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Rebuild Of 1000 Swords

As John opened the door he felt sunlight hitting his face. The large stone dome that was once the highest point in the village had collapsed and now sunlight was coming through.
He stepped on top of the red carpet that was now almost black of ash. John continued through the throne room past the statues of great heroes. After looking at the statues and paintings for a few seconds he moved on. He walked up to the throne, but went past it and instead opened a door to the right of the throne. The door opened with a creaking sound which didn’t seem to bother John at all. John went up the stairs and took a right into a hall. He almost opened the king’s door when he heard a noise coming from the sword room. John continued down the hall and was met by a louder groan. He opened the door and found the king lying under a pile of rubble.

“John!” The king said.

“My lord, are you alright?” John asked.

He moved a chunk of rubble and saw that the king was heavily wounded. “Sir…”

“There is no time John, take Sleza, our nation’s relic and leave before they get you too.” The king said while groaning once more.

John nodded, he got back on his feet and broke the glass of the display case. John carefully lifted Sleza out of the case.

“You have it, now leave John!” The king yelled.

“Your death won’t be for nothing sir,” John said.

“Thank you son, now leave before they kill you and take the sword,” The king said.

“But how my King?” John asked.

The king took out a walkie-talkie from under his robe an extended the antenna.

“Chuck? Chuck? Are you there Chuck?” The king asked.

The walkie-talkie cracked and a voice came through: ”Yes my lord I’m here.”

“Chuck land your plane and take John with you to France you’ll be save there,” The king said.

“What about you Sir?” the voice answered back.

“I’m afraid I’m too wounded to come with you” The king answered.

The king gave the walkie-talkie to John and he went back through the door…
 

Scriptor Scorpio

Science Hero
The blade had appeared to him in his dream. Detective Sumner’s dream. It had appeared freakishly long, spanning the horizon and cutting it in two, separating heaven and earth and beckoning Sumner to use its power. What was its power?

Half asleep he jumped out of bed throwing away the sword in his dream through the window out of his life. He opened his eyes. It was still dark and he looked around aimlessly for the sword. Then he remembered he’d put it away in a separate compartment in his closet. He hadn’t opened it to look at the thing since he hid it. He wasn’t about to.

Whatever its power was, he knew he could use it the right way. Yet, it had corrupted everything and everyone it touched. What made him think he was different, that he would be able to resist it?

Maybe he could ask around at the occult department of the police force, he knew people there who could tell him some more about what magic could and could not do, if there were any limits at all to the legendary swords’ power. He’d have to call ‘her’ that he was going to be late again. She’d understand. He would say he wanted to visit his partner who was still in a coma. He was going to do that of course, but he was gonna head by the occult department as well. Magic. Pain. Suffering. In comparison technology shone a light on the world.
 
FLASH FORWARD!!!


The helpless look on his face was a window in the cold realm of the afterlife.
As the small curved blade made it's way through the boy's ribcage, the accursed sword fell form his weakened hands.
With a soft thud the blood covered weapon hit the sand.
The man fell backward, hitting his head on the floor.
He coughed up blood, gurgling sounds that Izuno couldn't possibly understand.
She crouched next to the desecrated body:"I'm sorry... Ian."

She stood up and walked over to Tomo, sitting and clutching his leg near the gate.
"Are you ok? Can you move?"
"It's just a fleshwound, Iz. I'll be allright, just take care of the sword!"
She could see blood running from under his hands, held over the cut on his right leg.
"That bastard Ian, he should have known better..."

Still coughing up blood, she suddenly noticed the almost unnatural moving Ian take hold of his sword again.
"That's ridiculous, no person could have survived that!" She screamed.
His breathing was heavy, almost mechanical in nature.
He did not have it in himself however to lift himself up from the dusty floor.
Izuno towered over the body and gazed at was once a proud, independant man.
For this to be the power of that sword...
"Don't take it away from me!" He cried out, clutching the sword to his chest.
It was more of a plead for mercy than anything else.
It was like a drug, nestling it's tendrils in his mind.

The pulsating stream of blood coming from his chest started mixing with the cold, powdery dust on the floor.
She grabbed the sword and pulled it away from his frantically grabbing hands.
Izuno cast the sword aside, out of Ian's reach.
She ignored his ramblings, they where of little importance.

She took a step back and looked up.
There it was. The massive, ... unnatural sphere.
Merely looking at it almost made her nauxious.
It was a sphere, but at the same time wasn't.
An alien geometry dictated this place and she was but a one-dimensional dot, in an infinity of space.


END FLASH FORWARD!!!
 

Fitzwim

Member
FLASH FORWARD!!!!

It was finally over.
Tomo slowly limped towards Ian's body, cursing the wound on his leg.
"Dammit Ian, curse you and your sense of responsibility", Tomo muttered, checking Ian's state. As bad as it was, he was astonished.
He was still alive, barely.

Tomo could not bear the sight of Ian choking in his blood, and decided that he should at least make sure that Ian would survive this ordeal. Besides, even if time could not heal his corruption, his body would still be stabilized sufficiently to fully document the effects of the sword.
After making sure his life signs were stable, Tomo could focus his attention on the sphere.

Suddenly, he felt the heavyness of the sphere on him, its raw presence dominating his mind. All that they had done, all they had achieved, seemed so insignificant to the infinity of the sphere.

One thing was certain, the power that the sphere held was not one that could be controlled.

Flash Forward concluded, Back to the present.

Tomo had managed to buy some time once again. he was almost through the ruins, only one floor away from his goal. Except that he now was stuck somewhere between the sixth and seventh floor. He had stumbled across a hidden passage.

This part was even more ancient thatn the other parts of the ruins. A faint, nnatural light filled the hall with no apparent source, resulting in a striking view of the walls, who were ornamented with elaborate murals and characters. Concluding that it would probably take a while for Izuno to reach this part, Tomo went to study the murals, taking pictures with a camera for later studies.

The Murals seemed to show some kind of story regarding some kind of... sphere, surrounded by swords.
Following after that, another part showed one sword surrounded by a black aura, whose tendrils seemed to reach out to something similar to a human.
The final Mural showed 2 figures standing in the light, and then.... nothing.

That was it. Age seemed to have corroded the final part.
 
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I immediately went back to the destroyed building, I once again snuck past the police officers and started looking at the spot where I woke up under the rubble. I tossed the surrounding rocks to the side but Trigact was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly I heard someone coming closer. I turned around, grabbing a stone in the proces to defend myself. The girl stood in a half doorway, lifting her arm to point to a building across the street where men were walking from one side to another, seemingly cleaning up after something.
I understood quite quickly what she was trying to say, how, I don't know. I quickly found my way to the roof of the other building and found cover behind a cooling unit. The girl sat next to me.

"Hands up, you!"

I had been discovered, I slowly stood up, lifting my hands in the air.

"She too!"

I lifted the girl, but when I wanted to raise my hands again, she didn't let go. She closed her hands around my own. She lit up, blinding everyone around her. When the light lessened the girl had vanished, and she had left a small long sword in my hands. The henchmen on the roof, startled by the light, opened fire on me. The sword felt incoming danger and lengthened itself to make a dome around me, made of steel. Bullets collided with the steel, sending a small vibration, almost like a scream, through the handle.
The dome grew bigger, sweeping the men off the roof. The sword transformed into the girl, but this time, her arms were covered in bruises. She looked into my eyes and for the first time, I saw her smile.

Then she lost consciousness...
 
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John stepped into the hallway and went down the stairs. He opened the door to the throne room and looked at the throne one more time before continuing his way out of the castle.
He first wanted to jump down into the moat but remembered that there was no ladder of some sort for John to climb up the other side. John looked around looking for a way across and then noticed a ladder standing in the tower next to the entrance. He lifted the heavy ladder from its place and slowly let it drop into the moat. He descended down the ladder, and then reput it at the other side of the moat. John looked over the edge before actually climbing over it, he was met by a strong blinding heat wave. John covered his face to ward off the heat. He uncovered his eyes and finally saw where the light was coming from. The whole town was on fire! John had a wry look on his face. John assessed his options. Going through the fire was suicide. He racked his brain for another solution. Then he got it. He was going to use one of the access hatches to the top of the wall and travel along it to the airport. John took his walkie-talkie out from under his coat and tried to make contact with Chuck.

“Chuck? Chuck are you there?” The radio made a creaking noise before a voice came through.

“Yes John I do. Where are you now?” Chuck said through the radio.

“I’m making my way to the airstrip,” John said. He tucked the radio back under his coat and started walking again...
 

Scriptor Scorpio

Science Hero
The blade seemed quite dark compared to the almost silver sparkle the girl's sword had and it was quite bigger in size, even adding some length to that of the gracious form of the line-tipped legendary sword that had just saved Raghitey's owner. His simple, but sturdy handle contrasted with the girl's gracious heft and Raghitey was arched on one end and a straight edge on the other. The two seemed to be complete opposites.

"So you really have a legendary sword. Jent must have had a good eye for these things after all," the girl mused. "I like it. Mine's called Nekathir. What's yours?"

"It, it was called Raghitey, I heard. Thanks for saving me with that eh, Jent character. You know him?" Ian said.

"I live here, in this oh so quaint little town. Don't know if Jent's gonna go tell on me though. They don't like sword wielders around these parts," the girl said.

In his mind, Ian referred to her as she. 'She', anyway, was pretty talkative as long as he answered her questions. He had to go along, he was too intrigued by meeting another teen wielding a sword, with certain ease no less.

"Yeah, I noticed. And you are?" Ian blurted out, hoping his sudden change of subject wouldn't startle 'her'.

"Oh yes, I'm Lehra Gallin, local town girl. You?" Lehra said.

Finally, he had a name to put with the rounded face that had been locking eyes with him as she bombarded him with questions and looks.

"Ian Mantris, travelling town guy," Ian said. "How did you get to wie... Never mind, I, I should get going."

"Really now?" Lehra said with a frown as she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Ian turned around slightly surprised as he put his guard up again as he reached for Raghitey. He was almost shakingly afraid of the answer, yet even then he asked: "Really now, what?"

"Well it's just that there's a good chance I'm gonna get exiled from my home town for possessing and using a legendary sword against one of the villagers and I'd like to know what you have to say about that," Lehra said.

"I... thank you for helping me, but I can't change their minds, I wish I could. Roaming the country isn't as fun as people make it out to be," Ian said as he lowered his stance. He was so tired of running all the time. He believed he couldn't take much more if he didn't get some proper sleep tonight in a real bed.

"I'll be the judge of that, Ian," Lehra said.

"Ehe, so I see. What do you suggest we do?" Ian said.

"We put away our swords, then we talk some more," Lehra said as she walked back to where she'd probably came for when she wandered along towards Ian for his rescue.

The young, slender-looking girl picked up a dark overcoat from the ground and put it back on as she stuffed away the sword under it. Judging by her mannerisms, height and build Ian figured she was at most a year younger than him, but had matured a great deal judging from how she stumped him by merely speaking to him. Then again, he wasn't the most-versed person you could come across.

As the town girl called Lehra turned around, she said: "You up for some ice-cream?"
 
The tracks were easy to follow, almost as if they wanted to be followed. The girl was sitting silently on the back of the bike, rubbing her bruises while holding on to me. I couldn't stop wondering where she came from. Suddenly I felt her moving and I immediately looked behind me, she looked around, scared of something. I decided not to stop, if she was scared of someone, that someone could easily trap us if we were not moving. In the distance I could see a building, camouflaged for the untrained eye and from the way she was pulling I started thinking it was not someone she was scared of but something, the building. I stopped next to the building, the tracks stopped against the wall. Whoever had my sword, was in here...
I opened the doors of the facility with a crowbar, they opened rather easy, which reinforced the thought of this being a trap. I could feel Trigact's presence. The pull led me to a small lab, through the small windows in the door I could see Trigact being secured on a table. Three labcoats were examining it with series of special equipment. The straps came loose easily when I called Trigact to me, shattering everything in its path. Finally reunited I felt relieved, but it seemed everything went as planned for the miss with the evil grin. In the blink of an eye I was surrounded by men in black clothing, their face covered, with a bar of light for eyes...
 
He looked around the city to find a way to the wall without having to go through any of the fires burning the city down. The houses on the south side of the castle opposite of the city gates weren’t engulfed in flames yet so he started making his way there. John was cautiously strolling down a cobblestone paved road as he suddenly saw the flashlights of two or three attackers. He quickly sought cover behind a stash of beer barrels, and peeked over them so he could have a good look at them.

“Shouldn’t we be getting out of here very soon?” one of the attackers asked his fellow soldiers.

“No, Flame squad shouldn’t pass this checkpoint until twenty minutes from now, ” one of the other guards answered.

“Maybe I should radio them in just to check were they are?” the third guard asked.

“You do that, we’ll check corners.” The first guard said. John took out his walkie-talkie, he might be able to listen in on the communication between the enemy troops.

“HQ? You copy? This is squad 614 from the Fox platoon you copy us?” The enemy said.

“Anything yet?” the second guard asked.

“Forget it Matt too much activity they can’t hear us,” the enemy said.
 
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Faint footsteps behind him caught him by suprise, how could this be?!
The unnatural light reflected in Izuno's eyes, her glare was absolutely terrifying.
Even though her glare was menacing, her body language betrayed a sense of composed posture and elegance.
She was even closer to him than he had expected, she was close enough to slash him open with one smooth swing of that sword of hers.

"You are quite the handful" she spoke softly.
"Since you came this far, I must ask you this; why? What is your business here?"
She did not move an inch, it was as if she was frozen in time and space.
Just the movement of her lips betrayed the fact that she was human after all.

"H-How did you catch up?" Tomo stuttered.

"That is not relevant; what is relevant is why you came here. What is it you wish to discover?"
Suddenly, she strode forward and past Tomo.

"There is no reason to answer right now. It doesn't really matter anyway."
Tomo blinked, suprised by the latter statement.

"In the face of the flow of time, it matters little wether you tell me now or later. What matters is that you are here."
She took a hold of the still sheeted Bievrost and held it up as if it where a token.
Some things are not meant to be uncovered and that is exactly why my people watch over these lands.
However... sometimes destiny takes a turn for the unexpected.

This side of Izuno was new to Tomo.
This was not just a highly practised warrior; this time round, she looked more like a sage, offering him a role in an inevitable twist of cosmic math.

Note to the readers: Sorry for the late update, but sadly I was too busy with my personal life to write. As a compensation, here is a pencil drawing of Izuno I made! :D

koyasha_izuno_by_tenshiaeterna-d5aexxw.jpg
 

Fitzwim

Member
At those words, Tomo felt a mix of relief and anger. Technically, his plan had worked out for him, but still, he felt a few dents within his pride.

He had lost the fight against Izuno.


Frankly, he himself was even surprised that he was able to evade capture for such a long time, only assisted by sheer luck.

"okay then. Let's get going now, shall we?"

He was still suspicious about the intents of Izuno, but she seemed at least neutral, for now. Maybe it would be a good idea to play along with whatever kind of game she was playing.

"From what I know, there are approximately seven distinct floors which act as a labyrinth of sort. As you know, they are filled with all kinds of traps and hidden pathways. These pathways may also connect between different floors. Currently, we are at the bottom of the seventh floor.... but you already know that"

Izuno stared at him, completely silent.

"What I'm interested in is what's below the ruins. available data indicates that the final door leads to some large area. I do not know what lies beyond the final door, though, except for the fact that scans of it never seem to result in conclusive results."

Again, Izuno stared at him.

"the current goal is to find out the contents of this "black spot", and hopefully I can also discover how the hell it manages to block every kind of signal we throw at it."

once more, Izuno stared at him

"I am going to assume that you agree with me and will at least follow me. let's open the door, then."
 

Scriptor Scorpio

Science Hero
The fans above the counter kept on busily spinning since even it was a colder time of the year, the cold dish the owners served had to be kept that way for the tiny amount of customers that didn't come in to ask for directions. Seeing as they mostly sold other types of meals, the place could technically be called a diner.

Lehra would have none of it and consistently referred to the place as her favorite ice parlor. As they tucked themselves away into the corner of the 'parlor', with red-seated places to match the scheme, Lehra smiled and nodded at the elderly woman who managed the counter while her husband was busy with going over the bills. One blink of the young girl seemed to suffice for the kind parlor lady to start rolling up a batch of sundaes to spoil the sweet tyke and her shy friend. Good to see her find someone to smile with.

"So, are you going to ask about it?" Lehra said.

"Ask what, exactly?" Ian said as he first seemed to be clueless, then feeling slightly uneasy.

"How I got my sword," Lehra said as she leaned forward. "We all have a story when it comes to these things, don't we?"

She tried not to gesture too obviously, but the staunch look of her paired brown eyes looked down as she broke the stare she'd fixed on Ian and they rolled downwards to where they had hidden their swords from plain sight.

“I’m not gonna ask. It and me together is causing you enough trouble as it is,” Ian said.

“Together,” Lehra muttered, before continuing: “I’m gonna tell you anyway. Me and this sword became something together when… Well, I’ll start at the beginning. For some strange reason this sword’s history is not marked by copious spillings of blood, but rather it was stolen over and over again, then being passed down in thieving families, then stolen again. Don’t worry, I myself am not a thief. Neither was the person who wielded it before me. He did get killed. He was my father.”

Ian looked quite surprised and seemed to want to say something before changing his mind.

The girl in front of him looked much more fragile now as she went on: “My grandfather had been an exceptional thief. Though he kept Nekathir at his side at all times, he never had to use it or its treacherous power, whatever it might be. Some say he once stole a building, but that’s just silly talk. When he passed this sword onto my father, he’d never guessed that one day our quaint little village would be attacked and he would have to use Nekathir to protect it. He died trying to do so. And so this blade had its first blood spilled on it and I have to make the best of my situation.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise…” Ian said.

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s not your fault… In a way, I’m glad I can leave this place. The only exciting thing that happens around here is something I’d like to avoid. That’s what my father would’ve wanted.”

Ian didn’t have the courage to ask what happened to her mother. He might’ve forced this fragile teen’s hand, but she seemed to look at it as though it was more a liberation of sorts. Would she live long along to regret the thought?

“Sword wieeeeeeeeeeeeeeldeeeeeeeeer!” a familiar voice yelled.

With one brief glance at Ian, Lehra stood up with her hand on her sword’s handle, ready to defend her new acquaintance a second time. The elderly woman let her jaw drop in astonishment, even though she’d told herself time and time again that that wasn’t a ladylike thing to do. Nevertheless the thought couldn’t be forced out of her head and her jaw froze in the expression. Did Lehra wield the sword of her father? Hadn’t it been taken by the bandits?

“Seems like Jent’s back for a rematch… We can take him, right?” Lehra said.

As Ian looked over his shoulder and several shadows of human figures appeared, the girl added: “Looks like he brought some friends too. Plan B, we Bolt out of here?”

“Let’s do that after I’ve tried to return the favor,” Ian said.

Lehra pulled up an eyebrow and threw him a look, though in a good way, before she nodded.

“Let’s have it your way, travelling town boy,” she said.

As they marched out, the elderly woman leaned over the counter and whispered to Lehra: “Be careful.”

The girl nodded and pulled back a brown strand that covered the look in her eyes. As soon as Lehra had walked out the door and the bell rang, the elderly woman ran to the back to get her husband.
 
Flame squad? What could that be, John wondered. He wasn’t going to stick around to find out though.

“Squad 614? Fox platoon? Command here, exit the city at extraction point 11-B,” Command said over the comms.

“Copy command, moving to the extraction point. The trucks are waiting?” the enemy said.

“Yes as always,” command said.

The three guards started moving again and went around the corner. John came from his hiding spot and opened the door to the bar near him. He fumbled along the interior wall looking for a light switch. Found it.

He flipped the switch and the once dark bar was now bathing in light. He walked behind the counter trying to find some supplies. Between the empty liquor bottles and piles of boxes John found a flashlight and a revolver. John had read about these things before, how hard could it be to fire one? He opened the drum of the revolver, damn just one bullet. John tucked the gun in his pants and took the flashlight.

Time to move, he thought.

He flicked the lights back off and gently pushed open the door. One guard was standing outside the door looking through some crates. John took out the revolver and aimed it at the guard.

“Hey! You!” John yelled. The guard turned around.

“Slowly. Now drop the gun,” John said.

“You don’t want to do this kid,” he said.

He saw the sword and realized how unlucky was. But he was still holding his rifle.

“I sure as hell want to, now slide your rifle to me, gently,” John said.

The guard wasn’t particularly impressed.

“That gun isn’t even loaded,” he said.

“Oh really?” John said right before he pulled on the trigger and fired a shot near the guard’s feet. He was actually aiming a lot more to the right, but the gunshot had the desired effect. “You convinced now?”

The gun wasn’t loaded now…

“Okay okay, I’ll drop it,” the guard said.

He put his rifle down, got back up again and then kicked his gun out of his range.

“Now take off your helmet and your clothes, you can keep your underwear. And give the clothes to me,” John said.

The guard complied after a short hesitation and gave his armor to John.

“What are you going to do now? You have my gun, my uniform. You might as well shoot me,” the guard said.

“No I have a better idea,” John said.

John opened one of the crates and commanded the guard to get in it. Still holding his hands up, the guard stepped into the large shipping crate.

“When it starts getting hot you can come out,” John said.

“You’ll never get away with that sword kiddo. We’ll come after you,” the guard said.

“Who are ‘you’?” John asked.

“We’re…” the guard said…
 
The girl grabbed my hands, knowing quite well what she was planning, I turned towards her to calm her. With my sword regained, I was too much to handle for these clowns. I used Trigact to lower gravity which made everyone float softly in the middle of the hall. I then reached for the girl, she took my hand and once again transformed into her sharper appearance. Once she was lying in my hands in her sword form I used her to grab all the henchmen and tie them together, then I heightened gravity again, which made them smack into the ground. I smashed Trigact into the ground so it stood up on its own. I then looked to the other sword and saw her turn back into her feminine form. I then noticed the evilish women was still looking at me and the girl, with a smile on her face for some reason. I pointed towards the door, a sign the girl immediately understood. I then held up Trigact and pointed it towards the woman. Before I could thrust towards her she became enveloped in smoke. When it cleared she was replaced with an explosive barrel with a timer on it. Actually, similar ones were spread over the entire floor. I looked behind me, the henchmen had also disappeared. I ran outside, on one hand to run away from the imminent explosion, on the other hand to make sure the girl was still there. Luckily she was waiting for me on the back of the bike. I placed myself in front of her and quickly drove away, because cool guys don't look at explosions.

A few weeks later...

It has been a while since we last heard of the evil woman that tried to take Trigact from me. I'm getting pretty thirsty actually, that's a little shop over there isn't it? Yes, it is. I'll stop here... After buying a cola I came back outside to find Evelyne looking through the window of a television shop. She looked behind her, towards me, she smiled. I walked over to her. There was a commercial about the Eiffel Tower Vacation tours or something like that. She just kept pointing at it.

"Do you want to go there?" I asked her.

She nodded at me, again she smiled at me.

"Okay then," I said.

I mounted my motorcycle and took a sip of my drink. Evelyne followed me, her face had a content expression. I handed her my drink. She emptied the can and threw it in a nearby garbage can. The engine was buzzing beneath us, and carried us towards our destination.
 
A deep black emptiness stared them in the face, as if challenging them to enter.
Behind the door did not seem to be anything, the very being of the place seemed to suck the light out of reality.
"Take my hand", Izuno said as she gestured.
Reluctantly Tomo raised his hand and Izuno took hold.
Izuno lead the way and took a first step into the abysmal blackness.

Luckily a solid floor was there to support that first step into the unknown.
Tomo followed after her, with all of his gizmo's whirring to record any anomalies.
He turned on his flashlight and shone forward, but there was nothing to reflect the light.
As he tried to light the floor in front of them, he realized that not even the floor seemed to reflect any light.
The only thing that was actually lighting up was the dust in the air, a remnant of their earlier... heated discussions.

"Fascinating, how could this be? Perhaps an unknown type of material that interferes with reflection", Tomo muttered to himself.
Suddenly Izuno stopped in her tracks:" This... This is dangerous".
She turned around, but to her suprise the entrance where they came from had simply vanished.
They had been walking aimlessly for 2 minutes and now they where without any directions.

"What now?", Izuno asked slightly on edge. She peered into the darkness, but to no avail.
"Please have some patience, I'm-"
The ground disappeared from underneath their feet and both tumbled down into the void.
Tomo screamed helplessly as some of his gadgets fell from his pockets and flew off into the darkness.

Izuno's back hurt as if she got hit by a truck. She had no idea how long they had been unconscious.
Carefully she felt around with her hand and soon noticed that Tomo was lying motionless next to her.
"Wake up you useless...", she hissed into his ear and he stammered back into the world of the living.

The floor felt strange and cold, a weird relief covered it.
She tapped Tomo on the shoulder;"light this place, I have a bad feeling about it."
The cold metal casing of the flashlight gave a tingling sensation into his hand as he flipped the switch.
They both gasped at what they saw.

They where in a small spherical room with a thousand gold masks lining the walls.
The empty eyes of a thousand faces stared at them.

For the first time in her life, Izuno felt true fear.
 
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Fitzwim

Member
Tomo's mind was racing, His entire life, he had lived in fear from his suroundings, the fear of his weakness, the fear of discovery.

"I can handle this", he said to himself, "Throw away these feelings and concentrate on your surroundings. Focus on your escape, never give up"

Unknown to Izuno, he still had a final trick left. the only thing he had to do was stay calm... and buy as much time as possible"
and so he did, looking through the room. It was uniformly lit, without an apperant source of light. He did not have enough time to count the masks, but he did have enough time to observe a important details.
In the middle of the room, an point, infinitely small in diameter, appeared, shining brightly. Both Tomo and Izuno were suddenly grabbed by an invisible force and lifted into the air, slowly being pulled nearer to the light. Nothing could prepare them for the next few moments.

An inhuman shriek vibrated inside their skulls, seemingly neverending. after what seemed like an hour of unending variations, the sounds began resembling human language.

"HUUUUMAAAAANNNNNN"
"YOOOOOUUUUU DOOOO NOT CARRRYYYYYYY..... THE SEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLL...."

Tomo and Izuno looked at each other. whatever it was, neither knew what the seal was.

"WOOOOOORTHLESSSSS, INNNNNSIGNIFICANNNNNT.... YOOOUUUU SHOUUUUULD NOT BEEEEEE HEEEEREEEE ANYMOOOOOORE"

Tomo panicked. It was clear that it merely regarded them as insignificant puppets, awaiting their destruction. He had to try... only 30 more seconds were needed.

"What are you, Why are you here?"

it paused, seeming.... surprised, maybe?, at Tomo's question.

"NOOOOOOOOO"
"IT DOESSS NOTTT MATTTERRRRRRRR"
"YOOOUUUU ARE NOT WHAT ISSSS NEEEEEEDED"

only 10 seconds left. Tomo was desperate.

THe masks, the walls,
His mind was perfectly clear
a seal, the swords...
He had to take a shot in the dark if he was to escape.

"What are you guarding, what is it that you need the swords for?"

This time, the light flinched. a few seconds passed in complete silence.

It was enough.
final location was locked in, an overflow of energy was prepared to count for any errors within travel energy. Both locations were equalised, targets were selected. Energy sequence was activated
Igniting every last fragment of energy he had left, he wrapped an energy field around them both.
For a moment, darkness surrounded them.
Then.... light.... sound..... air... faintly smelling like cake
Tomo quickly fell unconscious after that, but he knew...

They had succesfully arrived in his kitchen.
 

Scriptor Scorpio

Science Hero
Ian stepped onto the pavement as a cold current had settled in the suddenly not so hospitable town. Strangely, the gathered townsfolk’s attention wasn’t directed towards him nor Lehra. Approaching the group, they were able to look past and see the glare of metal reflecting the sunlight onto the worried citizens’ faces. The man wielding the piece of metal wore a crooked smile. The small band gathered behind him didn’t look any less unhinged.

“Where is the sword wielder I’ve been hearing so much about?” the man said.

His Asian looking face was largely covered by wild bangs of black hair, but they couldn’t succeed at hiding the numerous scars that crossed every feature of his menacing face. He was still smiling as he glanced aside to Ian and Lehra. Two teens that don’t look scared. My suspicions just spiked, he thought.

“You there, what’s your name?” the shady man said as he pointed to Ian with his piece of metal.

Studying the shape of the thing a bit more, Ian pondered it could be easily mistaken for a measly crowbar. A perfect tool for such an insignificant crook. But, perhaps through Raghitey, he knew the thing was something quite more significant.

“Ian Mantris. What do they call you, Barr Crow?” Ian said.

Lehra must’ve infected him with her snarky comments. They were getting him deeper into trouble, as they did to her.

“Kamamura. You’d be wise to keep that mouth of yours closed,” Kamamura said.

“How about we just call you Ugly,” Lehra suddenly said.

“Lehra!” Ian hissed. What was she doing…

“Wait you…” Jent yelled. “You coulda cut my freakin’ fingers, tiny!”

His hand was practically buried in bandages, presumably done by his dear mother.

“I was careful. You really do drink too much, Jent,” Lehra said.

“Lehra, is that… your father’s sword? I thought that scum got it…” an older man in his forties said.

“Soon it will and with your head on it, mister mayor,” Ugly Kamamura said, reminding the sleepy townsfolk of his presence and the threat he should be posing. Not to mention some necessary fear. “If you don’t persuade those two to hand their swords over.”

“How about you take them from us, Ugly,” Lehra said.

“Lehra!” Ian said once again. Did she just rescue him from one drunken guy to get him up against a whole gang of quite literal cutthroats?

“An excellent suggestion. I’m short some swords and a few corpses. You can help me with that,” Kamamura said, the corners of his mouth curling up without him actually smiling. His scars running alongside intensified the inhuman look he threw Ian as he gestured with his sword how he’d kill him, all the while enjoying the process.

“My lieutenant will soften up your girl. I’ll keep you alive to see the end of her breath,” Kamamura said.

Ian had seen that grin without joy before. He’d seen what it could cause.

As slowly but steadily as possible, Ian took out the long blade from his backpack and held it in front of him, its tip touching the edge of the Legendary crowbar sword.

Just when it seemed Kamamura would spend a little more time launching threats at Ian, he suddenly lunged and barely missed the boy as the latter dodged the dirty move.

“Ian!” Lehra yelled as she pulled out Nekathir.

Without warning, a fist made contact with her forehead and she staggered backwards as she tried to regain a fighting stance.

“You’re fighting me,” the before mentioned lieutenant said as he swung his sword at her neck.

Ian mustered all his strength to get Raghitey moving and swung it at Kamamura who easily dodged it and struck Ian’s shoulder with the blunt end of his sword. The only end his sword had. It didn’t exactly cut through his skin, but the metal force pounding his bone hurt like hell. He had to gain some distance, this guy was too sneaky.

Meanwhile Lehra was up against someone with just a regular sword, but apart from drawing an ounce of blood to scare a local drunk, she had little experience with handling her sword to defend herself against someone actually handy with a weapon. A deadly kind of weapon. Kamamura’s lieutenant had said ‘Venom’ to identify himself before lashing out at Lehra’s throat, barely missing her jugular as he still drew blood. She clenched the wound in her throat as she struggled to keep fighting, dishing out typical novice strikes like high lashes and exaggerated thrusts. Then, Venom struck again, this time hitting the young girl’s shoulder as he enjoyed the pain he was causing. She yelped in agony.

“Lehra!” Ian said as he turned to look where she was.

“Lehra!” the mayor said as he stepped forward before being pushed back by one of Kamamura’s shady henchmen. No one was to interrupt this fight.

Kamamura didn’t waste any time correcting his unworthy adversary and closed the distance between him and Ian before striking with his legendary crowbar straight at the teenager’s heart. This time however, Ian blocked it.

He looked back at Ugly from Lehra and said: “I’m going to break you for doing this to her and me.”

And then ever so slightly, Ugly’s lips simply curled into a smile.

Ian didn’t have time to ask why that ugly son of an even uglier woman was smiling at him as if he’d won already. The teenager looked down and glanced for a second at the crowbar end that hooked itself onto Raghitey. He tried to pull it out, but couldn’t. Even though he was slightly uneased at the function the strange shape of Kamamura’s blade turned out to have, not to mention the prospect of dying anytime soon now, Ian didn’t look scared. With their swords locked into position like this, neither one of them could make a move and as soon as Kamamura used his trick to unhook them to carry on with the fight, Ian would’ve caught onto it and it wouldn’t work again. Then why was that ugly Asian smirking at him and drilling a hole in his head with that piercing gaze? If Ian could just unhinge them first, he’d surprise his opponent.

Lehra meanwhile knew that if she didn’t learn to handle her sword quick, she might as well throw it in the sand and hope for a quick, clean death. By the look of that Venom guy with his dark angular eyebrows unsettling her along with his cold gaze, hoping for anything but an excruciating death at the hands of this vile man was self-sadistic.

Her shoulder was hurting like hell but her throat didn’t stop bleeding and she didn’t have more than two hands. With her sword in only one hand, she could hardly stand her ground as she blocked one single attack from Venom, it pushed her back far more than she’d hoped it would. She lashed out in a bit of a desperation attack and through sheer luck she caught Venom off guard and hit him in his left shoulder. Lehra flashed an itty bitty smile at returning the favor. Her opponent flashed his teeth.

“Tell me, have you figured out your sword’s power? I hope she has,” Kamamura said.

He looked at Lehra clenching her throat as her hand was drenched in blood and she was barely standing. However Venom was surprised by the little girl landing a hit on him, he wasn’t about to let her live a minute longer now. Time for Ian to return a favor.

But as he studied his sword to figure out how to get it out of the impasse the crowbar sword had put him and it in, he noticed something strange about the curve of the sword. Was it somehow changing? It grew longer before his eyes and before he realized Kamamura had activated some horrid power within the blade which he now experienced firsthand. It crawled all the way up to the tip of his blade and then lashed out at his face as it carved itself into his face. He remembered screaming as he pulled on his sword, struggling to break it free from the sadistic snake. And his slithering sword.

It was unclear how much damage the sword had done to Ian and he didn’t care as long as he could stand as he tried to shake off the wound and the blood. With a desperate pull Ian broke free of the metallic snake and its holder and managed to hold onto his sword as well. Ian started shaking as he asked: “What did you do to me?” The throbbing pain wouldn’t stop and Ian felt the warmth of his own blood gushing over his cheek.

Kamamura simply laughed for a second before he responded: “It’s what I’m gonna do to you.”

Ian had collapsed on his knees and struggled to get back up. It was now or never. He swung his sword and hit his triumphant opponent dead in the knee, shattering his knee pad. Venom glanced aside as he prepared to finish off the little girl and saw his master grasping his knee and dropping his sword as he bit his tongue in excruciating pain. The other henchmen rushed to their leader’s side and ignoring his orders of protest and some death threats, they quickly carried him and his sword to safety with Venom following and covering their retreat as the townsfolk proceeded to throw everything they could find at them. Before Ian passed out he saw the townsfolk rushed to his and Lehra’s sides and gathered around. Then, he passed out.
 
“Phoenix squad?” John asked.

“It’s normal you’ve never heard of us before, we’re invisible. Non-existent just like your precious little city will be soon,” the guard smirked.

“Turn around,” John said and then opened the revolver’s cylinder. “What do you know, no bullets.”

He took the revolver by its barrel and hit the guard on his head with the stock.

“You’re gonna burn my city? Not if it’s up to me,” John said. He put the clothes on over his old clothes and sword underneath the suit. It was hot in the armor but at least there were some cooling measures so he wouldn’t be totally baked. Who was he kidding, how could he alone stop an army from burning his city. It was best for him to get out of here and fast. John booted up the tactical pad on his left arm, and plotted a course to the perimeter wall. As he was walking past the houses and shops, John noticed something lying on the side of the road. He crouched down besides it and picked it up. It was a stuffed bunny. John got back up again and placed it on the nearest window sill.

“Hope you got away kid,” he said.

He checked the ammo on the rifle he got off the guard, and continued towards the wall again. As he got closer to the wall, he started walking slower and quieter to avoid being heard by the guards. John rested his hand against a house for a moment, and took off the mask with his other.

“It’s getting hotter,” John thought to himself.

He sat down for a moment to take a breather, but got moving again shortly after, knowing the fire was on his heels. He reached the wall and tried to open the door. John grunted as he struggled to open the door.

“Locked,” he said.

John heard a beeping sound, it was coming from the tactical pad on his arm.

“Strain reducers available,” the pad said.

John tapped on the touch screen and the suit beefed up slightly. He took the rifle from his back, and kicked in the cast iron door with relative ease.

“I’m starting to like this suit,” John said with a smile on his face.

John went up the spiral staircase, and opened the hatch at the end of it…
 
It was dark, a single beam of light illuminated the dark road in front of us. For some reason the highway lights weren’t functioning. Soon, the first signs of restlessness started to show. The first one was Evelyne’s touch softening, her seemingly dozing off. Then the shaking when she woke up abruptly. She wasn’t used to not sleeping for more than 2 days. It wasn’t the slightest problem for me, but I could see she took it hard. The first motel we came across was lit up like a Christmas tree compared to the road next to it. When I shut off the engine Evelyne woke up, it seemed like the vibration of the engine running was what was making her fall asleep. She tried to step off the bike but her legs had already given up the struggle against the almighty gravity. I caught her and laid her on a bench nearby while I went for the keys of our room.
The reception looked like any other of its kind, a few seats, a table with some magazines and a lonely lady behind a counter. I was thinking about taking some magazines for Evelyne, but seeing even I hardly understood a word of what was written I quickly forgot about the idea. Then the hostess noticed me.
“Est-ce que je peux t’aider, monsieur?” she asked. An easy question for a novice French student.
After a few seconds I responded, stuttering: “Une suite, euhm, avec deux lits pour deux personnes… S’il vous plait.”
Somehow she understood what I said and gave me a key and tapped a small screen with the price on it. She wasn’t going to force me to translate by saying it out loud. I paid her, took the key and quickly left. Evelyne was still sitting on the bench, almost falling asleep again. When she saw me, she tried to stand up again but I quickly came to her aid. I lifted her and carried her to her room. The small apartment was as simple in its design as it was small. I brought her to her room and she quickly fell asleep. I then proceeded to my own bed where I couldn’t fall asleep. It had been so long since the evil woman had bothered us. And the longer it took, the more likely it became she would strike soon. I closed my eyes, trying to rest as much as possible. I must have dozed off because I didn’t hear her approaching. As a small puppy looking for warmth in the winter Evelyne laid down next to me. I could feel her heart beating, slowing down at a steady rate until she dozed off. It had a relaxing effect because I as well, fell asleep.
Evelyne was muttering in her sleep, the first time I ever heard her do that. Now and again she also jabbed my side, my arm resting against Trigact who was laying on the floor next to the bed. I looked back to my right where two sleepy eyes greeted me. Her eyes were blue, as blue as the sky on a sunny day. I would have sworn her eyes had more of a thunder-clouds color when I first met her in the rubble. I wanted to think about it further but her eyes made it so hard. She smiled, I hardly noticed, her eyes were looking into my past, further and further the longer she looked. Then she suddenly closed her eyes, something or someone scared her, she went back too far, into a past I was trying to forget, ever since I met her. I smiled, my hand went through her hair. My past now was something she tried to forget as well.
 
The city was quite the sight to behold. The streamlined skyscrapers reached for the stars, as if defying gravity itself.
Her gaze shifted upwards, towards her reflection in the large panoramic window.
Turning around, she noticed that Tomo was still unconscious, lying on the large white couch.
The sweet scent of freshly baked cake remained lingering in the appartment, as if comforting them in their return to sanity.

What had happened not even 2 hours before now seemed like the vague, easily forgotten remnants of a bad dream.
She could hardly believe it, but she strongly felt like she owed this man her life.
Nobody could have predicted what would have happened had they stayed in that spherical monstrosity any longer.
Undeniable however, was that nothing good could have come from it.

Tomo hit his head pretty hard on the sink after they materialized in the kitchen,
as if destiny wanted to spare him from the horrors he had just witnessed by insuring he remained unconscious.
Izuno however landed head first in several of the many cakes that where stashed all over the place.
It never really occured to her to get mad, she was just happy to be safe.
After having dragged tomo to the couch, she removed the strawberry-cream filled armor from her body and took a nice long shower, still contemplating over what she had just experienced.

She wondered where she was, let alone why there was cake everywhere.
It was almost as if the writer of their tale had a seizure, because this was not normal at all.
The appartment was located on the 34th floor and was of a very clean and minimalistic design.
She sat down on a black, polished chair and fastened the bath robe that was covering her nearly dry body.

The walls where decorated with all kinds of diploma's and awards; it was clear that the owner was quite proud of his work.
Located in the central living area was a fine oak cabinet with glass doors; several swords where displayed there under optimal lighting conditions.
They wheren't just for decoration, she knew full well that they where... special.
They all had symbols engraved in their hilts, indicating that they where part of the '1000'.
She stood up to get a closer look, her naked feet strode over the cold tiled floor.

"This one... it's..."
She reached out to open the glass door, but suddenly noticed the small red lights inside the wooden construction. An Alarm.
 
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