"Chris!" whined Brittany, her face turning beet red, "Quit!" Though her cries were only met with laughter as Chris leaned back into his chair. "What?" His teal eyes falling gently upon her own, knowing full well his soft gaze was enough to subdue any distress she may have felt.

"You know exactly what!" she mumbled as she covered her face in her hands.

He reached forward and took her hand within his own, pulling it away from her face. "You're absolutely adorable when you get flustered." he said with a smile, pulling her hand close to brush his lips tenderly upon the knuckles. His eyes, never parting from her, only smiling more as she tried to hide the smirk from behind the other hand.

"That's not fair..." she whispered, sliding her hand from her face to his own and squeezing.

He couldn't help it as his smile grew and grew, the sun catching her dirty-blonde curls as they sloped down past her shoulders, shading her gentle blue eyes behind her glasses. She wore a a one piece black dress with a white scarf wrapped around her neck, the tail falling down to her mid-back. However he was far more casually dressed for their Sunday afternoon date with his jeans and t-shirt. He had commented earlier about how under dressed he was and how messy his brown hair had been but she assured him it was fine. She loved him no matter how silly he may have looked.

He released her hand and brought his digits to stroke his beard, brushing along the inch long strands before turning his gaze to the resturaunts entrance. "You know, when I reserved us priority seating on the front porch of this place I figured we would also get priority waiters." he said, frowning now at this point.

"I'm sure they will serve us soon." she replied, gently kicking his foot with her red dress shoes, teasing him in return.

"Yeah, I guess." he pulled his hand to the back of his neck, massaging the skin as his impatience began to settle in. "But I mean...it's 2049. We have hover cars and cities the size of states almost." he muttered, glancing above them to the sky high-ways above where streams of flying cars roamed. It had been a long time since cars ruled the streets below and instead was nothing more than a utopia for walkways, cyclists and the general population to cross through the massive concrete jungle. For miles around there were nothing but skyscrapers to where the only sky that could be seen was when looking directly up.

"Chris! Just be patient!" Brittany whined, once more, her face going red again and once more was met with only laughter.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I'm just hungry." he said, and almost as if on que his stomach growled, "And I hear this place serves the best fettecine alfredo."

"I know! I'm dying to try it!" she squeeled, wiggling in her seat and hitting the tables center, rocking it to which Chris had to snatch a falling glass cup. "Oh come on!" he muttered, placing it back upon the table and returned his gaze to her. But he could not remain angry with her. Especially when she got upset and started apologizing.

"Babe...it's alright. It was an acci-"

It was then that them, and everyone else that was unfortunate enough to have been on that particular block was met with a shockwave that leveled everyone. Like a fast acting domino effect everyone found themselves laying upon the ground, dazed and confused as debris and dust began to spread out and consume those who were not able to get up in time. The screams of the people fell upon silent ears as all sound and sense of stability had left Chris as he struggled to get even to his knees, glancing around in a confused panic.

"Brittany?! Brittany?!" he called out, looking around at the mass of bodies around him, looking for any sign of her as the cloud of dust grew closer and closer.

Clumsily he got to his feet, but not before nearly falling over again, catching himself upon the side of a knocked over table. Remnants of the glass surface having been shattered, but it was not the only thing that lay broken. The windows to the resturaunt had been blown in. Tables, chairs - anything and everything had been strewn about. A bicycle had even lodged itself within the concret wall just feet from where the two had been sitting.

"BRITTANY?!" he screamed again, pushing bodies over while shaking his head to clear his mind even more. It was then that he saw them, her red shoes which lay under multiple people who had either been knocked out...or was dead. He didn't have the time to check. Chris grabbed the nearest body and turned it over and beneath it she lay, her eyes staring up at the sky without movement. Without light.

"No...no, no...NO!" he cried, grabbing her by her shoulders and pulling her up, screaming down at her. "BRITTANY! GOD DAMN IT BRITTANY!"

Tears swelled his eyes and he began to feel his nose drip, pulling her body tightly against his chest, rocking back and forth upon his legs. "No..please....no..." His lips brushing against her cheek before finally breaking down completely, screaming in a furious rage of loss and hate. And then he was consumed by the dust cloud.

He did not care, however. All he wanted was to stay with her. All he wanted was her. And she had been taken from him.

The sounds of the other people screaming and running had become scarce as only those too injured to flee remained calling for help within the dust. However, the world became silent as the words of a booming voice echoed out.

"You will all...bow before Xenom."

Chris turned his head in surprise and fear, trying to focus the best he could through the cloud for where the voice might have come from. But it was too difficult to see. Instead he slipped one arm beneath Brittany's legs and the other around her back and lifted her up as he rose to his feet.

"Come on Brittany...let me get you out of here..." he said, sniffing back his grime, wiping his tears away on his shoulders. He used his feet to kick and prod at the bodies infront of him, much like a blind man with a stick, to step over his obstacles. He needed to get her out of there. He needed to get out of there.

However, it did not take him long to feel lost. Turned around and confused. "Come on...COME ON!" he cried out angrily but immediately froze after turning around. Chris's eyes filled with fear immediately, his muscles immediately shut down and locked up, paralyzing him.

Just feet infront of him loomed a dark figure, much taller than himself, having to be over seven feet at least. But that is not what stopped him, he did not fear the size of the sillouette. He feared the glowing red eyes that shone through the dust which had now begun to settle.

Bit by bit the being was revealed, staring with the crimson silk strands that fell upon his shoulders which seemed to have been protected by a black rock material which stretched down over the males pectorals. His arms and abdomen were left bare, toned and tan. His legs, however, seemed to have been draped in a black hakama like clothe. But still, those eyes bore deep into Chris's soul.

"You all...will fall before Tetsue, Lord of the Xenom Temple." Tetsue growled, a voice so deep and filled with hate the air itself around him began to distort. He slowly raised his arm up over his head, taking hold of a handle that had to have been at least a foot long and pulled a massive cleaver from behind his back. The blade was so dark it almost made Chris think it was a trick of his eyes, but he certainly was not tricked by the 9 feet of blade that quickly came down upon him.

"I-I'm...so sorry Brittany." he whimpered before the giant cleaver turned his world black.

An incredible distance from Earth, in a star system with a dying star. Only one planet orbits it slowly, a planet so dark that it can barely be seen against the blackness of space. With so little light and such a dark planet, it could so very easily be passed up by prying eyes.

Just as he wished.

As it fed into its own power, its reach grasping across countless realities, pulling psychic power into itself. All it wanted in life was to feed, and simply experience existence in its own way.

The Divine's countless eons of hiding had made it crafty. Its silence, immobility, and inaction were slowly driving it to boredom. It made mistakes when boredom sank in, it took risks, it played among the lesser beings. It wasn't to understand them, eternity's silence can drive you mad no matter how powerful you are. With a long and thoughtful plan in mind, The Divine, Wrath, had no plans to lose all of his work because he's gone insane.

Though a simple war was not enough to occupy himself, not among simple beings at least. If it was going to play among the ants, they would need enough drive and fervor to feed him with their emotion. With so much time at hand, he was given the opportunity to sift through the fear and hatred of infinite worlds. It began at a random point, two universes with the strongest sources of anger that he has ever felt.

A crippled warrior of immense power, his rage comparable to the wrath of a god. A great source of fresh anger and hatred, Wrath frequently observed this being. Another, an energy user. His anger against a skeletal entity was immense, though perhaps not his own. A winged warrior whose people had been wiped out, his hatred for a king. A daughter whose father lay slain, the girl who turned to darkness for revenge.

Strong anger by lower beings was still only marginally greater than a normal day of anger.

Though, suddenly The Divine noticed something.

A boy who was entirely happy suddenly becoming a surprisingly strong source of hatred and sadness before suddenly being snuffed by a dark ruler. A ruler who preached of war. It had taken him almost two years to find an out, but here it was.

A deafening roar echoed across the surface of the living planet, innumerable black figures emerged. Looking to the stars in unison, their thorny heads cutting strange shapes against the dark horizon. It grew and grew in volume until it silenced itself sharply, the silence was punctuated by an enormous portal erupting in the space above the planet itself. Not large enough for the planet to pass through, but enough for an army.

The greatest of the Children of Wrath, The Wanderers. Colossal beasts who were miles long and near as wide. Richters, nine foot tall warriors, loaded into pouches on their sides. Each Wanderer was able to carry hundreds of these. Couriers, small spider-like beasts, crawled underneath the Wanderer's neck and pinned themselves to its flesh. Each Wanderer was equipped with a Baron, the strongest shock troopers underneath the Divine's control. They rode atop the Wanderer's head, holding onto their horn with just one hand.

From the surface of The Divine they went forward into the breach, as they left their worldly origins they revealed their immense numbers. Only the Wanderers can travel space on their own, and even with that limitation, thousands upon thousands of figures cut their dull outlines against the glow of the portal.

Again, Earth was visible to the "eyes" of The Baron who lead the charge. It had been to this world before, though perhaps not this world. Though their experiences are shared, their bodies are not. And this Baron had a scar from an earthling warrior who wielded an axe of flame, a man that the Divine respected as an equal to his Baron. Perhaps this would happen again, with this warlord who carries such malice. This Baron had been specifically chosen for this day, and only He would make ground on the planet above.

They unleashed themselves from the portal and into the void between it and the Earth, immediately the Divine was flooded with the fearful emotions of panic. Earth was such a well of emotion, across all universes it was always stronger than most worlds. Humans are such prime vessels for a wide range of negative emotion.

Thousands upon thousands of Wanderers orbited the gateway and floated just above the atmosphere, but one descended to Earth. The Baron who had been on Earth had gone forth.

The Baron and his Wanderer had struck the atmosphere with force, the friction grew as atmosphere grew thicker and thicker around them. Flames licked against their skin and danced across them, their sonic cone repelling most of the heat, but they were still bathed in a host of flame. Mile upon mile, they descended to the ground below with intense speed and reckless abandon.

It took minutes for it to finally collide with the Earth's surface, and even though the colossal Wanderer flopped to the ground and roared, flattening a massive crater just outside of the cityscape, The Baron descended from its head with a certain grace. As though the momentum from the fall had no effect on its posture.

The panic of the city goers was intense, stumbling over eachother and fleeing in absolute terror. Though the army of Richters emerged from The Wanderer, only The Baron strided in towards the city. Its long steps outlined his form perfectly, the loud thump-and-scrape of his talons on the ground were audible despite the screams.

Its head scanned from left to right slowly contemplating the source of his interest, a ruler. What is a Ruler? Why is a Ruler? The Baron gained his name from Earth, a Baron is a ruler. Is The Baron a Ruler? Perhaps. Perhaps a Ruler is simply one with power, yes. That seems correct.

Would this Ruler fear him? Or oppose him? What feelings does this man harbor? What goals does this man have?

Does it matter?

The only thing that matters is continuity. Continuing to feed. Continuing to exist. The Baron nodded as he stomped a man into the ground, his body crunching slightly beneath his metal toes. It hadn't even noticed there was someone who had tripped into his path, it surprised The Baron. It cast its eye downward, lifting its foot up and inspecting his accidental slaughter. Man, young, dark skinned and dark haired. An unfortunate fate for a young man.

Regret. Was he mourning? Maybe. Problems such as morality were questions that often passed his mind. Even though he knew he must continue living, he knew he must thrive.

Nature. Yes, the course of nature. All predators must kill, though some must scavenge. The Divine scavenges, rarely hunting. What is chaos to the fly is calm to the spider.

Again nodding, he lowered his foot and continued inwards. Stepping through the human crowds, brushing them aside without a thought. Through buildings he strode, shattering windows as he passed through them. Tables and chairs within shops and restaurants, shelves and bottles were destroyed in his slow stride towards the source of his intrigue.

The striding giant was walking at a slow pace, but his incredibly long steps were closing the distance between them. Was this a war? Who could oppose him but the strongest? Was this Ruler the strongest?

Perhaps, perhaps not.

"...Lord of the Xenom Temple." muttered Tetsue as he brought his giant cleaver down upon the boy and his corpse-bride, ripping the two in half before crashing into the pavement below. Near by windows rattled and the debris cleared immediately around the Lord from the sheer force of his blow. He then glanced around with a thoughtless gaze, peering over to where he had landed; a crater of immense size had formed in the intersecting street with the bottoms of each building at each corner completely blown out.

It seems I have to work on my landing... He thought to himself before turning his back to the destruction to casually walk away as the structures began to sway inwards as the supports had been broken. With each step the Lord took in each being that had fallen just from his arrival, counting upwards of a hundred and felt nothing. Not pride, not remorse. Nothing. They were simply pebbles upon the path of chaos he had been planning to build. They would be his foundation.

Of course, not like the foundations of these buildings where the last of the support beams snapped under the shifting weight causing the four buildings to slam inward upon each other, crashing down while flooding the streets with such a thick cloud of debris that any stragglers within the chaos would be consumed and drownedin floating dirt. He, however, walked unphased by this. If anything the debris actually shifted around him as if afraid to touch the Lord of the Blood Sands, and they very well should be.

It was not until the last of the crumbling structures had settled, now far behind him, that he heard a secondary boom. At first he thought of it as enemies initiating an assault, to which he reacted by sliding his bare feet apart and lowered his body in preperation. But nothing happened. Instead, after a few seconds he felt rather stupid for reacting this way and just happened to glance at the sky above.

His eyes widened.

A portal, it seems, had ripped open high in the sky, nearly invisible to the eye from the great distance. But that is not what he took note of, no. It was the stream of fire that propelled through the sky aiming to collide near the city. Was this the Human counter measure? Had they already prepared for his arrival and decided to wipe out the entire city along with Tetsue?

Immediately the warrior kicked off from where he stood while the pavement around him exploded upwards from the immense force as he 'flew' up along the side of a building, even bringing his feet against the glass to run up. With a flashy front flip he curved over the edge and straightened himself before casually walking towards the other edge just in time to watch the massive flaming object strike the ground and braced himself for the initial shockwave.

But there was none.

The ground did vibrate, however, but it looked like whatever the object was had slowed down enough to actually land. And that was when he saw it. The giant beast that stood just outside the cities limits. His heart began to race as his eyes focused and his hands curled to fists, tensing his entire body. But this was not fear. This was excitement. Something so monsterous...it had to be some form of Deity. And he was the God-Killer. Another beast to add to his collection that lay dormant within his God-Eater.

Wait...no. What is...is that a man? He thought to himself, narrowing his eyes as a much smaller object seemed to have fallen from the head and started moving towards the City. Perhaps it was just a very large human? Curious, however, his eyes shifted down to the debris cloud that had continued filling throughout the streets where some strands had even been on the path to the black dot and its beast. Perhaps he would be swept away like the remaining humans that were unfortunate enough to have not gotten away.

But then the Lord had to tilt his head as curiosity arose the moment he witnessed the dot disappear behind one of the skyscrapers for a brief moment, only to have the windows rattle, the sounds of breaking glass. Is..is he walking through the building? The Lord had never smiled so much in his life.

Locked away in his Temple for years in solitude had left his retiring years as a fighter rather lax, but here before him walked an opportunity. The Lord had wanted to die for many years now, but was cursed with victory after victory. Perhaps this was his chance to die? Perhaps he would finally be free of his burden as Lord of Xenom. Was this...it?

Flooding emotions of excitement and happiness filled his very core and in turn he leapt forwards, stomping upon the tops of each skyscraper he leap-frogged with before cutting one of his jumps short. With a graceful flip he straightened his legs and outstretched his arms mid-flip before allowing himself to fall head first down towards the street where the beast was about to appear, of course after smashing through his building.

With that much more grace, last second he shifted his body into another flip to smash his bare feet into the ground. The explosion from the impact was so fierce the flying cars above even wavered to collide and crash with each other, letting balls of flaming metal to fall from the sky around them. The shockwave below, however, ripped apart the base of several buildings and emptied their entire street of debris as it was all pushed aside.

Slowly the warrior stood and drew his giant cleaver up to rest the backend upon his shoulder before turning over a rather serious face, letting his dark red eyes peer at the beast as it finally came into view. It was much more fearsome than Tetsue had inticipated, and looking far stronger than he could have hoped.

"I'm going to kill you and take your body."

It began crumbling behind him as he exited the building, the cloud around him allowed the larger debris to pass through. The dust, however, was pushed aside by the slight winds produced by the spinning cloud. Without staying his pace he continued through the building to witness the crashing of the man who was the source of his interest.

Myriad debris flew towards the marching goliath's body in cascading waves, molten metal and burning scrap flung against him. It clattered against his skin with a metallic thump, tinkling away from his form harmlessly. No matter how much force the Ruler's land had mustered, the flying chunks of worthless matter carried negligible harm. Though a single piece had found itself lodged between his two forwardmost teeth, a discomfort at best. A sharp blast of smoke erupted through his teeth, sending the chunk flying away. It shattered a nearby window, it continued onwards and stuck itself into a self portrait of a poor artist whose home was currently on fire.

A show of force. Force? Yes, a show of force. Used by warriors to show their power, or show power they do not have. Hide their weakness behind a veil of strength. Yes.

A coward's trick. Coward? No. Fear? No. I don't feel this from him, sick excitement? Yes. This man is powerful, how powerful? Wait, he speaks.

The man before the giant spoke, spoke of death and collection. A hunter seeking prey, was this man a hunting ruler? Ruler of hunting? King of the Hunt? Perhaps.

"Kill? Me?" Though his voice boomed with a thick wash of sarcasm, he was not hiding any distaste of the warrior before him. It was curiosity, all of the Baron's words were laced with spite and hatred passively. "Perhaps. Though what have you to offer? Are you but another killer who slays all in his path? Or are you hunting me specifically? Or am I a settled choice?" Speaking with calm but cruel demeanor, no human features on its visage to express its curiosity. The Baron slowly walked towards the Ruler of the Xenom. Its eye drifted towards the weapon he was wielding, a cleaver. Sizes too large for him, but intimidation is a war tactic.

Some compulsion drove him to sweep his hand through the cloud, a blade mirroring the Ruler's own emerged from within. A size larger, enough to fill the enormous hand of the giant. "A sword for a killer, is it not? A wicked edge, cruelty lacing its every atom. How many have fallen before your blade?" With a few practice swings, he unseated a streetlight. Nowhere near as effective as the true blade, though it was still a blade with a razors edge. The size of a single cell at the cutting edge, it would suffice.

All weapons suffice.

Weapon. Back to his weapon, back to his bloodshed.

"You spill blood, why? To feel powerful? Or to flex power? Are you so weak in mind that you must be strong in body? Or do you feel that your power gives you the right?" It hadn't stopped moving towards him, and the distance between them was not great. "Or perhaps. You kill those who oppose you out of fear. Fear that perhaps they might emerge victorious?"

The Baron punctuated his words with a sudden halt, a meager distance for even normal sized men. They were close, and The Baron was silent now. Waiting for a response from the warlord.

"...Or am I a settled choice?"

The Lord couldn't help but tilt his head at the beasts curiosity. Was he probing the Lord's mind for is intent? Why would his intent have any influence on the days battle when it was clear this thing was on its course for invasion as well.

"I wouldn't say settled, but since I am here to consume this world into my Desert you would be an excellent appetiser to my feast." Tetsue muttered, his voice growing deep as his eyes narrowed on upon the sauntering creature. With every step it took the Lord braced himself for each move could easily be followed up with an attack, and his nerves weren't settled by the waving arm and revelation of blade.

With the streetlight it so calmly dismantled ringing in the air with defeat, falling to bounce upon both ends until settling on its side only built up the tension that lingered in the air. "How many have fallen before your blade?" the distasteful sound of the brutes voice only fueled the Lord's anger, feeling like he was being mocked.

"It is not my blade that many have fallen to. I have only killed a few with my God-Eater." he answered, his own eyes gauging to the right to look upon his mighty cleaver. "It is my hands that hold my true kill count." he whispered, bringing his free hand up to gently stroke the exposed side of the black blade like a lovers caress.

And then the beast was upon him. Only feet away at this point to which Tetsue was forced to look up at the towering creature. Even at his own height of 7'5" he felt small. "So...thhat's what this feels like." he mumbled, implying his unusual requirement to crane his neck to look at an opponent eye-to-eye.

The two giants stood there in brief silence, locked into a staring contest as nothing more than the subtle sounds of whistling winds would parade through the streets, clearing out the left overs of the debris storm that recently had passed. It was not often the Lord was in such situations where he wanted to study his enemy first before attacking, but with how gnarly this thing looked he needed to make sure that if he were to die by this monster it would be deserved, that with blood, sweat and tears would be this monsters sacrifice for victory.

"Oh my God! What the fuck is that?!" a bewildered civilian called out from down the street, covered in blood and dirt while pointing at the giant monster. This broke the tension between the two forcing Tetsue to snap his head to the side to glare down the civilian who immediately tripped on a piece of broken stone, falling backwards. Immediately the Lord turned his head back to the beast and spun on the heel of his left foot while extending his blade out into a full swing so that upon completing the spin the flat side of his giant blade would crash into the upper arm of the beast.

However, subtle key impulsions blew out from each of the Lord's joints throughout the spin, like distorted air being propelled outwards as Kinetic Energy from just his body moving seemed to have become amplified, released to increase the pressure and momentum of his swing, knowing full well he is going to need to utilize a tactic like this to take down a creature of such repose. Literally inches before his blade would make contact with either sword or flesh the last of the repulsions would expire through his shoulder and down through his arm and then into his blade where a miniature shockwave would ripple out to enhance the pressure of his swing just that much more.

Even a creature of such stature and strength would be knocked off his blow, at the very least.

It was time the two had begun their fight, and would end with one standing tall as victorious.

But who will it be?

Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z

As the two overwhelmingly powerful beings face each other on the ground below, one of them starting to attack, a brilliant flash of purple light and a thunderclap sound atop a nearby skyscraper, with a small figure materializing at the origin point. A figure the size of a man, with a slight build, and an obscuring, black robe concealing all but the black metal boots, gauntlets, and blank mask he wore, with a hood draped over his head. Eyes like black holes shone through the eye-slits in the mask as the figure hovered a few meters above the skyscraper's rooftop, watching the confrontation below. He had foreseen this moment, and times his arrival to perfectly coincide with the beginning of the fight, having no wish to appear beforehand when the possibility existed of his presence distracting the combatants before he was ready. A thousand possible futures flitted through his mind's eye, each coinciding with a possible action of his own...he knew the potential outcomes. He had only to decide which one he would like to occur. Once again, he felt like a god, upon who's actions the fate of thousands did lie. But he would not interfere...not yet. It was not a god's place to interfere with the doings of his subjects, not until the right time had come. Not until his attention had been dragged down to earth for their sake, that he might smite them for their arrogance.

Time Paradoxes are Kooky.

The Timelord's eyes glare down upon the huge being that launched itself skyward at him, flying up at supersonic speed. The Timelord did not bother to read his intent...he knew the outcomes, he knew that this was just the preliminary trading of positions prior to real combat. He had no desire to be engaged by this massive brute at this time, it was simply not the right one. One does not simply force time to do his bidding...effort must be expended, calculations must be made...not just up and ignoring one's prior engagement to go traipsing off after other people. Therefore, as the giant sped towards him, another flash of purple energy lit the sky as the Timelord shifted himself, reappearing in a manner that made him seem to be standing on the wall of a building near the other smaller man, the shock of the teleportation creating a number of stress cracks through the wall. He did not deign to speak with his natural voice, but instead sent thoughts to the warlord's mind. ~Not a very focused enemy, that one.~

Disregard the last 3 posts. LeeRoy, waiting on your post.

The Timelord vanishes in another flash of light and thunderclap. The time has not yet come for this battlefield to see his participation...

Also disregard the previous post, the Timelord never existed in this fight.

If the Baron's face couldn't be considered a face, then the expression upon it could hardly be considered a smile. His probing had been successful, the lord had expressed anger. What a lovely feeling it was to tap directly into the source from such a distance. Though the warlord himself couldn't see or feel it, the light of his emotion was drawn into the holes in the beast's chest. A feeling such as this was why The Baron was sent out, the Divine couldn't help but sate its lust for fresh food.

A man cried nearby, hollering his terrors and pointing towards the pair. The Baron saw his shape through his screaming, he didn't need to peel his eye away from the warlord to see. Though the lord of Xenom had felt the need to look away, The Baron watched as his attempted surprise attack had been launched.

It was a shame that The Baron was also keen towards using distractions to strike at his foes.

As the lord of Xenom whipped around, The Baron too lashed out. Bringing his right leg out and forward sharply towards the shins of his shorter foe. Using his unsettling movements already, he twisted his right arm at an unnatural angle and aimed his palm upwards. With a sharp jerk of his shoulder and elbow he thrust his hand upwards towards Tetsue's wrist and hand, to pull the blade even further upwards and away from his arm. Stopping the momentum with his own unnatural momentum would be easy, as he figured his momentum would naturally be significantly greater than that of Tetsue. Whose body weighs far less than even his arm.

Sweep the leg, grab the arm, and topple his foe. A simple strategy with effective results. Even if he didn't catch the arm proper, he felt as though he wasn't in any particular amount of danger. So much so that he felt it necessary to speak as he moved.

"So easily pulled by meeker beings, are you? I must admit I too am pulled by your kind as well." Such malice leaked through his words, he spoke of the lord as one who could barely be considered higher than those who he sought to conquer. More probing, more anger.

Feed me.

Feed me!

Feed me!

The Baron's mind screamed of being sated, a taste of fresh anger was indescribable.

The fight had begun with the two Titans, ground zero for the worlds onslaught. Little did Tetsue know that this would be the spot where a clash of worlds and warriors would then later come to fruition. Little did he know that his offspring would one day stand where he stood, fighting the same enemies as he.

Little did he care.

It was of much surprise that the goliath before him had such reflexes to match his amplified momentum through his kinetic energy to be able to draw out a kick that would strike the Lord's leg. This, while knocking him back due to his leg having been remaining the same spot, did little to thwart his strike however, which had increased such speeds that neared the sound barrier through amplification.

Seeing as the beast chose to kick first, rather than use his reflexes for stopping his blades arm before hand, resulted in a connection to both parties. The goliath was ripped up from the ground from the impending force that would have savagely shot the beast to the side, considering it was only with the flat of his blade that TEtsue had struck, though his own body spirling away as the creatures kick altered his ability to flow with his own momentum.

The resulting force and momentum had his leg lift up from beneath him due to the hit, and his body being dragged away by the continuing force to have his chest and head skip along the ground like a water over water before crashing into the base of a building where his momentum had finally calmed down, leaving nothing but dust and debris to scatter around him.

Slowly, the Lord got up onto one knee, glancing down at the now torn open clothe over his thigh to which bruising had already begun to form from the impact of the beast, while only light and subtle scratches had formed over his face and exposed stomach. If it weren't for the Metashi vest he wore, damage could have easily encompassed his chest.

Tetsue then stood up and walked out of the broken into building, stepping over shattered glass and desks that his body had apparently taken to breaking through and arose from the wreckage to let his crimson gaze peer down the street to view where the beast had gone and what damage he had sustained from the dual connection.

It was actually surprising when the lord's blade had managed to strike against him, even moreso that it had enough force to push him back. The force from the swing was enough to drive him into the office building to his left, he stayed his momentum with a quick burst of flight but the wind pressure produced by his movement was enough to shatter the windows on the opposite side of building. The Baron hovered there in stunned silence. Something had happened that he hadn't experienced in a very long time. Being struck hard enough to actually feel it, it wasn't new but it was stunning every time it happened. With the fresh pain that was in his right arm he made sure to make a mental note of just how strong this man was. Though it hadn't gone unnoticed, there was actually a tear in the surface of his flesh along his arm. No blood poured from his wound, as no blood ran through him.

It dropped a few feet to the ground, slowly spreading its weight evenly across the Earth's surface. Drywall and concrete crumbled behind him as he moved forward. Stepping from the wall it gazed with its singular eye, peering across the battlefield to where Tetsue had flown. Debris and swirling winds nearly obscured his view, but he had more than a few senses that showed him where his foe was. Knocked away by his kick, but still alive. Two surprises in one day, the Divine was having an interesting day. It hadn't even had the chance to insult him, as it hadn't expected the blade to impact him. It shook its arm, trying to shake off the pain that still burnt in his flesh. Though as pain tends to work, it still persisted.

Leaving well enough alone, his lips parted and then his jaw opened up to reveal row after row of teeth. The air in front of his mouth had begun to swirl with black winds that screeched like a million bats and the wings of a billion locusts. Aside from the noises of the black fog, it would be difficult to even hear oneself think. The sound was all encompassing, and yet came from nowhere in particular. As though the sound was pressed into the minds of all onlookers by some unseen entity.

Black lines of fog weaved from the holes in his head and chest, swirling and twisting into a massive conglomerate mass that hovered before his head. The size of a man and black as night, it screamed into existence before his open mouth. Eclipsing half of his being in its shadow, the swirling ball of death came into existence from the cloud that passively followed him. A chunk of the fog that obscured his form was now missing, as it had been used to form this enormous sphere.

After the sphere had formed, he took pause to ensure his foe was in the same position that he had come to rest in. The screech of the sphere provided ample vision on his target, echolocation gave him a near exact view. Though the falling dust obscured it slightly, it wasn't enough to blind him.

The sense of his emotion was fresh as well, he used that as a more defined target for him to unleash hell.

With his target in 'sight' he closed his mouth and spoke, before firing. "If you have a method of killing yourself, I would suggest it. You don't want to be alive inside of this sphere for very long. Though please don't rush." With that, he parted his mouth once again and launched the black sphere towards the Lord of the Xenom. It rocketed through the air at breakneck speed, not enough to break the sound barrier but enough to break a man. Its swirling death left a line of blackness that lead back towards The Baron, who himself had launched after the sphere.

Following behind his own attack, he flew behind it in short order. Aiming to immediately follow up with another strike, then another and another. To break him down with unrelenting offense, before he could return any offense of his own. With the duplicate blade still in hand, he readied himself by keeping it just to the front of his body. Ready to parry away an oncoming blow.

Though the Baron doesn't feel fear, the Divine did not want another one of its children to be slain. Even though they were produced in mass, they were still a part of its body.

In the same way a human doesn't wish for his finger to be cut off, The Baron is the divine's finger.

The Lord stared on with his crimson gaze narrowing ever more as adrenaline rushed through his body. It as more than just a feat to not only hit the God-Killer, but to sustain a blow amplified by so much as the beast had done...it was almost admirable. But he could tell the creature understood that if it wanted victory over Tetsue, it was going to come at a cost.

The thought made the Lord smile.

However the creature had landed and opened its mouth and immediately Tetsue drew a cautionary breath, anticipated a full blown physical assault. Something he felt he could handle without dread. But he was mistaken; the creature seemed to release some sort of mist or fog of ebonic hue from gaping pours in its body and drew it to a center before him. This alone had the thin hairs upon the Lord's arms raise in anticipation, especially as the screeching sound erupted throughout the streets.

What in the name of Mokushi is that?

Immediately the Lord drew into a stance that would most likely be driven into the mind of his enemy as something to fear. His wounded left leg shifted behind him before bending both knees and hunched over before sliding his massive God-Eater onto his back diagonally with the handle peering over his right shoulder. This stance alone would echo through the ages for what he was about to do. With his right hand tightening around the exposed foot long handle he felt pressure building up within his joints as the air around him became distorted, like fumes as his entire density thickened, creating a small gravitational pull that reeled in small rocks and pebbles, even an innocents shoe.

"Alright...so we're going to play this kind of game are we...?" He whispered to himself in a thickened growl, beyond curious as to what the now massive ball of swirling chaos before the beast would do. And then it fired. The speed of the ball was impressive, scaling the distance like it was nothing and giving Tetsue little more than a second or two to react. Though, he had no insight of the creature that followed suit.

The Lord braced himself with the little time he had before whispering under his breath, "Battoujutsu; Falling Moon to Rising Sun." The pressure that had quickly built up within his joints released in a vicious wave that repelled the earth from around him, tearing up the pavement into large tar spikes as he pulled forth upon his God-Eaters handle.

Except, the God-Eater merely raised to become horizontal with the Lord's shoulder, the bottom aiming directly at the death ball before behind held into place simply from the sheer speed of Tetsue's movement. Instead, it would be revealed that the handle actually belonged to another blade, one that lay dormant within the God-Eater - which had merely been an edged sheath. Tetsue drew the five foot long crimson Metashi blade forward out of the God-Eater, slashing downwards in a diagonal slash to his lower left side. Unlike it's Black Metashi counter part, the red Metashi was far less dense, but this aided its ability to cut while in this state - being able to cut at a molecular level with how sharp the edge was.

But this was not all that he had done, for this was a Battoujutsu; the art of drawing and sheathing a sword with impeccable speed. The moment the sword had fallen completely, the speed and force of the unsheathing was so intense that it created a vortex like vacuum upon the sheaths entrance, pulling the massive black sphere into its depths, disappearing into the universe that existed within the God-Eater. And now, the return of the blade, reversing its slash the double edged God-Slayer drew right back up, colliding with the Beast's sword and slicing through it upon a molecular level, though not all the way through given the distance, before resheathing into the God-Eater and locking into place.

All this in a matter of a second or two and although Tetsue's amplified abilities increased his speed and force, this did not make him naturally fast. With the sphere gone and his sword resheathed, the distance between the Beast and Tetsue was disgustingly close to Tetsue's surprise. He had not inticipated the beast would have followed his attack as such and was forced to quickly spin around and lower himself even more before feeling the massive strike of the Beasts sword against the God-Eater that rested upon his back.

The force was so powerful it fired Tetsue forewards back into the building he had climbed out of, only this was a full blown strike. Building after building the God-Killer punctured and exited until finally he rolled to a stop within the middle of a building about six or seven streets away. Now, the Lord sat lazily against a broken in desk that was forced to morph to his body with his giant blade out in the open street infront of him. Blood slowly tricked down his face from his forehead, his breathing increased heavily. With an eye now almost forced closed from the impact he stared up through the darkness of his dwelling stage and watched through the debris and the tunnel his body had formed.

"Alright...it's going to be like that..." he growled, his anger becoming more potent while the air around his body began to dilute to the raw pressure as if his emotions were becoming a physical reality, distorting ones vision around the building from how intense his rage was becoming.

It was unreal, the warrior from Xenom had done something so unimaginable that it had nearly given The Baron pause. The moment played in his head over and over, three times to be exact. In the matter of milliseconds it analyzed the event that had just taken place.

The First Time.

The blade striking against his own with such force and speed that it defied logic. The blade had nearly been sliced in half from the force of it, what trickery was this? It analyzed every aspect of it, it seemed as though a wave of energy had been launched at him. But he had only caught a glimpse of it before being struck. He could not see through his own sphere, and though his senses gave him vision of material objects, he could not see forces. Though it did catch a glimpse of the smaller blade within, not hard to deduce the source of this disturbance.

Though it wasn't irreparable, the damage to his blade did not go unnoticed. The part of it that had been sliced into was destroyed. His fog had been cut through, it wasn't just fog, it was tiny cell-sized organisms. Billions of them, forged into a solid object. Those unfortunate cells had been completely destroyed. Unsalvageable.

Destroyed. How? Molecular level, sliced cleanly. They were alive, but dying now.

The remaining cells closed the sword's wound in short order.

The Second Time.

His sphere, not simply cut in half. Obliterated. Not simply destroyed, but gone. No. He could feel it, they still existed but were going to die soon. With no connection, they would starve. How? How!? A rift? Teleportation? What method had this warrior used to simply remove his fog from his reach? Though he was not short on his fog, the loss of so many was great. The disconnect would drive them mad, perhaps a good thing. They were still together, they would continue to shred anything unfortunate within their reach for as long as they were alive.

But how?

Again his mind focused on the smaller blade within the larger one, what power it held, and what power it had demonstrated. Two abilities now. An incredibly swift and near invisible slash, and somehow teleportation? That blade was dangerous, among the most dangerous weapons he's ever seen.

The Third Time.

His own action in response to the sudden shift in pace. No matter how oppressive the aura of Tetsue was, no matter how much power he threw at The Baron, he would not yield. It's just not in his nature. With Tetsue's response already played through, The Baron drew his left hand through his own fog once more and formed a blade of similar length to the cleaver as the distance grew shorter and shorter. Two blades between him and that strike would be much safer than one.

The hole that had been formed by Tetsue flying backwards was impressive, he had injured himself in an attempt at The Baron's life.

Good.

Good!

Good!

Someone willing to hurt himself just to fight, it would make The Baron's life so much easier if his foe wore himself down.

Through the building, he kept his right arm raised in front of his torso, but his left arm trailed behind. His massive bulk punched through the building, the blade slicing roughly through a support beam and sending the tower collapsing behind him as he charged forward. An unfortunate bicycler who had his headphones on a bit too loud was knocked aside by the gargantuan abomination, he was sent flying and smashed against a nearby wall.

The same wall that the beast plowed through shortly afterwards, further crushing the unfortunate man's body.

Take note, he didn't follow the same path through the buildings that Tetsue had gone through. He went off to the left and kept the lord in his sights, every time he plowed through a building and toppled it behind him, his eye locked onto the hole that was created by his flight backwards.

It was growing more and more delicious here, the man's anger was growing. Even a hint of desperation was peeking its head through, with him relying on something so dangerous so early. "You can fight men, you can fight demons, and you can fight angels. But no matter what you fight, you are nothing compared to me!" His voice bellowed, echoing from miles around. Growing deeper and deeper with a sinister hatred towards the warmonger, the gravelly tones of his voice shook the fallen rubble that had already laid itself on the battlefield. "You are mortal, you are but ants to me!"

Following the image of the growing anger within Tetsue, the Baron made a sharp turn and plowed through the building near a hundred feet down the road. Rubble exploded from the wall and plastered the opposing street, several civilians who were fleeing from the carnage were caught in the resulting expulsion of matter.

While he was charging through the walls, he had built up a small trail of fog behind his right leg. It formed a small crescent that grew behind his heel. A weapon hidden away from his foe, something prepared for a surprise attack.

A little taste of just how clever The Baron can be.

The Lord slowly rose to his feet, thought not without struggle, as every bone in his body cried out and every muscle rebeled. But he was the commander of his body. With a signle thought the pain evaporated through ignorance and straightened his body out. Placing his hands on his hips he pushed his hips forward and bent his back, cracking the joints to release any unwanted tension. He couldn't help but feel relieved at the feeling.

Quietly, as if locked in silent rage, Tetsue sauntered forward out of the rubble and into the street, keeping his eyes on the tunnel expecting the goliath to have charged right after the warrior. He was met with emptiness. Though the sounds of the beast crashing through buildings else where still echoed, the Lord could not pinpoint where he was coming from.

"Wait.." he whispered, an alarm going off in his head upon realizing he was not in possession of his God-Eater, instead it lay half covered in chunks of concrete where only a portion was visible to the mans crimson gaze. He quickly walked over to it and heaved its rocky blanket off with ease and reached to pick up his blade. Only to halt every movement.

"You can fight men, you can fight demons, you can even fight angels. But no matter what you fight, you are nothing compared to me." The booming voice of the goliath echoed deep within Tetsue's mind. His eyes widening as he stared down at his weapon. It was then he felt it, a surge...or pulse of hate fill his very core and expell outwards in a fashion that resembled a shockwave, combing over the buildings and the street. A second pulse.

The only other thing the male heard as all sound drowned out, was the last crash of the goliath onto the street he stood on. Distance mattered not at this point. The beast had made a fatal mistake and called out his ego. Something so few have done and survived.

Men. Demon. Angels.

A third surge of energy. And then it happened. With a single notion the pressure that had built up around Tetsue from his sheer anger had exploded around him, but none of this had to do with his Kinetic Energy Manipulation. This was nothing short of raw, undiluted power fueled by the hate and rage that infected his heart. The Lord had kicked off, leaving a crater behind so large it ripped apart several buildings by their base, having them collapse inwards upon each other behind Tetsue as he shattered the sound barrier severial times. Within a second he had crossed the distance between the two, but did not slow.

His arm extended outwards, passing by the goliath but grabbed him by the face. With unrelenting strength he actually not only lifted, but pulled the beast with Tetsue as he cried out in hate. "I. AM. A. GOD. KILLER" and slammed the back of the beasts head into the ground, continuing his travel, dragging the monsters head through the pavement leaving a trail of ripped apart pavement behind.

Finally Tetsue's legs extended downwards to keep his momentum going, trashing the beasts body with every meter they went before pulling the beasts head up, which of course meant his entire body raised before doing a final slam and releasing the creature with such force he passed through the ground into the subway system below, smashing into an abandoned car while Tetsue skid to a hilt. His rage growing more and more, the pressure of the space around him growing to the point where the ground all around him cracked in agony.

The beast wanted Tetsue's anger. Tetsue's anger had arrived.

Its lips peeled away from the teeth they shielded, he had finally done it. The Baron had found the one thing that would unleash all of the anger pent up inside of the god killer, something so insulting that it had driven him to the brink of madness. Though he had the chance to move, though he had the chance to evade or counterattack. Moving out of the way would have been stupid.

Just before the blow was struck, and the Baron was knocked from his standing position, the cloud of blackness was ejected from his form in all directions from his body. Leaving only the crescent on his ankle behind, the cloud erupted forward as Tetsue slammed into him. Like a puff of smoke erupting from an explosion, the cloud did not settle.

Back to The Baron, who did not move as he was driven into the Earth and Concrete. Layers upon layers of his hide were peeled away as he was dragged across the surface. This anger was the second strongest signiture he's ever felt, and it was beauty. The pain of being dragged like a ragdoll in a child's hand was overwhelmed with the pleasure given to him by the immense amount of energy feeding into him.

The horns adorning the crown of his head were split, the spines running down his back were torn free, and the spikes on his elbows had been ground down to nubs. All of this just before being raised into the air and slammed into the tunnel below, where he lay for a moment. Looking through the hole left behind by his bulk, he saw the God Killer's pressure influencing the world around him in a profound way.

As The Baron willed his body to stand back up, ignoring his body's protests by commanding them forcefully to move, he stood once more. Staring upwards at Tetsue, his teeth still bared to the winds. Rubble and now torn away skin fell from his figure, dropping to the ground in bulk. "A god killer. I once referred to myself as such. But I realized something that you too should address." The Baron's body tensed up before launching upwards through the ground beneath Tetsue's feet, ejecting so much matter from the ground that it erupted like a shotgun from below. The Baron was on the counter-offensive now, with a mad hunger driving his movements he propelled himself forward and into the warmonger.

If he struck the warlord he would return the favor of his little jam session by grappling him by both of his ankles and hurtling him back towards the cloud of fog that had erupted from his body moments before.

Why back towards the cloud?

The cloud itself had reformed into the rough shape of The Baron himself. A colossal humanoid entity of comparable size and strength to the monster. It would follow up the goliath's throw by rushing forward in full sprint and punching Tetsue with all of its might, at highway speeds. The combination of the throw's momentum and the duplicate's force would send out a shockwave so great that every window in the nearby buildings would explode inwards.

The Baron would then punctuate his actions with a sinister one-liner. "You should realize that I am far greater than a God!"

Blinded by rage the Lord stared down into the pit where the breaking beast climbed to its feet, only stare right back up at Tetsue. Injured, surely, but enough to stand with such ease. Even in his state of rampant hate he could see this fight was going to be extaoridinarily tough on him physically and mentally.

"A God Killer. I once referred to myself as such. But I realized something that you too should address."

The Lord tilted his head for a moment, as if anticipating a follow up but instead widened his eyes as the beast launched up towards him. He immediately drew his arms up to cross over his head and upper chest as if to protect his vital organs and closed his eyes, bracing for impact. It wasn't until after he felt the goliaths hands wrap around Tetsue's ankles that he realized he made a mistake.

Thrown like a rag doll Tetsue soared back to where he came with such force that it knocked the wind out of him momentarily, struggling against the air pressure of his speed to gain control over his body while everything became a blurr.

However, slowly but surely he was able to straighten himself up, thinking the monster was a fool for he was now soaring right back to his blade and he would simply pick it up mid-flight. A smirk, somehow, crossing his face despite the wind swishing his flesh upon his cheeks around like playdough. He then lifted his head, spiraling straight towards where his...sword...was...

His eyes widened in the short amount of time it took for him to cross the distance and instead of seeing his blade upon the ground there was another goliath running straight towards him. With no time to react, no time to defend, he merely looked on in surprise and that's when it hit him.

Literally.

The force of the creatures fist smashing into the face of Tetsue held a sound that would never be heard again within this universe while a shockwave ripped out vertically rather than horizontally upon either side of him, literally cutting the buildings cleanly in half before imploding. Tetsue, on the other hand, was launched back, except it wasn't as clean as his initial flight. His body skipped and dragged along the pavement with such force that even the slightest rock upon the road would bounce him back up into a vicious spiral before coming back down to the road to roll some more.

The God-Killers body finally slowed to a stop some thirty fight away from the breaking goliath, face down and not moving. His hakama torn apart while serious road rash appeared all over his body in patches. His face, of unknown conditons, hidden behind the curtain of red, sweat drenched hair.

It was then that the pressure of Tetsue disappeared entirely, leaving no trace of anger. No trace of hate. Nothing.

Was...this it?

Toppling buildings and the sound of desecrated lands filled the air, shattering glass and falling stone. The creak of metal and somehow the sound of the duplicate's footsteps against the ground, walking towards the God-Killer blade. It moved with deliberate motions the same confidence and strength that was exuded from The Baron itself. The fool, in his anger, had left his weapon behind. Without the threat of being sliced in half by a weapon as powerful as this, he was able to unleash his full ability.

His body, the true body, was holding together rather nicely. Though his back had been torn to shreds, and a singular tooth had been torn from his face, he was otherwise unharmed by the battle. Though the pain of having his skin torn off was starting to flood back to him, after all of the residual anger left behind after Tetsue's rampage was consumed. His feet touched the ground and he walked towards The God Killer, his lips sliding down across his teeth once more. With nothing to consume, and no reason to bare his fangs, The Baron calmed his visage and carried on his way towards Tetsue.

"A worthy foe, your anger was second only to that of a God's. Though now I feel emptiness, you're ready for oblivion. The destruction that you have given to so many others, you feel as though it is upon you now. Do you not?" The Baron stopped a few feet away from Tetsue, maintaining the crescent on his heel. Just in case there was any attempt at a counter-attack or recovery.

Meanwhile the Doppelganger grasped Tetsue's blade and lifted it up to his shoulder. It began jogging back towards The Baron and Tetsue, with the blade in tow and Tetsue lying facedown on the ground, this battle seemed to be won. Though he didn't wish to keep the weapon as a prize, he did wish to keep it out of Tetsue's reach for now.

"But you. I cannot let you die, God Killer. No, your anger is far too great for me to simply let you die. The anguish you bring, the blood you spill." He paused, staring down at Tetsue. No longer with malice in his voice, no hatred or cruelty. This was the voice of The Divine itself, a much more commanding voice. Less gravel, and more depth. "Your conquest is mine now, do you understand? The war you wage, and those who might raise your banner. They are but food."

The duplicate ran to The Baron's side, handing him the blade. "And you are the chef, who must stir the pot. To let it boil. To let it froth over."

He slung the blade over his shoulder, and lowered his right hand down to Tetsue. To help him to his feet. "Do you understand?"