Evil and It’s Many Identities

[Ryan - Loki]

Bedoe, ‘the dead land’ as the samurai once called this almost lifeless country. The land of Bedoe is not known across Dragonia for it’s beautiful grassy field or it’s almost heavenly flora, in fact it is known for the complete opposite. To look across Bedoe is to look upon a horizon of jagged mountains, their peaks decorated in snow and frost, and hollowed valleys. These sights stretch on as far as the eye can see. The days are short and the nights are long in Bedoe, the temperature matching this, sometime, dangerous cycle.

Being that winter was nearing this side of the globe the temperature, on this morning, was extremely low, if compared to Lavertia, but with the amount of flora and fauna living in this place nearing zero, and the lack of foreigners that ventured into this inhospitable place, the people of this country needed not worry about their home for inside their houses, within their city, they were warm and safe from the extremely harsh weathers to come. This of course wasn’t always the case.



Moving slowly across one of the many hollowed valleys, that Bedoe’s landscape was well known for, a lone figure battled against the harsh winds and temperatures. Although it was technically morning in this part of the world the sun was yet to have risen over this land and it would be even longer until it’s warming and comforting rays fell down into this valley. The figure had obscured the bottom part of his face partially with the collar of a jacket, a dark shade of blue, which seemed to lengthen out into a cape, flapping behind him viciously in the wind.

His hair was still loose from its once tightly tied plat, and now held back slightly by a blue piece of material in the form of a headband. All that could be seen of this figure due to the darkness of the night still having not faded away as the daylight rays broke it’s lines was a pair of azure blue eyes, almost glowing and illuminating the figures face.

It had been a good few hours since the deed had been committed and now the truth of things where finally beginning to sink in. Loki was gone. He had thought up until this point that now would have been a joyous occasion, but now that everything was said and done he oddly enough felt as if a part of himself was now missing, never to be found or returned ever again. It was saddening. To think that a part of himself, quite literally now he came to think about it, had now been completely destroyed, dead to the world and gone forever, was quite a hard hit to take.

Even if it was a bad part, it was still part of him.

Now Ryan walked the empty and harsh lands of Bedoe. He’s destination, not certain. He’s motivation; he’s past. He’s mission in life, to help others. He’s future, unknown.

[hakuto]

It was cold. It was dark. It was windy. It was harsh. None of these statements applied to the android, watching as a figure of power approached his location. His last fight left him only stronger, with a more advanced mind than ever. Hakuto had now experiences what it was like to fully use his powers and he liked it, if like is the right word to use for an emotionless android's way of thinking.

Hakuto's red pupils looked on as the warrior got closer and closer before finally getting within a human's sight range. At this point the android changed locations to about 200 meters in front of the walking warrior. His black cloak did not move, despite the harsh winds, because of its extreme wieght. The hood cloaked the android's face. His red pupils glared against the light with an inhuman-glow. With his arms crossed, the android spoke loudly to the unknown warrior.

Tell me...what is a fine warrior like yourself walking around in such a place for? It's dark, harsh and just asking for an ambush. I rather prefer it myself, but the question remains for you.

The android maintained his stance, awaiting a response. He knew this was pointless talk, because whether the warrior wanted to have a battle or not, the android would attack him anyways. But, this was not how the calculating, maniacle Hakuto worked.

[Ryan - Loki]

The weather was harsh, harsh enough to obscure any average Dragonian’s senses, but Ryan wasn’t any ordinary Dragonian.

Ryan’s blood type is unique in the sense that there is no other like him in the universe, how I hear you asking? I’ll explain in a little further detail for you. Ryan’s mother wasn’t born on Dragonia and because of this wasn’t of Dragonian blood like he’s father has, in fact she was a Saiyan. Now because both races are extremely similar in almost every sense of the word when the DNA and genes between the two races were combined, resulting in a child, the child in question, to put it bluntly, gained all the strengths of both races and none of their weaknesses. The ultimate being via ‘mixed blood’ as some would say.

Don’t misunderstand though, this child was not a lab experiment or something similar, he was a child born of love and the results were not planned nor expected.



Although the weather continued to beat down hard upon the samurai’s body his senses broke through the lines of the weather, penetrating it, and it was then that he saw it. It was a figure off in the distance. Ryan couldn’t exactly grab a clear look at him, mainly due to the weather, but a broken up silhouette was clearly visible to him. Who else would venture out in inhospitable conditions such as these? he thought to himself, clearly quite lost when trying to conclude an answer to his question. But it mattered not it seemed as the figure, when within talking distance, spoke out, barely loud enough to break the constant noise of the bitter wind.

The figure, who was now only roughly two hundred metres in front of Ryan now that they had both stopped moving, seemed much more clearer now, almost perfectly clear for Ryan. The man, or at least his voice led Ryan to believe so, seemed to be wearing a long black cloak that almost completely obscured his face, all except his eyes. Those eyes, like two bright red beacons in the darkness of the early morning storm. They almost sent a shiver down Ryan’s spine but not because he was scared in anyway, shape or form, but mainly because they reminded him so much of Loki’s eyes, except they didn’t have that killer instinct or as large of a thirst for death and destruction as Loki’s.

Ryan knew only too well that the colour red usually spelt out either ‘stop’ or ‘danger’, and by this mans words and stance it seemed that he was looking for trouble. If there were a civil way around confrontation then Ryan would seek it out. “I can take care of myself and my business is my own…please, move aside and we can both continue our journeys.” Ryan spoke out through his own cloak, just loud enough for the man to hear.

[hakuto]

Hakuto chuckled, which was one of the many subtle, humanoid things his programming allowed him to do. In fact, he would be unmistakably human-like if he did not engage anyone in battle. It helped that the weather covered up any sort of evidence against Hakuto being human, which was one of the reasons he jumped into the oppurtunity of a battle with this warrior. But there was, of course, the desire to test his limits and push himself past them with every single battle. His desire to gain more and more power never ceased to exist.

It's hard to imagine a machine could have such a thing, a desire, but it was definitely there. It was most likely programmed into him, but along with it came a sense of his limits. He was not just a power-hungry, arrogant android. He was maniacle, demonic, relentless, calculating and would never simply run into a sitation without any plans. The thing about Hakuto that made him so unique, so powerful and so swift with everything he did was the fact that he could process all these thoughts, calculations and movements in such an in-significant amount of time that he almost seemed to have a certain natural instinct while in battle. There was no disadvantage to it, as this wandering warrior would soon find out. Already, the android knew this would be one of those limit-pushing battles. Already, the calculations began. What was his stance, attitude and image like. All these, although subtle and most likely useless to a normal mind, gave away many things to the android's view. His chuckle, lasting a few moments, ended abruptly. A seriousness was in his voice as he projected his deep voice forward.

I'm afraid that is not an option...my friend. I can't just let you walk around in a place like this without being taught not too. A smirk, although it would not be visible through the darkness, grew onto the android's face. So...here are your choices. You either fight me or I destroy you for your pathetic lack of effort. So, what is your choice warrior? The android maintained his stance, although he would easily be able to engage in battle at any time. This was how it always was with Hakuto and it would never change.

[Ryan - Loki]

Shortly after Ryan spoke man began to chuckle to himself, rather loudly at that. Why is he laughing? Ryan thought to himself. Does he think I am joking perhaps? To tell you the truth Ryan wasn’t quite sure why this man was laughing, there seemed to be nothing funny about this situation or in what he had said last. “I don’t see what is so funny” Ryan said, his voice stern and loud enough to break the ongoing noise of the gale force winds.

It was those eyes though; those bright glowing red eyes that Ryan could not tear his vision away from. It was a firm belief that it was possible to read into another soul through their eyes, if you looked deep enough and knew what you to look for that is, and through a soul you could certainly tell a lot about a person right from their feelings to whether they were good or evil. It was for this reason that these eyes in particular fascinated Ryan so, not because he could see into this stranger’s soul but because within he’s eyes he couldn’t even see a life.

They seemed emotionless as well as lifeless. Now Ryan had been in he’s fair share of fights in the past to know well enough that some warriors or fighters could mask their emotions and feelings to the point where they seemed lifeless, but this stranger was taking that skill to a whole new level. There seemed to be absolutely no life within he’s eyes, just a glow about them, which looked unreal to be honest. There was definitely more to this guy than met the eye. Ryan would have to play things out to unravel the truth it seemed.

The stranger had stopped chuckling at this point, with an abrupt stop at that, which seemed to follow with a statement that cleared up all earlier confusion about the said chuckling. So this one is of an evil heart?… In all truth it was quite saddening to think that he would now have to fight again, after having thought not too long ago, but it seemed that this man was giving him little to no choice. Then again, there was always a choice.

A soft sigh left his mouth, so soft that the stranger wouldn’t have heard it over the loud and violent wind. “I assure you Sir that you do not want to cross me in battle, it will become your undoing…” Ryan commented with before pausing slightly. As he paused Ryan slowly, and quite un-noticeably, slipped all of his weight onto his back, left, leg as he took up a defensive position. “…I will not fight you.”

[hakuto]

Hakuto's smirk grew as he listened on to the man's response. Even though Ryan had tried to hide it, Hakuto noticed the small movement. He reckognized a defensive stance, knowing the warrior would not simply fall prey to a sneak attack. The android raised his armsand a glow of ki started to appear around his palms.

I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. I will not fall in battle to anyone and that includes you my peaceful friend. Now, it seems like you are preparing yourself for a battle anyways so let's see if you can put your words into actions.

Not bothering to even remove his hood Hakuto continued to channel ki into his palms. Within a moment, the wind around his palms began to swirl strangely from the build up in gravitational pull of the energy. This build up was being caused by the rapid condensing of ki in the android's palms. The energy expanded into a ball of energy above each of Hakuto's palms that were one meter in diameter each. The two balls of energy rose into the air before suddenly splitting in half. The four balls of energy floated to each side of Ryan at a distance of ten meters from him.

These four then became eight, which became sixteen. Now surrounded by a halo of large ki blasts, Ryan would soon have to defend himself. But, even though the process was a slow one, Hakuto was making sure Ryan did not make any movements while he did it. The halo of ki blasts, on its own, would be enough to damage a warrior of high class if they all hit at once. But, Hakuto knew the warrior would not simply remain in the middle while the blasts rushed in on him. The android was simply testing Ryan, seeing how he would react to such a simple attack. Hakuto's palms motioned slightly and the 16 ki blasts rushed in on their target in a split second, blowing up in a 50-meter wide explosion.

[Ryan - Loki]

Without even first replying to Ryan’s words, in any manor, the figure raised up his arms. Now Ryan knew instantly what was coming, if not from the fluctuation in the stranger’s energy signature for the fact that the raising of the arms was a clearly aggressive move in this type of situation, Ki then began to glow around his palms. An attack was on its way without a doubt. It was then, and only then, that the figure had decided to reply to Ryan and Ryan’s suspicions were finally confirmed, not that he hadn’t already realised what this stranger was after. Bloodshed.

My senses serve me well. he thought to himself. Ryan watched as the figure talked and while the figure also continued to ready his soon to be used attack.

In all truthfulness Ryan had no intensions of fighting this man, or in a better choice of words he didn’t want to fight this man, but if he was forced too he would take action and it wouldn’t be him who came out worse. Slowly the energy around the figures palms expanded into a single ball of energy that was one meter in diameter each, one above both of his palms. The two balls of energy lifted slowly into the air before abruptly tearing in half, the four balls of energy then floated round to each side of Ryan at a distance of ten meters from him.

The attacks merely hovered there aimlessly, not even moving an inch for a while. Ryan would not turn his head away from the stranger, but did allow his eyes to stray from the target as they inspected the energy balls. These four balls of energy then became eight, which then became sixteen. Now Ryan was completely surrounded by a corona of large ki blasts, and it had become pretty much apparent that he would soon have to defend himself against them, possibly all at once. Slowly Ryan returned his vision back towards the figure, and then it began.

At once all sixteen of the energy balls came flying in towards him in sync, taking no more than a split second to reach their target, the target being Ryan. To get out of this in any way, shape or form it was going to take speed to match the attack, or better. The energy that made up these individual balls, just before they began their speedy attack, caused vibrations in the air. It was this that gave Ryan the warning he would need.

As soon as he felt that wave of vibrations through the air, from all angles, Ryan made he’s move. With lightening fast speed Ryan quickly crossed his arms over his body grabbing a firm hold upon the Reavers before sending his body into a spin, the Reavers in direct height with the oncoming Ki balls. The timing was perfect. Ryan, spinning a few seconds faster than the Ki balls were moving, managed to slice directly through each and every individual ball, inevitably stopping them from impacting against him, although that did not stop the explosion that followed.

The energy had made contact with something and exploded accordingly, that was to be expected, but Ryan soon noticed something different about this particular energy, and in result this particular opponent.



All forms of energy that a person can manipulate come from within the body, unless of course it’s a foreign source, and everything that the body is able to do, create, use, and so on, comes from just one place within the body. The soul, but as this word is now used in another way in these times a better word for it, or a more modern word, would be a persons ‘life source’. Without this source a person cannot survive, they die, meaning that without it nothing is possible. Now the unexpected thing about this energy in particular was that there seemed to be no essence of this stranger’s life source within the Ki, which would mean that this stranger had to be the walking dead, or a zombie for better use of words, and that just wasn’t possible as he wouldn’t even be able to use Ki if he were dead.



The explosion reached out at least fifty metres in radius, the pressure behind it enough to crash a lesser man, but not Ryan. You see the impact had not actually been against Ryan in fact it had been against the very tip of the blades, which rested a fair seven to eight feet away from Ryan’s actual body – when taking into account the length of the blade, hilt and then Ryan’s arm –, so as all circle of destruction grew around him, bouncing into each other and pushing outward, almost creating a bubble of safety, almost.

The original plan was to have sliced through the attacks, take the damage and come out the better from absorbing the stranger’s life source from within the Ki. The plan had changed direction when there had turned out to be no essence of life source within any of the energy, leaving Ryan coming out of the attack worse than he had entered it. Not what he had planed, but he would not make this mistake twice.

The dust has now beginning to settle slightly, the wind having almost been taken away for a brief second or two due to the explosions shockwave. “There is no life within you stranger, no heart beating within your chest…what are you?” Ryan’s voice broke out through the dust, he’s body still lost from view.

[hakuto]

Hakuto looked on as his opponent immediately went for two long blades and started spinning, effectively cutting each of his ki blasts in half and causing them to miss their target. It was a strange strategy though and Hakuto began to wonder why the warrior would simply stay in the middle of the blasts like that as they erupted upon contact with his blades. The explosion occurred as expected, going nowhere near the android. Shockwaves were sent out but, if Ryan payed very close attention to them, he would notice them coming to an un-natural stop. This was because of Hakuto's telekinesis, which he was using to bottle up the pressure of those shockwaves.

As the warrior questioned what Hakuto really was the forces of the shockwave were slowly being compressed and strengthened. The android showed no signs of doing anything though as he simply stood there and chuckled for a few moments.

I'll let you find that out yourself...but I'm sure you will figure it out soon enough.

After snickering once again, the android smirked, although his face was still masked from any outsider's glance by the shadow of his black hood. His right palm once again glowed with ki as a ki blasts emerged. Hakuto immediately shot this ki blast into the air above Ryan and stopped it, letting it hover ten feet above his head.

But for now, why don't you hold my cloak for me...

With a swift, fluent motion Hakuto suddenly whipped his black cloak forward at Ryan's legs. Being hit by the cloak would crush them, from the sheer wieght and velocity it was thrown at. However, this was not the only factor in the equation. At the same time he threw the cloak, the shockwaves he had been building up suddenly imploded with a mighty force that would crush Ryan like an ant if he did not do something quickly. Hakuto shot forward behind the shockwaves, towards the ki blast he had placed earlier. The ki blasts suddenly split and formed into two sharp ki swords as Hakuto reached them. If Ryan jumped up to avoid the cloak and the surrounding shockwaves, he would find Hakuto's blades waiting for him.

[Ryan - Loki]

The explosion moved across the area within a matter of seconds leaving everything in its wake dead or destroyed, not that most things in this area were not already this way of course. Soon after speaking out to the stranger Ryan heard he’s reply. I see. So we’ll be taking the hard way will we? it was then that Ryan noticed something particularly odd about the surroundings, but specifically the dust cloud that had been kicked up by the shockwaves and force of the explosion.

The dust had stopped, but not stopped as in slowly fading away into the surrounding air or dispersing, stopped as in just plain stopped in mid-air. Something wasn’t right. This was completely abnormal when considering the laws of gravity, but then again a lot of things had defied what we had all presumed to be law over the last millennium or so, this however was still a shock. Instantly Ryan had realised that this wasn’t going to turn out to be a good aspect, but it was clearly obvious how to avoid anything if something was to attack him from all corners once again. Fly to the heavens above.

It was at that exact moment that the option quickly faded away.

With an unexpected serge of Ki beyond the dust wall Ryan felt the stranger fire off an attack but it wasn’t aimed towards Ryan but above him, he’s escape from danger. Now Ryan knew that this Ki ball wasn’t there for display, it was there for the soul purpose of keeping him where he was, which could only mean one thing. Trouble was about to come rushing back towards him, and he had a pretty good feeling that it was something to do with the circle of dust that stood around him. “This can’t be good…” Ryan muttered to himself quietly.

As Ryan had been speaking to himself he was almost interrupted by the stranger as he suddenly voiced out loud what he’s next move was to be. Foolishness. Ryan quickly replied with in thought. It was at that second that the stranger’s cloak same ripping through the dust off in front of Ryan, seemingly aimed for Ryan’s legs. As it passed through the air, at extremely high speeds, it left a rip through the air behind it, as if a white tail within the air. This cloak obviously was a lot heavier than it looked. Ryan would have to deal with this now.

It seemed that at the exact same second the dust circle that surrounded Ryan came crashing in towards him, now he had two things to deal with, but with the stranger’s energy signal behind the dust circle then up to his energy ball too that escalated things to three problems to deal with.

Everything happened so quickly that it would have been missed in the blink of an eye. Ryan quickly moved into action, he had to do something or this would spell great injury for him. Quickly Ryan flipped his swords round in his palms so that the tips were presses softly against the dry ground below him. This was part one of his plan. Part two came screaming into action in the means of a back flip into the air but as Ryan back flipped he landed down upon the incredibly fast moving cloak and became to ride it towards the oncoming shockwave wall behind him.

The final part of his plan was about to come into action and that was the most important. Bending down upon the flying cloak Ryan quickly tucked his head down into his chest, now having his entire body covered in his armour. This would surly protect him against any hazards of the dust. The shockwave circle smashed into Ryan with great force, pressing down with great pressure against his armour, but the armour proved too strong for the mere pressure of the past attack and with the speed given to the cloak by the stranger himself they appeared out the other side of the circle shockwave, safe and sound.

Flipping forward off of the cloak Ryan landed softly and gracefully against the dry ground once more, slowly standing back up to his fullest height and looking up towards the stranger, who was now holding a pair of energy blades in either hand. Quickly Ryan heard the thudding noise of the heavy cloak somewhere behind him, but that no longer matter for he had ‘killed three birds with one stone’ as the old saying went. Shaking his head to push the soft flowing black hair from his face, Ryan spoke to the stranger once more. “Like I told you already lifeless one…I will not be giving you the pleasure of a fight.”

[hakuto]

Hakuto smirked as he watched the warrior cleverly escape the trap the android had set up. This man would not be a push-over, that was certain. Hakuto would have to keep his opponent on his toes and there was no better way to do that then to attack furiously. However, a furious attack from Hakuto would be much different than a regular furious attack. It would be calculated, planned out and put into action. The android's mind did not have much room for error and that was an advantage Hakuto knew he had over any foe.

Hovering down to the ground, the android touched down on his feet, drawing his left sword in front of him and his right sword behind. His usual devilish smirk could now be seen, along with his muscular body under his pitch black gi. The wind in the area seemed to randomly change its direction as it got near the battle scene, perhaps from telekinetic energy from Hakuto. The android gave off a strange presence, lifless, yet able to affect the world around him easily. But, the time for his standing still and testing would soon be over.

Well, you are a very resourceful man. I'll give you that wandering warrior. But, you are going to give me a fight, one way or another. You seem to have quite the skill with those swords of yours. How will you fare against me though?

Hakuto's blades shimmered with a boost of energy to give them enough strength and durability to stand up to Ryan's blades without breaking on impact. He then rushed forward like a bullet, spinning like a top at a very tight angle from the front of Ryan, over the left shoulder and onto the other side of Ryan. His blades slashed about ten times in the process which ended with Hakuto in the same position he started in, but this time he was behind Ryan with a quickly charged ki blast to his back.

[Ryan - Loki]

Slowly the stranger moved from he’s elevated position and slowly floated down towards the floor below, if Ryan had actually wanted to fight him that would have been a grave mistake. Mistake number one stranger…never give away the advantage of the high ground. Ryan said within his head. The stranger at this point had finally touched down against the floor, drawing his left blade in front of his body and his right behind. The standard double sword stance, Ryan knew it well.

Ryan was a Samurai and probably the best of his clan, well certainly the best of his clan now at any rate. He had studied many things in he’s life, from the ancient art of war and war tactics to many different arts of sword fighting. There wasn’t a weapon that he couldn’t handle with the utmost skill and precision, especially when the weapon in question was a blade. The Samurai were renowned for their skill with the traditional ‘samurai sword’ and Ryan was certainly no exception.

This was beside the point as Ryan was certain he would not give this stranger the pleasure of a battle, unless Ryan needed to defend himself. If things did in fact get that bad he would have to resort to violence, a last option always and sometimes a necessary or only option. This stranger seemed certainly persistent; he wanted a battle to the death it seemed, no, he wanted to completely destroy Ryan. It wouldn’t be happening, even if it did mean Ryan resorting to violence to make sure of it.

It was only shortly after the stranger spoke again that Ryan realised the extent of what was to come. …He’s serious about all this, isn’t he? he exclaimed inside his head, and with the suddenly glowing of his energy blades it was then that the stranger attacked, it has officially begun. He rushed forward with the speed of lightning, spinning his body around in circles. A deadly spinning top. The approach was quick and the attack with precision like no other average being, but Ryan was no average being.

The stranger pounced through the air while spinning, aiming to slash Ryan several times while he span just past his left shoulder. This was a clever attack, but it held some drawbacks. The stranger would surely be extremely dizzy after this attack, which left him open for attack. It also was extremely easy to avoid, needing only for Ryan to either lean to the right or roll. And there was one way to put a spanner in the works too, almost literally, and that’s what Ryan had decided to do.

As the attack came in Ryan stood his ground; that was until the last possible moment when he suddenly pounced in the air to he’s right and slammed down one of his blades in-between the constant spinning ones of the stranger. The spanner in the works. Instantly the stranger was sent flying at the abrupt stop, but that didn’t seem to stop him as before Ryan’s feet had even touched against the floor once again a rather large Ki ball slammed into his stomach, causing him to go flying backwards and screeching to halt upon the floor some odd ten feet away as he dragged his feet upon the ground.

Quickly moving his hand to the point of impact Ryan rested against one knee. “Who and what are you and why do you persist in trying to destroy me!?” Ryan shouted out at the stranger. He was honestly confused to why someone would want to willingly cause another pain and gain enjoyment from it, to be honest he had never really found out the answers from Loki. I just don’t understand…

[hakuto]

Hakuto's body contorted at a strange angle as Ryan placed his blade in the center of the android's saw-like attack. But, this movement of the body was not out of control. In fact, it was a move completely conolled by Hakuto to continue on with his spin and land where he intended to. It seemed the warrior did not suspect this as the ki blast Hakuto fired hit him directly in the stomach, causing him to fly to the ground a few feet away.

Ryan once again questioned Hakuto's line of actions, but the android was in no place for words right now. He saw his opponent on the ground, on his knee. He was open and out of position and the android would capitolize on his confusion.

As soon as Ryan began to speak the android fired a ki blast at him before charging in with his blades once more. Before he got within melee range he whipped his left sword directly for Ryan's chest. This would be extremely hard to avoid since it was at Ryan's center and he was not in a good position for movement. Hakuto continued on, instantly replacing his former sword with another one and jumping quickly over Ryan, continuing his saw-like approach to attacking. This time it would be more like a vertical saw and Hakuto increased his rate of revolution to make it impossible for an object to stop his turning like Ryan's sword had earlier. This also increased the number of times his sword would make contact with the warrior and since the attack was aimed at the central area of Ryan's body, his head, even if it was avoided, it would most likely not be avoided entirely.

[Ryan - Loki]

Almost as soon as the words had left Ryan’s mouth the stranger had gone on the attack once again, this time with the firing of another Ki ball, which Ryan quickly dealt with by cancelling it out with his own. It had come as somewhat of a surprise in all fairness but surprises were something that one had to be ready for in a battle, especially if you had no idea at all about your opponent. Ryan was in this position, as he knew nothing of this stranger, not even he’s name.

The small explosion caused by the colliding ki balls erupted not too far off from in front of Ryan’s face, but this did not faze him, in fact he didn’t even blink as he continued to look on at the small puff of smoke merely waiting for the stranger to appear once more; and appear he did.

Ignore me then attack while I’m distracted in speech!? he thought. The stranger charged Ryan, appearing through the small cloud of smoke like sunlight as it breaks through the velvet night sky every morning. It wasn’t long before the stranger was within spitting distance and with that range came the next attack. The attack came in the shape of a diagonal slash across Ryan’s chest. “You’ll dishonour my name no more stranger!” Ryan shouted out as the attack neared.

The attack came with lightning speed, but Ryan moved faster. Because his knees were already bent Ryan had an advantage in momentum when he suddenly sprung up from the ground like a coiled spring. With speed, as well as elegance, Ryan jumped upward into the air and landed, crouched, upon the edge of the stranger’s energy blade. An emotionless expression upon he’s face as he looked deep within those crimson eyes. There was a new fire within Ryan’s eyes, a determination not present up until this point. The fight was now on.

As the stranger suddenly made for another ‘buzz saw’ kind of attack, only this time it was a vertical one. The sudden jerk backwards from the stranger caused Ryan to move from the swords edge into another jump into the air. The spinning from the stranger was faster this time, so much faster in fact that Ryan almost hadn’t readied himself for such speed. If it hadn’t been for him being forced off from upon the stranger’s sword then this would have surely ended in an injury.

The blades came in and the came in fast. Quickly opening his legs Ryan allowed the blades to pass in-between them. Thank God, that could have ended badly. As the stranger quickly moved underneath and past him Ryan brought both of his legs back together, flipped forward and landed down upon the floor once more, sharply spinning his head round to follow the stranger with his eyes.

Slowly Ryan stood to his full height, merely waiting for the stranger to regain himself and to look on at him once more. Once he had done Ryan slowly returned both of his blades within their cases once more and placed both of his hands upon the hilt of the one against his right side. It was time to finish this, the samurai way. “We finish this now stranger…but we do it with honour, we do this following my traditions. We both draw, we both clash, but only one remains.”

[hakuto]

Ryan just barely dodged Hakuto's onslaught, the spinning saw that were his ki blades just going under the warrior. Hakuto stopped his revolutions as quickly as they began and spun around to meet Ryan's eyes in a stare. The smirk of Hakuto's face maintained itself as his opponent withdrew his blades and called Hakuto out for a traditional sword fight. The android chuckled.

If it is a sword fight you want...it is a sword fight you shall get warrior. I'll consider it a final request...

Hakuto's blades shimmered with a burst of ki as the android once again made them stronger, sharper and more durable. He spun them around a few times in his hands before putting one in front of his body and one behind.

Let's see what you got!

Hakuto's eyes never left Ryan's. His senses were up and alert for any movement. Even with Ryan's skill with blades, Hakuto was not completely outmatched. This would be one to remember.

[kageryu]

The mountains of Bedoe were a huge, wide place. What were the chances of two parties meeting in these tremendous mountainranges by flight of luck? The chances were so slender, one could say that it was not chance or luck at all. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, fate itself's intervention into the affairs of mortals. The right path in those mountains had become rather clouded to the Kunoichi in those cold, stormy mountains that night. All she had to go by were her instincts, the things that kept her alive during those times. And it really aggrevated the Ninja, who liked things planned and well thought out.

On the horizon, however, something strange was going on. She then remembered the pink in the sky... the omen of blood to be spilled on the horizon, fortelling of some strife or struggle in the time ahead, if not for her, for another. To understand why she had changed her direction to the source of the wild energies ahead, one had to understand why she was there in those mountains in the first place... why she was a kunoichi, why fate itself had conspired for the two warriors to meet in the first place. Only Fate knew the answer to those questions. Regardless, she was drawn, like a moth to a lamp's light. As she got closer, she could make out two voices... she focused her senses, and continued, hearing gradually more and more of the two men... until she could make out what they were saying.

"You'll dishonor my name no more, stranger!"

One voice echoed over the land around her, coming from ahead. She could see one figure running toward the other, followed swiftly by a series of actions that were obscured by the storm around her. It was all so difficult to make out...

The first voice called out again through the storm, and this time, Kageryu was close enough to see enough of him to understand what he said.

"We finish this now stranger... but we do it with honour, we do this following my traditions. We both draw, we both clash, but only one remains."

Traditions...? What kind of...

Then she realized. The swords... the armor... the man himself. This man was samurai. She drew a deep breath calmly, and exhaled. It was not that she was afraid of him... not in the least sense of the word. The aincient enemy of the Ninja had survived...? How...?

It was then she realized that somehow, there had always been a fate-bond between the samurai and ninja, the two halves of the coin of light and darkness, yin and yang, never became more powerful than the other. It was a world in balance. Just as she was the last remaining true practicioner of the art of High Ninjitsu on this planet... so too was this man...

The Last Samurai...

No, there was no luck to her running across this man. Luck had nothing to do with it. This was fate. She tilted her head upward as she looked into the sky, but made no praises, cursed no entity, only nodded and strode up the side of the rock formation overlooking the clash between the warriors. The second man spoke, niether one yet aware of her presence.

If it is a sword fight you want...it is a sword fight you shall get warrior. I'll consider it a final request...

So arrogant... fool.

She thought in response. This creature the samurai fought was no man.. he was a tin can. She knew exactly the look of lifelessness an android had... her keen eyes knew instantly the moment she watched him move. This creature the samurai fought was in fact a machine, nothing more. A stupid little windup toy, doomed from the moment it challenged the samurai. She smiled. Her people had clashed with the samurai enough for her to know when a warrior was outmatched.

Let's see what you got!

she smiled, and decided that meeting this warrior, this Last Samurai, was what she wanted. They had something in common. On a thought, she formed a small metal shuriken into her hand, shutting her eyes tightly, whispering into it, engraving the message onto its very existance, binding it to the reality.

"Samurai... look for me in the largest city on this continent, on the highest building's rooftop, on the setting of the sleeping sun of the next day... I will be waiting."

If this was a true samurai she saw before her, he would hear this when he picked it up. So she threw the shuriken at him, the glistening spike flying through the air, aimed at a spot out of the way of the clash, but where the warrior would instantly know where it was once the fight was over. That done, she formed into her hand a small black sphere. Crouching down to gather her strenght into her legs, she vaulted upward, throwing the black powder bomb downwards, creating a flash and a puff of smoke. When he would look as it cleared, she was truly gone: not even a psychic perception remained of the Kunoichi's (female ninja's) presence. All that remained was the psycicly blessed shuriken, radiating just a trace ammount of her energies, and only to the samurai's senses.