1 The Storm

"Please fasten your seatbelts, we are experiencing a bit of turbulence from the sudden storm, remain calm and if you have any emergency talk to the hostesses. I repeat, please remain…"

The captain's voice sounded through the speakers trying to calm the passengers of Flight 375-F, caught in a sudden lightning storm and with the airplane shaking, panic was building amongst the passengers some who were scared that the plane would crash, but not everyone was panicking.

"Look mom!" a little boy tugged on his praying mother's clothes pointing out his window "Look, there's someone in the sky!" without even opening her eyes, she scolded him "I thought I told you to pray, this is no time for your silly jokes"

"But I'm not joking mom...there really was someone in the sky" he said sulking, "I won't repeat myself Ade, bow your head and pray"

"Ok mom " Ade said as he bowed but still snuck a glance at the window.

Meanwhile, outside the airplane...

The wind roared and lightning flashed, three figures clashed in the centre of the lightning storm as the plane flies by, they separate and clash again and again at high speed, after clashing for about 5 minutes, they separated and stood apart.

"Rakun, stop this madness! That scroll belongs to me, I found it first and what does a berserker want with a mythical lightning whisperer scroll?" A middle aged pale looking man wearing a tattered black cloak covered in lightning shouted."

"You are not fit to call me by my name, address me by my title, Seth" said a giant framed man covered in golden light, he had long white hair and a tanned skin "It does not matter if you found the scroll first, if you have enough power then you will go home with it, if not then you are a weakling and might just lose your life here" he says smirking as the golden light around him pulses.

"As for what I want the scroll for, well…I am a mercenary, do you think I have so much time as to bicker and fight with weaklings over a scroll?" he looks down on the scroll in his hand.

"Turns out this thing is worth quite a lot, I mean it's mythical ranked so that's expected so I'm sorry but this goes home with me" a giant halberd appears in his hand, the golden light around him boils as a transparent figure of a golden tiger forms behind him and the light spreads, seeping into the storm clouds around him, calming them and turning them golden.

"Now, please could you get serious and attack me, I might just get serious for a little while"

The third figure was an old man dressed in a blue robe with snowflake patterns, he had long black hair with silver streaks on the side, he would have looked gentle if not for the nasty scar on his left chin, behind him were two massive wings that seemed to be made of ice. He floated there quietly as Rakun and Seth spoke and only spoke after they were done.

"My clan master has use for that scroll, I must leave with it, we all know that we don't have long to stay in this realm before its guardians notice our presence, let us not waste time and get this over with" he said as he starts emitting pale blue light and his robe flutters, his thin hands glow brightly, strange symbols start dancing around him as if protecting him.

He shouted 'Queen of the frozen peaks of the distant realms, herald of storms, come forth with your icy judgment, Naia!' after which the pale blue energy around him intensifies and suddenly something appears.

A huge snow white bird with icy blue eyes, a beak and claws that looked extremely sharp like daggers carved from ice, an ice crown on its head and feathers that seemed delicate like snowflakes but gave off a very dangerous feeling.

As if to announce its arrival it spread its massive wings and screeched to the sky, the pale blue energy around it spread and took control of the storm clouds around it, instantly making them start snowing. The old man flies and lands on its back as his ice wings vanishes "I will not want any of us to die in this weak realm, Raging Tiger Berserk King, release the scroll and Seth forget about it, I will bring this scroll to my master at once" while saying this he secretly transmitted his voice to the dark cloaked man *Seth, we both know that we can't defeat Rakun alone, I am a peak rank 3 Gold Summoner and you are a peak rank 3 Gold Whisperer, alone we can't stop him who seems to be a peak rank 4 Berserk King , why don't we both attack together, when he's dead we can then duel between ourselves and the winner takes the scroll, what do you think?*

Seth's eyes flashed as he got the message and he sneered "Maybe this will be the last battle of the famous Raging Tiger Berserk King" the lightning around him crackles and intensifies as he whispers 'Jaikun! Lightning Saint Armor ' the lightning covers him and creates a crackling suit of armor with clawed hands, the surrounding storm around him intensifies as lightning shoots across the sky and the loud sound of thunder follows.

*Elder Zol, I never knew you were such a crafty old man, I'll play along and attack him with you, let's flank him and cover any possible escape paths, I have the fastest attack speed among the two of us, and your summon emits soul energy, attack Rakun's soul and when he's fighting the pain I rush in and deal the killing blow, after he's dead we can fight each other for the scroll* Seth transmitted his voice to Elder Zol.

Seth and Zol flank Rakun, each taking one of his sides, he glances at them and laughs "Seems you two have decided to work together, good, at least now I can take you seriously, maybe I might even break a sweat" he grips his halberd tighter and the energy around him grows stronger, some of which form a thin coat around him like an aura, his eyes glows and he smiles excitedly, flipping his hand the scroll vanished, he grips his halberd in two hands and changes stance "It's been so long that I have used this technique, I might just use you two to sharpen my teeth" he smirks with a murderous look in his eyes and a tiger's roar could be vaguely heard 'Dance of Death!' Rakun bellowed.

For a moment it seemed the world at the center of the storm had split in three as the aura of these three beings battled for control splitting the clouds into a world of golden clouds that radiated tyrannical energy, a sea of pale clouds and snow that felt like it could freeze your soul and a terrifying lightning storm that seemed like a beast looming and waiting to attack, to a far onlooker it could even be described as beautiful.

Time seemed to freeze as these three beings stood still, like gasoline waiting to be lit, all that was needed was a 'spark', stifling silence only, the sounds of the raging wind, roaring thunder and the fluttering of their robes could be heard.

'Judgments Gaze!' Zol's voice sounded, immediately after which his summon released icy blue beams of light towards Rakun, it was so fast that before he could react it hit him, he doesn't seem wounded, but his face showed signs of struggle, like he was stuck.

"Seth now!" shouted Zol.

"You don't have to remind me old man" Seth said as he rushed forward, his movement speed was so fast it seemed like he teleported leaving only a trail of lightning.

As he got close to Rakun he whispered 'Jaiten! Lightning Execution!' a giant saber made completely of lightning forms in his hands and he slashes down towards Rakun's head, even if this strike does not kill him he won't be far from death, but as the sword was about connecting he caught a glimpse of Rakun's face, he no longer looked like he was struggling, instead he was grinning, a blood thirsty grin like that of a beast and his eyes that turned to look at Seth were filled with rage and bloodlust.

"Seth be careful! Rakun has broken…" he vaguely heard Zol say something but could not hear it all, the only thing that filled his sight was the figure of Rakun lifting his halberd up and the voice that filled his ears was Rakun's saying 'First Step!'

BOOM!!!

Golden light and purple lightning clash in the skies above.

Meanwhile, on the ground…

"Don't let me catch you Chike!!!" a voice bellowed "I'll tear you limb from limb, you bastard!!"

In the pouring rain and thunderstorm, four bicycles zoom across a convenience store front, one in the lead and three others in hot pursuit, the voice belonged to the rider of one of the three bikes in pursuit, his face looked swollen and he had a split lip like he'd just been beaten up.

"You have to catch me first Jake!" shouted back the rider of the bicycle in the lead "Ha ha! How's your lip? I bet it stings in the rain!" Chike's voice was filled with mockery and contempt.

"Aargh!!!! You can't run forever!!!" Jake was obviously pissed "Ride faster!!" he barked at the other two that followed him.

The high speed bike chase continued in the heavy rain and thunderstorm as Jake and his lackeys try to catch Chike, above them in the storms eyes, high in the sky, beings of great power battled and they had no idea.

Thirty minutes ago…

"Hey there, Will, long time no see" said a figure resting on an alley wall as it approached a young boy and what appeared to be his girlfriend because their hands were held together.

"Hello Jake, what do you want?" Will said as he moved to block Jake's path.

"Ouch, that was harsh Will, just one month out of town and it seems like you grew fangs, nice." Jake mocked"

You don't even want to introduce us to the cute girl behind you." he said as he waves at the girl behind Will. "What's her name?"

"It's none of your business Jake, look I don't want any trouble, please leave us alone" Will said looking at Jake.

Will is a 14 year old boy, he has quite some height for his age and so was a little taller than Jake, but he was on the slim side. Jake on the other hand was 15 and had quite some muscle for his age, sporting a tank top with a skull drawn on it, crazy red hair and jeans, he tried his best to look intimidating.

"Ha ha…" Jake suddenly starts laughing "Trouble? Look guys, little Will wants no trouble, he has a girlfriend now and wants to fight back" as Jake said this four other boys came out from behind him and suddenly surrounded Will and his girlfriend.

"Yea Will is now a big boy." a random boy says. "Maybe we should give him a proper welcome, it's been a long summer, maybe jog his memory a bit" Jake added in "Zach go give him a nice reminder"

A chubby boy stepped forward grinning "Gladly" he said.

Will seeing Zach come close to him he raised his slim fists as he prepared to fight back.

Just as Zach raised his fists to attack, a rock whizzed towards his face, he quickly ducks and was narrowly missed by the rock but the boy behind him was not so lucky.

"Ouch! My nose!!" the boy cried out holding his face."

Hey, who did that?" Jake shouted.

"Jake, I see you still have nothing better to do with your time than to bully people huh?" a voice said as a boy stepped into the alley holding a rock in his hand.

"Chike, what are doing here?" Jake says through clenched teeth "This is none of your business"

"Star city is a free city, a boy can take a walk right?" Chike said as he played with the rock in his hand "I was taking a walk and I saw you and your group of fools trailing Will, so I decided to come say hi" he said sarcastically

"Hi Will, welcome back" he said winking to Will. 

Will nodded at him "Chike, how you doing?"

Suddenly Chike threw the rock at Jake who dodged but at the same time Will suddenly punched Zach who was distracted.

"Aargh!!" Jake bellowed as he charged at Chike, who sidestepped and kicked Jake down, he pounced on the fallen Jake and punched him in the face.

At the same time Will tousled the startled and injured Zach to the ground and hit him in the face repeatedly after which Zach flipped him over and wanted to punch him in the face, but Will shielded his face with his hands, he then managed to kick Zach off him and got back on top where he started punching Zach again, the cycle just kept repeating and the rest of the bullies were either confused or attending to the bully who was injured by the rock.

After about 20 seconds of punching Jake, Chike stood up and stared down at the injured and dazed Jake "That'll teach you" he murmured turning to Will who just stood up and kicked the already groaning Zach "You learnt some skills this summer huh?" he asked.

"As a kid that keeps getting beat up I had to learn something" Will says in-between pants.

Good, you're finally standing up for yourself" he goes over and nudges Will in the ribs as he nods towards the girl standing at the side, he completely ignored the groaning Zach and Jake and the rest who gave him death stares "Who's she?" he asked Will.

"Oh, she's my girlfriend Mia, met her on my summer holiday in South Nexus City, her family just moved into town too" Will's spirits immediately rose and he smiled, even with the bruises he had on his face he looked happy and proud.

"She looks like she's from a big shot family" Chike whispered to Will as he surveyed her.

Mia had a smooth oval face, big black eyes, flowing black hair with a flower hairpin and wore a gown with flower embroidery.

"Yea, her family is supposed to this big family, but don't worry she's not stuck up like other rich kids I promise" Will said as he and Chike walked toward Mia ignoring the other boys.

"She's really pretty" Chike whispered into Will's ear.

"Thanks" Will whispered back.

As they get to Mia, Will introduces Chike to her "Mia this is my best friend Chike" he says pointing at Chike "Bro, this is Mia."

In the short time they were exchanging pleasantries Jake finally manages to get up, his face is kind of swollen already and he's bleeding from his nose and mouth, he's eyes seem red from rage as he turns to stare at the three of them chatting nonchalantly as they walked away completely ignoring him and it got more upset.

Reaching down, he picked up a metal pipe and yelled "Chike!! I'm gonna kill you!" as he charged at them, this time the other three boys followed leaving Zach who still lay groaning.

Startled by the yell Chike turned back to see the group charging at them "I thought he would stay down longer" he murmured to himself, turning to Will and Mia he said "Run!"

Will grabbed Mia by the hand and ran, Chike picked a random rock and hurled at the group after which he ran too.

As Jake and his group charged the flying rock hit the same kid again on his already bleeding nose. "Ahh! My nose! Again!" he screamed as he fell to the ground holding his face.

The boys wanted to stop and help him but they heard Jake yell "Leave him! If any of you stop you will get it, let's catch Chike first" he immediately runs after Chike.

Chike ran and caught up to Will and Mia "Will, I'll go another way, he's after me so you guys will be left alone, we'll catch up later at my place tomorrow" looking at the approaching storm he added "First things first, get Mia home, it's about pouring".

"Will you be ok?" asked Mia.

"Don't worry, this guy is the youngest captain of Star City high school racing team, these guys can't even dream of catching him" Will answered "He will be ok".

Chike smiled saying "These guys? Catch me? They can never, just get home safe, talk later" He immediately changes path, running into another alley as Will and Mia take another route.

Seeing that they split ahead Jake became more upset and ran faster as he chased Chike but still yelled at Will "Don't let me see you again Will, I'll break you!!!"

After running for a while the rain begins to fall heavily, but Jake and his two goons still chased Chike. They come across a bunch of bikes parked in from of a café, maybe the owners were taking shelter inside, Chike grabs one, hops on and pedals off, Jake and his crew get to the café and grab bikes too and gave hot pursuit.

Now back to the present, in the clouds…it's been a while since they started fighting.

BOOM!!!

"Hahaha!!!!" a laugh bellowed "Is this all you both can do!!?" it was Rakun's voice " I haven't even gotten started yet" he said.

Rakun stood holding his halberd and laughing, a bleeding burnt looking sword scar ran across his now bare chest and his body was covered in small cuts that stopped bleeding by now but the blood still stained the tattered remains of his golden robe, his halberd was covered in blood and the golden energy around him boiled and pulsed.

Zol and Seth were in worse shape, Zol's summons' snow white feathers were now stained with scarlet blood that flowed from the wounds on its body, the largest being a huge cut almost cutting off one of its wings, one of its eyes was blinded by a wound and it seemed weak.

Zol himself looked pale and sweating, blood dripped down the corners of his mouth and his hands, he stood panting on the back of the bird as he stared at Rakun.

Seth was in the worst shape, his right sleeve was empty and blood flowed out steadily, he had lost an arm and his robe was tattered around the chest area as a deep long claw mark bled, he too was bleeding from the mouth.

He glared at Rakun and Zol 'I have to get out of here, a single scroll is not worth my life' he thought to himself 'Jairen! Lightning Steps!' he whispered, lightning covered his legs as he ran away.

Zol and Rakun were surprised but Zol responded quickly, 'Icy Trail!' he shouted and his summon shot forward at blinding speeds covered in pale blue energy as it left an ice trail behind it

"You guys can't get away, It's just getting fun!"Rakun shouted as the golden energy around him roared 'Raging Tigers' Charge!!' a tiger silhouette covered him and he sped forward with fierce momentum chasing after Seth and Zol

Three figures rushing forward at impossible speeds covered in blinding glows in the stormy dark sky, an old lady saw them flash past her house heading towards the hill side , "I should really go to the hospital like Susan says, I'm starting to see things" she said to herself.

Not long after she sees the three flying streaks she hears "If you catch up I'll put in a word for you to join the cycling team in school, come on Jake you can do it" it was the voice of Chike taunting Jake as they zoomed past the old lady's house coincidentally heading the same direction that the three flying lights went.

"Kids these days, always doing something dangerous" the old lady said to herself as she goes inside make tea as her water just boiled.

Chike sped forward as Jake chased him crazily 'He sure doesn't give up does he?' he thought to himself as he glanced at the angry and wet Jake behind him 'I'll ditch him in the hills, he's not skilled enough to keep up in that terrain' he picked up speed and headed towards the hills with Jake fast behind him.

Back in the sky...

'Seventh Step! Behemoth Slash!' Rakuns voice bellowed in the sky as he slashed his halberd toward the figures of Seth and Zol, a giant golden slash tore through the sky as it rushed towards them.

Zol's summon screeched and created a giant shield made of ice, the slash crashed on the shield shattering it but Zol and his summon managed to push it aside, the slash didn't dissipate and still shot towards Seth.

Seth felt the slash coming and something told him if he doesn't do anything that strike will kill him.Turning back he faced the incoming attack and the lightning around him skyrocketed 'Jaikulin! Scarlet Lightning Saint Shield!' he whispered, the lightning around him suddenly turns scarlet red and took the form of a giant shield with lightning spikes.

Zol's eyes brighten as he seemingly sees a chance, while still fleeing from the now close Rakun 'Blind Rage!' he shouted and his summon spewed white mist which instead of shooting for Rakun who had almost caught up with them, the mist shot towards Seth who was still struggling with the golden slash, he couldn't react and the mist seeped into him

Zol smiled after seeing this and immediately continued escaping, he broke out from the cloudy layer and shot straight for the hills below, after releasing his summon his ice wings reappeared, flipping his hand a totem appeared, it was in the shape of a turtle and it was blinking, "Time to get out of here" he said.

Seth didn't know what Zol did to him but he knew it was nothing good, the golden slash was dissipating by now and so was his shield, looking ahead he saw Rakun speeding forward, he still had confidence that he could outrun Rakun, the problem was the powerful slashes he sent, he decided to run anyway.

As he turned to run suddenly violent thoughts and rage filled his mind, all they told him was to attack Rakun with all he had, to forget escape and attack, subconsciously he knew he wanted to run but his body didn't obey him, it was like his soul was blinded with the thought of killing Rakun.

"Aaargh!!!!" He bellowed as he rushed towards Rakun 'Jairoten!! Heavens Rage, Scarlet Colossus Palm' The heavens seemed to roar as all the lightning in the area gathered around him turning scarlet like his eyes, the lightning made the faint silhouette of a giant made from scarlet lightning, the giant then stretched its palm toward the coming Rakun.

Rakun was shocked when he saw the sudden change in the Seth's attitude and his continuous use of Scarlet spells, 'Using a scarlet spell this much will deplete his life force, does he want to take me with him to the grave?' he thought as he stared at the incoming giant palm 'Let's see him try!'

"Seth! I don't know what you're thinking but this attack won't be enough to kill me, I may be hurt but it's still lacking something" even if he said that he knew how powerful that palm attack was and he was totally serious now, he knew he could not come out of this clash unharmed, the golden energy around him completely disappeared as the whole energy coated his lifted halberd, at the same time an amour appeared on his body, he knew this would hurt. 'Eighth Step, World Splitter!' Rakun's halberd suddenly became giant, the blade edge gleaming with unimaginable power, it seemed that even the air was being sliced apart, the halberd was still way smaller that the palm, but the power in it seemed to make the world cry.

Chike had finally led Jake into the marsh hills and as he was planning to ditch him he felt something happening in the sky, he stopped and looked up, he saw a pale blue flash rushing toward their location, and behind it, higher in the sky he saw what seemed to be Red lightning forming a figure and a golden light rushing towards it, the rain was still very heavy so he thought maybe he was seeing wrong.

Jake had finally caught up to Chike and saw him standing there looking at the sky "Have you finally gotten tired and surrendered? I swear I'm going to kill…" as he was about finishing his sentence he too saw the blue flash approaching them and he felt the most terrifying presence he had ever felt before, it was like the whole world was weighing on him and he suddenly became very cold.

Zol had almost reached the convergence point, he poured his energy into the turtle totem which after absorbing it started glowing brightly, as he came closer and closer to the ground he finally noticed what seemed to be two kids on a strange looking machine staring at him, they stood just before the convergence point which was a huge dead tree, he ignored them and landed retracting his aura as much as he could, this was no time to worry about this realms' weak mortal toddlers seeing him.

Zol sped past them and approached the tree, when the turtle totem felt that he was close to the tree it started flashing brightly, he then put the totem on the tree surface which seemed to absorb the totem and suddenly strange symbols appeared on the surface of the tree and a tunnel like structure appeared, looking into the tunnel Zol saw a thick forest he heaved a sigh of relief and jumped in, vanishing in a flash.

While Zol was doing all that Jake and Chike were experiencing the worst moments of their lives, they felt like they could die any minute, the stifling aura and presence of the blue flash which they now saw was an old man who was bleeding and looked pale and weak, they didn't know when they both had landed on their knees and ice had stated forming on their bodies. Blood seeped out of their eyes, ears and nose and they could not breathe, just as they were about losing consciousness, the presence disappeared.

Laying on the ground gasping for breath and trying to regain the strength to stand up they heard a deafening noise.

BOOM!!

As the giant scarlet palm and the giant halberd collided, time seemed to freeze, you could see the bloodshot eyes of Seth clearing up and the realization of what was happening, you could see the struggling face of Rakun as he pushed to pierce the giant palm.

BOOM!!!!!

The explosion was like that of a bomb, dispersing the clouds around and sending shockwaves everywhere, even the city below felt the shockwaves as it shook the houses and set of car alarms, the residents who looked up to see what caused it all they could see was a blinding glow, luckily the fight was happening high in the sky so they could not see the figures.

After the explosion has dispersed Seth and Rakun could be finally. Seth who was already in bad shape looked worse, he was missing a patch of skin on half of his face, his chest had a wound so deep you could see the bones 'That damned old man set me up' he thought.

Rakun on the other hand was also heavily injured, his armor was completely shattered one of his arm was hanging by just pieces of flesh and bone, a large cut that narrowly missed his eyes was on his face, he was bleeding from his mouth, his chest wound had expanded and blood was gushing from all the reopened wounds oh his body

They both stood apart in the air panting and staring at each other, "Did you break through to Gold Rank 4 just now, because a rank 3 can't hurt me like this" Rakun asked Seth as he tried to catch his breath.

"Yes, I directly broke through to mid stage Rank 4, now we are in the same rank it is useless fighting, you can have the scroll" Seth said, he was trying to make Rakun let him go since now he had shown that he could injure him seriously

After a moment of silence Rakun said "I agree, I underestimated you…" a smile suddenly spread on his bloody face "…but who said we were in the same rank?" Rakun gripped tightly on his halberd with his good hand as a terrifying energy that was leagues above his former energy seeped out of him, it seems like he was the emperor of the whole world and the storm clouds that gathered once again immediately turned golden as if to proclaim his superiority.

As Seth felt that energy dread filled his body, it was like he was in the presence of an emperor, he was conflicted between the urge to turn and run and the urge to bow.

'Shit! He broke through directly to Berserk Emperor rank! I need to get out of here now!!' 'Jaiden! Scarlet Lighting Sacrifice!' he immediately cast his strongest forbidden escape technique. Scarlet lightning struck directly on Seth and when it vanished he too vanished, he reappeared with the lightning outside the cloudy layer, close to the dead tree, he threw his already activated turtle totem towards the tree and sped forward.

While all this was happening Jake and Chike were again subjected to the residual terrifying auras of these being fighting, as they had grown stronger, but this one seemed way worse than before. After the explosion the shockwaves knocked the struggling boys back to their knees as their whole world was turned upside, dizzy and frightened they tried to crawl away from this dangerous place.

Chike managed to get up but immediately he did he felt another presence appearing not too far from him, unfortunately he had stood up directly in front of the dead tree which after absorbing Seth's totem had opened another tunnel.

Rakun was surprised by the escape speed of Seth, but he immediately lifted his halberd and pointed at the now distant figure of the fleeing Seth 'Final Step! Death's Touch!' his newfound energy boiled as he stabbed his halberd forward, a condensed beam of golden energy that felt terrifying shot forward.

Seth had reappeared and was very close to the portal but he saw a human kid blocking it, in his rage he was he lifted his hand to kill this weak being that blocked his path but before he could do that, a terrifying energy shot towards him, so fast he could not even react. As the beam touched him, he could feel the entirety of his organs falling apart, he could feel death creeping in. His final thoughts were those of regret, 'A powerful whisperer like me, dying in a weak realm like this is the biggest joke ever.' Light left his eyes as his lifeless body flew towards the boy at terrifying speeds.

Chike was dizzy, as he stood there trying to get a hold of himself and his surroundings he felt something approaching him, a heavy presence that felt extremely dangerous.

Just as his vision clears a little he sees what seems to be a man collide into him at high speeds completely knocking him out again, the last thing he saw before going unconscious was a silver tunnel closing in front of him and all was black.