The Dream Shifter

Chapter 290

Shock filled Yuki's face. 'Tricked again…' He fell backwards into the grass. Blood dripped from a new wound in his shoulder. A colorless cone imbedded itself in Yuki's body, punched through his shield. The pain hurt less than the embarrassment of falling for another trap. 'Damnit!'

Yuki reached up with his good arm and ripped the cone out of his shoulder. Blood trickled in a stream through the air as he removed it. Biting down, Yuki sealed it up quickly with his power. 'I fell for it, damn bastard had more tricks!' Just seeing the smirking expression on Vangelis' face made Yuki annoyed. 'I thought I understood how he worked.'

'She's dead huh, kid? Good work!'

It was more information. It was the only way Yuki could think of it positively. He rotated his arm a little to test out his body. The range of movement was reduced significantly. 'Things are only getting worse. I can feel my body wanting to stop.' Yuki cursed his weak body. 'If I was younger I would have been able to keep going even after all of this. I've been out for a year, I haven't recovered everything I lost since then…'

Additional thoughts had to wait for Yuki. Since he stood, the next attack came at him. Everything was still sluggish from the last attack and he nothing prepared. 'Damn it all to hell!' A blast from his feet knocked him out of the attack, as something more akin to a wave than geometric shapes passed him. The increased count in Vangelis' attack made them even more deadly and difficult to counter. 'He's back to the shapes.'

'You know, you've got the talent to be part of the Omega Division, kid. Interested?'

Yuki became troubled by what he learned. He kept dodging, trying to stay ahead of Vangelis, but felt himself slowing down more and more. Too many close scraps came to him. He could not keep patching himself with his barrier. Something had to change. 'I can't believe I missed it before. None of the fields matched up before, but I so angry about what he did to Saki I didn't even notice. Damn, I can't use his field to predict his actions.' Yuki really started to hate the fight. He still did not understand him, even with everything he learned. 'There is no consistency in his usage, no order. It's all random…'

Random. Always random.

He knew he needed to figure out something. The fight turned back against him. 'All I have is the knowledge of how his powers he's shown work. My power isn't well suited to countering him and he's powerful enough I can't overwhelm him…'

'What? Why? Don't you realize that with your skills you'll easily rise in ranks in no time, kid?'

A sphere flew directly at Yuki's face amongst all the ones he dodged or cut away. It suddenly came to a stop just barely away from him. White fingers revealed around the edges. "Guess, I'll just have to be a little more direct," Yuki decided, his hand crushed the sphere easily. "Time to damn the body!" Yuki grinned a little, as two swords appeared clutched in his hands.

Vangelis found the change in Yuki interesting. Yuki charged at him cutting up the pieces launched at him. Even the heavy storm of objects, he kept ahead. 'He's managing to keep from getting hit with so many and even remain accurate…' The sight intrigued him further. He kept the barrage up to give him something to analyze. Whenever Yuki got a little close, he pushed back or stepped away to keep their distance.

'Huh? There isn't anyone like that out here. It's pretty calm, kid.'

The success Yuki had against his attacks had Vangelis a little concerned. Nothing stood out to him on what suddenly was so special. He had not been as strong before with his counters. 'He's got something different going on. This is fun, kid. Making me think, you really are…'

His heart pounded in his chest like a jackhammer on his ribs. All he could do was ignore it. If he did not keep up the pace, everything would be a waste. 'It seems to be working. I can actually do it, I wasn't sure if I could use it in such a fashion. If I can do this…' Yuki sliced through several shapes with the blades not just cutting, but dissolving them.

'No, I haven't heard about someone like that, kid. Why do you ask?'

Shapes disappeared along with the felt. The field became a pane of glass, brightly reflecting the sun back at them. Yuki paused for a moment, already knowing his fondness to making a strong counter during a switch. 'What is this time? I have to maintain this pace.' Realizing he needed to keep moving, Yuki started towards Vangelis even before he knew what the next power was going to be.

Arching his eyebrow at Yuki, Vangelis looked amused by the bold action. "You're brave, kid." Magic circles quickly formed in front of his hand. Sparks of lightning bounced from his fingertips and turned red with flames before launched at Yuki. However, they never made it to him, veering off course only a short distance away from Vangelis.

'Got transferred again, kid?'

Surprise found its way to Vangelis once more. He saw Yuki coming in close with his swords. A barrier circle drew out on the ground. It erected a safe zone for him to recover. Yet, the sword shattered it with only a single blow. Yuki forced Vangelis to dance around to keep out of range of the attacks. 'The magic isn't functioning properly. Something's different…' He tried to use his magic again, but found it failed. 'What?'

Blood trickled into the air. A clean slice managed to reach Vangelis. The diagonal wound ran from his chest to his waist. It completely ruined the upper part of Vangelis' uniform. The front and back of the uniform fell down around the waist only held in by the simple binding at the waist. Vangelis' toned body revealed a lean figure, but well developed from personal training. His blood dripped down around the forms of his muscles.

'You're not going to find anyone like that, kid.'

Vangelis quickly jumped and skipped away from Yuki's reach. The sting of pain nudged his smirk back to a flat line. His ran his hand over the wound to check on it. Looking at the blood on his hand, Vangelis gave a toothy grin to Yuki. "You're really are becoming very interesting, kid! I think you might actually be it." Vangelis suddenly started to laugh, one that sounded more maniacal than any of his previous laughs.

The atmosphere took on a noticeable change with Vangelis' sudden round of laughter. Yuki felt it clearly and elected to hold back. "It? What are you talking about?" He was not sure if wanted the answer, as he watched Vangelis keep on laughing out of control. 'I've got a bad feeling about this…'

'Someone like that doesn't exist, kid. If you want to find someone like that look at Omega, not the remote regions.'

"You were wrong!" Vangelis shouted to the skies. "There is someone! And I've found them!" The laughing came to an abrupt stop. Vangelis turned his face back down to Yuki. His eyes had gone wide with his pupils shrinking. It appeared like stress lines started to form around his eyes with as wide as they went. The playful look Vangelis wielded for the entire fight disappeared. A more savage almost hungry express replaced it.

Vangelis no longer looked to test or play around with Yuki. There was only wish in his eyes and Yuki recognized it. It made his body turn cold in an instant. 'This isn't the same guy as before!'

The hungry smile on Vangelis grew until it looked to split his jaw from his head. "You better survive this, kid! Don't disappoint my expectations now!" He lifted up a finger, his index finger. The smile looked to exceed the limits of his face. A second finger rose up.

Suddenly, rocks ripped up through the ground everywhere. Grass was torn asunder as Yuki's field was over taken. His eyes were down looking at how close to his feet the field came when he realized he should have been watching Vangelis. The man was nearly upon him. Yuki could only get his aspis up in time while he blocked with both arms.

Heavy amounts of blood sprayed up into the air. Yuki's aspis was cleanly cut through along with his forearm. The wound stretched up taking a chunk out of his upper arm and leaving a deep wound in his formerly healthy shoulder and chest. Yuki felt his legs' strength going out. His body would hold him up anymore. Shock was the only thing on his face, as his own blood painted his cheeks.

Yuki fell.

The hungry smile on Vangelis grew until it looked to split his jaw from his head. "You better survive this, kid! Don't disappoint my expectations now!" He lifted up a finger, his index finger. The smile looked to exceed the limits of his face. A second finger rose up.

Suddenly, rocks ripped up through the ground everywhere. Grass was torn asunder as Yuki's field was over taken. His eyes were down looking at how close to his feet the field came when he realized he should have been watching Vangelis. The man was nearly upon him. Yuki could only get his aspis up in time while he blocked with both arms.

Heavy amounts of blood sprayed up into the air. Yuki's aspis was cleanly cut through along with his forearm. The wound stretched up taking a chunk out of his upper arm and leaving a deep wound in his formerly healthy shoulder and chest. Yuki felt his legs' strength going out. His body would not hold him up anymore. Shock was the only thing on his face, as his own blood painted his cheeks.

Yuki fell.

He never felt when his knees hit the earth. Never felt the grass quickly coming up to his face. Nothing.

It was not the same familiar feeling as before. It was not a second visit.

Yuki woke up in a void, n***d. He floated off the ground. Gasping, he looked around and immediately understood. "Really, two in one fight? I'm really getting tired of almost getting killed here. Try something else, maybe something…unique."

"For someone dying, you sure do complain a lot," responded a voice.

"Well at least it isn't Seiji," snapped Yuki, as he saw himself appear in front of him. "Can this get anymore cliché?"

Shrugging a little, the mirror Yuki looked dismissive of him. "This is your mind remember. I'd say this is chalked up to your reading selection."

"I guess you have a point." He begrudgingly gave himself the point, not that he liked it. Quick to change the direction of the conversation, Yuki clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get down to business. I'd prefer not to drag this out too long. I've got a fight to get back to."

"I think you're sort of defeating the purpose of this scene."

"Good, I'm leaving then!" And he did (seriously, that was it).

As Yuki started returning to life, he kept hearing a familiar voice. The voice spoke to him, but he could not understand it. Everything was blurred. Pain rushed through his head. The surge left him screaming for a moment. His white hand clamped down on the stump left of his forearm. Blood pooled out staining the smooth white finish. "Damn it hurts, sort of…wish I was dead…"

"Yuki Hayashi." Vangelis stood over top of him. The sword he used to cut Yuki pointed down at him ready for another attack. Yuki's blood clung to the edges of the sword's blade. "I can grant you that wish. But stand up and fight me first! Don't prove them right now!"

'Prove them right? What's he blabbering about?' Yuki felt pressed for time by more than just Vangelis' lethal presence. Blood kept pouring out of his arm as much as his arm tried to cut off the circulation. Lightheadedness returned as real threat for Yuki. The longer he went without his power the sooner he had no chance to survive. However, the overwhelming power that Vangelis brought made Yuki question what he could do. 'He so much stronger now, his field can easily overrun mine. I can't match that sort of strength. All I've got is reserves to spare…' His eyes widened in realization.

A ripple ran along the ground from Yuki's feet. Taller grass shot back out in all directions, but Vangelis' field still cut deeply into it. Yuki stood up, his appearance turning a little hazy. Distortions and ripples erupted through the air blasting off Yuki. A wind seemed to be coming off Yuki. The wind ran still and then retracted inward to Yuki.

Yuki's body shimmered brightly. The light bleeding off him grew in stronger intensity than before. Disruptions in the air remained and slowly looked as though under water. Part of the energy gathered around his missing hand and forearm, it gathered increasing in density until it nearly became completely opaque. It formed a new hand and forearm. Yuki tested out the new hand along with his white hand, it felt a little odd missing both of them, but he had substitutes.

Turning his eyes back to Vangelis, a man who looked almost starved having to wait on Yuki; Yuki found his new resolve for the fight. 'I can't lose when I haven't done anything!' Everything felt different for Yuki suddenly. Seeing it all around him, it felt him a little surprised. "Seems I forgot something important," grinned Yuki, "I didn't mean be holding out on you all this time."

Vangelis took another swing at Yuki to test his boast. As the sword arched down for Yuki, the blade quickly vaporized from merely the particles swimming through the soupy air. The weapon never had a chance. He grinned with delight. "Don't leave me disappointed, kid!" The sword meant nothing. Vangelis stretched out his arms with the field erupting into the air flipping everything to molten lava. Through the air in the motions drawn out by his hands a multitude of magic circles formed.

The energy in the air swirled around as though a wind turned it all about. It took on a life of its own responding to Vangelis' next attack. Ice shards, lightning bolts, fireballs, waves of water, chunk of earth, everything flung through the air at Yuki. A storm of magic surged up against the dancing winds of energy. Explosions went off continuously knocking out powerful winds tearing at their cloths.