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A Hero Tale {Complete}

Rajaka's onslaught stopped after a short while, and he paused. All the distortions in the air were starting to annoy him, but he was on guard now, waiting for Jeff to strike. "Come on out little birdie. I already told you, I'm not gonna fall for this bullshit." He looked around carefully, waiting and building energy in his body. The flaring aura from earlier built up again. He floated in place, following every shift in the atmosphere. There was just too much to keep up with. "Feh.." He lowered his arms to his side, and the energy around him began to condense, growing closer to his skin as less and less of it seeped from his body. "Shoulda' known you'd chicken out. In that case..."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Rajaka's fist plowed through the clone, but he quickly lashed his hand back up to grab the orb, concealing the flash inside of his hand to the best of his ability, while stream of light shot through his fingers in several directions at once. His body continued spinning until he was upside-down, following the flow of Jeff through the wind itself, until his hand emerged just where he'd thought. Well, close enough, anyways. He pulled his right arm back in front of him, and slapped Jeff's hand slightly off-target with a light tap, so that the blade would miss him by a hair's length. By the time Jeff was positioned a few feet away, Rajaka already had his eyes on him.

"BOOM!" He shouted boastfully, pumping his fist upwards, "WOOOO! HAH! MAN, THAT FEELS SICK!" Rajaka began gathering energy in his hands, still chuckling to himself in pride. "Oh man, that's... Ah, man. I forgot what it feels like to move like this- Shit! Zelriane's got the right idea..." He looked up at Jeff and smiled.

"You ain't hiding from me anymore, check it out-" He tapped the side of his head lightly. "Good senses, like a panther.. Or a dog.. Or.. Some other animal- Fuck, you know what I mean! I'm an animal!" Rajaka howled loudly and engulfed his entire body with an aura of thrashing energy that rose upwards. "Speed and power!" He cringed. "Want a taste?" The aura around him disappeared and he threw a punch towards Jeff, launching a shock wave of air towards him. It wasn't as fast as the energy he fired, but the air itself had taken on a yellow hue, still moving at an alarming rate. He followed up immediately, rapid-firing a series of shock wave punches at Jeff, looking to follow him across the battlefield. Rajaka knew Jeff's energy was limited. He would just have to push him to his limits as quickly as possible.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Rajaka Pouted. "Clones again? Bullshit trickery, I'm gonna figure this shit out eventually." Rajaka's body began to glow heavily as he gathered more energy, dispersing the smaller bullets with ease while he listened carefully to his surroundings. Then Jeff approached. He turned his head around quickly, and with it, his body. His top half bent backwards, and his legs flew up, letting Jeff's blade pass underneath him. He used his momentum to spin around with his right arm, bringing it down from overhead towards Jeff's shoulder.

He was definitely faster. He didn't reach Jeff's speed, but he was fast enough now, that hitting him wasn't going to be the easiest thing in the world. At the very least, this time he actually bothered to dodge.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Rajaka kissed his teeth and lowered his stance slightly. "All-Right then-" With those words, his body began to rise off the ground, slowly at first, speeding up until it was level with Jeff's clone. "How 'bout this?" He rose one of his hands in the clone's direction. "I haven't done this in a while, shit's definitely weird. Don't hold it against me if I accidentally blow up the planet-" As the last word left his mouth, a beam of yellow energy launched from his hand, straight through Jeff's clone, with absolutely no start-up lag. Rajaka was pushed back slightly by the recoil, but Jeff's clone was torn apart almost instantly. One thing became clear immediately. There was definitely some sort of speed increase that came with his new form. When focusing his energy, it now left his body at the speed of light, much faster than anything Jeff, or even Zelriane had been able to achieve naturally. "Whoop-" Rajaka grunted, "Let that one get away from me a little early there."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 202 ~

_{Ra Ra Ra! Catastrophe Control, Unleashed}

The energy coming off of Rajaka was all-consuming. Jeff was pushed back by the sheer volume of Ki radiating from Rajaka's body. His voice was quickly drowned out by the sound of roaring energy, combined with the fact that Jeff was being physically pushed away at an alarming rate.

Within the chrysalis of power, Rajaka's body was rapidly changing. His muscle mass slowly shrank, but his bone structure accounted for this, and lost a fair amount of mass. It was like he was forcing his entire body under an immense amount of pressure, to get smaller.

The light cleared after a significant wait. The aura surrounding him was much more tame now. Rajaka let out a single, slow breath, releasing a yellow mist from his mouth. He looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly. He was completely different from a moment ago. "Oh man," He hissed through his teeth. His hair had changed from a golden blonde, to a bright, yellowish white. His once tight-fitting vest, now fit him almost perfectly, and his pants had become slightly baggy. "Oh man." His size was the biggest difference. From a once massive frame that stood over 8 feet tall, he'd shrunk down to just over 6 and a half feet. He took a few steps forward, leaving his massive boots behind to reveal his bare feet.

"OH MAAAN" Rajaka finally flicked his head up towards Jeff and gave him a wide smile. "Check it out, kid. The absolute fucking epitome of my abilities. Catastrophe Control!" He opened and closed his hands a couple times. "Feels kinda weird being this scrawny. How do you people live like this?"

He looked so much weaker than before. Surely now, one of his punches would lack the power he'd previously wielded.

"Aw man," He turned around and pouted. "My boots don't fit no' more."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Luke and Elise didn't stop him or try to follow. Elise shook her head and chuckled to herself. "What's so funny?" Luke blurted out, falling into a nearby chair. She turned to him and squinted angrily, but couldn't help but smile.

"Yo' bof 'umb a' a ro'" Luke rolled his eyes and grunted.

"Yeah yeah. Dumb as a rock. Good to see you haven't changed."

---

~ End Of Chapter 201 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Luke nodded along. "I think you should probably hurry yourself to the roof, for now." Elise spun around and gave him a glare. He smiled and patted her shoulder. She shrugged his hand off angrily. "Ehm... Distracting him in any way at all might be for the best. Even if it only buys us a few minutes."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Luke held his breath for a second, and then let out a suppressed sigh. Just what were the options? Sit there and die? Or run at a wall, and die? "Everyone is still fighting," Luke finally gasped at the end of his sigh, "And I saw it, then. When that guy came down, after Jeff killed Ada off. There was something up with his hair, and his attitude. I can't put my finger on it, but..."

Elise stepped forward and slapped Jenso hard across the face. Luke shut up immediately, and glared at them both. Then she turned towards Luke, and slapped him across the face. He recoiled back and grabbed his jaw. "Now 'aint that a familiar feeling," He moaned in pain. Elise turned back to Jenso and stared at him. She couldn't talk, but her eyes spoke volumes. With one had, and made a fist and placed it over her heart.

"Po'er" She groaned, unable to speak properly. "Bu'.. Wai'" Luke understood it clear as day. She looked back to him, expecting some sort of translation.

"I'm not gonna stop you, Jenso. We don't have any time to talk this out. But your mother's right." He placed his hand on his chest and frowned. "Power doesn't mean anything, if you aren't patient. That guy's eyes are somethin' else. Trying to trick him isn't going to work. But the only kind of people that hide behind a shield, are the kind that don't take too well to gettin' hit."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Elise grabbed Jenso by the arm and pulled him back. She was surprisingly strong, even tougher than his Dad had been. Then, she elbowed Luke's stomach. He lurched forwards, trying to catch his breath. Glaring at Elise, she offered him a silent look of anger in return. He cleared his throat and patted his stomach.

"What are you going to do, Jenso?" Luke wheezed, "Going up there is suicide. What's the plan? We didn't think he'd be this strong, at all. I can't just let you, erm... We can't just let you kill yourself for nothing."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Yzeira's energy disappeared once Jenso announced his disobedience. Luke stood up and jumped away from the desk, quickly circling the room to reunite with Jenso and Elise. As the flash of Ki cleared, it revealed the focused spear to be embedded about an inch Yzeira's barrier. "It was worth an attempt," Yzeira grunted, dissolving Jenso's spear with a spout of dense smoke that erupted from his barrier. "Pursuing this nonsense any further is just going to be infuriatingly frustrating." He turned to Jenso once more.

"I'm going to kill you all, now."

Like some kind of phantom, Yzeira's body faded away, leaving the three of them alone in his seemingly endless library of knowledge.