Way of the Samurai.
The Samurai are a unified force. For many generations they have their numbers have been small and facing almost constant threat of extinction. They have had to rely on skill, cunning, ingenuity, and determination to pull through. Honor is highly valued amongst the Samurai. They are loyal to the death, battling to defend those they have been sworn to even in hopeless situations, and vowing vengeance should their master be slain. Pride, ambition, and honor seem to be linked as demotion is seen as dishonor to the point the act of jailing a person is considered a grievous insult. But today, the way of being a samurai has all but faded in to history. But the Samurai are not extinct, as long as one still remembers their ways, the art of a samurai will forever live on.
In a forest, the sound of a flute playing could be heard through the trees. Played by a man who was wearing a high tech suit, designed to match his samurai heritage. The tone sounded somber, the sound of someone who was lost, having strayed far from the path he used to believe in, to the point he didn't even know who he truly was anymore. But for the handful of people that knew him, his name was Yasuo.
Hailing from samurai ancestors, Yasuo spent all his life living by the blade. But in his youth he didn't have a path to walk, just wandering the world aimlessly, fighting whoever got in his way. He was undefeated for a long time, until he met one of the last remaining Samurai Masters, and battle he lost. But instead of taking his life, The Master saw the potential in Yasuo. Strong and skilled, but he lacked direction, so the master took Yasuo under his wing and taught him what it meant to be a real samurai. Yasuo was happy for the first time in his life, learning the true meaning of honor. But his happiness would not last as he learned his master was involved with criminal elements, something Yasuo could not agree with.
But Yasuo couldn't raise his blade against the man who had done so much for him, and decided to leave... but not long after, did Yasuo learn that his old master had been killed by and Overwatch member. While Yasuo did not agree with his master's dealings, he was still deeply saddened by his death, and he wanted to defend his master's honor by defeating the one who took his life. So Yasuo spent years training and would end up surpassing his old master. But before he could challenge the Overwatch member who took his master's life, Overwatch was shut down and forced to disband. This angered Yasuo, as it made it next to impossible to track down his master's killer, leaving him with nothing to fight for.
Yasuo sighed as he finished playing his flute "Once again I am left wandering the world aimlessly".
"All you need is someone to put you on the right path" Came a dark voice.
"I was wondering when you were going to show yourself" Yasuo said as he had sensed someone watching him for a while now.
A dark figure emerged from the shadows, he was a cybernetic ninja, but this was not Genji. This was Zed, the former leader of a ninja clan that was all but wiped out during the omnic crisis.
"Someone of your skills shouldn't be wasted on an empty life like this. Talon can give you the purpose you seek" Zed said.
Yasuo let out a dry laugh "Talon? The people who seek to start another war? How is joining them going to help anyone? Didn't war destroy everything you had?".
"I have my reasons for working with them. Reasons that are mine alone. If you join, maybe you can find a reason too" Zed said.
Yasuo stood up "I am not interested in joining a terrorist group. There is nothing worthwhile they can offer".
"Are you sure about that? What if I told you Overwatch is planing to reform?" Zed asked, making Yasuo look at him "My allies has discovered that all the problems in the world is slowly bringing Overwatch back together, meaning the one who killed your master will finally come out of hiding. Talon can offer you a chance for revenge".
"Forget it" Yasuo said as he began to walk away "If that woman really has come out of hiding. I will find her myself. I am a warrior, not a soldier or terrorist".
Zed sighed "I really hoped you would see reason, samurai. But I am afraid that if you are not an ally, you are an enemy".
Zed suddenly threw a shuriken. Yasuo pulled out his plasma coated blade, cutting the projectile clean in half "You ninjas never change, no matter how many generations pass. You will never be a match for a samurai".
"The art of the ninja was created to kill your kind. And now, it's time to prove which art is truly superior" Zed as he prepared his high frequency blades.
"Alright then, ninja. I need a warm up before I track down my real target" Yasuo said as he entered his stance.
They didn't wait for an instant to let their opponent move. Both sprinted as fast as they could, appearing as no more than blurs as they crossed the distance and swung their preferred weapons. Both blades met, locking both warriors together, it was with a deafening crackle and a shower of sparks. It was as though someone had taken a grinder to a piece of steel.
Both pulled back, bringing the loud crackling and shower of sparks to a halt, then set to work, slashing and hacking at their adversary at speeds barely visible to the naked eye in a dazzling display of orange and red. Yasuo had the power-game in the bag, often forcing Zed to deflect his blows rather than flat-out block them, while Zed had the advantage in striking speed, often forcing Yasuo to call off an attack in favor of either ducking away or parrying.
Zed tried a new tactic, curious to see how maneuverable his opponent was. He swung low with his blade, aiming at Yasuo's legs. Yasuo performed a graceful flip backward, then rushed Zd with his blade, swinging wildly. Zef wouldn't be taken by a tactic as simple and bull-headed as that and he sailed right over Yasuo's head in a graceful midair flip, landing behind Yasuo and taking a hack at him with his high frequency blades. Plasma met high frequency blades once again as Yasuo positioned his sword behind him, blocking the blow, then whirled around to both dislodge his blade and take a swipe at the Zed.
His blade passed right through Zed, but rather than a spurt of blood, it appeared to phase right through the ninja, making him vanish in a quick spark. Zed had the ability to create projector clones, while they were not as deadly as Zed himself, they served their purpose well. Yasuo's eyes went wide and he had just thought about searching the immediate area when he received a sharp aerial kick to his cranium. With Yasuo stunned, Zed grabbed him and jumped high into the air with him still firmly gripped. At a good peak, Yasuo's senses returned...in time to realize just what was going to happen.
Yasuo's head smashed, painfully, onto the ground below. Zed, however, caught himself on one hand, preventing himself from cranial damage, and flipped nimbly to his feet. Yasuo's armor protected him from fatal damage, but his skull was still throbbing from the impact. Yasuo got back up, then quickly bent backward as a flash of Zed's high frequency blades passed so close to him that he could smell the energy. The Samurai righted himself and slashed downward, Zed backing away so narrowly that only the tip of the plasma katana touched him. Even the tip was enough to leave a gash on his chest, one that left the smell of burned away metal.
Zed just managed to spring to the side to avoid a vertical chop from the katana. As much as he hated to admit it, Zed was beginning to realize he could not win a head to head clash with a samurai of Yasuo's caliber. As history has shown, a pure blade on blade fight would leave ninja's at a severe disadvantage against a samurai, as they would be attempting to beat the samurai at their own game. There are only two ways for a ninja to enjoy a solid advantage against a samurai, and that was to catch them of guard and hit them with something they won't be expecting. And Zed is a master ninja, so he had more than a few tricks up his sleeves.
Jumping away, Zed created several more clones. Yasuo smirked behind his mask, realizing Zed had all but revealed he couldn't win this in a fair duel.
Two clones rushed forward, one going at him headlong while the other was attempting to flank him from the side. Both charged in with their blades, yet Yasuo jumped and twisted his whole body so acrobatically that the blades missed past his body. He landed back down, and rose to his feet as he re-entered his focused stance and held his sword at the same time the twin clones were within punching distance of him. The first clone lost its hand, followed swiftly by its head. A split-second later and the second clone was bifurcated straight from the midsection. Both disappeared in sparks.
Yasuo had little time to search for the real Zed as more clones were already upon him and piled on top of him. For a moment, it was a deadly pule with all clones ready to stab him at the same time...until a powerful whirling strike knocked them all back. At the center of that strike was Yasuo, having used a powerful technique that he learned from his master, one that could create a powerful wind of deadly plasma.
Every clone disappeared, which was odd to Yasuo. If he knew the real Zed would not have disappeared like his doppelgangers. So, where was he? He had attacked from every direction... except form above!
Zed leapt out of a tree before diving down towards Yasuo, his high frequency blades ready to go straight through him. Yasuo quickly raised his blade to block the attack... but with his blade locked with Zed's own, one last clone struck him in the back. Zed had created it just before jumping out of the tree, as he knew Yasuo would be to focused on him than to notice a simple clone. Yasuo grunted as he forced Zed back and kicked the clone hard enough to destroy it.
Both were ready to end this, preparing their blade both rushed forward as blinding speed and swinging their swords once. They both end up on each side. There are a few seconds of silence until blood came out of Zed's chest as a gaping wound appeared. He fell to his knees before he felt Yasuo's blade rest on his shoulder.
"Finish it..." Zed said, ready to face death.
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? The honor of dying by my blade" Yasuo said before putting his blade away "But you don't know the first thing about honor. And I am yet to restore mine. When my personal quest is complete, and when you learn to fight without relying on cheap tricks. Only then will I grant you the duel to the death you desire. But right now, I have more important matters to attend to. Finding the opponent who has already proven herself to be far more worthy than you".
With that Yasuo walked away, leaving a wounded and angry Zed behind, knowing full well Zed would seek revenge for this. But Yasuo only desired to duel one specific opponent, a fellow sword fighter who relied on her own strength and skills to win her battles. She is the one Yasuo was after, she was the one who killed his master... and only she was worthy of a duel to the death.
Fate demands that they will fight. This is the fate of all warriors... there is no avoiding it.
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