Today was interesting.

From a perch high up on a mountain, there sat a man, covered in robes, covered in a shroud of bitterness he called "home." As such was any person who spent so much time in the shadows for so long. He was not a child of immaturity or vanity to cosmically aligned ways, he simply was an instrument of all that was evil. Something he held to a high regard.

The area on which he sat, could be traced back to the Norse gods, as this mountain was a pseudo-haven to the pseudo-gods of the vikings. It was erected on a steep mountain, which was in the middle of Greenland, in the exact middle. The land all around it was meadows, with ice still clinging onto to what it could.

As for where the man actually was, he was in a ruinous area on top of the mountain. It was one room, who's walls and ceiling had crumbled away, and was only left with slight bits still trying to climb to the top, Stained glass still hung in the roots and vines that had now ground over the walls. Our man sat, on a throne chair.

He let down his hood of his robes, which were long and flowing, even way past his body, as they seemed to flow on their own, even living and pulsating on their own. This man was almost pure white. He had slight pigmentation, but he was certainly at an unhealthy shade, of white. His eyes were red, and his grin was filled with greed. His black hair fell across his face, and went down to his shoulders on the front, on the back side it probably went down to his back. His hands were gripped on the throne, someone was near.

"I've been expecting you." He said in a raspy tone.

The opening squeak and the closing clap of an old-fashioned pocket watch could be heard across from where the dark man sat. It seemed to echo, as if the ruined building still had walls. Walls that were invisible to the naked eye perhaps. "...Eh?" An unsure voice rang out to the cloaked man, followed by the scratching of a regular 5 o'clock shadow. "Oh so you're the dude who's been sending me all that junk mail about enlarging that certain part of my male body?" The voice belonged to Linken Seki Rocuta. He was familiar with the area. Given a Sage Stone, he was able to return to key areas that had been visited by Odin's Emisaries at will.

"So what is it you called me here for... um... Your name?"

The man laughed, standing up. "These years have not aged your humor," He said, a slight glee in his voice. The raspy tone in his voice had subsided, as if he drank a large glass of water, and could now speak perfectly. "It's a shame you don't recognize me. It's been a while, and my appearence has changed, but we did spend a lot of time together."

His cloak fluttered around violently, and then retracted back to the man. It formed the shape of what was his clothing. His cloak came around as a large coat, that seemed to flare out once it hit his waist, becoming more like the back of a trench coat, which seemed to go out far enough to not cause any hindering to his movement. His sleeves went down to his wrists, and seemed to have invisible belts in specific areas. It had a V shape that went down to his stomach, going up wide, way to about halfway at his shoulders, where a large collar shot up to about his head. His pants were also from the shade, just as his torso piece. It went to his ankles, and was slightly baggy at the bottoms of the legs, the top part being constricting enough for it not to fall off him.

He pulled something out of his coat, which took him a second because he had to unhook it, He pulled out a long belt, which had many runes engraved in it, and things that looked like human bones. He put it around his waist, at the midpoint where his coat first started going back, and his pants began. It snapped into place, the skull buckle in the middle becoming quite ominous.

The man grinned, "It's Venge, old comrade." He said, "What say you to a battle? For old times sake."

"...Time has done no wonders to you. The man I would once consider my friend seems to have faded away long ago. Had it not been for your sudden change in appearence, I would not have even guessed it was indeed you." The tone of his voice changed imediately. An icey mist blew through the room at an alarming speed for but a moment as Linken began stepping forward. His clothes were that of an every day "Metal Head" citizen in America or even England in some cases.

Upon his torso was a black muscle shirt that brandished the Avenged Sevenfold Bat-Skull. The shirt would easily show off that Linken was a bit of a body sculpter. He aimed for looking cut, rather than power, as it was his ethereal roots that bestowed upon him the strength of a super-man. Loose-boot Bullhead Denim pants that stretched down past his feet, but were neatly tucked right above the bottom of his shoes, adorned his legs. His footwear were noticeably made by path, perhaps not one of THE most popular shoe making companies, but they fit Linken's needs. He was dolled up in a few accessories such as wrist bands made from pure leather, and fancied up by silver rings made purely for looks. He also wore three religious pendants around his neck. A Cross, a Ying & Yang that traded white for silver, and a bluish white crystal.

Around Linken's waist was his more important artical of clothing. It was a belt that could be seen as a mimic to the Championship type belts seen in proffesional wrestling. Or perhaps it was indeed the proffesional wressling that had mimiced this belt? The great Megingjard belt, used once by Thor but forgotten long after Ragnarok took place, begining the world anew. Linken was one of the few ethereal born beings to be reborn. Venge was another. "May I ask the conditions of this fight, and perhaps why you seemed so eager to call me here? Did LaCroix not peak your interests? Besides, you know I need to check up on The Tree every month. It's getting pretty close to my time of the month." He still found time to joke it would seem, even in the face of pure evil that once embodied his friend.

Venge looked off to the sky as Linken spoke, trying to think of an answer to the questions he asked. Linken seemed rather angry at him, even on edge, was it his change in form? Venge looked down on himself, was he really that malevolent? It was a curiosity, for Venge had for the longest time, thought himself one of the higher creatures, maybe not "evil," more or less "Morally Challenged." Of course, he had his ups and downs, and yes, he was trained by Loki. However, that didn't make him a bad guy, right?

Well, maybe the slaughtering, enslaving, and even prostituting thousands of people might put him in that column

Venge looked back at Linken, eyeing his appearance up and down. He was one who hadn't changed, hadn't been jaded. He was right on one thing, Venge was quite skewed.

He sort of laughed at the end joke, moving to the right and looking out onto the open area, his hands to his back, holding and locking in place. He turned, and walked back up, letting his hands open back up. He nodded, as if coming to a conclusion in his own mind. "I guess it was due to my interest in sparring with you." He sat down, "As for the stakes of this battle, whoever cannot fight any longer is the loser, death doesn't need to happen." He sighed, "As for wagers? I say, we each give something up, something we value. I offer my sword from master Loki, and as an added bonus, a purging to rid whatever evil you see in me." He said, not at all in any demeaning manor.

He grinned, "Does this please you?"

"If I lose, I shall pass on to you Megingjard. It possesses the power to double your might. However, I will warn you Venge... I will be using it." As he spoke his final words before the battle would comense, he thrust his right fist to the ground and the surrounding area seemed to take on an ethereal glow for a moment. Linken's appearence stayed the same but his voice had become polytone. He spoke in multiple voices, but the only language he spoke in was old nordic. Venge would easily be able to understand him, however if he could differenciate between the different voices. "Odin's blessings lay upon my cursed fleshed. I will not be easy to defeat. I have seen the Ragnarok, and I have seen the battle of the Titans. Souls mean nothing in this world. Only Swords and Shields."

After a quite poetic speach, Linken spread his feet across the ground, and thrust his arms outwards. His hands took the shape of claws, or as close to claws as human hands could get, and in them formed a small whisp a light, one for each hand. Smallers whisps of light fell from the centered luminescent orb. However, they fell not only down, but also up and side to side. They began to spin around slowly, eventually picking up to speeds that were un-imaginable. They apeared as one big circular light, but made the sounds of a buzz saw. Obviously, this was an offensive maneuver that Linken prided himself on. These lights were known as his Spirit Saws, formed from the spirits of heroes. The souls of men drawn from Valhalla's tables were called down to form these celestial blades which spun at un-matched speeds.

"You are well met, Venge. I will be your liberator. Your guide. Your saviour. Now have at ye!"

Venge cocked his head to the side, hair flowing to the side which he cocked. He held out his palm, and it seemed to shake with intense velocity. A bright red light shined in the center of his palm, quickly casting it's rays everywhere it could, even some by Linken's head. However, they held no actually threat, but pure energy. Venge gripped onto the power, and soon started to manipulate the red energy. He swiped his hand down to his side, and it took form of a sword. The sword then turned into it's silverly, glistening, self. The handle was silver, with gold encrusted onto it. The blade, steel.

Venge was now standing ontop of the throne on which he once sat, and held the sword up high, the red light making an aura around the blade, flowing off it like flames. He pointed his blade at Linken and spoke, "Talk is cheap!"

He swiped his blade down, and it seemed like the energy would swipe off into little blassts, but instead, the blade moved, coiling, and going straight for Linken. There was a slight difference to Loki's blade, than to all other blades. It wasn't just a blade, it was an all purpose weapon. Anything the user could ever want, would be manifested, if he thought about it. That was the little illusionary mystery behind Venge's seemingly endless weaponry.

Back to the attack, the blade went straight for Linken's head. Right as it got close enough to strike, it coiled back, like a snake's neck, and jabbed right for his torso.

Reguardless of the blade's positioning, it would not matter unless it was shifting to a side, for that is exactly what Linken did. He strafed to the left and tossed his right handed Spirit Saw at the head of the throne which Venge stood upon. Not only did he wish to remove him from the throne, but he wanted to leave it in shambles. The nerve Venge had to apoint himself a place upon a throne brought great rage in Linken's direction as he tightened his fist just as the saw would begin cutting into the throne. Reguardless of weither or not Venge had jumped to dodge or simply moved to the side, the saw explode in a mass of plasmic essence, slowly recomposing around Linken's hand to form a Saw once more.

It took a few moments, but the saw kicked up to speed once again in practically no time. The Saws acted like an extended part of Linken. If not ignited, they would simply return to his hands much like boomarangs. Could they hurt Linken? That was indeed a good question. He was not stupid enough to try touching the blades to his own flesh, knowing full well that they burned whatever they touched. Not in the conventional sense however. It was more of a freeze and friction burn, both going hand-in-hand. The blades were colder than ice, and the friction exuted due to the speeds of the blades against a rough surface was enough to "burn" through nearly any material, save for Magic and Enchanted items.

His hands seemed to be un-burnt, and un-bothered by the saws however. So his guess aswell as anyone elses was that the blades truly could not hurt him. Perhaps their only weakness was the time spent to charge them back up after igniting them in an explosion of plasma and frost-bitten air. 5 to 10 seconds would pass before the saw would be ready once more, but it was indeed a critical time. Those 5 to 10 seconds could spell death for Linken, if he should not abandon some of the energy put twords charging up the blade, and place it into the effort of escaping a perhaps fatal attack. He knew, however, that although Venge exuted a cruel and tainted aura, he would not be in any real trouble. Losing his most prized possesion would not spell good news for him however, so he would keep on his toes.

((Let it be noted that from now on if Linken should choose to blow up one of his saws again, it will take another full post to recharge them, and he will not be able to use it until the next post. Let it also be noted that if an attack is sent twords Linken while he charging, and he chooses to avoid it, it will take another post to charge it up to full power. It will take no longer than two posts to charge, however, as that would be unfair and quite rediculous of me to allow. ANYWAY. Cheers. :D))

Venge's first attack didn't hit. Of course it wouldn't, it was a half-assed attack, at best. It more of just started the match, and Venge never liked to go into battle until he fully knew what he was dealing with. It wasn't full, of course. Anyone could tell just by looking at Linken, he wasn't a one trick pony. So Venge waited to see how he retailated, which he knew Linken would, standard battle procedure.

A saw came whizzing through the air, and venge grinned. He whiped his sword and it stuck into the wall on the opposite side, and when he let it go, the handle retracted back to the blade on the other side. Any attempts to grab at it, and the blade would parry out of the way and grow spikes. A nice little feature to have on a blade of mysteries, a true one owner sword.

As for the way Venge moved, he rolled forward, under the blade, and stood up. He looked at Linken with intense anger, as he heard the throne collapse. The sound of goo dispersing into air filled the room. His suit did something odd, it made gloves on him. As the goo passed back to linken, Venge grabbed at some of the goo.

The burning in his hand was made real by the sizzling and steam coming from the are, but Venge made no outcry of pain. He simply cackled, as he seemed to push the goo into his suit. He shook his hand, laughing manically. "Looks like you'll need a new attack function Linken!" He spouted, as his suit seemed to violently vibrate. "You know what happens with my suit, of course. It has two functions, taking in powers, and making immunity to said powers. Allow me to," He started his sprint forward, "Demonstrate!"

He, in almost 2 seconds, dashed across the room and tried to grip onto Linken's hands. His eyes looked deeply into his foe's. As he did, red aura started to surge around him.

Venge was trying to push Linken back with brute force, as the energy flowed.

((Edit: It's pretty clear that the thing in buzz-saws can't hurt him now, and I don't have to explain that, right?))

Linken could do nothing as his right hand was grabbed. He simply moved back a bit, digging his feet into to ground as best he could. He peered into Venge's eyes, a blank expression on his face following this. His blank expression shifted to a sly grin as he dispersed the saw on his left hand. He lifted the same hand up, clasping it into a fist, and opening his mouth to let out a few words. "You must think I'm stupid!" He slammed his clenched fist down onto the top of Venge's head, again and again. "I lust for the feel of your blood between my whitened knuckles Venge!" He shouted out, his eyes dialating as a madness took over. Venge would need to let go if he wished to end the onslaught, or perhaps he would choose a more offensive way of getting free.

Venge's eyes looked back at Linkens, and realized just what he was going to do when he grinned. He however kept pushing Linken back. He let Linken hit his head until he could bear it no longer. It was a good fifteen seconds. Venge had a decent stamina, but nobody could stand Linken's punches for long without needing a breather.

Venge had pushed Linken back to about 3/4 of the way from the throne, 1/4 the way from the back wall. He let go of Linken's hand, quickly dodging the swing for his head by rolling backwards. He flipped up his hand instantly, opening his palm. He pushed energy into his arm, and shot a blast of pure chaos energy at Linken. It was 10ft by 10ft. Ge had been saving up in that arm while trying to push Linken back, to try and get a quick shot off him, which he just achieved.

He would wait for Linken to dodge, and then shoot more blasts at him, wherever he went. He merely sat readied, waiting. As the blood from his wounds on his head, tickled down his face, some even dripping on the floor.

Venge had seemed to over-estimate Linken's agility. Although he was quite dextrous, he wouldn't be able to recover from missing his last punch in time. As he punched the ground where Venge once was, he looked up only fast enough to see his own reflection in the blast of chaotic energy. As it made contact with him, he felt his flesh turning inside out and reverting back to normal every milisecond. The pain was excruciating and the feeling was unlike any he had ever imagined. In truth, Linken and Venge had sparred in the past, but never had Linken experienced this Chaotic energy which Venge expelled from his palm.

The blast dispersed and Linken was left in the same position as before. His arm buckled a moment, but quickly snapped back into place. He dispersed the saw in his right hand, and covered his mouth as he felt a mix of lunch and stomach acid fill his mouth. He couldn't stand to swallow it, so he confided to his moment of disgrace and spit out the bile that plauged his taste buds. He let out a few gasps of air, spitting in the puddle of grime to rid his mouth of the taste, and then stood up slowly but surely. "Unimaginable... I have never experienced such an odd sense of pain..." He spit once again, and girated his shoulders to work out the kinks. Rather than admit his fear of the experience, he faked ignorance. "Perhaps you'd allow me to experience it again?"

Linken spread his feet once more, shooting his right hand into Venge's direction in the same claw shape as before when he had formed the Spirit Saws. His arm continued to stay in this position while his left hand found it's way to said arm, holding it up and supporting it as it began to shake. Suddenly, his right hand rotated to the right as if on an axis, and began to bend up. A cool breeze filled the room and ran up Venge's pant legs. Slowly, tiny ice crystals began to from around Venge's feet. "Let's see if your little dress can absorb this...!"

Venge was curious at Linken, and how he handled the shot of energy he had thrown. However, he did not shoot any more blasts, once Linken had asked for me. It was odd, like he couldn't understand why Linken would want more pain. He wasn't a masochist, so why? The reasons flowed through Venge's mind, as his eyes half watched his opponent. That move, would no doubt cost him, but he needed to asses the situation, and the blows to the head didn't make it any easier. That last one seemed to rattle much more than the others.

Venge placed two fingers on his head, the would sealing, as Linken lifted up his arm. Venge began to stand, getting his barrings straight, when he felt a rush of cold against the hairs of his leg. He looked down, and realized Linken was trying to freeze him.

"Damnit!" He yelled quickly moving his leg and running off to the right side. He didn't think it would do much good, as some of the feeling in his right leg was already leaving him. Not sure if it was a lasting effect or not, he acted.

Holding up his right hand, a swirl of power came to him, and soon started to spin drastically. The color was a reddish yellow, the object, a buzz saw. Linken's own attack, with a slight variation. It didn't seem to be meant for damage, but just spinning. Venge placed it on his heel, making another one for his left foot. This was to keep heat flowing on his legs, maybe that would stop Linken's ice attacks.

Venge stopped, readying himself once more, shooting off some quick blasts from his fingers at Linken's feet. Not to even hurt him, but to back him up further to the edge.