Chapter 19: Duel of the Equals

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rin asked me.

"If we go into battle without this resolved then it'll only bring more harm than anything this match will bring." I said putting on the tan robes and flexible light armor.

Anata stood close by, wearing her usual assassin uniform. "Should the match seem to be going poorly then I will see to it that.."

"I appreciate your concern, but I won't be accepting that. If I sense even the slightest sign of interference then I will concede." I warned my oath-sister.

Anata backed down, "Alrighty then." She said in her childish voice.

Rin though, seemed to still hold lingering concerns. "I've seen what your saber does in battle. If something like that were to hit then even your magic couldn't heal you."

"It's okay. We have that figured out." I said as I attached what was clearly not my Lightaxe to my belt. "In fact." I smiled softly to her, "Hold onto this for me." I told her as I handed over my real weapon. She was confused, but accepted it without issue, not even having the trouble of most people who underestimated its weight.

"Good luck out there." She said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"We will be rooting for you in the stands." Anata said with a calm nod.

They left together through a separate door. "I'll buy us some cotton candy, how's that sound?" I could hear Rin say followed by an excited "Yippee!" From Anata.

I chuckled and turned to the tunnel leading into the arena. It wasn't well lit, but it was easy to see his silhouette from the light at the end. "Shouldn't you be over there cheering him on?" I didn't even stop walking for him to answer.

Leaning up against the wall he just laughed a little, "Can't I just do both?" He asked as I passed him, "Knock 'em dead, little bro. Knock 'em dead."

It was amazing how innovative Lord Leonar was. As I stepped out into the stadium I found an arena built clearly by the hands of the Kuro, yet it was a style that reminded me of the Jedi Temple. The stage was a floor of soft sand that was just solid enough to keep sturdy footing. The seats were in raised stands letting everyone get a good view of what was about to unfold. And there were certainly a lot of people here to see it, even if they had no idea what they were in for. I even saw the Emperor himself sitting in a box, alongside Okami and another massive man hidden under a cloak, but the faint blue glow coming from the hood made it obvious.


Three Days Earlier

"Snow cone!"

I was feeling quite certain that it would only take a slight bit more provocation for me to take the wooden sword I held and crack the top of his skull. Turning from my training match with Anata I found Akio standing over by the archery range watching us.

"I need to have a word with you." He called over.

Not keen on chatting with my sworn enemy I turned back to my duel, but found that Anata was already taking a break on a bench drinking some water. With a disgruntled sigh I walked over to the irritant, not relinquishing my training blade. It didn't matter how many times he said he regrets things, seeing his face still made me sick. Such thoughts were clearly shown on my face, unsurprisingly bringing him to a scowl too.

For a second we just stood there glaring, but instead of the usual spontaneous duel we had several times found ourselves in I saw the boy, who I saw as the embodiment of betrayal and hate, take a deep and calming breath. When he was sure he was ready he spoke, "Us being best friends is long gone, that's never coming back. I don't like you and you sure as Hell hate my guts." True statements. "That is exactly why we need to do something about this."

"What do you want, scum?" I asked him with as much venom as I could use in a mostly calm manner.

"Look, I don't owe this world much of anything, and all of the trouble we've faced till now makes me want to skip town pretty badly. But.." Another breath, "We're stuck here on this backwards planet of loony magics and bad guys. Even if they do it with fearful or suspicious glance, these people who have taken us in have done so without expecting anything in return. I feel that I have to at least make sure they don't get trampled by some pointy-eared dark lord. More than that I've got a member of my crew out there somewhere, and I'm not going to rest until I find him." He closed his eyes trying very hard to not get lost in his emotions, very unlike anything I had ever seen from him.

He was clearly serious, and his change in attitude from what I had seen him as was confusing, but it did nothing to change the light I saw him in. "Your point?" I asked impatiently.

"We are going to be fighting on the same side. I'd rather not have us turning or blades on each other in the heat of battle. To do away with that risk we decided that instead of some dumbass sappy forgiveness talk we settle this the old fashion way." Akio explained.

I had to admit, it didn't seem like that bad of an idea, even worse was that it was him who thought of... "...'we decided'?"

I did not hear him approach and his presence had been masked even to the Force itself. Stepping literally out of shadows from a space no one could have ever been came Leonar Kenobi, the Kuro Tenno, Black Emperor, and now his disguiseless bloodshot yellow eyes displayed his final title. "Just as you have a new teacher so to have I become a master to Akio."

This seemed to me the most dangerous situation ever to be in. Standing right in front of me I saw a man whose presence in the Force was clouded, but it was undeniable that this was a Dark Lord of the Sith!

I very much was outmatched and outnumbered by the two Sith, but there was no way I could ignore the presence of the ancient enemy of my people. I released my wooden sword and my hand flew to my saber, but before I reached my weapon, before even the training sword hit the ground, a glowing blue hand grabbed my wrist with a crushing grip.

"Hold onto yourself, Warrior of Light! Where is the virtuous restraint I tested you upon a time ago?" Edward scolded me.

I didn't want to listen, I wanted to shout that this was not the place for that, and that these people were a danger to everyone here. I wanted to blast him out of the way and unleash all of my Force mastery and magic power against them. I wanted to, but the fact that even though I very much could and hadn't yet proved that some part of me was listening. I didn't relax myself entirely, but I stopped struggling and reaching for my Lightaxe.

As I got a better sense of myself and what was happening I saw that Akio had similarly been stopped trying to draw his weapon, and was almost entirely frozen. After a moment Lord Leonar lowered his hand and Akio nearly fell, but regained his balance barely in time. "This is the very thing we are here to sort out." The Emperor said in minor lament.

Both Akio and myself looked each other in the eyes and knew what was going to have to happen.


Now we stood, face to face, on stage, with full intent to end to this feud, once and for all. At this moment neither of us were the exiled ex-padawans, nor were we either Overlord or Sith. Our robes of white and grey showed no allegiance. It was time.

I ignited the pale blue blade given to me by Leonar, and in turn Akio ignited his faded red blade. Raw strength propelled us forwards and our dexterity in the Force aided our every motion that would lead to the familiar crackling of two Lightsabers clashing. There was no holding back as our strikes crashed against one another. The powers that each of us had honed from birth and the powers granted to us both had finally become our own and this duel undeniably proved that.

Our minds were not on the astonished crowd watching us, our teachers observing us, the war we were preparing for, or even all the hate behind us. The only focus we shared was to defeat the other.

As much as I hate to admit it we were perfectly matched in strength, power, and form. We either countered every strike and kick perfectly or we quickly avenged every landed blow by leaving the other with a matching welt or blister from the training sabers.

For a moment I gained the upper hand by deflecting his strike upwards and landing a solid kick in his gut stunning him long enough to bring down a powerful blow down on his shoulder nearly knocking him down. Quick to restore the balance was Akio, with a swift thrust of his hand I felt the Force around him push out and I had to quickly move with it so as to not be thrown. Using the opening Akio closed his blade and unleashed a wall of lighting in crimson color that set even the air ablaze. If not for my training of the mind I would have, without a doubt, been dead within the blink of an eye. Releasing my saber I thrust my hands forwards and commanded the Force to hold back the lighting, not only that but I felt as well my mana flow out from me, for as an invisible wall stopped the lightning in its tracks a golden sphere formed around me as I projected a Shield Spell without my gauntlet as a catalyst.

With my right arm lowered and my left still outstretched I closed both my eyes and my fist and redirected all that had been thrown at me back at Akio. When I opened my eyes I found my opponent still standing behind a wall of smoke. Akio's eyes burned with intense will even as smoke rose from his blackened robes and his breathing stayed heavy as he stood, drained of much his power, but it was made clear by his hand, still outstretched from dispelling his own deadly move, that he was far from conceding.

I wasn't letting my advantage go to waste, and with my powers now more in my control than ever before I raised my left hand and saw pillars of fire errupt across the arena, smirking as I did so. To my surprise Akio not only evaded the inferno, but he brought himself flying at me with his saber ready. I had no time to counter and my saber was still on the floor, thus I found myself defenseless as my rival let out a fierce cry and struck my left cheek with enough force to send me flying and tumbling into the arena wall.

I felt searing pain in my cheek as well as a cry of pain throughout my entire body as I forced myself up, taking all of my willpower not to fade into the blackness that made my vision flash. Even if it harmed my own body I knew I hadn't the time to recover and had already pulled my saber back into my hand just in time to block a strike from Akio. When my vision was back to me I found my blade locked with his and myself on my knee holding back his immense strength while our blades held just inches in front of our faces. It took all of my strength to force him back and with that I blasted him back.

Now we stood, both hardly holding onto our strength, surrounded by an arena of blackened glass, and ready to end this. We both advanced and struck two blows against each other's blades before a third, unblocked blow decided the match.


"Best nine out of eleven."

"What?" I asked the redheaded boy as I helped him off of the training room floor.

"I said, 'Best nine out of eleven. You haven't won the match yet." He declared with his cheeks red from anger and embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes and laughed, "I guess not." I said as we moved back into starting positions.


It wasn't easy to hear what I said, not just from the cheers of the audience, but also from the fact I was laying on my back struggling to properly breathe. I was glad to see Akio kneel down next to me and lean in to hear me.

"Best two out of three." I managed a whisper. I think he smiled at me.

Moments later I saw our friends all rushing into the arena towards us, but I couldn't say much more of what happened after as I closed my eyes for some rest.