Conquest AT - Night Skies on Planet Namek

Cipher's attempt to be diplomqtic almost instantly went up in smoke. First with the hot blooded Shinjin firing on her, and then Erebos too. Cipher's eyes narrowed in a look of sheer disapproval. "I simply couldn't have waited five minutes before flying off the handle?" he spoke, irritation flowing through his voice. At the very least, Jackie was now moving to protect her, placing her in a barrier so they could talk.

But it was too late for that, wasn't it? Outside the barrier, helpless to do anything, he watched as Azuki slashed her own throat. For the first time in his life, real emotion flashed across his face. A look of horror. "No!"



The building had been reduced to a smoldering ruin. Cipher gave a light groan as he tried to push himself up from the rubble. It had been chaotic, it had been bloody, and the damage was starting to build up.

His eyes fell on the figure limping towards him. Dressed in white and as pale as he was, her dark hair tied into a set of large pigtails, Cipher 25 staggered towards him, her eyes blank as her face was contorted into a twisted snarl.

As Cipher pulled himself to his feet, 25 extended a hand towards him, green energy forming in her palm. In his current state, he knew he couldn't dodge. "25..." he murmured.

Then something happened. 25's expression shifted and changed, like she was fighting with something. For a brief moment, sanity appeared in her eyes. "2...4..."

Cipher watched in surprise as 25 suddenly turned her hand towards herself, and fired.



Cipher stared at Azuki's lifeless body. He had been able to stop this death, just as he did with 25.

Why was he even here?

The emotion drained from Cipher's face, once again leaving the apathetic masked. "Damn you all," he murmured, before turning to fly away.

Cipher making an exit attempt

Current PL: 103,130
KP:6/6
MP: 4/6
Damage: 63%

Jackie's grit and perseverance in the face of a demon trying to reason itself around her was admirable, at least. Like it had room to talk, helping Kamae with what this Tree does to the residents of Namek. It was much the same as she heard on Earth. The poor, flailing attempts to try and explain away its failings and own sins with a sort of half-assed wave at hypocrisies. It didn't make her angry though, the human kami just kept her smile strong.

"You know this isn't the good side you fight on. There's no need to keep making excuses. Just listen, please, I don't mean..."
Her thoughts are interrupted as the entity grew more and more desperate. Anxious. The Kami shakes her hand at it more to pull into its reach. To get its attention, and make it want to reach out to her. Those crimson eyes find the struggle less worrisome until the Entity actually managed to pull free from Erebos's bind around it. Now it was Jackie's turn to look a little nervous, her smile dropping to a concerned tense expression. Her hand tried harder now again to reach for Azuki and the Entity as it threatened to do the worst.

"H-Hey, wait. Settle down, you don't have to do this. Think for a moment before you... Don't you-"
With the claw at their throats, and without the ability to stop them, Jackie is forced to watch the Entity cut themselves down right in front of her. Her eyes widen, the shell of white slowly dimming as the kami looks terrified. And for the first time in a while, she spoke. Her words were a little raspy and pained from both her injuries and the sheer sudden desperation. She could only get out one word, the one that mattered at the moment the Entity started falling.

"AZUKI!"
The mute dropped her impressive shining barrier in a pathetic dispersal of light dust and rushed to go catch Azuki before she fell, forcing herself into a skid to catch the body just before it was laid out on the ground. The shadows and dark form of the entity ebbed away from both of them as they made contact, giving Jackie a good look at Azuki's limp form. The time she got to see her normal again, and it's a quick death in her arms. Jackie couldn't even tell if she had time to say anything else to her as life already seemed parted from those eyes. The vast blood that now coated the kami and her surroundings made that doubly clear.

"Hrkk... Zu... nnn!"
Damn it, she couldn't SAY anything. She fruitlessly tried putting pressure on the wound far too late to stop the major damage. Still warm in her hands, the kami broke down in that crater. She promised a long time ago she wouldn't cry, wouldn't show this weeping weakness anymore. But the tears soon came.

"Plea.... HCK! N-no, please..."
Cradling Azuki while desperately whining to herself, she soon found her focus hammered in and surroundings dulled. Some of the others would try speaking with her, each with their own mix of either disdain or apathy in some form. She couldn't tell the voices apart though. All she could hear was a crackling. All she could see aside from Azuki was a flame encroaching into her vision from all sides. Blurry, until it centered itself. overshadowing even her friend she cared deeply for here. Erebos, paying any amount of attention, would see the kami's eyes zone out. Tears still marking her face, but there was no mistaking the similarity to her glazed appearance staring into that flame on Earth where they met in private.


"Do you feel it now? That burning."
It was that voice again, demanding her attention. And now she could do nothing to pull away from it. No distractions, no friendly voices, nothing. It was the clearest she's heard it.

"It's them. Those you fail. Why didn't you save them?"

---

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Unprompted, the kami's head jerked up to the skies away from Azuki's body. Her arms were thrown up in a sudden grip on her head. Either from sheer luck or an act to protect the other red head's body, Azuki was dropped far enough away from the human before the upper half of her body combusted in a spontaneous whirl of flame. Jackie's been on fire multiple times before, but this looked like it was hurting her if the sudden screams were anything to go by.

There was a disturbing amount of energy being pressed around her from this conflux. Whatever was going on was welling up in her arms, chest, and head. She's forced into a stand as she stumbles around with her face covered, the flames trailing up and growing more wild in their patterns. The crater and surrounding island were all rumbling from the sudden outrage. Blood, tears, and sweat all quickly burnt off the woman on fire. Suddenly, it got brighter and brighter after a moment. To the point where even her hair started to take an unusual form. Molded around the flame that was now rapturing her body, it too held the property of fire in the way it moved in the air.

Jackie was blinded, deafened, and consumed by this. Even as the raging flame dimmed down to show a painfully reminiscent form of the Star Burst, one couldn't help to feel it was more than just a technique being used here. There was no right of mind put behind it. Eventually, those hands would drop to reveal her eyes completely glazed over in this perfect sheen of fiery orange. Pupil, whites, all of it. The unnaturalness, combined with the look of disdain and continual painful and angry screaming, would shake anyone who knew her.


This newfound ire had but one target - Kamae. It was the one who convinced the Entity of any of this anyways. Did Jackie need further reasoning? Reasoning didn't even need to exist in the human's mind right now for action to take place. Dashing out of the crater and into the air, Jackie was going to follow up on finishing off a certain schemer right then and there.

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Her muscles were on fire, literally. Her angered yell was mixed with that dry pain, like her existence was suffering. There were no quips for this demon, no retorts to prove herself good and virtuous above an open threat to everyday people of the universe. There was just Jackie, the reckoning. Pulling both hands out in front of her, she started gathering the energy of the suns from Namek. The surrounding area dimmed for the time she was charging up this large ball of fire and light in front of her.

She'd burn it all. The tree, this demon. If the little scoundrel with a change of heart wasn't able to finish it first, at least. The more she pulled for her signature Flare, the more those flames on her body burned away at her. If she was lucky, she'd get to see this guy away for herself before she herself flies too close to the sun. With one final push, she outstretches her hands. Letting loose a mixture of solar energy and her own fire-powered wrath, arcing like the many solar flares of the stars above. For a fleeting moment, it was the brightest thing in the skies as it soared towards Kamae.

---

Jackie is not so happy and spends 4MP on a Avenger Transformation Boost and goes into a flavored False Sun Soul (x57). Bringing her PL to 630,000 temporarily.

Jackie is not giving Kamae such a chance. Sending a Heavy Flare (6KP 100% | 630,000) with the intent to wound.

PL: 630,000 (False Sun Soul (x7) (Sparking Heat x5 + x2 from 4MP Avenger Transformation Boost))
KP: 0/6 (-6)
MP: 0/6 (-6)
CDN: AVENGER (2), On Fire (?)

WC: 1325
TWC: 3645

Kamae watched as the people around him were slowly despairing at the lose of comrades, the anger that burned within turning to old ash only for new flames to be ignited by even more death. This lead the demon to begin chuckling as even Ban finally decided to do something. Which made Kamae even remember he existed in the first place. The demon's once smile soon fading as he realized that Ban was now attacking only when things were settling down. The saiba-man's anger like a cold bucket of water on a warm fire to kamae.

In his eyes, he saw the once comrade as now a pile of ash trying to rekindle a dying flame. His time had been when the event had taken off, now he was nothing more than a star who had been removed from the stage and throwing a tantrum. Kamae would have spit in the saiba-man's direction if his body possessed the ability to do so. The halo about Kamae flaring brightly as he held up his palm and decided that the Saiba-man didn't deserve the pleasure of his defeat. Growling his frustrations, the black orb which was liken to a hungry maw.

The black hole was immensely strong, strong enough to slowly begin picking up debris in the area to suck it up. The blast was easily absorbed by the hungry maw though consuming that much power did cause it to fizzle out unfortunately. This left Kamae spent of all his energy, though he felt content. This body was still imperfect, incapable of sustaining what he needed from it. He could already tell his defeat was at the present, but it wouldn't be by someone who had refused to aid him completely. 

As Jackie's attack came at him, the demon held out his hands to embrace the sun as the cold void. The flare hit its mark, but its embrace into the demon was greeted as a vacuum. The flare being absorbed into his very being until he exploded into flames. The burning demon simply hovering in the air as he cackled his joy, the rage of jackie truly was marvelous. A wonderful gift to a newly born body like Kamae's. The demon slowly falling to the ground before landing upon the ground and the flames dying out only to leave a charred person who's flesh smoked. Wisps of the smoke emitted from him in thin vapors for a few more moments until finally a black mass began to remove itself from the back. Slowly rising up like a bubbling concoction gone bad.

As it slowly peeled itself from the body, it was revealed to be Kamae's ghostly form. The demon chuckling as he did so, not yet defeated but basically at the point where he could no longer defend himself.

"hehehe!"

Kamae's chuckle was all that could be heard from him as he finally pulled himself out of his own burned body. From there he looked about the battlefield, at the dead and the empty husks that had retreated. burned out rage, hatred that had turned to despair and those who were trying to pick up the pieces after the battle. In truth, kamae had found far more valuable things in this battle than he had originally thought possible. Not only did he get the research, he got his precious body back as well! He had managed to enrage a shinjin who believed himself above mortals, got a dear friend killed and slaughtered someone who had been foolish enough to attack him prompting a child to lose themselves to anger.

"My oh my... Such a wonderful time indeed. Whats the long face for Ward? No more rage left to burn? Has the candle gone out sonny boy? HEHEHAHAHAHA! I can't believe I got to break that little mask of yours just by killing a few peasants and some dumb animals!"

Kamae was riding a high right now, happy as could be and free as a bird. His eyes turned to Erebos then as he began to address the demon in question... he was showing sympathy to his allies? Showing mourning? Perhaps he even cared a little about them all... disgusting.

"Its a shame you are a demon Erebos... Perhaps you should have been born a human, you'd fit right in with em."

A sneering jab at the demon's lineage was thrown, clearly displeased a demon who proclaimed themselves to be doing what they wanted but was working with a shinjin? Not only that but was saddened by the death of an enemy? What a vile thing to look at, it almost made him want to puke if he could do so in spirit form.

"As for-"

It was then that the tree began to shrink more and more noticeably that he turned to look upon it. Once it began to shrink, it was more and more rapid till nothing of it remained. Kamae hadn't administered the killing serum yet so how did... It was then his eyes fell on Nero who had been working on it this whole time. Not only had the tree disappeared but in its place now sat Sobi, the girl unconscious and sleeping soundly. Kamae was in shock by the sudden appearance of her, so much so his smile and jeering stopped.

He wanted to poke fun at Jackie's lost friend, but he was lost in the moment. Instead simply standing there and after a moment shrugged before chuckling.

"Heroes to the last. You even give me what I want now... You lot have literally given me everything I need on a silver plate today! I love it!"

Kamae had gotten multiple people to hate him, or at the very least registered his existence. So long as they remembered him he would never truly die now. He could be slain but now he could return as many times as he wished. Existence through phenomenon intervention truly was a marvelous thing. He got sobi back... got his body and managed to break the masks of several people. The only downside was Kamae had realized no ally could be trusted... and he had been right all along. That was the only downside.

"I couldn't have planned this any better. Phenomenon intervention recognition, the tree purified, a new body and watching you all dance on strings like puppets. My oh my... I think I might be in love with this corner of the universe. Truly marvelous! So then... lets see who can get the final blow first? Lets do another test shall we? Who here wishes to see how long it takes for me to revive hm? Come on, step right up. I wish to see it for myself."

Kamae's red eyes glowed brightly as his ghostly form seemed to be barely holding itself together. One final blow would end this completely... all they had to do was strike him one time with even the barest amount of ki and he would dissipate allowing him to travel away on the currents to make his escape. He could always draw his body to him on earth, even if they sealed it away here... After all he had just found the perfect formula for it. He was free upon the universe now and no one could stop that from happening... 

There was… A lot going on.

It was hard to discern what was happening where and when. Screaming, power pulses, rants and ravings all went in one ear and out through the other. He cringed at the sensory overload, stepping back a bit as Jackie’s attack soared out.

With everyone preoccupied, he began slipping away, wincing when he heard his name called by Nero. Instead, he elected to ignore the call. Rude as it was, he didn’t quite feel like he was needed here.

”C’mon Nasu. We gotta find Cipher and Ollo.”

In the chaos, Erebos tried to sneak off. His friends had seemed rather distraught, and with how weird today was he certainly didn’t blame them. Still though, he was pretty sure that was the first time he’d seen Ollo get angry, and the first time he’d seen Cipher really emote at all. In truth, they mattered more to him than this stupid tree. Especially since everyone else had it handled.

”Ward. Come find me when this… whatever, is all done. We need to talk.”

With that, he turned and left. Bits of Saiba-Ban’s speech caught his ear, but not enough to stop his stride. Freeing some animal things on an unrelated world sounded like a fun adventure.

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