[b][u][center]Collab between Sage, Yugeto, and Skai[/b][/u][/center] Zerox and his eleven copies all turned and faced Arianna while Flash came to a halt only a mere ten feet away from her. She took a moment to size Arianna up and then proceeded to place a core amulet on her forehead guard. She wore a simple set of [url=http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130613102218/avengersalliance/images/f/ff/Black_Widow-Avengers-iOS.png]black armor[/url] made of unique fibers that made the set feel weightless. Arianna eyed each of the hosts cautiously, summing them up and looking for any weaknesses. She watched the eleven same men, looking for the one that was slightly different from the others. As Flash moved, Arianna turned to look at her, immediately feeling a wave of energy strike her mind as she put an amulet on her helmet. She blinked from the pain, but otherwise gave no hint that she had felt anything. [i]I need to get that amulet off of their heads, Castiel[/i], she said, making sure that his focus was on the amulets. [b][i]Don't risk any injury in order to do it. This extra spirit gives us enough to face both of them at the same time, but that doesn't mean that we can be completely reliant on it[/b][/i], he responded. Flash tilted her head and spoke: "Alright, you know the deal. The more you struggle, the more it hurts," she said before quickly vanishing in a flash of purple light. Within seconds, she reappeared behind Arianna, spinning and delivering a strong kick to her back. Arianna frowned as Flash spoke, but her frown ceased as Flash disappeared. She braced herself, sensing the host's thoughts as they appeared behind her. Quickly, she dropped to a crouch on the ground, ducking her head to miss the kick by inches. In turn, she immediately spun her leg around behind her, her mind connecting with pieces of rubble around them and lifting them into the air. Flash jumped back to avoid the kick, and began eying the rubble that was now levitating. As Arianna turned to face her, three of Zerox's dopplegangers charged her back, swinging their swords in complex patterns as if their minds were one. Arianna turned back around to Zerox as she heard footsteps, thrusting her arms forward as she commanded the pieces of rubble to head straight for the three copies' heads. The pieces of rubble weren't all that large, but they were sharp. The first two clones were instantly destroyed before their swords landed, disintegrating instantly as the sharp debris pierced their heads. The third clone, however, was prepared for such a move, having trailed in the back of the assault. Sliding under the rubble, he thrust his sword upward, attempting to bait a sidestep. Meanwhile, Flash teleported to the left of Arianna with another spinning kick, hoping to either catch her in her sidestep, or zone her out for Zerox to attack the other flank. As the doppleganger slid towards her, Arianna lifted her arms into the air, the pieces of rubble lying where the other copies had dematerialized mimicking the movement of her hands as they, too, lifted into the air. She stepped aside and crushed the head of the copy with the rubble as her arms dropped towards him. While she had managed to dodge and the destroy the third clone, Flash used her sidestep against her, jabbing at her side and then kicking her stomach with her left leg. Arianna doubled over slightly as the pressure point screamed at her before the kick forced the air from her lungs. She felt herself fly back, lifting off of the ground a few inches due to the force. She landed on her back with a thud and a small groan. Before she had time to recover, another clone jumped up and attempted to thrust his sword down upon Arianna, while two more clones ran behind her, preparing to slice her up if she were to recover from her downed state. Arianna opened her eyes just in time to see the clone above her with the sword. She immediately connected her mind with the clone's sword and sent it up and to the side, swinging quickly towards the doppleganger's bodies. The swords easily sliced through the two clones' necks. Afterwards, Arianna turned the sword around and stabbed it through the leftover doppleganger's stomach. Flash grunted at how much energy she had wasted in trying to kill this girl. Frustrated, she broke into a sprint towards Arianna, unsheathing a dagger that was strapped to her leg. Right as she neared Arianna she teleported behind her and kicked the back of her knee, causing her to buckle backwards. She then yanked the girl by her hair and thrust her dagger towards her throat in an attempt to make a quick, clean cut on her jugular. Arianna winced, reaching behind her to grip the host's wrist. She used the backwards momentum along with a kick from the leg that hadn't buckled to push her into the air while also pulling on the host's wrist to send her legs flying up in a backwards flip. She then thrust her feet forwards, connecting with the host's jaw and shoving it upwards. Flash wasn't unexpecting such a level of dexterity from the girl, and as she staggered back, she lost the grip on her dagger for a moment, having to cancel her strike. She tasted blood in her mouth and growled before once again breaking into a sprint towards Arianna. This time, she chose to teleport to Arianna's side and swiftly cut at her side, quicker than Arianna could process. She repeated this maneuver on the opposite side, teleporting quickly and without hesitation, as if she truly lived up to her name. She was flashing left and right, and then even vertically, as she teleported above Arianna and quickly kicked down ward before slicing her back. Arianna hissed as the blade sliced into her skin, the rapid and thoughtless succession of attacks overcoming her defense. Feeling that she had weakened Arianna's defenses enough, Flash teleported infront of the girl and jabbed her dagger forward and upward, aiming for her heart. With no time to think, Arianna thrust her hand forwards, barely having enough time to connect with the blade. It halted half an inch deep into her hand, causing her to cringe. She gripped the blade and ripped it from Flash's hand, sending it up and over the tents and out of sight. She then turned to Flash, and in a sudden burst of frustration, connected with the host's body and sent her flying into a building, cracking the concrete wall as Flash hit it. Flash fell limp and hit the ground on her knees, coughing violently as she tried to regain her senses. "Bested by sheer brawn... Orc would have given you a lot of shit for that, Flash..." said one of the Zerox clones. While Arianna had been fighting Flash, Zerox had channeled his spirit and conjured up many more clones, now totaling twenty. They appeared from thin air, wherever he wanted them to. As Arianna turned to see the large mass of copies, she began to worry. She had already used so much energy fighting Flash, along with the constant ebbing pain that the amulets gave her, she wasn't sure that she could take Zerox down on her own. "Search Squad," Arianna spoke into her comm, "I need back-up.. Pronto." "Let me show you a REAL blade dance..." the entirety of the twenty one men said this in unison, their voices echoing through out the street. Ten of the clones sprinted towards Arianna, swords held high, while another ten ran around to circle around her, holding throwing knives. As soon as they neared her, the clone swordsmen unleashed a flurry of attacks. The first clone ducked and spun his sword in a full circle, while the second jumped and flipped upside down while executing a similar spin, only mirrored vertically. Arianna ducked and rolled, hearing the zing of the blades barely passing by her. She even swore she saw a bit of the end of her hair being cut off. Far from the clear, Arianna rolled right into the path of the next clones. The third clone sliced three times directly at her front, while the fourth and fifth tried to jam their swords at the sides of her legs. Arianna calculated the movements in her mind in an instant before connecting with the swords directed towards her legs and sending them up to defend her from the sword in the front. As this happened, she jumped a few inches into the air and kicked to the side, connecting with the fourth and fifth clones' heads, causing them to disintegrate. However, the remaining clone simply pulled his sword back and spun, returning to his original position and jabbing forward in an attempt to pierce Arianna's heart. Arianna noticed the blade in time to push her hand up, tilting her head back as the blade went by, wincing as it knicked her chin. She then spun around and delivered a kick to the clone's side before connecting with his sword and flipping it, sticking the sword into the clone's neck. Right as the fifth lone disintegrated, Zerox chuckled. [i]'She puts up quite a fight...'[/i] he thought to himself. [i]'It's time to end this shit...'[/i] he thought as the last five clones assaulted Arianna at once with blinding speed. The sixth clone all out tackled her, disintegrating as her body was thrown backwards. The seventh clone dashed forward and leapt forward until he was right above her while she was still in mid air. With a quick kick, he slammed her body to the ground, using enough force to cause himself to disintegrate. The next clone attempted another downward thrust, which she simply rolled away from - right into the path of the last two clones who sliced her in a cross shape, making a clean cut across her torso. Arianna coughed where she laid on the ground, wincing from the pain of the cuts. With slightly trembling hands she felt the cuts, assessing their depth and width. Her vision swam in and out of focus as the pain from the amulets was finally overwhelming her mind, giving her a killer headache. She coughed up a little blood, the blunt force of the attacks damaging her organs. She knew that she couldn't rest yet. Zerox was waiting to deal the final blow. With a small whine, she sat up, attempting to stand. The real Zerox stood up, having been seated the entire time near the frame of a broken door on a nearby building. "Well, that went on for longer than it needed to," he said ushering the ten remaining clones to finish what he started. "Take it easy, little girl. This was a long time coming," he stated with a genuine hint of sincerity. At the same time, the ten clones surrounding Arianna ran forward and jumped in unison. As they neared the peak of their jump, creating a circle around Arianna, they unleashed a storm of throwing knives that flew through the air towards her helpless body. --- Blake's comm picked up Arianna's distress signal. "I'll take care of this, squad. You all tend to the survivors we found here and wait for word from Sector Zero. We can't lose this valuable of a teammate." With that, he gripped Kataskai and speared towards the coordinates the comm displayed. [i]'Now's my shot...Now's my chance to kill her!'[/i] Dama groaned gutturally from within Blake in sheer disapproval. [b]'Have you learned nothing of the fruits patience yields? Analyze the opponent and Arianna herself before you make any hasty decisions; you may be able to deal with them, but if she isn't hurt enough then there's no point. Go assess the area.'[/b] Blake sighed, his inner symbiote once again bested him with logic. By the time Zerox had swarmed Arianna with blades, Blake closed in on the perimeter. "Such a dense spiritual energy...from Arianna...?" Blake shuddered with shock and confusion. [b]'She's barely taken a Kage's spirit compared to our collection; why is her power on par with ours? This is truly interesting...'[/b] [i]'Enough with your enigmatic musings and ramblings; she's clearly not able to be taken out right now, so we may as well win her trust by helping her out, I suppose.'[/i] Blake awaited Arianna's next move. --- Arianna clenched each hand into a fist as she heard Zerox's words. The coward must have been waiting a while to kill her, which made this defeat feel even worse. Even with Yugeto's spirit boost, she was still weak. She hung her head and shut her eyes tightly. [i]I can't lose like this[/i], she thought, trying to muster up enough strength to at least attempt to move out of the projectile's path. When no strength came, her emotions began to overwhelm her. Panic and frustration swarmed inside of her as her mind strived to find a way out of this. Time seemed to slow, the threat of death forcing her instincts to go on hyperdrive. "I will [i]not[/i] die this way," she hissed. With a final burst of energy, Arianna forced herself to her feet and pushed her hands out to the side, her eyes glowing a bright blue as Castiel and her own spirit burst from her body and formed a shield around her. As the knives hit the field of energy, they halted, suddenly all connected with Arianna's mind. The knives then slowly turned, aiming towards the clones and Zerox before speeding towards them. Each knife found its target. The clones instantly disentigrated into nothing, but the final knife was still flying through the air. It was headed for Zerox. Zerox gasped seconds before the final knife dug into his chest, right beneath his collar bone. He cried out in pain, more alarmed and frightened than anything. He had never expected such a spectacular display of power from someone who he held so close to the gates of death. "BLAST! YOU LITTLE TELEPATH BIIIITCH!" he cried out as he created eight more clones. As they gathered around him, he noticed that they refused to charge forward. Instead, they lay their crying out in pain at invisible wounds on their chests. Confused, Zerox began panicking, "shit... shit... shit... shit... FLASH!!!!" Flash got up slowly and withdrew her Riot Cannon, a cylindrical attachment to her forearm armor that contained Iron cores, capable of blowing through walls if shot with enough pressure. "I've had it with you," she said as she teleported a few yards away from Arianna, who now lay limp on the ground. Aiming her cannon at Arianna's head, she pulled the trigger, relieved that she could put an end to a fight that lasted longer than she had planned. --- Blake leaped to the scene, having gotten close enough to get in between Flash and Arianna. As the blast headed through Blake's path, Blake raised Kataskai and flowed spirit through it. "Metabolize!" Blake called out, as the cannon blast slowly phased into the sword, a ripple of kinetic force circumventing the projectile. "Arianna, I know you have enough in you to finish off that other clown you were dealing with; end him while I deal with this wretch." Blake studied his now off-guard opponent, watching for her next move. He knew she could teleport, but his defense was solid against her; poised with a blessed blade in his hand, Blake stood vigilant. Meanwhile, Arianna opened her eyes to see Blake standing before her, challenging Flash. She was barely conscious, but knew that she had to help Blake. As she turned her head, she noticed Zerox cursing her name in pain as his copies writhed on the ground due to the injury. With the adrenaline left over from her previous stunt, she lifted her arm and connected her mind with the blade. It slowly twisted in his chest, causing him and his copies to howl in pain. Zerox fell to his knees, grasping at the knife. When it didn't budge, he looked up at Arianna and snarled. "I'll finish you with my bare hands, if I have to, you little bitch!" Before he could even move, the knife had been yanked out of his chest. He roared in pain and anger, fury burning in his eyes. Arianna instantly shoved the knife into his heart before releasing it from her control. Her hand slowly went limp on the ground next to her as she let out a small sigh of relief and closed her eyes, feeling her consciousness beginning to slip. Just as she did so, all of Zerox's clones vanished, and the original fell to the ground, lifeless. "SHIT! Z-ZEROX!" Flash yelled, quickly redirecting her gaze to Blake. "Want to get in our way, asshole? You'll regret even THINKING about that!" she spat in anger. Flash then broke into a full fledged sprint towards Blake, teleporting only second after dashing at him. She reappeared at his left and delivered two quick jabs at his head before jumping and sending a hi kick to his head.Blake recouped after taking the first two hits, a little off guard and disoriented, but caught the kick with Kataskai, redirecting the energy from the kick and the projectile's energy as pure kinetic force back at Flash, nearly crushing her leg completely. [i]'Her strategy will be a simple one; keeping up with the counters will tire her enough that I can kill her when she's weakened.'[/i] Blake stayed passive once more, waiting for Flash while maintaining his calm and collected demeanor. Flash cried out in pain as she felt tremors of pain erupt in her leg. She quickly telported a safe distance away and gathered herself, taking deep breaths to alleviate the pain. "Alright, I didn't want to have to do this but..." Flash closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. A purple aura began to emanate from the ground around her as the air began to swirl rapidly. When she opened her eyes, they began to glow purple, and her veins began to bulge and display a purple glow as well. "Now you'll see what a real host can do..." she said menacingly. With a quick jab at her side, a purple aura shot from her hand until a large, spinning circle appeared in thin air about ten feet to her right. She began charging at Blake but stopped right before he could react and shot another circle behind Blake. She then withdrew a glowing, purple dagger from her other leg and went in to jab Blake, who, slightly confused, blocked her attack. As he did this she shot her cannon towards the first circle, causing Blake to involuntarily turn his attention to the gunshot for just a moment. Just as he did this, he felt a sharp pain in his back as the bullet lodged itself mere inches from his spine. Flash chuckled and balled her hands into a fist, causing the two portals to shatter. Just as she did so, she thrust her hands forward, creating a portal in front of Blake and above him. She then teleported behind Blake and kicked him into the first portal with great force, causing him to fly into the portal and be launched downward out of the one facing the ground above her. She then jabbed her dagger upward, into Blake's abdomen, and slammed him to the ground. Blake coughed harshly, and grabbed Flash by the throat, dagger still in his abdomen. Holding Flash with his might in his grip, Blake tightened his grip on Kataskai. Flash gagged and tried to teleport but failed to do so. "Ah-hah. So you do use inverted spiritual energy to channel your teleportation. Makes sense, that's why I can absorb it..." he said with a chucle. "Now we end this. Blue Flame Core: Activate." Kataskai was shrouded in an unbearably hot blue-white flame, and after some spirit was channeled into it, Blake directed the flame to the hand grasping Fl ash's neck. She screamed as her entire body was engulfed in the hellish flame. As the screaming died out, Blake dropped her body and wiped off his hand. "Your spirit won't go to waste, I promise you that," he said with a chuckle. He then walked over to Arianna and scooped her up. [i][b]'She's alive. You could end it here and say she was killed by these two.'[/i][/b] Blake scoffed at the notion. Where would the justice come in play were he to end her in her comatose state? No, he instead decided that her demise would come soon, but not at that moment. "We need to regroup with the rest. I'm taking her back to the base."