CHAPTER IV
FEAR AMONGST MYSELF
DISCLAIMER: I claim NO OWNERSHIP to ANY of the characters in this story except (for this chapter) Tojiro "Neo" Ankoku, Ryu Kaze, Cassandra and Vulcan. They are my original characters and are owned by me. All other characters belong to their respectful creators/owners!
"State your names!" shouted the Cloakmaster.
"My, my, my, he sure hasn't changed hasn't he?" said the cloaked figure on the left, lowering the hood and appearing to be a woman with long crimson red hair and purple eyes.
Tojiro's eyes widened, "Lynn, run!" he ordered, firing a huge red Chaos Spear.
Lynn quickly rolled out of the way. The Chaos Spear was absorbed into the woman's hand, and then shot back. Tojiro swung his sword, cutting it in half, standing in a downward stance, until straightening himself back up again.
"Cassandra. My lustful and disrespectful half-sister. What are you doing here?" he began, pointing his blade at her.
"Silence yourself." said the figure on the left, aiming his hand out, revealing his left arm to be entirely made out of gold.
He shot a yellow beam of Chaos energy. Tojiro used Chaos Control to redirect it back. The cloaked man knocked it away.
"And of course, Vulcan. The greed machine from Hell." announced Tojiro.
He lowered his hood, revealing from the right side of his face and along with his whole jaw was machinery, and painted of gold. The eye on the right side of his face was glowing green, and his still human eye was white.
"My obsessive half brother. Both of you…should've been dead centuries ago." Tojiro declared savagely.
"Very true little brother…but we missed you." said Cassandra, licking her red lips.
"I see. Then let me welcome you." he said, lowering his hood, his eyes burning with shining red.
A sudden wind blew forwards, and smacked the two. "His energy definitely has become stronger, hasn't it?" said Vulcan.
"Oh it has…it definitely feels good." said Cassandra, opening her cloak. She appeared in clothing a dominatrix would wear, with long black boots that went up to pass her knees while the rest of her attire covered her body. She readied her whip which was practically covered in small steel barbs. A weapon she dubbed, The Whip of Tortured Souls. Vulcan opened up his cloak, revealing his chest to cobbled out of steel and colored black. He held his hands out, and used Chaos Control to make a large mini-gun cast in black steel. He dubbed it, The Annihilator.
"Shall we begin?" asked Cassandra.
"Anytime scum." snapped the Cloakmaster, charging forward.
Vulcan immediately fired the extremely loud bullets from his mini gun. Tojiro quickly stopped, and swung his sword in frantic circles to deflect the bullets that came his way. Cassandra charged forward, swinging her whip which was suddenly doused in purple Chaos energy. Tojiro quickly lowered his blade once Vulcan had ceased. Cassandra swung her whip, to which wrapped around Dragon's Bane. Cassandra pulled Tojiro up to her, and began caressing the side of his head.
"If you ever take the moment and rid yourself of that thick skull of yours, this wouldn't need to happen." she said.
Tojiro let a pulse of power extract from his eyes, and blast Cassandra back. Vulcan kept his finger on the trigger, no bullets came out.
Instead, the head of the barrel flipped open, and inside, a gold glow began to form.
"Dammit. Lynn!" Tojiro exclaimed, turning his attention to the young girl. He quickly ordered her to hold onto his back.
"To Hell!" shouted Vulcan. The massive beam shot out in circular forms.
"Hold on!" said Tojiro, running forward.
The beam continued to close in on the two. Tojiro kept running, knowing what was awaiting him. Tojiro gripped Dragon's Bane tightly in his right hand, feeding it energy. Tojiro then quickly stopped, and did a massive back flip, just missing the blast. Vulcan aimed his mini-gun up at the sky, and began firing madly. Tojiro created a red barrier around himself, so that Lynn and himself would be safe from the momentous barrage. Tojiro finally lowered the shield once landing behind Vulcan. There was a large lump on Vulcan's back.
"The energy storage for his powers and ammo, perfect." he muttered bitterly.
"Lynn, hold on for a bit longer, alright?" he said.
"Okay!" she said, wrapping her arms tightly around Tojiro's neck, not trying to suffocate him.
Cassandra leapt over Vulcan, and shot a series of sharp pins out of her left hand. Tojiro did backwards short jumps, as the pins with an ominous purple ooze of smoke emanating from each one that pierced the ground. Tojiro pointed his Dragon's Bane sword forward, releasing ten bolts of red lightning from the entire blade. Cassandra put her hand on Vulcan's back, and used Chaos Control to make themselves scarce. Tojiro lowered his sword again, sensing for their trace of Chaos energy.
"Lynn…I want you to get to the others. Tell them to stay calm, and alert Sakamoto and the other two when on their way back, understand?" he whispered, still keeping focus.
"Alright, but what about you?" she asked with concern.
"I'll be fine. It's you and the others that I'm concerned about." he said.
Lynn slightly blushed at his kindness.
"Hurry! Go!" he yelled furiously.
Cassandra and Vulcan reappeared behind the two. Lynn quickly got off Tojiro's back and quickly fled the scene, making her way to the base. Vulcan fired a sphere of Chaos energy from within his gun. Tojiro held his sword back, almost like a baseball bat. Tojiro then swung it from the right, which sucked all the energy up. As he spun around, the blade left traces of trailing yellow energy that came from the sphere. Once facing the two foes, he let out a violent burst of dark red wave shaped Chaos energy. The blast knocked the two across the runway, resulting in a cloud of smoke.
Cassandra's whip came and smacked Tojiro with a violent boom of black and purple light, knocking him across the ground. Vulcan suddenly came down from above, stomping his large metal boot on Tojiro's back. Cassandra stepped up to his corpse, and pinned her sharp heel into Tojiro's neck, making him growl vigorously.
"Akuma was right about you Tojiro, you still haven't changed." she said with a slithering tone, holding up her whip.
Tojiro let out a sudden burst of electricity. It mostly damaged Vulcan, being more machine than man. The lightning shot Tojiro's nightmarish half-brother across the runway, until he stopped and didn't move another single inch. Tojiro rose to his feet, turning around to have Cassandra's whip straddle around his throat.
"You fail to understand, don't you?" she began.
"Your words are full of filth! Now back OFF!" he roared, shooting a pair of red beams out of his eyes, shooting Cassandra into the sky.
Tojiro leaped up after her, and grabbed her by one of her ankles, then tossed her back to the ground, landing on her back. Tojiro shot down at her motionless body, Dragon's Bane aiming down. When the Nightshade was just inches away, Vulcan's blast from his mini-gun boosted Tojiro back across the runway in a series of tumbles. Tojiro punched his right fist to the ground, and immediately got up, filled with rage. Vulcan made his Annihilator mini-gun vanish, and then he readied a pair of grisly hook swords, tipped in hot steel. Tojiro and Vulcan clashed their weapons together. Tojiro shot a pair of beams from both his eyes, pushing Vulcan back across the ground. With this, Tojiro swung his blade across Vulcan's body several times. Tojiro ended his attacks with a straight punch to the face with his right fist, forcing Vulcan to be tossed across the ground. Vulcan sat up, his green eye sparkling with hateful vengeance. He smashed his hook swords into the ground, creating glowing gold cracks that spread across the ground, until they reached the Demigod of Death. Spouts of hot gold liquid began spraying out from the cracks. Before they reached the crack he stood over, Tojiro leapt into the air. Tojiro sheathed Dragon's Bane, and got out Black Death. He fired the heavy pulse pounding projectiles which smacked against Vulcan's armored head. Tojiro landed on the ground, and put Black Death back in it's holster. The flood of hot gold sprayed over at Tojiro. Tojiro squatted down, then leaped forward. Tojiro went right over it, but held both his hands back, causing the tide of gold to follow his hands. As he came back down, he launched the wide wave of burning gold at both Cassandra and Vulcan. The two easily used Chaos Control to avoid it. Tojiro landed on the ground, growling with disturbance.
"The final Nightshade. The single Nightshade who should've died, without a passion." said Cassandra's voice.
Tojiro immediately turned around and saw the two foes standing there.
"Akuma knows much more than you have ever wished to Tojiro. This war…will not involve your survival." said Vulcan.
"Like it has ever mattered you pile of trash! I don't care about death…nor do I care about life. I am the judge between both of those." advocated the Cloakmaster of Darkness.
"You're too smug dear Tojiro, you won't outlast us." said Cassandra.
"Us? The others…are alive as well?" he questioned in thought.
"That's right. They're alive as well. The rest of the family just can't wait to get their hands on you." said a sly Cassandra.
Tojiro's fists clenched with tense hatred.
"Sometime Tojiro, you will recognize your place. Bye-bye for now!" said Cassandra, blowing him a goodbye kiss.
The two vanished by the use of Chaos Control, and the in the sky began to brighten by sudden lightning. Tojiro grabbed the sides of his hood, flipping it over his head.
"They're back. Those that have caused me pain and suffering…have finally returned." he muttered in defeat.
Rain fell and the wind bowled extremely hard. Tojiro's face was concealed by the darkness. The thunder boomed across the sky like the force of an earthquake.
"They…can come. For each that stands in my way…shall fall. I will…have my revenge." he uttered, lifting his head.
As the lightning struck, it revealed his burning red eyes, those that could freeze the most powerful warrior…dead in their tracks. It was morning, and the sun's ever graceful presence began to rise over the horizon. Tojiro, however, wasn't enjoying the scenery. He doesn't enjoy much of nature, for he knows he had scarred it enough, so there is nothing much he views in nature that is peaceful. Yet, the Cloakmaster who would come to hate all has only, and always found peace and care in few things. He cared for his dear mother, who was chanced by fate to be struck down by his own hand. Had it not been so long that he had regretted that nightmarish moment. If there was ever something he could truly enjoy, was when as a child, he use to sit and watch the sunset with his mother. Tojiro took a moment to stand still and observe the view, staring at the rising sun. Many moments of his past enjoyments where he sat by his mother's side and watched the bright light rise up flooded his mind, and he felt at peace. Being in his human form made the Demigod have these feelings, it was single reason he stays out of it, and only in his hedgehog form. Why now? Why was it now that Tojiro remain in this form to enjoy the sunrise? It is all left in his past; his past dreams when he existed as a normal being, before his horrible transformation into the last Nightshade, and the very last of his people.
"Tojiro?" said a voice.
Tojiro opened his eyes, turning around to shoot a blast of dark red Chaos energy at the speaker. There stood Ryu, easily extinguishing the blast by holding his staff up, then lowering it. Tojiro lowered his right hand, his eyes tightened and shifted into an angry shape.
"How long are you planning to stay in this dimension?" asked the wise god.
"As long as I must. I am determined to find answers I now seek." he replied, turning to face the open ocean.
"I see. To what lengths, and to what reasons?" replied Ryu.
"Necessary actions must be taken whenever they are required. I'm beginning to expect something horrible to begin." conjured Tojiro.
"I can tell. You've never been one to be so wrapped up in denial." said Ryu.
"That's a lie. I know it. Everything I've done…was out of hate and vengeance." Tojiro said, offended by Ryu's opposition. Ryu huffed, but in a positive manner, expecting this from the Cloakmaster.
Tojiro was walking alone this time. He began to spot several gravestones, just a few in random spots. Tojiro then stopped, noticing Yoshika standing at the edge of a cliff, holding a bouquet of flowers. With a gravestone in front of her, the endearing Yoshika set the flowers down on the grave, and stayed kneeled. Tojiro tilted his head, remembering this scene as one of his own. Tojiro could not help but stroll his way over to her. Yoshika was crying tears that could not have been stopped. How could she have been in the right mind to even believe that her father may still be alive? It must be this war. It is war that changes us, but it is the duty that must be done. An irreplaceable duty that no can change or remove from their hearts, it is a burden they must carry. Thus far, the Neuroi haven't shown care for their losses, it is their brutality that drives them. Tojiro stood exactly still for a moment, thinking of these things and only found himself doubting how easily it is to break the soul of a human, to break their spirit, and turn them into something else. Tojiro looked at his right hand, knowing he was thinking about himself.
"I do not wish to ask you anything too strong Yoshika." contemplated Tojiro.
Yoshika suddenly looked over her shoulder, seeing the Cloakmaster standing still, as the wind drifted across the grass and causing his cloak to slowly drift in the air. Yoshika could not help but tell how threatening Tojiro looked, including the fact that his face could not be seen.
"I'm…I'm just a bit…confused." said Yoshika, wiping her tears, then turning her head back to the grave.
Tojiro's eyes tightened suddenly, feeling annoyed. "Is this the grave of your father?" he asked, getting on one knee beside the young Strike Witch.
"Yes…it is." she quietly replied.
"He was the reason we're not fighting a losing war." she continued.
Tojiro shifted his gaze from Yoshika, to the grave. As a point of interest and sheer demise, Tojiro has never found his mother's grave, nor one to his father. The Demigod looked back at Yoshika, who appeared to be emotionally wrought just by kneeling in front of this headstone.
"I take it he invented those devices you call Striker Units?" asked Nightshade.
"He sure did. He created them…just so he could help everyone. It's the same reason I'm serving in the military, the very same reason I want to protect the ones I care about. Isn't that right?" she said, looking at the cloaked demon.
Tojiro huffed and put his left hand on her shoulder. "It is more than just noble Yoshika…it is right." he said, before standing back up, and making his own way. Yoshika watched the Cloakmaster walk away until he was no longer in sight. Yoshika could not help but just stare and think about the echoing words that uttered from the mouth of a being with more nightmares and mistakes, than dreams and accomplishments.
Nightshade was in his Darkrai form, completely covered by his legendary cloak that is as strong as any armor. His single turquoise eye shined within the hood of his cloak, as he was flying over the Strike Witches base that they called home.
"If I'm beginning to feel that Ryu has a point, I must be crazy. I have a sense there is something still here within this dimension. Something I must do. What? What is it?" Tojiro questioned himself mentally.
Tojiro headed down towards the base, hoping he would find something there that would possibly enlighten him, which in many cases is indeed; Surprising. Tojiro slowly found himself going slower through the air as he neared the flat ground. He reverted to his human form once landing, keeping his hood up, and his face shrouded by darkness. All that there was his two blank white eyes staring out, a stare that easily sensed an approaching doom.
Tojiro opened the double doors in front of him, walking into a room that was filled with noise, but suddenly came to silence once the demon stepped inside. Sakamoto and Minna were in the center of the room, scanning over a map, but like everyone else around them, their gaze was set upon the Cloakmaster. Tojiro walked down the first set of steps, strolling over to Sakamoto and Minna.
"May I help you?" asked Minna, facing him.
"Trouble is coming. The Neuroi are planning an attack." he answered darkly.
"How would you know?" asked Minna swiftly.
"I'm sensing a pattern in their attacks. Ever since I'm faced them…they've become more adamant on taking this world by force…starting by killing me." he explained.
"Sounds truthful, but I have my doubts. The Neuroi have had a bad streak of attacks on us, but if you just believe they're going to attack, I can't believe what you say." replied a reasonable Sakamoto.
"Would you rather believe in me or the corpses of your comrades? Take your pick." said Tojiro annoyingly.
"Enough! I will not tolerate your foolishness in my base! Leave this instant!" yelled Minna.
It was even quieter than before. Not a single word or sound drifted it's way on this scene, it was dead silence. Tojiro stared up for a moment.
"You should learn to keep your mouth shut, you know." he said.
Minna's anger was only furthered by his rude comment. "How dare you speak like that. What are you trying to prove!" screamed Minna.
Tojiro sighed, unsheathing Dragon's Bane.
"You need to learn to take cover from your anger." he stated with a harkened voice.
The roof of the room suddenly exploded, and a horde of harpies charged their way down. Tojiro immediately leaped up, spinning in furious circles, releasing small and precise bolts of Chaos energy killing every single one. Tojiro dropped down onto the ground in front of Minna and Sakamoto, his back turned to them. Tojiro stood tall, and watched the complete roof explode. Tojiro raised his blade, creating a dome of Chaos energy, shielding him and the two Strike Witches behind him. Once he lowered the shield, the talons of a large harpy grabbed Minna! The vicious bird quickly flew back up, and into the blue sky.
"Minna!" exclaimed Sakamoto.
"You may not want to get involved. Stay here…keep everyone else safe." warned the Demon Demigod. Nightshade crouched down and made a massive leap out of the large open hole.
Spinning in circles and with Dragon's Bane sticking straight up, Nightshade neared the giant harpy that held Minna in its left foot. Nightshade grabbed hold of the harpy's right foot with his left hand. Nightshade readied his sword and plunged it up into the harpy's neck. The harpy squawked in pain, flapping it's massive wings and letting feathers fly about. Nightshade used Chaos Control to teleport himself into the grip of Dragon's Bane that still lie impaled in the harpy's neck. Nightshade quickly ran around the neck, slicing through the bone, and beheading the harpy. The headless beast began to fall, while Minna was still locked in the grip of it's foot. Nightshade used Chaos Control to appear on the left foot. He sheathed Dragon's Bane and tore the toes off, and grabbed the unconscious Minna in his arms. Nightshade then performed a back flip, falling through the clouds. Minna slowly opened her eyes. They immediately widened when she noticed the position they were in. Minna grabbed hold tightly around Nightshade's neck.
"What in the hell is going on?" she yelled.
"Just keep your eyes closed." he replied.
They passed through another set of clouds, however, there was a Neuroi Hydra head springing it's long neck up at them.
"OH GOD!" screamed Minna.
Nightshade noticed the sudden grip of Minna's arms.
"Minna…I'm awfully sorry about this." said Nightshade carelessly.
"Huh? What?" she stumbled.
Nightshade threw Minna to the left, and unsheathed Dragon's Bane. Sticking the blade downward, Nightshade dove right into the forehead of the beast with amazing momentum. The beast, however, regained it's focus and began shaking it's head in violent fashions. Nightshade then began to violently drive his metal fist into the beasts' right eye, ultimately shattering it. The angry Hydra threw Nightshade off it's head. The Cloakmaster swiftly transformed to his Darkrai form, and flew over to the still descending Minna. The Demigod easily grabbed her in his arms, just missing a sudden chomp from the teeth of the Hydra.
Nightshade turned around, hovering still in mid air. Down below in the ocean, the Hydra gave an insidious glare of hunger at the two.
"This won't be easy." said Nightshade.
"Would it be alright with you…if you put me down!" yelled Minna impatiently.
"Very well. I don't need a fools words anyway." Nightshade responded, using Chaos Control to make Minna vanish from his arms and reappear in front of the hangar.
"Commander Minna? How'd you just get here?" asked Yoshika, exiting the hangar, with Lynn by her side.
"For now, let's just trust Tojiro." said Minna quickly, watching up at the sky.
Nightshade put his arms out in front, his fingertips pointing to each other. A sphere of electricity began to form, and he held it over his head. The Hydra fired a beam of red energy from it's chest. Nightshade quickly shot the lightning sphere, causing a dangerous boom, blowing Nightshade back through the air, eventually stopping himself before making another charge towards his foe. The Hydra lunged it's open mouth forward, but the dastardly demigod punched the beast in the snout with his metal fist, causing it to lunge back. Nightshade then shot an array of lightning bolts which coursed all over the Hydra's body, causing it to roar in pain. Nightshade quickly hovered away from the suffering beast, unsheathing Dragon's Bane.
"There's no doubt this is a creation of Vulcan. How? How did he get his hands on the Neuroi's technology?" Nightshade questioned himself mentally.
The Hydra shook free the bolting lightning and launched a large red beam out of it's mouth. Nightshade swung his left hand up, causing a large wall of water to rise up before himself, and blocking the blast, but yet creating another strong quake of air to shoot Nightshade back, also leaving a large cloud of steam in the air.
Nightshade gasped and quickly flew upwards once the Hydra came through the steam with a hungry mouth. Nightshade then dashed downwards, smashing down into the beast's head, causing it to slip under the water, along with the Demigod of Death. Nightshade struck his right hand into the left eye of the Hydra, then plunged his left hand into the hole. Nightshade began to pull opposite ways, tearing the eye socket open. The Hydra continued to swing it's head in a painful rage, roaring and screeching with agony. Nightshade drove Dragon's Bane into the eye hole, creating a red light to glow within. In just a few seconds, the pressure and power of Chaos energy exploded, throwing Nightshade's loose body down to the runway, scattered and steaming with smoke. Nightshade stuck his blade into the ground, using it as support so he could rise to his feet. Nightshade sheathed Dragon's Bane, and reverted to his human form.
"Are you alright Tojiro?" called out Yoshika from far behind.
Nightshade turned around to see Yoshika, Lynn and Minna making their way over to him.
"It is good to see that you're alright. I thank your for staying safe." said Nightshade respectfully.
Minna then slapped Nightshade. Yoshika and Lynn gasped at such a move. Nightshade turned his head back to Minna, and sighed heavily.
"That was unrequited, yet I understand your sudden anger." Nightshade commented.
Minna crossed her arms, surprised by his calm response. "I did underestimate their attack. Yet the Neuroi you have witnessed won't attack you anymore. They only aim for me. It was what they were built for." explained Tojiro.
"That's good I guess. Then tell me this, how come it sounds like you're leaving?" questioned Minna.
"You are right to say that. I must make my leave. I can't, however, determine where my journey will bring me." said Nightshade.
"We understand. We all wish you good luck." said Sakamoto, just arriving.
"I may end up in this world again, but maybe not." said Nightshade, turning his back to them.
Nightshade stretched his right hand out, shooting a red sphere out, and creating a crimson portal.
"However, this world is in good enough hands already." he said, before lunging into the portal.
Unaware of where it will lead him he marched on. It is like he said himself, no matter how hard he tried, every path is enshrouded with danger and death. Not a single layer of peace will stand in his way, because he will be there to dismiss it. Prejudice and unprejudiced, that is the way of the Nightshade.
Present Day, Outside Limits of Seito High School, 8:30 pm
In the dead of night, the silence had been broken by a new threat. Two trees were carelessly grabbed and torn out of their roots and thrown off to the side. A large cloaked individual stepped through, and stared up at the sky. The strange being got out a red orb from his cloak pocket. The orb suddenly lit up, and the face of another cloaked man appeared in it.
"You know what to do. Akuma made his word clear, you better get this done right." said the man, with a gluttonous and muffled voice. The cloaked figure in the orb nodded his head, and vanished from within. The large cloaked man put the orb back in his pocket, and looked back up at the sky as if a presence suddenly came over him.
"You better hurry this time my friend, he is coming." said the strange being, watching meteors zip across the night time sky.
Nightshade crashed onto the ground, creating a small crater on a dirt path. He rose to his feet, looking up in the sky at the passing meteor storm.
"Such tranquility…heh." he said, turning his head forward. A sudden urge hit him in the head. Tojiro unsheathed Dragon's Bane, and turned around. A blue meteor was surging downwards from the starry sky.
"Good lord…already?" complained the Cloakmaster, lowering his hood.
The meteor suddenly pulled up and shot straight forward over the tree line. Tojiro watched the blue flaming meteor zoom right over his head, turning himself around in the process. Tojiro crouched down and sped off into an intense sprint.
"That meteor had Chaos energy on it! Who the hell could it be this time?" Tojiro questioned himself as he continued to charge down the dirt road.
On the flaming blue meteor, a cloaked figure rose up. His sleeves were cut off, and his cloak was open, swaying madly at the velocity of the meteor. The figure held both his hands out to the side, creating two spheres of purple Chaos energy.
"Chaos…JUDGMENT STRIKE!" roared the man. He fired the streams of Chaos energy which shot out and swirled in constant circles while flying forward.
The beams then shot upward, and combined together. Appearing as one single comet of purple Chaos energy, the energy shot down towards Seito High School. The blast hit one of the buildings, blowing away a good portion of the building. Tojiro hastily made his way to the school that lie in sudden chaos. Tojiro quickly reverted to his hedgehog form and leaped forward in ball form. With his sword sticking forward, he began spinning down in frequent circles. Tojiro crashed through the blue meteor the cloaked figure stood upon, blowing it to pieces. Tojiro's cloak was lit in blue flames once he landed on the ground. He created a cyclone around his body, dousing the flames off his cloak and all the remaining flames around the area. Tojiro looked forward, seeing the cloaked figure in the distance. His face could not be seen, Tojiro was steadily annoyed every minute.
"You are similar in presence to me. Who are you!" Tojiro demanded an immediate answer.
"That…does not matter." he said, shooting sword blade shaped Chaos Spears.
The blasts cut through Tojiro's flesh. The Cloakmaster created a barrier of Chaos energy to block the pelting blasts. Tojiro quickly lowered the barrier, swinging his sword five times, each releasing slices of red Chaos energy. The cloaked figure blocked each one with a flick of his wrists, then charged forward. Tojiro quickly sheathed his blade and charged forward. The two held their right fists back. The two roared at the top of their lungs, punching their fists together, creating a whirlwind of fire and light of Chaos energy to expand into a dome shaped cloud. Tojiro was standing in the middle of the crater, while the cloaked figure was already up in the air, his arms crossed, staring down at the Cloakmaster.
"You're getting yourself in business that is not your own. You best get lost now." said the stranger.
"If you're so determined to get rid of me…then do it instead of talking!" shouted Tojiro, firing two beams of Chaos energy out of both his hands.
The cloaked man swiped his hands, while flying up into the air, and performing a back flip. The figure landed back on the ground, his back turned to Tojiro. Tojiro's eyes widened at what he saw. On the back of this stranger's cloak was the symbol of his people; The Great Shade Empire.
NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW!
Tojiro: What will you gain from this war? What will you win after killing me?
?: Nothing too viable. Your persona is all that this world needs to pick itself up from the cavern of darkness it's been lying in.
Tojiro: What?
?: Yes. Surprises are treasures best left unwrapped until the last minute. Are they not?
Tojiro: Pointless threats and limericks won't foil my cause, Julius!
Julius: Then death perhaps? HAHAHAHAHA!
?: HEY!
Julius: Who dares to interrupt this fight? Who must I slaughter now?
?: I just thought I had to come back to tell you that Tojiro...is more stronger than you know he is. Glad to see me, Tojiro?
Tojiro: You...how-how did you get here? Yoko?
NEXT TIME!
CHAPTER V:
A FRIEND IN NEED! A HAND TO HELP!
ENTER THE SHARPSHOOTING BEAUTY!