FFR: The Phantom Challenge

[GamerShadow]

Also: Chapter 8 comes whenever Chapter 8 comes. I am finding myself to be extremely pressured to write this story during the school weeks, and I can't write at my best if I am tired, and always busy. I realize that I cannot rush my work, otherwise my work will suck. I am sorry if this displeases some of you, but the story will be much better if I do not announce release dates.

[Crashfan3]

Ooooh!!! Epic battle ahead!!!
Manti's gonna raise hell!!!

[DarkManticoreX2]

Goes Super-sayin(sp?)

What now engler.

[rshadow8888]

I love your work. Don't rush yourself with the next chapter though. Quality > Speed

[GamerShadow]

Originally Posted by rshadow8888

I love your work. Don't rush yourself with the next chapter though. Quality > Speed

Absolutely. I am taking my sweet time, and waiting for inspiration to strike for this next Chapter.

[Engler]

Originally Posted by DarkManticoreX2

Goes Super-sayin(sp?)

What now engler.

OH NO.

[GamerShadow]

I also added in Chapter titles to the first post, in case you forgot which chapter had what in it.

[SethSquall]

Awesome.

[GamerShadow]

Finished Chapter 8. Although I put more effort into this chapter than in any other chapter, I still think it came out bad. I have to edit these when I am finished. For now, here is Chapter 8. Comments, etc are appreciated.
=========
Chapter 8:

There was nothing left. Every building, every street, everything in the entire Brag Board nation had been destroyed, toppled, ruined. Dust and ash blanketed the ground, giving the Brag Board an empty feel. Signs of life were now scarce; whatever was still alive was rapidly descending into the abyss of hell. Everything was suffocating in the nightmarish dust cloud that hung over the Brag Board lands. In no way did the gentle winds aid the granting of life. If anything, it only further illustrated the emptiness of the fallen land. There was no sun. There was no moon, no stars, no light that shone through to give the land hope. There were a few tracks in the powdered dust that led to the occasional corpse. The scenery was truly desolate and hopeless as a whole, and the effect it had on anybody who saw it was devastating.

Engler rose from off the ground, brushing the soot and dust off of his shoulders with a few effortless hand motions. The surprise blow Manti had landed did not injure Engler, but it did leave a bruise on his chest. The rest of his body had a few light scratches, mainly attained from sailing through the rubble from the destroyed landscape at such a high velocity. There was a miniscule tear in his right sleeve. At that point, Engler decided that the shirt would only slow him down, and took his time in removing the garment, and tossing it onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and ash, which floated upward, diffusing into the soiled air above it.

Engler knew that Manti had great power, and the game now was to not allow the beast to touch him. It was a game of hide and seek. Except with much higher risks. And in order to win such a game, one had to know where they were playing. Engler took a huge risk, and slowly and deeply surveyed the surrounding landscape, both immediate and distant. There was an occasional wall from what were previously skyscrapers. Other than that, there really wasn’t any other cover.

If Manti had located Engler at this point, it would have been a simple matter of sneaking up on him and tearing him in half. Fortunately, Manti was nowhere to be seen. This puzzled Engler slightly. But he figured that he was in no rush, as Manti was seeking him out at this very moment. Engler’s ears picked up a signal that would have otherwise been absorbed by the buildings if the Brag Board had not been destroyed. It was a faint roar. Barely audible, but it was unmistakable. It came from the south. The intent and desire to kill was apparent from the way the roar was carried out, even from what Engler figured was a mile’s distance.

“Time to end this battle,” Engler thought out loud to himself as he rose higher into the air, the shadow beneath him gradually shrinking, “I’m finished playing games with this dog.” With those words, Engler phased himself into a state of intangibility, making him virtually untouchable by anything that was not in the same state as he, and began to fly towards the exact point where Engler had figured Manti would be.

Engler was surprised to come upon Manti only two minutes later. “The ash must have really absorbed the sound.” Engler thought to himself as he prepared to re-enter battle, “I could have sworn that he was at least a mile away.” What surprised Engler more than even that was that Manti was facing in his direction, slowly walking on his back legs. His wings had been stained black, and his skin had paled to grey, and then had shifted to a darker shade of the monotone color. The mane that encompassed Manti’s lion face was now blood red, as were the claws on the beast’s hands and feet. Manti’s breath appeared in dark red vapor through his nostrils, creating a translucent cloud.

Engler began to worry. Not once had Manti averted his deathly gaze from Engler’s eyes. It was almost as if he knew Engler would be in this exact spot, at this time, trying to pull off a sneak attack. Their eyes locked, and Engler saw nothing but fury and wrath. For a brief moment, time stopped. The tension peaked and crackled around the two titans. Nothing moved. Neither of the warriors breathed. The wind died. Silence.

Then Manti struck. With the swiftness of a ninja, he shot his fist right at Engler, who was still intangible, and opened it, the claws touching Engler’s nose. With a sudden expulsion of energy, Manti forced Engler out of his current state, and with a second rapid movement, he closed his fingers around the Phantom’s face, and drove him straight into the ground. Engler, who was caught completely off guard, could not respond to the assault, and was simply taking the beating at the moment. Engler’s face was now punctured by five holes that were created from Manti’s claws. The back of his head was also badly scratched up, and was also leaking blood from the fist that had crashed onto it just a moment ago.

Manti followed up by tossing Engler high into the air, who was now flipping and rolling in a direction he could not name. With a mighty force, Manti sprung himself into the air, and slammed a undercut onto the helpless Engler’s head, which sent him crashing back down into the spot where the fight had originally began. Engler took extra effort in quickly rolling to the side as Manti’s foot crushed the ash that was under where Engler had just been. He got back onto his feet, and had to duck again to avoid the right-handed swipe that probably could have beheaded him. Engler could feel the after breeze from the attack brush his face, which caused the fresh puncture holes to sting furiously. Another backwards leap saved Engler’s throat from meeting Manti’s tail, which then shot a dark, acidic substance onto Engler’s chest, which immediately assimilated the substance.

The resulting agony was enoromous, but Engler managed to keep himself moving as Manti’s attacks continued to come. Each one felt more powerful than the last, and Engler knew that if the battle continued like this, he wasn’t going to make it out alive. An unexpected fake-out by Manti left Engler wide open. He braced himself for impact, and as predicted, Manti unleashed an incredible uppercut that connected perfectly with the weary Engler’s chin, which sent him sailing twenty feet high. The rough landing Engler experienced was not only a blow to his physical condition, but a blow to his mental standing as well.

Manti let loose another roar, one that sent chills down Engler’s spine as he lay on the ground, panting. He had only been struck a few times, but each hit was so powerful and colossal that he was almost out of energy. Blood was now splattered everywhere, and one of Engler’s eyes had swollen and turned a purplish black color. His right arm was now completely shattered from the landing, and the bloodied ash that surrounded the area of impact was proof. To top everything else off, the impacts on his head was serving nothing good for his thought process. Everything appeared blurry to Engler, and he couldn’t smell or feel anything. His body was already waving the white flag, but in his clouded mind, Engler knew that he had to keep fighting. But he was not in any condition to do so. He had to do something to make Manti drop his guard. And he did the only thing he could.

Manti advanced on the nearly finished Engler, and glared at him intensely. Each step he took released a powerful shockwave through the ground that shook up everything within a quarter mile like a giant electric shock. He noticed that the indigo aura had left Engler, but that was most likely a drop in power, which in his mind, was a sign of defeat. As Manti prepared to deliver the final blow, a weak voice barely called out to him.

“No,” it coughed, splattering blood over the already wounded chest, “…don’t… kill… me. It’s…” he coughed to talk in his weakened voice, and continued up more blood, “it’s me… Engler. Please… spare… me.”

Manti froze, and his mind went through an explosion of memories of Engler. For a second, he said nothing, but eventually, he confirmed it. The body really was Engler. And whatever had possessed him was gone. Manti felt awful, and his hands dropped to his sides, hanging limp by his waist. His wings and tail drooped, and he hung his head in shame, his mane concealing any expressions Manti was making at the moment. Eventually, Manti picked his head back up, and with a solemn tone, apologized. He walked over to Engler, and was about to pick the body up, when a strange phenomenon occurred. In an instant, Engler had his unbroken hand on Manti’s ankle, and he was beginning to absorb energy from Manti’s body. Suddenly, the indigo aura returned with a surge of sound and light. As Engler’s strength returned to his body, he tightened his grip and laughed, while Manti began to lose his strength.

“You fool,” Mocked Phantom Engler in his ultra-deep voice once again, “see what happens when you don’t simply finish off those that are about to die? You haven’t learned anything, you stupid dog, and I am going to make you pay most dearly for your mistake.”

Manti was now beginning to lose his consciousness. His eyesight was becoming blurry, and his hearing was fading quickly. He fell onto one knee as Engler began to stand up, laughing the whole time this was happening. And just when Manti was about to give up, a voice echoed from the heavens.

“You will not destroy this world, noob, and I shall see to it myself.” Instantly, a gigantic white missile like object shot down onto the ground, causing an enormous cloud of ash and dust to fly up into the air. Engler, in shock, let go of Manti, who on instinct got up and retreated back a few steps. After a few seconds the voice spoke again. This time, it was much closer, and it spoke with authority and power. “Engler, your life ends here and now. You will die by my hand, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Engler shivered in fear with his eyes wide open. “No,” He said, his voice shaking as well, “You aren’t real. You are but a legend, a myth. You can’t possibly exist.”

“A myth?” replied the voice, “Then exactly who or what is standing in front of you at this very moment?”

Manti quickly interjected to make his presence known. One word was all he needed, and that word was, “Shashakiro.”

[Ozie-Saf]

Originally Posted by GamerShadow

Engler shivered in fear with his eyes wide open. “No,” He said, his voice shaking as well, “You aren’t real. You are but a legend, a myth. You can’t possibly exist.”
“A myth?” replied the voice, “Then exactly who or what is standing in front of you at this very moment?”
Manti quickly interjected to make his presence known. One word was all he needed, and that word was, “Shashakiro.”

I lol'd so much!! Nice chapter, even though I thought Engler would be a bit more powerful (Manti seriously pwnd him )

[GamerShadow]

I'll have the initial part to the Manti vs Engler fight when I finish the story, and edit it to make it 100x better. Then he will seem much more powerful than he does in this chapter.

[Crashfan3]

Hay guiz itz Shash!
Story is now 15000/10.

[SethSquall]

I enjoyed muchly.

[GamerShadow]

I am not working on the story tonight, due to a tough speed workout from Track, so I will post some current statistics about the story to tide you guys over a day or so:

Current Statistics: (As of Chapter 8)
Number of Pages: 21 (Single Spacing used)
Number of Words: 12,356
Average Chapter Length (Pages): 2.5
Expected number of Chapters: 23
Total Number of Characters: 29 (31 if you count the mentioning of Squeek and blazze.)

[andy-o24]

Nice stats but 23 chapters is a whole lot of writing. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's a stretch.

PS: Shash wins this story!

-o24

[Raveren]

Can you do me a favor GS? When you finish, could you make this available via .html, or email it to me? I haven't had much a chance to catch up since chapter six, but it sounds like it's getting epic.

[GamerShadow]

Originally Posted by andy-o24

Nice stats but 23 chapters is a whole lot of writing. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's a stretch.

PS: Shash wins this story!

-o24

It's been nearly half a month,and eight chapters are done. Of course it's a lot of writing, but that is why I am spreading out the chapters.

Originally Posted by Raveren

Can you do me a favor GS? When you finish, could you make this available via .html, or email it to me? I haven't had much a chance to catch up since chapter six, but it sounds like it's getting epic.

I'll research downloadable files, and how to put them up for download. It'd be best for you to wait for the edited version though, because once I am done writing the main story, I will be adding to every single chapter. For now, the most you can do is try to catch up.

[Engler]

I was massacred :[.

Epic story, though. I am thoroughly enjoying this.

[gabgabo]

Originally Posted by DarkManticoreX2

Dunno how many more you need.

xxH03xx, damanwithdaskillz, mitchtyler, ty77le77r77, gabgabo

My name doesn't sound n00bish.

[GamerShadow]

Chapter 9:

The dust continued to disperse into the soiled air around them. Everything was still at the moment. The tension had been soaring and plummeting over the last few minutes like a roller coaster ride. There was no noise, other than the heavy breathing that resounded from Manti’s mouth. Engler could see Shashakiro with increasing clarity, and he had to confirm that was actually the man of legend before he would actually believe the rumors.

The first thing Engler noticed were the heat waves rising up from Shashakiro’s body. On occasion, they would merge together, and a spark would snap in midair with a small flash. They radiated with power, and Engler knew that Shashakiro was not playing around. He was carrying a satchel, which was filled with arrows of all colors. Engler had guessed this from the red, yellow, and blue arrows nosing out from the mouth of the satchel. The next thing that grabbed Engler’s attention was the clothes. Metallic armor covered the vast majority of Shashakiro’s body, being layered over a black ninja outfit. The chest plate displayed a symbol that everybody in the FFR world recognized.

“The Otaku Oni Dragon,” Engler found himself whispering, “An evil creature of legend that can only be slain by the strongest and purest of warriors. Few have even seen the creature, but to have killed it…” Engler’s eyes thinned into slits, “…you’re BS. There’s no way you could have-”

With those words, Engler spotted something he had not picked up on before. Around Shashakiro’s neck was a jet black fang, tipped with dried blood and venom. And impaled on the fang was an eyeball. The pupil was but a slit, but it still caused Engler to panic on the inside. This was the real deal. “****,” Engler spoke, “you are for real. That doesn’t mean that I am just going to roll up and die though.”

Shashakiro turned his head, looked over at Manti, and spoke gently, “Manti, I think it’s best that you leave. You wouldn’t want to get caught in the middle of this.” He confirmed what he was saying with a nod towards the sky.

At once, Manti picked up on what was happening, and extended his wings. He had trouble getting airborne, but once that obstacle had been overcome, Manti found that he still had enough energy to fly to a nearby country. Without a word, he took off, trying to escape from the seemingly endless dust cloud. After a few seconds, Shashakiro broke the silence.

“Whenever you’re ready, Engler.”

A scorching inferno shot out from Tibs’s mouth, and caught a small group of noobs by surprise. At once, they were incinerated into smoldering piles of ash. Jewpin was busy reflecting projectiles with his Southern Cross, while Guido was returning fire at distant noobs trying to score a lucky shot on the group.

The stone walls created a feeling of security and helped keep much of the action away from the group infiltrating the east wing of the PYP Agency. They traversed the ground floor, occasionally tossing noobs and flamers out of nearby windows for the rest of the TGB Army to deal with. Jewpin was completely occupied; jamming small metal poles into the rock walls. The razor sharp spikes on the ends of the poles allowed this to happen with relative ease, which could only help the group.

Tibs had transformed both of his arms into their dragon state, and was either tossing noobs out of the windows, or slashing enemy heads clear off their shoulders. Either way, fountains of blood littered the battlefield, and the ground floor.

Jewpin seized the chance to check up on his fellow teammates during a brief cease in fighting, and saw noticed what Tibs was doing. “Tibs,” he asked, forcing another pole into the wall, which cracked the rock around the point of impact, “although it’s against what Specforces asked us to do, could you keep as many of the noobs inside the building as possible? Also, can you make sure they spill all of their blood? It would be a great help in completing our flush-out objective.”

Tibs had just thrown another noob out of a nearby window when Jewpin had asked his question. He turned around, and responded. “Sure. Bloody messes I can do just fine.” He grinned, but got no positive response. Suddenly, a hacker made a surprise attack on the unsuspecting Tibs, bearing a blade that could tear through steel as if it was paper. Quickly reacting, Guido shot a molten laser shot at the hacker, which caused it to roll on the ground in pain as its head melted into a pool of lava.

Within ten minutes, the group had reached the end of the second floor of the eastern wing. The path of their destruction was chaotic to the eyes, and was littered with dead bodies, metal poles that Jewpin had slammed into the walls. A river of blood flowed through the hall, and it dropped down the stairwell to the first floor, which was already half a foot deep in enemy blood. Jewpin surveyed the group’s work, and without averting his gaze, he began to talk. “Tibs, Guido, the two of you should get out of the building.”

Guido was confused by this statement. “What do you mean?” He replied, making sure Jewpin knew that there were things he should be explaining.

Jewpin gave a straight answer. “I’m going to destroy the eastern wing of the building. It’s obvious from what we’ve seen that this place is practically a breeding ground for noobs. It’s regrettable, but we have to destroy the building so that they do not reclaim it.”
“Do you think Specforces will even consider such a thing?” Tibs interjected, raising a good point to Jewpin and Guido.

“I’m sure we can talk it into him, Tibs.” Guido reassured, “For now, I think we should get out of here. I can fly you out, so there is no need to go down a floor.”

Tibs nodded, and he allowed Guido to pick him up. The two of them flew out a window that did not have dead noobs hanging from it, and landed softly on the grass, thanks to the jet boots Guido’s mech suit came with. Tibs immediately jumped out of Guido’s grip once they were on the ground, and mumbled, “I have to learn how to transform my shoulder blades into dragon wings.”

Guido dashed over towards Specforces, shooting at any remaining noob archers that were still fighting. He braced his feet into the ground, and activated his reverse movement thrusters in order to stop his own momentum. Behind him were two pathways that were dug into the ground. Two piles of dirt sat on Guido’s feet. Ignoring this, Guido told Specforces about what Jewpin was planning on doing.

Surprisingly, Specforces did not erupt in anger as Tibs had though he would. Instead, he calmly responded, “Very well then. Just make sure he leaves the central part of the building intact. We don’t want to blow that up just yet.”

Guido created a Private thought with the conversation he just had with Specforces, and sent it to Jewpin, closing his eyes in order to do so. Within seconds, he received a reply. It read, “Got it.”

“Short and to the point as usual.” Guido thought to himself, “I wonder how the other group is doing?”

The western wing was faring just as well as the eastern wing had. Dead bodies and pools of blood lay scattered on the stone tile floor. Some noobs appeared to be suspended in midair, but that was simply from GamerShadow stabbing a hole in their heads, and then smashing them into the wall. The group assigned to the western wing fought brutally. They broke limbs, tore off heads, and sterilized many of the noobs that proved to be aggravatingly dodgy with a quick knee to the balls. It’s not like they’ll ever need them, Tokzic had said.

The western wing was only one floor, in comparison to the eastern wing’s two floors, and did not have windows. This was because the Newbie country was less than half a mile away, and the PYP Agency did not want their western wing to be so easily captured, especially when it was the side that faced the border. However, that one floor was much wider in comparison to the eastern wing. The walls were also more fortified and thicker, which gave possible attackers another reason to reconsider.

The group smashed the head of the last noob resisting their assualt into pieces, and Tokzic prepared to flush out the western wing. “Guys,” He started, “You might want to get behind me, or to higher ground, because I am going to fill the entire floor with toxic liquid.”

“We’ll stay,” GamerShadow replied, “you never know when noobs will try to ambush you.”

Cbr nodded in agreement. “GS is right. I’ll stay with you so you don’t have to worry about noobs. I still think my shades are cooler than yours though.” He added teasingly.

Tokzic had begun to create the toxic liquid. He knew that it was going to take a majority of his power to accomplish such a feat as filling an entire floor with the poisonous, acidic liquid he was currently forging. However, he was still able to talk while focusing on his job. “Cbr,” he answered to the half-hearted attack on his awesome shades, “Everybody knows that my shades are so much more badass than yours, right GS?”

“I will not answer,” GamerShadow tried to stay neutral on the matter for as long as possible as he shook his head left and right, “settle this dispute amongst yourselves. I will not have any part in this. I don’t even wear shades.” He added.

“Whatever,” Cbr commented, “We don’t need a third party to decide for us. I mean, if it came down to it, I could take Tokzic in a fight. His shades just suck that badly.”

Tokzic had already filled a quarter of the floor in front of him with the toxic material when he heard Cbr’s rather foolish claim. His nostrils flared, and he increased his output out of anger. “Is that so?” Tokzic raised his voice, “You really think you could beat me in a fight? Come on. All you do is stare at people. You probably get slapped by hot chicks, and ugly ones everyday of your life because of that. No girlfriends, all because of your pathetic power.”

Cbr took that statement personally, and started yelling at Tokzic. “Really!? You make that ignorant claim without any proof. And any half-wit from my land could beat the **** out of you without even trying. Goes to show who is really the stronger one of us two.”

Tokzic stopped crafting the toxic material, and turned around. “Well then,” he spoke quietly and dangerously, “let’s see if you have the strength to back those words up. You and me. Right here, right now.”

“That’s enough, you two.” GamerShadow interrupted, but neither of the two shade-wearers listened to him. They simply stared each other down, waiting for somebody to make the first move. The toxic material had begun to duplicate itself as a result of some weird phenomenon, and was about to cover the entire floor. GamerShadow had to jump up onto the wall, and transform most of his legs into shadows in order to not fall in and be killed. Cbr and Tokzic simply stood still. The toxic liquid had not consumed the fighters. Instead, it had left a circle wide enough for Tokzic and Cbr to fight in.

GamerShadow began to worry as the liquid continued its climb upward. He knew he had to do something quick, or else he would be killed, along with the countless noobs who had been eaten by the acidic material. Just as Cbr and Tokzic began fighting, GamerShadow made a swift decision right then and there. He lunged down into the circle, grabbing them both by the face. He hastily transformed into a shadow, and along with him came Tokzic and Cbr. He disappeared into the ground just as the toxic material filled the entire room, and the empty circle disappeared.

Just outside the PYP Agency and the TGB Army circle, GS, Tokzic, and Cbr reappeared. The three of them gasped for breath, clutching their throats almost as if they were choking. Naturally, GS was the first to recover, as he had been in his shadow state countless times before. Cbr and Tokzic recovered at the same time afterwards, and immediately began fighting. It wasn’t long before Specforces heard the noises emitting from about fifty feet away from his position in the circle. Immediately, he turned around, and yelled with a volume that could have blown out a megaphone.

“WHO DARES BRING DISSENSION AMONG MY RANKS!?”