and dropping it inside his mouth.

"How do you feel?" The scythe asked. "Do you feel any different now?"

Saren shook his head no, before he clutched his chest. "AAAGH!! Damn!!" He shouted, feeling an indescribably painful burning sensation in his chest that spread throughout his whole being.

"Frack!!" Saren dropped to the ground, rolling as if to snuff out flames.

Part 2 (B): Blood Bath
Bodies. That is the only way to describe the sight right now. Nothing but dead bodies all around. Almost every soldier was injured or killed. Echo lay in the corner, covered in cuts and bruises, but nothing to serious. Leah was leaning against a wall, unconscious. Judging from the scorch marks on her coat, it was clear she had faced several mages, and who knows how many to be sure.

Then there was Knave and Zero, both still very clearly hurt, yet fighting on. The only two soldiers who managed to still cut enemy soldiers down. Both of which looked incredibly tired. Treasure pulled her staff out, and extended it fully. "We get the enemies to back off, and then you see who all you can heal." Treasure told Christina in a whispered breath.

Christina nodded, as she whipped out her Javelin. "Where... exactly are the enemies?" Christina whispered straight back to Treasure.

"Above us, on some of the buildings, I can hear them breathing, but they aren't communicating right now. Hopefully those two will be able to help us." Treasure whispered.

Christina looked up. "Then I guess we gotta make our way upstairs then, shall we?" She whispered.

Treasure listend again. "No." She said. "If we go up, we'll leave everyone here by themselves, those two still fighting already look hurt, I don't want the guys following us to split up and knock them down. We need to lure them in so all four of us can fight together."

"Here's my question," Christina whipsered, "Who on this green earth are they fighting?"

"At this point it could be anyone." Treasure said. "There is the government and then there is the 3rd side of the war."

"Wow..... I think it'd be best if we check on their condition so we can ally with them quicker." Christina whispered as she already started to walk a few quiet steps towards them.

"I agree." Treasure said. "Head to them, I'll keep an ear out for them." She noted.

As quiet as a church mouse, Christina cautiously made her way towards the two checked out figures. She tried to stay silent so that the enemies wouldn't notice her. She found the figures;one she completely recognized, the other? She doesn't really remember him, "Zero?" She asked softly.

Zero turned, his battered body stung and the scent of blood wafted around him. "You..." He started to say. "You're....Neo's cousin, right? Um...Christina, right?"

Christina nodded, she felt somewhat sympathetic, but mostly quite terrified to see the condition Zero was in. She even smelled death around the two. "What... just happened?" Christina asked, "It's like a gigantic 300 hole gun just rapid-fired at all of these people."

"I don't know..." Zero said. "There was an...explosion and a lot of people got hurt and...Echo somehow managed to protect a few of us, but everyone else well...they didn't make it..."

Christina looked at her surroundings. Death had a very distinct and awful stench, as she saw the piles and countless pods of dead soldiers. She then looks at Zero;he looked like he fought seven rounds with a pile of bricks. "Oh my goodness, you're not in a great state to fight in.... neither is your friend."

Zero threw his scythe towards a soldier, the back side of it hit him, knocking him unconscious. "Knave how do you feel?" He called.

Knave smacked a guy with the side of his giant sword. "Like I just got hit by a truck." Something else of note was the way the pair fought, there were a lot of bodies outside of the intersection, but none of them were killed, only unconscious.

"Echo, you awake yet?" Zero called.

A grumble came from Echo, as a response to Zero. "We'll be fine." Zero told Christina. "We'll be..."

Part 2 (C): Chosen of the Dragon
Slowly the black background, chains and psyche locks faded back into nothing, but Clock's sword pulse with energy, letting him know this girl was lying and if could prove it with his evidence. He only needed to initiate the locks once more.

"Hey...." The girl started. "You're....not with the king...right?"

Man, nothing is ever simple, is it. Clock knew he could prove this girl wrong, because he needed that information. "The King? No, I'm not working for him. But are you sure that they don't do anything anymore?" He's not gonna be fooled so easily.

"Y-yeah, nothing at all." The girl said, once more the locks and chains appeared.

"No offense, but I don't believe you." Clock replied. What could disprove her, now, is the question... Aha! He remembered the letters. They distinctly talked about those two dragons. He pulled them out to present them to her. "These letters talk about both of these dragons, though. So they must have some sort of influence today, right?"

A lock shattered. Two more to go.

"W-well...yeah...I guess but uh...." The girl started fidgeting. "That's just for...the uh...rebellion and government thing going on. It's just a saying they use, you know? Like...it's not like they are willing to kill each other over it..."

"I'm not so sure about that, either." Clock told her. He pointed to the house he was in. "There were some bloodstains under the table in that house, actually. Something tells me that they're still pretty relevant today." Clock 2, Girl 0.

One more shattered, one left.

"Okay...sure...so they're pretty relevant, but it's not like they've always been like that. It's not like uh...it means anything that important." The girl tried to explain. "People kill each other all the time now, with the war and all but, people aren't really dedicated to them per say like..." She started thinking. "People aren't getting like, tatoos of the dragons on themselves or anything important."

"No, I suppose there aren't any tattoos on people, but I think there might be some monogrammed rings floating around." Clock said, pulling out the ring. "Now, could you please tell me the truth of the matter here?"

The last lock finally shattered, the chains came undone and the girl was finally done hiding the truth.

"Alright." The girl finally said. "I'll tell you whatever you want..."

"Just tell me the truth about what the dragons have to do with the war." Finally, he had done it. But something told Clock that this was just but a warm-up for later foes.

"The dragons have everything to do with a war." The girl said. "The dragon's physical bodies died a long time ago but both their mind, soul, and powers continued. All of their powers are reincarnated into the next chosen one, usually one of the royal family members. That's how we decide our next ruler. The blue dragon never reincarnates, at least he didn't before until now, when he reincarnated with the eldest blue dragon son and decided to overthrow the government. Now he sits as the king. The red dragon reincarnated but...not with any of the red dragon family..." She told Clock. "The reincarnation of the red dragon is with some commoner now."

"Do you know where the red dragon currently is?" Clock asked her.

"Yeah..." The girl told him. "Your looking at her."

"Y-you?" Clock stammered. "You're the Red Dragon!?"

"I mean....kind of." The girl stated. "Like, I'm not a dragon, I'm the reincarnation of one and that's causing a lot of new problems with the country and now there's a blue dragon and so I..." She paused, clearly not quite understanding the situation herself. "My name is Sedna."

Clock managed to compose himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He stuck out his hand. "The name's Clock-Watch."

Sedna didn't take the hand, rather she rocked on her feet back and forth, leaving an awkward silence. "Are you...going to try to kill me?"

"No, why would I want to do that?" Clock asked. "I'm not sure if I'd even be able to!"

"There have been a lot of people trying to kill me..." Sedna admitted. "I'm...not exactly the most liked person in the world, especially right now."

"Well then..." Clock thought to himself for a moment. What should he do? The mascot of the rebellion is right in front of him at this very moment! After a bit of thinking, he knew what to do. He'd just do what he does best. "If that's the case, then I'll make sure that nobody ends up killing you!"

"I...don't think you'd be very good at that..." Sedna told him. "But...maybe we could travel together? Though I don't really know what to do... You're a rebel and...neither side wants me..."

"Why would people not want you? You are the Red Dragon, aren't you?" Clock gave a confused look. "I don't see why I wouldn't want to help you out! Besides," He leaned in a little closer to whisper, "I don't really want to be here either. I don't really have a choice but to take part in this rebellion, 'cause I got kidnapped and whatnot. Apparently I've got some great power or something? But I think that's dumb."

"Well if your so sure..." Sedna said. "Then we should head back to your group, right?"

"I suppose so." Clock replied. "I'm sure they'll welcome you."

Part 2 (D): Captured
"Back. Off." A man's voice said as Lexi could feel a sharp spear on her back.

"Oh...!" Aqua started. "Hi...uh...big brother! I distracted this rebel girl!" Her eyes darted from her brother, to Lexi, judging from the surprise, the princess was not intending for this happen.

"Well, I can't really 'back off' if that thing of yours is pointing at my back ready to stab me." Lexi said sarcastically, though is also suprised by this event.

"I am not willing to play games with you today." The man said, jabbing at Lexi with the spear, though not enough to break skin.

Lexi paused. She knew that running would most likely cause the soldiers to chase her, so the only option she could think was to surrender and see where that would go. "Alright, I surrender."

"You're coming with me." The man said, grabbing Lexi and dragging her away, Aqua looking out at the scene in hesitation.

The man took Lexi to a prison, or a makeshift one as it looked more like an office. The good news is, this brother wasn't the king, but rather younger than him, meaning he is much less powerful, but he is also a dragon, so he must have been semi-strong. Lexi was now stuck in some office building for who knows how long.

Lexi sighed. "Well, this is just dandy. What else could happen?" She muttered.

Just as those words were muttered the familiar book fell once more off of a table.

"If it isn't my friend, Mr. Book. What wisdom do you have to offer me this time?" Lexi muttered, opening the book.

The book revealed a map, including a route to escape this time! It seems it was finally being useful.

"Woah, a map? Huh, I guess reading does let you go on adventures. Especially when it's an adventure out." Lexi said to herself, following the route on the map.

The book detailed a small tunnel behind an end table that could be used to escape the room. After Lexi traveled through it, she would come to a large room broken and left in disarray. It was unclear what it was once used for, but now it lay in rubble as most of the building's roof collapsed.

"The dragons really let this building go..." Lexi thought to herself, looking around. "Alright book, where to next?"

The book took Lexi to another room which appears to have held a multitude of statues, now all broken and destroyed. Yet featuring a low rumble of voices.

"Are those voices...coming from other dragons?" Lexi muttered.

The voices all stopped and the cold shiver of being watched filled the air. Finally a feminine voice spoke in draconic. The book translated it into common, for Lexi. "What brings you to this domain, mortal?"

"Uh, I'm trying to get out of the government camp...what sort of place is this?" Lexi asked.

"You stand in the hall of dragons." The book translated. "The hall which contains limitless power and knowledge."

"Limitless power and knowledge...did this use to be some sort of dragon sanctuary?" Lexi asked.

"In a sense." The book continuted. "This place is known for several things. In it's prime, it was a hall of Dragon Knights, powerful warriors chosen to protect the reincarnation of the dragons, for nothing but honor in return."

"So dragons used to reincarnate themselves.." Lexi said to herself. "Any other stuff you need me to know?"

"Oh mortal child, the dragons still do reincarnate, sure you have your silly mortal dragon mobians, but the ones chosen for reincarnation are much more powerful then believed. The red dragon is currently in a rat now." The book translated, alongside a chuckle-like sound from the voice.

A new voice came, more masculine and much more violent spoke up. The book translated it. "What is your purpose, mortal child?"

"You mean, like my purpose in life?" Lexi asked. "I dunno. Doesn't everybody have no clue what thier purpose is?"

"What is your purpose here?" The book translated the angry voice.

"Jeez, calm down. I don't exactly have a purpose here. I'm trying to get out of the camp and I just happened to get here." Lexi told the voice.

"But why are you here? If you are here, you were brought for a purpose." The book told Lexi.

"I dunno, I was following this book." She said,then paused for a moment. She remebered that when she first walked in the room that it stated it was a place of limitless power and knowledge. "Um, just out of curiousity, how would we stop the war?"

"The war? The war cannot be stopped yet, there may only be one dragon on the throne, not two." The book said. "You must know that the war will only end by blood shed. One of your friends will die, and it is by that death that this war can finally be over." The book turned blank. "Tell me, are you willing to sacrafice yourself to stop the war?"

Lexi paused and looked down. Zak basically abandoned her, Zapor somehow died, and the book mentioned that her sister may die. At this point, she might lose all of her friends by the time this is over. So what was there to even look forward to anymore? "Yeah..."

"Interesting..." The voice said, this time in common. "You are not to die, I only wished to see how you would respond."

Lexi sighed. "Well, when you had stuff like this happen all in one day, it's hard not to be willing to die."

"You are a soldier, mortal child. War is bound to happen. This is only the beginning. Wait until you see your sister killed in front of you, and then we may talk of wanting death."

"But, isn't there a way to keep that from happening?" Lexi asked.

"There are multiple timelines that could happen." The voice said. "Most of them result in your sister dying but there are few that exist. Someone must die."

"..." Lexi said nothing. She wanted to know how to save Treasure, but at this rate, it would get more complicated and seemingly impossible.

"The timelines are confusing." The dragon told Lexi as if he had read her mind. "The fate of the world lies partly in the hands of your sister. Few timelines exist in which she is killed and the world carries on. I can tell you of the future, if you like..."

(Tales Decision: Accept his offer and hear the future, or refuse.)

Lexi thought about it. If Treasure was to live, what would happen? Or what if she died? She decided to take the offer. "Ok, what would happen?"

"The highest probabilty as of right now," The dragon started. "Is for you and the rebellion to win the city. In one hour, reinforcements will arrive and you will destroy the city. You will then move on from the battle and begin your search for your friends, Neo and Fey. During this, you will destroy a fort for the government and they will call for a parley. There, you will receive a friend back, but betrayal will soon follow, causing a last stand between the traitors and your team. You will destroy the last stand, but in the end, in order for the war to end permenently, one of you will wind up dead."

Lexi nodded. "So, who would have to die to keep everyone including my sister alive?"

"Well if everyone lives then no one dies, no?" The dragon laughed. "People are already dying, look around and your sure to find a body. To keep your sister safe, the ballot is much simplier. Either Neo or Fey die in this timeline if your sister is to live."

Lexi was quite shocked by the turn of events. She didn't want her sister to die, but Neo or Fey dying would be even worse for the team. "A-and there isn't a third person?"

"Death has a funny way of dealing with things. Even if you were to somehow manage to view the entire timeline and save all three from that moment, death would haunt them for the rest of their lives, but this time all three of them. One of those three must die." The dragon said solemnly.

So Lexi was left with three people, one of which who had to die. "I...I see..."

"...If you could pick..." The dragon asked. "Would it be Neo or Fey?"

(Tales Decision!)

Lexi thought this over. She didn't want anyone to die, but she recalled the book saying that Neo knew where Treasure was and didn't tell her. She never really forgave him for that. On the other hand, there was Fey. She didn't really do anything that would cause Lexi to hate her. "..Neo."

(Sorry Neo)

"Interesting." The dragon pondered aloud. "You would betray your leader, the one who brought all of you together under a single banner, to save your sister." He paused. "You do not know the things Fey has done, of course neither does she, that's how amnesia works, but if you did. Oh, your tune would change so quickly. Of course, Neo isn't any better. Stealing all of those things from people, for fun. Robbing some families blind that they had to turn to...darker methods of payment. He ruined many people's lives, and he goes around as if it did no harm at all." Once more the dragon paused. "Before you go, let me ask you one last thing. Do you know why Neo did not tell you about Treasure?"

"No, why?" Lexi asked.

"Just wondering." The dragon mentioned. "Maybe you should ask your sister why, she happens to be in town you know. And in a moment where she could stop the war."

"Thanks Dragon voice." Lexi nodded. "Book, where do I need to go next?"

The book showed to two paths for Lexi to choose from, one led back to main street with Treasure lying unconscious, but protected by Zero, Knave, Christina and Echo. The other path led to the Delta and Kala standing next to a bright fire, with enemy soldiers all around them. They didn't look to be very comfortable giving the impression that they were tied up.

"Hnngh...Ok, save Kala and Plum first, then ask Tori." Lexi said to herself, running on the path that leads to Kala and Delta.

Part 3 (A): Light and Dark
The room shifted between being visable and being black. The light from the artifact was currently at war with the shadows of Saren's inner psyche. There were painfully long minutes that held Saren within a grasp of pain. Were they even minutes though? It could have felt like hours, days, as Saren's soul litteraly was split in half and began trying to kill the other side.

Eventually a new room came into view, it was dark and cold. Noticeably bare of anything. Black bats flew up from the floor that Saren now stood on, revealing a transparent orange colored glass-like floor which revealed only an unending darkness below. Something about the dark below seemed wrong. It was terrifying, as if something awful was down below. There were several strange things going on. Saren's scythe was missing, Eliza was no where to be found, even the familiar feeling of the shadows was missing. Saren had no weapons and no kinesis. Not even any items in his pocket were there. Everything felt different.

Saren, of course, was noticeably freaking the hell out since he was in some unknown place with no way to defend himself aside from his hands.

"Where in the blood soaked hell am I!?" Saren asked, panicked.

At the end of the the path a new piece of glass was uncovered. On the sides it looked stained, something that you would see on an old church building, but the top cover of it was a multitude of stained glass, each colored differently and with different words written on it. Each showed a line, connecting it to another, shadows to light, water to fire, earth to air, lightning to ice, nature to metal, and time to gravity. Void stood in the very center of it all with all lines passing right through it. Standing on it, was a familiar figure in white armor, Fey. Her eyes closed as she looked down at the Void glass.

Saren walked towards Fey. "Wait.. What the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

Fey looked up, her eyes missing, and her mouth wide open, all of which were pouring blood onto the ground below, shattering the glass floor and causing Saren to fall below, until he landed on another glass floor, this one showing a moral compass, with each of the sides named something different, good to the north, evil to the south, chaos to the west and serenity to the right. The sound of flesh smacking into glass filled the void as a voice spoke beside Saren.

"I imagine death so much it feels like a memory." It was Bravo Radon, decapitated and covered in blood. His body had intestines spilling out as he stood. "Is this where it gets me? On my knees, seven inches ahead of me from a coward to scared to call anyone a friend for fear of them leaving just like his parents. I see it coming do I run, or fire my gun, or let it be? There was no beat, no melody. Saren, my newest enemy, the one who stole everything from me. If I throw away my shot, is this how you remember me? What if this bullet is my legacy?"

"Legacy." A new voice said, right into Saren's ear. It was Radon himself, as a monster. His arms were mutated and heavy like concrete, his face was distorted into something that one would imagine could be found in the bottom of the ocean. His legs were twisted resembling something like a goat. "What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you'll never get to see. I wrote some notes to a song someone will sing for me, Mobius, you great world, you sent for me! You let me know there was a place where even orphans and immigrants could leave their finger prints and-"

"RiSe Up!" A new voice said as the Jester, rocking in a fetal position sat behind Saren now. "RiSE uP! I'm RuNnInG OuT Of TiME AnD My TiMe's uP, WiSE Up! EyEs uP-..." He sat in silence now, staring at something in the distance.

Saren grabbed his head. "Oh shut up! You twats are supposed to be dead!! Hell I lopped off your head!" Saren shouted, pointing at Bravo.

"And you!! Radon! You're spewing nonsense again!? You're the jackass who decided to betray me! I simply took my revenge!!" He shouted at Radon.

"Finally, the jester... Get up, I haven't even begone to show you true agony!! So stand up and run! I'll make sure to find you and tear out your accursed heart with my bare hands!!" Saren yelled at the Jester.

"Saren," a hand grabbed Saren's shoulder and turned him. Standing in the center of the compass was Echo, perfectly fine. "What are you doing here?"

"How in the blood soaked hell would I know?" Saren replied.

"Oh, I know why you are here." Echo noted after looking around the now empty room. "You are trying to become a bikinetic, only you are using two opposite elements. That is not something someone can do easily. You body has split into a light and dark half and is trying to destroy itself."

A new voice spoke from behind Saren, though he could not see her, her voice was familiar, but unable to be placed. "Saren, take your time. I'll see you on the other side." Silence Echo handed Saren a cup filled which wafted familiar stench of alcohol. "Raise a glass to freedom..." The woman sang.

"Freedom.. Well ain't that naive, sorry toots... But freedom is only an illusion because there are rules and laws in place." Saren spoke in a harsh tone after taking the time to laugh, he then drank the alcohol without toasting.

"Ahhh, I really needed that whiskey."

(Tales decision: toast to freedom, or just drink the alcohol.)

"I thought I could trust you Saren..." Echo said sadly as her body began to mutate, her left hand coming off completely and her body began to sag as if it were decomposing.

"That bullet really was my legacy." Bravo's voice echoed. "I should have killed him when I had the chance."

"I suppose even if Mobius is such a great place, the people in it are what corrupt her." Radon spat.

"TeAcH mE hOw To SaY gOoDbYe! RiSe Up! RiSe Up!" Jester spouted.

"...which will require a large amount of concentration." The scythe's voice reverberated. "So no booze." The drink in the cup was no longer alcohol, it might not have ever been. Now it was a dark, thick, blood-like liquid not actually blood but something far more disgusting to drink. It solidifying in Saren's throat, closing his windpipe. The glass shattered, all the faces of the people stared at him. The floor shattered once more into nothing and Saren fell into the dark.

When Saren slammed onto the ground in the next area, he found himself able to breathe once more. The glass here was all white, with small circles colored differently. It looked to be portraying the chaos emeralds. The other thing of note here was the new person on the glass. It was Neo, his fur was singed, his clothes in rags, his coat was missing and he looked so tired, and so skinny, almost malnourished. When he looked up at Saren, he jumped. "No...no, I'm done. I'm not doing this again." He told him. "If you're another of those damn illusions, could you kindly get the hell out of my head! I thought I finally found safety..."

"Pretty sure I'm real jackass." Saren growled, quite peeved at his lack of alcohol. "Now why the hell am I in some friggin area with a mural of those seven glowing crack rocks that just never seem to stop being relevant!?"

"What's the name of Era's partner?" Neo asked Saren. Judging from how he was reacting and by his appearence, it was a wonder how long he had been in here, and what he had gone through.

"Moros, duh.. Asshole still owes me another flask."

"You're real then?" Neo asked. "I've been here for....for so long. I've seen everyone from Zapor to Delta but none of them are real. No one has talked about Era or Trinity, and I don't know why..." He trailed off. "I'm....how did you get here?" As he finished speaking another orange path lit up leading to a new platform.

"Well, I'm trying to gain power and I woke up in this odd area after eating this ball of light to become a bikinetic or something.." Saren explained, intentionally being vague about it because he stil didn't believe much of what went on. "Time's a wastin.. So we better get going."

"O-okay...I'll go with you." Neo stood up and the full effects of whatever happened to him became clear. Neo was lean before, but now his arms had no muscle, only bones, his stomach was pulled in almost as if he were purposefully sucking in his stomach, though it was clear he was not. His face was tired and looked scarred, like someone had taken a knife to it, or like electricity had run through him. He was very clearly not in a good shape.

The pair continued through onto the next platform, the stained glass showed a picture of a large manor, one that was not familiar. It was similar to Neo's home, Tranquil Manor, but the style was different and the clear picture of an eclipse at the top of the building seemed to pop out. On this platform, stood a figure glowing in white plate armor, as he worked away at an anvil.

"Huh..? The heck is this place?" Saren muttered.

The figure stood up. "Greetings, mortal. I am the spirit of valor." He told Saren. "I forge weapons for those lost to fight with."

"Could you make a scythe?" Neo asked.

"Certainly I could. Of course, you would have to make a deal with me first." Valor told them. "You must duel me, Saren Arcturias. If you win, I will grant you a weapon of valor, lose, and I will slay you."

"Alright.." Saren muttered, checking, and praying to whatever is out there, to see if he actually had his scythe on him.

Although there was no weapon on Saren at all, as this place was somewhere between reality and imaginary, the spirit of valor gave Saren a weapon, a handaxe, and walked away. "Are you ready, Saren Arcturias?"

Saren tested the axe, swinging it a few times. "Yeah, I'm ready.."

Valor took a large rapier and lunged towards Saren.

Saren sidestepped, swinging his axe at Valor's sword arm when and if he over extends his reach.

Using his momentum, he turned around and aimed to bash the side of the rapier on Saren's head.

Saren rolled imto Valor to avoid the strike and to possibly stumble him.

Valor used a hand spring to quickly get out of Saren's way and held a stance, waiting for Saren to approach.

Neo seemed to look at Valor differently. "Time Spinner?"

"No." Valor told him. "Just a spirit holding the weapon of a person with great Valor." He smiled. "And similar powers as him as well." A clock rune appeared under Saren's feet and slowly started ticking down.

"Time users.. You've gotta be f---ing kidding me.." Saren grumbled.

"Defeat me before the time runs out or lose your life." Valor told him, charging towards the lynx in an attempt to stab him.

Saren prepared to duck under the stab in order to get inside his guard before swinging the axe at Valor's legs, hoping to knock his balance off.

Valor was knocked a little off his course, but using his momentum he quickly pushed himself back up. He gestured around as several ethereal cannons came into view and fired several blue lasers at Saren. The clock was down to 45 seconds.

Saren ducked and weaved around the lasers, attempting to channel power into the weapon to end this fight quickly. He knew he had dark, but he figured if he had light he could try and combine the two for something greater.

And yet there was nothing. The dark didn't bend to his will, the light did not heed his call. Saren had no kinesis in this land, Saren had no power. Valor stood still, judging the lynx while the clock counted down, now from 30. seconds.

"F--k this.." Saren grumbled, trying to see if he could just destroy the clock. If not he'd have to focus on Valor and finishing the job.

The clock couldn't be broken, the rune itself wasn't a physical object more of an ethereal one. Valor stood triumphent. "Interesting Mortal." The 'thing' said. "Despite your imminent death, you continue to fight on. Your valor is enlightening."

"Haven't you ever heard of the term death before dishonor? Granted I don't believe in honor but still."

"Honor and Valor are two different things, mortal." Valor explained. "Valor itself can be determined by bravery, one's ability to face things that others would deem too dangerous. The fact that you chose to face myself, even after I took the form of someone who could indeed kill you, it is that idea that I find most interesting." Valor lowered his blade. "The battle is over Mortal." Valor pointed out as the clock rune had finally counted down to zero and disapperaed. "You have proved yourself to me."

"I'm confused." Neo said. "I thought he had to defeat you?"

"That is how one would look at it, yes." Valor answered. "But there are two ways finish every test. Simply fighting someone is only one way, but to prove yourself to them, that is another entirely. The mortal here has proven himself to me, and so I shall craft for him a scythe." The spirit put out his hand and a scythe of pure white extended from the darkness. "Take this, valorous mortal, use it to cut a path through the darkness."

Two stained glass paths drew from this platform, allowing more progress. "It seems as though the two of you must leave each other for now. Mortal," He turned back to Saren."You may keep the handaxe if you wish, I do not know if you will find a use for it, but perhaps you will. Remember one thing; just because you have given up on yourself does not mean that ohters have as well. The other mortal values your friendship, and I am sure there are others as well. Perhaps one day you will find the answers you are looking for."

"....." Saren was silent for a bit, before nodding his head in thanks.

On the next glass platform was what appeared to be a the Mythic Knights. There were two sides, one side contained the older members. There was Neo, Zero, Celia, Kala, Leah, Trinity, Saren, Masako, and several others alongside a sun which shined above them. On the other side contained the younger members, Echo, Delta, Zapor, Lexi, and more, some of which were unrecognizable, with a moon above them. On the platform itself stood a female blue spirit holding a book. "Hello there." The woman said, reading a book. "My name is Wisdom, I guide those who are lost here, like yourself."

"Wisdom eh..? I don't suppose there isn't any trials here that I may have to go through.." Saren asked, he figured there would be but it was worth a shot. "The name is Saren by the way.."

"Well I'm certainly not going to make you fight me, or answer any dumb riddles." Wisdom said simply. "Rather, I have questions for you. You are able to go where you please, but I wonder; What do you know of this place? Or, rather, do you have any ideas as to where we are?"

Part 3(B): Never Miss A Beat
Three figures jumped from the rooftops, into the intersection below. One of which was a girl in all purple armor, another as a guy holding a trumpet in a suit, and the last was a girl holding a large staff. "Hello." The purple armor girl interrupted.

Christina turned her head, completely ignoring the trio, she once again checks the condition that they are in, and turned her head to Zero, "Who are the people over there?" She asked him.

"I...don't know...." Zero noted.

"We'll just fight them like everyone else." Knave turned towards them.

Echo, grumbling, rose from where she was laying. "Ow..." She noted.

Treasure could be seen behind them, attempting to sneak up on one of them.

Christina looked down putting her hands behind her back, her right arm was holding her left arm, which was lighting up with crystals.

The girl hold the large staff turned around and swept the staff on the ground, sending Treasure back, then she caught up with her.

The trumpet boy and the purple armor girl still stood between them and the rest of the team. "Well this battle should be over quick."

The trumpet boy blew into his instrument and giant sound waves echoed out the end, towards the group.

(Jazzy death and a smooth Cappuccino - Shadow Legion vs Storm Assassins)

Christina then took her hand out from behind her back, and made giant crystal pillars around her group to at least attempt to protect them from the soundwaves.

The protection worked, keeping everyone from being thrown by the sound waves, but the woman in purple armor, charged forward, thrusting a sword towards Christina.

Christina then shifted her hands from the outward position to forward to make the crystals so that the sword would slow down as it passes each crystal. She then lowers her left hand but her right hand is still out.

Treasure jumped behind the trumpet boy, sweeping her staff and knocking him off of his feet while the woman in purple armor turned and sent the sword towards Christina's open hand.

The sword broke through the crystals as Christina quickly dropped on down. The crystals were shattered, but her hand was still open, and all of the thousands crystal shards were still floating. She then swirls her arm in a circular motion causing the shards to create a tornado, as she sent it towards the purple armor girl.

The trumpet boy blew once more, sending the crystals back towards the group.

With her hand still open, she stops the crystals and sends them up into the air, as if they disappeared. She then uses her other hand to make vines appear from her hand to grope and tug on the trumpet, forcefully pulling it away from him.

Almost to quickly, the trumpet became a knife that the boy used to cut right through the vines.

Echo drew a few cards from her deck and lifted them into the air with telepathy, aiming to fire at the trumpet boy.

"Coming through!" Treasure smashed her staff into the back of the woman, a gigantic smile plastered on her face. "Hey there!"

Zero very quickly came in, grabbing her with his scythe and throwing her up in the air, where Knave came in, smashing her down with his sword.

Christina then uses vine manipulation to grab Zero, Echo and Treasure and pull them down to her area. She then made a giant floating leaf appear with her left hand and the glowing from her right hand stopped. Suddenly, the millions of crystal shards from before came raining down on the girl, trumpet boy and and the staff girl, while the leaf protected the other four.

Trumpet boy turned his knife back into a trumpet, and blew into it, sending the crystals flying very far away.

"Got your sound!" Treasure gloated and send the same sound back at them with her bo staff.

Christina helped Treasure by helping her send back the crystals with her right hand, but also ingraining him with the vines around both the feet and and arms, making him appear in an X shape, making it impossible for him to move.

The bo staff woman pulled her weapon up and threw it down against the vine holding one of his hands, the one with the trumpet, which went back to being a knife.

"Oh no you don't!" Treasure rushed out, aiming for another headshot with her staff, but the woman pulled her own staff back, the tip glowed bright black and bashed it into Treasure's stomach, sending her flying into a building.

Christina looked up, seeing that one of the vines were cut, so instead of re-gripping his other hand, she uses the cut vine to snatch the knife and bring it to her hands for her to wield.

"Gutsy move, Transon." The trumpet boy told her. "To bad all that money can't buy you skill."

The knife was in Christina's right hand, so she put it behind her back, and used chlorokinesis to rapidly pull Treasure from off the building, right next to where she was standing.

Treasure was pulled forward, only for her to collapse on the ground, unconscious. She wasn't going to wake up for the rest of the fight.

Echo sent a card of fire towards Tenor, the trumpet man, who sent a sound wave back at them.

"Man down." Christina looked down on her, still holding the knife, gripping it tighter.

Zero ran up to Tenor, and swung his scythe, enganging in a combo of swings that all resulted in misses as Tenor jumped and weaved around the attacks. Tenor screamed, reseonating sound throughout the square, which pushed Zero back almost seven yards.

The bo staff woman, Soprano, jumped from the top of the building, crashing her staff down on the back of Knave's head, knocking him out.

"We're running out of troops here." Zero noted.

Christina manipulates yet another vine to grab the bow staff and whack Soprano with it, and the knife is in the other hand.

Immediately Soprano raises her hand and pink runes rush all over the vines, lighting them on fire.

Christina put the knife now in her other hand. With her other hand now open, she summons a giant crystal, about one hundred feet high to protect her, and her group.

Zero rushes over to Soprano and begins ot keep her busy with a large assortment of Scythe swings and blasts of shadow energy.

Tenor on the other hand takes a very large breath and emits a defeaning scream, which sends sound waves reverberating towards the crystal.

The crystal remained and acted like a mirror, bouncing the sound waves back at the three, but it went through the sides affecting the others, but not as deafening.

Tenor smiled, "Hiding are we?" He asked Christina. "You know you can't win like that!"

Soprano quickly threw Zero towards the crystal, in a blindingly quick moment.

Tenor continued his rant. "You know, I didn't believe it when they told me you were related to him, Christina, but I suppose their right. You are like your cousin! He was a coward to, constantly crying about the storm sounds playing in the background, the electro-therapy we put him through, all the torture and just about everything had him crack. He wouldn't shut up about all of you. He talked a lot about a few people. Do Ages Tranquil and Era Tranquil sound familiar to you? He kept talking about them, and you, of course. Mentioned something about a red coat and kept asking about a crystal. And then he wouldn't shut up about Fey." He paused for a minute. "Where's Fey? Is she okay? What did you do to her?" He said it in Neo's voice, no not in Neo's voice that was Neo's voice.

Christina didn't bother to reply to Tenor's rant, and looked at her allies. Treasure was unconscious, Zero was slammed into a crystal, which indeed was still standing, but then there was Echo. "Echo, I guess it's just you and me now...." She told her.

"We can't win...hiding behind...a big crystal..." Echo told Christina. "They aren't going to stop. They're strong, stronger than Zero, and he's our best fighter...We need to do something...and I think I have an idea, but I need you to trust me."

Christina nodded, as she was willing to do anything for her side at this point. Literally anything.

"I really hope I can do this..." Echo drew three different cards from her deck and floated them around herself. "Trinity Card; Phoenix Up, Christina Card; Autumn's Shield, Cross Card; Power-Up." The cards continued to circle around Echo faster until finally she sent all three towards Christina, each bearing down a new weight onto the hedgecat.

As the cards disappeared a feeling of immense power and anger curled into the air, the scent of smoke and things burning filled the area around them. Echo was now out of power, but Christina was now more than able to fight off these two.

Christina felt very mighty indeed. Effortlessly, she lifted up the giant crystal and threw it at them. Now this was impossible to see, since it was a one hundred foot crystal that she just lifted up, this count instantly squash the two into a building.

Although Sorprano didn't do a thing, Tenor was the one who held the crystal up as it fell, covered in green and aqua runes. "Not happening."

Part 3 (C): A dragon, a lawyer, and a murderer
Sedna and Clock had made their way back to the main intersection when a woman holding a large staff was thrown into a glass fronted building right in front of them. Getting up, she looked to the two and her eyes dialated at the sight of the girl. "You." The woman pointed her staff at the girl. "You're the one we kill on sight."

"Lovely welcome." Sedna said sharply to Clock.

"Keep her busy for me, okay?" A voice said from afar, though not recognizable for either person.

 'Well, this wasn't what i expected.' Clock thought to himself. 'But I can't just stand here!'  He stood in front of Sedna. "Hold it! Kill on sight!? You can't do that!"

"And why is that?" The woman asked.

"Well first off, it's kind of illegal." Clock said, preparing to pull out his sword if necessary. "And also, why would you kill someone on sight?" He pointed his finger at her. "Everyone deserves a fair trial, do they not? No matter who they are, or what people say they've done... Everyone deserves the chance to prove themselves."

"She already proved herself to be the dragon, what more is there to wait for?" The woman asked angrily.

"What, so you'll just kill someone for who they are, even if they had no say in the matter!?" Clock began to look somewhat emotional. "That's just not right. And if you try? I'll have to stop you."

"You?" The woman laughed. "You think you can stop me?"

"Y-yes!" Clock replied, pushing aside his fears to take a step forward. "If it's to defend the life of an innocent, I'll do anything to make sure they stay living on this world!"

"On top of that... you're wrong." From the shadows, a cloaked figure stepped forward, with only their muzzle visible beneath the darkness of their hood. "He's not going to stop you. All of us are."

"Wait, what?" Clock said, looking around. "Who are you?" Despite his confusion, it still felt good to know that somebody else was on his side, whatever his side was.

"I know, I have some explaining to do. But now that I'm here... I'd suggest not firing off any guns," the hooded woman said.

Clock decided to just roll with it. "Yeah!" he shouted at the person with the staff. "You better not try to pull anything now! Or else!"

"Let me ask you something..." The woman asked. "Have you ever fought against a runic bounty hunter?"

"Well... there's a first time for everything," the other woman replied.

"I like you. To bad you're an idiot." The girl pulled her arm up and red runes appeared all over the ground, with the exception of under the woman.

"Something tells me that that's something I should stay away from..." Clock muttered. Looking at the runes, he decided now was the time for action. He pulled out his sword, and had it at the ready. "Just you wait, now. By the time today is up, you'll be the idiot for underestimating me and... Whoever this other person is!"

"Good luck with that." She opened her hand and all of the runes began exploding as if they were bombs.

The hooded woman dashed--no, slid backwards to evade the blast. She raised her hands up, pointing at her adversary. "Good effort, I'll give you that." Her fingertips glowed, and from there she fired a volley of psychic bullets.

Clock, on the other hand, only managed to barely dodge the explosions, pulling Sedna out of the way, as well. Despite that, he regained his balance and fired a blast from his arm cannon. "These two are so strong..." He muttered to himself."I'm quite glad one of them is on my side."

The woman, Alto, took her blade and slashed through the bullets, stopping them. "PSI, huh? Interesting tactic, but very unimpressive with that poor execution."

"Oh, I'm just getting started." A halo of psychic blades manifested itself behind the hooded woman.

All right, time to get serious. Clock turned to Sedna for a moment. "Well, it's not quite the best welcome, but we aren't dead yet, at least!" He pulled out his sword and readied his arm cannon once more.

"Yeah..." Sedna said, not believing Clock yet.

"This might just be fun." Alto smirked.

The hooded lynx--we'll call her Nemi from now on--quickly moved herself forward. Propelled using her psychic power, she looked for the best opportunity to attack Alto.

"Well, we really aren't quite out of the fire yet, are we." Despite his facade of bravery, Clock was totally shaking in his boots. He's not much of a fighter, to say the least. "But we've got an ally on our side now!"

Alto's blade was long and large, almost to an unuseable amount. It could easily be used for attack and defense, but it was clearly slow, slow enough that someone could quite easy find her weak point and take her out.

Nemi hadn't found her weak point yet, but she had closed the distance faster than expected. She fired a few of her blades at Alto's midsection.

Clock supported her with a few blasts from his arm cannon, hopefully catching Alto off guard.

Alto shifted the sword in her hand, allowing the side of her blade to block off most of the blades. She drew her fingers up, allowing more red runes to explode around her.

Nemi was on a collision course with an arcane explosion. She swiped her hand upward, creating a psychic current that threw herself into the air. "Whoo!"

Alto created a gun with her fingers and fired at Nemi, sending a tiny pebble-like object towards her.

Nemi took a direct hit from... well, whatever she was hit with.

A black rune took place and began to force Nemi to the ground with a large amount of graviatational force.

Sedna's eyes lit up. "Clock, we have to do something!"

Nemi was painfully slammed into the ground. Assuming the effect lingered afterward, she struggled to get back up.

"All right. I think I got this." He said. Clock ran forwards, and started to fire some more blasts from his arm cannon at Alto. Pulling out his sword, he continued moving closer, in an attempt to protect Nemi from further harm.

Nemi looked up at Clock with an anxious expression on her face. They would need to cooperate in order to bring Alto down, but without any prior experience together...

"It'll be fine." Clock told her. "You can trust me, I can help." He stood facing Alto, sword in one hand, arm cannon in the other. He was ready to protect these people now.

Alto laid more red runes down, and set them all to detonate.

Sedna quickly shifted out of the way, and sent a breath of fire towards Alto's way.

"Heads up!" Nemi came skating forward using a psychic current, of which she was about to extend to Clock.

"Got it!" Clock replied, using the current to move forward as well.

Alto tried to lay down more red runes, but it appeared as though the two were two fast for the explosions to hit them.

Nemi closed in and shot several psychic blades toward Alto's arms with the intent of disarming her, now that she was within range of the sword's reach.

Clock readied his sword, and got into a defensive stance. He paid close attention to Alto's movements, in an attempt to deflect, if she attacked.

Alto's hands were hit bt the blades, which hurt but upon a closer look it appeared as if she had set several blue runes on herself, which acted as protection.

Nemi didn't have any null-magic technology available to her... her best bet was just trying to break down the runes. She hopped back, firing a spray of PSI bullets at her target.

As more of the bullets, now incredibly closer to Alto, started firing the runes continuted to hold but their glow started to darken, indicating that they were losing power.

Nemi was starting to look a little tired from her excessive power usage. If Clock was going to strike, now would probably be a good time.

Part 4 (D): Redifining Bravery
A large crowd gathered around the wooden platform, the blue dragon stood there on the platform, ropes and bags tied around Kala and Delta's necks. The princess was no where to be seen. The crowd all was chanting for their deaths, carrying standard mob items like torches and weapons, all raised, ready for death to be enacted on these girls. Lexi found herself placed outside of their line of sight, between two buildings, with no guards on watch to be seen.

Lexi slowly moved closer to the crowd, staying behind them to make sure that she wasn't seen. "Ok, what Zapor do..?" Lexi thought to herself. She knew that plan wouldn't work without a gun. "What would Zak do..?" She looked at her sword, half of an idea was coming together.

So far no one has seemed to notice her, so if there was a plan to put into motion now would be the time.

"And so these two will be hung for the crimes!" The dragon said. "Starting," He put his hand on a lever. "With the genie!" He pulled the lever and the floor under Kala came out, leaving her hanging in the air by the rope around her neck.

Kala dangled there. "This isn't very fun..." She noted.

"You lived?" The dragon asked.

"Well, I'm a spirit. I don't have bones, just a form of light with mass." Kala said calmly.

Lexi gulped. "Its only a matter of time until they do it to Delta. I need to act now." Lexi muttered, get her sword in a throwing position. "I hope this works." She threw the blade like a boomerang toward the rope that was holding Delta.

The blade sailed through going right through the rope where Delta fell onto the wooden platform before striking into the floor.

"Kill he-" The dragon started before being interrupted by a blast of ice from Delta.

"Oh shut up." Delta called picking up the blade before it disappeared in a cloud of shadows and appeared once more in Lexi's hand.

Lexi ran up to the platform. "Are you guys Ok?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Delta said.

"Still on the rope, but whatever." Kala told Lexi.

Lexi swung her sword at Kala's rope. "I was getting to you."

Kala fell to the ground, landing on her feet. "I'm okay now!"

"Yeah, but now we have an entire army trying to kill us standing right there." Delta noted.

"Right... forgot about that." Lexi said. She didn't exactly have a plan, her main one was just to save Delta and Kala, but she didn't think that far ahead. "Grapes, you have any wise ideas?"

"Uh..." Delta started. "Negotiate?"

"Well, I may as well give it a shot." She muttered, turning to the crowd. "Ok, everyone! I know you most likely don't like us, and you know we most likely don't like any of you. So, here's what's gonna happen!" She grabbed the dragon hit by the ice blast and held her sword to his neck. "We all back away slowly, and this guy doesn't get hurt!...More than he already has." She never threatened anyone with death, so her sword was shaking, but only in the slightest.

(Like that?)

"I said negotiate not throw us into a hostage situation!" Delta sputtered.

"I mean, it worked didn't it?" Kala noted, as the troops didn't start rushing towards the three.

"Hold." The troops parted and there stood the princess. "Lower your sword."

Lexi stared at the princess for a second, then let the dragon go and lowered her sword. "Guys, whatever you do, don't try fighting anyone. Lets just try to back away slowly. She muttered to the other to.

The princess walked towards Lexi. "Let's talk for a moment." She gestured back behind the army.

Lexi didn't really know what she needed to talk to her about, but agreed. "Don't do anything too rash. I'll be right back." She told the two as she went with the princess.

The princess walked with Lexi for a while, in only silence before it was finally broken. "Let's work together." She said simply.

"What do you mean, 'work together'?" Lexi asked.

"Let's form an alliance between your team and mine." The princess explained. "We shouldn't be fighting one another while there is another team out there." She stopped walking. "Your friend is still alive."

Lexi froze, guessing she was talking about Zapor. "He is? Where is he?"

"That? I do not know." She said. "An ally of yours mentioned he was carried out by a green fox girl covered in soot and burns. They left the city and from there, I cannot tell you what happened next."

"Oh..." While she was hoping to find him, she was relieved to hear he was alive. Mainly because she wanted to pound him into the ground for making them depressed. "Anyway...about the alliance." Lexi started. "If we do make it, will both our sides stop fighting?"

"No." The princess said simply. "The forces gathered here, they would stop, but I'm only one part against my brother, and the king will not stop. Celia and the King will not stop their battle until the rebellion is wiped out. I fear the only way this war can end is through death."

Lexi sighed. It seemed as if the things that the dragon voices were saying started to line up with what the princess was saying. The only way the war could end was through death. And she didn't bother telling the princess what happened to Celia though, on account that she might already know.

"Do you agree to ally together?" The princess asked.

"Huh?" Lexi shook her head to get out of her deep thoughts. "Uh, sure. Let's ally together."

"Then there's one last thing we need to take care of." The princess said. "We need to take care of my brother. The one here, not the king."

"Was it the guy about to go through with the execution?" Lexi asked.

"Yes, him." The princess said. "If we don't deal with him, then there could be troops still fighting your side."

"O-okay..." Lexi never had to "deal" with anyone before, that was Zapor's job. But she needed to get the troops away,so she was willing to go through with it.

"We don't neccessarily have to kill him." The princess said. "In fact, killing him might cause him to become a martyr against us. If we keep him though, there is the chance he could be freed and rise up against us again."

"So, what should we do about him?" Lexi asked.

"I will leave that for you to decide." She told Lexi. "You are the one bringing us together, not I."

Lexi thought about this. Killing wasn't in her blood, and keeping him would be quite risky. "Okay. I'll see what I can do about this."

"You may wish to go talk to your recently freed allies now." The princess said. "I am sure the genie is alright, but you should check on the cat."

(Um, do you mean the cat? ~Zapor)

(Yeah, this is why I can't edit when I'm tired. -Neo)