The Anita Chamber

[Silence Sei]

This Cell has the following competitors:

Hysteria
Homunculus
Enigmatic Immortal
Solar Haven
grim137
BlueGhostOfTheSeaside
Prophet
The Hound

The fighting will begin Monday, September 30th, at 12:01 AM.

May the odds be ever in your...you get the idea.

[Silence Sei]

He stood in his tower, a orange and blue throne made especially for him on this day. His blue orbs pierced the soon to be blood soaked battlefield with the precision of a hawk. This was ‘Silence’ Sei Orlouge’s first time hosting The Cell, a tournament he did not care for in, yet participated in several times. He knew somewhere out in one of these three chambers, there would be a single warrior who would rise above it all. Eight people would enter the arena, yet only the three best amongst them would advance. The Cell was bloody, inhumane, and morbid to no end. Yet, The Cell was a staple in Corone, and since the Ixian Knights had seized the country, Sei had been advised to let the people continue as if there had been no Ixian War. It was ironic; a bloody battle simply laid the groundwork for a bloody tournament.

Sei had chosen to name the largest arena the Anita Chamber, after his second daughter. The arena itself, as always, had a barrier surrounding it. Sei had enlisted the help of the Mystic race, both the practitioners of Shadow and Light magic, to create the unbreakable barrier. To the common eye, the half-mile long, half-mile wide training grounds of Ixian Castle were merely protected by an invisible dome. A dome in which nothing could enter or leave without the youngest Orlouge’s express permission.

The ground was brown earth, with a few leaves of grass sprouting up from the cracks every so often. Four silver stoned walls rose up easily thirty feet into the air. The East and North wall’s stones were almost completely devoured by moss; a testament to the age of the castle. Bugs would occasionally scamper out of the green and scuttle to other parts of the wall before diving back into the stones. The West and South walls had to be completely redone after Cassandra Remi’s attack, each stone meticulously placed, the cement used to seal the granite shaven off at just the right point. Whenever a breeze caught the training grounds just right, a small dust cloud would form and dance across the field, before being stopped by the magic of the barrier.

The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky, almost time for the tournament to start. People had lined the walls of Ixian Castle, some bringing chairs, some sitting upon the wall itself, and more still choosing to stand, not wanting to miss a second of the action. The wind gave a nice cool whisper to the grounds, though the sweltering sun above threatened such a luxury at any given moment. Sei smiled at his handiwork, pulling up a clipboard that Anita had given him listing the warriors.

Amongst the combatants were three Ixian Captains; Talen Shadowwalker, Arden Janelle, and Jensen Ambrose. Talen was one of Sei’s most trusted generals, there with the Mystic since the formation of the Knights. He was also one of Sei’s opponents during the last Cell, a memorable encounter that spawned a deep friendship between the two despite the younger warriors death at the telepath’s hands. Jensen was the leader of the Wetworks Team, a division of the Ixian Knights that dealt in secret assassinations. He was also Sei’s primary bodyguard for his ability to simply not die. Such a trait would prove itself useful. Finally, Arden Janelle had been Sei’s rival for quite a while, and while he now was the head of the Ixian Monster Hunting team, that rivalry still burned on between them. The strategist wondered exactly how the leader of the Scourge would seek to earn his ire today. Even his newest recruit, Kyle the prophet, who survived days encased in a steel cocoon in the blistering heat, had decided to participate. There was no doubt in Sei’s mind that there would probably be an early alliance between these four.

There were a few wildcards on the list as well. Ashla Icebreaker, whose deeds in Fallien mostly involved a lot of collateral damage in the brawls between her and a tiny demon. She was said to have ice powers that could one day rival the great Ashiakin, a legendary ice warrior of Althanas. There was also Xanbata Grim, a man Sei had fought once before in Radasanth. This was a man who was dangerous, cold, and borderline insane. The competitors would have a tough time against this apathetic contract killer.

It was the final name on the list, however, that drew a lump in the Mystic throat. Draug Remi, son of Cassandra Remi, one of Sei’s greatest enemies. He had heard that Draug was entering tournaments, assimilating strong parts and even going on a rampage with Sei’s own brother Ciato. Did the monster truly think that entering a tournament held in Ixian Castle was a good idea? Or perhaps he had become so confident in his abilities after the Ixian War that he thought he could taunt the Knights on their home turf. This was after all a man who slaughtered dozens without so much as batting an eye. He was a different kind of monster from Xanbata Grim altogether, and quite possibly a forerunner for Cell champion. Draug’s presence left a bad taste in Sei’s mouth.

The mute was drawn away from his stupor by the increased cheering of the crowd. The delight in the people, although misguided, brought a smile across the lips of the telepath. Perhaps this was for the best. After all, what better way to show the people of Corone that the Ixian presence did not change anything than by giving them a tournament they so craved. He turned around, preparing to check on his other two chambers. He left the area with a simple thought crossing his mind.

Give em hell, boys & girls

[Arden]

An armoured man crossed the threshold between antechamber and battleground. His heavy plates scraped together, and his crimson cloak danced with seeming sentience. He hung his head in contemplation.

“Do you fight f’r blood, or f’r glory?” a lone figure enquired. His accent hinted at an exotic past.

Blood and glory were the providence of heroes. The Hound of the Scourge was no hero.

“Neither…,” Arden erred. He broke free from the chains of his inner thoughts. “I do not fight for glory.”

That was true enough. The swordsman had wallowed in carnal revelation long enough. He had a purpose, now, and one that served the ‘greater good’, and not just his own self-serving idealology.

“I do not fight for blood, either,” he continued. Bloodshed without ends was never a worthy means.

The figure seethed with tension.

“What is your purpose here?” His voice was otherworldly.

“I fight for freedom.”

With his pledge offered to the guardian of the door, the iron portcullis jolted to life. The man, cowed in coarse wool hemmed with gold, stepped to one side.

“May the gods hear your oath, and bind you to it,” the man said. He gestured to the portal as it trundled open, and fell silent.

Arden Janelle, with a growl erupting from his pauldron, stepped out into the guttural infamy of The Cell.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen leaned against the portal awning to the battlegrounds of the Cell, fingers playing with his knives as they danced around his fingers into and out of his coat pocket. He whistled a child’s tune to himself, his jacket kicking lazily back and forth in the breeze of the tunnel leading to the contest arena. A memory played out in the immortal’s head. It recurred ever since the event took place.

The memory played out like a little scene. Anita stood in Sei’s chambers, at her little desk shuffling around papers. She would see Jensen, give him a genuine smile, and go back to her work. Sei’s little ones, Emma and Ella, would greet the immortal, ask for candy, and run off when Sei told them to be alone. The light would shine in the room gloriously over Sei’s desk, the mystic looking to his Captain and friend over steepled fingers, elbows on the Coronian Oak.

He would say nothing for a moment, watching Jensen sit in the chair that was cast in the shadows made by the tree just out past the training grounds on the hill. Then, he would talk as Sei usually did, before he would sigh, and leave the dossier on the desk. Jensen would see the name, and then his world would grow dark, eyes narrow, and heart freeze over.

Draug Remi was all the immortal needed to see. The genetic freak show and self titled son of the Demi-Goddess Cassandra Remi; the woman who had killed his fiancee. His body would shake as Sei explained the Cell, how important it was that he host it, and why the Ixians were allowing even the scum like Draug to enter.

It all fell on deaf ears. Jensen had instead focused on the night when everything in his life changed, and he merely asked, in a very controlled, but rage filled tone, to be allowed into the Cell. Sei knew that Jensen had just as little care in the tournament scene as the mute did. Both knew they were blood sports, and neither felt like being pawns for others amusement. However, it could not be allowed to let a member of the Cult of Blessed Torture win. No matter the cost.

The scene would fade as the commencement to begin the fight started. Jensen kicked off the wall, walking around the bend into the magical barrier, his teeth humming from the eldritch energy. He looked at his fellow combatants, and nodded his head to those he thought would be a challenge. Yet he gave them all mere footnotes compared to the main focus of all his hatred.

A dark, cruel chuckle bubbled out of his mouth when he saw his quarry, and with a hyena like howl he lifted up his switchblade sword, pointing it to Draug Remi and loudly calling out, “Dibs on the freak-a-zoid! Anyone gets in my way and I’ll cut ‘ya down!” Jensen moved into a full sprint, his coat flapping in the breeze behind him as he lost himself to the madness within, his wails of mirth haunting his every step.

((I Jensen Ambrose, give everyone permission to Bunny me.))

[Solar Haven]

Adonis walked with a crowd up towards the castle where the cell would be happening. He had signed up for this tournament as a means to get combat experience. He had left Kit in his Inn room; he didn't want Kit anywhere near this tournament. It was a battle to the death to see who was stronger than the others. Everyone would be revived afterward, so Adonis didn't feel that bad about possibly ending someone's life.

His head hung low as entered the stands. He didn't know how well he would do, but he knew needed to get some battle knowledge. Of course he wasn't exactly prepared for a battle with his rusted sword in its scabbard and his white overshirt just blowing in the wind.

” Come on Adonis! We gotta do this, if we ever want to prove to our father that you can be strong and powerful without murdering people brutally we have to prove we are strong and powerful” Adonis looked up and realized he was up on the walls over looking a large chamber of sorts, the Ground was just brown earth with very few blades of grass and the four walls surrounding the chamber.

“Yeah this is the Anita Chamber! Apparently there is going to be eight contestants battling it out in there!” One of the people said behind Adonis as everyone began settling into place

“Really? Do you know who is supposed to be in there?” Another cried out in excitement.

“Yeah, they announced it earlier but I only know seven of the eight people. The last one I have never seen before,” The first one explained.

“What is his name?” the second one asked.

“Adonis Michael Cedric Cannon” Adonis said as he turned around to face the two before smiling and quickly jumping down from the wall, using his 'wall' magic to create a pocket of air to slow his descent down. He landed on one knee and quickly felt the brown earth. ”Perfect, this earth is not altered from its natural state, I can use this to my advantage!”

Adonis leaned up against the south wall waiting for the others to arrive. As long as the spectators were correct and that this was the Anita Chamber, he was in the right place.

After a few moment the other entered the chamber. one was clad in plate and didn't appear to be very nimble; his pauldrons clacked against the metal of his breastplate. The other one was just as curious in appearance as Adonis himself. He wore black pants, skin tight black shirt tucked into his pants, and a coat of some sort hanging from his back.

After a bold declaration, the one with the cloak sped off towards another in the chamber. Adonis smirked as his right hand began to glow a bright white. Adonis snapped his fingers and an Un-wall formed mere inches in front of the cloaked man, propelling him forward at three times his momentum.

Adonis kicked off the wall and approached the man clad in plate. If he was to have any chance at surviving any length of time in here he would need allies.

[Abomination]

Anyone can control Draug if you're fighting him. Let's get bloody.

The demi-goddess Cassandra Remi floated inches above the ground, her feet just barely touching the carpeted floor below. Torches hung in the audience chamber, illuminating her flowing dress and silky brunette hair. Her loyal resident alchemist and adviser Memnar stood before her, reading through papers on a clipboard he was holding with hushed intensity. He was covered head to toe in a black cloak, his eyes flashing with a glint of madness.

"He shattered all the records," Memnar said. "This much improvement... it's unheard of! He was only gone for what, a couple weeks? And now he wants to enter The Cell! As much as I would enjoy another change in his physiology, this is clearly a trap. I still haven't cracked the barrier they erected in the last edition of this tournament. Can't you send any of the new recruits instead?"

In a soft, motherly voice, Cassandra replied, "Are you concerned for our delightful son? I do think he has rather grown. His voice carries a hidden restraint, his eyes hold a new ambition."

Memnar blinked, "Are you saying he's acting differently around us? I didn't even know he was capable of that!"

"I feel it in The Gift I have given to him. He no longer needs me to direct his evolution. I want to see what he is hiding from us."

"He can't... I mean, compared to the others that have entered... you'd be asking him to take on the entire Ixian Knights at once."

"If that is where his fate takes him, then let him show what it means to know true fear. To know helplessness before my will. There is also one who I believe will follow him in lockstep. Someone whose memories hold a particular key for us."

"You don't mean..."

- -

With a black hood over his face, Draug stood on the walls overlooking the arena amongst the crowd. There were more spectators here than he thought... Were they all here to see him fall? It smelled of sweat, likely from people standing around for hours in the sun. There was an old man standing next to him, leaning onto a cane and not paying any particular attention to the current stock of participants.

"Who are you looking for?" Draug asked casually.

"I heard that monster entered," he replied, still looking out into the field. "My son gave his life fighting the accursed Cult in the war. I'm finally going to see that beast vanquished, so everyone can see that there's nothing to fear, so that my son can rest in peace."

"I see." It would be so easy to stick his hand through the old man, to see the life drain from his eyes as he looked up into the face of his son's killer. "I hope you get your wish."

"Thank you," he said solemnly. "Are you here for the blood sport like the others?"

"I'm here for someone." He stood a few steps toward the edge of the wall.

The old man looked at his cloaked back, "Oh? Who?"

The Abomination put his foot out into the air, which elicited a cry to stop from the old man, but Draug let his body fall down to the brown dirt below, landing on both feet and crushing a few blades of grass. He felt a strange sensation as entered the barrier, the Mystic magic giving him a sting of familiarity. Upon his entry, he removed his hood and looked straight at Jensen Ambrose, who apparently noticed him first and was already charging at him like a lunatic. He had never met the immortal before directly, but the black red hair, the red tips, the brown eyes, and the grin on his face matched the descriptions he was given.

His cloak wrapped around his body, hiding his arms for the time being. Underneath the cloak, his right arm twisted and grew, gaining a foot of length and doubling in size. His hand mutated rapidly and became more like a bear's paw with two claws made out of the iron daggers assimilated in his wrists. When Jensen got close enough, Draug would reveal his mutated arm and greet him with enough strength to cleave through the immortal's torso.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen completely forgot the other contestants existence around him, even unsure how the block of ice moved beneath his feet. The first few steps nearly saw him trip and fall, but with the practice of a man who defied the speed of the average human, Jensen was quick to lock his gait and keep his momentum up. When he approached Draug the man did nothing, his eyes contently locked upon the immortal.

In a split second the cloak was removed, a large hand moving out with enough force to break a boulder. Jensen was moving so fast he nearly lost his footing and tripped into the death blow, ending this run on the Cell and letting all those he knew down. But Jensen wasn’t just swift, he was also agile.

The knight corkscrewed in the air almost floating around the enlarged limb, full body tackling the mutant freak as they tussled to the floor, dust kicking up around them. Jensen’s jacket whipped over his head as he rolled to the moss covered wall, the plants shaking off as human contact was finally made after eons of neglect. Jensen spat a curse and continued to giggle with madness, coming back up to his feet faster than Draug and managing to land his knee on the son of Cassandra’s chin. He pushed the man down again as Jensen fell forwards touching the ground and turning in time to have his sword parry a return strike from the killer’s own blade.

“You are him,” he said, his voice almost devoid of emotion or care. It was like he spoke a simple fact, and nothing more. “The one mother talks of.” Jensen only responded with cackles of sadistic glee, knives coming off his fingertips as he thumbed them in his jacket pocket and let them loose. They whistled in the air, their speed and accuracy nearly throwing off the construct of flesh and alchemy. Yet he merely dodged them, ducking in an unnatural manner and coming back up with his fist launching out. Jensen had to flip backwards to avoid it, and he felt his left shoulder bruise from impact as he rolled away from full contact.

They moved like wolves fighting over a scrap of meat, eyes telling of their stance on one another. Jensen was full of malice, hate, and seeking desire for revenge. Draug was cold, void of emotions but the killer’s intent to do harm, and do it as violently as possible. “Your wife gave her life so mother may become what she was destined to be,” Draug pulled back enough to tap his chest, a wicked smile on his features. “She shares that gift with me. So I must thank you, Jensen Ambrose,” his teeth looked like little rows of razors as he showed a toothy grin. “Without her, I would not be here.”

Jensen felt his brain snap at the comment and with a screech of rage he moved in, fist coming under in an uppercut, his body ready to unleash a series of brutal flash kicks.

[Hysteria]

The crowed roared, half in exhilaration and half in shock as the immortal and the freak fought. Talen's blue eyes peered silently through his mask at the conflict. Talen rarely fought without an elaborate guise, but this time he had decided it was foolish to present himself as anyone else. He drew solace on the white mask, a simple design with cold eyes and a small smile. His small frame, barely a metre and a half tall, was dressed in a black t-shirt and pants. The mask was framed with his shaggy black hair. Talen stepped up the top of the wall and without another thought dropped through the barrier.

“Is that kid really going compete with those monsters?” a woman, sitting somewhere behind Talen. The youth smiled under his mask.

The calm, stoic demeanour disappeared the moment Talen was through the barrier. His feet pivoted on the wall, kicking himself back up against the barrier. His hands and feet pushed against the solid barrier as he shot on all fours up its inside. The small dark form defied gravity as it moved quickly up the inside of the barrier. Darkness shifted in a haze around the boy's form. His arms thinned and hardened, dark claws stretching down from his fingers and metal encasing his arms up to his shoulders. Spikes of metal shot out of his elbows and knees while two burst out from his back above his spine.

The youth felt his blood rise as he passed over Jensen. Dammit vomit face, always taking the good stuff. Talen was forced to continue, but he had already found new prey. The youth eyed the two men, neither of which he had met before. One was dressed simply, the other in full armour. Talen leapt of the wall, shooting like an arrow towards the two men. His hands lifted out as he twisted and in a flash he had drawn his swords. With concern for himself the youth shot towards the simply dressed Adonis like a shadowy dart. A shrill cry ripped from his mouth, his open jaw bobbing down from below his mask and a his tongue waving in the air.

Talen didn't care if he died, it would only be of a small inconvenience to him. What he wanted was the feel of taking out another in the Cell. In the youth's first foray into the tournament it had been Sei that had killed him, this time he wanted to return the favour to the other combatants. He wanted blood.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis made it about halfway across the arena when a shrill screech was heard from above. His head shot up to see where it was coming from: a figure was lunging straight for him at an astonishing speed. Adonis was never going to be able to unsheathe his sword in time to block. He quickly raised his two fingers up towards the sky as he created a wall of dirt to erupt from the ground.

As the wall erupted into place, eight slimy tendrils erupted from the attackers back and cushioned the blow against the wall.

Adonis unsheathed his sword and released his wall magic, crumbling the dirt wall between them. He wasn't prepared for what he saw: his attacker/opponent was the size of a little kid, with a white mask, dark clothes and tentacles slithering behind his back. Adonis narrowed his eyes; he was going to use what knowledge he had to his advantage.

He swung his sword in a massive arc from the right as a distraction. While his left hand balled up into a fist and went to uppercut his opponent in the chest. Just before he was about to impact with his fist he created a small off white un wall and sent his fist flying three times faster towards his opponents chest.

[Hysteria]

Talen felt his whole body shudder under the strain as he lurched against the competing force of his momentum and the cushioning of the tentacles. The little shadow warrior stumbled backwards as the wall collapsed and his opponent was revealed once again. The tint of failure only managed to fuel Talen's enthusiasm.

As his opponent made to attack Talen played the provocateur, lifting his thin arm into the air to catch the attacking sword easily. The bell of war rung as metal struck metal. A doubt. The blade strike was too weak. The youth cocked his head in a moment of confusion and instinctively brought his right up in front of his body. The blow came hard, catching the metal across Talen's arm and causing the youth to skid backwards.

Talen regained himself and slammed his sword blades into the ground and lifted his hands towards his opponent. The tinge of regret of not getting to fight The Curse of the Ixian Knights had dissipated completely as shadows lifted from his outstretched hands. Blobs of darkness exploded outwards, a cascade of darkness spiralling in a wide cone before arching back into a torrent of hundreds of crows around Adonis. Each one a silent illusion of Talen's darkness.

“Hundred Crows” Muttered Talen.

Two of the tentacles spun around the boy's midsection and wrapped around the hilts of his swords. In a smooth motion they ripped the swords from the ground and continued from both left and right towards Adonis to cut the man in thirds. One aiming for his chest, the other his waist. The white mask continued to smiled its little grin.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis backpedaled as he saw several long tendrils lunge towards him and wrap around his waist, squeezing tightly. He closed his eyes and seethed in pain. When he opened his eyes many black and purple crows were flocking all around him, partially blinding him.

There was a bright flash of metal coming in from each direction, the only thing Adonis could do was use up another Wall, but he was already exhausted enough from using two unwalls and one wall.

Adonis closed his eyes and focused magic beneath his feet. Within seconds there was a blinding light and Adonis lurched skyward on a pillar of earth. Seconds later, Adonis realized that his opponent was still holding on, He leaned back and did a back flip off of the pillar.

Adonis' movements had caused Talen to flip over the pillar and ended up underneath Adonis heading toward the ground. Adonis put his two feet together and lined up his feet with Talen's stomach. They hit the ground with a thud. Talen's tendrils loosened up around Adonis just enough for him to get away.

“Dammit, that is going to give me nightmares,” Adonis muttered to himself as he collapsed down to one knee a good fifteen feet away from his opponent. ”I am not going to last long here. I need to find a weakness and exploit it”

Adonis stood up and stared at Talen intently, his eye color slowly fading away. Adonis shook his head and readied his sword. He quickly lunged towards Talen, hoping to catch him off guard before he had a chance to recover with his Sword ready for an upward slash across the torso.

[Arden]

By virtue of sheer luck, Arden remained unharmed and unopposed at the edge of the arena. The invisible barrier hummed behind him. His cloak fluttered in the soft breeze. His eyes narrowed, picking out every rippling muscle, violent exchange, and display of power. It did not take him long to plot a path through the coming ordeal. It did not take him long on whom to avoid, who to aide, and who to ensure felt the soul-severing edge of Kerria, his bloodied blade, before sunset.

“Not so fast,” he barked.

In a blink of an eye, he had vaulted across the arena, brought his sword down in an arc, and knocked Adonis’s’ sword to the sand. The jolt ran up his arm, and the young boy’s, and sent a shiver through the crowd.

“You’re outnumbered,” he stepped away slowly. He raised Kerria; easing off the pressure to be sure Adonis was not going to overreact. “He is Talen Shadowalker,” he nodded to the shadow bound Ixian Knight.

“Wh-who?” Adonis mumbled. He back-pedalled again, bent at the knee, and raised his sword in defence.

"Arden... the new general certainly seems cocky."

The swordsman smirked. His crimson fringe fell over his eyes. He winked at Adonis, and then turned to Talen.

“I won’t have you pick on people to vent some unsung notion of frustration.” Though the Ixian Knights were mighty in stature and presence, like most heroes, they had a bitter weakness. Arden had long suspected Talen’s was vainglory.

“He came here knowing full we-,” Arden’s sudden forward motion smashed the words out of the shadow mage’s mouth. He barely rebuked the sword thrust, and he rotated clockwise to push the Hound off kilter.

“We all came here for different reasons!” Arden roared. His voice filled the arena with a deep, resounding anger. He span on a heel, slammed down his raised foot, and glared at Talen. “Don’t assume, or judge, and certainly don’t condemn!”

Without further ado, Arden winked at Adonis, and ran at Talen with more finesse and purpose. He would not strike out in anger again. He would fight with subtle, measured motions. He would also fight without petulant interruption. With a click of his fingers, and a hop in his step, he smote the shadow child with silence – he plucked the boy’s ability to speak from him without resistance, and reconnected in battle.

His pauldron barked as swords clashed. It drowned out only by Jensen’s cackle, and Draug’s primeval drawl.

He hoped that wink was sign enough to the young squire from Scara Brae that in Arden, at least, he had a friend. Sometimes, that was all a hero needed to aspire to greater things than an untimely, unsung death.

[Prophet]

Kyle's eyes flared in their smoky flicker, as he walked the hall down, his staff in his hand, his skin covered by a skintight red shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a trenchcoat.

"I wish."

He mused to himself as he looked out over the crowds in front of the door, and the cloudy shimmer in the air, perceived on a level slightly below thinking. He steeled his nerves, grasped his staff tightly, and walked out into the dusty, slightly bloodied, arena where te fights were starting already. Kyle. A prophet by nature, and a fighter by memory.

"And the blood, the pain that will be endured" Kyle thought, as he thought back to that day, not long ago at all, when Sei had freed him from his bondage. He hasn't spoken a word since, it it hurt to even let out a sigh. So, he waited, and came. He would draw blood sometime. He smiled a bright white, insane, smile, which only served to help his bloodlust.

His ears revived by the sound of war, his body pumping adrenaline, he was a machine, a deadly, tan, scarred, killing machine, he waited for someone to strike.



Hell burns here today...

[Hysteria]

Swords clashed, the youth pushed his into Arden's and leapt backwards from the two men, his jaw gaping below the bottom of the mask and his tongue lolling around his mouth like a happy dog. He hadn't recognised the newest general at first, but the description matched too perfectly. The chance to fight both men at the same time urged Talen on, a fire waiting to be sated. He no longer had a reason to hold back. The air around the little warrior darkened slightly. The slight haze was a dark soot, the thin film of magic settled upon anything in the area around Talen, slowly draining away their stamina. The few blades of grass brave enough to grown on the Ixian training ground near Talen wilted and died as the darkness drew out their essence.

The crows from Talen's first attack arched around the trio still, silent watchers of the exchange. The dark visages curled inwards. Their movement slowed, their size grew. The forms jutted forwards as they moved towards the centre of the fight, turning into lines of darkness shifting and melding with the air. The haze of shapes, shifting through geometric absurdity hung around the fighters in a odd display.

Talen lifted his sword towards Arden and tried to make a passing remark to his fellow general, but no sound came from his mouth. The youth realised it must have been the swordsman's doing, but didn't give him the benefit of reacting. Talen lurched forwards, his feet rocketing off the ground towards Arden as the tentacles across his back swayed with the movement. Talen hedged between the two men, his swords slashing in wild swings towards Arden while the tentacles across his back stretched their full length in a wild series of sweeps towards Adonis. Two of the black tendrils had pulled the spikes from Talen's back and swung them with little restrain in a wild flurry. The others simply sword to crush bone.

[Abomination]

The crowd cheered as the fastest man in the IK virtually ran laps around The Abomination. Dust surrounded them for a few moments each time Draug was knocked down, but like a force of nature Jensen dissipated it with his speed. As Jensen moved in, Draug was too slow to avoid the hit and felt the fist collide with his jaw. He heard the snapping of sinew and felt his jaw become dislocated, but he had allowed his malleable form to accept new data. His assimilation of Jensen Ambrose had begun. Draug's head fell back from the blow, but as soon as he brought it back forward he felt a sharp kick to the side of his head. The Cult's Champion felt his footing slip and nearly fell over to the side, unable to close his broken jaw and now with a new pain between his ear and eye. Blood splashed out from the wound, and Draug caught himself before he toppled once more.

Memories flooded into his head, breaking his focus and taking his mind far from the battle. Jensen's last moments with his wife Stephanie came to the forefront of his mind, and Draug felt an influence not unlike that of his mother. It's here somewhere, Stephanie's secrets must be here...

Before he could delve deeper, Jensen completed another backflip and slammed his right heel into Draug's head, this time with enough force to push him over and send him to the ground. More memories surfaced, this time those of his fight with the traitor William Arcus. Death and pain were common in Jensen's life, and it stripped away all coherence from the immortal. The pain of his losses, and yet after each one he came back. The Abomination felt as though he understood the Ixian better, and he quickly got up just in time to nearly receive another blow of Jensen's series of flash kicks. However, he felt his blood rush faster in his veins, and the speed of his movements increased. Maybe he was still not fast enough to counter Jensen's attacks, but...

He dodged the third kick, ducking and jumping forward, his body twisting in a corkscrew to launch an iron dagger from his throat at the still-airborne immortal. Jensen deftly dodged it while in mid-air, the rage in his eyes not faltering for one moment. They both ended up a few meters away from each other, with Jensen not even breaking a sweat while Draug sported a few new bruises on his head. For some reason, the Abomination found this whole situation hilarious. He shoved his jaw back into his head with his left hand and his lips parted, unable to stop a soft chuckle.

With his jaw cracking as he spoke, he said, "You failed to stop mother, failed to stop William Arcus, Seth Dahlios, and now me." Blood dripped down his head and into his mouth as he spoke, the coppery taste filling him with even more excitement. His bear-esque arm mutated back into its original form, and he discarded his cloak, letting it fall gently onto the ground. His bandaged upper body had several spots where it was bleeding through.

"Shut it!" Jensen yelled with a laugh. He kicked the ground and flew forward, ready fluster Draug with another series of attacks that were too fast to counter.

It would have worked on a normal opponent, but Draug was designed specifically for close-range combat. Six arms shaped like bird talons erupted from his back, ready to surround and hit Jensen as soon as he connected his first attack. Jensen saw it coming and stopped his attack, jumping away at the last second while the new arms collided with the ground, kicking up a fresh batch of dust.

"Despite your power, you can't protect the ones you care about. But it's not just about that, is it?" Draug laughed between sentences, caught in a fit he couldn't control. "No, your problem is more fundamental than that. You can't win, because you won't sacrifice anything. You think just because you're immortal, you can throw yourself at your challenges for eternity, but you're wrong. This is why mother is successful, because she risks everything in all her endeavors. All her children are used to advance her goals, even me. If I die, it just means I wasn't good enough for her ambitions." The arms on his back mutated until they were just thin stalks with a blade at the end of them, a mixture of steel and iron that came from his hips, shoulders, and chest. One of them was in the shape of a mace. "An immortal like you would never understand sacrifice. Everyone you care about died in vain!"

This time, Draug was the one on the attack. He charged the immortal with his fists, ready to deliver a series of punches with his body's strength behind them, the arms on his back folding on themselves in order to appear spring-loaded and ready to attack Jensen wherever he dodged.

[Prophet]

Kyle bangs his head on a wall. Excuse the post but i need the 24 hours to wear off at a decent time.

Scratching his arm nonchalantly, Kyle looked up from his cross legged position by the dome. His staff lay in front of him, it's tip shimmering slightly, reflecting the magical blasts, eruptions, and the stormy willpower of the dome. His flickering eyes flared as he inhaled, and he allowed a small breath to escape his mouth, reminding himself of those days in that damned cocoon.

"Like the world spins, i live, make the best of it."

He mused this as a small whirlwind from the inate power of the wind rustled te leaves, starting to fall as Autumn came. Ah, the glory. Yet still he waited, hoped to fill that, void, that gaping hole throughout his mind. He knew nothing than a name he saw carved into a metal lock in the chain. Kyle.

"Come to me, dear friends. Come to me and die."

[Solar Haven]

Adonis looked at Arden, wide eyed. He was already on the edge of exhaustion, he couldn’t take another opponent.

Adonis saw Arden wink at him and then move towards Talen. ”I guess he is here to help? I won't look a gift horse in the mouth,” Adonis stood up straight and stared at Talen and started walking towards him just like Arden was.

Before Adonis could get an attack off, or defend himself, Talen rushed between the new found teammates, slashing relentlessly at Arden. The tentacles on his back lurched and lunged towards Adonis, two with spikes aiming to impale.

Adonis dodged the first few tendrils that were aiming for shoulders and waist. As he spun to avoid the bulk of the tentacles, the shadows that Talen had used earlier distracted him. One of the tentacles had imbedded directly into his abdomen area. Blood spurted everywhere as Adonis slowly backed up a few feet as another tentacle hit him square in the jaw sending him sprawling to the ground. Adonis tried to get up but was coughing uncontrollably, each cough gushing a torrent of blood from the wound in his side.

“Fuck! Was I just lucky to have survived this long?” Adonis cursed as he covered his wound with his left hand and used his right to try and stand up right. ”No, he is the lucky one... he only distracted me. I can do this” Adonis seemed to be more confident with himself. He ripped off his over shirt and tied it around his waist, applying pressure to his wound and stopping the majority of the bleeding.

He sighed and looked down to where his sword rested and reached out to get it. He grabbed a hold of the hilt and noticed just how muscular he had gotten over the years, he was impressed with himself; He stood back up and glared at Talen who was still wildly swinging at Arden. He rushed in and aimed to sever the tentacles from his back. If he could remove his advantage it would be an even playing field.

[Prophet]

Kyle watched lightly before leaping to his feet and running like a bull into the middle of the fight. He lashed out between the meeting of two swords, his staff catching both evenly. The duelists, Arden and Talen, looked at him, he nodded in turn to each of them before rasping out, in a voice that soused like nails in a blender, combined with an explosion. "Why do we not find a common foe? UNITE and fight, then skirmish between the Ixians." After this, he coughed violently, for about a minute, more than enough time for death, before motioning to the other combatant on the battleground.

Kyle lowered his staff from the blades, and smiled that insane grin of his, before running into the thick of battle, staff bridged over one arm, the other pumping as he ran. He took hold of the sturdy oaken branch, lurched to a halt and vaulted with his momentum, through the air, landing nimbly on a slightly raised stone.

Might as well kill one who cannot see, as opposed to some that know the fate and past of another.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen moved swiftly past the first two strikes, but even with all his speed and his agility he found the noose tightening around his neck. It was impossible to fathom, however Draug's words had struck a powerful chord within the immortal. Had he, who could not die, given up nothing for his friends and family when they gave up everything for him? He wasn't sure he liked the truth of the answer. And the unsettling feeling in his gut put him off edge as he began to falter in his defense against the Cult of Blessed Torture's Champion.

Draug's many limbs posed a problem for Jensen in a number of ways, but the most dire was the ensnaring way he could keep Jensen in one spot, like the tangling roots of a tree. The immortal's offense involved maneuverability and the opportunity to hit from unseen angles. Yet Draug's limbs continued to slam hard into the barrier behind Jensen, creating a crystallized scar that fractured, then quickly repaired. Enough force was pushed through to disturb the moss on the walls past the mystic protection, little chunks of olive and green flora tumbling to the floor. The knight tried to feint and weave away, but Draug was determined to let Jensen suffer within his web.

"You grow silent," Draug commented, absorbing a kick to his stomach and nearly back handing Jensen to death. The construct of Cassandra kept his advantage, all six limbs working in tandem as the warriors collided. Jensen's switchblade sword was moved into Scythe mode, but even the reaping weapon had little offense against his attack. "Are you getting tired," Draug mused, a soft chuckle escaping his demented lips. "Or are you accepting the truth of your existence?"

Jensen made to reply when he felt his feet fall from under him. Draug had manged to distract the immortal enough to ensnare him, and Jensen fell to his back. Two limbs launched out quickly from his shoulders, and Jensen felt his arms grasped in a vice. He couldn't move, and his eyes lit up with shock as Draug gave him a coy smile. The knight let out a panicked gasp of giggles, eyes searching for an escape, but it meant little in the time he had.

Draug lifted a long sword from his chest, blood spraying the immortal's face and burning his skin as if some acidic quality ate his flesh away. He could smell the burning stench and nearly wretched, watching the blade come down in an executioner's swing. Jensen's chest exploded with an arterial spray, and his voice rose to a crescendo of howling pain and dark laughter. His bloodied teeth formed a venomous smile, and he went limp in his killer's hands. The monster looked to his prey, seeing Jensen's eyes lose that spark of hate, rolling backwards into his head. His muscles stopped moving; his breath no longer heaving with chuckles.

Jensen Ambrose had died.

"It's done, mother," Draug whispered, all traces of his mounting madness vanishing. He lowered Jensen to the ground with a shove, the immortal's body bouncing into the debris of the chewed up ground and tiny pot holes from Draug's flurry of fists. He turned looking for his next prey licking his lips in anticipation.

When he made his first step forwards his ears shifted. He turned frantically to see Jensen alive and well, a feral, insane grin on his face. His chest still had the line where the blade had killed him, but tiny tendrils of green energy pulsed up and down the wound, closing it and leaving the scar behind. The knight's sword-scythe was replaced with a maul, one Draug knew to be the symbol of the Chaplains order of the Ixian Knights. Crozius illuminated a blue-white light from the tip, the heraldic cross brightly shining as the weapon came out in a horizontal swing. One of Draug's limbs went to block the blow only to have the wrist bone sundered. His flesh looked like a grocery bag filled to the rim and the construct gave an alert shriek of confusion.

"They have not died in vain," Jensen spat, each word a high pitched note of spite and malice. "Their deaths have meaning still." The immortal's next swing broke another arm, and Draug retreated four steps to make room as Jensen pressed his attack. "As long as I draw breath, their deeds will be remembered, their lives never forgotten, and in my immortality they will live forever!"

Draug had to use all four limbs to grasp the maul from the vertical swing, Jensen's jumping attack caught mid air. Draug held him, looking into the eyes of the Enigmatic Immortal, and the two grinned to one another, the abomination tossing Jensen aside. He rolled in the dirt, kicking his feet to drag himself to a crouching position, pulling out two throwing daggers and letting them fly, both warriors screeching a shrill cry of laughter to one another. They had both given each other their complete understanding of the situation. There were no safety nets, there was no holding back. They were about to rip each other apart in the most violent of ways, and it was quite possible the survivor would never be the same for it.

"Who will remember you," Jensen laughed. "When I cut you into a thousand pieces and send you back to your mother?"

((Jensen has used his first of two Undying Immortality.))

[Silence Sei]

Sei watched the battle of the Anita Chamber rage on with a vested interest. Jensen needed no coaching from the mute in order to start going after the abomination known as Draug. Talen and Arden, on the other hand, seemed more intent on fighting one another than focusing on the enemy of the Ixian Knights. “Need I remind the two of you, that a man who killed dozens of your comrades is busy beating the snot out of one of your fellow captains?!”

This plea for a truce between the warriors went unaided, forcing Sei to rub the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Perhaps if I eliminate some of the competition, then they will be more focused on the real threat. Misery.

As soon as Sei had finished the thought, a new entity entered the Cell. The crowd marveled at the tall, plant-like monstrosity. It released what many would consider a roar, though the fearsome declaration was stifled by his sewn up, venus flytrap-like mouth. Sei’s eyes shifted towards the scarred little girl in the corner, the one known as Asha, and instantly, Misery was upon her. The beast grabbed the girl by the arm before she could react, and as she begged the monster to release her, the two of them seemingly vanished out of existence.

The monster returned only seconds later, looking towards the tower Sei resided in like a dog awaiting its masters command. “Xanbata Grim, Misery. We can’t have Draug forging any alliances in here.”

The telepathic creature moved towards one of the walls of the chamber, where the vicious swordsman Xanbata Grim was lurched, awaiting a moment to strike. The man looked up at the eight foot monstrosity before him, and quickly attempted to swipe at him with his blade. Misery caught the weapon, the wind created from the swing briefly bringing its moss-like hair out of his face and revealing his glowing red eyes. There was not even a tinge of fear in the mercenaries eyes as he stared down the beast, before also leaving with him to parts unknown.

The crowd seemed baffled at this, especially when the creature did not return. This was because, at least for the Anita Chamber, the wetland warrior known as Misery was Sei’s enforcer. Crossing the Grandmaster or even showing that one did not wish to die would bring about the presence of the beast into the Anita Chamber, and the creature would instantly take his victim out of the Cell. It was a far less bloody and more humane way to handle things, and while the Imperial loyalist fans didn’t like it; a small rumble of boos could be heard from down below, the Ixian Knights and their families cheered at their leaders benevolence and mercy.

Let us see if that doesn’t motivate Talen and Arden to do the right thing.

((grim137 and BlueGhostOfTheSeaside are eliminated))

[Abomination]

Draug bared his teeth, grinding them with frustration. He knew that Jensen was immortal, that some force makes him come back the next day no matter what damage he took, but this was too fast. The Ixian propped back up almost immediately, it was as if the he was replaced with a body double right before the killing blow, and then switched back again after. He threw what remained of his back-arms in front of the daggers to absorb the hit, feeling the blades pierce completely through the flesh and emerge bloodily from the other side. The Abomination grunted and pulled an enchanted kunai out of the bicep of one of his main arms, using it to reach back and lop off the now useless extra arms.

Mother... my information was wrong. This one is far more troublesome than I anticipated. And that hammer...

He was sure that his strength still surpassed the immortal's, but the amount of effort that went into deflecting the maul was intense. He had heard of the weapon, of how it enhanced the strength of its wielder, but he never imagined that it could make Jensen almost equal to the Cult's Champion. If he took one clean hit from that hammer, his entire head would pop off like a grape. He stepped back and roared, a smile crossing his lips and a fire burning in his eyes. He was getting caught up in the moment, in the thrill of the fight. In the entire Lornius Corporate Championship his opponents were too weak. They would run from him, use tricks, summons, and always Draug found himself unable to finish the job. Jensen was different. He could take what Draug dished out. He could kill the Abomination.

Jensen charged him while cackling, preparing the maul for a strong swing into Draug's side. The Abomination dropped the kunai down his throat to re-assimilate it, and then pulled out another steel sword, readying it to meet the tip of the hammer. He gripped the blade with both hands and swung hard, the muscles in his arms crying out in agony from the attack. The maul met the blade head on and completely shattered it, and the only thing the attack accomplished was slowing down the hammer long enough for Draug to dodge away from the attack, jumping to his side and rolling on his shoulder. He landed on his feet and stood back up, looking down at what was left of his sword. I'm on the defensive?

It was then that he saw the creature known as Misery picking apart his competition one by one, disappearing just as quickly as it came. He knew what it was by its descriptions, but what was it doing in the arena? It could not be a competitor... Was Memnar right about this tournament being a trap after all? If the creature got its tendrils on him, he could easily be transported deep into an Ixian cage. He did not have time to think about it however, as the maniacal Jensen was already upon him. The plant monster did give him an idea.

Dropping the broken sword, Cassandra's son extended his right arm, feeling it transmute into a softer form and growing several feet in length, its shape more resembling a whip made of flesh. Its tip was still as hard as iron, but its purpose was not to match the maul. Draug threw his whip-like arm at Jensen's feet, hoping to wrap around it and entangle the immortal. Jensen noticed this move and jumped back, hopping backwards on the ground until he was a safe distance away from this new threat. The maul was lowered and touched the ground, eating into it like the dirt was made of water. Observing this reaction, he turned his other arm into a tentacle as well, holding them up and oscillating them to create momentum.

He may be able to revive repeatedly now... but even so, all I need to do is constrict his movements after his next death.

He could pull out his muscle fibers and tie the immortal up. That would eliminate him as a threat, but how would he even kill him again? He glared at the maul, and conjured a plan.

"Even immortals have to die someday," Draug quipped. He still did not have access to the memories he needed. He needed to get back to Memnar's laboratory to get a clearer image. The bits and pieces he acquired were confusing and surreal. Stephanie's presence was a constant, invading every attempt to access a deeper memory. It was like Stephanie was interfering with his very essence, the mere concept of her throwing Draug off. Who was she, anyway?

He threw his arms forward, having them fly at the immortal after winding them up for speed. If he made Jensen immobile for even a moment, the full bulk of his strength would come crashing down upon the immortal, rending him asunder.

"Don't worry, after I rip you apart I'll make sure everyone you know can go ahead and live through you!"

[Hysteria]

Two solid thumps in a row. The youth felt the black tendrils widely swinging behind him strike something. A crack of excitement rippled up his spine. He longed to turn, to see if he had brought down Adonis. His swords moved down towards his fellow Captain when something unexpected happened.

The impunity...

Talen had to stop his sword slicing through the oak staff and cutting down Kyle. The shock at having is own underling interrupt his fight filled him with barely contained rage. His 'subordinate' pranced away leaving Talen stunned. The youth's mask hid the confusion and contempt plastered across his face.

The moment disappeared as a sword sliced through one of Talen tentacles. The youth jumped to the side, moving out from between his two foes. Another sword stroke took its toll and brought Talen's back tendrils down to six. The black severed limbs twitched on the ground like a severed worms. Their form didn't last long after being cut and evaporated into the air. The respite was tinged with another distraction.

Sei.. get out of my head. You really think he needs my help? You have that much faith in him?

Talen skidded to a halt and lifted his eyes passed Arden to Jensen. A bloody spray of the Immortal's blood was visible even from a distance. Wait for it... Jensen rose from the dead, the literal resurrection, performed for twice daily if you had the right amount of money. Talen's acidic thoughts were probably loud enough for Sei to hear, at least it would have to do with his voice muted. The youth somewhat envied the Immortal's ability, his own similar one a shadow of a replica, literally.

The giant fly trap however was something Talen had not seen before. The youth didn't bother worrying about it. This wasn't his first Cell. The ones that were boring quickly found themselves disqualified. Talen would admit that the plant was more inventive than last time. Talen's eyes had found something more pleasing to look at. Adonis was clutching his side, and though he had cut off two of Talen's tentacles, he was looking much worse for wear.

The youth ignored Arden and charged towards his original opponent. His swords lifted in front of him in a suicide dash. The youth planned to run through Arden, and he didn't care how it ended. The ground pounded with each fast foot fall. The roar of the crowd, the smell of blood in the air and the fear of immediate and painful death. Talen was in heaven.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis smirked as he felt his blade rend through two of Talen's tentacles.

“Just a few more and we are on...” Adonis flinched as the wound in his side throbbed, he took a few steps back and looked up at Talen just as a Giant beast appeared, not just once but twice, removing what seemed to be idle contestants. “If you're boring you get removed? I guess that is one way to keep things interesting.” Just as quickly as it had come, the beast was gone.

Adonis looked down just in time to see Talen rushing straight towards him, Kamikaze style. Adonis had barely any time to react, he used the last of his magic to create a thin wall of dirt. It did nothing to stop Talen as he barreled straight through the wall. Adonis writhed in pain as Talen's sword plunged into his chest, rupturing his lungs.

Fear, panic and pain could be read across Adonis' face. Blood began running out of his mouth and down his chin. As the cloud of dirt cleared up, Adonis noticed on last thing: his sword was embedded deep in Talen's chest. It looked like it would have connected with his right lung, but as his vision faded out, all he could do was let out a gurgled chuckle. He may have lost but his opponent would soon be joining him.

[Hysteria]

Dirt exploded in every direction as Talen smashed through the small dirt wall. The youth expected his opponent to have moved, but instead came face to face with him. Swords pierced skin and in a flash Talen was rolling off Adonis. The youth felt a heavy feeling in his chest. For a moment Talen stared up at the sky. The sun seemed harsher as it beat down on the field. The momentary respite helped his mind catch up. The moment would have been peaceful, but the youth wrenched to the side and coughed up a mouth full of blood. Talen's skin was hard, thicker than last time when Sei had run him through.

It was adrenaline and force of will that made Talen stand. The black tentacles across his back drooped weakly behind him. His dark, thin limbs hung low. The roar of battle settled down on people, the constant endorphins rush subsided to leave only aching pain. The youth managed to hold onto one of his swords, his left hand was pressed against the wound in his chest. It didn't do much, but the pressure helped slightly with the pain.

“Fuck...” Talen paused and spat blood on the ground, the bottom of his mask was flicked with red. More blood ran down his chin and contrasted against the small smile across the mask, “Arden, you going to help Jensen or should we finish this?”

Talen didn't have the peace of mind to realise that he had left the area of the silence spell, he was focused on staying standing. The determined warrior lifted his sword up towards the swordsman. The youth was pretty sure he wouldn't last long, but it was better than being despatched by the abomination, or worse, Jensen. The calm falling over his body was a unique experience. Talen had heard that the brain releases chemicals near the time of death, creating a sort of euphoria. Having experienced it a few times, Talen could certainly attest to its truth. The sudden calm demeanour settling across him was even more proof.

[Arden]

Arden took a cautionary step back. The last few minutes had passed by in a blur. White lights danced in his peripheral vision. With Adonis’s death imminent, and Talen’s injury apparently severe enough to cause him concern, the swordsman fell silent. He did not need spell or command to cause his mouth to shut.

Ixian Knights still think themselves high and mighty, he mused.

Since his departure, and subsequent return, much had changed in his mind. His heart had healed. His mettle had become as hard as steel. His morality, unwavering. He had re-joined on Duffy’s behest, to ensure that the members of the knighthood did not stray too far from that ancient, odious ‘prophecy’ the Orlouge’s clung to like hope.

His plan was simple. It was working, too well.

“You finished yourself, Shadow Walker,” he spat. A gobbet of spit struck the sand like a meteor, an omen of portent for the boy, and one of resignation from proceedings for the blood mage. He gripped Kerria’s hilt tightly, took it into his right hand, and turned to Adonis.

“…help,” the boy groaned. He spoke with bloodied lips, and a glazed expression telling of failure.

“Learn one thing here today boy,” Arden spoke louder, stronger, and with an air of authority. “You are never alone, even when all around you wish you dead. Allies always come, when you least expect them.” He stepped forwards, careful not to expose his flank to Talen’s shadow magic, and held out a gauntleted hand.

“Friends?” Adonis burbled.

Arden shook his head. “Hold out your hand, and pledge fealty to the ancient gods of this island. If you would have another chance, and wield the strength you found, I can give you one more try at this idiot.” He nodded to Talen, and then held Kerria with both hands. He stepped forwards, gesturing for Adonis to let nature take its course. “Consent to this, and let death take you.”

“What are you doing, ‘captain’?” Talen seethed.

Arden smirked, his composure finding resolve despite the hellion cries and mad cackles echoing around the cavernous cell dome. His red eyes stared into Talen’s pallid orbs, piercing with the scrutiny and wisdom of someone-who-had-seen.

“Showing you some humility,” was his only explanation.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen's arms and legs were feeling like rubber yet he pushed his exhaustion back out of his mind. He had fought too many battles; in too many wars, to give in now. He had fought William Arcus enough times to counter the abomination's strength, but his speed was close enough to Jensen that he had to kick up the extra spurts of agility to stay one step ahead.

But he was one step ahead. Even with the whip like arms thrashing around trying to ensnare him, Jensen had felt his control was absolute. Druag was an opponent like never before. One who could assimilate his body to counter the immortal's attacks, but there in lied his flaw. He had to react to whatever Jensen did, and his offense was limited because of it. Jensen had fought many things that attmepted to ensnare him, the Blood Root from the Red Forest being one that immeadietly came to mind. All he had to do was keep moving, and the rest would work itself out.

He had ran out of throwing weapons already, their discarded, bloody remains kicked away from Jensen's reach or lost within the swirling melee. His eyes spotted Crozius off near the battle with-

When did the bed wetter get allowed to join? Jensen thought with a dark chuckle noticing Talen for the first time. He observed their fight for a split moment and his eyes suddenly sparked as he returned to leading Draug around the arena. Each time he dodged an attack a section of the barrier exploded in sparks, hairline fractures quickly sealing in the wake of the impact. Dirt ripped from the earth like an impacting cannonball with each smash of the abomination's fist. Jensen processed information at an alarmingly fast rate, and He took another peak at Talen and saw Arden Janelle. His mind formulated a plan immediately.

I really should thank Sei for all those Teamwork workshops... Jensen mused, his giggles returning in earnest. He had all the tools he needed to finish off Draug, he just needed the pieces to fall in the right spot.

((PM's sent to all involved guys. I need an answer ASAP.))

[Prophet]

From his point on the rock, Kyle watched the melee continue, and then raised an eyebrow in the weirdness, he was being ignored as a foe. Perhaps saved for later? He lodged his staff in a crack and leaned on it, his scarred back and chest burning from rubbing the wounds on his body with the shirt. He grimaced and then Kyle sat down, laid his staff on his lap, closed his eyes, and listened.

[Hysteria]

Talen's lowered his sword, the tinge of anger subsided and he let out a defeated laugh. He was passed caring about the eccentricities of the other Capitan. The youth even vaguely knew that he was the one asking for ridiculous requests.

“Fine, you'll do what you want.” said Talen.

The youth twisted on the spot and looked towards the last battle. It had drawn to a stalemate. Talen watched as Jensen moved with incredible speed to evade the flood of attacks. There was no mistaking it, the fight was going to be drawn out if the pair were left to their own devices. The words Talen had thought back to Sei would probably come back and bite him now. The youth swallowed his pride and decided that he would indeed intervene.

The black tentacles lifted up and wrapped around the youth. The flailing limbs curled around the spikes that protruded from his elbows and knees. With a slow pull they were free and each of his six remaining tendrils was now wrapped around a thirty centimetre spike. They moved slowly at first, lifted up into the air ready to strike. Talen almost looked like a multi-tailed scorpion.

The moments of watchful quiet had not been for nothing. Talen had given himself enough time to focus. Then, in the blink of an eye the youth disappeared. Moving through the shadow realm took an instant. A moment after he had disappeared the youth was standing behind Draug. From a distance Talen had been able to escape two facts, first just how disgusting Draug was. After the fight he looked even worse, like someone had stapled a man together from off-cuts of meat. The second was the smell. From a distance Talen had smelt blood. Standing behind Draug was like being hit in the face with a rare steak.

Talen couldn't afford the luxury of pausing. His tentacles slammed down, smashing their spikes through the abomination's legs and arms. Two tentacles smashed into his chest, but rebounded with a ring of metal. All six wrapped around the offending limbs as the youth did his best to keep the creature still.

Alright Vomit Face, lets see what you can do.

[Solar Haven]

Adonis reached up and grabbed the gauntlet of the man before him. Instantly, he felt a burning sensation within his chest. The pain was so intense he closed his eyes. His body went limp as the last of his life left him.

“You really are a weakling. no skill with your rusted ass sword... extremely limited magic that couldnt even protect you in your final moment... what the hell kind of fighter are you?” a deep voice chortled.

“I am not a fighter. I have never held the pretense that I am... I only do what I must to protect others,” Adonis said with conviction

“A Lover instead of a Fighter? I hear that all to often down here,” the voice said again. “Why were you enrolled in a tournament for Fighters then?”

“I went there looking for experience. If I don't know how to fight others, then how am I supposed to protect people from the evil?”

“From the evil? And yet here we are!” The voice roared with amusement “You want another chance against that Talen guy do you not?”

“I would relish another chance in that tournament, there is much for me still to learn”

“If only you knew how right you were” The voice faded out as Adonis opened his eyes and realized that Arden had his sword stuck into his chest.

Adonis stood up and grabbed his sword from the ground near him. His eyes were now glossed over and seemed to have changed from their usual Hazel to an Ice blue. Adonis nodded at Arden as Talen took off and grabbed a hold of the Freak at the far end of the arena and Jensen seemed to be looking at a weapon that was on the ground near Adonis. He looked at the weapon then at Jensen and nodded, Adonis' body moving on it's own towards the maul.

[Prophet]

Kyle, the Battlemaster by some. Insane by others, barely felt the knife enter his back, slicing through his lung and puncturing his heart. His eyes widened for a minuscule fraction of a second, he collapsed backwards, his staff clattering to the ground. His chest fell, he did not rise.

"Life has no meaning, when one is the first piece of the puzzle" was the last thought that passed through his mind. It described the life he lived after what happened that fateful day Sei had rescued him.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

Jensen watched the pieces fall into line and kept Draug's attention on himself. What was about to happen involved inherit trust for Talen and Arden to work together with Jensen for the victory he knew he could pull off. The other part of the puzzle came together from the man he did not know. It was his magic that allowed Jensen to reach Draug quickly, and it would be his hand again that would get Jensen the tool he needed. The guy was beaten, bruised, and bloody but he looked to the Maul, saw its power and looked back to the knight. His nod was all the immortal needed to make the play. The final piece was his brotherhood with the Tantalum troupe member. It would involve Arden understanding body language and no words.

When it was time Jensen blindly moved without a thought. Arden and Jensen had shed much blood at the Night of Debauchery, the Cult's attack forging a stronger bond between the hound and the immortal. When Talen's tentacles wrapped around Draug the abomination roared, turning to assess his new threat. The moment came and like lightning he was off.

Jensen laughed, his echoing mirth lost in the cry of the crowd as the knight moved like the wind right. The hound moved forwards, rushing as he slid to the ground, rotating in the dirt kicking up dust with his back to Draug. The immortal ran the length of a wide circle coming back towards Arden and placing his boot between cupped hands. When he pushed up Jensen threw all his power into the wind, launching himself high into the air nearly breaching a third of the distance to the top of barrier. His teeth hummed to be in such proximity, and the crowd gasped. On queue the unknown warrior had launched Crozius in the air and Jensen reached out a hand, grabbing the maul and twirling it to his hands, his laughter turning into a shriek of madness.

"Ashes to ashes," Jensen sang with a demented lyrical tune. "We all," he seethed, his weapon overhead coming down in a two handed blow for the stationary Draug. There was no escape, there was no chance to dodge. This was it, the end. They matched eyes, and Jensen roared with laughter. "Fall..."

The maul landed, and Jensen felt his muscles spike in protest at the sudden stopping of movement. He collided the tip of his Maul with the peak of Draug's skull, and Talen's tentacles released the abomination to back away from the spray of the acidic blood. Jensen cared not, his chest, face and arms sizzling from the poisoned vitae, but Draug's face was crushed in. What was once the poster champion of the Cult of Blessed Torture was now a deformed, stinking wreck.

"Down..." he whispered to the corpse watching it collapse to the ground.

((All bunnying and control APPROVED by all parties))

[Abomination]

Permission obtained from all those involved.

The crowd cheered the moment the weapon hit, splattering the Abomination's brains like a watermelon. He still stood after the blow, his feet sinking several inches into the ground, as if he was a statue, and then he fell forward. It was the first time they had seen the Cult truly vulnerable, and for their heroes the Ixian Knights to prove that they could fight the terrors that Cassandra Remi wrought. The old man on the wall was silent, still shaken by the idea that he stood next to the Ixian Killer and even told him about his son. He looked down for a moment, thinking that maybe he finally had his vengeance, but the crowd's cheers turned to gasps and shrieks. The old man looked into the battlefield once more, and he saw a perplexing sight: Jensen's head was missing, and he was lying lifeless in the dirt.

He asked a nearby onlooker, "What happened?!"

The onlooker shook his head and responded, "I-I don't know! It j, just exploded! ...Aah!!"

The next sight was even worse, for the Abomination pulled itself out of the ground despite his crushed head and leapt upon Jensen's body, sprouting several new arms from below his tentacles and holding down the immortal's arms and legs. Draug's head looked like a pruned grape, a writhing mass of eyeballs and lips. Jensen's own desire for a killing blow backfired spectacularly due to Draug's Recoil ability, and the arcane egg he received after the LCC insured that Cassandra's son survived the fatal blow to his head.

As flesh grew sloppily around his features, in a guttural, choking voice he exclaimed, "Go ahead and revive, immortal! Let's see how many lives you can shed!" As his hair started to grow back, his eyes found homes in new sockets and rows of sharp teeth lined his new jaw. His tentacle arms return to their original form, although they were bleeding from Talen's constricting tendrils. "What's wrong? You want to stay dead this time?" He pressed his knees into Jensen's legs, his various grips tightening. At this point, he was bleeding through all of the bandages on his upper body, some of them falling off to reveal the stitched flesh beneath.

Talen kept his distance, but uttered, "You took out his head. He's not bouncing back from that."

For the moment, Draug did not know whether or not to believe it. It was true that he didn't see any of that green magic this time, but that could mean anything. He got back up, his arms stretching from his chest to maintain his hold on the immortal's body. Reaching into his throat, he pulled out another sword and shoved it into Jensen's head. Lifting up a foot, he stomped on the handle of the weapon until only the hilt was sticking out of the Ixian. Even if Jensen sprouted another head, he was trapped. The growth that was his nose grew out from the center of his face, and skin started to cover his flesh. His hair finally grew out except for his eyebrows, and all that was left was the flesh around his mouth, but Draug decided not to let that part regenerate. No, he liked the expression he had now. His exposed teeth grew much further into his head than a normal person, so he looked like he had teeth nearly from ear to ear, in a permanent malevolent smile. Despite his appearance, his laughing tics had faded. He no longer felt any memories in his mind, but it was of little concern.

The crowd was nearly rioting, some of them pleading to Sei to finally take out Draug for good. They were getting desperate, some of them even believed that the barrier was not enough to protect them, and climbing down the wall on the other side to escape. That was the kind of influence that Draug exerted, the kind of fear that they had learned from the Cult's actions in this region. Draug looked up into the sky, his tentacle arms mutating back into their original forms, and he raised a fist, challenging the Orlouge himself. He knew that Sei would not intervene, for it would mean that he had lost total control of the situation. No, it was up to Arden and Talen to regain the people's trust. The Abomination briefly considered going into assimilate one of the remaining Ixians, but he decided to lean down and touch Jensen, feeling his blood pump faster and his agility increase once more. Maybe it was not sufficient to outrun any of the remaining competitors, but it was enough to not be at the mercy of their speed.

Stephanie also reared her head again, erecting a mental block between Draug and her secrets. If the Cult's Champion was not currently entranced with the thrill of the fight, he might have noticed the similarity between her influence and his own mother's. He was laughing again, laughing at the sky and at the crowd, laughing at Jensen's body, and laughing at nothing in particular as well.

Stepping away from Jensen's body, Draug opened up his maw and threw up a pile of bloody flesh onto the ground. Blood dripped from his exposed teeth, and the flesh on the ground started violently thrashing about and growing like a balloon made of tumors. From this petulant mass emerged two paws, and the rest of the hound followed. It was made entirely of muscle, and its head was nothing but ear holes, nose holes, and a never-ending jaw even more extreme than Draug's. Acid dripped from its snarling black lips. Another dog emerged from the pile before it decompressed, and together they immediately took off toward the likes of Arden Janelle and Xaxan Prophet. If they were to be ripped apart by the iron-crunching jaws of the Abomination's minions, then Adonis would be their next target.

Draug turned to Talen, his arms retracting back into his body save for his original two. The punctures in his limbs were not fully healed, but they were sealed up for the moment. He had lost nearly half his extra blood in his battle with Jensen, so he could not afford to take as much damage as before. Luckily, Jensen left him a little parting gift.

He kicked up a weapon that was lying next to Jensen, a weapon known to multiply the strength of its user. Crozius. He spun it around and started walking towards Talen, his exposed teeth still covered in blood, his dark eyes peering through the Shadow Walker. With a swing, he slammed it into the ground, and the combination of the weapon's enchantment and his own strength caused the impact to be as if a siege weapon hit the courtyard, sending a shockwave in all directions.

"I don't believe we've met," he said, crimson liquid dripping through his mouth as he talked. "I'm Draug Remi, and this," he said, referring to to the maul. "Is your death warrant."

Kicking the dirt, he flew at Talen wielding the maul preparing for a horizontal strike. He was aware of Talen's tendrils now, and prepared for them by growing two arms out of his shoulder blades that split into a dozen thin tentacles each, making him akin to a very ugly peacock. They were not strong enough to hurt Talen, but they made sure he did not get ensnared by the dark tendrils again.

[Solar Haven]

The plan was almost flawless. Everything went off without a hitch, the Freak was pinned, Jensen was teleported above the freak, and Adonis lobbed the maul at Jensen just in time for him to crack it down on the top of the Abomination's head, turning it into a pile of goo.

Normally, the next few moments would of caused Adonis to puke up his insides. However whatever was inside of him, that had healed his wounds and restored him back to health seemed to have a much stronger stomach then Adonis did. The Abomination puked up some rather rancid looking hounds and they took off towards Arden and the on looker that seemed to be doing nothing but watching.

The Abomination then took off towards Talen. Putting the maul behind him, getting ready for a massive swing.

“Now! Do a dirt wall now! You moronic child!” A deep voice echoed within Adonis' mind. Adonis was startled he looked around try and find where it had come from and how they knew his abilities.

“You fucking slow meat bag!” The Voice boomed again as Adonis' body began moving on it's own. Adonis was charging directly at the freak when he snapped his fingers materializing a dirt wall in front of the freak while the maul was still behind him. The wall wouldn't stop the beast, but it would do enough to slow him down and daze him, and that’s all Adonis would need to get his sword lodged inside the beast.

[Hysteria]

Talen's eyes peered through his mask in unbelieving shock at the headless body of Jensen. What had been a rather straight forward plan had backfired, or rather rebounded back onto the Immortal. Talen bit his tongue from saying any more to the abomination. The youth knew that death was not forever for Jensen, but it wasn't going to be soon enough to help. With the calm of someone who has stared down death many times before Talen stuffed a cigarette under the bottom of the mask that he pulled from his pocket and lit it with the small contraption under his wrist. A thin smoke trail lifted from the cigarette, framed by the blood smeared across Talen's mouth and mask. The thin eyes and small fake smile from the white mask remained emotionless.

The youth felt the cigarette take effect. His body felt lighter, freer than before. The youth didn't move to stop the desecration of Jensen's body. The crazy persona that Talen let radiate to the world quietened. A cold rage burned within him at the actions of the creature. It was only the cold, calculating centre of the boy that stopped him from charging in to enact revenge. As much as he wanted too. Jensen was more than another Capitan, more than a rival. The Immortal was a role model, a tower of cock-sure strength that had dazzled the naive Talen upon joining the knights. Sure, Talen could respect Sei, but he wanted to be like Jensen.

A childhood on the streets, a life spent in secret and shadows. The youth could hide his feelings well. Certainly he was able to control them. Regardless of the situation, if the youth was serious, and he was now certainly serious, he would not fail easily.

Talen removed the guard that kept his essence in check. The corruptness source of his make, pure and unadulterated darkness lifted outwards from the boy, filling the air with soot that would drain away the energy of any creature exposed to it for too long. The youth didn't stop, darkness manifested, shadows ripped out from the ground in swaths, filling the air with rippling waves. Talen kicked himself to the right, ignoring the pain ripping through his exhausted body. Using the illusions as cover the tentacles lashed out to their full eight metres lengths and pierced the shadows. Talen was not quite as fast as Jensen, but in this form, with the magic of the cigarette mixing with his own innate speed he was damn close. Talen's body ploughed across the ground around Draug, the youth doing his best to turn Draug into a pincushion, as his tentacles lashed out over and over through the tide of darkness. Talen hadn't missed a beat, with the resurrected Adonis approaching, a fact he would have to look into later, he youth at sought to weaken and distraction the abomination.

[Arden]

Arden was satisfied with his work. He watched Adonis charge Draug with reckless, feckless abandon. As he had declared to the guardian at the door, he was fighting for freedom. The sombre man had likely assumed the swordsman meant his own. In truth, The Hound was already free, so his struggles in the domed arena were for the benefit of others.

“A shame…,” he mused, as he turned his attentions to the carnal remnants of the enigmatic immortal. There was little charisma and charm to him now. “At least he’s free.” For a while, Jensen Ambrose was free of his eternal burdens.

He clenched his fists tightly around Kerria’s hilt. It still throbbed with power and satisfaction, an enjoyment for blood it shared with its master. Adonis’s’ resurrection had awakened something within the blade, and now, fighting to be let lose, Arden restrained its desires with a grit of his teeth and patience.

With hesitation, Arden watched Talen and Adonis make to break the shape shifter. If the creature had bested the strongest of the Ixian Knights, then he was too powerful for even the combined strength of the cell’s combatants. Though tentacles darted, and earth walls rose, they were paltry distractions against the instilled rage and self-loathing of the scorned sibling of the murder goddess. He shivered.

“Your husband…your son…your entire family,” he whispered.

One day, Draug would find freedom as well. For now, Arden turned to the solitary onlooker, who had, until now, chained himself to the rock in silent observation. Stepping forwards with determination and malice, the swordsman approached.

“Adonis is free of his self-doubt. Talen is free of his idolatry. Jensen is free of his recklessness…,” he snarled. A flesh hound ran in between his crimson blade and the hellish target. It turned to Arden, hesitated, and then charged with a gibbering, snarling glee.

No sooner than it did, Arden shunted his pauldron forwards, and let lose the Mastiff.

“What shall I free you from?” he asked the man, ignoring the hound as his own shadow guardian commence a brawl with it, scrapping and biting and snapping with abyssal fangs and an aura of midnight swirling around him. Mist and blood fell from both dogs, and Arden ran around them in a half-hearted charge. His boots thudded the earth. His cloak swirled in crimson trails, flickering like flame.

He roared. His pauldron roared. The crowd roared.

[Prophet]

Kyle rose with a grimace. He gripped his staff, his eyes flaring.

"I will not be freed, i am Kyle, Insane Battlemaster, i will not fall. "

He roared this in his head, before spinning his staff in his hands and running forward, he jabbed his staff forward, the spike aiming for Arden's neck, his fett propelling himself forward.

"SEI! Help me one last time!"

He shouted this mentally in the direction of the tower, the throne he knew was up there. He begged for one true strike, to have the satisfaction of killing just one man.

"Do me only this..."

[Arden]

Whatever Sei Orlouge did or did not want, Arden Janelle was not parlay to his whims. Though the staff was aimed true, he did not remain corporeal for long enough to be impaled upon it.

“Freedom comes to those who never knew they were chained,” he whispered, as his body vanished in a whirl of blue ribbons.

Though chaos reigned all around them, peace found the small space occupied by a solitary staff wielder. Arden’s momentum carried him through his opponent, and when he re-appeared, in an equally vibrant maelstrom of colour, he was some five feet on the opposite side.

“But if you won’t fight me on your own merit,” he whirled about. His feet slammed down on the sand. His greaves scraped over his knee plates, and his entire body jolted with adrenaline. “I will not fight you at all.”

True to his word, as ever, the swordsman waved his hand through the air. A sphere of silence formed around his own body, and he moved it with him as he broke away from the man still chained to heroes and the concept of ‘luck’. Denied a victory, he had it on good authority that the black haired, fiery eyes creature would let rage consume him.

Swaddled in a gown of silence, mystery, and clean hands, Arden broke into a run. His cloak whipped behind him, but shrunk to shoulder length, more a scarf, as he made towards Adonis. He held Kerria aloft, its bloodied blade glinting in the dim light. Behind him, the Mastiff let out a blood curdling howl that pierced even the potency of the Cell’s barrier, and signalled its momentary death. The flesh hound died with it.

I hope I am not too late, he thought to himself, panting without sound, and feeling completely one again as the Mastiff’s soul reformed in his pauldron. There's only one more person to free...

That person sat high atop a tower, out of sight, but eternally on the Hound's mind.

[Prophet]

you read minds?

Kyle raised an eyebrow and let his eyebrow rise, his mouth twisted into an insane grin he mentally laughed.

"I am not so easily induced to rage. It will take a bit more than some phasing to spark me"

He shuddered and ran towards the man, allowing his pain to be reduced to pure strength, aiming for his chest, he struck, allowing himself to carry forward, he brought it down.

"And the dance ends..."

[Abomination]

Draug dodged the Shadow Walker's tentacles as best he good, swinging Crozius at them only to see them retract back to their master. His own shoulder-tentacles whipped at the oncoming ones, deflecting them temporarily each time but getting destroyed by the end of it.

He's not letting me get close! Even with my added speed, I can't close the distance.

Someone who fought Draug at range was the worst type of opponent. What's more, the battlefield was being altered by the shadows. The Abomination felt them tugging at his strength like hungry children. He continued his charge, feeling his grip on the maul tighten.

Suddenly, a wall of dirt erupted between him and his prey. Draug had no idea where it came from, but he smashed through it with the maul, the force of the blast sending another round of shockwaves across the arena. The wall burst from the damage, completely dismantled, and created a fast-expanding cloud of dust. Draug was rendered blind by this, but he could still feel his connection in his hounds, although one of them had just died to Arden's own pet. The Cult's Champion remembered the swordsman from the war, and realized that he was the close range fight he sought. He sent his remaining minion toward Arden to buy time.

He leaned back and his cheeks were immediately filled with more generated flesh. He snapped his head forward and opened his mouth, allowing it all to spill out once more. It grew into a bulbous sack of flesh and then two more of his minions emerged them it, growling with blood dripping off their exposed muscles. With a mental command, they attacked Talen, seeking to rip him apart, or at least dispose of those tentacles.

While all this was going on, he felt a sword cut into his stomach. A fresh bout of pain coursed through his body, his organs tearing apart from the force of the blade. He looked down as the dust cleared and there was Adonis, an opponent he had not really considered to be a threat this entire time. Aside from the head-smashing, it was the best hit anyone had gotten on him all day. Blood sprayed from the wound, bandages were ripped apart and fell to the ground, and Draug's roar echoed into the sky, his exposed teeth gnashing together in rage. Throughout all this, he could not help but laugh, feeling Jensen's power still flowing through him.

He brought his hammer up, dug in his heels, and swung downwards at the bounty hunter.

Summary: The immediate area has been filled with dust from the destruction of the dirt wall. Two minions are attacking Talen. The one from before is attacking Arden. Draug himself is attacking Adonis with the maul.

[Silence Sei]

As Kyle begged for the mercy of his leader, Sei simply shook his head. As Grandmaster of the Cell, it was his duty to make sure that the rules stayed in place, and while previous Grandmasters abused their powers and got involved directly in the conflict, Sei was far from a person to go about breaking all the rules. The dying prophet should have known the benevolent mute at least that well.

“Misery,” Sei called to his beast, “Make it quick.”

While the telepath hated issuing an order like this to one of his own, he knew that it had to be done. Kyle had a sword shoved through his body, more specifically straight at his heart. It would only be a minute or so before the man would bleed out, if he was not already a dead man walking.

The plant creature appeared beside Kyle, touching him and releasing another howl. This time, however Kyle’s body slumped to the ground, his body convulsing and writhing on the dirt. Misery disappeared as the Ixian still lay in his paralyzed state. It was Sei’s hope that the monster would lower Kyle’s adrenaline, and put the poor warrior out of his pain. However, this was the Cell, and such things rarely ever went according to plan.

((Prophet is warned for Powergaming. His character is paralyzed for one post, only able to watch the action and remain inside his own thoughts. After one post, Prophet is free to move again, but he must wait for at least 2 posts by his competitors before he can make post #2.))

[Solar Haven]

Adonis smirked as the freak roared in front of him, His sword had embedded itself deep within the freaks stomach. The sound it made burying itself within the freaks stomach made Adonis full of joy, and evil cackle erupted from his mouth. He applied a tighter grip on the sword and pulled it out. He looked up at the freak as the Maul was coming down on top of him, the same maul that had turned his head to jello not to long ago.

There was an incoherent chortle come from within Adonis' mind as he quickly shoulder rolled to the side and snapped his fingers, creating an unwall in front of the Maul slamming it into the ground. The force was so severe it shook the arena and sent Adonis flying back from the pure concussive force. The freak on the other hand just kept looking at the ground, chuckling as his eyes came back up to meet Adonis.

“You got some guts kid, shame I have to spray them across the ground” The freak said as he now faced Adonis.

“Meatsack, let me handle him. You will only get yourself killed.”

“Who are you!” Adonis cried out in frustration as he got up to one knee and got ready to sprint full force into the freak.

“By your tongue? Many call me an Oni, others call me a Demon, but what I really am? Is your only chance at winning this! So consent to me taking over your body”

“Fine, I consent. Only if I get control back after the tournament” Adonis nodded as he took off like a shot towards the freak, sword at the ready to slash through the freaks skin. The freak stood still, not moving even though Adonis was charging him head on.

“Bad move” The freak chuckled as two more arms erupted from his stomach and impaled Adonis, they seemed to latch on to something inside of him. “Mmm, you have Juicy kidneys...” He licked his lips as he stared into Adonis' eyes.

He brought the Maul back up above his head and began to bring it down as strong as he could. Adonis grinned as a white light was briefly visible under his feet. When the light disappeared a wall of dirt erupted from under neath him propelling him upwards. However it was too slow, the Maul connected with Adonis' skull shattering it, it continued to pass through Adonis as the wall beneath his feet pushed him upwards.

The wall crumbled and Adonis, or what was left of him, took to the air. His left arm and leg crossed the arena and splattered against a wall and created a beautiful blood splatter. The right side landed in front of Arden, the man who had saved Adonis before, and slid to a stop leaving a blood smear on the floor.

The was cries of fear, panic, and excitement from all over the walls as a brilliant spray of blood was left all over the arena. Blood and gore was raining from the sky as the freak could be seen standing, drenched in blood, feasting on Adonis' kidneys

“I was right, his kidneys were juicy” He broke out in maniacal laughter as a spine landed on the floor in front of him. “I did say I would spray your guts everywhere”

[Hysteria]

Talen flashed across the ground towards the hounds. The bags of meat snarled, drooled and generally made angry looks towards the shadowy youth. Talen kicked the ground hard, rocketing himself backwards towards the wall. With two easy steps he twisted and launched himself up the wall. His feet found foot holes from the damage caused by Jensen and Draug's fight. In truth, Talen didn't need it. Barely was he two metres up the wall and gravity for him shifted, allowing the youth to stand horizontal to the ground. With a twist and slight flourish he turned back to the dogs.

The next instant was a blur. Tentacles whipped out wildly, smashing into the hounds with freakish ferocity and speed. The dogs didn't go down easy, biting and gnashing against the tentacles. It didn't matter, the youth's limbs were disposable. Every time one of the dogs latched on there was a hiss of acid and then another limb smote the beast. The tentacles retreated and hovered above the two bloodied corpses. The limbs were frayed, torn and burnt. Two had dropped their spikes, covered with blood and acid, while the others looked like half eaten sausages. The hounds faired worse, they hadn't looked much like dogs before hand, now they were barely recognisable mounds of torn flesh and broken bones.

Talen took a few steps backwards, his eyes lifting through the slits in the mask to the battle that raged on. It wasn't of much importance, the youth could feel his own strength failing. There was a howl of surprise behind him as the youth stepped from the wall to the barrier and suddenly was only a metre from the crowd and visible. The youth twisted, slightly taken aback by the noise. His concentration so intense that he had forgotten that this was an exhibition match. The youth's mind paused. This was only the first of potentially more fights. With more fights came more opportunities. Talen let the magic holding the tentacles waver, and finally dissipate. The youth stood on the barrier, his hunched and thin form splattered with his and others blood. The thin smoke trail from his cigarette moved past his cheek, without any wind in the barrier it moved in an unnaturally straight line. Nature doesn't build straight lines... thought Talen. Just like that odd expression, neither did Talen. The youth knew that he couldn't do much more but harass the abomination in his current state. A long drawn out battle, with potentially a painful and fulfilling end.

The youth lifted his sword and pointed it at his chest. There were a few jeers and shouts from the crowd behind him. The youth knew that he wouldn't be the favourite this match, especially bowing out without giving the crowd the opportunity of watching him die. It didn't matter much to him though. He would let his death go to the man Adnois rather than the abomination as another chalk line for Ixians he had killed. Shadows lifted outwards, covering the youth in a sphere of darkness and free from watching eyes. With a grunt he pushed the sword deep into his chest wound, cutting through lung and arteries. The ball of darkness fell from the wall, dissipating as it did. Only the merest shred of darkness his the ground, everything that was Talen, his weapons, blood and body disappeared across the arena.

[Prophet]

Damn. If you let me get one more post up, i would've been dead. But death by plant works too. Arden, if you care to die, as EVERYONE except abom you and me have done, allow my stab to hit you. If not, Kill Kyle. He's had enough pain.

Kyle head the roar, and crashed to the ground in a heap, none of his body responding. His mouth still in that grin, his back seeping blood.

His lung, the one good one, had already given out, it's too hard for it to work like that. His heart was slowing by the second. He shuddered once, and then his eyes widened as death struck the final verdict.

He lay still on the dirt, barely breathing...

[Arden]

Arden, all too eager to draw blades with Draug, came to an abrupt halt halfway. Standing between the shape shifter and the now carnal remains of the other combatants, he realised he had overestimated his own success. The words of his mentor echoed in his mind, louder than the impetuous din of the baying crowds.

Let them fall on their own swords.

Silent, but breathing heavily, the Hound observed his final obstacle. On form, Draug sent minions to do his dirty work, and another flesh hound charged with gibbering maw and slavering tongue. Its bloodied hide dripped with every pounce, it’s deep, guttural growl was reminiscent of all the dead it had eaten in its life. Arden grinned.

He sheathed Kerria. The hound was unworthy. He unsheathed his short sword, a simple, single-edged steel blade from its bulwark scabbard on his back. The sphere of silence remained around his head, dulling some senses, heightening others.

Shit. He roared mentally, pain erupting behind his shoulder blade, agony rolling down his spine.

He could not scream aloud, but he contorted his face, elongated canine fangs, and arced his back. His sword dropped to the ground. His cloak all but vanished, nothing more than a listless scarf without a mind to will it to life.

Foolish mistake, he mused. He dropped to his knees, wrenching himself free of his attacker’s weapon. He looked up at the dog, grinned, and pushed himself forward, as though launching himself from a starting line.

The hound leapt, maw wide, and aimed to bite the swordsman’s face.

Arden vanished.

The hound, bereft of a target, bounced to the ground, dazed. It saw Prophet. It leapt again, its momentum carrying it into new opportunities.

Arden re-appeared a few feet ahead, blood running down his back beneath his platemail, fatigue setting in. He continued in a run towards Draug. He smiled at the fortunate resolution to an unfortunate oversight. As he moved, his wound congealed, and tendrils of blood formed ribbons in his wake, as though something were growing from the injury.

The sphere of silence dissipated. Arden chose another way to deliver his message. Actions, often enough, were more deafening than words.

He clenched his fists. He keened his gaze at the homunculus.

He was too consumed by his mission to notice the cruel humiliation inflicted upon Prophet behind him, or the violent end that awaited him at the hands of the flesh hound.

He careened at Draug, without a blade, and with a loud, rumbustious bark echoing out from every, heavy-footed step.

“For Kyla!” he bellowed. Without blood on his hands, his martyring cry sent chills through the crowd. A loved one, perhaps? A sister?

Only the Ixian Knights would know what the name meant, and why Arden Janelle would never take a life in cold blood again. Not even for money. Not even for fame. Not even for Sei Orlouge.


My death is in your hands, Abomination.

Finis.

[Prophet]

And im out.

Kyle struggled, and freed himself, and then, as if it were an ax, a shooting pain racked him, his heart palpitated, and he smiled that insane grin one last time, before his eyes shuddered, and flickered out. His chest fell, and did not rise again, and his body went limp. He passed on, his body slowly dissolving into flame, along with his weapon, with the onyx he has braided into his hair that day, left behind...

[Abomination]

Permission obtained from involved parties. My last post because... well... there's nobody left!

Draug's extra limbs absorbed back into his body, letting whatever was left of Adonis fall to the ground in chunks. The Abomination was drenched in crimson liquid, as if he was standing under a waterfall of blood. The skin on his face finally grew over his exposed teeth and his eyebrows reformed, making his expression more somber than before.

He took another bite out of the kidneys and then threw them away, holding the maul up when he felt that two of his minions had met their end. He looked over to their corpses and scanned the area, but he couldn't see any sign of the Shadow Walker. At first he thought that Talen was hidden, preparing to attack him like he had before, but he could no longer feel the shadowy presence that drained his strength.

He escaped...

This was not good. Very shortly he was going to be trapped in this barrier, and then what? No, he had to finish this, one way or another. His remaining opponent charged him, but it didn't look like he was wielding any weapon.

Is this a trick?

The Cult's Champion brandished the maul with one hand. Bandages hung from his arms, running down his legs in sticky liquid, and the pungent odor of blood filled the area. He felt a pain in his head, of course not as bad as the one earlier, but still enough to distract him. His very being was reacting to Jensen's memories of Stephanie, and what's more, he felt that some of her memories were within him as well. Was it Cassandra's Gift? Was it part of Stephanie's essence? Were her memories carried within it, or were these memories something deeper within him? He didn't know the answer, and in his distraction he failed to notice that Arden was already upon him.

The Hound took the opportunity to land a fist in Draug's gut, nearly punching through the flesh weakened by Adonis' attack. Blood flowed out of Draug's mouth as he lifted the maul and brought it down upon Arden, who deftly evaded it with a sidestep, following up the dodge with a kick into Draug's maul-wielding fist, knocking it out of his hands and to the ground. The Abomination snarled, reeling from the attack momentarily before opening his palms and trying to grab the remaining Ixian.

Arden continued to dodge and counter-attack, sending kicks and punches to Draug's body. The Abomination was already winded from all this fighting, no longer having enough blood to spawn the extra limbs he needed to take advantage of a close range fight. He almost caught some of Arden's hair in one swipe, but The Hound used Draug's own momentum against him to deliver a roundhouse kick to his jaw. Draug took a step back from the attack, his sheer mass keeping from being knocked away by the attack. When he recovered he reached out to grab Arden's throat, but The Hound ducked under the attack and moved to the side. Draug saw his chance and opened his mouth wide, shooting out an iron dagger from his throat. Arden was however too quick for such a move, so he jumped back to narrowly avoid the dagger.

The Hound saw Draug reach to grab his arms and was preparing to dodge the attack, but he found himself unable to move with a sudden pain in his ankle. He looked down and saw Draug's minion from before latched onto his leg, keeping him down in one spot. Before he knew it, Draug had wrapped his hands around Arden's triceps. The Hound tried to pull away, but it was too late.

Draug ripped his arms off.

Arden was in shock from the damage, the color draining from his body. He was about to collapse when Draug grabbed his head with his right hand.

"You're the last one," Draug spat. "It is done, mother."

Arden gave a weak grin, his expression just barely visible under Draug's grip, "I am far from the last, monster. If you think the Ixian Knights can so easily be bro-"

SQUISH! Draug squeezed Arden's head as hard as he could, letting what remained of The Hound fall to the ground like a rag doll. He stared at Arden's body for a moment, half-expecting him to get right back up, but that did not appear to be the case. He looked at Jensen's headless body one last time and saw no movement as well.

And then a smile crossed his lips. He couldn't help but laugh, cackling into the sky while still holding the top part of Arden's crushed skull.

He yelled into the sky, "Now you have all seen what happens when you defy the Cult! Your only salvation, your only chance at true freedom is to join us, to accept the truth of your primal desires, to shed your mask of humanity!" His regurgitated words held no true meaning for him, for he had his own sinister ambition separate from his mother.

He knew now that his chance at ascension was in Stephanie's memories. If he succeeded in his plans, not even Sei could stop him.

[Silence Sei]

Now, because this thread had so many participants, individual commentary is only available upon request, and will be done in the privacy of PMs only. Anyways, onto the scores!




Enigmatic Immortal
Abomination
Hysteria
Solar Haven
Prophet
The Hound


Story
7
7
5
4
1
6




Setting
6
5
4
5
2
4



Pacing
4
7
6
5
2
4



Communication
8
6
5
5
3
6


Action
8
8
6
5
1
6



Persona
8
9
7
6
4
6



Mechanics
6
8
5
4
2
9



Clarity
9
7
8
8
2
4



Technique
7
5
5
6
1
6



Wildcard
9
8
7
7
5
7


Total
Total
72/100
70/100
58/100
55/100
23/100
58/100



Enigmatic Immortal, Homunculus, The Hound and Hysteria go on to Round 2!

Exp will be calculated shortly. Congrats to the winners!

[Silence Sei]

EI gets 3900 Exp
Abom gets 3900 Exp
The Hound gets 3410 Exp
Hysteria gets 3410 Exp
Prophet gets 170
Solar Haven gets 250 Exp

All of you get 100 GP.

[Mordelain]

Experience and gold added.