The Crater

[Taigeku]

((Clash-- its been awhile. Glad to see ya back))

[xClashx]

The snowfall had continued on into today after all, turning the once-desolate and drab-to-look-at ruins into a winter wonderland. Tossing a final shovelful of debris over one muscular shoulder, he stuck the tool into the ground and lit up a cigar--much as he had last night. The snow fell quietly.

He trudged through an arch in the nearest castle wall, boots leaving deep, muddy imprints in the snow, and turned to look back at the maze of trenches now surrounding the broken castle perimeter in complex geometries. In the castle hall, flaming tripods lit his way to the weapons stash. It was Rambo meets Achilles: combat knives, grenades, one rickety old Gatling gun, to swords, spears, and bows and arrows. The denizens of Gaia were no more than some callous gods' playthings, tossed into the toybox with the lid closed, left to kill each other with no attention to continuity.

Securing a band to his head that held a battery-powered flashlight, he set to patching up the walls with mortar and brick, golems silently moving hither and yon as they set to other tasks. That arm of his ached. Almost time.

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

Walking through the snowy field, snow crunches under the sneakers of a teenage looking boy, dressed rather casually, though his wear was more for the fall season than for winter. A green closed jacket with his hands in its pockets, blue jeans, and sneakers on his feet. His black greased back hair was stuck to his head, with only a few bangs hanging in front of his forehead. Brown, but youthful strong eyes stared forward toward the lone castle sitting in the middle of nowhere, the structure itself looking as if its been through war and chaos. Ruins was more like the term for them, as the teen gazed onto them.

He would stop, however, once he notice these rocky humanoid looking things working, not knowing whether they would leave him alone or try to harm him. But assuming the former, he would walk through the rather rough terrain, staring at each one that he would happen to past. His destination was the castle itself, looking for the one he had came to meet. How could someone live in a place like this was anyone's guess, but if the guy was tough enough to endure weather like this, then he was tough enough for his team.

[xClashx]

It was warm inside the two-headed brahman's carcass. Warm and moist. Gore, fresh and hot, spilled out onto the snow under the trees, staining it a bright red. He'd felt bad slaughtering the creature so, but it'd been a quick and relatively painless death, all in the pursuit of agon. The wolves stayed clear of his kill, scenting him and wondering what he was up to, and they preferred to take their own prey anyway. He detected the presence of the hooded golems near the treeline; it was a fruitless effort to attempt to get them to leave him alone, and while it was disconcerting to know that the monsters were borne of Ertai, he'd have to suffer their company for the time being. They gave off no smell and weren't moving at the moment, so they wouldn't interfere with his hunt.

The smaller scavengers he'd scared off without leaving his peculiar post, and finally, something useable came upon the tasty morsel to snap at, catch, and crunch. At first just a set of giant, staring yellow eyes, the allosaurus lumbered out of the shadows of the trees and set its head low to the fresh kill, actively sniffing the area for the predator responsible for the death. Clash could feel its steaming, stinking breath against his face, staring narrowly out of the fold of the dead thing's stomach at the beast's gleaming white teeth, lips drawn back in anticipation before it struck.

The dinosaur tossed its treat high into the air, opened its maw wide, and made to swallow the body whole. Its surprise came when, like Hercules between the jaws of the Hydra, Clash parted its mouth with the stolid soles of his boots and that iron-like right arm, his form covered in thick red ichor that gleamed in the moonlight. Gripping the monster's slug-like tongue in his free hand, he kicked out of its mouth and held on as the jaws snapped shut behind him. It thrashed, spraying spittle in all directions, but refusing to bite its own tongue off, the dinosaur dumbly lowered its head to the ground like a submissive dog. With the recombinant reptile unable even to see the human right in front of its face, the moment his boots touched the earth, he punched it square in the nose. Then hit it again, and again, until its nearly forty-foot-long form dropped with a crash.

He breathed, finally, nearby golems staring on coldly as the allosaurus respired shallowly. A shame that these creatures, the area seeded with them by the ARNists, would die soon in this climate. With cities bordering in every other direction, they had nowhere else to go. Suddenly, Clash realized that the amassing golems had no interest in him; they were staring at something else.

He turned a bloodied chin and saw Yusuke on the wooded path.

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

All Yusuke could do was watch at the spectacle that occurred right before him. He had noticed the large dinosaur stalk onto the dead animal on the ground, coming to a stop in hopes that it didn't see him. Otherwise, he would have had to deal with taking on a prehistoric beast. Not in his schedule. And then it caught onto the feast it wished and tossed it into the air, only to see someone thrown from it.

A man, from what Yusuke could make out, and suddenly recognition of who it was. Yusuke was suddenly caught in awe as the man grabbed onto the moist muscle of the dinosaur and hung on as the dinosaur wrestled for control. And only when it had submitted to the man's consecutive punches is when Yusuke made a smile etch onto his face. Breaking the silence, Yusuke's hands clap in applause, having taken in the brief show in good entertainment.

"Couldn't have done it better myself," was all Yusuke said, walking toward the man in question. "So, if I'm right, then you must be him. Clash, right?"

[xClashx]

The green jacket's unmistakable. He recognized the guy at first sight.

"Yusuke!" He meets him on the path and extends his blood-stained, taloned right hand to shake, not bothering to mention that Yusuke's somehow lucky to have gotten past the golems unhindered. Even now, they keep a close watch on the two. "That's me," he says, familiar with Yusuke only by a very brief meeting in the past . . . and from the HoH tapes. "And your reputation precedes you, spirit detective," he adds with a grin.

Turning to the assembly of golems, he nods at the unconscious allosaurus. "Rig a harness and take it back to base," he commands, tiring of their gawking. "And bring us a droshky. Let's get out of the cold."

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

Yusuke was hesitant to shake that red hand of Clash's. Blood dripping from it, he didn't exactly think it was healthy to touch. But, he had to be a man and show Clash that he wasn't such a wuss. So he meets him in a handshake, taking it proudly. The compliment was well-taken, with his other left free hand rubbing the back of his head, speaking causing a fog of cold air to emit from the breath of his mouth.

"Yeah, that's me. But, I can say the same for you. I've seen you fight, myself, and I gotta say, I am just as pleased to meet you here." Removing his hand from such a hand, though he raises it to see the red on it, he lets it back down, continuing with his words. "You're one of the few people who isn't afraid of giving someone an a**-kicking. But let's get down to business, shall we? Clash, I came to ask you for a favor. Something only you can do."

[xClashx]

The droshky arrives in no time, a four-wheeled, covered carriole drawn along by a single golem. The hooded figure halts before the two men, lowering the semi-rotatable wooden grips by which it pulls the carriage along, waiting for them to board.

Clash's expression is one of intrigue while climbing into the vehicle, eyebrows lowered as he tilts his head to the side. "What's that?"

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

These golems were really obedient. But they still were creepy looking to him, with their hooded figures always gazing toward them. It was as weird as being in one of those dark forests where the wear and tear of old tree barks looked like ghostly faces that appeared to be staring at you with no sign of removing their illusionary gazes. But shrugging off their sights, he follows Clash into the little vehicle pulled up for them and would sit beside him to the right.

"I want you to join my team in this year's Heaven or Hell tournament. My friends Hiei and Kurama are going to be too busy to help me out this year, so I needed to find replacements for them. But not just anyone. Good replacements, people I could trust to help us fight our way to the top. And you were the first to come to mind. So, how about it?" Yusuke was looking toward him with a confident smile on his face. He felt comfortable enough now to ask this so direct, while just earlier, he was wondering how he should approach Clash and ask him to join his team so soon. It looked like luck was on his side to give him such a good opportunity to ask.

[xClashx]

A fresh snow squall falls on either side of the hooded wagon. His eyes seek Yusuke's as the young man poses the question, gaze impassive as he listens while the carriole trundles along the snowy path at some thirty miles per hour. The once heavy and awkward-looking golem speeds the cart toward the old castle with relative ease . . . and it hardly even appears to be running.

"I'll join your team," he answers in that low voice of his after what seems to be a moment's deliberation as he stares toward the structure they've arrived at, the cart stopping. "If you last thirty seconds with me in single combat."

Those brown orbs of his hide behind lashes as he blinks, and when he opens them again, they are dyed a vivid yellow. His right arm, once dull and iron-like, is suddenly shot through with gleaming golden threads, pulsing, growing, seeming to come alive as a black substance akin to oil sloshes around irregular, sharp articulation grooves. Metastasized cells dump into his system, differentiating, augmenting. . . .

He pinwheels out of the cart, the skidguards of his boots digging long tracks into the snow and earth, the talons of his right hand--even now undergoing grotesque transformations--balling into a fist as a bright blue glow radiates from the cracks between gauntleted fingers. The fist warbles violently.

"Begin."

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

"I'll join your team."

That made Yusuke smile even more, feeling a relief inside. Yes! Now Team Urameshi was set. Until a poison seeps from Clash's lips that always showed exceptions.

"If you last thirty seconds with me in single combat."

He knew it wouldn't have been easy, watching suddenly as that one bloody hand arm started to react in a strange way. Watching Clash roll right out of the vehicle onto the snow, his arm still showing signs of transforming into something fierce. Yusuke's reaction?

"Thirty seconds, huh?" His left hand grips the top of the seat they were sitting on as he pushes off his own two feet and leaps out of the carriage in one bound, his sneakers landing into the snow with his knees bending, though the landing seemed soft as he showed grace in the acrobatic feat alone. Fighting was never a bad thing for him. To be able to stand here and take on Clash to prove to him his worth was good enough for him. In fact, this was by far the easiest way to express himself. He was no diplomat, after all. He could talk words when he needed to, but his best form of communication was through the fist. He got him through high school. It got him through life itself. No way was he going to change that now.

"That's long enough to convince you that I am the real Yusuke Urameshi." His hands were loose and at his sides, knees still slightly bent as the bend in his shoes showed he was now on his toes, ready to leap and begin this little test presented before him. His eyes staring forward and on the being that was Clash, he let his spirit energy flow through his body, giving his muscles the energy boost they needed to perform at a respected athletic level. Everything was set. Now, the only thing left to do was to act.

Letting his muscles release their energy, Yusuke dashes at Clash in a quick sprint, letting his instincts carry him forth into range. He was caring not for the threat of this arm of Clash's, for he must show that he could equal its power and maybe more in order to show that he could last in such a time period. Drawing back his right arm, bending it, his hand clenches into a fist as he lets power flow into one spot. Pushing forward, he then directs a good solid right hook for Clash's face. Let the test begin.

[Ghost of Sladgen]

Ah.. The Warmakers, how he had missed them. Didn't really matter though, since he was just a bloody spirit. However, he decided to descend upon the area and watch it, maybe just for old time's sake.

Sladgen the infamous floated through the area until he could get a nice view of the action, even though he was incorporeal, it looked as if he was leaning against a nearby tree as he usually did.

looking up at the sky, watching the snow fall, he spoke to himself knowing that he was too far away for the others to hear him.

"Sure stinks, not having a body.."

Sighing, he reverts his gaze to the two, watching them go at it.

[Kirioshu]

There was a time where he thought that the Warmakers were dead. He joined long ago but after a while he could not stay for he though he had a calling. An Assassins Creed-the life that only the brave can claim to have chosen. He was one of those brave. Fortunately, this was not a mission that he was so used to, No, this was a welcome call. He sat in the trees that over looked the distant area that he knew his old friend hid.

"Always a forest with you....I guess he forgot that a forest is nothing for some one in his level of power...but the golems and beasts on the ground below were another story. Turikata-his self-made assassination style-was good only for those of the human variety. This means he would have to bring his friend to him. He reached in to his long white coat that looked as if the snow itself had made it and pulled a small hologram disk.

"Hm...this should prove sufficient enough." he said
He recorded a message into the hologram making sure his face couldnt be seen.

"Warmakers...If you wish to truely regroup meet me in the north ease edge of the forest. When you arrive fire a shot in to the air. I will be waiting."
He ended the hologram and threw it to the wind. The homing device would do the rest.

"Well, Lone....looks like a reunion is in order."

[xClashx]

A golem contingent passes behind Clash, dragging along the unconscious allosaurus. Another group is moving in on the two fighters already, not to interrupt, but to surround them in a circle fifteen feet in diameter. Clash grins, glad to see that the guy's eager to bring the action to him. Thirty seconds. Most'd be playing the evasive game, thirty seconds to stay alive, but Yusuke obviously looks at it as thirty seconds to give it everything he's got.

Energy crackles in his fist, highly excited cells and particles feeding the critical mass as it ensconces his entire grasp, now corkscrewing back along the entire arm like a propeller. He leans back and to the left as Yusuke chambers his fist and throws the hook, one bear-like left hand snapping up to grip the offending appendage at the wrist. He feels the surge of current immediately and prepares himself for the flood of spirit energy that's to be expected from the young detective. But his right fist is already shooting forward from the hip in a blue blaze, square into the oncoming Yusuke's chest.

Hellblazer.

The swelling energy blasts forward with the explosive force of a tankshell. He's reserving nothing. The report rebounds off the snow and echoes out over the forest like a gunshot, knocking snow from boughs, sending winter birds into the white sky in alarmed spirals. Not only is the initially-compact burst powerful enough to punch a fist-sized hole in the human anatomy, but widens like a shotgun blast upon release. Regardless of how Yusuke takes it, Clash doesn't seem intent on letting go of that wanton captured wrist. He wants him close.

His manipulator pad ceases to glow, then irises open like a dilating pupil.

[[Yusuke Urameshi]]

Wssshh! The air simply gave in to the power of Yusuke's fist shooting through it like a bullet shot from a gun, causing the snow to swerve faster and wilder around the affected area, a contrast to the slow and steady snowfall currently happening. His wrist was suddenly being captured by the left gripping hand of Clash, but in response to such a melee move, spirit energy did indeed spray from under the gripping strengthened hand, the light blue color lighting up upon their faces like a pack of fireworks that were going off within this night of black and snowy white. Though it was natural for it to cause harm, that was not Yusuke's intention. It was only an effect of having the power along surging through the limb, as it did through every other part of his body.

His momentum was immediately halted, his feet sliding to a stop along the snow, surprisingly not having him trip. He resisted by pulling back on his right arm, not liking that his wrist was in grip. But he couldn't worry about that right now, for that active right arm of Clash's was drilling its way at his chest. Instinct, reflexes, and sheer bravery told him to bring out his own left hand, and to capture the powerful arm at the wrist area, too, just like Clash had his right hand. When his left hand clasps onto this area, Yusuke felt like he had just entered into a vile storm, his hand literally taking a sudden amount of high heat generated from the power, or so how he felt it. Yusuke had to bring up his own raging aura of spirit energy along this limb, too, just to keep his hand from being scorched off by the power emitting from the limb. And so, he would keep the hand from making its way at his body, only having a few inches left to travel as it was stopped midway. That fist was just hungry for flesh, as he could tell by the light show alone.

But the explosion that came....now that was a whole different story. A radiant blast of energy just suddenly hits right against Yusuke's body, causing his eyes, and generally his face, to show shock as that much amount of force was released up close and personal, causing his jacket to suddenly be rippled apart right off his body, and nearly doing the same to his shirt, though it remained in good condition as the light showered the area. The noise of it was a testament to how powerful that attack was, and Yusuke could not deny it.

But when the blast occurred, the arm would have been redirected just to the left over Yusuke's shoulder with use of his left hand. The outside power of the attack had did its damage, but he had moved it away just enough to keep him from becoming a human rocket, since getting hit directly would have had him propelling back in a fiery mess. Teeth biting down, eyes trained on Clash, Yusuke would take the chance to deliver a counter attack. Leaping his feet off the ground, though more like bending his knees toward his chest, he kicks out his left leg, the toe of his shoe aimed for the bottom of Clash's chin. It probably would not be much, but it was to show that even in such a situation, Yusuke was going to try to get as best of a hit as he could on the person he is fighting.