Power Battle

[Kalseng]

OoC: This is invite-only.

You know if you've been invited, trust me.

(Also Sem you're invited)

---

The wind passed quietly through his brown hair, which normally hung carelessly over the top edges of his vision. A piece of paper was clutched in the teen's black gloved hand, clenched between dry palms and a rubberized handlebar. The big, black, wind-powered motorcycle sped forward at incredible speeds. The spinning motion of the teen's left hand kept circulating air rapidly in through the generator, forcing a massive output. The motorcycle was as wide as the teen's knees as he spread them around the seat, about three feet. The motorcycle was easily seven feet long, with heavy guards over the wheels. One would be impressed that this motorcycle could move with so little power. One would also be impressed that the teen had mastered a martial art as well as an elemental controlling technique.

He was full of impressive surprises.

The front of the motorcycle was elaborately designed to match the face of a Chinese dragon, the whiskers curling backwards along the sides to form foot guards. Kalseng sped forward, the engine not dying. He'd seen his battle zone for a while, the four-to-five story tall columns of earth were hard to miss. They towered over a grassy field, occasionally parting ways to huddle around a tranquil pool of water. As he finally neared the battlefield, Kalseng killed the engine and slid the bike to a stop. He pressed down the kickstand with his left foot, protected by a traditional pair of shoes worn for martial arts. After the motorcycle came to a complete stop, Kalseng swung his right leg over, and stretched his arms. The right sleeve of his green tee had been pulled off, unlike his left. This was to not restrict his movement when he resorted to one-armed spear conflict. Speaking of...

Kalseng kicked the side of his bike, which gave way. A slot, about four inches across, popped open, and a spearhead swung with it. Kalseng gripped it around the base, and yanked out the long green shaft. One end was capped with copper, the other sprouted into a spear head. A circular base started the head, and a small, sharp metal extension stuck out in both directions vertically, forming kunai-shaped points. From the top of the circle, a spearhead formed, sharp and strong. A long, trailing red piece of fabric was wrapped around the base of the head, meant to act as a bit of distracting flutter. It was about two feet long, and tapered off at the end. Kalseng placed the copper capped end on the ground, and the 6' 2" spear came just to the top of his head. Kalseng looked around for a moment, and then looked at the crumpled flyer in his hand. He lifted his spear up with his right hand, and slung it over his shoulder, the red tassel swaying in the breeze. He flattened the flyer against his worn green shirt, covering the small red Kanji for wind with three radiating red rings. Red for luck, of course.

The map indicated the first pool to the east. Kalseng had come from the east, as his compass had dictated. He shuffled his worn jeans back to his motorcycle, and retrieved a square-looking hat. Facing a corner of the red hat forward, he placed it on his head and shuffled out, spear in hand, towards the field.

The columns overhung the area, casting large shadows over pools of clear water. The wind curved through the place, tickling the surface of the water and rustling quiet grass. He neared the edge of the pool, and stuffed the flyer in an empty pocket. He pulled a pocket watch out of the same pocket, and held it up to see the time. 3 PM. Right on schedule. He slipped the watch back in his pocket, and shook his arms out. His right arm had a bladed, steel bracelet hanging around his forearm, about four and a half inches in diameter. They were light, and he hardly noticed them unless he was being careless with the blades. Which he never quite felt in the mood to do, unlike some teenagers. He was so glad his 15-year-old days were 5 years behind him. Kalseng slammed his spearhead into the ground, and called out.

"You here yet?" He asked. "I'm ready for this fight of yours!"

 

[Satoren]

“That makes two of us,” said a voice.

The faint sound of footsteps could be heard emanating from somewhere in the complex. They grew louder with each footfall, and seemed to come from the opposite end of the pool. As the source of the sounds drew closer, the realization that his footfalls were echoing off of somewhere became more apparent. It was quite odd as the area was an open space, the wind flowing freely and briskly being substantial evidence to that. Could it have been coming from one of the columns around the pool perhaps? That wouldn’t make any sense, lest the column was hollow with a door.

“I seems that you’re not the one who sent out the invitation,” said the voice again.

At that moment, one of the shadows cast by the columns on the ground began to darken. It continued to change hue until it was almost black. The footsteps continued sounding off as a strange shape began to bulge and protrude from the blackest shadow. As the shape rose with every step, it formed a more definite form, that of a tall human. The details on his clothes and face could not be made out as he seemed to be shrouded with a thick veil of shadow. Slowly, he ascended from the portal as though climbing a set of stairs, until his body had emerged entirely from the abysmal pool. Just as quickly as it had formed, the strange spatial rift beneath his feet faded until the shadow’s tones matched that of the others around it. Simultaneously, the tones on his own body had lightened, now revealing his true form.

The young man had dark skin, and wore a striped shirt under a thick brown coat that flapped lightly in the wind. Strapped on the front of his coat was a long belt that criss-crossed and then looped towards his back, forming an X-shape on his chest. Several belts dangled around his waist and right thigh, which was covered up by grey, loose pants that also concealed a portion of his large, brown boots. His short, spiky, dark grey hair was topped off by a brown cap of a similar palette to his longcoat. The cap’s visor provided his shade for his eyes, which were slightly opened to accomadate just enough for his vision.

RX wasn’t terribly fond of the wind, especially if it got in his face. However, out of a recent habit he had acquired, he didn’t show his annoyance. A small grin simply rested on his lips as he turned away from the breeze’s direction.

“You seem bewildered, and you have an invitation as well,” he continued speaking. RX spoke with a light tone, almost as if he weren’t paying attention or was outright uninterested in the matter. He flashed a slip of paper from his pocket before turning away from Kalseng’s view. “So, I can assume you didn’t send me my challenge as well.” RX wasn’t fond of socializing, and avoided any in excess of his recommended daily allowance of fifteen seconds worth of eye contact with strangers.

“Now the question is...” RX paused. He sincerely hoped that with his query, this matter would soon be over with. “The question is: who did?”

 

[Cody]

"That, would be me, my friend." The voice came from far above, where the giant pillars of earth towered. The owner of the voice was soon identified.

There was an incredible sound, like a bullet soaring through the air, and then a crashing as a figure fell to the ground. The ground was softened to such a degree that the man who fell from the sky felt no pain. The dust from his collision rose into the sky, and vanished with the slightest breeze. The man, however, was no pushover.

He promptly dusted his sleeves off. A warrior, sure, but he did not enjoy having his traditional robes dirtied. They resembled the robes of the Dalai Lama, but instead of red and yellow, the were an olive green and brown. The man was bald, and his face was old and worn, yet still determined.

The man took a step forward introducing himself simply as Tenzin.

"I assume the two of you know why we're all here?" As Tenzin spoke, he held one arm out in front of himself. Above is open palm, two rocks were orbiting an invisible center point, "and if you don't, allow me to clarify." He spoke with little change in inflection, his voice keeping nearly the same tone -- businesslike, yet, almost mystic.

Tenzin threw his arm forward, and his palm was perpendicular to the ground. The two small rocks shot forward, and one flew toward the foreheads of the other two standing near him.

(Okay post is just okay. I'm a bit rusty.)

 

[Kalseng]

"So that answered that question definitively," Kalseng stated with a shrug of his shoulders. The rocks became the next large dilemma, though one could hardly call them that. They were small, and barely even a threat. Wind currents pushed Kalseng up off of the ground, and sent him into a well-executed aerial front flip over the rocks. His feet daintily landed on the ground, pushed by the wind. The tassel of his spear was stricken by the rock, though it just flared it out and slammed into the ground, causing a hearty puff of topsoil. Kalseng, exercising his flair for the lofty and out-there, pushed his spearhead into the ground, and blew himself up onto the bottom, now top, of the shaft with a few well-placed air currents. Tip-toeing on the top of the spear, Kalseng balanced his body precariously with spread arms on the weapon, his balance near perfect, with proper balance being made with bursts of wind.

"Well," He started, talking to the whole group. "My name is Kalseng. I learned my fighting from the east, and I came here to try them against different styles. Your name is Tenzin," He spun on his toes towards the other man in their battle group, and tipped the corner of his red hat. "And yours is?" Kalseng slipped his arms down, the silver bladed bracelet falling into his fingertips. "Sorry about the weapons, but I do know why we're here, and I like to be prepared."

---

OoC: Hahahaha RETCON. Kalseng only has one bracelet on his right arm. :'D

 

[Sem]

The surface of the water began to shift, parting and making way for a creature. The figure walked out of the water onto the grass, the water closed behind him. The creature had gray fur and blue fins, looking much like an otter. On its torso it wore a sleeveless, hooded top. It was black and covered with decorative zippers and straps.

The invitation had been vague, but he had come as he was asked.

Three others were already there, and he really wasn't surprised to see two of them get attacked.

"Who are you?" he asked the one named Tenzin, who he supposed was an earth elemental. A powerful jet of water shot from the water just behind the Aquamor, aimed directly at Tenzin. "And what do you want?"

 

[Cody]

The tiny otter like thing was seemingly angry at Tenzin. A jet of water was coming from the water behind it, and was going directly at him

"And what do you want?" he questioned, as the water continued to travel for Tenzin.

"What I want," Tenzin said, as he caused a wall of earth to rise up and shield him. It was a solid wall of dirt, that absorbed the water jet, and then quickly sank back into the ground. "Is not nearly as important as what you can offer!" Tenzin took a step forward, planting his right foot firmly into the ground. As it dug deeper, the earth in front of him broke up, traveling in a path until it was directly in front of the tiny critter. When it reached a point about a meter in front of the otter-like creature, a rock, about the size of a softball, shot up from where the wreckage was, traveling in an arc for the creature.

 

[Satoren]

RX’s Shadow began to jitter and shake underneath him. The imprint of his arm rose from the ground and extended itself up and towards Kalseng’s reach. It then took his hand and casually shook it. “RX; Just RX. Pleasure to meet you, I suppose,” the young man greeted back, taking his hat and bowing courteously back at Kalseng. After slipping his cap back on his head, he looked over at what was starting to become an intense battle between the two latest arrivals to their little schindig.

“They’re really going at it, aren’t they? So I can assume this is some sort of free-for-all?” He asked. Should his assumption be correct, it would be a most bothersome thing. RX’s relationship with violence was a complicated one. For that reason, he tried his best to avoid the issue. However, now that he was here, and looking over at the battle between the Earthbender and the strange mammal, something within himself was now stirring.

“I’m afraid I’m not much for free-for-alls. A big, chaotic mess is what it is,” he turned back to Kalseng, smiling what might’ve been an ominous smile. “As a practioner of martial arts, you can understand what I’m saying, right? Fighting is an art in itself, and a battle is much like any statue or painting. It needs a basic form. Go on as you please and you provide it with no foundation, and it may as well be garbage.” RX then coiled his fist tightly. “I will not stand for such a thing,” he said coldly.

RX’s shadow quickly retracted from Kalseng’s grasp and slid back under his feet. It circled around him, swimming in the afternoon light like a predator waiting to strike its prey down. By chance, his shadow quickly took the form of a large canine; an odd, dark imprint on the ground compared to the person who gave it shade and supposedly, form. “What do you suppose we should do to make this fight...more organized?” He asked Kalseng.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng took the dark hand, and shook it with due respect. As the hand retracted, he took a moment to bring in the whole of the man before him. Elegant, yet firm, with strength to back up his claims. This was a person Kalseng could be friends with. A person Kalseng could more easily appreciate. Though there was something odd about the way he talked and acted, it was all somehow... refined. And suiting.

"Of course," Kalseng agreed, nodding in understanding. "Fighting needs structure, and without that... Well, that's what I was taught against, am I right?" The rocks began to fly, and Kalseng looked at the combatants. "Though there isn't really anything to be done about this. I'd propose the two of us team up, but I don't think Tenzin and this character here could work very well together. So we stand at an impas-" The trail of earth landed in front of Kalseng, near the otter. "Hold on." He asked the man calmly, and gripped the butt of his spear. He flipped over on his side, and slammed the flat of the spearhead onto the softball-sized clump of rock, slamming it down with a strong air current pushing down on his spear to cancel out the air energy.

"Now listen," Kalseng said, sauntering to a full stand and drawing his spear up next to him. "I'm not going to stand for this either. How about the four of us form teams?"

 

[Sem]

Sem thought silently to himself as one of the others took care of a rock that was sent flying at him. This wasn't exactly a hostile situation, more of a duel. A show of sport. Would he accept? He thought why not.

He relaxed and introduced himself. "My name is Sem, and I apologize for being so quick to jump to conclusions," he quickly glanced at each combatant in turn before continuing. "I think teams sound like a good idea." Looking around again his gaze settled on the being with control over shadow, RX. His would be an interesting ability to work with. Sem raised an eyebrow, "Partners?" he asked, extending a hand.

 

[Satoren]

RX couldn’t hope for a more perfect opportunity to pair with the strange creature. His ability to manipulate water, as far as he had seen anyway, would be a pretty reliable power. However, the real reason he was so intent on partnering with it was because he couldn’t stand to fight againstsuch an adorable-looking critter. Smiling, he offered his hand over to Sem andshook it eagerly. “It’s nothing to worry about, really. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t... cautious about anything. The name’s RX, it’s a pleasure,” he said while tipping his hat.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence as RX refused to let go of the otter’s hand. “Your paw pad feels so squishy and soft,” he whispered. Without anything to add to that, he released his grip from the otter and turned over to Kalseng and Tenzin. “I apologize, but he did offer his assistance first. I hope you won’t mind too much. Perhaps we can just think of this as a....sparring match?” he said to Kalseng. He then looked over to Tenzin.

“Well then, since you seem to be the most eager among us for a fight, it’s only fair you decide any other terms we should have for this engagement.” He told him. “I suppose you might find my pickiness...irksome, but I’ve already said it. An unorganized fight is something I will not stand for.So terms for this match should be a most adequate addition.”


ooc: short posts are all the rage

 

[Kalseng]

"That leaves us, old man," Kalseng took a short bow towards the earth elemental, and turned to face the one he'd been negotiating with in the first place. "Rules, right.' Kalseng thought for a moment, wriggling a few fingers under his hat to scratch his head. "I'd say no dirty tricks, but half of combat is surprising the enemy... Gosh, I dunno. I mean, we could say fighting until you knock the other person unconscious, but that makes the game too easy..." Kalseng really looked puzzled, and he turned his head to the sky.

What do you think? Kalseng waited a second. Oh, that's right!

"A fight to the death, or complete incapacitation," Kalseng said proudly, looking to the fighters. "Yup. If a fighter is established as dead or completely incapacitated, they're not to be trifled with until they wake up or the fight is over. And if one member of a team is taken down... Then one of the members of the team with two functioning members needs to wait out the battle in a safe place. But then that person gets to rest... So that doesn't-" Kalseng's eyes snapped open, and he raised up his hand. "Oh! Right! I have these two elixers of sorts. They uh, heal you completely, given about an hour to work. The two remaining fighters can take one each, and then go at it! Unless the last member of the team that's already been cut in half is the one that loses. Then they just lose. Are these good rules?" Kalseng looked about the group. "And if you're concerned about me drinking them, they're in my bike. I won't be staggering towards that thing unless I'm one of the last two. Promise." Kalseng placed a hand over the left side of his chest. It wasn't necessarily where HIS heart was, but the story of "I'm a twin, but my twin died and I happen to have mirror organs" was wearing a little thin on Kalseng.

 

[Cody]

"Sounds good to me." Tenzin spoke without emotion. The rules had been listed, and it was now time to fight.

He rubbed his chin where another man might have a beard, thinking. Tenzin looked at his partner, Kalseng, and decided that he had better take the initiative to begin the fighting.

"Well, then." Tenzin did not hesitate to start. He slammed his palm into the ground, causing a rock around the size of a softball to shoot into the air. With surprising nimbleness, he spun in the air and kicked it forcefully, and the rock sped towards RX.

When both his feet were back on the ground, Tenzin dug them into the earth the slightest bit, bracing himself.

 

[Satoren]

“Hey, hey, what’s this now?”

A rock was speeding towards RX at a rate one could consider ‘fast.’ RX, however wasn’t all that impressed. He considered several methods of counter-attacking it. Oddly enough, this wasn’t the first time he encountered such a projectile. Grasping the hat tightly on his head, RX accepted Tenzin’s attack as it smashed headlong into his torso. However, the sounds of cracking bones and squashed innards could not be heard. RX looked as if he could’ve been snapped in two the way the stone crashed into him. But what followed would prove to be a very different reaction.

No sooner did the rock hurdle into RX did it bounce casually off his chest, making it seem as though his body was made of rubber or some other elastic material. The rock fell to the round with a dull thud in front of him, and RX then began swiping the dust and dirt off his clothes. “Aya, That was scary,” he commented. He then looked over to his attacker, watching him shorten as his legs sank into the ground. He smiled casually in response.

Too easy, RX thought to himself. His hand curled up, looking as though it were about to rip something to shreds. Small, ominous, ribbons of darkness then began to drop from his sleeves and coil themselves around his hand, coating it a dark black. Just as Tenzin did with his legs, RX then drove his hand into the dirt beneath him with ease. The shadows strung around his fingertips twitched to life and began drilling, slicing and burrowing a tunnel towards Tenzin’s submerged limbs. Weaving through the cracks and pebbles in the ground, gathering power from the infinite darkness beneath the surface, it tunnelled through the ground at a rate one could describe as ‘faster than a flying rock.’ Tenzin would soon feel a sharp pain at his feet as the shadows skewer him like a Kebab.

 

[Sem]

Sem stood in awkward silence as RX held his hand for a bit too long. It crossed Sem's mind that RX might actually find him cute in the woodland animal sort of way. That would be a first from anyone Sem was in a combat situation with. At least, no one openly admitted it. He wasn't sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed. "Thanks?" he whispered back in response to the compliment towards his paw pads.

Within moments the action had begun, but RX simply took the hit. "Well that's a useful," Sem thought as he attacked as well. Four strands of water rose up out of the pond behind him, condensed enough that they could grasp and whip. He sent them at Kalseng, seeking to trap him so that he would be unable to avoid the next attack. Taking another bit of water, Sem shaped it into a sharp spear and froze it before hurling it at Kalseng as well.

 

[Kalseng]

Kalseng wasted no time in his counter maneuver, leaping high into the air. He kicked his leg off of the spear with little effort, sending it careening into the soft earth beneath him. The wind elemental pulled his arms up to his chest, altering the air currents around them. He crossed his hands, and then stretched them out to his full arm span, sending a six foot wide blade of razor-sharp air at the otter fish. As he landed on the ground, he fired another two sharp blades, half size and crossed over each other in an X-shaped pattern.

"An excellent start," Kalseng muttered.

Just then, a cry of pain tore itself from his partner. Kalseng turned abruptly, leaping higher up to get a better look at the in-pain fighter. His legs appeared to be skewered by the shadow-based weapons, and they had then wrapped around his neck, pressing down on the carotid artery leading to his brain. After a few brief moments of struggle, the man was unconscious.

"Or," Kalseng said, his shoulders sagging. "I spoke too soon." Kal floated back down to the ground, and turned to face the other two competitors. "Normally this is the part where I'd say 'oh how funny', but I'm down a partner now and I'm not quite sure I can take you both on." Kalseng put his fingers to his head in concentration. "Though I do distinctly remember some other earth user from a while ago. Tomu? Toby? To... To..."

"You called?" A man from behind called. Kalseng turned to face the newcomer with bright eyes. "It's Toru. You don't remember?" The man looked back up at the other two. "I heard the rules from a ways away, and I thought I'd miss all the fighting. Oh well, I'm here now. And I'll just replace your teammate, if you don't mind, Kal."

"I don't have any objections," Kalseng agreed, turning to the other combatants. "Do either of you?"

He received brief shakes of the head from both occupants, and Kal bowed his head. "Shall we?" He offered the other members, taking a low fighting stance, his spear in his left arm, the butt pointed sharply up in the same direction as his upper arm.

 

[Toru]

"Right, then." Toru said, taking hist sword off it's resting position on his shoulder and into his two hands, as he took a deep breath to focus himself and observe his surroundings. Grass, trees, faraway mountains and a lake; the are seemed pretty peaceful, but the earth he was standing on was of quite good quality. He would be able to put up a good fight with the materials around him. Now, his opponents were the focus of his attention. The one with the longcoat seemed pretty mysterious to the geokinetic, though upon focusing, he could sense quite a dark presence - Toru could only assume he controlled darkness. The other opponent, however, looked more like an otter and a male human than a man. He looked to be a aquakinetic from a glance, due to his clothes and body looking slightly damp. Toru was a simple minded person, but even the observations he made was obvious to an average person. It was when he got into battle he started to think a few steps ahead.

Now he had a grasp on his opponents and surroundings, he could put himself to good use. The earth controller was looking forward to a battle. With a confident look, the teen plunged his sword into the ground before stomping his left foot straight onto the ground with a grunt. The battlefield was engulfed in a tremor; a few large boulders erupted out of the ground below the warriors and landed around Toru like a meteor storm, some of them breaking into smaller pieces. Pulling his sword out of the ground with his right hand and calling some ping pong ball sized rocks to circle his hand, Toru started to lightly jog into the middle of the arena, then suddenly he broke into a sprint, before jumping about 30 feet into the air, at an angle. He slowly moved towards the left in the air, and linked his eyes with the mysterious capped warrior mid - air. Thrusting his left hand out and aiming it at the darkness controlling man, he let the small boulders revolving around his hand fire at the man like bullets from a gun. He then started to fall back towards the ground. As Toru hit the ground he rolled and got himself up, dusting off his trenchcoat quickly, then running at a high speed towards the otter like man.

Toru's stance as he ran was built to give out as little openings as possible. He was quite low, and held his sword close to his lower Torso. The otter man looked like one to pull of some fast surprising attacks. As he started to bridge the gap between him and the water user, he brought his sword to his right side to build up momentum, then brought his arms up above his head to unleash a vertical swing from above at the creature in front of him.

 

[Sem]

OOC: BTW Toru, Sem isn't at all human-shaped xP He's about three feet tall when he's standing on two legs and looks exactly like an otter, only, with fins.

BIC:
The battle continued with a replacement within moments, as if nothing had ever happened. Sem soon found that he was under attack by the newcomer. The man, Toru, rushed at him with a large sword in his hands, aiming to cleave the otterfish in two. Sem flipped back out of range, and as he flew a pillar of ice formed up out of the ground. He landed against it with his feet and kicked off of it, as he did so he aimed his gunblades at Toru as he flew towards him and fired off several rounds before the weapons vanished and were replaced by a long sword.

Sem landed on the ground a distance away from the earth-manipulator and swung the sword. The blade became segments, all linked by a chain. The serpent sword swept the ground in a wide arc towards Toru, aiming to wrap around his leg.

 

[Toru]

The sword clenched tightly in two hands slammed into the ground; Sem was nowhere to be seen. Toru took a quick glance up and saw the aquamor backflipping away from the teen and kicking off a pillar of ice. Toru's eyes suddenly widened as Sem pointed two odd shaped swords at him. "Well, this is odd," Toru murmured to himself, "Is he going to fly straight at me and try to impale me?" He then saw the otterfish click some triggers repeatedly. Toru didn't see the triggers at first, however he needed to act fast now. Bullets were flying straight at the geokinetic. He suddenly rolled to the left and avoided the bullets, then quickly got up and saw Sem dissipate the weapons and conjured up a long sword, which suddenly transformed into segments and was aimed to wrap around his leg from the side.

Toru retaliated by sending a spear of rock to spike up from underneath the ground, which the sword coiled around instead of Toru's leg. He then took this time whilst Sem was occupied to grab his blade from the ground and hold his ground. He wanted to see what else the two were capable of. Something did float into Toru's head whilst he held his guard though.

Since when did swords have guns on them??

He pondered in silence as he waited for an attack of sorts.

(OoC: Don't worry, I do know what a gunblade is xD)

 

[Kalseng]

This spear seems to continue to be lodged in the ground, thought Kalseng as he focused on the wind aroudn him.

Kalseng could practically hear the fast-paced orchestral soudntrack accompanying their fight. As Toru launched himself at Sem, Kalseng crouched down closer to the ground, spinning his hands as his knees bent. His hands concentrated channels of air around them, tightening into compressed pockets. Clenching his fists, he sent jets of air out of the gaps in his fists. He rocketed upwards, and adjusted his compressed air in order to send himself into a spin. As he created stronger air currents, he began to more precisely form a ring around himself. Once it became appropriately formed, the entire cycle became more rapid, going along with Kalseng's swirling hands. It raised up above him, and suddenly seemed to explode.

A rain of razor sharp air cycles, each only about an inch across, flew down towards RX. Only aboutt three had torn themselves from the air stream surrounding Kalseng, leaving him with an entire other ring, about three feet in diameter. He threw it like a frisbee down at RX after his original rain had stopped, and let it explode into a raging twister. That smug little Aquamor seemed to have his hands full, but there's always room to be attacked more. Kalseng took the Chakrani off of his wrist and slung it down at Sem, watching it split into two halfsized Chakrani, guided by a harsh air current.

Kalseng finally landed on the ground, next to his spear. He decided he could leave it there, for now.

 

[Satoren]

RX had little time to react at the sudden storm of projectiles about to slice him in to pieces. Fortunately, he had a friend on the inside (so to speak) who was keener on the situation and how to escape it. The young man pulled his hands off of the ground; large, black tendrils clung to his palms. The shadowy substances coiled themselves around each other, than grew in size to form a huge barrier for RX. No sooner did he do this did the wind projectiles slam into the shadowy shield. RX’s body was bent slighty in an arc, and the massive force from above caused him to lose balance and fall on his back. With the wind blades now taken care of, the sentient barrier separated again and slid back into the darkness of the man’s sleeves.

The danger was far from over, though. RX had noticed a second projectile, a small twister , was spinning right behind the barrage. Using his arms, he quickly shifted his weight and tumbled backward. He felt a cool rush of air blow against his back, the tremendous force launching him off the ground and up into the air. RX yelled as he careened round and round in the sky. More of the shadowy substance then poured out of his sleeves and began forming themselves into huge, jet black wings. He was about to take flight; or so it seemed. Instead, the large wings engulfed RX as he spiralled towards the ground, melding together much like the tendrils did and forming a huge capsule-like form. The dark cocoon fell to the ground with a dull thud several meters away from the battlefield.

“That was INTENSE,” snarled a voice from the large cocoon. It sounded a bit like RX, though it lacked the gentle tone he had earlier. A large crack appeared on the capsule, travelling down and splitting it in half like an egg. RX emerged from the ebony shell, a hand quickly adjusting the hat on his head.

RX brushed off imaginary bits of dust on his sleeves, resuming a casual tone as he commented. “Well now, that was rather unexpected. I suppose I should really get my head in the game now.” He looked over at the battlefield, where hell in the form of ice spires, flying earth and raging winds, was gradually tearing the grounds apart.

“New challenger, huh? Well, it looks like the little otter guy’s fairing well against him. Still, I’m sure he’d appreciate some assistance.” RX then raised his arms and fell backwards onto the ground. The shadow he casted against it grew darker and more full. His body sank into its shadowy depths like water that didn’t splash, and he had disappeared from the field again.

A large, black drill shot out of the ground behind Kalseng, spinning swiftly and silently upwards. At its base emerged RX, smiling towards his opponent. “Yo,” he greeted; then from the drill in front of him several large tentacles, shot out. They spun wildly around with the drill and were about to swat Kalseng into the dirt; a fitting counterattack, thought RX.

 

[Sem]

Sem's serpent sword wrapped around a spire of rock instead of its intended target. Sem landed on the ground and pulled hard on his weapon. The coils crushed the base of the rock, freeing them. As the pillar fell the Aquamor felt a strong gust of air coming at him, bringing with it a whizzing sound.

Sem jumped away a sheet of ice formed between him and the two small weapons headed straight for him. He shot a glance at Kalseng before returning his attention to Toru. His serpent sword joined into a single blade before vanishing, being replaced by a single gunblade. Sem aimed the weapon at the young man and opened fire, firing off several rounds. With his free hand had collected a large amount of liquid, enough to cover the spike of earth that had been summoned to block his last attack. As soon as the stone was completely covered the water froze and compressed, becoming harder than the rock trapped inside. Sem lifted the frozen spire into the air and swung it at Toru like a very large, malformed baseball bat.