It's The Time To Fight, Time To Fly, Time To Die

[Sweet_Chef (Ani)]

Alex cursed as his Blade sunk into the earth with ease, buried almost to the hilt. He growled, sending a murderous glare at all present, then tore the weapon out of the ground so that dirt showered the area. It took him milliseconds to zero back in on his target, who was currently tearing into a new victim with wings. The sight merely solidified Alex's resolve to kill the beast; he loathed the bloodshed of innocents, only turning to the act himself when he was in need of biomass. Baring his teeth and lowering his body closer to the ground, he had just taken his first step forwards when someone attacked his target first.

He watched, slightly amazed, as the beast was thrown effortlessly into the air and beaten by the woman. Then, Alex's infected mind reminded him that the beast was his prey, and his humanity level dropped a little. Taking a few steps forward, the familiar red-black energy engulfed his Blade, transforming it into another of his deadly weapons. When the haze cleared, the sword-like appendage had become a long, black whip with a sharp, metallic tip at the end. Alex targeted the monster with ease, Whipfist shooting out like a bullet and stretching across the long distance like it was nothing.

The sharp, metallic fist piece whipped around Edd and then slammed into his back, throwing him forward again only to have the rubbery whip piece wrap securely around his mutated torso. He looked almost feral as he swung the beast up into the air, then slammed him into the ground beside Kyle. Alex had not really been aiming where the monster would hit, so the closeness was completely unintentional. Retracting Whipfist, he allowed it to transform back into his Blade within seconds, not wasting anymore time as he charged his fallen prey. "Now it's your turn to die," he hissed, swinging his weapon forward.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Mr. Copycat realized what Felix was doing too late. He had seen what was going on, and before the others could notice, Masahiro was already being mauled by the beast. His expression turned to anger, and while the others were busy watching the bloodbath, he threw his cane at Felix.

"Do you realize what you've just done!?" Mr. Copycat yelled. "Masahiro is dead! Your fellow angel is dead! If this is where your lust for revenge has gotten you, then you don't deserve those wings!"

He was snarling. None present would have ever seen Mr. Copycat this angry. Hell, none of them had met the normally jovial doppelganger until that day when everything had gone wrong, but he'd managed to try to keep a smile on his face, even when everything was going horridly wrong for everyone else.

Crow was in shock. Kyle was in greater shock. But the moment Alex grabbed Double D with Whipfist, Kyle was brought right out of his shock, especially once Double D slammed down next to him.

He's trying to kill him, Kyle realized. And with that, Kyle's control over his shadows was released. His entire body was engulfed by the shadows, and he looked more like Oni had than his own body.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM!" Kyle screamed, his voice distorted through the shadows. He ran forward and blocked the blade with his "bare" arms. He almost looked terrifying. Crow had seen this form only once before, when Kyle had been separated from his own body. Seeing it now was a shock to her.

[nintendonut1]

(Oooh... we're gonna pretend only Felix and Kyle heard that, okay? XD We're gonna reveal it later to everyone else after the happiness of Edd's curing XD)

The beast lapped up the sweet, sweet taste of the blood he was coming to enjoy. It seemed to be even more delectable, coming from this terrible, terrible ange...

...but at young Perceval's scream nearby, everything stopped.

For this first time since this entire painful confusion started, the beast was completely still... falling away from Masahiro, he swayed on his hind legs, disoriented. He had grown so used to the endless clattering in his head, to have it breifly silence.. he didn't know what he was to do.

It was then he realized he had done something... terribly wrong.

What... have I done...?

Jack was just about to leap into the fray and catch the minion offguard... but he skidded to a halt just outside the clearing, finally able to get a good glimpse at what was happening. And it rightfully made him falter.

The beast in the center of it all clearly wasn't human... but Jack didn't miss the dark splotches on its skin, signs of a sickness he remembered too, too well... and the fact that this creature was being protected by others, and the emotional responses playing across two particular boys' faces, only cemented the possibility that all was not as it appeared on the surface.

Remotely, he heard the word 'capture' and deciphered for himself that the goal was to bring the beast down and attempt to rid it of Aku's sickness. That was all well and good, but the way the shapeshifter was going about it was making things dangerous, not to mention the boy's response. As the beast was thrown down by the shapeshifter's whip, it was clear that priorities were confused among this large group.

With that, a blade swiftly fell between the two of them, clashing against both Alex's blade and Kyle's hardened arms. "Enough!!" the samurai bellowed. "Your goal is to subdue the beast, not fight each other!"

Pain returned to his body the moment he hit the ground, though his body was steadily losing the will to pick itself back up. The searing rage he had felt so strongly before had all but vanished; he would not remember this later, but for the moment, all pain had migrated to his heart. Wrong... everything he felt was wrong...!

When booted feet staggered back beside him in his distorted vision, he briefly lost himself again and latched his claws onto the boy's ankles. He tugged Kyle down to land hard on his back, quickly crawling atop him, low growls vibrating in his throat.

Then, his dark glare softened, and with every ounce of willpower he had, which was not much, he finally forced words out between his snarls.

"....hhh....hhHHhhHelp....meeee...!"

[Felix Falora]

Patchouli continued to fumble through her spellcards until she found it at last. "Finally... if no one else can do it right..."

"Ask me if I care," Felix snarled at Mr. Copycat. But when Alex attacked Edd with the intent to kill, Felix lunged out. "Bastard! Leave my Edward alone!"

Spirits of fire... water... earth... wood... metal... Listen to my voice.
I call upon the great power of fire. As fire as used to incinerate one's enemies, it is also a source of warmth, a beacon of hope for the lost, a shining light for those in the unfortunate darkness.
I call upon the great power of water. As strong as the tides are, though they may take life, water also gives life, the source of all of life, for all humans are made of water and are destined to return to it.
I call upon the great power of earth. The earth that we stand upon, ever moving, shift beneath my feet and show your unawakened power. Though it may move and swallow, all will return to the earth to nourish the world.
I call upon the great power of wood. As ever blowing and powerful as the wind can be, it can also be a sign of comfort, a bastion for all to fly upon and unroot themselves into the neverending sky.
I call upon the great power of metal. Tampered steel forged by blazing, powerful hearts. As metal can be forged into weaponry, designed to destroy, it can also be used to structure powerful bastions of defense and protection.
All elements of power and life, combine into one force. Listen to my beckonings and come. Show yourselves in your most powerful of forms for I require your aid to protect myself from my enemy. Come now into your final power.

"Five Elements: 'Philosopher's Stone!'" With her incantations complete during the fighting between Jack, Alex, Kyle, and Felix over protecting or killing Double D, Patchouli expelled five stones from her body. One was red, one was blue, one was yellow, green, and orange. The five stones circles around her and began to fire a relentless, unmerciful barrage of different colored bullets with many differnet elemental properties out at Double D. Meanwhile, behind Double D, Patchouli quickly pulled out another card. "Water Sign: 'Jellyfish Princess.'" The same card that she had used on Eddy in order to protect him, Patchouli's goal was to push Edd into there with her unfatal bullets in order to trap him and subdue him.

[gantzgun74]

Gantz and pals were snapped out of their daze at Masahiro's death, when they heard Double D's plea. The author jumped up barely noticing the blood stains on his jeans (Though it would be murder trying to wash it off.)

Otto was momentarily surprised by the crazy attack Patchouli performed, given it reminded him, somewhat, of that crazy 'Icicle Fall' attack De'Marcus performed back in the Temple of Balance some time ago, when he and his friends were fighting Shantotto. However it seemed better controlled as their wasn't a single stray bullet launched at her compatriots. Talim had to quickly stand back before she was blasted however. "Whoa!!!"

Gantz meanwhile, looked to the fight now breaking out between Kyle, Jack, Alex, and Felix... He didn't have one of his fan-moments seeing one of his personal heroes standing among the brawl, his mind was elsewhere.

And he was growing even more angry as time passed on.

[WARNING: This takes place after a few blows are thrown in the Kyle-Alex-Jack-Felix side-fight.]

"WOULD YOU FOUR JUST SHUT UP?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

"ROOOOOOOOAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A dragon zoomed in out of the sky, and landed with a powerful thud next to the four. A look at Gantz would reveal that there was a magic circle surrounding his feet. For those educated in magic, they'd recognize the magic as a Summon Spell, making one theorize the beast was a Summon Spirit. Valefor, the Summon Spirit of Wind, let out a deep growl, but kept any attacks to itself. Likely it was awaiting the command of it's summoner.

"Now LISTEN UP. WE'VE GOT WAY BIGGER PROBLEMS THEN YOU GUYS GOING AT EACH OTHER THE WAY YOU ARE!!!" He pointed to Double D. "I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU MORONS BUT I DEFINATELY DON'T WANT OUR FRIEND BEING THIS WAY FOREVER!! SO YOU," He pointed to Alex. "GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!!!!! THAT BEAST ISN'T A BEAST!!!!" He then looked to Kyle, Jack, and Felix (The last of which, he wasn't aware of his betrayal of Masahiro). "As for you three, GET OVER HERE!!!! WE NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET!!!!!"

With that point made, Gantz pointed skyward. "VALEFOR!!! Take to the skies!!! Await my command!!!!" Valefor let out a quick squawk like roar before doing as he was told.

[Sweet_Chef (Ani)]

Alex grunted as his Blade was blocked by the boy he had slammed the beast next to, though he looked different now for obvious reasons. However, he was not phased by his appearance or power in the least, having confronted far worse in the past. Compared to some of the infected back home, Kyle's- and even the monster's- appearance basically constituted to fluffy bunnies. However, Alex was getting very irritated that all of these people kept interrupting his revenge, either by blocking his attacks or by attacking his target themselves. Baring his teeth like an animal, his icy, blue eyes flashed with pure malice and his humanity level dropped far below his infected one.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" he roared, swinging his Blade back for a devastating charged attack. Instead, a small katana sliced between them, hitting the earth and momentarily shocking Alex out of his blind rage. Blinking rapidly, he looked over at the newcomer in obvious confusion, seeing as his statement was not his goal at all. "Subdue? It will die at my hand," he stated roughly, bluntly. Whipping his head back around, Alex was prepared to attack Kyle again, but instead found the boy on his back with the beast looming over him.

"This is why it must die!! Now all of you stay out of my way!!" he shouted angrily. His arms suddenly morphed into rippling muscle, his hands gigantic fists made for pounding things into dust and mush. Alex roared and slammed one of the fists into the monster's side at the same moment the elemental stones hit, creating enough force to drive the beast into the shielded area. Realizing this, his anger surged right back up into blind rage, the infection creating a roar in his ears that blocked out both dragon and Gantz. Seeing as he could not get up close and personal with his target anymore, nor could his Whipfist break through the barrier, there was only one thing to do.

Alex transformed his arms again, within seconds, his arms becoming hard as steel and littered with small spikes as his hands morphed into two sets of razor sharp claws. "Nothing will stop me from destroying it!! STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!!!" he roared. Slamming his right set of claws into the earth, the ground suddenly erupted with giant, stone spikes. They began just in front of Alex and traveled all the way to where Patchouli stood in a perfectly straight line, sending dirt flying and shaking the ground like an earthquake.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Kyle was glaring at Jack as he forced his way between them, but he didn't have long to stew in his anger as Double D forced him to the ground and then pounced on him. His angry expression changed to a much softer one as the beast forced out two words, two words that hit Kyle harder than anything else had since this ordeal had started. He was crying through his shadowy form.

"I will," Kyle said through the tears. "No matter what, I will." And with that, he forced Double D off of him. That demon girl (how did he know she was a demon?) had things handled with Double D. Now he had to stop Alex from killing him.

"I told you before, I won't let you kill him!" Kyle yelled as he ran past Alex's other arm and slammed an elbow into his chest. Quickly, Kyle moved into a barrage of fighting moves, swinging forward with an outward palm, a high kick, a low kick, a couple quick jabs, and another elbow to the chest, each of these accented with a bit of shadow Kyle was firing forth with each attack.

Crow had flown into the air near Alex, and was barraging him with several dark feathers. They wouldn't feel like much more than pinpricks, but she didn't want to use more of her dark power than she had to.

[nintendonut1]

With every non-lethal bullet that hit, his body grew more and more numb. It was almost a relief after spending an entire day in nothing but pain. Why had he put up such a fight before... Why hadn't he accepted this earlier?

When it was finally over, the beast, who for a split second remembered who he was, swayed gently before falling to the earth.

"...i'm... so....sorry...!"

"GEEZ!! Double D!!!" Eddy couldn't have sped up to his fallen body fast enough. He tried, several times, to lean in, chickening out at his best friend's grotesque features, not to mention ghastly smell. The guy reeked of death, but Eddy knew that was hardly his fault.

Ed approached soon after, only delayed by escorting Perceval out of the crossfire with him, holding him close and trying to soothe him in French. Him and Eddy traded worried looks.

... but they snapped back to reality as the earthquaking crack snaked their way.

"WAGH!!" As Ed grabbed Percy and leaped left, Eddy snatched up Edd's limp body (which was heavily than usual), and jumped right, the debris almost striking them. "Oh, COME ON! Would you GIVE IT A REST ALREADY!?! We got bad ENOUGH problems without YOU making it worse!!"

Jack was just about ready to agree... and then Gantz's great dragon appeared. Quite honestly, he was stunned by the boy's outburst, almost feeling guilty himself. But that was due to a misunderstanding.

"...I assure you, I have every intention in doing whatever I can to help cure your friend," he spoke to redeem himself quickly, still holding his defensive pose. "I have gone through this sickness, though not to this degree. Your enemy comes from my world."

[Felix Falora]

Patchouli smiled softly as Edd drifted into sleep... and then heard the earthquake come towards her. "Emerald City." She raised her hands to the sky and what looked to be green crystal surrounded her, lifting into the sky, taking her with it, and protecting her from the Earthquake. The crystal then dissapeared to show that Patchouli was flying with her own power and she sighed, holding her hand out towards Alex after she turned her back to him. So great was her power that she didn't even care to look at her unfortunate opponent. "Winter Element."

"I'm just..." Felix began, but then Alex attacked for Edd and his savior. "Why you...!" But before Felix could attack, Patchouli's attack came. Straight beneath Alex, two strong geyser's of ice cold water would burst, threatening to engulf and even freeze him if he wasn't fast enough to dodge. Felix took this opportunity to rush over. The stench of death was horrifying, but he managed to pick Edd up anyway. "We have to go... The Temple of Balance is nearby."

"I'll hold this idiot off for you," Patchouli offered, landing in front of Felix. Then she whispered to him in a malevolent matter. "Your betrayal will not go unnoticed."

"Like I said, ask me if I give a fuck," Felix replied with his own whisper, then nodded to her. "Right then. Thanks."

[gantzgun74]

Gantz looked to Patchouli and Felix, looking a tad bit suspicious. What was with the whispering? Shrugging it off, he whistled, causing him to catch Valefor's attention. "VALEFOR!!! Keep that guy busy!!! You've got my permission to use my entire supply of magical energy if you have to, just keep him back long enough for us to cure Double D!!" He took a deep breath. "You guys go on ahead!! This next attack will require my concentration, other then that I'll be right behind ya!"

Otto growled lightly at Alex, but decided to follow after Felix and the others. Wally meanwhile needed no indication that he needed to follow Felix. Talim quickly ran over to Kosumu, and calmed him down. "Come on Kosumu, it's time to go."

Kosumu shivered at the girl before nodding. "Do.. Do we... have follow that?" Points at Double D.

"He's just not himself, Kosumu. We're going to change that where we're going."

"Not to be rude, but GO!!!!"

Gantz's insistence made it clear to Kosumu that following Talim would be essential so that's just what he did. The two took off at fast speeds.

With deep breaths, the summoner seemed to charge up his magic to unbelievable levels, before shooting them to Valefor. "VALEFOR!!! SHOW NO MERCY!!! ENERGY RAY!!!!!!"

Valefor roared in compliance, before lifting up even higher. As Gantz took off running after the rest of the gang, the dragon took a deep breath, energy charging at the back of her throat. After a second of charging, it let out it's breath, unleashing an Energy Ray that ran all across the ground near Alex's feet, which he likely dodged the moment he saw it. At first, all it looked like it did was leave tiny little scorched cracks on the ground...

At least until said scorched cracks EXPLODED.

Valefor was quick to see Alex dodge one of his most powerful attacks, before countering with a powerful flap of his wings, sending a gust of wind down on the area.

[Hope this wasn't too ownish.]

[Sweet_Chef (Ani)]

"Then I'll just have to kill you!" Alex yelled back at Kyle, forced to block and dodge with his Claws since he did not have the time to shift to his Shield. He was hit by about half of them, but they did little damage to his body. Feeling the pricks to his back like tiny needles, he growled and ducked under Kyle's next punch, rolling off to the side and instantly leaping into the air. Quickly shifting to Whipfist, Alex aimed and then sent the spiked fist flying at Crow with the speed of a bullet. He had ignored Eddy's shouting completely, now focused entirely on killing any in sight for impeding his progress.

Having been unable to charge his jump, he landed soon after attacking Crow with Whipfist, only to feel the ground beneath his feet give a low rumble. Not wasting a second, Alex jumped again, launching himself towards the trees to put some distance between him and his attackers. His lower half had gotten slightly drenched, but it only frosted the skin and he did not even feel it as his feet pressed into a trunk, one hand gripping a branch as he glared at them all. He watched the scene with Gantz and Valefor, bored by it until the beam of energy shot his way. Seeing as he was high in a tree, Alex did not even bother moving, well out of the beam's range.

Of course, when they exploded, he did not waste a second in making another inhuman leap away from the trees and back into the battlefield. However, Valefor's gust of wind caught him, and he quickly moved into a glide so as not to be blown away into the forest. The wind allowed him to soar high up over the trees, and Alex remained at this height just long enough for him to transform into Hammerfist. "Now all of you can DIE!!!" he snarled, though no one probably heard it. He dropped into a fists-first dive, gaining speed and concentrating viral energy into his enlarged, rock hard fists.

Then, Alex hit the ground, the viral energy shooting out in a shockwave even past the trees; it was likely those heading for the temple felt a harsh tremor. Afterwards, the battlefield quaked as if hit by a powerful earthquake, the rocks and soil being torn from their resting place and practically exploding outwards. Trees snapped in half and fell over, and a deep crater formed in the ground. Several harsh cracks made a semi-circle around the edge of the island, a warning sign that if anymore force or weight were applied, the area would drop right into the void. Slightly drained from one of his most powerful moves, Alex leaped out of the crater and shifted to Shield, ready to take any attacks his enemies had the energy to dish out.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Crow managed to fly out of the way of the Whipfist in time to keep from getting what would have at least been a very nasty bruise, more like a few broken ribs. If she survived the attack, of course. Kyle took a few steps back as Gantz yelled for them to run and let him hold them back. Alex was going to try to kill them no matter what.

Crow was glad she was in the air as Alex did the powerful shockwave attack. Kyle fell over, and Mr. Copycat somehow managed to keep balance. Mr. Copycat somehow managed to be outside the crater that had formed, and he realized quickly what was about to happen.

"Gantz! We don't have time to argue about this! Take your dragon and get everyone to the temple now!" Copycat yelled. "I'll meet you there, just take Double D and go!"

He glared at Alex and morphed his arm into a strangely robotic and inorganic looking structure. "Alex Mercer. If you want to kill the others, you'll have to kill me first." He smirked. "Good luck."

[nintendonut1]

"GAGH!!!" Eddy, clutching onto Edd in a death grip, had almost leaped to try and avoid the inevitable, as did Jack, but they were saved the effort when clouds of blue snatched them up into the air. The latter was quite surprised, glancing up to watch as Ed hoisted them all into the air, carrying a slightly sniffling Percy in his other arm. Though he struggled, straining his powers to lift so many at a time, the sweating Super Child lifted them towards Gantz's dragon, placing them all on its back, one right behind the other, and collapsing behind Eddy, catching his breath.

"Heh... n...nice job, Ed," Eddy sighed, propping his hand against unconsious Edd's back to keep him from falling. Though it was tricky to do so, avoiding the dripping wings and all those bony spines--YUCK!! "W-what now?!"

"You planned to cure him at the temple up ahead, did you not?" The samurai, sitting up front, called back to him. "We must enter it quickly and restrain him as soon as possible; he will not remain unconscious for very long."

"H-how do you...!?"

"As I said before..." He gaze a sympathetic gaze over Edd. "...I have fought and conquered this sickness. It will... not be easy."

[Felix Falora]

"Nothing ever is!" Felix snapped at Jack saying it wouldn't be easy. "But no matter how challenging it is, we can't just turn our backs on him! He's our friend and my lover; my greatest regret is that I could not stop this and I wasn't here earlier to help. But I am now! I'd fly him to the Temple of Balance myself if I had to! I will do what it takes to save him!

"I'll help," Patchouli said, landing next to Mr. Copycat after having floated near him. "Distract him while I prepare my spell. It may take me a while, but once I cast it, nothing can save him."

(The spell is instant win, but best used when Patchouli is in a group and takes three posts to do. Sun Sign: "Royal Flare.")

[gantzgun74]

Gantz nodded at Copycat, he had figured that such would be the case. In any case, he figured Valefor would be a good means of getaway anyways. Once everyone was aboard on top of Valefor's back, Gantz launched more magic at Valefor, charging the summon up. "Okay! Valefor! You know where to fly to! SO GO!!!!!"

Valefor let out a loud squawk like roar, before flapping her powerful wings and taking off in the direction of the Temple of Balance.

Gantz looked to Alex, grinning. "Sorry tough guy, but we can't let ya kill off our friend there." Pulling out Soul Calibur (Likely causing a few guy's energy senses to peak to high levels a brief moment), the boy twirled the sword around, before thrusting it in the ground. "King of Flames, bear down upon thy enemy!!! I summon thee!!! IFRIT!!!!!"

Almost immediately the earth in front of Gantz dislocated from the ground. Appearing in a round ball of magma rock, a creature appeared to be in the center of it. With a mighty crash, the creature burst out of the Magma Rock, and landed on the ground, revealing a powerful looking Hellhound looking creature, which stood on all fours, with tanned brown skin, decidedly muscular, with a fiery orange hair that stretched down the length of the creature's body. With black claws, numbering five per paw, a feral expression with yellowish eyes, and a giant pair of black horns, the creature was definately an intimidating beast, snarling at the scene before him.

Gantz quickly jumped on top of Ifrit, suprising the beast slightly. "Don't worry about fighting Ifrit, just help with a get-away!" Grinning, he turned to Crow, "Understood! Brace yourselves!!! Meteor Strike!!!"

Ifrit roared with a powerful snarl, before a fiery rock appeared before the hellhound, and he punched it towards the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Though there was quite a bit of fire from the kaboom, one could tell that the attack was for the purpose of a Smokescreen. Gantz didn't know if Alex knew exactly where the Temple of Balance was, but it would be a smart idea to cover their tracks.

When the smoke cleared up, Ifrit and Gantz were gone, and Valefor was nowhere in sight.