(A/N: Amongst the swordsmen who live in a fictional universe, very few can hold a candle to these two. The Real Brick: Hakumen, one of the six heroes of BlazBlue. Draconic Hero: And Sephiroth, the most powerful villain across Final Fantasy Seven. The Real Brick: I'm the Real Brick. Draconic Hero: I'm draconic hero. The Real Brick: And it's our job to put two people into the arena based on our research to tell you which one is superior. Draconic Hero: Indeed it's time to answer the ultimate question. Just WHO? WOULD! WIN!)
Disclaimer: BlazBlue and Final Fantasy are owned by Aksys Games and Square Enix
NOTE ABOUT THE BATTLE: To make things fair and more interesting, The Real Brick and I have done our best to portray both Hakumen and Sephiroth at absolute full power. Since Hakumen is limited out in the real world and Sephiroth always holds back, we're giving both badasses a chance to cut loose. Also, we are counting all of Sephiroth's feats into our research, but of course NOT his shortcomings. In our arena, plot convenience has no relevance. With that said, here we go.
The Fighters
Fighter A
Name: Hakumen (formerly Jin Kisaragi)
Sword: Okami
Handicap: Forced at twenty percent (possibly lower) of his power due to the rest of it being stuck in the boundary
Limit Break Engine: Astral Heat
Limit Break Name: Judgment of the Sword
Specialty: Counterattacks
Fighting Style: Defensive and opportunistic
Outfit: The Susano-o unit
Misc: Has one of the most awesome badass creeds in the history of Japanese Fiction
Fighter B
Name: Sephiroth
Sword: Masamune
Handicap: Holds back a lot during his fights
Limit Break Engine: Overdrive
Limit Break Name: Supernova and Meteor
Specialty: Strong, swift, strikes
Fighting Style: Very offensive
Outfit: One of the most badass black longcoats in the history of fiction
Misc: Has one of the most recognizable villain theme songs to date.
The Setup
With Mu-12 a done deal, Hakumen began his road toward Ikaruga, knowing that the next conflict would occur there. As he traveled though, he began to sense a disturbance in the boundary. It felt as if there was some dark, evil presence simply looming just outside Hakumen's ability to affect. What bothered him the most was that this dark presence felt even more powerful than Terumi himself.
Terrified of what unknown new spawn of madness that could be unleashed into the world, Hakumen immediately made haste towards the closest pathway into the boundary. He had no intention of letting this evil surface. If he was going to take it out, he had to do it in the realm between realms where he would be at his most powerful.
Upon entering the boundary once more, Hakumen felt a surge of energy run through him. He could feel all of his former power building up inside him. Whatever this threat was, he was ready to face it.
As he wandered through the boundary, Hakumen spotted a man just standing around, seemingly bored with long silver hair, one wing and a long, black coat with boots.
"Who are you?" Hakumen asked.
Extending his wing outward, the man turned to face Hakumen, looking at him with a haphazard gaze. "I am Sephiroth."
"Why have you come to this world?"
Sephiroth looked off to the side, as if disinterested in Hakumen. He seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he promptly pulled out his incredibly long sword, pointing the sharp end at Hakumen.
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Hakumen asked.
"Does this answer your question?" Sephiroth asked and lunged at Hakumen with his sword. Drawing Okami as quickly as he could, Hakumen barely had any time to block. However, such a tactic would only work once. Now that his guard was up, Hakumen had no intention of lowering it until he understood this mysterious traveler's intentions.
"You're making a big mistake," Hakumen warned Sephiroth.
"Oh I highly doubt that. You're strong, I can tell, but you won't win this battle, not if I use my real strength."
"If that's how it's going to be then that's how it's going to be. For the sake of this world, I will cut you down!"
The Wheel of Fate Is Turning
Rebel 1
ACTION!
With tremendous effort, Hakumen swung with both hands on Okami and managed to push Sephiroth back. Charging forward, the silver haired swordsman attacked with multiple strikes in quick succession, his longer blade smashing against the god slaying Okami three times. On the fourth strike, Hakumen evaded the blow and lunged forward with a thrusting stab, putting his whole body behind the thrust.
Sephiroth dodged to the side and with a fearsome slash managed to create a shallow gash in the Susano-o armor.
"What…but how…the Susano-o was meant…to slay gods."
"I am a god," Sephiroth proclaimed and attacked Hakumen again with rapid slashes too quick for the human eye to process.
Unfortunately for Sephiroth, he was not up against a mere man like Cloud or Zack. Hakumen successfully blocked every strike and then parried Sephiroth's last strike, knocking the one winged angel off balanace as he swung upward before rushing Sephiroth with intense speed, tackling him and sending him across the battlefield as Hakumen, both hands on Okami slashed forward only to miss as Sephiroth teleported right behind him and with a precise strike motioned to strike Hakumen across the back.
The eyes on his legs glancing backward, Hakumen merely put his sword across his back and blocked Sephiroth with just as much precision. He then whirled around and, with speed never before seen by the super soldier, Hakumen grabbed Sephiroth by the wrist and threw him over the horizon.
Sephiroth came flying in with magnificent speed and again swung his sword at the white armored hero. Sephiroth's blade landed upon Okami with a loud Clang. Each strike that fell upon Hakumen's blade pushed him back, boasting the true physical strength of the opponent before him.
Swinging out wide with both hands on his trusted sword, Hakumen attempted to bifurcate Sephiroth only for his opponent to backflip over the strike and then flying past Hakumen, struck him in the shoulder.
"Aren't you going to actually try?" Sephiroth boasted, but Hakumen held his ground. Caution was his best weapon against an opponent like this.
"Very well. If you won't show me your true power, perhaps it's time I up the ante," Sephiroth said, casually brushing a lock of hair away from his eyes. Leaping into the air, an intense heat formed around Sephiroth as he then rained down large meteors from the sky.
Got you! Hakumen declared. Using the power of Okami, Hakumen swatted away each meteor with just the bladed edge of his Nox Nytores. With each blow a small black hole appeared that was then launched at Sephiroth at blinding speeds. Sephiroth had barely enough time to dodge them and one of them wound up smacking him right in the face.
"Come down here and fight me!" Hakumen exclaimed. "You gain no advantage from the air!"
"Have it your way," Sephiroth descended upon Hakumen as he tore the sound barrier wide open, a decapitating slice making its way towards the ancient hero. Unable to push past Hakumen's defense, Sephiroth flew away from his opponent, turned around and then struck at him with another fast flying swing. Each fearsome blow pushed Hakumen back as he methodically kept in rhythm with Sephiroth's wide, sweeping blows.
He's strong and that sword of his is longer than mine. I have to find some sort of weakness to exploit.
Hakumen took a step towards Sephiroth to get closer and take to the offense, but Sephiroth only backed up and levitated on his wing so that he was outside of Hakumen's reach. Hakumen's attacks were met with Sephiroth casually blocking every single strike Hakumen made upon him.
"This is boring," Sephiroth scoffed.
Taking to the air once more, a bright light shone from above Sephiroth as he began gathering energy, turning the entire battlefield aglow with celestial energy.
What is he doing? Hakumen wondered to himself as the entire battlefield became hotter and brighter with every passing second as a large, sun like object began to appear from far away and it was only growing closer with every moment.
"This dimension appears impervious to anything, but you, swordsman, will not survive this. Supernova."
A large ball of energy capable of obliterating planets came barreling towards Hakumen as he braced himself.
"Fool! I can counter it with my—" Hakumen's last sentence was not finished as he was completely engulfed by the large ball of energy.
However, as he was engulfed, Hakumen struggled to maintain his existence. This power…too dangerous…I cannot…
I cannot allow it to exist in this timeline!
In a brighter flash of light, Sephiroth's Supernova was completely dissipated and Hakumen, laying on the ground, immediately leapt to his feet.
"What was that just now?" Sephiroth asked casually as he lowered himself to the ground. "How did you survive my supernova?"
"The power of order," Hakumen stated. "Even I barely understand how it works, but," he pointed his blade at Sephiroth, "I do know that no matter how many times you try that attack, I'll repel it every time, guaranteed."
"Power of order huh? Interesting. You'll have to reveal those secrets to me, as I pry them from your cold dead corpse."
"Try it! Even if you do, you'll gain no knowledge from me."
Sephiroth merely smiled slightly, "We'll see."
Returning to the offensive, Hakumen and Sephiroth clashed blades yet again. With his fast, superior strength, Sephiroth continued to keep the fast reacting Hakumen on the ropes.
"If a cataclysm will not work, then let's try something with a little more practicality. Octaslash!" Rushing Hakumen in a blitz faster than anything else he had done before, Sephiroth attempted to hack Hakumen to pieces, armor and all. Much to his amazement though, Hakumen blocked every single strike. Moreover, he didn't just block the strike, he repelled Sephiroth, pushing him back.
Holding out two fingers, Sephiroth declared, "Firaga!" A pillar of flame erupted from beneath Hakumen, setting him aflame, but the white warrior charged through the flames with fury and speed faster than Sephiroth anticipated. It looked like Hakumen was going to strike low.
Sephiroth raised Masamune to block the incoming strike only for Hakumen to cancel out of his strike and leap over Sephiroth's head, his blade intending to come right down on the fallen hero's skull. Sephiroth moved back as Hakumen planted his sword into the ground.
Sephiroth was slightly peeved that his opponent had forced him to retreat, but he didn't show it. Instead, he readied his blade only for Hakumen to come rushing at him again. He began to run circles around him until he became multiples of himself. Sephiroth simply swung down with his sword directly in front of him only for Hakumen to dash away from him and come at him with lightning speed from the right.
Sephiroth spun as quickly as he could to block the strike as Hakumen's blade came slamming down on Masamune. Sparks flew as Hakumen's mask gazed at Sephiroth's green eyes. Despite feeling a little challenged, Sephiroth's face remained as hard to read as always. And, despite looking just as calm, Hakumen himself was angered and frustrated that he could not find a way to pierce his opponent's defenses.
Sticking his foot out, Sephiroth kicked Hakumen away and then committed to another Octaslash. Just like before, Hakumen methodically blocked each of Sephiroth's strikes. This time he sidestepped each attack, casually letting Masamune brush along Okami, looking for an active opening in Sephiroth's attack pattern.
He found one.
As Sephiroth came charging in for one of the last strikes to the technique, Hakumen switched Okami to his off-hand momentarily as he caught Sephiroth's arm and then brought the holy blade down upon Sephiroth's right shoulder, creating a deep gash.
The Winnah…
Sephiroth retreated from Hakumen, feeling the blood running down his arm. "It's been a while since anyone's ever been able to make me bleed. And I know it's never happened when I've gone all out. But that is as far as you go. I'm ending this, now!" Sephiroth charged at Hakumen only to completely lose sight of him. He then felt the pommel of Okami smash into his stomach and send him flying across the horizon again.
Frowning, Sephiroth charged back at Hakumen only for Hakumen to block the strike, parry it and slash Sephiroth again, this time right down the torso. Sephiroth took to the air again and tried to fly at top speed at Hakumen, only to find difficulty in gaining momentum. What…I…
He had to pull up sharply to avoid Hakumen sticking his blade in his eye. Sephiroth then felt out of breath. As he flexed the muscles in his hand, he wondered what had happened. Why was he suddenly feeling weaker?
Hakumen realized it as he examined the blood dripping down Okami's tip. Hmm, there's evil in his bloodstream. I see. Hakumen positioned his blade up by his face and waited for Sephiroth to come to him. This fight is mine.
Sephiroth flew forward until he was directly above Hakumen and then swept down from above to impale the bastard upon his sword. Hakumen dodged the attack as the residual shockwave kicked dust everywhere. Hakumen lunged forward as he missed Sephiroth with his thrust and Sephiroth slashed along Hakumen's shoulder, this time Masamune banged against Susano-o and did little more than scratch it.
"You're weakening! You're finished!" Hakumen ran forward, attempting to impale Sephiroth on his blade, but he missed as Sephiroth sidestepped his strike and swatted Okami away. He then began teleporting rapidly, making a single strike with each teleport, hoping to confuse Hakumen each time he tried to attack. "You can't beat me like this!" Hakumen declared as he brought down Okami hard on Masamune, repelling his attacker. "My eyes see all. Also, you keep trying to attack me from behind. It's an obvious tactic." Hakumen whirled round and motioned to split Sephiroth in half, both hands on Okami, "And it's not going to work!"
Sephiroth dodged back and to the left. He was running out of options. Whatever was happening to him it was slowly sapping his strength. He had to finish this fight so that he could fix whatever was wrong with him and then go back to being his usual pompous self. He put extreme distance between him and Hakumen as he planned to play one last trump card he had up his sleeve.
"Descend, Heartless Angel."
The angel of death doth did descend and in before Hakumen realized what was happening a surge of pain swept over him bringing him to his knees. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGH!"
Finally, Sephiroth had regained the advantage. He teleported in front of Hakumen, the man sitting on his knees, seething in pain. "I told you," he said, "You had no chance at winning." He swung his blade to decapitate Hakumen, only to stop his blade just at the neck of his opponent. "Before I kill you do you have any last words…" Sephiroth wanted to state his opponent's name, but there was a problem. "Oh, you must forgive me. In all this excitement, I didn't get a chance to learn your name."
As the surging pain subsided, and his breathing regulated, Hakumen began to get to his feet. "You want to know…my name? I'll tell you my name. I am the white void!" Hakumen stood on his feet. "I am the cold steel!" Hakumen rushed forward towards Sephiroth. The one winged angel attacked him, but he missed as Hakumen leapt over the strike. He then somersaulted at Sephiroth, both hands on Okami. He also missed as he landed with the blade of his sword on the ground. "I am the just sword!" He stood proudly, glaring at Sephiroth with all of his eyes. "With blade in hand, I shall reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction." Hakumen charged forward and dodged Sephiroth's attack as he managed to slash him along his left shoulder this time. "I am HAKUMEN! THE END HAS COME!"
Not knowing where this surge of power was coming from, Sephiroth swung wildly at Hakumen in his attempt to deal just one hit on the bastard, but his sword struck against Hakumen's blade as a bright, silver light surrounded him and all of his hair stood up like a peacock spreading its feathers. Shouting loudly, Hakumen declared, "JUDGMENT OF THE SWORD!"
Sephiroth had no idea what was happening as Hakumen suddenly rushed right by him as cut after cut after cut after cut after cut appeared on his body as it was completely mutilated by lacerations until Hakumen then sheathed his sword behind his back and then, Sephiroth, the bane of his world's existence, exploded into a mass of his own blood.
Hakumen, breathing heavily, examined the damage done to the Susano-o and then at the bloodstain that used to be Sephiroth. I have no idea what that…thing was, he took a deep breath and finished his sentence with, but it's gone now. Now…how am I going to get out of the boundary this time.
END
(A/N: There's no substitute for a badass creed…even a badass leitmotif. While admittedly Sephiroth is stronger—and probably faster—than Hakumen and his blade is more than likely longer, what Sephiroth couldn't handle were Hakumen's insane reflexes. Just because he can move faster and swing harder, doesn't mean Hakumen's defenses were capable of countering his offenses. First of all, Hakumen has a special ability to counter projectiles, allowing him to completely nullify Sephiroth's meteor attacks. Furthermore, Hakumen's entire body is simple a soul in a suit of armor. He has no bones to break and no flesh to bleed. Had this not been the case, Sephiroth could've won this much easier. But, of course, the big thing I'm sure everyone has questions about is Sephiroth's Supernova. Hakumen's Power of Order is the perfect counter for that since it is a cataclysmic event that, in the BlazBlue universe would immediately be corrected. The Power of Order has the ability to undo unwanted phenomena. While Hakumen doesn't have complete control over the power of order to make him invincible, he does exert enough control to at least cancel, or undo Sephiroth's Supernova, preventing it from actually coming into the equation. There's also their attitudes. While Hakumen is arrogant and easily prone to rage, he understands that there are forces out there beyond his comprehension like the Black Beast. Sephiroth, conversely, has never had an opponent who could ever take his measure except Genesis, and even then he's too full of himself to really think anyone could actually beat him. Also, the Okami is a holy "evil purifying" blade. Since Death Battle proved such a thing, like Link's Master Sword, could purify Cloud's Jenova cells, there's no reason Okami couldn't do the same to Sephiroth. Sephiroth almost had a victory until it was cut apart at the seams. The winner is Hakumen!)
NEXT TIME ON WHO WOULD WIN!
Two titans of epic manliness clash together!
One is the man whose name is given to the greatest warrior of his generation. He is often called "The Man Who Cannot Fall". The eleventh in his generation, captain of his men, and a psychopathic blood knight looking for a good fight.
His opponent is just about the biggest idiot in the known magic world. He has many names: The Thousand Blades, Legendary Hero, Invincible Idiot, and, most of all, "That Damn Guy You Can Stab With Swords All You Like And It Won't Do A Thing, Damnit!"
In their wake, entire buildings have crumbled. They are greater warriors than even the protagonists of their home universes. And, next time, they will face off in a fight to the finish that will be the most destructive showdown of their lives!