Outer Realms

Other Realms... Dunno what to really put for here, except, there's a lot?

Face of Darkness
On a secluded flagship in the cold reaches of space, a group of figures walk through a corridor and approach a door that opens into a throne room. Where a lone silhouette sits on top a throne. "Greetings, my lord."

The silhouette on the throne looked down at the group. "Ahh... What have you found?" the figure spoke.

A figure steps forward and holds up a hologram of Earth.

"We've found a habited planet with minor technology advancement. But it has some valuable specimens which interest me, I suggest we pay a visit and get a experience for ourselves."

The silhouette leaned forwards, interested. "Perfect. Assemble a squadron and set off for this planet at posthaste. I want this little planet to feel the full might of Phazon!"

"Do not worry, our leader has already sent three to collect samples of some of the strongest on the planet. Infact, two of them have recently returned."

The person clicks his fingers, and The Mask and The Blade steps into the room, both holding a capsule with a bit of energy within them. But before the silhouette can make a comment, another person steps in the room. Looking much differently than his workers...

"So, when is all said and done. This rock will become ours, isn't that right?" The figure looks at the silhouette. "A squadron has already been arranged. And this ship is heading towards the planet, we will be there soon. All that we require is a little penitence."

The silhouette lent back, light dimly befell onto his royal blue skin. "That little satellite of theirs. Be sure to put up one of the Planetary Shield Generators on it. This will stop their little ant-like race from escaping, if you see anybody highly suspicious, capture them. None shall challenge Phazon's power!"

The figure chuckles, as he turns back and walks away, with The Mask and The Blade following behind. "Done and done, goodbye, my lord." The three teleport away into a cockpit of a ship hiding among a galactic fleet, he activates the comms and speaks through it, a booming voice echoes throughout the fleet. "Set course to Earth! Glory to the Legion of Phazon!" The whole fleet then changes course and heads towards Earth.

The Phazon Emperor
The mysterious emperor of these "Phazons" sat above his throne, looking out of the window at the Earth from his signature flagship. "Hmm... It looks like two of the Planetary Shield Generators are now complete." He began laughing under his breath. "Commander Yaridovich, begin preparations of our arrival on Earth!" He roared. A lone metallic figure nearby heard the command. "Yes sir!" He said, before running off.

Silent Fang
Kalin slipped into the depths of space, exiting his gate into the cold void. Kalin used the surrounding darkness to allow him to walk normally. The only light came from a brown dwarf star, the pull of the star's gravity tugging Kalin towards it despite his reasonable distance from the celestial body.

"Well, that star is definitely going supernova. Guess I should get started..." Closing his eyes, Kalin focused on the flow of energy coming off of the dying star. Slowly, the waves of heat and dispersed matter began to encirlcle Kalin in a double helix around his body. As the star imploded, a large wave of corruptive energy shot directly into Kalin's chest. For a few moments, he felt a pain, as if his soul were being torn apart. After a few moments, however, the pain subsided, and all that remained of the star was a mass of dark energy-a black hole.

"Hmm. I could draw that in..but..."

But what?

Kalin turned to find another person standing beside him. This person looked no older than 16, and gave no indication of having any special abilities. despite that fact, Kalin preferred to err on the side of caution. "Um, who are you, exactly?"

"Oh, I'm no one special. I was just taking a walk, reading my book..." The boy said, waving a book in hand to confirm.

"I...see. You decided to take a walk in space. What, was the rest of...the place you came from too full?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. You could say it was a bit too busy for my taste." Anyways, why aren't you going to take out the black hole?"

"I don't know, Kid. I'm not really in the mood to take it in. It's a lot of focus and manipulation of energy...just explaining it wears me out."

"Maybe I could lend a hand." Kid said, opening his book, and beginning to flip through the pages, apparently looking for a specific section.

"Why, exactly, would you want to do something like that? I don't even know if I could trust you."

"Well, if I do this for you, I think that could be proof that I at least am not here to do you harm. And as to why I'm here...I wanted to give you advice. That's all."

"Well, I don't see how siphoning off dark matter from space is enough for me to trust you...but hey, I'm a crazy guy. I'll give you a chance. I'll also let you give me whatever advice you might have."

"Great." Kid said, stopping on a page in the book. "Here we go... Mark!" The stranger said, causing a seal to appear beneath Kalin. "''Thief." '' As he spoke the word, schwarz left Kalin. In it's unformed state, it looked just like a miniature abyss.

"And for the finish...''Mark, Bind!" '' The black hole in the distance of the void began to condense, taking on a similar form to Kalin's weapon. the mass of dark matter approached the Kid's hand, reacting with the orb floating aboove his hand, as the two slowly combine into a single sphere of darkness. After a few moments, Schwarz begins to react violently, various protrusions extending form its surface. "Well, this is definitely better than what you had before. Here." he said, tossing the sphere back to Kalin.

"Thanks...I guess." Kalin said, unsure of what had just occured. "So I guess now I get your helpful advice?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I have no choice, huh? My advice is simple...Watch your head."

"...Yeah. that's really helpful. Thanks."

" I'm sorry. I've got rules to follow. I promise that it will make sense eventually...I just don't know when."

"Right...well, Kid. I'll be seeing you. thanks for the...help. I've got places to be, though. So I'll just duck out now. Wait, how have we been speaking this whole time?" Kalin said, turning around just as his gate had opened.

"Oh, it's no big deal. ''Silence." Kid continued to speak for a few moments afterwards, but the words could no longer be heard. ''With a nod, Kalin quickly ran off into his portal, the gate closing behind him.

The Mystery of Eien
"Well, look at the big ballsy man coming to take on the mysterious hooded guy! Maybe he'll get lucky and get a treat for being such a damn dumb dog! Did I not tell you fool? A. You can't kill me. B. Did I not say that you could either give Nori the best few weeks of her life, or take away what time she has? ....I guess not. But it doesn't matter now. Little dragon kid here thinks he has the power to take me on and wave his little stick around like the dumb dog he is? Fine. Come re', I'll play with you a little bit, foolish little mutt! And then afterwards, when you're black and blue, I'll make a poem, about you!"

He chuckles. "Actually I'll show you just how ignorant you are since you seem to think you can change things. I'll show you the despair of the future."

The Yellow Cloaked figure is back, and they are standing adrift a sea of stars, nebulae, and galaxies.

"Isn't creation beautiful?" He cackles. "Come on then, let's see how big those little mutt balls of yours are!" He makes a 'come on!' motion with his hands, interestingly untouched by Drake's sword from earlier.

''Drake simply looks at the figure and growls, his wings stretching out as he adjusts his shirt. He raises into the air and flies towards the figure as fast as he can, just before he lands a punch he fades away in fire, confusing the figure for a brief moment before he is blasted away by an attack from behind him. ''"Dragon or dog, make up your damn mind..."

He feels a tap on his shoulder. "Hey buddy. I'm over here." SMACK! Drake feels as though his face was caved in just from one punch, which sends him flying into a large meteorite.

"First step. Advanced Anticipation of Enemy's moves."

''Drake tenses his right arm and elbows the meteorite, shattering it to pieces, he then grabs some of the big chunks and throws them at the figure. He then grasps his two hands together then spreads them apart, creating a massive black fireball which is sent blasted towards the pile of rocks and the figure, creating a massive black explosion. ''

The smoke clears, and he has only his index finger raised, the very tip lightly smoking.

"Easy. Try something else."

''Drake creates two rune circles on his hands as he flies towards the figure, planting his left hand on the figure's chest then kicking him away, Drake places his hands ontop of each other and moves them in different directions. ''"Shadow Cast: Supaiku." ''The figure feels a pain throughout his body as black thorny spikes emerge out of him, but without ripping anything, Drake then pulls his two hands away. Causing the spikes to become unstable, releasing a multitude of smaller spikes which impale and cut the figure.''

The figure tilts his hooded head to one side. "....Are you done?" He snaps his fingers, and the spikes disappear.

"Two strikes."

"..." ''Drake fades away in black fire and appears infront of the figure and grabs his hood, swinging him around until Drake slams the figure to the ground, ripping off the hood. Drake then throws the figure into the air and slashes his chest with Kurai, finishing his attack by grabbing his neck and slamming him down onto a meteorite. ''

As soon as he takes the hood off, Yellow Cloak seems to deflate and to Drake's surprise there wasn't a head at all, just air.

A beam like sword of light erupts from behind Drake and blows right through his right lung, both impaling and burning him.

"Strike three." The hooded figure says from behind him. "Now since you're impaled on my sword, why don't you calm down, little boy?"

"You talk too much..." ''Drake impales himself and the figure with Kurai, a small snicker coming from Drake as he spits blood onto his free hand and throws it at the figure's eyes, blinding him for enough time for Drake to pull Kurai and escapes the figure's sword. He looks at his wound and laughs as his eyes dilute with a black energy as he gets coated in Cyanic tribal markings and runes, his eyes then begin to glow white as his wounds repair themselves, his wings becoming nothing but tribal markings but he still manages flight. Kurai gains a black aura around it as it hisses at the figure. ''"Before I show you what I have to offer, how about you give me a name and pull down that hood of yours? Besides, you've been stalking me for all my time since my banishment, so come on then..."

"I do believe I mentioned I mentioned I'm immortal, right? Well let me repeat myself. I'm immortal. That won't work. Don't believe me? Look who's bleeding, and who's not." The figure looks completely unharmed, while Drake still has his sword wound from Kurai.

"I won't deny in most cases that would be a sneaky move if not a bit risky, but not only was that pointless, you've just weakened yourself unnecessarily. As for who I am.... it doesn't matter. I am known as a few things. The Observer of Fate is one. The Ultimate Storm... The Eternal Watcher... ...Eternal God of Lightning is another."

A bolt of red lightning shocks Drake, and he is instantly brought to his knees, drained massively of energy from just that one attack.

"Hmph... Bastard..." ''Kurai hisses once more at Drake. ''"Stop being brash! You WILL die!"

'' 'Listen to me Corruption, I have a plan, but I have no idea if it'll work or not... Regardless, I have a backup plan if this one fails, all I need is a opportunity, ok?' ''

'' 'If you're planning what I think you're planning, then this figure is right about you, but nevertheless it's our only options... Fine, you have my trust in you Drake, don't mess it up.' ''

"Immortal. Rip out my heart if you wish. Won't work. Believe me the Boss has tried. Including throwing it in the sun. Throwing ME in the sun. Still alive. Nothing short of a miracle is gonna put a dent in me." The hooded figure says with exasperation.

"I hope you understand that this isn't even 1% of my effort being thrown at you, you do know that, right?"

''To his surprise, Drake stands up and looks at Kurai, irritatingly sighing and tossing it at the figure. ''"Ugh... Catch, it's a Ryunexo thing... Don't question it..."

".......Do you think I'm dumb? Fine then.... you've earned this."

The figure holds out his hand. "Restriction Code 460 Released. Releasing Restriction. Summoning."

In his hand appears a sheathed sword. "Why would I want to touch a weapon so meek and inferior?!" He draws his sword, and a massive wave of pure power ripples from the figure, as a violent multicolored light glows from the iridescent blade. Drake's first thought is Elementium, but that metal was nowhere near as charged as this substance, from just a quick glance it seems to have more power than even a single one of the Avatars of Yosai. The air rumbles with the intensity of its aura, and Kurai is blown away back into Drake's hands.

"Hmm... So from what I've gathered, and from what you told me... Yeah, that makes sense..." ''A smirk grows on Drake's face as he takes a glance at Kurai. ''"Slayers are interesting blades, aren't they? Able to manifest a godly entity or anything powerful enough to charge the Elementium for the blade to work at it's best... So by the power yours is giving out, it's safe to say that no-less a God occupies your Slayer, correct? If so, and only a Phoenix member can wield a true Slayer..." ''Drake takes a look at the figure and chuckles, sheathing Kurai. ''"You're a member of Phoenix, and from what you said to me on our first encounter... You're an old member, aren't you?"

The figure puts the blade out in front of him, holding the blade straight down. He lets go, and it hovers, and he suddenly raises his arms.

"You don't quite get the picture...." A brilliant white light forms between his outreached arms, and it begins to soar high into the endless space.

"Watch.... the difference between you and I....."

Suddenly the light begins to glow brilliantly, and billions of asteroids all begin to condense on its location, as the eight elements begin to form around the sphere, and the sphere begins to grow at an incomprehensible rate, and it only becomes apparent to what the figure is doing at the very end, when suddenly a great explosion of power blinds Drake for a moment, and when the light of the blast fades, the figure speaks.

"Behold.... the vast difference in power you and I have...."

Drake looks up to see a whole new entire world, with deep blue oceans and whirling white clouds, with landmasses and islands, with its very own sun. There is a majestic glow around the newborn pair.

''Drake claps and speaks, mockingly and sarcastically. "Oh congratulations, you can make planets and suns, I'm so'' impressed, it's not like I've seen that been done before a thousand times over..." ''He yawns. ''"For someone who's followed me since I arrived on Earth, you don't seem to notice that I'm not impressed by cocky bastards who think themselves above everyone else... Hence why I don't brag, it just saddens me that for all that 'power' you have, you choose to be the way you are... But now that I think about it, I guess that you sitting on your ass all day is better than you actually doing anything productive with your immortal life..." Drake just takes his spellbook and begins to read through it, occasionally looking up at the figure before shaking his head and glancing at the pages again.

The next time he looks at the pages, he is suddenly face-stomped into an invisible ground and he feels his nose break instantly.

"Now that I have your attention again, it's time you understood something, brat."

He feels the figure's hand grab his forehead, and a strange sensation comes over him as he suddenly sees through the figure's eyes.

''Now watch.... this is the price you pay for your arrogance, Drake... ...behold the future. And what it will cost you.''

Suddenly he is walking with Noriko, when two blurred figures appear, and a fight occurs, the specifics unshown, but the result becomes horrifyingly clear to Drake: one of the figures picks up a unconscious, limp Noriko and drags her away, while another one prepares to execute a crippled Drake and Kanashimi. The scene flashes in the perspective of a guard in Yosai, as White walks up to a chained, stripped and humiliated Noriko... then the scene flickers once more, and only static filled brief images are the visions that Drake sees, for a moment he sees himself and a strange female being fighting, but it all fades to black as the figure removes his hand from Drake's forehead.

"Now do you understand? There is more, but it cannot be seen with your eyes. The power of Observing is too great for one like you. But the glimpse should suffice. You can leave her whenever you like, Drake. But I tell you that the day you leave, only three days later shall events take place and Noriko's fate will still be decided. Your presence alone gives her a maximum of five weeks before fate demands history to be decided. All of these things you have seen are real and will happen.

I can't believe I thought a coward like you could even be worthy of my warning. I wanted to give you and her the best last few weeks together, and already you want to selfishly throw them aside! Well congratulations, you damn insufferable fool, for you have disappointed me, Eien of the Eternal Observers! You don't deserve those five weeks she has left... go ahead, leave her behind you damn fool! Get out of my sight and weep at your ignorance! Your future has already been decided! When all comes to pass, you have no one to blame but yourself!" The figure growls, as Drake's being is dispelled back to Echo....

Akuma's Arrival
A black magically inscribed circle with a red hue appears out of thin air, it begins to spin as a silhouette is seen in front of it, this continues until the silhouette becomes a woman, then the black circle dissipates into the air. The woman lands gracefully onto the grass and looks around. "This isn't what I was expecting, but I can make do." She whispers to herself before ripping off her own arm. Black blood begins to flow out of the wound onto the ground.

For a brief moment, she feels an odd twinge, somewhere around her chest, but just as it comes it is gone, and she notices a yellow cloaked man strolling through the plains ahead of her.

She gives the man a strange look, then licks her lips. "Hello there, How are you?" Some of the black blood begins moving across the ground towards the man.

"Oh I'm afraid I'm not for desert," The man says as he stops, not even looking at her, as a bolt of red lightning blasts the black blood, frying it instantly to dust.

She smiles. "Looks like your not so much of a low-life after all." She says, "Well where can I find the main then?" She sniggers at her remark. The black blood around Akuma begins to move behind her into a big lake of blood.

"Well it's not any fun if the predator gets an easy tip on the hunt... the hunt is much more exciting when the hunt is an unknown variable... don't you think so, Akuma Matata?" He says, turning toward her, the only part of his face seen is the lower half, and only the mouth is seen, a light smirk on his face.

"Feel free to set up your residence here, and have your fill... as long as you don't drive the inhabitants to extinction, it's not my concern." He says, before walking off again.

"Pah, the low-life ordering me around. How absurd." She thinks to herself, "I need to know more before I attack, or else I could lose this shell." The black blood begins to form walls and a door-way as Akuma walks into the dark interior of her palace.

After she withdraws into the palace, the figure looks back for a moment.

"Heh, low life eh? Life is gonna suuuuuck for this one. I'll let her have her daydreams of grandeur for a while. After all, it's not quite time to begin yet... I'll let the party over at Yosai kick into gear first. Then I can... start the rehearsal."

The black blood begins to cover the planet, each cell replicating itself over and over again. As the black blood spreads the wildlife starts getting impaled and consumed by the blood, roughly 1/4 of their population was consumed before the black blood spread without harvesting the wildlife. It would take over the planet and then wait for Akuma to make her move.

A Confrontation
Eien flies through the depths of space, the two enthralled Lambdas following close behind him. He eventually slows, then comes to a stop, standing there quietly.

"....Gurīn, D'Ranjo, move on ahead. ...I've got business to deal with," He says as he pulls his cloak on, placing the hood over his face once more, as the two Lambdas flies off ahead of him.

He silently waits, his senses tell him a high likely hood of a familiar and unwanted phenomenon approaching exists.

"Hm, quite fancy meeting you here," says the doctor, coming from a spacial distortion. His attire seems to have changed and he now carries a black sword by his side. Volmond gives Eien a neutral look.

"I'm going with my hunch and assuming that you're not here for tea and biscuits." Eien's head shifts as he looks in Volmond's direction, only his mouth is visible, in a tight frown.

"Not my beverage or food of choice," says the doctor. "Being grateful and caring are entirely different matters you know..."

Eien doesn't immediately respond. "I have things to do so... kindly leave me alone. Or are you going to 'insist' we have a 'chat'? Listen... the thing with Shinwa, there is nothing to discuss. It happened, it's history, and you shouldn't judge. Or have you conveniently forgotten about the angry goddess still tailing you?"

Eien turns around completely, his head lifting so that his face, except for his electric blue eyes, is obscure. "Looking at your past, reminds me a smidge of myself... interesting that is..."

"The same goddess who is currently in a position of noninterference... Oh, I got over that, now I'm just here to... shall we say blow off some steam." The doctor is completely aloof. "I'd rather not be compared to a person likely younger than me, especially after counting my years of time travel."

"...Now you really are just trying to waste my time... tch, this is annoying..." He mutters. "An unexpected development, perhaps you're slightly more mature than I gave you credit for when I met your brother..."

Eien looks to his side. "Are you in the mood to play?" He asks, as a black robed female figure appears next to Eien. Volmond can smell a thick aura of death emitting from her. The girl doesn't respond to Eien's question, her gaze seems to be on Volmond, though he can't see her face.

"Ange- Nanashi? Heh, he's a bit jaded since the laboratory incident," says the doctor as his coat and scarf begin to shift positions. His tone remains neutral as he hefts his sword, still in sheathe, over his shoulder while a tome float in front of him. "Ara, everything moves so slowly..."

Eien sighs. "Iffffff you want to, fine. But your work load triples tomorrow..."

The girl takes off her hood and shakes her head, revealing a face Volmond did not expect to see: Naki. Only, more how she looked as a human.

"..." The doctor sighs, "A clone or genetic, modified replica?"

"None of the above. The original. Body, at least. The soul is a cheap knock off. I was lazy making it." Eien says unconcerned. "Though I've made some alterations... ...for example she is Ikania Lambda 0. In other words, you can just call her 'Zero'."

"I see, well then if she stands in my way, I could afford a moment or two of play... I do not discriminate, even those resembling allies will face the sword if they oppose me."

"Oh she's always around... as insurance you could say. She was actually made the same day we acquired Naki... ...speaking of that, I wouldn't suggest killing her... not that she is actually your opponent. Wouldn't want you to break her after we spent so long rebuilding her... ....shouldn't you make sure those two get home safely or something...?" He says to Zero, who quietly nods and sprouts black wings and flies off.

Eien turns head and looks at Volmond. "I imagine you won't take no for an answer?" He says, as a katana appears strapped to his belt with it in its sheathe.

"Indeed." Pressure builds around the doctor as he shifts his sheathed weapon into an offensive position. A faint warping can be seen around him.

Eien makes only a slight change in his posture, and a faint crackling of static can now be heard.

The pressure around the doctor builds even higher, the space around him compressing as if it were a spring.

Eien's image crackles momentarily, before it disappears and reappears further away.

"I would wager you're already deploying one of your little gimmics with space distortion, either that or you make everything around you nauseous."

Eien remarks, as the static in the area turns red.

"Soul Rejection," he says, launching a swirling mass of energy in Eien's direction. The mass seems to draw the energy from everything it makes contact with into itself, growing larger and spinning faster as it does.

"Nebula Discharge," Eien intones, as he unsheathes his katana, which lets out a terrible howl as he slashes at the energy, which gets absorbed in the wave of multicolored energy, the wave blasting forth at Volmond at speeds almost exceeding the speed of light. Before he can get a clear look of the sword, Eien has already sheathed the blade, and is idly observing him, as the wave continues on to form a vast new nebula.

A gaping maw forms around the nebula, consuming it as Volmd grabs the tome in front of him? "Hm.... No, not that one or that one... Aha! Rend." The space around the doctor twists and tears, forming into a great gash in space.

Eien lets out a sigh. "This is getting annoying quickly..." He murmurs. "Let's try this..."

The area begins to shake and vibrate violently, as a light blue aura envelops Eien, and suddenly from his body many countless balls of energy with the same color appear.

"Ravaging Ghost Spiral!" Eien roars as the many wisps surge forth in massive spiraling streams, and cluster around Volmond, unleashing a massive detonation of spiritual energy akin to the force of a supernova, Eien drawing a pale blue sword from nowhere and stands his ground as the blast strikes his postion as well. When the explosion clears, a pale barrier fades from view, and he stows away the blade.

"Eh, I'll return that if you don't mind. Another Dimension Return!" A vortex opens in front of the doctor, releasing a drilling torrent of energy on par with the one Eien launched at the cloaked figure. "Rend: Distortion." The tear in space enlarges and begins to warp the dimension around both of them on a large scale.

Eien draws the same sword he took out. "Looks like I might need this again..." He thinks for a moment, eyeing the distortion critically.

After a moment, he stabs the blade forward, the blade extending out and growing larger, appearing to cleave the drilling energy in two and sending it sailing away from Eien, though the blade keeps plowing straight for Volmond.

"Another Dimension," recites the doctor, opening another vortex to intercept the blade, then yet another to return the blade. He then snaps his fingers and the space that had been warped shatters, creating a grey and black epty space around them, the tear in space shrinking considerably as a result.