That Terrible Strength (Keres/Open)

[MICHAEL]

It was as though, with each unyielding word he uttered, Michael took another step closer to Hell's blackened gates. With the lashing flames churning about Keres's arm, it seemed that he had finally reached its outermost circles. Through the roar and crackle of those ghastly wisps, he could nearly make out the tormented screams of a thousand wailing souls. All that the fire touched, it burned through like so many folds of tissue paper, leaving nothing but a gaping hole where solid matter one was. Constructs which, by all chemical laws, should not have been flammable were left charred and singed by those molten tears. Its properties were not limited to those of mundane fire, for it took on, as well, the characteristics of a most venomous acid, eating through surfaces without so much as slowing down. The heat from such embers must have been enormous, and, indeed, Michael could feel their deadly rays from even the opposite end of the room. Burning at the hands of those ungodly flames, he supposed, would have been a fitting end for one who had stood against a goddess, yet Michael reveled still in his defiant spirit. After all, he had plucked away with such determination that he had shown her to be not-so-invincible.

"Oh, believe me, it's a privilege." Said the boy haughtily, flicking his hand about with a steady rhythm. The sparks nipping at Michael's arm danced and forked in response; such was his power that he guided their paths even then. "How will I ever repay your kindness? Actually, don't answer that." He grinned. No matter the odds, he would not yield in his bid for survival. After all, it seemed she was at last cutting loose. If he could hold out and make it through this onslaught with his life, Michael would likely be able to weather this ferocious and unstoppable storm. He need only look for an opportunity to make his great escape; some opening, however slight, by which he might slip past her watchful eye. If there was one thing Michael had over Keres, it was vigilance and reflex. However, he would need every last drop of both if he wished to see another sunrise, for the goddess wasted no time in opening fire with her mighty flames. "None have survived, huh?" Asked Michael rhetorically just seconds before her assault. "Guess this'll make a nice story for the guys back with the Resistance, then."

With that, Michael was on the defensive, thoroughly and completely. Keres swung her destructive ax, again with enough speed that no man should have been able to evade its edge. Again, though, the young marksman skirted just outside its range. His shirt, however, was charred sporadically by the high temperatures, unveiling yet more of his toned physique. The wall to his immediate right, however, was not so fortunate, as it caught fire on contact with the daemonic ax. Michael, feeling the waves of heat, shot from his position and fled to the far side of the room. His foot speed, too, had seen a small increase, but this was much more difficult for the warrior to control. Nimbly, he leaped about the spreading wildfire as it consumed the laboratory. Occasionally, he would send off a retaliatory bolt of lightning, but it was clear that Michael was on the run from his rampaging foe. If I hold out long enough, maybe she'll make an opening for me.[/i] He thought, staring into the psychotic eyes of his foe.

However, he did not have any intention of waiting on the off chance that she would be foolish enough to blast her own doors. So, he engaged in a gambit of sorts. Keres had swung at him as he stood before the exit and, thus, was now perched in front of it herself. Michael focused into his palm a mighty bolt of electricity and, shooting completely from the hip, fired at Keres. If she dodged, he would blast the door wide open. If not, the jolt would be enough to give her a moment's pause, though he doubted such a powerful being would be felled so easily by a mortal's strength. Yet, even the slightest hesitation would be enough for him to run for freedom. Certainly Michael could not risk touching her while those flames skulked about her body, leaving him little choice but to pry at her from a distance and make for himself a path.

[KERES]

[atrb=border,0,true] The demoness stood in the room staring down her prey. Black flames dripped from everywhere as she leaned gripped Nyteri. The entire room was being consumed by her deathly flames and she wasn't even batting an eyelash. This boy was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn't because he kept giving her little shocks here and there. No it was because he was proving to be quite the difficult catch. Of he was worth all her effort. There was so much that was lurking beneath his surface. Glancing at the burning air vents, she wondered why her drug hadn't effected him. Shouldn't he be laying on the ground unable to move? Looks like she had some work ahead of her, well at least to find out why her drug didn't work the way it was supposed to. "You know I'm going to make you pay for all the trouble you are causing. We will have to see just how useful you can be." Keres grinned at the young boy as she charged at him again axe swinging. He shot another jolt of electricity at her but this time she simply swung her fire coated axe and deflected his attack. "Enough games."

[/b] The female continued her charge towards him and swung her axe high above her head. The blade came down and the earth below them gave. Cracks began to crawl from her blade as the fire seemed to consume the walls. There was a loud groan that came from the building and debris began to fall. Raw power seemed to be leaking from the female as she pulled her axe from the ground. It wouldn't long before the earth would consume his place again. Dancing through the flames, she swung her axe again at the wall this time. "I wonder I you would survive having a rock dropped on your head."[/b] Her words seemed to come from everywhere again as the fire and smoke began to fill the room.

There was a loud crack as the ceiling began to split. Soon dirt and debris began to fill the room but the female was long gone. She had vanished from her lab only to appear on the surface. There was no emotion on her face as she watched one of her finer labs burn to the ground. It wasn't like this was her only one. She had plenty of other labs to work in. Could he have made it out in time? Or did the flames consume him? Perched on a nearby building, she simply waited. The once hungry black flames that coated her blade began to fade and disappear. They had served their purpose and she no longer had use for them. Black flames and smoke began to arise from the hole where her lab once was. The building that had been on top as had crumbled from her attacks and could no longer support itself. Clouds filled the sky dark and threatening. A low rumble of thunder filled the air before rain began to fall. All the while Keres stayed perched on her rooftop, waiting for any sign that he was still alive. [/div]

words: i dunno~
notes: her lab crumbled
Credits: ROLLY of LOVE STAMP & BtN

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[MICHAEL]

Michael's fury grew exponentially as Keres stood her ground against his mighty bolts. Never before had his raw power failed him - neither flesh nor steel nor solid boulder had resisted the countless amperes which flowed forth from his fingertips. Those ions raged on with temperatures nearly as high as the cursed flames themselves, ripping through the atmosphere itself and leaving nothing more than a trail of desecrated ozone in their wake. However, even still, Keres took them in stride, reacting as if punched in the face. She seemed almost to be playing the game by different rules from Michael himself, her body governed not by the limitations of the universe's chemical laws. Such tremendous electricity should have reduced her to her base composition, whatever twisted elements they may have been. He knew she had it in her to evade, albeit with some effort, his well aimed attacks, but she paid him no such heed. Surely she had realized by this point that Michael was not one to be tamed, for her best laid tricks and tapestry of mental distortion did nothing against his inner fortitude.

The bare-handed gunslinger soon got his wish, for Keres, too, had grown tired of the game she played without regard for regulations. In the blink of an eye, she closed the gap between them, swatting away at one of his bolts with her blazing ax. The murderous goddess raised the gruesome weapon overhead, the grin of a pitiless slasher scrawled across her face. As it came crashing down like the hammer of Hephaestus at his forge, however, Michael slipped again from its path, twisting his body and throwing his legs away from its unstoppable blade. The ground was not so fortunate as to escape the twisted woman. Rather, it was torn asunder and set ablaze, the blow having threatened the very integrity of the laboratory. The battle had done the room no favors, and it seemed its structural integrity had fallen prey to the huntress in Michael's place, for the boy was too wily for his own good. This agility was put to good use, though, when the rocks began falling from the dark, craggy ceiling.

Reacting with little more than base reflex, Michael fired an arced ray of electricity at a falling rock, shattering and melting the debris on contact. He nimbly rolled out of the way of another, narrowly avoiding the groping flames which spread even still across the floor. When next he looked about, he found that Keres had taken her leave, having exited with little fanfare or time taken to boast. "Damn! She yourself, Keres!" Michael yelled through infrequent coughs. However, when it became clear that she was no longer in the laboratory, his focus shifted fully toward his own escape. If she awaited him on open ground, he would gladly fight her there, fatigued as he was. Yet, for the time being, the roof was caving in, with cracks of the outside world just barely visible through its scattered holes. He was, at least, not far below the earth.

Speaking of small blessings, the dirt which fell in thick clusters had seen fit to extinguish some of the smaller flames, clearing enough of a path that Michael had a straight shot at the door. Of course, he could not hesitate. The superhuman speed and reflexes which saw him through his encounter were no more, for he used them not out of conscious effort but from sheer necessity. He took a fraction of an instant to ponder the nature of that strange development, but, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he was off. In full sprint, Michael ran, his body carried by the last of his adrenaline as he dashed with the speed of an Olympic sprinter. He ducked and swerved out of the way of falling debris, letting the fire which lashed at his arms light the way. At last, on reaching the door itself, he let loose a devastating bolt of lightning at point-blank range. The door was melted clean through and blasted from its frame. Michael, however, continued his mad dash, emerging with haste from the billowing cloud of smoke.

The young man was coughing violently when at last he broke through to the rainy surface, free from what seemed to be Hell's very gates. The expanding smog of the underworld was met with the oncoming storm as thunderclouds rolled in over Greece. In all, Michael had spent mere seconds in the collapsing laboratory. At first, he worried that the immortality serum had been lost to the wreckage, but he quickly consoled himself with the idea that Keres would not have so casually destroyed the labs if she had kept neither notes nor copies elsewhere. Speaking of whom, Michael immediately began looking about for evidence of her presence. It wasn't too long before he spotted a silhouette on a nearby building, watching over him like a hawk. With his own eyes, themselves every bit as keen as those of a bird of prey, Michael identified her near instantaneously. "Leaving so soon?" He called. "Or is it my turn to have the home field advantage?" Michael continued, indicating the thunderclouds hanging ominously above.

[KERES]

[atrb=border,0,true] Rain began to pour from above almost as if the gods were openly weeping. The demoness stood atop the building as her pale gray eyes watched the ground below. Smoke and fire reached up from the hole in the earth where her lab once was. The rain was putting out most of the fire so it wouldn't spread too bad. No need to destroy her homeland. Something tugged at her awareness and she drew her attention from the burning gates of hell. There was someone else around here. Someone who had a power level that was close to her. It washed over her skin and she shivered. Not out of fear. Oh no. She would never be scared of something like that. She was excited. So very excited. It seemed she had something new to play with. A low laughter emerged from the female her gaze settled back on the smoking gates. It seemed her plaything had emerged from the smoke. For a brief moment she was disappointed that he didn't perish in the flames. "Well well, you are quite the stubborn young man. I don't think I've seen anyone as stubborn as you. It just means I will have all the more fun breaking your spirit." The female laughed as she jumped down from the rooftop. A flash of lightning ran across the sky as the low rumble of thunder followed. Blood dripped down the female's cheek but it didn't last long. The rain washed away any trace of it. As far as he was concerned, this boy hadn't done any damage to her. "I don't think you'll get the home field advantage no matter where you are."

[/b] Lifting her axe above her head, she wrapped both hands around its handle. Using all her strength, she swung the mighty blade at him tearing up the earth in the process.

But the female never moved. She kept her distance from the boy. Mostly to try and figure out where this new power was coming from. Perhaps this fight would have to wait until a different day. The rain soaked through her clothing and her hair clung to her face. Her tattered scarf stuck close to her as she shifted her axe up onto her shoulder. "Well now isn't this interesting."[/b] Keres muttered softly as she wiped some more blood away from her cheek. "Michael it was a pleasure to do battle with you, but it seems I will have to end our fight for now. There are powerful enemies stirring in this land. And I need to make sure they know heir place."[/b] Growling the words, the female's eyes shifted back to their glowing blue state and Nyteri disappeared completely from her grip. With a gracious sweep of her arm, the female bowed before the young man. "You are a formidable foe but don't think I am giving up so easily. You will be under my control and I will be back for you. But until then I hope you can unlock your true potential. Goodbye Michael."[/b] Grinning like the mad woman she was, the female returned to her full height and gave him a small wink before she disappeared completely as well. The boy was left to endure the storm on his own. [/div]

words: i dunno~
notes: exit keres~
Credits: ROLLY of LOVE STAMP & BtN

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