OoC: Did you download the track yet? If not, here it is again. Again, scroll down to the "Games section" and download Iuchi Hiroshi (Ikaruga) Reality[Chapter04]. Ikaruga has some of the coolest battle music I've ever heard. You hear that really strong background music? I have that particular sound (not really an instrument) on my keyboard. It's appropriately titled Impact.

BiC: Carefully taking in the scene before him, measuring every tiny distance as Zeroun had taught him to do during free moments, the swordsman slowly circled his foe’s battleward. As he did, he took in the expressions of his enemies. The doppelganger, while it appeared identical to Tokumaru, seemed to maintain the same expression at all times; a cold, battle-hardened frown. It was wordless, as Blitz would have expected, though it probably had some other means of communication. Tokumaru himself was crouching within the fiery shield, wrapping a ripped sleeve around the wound in his shoulder.

“Fine, then!” Blitz responded to the samurai’s proposition, a taste of pleasure on his tongue. Though exterminating wicked men was not a task to be taken lightly, he was all for a great battle every now and then. Obviously, this man was competent with the blade; a worthy opponent. “However, Tokumaru…” he stopped, examining his foe’s very aware expression. “You were right about one thing… when you said that my primary attributes are my speed and control over the fire element.” Blitz held out his sword, gently pricking the cage of flames with its tip. A twisted grin crossed his face. “But you should expect plenty of surprises from me!”

From the hilt, fierce flames billowed across the sword, licking its blade as they plunged into the hemispherical cage. Tokumaru watched in shock as the ward shattered like glass and the flames raced over his body. Taken by surprise, but not slow to action, the Sôryûsen Ryû rushed the swordsman from behind. But Blitz had predicted this, and thrust backward with his sword. Though it met no flesh, for the Sôryûsen Ryû was a spiritual creature, the blade met a sort of fluid resistance. Blitz could not see the results of his attack, but knew instinctively that it had made contact with his enemy. Stepping aside so that he could see both of the enemies without averting his gaze, he chuckled in delight.

“…So predictable.”

The anger in their faces was blatant as both of them rose. Raging Flame had done little damage to the samurai, for he was a fire elemental; his doppelganger was inherently resistant to physical attacks. Had Blitz been in the opposite situation, he would have been able to deal out maximum damage, but that had not been an option. Nor was it now, for they both rushed him at once. Too late, Blitz saw that Tokumaru was attacking vertically, while the spirit being took aim with a horizontal sweep for his legs. Leaping up and foiling the doppelganger’s attack, he prepared to counter the samurai’s blow. But Tokumaru leapt up at him, sword idly by his waist, and Blitz was unable to determine beforehand how he should strike.

During the moment in which the swordsman was confused, Tokumaru thrust his blade directly upward. The curved blade met Blitz chest, searing through flesh, but did not strike any vitals as the samurai had hoped. Instead, the damage was minimal enough for his adversary not to flinch. Bounding away in midair, the Wielder of the Sword landed awkwardly on one knee. He had meant to grasp his wound to stop the bloodflow, but the Sôryûsen was already moving to attack him. Being short for his age, Blitz was already almost dwarfed by the spirit. He parried its vertical slash, but was not in the position to guard properly. The doppelganger lunged at him, but instead of slashing as Blitz had expected, it kicked at his face and sent him careening downhill. Sliding disgracefully down the slope, the Wielder of the Sword was dazed. He could not stop his descent down the hill, and was completely open to attack until his eyes focused again.

Tokumaru was practically on top of him by the time Blitz regained his senses, and he rolled aside just as the Hinotama came down on what would have been his heart. The blade was stuck in the dirt, hung on a clump of grass for a moment. Blitz took advantage of Tokumaru’s moment of weakness, and lunged at him with the hilt of his sword. It struck the samurai in his left temple before he could free the Hinotama, and his head lolled in a brief daze. But the doppelganger was fast approaching again, so Blitz kicked at Tokumaru’s head and sent him spiraling further downhill, into the ravine between this and the next rise. Wow, thought the swordsman. That was more satisfying than I thought it would be.

Sôryûsen Ryû was directly behind him now; Blitz whipped around, slashing horizontally with his flaming blade. But the spirit stopped just before the attack made contact, and the Supernova missed entirely. In that brief moment, the spirit leapt into him, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly slamming its transparent soft-green fists into his chest. Albeit dazed, Blitz was able to grab each of the Sôryûsen’s fists with his own hands. Then, with a bit of surprise, he saw that Tokumaru was standing over him. The Hinotama was hovering a few inches above his eyes, patiently awaiting something.

“Well, you are certainly worthy of your title, o’ great Wielder of the Sword.” Though he spoke with admiring words, the samurai’s tone was bland and his face was adorned with a frown much like that of his doppelganger. Blitz gained a bit of satisfaction at seeing a thin trail of blood trickle from his enemy's mouth. “But you appear to be at a loss. Can you escape from this predicament with your life? Or shall I split your skull in two at once?”

Blitz let the same calm frown cross his own complexion in an attempt not to give away his thoughts. There were a few solutions to this problem… but all of them were risky.

OoC: As I swore I would eventually do, I have put myself in an awkward position. Let's see how you handle a difficult situation on my side. After all, I have to come out of this battle with my life. It's all going to be chronological. My battles are all in a chronological order; you can check out the order at the bottom of Blitz' page. By the way, I meant to ask you... Do you like tragedy? Do you like crying? Do you like it when nothing goes right? Then have a look at this. ... ... ... ... So confused...