Ancient Forces - Break Down [Intellect]

In the Sky Above Joplin...

The Cosmic Dragon flew high in the sky above his target. The clouds were dark and ominous. Rain poured like buckets and lightning flashed and crashed across the sky. A smirk came across his face. He knew what today was. The timeline hadn't changed a bit. He had to act quickly. He knew where he and Damien would be. The lair. With a shriek and loud sound boom, he blew forward, flying straight for the lair. After a few moments, he could see the old cave, lights gleaming inside. Just before he flew through the door, a lightning bolt struck him down. He spiraled down and landed in a forest outside the cave. He slowly stood up, recovering from the shock.

As he looked up, he was pelted by rain and the dark clouds above gave everything a sinister tone. Something rustled in some bushes nearby. The dragon looked over, quickly getting into a position to spew his incinerating blast of pure sun energy. A small figure emerged from bushes, strange robes and very familiar looking helmet. The sword that was attached to his back immediately brought back memories. It was Eli.

"Alright buddy. You messed with the timelines, you messed with me. Either leave this universe now, or get turned into sushi," Eli threatened as he slowly pulled out his sword.

"I can't do that Eli," the dragon replied, relaxing it's expression.

His old Eli might have been able to take him, but an Eli from a past universe wouldn't be able to handle him. Not with all the new powers and skills he had learned.

"Wait," Eli replied, puzzled.

"How do you know who I am?" He asked.

"It's a long story, and you won't understand, but I don't have time to explain. I have a mission. I have to kill myself and Damien to prevent everything from repeating," the dragon replied.

Eli's expression changed immediately. It went from surprise, to shock and, what looked like, sadness. Zayne's expression suddenly went limp. This wasn't the Eli from this universe. That was the thing. This was his Eli. This was the Eli from his universe. Zayne changed almost immediately, hoping that Eli had not seen his slight moment of weakness. Now this was a challenge. If Eli disagreed with his plan, he would have a real issue on his hands. One that would eventually crumble and fall beneath him, but an issue at best.

"Zayne I- I don't know what to say," Eli fumbled with the words. The rain and thunder making it difficult to hear.

"I do," Zayne replied hastily.

"What is it? Do you need anything? I'm sorry for hitting with the lightning by the way," it was as if Eli was back to his normal self.

"Help me stop everything from happening again," Zayne replied. He gestured up to the lair.

"What? You want to warn them of the coming disaster? I mean, that could work but I was saving that for another time," Eli began to say but was cut off by Zayne.

"No. You know what I mean. The war began because of us. So let's get rid of the lighter before the camp fire becomes a wild forest fire," Zayne replied, clenching his fist. He knew what sacrifices he would need to make. He knew that killing himself would be brutal, and killing Damien would be even more, but it had to be done.

"No," Eli replied. His expression had changed from the funkid from his timeline, to that of a stone cold, empty warrior ready to kill without emotion.

"What do you mean no? You know that is the only way to fix the timeline from repeating itself," Zayne pleaded. His chest began billowing up as a beam of Sun rays began forming.

"No. You're wrong. There's another way. The timeline isn't exactly the same, but it's different as well. Many things that didn't normally happen have occurred. If we can keep pushing it along the right path, then we can change it without resorting to killing ourselves," Eli explained. His expression was still blank. Zayne was somewhat startled by this new Eli. He had never been this cold before.

"If you're not with me, then you're against me, you know that right?" Zayne stated.

"I figured as much."

"My power has become more than even you dude. I've become a Cosmic Dragon, just for the sole purpose of fixing everything. I gave up my life for this," Zayne went on.

"That was your choice. I chose otherwise," Eli replied. His grip on the sword became tighter, and his hood began casting a shadow over his face.

"I don't want to fight you dude," Zayne said as the Sun blast grew to full strength.

"Neither do I," Eli said. Just as he finished, still with the blank, cold, robotic stare, a tear rolled out of the darkness over his face and dropped to the muddy ground, disappearing into the rain puddles below.

The battle began after that.