And the Heavens Cried Out (Mini-arc part 5)

It was rainy and dark on a mountain side in North Korea. Not far from where Alexei and Amarius were...along with their own little army. Kai looked at the mini-holo display, showing the signatures. Alexei in the far back, where Yuri said the original's tomb was located, Amarius not far back from the army, and the army in front of them. Unfortunately, there was no flanking or even by-passing the army. Damn canyon.

With Kai was Tadatomo, Alistair, Serena, and their two newest additions, Anna and Elsa. Connor wasn't much weaker than Jun was, but his "wolf" ability was mostly ranged, compared to Jun's primarily close range fighting, he could stay back. Yuri was the last one there, looking much different compared to the last time he saw Serena, Tadatomo, and the sisters, with his white hair, pale skin, and combat soldier like clothes. "Well, what's the plan, Kai?"

"Pretty straight forward. I'd rather if you're limited by ammo not to use them, but we need a hole for me and Yuri to go through. I'll fight Amarius myself this time while Yuri goes straight for the jugular. Who has something that can help with that without wasting limited shots and not hitting the two of us? Connor isn't much weaker than Jun is, but his ability isn't wholly ally friendly and wouldn't be able to keep it up..."

He looked around at those gathered, particularly the sisters, since he didn't know them and their abilities well. Yuri could spam Shine spells to high heaven...and the two of them could use all of their barrage spells to pave the road, but he'd like to conserve energy for their fights.

Tadatomo cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the coming encounter. All of the operations had led inexorably to this point. They were about to storm in and end the Amarius and Alexei threat once and for all. He gazed around at the others. Kai Allard-Liao, fearless leader of the Coalition. Alistair Duine, Tadatomo's immediate superior who possessed great experience and wisdom. Yuri Romanov, the maverick who Tadatomo did not trust but he did respect. Serena Des'Ana, Tadatomo's partner throughout this operation and now one of his most trusted allies. And finally, the two sisters Elsa and Anna. Tadatomo did not know much about them at first, but he had then been put in charge of their orientation and acclimatization to the world of today. They turned out to be astonishingly fast learners, mastering most modern tech easily. They were also staunch allies, loyal to a fault and with an unbreakable bond to each other.

Elsa stood beside Tadatomo, alongside her sister Anna. Getting used to this new world was a difficult challenge, but they were fascinated by the advancements in technology that were present. Things that would have been dismissed as sorcery back in their original time, but were everyday occurrences now. They had also made new friends now. Tadatomo was a patient and wise teacher, Serena was a loyal and helpful presence also. Kai himself also held the sisters' admiration, for his honor and decency in his dealings with them. This was the time to prove themselves worthy of this Coalition.

When Kai announced his plan, Tadatomo was the first to speak up. "I believe I possess sufficient firepower to provide the required cover, sir." The red-haired man looked to the two sisters for their input. While Alistair had been in charge of their combat evaluation, Tadatomo had sat in on the exam and what they displayed in combat was impressive. Elsa spoke up next. "I believe my abilities are more of the support variety. I lack the combat training necessary to be an elite combatant, but I can support with barriers and I have taken the liberty of creating some of these." Elsa opened her Coalition combat jacket and produced a small crystal, about the size of a cellphone. "I can produce more if necessary, though I would need cover. They can heal wounds in a short amount of time. I also have ones that produce energy boosts for fatigued combatants." Anna then puffed out her chest. "And I'm just your friendly neighborhood Quincy badass!"

Alistair listened to Kai speak about the plan, and who could make a way through. Serena spoke up imediately, clearly trying to make up for lying to them about being an android. A shape shifting Android. That he didn't pick up on. At least she wasn't part of some Alien machine race hellbent on destroying them. (EPIC FORESHADOWING!)

"I've got a bomb with enough destructive force to take half them out. give me twenty minutes and I'll sneak in and make an opening for you. Then you can follow up with abilities and stuff to keep that opening... Open." When given the go ahead, Serena vanished from sight and disapeared into the enemy base. Twenty minutes later, there was indeed a massive explosion, followed by allot of screaming and smaller explosions, since Serena also started tossing grenades before she disapeared from sight again.

Alistair summoned Carmine. "Sounds like that went well." Alistair said.


Amarius was napping in his room when there was a massive explosion, followed by allot of screaming and more explosions. He got out of bed and went to the window. Ah good.. The coalition was here. He shrugged and went off to find Alexai.

Kai listened to everyone and to Serena. He nodded at her. "Make it so. Tada, Conner, and Anna can then keep it open for Yuri and I to get through. Any questions?" Hopefully there wouldn't be any. If not, they would be dismissed with the fight happening in mere minutes.

As soon as the hole was made, both silverettes rushed through quickly enough, with covering fire from explosive hairs and hopefully other things...

~

Alexei had just gotten done with the final seal when he heard the explosions. He felt Amarius come up from behind him. "Shouldn't you be closer to the army? Maybe taking on Kai? I know he didn't air drop on us, so there's only one way through..." He looked at the giant man dully.

In the middle of the grave and several magic circles was the orginal's remains. Hovering above that was a black stone. It was only a matter of time before this either works or fails...

Tadatomo bowed to the fearless leader. "Understood. It will be done." He turned to Anna and Connor. "You two are with me." Anna nodded excitedly. "Yes sir!" Tadatomo raised an eyebrow in amusement. Anna turned to Elsa and smiled with glee. "You hear that sis? I get to go make cause some damage to the bad guys!" Elsa smiled but concern was clearly behind her expression. "Be careful Anna. Don't get hurt." Anna nodded and skipped along after Tadatomo and Connor. Tadatomo was stony-faced. They had a job to do. Using Serena's explosives as cover, Tadatomo kept a wave of suppressing fire going to let Yuri and Kai through. Anna skipped around, showering anything that moved with a volley of arrows. Tadatomo was amazed by how much fun the young girl seemed to be having with her task.


Elsa followed Yuri and Kai through to their destination. She pushed her concern for Anna to the back of her mind. Anna was a far more adept combatant than she, and she trusted Tadatomo to keep her safe. Elsa used her ice powers to add an extra layer of protection for the party. She had only been in the Coalition for a few days now, but from what she had heard from others, these enemies that they were going to face had to be stopped. She would do whatever it took.

"Pfft. That army is hopeless. they'll be dead in minutes, they'll barely buy you any time for what comes next. In my time, my army was near impossible to defeat. What have i fallen to." He grumbled. "I guess I'll distract the coalition leader for you, since I've gotten my strength back again." He said, flexing an arm that was a dark grey in color. He'd had to give himself a limb transplant, since that blasted shinigami had destroyed his actual arm. But he was back to his full strength atleast.

He turned and headed for the door. "Just be sure to start that ritual before Yuri gets here. holy magic tends to fuck up necromancy. I'll leave you a present, to slow anyone who comes in here down." He said. Then he pointed to a spot on the ground, which cracked and broke. A hand burst from it, and a tall slim man with silver hair and a white mask covering his lower face climbed out. He wore white clothing and carried a Cresent bladed Bardiche. The warrior bowed to Amarius, who pointed to Alexai. "Serve him well."


Serena turned invisible and backed off from the group of enemies, letting the other forces come through as they pleased. Alistair burst in and cut a path through enemy forces, making a bloody mess along with the others. The fight was getting real messy.

Alexei rolled his eyes. "And yet you were still defeated and sealed. That army isn't as weak as you think...they'll hold them off long enough. And no shit...I'm a dark sorcorer too you know." Really? Did the man think he was stupid? He spoke to the servant. "Intercept Yuri...don't let him close in on this place." He continued with the ritual.

~

Kai and Yuri first met Amarius. Kai immediatly fired an Eruption spell from behind the man while using a Nova spell from above. The fire spell from above would fire ten fireballs the strength of a hado 31. The dark skinned man closed the distance with a walk while Yuri sped on past...

~

Only to meet a servant of some time. Sighing, he took out his knife and gun. The young man waited to see if he will have to make the first move or not...

Tadatomo kept an eye on proceedings from his vantage points as he darted around the battlefield. As he suspected after learning her true nature, Serena was really causing some damage with her various explosive-themed attacks. The new girl, Anna, was also doing a quite remarkable job of suppressing the forces that came out. Her sister was on defense, keeping the devastators protected from harm. Tadatomo himself just zoomed around, picking off stragglers and those that tried to followed Yuri and Kai in. Tadatomo wondered how they were doing in there. He wished he could help them more directly, but he had his orders.

Amarius ignored yuri, blocking the line up of spells with ease and watched Kai approach. "Ah, Kai. I bet your chomping at the bit to face the worlds stongest dark mage. Now that I'm back at full strength, this wont be an easy fight. But you could save yourself some time and walk on past. Go stop Alexai, let me disappear into anonymity. I wont bother the coalition again." He said. Amarius had his own plans, Alexai may think he was in charge, but whether the dark mage was resurrected or not didn't bother Amarius really. This was just a side project.


The undead warrior watched Yuri approach and draw his weapons. He bowed deep to the holy mage. "Once upon a time, I was like you. A holy mage, fighting against the dark. Now I'm a puppet. Maybe you will put and end to my misery... Who's to say." The man said. Then he spun his Bardiche through the air, creating a line of Shine spells. "Do not fail here." He said, and the attacks fired.

Kai rose an eyebrow at the man's words and stopped. "You know...I trust an arrancar's word more than yours. Sooner or later, you'd have to be taken down...might as well be now. Besides, I wouldn't expect this to be easy...or else I'd send someone else to do it." The magic circle above the dark sorcorer fired another 15 fire balls, this time spraying them around Amarius to create a type of smokescreen.

A grey magic circle appeared behind Amarius, firing three small missiles, much to Kai's chagrin, each capable of doing damage equal to a hado 31 over a ten foot area. After those exploded/dealt with, 15 more fire balls rained down on the huge man while Kai lauched an Eruption spell from below, and a Thunderbolt Spell from the side. If the Thunderbolt spell hit, it would do equal damage as a cero and make that part numb and sluggish/difficult to move.

~

Yuri sighed. His holy spells won't do much damage to the guy. "Who ever said I was fighting against the dark? I just wanna stop my Yin from coming back to life..." He matched the Shine spells with his own while he charged forward and jumped.

If the guy put the bladed part of his bardiche up to strike or send another spell, Yuri would use a trio of holy discs to abruptly change his direction. Either way, he'd fire a bullet from his armor piercing round aimed directly for a finger. Hopefully blowing it off. By that point, hopefully he'd be close enough to use his vibro-knife to slice off a hand or go for a torso strike...

Tadatomo took cover behind a piece of rubble as bullets whizzed by. The grunts were attacking in force now, and Tadatomo was puzzled as to where their sudden strength was coming from. He peered over to his comrades. Elsa was also taking cover while keeping Anna protected with an ice shield. Serena had also taken cover, and was simply hurling grenades over her cover at the enemy. An explosion went off near Elsa, causing her to lose her concentration on her shield. The shield fell for a moment, and Anna looked towards Elsa with immediate concern. "Elsa!" Elsa looked up to Anna with alarm. "Anna, no!" Elsa tried to get her shield up but it was too late. A rocket-propelled grenade hit Anna squarely in the back, sending her towards earth, where she landed with a thump. Elsa gasped but before she could react, a red-headed blur sped past.

Tadatomo dodged and weaved through a torrent of enemy fire and retrieved the stricken Quincy from peril. He returned swiftly, taking a couple of hits in the process. He landed beside Elsa and deposited her sister gently on the ground. "Use your healing shard on her." Elsa did so, quickly retrieving her utility bag and applying the shard to Anna's damaged back. Tadatomo survey the wounds on himself. He retrieved a first-aid kit from his carry-all bag and bandaged himself up hastily. He then drew Apollo and began to loose shots at targets from his cover. He turned to Elsa and Serena, who had just made it to them. "We're being pushed back. They are utilizing spiritually charged munitions. We need something big to thin out their numbers. This is no good." He loosed a couple of more shots, while Serena did likewise, herself running low on power.

Elsa thought for a moment, then tugged on Tadatomo's sleeve. He turned and fixed his calm gaze on the platinum blonde. "I believe I have something that can help. You will need to take Anna and retreat though, I'm afraid it doesn't discriminate. I used it once before." Anna over heard this and sat up suddenly, forgetting about her slowly mending back. She ignored the searing pain in her back. "No, wait..." But Elsa had made up her mind. She passed the case of healing shards to Serena and her expression darkened. "IT's okay. I can control it this time. However, the amount of power I have to release, I can't guarantee I'll remain conscious." She looked at Tadatomo. "Please make sure Anna gets to safety. Then, if it will not endanger you or anyone else, come find me. If I fail, please don't risk yourself. Now, you must go. At least a hundred yards or so is the blast radius. Take care, sir."

Tadatomo nodded, acknowledging the look in Elsa's eye that indicated that she would not be dissuaded. "Understood. Good luck" Tadatomo bowed and gestured for Serena to follow him. He lifted Anna up and picked his moment and sped off. Elsa waited until their signatures were sufficiently far away. She closed her eyes, and began charging.

Serena joined the others, guns blasting anyone that got close. The damage to Anna was pretty bad, but they had healing capabilities in the plenty. However there were to many enemies to work on them right now, with the fight that was raging. They were pushing hard, and she and tadatomo couldn't keep this up for much longer. That was when the silver haired queen ordered them to Run. She handed them the crystals and ordered them to flee with Anna, and to come back when it was over. If she survived. Serena scowled at her.

"Tadatomo run, I'll protect Elsa." She said. She was going to be stubborn about this, but then in a flash of grey and black, and sprays of blood Alistair appeared in his glorious hybrid form. "He'll need you backing him up Serena. Don't argue. Run. Elsa, how long do you need?" he ordered, and the machine girl listened. He snapped a dark mage's neck as the man came charging at them.

Alistair nodded. "Don't worry Miss Elsa. This form can take allot of punishment. Use your attack, even if i'm in range. I'll keep them off you until then." Alistair said with a growl. then went tearing into enemy forces that came at them, ripping chunks out of people with vicious swings.



Amarius scowled. "Suit yourself. Can't blame me for trying. I've grown attached to my freedom!" Amarius said, throwing up weak barriers to block the missiles and fireballs as the dark sorceror used the smoke to his advantage and lay down a circle of his own, as one of kai's circles appeared. Amarius was blasted by fire but he deflected the lightnight with a shield and shrugged it off.   "Gotta do better than that, Kai." He responded,  and summoned 30 magic circles around Kai, all firing dark orbs. As he did that, he activated the circle on the ground, unleashing a dark miasma cloud.

It up the area around them, spanning two hundred feet around amarius and following him, weakening all non personal spells activated within the cloud by 20%, including his own, while also reducing his opponants visibility. Then he cast dark gauntlets, a spell that would add dark blasts equal to two bala to his punches, along with protect him from blades up to his shoulders. Amarius warped behind kai, sending a fist at the small of his back, and then unleashed a barrage of punches at Kai, aiming to strike at at his elbows, wrists and shoulders to weaken his arms.


"If that is what you think." The mage replied. He tried to slash and the attack was dodged, allowing the other holy mage get close enough to cut into his chest. The zombie didn't even grimace as the blade cut through him harmlessly, he was after all, dead, and that wouldn't make him deader. While Yuri was still in his face, he slammed the bottom of his bardiche into the ground, creating a magic circle that sent a pillar of holy energy with a twenty foot radius tearing into the sky.

Connor likewise went back, keeping up a steady, if annoying, barrage of explosive hairs to slow down enemy attacks...

~

Kai didn't even say anything as he doubled up Mage Discs around him to block the dark blasts. The dark mage seemed to have taken both his fire spells without batting an eye, but deflected the lightning bolt spell. Then the man filled their section of the canyon with a dark miasma. Kai wanted to laugh. He activated another spell. A white-ish haze filled a 60 yard area, making visibility difficult for Amarius himself. Not like it mattered with Kai...he was already half blind.

It also enhanced his sensing abilities and halved all power to any attack that required the collection of spirit particles like cero and any energy based attacks. That wasn't all the man did. He also used paired physical enhancement spells, doubling his speed and strength. With that, he was able to spin and deflect/block/parry all of Amarius's punches.

At the same time, vines came out of the silverette's clothes, trying to ensnare the man. If the vines made any contact with bare skin, it would poison the man. The poison was a hallucigen, making Kai appear to be what he feared most, or actions that he would fear most.

If Amarius backed off, only then would he speak and he would fire his Nova spell for the last time after his words. "Gotta do better than that, Amarius." 30 more shots of fireballs came raining in.

If the man stayed close, Kai would assault him with sword strikes.

~

Well, that didn't work too much. Yuri continued going forward to the side to run past him, aiming a slash and Holy Wave to chop off and arm, and another Holy Wave to cut off the leg. An Eruption spell also fired from behind. He didn't know whether to keep going or to continue fighting this guy...he could feel pulses coming from the area ahead...like it was building up for the revival...

(ooc: yes, the slash/holy wave combo was an interrupting move)

Tadatomo retreated back and began administering aid to Anna. The young Quincy spoke weakly."What about Elsa?" Tadatomo continued his ministrations with swift efficiency. "It's alright. Alistair will protect her. Have faith, Miss Arendelle." Finishing his work, Tadatomo waited for the signal to go.

Back at the front line, Elsa saw a blur speed past her and Serena. Alistair appeared, in his hybrid form. Elsa was spooked, but regained her composure when she realized who it was. She nodded. "Thank you, sir. I require but a few moments." As Elsa's energy gathered, Alistair and anyone within 10 yards of Elsa would notice the temperature rapidly decreasing. Elsa concentrated on herself, trusting Alistair to keep the goons from her. He did so with sterling efficiency.

Roughly two minutes later, Elsa stood up, calling to Alistair. "It is time. Thank you for allowing me to help." Elsa then put her strongest ice shield around Alistair(ooc: with permission?). It would not protect him fully, but it would take the brunt of the attack. "I'm sorry sir, but I cannot take the chance." The Snow Queen turned to the advancing hordes of enemies, dark magelings and grunts alike. When Elsa addressed them, her voice boomed across the enemy ranks, deep like the cold. "YOU WILL GO NO FURTHER, CRETINS!"

The blast was cataclysmic. A massive wave of cold energy expanded outwards from Elsa's body at the speed of a Cero. The wave inflicted cold damage equivalent to two Cero Oscuros to everything in its path. The ice shield around Alistair would halve that before disintegrating. all of the enemies within 100 yards were destroyed. When the blast cleared, Elsa would be found laying at the center, unconscious and totally spent.

The undead holy mage did not dodge, he accepted the opertunity to let himself die and was cut to pieces by Yuri's attacks. he fell to the ground, his body starting to glow white as the magic prepared to defend its host. "Finish me now!" He screamed. If yuri wasn't fast enough ti drive a sword through the mages brain, the mage exploded in a 300yd radius with the force of a cero oscuros.


Amarius, either hearing the boom, or just feeling the death sighed loudly. "Never bother with holy zombies, they're just not reliable." Having quickly grown bored of things here, he simply cast his most powerful shield and blocked the attacks Kai sent at him. his body began to blurr as his spells powered down. "Sorry to cut this short Kai, but I really do have things to be doing. Alexai knows I'm not a reliable partner, so he wont be too upset by this." His body was slowy turning transparent. He was no longer on the same physical plain as Kai, and could not interact or be harmed by anything here.

"Before I go Kai, I would like to point out that Alexai is stronger than you can imagine. I worked a little magic, pun intended, so yeah. Might want to stop the ressurection, if you can." He laughed. "I will leave you with some company." He grinned, and vanished. There was silence, for a few seconds, but then there was the crack of magic and bodies started to tear their way from the earth, none of them giving off a powerful energy source, but enough to trouble even the leader of the coalition long enough to give the ressurection a chance.


Alistair was thrown to the side as the shield around him shattered and the massive blast hit him. He rolled to a stop in allot of pain from that blast. He'd lied to Elsa, he was very weak to energy attacks and as tough as he was, had she not shielded him he probably would have died from that blast. At the time, he hadn't cared, because there was far more important things on the line. He had been ready to die for the anchient queen, because it ment saving the others. He'd also welcomed the possibility of death.

He managed to pull himself to his feet, back in his human form now, and found some rags to wrap-ed around his body. Covered in cuts and bruises he limped towards the centre of the blast where Elsa lay unconcious. He was almost there when another dark mage arrived and opened fire on her. Alistair moved faster, throwing himself in the path of the bullets, his already battered body taking yet more damage. But he wasn't dead.

Before the man could react, Alistair closed the gap and ripped his head clean off his shoulders, the effort was enough to bring him to his knees afterwards, and he started to pass out. With a growl of effort and stubborn will, he pulled himself to his feet and limped back to Elsa. If he gave up now, they would probably both die.

Yuri barely had the chance to finish it off before it went off. He had nothing for a large area of effect besides getting out of it. He may have outrun his fair share of explosions, but he wasn't gonna risk this one. He started on his way there...only to be knocked back on his ass by the amount of dark power heading his way. Suddenly, in front of him was his brother...holding the head of the clone that resurrected him. Ruffling his hair and setting the head in front of him, the man disappeared again. Yuri sat there in fear...

~

Kai had just started slaying the zombies when the eruption happened. The zombies all but combusted when Alexei should up. Kai was about to strike when a spell appeared at his feet and propelled him far away from him. "Awe...seemed I missed Amarius...oh, I'll visit him later..." Off he went again.

~

The remaining army soon found themselves dead in an instant with the arrival of the five foot 11, black clad man. Clearly a relative to Yuri, with the same eyes. In his hand was the Devil's Sunrise sword. "Oh...one ditched out on my fun...what about...Oh! Connor! Look at how much you've grown! Leave us if you would please!" The werewolf did as he was told. There was no way he was sticking around. The man looked at each one and did a come at me motion. He was just gonna test them...

Tadatomo witnessed the blinding flash as Elsa's attack went off. The ambient temperature began to fall, and it began to snow lightly. Knowing time was short, Tadatomo deposited Anna in the emergency evacuation craft that had been standing by in an undetected alcove. "I am going back for the others. Please remain here. You have performed your duty admirable, Miss Arendelle." The red-haired man bowed and turned to Serena. "We should go." They immediately headed straight for the battle again. He focused and tried to sense any remaining energy signatures. Alistair's energy was reading but it was practically spent. He couldn't sense Elsa's.

When they arrived back, Alistair was staggering towards a bundle on the ground. Tadatomo raced over to the old warrior and the bundle. The bundle stirred slightly. It turns out the young woman had survived, thanks to Alistair. Tadatomo looked around, surveying the damage. The attack had virtually wiped out the advancing forces. Tadatomo checked on Alistair, administering one of Elsa's healing crystals. "I didn't think anyone would survive that, but you've always been too stubborn to die." He then spoke through his com-link. "Commander Allard-Liao, this is Tadatomo. We have neutralized the advance force, but we have wounded. What is your status?" Static crackled out of his earpiece.

Then, a power signature flared up. One so large it startled Tadatomo. It was also moving towards them. Tadatomo turned to Serena. "Serena, take Alistair and Elsa. Return to the evac point. I will try and hold here. Do not come back for me." If there were any arguments form them, he would simply silence them with a wave of his hand. "Alistair, sir, you are in no fit state to fight. Serena, you are faster than me and you possess greater medical expertise. The logic is sound. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one. Go! Now!" Tadatomo then drew his sword and prepared to face the coming storm.

It arrived in the form of one. The new threat bore a striking resemblance to Yuri Romanov. Tadatomo knew from the briefing that there was only one option. The possibilities had merge into a singular course. Alexei taunted him to strike. Tadatomo could tell that the man was his superior in every department, but he had his duty. In a flash, he drew Apollo and fired his 30 bala barrage and then switched to Artemis and peppered Alexei with shots. Tadatomo knew he had to hold him here for as long as possible...

Alistair spotted Tadatomo and Serena before he could reach Elsa. "I'm glad to see you two." He said as he fell onto his knees. Only for someone very powerful to show up. Alistair sighed and forced himself back onto his feet. Tadatomo told them to run, but both Alistair and Serena instantly refused. "No way, he'll tear you appart." Serena said. Alistair growled. "I'm not dead yet pup. I can still fight." He said.

Serena wasn't so sure of herself after Alistair said that, and was starting to worry the werewolf was about to drop. There was a sudden violently loud tear as a garganta ripped open and a hallow burst out of the dark mouth, roaring at Alexai. She recognised the hollow, this was not the first time this creature had arrived when they were in trouble. She grabbed Alistair and threw him over her shoulder, the woosy wolf chuckled. "Your strong." He said. Serena grabbed Elsa too. "Tadatomo your are forbidden to die. I'll be back." She said, and ran off.

Kain looked at the human. "Again we meet fighting the same foe." The hollow said, forming two black katana like blades. When the human began his assault, Kain joined in, dashing around Alexai and peppering him with Javalins of ice that would explode on impact with the force of bala.

Alexei grinned like a maniac at them. So noble...it was a wonder they got rid of him in the first place. Then again, he was much stronger now. The hollow from earlier arrived. "Well, to be fair, they are hanging out with Yuri a lot lately. And one of my clones did kill you. The second one's head is over by Yuri right now." He scooted back, moving and blocking and deflecting, using the sword's basic pulse spell to help. When the hollow began, he sighed and activated another spell. It created a dark shell around him, making the weak attacks worthless. His cyan eyes glowed eerily.

He charged at the hollow, aiming a simple stab at the creature. He wasn't here to kill necessarily...just see how much of a nuisance they're gonna be. The black haired thirty year old stepped back and fired a Dark Wave, sending a cutting wave of dark energy that was horizontal. Twisting on the ball of his heel, the dark mage spat constant stream of fire the gun toting human. Most any shield can do was stall time before it would consume it, unless it was a soulbound item.

After that, he spoke lightly. "You know...you should have kept at least the mutt here...Yuri's Genesis spell would have been very good for him while attacking me at the same time...I really wanted to test all of you at once..." He would either slash at the hollow or step towards him to slash at him. "And you are an annoyance...at least a clone can hold you off..." His intent for the slash would have been to throw him through the canyon wall.

Tadatomo saw the Hollow arrive through the Garganta just before he began his assault. He simply nodded respectfully. "Indeed." The attack began, but Tadatomo witnessed the black-haired man shrugging off most of the attacks, utilizing an array of shields and spells to remain unharmed. The enemy slashed horizontally, sending a dark wave of energy in said direction. Tadatomo had to be alert and back-flipped over it. He was then the target of a stream of malicious-looking fire. Tadatomo simply trusted to instinct and bisected the flame jet with a vertical slash with his sword. The flames passed around him, albeit very closely. When the jet ceased, Tadatomo noticed his coat sleeves had caught fire and begun to smoulder. He swiftly tore the trench-coat from him and fixed his attention once again on the enemy.

Spotting Alexei assailing the Hollow with blows, Tadatomo ran over, sheathing his sword, and attempted to lock in a sleeper hold on the man. He knew that even if he successfully locked it in, it would delay him only for a second or two at best. If Tadatomo locked it in, he would squeeze as hard as he could, trying to restrict Alexei's oxygen flow, if he even required it, until either Alexei or he himself was dealt with. If he failed he would simply assail Alexei with a trio of sword slashes, slicing at him from his belt to his brain, then he would retreat back if he wasn't impeded and fire off a couple more shots with Artemis, attempting to slow the man with knee and leg shots.

Kain slashed at Alexai furiously. "I! Will! Devour! Your! Soul!!!" Kain roared between each slash at the man, moments before being sent flying like a rag doll. However the hollow shot out of the canyon wall in a blur, and launched a massive ball of frosty energy as strong as a gran rey at Alexai. He shot straight up into the air after, and rained down two weaker balls as strong as cero at him, and dropped, landing behind him to drive a black ice spear at the man's back. He dropped the spear and created two swords, launching into a whirlwind of slashes again, while throwing off explosive ice javalins with his tentacles as he spun.

Lashing out a tentacle, he tried to catch Alexai's leg and hold him still as he attempted to drive both swords through the calf and lashed at him with the other three to distract him. He was relentless with his attacks, and even if Alexai sent him flying or interupted him he would come back at him and continue to attack until all attacks were adressed.

Alexei easily parried each slash while keeping an eye on his other assailant. Jumping up and out of the way of the frosty ball, he blurred behind the Coalition officer and kicked him towards the attack. Doing an array of blurs, he avoided the cero leveled energy beams, and grabbed the spear aimed at his back. The black haired man did a stomp kick to the hollow's chest. Only to be met by dual swords. Again, the dark mage matched blades with blade and jumping on top of a dark disc to avoid another attack.

Though a tentacle did latch on to his leg. Chuckling, he waited until the hollow closed in. To fire a quick shot of dark power the strength of a gran rey at near point blank range. Landing back on the ground, he was about to continue attacking when his dark shell spell was negated. Alexei blocked the Heaven's Gate sword, only for Yuri to stab at him with his Rune Blade.

The two mages became locked in a hell of a sword play show. Only for Yuri's two swords to be knocked out of his hands and land flat on his ass. Alexei smirked at his younger brother. "That is a neat trick. But you're not the only one that wields two swords." Turning his back to face the hollow and Coalition officer, he summoned a new blade. Mostly red that started to thrum with power once Alexei touched it.

Suddenly, the ground below erupted, showing a holy spell being charged up. "Throw all of your energy at him! My spell will regenerate it! So don't hold back! That Soul Eater sword will destroy you, DO NOT GET HIT BY IT AT ALL COSTS!"

Tadatomo was not surprised that his attempt at restraining his opponent failed. He had time to get his sword slashes off before having to back-flip over Alexei to not get hit by Kain's attacks. The attacks impacted on Alexei, Tadatomo covering his eyes from the blast as he backed off. Knowing that was not the end, he emptied both guns into the enemy position. He then prepared himself for the counter-attack, when suddenly Yuri was there, Alexei's baby brother engaging big brother in a sword fight.

The brother vs. brother fight was quick and to-the-point. Yuri was outclassed swiftly, landing hard on the seat of his pants. Alexei then brought a second, meaner-looking, sword out. Yuri shouted a warning about the danger of the sword. Tadatomo almost laughed at Yuri. "Really? That's your advice? Don't get hit by the sword? Thanks man. You really pulled through for me on that one. I was just planning to throw myself on to it, but thank you for stopping me." He turned to Kain. "Do you hear that friend? We're not supposed to get hit by that sword, but any other weapon is fine!"

Tadatomo snorted in derision, and began to pepper Alexei with his Buster Barrage, 30 bala-strength projectiles scattering over Alexei. Tadatomo then took up a position that would not draw attention and began charging his Burning Nova. He shouted to Kain. "Cover me!"

Kain sonido'd away from the explosive blast of energy shot at him. He appeared behind Alexai and slashed at his back and moved away as suddenly yuri, and stopped next to Tadatomo. They were informed not to get hit by the enemies sword. Tadatomo nearly laughed at yuri and spoke to kain. Kain nodded. "I am displeased... My favorite pass time is throwing myself on others swords..." He said.

Tadatomo proceeded to pepper the man with shots and Kain joined in with a hail storm of explosive ice balls that fell down on and around Alexai in a thirty ft radius. Tadatomo called for cover, so Kain activated his final ability, causing a 100ft area around him to freeze, and spikes of ice to pop up randomly. That was just the start though. meanwhile, kain began to throw cero powered balls of energy at Alexai with wreckless abandon, not caring if Yuri got in the way. He made sure to keep in alexai's way every time the man went after Tadatomo.

The hollow's sword attack at his back hit the shell, and allowed Lexei to kick at the creature's wrist before it could cut through it. Yuri glared at the two. "You dumbasses, getting slashed in the shoulder by my Heaven's Gate, his Devil's Sunrise, or Kai's Yen-Lo-Wang won't result in the entire loss of your shoulder and arm!" Alexei found it rather humorous, but also piped up.

"When a very knowledgeable mage such as my brother or Kai gives a warning...there's a very good reason you should heed it a lot more than normal, even if it seems obvious. All you could afford with my blade are grazes." He'll make them realize the dangers of his Soul Eater. The dark one created a portal on the ground that allowed him to slip through, along with some of the ice balls and avoiding the shots. The portal lead directly behind Tada. The elder Romanov jumped upon exit to allow the shots a clear line of attack on their owner/ally.

Yuri had to scramble out of the way of the other ice balls and Tada's barrage and use his Eruption and Shine spells to handle three of the dark energy balls aimed at him from the portal, while the other 9 fired at Kain. Alexei landed close to where he was before the portal, within the hollow's range. He chuckled as he used his Soul Eater to slice through the ice spikes like a hot knife through butter. Then used his Dark Wall to ward off some of the hollow's cero attacks, and a Pulsar spell to ward off some of the others. A second black magic circle appeared behind the hollow and fired another Pulsar. Each attack with the power of a Gran Rey Cero.

That would be when Alexei would move to slash with the Soul Eater, to take one of the hollow's arms.