The One Whom the Heavens Neglect [Celestial Arms/Solo]

[Hirosame]

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Within the depths of the water, a new monster had begun to form. As Hiro had escaped the water, having made use of his Monk skills, he turned around to face the fountain once again. Something was coming. That was for sure. Something big. Hiro put the Pebble of Philosophy in his pocket, its radiant light fading due to his clothing, and the coming of whatever evil he was sure to face. And, as if on cue, the monster leaped from the water's surface, causing a massive splash from the fountain. Looking up into the air, he saw what would be his opponent. As it landed, the ground shook. A Giant Crab-like monster had made its appearance, a veil of water circling around it. Just at that moment, though, the status screen for it popped up. Its name was Brachyura, and it was classified as something Hiro hadn't seen before. A Genius? What in the world did that mean? Just as he was beginning to question what that was at all, it rumbled in a deep voice. "Sssurrender the Pebble of Philosssophy..." It grumbled, snapping its claws in anticipating toward him.

Hiro knew that if he gave up the Pebble, then whatever secrets were held within its confines would be lost to the world. But, this enemy was also level 90, the same level as him... Sure, he had the weapons to fulfill the required stats, but his armor was less than decent. Level 20 armor? That wouldn't help him at all! Hiro may have to rely entirely upon his mobility to survive this fight, though that didn't mean much against another level 90 opponent. Silently damning the whole situation, Hiro braced himself. "Not gonna happen!" He shouted to the crab, starting for the entrance. If he could escape from the fight, and make it away from the boss's area of attack, then perhaps he could got away without fighting. However, as soon as he started for the exit, Brachyura immediately began to cast a spell, which after a second, formed a bubble around him. "What the!?" He shouted, the water surrounding him muffling his voice slightly. Without a moment's notice, the enemy began to charge directly at him at high speed, crashing into him. The bubble burst, and Hiro was sent flying toward the exit. Though he was in a bit of pain, he grinned. Thanks, Brachyura!

...Or so he thought. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, he was slammed into a wall. Shockingly, this area had been created under the effect of an instance! A pixelated wall appeared where he had been impacted into, ceasing any sort of entry or exit, and he fell to the ground on his hands and knees. That was a pretty big hit, for sure. Turning his head up to the crab, he watched as it waited for his move. What was this, some kind of a turn-based RPG? No, it wasn't. The crab was intelligent enough to know that it can probably counter whatever it is that the Monk can throw at it, and decided to work with a more passive stance. This thing was indeed a genius, as Monk is one of the more aggressive classes. Hiro clicked his tongue at this, feeling that the monster itself knew its stuff about the classes. Hiro got back up, glaring at the crab. He needed to do something, but he knew that a one-on-one fight was less than favorable. He'd never even heard of this monster before! Was he supposed to be here with allies? Would he even be able to complete this mission, at this rate? All sorts of questions flew through his mind, but everything was cut off by the sound of a man screaming. On the opposite side of the crab monster, Hiro noticed what looked to be a person, with a very defining physical trait. "A Pompadour...?" Hiro's eyes widened. "Gauze!"

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∝: 655
♫: Chaos Shrine
✏: The Battle Begins
@: #gauze

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[Hirosame]

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The Pompadour'd man was at the other side of the courtyard, plastered up against the wall. He didn't know what was going on, nor did he realize just what happened. All he knew was that both the Monk that he Tranquilized was now looking at him, and the crab enemy was slowly turning his way. "Y-Y-Y-Yo, man! I didn't do nothing!" He shouted to the crab, not even attempting to notice Hiro anymore. Just as the crab finished turning, it began to raise its claw up to Gauze, who suddenly began to cower in fear. Bringing his arms up above his head, and closing his eyes, he braced for an immediate kill. Just then, he heard a swing, and his mind went blank from there.

"You..." Gauze opened his eyes wide open, to see the Monk standing there, glowing with white, red, and yellow flames, grappling with the crab's claw. Hiro's head turned back around, his eyes were bright orange and had cat-like slits, and spoke further. "You are in some real deep shit, when I'm done with this!" Hiro shouted at the man, before turning his attention back to the crab. Hiro had activated both Eye of the Tiger and Hellfire Drive to move fast enough to stop the attack that was coming for Gauze, though he wasn't able to hold it that well. Deactivating both at this time, he then pushed himself away from the claw, forcing Gauze back with him. The crab's claw collided with the ground, but the two had safely knocked themselves back from the attack. Taking a moment to readjust himself, Hiro grabbed onto Gauze's collar, staring at him with anger and hate. Drawing him close to his face, Hiro sneered. "Stay out of the way." He commanded, throwing the Pompadour away, toward a section of the courtyard on the far side. Hiro turned to face the crab again, and needed to make sure that his opponent was well aware of who its enemy was. As such, he called out to the monster, activating Rafting Taunt. "Over here, jackass!" Hiro shouted, striking a battle pose.

If Gauze stayed out of the way, like Hiro wanted, then things would go over a bit more easily. However, it seemed that the taunt didn't work, for some reason. Brachyura's gaze returned to Gauze over on the side, who was now running towards the exit. Without a moment's notice, the boss monster began to charge for the Pompadour, its speed increasing quickly. Since Hiro had already used both Eye of the Tiger and Hellfire Drive, he couldn't reactivate them as quickly as he wanted. The monster used Bulldoze on Gauze, crashing him into the wall, and immediately obliterating him from existance. "Dammit!" Hiro shouted, realizing just how powerless he actually was in this situation. Panicking at this point, Hiro lunged forward after the crab, and jumped up into the air to punch it with all his might. Just as his fist was about to collide with the monster, Brachyura blocked his punch off to the side, and he had become stunned from there. A Parry!? Unable to move, Hiro landed on the ground, without being able to dodge the next attack that came his way. While getting up, the Monk wasn't able to stop the creature from placing him into a bubble once more.

Once trapped, Hiro tried furiously to break out of the bubble. He knew it wouldn't work, but he kept trying to anyways. However, Brachyura was casting something. Likely something powerful, as it took a whole 3 seconds to cast. As soon as the casting time was done, the creature brought its claws up into the air, creating a massive wave up above it. After a few moments, the wave came crashing down onto the Monk, breaking the bubble, and sending him further down the courtyard. As the water began to die down, Hiro started sputtering and coughing from all the water that had just surrounded him. He knew that he couldn't wind against this opponent. He felt weak and powerless, unable to even attack this monster. He was just about to give up, and let the monster have the Pebble. Deep down, Hiro was afraid of death. Even in this world, he did not want to feel it. As the desperation began to creep in all around him, a light began to shine from his side. Looking at it, he put his hand into his pocket, and the Pebble of Philosophy began to shine brightly. The light from the Pebble continued to grow brighter, until Hiro felt consumed by the light. Then, somehow, he began to see something... Something in the past...

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∝: 778
♫: Force Your Way
✏: The Past?
@: #rocks

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[Hirosame]

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The water parted, the monster leaped up from the fountain, to find itself in the midst of a female warrior. The temple surrounding her was in perfect repair, but no people were around. This guardian of ancient secrets was being challenged, and its opponent wielded a spear of sorts. Not a very traditional weapon, at least not by looking at it, but more a weapon from her clan. She had heard the stories of an ancient power being kept in a recently-abandoned temple, where a powerful object was guarded by an even more powerful being. After hundreds of her people had died to this beast, she herself decided that she would go and fight this monster on her own. She, the strongest warrior of her tribe, and the leader of her people. Her name was never written in any historical document, for she was never given one. In their culture, the females were not named, but through her acts of bravery and strength, she was not called by a name. Rather, the embodiment of a word, which described even the most powerful force in nature, known by all. Her name was Hope, for she embodied all of her people's wishes.

The beast began to swing at her, demanding that she return the artifact she took from the fountain. Her people had well instructed her on the dangers of this monster, as well as fully divulging onto her the every move the creature might make. Her mind and body had spent many moons training for this encounter, and she was as ready as she could be. Hope deflected the beast's attack, following up with her own, a pierce into its shell. No visible damage was made, though this did not phase her. Her people had told her of the aquatic shell that encompassed the creature, that needed a number of hits to break. Even still, her attack caused even a slight bit of damage, which was indication enough for her that she could still hurt it, even though its shell remained. Though, she felt a burning drive behind the force of her attack. Her people had only learned of these fights by banishing the criminals and prisoners of war to this island, and challenged them to bring the artifact out in order to regain their freedom. From a safe distance, the sages watched, studying the beast. The souls of those warriors and criminals were still present, guiding her spear forth.

The spirits were on her side, she felt, as she danced all around the monster's attacks. It was as if she could read the crab-creature's every move, dodging everything that came her way. The bubbles that would trap her, she avoided aimlessly. The waves, she withstood, taking only minimal damage. Her attacks were damaging the beast every time, but on the fifth hit, she had broken the veil of water, and now her attacks would deal full damage. She smirked at this minor victory, and continued her fight. Some of the attacks didn't even seem to phase her, as she took it all in stride. The being's health was dropping rather quickly, as her strikes pierced into it, slashed it, and crumbled it bit by bit. However, eventually, the monster had reached a certain point in its health, where it started to move a little slower. Hope thought that she was finally wearing down the monster, as it seemingly started to slow down. With vim and vigor pulsing through her, she continued her fight, attempting to dodge every non-skill attack. She would take the skill-based damage head on, though sparingly, and would try to even it out among herself and the environment. Using the terrain to her advantage, she fought.

Although, the beast began to moan and grumble, something seeming to change about it. It had stopped moving around, except for its violent convulsions and twitching. Hope was confused. Had she beaten it? Was she victorious in her fight against the crab? As she began to think her victory was assured, she stabbed her spear into the ground, waiting for the monster to finally give. This, however, was her biggest mistake. The water around the island began to rise high. It continued to rise, higher, higher, and higher still, until the tops of the waves were outside of her vision. Hope panicked, knowing not what to do. No Sage had ever reported such a happening! Then again, nobody had ever fought the monster for as long, nor dealt as much damage to it. She was completely lost. She knew not what to do now! Suddenly, the waves began to fall down toward her. Looking around herself, she looked to the fountain. Without another second of thought, she began to run toward it. However, the waves were coming down far too fast. As Hope jumped up into the air to dive into the water, the waves came crashing down onto her. The last thing that anybody saw of her was her spear, many years later, washed ashore on a distant island. The image of the island was the last to be seen, as light flooded back into the world.

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∝: 857
♫: Blinded by Light
✏: Flashback OP
@: #Fang

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[Hirosame]

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Hiro's eyes began to slowly open back up, a calm look on his face. His gaze shifted to the crab, as it lined up for another attack. The image of Hope flashed through his mind, as she dived away to the side to avoid this attack. Much like the female warrior from the past had done, Hiro launched over to the side, perfectly dodging the skill. He followed it up quickly with two quick punches to Brachyura's leg, and then bounded away from the monster. He stood there, looking at the beast, opening up his inventory. Taking out a Medicinal Tablet and a Greater Mana Potion, he began to partake of both quickly, restoring his health back up to full, and his MP also replenished. Unaware to him, until just a few moments after the flashback, he realized that all of his equipment had been increased in level, thanks to the Pebble of Philosophy's light. He finally began to understand a bit about the artifact, as it took in all the memories and thoughts of those who held it before in their dying moment, and used it to fuel the intelligence of those who would hold it again. That energy seeped through his body, filling him with much more than just fighting spirit.

Brachyura began to charge at him, using the move known as Bulldoze. He saw Hope jumping up above him, like she had in his memory, and stabbing once onto the crab's back. Hiro copied her move, leaping up into the air, and activated the skill Wyvern Kick to plant his foot down upon the creature, before vaulting off. He managed to avoid taking any damage from that move, though he was once again far away from the monster. He didn't want to use many of his more powerful attacks, since he knew that this would likely end up being wasted MP until the shield was broken. He had to hit it twice more, before the shell was gone, where his attacks would deal full damage. Hiro drew closer, moving quickly, to damage the monster a few more times to break the shell, but it anticipated that Hiro would attack while its back was turned. It leaped up into the air. Hiro saw a vision of Hope dealing with something much like this, where she had gone to charge at Brachyura, but he jumped into the air. She vaulted to the side, though she wasn't able to negate all the damage, and was knocked back. Hiro did the same.

As Brachyura came crashing down, using its Megaton Slam attack, Hiro had escaped the shockwave where he would have been stunned. Instead, he sustained less damage, and was knocked back. He landed on his feet a bit further back, but decided to charge at it again. This time, he used Incarnated Assault, creating clones of himself. Brachyura's back was still turned, though it could sense him coming up behind, and began to use its skill known as Four Arms. Hiro and Hope both knew how to dodge this, but Hiro had the advantage. Sending the clones forward to attack, he himself veered off to the side, avoiding the X-shaped attack, and ran up to the being's right side, punching it twice. The shell cracked, and light exploded off the monster, indicating that the armor had been broken. The creature began to cast a spell, ideally using its Purgatory Bubble skill, and launched the water at Hiro. Hiro was close enough that he just ran right underneath Brachyura to avoid the captivating bubble, and turned up. Immediately after, Hiro began to pummel the underside of the monster, using Bullet Punch. For two seconds, Hiro kept planting his fists into the creature, dealing moderate damage.

Brachyura lifted up its leg to bring down onto the Monk, though the animation time for Bullet Punch had ended by this point. Hiro nimbly jumped out from underneath the creature, and bounced away a few extra feet. He noted how much damage he had done by this point, effectively decreasing the monster's health fairly well by now. Just as he thought this, the creature began to cast something. It had the same stance from when it caused that massive wave to crash down onto both himself and Hope. Hope struck a defensive stance to negate a lot of the damage from the skill, so Hiro would do the same. Activating both Iron Body and Iron Rhino Stance, he effectively increased the amount of defensive capabilities he had by a good deal. To further accentuate his defenses, he began to use Release Chakra on himself, buffing up his Defense stat by another 10%. Hitting the certain points very quickly, the water came crashing back down onto him again. Striking a defensive stance, a good deal of the damage was decreased, though he still took some decent damage. Deactivating both Iron Body and Iron Rhino Stance, he stood there, glaring at the monster some more. A smirk found its way across his face, as he waited for the next move.

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∝: 843
♫: Blinded by Light - Dissidia
✏: The Fight Evolves
@: ---

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[Hirosame]

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Hope's memories surged through his mind, empowering his movements. Every fight that Brachyura had ever faced as engraved upon the Pebble of Philosophy, but Hope's had been the most recent, and therefore shined the brightest. He recounted all different sorts of battles, and the feelings of each combatant. Their wishes, their dreams, everything about their livelihood. Families, friends, loved ones, their enemies, all of their thoughts and mentalities coursed as a river through his mind, all flowing to a basin where they all converged: The desire to defeat Brachyura. This would be the spirit that drove forth all the previous fighters, warriors, and prisoners. Hiro looked up at Brachyura, staring at its hulking body, as it re-positioned itself. It moved toward the Monk, attempting to crash its claw down onto him. A basic attack, and the reaction for which felt second nature to him at this point. It wasn't just Hope who had dodged this attack before, though, but most of the other fighters had done it at least once. There were only a few who did not, but it still wouldn't hurt them that much.

Dodging to the side, Hiro brought his fist up and into the crab's carapace, and began to run around it, punching and kicking until he got around to its back. He jumped up into the air and stomped down on its back, before vaulting backward once again. Brachyura extended out its claws, and began to spin rapidly in place, attempting to knock Hiro with his claws. He was far enough away for this to not work, but the opponent began to move closer to him now. Suddenly, a memory from another warrior found its way into his mind. The warrior ran away from the attack, ran up one of the walls, and leaped over Brachyura to avoid it. Starting to move behind him, Hiro broke into a full on sprint, as Brachyura began to spin faster and faster, moving toward him with greater speed. Running up one of the walls, like he had seen in the memory, he sprung off it, and vaulted up above Brachyura. The crab slammed into the wall, and didn't move at all. The force from the impact, as well as the constant spinning, had made the monster dizzy. Landing far on the other side, Hiro stood up, and began to charge at Brachyura. This was his chance to combo.

While the monster was still dazed and confused, Hiro began to launch himself into a full on beat-rush style combat. A flurry of punches and kicks was all that one could see. Since the move that Brachyura had used wasn't a skill, it meant that any negative effects of spinning and colliding into a wall would take place, offering ample time for the Monk to start combo-ing off of the beast. Each time he made a combo and returned to a resting position, the skill effect from Heated Combat picked up, increasing his attack power with each strike, and his hands and feet began to heat up. Eventually, though, Brachyura broke out of his dazed state of being, and started to retaliate against Hiro. It began to cast another spell, this time in a style that Hiro hadn't seen himself before. Soon, bubbles began to form around in the air, which floated all around, and began to line themselves up, using the moon's light to produce a prism-type effect. From the memories of others, he only way to avoid much of the damage was to leap into the fountain, and at this point, there wasn't even enough time for him to brace himself fully. He got into a defensive stance, and hoped that the bonus from Release Chakra would help take away a lot of the damage.

Despite having prepped for it, the attack still dealt a large amount of damage, proportionally speaking. The blast from the moonlit bubbles was quite powerful, and illuminated the entire area. He was still standing after it, though, and felt that he could still fight well enough. It was at this point, though, that he looked up at the health bar of the monster, noticing that it was down to just about half. Surprisingly enough, his attacks were hitting for quite a bit. Then again, as he thought about it, Hope's attacks also did deal some fairly good damage as well, but not so much with large numbers of people. Perhaps there was something to increase the monster's stats, given a large enough amount of people? Some kind of system like that would surely be the case in this world, since it was a game to begin with. Either way, though, he survived the attack, and watched as Brachyura began to use Bulldoze again. He leaped up into the air, used Wyvern Kick onto its back, and sprung away once again. Despite being a so-called Genius, it only had a few moves that it could reliably use. And, now that he had the memories from everybody who had fought him before, he was much better prepared for this fight. As Brachyura stopped further away, Hiro began to plan. He needed to end this soon.

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∝: 860
♫: Summoned Beast Battle
✏: Halfway, plus a few!
@: ---

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[Hirosame]

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Brachyura was still fighting just as strong as he had before, but his drop in health was more than obvious at this point. Hiro, however, had sustained a bit of damage, too, so he decided to pop another Medicinal Tablet in his mouth, filling up his health further. Not fully topping it off, since that last attack had done a lot more than he figured it would, but his health was still in a safe range. For now, he'd need to keep fighting, hoping that he could decrease the monster's health even further. If he could get it to use that one attack, which ended Hope's fight prematurely, and find some way to deflect its damage, then he could likely defeat the enemy much more easily from there. Since Brachyura had already finished its Bulldoze, it would likely try and use this time to cast another one of its spells, like the wave or the bubble. Just as he had thought, it began to cast something. Since the casting stance was put up very quickly, he assumed it was the bubble. Hiro immediately went to close the gap between himself and Brachyura, effectively dodging where the bubble was formed.

Hiro continued along his current path, and slammed his fist into Brachyura's body, forcing the momentum from his entire body into the punch. Once it connected, he looked up to see Brachyura rearing all of its arms up, which he knew was bad news. Hiro slid underneath the crab as it performed its Four Arms move, slashing before and behind itself. This was perhaps the best way to avoid the attack, but it warranted the monster to lift its leg and crush him afterwards. He still had a few seconds before it would do this, or do something else, so after the animation for the Four Arms attack was done, he immediately jumped out from underneath, and kicked the monster a few times. By this point, though, Heated Combat had worn off, so his skills weren't dealing as much damage as before. Even still, the kick gave him enough room to swing his arm down onto its body once more time, before jumping away. It looked like it was going to attack soon, to which it jumped into the air. Another Megaton Slam was in the works, but Hiro was already away enough to avoid the stun. For now, he would just try and keep moving away, to see if he could avoid damage at all.

As the Brachyura came crashing back down, it still was close enough for the outer shockwave to hit him, causing him to fly back a ways. He stumbled a bit on the landing, causing him to fumble around, but he eventually kept himself upright. After having landed, the crab started to move toward him again. Brachyura had been using a lot of its skills recently, so he figured that most of them were on cooldown still, at this point. This would mean that he should expect mostly auto attacks for the time being. Getting closer to the enemy, Hiro dodged the claws and legs as the monster attacked, and retaliated with punches and kicks wherever he could. He wasn't attacking enough to accumulate a combo, but he was consistent, and its health was steadily dropping. Eventually, its light-beam skill came off cooldown, and it started to cast that move once again. Before it had a chance to do so, Hiro decided to use a skill of his own, Somersault Kick to deal a massive amount of damage. His foot connected with the monster's body, and its health took a big hit. Critical strike! This did, however, drop its health down to roughly one-fourth of its total, and Brachyura stopped its cast, and began to cast something different...

This was the move. This was the one that killed Hope. Panicking a bit, Hiro looked around, and saw that he was close to the fountain. He decided to dash to it at this point, but didn't know what to do when he got there. The water swirled up and above the temple, creating towers of waves that extended far beyond what could be seen. It looked as if the ocean itself were rising to flood the world. Once Hiro had reached the fountain, he had only a few seconds left before the waves would begin to fall. He looked around himself for what felt like minutes, trying to find what Hope was doing. As he looked around aimlessly, he looked up and saw the waves beginning to fall. At that moment, a voice shouted in his head...

"Get in the water!"

Without another thought, the Monk dived into the fountain, and started to swim further down. Once he was down in the water a good ways, he turned around, and looked up. The waves were falling down onto the world. It was like a scene out of a horror movie, watching the water fall from high above. Hiro activated both Iron Body and Iron Rhino Stance, and braced himself for the water as it came down. He was unable to close his eyes, as the rapid waters showered down upon the surface of the fountain, but slowly swirled around him as the waters mixed. The water still caused some damage to him, but not very much, thanks to his defenses that he had applied just before impact. As the water moved and coursed through the fountain's depths, the waves up above seemed to slowly disappear above. This was the end of the monster's final attack, which meant that the rest of the fight from here would be rather simple. Hiro deactivated Iron Rhino Stance, but kept Iron Body up, and swam over to the nearby wall. Using Wyvern Kick to launch himself up out of the water, he landed, and glared at the crab. Time to finish this.

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∝: 986
♫: Nascent Requiem
✏: All ya need's a bit of Hope.
@: #SHSLHope

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[Hirosame]

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Hiro opened up his inventory, grabbing another Greater MP Potion and Medicinal Tablet. Chugging down the tablet with the potion, his health and MP fully restored themselves. Brachyura was just a little ways away from him at this point, and it was rearing back to perform another Bulldoze. Hiro lowered himself a bit, and as the crab began to charge forward, Hiro ran over to the side, placing his hand onto a large slab of broken building just nearby. Activating the skill Magnet Grip, Hiro attached the slab to his hand. Brachyura had already passed him by this point, but was still close enough to the Monk. Placing his other hand on the rock, Hiro leaped up high into the air, aided by a skill. Suplex allowed him to fly up into the air, and hold onto the boulder with all his might. Slowly, he began to spin around. The speed of his spinning picked up more violently, as he brought the rock down closer to Brachyura. When he felt it right, he activated the second part of the skill, and launched the slab down onto Brachyura's body, slamming the piece of building into the monster with incredible force.

This knocked Brachyura down, and crushed one of his legs, so he would not be able to move quite so easily. Hiro wanted to take full advantage of this point, as he landed just a short distance away from the monster. Now was the time to not hold anything back. Activating Eye of the Tiger, Hellfire Drive, Orion Delayed Blow, and Acupressure, Hiro's body was alight with the white, red, and yellow flames of the Amaterasu, his eyes shining a bright Orange, with cat-like slits for pupils, and his hands glowed red. Immediately, he broke into a full on sprint, aided by the speed boosts from Hellfire Drive and Eye of the Tiger, it was as though he had teleported. Seeing the points at which to best attack, Hiro began to punch all and kick 9 of the most vital areas, shown by Acupressure's effect. This was the limit at which Orion Delayed Blow would allow for his current level, but that did not stop his onslaught of attacks. No, this was just the beginning. Hiro had another 10 seconds before he could activate the skill, to apply the damage fully. That being said, his damage altogether right now would be incredible.

Iron Body and Hellfire Drive both would increase his attack damage through plain physical damage, and then some fire and light added in the mix. Acupressure would ensure a higher chance of critical hits with every strike he connected, which would mean much more damage, and the combos he performed worked perfectly with Heated Combat, to further increase his damage. Standing back a bit, he then activated both Bullet Punch and Zoom Attack to allow his reach to extend beyond his normal capabilities. Each punch was lightning fast, and damage applied was instant. After that combo, he jumped back and activated Incarnated Assault, causing his body, alight with flames, to emit a golden aura, and clones of himself followed Hiro when he planted a few more punches into other vital spots, dealing higher than normal damage. Once this was over with, Hiro activated the second step of Orion Delayed Blow, and the 9 points he had hit prior finally connected. This wasn't the end of his attack, though. No, now was time for the finisher. Jumping back a ways, feeling the speed boost from Hellfire Drive begin to slow down, Hiro stood and began to charge up his next attack.

Brachyura was finally able to move a bit, and began to cast his Empathiom Sea attack once more, as Hiro combo'd two more skills with one another. First, he started to charge up Fist of Boreas while running towards the monster. The Empathiom Sea skill finished its cast time, and a massive wave crashed down upon Hiro, though he showed no stopping. The force behind his attack was too great for him to stop. Letting the Fist of Boreas charge for the full 5 Seconds, Hiro then activated Dragon Rising Uppercut and cloaked his already chilled hand with burning mana, a little bit before the monster. Just underneath it, Hiro unleashed the cold wind blast from Fist of Boreas, and then followed it up immediately with the Dragon Rising Uppercut. Both blasts from the individual attacks dealt a massive amount of damage, but not enough to finally end the beast. The effect from the uppercut hand Hiro up 3 meters in the air, which he followed up with a Wyvern Kick off of Brachyura, launching himself up into the air, and then letting his hand charge up with energy once again. Hiro came crashing back down, and used his first skill, Tiger Echo Fist, to finish the fight. "Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Hiro shouted, as his fist slammed into Brachyura's body, and the impact cracked the creature's carapace. Leaping off the back once again, Hiro watched as the monster continued to crack, until it shattered into data, drifting away. And then, everything went white...

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∝: 852
♫: Dangan
✏: Standby for the ending!
@: #victory

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[Hirosame]

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The world itself seemed to turn white, all around him. He could see himself standing there, just fine, but nothing else was around him. He wondered what was going on, until he noticed a shining light from his side once again. The Pebble of Philosophy glowed brightly, and he held it up before himself, smiling. It was a soft light, one that made him feel secure. One that made him feel... Free. He gazed into the light for a few moments, letting its soft embrace surround him.

"Not half bad, kid." Hiro was shocked to hear a voice, and he lowered the Pebble. Standing there now, was Hope. The woman from the flashback? What was she doing here? "You've beaten something that nobody has ever defeated, and released the Pebble of Philosophy from its demanding grasp." As she spoke, he could see that she was genuinely happy. Hope walked over closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. She was quite tall, actually. Just a bit taller than him. But her smile was as warming as the light from the Pebble. She pointed to it, looking at the stone he held. "That rock there... It's kept us alive for the longest time." As she said this, people began to appear from the white nothingness that surrounded him. Warriors from the old times, way before this was just a game. Men, women, and children of every race appeared before him, all of them smiling softly. Hope returned her gaze to the Monk, looking him in the eyes. "It's kept us here with it, so that others may learn of our mistakes." She stepped away, walking slowly in a circle around him. Her hand was outstretched to the people.

"Philosophy, as defined, is the study of the theoretical basis, of a particular branch of knowledge or experience." She paused, continuing to face the people. "This battle that you experienced is a branch of knowledge... One that nobody has ever understood completely before... Because nobody finished the battle." Hiro watched her as she moved, only turning his head. "To the stone, we were nothing but a means to find out what happens when Brachyura is defeated. And, of course, all of us were failed resources." She stopped in front of him. "But, through all our lives and our attempts, it gained knowledge bit by bit. From then, it was only a matter of time before someone would use this knowledge to beat the Genius, Brachyura." Hope looked to the Monk again, a small tear in her eye. "It kept us here, like books on a shelf, never letting us finally meet the embrace of the next world. At least... Until you came along." She walked over to Hiro, and gently wrapped her arms around him. "Thanks to you... We can all finally become free..." Hiro returned the hug that the woman had given him, smiling to all the people around them, as they spoke.

"I can finally see my family again... Thank you."

"You have saved us all... On a level you cannot yet understand."

"My mom and dad probably miss me... It'll be nice to see them again! Thanks, mister!"

The people all began to tear up, nodding and bowing to him. Some of the more burly warriors held their thumbs up and tried to hide their emotion, but a tear would still find a way down their cheeks. Stunned by all of this at once, it finally hit Hiro what this all meant. Hope let go of him, as he began to speak. "You've all been kept here, for so long... And you haven't passed on yet?" Hope nodded solemnly, a smile still on her face. The gravity of all this finally hit him, forcing a tear to his own eye. Hiro looked around at all the people, smiles still bright on their faces. His eyes then returned to Hope, before he closed them again. A resolve found its way into his mind, and he opened his eyes back up again, smiling brightly. Hiro stepped back from Hope, and bowed down before everyone. "Thank you all, so much!" He said, it now being his turn to stun people. "Not just for all the knowledge you shared with me... Thank you all for living!" There was a silence after his short outburst, and then, soon, everybody was laughing. Hiro shot back up, feeling mildly embarrassed. He then realized that everybody was just happy that he had said that, and the embarrassment soon swept away.

"Bye bye, mister!"

"Thank you again... Thank you, young one!"

"My love... I'm coming home to you..."

The smile soon faded from his face, as he heard these words. He began to look around, and saw that the people were starting to fade away. His eyes were darting back and forth, seeing all these people smiling, waving, and disappearing from sight. So many people had been killed by Brachyura, and now that he was gone, their thoughts, minds, and feelings, were now able to rest. They were free now. One by one, they started to vanish, causing Hiro to tear up some more. At least, until Hope lightly punched his shoulder. "Hey, don't start crying. It's just the next world." She said, her voice as calm as could be. "These are the souls you've set free. Let them see a smile, why don't you?" It was then, that Hiro noticed Hope was also beginning to fade. She was right, though. Nobody wants to be remembered with tears. They want to be remembered with smiles. Wiping the tears away quickly, Hiro looked back up, and smiled. Hope chuckled a bit, as her form began to turn further transparent. "You're not acting very good, kid." She noticed that he was still tearing up. "But..." Hope nodded slowly, and smiled again. "That's more like it." Soon enough, Hope, too, was gone. The white world was empty once again, and Hiro could feel the Pebble growing brighter once more...

---

Hiro opened his eyes, to see the temple as it was before. However, he noticed a Pompadour just a little ways away, just outside the entrance of the temple. "Gauze?" Hiro said, confused as all hell. "You're alive!?" Hiro ran over to the Pompadour, who looked to be just as confused as him. The Pompadour'd man, however, looked very somber.

"A lotta people died here, fighting that thing, huh?" He said, his voice deep and thought-filled. Hiro nodded slowly. Gauze continued, shifting his stance a bit. "I didn't die in there, ya know. Once that thing, Brachy-whatever, killed me, I was sent outside of the temple. On the beach, to be more specific." Gauze sauntered over a little ways, closer to the fountain. "I saw all those people... All of them fighting the monster, just before I opened my eyes back up on the beach. All of them had been beat, but even still, they smiled." His head turned up, looking to the sky. "Maybe fighting for the sake of fighting isn't the way to go, y'know? Maybe... I should fight for something, too." He paused, still deep in thought. "Family, friends, people I love, all that good shit. Instead of fighting for myself... I should fight for what I believe in."

Hiro noticed something different about the man before him. A change in his heart. The people who gave their lives to try and be free, or Hope trying to find the Pebble for her people, maybe all of that had an effect on Gauze. Hiro smiled softly, nodding to Gauze. He then turned to face beyond the entrance, as the sky began to clear up, showing the stars more clearly. "I think that's a good idea, Gauze." Hiro concluded. Just a moment later, Gauze had opened up his inventory, and a spear appeared. Hiro looked over, and his eyes widened up. "That was Hope's..." He began, before being cut off.

"I found it on the beach when I came to." Gauze spoke. He held it out for the Monk to take. "It feels right that you do something with it." Hiro took the spear, and looked at it. Will to Fight was the weapon's title, but it was so damaged by the water and erosion that it could no longer be viably used as a weapon. Looking at it in his hands for a moment, Hiro didn't know what he should do. A moment later, though, Hiro had an idea. He walked back over to the fountain, Gauze watching him as he did so. Jumping up to the top of the fountain, Hiro found a deep enough crack, and slid the spear into it, creating a sort of memorial to the people there. Jumping back down, Hiro took a few steps back, while Gauze moved forward to stand beside him. Without another word, Hiro and Gauze both knelt down onto the ground, and put their hands together. They stayed there in divine reverence, remembering the souls who had perished here. For those who fought for their freedom, and those who fought for their loved ones. For those who had gone on before, so that the future may survive. Hiro stood back up after a little bit, with Gauze doing the same. The moon shined down from up above, illuminating the spear brightly. A soft smile appeared on their faces, as both of them turned around and began to walk away from the temple.

"Thank you." Hiro muttered. Gauze turned to him for a second, but only smiled further. On their way back to the city, Hiro and Gauze spoke for a while. Gauze apologized for him and his friends, and asked for Hiro's forgiveness. All along the way, the two began to understand one another even more, to the point of adding each other to their friend lists. Once they returned, Hiro and Gauze were greeted by the gang, who immediately began to antagonize Hiro, until Gauze explained things. The two parted there, Gauze and his gang moving off to go off and find something that they can fulfill. Hiro watched as the Pompadour Patrol laughed and joked with their leader, as he told them about Ultima Thule and what happened there. Reaching into his pocket, Hiro clasped the Pebble of Philosophy, and started to walk toward the Sage once more. He stopped and looked back toward where they had come from, knowing that Hope's Memorial would remain there, paying homage to the brave souls who lost their lives, so that we may live. With reaffirmed resolution, Hiro made his way back to the Sage.

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∝: 1765
♫: Atonement
✏: They may now rest... Finally free.
@: #HopeLivesOn

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