The energy spikes withdrew before several more plunged out at Zelriane's path, trying to cut him off, catch him or slow him down. This fight was currently in Zelriane's favor. Oz hadn't landed any hits. Oz was starting to get the impression they would have to trade blow for blow in order to get the speedster down yet there was the matter of his raw haste. He could avoid most attacks Oz was able to make and counter or land small blows between. With his type of meta energy that meant he would win.

While Atlas kept up the barrage and defense Oz formulated what his options were and planned ahead.

Zelriane hopped, slid, and jumped through the spikes in his path, continuing in his circular path around the room, for a few more seconds, anyways. Then his body appeared in front of oz, standing firm in his typical stance without the energy encompassing his legs any longer. "When somebody is too big or durable to strike, there's one solution that typical martial artists put into play." Zelriane lowered his body to the ground, bending his knees and demonstrating his flexibility. "Grapples."

The ring of energy from before, the one that surrounded the room's outer edges, continued to spin without Zelriane within it. The sections of Atlas that emerged were blown away by the centrifugal force. He was surrounded by a rotation moving at light speed. The entire room was beginning to heat up at this point.

"Hadoron shūshuku"

The ring of light rapidly began to contract, narrowing to a blade that aimed to constrict the entirety of Atlas, or break straight through to Oz. If he managed to pop the overbearing monster of an aura that Atlas was, or fully constrict him assuming it could resist the super-heated beam of light before it, then Oz would be open. He was waiting for that moment, crouched like a tiger and prepared to strike.

Zelriane's ring of light technique was so unusual that Oz truly didn't see it coming. It closed in on the barrier quickly and narrowed what Oz would be able to do. Certainly Oz needed to escape the skill but it was set up to force him out while Zelriane camped beyond to catch him. He was in a vice. Oz made the choice.

The guardian jumped up and flipped onto the ceiling, launching a quick force pulse toward Zelriane mid-air. He moved on the ceiling like it were natural to him and charged violet energy toward his right arm.

The ring of light struck Atlas, stopping for a brief moment, before it sliced the large figure clean in half, and ended with a explosion that dispersed the remaining energy instantaneously. Zelriane dashed towards Oz, underneath the blast, and through the resulting explosion of Atlas' body, appearing underneath Oswald as he clung to the ceiling. From below, he struck Oz's stomach with a single strike. the first punch 'papped' his stomach almost like nothing. But the series of strikes that followed increased in strength steadily, pushing his body against the unbreakable ceiling in a relentless rush. One after another, welts continued forwards. He didn't care if a barrier formed, he continued to drive punches home. A low groan started in the back of his throat, and he upped the speed, ramming his fists against Oz's torso even harder. His eyes widened until the groan grew into a faded roar. For the moment, he seemed more inspired by Rajaka's style of combat, aiming to inflict as much damage as possible, if he didn't outright end Oz on the spot.

Zelriane was right in front of him. This was the best chance he had to damage his opponent even if it cost him. Oz pushed through Zelriane's hits accelerating the damage he took, battling even through being winded from so many quick blows to the chest. A nebulous screen of veil billowed from his arm to mask his movements.

The speedster was likely to dash away again, Oz wouldn't have that. He needed some value. A glow illuminated in the screen of veil followed by a ripple of force from behind Zelriane, ideally pushing him into Oz. Oz dove against it, seeking to grab one of Zelriane's legs.

Zelriane continued ramming Oz with a series of sensational punches, even through the veil that blocked his vision, he could tell he was striking flesh, so he hammered fourth several more shots. When he felt something grab his leg however, the situation had changed. There was no escaping Oz's immediate vicinity. His only option was to inflict as much damage as possible.

Zelriane reeled his right arm back, making the decision without a second thought. Acting on instinct and training, his right hand coated itself in a severe amount of Agoniki, turning his very flesh ooze-green. With as much force as he could muster, he slammed his fist against Oz's head.

"Hakai Ken"

The actual force of his fist was not as remarkable as one would expect from such a powerful technique. But with a single strike, he'd flood Oz's body with a supremely vast amount of Agoniki, entering from his left temple. He'd hoped the dose would stop Oswald's heart outright, or at the very least, get him to let go. Zelriane grit his teeth as the strike went through, and the glow in his eyes flickered. It's been a while since he'd released so much of his Meta energy in one attack. The last time he'd done so wasn't a pleasant memory.

The blow felt like a normal punch. That is if a normal punch injected searing acid into your skull. While the effect was breaking out immediately Oz knew that in seconds everything would be even worse.

Screaming was all he wanted to do right now but he was taking this snake to the floor first. A burst of force and accelerated gravity propelled them downward and Oz held the Order member with frenzied strength until they slammed hard into the ground, Zelrianne first. Oz squirmed to the side, rolling end over end in some vain attempt to soothe the pain. He couldn't calm himself enough to vent ki and clear his system. Barely able to control himself he started with a groan that grew into a scream. It didn't take long for his voice to turn hoarse. Today pain had a color and it was green.

Rest was impossible but he did finally settle on his knees, leaning forward on his elbow and staring at the ground. His body was sweating profusely as it tried to find a natural answer to an unnatural amount of suffering. The ability to see was also off. Colors were mixed and everything blurred into a mess. He was completely vulnerable and there was nothing he could do but wait for Zelriane to recover and finish it.

Vision was finally blacking out. He thought it was unconsciousness but he still felt pain even if it was being numbed by something. He saw a familiar place, one he usually made himself through meditations. It was like being underwater, sand below, pillars of bright light shining from the surface above, floating free without any need for oxygen. The only troubling thing is that Oz didn't conjure this image. Someone else did.

_______________________________________________________

Oz drifted to a small cave that stood below. The pains of the fight and agoniki still ebbed and pushed at his awareness but something else was drawing him here than his own focus. The entrance was barred and locked by a substance deeper than shadow that felt like it would be colder than the void of space. A figure clinked in the background of the cave before approaching the entrance and bringing light to himself. He was lanky, regal and always certain of himself. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet of late.

"Did you ring to keep me from killing myself and by extension you?" Oz asked the apparition. "How kind of you, Geode."

"After showing me such kindness," Geode started, pausing to glance at Oswald's missing arm, "It's the least I could do."

Geode's eyes narrowed and he leaned his head forwards slightly. "There's a great deal I wish to tell you, but so little time to say it all. Suffice to say, being dead is an enlightening experience. Then again, I'm not really dead, am I?" His brow creased and he huffed angrily. "What are you doing?"

There were no mincing words with Geode. "Were you watching me?" That the apparition could see what Oz could see hadn't yet occurred to him. "I was trying to win. I couldn't see a way to land a hit on Zelriane other than by trading them or tricking him." Oz looked down at the ground and shook his head. "Before you say it, yes I am a fool. It takes the brave - and the stupid to change the world. I'd hope to think that I'm among the former."

Oswald's senses tingled, like a burning light at the corner of your eye that you can't quite see even turning around. "And you're right about the time. The time in this space might be slowed but the agoniki is still consuming me on the outside. It will bring me back soon. Tell me what you can. We'll make it count." Oz hoped it would be as he said.

Geode chuckled, slamming a hand against his forehead. His rose his head and wiped the humour from his face. He pointed towards his chest, where his heart would have been. "It's not stupid to want change. But sometimes, change is easier to come by than you'd think. Simpler." He grunted and lowered his hand. "I can't believe you were knocked down like that. There's no way that little zealot should be able to inflict any real damage on you. "I don't know anything about that man. I do know a great deal about you, though." Geode was lost for words momentarily, choked up over something. "It's just pain, Oz. Physical pain. With the right level of tolerance, it won't matter how much he pumps into you."

Oz rubbed at the back of his head and frowned. "You've been alive for millenia. I haven't had that kind of time to build a tolerance. I've looked into poisons and venoms trying to find a suitable substitution to build myself up to fighting Zel. You could say it was a bit of an obsession." Oz sighed. "I'm still just a man. Not even an old one at that. I haven't had the time to build that kind of tolerance or I would have. Oz replied. He closed his eyes and brought his hand to his face, thumb on his cheek and two fingers on his brow as he thought.

His eyes shot open wide. It dawned on him but he hated the thought, hesitating and then looking to change the subject. It would be clear to Geode that he was fixated on something and trying to hide it. Oz was after all a terrible liar. "What else did you have to say? What's most important?"

"Hm? Most important? Well, for one, you should stop acting like you're a child. If you keep up that foolish behaviour, you don't have any right to be defending your world." Geode grunted. "You're thinking about this too hard. I think it's simple. Way too simple. These order members, they defy the laws of reality with evil energies. You also defy the laws of reality, but not with a sinister aura." Geode pointed at his chest again. "It's... Heart. I think. I don't quite understand it, not fully, but that force that keeps pushing your all forward, the very force that stopped me from possessing your body, the force that almost erased me entirely..." Geode grunted again and stammered through a series of words. "Something I can't calculate, or put into real words. Something that can match the defiant nature of Meta energies from beyond the void. It's not just Ki, or arcane energy, or meta energy, or anything like that. It's something stronger than any form of magic." Geode looked to the ground and smiled to himself. "If all else fails, just tough it out. Eventually, it'll stop hurting so much. I'm sure of it. Then, nothing he has will be able to knock you down. It won't even be able to stagger you."

Childish? Geode wasn't wrong. "While I agree toughing it out may work in the end there's something else that has been bugging me." Oz chose his words carefully. His reason screamed that Geode shouldn't be trusted. The apparition had proven it time and again. His heart, that Geode spoke so emphatically about told him to. To make the offer and learn. Foolish behavior shouldn't be the quality of the defender of the world. Nor should hesitance.

"You did fail in possessing me. I couldn't let you stop me so close to our victory, to guarantee my friend's defeat. I would have rather dropped into the sea than let that happen." The choice of words was funny with their imagined location, as Oz hovered casually over the sandy floor. "We've partly fused haven't we? You and I share some memories, faculties and abilities. What would happen if we went all the way and neither of us dominated? If everything became one? Your knowledge and experience with my heart and drive." The thought frightened him but it also meant they would be closer to victory over the Order.

"You underestimated us and confessed you'd rather be a stooge to Yzeira. Another grunt rotting in his tower. Why stoop so low after having done so much? You were so desperate and sought any escape. I'm a fool who needs wisdom. You're a hollow that needs heart. Together we'd make a more perfect being." That was what he had held back. He knew it might have been dangerous, that such a thing could lead to all the heroes losing. Yet the biggest risk was doing nothing different and falling short. "Together we'd win and annihilate them from our world."

"That's a bold decision to make, after nearly erasing me once, already," Geode quipped, "I'm not so certain that I'd like to disappear again. For once, the prospect of death seems far more unpleasant than it once was for me to consider. But if we were to fully merge... I don't know what kind of outcome that would bring. If the balance of energy is off even slightly, fusion can be permanent, or lethal, or fail altogether." Geode grunted. "If it were to succeed, you may never be the same person again."

Oz answered swiftly and with determination. "If we can succeed the rest will be irrelevant. Life IS change, learning, adapting and doing new things. To remain unchanged, stagnating and rotting would mean death even if I were still walking. Everything can change a human life. It is perhaps one of our greatest strengths." He paused and glanced briefly away before he slowly finished. "And weaknesses.."

The guardian beamed back at Geode with renewed fire in his eyes and a smile. "Up until now I have had to respond to every threat and event with adaptations of my own. Always barely finishing or barely behind." He raised his fist swiftly into the distance between them in a salute-like gesture. "Now I have the chance to choose change that could put us ahead of our enemies. A change better for both of us. Oz opened his hand and gestured to his bruised body and missing arm. "I've been beaten and maimed. And you?" Then he gestured toward the apparition that could barely hold its form together after all this time. "I rest my case."

"My point is, I can take the chances. I can make the sacrifice. It's what I do. And it will be worth it!" He let out a short laugh. "How hard can it be? We're already half-way there."

Geode nodded and quickly took a step forward, placing his hand against Oz's chest. "Then I have no right to object." Energy began pouring into Oswald's body slowly, while Geode's form slowly faded away. The merging was quicker than expected. "Know this, and this alone, as you cross the threshold. Life is precious, and to be protected from the ignorant and the bold." He smiled, and the swirls in his eyes slowly grind to a halt. "I learned that from all of you, despite my constant transgressions. I couldn't be a part of that in life, so I offer this is my death. I will try to understand fully, and embrace the sacrifice that you have made here today. Remember it well." As Geode's form finally disappeared, his voiced echoed upon the ethereal landscape's expanse, finally free of its burden of immortality.

"I am within you."

Yzeira's body was untouchable. The three orbs around him countered all of Jenso's attacks, and his barrier resisted nearly everything that didn't get stopped beforehand. Worst of all, he could see and dissect everything that Jenso had to offer offensively and defensively, with infinite energy at his disposal.

"I hope I'm not discouraging your adorable little attempts," he hissed, flipping through his small golden book while his orbs acted on his behalf, seemingly of their own accord. He turned his back to Jenso and began to walk towards his mother.

Jenso glared at Yzeira, as he began to walk towards his mother. "Leave her out of this, jackass! This fight is between you and me!" He barked, dashing after Yzeira from behind. Not that it mattered much, as the man could see in a 360 degree radius anyway. 'He knows all about my fighting style and my techniques...looks like my only chance is to use Bruce's instrument.' He thought, remembering Bruce's words before he left him and Nexus. He channeled some of his own energy towards the ground as it followed after Jenso. He began to charge up a white flame ball in his left, and launched it into a rack of books further ahead. The flames would spread rapidly if they struck, and wouldn't hurt his mother whom he'd deemed an ally due to the Ki within. "Whoops! I missed!" He taunted, hoping to grab Yzeira's attention. He paid close attention to the orbs around Yzeira, waiting for their response to his approach.

The fireball exploded as expected, but unlike the furniture, the books were defended by a natural barrier of sorts. Storing so much knowledge, it wasn't a surprise that he'd have it defended in some way. He ultimately ignored Jenso, stopping a few feet in front of his mother, who stood there silently.

"Ada cut out her tongue," Yzeira grunted, "And from what I've been told, she abandoned you from birth. She is worth nothing as a mother. She has no voice to comfort you, and no history to keep you tied together. The only thing that binds you is blood, and still, you can't even be too sure of that much." He rose a hand in front of her face, but she didn't flinch. "What good is a woman who's lost all value in her own life, so much so, that she stares death in the face without fear or regret in her eyes?"