4c.) Altruist

"Attacking a man from behind is such a low attempt," Alan stated, boldly. The sand behind him, when it entered a two-meter range from the center of his body, dissipated into a red mist; holding his left palm outward, certain that noone else could see him at this range, he used this data to form a six-inch knife in his left hand, made of a stainless steel, with the sharpness of a steak knife.

"Yes... I suppose this will have to do..." Alan said to himself, looking forward at the two DaCre once more. "Ah... the former Lord as well... though you weren't in my calculations..."

Seemingly uninterested in this potential disadvantage, he looked back at Shobatsu. "Tridara, Tridara... did you think I'd just let you waltz away with such an important DaCre..."

"Damn it..." Shobatsu took a step back, not able to remove his gaze from Alan's eyes...

Luxor seemed to be enthralled at the sands dissapation, instead of being irked.

"If you were weak enough to fall to such a petty thing as that, then you wouldn't deserve anything more. But it is you so I suppose I might've expected this much. I just didn't think you'd show for something like this... Personally wouldn't rate this kitsune as very important though; he seems much more like a supporting role in the scheme of things."

He looked at the Tridara possessed Shobatsu. "Then again the ghost hardly seems vital himself."

He took a step back to not get caught in whatever crossfire ensued, but only hoped Tridara might put up a good show... or if he was really lucky weaken Alan enough for Luxor to cross one more problem off of his list.

"If you really want to let the kitsune loose again go ahead. I suppose I don't care either way."

Alan smirked. "Nothing like that yet... I only came to give a warning to Tridara... anything more here, and I'll blow my cover..."

He said this, walking forward to Shobatsu, placing his index and middle finger against his forehead. In an instant, Shobatsu's frustration against Alan was replaced with a brief, fear-filled look, which vanished as quickly as it came. By this method of communication, Luxor would have no idea what Alan just 'said'.

"Such a pity... I better go before those other fools spot me and tell me to run away from the madmen... ta-ta..." Alan said, rather dryly, walking away quickly around a corner, disappearing from sight once more.

"Damn it... to think he would betray us all..." the phantom mutterred, in a shivering voice. What had just been said, apparently, was vital... but it was unknown who was the betrayer, and who all referred to...

It did freeze him for a moment... in case the rest of the group were to catch up...

The mind of Shobatsu...

The phantom would enter a smooth stone corridor, and immediately get the feeling that he was in a temple for no apparent reason. There was that faint sensation of a being that, while observing, hadn't chosen to manifest as of yet that you got in churches and such, a sort of hushed reverence as though visitors were worried of some form of retribution for being rudely noisy.

Ornate stone doorways were set in the wall every so often, with friezes of angels and cherubs and the like looking out benevolently. Occasionally one of the angels would have a sneer, or the cherub a malicious grin. Sometimes the friezes weren't pleasant to look at, those same angels performing terrible deeds, the victims captured in mid-scream... These doorways were firmly sealed with slabs of rock, however, perfectly level with the walls beside it. Sometimes the normal doorways were sealed as well, or a doorway was simply missing where the pattern would have one.

Additional corridors branches off every so often, looking almost identical to each other. The first corridor continued on, however, to a doorway lit up with a bright light...

Once inside, the phantom would see thousands of glossy gray poles jutting from the walls of a huge chamber, rising up higher than the eye could see, and reaching out far into the distance. Electricity-looking energy leaped from pillar to pillar faster than the eye could follow, creating the blinding light. The floor was covered in cracked, worn mosaic tiles, forming a large, ornate circle around the center of the floor, into which was set a large, plain black stone.

The stone was perfectly smooth, reflective and untarnished, and seemed somehow more solid than the rest of the tiles around it. At the center lay a small, glowing white sphere, roughly three by three feet, hovering a foot above the ground.

The phantom, ignoring the decoration for the time, moved towards the center of the mind with one goal: to control the core that Shobatsu had so kindly handed over to him. He eventually found his way to the center room, sound resonating each time he took a step.

Smirking, as he approached the light, he extended his hand forward, towards it, glowing red, as he pressed his palm a short distance away from it, beginning to form a familiar-looking cage... even if this wasn't Shobatsu's consciousness, it looked like something important to control.

The mirror-like floor beneath almost seemed to ripple with each step Tridara took, though didn't give in any way. It was a little unnerving to one who noticed it, though the DaCre seemed too focused to take much note of the background at the moment.

The sphere remained completely immobile, not responding to any movement or touch of the phantom.

The shadow stood still, the cage completed, now surrounding the light. "Where are you, fox!" the shadow yelled, his voice echoing throughout the corridor. "You must hold up your end of the deal... unless you want your mind painfully forced, I suggest you get to this room!"

The sphere pulsed slightly at the word 'fox', almost similar to a dog's ear pricking up in a sleep upon hearing its name. Meanwhile, the smooth floor underneath trembled alarmingly as soon as the phantom began to speak, as though unappreciative of the noise.

"My end of the deal is already fulfilled."

The voice seemed to resonate throughout the whole room, as the phantom's had, but in a more regal manner. It came from the sphere.

"Very well, then..." the phantom replied, with a smirk, grasping this cage. Thin, black lines rescinded from the cage walls, entering into the sphere, which turned slightly black, as the phantom elicited control over Shobatsu's body... he would remain silent to Shobatsu, simply acting with his body as Shobatsu watched... until, Alan's interference...

Backing away from the cage, Alan walked in, smirking in the main room of the mind. The phantom seemed perturbed.

"What... what is it you want!" the phantom yelled at the 'tamer', as he stopped about halfway towards the phantom.

"Relax... I didn't come here to destroy you... I just came with a message..." the human explained, looking at the phantom with a severe look. "Use this body as you like... but if I ever since this fox going into the desert of destruction, be certain that I will destroy you... I will not let Tridara have his way..."

"Wait!" the phantom objected. "I thought you were working with the Lords on this! To reinstate Tridara's true power..."

"Like hell!" Alan retorted. "His mission impedes with my own... seeing his full power would be rather... troublesome," Alan explained. "You have been warned... killing the fox now would lead to too many questions..."

With that, Alan vanished in a wisp. The phantom, not actively controlling Shobatsu for the moment (though time was not evenly scaled), shook in slight fear...

Shobatsu's body collapsed to the ground, not a single muscle twitching to lighten the fall. It was under Shobatsu's control, yes. The problem was that Shobatsu had "other things" on his mind at the moment.

...

The gray pillars surrounding the walls dimmed for a moment, the energy ceasing to pass between posts. Then, the single circling wall, pillars and all, flashed bright white. The walls, including all forms of exit, suddenly vanished as a single solid wall of light completely surrounded the massive room.

The sphere of light shrank to a pinpoint as the lights dimmed, suddenly untouched by the wires and bars, and then suddenly expanded as the pillars acted. The light wasn't cut into by the bars this time, however, but broke out of the cage in an instant.

Unable to escape, the phantom would have no choice but to fight or submit to Shobatsu's will. Would the phantom be willing to risk Alan's wrath so soon after the warning, however?

The phantom smirked, looking inwards to this center light, which had temporarily managed to escape its grasp. "Interesting..." the phantom said, able to sense Shobatsu's thoughts, knowing exactly why and how this room was sealed off: with this information, he would be best able to escape this situation... still, it did hold some risk to it...

"Tell me how it feels to live only in the present," the taint asked, putting his hand against a light wall. Extending his dark wires, he began to disrupt the whole barricade, which Shobatsu would have to refocus to regain.

"That's right... you want to keep me in here... you don't want me terrorizing this village again... I have nothing better to do than disrupt you, but you can't take your focus off of me..."

"So, what will it be, kitsune?"

Luxor caught Shobatsu as he fell.

"Now now... don't be silly kitsune. I don't know what's going on in there, but play your part as a good little puppet for now. It would be a shame if such a limp form were to simply break after all..."

Luxor hefted the limp Shobatsu and walked towards the exit, awaiting Tridara's return but wanting to move the "asset" somewhere not so easily targetable.

The walls began to thicken in the place the DaCre was infection, increasing at a rate faster than the disruption was taking place. The poles were continuously generating the energy and light necessary to maintain the wall, and just a little focus from Shobatsu, he was able to easily maintain and increase the strength of the walls.

Here, at the center of his power, with a source of great power... he would not be easily bested in a battle of attrition.

"Would you care to share anything before the end?" asked the voice of Shobatsu, no longer echoing for some reason. The walls continued to expand, the the size of the room slowly shrank and shrank...

The phantom smirked. "Really, now, is that the best you can do, fox?"

Its body had been spreading wires even past what Shobatsu could percieve, as he had been focusing on what the phantom was obviously doing: infecting the light wall. However, there was no defense on the already weathered floor, which, with a single shift of the feet, cracked, and opened, showing a passageway out of the center room.

Arrogance had once again created an opening... the virus slipped downward, quickly beginning to vanish, like a wisp...

"Ugh..."

The shadow, exitting Shobatsu's body, would find that it had impaled itself on Arthur's blade, which he had drawn, silently approaching Luxor and Shobatsu from behind. Focusing slightly, the shadow twisted, and became absorbed into the sword, which Arthur examined. "Nothing more than a shadow... surprised it got this far..." Arthur said, mostly to himself, before looking forward at Luxor and the fox.

"You'd best just let him go," Arthur said, pointing his blade at Luxor. "This sword has no problem dealing with sand spirits."

"Hmph. Dissapointing. Though your own confidence is quite amusing; I'm not just some shadow you shoo away with a blade."

Luxor casually waved with his hand and the wall behind Arthur shot out and then forward; barring retreat and pushing Arthur towards him. Simultaneously he stuck his other hand near the blade.

"Ankh Seal."

A seal appeared and stuck to the blade; it would leech the phantom out of the blade and into itself. Luxor had little further interests and would flee into the sands with the seal if he succeeded; though if he failed he'd likely try his luck at both stealing Tridara back and taking on Arthur... He needed more data to work with most of all.

"So... I take it you haven't heard of me, then..."

Arthur remarked about this, taking a sidestep, willingly letting the seal hit, before tightening his grip on the hilt, holding the phantom back from being pulled into the seal.

"A trade, then; the fox for the phantom. Otherwise, this will turn into a serious affair..." Arthur remarked, staring into Luxor.

Of course, since he was to speed away from the phantom anyway, he would likely take this trade...

Luxor smiled. "Agreed. But with a cavia..."

Luxor held out his hand and his symbols glowed. A glowing but seperate circle with many rotating symbols but a stationary L in gothic print at it's center appeared. Luxor put one finger****-like, on Shobatsu's forehead and then Arthur's own. The same symbol flickered there a moment on each before fading.

"Just something to keep me in the loop. I rather dislike secrets kept from me. And so I take my leave... for now. I would anticipate that soon all of you will begging for my return. No threat implied."

Luxor would then take his seal and leave as sand, leaving Shobatsu behind as he did so.

Shobatsu woke as the brand was being made, and dropped to the floor, hand flying to his forehead. He stared at Luxor's crumbling form, and watched the heap of sand leave. He looked over at Arthur, and saw a faint L flicker on his forehead.

"I don't suppose you can remove whatever it is?" asked Shobatsu in such a manner that he could simply be referring to Arthur's symbol if there wasn't one on him. He hadn't seen it applied, and couldn't see his own forehead, so...

"Just a trifle," Arthur remarked, his sword pulsing, releasing a spiritual, slightly destabilizing energy, that caused both marks to waver and vanish, dissipating silently into a red dust.

Feeling and seeing the marks removed, Arthur crouched, and looked at Shobatsu, at his level. "Are you hurt? Can you stand?" Arthur asked, now concerned about Shobatsu's direct condition. "We need to get you back to the city... some around are very worried about you..."

Shobatsu brushed the dirt from his coat, and nodded.

"Yes, I'm quite alright. Let's get back, then. I..."

He remembered Valeria, and how he'd just left her behind to take on this new foe, right after they'd decided to go it together.

"... I hope I'm not in trouble."

With that, he turned, and started back toward the city...

Arthur nodded with a slight knowing smirk, knowing exactly what Shobatsu was feeling. ~Still... this fool saved Lily's life... though I can't tell him that... I don't want to encourage this reckless behavior...~

He led him back through the city streets, pretty much as a witness to what had occurred, standing as a proof of Shobatsu's regained sanity; though the gaze of the crowd was wary, at least they weren't actively shoving him out of the door...

Eventually, this would lead to Valeria finding them... she was somewhere else, until someone had tipped her off about this new development, which led her to approach Shobastsu from the front. As expected, her expression wasn't all roses...

"Shobatsu..." Valeria said, a shadow cast over her eyes. "Please... don't do something so reckless again..."

She seemed deeply emotionally hurt from this... confused, distraught, betrayed, and downright miserable-sounding...

" You idiot! " Echo hissed, her eyes ablaze, she was standing behind Shobatsu. " You get over there right no and apologize before I skin you and wear you as my new coat! She was worried sick you dolt! " Echo was incredibly ****** at Shobatsu. Luckily, she was only in D rank and was being held back by her wings by Alex.

" Oh boy... " Alex muttered as he attempted to keep Echo from sinking her teeth into Shobatsu.

Arthur stepped forward, between Echo and the pair, looking at the bat critically. It truly wasn't her place to interfere in this, and Arthur wanted to make sure the bat knew this.

"Speak from experience or not at all," Arthur said, simply, looking at the bat. She really had no room to speak...

" Oh shut up you little rabbit, aren't you late for something? " Echo said in a low hiss that only Arthur could hear. " And you know as well as I do that that was completely reckless. Not only could he have been killed but that phantom could have killed many people here, not to mention Valeria is now miserable. Ugh! I'm gonna kill that twerp, doesn't he realize she cares about him! I'm gon- "

Echo was cut off from her whisper to Arthur by Alex, putting his hand over her mouth, restraining her further.

The citizens had little reason to fear from Shobatsu's actions, considering all he'd done while possessed was walk calmly out of the city while chatting with another DaCre. Those surrounding him had clearly seen him become infected, however, and rumor may have exaggerated things somewhat. Given how much a tale could shift with multiple telling*, especially with fear running through the air, Shobatsu was probably lucky with only wariness.

As Valeria spoke, Shobatsu sighed, looking down. "I acted without thinking... I'm sorry."

Shobatsu saw his actions as another sign of his pride. He'd acted instinctually, naturally putting himself in harms way to protect those he held dear. At the time the decision had seemed so clear. After the fact, it seemed less so.

A split second later, Echo began to rant at him, having ignored his sentence in that determined, over-bearing manner of hers. He tuned her out, judging from the first sentence that she didn't have anything useful to say.