The Death of Damon Smith (Open)

[Creator]

A distant clanging echoed through the Light Forest, like the sound of two swords meeting. The sound did little to upset the natural peace of the forest however, and it was several minutes before the next clang was heard, this time a bit closer. Again, it was insignificant against the calmness of the birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the wind.

Two blurs rushed toward each other, creating a clang and a burst of flames upon impact. They both jerked off in different directions, finally coming to a stop. The two boys were mostly identical, though one seemed more ragged than the other. His hair was a bit more ruffled, and his eyes a bit darker. They both held identical kunai in their hands, black with red along each angle. There was a brief staring contest, and they both erupted back into motion. The normal one swung his kunai out as he drew near, but the ragged one seemed prepared, and leaned back. He slid clean under the first one, flipping up with a kunai jab to the back. But his counterpart spun and deflected the knife with his own, creating another spark of fire. They both leapt a short distance backward, and the ragged one took out five more kunai, three in each hand. The knives faded black and blurred around his hands, becoming a pair of similarly colored claws. They ignited, as he dashed toward the other boy.

Damon glanced downward as Damien came at him, and a bit of ground vanished into a purple mist. Damien's next footstep landed right in the hole, which was just big enough to send him off-balance. Damon hurled his kunai at the surprised Damien, though his evil side was quick to create a flat purple plate of stone in the air, which stopped the knife. Damien bounced off a palm and landed on his feet, letting the stone fade back into the air. "Childish tricks." What looked like a purple kunai with a rock attached to the end formed from the air and landed in Damien's outstretched palm. "You lack finesse." The lump of mass at the end of the kunai burst back into gas form, creating what was essentially a bomb that propelled the kunai forward at breakneck speed. Damon dodged to the side, then froze. The two of them looked to the side at the same time, sensing the presence of a third person.

[[red].Raven]

Rei had been following the clashes and clangs, trying to satisfy her biting curiosity and find the source. 'What could possibly be making so much noise on such a calm day?' Her pace had been speeding up as time went on until she was all-out running to reach the sounds. Soon enough, they became very close and she slowed down, rounding the last bit of trees and freezing at what she saw. Two Damons? As if life wasn't hard enough. She could only stare, shocked and wide-eyed, gaze darting back and forth between the two figures who were obviously aware of her presence. Rei stammered quietly, quickly finding that she could neither back away nor retreat. Her hands formed fists at her sides, trembling slightly. Her entire body was in overdrive, ready to react to the slightest movement or attack, if it came to that.

[Creator]

Damon blinked, trying to put a name with this girl's face. He knew he recognized her from somewhere, but as his evil side had been in control for most of their interaction, he didn't remember much about her. Damien, however, was quick to react. "Get out of here you little [censored] or I'll gouge your eyes out and leave you to die. Come to think of it..." He dashed toward Rei, bringing a claw forward toward her face. But as he brought his attack forward, the claw faded into smoke, as did his entire forearm. He howled in pain, then turned back to Damon, his arm and claw slowly resolidifying. "Wait your turn, you piece of [censored]." He thrust his claw forward, sending a burst of flames toward Damon. Acting on reflex, Damon swung his kunai, easily parting the flames around him with a flame-element of his own. "Watch out, uh, girl, he's not nice," he said through gritted teeth.

[[red].Raven]

Rei brought her arms up instinctively when Damien came rushing toward her, backpedaling slightly when the claws dispersed. She watched how the two interacted, and quickly noticed the subtle difference between Damien and Damon. Only one of them gave her that all too familiar feeling of utter vulnerability and fear, but she was having the hardest time trying to figure out why. 'He...' Her eyes went to Damon. 'Just saved me... and called me 'girl'? What's going on...?' Blinking away her confusion, Rei simply decided to let go and let her instincts take over. While Damien was busy shooting flames at Damon, Rei speed forward and aimed a hard punch to the back of his head.

[Creator]

Damien spun, bringing up an arm to block Rei's punch. He grinned, revealing that his teeth were far more sharpened that when he'd shared a body with Damon. "I'm a lot stronger than last time, sweetie." As if to demonstrate, he held out a hand toward a nearby tree and fired a bolt of purple plasma, releasing a large amount of energy as he did so. The tree's trunk splintered and cracked, sending it toppling away from them. He began to say something else, but whirled around and had to block a blow from Damon, catching his enemy's fist. Damon grinned, glancing up. Berstunic flew in and screeched, then hovered momentarily above Damien. He straightened himself out, becoming essentially a blade with wings, and let himself drop toward Damien's head from above. Cursing, Damien swerved to the side, releasing Rei and Damon as Berstunic stabbed into the ground.

[[red].Raven]

Rei's eyes narrowed, still very confused about the entire situation, but feeling something inside of her beginning to understand. She jumped away as soon as Damien released her, and before her feet touched the ground again, Rei wasn't exactly Rei anymore. She had morphed mid-air, revealing the whole shebang of new limbs and 'accessories'. Body maneuvering into a crouch, her crimson eyes locked onto the darker looking Damon; Damien. She may not know what was going on, but she didn't know that that guy was trying to hurt her and the other one was trying to keep that from happening. Glancing warily at Damon and the Berstunic Blade, Rei pushed powerfully against the ground and flapped her wings once, lunging with outstretched claws for Damien. He may have gotten stronger, but "...so have I." The Shapeshifter's eyes flashed and her claws began to glow a light golden color. She was so tired of trying to run.

OOC:// Even though there is still a huge level difference x3

[Creator]

Damien leaned backward, flattening himself against the ground to allow Rei to pass over. He brought up a leg in an attempt to kick her as she passed. Damon, meanwhile, had launched himself from the other direction, meaning he was about to collide with Rei. At the last instant he burst into a purple cloud, allowing her to pass through before he became solid and landed again. Berstunic opened up a mental link between Damon and Rei, as he usually did for their side during battles. "Look," Damon said telepathically, "I don't think you and I are really friends, but we're going to have to come up with some kind of strategy. He knows everything I know, and he knows how to use my abilities better than me. He's the one who mastered a lot of them, after all."

[[red].Raven]

Rei, half expecting Damien to dodge, curled her legs up to deflect the kick, but she wasn't expecting Damon to come from the other direction. Luckily he was. Rei threw her arms in front of her face to avoid breathing while passing through the purple cloud; old habit. She landed with a short run on all fours before whirling around to face Damien once more. The voice in her head surprised her as well, but because she always hangs around with Estrik, it wasn't exactly a new experience. "You're right, we aren't 'really friends'. Have you so quickly forgotten that you've tried to kill me... oh, say, three times?" Sighing harshly to herself, Rei knew that Damon was right. She also knew, somewhere, that the person speaking with her was not the same one who had tried to hurt her all those times before, but she was having a hard time opening that part of her. "There must be something you know that he doesn't."There had to be... right? I mean... it was impossible to know everything someone else knew, right? Rei's tail lashed back and forth as she contemplated the situation at hand. Her sharp talons duh fiercely into the earth with tension. 'He doesn't know everything about me...' A small breeze brushed through the area, and Rei's eyes flashed. That might help.

[Creator]

"For a long time, we were in the same body. We had full access to each other's souls, and for a while, we were one and the same. He knows everything that makes me tick, and everything I know about you. Which probably isn't much."
"If you two are done having your little mental chat, I'd like to say a few words." Damien performed a string of hand signs and grinned. "Soul Mist Jutsu!" Immediately, thick mist began to roll in, clouding Damien from sight. Damon swore under his breath, looking around. "The mist carries bits of his soul. I can't sense him, because it feels like he's everywhere."

[[red].Raven]

Rei's spine felt as though it had been stabbed by a thousand acupuncture needles. She didn't like all the information she was receiving, and she really didn't like anything ending with the word 'Jutsu'. Her wings folded protectively against her body and her tail curled closer to her. "Don't you have other senses to rely on?"[/b] Well, if he didn't, Rei certainty did. She had almost everything one could think of, from infrared vision to a scar that could sense others' minds. Keen hearing made everything seem twice as distinct, and even her sense of smell was fine-tuned in this state. Unless Damien was unconscious, sleeping, and with a body temperature equal with that of everything else around him, as well as no scent, Rei would find him. She could see Damon not too far off... or was that Damien? Drat. Rei hadn't considered this. how was she supposed to know who to attack? "Could you... I don't know... do something so that I know who I'm looking at?"[/i] She hated having to doubt her own senses.

There was a distant whirrrr noise, almost like a whistling fan, approaching quickly. From straight above where Rei was positioned, a vortex of spiraling wind shot down through the mist and changed its course. the vortex disappeared, so now Uindo could be clearly seen hovering in defensive circles around Rei.

[Creator]

The mist started to part at the vortex of wind that entered, but quickly closed back up behind it. Damon glared toward her, the lone bit of soul on the battlefield that was different. Berstunic glided down and landed on his shoulder softly. "I'm the one with an amphiptere on my shoulder." He held out a hand and a kunai formed, this one relatively normal with white tape around the handle. He began slashing around, as if attempting to cut the mist. But with every movement, a burst of wind released from the kunai, pushing the mist away slightly.

Meanwhile, footsteps began to patter around them in several places, as if they were being surrounded. Damon glared and tried to ignore it. "He's got at least one clone or shadow clone around here somewhere. I'd guess clone as he doesn't really need them to fight, only distract." Damon hurled a kunai up into the air, then performed a series of hand signs. "Substitution Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke, he and the kunai traded places, and he was flying up above the mist. "There's something coming in behind you, and one a bit farther away to your left," he warned, claws forming around his hands. A kunai zipped up toward him, but all it took was an outstretched claw to deflect it. 'It was worth the money to make these unbreakable,' he thought to himself.

[[red].Raven]

Rei, now able to tell who she shouldn't try to hit- though she might do it after wards anyway- began slowly maneuvering on all fours through the thick mist. Her movements were almost silent, aside from her talons digging into and pulling out of the ground. When Damon gave her the location of a potential clone, Rei swiveled around and lashed out. This movement wasn't an actual attack, just a command. Uindo followed the line of her strike and shot in a direct line toward, hopefully, what or who was behind her. It spun rapidly, creating another wind vortex around itself to add to its power. And while her dagger was thrown off one way, Rei turned to her left and began to sprint forward, trying to find out where exactly the clone- or Damien?- was. "I don't have much with me, weapon-wise, besides my dagger, a Shadow Orb, and myself..."[/i]

[Creator]

The clone faded as Uindo tore through it, confirming that it was, in fact, a normal clone. "Don't worry about it, they're just illusions." As if to confirm this, the other Damien swerved and dashed around Rei, trying to avoid physical contact while still keeping her on her toes. "He can sense where we are, so a surprise close-range attack is impossible. We need to try long-range." Damon landed to her side and took out six kunai knives, holding them out. Each had a different color of tape around the handle. "Fire, water, earth, wind, light, and dark. None are quite as powerful as your dagger, but they offer a wider array of options." A plate of purple stone formed in the air to his side, blocking a kunai, then faded. "He doesn't want us interacting, he wants us to be separated and confused. Try to act like you aren't sure what's going on. Shouldn't be too hard." Damon turned to the direction the kunai had come from and thrust a hand forward. A blast of wind rocketed along, clearing out a tunnel in the mist. Damien became visible before the mist managed to close back in. "Now."

[[red].Raven]

Rei nodded and looked at the kunai carefully just before Damien was revealed. She didn't need the wind, she had no experience with earth, water, or fire, she didn't necessarily want to use dark... She grabbed the light and fire kunai on Damon's command and darted to the side so they could get at Damien from a distance, but also different directions. She didn't think Damon would need the fire one, since he seemed quite able to use that element without the kunai. Uindo returned to her free hand and she placed it in the air. It began to spin slowly before gradually picking up speed, though never straying from place. Rei held up the two kunai, and the wide vortex from Uindo dragged them in. She clapped her hands together quietly and all three projectiles when streaking toward Damien, now a long-ranged light-based burning wind vortex of doom. ((>3)) If Damien was supposedly the 'bad' side, the light kunai, along with some of her own energy, would have a nice affect on him.

[Creator]

Damon put away the rest of the elemental kunai and ran around opposite Rei, hands clanging together as he performed a series of hand signs. A blast of wind shot out from his mouth, clearing a large area of mist and exposing Damien, who was staring right at him. Damon's claws faded into six kunai, one in-between each finger, and he flung them all at the enemy. Damien found no trouble in swerving to avoid the flaming kunai, but he moved right into Rei's line of fire. There was an impact, and he went skidding backward, flipping along the ground like a ragdoll. The mist immediately let up, fading away as the person behind it lost focus.

Damon grinned as Damien went flying, and recalled his kunai via mist form. Damien was down for a moment, but got back up, revealing that pieces of cracked metal were forming on his chest. 'The Wise Armor,' Damon thought. 'It must have formed just in time to keep him from being stabbed, but it couldn't stop the raw power behind the blow.' The armor formed completely around his body, then fizzled away into the air once more. Damon's eyes rose to the sky, where the gaseous armor was rising. 'I didn't have the armor on when I made the shadow clone he took over... that means, there's only one set, and two of us.' Sighing, the armor began to form in front of Damon, as if by his own command. "I don't really need you anymore, and you'll only help the enemy." Holding out a hand, purple sparks fired off from the armor, and it burst into light. After seconds the light faded, and the armor was gone. "One less thing that'll help you," Damon declared to Damien.

Damien frowned, taking out a kunai with brown tape on the handle. He knelt down, facing the ground in silence. He jabbed the blade into the ground.

Damon watched as Damien seemed to examine the ground. It was the earth-elemental kunai, though he wasn't sure what Damien was going to do with it. As he stabbed it into the ground, a sharp spike of earth rose up beside Damon, missing him by inches. Damon staggered to the side as Damien pulled the knife out, causing the spike to retract. He jabbed it in again, forcing Damon to change direction to avoid another earth spike. This continued for a minute, Damien rapidly jabbing the knife into the ground, causing four-foot spikes to reach out in an attempt to stab an ever-dodging Damon. When he decided it wasn't going anywhere quickly, Damien's attacks began to target Rei.