The first round of Jollister and Shii's battle concludes with Shiishii's slight victory. Resulting in the bringing of Jollister's true power. The others are forced to get involved while Gaia is still occupied with Joelli and Juullez. The newly powered up Uriyah is sent to put an end to the battle for the Key. As all this takes place… Nekros has taken it upon himself to dispose of Haydes.
Haydes: "HellBlazer, stand back. I'll kill this clown myself. After all… we both saw him lose to Hideaki in such a pitiful manner. And one should know… we're stronger than him individually."
Nekros: "I'd say you guys are equal in stature. But are you actually more skilled?"
Haydes: "Let's see, shall we?" *PEW*
Nekros: "Ngh!?" *SMASH*
HellBlazer: "And so it begins."
Indeed it has Blazer. Haydes blitzes Nekros and lands a flying knee in his stomach. Haydes brings his left knee from Nekros' stomach and into his chin, leaving a streak on his body that resembles a burn. The knee forces Nekros up and Haydes stretches out his leg to turn it into a nasty kick to the face. The final strike sends Nekros into a nearby white, dwarf star. Haydes gets into his Hellsin Sin Zenfist stance. Nekros bursts out of the star and casts a shadow on both of them. The shadow gains a physical form and attempts to grab them with their gigantic hands.
HellBlazer: "If that touches me even a little, we're kicking his ass."
Haydes: "No worries, I'm on it! Contract: Zealous STAR Flash!!!"
Nekros: "Huh!?'
The light flashed and the shadow was casted away. Just for both Nekros and Haydes to have a head on collision. In which, destroys the created star that Haydes made. They exchanged fist barrages that left them at a standstill. Haydes commands hus power of improvement and forces a new level of martial arts skill to awaken. He speeds through Nerkos' strikes and knocks them to the sides. He gets into the inside if his range and lands three heavy jabs on Nekros' chest.
"N-Ngh! (He read me like a book. But how!?)" Nekros thinks whilst taking a few steps back. Haydes uses his 1000 War Fists technique to push him further into a corner. Nekros turns into darkness and maneuvers around the many strikes. Haydes activates Mental Zenchi to predict where the attack would come from. And just like that, Nekros attempts to kick him in the head but Haydes is quick to duck out of the way. Haydes spins to his left while pivoting in his heel. He transfers to his left foot and twirls on his toes. He jumps and goes into a double flip before dead legging his right leg and swinging it like a heavy whip. Stiffening it as he makes contact with the center of Nekros' back.
Nekros is sent flying and Haydes sends a new technique out.
"Improvement of the Art of War: Shadow Guerilla Tactic!!!" Haydes yelled out and about six shadows showed themselves. They blended into the darkness of space as Nekros rebounded, and regained his ground. Each one hit him and faded back into the darkness. Hit after hit… punch after punch, Nekros was slowly being mowed down. He got a slight high level of irritation and burst open a huge amount of Presence Zenchi.
Haydes: "Ah… so you're one of those types, eh? Then let's see your grit! WAR FIST MAJOR!!!"
Nekros: "Gaaaah! Grand Altering!!!"
The wave of violent essence was shifted and redirected towards a nearby star. The star was broken into pieces, and those pieces into more pieces. Nekros made sure to take an opportunity to counter. He uses his power of darkness and shoots a bomb at Haydes. Haydes uses a condensed version of war fist and destroys it with ease. Nekros rises from the remnants of the attack and lands a heavy kick that breaks Haydes' guard. He's sent speeding into HellBlazer who rudely kicks him back into action.
Nekros: "You kick your own creator!?"
HellBlazer: "Eh, the bastard beat me earlier. He can have that."
Nekros: "What odd creatures you Gahwardians are."
Haydes: "Don't worry about it… he just improved my durability and stamina."
Nekros: "NGH!?!"
Haydes was able to blitz Nekros during his approach, catching him off guard in the process. "Improve the Eyes!!!" , yelled Haydes as he readied his fists.
Haydes has the ability to command small, temporary bursts of improvement in single areas. They could also wait and charge the essence and permanently improve an area. Letting it improve the entirety of Haydes' being. And with the current technique in use, Haydes was able to bypass the field of essence surrounding Nekros' body. Allowing him to see into his biological and essence makeup to better see how to physically mow the giant down. He lands a decisive blow where the heart was located and set a contract.
Nekros: "G-Gaaa~ah. Wh-What have you done to… MY HEART!!!" *PRCH* *Pweeerrhh*
Nekros stumbles back, but not before he could land a punch on Haydes' jaw. Which had enough force to send both flying back a bit. Nekros plants his feet into a platform created from darkness and places his hand on his chest. He attempted to analyze what had been placed there. Only for Haydes to actually answer Nekros' earlier question.
Haydes: "What's been placed on your heart is a pretty loose leaf contract. But you and I will make it stronger."
Nekros: "Turhhh! As if! You'll only be delaying the inevitable, you worthless trash!!!" *FWIP*
Haydes: "No… you're the only one delaying things here." *SMASH*
Haydes goes into a more cold state and intercepts Nekros during his full nelson rush. He grabs his right fist and pushes him back. Nekros is taken aback and stumbles while trying to regain himself. Haydes blitzes him during his buffoonery and lands a mighty uppercut into his ribs. He folds over and Haydes cocks his left fist back once more, then smashes Nekros in the face with another uppercut while Nekros was still bent over. Nekros goes floating slightly off the ground and Haydes goes for a heavy, right haymaker. But Nekros is able to regain his composure and block the attack with his left arm.
They both bend their knees to better gain and build kinetic energy. Nekros counters with a right jab and Haydes dodges with a weave. Nekros follows up with a left hook, but Haydes ducks and he misses once more. Haydes gets in close and jabs his fingers into Nekros' side. Nekros flinches then clenches up from the pain. Haydes never misses a true opportunity once it presents itself, so he uses that opening to land a heavy, left roundhouse kick to Nekros' chest.
Nekros: "GAH!!! TRH… WHY YOU!!!"
Nekros manages to tank the blow and tries to score an overhead right on the top of Haydes' head. Haydes slams his foot down and leaps out the way. But for some odd reason, Haydes jumped to Nekros' right which landed him right in a danger Zone. The line of fire in which Nekros' left arm had a clean shot.
Haydes: (Why did I jump into his area of counter? Was my intent… altered!?)
Nekros: "Got your ass!!!"
Nekros lands a heavy blow that nearly breaks through Haydes' guard. He goes flying back and plants his feet to stop his momentum. Nekros is in a frenzy and gives him no breathing room. He blitzes him with a hand full of darkness.
Haydes: "Oh? How fun. *kaBLOOOM*
Meanwhile, on the battlefield with Jollister against STRIFE. Jollister begins his process of mowing down their forces while Gaia is held at bay. At current, Shiishii held him in a place using his war form. Their scythes create sparks that flutter and dance about. ZeeShift and Kishin both speed in from his six, and attempt to bombard him with gigantic essence blasts. Both used their control of Annihilation essence and tried to erase a piece of Jollister's very existence.
Shiishii: "I'll say it once more-"
Jollister: "No… no need. You're not getting beyond me. None of you! Presence of Death!!!"
Shiishii: "Turn back you two- *SMASH* TWUARG!!!"
Shiishii is kicked in the gut by the tip of Jollister's left foot. At the same time, both ZeeShift and Kishin get hit head on by a wave of essence. Their consciousness is temporarily knocked out and both are nearly blitzed right after. Hideaki and Shii manage to flank him in time and tank the softened blows. They used death essence to cause literal 'end' to the fatal damage they would've taken. Due to lack of essence though, they were still damaged quite a bit, both kneeled over from the kicks to their stomachs.
"I'm impressed you could match Hideaki in speed only seconds after that kick. But…" Jollister says right before extending out his right hand. Vashjai dives in from above to stop his next move. Ebon follows up and goes for a sliding, low sweep kick on Jollister's right leg. Jollister flips over the trip and does a quick backflip into a mid air, vertical split. Kicking both Vashjai and Ebon in their chins, knocking Vashjai off his equilibrium and Ebon's head gets mushed into the platform.
Jollister: "You guys would be soo much better as support."
Dante: "Thats what we're here for!!! Beeso, Dwayne!!"
Dwayne & Beeso: "Right!"
All three: "Harmonic Scripture; Invigorate!!!"
Jollister: *Step* *step* "Ah… so they just gave everyone… buffs. Forgot how much I hate fantasy-style support types."
Everyone got back up from their blows, healed and boosted by the last technique. Dante calls forth a huge meteor storm full of nothing but Saturn sized meteorites. Jollister doesn't even bat an eyelash while swiping away at the oncoming shower. "Slash; 10 FOLD!!!", he called out and just like that, the tens of meteors summoned began to split and break apart. Each fell to pieces as if a master swordsman had cut them up. And each began their destruction mere milliseconds after Jollister glared their way. He purposely let three fall near Dante and broke them as they passed him. Making a smokescreen for himself.
Dante: "The ol' Jolli is still a cheeky bastard as always." *Vwimp*
Jollister: "Indeed I am and that barrier is as good as space dust."
Dante: "Dammit!!"
*SHATTER* The barrier was broken with zero difficulty. Jollister attempted to follow up with a right hook, full of Presence Zenchi. Beeso and Dwayne surround his person out of nowhere, taking Jollister by surprise.
Dwayne: "Here goes nothing! Rap Verse! You better FREEZE, because Beeso coming with Big Rights. Go ahead and GIVE UP ya Chin, you going NIGHT NIGHT!!!"
Jollister's body fails to respond to his whims and instead responds to Dwayne's voice and lyrics. Using essence as strings and attaching them to the subject at hand whenever a commanding lyric shows up. The rest just forces the setting to fit the scenario. His body freezes up then he's struck head on by Beeso who was performing a dance that boosted Dwayne's potency. The strike did almost nothing and Jollister still was losing consciousness. In the midst of breaking out as he falls asleep, two voices are heard.
"Appraise!!!" , one could be heard from Curti, who had his left arm extended out and pointing at Jollister. But the other… came from an unknown voice.
???: "Let's show him our Appraisal, Curti my guy!!!"
Curti: "Huh? *gasp* Hahaaa! My man… THERMIAS!"
A new ally shows up with Alec by his side. They hold Jollister at bay for an even longer period of time. Allowing Dwayne to continue his verse in full swing.
Dwayne: "A lil kick sends 'em off with a grin, he Catchin' BIG FLIGHT. Then Dwayne gone come with the END, I'm talkin' MASSIVE Rights. The brothers gonna come with some BLASTS, this be our IGNITE!!!"
The sequence goes as follows in complete succession. Jollister was sent hurtling into his own platform. Then a sudden burst of blasts from all directions fell upon him. He slowly rose as they continued on and on. Everyone from Shiishii to Thermias. They were all apart of the most marvelous onslaught they've ever performed together.
"Vashjai! Copy my study's ancestral history and follow and match my technique." Alec said to Vashjai right before taking off. Vashjai knew not of this man but did not hesitate to follow. As Alec too, had a STRIFE insignia on his body. That of a general's. Alec activates his study and calls out an incredible technique.
Alec: "Cosmos!"
Vashjai: "HMPH!! TRACE!!!"
Vashjai was instantly able to copy and trace the confines of the Cosmos Study. Allowing him to quickly analyze and guess the correct technique that was about to be used.
Vashjai: (I traced every bit of its essence. We're a go!) "Cosmos…"
Both: "Universal PUNCH!!!"
A fist began to form from the literal confines of the universe. Taking shape as every atom present began to mold and take form. The galaxies combine and morph to shape the star system that would be its mighty outline. The stray stars, black holes and massive nebulas as well as cosmic anomalies. They all began to fill the shape that the endless galaxies formed and added density to. And as the finishing touches were added. It descended and Dante casts a massive barrier dome to protect all of STRIFE… well besides Gaia.
Jollister: "Finally stopped your futile efforts?... Well I'll be damn… damn mayne. This is nuts mayne. A whole damn universe in the shape of a fist!?"
Vashjai: "Yeah…"
Alec: "Now eat it!" *Clap*
Jollister: *SMASH* "Hm? (Space is literally clasping onto me.)"
*kaBLOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM* A massive breakdown of time and space all throughout three universes collapsed in on itself. With Jollister at its center and all the while, Gaia continues her battle with Juullez and Joelli. As if their initial battlefield wasn't destroyed.
"Mhm. (I'll add some life to that so we can reset this place.)" Gaia thinks to herself while masterfully dodging a storm full of benevolent and malevolent embodiment. A constant struggle to alter her neutral point and give one or the other the advantage. But Gaia had a direct barrier of cosmos around her, connecting her to confines on a multiversal range. Any particles and molecules found are assimilated into her mental psyche. With this she was able to learn the make up of simple concepts such as benevolence and malevolence. Shielding herself completely from the onslaught.
Even knowing all this… knowing her shield would work. She still chooses to dodge and make them work harder. In the meantime, Jollister caught a whiff of life essence within the imploding three universes. Knowing this, he quickly disintegrated the remaining parts of the falling universes. And with that 'end' requirement being met, Gaia's life essence accumulated and analyzed what was needed. Then burst with the might of more than three big bangs and let all the elements of the universes spill out. Relocating to their rightful place amongst the natural cosmic order.
Jollister: "Well then. This was eventful. But I can sense that Gaia grows impatient. And her being here means our utter failure if I don't at least hold her at bay."
Shiishii: "Mhm… and we'll show you you're-"
Jollister: "Don't kid yourself Shii. The strongest amongst you without Gaia, is you. Tied for the highest rating at 23 and toting the highest skill here right next to Gaia. Defeating you would be child's play. You didn't even notice me knocking out our family in a gentle manner."
Shiishii: "What!?"
He turned around to see Hideaki, Vashjai and Ebon unconscious behind him. Everyone was startled and Shii could only prepare himself.
Jollister: "I blocked their essence flow to the brain which causes a temporary sleep due to a slight shock. So… the rest of you are gonna give me some fun before I approach Gaia."
Dante: "Treating us like children!?"
Thermias: "This isn't a game, Jollister!"
Shiishii: "Indeed. We'll make sure you feel the full might of STRIFE's Captains and their Generals. Everyone!! Get 'em!!"
Jollister: *Grin* "COME!"
Everyone charges in wholeheartedly, with Alec starting the assault with the summons of a falling star! Jollister only smiles and punches the star into dust. Hideaki, Curti and Thermias all rush Jollister as they come out of the dust. Thermias forms some beastly ape arms, attempting to land a blow on Jollister's head. A right jab misses as Jollister ducks. Then a flurry of hooks goes on missing their marks, Jollister leisurely dodging each as if they were molasses. Hideaki tries clapping Jollister with a gigantic bone dragon's hand. Jollister kicks both Thermias' chin and the dragon hand. Knocking Thermias back a few feet and crushing the hand completely.
"Come on y'all, you guys can't do better!?" Jollister asks while ducking under a sneak attack kick from the rear. Hideaki misses, but was only a diversion for Curti's gravity singularity. He shot it while Jollister was rising back up, but he… he simply glared the attack away. He backhands Hideaki while he glides through his flurry of fists. The strike had Zenchi imbued within it and knocked Hideaki unconscious once again.
Jollister: "Your death essence allowed you to wake up, so mine will keep you down. Now for you. *GRIP*
Thermias: "Not just yet! *Fwip*
Jollister: "A tail? *GRIP* Did you forget my lineage?"
Thermias: "G-Gargh! N-No, but you forgot to keep your guard up!"
*SWISH* Alec and Dwayne flank Jollister's sides while Thermias attempts to hold him in place. He cracks a smile and lifts the struggling Thermias with just his right arm. Freeing his tail, he smacks both Alec and Dwayne into nearby stars. One to the left and the other to the right. Then smashes his left fist into Thermias' stomach.
Dante attempts to cast a grand technique from his archive. But he's blitzed by Jollister and has his stomach caved in by Jolli's right leg. Having put death in every blow, their link to their own essence was temporarily stopped. Allowing jollister to cause a temporary death to the concept of being awake. And for added measure, dome's with the same function were thrown into the mix. From there, only Shiishii remained for STRIFE's small collection of members present. Or so the forgetful Jollister thought!
Jollister: "This is over Shii. That grand ball of Death won't do nothing more than feed me!"
Shiishii: "Then it's a good thing… I'm mostly a diversion."
Jollister: "Hm!?"
Jollister turns around and looks up into the cosmos. There he saw a great ball of essence being charged by Kishin, ZeeShift and ZeeArc. The ball was full of annihilation essence and reached its bursting point. Then all at once, both Shiishii and the Annihilo Sect boys fired their attacks. They met each other head on, Annihilation bursting in clouds of red lightning while the death ball danced of purple lightning. A ball of black and a ball of white conjoining with Jollister at their middle.
"Th-This bullshit… can't… holllld meeee!!!" Jollister strained himself a bit while attempting to push the two attacks back with sheer force. Shiishii and the others flinch, as they could see that Jollister was resisting their influence. Their influence to dust his cells at the seams. So they pushed back and forced the two grand attacks together even more than before. Jollister grows frustrated from their efforts and ups the ante by a huge margin. He summons a few razors onto his fingers and forearms. Then without any hesitation, extends his arms outward and brings about fourteen slashing essence waves. They all rip through the attacks and Jollister glares at the three Sect members.
ZeeShift: "Shit! We've gotta-" *SMASH* *CRASH*
ZeeArc: "N-Nrgh!!?"
Jollister: "You're both next!"
ZeeArc: "Limit Annihilator!!!"
Kishin: "Speed-Demon!!!"
Jollister sees a suddem burst of speed amd power from both. Enough for it to feel as if they went up at least three on the scale. But that meant almost nothing in the face of a great wall like Jollister. He tanked both punches and hit both in their chin. Then bashed their heads together and finally… smashed his feet into their stomachs, doing a split in the process. Both get knocked out and left to float within space.
Shiishii: "Mrrhmm! (He took down… everyone!)"
Jollister: "Sorry Shii, but you've gotta go down mayne."
Shiishii: "I never go down without swinging…"
Jollister: "Most indubitably, cousin!"
Both: "PRESENCE ZENCHI!!!"
Their two waves of Zenchi Essence meet head on and its easy to tell right then. That the difference in strength was truly immaculate. Shii's purple dome of essence was more than five times smaller than Jollister's. Yet Shiishii's concentration and inner drive made it so his presence withstood Jollister's. But… it wouldn't last long as Jollister simply poured too much power into his attack. It slowly enveloped Shiishii's own attack and started pushing him back. The struggle went on for a measly five seconds then… all the purple had disappeared. And Shii was forced unconscious and his form… dispelled.
Shiishii: "You… really are something. But I've gotta say… Gaia or Flametress? Choose. Your… loss." *THUD*
Jollister: *INHALE* Man… that was easy yet tough. I hate the determination of underdogs, but he is correct. With the way it's looking… Flametress will be here soon. Best I go with plan b now.
While Shii and the others lose their battle against Jollister, Haydes had Nekros on the ropes.
Haydes: "You did everything you could. But you've only been slowing down and losing power for the last 10 mins. You're no longer even a threat."
Nekros: "Y-You know nothing! I'm… I'm far more than a threat than you!"
Haydes: "Don't attempt to transform!"
Nekros: "Fuck THAT!!! You'll be beaten here and now... GUAAARRRGHH!!!"
And Just like that, Jollister defeats the small battalion of STRIFErs and aims for Gaia. Haydes nearly has Nekros beat only for the lugg to attempt suicide. And with Flametress nearly home, the clock is ticking as the battle for the Key continues.
Jollister: "Huh? (Nekros' essence is getting weaker all of a sudden) well no matter. It's high time we go at it… Master."
Gaia: "Well your two Halves are baked and tired. I guess I can kick your ass before inevitably stopping this madness."
Jollister: "Stop it…?
Gaia: "Well, but of course. You can't be allowed to have it."
Jollister: "No… you're wrong. With plan B… the key will be ours!"
Next Chapter: A Grand Eruption of Battle!!!