[center][color=lightblue][h3]Donnie[/h3][/color]
[color=lightblue][b] Level 1[/b][/color] - (0/10) + 5

[color=lightblue][b]Location:[/b][/color] Peach's Castle, Bridge. 
[color=lightblue][b]Word Count: 2,013 [/b][/color][/center]

[hider=OOC Note]NOTE: The following is a collab between myself and Lugubrious.[/hider]

Since the passage of heroes, running amok through the hordes of Galeem-touched goombas, koopas, slack-jawed mooks, and various early-game animals, the world of 1-1 lay in a sort of stunned silence--the sort one might fall into after a hefty meal, or taxing exercise. Surviving rabbids milled about, goofing off half-heartedly when not resting. Pokemon retreated to their dens and nests, allowing their fear to fade away before resuming the search for food. Robots returned to the giant slate-blue vehicle by the eastward road leading in to the Scrapyard, where they underwent repairs. Except for the tremors and roars still resounding from the heart of Peach’s Castle every so often, all was quiet.

Some time after the final calamitous bellow shook the fortress of the Mushroom Kingdom’s princess, a lone figure emerged from the shadows of the dark forest in the west.

Donnie made his way out of the forest, onto a road in World 1-1. Galeem’s forces were in a panic, but what was he supposed to do about it? His powers had been sealed to a fraction of a percent of what he used to be capable of. He was slower, weaker, knew less than he should. He didn’t even remember how to cook for the gods’ sake!

But still, he needed to find out what was going on, even if defeat was nigh. So, with a heavy heart, he made his way down the road to Peach’s castle, a blur of wind and lightning. The route brought him across a bridge just beyond the treeline, taking him over the moat that surrounding his destination. Halfway across, however, he discovered that he wasn’t the only one on the way to the Castle.

A billowing head of white hair fluttered in the wind, the back of its owner facing Donnie for a moment. Then, the figure turned around, exposing unnatural black flesh and uncanny round eyes of listless white. [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/94/99/ef/9499efddd0e7a983bd62e8c596a88f9b.gif]Merkava[/url] stood at six feet and eleven inches, its freakish tubelike arms dangling all the way to the ground. The moment he made eye contact with the newcomer, a deep, resoundingly hollow voice filled Donnie’s mind. [i]”You...don’t look at me like that! Give me your EXS.”[/i] He pivoted around to face the monk fully, his white hair raging like flame.

Donnie stopped and took a gander at this black giant. It was certainly intimidating...but he had faced down Argus the Unmaker and lived. After fighting and killing the corrupted, twisted, gigantic stone soul of a demonic planet, this was nothing. Even with his powers restricted, this was merely an equal and not a superior.

So he said, confidently, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but...” In a flash,  Donnie had blazed past the giant, jumped thirty feet into the air, and aimed a Chi Burst at the back of its head. “I’m not giving you a damn thing!”

Merkava whipped around, and like a snake lashing out to strike its prey, one of its arms shot toward the airborne warrior. It extended the whole distance between them before the energy ball could hit its mark. Its other arm morphed into a batlike wing to enwrap its head, blocking Donnie’s chi-burst. Meanwhile, its claws closed around a leg, and with a mighty tug Merkava whipped his enemy toward the stony surface of the bridge. As the dust cleared, the Void lurched forward. [i]”EXS...your Existence. I must have it…”[/i]

Donnie grimaced as he was thrown down onto the bridge, the impact reverberating throughout his armor. Thankfully, Xuen’s Battlegear, even with its magic sealed, was still built to keep him alive in situations like this, which could have paralyzed an ordinary man. He got up, his back feeling like someone had whacked his spine with a wooden club, but still no worse for wear.

In another time, he would have rolled to reduce the damage to nothing. But he was slower now. His body wouldn’t always do what he told it to.

But this beast’s guard was down. Now was his chance. 

In a flash, a chunk of the stone giant’s face had been sliced off as Donnie reappeared behind it, the distinctive tol’vir-forged metal of the Fists of the Heavens glinting in the sunlight as the tiny maelstroms in the center of the handblades surged, trying so desperately to reach their full strength, but failing due to his master’s power. It was a painful reminder of Galeem’s strength, but one that he would have to live with. But against a golem like this? It would suffice.

“Sorry, but I’d rather exist than feed you,” Donnie said as he turned around, prepared to avoid the monster’s next move.

Snarling, Merkava spun about. His face pulsed like liquid shadow, filling in the wound Donnie’s weapons left behind. As it did, energy from the glowing lines running across his body appeared to drain into the area, leaving the markings as a whole less bright once the repairs completed. With a resounding cry, Merkava whipped one arm, and then the other. Donnie avoided the swings deftly, but the Void was not done. He scuttled forward on all fours before standing up to its full height. A slice from each arm came in on both the left and right sides, followed by a double overhead slam. Merkava jumped up, transformed an arm to slice downward with the wing, and then flashed with pink energy before darting forward with a much stronger wing slice, almost all from well outside the monk’s effective range.

Donnie may have been agile, but his agility had limits. As evidenced by how Merkava manged to cut a gash into his right arm, dent his left shoulderpiece, and slice out part of his abdominal muscle with that wing slice. Donnie was sent tumbling from the attacks. He was only human, and those wounds would make him bleed out fast...if he wasn’t a monk, that was.

Reaching upwards to his chin with his good arm, and shakily doing so with his bad arm, he managed to let fly with his own Chi Burst attack directly into his face. As he did so, the damage Merkava did was completely undone. Muscle regrew, skin regenerated, and wounds sealed. There weren’t even scars left.

The healing went down quickly, but Merkava was just as fast. Perceiving his foe to be recovering, the Void launched a purple fireball from his fanged jaw, then pounced forward. He span vertically to deliver a revolving overhead lash, then morphed his arms into tentacles to unleash a stinging barrage. 

Donnie had expected something like that. As soon as he had full mobility, he was simply [i]gone[/i] again. This time, he made sure to get well out of the vicinity before Merkava could catch him once more. And as the giant hit the empty space where he once lay prone, Donnie launched a Chi Burst into his back at point-blank range.

Small pieces of Merkava’s body flew from the point of impact, but something about them was wrong. They grew as they fell to the ground, becoming blobs that evidenced snaggletoothed maws of their own--the Void’s Relentless Followers. Expanding out into serpentine shapes, they leaped for Donnie to sink their teeth in as Merkava turned around, healing from the attack. As his minions struck, he took to the skies on black wings. From above he spat a number of fireballs, then finished with a well-aimed divekick to strike the warrior down.

Donnie...probably should have expected a regenerating soul-eating murder-golem with flowing white hair to have a trick like this up its sleeve. As he backed off, he managed to swat the infuriating creatures away, crushing one beneath his boot, decapitating another, and incinerating the rest with a Chi Burst, but not before one managed to get in a nasty bite to his ankle.

That, however, bought Merkava time to ready its assault. One of the fireballs struck Donnie in the chest, severely singing the armor and leaving him with a moderate burn even underneath it. The divekick, however, the grandmaster saw coming from a mile away, sidestepping the kick and letting Merkava strike the stone.

Donnie ignored the pain of his injuries, putting all of his speed and strength into a devastating burst of movement, his handblades going straight for Merkava’s neck on the way over in attempt to decapitate the Void. He didn’t know if it could regenerate from that, but it [i]had[/i] to have a limit of some kind.

Instead of stand and take the strike, Merkava threw itself to the ground and crossed its arms in front of its head. Even with Donnie’s speed the Void was fast, but not quite fast enough. The monk’s blades cut into its arms and put two gashes in its head, eliciting a shriek as Merkava crawled backward. Its eyes fell on the bitemarks on Donnie’s ankle, which had gained an odd purple coloration. [i]”Hnnng. Do you have what it takes..? If so, you’ll be a tastier treat down the road. Let’s see.”[/i] An unearthly cry escaped the monster as it hurled itself forward again, extending its arms and flailing around with wild strength and speed. Its invincible, vicious strikes filled the air in a wide radius, threatening to rip Donnie apart if he didn’t put his all into evasion and defense. All the while, Merkava’s raging scream echoed across the landscape.

Donnie looked towards the bitemark as well. Why was it turning purple this quickly? It should still be bleeding. He’d need to see if he could find a healer later. He had no time to think anything else as Merkava started attacking him a berserk fury. It took everything he had just to keep all of his limbs attached, but he managed to avoid or mitigate the strikes, even as glancing impacts caused his prized armor to shake from the force. He couldn’t even cover his ears to protect himself from Merkava’s ear-piercing scream. He wasn’t sure if his hearing would be the same after this.

Still, he managed to crack a smile even through the assault. “Sorry, but a brute like you won’t live long enough to [i]make[/i] a treat out of me.” He took off again, his voice echoing through the air as he reappeared, kicking Merkava where its ribs should be hard enough to crack the material. “Do you think I haven’t dealt with guys like you before?” he said as he disappeared again. His blades carved a chunk out of Merkava’s right arm when he reappeared. “I’ve fought things worshipped as gods. You don’t even rate.” He vanished once more, with a full-strength elbow strike to its knee joint. “To a monk, weapons like mine are simply [i]part[/i] of the package.” He vanished yet again, with a rapid series of punches and palm strikes to Merkava’s left shoulder. The Fists were notably sheathed. “My entire [i]body[/i] is a weapon. And if you haven’t noticed, I haven’t used most of it until now.” He disappeared [i]again[/i], this time reappearing in front of Merkava, kneeing it in the stomach. “On the other hand, you’re all strength, no skill. Just another”--he uppercutted Merkava in the chin, slicing into its jaw--”lowly [i]brute[/i] that I can walk all over!” He vanished a final time, running wide to avoid any last-ditch attacks the Void had, before reappearing in front of the beast, a Chi Burst already charged. “NOW DIE!” he said as the projectile fired, ready to erase the Void’s head.

He found Merkava ready. The monster lunged forward, and in a single brutally simply motion, drove its wedge-shaped head into Donnie’s. [i]CRACK.[/i] Seeing stars from the impact, the monk staggered back, and Merkava stood up straight. His wounds were taking longer to heal. [i]”Too much effort..”[/i] came his voice into the warrior’s mind. [i]”For too little EXS. I’ll see you again...when the Hollow Night comes. Then I’ll feast.”[/i] Using his arms, the Void swung over the edge of the bridge and into the darkness beneath. If Donnie looked below, he would find the monster vanished from the face of the earth--returned, perhaps, to whence he came.

[hider=Reward]
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] +2 EXP
[/hider]