[Saber's Edge] Episode 1: Blaze of the Heavens

Umbra activated his thrusters at the last minute, vanishing completely. The Illusion reappeared behind the Nova, charging its laser cannon.

"Alright guys, here we go!" Antonio said as he mounted Baleus. With a grin, Antonio activated Baleus' sniper patch. A wicked burst stream of crimson flames threatened to engulf the Seishinkishis.

Callisto roared as Antonio activated his Boxer patch, and slammed the Blazefire across the face with his incredible strength.

The Nova slammed its scimitar on the ground, creating quite the crater. As he realized the Illusion was behind him, he phased out, seemingly out of existence altogether as the Illusion fired. Behind Umbra, the Nova reappeared, then grabbed it by the back with his claw and thrust it into the ground brutally.

The Seishinkishis managed to take the hit, but neither of their Single Slices harmed Baleus that much. Callisto's punch, however, pushed the Blazefire back a bit. The Usagikogo raised its staff into the air, and immediately more Seishinkishis appeared, none equipped with class patches, and quickly attacked... disappearing right after they attacked. The two original Seishinkishis quickly tried to attack again, while the Blazefire leaped into the air, calling down thunderbolts. The Polyhymnia, on the other hand, was healing the SABERs as needed.

Umbra shrieked as his head was roughly thrust into the ground, making a large crack as it made contact. The suited woman held back a curse and Umbra faded from view once more, reappearing several yards away from the Nova.

Antonio gasped as adrenaline ran through him, making him hold onto Baleus tighter. The Chollima ran quickly, barely dodging the thunderbolts. The damage she had taken from the summoned Seishinkishis was minimal, her armour negating most of the damage. Baleus unleashed another round of crimson fire at the Polyhymnia, figuring that the support SABER's should be eliminated first.

Callisto had also reached the same conclusion as he charged towards the Usagikogo, the thunderbolts barely fazing him. He slammed his gloved fist into the ground in front of the Usagikogo, tearing it apart like paper. Callisto then began to punch and kick the still airborne stones at the Usagikogo.

The Nova quickly opened fire at the Umbra with its cannon, scattershot fire flying everywhere.

The Polyhymnia took a large amount of damage, and reeled back a little. She began to heal herself, which took her concentration off the others.

The two Seishinkishis quickly switched to their Paladin patches and blocked the stones from hitting the Usagikogo, but the dents were showing. As for the Blazefire, as it landed again, it quickly tried to attack Callisto with its twin blades.

Umbra narrowed its eyes, retaliating by firing its own laser cannon.

Baleus didn't stop her attack, and fired a stronger burst of scarlet flame at Polyhymnia. Antonio urged her forward to avoid a misguided attack and to ram into the Blazefire.

Callisto leaped over the Seishinkishis and slammed their backs with a bombardment of blows with his gloves. Already, Callisto was tiring from battle.

Antonio jumped off Baleus as she ran forward to tackle the Blazefire. Antonio had his sights set on the strange device. Picking up speed, he tried to cause some damage to it with his steel-toed boots, but the suited woman grabbed his leg in midair and threw him aside.

Umbra and the Nova were fighting each other, scattershot versus concentrated fire as both weapons blocked each other. Some of the Nova's shots were scattering elsewhere, though...

The Polyhymnia didn't have time to finish healing. She was immediately taken out, and faceplanted.

The Blazefire and Baleus locked attacks, both trying to overpower the other. While Baleus' defenses held up, the Blazefire was stronger in terms of strength.

The Seishinkishis were taking blows, but one managed to break Callisto's furious attack and strike back... if weakly. They were equally tired.

Umbra growled, the two attacks at a standstill. Time for a turnaround. With that, the small missiles on its back were fired at high speeds at the Nova.

Antonio scrambled to his feet, once again trying to kick the machine, but the woman smacked him across the face, nailed him with an uppercut, and sent him flying with a roundhouse kick.

Callisto threw up a glove to block the blow. He needed to end this now. He concentrated all of his power and emotions into his fist. He threw his fist forward, with strength possibly equalling a freight train, pinpointed right at the Seishinkishi duo.

Baleus grunted as she slowly felt herself being overpowered. Maybe firing another fireball would help...? She suddenly cried out as the Nova's scattershots accidently struck her hind legs, causing her to buckle over in surprise more than pain.

Both of the missiles hit the Nova... but he didn't seem to even notice. "Enough with this stalemate." he said.

With that, he pulled out his scimitar, and began to push forward, trying to get within striking distance.

Both of the Seishinkishis were TKO'ed, one hitting a tree and the other making a large rend in the ground.

The Blazefire took advantage of this, and tried to attack Baleus with high voltage, sending it coursing through her body.

Umbra gritted his teeth. This thing was unstoppable!

Baleus screamed, falling over in pain. She staggered to her feet after a few seconds and saw Antonio facefirst in the dirt, possibly unconscious. "No..."

Callisto stumbled towards the Blazefire, preparing to knock it out with a single uppercut...

The Nova's scattershots suddenly hit the Blazefire, breaking its concentration, and left it open for Callisto's attack.

POW! The Blazefire fell over. As for the Nova, it slowly inched closer towards Umbra...

Umbra quickly faded away and appeared Nova, firing his laser cannon at the Nova's back.

Callisto grinned wearily. They had managed to defeat all of the SABERs, now all that was left was... Callisto's eyes landed on the unconscious Antonio, with the suited woman pulling something shiny and metallic from her coat pocket. A gun. Callisto's temper flared and he charged forward, a second wind fueling his body as he barreled into the woman.

Vanishing caused the Nova's scattershots to hit the forest behind them, tearing apart quite a few trees. The Nova, caught off guard, was pushed forward onto his face, but quickly flipped around and fired a single large shot at Umbra.

Umbra fired his laser cannon, but flew backwards from recoil and the explosion.

Callisto crashed headlong into the woman, but the woman saw him coming. She took several steps backwards and Callisto went barreling in front of her and crashed into a tree. She looked over at Umbra, and recalled his fallen form into her phone.

Antonio looked up to see the woman stand over him. "You were lucky, child. Unfortunately, nobody escapes the wrath of Lindsay Anderson!"

She pulls out her gun and aims it at Antonio's forehead. The teen squeezed his eyes shut. There was a sudden flare of heat and the woman cried out in pain. Antonio looked over to see Baleus pant heavily as the barrel of her gun stopped smoking.

The Nova quickly vanished and reappeared behind Umbra, and drew his scimitar, aiming to impale Umbra.

((Sorry to say, but Umbra was recalled.))

Lindsay glared at all present, gripping her phone tightly. A sense of dread filled Antonio as she released a new SABER from her phone. A Thanagore let out a roar as it emerged from a tornado of black pixels. Antonio gasped as the giant dragon began to take flight, grabbing the SABER-whistle in his claws and flying away into the night sky. Antonio had a feeling he should pursue, but Baleus was in no condition to fly.

Antonio slowly stood, intending to thank the Nova for its help, but it was nowhere to be found. The short teen returned both of his SABERs to his PDA, lost on what his next move should be. Whatever Lindsay was doing, or a part of, it was dangerous.

"Hey! Listen!~" A voice giggled, somewhere nearby. Antonio turned around, seeing a small light in front of him. His PDA beeped, and a message came up with information on its species, the Nyxie. It was Light-element, ate bad dreams to release people of the control of evil, and could copy other SABERs patches temporarily.

"I know where that Thanagore is going! Nyxies like me can sense a Thanagores trail of dread! Let me take you there!" The Nyxie laughed merrily, somehow calming Antonio.

"My friends need time to recover... How about you hang with me until morning?" Antonio suggested, holding up his PDA with a small smile.

"You... want to recruit me? Eek, I'm so happy!!! My name is Karya, by the way!" She was illuminated in white light as she was sucked into the PDA. On his PDA's home screen, he had an icon of Karya pop up next to Callisto and Baleus. Antonio yawned as he walked back to the hotel, hopefully to get some well deserved sleep. He looked over, seeing the sun already begin to rise.

"Aw man!!!"

OOC: Derp, sorry.

The Nova immediately turned its scimitar on Antonio, standing tall and strong compared to the tired teenager. He just remained silent, unaware of what to do.

Antonio rubbed his dreary eyes, slowly walking back to the town. He'd get his bags from his hotel room and follow the Thanagore using Karya. But, he could barely see straight, let alone get back to the hotel. He leaned against a nearby tree, trying to regain his bearings as a headache washed over him.

Noticing that it was ignored, the Nova disappeared.

------

By the desert river, Rufus was up and early, and got up after sleeping on Sleipnir that night. Yawning, he splashed his face. "Well, time to head back." Rufus said to himself, forgetting that Sleipnir was still asleep.

After collecting his bags and paying the innkeeper, Antonio walked back towards the spot he had fought Lindsay. In a bubble of white light, Karya was released from the PDA. She looked around, fluttering about, trying to sense Thanagore's trail. The headache had finally left Antonio, something he was grateful for.

"I've got it!" Karya cried out, flitting in front of Antonio's face. The teen released Baleus, and mounted her.

"Where to?" Antonio asked as Baleus stretched her wings for flight.

"Kreisan Desert," Karya replied, pointing to the west. Antonio nodded and recalled the Nyxie to his PDA. Within minutes, he was soaring towards the desert.

Seeing that Sleipnir was asleep, Rufus splashed him with water. "Whoa, what?!" Sleipnir gasped as he stood up straight.

"Ready to go?" Rufus asked.

"Eh... five more minutes." Sleipnir replied, then laid back down again, causing Rufus to facepalm.

"We're nearing our destination!" Baleus said as the grassy landscapes slowly began to turn into a blanket of sand.

"The Thanagore's trail ends over there!" Karya pointed to a cluster of rocks and cacti jutting out of the sand. Baleus swooped down to land, and was returned to the PDA shortly afterwards. Karya flitted around the rocky formation, before shrugging her shoulders. The trail ended here.

Rufus, packing up, finally decided to just recall Sleipnir into his phone. "Well, time to see Kreisan in all its' glory." Rufus said as he began to climb the short rock face. His journey would have to be altered ever so slightly.

"We can assume she recalled her Thanagore here. Maybe there's something underneath the rocks...?" Antonio thought out loud. Karya landed on his shoulder, scratching her chin.

"I think these rocks are connected, though. I mean, there aren't any other rock formations like this for miles." Karya replied, gazing intently at the stones.

To Antonio, Rufus was hopping from rock to rock as he made his way back to the city of Kreisan, which wasn't that far away. He didn't seem to be doing so badly.

Antonio glanced at Rufus, unsure if he'd know about Lindsay or any other strange events. Antonio sighed, rubbing his eyes. He wasn't much for talking to new people, prefering the company of SABERs. He let out Baleus and Callisto.

"Guys, I need you to pay attention to your surroundings and listen for the SABER whistle," Antonio told all three of them as he drained sand from his shoe.