The Once and Future King

(Hi guys, apologies for pulling away from the romance part of the Story so far, just cleaning up some bits and bobs for Charlie's development, then we will be back to business as usual.
**Thanks for being patient.
**Your Loyal Author
Ducky)

The Woman did not speak, the night spoke for her, and the Night was silent.

She had broken from the pack, often did she joy in the night of this Black city, it was much alike Orochi, dark and mysterious, dangerous and beautiful.

The World hung upside down, or maybe she did. The Woman often wondered why the earth looked so surreal as she clung as a gargoyle would to the high platform of the clocktower in the Northern region of Wallace, where the shore kissed the beaches miles behind her and the old town, shambling but time tested in the landscape before her, a place filled with buildings of black stone, victorian-esk spires that cut into the sky.

The Moon illuminated all, but she could see without the pale eye above, The Woman had pale eyes of her own, that could see from the sky, where she felt right and comfortable: her home.

Orochi was south of her, she'd been tracking his movements from distance, somehow her pierced the cloud that shrouded her presence, just another tick on the list of mysteries that allured him to her.

The Woman did not descend to the ground, walking the earth was not her nature, she belongs above and so above she would stay.

Letting go of the platform where she hung and watched, the Woman did not Fall, but spread in milky tendrils that touched at the air, two made one, she floated in the sky, the cold sending a chill through the flesh of her bare toes.

The pale cloud that was once her flesh and bones lingered a time, embraced by the darkness. It was as Lord Rise had always taught her "Do not fear the darkness, Young Vixen... darkness will make you strong."

The viscous mist took flight, soaring through the air as an abyss in the night with the speed of a falling star.

Wallace was a blur beneath her, a void of black; strong and prominent in an ever-spinning world, where all else was lost to time, the Black city remained.

She cast herself on the south wind, towards the source of her desire. There was little chance that she wouldn't be spotted if she drew too near, a mile away was close enough for her to scout the movements of her prey... no, she didn't want to call him that, The Woman had been seldom following Orochi now... she felt herself, longing, to watch him talk, and smile and laugh, a rare thing now that he could see with clarity.

She missed him.

She'd never met another Descendant... technically she'd barely met Orochi, but she'd heard the stories, everybody had, you could fuck with other clans, dally with humans within reason, but there were two things that even Lord's of the undead did not toil with.

The High court, who with a single order could dismantle an entire Great clan in less than a single night.

And the Great Descendant houses of old, a Lord could wipe out as many of those Demi-gods as they wished, but they never ever gave up, not ever. Even the Legendary Black House of Drake, especially the Black House of Drake, whom was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Vampires, and dozens of Superior Lords.

She had not known any of the surviving members personally, though she'd recognize the Iron jaws of the Ashen Judge anywhere, where hundreds of undead met their end under their crushing power.

The Woman was fascinated by the Girl in Black, she was Orochi's sister, a delicious smelling... something, the call was strong for that one, In all of her many many years, The Woman had not felt such powerful desire for one's blood, this one would either be very very ****, or extremely powerful. The Woman could not decide.

But other than Orochi himself...

The Woman's body became tense and aware, The One in the Animal mask, she knew of her, everybody knew of her, the Black Rabbit or in her tongue; Kuroi shikei shikkō hito (The Black Executioner). The one who walked in the shadow of ****, ran with her kin among the rooftops, seeing her made The Woman feel a deep sense of foreboding.

She'd been watching them for 20 minutes or so, they were truly a sight to behold, how mortals could possess such power, it was truly fascinating, the way they danced through the shadows without care or fear, the way they ascended to the heavens of the hammer-shaped building, it was truly a sight to behold--

The Woman turned, and sniffed, her head reforming from the shadowy abyss she had become, to look with her owl-like eyes.

2 Miles back North, Multiple blips came up on her radar, at least twice a dozen... not overly powerful, but insidious and dangerous; She could smell it on the air, murderous intent.

Her bones vibrated, eyes shooting to the west, only a single mile away... the scent of ****, smaller in number, maybe only three or four, three containing titanous power... and the fourth, a colossus.

"No.... No..." She muttered, eyes widening in revelation.

Divinity and Victory were coming. And Hisano feared for the man that she followed.

Now, it was your turn.

A hot flash swept through the ridges in your chest, heart thundering, pumping boiling blood through the building veins. To cast yourself to your potential ****, to survive this great test, it was more than just throwing yourself into oblivion; this was a true leap of faith.

A Covenant: forever you will be devoted to the name of Drake.

It was this that brought you the edge, crushing the vertigo that turned your stomach, as you allowed yourself to fall.

As a Boy, you'd wondered what it would be like to fly. Soaring through the open air, a black-winged shadow, it was the ultimate freedom.

The feeling that swelled in your guts then was not just shadow, but an abyss of something otherworldly. The Heat rose within, mixing with the blackness inside, a Paradox of Darkness and Hellfire that came to its climax as you looked at your descending reflection in the endless pool of glass that passed you by.

How could you be concerned with **** now?

This feeling, it was certain, calm and complicated, Your body was wrapped in fire, burning from the core with an infinite clarity, Overdrive's thundering call reflecting the still water of a pool; Gold flooded your eyes, the pupils near vanishing, as steam and crackling bolts of black oozed from your pores and peace-filled your being.

4000 men, was nothing compared to us. Flaming bolts loosed from longbows crushed the infantry. We were well prepared, I made sure of it, and in preparation comes victory.

We waited for the dusk, the departure of the light, dressed in seldom arms of the dark plate and coarse leather. The spring rain fell from the dark sky, turning the dirt field into a sea of mud.

With my family by my side, Gluttonous Son and Wrathful daughter, we cut a path through that sea. Painting Steel red as we crushed the enemy ****... the Enemies of our God; the Sun.

That army of foreign beasts couldn't stop us, they were heavy and sunk into the brown gunge, but we were fast and light on our feet, the battle didn't even last an hour, before long, we were at the gates of the dark looming castle.

Ladders chased their rides up the walls of cobblestone, My forces breached into the womb of godless invaders, and in the name of the Holy order of the Dragon, we slashed and mauled and pounded and grounded our names into their pathetic chests, heavy breaths of holy righteousness leaving our lips.

I sent my son and his men to the west courtyard, He was young, but calculating, cold, He'd be the one to open the way for our hidden forces to the west gate. His Arms were streaked with red, ribbed plate paired with a sleek cloak that made him look like the devil.

No order was given to my Daughter, she already knew her purpose in this siege, and draped in the Black of our Mighty Clan, she took her troupe of 12 footpads and swept into the East wings, to slit the throats of every unsuspecting man, woman and child that hid there.

The Order of the Dragon showed no mercy to Heretics.

But I went alone.

Vested in darkness, the Golden streaks of my eyes matching that of my blood-soaked breastplate, my time-honed blade carved through the soldiers... I did not know what I was then, or what I would become, these Foreign monsters invaded our land, butchered our children, and so in the name the Cross I butchered them right back, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Simpler times.

I did not fully comprehend the power of my father, still, the Dragon had been burning within me since I was but a boy, protecting me, guiding me, steering me through bloodshed towards victory.

But as I came to the highest tower of the dank fortress, the largest and most powerful of the dark-skinned invaders came to meet me under the thunder and rain of that decrepit spire.

Our Clash would become that of unspoken legend, I was always small and weak, but through the blood of my father and the power of my mind I became a colossus, the clang of the blade on hammer cracked with the bolts of blue above.

But my resolve could only take me so far and with the heat of my **** strength beginning to overcome me, I was swiftly caught off guard.

Shattering blows cracked my ribs and shattered my nose, the King of the Invaders was thrice my size, and easily picked up my broken body, crushing my throat under his huge paws and with a lick of his thick lips, cast me asunder, over the Spire's edge.

I fell as the raindrops did, the sounds of battle and **** below, where I might have met my end.

Only, the flames did not die as certainty came over me, but instead... Peace, even as the blood boiled in my veins and paradoxically, Flame became one with the Shadow.

**_Even as a Boy, My mind had wondered what it would be like to fly. Soaring through the open air, a black-winged shadow, it was the ultimate freedom.... and soon, we would find out.- - - - - -

_**

PERFECT OVERDRIVE

The Path was clear, and Your body knew what to do.

In your descent, you curled into a ball, the power crackling around you, heat rising from you, power gathering within you as your muscles tightened.

You waited, gathering more and more strength, until your eyes of pure gold locked, eye level with the tall buildings just before you.

With a light exhale and a moment of peaceful silence, your body violently cracked.

BOOM! the sound was indescribable, throwing out your arms and kicking against the glass, the air cracked in protest to the sudden extraordinary burst of energy, windows on the Medcore building shattering for hundreds of floors above and below, each pane rendered back into grains of glittering sand as you shot off with the imperceivable speed of a lightning bolt.

Shuck, Rabbit and Dawn braced as the thin grains of glass whirled in the air, pulled by the cyclone of the flux of energy. The Three couldn't believe their eyes, looking around only to see that Chip had vanished.

"The Crazy little bastard actually pulled it off!" The Rabbit cried.

Although the Ashen Judge seemed to face a much more serious air "He is the Heir, Our Cheif, Our King."

"That's all well and good but what use is he if he's Gone--WOAH!" Dawn jolted back as she felt something titanous behind her.

The Trio turned and saw you.

You weren't even sure how you got there, One minute you were streaking like a bullet one way, and in a flash, you had halted and returned.

The Other's saw your aura, a smokey, sparking thing that stood and stared with ominous golden eyes "Chip?" Dawn whispered.

You looked at her, seeing the minute details on her mask, feeling the circulation of her blood, the worry on her face.

"..." You did not speak, merely twitching slightly as the fire continued to blaze inside of you.

"Come on, let's not just stand here, You'll burn himself to **** if we don't work some of that energy off." Shuck encourage his body tensing as He flashed into motion, The Rabbit and Dawn following.

"If you can't catch up while like that, then you really are a lost cause!" She teased through her black mask, following the charge.

Inhaling deep, muscles buldging your slowly knelt to the ground and locking on their forms which seemed move almost in slow motion, You vanished from you spot.

The Trio jumped and flipped over the cityscape, confident in their abilities as they slipped through the concrete jungle like shadows only...

Where they jumped and flipped, Your family stared wide-eyed as you appeared before them, moving faster than even their eyes could track, slipping through reality in sudden cracks that wiped at the air, diving through the course of danger without a shred of fear, weaving amongst the buildings like a Ghost, appearing and disappearing, soaring through the air in an inhuman twist.

"Holy shi-" Dawn did not finish, lost cause huh? we'll see about that. Sweeping her up carefully, Dawn had just enough time to lock her arms around your torso as you stormed into oblivion, flying up into the air as she screamed into the night "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

You smiled, turning into a blinding spin while holding her tight at your side, falling back towards the world without a care in it.

Dawn split from you, arms wide as she tossed her hammer "_BRUMA!" _A slide of slick frost caught her, sending back into her winding barrage, as you darted onward, every step an explosion of eldritch power.

This was beyond Freedom, beyond Fear, you could feel the gravity of each movement, how the resistance of wind screeched in adversity to its violation.

The Earth spun and spun and spun forever around the flaming sun, 365 times, the Universe was one giant system, living and breathing... You could feel it all, everything was clear.

"He's incredible, Not ever Roman had this level of power!"

Shuck agreed with the rabbit, despite the caution that rattle in his bones "But nowhere near as much control, He's got maybe 10 minutes before he begins to haemorrhage, I think that's enough for tonight, get the girl and I'll fetch out---" Shuck paused, he sniffed keenly and halted in place.

You gave pause also, perching on the edge of an apartment building, sniffing, watching. Something had tickled your nose, made your ears vibrate, goosebumps flushing against your skin.

Multiple Targets, Closing in from both sides, one numerous but weaker, the other smaller but much much stronger.

"Anybody else feel that?" Dawn called.

The Elders of the Drake both readied for battle "Looks like this Hunt is only just beginning, Dawn, Rabbit, stick close and hold formation, we're outnumbered. Chip!"

Your eyes darted to the Iron Hound helm, and Pop's merely gave you a silent nod. looks like it was time to see what Perfect overdrive could do.

And so the War began.