Prologue
"Much is known about the past, little about the future..."
Over centuries man has been devoted to strengthening himself, through many ways, from brute force to powers of the mind. It is only recently, however, that he has been able to tap into that inner power, more commonly known as chi. This chi, when harnessed, manifests itself outwardly as it changes the appearance of the wielder, From this initial discovery, training towards this ultimate achievement has started from very young, as to harness this power takes time, and those who have started from a more aged period cannot harness the chi and destroy themselves. However, there are the select few, both young and old, that are gifted with the ability to harness mass amounts of this destructive energy. But with this much power at their mercy, these Spirit Warriors, as they are more commonly called, have to choose whether they will use their powers for good or for evil. Some have already chosen, and their choice has come with severe consequence.
Eight years have past since Daemon Kamikaze (Kyle Knight) battled with Vladimir Dracula, the first Spirit Warrior who channelled his chi to imitate that of a vampire. The chaotic and bloody battle had left Vlad dead and Daemon powerless; totally powerless. Since this discovery, the leader of Revolution Spirit Force, known only as Raphael has openly started to take over planet earth, attacking and seizing world governments and countries. Those remaining Spirit Warriors who opposed his revolt were few in number and their attacks insignificant, since none had the power comparable to Raphael, whose power could only be challenged by the two brothers known as Yin and Yang, Daemon Kamikaze, who no longer existed, and Angelo Kamikaze (Max Knight), whose power did not allow him to fight or kill. So, Raphael was practically unstoppable... But Kyle, now twenty-four, who has no memory of his alter ego Daemon, is now haunted by a dream. A dream in which he sees nothing, but hears a voice. And the voice tells him the same incomplete prophesy each time he has the dream: "Yang shall not be complete until the...dragon and the vampire...one." Tomorrow marks Kyle's twenty-fifth birthday. It will be the day when Kyle understands the dream, the prophesy which was made to sixteen year old Daemon Kamikaze when he was considered the most powerful Spirit Warrior alive by the most unusual and dreaded prophet...
Chapter 1
"We most fear that which we cannot see..."
Cloud (Codi Harewood) stood at the edge of the cliff looking at the full moon, stroking his giant pet sabre-tooth, Midnight, a creation of his chi. It was well known that Cloud reached maximum power when he fused with Midnight, but he was powerful enough without him. His six-foot muscular frame was not for show. His short black hair blew lightly in the soft wind as he thought about the past and the present. Suddenly, he tensed up. He shifted his gaze from the moon to look around the cliff. Something was here. His hand reached for the battleaxe on his back, but loosened up when he heard a voice whisper, "Relax, Cloud. It's just me." Cloud looked on Midnight to see Slayer (Rohan Payne) on his pet's back. He too was looking directly at the full moon. His long red hair was tied back Japanese style; a long black leather jacket covered his two Japanese kitanas. "So you came too, huh?" He asked, not shifting his gaze. "Well, the prophecy was made by a reliable source, so it must be true." Cloud said with a smile on his face, then added more gravely, "It has to be." He returned his gaze to the full moon, which cast an eerie glow. "If it isn't, we might as well kiss the world as we used to know it good-bye." And with that, he smashed his axe into the ground, taking the tip of the cliff off. Slayer sat silent, he could understand Cloud's frustration. Every since Daemon had 'died', and Raphael had taken over, they had been fighting a losing battle. Every fight against Revolution Spirit Force had resulted in another one of their allies dead. Their last fight was against Raphael himself, and had not Angelo intervened and helped them escape, then they would not be here hoping for this miracle. "I know that. Don't you think I know that? I'm just as angry and as pissed as you are. But, even though the prophecy came from the angel Gabriel himself, how do we know that it'll come true? We've come to this cliff at midnight every night since Raphael took over, looking at this moon, and nothing happens. We've trained and trained secretly, becoming stronger and expanding our powers but we're still not strong enough!" His energy flared up and began to scorch Midnight. The beast didn't even seem to notice. "The question now in my mind Codi is, what's the use?" He got off Midnight, and calmed down, allowing his power levels to return to normal. The two heroes sat silent on the cliff, thinking of the past. Every since they had started training with Daemon to awaken their dormant chi at sixteen, they were inseparable. They trained together, fought together, hung out together, and partied together. Now the 'three musketeers' were reduced to two. And times had definitely changed. In the distance, a clock tower struck midnight, and the two friends looked at each other, shrugged and turned to go their separate ways. But the red glow made them turn to face the moon. The moon, which had made them come to this cliff for seven years, was covered in blood. With a smile on his face, Cloud looked at Slayer and said "See, like I said, it came from a reliable source"
*****
Kyle Knight sat in front of his television at his mansion making out with his wife, Alexandra, as he listened to the news. There was never anything interesting that caught his attention, except for the usual stock exchange, which was obviously important to his job as an accountant, but as good as Alexi, as he affectionately called her, was, the knock at his bedroom window caught his attention. Normally, a knock would never have pulled him away from Alexi; his five-year-old daughter Erica proved that much. But because his bedroom window was on the third floor of their house, it demanded his attention. He got up from Alexi and headed up the stairs. "You know why they're here." Alexi said as she slid off the couch and headed for the kitchen. "I'll be making Erica's lunch for tomorrow." He smirked to himself. She knew him like a book. He'd known her since they were both eighteen and experimenting; with each other. She knew about his past and even though he made her promise not to tell him, she'd still remind him sometimes about the great things he did as Daemon Kamikaze. He swore he'd kill himself if he ever got stupid enough to leave her. He was still thinking about her when he went to the window. As soon as he opened it, a huge black tiger leaped onto him. "For an extinct, deadly, ferocious sabre-tooth, you sure act like a pussy Midnight!" Kyle said laughing as the cat licked his face. "Hey Codi, call back your kitten, it's crushing me!" "Ok, ok, but it's not my fault that he likes you so much. You're part of the reason he even exists. And remember, it's Cloud." The six-foot giant walked in from the balcony and shook Kyle's hand, then pulled him in and hugged him. "Now you're crushing me!" Cloud released him, looking a little embarrassed. "Where's Rohan, I mean Slayer? You two are usually never apart." "He's still on the balcony. He's contemplating over what happened today. Have you heard what happened today, Kyle? Or did you have some part in it?" Codi turned towards the balcony. "Come outside, reunite the 'three musketeers'" They walked out on the balcony. Slayer squatted on the balcony rails with his arms crossed about his knees, backing his two friends. "Was it you, Kyle?" He turned, his face full of hope. "Was it Daemon?" Kyle stood stone-faced, looking at both Cloud and Slayer, and said, "First of all, Daemon Kamikaze has not appeared for eight years. Secondly, what happened today?" Slayer's face changed from being full of hope to full of disbelief. Then it changed to being as stone-faced as Kyle's. "The Gaia brothers were killed today." He said, his voice filled with wavering suspicion. "So? Weren't they lieutenants for Revolution Spirit Force?" Kyle asked. "Yeah," Cloud answered as he sat on top of Midnight. "So what's the big deal? And why are you two on my case? Both of you could take out the Gaia brothers." "Not all four of them at max power. Sensor sweeps indicated high energy levels surrounding the building they were found in. But that's not why we're here. Only four power signatures were found in the building. Earth's, Fire's, Wind's, and Water's." Slayer turned to look directly at Kyle. "Unless the Gaia brothers committed a mass suicide on each other, someone covered their power signature. And only two people we know can cover traces of their power signatures. That's Raphael, and Daemon. You. C'mon, Kyle, you can tell us, did you get your powers back? Did you take them out?" Kyle looked away for a moment, then looked back at Slayer. "Daemon Kamikaze did not kill the Gaia brothers. I'm sorry I got your hopes up inadvertently." Slayer looked at Kyle, searching his body to see if there was any change in him, any glimpse of the old Kyle. When he could not find any, he shrugged and said, "That's ok. I guess there's a new Spirit Warrior out there." It was hard for him to say that. Cloud rushed to change the subject. "So how's Alexi? Still as good looking as ever?" "Hey! You better keep your eyes off my wife." Kyle said jokingly, "Don't you have your eyes set on Rene anyway?" Cloud ran his hand through his hair. "Alexi's doing fine, and Erica's getting more and more beautiful everyday. Just like her mother." The conversation went on for a while, as the three old friends caught up on the years since they'd last talked. Finally, Kyle said that he had to go to work tomorrow, and they all agreed that the bills were more important than catching up on old times. As they were flying over the coast, Slayer looked at Cloud and asked, "Well, what did you think?" "Something's definitely different about him. But I couldn't find a power signature on him." "It's Kyle, you could never find a power signature on him every since he turned sixteen" Slayer shook his head. "He's hiding something, waiting for the right moment to come out in the open. Till that time comes, he's gonna keep doing what he did today." "Then it'll just make our work a lot easier wouldn't it?" Cloud laughed as he sat atop of Midnight who ran across the air. "Do you think he's gonna go straight for Raphael?" "No. Knowing good old Daemon, he'll make his presence known first. Strike fear in those that knew him back in the day and practically scare the living daylights out of the younger ones who think this is just a game." "Yeah, you know that old saying: we most fear that which we cannot see."
Chapter 2
"Out of the shadows, a hero shall rise."
The next four weeks, members of Revolution Spirit Force were randomly killed off, each with the same missing power signature of their killer. Some thought it was Raphael himself, and they tried very hard not to displease him. Some, like Slayer and Cloud, thought that Daemon had returned and as Slayer prophesied, it struck fear into those who remembered who he was. Especially into Shadow (Casey Alexander) Raphael's second in command, who also went to high school with Kyle, and remembered the fight that he had picked with Kyle when he had won the Spirit Warrior tournament, a tournament which was held annually until Raphael took over. Shadow can still remember the shock his hands felt when his sword clashed with Daemon's Eternal Sphere, a sword more powerful than any he had ever fought against. He lost and took it hard, teaming up with Raphael and forming Revolution Spirit Force. Now Shadow thought that with the sudden mysterious deaths of his comrades, and with the rumours of Daemon returning, that eventually he would come after him. After all, he's part of the reason Earth is like what it is at its present moment. So, the high security at his headquarters, though useless, gave him a little comfort. It was on a full moon night, a night much like the now regularly talked about 'night of the blood moon'. Shadow, who had just finished talking to Raphael about takeover strategies, was now checking in with his security posts. He was calm up until the point where he got no response from his last security post. He called repeatedly for a report from this post until he heard a voice over the intercom, which made his heart stop. "Don't worry, Casey. You'll have your report in very soon." Shadow rushed to check into the other stations and one by one, he got no answer from any of them. He searched the room with his eyes, then rushed to turn off the light in the room. His whole body then slid into the shadows and waited. Above him, Slayer crouched on the support beams of the building, next to Cloud, watching Shadow's every move. "I lost him. He must've stealthed himself into the shadows. Wonder why?" "What I'm wondering is why Kyle asked us to keep an eye on Shadow." Cloud whispered. "How would he know that the Spirit Warrior who's killing off Revolution Spirit Force members would come here?" "He would know because he is the Spirit Warrior who's coming here. He's finally letting us see the truth." "I guess I am, but it's not what you think." The voice came from between Cloud and Slayer, and both of them twirled to see.nothing. Even Midnight could not detect a scent. "I know it's Kyle, but it's not Daemon's voice." Slayer said, shocked. The voice called out again, not to Cloud or Slayer, but to Shadow. "Ahh, Casey, my good, good friend Casey. It's good to see you again. I can see you by the way. Even though you cloak yourself in the shadows, I can see you. For I too hide in the shadows, and I can hide even in you." Shadow screamed out in pain. "See, I know where you are, but you don't know where I am. Let me help you. Here, let me turn on the light." The room was flooded with light and Shadow was out in the open, bleeding from the gash on his shoulder. However, his assailant still could not be seen. "Oh, you want to see me? Well, I guess since this is going to be your last day breathing, I might as well grant you your last request." The figure dropped from the beam directly below Slayer and Cloud's and landed right in front of Shadow. It was not Daemon. He had short slick black hair, and looked a lot slimmer than Daemon. His eyes were narrow and sharp, and pierced Shadow, sending slight shivers of fear through him. He slowly licked the blood off his sword and his open mouth revealed a pair of long fangs. Shadow glared at the sword. "Like it?" The vampire asked, licking off the last drop of blood. "It's called 'Melufa', a sword tempered with the blood of Daemon Kamikaze." Shadow stared with his jaw dropped slightly. "Daemon.?" he managed to get out. He gripped his sword, 'Shadow Cutter' shakily. "No, I'm not Daemon. At least, not at this moment. I am something much, much worse. You can call me Nos Feratu. It'll be the last name you ever hear." Slayer and Cloud dropped from the ceiling with confused looks on their faces. "Nos Feratu? The vampire? Is that Kyle?" Slayer asked bewildered. Nos Feratu looked back at them and smiled sadistically, showing his long fangs. Slayer instinctively reached for his kitanas. Nos Feratu suddenly disappeared again, and Shadow quickly regained his senses, gripping his sword firmly. In a flash, Nos Feratu was right in front of him. Shadow slashed out quickly and accurately, aiming for the neck, but in another instant, he was gone, leaving Shadow covering where his left arm used to be. His blood gushed out of his shoulder like a burst pipe. He swore incessantly, and his eyes searched murderously for the vampire. "Well at least your temper hasn't changed." Nos Feratu called out from the ceiling, standing upside down. "Your power has, though. You sure took a swipe at my head. Here, a prize for your hard work." He shook his head at a few strands of his hair dropped to the ground. "Next time, you might not be so." Shadow never let him finish. While Nos Feratu was taunting him, Shadow charged up almost all of his energy to create a massive energy blast, which he released at his opponent. Where Nos Feratu was standing was now replaced by a large hole in the ceiling. Shadow dropped his outstretched hand in exhaustion. "You know, it's very impolite to interrupt someone when they're speaking." Nos Feratu said, standing directly behind Shadow. Shadow twirled around in shock, but instantly brought his right hand, armed with Shadow Cutter, around with him, swinging for Nos Feratu's neck again. Nos Feratu caught it in mid-swing, twisted it, and pushed all in one fluent motion. Shadow screamed as the bone shoved out from his elbow. "That was some energy blast you threw at me. Now had I still been there.it still wouldn't have done anything!" Slayer stood next to Cloud, his jaw slightly dropped. He couldn't believe that this was his friend. He had changed so much. "He's a lot faster; I'll give you that." He re-sheathed his twin kitanas. "A lot more confident too." "It's like he's a different person," Cloud said, and Midnight growled in agreement. "Merciless. Demented, you might say. This definitely is not Daemon." "If he's not Daemon," Slayer started, his hands still hovering over his kitanas, "Then do you think he's gonna come for us when he's finished with him?" He pointed in Shadow's direction. Nos Feratu calmly threw Shadow across the room. He crashed through the steel wall. Cloud pulled out his axe. "I hope not." Nos Feratu picked up Shadow's limp body with his right hand. He was still breathing. He sheathed 'Melufa' with the other hand. He raised Shadow up so that his neck reached his mouth. Nos Feratu bared his fangs and dug them into Shadow's neck. He screamed, and screamed, and even Slayer, the silent assassin, grew sick to the stomach listening to his pitiful wails. All at once the screams stopped. Nos Feratu held up his head and dropped Shadow's body, now pale and dry. He walked over to Slayer and Cloud slowly. Slayer grabbed the hilts of his kitanas. Cloud fingers played behind his back with the handle of his axe. Nos Feratu stopped right in front of them, changed into Kyle, smiled and said, "C'mon Rohan, you weren't actually going to use Gemini against me were you? I gave you those swords, remember? And Codi, what's the deal? You guys didn't think I was coming to kill you?" His two friends stood silent, and relaxed. Slayer dropped his kitanas. "What was that Kyle?" He asked in awe. "What we saw just now was much worse than even Vlad." "That was the vampire. It seems I have found my other half. But I can't find the dragon. It's funny, it's like my chi has this darker, more powerful force with it now." "By the dragon, you're referring to Daemon?" Cloud asked and Kyle nodded. Slayer picked up his twin kitanas, sheathed them and asked Kyle, "So you're back with a different face. What now?" "First, we train. Then, we go pay a visit to our old friend Raphael. I hear you two had a little skirmish with him a while back that didn't go so well." Slayer turned his back to Kyle. Cloud stared at his toes. "Relax guys, I'm not fighting your battle for you, I'm have my own issues with Raphael. But first I have to fulfil the prophecy." "You mean that wasn't it?" Slayer looked at him with disbelief. "No, that's only the other half." "So I guess this is it Kyle." Cloud got on top of Midnight. "Yeah, this is the end."
Chapter 3
"Know then, that knowledge is power."
Together, Slayer, Cloud, and Nos Feratu flew over the city. Destination: Kyle's house. The Knight mansion had belonged to Kyle every since he was sixteen, a gift given to him by Gabriel, after the angel of death had accidentally taken his soul, thinking that he had been dead after a fight with Cyril (But that's a story for another time). The house itself was a fortress, with hidden chambers and recreation rooms. But when Daemon had disappeared, so had Kyle's memory of the passwords to enter these chambers. They landed at the front door. Nos Feratu reached for the handle, but the door opened from the inside. Alexi stood in her nightgown with the door handle. "So you finally let them know the truth, huh?" She said as she walked back into the house. "I'm guessing you're heading for the training room. It is sound-proof, right?" "Don't worry, Alexi, I won't wake Erica." Nos Feratu said. "And yes, it is sound-proof." The three Spirit Warriors walked into a password-protected elevator, bypassed by Nos Feratu, which sent them down into the sub-levels. Nos Feratu stopped the elevator at the bottom floor, and the three walked down an empty hallway, until they came to a titanium-reinforced door. Nos Feratu stopped and put his hand on the door and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. The door came to life and slowly swung open. "Telepathic passwords." Nos Feratu said without turning around, "That's why I could never get in as Kyle." The door revealed a room as large as three Olympic Stadiums. Nos Feratu walked up some stairs by the entrance into a command room. He talked through the microphone on the desk. "Indoors or Outdoors?" Slayer looked at Cloud, then looked up at the command room and shouted, "Outdoors!" Nos Feratu went at the controls and the entrance automatically locked. Typing in more instructions, Nos Feratu looked down at the arena. Grass was suddenly appearing beneath Slayer and Cloud's feet. It didn't surprise them; they had been through this before. The ceiling changed into a blank atmosphere. Cloud looked at the command room questioningly. "Sorry, night or day?" Nos Feratu asked. "Night." Cloud shouted back. Midnight almost grinned. The 'sky' above them grew dark and the full moon shimmered into existence. The wind ruffled Slayer's hair. "Kyle was always one for realism," he said to Cloud when he noticed the wind. Nos Feratu teleported down onto the arena. "Shall we begin?" He removed the long black cape, revealing thick pectorals. He summoned his powers to him, creating a small tornado of energy around him. It got wider as his energy level grew. Slayer watched in awe for a little while, then tossed off his jacket and started powering up also. Cloud joined them, summoning Midnight into him. For a couple of minutes, the three heroes just channelled their energies throughout their bodies. The room shook violently as the static coming off the Spirit Warriors clashed with each other. Slayer levelled off his energy and looking in Cloud's direction, charged at Nos Feratu. Cloud understood, pulled out 'Fallen Angel' and charged at him too. This is how they would always train; a two-on-one situation. While Slayer was running at Nos Feratu, Cloud ran up behind him at a much faster pace. About a couple feet away from him, Slayer crouched while running, allowing Cloud to run up behind him and jump off his back. Slayer then unsheathed 'Gemini', his twin kitanas, and twirled them around before bringing them to point behind him. He then swung both of them in, aiming the left one at Nos Feratu's neck, the right at his midsection. 'Gemini' were so sharp they could cut clean through Nos Feratu's body if the slashes connected. Up above, Cloud swung the axe above his head, then brought it down, with the intention of crashing it into Nos Feratu's head. Both of their weapons got within inches of Nos Feratu's body when he released some of the energy he was building up. The release sent both Slayer and Cloud into the 'mountain', or rather, the limits of the room. Cloud got up shakily. "What the hell was that?" Slayer looked as confused as he was. Nos Feratu's power had obviously grown, but they had underestimated the extent of that growth. Cloud got into attack stance. "Ok, now we play rough." He thundered after Nos Feratu, twirling his axe above his head again, but stopped some distance and crashed the axe into the ground. "Thunder Strike!!!" The result was an explosion below the ground where Nos Feratu was standing, sending him airborne. "Now!" Cloud yelled. Slayer moved from his crouching positioning and in a flash, was above Nos Feratu. His kitanas slashed viciously at the vampire, but his opponent blocked and countered with his arms, protected by two arm shields. A quickly charged energy blast sent Slayer away from Nos Feratu, but Cloud took up from where Slayer left off. His fist attacks sent shocks through Nos Feratu as he blocked them, and the one that got through sent him down out of the sky. He stopped himself in midair before he could hit the ground, but Cloud had already teleported to meet him, and had restarted his barrage of fists. Slayer, who just recovered from the energy blast, joined him and with a mixture of blades and kicks, attacked Nos Feratu from the rear. If they wanted to win this friendly skirmish, they could not let Nos Feratu attack. And if he was anything like Daemon, they could not let him draw his sword either. That would be when he'd be most dangerous. Slayer slashed at Nos Feratu's waist rapidly and quickly, preventing him from drawing 'Melufa'. His kicks were aimed at his legs. Cloud's fists were moving just as fast, but as quick as they were, Nos Feratu was blocking both of their attacks. But his guard was weakening and Slayer's kitanas found their way to Nos Feratu's skin more often. "You two have gotten better, I must admit," Nos Feratu managed to get out while guarding, "But now I'll play rough!" With that, he caught Cloud's left punch with his left hand, dodged the right punch, blocked Slayer's kitanas, and kicked him away. Slayer hit the ground hard. He swung Cloud by his left hand into the wall. "Well that was quick." Slayer picked himself up, Cloud managed to get his head out of the wall. "You two have gotten stronger, but you've still managed to limit your power. You have to know that you're more powerful to get in touch with that power. If you think that you're strong enough to harness all of your power, then your body can control it. Now summon your power again, but this time, summon all of it." Slayer nodded, and with deep focus, called all of his power to him. The initial shock jolted him, but he stood firm. His body tensed and bulged, trying to control his full power. Meanwhile, Cloud was trying the same thing. The energy from his body swirled around him uncontrollably, and it mingled with Slayer's. The mountains and walls of rock and dirt began to crumble and crack. The energy building up in the room had caused the room itself to start cracking. Nos Feratu, during all of this, had gone into the command room to study his friends' vitals and energy levels. He noticed they were going berserk. Cloud's body was starting to feel the strain of trying to harness all of this power. His veins burst, and the blood flowed like streams down his arms and legs. Slayer's red shirt had already disintegrated and his flesh was starting to tear from the strain. The two fought, and fought with their powers, until Cloud's black hair grew longer. His eyes glowed gold and his energy harmonised throughout his body, slowly healing all damaged tissue. Midnight leaped out of him, even larger than before, now with white streaks about him. Slayer's kitanas started floating around him, and his eyes flashed red. His body too started to repair itself. The room slowly got quieter as the two Spirit Warriors started to absorb their power. Nos Feratu looked at the readings on the monitor to value their power levels. He came down to them. "Now you understand what I was telling you. Your powers are truly amazing. Even I wouldn't be a match for both of you." He changed back into Kyle. "But that's enough training for tonight, I got work tomorrow. You two can crash in the guest room. We'll train again tomorrow night."
Chapter 4
"We all must walk the path of Destiny."
For the next three days, Kyle trained Slayer and Cloud, teaching them to control and master their powers. By the fourth day, they both had complete control of their devastating powers. But each night for those days, Kyle continued to have the dream that haunted him for eight years. After their fourth day of training, Nos Feratu asked his friends about the prophecy. "Hey do you remember when Gabriel returned me to earth?" Slayer, who was cleaning his kitanas, looked at him puzzled. "Sure, it was about a month after you and Angelo fused to fight Cyril, wasn't it?" Cloud nodded. "Yeah, they had made a mistake, and accidentally took both your souls before their time." Slayer laughed, and sheathed his kitanas. "And they had to give both of you three wishes to compensate for their mistake," and he looked around the room. "As I remember, you wished for this house, down to the detail of each room, the two cars that you still have in pretty good condition, and the vault-full of gold somewhere in this house." Nos Feratu looked at them and shook his head. "I remember all of that, but what I want to know is, do you remember the prophecy that Gabriel told me before he returned to heaven?" Slayer looked at Nos Feratu and said, "Only the part that you told us. You said that you were only allowed to tell us some of the prophecy." Cloud got up and walked up to Nos Feratu and said, "As I can remember, it went: 'When the goddess of the night cries the blood of the dragon, Yang shall be reborn.' That was the only part you told us. You said there was more, but you wouldn't tell us the rest." "That wasn't the part I wanted, but thanks anyway." Nos Feratu changed into Kyle. "If I knew what the rest of it was." He walked out of the training room in deep thought. Slayer and Cloud walked behind him silent. They knew not to bother their friend when he got like this. After leaving the sub-levels of the house, Kyle headed for his room, while Rohan and Codi walked towards the guest rooms. With brief goodnights said to each other, the Spirit Warriors went to retire to their beds. That night, Kyle had the same dream that haunted him over the past month, but this time it was a little different. He was sitting in the total darkness, when he heard the voice call out to him. "Yang shall not be complete until the...dragon and the vampire...one." Confused, Kyle called out to the shadows. "What are you saying Gabriel? I cannot understand. Where are you?" From the depths of the darkness a bright light appeared and the angel Gabriel appeared before Kyle." "Why have you called for me Kyle?" he asked, and his voice echoed through the darkness. "I need to know what you told me so long ago. What are you saying over and over in my dreams? I cannot understand you." The angel looked at Kyle silently, then faded into the shadows. "Wait! Gabriel! Come back! I need to know the rest of the prophecy! You need to tell me!" Don't leave yet! You have not told me anything!" Kyle searched desperately for the angel, but Gabriel had been completely swallowed in the darkness. Footsteps echoing in the distance made Kyle spin. "Yang shall not be complete until the same blood flows through the dragon and the vampire." Daemon Kamikaze stepped out of the shadows, flexing his black gargoyle wings. "Huh? But how can you be outside of me?" Kyle asked confused. He heard another voice call out from the darkness. ".Only then shall Yang be one and his powers complete." Nos Feratu walked calmly from the darkness towards Kyle, opposite from Daemon. Kyle stared at both of them mutely. "How.?" He began, but Daemon unsheathed his 'Eternal Sphere' and flew at Nos Feratu. Nos Feratu in turn drew 'Melufa' and ran at Daemon. The clash of the two powerful swords was explosive. Kyle jumped from his sleep sweating. "Had the same dream again K?" Alexi rolled over and looked at him concerned. Yeah, but this time I saw all of it." Kyle said, getting out of bed. "This time, I know what it all means." He pulled on his pants. "Call the office for me later this morning and tell them I won't be at work for a while. Tell them I've got chicken pox. Highly contagious." Alexi laughed nervously, then rolled back over and said softly as Kyle walked out of the bedroom, "Be careful Kyle." Kyle headed silently towards the training room, thinking about the dream. He knew what he had to do. He knew what he must do. And it might kill him, but he had to do it.
*****
"How long has he been down there?" Rohan asked Alexandra while she was making breakfast. Erica was bouncing nervously on the chair, looking at her mother. The house started shaking again and the shouts and screams echoed through the house. Erica ran for her mother. "From about one-thirty this morning," she said calmly, trying to settle Erica. "The real party started around three." She looked at Erica, who was tugging at her skirt, picked her up and told her, "Relax, dear. That's just your father. He's got powers now, just like uncle Rohan and uncle Codi." Codi looked at them both, then at Rohan and nodded in the direction of the elevator. Rohan nodded. "Hey Al, we'll be going down there now. Just to see if he's ok." The shaking and yelling stopped suddenly. "Ok, I'm leaving in a couple of minutes. Just make sure that he has my house in one piece be the time I get back this evening." Rohan and Codi laughed. Down below the house, in the training room, Slayer and Cloud walked into the training arena. It was deathly quiet. The walls looked like they went through hell, all torn through, cracked and dented. Kyle knelt in the middle, bleeding and sweating profusely. He smiled when he saw them coming towards him. Slayer looked at him inquisitively and asked, "What the hell have you been doing down here?" Kyle got up and looked at them both. He pointed towards the command room. "No more questions guys just follow me." They walked into the room together on the now twisted and broken stairs. The computers inside the command room were still processing data from Kyle's last training session. Cloud looked in amazement when he saw the readings for Kyle's max power level. He showed it to Slayer. He whistled in amazement when he saw the computer output read '??????????' Meanwhile Kyle was busy resetting the training settings. He turned over to Slayer and Cloud and said, "You'll be up here this time around. I want you to watch this." He carried the training room surrounding protection up to level ten. "Wait a minute," Cloud began. "Just out of curiosity, what setting do you have the level of protection at when we're training?" Kyle grinned and said, "Before you guys could use all of your powers, level four. Afterwards, level seven. Yesterday, level eight." "Uh.okay, didn't the walls and surrounding room hold yesterday?" Slayer asked after listening to the conversation for a while. "Yeah, they always do." Kyle left the command room, as very strong adamantium alloy sheets replaced the surrounding steel walls of the training arena. He walked into the middle of the arena, and started focusing his energies. Cloud and Slayer watched and closely studied the readings from the monitors. "He hasn't even changed into Nos Feratu and already his power level's rising way above normal levels. How's that possible? I thought that everyone morphed when they charged or used their powers." Slayer said to Cloud as they watched. "I have a feeling we're going to see something very special." Was all Cloud could say. Kyle was already charging his powers and his energy levels grew rapidly. But he still hadn't changed into Nos Feratu. Suddenly his body grew very transparent, and started shimmering, like ripples in a pond. His whole form started splitting and sliding into two definite forms. Slowly the two bodies grew opaque and there were suddenly two Kyles standing in the room, each still summoning their energy. "Am I seeing double?" Slayer asked, very confused. Cloud sat silently, unable to respond to what he just saw. The two Kyles continued their powering up, then much to both Slayer and Cloud's surprise, one transformed into Nos Feratu, and the other changed into Daemon. "I have never seen anyone do that!" Cloud finally managed to get out. He looked at the monitors. "Look at their powers." Slayer looked at what Cloud was showing him. "They might as well be two totally separate people!"
The two halves of Kyle drew their swords and attacked each other, as Slayer and Cloud watched in awe. They knew that their training sessions with Kyle as either Daemon or Nos Feratu were tough, but watching these two 'gods', as they would call Kyle when he was either one, took tough training to a whole new level. These two actually looked like they wanted to kill each other! Their energy blasts, when evaluated by the computers in the command room, carried more energy than some Spirit Warriors ever had at max power! Daemon looked at Nos Feratu, watching him lick some of his many deep wounds. One of Daemon's wings was torn off. He spun 'Eternal Sphere' and charged one last time. Nos Feratu grabbed for 'Melufa' and ran at him. They met each other exactly halfway. The clash of their swords shattered the reinforced glass of the command room. Cloud rushed to put an energy shield in its place. Static electricity was building around the two swords as a large sphere, which grew larger as the two pushed against each other with their swords. The adamantium walls began cracking, and then slowly melting in the intense heat. The sphere grew so large it engulfed the two fighters. Suddenly, the sphere exploded, sending Cloud and Slayer flying to the end of the command room. Then, just as sudden as the explosion, all of the energy released by the explosion, was drawn into the spot where Daemon and Nos Feratu stood. Then all was quiet. Slayer and Cloud got up slowly. The initial explosion had knocked them out. The monitors, however, had not fared as poorly as them and were almost still in perfect condition, still taking readings of the training room. But the monitor was not Cloud's concern as he and Slayer got up and looked down into the training arena. What they found there explained everything. They didn't have to hear the prophecy They understood. He understood.
Chapter 5
"Sooner or later, every man must face his own judgement."
"So let me get this straight, we're going on one final showdown with Raphael and his army, and coming out of this alive. All of us. Together." Dark Icon (Alec Bourne) asked, looking directly at Slayer and Cloud as they and the remaining Spirit Warriors that were against Raphael flew towards Revolution Spirit Force's main headquarters. A week had passed since Slayer and Cloud saw what Kyle had showed them in the training room. "Yeah, that's pretty much the idea." Cloud answered while riding Midnight. "Oh.ok," Icon said considering the idea, then looked sharply at Cloud. "Are you crazy??? You do know Raphael can wipe all of us out easily. And even though you two somehow managed to reach your full potential he'll just probably take a little longer with both of you." Slayer, who couldn't take Icon's whining anymore, flew in front of him and asked "Then why the hell are you here D.I.? To give us constant hell?" Dark Icon shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it's because I actually believe that together we can pull it off." Then he pointed upwards. "And besides, if we screw up, he'll help us get away, like how he did for you guys when you fought Raphael." Slayer looked up to see a pair of giant, white, feathered wings flapping above them. He soared up to meet them. "I didn't know that you would be joining us Angelo." Daemon's younger brother held up his white pony-tailed head and smiled seriously at Slayer. "It's good to see that you and Codi have reached your full potential Rohan." His voice echoed inside Slayer's head. "I guess you've been training with my brother again. I have felt his chi and it is enormous, I just hope he can control it. Its rage and ferocity is unlike anything I've ever felt before." He shook his head. "I just hope he can control it." "Don't worry about Kyle, he'll pull through. He always does." Slayer returned to Cloud's side at the front of the assault team. He went through the plan that he, Cloud and Kyle had put together. He and Cloud were to launch a direct and heavy attack on Raphael's fortress, drawing him out. Kyle's final words before they left echoed in his mind. 'He'll probably send in his strongest men to attack you before coming out to face him yourself. Take them out, and do it fast. You can do it, trust me. When Raphael finally comes out himself, I'll be there and I'll take care of him.' Slayer wondered what Kyle was doing back at his house.
*****
"Battle simulation level ten now activated. Adamantium covering now being applied." The sirens inside the training room blared repeatedly as it began its simulation. "Now retrieving image to be fed into mainframe." The optic laser scanned over the lone standing figure. "Now processing and duplicating image." An exact replica of the figure stood before it. "Evaluating subject engaging in level ten simulation. Exact power level: unknown. Stability analysis of energy subject possesses: highly unstable and volatile. Overall analysis of subject: final analysis of subject reveals subject is inhuman." It looked at its clone as he drew his sword, "Now engaging the subject with replica." The adamantium melted like butter as the first energy blast ripped through the wall.
*****
The air smelled of blood, the wind stale and dry. Slayer looked around him. The sound of shouts and screams, the clashing of blades, the trickling of fresh blood. The roar of a giant tiger as it ripped through flesh and bones. The dull thud of Cloud's axe landing in his opponent's skull. He could hear someone rushing at him swiftly. 'Gemini' responded silently, sliding out of their sheaths, then swirling around him to meet his opponent. The first blade parried the initial attack; the second buried itself inside his heart. Slayer looked at his victim, then pulled out the kitana. His enlightened powers allowed him to wield 'Gemini' by thought alone whenever he needed to. Of course, Slayer always loved the feeling of 'Gemini' in his hands, so he gripped the second blade out of midair and joined his friend. Cloud watched as a head rolled past him. "I wanted to do that!" he said, as Slayer slashed through another enemy, leaving him in shreds. He then seriously said, "I never knew that he had this many Spirit Warriors on his side." He shot an energy blast in the air, then yelled out, "Lightning Rain!!!" The blast exploded and rained down on the field. Cloud generated a shield around him, Slayer and Midnight and watched as the lightning struck several of his enemies. Angelo protected their surviving allies. "I heard he was experimenting in cloning, multiplying his armies to unstoppable levels." Slayer looked around the battlefield at those who were able to survive Cloud's lightning attack. "And these must be the strong ones." Cloud dropped the shield and Slayer walked out to greet the four cloaked Spirit Warriors left, each sitting on a horse. "Seeing your current situation, I suggest you give up this fight." He mentally called 'Gemini' to his hands. "And leave in one piece." One of the four rode forward and said, "We are the Four Horsemen," he said, drawing his sword. "And we never surrender!" Cloud, atop Midnight, strode up to the group. "I've heard of these guys." He said, "They're pretty strong." "We are Lord Raphael's generals. I am Suffering." He reined up his white horse. The one next to him with brown horse spoke. "I am Disease." The one in the red cloak spoke next. "I am War, and you shall feel my wrath!" Finally, the one cloaked in black at the back simply hissed, "Death." Slayer surveyed his opponents silently as they introduced themselves. Then he looked at Cloud and said, "Five minutes." Cloud laughed, then drew 'Fallen Angel'. Slayer grabbed him. "I want Death. You can take the rest." Death rode over to face Slayer. A little distance away, Dark Icon, listening to the conversation, looked at Angelo and said, "They're insane! What makes him think that Cloud can take on three of the Four Horsemen?" He shook his head, "They're letting their new powers get to their heads." Angelo looked at Dark Icon, "Why don't you help him then?" Dark Icon went silent, considering it, then flew over in Cloud's direction. "Looks like you could use a hand." Cloud looked over at Dark Icon. "Not really, but you can join me." He looked at the three horsemen and put away his axe. "You know what? I think I'll test the full extent of my powers now." Four and a half minutes later, while the bodies of Suffering, Disease, and War twitched with electricity, Cloud and Dark Icon walked over to where Slayer fought heatedly with Death. One of 'Gemini' was flying about Death, slashing at him repeatedly. The other was in Slayer's hand and that made it more deadly. Death looked deader than anything else, bleeding all over, but he moved like he could go on for hours. Slayer suddenly charged up his energy and channelled it through his kitanas. He flew at Death, and it looked as if he was aiming for Death's chest. But a few inches away from him, Slayer swooped to Death's horse and slashed away its legs. The rider flew from the horse and hit the dirt hard. In seconds Death was on his feet, but Slayer didn't give him time to recover fully. Sheathing his kitanas, Slayer rushed at him, sending energy blast after energy blast towards him. Death tried to dodge them, but caught one full in his chest, sending him flying.straight into Slayer, who had appeared behind him, and his outstretched arm, which was slowly charging a powerful energy blast. He released it as soon as Death touched it. Death was dead, his remains blowing in the wind. "Very impressive, I must say. You both have gotten much stronger since we last fought." Slayer, Cloud and the rest of the remaining Spirit Warriors looked up. "How about we have that rematch that you promised me Slayer, remember the one you swore to have as you were running from me while Angelo protected you and Cloud?" Slayer's powers flared up and 'Gemini' slid out and circled around him. "Temper, temper. Don't worry you'll get your chance at me. But first, let's dispose of the trash." Raphael floated down onto the blood-drenched earth. With a flick of his wrist he threw Dark Icon, standing a couple metres away from where he landed, away from his sight. He sailed through the air and was about to land on his neck when a hand yanked him out of his fall. "I think I'm the one you want to have a rematch with." Daemon Kamikaze gently put Dark Icon on the ground. "Now let's end this."
Chapter 6
"In the end, there shall be only one."
"Well, well, well," Raphael said, walking slowly towards Slayer and Cloud. "Look who has decided to grace us with their presence once more. I've heard rumours that you were dead Daemon." He carried up his power level to forty times his normal power. His gold hair turned black and spiked up and his eyes went red. "Well you really can't believe rumours now, can you?" Daemon descended to the earth. "But I think I've changed my mind for the moment. You see, my friends in front of you have promised you a rematch, something that I have only now learned. So I'll give them the chance to show off, for a while of course. After that, we'll get to party." Slayer looked at Daemon with disbelief. "What, you're not scared are you?" Slayer shook his head. "No, I just can't believe you're giving me this chance. Thanks." 'Gemini' slipped out of their sheaths into Slayer's hands. In a flash, he was after Raphael. Cloud called Midnight into him and joined the action. Between Slayer's kitanas and Cloud's fists, Raphael, for the first time in a while, looked like he was in trouble. At the moment, Slayer and Cloud were juggling him with energy blasts, which threw him back and forth. Slayer rushed in with his kitanas again, slashing rapidly. Those watching could barely see the blades. Raphael dodged as best as he could, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge the majority of Slayer's attacks, and soon he was bleeding all over. Cloud on the other end was attacking just as quickly with his fists, and each accurately connected blow on Raphael echoed through the fields. It looked as if Raphael was in serious trouble. He powered up an energy blast quickly, which Cloud knocked away calmly, but it gave Raphael a chance to get away. He dropped to the ground. Slayer and Cloud landed a few metres away from him. "Who's running away now?" Slayer swiped his kitana through the air, sending the blood on it flying off. "Truly amazing," Raphael muttered, "You two have reached maximum power in such a short space of time. Now, I can finally use my full power on someone." He looked at the two Spirit Warriors. "This'll be fun." Raphael arched back his head, as the earth began to quake and crumble. His hair started to flash as his energy swirled around him and his two opponents. The static electricity jolted Slayer and Cloud as it struck them. Raphael laughed. "Hah! You've only begun to feel a little of my full power and already you're on your knees." The hair on his head turned silver and the chaotic, swirling energy came into its possessor. Raphael now possessed his full power. "This could be bad." Cloud gripped 'Fallen Angel' tightly and charged his energy into it. Slayer, however, didn't give Raphael time to look at them. Drawing 'Gemini', he flew towards Raphael with lightning speed, releasing two quick shockwave slashes from close range. There was no way they could miss, and they didn't. Raphael took them full blast. But when the smoke cleared from the explosion, Raphael still stood, unharmed. Slayer almost dropped 'Gemini'. "Don't look so surprised. I had to absorb most of the energy, I'll admit. But I must say that this game is over." Raphael disappeared suddenly, and reappeared right in front of both Slayer and Cloud and released a high-power energy blast. Slayer and Cloud didn't have any time to dodge, and the energy itself was much too powerful to either deflect or absorb. It looked as if they were finished. But the blast never touched them. From between where Cloud and Slayer were standing, a hand shot forward and caught the attack. Daemon stepped forward from behind his two friends. "I'd rather say that it's just begun." He spun the destructive energy around on his finger. "Interesting, I never knew you had this much power under your control." He threw the energy back at Raphael. "I didn't know you had that much either, to catch that." Raphael said as he arced his neck to dodge it. The blast wiped out the scenery behind him. "This might be an interesting fight Daemon. A short one, but an interesting one." He powered up and flew at Daemon, drawing his sword, the 'Crimson Diablos'. Daemon flew to meet him with 'Eternal Sphere'. The clash of swords sent shockwaves across the battlefield, knocking most of those standing to their knees. The two Spirit Warriors slashed at each other rapidly, each clash of the blades released huge amount of energy, destroying the ground they were standing on, crumbling mountains, and ripping up the fields surrounding them for miles. Each attacked, defended and countered the other's attack repeatedly, and neither had been wounded from this battle. Then, unexpectedly, while their swords were crossed, Raphael released a massive force of energy towards Daemon. The release fried him, and the energy surged through his body, which began to tremble with seizures. Daemon dropped to his knees, channelling the energy to the ground. The earth surrounding him exploded. Raphael laughed. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Ah, Daemon, you always fought fair. That's why you're going to die here!" Daemon looked up, his body still crackling form the energy. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted me to fight dirty. I can arrange that easily." He rose slowly to his feet. Raphael did not move; he wanted to see what Daemon would do. Throwing 'Eternal Sphere' to the ground, Daemon charged his energy, creating a vortex of energy, which surrounded him completely. When the wall of energy dispersed, Nos Feratu stood in Daemon's place. "So, Daemon and the mysterious Nos Feratu are one and the same huh?" Raphael stood, seemingly unimpressed. Nos Feratu just smiled, then rushed Raphael with 'Melufa'. Raphael charged to meet him. Nos Feratu's motions were much quicker than Daemon's, and Raphael had difficulty keeping up with Nos Feratu's slashes; the trails of blood in the air proved that much. Raphael suddenly stopped and charged up his energy, building it up while Nos Feratu continued to swirl around him, continually slashing. Suddenly he released the built-up energy, creating a mass amount of static in the atmosphere. But Nos Feratu was prepared, charging his energy too, unknown to Raphael. When Raphael released his energy, Nos Feratu countered at the exact same time. Their powers struggled with one another, Nos Feratu suspended in mid-air, trying to win the highly charged battle against Raphael. Both of them were feeling the strain of trying to control and struggle against such a huge amount of power. Then Nos Feratu disappeared, absorbing the power he released with him, leaving Raphael surrounded by his own energy. "Where are you Feratu???" Raphael yelled as he absorbed his energy. As if to answer his question, Nos Feratu reappeared a couple miles away from him, kneeling on the ground, smouldering from the extreme energy he had to control. Raphael smiled. "It ends now, Kyle Knight! Doomsday Blast!!!" With that he released his entire energy towards Nos Feratu. Nos Feratu knelt down, leaning on 'Melufa' watching the destructive energy coming towards him. Calmly, he dug 'Melufa' into the ground, and sat in a meditative position. As the energy blast rushed towards him, Nos Feratu changed back to Kyle, and levitated, still in his yoga position. His energy levels rose slowly, but he had not changed. 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' pulled themselves out of the dirt and rushed towards their owner. They stood at his side for a moment, then crossed themselves in front of Kyle just as the blast hit him. Kyle, 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' disappeared in the inferno. "What a fool, changing back to his normal self before the blast hit him." Raphael said as he walked towards Cloud and Slayer. "Wonder what he was thinking." Cloud reached for 'Fallen Angel', then stopped. "I don't think this fight is over yet, Raphael. Look!" Cloud pointed behind Raphael. The dust clouds had not yet cleared, but a shadow had appeared among the clearing dust. A man stood in the middle of the small canal created by the blast. His long red hair blew with the vortex left behind. The giant red dragon wings flexed themselves slowly, but the man himself did not move. Raphael grunted, then flung an equally powerful blast at the newcomer. The blast struck dead on, but the man didn't even flinch. He stepped forward, stopped, then began slowly walking towards Raphael. Raphael almost started running, but stood firm and asked strongly, "Who are you? Is that you Daemon? Nos Feratu? Kyle?" Raphael gripped 'Crimson Diablos' firmly. The warrior raised his head for the first time, revealing the small red dragon tattoo on his cheek. He shook his head with a grim smile on his face. "I'm sorry Raphael, but I'm neither Daemon nor Nos Feratu. I am the Genocyde Dragon, the result of the vampire and the dragon becoming one." His long fangs glistened in the blood-filled air as he spoke. "But you can call me Genocyde." He suddenly had Raphael gripped by his neck two feet off the ground by his neck. "Remember it, cause you're going to be repeating it over and over while you burn in hell!" With that, Genocyde flung Raphael through the air. The Spirit Warrior tyrant stopped himself in mid-flight, only to be greeted by a fist from his new opponent, which sent him flying towards the ground. Raphael stood in the crater that his fall had created. "How can he have control of that much power?" he thought as he watched Genocyde drop at an incredible speed towards him. Raphael powered up his Doomsday Blast once more, and released it towards Genocyde. His head flicked back as the blast caught him full in the face. He pulled back down his head to look at Raphael and stopped. "You know, it's really amazing how you can recharge to full power to release that attack. I really gotta try that sometime." He resumed his drop towards his opponent, but Raphael wasn't waiting for him to get there. He dived out of the crater, then as Genocyde landed, charged at him with 'Crimson Diablos'. Genocyde watched him as he stood, waiting. Then at the last minute, he drew both 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' from the sheaths on his back, and parried Raphael's attack. The explosion coming from the parry knocked Raphael clear from Genocyde. "You still don't get it, do you?" He released the swords in mid-air, allowing them to hover in front of him. "You can't beat me, you never could. And this is where I prove it." Using his telepathic powers, he fused 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' together, forming a beautiful, deadly weapon. The red blade shone an eerie blood glow around it. "This," he said, wielding his newfound weapon, "Is my Demon Sword, 'Shen Long'. Let's see how powerful it is, shall we?" Genocyde started towards Raphael, but Raphael wasn't about to wait for him to get there. With a yell, he charged at Genocyde, calling all of his powers to him. The first slash was met by 'Shen Long'; the second was knocked away, leaving Raphael completely open, an opening which Genocyde's fist took complete advantage of. Three punches to the chest sent Raphael sliding across the open field. He dropped to his knees to stop himself, retching blood as he did. "Your ribs are completely crushed. You'd only kill yourself if you try to go on." Raphael slowly got up. He cursed under his breath. "What?" Genocyde laughed. "It's not funny anymore now that the tables have been turned?" Raphael suddenly smiled. "I wanted an opportunity to use this attack, but there was no one strong enough. I'll enjoy watching you die." His power level started to rise again. "Oh, by the way, I don't use all of my power for my Doomsday Blast, but you'll soon realise that." The ground slowly got very unstable. Raphael's energy raged around the atmosphere, swirling around him uncontrollably. He started to focus it to a point between his two outstretched hands. A ball slowly started to form, a ball that got larger and larger. Genocyde didn't even move. The crackling of static was deafening, and blood slowly poured out of Raphael's ears. "This is where it ends!!!" He yelled above the noise. "Demon Rage!!!" He released a very unstable mass of energy towards Genocyde. Slayer looked at Cloud and asked, "Do you think he can stop that?" Cloud shrugged. "I don't know, but I know this: if he doesn't stop that, it'll kill all of us." Genocyde stared at the energy wave coming towards him. Gripping 'Shen Long' tightly, he ran towards it. When he came right in front of it he swung 'Shen Long' in an upward slash, cutting the energy release in half! The two halves dissipated as it passed him. Raphael's jaw dropped. Genocyde looked at him. "You're getting desperate, releasing such an uncontrollable amount of energy." Genocyde laughed. "Admit it; it's over Raphael." But Raphael wasn't even looking at Genocyde. It was as if his spirit had left his body. He slumped to the ground; it looked as if he had given up. Genocyde walked towards him. Suddenly Raphael rushed back up lunging for Genocyde, throwing energy blasts and swinging 'Crimson Diablos' wildly. He had gone mad! Genocyde dodged all of his attacks easily, but when Raphael's sword slashed through his hair, Genocyde stopped. "That's it. I'm through playing around!" He thrust his hand forward. Raphael suddenly jerked to a stop in midair. "You want to find out how much power you really have?" Genocyde's energy started flowing out of his body. "Well I'm here to show you!" He closed his fist. Raphael's energy started rising quickly and uncontrollably, swirling rapidly. At first Raphael looked completely lost about what was happening, then suddenly he screamed. His skin was burning under the intense heat from such a magnitude of power. His veins started bursting and his blood evaporated in the heat as it erupted out of them. His screams grew louder and wilder. "I don't believe it." Cloud stood in disbelief, "Genocyde's actually manipulating Raphael's power. This is just too wild." Genocyde stood with his outstretched fist, watching Raphael's unbearable torture. He dropped his hand. "Wow! You still have a lot to learn Raphael." he turned his back to his opponent, "But you won't have a chance to tap into that power." Raphael lunged at Genocyde's back, creating a massive energy attack from the power Genocyde unleashed from his body. Though it was torture to control all of it, he managed to hold some. He thrust his hands forward to release it, but there was nothing there. Genocyde turned around. "Are you looking for this?" in his hand he held a large ball of energy. "You're still not getting it, are you? I have control over all your power. I can make you stronger or weaker. I can give you power, and I can take it from you." He smiled. "Just like that!" He watched the ball as he made it grow smaller and smaller until it had completely disappeared. He sighed. "Enough play. I guess if I let you live, you'll just keep coming back. And we can't have that now can we?" He walked over to Raphael, who started backing away. Raphael turned to run, but Genocyde cut him off and grabbed him by the throat. He tossed him up in the air and punched him into orbit. He watched him fly through the air for a while, then drew 'Shen Long' and went up after him. In three seconds, Genocyde landed again, and Raphael dropped to the ground, missing his arms and legs. Blood trickled out of Raphael's mouth as he spoke. "This isn't over Genocyde." He coughed up some more blood. "I'm just a pawn, a little man. If you think I was difficult, wait till you come up against my masters. Then you shall see true power!" Genocyde stood over his body. "If they have 'true power' tell them bring it. I'll be waiting. You weren't much of a challenge anyway." He released an energy blast onto Raphael. Raphael's ashes drifted in the wind as Genocyde walked away. Angelo flew over to him. "You do know he wasn't lying, right?" he asked as he landed. Genocyde didn't look at him as he walked past his brother. "You do know I wasn't kidding, right?"
*****
Deep in a thought-to-be abandoned castle, somewhere in the English countryside, six shadowed figures sat around a rectangular table in the main dining hall in complete darkness. One of them suddenly stood. "So, our puppet has finally been destroyed. I thought he was too powerful for anyone against us to kill him Cyro." A pair of blue eyes flashed in the darkness. "I thought so too, Thief. It seems our friend Kyle has tapped into more power than we first perceived he had." Another figure rose. "So has his two friends Slayer and Cloud." It sounded like a thousand people were speaking. "It seems we may soon have to make our presence known." "Not yet, Legion, my friend." A large dark figure suddenly entered the large room. "Let them think they have finally brought peace." His voice thundered throughout the room. "Let them think it is finally over, let them let their guard down. Then they shall feel our wrath!" Cheers and shouts echoed in agreement. "Do not worry gentlemen. I, Psycho, will ensure that we finish what we have set in motion. Soon we will assume the position that nature itself calls us. We truly are superior, and all below us will worship us!" The frightening laughs flowed from the castle through the valley to the village a couple miles down, striking terror in its superstitious residents.
To be continued.
"Much is known about the past, little about the future..."
Over centuries man has been devoted to strengthening himself, through many ways, from brute force to powers of the mind. It is only recently, however, that he has been able to tap into that inner power, more commonly known as chi. This chi, when harnessed, manifests itself outwardly as it changes the appearance of the wielder, From this initial discovery, training towards this ultimate achievement has started from very young, as to harness this power takes time, and those who have started from a more aged period cannot harness the chi and destroy themselves. However, there are the select few, both young and old, that are gifted with the ability to harness mass amounts of this destructive energy. But with this much power at their mercy, these Spirit Warriors, as they are more commonly called, have to choose whether they will use their powers for good or for evil. Some have already chosen, and their choice has come with severe consequence.
Eight years have past since Daemon Kamikaze (Kyle Knight) battled with Vladimir Dracula, the first Spirit Warrior who channelled his chi to imitate that of a vampire. The chaotic and bloody battle had left Vlad dead and Daemon powerless; totally powerless. Since this discovery, the leader of Revolution Spirit Force, known only as Raphael has openly started to take over planet earth, attacking and seizing world governments and countries. Those remaining Spirit Warriors who opposed his revolt were few in number and their attacks insignificant, since none had the power comparable to Raphael, whose power could only be challenged by the two brothers known as Yin and Yang, Daemon Kamikaze, who no longer existed, and Angelo Kamikaze (Max Knight), whose power did not allow him to fight or kill. So, Raphael was practically unstoppable... But Kyle, now twenty-four, who has no memory of his alter ego Daemon, is now haunted by a dream. A dream in which he sees nothing, but hears a voice. And the voice tells him the same incomplete prophesy each time he has the dream: "Yang shall not be complete until the...dragon and the vampire...one." Tomorrow marks Kyle's twenty-fifth birthday. It will be the day when Kyle understands the dream, the prophesy which was made to sixteen year old Daemon Kamikaze when he was considered the most powerful Spirit Warrior alive by the most unusual and dreaded prophet...
Chapter 1
"We most fear that which we cannot see..."
Cloud (Codi Harewood) stood at the edge of the cliff looking at the full moon, stroking his giant pet sabre-tooth, Midnight, a creation of his chi. It was well known that Cloud reached maximum power when he fused with Midnight, but he was powerful enough without him. His six-foot muscular frame was not for show. His short black hair blew lightly in the soft wind as he thought about the past and the present. Suddenly, he tensed up. He shifted his gaze from the moon to look around the cliff. Something was here. His hand reached for the battleaxe on his back, but loosened up when he heard a voice whisper, "Relax, Cloud. It's just me." Cloud looked on Midnight to see Slayer (Rohan Payne) on his pet's back. He too was looking directly at the full moon. His long red hair was tied back Japanese style; a long black leather jacket covered his two Japanese kitanas. "So you came too, huh?" He asked, not shifting his gaze. "Well, the prophecy was made by a reliable source, so it must be true." Cloud said with a smile on his face, then added more gravely, "It has to be." He returned his gaze to the full moon, which cast an eerie glow. "If it isn't, we might as well kiss the world as we used to know it good-bye." And with that, he smashed his axe into the ground, taking the tip of the cliff off. Slayer sat silent, he could understand Cloud's frustration. Every since Daemon had 'died', and Raphael had taken over, they had been fighting a losing battle. Every fight against Revolution Spirit Force had resulted in another one of their allies dead. Their last fight was against Raphael himself, and had not Angelo intervened and helped them escape, then they would not be here hoping for this miracle. "I know that. Don't you think I know that? I'm just as angry and as pissed as you are. But, even though the prophecy came from the angel Gabriel himself, how do we know that it'll come true? We've come to this cliff at midnight every night since Raphael took over, looking at this moon, and nothing happens. We've trained and trained secretly, becoming stronger and expanding our powers but we're still not strong enough!" His energy flared up and began to scorch Midnight. The beast didn't even seem to notice. "The question now in my mind Codi is, what's the use?" He got off Midnight, and calmed down, allowing his power levels to return to normal. The two heroes sat silent on the cliff, thinking of the past. Every since they had started training with Daemon to awaken their dormant chi at sixteen, they were inseparable. They trained together, fought together, hung out together, and partied together. Now the 'three musketeers' were reduced to two. And times had definitely changed. In the distance, a clock tower struck midnight, and the two friends looked at each other, shrugged and turned to go their separate ways. But the red glow made them turn to face the moon. The moon, which had made them come to this cliff for seven years, was covered in blood. With a smile on his face, Cloud looked at Slayer and said "See, like I said, it came from a reliable source"
*****
Kyle Knight sat in front of his television at his mansion making out with his wife, Alexandra, as he listened to the news. There was never anything interesting that caught his attention, except for the usual stock exchange, which was obviously important to his job as an accountant, but as good as Alexi, as he affectionately called her, was, the knock at his bedroom window caught his attention. Normally, a knock would never have pulled him away from Alexi; his five-year-old daughter Erica proved that much. But because his bedroom window was on the third floor of their house, it demanded his attention. He got up from Alexi and headed up the stairs. "You know why they're here." Alexi said as she slid off the couch and headed for the kitchen. "I'll be making Erica's lunch for tomorrow." He smirked to himself. She knew him like a book. He'd known her since they were both eighteen and experimenting; with each other. She knew about his past and even though he made her promise not to tell him, she'd still remind him sometimes about the great things he did as Daemon Kamikaze. He swore he'd kill himself if he ever got stupid enough to leave her. He was still thinking about her when he went to the window. As soon as he opened it, a huge black tiger leaped onto him. "For an extinct, deadly, ferocious sabre-tooth, you sure act like a pussy Midnight!" Kyle said laughing as the cat licked his face. "Hey Codi, call back your kitten, it's crushing me!" "Ok, ok, but it's not my fault that he likes you so much. You're part of the reason he even exists. And remember, it's Cloud." The six-foot giant walked in from the balcony and shook Kyle's hand, then pulled him in and hugged him. "Now you're crushing me!" Cloud released him, looking a little embarrassed. "Where's Rohan, I mean Slayer? You two are usually never apart." "He's still on the balcony. He's contemplating over what happened today. Have you heard what happened today, Kyle? Or did you have some part in it?" Codi turned towards the balcony. "Come outside, reunite the 'three musketeers'" They walked out on the balcony. Slayer squatted on the balcony rails with his arms crossed about his knees, backing his two friends. "Was it you, Kyle?" He turned, his face full of hope. "Was it Daemon?" Kyle stood stone-faced, looking at both Cloud and Slayer, and said, "First of all, Daemon Kamikaze has not appeared for eight years. Secondly, what happened today?" Slayer's face changed from being full of hope to full of disbelief. Then it changed to being as stone-faced as Kyle's. "The Gaia brothers were killed today." He said, his voice filled with wavering suspicion. "So? Weren't they lieutenants for Revolution Spirit Force?" Kyle asked. "Yeah," Cloud answered as he sat on top of Midnight. "So what's the big deal? And why are you two on my case? Both of you could take out the Gaia brothers." "Not all four of them at max power. Sensor sweeps indicated high energy levels surrounding the building they were found in. But that's not why we're here. Only four power signatures were found in the building. Earth's, Fire's, Wind's, and Water's." Slayer turned to look directly at Kyle. "Unless the Gaia brothers committed a mass suicide on each other, someone covered their power signature. And only two people we know can cover traces of their power signatures. That's Raphael, and Daemon. You. C'mon, Kyle, you can tell us, did you get your powers back? Did you take them out?" Kyle looked away for a moment, then looked back at Slayer. "Daemon Kamikaze did not kill the Gaia brothers. I'm sorry I got your hopes up inadvertently." Slayer looked at Kyle, searching his body to see if there was any change in him, any glimpse of the old Kyle. When he could not find any, he shrugged and said, "That's ok. I guess there's a new Spirit Warrior out there." It was hard for him to say that. Cloud rushed to change the subject. "So how's Alexi? Still as good looking as ever?" "Hey! You better keep your eyes off my wife." Kyle said jokingly, "Don't you have your eyes set on Rene anyway?" Cloud ran his hand through his hair. "Alexi's doing fine, and Erica's getting more and more beautiful everyday. Just like her mother." The conversation went on for a while, as the three old friends caught up on the years since they'd last talked. Finally, Kyle said that he had to go to work tomorrow, and they all agreed that the bills were more important than catching up on old times. As they were flying over the coast, Slayer looked at Cloud and asked, "Well, what did you think?" "Something's definitely different about him. But I couldn't find a power signature on him." "It's Kyle, you could never find a power signature on him every since he turned sixteen" Slayer shook his head. "He's hiding something, waiting for the right moment to come out in the open. Till that time comes, he's gonna keep doing what he did today." "Then it'll just make our work a lot easier wouldn't it?" Cloud laughed as he sat atop of Midnight who ran across the air. "Do you think he's gonna go straight for Raphael?" "No. Knowing good old Daemon, he'll make his presence known first. Strike fear in those that knew him back in the day and practically scare the living daylights out of the younger ones who think this is just a game." "Yeah, you know that old saying: we most fear that which we cannot see."
Chapter 2
"Out of the shadows, a hero shall rise."
The next four weeks, members of Revolution Spirit Force were randomly killed off, each with the same missing power signature of their killer. Some thought it was Raphael himself, and they tried very hard not to displease him. Some, like Slayer and Cloud, thought that Daemon had returned and as Slayer prophesied, it struck fear into those who remembered who he was. Especially into Shadow (Casey Alexander) Raphael's second in command, who also went to high school with Kyle, and remembered the fight that he had picked with Kyle when he had won the Spirit Warrior tournament, a tournament which was held annually until Raphael took over. Shadow can still remember the shock his hands felt when his sword clashed with Daemon's Eternal Sphere, a sword more powerful than any he had ever fought against. He lost and took it hard, teaming up with Raphael and forming Revolution Spirit Force. Now Shadow thought that with the sudden mysterious deaths of his comrades, and with the rumours of Daemon returning, that eventually he would come after him. After all, he's part of the reason Earth is like what it is at its present moment. So, the high security at his headquarters, though useless, gave him a little comfort. It was on a full moon night, a night much like the now regularly talked about 'night of the blood moon'. Shadow, who had just finished talking to Raphael about takeover strategies, was now checking in with his security posts. He was calm up until the point where he got no response from his last security post. He called repeatedly for a report from this post until he heard a voice over the intercom, which made his heart stop. "Don't worry, Casey. You'll have your report in very soon." Shadow rushed to check into the other stations and one by one, he got no answer from any of them. He searched the room with his eyes, then rushed to turn off the light in the room. His whole body then slid into the shadows and waited. Above him, Slayer crouched on the support beams of the building, next to Cloud, watching Shadow's every move. "I lost him. He must've stealthed himself into the shadows. Wonder why?" "What I'm wondering is why Kyle asked us to keep an eye on Shadow." Cloud whispered. "How would he know that the Spirit Warrior who's killing off Revolution Spirit Force members would come here?" "He would know because he is the Spirit Warrior who's coming here. He's finally letting us see the truth." "I guess I am, but it's not what you think." The voice came from between Cloud and Slayer, and both of them twirled to see.nothing. Even Midnight could not detect a scent. "I know it's Kyle, but it's not Daemon's voice." Slayer said, shocked. The voice called out again, not to Cloud or Slayer, but to Shadow. "Ahh, Casey, my good, good friend Casey. It's good to see you again. I can see you by the way. Even though you cloak yourself in the shadows, I can see you. For I too hide in the shadows, and I can hide even in you." Shadow screamed out in pain. "See, I know where you are, but you don't know where I am. Let me help you. Here, let me turn on the light." The room was flooded with light and Shadow was out in the open, bleeding from the gash on his shoulder. However, his assailant still could not be seen. "Oh, you want to see me? Well, I guess since this is going to be your last day breathing, I might as well grant you your last request." The figure dropped from the beam directly below Slayer and Cloud's and landed right in front of Shadow. It was not Daemon. He had short slick black hair, and looked a lot slimmer than Daemon. His eyes were narrow and sharp, and pierced Shadow, sending slight shivers of fear through him. He slowly licked the blood off his sword and his open mouth revealed a pair of long fangs. Shadow glared at the sword. "Like it?" The vampire asked, licking off the last drop of blood. "It's called 'Melufa', a sword tempered with the blood of Daemon Kamikaze." Shadow stared with his jaw dropped slightly. "Daemon.?" he managed to get out. He gripped his sword, 'Shadow Cutter' shakily. "No, I'm not Daemon. At least, not at this moment. I am something much, much worse. You can call me Nos Feratu. It'll be the last name you ever hear." Slayer and Cloud dropped from the ceiling with confused looks on their faces. "Nos Feratu? The vampire? Is that Kyle?" Slayer asked bewildered. Nos Feratu looked back at them and smiled sadistically, showing his long fangs. Slayer instinctively reached for his kitanas. Nos Feratu suddenly disappeared again, and Shadow quickly regained his senses, gripping his sword firmly. In a flash, Nos Feratu was right in front of him. Shadow slashed out quickly and accurately, aiming for the neck, but in another instant, he was gone, leaving Shadow covering where his left arm used to be. His blood gushed out of his shoulder like a burst pipe. He swore incessantly, and his eyes searched murderously for the vampire. "Well at least your temper hasn't changed." Nos Feratu called out from the ceiling, standing upside down. "Your power has, though. You sure took a swipe at my head. Here, a prize for your hard work." He shook his head at a few strands of his hair dropped to the ground. "Next time, you might not be so." Shadow never let him finish. While Nos Feratu was taunting him, Shadow charged up almost all of his energy to create a massive energy blast, which he released at his opponent. Where Nos Feratu was standing was now replaced by a large hole in the ceiling. Shadow dropped his outstretched hand in exhaustion. "You know, it's very impolite to interrupt someone when they're speaking." Nos Feratu said, standing directly behind Shadow. Shadow twirled around in shock, but instantly brought his right hand, armed with Shadow Cutter, around with him, swinging for Nos Feratu's neck again. Nos Feratu caught it in mid-swing, twisted it, and pushed all in one fluent motion. Shadow screamed as the bone shoved out from his elbow. "That was some energy blast you threw at me. Now had I still been there.it still wouldn't have done anything!" Slayer stood next to Cloud, his jaw slightly dropped. He couldn't believe that this was his friend. He had changed so much. "He's a lot faster; I'll give you that." He re-sheathed his twin kitanas. "A lot more confident too." "It's like he's a different person," Cloud said, and Midnight growled in agreement. "Merciless. Demented, you might say. This definitely is not Daemon." "If he's not Daemon," Slayer started, his hands still hovering over his kitanas, "Then do you think he's gonna come for us when he's finished with him?" He pointed in Shadow's direction. Nos Feratu calmly threw Shadow across the room. He crashed through the steel wall. Cloud pulled out his axe. "I hope not." Nos Feratu picked up Shadow's limp body with his right hand. He was still breathing. He sheathed 'Melufa' with the other hand. He raised Shadow up so that his neck reached his mouth. Nos Feratu bared his fangs and dug them into Shadow's neck. He screamed, and screamed, and even Slayer, the silent assassin, grew sick to the stomach listening to his pitiful wails. All at once the screams stopped. Nos Feratu held up his head and dropped Shadow's body, now pale and dry. He walked over to Slayer and Cloud slowly. Slayer grabbed the hilts of his kitanas. Cloud fingers played behind his back with the handle of his axe. Nos Feratu stopped right in front of them, changed into Kyle, smiled and said, "C'mon Rohan, you weren't actually going to use Gemini against me were you? I gave you those swords, remember? And Codi, what's the deal? You guys didn't think I was coming to kill you?" His two friends stood silent, and relaxed. Slayer dropped his kitanas. "What was that Kyle?" He asked in awe. "What we saw just now was much worse than even Vlad." "That was the vampire. It seems I have found my other half. But I can't find the dragon. It's funny, it's like my chi has this darker, more powerful force with it now." "By the dragon, you're referring to Daemon?" Cloud asked and Kyle nodded. Slayer picked up his twin kitanas, sheathed them and asked Kyle, "So you're back with a different face. What now?" "First, we train. Then, we go pay a visit to our old friend Raphael. I hear you two had a little skirmish with him a while back that didn't go so well." Slayer turned his back to Kyle. Cloud stared at his toes. "Relax guys, I'm not fighting your battle for you, I'm have my own issues with Raphael. But first I have to fulfil the prophecy." "You mean that wasn't it?" Slayer looked at him with disbelief. "No, that's only the other half." "So I guess this is it Kyle." Cloud got on top of Midnight. "Yeah, this is the end."
Chapter 3
"Know then, that knowledge is power."
Together, Slayer, Cloud, and Nos Feratu flew over the city. Destination: Kyle's house. The Knight mansion had belonged to Kyle every since he was sixteen, a gift given to him by Gabriel, after the angel of death had accidentally taken his soul, thinking that he had been dead after a fight with Cyril (But that's a story for another time). The house itself was a fortress, with hidden chambers and recreation rooms. But when Daemon had disappeared, so had Kyle's memory of the passwords to enter these chambers. They landed at the front door. Nos Feratu reached for the handle, but the door opened from the inside. Alexi stood in her nightgown with the door handle. "So you finally let them know the truth, huh?" She said as she walked back into the house. "I'm guessing you're heading for the training room. It is sound-proof, right?" "Don't worry, Alexi, I won't wake Erica." Nos Feratu said. "And yes, it is sound-proof." The three Spirit Warriors walked into a password-protected elevator, bypassed by Nos Feratu, which sent them down into the sub-levels. Nos Feratu stopped the elevator at the bottom floor, and the three walked down an empty hallway, until they came to a titanium-reinforced door. Nos Feratu stopped and put his hand on the door and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. The door came to life and slowly swung open. "Telepathic passwords." Nos Feratu said without turning around, "That's why I could never get in as Kyle." The door revealed a room as large as three Olympic Stadiums. Nos Feratu walked up some stairs by the entrance into a command room. He talked through the microphone on the desk. "Indoors or Outdoors?" Slayer looked at Cloud, then looked up at the command room and shouted, "Outdoors!" Nos Feratu went at the controls and the entrance automatically locked. Typing in more instructions, Nos Feratu looked down at the arena. Grass was suddenly appearing beneath Slayer and Cloud's feet. It didn't surprise them; they had been through this before. The ceiling changed into a blank atmosphere. Cloud looked at the command room questioningly. "Sorry, night or day?" Nos Feratu asked. "Night." Cloud shouted back. Midnight almost grinned. The 'sky' above them grew dark and the full moon shimmered into existence. The wind ruffled Slayer's hair. "Kyle was always one for realism," he said to Cloud when he noticed the wind. Nos Feratu teleported down onto the arena. "Shall we begin?" He removed the long black cape, revealing thick pectorals. He summoned his powers to him, creating a small tornado of energy around him. It got wider as his energy level grew. Slayer watched in awe for a little while, then tossed off his jacket and started powering up also. Cloud joined them, summoning Midnight into him. For a couple of minutes, the three heroes just channelled their energies throughout their bodies. The room shook violently as the static coming off the Spirit Warriors clashed with each other. Slayer levelled off his energy and looking in Cloud's direction, charged at Nos Feratu. Cloud understood, pulled out 'Fallen Angel' and charged at him too. This is how they would always train; a two-on-one situation. While Slayer was running at Nos Feratu, Cloud ran up behind him at a much faster pace. About a couple feet away from him, Slayer crouched while running, allowing Cloud to run up behind him and jump off his back. Slayer then unsheathed 'Gemini', his twin kitanas, and twirled them around before bringing them to point behind him. He then swung both of them in, aiming the left one at Nos Feratu's neck, the right at his midsection. 'Gemini' were so sharp they could cut clean through Nos Feratu's body if the slashes connected. Up above, Cloud swung the axe above his head, then brought it down, with the intention of crashing it into Nos Feratu's head. Both of their weapons got within inches of Nos Feratu's body when he released some of the energy he was building up. The release sent both Slayer and Cloud into the 'mountain', or rather, the limits of the room. Cloud got up shakily. "What the hell was that?" Slayer looked as confused as he was. Nos Feratu's power had obviously grown, but they had underestimated the extent of that growth. Cloud got into attack stance. "Ok, now we play rough." He thundered after Nos Feratu, twirling his axe above his head again, but stopped some distance and crashed the axe into the ground. "Thunder Strike!!!" The result was an explosion below the ground where Nos Feratu was standing, sending him airborne. "Now!" Cloud yelled. Slayer moved from his crouching positioning and in a flash, was above Nos Feratu. His kitanas slashed viciously at the vampire, but his opponent blocked and countered with his arms, protected by two arm shields. A quickly charged energy blast sent Slayer away from Nos Feratu, but Cloud took up from where Slayer left off. His fist attacks sent shocks through Nos Feratu as he blocked them, and the one that got through sent him down out of the sky. He stopped himself in midair before he could hit the ground, but Cloud had already teleported to meet him, and had restarted his barrage of fists. Slayer, who just recovered from the energy blast, joined him and with a mixture of blades and kicks, attacked Nos Feratu from the rear. If they wanted to win this friendly skirmish, they could not let Nos Feratu attack. And if he was anything like Daemon, they could not let him draw his sword either. That would be when he'd be most dangerous. Slayer slashed at Nos Feratu's waist rapidly and quickly, preventing him from drawing 'Melufa'. His kicks were aimed at his legs. Cloud's fists were moving just as fast, but as quick as they were, Nos Feratu was blocking both of their attacks. But his guard was weakening and Slayer's kitanas found their way to Nos Feratu's skin more often. "You two have gotten better, I must admit," Nos Feratu managed to get out while guarding, "But now I'll play rough!" With that, he caught Cloud's left punch with his left hand, dodged the right punch, blocked Slayer's kitanas, and kicked him away. Slayer hit the ground hard. He swung Cloud by his left hand into the wall. "Well that was quick." Slayer picked himself up, Cloud managed to get his head out of the wall. "You two have gotten stronger, but you've still managed to limit your power. You have to know that you're more powerful to get in touch with that power. If you think that you're strong enough to harness all of your power, then your body can control it. Now summon your power again, but this time, summon all of it." Slayer nodded, and with deep focus, called all of his power to him. The initial shock jolted him, but he stood firm. His body tensed and bulged, trying to control his full power. Meanwhile, Cloud was trying the same thing. The energy from his body swirled around him uncontrollably, and it mingled with Slayer's. The mountains and walls of rock and dirt began to crumble and crack. The energy building up in the room had caused the room itself to start cracking. Nos Feratu, during all of this, had gone into the command room to study his friends' vitals and energy levels. He noticed they were going berserk. Cloud's body was starting to feel the strain of trying to harness all of this power. His veins burst, and the blood flowed like streams down his arms and legs. Slayer's red shirt had already disintegrated and his flesh was starting to tear from the strain. The two fought, and fought with their powers, until Cloud's black hair grew longer. His eyes glowed gold and his energy harmonised throughout his body, slowly healing all damaged tissue. Midnight leaped out of him, even larger than before, now with white streaks about him. Slayer's kitanas started floating around him, and his eyes flashed red. His body too started to repair itself. The room slowly got quieter as the two Spirit Warriors started to absorb their power. Nos Feratu looked at the readings on the monitor to value their power levels. He came down to them. "Now you understand what I was telling you. Your powers are truly amazing. Even I wouldn't be a match for both of you." He changed back into Kyle. "But that's enough training for tonight, I got work tomorrow. You two can crash in the guest room. We'll train again tomorrow night."
Chapter 4
"We all must walk the path of Destiny."
For the next three days, Kyle trained Slayer and Cloud, teaching them to control and master their powers. By the fourth day, they both had complete control of their devastating powers. But each night for those days, Kyle continued to have the dream that haunted him for eight years. After their fourth day of training, Nos Feratu asked his friends about the prophecy. "Hey do you remember when Gabriel returned me to earth?" Slayer, who was cleaning his kitanas, looked at him puzzled. "Sure, it was about a month after you and Angelo fused to fight Cyril, wasn't it?" Cloud nodded. "Yeah, they had made a mistake, and accidentally took both your souls before their time." Slayer laughed, and sheathed his kitanas. "And they had to give both of you three wishes to compensate for their mistake," and he looked around the room. "As I remember, you wished for this house, down to the detail of each room, the two cars that you still have in pretty good condition, and the vault-full of gold somewhere in this house." Nos Feratu looked at them and shook his head. "I remember all of that, but what I want to know is, do you remember the prophecy that Gabriel told me before he returned to heaven?" Slayer looked at Nos Feratu and said, "Only the part that you told us. You said that you were only allowed to tell us some of the prophecy." Cloud got up and walked up to Nos Feratu and said, "As I can remember, it went: 'When the goddess of the night cries the blood of the dragon, Yang shall be reborn.' That was the only part you told us. You said there was more, but you wouldn't tell us the rest." "That wasn't the part I wanted, but thanks anyway." Nos Feratu changed into Kyle. "If I knew what the rest of it was." He walked out of the training room in deep thought. Slayer and Cloud walked behind him silent. They knew not to bother their friend when he got like this. After leaving the sub-levels of the house, Kyle headed for his room, while Rohan and Codi walked towards the guest rooms. With brief goodnights said to each other, the Spirit Warriors went to retire to their beds. That night, Kyle had the same dream that haunted him over the past month, but this time it was a little different. He was sitting in the total darkness, when he heard the voice call out to him. "Yang shall not be complete until the...dragon and the vampire...one." Confused, Kyle called out to the shadows. "What are you saying Gabriel? I cannot understand. Where are you?" From the depths of the darkness a bright light appeared and the angel Gabriel appeared before Kyle." "Why have you called for me Kyle?" he asked, and his voice echoed through the darkness. "I need to know what you told me so long ago. What are you saying over and over in my dreams? I cannot understand you." The angel looked at Kyle silently, then faded into the shadows. "Wait! Gabriel! Come back! I need to know the rest of the prophecy! You need to tell me!" Don't leave yet! You have not told me anything!" Kyle searched desperately for the angel, but Gabriel had been completely swallowed in the darkness. Footsteps echoing in the distance made Kyle spin. "Yang shall not be complete until the same blood flows through the dragon and the vampire." Daemon Kamikaze stepped out of the shadows, flexing his black gargoyle wings. "Huh? But how can you be outside of me?" Kyle asked confused. He heard another voice call out from the darkness. ".Only then shall Yang be one and his powers complete." Nos Feratu walked calmly from the darkness towards Kyle, opposite from Daemon. Kyle stared at both of them mutely. "How.?" He began, but Daemon unsheathed his 'Eternal Sphere' and flew at Nos Feratu. Nos Feratu in turn drew 'Melufa' and ran at Daemon. The clash of the two powerful swords was explosive. Kyle jumped from his sleep sweating. "Had the same dream again K?" Alexi rolled over and looked at him concerned. Yeah, but this time I saw all of it." Kyle said, getting out of bed. "This time, I know what it all means." He pulled on his pants. "Call the office for me later this morning and tell them I won't be at work for a while. Tell them I've got chicken pox. Highly contagious." Alexi laughed nervously, then rolled back over and said softly as Kyle walked out of the bedroom, "Be careful Kyle." Kyle headed silently towards the training room, thinking about the dream. He knew what he had to do. He knew what he must do. And it might kill him, but he had to do it.
*****
"How long has he been down there?" Rohan asked Alexandra while she was making breakfast. Erica was bouncing nervously on the chair, looking at her mother. The house started shaking again and the shouts and screams echoed through the house. Erica ran for her mother. "From about one-thirty this morning," she said calmly, trying to settle Erica. "The real party started around three." She looked at Erica, who was tugging at her skirt, picked her up and told her, "Relax, dear. That's just your father. He's got powers now, just like uncle Rohan and uncle Codi." Codi looked at them both, then at Rohan and nodded in the direction of the elevator. Rohan nodded. "Hey Al, we'll be going down there now. Just to see if he's ok." The shaking and yelling stopped suddenly. "Ok, I'm leaving in a couple of minutes. Just make sure that he has my house in one piece be the time I get back this evening." Rohan and Codi laughed. Down below the house, in the training room, Slayer and Cloud walked into the training arena. It was deathly quiet. The walls looked like they went through hell, all torn through, cracked and dented. Kyle knelt in the middle, bleeding and sweating profusely. He smiled when he saw them coming towards him. Slayer looked at him inquisitively and asked, "What the hell have you been doing down here?" Kyle got up and looked at them both. He pointed towards the command room. "No more questions guys just follow me." They walked into the room together on the now twisted and broken stairs. The computers inside the command room were still processing data from Kyle's last training session. Cloud looked in amazement when he saw the readings for Kyle's max power level. He showed it to Slayer. He whistled in amazement when he saw the computer output read '??????????' Meanwhile Kyle was busy resetting the training settings. He turned over to Slayer and Cloud and said, "You'll be up here this time around. I want you to watch this." He carried the training room surrounding protection up to level ten. "Wait a minute," Cloud began. "Just out of curiosity, what setting do you have the level of protection at when we're training?" Kyle grinned and said, "Before you guys could use all of your powers, level four. Afterwards, level seven. Yesterday, level eight." "Uh.okay, didn't the walls and surrounding room hold yesterday?" Slayer asked after listening to the conversation for a while. "Yeah, they always do." Kyle left the command room, as very strong adamantium alloy sheets replaced the surrounding steel walls of the training arena. He walked into the middle of the arena, and started focusing his energies. Cloud and Slayer watched and closely studied the readings from the monitors. "He hasn't even changed into Nos Feratu and already his power level's rising way above normal levels. How's that possible? I thought that everyone morphed when they charged or used their powers." Slayer said to Cloud as they watched. "I have a feeling we're going to see something very special." Was all Cloud could say. Kyle was already charging his powers and his energy levels grew rapidly. But he still hadn't changed into Nos Feratu. Suddenly his body grew very transparent, and started shimmering, like ripples in a pond. His whole form started splitting and sliding into two definite forms. Slowly the two bodies grew opaque and there were suddenly two Kyles standing in the room, each still summoning their energy. "Am I seeing double?" Slayer asked, very confused. Cloud sat silently, unable to respond to what he just saw. The two Kyles continued their powering up, then much to both Slayer and Cloud's surprise, one transformed into Nos Feratu, and the other changed into Daemon. "I have never seen anyone do that!" Cloud finally managed to get out. He looked at the monitors. "Look at their powers." Slayer looked at what Cloud was showing him. "They might as well be two totally separate people!"
The two halves of Kyle drew their swords and attacked each other, as Slayer and Cloud watched in awe. They knew that their training sessions with Kyle as either Daemon or Nos Feratu were tough, but watching these two 'gods', as they would call Kyle when he was either one, took tough training to a whole new level. These two actually looked like they wanted to kill each other! Their energy blasts, when evaluated by the computers in the command room, carried more energy than some Spirit Warriors ever had at max power! Daemon looked at Nos Feratu, watching him lick some of his many deep wounds. One of Daemon's wings was torn off. He spun 'Eternal Sphere' and charged one last time. Nos Feratu grabbed for 'Melufa' and ran at him. They met each other exactly halfway. The clash of their swords shattered the reinforced glass of the command room. Cloud rushed to put an energy shield in its place. Static electricity was building around the two swords as a large sphere, which grew larger as the two pushed against each other with their swords. The adamantium walls began cracking, and then slowly melting in the intense heat. The sphere grew so large it engulfed the two fighters. Suddenly, the sphere exploded, sending Cloud and Slayer flying to the end of the command room. Then, just as sudden as the explosion, all of the energy released by the explosion, was drawn into the spot where Daemon and Nos Feratu stood. Then all was quiet. Slayer and Cloud got up slowly. The initial explosion had knocked them out. The monitors, however, had not fared as poorly as them and were almost still in perfect condition, still taking readings of the training room. But the monitor was not Cloud's concern as he and Slayer got up and looked down into the training arena. What they found there explained everything. They didn't have to hear the prophecy They understood. He understood.
Chapter 5
"Sooner or later, every man must face his own judgement."
"So let me get this straight, we're going on one final showdown with Raphael and his army, and coming out of this alive. All of us. Together." Dark Icon (Alec Bourne) asked, looking directly at Slayer and Cloud as they and the remaining Spirit Warriors that were against Raphael flew towards Revolution Spirit Force's main headquarters. A week had passed since Slayer and Cloud saw what Kyle had showed them in the training room. "Yeah, that's pretty much the idea." Cloud answered while riding Midnight. "Oh.ok," Icon said considering the idea, then looked sharply at Cloud. "Are you crazy??? You do know Raphael can wipe all of us out easily. And even though you two somehow managed to reach your full potential he'll just probably take a little longer with both of you." Slayer, who couldn't take Icon's whining anymore, flew in front of him and asked "Then why the hell are you here D.I.? To give us constant hell?" Dark Icon shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it's because I actually believe that together we can pull it off." Then he pointed upwards. "And besides, if we screw up, he'll help us get away, like how he did for you guys when you fought Raphael." Slayer looked up to see a pair of giant, white, feathered wings flapping above them. He soared up to meet them. "I didn't know that you would be joining us Angelo." Daemon's younger brother held up his white pony-tailed head and smiled seriously at Slayer. "It's good to see that you and Codi have reached your full potential Rohan." His voice echoed inside Slayer's head. "I guess you've been training with my brother again. I have felt his chi and it is enormous, I just hope he can control it. Its rage and ferocity is unlike anything I've ever felt before." He shook his head. "I just hope he can control it." "Don't worry about Kyle, he'll pull through. He always does." Slayer returned to Cloud's side at the front of the assault team. He went through the plan that he, Cloud and Kyle had put together. He and Cloud were to launch a direct and heavy attack on Raphael's fortress, drawing him out. Kyle's final words before they left echoed in his mind. 'He'll probably send in his strongest men to attack you before coming out to face him yourself. Take them out, and do it fast. You can do it, trust me. When Raphael finally comes out himself, I'll be there and I'll take care of him.' Slayer wondered what Kyle was doing back at his house.
*****
"Battle simulation level ten now activated. Adamantium covering now being applied." The sirens inside the training room blared repeatedly as it began its simulation. "Now retrieving image to be fed into mainframe." The optic laser scanned over the lone standing figure. "Now processing and duplicating image." An exact replica of the figure stood before it. "Evaluating subject engaging in level ten simulation. Exact power level: unknown. Stability analysis of energy subject possesses: highly unstable and volatile. Overall analysis of subject: final analysis of subject reveals subject is inhuman." It looked at its clone as he drew his sword, "Now engaging the subject with replica." The adamantium melted like butter as the first energy blast ripped through the wall.
*****
The air smelled of blood, the wind stale and dry. Slayer looked around him. The sound of shouts and screams, the clashing of blades, the trickling of fresh blood. The roar of a giant tiger as it ripped through flesh and bones. The dull thud of Cloud's axe landing in his opponent's skull. He could hear someone rushing at him swiftly. 'Gemini' responded silently, sliding out of their sheaths, then swirling around him to meet his opponent. The first blade parried the initial attack; the second buried itself inside his heart. Slayer looked at his victim, then pulled out the kitana. His enlightened powers allowed him to wield 'Gemini' by thought alone whenever he needed to. Of course, Slayer always loved the feeling of 'Gemini' in his hands, so he gripped the second blade out of midair and joined his friend. Cloud watched as a head rolled past him. "I wanted to do that!" he said, as Slayer slashed through another enemy, leaving him in shreds. He then seriously said, "I never knew that he had this many Spirit Warriors on his side." He shot an energy blast in the air, then yelled out, "Lightning Rain!!!" The blast exploded and rained down on the field. Cloud generated a shield around him, Slayer and Midnight and watched as the lightning struck several of his enemies. Angelo protected their surviving allies. "I heard he was experimenting in cloning, multiplying his armies to unstoppable levels." Slayer looked around the battlefield at those who were able to survive Cloud's lightning attack. "And these must be the strong ones." Cloud dropped the shield and Slayer walked out to greet the four cloaked Spirit Warriors left, each sitting on a horse. "Seeing your current situation, I suggest you give up this fight." He mentally called 'Gemini' to his hands. "And leave in one piece." One of the four rode forward and said, "We are the Four Horsemen," he said, drawing his sword. "And we never surrender!" Cloud, atop Midnight, strode up to the group. "I've heard of these guys." He said, "They're pretty strong." "We are Lord Raphael's generals. I am Suffering." He reined up his white horse. The one next to him with brown horse spoke. "I am Disease." The one in the red cloak spoke next. "I am War, and you shall feel my wrath!" Finally, the one cloaked in black at the back simply hissed, "Death." Slayer surveyed his opponents silently as they introduced themselves. Then he looked at Cloud and said, "Five minutes." Cloud laughed, then drew 'Fallen Angel'. Slayer grabbed him. "I want Death. You can take the rest." Death rode over to face Slayer. A little distance away, Dark Icon, listening to the conversation, looked at Angelo and said, "They're insane! What makes him think that Cloud can take on three of the Four Horsemen?" He shook his head, "They're letting their new powers get to their heads." Angelo looked at Dark Icon, "Why don't you help him then?" Dark Icon went silent, considering it, then flew over in Cloud's direction. "Looks like you could use a hand." Cloud looked over at Dark Icon. "Not really, but you can join me." He looked at the three horsemen and put away his axe. "You know what? I think I'll test the full extent of my powers now." Four and a half minutes later, while the bodies of Suffering, Disease, and War twitched with electricity, Cloud and Dark Icon walked over to where Slayer fought heatedly with Death. One of 'Gemini' was flying about Death, slashing at him repeatedly. The other was in Slayer's hand and that made it more deadly. Death looked deader than anything else, bleeding all over, but he moved like he could go on for hours. Slayer suddenly charged up his energy and channelled it through his kitanas. He flew at Death, and it looked as if he was aiming for Death's chest. But a few inches away from him, Slayer swooped to Death's horse and slashed away its legs. The rider flew from the horse and hit the dirt hard. In seconds Death was on his feet, but Slayer didn't give him time to recover fully. Sheathing his kitanas, Slayer rushed at him, sending energy blast after energy blast towards him. Death tried to dodge them, but caught one full in his chest, sending him flying.straight into Slayer, who had appeared behind him, and his outstretched arm, which was slowly charging a powerful energy blast. He released it as soon as Death touched it. Death was dead, his remains blowing in the wind. "Very impressive, I must say. You both have gotten much stronger since we last fought." Slayer, Cloud and the rest of the remaining Spirit Warriors looked up. "How about we have that rematch that you promised me Slayer, remember the one you swore to have as you were running from me while Angelo protected you and Cloud?" Slayer's powers flared up and 'Gemini' slid out and circled around him. "Temper, temper. Don't worry you'll get your chance at me. But first, let's dispose of the trash." Raphael floated down onto the blood-drenched earth. With a flick of his wrist he threw Dark Icon, standing a couple metres away from where he landed, away from his sight. He sailed through the air and was about to land on his neck when a hand yanked him out of his fall. "I think I'm the one you want to have a rematch with." Daemon Kamikaze gently put Dark Icon on the ground. "Now let's end this."
Chapter 6
"In the end, there shall be only one."
"Well, well, well," Raphael said, walking slowly towards Slayer and Cloud. "Look who has decided to grace us with their presence once more. I've heard rumours that you were dead Daemon." He carried up his power level to forty times his normal power. His gold hair turned black and spiked up and his eyes went red. "Well you really can't believe rumours now, can you?" Daemon descended to the earth. "But I think I've changed my mind for the moment. You see, my friends in front of you have promised you a rematch, something that I have only now learned. So I'll give them the chance to show off, for a while of course. After that, we'll get to party." Slayer looked at Daemon with disbelief. "What, you're not scared are you?" Slayer shook his head. "No, I just can't believe you're giving me this chance. Thanks." 'Gemini' slipped out of their sheaths into Slayer's hands. In a flash, he was after Raphael. Cloud called Midnight into him and joined the action. Between Slayer's kitanas and Cloud's fists, Raphael, for the first time in a while, looked like he was in trouble. At the moment, Slayer and Cloud were juggling him with energy blasts, which threw him back and forth. Slayer rushed in with his kitanas again, slashing rapidly. Those watching could barely see the blades. Raphael dodged as best as he could, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge the majority of Slayer's attacks, and soon he was bleeding all over. Cloud on the other end was attacking just as quickly with his fists, and each accurately connected blow on Raphael echoed through the fields. It looked as if Raphael was in serious trouble. He powered up an energy blast quickly, which Cloud knocked away calmly, but it gave Raphael a chance to get away. He dropped to the ground. Slayer and Cloud landed a few metres away from him. "Who's running away now?" Slayer swiped his kitana through the air, sending the blood on it flying off. "Truly amazing," Raphael muttered, "You two have reached maximum power in such a short space of time. Now, I can finally use my full power on someone." He looked at the two Spirit Warriors. "This'll be fun." Raphael arched back his head, as the earth began to quake and crumble. His hair started to flash as his energy swirled around him and his two opponents. The static electricity jolted Slayer and Cloud as it struck them. Raphael laughed. "Hah! You've only begun to feel a little of my full power and already you're on your knees." The hair on his head turned silver and the chaotic, swirling energy came into its possessor. Raphael now possessed his full power. "This could be bad." Cloud gripped 'Fallen Angel' tightly and charged his energy into it. Slayer, however, didn't give Raphael time to look at them. Drawing 'Gemini', he flew towards Raphael with lightning speed, releasing two quick shockwave slashes from close range. There was no way they could miss, and they didn't. Raphael took them full blast. But when the smoke cleared from the explosion, Raphael still stood, unharmed. Slayer almost dropped 'Gemini'. "Don't look so surprised. I had to absorb most of the energy, I'll admit. But I must say that this game is over." Raphael disappeared suddenly, and reappeared right in front of both Slayer and Cloud and released a high-power energy blast. Slayer and Cloud didn't have any time to dodge, and the energy itself was much too powerful to either deflect or absorb. It looked as if they were finished. But the blast never touched them. From between where Cloud and Slayer were standing, a hand shot forward and caught the attack. Daemon stepped forward from behind his two friends. "I'd rather say that it's just begun." He spun the destructive energy around on his finger. "Interesting, I never knew you had this much power under your control." He threw the energy back at Raphael. "I didn't know you had that much either, to catch that." Raphael said as he arced his neck to dodge it. The blast wiped out the scenery behind him. "This might be an interesting fight Daemon. A short one, but an interesting one." He powered up and flew at Daemon, drawing his sword, the 'Crimson Diablos'. Daemon flew to meet him with 'Eternal Sphere'. The clash of swords sent shockwaves across the battlefield, knocking most of those standing to their knees. The two Spirit Warriors slashed at each other rapidly, each clash of the blades released huge amount of energy, destroying the ground they were standing on, crumbling mountains, and ripping up the fields surrounding them for miles. Each attacked, defended and countered the other's attack repeatedly, and neither had been wounded from this battle. Then, unexpectedly, while their swords were crossed, Raphael released a massive force of energy towards Daemon. The release fried him, and the energy surged through his body, which began to tremble with seizures. Daemon dropped to his knees, channelling the energy to the ground. The earth surrounding him exploded. Raphael laughed. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Ah, Daemon, you always fought fair. That's why you're going to die here!" Daemon looked up, his body still crackling form the energy. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted me to fight dirty. I can arrange that easily." He rose slowly to his feet. Raphael did not move; he wanted to see what Daemon would do. Throwing 'Eternal Sphere' to the ground, Daemon charged his energy, creating a vortex of energy, which surrounded him completely. When the wall of energy dispersed, Nos Feratu stood in Daemon's place. "So, Daemon and the mysterious Nos Feratu are one and the same huh?" Raphael stood, seemingly unimpressed. Nos Feratu just smiled, then rushed Raphael with 'Melufa'. Raphael charged to meet him. Nos Feratu's motions were much quicker than Daemon's, and Raphael had difficulty keeping up with Nos Feratu's slashes; the trails of blood in the air proved that much. Raphael suddenly stopped and charged up his energy, building it up while Nos Feratu continued to swirl around him, continually slashing. Suddenly he released the built-up energy, creating a mass amount of static in the atmosphere. But Nos Feratu was prepared, charging his energy too, unknown to Raphael. When Raphael released his energy, Nos Feratu countered at the exact same time. Their powers struggled with one another, Nos Feratu suspended in mid-air, trying to win the highly charged battle against Raphael. Both of them were feeling the strain of trying to control and struggle against such a huge amount of power. Then Nos Feratu disappeared, absorbing the power he released with him, leaving Raphael surrounded by his own energy. "Where are you Feratu???" Raphael yelled as he absorbed his energy. As if to answer his question, Nos Feratu reappeared a couple miles away from him, kneeling on the ground, smouldering from the extreme energy he had to control. Raphael smiled. "It ends now, Kyle Knight! Doomsday Blast!!!" With that he released his entire energy towards Nos Feratu. Nos Feratu knelt down, leaning on 'Melufa' watching the destructive energy coming towards him. Calmly, he dug 'Melufa' into the ground, and sat in a meditative position. As the energy blast rushed towards him, Nos Feratu changed back to Kyle, and levitated, still in his yoga position. His energy levels rose slowly, but he had not changed. 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' pulled themselves out of the dirt and rushed towards their owner. They stood at his side for a moment, then crossed themselves in front of Kyle just as the blast hit him. Kyle, 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' disappeared in the inferno. "What a fool, changing back to his normal self before the blast hit him." Raphael said as he walked towards Cloud and Slayer. "Wonder what he was thinking." Cloud reached for 'Fallen Angel', then stopped. "I don't think this fight is over yet, Raphael. Look!" Cloud pointed behind Raphael. The dust clouds had not yet cleared, but a shadow had appeared among the clearing dust. A man stood in the middle of the small canal created by the blast. His long red hair blew with the vortex left behind. The giant red dragon wings flexed themselves slowly, but the man himself did not move. Raphael grunted, then flung an equally powerful blast at the newcomer. The blast struck dead on, but the man didn't even flinch. He stepped forward, stopped, then began slowly walking towards Raphael. Raphael almost started running, but stood firm and asked strongly, "Who are you? Is that you Daemon? Nos Feratu? Kyle?" Raphael gripped 'Crimson Diablos' firmly. The warrior raised his head for the first time, revealing the small red dragon tattoo on his cheek. He shook his head with a grim smile on his face. "I'm sorry Raphael, but I'm neither Daemon nor Nos Feratu. I am the Genocyde Dragon, the result of the vampire and the dragon becoming one." His long fangs glistened in the blood-filled air as he spoke. "But you can call me Genocyde." He suddenly had Raphael gripped by his neck two feet off the ground by his neck. "Remember it, cause you're going to be repeating it over and over while you burn in hell!" With that, Genocyde flung Raphael through the air. The Spirit Warrior tyrant stopped himself in mid-flight, only to be greeted by a fist from his new opponent, which sent him flying towards the ground. Raphael stood in the crater that his fall had created. "How can he have control of that much power?" he thought as he watched Genocyde drop at an incredible speed towards him. Raphael powered up his Doomsday Blast once more, and released it towards Genocyde. His head flicked back as the blast caught him full in the face. He pulled back down his head to look at Raphael and stopped. "You know, it's really amazing how you can recharge to full power to release that attack. I really gotta try that sometime." He resumed his drop towards his opponent, but Raphael wasn't waiting for him to get there. He dived out of the crater, then as Genocyde landed, charged at him with 'Crimson Diablos'. Genocyde watched him as he stood, waiting. Then at the last minute, he drew both 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' from the sheaths on his back, and parried Raphael's attack. The explosion coming from the parry knocked Raphael clear from Genocyde. "You still don't get it, do you?" He released the swords in mid-air, allowing them to hover in front of him. "You can't beat me, you never could. And this is where I prove it." Using his telepathic powers, he fused 'Eternal Sphere' and 'Melufa' together, forming a beautiful, deadly weapon. The red blade shone an eerie blood glow around it. "This," he said, wielding his newfound weapon, "Is my Demon Sword, 'Shen Long'. Let's see how powerful it is, shall we?" Genocyde started towards Raphael, but Raphael wasn't about to wait for him to get there. With a yell, he charged at Genocyde, calling all of his powers to him. The first slash was met by 'Shen Long'; the second was knocked away, leaving Raphael completely open, an opening which Genocyde's fist took complete advantage of. Three punches to the chest sent Raphael sliding across the open field. He dropped to his knees to stop himself, retching blood as he did. "Your ribs are completely crushed. You'd only kill yourself if you try to go on." Raphael slowly got up. He cursed under his breath. "What?" Genocyde laughed. "It's not funny anymore now that the tables have been turned?" Raphael suddenly smiled. "I wanted an opportunity to use this attack, but there was no one strong enough. I'll enjoy watching you die." His power level started to rise again. "Oh, by the way, I don't use all of my power for my Doomsday Blast, but you'll soon realise that." The ground slowly got very unstable. Raphael's energy raged around the atmosphere, swirling around him uncontrollably. He started to focus it to a point between his two outstretched hands. A ball slowly started to form, a ball that got larger and larger. Genocyde didn't even move. The crackling of static was deafening, and blood slowly poured out of Raphael's ears. "This is where it ends!!!" He yelled above the noise. "Demon Rage!!!" He released a very unstable mass of energy towards Genocyde. Slayer looked at Cloud and asked, "Do you think he can stop that?" Cloud shrugged. "I don't know, but I know this: if he doesn't stop that, it'll kill all of us." Genocyde stared at the energy wave coming towards him. Gripping 'Shen Long' tightly, he ran towards it. When he came right in front of it he swung 'Shen Long' in an upward slash, cutting the energy release in half! The two halves dissipated as it passed him. Raphael's jaw dropped. Genocyde looked at him. "You're getting desperate, releasing such an uncontrollable amount of energy." Genocyde laughed. "Admit it; it's over Raphael." But Raphael wasn't even looking at Genocyde. It was as if his spirit had left his body. He slumped to the ground; it looked as if he had given up. Genocyde walked towards him. Suddenly Raphael rushed back up lunging for Genocyde, throwing energy blasts and swinging 'Crimson Diablos' wildly. He had gone mad! Genocyde dodged all of his attacks easily, but when Raphael's sword slashed through his hair, Genocyde stopped. "That's it. I'm through playing around!" He thrust his hand forward. Raphael suddenly jerked to a stop in midair. "You want to find out how much power you really have?" Genocyde's energy started flowing out of his body. "Well I'm here to show you!" He closed his fist. Raphael's energy started rising quickly and uncontrollably, swirling rapidly. At first Raphael looked completely lost about what was happening, then suddenly he screamed. His skin was burning under the intense heat from such a magnitude of power. His veins started bursting and his blood evaporated in the heat as it erupted out of them. His screams grew louder and wilder. "I don't believe it." Cloud stood in disbelief, "Genocyde's actually manipulating Raphael's power. This is just too wild." Genocyde stood with his outstretched fist, watching Raphael's unbearable torture. He dropped his hand. "Wow! You still have a lot to learn Raphael." he turned his back to his opponent, "But you won't have a chance to tap into that power." Raphael lunged at Genocyde's back, creating a massive energy attack from the power Genocyde unleashed from his body. Though it was torture to control all of it, he managed to hold some. He thrust his hands forward to release it, but there was nothing there. Genocyde turned around. "Are you looking for this?" in his hand he held a large ball of energy. "You're still not getting it, are you? I have control over all your power. I can make you stronger or weaker. I can give you power, and I can take it from you." He smiled. "Just like that!" He watched the ball as he made it grow smaller and smaller until it had completely disappeared. He sighed. "Enough play. I guess if I let you live, you'll just keep coming back. And we can't have that now can we?" He walked over to Raphael, who started backing away. Raphael turned to run, but Genocyde cut him off and grabbed him by the throat. He tossed him up in the air and punched him into orbit. He watched him fly through the air for a while, then drew 'Shen Long' and went up after him. In three seconds, Genocyde landed again, and Raphael dropped to the ground, missing his arms and legs. Blood trickled out of Raphael's mouth as he spoke. "This isn't over Genocyde." He coughed up some more blood. "I'm just a pawn, a little man. If you think I was difficult, wait till you come up against my masters. Then you shall see true power!" Genocyde stood over his body. "If they have 'true power' tell them bring it. I'll be waiting. You weren't much of a challenge anyway." He released an energy blast onto Raphael. Raphael's ashes drifted in the wind as Genocyde walked away. Angelo flew over to him. "You do know he wasn't lying, right?" he asked as he landed. Genocyde didn't look at him as he walked past his brother. "You do know I wasn't kidding, right?"
*****
Deep in a thought-to-be abandoned castle, somewhere in the English countryside, six shadowed figures sat around a rectangular table in the main dining hall in complete darkness. One of them suddenly stood. "So, our puppet has finally been destroyed. I thought he was too powerful for anyone against us to kill him Cyro." A pair of blue eyes flashed in the darkness. "I thought so too, Thief. It seems our friend Kyle has tapped into more power than we first perceived he had." Another figure rose. "So has his two friends Slayer and Cloud." It sounded like a thousand people were speaking. "It seems we may soon have to make our presence known." "Not yet, Legion, my friend." A large dark figure suddenly entered the large room. "Let them think they have finally brought peace." His voice thundered throughout the room. "Let them think it is finally over, let them let their guard down. Then they shall feel our wrath!" Cheers and shouts echoed in agreement. "Do not worry gentlemen. I, Psycho, will ensure that we finish what we have set in motion. Soon we will assume the position that nature itself calls us. We truly are superior, and all below us will worship us!" The frightening laughs flowed from the castle through the valley to the village a couple miles down, striking terror in its superstitious residents.
To be continued.