[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[SuperFlash]

Jeff began to float as the arena shook in order to stop it from throwing off his balance before downright ignoring Rajaka's series of nopes and continuing his responses back to Bruce. "None, I've been preparing for this for a while. Greenie over there is most likely gonna be a problem for both of us however so we really need to avoid being reckless. But yeah, we've gone too far to fail here. Let's clear this stage and continue onward!" The Sage then grinned back before letting his eyes and hair flash blue as regular sage mode activated.

[tex]

Zelriane dropped his body into a powerful stance, his favoured form, where his right leg extended forwards, and his left leg pushed outwards. One hand rose, fully extended with his index and middle finger curled, facing upwards, and his left hand held above his waist, close to his body.

Rajaka was much less dignified.

Before Jeff and Bruce had a chance to prepare themselves any further, Zelriane was already behind them. Where he'd stood before, an afterimage remained for half a second, while Rajaka was already airborne, with both of his hands reeled backwards, and coated in yellow energies.

"No holding Back"

---

~ End Of Chapter 164 ~

[tex]

~ Chapter 165 ~

_{Two On Two, This Dimension Isn’t Big Enough For All Four Of Us!}

Rajaka thrust both of his hands forward, one after the other, launching semi-visible waves of yellow energy that expanded outwards, sparking and cracklinh viciously as they headed for both Heroes at a rather formidable pace. Zelriane, as soon as he got within melee range of Bruce, thrust his right hand towards the small of his back, while extending his right foot forwards, stopping it only a few inches from the base of Bruce's right foot.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce slid his sheath down his back, and his blade of Ki materialized inside it. As the sheath fell off the sword, Bruce took grip of the hilt while keeping it perpendicular to his back, catching the sheath with his other hand. He pulled his left foot in toward his right foot and fell down to one side such that he rolled sideways, away from Zelraine, Jeff and Rajaka's yellow energy waves.
"Stay light on your feet- never stand still, and don't give Zelraine the chance to hit you if you can help it." Bruce said, intentionally leaving Rajaka out of his advice, giving the sense that the yellow giant left little impression. Bruce brought his sword back up, holding it diagonally in front of his body, the musical flow of Ki focused toward receiving rather than dealing blows. He also summoned his chains, wrapping them around his body beneath his robe, giving him a bit of a buffer between some of the attacks Zelraine might attempt.

[SuperFlash]

Jeff's eyes widened for a moment as Zelraine appeared behind him, moving a speed that seemed to even surpass his own. Between that fact and how Rajaka was charging head on with what was most likely a deadly yellow attack of doom made Jeff think one thing. He had to get out of the way and fast. The sage then quickly blasted himself to the left and out of dodge of Rajaka's attack with a swift kick that also launched a blue wind scythe that seemed to aim for Rajaka at first but then split into two attacks which aimed to try and hit him from above and bellow. Jeff took note of what Bruce said and the words mentioned by Zelraine and responded back to Bruce saying, "Right! He's the real threat after all!"

[tex]

Rajaka began to spin in midair, erupting with energy that blasted both of Jeff's wind-scythes into dust before he landed with a loud thud that shook the Arena. He began to breath heavily, and his muscles grew larger. "Yer.." He started, turning towards Jeff and chasing after him.. Zelriane on the other hand, was already behind Bruce, moving in tandem with him, still keeping his right foot placed merely inches away from Bruce's as he attempted to maintain his position behind the swordsman. He threw another punch, and pulled his left hand backwards in a single extensive motion that pulled the very air in front of him backwards, aimed towards Bruce's left arm to pull it towards him.

"This one," Zelriane shouted with his raspy voice barely able to rise above the noise that Rajaka created with his stampede towards Jeff. Rajaka stopped in his tracks and spun around, heading towards Bruce now. He made a short hop, and slammed his right foot into the ground, sending his energy surging through the battlefield. The ground beneath Bruce would begin to glow with Rajaka's energy moments after Zelriane's attack.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce couldn't see, but could still sense Zelraine behind him. His eyes flickered around the battlefield, pinpointing areas that Rajaka's energy wasn't immediately affecting. He bent his knees, anticipating an intervention from Jeff. He instinctively pulled his left arm forward, flipping his blade in his hand such that the dull end ran up along his arm with the razor edge facing outward.
"Jeff, if you could make me fly for a second..." Bruce said, leaving his request hanging at the end.

[SuperFlash]

"On it!" The sage responded back as he strafed around Bruce with a quick spinning boost while gathering up the wind around him until Rajaka was no longer blocking the way in between them. Then with yet another kick, Jeff launched the spiraling wind he had gathered towards Bruce at full speed making it connect with him almost instantly. As it made contact, the air spun around the earthly sage and lifted him into the air, with the attack acting like a hover board of sorts which then formed razor blades of wind on the outside of it which would threaten to slash anything that came at Bruce from bellow. The hover board then kept going with the initial direction it was kicked from with the intent of dashing Bruce out of there, however he could change its direction and momentum if the earth sage so desired.

[tex]

Zelriane was far too quick. Before the interception came anywhere near the two of them, Zelriane's fist connected with Bruce's back, but as he was about to follow up, the swordsman was pulled out of there by Jeff's swift rescue. Getting struck by one attack from Zelriane might've hurt, but getting caught in an inescapable combo was where the real danger lurked. Zelriane's eyes turned back towards Jeff, and then back to Rajaka. A torrent of yellow energy spurt up between the two of them, dissipating quickly. With that, Zelriane was gone again.

This time he appeared in the air behind Jeff, falling down with his foot extended forwards, as to smash the base of his heel into Jeff's shoulder and knock him out of the air. Rajaka turned his attention towards Bruce, and stomped the ground repeatedly. Several yellow pillars of energy burst from the ground, all leading Bruce as he was pulled away, in an attempt to strike him down.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce took note of where the energy pooled beneath the ground before the pillars erupted out, spiking one of his chains into the black material to steer his new platform clear of the onslaught.
"I'll play with you in a minute, yellow." Bruce said, keeping his attention directed toward Zelriane and Jeff. Bruce made a network of chains span out from the origin point of where his had dug into the ground, keeping the distinct signatures of Ki apart in his mind so that he didn't unintentionally snag Jeff with them.
"The grown-ups are in the middle of something."

[tex]

Rajaka began to Fume, and immediate jumped off the ground, towards Bruce in midair, throwing a punch that quite literally sent a massive shock wave of raw force towards his target. Unlike his earlier punches however, this attack did not have any energy signature to it, or the yellow hue from earlier.

[SuperFlash]

Upon pulling Bruce out of the way of the attack, Jeff almost immediately expected a response from Zelraine. So by keeping in mind his recent trend of trying to appear instantly behind people, Jeff reacted accordingly by using his full speed to turn and shift out of the way of the green quickster's attack. If that wasn't enough, he was also preparing to expand a wind sphere around himself to act as a shield which would slice at Zelraine if he was to remain around him for any longer.

[tex]

As Jeff moved, Zelriane's foot only caught the edge of his shoulder, scraping by slightly. Zelriane kissed his teeth and allowed the force of his attack to bring him back to the ground. He then returned to his stance, but heightened his hands at least a foot, so both were almost above his head. With several extensions of his hands, he launched singular bursts of compressed air towards Jeff at point blank range. At this point, his eyes began to glow, signalling the beginning of his eye technique. Right after launching the two projectiles, almost simultaneously, Zelriane moved to appear behind Jeff, launching another projectile at him, and then below Jeff, launching yet another. After this barrage, he disappeared again, and phased into Bruce's path. His hands were both risen, but instead of firing projectiles at Bruce, he aimed to take advantage of his momentum in midair, swinging his right foot directly towards Bruce's head with a midair round-house. He moved in ordinance with Rajaka's attack, keeping his distance from the shock wave, so that he would end up following Bruce up, rather than getting blown away himself.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce still couldn't follow Zelriane's movement, though he now knew that he couldn't expect a reprieve simply because he was in midair. While his platform shot upward outside of the shockwave's range, Bruce stomped on the outer edge of it, bending his knees to maintain balance despite the sudden angle change. The upward movement continued but also to one side, then back again when Bruce stomped on the opposite edge.
"Now, there's no need for a tantrum. I'd hate it if your chaperone were forced to take you home because you can't behave." Bruce said, still speaking in a dismissive tone.

[SuperFlash]

Jeff channeled arki into the expanding wind shield letting it take out the first two attacks from the front while once again Jeff predicted a backward attack and rolled underneath the last attack that came from behind, barely dodging it once again. The sage then devised a plan in his head as then jumped out of the roll and super charged his tech causing it to glow blue just as his sage mode made his hair and eyes glow. He then took aim at Zelraine with his left arm cannon as he prepared his nanobots and his right gauntlet for something else and then fired out one of his super compacted wind cannon sniper shots at the green masked man hoping it would at least grab his attention and make him come and try to hit him once more. 'Wind Cannon Sniper Shot'

If he did Jeff would have his flash bomb ready to blast the second he appeared behind him, with his shades forming on the exact second as well.

[tex]

Zelriane's foot skimmed the bottom of Bruce's wind-like surfboard. With his eyes focused, he angled his kick slightly upwards, striking the base of the board and disrupting the wind that held Bruce in place as best he could. But as his body spun around, Jeff was his target once again. Zelriane used his hands to send his body downwards by launching two bursts of air up. Jeff's sniper shot missed him by a few inches, and Zelriane landed near Rajaka, who was now charging past him. Instead of going after the other two, however, Zelriane sped towards Rajaka, landing on top of his right shoulder.

"Wake up," Zelriane hissed, slapping the side of his head. Rajaka spun around, nearly shaking Zelriane right off his shoulder, but eventually realised what was going on. "He's just trying to irritate you. They must know exactly how to deal with you. Stay calm." It took Rajaka a moment of breathing, leaving both him and Zelriane wide open while the giant oaf paused in place. Zelriane positioned himself so that he was riding Rajaka piggy-back style, with his legs around his neck, and placed both his hands over his companion's ears. "Take as much time as you need."

[SuperFlash]

Jeff's wind cannon upon missing immediately began sucking in large amounts of air into it taking no time to recharge and once again Jeff fired another sniper shot a Zelraine with his other gauntlet, aiming to pierce both him and Rajaka this time with a single shot. Jeff still kept the flashbomb ready in case greeny this time tried to counteract him.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce noticed that Zelriane had caught on to their strategy. He bent down further on his platform to avoid falling off as a consequence of Zelriane's disruption. He saw that Jeff had intentions on both of them, but he snaked the chains nearest Rajaka upward toward Zelriane regardless, attempting to restrain the impossibly fast fighter.
Although he'd cut off Rajaka's hearing and possibly talked some sense into him, Bruce knew a couple things that could still work in favor of their strategy. In his sage form, his voice became deep enough that its vibrations carried through whatever material nearest him, whether it was earth he could manipulate or not. He also knew how to enunciate such that Rajaka could piece together what he said even if he couldn't hear it.
"You-are-just-a-dog, then?" Bruce mouthed in full view of the raging yellow Order member. "And-he-holds-your-leash. Well, if-it-stops-you-barking..."
Bruce hovered in place, his feet poised on either side of his platform to steer it at a moment's notice. He emulated a condescending, vaguely feral glee with a dark grin spreading onto his face. His skin changed in color and tone as it hardened into stone, the rumbling of his voice reverberating through the air and the ground, echoes of it creeping into Rajaka's ears.
"I hear you lost a couple arms once before." Bruce said, raising his voice. "Since that didn't stick-" Bruce slowly lifted his blade, the razor edge of it radiating sharpened, focused Ki flow. "How about a leg?"

[tex]

Zelriane's eyes were fixated on Jeff. As soon as the sniper shot was fired, he pulled back on Rajaka's head, prompting the giant to step sideways. Although it still pierced Rajaka's shoulder, the wound quickly closed, leaving the giant man grunting angrily. Zelriane shook his head more as Bruce approached. As soon as he began to speak Zelriane's form disappeared, taking full advantage of the man's attempt to use his voice aggressively. Rajaka was left behind, but Zelriane was now Below Bruce, or least it would seem that way. He fired a burst of compressed air towards the bottom of Bruce's platform, and then moved beside him. This time, he coated his hand in green energies, accustom to his normal form of fighting, and launched his fist towards Bruce's shoulder, ready to follow up on a moment's notice. Rajaka on the other hand, began to stomp the ground repeatedly.

"ZELRIANE?!" He shouted, grasping his shoulder after the fact. He let go as the wound healed itself, but his left arm was out of commission for a short while now. Turning to Jeff, he narrowed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths. "Stick and stones, tiny little tools, they're just trying to make you lose your cool! Trying to rile you up." Rajaka mouthed to himself.

[Brucenorris007]

"Bark, and your master says heel."
Bruce's chain, still pinned in the ground, retracted and yanked both him and his platform downward, though the energy from Zelriane's attack still singed his robe at the shoulder. He stomped forward as the chain loosened again, kicking up a blast of Jeff's wind behind him where Zelriane had been as he moved toward Rajaka, though Bruce still didn't really regard him.
"You heel, and your master says attack."
Bruce tilted the platform, performing a U-turn in midair. He sheathed his blade, his right hand hovering just millimeters from the hilt.
"You attack, and your master says whimper."
Bruce's gravelly voice had dropped in volume, just loud enough for Rajaka to hear, but his tone came off as though he were muttering to himself.

For half an instant, the gleam of his blade was visible as he gripped the hilt. Another strand of chain shot up from the network lining the ground, leading Bruce's path such that when he was immediately above it, it multiplied into dozens more that formed a spinning sphere around him. With another burst from his platform, he narrowly missed being snagged by it. Once he was through, he swiveled, slashing in an arc that covered a full 180 degrees.
"Iai."