A History of Ambition

"Move m**********r!" Jasper yelled as he hit Julian square in the chest with a shoulder tackle, sending the Daeva warrior crashing into the far cliff face overlooking the acropolis. Just like Hezekiah and his brother, Jasper and Julian were pulling no punches in their fight, with both Sovrumano's eyes glowing from actively generating ki to compete with. Even while fighting, Jasper made sure to keep Raven in his sights; it would be much better for either warrior to support one another, especially in a fight of this caliber. 'Hezekiah already used the Soul Release eh?' Jasper thought as he pulled his hands up for a defense, blocking the powerful shadow tendril that Julian had launched at him as a counterattack. 'Let's hope Julian can't; I'm not trying to fight at that level if I don't have to.'

Julian had also noticed Hezekiah's maneuver, which caught the Daeva by surprise at what it potentially meant. 'This early!?' Julian wondered, watching Raven and Hezekiah's showdown from the corner of his eye. 'That makes no sense. I know these Draco are especially strong, but to use that kind of power to contend with themstill sounds ridiculous.' Julian pushed that out of his mind in the nick of time, faalling into the shadows behind him to dodge a plume of flaming ki fired from Jasper, who had noticed the sidetracked look on Julian's visage.

"Hiding in the dark won't work on someone like me!" Jasper yelled, pre-empting the Daeva's approach by grasping hold of his wrist as he rose out of the Draco's own shadow, thwarting the stab attempt. "Try fighting straight up!" Jasper hurled Julian away from him yet again with a mighty swing, tossing the Daeva through one of the recently replaced columns.

'I take that back,' Julian thought, gingerly making it to his feet as he did his best to ignore the angry pain in his lower back. 'There's no way I'm catching this man off guard at this level of power.' With that, Julian crossed his arms over his chest in an X as he suddenly surrounded himself in an orb of the deepest black, completely hidden from view.

Jasper's eyes widened, having a feeling of what Julian was about to attempt. "Oh no you don't!" Jasper yelled. The Draco let out a mighty yell as he brought the bulk of his ki to bear in a raging aura. With another yell, Jasper fired off a stream of bright blue ki from his mouth, looking like a combination of blue fire and viciously crackling electricity. The breath of potent ki collided with the dark orb in a violent explosion, so violent that Jasper himself had to raise a guard. 'Please tell me that worked,' he thought, watching the smoke start to clear with a calculating stare. 'I'm in no mood for games.'

***

"What is with you!?" Hezekiah yelled, fiercely swinging at Raven with all he had in terms of physical prowess. The power that the Soul Release had brought was staggering, but Raven was still too fast for Hezekiah to get in a clean blow. "Why can't I hit you!?"

Raven had an amused grin on his face the entire time Hezekiah spoke. "I'm better than you Hezekiah," Raven said before ducking under an errant left to deliver a thunderous uppercut to Hezekiah's jaw. The blow stunned the Angeli for a moment, just enough time for Raven to take a deep breath and fire another stream of lightning from his mouth at point blank range. The stream pushed Hezekiah back into the steps before reaching critical mass and exploding in a brilliant display. Raven rolled his shoulders as he smirked at the injured Angeli with a proud look. "Haven't our previous fights already made that point clear?"

Hezekiah took a few sharp pained breaths as he made it back to his feet. Yes, he was severely hurt from Raven's breath attacks, but he paid his injuries no heed. He was a master of Angeli ki manipulation at its finest; whereas other, lower ranked Angeli could heal other from a plethora of injuries, he had the distinction of being able to heal himself. "When it comes to martial skill, yes," Hezekiah agreed, even as his body took on a greenish golden glow. "But remember my resilience Exemplar, or have you forgotten the last time the two of us clashed?" With a grunt of minor exertion, Hezekiah used his ki to blow back the smoke that surrounded him. This let Raven observe first hand the power of the Angeli's regenerative abilities, watching as the scratches and wounds Hezekiah had been sporting disappear in front of his eyes.  

'Oh yeah,' Raven thought. 'I forgot he could do that.' Raven sighed, lamenting the fact that this fight seemed destined to become a battle of attrition. That was the reason Hezekiah was the only member of the Swiss Guard that stood any realistic chance of beating him; though Raven was highly skilled and had enough power to contend with a released Sovrumano without having to use much power himself, Hezekiah boasted the immense pool of ki  that theAngeli race possessed. That combined with Hezekiah's regeneration made the Oberst a hell of a foe, as the Angeli boasted a decent amount of skill himself.

"I remember," Hezekiah said solemnly, causing Raven to give the Angeli his full attention. "Every time we fought in the past, ever since we first met long ago..." Both Sovrumano nodded, knowing what Hezekiah was referring to as the scenes of the past played out in front of their minds' eye.

***

Hezekiah had been the best thing going for Ut Puri for a decent amount of time, having been the leader of the Swiss Guard for six whole years before Raven ever made his presence felt. The Oberst had been able to force a draw with the long tenured Justinian in a fight that provided the backdrop for Operation Desert Shield; Ut Puri had been secretly providing support for the terrorist forces, so the former Colonel decided to give his nation a hand and take the Angeli on in a one on one showdown.

Though Justinian drew even with Hezekiah, Ut Puri  in league with the terrorist cells of the middle east still bolstered enough force to drive the American led coalition of military forces out in defeat. However, in a moment that changed the face of history, and the destinies of Hezekiah, the Illuminati, and Ut Puri, Raven and Jasper had appeared on the battlefield. No one had any clue as to how or why the mere teenaged warriors had come, but this was the moment that had given the Edge duo their illustrious standing in the world.

The brothers had single handedly done what the coalition of military forces had failed to do: they had disrupted the Ut Puri/Iraqi alliance by destroying their most fortified of defenses, and cut their supply lines. That was only the start: the two Draco had brought their full power to bear, eradicating over fifteen thousand men between the two of them with no other weapons besides their martial skill and ki. They spared no one; every opponent who tried to deter them from their self imposed mission had met their maker in the forms of the two warriors.

As the coalition of American forces capitalized on the Draco's efforts in the offensive known as Operation Desert Storm, Hezekiah and Raven had crossed paths. With Jasper choosing to help out the coalition for purge Ut Puri from Kuwait, Raven had stood alone to contend with the man that previously challenged the Illuminati's influence single handedly. Hezekiah went into the fight severely underestimating the strength of Raven, as would have anyone that knew Raven's ranking of an Illuminati Sergeant at the time.

That proved to be his biggest mistake, as Raven handily disposed of the Oberst with little effort, outclassing the man in all aspects that mattered, yet refusing to take his life. That had been the final nail in the coffin for Ut Puri's interests in Kuwait, as Hezekiah's defeat had stunned the organization to the core. This led to the American coalition's quick victory in the Middle East, and helped to change the stances that governments had when it came to the Illuminati.

The United States in general gave the Secretary of State a new operational duty, that of liaison between the Illuminati's ruling Exemplars and Judge Magisters and the President and his cabinet. Even though that was still in essence a secret, as was the Illuminati and Ut Puri's whole involvement with the Persian Gulf War, it was the start of a movement by the Illuminati to bolster their presence in the world, which loosed the grasp that Ut Puri had enjoyed in many parts of the world.

As far as Raven’s future was concerned, his victory over Hezekiah turned quite a few heads within the Illuminati, soon resulting in his ascent to Exemplar. Jasper had never been a member of the Illuminati, but he too reaped the benefits of their assistance, with the brothers laying claim to the monikers of Ryu Senko and the Nycest, ever, respectively. Hezekiah however was for a long time at risk of losing his station as the Swiss Guard's Oberst due to his loss at the hands of Raven, which only heightened at the two fought on numerous occasions. However, it soon became clear to Ut Puri that Hezekiah was the only warrior that they had truly capable of contending with Raven due to his regeneration, thus he kept his spot. Even still, the memories of numerous losses to Raven ate at the man's pride.

***

Hezekiah growled in anger as those memories came full circle in his mind. "You have made a mockery of my power ever since we first clashed!" the Angeli yelled. "You went on to become the most celebrated Sovrumano warrior of modern times, while I have fallen into obscurity!" Hezekiah wiped some foam off the sides of his lip as he continued to berate the Draco Exemplar. "You have it all Raven! A family, loyal friends, a position that is envied by Sovrumano from both sides, money, fame, the list goes on! And what do I have in return?"

'Wow,' Raven thought as he listened to Hezekiah's rant. 'I didn't think he was that bitter over everything.' On one end, Raven felt for the guy; thought the two warriors belonged to rival factions, Raven had built a sort of respect for the Angeli Oberst, noting that even his affiliation with Ut Puri didn't stop the Angeli from being his own person. Oh the other hand, they were rivals, so that kind of pressure was to be expected.

With a loud growl of rage, Hezekiah grasped his broadsword from his back, brandishing it in front of him as he stared down the Draco Exemplar. "This blade," he said, swinging it a few times expertly in front of him, not bothered by the massive sword's weight in the least. "A relic of the Scions, much like Soulbreaker," Hezekiah said. "Excalibur; the sword of dragons." Hezekiah chuckled a bit as he toyed with the legendary weapon. "Wielded by the legendary Merlin and King Arthur." Hezekiah's face became shadowed in malice as he continued with his monologue. "At first when I was given this relic from the archives, I thought it was an honor. But no!" Hezekiah yelled as he lifted the broadsword over his head for a downward slash. "To think; I was bestowed with this weapon only to contend with you! Our leader's faith in me was so lost by your presence that he gifted me with this blade, only to ensure my continued survival against you!"

With a mighty yell, Hezekiah slashed the sword in a downward arc as it took on a radiant glow. Out of the tip of the legendary weapon, a beam of elemental ki shot out, a mix of reds, blues, browns, and bright white as it raced towards the Draco Exemplar. 'Crap!' Raven thought, bringing his hands in front of him in an X guard. 'I didn't know that sword was that blade!' Raven took the attack full on, with the beam exploding as soon as it hit Raven's defensive guard, enveloping the warrior in a bright inferno of power.

***

'Stop!' Saraya yelled suddenly as she noticed a far off flash of light, right at their destination. Even if the light at this point was nothing more than a pinpoint in the darkness of the night horizon, she could feel the ki leaking off the explosion. 'What in the world!?'

Ricardo had no problems obeying Saraya's command; he too had felt the amount of ki bleeding off the flash of light, and he was duly intimidated. To feel the amount of ki the two Sovrumano were feeling from this far out in the Mediterranean, still a good seventy miles away from the shores of Rhodes was intimidating to say the very least. He personally knew that there were only a handful of warriors in the Illuminati that had that kind of strength, and even the powers of the Ursa Judge Magister Siobhan paled in comparison to the likes of those warriors. 'What are we running ourselves into?' he asked, worry clear in his feelings as he communicated with the Lamia Exemplar.

Saraya held a steeled look of focus on her face as she tried her best to discern the kind of ki coming from Rhodes. 'Whatever it is,' she said, finally recognizing the ki signal as one from a Draco. 'It isn't some minor squabble. Rhodes seems to have become center stage for this next battle, and Exemplar Raven is the spearhead of our offense.'

Ricardo let a smirk come to his face, instantly relieved as soon as he heard that Raven was in the fight. 'Then we're good,' Ricardo said with a thumbs up before restarting the speedboat. 'That man is nigh-unstoppable when he wants to be. With the Ryu Senko fighting against Ut Puri, this win is in the bag.'

Saraya nodded in agreement, even as the dark feeling she had from earlier still bothered her. 'I hope so,' she thought to herself. 'I really, really hope so.' She trained her vision to watch the spot where they had saw the first big flash of energy as Ricardo heaped on the speed. With everything that was on the line, she wanted to be personally sure of Raven and Jasper's victory.

***

Taji and Quinton's eyes lit up as they turned yet another corner, finally catching sight of the Liontamer after quite a few close calls. "There it is!" Taji yelled in excitement. "Home free!"

"Thank the gods," Jericho said as he let Sharon drop off his back. It was a straight shot from where they were to Jericho's yacht, only about two blocks, and there wasn't an enemy in sight. "Get to the yacht," Jericho yelled, lightly pushing the women in said direction. "I'll be on in-!"

Jericho's words caught in his throat as the sound of a large explosion rang through the city itself. He and the rest of the group turned towards the distant acropolis with wide eyes, staring in awe at the large dome of light that seemed to grow from the ancient complex. He had to move quickly to catch the two women, grasping them by the wrist in a tight grip to prevent them from running off towards the complex, even though he understood their worries.

"They'll be fine!" Jericho yelled, even though he himself was starting to have a bad feeling in his gut. "They're built for this kind of stuff; you two more than anybody should know that!"

Sharon gave Jericho an incredulous look as she pointed towards the dome of light. "Do you see the size of that explosion?" Sharon asked with a worried yell. "Do you?"

"Mom," Quinton said in a soft, understanding voice as he grabbed a hold of her other hand. "They're good. Uncle Jazz was the catalyst to an explosion like that earlier; knowing him, he's the one who did it."

LaShonda rolled her eyes as she calmed down, remembering just who her husband was. "Knowing that idiot, you're probably right."

"Alright," Jericho said with a sigh of contentment. "Is everyone happy now? Because if so, I'd really like to get on the boat and make ourselves scarce."

As if the gods themselves found pleasure in mocking Jericho, another explosion sounded off, only this one was a lot closer than the last. Jericho and co. watched in disbelief as the Liontamer was suddenly enveloped in an inferno of fire, with the massive yacht itself being blown sky high out of the water. "Oh that's bull crap!" Roman yelled as he and the rest of the group watched the remains of the yacht rain down into the docking bay. "What gives!?"

A sinister chuckle coming from the rooftops over them answered Roman's question. Jericho's head snapped up to the source of the laugh, leveling the owner of the voice with a stern glare. The newcomer was obviously an Ut Puri agent, one of the Swiss Guardians, dressed in a similar battle uniform as Julian and Hezekiah wore, except his shirt had long sleeves that extended past his hands. The man had dark brown eyes and a light complexion, with shoulder length auburn hair that looked to be windswept. The glare that he was mirroring to Jericho was enough for the Draco youths to see that this guy was no mere corpsman of the Gendarmerie.

"So close to escape," the man said in a calm voice. "Yet so very far." The Guardsmen leapt down from the rooftop, landing in front of Jericho with a sick look of amusement. "You've been running long enough; why not just submit to us and be done with it? I can guarantee if you do so now your deaths will be quick and painless."

Jericho balked at the Swiss Guardian's claim. "I'm not buying that for a second," he said. "Especially after what just happened to my damn boat!"

The guardsman smirked, relishing the look of anger on Jericho's face. "That was yours?" he asked with a clearly mocking tone. "Aww, I'm sorry. Maybe Chiron will lend you his watercraft when you meet him at the banks of the River Styx!"

Jericho growled as he grasped a hold of his ki; he was willing to bet that the guardsman wasn't going to let them waltz off, at least without some sort of resistance. The only problem was, he had to protect the boys and women, something he couldn't do to his full capacity if he was drawn into this fight. 'These guys came organized as hell,' Jericho thought as he took a quick glance around the area, hearing the sounds of yet another troop of Ut Puri corpsmen rapidly approaching. 'And now we have no way out unless we fight.'

Jericho sighed before summoning his ki to bear, instantly surrounding himself in a translucent white aura. "No way around it," Jericho said as he turned towards the boys. "Rome, Taj, Q. Get out of here; find somewhere safe to lock down with your moms until I handle this guy. Think you three can take care of a few corpsmen by yourselves?"

LaShonda gave Jericho a quizzical look of disbelief, not liking that idea at all. "You're not really expecting for these boys to-"

"We got it," Taji said, covering his mother's mouth to stop her from speaking out any further. "This is what the big dogs trained us for; If Rome was able to take out a chunk of them with one breath than the three of us have this in the bag."

"Yeah!" Quinton said, he and Roman radiating the same level of confidence as their cousin. "We can be like the Three Ninjas, Draco style!"

"Ha!" Roman laughed with a thumbs up gesture directed at the older warrior . "We're better than they could be; they couldn't breathe fire, or any of the other elements for that matter."

The women were still not convinced. It wasn't an issue of strength for the boys; the three of them, even as kids, were still a threat to be reckoned with against normal human beings. What had the women leery, though, was the mentality that they possessed; though they all were decently trained, the three youths weren't the most mature of people or warriors.

"Chill on the pride," Jericho warned. "Most of them may be human, but remember that they're all experienced in dealing with Sovrumano foes." Jericho suddenly reached into his pocket, launching a few seeds into street behind the group to pre-empt the approaching Ut Puri troop. In just a few seconds, a wall of redwoods strengthened by the ki of Jericho sufficiently blocked the advancing troop from reaching their group. "Now move!"

The main Swiss Guardian smirked as the women and boys took off down a small alley, humored in their attempt to flee. "You know how bad of a play you just made Jericho?" the guardsman asked, surprising Jericho by using his name. "Entrusting the safety of the Edge matriarchs to their non-experienced children?"

Jericho narrowed his eyes at the guardsman, tensing his muscles to prepare for a showdown of his own. "Those boys were trained by two of the best warriors in this world," he said with a confident tone. "I would be worried about your men, not them." As Jericho slipped into a fighting stance, he decided to find out what he could about his opponent; anything he could wean out of the man could help down the line. "How do you know my name anyway?"

The guardsman laughed as he slipped into his own stance, his eyes taking on a dull shine as he prepared himself. "Jericho," the guardsman said. "Few things get past the information circles of Ut Puri, and even less gets past Firenze de Auditore!"

Jericho's eyes widened as the guardsman suddenly leapt to charge, hastily throwing up a block to stop him. 'Can this day get any worse?' Jericho thought. It wasn't much for Jericho to recognize the man now, especially after he offered up his name. Firenze de Auditore, Ut Puri's master spy and a powerful Felis in his own right; this was going to be a long night.

***

Hezekiah smirked as he surveyed the damage that he had wrought. 'Maybe I overdid it there?’ the Angeli thought as he gave Excalibur a few swings. The smoke from his last attack had yet to clear, as he had used quite a bit of ki to make sure he inflicted some lasting damage. Though he had the stamina to turn this fight into a battle of attrition, with Excalibur he could very well end it before things got too hairy. 'Julian decided to take it to the next level as well,' he thought as he glanced over at the dark orb that contained Julian. 'This day will be ours yet!'

***

Jasper growled in annoyance as the smoke had cleared from his own attack, not liking that his breath hadn't done a thing to stop Julian from using the anima remissionis technique himself. 'Hezekiah's already released and has Excalibur,' he thought as he surveyed the current situation. 'And this whelp is going for the same thing.' Jasper straightened out his stature as he eyed the dark our of Julian's with a critical eye. 'This mission wasn't supposed to get this complicated, but hey, what can you do?'

As those thoughts left Jasper's mind, the dark orb of Julian's started to shift, bubbling as if it was set to blow up. After a few seconds, the dark shadows that had comprised the orb fell away, in its place revealing the Daeva manslayer with a totally different look. Julian had too undergone significant changes: the Daeva had grown to stand at almost nine feet, boasting a set of equally massive demonic wings. Two long, black horns grew out of his ears horizontally, with another coming out of the tip of his nose. He was now shirtless and shoe -less, donning only a set of long brown pants and two silver bracers on his wrists. With the new look, complimented by a new reddish brown skin tone, the manslayer definitely looked the part.

Julian rolled his neck before leveling a glare at the smaller Jasper. "You should be proud," he said in a voice that was a perfect blend of his normal tone and a deeper, demonic tone. "You're the first opponent that's ever seen me use the Soul Release." The released Daeva let out a chilling laugh with an sinister smirk. "Too bad you're not going to live long enough to tell the tale."

Jasper let out a sigh, followed by a condescending chuckle. “You think that scares me?” Jasper asked. “I’m Nyce my dude, I’m trying to tell ya. There’s a reason I have my name.”

Julian gave Jasper a disbelieving look. “Oh really?” he asked. Julian made a show of flexing his newer, more defined muscles before yelling out a loud demonic roar to boast his heightened strength. “Do you see how strong I am!?”

Jasper just stood there, unfazed at Julian’s display of strength, impressive though it was. ‘You know,’ Jasper thought as he mentally compared Julian’s new level of power to his own. ‘Kid might just be deserving of a special beat down a la the Nycest, ever.’ With the new level of power, Julian actually surpassed Jasper in terms of pure strength. The problem though, was that in a fight with either of the Edge brothers, strength was rarely the only determining factor. “Are you done yelling like a maniac?” Jasper asked. “Because I’d really like to start fighting; I have a whole woman I have to take care of tonight, and she’s not going to like it if I’m late.”

Julian stopped his maniacal laughter to level a glare at the Draco warrior. “If you insist,” he said as a sinister grin came over his visage.

Not a second later, Julian phased completely out of sight using pure speed. Jasper’s eyes widened in mild shock at the show of swiftness; even more so when Julian actually connected with a right hook to the jaw. The Daeva wasn't finished yet: he seized Jasper by the arm to prevent his escape, before viciously kicking the Draco multiple times in the gut. Once Jasper bent over to clutch his injured midsection, Julian spun into a back spin kick, landing it right in between Jasper’s eyes to launch him into the air. Julian followed that up with a mighty flash of pure shadow ki from his left hand, engulfing Jasper’s form to harm.

‘That should shut the buffoon up,’ Julian thought as he watched Jasper’s body fall to the earth, a fair distance away from the battlefield. Even still, Julian knew of the Edge brothers’ storied endurance, so he wrapped himself in a shadow of his own to transport himself to the fallen warrior. When it came to these two, it never hurt to be too sure.

***

The smoke that had obscured Raven from Hezekiah’s sight had yet to dissipate, and the Angeli was rapidly losing patience with waiting on his foe to emerge. “Alright Raven!” he yelled as he brandished Excalibur. “If you’re not coming out, then I’m coming in!” Hezekiah was done with taking things to chance; after so many years, he finally had Raven right where he wanted him, and he wasn’t letting the opportunity go by.

Or so he thought.

Hezekiah was only able to take a step in Raven’s direction before being blown back by a powerful gust of wind. The wind had the secondary effect of blowing away the thick smoke that had hidden the Draco from view, and man, did Raven have a look on his face. Gone were the looks of disinterest and playfulness, gone was the peace loving mentality of the Draco warrior. Taking their places was a look of utter seriousness, combined with the resolve of the world’s most legendary of conquerors.

Raven cracked his knuckles as he slowly walked towards the downed Hezekiah with a set of furiously glowing eyes. “I’ve made my decision,” Raven said in a low voice, yet the seriousness of his tone made it sound much louder. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for the last seventeen years Hezekiah Shane; I can’t continue to just let you slide.”

Raven’s words were personified by the eruption of his aura into a raging multicolored flame even as he continued to advance on the Angeli. “I respect you, I really do,” the Exemplar admitted as he neared Hezekiah. “But you paired with Excalibur is almost as bad as your kind possessing Soulbreaker.”

Hezekiah snorted as he made it to his feet. “Try talking high and-!”

Hezekiah was swiftly cut off as Raven suddenly closed the gap between the two in a mind boggling display of speed, neatly folding Hezekiah over his fist that was now buried deeply into the Oberst’s gut. “This will be our last fight,” Raven said, removing his fist before hitting the Angeli with another five rapid punches to the sternum, followed by a high rising kick to the jaw that instantly busted the Angeli open. “I guarantee it!”

With that announcement, Raven took a deep breath before launching a much smaller, yet more concentrated breath stream from his mouth. This one wasn't just comprised of one or two elements: it was a perfect blend of all five elements. The breath stream of ki hummed with energy as it raced into Hezekiah’s form, immediately exploding on impact. ‘Now,’ Raven thought as he took up a similar stance to Julian, one thought in his mind. ‘He wants to use the anima remissionis? Then so will I!”

With that, Raven let out an earth shattering yell, throwing his arms to his side as he was surrounded in a multicolored opaque orb of elemental ki. First the angel, next the demon: this time, it was the dragon’s turn to release his full might.