THE ORACLE 1.1: A TRUE TESTAMENT

The battle is near.

The Man in White.

The Man of the Scythe.

It was a clear night in the Grove.

It was all black and silver

Staircases run to nowhere.

Testament. The Man of the Scythe.

The Man in White challenged him

To duel on his domain.

To prove the scythe's worth.

Testament, his eyes looked at

The Man in White's weapon:

A gun? This was what he thought.

There is no mystery in such a weapon

Not even a real way to physically use force.

Testament was a cocky being.

A man who was human,

But became some artificial device

For something or someone he did not know.

He could not see what the Man in White

Appear to be. All in white he was.

He had no face, but he had a voice.

There was no male or female behind him.

Almost like his voice except his was like

A deep well when he spoke.

Far away and dense with every word.

The Gun Man's heart is no fear.

His mission clear and bright.

Make this man think he'll win by Scythe.

Without another motion or word, the gun drove

And aimed. A goop appeared in sliver

And went straight, somewhere.

Testament defended magically without blight.

But his body and vision went on a whim

As his thinking left his brain.

He went limp with no worth

As the Man in White knew his spat

And his aim were not true weapons

But another desire that he instead brought.

The desire to see a man as a weapon

Built with his own anger and force.

Testament would be fun for this being.

A man who was human,

But became a device

For nothing or anything, he knew.

The man in scythe and black

Now appeared to be a sight he was.

A bigger face and soon a louder voice.

A giant, this man thought to himself.

A newborn giant that knelt

As high as the Man in White tall.

The giant formed a "prayer"

As his body became active than before.

Sending himself into a change he did not ask for.

He swelled, he grew, he expanded.

Everything described what was becoming.

Testament opened his eyes

And saw himself "leaving" the ground.

It became a funny thought when his vision

Expanded to find that his knelt hands stayed the same

As he saw the Man in White

Getting smaller with passing time.

He smiled and folded his arms behind him

Keeping his gun in his holster for visible sight

As if to tell him that he was shot

But not with bullets, not even the magic kind.

The bullets were in fact not so.

A strange liquid protruded from

The Man in White's side.

Another steamy day

In the kitchen.

Jam Kuradoberi balanced a plate

Full of food or two by the armful

As she scooped and mixed fried noodles

Over the hot stove.

Her restaurant was as busy as ever

Down in the busy sticks of China.

She was built like a mini goddess

As her cute face hides

Her martial arts feats,

Balancing trays, plates, anything at all

Like a limber tree.

Her outrageous and swan-like moves

Enable the piping hot food

To reach her customers in organized

And record fashion.

Even though she has a few staff

On board, she could easily manage

Her restaurant with no problem.

While balancing heavy crates

Of cabbages and rice bags,

Her ears picked up an unusual conversation

Between two men.

They appear out-of-towners

By their business suits

And government glasses hiding something odd.

Her back hid behind the swinging door

As the men continued.

They said of something odd

Taking place out in the Grove,

Not to far from Jam's restaurant.

An illegal and unknown Gear was spotted.

A Man in Bright White challenging

A wanted Gear named Testament,

Also a follower Justice, a Gear deadliest of all.

One believed that they are plotting together

And Testament was transformed

Into something greater, but was unsure if

This was any connection to Justice.

No mistakes should be made.

Jam coming away from the door

Ws left unnoticed

As she backed to the kitchen,

A scrawny waitress rushing past her

And balancing four plates, two on each arm.

She thought to herself why

A criminal like this Gear would work

For someone guy that may be another one

Unknown to even these "agents".

But she was even more curious of

What this "transformed into something greater" was.

Bounty work was already behind her

And she would rather not risk her business

To any criminal that would put her

In financial ruin.

Then again, she was still short on staff.

And realized if there was a large bounty involved,

She would hire more staff in the kitchen

With enough energy to focus

Her work and her arts at the same time.

A wonderful opportunity opened again

With a price greater than before.

But if this "great" meant greater danger,

Is it enough for her?

Or is something more a foot in the end?

Before Testament could get a word

From the Man in White,

The being disappeared.

The Gear was stranded

In the desolate grove,

Left to expand further while

His body continued along.

Slowly, he raised his one large leg up

And stood straight, as

His other bigger knee left the ground.

As fair sized as the Grove was,

It resembled now a child's toy

Hidden behind bushes for safekeeping.

Testament stood about 100 feet high,

His one foot could cover a well

As his boot toe was against the marble stairway.

His scythe nothing more than a toothpick,

Too small to be of use anymore.

The Gear was something more

In many ways and flashed a thought

Of his revenge and anger against man.

He knew he stood taller than Justice

And handling humans in his own fashion

Would not be a difficult feat.

Something for him to finally achieve,

Knowing all, even other humans and Gears,

Were nothing to him and could do

Nothing for him.

The ultimate being

Ready to play with the toys.

Unaware of anything beside his

Devious delight,

A little lady was crouching behind bushes

As she saw the giant Testament

Pick up his scythe, but between his tree limb fingers.

Her jar dropped in awe, a gasp

Escaping her breath.

Her sight craned above,

Her heart pounded, scared

Fearing she would be seen.

She almost started to question

Why she bothered looking for him.

Then, she wriggled her nose and let out

A dainty sneeze, a wind blew

As the Gear heard something faint

Below his feet.

Jam muttered a soft cry and hid further inside the bushes.

Thinking quickly, she pretended to fall asleep,

Wiping her nose tip in fain slumber.

He caught sight of her tiny body

And gingerly placed her on his palm

Outstretched and carried her up

To his face.

Already knowing she was being watched,

Jam "awoke" and gasped,

Not in a fake moment of surprise,

But at how large Testament's face appeared.

Billboard sized nonetheless,

Yet she was also…drawn.

She never knew how attractive he was.

A sullen man yet uniquely feminine

By his soft features and eyes

That hid kindness over his irritation.

She pleaded with him

To not harm her.

She was not after him for any reason.

She even refused to fight him

As if it was a battle set to win anyway.

She is nothing to you

A silent voice cried out.

The Man in White appeared.

His gun hidden away behind his cloak.

His sneer visible like window blinds

In the hot sun.

Take back what is yours

And your kinds

His words poured out again.

A whistling wail cried out

And Jam landed on the ground

Standing in front of

The Man in White.

She snapped back at him,

Stating that Testament

Was hers.

What that meant

Was anyone's guess.

But she was determined for her prize.

She flexed her fingers

Drawing him near for a fight.

The Man in White

More than gladly excepted.

Two opponents duking it out

For control of the on-looking giant Gear.

She flared a Hochifu at him,

Then retaliated with a Ryujin

As he stepped back,

Dodging the attacks.

Her forces bombarded again;

Breath of Asanagi,

The Bakushu,

Gekrin, Kenroukaku

Mawarikomi,

She kicked in every direction

He could take.

But the Man in White

Proved quick as lightening.

Removing himself from

Every skillful move

Jam fought with.

He drew out his gun again

And fired a shot,

Jam was also quick

As the bullet zoomed past her head.

She panted in shock

Unaware of his gleaming weapon.

Another bullet fired;

This time piercing her side.

Blood soaked her red bodice

And dripped red along her pink skirt.

She winced and sobbed by the hot stinging

Wound, her hands covered red.

The gun aimed for her forehead.

The Man in White's smile

Pictured death and carnage

At a defenseless victim,

Beaten down unfairly.

Hitomi!

A cry echoed the Grove.

The ground split and arose

A red ooze with a hideous face.

It clamped the Man in White.

His body dropped in a clumsy manner

And his energy dropping.

He muttered and tried to speak out.

Testament stood up to his full height,

Angry, furious, wanting something.

When he called out a cry to end

That life, the Man in White

Managed a weak smile

And flashed a bright light

Emitting from his body

And quickly disappeared.

Both Jam and Testament

Stood there is shock

Of the cowardly and unsuspecting approach.

She turned up to him finally.

Her side still hung by her hands.

She won regardless, but then

There was the matter of

How long if possible

Testament would remain this size.

It would be hard press

To bring him in,

Many times her size

He would not be easy to take down.

Once again, she asked him

How he would get out of this.

Was his plan still intact?

Strange thing was

Testament seemed defeated already.

He wanted to fight against the humans,

He already had the size and the power to match.

But it didn't seem fitting, almost

Worthless.

He knelt down beside Jam

And gently placed her in his hands again.

Jam moaned from the ongoing pain,

But she was confused as what to do next.

Then, a thought hit her as she smiled crookedly.

Jam relaxed on a make shift bed

Admiring her long right leg

In the air.

Her dainty open foot

Seemed to balance something.

"Testy" hung for dear life

Grabbing her "bigger" big toe

As Jam casually swung her leg

Back and forth, watching his

Frightful reaction with every

Pendulum swing.

A fitting bargain Jam thought

In the end when the effect wore off

On Testament and now a something for her as

Her mind lay idle,

But her body tensed

With the idea of how much fun

It would be to have

A Gear toy to play with.