She was right. The concentrations of power were too high to ignore. But what of the sources? Were they enough to join the battle against her foe? Maybe. Maybe not. Malali resolved to stay hidden in the shadows and not get involved, merely observing what would become of the situation.

---

That's me a judgin'

I want to see what you guys are made of. Consider me judgin'. =)

Best of luck, guys.

Not not not not judging.

Music to set the mood

16 Hours Earlier

The name of the club was "Night Life", a dance club that was the rage of all the young people. Pariah sat in the middle of everyone, the music booming and lights flashing. People out on the dance were jumping, moving to the beat of the music. He had a couple of drinks and was tipsy. Despite all that was going on around him, he couldn't stop thinking, thinking about his father. What a stupid tradeoff, Pariah thought. The drinks mask his pain but all he can do is think of his father when he is drunk. That laugh. That damn maniacal, evil laugh. It lingered in his head, feeling like nails on a chalk board.

A stoner-looking man sits next to Pariah, breaking his thought, and says "Here, take a hit of this, dude."

Without even thinking, Pariah took the pill and swallowed it, asking "What is it?"

The man responded "Acid"

16 Hours Later: Present Time

Pariah's eyes opened and he saw nothing but darkness. He was cold all over his body and was lying on his back. Everything felt like it was spinning, and he felt like he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Like when someone is tired and their mind fads in and out of reality. Pariah shook his head violently to wake himself. He got up and tried to get his bearings, looking around to find out what is going on. He was no longer in the club but in a cave. Aside from a hint of light, the place was pitch black, accompanied by the low and silent howl of wind and the dripping noise of water falling from the ceilings.

"Acid" Pariah said. "I'll never do that again"

He had to get out of here or he'd freeze to death. Pariah started to walk, trying to keep his balance but eventually he found his center of balance. It was hard to see and the cave was barely lit up by a source of light, which Pariah started to head for. His back ached, probably from laying on a cave floor for who knows how long. Along with that, the after effects of several drugs and drinks of alcohol started to get to him. His head was hurting and it felt like his intestines were tied in knots. The lingering feeling of being on the edge of vomiting existed as well. Despite his woes, Pariah thought that he'd trade this feeling over the constant pain in a heart beat.

The cave came to an end and Pariah was welcomed to the setting sun, still bringing warmth before it left. Seeing the sun made him breath out a huge sigh of relief. He spread out his arms and legs and closed his eyes, embracing the sun and the warmth that ran down him like a bucket of water. Even his head started to clear up. The feeling of coldness, slowly being replaced by warmth, never felt so good.

"AHEM!" said a random voice, which broke Pariah's euphoric feeling.

Pariah's eyes quickly opened and saw a man standing in front of him with a stone cold face. This stranger looked young, maybe in his twenties. Thick glasses sat on his face and blended well with his messy hair. He kind of looked like a dork, Pariah thought. But there was something about him, something more to him.

"Hi..." said Pariah, with his arms and legs still spread out. Pariah's eyes looked from left to right trying to figure out where he was. "So, you wouldn't happen to know where I am, do you?", asked Pariah.

"Do you know you have no pants on?" the stranger asked. Pariah, with his arms and legs still spread out, looked down to see his bare genitals hanging out in plain view. This would explain the cold feeling, Pariah thought. He stared at the man in the eyes for what would seem the longest, and most awkward, twenty seconds of his life. Pariah lowered his arms and just put them to his side and just leaned on his right foot. He could see this man still trying to keep eye contact with him.

"So that answers the 'Does the carpet match the drapes?' question" he said, trying to break the awkward silence with a joke. This stranger said nothing, making it even more awkward. Pariah looked around frantically and saw his pants at the corner of the entrance to the cave. "Oh...heh...there they are" he said. Pariah quickly walked over to his pants and put them on, while saying to the stranger "It's cold in here so don't judge. Heh. Acid....it's a hell of a drug Know what I mean?" The stranger just rolls his eyes.

"You're an idiot" the stranger said, finally breaking his silence.

"You're gay" Pariah quickly responded.

"How childish. I have no time to deal with an imbecile like you."

"An imbecile, am I? Them fightin' words right there, pal!"

"Fight me? HA! I'm looking for something important. I don't have time for you. Besides, I don't like to hurt idiots" the man said. A swift sideways kick can up from Pariah's right leg and the stranger lifted his hand quickly to block it. His eyes widened at the speed and power of the kick. A millisecond later and the kick could of taken his head off. Anger was written all over Pariah's face, his eyes squinting, his eyebrows stern, and his teeth showing. Pariah quickly jumped back with astounding agility. Quickly, the anger on his face went away.

"Shit...I'm sorry. I kind of snapped. I try and keep that in check" Pariah said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. This stranger was intrigued by what he just saw. Here he thought this man was just a random, idiotic stoner. But that one kick gave him a good idea that this man was something more. The stranger examined this weird man, looking at his white hair and red eyes. This guy was in great shape and had several small scars on him, perhaps indicating he is some sort of fighter. The feature that caught him the most was the white hilted claymore on his back. He wanted to know more.

"Okay...we'll fight. And my name is Oliver. Oliver Faust." Oliver said.

"Pariah....and it was cold. Okay?"


This message was edited by Darknet on Oct 13 2009.

Music for the battle

Shit, not enough time, Pariah thought to himself. There was no way he could dodge the trident from cutting in to his throat. With no other options, Pariah mustered his angelic powers and launched a burst of power that sent a shock wave from his body. The blast was strong enough to push back the wiry man and his trident and throw back twenty yards. This isn't good, the hybrid thought to himself. Pariah's body was hurting all over and nothing could change that, despite how hard he tried to hide it. The burst of energy he sent out took a bit out of him as well. At the rate this was going, he was going to be six feet under after this fight. There was no other choice, he had to use it.

"Ah, about time. I've been wondering why you wouldn't use that" Oliver said. The hybrid's face lit up in confusion. He knew what was about to happen. Smart prick thinks he knows everything. "Does it have anything to do with your father?" Oliver asked.

"How could you possibly kn-"

"-I saw in to your mind, hybrid. With this mask, the Mask-"

"-of Sagroth. I've heard of it. But when did you read my mind?"

"Oh you know what it is! You get a gold star. I read your mind when you were hovering in the air. I saw what is in there. Your father raped your mother and killed your grandfather. I saw it all in you. Your rage...your hate...your hope. Your hope for a happy life."

"You saw all that? Damn...I feel so violated" Pariah responded with sarcasm, covering his chest and crotch area. He continued "Well...it kind of has to do something with my father, about how I feel closer to him when I use these powers" Pariah threw his claymore off to the side, sticking in to the side of a rock. He looks away to his right, showing a lack of confidence in his posture "But if I were to say the main reason I hate it is that...I feel so god damn inhuman when I'm like this"

Pariah immediately falls to his hands and knees, groaning. Sounds of bones rearranging and inner parts moving filled the area, combined with the sound of groaning. This was a chance for Oliver so strike and finish his opponent but he couldn't. He was intrigued to see what will happen. My curiosity may one day be the death of me, he thought to himself. The hybrid's skin started to turn to scales, his skin darkens. Long black nails start to protrude from his fingers, elongating to nearly a foot. Pariah finally looks up from his hands and knees position, showing his eyes were now glowing red and his teeth turned sharp.

"HAHAHAHAHA" laughs Pariah, whose voice was being masked by a darker, more low growl. The now hellish demon moved his hand's and knee's position to that of a runner who is about to take off. The hybrid leaps out and sprints. His speed is almost unreal. He reaches Oliver in a matter of seconds, swiping and slashing at him. Oliver musters all the speed he can just to dodge and block the attacks. The demon showed his great speed by suddenly appearing behind Oliver, who barely managed to dodge the forth coming jab.

Oliver jumps backwards to create some room to get his head in order but the hybrid just appears before him, smiling and showing his sharpened teeth. For a split second, he stared in to the red glowing eyes and saw a monster. The demon leaped at him and Oliver was barely able to side step, losing site of the demon for just a second. He turned quickly to prepare for another attack but the hybrid was gone, vanished in to thin air.

"You can't hide from me, demon" Oliver proclaimed. He taps his glasses to scan for life signs. The glasses let off a loud bleep, indicating there is no signs of life. Impressive that you can hide from my glasses, hybrid, Oliver thought to himself. But can you hide from the Mask of Sagroth? The wiry man put the mask on and scanned the field. The mask detected no life.

"This is impossible! There is no way you can hide before Mask of Sagroth!" Oliver shouted in to the battlefield.

"Anything can be hidden in the shadows" said a masked voice, coming from behind Oliver. Pariah appeared out of no where and once again leaped with an attack to kill. Once again, he was out of sight for a second and was gone again. Oliver looked around erratically, becoming nervous. His mind started to swell up with thoughts: Where is he? Where would he appear? How is he doing this? From behind, again, Oliver heard footsteps. He quickly turned but the demon was even faster now. The demon slashed at Oliver's leg and put a cut in his calf about half an inch deep. Pariah turned around to face his opponent, sliding on the ground from the momentum of his speed. He crossed his arms and stared at his enemy, with a great satisfaction on his face.

Oliver opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a strange feeling that arose in his body. His vision started to blur and double. Weakness started to spread all over him and his balance started to fail, as if he was intoxicated. The wiry man processed in his brain about what happened, his mind spitting out hundreds of reasons until he figured it out.

"Your claws are secreted with poison...and the deeper the cut, the more affected you are by the poison" Oliver stated, who started to uncontrollably sweat and stumble.

"Good job! Now YOU get a gold star" exclaimed Pariah, clapping his hands.

"But what I don't understand is how you can hide from me...hide from my glasses. From my mask..." Oliver said. Pariah's smile went away and he gave the poisoned man a stare.

"Hmm....do you ever read manga? I honestly can't get enough of the stuff. Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail. All of it. I'm addicted. But if there is one thing that pisses me off the most about those stories is how the enemy will explain their powers of something" Pariah exclaimed, walking back and forth. "I mean, it makes no sense! It's a huge advantage in battle. So why tell them? 'OH HEY! THIS IS HOW YOU CAN BEAT ME' Doesn't that crap just piss you off?"

"So you're not going to tell me. Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Oliver responded.

"Just wanted to see if you had the same interests as me, I guess" Pariah said. Deep down, Pariah respected this man and just wanted to connect with him a little bit. The reason why Oliver couldn't find him is because Pariah's powers take him in to a different dimension, using shadows as portals. Life is not picked up on the mask because it is not in this dimension. Pariah's father was known as the "Shadow Serpent" by the world and was feared with this power.

"I will tell you that I gained my powers from my father. I hate fighting with his powers. Goes against how I like to fight. My grandfather fought head on like a knight. My dad fought like an assassin. Though that doesn't mean he didn't have a bit of firepower behind his powers" explained Pariah. The demon inhaled a huge amount of air and spit out a fireball, no bigger than a beach ball. It didn't move very fast. Even when poisoned, Oliver just jumped to the side of it. But Pariah still had a smile on his face. Just as the ball of fire passed by Oliver, the hybrid's eyes glowed even redder. The fireball exploded no more than ten feet away from him. Oliver screamed in agony as he was blasted by heat and fire on one side of his body. He fell over to his side and started to roll around on the ground, screaming, as his suit and face steam from the heat.

The hybrid started to dance around in a circle, laughing. He lifted his hand in the air and twirled the Mask of Sagroth on his extended pointer finger claw.

"Oh, and just in case you want to figure out the mystery by reading my mind....then...you can't. *bleep*. That didn't sound witty at all" Pariah said.

"When did y-" Oliver asked before being interrupted.

"-I'm just that good. When your as fast as me, it's easy to pickpocket someone" Pariah said. He lifts his head in the air and lets out a sickening laugh.


HAHAHAHAHAHA

Amazing duel, although I think Sharksinyourmouth had an edge. He stood out, bringing a lot of his character out.

God. What an amazing duel! Nice job guys, just a few things for both of you:

-Don't randomly change tenses. I'm not sure if this is a grammatical error or not, but you both swapped into the present tense every now and again, and it just confused me. If it's just your style, screw my opinion but it's just something I picked up.

-Watch out for words being omitted! It happens to me a lot, and I don't see them on my re-reads. You both had a few fragment sentences, they didn't take away from the duel but again I think it's something you should know.

So, winnerpicking time...



I actually regret signing up as a judge, because that was just so damn hard. =( Loved both your posts and really enjoyed reading this duel (music was awesome!), but I had to go with my gut feeling. Best of luck to you both!