Wut?

Blinding pain.

Swirling darkness, everywhere.

The navi winced as he opened his eyes, rapidly blinking as he tried to sort out exactly what had happened.

Seraphim trembled as he slowly got up. What... the hell had happened? Then there was the roar. That roar he had heard once before. That roar that he could never forget. But the thing that had made that noise... it was dead.

"You know what?" Seraphim said, staring at the beast. He was tired of this. All the bullshit. All of the times that things had caused him, or the beings around him... Pain.

All the time, he tried. He did his best. He strived against impossible odds.

"You know what?!" Seraphim yelled at the overgrown lizard scathingly. The imposing figure of the dragon didn't look so big anymore. It didn't scare him at all. It may have been a legendary figure. It was a embodiment of one of the 'elemental forces'. He should have been scared to death of the thing.

He just didn't care.

He was tired of it. Whenever he had been put up against a major foe, the victory had somehow hurt him, hurt a friend. The Metool Hero had died by his hand, something he had not enjoyed. He had hopes for Broomdude, who he had at least saved... Or so he thought. Regardless of all that he had tried, that victory had rung hollow. Seraphim had lost something there. Every time, he lost something.

Finally, one target to beat. No ambiguous morals here. Just something between him and victory. It wasn't morally ambiguous this time. It was black and white. It against him. Boss against Player. It came down to skill, in a climactic battle of Evil versus Good. Seraphim looked at the Dragon.

The Dragon was staring back.

Finally, something that he could release everything he could muster without feeling guilt or helplessness. Finally, something that he could just unleash his rage on. Seraphim brandished his weapons, tightened his focus as well as his grip. The weapons trembled slightly with the effort as the navi quivered with suppressed energy.

Then-

Two words.

"You're dead." The navi hissed. He meant it, too. Drauchen had died previously. Seraphim remembered his blade. It had flamed then with simple cold. Ice, to meet that fire and extinguish it. He had dealt the final blow himself.. He had felt the weapon go through scales, muscles, and finally bone. The navi had felt that life go out. But then, the virtual scattering into miniature versions... This abomination would be banished and he would hunt whatever it spawned. He would not suffer it to live.

This was something that had come back from the dead, a spectre to haunt him.

This was something that would be put down.

Seraphim whipped up the gun-mesh-sword with a mangled roar which came through clenched teeth as the navi simply grasped the trigger and could have later sworn he was attempting to rip it clear off. The weapon held. The barrel roared as the shot was fired. The hammer was jammed back down, and another shot rang out. Seraphim's arm twisted back slightly, but the hand was still flipping back into position and tugging on the trigger again and again.

Click. The noise rang out hollowly as the navi pulled the trigger to an empty chamber. His expression revealed nothing but anger as he slammed down the hammer and rotated to the next slot. He tugged once more.

Click. Again, it denied him.

He was out of bullets. The cylinder flipped open as he flicked his wrist, revealing nothing but casings in the slots. He was about to empty it out, then reload it with one hand... then he thought better of it.

Screw it.

No time.

Out of patience.

Instead of the wrist simply flicking, he lashed out with his entire arm, sending the sword-mesh-gun flying. It went through the air to the side, disappearing into Seraphim's 'inventory' a moment before it plunged into the lava. The navi's free gauntleted hand wrapped tightly around his oversized blade and brought it to bear. The weapon made a rending noise as it tore through the ground before finally being pointed at the dragon.

"My name... is Seraphim. I killed you once before. It seems that wasn't enough. I'll do it as many times as it takes." The sword swiped through the air as Seraphim's eyes gleamed. The gauntlets suddenly glowed azure, and the navi concentrated. His generated energy slowly flowed into the blade, going along the crevices and runes carved in a flowing design. Blue light shone from the blade, illuminating the shadows upon it, and banishing darkness as sparks started to radiate from all around it. It reminded one of a eerie similarity to a tesla coil actively looking, consistently reaching out for something to shock. The air now stank of ozone rather than brimstone and carbonic acid. His final attack prepped and ready, his eyes firmly on his foe, Seraphim leapt.

And attacked, with all the passion his body could muster, all the valor his heart could bring to bear, all the rage at which had been taken from him. He attacked with everything he had.

And hoped it would be enough.

1] Flux Burst [4*Buster Shot, Knockback applied to all, homing. Nerf: Lifeburn for 30, Slow] [50*4=200]
2] Harmonic Surge [Spectral Buster Shot, 2*Buster Shot, Glass in 20 meter radius. Nerf: Lifeburn for 15, slow] [+Snipe] [125+50+50=225]
3] Æther Drive [6 buster charges, 1 Charged shot attack Nerf: lock chips for 2 turns] [200]
4] Charged Buster Shot [Use up 2 buster charges] [200]
5] Charged Buster Shot [Use up 2 buster charges] [200]
6] Prepped Dodge [Total Damage=1025]
Drauchen crumples over in a heap, brought down by the sheer force of Seraphim's attacks.

Apparently Seraphim is stronger than he remembers.

As the dragon's body shatters into tiny flecks of data which rise upward into the lava slowly, a large, red sphere makes itself obvious...

Drauchen's soul, maybe...?

Drauchen: DELETED

Terrain: Lava Sky (Going too high into the air results in fire damage), lava dripping down in places. 20% Lava, 80% normal.

Seraphim: 140

VICTOLY.

Rewards: Uhm... Drauchen's Soul, it would seem...
Seraphim quivered slightly, and let the sword drop from his hands. It hit the ground with a thud, embedded in the ground for a brief moment. Almost immediately it fell over, and clanged against the floor.

It disappeared into his inventory, and Seraphim allowed his legs to buckle. He wished he could fade away like a phantom into his own inventory. He just wanted to sleep, rest. But that was impossible. If he didn't take that... core, it would reform... or someone else would take it.

Tentatively, he raised himself to one knee, and then stood. Seraphim took one step, then another. His boots flexed against the ground, stepping carefully around splots of cooling magma.

He extended a hand, touching the sphere.

He wanted to close his eyes.

He couldn't.
The core seems to shrink away from Seraphim's touch for a moment-

-but that is not the case.

The core rears up and closes over him, violent red covering him from every angle as it seeps into his very core, taking over and making room for itself-

And then the process is over, and Seraphim is simply flopped on the floor as if some sort of corpse.

GAINED: Beast Out (Drauchen)

UNLOCKED: Rogue Network Access
The core was absorbed.

It was modified.

Then found a place in line, behind the rest of the voices clamoring for an audience.

"Nngh." Seraphim was starting to get a somewhat reliable resistance to being knocked out, as he raised himself up once again.

He stared around, looking for why Erin hadn't jacked him out... Or why he hadn't been automatically jacked out.

This place did not look hospitable.

"Seraphim!" Erin shouted, as her navi shimmered back into view.

"Just a minute, I'll jack you out, are you okay?" She asked hurriedly, pressing the sequence of commands that would eject her navi from Scilabs Net.

...

Nothing happened.

"What?"

She tried again.

Nothing.
A large blob of lava plops down on the ground next to Seraphim, prompting him to look up--

If Seraphim had read a certain children's book or seen a certain, incredibly lame children's movie in the 21st century of a world that did not exist to him, the line 'the sky is falling' would have been something highly comedic to say.

Of course, that would still be overshadowed by the fact that said sky is made out of lava which is quickly collapsing.
"Seraphim? Seraphim, what's going on?" Erin asked.

"No time to explain!" He snapped, running to what seemed to be the safest spot in what seemed to be an apocalypse. He looked for an exit, any exit.
And found none. The sky continues to collapse around Seraphim, until it all begins to come down at once, a blanket of molten magma that threatens to cover everything-- including him-- unless he thinks of something quick.

Seraphim: 140
Seraphim's hands trembled as he tried to figure a way out of this mess. He had been dragged into the lava...

By a clawed—

By the Dragon.

He looked upward slowly.

The navi realized. He had to get through the lava. The Dragon had made this place, and now it was falling apart. He had a time limit, and it was fast approaching.

He felt something gnawing at the edge of his mind, something urging him to use the power the core had given him. Seraphim abruptly refused, digging deeper instead. There was one thing here that could help him.

He reached for that one thing.

And couldn't find it.

Seraphim panicked, thrusting a hand into his inventory.

...Nothing.

So... he had one choice.

He let the core loose.

Mechanized parts lashed around his body, slowly transforming the Navi. Or rather, not as much transforming him as much as creating something else entirely. This was not the change from within most of Seraphim's friends had given him. This was power from without, something that did not become a new friend, a reminder of those battles they had shared.

This thing did not want to be his friend.

Armor surrounded him.

Firmly encased within the shell that was the 'Beast'.

The armor didn't move. Seraphim couldn't move.

He felt trapped.

He tried to writhe, to get out, to break the obstruction.

Nothing.

He couldn't even—

The twin holes that were the eyes of the 'suit' cleared, their coverings showing Seraphim the view. The suit jerked slightly.

The boosters activated. The knees flexed, the arms and body twisted.

The suit sprung off the ground, straight up. The boosters flared. Seraphim's mouth was open in a silent scream, he couldn't raise his arms to protect himself, he was at the mercy of this beast that he had slain so easily. He was no longer in 'control' of the situation.
Seraphim is hurled head-first into the lava by the 'suit'-

-and comes flying out the mouth of the volcano, entirely unharmed. The PET, sensing the link to Seraphim being fully restored, does what Erin frantically attempted to force a moment ago:

It jacks Seraphim out.