[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

As Jenso moved, the golem followed him carefully, aiming to instantly decimate him in one blow. But just as he fired, the yellow-clad hero propelled himself into the air and unleashed a shock wave. The golems stumbled slightly, but didn`t fall. The golem that was now farther from Jenso began charging another round of A.U., while the frontal golem aimed with both of his hands, and fired weaker spheres of arcane energy at Jenso rapidly.

[Jensoman]

Jenso glared down at the golems as the first golem's core was pierced by his flame saw, despite still launching smaller spheres of arcane energy at him and the other was charging up a round of A.U. as well. He crossed his arms in mid-air. "Omega...Overheat!" He shouted, as white flames violently bursted out of his body. He launched a white flame whip at the bridge, aiming to wrap it around the edge. He yanked it once quickly with his right hand, aiming for it to reel him in and pull him out of the way of the arcane spheres and out of the aim of where the last golem was aiming at. He took aim with his left hand in the process, launching an Omega saw which was twice the size of the first one, and moved faster in order to pierce the second golem's core.

[tex]

The first golem shook for a moment before crumbling to dust. The second did the same, unable to avoid Jenso`s slightly faster attack, getting sliced right in half by his attack. The bridge was clear now, and Jenso was unharmed. The Arcano Ultima laser was also dispelled entirely as the golem using it was dispersed.

[Jensoman]

Jenso landed on the ground and sighed in relief. He was breathing normally despite his current state and that his muscles were bigger then normal, and that his pupils were white flames. 'Huh...I feel hotter, but I'm not having difficulity breathing..' Jenso thought. It seemed like he had finally gotten used to this level of heat and stress that this form put his body under. He looked at the three paths before him. 'Which one do I take..' He thought, eventually deciding to dash down the path where the two golems had come from. If there was a lot of activity from that direction, he believed there would be a higher chance that Prisma would be there.

[tex]

Jenso`s decision lead him into a closed off sphere of rock that the path lead towards. There were two more paths visible beyond the conglomeration of stone mechanisms on either side, leading diagonally outwards, but his only choice, unless he could fly, would be to head straight into the larger dome.

Inside, there were hundreds of non-humanoid golem bodies lined up on the curved walls, all the way from the bottom of the gigantic circular room, to the top. The middle had several layers for walking, all transparent, allowing Jenso to see the entire facility. There were no active golems inside, however. Two exits were at the opposite end of the dome as expected.

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned, as he overlooked all the golems within the facility. 'Darn...this really is like a maze..' He thought. Pij emerged from his chest, and flew upwards, through one of the diagonal paths in order to scout the area from a higher viewpoint and see if there was anything of interest there. If she were in danger, she intended to retreat and fly back to Jenso.

Jenso began to walk through the dome at that time, aiming to get to the exits and pass through. 'This might be a trap...it'll be bad news if all of these golems decide to jump at me..' He thought, keeping his guard up.

[tex]

Jenso proceeded forward, and Pij didn`t spot anything through the ridiculous amount of spinning stone mechanisms between the paths. In fact, only a few moments after she attempted to fly any higher than roughly 30 feet, a piece of stone nearly struck her. Not a second layer, she was knocked out of the air by a quickly moving gear, smashing right into the pathway below her.

As Jenso proceeded to follow, a muffled voice called out from somewhere in the massive room, echoing quietly. Something cracked, and the voice got louder. Was it human?

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as Pij was struck. Fortunately she wasn't injured too badly. He let the bird return to him, making her enter his chest again as he turned towards the voice. He began to look around as he heard the muffled voice, trying to locate the source. He tried to avoid touching any of the golems right away as he did, listening closely.

[Necrophage]

Amidst the row of stone figures one of the golems violently exploded, scattering stone bits everywhere and knocking adjacent golems over. Purple energy fizzled off of them and rippled off of the figure hidden inside one. He stretched, bones cracking uncomfortably. "Where the hell am I?" He muttered as he looked around. The man seemed to be in his physical prime and was fairly tall too. He had blond hair and eyes as clear blue as the ocean. He was also covered in bruises, scrapes and had bags under his eyes. This dude had seen better days.

After seeing the weird room he looked right at Jenso. "Who are you? Zelrianne's lackey?" He took up a fighting stance. It was easy to tell he was uncomfortable with his current wounds.

[Jensoman]

Jenso backed away from the explosion. "Holy shit!" He shrieked in confusion, and got in a combat stance instinctively. He watched the man's movements closely and took note of his wounds.

[tex]

---

~ End Of Chapter 123 ~

[tex]

~ Chapter 124 ~

_{Human Batteries}

[Jensoman]

Jenso gave the large man a confused look as he asked if he was Zelriane's lackey. "Umm..what?! Why would I work for that psychopath?" He responded. He was unsure why the man was stuck within the golem in the first place. Did they turn humans into golems here? Was this why they were abducting powerful people?

[Necrophage]

The man relaxed a little at that and walked up for a closer look. He cocked his head to the side as he gave Jenso a good once-over. "Yeah.. yeah you certainly don't look the part.." He extended his arm to Jenso for a customary handshake. "I apologize for that accusation. I hate saying this but Zel just kicked my ass -- again. Since I'm clearly still alive it would appear he didn't finish the job either -- again. Maybe he's just bored and sees me as some level of amusement." The man glanced away for a second and let out a dejected sigh. "He probably won't finish the job until he's taken everything else from me first. Sick bastard." He stopped mulling whatever he was thinking about and came back to the moment. "Oh, pardon that. My name's Oz."

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned as the man explained what had happened and introduced himself. "I'm sorry to hear that...The Order of Chaos has killed many people that I care about as well. But I'm going to stop them once and for all." Jenso responded to Oz. "But yeah...nice to meet you! I'm Jenso!" He added in a cheerful tone, and shook Oz's hand. Oz didn't seem like a bad person, so Jenso's combat stance ended up making room for his usual casual standing pose. "I thought me and my friend Bruce killed Prisma...but it looks like he's still alive. And he may be turning powerful people, like he tried with you, into golems...he's also a member from the Order of Chaos, just like Zelriane." He explained.

[Necrophage]

"Jenso.. Good to meet you! Too bad I get the pleasure in such a sorry state but for what it's worth I'll help you." Even Zel had a companion. Maybe this was exactly what he needed to even the odds, more individuals like himself. "I'm afraid you know more about this place than I do. I don't know how long I've been out." Oz peered up and around at the walls looking for a way out. "I don't feel like being in one of those things again so whatever you're doing here we'd best get underway." He shoved a thumb at the nearest golem. "I'd prefer not being here when those things wake up. It'd make for a helluva bad day."

[Jensoman]

Jenso smiled at Oz, glad that he wanted to help. "I sure could use the help, but...be careful. If you feel like you're unable to fight right now, stay behind me." Jenso said, referring to Oz's injuries. He would have protested to Oz's offer to help and would have told him to hide if he were a normal human, but he could sense that the man was very powerful. "Well, I don't know where Prisma is in this maze-like Citadel that we're in, but.." Jenso muttered, turning towards the exit of the room. "I think that way is a good place to start. Let's go, quickly!" He said, and dashed towards the exit of the room in order to leave and avoid waking any of the golems.

[Necrophage]

Oz followed Jenso on the way out. There was one thing he needed to get straight with Jenso, however. That one thing was deeply connected to his stubborn nature. "I may not be at peak performance, friend, but I'll get one truth out for you. I will not cower behind you if we run into trouble. No way, no how. If my arm were blown off I'd still find some way to fight. I won't let you get wounded in my stead."

Oz grimaced as they moved. He was sore but driven. "When we find the fight, and we will find a fight if what you say is correct, then these aches won't hold me back. You can trust me to watch your back." Oz insisted.

[tex]

Jenso and Oz proceeded down the pathway at a steady pace. It wasn't long before the massive room full of golems was a speck, hidden behind the interwoven cogs of the citadel. It was quiet again inside the massive chamber. That was, until a new figure entered from the only entrance Jenso had not walked through. A black golem, obscured by shadows, even in clear view. It looked over the dome's interior until it saw the section of golems that Oz had recklessly smashed. The figure turned towards the exit that Jenso and Oz had escaped through and narrowed its eyes.

Crack

"Why.."

Crack Crack

"Hello again,"

Crunch

"Golden boy"

---

much further down the path, Oz and Jenso met another crossroads. The gears and twisted floating rocks were getting thinner as they neared the center of the giant floating domain. But the coast seemed clear for the moment. Where were all the guards? How many did they even have left?

[Jensoman]

Jenso had looked over his shoulder at Oz for a brief moment, and smiled in response. "Great answer...looks like you've got a lot of fighting spirit too!" Jenso complimented Oz as they moved. He respected the man somewhat now due to the way he responded, but he'd stay close to him either way. He was still on unknown terrain, after all. And there was a good chance that he would be greatly outnumbered. "You can trust me too. Let's put an end to this. Prisma's golems are attacking hundreds of places in the world right now, so we need to finish this as soon as possible." Jenso said.

As they got near the center of the Citadel, he began to look around to see if there was anything in particular that stood out. Any type of building. Jenso kept his wits about him, in case it was an ambush. The lack of guards was certainly strange.