Jason: Strife!
Time for the first boss battle.
Jason grabbed the first rung on the ladder and began to climb. He saw a handle and a sliding hatch on the ceiling he had never noticed before, grabbed it, and slid it back. He could see another hatch at the top. A semi-circle of light hit his face. He continued to climb and opened the second hatch, climbing out onto the roof.
The wind instantly greeted him, blowing gently past his face. The sky was a bright shade of orange as the sun slowly began to set on the horizon. The ever-bustling city of San Francisco loomed in the distance. Closer to his apartment complex was a small forest and other residential buildings.
The roof of the building was flat and clear except for a single water tower and a couple of large air conditioning units next to it. Jason did a complete 360 but didn't see the tall figure of his brother anywhere...
That's when he looked up.
A hunched shadow sat motionless on top of the water tower, outlined by the dying orange. It stood up, then leaped down onto the rooftop with a resounding "thud." Bro's sunglasses shined for a moment as his eyes moved to meet Jason's. He wore his favorite shirt from the nineties, gray cotton with a large TH slanted at an angle to represent Tony Hawk. His blond hair was unkempt and stuck out at subtle angles, as it always looked near the end of the day.
A brown envelope stuck out of his back pocket, barely visible to Jason's eyes. He smiled, hinting at the smallest evil behind his flawless expression.
"Hey, little bro," he jeered. "What's up?"
"Cut the crap, Xavier. We both know what I'm here for." Jason raised his sword and pointed at the envelope. He shifted the hilt slightly in his hand. His words were filled with false-confidence.
"Oooh, someone's serious. You must really be itching for a fight."
"I'm not ITCHING for anything!" Jason growled, "I just want what's mine back."
He lunged at Bro in an attempt to grab the envelope, but he dodged quickly and jumped backwards.
"Sorry, but I just can't do that," he chided. "I've had this feeling for a while that I shouldn't let you play this. At least not right now. Sort of like a voice in the back of my head telling me to teach little punks a lesson."
In that instant, Jason could've sworn he saw a flash of dark red light behind Bro's sunglasses. Xavier had blue eyes.
"That witch," Jason murmured. "She's gotten to you too, hasn't she?!"
Bro shrugged his shoulders and smiled again. "I have no idea what you're talking about. All I know is that I can't let you play this game."
In that instant, Jason unleashed all of his anger towards his brother in one sword swing. He'd spent years knowing that he would always be second best. He could never win. No matter how hard he tried, Xavier was always miles ahead of him. He'd laughed and played it off.
But no more.
Jason's sword connected with Xavier's. He'd drawn his own before Jason could realize it. They both jumped back and swung again, successfully blocking once more. He circled around in an attempt to hit Bro's back, but he made a vertical block just in time, then quickly parrying and knocking Jason off his feet.
He wheeled around and sliced downwards. Jason's reflexes saved him as he managed to lift his blade just in time. Bro grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands and tried to drive it in with full strength, but Jason rolled over and dodged.
He got back on his feet and made some distance between him and Xavier.
"You could have killed me!" Jason yelled.
"YOUR POINT?" he said. His voice was overshadowed by a much darker one and the red light reappeared in his eyes.
Xavier darted at him, almost too quick to see, and thrust the blade towards him. Jason had barely enough time to block. The force of the attack caused Jason's sword to break in two.
Damn it, cheap piece of crap! he thought. He found himself holding a hilt and ten inches of a blade. He threw it at Xavier, only to be harmlessly deflected. Bro approached slowly, sword at the ready.
In that moment, Jason felt for the first time, complete and honest fear. He would be killed at the hands of a brainwashed sibling. No one would ever believe it. Xavier removed his shades and red eyes stared back at him.
"Time to die, little bro," he laughed.
A sudden flash of light blinded Xavier, but Jason blocked his eyes just in time, He looked underneath and a long, shining steel sword was stuck in the ground in between them.
Thanks, Herc, thought Jason.
He jumped up and grabbed the hilt of the blade with both hands and pulled it out. The blade was too heavy to hold with one hand. A Claymore. It had a brown hilt wrapped in leather. The blade ended in a point and a closed "V" near his hands.
He realized that he was still fighting, and readied the claymore. Xavier was still fighting off blindness. He looked up at Jason with fury in his eyes. He grabbed his sword off the ground and attempted another lunge, but...
=Medea's Perspective=
Jason was in trouble. That was all she could sense. It had something to do with Stratus, that was for sure.
Medea woke up startled. She had been sleeping, but she could still sense events that were happening miles away. She felt like she was beginning to drift into some kind of consciousness in a bright purple space, but it was dispelled as soon as she awoke.
She got up quickly and rushed into her living room. She felt like she had to do something. She looked into the glass sphere once again, trying to enter the mysterious woman's mind. If she harmed Jason, she would pay tenfold.
She latched on to whatever strands of mind linked to her that Medea could find, and scrambled them. Without mercy, she would make this person go insane and loose whatever grip over reality she had.
=Jason's Perspective=
...Suddenly, Xavier started clutching his head and crying out in pain. It was like he was having a massive headache right in the middle of a battle. Jason took the opportunity as quickly as possible.
He ran over to Xavier and knocked the sword out of his hands. He kicked it off the roof and it plummeted three stories, wedging itself in the grass below. Jason turned back to Bro, still writhing in agony. He turned the Claymore over in his hand to where the flat of the blade faced him. He hit him on the back with full force while he wasn't looking, successfully knocking him out.
Jason stood there for a second. He had somehow managed to win. He held his blade up in victory and a smile cracked across his face. With some help from friends, but still, he'd managed to win!
After all this time, I still have to depend on someone to help me, he thought. But I guess that's what friends are for.
He picked up Bro's limp body and pushed him through the hole back down the ladder. Once they were both in his room again, he laid Bro on his bed to let him sleep. Jason was fairly confident that whatever had brainwashed Xavier had lost its grip on him.
Jason's phone began to buzz. Was Hercule congratulating him? He unlocked it and answered.
astralProjection began trolling immortalSwordsman
AP: C0ngratulat10ns, b0y.
IS: Uh... Do I know you?
AP: N0, but th1s 1s an excellent 0ppurtun1ty to talk to you.
AP: 1'm n0t qu1te ready t0 reveal my real name to you, but let's just say 1've taken 1nterst 1n y0u and y0ur friends.
IS: You... Aren't in line with our enemy, are you?
AP: N0t at all.
AP: In fact, I w0uld l1ke t0 help y0u defeat sa1d pers0n.
AP: 0ne thing y0u sh0uld kn0w ab0ut her: d0n't trust her under any c1rcumstance. She 1s the emb0diment 0f cha0s 1n your sess10n. She will bring 0nly destruct10n and hav0c.
IS: You know this how?
AP: Y0u're just full 0f quest10ns, aren't y0u?
AP: Because 1've seen y0ur future.
AP: Have y0u n0t sensed th1s y0urself when y0u talked t0 her?
IS: I did, but I'm not completely sure I trust you either.
IS: I mean, why help us? And you've seen my future? Sounds pretty far fetched to me.
AP: 1 have my 0wn reasons.
AP: 1'm just n0t ready t0 share them.
AP: 1n the meantime, just heed my advice. 1'll be here if you ever need my help.
AP: N0w, 1 bel1eve y0u have a sess10n t0 start?
IS: Right... Talk to you later, I guess.
astralProjection ceased trolling immortalSwordsman
Jason's phone continued to buzz. Looked like weird trolls weren't the only ones trying to get his attention. Hercule needed to talk to him.
paradoxStrongman began pestering immortalSwordsman
IS: Hercule, can you see this?
PS: Yes, it seems your brother has been temporarily incapacitated. Our ally pulled through.
IS: Our ally?
PS: Medea. I asked for her help in intercepting our foe, some mysterious trickster named Stratus.
IS: Stratus... So she's the one controlling Allison somehow.
PS: Controlling Allison? This is a disturbing development, and would explain why I haven't been able to see her. When did you learn this?
IS: While I was void jumping and crap, that Stratus person pestered me using her account. She tried to impersonate Alli at first, but I called her bluff.
PS: In any case, we should start begin our session and straighten those matters out later.
PS: I've already established a server on my end. All you have to do is connect.
IS: I'll be ready soon.
paradoxStrongman ceased pestering immortalSwordsman