Rajaka Cringed as he landed, only to see his attack have no effect. It was true that his long range abilities lacked the staying power of his world-shattering punches, but with his field active, and his natural constitution being so high, he'd been practically invincible as well. Then, he felt a wind at his back. Rajaka ignored the Arki scythes as their form was torn to shreds by his aura, instead deciding that he was through with this entire shindig. He rose one of his arms in front of him and flexed it tightly, while grabbing his bicep with the other hand. "I'm steamin' here, steamin' real bad, Zelriane. I'm gonna blow them up." Zelriane, upon hearing the phrase "blow them up" lowered his head and grasped it with his index finger and thumb anxiously. Then the giant's energy began to climb viciously fast. Blup nodded to himself with a little wiggle-wobble.

"Ki and Arki are ineffective! Your Arki attacks are being de-stabilised by his aura when their Ki-portion is ripped free!" Blup blooped, "I don't want to see what affect that has on a person! But if you want to hurt him, you won't be able to use any form of Ki!"

"Time for the Rajaka Bomb, ya racid shit-stains."

"Well if ki and arki are both in effective then clearly we need to try. " Jeff started to say before Rakaja started to blurt out something about a Rajaka bomb which immediated changed his initial approach of wanting to close in a tiny bit for another technique. "... I guess soemthing else first.." The sage finally responded feeling a tad disapointed he wouldnt have a chance to test the shotgun just yet. Instead he reached his hand out towards Bruce and began channelin more wind energy into the wind board making it turn blue from the energy output. "Bruce I'm ready to boost you out of there on your call! Given I'm still gonna test this too." The sage stated as he began pumping the arm cannon with pure Arcane energy and infusing that with the wind instead before firing off yet another sniper shot at Rajaka's leg once again. This time the bullet however was encased with pure Arcane energy which sadly did weaken it a bit, but perhaps would give it a shot to not downright be obliterated by the surges of Ki.

Bruce's mouth twitched into the briefest grimace at Blup's assessment of the situation- without an effective way to utilize his Ki against the opponent, he was essentially left with the ability to taunt and goad Rajaka into breaking something he wasn't supposed to. And though that seemed like it might turn out to be enough to survive, it was also... unsatisfying.

His introspection was interrupted by Jeff calling to him, and he could sense the surge in power from his platform. Rajaka's Ki continued to intensify. He glanced at the seething giant- his pride refused to believe that he couldn't find some way to strike back, even if the attack proved ineffective. He recalled the lesson he and Ross had finished not hours ago. This was real, and there were bigger things to worry about beyond this fight. Bruce called on his blade, unsheathing and hurling it in a wide arc around and behind Rajaka, outside his Ki antibody radius. The sword landed, blade lodged in the ground.

"I'm ready for that extra boost, Jeff." Bruce said. His robes fluttered, and particles of dirt became visible around his left hand. Where did the material come from? He couldn't have reacted fast enough to bring any with him once Shaidra grabbed them. Yet there it was, and the earth shifted in color, covering his hand like a second skin and darkening. He titled his weight back to aim himself away from Rajaka, setting a trajectory that also brought him away from Jeff- no sense in putting both of them in danger. Almost imperceptibly, he winced as though some process of his actions were causing pain, yet all he did was smirk at their opponent.

Rajaka's body lurched downwards as his kneecap was heavily bruised by Jeff's attack. Although his Ki seems ineffective this time around, his natural durability wouldn't allow one of Jeff's wind-sniper-shots to penetrate his skin. Despite falling to one knee, Rajaka continued to gather energy in his arm, unfocused, but so naturally dense that it would seem otherwise.

"There 'aint' no stoppin' it now!" Rajaka Roared.

Bruce, apparently having reached some ultimate decision after an internal debate, bent his knees, ready to shift his weight in any direction. The material hovering outside his robe settled and vanished. Momentary relief crossed his face, but betrayed nothing else.
"Then come get me." Bruce said, lowering his platform just above the ground. The wind board still glowed with energy, and Bruce knew it could rocket skyward at blinding speed in fractions of a second.

Jeff kept Bruce's wind board blasting back away from Rajaka ready to go full speed away from Rajaka's attack the second its direction was made clear. The wind sage too also decided to play it safe for the moment and boosted himself to the other end of the arena and formed two nanoshields by himself while once again recharging his wind cannons. At this point the constant quick recharges of the cannons were starting to tire out Jeff a little but he wasn't out of options yet. He just needed to wait for an opening after this attack with his main focus being on keeping both him and Bruce safe and alive.

Rajaka cocked his forearm back and smashed the joint of his elbow into the tightest position he could manage with his bulbous muscles impeding him. A flash of blinding yellow light flew through the air, faster than either Jeff or Bruce, or even Zelriane could manage to avoid. Fortunately it didn't seem to cause any harm. The expanding half-orb of energy that erupted afterwards? That would've been a different story. It flew out, reaching far past one edge of the arena, and closing in on the opposite, where Zelriane positioned himself in a quick dash behind Jeff. He prepared to block off his escape route, but just as quickly as the massive ball of energy began to expand, a shroud of dark energy began to encompass it, until it was black all the way through. Zelriane lowered his leg and sighed as the energy quickly shrunk back down to where Rajaka was standing, until it disappeared, leaving not Rajaka, but Shaidra, crouched in his spot, with a large crater beneath her. She examined the floor, like a small child weeping over pieces of their shattered art project. Then her head darted towards Bruce, who was far above her, curiously.

"Bird?" She cooed.

"No," Zelriane shouted, his voice sturdy and controlled, "That is no bird."



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Bruce released a breath- they'd been betting on an interruption like this since the beginning of the fight, and it seemed to have paid off. Zelriane would still be tricky to contend with, but in terms of raw power, the playing field had been leveled somewhat.
Shaidra's form caught his attention, and the sad, childlike attention she paid the broken piece of her home struck something in him. He knew that sympathy for the enemy was dangerous. Yet he'd learned, quite recently, that repressing his emotions would stunt his potential and lead to ultimately more dire consequences. The teleporting creature seemed to have already finished grieving the damage done, but he spoke anyway.
"I am sorry," he whispered, his rumbling voice carrying. "That your home has been hurt."
He turned his attention to Zelriane, recreating the sphere of chains around him and his platform he'd used earlier- a dozen strands whipped rapidly around him clockwise horizontally, while another dozen circled him counterclockwise vertically. Bruce would have added that he'd make sure to avoid further damage to Shaidra's home, but that would have qualified as a promise. And Bruce never made a promise he couldn't keep.

Jeff let out a huge sigh of relief as Rajaka was forced out of the arena and Bruce's plan came to be a success, if not he was ready to counteract Zelraine who he sensed with the wind warping behind him in attempt to use him as a human shield. Instead he turned around and immediately fired off his flashbomb point blank into Zelraine's face making sure to have his nanovisor take form to block the light for himself like he did back before with his battle against Mikey. He would then attempt to launch one of his grapple gauntlets out to grab hold of the quickster by his face, making use of the wind to aim accordingly to sense and predict any movement he would try to do in order to escape. 'You might be faster then me, but the your movements through the air gives me a good idea where you plan to go... I can see that much clearly'

Zelriane took note of the motions through Jeff's body, and preemptively side-stepped what he'd thought to be an explosive device. But the sudden flash took him by surprise. His pupils shrunk and he shut his eyes, continuing through with his side-step and narrowly evading Jeff's claw. But as he moved, Jeff's claw was able to barely catch the side of his mask, ripping a portion of it off as Zelriane dove into a roll and darted across the battlefield in a wide arc. He rubbed his eyes vigorously, unable to immediately restore his sight. He ended up near nobody, with his left cheek exposed, his mask missing a sizeable chunk of black fabric. Under his left eye, a tattoo-like marking was clear as day. A small crescent that hugged his bottom eyelid, with a spike-like droplet of green lowering to about halfway down his cheek. On either side of the small spike, several intricate designs mirrored out like wings.

"Eject," He said just loudly enough for Shaidra to hear. She spun towards him and then back to Bruce. The little creature's eyes were like holes into another realm, darker than the mask she wore. "Eject." Zelriane said, louder this time. But Shaidra wouldn't listen.

The wind sage grunted to himself as his attack barely missed it's target, though the fact they were able to get hold of some of there weird mask fabric made up for it in his mind. Not being one to let this go to waste Jeff immediately fired off his left wind cannon's sniper shot at Zelraine while he continued to make his recovery while letting his right gauntlet retract the chain and placing the fabric gotten into his pocket to study late. "You really are amazingly fast though.. heh..." The sage muttered to himself, feeling a tad jealous.

Before the sniper Shot could make it half way across the giant battle-field, Shaidra looked towards it, and rose a hand through the air quickly. The shot faded into blackness, and then emerged behind Jeff, from another shadowy portal.

To put it bluntly, Jeff was caught off guard completely by his attack being warped behind him and barely had any time to react thus because of it. Even moving at full speed the hit managed to graze his side leaving his side dripping with blood and Jeff holding his side with pain. "Damn it... Now we need to keep an eye on this kind of shit too?"

Bruce felt Shaidra's gaze linger on him, and he spared her a glance. He wondered about this odd individual. Zelriane clearly expected her to take direct orders, yet she had her own thoughts.
Bruce's brow furrowed- he had come to terms with the fact that children were used as soldiers and killers in conflicts years ago. Even youth could be taught to understand the basic implications of their involvement and the difference between right and wrong. But Shaidra had uttered a single word since she'd reappeared, and her understanding seemed borderline infantile. She understood pain, since she'd redirected Jeff's second attack back to him, yet she hadn't initiated any attempts to cause either of them injury. It seemed she comprehended simple speech. Zelriane had taken up a different tone with her than Rajaka. Did she know the full ramifications of the Order and what they represented? Or their overall schemes?

Bruce shook his head lightly- regardless of how he felt about it, they were in the middle of a fight, and as far as they knew, she was their only way out. He couldn't help seeing her differently than the other Order. She was the first he'd seen who acted with an intrinsic motivation to protect and care about something outside of their ego or the advancement of evil intentions.
'She can teleport at least five people at once,' Bruce thought. 'Probably more than that. There's no indication that doing so has tired her out in any way.'

He grimaced, noting Jeff's injury. If Shaidra intended to turn every attack against Zelriane back at them, it left Bruce back in the same position he'd been in with Rajaka, little he could do. He'd still try, of course, but...
An idea struck him. For some reason, he was able to capture Shaidra's attention. She didn't seem receptive to orders, at least from Zelriane. Would she take requests? It was worth trying.

Bruce looked back at her through the whirling mass of chains surrounding him.
"My friend and I," Bruce said in a not unkind voice, gesturing to Jeff. "We do not have a way back to our home. Would you allow us to leave?"

Shaidra fell onto all fours and began to move towards Bruce quickly after he spoke. "This is our home now. We'll find it here, our goal," She murmured softly, stopping a few feet short of Bruce. She looked up at his curiously. "Camera is ready. Touch the elec.. Nucleus? The.."

"Shaidra. Tower. Now." Zelriane continued to spout orders, waiting patiently for his vision to return to him. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. But Shaidra's nature was unpredictable. Staying in her dimension was the last thing he wanted.

After taking the hit, the wounded wind sage took a moment to make his nanoshield return to its regular form before applying a group of them over his wounded spot in order to have them seal up the wound while acting as a bandage. It wasn't the most painless of processes, but in this situation it was all he got. While in the process of doing so he also let the wind around him spiral a bit before forming 3 more mirages of himself which then prepared to charge at Zelraine using full speed with a wind blade in hand hoping he might be able to close in the distance before the bastard was able to fully recover his sight. He made sure to keep an eye for any rifts that were to appear this time in order to not be caught off guard like he was just moments ago.

Bruce lifted one hand to his face, tapping a finger against his chin. He hadn't honestly expected things to go so smoothly that Shaidra would simply comply with his request and send them back, but he hadn't anticipated her to show knowledge of things like atoms either.
Doubt festered in the corner of his mind- Jeff was the only one with sights still on Zelriane's person, and yet Bruce hovered in midair in relative safety behind his chains, trying to communicate with the one who'd brought them here. If Jeff got fatally wounded and they were stranded in this pocket dimension despite his efforts, what then?

He shook his head again. There wasn't time to dwell on weighing his options. Zelriane was adamant about returning to the tower, presumably with Shaidra. If that happened, they could be stranded here anyway. He focused back on Shaidra's brief sentences, suspecting that some of them were recitations of things she'd been told rather than observations she'd made on her own. He couldn't say where that suspicion came from. It lingered nonetheless.
'A nucleus and electrons?' he wondered, his gaze wandering from Shaidra's black, curious eyes. He pondered what he, with his spinning chains, might look like to a mind like hers. Was he the nucleus?

"Touching the nucleus might be dangerous." he said, keeping his tone soft though his voice was deep. He wasn't trying to threaten her, but he just couldn't say for certain that she wouldn't try something... unusual. He bent down on one knee on his platform, letting it sink just a little lower in the air, and tightened the radius of his chains as they spun around him- he'd prefer to avoid mistakenly hurting her were she to jump and reach out. "It would," he paused, thinking of the right words. "Upset balance."

Bruce's mind raced, staring into Shaidra's mask as if some key understanding could be pulled from behind it. He had no idea about cameras or what it referred to. The suspicion that she was reciting something she'd been told grew when he pondered what she'd said about their goal, their home. He could only assume that 'they' referred to the rest of the Order.
"Shaidra," he whispered, as though requesting to be let in on a secret. "What goal do you seek?"

Zelriane's feet shifted uneasily as Jeff sped through the air. His body tensed up immediately, taken to a new stance, wider. His hands were open-palms, each finger aligned with the next as if he were prepared to slap at his foe. His feet turned outwards, and his elbows were high. With his palms faced outwards, the currents and change in atmosphere guided his fist. The sound made him shudder for a moment, but he didn't falter. He rolled his fingers back and cocked his newly formed fist behind his head. Zelriane was able to pick out which one of Jeff's bodies was the real deal, not based on his energy, but based on his smell. Zelriane coated his fist in a green mist...

Of course, all of that happened in less than a second.

With a resounding thud, Zelriane's fist crashed into Jeff's face, pushing the wind sage flat-out of his dash, and into the ground. The sudden burst of speed, unlike what he'd shown before, was more compact, making his attack impossible to evade. Of course, Jeff speeding directly at him didn't help. Pain began to spread through the inventor's body, originating from his face, and crawling through his soul like a nest of venomous vipers that bit and bit at his insides without stopping. The pain was like none other he'd felt before, it was paralysing. Zelriane felt the same pain sting his body, but shook it off and took a step back, resuming his stance. "The eyes are not the only tool for observation," He taunted, "Though, if you'd been more careful, that might've been bad news for me." Slowly, he peeled his eyes open, and returned to the stance he was using earlier in the battle. "I don't need my eyes to predict your moves if you insist on resorting to such predictable methods of attack." He turned to Shaidra and Bruce and narrowed his recovered eyes.

Shaidra cocked her head to one side and began to crawl around Bruce like a curious animal. She kept on like this for a few moments, before standing in front of him, back straightened, and demeanour tightened. She stood with a stern presence, demanding attention and respect. It was uncanny. "What do you plan to do with this research?.. I'll share it with the world... What do you need? What do we need? What are they asking for? What does he want? What do you want me to do?" Shaidra's eyes flickered. A flash of marine blue shone through the thick black mist within her pupils for the shortest of moments. While she spoke, her stance shifted, from stern and cold, to excited and empathetic, until she dropped back down onto all fours and answered Bruce's question in an unfamiliar, feminine voice.

"Proof"

Zelriane appeared behind Shaidra like a deathly apparition, and clutched her shoulder, his hand releasing a green mist for less than a moment. Shaidra lurched forwards, shrieking in pain before spinning to face him. "Home." Shaidra looked at the ground and nodded, but took her sweet time in preparing to release them from her little pocket dimension. Zelriane glared at Bruce. "Now, I'm going to defeat you." Zelriane took up his stance, and Shaidra began to gallop away pathetically, like a dog that had just received strict punishment. "Consider this a high stakes duel. If you lose, you and your friend die." Zelriane glared back at Jeff. "Don't worry about him. My Agoniki only inflicts pain that surpasses what living nerve endings can handle. He'll live if his heart doesn't give out first. Even then, he won't be able to move." He paused and looked back at Bruce. "Now that Rajaka isn't around, I can finally enjoy myself. Don't worry, I won't be using that energy on you. That would be Boring."

That speed, Jeff for one could say in that situation he didn't expect that speed and for him to use other means to strike, and to do so so precisely. It might have been too fast for Jeff to react to entirely, but to say he was out if options would be a bold faced lie. As the punch made contact, Jeff did his best to let his visor take the primary impact of the blow, allowing the nanobots that made up the visor to latch onto Zelraine's hand, with the bots being primarily uneffected as they did not feel the pain that pulsed through Jeff's body. The sage however was unable to stop the unimaginable pain that spread everywhere through his soul as his body landed in a thud against the ground. The pain itself made it impossible to move his bodying willingly and nearly impossible to think through the constant pulses of pain that echoed throughout those never ending seconds yet through the entireity of it, Jeff did his best to muster up one final action. It took all his willpower but before losing all mobilty the scientist was able to mutter one word.


And with that, the nanos that clinged to Zelraine's hand released a paralyzing discharge which in most cases would bring most beings to a downright halt. Though in his case it would most likely not stop him, but the constant discharge would at least give Bruce a fighting chance as it would prevent him from moving his max speed.

Bruce's first impulse upon seeing Jeff fall, his body spasming in agony, was to help him. Not knowing how, though, he stayed where he was. The sensation of something vaguely familiar and black spoke from within his soul. The blade he'd lodged in the ground earlier quivered.
He stared down his nose at Zelriane, the shadow of his own hair masking the expression on his face. A voice Bruce had long since forsaken mused in his mind.
'Perhaps he's the sort who might enjoy being fed his own entrails.'
The corner of Bruce's mouth quirked upward briefly before he could suppress it. He kept his gaze steady on Zelriane, his expression not a glare, but reflective of a kind of hunger. The chains, still circling around him, shivered and jangled, though the flow of Ki remained strong and constant. There was, however, a new... edge to the music of it.
"So, you do have a personality." Bruce said, his tone calm, with no difference in his voice that would be apparent to anyone save maybe Jeff. He talked as though he weren't cataloguing every word Zelriane uttered for future reference and dissection. "Good to know."

Bruce didn't miss the way Shaidra had slunk away, nor the evidence that she genuinely had her own intelligence, though some part of her psyche might qualify as broken.
"Seems rude to give orders to the one who owns the roof over our heads." Bruce said, just loud enough for her to hear. He didn't look at her when he made the idle comment, largely because the glimmer of blackness in his eyes demanded he keep them on Zelriane. "I am curious- and forgive me for my ignorance in the ways of science, Shaidra- but in searching for proof, experiments are the favored means of gaining results, correct? I just wish to know how many of those present are test subjects and who the administrator is."

Bruce didn't expect to really persuade Shaidra to just let him and Jeff go. She was clearly smarter than Zelriane, though she took orders as though she weren't- she believed herself physically inferior. Allowing himself to bring his full attention back to the green-eyed sack of arrogance and molded excrement, the cries from within for retribution and unsightly punishment flared again.
"I find it amusing you think I can trust your stakes, particularly as you have not named what's in our interest for accepting. You only name terms for our loss, not our victory, or our survival, which I grant you is the most likely of the three." Bruce said, keeping his voice loud enough to kill any possibility of either Order member hearing the follicles he'd dropped earlier gathering together.