Titanic Duel: Fear the Reaper

Meeting Mother
In a secluded area of her castle, Sabriel Gulwick was working away over a desk. With a scalpel in one hand, she made an incision on the stomach of a large rat, obviously very much alive. She immediately shined a strange magic light over it, and after a moment the wound began to close. Just as she picked up a pen to write down her findings, the rat began to swell, and soon the wound opened back up, spilling viscera over the table she was working on. Though many researchers would have been disappointed by the results, Sabriel seamed only more interested in this reaction, and quickly wrote down her notes before clearing the table and starting anew.

Before she could start however, she heard the sound of someone approaching from down the hallway. She gave an annoyed sigh, every member of her guild knew not to interrupt her while she was at work. She smirked though, thankful that someone had just volunteered to be the test subject for her next experiment. She was suprised however by who came through the door. She had the face of someone younger then herself, but the hair of one much older. Though the most outstanding thing about her was her limbs, or the lack their of. Her left leg had been replaced with a peg leg from just below the knee and her entire right arm was missing, as well as an eye patch over her left eye. She didn't immediately see Sabriel, but stopped when she did. "Hey. Sorry, but can you point me the the nearest washroom?" She asked as if she had absolutely no idea where she was.

Sabriel looked at her with confusion on her face, not for the fact that she was able to pass through into her lab, but because that no one ever dared entered her domain. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Sabriel asked looking with her with a curious look.

"Are the owner of this establishment? because I've got a complaint." She started. It seemed like she was completely insane, but Sabriel knew better than that. "I've been waiting for an hour and haven't even been offered a drink yet. I expect the meal to be free after all this."

Another person followed from down the hallway. This one a man with a shaggier appearance, but a more stern look, though his eyes hid behind a dark pair of shades. "Don't think this is the time for games Jaina." The woman called Jaina chuckled a bit, while the man kept his gaze locked on Sabriel. "You the boss around here?"

Right when he said that, a skull jumped out from out of nowhere, quickly changing shape and form as it transformed into a body with the skull on fire as it stayed right in front of his mistress. "You dare speak to the Mistress in such a tone?!" He said in a ghostly voice but calmed down when Sabriel walked up to him and stood next to him.

"And what if I am?" She said with a cocky tone.

"Just wondering." He said, flashing her a smile full of sharp, pointed teeth. "So you got a name?" He shifted his vision to the burning skeleton behind her. "How about you freak?"

Jaina stepped in front of him trying to stop a fight from breaking out. "So what are you working on their? Looks like you made a bit of a mess their."

"Someone of your caliber wouldn't even begin to understand what I do" Sabriel said as her servant began to glow bright red and flames begin to appear all over himself. "My servant's name is Muerte, who will be showing you two to the door" She said before turning away and seeing Muerte beginning to roar as he attempted to grab them both.

A slight flash, and both Jaina and the man where holding a sword, despite only Jaina having a scabbard. Both caught Muerte's boney hands, stopping them instantly. "You want a fight freak?" The man growled, pushing Muerte away from them both. "Only had to ask".

Magic began to pulse from between his fingers, but Jaina held her sword out to stop him. "Calm down Rift. We don't want to jump into something." Despite her words, she seemed just as eager for a fight as the man named Rift.

"If you're not here to cause harm, then why have you come trespassing in my sanctuary? Obviously you did not come alone and there are more within the guild, so why do all this?" She asked moving back to focus on her research more than the people that were behind her.

"Oh, you know." Jaina said calmly. She kept a tight grip on her sword however, ready to fight at any moment. "Meet new people, make some friends. You know, just enjoy our time here."

"Friends don't have themselves so wounded up that they're ready to strike at any given second, plus I notice your difference in complexion and how you reacted to my question" Sabriel told her as she was able to anazlyze every single movement from Jaina's body and easily deduced that something was going on with her. Muerte managed to pull himself out of the grip he was in, refocusing himself to be right next to his mistress in case they tried anything again.

"You want something from me, what the item is I'm not sure, but it must be of great value to try and break into my guild and risk an all out battle with me personally" She said with a serious tone as the air around them began to compress, turning more and more heavy, making it harder to breath.

Jaina released her own magic power, which began to compete with Sabriel's. "Calm down Doc. We don't have to get violent just yet." She turned her head to the side and gave her a rather condescending smile. "You don't even know what we're after. What if it's something not worth fighting over? Maybe we could make a trade? How about that?" While the two guild masters talked, Muerte and Rift stared each other down, both just waiting for any excuse to fight.

"Oh you poor naive fool, what could you possibly have to offer me of any use? Well I could take your body, I am dying to see what makes you tick inside..." Sabriel said slowly licking her lips as she looked up and down her body. She went over to grab a jar and begin to peel away some of the flesh remaining on the dicestion table. "So what do you think you have of value to trade for?"

Suddenly the jar in her hand shattered, sending shards of glass all over the floor. A small metal dart was engrained in the wall behind her, and Rift had his arm raised as if he had just thrown something. "That, and plenty more." He growled. If Sabriel was surprised by this, she hid it well, only tipping her hand to let the remaining glass fall to the floor. Her familiar glowed with anger however, furious that he had let something like that slip past him.

Jaina chuckled a bit, but gave a rather condescending tone as she asked. "You know, we didn't expressly come here to start a fight." Rift didn't respond, causing Jaina to sigh. She knew what it meant when he got like this. "You are aware of that, yes?"

Again, Rift's eyes stayed hidden behind his shades, reflecting the firelight Muerte was now giving off. With a near stoic expression he said. "Naw, sorry boss lady. I'm done playing nice with this chick." He cracked his knuckles in the palm of his hand, as well as the muscles in his neck. "You want an experiment do you? Let's see how long you can hold up against someone you don't got a leash on."

"You're beneth me you simple worm" Sabriel said looking at him with what appeared to be a demonic stare, seeing a powerful energy ripple spread through the area as it even made Rift back up a bit, knowing that there was something to her that even he didn't expect. "If you wish to talk, fine, but I will not have my experiements ruined or interrupted again..." She said as Muerte glared at Rift.

Rift cracked his neck by quickly tilting it sideways. "Then let's see this worm take down a bitch." He grinned as Muerte flared up, his patience finally at an end. With flames in hand, he charged at Rift, looking to end his impudence with a single blow.

"Sick him Muerte, but do it outside please" Sabriel said as she

Quicker than Muerte however, Jaina used her magic to call down a bolt of lightning between them, shooting through the ceiling. "Guess that takes negotiations off the table." It was more of a statement than a question, but she didn't seem two torn up about being pulled into a fight.

"You're dog obviously wasn't going to wait around, so I will leave the two of you to my familiar" Sabriel said as Muerta roared, sending a powerful flame blast at them.

Jaina ducked behind Rift, who created a metal wall to defend against the flames. Though the fire was hot enough to scorch the ground, it could do very little against the thick metal plate. Rift rolled out to the side, throwing what looked like a sword at Muerte. It whistled through the air, lacking a hilt, just a pair of sword points at ether end.

Muerta quickly summoned up what appeared to be a flaming chain as it blocked the sword, but as it began to dig through the sword, it actually melted some of the steel as it began to drip onto the floor. Muerte quickly pushed back, attempting to land a powerful kick to his stomach.

In response, Rift lifted his leg, placing the soul of his shoe on Muerte's shin, stopping it before it he could build up to much momentum. At the same time he held his fist outwards at what would have been Muetre's chest and shouted. "Iron Make - Patriot Guns." A mass of gun barrels formed over his arm, which began erupting with bullet fire and muscle flash.

The guns began blasting and blasting pushing Muerta back each time the bullets exploded until he ran out, but Rift noticed that Muerte hadn't moved from the spot as chunks of his body were all over the ground.

"Gotcha..." Right when he said that, Muerte noticed that there were flame bits all around the area. They slowly began to merge together until they formed flaming skulls as one went flying at super fast speeds at Rift, coming into contact with him barley, but exploding as it created a powerful shock wave.

He flew back and crashed into the wall, sending cracks shooting out in all directions, but Rift landed on his feet. "Get down!" He roared at Jaina as he crossed his arms and shot a pair of sword blades into the wall behind him. "Iron Make - Grand Shot!" Jaina jumped up high as he swung his arms outwards. The blades cut deep along the walls, growing longer with the room, until they crossed, forming a razor-sharp apex right where Muerte was standing.

Muerte quickly made three more chains appear in an attempt to stop the chains from reaching his mistress as he turned around to find her already blocking the blade with ease as she was holding a wooden staff, blocking it with the point, "Muerte, please take this outside before I get angry" She told him as he nodded and quickly ran at high speeds, using his chains to grab Rift, sending him flying through the window as he followed.

Rift landed outside, again on his feet, and grabbed the chains Muerte had used to thrown him with. Still attached to them, he yanked Muerte in after him, winding up for a massive punch. "Iron Make - Impact!" a large metal fist formed over Rifts arm, which he swung at Muerte's head just as he got close enough.

Muerte Quickly changed to his larva form as he used his hands to quickly move up the side of the building before returning to his full body form in mid-air. However, right when he did, he roared out a powerful yell, launching a whole mess of blazing chains that aimed right at Rift.

"Iron Make - Patriot Guns" A mass of gun barrels formed over Rifts arm which he hefted over his head aiming at Muerte. Bullet fire ripped through his chains, sending sparks and scrap metal showering in all directions, before eradicating them completely and moving on to their creator.

Muerte quickly summoned up one short chain as he quickly spun it in front of him, adding flames to it, it created what was seen to be a heat shield of sorts. When the bullets came towards it, they were immediatly melted down and Muerte slammed down onto the ground, bringing the chain back into him. "Impressive, not many were able to match me so easily" He said with a glare.

"You may be hard to damage, but you run off magic like the rest of us." Rift said, discarding the metal left over from his last attack. "Besides, I know all your tricks monster. Teammate of mine fought you a while back, said you the type that get less powerful the further away from your owner." He fashioned a skull shaped mask over his face with his magic. "I'll finish with you, than move on to the chick up their. So come at me monster!" He roared, clenching his hands into fists and taking up a fighting stance.

"You fool..." Muerte said cracking his own fist before glaring at the man in front of him, "The closeness of my mistress doesn't matter, so long as her status is alive, then I am invincible!" Muerte said running towards Rift while he did the same, both punching their fists together as the shock wave broke through most of the building.

The Quiet Approach
Within a different part of the complex, a small group of 4 people snuck from shadow to shadow, careful to not be seen by anyone. Things soon became much easier for them however, as shaking began to draw people's attention. After watching a few people exit from one room and disapire down a hallway, one of the girls, with white hair and dreamy red eyes whispered. "I guess Rift and Jaina found your mother Fiona."

"Yes... Though it's surprising that Muerte would be going on pure hand-to-hand combat, she must not really care too much about him these days" Fiona said as she and another woman moved together before stopping to check around the corner to see if anyone was there.

"Looks clear on this end" June said before looking back to see her group moving along with them, trying to not get themselves caught.

"So what is our plan once we get in there?" Taichi said looking at them.