Labyrinth

The team, upon arrival at the destination specified by their FIGHTERS, would find themselves in front of a raised stone entrance built onto the back of an old dilapidated fortress. The doors were wooden and angled slightly downwards, and when opened would reveal a set of stairs leading downwards: a cellar. A small torch at the bottom of the stairway and a dim eerie light that seemed to emerge from the walls themselves would act as slight guiding lights on the way down, which was discouragingly long.

After about an hour's walk at a normal pace the team would reach the torch, which lit a thin hallway, wide enough only for two-average sized men to walk down it comfortably and leading to another ancient wooden doorway. This would open into the Underground.

Fracture would find themselves at the edge of a massive subterranean amphitheatre, lit up in the same unnatural manner as the stairwell and with ceilings so high they were barely visible. In the centre of this expanse was a massive twisting labyrinth, highlighted by a smaller square maze somewhat visible in the very middle of the structure. As the team looked around, four small and shrouded figures who appeared to be men robed in black would walk towards them, each tiny guide approaching a specific team member and gesturing for him to follow. They would each make it clear to their individual subject - in a dry and husky whisper - that if they refused to split up and come along, they would suffer immediate forfeiture of the match, and be sent back up the stairs.

The men, despite their size, would skitter quite quickly into different entrance points along the edge of the labyrinth, and swiftly lead the way around the series of almost endless twists and turns that followed, never looking back or whispering anything more. Inside the maze, the stone walls full of organic life and lacking any identifiable carving or landmark, time would quickly loose meaning, and each team member would arrive at his destination as hurriedly or as slowly as they perceived the trip to last.

In front of each pair of robed guide and weary traveler a large, black steel gate would stand, a single lion-headed door knocker lying over top the thin break between the two closed doors. Quietly, the shrouded little men would approach their knockers and sound off a succinct and piercing pair of raps against the steel doors. The face of the lion would break in two as the gate opened up and the knockers were snapped in half, the massive doors swinging slowly inwards so that the competitors could enter.

Then, with the same speed that they lead the fighters into the maze, the guides would disappear, as each member of Team Fracture stepped into the arena, and the doors slammed shut.

The Entrance to the Garden of Madness

It was silent.

Eerily so, in fact, as he approached the entrance to where his FIGHTER had told him to be. Perhaps due to his earlier fallout with his team members, or perhaps because he had a tendency to, he arrived quickly and early, having to make an early departure on the GDN (Gaia Dragon Network). Apparently independent flights were tightly restricted due to Heaven or Hell, and as a result Rage's friend and mode of transportation wasn't able to get as close as he would have liked.

So after about fifteen minutes of trudging, he found himself in front of a large stone entrance.

There were no others around as far as he could tell. No fans. No cheering crowds. No... anything.

Was he even at the right place?

His FIGHTER told him he was, but he simply couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong about all this. The underwater dome was surprisingly sparse, but that was to be expected - the place was made for fighters, not onlookers. This was different. It was cold and bleak, and his own body heat seemed to cause his flight goggles to steam up over his eyes. He snapped them against his beanie instead.

"Well... I guess...."

His words didn't echo, which wasn't in the least bit encouraging. Even hearing his own voice, pretending it was someone else, would have been nice right about now as he placed the sole of his left shoe on the door and pushed in, causing it to swing in with a loud creak. Nothing about this added up.

Heaven or Hell arenas, despite some of their appearances, were accessible, clean, neat, made specifically for fans to watch and for the (relative) safety of the fighters. So why were they being asked to step into the bowels of a fortress that looked like it was ready to collapse upon itself any day or maybe even hour now?

He turned around and found a chunk of rock to sit comfortably on. Fights didn't start until at least three team members were there; and he was still kicking around the idea that he was in the wrong place.

Y'know, because he should have been at that other dilapidated old fortress.

That Neverending Staircase Scene From Super Mario 64

Not more than a minute or so after Athan had entered, a set of skate shoes started up behind him, as well as one of the creepy guides. There was a new light source as Rage held up his hand, small flames in his palm which gave him enough light to work with so that he didn't take an hour-long tumble down the stairs.

"That torch isn't getting any closer. This is a goddamn trap."

"... the atmosphere is changing. We're getting close."

A brazen lie, but it was getting colder, which meant he was either going crazy or they really were getting somewhere. He figured it might keep Athan from starting to flip out, at least - this still didn't add up, but he had to keep himself calm, too.

Pan's Labyrinth

They reached the bottom without much fanfare, and Rage followed his guide closely, realizing rather quickly that he was being lead away from his teamate(s). For some reason, there was a big smile underneath that thick scarf of his, as only two words escaped into the darkness before he disappeared, taking his personal light source with him.

"Good luck."

Long, complicated, and tedious. He was almost on the point of running, keeping up with the little man, letting the length of his strides make up for the time between them as he usually did; it would be nice to save what energy he could, especially with how long the trip down here was. This dungeon of a place didn't exactly fulfill his ideal jogging conditions.

Bastards are splitting us up and wearing us down, even if just a little. But... why bother splitting us up if only one of us gets to fight? Trying to get us scared?

It had been a pretty bizarre reaction from the FIGHTER, and then they had been taken to such a place... without a sign of crowd or even the staff anywhere. It had clinched it when they were all split up.

Here I'd been waiting for them to kick down my door again.

Quote: The small compartment was silent except for the exterior sounds of the carriage and sliding leather- for most of the trip at least. The other men were ignoring him as much as he them. In that sense, it didn’t really matter if he was riding with his teammates or just coachmen.

In essence, he was alone.

Kael sat, stretched out and lounging, one leg way out in front of him and the other bent up closer to the rest of him as he gripped the leather straps, one at a time, and synched the armaments tight, over and over, assuring the fit was snug and the gaps as small as possible. It was a calming thing to do before battle, just a habit, and his eyes and mind were elsewhere.

The middle of nowhere, and yet…

It’s all so old and preserved, some ancient monument that’s gone untouched for ages. The collapsing castle, the worn fields, the untouched earth… I thought the only ruined battle grounds like these on Gaia were the most recent ones.

The boot thudded to the flooring, and he set one arm across his stomach, taking the first of the already tightened leather straps between his thumb and first two fingers, testing the security absently.

In this world, it would take something serious to keep such places preserved, a lot of power, or a lot of significance. Then again… I’ve never even heard of them.

Only to bring them out for a fighting tournament.

What sort of people run this show?

The place grew wearisome rather quickly, dim and identical all through its length. Normally his patience wouldn’t have been an issue at all, but this day it was only his preoccupation that saved him frustration. He was shutting out the stage about him almost completely. The swordsman’s focus was on remaining calm, and gathering his wits. He had plenty of thoughts to mull over to do it. It was only a question of which ones to indulge and which to avoid.

Quite a few memories that pricked at his mind were more than a little dangerous.

Quote: Once they were all assembled, Kael began his descent almost at once, ahead of the pack. There wasn’t much question as to where their “Labyrinth” could be amidst the old structure they’d been brought to, especially not with the oddest sort of assistance he could have imagined for the tournament seemed to provide them just hint enough, again and again.

As the rest of them spoke, Kael shut himself off in the silence of his head.

For once, Vahn, Athan, and himself seemed more united than ever before- they shared a cause, a goal, a drive. And yet, he felt as distant as ever from the first, more from the second. Rage’s presence in and of itself was threatening to ruin his concentration, even if there had been almost no sign of the previous hostility at the Firebrand- what to make of that, he wasn’t sure at all.

It does seem to go on forever, downward, downward, and downward. Stairs and distorted space… maybe even time… it really is like a walk down the old memory lane.

He could almost feel the walls calling out to him, even though that was another place, not this one. Long locked away emotions and memories of other men grasping for some life to take a hold of, some warmth to ease the deathly cold they knew. Echoes that sounded like other voices, or said the wrong things, mirrors that showed you the wrong face… faces of strangers that looked so familiar, frighteningly, more than your own.

He could still remember how then he had only wanted to be alone, to be able to abandon himself and surrender… but there was always a small set of hands there to help him back up and urge him on. To turn his surrender into an indomitable will to emerge from his trial. A reason why he could not fail.

But that was so far away now… and remotely, he wondered if he’d effectively given it up for good by this point. He was desperate for the comfort, the warmth he found there… but he had a different reason he could not fail now.

He wasn’t the one at risk this time.

I wonder… if I’m to be reborn again this time…

The stairs went on and on, but his goal only seemed to grow further as he approached it. But to stop walking… to turn around and give up… it was inconceivable.

Who will I leave this place as?

And now that he was apart from them... he realized how alone he was. Fracture wasn't much of a team, but they were a team. They may not have shared much brotherhood between the lot of them, but they had a common goal... until now at least. And to put them apart.

I imagine Rage will still fight, if only for his own pride. But would he fight with us, or apart from us? If he's going to act recklessly and alone...

It wasn't something to bother thinking about. Headstrong as he was, Rage was no moron. Maybe too familiar for Kael's tastes.

If that happens, I know what I'll have to do. I just have to hope it won't cost anyone else too much.

He'd almost forgotten he was following the small man, when suddenly he came to his attention again- slowing.

Kael came up beside him quickly, long strided walk putting him just behind it quickly. The creepy little man had some role, and he seemed content to do nothing more than play it. Not the sort of guide he'd have liked to take him into the middle of a vast underground maze, but he wasn't afforded much choice. About all there was to it was to step right up beside him to the doors, and watch as the lion split in two and parted admitting him entrance.

"Well, someone will be showing up to lead me back out, wo-"

He blinked over his shoulder at the little man staring back at him blankly, and frowned.

"I never mind then.

"This shouldn't bore me, at least."

He stepped through the gates and stood by them, eyes closed and listening to the seemingly deafening sound of the doors sealing themselves behind him.

"Classic. Now all we need is the minotaur."

He opened his eyes, making sure he was as well adjusted to the dim lighting that seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere as he would get, and shrugged his shoulders to loosen them, fiddling with his pants and jacket to make sure everything was fitting right.

By this point, if he gauntlet's and boots hadn't been snug, they were never going to be.

Finally, each hand fell to a small sling on either hip- to his right a knife hanging from the sheathe, attached to his belt, and on his left what seemed to be an overlong handled short sword- overlong by far. Of course, he'd simply taken his broken blade with him, for one reason or another.

"Mmm."

Well, they'd be there if he needed them.

Finally he reached up and took the b*****d sword from his shoulder, holding the blade out in front of him at a shallow upward angle, and put his left hand just in front of the forward edge, near half length.

"The front," he mumbled to himself. "But just as easily above, soon as easily behind. In this crazy world, maybe even through the walls."

He picked up a foot carefully, and set the rubber sole down lightly, as quietly as he could move with his heavily fortified boots and gauntlets. Creeping forward into the maze.

"...but which one of us will you come for first...?"

"Ri-goddamn-diculous."

Athan had been called out both via disembodied voice and his still-vibrating FIGHTER. This was the eliminator round, he was practically required to answer the call. But even if his team's chances in the tournament weren't riding on his shoulders, Athan still would have risen to the challenge. It wasn't in his nature to back down from a fight.

"Tch..."

He didn't need to be told twice. Athan was moving into the maze before the mysterious MINOTAUR had finished his declaration.

"Splitting up Fracture. You must be outta your mind..."

Athan hadn't thought to draw his sword in such a relatively confined space, particularly if he was required to head his way through the maze before the eliminator even revealed itself.

The gauntleted left hand formed into a fist and slammed into an open right palm, an audible clap resonating amongst the walls of the labyrinth. With no map, secret markings, or hidden voice in his head to tell him where to go, Athan set off on his adventure.

He turned right, making his way to the closest opening in the wall. Once there, his path was a bit less decisive on his part. He'd take a left, and start running his way down the hallway.

"..We've been separated before even getting in this damn thing..."

He stared ahead of him, his surroundings only dimly apparent to him even as the voice bellowed and boomed throughout the structure.

He was feeling downright abash at the damn Eliminator's cojones to be sure--- as if any member of this team were going to just sit back and let one guy hog all the fun.

Although...he did have a serious problem here. He wasn't exactly fond of the dark...considering the time spent in a certain pantry....

"...." I guess though... I have to actually try and navigate this damn thing...I just hope there aren't any traps...

Moving forward, he pressed a palm against the right wall, using it to grope his way forward cautiously. He wasn't exactly planning on running full tilt into whatever the ******** was around these parts....

Before too long, Vahn would be arriving at the first corner--sticking with the right side and heading down now-- unknowingly bypassing a dead-end.

"...and as long as we're in pieces, all we can do is come back together!"

The warning was too late- Kael had already started his way into the maze, and there was no way in hell he was going to stop and abandon anyone, much less the only guy on the team he frequently got along with.

He picked up his pace, starting left first- there really wasn't much way to decide which direction to go, and he had to go somewhere. The foot steps started coming faster after Athan was called out, starting into a run- only to hit a corner. Turning he started to run again- and was greeted immediately by another corner, following it around in the dim light.

With the quick stepping it was all he could do to keep his sword in the readied position he'd already taken up.

So let's see what else you think you' got up your sleeve, buddy.

In the dim light he could see the next corner coming up. He had no clue where Athan and the others were, but the guess was they had some decent ground to cover to get there, or else they wouldn't have been separated.

Something about this was familiar. Everytime there had been a fight Fracture had come back together as if trying to make up for how split apart they were otherwise- the more things seemed to try and pull them apart, when there was that goal in sight, none of them were but headstrong enough to put all else aside until they'd come out dominant.

By trying hardest to split them up and putting them in what was surely supposed to be the most "intimidating" and "threatening" situation of any they'd been in so far... Kael could only think this guy had just pulled them together like hadn't been seen before.

[Left turn, right turn, right turn- Rounding corner to left of Gate]

There'd be a sickening sort of slurp as the Eliminator's horn slid out of the newly formed hole in Athan's chest, the bone slick and wet with his blood. Of course it made no difference to the eyes behind those ruby filters, to them everything was bathed in red. It was just a matter of deepening the shade.

He would quickly lean over to his left, planting his left foot forward and using the force of Athan's push to accelerate his slip past the oncoming all-too-solid fist. He had to overextend his head to the left though: compensating for the size of the bull's head. At the same time his right arm would cross in front of his body, sticking out over top and past his left bicep, the arm of which was bent upwards, hand held in a boxer's guard. Athan would get a chance now to take in the rest of the Eliminator as his attacking fist - instead of smashing roughly into the wall and more than likely digging a fair hole into it - would sink into the stone like it was a slick vertical pool of oil that quickly re-hardened around the pseudo-gauntlet.

The man was dressed entirely in a combination of red and black. A tattered red cloak, that was torn at the bottom near the knees and at the shoulders, was tied with a black leather belt to his waist. He had a pair of black armoured boots and gauntlets, along with guards about his elbows and a sheet of fitted black plate about his torso. Into all these things intricate and fearsome designs had been inlaid in a deep red. All else was covered in a very worn and therefore mobile black leather.

The last thing Athan would see was the man shifting his bodyweight back upwards and to the right to enhance the bent right elbow that was coming up on a forty-five to smash into the nearby, fully extended right arm, in an aim to break it at the elbow like one would an old tree branch.

OOC Note: An updated map.

Athan would hear a muffled and brittled FOOM as the Eliminator forced his breath out roughly, tightening his abdominals and suffering the elbow against his stomach. The other fighter might have been huge, and certainly the steel plate now had a fair dent mimicking the shape of said man's forearm, but the Eliminator himself, except for the exhalation, seemed hardly phased. He merely shuffled out to the left immediately following the blow and thus avoided any sort of pin against the wall.

Following this, in one fluid movement, the Eliminator would slide his right foot forwards, placing the back of his heel against the inside of Athan's right ankle as his right arm swung over top the man's trapped appendage. His lead foot planted, he'd use it as a pivot as he took a slight step back on the circle with his left and slammed his open right palm into Athan's face while shifting his hips and shoulders counter-clockwise, the trapped arm slipping out just as it had slid in.

The berserker would find himself tripping against the Eliminator's foot, the facepalm adding a whole lot of extra incentive as Athan was swung backwards and to his right in a swift semi-circle, the back of his head mercilessly slammed into the ground.

The bigger they are...

His feet hammered on the ground as he took off to a greater speed, trying to keep a bearing on some general sense of which direction he'd come from his original orientation, knowing no track would last him more than a few corners back from where he presently stood at any given time. It wouldn't afford him much good, but he would be able to recognize a passage he'd already come from hopefully, to not back track.

Of course, he was also trying to keep his mind busy. Thinking about this place wasn't going to do him any good. Letting it get him nervy was not useful.

He made the left, then right at a rapid pace, turning sharply at each corner and pulling his weapon forward, ready to strike. This time there was a longer hallway though.

Heading down it, fast, there was one choice- all right near each other, a right, a left, and the path straight ahead.

I'm already heading, so...

He kept on pulling straight, headlong down the hall and down the tight curve after curve. One, two, three sharp rights...

"Ah, s**t."

Just to be certain, he peered around the corner, sword finally dropped from it's ready position.

And just like he'd thought.

Turn around and take another gander at the crossway.

[Left, right, straight past first left and right, right, right, right-]

[Ending at final turn onto dead end from path straight down hall]

Without a charging Eliminator to worry about, Athan's right hand snaked upward, securing a firm grip on the weapon at his back. The sword that was his namesake, and the weapon that carried him through more adversity than any single opponent could ever hope to match. He turned his wrist slightly, the familiar 'click' of a binding snapping loose instilling a reassuring feeling in the berserker's mind.

"Where's the Butcher?!"

Athan's eyes widened, there was no way he should have known.

How does he...

Something clicked, and Athan's eyes narrowed to slits. He had grown past that, learned to control his rage. He was no beast, he was no murderer. But this man, this Eliminator, had just given a hint to his identity. And if he truly was the man that was the target of Athan's obsession for so long, he had definetly ignited a spark.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Athan surged forward, loosing that huge blade from its sheathe and swinging it downward towards the Eliminator's skull in one clean fluid motion. The heavy sword wasn't going to cleave the armored figure in half, the dulled edges weren't designed to slash or cut with any sort of lethality.

But the sheer weight of the weapon was another matter entirely. Bones would be broken, steel would crumple, and stone would shatter in the face of such a mighty swing.

Fully extended, Athan had nearly ten feet of reach with that sword. The point of impact would be about a foot from the tip of the blade, about as close as one could get to the fastest moving part of the sword. His right leg was forward, his thigh nearly parallel with the ground, foot planted firmly in contrast to the left, where he was up on the toes of his foot.

Athan was close to the center of the hallway, though it was pretty apparent the natural layout of the arena was going to wreak havoc on any sort of horizontal game Athan could possibly scheme up.

Back at the crossroads he'd come to earlier, Kael's sword had gone back into its sheathe, however hesitantly.

Rather, he had four divulging paths, two of which he knew. He'd considered taking a chunk out of a wall or something, but ultimately he didn't want to risk dulling his knife, or even what was left of the broken sword, if he could help it. He did have the pouch at his belt like usual with his bandages, some alleviating ointments, his MP3 and wallet had been left at the hotel where nothing unbecoming could happen to them in a fight, his cell phone was so near dead he'd decided it not worth leaving with them, and...

He pulled out a pen, blinking at it, and considering snapping the thing. But there was another option entirely.

His hand went back into the pouch, and produced a small pad of paper- a tiny travel size notebook.

In a moment there were two pieces of paper on the floor, one set by the path which led to his gate and one set by the path to the dead end, right in their middle where they'd be hard to miss- respectively inscribed:

Quote: <--

To gate, one other path there.

,Kael

Quote: X

Dead end.

,Kael

After the second was signed he put the pen and pad back away, zipping up and adjusting the pouch comfortably to get in his way as little as possible. It was a matter of order better out of the way, which left...

Eeney, meeney, meiney...

He stopped to draw a tiny arrow on the corner of the "dead end" slip, indicating which way he'd gone from the cross road, and made his way from that corner to another turn almost immediately.

"Damn maze is on my nerves already."

From there, it was a guessing game all over again, so there was only one option. He closed his eyes a moment, trusted his gut, and started down the path to his right at a rapid walk, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for sign of his comrades- or something else.

[Left, left, left, left, left, right, right-]

[Retracing steps to cross road, then making two rights onto path directly toward combatants]

Heh. The Eliminator was already rushing ahead as Athan forced himself upright and started charging. He'd quickly shift to the right as the sword came swinging down towards him, but this only put his head out of the way, it did nothing to protect the rest of his body. In a seemingly futile effort, his left arm would shoot upwards, palm faced so as to intercept the blade in his path.

"!"

And, in an instant, all movement would cease. Athan would be poised in the stance of his swing, the hilt of his sword gripped tightly. And the Eliminator would be standing with his right foot forward, right arm hanging limply as his left tensed and shook imperceptibly underneath the cloak, leather and steel that garbed it, the hand fiercely latched onto the edge of Athan's blade and holding it at bay just beside his head.

"Your sword is too light," he spoke derisively. Whether there was some magic behind his ability to resist the other man's force, or if he was just unimaginably strong remained to be seen, but nevertheless one would notice the metal in the Eliminator's left hand begin to fold and bend underneath his grip. Then, hoping to take advantage of whatever surprise the other fighter might be suffering, the Eliminator's right hand would shoot forwards, steel fingers aiming to clasp around Athan's throat and push up as the MINOTAUR, with a slight grunt, went about lifting the four hundred pound berserker off his feet.

"Everything about you has become too light."

OOC Note: An updated map.

Well, he can certainly get those legs up. The Eliminator did nothing as Athan grabbed onto the horns of his helm, he simply shuffled his grip on the sword so as to be holding the hilt in a reverse-grip upon Athan's release of it and fixed himself in his stance. Braced and ready, he'd even let go of the man's throat as he kicked against his chest, suffering the blow with a rough step back of his lead foot and the loss of his head.

Well, that is to say: Athan had lost his sword, but in taking the bull by the horns, he'd gone and unmasked his monster. Whenever he got a chance to lower the bull's head in his hand and take full measure of his foe, the man would see a pair of bright green irises with pupils stringy and dilated, making it look as though black tree roots had spread across the whites of his eyes, and a seven foot long sword hefted above the Eliminator's head, ready to come crashing down on Athan in a grinning wave of steel and silvery-grey hair.

The STONE KING had finally come down to claim his throne.

The lack of an actual body attached to the head in his hand was a bit disconcerting, but upon realization that the horns were attached to a mask, Athan lifted his head to take measure of his foe.

His suspicions had been confirmed, but not in the way he had hoped. There was something different about Shouyin, the eyes were off. But before he could even begin to question it, he had his own sword coming down on top of him.

"That was a nice show you put on..."

His right arm shot up above his head, Athan's sword coming into contact with Athan's arm and slowing to a halt as the two solid objects were forced into one another. The sword and arm would eventually come to a rest a few inches above Athan's head. Meanwhile, Athan's face, formerly full of surprise and shock throughout the course of the fight, now had a grin plastered over it.

"But you're still not stronger than me!"

He pushed up with his right arm, splayed open the hand, and swatted the sword aside by the flat of the blade. Even as he was doing that, Athan's left hand had balled up into a fist, the Berserker's Gauntlet letting out a slight hiss as it locked itself into Burst position once again.

Athan punched straight forward, aiming to smash the gauntlet into Shouyin's chestplate. Once the knuckles made impact, even more force would follow.

Athan hadn't quite built up enough fury to bring down a solid stone wall, or shatter his hand in the process of punching as he had done earlier, but the force of impact would be significantly larger than if Athan had thrown a punch with his right arm, and it would all be concentrated at the point of collision.

Shouyin didn't need to beckon Athan any further. Shortly after the punch, Athan had opened his fingers, testing the arm that had thrown the punch. Too often had he used the powers of the gauntlet only to ruin his own arm in the process. But no, currently the gauntlet wasn't packing enough of a punch to harm its wielder too much.

"Heh."

He looked up, just in time to catch Shouyin shoving his sword through a wall. Or was it air? It was hard to tell from the angle, and as far as Athan knew it didn't really seem to matter which. Athan was separated from his sword, which put him at a disadvantage no matter what the circumstances were in the hallway.

He didn't care.

"LET'S DO THIS!"

"I haven't even started tearing you apart yet!"

He surged forward, bringing his right arm back as he prepared to collide with Shouyin at the other end of the hallway.

"HA!" the elemental smirked as he watched Kael stumble to the ground in his mind's eye before swiftly rushing ahead to meet Athan head on. Long before he was in anywhere within physical range of the other fighter, but after having passed the sword in the wall, the half-golem would take a wide hop-step forward with his right leg, planting it as he took another step with his left, crossing it behind his right. Left heel pointed almost directly towards Athan, the Eliminator would secure his base and shoot his right leg out in a devastating side kick, aiming for the left side of Athan's torso, near the ribs or stomach.

A classic Bruce Lee-style slide up side kick, minus the height. The speed and fluidity of the movement was intended to catch Athan unawares and have him run into the striking heel. Shouyin would quickly move into recovery, cocking the leg back and planting it as he entered a basic fighting stance with his right leg forward.

OOC Note: An updated map.

Shouyin went sailing into the wall with a grunt; 'ripples' of stone spread out from the point of impact as the stone softened once more to diffuse the force of the slam, but hitting a wall was hitting a wall, and it hurt to kiss rock. He'd pull himself off the wall, snapping into his right lead fight stance once more without bothering to rub at his cheek, which already showed the signs of a slight bruise.

Cue a quick shuffle towards Athan plus a rough jab with the lead hand, the fist cocked back by the half-golem's shoulder swiftly beforehand in the fashion of a straight lead punch. He hoped to add a little extra bite to the blow in case it rapped off the other man's face, maybe shaking up the pain of that busted nose.

Scenario A, Shou gets punched. Fracture is :happyface:

Athan would stand there and stare at Rage from the opposite side of the wall he was melting down. Now, Athan had absolutely no clue how Rage had figured out where they were, or if everything was just completely luck but, well, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Tch. Had to ruin it, didn't ya?"

Of course he still had to work on that whole 'showing gratitude' thing.

Scenario B, Shou doesn't get punched, Athan has a jab/straight coming for him, Fracture is :sadface:

Athan wasn't the most technical hand to hand fighter in the world, but he did know that standing there and staring at a fist as it came straight towards you was not the ideal way to handle the situation. He turned his head to the side and shifted his left leg behind his right, attempting to turn away from the quick punch.

The knuckles missed the bleeding and probably broken nose, but found purchase on Athan's cheek right cheek, causing his torso to turn even more in that particular direction.

It did help disguise the wind-up for Athan's next punch, though. Because when he corrected himself he was turning into a wild right-handed haymaker that was set on pounding Shouyin right on the forehead and sending him flying back into the rapidly melting wall.

Somewhere out there, five teenagers were sitting around a table in a dark basement, carefully moving their five pieces - the Warrior, the Berserker, the Swordsman, and The Goddamned. The fifth piece, the MINOTAUR, seemed to not have been touched yet.

"C'mon, roll already!"

"This is dumb."

"Just do it."

A single die hit the table, and the face of a panda came up. The face... of a very sad panda.

Which is what Rage's face looked like as he looked over his shoulder, screaming something along the lines of "shut up already, mom" just as a fist came crashing through the wall and caught him square in the jaw, sending him flying back with a tumble until he managed to get into a sitting position a few seconds later. "Man... I did not make my saving throw," he muttered, grabbing his jaw and making sure it wasn't broken.

What the hell was he imagining, anyways?!

"Destin! Remember the technique I taught you!"

And who the hell was Destin?

He was gonna need a moment to clear what was left of his head before he could launch another attack.

"... remember your training, Destin!"

Downwards he had gone (from where his last position was marked on the map), still following alongside the wall until it curved towards his left now.

He couldn't hear anything, which is probably what was aggravating him the most.

He couldn't hear any sounds of a battle. Let alone any sounds of victory-- or even cries for help. In the labyrinth, no one can hear you so much as breath apparently.

"..." Moving along at a light jogging pace now, he would turn to the left again, still following the wall. There was hardly no way to tell if any progress was being made at this point...

And the silence was just getting on his nerves.

"I have to...at least see..." Stopping complete movement, he would slide to the ground, going to a bent knee as he rubbed his face.

Not even sure if this is going to work... He held out his right arm, eyes closing as he winced from the sudden shock and pain of the bracelet on his wrist expanding outwards in an stream of heat and metal. The flesh on his arm was seared, even as the form fitting gauntlet created itself from the band of metal and dull ruby that adorned it's center; the Hand of Efreet.

Before long, the transformation of the item was complete, and he splayed out the fingers of his armored right hand, each talon glowing with dull blackness.

"Now then..." Gritting his teeth, he focused--- wisps of smoke trailing from the tip of each talon, as blackened flames swirled up and shelled over each other-- creating literal 'balls'.

He was bringing into being actual flame sprites, the tiny things being pulled through the manipulation of the Hand itself.

There was a lot about his status as an elemental lord that Vahn wasn't exactly sure about. Controlling corresponding elemental beings was one of them--- but you could hardly call a sprite, top tier of anything.

All he knew, was that he needed...'sight beyond sight'. And something was responding to that call. Or rather, a small group of somethings.

With a slightly more conservative drain on fuel supply due to the Hand, the deed was done and he had 5 bobbing globules of blackened flame around his head to show for it.

Lifting his right arm, he pointed all his fingers in the direction he had been headed, sending the sprites shooting into the darkness.

It was only then that his left eye would close...and then open, the strange swirling colors of Sunstrike' irises shown. "......" Within that single eye, he struggled to sift through everything the sprites saw themselves, looking in splintered views of a blackened dimly lit world, his brain trying to keep up and correctly process as well as filter what the hell it was he was experiencing right now without overloading.

Using the eye of an elemental, he was forcing a bridging connection with the elemental sprites the Hand of Efreet had summoned, creating a sort of mobile cam.

Each sprite would one by one diverge through whatever break in the path would be encountered, dissipating completely when striking against a solid object, which would indicate a dead end to Vahn, and return as a blackened out 'screen' in his multi-view vision mode.

With some luck...he would happen upon one of his team mates...and at worst, he'd at least have a general layout of what was around him.

There was a split second where Athan had considered making a witty retort, snapping off some sort of quick one-liner before the half-golem could make a counter attack. But that just wasn't his style.

Neither was hand to hand, as evidenced by the fact that he just couldn't get his guard down low enough to stop the kick from connecting into his side. The problem stemmed from Athan trying to bring his right arm back from the punch instead of just dropping the left over. So while he couldn't intercept the kick, his arm would be arriving just a second after impact, forearm trapping the foot against his side.

The impact was mighty, indeed. Athan had time to see the foot coming, had time to flex the appropriate muscles in response to the damage about to be dealt, but it was enough to cause the four hundred-plus pound man skidding along the dirt floor.

The reasoning behind the sudden increase in pace on Athan's part was the Berserker's Gauntlet. It had already shown that the gauntlet could pack more power into one of Athan's punches, but the gauntlet also acted as a form of artificial adrenaline. As the fight progressed Athan was dealing with and dishing out damage. Each successful punch, no matter who it was landing on, fueled the gauntlet.

As a result, just about every one of Athan's systems had kicked into overdrive. He was processing information faster, his muscles were responding quicker, and he was finding himself to be just a little short on breath as his natural supply of adrenaline was augmented by the gauntlet. If a fight were to drag on for an extended period of time, Athan would easily be prone to having a heart attack from such incredible strain.

Back to the fight, Athan's right arm had solidly pressed Shouyin's left leg (at the ankle) against his side, increasing the effectiveness of the kick but also trapping the appendage in place as his left arm, formerly in guard, dropped down towards the kneecap. The closed fist was not going to hit knuckle-first, as Athan wasn't too keen on activating the cannon-esque punch if he didn't have to. No, he'd be hitting the knee with the bottom of his gauntleted fist as though it were a hammer, in the hopes of hampering the Eliminator's mobility.

"Shi-!"

Athan didn't stand a chance. He was too busy trying to bust up the knee, focusing too much of his attention on that, by the time he looked up to catch notice of the column of stone it was way too late. It smashed up against the side of his head, cut open a good portion of flesh just next to his temple, and floored the big guy.

He rolled a good couple of feet, blood flowing pretty freely down the side of his face and all sorts of disorientation preventing him from making an effective offense or even standing on his own two feet. Spots plagued his vision, and he had to shake his head in order to clear them.

Pushing himself up to a kneeling position put his back to the wall Shouyin had created in order to seal Kael off from the fight, the hilt of the large sword still jutting straight out of the wall as if it had been part of the maze's design from the beginning.

If it had looked like Athan was building some sort of momentum, it was gone by now. His right cheek and nose were swollen, and the left side of his face was smeared with blood. He looked as though he were in a very bad way.

His eyes shifted over to the left, keeping a good focus on Shouyin as he struggled to catch both his breath and his wits.

He was almost done, pulling tight and checking the wrap over his stomach as the wall began to shift- in a hurry the swordsman gripped, tearing the bandage and tucking it tight to keep the thing in place, jamming the roll into his pouch one handed as he rushed forward, hand going up onto his sword.

In a few seconds he'd be most of the way down the hall, pouch zipped again, sword in hand, and eyes wide- casting about for someone who wasn't there.

"Athan- what happened? Where'd that guy get to?"

He looked perturbed more than in pain- which was also visible, if more prevalently in the form of a bloody spot through a bit of bandage wrapped over his stomach than in tightened facial features as he ran despite the gut wound.

[To Athan, if that really matters]

"Come on. Call me that one more time."

Athan's threat fell on deaf ears as Shouyin-turned-MINOTAUR walked straight through a wall and left Athan to his own devices. There was a sour taste left in his mouth as the Eliminator disappeared from their relatively enclosed arena. It meant he had failed, at least for the time being, anyway.

"Tch."

His right hand moved up, fastening a grip upon the hilt of the sword before the wall started to slide back. He was using the weapon to hoist himself up to a standing position, but halfway up the sword fell out of the wall, and Athan fell on his back, sword clattering to the ground beside him.

"Rrrgh."

Kael and Rage approached just in time to see Athan roll over onto his knees and start pounding his right fist into the dirt, over and over again, venting his frustration. Even after judgement wore off and his arm returned to normal, he kept on pounding his knuckles into the ground, the dull thuds breaking the uncomfortable silence at regular intervals. The pain in his face and, more recently, his hand, started to fade away into numbness as he was temporarily lost in his own anger.

When he finally stopped, Athan tossed his head back and let loose a roar that, despite its origins, just wasn't quite human.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

I had him all to myself and I messed it up.

He was hunched over now, palms wide open, fingers digging through the dirt in an attempt to reign himself in. At least it looked like he wasn't going to be freaking out on his teammates.

Whether or not I really do need my teammates here doesn't matter now, though...

He'd lean back on his knees, placing his hands on his thighs before taking a deep breath. He was dizzy and sick to his stomach, and neither one was related to the blood loss. He was slow to his feet, though he didn't look injured. Just tired.

"I'm gonna need your help."

It was the toughest realization he had ever come to make, but it was true. In this arena, surrounded by stone and wielding a weapon that was just as easily manipulated as the Earth to the half golem, Athan shouldn't have lasted as long as he had.

"And yours."

He turned to look over his shoulder, to where the recently-revealed opening to Rage's section of the maze would show Athan that he had indeed cold-cocked his green-haired teammate right in the face. That didn't seem to matter too much, since Rage was either crazy from isolation or still a little loopy from the haymaker.

Whatever the case was, it kept Rage from hitting him in the back of the head with the chair. And Athan was cool with that.

"Where's Vahn?"

"Big guy has a point," said Rage, looking to almost throw an arm around Athan and Kael's shoulders. Hell, if one of them didn't look so downright pissed and the other holding a sword in his general direction, he might have actually tried.

Whatever he was yelling at before seemed to have dissipated for the time being.

"We gotta be able to trust each other or we'll probably spend more time hurting each other than what we're supposed to be fighting." He didn't SEEM to be singling out Athan as he said it....

"Where's tall, dark, and moody anyways?"

"Mmmrm."

He started after Athan quickly, setting up besides the other man- keeping his hands down by the small blades at his waist incase he needed to draw quickly, leaving his sword up until he had a bit of warning that he'd need it.

"There's a lot of free ground to cover this way. There's an intersection coming up where he could have gone any of three ways- or back towards the gate I came from, there's one passage down there I haven't checked out yet. Either of you keeping a decent sense of direction in this damn place?"

ragingtofu Wrote:

"Where's tall, dar----"

PAFFFFTT

Before Rage could even finish that question--- his face would have received the remnants of the black sprite that would have careening down the hallway. They had been so unstable, that a direct hit with any solid object would dissipate them remember?

Well, apparently, seaweed head's face was so large and obtrusive that it counted.

And the flame sprite went all kablooey in his face along some random wall, probably seen by one of the guys..

PAFFFFTT

That had been the only survivor as well--- since the rest had been spent on either sharp turns, or actual dead ends (with two seemingly colliding into one another as Vahn attempted to manually steer them as best as possible).

All that was afforded to him was limited sight... there were no microphones built into the sprites, and no way for him to communicate via the sprites as well.

There was however--- a very distinct trail of heat that was left in the wake of the sprites, sort of like a very faint trace or a thin thread that led back to the source; which was Vahn himself.

One by one, the different views he saw within his left eye darkened out, as the sprites gave out. It was hard...to focus.. to concentrate on this kind of level. He wasn't used to this kind of...magery...

And it was because of that harried concentration that he failed to realize the presence of someone behind him.

Like a specter of death itself-- the Minotaur had set its sights on the only lone member of Fracture at the moment...it's shadow barely looming over Vahn as the dim lighting within the maze didn't give any leeway for one's surroundings.

Which is why even the Minotaur's footfalls went unheard by the distracted Murmillion.

--?!

His right eye would widen now, even as his left sort of half closed, a thin trail of blood seeping down the side of his cheek. The strain of even just using Sun's eye in such a small amount was intensive, having sapped not just willpower.

However, now, as he was drawn back into reality as it were-- he became slowly aware that something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

His the cloth of his cloak would flutter along in its tattered ends all around his knelt form as the dirt and dust from the earthen floor went up. There was nothing directly ahead of him that he could see-- and he was already turning his neck a bit to stare behind him.

He shot up, a braced hand from his right arm helping to push him along as he evasively went off to the side in a roll.

At least that's what he had thought he had done...and what he had been telling his body to do. Like real life lag--- his body couldn't respond to the firing synapses that his brain was sending-- resulting in a seemingly still knelt to the ground Vahn.

Apparently the toll of using the eye had been greater than estimated.

The bull was going to ******** break his stampede-cherry.

"I doubt he went back to the gate if you didn't see Vahn coming this way. And unless Rage has any ideas, we should go wherever you haven't been yet. We're gonna run the risk of heading the wrong way no matter what, but it's better than waiting around."

Athan was dead set on finding Shouyin again, and he didn't seem to have enough patience to really think things through. If any of the others had some ideas, they'd probably be better off saying them while Athan wasn't ranting to himself.

"I didn't get very far into the maze before he jumped me. So I don't know where anything is."

There was the answer to Kael's question.

Athan took a right at the end of the hallway, and arrived at the aforementioned intersection.

"Alright...where do we go?"

Well, at least some of -you- remains. The Eliminator would stand silently amidst Vahn's preamble, hands floating at his sides with his feet shoulder-width apart. He'd follow the man's approach with a strange look of fleeting interest (strange because it was communicated through an expressionless mask), the fighter underneath eyeing the clawed hand appreciatively.

"Obvious," the Eliminator's left arm would shoot forwards, the steel gauntlet gripping Vahn's right shoulder tightly by the cloak and his shirt, with fingers starting to dig into the skin underneath as the attacking Hand rip across the side of his upper left arm.

Metallic grey blood oozed from the MINOTAUR's arm as he took a wide step out to the side with his right foot, hoisting Vahn right off the ground and throwing him violently into the right wall. They wouldn't be more than half a metre apart when Vahn struck the stone.

Certainly this monster could bleed, but at what price to the man who caused it?

OOC Note: An updated map.

"Huurgg---hh!!"

There was visible surprise as the thing managed to counter-attack while Vahn was committed to execution of his own blow. He was expecting some mindless beast, and instead it apparently had enough thought to know when to move.

Or maybe this whole Minotaur thing was just...a charade. Especially since he could get a helluva closer look at the mask now, and see it for what it was--- a friggin' lethal and grim lookin' thing.

He hit the wall with a audible wham, his body dropping as he felt his spine protest. It friggin'....one arm..and it friggin'---!

"********'..." He struck out with a sweep of an outstretched leg, bracing himself with a left hand on the ground and the right taloned hand against the wall. Sparks would fly on account of how close the heel of his fraggin' metal boot would be to the earthen floor.

The motion would serve a double person-- and would most likely be avoided. Upon avoidance-- it would allow Vahn to get right back up to his feet at the ready.

At striking, well, it would probably cause the Eliminator to loose his ground and hit the deck as well--- where Vahn would be ready to deliver a swift downward heel drop to the ********.

Wiping away the dirt on his nose, he would circle a bit to the side of the Eliminator, not exactly comfortable with having a wall to his back.

It seemed as if the b*****d wanted to really throw down, the way he was moving and prepped. In fact...it vaguely seemed familiar...for some reason.

"Alright then--- I get it-- I get it. You obviously think I have poor taste in clothing. So you wanted me to wear the wall--- s'cool." He motioned with his right hand, eyes square on the Eliminator, ready for any movement.

"Now I hope you realize who I am... but in case you do, I want to remind you anyway!" Ripping aside the cloak, with his talons, he revealed himself to wearing nothing short of a black wife beater along with his jeans and those metal boots.

His strongest side was already placed forward, even as he slid his right foot forward a bit, before picking up the slack with his left and actually pendulum stepping towards the Minotaur. With that motion could be expected a jab from the right, the metal of his covered arm adding some oompth to the blow.

But it was still just a jab, and thus would be followed up with a hip twisting body shot from the left-- which was the actual strike having any real weight behind it.

And if that wasn't enough--- that jab, after doing it's job and being retracted-- would follow the left body blow up with a in-close rising uppercut, not as powerful as it would have been had his right side been fully healed and he wasn't risking popping the seared flesh by stretching too much.

It made for a quick triple combination from the Murmillion as he closed in on his opponent, that fire coming back into his eyes now.

"What the hell-?"

He dropped his brows and looked at Rage... basically like he was insane.

"Just tell us how to get to Fah."

He wasn't jumping on the Cole Train. It could have been his lack of humor at the moment, the fact that this seemed retarded, dangerous, and maybe a little homoerotic, or maybe just that he had a gash in his stomach that he didn't want getting agitated.

Probably several of those reasons, actually.

He just kept running by Athan rather than hopping on his injured buddy and dragging him down, as he figured two full grown men might do to even Athan, dropping behind as long as he had to have Rage point out where they were going.

[...probably turning the corner by now, or something. I dunno.]

"You guys are no fun, you know that?"

Hadn't he nearly been run over by the guy carrying Angel and that other guy during... man, which threat against the world was it? He was having a hard time tracking these things. Rage hopped off Athan's shoulders, deciding it would be best to just give directions at this point.

"Just follow the right wall and I'll tell you where you need to turn."

Fortunately, if they made a right at the intersection, they really didn't have much to worry about when it came to directions, particularly with Rage's left hand acting as a decent light source.

[Expected Course]

Close! Shouyin followed Vahn's heavy sway with his eyes, but his mind was distracted keeping track of the rest of the team, who'd quickly taken pursuit. They'd be rounding the corner, ready to stumble upon the half-golem and their comrade amidst an exchange of blows, but all there'd be is another wall, a dead end.

Vahn might notice the new wall forming behind the Eliminator, but Shouyin certainly wouldn't notice the pair of fists as they railed his torso swiftly, denting his plate armour and lifting him up as planned.

"Ffff--!" the half-golem would cough inside his helmet, shuffling back and circling off to his right. Son of a... he's playing tricks! Distracted with trying to block off Fracture's route, Shou suffered under Vahn's blows.

--? Truth be known, Vahn was more puzzled then shocked as he saw the wall on wall action happening behind the eliminator.

This was after the blows had struck and the thing had retreated back a pace or two of course, giving the Murmillion time to actually take in what he had just seen happen.

But he wouldn't dwell on it for long.

"Actually felt that one, eh?" He wasn't about to let this go by without rubbing his opponent's face all in it of course. "So I guess you're human after all."

The knuckles on his left hand would be feeling that plate-- but his right was of course indifferent, since the Hand was still activated. Both arms were raised up yet again as he went into enemy territory, intent on pressing the Eliminator now that he was certain he could cause it damage.

It bled.

It lost air.

It could be beaten with skill and probably luck on his side.

But it could be beaten.

As Vahn went in, he would aim a rising knee from his lead leg (right) as his chin remained tucked in and both arms raised in guard. He would try to strike the Eliminator off balance by attacking it's left side, hands at the ready to deal with any incoming blows to his head-- before twisting his torso to the right and raking the talons of his right hand across the Eliminator's 'face' (the mask).

The knee was just a set up for that motion.

It was a good reaction--- it was seeming more and more that this supposed beast was more man than not--- but of course, Vahn still didn't have the slightest clue that he was facing off against an ex-team mate!

The Eliminator's push-kick would come in just about against his right knee-- and instead of pushing forward with the attack, he would pull himself back, which would send him back at least a few inches, his left foot hovering off the ground as he went back.

It was only bit.

But it was enough for what would happen next.

Both men would react at nearly the same time-frame, give or take.

If the Eliminator would have gone with a 'low altitude' roundhouse-- then you can say Vahn had gone with a 'high altitude' roundhouse, with the Eliminator using his left leg, while Vahn used the springing momentum from his unused knee.

The Minotaur was grounded, while Vahn had been 'pushed' back a bit and come sailing forward, with his strike aiming to come smashing right down around where the opponent's neck was assumed to be-- with the greave aiming to tear up whatever armor was in the way.

Tch, too much pressure. Shouyin swung his head in to the left, following the movement of his kick and throwing his left forearm up. Efreet's boot would tear across the gauntlet on his left arm, peeling the metal across his forearm as Shou forced the kick higher up; the foot would find its final purchase with the left horn on the Eliminator's helm, snapping the business end of the bone off and sending it sailing through the air as the rest of the kick soared over Shouyin's head.

"You're getting closer, Vahn!" Relying on the rest of the momentum in the fighter's kick to turn him at least halfway around, Shouyin would plant his right leg forwards and shuffle in with his rear leg, shotgunning a low left hook into the man's right kidney.

Athan wasn't planning on getting himself stuck trying to fit through a Rage-sized hole. Hell, if the green-haired swordsman would have just waited he probably wouldn't have went through the pain of trying to punch/burn through a wall. Because Athan was still trudging halfway down the hallway when the wall appeared, and his only response was a half smile and the extension of his right arm up above his head, the sword hanging in practically vertical position as he brought the left arm across his body, securing a grip on the hilt.

"Outta the way!"

Rage only got one warning before Athan, in mid-run, planted his left foot forward and swung down with all the force he could muster, putting a near-flawlessly constructed killing tool against a solid stone wall.

If the wall wasn't reinforced by any sort of elemental trickery, Athan's sword would smash clean through the hastily-constructed barrier like so many other walls had before it. A cloud of dust, rubble, and sweat exploded into the air as final testament to the Dreamless Sleeper's strength.

"Hey Vahn."

When it all settled and the dust cleared, Fracture was whole again.

"Miss us?"

Which left only one loose end to tie up.

ragingtofu Wrote:

Thump thump thump--

Silence.

-- thump--

If the MINOTAUR could still detect steps against the ground, there would be a sudden lack of one set of them in the hallway - probably because Rage had run down the hall before taking to the air, using the high walls as an additional foothold to briefly kick off--

And there was the trick. It wasn't just the ground, it was everything, it was everywhere. This earth and stone, all of it was like an extension of the half-golem's form, upon which he felt every shuffle and p***k. He was a man half-made of stone, the ground was his home, his -element-. He was an avatar of all that the spirit of the earth represented.

Team Fracture had been placed in a cage with the bull, but the cage was -made- of bulls. Horns, muscle and violence abound.

As Rage went to jump off the wall, it would fail to provide the necessary series of forces that would entail his subsequent rebound. No relationship between action and reaction, no normal force in contrast to the pull of gravity. The rock would swallow his foot like a pool of quicksand, swiftly hardening back up around it. And then gravity would be allowed to do its work, dragging Rage down as his momentum was brought to a standstill and snapping his shin bone in two against the wall.

Coming back to the immediate action between those bearers of earth and fire now. Shouyin would quickly shuffle around Vahn, putting the fighter between himself and Athan as the Butcher made his entrance.

"Quite the team you've got here, Vahn!" the Eliminator, despite his hollow voice, spoke with confidence and derision, maintaining his fighting stance while Vahn raged against the floor. "Full of fire, how fitting!" Not bothering to disguise his ability, the half-golem would reach out with his lead hand and, like with Athan, draw another stone column about the size of a steel pipe from the wall.

"But it burns out so quickly! You're all so full of fire... but the only violence that has any real effect is cold-- lasting. The only passion you could ever survive on those last two years you were here was like that. The only thing you could possibly beat me with..."

"Is ice."

There wasn't much Kael could do to help Rage- unless someone wanted to spontaneously generate him a mining pick and trust him not to hurt Rage's leg with that at all, they'd be safer letting the green haired man do it himself.

Similarly, there wasn't much he could do to the eliminator- not right now in a crowded hallway, where preferably they'd have one person on each side of the guy and the two other's playing back up. Anything more and they'd be getting in each other's way- ranged fireballs or whatever their resident infernos might have aside.

While everyone else was getting hot headed and worked up though, Kael worked a different way. His 'fire' wasn't burning on the outside, big blasts and showy tongues of flame, with all the noise and aggression. No, he was burning on the inside- less the inferno of the other three, more an oven or a furnace. He was keeping that aggression on the inside, stoking it slowly, letting it build up quietly and meekly, saving up until he could really put it to use.

And that was the difference in methodology- while everyone else was storming in, flushing the eliminator with wave after wave of heat, so to speak, Kael was hanging back around that last corner they'd turned- keeping the eliminator and his team in one eye and the empty hall (possibly the one with part of Rage's leg sticking into it) in the other.

Sword out.

Ready.

Waiting.

He looked cool and composed, patient and harmless compared to his teammates. But anyone who missed the heat waiting behind the sharp red eyes didn't know jack about the swordsman.

"--?!"

It seemed, the more the battle wore on-- the more the entire visage of the Minotaur fell apart-- like cracks in the earth-- and something else was showing.

Something familiar.

And now it was tugging right at his heart strings.

I know that voice--- that damned---! The flames within the palm of his right hand seemed to ebb slightly-- wavering as the realization came to full bloom. "Shouyin?!" (imagine Snake's 'Metal Gear?!' voice)

With the kind of face one wore when you found out that Master Miller was actually Liquid--- he just stared in disbelief.

But now, Athan's amped up attitude was making sense. He had gotten his stuff handed to him by the half golem in the past...

And just like that time...with the Viceroy...with something both men had in common standing before them-- the hatred they had for one another...was instead resonating between the both of them. Syncing them up...

Teamwork get.

But first...

"Of all the places...to find you here. I thought you were still on vacation! I would have sent for you if I knew where the hell to even find you!"

He didn't know if Shouyin was friend or foe...he believed he was still a good friend.. He had never bore any ill will to the youngster after all.

"I don't suppose I could ask you to just let us by."

Fancy speeches...

His lips stretched, a grimace, as he sat back to watch it all talked out, working up to some continuation of the conflict. Carefully he eyed Shouyin as the stone man let his face come out, simply standing and watching them. Suddenly, there was motion, and Kael's focus zoomed in on it from the wide watch he'd been keeping while the man had been still, trying to avoid giving himself tunnel vision. But, was it only a grand gesture?

No, he-!

Something moved in his peripheral vision, red eyes snapping over to his right. Half tensed for motion and suddenly on high alert, Kael was fully readied for action, but it was still coming out of nowhere. The reaction could have been compared to that of someone surrounded by hostile faces, but not knowing which one was going to throw a punch or a kick first, or if he'd necessarily even be the recipient. Just like that, it ended up like a jab from halfway into his blind-side. The swordsman let his left leg slide over the stone outward, widening his footing, as his head and torso leaned in with it.

Not fast enough.

"-htcht!"

The stone pillar nicked his head on passing, and for a moment he stumbled, forward and to his left, as the world went fuzzy and bucked violently for half a second before refocusing. Backing off, he stepped away from the pillar, still trying to keep space from other walls as if the ground itself wasn't hostile, letting himself get shepherded by the active stone collumn that he was now being especially careful of toward the other side of the turn- almost losing sight of the eliminator past all of his teammates down that hall.

b*****d, playing cheap tricks like some putz.

The swordsman gritted and bared his teeth, ignoring the sticky feeling of wetness on the side of his head, holding his sword still at ready, and watching out for the next free shot this guy was going to take while he stood back and watched the show.

As anyone would do in response to a large hunk of rock heading towards their face, Athan turned profile to the thing before trying to lean out of the way. As an added bonus, he swept his right hand hand up and pushed outwards, slamming his palm into the giant earth ball and shoving it up against what remained of the maze's wall.

The sphere shattered on impact with the solid surface, shaking the rubble and causing Athan's sword, previously trapped in the stone, to fall back to the earth. Athan's right hand left the wall, coming back just in time to snag the weapon as it descended, ending up with Athan holding the weapon in a reverse grip.

Here, in such close proximity to the Murmillion, Athan couldn't help but feel an added rush of adrenaline. True, there was the desire to outperform his racial rival, but there was more to it than that.

With Kael present he felt the need to look out for his 'little brother'. With Rage present, he had a hard enough time ignoring the fact he was supposed to still be made at the guy.

But with Vahn...

Dammit! Already one step ahead of me.

"COME ON!"

Athan underhanded the sword in front of himself, causing the weapon to go in a slow spin as he surged forward behind Vahn as he exploded off of the stone pillar.

Athan was behind, but he never really needed to be that close. The spinning sword crossed from right to left, putting Athan's left hand in prime position to catch the sword at the hilt near the crossguard. The right hand moved to balance the blade at the bottom of the hilt even as he took one final step forward, planting his right foot, and swinging the weapon horizontally level with Shouyin's torso. The swing would be in time with Vahn's kick, though not precise by any means. With their already-close proximity, Athan was swinging the sword with about two and a half feet of steel extending past the Eliminator.

The nature of the hallways, however, would cut any sort of follow-through short. Either Shouyin would catch the sword in the side and be smashed against the wall, or Shouyin would evade and the sword would be having another meeting with the labyrinth.

Damn! He was off his mark by a lot-- as the dull ache from getting swatted away with a friggin' stone rod sent him veering towards the left. With nothing but the wall coming up--- he improvised and pulled back, placing all his weight in a new direction as much as possible.

It was a bit wonky--- but it would work-- on pure chance alone.

He certainly didn't have eyes in the back of his head, nor was he a mind reader. But the adrenaline coursing through both men was very much connected by a single source; how much they wanted to beat this guy.

It was the same as what had happened with the Viceroy*, as both men seemed to waste no movements, complimenting and covering each other.

This would show in the basic fact that while Athan had seemingly failed to cleave or send Shouyin flying off to the side--- that still vibrating blade offered a safe haven for the Murmillion.

It was true that Shouyin was one with his element-- but the sword was not part of that element. And as long as he didn't touch the earth itself-- to a half blinded Shouyin-- the extra sensory perception that his natural alignment afforded him was nulled.

Landing in a hunched position, Vahn would be thrusting forward in that one moment that Athan had afforded him-- without Vahn even asking for it.

He saw Shouyin standing there, rigid as a tree-- there was nothing smooth or any kind of practiced form--- he was just standing there-- and Vahn would attack.

So that by the time the half golem had finished his sentence-- those outstretched talons would already be coming down in a slashing motion, straight center of Shouyin, as Vahn attacked from atop Athan's blade. "EVEN THE ICE MELTS---WHEN THE HEAT IS TOO MUCH TO BEAR!!"

*See Petals of Chaos- Sifu Ed

Shouyin blinked, 'pulling' his armour apart at an atomic level in order to reduce the density back to normal. In his head there was an image of a sheet of paper getting pulled tightly at either end, without ever ripping or even getting longer - just changing. No follow up? Vahn had struck and rebounded off, not coming in with that extra left he'd imagined and planned for.

What!? Why can't I see it? The half-golem swung his head about, struggling to shift his weight under the oppressive force of his armour, bringing his arms about to face Athan's sword post-collision.

"Sh--!" Efreet's talons raked across Shouyin's plate just as it reached normal density (this all happened very quickly of course), tearing through it like butter. The tips of each finger slid unfortunately across the man's chest, he having not prepared a suitable stone skin in time to resist the claws, and four thin lines of blood trailed diagonally across his torso, peering out through the tears in the leather vest he was wearing.

A steel-covered right fist, which was in itself made of stone, latched onto Vahn's right wrist as he began to pull away from the slash. The half-golem was phased certainly, but phased the way a kid dosed up on meth was when he took a bullet in the shoulder. -Angry- phased. Tugging the Efreet's Hand back in towards his right hip, the half-golem would bring his left hand across horizontally, going for another skull crack with his stone stick, the man letting out a right primal scream to match his feeling.

Time to start hitting with a DON.

There was a benefit to having someone in control of the platform they were standing on. For Vahn, no matter how much Athan wanted to see the guy hurt, their common enemy was far more important.

Lookin' out for you...can't believe I'm doing this.

Athan's wrists turned, sharply turning the flat of the blade to the right, practically dumping Vahn off onto Shouyin and freeing Athan's hands of the sword as the weapon went clattering to the ground.

Seemed that Athan wasn't a big fan of playing second fiddle to the Murmillion as he abandoned his support role for a much more up and personal setting.

His left hand balled into a fist as he rushed forward to close the distance between Eliminator and Butcher...

"Hmmmf."

With the eliminator locked in close quarters combat with Athan and Vahn, he was distracted- enough that after a moment Kael decided he was well safe enough to quickly duck that stone column and move into the hall, half crouched with his middle strangely rigid, not bending around his stomach level almost at all.

Slinking up to Rage's position, he shot him a look- just for a second- before he was back to watching the eliminator fight.

"You need a hand?"

Feuds or lack there of could be put aside. It didn't matter.

He had something to get done. That was all.

Opening was a whiles off. He had some distance. He needed to make sure they'd be ready to do something if there was ever a chance to.

Just keep to the sidelines now, this is no game for kids. Shouyin wasn't all that familiar with fighting multiple opponents, certainly not at this level of ability at least. Wherever their technique failed, teamwork (or - more appropriately - ingenious luck) made up for it; which kept the half-golem more or less on par with his opponents, unable to make any significant dents in their defense except through his liberal use of unforeseeable manipulations of the environment.

With another yell that sounded more like an unnatural extension of his previous battle cry than anything else, the Eliminator would raise up his left arm, the column in his hand altering into a gruesome looking dagger just shy the length of a short sword and with various 'fish hooks' along one edge, obviously intended to make the blade's removal much more difficult than its entry.

He'd turn his head to the right, unable to move his torso much due to his former teammate's formidable bear hug, and stare the Butcher down as he charged at him, oblivious of the danger the man presented. Green eyes seemed to dim, the black lines of 'pupil' twisting and pulsing with the iris. Cold-hearted resolution seemed to take the avatar over, for he'd plunge his dagger into Vahn's right kidney with a stoic fluidity of motion that spoke of no reservations or delay.

The veil was broken just as Athan broke within real striking distance of the half-golem, and - with lips furled and teeth bared - he shouted once more:

"COME ON!"

The next few moments seemed to slow down for Athan as he broke within striking distance of the half golem. His right foot planted, his body leaned in towards the combined mass of Shouyin and Vahn, and Athan's mouth opened to produce a primal roar. Burst had been primed, and there was only one real possible outcome as the captive Avatar urged the Butcher onward. For Athan, things froze temporarily.

At first, there was no sound save for the rapidly beating thump of his heart. His left hand was shaking from the sheer amount of energy flowing through it. Athan's own fury powered the gauntlet, and the item could hardly contain such harsh unstable emotion.

The hiss of the gauntlet as his fingers locked into place.

The sickening sound of a dagger piercing flesh.

Vahn's words of defiance.

And the distant roar of his own voice, getting ever louder as time sped back up.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Shouyin Wrote:

"COME ON!"

What happened next seemed to be over in an instant as a blindingly fast punch shot forward from Athan's left hand. There was little thought put towards the location of his punch, just that it was aimed well above Vahn's head. He aimed to smash the hand against Shouyin's chestplate, not the face for no reason other than that the torso was immobilized and harder to move out of the way of the punch.

Whereas Athan's sword crushed stone from weight, Athan's punch, fueled by nothing more than years of training and natural muscle tone was strong enough to put a hole in the earth with sheer force.

Though with the gauntlet, things became dicey. Shouyin had felt the effects of the punch before, but early on in the fight, when Athan was much more calm, when the gauntlet hadn't had much time to build up in strength.

As it was, Athan's punch was carrying enough force to topple a reinforced wall. Shouyin's breastplate would absorb the initial impact from the punch alone, but could it withstand the added boost?

As all forces did, there was an equal and opposite reaction to Athan for throwing such a punch. If Shouyin remained rooted, the force would shoot all the way up the length of Athan's arm, literally exploding it from the inside out. Skin was ripped off, bone splintered all the way up the length of the appendage, and even his shoulder would crack at the collarbone. In short, the damage he received from punching the man-reptile from the second round would be amplified tenfold. By the time he got medical treatment, there wouldn't be much of a way to tell where the gauntlet ended and Athan's hand began. The resulting loss of blood would send Athan into shock, rendering him pretty much useless for the rest of the fight, if the fight would even continue.

If Shouyin took the force and fell back as a result of it, Athan's arm would be in markedly better shape. The hand would still be shattered and in horrible shape leading all the way up to the wrist, but the rest of the arm would be in markedly better condition. Naturally, this course of action would also result in the Eliminator taking less damage as well.

Whatever the case, the punch had temporarily 'broken' the gauntlet. And with his artificial source of adrenaline gone, Athan had sacrificed a lot for the sake of one strike.

Athan was frozen in place following his punch, hunched over, bleeding from his now ruined hand. His chest was rising and falling with the intensity of a man who had just finished a hard run. Though Athan was hardly tired, he was sucking wind because of the tremendous amount of pain his hand was in.

Metal bent in and collided with bone, fingers literally hammered into their slots. Athan's hand was bleeding so profusely that the gauntlet had welled up with so much blood it was leaking crimson from what joints hadn't been fused by the pressure of the punch. Even Athan couldn't shrug off such an intense feeling.

It took all the willpower in the world to draw his arm back to his side, visibly wincing as even the thought of moving the hand sent sharp pains running up the length of his arm. His right hand, still perfectly fine, was his only resort now.

He looked down, staring first at the wounded hand that had delivered the punch. Then over to his right hand, the black fingers already balling up into a fist.

"Tch."

Athan would have never admitted to it, but he was impressed.

He was impressed, and he was in a lot of pain as, no matter how hard he tried, the broken fingers of his left hand were trying to relax, putting more pressure on what bones hadn't been pulverized, perhaps even breaking a few more.

"Never thought I'd meet a rock I couldn't break by myself..."

His head swiveled to gaze over his shoulder, where Kael and Rage rested. In response to their presence, he simply took a single step to the right, clearing a path straight to the Eliminator.

"Good thing I brought my friends with me."

"... or you're gonna get burned!"

Rage had put all sense of personal wellness behind him. Even if it meant sacrificing everything, he'd do what it took to finish this. Because he knew, no matter, what, he wouldn't die.

Well...

... he was kind of sure he wouldn't.

Either way, the second that Athan opened up the hallway to his friends, Rage took off. Well, perhaps "took off" wasn't really the right way of saying it so much as he dragged his bum leg as his good one strode out front at a pretty decent clip. Still, it wasn't until the last few yards that he gained a sudden burst of speed, hoping, praying that where his leg failed his splint would hold. It was probably for that reason that his right pushed off against the ground, giving him little height, but enough forward momentum to slam his right fist into the center (or side, depending on position) of the MINOTAUR's mask, his right leg hitting the ground at an odd angle, but nevertheless pushing him forward while his left hand slammed his katana into the ground, using it as a crutch to press him hand further against the mask.

He was hot enough to turn the hardest stone into molten goo - did he have enough left in the tank for his first, final, and only attack on the MINOTAUR?

Thanks... Athan....

Distortions in time continuum, aside, Shou had something to worry about first, before Rage's strike.

Or maybe, just something else to worry about?

Vahn's actions had a clear initiative, just for the fact that he was already right on top of the guy, which made for a nice set up as the rush started. What rush?

As soon as the big guy moved, Kael was off, already down to talk to Rage, when the other man had stood up, Kael had instead set himself up in a mimicry of a runner about to take off. And gone headlong sprinting what short distance there was to the stone man, right in front of Rage, past Athan as soon as the big guy cleared space for him to pass without having to dart around.

In this time slot, Kael hauling a** down what moderately short span of hallway there was to cross, we'd have Vahn attempting to drop the eliminator, which would add a nice set up.

The swordsman would come at it with a leap- if Shouyin was on his knees, he'd have a third one to worry about. Knee, that was. Instead of just jumping over Vahn and trying to lay a gauntleted fist across the eliminator's kisser, if he was down on his knees he'd have to worry about a flying knee coming at his head, leg thrusting forward during the leaping motion in attempt to deliver a clean blow with the knee, considering the absolutely amazing constitution of many in this tournament only meant to stun him, or help the damage pile up.

Which was exactly his intent. Only leaping over Vahn if the guy was on his feet, or delivering the knee and passing by, or caught, the idea was to plant his other foot ASAP, getting himself partial grounding to deliver an immediate blow downward on the eliminator's head with the pommel of his sword in his right hand- smashing motion that much easier if he was off his feet- and then if he could get the other foot down or at least use whatever sort of thing it could potentially be caught in to support it, hammer Shouyin's head with gauntleted first, then pommel, then fist, then pommel, then first, then pommel.

There was a lot that could go wrong with it, being an assault without any super powerful back ups like Athan's strength or Rage or Vahn's heat. Even if Shou was on his knees to give some of the best circumstances for the rain of pain that you could have asked for. But even through stone, Kael figured he could lay some hurt on this guy's noggin, and give a brutal enough assualt to keep him distracted with the guy laying in on him hard.

Enough to distract him as the crippled Rage caught up with his glowing hand of... whatever sort of righteous sentiment you were feeling partial to.

Wait-

Kael had been waiting the whole time to pull an opportunity, to lay out what he could, some attempt to cover the members of his team who he figured could hurt this guy- maybe partially due to some feelings of inferiority to the supernatural oomph they had which he lacked. Jealously would have been the wrong term since most magic made him uneasy.

But apparently, he had waited too long.

He came up slowly, looking over his team. Rage and his nose and leg. Athan and his mutilated arm. Vahn had a stab wound...

He himself did too. But he wasn't particularly worried, nor about the sharp pain and drying blood on the side of his head.

The eliminator was down. It had been messy. They'd paid hard. But here, the men who had come to the tournament worried of tearing each other apart before they could ever worry about a foe, the team FRACTURED right down to it's core by mistrust and dislike, old fire and new, destroying itself with it's own heat... by their feet lay one of the tournament's feared executioners, those brought to cull out the best from the 'best of the best'.

One task for four men.

For each, it had overcome a million misgivings.

Even with the chaotic form of it, more than ever it seemed like maybe they were acting almost as ONE.

Funny,

Kael stepped slowly into the group of his teammates around the fallen man, unstrapping the sheath of his sword from his back and staring down at him.

This was...

"...just what we told you."

A grim grin crossed his face, and the sword slammed into its scabbard, and he rested against it. He might have done almost nothing, but for a team he'd worked this hard for... he wasn't even sure if he'd done anything to bring this to being.

But here it was.

And they were going to continue on, right up until the end.

After all, if this couldn't stop them, what could?

What could, huh?

He bared his teeth, and stared up into the air, not at the ceiling but something past it.

Somewhere out there were several pairs of ears that were never going to hear the words he had for them. The ones he was really speaking too, thinking about, not the man fallen to his earth before them. But before too long, they might be getting a taste of just what Fracture had shown here.

Nothing is gonna stand in the way of this.

So go ahead and try.