Post by The Librarian on Jun 29, 2008 20:06:45 GMT -7
Winner: Atonement
19:18:02 Sardis subtle vibrations in the fabric of space and time would ripple above the arena causing the emergence of a small speck of light above this place of death. The speck grew, fed from those vibrations, seeming to be a miniature universe unto itself with stars and planets spinning in it's minuscule yet infinite depths. The light began to grow rabidly pulling energy directly from the bonds of the air around it as they broke and glowing brighter as it shifted into a form reminiscent of a seven sided star of pure light. The points began to lengthen taking new forms as legs, arms, a head, and finally two metallic wings emerged from that light. Sardis stepped forward from his realm into the material plane. His sapphire eyes surveyed the arena with an apathetic glance. Places of death such as this were an inevitability in this world. He didn't hate them, but nor did he enjoy them. Those bladed wings would twitch slightly as the figure descended into the stands. <c>
19:18:11 Sardis Those wings appeared to heavy to keep the figure aloft, there was obviously something else about him that kept this being lighter than air when needed. He was here for one reason. He had been called to fight, and so came.
19:25:50 [Atonement] ~Called to fight was not words that held enough depth to properly describe the reason Atonement was here. His very being was comprised of purpose, of failed life. He was the cataclysmic hand of destruction that was not fed by success or by death itself, but by the act of failure or falling from grace. Every star that fell from the sky, every angel that fell from heaven, and every bright soul to sink into darkness contributed to his fallen power. Manipulating the fabric of space/time in its entirety he would manifest a physical form. He could not simply start to exist there, for he already existed. He existed within and without of most things. The physical form that defined his existence began as a saturated blur of colors amongs the palette of reality. These colors slowly shifting in origin and shade, altering and shifting to form the perfect being. Energy coalesced throughout every "cell" which within themselves were nothing more than mere pretenders of biological life. Subtle orientations took place,<C>
19:29:15 [Atonement] ~altering the allegiance of each part of his body. Taking the form of an ambigous figure, he would stand tall amongst the sands of the coliseum. Cosmic events could not predict nor prevent his existence, instead they swayed to give him their strength. His left arm fell as a gift of Cancer, a muscled crab-like limb that snapped with deadly force. His shadow echoed his shape on the sands with the gift of Gemini. Ram's horns curled from his head, glowing red with the fire of Aries. A cloak covered most of his form, though the scorpion tail of Scorpio curled up around his back. He was a monster to some, a work of beauty to others. The air itself shimmered about him, taking a sapphire hue that further masked his true form, on this plane and others. Raising that clawed hand, he would snap violently at Sardis and offer him little more than an echoing laugh. The being's influence was powerful, soaking in the fabric of reality about him as he prepared to complete the task set before him. The death and consumption<C>
19:32:26 [Atonement] ~of Sardis. Summoning up the energy from the cosmos itself, he could feel their ways churning around him. His occuli glowed with a crimson fury that seemed to stain the fabric of reality as a subtle wave would be emitted from his mind. This subtle pulse would sink into the fabric of reality and spread like a virus amongst it. For now, no obvious effect would take place only a mark would be given. His influence had not increased, but he had changed something only nothing obvious at the moment. If Sardis took the moment to study it, he might sense that what he put into the field or in this case what action he took would determine exactly what the outcome was. No breath came to pale lips, though a fierce heart beat in a ravaged chest. The masked figure would stand, glaring those eyes out at his foe.~
19:51:49 Sardis studied his opponent as the being made its way into existence in this place in a similar yet different way from his own. His existence here was merely a stopping point. He usually resided on the positive energy plane. Those bladed wings would twitch ever so slightly sending a wave of vibrations through each of them, reashing higher and higher points until each of them connected with the places they were linked too. Connected to those threads, to the planes, to existence and fate itself. Sardis saw reality as a tapestry, and he was an expert weaver. There was something about this one, something that promised the chance for competition beyond what Sardis usually saw. Perhaps now was a good time to stretch his limits. One of those blades would flex and then shift quickly dragging a mark across the air beside the figure. That mark would expand and explode into a pillar of positive energy drawn from the plane he called home. For the moment, that pillar was merely left in its place, he had other plans yet. <c>
19:52:11 Sardis His wings would stretch out as far as they could go, and then come together rapidly with a jerking motion sending ripples through the fabric of reality, ripples heading right for Atonement. The purpose of those ripples was to move existence just slightly away from Atonement's form as the ripples moved outward. Nothing devastating of course, but the movement out wasn't the desired effect. Those ripples would continue to expand and then finally collapse leaving a vacuum of reality around the other being. The force of reality flooding back in to fill that vacuum might literally crush Atonement down to a single point. At this point, the pillar would shift seeming to pull all of the positive energy in the area around Atonement into itself leaving nothing but negative, death, energy for that point to expand back into.
20:01:12 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] If the ripples fail, does the pillar continue its part?
20:03:53 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] no
19:58:36 [Atonement] ~The problem wasn't in Sardis's technique or his mastery of his own abilities, it was in his underestimation of his opponent's abilities. The intent to destroy Atonement wasn't strong, but it was there. This intent, these actions would feed into the field that Atonement had previously set-up, though the effects would not come into play yet. The thing about ripples is that they move outwards but not in one direction, but all directions. They would most likely come into contact with Sardis unless Sardis had his own defense as well, but that was not really of importance. As these ripples entered Atonement's area of influence, they would be met with an opposing force. Like the concept of Newtonian physics, an action creates an equal and opposing re-action. This force would find itself with an equal ripple that mirrored Sardis's own action, the ripples cancelling themselves out as far as actually pushing Atonement away. However, this pillar would be something else. Positive energy ran along the muscles and<C>
20:05:09 [Atonement] ~form, marking him as something that drew great power from the Positive Energy Plane as well. He smirked, raising his right hand and revealing the mark of the Scales on his hand, the mark of Libra. These scales were the great equalizers of all things, the power to turn the tides. If the pillar would continue its actions despite the fact that the ripples had failed, it would find that by attempting to asborb the positive energy from him would cause him to bleed off a black-ish aura. The result would be a more even mixture of both positive and negative energies and that in turn, he would begin to feed off of the pillar as well as the negative energy it sought to bring. Regardless, it was time for a retaliation to occur. Using the powers at his disposal, the cloak would drop and reveal the muscled form of Atonement. Water constantly pooled and fell from his chest, turning to crimson blood as it ran down his chiseled stomach, yet his face remained masked. The scales that now pushed outwards would slowly begin<C>
20:08:29 [Atonement] ~tip, the marking on his hand turning a brilliant azure color as it did so. Energy would be released and the layers of space around Sardis would slowly begin to be pulled apart, layer by layer. Injecting his influence amongst these layers, he'd begin to seperate them from reality, causing them to become disconnected and simply non-existent. If the space around Sardis became disconnected and non-existed, then reality would close in the gaps like a wound and compact the space, attempting to crush and destroy Sardis with the sheer pressure on his entity. The more that space became disjointed, the more the pressure would increase upon Sardis's form.~
20:22:12 Sardis so they both were manipulators of positive energy. That would definitely make things interesting here. The positive and negative energy filling the spaces once again was left undisturbed. After all, in equal measure the energy created a balance which could sustain life. It was time for a new tactic in this little endeavor. Those bladed wings connected to the threads of reality would shudder slightly as Atonement began his attack, feeling the intrusion in the spaces between layers as the other began to inject his influence. Sardis had his own answers here. Those blades would become a blur as they began weaving through the planes and through the membrane of the dimensions. Each time Atonement connected his influence to one of those gaps, Sardis would weave that gap into the next one, creating at first a chain of gaps. The places where the gaps had been, Sardis would weave in the most readily available substance to him, that pillar of positive energy that was already flooding from the positive plane to the <c>
20:22:32 Sardis material. It wouldn't be a permanent fill, more like a band aid on reality, but composed of positive energy himself Sardis would not be harmed by the flood of energy that now surrounded him. Back to those gaps, that chain would be wrapped forming a cone as the weaver continued his work. Subtly shifting the reflection of the membrane, that cone would finally take form as a tunnel, a siphon pulling on Atonement's influence into a much smaller membrane, pulling that influence into a 0 dimensional space. Would it be possible for Atonement to disconnect himself from his own influence to prevent himself being drawn through that siphon into the prison that Sardis had woven for him?
20:29:32 [Atonement] ~only the foolish could allow themselves to fall into such a trap. As his influence was injected into the parts of reality he took over, he had followed a strict pattern. When each effect was given, he moved on to a new one, never leaving his influence exposed for too long. It would be assumed that as soon as Sardis blocked the first few attempts, Atonement would stop out of common-sense, but let's say for arguments sake he didn't and had fallen into Sardis's "trap". His influence was vast enough to control the very impact of time/space on reality, to simply assume he fell into the tunnel and was siphoned into a well-placed trap would be foolish. His influence was a branch of his own mentality, like an arm was from a body. The only problem is that he tried to form this cone in an area under his influence already. Sardis's movements were a response to Atonement, meaning that he formed his after Atonement injected his control. He quite simply denied the existence of such a tunnel, though as his influence <C>
20:32:33 [Atonement] ~left the previous spaces, Sardis was able to provide the patch ups that were made. Here, Atonement would now withdraw his influence from the spatial achievements he was striving for, and instead attack Sardis directly where he stood. Using the link that Sardis had formed between himself and the pillar of positive energy, he would inject a siphon of his own just like Sardis's into that link. Using it to his advantage, he would draw the mental presence of Sardis from his "body' and into this syphon that would draw it into 0-dimensional space. Again, because of Sardis's intent, the original field that Atonement had established would grow stronger, though no effect would occur. Every attack Sardis used, he would find re-visited upon himself in a more dangerous form. If he was busy, concerned with the spatial field around him, he may not even see this interjection along the cereberal pathways that lead from his mind to that which he had control over. And he may not even feel his mind being severed from his<C>
20:34:16 [Atonement] ~form until it was far too late. The scales on his palm tipped further, and power began to flow more freely from him. Blurry tendrils of manipulation spread forth from his back in the form of spatial anomalies. These rare occurrences fed off of probability and chance, altering the chances that Sardis would notice his mind as it were being severed. These tendrils would increase the chance that Sardis really had no clue what was happening to his mind that he was not fast enough to understand it. This would only be the beginning of the alterations, but the more energy Sardis fed him, the stronger he became.~
22:30:49 Sardis perhaps Atonement was testing his abilities, or perhaps he wasn't expecting the other to realize what was going on. Just as Atonement had known what Sardis was up to because Sardis was attacking an area already under Atonement's control, Sardis knew just what was happening when Atonement attacked the link to the pillar, a place already under Sardis' control. Sardis' mind knew everything that was happening in that pillar. Not because his mind was directly linked to it, but because he was controlling the threads of its existence. Those threads didn't lead directly to his mind through the link as Atonement surmised, they led to those bladed wings which plucked the threads so delicately. As Atonement first began to touch that link, Sardis would feel the subtle vibration of the influence through those threads. At this instant, he would pluck those threads sending waves back down the link that Atonement was trying to create, pushing that siphon away and sending ever stronger waves up the point that Atonement <c>
22:31:07 Sardis had tried to use as a connection. Ever increasing in strength, these waves would vibrate higher and higher until they reached a point where that attempted link would shatter. If Atonement's mind was connected to that link, the waves would continue on in the path to do the same thing with the other's mind vibrating until they reached a point where the mind could no longer hold itself in existence as it would split from everything around it and and completely remove itself from reality. Though he hoped the waves would do their job, Sardis was already in action with more. Each of those blades would twitch slightly, the metallic edges dancing off each other to cause a hauntingly beautiful melody like a chorus of angels joined by a chorus of lost souls. Each blade would move in turn acting upon each plane and each membrane they were connected too as they traced sigils through the fabric of reality around Sardis, filling the area around him with an unearthly glow as thousands of glowing symbols filled the area<c>
22:31:10 Sardis on this plane and at the point where those bladed wings touched each of the rest. Some of these sigils were for protection, many held other purposes however and they would be used if needed.
22:36:11 [Atonement] ~And it was here that the sheer epic of Sardis's demise would come into play, a poetic removal of existence. Sardis's intentions fed his demise faster than even Atonement could have hoped to have achieved the energy he needed. His mind had already left the connection, it would have been suicide to have it remain there within the depths of his trap. The waves would shatter his attempt at mimicking Sardis's attack, but that was of no consequence to Atonement. His right hand snapped shut and removed a bell from his belt. Holding it flat on his palm, it began to ring with an unnatural haunting echo. The sheer power of the sound waves caused reality to ripple, glowing eyes behind death's mask forcing the strength of the sound waves to increase in tremendous ways. A specifically designed barrier began to absorb them and reflect the sound waves with growing force and power, easily exceeding a thousand decibels. As the sound waves increased, his concentration began to increase as well. The physical form<C>
22:39:45 [Atonement] ~of anything without proper protection would easily be reduced to dust. The coliseum shook and reverberated with the sheer power that Atonement was releasing in the form of sound waves. The stands shattered and exploded in clouds of dust, the sand flew with literal sonic speed in every direction it was quite like an explosion of sheer sound. If a being was beyond the physical, how could they succumb to this attack? Simply, the dam would break. The dam that held up the energy of every attack Sardis had attempted, his intentions fed into the field that Atonement had set up in the very beginning. It operated much like Newton's Second Law, for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction. Atonement was the balancing force of Karma, the hand of vengeance and Atonement. The desire to destroy Atonement that Sardis had exhibited fed this field of energy, releasing it all into the field of probability. What would occur here would be the utter manipulation of the physical form of Sardis at his most <C>
22:43:20 [Atonement] ~fundamental level. Manipulating him, changing him with the aid of probability and reality manipulation. The sheer force of Sardis's own intentions multiplied against him would lead him straight into the burden of destruction. Altering Sardis's physical form, the attempt was to nuetralize him by forming his body in a Quantum Tunneled-like state, that of a wave-like form. Reducing his structure into a series of waves that would be smothered and snuffed out by the intense and varying waves of sound that were all around. Sardis may be above the laws of physics, but with no conduit for his soul or mind, how could he still exist? Atonement raised his clawed hand, blood from his own abdoment dripping from it as twin beams of light shot forth from his occuli, twisting and spiraling into the sky. A crimson field would appear all around them, one very similiar to the one around his body, one that would reflect merely the sound waves back into the center. Atonement's physical form twisted in and out of reality as he<C>
22:44:39 [Atonement] ~sustained the field of manipulation about them. His personal energy reserves were barely tapped into, Sardis had fed his own demise. How much weight did the desire to destroy carry? The desire to annihilate pure existence? It held enough energy that when multiplied by Atonement's attack, Sardis would have little chance of surviving. Though somehow, Atonement hoped he would.~
23:00:29 Sardis Atonement possibly underestimated his opponent. Sardis had already shown his own skill at manipulating waves. Of course the force of his own will multiplied against him would almost entirely blot out any chance of a major reaction on Sardis' part. Here, he was glad for those few seconds he had taken to trace the sigils as the protection ones began to activate sending out stabilizing waves of their own to keep the connection of Sardis' soul and mind open. With so much motion in the threads, Sardis would grasp those that were most important. Those bladed wings would grasp the threads of his own form plucking them like a trained harp player, pulling out a song from existence, a melody. That specific melody was Sardis' own form, a song that would be dangerous for any to play as one false note could ruin everything. It would take all of his concentration and skill to twist those notes and weave the threads keeping his form stable in the maelstrom of chaos that was surrounding him.
23:00:44 Sardis By the time it was over, he would be weakened, but he would still be there.
23:33:25 [Atonement] ~The massive orchestra of chaos that played this harmoic symphony of obliteration inhaled like a massive lung. Atonement's own energy began to drain rapidly as he prepared for the crescendo of annihilation that would surely spawn the ending of everything that hated him, of Sardis. For if he acted not of hate, was it love? Atonement acted out of stoic destruction, the desire simply to desire. He blood poured from his claw as he squeezed it tight, his abdomen bleeding bloody tears. The glowing of his eyes burned fire into the heavens, fire that ripped the sky in twain. From the heavens poured a rain of crimson lightning that struck the ground in flurried drifts, exploding the already quite devestated ground. The field that reflected the sound would constrict inwards, allowing non-wavelike matter to pass through it. Focusing on the one spot where Sardis stood, it would constrict the sound waves into an ever decreasing area. This reflection would intensify the sound waves to the point that they would<C>
23:37:39 [Atonement] ~eventually reach an ultimately high frequency and force until finally, the sphere got so small it would be almost invisible. The lightning ceased its display, and Atonement fell to his knees, clawed hand dropping to the ground. The ruins of the world around him were greeted by a sinister laugh. The laugh echoed not from within, but from without Atonement's lungs. He needed more power for anything sufficient to be created from within him, but he had one trump card remaining. Forcing himself to his feet, he raised his clawed arm and aimed it at Sardis. Reality warped around it, spatial dimensions seeming to fluctuate as his claw moved in and out of focus, twisting and churning like a rushing river. His form stood there, gathering power into his clawed arm as he prepared to finish opponent. Did his opponent truly have a moment of reprise, or was this simply a false hope?~
23:50:16 Sardis would use that moment of possible reprise to pull all of the energy from that pillar into himself, closing the rip to the positive plane as he refreshed his body as much as possible. His reserves were depleted, but he was still alive for the moment. Those sigils still hung in the air around him, those that weren't protective having had no reason to activate and the others quickly being retraced by those bladed wings. Sardis surveyed his opponent. It seemed that everything he tried was being turned back against him in a different yet similar way. With that in mind, he set about a different tactic. Once again those bladed wings would reach out and begin to trace sigils of protection, but not around his own form. These new sigils would be traced around Atonement himself. It was a long shot, but this angelic being was losing any other ideas he might have at the moment when it came to dealing with the other individual.
23:59:48 [Atonement] ~The action that Sardis did was smart, yes but it wasn't definitive. The idea of the field wasn't behind the actions, but the intent behind the actions. He was providing protection to Sardis against himself, the intention behind the actions was to peserve himself for longer. It wasn't meant to harm Atonement, so it wouldn't feed into his field any but it wouldn't provide much of a benefit save to build up an influx of energy that could only be used to protect Sardis. However, that energy would remain unused as Atonement had not used the other energy earlier, he would save this up as well. His crab-claw opened and released the stored up energy he had committed to the destructon of Sardis. A think, one-dimensional line of energy spread forth from the open claw, one that stretched and spiraled out in a web, almost net-like fashion. It would be nearly impossible to see these lines as they blended in perfectly with their surroundings, spreading out and opening up to bloom around Sardis. It was here that they<C>
00:02:41 [Atonement] ~would suddenly begin to spin before reaching Sardis. It wound spin, causing an extreme amount of force to be exerted on the very fabric of reality, space/time around Sardis beginning to ripple and fluxuate as momentum built up. Like a gigantic, dimensional centrifuge this incredible manipulation would attempt to cause the fundamental form of Sardis upon the fabric of reality, to be distributed amongst the fabric. It would be like a dimensional smear of energy and presence, an entity splattered and discombobulated amongst space, the central goal to ultimately end Sardis. As his power level began to drop drastically, Atonement again fell to his knees beginning to flicker in and out of existence with exertion.~
00:14:48 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] I wasn't as specific with that attack as I should have been, I'm starting to get exhausted. If you have any questions let me know.
00:16:40 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] I'll post then you can let me know if I screwed something up
00:16:42 Sardis it seemed that any attempt to harm Atonement merely made the other stronger as he fed off of that intent. How then would he feed off of the intent to merely survive? As Atonement began to release energy in Sardis' direction, those sigils that the angel had drawn around the other would light up performing their task of protecting their creator. That light would feed into the 1-dimensional lines, not to harm them but to mark it so that Sardis would be able to see them approach. Those bladed wings would begin to weave again, not to harm those lines or Atonement but merely to give the lines a different path. He would reach out just before atonement's claw and begin to weave a new pattern, a trail for those lines to follow as they wove back and forth in a magnificent tapestry created from the will of both of the combatants. At the point where the lines would have bloomed, the tapestry would expand into a brilliant light like fireworks on a dimensional level as the energy spread out into the different paths of <c>
00:16:57 Sardis reality that surrounded the two. In effect, Sardis would take something deadly and turn it into something beautiful. [/color]
00:22:41 [Atonement] ~His power was beginning to fade and was no longer being fed by Sardis's will. But if Sardis had not the desire to destroy him how could either one of them truly win the fight? The answer was that while Atonement's focus was guided by the spirits of vengeance, he was not fueled entirely by Sardis, but by the emotions of those within the world. Drawing from them would take too much time, so he simply began a link to pull upon the souls of the dead that were very much a part of him. This would give him enough energy to remain constant, but not much else. He would use the final remains of his energy and the link he had with his previous attack in an attempt to turn it around. Sardis's defense was sufficient and quite as masterful as he might have expected, however Atonement wasn't finished. Pulling his arm across the space in front of him, he'd drag it across like a net, not aiming for Sardis directly. The sheer force he was attempting to manipulate did not only effect the space within it, but the space<C>
00:26:51 [Atonement] ~without it. The power would continue to spin and churn, this time with the added effect of Sardis's light. Dimensional winds would pour forth from the structure, causing ripples along the dimensions that would physically knock material back, but beyond that could very easily cause molecules to be forced apart and to seperate. What was meant to be a centrifuge would now be altered into a sort of "dimensional cyclone" that would cause massive ripples along the colseium. However, Atonement would not be entirely exempt from this. The cyclone occurred much closer to Sardis than to Atonement, and as such wouldn't be as devestating but it could still prove to be a problem. Slamming his hand into the ground he would reach through the earth, grounding himself tightly into it. Kicking his feet into the ground and stretching them through the earth, he would begin to alter his own being. Replacing the parts that existed within him that were aligned with the positive energy plane, he would begin to align himself<C>
00:27:46 [Atonement] ~with the element of the Earth. Giving him the ability to weather the storm he was creating and gaining abit more power to sustain the hurricane itself. As he did so, he began to lose much more of himself. If the fight continued onwards, he would not be able to withstand it much longer. The fight needed to end now, or it wouldn't end in his favor.~
00:39:19 Sardis didn't have the same luxury that Atonement did. He was composed of positive energy, he could not merely realign himself and weather the storm through sheer merit of being something unaffected by it. Those bladed wings were already slowing in their reaction, his glow slightly fading, all from the strain of playing the melody that held his own existence. To try and play that tune again would kill him anyway. He did however have his own method of dealing with the cyclone. He pulled into himself, those wings vibrating and plucking the threads as his form seemed to lose first it's third dimension becoming a flat representation of the being it had once been. It didn't stop here though as it pulled in the second dimension as well turning his form merely into a line. I line may stretch, but was unlikely to be broken even in such a maelstrom as this cyclone. The line would twist and weave with it's own consciousness trying to take the simplest path through the corridors of rippling reality that made up this <c>
00:39:26 Sardis massive upheaval. He would wait and weather out the storm as a single piece of debris floating on the winds of the dimensions until the point where it felt safe to come out again. At this point, the line would vibrate. Those vibrations would happen faster and faster until that line stretched out again giving Sardis once more a 2nd dimension. Again those first two dimensions would vibrate until the third dimension was reached and Sardis' form would once more be standing there. For a brief moment, he stood there in his full glory beside the figure of Atonement. He would take a simple step forward and kick at the man attempting to end such a massive conflict with a final simple act of physical violence. The glow of his glory fading as the last of his energy was used up. Both fighters were weakened. Sardis would collapse to his knees and survey the battlefield.
00:41:47 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] One question, did you reduce your mass by reducing the dimensions, or just your physical properties?
00:42:46 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] hmm. . . didn't even think about that when I made that post. Of course the answer that seems obvious to me would be that his mass would reduce in accordance with less dimensions.
00:43:33 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Right, which would mean you would be entirely and literally, blown away. Rofl.
00:45:02 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] yeah he would be blown away, but think of it like a piece of straw in a tornado. It can get blown everywhere, but in the end it isn't likely to be damaged, just end up sitting somewhere else
00:46:12 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Well exactly my point. You're probably like...far ways away and we're both too weak to even get closer. Though, I'l go with the post and continue.
00:46:35 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] k
00:51:53 [Atonement] ~His stone, earth, and sand like form barely held itself together. He lifted his rocky hand as Sardis's kick caused what would be his head to explode into dirt. Drawing the energy from the earth he would quite simply bring himself together within the surface of the sandy coliseum. Manipulating the pieces of sand that now made up parts of his body, he would begin to form behind Sardis. Rising from the sea of sand, he would form an almost human like form that bore the same mask as before, but not much else. His glowing eyes would stare down at Sardis as he remembered the energy from the kick. The kick wasn't neccessarily intended to destroy him, but to end the conflict. Using the energy from this and directing it, he would outstretch his sandy arm. Vibrating his particles, he'd use telekinetic force to fling them at the form of Sardis and utilize the final realm of his energy to emply quantum tunneling once more. He'd effect entropy to the point that the normally harmless sand would attempt to tunnel through<C>
00:53:16 [Atonement] ~his opponent's form and create such velocity, to tear miniscule holes through his body. It was using the principle that if projectiles collide with a barrier that is impassable, that there is a chance some will still pass through. Relatively weak, but there wasn't too much more he could do or he'd reduce himself to dust.~
00:56:16 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] We can't really end this in a draw, so we'll have to decide a winner, or do a rematch.
00:57:35 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] or I could just turn around and blow really hard so you turn into dust and float away ~_0
00:58:13 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] Actually I have an idea
00:59:28 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Not that weak, maintaining the form doesn't require that much energy considering what he is.
01:02:05 Sardis lay weakened on the ground as Atonement's head shattered. He took a few labored breaths and heard the sound of sand behind him beginning to move. With his last ounce of strength, he brought both of those massive wings up, and brought them down again hard, his 25ft wingspan creating a momentary eddy in the air around him, a miniature whirlwind to try and blow that sand so far away that the pieces couldn't all find each other. With that, those wings would collapse down over the angel's form, a shield if the sand came to attack. He wouldn't die here, but since he was only feeding off the latent positive energy in the place it would take him a long time to gather the strength to stand again and move himself to his home plane.
22:16:15 [Atonement] ~The flapping of the wings dispersed the futile effort of the sand, but did not harm Atonement's body. For Sardis forgot one thing he had done, he had twice protected Atonement. Once with the runes, and once with the act of protecting him and himself. That much energy released into his form allowed him to solidify his efforts, but more importantly utilize the runes to his advantage as well. These last reserves of energy would be used to form a more solid form, a form much more devastating than the likes of sand. Psionically affecting the air about him, warping and causing the molecules to increase in speed he would begin to heat up the air. The act of creating friction would assist in creating fire, burning the oxygen in the air. Spreading the fire over the normally unburnable substance of the sand that made his body, he would concentrate it in a very condensed sphere around his body. As he concentrated and focused the sheer force of the heat, he'd spread it along his form in a brilliant burst of light.<C>
22:19:26 [Atonement] ~The sphere would shatter apart and reveal a white hot mass of glassed sand that was beginning to cool yet given the special properties of the true molecules of Atonement's body, he would be able to control very much like a giant golem of superheated glass. Where once was hands made of sand were now razor sharp blades of crystalized sand. The monstrosity wore armor made of the clay of the earth, a breast plate and helm that covered places where organs should be. Brilliant crimson occuli stared out from behind a mask of clay as a crystalized blade was raised. Bringing his form over the top of Sardis, he would bring an earthen foot up to crush his legs and pin him to the ground, whilst those bladed arms would be brought down upon his foe to eviscerate him.~
22:20:58 [Sardis] so much for everyone being tired
22:21:59 [Atonement] He was tired, he just has alternating sources of energy.
22:30:57 Sardis it seemed that this fight wasn't nearly as close to being over as Sardis had thought before. At least now his runes around Atonement were used up. Sardis would wait. He was tired and if he didn't time this right he wouldn't have the energy to continue. As his foe began to superheat himself and change his form, Sardis would slowly roll up to his knees in a position that almost made him look as if he were about to surrender. His wings would wrap almost timidly around his body seeming to reach for Atonement in an act of asking mercy. That flash and that shattering sphere would be his moment to strike. Those blades would pull back rapidly tugging on the threads of heat around Atonement to drop the temperature around the other being to Absolute Zero. With a controlled release, that glassed sand was going to crystallize in the form Atonement wanted if it was allowed time to shift and cool as it hardened. Sardis was merely trying to speed up the cooling process so fast that the mass would have time to only <c>
22:31:00 Sardis form one crystal, effectively locking his opponent in place. Though it wasn't positive energy, that heat energy would still be like a quick shot of adrenaline for the angelic being, and he would step back, bringing his wings up to defend himself if need be, those bladed feathers moving to intercept Atonement's own blades. If he had succeeded in freezing his opponent in place even for a second. One of those blades would thrust forward in an attempt to shatter the mass.
22:43:27 [Atonement] ~Supercooling to counter-act the heat? The problem was that as soon as he was reduced to Absolute Zero, he would feed more energy into it, spreading his sphere as much as he could to engulf Sardis. He was a being of alternating energy and abilities, heat would be his friend but so would Ice. He would actually feed into the supercooling of his body and of the very air around Sardis. He was looking to freeze the very blood in his body to subzero temperatures, of course it would not go solid due to supercooling but simply reach unbearable levels. Beyond that, the specialized molecules in Atonement's body would shift to adapt to the change in energy, giving dead cells life or unmovable objects mtion. Freezing into one solid structure, the structure would snap and break with crystalline breaks in the solid material. Shattering the shell about him, a figure half the size of the intended monstrosity would appear, this time of frozen crystals like a being of solid ice. The glacious blades that dripped from the imp <C
22:44:36 [Atonement] ~like form would be just a sharp as before, this time combined with the deadly force of the cold. If the supercooling didn't kill Sardis outright, he would be eviscerated by the two bladed arms of the crystal imp. It would move with incredible, near impossible speed as it rushed forward, attempting to cut Sardis right across the vein that ran along his inner thigh.~
22:49:12 Sardis that was his last shot. Gaining strength from the heat was the final thing he could do to keep himself in this fight. As such, he began to weaken considerably when the cold reached him. He would hunch over, frost forming over his bladed wings and body for a split second before the cold caused what motion was left in those wings to make pieces of them shatter and slough off of the angelic being. His final act for this battle would be to close off the link to his soul to that his body would eventually regenerate on the positive energy plane. Atonement could do to this shell as he wished. Sardis had lost, but the experience taught him many hard lessons that he would apply as soon as he was able.
22:53:57 [Atonement] ~Atonement's imp would fall shattered to the ground as soon as the battle was over, Atonement releasing his control over what form he had left. His special molecules would simply spread out and move on, his entity attempting to regain his physical form. Copying what he learned from Sardis he would establish it into his next form, in his next fight.~!
19:18:02 Sardis subtle vibrations in the fabric of space and time would ripple above the arena causing the emergence of a small speck of light above this place of death. The speck grew, fed from those vibrations, seeming to be a miniature universe unto itself with stars and planets spinning in it's minuscule yet infinite depths. The light began to grow rabidly pulling energy directly from the bonds of the air around it as they broke and glowing brighter as it shifted into a form reminiscent of a seven sided star of pure light. The points began to lengthen taking new forms as legs, arms, a head, and finally two metallic wings emerged from that light. Sardis stepped forward from his realm into the material plane. His sapphire eyes surveyed the arena with an apathetic glance. Places of death such as this were an inevitability in this world. He didn't hate them, but nor did he enjoy them. Those bladed wings would twitch slightly as the figure descended into the stands. <c>
19:18:11 Sardis Those wings appeared to heavy to keep the figure aloft, there was obviously something else about him that kept this being lighter than air when needed. He was here for one reason. He had been called to fight, and so came.
19:25:50 [Atonement] ~Called to fight was not words that held enough depth to properly describe the reason Atonement was here. His very being was comprised of purpose, of failed life. He was the cataclysmic hand of destruction that was not fed by success or by death itself, but by the act of failure or falling from grace. Every star that fell from the sky, every angel that fell from heaven, and every bright soul to sink into darkness contributed to his fallen power. Manipulating the fabric of space/time in its entirety he would manifest a physical form. He could not simply start to exist there, for he already existed. He existed within and without of most things. The physical form that defined his existence began as a saturated blur of colors amongs the palette of reality. These colors slowly shifting in origin and shade, altering and shifting to form the perfect being. Energy coalesced throughout every "cell" which within themselves were nothing more than mere pretenders of biological life. Subtle orientations took place,<C>
19:29:15 [Atonement] ~altering the allegiance of each part of his body. Taking the form of an ambigous figure, he would stand tall amongst the sands of the coliseum. Cosmic events could not predict nor prevent his existence, instead they swayed to give him their strength. His left arm fell as a gift of Cancer, a muscled crab-like limb that snapped with deadly force. His shadow echoed his shape on the sands with the gift of Gemini. Ram's horns curled from his head, glowing red with the fire of Aries. A cloak covered most of his form, though the scorpion tail of Scorpio curled up around his back. He was a monster to some, a work of beauty to others. The air itself shimmered about him, taking a sapphire hue that further masked his true form, on this plane and others. Raising that clawed hand, he would snap violently at Sardis and offer him little more than an echoing laugh. The being's influence was powerful, soaking in the fabric of reality about him as he prepared to complete the task set before him. The death and consumption<C>
19:32:26 [Atonement] ~of Sardis. Summoning up the energy from the cosmos itself, he could feel their ways churning around him. His occuli glowed with a crimson fury that seemed to stain the fabric of reality as a subtle wave would be emitted from his mind. This subtle pulse would sink into the fabric of reality and spread like a virus amongst it. For now, no obvious effect would take place only a mark would be given. His influence had not increased, but he had changed something only nothing obvious at the moment. If Sardis took the moment to study it, he might sense that what he put into the field or in this case what action he took would determine exactly what the outcome was. No breath came to pale lips, though a fierce heart beat in a ravaged chest. The masked figure would stand, glaring those eyes out at his foe.~
19:51:49 Sardis studied his opponent as the being made its way into existence in this place in a similar yet different way from his own. His existence here was merely a stopping point. He usually resided on the positive energy plane. Those bladed wings would twitch ever so slightly sending a wave of vibrations through each of them, reashing higher and higher points until each of them connected with the places they were linked too. Connected to those threads, to the planes, to existence and fate itself. Sardis saw reality as a tapestry, and he was an expert weaver. There was something about this one, something that promised the chance for competition beyond what Sardis usually saw. Perhaps now was a good time to stretch his limits. One of those blades would flex and then shift quickly dragging a mark across the air beside the figure. That mark would expand and explode into a pillar of positive energy drawn from the plane he called home. For the moment, that pillar was merely left in its place, he had other plans yet. <c>
19:52:11 Sardis His wings would stretch out as far as they could go, and then come together rapidly with a jerking motion sending ripples through the fabric of reality, ripples heading right for Atonement. The purpose of those ripples was to move existence just slightly away from Atonement's form as the ripples moved outward. Nothing devastating of course, but the movement out wasn't the desired effect. Those ripples would continue to expand and then finally collapse leaving a vacuum of reality around the other being. The force of reality flooding back in to fill that vacuum might literally crush Atonement down to a single point. At this point, the pillar would shift seeming to pull all of the positive energy in the area around Atonement into itself leaving nothing but negative, death, energy for that point to expand back into.
20:01:12 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] If the ripples fail, does the pillar continue its part?
20:03:53 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] no
19:58:36 [Atonement] ~The problem wasn't in Sardis's technique or his mastery of his own abilities, it was in his underestimation of his opponent's abilities. The intent to destroy Atonement wasn't strong, but it was there. This intent, these actions would feed into the field that Atonement had previously set-up, though the effects would not come into play yet. The thing about ripples is that they move outwards but not in one direction, but all directions. They would most likely come into contact with Sardis unless Sardis had his own defense as well, but that was not really of importance. As these ripples entered Atonement's area of influence, they would be met with an opposing force. Like the concept of Newtonian physics, an action creates an equal and opposing re-action. This force would find itself with an equal ripple that mirrored Sardis's own action, the ripples cancelling themselves out as far as actually pushing Atonement away. However, this pillar would be something else. Positive energy ran along the muscles and<C>
20:05:09 [Atonement] ~form, marking him as something that drew great power from the Positive Energy Plane as well. He smirked, raising his right hand and revealing the mark of the Scales on his hand, the mark of Libra. These scales were the great equalizers of all things, the power to turn the tides. If the pillar would continue its actions despite the fact that the ripples had failed, it would find that by attempting to asborb the positive energy from him would cause him to bleed off a black-ish aura. The result would be a more even mixture of both positive and negative energies and that in turn, he would begin to feed off of the pillar as well as the negative energy it sought to bring. Regardless, it was time for a retaliation to occur. Using the powers at his disposal, the cloak would drop and reveal the muscled form of Atonement. Water constantly pooled and fell from his chest, turning to crimson blood as it ran down his chiseled stomach, yet his face remained masked. The scales that now pushed outwards would slowly begin<C>
20:08:29 [Atonement] ~tip, the marking on his hand turning a brilliant azure color as it did so. Energy would be released and the layers of space around Sardis would slowly begin to be pulled apart, layer by layer. Injecting his influence amongst these layers, he'd begin to seperate them from reality, causing them to become disconnected and simply non-existent. If the space around Sardis became disconnected and non-existed, then reality would close in the gaps like a wound and compact the space, attempting to crush and destroy Sardis with the sheer pressure on his entity. The more that space became disjointed, the more the pressure would increase upon Sardis's form.~
20:22:12 Sardis so they both were manipulators of positive energy. That would definitely make things interesting here. The positive and negative energy filling the spaces once again was left undisturbed. After all, in equal measure the energy created a balance which could sustain life. It was time for a new tactic in this little endeavor. Those bladed wings connected to the threads of reality would shudder slightly as Atonement began his attack, feeling the intrusion in the spaces between layers as the other began to inject his influence. Sardis had his own answers here. Those blades would become a blur as they began weaving through the planes and through the membrane of the dimensions. Each time Atonement connected his influence to one of those gaps, Sardis would weave that gap into the next one, creating at first a chain of gaps. The places where the gaps had been, Sardis would weave in the most readily available substance to him, that pillar of positive energy that was already flooding from the positive plane to the <c>
20:22:32 Sardis material. It wouldn't be a permanent fill, more like a band aid on reality, but composed of positive energy himself Sardis would not be harmed by the flood of energy that now surrounded him. Back to those gaps, that chain would be wrapped forming a cone as the weaver continued his work. Subtly shifting the reflection of the membrane, that cone would finally take form as a tunnel, a siphon pulling on Atonement's influence into a much smaller membrane, pulling that influence into a 0 dimensional space. Would it be possible for Atonement to disconnect himself from his own influence to prevent himself being drawn through that siphon into the prison that Sardis had woven for him?
20:29:32 [Atonement] ~only the foolish could allow themselves to fall into such a trap. As his influence was injected into the parts of reality he took over, he had followed a strict pattern. When each effect was given, he moved on to a new one, never leaving his influence exposed for too long. It would be assumed that as soon as Sardis blocked the first few attempts, Atonement would stop out of common-sense, but let's say for arguments sake he didn't and had fallen into Sardis's "trap". His influence was vast enough to control the very impact of time/space on reality, to simply assume he fell into the tunnel and was siphoned into a well-placed trap would be foolish. His influence was a branch of his own mentality, like an arm was from a body. The only problem is that he tried to form this cone in an area under his influence already. Sardis's movements were a response to Atonement, meaning that he formed his after Atonement injected his control. He quite simply denied the existence of such a tunnel, though as his influence <C>
20:32:33 [Atonement] ~left the previous spaces, Sardis was able to provide the patch ups that were made. Here, Atonement would now withdraw his influence from the spatial achievements he was striving for, and instead attack Sardis directly where he stood. Using the link that Sardis had formed between himself and the pillar of positive energy, he would inject a siphon of his own just like Sardis's into that link. Using it to his advantage, he would draw the mental presence of Sardis from his "body' and into this syphon that would draw it into 0-dimensional space. Again, because of Sardis's intent, the original field that Atonement had established would grow stronger, though no effect would occur. Every attack Sardis used, he would find re-visited upon himself in a more dangerous form. If he was busy, concerned with the spatial field around him, he may not even see this interjection along the cereberal pathways that lead from his mind to that which he had control over. And he may not even feel his mind being severed from his<C>
20:34:16 [Atonement] ~form until it was far too late. The scales on his palm tipped further, and power began to flow more freely from him. Blurry tendrils of manipulation spread forth from his back in the form of spatial anomalies. These rare occurrences fed off of probability and chance, altering the chances that Sardis would notice his mind as it were being severed. These tendrils would increase the chance that Sardis really had no clue what was happening to his mind that he was not fast enough to understand it. This would only be the beginning of the alterations, but the more energy Sardis fed him, the stronger he became.~
22:30:49 Sardis perhaps Atonement was testing his abilities, or perhaps he wasn't expecting the other to realize what was going on. Just as Atonement had known what Sardis was up to because Sardis was attacking an area already under Atonement's control, Sardis knew just what was happening when Atonement attacked the link to the pillar, a place already under Sardis' control. Sardis' mind knew everything that was happening in that pillar. Not because his mind was directly linked to it, but because he was controlling the threads of its existence. Those threads didn't lead directly to his mind through the link as Atonement surmised, they led to those bladed wings which plucked the threads so delicately. As Atonement first began to touch that link, Sardis would feel the subtle vibration of the influence through those threads. At this instant, he would pluck those threads sending waves back down the link that Atonement was trying to create, pushing that siphon away and sending ever stronger waves up the point that Atonement <c>
22:31:07 Sardis had tried to use as a connection. Ever increasing in strength, these waves would vibrate higher and higher until they reached a point where that attempted link would shatter. If Atonement's mind was connected to that link, the waves would continue on in the path to do the same thing with the other's mind vibrating until they reached a point where the mind could no longer hold itself in existence as it would split from everything around it and and completely remove itself from reality. Though he hoped the waves would do their job, Sardis was already in action with more. Each of those blades would twitch slightly, the metallic edges dancing off each other to cause a hauntingly beautiful melody like a chorus of angels joined by a chorus of lost souls. Each blade would move in turn acting upon each plane and each membrane they were connected too as they traced sigils through the fabric of reality around Sardis, filling the area around him with an unearthly glow as thousands of glowing symbols filled the area<c>
22:31:10 Sardis on this plane and at the point where those bladed wings touched each of the rest. Some of these sigils were for protection, many held other purposes however and they would be used if needed.
22:36:11 [Atonement] ~And it was here that the sheer epic of Sardis's demise would come into play, a poetic removal of existence. Sardis's intentions fed his demise faster than even Atonement could have hoped to have achieved the energy he needed. His mind had already left the connection, it would have been suicide to have it remain there within the depths of his trap. The waves would shatter his attempt at mimicking Sardis's attack, but that was of no consequence to Atonement. His right hand snapped shut and removed a bell from his belt. Holding it flat on his palm, it began to ring with an unnatural haunting echo. The sheer power of the sound waves caused reality to ripple, glowing eyes behind death's mask forcing the strength of the sound waves to increase in tremendous ways. A specifically designed barrier began to absorb them and reflect the sound waves with growing force and power, easily exceeding a thousand decibels. As the sound waves increased, his concentration began to increase as well. The physical form<C>
22:39:45 [Atonement] ~of anything without proper protection would easily be reduced to dust. The coliseum shook and reverberated with the sheer power that Atonement was releasing in the form of sound waves. The stands shattered and exploded in clouds of dust, the sand flew with literal sonic speed in every direction it was quite like an explosion of sheer sound. If a being was beyond the physical, how could they succumb to this attack? Simply, the dam would break. The dam that held up the energy of every attack Sardis had attempted, his intentions fed into the field that Atonement had set up in the very beginning. It operated much like Newton's Second Law, for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction. Atonement was the balancing force of Karma, the hand of vengeance and Atonement. The desire to destroy Atonement that Sardis had exhibited fed this field of energy, releasing it all into the field of probability. What would occur here would be the utter manipulation of the physical form of Sardis at his most <C>
22:43:20 [Atonement] ~fundamental level. Manipulating him, changing him with the aid of probability and reality manipulation. The sheer force of Sardis's own intentions multiplied against him would lead him straight into the burden of destruction. Altering Sardis's physical form, the attempt was to nuetralize him by forming his body in a Quantum Tunneled-like state, that of a wave-like form. Reducing his structure into a series of waves that would be smothered and snuffed out by the intense and varying waves of sound that were all around. Sardis may be above the laws of physics, but with no conduit for his soul or mind, how could he still exist? Atonement raised his clawed hand, blood from his own abdoment dripping from it as twin beams of light shot forth from his occuli, twisting and spiraling into the sky. A crimson field would appear all around them, one very similiar to the one around his body, one that would reflect merely the sound waves back into the center. Atonement's physical form twisted in and out of reality as he<C>
22:44:39 [Atonement] ~sustained the field of manipulation about them. His personal energy reserves were barely tapped into, Sardis had fed his own demise. How much weight did the desire to destroy carry? The desire to annihilate pure existence? It held enough energy that when multiplied by Atonement's attack, Sardis would have little chance of surviving. Though somehow, Atonement hoped he would.~
23:00:29 Sardis Atonement possibly underestimated his opponent. Sardis had already shown his own skill at manipulating waves. Of course the force of his own will multiplied against him would almost entirely blot out any chance of a major reaction on Sardis' part. Here, he was glad for those few seconds he had taken to trace the sigils as the protection ones began to activate sending out stabilizing waves of their own to keep the connection of Sardis' soul and mind open. With so much motion in the threads, Sardis would grasp those that were most important. Those bladed wings would grasp the threads of his own form plucking them like a trained harp player, pulling out a song from existence, a melody. That specific melody was Sardis' own form, a song that would be dangerous for any to play as one false note could ruin everything. It would take all of his concentration and skill to twist those notes and weave the threads keeping his form stable in the maelstrom of chaos that was surrounding him.
23:00:44 Sardis By the time it was over, he would be weakened, but he would still be there.
23:33:25 [Atonement] ~The massive orchestra of chaos that played this harmoic symphony of obliteration inhaled like a massive lung. Atonement's own energy began to drain rapidly as he prepared for the crescendo of annihilation that would surely spawn the ending of everything that hated him, of Sardis. For if he acted not of hate, was it love? Atonement acted out of stoic destruction, the desire simply to desire. He blood poured from his claw as he squeezed it tight, his abdomen bleeding bloody tears. The glowing of his eyes burned fire into the heavens, fire that ripped the sky in twain. From the heavens poured a rain of crimson lightning that struck the ground in flurried drifts, exploding the already quite devestated ground. The field that reflected the sound would constrict inwards, allowing non-wavelike matter to pass through it. Focusing on the one spot where Sardis stood, it would constrict the sound waves into an ever decreasing area. This reflection would intensify the sound waves to the point that they would<C>
23:37:39 [Atonement] ~eventually reach an ultimately high frequency and force until finally, the sphere got so small it would be almost invisible. The lightning ceased its display, and Atonement fell to his knees, clawed hand dropping to the ground. The ruins of the world around him were greeted by a sinister laugh. The laugh echoed not from within, but from without Atonement's lungs. He needed more power for anything sufficient to be created from within him, but he had one trump card remaining. Forcing himself to his feet, he raised his clawed arm and aimed it at Sardis. Reality warped around it, spatial dimensions seeming to fluctuate as his claw moved in and out of focus, twisting and churning like a rushing river. His form stood there, gathering power into his clawed arm as he prepared to finish opponent. Did his opponent truly have a moment of reprise, or was this simply a false hope?~
23:50:16 Sardis would use that moment of possible reprise to pull all of the energy from that pillar into himself, closing the rip to the positive plane as he refreshed his body as much as possible. His reserves were depleted, but he was still alive for the moment. Those sigils still hung in the air around him, those that weren't protective having had no reason to activate and the others quickly being retraced by those bladed wings. Sardis surveyed his opponent. It seemed that everything he tried was being turned back against him in a different yet similar way. With that in mind, he set about a different tactic. Once again those bladed wings would reach out and begin to trace sigils of protection, but not around his own form. These new sigils would be traced around Atonement himself. It was a long shot, but this angelic being was losing any other ideas he might have at the moment when it came to dealing with the other individual.
23:59:48 [Atonement] ~The action that Sardis did was smart, yes but it wasn't definitive. The idea of the field wasn't behind the actions, but the intent behind the actions. He was providing protection to Sardis against himself, the intention behind the actions was to peserve himself for longer. It wasn't meant to harm Atonement, so it wouldn't feed into his field any but it wouldn't provide much of a benefit save to build up an influx of energy that could only be used to protect Sardis. However, that energy would remain unused as Atonement had not used the other energy earlier, he would save this up as well. His crab-claw opened and released the stored up energy he had committed to the destructon of Sardis. A think, one-dimensional line of energy spread forth from the open claw, one that stretched and spiraled out in a web, almost net-like fashion. It would be nearly impossible to see these lines as they blended in perfectly with their surroundings, spreading out and opening up to bloom around Sardis. It was here that they<C>
00:02:41 [Atonement] ~would suddenly begin to spin before reaching Sardis. It wound spin, causing an extreme amount of force to be exerted on the very fabric of reality, space/time around Sardis beginning to ripple and fluxuate as momentum built up. Like a gigantic, dimensional centrifuge this incredible manipulation would attempt to cause the fundamental form of Sardis upon the fabric of reality, to be distributed amongst the fabric. It would be like a dimensional smear of energy and presence, an entity splattered and discombobulated amongst space, the central goal to ultimately end Sardis. As his power level began to drop drastically, Atonement again fell to his knees beginning to flicker in and out of existence with exertion.~
00:14:48 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] I wasn't as specific with that attack as I should have been, I'm starting to get exhausted. If you have any questions let me know.
00:16:40 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] I'll post then you can let me know if I screwed something up
00:16:42 Sardis it seemed that any attempt to harm Atonement merely made the other stronger as he fed off of that intent. How then would he feed off of the intent to merely survive? As Atonement began to release energy in Sardis' direction, those sigils that the angel had drawn around the other would light up performing their task of protecting their creator. That light would feed into the 1-dimensional lines, not to harm them but to mark it so that Sardis would be able to see them approach. Those bladed wings would begin to weave again, not to harm those lines or Atonement but merely to give the lines a different path. He would reach out just before atonement's claw and begin to weave a new pattern, a trail for those lines to follow as they wove back and forth in a magnificent tapestry created from the will of both of the combatants. At the point where the lines would have bloomed, the tapestry would expand into a brilliant light like fireworks on a dimensional level as the energy spread out into the different paths of <c>
00:16:57 Sardis reality that surrounded the two. In effect, Sardis would take something deadly and turn it into something beautiful. [/color]
00:22:41 [Atonement] ~His power was beginning to fade and was no longer being fed by Sardis's will. But if Sardis had not the desire to destroy him how could either one of them truly win the fight? The answer was that while Atonement's focus was guided by the spirits of vengeance, he was not fueled entirely by Sardis, but by the emotions of those within the world. Drawing from them would take too much time, so he simply began a link to pull upon the souls of the dead that were very much a part of him. This would give him enough energy to remain constant, but not much else. He would use the final remains of his energy and the link he had with his previous attack in an attempt to turn it around. Sardis's defense was sufficient and quite as masterful as he might have expected, however Atonement wasn't finished. Pulling his arm across the space in front of him, he'd drag it across like a net, not aiming for Sardis directly. The sheer force he was attempting to manipulate did not only effect the space within it, but the space<C>
00:26:51 [Atonement] ~without it. The power would continue to spin and churn, this time with the added effect of Sardis's light. Dimensional winds would pour forth from the structure, causing ripples along the dimensions that would physically knock material back, but beyond that could very easily cause molecules to be forced apart and to seperate. What was meant to be a centrifuge would now be altered into a sort of "dimensional cyclone" that would cause massive ripples along the colseium. However, Atonement would not be entirely exempt from this. The cyclone occurred much closer to Sardis than to Atonement, and as such wouldn't be as devestating but it could still prove to be a problem. Slamming his hand into the ground he would reach through the earth, grounding himself tightly into it. Kicking his feet into the ground and stretching them through the earth, he would begin to alter his own being. Replacing the parts that existed within him that were aligned with the positive energy plane, he would begin to align himself<C>
00:27:46 [Atonement] ~with the element of the Earth. Giving him the ability to weather the storm he was creating and gaining abit more power to sustain the hurricane itself. As he did so, he began to lose much more of himself. If the fight continued onwards, he would not be able to withstand it much longer. The fight needed to end now, or it wouldn't end in his favor.~
00:39:19 Sardis didn't have the same luxury that Atonement did. He was composed of positive energy, he could not merely realign himself and weather the storm through sheer merit of being something unaffected by it. Those bladed wings were already slowing in their reaction, his glow slightly fading, all from the strain of playing the melody that held his own existence. To try and play that tune again would kill him anyway. He did however have his own method of dealing with the cyclone. He pulled into himself, those wings vibrating and plucking the threads as his form seemed to lose first it's third dimension becoming a flat representation of the being it had once been. It didn't stop here though as it pulled in the second dimension as well turning his form merely into a line. I line may stretch, but was unlikely to be broken even in such a maelstrom as this cyclone. The line would twist and weave with it's own consciousness trying to take the simplest path through the corridors of rippling reality that made up this <c>
00:39:26 Sardis massive upheaval. He would wait and weather out the storm as a single piece of debris floating on the winds of the dimensions until the point where it felt safe to come out again. At this point, the line would vibrate. Those vibrations would happen faster and faster until that line stretched out again giving Sardis once more a 2nd dimension. Again those first two dimensions would vibrate until the third dimension was reached and Sardis' form would once more be standing there. For a brief moment, he stood there in his full glory beside the figure of Atonement. He would take a simple step forward and kick at the man attempting to end such a massive conflict with a final simple act of physical violence. The glow of his glory fading as the last of his energy was used up. Both fighters were weakened. Sardis would collapse to his knees and survey the battlefield.
00:41:47 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] One question, did you reduce your mass by reducing the dimensions, or just your physical properties?
00:42:46 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] hmm. . . didn't even think about that when I made that post. Of course the answer that seems obvious to me would be that his mass would reduce in accordance with less dimensions.
00:43:33 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Right, which would mean you would be entirely and literally, blown away. Rofl.
00:45:02 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] yeah he would be blown away, but think of it like a piece of straw in a tornado. It can get blown everywhere, but in the end it isn't likely to be damaged, just end up sitting somewhere else
00:46:12 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Well exactly my point. You're probably like...far ways away and we're both too weak to even get closer. Though, I'l go with the post and continue.
00:46:35 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] k
00:51:53 [Atonement] ~His stone, earth, and sand like form barely held itself together. He lifted his rocky hand as Sardis's kick caused what would be his head to explode into dirt. Drawing the energy from the earth he would quite simply bring himself together within the surface of the sandy coliseum. Manipulating the pieces of sand that now made up parts of his body, he would begin to form behind Sardis. Rising from the sea of sand, he would form an almost human like form that bore the same mask as before, but not much else. His glowing eyes would stare down at Sardis as he remembered the energy from the kick. The kick wasn't neccessarily intended to destroy him, but to end the conflict. Using the energy from this and directing it, he would outstretch his sandy arm. Vibrating his particles, he'd use telekinetic force to fling them at the form of Sardis and utilize the final realm of his energy to emply quantum tunneling once more. He'd effect entropy to the point that the normally harmless sand would attempt to tunnel through<C>
00:53:16 [Atonement] ~his opponent's form and create such velocity, to tear miniscule holes through his body. It was using the principle that if projectiles collide with a barrier that is impassable, that there is a chance some will still pass through. Relatively weak, but there wasn't too much more he could do or he'd reduce himself to dust.~
00:56:16 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] We can't really end this in a draw, so we'll have to decide a winner, or do a rematch.
00:57:35 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] or I could just turn around and blow really hard so you turn into dust and float away ~_0
00:58:13 [Sardis whispers to Atonement] Actually I have an idea
00:59:28 [Atonement whispers to Sardis] Not that weak, maintaining the form doesn't require that much energy considering what he is.
01:02:05 Sardis lay weakened on the ground as Atonement's head shattered. He took a few labored breaths and heard the sound of sand behind him beginning to move. With his last ounce of strength, he brought both of those massive wings up, and brought them down again hard, his 25ft wingspan creating a momentary eddy in the air around him, a miniature whirlwind to try and blow that sand so far away that the pieces couldn't all find each other. With that, those wings would collapse down over the angel's form, a shield if the sand came to attack. He wouldn't die here, but since he was only feeding off the latent positive energy in the place it would take him a long time to gather the strength to stand again and move himself to his home plane.
22:16:15 [Atonement] ~The flapping of the wings dispersed the futile effort of the sand, but did not harm Atonement's body. For Sardis forgot one thing he had done, he had twice protected Atonement. Once with the runes, and once with the act of protecting him and himself. That much energy released into his form allowed him to solidify his efforts, but more importantly utilize the runes to his advantage as well. These last reserves of energy would be used to form a more solid form, a form much more devastating than the likes of sand. Psionically affecting the air about him, warping and causing the molecules to increase in speed he would begin to heat up the air. The act of creating friction would assist in creating fire, burning the oxygen in the air. Spreading the fire over the normally unburnable substance of the sand that made his body, he would concentrate it in a very condensed sphere around his body. As he concentrated and focused the sheer force of the heat, he'd spread it along his form in a brilliant burst of light.<C>
22:19:26 [Atonement] ~The sphere would shatter apart and reveal a white hot mass of glassed sand that was beginning to cool yet given the special properties of the true molecules of Atonement's body, he would be able to control very much like a giant golem of superheated glass. Where once was hands made of sand were now razor sharp blades of crystalized sand. The monstrosity wore armor made of the clay of the earth, a breast plate and helm that covered places where organs should be. Brilliant crimson occuli stared out from behind a mask of clay as a crystalized blade was raised. Bringing his form over the top of Sardis, he would bring an earthen foot up to crush his legs and pin him to the ground, whilst those bladed arms would be brought down upon his foe to eviscerate him.~
22:20:58 [Sardis] so much for everyone being tired
22:21:59 [Atonement] He was tired, he just has alternating sources of energy.
22:30:57 Sardis it seemed that this fight wasn't nearly as close to being over as Sardis had thought before. At least now his runes around Atonement were used up. Sardis would wait. He was tired and if he didn't time this right he wouldn't have the energy to continue. As his foe began to superheat himself and change his form, Sardis would slowly roll up to his knees in a position that almost made him look as if he were about to surrender. His wings would wrap almost timidly around his body seeming to reach for Atonement in an act of asking mercy. That flash and that shattering sphere would be his moment to strike. Those blades would pull back rapidly tugging on the threads of heat around Atonement to drop the temperature around the other being to Absolute Zero. With a controlled release, that glassed sand was going to crystallize in the form Atonement wanted if it was allowed time to shift and cool as it hardened. Sardis was merely trying to speed up the cooling process so fast that the mass would have time to only <c>
22:31:00 Sardis form one crystal, effectively locking his opponent in place. Though it wasn't positive energy, that heat energy would still be like a quick shot of adrenaline for the angelic being, and he would step back, bringing his wings up to defend himself if need be, those bladed feathers moving to intercept Atonement's own blades. If he had succeeded in freezing his opponent in place even for a second. One of those blades would thrust forward in an attempt to shatter the mass.
22:43:27 [Atonement] ~Supercooling to counter-act the heat? The problem was that as soon as he was reduced to Absolute Zero, he would feed more energy into it, spreading his sphere as much as he could to engulf Sardis. He was a being of alternating energy and abilities, heat would be his friend but so would Ice. He would actually feed into the supercooling of his body and of the very air around Sardis. He was looking to freeze the very blood in his body to subzero temperatures, of course it would not go solid due to supercooling but simply reach unbearable levels. Beyond that, the specialized molecules in Atonement's body would shift to adapt to the change in energy, giving dead cells life or unmovable objects mtion. Freezing into one solid structure, the structure would snap and break with crystalline breaks in the solid material. Shattering the shell about him, a figure half the size of the intended monstrosity would appear, this time of frozen crystals like a being of solid ice. The glacious blades that dripped from the imp <C
22:44:36 [Atonement] ~like form would be just a sharp as before, this time combined with the deadly force of the cold. If the supercooling didn't kill Sardis outright, he would be eviscerated by the two bladed arms of the crystal imp. It would move with incredible, near impossible speed as it rushed forward, attempting to cut Sardis right across the vein that ran along his inner thigh.~
22:49:12 Sardis that was his last shot. Gaining strength from the heat was the final thing he could do to keep himself in this fight. As such, he began to weaken considerably when the cold reached him. He would hunch over, frost forming over his bladed wings and body for a split second before the cold caused what motion was left in those wings to make pieces of them shatter and slough off of the angelic being. His final act for this battle would be to close off the link to his soul to that his body would eventually regenerate on the positive energy plane. Atonement could do to this shell as he wished. Sardis had lost, but the experience taught him many hard lessons that he would apply as soon as he was able.
22:53:57 [Atonement] ~Atonement's imp would fall shattered to the ground as soon as the battle was over, Atonement releasing his control over what form he had left. His special molecules would simply spread out and move on, his entity attempting to regain his physical form. Copying what he learned from Sardis he would establish it into his next form, in his next fight.~!
We carry a wave-function related to whatever idea that defines said idea. His probability wave-function was the victim in this scenario, given no doubt. Thus far, Atonement's "quantum tunneled-like state' seems like mis-understanding or there was some unexplained quantum tunneling going on. Reducing his structure to bestow a wave-function was literally doing nothing, therein. And the intense sound waves jumping the fuck around in this picture--and get this--is just really ridiculous vibrations that would more than likely rip apart your body.