The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny -Closed RP-

[Kensaki]

Kensaki was not surpised that the hooded man had escaped his attack, even as fast as it was. If anything, part of him was delighted to have such an opponent; specifically, the part that tended to agree with the urgently whispering voice in his head. Kensaki's grin widened as he prepared to attack again, Lank temporarily forgotten in the blood red haze that was now the Void. Suddenly, it was as if an alarm bell had gone off in Kensaki's head, his sixth sense warning him of extreme danger as the shadowy bowl rose up around him. He stopped as he noted his target leaping out of the bowl with a graceful ease that belied his agility.

As the walls of the bowl reached their final height, casting a shadow down upon Kensaki, he suddenly remembered the broken body of Gekido Kasai, lying only paces away, looking as if it had been pierced by dozens of spikes. Thus, when the shadows suddenly hardened into spikes and raced toward him from all directions, he was not surprised. The speed of the attack was somewhat greater than he had expected, but he could compensate. The grin on his face faded into a derisive smirk as he leapt upward toward one of the groups of hardened shadow, lightly resting the edge of one sandal on the surface of a spike as he pushed off into another jump, repeating the process until he was over the edge of the bowl. Kensaki came to rest at a point approximately 45 feet from each of his foes, making a rough equilateral triangle. His face was a mask of pure contempt as he faced Lank, stepping back to plant his right foot and raising his left hand in front, palm up, in the Star of Fate stance. Darkstar's song continued to weave its way through the air, seeming to fill every crevice with malice and sorrow.

"Pitiful." Kensaki's voice was level, showing no sign of exertion, almost dripping with derision. "I do thank you for the stairs; it would have been difficult to climb out without them. However, an attack such as that could never possibly kill me, especially after you so kindly left signs of its existence." Kensaki glanced at the corpse that had once again been pierced with spikes before turning his stare back to Lank. "All told, a titanic waste of effort and energy. Do something interesting, or I shall be forced to finish you quickly and turn my full attention to the only other true warrior." His gaze slid over to Shin for a moment as he walked calmly toward the strangely dressed Lank. Kensaki was actually more impressed by the technique Lank had used than he let on, although using it to kill Gekido and then remaining in the area to fight had been a mistake. However, in Kensaki's experience, many warriors could be enraged easily by such comments, and generally, anger translated into mistakes.

[Seraph]

Jonathan sighed slightly as he watched Shin slip just beyond the boundaries of his attack, although it appeared that he might have another target trapped inside his trap. The red eyed figure glanced back upon shin, in attempt to see what he was planning. Before he could turn and react to shin though, he noted his other target, the strange samurai like man, leaping forth from his attack.

Lank awaited the man to reach the apex of his leap before he decided it was his turn to leap. The shadows beneath the Shadow Weaver pushed upwards, forcing Jonathan into the air after the now descending Kensaki. He held the bastard sword close to his body, angled from his right hip upwards towards is left shoulder. The black katana would then slash out at his target, aiming for a hit mainly upon the Ronin's sword arm. He wouldn't stop there, his Katana would whip into a furry of slashes and thrusts as he kept the bastard sword back in defense.

As the two of them kept falling, the shadows that sprawled across the floor started to shift and flutter. In the area that Lank and Kensaki would land, a collection of spikes would rip upwards to greet them. As they neared the spikes, Jonathan would pull both his blades back into a defensive cross formation. As they touched down onto the ground, Jonathan's form dropped through the ground into the shadows of the spikes, leaving Kensaki to figure out his own way to escape the spikes.

[Shin]

What happened next came as a surprise to Shin, he tilted his head back to afford him a view of the spectacle that was unfolding nicely. It seemed Kensaki had avoided the spikes, though, how remained a mystery to Shin. He assumed by leaping out in a similar fashion he did.

To make things more interesting it appeared to Shin that Kensaki was about to have his hands full. The slightest movement of Lanks body told Shin what he was planning, a mid air interception. A smart tactic. Not only would Lank have the advantage on Kensaki, but a moment later when the spikes were pulled forth it appeared to Shin that the man with the singing sword was in for a world of trouble.

Of course, Shin had the power to intercept and tilt the skills drastically in one mans favor or the other, or neither if he choose! Such power, though it came from his mind, made him feel good. The question was, would he exercise that power and throw himself into the fray? Based on the information placed before him, he was physically superior in speed to both warriors. But Lank possessed a power Shin didn't understand, and jumping into something like that could spell instant death and something about Kensaki's sword made Shin's entire body shudder ... as if he had passed to close to that blade before.

In the end Shin couldn't bring himself to enter the fight, not yet. If Kensaki could get out of this then it would no doubt give Shin a great insight to what the man could do. If not, then he died and it was down to a one on one fight, which Shin didn't mind either.

He tilted the cowl of his hood down again, and stopped moving, pulling both hands out of his pockets and crossing them over his chest. He was fully prepared should Jonathan use the shadows around him, or try to get some sort of sneak attack on him. His senses were wide open, everything but his sight and he waited. He figured maybe the two would duke it out, leaving one weakened and the other dead. Shin was playing the part of opportunist, and he liked it.

[Kensaki]

As the red eyed man leapt to meet him in mid air, Kensaki could not help but be impressed by the man's speed. Lank was moving far faster than he was, although this was nowhere near Kensaki's maximum speed, and he could not change his direction or speed to avoid his incoming attacker mid jump. Still, with the distance Lank had to cover, Kensaki had a brief moment to put up a defense, and a brief moment was more than enough.

His left hand reached out to grasp the hem of his Haori on his left side, stretching it out to create drag on that side and spin him to face Lank. With no time to spare, Kensaki brought Darkstar up to deflect Lank's first blow, the contact with the black blade renewing the strength of its deathly melody. The flurry of strikes that followed, while incredibly swift, lacked the concentration to pierce Kensaki's defense even while flying through the air. Darkstar was a shadowy blur as he gracefully deflected each blow. Either his opponent was splitting his attention too far, or his swordplay simply could not stand up to a man who had spent nearly his entire life in non-stop martial training and battle. Even so, Kensaki did not dare counterattack from this disadvantageous position as he noted the yet unused bastard sword.

The instant Lank pulled his weapons into a defensive cross, Kensaki knew something was wrong, even before his sixth sense warned him of the danger behind him. Kensaki could only assume that more spikes were racing upward to meet him as he fell. Damn these infernal shadows! A glance downward showed a half dozen razor sharp spikes mere fractions of a second from piercing him. Kensaki did not think, he reacted. He swung Darkstar downward in an arc, striking the flat of the blade against the side of one of the spikes. The swing was not meant to damage the spike, but rather to grant a small amount of leverage which allowed Kensaki to turn partway around and land briefly with each foot on a spike, before lightly pushing off and allowing for his momentum to carry him into a handspring, and vaulted into a standing position a few paces from the cluster of spikes.

It had been a gamble, but it seemed that the steel that plated the underside of his platformed sandals was strong enough to withstand the momentary pressure from the spikes. Kensaki immediately assumed the Star of Fate stance, ready to face an attack. His senses reached out, trying to find any sign of his currently invisible opponent. He noted the hooded man, silently watching. Something in the way he stood, in the way he carried himself.....the red Void pushed the thought out of Kensaki's head as he turned his attention back to the search for Lank. His voice still showed no sign of physical exertion as he spoke, despite the rigorous exchange of blows.

"Show me something new, magician. I have seen that attack twice, and I have already devised several ways to counter it."

Kensaki would wait in his defensive stance, all of his senses reaching out, probing. His left hand slowly crept toward his chest as if to pull out an object from his robes.

[Seraph]

A soft laughter echoed from the area around the two, Jonathan's form appeared from the shadows roughly 45 feet behind and to the left of shin. His swords were clasped loosely under his arms as he clapped, his boots clicking against the ground as he slowly moved towards the two men. "Very agile and impressive, but its not going to keep you alive forever. Movements such as those put a nasty strain upon your body." Lank's arms loosened up upon the blades, causing them to begin to fall from their resting place. "And to note, I am no magician, I am a Weaver of energies. Why don't you let me show you the difference between the poorly disciplined mind of a magician and the focus and discipline of a weaver." As the weapons started their decent, the shadow weaver twisted his arms to grip the hilts of the blades as he broke off into a full run.

His speed threatened to get his figure lost in the eyes of his observers. He would drift past Shin in an ark, keeping roughly 20 to 25 feet between him and his original target. His eyes focused upon the other figure. He had his plans for shin, though these same plans dealt with the new-comer more directly for the moment. His Katana would hang before him in a defensive position as he raised the Bastard sword high into the air. As his bastard sword came within striking distance of Kensaki, he would swing the blade Vertically in a slightly diagonal slash. The attack seemed Ill aimed, though it would react surprisingly fast when Kensaki moved to either block or deflect it.

If kensaki deflected it, the bastard sword would shift and run along the blade to its tip, quickly flipping to the other side and pushed Kensaki's blade out wide, using kensaki's own momentum against him in an attempt to unbalance him. At the same time, the once Defensive positioned Katana would strike out like a waiting cobra, aiming for a piercing blow at one of the fighters legs (opposite the leg from the direction that kensaki's sword was being sent). Weather he connected or not, his blades would then break out into a furry of quick slashes and thrusts that were designed to force a small collection of the upper arm muscles into working them to painful exhaustion, aimed mostly at the mans mid section.

If kensaki instead blocked it with his blade, the bastard sword would quickly switch its direction to follow the length of the blade down towards the guard just before the hand placement upon the hilt. Once the blade connected with Kensaki's hilt guard, four shadows, two on either side of the open space of Lanks blade in regards to the hilt guard, would extend out in a curving line to a total of five inches leading straight for Kensaki's gripped hand. In this same process, Lank would work to force the opponents blade lower and lower. The defensive Katana would slash out at his targets neck region, a red shimmer flickering from the black blade as demonic energy flooded into the edges of it. If he connected, the attack would sever the mans head from his body. If he was able to move out of the way just enough, but was still scratched by the Katana, roughly 5% of the mans over all strength would seem to fade away, as if his muscles had simply melted from his bones.

Either result would not only hint at some of the talents the man had with his swords, but would quickly reveal the vastly inhumane strength and demonic speed within his seemingly streamlined figure. It is also worth noting that Jonathan would not have forgotten about the distant Shin, who he imagined would take this as his chance to strike at the two of them. Each slash and movement of his blades forced a sword crafted from the shadow of Shin to whip out and slash at him. The strikes followed a fairly simple pattern of slashes and thrusts aimed more at keeping Shin distracted, rather then making any attempt to do any direct harm to Shin.

[Shin]

Shin didn't know why both men were so cocky, neither of the three had any advantage, and neither was going to have the advantage if things continued to go as they had been. All three were experienced warriors their was no disputing that. If anything Shin was at the biggest disadvantage, as the Tenken he was at least known, stories of his fights and exploits were common enough. Lank knew of Shin as the Azure Enigma and Tenken apparently, and for some reason Shin could not recall the man in his own memory. Then there was the other man...whom Shin could not put a name to, but THAT SWORD! There was something about it that made Shin extremely weary.

He had no response for Lank as the man rushed by, headed straight for Kensaki. The man was fast, extremely so, but neither were on the same level as Shin when it came to speed. How could they be? Shin was built for it, he trained for it, his very style demanded it! Kensaki, a man who effortlessly blended the martial art and kenjutsu into one. And Lank, who seemed to hold a plethora of abilities. Neither appeared to be as focused on pure speed as Shin was and so he determined from what both men had presented to him so far that in pure physical speed, neither could match him.

He stood, arms still crossed over his chest, watching Lank as he rushed towards Kensaki. Shin was done with sitting idle in this fight, he had garnered enough information about the two warriors to finally act. And act he did!

What happened next could only be described as near instantaneous. Shin would use Shunpo to bring himself straight at the backside of Jonathan as he hit the half distance mark between him and Kensaki. There was no sound of feet striking on the ground to alert Jonathan of his move, if he acted when he felt the energy it would be too late as Shin would already be there. To make matters worse Shin didn't move until Jonathan was mid-stride in his run, making it harder for the man to react if he even could.

The attack wouldn't be lethal though, Shin wouldn't allow himself to drastically hurt this man by blind siding him. He wouldn't even draw his weapons, instead he continued his Shunpo into the man who was still mid-stride. Using the force of Shunpo to toss him to the side. Of course Shin knew that it would do no damage seeing as Jonathan could fall into the shadows instead of hitting the ground.

"Showing off is the fool's idea of glory." Shin said casually, arms crossed over his chest yet again as he took on the stance he borrowed from the previous Azure enigma. His head tilted forward slightly to keep his face obscured from view. "All warfare is based on deception, you would do to remember that if you ever get to flaunt your abilities again."

His left hand shot out at that moment, palm facing the sky and fingers extended in the direction of Kensaki. It was not an attack, but an invitation as he beckoned the man forward with the simple motion of his fingers. "Come puppet, sing and dance for me." He said, playing off the properties of Kensakis weapon.

[Kensaki]

As Lank spoke, Kensaki's features did not change, displaying the same derisive smirk he had shown as he escaped the man's initial attack. Inside, the voice in his head had ceased its brief silence, filling his head with the sound of gleeful laughter. The part of him that knew only battle wanted almost to join in; this had, after all, been extremely amusing so far, for he hadn't fought opponents this strong in a great while.

The more consious part of Kensaki's personality was also highly amused at the moment, but stemming from Lank's arrogant words rather than battle lust. At the speeds he had displayed so far in the battle, Kensaki's body would feel very little strain, if any. Of course, there was no way Lank could know this, no way to understand the horrors Kensaki had forced upon himself in training in order to become faster and stronger, no way to comprehend the level of strain his body was truly capable of dealing with. While Kensaki had displayed impressive speed in his movements, especially while entering the clearing and during his first attack against Shin, he had not yet displayed even his unaided maximum, only using Shinsoku to accelerate to the same speed he had used upon entering. Unbeknownst to either of the other two warriors, Shinsoku could also be used to take ones speed well beyond his normal limits. If Lank wanted a contest of speed, Kensaki had no doubt that he himself would be victorious. The hooded warrior, on the other hand.....that would have to be dealt with later.

"Then come, magician, and show me."

As Lank sped toward him, his eyes had little problem following the man's movements, even though Kensaki judged him to be moving nearly as fast as he himself had done earlier. It was extremely impressive, especially given that his talents seemed spread across so many areas. However, his current speed was no match for Kensaki's own, should he choose to utilize it. And, unless the last exchange had not been a true showing of Lank's close combat ability, he was little match for Kensaki in swordsmanship either.

Suddenly, pure shock rang through Kensaki's head, so powerful that his features betrayed it even through the Void with a nearly imperceptable widening of his eyes. The third, hooded warrior, nearly forgotten momentarily, had suddenly.....appeared behind Lank. It was the only way Kensaki's mind could describe it. One moment, he had been stationary, over 40 feet away; the next, he was attempting to bowl the charging Lank over....and Kensaki had not even seen him move! The whispered voice in his head was nearly gibbering in excitement to be facing such power, but Kensaki did not let his shock affect his defense. He was still ready to defend against Lank's attack should the other man's movement fail to stop him. He withdrew his left hand from his robes, empty, raising it before him, palm outward.

Should Lank continue his charge and attack with his bastard sword, Kensaki would pivot smoothly on his planted right foot, stepping backward with his left in perfect timing with Lank's speed to bring the sword arm forward to parry the initial attack. The instant Lank began to slide his bastard sword, Kensaki would understand the tactic and allow his blade to be pushed wide to his right. If his opponent wanted to believe that his defense relied only on his sword, he would be quickly disabused. As the katana attempted to pierce his left leg, Kensaki's left arm would lash out, his palm meeting the dull back edge of the blade in such a way that the stabbing katana would be pushed wide, to Kensaki's left. With both of Lank's swords momentarily indisposed, Kensaki would step back in with his left foot, pivoting on the still grounded right, to move inside of Lank's guard, bringing his head forward to smash into the bridge of Lank's nose with the force of a sledge hammer.

Should Lank's charge be halted by the incredibly swift attack against him, Kensaki would remain in his defensive stance as Shin spoke, his face a mask of calm. His features would display no reaction to the words, as if he had not even heard. More than anything, Kensaki was concentrating on watching, listening, and sensing for any movement from the man. He would not risk frontal assault against such overpowering speed, despite the combined force of the red Void and the relentless, maddening whispers, both urging him to attack, to kill. His mind worked furiously, as much attempting to puzzle out how the man could possibly have moved so fast as trying to find a way to counter it. His hand once again crept toward his chest, as if to pull something from his robes.

[Seraph]

Jonathan's sense rang with danger, but it was far to late. Shin had moved at a blinding speed, something shin has seen before, and was unable to react properly to it. His body was thrown from his mid run, launched into the air for about a half-dozen paces off track of where he was trying to charge to. He didn't hit the ground, he simply flew through it. Between the momentum that he was moving at, and the momentum given to him by the speeding Tenken Lank had flown and disappeared in less then the blink of his opponents eye. His essence almost instantaneously getting spread out across the area.

The shadow road was nothing but a blur to Lank, as he quickly ripped himself back out of that place behind and two the left of Shin. His momentum, once again, pushed even faster due to the push provided him from his exit into the shadow road and back again into the shadow road. He was upon Shin at an alarming speed, one that because of all the factors involved, would have even alarmed the speed of the Azure Enigma. He was upon him with both his swords, his Bastard sword moving with an unnatural agility towards the upper form of the mans body, consisting mainly of quick diagonal slashes. The katana was focused upon the mans legs, mixing with it a collection of straight and diagonal slashes, and a few stabs towards his lower stomach and upper legs.

As he went about the movements, two swords would rip out from the shadows at all sides of him, each tainted with the demonic essence, designed to slow the Tenken by 10% with each hit, that flowed through Jonathan. The two in the back focused primarily upon the Azure Enigma's back, as the two on either side of him focused upon a mixture of his arms and legs. It would also be noted that a collection of shadow energy was forming around the base of them, and lank had readied himself to act if the Azure Enigma tried to escape by any means, or even if Kensaki made an attempt to move in upon himself.

[Shin]

Unfortunately for Shin, he would not get to witness Kensakis response to his goading as his attention was now diverted to Lank as the man charged out of the shadows. His initial sword strikes would miss only by hair as Shin leaped into the air, going above them both and above Jonathan even nearly fifteen feet into the air. Shin of course couldn't have known of the assaults that would have been coming at his side, but he did witness their existence when he pulled back the hood of his coat and let his ghostly blue eyes gaze down on Lank, they passive gaze flashing a more brilliant azure in the excitement of the battle.

The man had taken his advice as far as Shin saw it, attempting to divert Shins attention to the obvious threat so he could be skewered on all sides by blades of shadow. Any lesser warrior would have fallen prey to them. As Shin soared into the air, just reaching his apex he looked up to see the whereabouts of Kensaki.

Shin was having a hard time finding a time to attack. Jonathan was pure offensive as far as Shin saw, but didn't leave any gaps between attacks. Had it been pure swordsmen skills Shin didn't doubt his ability to obliterate the man, but with that energy at his call Shin could not and would not stay near the man for more then a brief moment.

Kensaki, besides showing his speed, had not given Shin very much insight towards his skill. Shin knew to be wary of the man, or of the sword even more so, but he couldn't allow himself to be worn out and then be an easy kill for either of the two. He would need to plan something... but what?

As of now Shin hadn't shown his skill with a sword, though he had briefly shown his speed though neither had a clear view of what had happened. Jonathans back had been to him, and kensaki's view had been slightly obscured by Jonathan so it was hard for Shin to know exactly what each knew.

[Kensaki]

The situation unfolded before Kensaki in the blink of an eye. It seemed that for the first time in the fight he was not on the defensive. Kensaki had no intention of wasting such an opportunity. The hand that had strayed to his robes clasped on an object, pulling it out and striking it against Darkstar in one incredibly swift motion, ending with his left hand hanging at his side and holding what appeared to be a ringing tuning fork, seemingly made from the same substance as the blade. Immediately, a second song of vibration wove through the original produced by the black sword, even as it renewed from contact with the fork. The new hum oscillated quickly, but started very quietly, seeming almost to be a countermelody for Darkstar's funereal hymn. As the seconds ticked by, it would gather in intensity, growing at a very fast rate.

Although it had only taken a fraction of a second, it seemed the moment of preperation had wasted his chance, however, as Shin leapt into the air to avoid the fierce attack by Lank. Kensaki could only see the back of the man's head from where he was standing, but as the dropping garment revealed a shock of blue hair, a memory began to clash against the red Void, as if fighting upward through quicksand to reach the surface of his mind. Then the man turned to glance at him.

A wordless howl of pure rage erupted from Kensaki as Shin descended, with an intensity that would surprise even these two battle hardened warriors, his face contorting into a bestial snarl. The red drained out of the Void as if consumed by the fury that seemed almost to explode from the normally reserved swordsman. The voice returned at full force, as if it had been at a distance before, screaming and howling in recognition.

It was him! The thought rang mercilessly through his head; he was not sure if it was his own or the other's. It had been him the whole time, and Kensaki had not even recognized him, his oldest enemy, his only enemy. The man who had stolen his honor and left him for dead. It was as if all the rage and anger had been drained out of Kensaki by the initial eruption, leaving an empty shell devoid of feeling. His voice contained no trace of emotion, cold as the blackest icy depths of the sea.

"Shin Shiden. The Tenken. Today is the day that you die, the day you learn the penalty for leaving me while I still drew breath. Die, Tenken. The true fight begins now."

By this point, the song produced by the tuning fork in Kensaki's hand had begun to overpower Darkstar's own song, and it still continued to gather intensity. Now that the Void was back to its original state, Kensaki almost felt himself again, although the city still pulled at him. Dimly, he was aware of a slight but growing pain in his left hand, but he knew he could let the fork ring for a short while longer before any true damage was incurred. Kensaki began to move to his right in a wide arc around Lank and the place Shin would land. He would quickly pick up speed, and unless attacked, would begin to circle his opponents in another variant of the Star of Fate stance, staying about fifteen paces from either, and reaching speeds that matched what he had shown earlier in a matter of seconds.

[Shin]

( This fight is over, Jon has alerted me that he will be pulling Lank out of it. And there is no reason to continue with just Shin and Kensaki. This thread his now dead. )

[Kensaki]

Weak. Super weak.