UA: Dusk - A Final Effort.
"You're sure about this," Nathan asked, a look of worry on his face. "You understand what you're asking us to do?"

Joseph nodded as the sounds of war drew closer to their location. "He will show. He will want to be the first into the cave. He will want to be the one to open the Heart, so he will show and we will fight. You will need to act before one of us dies. If I die, I may not be able to hold him. If he dies, he'll have escaped and we'll just have to do this all over again."

Ethan and Aethan looked to each other. "Alright," Ethan said. "We know what we have to do, but how will we know when?"

"Just keep a close eye on the fight. I'll let you know when." Joseph looked to each of his friends. "Are you ready?"

All three nodded. Nathan put his hand on Joseph's shoulder. "After this is over, we'll find a way to..."

Joseph interrupted him and put a hand to Nathan's shoulder. "I know you will. Now hurry. Get the preparations completed before he gets here. It won't be long now." A loud explosion shook the building they were in. Nathan nodded and headed outside.

Joseph checked his armor, it was all secure. He wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword. The only sword that will be able to injure his father. He took a deep breath and walked outside. The sounds of war raged loudly around him. He made straight for the entrance to the cave that the Heart of Darkness sat in.

A few of the Dominion soldiers tried to bar his way and attack, but he simply moved past them. He had the Shard of Time buried within him and he was able to jump in and out of time itself using it's power. He couldn’t be delayed by these minions of his father. He needed to get to the entrance now that the orbital bombardment has ended.

He found himself at the cave entrance in no time and took another deep breath. His heart raced. He didn't mind admitting he was scared. His plan was very risky, not to mention in just moments, he would be pitted against his father in a fight for the lives of billions.

None of the Dominion troops came near the cave. He knew his father would instruct them to stay away from it, that it was his. Joe looked up to the sky where the Dominion fleet hung in the sky, almost blotting out the sun entirely. All he had to do now was wait.

Suddenly and eerily, the sound of the war surrounding Joseph disappeared. Joseph still hadn't averted his eyes from the blotted out heavens when he heard the voice. "So. I was right. I did feel my very own son here, waiting for me."

Joseph lowered his gaze until he eyes met his fathers. The figure before him at one time was known as Bradley Wanke. Joseph remembered those days. His father seemed a kind man then. He taught Joseph that despite what his flesh and blood made him, that didn't mean he couldn't be who he wanted to be. Words Joseph took to heart and lived by. Words his very own father seemed to forget the day he regained memories of a previous life. The day his own blood turned, his flesh changed into that of a Djinn.

It was like in an instant the father Joseph had known disappeared. Gone was Bradley and now there was only this King of Blades. A djinn of the darkness.

"I was wondering when you were going to show yourself," Joe said. "You've been keeping me waiting."

"Why? Are you in a hurry to be sent to the Denizen? Or maybe you finally realize how foolish it is to work with these... humans," the djinn's voice is full of disgust as he hisses out the word, "and you've come to join me in my moment of triumph."

"I'd never side myself with a madman like you father. You once taught me that I can..."

"Foolish human banter! That was before I knew what it was to be powerful! To be WORTHY of praise! Those lessons I taught you are meaningless! Babblings of a worthless human being! You are a djinn and you belong above these pathetic beings!"

The King of Blades in his anger started to radiate a dark, sinister aura around him, his eyes going jet black as he floated above the ground. Joseph stood firm and spoke to his father.

"Maybe you forget dad. I am human. Human and djinn. I know through simply being me that neither side is greater than the other. Both are capable of great things. Somewhere along the line you stopped seeing that and became this monster you are today."

The dark djinn looked amused. "Great... Great things? You're kidding, right? You can do what you can do ONLY because of your djinn side! You would be NOTHING without it! A joke! Worthless! A meaningless being on a meaningless world! You would be no better than any of those out there!" The djinn waves his hand at the battlefield around them, the countless number of dead humans and Dominion soldiers scattered across the devastated cityscape. "You would be nothing but another worthless human to be slain by my blade."

Joseph's eyes narrowed. "Just like Cjarvi? Do be slain like him?"

The King of Blades lip curled into a grin slightly. "Exactly."

Joseph's hand reached down to the hilt of his sword. "Well... as far as worthless humans go, he saw what you were becoming. He could see the evil filling your heart and soul. He knew that you may become something sinister and that you may need to be destroyed."

"He knew nothing. You give him more credit than he's worth."

Joseph gritted his teeth but held back the temptation to say something back. He continued what he was saying instead. "He KNEW you were becoming stronger than most mortal men could handle and he also knew about that Black Mantel you found, your armor that's kept you safe for so long."

This seems to have caught the dark djinn's attention. No one was supposed to know the nature of his armor. His eyes narrowed as he listened.

"The forges of Cjarvishire burnt bright and with the help of the heavens and their Lathe, they forged this." Joseph drew the Cjarvishard from his side and pointed it at the King of Blades. It appeared to be some sort of fusing of metal and crystal. It's appearance made it seem like it should be heavy, but Joe held it in one hand easily. "The Cjarvishard. Forged by Heaven and Earth, made with an ore found deep within Cjarvishire and the crystal of the Chakiel home world. A sword designed for the soul purpose of defeating you."

The King of Blades looked unamused for a few moments. "Sounds like a rather worthless blade to me. Creating an artifact just to defeat me? Heh. Cute. I'm afraid you'll find you're overestimating what the humans can forge, even with the help of the heavens. I have the king of all swords son. I have Excalibur. Your sword scares me not and I will cut you AND it down. Your arrogance in thinking you can stand against me, even with your puny little artifact there is an insult that is punishable only with death." With that, the King of Blades drew the fabled sword. Darkness once against started to swirl around the djinn as he rose higher into the air. He seemed to grow larger, his aura a menacing, consuming shadow.

Joseph's heart beat fast in his chest. The moment was here. The moment where he needed to do what seemed like the impossible. He needed to defeat the King of Blades and Excalibur and save the entire human race.

He gripped the sword in both hands and raised it above his head. He gave a loud yell and then a bright fire erupted around him pushing back the dark aura of his father. It burnt a bright bluish-white and it's heat seared the very ground below him, the dirt melting to liquid glass in mere moments. The only things that shown through the fire were the sword, his armor, specially made to withstand his flame, and the contrasting red glow of his eyes.

Both beings floated there for a few moments, sizing each other up. Joseph's burning red eyes glared into the infinite black depths of his father's eyes. Joe's mind focused on what needed to be done. His powers flared within him, the time shard ready, his sword in hand.

Then all at once, the darkness seemed to move and his father was right next to him. He barely dodged the sword sing in time as it only cut through the burning flames of his aura. The shard didn't warn him of the attack? Joseph didn't know how this could be possible but he didn't have time to contemplate as yet again Excalibur came flying at him in a wide arch. Joseph raised the Cjarvishard up to defend himself and prey that his father was wrong about Cjarvi's crafting abilities.

A loud 'clang' rang across the battlefield as the swords met. Joseph's eyes widened. The sword held. The King of Blades had a look of total shock on his eyes. The king of all swords, Excalibur should cut though any material like butter. Nothing should be able to withstand a blow from this sword yet here this blade his own husband had created held against it.

Joseph knew his father would compose himself quickly so he took advantage of this surprise. Using the power of the time shard, he accelerated his body. He quickly maneuvered himself beside his father and swung for his flank. The King of Blades tried to defend but was slow to react from his shock. The sword struck his dark armor. The dark djinn bellowed, more in surprise than pain as the sword broke through his previously indestructible armor and sunk into his flesh. He spun away quickly, the blow only wounding him slightly.

The dark being lowered a hand to his wounded side and then looked to Joseph. "I was going to toy with you. I was going to make this fun to watch you struggle against me. But this insult deserves nothing but a quick and VERY painful death!!"

The evil djinn's dark aura poured out of him, consuming almost all light around him. Joseph's fiery aura the only thing keeping the darkness from consuming him too. Joseph knew that his father now saw him a real threat and wouldn't give him any room for error. Joseph summoned forth the fire within him and charged forward.

To onlookers, it looked like a comet streaking toward an all consuming black hole. Joe readied his sword and stabbed at his father. With inhuman speed his blow was deflected and he felt a heavy hand hit him hard. Joe was flung to the earth hitting hard enough to create a small crater with his body. His mind was blinded with pain and only his instincts helped him just barely roll out of the way as his father came slamming down into the ground, Excalibur first. The resulting impact caused another explosive crater which flung Joseph across the battle field.

He came caught himself in the air and regained his flight as he raised his sword blocking Excalibur at the very last moment. The force of the blow flung Joseph back, but he regained himself and lunged back at his father.

Swords met as the two fought. Joseph flung flames at his father as the dark djinn's armor deflected them with out a scratch. Joseph could feel the darkness his father radiated try to grab at him, slow him, hinder him, but his fiery aura kept the darkness at bay. Joseph again charged at his father a blazing streak across the sky and again he was not able to land a blow.

Joseph's lungs burnt with more than just fire. His mind reeled in pain as he took a few glancing blows from close calls. He wasn't coming out on top in this battle and he knew it. He was also running out of time if his plan was going to work. He had to act now.

As the King of Blades swung at his son, he started knocking him back further and further. Joseph was having an increasingly more difficult time blocking blows as his arms started to feel heavy. His body was succumbing to fatigue. The flurry of blows pushed him down into the ground. His breath was almost knocked from his body with the impact as his father landed beside him, one foot falling on the Cjarvishard, pinning it to the ground, the other landing on his son's chest, weighing heavy upon it, removing what little breath Joe had left.

"You see son. I am true power. You became a failure the day you embraced your human side, denying your Djinn side it's full potential." The King of Blades lifted the mighty Excalibur in both hands, blade pointing down at his son's throat.

This is it, Joe thought, his last chance. Calling upon all of the power of the time shard to give him speed the world around him started to slow as he quickened. His father's blade started to fall and he raised his arm, and let out the most powerful jet of flame he could. He released his hold on time as the flame caught the dark djinn right in the face and actually knocked him up into the air off of Joseph. The King of Blades howled and covered his eyes as he was momentarily blinded by the powerful blast. As he lowered his hands from his face to find the source of the blaze, he was barely able to see, let along react to the sight of his son, just inches away from him, sword posed to strike.

The sound of the sword penetrating the front of the djinn's armor rang through the silent battlefield. A look of shock across the djinn's face as the blade kept moving through him and then burst out of his back and through his armor yet again. Joseph held the sword firmly as he glared into his father's eyes.

"S...son..." The King of Blades gasped as he looked at Joe.

"Yes father?"

The King of blades coughed up a little of his black blood. "Son..." Then faster than Joe could react he felt a hand grip the back of his head. "Next time make it a killing blow."

Before Joe could react he felt it. The fabled sword Excalibur. He could feel it effortlessly cut through the armor just under his ribcage and slice through his flesh like a hot knife through butter. The blade kept going until he felt a jarring in his body as it sliced through his spine and then the sword exited out his back. Joseph couldn't even scream as his body twitched, the shock of his body being struck by the great blade overcoming him.

The dark djinn lowered himself and his son to the ground. Joseph gripped at the sword stuck through his side, his mouth still open in a silent scream as pain became everything around him. "You never stood a chance son. Don't worry though. I'll visit you in the Denizen... In fact, I have a nice cozy place all waiting for you there. Doubt you'll enjoy it but only the worst for my failure of a son."

Joseph was barely clinging to consciousness. His flame aura had already died as he kept hold of the sword stuck in his side. Blood was pouring from his wounds and he reached his other hand up to his father's shoulder. "H...how bout... we spend.. quality... time together... instead?" He coughed out some blood with those last words. He closed his eyes, gripped Excalibur tight and sent one word through the mental link he had established with his friends earlier. "Now."

Bright orange runes flared around the two warriors. The King of Blades felt magic all around him. An anchoring spell. It wouldn't allow him to teleport or gate out of the area. Excalibur could disrupt them though. He tried to stand, but he felt a pull at his sword. Joseph was holding onto it and was grinning up at him. Joseph knew he wouldn't try and escape without the blade and he held it firmly while it pierced his body.

Yellow runes started to form around the orange ones. The djinn knew these to be runes of binding. He'd seen them before during a VERY close call he had in a confrontation with the Emperor of these worlds. "You fool! They're trying to bind us!" He yanked at the sword.

Pain again erupted from the weapon in Joseph's side but he held firmly onto it. Red runes started to glow brightly now. In the glow of the runes the Djinn could now see 3 figures standing back. One of them raised his hand an in it he held a large oval cut ruby. The red runes represented runes of transfer.

"NO! Let go of my sword you whelp!" The dark djinn gave a solid tug on the sword and Joseph in his failing strength could not hold on. The sword sliced through the rest of his back, almost cutting him in two. Joseph gasps as his life force started to fade from his body. He had to hold on he kept telling himself. If I can't, I will be forced to the Denizen and even imprisonment is better than that.

Nathan gripped the ruby tightly in his hand as he saw his friend almost cut in two. The runes were in place and the last move was his to make. He chanted the command word for the spell and threw the ruby towards the runes. "BIND!"

"No!!" The djinn yelled as he tried to leap from the circle of runes. The ruby crossed the threshold of magic and there was a blinding flash of red light. Ethan, Aethan and Nathan covered their eyes. When they opened them again, all that sat before them was the ruins from the battle, a small glowing ruby and the Cjarvishard and Excalibur laying on the ground.