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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 0:24:10 GMT -5
Few knew of the evil that now permiated the halls of the UCA. As trillions watched the Championships unfold, and the unexpected return of Rosie, there was an air, a stiff, dark air that filled the hallways of the Hub area. The Man in Black... Salavance... and now the Maluvor had arrived. It was as if all the forces of darkness had descended upon the galactic arena, all waiting for the other to make their move, to see if they could gain dominance while thwarting the other's plans.
And yet, one of the many heroes at the UCA, was just awakening from his sleep. Crigan's eyes opened, green fluid all around him. This... this was his living quarters... What had ha-
His eyes widened. SALAVANCE was what had happened. It all came back to him, the High Council meeting, Yuuka altering their destination, and... that terrible, nightmarish hellspawn that had destroyed them... As the tubes detatched from him, he rose out of the regeneration tank, and noticed Diamen was already recovered, and glaring daggers up at him. "So... mind telling me just what the hell that was? You acted like you knew that golden komodo dragon, so start talking. And before you ask, Mara is safe. She's in a match right now, so she must have recovered before we did."
Crigan took a deep breath as he shifted to his human form, walking out of the room. He didn't like the stench of evil that permeated the air. It was wrong, all wrong. "That thing... was Salavance the Golden, an enemy I thought I had slain long ago..."
"Well, you obviously did a shitty job in that case." Diamen replied, yet despite the words, his voice carried a sense of fright in it, of humility, as if having seen the face of the God of Evil and coming back to tell the tale. "How were we so easily beaten by it? I'm a Platinum rank Shinigami, and you... well, you're one of the few in the system whose attained Crystal rank, the second highest there is, and mother still had her powers..."
"That is because, this foe is beyond any of you... even beyond me." Crigan said, his voice weak and tired. His head turned down to face the floor, and he sighed. "I assume the Yama never told you of it... well, that would be for good reason. No one knows where it came from, only that it appeared once the Dark Lord Satan was destroyed. Apparently, the power vacuum created by his destruction and Armageddon's sealing was what lured it in... I wasn't there to see the rampage it unleashed upon the High Council's forces... I wasn't even part of the system back then, but, I was told nothing could stand before it. Hundreds of thousands slaughtered, devoured, and removed from the Reincarnation Cycle."
"What? That'... That's supposed to be impossible!" Diamen gasped, collapsing off his feet. "Is this thing... stronger than Orsa was?"
"No." Crigan told him. "But what Salavance lacked in power... he made up for in savage intelligence, and mastering of Dark Energy, a power few entities could ever hope to wield. Once it left them... it came to the realm of Legends..."
"You mean... it-"
Crigan looked at his son in the eye, and for the first time in a long, long time, Diamen saw it, a face torn and twisted in pain, misery, and regret. Tears were flowing down the face of the Death God, and he had his hands in his hair, ready to tear it all out. "He murdered them... trillions of innocents, humans, Legends... All of them dead! It was like a dark cloud that smothered everything. Entire continents, smothered beneath the blanket, stripped of flesh, of life, of all that existed. We lost so many... friends I haven not seen in countless eons, murdered and consumed by the ravenous demon. I nearly killed myself trying to stop it... and I genuinely thought I had slain the monster... yet, to see it alive, because of that woman... " He ripped out his hair, and collapsed onto the floor, a long, anguished cry escaping from him, a mournful sound that echoed down the halls of the UCA... "WHY?! WHY MUST THIS BE?! I WOULD GLADLY GIVE MY OWN LIVE AWAY, TO ENSURE SUCH EVIL NEVER AGAIN ROAMED THE UNIVERSE!"
Diamen was transfixed by the scene. He had never known this, the past of his father. To see his own father, a figure he had called weak and useless, now lamenting his own existence because of that devil... It was amazing, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to hate him anymore. "Why did you never tell me of this?" He asked.
"Because... those who brought me back from the brink were forced to wipe my mind clean. Otherwise, I couldn't bare live with the horrors I had seen with my soul so weakened. They only came back during my fight with Orsa..." It was hard for Crigan to keep talking, as his own tears were drowning out his words. "It was the High Council who saved me, and the witch Mima, who was much alive and human back then. They brought me to her, and she restored me... and in return, I enlisted into their services.. Diamen?" Crigan asked as his son embraced him. It was something he would have never expected from him, and it caught him completely off guard.
"I never knew you had it so rough. I was angry, hateful, and mad at you for hiding the power you had, for failing to save Mother, for leaving me to die... but now, I see the true you. The you that lost it all, the you that I never knew. I am sorry, for what I have done, I truly am..."
Crigan's own hands wrapped around his son as well, tears streaming down both of their faces. "If we are to stop this darkness... we have to work together, my son. We must do what we can, no matter what."
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 15:07:42 GMT -5
"Salavance?" A voice said from behind Crigan and Diamen. This prompted the two to turn around. Behind them stood a figure, covered in a dark, black robe. The hood of his robe obscured his face in shadow, though a mask was visible even from beneath the hood. "It seems that evil has grown stronger than I had previously expected...."
The Man in Black strode towards them slowly, his arms crossed behind his back, his upper torso leaned forward like a hunched, decrepit old man. "To think that the absence of such a great power could allow such evil to enter this broken world... it is disheartening. But it only gets worse, I fear..."
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 15:13:17 GMT -5
Crigan narrowed his eyes at the figure. There was something, unsettling about him, something not quite right about this figure, but what it was, he couldn't place his finger on it. The stench of evilw as just too thick for him to identify anything properly. "Worse? How can it get worse than this? Unless Orsa himself were to rise back from the grave, there are few ways this can get any worse." Crigan said, though it was clear he was shaken to the core. In the depths of his mind, he was hoping it was anything other than what he thought. Maybe this man here was afraid of some minor triviality... but for him to know of Salavance... no, that shouldn't have been possible. Very few knew of the existence of that monster, outside of the High Council. Just... who WAS this person?
"How do you know of the name of that lizard?" Diamen asked, also wary of the man. "And what business do you possibly have here?"
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 15:18:27 GMT -5
"My business here is not your business, young one," The man replied, his gaze briefly turning to face Diamen. "I know of this beast through legends and myths.... my people have told stories of it since I was no more than your age."
The man then turned to Crigan. "Have you not sensed it, Death God? An evil even you should fear has arrived...." The man shook his head. "I believe you have heard the tales of the Maluvor, no?"
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 16:24:34 GMT -5
Time stopped for Crigan. It was as if everything ground to a complete halt. Colors faded from his eyes, until they turned a milky white. His breath was short and ragged, and he staggered back, his eyes widening as the full implications of what the man said got to him. "You- your lying. That can't be true. It just can't... There's no way those monsters-"
"It is true. The Maluvor, those that even the denizens of Hell fear, are now at the UCA. Surely, you must have sensed them, have you not?"
And then... everything shattered like glass.
Crigan collapsed where he was, vomit escaping from his mouth as he shook. No wonder the air was so rank with evil. It was the worst case scenario, an absolute nightmare. Beside him, Diamen as well was reeling from the news, grabbing his head as he tried to shake it away like a bad headache. He too had heard of the evils of those monsters, of how they were supposed to be locked away, with only the mask flowing through time and space as their temporary way out... for all the places for that mask to have drifted to... "This is... This is a nightmare." Diamen stammered, wanting to vomit himself. "Why is all this evil gathering here? To take the mantle left behind by Orsa? Let us just hope they kill each other and lave this place to be..."
To Diamen's surprise, Crigan weakly rose up, and began to walk away, heading toward the source of the stench. The color in his eyes returned, but now, they were narrowed, and his fists were clenched so tightly, blood was drawing from them. "I have to stop them... to prevent this mess from getting worse. It's my duty... my job to keep those here safe. Mara, Auroros, Kadru, Quetzar... they all will be in danger if these monsters were allowed to live!" He growled. Diamen grabbed him by the hand and tried to yank him back.
"You're crazy, Father! You stand no chance against Salavance himself, let alone the Maluvor as well! You will die, with no chance of coming back this time! Please, There has to be another way other than killing yourself! No one stands a chance against all four of those nightmares themselves! We have to think of something else, another way to stop this!" Diamen begged. Crigan stopped, and looked back. He was right... This was beyond even him, beyond any one person... It was suicide to go against them solo... yet he had done just that against Orsa... There was no doubt, though. This dark air of evil... it was only growing stronger. He NEEDED a way to stop it...
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 20:35:40 GMT -5
Though Crigan could not see it, a thin smile formed across the robed man's face. The man soon spoke, as he attempted to soothe the ailing being.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance, Death God," the man stated aloud. "After all... allies are always appreciated in times of need, are they not?"
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 21:03:28 GMT -5
"I just... I just don't know anymore." Crigan muttered, grasping at his head. "I doubt you could be of any help... these are forces beyond your control..."
Diamen, however, was eyeing the robed man suspiciously. "And what could you do against such monsters? You seem to be nothing more than a mere mortal..."
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 21:27:33 GMT -5
"Trust me," the man replied. "I have my ways. You may not enjoy my presence, or view me as of much use, but I have knowledge you may need in your journeys. After all, this is not the first time you've allied with someone who you were wary of.... is it, Crigan?"
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 21:49:23 GMT -5
As his father lay there on the floor, his mind shattered and desperately trying to repair itself from this revelation, Diamen's eyebrows raised up at the being's words. There was definitely something not right here. Some mysterious man showing up and claiming to have the solution, all the while NOT revealing anything about himself? Did he honestly think either of them had been born yesterday? No doubt Crigan in his right state of mind would be suspicious as well, but as it was, he would have to do the weight lifting all by himself here. That, and this man knew things, like the Maluvor and Salavance, things that made no sense. "Not until you tell us who you are and why you are here." Diamen growled, getting between the odd man and Crigan. He picked him up onto his shoulders, and turned back to face the man. "We only ally ourselves with those we know to be of good heart, and the way you speak, the way you sound... it is all wrong. WHO ARE YOU, TELL ME!" Diamen nearly yelled, only stopping himself just barely.
"Please... Let him help, We might have need of it" Crigan moaned, his eyes drifting lazily around.
"No, father. None of this makes any sense... not until he makes it perfectly clear what his intentions are and who he is." Diamen responded, eyes never leaving the masked man...
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 21:58:09 GMT -5
"Who am I?" The man chuckled beneath his mask. "Who am I? That truly is the question of the day, is it not?"
The man moved his hands in front of him, hidden beneath long sleeves, as he folded them together beneath the robe's sleeves. The man straightened his back, as he looked Diamen in the eyes. "Well, if you must know.... you can call me... 'Ommadon'."
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 22:20:57 GMT -5
Diamen's eyebrow twitched as he heard the man's presumed name. "You failed the answer the rest of it. What exactly is your purpose here, and what are your intentions? Speak, before I pry into your mind to find out myself."
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 26, 2014 22:29:58 GMT -5
"You? Pry MY mind?" The man simply shook his head. "You lack the will, or the strength to do so. But since you are so desperate to know my plans, allow me to tell you."
Suddenly, Diamen's mind was whisked away, as if sucked into a void, before he appeared in a strange, empty place, the robed man still before him.
"My plans cannot be made known to the UCA, young one," The man said nonchalantly taking no notice to the change in locale. "Rather... my plan is to free you creatures from this prison that you have gotten yourselves trapped into. You see, I have been gathering allies, searching for beings to add to my army. I have already recruited 2, and I wish for you to join me. If you and your father were to aid me in my ambition, we could gather enough allies to usurp the UCA, and free you from your shackles! You will be no longer oppressed, no longer forced to fight to near-death.... all I ask of you is aid me in my quest, and I will aid you in any way I can."
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 26, 2014 23:53:32 GMT -5
"So that is what you have planned here."
At once, the void vanished, and the familiar halls of the UCA returned. Crigan, weak as he looked, turned to face his son as Diamen stepped back from the masked figure. "You plan to rule over us as a tyrant, to enslave us. That is what you have planned, and we refuse your offer. Your words hide the darkness behind them. This is our answer to you... we do not need your help, Ommadon." Diamen hissed out the name, like a nasty ddrink had just gone down his throat. "That name you bear is a demonic one, carried only by the evils of the Abyss. We refuse your offer, now leave... We want nothing of you." He said as he carried his father away from the man. That figure... was nothing but bad news... He took off into the air, flying away from him and off toward a different section of the UCA.
"Why... did you refuse his offer?" Crigan asked, confused by his son's actions. "We could have had an ally..."
"Trust me... He is no ally. I sense it a dark power coming from within him. Call me paranoid, father... but right now, we can only trust those we know with certainty to be allies..."
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Post by GI Jho on Jan 27, 2014 0:01:11 GMT -5
Ommadon's eyes narrowed beneath his mask, the robed being crossing his arms across his chest. A fool he was to refuse his offer.... but a clever fool nonetheless. Ommadon cared not of Diamen's thoughts- it was only a matter of time before everything fell into place as it was to be. With Salavance at large, along with the Maluvor having arrived, no hero would dare impede he, such a lowly and fragile being, when such prominent and dangerous threats lurked. But it was the lurkers whom were most dangerous, and least expected to strike.
Try as he would, both he and his father were destined to fail.
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Post by Tenshi the Sunkern on Jan 28, 2014 22:09:39 GMT -5
Once he was sure they were far enough away from the Masked Man, Diamen touched ground, before letting his father off his shoulders. As Crigan sat back beside the wall they were at, so too did Diamen, who was rubbing his shoulders. "I hate flying with others on my back... We need to find a way to stop this madness that has desecrated this place." Diamen said.
What he didn't expect, was a chuckle in reply. "The madness has always been here, son. You weren't here to see the Horsemen... now THERE was a complete and royal mess of things." He half-heartedly joked as he recalled the incident. "It was the dumbest thing I had ever seen. Granted, I couldn't witness it myself, but I saw the replays... they touted it as the greatest thing ever, a free for all with no rules against the Horsemen... and it was so underwhelming. Your own mother participated as well, though it was before she regained her senses. It was just, the dumbest thing I had ever seen. If those cowards ARE still around, then maybe we can have them fight off the Maluvor and Salavance."
"What... what are you talking about? " Diamen asked, confused as to what his father was saying. Mere mortals here, able to stand up against their terrible wrath? That shouldn't even be.
Crigan lay on his back, and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, they are called the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, cowards that kept interrupting matches and fleeing before anyone could strike back. They wielded powers beyond those most of the UCA had, and were, to be fair, backed up by them. While we couldn't regenerate, they were able to. While we couldn't maim or cripple, they could. You know Orsa? Well, before Arma turned into him, he and the current UCA Champion were caught up in a fight against one of them, War... it was a sad thing to see." Crigan shook his head, before bringing the subject back around. "If the UCA were to keep backing those clowns up, I'd love to see them and the Maluvor destroy each other... or hopefully, weaken them enough to be sealed back."
"If only it were that easy." A faimiliar voice said to them. Both Crigan and Diamen turned, and in the former's face, got up, to see Shikieiki standing there. From the looks of it, Crigan could tell she was relieved to see them safe from harm. "I was wondering what happened to the both of you. I went back to the High Council to see if I left you there by accident, and I received word that now only were the Maluvor here, but also Salavance the Golden. The entire High Council is freaking out, and the realm of Makai has been put on shutdown as a result. No one gets in, no one gets out. I assume, based on your discussion..."
"Yes, we already know. Yuuka yanked us out of the teleportation stream and ambushed us in the Distortion World with Salavance. It seems she was incubating the monster for who knows when... and now, the beast I thought was destroyed is back."
The Yama let out a sigh. "At the very least, you two and Mara are alright. However, because of this incident, Shinki has sent two envoys here to ensure the Maluvor don't go out of control." The yama explained, looking at both of them. She did her best to hide it, but she was not just relieved, but also impressed to see them alive and well here. After the horrors the High Council had suffered at the hands of Salavance, she had nearly given up hope on them surviving... but they had, even if it was at the grace of the monster itself. She held her hand out to the left, and a large figure strode forward. Crigan and Diamen looked up at the towering figure. It was a Cyclops, a large, muscular specimen of his kind dressed in animal hide, specifically leopard and lion that covered his waist and chest. short black hair ran down his head, and twin tusks jutted up from his lower jaw. His head was adorned with twin horns, each as long as the tusks here, and his fists were clenched tight, muscles rippling under the rotted, bumpy skin. The 7ft monster glares down at them, its sole blue eye shifting from Crigan, to Diamen. The latter seemed unnerved by the presence of the beast, his face confused and pale. Both parties stood there, watching each other, waiting for the other to make a move...
"CRIGAN! YOU AND I HAVE ALOT TO TALK ABOUT!" The Cyclops bellowed as it stepped forward. His arms enveloped around the surprised Death God and began to squeeze, the sounds of bones cracking escaping his poor body. "IT'S GREAT TO SEE YA, BUDDY! HERE ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS, NO LONGER AGAINST YOU BECAUSE OF WORK..."
"Proteus... Let go... Back breaking." Crigan wheezed. Sure enough, the Cyclops let him go, and Crigan crumpled tot he ground, his back bent awkwardly in a U shape. He gritted his teeth as he managed to snap it back into form, Blood and spit dripping out of his mouth as he rubbed it. "Great to see you too, Proteus. You broke my sour mood in half, literally." Then, he stopped, and turned and helped Diamen onto his feet. "Diamen, meet an old friend of mine from before the Persephone days, Proteus. Proteus, meet my oldest and only living son, Diamen."
Diamen held out his hand, and Proteus shook it, It was a firm, yet gentle grip, and Diamen could feel the wear on his hands, more like they were made of sandpaper and leather combined than skin. "Nice to meet you. So you are one of the envoys, correct?" Diamen asked, to which Proteus laughed.
"Yes, I am. I'm also a part of Persephone's Elite Guard, there to protect her incase a surprise attack occurs. She ordered us to remain down in Hell while she was up here, but her mother overrode that. I was supposed to come here with Charybdis, but she seems to have gotten abit lost..."
"Wait." Crigan stopped him, one hand on his head as he tried to comprehend what Proteus was saying. "CHARYBDIS is here? Wow... Shinki really is pulling out all the stops if she is here... "
"About that, Crigan. "This time, the Yama cleared her throat, before resuming. "There is something we must talk about concerning the Maluvor being here. However, I feel we all can use a lunch at this rate, so let us talk it over with some food, okay?" She asked. She and the group began to walk away, but Diamen looked back down the hall, back to where the Masked Man had been. With all these threats here, he couldn't afford to let any loose cannons running around... and that man was one such thing. But as it was, he didn't have much of a say in things. He turned back around and caught up with the group, as they walked off toward the Cafeteria, unaware of six red eyes watching them from a shroud of darkness...
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