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Description
Kiaran peers into a dark room. "Ah! The engineering office… Perfect…" Kiaran tries the door. "Hmph… Obviously locked…" He backs off and kicks the door. The frame creaks but remains intact. "Alright… You asked for it…"

The dragon draws his crossbow and loads his last explosive dart. He then fires it at the door and smirks as it results in a satisfying small explosion. The defeated door squeaks quietly on its exhausted hinges as he walks inside. "Hehehe… This is perfect… I can just disable the lights and alarms!"

Suddenly, a security hatch closes on top of the now-useless door, trapping Kiaran inside. "What!?" He touches the metal, preparing to phase through when lights flood the room. "Damn!!"

He turns around and squints, trying to refocus his eyes. Before he has time to react, he is suddenly knocked sideways into the wall. "Argh!!"

Looking up, Kiaran sees his new opponent. "Wait… You…"

The cloaked figure scoffs. "Me."

Kiaran stands and draws his swords. "Drimminor. A pleasure as always…"

The cloak falls off the figure and Isura scowls at his rival. "The same to you, my fellow demon…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good… Now focus. Forget fear. Forget anger. Just revel in feeling of energy." Jacov, crosslegged on the ground, watches as electricity swirls through Ran's fur. "Do not be fearful of power. Power is only you."

Ran bares her teeth and tightens her shut eyes. "I-I… I am not afraid…"

Jacov frowns. "Then attack me, comrade."

For the second time, Ran loses focus and the electricity disappates to nothing. "W-What!?"

The bear shakes his head. "Ran is still afraid… You must attack!!"

"But I could hurt you!!" She argues. Clenching her fist, she looks at the bear. "I could seriously hurt you!!"

He sighs. "You fear for Jacov? Ha! You prove Jacov correct!" He stands and brushes his pants with his hands. "I did not say the attack should be harmful…"

Ran stomps her paw and growls. "Enough with this bull crap!! Kiaran's in danger and all you can do is make fun of me!?"

Jacov looks into Ran's eyes and she notices the urgency seeded within them. "I believe he can hold out just long enough to wait for you to succeed…" He pulls a small chain from underneath his shirt, a small, broken tail spike hanging from it. "After all… Comrade Kiaran has no fear…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiaran flips back and springboards off the wall, leaping over a metallic manifestation Isura created. "I have no quarrel with you, Puppetmaster!"

Isura throws several knives at Kiaran, all narrowly missing. "I, however, have a quarrel with you, Reaper!!"

Kiaran lands and Isura's puppet catches the dragon in a bear hug. "Gah!!"

Isura snaps his fingers and the puppet turns around, presenting the blue dragon to him. "Crush him… Slowly…"

"Raaagghhhh!!!" Kiaran shouts painfully as the metal arms begin to shrink, sharp points burying themselves into his scales. "Not yet!!" Kiaran whips his tail and manages to sweep Isura's feet out from under him. As a result of his broken focus, the puppet momentarily loosens its grip. Kiaran manages to slip through and lands on the other side of the room.

"Urgh… Clever clever, Reaper…" Isura stands and smirks.

Kiaran spits blood from his mouth and returns the smile. "I should return the compliment… But I really, really, REALLY don't think you deserve it…"

The orange dreamkeeper waves his hand and his puppet stands upright, contorting itself slowly. "Are you sure? I feel as if my sculpting skills should at least be sufficient for your meager desires…"

Kiaran's heart plummets as he stares at Isura's creation. Standing before him, as if to mock his very existence, is the newly adjusted form of the Puppetmaster's toy. Standing before him is Ran.

"Speechless?" He asks. "Good… It means I've found exactly what I need…" Isura's halo glows brighter as the Ran-Puppet jumps at Kiaran, swords contorting themselves from its hands.

"Shitshitshit!!" Kiaran barely dodges in time, the swords tearing through his pants and cutting a shallow groove down his right leg. "You really are gonna go there, aren't you!?"

Smirking, his rival pulls back and his puppet responds by backtracking to him. "Well, it did distract you enough to land a blow…"

Ki scowls. "He's right" He thinks. "I let myself get distracted far too easily there…" He draws his crossbow and loads a special bolt in the channel. "Hopefully this will buy me enough time…"

Suddenly, Ran launches forward, swords at the ready. "Prepare yourself, Reaper!! Your one weakness will finally kill you for good!!" Isura shouts manically.

"NOT TODAY, BASTARD!!" Kiaran jumps over the attack and fires the bolt at the ceiling. Suddenly, the room is engulfed in a strange pulse wave and the lights cut out.

"Raagghhh!!! Kiaran!!!" Isura whips around trying to find his adversary, his halo glowing just enough to see.

The room, however, is completely empty. Save for Isura and his manifestation. "He got away… HE FUCKING GOT AWAY!!" Isura lets his halo fade away and the puppet falls apart into a scrap heap.

Outside the door, a midnight-blue splotch on the wall begins to grow. Seconds later, Kiaran; silhouetted in the same midnight-blue substance, melds out of the wall and falls to the floor. The shadow slides off of him and he coughs several times, blood dripping from his mouth. "Hah… Hah… Hah…" He stands and lays his hand on the wall to balance himself. "At least… At least I escaped… For now…"

With that, he staggers down the dark hallway, "I need… To find Jacov… And get the fuck out of this place…"

Description
Kiaran peers into a dark room. "Ah! The engineering office… Perfect…" Kiaran tries the door. "Hmph… Obviously locked…" He backs off and kicks the door. The frame creaks but remains intact. "Alright… You asked for it…"

The dragon draws his crossbow and loads his last explosive dart. He then fires it at the door and smirks as it results in a satisfying small explosion. The defeated door squeaks quietly on its exhausted hinges as he walks inside. "Hehehe… This is perfect… I can just disable the lights and alarms!"

Suddenly, a security hatch closes on top of the now-useless door, trapping Kiaran inside. "What!?" He touches the metal, preparing to phase through when lights flood the room. "Damn!!"

He turns around and squints, trying to refocus his eyes. Before he has time to react, he is suddenly knocked sideways into the wall. "Argh!!"

Looking up, Kiaran sees his new opponent. "Wait… You…"

The cloaked figure scoffs. "Me."

Kiaran stands and draws his swords. "Drimminor. A pleasure as always…"

The cloak falls off the figure and Isura scowls at his rival. "The same to you, my fellow demon…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good… Now focus. Forget fear. Forget anger. Just revel in feeling of energy." Jacov, crosslegged on the ground, watches as electricity swirls through Ran's fur. "Do not be fearful of power. Power is only you."

Ran bares her teeth and tightens her shut eyes. "I-I… I am not afraid…"

Jacov frowns. "Then attack me, comrade."

For the second time, Ran loses focus and the electricity disappates to nothing. "W-What!?"

The bear shakes his head. "Ran is still afraid… You must attack!!"

"But I could hurt you!!" She argues. Clenching her fist, she looks at the bear. "I could seriously hurt you!!"

He sighs. "You fear for Jacov? Ha! You prove Jacov correct!" He stands and brushes his pants with his hands. "I did not say the attack should be harmful…"

Ran stomps her paw and growls. "Enough with this bull crap!! Kiaran's in danger and all you can do is make fun of me!?"

Jacov looks into Ran's eyes and she notices the urgency seeded within them. "I believe he can hold out just long enough to wait for you to succeed…" He pulls a small chain from underneath his shirt, a small, broken tail spike hanging from it. "After all… Comrade Kiaran has no fear…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiaran flips back and springboards off the wall, leaping over a metallic manifestation Isura created. "I have no quarrel with you, Puppetmaster!"

Isura throws several knives at Kiaran, all narrowly missing. "I, however, have a quarrel with you, Reaper!!"

Kiaran lands and Isura's puppet catches the dragon in a bear hug. "Gah!!"

Isura snaps his fingers and the puppet turns around, presenting the blue dragon to him. "Crush him… Slowly…"

"Raaagghhhh!!!" Kiaran shouts painfully as the metal arms begin to shrink, sharp points burying themselves into his scales. "Not yet!!" Kiaran whips his tail and manages to sweep Isura's feet out from under him. As a result of his broken focus, the puppet momentarily loosens its grip. Kiaran manages to slip through and lands on the other side of the room.

"Urgh… Clever clever, Reaper…" Isura stands and smirks.

Kiaran spits blood from his mouth and returns the smile. "I should return the compliment… But I really, really, REALLY don't think you deserve it…"

The orange dreamkeeper waves his hand and his puppet stands upright, contorting itself slowly. "Are you sure? I feel as if my sculpting skills should at least be sufficient for your meager desires…"

Kiaran's heart plummets as he stares at Isura's creation. Standing before him, as if to mock his very existence, is the newly adjusted form of the Puppetmaster's toy. Standing before him is Ran.

"Speechless?" He asks. "Good… It means I've found exactly what I need…" Isura's halo glows brighter as the Ran-Puppet jumps at Kiaran, swords contorting themselves from its hands.

"Shitshitshit!!" Kiaran barely dodges in time, the swords tearing through his pants and cutting a shallow groove down his right leg. "You really are gonna go there, aren't you!?"

Smirking, his rival pulls back and his puppet responds by backtracking to him. "Well, it did distract you enough to land a blow…"

Ki scowls. "He's right" He thinks. "I let myself get distracted far too easily there…" He draws his crossbow and loads a special bolt in the channel. "Hopefully this will buy me enough time…"

Suddenly, Ran launches forward, swords at the ready. "Prepare yourself, Reaper!! Your one weakness will finally kill you for good!!" Isura shouts manically.

"NOT TODAY, BASTARD!!" Kiaran jumps over the attack and fires the bolt at the ceiling. Suddenly, the room is engulfed in a strange pulse wave and the lights cut out.

"Raagghhh!!! Kiaran!!!" Isura whips around trying to find his adversary, his halo glowing just enough to see.

The room, however, is completely empty. Save for Isura and his manifestation. "He got away… HE FUCKING GOT AWAY!!" Isura lets his halo fade away and the puppet falls apart into a scrap heap.

Outside the door, a midnight-blue splotch on the wall begins to grow. Seconds later, Kiaran; silhouetted in the same midnight-blue substance, melds out of the wall and falls to the floor. The shadow slides off of him and he coughs several times, blood dripping from his mouth. "Hah… Hah… Hah…" He stands and lays his hand on the wall to balance himself. "At least… At least I escaped… For now…"

With that, he staggers down the dark hallway, "I need… To find Jacov… And get the fuck out of this place…"