The shadow that never ceases (closed to Elena Marie and Doc Everyone)

The blaring heat of the summer wafted all over the city, noxious fumes and the constant drone of midday activities within time square erupted in a loud chorus that would have woken up any deaf plebeian. To the commuters that thrived in this concrete jungle such things were a regular occurrence, the hustle and bustle down below was nothing to marvel at, they were desensitized to it all. However, for some such things do take getting used to and often times the overwhelming atmosphere of the city will have adverse effects. One woman in particular loathed it, she abhorred the smell, the noise, the people and their blandness; everything about modern society disgusted her...the very fact that such mindless peasants could walk around freely irked the woman greatly.

She was none other than Su Daji, the ageless oriental princess that just happened to house an otherworldly entity within her petite, lithe body and a member of the villainous group known as shade. Her activities within the group so far have been less than amusing, although she did manage to score herself a servant which was always fun if she needed some entertainment. This woman, or Artificial human as Elena calls them went by the name of Marian and she has so far proven effective in quenching Daji's ocassional need for particular activities.

The two women were standing on the roof of a high rise building, the smaller fiestier lady tip-toeing on the edge of the large structure, her ungodly dexterity keeping her perfectly balanced. She had grown bored of watching the American commuters go about their daily working so she simply started amusing herself with some death defying acrobatics. "you know what Marian, one day I'm just gonna waltz right into an office and kill everyone in there.." the petite woman said casually, flicking her fringe out of her youthful face. Just before her servant could answer a bright flash of light exploded in the middle of the two women, a familiar gold haze emitting from the magical display.

A woman's voice began speaking out of the golden light, it was Elena Marie herself, "Daji, I trust you and Marian are enjoying yourselves. Try not to fall off any buildings" the voice spoke with a particularly patronizing tone making the petite woman grind her teeth, "Remember that broadcast by Doctor Everyone... Well since you are the closest I want you to pay this particular person a visit. Tell him...I'm watching" the voice drifted into the wind and as the light magic soon disappeared as well. In it's stead stood a writhing heap of bodies and another familiar face. Elena Marie was always generous when providing backup and today was no exception. Standing before Daji was the winged artificial human Angelica and a whole pack of Speed based humans, their mutated grunts piercing the humid atmosphere. "M'lady Daji, Mistress Elena suggests we get going as quick as possible" Angelica spoke without taking a breath, her large wings folded neatly behind her back.

Daji raised an eyebrow and hopped onto the railing, staring out into the distance through the city smog, into the direction of where the commotion was occurring, a devious grin spreading across her thin lips, "Okay ladies, let's be off then" she smirked bounding off the side of the building onto the one adjacent to her, she'll be there in no time; and

Doctor Everyone was sitting on the edge of the Empire State Building. He had needed to get away from Times Square. It had become a beacon for people looking for him. So he sat on the edge of the towering tower, feet dangling. A position few could ever say they had been in, but possessing the ability to fly gave you an advantage in accessing high places.

He was enjoying the view of the city and the sky. It was quiet up there and his mind wandered the the future. He had Phoenix helping him, and so he didn't feel like things would be so bad. He could handle a lot by himself, but so far things had shown he had a lot to deal with. He wasn't well liked at all. But he would change that, eventually. He'd do enough good to change all of that.

Then he sensed a presence behind him. He knew the feeling, the feeling he wasn't alone. He flew up and spun around, to face the people that had come to him.

Daji's death defying acrobatics across the rooftops of the sprawling concrete jungle was a sight to behold in itself, she swiftly somersaulted over ledges and pranced on the wires that jitter out of the massive structures. Her superhuman dexterity was a great blessing, no slip ups occurred and the trek to finding the doctor was nothing particularly challenging. He was located on top if the empire state building, quite a feat since not many people could reach that height without an elevator. His growing form rose in the distance as she bounded towards the target, a devious look in her face as she focused her leg muscles and shot herself into the air, soaring towards the large building. Any nomeal person would have fallen prey to gravity, but the lithe demon princess, alongside the small troupe behind her sprun into space easily grasping onto the famous landmark.

As she propelled her body upwards and hopped onto the roof it appeared that her presence had already been forseen. Standing before her was Doctor Everyone, still as statue, complete with the contemplative stance, his face howver was covered in a gas mask. She stared him down with a disgusted sneer, clenching her jaw as he did so. "You're a hard man to reach" she said sarcastically, flicking some dirt from underneath her fingernail. She lightly stepped to her right as she began to circle him, barely a sound was made from her light footsteps. She sized him up, not that imposing compared to her acquaintances in Shade but nonetheless he wouldn't be weak if Elena is hunting him down.

Twirling her braid she bit her lip in a predatory manner Daji menacingly chuckled as wave of creative torture methods came into her head, he was alone man going up against her and a whole horde of demons, it was definitely going to be a fun ride, "Elena Marie sends her regards" she smirked before baring her canines at the man..

Doctor Everyone stood still, unworried about what might unfold. The woman circled him, either needing to use a restroom or sizing him up. While this showed the Doctor that she wanted to fight, he was reluctant to battle at all. Even when she shown her teeth like a predatory big cat, he stood still, as stoic as could be. He kept calm, and like dealing with big cats, calm could prevent physical repercussions.

"You've caught me at a good time then. If it was hard to reach me now, imagine the difficulty that would have been added in reaching me when I was thought dead. Though I do not know why Elena would send me her regards, she of all people knew all along that I was not deceased. She's actually the reason I stand before you today."

Dr.Everyone looked her in the eyes, though she could not see his own. He knew deep down what she wanted, and what this would all boil down to, but his voice showed no evidence of such.

"So, Miss. What is it that brings you to the top of this magnificent architectural structure?"

Daji sneered at the masked fellow, she did not enjoy making small talk with men,"oh you know, a girl always needs some time to appreciate the view" she murmured sarcastically, glancing at the artificial beings behind her, it was partly however...high places away from the useless city slickers was her preference "Well I also brought my friends here...they could do with some playtime. I was hopin that you might amuse us for the time being", her slanted eyes gleamed with deviousness before she stepped back to face Marian and the demonic troupe.

"Warm him up for me okay, you'll be rewarded if you make it fun.." she said staring at Marian, brushing a lock of hair out of the woman's face as she let out a low sigh, an airy whistle escaping her lips. Marian blinked twice, she couldn't refuse the twisted princess' questionable request, making Daji even slightly angry was something not many people would eant to do on purpose, so she replied with a brisk nod of her head and a "Yes ma'am" before assuming her battle stance. Angelica and the Speed forms behind her followed immediately, surrounding the masked fellow like predators would a wild deer.

"Doctor, for the sake of my boredom please put up a fight" she spoke rolling her eyes before flicking her wrist, motioning for the minions to launch their attack. The speed forms sprinted in circles around the lone man, their quick slashes barely visible as they clawed their way at him. Daji stood back observing the actions with a gleeful smirk, the mass of white creatures that sprinted around him had now become a massive fleshy twister...he would be lucky to dodge their ruthless assault. Even I he were to escape he would then have to deal with Marian an Angelica, who observe the action with an acute amount of focus...Shade's assault on the new hero had begun...

Dr.Everyone only uttered "As you wish." before letting out an aggressive yell at the minions that charged at him. He levitated ten feet into the air before doing a series of 360 degree spins, a fire whirl forming around him. He maintain the fire tornado for five seconds, it's mass burning a blinding white with a light undertone of blue. Tendrils of flame lashed out from the fire whirl like whips, ensure third degree burns to anything they hit. The Doctor dismissed the fire tornado and hit the ground with roll. He popped back up wielding to chain-whips made only of fire. These too were a blinding white. He lashed them each at a separate minion, allowing a second for the fire-whips to coil around a torso or extremity before calling back the whip.

From the outside you could see that his speed was nothing special. But he had sufficient combat skill from far too many encounters of that kind. And his mind allowed him to plan out each and every step he took long before he took it. Even wielding the fire whips he was a just a fiery mass of fluid movements and lashing fire inside a labcoat.

"These people should be no problem to handle. But why is Elena attack me? If she is really behind this, that is. I'll just concentrate on removing these quantity over quality minions and then simply overcome anyone else who's still standing."

"Oooh very fancy" Daji sarcastically murmured tapping her finger against her chin as she watched the fiery display. She would have been impressed, maybe even intimidated, but a whole array of factors halted the woman from showing any fear of the masked hero. She had lived for over a millennia and no pyromaniac was going to stop her playtime, not this early anyway. The speedy creatures that clambered on top of each other, desperately trying to claw at the man were in fact having a hard time, what he seemed to lack in defence he made up in reach and it was almost impossible for the strange pale humanoids to properly grasp onto him.

The creatures were severely burnt, his dazzling chains had significantly charred their artificial bodies and they limped towards him, pain was nothing but a fleeting emotion. Letting out an exasperated sigh Daji waved her hand at Angelica, the winged woman, "Servant Girl, how about you heal our friends over there," she motioned with her head at the creatures which still attempted to lunge at the flame wielding hero. "Yes ma'am" Angelica replied with a brisk nod of her head, her wings stretching behind her as an otherworldly fire erupted from within her core, bathing the creatures in a warm scarlet blaze. Unlike the doctor's arsenal this fire could heal, not destroy and soon enough the creatures were as good as new and almost by instinct instantly began snapping at the man once more.

"Marian, please join in...it would be best if Angelica didn't do all the work" she said rather flatly, not caring if the man was overwhelmed. Marian was Daji's favourite, she possessed an extremely quick regenerative healing rate...not only was this useful in battles but in another, more physical activities with the demon princess. Unlike the writhing creatures that swiftly snapped at the flame weildig man Marian was a tactical thinker, almost as cunning as Daji herself and it wouldn't be surprising if the man was to get taken out by the scythe wielding 'servant girl' before the oriental concubine could get involved.

"Make him scream for me.." she growled, maniacally giggling straight after. Marian bounded through the speed based creatures weapon raised as she sprinted towards the man...aiming for his chest. Even if the fiery chains managed to hit her, the regenerative abilities would kick making her practically unstoppable..

No matter how many humanoids his chains latched onto and burned, more seemed to come. In between twists and twirls he saw the scarlet fire and the healed minions returning to battle from it. And to add to his mounting list of disadvantages, it seemed the one that had been holding a scythe was running at him at quick speeds. He would need to make such a forward assault counter productive to continue to carry out.

"Well! I am done with my stretching, time for the REAL jaw dropping fire show!"

Using his ability to fly, Dr.Everyone began to spin around in high speeds, his fiery chain whips spreading out over him until he resembled a spinning top made out of fire. As he spun around faster and fast, the fiery top around him shortened altogether and widened in the middle. He moved his spinning self this way and that, making it dangerous for anyone to be anywhere but in front of him. Abruptly, the fiery top stopped spinning and Dr.Everyone shot his hands out, facing forward towards the brunt of the group and the ever speeding, scythe wielding girl. The fire that had formed the top shot forward towards the group, followed by a torrential blast coming straight from his hands. This blast of fire widened the farther it extended from Dr.Everyone's hands, but it retained it's temperature of two thousand degrees Fahrenheit.

"You can still walk away! I will let you walk away from this!

The huge blaze of fire engulfed quite a large portion of the minions that charged at him, Marian however was lucky enough to dodge it just in time, the fire charring the skin on her right leg only to be healed almost instantaneously. Angelica swooped over the shrieking humid creatures, extinguishing their ailments with her otherworldly ability. This was going to be an endless cycle of fire blasts and regenerative healing before the man runs out of energy and dies of exhaustion...not unless the famed concubine herself got involved.

Dashing behind a large pillar and flipping over the writhing creatures Daji sprung into action, her movements exceedingly quick and practically impossible to keep track of..she didn't even make a noise, as if she weighed nothing, a ravenous spectre who bounded towards the pyromancer. "Oh I do plan on walking away...with your head on a platter" she maniacally giggled, twisting her body in the air like an acrobat, easily evading the fire that scorched the concrete and metal around them.

In one swift fluid movement Daji procured an ornate fan from within her loose fitting shirt, and whilst still in mid-air sprung it open causing it instantly set alight in flames. She flicked her wrist several times whilst midair releasing a whole barrage of tiny burning needles aimed at and around the masked fellow. Sure, he could dodge them if he was skilled enough...but would he dodge Marian who slinked behind him with her weapon raised..ready to strike him in the back.

Dr.Everyone activated the thermal imagine his helmet gave him. He wanted to see what was happening beyond his attack. It was as he expected. The women were fast and agile and dodged his attack. One of the three began to heel the minions he had harmed. It didn't look good, that is, for a normal person.

He watched with his thermal imagine as the one woman who had been talking dodged his attack and opened a fan. The fan almost instantly combusted and Dr.Everyone saw the projectiles it fired at him more easily than he normally would have. But that was not his only problem. One of the women had ran around behind him. His mind could register the world around him at quite an astonishing rate, and think and plan quickly too. But his body was not as quick. But his mind could control his fire. And that is just what he used to stay alive.

A almost purely blue wall of fire rose around Dr.Everyone. It had a five foot radius and burned as hot as he could manage. The needles melted as they touched the fire, reducing their level of danger to the danger level of molten metal. Which, to Dr.Everyone, was a very small amount of danger. The wall would most likely also hinder whatever the person behind him might do. He was surrounded, but he had also surrounded himself. And he could turn this defense into and attack. Fire was a versatile tool, especially in the hands of smart enough man.

"Cease your assault! This fire burns hot enough to hurt even Pain! Now leave, before I decide to outwardly explode this wall of fire. Tell whoever sent you that whatever they want with me they can't have."

Before Daji was about to proceed in assaulting the man with a whole string of profanities a familiar figure waltzed onto the roof of the building, blazing red hair catching the quick eye of the oriental princess. It was none other than Elena herself, the undisputed leader of Shade and one of the most powerful figures Daji had ever come across. It was a far stretch for the snarling woman to even offer anyone a semblance of respect, for respect was rightfully hers and hers alone, what else could someone of royal blood expect...however this witch, the Crimson Witch as the masses so fearfully labelled her was something beyond much of power the Asian woman had witnessed over the ages....not that she'll admit it of course.

"Oh and look who decided to rock up, ruin my fun why don't you,"Daji sarcastically muttered, crossing her arms as she glared at the masked man shrouded in flames. However it should be noted that if the red haired sorceress had not arrived earlier Daji would have eagerly torn the doctor to shreds, he scarred her servant girl and that was big no-no. Glancing at said 'servant girl' Daji wrinkled her nose in mild amusement, Marian was currently flexing her limbs, testing to see whether the burns had affected her performance at all...which it hadn't. Good...she'll be up for some fun tonight then daji thought to herself pursing her lips as she stared the girl up and down.

"Elena, this peasant deserves death...i've neither seen nor smelt someone so pitiful" she growled, wrinkling her nose in disgust, "How about you just jump off this building and save us the trouble of dirtying our hands with your blood " she spoke in a rather matter-of-fact voice motioning with her hand for him to take the plunge to a painful death..

Dr.Everyone felt utter surprise at the sound of the voice of Elena Marie, and even more surprise at the fact that her being here meant she was behind this attack. The Doctor hadn't seen her in a long time, and he had no idea why she was doing all of this. That is, of course, until she said as much.

"I am a fool in no capacity. A fool would continue living a life of evil and hate, hurting himself as much as the people and the world around him. I chose heroism because I am tired of harming people. My past actions sicken me to my very core. And my change of heart will neither be hindered nor reversed by your false sense of superiority and ownership. You might have built this body, but it is still mine. And I rescind any offer of repayment for it that I have ever offered. Your just a bully of a little girl. A little girl who found some magic toys and thinks shes entitled to everything because she's got some special talents. Well wake up, Elena Marie, for you are not the only one with talents and you are, by far, not entitled to ownership of anything."

Upon hearing one of the women Elena sent to attack him talking, Dr.Everyone laughed.

"You must be the foolish one here. If I were to jump off this building, it would be so I could fly around it and pummel you with fire."

As he spoke, and as they spoke, Dr.Everyone began to compress his fire wall, increasing the heat and density of the fire. He added more fire and more as needed. He'd need as much heat and ferocity behind his fire and possible.

Daji cocked her head to the side, eyebrows raised as she watched the redheaded woman scold the masked hero, a look of fiendish amusement on her pixie-like face. "You are a dead man!", she cackled, flicking her braid around her head as she sidestepped some bright blue fire. Flipping backwards, Daji smirked at the flaming man...he was sure to die from magical assault, that was a given and if he happened to have a shred of fortune and managed to avoid Elena's attack the Asian woman was sure to pounce on him.

It was almost as if time slowed down, the bright beam scorched the air around it tearing through the atmosphere as it made it's unstoppable advance to the Doctor. Bright blue flames, although impressive would have no chance of negating the magical penetration of the powerful beam. A few minions however were unfortunate enough to stand in the way of the attack, instantly dissolving ino a pile of putrid smelling ash.

This was sure to end soon.