The violent explosion of energy sent Zios careening into the wall. The chamber filled with dust and debris for the moments between the expulsion of energy and when Zelraka next spoke. Fierce wind from outside drafted through the chamber and cleared much of the dust away to reveal the fused order member. It only took their joining to break a wall that was previously thought unbreakable. The fusion of Rajaka and Zelriane was certainly incredible but was it stable? From their promptness of union it would almost seem they had done this before.

Zios pressed himself off the wall and stepped forward. Despite his protections that expulsion of energy was vicious. Tendrils of spectral energy flicking back and forth from his left shoulder coalesced together, knitting like muscle as they formed a clawed arm. Blood still dotted Zios' form from the various injuries he had suffered from fighting Zelriane. He ignored them. Most of them had been superficial at best: flesh wounds, surface bruising and various burns. Nothing to stop his fight unless it prolonged too long. Zios coughed through the floating dust and with a flourish of his hand sent a gentle wave of force outward that cleared the room of floating debris. He glanced briefly at Jeff, who was likely bewildered by Oz's drastic change in appearance, before returning his attention to the grave new threat. "I'll take you on."

Raising his right arm, Zios chanted. "Neo Ultima!" The beam of deadly energy flashed toward Zelraka.

Zelraka rose and eyebrow as the beam tore across the room and struck him with a flash of brilliant light. A radiant cascade of emerald lights pierced out from the impact point, rushing through the neo-ultima beam and back across the room. Small holes formed wherever the light struck, leaving burn marks and dropping small pieces of rock to the floor.

But, almost as if tearing away a shower curtain, Zelraka's hand began to divert the beam away while pushing past it with his body. His arm struggled to hold Zios' attack back, but ultimately grasped it like solid matter, and sent a pillar of his own energy down the center of the beam discreetly, straight back towards its owner. Such a sneaky attack didn't befit Rajaka, and Zelriane lacked the raw killing power to pull it off on his own. Regardless, it seemed the two of them had joined to create something truly terrifying. A power-house with the ability to think.

Bruce nursed his broken arm, the stab wound in his hand more or less healed, or at least not an issue to endure. He'd managed to activate his sage state briefly, concentrating so he could alter the bone in his arm while it was stone. The break would remain somewhat vulnerable, but his right hand wouldn't hang limp in a fight either.

He felt a tremor rock the tower. From where he sat, it felt diminished compared, but he hadn't forgotten how the structure was protected. Anything that could get through it, causing even a minor vibration, meant trouble.

"That cannot be good." he muttered.

Static drew his attention to the bag he still wore. Jeff's voice, distorted, came through, but only one word prompted Bruce to his feet.

Rajaka.

Bruce flew down the stairs the way he'd come up, skipping any pretense or foreplay and entering straight into his Sage state. Nexus' attack had disrupted his Ki, and he had no way to know if he'd reclaim Ascension again, but he'd find a way if he had to.

And, with only a cursory glance into the chamber below as the stairs ended, the sight of a massive, unfamiliar form looming over Jeff and someone else with a familiar aura, Bruce had a feeling he'd definitely need every edge he could get.

"Who the hell is that?"

As the explosive burst of every came forth from the newly formed fusion, Jeff did the only reasonable thing he could think of and took cover by the wall outside of the room which the newly formed Zelraka had chosen to appear and waited till it died off before returning. Between the new fusion, Oz's new form, and the current state of the tower, the sage had nearly an endless amount of questions but he knew there wasn't time for them, at least right now anyway.

Before Jeff could even consider anything else, the sage took note of the beam fired by Zios and how easily this new fused monster was able hold such an attack back. Following up with it the sage compressed the air around both of his hand very quickly by clutching his hands tightly together and fired two super dense piercing bullets at the joints of Zelraka's arm hoping to weaken it enough for Zios' beam. 'Duel Piercing, Napalm Strikes!' The attack itself would attempt to piece his arm and follow up by exploding the air around and inside it or whatever it made contact with.

Then as Bruce came into the room Jeff took note and smirked. "glad to see you could make the party" he joked for a second and just a second only. "Zelrain and Rajaka ended up fusing into this monstrosity. Be prepared for anything."

Zios held the beam for a moment, not realizing the danger until it was nearly too late to do something. The glowing motes in his eyes swiveled around in recognition of the difference in energy coming down his own beam. He separated from the channeled beam. As his own power tapered out the green energy from Zelraka was made clear. The beam clipped his forearm, drawing blood as he pulled away. It was too late to have evaded that completely. He raised his phantom claw to cover the spot. Despite the wound he seemed unfazed. Likely plotting something to make up for the error in judgement.

"My introduction will be settled later. This is Zelraka with every troubling implication you can imagine." Zios peered outside the hole behind Zelraka at the troubling storm. It wasn't normal. He could see it as the others could not. Past the clouds, like the atmosphere was tearing and a terrible blackness beyond. The Veil that separated them from the abyss was thin. Time was running out. His eyes passed to the up-staircase as he considered his options. "Get this thing outside! He'll beat us in these close quarters. I can promise you that." Zios commanded. He stepped wide, feet shoulder-width apart, facing toward Zelraka. He let go of his arm and blood dripped freely to the floor, instead separating his hands as if pushing his arms to the sides before flipping his palms up. Silver energy collected around him, brightly lighting up his being and the surrounding room.

"Outnumbered four to two. Let's see how good you are with that reckless power." He directed at their fused adversary.

Zelraka coated his limbs in a thin layer of vibrant light, and angled his body slightly as the excessively quick beams headed towards him, while letting go of the beam that he'd caught earlier, and letting his energy disperse it into speckled fractals. Jeff's attacks were not completely eliminated, but redirected towards the outside of the tower. The floating part above them floated slightly higher, and Jeff's beams were disintegrated as they went too far outside the confines of the structure. It seemed they were separated from their world somehow, despite having a clear view of the beach that the tower rested on.

Monstrosity? Reckless?" Zelraka asked coolly, "That's awfully rude! Don't worry though. I'll let it slide. You seem stressed- It's perfectly reasonable to lash out at me given your circumstances. But fighting outside would be pointless, and counter productive." The fused creature rose one hand above his head slowly and splayed his fingers outwards, amassing ark-void around his fingertips until it took a slightly reddish hue. "Don't worry though, I'll make sure this is perfectly fair." Zelraka smiled and slammed his hand downwards, striking the ground with am excessive pulse of energy.



Another eruption sent sections of the tower flying in every direction, leaving floating platforms to circle the bottom of the structure's circumference. His attack caused the top half of the tower to fly even higher upwards as well, but it wasn't a simple exercise of sheer force. Zelraka's attack caused the entire tower to uproot from the ground beneath it. Both halves began to ascend into the sky, bringing the already over-sized building even higher into the clouds. The storm outside began to wash into the interior, slipping past the tower's natural barrier in spurts and flurrying around the battlefield. Lightning struck stray platforms of debris, and many of the footholds began slippery nightmares. There were several large enough to fight on effectively, perhaps seven to eight yards in diameter, with the smaller fragments circling them, as they circles the tower, or sat immobile.

Zelraka stood immobile, still bent over while on the largest platform in the center of the mess he'd created. He stood back up and waited patiently.

"There, I've lost my advantage." He smiled again and dusted his hand clean of the previously unbreakable stone shards. "Now your chances of winning have gone from zero to infinitesimal."

Bruce studied the phenomenon of the tower coming apart and careening upward, revealing the tears and fractures in the sky, thunder booming and lightning cracking.

'The perfect storm.'

Bruce called on his Ki, spreading out his chains in a zig zagging, spiderweb pattern between the free falling footholds, centered on his position rather than Zelraka's. The fused being doubtless could banish most of his standard chains in a single motion. All the while he felt for the disruption Nexus had felt, twisting the internal flow like knotted ropes. Corrections would take a little time, but, he determined, not outside the realm of possibility.

"Any one of us will tell you, Zelraka," Bruce said, drawing his sword out, the full weight of his own soul focused in the blade. "The bigger the wall you put in our path, the higher we'll jump."

"Keep jumping then-" Zelraka grunted while hefting one of his feet into a roundhouse. The tip of his foot released a blade of ultra-refined energy that headed straight for Bruce like a shimmering knife. His movements were refined much like Zelrian's, but his form and execution were far less predictable, and carried a greater weight behind them. There was something chaotically terrifying about his new choice of technique, and the nature of his magic was still unknown. But something was certain...

"-Cuz you don't want to block this."

Bruce knelt into a crouch and sprang from his platform moments before the flying attack struck. He anchored himself to an elevated section of rubble with his chains, reeling his body in.

All the while he continued coaxing the knot out of his Ki.

He brought out a hefty dose of earthen material from Jenso's bag, melding portions of it to the pieces of the tower that continued skyward. Others became formless, dissolving and thinning until only trails of the substance lay scattered across all axes of the battlefield Zelraka had formed. Much like Bruce's network of interlinking chains, they served no immediate purpose except cursory preparation. If either of his companions required a projectile or an impromptu platform, he'd be ready.

The area around Zios charged with palpable energy. The colors varied from purple to black to silver. They just kept appearing and focusing around him like he were a magnet. He swept his shadowy arm forward and some of the energy organized into a wall in front him. Motes of energy moved out to his left and right with purpose. "We should consider his weaknesses quickly. I don't think the conventional attacks you're used to will be effective. Consider him as resilient as Rajaka and quick as Zelriane. Whatever you used to dismember Rajaka and leave him in such a sorry state should be effective. That is if you can hit him with it." Wisps of silver energy coated along the outside of his shadowy limb. "I have a plan that should work. Mostly. I think." Zios smiled with clear uneasiness.

Jeff cringed when he saw his bullets get deflected entirely by the strange energy Zelraka produced but overall figured this was going to be the case. Seeing how the focus fire wasn't directly aimed at him yet the sage took the time to hide his crates outside the tower and leaving them suspending in the air on the lower outside portions. "Considering he blocked my piercing bullets, setting up the thing I used might be a tad more difficult, but we'll see." Jeff's voice spoke through the wind back to Zio's and Bruce's traveling in a way to make the sound muffled to anyone else. "Regardless if you have a plan I'm all ears."

The sage prepared the wind to send Bruce and Zio's voices back and forth the same way he projected them, making sure to keep there voices away from the fusion's ears.

Zelraka disappeared from sigh and reappeared in front of the wall that Zios created, with one hand raised against it. His other pointed mockingly towards his eyes, and he smiled. "Better consider your options quickly," He grunted while beginning to tear into Zios' wall of energy with his left hand, "I'm done standing around." With his right hand raised high above his head, Zelraka unleashed a flurry of Ki blasts into the air above him. Several balls of energy flew upwards, paused in midair, and then spread across the battlefield, seeking out each one of the fighters while maneuvering around the debris. With his other hand, he unleashed a sudden pulse of power forwards, aiming to implode the wall of energy in its entirety, while pulling Zios into the blast as well.

Zelraka slipped his hand into the wall with remarkable ease. As the implosion happened the wall shattered like glass. It clattered into the floor revealing... nothing behind it. Zios had disappeared.

At that moment an area to the side where the energy had purposefully drifted exploded outwards, the glass-like shatter effect replaying itself as Zios bursted forward with his spectral arm launching directly for Zelraka's center mass. Silver energy trailed along the outside of the arm hinting to some foul technique at play.

Zelraka's eyes shifted to the left as the secondary shatter took place, and he turned his body in midair. He moved like gravity had no effect on him, twirling effortlessly and meeting Zios' attack head on. But as Zios approached, a twinkle sparked across his target's eyes. Zelraka kicked at the air and moved out of the way, so that Zios' arm could make only the briefest of contact with his chest. "Ohohoho!" He raised one of his hands palm-first towards Zios and began charging a sphere of energy. "Scary!" Without too much delay, an explosive close-range shock wave erupted from Zelraka's palm, spreading outwards and moving to encompass Zios entirely in destructive energy.

As Zios and Zelraka started to clash, Jeff took a moment to fly up into the whirling storm where he just let go of himself, letting the storming wind swarm around him and following the course it took while simultaneously using it the avoid the attacks launched out at him. Soon enough him and the storm began to synchronize, allowing him full control of the wind direction and how it chose to rage. Thus the form began to circle around there battlefield in a controlled manor as Jeff formed a blade in his left hand and took note of the deadly blast being prepared to blast Zios directly in the face.
"Nope!" The sage muttered to Zelraka as he almost literally blinked past him with a storm boosted wind dash, grabbing Zios with his right hand and positioning him on a platform a couple feet back while simultaneously sending a Naplam Slash and the fusion's legs attempting to slice them open with an explosive slash. "This storm should play into our favor, I feel as I can truly be One with Wind here, Hahaha!"

Zelraka barely caught him with his eyes as he zoomed past, but didn't react immediately. The lime-green energy dispersed as quickly as it had appeared, revealing that the technique itself was very short-lived. But there was no telling what Zelraka's upper limits were just yet. Who knew what else he could do? Destroying the tower was not beyond Rajaka's power, but levitating the entire tower like this? Neither he or Zelriane had demonstrated any measure of telekinetic ability. Zelraka's eye glimmered as Jeff launched his next attack, and a cloud of smoke encompassed his lower half as it made contact. But as the smoke cleared, the same lime aura covered the backs of his legs, revealing them to be undamaged. He turned to face the group and chuckled lightly to himself. But his smile faded slightly as his homing orbs from earlier began to disappear and lose their homing properties. He looked down as his chest and tapped where Zios had made contact with him for a moment, dispelling the negative effects it had on his person. "Oh man. That really is a scary technique you've got there. Probably should have saved it for a better opportunity, son." Zelraka's eyes looked across the room carefully, spotting Jeff's energy signal hidden within the wind, and reaffirming his sights on both Zios and Bruce. His eyes glimmered brightly and he smiled again. "A classic with a twist sound like fun? Sounds like fun to me." Zelraka rose one arm and used his other arm to grab his bicep, focusing a great deal of energy.



This time the charge wasn't long at all.

Zelraka flared his raised fist open and released four small orbs of harmless green light that slowly floated to the north, south, east and west ends of the battlefield. "Hm? Is that all?" He grunted, watching his orbs with feigned impatience.

Bruce threw out one arm for a new length of chain. Links came flying from under his sleeve and-
He cringed. A fracture, no more than a hairline, in the flow sent pain upward from his toes to his skull. The knot had been pulled, tugged the wrong way, and something burned his soul.

Coaxing it free would take more time, and his Ki would be only intermittently reliable. Five, ten, maybe twenty minutes.
The thought chilled him.

Bruce trained his gaze back on Zelraka, using the arcane energy of his element to form and dissolve platforms to move. He knew better than to present a stationary target, at least against Zelriane. But evidence had been mounting that things weren't as simple as just the culmination of two powers and abilities.

'His personality isn't quite what I would have expected either,' Bruce thought. 'Like an entirely new person, not just the thoughts of two in one body. What does that mean for his powers?'

Bruce felt, rather than saw, Jeff snatch Zios out of harm's way. He cleared his head. Zelraka might be more interested in experimentation with his new powers now, but his good mood couldn't last forever. They needed information.

Zios was ready to take the blow in full when he was whisked to the side by Jeff. He peered up from the rock he'd landed on as it drifted in its own little orbit. Zelraka's speed was a problem. It was just proven that his attack if made full on would be effective but the duo now saw his intent and would likely focus on evading any future attacks. Zelraka was right in that regard.

Zios turned to Bruce. He saw the earth sage cringe as he attempted something. Looking him up and down with those spinning galactic eyes he asked into the wind. "Broken something have we? This is bad timing."

Zelraka scoffed and moved towards one of the larger pieces of debris. He looked to Bruce, then to Zios, then scoped the area for Jeff again, spotting all three in situations of confusion, pain, and worry. A smile came across his face and he reeled both hands back. The homing orbs from earlier had all disappeared, but his atomic ordinance, whatever it was, remained stationary at each end of the open area. The tower was getting above the cloud line now, but the air was still perfectly breathable. It seemed the outer wall of the tower's dimension was still holding fast, keeping them unaffected by the conditions of their surroundings.

"Well, whatever." Globes of energy began to pulsate from both of Zelraka's fists, and the glow disappeared. "Soul fist" Zelraka began to punch rapidly as the air in front of him, hitting nothing and creating no visible effects with his flurry of blows. By the time he was finished, it seemed like he was just joking around. But in reality, very slow-moving, invisible waves of energy were now making their way through the battlefield, from one edge of the room, to the other.

Bruce didn't bother with pretenses or bravado.

"It's temporary, but yes," he conceded. "I'd be hard pressed to imagine worse timing. Thankfully my arcane abilities don't seem to be affected. That didn't help much against Zelriane prior to fusion, but at the very least I can play a supporting role."

Having said so aloud, Bruce chose that moment to leap toward the nearest platform that had originally been part of the tower- while he could still manipulate Earth at present, Nexus might have done more damage that he'd initially surmised.

Bruce caught the beginning of Zelraka's... display out of the corner of his eye. He frowned at the lack of an apparent payoff.

'There is no way in hell.' Bruce thought flatly, immediately dismissing the idea that just because he couldn't see or sense the result, Zelraka hadn't done something.

Recalling how he'd treated his encounter with Shaidra in the pocket dimension, Bruce formed several stone walls between Zelraka and himself. They did need information. That didn't necessarily mean they had to offer up their bodies as test subjects.