Round 2: Crono vs Khaos

“Concentrate Crono,” Master Korin said, leaning on his gnarled staff. The anthropomorphic cat studied his pupil intently. The crimson haired teen was having a hell of a time.

Crono was covered with gaudy exotic jewelry. He had a ruby encrusted amulet that draped from his neck, a set of bracers studded with sapphires, and a strange belt that had an adornment of multicolored gems, sorts that he couldn't even name. According to Korin, the items had been enchanted as a sort of limiter for his spiritual energy. They would prevent Crono's spiritual energy from expanding too fast, a tool to teach him how to generate it properly.

Droplets of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Gritting his teeth he tried to draw the spiritual energy from his torso, down the length of his arms, and into his palms. It was easier said than done. Before, when he had tried it released the flood gates and he would... explode. This time around, with the limiters on, it was like he couldn't grasp it, the energy felt out of touch.

Little beads of azure light began to trickle from his finger tips, forming into a marble sized ball in the center of both of his palms. Crono couldn't help it, he let out a cry. It took everything he had to channel it, to manipulate it into the form he wanted it to be in. He knew what Korin was thinking, if he could form an energy ball with barely any to draw from, he would have better control when it came to doing it without the limiters on.

“You've almost got it. The limiters are there to slow the progress, but the energy is still yours to utilize. Are you getting a feeling for how it is done?”

“Y-yes,” Crono said; the strain evident in his voice. The energy sphere had grown, it was nearly as big as a softball.

“Good, now release it,” Korin said.

Being in the middle of the tower, Crono had to be careful where he hurled the ball. He didn't want to blow everything up. Eying one of the crenelations, he brought his arm back and hurled it at the opening. It ball zipped through the air, casting the entire room in its soft azure glow. It flew out of the opening and into the open sky, where it vanished from sight on the horizon.

“I did it!

Crono was elated with the results. Sure, it was baby steps, but he had come a long way from when he had first arrived. His uncle was right, Korin really was truly a renowned master.

“Ah, Jeraph,” Korin said. Crono felt a familiar energy signature enter the room. “I've been meaning to introduce you to my other student, Crono.”

Crono turned around and smirked. “Ah, Jeraph! Long time no see; you've climbed Master Korin's tower, impressive.”

Korin blinked a few times, clearly confused. “You two know each other?”

Crono nodded. “We fought against each other in the South City fighting circuit, before I came here.”

“Well, well,” Korin said, rubbing a tuft of fur on his chin. “You both have been progressing nicely in your training. I say we have another match. I'd like to see you both fight all out. That way I can judge which direction I need to take you in.”

“Well, I'm fine with that,” Crono said. “What do you think Jeraph?”

Actions:

None.

WC: 584

Jeraph had walked in the room just in time to see the small brilliantly colored ball of energy fly from Crono and out of the opening, he watched it as it disappeared into the horizon. Jeraph had felt the energy, although slight, while he had rested and regained his strength. When he entered the room he bowed to Master Korin, and to Crono. Jeraph was still looking a little worse for wear, his hair was still coated and matted with blood, his clothing was still torn from the guardian at the spring. His sword scabbard was even smeared with blood, whether it was his own, or the guardians he didn't have the faintest clue.

Jeraph rose from his bow as the cat guardian began to introduce him to the youth. Instantly Crono's face formed a smirk, almost cocky in appearance.

“Ah, Jeraph,” Korin said. Crono felt a familiar energy signature enter the room. “I've been meaning to introduce you to my other student, Crono.”

Crono responded to Korin before Jeraph could muster a word,Crono turned around and smirked. “Ah, Jeraph! Long time no see; you've climbed Master Korin's tower, impressive.”

Korin had a confused look on his face as Crono had instantly recognized Jeraph. Apparently it had slipped his own and the teens mind to mention each other to the master. Jeraph had felt the energy from the powerful youth only briefly during his periods of consciousness on the tower, but he had always been in a hurry or an the bring of passing out, so he hadn't thought much of it. Now he knew he hadn't been hallucinating. Crono took a brief moment to answer Korin's question and explain how they had met.

"Crono my friend, very impressive. Did that purse feed you for a while?" Jeraph asked, he had been impressed by the youth in their last meeting. "I wouldn't mind another bit of training with you"

Jeraph had known that Crono and his paths would cross again, he had wanted to start training with the youth immediately, but other things had caused them both to go in separate directions. Both had grown stronger since their last encounter, and this time there would be no disqualification for using Ki, and flight. It would seem fate had decided to make the pair friends once again do battle, this time to see what each needs to concentrate on during training. Jeraph smiled at the youth and waited to see where they would be told to do battle at.

"This should be a fun, fair fight" Jeraph thought to himself, "this teen is really strong, and I could stand to learn from him during this trial"


WC 450

"Crono my friend, very impressive. Did that purse feed you for a while?" Jeraph asked, he had been impressed by the youth in their last meeting. "I wouldn't mind another bit of training with you"

The crimson haired teen thought about it for a minute. He didn't steal anyone's purse and really didn't know what Jeraph was talking about. Then it dawned on him; a coin purse. He nearly face-palmed at his own stupidity and smiled. He was referring to the winnings he got in the fighting circuit.

“Oh! It did. It got me enough supplies to make it here to train with Master Korin.”

“I'm eager to know. How did Crono win?” Korin asked, as he was clearly well versed in Crono's inexperience.

“Well, Jeraph shot blasts of spiritual energy at me. The judges thought he was using a gun so they disqualified him. I still think he won,” Crono said.

Korin started laughing so hard he dropped his staff. He rolled around on the ground holding his little tummy. Crono perked an eyebrow. Was it really that funny?

“I'm sorry-I'm sorry,” Korin said getting back to his feet. “It's just hilarious because Crono came here to learn how to wield spiritual energy, the one thing that will make him successful, and it turns out it's his inability that won him a tournament. It's priceless, almost out of a story book. Anyways, you two should get started. I think it would be best if you took it outside. You both have quite a bit of power behind your attacks and I don't want my tower to be wrecked.”

“Sure, we'll take it to the forest,” Crono said.

The descent was breathtaking as usual. Crono let himself free fall off of the tower. There wasn't a cloud today, just the warm sun and endless blue. The closer he got to the ground, the warmer and thicker the atmosphere got. He felt his ears pop a few times to adjust to the pressure.

About a hundred feet ground he sent out a pulse of spiritual energy, slowing his descent as if he had pulled the strings on a parachute. He aimed for a meadow and gently set down, just barely disturbing the tall grass there.

When Jeraph arrived, Crono he lowered into his fighting stance. “You can have first move this time.”

Actions

None.

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

Jeraph watched as Crono explained his disqualification in the South City Tournament. It still wasn't one of his proudest moments and the disqualification still brings back some feelings of anger. The feelings weren't towards Crono, but to the mere humans who had witnessed it and disqualified him, the same humans he had sworn to protect. The humans on this planet would eventually learn to except things outside what their laws of science had decided the be the truth.

I'm sorry-I'm sorry,” Korin said getting back to his feet. “It's just hilarious because Crono came here to learn how to wield spiritual energy, the one thing that will make him successful, and it turns out it's his inability that won him a tournament. It's priceless, almost out of a story book. Anyways, you two should get started. I think it would be best if you took it outside. You both have quite a bit of power behind your attacks and I don't want my tower to be wrecked.”

Jeraph heard Korin say, and he pretty much immediately decided the battle would be best fought down stairs so to speak, when Crono suggested the exact same thing.

Crono then walked to the edge of the platform and dropped off in a free fall. Jeraph waited a few moments, lingering behind to allow himself to give instructions to his nimbus cloud. This being done, Jeraph walked to the edge and dove off like he was diving into a swimming pool. The descent was amazing, at first the oxygen was ripped from his lungs by the sheer frigidness of the air rushing past him. Then the warmth from the air brought it back.

Jeraph passed flocks of birds, each bird squawking in surprise at the site of Jeraph. Jeraph fell through several clouds which dampened his clothing, and hair. All the time falling at terminal velocity towards the hard ground below. During the fall Jeraph watched where Crono had landed and determined to do roughly the same. In the clearing the teen hand landed was a fallen tree, it was turning brown and beginning to decay over time.

During his plummet Jeraph went ahead and pulled his sword out, he had no intention on using this battle. When he neared the earth, he tossed the sword and it landed blade first slicing deep into the tree and sticking. At the moment it landed Jeraph let his ki flow and slow his descent enough for the Nimbus to catch him and lower him to the ground. Jeraph landed and noticed that Crono immediately took his fighting stance.

“You can have first move this time.” Crono told Jeraph light heatedly.

Jeraph immediately took his fighting stance, placing his feet wider apart, and one foot in front of the other. His brought his hands up to his front, to effectively launch attacks and blocks if need be. Jeraph finally went on the offensive, he had landed within melee range of Crono, thinking it may help the training battle begin. He lashed out with a front crescent kick aimed at the right side of the teens face, he allowed the moment to twist his body completely around. The moment allowed him to follow up with a massive spinning back fist, aimed at the butt of the young warriors jaw.

He once again allowed the momentum to completely twist him around, this time as he spun he lowered a leg in an effective full leg sweep. He hoped that the attacks would completely catch Crono off guard. Each attack would hurt if the strike landed but none would really do much damage, but then again Korin wanted to watch the fight and see if what needed to be worked on by each fighter, so Jeraph had begun the battle with a bang.


WC 637
TWC 1087
Flight to land

1.Strike +1 FP
2. Strike +1 FP
3. Strike +1 FP


Total FP gain 3

Within a few breaths of landing, the battle had begun. Jeraph started it with a crescent kick. Crono was nearly stunned by the speed of the strike. The last time they had faced each other, he had easily been able to read the fighter's moves.

He brought his arm up, stopping the brunt of the kick. The force behind it was far more than he had anticipated as well, and he felt his defense buckle, the tip of Jeraph's boot colliding with his brow.

His jaw crunched when Jeraph's fist collided with it shortly after. It stung badly and Crono felt his eyes water. The crimson headed teen knew he had to get it together, because Jeraph wasn't nearly done with his assault.

Crono was hit with solid kick that connected with his legs, sweeping them from beneath him. Slamming into the ground, he let out a low wheeze as the air rushed out of his lungs. Not wanting to be in such a vulnerable position for long, he brought his legs up and then snapped forward, landing on his feet directly in front of Jeraph.

Being so close, there was no room to launch an effective strike. Instead he reached for Jeraph's forearm, attempting to jerk it upward, leaving the warrior's midsection open. Dropping down low, Crono next attempted to use his free hand as a brace to pick Jeraph up and launch him towards the line of trees.

“You've gotten a lot faster Jeraph,” Crono said, stretching his sore arm. The kick had done a number on it. “But, so have I.”

A crimson aura flared up around Crono, the grass beneath his feet splayed out from the immense pressure of his spiritual energy. He flew at Jeraph, tossing up clumps of dirt and grass as he went. Arriving in front of his opponent, Crono sent full force uppercut aimed at his gut, hopefully with enough power behind it to send him up into the sky.

Actions:

1) Block Jeraph Action #1 → +1 FP.
- Take hit Jeraph Action #2.
- Take hit Jeraph Action #3.
2) Grapple Throw → +10 FP
3) Powered Flight + Rush Attack [STR: 2,716 AGI: 3,895] → +8 FP

WC: 330

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

Jeraph felt his fist connect with Crono's jaw. The force of the impact stung Jeraph's hand, and actually caused his knuckles to swell and bruise slightly. He gritted his teeth as he twisted into the sweep, he felt his leg contact the legs of the fire haired teen. He knew he had managed to do exactly what he wanted to do, he had thrown Crono off guard. As the youth slammed into the ground with and audible thud, Jeraph could hear the air escape his lungs.

The next thing Jeraph knew was that the young warrior was back on his feet grabbing his right forearm. Then immediately following the grasp, he felt Crono's other hand on his abdomen and then he was launched through the air. He looked up and could see himself making a straight line towards a huge tree trunk. "This is going to hurt" Jeraph thought to himself. The tree was looming ever closer as Jeraph flew.

“You've gotten a lot faster Jeraph,” Crono said, stretching his sore arm. The kick had done a number on it. “But, so have I.”

Jeraph could feel the spirit energy inside the youth build up, as he powered towards him, he could feel the air rushing at him caused by the speed of the oncoming youth. Then he felt nothing but pain as the man's fist collided with a massive impact to his stomach. The force of the blow caused the air to violent escape his lungs with an audible rush. The blow came before Jeraph impacted with the tree so at least his head had been saved.

The violent force of the blow caused Jeraph to launch skyward. It didn't take long at all for Jeraph to catch his breath and realize he had been launched up. He was about five feet off the ground almost directly above Crono's position. The breath entering his lungs felt good to Jeraph, the pain caused by the attack actually felt good to him as well, it caused him to smile slightly. He allowed himself to reach the very top of his flight path, placing him roughly ten feet above the earth.

He then allowed his ki to blast himself forward. His grey ki seemed to completely cover him in it's fire as he flew forward. At the last moment Jeraph flickered from view, almost like he was teleporting but his motions weren't impossible to follow just very hard. The speed burst helped aid him in launching a sneak attack, he had altered his flight path just enough to where both his feet were aimed to make contact with the teen combatant, in a massive flying missile drop kick.

Immediately when his feet would impact with Crono's chest, Jeraph flipped backwards and landed on his feet on the earth. Jeraph gained his balance quickly from the attack he had just launched, once he had managed to make sure he regained his balance and concentration completely he launched phase two of his attack. Jeraph released the barriers holding his ki back. Immediately it began to well even more.

It flowed from every cell in his body, it continued to flow from his arms, legs, and body, and it made its path to well inside his left and right hand. The hands began to glow with the pure energy gathering inside of them. The gathering ki was ready to be released when ever Jeraph was ready. He first sling is left hand up and to his right side. As he did a deep gray arc of sharp concentrated spirit energy flew directly towards where Crono was.

He followed suit with his right hand, but aimed the ki to the left of where the fire haired youth was standing. With this attack he hoped to anticipate the dodge attempt of Crono. The attacks weren't deadly unless taken full on but would cut deep if even grazed by them.

WC 654
TWC 1741

Take hit
Take hit

#1 Powered Flight+Speed Burst+Strike 14 FP
#2 Slicing Attack +48 FP
#3 Slicing Attack +48 FP

103 of 216 Remaining.

Jeraph went up, and then with his own darkened aura, came flying back down towards Crono. At the last second he vanished, Crono only catching a flicker of motion. Whirling around he tried to find Jeraph, but only found a foot connecting with his collar bone.

The impact jarred him hard. The sheer spiritual pressure causing the earth beneath Crono's feet to buckle and collapse into a massive crater, chunks of dirt and rock rained down across the clearing. The crimson haired teen was clearly dazed, his vision blurred. When he finally got his bearings and everything came back to clarity, he saw his opponent gathering spiritual energy—his hands shimmering and crackling with raw power.

Crono was expecting a more straightforward blast, but instead, Jeraph launched a buzzing arc of spiritual energy, nearly the color of charcoal. It moved fast too, flying right past Crono. He had felt the heat on it, and for a moment he was relived, thinking his opponent had missed. That was, until a shower of pink mist filled his line of sight and he felt an overwhelming pain from his shoulder that nearly brought him to his knees

Whatever it was, it was bad, he gritted his teeth and tried to move the arm, but to little avail. He didn't have any time to dwell on it though. Another arc was coming his way and this time he knew better than to just stand there like an idiot.

He vanished from sight, the only thing left behind were a few tufts of his red hair which had been cut before he dodged. They drifted, landing amongst the tall grass. The arc of energy kept going, until it crossed the clearing and entered the forest. It went on for miles through the grove, cleaving trees of all shapes and sizes in two. The trees groaned and collapsed atop of each other. Flocks of birds took to the skies, jostled from their nests, cawing in protest to the most inconvenient battle taking place within their realm.

Crono slumped against a large oak tree. He just had barely escaped the second one. Inside of his chest, his heart was pounding like a set of war-drums. Although he didn't want to, he glanced down at his shoulder wound. It was gruesome and deep. It had cut many of the important bones, tendons, and muscles that enabled use of his arm. He could barely clench his fist. There wasn't much blood, mostly because the energy had burned his flesh, sealing it up. Also, he felt a strange weight in his chest, and each breath was more ragged than the first. It had gotten his lung too.

With his good hand, he reached to his belt pouch, rummaging around with his fingers. If he wanted to win this one, he would have to use the bean that Korin had given him for fetching the magic water. It wasn't much, it kind of looked like a little lima bean. He popped it in his mouth, crunching down on it. Sure it was bitter, but within seconds he could feel its restorative magic course through his body.

He threw a few punches, checking his arm. It still was a bit tender, Korin had said the beans magic took time to fully work, but it was better than being half-dead.

Satisfied, he stepped out into the clearing again. The warm rays of the sun invigorated him, and he felt confident about trying something new. It was a risky move, as he hadn't mastered it yet, but he was going to try using an energy attack of his own. With the limiters still on, he wouldn't have to worry about everything going boom.

Creating one single ball of energy had been very hard for him, but he realized it was because he had to control the amount he put into it. It was like turning on a faucet to fill a spoon, without it overflowing. But, if he just let loose a bit, he figured he could pour out the damage.

“You could have killed me with that last attack,” Crono said as he hovered into the air, until he was well above the trees. “I didn't think this was going to be one of those fights. But, I see you're taking this seriously. I'm not going to hold back either.”

Crono let his spiritual energy flow, he let it come rushing forth, like a mountain stream after the spring melt. As it reached his palms he formed the energy into two compact spheres and chucked them before they exploded. More energy came, and he formed those into spheres, hurling them down, until he was pumping his arms rapidly firing one after another—a shower of ki blasts threated to engulf Jeraph whole.

Actions:

-Take hit Jeraph Action #1 (+1 Rage.)
-Take hit Jeraph Action #2 (+4 Rage.)
1) Speed Burst + Evade Jeraph Action #3 → +34 FP
2) Rest + Use Senzu Bean → -60 FP
3) Flight + Renzoku Kikou Dan [KI: 6,321] → +39 FP

WC: 845
TWC: 2,023

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

Jeraph felt his kick connect with Crono, the sound and feeling was satisfying to the inner demon. The shin could almost feel the pain of the flame haired boy. Mentally he could feel the shoulder area hurt. He almost cringed at the sound and feel of his foot planting against the bone, but he continued with his attack. The first slicing arc of ki he sent out was just as successful. He watched as it slit through his opponents shoulder, and splattered an amount of blood out of it.

The demon inside of him wasn't happy that there wasn't more blood but Jeraph could tell that it had done the damage needed. The would was possibly deadly if not treated soon. He then released the second spinning arc of spirit energy, as it neared the teen, he blinked from view, Jeraph tried to follow but the motion was too fast for his eyes. All that Jeraph could spot of the muscular teen was a few strand of his red hair floating slowly to the tall grass.

He focused back on his ki blade as it cut trees down for miles in the forest, causing the birds to fly into the sky and away from the battle. He then went back to searching for the mortally wounded fire haired teen he was fighting. He scanned the woods with his eyes, his heart was racing, he knew the end had to be near. He was hoping to find the young man before his life expired so he could use his senzu bean to save his life. This was a training fight, no one was meant to die.

Jeraph kept looking into the woods as he circled trying to spot any sight of where the wounded boy may have gone. His back was completely at a two hundred and seventy degree angle from where he started, when he heard Crono talking to him, almost yelling at him.

“You could have killed me with that last attack,” Crono said as he hovered into the air, until he was well above the trees. “I didn't think this was going to be one of those fights. But, I see you're taking this seriously. I'm not going to hold back either.”

Jeraph could immediately feel the ki surging through his opponents body. He had no idea what to do though, the teen's gathering spiritual energy was much stronger than Jeraph had expected or felt before. This unnerved him more than he wanted to let on. His body was trembling slight with the sheer amount of ki that the teen possessed. That's when the teen let out the first two crimson colored ki blasts. The whirred through the air directly at him, coming at him way to fast for Jeraph to muster a defense.

"Shit" Jeraph managed to say seconds before the first two ki blasts connected with his torso, the super condensed ki burned through his armor before they lost their energy. Jeraph looked back at the flame haired youth thinking that was the brunt of his attack. That's when he saw dozens more of the crimson blasts coming at him as the man pumped his arms wildly, the first of these blasts met Jeraph at the same moment.

Over and over these blasts connected with Jeraph, each one melting further into his armor, some hitting the already made holes and burning his flesh. The pain from each blast was massive, then immediately the location of the pain would move to a new location as his flesh was charred even more this caused Jeraph to close his eyes.. Jeraph's adrenaline was pumping through his veins, helping him shake off some of the pain but not all of it. Jeraph was beginning to lose control of his thoughts, when the pain suddenly came to an end.

Jeraph opened his eyes, and then down at his charred, burning, and sore body. He could feel the pain coursing through his body, he could smell the putrid burning flesh smell, and what really bothered him was it was his own flesh he was smelling. Jeraph new he had to rest, so he ran as quickly as he could into the woods, he then ducked behind a tree and slumped to his rear end. He dug in his armor and found the bright orange bean that Korin had given him, he began to look at it.

"That was close, much more of that and I wouldn't be here" Jeraph thought to himself.

Jeraph remembered what Korin had told him about the senzu bean, and the warning not to use it until the time was dire. His whole body had burns, and he could feel the pain more now that he had started resting. The pain was causing his vision to tunnel. Jeraph knew that this was the precursor to him blacking out. He knew if he blacked out that the fight was lost, and if this wasn't a friend he would end up dead. He eventually raised the bean and popped it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed the bean pulp.

He could feel the burns begin to heal, his body began to feel better, as the seconds went by he felt a lot better. He stood up, and moved his body making sure it all functioned correctly. Everything moved as it needed it was still sore, and his muscles were a little tight. Jeraph decided he couldn't wait any longer, he called out to Crono yelling as loud as he could.

"That was awesome, you have learned so much since out first meeting" he screamed out.

After he finished his sentence he immediately began charging his ki into his right hand. He could feel the ki rushing through him like a Victoria Falls, the ki surging unbridled by anything was forcing its way into his hand and welling like a massive lake. His hand began to glow and pulse slightly, Jeraph put it behind his back between him and the tree. Before it got to the point where it needed to be released Jeraph closed his eyes, he pictured the area directly above Crono in his mind. He could mentally see the teens red hair moving in the wind, the smell of the forest including the fresh cut trees, the sunlight illuminating the entire scene.

Jeraph could feel the strange tingling sensation come over him like every other time, since the first time he had done this by accident he learned how to control it perfectly. He knew when he opened his eyes he would be where he was picturing in the position he pictured, so he then pictured himself horizontal to Crono, facing downward. The tingling was a lot like when your foot or arm falls asleep. The tingling began to fade, and then suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Jeraph opened his eyes and was looking down at the top of Crono's head as intended. The ki in his right hand had reached the point to where it couldn't hold any more, the hand was still behind his back. The energy had started to crackle quietly behind his back, Jeraph realized it was now or never, so he tossed the volatile, super heated wave of ki at Crono. Jeraph didn't expect it to make contact with Crono, so he flipped his body in a massive back flip, using his heel in hopes that it would contact with the fire haired teens head if he went to dodge forward.

WC 1252
TWC 2993

Take Hit +4 Rage
1.Rest+Use Senzu Bean -60 FP
2. Teleport+Cosmic Cannon +67 FP
3. Strike + 1 FP

Total FP 121 out of 216

"That was awesome, you have learned so much since out first meeting,” Jeraph called out from the edge of the forest.

Crono's arms hung at his sides, wisps of red spiritual fading from his palms. Below, smoke poured up out of a field of ashen craters. The devastation didn't bother him, as he felt elated at being able to wield use his spiritual energy without blowing everything up.

Jeraph was already charging up another attack. Crono braced himself. He wondered if it was going to be another one of the deadly arcs. If so, he would be in big trouble, that was for sure. No matter what, he was going to make sure he didn't suffer another terrible wound, not like the last one. He was in it, to win it.

Just as it seemed Jeraph's spiritual energy was it its peak, the warrior vanished into thin air. Crono blinked a few times, stunned that he didn't even see a blur of motion.

Did he really move that fast?

His mind was reeling. He didn't think it was possible. Plus, he couldn't feel a scrap of his opponent's spiritual energy. It was as if Jeraph had simply left the Earth itself. Just as Crono was coming to terms with the concept, Jeraph's energy signature returned.

He was right on top of Crono!

Half a breath later, the teen was consumed in a wave of super-heated ki. It scorched his back and exploded in bright flash, sending him hurtling towards the pock-marked ground below, streamers of black smoke pouring off his form. Jeraph did a back flip, lending chase after Crono. Still disoriented from the explosion, the teen didn't anticipate his opponent's heel as it collided with the back of his head.

The world went black for a moment. Crono's limb body collided with the ground, bouncing several times before clipping a pine tree in two. He skidded to a stop among the shadows of the forest. As he resumed consciousness, stars filled his field of vision. He staggered to his feet, using a large birch tree as support. As the stars faded, the forest around him whirled. He certainly had a concussion after that blow. Nausea washed over him and he held back the urge to vomit.

It took him a short moment to regain his composure, and when he did, he was sent to his knees the crippling pain coursing over his back.

He realized that his tunic had been burnt away, revealing his lean muscle. Fearing what had happened, he gently felt at the skin on his lower back, it was tender and covered with burns and blisters.

Burns wouldn't stop him from fighting. At least his entire arm hadn't been nearly cut off, like the results Jeraph's previous attack. Crono couldn't help but feet a bit out gunned at this point. He couldn't vanish from existence (he made a mental note to ask Jeraph about that later,) and he had just barely learned how to wield his spiritual energy.

Well, there was always old fashioned fisticuffs, he had that at least. For a moment he thought about his training. Before he was murdered, Crono's uncle had taught him his favorite technique. The teen had yet to use it against Jeraph. It made him wonder, would Jeraph really fall for such a deception?

I think Jeraph has been in a lot more battles than I have, and from the way he fights, it seems most of them were to the death. I can't keep playing around if I'm going to win this bout.

Crono dashed through the trees and with a pulse of spiritual energy, launched himself into the air at Jeraph. Midway through his flight, he projected a image of himself composed entirely of spiritual energy. The image went on to fly at Jeraph with a heavy kick aimed at the warrior's lower torso.

In reality, the real Crono slipped away, appearing at his opponent's right side with a full powered elbow towards the chin.

Pulling back, he projected a second illusion. This one had him flying down with a heavy hammer blow aimed at the center of Jeraph's chest. Once again, Crono had slipped away from the projected path, appearing instead behind Jeraph. Seeing the opening, he launched his entire body forward, thrusting a double palm strike aimed the center of Jeraph's back.

With a flicker of motion Crono vanished, pushing his speed to the limits. He re-appeared at Jeraph's side, and let out a battle cry as he unleashed a furious barrage of fast paced punches. Each of the punches were aimed at different points on Jeraph's body, to make the attack even harder to evade and to distribute the most damage; legs, arms, chest, face—they all were the targets in his effort.

Actions:

-Take hit Jeraph Action #2 (+3 rage)
-Take hit Jeraph Action #3 (+1 rage)
1) Flight + Illusion Attack Rank 3 + Rush Attack → +16 FP
2) Flight + Illusion Attack Rank 3 + Rush Attack → +16 FP
3) Flight + Speed Burst + Machine Gun Fist Rank 3 → +39 FP

WC: 797
TWC: 2,820

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

As Jeraph had hoped the Cosmic Cannon found home, as it engulfed the flame headed teens back in its fiery blast, Jeraph could smell the burning materials in the tunic, and then the smell of burning flesh. The smell was all over the wind, as was the sound of the skin being blistered. The teen was still very disorientated from the recent Cosmic Cannon, and Jeraph's heel found home, as it cracked into the back of Crono's skull.

The result was something Jeraph hadn't expected he watched as the younger man plummeted towards earth, striking it hard, then bouncing several times before stopping. The fire haired youth was down, but Jeraph saw he was not out. The teen made it to his knees and felt the charred flesh on his back, and then before Jeraph could even blink he launched himself at Jeraph. He was flying directly at him, then launched a kick aimed at Jeraph's lower torso.

Jeraph crossed his arms to block the attack, which never landed. What did make contact was a stiff elbow that collided with a sickening thud, and was followed by the sound of cracking. Jeraph's vision went white from the blow as his head was snapped up and to the right. The sheer force of the blow caused tears to well in his eyes, it caused several vertebrae in his neck to crack and pop. The damage from the blow wasn't enough to break anything but it was plenty to cause Jeraph's mind to go blank.

When he regained his composure and was able to control his mind and body once more, Jeraph say Crono coming at him with a massive hammer fist. Jeraph didn't have time to even muster a block attempt as the flame red haired youth's fists collided with his chest, almost at the exact same moment Jeraph felt a sharp pain in the center of his back. The sudden impact of the double palm strike made Jeraph lunge forward, once again his vision blurring from the sudden welling of tears.

As Jeraph was knocked forward, a fist collided with one of the many still tender spots that the ki blasts had hit. Jeraph couldn't even begin to muster a defense as many more of Crono's fists pounded his body, each one landing on a different part of his body, several times the fists would hit spots that were still sore from the earlier barrage of ki blasts. Every time this happened Jeraph had to fight to keep consciousness . Every time he managed to steel his resolve to survive and stay awake, but the onslaught continued for what seemed like an eternity. Finally it stopped, Jeraph had been forced to realize this teen was a fighter, more of a sport combatant, bun a tough kid nonetheless.

After the onslaught ended Jeraph floated back out of reach of the youth, and smiled at him.

"Very nice, you were taught to use those fists well" Jeraph said to the youth the pain very noticeable in his voice.

A little bit of blood could be seen on Jeraph's lips, and Jeraph reacted to the taste by wiping it from them. Whether the onslaught had busted a lip, or if the blood was coming from an internal injury he didn't know, what he did know was he had to continue fighting until he had nothing left in the tank to give. With the brief period of rest over Jeraph launched into his attack. Jeraph rushed forward harnessing every bit of speed he had, he flickered from view, when he reappeared after the speed burst he was launching a sneak attack at Crono's Sternum, he was going for a massive charging head butt.

This blow was meant to completely disorientate his opponent, if it was successful his opponent should have his hair knocked out of him. Immediately he followed it up, this time he he gripped his fingers on both of his hands together, as he rose from the head butt he through both hands as fast and strong as he could. He was going for a rising hammer blow upper cut. The hammer blow was aimed for right under the chin in the soft part of the flesh between the bone and adam's apple.

WC: 710
TWC: 3703

Take hit +1 rage
Take Hit +1 Rage
Take Hit +3 Rage

1.Rest -10 FP
2.Speed Burst+Sneak Attack +11 FP
3.Strike +1 FP

Rage Pool :14
FP 123 out of 216

"Very nice, you were taught to use those fists well" Jeraph said.

Crono's hands ached from the collisions with Jeraphs body. He cracked his knuckles and managed a coy smirk.

“My uncle always told me that a warrior who couldn't use his fists was no warrior at all.”

Jeraph wiped away blood from his lips before vanishing. This time Crono had seen the blur of motion, he was moving, fast. His eyes strained to follow the movements of his opponent, he could feel his spiritual energy nearing. At least time he didn't vanish from existence.

With even that knowledge, it didn't help Crono much at all Jeraph phased back into sight, directly in front of him slamming into the teen with a full force headbutt like a human missile. The blow jarred his whole being and Crono could have sworn he heard one of his ribs crack. Grimacing, Crono managed to get his hands up in time to put a stop to the second attack, a upwards moving hammer blow. Both of his arms trembled under the strain of stopping it, his shoulder muscles, biceps, and triceps bulging to compensate. Despite the difficulty of it, the block put Crono in somewhat of an advantageous position.

Crono had never forgotten the legends of the jungle fighters. His uncle had taught him all about them. The warriors used their knees and elbows as deadly bludgeoning weapons, as they were among the hardest points on the human body.

Jeraphs arms were extended and he was lower than Crono in the air. Peeling his hands away, Crono weaved his fingers and tried to bring them down behind Jeraph's head. He then thrust his knee forward in a powerful knee strike, letting out a roar as he put all the strength he could muster into it. Meanwhile, with his arms he attempted to use them to pull Jeraph's head and face towards the blow.

Vanishing in a swirl of crimson spiritual energy, Crono appeared behind Jeraph, immediately launching his next assault. His body had been twisted and he spun hard, using the momentum to launch him into a spinning back kick. The blade of his foot was aimed at the small of Jeraphs' back. However, he didn't stop there. Bending his leg back the slightest, he launched two more speedy snap kicks. The second kick in the combo was aimed at the middle of the back, and he sent the third towards soft spot between Jeraph's shoulder blades.

Actions:

-Take hit Jeraph Action #2 (+3 rage.)
1) Flight + Block Jeraph Action #3 → +2 FP
2) Flight + Rush Attack → +6 FP
3) Flight + Speed Burst + Pummel → +16 FP

WC: 462
TWC: 3,282

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

Jeraph felt his head make contact with Crono's chest with a satisfying cracking sound. The blow did exactly what he wanted, it took Crono by surprise, and opened him up for the second blow. He then rose swinging upwards with the massive hammer fist. His muscles tensed as he swung, his bis raising body adding to the force behind the blow, everything looked good until he felt his hands collide with the fire headed teens.

He looked and noticed that the blow didn't make collision where he had wanted, Crono had brought his hands up and blocked the blow. The teen's muscles could be seen straining to keep the blow from landing but nonetheless, he blocked the entire impact. Then immediately and quickly, much quicker than Jeraph was expecting he threw a massive knee strike up towards his face. At the same time the youth had moved his hands and was pushing Jeraph's face towards the on coming blow.

The speed of the movements caught Jeraph completely off guard, and he didn't know how to counter the attack coming at his face. The knee made contact with his mouth, the sound that came with it was a wet squish, along with the sound of a tooth cracking. Jeraph could really taste the blood in his mouth now, his gums and lips being cut from the massive knee. The sheer force of the blow caused his head to snap back and body to snap straight up, breaking free of the clinch.

The attack was no where near finished, in the aftermath of the powerful knee, Crono had managed to vanish from in front of him. Before Jeraph could recover from the knee completely and begin to look for the fire haired youth, a foot struck his lower back, then just a quickly another blow struck his middle back, and this attack was immediately followed by a third kick landing right in the soft spot between his shoulder blades. The kicks caused Jeraph's body to jolt forward, and his vision to tunnel.

"This teen is incredibly strong, this fight is a lot harder than I thought" Jeraph thought, trying to take his mind off of the pain.

Jeraph's mind quickly cleared from the pain. The taste of blood that was in his mouth helped him to regain his mental facilities. He turned to face his attacker, the flame haired youth. The look on Jeraph's face a mix of anger, and pain, his mouth was now dripping blood. The taste of the blood on his mouth was not unlike that of human's, it was metallic in flavor, and tasted salty. The color was darker than most people's though it was almost like maroon in color instead of the normal crimson red.

Jeraph was thinking on his next attack, and was picturing the mistakes he had made so far in the battle, the block followed by the knee to his face, the kicks to his back, every blow that had been landed on him was a reflection of a mistake he had made in his assumptions of this opponent. He realized that he had underestimated the fire haired teen. He had been thinking that the teen would be slower than him, weaker than him, and less willing to do what was needed to win, but that had all been proven wrong especially with the kicks to the back and blood dripping from his mouth after a major knee.

Jeraph realized what he had to do, he sprang forward using every ounce of speed he could muster. This attack was becoming his regular, but instead of doing what he had already done he used his speed, that caused him to almost blink from view and disappear, to move at an upward angle launching a massive flying knee. His hard joint aimed directly at the face of Crono. In order to get the attack to work he had used his speed burst and sneak attack.

As soon as the knee would contact with the facial tissue of the flame headed boy. Jeraph quickly took off with a sudden burst of flight. His ki surrounding his body, covering it in a shadow colored flame style glow. A few feet above the head of his opponent, Jeraph let his powered flight to dissipate. His ki suddenly vanished as quick as it had surrounded him, his body began to fall towards the earth and where Crono had been standing.

As Jeraph drew near the area he had last seen the man standing, the same area he hoped his flying knee had distracted him, and would aid in this attack, he twisted his body to where it was aimed to land a palm thrust, the palm's target was the right collar bone. The blow was designed to weaken or break the bone, and make it harder for the youth to use this arm in defense or offense. The force of the body falling along with Jeraph's strength would be more than enough if the attack landed.

Jeraph landed on the ground in a crouched position after unleashing the massive falling palm thrust. Instantly he was back fully on his feet springing directly up and launching another palm thrust, when he brought back his arm from the strike he unleashed the other in a downward knife edge at what should be Crono's left collar bone, the moment he brought this hand back he slammed his head downward, aiming to land a headbutt on the bridge of the fire haired youth's nose. The pain, and blood in his mouth was fueling his actions, he still had enough control not to go for the kill, but he was beginning to grow tired.

WC 949
TWC 4652

Take Rush Attack +2 Rage
Take Pummel +3 Rage

1.Speed Burst +Strike, +11FP
2.Powered Flight+Strike, +4FP
3.Pummel +5FP

143 of 216 FP

A heavy knee came crashing into Crono's face. Spittle and blood flew from his lips as his neck snapped to the side. He was seeing stars again, worse than the first time, as the minor concussion he had before became a major concussion. Half of his face would be a deep bruise tomorrow morning, that was for sure.

With full momentum Jeraph struck again, this time with a palm strike aimed at his collar. Crono had already been drifting, so the blow launched him towards the ashen earth below. The collision was nothing spectacular, just Crono bouncing across the clearing, a plume of dust and debris rising in his wake.

Getting to his feet was getting even harder, with all the punishment he had endured. There was no time to rest, because Jeraph was on him again, like white on rice. A second palm strike slammed into him, causing him to stumble back. However, the chop to his already tender collarbone was what did him in. A shooting pain like none other coursed over him. The bone wads broken for sure, and he couldn't help the hiss that escaped through his clenched teeth.

The grand finale, a headbutt to the face caused his nose to break as well, blood splattering everywhere. The force of it sent him right on his ass. The battle thus far had been an ass beating of a life time. Crono had tried to dish it out the best he could, but Jeraph now had a serious upper hand. It was time for Crono to throw in the towel, he couldn't win this fight, not like this.

There will come a time, Crono, where you will be on the edge of death and where you know in your heart you can't win. It is that moment your inner strength will awaken and carry the day for you. Do not fear it, embrace it, the words of his former master, his uncle, resounded within his mind.

Something snapped within him. The dam opened up, letting a flood of power flow forth. The ground beneath him shook violently as his crimson aura wrapped around him, blazing like the fire of the sun. It rose up, growing larger and larger until it was a pillar of power reaching for the heavens He stood up, his entire body trembling. The sleeping dragon had awoken and hee couldn't control it. He wasn't ready yet, the power flowed freely.

Rocks and debris began to levitating all around him, the immense pressure of his spiritual energy defying nature itself. Bolts of crimson lightning streaked across the sky and came crashing down all around him, unfurling across the clearing and forest, leaving behind smoldering grooves and blazing fires.

“Run Jeraph!” Crono screamed. “RUN!”

In a blink of the eye, Crono was enveloped in a dome of red light. The ground beneath him dissolved away as the dome spread out in all directions, also rising up. For miles and miles it spread, consuming the forest like a hungry monster. It was like a nuclear bomb had went off, with Crono at the epicenter of the explosion.

Actions

-Take hit Jeraph Action #1 (+3 Rage)
-Take hit Jeraph Action #2 (+1 Rage)
-Take hit Jeraph Action #3 (+2 Rage)
1) Power Up & Release Rage +29% strength and ki bonus [STR: 3,047; KI: 7,216] → +18 FP
2) Super Charge Up
3) Shockwave +40% Ki Bonus [KI: 10,102] → +50 FP

WC: 523
TWC: 3,805

Effects: Power Up 2 / 4 minimum actions.

Battle Tracker:

Spoiler:

Jeraph could hear the bones in Crono's neck pop as his head was snapped from the force of the flying knee. Blood coated his armor, it was now definitively a mix of his own and the fire haired youth's. He flew upward and released the flight twisting to land the palm thrust on Crono's collar bone. The blow connected, the sound of the bone cracking under the impact. Jeraph smiled slightly knowing that that arm wouldn't be much use to his opponent.

His next attacks found home as well, the palm thrust to the gut, followed by the impact of the knife edge to the same injured collar bone, then the head butt. As the head butt hit, Jeraph could hear, and feel the nose break, blood splattering every where, the force knocked the flame haired teen to the ground. Jeraph was satisfied, he now knew that the strong teen hadn't fought some one who was a street fighter.

Jeraph hadn't trained in martial arts like many of the people he had fought since his rebirth back on to the planet earth. He had learned some from his various fights with others, like his flying knee, and the palm strikes, but he hadn't learned enough to stand toe to toe with a master like Crono seemed to be. Jeraph was severely out gunned when it came to hand to hand combat, and he knew it.

He could tell the teen knew he was at a disadvantage. Then the ground beneath the teen shook violently as his crimson aura wrapped around him, blazing like the fire of the sun. It rose up, growing larger and larger until it was a pillar of power reaching for the heavens Crono stood up, his entire body trembling. The sleeping dragon had awoken and he couldn't control it. He wasn't ready yet, but the power flowed freely.

Rocks and debris began to levitating all around him, the immense pressure of Crono's spiritual energy defying nature itself. Bolts of crimson lightning streaked across the sky and came crashing down all around him, unfurling across the clearing and forest, leaving behind smoldering grooves and blazing fires.

Crono screamed out in warning, telling Jeraph to run. Jeraph wasn't near a normal opponent, he hadn't seen what the teen was doing ever before, but he knew better than to do nothing. As the teen screamed the warning Jeraph had already began charging his own ki into both his hands. The were crackling and popping with his shadow like ki energy. Jeraph knew he had one chance to survive this, and it had to be timed perfectly.

He launched his own charged ki directly at the ground below him, the subsequent blast digging a hole into the earth. The hole swallowed part of Jeraph as the earth was obliterated underneath him. Jeraph could feel the heat coming from the oncoming shockwave, he didn't know if he had dug deep enough to survive, but he was out of time. He sat down and made himself as small as possible. The Shockwave going off like reactor number four at Chernobyl, causing the earth to splinter and fly in all directions, leveling miles of the forest.

Jeraph inside his hole he had dug was blasted out of ground as the explosion grew. The massive amount of Ki that was put into the blast adding to its force. The explosion had forced a crater into the earth. The craters epicenter was Crono, Jeraph hadn't moved far enough away or burrowed deep enough. The blast launched him backwards and through the air, immediately it began to eat away at his exposed skin.

Jeraph's face began to turn red, then blister, then char as the blister erupted. His hands, were along the same route. His flesh charred, and split from the powerful blast. Thankfully he lost consciousness as soon as he had been ripped from the earth. The pain his body was enduring now would have killed him for sure. As it was he was bordering on the brink of life and death. His body had been through hell during the fight, and this blast wasn't any kinder on him. Actually it was the most intense thing that it had ever been through.

While Jeraph was out cold his mind was replaying the events of the battle, and on occasion a memory from his past would flash in, it never was much, just enough to allow more questions than answers. The point of the dream apparently was that Jeraph had been in this exact situation before. Had this been how he had died previously? He couldn't remember, nor would his subconscious answer the question for him.

Finally the shockwave began to fade, the energy behind the blast coming from Crono had reached its end, just like a nuclear blast. The entire forest for three miles was completely leveled. Jeraph had been blasted almost to the very edge of the blast radius. He landed with several bounces and slid to a stop on his face with his body mimicking a scorpion. His armor was smoking, his skin was actually blackened like a Creole dish. There was life left in the body, but soon that spark started to die.

Jeraph's body had been cooked inside his armor, his exposed skin was burnt. The smell of his charred flesh could be smelled for several miles. Jeraph's pulse began to weaken, his breathing becoming more and more labored. With one final exhale Jeraph's breathing stopped. His pulse rate dropped to zero as well. His body had been through way too much to live through it. The oozing of blood and pus came to a stop as his blood flow came to a stop.

With the final exhale, Jeraph was actually looking down at his body as it began to rise towards judgement, and hopefully rest. He could see the massive crater that had been left by the blast, he could see the area that had been completely destroyed by Crono. There was no wonder in his mind why he hadn't survived. His cosmic cannons had dug him about eight foot into the ground, the crater itself was at least twelve foot deep. Absolutely no life had survived the shockwave's blast. The trees that had been there, weren't. There wasn't even burned logs left, it was almost like they had just disappeared.

WC 1061
TWC 5713

END....DEATH