While Ranma/Slifer introduced himself to the Sailor Senshi, something deep beneath the ice stirred. The lives of the Senshi were about to change, forever.
For you see, had the Sky Dragon not interfered, the lives of the Senshi would have continued on as normal. Beryl and Metallia would have been destroyed, and Usagi and her friends would have gone on to defeat the Death Phantom, Pharaoh 90, Galaxia, etc… and eventually build Crystal Tokyo.
That destiny had just been derailed.
In the process of eradicating the Youma under Beryl’s command, Ranma/Slifer had unwittingly introduced another, much more dangerous player into this battle.
Adam, the first angel, was awake.
Within Beryl’s fortress, there was a loud commotion coming from the throne room. The aforementioned Queen was ranting about a certain red dragon.
The creature, having wiped her forces off the face of the Earth, had turned to the Senshi. For a moment, Beryl had thought it would destroy them too. The dragons’ speech, however, had completely disabused her of that notion.
Understandably, Beryl was furious.
Mettalia, on the other hand, was considering the newcomer. It’s - no, his - power was phenomenal, that was obvious. In a one-on-one battle, there was no doubt that he would win.
Before Mettalia could remember, however, she felt a disturbance coming from below.
“Beryl!”
The Queen turned to her mistress, her anger replaced by curiosity.
“Prepare yourself. We have another interloper…”
“You mean you’re not going to eat us?” Asked Minako, as the thought of surviving this encountered entered her mind.
*NO, I’M NO-* Ranma/Slifer stopped when a massive rumbling shook the area. Turning to what appeared to be the source, the God and the Senshi watched in trepidation as a series of cracks appeared in the center of the crater.
“There’s something coming,” Said Ami as she scanned the crater, “Something big, and powerfuuuUUULLLL…!”
All of the Senshi toppled to the ground as the earth shook even more violently. Suddenly, a gigantic, white arm burst up from below and grabbed onto the frozen ground. A second, identical arm appeared and followed suit.
Both arms heaved, and a figure rose out of the earth, a figure that was almost as large as the Sky Dragon. The figure was roughly humanoid, with a pair of fin-like protrusions sticking out of its’ shoulders. The creature was glowing white and entirely lacking in distinguishing features apart from two black circles for eyes and a black circle on its’ chest.
Adam stood tall and looked around. There were two powerful entities present, one on each side of the field, plus a number of smaller auras around each of them.
The one near the cliffs was plainly visible, a serpentine creature with two mouths that was covered in red, armor-like scales. He sensed that its’ power was normally greater than his own; however, it seemed to have recently expended a large amount of energy. That discharge must have been what had awakened him. Because of that, the serpents’ power was slightly weaker than his own.
On the opposite side of the field from the red creature was an artificial structure, from which the second power emanated from. This power was weaker than either his or the serpents, if only bay a small margin, but there was something strange about it. Within that power was another, one which he could not identify.
He did not understand what they were doing, but they had disturbed him and, given their power levels, they were probably major threats to him. Thus he would eliminate them both.
Putting his hands up in front of his chest, Adam gathered a large amount of energy and turned to the fort.
The weaker opponent would be dealt with first.
Beryl grimaced as her shield was battered by the creatures attack. The blast had impacted her shield with what was, to her, the equivalent force of an artillery cannon. Were it not for Mettalia backing her, she would have been incinerated in one shot.
Even with the assistance, however, it was a real strain on her to generate the shield against the onslaught.
The creatures’ attack blasted for a full minute before letting up. Beryl released a breath of exhaustion and prepared herself for the next attack.
The expected assault came, but it seemed to shine with twice the intensity. Again, the Queen put up her shield, but this time it wasn’t enough.
With a thunderous boom, the beam struck her shield, and, like a drill, bored right through.
Beryl could only gape, as the energy from the creature smashed into both her and Mettalia.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing to indicate that they had been there, as the entire top of the fortress was blown off.
After destroying the structure, Adam turned his attention to the armored serpent on the other side of the field. With the smaller threat gone, he could now turn his full attention the larger threat.
With that, he trudged toward the Sky Dragon…
With the angel occupied with their foes, Ranma/Slifer observed this new creature before him, and compared its’ power to his own. It wasn’t quite as powerful as he was, and normally he’d be able to gain a decisive victory over something like this. True, he’d need some rest afterwards, but still…
The problem was that the blast he used to exterminate the youma had weakened him considerably. It wasn’t powerful enough to directly affect his performance, but it did drain his energy to the point where he knew that the creatures’ attacks were going to hurt.
With the destruction of Beryl’s fortress, the Egyptian God made a decision. He turned his attention to the girls and spoke. *THOU ART IN GREAT DANGER.* His telepathic message boomed, *IT IS TIME FOR THEE TO DEPART.*
“Depart?” asked Makoto, “Why?”
*THE SCOPE OF THIS BATTLE HAS EXTENDED FAR BEYOND THINE ABILITIES TO HANDLE.* The Dragon intoned, *FROM HERE ON, THOU WOULDST ONLY BE A HINDRENCE, OR WORSE, A DISTRACTION.*
“A distraction?” shouted Makoto.
“He’s right.” Said Ami as she scanned the blast. “That thing destroyed Beryl effortlessly. What do you think it would it do to us?”
“But what about… Mamo-chan!” Called Usagi, looking toward the oncoming angel.
*WHO? * Asked Ranma/Slifer turning his head.
Running at a clip that just barely allowed him to keep ahead of the giants’ footsteps was a young man wearing royal armor. Ranma/Slifer flew towards Adam, giving the Senshi a message in the process.
*THAT CREATURE IS COMING FOR ME. GATHER ‘ROUND THINE FRIEND, AND I WILL TRANSPORT THEE AWAY.* with that, the Sky Dragon opened his upper mouth and blasted the Angel, sending him flying. With a loud crash, Adam demolished the remains of the fortress.
Meanwhile, the Sailor Senshi gathered around Mamoru and, with an effort of will from the Egyptian God, vanished. With the distraction provided by the Senshi removed, Slyfer turned to his recovering foe.
Adam got to his feet and gazed at the dragon across the way. Popping his neck, the angel raised his hands to his chest. Slifer opened his lower mouth, and as one the two titans gathered energy.
A moment passed. Then…
BOOOOOOOM!
…A massive explosion rocked the frozen landscape. When the smoke cleared the two beings were locked in combat.
And if there’s one thing Ranma Saotome knows, it’s fighting.
Unfortunately for him, however, he had two things going against him in this battle. The first was, as said before, Ranma had expended a large portion of energy to destroy the Youma army. True, he was holding back, but against this foe, every portion would be needed. Secondly he had had this body for only a short time, and was unused to how it operated. Without a working knowledge of how to control his new, serpentine form, Ranma was at a serious disadvantage.
For the one who knew this, the outcome was never truly in doubt…
How long did the battle rage in that icy field? Hours? Days? It did not matter; the combatants neither knew nor cared. Their stamina was such that they could remain relatively fresh long after lesser being had died from exhaustion.
Still, even divine beings have limits, and these two forces of nature were about to reach theirs.
Slifer slammed into a mountain side, and landed with a thud. His lungs pumping like a bellows, the battered dragon raised his head and glared at his opponent, who appeared to be in a similar state.
Adam was hunched over, his knuckles dragging against the snow covered ground. He wasn’t breathing hard – In fact, he didn’t appear to be breathing at all – but his posture was a clear indication of his condition.
At this point, it was just a matter of who dropped first.
The two beings glared at each other, and got into battle positions. Then, at an unspoken signal, the two charged.
An earth-shattering shock wave later and the two came to a stop on opposite sides of the field. All was silence.
Suddenly, the orb on Slifer’s head cracked, and, with a great roar, he collapsed.
Holding an injured shoulder, Adam stood and stalked over to the comatose dragon. Regarding him for a moment, the angel grabbed Slifer by the neck and lifted him overhead. Adam concentrated for a moment, and the Egyptian god was launched into the sky.
The sight of the battle was not far from the ocean; it was maybe ten miles inland. Slifer arced through the air, crossing that point easily, and still going. By the time he started to descend, he was over thirty miles off shore.
There was a mighty splash, and the body of the sky dragon sank beneath the waves.
With a satisfied grunt, Adam returned to the underground. He would not be seen again until the incident the humans called ‘Second Impact.’
As for Slyfer, he came to rest on the ocean floor. He would not awaken for a long time, certainly not before Adam did.
When would he awake? Well, that would be…
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(Posted Sat, 25 Oct 2008 06:47)
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