Ignis Aurum Probat
Author's Note: Hi again! Here's the translation: "One is tested in the fire"…alright, with Jamie, Kazuya, Jin, Kyo, and Billy trapped with Jinpachi…I'm sure you're wondering what happened to Hwoarang, Raven, Dimitri, and Steve? They're going to get a lot more then they bargained for trying to take down the power source…how you ask? Well read and find out! Oh, and before I forget…this chapter takes place right around the time Jamie and the others battle it out with The Keepers. Okay, shout out time!
Shadowsin: Hey, great chapter! Hope Kyo doesn't get too evil! I'm glad you've got some more info on the OC battle…well, hope you like the latest chappie!
Element6: Yeah…that'd be weird if I put Raven and Asuka together…who IS Asuka supposed to be with anyway? Anyway, enjoy this chappie!
Thee Slushee: Thanks for your reviews and your story rocks! Oh, by the way, it gets a little gory (you know me) but I hope you still like it
The Amenes Power Source to Hwoarang, looked like a pulsating…fleshy…mound…he had honestly never thought he had seen anything more disgusting in his life. It was incased in a protective sheet of glass, and hung suspended in the air. It seemed to be breathing in and out…slowly inhaling and exhaling…and it exuded raw power and…hatred.
"There it is…how are we going to get to it?" Hwoarang wondered aloud.
"I don't know…it's too high to beat up." Steve answered.
"Oh my God, I can't believe we're having this discussion!" Raven said angrily.
He whipped out his semi-automatic rifle and began firing at the structure…the bullets bounced uselessly off the quivering membrane's translucent incasing.
"RAVEN STOP!" Dimitri yelled.
He quickly disarmed the CIA agent; Hwoarang, Steve, and Raven began arguing…Dimitri joined in at first, but then abruptly stopped…he could hear something…a voice…wait, not just one…but…many…
"You guys," Dimitri muttered. "Shut up for a second."
They did, and they listened as the chanting grew louder…suddenly, the oppressing abyss of the room was lit up with countless hieroglyphics that were blazing a crimson color.
"What are they saying?" Steve asked.
"Dimitri, do you know?" Hwoarang continued.
"It's…it's a derivative of an ancient Japanese dialect…I can only make out a few of the words." He said in a low voice.
"Translation?" Raven asked.
"Out of the many…we…are…the…one…prepare to…"
Dimitri didn't finish before a loud, metallic shrieking bounced off the walls…electricity filled the room, and out of swirling portals came the crystallized warriors.
"The Keepers…" Steve whispered.
"Let's take 'em all out boys!" Hwoarang said.
"But the power source needs to be destroyed first." Raven argued.
"We'll deal with these guys first."
The four and their soldiers had fought a group of Keepers before…and they had torn through the soldiers…so much so that they had reduced ranks…it was a wise move for Hwoarang to send the remaining soldiers to join with Jamie's group…even though a select few could realistically take down the power source and Jinpachi, it was the soldier's job to make sure that none of the Tekken Force rushed to aid their leader…or let any of The Keepers interrupt the destruction of the core.
Hwoarang could tell that the core was agitated, and that it had sent these monsters to do battle with them…he hoped they could survive long enough to officially take down the power source…everyone was counting them…Hwoarang didn't think he was bragging when he thought that he had one of the most important assignments here…hopefully, he and the others could take down the power source in time.
"ARGH!" Steve groaned as one of the creatures's slashed at him.
The blow was meant to run him through, but fortunately, Steve moved…only to have his arm slashed open. Dimitri looked at the British Boxer's gash and realized that it was indeed deep, and blood was gushing from it…he needed medical attention immediately…and if he were to get it then he should be fine.
If not, then there'd be a problem.
"STEVE!" Hwoarang called.
The blow caused Steve to stumble slightly and fall on his butt.
"No worries mate, just a scratch is all…" He groaned.
"Scratch hell," Dimitri said as he spin kicked one of The Keepers. As soon as he landed, he seized an opportunity and shoved the enemy off the platform…it screamed as it fell. "We need to stop the bleeding," Dimitri tore off a piece of fabric from his camo jacket. "Use this!"
Hwoarang quickly wrapped Steve's wound in a field tourniquet and protected the injured boxer from the three Keepers…Raven took out two of them with a powerful roundhouse kick…a kick so powerful that it actually shattered the enemies in two!
Immediately, the adventurer and the CIA agent helped Hwoarang fend off the final three Keepers.
"ENOUGH!" Raven said annoyedly.
Quickly, he grabbed one, and flipped it over his shoulder…an axe kick to the face shattered the enemy…meanwhile, Dimitri performed an outside crescent kick, and then an inside one…The Keeper fell, and Dimitri stomped on it's head.
"Bullets don't work on them huh? That's okay, this ways more fun!" Dimitri added.
The final Keeper was destroyed by Hwoarang; who unleashed a complicated array of lightning fast kicks to its gut.
"That was fun…" Hwoarang breathed.
"We'll check the power source again, Raven, you stay with Steve." Dimitri said.
Raven immediately whipped out a field medi-pak and tended to the ailing boxer…meanwhile, Hwoarang and Jamie walked towards the core…suddenly, blue flames shot up around the platform…separating the two from Hwoarang and Steve. Suddenly, a beam of light shot from the core and it vanished.
"The hell-" Hwoarang began but didn't get a chance to finish.
Suddenly, a dark pool of blood started to pool on the tile floors…and from that blood came a creature worse then…
Well…
Dimitri Helios had seen a lot of things during his life as an adventurer…ancient prophecies, mummies, sea monsters…but nothing could prepare him for what was standing in front of him.
It looked to be human at one time…or at least, half of it was human. It wore a loose fitting beige sleeping kimono…and a long, crimson kimono over it…both were probably at one time very ornate and pretty…but now, they looked mottled, damp, and brown. The creature's face was another sight to behold…the skin on it's lower jaw looked as if it had been…burned off, as they could see it's jaw bone frozen forever in it's death grin.
The remaining skin looked yellowed and had burnt spots all over it, revealing white bone…it reminded Dimitri of burnt papyrus. One eye hung from it's socket and dripped some kind of viscous black substance on the floor…it's hair hung in damp tatters and clumps down it's back and had bits of scalp caught in it…
And that was just the human part of it.
Perhaps the most unsettling part of this creature was the fact that its entire left side resembled that of a Keeper…and not just any Keeper…
Looks like this is the core in another form…
Hwoarang thought.
While all Keepers have one long blade for hands…this one had five for each finger…the hand itself was larger then it's body, and so long that it dragged along the floor. It's ruby eye glinted evilly…and it's foot (which resembled a dragon foot) stomped the ground angrily.
When it roared, it carried the disturbing combination of both a human cry of agony, and the shrill screech of a Keeper. When it looked at the two again it began to speak…in a voice that reminded Hwoarang of the time when he accidentally dropped Julia's CD player in Mishima High's pool during the 3rd Tournament.
"Foolish humans…you cannot comprehend what you are trying to do…to think that you could take me out is utterly laughable…I can kill you with a mere thought."
"Really? Then you must be stupider then I thought!" Hwoarang shouted.
The Core didn't like that too much…it roared again and lunged at the two…it was fast, and while the two managed to dodge the deadly overhead swing of it's claws…Dimitri did get a back fist to the face…causing him to ricochet across the platform…and dangerously close to the fire.
"You okay!" Hwoarang called.
He was cornered, and had to fight the monster, Raven and Steve were giving him pointers from their otherwise helpless position…and Dimitri lunged at the creature.
Hwoarang dodged another claw attack, and managed to land a roundhouse kick to the creature's human face…it stumbled, and Hwoarang rolled away…Dimitri knew that the Keepers were immune to bullet fire, but old habits tend to die hard.
In his line of work, Dimitri learned early on that if you shot the enemy enough times…beat it to submission…or chopped it up into tiny pieces then it wouldn't come back.
These are hollow points though…these tear through flesh…maybe I can take out the human side.
He unholstered his two uzis and let fire with perfect aim…and while the bullets hit the human side…they didn't seem to slow the creature down. He turned, and grabbed Dimitri fiercely with his human hand and lifted him high in the air.
Dimitri grunted and struggled against the monster…and once again, it spoke in it's horrible, high, grating voice.
"Once I kill you I'll absorb your essences…and after that, I'll assimilate with that little Nephilim…just like I did with the other one…Toshio…"
Dimitri gasped in horror and realized that this was the Nephilim that Jamie had told him about! So this was poor Toshio's fate…had his spirit moved on yet? Or was it trapped in this grotesque…abomination. The Core prepared to unleash it's death blow by impaling Dimitri with it's long claws…Dimitri struggled but knew it was useless…he couldn't breath and everything was turning black…
And then, suddenly, he was dropped to the floor…he coughed in agony as he lay on the floor and found Hwoarang, once again sparring with the creature.
"Hwoarang…" Dimitri gasped. "Lead him to me!"
"It doesn't maneuver very well mate!" Steve choked.
Hwoarang unleashed a few kicks and punches…to give himself some breathing room, and then dashed to the other side of the room…Dimitri whistled and caught the creatures attention…it ran at him, and in the last minute, the adventurer rolled out of the way, and the creature became engulfed in the blue fire.
"Y'know…for the main powersource of an advanced civilization you certainly aren't that bright are you?" Hwoarang asked with a grin.
The flames licked across the Toshio side of the creature…and onto the Keeper side…but the Toshio side was obviously in more pain.
"IF I GO DOWN I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"
The flames thickened around them…making the arena slightly more cramped…and now the Core was on fire…and running towards the duo…one touch would ignite them.
Fighting was pointless, so Hwoarang and Dimitri were locked in a deadly game of tag. Dimitri seemed to remember that when he was little, he used to love to play tag…and now…he wasn't so sure…
Raven and Steve offered advice…but when they got right down to it, unless they could turn off the flames then they were trapped. The deadly game went on for five agonizing minutes.
"CHRIST WILL YOU DIE!" Hwoarang screamed in desperation.
It did not answer…instead it only screamed in a deadly combo of anguish and agony…finally, it had Hwoarang cornered. The Korean knew he couldn't go anywhere…Dimitri fired meagerly at the creature and even tried to get its attention but to know avail. Hwoarang turned his head away reflexively and just before it could lunge at the Korean…it suddenly stopped…and staggered backwards.
"What…no…The Keeper Ultima? It…can't…be…"
It fell to the ground…shattering like a fragile plate…the remains of Toshio couldn't seem to go on without it's counterpart and fell lamely to the ground…Hwoarang quickly scooted out of the way, only to be helped up by Dimitri.
The azure flames dissipated, and the two ran over to Steve and Raven.
"Okay…what just happened?" Hwoarang asked.
"I dunno…did we win?" Steve queried.
A loud rumbling shook the establishment…it was going down!
"Does that answer you're question?" Raven asked.
"Who cares! We need to get out of here now!" Dimitri advised.
And so, the four left the crumbling ruins behind them…Toshio's remains burning as the room crumbled around them…
Author's Note: Okay, sorry if this sucked but I really tried my best…I'm kinda new to writing Raven, and to be honest, Dimitri is such an old OC that I completely kinda forgot his personality ( I used to write original fic about him) anyway, please read and review…and don't worry, the next chappie will bring to light what the hell exactly happened with The Power Core…anyway, PLZ READ AND REVIEW AND MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE!