[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

Jenso had moved Bobba properly, but his jagged knee had made contact with his lower abdomen for a split second, leave a shallow cut below his ribcage. As Bobba was held back, his helmet opened again, and he took a deep breath, but it began closing again before he said anything. The two spikes stopped in front of Bobba, and spun around him, attempting to knock Jenso out of place.

[Jensoman]

Jenso released Bobba and attempted to jump out of the way of the two spikes. "Is that all ya got? Come on!" He taunted, waiting for Bobba to make his move.

[tex]

Bobba turned around to face Jenso as his two spikes collided and turned to dust. He rose two more from the ground and flung his hand up. Several spikes shot up from the ground towards Jenso, three this time, from his front and both sides.

[Jensoman]

Jenso glanced at Bobba as he flung his hand into the air. 'Now..!' He thought, dashing at the spike that moved at him from the front while trying to avoid the ones that came from the sides. He threw himself onto the ground in order to slide right under the incoming spike. He dashed straight at Bobba at top speed, aiming a punch at Bobba's helmet.

[tex]

Bobba cursed under his breath when Jenso dashed past all three of his spikes, and prepared to counter attack, but his lungs began to feel heavy as his helmet stayed on. As Jenso stood back up and thrusted his fist forward, Bobba's helmet couldn't stay on any longer. He held it until the last second, at which point the stone peeled back ad he gasped for air, only to take Jenso's fist right to the face. He toppled backwards and rolled towards the exit, and his armor melted away. "Damn it all!" Bobba shouted, barely able to scramble to his feet. "You clever little bastard!" At this point? Bobba's armor reformed, but only partially, leaving his legs, and head uncovered. "Fine! I'll just blow you to pieces!"

With that,Bobba rose his armored hands and began to form black crystals between his fingers. He waited for Jenso to approach, with about three crystal shards in each hand..

[Jensoman]

Jenso smiled as his attack struck. As Bobba threatened to blow him to pieces, he believed the crystals in his hands could be explosive. Either way, he'd need to be cautious. He dashed at Bobba, waiting to see what he'd try to do.

[tex]

Bobba chuckled and tossed the crystals in his left hand forward. The black shards struck the ground in front of Jenso and exploded on impact, creating a dark cloud of smelly yellow smoke. Jenso then heard a 'shick' sound, and what followed was insane. The gaseous smoke ignited and created a shockwave of flames and pure force that expanded towards Jenso at an alarming pace.

[Jensoman]

Jenso's feet screeched to a halt, and he quickly dashed to the right to avoid the explosion. He charged at Bobba again, aiming a low- sweeping kick at his knees.

[tex]

Charging through the smoke brought Jenso face to face with Bobba again, but he was once again in his full-body armored form, and his right fist was extended forward. He simply waited for Jenso to get close, and then detonated the black crystals. A puff of smoke filled the room, and then Bobba shicked his thumb against his index finger a second time. The resulting explosion sent Bobba sliding backwards, and filled almost a quarter of the room in flames.

[Jensoman]

Jenso coughed up smoke as the crystals detonated, and attempted to locate Bobba. He frowned as the room was filled in flames. He would need to be cautious, but more smoke meant that there would be less oxygen for Bobba. He leaped over the flames and aimed to punch at Bobba's helmet.

[tex]

As the smoke cleared Bobba looked up again and snickered under his mask. Bobba's helmet opened up again, but this time, a slit of stone shot up between Jenso's fist and Bobba's face, stopping his fist and allowing Bobba to side-step the falling rock pillar. Bobba then created more black shards, and threw a few of them at Jenso. Their tiny size made it difficult to track the, especially in the thickening smoke. Bobba's legs were still un-rocked, allowing him to move quickly as well. This fight was starting to tip into the rock-manipulator's favor, especially in this cave.

[Jensoman]

'Crap..!' Jenso thought, as he failed to land a blow. 'This darn smoke..' With that, he attempted to jump out of the way of the incoming shards by diving to the ground further away and grabbed a rock. He threw it upwards at a platform above Bobba, hoping the platform would fall down at him from above. Afterwards, he charged towards Bobba, throwing himself on the ground on his stomach to slide forward through the thick smoke as he aimed a punch with his left fist at Bobba's left knee.

[tex]

Bobba looked up as Jenso threw the rock at a scaffolding platform that began to fall towards him, and immediately rose his arms to block the wood expanse, but he kept an eye on Jenso, despite the smoke. He tried to evade the agile little man, but he couldn't quite move fast enough, and he was knocked right off his balance, falling forward onto one knee. However, now he was face to face with Jenso, staring him right in the eyes. Bobba lifted his right hand up, and pressed his thumb against his index finger. Smoke suddenly spewed from Jenso's legs, and Bobba shicked his fingers.

The black shards had latched to Jenso's pants.

The resulting explosion sent Bobba flying to the left of the exit, smashing his back against the wall. He landed on his chest, and his armor disappeared completely. Jenso on the other hand, was sent skyward by the point-blank explosion.

[Jensoman]

Jenso gritted his teeth as he was sent flying. He grabbed ahold of one of the platforms as he flew, and pulled himself onto it. He looked at his legs that were covered in several burn wounds. 'Shit..' He thought, looking down to locate Bobba. 'How am I ever going to beat him like this..'

[tex]

Bobba slowly rose to his feet and stumbled across the room, breathing very heavily. He was coughing quite a bit, but using his bracelet, he surrounded himself in stone, and created a pillar from the ground to the ceiling, near the edge of the strange stone above them. The pillar detached from the ground and seemed to rise up into the ceiling like an escape pod made of rocks. Bobba was gone in an instant.

"Curse him!" Bobba hissed while he traveled through the earth. "This trip is going to destroy my bracelet... Curse him, curse him!!!" Bobba was planning on finishing Jenso quick, but now he was forced to escape through the ground. His middle bracelet cracked as he made his way up, but within about a minute, he was above ground. Just in time, too. As he ended up bursting up from the ground in the village square just outside his shop window, his bracelet's gem shattered. "Gah..."

"Bobba!?" Katie shouted, dropping a stack of dishes. Bobba turned to her and rose his hand. "Where the hell did you-"

"Quiet, bitch!" Bobba shrieked, attempting to call a stone spear from the ground. But it was no use. His ability to manipulate rocks was gone with his bracelet. He only had two bracelets left now, but with Jenso out of the picture, he had plenty of time to prepare for the ritual.

"The meteor shall turn this village into a beacon for arcane energy! You peasants will see what true power is! My wealth... My wealth will overcome!"

~ End Of Chapter 13 ~

[tex]

Chapter 14

_{Rush To The Surface!}

Jenso was now left alone in the chamber below ground. Well, alone with the glowing rock above him. It seemed strange, though. When Bobba disappeared, the rock began to glow more intensely. Then, the ground began to shake. The perfectly spherical stone began to rise, pushing dirt and stone below it and caving in the entire mine as it did so.

[Jensoman]

"OH SHIT!!" Jenso shrieked as the mine came down. He dashed towards the exit, trying to weave through the rocks that came crashing down from the ceiling. He attempted to make his way out of the cave as fast as he could.

[tex]

Back in Orobo, Bobba was surrounded by armed villagers who all questioned his statements. "Quiet! Silence! You know nothing of what you address, fools!"

"What are you talking about Bobba!?"

"You're mad! Sick in the head!"

"Your father would be-" Bobba fired a black shard of stone at the last man's throat, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

"You will not speak of my father's feelings, peasants!!" Bobba blared, summoning a more light-weight version of his armor around his body. This version looked sharper, and covered only his vital chest and abdomen area, as well as the top part of his head, leaving his limbs and face free. "I will call the elementals with this beacon of otherworldly magic! You'll see! They'll bestow upon me the wealth and knowledge that I deserve! I'll make my father proud, and rise beyond his shadow!!"

Meanwhile, Jenso made his way up the mine-shaft, weaving through falling rocks and dirt until he finally reached the turn that lead to the exit. Within minutes, he had escaped, and not a moment too soon. The mine entrance collapsed behind him, and shut him out. Now he was face to face with the wastelands.

Unfortunately, there were 3 giant worms hopping about, upset by the recent tremors. Jenso had yet another problem to deal with now.

[Jensoman]

Jenso let out a sigh of relief as he managed to escape the mines. But now, he needed to go after Bobba. As the 3 giant worms hopped around, he got in a combat stance. He needed to find a way to deal with the worms, and be on time to stop Bobba. He moved in the middle of the three worms, waiting to see what they would do. "Over here!" He shouted.

[tex]

All three of the beasts rushed towards Jenso in a frenzy, attempting to surround him with their ability to move through the dirt and rock relatively easily. These worms were slightly bigger and stronger than the first one Jenso has seen. It seemed the same trick from earlier wouldn't work on them...