Friendly match-Anomaly vs. T.G. Oskar

[T.G. Oskar]

"Here. I have reached the place. Has he already reached, or am I the first to come?"

Standing atop a large, well-groomed white horse, Oskar had reached the place he was looking for. The place was desolate, a grim reminder of the horrors of war. Located far away from a rural town, the place looked like a small hamlet, with at least 5 to 6 houses and some other buildings. Or, to say best, the ruins of it: the hamlet was completely in ruins, and covered with dense vegetation, which gave the idea that the place was ransacked during the Second World War. The place was completely abandoned, and the route was unused. A perfect place for two powerful gentlemen to meet.

Mounting down, Oskar moved some place away from the town, upon an improvised post, in order to tie up his horse. He quickly revised his equipment, to see if he was ready: his holy bastard sword was sheathed and sharp, he was wearing a well-polished chain mail under a spandex shirt that covered his entire torso, right under a clean surcoat bearing the coat of arms of the God's Sanctuary. He wore a set of eyeglasses, made of nearly unbreakable glass, fit for combat. He also wore polished plated gauntlets, and polished greaves with swift combat boots.

Returning to the ruined hamlet, Oskar sensed a great power drawing nearby. He unsheathed his blade, held it upon both hands, and stood still...

Could it be? Has his opponent, Anomaly, finally come?

[Anomaly]

Like ruined tomb stones the buildings of the hamlet jut into the sky. Indeed, there is an air about the place of a long forgotten cemetary who's occupents are no longer remembered. Yet a dull clanking can be heard, winding its way through the shattered stones. An occasional hiss of steam follows, as a huge bulk of rot iron looms up from the center of town. An Iron Behemoth, ultra red eyes gleaming down from a massive metal skull take in the whole of the hamlet. That gaze does not stop turning until far below a gleaming figure is spied standing alone. The top of the Behemoth's skull slides open, a black glass compartment coming into view. The Behemoth gives a metallic roar as fleeting black shape rises from its central nervous center and into the sky.

The bolt of darkness arcs grandly, and then settles without a sound in a crouch with black angel wings spread just before lord Oskar. As the figure slowly stands and folds his wings, the Iron Behemoth lays back down with a hissing of joints. Anomaly smiles, not completely evily, at his guest. His long strands of white hair and Holy Shadow cloak move gently in an unfelt breeze as he speaks

"So good of you to come my friend. But I suppose talk isn't exactly high on our agenda of the moment..."

His black spiked boots dig into the partched earth as his black taloned hand reaches over his shoulder. The chain link cloak that binds him swirls menicingly as from between his wings he draws a massive kris bladed sword. The sword itself gives a low, menacing growl from the vampiric skull hilt...crimson light wrapt lovingly about the blade. He holds the blade at the ready in one hand, his other gauntleted arm remaing at his side. The ankh tattooed between the Anomalists white on black eyes gives a gentle glow as he speaks again.

"Fate is a fickle thing. I've always hated it, but everyone continuously seeks to convince me of its validity. Tell me friend, would you consider this meeting to be 'fated'?"

[T.G. Oskar]

"Fate...a word I most dislike. I have always believed that the world is capable of being changed. Yet, prophecy always tends to prove me wrong. Perhaps... fate is not absolute, that we can still change the world. But not all of the world. Perhaps our meeting was fated, sir. But perhaps this in particular is not. Perhaps the real fated battle is not this one." Oskar replied to his challenger, while he relaxed himself a bit. He firmly gripped his blade with his right hand, as he set up for a run.

"It seems you are not of the talkative type, sir Anomaly. I shall not bother you with my ideals anymore, then." As soon as he finished, Oskar charged with all of his speed, his blade slicing the loose soil covering the forsaken land. His left hand, however, was set too close to his armed right. And, at inches of his opponent, he switched his blade from hand, swung his left arm, and set up for a strong rushing fist.

[Anomaly]

The fist strikes the Anomalist squarely in his stomach, slipping between the armored bands that hold his cloak about his body. He hadn't even tried to dodge, and the resulting sound is that of a wet slab of meat smacking into concrete. Anomaly doubles over, shaken slightly, and grins as he looks past Oskar into the distance. Somethings not quite right with this...

"Ahh...*cough*...but I AM the talking type friend! I talk...*gasp*...about all sorts of things. Like how you should be careful whom it is you decide to close quarters with...about how to say 'hello'..."

A dull, purplish black glow crackles down Anomaly's left arm and settles gently just before the eye of kalibas. Between the two, the energy swells into a small black orb...about the size of a mans fist. Light, space, and time around it in a very small but distinct area begin to warp. Anomaly licks his lips and whispers gently, finishing.

"And how to say 'good bye'."

The concussion of the spell is small, but none the less it launches from the Anomalists hand at point blank range. Enough force is packed into the little gravity orb to plaster a normal person against the nearest wall.

[T.G. Oskar]

Gravity...force...between all of the laws that rule the Universe, none is as merciless and precise as it. And now, Oskar was faced with the arcane incarnation of Force itself, and nonetheless in point-blank range. He was hit by the orb, and let himself get dragged by the blast.

Then, at an instant, Oskar placed his blade and both of his feet against the soil, in an attempt to counteract with friction. As he neared the wall, he jumped, still dragged by the orb, and tensed his body for impact. The wall was thrashed, and the orb's energy dissipated, as the spell's effect was finished. To a normal person, this would have been the end...

...yet for Oskar, used to physical punishment, this was a signal that more punishment was to come. He stood up, his blade still sharp, and his boots slightly worn by the amount of friction generated. He stretched, noticing his chest and back were slightly aching.

"So, talkative are you then? My mistake, forgive me then. I simply assumed you were not the talkative type. Guess the agenda is open to talk, then", Oskar replied. In his mind, his thoughts were more serious:

"He's strong, yet he wishes to withhold such power. Gravity magic has always been used for weakening. Will he remain in this game? Or was that a mere warning?"

Then, Oskar started to spin his blade, each time spinning faster. Holding the rosary with his left hand, he closed his eyes, and started to meditate. Suddenly, his armed hand started shining, and the soil within him started to displace in waves, ass if signaling that energy emerged from within his own self. Oskar's expression turned ever more serious, as wind from the surroundings started to accumulate in the blade. Then, in a sudden moment, Oskar's eyes opened, and he spoke with a stern voice:

"I wish to know more about yourself. As to why your resentment towards light. Let us speak...with our voices...our hearts...and with our swords!!"

And, following the speech, he smashed the earth, releasing a massive wave of air that lighted the path that followed.

"Shining Air Sword Style: Shining Air Wave!!!!"

[Anomaly]

The Eye of Kalibas is still open, a few trace sparks of gravitational force sparkle before it. Anomaly listens to the words of he paladin, clearly some what impressed he can manage to talk at all. He was not suprised when the eye informed him of the gathering energies in the Paladin, nor the very visible aura of strength that eminated from the figures body. He was clearly very skilled in his own fashion of combat.

Rending the air in twain, the attack came, slicing open the earth in a straight line as it traveled. The crimson jewel set in the palm of the silver gauntlet glows, and just as the air blade arrives, it deflects to the right. This is not a gravitational manipulation, nor is it some advanced defensive stance. Merely the Eye of Kalibas refocuses existant air pressure patterns...manipulating them in such a way as to cause the powerful blast to diverge as it closes on a localized area of high pressure. Basically the eye focused the surrounding air in an area around the Anomalist to be greater than that pressure exerted by the air blade and thus, due to pressure gradient force, the air flows towards an area of lower pressure on either side of the Anomalist. That it deflects to the right is merely the natural effect of coriolis force in the northern hemisphere.

Still tearing up the earth, the shining air wave smashes into a nearby ruin, splintering the stone and causing what is left of the edifice to crumble in on itself. Anomaly lowers his left hand and begins to walk slowly towards the paladin. He doesn't appear angry, smug, or really concerned either. His expression is baffeling.

"I do not resent the light. It is the light that resents me. But then, in retrospect, I cannot blame it."

An aura of malice swells in the Blood Reaver, Oketsu, and manifests as a deep crimson light with somewhat jagged edges. Still Anomaly walks forward, showing no signs of battle nor of fear of battle. He walks along the edge of the split earth, cloak moving gently in the breeze.

"However, just because I do not blame the light, does not mean I am prepared to admit fault. No...sometimes what is 'right' to do is wrong and what is 'wrong' to do is the only right answer. Thus I'm at a stale mate...I know right and wrong but my actions don't match with my beliefs. It's terrible, however, its also my life and my past and I'm not certain you have a right to learn about it."

He stops some feet away from the paladin and smiles. It is not a smile of contempt, nor one of friendship. It is instead tragically sad, as if the fallen would cry were they granted tears. The Blood Reavers aura of malice intensifies as if feeding off this anguish. rather it hungers...and hungers deeply with prey so close at hand. The crimson aura of the blade almost tangibley strains in the Anomalists right arm. He lifts his blade, the smile never fading, as he inspects its surface.

"But having said that, I feel I should make something clear for you. I do not resent the light...merely those that claim to serve it and know it, when in reality they know NOTHING of its true nature! I think you are onto something though. Let us continue to talk...with out hearts...and our swords!"

The movement is nearly as vicious as the assault itself. With a single pulse of the dark cloaked ones blackened wings he launches himself over the sparce distance between himself and Oskar. Oketsu gives a tangible roar, choked with blood thirst, hunger, and hatred as the aura of the blade explodes into a cleaving shaft of spirit energy. The already long blade is thereby lengthened a further four feet, making the blade ten feet in all including normal blade and spectral aura. As such as Anomaly delivers a horizontal slash, even should the physical blade be blocked, the spectral blade will sweep through the wall behind and possibley through the Paladin as well.

[T.G. Oskar]

Oskar remained surprised as the air wave shifted towards the Anomalist's right, as he never saw anyone capable of doing this with little effort. Then, as he saw the air circulating near the center of the eye, he understood. Physics were not his forte, yet he could clearly notice the Anomalist did, and for very obvious reasons. Thereafter, the Anomalist explained his position regarding light, and why he chose neutrality over it. To see a person who believed light resented him...how could he have ended that way? Why? Could he have been part of a misunderstanding?

Then, at a sudden, the blade of the Anomalist, which was already surrounded of a malicious aura, grew in size, larger than a normal human. "Aura Blade...the ability to shift energies from within, to enhance the power of the weapon...", he thought, as the Anomalist prepared to swing the spectral-enhanced sword at him.""Could it possibly work? Guard Impacting using the Blast Defense Fist?"

As the blade drew near, Oskar dropped his own. His left hand still grabbing the rosary, he closed his eyes again. Yet, this time, the focused energy came faster. Using his right arm, filled with the energy of light flowing through it, Oskar blocked the physical blade, as if a karateka was blocking a chop strike. And, using his recollected energy, he collided with the spectral blade, sending Oskar's body, propelled by the impact, and the Anomalist's blade on opposite directions. Oskar rolled, and remained crouched, as if he were to tackle his opponent.

Oskar's serious face softened, as he started to understand the reasons why his opponent made his choice. He would require more time to understand, and more time listening to him, to get the full story. He relaxed, as he wished to answer the Anomalist.

"Perhaps it is that you have misunderstood. I still have much to learn from the path I have chosen. And from all sides, if it's possible. I, for all I know, am not capable of saving myself, by my own means. Is that what you believe, that no matter what we do, a simple mistake will always ruin everything? And, because nobody can save themselves by their own means, that we are doomed to be condemned? I wish to know...what you think. I am not capable of giving counsel, a friendly advice, unless I know. I would like that, until the day you and I consider fated, we become friends, sparring partners, even rivals if you wish. For a lonely life is not a life at all..."

As he finished, he rushed again towards the Anomalist. Lunging to the side, he attempts to grab the Anomalist's hand, in order to complete a Full Nelson grab. If he connected, he would surely link into a German Suplex, sending the Anomalist's head right into the ground. Yet, as he saw how his attack was avoided, he attempted something different.

To do it...at a moment's notice, almost without a thought...

[Anomaly]

Anomaly's reaction to his sword strike being repelled was one of respect mixed with suprise. It would take a powerful spirit energy indeed to repell the soul inhabiting his fearsome blade. Anomaly made no move as Oskar rolled to a halt, merely listening ot the words of the other. He was about to respond, when from nowhere the Paladin launches himself at the dark one. A single burst of his blackened wings and the Anomalist is airborn again, hovering over his opponent. A strange Paladin indeed, to use his sword so sparingly.

"Life? It's something I hardly know. Loneliness? How I wish I'd spent my centuries of ennui and isolation in that state..."

Wafting higher into the sky, Anomaly glances upwards.

"No...no I understand everything far too well. I understand pity, mercy, and humility. I also understand wrath, hatred, and treachory. So to do I understand everything, nothing, and the very nature of balance betwee nthe two. A simple mistake can indeed spell damnation, but many mistakes are not simple. Many things humans regard as simple mistakes are indeed DELIBERATE sins. All are condemned my friend. We are all guilty until proven innocent..."

Anomaly glances back down, that same strange sadness in his eyes.

"However, we are not all innocent, and only a fool would think so. You leave yourself open, even to my ramblings...that is both good and bad. Spar we shall, but we will yet see what shall become of it."

With that his wings bring him higher still, until he dives. This time the sword is not ablaze with crimson energy, but still it roars as the cold metal cuts through the wind with a satisfying ripping sound. At the same time, the claws of the Gauntlet of Kalibas spread and slash in as well...a scissor attack.

[T.G. Oskar]

"To understand everything? What kind of person can truly think he understands all? Everything and nothing? Surely, he wishes to believe that living in a paradox will answer all the questions...", Oskar thought, as Anomaly swiftly flew into the sky. His speed was no match to the reflexes of the Anomalist, whose black wings could only spell his fate.

A fallen angel...

Cast away from heaven, many fallen angels have despised the light and embraced the darkness. The first were turned slowly into demons by their hideous hearts, which reflected their selves. Later fallen angels were only stained by their black wings, as a reminder of their lost selves. That was how he remembered the legends about fallen angels. And now, he was facing one of them. Yet, he held no hate for him. His attack, however, was not something to love for. And his opponent was facing at him, his blades ready to slice him into thousands of slices.

He swiftly prepared for defending. However...in his mind, only one thing on his mind. "Take...the...air...", he heard on his mind. Then, he attempted a tactic, one he was not sure it might work, but one he wanted to try anyways.

Oskar swung his blade again, as if he were to execute his Shining Air Wave technique. Air once again recirculated in his blade, forming a current of air that lifted the dust beneath him. At mere meters of impact, Oskar swung the blade, releasing a cloud of dust that surrounded him and an area of about 2 meters of radius. However, no wave was to be found...as if the wave was thrown directly to the ground. And, in a few meters from the cloud of dust, Oskar was aloft. His blade was unusually sheathed, and his body was pointing upwards. He then fell, his body ready to complete the grab he wanted to do. His intention, to complete the suplex move, but this time with a modifier: he would generate rotation clockwise, to spin and drive the Anomalist to the ground with extra effort. He aimed to grab his hands and his wings, to prevent him from lifting up.

And, in Oskar's eyes, a strange look had appeared. A...pupil...less look...

[Anomaly]

Taken by suprise but this new avenue of assault, the Anomalist swerves as the Paladin collides and latches onto his body. The pair of them drop out of the air, hurtling towards the dust below. A few inches above the ground, however, the pair hault completely...a shimmering wall of gravitational lightning spreads across the ground and then courses up, forming an anti-graviational shield around the both of them.

"Now what did I tell you about being careful of whom you get close to?"

The graviational energy causes the two to rise, slowly at first, and then with a quickening pace. Hurtling up into the atmosphere, already hundreds of feet into the air and still climbing, Anomaly looks almost extactically up into the heavens as if he's returning home. It would seem his entire goal is to climb as high as possible...what then who knows? Dropping Oskar from such height would surely kill him and taking him too high would kill him as well. With the play of graviational energies in effect, Oskar would be a fool to kill his captor and equally a fool just to simpley let go.

"I think I've thought of a fun question for you. How do you feel about going to Heaven?"

[T.G. Oskar]

"Heaven? Not yet...I still need to do a lot in here."

Oskar was in a single-tracked mind all of this time. Only to grab him, his opponent, to pin him down. Yet, it seemed that such technique would serve for naught...he was already holding him, but he was not falling...instead, he was just rising, as if gravity was working backwards. The energy shield was, apparently, an antigravity field, meant to reverse the effects of gravitational force to that particular area. Thus, they could not be pulled by a greater gravitational force: otherwise, the entire existence of the planet would be at risk, and worse, it would require too much energy from his part. The answer, thus, was far more simple: he toyed with the laws of physics, merely bending them to his will. But, at what cost? What of the other principles of physics, those who depended upon such peculiar law?

And now, at a great height, he was faced with a dangerous peril: how he would survive? The Anomalist surely could: his mastery of energies would save him, but Oskar's feeble skills would not save him from the perils of space, or the inevitable downfall death produced by free-fall...

"Do...not...fe..ar...", the mysterious voice replied again. He felt a strange sensation, a truly odd sensation of security, one his opponent would surely claim as a false one. But, he felt he could believe it...almost by faith...

"Face him, but do not kill him...only defeat him. He is not guilty of anything. Learn, instead of destroy. And, believe in yourself...". What could that voice be? His consciouness? To defeat him, but not to kill him? That was his sole intention: defeat, or be defeated. Not kill, or be killed. And also, to learn: he was learning of his decision. Was he exiled because of human feelings? Because he loved humanity so much? Why?

"So, you believe heaven is simply 'up there', as if an absolute up could exist. I don't know where heaven is, but I know I want to be there. Despite my sins, despite my...imperfection. Yet, I know something, something you might debate...", Oskar said, as he felt the loss of air impairing him. "Don't you think...you are not...worthy of...His forgiving... ? Don't you...think that...your...sins...can...be...e...rased?"

Using his weakening strength, Oskar put his feet upon the Anomalist's cape, and turned to the front, as his grip was lessening. He grabbed his opponent's cape, right in front of his neck, and swiftly drew his blade, in order to puncture him with it. Merely a wound, of no danger to his life, only to make him fall. Yet, without his realization...

...Oskar was looking...less human... More like...a celestial being...

[Anomaly]

As cold steel bites into the Anomalist flesh he gives a cry halfway between a sqwauk and a howl. He hadn't expected the paladin to be so foolish as to press the attack while utterly at the mercies of his magics. The blood wells up around the blade, black and putrid, and flows slowly from the wound. The light of the Anomalists pupils is drowned in a sudden out pouring of smouldering darkness. The gravitational field diverg