Nadir (Open) [Chapter XX]

[Cap'n Failz]

Johnny Blaze had been pulled out of his stupor between rest and waking the moment that last, terrible scream had echoed across all of Genesis. He merely stared at the wall before him, bleary-eyed and dumstruck as to why he'd suddenly been ripped from the only bit of sleep he'd managed to get for days now. His eyes were just starting to drift closed again when he heard the screeching roar in his head, and his skull throbbed. The demon bonded to him -- The Ghost Rider -- was what had ripped him from his sleep, and now it was actively fighting against the careful restraint the human host kept it under.

But within only a few moments, Johnny Blaze's tired human mind gave up the fight, and the Ghost Rider's demonic might surged forth. Flesh and bone caught fire, his breath becoming great gouts and tongues of hellish fire as he heaved himself up from his sitting position. Within mere seconds, the human guise -- and with it, the humanity -- of the man had burned away, leaving naught but the skeletal form of the Spirit of Vengeance stalking into what should have been the darkness of night, sticking out like a blazing torch in a pitch-black cave.

Within merely a handful of steps, the enchanted chains that served as his weapon erupted from the sleeves of his jacket, whipping through the air and flinging themselves about his torso, wrapping tightly about him like a bandolier, glowing red-hot against the black of the jacket. A snap of his skeletal fingers and there came a screeching, howling roar as a blast of Hellfire rocked the air, spewing out the demonic hellcycle of the Ghost Rider. It stormed forth from several meters behind him, skidding around to halt before him, its side turned toward him. Casting his gaze to the west, he could only let out a rumbling growl from deep within his nonexistant chest as he swung one leg over the burning seat of the hellcycle. A single rev of what passed for its engine produced an explosive blast of Hellfire from its bony exhaust pipes, and then it was off, ripping up onto its hind wheel and tearing off into the distance, leaving behind a trail of scorched and burned earth, ablaze with Hellfire that would last as long as he did, leaving a perfect trail of his path.

Faster than the wind the demoncycle ripped through the distance seperating him from the ominous, powerful light in the west. It took him but mere moments to reach at first the black desert, and but a handful more for the actual source of the light to come into sight. The guise of the Ghost Rider assumed a darker cast, the flames about his hands and skull growing darker red, as if to signify his anger and wrath. He revved the hellcycle again, spewing out another blast of hellish flame from the exhaust, glassing the earth in his wake, and giving a burst of speed to the wheels of the enchanted motorcycle.

Trailing a great plume of Hellfire in his wake, the coming of the Ghost Rider was like Hell itself spewed fire and death forth into the desert, and as the paradoxical demonic agent of Heaven turned sharply to one side, spinning in a blazing circle and throwing up a blistering wall of scorched and glassed earth and liquid fire, he leapt from the seat of his transport, rising a handful of meters into the air. Whipping the chains from about his body, they lashed out, spearing into the earth in a trio of locations, tri-anchoring him to the glassed desert. With a mighty pull on the chains, he launched himself to the earth below like a hell-sent meteor.

His impact was just as his flight would indicate: it gouged out a crater the size of a large building in the crystalline earth. It blasted forth a wall of searing Hellfire toward Eos, ripping asunder and liquifying the ground in its wake. The ground before Eos would crack and rip itself asunder as a mass of chains, all white-hot with the purfying, hellish blaze of the Ghost Rider's power, burst from below the ground, their intent clear as day: to spear the Third Aspect through and tear her to shreds, just as she had done to the soldier mere moments before. A futile effort, perhaps -- or at least so early in a confrontation of this scale.

But it was as of yet the barest fraction of the Ghost Rider's might.

[Lamia]

The nine witches lived long enough to see the terrifying glory of the monstrosity that stood before them, seeing it withstand the might of Vulture's beloved space station up above before releasing more power into the air. The light above blinding them before the sound of destruction snapped them back to reality. Before they could defy Arashi and Creator any more, Eos stepped foot on the sand and they instantly glassed. Frozen in place where they stood as the Angel of Death came into view of The End. Following him was Lamia who stepped out of her chariot with reinforcement and ran over to her fallen brethren. Running a finger across the crystallized glass before turning over to the being that had taken her sisters lives.

"Hear me, Arashi!"

Cried out the coven leader as she stepped forward, removing her robes to brandish the mark on her right arm that she wore proudly like a badge. The mark glowing a dark hue of blue as she dropped her robes to the ground. Six of her sisters behind her ready to soar as entire armies threw themselves at the Arashi, as well as single individuals with extraordinary power like Roy and the Ghost Rider.

"I am Lamia. A devoted servant of the Enchantress. The one who deified your god a year ago in the holy city. I challenge you! Let us see who's god is greater as Elijah and the Baal prophets did in Isreal. Come before me, Arashi!"

[Sincara]

Before the unmanned Kari tanks could even get within fire range of the target, The End was attacked by bombards of enemies all with different origins, different weapons, but with one purpose. The strongest of which was without a doubt the space platform of the Crimson Vulture that rained down on Eos previous position on the ocean. White Queen simply watched as the creature stood unharmed and then release an energy equal, if not greater, than what was thrown at her destroying the space station in the sky and continuing on her way. Leading to the White Queen to analyze her powers further as she spoke a single command to the tanks on the field.

"All stop."

The tanks came to a stop just outside the others field of vision. Ready to defend if attacked as White Queen waited to see how Eos would respond to the recent attacks hurled in her direction. Or more notably, what she would launch in return.

[Kara]

Kara looked around the cave for any weapons she could find. Finally making a slingshot from a couple of sticks and a rope, then packing up on some stones in the cave taking inspiration from the classic bible story David and Goliath before finding another torch and lighting it up to make her way to the cave's exit.

"It didn't have to be this way. You had a choice. All of you had a choice."

She spoke to no one in particular, though deep down in the back of her mind she had a sinking suspicion that The End could hear her. Even all the way from here. If so she wouldn't hold back in her contempt.

"Even now. You still have the choice. Nothing has taken that away from you. Yet you choose this? You choose destruction? What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Finally, a light. Kara was towards the end of the cave and when she came out she saw the glassed part of the desert up ahead as the world came together to do what they could against The End. She was not alone.

"I don't care if I have my powers or not, my authority or not. We make our own destinies, there is no fate to behold. I won't let you win."

With her torch still lit she ran towards the scene of the battle.

"You will not have this world!"

[Roy Atenwood]

Roy gave an almost fiendish grin as his elemental attack was absorbed into the beast and he felt it being snuffed out even as it was used against the men surrounding it.

Of course, the feedback from having his elements absorbed hurt like a bitch, but whatever. He had memories of worse pain. Hell, he could remember the instant Cadelfwch pierced Kaden's chest, and the moment he had become a being was the single worst pain he could remember.

"Do NOT take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks."

Almost blatantly ignoring everything going on out of sheer anger, he plunged his fingers into the crystal beneath him, the crystalline structure giving way beneath his rage and strength. As his boots impacted the ground, he strained. With a massive strain, to the point where he nearly felt his back give out, he wrenched a huge portion of the crystal from the ground, the ocean underneath showing through as he hefted the absolutely massive chunk of crystal above his head.

He nearly stopped for a moment to admire the deadly beauty of this creature, before ignoring Lamia's challenge to it completely and hurling the massive chunk of crystal toward it.

(OOC: By massive, think of when Superman reaches into the ground, picks up a big chunk, then throws it at the enemy xD)

[Kira Yamato]

Jaden was quick to notice the light, but once he saw it start to move towards Eos, he decided he was going to use it for his own purposes. He quickly drew two cards from his deck. He quickly summoned Elemental Hero Bubbleman, but it's appearance would be short lived as he played the second card, Polymerization. The light Eos would have absorbed was ripped away and fused with Bubbleman. Neither was what it had been before, but rather a new being that evolved from the light came forth with a dazzling light. Elemental Hero The Shining.

Jaden gave a quick glance to the new arrivals. Well it certainly got crowded fast. Still the more people here to help him out the better chance that they stood of winning here and now. He calmly stared back at Eos, with nothing more then a grin on his face. After all this was far from his first encounter with a God. He had already beaten both the Light of Destruction and Darkness when they had came for his world, the latter he had stood against all alone. Jaden blinked at the little red dot that appeared on Eos' head, but before he could ponder what it did it exploded. He put his arms up, but that would prove unnecessary as the blast didn't reach him.

Then suddenly the pillar of light shot up. Jaden's gaze followed it, but unfortunately he couldn't see the target. He did however see the falling pieces of the station. It was when he turned back that he caught sight of the person charging at the being. Why was it that every villain seemed to be cursed with the same idea? Something for another time. Jaden didn't quite know what this person was getting at, but he normally had that feeling a lot, but what he did know was that he was growing tired of it. Jaden let out a small glance as the front line soldiers were frozen instantly.

Jaden quickly pulled out four cards from his deck and played two of them. Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and Winged Kuriboh. He sat the final two cards, but he wasn't done as Elemental Hero Wingman struck a burst of fire in Eos' direction, but before it could collide it disappeared reappearing directly beside Eos and exploded as Yubel appeared from the shadows her arms crossed. Jaden could only blink at Lamia's challenge. Someone was sure over the top. Of course he didn't know what half of what she said meant.

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Tag: Person to post next

Song: ”Wake Up Your Heart” by KENN with The NaBs

Key: Thoughts, “Jaden’s Dialouge”, "The Supreme King's Dialouge", “Honest’s Dialouge, ”Yubel’s Dialouge”, ”Professor Banner’s Dialouge”, “Neos’ Dialouge”, “Winged Kuriboh” (Note: Anyone beside Jaden can only be seen if that person can see Duel Spirits or ghosts.)

[Red Queen]

Four stealth Vertigo Bombers became visible above Eos' position on the ground before dropping a single groundpounder bomb in unison. As soon as the bombs dropped the Venom patrols appeared, particle beams and lasers rained down upon the Third Aspect as the ground troops moved in. Most of the zombies infantry was glassed by Eos' power but a few survived and kept going unloading their armor-piercing rounds at the Third alongside the Shock Troops. Missiles soon following after from the Missile Squad behind them. The Predator tanks unloading from their railguns immediately after that.

Meanwhile back at HQ Red Queen observed the destruction of the space platform in orbit. This would have marked the second time the station was destroyed by an enemy force. But this time Red Queen could spot no survivors, not even Zee Captain. Presuming them all dead Red Queen went to analyzing Eos and the battle so far. Unlike White Queen however she would not hold back her units as she did this. She wouldn't give the Third Aspect any time to breathe. Caring little what happened to her infantry and those on site as long as the objective of eliminating The End was fulfilled. Everything else was expendable next to that objective.

Even the General.

[Eos]

The demigod wisely severed the elemental link between them while the battalion of Kari disengaged – its own Artificial Intelligence construct furiously trying to piece together the data that was being gathered as the battle went on. Walter and Roy threw the opalescent stones at her and she paid them no heed; she continued to walk. The boulders broke down and ground themselves to dust before encircling her in a radiant mist. They though their past experiences with war would serve them in this conflict. They were wrong. Nothing could prepare them for this, no matter how much they believed it. She looked at their defiance: They refused to give up their lives and their dreams. Refused the Creator. They did not understand. How could they? They were only mortal. Pure, like Adam and Eve were once upon a time, and their innocence regarding the workings of the divine was sacred. She would anoint them in the light.

The Rider stormed in unleashing the powers of hell. Chains lashed out like snakes. The ground beneath her shattered, threatening to swallow her whole, but she would not relent. She continued to walk with ceremonial grace along the glassed path. The crimson flames licked her flesh but they did not harm her. The chains grasped her, and instantly they became animated with the same intangible vivacity as her wings. They crystallized, and quickly expanded as newly formed appendages of energy. The inferno froze and was swallowed whole. The glass continued to spread across the earth like a rising tide, and the Ghost Rider was standing right on top of it.

The words of Kara and Lamia reached her ears. They spoke blasphemy. The light continued to soar across the sky behind her like countless waterfalls streaming out into the infinite; they consumed anything that came into their way – the Isafaro platoon, the birds, the very air – all were purified without distinction.

She felt the pull of Jaden’s cards and turned her eyes to the man. She continued her pace to the east, head turned in admiration of the man. Slowly, step by step, and he saw it; she smiled. Never had anything seemed so beautiful than to see the smile of a goddess. There was a moment absent in time where they stood face to face entrapped in silent contemplation of one-another. The world had ceased to exist, there was only the two of them and the light. The light! The cards on his device had grown into amorphous suns. They spread across its surface like venom, contaminating it – liquefying it – and turning it to glass. The deck followed – it burned like a brand – but that became unimportant. The infection began to spread to his arm like a parasite, devouring him.

Then there came the shadow of the groundpounder… and she embraced it.

[Red Queen]

The massive shockwave shook the earth beneath Eos' feet kicking up the ground all around her. Reaching out wide enough towards Ghost Rider, Roy, Walter and ZX-200. Spreading wide enough to hit Lamia and her coven, Jaden, the charging Jherrazad foot soldiers under Ranko's command and the ex-god Kara, alongside Vulture's own soldiers and tanks on the ground before sending them tumbling down to the center of a deep crater and right into the path of the Third Aspect who awaited to purify them all in light at its center.

[Ayen]

“This is why the pawns go first.”

Ranko, Kaso and Alexander was a good ways away from the blast, the shockwave dying out long before it could reach their position as they watched the ground up ahead collapsed into itself to form a crater. Some of her soldiers were lost in the shockwave while others managed to avoid it by jumping over and then sliding down the crater straight into Eos. Some instinctively to protect from the wings that were growing on her body and others, in their panic, tried desperately to swing their blades at him, all of which were glassed the moment the Arashi's wings made contact with their bodies.

The cyborg lifted up into the air through the power of its repulsors and went over the shockwave, remaining over the crater that now existed in the ground below as ZX-200 continued its relentless assault by launching more missiles into the spot where the Third Aspect was currently standing.

[Kara]

When Kara saw the bombs drop from up above she instantly performed a 180 degrees spin and began running in the opposite direction than she had been running. The shockwave erupting and spreading through the field as she jumped forward to give herself more distance, rolling across the ground as she hit it, torch still in hand as she looked back to see the crater and the people both around and those that had fallen in where Eos was. The battlefield was in the Arashi's favor now.

[Walter C. Dornez]

Walter jumped high up into the air and over the shockwave that spread across the area before landing back down on the ground just in time to be caught in a slide straight down towards Eos. Pulling his wires against his teeth as he slid down against the inside crater wall and launched his wires towards the main body of Eos, aiming them to avoid the wings of light as he attempted to impale her body and tear her apart.

[Lamia]

Her challenge was not answered. She had been ignored and she was furious. Her hair grew dark, eyes engulfed in darkness as her skin became steadily more transparent as time went on. Until one could see plainly the black veins throughout the exposed parts of her body. Walking directly into the shockwave casting a barrier around herself, the six witches behind her did the same and the slid down towards the crater. Defying gravity to slow and take control of their descent as they reached the bottom. All of them embracing the full power of the dark gift as they continued to stand in defiance. Especially Lamia.

"I said come before me, Arashi!"

Lamia took control of the air above Eos' head until it became dense. Charging it up and then crashing it down on her head threatening to collapse the Third with the same air life breathed every day. Displaying her power over the land. Displaying the power Maricul had bestow upon her.

"Our bodies and souls have been liberated by the Enchantress. Yours has been oppressed by a god who despises women. We denounce God and his light. We denounce you!"

[Sincara]

This light. It didn't work the same way as White Queen knew the element to work. Everything it touched turned to crystallized glass and when that same glass reached her again it broke down into mist. This was nothing close to any form of light manipulation she had studied and one thing was starting to become abundantly clear. Their weapons were useless. The light of her wings were growing in size and it threatened everything they came in contact with. If they couldn't inflict any lasting damage against the creature then how could they hope to stop it? Further research was required. There had to be some way.

White Queen downloaded herself into each tank on the field. Taking control of all of them manually so she could performed more scans closer to the area. Backing away even further when the groundpounder bombs hit, calculating that the enemy might have absorbed the effects of that too and was planning to release it against the others in her next attack. Red Queen didn't care about collateral damage. Neither did she but she wasn't going to go out of her way to cause it. That was one of many differences in their programming that represented their respective nations. She would try to decrease it as much as possible while collecting data. Regardless they'd have to work side by side for once.

It's the only chance they had of survival.

[Kira Yamato]

Jaden blinked as she smiled. ”Uh oh. That can't be good.” he said more to himself then to her, but then he found out why. In this game you have to be fast. It could literally make or break a person's entire career. Faster then the blink of an eye and he was no exception. He was quick to reach for his deck, and pulled it out before the light reached it. If Eos looked Jaden's eyes were no longer present. Instead one had turned entirely black, the other white as the light was held still, The duel disk disappeared from his arm after preventing the damage from spreading.

Eos would realize in an instant what had happened. No longer was she fighting against Jaden, but rather the entire power of a realm. Jaden wasn't meant to hold this much power, but he was determined to put an end to her here and now even if doing so meant his soul. Even his deck seemed to push away the light as Eos would feel a rather familiar power residing inside of it. Similar, but not the same. The instant the deck was removed the duel disk was gone. No longer was it on Jaden's arm, but rather it fell right in front of Eos' mask. Darkness and light formed around his arm and even his whole being. But the two never touched, they merely extended from him at the same time. ”If you're the light that purges existance,” the duel disk appeared on his arm as he put the deck back into it. ”We'll be the Darkness that brings rebirth.” it said as his first duel disk finished turning to light. The first card he used as A Hero Emerges.


______________________________________________________


Red Queen's own attack would be sorely misplaced as Jaden simply appeared at the edge of the crater thanks to Yubel. Yubel shook her head at Leon's appearance. ”Your type can't even die right, can you?” she asked clearly not concerned with whatever hell he had been through after she had caused his death. The other only turned his eyes to lightly look at her for a second before turning back to look down at the pit waiting for Leon to make his move, and when Eos was finally confronting The Nightmare he made his move. He quickly pulled the top three cards from his deck summoning the three Egyptian Gods. With wasting any time Slyfer and Ra fired aiming directly for Eos' mask while it was still distracted trying to figure out what it's reality was.

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Tag: Person to post next

Song: ”Wake Up Your Heart” by KENN with The NaBs

Key: Thoughts, “Jaden’s Dialouge”, "The Supreme King's Dialouge", “Honest’s Dialouge, ”Yubel’s Dialouge”, ”Professor Banner’s Dialouge”, “Neos’ Dialouge”, “Winged Kuriboh” (Note: Anyone beside Jaden can only be seen if that person can see Duel Spirits or ghosts.)