1151/Two Giants Walk Into A Wasteland...

Two Giants Walk Into A Wasteland...
Date of Scene:	15 December 2014
Location:	TARGET: The Factory (TF)
Synopsis:	Madara assaults the Factory and the King and Prince of Dragons stand up to him!
Cast of Characters:	Bahamut, 636, 651

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Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
The wastelands of the Factory have no real standing structures. The contrast was somewhat interesting to Madara, upon first arrival. He wasn't sure where the name came from. Not that factories were exactly things that existed in his time, but he had gained familiarity with the Multiverse rather quickly in some regards (and not others). Was there originally a factory here, but now it is gone? Something to investigate later.

For now, there is a fifty-foot tall spectral warrior advancing on Union positions in the area, just stomping its way across the ruined battlefield, with a shinobi hovering inside the construct's chest. Madara's arms are folded across his chest, and his red-on-black eyes bear the detailed design of the Mangekyou Sharingan - the reason why he is able to summon and control his Susano'o now.

The Union has taken back too much territory in the form of Target Zones. Madara intends to show them the error in resisting - and to hopefully find more challenges in battle.

Bahamut has posed:
     No factory to be seen, at least at first glance. But, beneath the surface is where the real value is. And because this is a Union holding, when those calls go out that some giant thing which has been seen several times before, Bahamut is quickly on the scene. As the Susano'o tromps across the battlefield, a silver-white runed circle appears high in the sky above, then several more appear in front of it. A moment later, there is a powerful roar and a large metallic-looking dragon comes crashing through those barriers. It dives like a falcon toward the shinobi, claws outstretched, ready to rend the being controlling that giant whateveritis.

     But, the dragon pulls up before actually impacting, and comes to a hover in front of Madara. "Whoever you are, you are threatening the safety of the Union. Stand down, or I will force you to." Bahamut grins as he hovers there, his long wings having to flap fairly powerfully to keep him aloft in one place. "I am Bahamut, King of Dragons and Aeon of Bevelle. And you will not claim this area so long as I can fight."

     Ryan 'Ryu' Bateson is no doubt clinging to Bahamut's back, or around his neck so that he has a clear view of the area.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The dragon boy leaps off the larger Dragon King's back, and lands somewhere nearby. The bright red handgun is drawn from its holster and held up to point at Madara. Ryan, however, doesn't fire. Golden eyes focus on the dark shinobi with a restrained hostility, like the only thing that's keeping him from attacking is the fact that one of his allies is giving the shinobi a chance to change his mind about this battle.

    Ryu looks pretty confident that Madara is just going to attack them. He isn't dumb.

    "Leave," he tells Madara, to supplement Bahamut's words.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Madara lifts his gaze when he detects the incoming presence. Whether it's the roars and the wind whipping past, the shadow cast, or something else, he simply remains where he is, his Susano'o's circles of light that pass for eyes mimicking the head angle, and waits for the Union opposition to finish descending. At the demands and entreaties, a lop-sided smirk appears on his face. "The King of Dragons, is it? And the one on your back, is he the Prince of Dragons?" Madara puts his hands on his hips and stares thoughtfully at the pair. "I am Madara Uchiha. I've not found much of a challenge in controlling dragons so far. Perhaps an intelligent one such as yourself will prove more of a challenge than those beasts at the Rookery. However, I imagine I'll have to weaken you a bit to try."

A sword of Chakra erupts in the Susano'o's right hand, and then another in the left. The giant moves into a fighting position, clearly ready for combat. Madara then responds, "Unless, of course, you royal dragons wish to leave the battlefield and cede this territory to the Confederacy before I turn you into weapons to use against your own allies."

He doesn't attack yet, but he clearly isn't backing down.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut chuckles at the Prince of Dragons comment. "No no. He is not a subject or a relative of mine." the larger dragon says. He grins when he hears Madara's introduction. "Ah yes. I have heard reports of you. And I can promise you much more of a challenge than those dimwitted dragons of the Rookery. They are hardly worthy of the name. I suppose there had to be worlds full of such things mistakenly called dragons. I believe I would qualify them as nothing more than drakes."

     Bahamut shakes his head as Madara gives them basically the same warning to leave that they gave him. "Regardless of the outcome of this battle, I bow to no one. You do not have the power to turn me against anyone." Bahamut says confidently. Then, he makes a few gestures before pointing a talon at Madara. "You were given your chance. Now, face the wrath of the King of Dragons!"

     The area around Madara suddenly brightens, then explodes in a burst of fiery destruction.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu's brow furrows in obvious frustration when called the Prince of Dragons. It's easily a sore spot for him to even be reminded that he's a dragon at all, despite standing right next to one at the time. The Confederate Elite himself gets a frown of disapproval, as if the suggestion of controlling him annoyed him less than being called any sort of dragon prince. Despite how accurate it may actually be.

    "I'm as far from royalty as it can get," he tells Madara, and then simply opens fire on Susano'o... quite literally. That large handgun, Agni, fires shots of bright red and yellow flame that impact a bit harder than a traditional bullet might, though it lacks some in speed and accuracy.

    More than a smidgen less impressive than Bahamut's attack, though. Ryu lacks a lot of the punch that Bahamut or Madara have, that's immediately obvious.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
The clarifications are appreciated, of course. Madara nods his head in acknowledgement to his opponents. But socialization ends pretty quickly after that, as the eruption of powerful flames engulfs the towering Susano'o (at LEAST partially). The shots from Ryu also strike true. And neither attack seems to have much of an impact on the spectral warrior. There is some disturbance in the outside, but there is so much Chakra concentrated into one place and controlled so precisely that it has essentially formed into a body made out of overlapping forcefields - each only a particle in width, resulting in countless layers of what amounts to ninja magic. The Susano'o surges forth from the flames, its dual-spiked chin, and clenched teeth unmoving until it swings, its left hand sword across its body from the right, attempting to slash Bahamut, and his rider, and send them hurtling backwards from the shockwave that is released from the swing itself.

Madara calls out simply, "We shall see."

It seems he is not goin to take Bahamut's word for it. But if this battle was easy, he wouldn't enjoy it.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut grins as that sword comes swinging in. He just lets himself drop down and out of the way, but even the pressure wave from the passing sword is enough to cause some damage. Bahamut snorts, then charges in, aiming right at Madara. He bears all his claws, hands and feet, and impacts the front of that giant warrior armor, trying to claw his way in toward Madara.

     Unfortunately, he can't really attack and defend, so Ryu is on his own when it comes to deflecting or avoiding hits. Bahamut is too busy trying to burrow in toward Madara.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu had tried to move out of the way of the incoming sword swipe. When the handgun proved ineffective, he holstered it, but it didn't make it any easier to get out of the way. So while he avoids being cleaved in half or smashed to mush, he is instead thrown away from the point of impact like a ragdoll, slamming into the ground and -bouncing-, creating a sicking THWACK. The cry of pain following his trajectory muddies into an animalstic roar--

    A flash of white light appears around him, and afterwards a dragon is seen bracing against the ground with its claws to slow its momentum. It has no wings, and its scales shine faintly, almost like ivory metal. His golden eyes glow, and his claws shimmer with an almost iridescent green and purple to match the golden coloration of the material itself. His long tail waves behind him, trying to fix his balance as he stands.

    He shudders as he tries to regain his senses, the differences in body shape and power making him hesitate... and the emotional backlash of being forced into his dragon form AGAIN by the far different battles of the Multiverse does not help matters.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut proves to be more nimble an opponent than he appears - much like that Optimus Prime. His charging back in to strike with his mighty claws sends the Susano'o skidding backwards, plowing up the terrain in the process, but it does not fall or stagger. The sight of Ryu dramatically transforming into a dragon has Madara's eyes taking it in, even as his Susano'o crosses its arms in front of its face and then lashes out with both swords at once, unleashing a pair of shockwaves directly at Bahamut. He'll wait to see what the second dragon is capable of before taking further action against him. Already, however, this is proving to be an exciting battle. He has never fought two opponents of similar scale to his Susano'o at once before... Even if this 50-foot monster is technically only a tiny, incomplete form of his Perfect Susano'o.

Even so, intelligent dragons seem as though they may be equivalent to Tailed Beasts in power. That is a battle capability that the Uchiha warrior anticipates comparing against.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut holds still as those shockwaves come in toward him. He doesn't even try to dodge. Is he crazy?

     Yes. Crazy like a fox! A quick flick of his hands and a spherical shield composed of hexagons appears around him. "Reflect." he says in his deep, rumbling voice. The shield flares as the shockwaves impact it.

     And Madara finds his attack being sent back at him exactly as it was fired. The twin shockwaves reflect like ripples on water, and Bahamut chuckles to himself as he waits for them to impact the creature before him.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The 'dragon prince' snaps out of his stupor and stares off in the direction of the titanic battle. Something in his mind makes him think of running away, the sheer scale of what's going on far beyond anything he's ever experienced before. Like, say, gods duking it out. But something occurs to him on an instinctual level, and he instead runs toward Bahamut, and LEAPs onto his back, clearing the entire distance from the ground up to the much larger dragon, clambering up to perch on a shoulder.

    With a better viewpoint and a more defensive spot to stand, he starts to breathe in a huge lungful of air. His chest scales separate momentarily, a bright white glow shining between the cracks of the plating... And then he blows a HUGE gout of white fire at Madara, trying to burn through the armor of Susano'o with the cool, but still dangerous, embrace of Holy light.

    The very air itself squeals and ripples around the dragon fire, like warping metal.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut's reflecting the attack back on Madara has him grinning. Oh. Oh this is just too perfect. His opponent has abilities similar to Madara's own. And it seems that Ryu is... Despite turning into a dragon, not growing further. Hm. A pity. But as he unleashes flames upon Madara, Madara pulls a war fan known as a gunbai off of his back. And as his Susano'o is kncked backwards from its own shockwaves slamming into it and leaving cracks in its shoulders, Madara dismisses the construct. And for a moment, as he drops towards the ground, he shows that Bahamut is not the only who can reflect attacks. He swings his fan and somehow bounces the dragon's fire BACK at its source, in the form of huge wave of flames.

The target isn't Bahamnut, but he might get hit due to sheer proximity.

And maybe it will encourage another transformation in Ryu. Madara has no idea how that power works. Of course, he's plummeting through the air now, so he hits the ash and dust below after a fall, and is now the smaller one out of the trio of combatants.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut is surprised when he is used as a platform for Ryu's attack. But, he finds himself grinning as Ryu uses that breath attack on Madara. Unfortunately...it doesn't go as planned. The white fire comes flying back at them, and Bahamut, not willing to drop Ryu, gets caught in the flames. He roars as his armored hide sizzles, then growls when he notices the construct disappearing. "A good effort, Ryu. This opponent is strong." he says to Ryu, then he dives, intending on taking Ryu with him.

     As he nears Madara, energy builds around Bahamut. White electricity arcs over him before forming into a trio of white crackling orbs. As he flies passed Madara, Bahamut unleashes these orbs like some kind of bombing run. This is Bahamut's Impulse attack. A strong ability that has a chance of turning objects to stone. Whether Madara gets stoned or not, the explosive force from the attack would be enough to damage him.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu howls!! He had not expected the pain of his own fire! It scorches his scales in a way normal fire just can't, and makes his body tremble from the sensation. He put far too much power into his dragon breath attack, so all that power nearly cooked him.
    Ryu glances aside at Bahamut, hearing him speak. He tries to respond, but only manages a faint dragon 'bark' sound, confirming the comment about their opponent in an incomprehensible way. He holds on to Bahamut carefully as the larger dragon swoops in to their now-unarmored opponent, the smaller dragon squinting against the wind. He seems completely comfortable with this tactic, like nothing about flying could possibly bother him.

    Timing the attack carefully, he leaps off of Bahamut after the King of Dragons releases that volley, hoping to anticipate Madara's position on the battlefield and land on top of him. All of those strange and colorful claws shimmer, and begin to emit powerful light that creates a glare around them, the light solidifying to provide a faint covering to his claws and bolster his upcoming melee attempt with holy magic.

    Which comes in the form of a few quick but wild swipes of his claws!

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Madara was planning to start a new form of attack against his opponents, but Bahamut continues to be as swift as ever, and his array of abilities continues to expand! The energy orbs hit the area Madara is in and explode! ...And all that is left is a statue of him, with his hands held together in some particular way, when Ryu arrives and smashes it apart with his holy-boosted attack. The fragments are scattered across the smoking crater that was the ground Madara was on when he was still in one piece.

Is the fight over?

There is almost no warning, of what happens next, except for the bulging of the ground. Then a massive tree branch surges up out of the soil, and attempts to slam into Bahamut full-force, as other, smaller branches sprout from its sides. And riding on that branch is Madara himself. He shows signs of damage. His skin is cracked, and there's holes in his body, but bits of dust and dirt seem to be flowing towards him and patching the holes gradually, even as he slides his way down those smaller branches, and leaps towards Ryu, attempting to kick him right off of Bahamut with superhuman strength, and then try to take his place on the larger dragon's shoulder.

On top of being strong, he's also tricky, and durable! That broken statue back there?

Petrified wood.

Still, there's no doubt that these two are doing damage to him. He wouldn't need to be repairing his body otherwise. Maybe they just need to keep up the pressure!

Bahamut has posed:
     *SMACK!* Bahamut is slammed into firmly by that branch. It knocks the large dragon off course and almost sends him crashing into the ground. He manages to wing back up into the sky, but as he does he realizes...his rider is not the same as it was a few moments ago. He roars menacingly then goes into a spiral, trying to fling Madara off. When that doesn't work, Bahamut turns back toward the ground and dives toward it.

     "You are not worthy of me!" Bahamut roars before he fires a spell. A powerful burst of electricity arcs over Bahamut, then practically explodes around Madara. Then, Bahamut turns upside down in an attempt to slam Madara's head into the ground before the dragon banks back up into the air. If that did not remove his unwanted rider, Bahamut will be impressed.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Flying kicks are very impressive and very difficult to avoid. Ryu was already trying to leap up to Bahamut and was sent flying back down to the ground, impacting the branch on the way down and hitting the dirt. It was an impressive trajectory, yet it didn't seem to kill the dragon. Made of sturdier stuff than squishier mortal creatures, the dragon soon stands up, covered in bumps and bruises but still quite conscious.

    He follows Madara's trajectory through the air, squinting, trying to aim at the shinobi. The dragon starts to glow, a circle of white light appearing at his feet. Then the magic closes in and collects at the point of Ryu's snout. Once he has formed his spell, he adds a bit of white fire to the mix, and emits a solid beam of light magic that burns along the way, roaring in that direction quite angrily.

    He does this because he really doesn't want to hit Bahamut. He'd feel really bad about doing that... again. Normal dragon breath just won't cut it with Bahamut /right there/ next to Madara.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
For most of that, Madara uses ninja agility and Chakra emitted from his feet to either evade the attacks or stick to Bahamut's shoulder. Yes, he dodged lightning. It's that last attack, however that grinds his head into the ground, that seems to do the job! ...Except his head is gone now. Even if it's being reconstructed as Bahamut goes back up into the sky, Madara is momentarily without a head, and his body tumbles through the air... Even as his headless body twists and turns, in order to land on its feet even without a brain to guide it. Freaky.

Before it can reach the ground, Ryu also shoots a hole in Madara's body, taking off his right arm. By the time he finally lands, the destroyed remnants have already begun to put back together Madara's mane of black hair, with the rest of his head already reconstructed. His arm is stilll being worked on. Hmm... He had intended to simply attempt to make eye contact with Bahamut and place him under his Genjutsu, but this really is proving to be more challenging a dragon than the beasts. Ryu is proving to be more dangerous than he originally seemed as well, even without the size of a full-scale dragon.

But Madara does not back down from challenges easily.

And it's time to show that dragons are not the only ones who can breathe fire.

He rapidly forms one half of several hand seals with his intact hand, as he molds Chakra internally. Then he chants in his head, <<Katon: Gouka Messhitsu! (Fire Release: Majestic Fire Destruction!)>> Then he releases a massive stream of intense flames that may hurt Ryu from the walls of fire produced, even if not directly hit, as the attack blankets a huge area,! ...Including the giant tree branch that Madara grew out of the earth earlier.

Which he then controls with his newly-reformed left hand. "HM!" he lets out, before the giant flaming branch starts taking swings at Bahamut, and pursuing him like a relentless tentacle from hell.

Made out of a forest fire.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut seems satisfied with the result of plowing Madara into the ground, even if his lightning attack was a dud. But, when the headless body falls back to the ground and lands on its feet, Bahamut growls. This man seems less and less likely to be a man, and instead seems to be some sort of demon or undead abomination.

     The great dragon has little time to dwell on that, though, as a giant hellfire tentacle starts swatting at him like he is some kind of giant fly. Well, Bahamut will show Madara just what he is dealing with! Bahamut makes a few gestures of his own, then twirls a finger in a circular motion before pointing it downward. A shimmering circle of dark energy forms around Madara and his summoned forest fire tendril, then an orb of the same dark energy forms within that circle. Those within the circle would suddenly find that gravity has been increased many times over, threatening to crush those caught within it beneath their own weight!

     Bahamut's aim is pretty good, so he's fairly certain he did not catch Ryu in there...

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The fire washes over Ryu, a deep and pained growl forced from his throat. He closes his eyes as the searing pain bakes into his scales and nearly forces him out of consciousness... but then a flicker of light repels the rest of the flames, smothering it, accompanied by white fire dribbling from his mouth to smother any of the rest of it.

    The light grows brighter, and the dragon focuses on Madara's trajectory through the air. Feeling he needs to put in more effort, and that he just can't hit the target that hard if he's not right in punching distance, Ryu begins to run across the battlefield on all fours, leaving a trail of light and green sparkles in his wake. When he finds the right place to leap, he jumps up into the air to land on the branch, glancing around before leaping at Madara is next--

    And the reason this dragon form is called Paladin becomes evident. Light magic collects and solidifies once more, but now it's in the form of a claymore-like blade meant for a single attack. With explosive magical force, he tries to slice Madara with the spell, a spell he ordinarily uses to coat his sword, Bonebreaker. The howl of effort that accompanies it tells of how much energy it takes to use this, essentially just a Light Magic spell of a higher tier than a simple beam.

    He launches at Madara, and tries to slice the shinobi with the enormous blade of light with a vicious overhead!

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut's gravity magic crushes the flaming tree branch to the ground, splintering it, and putting out some of the flames. And Madara, standing right under it... Stands right under it. As the weight of gravity pushes down all around him, he seems to be unaffected. His head lifts, and it becomes evident that Madara's eyes have changed. They are no longer Mangekyou Sharingan. They are grey, with black rings radiating outwards from the center of each. Rinnegan. He is looking right up at Bahamut, as he raises his hands and points both palms at the King of Dragons. He intones. "Anything you can do, I can do better." He reverses the gravity, and hurls it right back up at Bahamut with his own gravity powers - one of the Six Paths available to a Rinnegan wielder (even if his are just copies produced by the Impure World Resurrection). And along with that reversed gravity is that huge mass of wood that was pressed to the ground and pulped moments ago. Tons and tons of splinters, wood shards, and flames.

Exerting his power as he is, he can not defend against Ryu charging in. He sees the dragon-man rushing towards him, but can take no action, just staring at him with his Rinnegan, even as the mighty sword comes down and cleaves straight through Madara, from head to belly. His body is almost split in two. And even with his mouth in two distinctly seperate halves, he gets out, in a distorted voice, "I can do anything, better than you."

Then he brings his hands down, even as his injuries remain unrepaired, and a air of sharp black metlalic rods project from both palms, as he tries to impale Ryu with them. Even brief contact produces an unpleasant feeling - an invasive sensation like some other presence of someone ELSE inside one's body. To say nothing of the potential pain if Ryu is actually injured.

Bahamut has posed:
     Now, that is something. Just...ignoring a Gravija attack. Bahamut has to admit it is impressive, as is reversing it and pelting him with flaming forest debris. But, the stalwart dragon shrugs off the flying tree pieces and lets out a powerful roar. "Alright! Then, let us see how you handle this!" Bahamut bellows, though he doesn't sound angry, more like determined and confident.

     The great dragon hovers high in the air, and starts to charge energy. Much more than any of his previous attacks. The gyro that floats above his back starts to spin rapidly as he builds up energy, and electrical bolts escape it every now and then. Bahamut looks down at Madara, grins, then opens his mouth wide. "Ryu! Back away!" Bahamut manages before the energy starts to coalesce in front of his snout. It pulses, then forms into a large orb of crackling, non-elemental energy. A strange sort of grey and white tinged with black. The orb grows until it is as broad as the dragon himself, then...he fires!

     A beam much thicker than his open maw or even the orb of energy would suggest lances down at Madara like a laser from an orbiting satellite. And when it hits the ground, it saturates everything it touches in pure energy, causing spontaneous combustion that results in powerful explosions. Those explosions continue until the beam fades, which is about 10 seconds of uncensored destruction.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    The dragon of light's sword dissipates right after the attack, and he is impaled by a pair of spikes that pulse a very awful sensation right into him. Like the life of another person was trying to replace his! And it's at this moment that Ryu finally gets confirmation that yes, he is only one life form, and is not possessed by any sort of demon. Also: That hurts a lot! Red blood spatters all over the place as the spikes drive into muscle and he practically seizes up from the agony.

    He gets a command to get out of the way. Not thinking more than a second, he reaches up and SNAPS the spikes with his bare hands, not removing them from his flesh just yet. He lands and leaps away from Madara, only to witness a massive explosive laser come down on the shinobi. Pulling both the spikes out with an horrific slowness, he trembles -- seems he doesn't have traditional chakra, so he lucked out a bit. It still is not a fun sensation.

    Gathering up all of his remaining mana, he makes sure that Madara does not have a lot of breathing room left to fight in. The pained dragon breathes in with all the force of the previous blast of dragon fire, but adds in a few curving beams of light that collect into a similar ball to Bahamut's own Mega Flare!

    And he ejects white fire that is, in fact, scorchingly hot and swirling around a much larger beam, aiming to make those explosions last a couple seconds longer!

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
The Rinnegan lets Madara absorb energy. Plainly realizing there is a huge gathering of such above, he holds out both hands towards Bahamut again, even as his body starts bringing itself back together in one piece. He failed to seize control of Ryu, likely for the reason that Ryu does not have a conventional Chakra Network, on top of the 'dragon prince's own will. But that is not a matter of great concern in the face of this much firepower.

"Give me your best shot," Madara mutters.

The blast from Bahamut hits Madara, with little or no aborption whatsoever. He can absorb Chakra, not other forms of energy, apparently. The only exception is when it comes to direct contact with another person, and then it's more like sapping their strength.

He is obliterated and the ground is destroyed so thoroughly that some of those robots below might even be disturbed or wrecked. Ryu's powerful attack tears a line across the wastelands that blazes with white fire, but fails to find a target. And that is for the simple reason that Madara is seemingly gone.

And in the place where he once stood, debris begins to gather. Dust and dirt and paper scraps. His body's remains, reassembling into an intact form once more. The restructuring is slow. Much slower than it has been so far. But still, it's happening.

And after about as much time as Bahamut's explosions went on, Madara stands before the pair of dragons once more. "That was a bit too much energy." His Susano'o forms around him again, sending him up, up into the air. The skeletal bones of Chakra gather flesh in the form of numerous layers of solidified energy. Then the Susano'o surges up even taller, his features concealed by a hood and face wrap, and an enormous cloak and robe of Chakra drapes down around it. Its hands are held before it, in handseals like Madara has been weaving, as a pair of eyes gleam out of the darkness of its hood. Madara himself is barely visible within the construct, thanks to how dense its Chakra has become.

He clenches one hand, and the surging Chakra settles down a little bit. This is his Complete Susano'o... But not his Perfect Susano'o. These enemies warrant a little bit more than he has been giving them.

"I apologize for holding back so much. You have proven yourselves worthy of more of my power. Enjoy it."

Then the Susano'o forms hand seals rapidly, and the ground rumbles all around, as Madara's presence washes over everything, everywhere. It can be felt right down to one's bones. The Susano'o seems to inhale deeply.

Then its mouth rap parts, to reveal a gaping emptiness.

And from that emptiness, a stream of flaming, crystallized chakra balls pour forth, seemingly endlessly, first towards Bahamut, and then gradually towards towards Ryu.

On impact, the projectiles detonate in huge explosions.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut continues to float high in the sky above the devastation below as the dust clears from his attack. As Madara reforms from complete obliteration, Bahamut growls deep in his throat. As the Susano'o forms into something even more powerful than before, Bahamut dives down toward it, trying to close the distance and hit Madara before he can get his attack off.

     He is too late. Those chakra balls explode against Bahamut over and over until the mighty dragon is forced back to the ground, bracing against the assault. He survives, but not without damage. His wing feathers are broken in several places, the armored hide around his chest and belly are cracked, and a bit of blood is flowing from his mouth.

     "What are you?!" he roars at Madara, then growls. "Are you an immortal? Is that how you can reform yourself after such an attack seemingly destroys you? Or, are you some sort of shapeshifter that is not overly affected by being blown apart?" Bahamut asks, trying to figure his opponent out. To learn if there is a chink in his armor.

     Of course, he doesn't really give Madara a chance to answer. Instead, Bahamut is on the attack again. But this time, he flies forward at an amazing pace and tries to pounce on Madara from the air. Rending claws attempt to drive into Madara and tear him asunder while Bahamut roars again.

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu absolutely misses Madara. Not only does this crush his spirit on a profound level, he also expended way too much energy to just completely miss his mark. And so he turns to regard the still-intact and undead shinobi, eyes bleary from the pain. Squinting, he stares down Susano'o as it forms again, and tries to retreat away from it for some breathing room.

    Then solid fire flies out of the tremendous construct. He gets struck right in the chest when he turns to look, and sent soaring across the battlefield, rolling to a stop. Cinders follow him. Blood smears where he landed. He is not dead, but he is thoroughly unconscious, and quite hurt. He also does not change back to human form in this case.

    So it's obvious his normal form /is/ being a dragon.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut pounds and claws the Complete Susano'o. The might of the King of Dragons produces thunder from the impacts alone, as vicious claws try to rend and tear the solidified Chakra. Wisps of it come off in the Dragon King's grasp, but the majority remains untouched.

The Susano'o's hands shift from making hand seals to striking at Bahamut in a downwards strike, driving 'muscles' with enormous force. Madara explains for the benefit of his opponent even as Ryu's unconscious form goes tumbling across the wastelands. "I was brought back from death with a forbidden technique that violates the laws of the universe. Death is an impossibility for me. Even if you were to destroy me, I would rebuild myself eventually. An immortal body, with unlimited Chakra... It's quite a problem if something like me is allowed to run loose."

The other hand then strikes out whether the first one lands successfully or not, trying to strike Bahamut from the side.

"But this isn't the time to discuss such matters, is it?" Madara asks coldly. "You have a battle to fight. Show me more of what you can do!"

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut is swatted twice, but manages to block well enough that he isn't swatted out of the sky. He is smashed backward a good distance, though. "Ryu!" he calls out suddenly, realizing his most recent aquaitance is no longer up and fighting. He growls, then looks back toward Madara. "Fighting simply for the sake of fighting is hollow. When I fight, I fight for a purpose. And in this case, that purpose is to try and cleanse the worlds of you, my abominable friend." he says before charging in again.

     The king of dragons looks as if he will move to claw at Madara again, but instead he pulls up and drops those exploding, petrifying orbs he used earlier in the battle, hoping that they will disrupt the Susano'o's energy somehow.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut bombards the Susano'o with his Impulse atack and it seems to be more effective than mere physical blows - no matter how powerful the latter may be. The construct's cloak and hood wave, and ripples pass through its entire form. Flames of Chakra rise up off of it. It seems this 'Complete' Susano'o is not quite as stable as the smaller one. Possibly due to it being an intermediate state between two different forms.

The shockwaves penetrate through the construct, and actually making Madara's flesh crack a bit.

But he begins weaving hand seals, and his Susano'o mimics him - though doing a seperate set - as he replies to his opponent. "Very well. If it is eradication that we are fighting for, then I shall indulge you." The cloak opens, and a second pair of arms emerge, bearing a bow and arrow of Chakra. Madara and the first set of arms haven't finished making hand seals. They're still going as the second pair pulls back on a GIGANTIC bow, and then fires a super-fast arrow of solidified Chakra. If it misses Bahamut, it will streak right over the horizon, and detonate somewhere in the distance.

Whatever Madara is preparing is taking him long enough he needs to stall for time while he's doing it. Stopping him would probably be a good idea!

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut's eyes widen as another set of arms appear. And Madara's words earlier spring into his mind. Unlimited Chakra. Does this 'man' have truly unlimited resources for his magical powers? It seems the only possibility for his regenerative and attack abilities. Even Bahamut, one of the greatest of the Aeons, cannot last forever. His only hope, he realizes, is to put all he has into one last attack.

     Unfortunately, he doesn't realize this until a gigantic arrow impacts him squarely in the chest. The dragon king roars as it explodes against him and sends him arcing downward. He barely manages to right himself and slow his fall before he hits, and when he hits it is on all fours, sliding backward across the ground.

     But, even as he slides, Bahamut is building energy again. The same sort of energy orb as before appears in front of his snout, but this time the gyro on his back is spinning even more quickly, and the energy orb grows larger than before. It takes a bit longer to fire, but when it does, the Mega Flare obliterates everything in its path. Aiming upward at Madara, the beam promises to impact Madara with all its power. And threatens the same sorts of pure energy explosions as last time.

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
Bahamut unleashes his devastating attack, even as Madara prepares this huge jutsu he is apparently still working on. The colossal beam of pure obliteration hits the Susano'o dead on. And the Susano'o's cloak begins to blaze out behind it, 'tearing' into bits and pieces. And the Susano'o begins walking forward. Struggling to push through the disintegrating beam that is carving through the terrain on either side, digging a small canyon into the Factory's landscape. The Susano'o is breaking apart, shrinking down from its current 75 foot height, back down to 50. Cracks appear all over the Incomplete Susano'o as it reverts back to such, and then in a dazzling flash of light, the Giga Flare finally ends!

For a while there is only the sizzling sound of scorched rocks, the crackling of fire, the echoes still reverberating into the distance of pure power that rips things apart on the sub-atomic level and scatters them to the winds.

And then there is Madara, lunging out of the smoke, heavily cracked and splintered, with Chakra flames trailing from his body - the last of his Susano'o - and all the Chakra he molded prepared for one final attack.

He attempts to right in Bahamut's face as he sails through the air from the force of his leap.

"You did well, Dragon King." he offers.

And then he unleashes a tidal wave of fire that tears across the landscape for miles at point-blank range.

Bahamut has posed:
     "Reflect!"

     That is likely the last word Madara hears as he charges Bahamut. Somehow, and even Bahamut is not sure how, the king of dragons manages to draw a little bit more from himself and put up that spherical protective barrier. The hexagons flash as they repel the fire away from Bahamut and right back at Madara. The fire that doesn't hit Bahamut keeps right on going, burning across the landscape, but like a rock in a river, the current divides around him.

     "So did you." Bahamut says as the reflected flames seek to incinerate Madara in his own firestorm. "But, as I said, I will never surrender to one such as you!"

Madara Uchiha (651) has posed:
The flames reflect back on Madara, and destroy him. Or so it seems. He has already survived several such incidents already, hasn't he? Is it REALLY over? REALLY?

Debris begins to gather. Ashes, and dust, and dirt. Oh, shit.

But... It's all flowing away. Somewhere else. It's not coming together and rebuilding his body. It's flowing away, in complete contradiction of what direction the wind is going. Bahamut and Ryu have won, and proven their worth as mighty dragon wariors.

But this is likely not the last that has been seen of Madara Uchiha. It is as he said.

Death is an impossibility for him. At least in the form he now has.

Bahamut has posed:
     Bahamut waits for Madara to reform. He is certain it will happen. But...then it doesn't. Instead, the ashes flow away. Did they win? They did! Bahamut can hardly believe it for a moment, but then his draconic pride kicks in and he rises slowly to his feet. He coughs a few times, then takes a deep breath to let out a victorious roar! It lasts for a good long while before he finally has to drop back to one knee. "..R...Ryu..." he says, then stumbles off to find the smaller dragon, no doubt buried in rubble and soot.

     As badly as he is bleeding, and with all those cracks in his armored hide, it is a wonder the King of Dragons can move at all. But, he is determined to find Ryu and take him back to Union medical.