[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

"Suit yourself," Hayley replied with a casual shrug, then dragged herself into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She changed into a sleeveless sportswear shirt and training pants, along with a pair of fingerless gloves, looking at her prime physical condition with relief and pride in her eyes. Washing her face to kick herself awake, she stretched her arms and smiled as she opened the door. "Well, let's get going, shall we? Wouldn't want to keep Sean waiting."

[Daxam]

Isaac, who had just changed into his training outfit, was sitting on the bed, making a few large spheres of iron orbit around each other above his hand, waiting for Hayley to finish in the bathroom. Hearing his girlfriend, he smiles and stands up, merging the two spheres into one before turning that into what looked like an iron bracer, as if it belonged to a suit of armor. "That's true," he says, opening the door and following Hayley out. A few moments later, they arrive in the open space of the training room, where Sean awaited them, arms crossed in front of him and feet shoulder-width apart, dressed in a black training gi, the black belt around his waist all but invisible. "Well," he says, "glad you two decided to make it. Where you too busy making out or something, because I figured you'd have shown up immediately."

[Vocalia]

"Yeah, yeah, sorry for being asleep like a human," Hayley dismissively replied, then took her space away from Sean and Isaac before starting her quick warm-up. "So what's on the agenda today? I have a feeling that you're going to start whipping our asses for the battle ahead, so I'm really not expecting a walk in the park here." The blonde stretched her arms, then moved to her joints and legs, making sure that every limb on her body was properly warmed up and prepared for their first training session.

[Daxam]

Sean grins and turns to Isaac, saying, "Your girl here's no idiot. She knows what's coming." Now addressing both Isaac and Hayley, he says, "Well, I was figuring that we'd start today off with a two-on-one sparring match: you two against me. Your objective: hit me once. It doesn't matter how you hit me, even a tap will suffice, but come at me with the intent to kill...because that's what I'm gonna do." That said, Sean unfolds his arms and says, "Let's get started, then." Isaac glances at Hayley and smiles before charging at Sean, who says, "Isaac's coming at me first? That's a surprise!" As he draws close to Sean, Isaac draws his arm back, his iron bracer shifting to cover his fist, and lashes out with a right hook. Sean easily sidesteps, then kicks the back of Isaac's knee, sending the iron-and-carbon bender to his knees. While he waits for Isaac to recover, Sean turns to Hayley and smirks. "Bring it, blondie," he taunts.

[Vocalia]

"Initiating Standby Mode. Priority objective confirmed," Alexis' robotic voice rung in her head as Hayley came at Sean, steely blue eyes focusing on her prey. She came charging at her opponent, but then suddenly lunged downwards and aimed a kick at his lower torso, specifically his left knee. The woman came with all her strength, recalling how he fought the last time they ended up working together and with his instruction still clear in her mind.

[Daxam]

Sean watched calmly as Hayley charged before swinging her leg toward his knee. At the last possible second, he smiles at her and easily jumps over her leg. Then, with seemingly no effort at all, he spins and slams his leg into the back of her head before landing lightly on his feet. Hearing footsteps behind him, he casually steps to the side and sticks his foot in front of Isaac, tripping him. However, before Isaac lands, Sean slams his fist into the younger man's stomach. After letting Isaac drop to his knees, fighting for the breath that was forced out of him, Sean says, "Is this how you guys are gonna go after Crey and the Medici's? I'll tell you right now that the most underpowered one of them, armed with only a toothpick, could easily take both of you out and not even break a sweat!"

[Vocalia]

Recovering from her face-first fall while being provoked by Sean's words, Hayley growled and gritted her teeth. Her eyes turned into a shade of eerie gold and black mist puffed out of her mouth as she exhaled. Clenching her fists, she picked herself up and charged at him again, but instead of trying to pull in an all-out attack, she instead became defensive as she entered Sean's melee range and began to engage him in a close combat fight, trying to buy time for Isaac to recover. Hayley's fighting style was of no particular style of martial arts, having learned from various arts over the years, but it seemed to focus on balanced speed and power in all her punches and kicks, if not a bit rugged in the way she moved.

[Daxam]

Sean once again calmly watches as Hayley charges and begins assaulting him with her punches and kicks, which he easily dodges. "This won't do, this won't do!" Sean says as he ducks underneath a kick. He then reaches up and catches Hayley's fist, his own hand acting like a vice grip, and says, "You're skilled for a street fighter, but against someone like me, your attacks are as easy to read as a children's book." That said, he releases her hand and dodges another attack, only to slam his knee into her stomach. "Now pick yourselves up and try again," he says as he walks back to the middle of the room.

[Vocalia]

Hayley quivered and gasped in pain as her body scrambled to regain the oxygen forced out of her lungs. It took her a minute or two to catch her breath, the kick leaving behind a tinge of pain in her stomach. I know he's not going to be easy, but I have no idea he's this much of a beast! Hayley thought, adrenaline now kicking in. "I would strongly advice utilizing your umbrakinesis, Hayley Summerland. Sean Anderson is a high-risk threat and all resources must be expended to exterminate him," Alexis said to her. "Fuck yeah!" Hayley hissed in reply as her wings burst from her back, cutting through her shirt, and her hands and forearms were covered in black mist that hardened into dark, metal-like substance, giving her hands and arms some additional armor. Horns grew out of her skull and black, tribal markings appeared all over her body. With a growl, she suddenly charged at Sean, her intent to kill growing stronger in this form.

[Daxam]

Dude, you're getting your ass kicked! Vincent yells at Isaac as he finally pushes himself to his feet. "I know," Isaac says as he turns back to Sean. The bracer on his arm suddenly changes shape, lengthening out to become a long pole, topped with a fleur-de-lis shaped spearhead. "Your turn," he mutters to Vincent before swapping places with him. Grinning maniacally, his counterpart says, "Yes, sir," then charges Sean, spinning the spear above his head in a deadly wheel.

Sean watches Vincent and Hayley charge, both of whom were obviously taking it seriously. Grinning, he charges toward Vincent, who swings the spear toward the older man's head. Sean easily catches it and slams the sole of his foot into Vincent's chest, making him release the spear as he flies a few meters away. Sean then turns around and begins assailing Hayley with a flurry of thrusts and swipes, showing that he wasn't new to the weapon. Suddenly, he drops the spear and spins around to Hayley's back. "Next time, keep your wings as close to you as you can," he says, "or else this can happen." Reaching out, he grabs both of Hayley's wings and pulls them toward the middle of her back, as if he were trying to dislocate them.

[Vocalia]

As Hayley screamed in pain and struggled to break Sean's grip on her wings, Alexis decided that she had seen enough. "Forced command switch initiated." Without warning or even Hayley's consent, she took control of her body and allowed Hayley to recover from the assault. The black wings and her physical demonic traits melted into black goo that soon crawled up the female's body and cover her body, arms and legs. A pair of red orbs in the sea of black turned to look at Sean and, grabbing his dropped spear, Alexis soon attacked back. Another pair of giant hands emerged from her shadow and Sean's, assisting her in her assault. She didn't bother restraining herself and went all out against him.

[Daxam]

"That's more like it!" Sean yells as the hand behind him wraps it's massive fingers around his body, immobilizing him. Watching Alexis charging at him, he pretends to be completely helpless...until she gets within striking distance. With a massive surge of power, forked streaks of electricity begin arcing from his body. The lights hanging from the ceiling above flicker as arcs of electricity flicker around the bulbs. With loud popping sounds, the light bulbs begin shattering, raining glass onto the combatants. Then, with another surge of power, the hand wrapped around him all but vaporizes. The spear, the moment it gets close enough, electricity arcs from his body and instantly melts the spearhead. Grinning, Sean locks eyes with Alexis and says, "If you value your master's body, I'd get away if I were you!"

[Daxam]

"That's more like it!" Sean yells as the hand behind him wraps it's massive fingers around his body, immobilizing him. Watching Alexis charging at him, he pretends to be completely helpless...until she gets within striking distance. With a massive surge of power, forked streaks of electricity begin arcing from his body. The lights hanging from the ceiling above flicker as arcs of electricity flicker around the bulbs. With loud popping sounds, the light bulbs begin shattering, raining glass onto the combatants. Then, with another surge of power, the hand wrapped around him all but vaporizes. The spear, the moment it gets close enough, electricity arcs from his body and instantly melts the spearhead. Grinning, Sean locks eyes with Alexis and says, "If you value your master's body, I'd get away if I were you!"

[Vocalia]

Sic 'im, Lex! Don't worry about me! Hayley shouted from inside their shared consciousness as Alexis simply used her shadow shield to create a thick wall of sludge to stop the glass shards from harming her and Vincent without missing a beat after she was forced to avoid his arching electricity. With no warning, Alexis suddenly tore down the room's wires connected to the destroyed lights and then created two sludge structures with the electric conductor hanging around, almost like an electric-rod conduit. This time, she armed herself with two arm blades and another pair on her feet before charging back at Sean, using the sludge conduit to draw away the electricity from her. Her theory was that, though in control of the intensity of the power, the electricity Sean unleashed was still subject to the existing law of electrical physics and mechanics.

[Daxam]

"Good idea," Sean says, watching his electricity arc from his body toward Alexis' sludge conduit. "I guess that stuff has some of the same properties as Isaac's iron," he mutters to himself as the electricity ceases. Then, faster than the normal eye can see, he charges toward Alexis, his body suddenly a blazing inferno. "Let's see how you handle a full-frontal attack, now," he says as he throws a punch with the power of a dozen jackhammers toward her body. From out of nowhere, however, Vincent jumps in the way, his body covered in diamond-hard carbon, just in time to take the full force of the attack in his stomach, cracking the carbon protecting him. Coughing, he grins maniacally at Sean and says, "No one touches my girl."

Sean smirks at Vincent and answers, "Never thought you of all people had a heart."

Vincent replies, "Well, people will surprise you, no matter how well you know them." Swinging his arm, he aims a right hook at Sean's face, but the elemental master backs away before delivering a roundhouse kick to Vincent's head, following up with another for Alexis.

[Vocalia]

Alexis had no choice but to bear the full force of Sean's roundhouse kick, which sent her sliding to the wall and hitting it with enough force to cause a boom upon contact. However, Sean had kicked straight into the sharp side of her arm blade because she had lifted both arms to brace for the impact of Sean's attack and diverted the force of the kick from her head and onto her entire body instead. Alexis was too busy recovering to assess the damage the arm blade did, but she could definitely pick up the iron scent of blood in the room. Still, regardless of what happened to Sean, she didn't waste time and, once she was engaged in melee with the elemental master, retaliated with a roundhouse kick on her own with a lot of force behind it. It was as if Vincent's assistance had, through some logic or reasoning she had yet to understand, moralized her and provoked her at the same time.

[Daxam]

Sean doesn't even notice the gash in his leg, thanks to his focus on the fight. However, as if in response to his somewhat self-inflicted injury, a soft green glow shines from the injury as it repairs itself. In less than a second, a wound that might've crippled a normal man is replaced by new flesh, the skin slightly lighter than the flesh around it. As Alexis charges, Sean falls into a fighting stance, showing that he was finally getting serious. Black markings cover his body, like the tribal markings that had covered Hayley's body before she gave control to Alexis. His, however, seemed to be more wild, each line jagged and uneven. Once more moving with surprising speed, somehow faster than before, with a cloud of darkness following him, Sean charges. Once within striking distance, his arm covered in darkness, turning the markings it was covering white and tipping his fingers with lethal-looking claws, he swings his arm diagonally, aiming to rake his claws from Alexis' shoulder to her opposite hip.

[Vocalia]

In response to Sean's attack, Alexis used her left arm blade to block the attack and lock Sean into a dead lock, using her raw strength to keep him occupied. She could feel his dark power surfacing, one that seemed to be much more powerful than hers at her current energy output. However, she could also feel something trying to pull her into an unknown abyss, almost as if Sean's darkness was overpowering hers even as she stood and trying to assimilate her. "Vincent, I would suggest that you act proactively," Alexis said, her monotonous voice remaining constant despite her current predicament.

[Daxam]

"What the fuck am I supposed to do?" Vincent mutters, his ears still ringing after Sean's kick practically knocked him senseless. Quickly, Isaac, having always been the 'thinker' of the two, switches places and stands up. Summoning the iron from his destroyed spear, he quickly runs up behind Sean, grabs his hands, and molds the iron around his wrists, turning it into a pair of shackles. Sean, instead of resisting, only stares at Alexis, his normally deep blue eyes now a piercing yellow. However, surprisingly, he seems to be regarding her, not with animosity, but curiously, having not come in contact with something like her before.

[Vocalia]

Thanks to Isaac's assistance, Alexis now had a golden opportunity to put an end to their fighting, but instead of attacking or even trying to touch him, she stood still, the red orbs within the dark abyss of her eyes transfixed onto Sean's glowing yellow eyes. The ravaged room soon bore witness to the meeting of two darkness, seemingly undifferentiated from one another, yet clearly distinct. The cloud of darkness around him seemingly began to move as the black, shiny sludge that normally manifested around Alexis began to pour out of her shadow. It was almost as if she was regarding this fellow being of darkness with similar curiosity and none of the killing intent she previously had towards him as the sludge slowly formed a snake-like shape and tried to make contact with the other darkness.

Alexis, what's wrong? Alexis! Try as she might, Hayley couldn't get Alexis to break her attention from Sean for some reasons. She continued to stare into Sean's eyes, seemingly ignoring everything else around her. Her face told of no emotion, but her eyes seemed to be filled with a connection towards Sean, or whoever was staring back at her right now.