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"PFFF!"

The air rushed from his lungs as a result of the solid impact of armor that crashed into his shoulder. The stinging pain was only aided by the fact that a fist was headed straight towards his stomach.

Whatever air was left in his lungs was soon rocketed out from the first jab to his stomach, which doubled him over as a result. The elbow to the face was the last blow that would land, as it sent Athan face-first to the ground.

No matter how tough he was, it was going to take him awhile to catch his breath.

When he rose again, he was hunched over slightly. The elbow, aided by the armor that now covered it, had cut a nice gash just below his left eye. Blood was beginning to trail down the length of his face, coming to a point at his chin and dripping to the ground below.

His left arm remained crossed over his midsection, with his right retaining a firm grip on the sword, which he used to lean on. His face stung, he was winded, his left shoulder was more than likely broken, and he was getting just a tad bit frustrated.

That armor was something far too thick for his sword to even consider penetrating. A fact he kept in mind as he sucked in what breath he could and headed towards the Viceroy once more.

Charging head on didn't seem to be working too well, but it was all he could do. The Viceroy was controlling the rhythm of the fight by keeping his distance, so Athan worked his way around the trees.

Hopefully he'd get close enough to make him just a tad bit uncomfortable.

"Eh...."

Vahn stood there.

Well she wanted them to bloody well sit there trying to decide what to do. She would decide for them.

Alexiel scrambled out of the car, hissing in pain everytime her arm hit something. On the bright side, the painkillers were kicking in and the pain was starting to subside. Left arm hanging limp at her side and Daemon sitting on her shoulder, Alexiel stalked towards the Viceroy and the people that were fighting.

She wasn't so easily fooled by the illusion, she knew plenty about magic. She couldn't see the city, but she knew it was there. Taking cover behind a large tree, Alexiel slid to the ground, probing at Viceroy's mind and the mind of the other one that was trapped within... and apparently she wasn't the only one. That would make four people in his head? Talk about a headache.

'Ello... Mind if I join the party anyone?'

"RAH ******** style="font-size: 11px">Shouyin burst out from behind the trees, running full-tilt at Viceroy from behind. Although, that hardly mattered, since he was screaming well loud enough to wake the deadest of dead. Both arms swung back in forth rapidly in that manner that assisted breathing during running, but were both equally ready to go on the offensive, or dare I say it, defensive, if required.

Run run run run, and right arm would go forwards, aiming to shoulder-tackle Viceroy to the ground.

Oh and if like, any thermite came Shou's way, the shield would be raised to block.

CELESTIAL ENERGY, GO!

Well, some new contestants decided to enter the fray. It was somewhat of a relief to Athan, given his current condition and everything, but he hardly had time to rejoice.

He ducked behind a tree as thermite headed in his direction. The moment that it passed his direction, Athan spun around the corner, sword in hand. There was a guy charging towards the Viceroy, attempting to do what Athan himself had tried to do earlier. Except the new guy was a lot bigger.

And the Viceroy was no longer covered in armor.

Athan figured that this time he'd have more luck, and so he did the same thing he had done earlier.

Shouyin was coming from one side, while Athan came from the opposite direction. Unlike last time, however, Athan wasn't going to lower his shoulder.

He took one final step, his left hand now on the hilt with his right. Wound up his sword like a baseball bat, and swung it with as much force as he could muster towards the Viceroy's exposed side. (Assuming Shouyin is coming from the front, the brunt of the impact would be directed towards the base of the spine. From the back, well, just swap sides.)

The blunt end of the sword was not going to slice through the Viceroy and damage Shouyin, all the while attempting to create an amount of force equal to that of Shouyin.

With any luck, the combined impact would more than likely break the Viceroy in half. Or at least hurt a hell of a lot. If it missed, well, Shouyin still had a shield.

Never has temperance and the person it was given too so mismatched.

Viceroy was instantly granted powerful abilities and swift reactions. He could do dozens of things, maybe a flaming roundhouse kick. Maybe control the flames he just set. Maybe, he could turn it into overdrive and whoop Shou and Athan with a flury of punches, kicks and flames. There was dozen and one things that Viceroy could do to be just as badass as the originator of the powers.

But, Viceroy had no desire to show off, he just wanted to destroy everything. And the simple fact was: Athan was charging him from head on, and Shou was running so loud he might as well be charging him head on.

Three giant steps to the side, assume a defensive postion.

It was like math class. If an idot train was running from durem at 50 miles an hour, and another idiot train was running the same speed from barton, where would the meet? The answer, painsville, right here.

EDIT:
Well, I can tell you're just as pissed off as I. The gods made a world and gave it one purpose: to die. Then they got bored with it, and started playing with their decaying pawns.

If you don't want to stop me. Then don't. Show them.

Greaved feet echoed out against the forested ground, even as a slop of thermite fell through the treetops and sizzled only a few inches away from him.

What is this.. crap?

He gave a disgusted look, before giving it a wide enough berth ad watching as the wolf man played firefighter.

In his left hand he held Alex' new jacket, half draped around his shoulder, before suddenly pulling it around both her shoulders.

His right hand rested on top of her head, even as he stared out after Shouyin.

"Eh...?"