Max jumps back in, rugby tackling Warden in his right, Warden staggers for a moment before grabbing Max by the back of his shirt and throwing him into the wall behind him, Max rolls his back onto the wall, only just dodging Wardens plasma filled fist aimed for the back of his head.
Warden grabs Max again, he tosses him toward the elevator shaft, Max tumbles on the ground, rolling, rolling, gone, max falls into the elevator shaft, halfway down, max hits the wall of the shaft, the impact forms ethereal cracks, a memory can be seen through it, only just clearing the elevator and smashing through the bottom of the elevator shaft like glass.
Each fragment of glass reflects max's memory's, scattered around him, dancing like a gymnast in the open air, he curls into a fetal position.
In one fragment, a female figure places a plate of lamb roast, drizzled in gravy, echoes of gratitude fill the room, in a second fragment, two girls run around a merry-go-round in a park, a faceless man watches them, more echoes, this time of cheering girls, another fragment, a mother cradles her newborn daughter, a second daughter is brought to her by a female doctor, her voice echoes "here you are darling, your girls are as healthy as ever-" the echo trails into an inconceivable whisper, the fragments scatter, max falling slowly as if descending through water, he gently makes contact with the bottom, a single light illuminating him.
His gaze stares back up, laughter echoes through his skull, pounding at his fractured mind... a voice speaks to him "Honey" a woman.
Max raises his head and looks in front of him, the woman is dressed in white, a bride's outfit, she slowly runs off, arm out stretched toward Max, he sits up, the woman carving a path of grass and flowers amidst the darkness that surrounds Max, he stands up, putting a name to the faceless woman "Abigail?..." he takes a step forward, stretching out his own arm "My love..." he begins to walk forward, his walking keeps pace with her run, an island of light materialises to Max's left, its a lounge room, surrounded by the grass and flowers that max walks throw, the girls, Abigail and Max all play a racing game on the Xstation, Abigail cheers in victory, the rest groan in defeat, audio echoes into the void.
Max continues walking, another island of light, this time on his right, Abigail and Max both push the girls on a swing set in a park, the girls fill the air with joy and laughter, Max and Abigail smile, contracting the girls happiness, all the sounds echo still, Abigail continues running ahead of Max as he walks on.
On the left, Max opens the front door, his mother walks through giving him a big hug, his father follows, shaking his sons hand, asking him how he is, Max responding with glee, Max's mother walks further into the house and finds a pregnant Abigail, she hugs Abigail, then rubs her tummy with a great big smile on her face, she speaks, saying hello to the unborn twin girls, nearly 37 weeks along.
On the right, the light illuminating this memory flickers, Max stops walking in confusion, a faceless man stands over Abigail in the midnight, he looks like Max, but he's too shrouded to be certain, Max walks on, eyes locked on the memory, but as he continues, in his peripherals, he sees a black silhouette following him down the same grassy path, except the grass and flowers are dying around the shrouded man, max halts, only for the man to halt as well, Max takes one step forward, the figure takes one step forward.
Max resumes walking, concluding the figure only moves when he moves, Max misses a memory of him giving Abigail a bowl of Gnocchi Fettuccini Pasta. on his right, Max gets down on one knee in front of Abigail, he pulls out a ring from his pocket and asks her... "Will you marry me?" its echoey, hard to make out, Abigail jump of uncontainable happiness, she screams Yes.
His left, another flickering light, a faceless man yells at one of Max's daughter's, his mouth is white, no texture or depth to speak of, Max stops, the light gives away who the man is, its him... Max, but he looks different, he's messy, not clean like Max, Max peers at the figure that follows him, he's stagnant, like movement wasn't built into his genetic code, Max looks back at the memory, the messy Max looking directly at him, Max jumps back, deeply unsettling him.
Max resumes walking, and so too does the figure, who remains a black silhouette, on Max's right, he sees child him, no more than 15 years of age, he walks up to a girl, unlike Abigail, he confesses his love for her, but she rejects him, then another girl walks up to him and hugs him, young Abigail reassures him, he hugs back.
On his left, young Max fills up a glass of water for himself, he places it on the bench, then pours out two tablets, medicine, he chucks the two into his mouth and downs a mouthful of water, the foul taste of the pills causes him to shake his head and scrunch his eyes, max walks on, confused, he thinks to himself "i was on medications?"
His right, the light flickers, young Max runs into the kitchen of his home, hands bloodied, Max stops and watches the memory, young Max cleans off the blood using the sink, he then looks for his medication, he hastily opens the bottle, pills spilling everywhere, he grabs two and swallows them... young max curls on the floor, and cry's. Max's expression spells confusion, he looks at his own hands.
Blood, dry, crusty blood drowns his hands, his breathing quickens, he peers at the figure, he's noticeably closer, arm out stretched toward him, Max takes a step back, the figure, one step forward, max moves forward, hustling along, a memory flickers, another one, a third, the memory's become unrecallable, each version of Max that isn't him, stares directly at him, Max tries to catch up to his wife that runs ahead of him, and as he gets close.
She drops dead in the darkness, and illuminates once more, wearing daily clothes, a sizeable hole, punches throw her chest, Max's face in horror, and grief, he remembers this, he remembers killing her, the one thing he wished to no longer recall, haunts him.
Breathing, crawls up Max's spine, a shuddering, cold feeling encases Max in a sense of dread... impending doom, has approached, and its right, behind him.
Max, slowly, turns around, and what he's greeted with is a twisted, manically insane version of himself, a face of black with eyes and mouth of pure white, dripping a white liquid from his mouth, smiling hideously as he leans forward, as if barely intact, the arm, still stretched out, only just, out of reach.
The Twisted Max, speaks "you failed" Max takes two steps back, allowing the Twisted Max to step closer, it moves in key frames, frighteningly fast and violent, the Twisted Max spears his arm right through Max, taking a white glow with its hand on the way out of Max's back, his core, the Twisted Max's arm, covered in white, the blood of Max, Max coughs "W-why?" no answer, he grasps tighter on Max's core, cracking it, and crushing it, Max screams as the world around him, fades to black.
...
A doctor, sits in a chair, Max's parents sit across the desk from him, the doctor speaks, clear as day "I'm sorry. Mr and Mr's Keys, your 6 year old son, has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity disorder, or DID, normally this disability is harmless to the patient, however, this case isn't normal, from what the scans bring back, Max and the other personality are constantly butting heads mentally" Max's mother cups her mouth "if this continues, one of two results can occur, either, one, the personality labeled "Max" dies to the personality labeled "Xam" or two, both of them will die, classing him as legally dead" Max's dad asks the doctor a question, tears stream down mum's face... the doctor shakes his head "No, we cannot surgically remove the personality, however, we can administer a medication that can target Xam, this medication is in the testing phase, but has proved adequate for public use in extreme cases" the doctor hands them four small canisters "take two tablets a day in a single sitting every night, and, if there are any cases of Xam making an appearance, take two tablets as soon as possible-"
Max opens his eyes, they're blood shot, drenched in his own blood, he leans upward using vines that protrude from his back, he stands, then leans forward, catching himself on the shaft wall, he groans of agony, pain that shoots through his body like thousands of blades driving through his entire body, his mass grows, legs and arms extend, the same vines from his back raise into the air and slither with life, he grabs his face, pushing off the wall into the middle of the shaft again, the transformation begins to bring regeneration, wounds close, flesh regrows, broken bones reform, an action no normal life elemental can achieve alone, groans of pain sound less human and more animal, his chest thumps a deep rhythmic beat, his structure changes to accommodate the transformation, hair turns into razor sharp spines, his eyes sclera turn black, the iris turns into a radioactive green, and finally, he throws his head back, and roars up the elevator shaft, maw like the void and teeth of pure white.
The roar is low, vibrating the ground below Max, then it grows to a warped shriek, it doesn't sound animal, let alone human.
Warden, Azazel and Abbi all look toward the shaft, none of them close enough to look down, Abyssal Arbiter stops marching, he turns his head slightly, something is off, Max's roar ends with a deep, guttural thump from his chest.
With Max's personality dead, only one remains inside, Xam controls Max's body, controlling what doesn't belong to him, Xam pounces high into the shaft, knocking the elevator upward, it screams up the elevator shaft, sparks flying as it stabs into the roof of the pitch black descent, Xam claws into the side of the shaft, he shoots upward, Xam grabs the elevator and digs into its structure, his gaze tunnels into Warden, Wardens attention no longer fixated on Azazel, as a new biggest threat has emerged, he says to himself with eyes wide open "an Assault Mode" Warden grabs Azazel and tosses him to the side, his body faces Xam and stances for an attack "COME ON!!" Xam lunges at Warden, Warden goes to shoot plasma but he's yanked and drilled into the wall before he could get it off, Xam roars into Wardens face, unhinging his jaw in the process, Warden gets his legs up and pushes Xam off of him, Warden manages to launch Xam up and through the roof with a pillar of plasma under Xam.
Warden superheats himself higher than before, the streaks of blue plasma in his fit turn white, his entire body is set alit with flames of white plasma, he can only manage this form for no more than one hour before he overheats.
Xam bursts through the bottom floor of the Abyss, trailing up high, he roars, swiping at the walls for support, Xam's claw gets into the wall, giving him a surface to cling to, Warden bursts through the floor, creating a hole of his own, Xam lunges again, tackling a midair Warden, they tumble on the ground, Warden in Xam's arm, Xam throw's Warden down a corridor, he scrapes off the left wall into the right wall, finally tumbling on the ground, Warden summons four plasma miniguns as his arms and legs scream across the ground "PLASMATIC TRI-GUN!" the four tri-guns spin and shoot solid plasma, they all focus on Xam, he covers his face with an arm before moving it away and roaring at Warden, Xam bolts forward, brute forcing the attack, Xam jumps up onto the wall, he digs into the wall on all fours, Warden prepares for a lunge, Xam jumps onto the other wall and gets up above Warden, Warden leans back in order to hit Xam, using his left arm as support, Xam drops, gravity turning him into a kinetic missile, Warden swings his right arm, revealing a plasma enhanced fist, Xam throws his own assault mode enhanced fist, both fists collide, the clash forces out a shockwave of great magnitude, walls fracturing from the collision.
On the surface, Abyssal Arbiter greets the 10 Sentinels of Genium before a sudden earthquake rattles the environment around them, the Sentinel of Light, Sol, is knocked to the ground, her eyes remain closed "by the elements" Rupture, the Sentinel of Alard, offers her aid, she takes his hand, he speaks "seems your god is unhappy with this prison break Sol" Sol shakes her head and clasps her hands together "no rupture, this is not gods doing" Abyssal Arbiter calls the prison AI Axium "Axium, report" response "It seems the earthquake was man made, unfortunately my sensors for the Abyss have been interfered with, concluding i cannot scan the whole prison for structural integrity, however, overall Abyssal Prison integrity holds at 100%" Abyssal Arbiter orders Axium "acknowledged, any requests going forward will now require my own approval in order to commence" Axium acknowledges.
Another earthquake shakes the environment, Surge, Sentinel of Lightning speaks up "with your permission Abyssal Arbiter, would it be wise to also allow us Paladins access to the Prison, it would be beneficial to containing this riot" Abyssal Arbiter nods "you hear that Axium?" Abyssal Arbiter walks toward the surface building of the Abyssal Prison, waving his hand for the Paladins to follow "yes sir, extending admin controls"
The Abyss, earthquakes rattle the very structure of the Abyssal Prison, tiny chunks of the walls fall, they experience peace for a brief moment before being met with the vibrating ground, Abbi crawls toward Azazel, shoving rubble out her way, her hand falls into Azazel's chest, his breathing is shallow, the lack of breathe caused him to fall unconscious, Abbi hoists herself closer "Azazel... wake up... " she hears Xam roar in the background, another rumble "please... "
Warden is rammed against the wall, teeth gritting, he's enjoying this high stakes battle, Xam roars at Warden before leaping forward horizontally, Xam drives a fist where Wardens head was before he moved it, the walls ruptures, cracks zero in on the buried fist throughout the wall, Xam yanks his arm out of the wall, he goes to roar at Warden again before being met with a plasma fist to the skull.
Xam is sent 8 metres back, feet still planted on the ground, scraping against the floor concrete, Warden clenches his hands together, locking them with one another, he brings them up high over his head, chest puffed out, then, Warden missiles them down toward the ground in a wide arc, the wake of the hands leave a plasma blue trail that glows brighter with each passing second, before suddenly bursting forward without warning, the plasma line is paper thin from above, yet peaks at the apex of Wardens clenched hands over his head, the attack splits Xam clean in half, surgical precision, Xam's left half flops to the ground with a thud, but his right half stammers, catching itself on the wall.
Wardens eyes widen in disbelief "There's no way... " Xam begins to heal, tendons, bone, and flesh regrow, they flail with what tiny length they overgrow, the pelvis reforms, cracking and crunching can be heard coming from Xam, listening to the bones scream of growth, Xam's voice box reforms, his roar fades in, his heart materialises, it continues to beat as if it was never erased, Warden gathers himself and thinks, he cant defeat or subdue this assault mode alone, i need help.
Warden powers up another pillar, one of more velocity than the last, a blue circle forms at Xam's foot, Xam's arm and leg start to take shape, but before Xam could resume fighting, he's sent up through the ceiling of the current floor, he roars as he's broken through floor after floor after floor, involuntarily climbing the prison.
Prison guards continue to defend the cafeteria with dwindling numbers, prisoners overwhelm their numbers, the cafe grounds are no longer visible with guard and convict corpses flooding the cafe, proper footing is hard to come by, Winter looks at the carnage below from the control room "looking good, looking good, still surprised about Arbiter because WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?? SINCE WHEN DID HE HAVE AN ELEMENT?? and of course he has one of the few elements that can counter ALL OF THEM!"
Amidst Winters outburst, a flash of colour catches his eye on one of the camera screens, he looks over a moment too late, he goes to the console and starts flicking through the camera, until he finds it "oh, ohhh no, that's not good" he sees Abyssal Arbiter, followed by the remaining 9 of the 10 sentinels "that's a no no" Winter gets to the speaker of the prison, he taps it a few times, the taps broadcast throughout the prison "hello? is this thing on?" the fighting stops, Arbiter and the sentinels halt, they listen
"Hello! Hi! I am your wonderful host Winter Fidell, now if you are unaware, i successfully got the key to the collar and infiltrated this here control room that's suspended over the cafeteria" he leans over toward the window waves gleefully "i am the one that's started this whole charade" Arbiter orders Surge to retake the Control Room "but I'm not here to be your game host, I'm here to warn us Varlen's that uhhh, i have bad news for us, Abyssal Arbiter is on his way with 9 Paladins, put those 9 Paladins and the fact that Warden is in the prison somewhere together and you have yourself the 10 Sentinels for reinforcements, T minus" he looks at his wrist, it doesn't have a watch "mmm, 5 minutes, GOOD LUCK US!"
The whir of a powering element can be heard behind the control room door, Winter counts his blessings and dives into an OC, moment before Surge bursts through the door, Surge blitz's the room in search of Winter "Abyssal Arbiter, the con isn't here" Arbiter responds "regroup"
Everyone's bones chill as the cafe doors hiss open for the last time, Abyssal Arbiter reminds the Sentinels "remember, lethal force is authorised" Varlen's see an opportunity to keep the tanks out of the fight for just a little bit longer, an Electric Varlen fry's the doors circuits and mechanics, halting its progress to open, the door starts to scream close, gears grinding, fighting the torque of mechanics opening the door "Step aside" Rupture moves for the door, he grabs the door and starts pulling it to open, the mechanics continue screaming before they snap into millions of shards, the door suddenly lurches fully open, the shrapnel shoots out at fatal speeds, injuring two and killing one, Rupture is the first to run out, he leaps forward into the fight and slams his fists down onto the ground, convicts all over are trapped in rock that rose from the ground, some manage to escape before Salamander follows up with fire that boils the trapped convicts from below, burning them alive, the former laugh of Varlen's that enjoyed massacring the guards now turns to shouting and panic with their lives now in the hands of the Paladins, Sol at the back of the group, rises into the air, floating above all, she holds her hands together and prays "may all those that are hurt, those that fight in the name of good, be rejuvenated by the Light of God" she chucks her arms out in front of her, like embracing something, light curls out of her chest "Gods Blessings!" the curling light dives for the wounded guards, the light covers wounds, braces broken bones and realigns joints, its no true healing but enough to keep them going.
An Ice Varlen bursts free of his would-be rocky tomb, his eyes dart for the other trapped Varlen's, quickly, he freezes the cafe grounds, causing temperatures to drop suddenly, most cons are welded to the ground and passed, some remain due to elements, Salamander turns his attention to the Ice Varlen, Salamander propels himself forward from the feet toward the Varlen, turning into a kinetic missile, his hands lock with the Varlen's, Salamanders inertia causes the two to spin across the ground, the Ice Varlen recognises Salamander "Salamander!" he responds "Absolute Zero!" Salamander and Zero spin into the wall, Zero jumps out from the wall, he turns toward Salamander and freezes Salamander to the wall "I am going to bury you where you tried to bury me!" the air stings of hot steam, but Salamander, Salamander is unbothered, he speaks in a low tone, his eyes cutting through the partings in the steam "And bury you i shall" Salamander walks out of the ice without struggle.
Surge is met with another Electric speedster, the two engage at 40 hits a second, trading massive blows and shockwaves of great magnitude, the repeating blows rapture walls, cease electrical functions, and cave in ceilings, with upwards of 10 paladins fighting for the better of society, the Abyssal Prison begins to falter.
Sol continues pseudo healing guards, keeping limbs braced and wounds covered, a vine grabs at her legs, they crawl around them, getting a better hold of her body, the vines suddenly fall slack, the life elemental attempting to sabotage Sol's healing is locked down by Rogue, the elemental speaks "i know you!" a vine grabs Rogue by the foot and drags him off of the life elemental, the vine withers after coming in contact with a Death elemental, the life elemental gets up "Sentinel of Death!" he points at Rogue "you were the one that helped that god loving bitch put me down here!" Rogue's gauntlets materialise around his lower arms and hands, Rogue responds, more mentally stable then prior at the bank "And I'm here to keep it that way" Rogue smiles.
Abyssal Arbiter turns to Rupture "Sentinel of Alard!" Rupture turns toward Abyssal Arbiter "this cafeteria is too cramped for such a battle, blow out the walls for room to breathe" rupture complies, he takes up a sturdy stance, bending his legs with his feet wide spread, he raises his right leg, he yells a loud battle cry, and with the peak of the cry, he launch's his leg down onto the reinforced concrete ground, the ground shakes as Rupture casts "ULTIMATE #1, 20%, TREMORS OF ALARD" stable footing becomes hard to keep, Salamander, Surge, and Hurricane all boost themselves into the air, Sol remains in the air, Zero, the Life Elemental and the rest all lose their footing and fall except for Rupture and Abyssal Arbiter. Existing debris fizzle down to a fine dust, walls on the cafe floor all collapse, metal and rebar is left lying everywhere, the alardquake resolves.
Now with kilometre's of room to fight, Surge hastily grabs the collar of his electric foe and blitz' to the edge of the room, Surge reels his arm back and throws the Varlen at the wall, his impact disturbs the dust on the ground, debris shoots out before Surge slams into the wall where the elemental is, picking up more dust and shooting out more debris, the electric element sputters blood from his mouth, Surge takes a trip around the room, running across the wall like a hamster wheel, Mach 1, Mach 2, Mach 3, the continuous sonic booms shatters the Varlen's eardrums, Surge stops, coming to a sudden, uncanny halt before the electric elemental, he tries to get up, his face raises toward Surge, its disfigured, an eye is blown out, deflated in his socket, legs buckle as the Varlen attempts to stand up straight, they fold at the knees, the elemental falls forward, face planting, the Varlen falls unconscious after suffering such damages, Surge speaks "for the better of society"
Paladins shield what remaining guards are left, too afraid of suppression and direction, Varlen's begin surrendering, outmatched in skill.
Sol gracefully descends to the ground, she slows as she lands in front of the guards, takes a few steps forward, all while clutching her fists together, Sol says a prayer "by the power lent to me, god bless these wounded soldiers" she again, chucks her arms out front of her, another salvo of curling light emits from her chest "Heightened Healing" the curling light curves around guards, seeking those that are wounded, Sol clutches her fists together again in a praying posture "you will now heal faster than you would normally, god blesses you on this day of survival"
Varlen's cease their riot completely with the last of the Varlen's surrendering themselves, Rogue approaches Abyssal Arbiter "Abyssal Arbiter, are you aware of Warden's whereabouts?" Abyssal Arbiter nods, he stares blankly at Rogue "the last i heard, he sought to stop the prisoner of the Pitch Black from escaping" Abyssal Arbiter walks away from Rogue "Axium, report on the Abyss"
Abyssal Arbiter staggers, his eyes widen from the news he just heard, sweat trickles down his face, another wave of anxiety washes over him, but this one, he cant bottle so easily, Hurricane senses a disturbance "Sir, i feel your dread, what did you hear?" Abyssal Arbiter slowly turns toward the rest of the sentinels, his eyes spell horror "DO NOT LEAVE US IN SUSPENSE ARBITER" Rupture roars are Abyssal Arbiter. "There is an Assault Mode in this prison"
Not a moment later, the ground below the Varlen's ruptures, debris hurls up into the ceiling of the was-cafeteria, Varlen's are launched up and outwards, the impact of the ceiling shatters body's, some remain lodged in the ceiling, few come down alive. Warden emerges from the debris, he tumbles on the ground, stopping where the sentinels are, he's battered, bruised, scarred and missing a leg from the pelvis down, part of Wardens face is torn with skin just flailing about, attached by mere strings of flesh, Rupture jumps into action, Dracula turns away, gagging at the sight of Warden, Hurricane launches a flurry of wind toward the emergence, what she reveals is large, black and green, pulsing like radioactive sludge, dark green vines snake in the air, coming from the back of the creature, its intimidating, its humanoid, its smiling. Warden coughs as Rupture lifts him up, now cradling him.
Xam's chest rises, atomic green brews inside like a dragon charging its fire breath, then, Xam roars, it starts as a low rumble, ground vibrating from the roar, it builds into a warped shriek of fractured vocal cords from the transformation, it pierces the confidence of the Sentinels, the roar lowers, Xam's chest thumps, resonating a guttural hum across the room.
Nobody makes a move, Xam stands, the wide grin tells a story of amusement, the Sentinels fear what could become of them, what became of Warden, the roar lingers like a parasite.
Rupture takes a step back, Xam's gaze snaps onto Rupture, Rupture walks to the back of the sentinels and moves toward the wall, he uses the ground to surf to the wall faster, Rupture sits Warden down, upright facing inward, Rupture looks Warden in the face, bone is visible "stay strong Captain, we will handle this" Rupture stands upright and surfs his way back to the team.
Rupture walks out to the front of the sentinels, they've swallowed their self doubts by now. The 10 Sentinels of Genium has only one leader, Warden, there is no Second in Command, but when the going gets tough, Rupture is the one to stand up and regroup the team. Rupture locks his eyes with Xam's "this is going to be a tough battle brothers and sisters, are you ready to protect humanity from thi- " Xam launches forward, interrupting Ruptures monologuing.
before Xam can strike, Rupture raises a thick stone clad wall, Xam slams into it, roaring annoyingly, Rupture punches the wall and is sent flying across the prison, Rupture turns his attention to the group "SOL, SET UP PERSONALISED HOLY FIELDS TO PSEUDO HEAL US CONSTANTLY" Sol acknowledges Rupture "YES SIR" Sol immediately casts, thrusting her hands out a third time now "Holy Healing!" strings of light envelop the 10 Sentinels and Abyssal Arbiter, Sol clasps her hands together, praying for forgiveness to her god for skipping her traditional prayer, to Rogue.
"ROGUE, GET IN XAM'S FACE AND DONT LET HIM HEAL, USE THOSE DEATH BLOWS AT FULL FORCE" Rogue nods, he turns to Xam and runs at him, he casts "ULTIMATE 2, MANIFEST DEATH!" Rogue's body morphs disgustingly, like Xam, a black and pink sludge takes over Rogues entire body, he grows to the same size as Xam, veins coursing of pink, mouth and eyes of pink, Xam begins moving toward Rogue, his run moves from on two legs to all four's, Xam pounces up into the air and down on Rogue, Rogue grabs Xam's face on his way down, Rogue twists hi body left and slams Xam into the ground violently, Xam's vines whip around, they stab Rogue in the back in quick succession, Rogues dark red blood corrodes Xam's vines like acid, Xam grabs Rogues head and slams him into the ground next to his own head, a taste of Rogue's own medicine, a thick vine grabs rogues ankle and yanks it out from under Rogue, the vine throws Rogue at great velocity, causing him to slam his back into the prison wall, to Salamander and Hurricane.
"SALAMANDER, BURN THE MONSTER ALIVE, BLUE FLAMES, NOW!" Salamander walks toward Xam "SOUNDS GOOD", his legs ignite of fire and begin propelling himself upward into a hover, his elemental red hair and eyes change from a fire red to a fire blue, his flames also change to a blue, the prison becomes noticeably hotter, Salamander launches a salvo of blue flames spikes, they ram in Xam with amassed force, Xam grabs the fire spikes as he staggers, only for the skin to burn right off his hands, the burn marks heal instantly.
"HURRICANE, REDIRECT ITS ATTACKS!" Hurricane acknowledges "REDIRECTING" she rushes off to assist Salamander, Xam snaps his neck to Salamander, vines arise from Xam's back, they home in on Salamander, Salamander keeps his eyes fixated on Xam while calling for assistance "HURRICANE, ZEPHYR!" Hurricane plants herself, transparent outlined wings sprout from her back, they flap once "ZEPHYR!!" strong gusts knock the vines off course, just scraping by Salamander, to Surge.
"SURGE, USE THAT SPEED TO KNOCK IT LOOSE, MACH 10" Surge responds "MACH 10, HERE I COME!" Surge speeds away, hitting Mach 10 instantly, the whole world moves in slow motion for him, his speed lets him get in close with Xam, vines detect Surge's oncoming and move to intercept, but their movements are too slow, Surge dances between vines and hurled debris, too fast for fire to have any effect even if Salamander wanted Surge to fry, Xam's chest brews once again, Surge knocks a fist into Xam's head, at normal speed, Xam's head jolts just a little, hardly enough to bug him, he roars toward Hurricane, to Dracula.
"DRACULA, IMPROVE EVERYONE, I KNOW YOUR DIFFERENT BUT WE NEED THOSE BUFFS" Dracula doesn't hesitate, she rushes over toward Rogue who's dislodged himself from the wall, Dracula touches Rogue with her crystal coated hand "BOOST SPEED AND STRENGTH!" Rogue stands, he's fresh on medications, in his right mind, in the zone. Manifest Death pounces horizontally toward Xam, Xam battles Fire, Wind and Electricity. several vines drill themselves into the ground and reappear surrounding Hurricane, the vines shoot up, then descend back down onto Hurricane, "RUPTURE!!" Rupture slams his left leg onto the ground, he grunts, a wave of vibration rocks the ground up around Hurricane, shielding her from certain death, Rogue rugby tackles Xam from behind and lifts him up over his head, vines shoot from Xam's back like a shotgun, skewering Rogue like a pin cushion, the vines melt "Pity" as Rogue suplex's Xam into the ground, Xam neck cracks under the impact, Rogue holds onto him with every ounce of he strength he has, Xam's neck heals, much faster then last "HIT HIM, I'LL LIVE!!" Salamander obliges, Hurricane and Rupture follow suit, Salamander calls out "HURRICANE, RUPTURE, COMBINED EFFORT" "LETS DO IT!" calls Rupture, all three of them, together "UNISON RAID!!" Hurricane lifts off the ground, her wings flap vigorously, Salamander raises his arms in the air, the space around Xam begins to rise, mirages can be seen in the eyes of the Paladins, Rogue speaks whilst he holds Xam down "You and i are boutta burn"
Blue flames spill all over Xam and Rogue, they both roar of agony, skin blistering off their very body's, the blue flames rise, then spin into a vortex, the fire cyclone spreads around the two of them, before wet cement starts encasing them and ground zero in a hot chamber of blue vortex flames, Salamander, Hurricane and Rupture call out again "1 MILLION DEGREE PRISON!" deep guttural screams emit from the chamber, the chamber starts to turn red, rupture holds the shape way past its boiling point, a hissing can be heard from the chamber, like stove top kettle hisses in a deep tone.
the Unison Raid resolves, the answer to their question hasn't been answered yet, the chamber stays quiet. Rupture goes to move in, slowly and cautiously "Hurricane, be ready to push me away at the slightest hint of danger" Hurricane ready's herself, the air around Rupture stirs lightly, Rupture parts the rock for a peeping hole.
Rupture sees a living Xam, his attention turns to Rogue, he weakly raises his arm "please... " Rupture staggers back, he gasps "what in the hell is that thing?" Rupture pieces himself together, Abyssal Arbiter reads Rupture like a book, Xam is alive, but that's not what has Rupture spooked, Rupture clads himself in stone and rebar, and bursts through the chamber and out the other end, his eyes fixated on Xam, tunnel visioned, the chamber melts away and reveals something horrific, Rupture yells out as he lands two headshots on Xam "WHATEVER THIS THING IS" Rupture slams down on Xam's gut "IT WAS EATING ROGUE!!" Dracula vomits bile at the thought, Xam tosses Rupture with a vine, before Xam could fully let go, Rupture grabs the vine and reels himself back on top of Xam "SOL, DROP THE PSEUDO HEALING AND FOCUS ON ROGUE, DONT LET HIM DIE!!" Holy Healing drops on all minus Rogue, Sol blitz' over to Rogue "Lord help me" Rogue's abdomen is shredded, intestines, bladder, stomach, the whole works is exposed, his immediate vitals are unharmed, Sol looks Rogue in the eyes "Rogue, you are going to be ok, you hear me??"
Ruptures eyes are painted red, he's giving more than 100% and yet, Xam continues to grin, the grin is murderous, it tortures Ruptures mind "I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CHEW ON YOU FUCKING FREAK!!" Rupture lands a headshot, Xam's jaw comes off, Rupture liquifys the ground below Xam, its legs sink till it reaches his waist, Xam is locked into the ground, Rupture jumps off of Xam and lands in front of him, Rupture chucks his right arm out, telekinetically reaching for cement and rebar, its refined to a sharp edge, Rupture steps forward and slices Xam's head clean off.
The sentinels watch on in shock as Xam's body falls limp, the head slides off of Xam's neck and lands on the ground, the spiky hair pinning it there, Rupture's hyperventilating, Rupture stands up tall, his head is lent back, eyes looking down at Xam's body, Rupture puts his foot on Xam's chest and pushes it back "eat that monster" Rupture takes a step back and turns his back on Xam, now walking away.
As Rupture is walking back to the group, Xam twitches "LOOK OUT!" Hurricane launches a blast of air towards Xam, but before it could make the distance, a vine cuts open both of Ruptures achilles tendons, he screams of pain and buckles onto the ground, powerful gusts drowning out his screams, the ground around Xam begins to corrode, cracks form and the ground gives way, Xam lifts one leg up, pushing himself up the rest of the way, Ruptures rolls himself onto his back and locks gaze with Xam, Xam is free of his tomb with a new head in place.
Dracula touches Surge "BUFF WEIGHT, RUN" Surge springs into action, hitting Mach 10 instantly and colliding with Xam, shoulder checking Xam, the combined kinetic force rams Xam into a wall, Surge makes a hasty escape, he screams out "WIND" Xam pry's himself out of the wall and raises vines out of the ground like whips as he marches forward, he roars a storm ahead of him, wind knocks the vines off course "FIRE!" and fire finds the opening, Salamander begins to cook him alive, bright blue flames melting everything it were to touch "Nobody is dying on our watch!" cry's Salamander, Xam roars again, vines slither through the ground like sea serpents, they catch Dracula buffing Salamander, the coils wrap around her legs and abdomen getting tighter, crystals burst out of her skin, breaking her free of the grip, Salamander turns his fire to the vines while zephyrs keep Xam pinned against the wall, Xam finds an opening, dozens of vines lock him in place as they dig out in all directions, the vines all find individual targets.
Ahuic steps in without orders, whirlpools of water forces the vines to snap , dragging the broken lengths into the middle of the pool "HE CANT ESCAPE, AT ANY COST!!" Dracula and Salamander turn their attention back to Xam, they resume burning him alive, the force of the fire amplified by the crushing winds, Xam rips his vines free and clings to the ground, he roars, it cant be heard by the Sentinels.
Surge hoists Rupture onto his back as he cant walk at all, Surge runs over to Warden who remains awake, he places Rupture next to Warden, Surge races off again and stops with Salamander and Hurricane "looks like you could use some help!" Surge's arms crackle of lightning "THUNDER!" a thick bolt of lightning continuously links between Surge and Xam, adding to the temperatures and damage that Xam is definitely feeling.
Xam lifts one arm, and yanks forward, gaining one metre of traction, digging his arm back into the ground, Somniblade stands guard over Rupture and Warden, Xam lifts his other arm and yanks forward again, another metre closed, Xam verbally snaps of anger, he closes his eyes, brews radioactive green in his chest and roars, the brew gets brighter, a ball of black with outline of radioactive green grows from Xam's chest, it gets bigger and bigger, engulfing Xam entirely, the centre of the ball is green like the silhouette, Hurricane calls out "WHAT IS THAT!?" and suddenly.
lights shatter, dawning the battle in black before. Detonation, the green and black ball expands, destroying the ground, vaporising all elemental essence it touches, melting air. Salamander, Hurricane, Surge, Dracula, Ahuic all make a break for Sol, using everything they have to make as much ground as possible "SOL, PRAY TO GOD!!" Sol lays eyes on the incoming disaster, she lays several layers of light over Rogue before turning to the detonation, she fly's up and sprouts wings of light "BLESS ME GOD, MAIDEN OF PROTECTION!" an outline of an angelic maiden forms from the ground up it clasps its hands together in a praying fashion before holding its hands out crossed, it comes in contact with the disaster, the disaster molds around the maiden, leaving little room for the maiden to protect, right before the maiden is engulfed entirely, Abyssal Arbiter manages to get into the safe space, rolling in at the last second, Sol grits her teeth as she constantly pours new essence into the maiden "HEAR ME MY LORD, ALLOW US TO SURVIVE THIS!!" the disaster stretches out to Somniblade, Warden and Rupture, Somniblade thinks quick, he grabs Warden and Rupture and makes a hasty retreat "WANDERING SHADOWS!" Somniblade, Rupture and Warden sink into the ground just as the detonation sucks up the last free space there is, Somniblade, Rupture and Warden appear on the surface in the entrance.
The disaster begins to wither away, what's left is a spherical carving in the prison where the disaster sat, only good footing is the platform left behind by the Maiden of Protection, and it too fades off into the dark, Salamander brings his hand close to his mouth "fireflies" he lifts his hand up and the fireflies lift off into every direction, floating elegantly illuminating the world around them.
the group keep their eyes peeled, looking for the faintest hint of movement "any of you see anything?" Ahuic asks with a hushed voice, Salamander responds "no" he kneels over the edge of the platform peering down "i think we got him" the fireflies illuminate the land below, finding no sign of Xam anywhere, Hurricane slides down the side of the platform, using her winds to control her descent, she stops and moves aside, then begins coaxing the rest down "come down, ill control your fall"
Dracula is the last to come down, with Ahuic leading a search "stay together and alert, our victory hasn't been confirmed yet" Salamander keeps his hands lit with fire, the wind around Hurricane stirs lightly, they move together as one, all eyes pointed in different directions, Ahuic speaks "sitrep, nothing to report" Hurricane responds "nothing to report" Salamander responds "nothing to report" Surge responds "no report" Dracula responds "nothing to report" Abyssal Arbiter "nothing" Sol and Rogue remain up top, Sol continues to patch Rogue up, most of the bleeding has stopped, leaving Rogue in a stable condition, Sol gives Rogue a light tap on the face "stay awake for me Rogue" slap slap "you cant sleep now"
up, high above the Sentinels, clinging flat to the ceiling is a Xam, eyes closed and radioactive greens toned down to a stealthy camouflage, dark green twisted vines writhe through the cement and rebar, coating the grounds of the battlefield in weapons, Xam opens his eyes, radioactive greens light up again, he lets go of the ceiling, freefalling amidst the silence, Xam impacts the ground with a loud crash, everyone on the ground faces toward the impact, Sol whips her head back to see a cloud of kicked up dust, a warped hand lunges out from the dust cloud, grabbing Hurricane by the abdomen, her ribs crunch and crack under the force of Xam's hand, she yells before being drilled into the ground within the dust, the next the sentinels see Hurricane, Xam throws her out far into the wall of the disaster, Sol calls out "HURRICANE!" Hurricane vomits blood.
The ground bursts to life with vines, ripping apart the battlefield "SCATTER!" the sentinels fall into disarray, unable to coordinate concentrated fire on Xam, Salamander uses his flexibility to dodge vines, limboing under them and flipping over the rest, Salamander ignites his foot and flips, creating an arc of fire that expands in a spherical pattern, defending Salamander by burning all the vines that come in contact, Hurricane is locked against the wall, dense air shields her neck from being strangled alive, it hurts to do anything, Surge is able to dodge everything coming his way with his speed but his advancements toward Xam continue to be disrupted, Ahuic slows the impact of vines with her water, they come in at blazing speeds, hit water and slow to a walk, Dracula struggles the most, vines tangle everywhere over her and her crystals, effectively immobolising her, Xam moves at a walking pace toward Dracula, his intent becomes more clear as he approaches "DRAC!!" Surge calls out, powerless to get closer, Dracula, unable to move spits out more crystals each second, the vines begin to drill into them, crawling into any cracks they can find, Dracula's immobilsed body watches as Xam gets closer,
and closer,
and closer,
Xam stands at the foot of Dracula's crystal fortress, looking down at her while her eyes look up at Xam "DRACULA!" and all this time... not once has Xam, stopped, smiling
Xam huffs, he winds his arms up with a deep guttural hum, he roars, deep into a shriek, then sends them hurling down onto Dracula, she closes her eyes, welcoming the early retirement.
Xam's slam crushes the crystal fortress, and Dracula along with it "NOOO!!"
On the surface, a report comes over the Light hive mind "SOL REPORTING, WE'VE LOST DRACULA, I SAY AGAIN, WE JUST LOST DRACULA"
Xam picks up Dracula's mangled corpse by the arm, her head is on a 90 degree bend, impossible to achieve normally, her back is pushed out, torso warped forward, spine poking out of her back, both arms shattered with ripped fingers, and legs shorted by broken fibulas and femurs, blood leaks out of every surface, already running her skin white in seconds. Xam drops her, she lands with a bloody splat, the crystals left by Dracula don't wither, they remain, Xam's eyes look down at the mess he made, and his grin gets ever so slightly wider.
The temperature rises, the ground around Salamander turns red hot, and melts away under his footing, he boosts himself with blue flames that turn from a sporadic douse of flames to a concentrated boost of a roaring jet engine, Salamander launches forward at Xam, tearing the vines that stand in his way, a minor inconvenience in this state, Salamander latches onto Xam, Xam grabs Salamander by the abdomen and tried to pry him off, Salamander lets no give slip "BURN LIKE WILDFIRE! ULTIMATE #1, INCINERATION!!" A massive ball of blue flames engulfs Xam and Salamander, and for the first time, ear drenching cries of agony emits from Xam, this he's feeling "NOBODY KILLS PART OF MY FAMILY, AND LIVES TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!!!" Xam falls to one knee, he tries again to pry Salamander off, both arms and multiple vines grip tightly onto Salamander, and pull, Salamander holds on with a death grip "JUST BURN!!" finally, Xam pry's Salamander off of him, the fire continues to engulf the both of them, Xam shakes with agony turned to unbrittled rage, the guttural hum outcompetes the roar of a thousand suns, he moves an arm to Salamander legs, holds him out front parallel to the ground, and pull, Salamander feels his body giving, he feels his torso stretching, he feels his fire trying to hold him together before.
Salamander tears into two down the waist, as he separates, Xam roars, his mouth brews volatile neon green, chest brewing the same, Salamanders cry's of indescribable pain can't be heard over the enraged shrieks of Xam, Incineration fizzles down, revealing the brutal scene, visions of Salamanders body in two, burns into the eyes of all that can see it, this is no longer a fight for containment, this is a fight for survival.
Xam drops Salamander's top half, then curls down, still shaking from rage, with the vines blown to bits, Ahuic and Surge can rest, but not for long, Xam's eyes snap forward, his eyes crackle with excess green essence, Xam pounces forward, roaring and mending, it feels like Deja vu all over again as Xam charges Ahuic and Surge, Xam lunges at Surge, he manages to dodge to Xam's left and turn back toward Xam, punching clean in the head, Ahuic drenches Xam in water, Xam swings his arms around at Surge again who remains in melee range, Surge moves back before setting Xam alight with electricity, the conductive water sticks to Xam, he fights through it, turning his attention to Ahuic, Xam pounces at Ahuic, arm out stretched, Ahuic catches Xam in a bubble of water and sends Xam out far, the bubble bursts and Surge sends erratic lightning at Xam, Xam holds his arms out, blocking the brunt of the lightning, one step forward, two steps forward, Xam moves faster toward Surge through the lightning, the attack isn't cutting it, Surge ceases, leaving himself open, Surge ready's himself, securing his position "ULT #3, RAILCANNON!" Ahuic attempts to slow Xam down, its no use, Xam makes the distance before Surge can execute Railcannon, Xam grabs Surge by the torso, Surge fires the Railcannon just milliseconds too late, it misses Xam and blitz toward the ceiling as Xam yanks Surge to the ground, slamming him down, Ahuic wraps Xam in a bubble of water, Xam's vision is impaired, using his other arm, Xam tries to wash the water off his face, the attempt doesn't work, Surge radiates himself in electricity, it conducts to Xam, now frying him alive "AGAIN" Xam's head snaps straight toward Surge "ULT #3! RAILCA-" a warped hand wraps around Surges head, Xam rips Surges head clean off and throws it straight at Ahuic, the head bowls her onto her ass, Surges head sits in her lap, looking right at her, Ahuic is mortified, three of her allies, companions, friends have just been mutilated in front of her, one crushed, another torn in half, and the last decapitated.
hidden away, Abyssal Arbiter speaks "Axium, respond" the AI responds "can i help sir?" "raise the threat level to level 5, three Sentinels have lost their lives trying to survive this Assault Mode, this action I'm about to take may cost me my life or take me to exile, but for the safety of the citizens outside."
"this decision must be made"
Xam sees Ahuic and Hurricane, two helpless targets, Ahuic is distraught, she hasn't taken her eyes off of Surge's head who's still in her lap, Hurricane was never able to free herself, still fighting her own battle, pain nullified from the constant adrenaline rushing through her body, Xam's grin goes wide, almost comical, it spreads from each zygomatic bone, his jaw opening wide open, as if he were trying to laugh, as far as Xam is aware, victory is secured, so why waste time walking towards them? three vines raise out of the ground, they coil around each other, making large bullets, built to drill through anyone, it duplicates up to 4x, one for each survivor, Xam sends them away, they all drill and serpentine through the Alard for their targets, two travel across the ground in search of Ahuic and Hurricane, two climb the tower left by maiden of protection, seeking Sol and Rogue, and one looks for Abyssal Arbiter.
A streak of elemental air strikes the battlefield "the decision must be made, my power no longer remains classified"
The battlefield freezes, Ahuic's vine only millimetre's from her chest, she's still fixated on Surge, Hurricane pry's the vines from her neck, the rest too tight to pull, Sol and Rogue are confused, no one in history has the ability to stop time, or so they think, the vines reel back, they turn around to face a confused Xam, the vines shoot straight for Xam, piercing his body and imbedding themselves into the ground behind him, the vines sprout roots beneath the surface, locking in place, Xam roars, trying to gain control over his power once more.
Hurricane turns her head over, now able to rest as she looks at a new contender for Xam, Sol peers down at the only man left on the field, Ahuic's fixation shifts to the person walking by her, Abyssal Arbiter walks past them all, to them, this elementless human, walks towards an impaired Assault Mode that he had anxiety over earlier, Abyssal Arbiter stops, and takes a deep breathe, in... then out, he tilts his head for a moment "here goes nothing" Xam breaks free of the vines, Xam snaps toward Abyssal Arbiter, Xam brews atomic green in his chest, and roars, the Master of the Abyssal Prison remains unphased, he only speaks the words of his truth "#2, Truth through Deception" Abyssal Arbiter finger guns Xam, a red string connects the two of them, the string is slack, then it tightens, Xam looks at it, he swipes his arm at it, his arm goes through it "and" Xam looks at Abyssal Arbiter "#1, Perfection Personified" Xam launches into a sprint toward Abyssal Arbiter, he pounces onto all fours, Abyssal Arbiter too launches into a sprint, yelling his final cast.
"#1 LIFE, ASSAULT MODE!!"
Abyssal Arbiters skin cracks, his hair goes from the familiar soft to quill like spikes, they reach down to his lower back, each spike ending with a crimson touch at the end, arbiters trench coat melts into his body, becoming one with his flesh, the flame patterns remain, but they now move as if the fire were real, torso grows, limbs stretch, skin turns black, veins of crimson wrap around Abyssal Arbiters entire body, sclera of black, iris of crimson, real hands cover Arbiters mouth, as if speaking no lie, for his lie becomes truth in this domain.
Xam brews atomic green, his roar starts low, then rises into a shriek, a distortion of shredded vocals, Abyssal Arbiter and Xam both raise their arms.
Impact, they lock arms, the force of the impact stirring the air, sending out a powerful shockwave, kicking up dust and dirt from the force alone, Xam's chest resonates a low growl, thumping around the arena, this fight is now between two freaks of nature, a lie to contain, a truth to escape, Arbiter yanks on Xam, pulling him to Arbiters side, Arbiter knees him in the gut, lets go and grabs Xam's neck, Arbiter drills him into the ground, he walks forward, grinding Xam across the ground as Arbiter then pulls him forward, and tosses him out ward, Xam is sent flying, the silence after the throw is loud, deafening even , Xam tumbles across the ground, chunks of rubble kicks up underneath Xam, Xam stops early only because of the wall.
Abyssal Arbiter brews deep crimson in his chest, a deep, warped inhale emits from Arbiter, taking in litres of air, and roars, the roar is low, and deafeningly loud, its screams dominance, the ground trembles, his spikes shake, standing on end like raised hackles, the roar carry's on, the very air around Arbiter distorts from the roar, the roar ceases, his chests resonates a deep guttural thump, the ground jumping with each thump, the Sentinels look on, hope has arrived, and its in the form of a monster.