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Qualapec:
Andre's left hand was gone.

Yet still it seemed young Gardner had leveled the playing field. It only took Andre a few moments to shake the shock of losing a limb to the back of his mind. Literally. He used his internal magic to push the searing pain and shock to some dark, unused corner of his mind. At the same time he repressed the shock of survival. He couldn't leave those things there for too long; it would tear his subconcious apart if left there.

But this wasn't going to take that long.

The Wildflower created a current of energy under his feet, carrying him to the balcony. In the mere moments it took for him to get up there he summoned his sword. It appeared in his right hand in a flash of crimson. He didn't give the Emperor time to register his presence there. Andre lunged and quickly cleared the short distance between them.

The Emperor brought up his hand, and within seconds a twin of Andre's own sword blocked his strike in a flurry of red and white sparks.

The Emperor smiled at him, Andre knew, as satisfying as an execution was, winning a battle against him would secure victory in the Emperor's mind. As far as he was concerned the risk was worth it. They exchanged blow for blow, each meant to kill.

Andre received a slice at his head with a twist of his neck to carry vitals out of reach, before bringing his blade up to slice at the Emperor's stomach. The Emperor's sword darted in front of Andre's, deflecting the blow. More sparks of energy dispersed into the air. He swung the sword in a downward arch. With a parry Andre burried the other sword in the marble of the balcony. Andre let a little bit of his energy wash through his body, causing a familiar warmth to spread through his limbs. Twisting his body in an acrobatic display he sent a roundhouse kick flying at the Emperor's head...

...And the Emperor caught it in his hand, endowed with defensive energy to counter the murderous. Quickly, though, the desire of the energy in the hand became that of offense. With superhuman strength it tightened on Andre's ankle.

Oh crap.

Andre screamed as the Emperor jerked and dislocated his right ankle. Alarm flared through him and he let a burst of emergency energy carry him to the other end of the balcony. Hopefully out of the Emperor's reach.

He was wrong.

Within moments the Emperor followed, suddenly the one on offense. Andre tripped on his useless limb, and just barely stopped a blow that would have sent his head flying, or at very least turned him into a Pez Dispenser. In a desperate attempt he risked his one good leg to send the Emperor back. This time the kick paid off, it burried itself in the Emperor's solar plexis, and the stored energy in it spilling out it pushed the other man back, flying into the opposite railing of the balcony. The landing was hard enough so that a little bit of the marble cracked, and it took the Emperor a little bit longer than usual to get back to his feet.

In the break-time, Andre managed to scramble to his feet, and took the time to look for Debyone.

She was in the room that connected to the balcony, binding a long cut on her chest and stomach with some of the Emperor's expensive silks. She had also somehow managed to work her way through the binding spell.

Despite the situation, Andre let a little bit of fatherly pride flow through him. His baby was already unraveling S-Class binding spells.

He turned his attention back to the Emperor, who was staggering to his feet, "Andre, why do you fight? Don't you see, all you have fought for is lost to you. Your arm and leg are useless."

Andre pondered it for a moment, before shrugging and saying, "Because I'm alive when I know I should be dead, I suppose. I can't help but shake the feeling that stopping you is supposed to be my Good Deed, old dad always said every thief needs at least one of those before they die..." He motioned to Debyone, "As a matter of fact, I suppose even if I don't kill you, if she lives then I consider my Good Deed complete."

The Emperor gave a wolfish smile, "You are a fool. Do you really think that after all the evil you have done you will be allowed to end on any sort of a spiritual high point?"

Andre shook his head, "Karma doesn't work that way. At any point we have the chance to start atoning for the things we've done."

"If I remember correctly, Andre. You failed the last time you attempted something like this. Four boys died, very young for mages of their power, in their fourties. It seems as though that was an act of punishment for your karma."

An old familiar pain began to work its way into Andre's chest. An old fear crept into his mind.

The Emperor was touching on something he'd always feared. That his wife, and his sons were all taken from him as punishment for his sins.

And here he was, in a position to lose his daughter, his only remaining child, the very same way. Fear as old as time clutched him as images flashed through is mind. Each one of his children, all of them mangled at the hands of his greatest enemy.

He knew he couldn't live with himself if that happened.

Andre knew the only way to protect Debyone was to kill the man who threatened her.

Even at the cost of his own life.

Andre lifted his sword above his head, using as a conduit for the energy inside his body to spill out and gather strength from the world around him. A scarlet column of energy enveloped him body and soul as every last bit of his magic swelled out of him.

The Emperor rose to his feet, and lifted his own sword to the heavens. White energy gathered around him matching Andre's in size and intensity.

Andre couldn't help but ponder how the people of earth had the silliest tendency to believe that the ones wearing white were the good guys.

He stood there, letting his intent to kill flow over the other man, and accepting the Emperor's intent in turn.

Like he'd told Gardner, he'd lived a good life. He was ready, and would die happily as long as Debyone could be saved.

A century's worth of mind-games and combat...It ended here. Whoever was left standing when the credits rolled, kudos to them.

Andre released his charged up energy just as the Emperor released his. It was like the force of tidal waves colliding. A beautiful locking of explosive, raw power that sent waves of concussive blast echoeing through the courtyard causing damage to the building in some places. Light that outshone the clouded sun filled the courtyard, exposing the battle between the Spider Guard and invading forces, between Gardner and the Living Cloud (oh boy, was he in over his head). Wind seemed to blow both towards and away from the battle of wills and power.

Andre let out a wordless scream. The Emperor followed suit. The force of maintaining such high levels was wearing down on both of them. It was a question of who would give out first.

Suddenly, the marble beneath their feet began to shatter and break under the pressure of their battle. They both held their connection to the magic of the world around them as long as they could; even as they began to plummet to the ground below, even as the balcony twisted as it fell and they felt themselves seperate from the marble as they fell. Everything they had so focused on their one destructive spell that neither bothered with any sort of levitation.

Their concentration never wavered.

It was the kind of battle that, long ago, their mutual teacher had told them made mere mages into the great sages of legend.

Sometime during the fall, the mass of energy became too large for either to hold up, it needed to go somewhere.

So the mass of energy pushed its way into the opposing force, fusing together. It collapsed under its own weight...

...and exploded outward in a way that no one in the courtyard should have survived, much less either of the men at its center.

(AN: Sorry, got a little carried away. I just really wanted to write this battle.)

meg_evonne:

--- Quote from: Qualapec on April 07, 2008, 09:03:35 PM ---...and exploded outward in a way that no one in the courtyard should have survived, much less either of the men at its center.

--- End quote ---

Joey stood fixated as Flying Cloud's drawn and quartered body simply vanished, through a portal of some sort that immediately closed.  "Damn, I'm betting that isn't the last time I run into that floating fart cloud." 

The noise overhead drew his attention in time to see two great masses of magical energy interlocked, each struggling for control.  Joey looked desperately for Debbie, but he couldn't find her.  He needed to get up there fast and the Wildflower didn't allow him to loft upwards.  That left him with one option.  He did have wind power.  He grabbed the noose, dangling from its gallows, and with a running leap spun out towards the crowd and the rope gave him centrifugal force upwards in an arch.  He'd only have one chance at this.  He sent out a rush of wind power which added to the force and, if he timed the release right, should land him on the balcony. 

It worked, sort of.  When he got to the balcony, already under the stress of the magical forces, it collapsed under his added weight and Joey fell with it.  The Wildflower slowed time as Joey twisted about trying to keep from falling.  He had time to see Debbie on the safe side of the balcony doorway in the room beyond.  Behind her he saw Reza coming into the room with an infant wrapped in blankets.  He continued his endless slow spin to see Andre falling, the Emperor falling, and the deadly combustion of the magical forces falling.  Far below, he saw the terrified faces of the nobles and their families in the courtyard below.

He felt the wave created as the explosion began at the subatomic level.  He felt the magical energy forces as they raced to join the party.  It was like he was part of the explosion, part of the destruction, and the Wildflower surged--unwilling to let so many die senselessly.  COLD, impossibly cold power surged through him--a match for the heat of the explosion growing atom by atom.  The ice blue cold shot out from the Wildflower enveloping, encapsulating, and encasing the explosion. The magic energy conflagration feed the explosion outwards while the Wildflower's ice cold power surrounded it and matched forces shoving the explosion back in on itself and on the Emperor and Andre within. 

Time returned to its normal pace and Joey felt gravity pulling him down--rapidly and Joey realized he was half way to the ground.  He screamed out, "Crap!" and pointed the Wildflower downwards, willing wind to counter act the pull of gravity.  In slowing his own fall, he also slowed the blue ice encased explosion.  In a freak twist of light through the ice, Joey saw the frozen figures inside as the ball struck the ground below him and he watched it shatter into tiny fragments.  Giving up on protecting himself from the fall, Joey willed the power of the Wildflower out to contain the shards of ice that would have ripped through the nobles and their families.

Joey's wind had slowed his descent, but his body crumpled as it hit the ground and pain exploded through him.   Amazingly, he didn't lose consciousness.  Staring upwards he saw Debbie in the exposed balcony doorway.  She was looking upwards.  Joey's eyes followed hers. 

"Holy shit!"  Joey whispered, all he could manage, as he realized a body was coming down fast, a body with a hat and it was heading straight for Joey who was unable to move.  Through the unbelievable pain, he realized he still had the Wildflower in his hand.  He willed a cushion of air over himself.  Andre hit it and bounced, slowing his descent, and he landed in a broken clump next to Joey.  Together they bore their pain and stared heavenwards, wondering what miracle had saved them both.

Andre twisted his still hat covered head, "You cut my hand off, kid.  I ought a kill you for that."

"Just try it." Joey replied and weakly waved the Wildflower in self-defense. 

"Cloudicus' body parts disappeared through a portal.  Please tell me he isn't headed to Earth."

"Nah, he probably headed to the next world in.  One Emperor down, this world saved, but there are five worlds left, kid." 

Joey still didn't have the strength to turn his head.  The sky looked nice and he had a nice view of Debbie up there crying.  "Five, huh?  That's just super." 

He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them he was staring up at Humbert's beefy face looking down at him saying, "The Emperor's power has stopped.  The spider soldiers are once more themselves.  The battle is won."

"That's super, Humbert, heal me.  It freaking hurts everywhere."

Anduriel:

--- Quote ---"That's super, Humbert, heal me.  It freaking hurts everywhere."
--- End quote ---

Sometime in between my left shoulder being pushed back into it’s socket, my right knee being relocated and the pain in my head went from feeling like a jumbo jet had been dropped on it to just an elephant dancing a merry jig; Debbie had shimmered from down from what was left of the fortress and was tending to Andre. Even through the pain, it was indescribably good to see Debbie and knowing she was ok. Unimaginable relief flooded through my body at the realisation that we were all alive… or maybe that was just the healing magics.

Humbert was surprisingly good at this healing gig and Debbie seemed to be doing just fine with her father. In. very little time at all; the pain had subsided enough for both Andre and I to sit up.

“You should rest master Gardner,” said Humbert “Your body is still weak, as is Andre’s.”

“I still can’t believe you cut off my hand boy!” replied Andre.

That’s right; I save his life, and all the ungrateful ass can do is complain about the little things.

“Can’t you just re-grow it or something?” I said, a smile crept onto my face. “Or maybe you could attach a nice hook? Andre the pirate!”

I received a vicious glare in return for my musings. Well, it looked like we’d saved the day… and a world, which is more than I usually did, so it’s safe to say I was feeling pretty proud of myself, but that only lasted for a while because Andre piped up with:

“So Debyone, which world should we travel to next?”

“Andre, no. Now you know me; I’m always up for some ass-kicking action and I enjoy liberating as much as the next planetary-enslaved mage, but you need to rest. It was a miracle you didn’t die.” was her reply.

Though neither had said it, the relief that that the other was alive and their love was more than apparent in their eyes. My own orbs of jelly only belied more questions. Questions of which I promptly voiced.

“Yeah what’s up with this liberating worlds thing? The Emperor’s dead… isn’t our job done?”

And then I heard a voice that made my balls try to crawl back up into my body.

“Not quite Mr Gardner. If I’m correct your work has only just begun.”

Reza!

Damn. Now where did she come from?

Kristine:

--- Quote from: Anduriel on April 09, 2008, 12:35:05 AM ---
Damn. Now where did she come from?


--- End quote ---

She quirked a diffident little smile, "I told you Joey, I win either way" she said softly.  I realized my face must have been very easy to read as I was too tired to be cagey.  As if reading my mind she continued, "As I said before - You with the Wildflower are the emperor's equal on opposite ends of a spectrum.  You did not destroy him.  As you have little enough magic power of your own that you can use the Wildflower effectively - The Emperor has been... Enhanced... in his own way to make him almost entirely magic." she tilted her head to one side as if considering, and I realized she must be tired too as the expression told her honest surprise.  "You managed to sever his magical ties on this world when he released too much of himself and you encased the power.  The only way he could escape is to poke a hole within the energy orb and go through to another world." her brows drew together for an instant, "he would usually never have done that but for the fight with Andre.  He wouldn't have done that for a fight with any other mage either.  You were just the right group of people at the right time." 

I felt I should correct her on the part about 'enough magic' - I had NONE of my own and the people around here just didn't seem to get that.  I felt like my eyes were getting dusty and rubbed them, but that only seemed to grind it in deeper into the back of my eyeballs. Suddenly I felt very frustrated, "So where did he go?"

"Why, further in, of course."

"I can't believe you cut off my hand..." Andrea mused again looking at the stump at the end of his arm.

I didn't know what to say to that.  'It's not like you don't have another one', 'Oooppps',  'I was aiming for your stupid head and I missed' or 'It seemed like the right thing to do at the time'?  A hundred different things went through my head but all I managed was; "Sorry Andrea." I was sorry he had to loose his hand but glad he had kept his life so the apology didn't sound horrified, or abashed, just slightly regretful.

He looked up and for a moment I thought I saw sympathy for me, "S'all right I guess.  I was ready to loose my life so a hand is sort of a bargain."

I nodded oddly calmed until he followed the understanding statement with, "I just can't believe I was maimed by you."

I was about to say something about idiots who would have killed anybody in the vicinity of there little grudge match explosion when a woman walked in with a baby.

"Andrea?" she said looking at him with large doe eyes.

seradhe:
(Gah, sorry to break the storyline all, just wanted to say I haven't forgotten this. Work decided that I had too much life and gave me psycho hours. Working on building the storyline so far into one lump document for those of you who want it. msg me, but no replies to this.. on with the story!)

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