Kahn: Master of Darkness

Kahn continued to make small game of Cuchulain's efforts, dishing out only his minor attacks. Cuchulain dodged with ease, not even breaking a sweat. Kahn continued to deploy his Darkness Shurikens little by little, hoping to catch Cuchulain off guard.

"Listen!" Cuchulain said, angrily. "This is getting boring. Are you gonna fight me right!"

"When one engages in battle, he who displays the extent of his strategy is he who is most likely to fail." Kahn replied. "Besides, I just want to see if you've learned any new tricks lately."

"You wanna see new tricks! Then, I'll let you see new tricks!" Cuchulain held the Gae Bulga close as he crouched to the ground. He suddenly came charging at an extraordinary speed.

"You're a fool!" Kahn chuckled. He began to power up and was ready to deploy his infamous Shadow Death Wave. But suddenly, Cuchulain extended his trident in front of him and came within striking distance of Kahn. He lunged forth and struck Kahn straight in the head. But the Gae Bulga only pierced shadows and Cuchulain went through. He landed on the ground and looked back with a shock look on his face.

"How can that be?" Cuchulain uttered. "How could the Gae Bulga be able to strike him and not be able to hinder him?"

"Surprised?" Kahn chuckled. "To be a master of shadows and darkness, one must know every technique within the dark arts. This cloak is a special cloak, which I had customized myself. By using a dark spell, I was able to create a cloak that could withstand any blow. When covering the wearer's entire body, the body of the wearer themselves becomes shadow. This is the Shadow Cloak, a one of a kind item. So as long as I wear this cloak, there is nothing you can do to hinder me. However, I can hinder you!" Cuchulain drew up his spear. "You want another test run? Be my guest, but this time, to make it easy and to prove my point, I won't dodge, or retaliate. Go ahead, Cuchulain. Give it a try."

"He's right." Cuchulain thought to himself. "Trying to do bodily harm to him is useless. And as long as he continues to wear that cloak, I can't hinder him in any way. And there's no way I can harm the cloak itself since it consist of shadows."

"Cuchulain!" a voice cried. The Hound looked behind him to see Sora, Riku, and the others coming to aid. They stopped by Cuchulain's side.

"We've come to give you a hand." Sora uttered.

"Thanks you guys." Cuchulain replied.

"So that's him, eh?" Lu Xun said. "Kahn."

"Well, now that we're here," Goten added, "he won't stand a chance."

"Don't underestimate his abilities." Cuchulain said. "He's more cunning than you think."

"You're the reason for all this hell!" Sanosuke said. He then went charging against Kahn. "So, I'll make sure you feel the full extend of my Futae no Kiwami!"

"Sano!" Kenshin cried. But it was too late as Sanosuke lunged forth with his right fist. But as he made contact, he just went through Kahn as if he weren't there from the start.

"What the hell just happened!"-

"He just went through?" Kaoru said. "But how? I could have sworn I saw Sanosuke connect."

"It appears that he's using some form of magic to protect himself." Saito said.

"You're right, there" Cuchulain said.

"What do you mean, Mr. Cuchulain?" Kenshin asked.

"That is the Shadow Cloak. As long as it protects his entire body, he cannot be hindered. But he can hinder us in the process."

"He's got to have a weakness somewhere!" Misao shouted as she charged forward into the battle.

"Miss Misao!" Kenshin cried.

"No Misao!" Kaoru added. "Come back!"

"I won't forgive you for what you did to Lord Aoshi!" Misao through her shurikens at Kahn, but the projectiles only went through him like they were nothing.

"You fool." Kahn chuckled. "You dare go head to head with the master of the dark element."

"There's no way we can hinder him." Kenshin said.

"Unless we can find a way to somehow detach the cloak off of him." Saito said. He then noticed that a thick chord tide in bow in front of the cloak. "That's it, if we can somehow break that chord that's keeping the cloak on, then we'll be able to deprive him of his protective barrier." Saito crouched down in his Gatotsu stance. "Now!"

Saito lunged forward with all his strength against Kahn. Aiming for the chord, he threw his sword out to its fullest extension in front of him. But as he aimed for the chord, Saito suddenly found himself going straight through Kahn. He landed on the other side and gazed up.

"Not even your Gatotsu is a match for my elements." Kahn chuckled.

"How do you know about the Gatotsu?" Saito said. "You never saw the attack first hand."

"Shadows see everything. So there is nothing that you can hide from me." Kahn turned to Saito. "You had the right idea aiming for the chord of the cloak, but attacking the cloak itself won't work either. The cloak itself is like a layer of shadows. And you can't hurt shadows with mortal weapons, no matter how hard you try." Kahn suddenly began to hover in the air. "Now allow me to indulge you with my more impressive attacks!" He suddenly began to increase this strength. Then, accumulating over his head, five black energy spheres emerged. "Sorrow Sphere Assault!" The five balls suddenly began their attack.

"Here they come!" Kenshin shouted. The group members dodged the attacks, but the balls only rebound and dared to strike at them again.

"How the heck are those stupid balls following us around?" Sanosuke said.

"These balls are able to track down a person's energy signature." Goten replied.

"Well, how do we get rid of them?" Lu Xun asked.

"Simply by destroying them!" Goten flew into the air. He began to power up, transforming into a Super Saiyan. Instantly, the five dark spheres were attracted to him. Goten then fired out with a multi beam barrage and blew away each of the balls. The activity that went on was incredible.

"Look at that!" Seijuro said. "He's firing a barrage of energy."

"But how could someone be able to do that?" Kenshin asked. "How's Goten able to accumulate his energy like that and manipulate it to have a physical form!"

"To do such a thing requires an extraordinary amount of energy." Saito said. "Goten must obtain a great deal of energy if he's even able to instantaneously change his physical appearance."

"The power he has is so great, I can't even approach it."-

"Look at that." Yahiko uttered. "Is Goten some sort of God, or something? I mean, no one can do that. Not even Kenshin."

"Quite impressive, Goten!" Kahn chuckled. "You managed to lure all the balls to you! I guess you've pointed out the one disadvantage about energy homing! But it doesn't matter, I'll just have to do things the reckless way and use my mind to control them!" Again formed the five energy balls above his head. "Now try it again! Sorrow Sphere Assault!" The spheres went flying at Goten and the others.

"Man!" Sanosuke shouted. "Doesn't this guy ever take a break!"

"Kahn's in a league of his own!" Kenshin said. "On top of that, we can't strike at him because he has that cloak on him and he's definitely out of our reach."

"What are we gonna do about these balls?" Yahiko asked.

"Just destroy them!" Riku shouted. He powered up and deployed Cinder Canister. He managed to strike at one of the balls and destroyed it with his won fire spheres.

Sora, on the other hand, managed to deflect the ball coming towards him and deflected it back at Kahn. But Kahn was unhindered as the ball went straight through him.

"Nice one, Sora! But let's see how well you do with this!" The remaining balls suddenly stopped and hovered to a stationary stance just above the town. "Sorrow Sphere Barrage!" Suddenly, each ball began to bellow out darkness shurikens and barraged the town.

"Watch out!" Sora shouted. "Dodge the shurikens!" But Sanosuke, Misao, and Yahiko were struck. "Hold on!" Sora restored their health with Curaga. He then turned to Donald and Mickey. "Deploy Aeroga spells and protect everyone!"

"We're on it!" Mickey said. "Donald, let's go!"

"Right behind ya!" Donald replied. They went around and cast the Aeroga spell on everyone, including themselves and watched as the darkness shurikens fell around them.

"Very clever, very clever!" Kahn chuckled, as he saw Aeroga being distributed amongst the fighters. "Using Aeroga shield to block the effects of the shuriken barrage. I must give you credit for that. But let's see how well your shields hold up, when the projectiles are slightly larger!" Kahn then thrust the dark spheres themselves down towards the ground.

"Get out of the way!" Sora shouted. The party scattered as the sphere's made impact and spread their darkness within a 20 yard radius. The members of the Kenshin and KH groups managed to evade the attacks.

"This can't keep going!" Sora uttered. 'What'll we do?"

"It's just like the shadow queen in the 'Ico Realm!'" Riku said. It was then that he realized what he just said. "That's it! His cloak is made of shadows. Therefore, we can't do anything to hinder him! And when we try to deprive him of the cloak itself, we can't hinder that either!"

"I think we already came to that conclusion, Riku!" Donald shouted.

"But that gives me a plan!" Riku turned to Goten who was hastily landing on the ground. "Goten come here!"

"What is it!" Goten asked as he rushed over.

"Power up as Super Saiyan again!" Riku then turned to Mickey. "And Mickey, Aeroga shield now!"

"I gotcha!" Mickey replied. As Mickey deployed Aeroga, Goten began to power up. The light around them was intense and practically blinding.

"Alright!" Riku said. "Here's the plan! Goofy, I want you and Donald to run back to the Gummi ship and unsheathe the rune sword!"

"What for?" Donald asked.

"I see now!" Sora explained. "If there's one weapon that is capable of diminishing shadows, it'll have to be the rune sword."

"Oh, I gotcha now!"-

"Go now!"-

"But we'll have to go back to our teleportation ring."-

"Then hurry! We'll try to fight these guys off as best we can."-

With that, Goofy and Donald began their run back to the police department.

"Fools." Kahn chuckled as he saw Donald and Goofy scurry away. "They are afraid to fight. Then run you cowards. Just two less insects I have to worry about."

"Alright," Sora uttered, "We have a plan now."

"But are you guys sure it'll work?" Goten asked.

"Without a doubt," Riku implied, "It'll work."

"But why did you guys want me to power up?"-

"That's for us to know and you to find out."-

"You truly are out of options now!" Kahn suddenly shouted. "You cannot hinder me, but I can hinder you! And in the most unlikely and deadliest way! By filling and overwhelming your hearts with darkness, I could easily pollute your being with negative energy, and cause you die a remarkably slow and agonizing death." Suddenly, from the ground, a black portal emerged and from that portal, more of the Heartless elite came crawling out of the space. "Then, you will become easy food for my pets!"

The Hearts began to mount another attack.

"Oh no," Yahiko uttered, "Not these guys again!"

"How the heck is he doing this!" Riku thought to himself.

"Only through my summoning, can I unleash the Heartless into other worlds again!" Kahn said. "Because the door to darkness had been sealed and replaced with the door to the light, the Heartless can no longer escape their realm. Therefore, only those who have mastered the elements of darkness and shadow can summon them forth. And in order to do that, one must have extraordinary chi within their body. Very few can summon the kind of strength that I can muster. And even if they did, their hearts would be too overcome by darkness and they would easily succumb to the Heartless. That is why one must have a strong heart before reopening the way to darkness."

"So tell me!" Riku said. "As being another person who was once able to control the Heartless, with the strength of his heart, what motivates your heart to be strong?"

"The one ambition to unite the entire universe and realize our dream of total unification of all worlds!"-

"But that is literally impossible. To unify all worlds under one banner is only an ideal and nothing more. People of different ethnicity, class, gender, race, nationality, they would never give up their traditions, their cultures, their religions, and what not, for the sake of being ruled by the laws of a foreign power."-

"That is why the Empire must use force and its might. That is the only way to rule a nation of separate worlds!"-

"But to rule people with an iron fist! Deprive them of their happiness! I've seen the intentions of the Empire first hand! We all have and we all know full well of the death and destruction you will rein!"-

"There is only room for the strong in the universe! They are the ones who will rule. The fates of the rest are irrelevant!"-

"That's not true!" Kenshin shouted. He stood up to face Kahn and hit Heartless minions. "The people of this world are only trying to live their lives in peace! They have finally begun to live their lives in peace after the chaos of the revolution ten years ago! They finally are able to live in a world where no blood is being shed! But yet, you say that their lives have no value! Well, I won't allow you to do anything to disturb their happiness by bringing them into another chaotic war!"

"Kenshin's right!" Sanosuke added. "We understand the value of lives and how much each is worth! Look at Kenshin, he's willing to see their happiness fulfilled and he's willing to become food for their needs!"

"The use of one man cannot make the difference!" Kahn suddenly began to power up. "And I'll prove it to you!" He suddenly thrust his hand out of the cloak. "Underworld Sphere!" Just then, a powerful sphere of energy, accumulating black electricity, began to approach at full speed towards Kenshin and Sano.

"But that's…" Riku uttered. But he saw the situation and jumped in front of the ball. He thrust his hand out and fired the same attack. Kahn was shocked at what he had just witnessed. The two dark energy balls came colliding with each other and both ninja and key bearer went head to head in a locked chi battle.

"How do you know this attack, boy?" Kahn asked.

"I too once had the ability to control the Heartless." Riku replied. "This is the exact same technique that I was taught!"

"I see. So this must've been Ansem's doing!"-

Riku managed to push both spheres away and sent them flying harmlessly into the atmosphere. Riku fell to one knee, exhausted.

"Riku, here you go!" Sora said, using Curaga to restore Riku's strength.

"Thanks Sora." Riku replied and stood back on his feet. He turned to Kahn. "How are you in relation to Ansem?"

"Not just Ansem, but the Unknowns as well." Kahn replied. "This information had been completely erased until now. You see, the Unknowns were personally trained by none other than my master, friend, and leader, General Kai of the Cavendish Shinobis. But as apprentices, they were not truly considered to be ninjas. Each had been given a different element to work with. Ice, fire, you know the story since you fought each of them. Only by proving their skills against a truly powerful foe, would the training be complete and the rank of shinobi was considered official. They were to serve as hired hands of a well known patron. But I won't get into detail about that. However, because of an encounter with the KH team, they fell. They were no longer considered Shinobis, nor worthy apprentices since their down fall against you. Thus, they were cast aside. Regarding Ansem, I never linked either the Unknowns, or Ansem. But what links me with him is this. He wanted an attack that would be able to extinguish an enemy with one full sweep. So I gave it to him." Kahn suddenly began to accumulate another ball of energy. "This was what I showed to him, and this is what he passed on to you, Riku! And I see you still have a firm grasp on it!" Kahn fired the energy ball.

"Not again!" Riku fired his own energy ball and the two dark entities clashed.

"But you must realize this!" Kahn said. "What I showed to Ansem was only a minor attack! Fearing that he my one day try to turn against the Empire, I only gave him my minor attacks! In order to succeed Riku, one must train hard in that same field if they ever intend to reach the level of the master!" Kahn's essence of dark energy began to grow greater and so did the energy sphere locked in the duel. It wasn't long before Riku's sphere was absorbed by the larger sphere. Kahn's sphere continued its course.

"It can't be." Riku uttered.

"Riku!" Sora cried.

But suddenly, Cuchulain rushed forth and with one mighty swing with the Gae Bulga, he knocked the massive sphere into the atmosphere. Kahn was again shocked. Cuchulain sneered at the shinobi who still hovered high in the air.

"You forget, Kahn!" Cuchulain uttered. "You and I still have an old score to settle!"

"Still wanting to exact revenge for the death of your best friend, eh?" Kahn chuckled. "You should thank me though. At least I did you the honor of not having to kill him yourself."

"What's this?" Goten asked. "Are you saying that you're trying to take revenge for a best friend you tried to kill yourself, Cuchulain?"

"It was not by our choice." Cuchulain replied. "I didn't want to fight him. But we were forced to. I didn't want to see him die and he felt the same way. We were close, we were almost like brothers. I would die for him as he would have died for me…" Cuchulain lowered his head and uttered a single name. "…Ferdia…"

"Ferdia?" Lu Xun asked. "Was that his name?"-

"It was. By my hand, or by my weapon, I will see this Shinobi dead!"-

"You first, Hound of Cullen! Or should I say, Hound of Ulster!" Kahn summoned forth the Heartless to attack. The Heartless as great speed attacked head on. But Cuchulain only stood alone.

"Cuchulain!" Sanosuke shouted. "Are you crazy!"

"Mr. Cuchulain!" Kenshin added.

"This is where the Hound will show his full strength!" Cuchulain crouched down with his trident stretch out before him. Suddenly, He attacked with all he had. "Ulster Thrust and Slash!" He lunged his Gae Bulga into one of the attacking heartless. Impaling the heartless on the long, center point, he stopped and deployed a powerful 360 turn. The turn of his body combined with his brute force caused a massive explosion that blew all the Heartless away.

"Impossible…" Kahn uttered. "This is not the same Cuchulain that I fought. He seems stronger. Could he be dipped into the rage? No, he couldn't be. He knows the consequence for delving into the rage. But where did this sudden power come from?"

"Did you see that?" Riku said.

"I've never seen an attack like that, or an attack that powerful before." Sora replied. "It's a good thing he didn't use that during our trial battle in Traverse Town."

"That was something else, eh Kenshin?" Sano uttered. But Kenshin only had this goofy, smirk on his face.

"Oro?" he just uttered.

"So this is the power of the Hound." Goten uttered. "I can see why Sneer wanted him on our side so badly."

"Very impressive." Kahn chuckled. "However, how do you intend to use that attack on me, a person who can't be hindered."

"Why you…" Cuchulain growled. But Riku placed his hand on Cuchulain's shoulder.

"No use trying to get angry about it." Riku uttered. "There's no way to harm him, unless we take off that cloak first.

"Let us handle it." Sora sad, stepping opposite of Cuchulain. "All we have to do is deprive him of that cloak and his only means of defense. Then, you can exact your revenge."

"But how?" Cuchulain asked.

"Just watch!"-

"You fools!" Kahn chuckled as he landed on the ground. "You think you can hide anything from the shadows? Attempting to attack me is futile! I am invincible!"

"So says you!" Riku shouted, as he and Sora, with their blades still sheathed, came charging against the Shinobi.

"You fools! You think you can hinder me! So long as I have the shadow cloak, there is nothing you can do to hurt me!"-

"That's in your own opinion! But right now we think differently!" Riku suddenly unsheathed his blade and from it came a glowing light. Kahn was suddenly struck with fear. The blade cut straight through the shadow cloak.

"That's impossible!" Kahn said. "Where did this light from his sword come from! It was never there before when we were fighting! What light allows them to do this!" He turned to see Sora unsheathe his sword with the same white light accumulating on his blade. "Oh no, him as well!"

Kahn dodged the blade, but it was too late. The blade cut through the shadow and the cloak was torn away. Now Kahn no longer had a fully protective defense.

"Would you like another sample?" Riku said, as he and Sora rebounded. Again, they managed to cut through more of the material.

"You idiots!" Kahn shouted. He turned suddenly and evaded the blades as best he could. He threw out his hands and knocked the boys away with an energy wave. Riku and Sora went flying into the arms of their comrades. The deed was done however and the cloak had been torn beyond repair. "I never would have thought anyone could have actually cut through my shadow cloak. How did you idiots manage to pull it off?"

"You can thank the power of the rune sword for that." Sora uttered as he rose to his feet. "Compliments of young Ico from the 'Ico Realm,' he gave us the sword as a gift. A sword that could even cut through shadows and diminish them forever."

"I've heard of the rune sword, but what you're armed with does not depict its appearance! How is it that your swords can manipulate the same type of energy!" It was then that he saw the two linking rings on the hilts of their swords. "I see now! Linking rings! You linked your swords to react to the power of the rune sword when it was drawn. But how did they suddenly glow now of all times."

"It was thanks to Donald and Goofy." Riku explained. "They were the ones who unsheathed the sword for us. It was all part of our plan."

"When did this plan take effect?"-

"No more than ten minutes ago."-

"But that can't be! The shadows can hear everything you whisper! Why was I not able to pick your conversation up!"

"That's where Goten came in!"-

Kahn suddenly remembered. Goten had powered up close to the KH group. His accumulating light, when he became a Super Saiyan, overwhelmed the shadows in the area.

"So that's how you did it then." Kahn uttered. "You used the light from Goten's aura to force the shadows to recede."

"If you hadn't told us about your shadow observance technique earlier, maybe you would have caught us off guard. But now it's too late to redo." Sora said.

"No matter boys!" Kahn suddenly began to power up. "It wouldn't hurt me to do a little exercise. But first…" Kahn pointed his finger at Goten. Goten was suddenly surrounded by a vortex of shadow. His head rose to the sky and a blood curdling scream bellowed from his throat. A column of shadow lifted into the air and spread throughout Kyoto like a giant dome. The sky grew dark like that of a stormy night.

"Goten!" Lu Xun cried.

"What manner of trickery is this!" Saito said.

"Mr. Goten!" Kenshin shouted.

"What's happening to him?" Misao asked. "All of a sudden his body just burst with shadows."

"What have you done to Goten!" Sora shouted.

"If you want to emerge victorious, you must first plan out a strategy." Kahn chuckled. "I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against Goten in a one on one fight. Being of Saiyan descent, his power level can increase to a level, which the likes of you can only dream about. And even if you did, it would be deemed impossible in your mind. However, being able to manipulate so much strength, I used that to my advantage. Thus, I deployed my most powerful and most difficult attack, the Column of Despair! It is the only attack in my arsenal, which is able to manipulate a person with a pure heart and not a corrupt one! Dark hearts aren't affected by the attack. For some reason, I find pure hearts to be a little more dangerous. The nature of the attack is that it will completely nullify Goten's mind, body and spirit and allow me to manipulate his energy in any way I wish. In this case, I used his energy to help form another infamous attack of mine, which I've dubbed the name the Darkness Umbrella. The umbrella creates an environment that I can use to my complete advantage. Being a master of darkness, I am able to hide in the shadows and defeat my opponent using my deadliest techniques. You might say I was the one who really defined the meaning of Shinobi, the warrior of the night."

"However," Saito suddenly uttered, "As a result of your attack, you seem to have grown weaker."

"You are right there, Saito." Cuchulain uttered. "He is weakened, by half of his strength that is."

"There's no hiding anything from you is there, Hound?" Kahn chuckled. "As I said before it is one attack that I can use only once. And you can see why. That is why when I do indeed need to use it, I must plan out whom I will use it on. Goten was the best choice. I never would have stood a chance against him in a one on one fight. Not only is he of Saiyan descent, but he also has learned fighting skills by none other than the venerable Lord Lucien Exmortus Thundro. Therefore, I couldn't possibly win. Thus, I used Goten's feeble mind to my advantage. Goten's power of observation is limited and he's a bit of a goof. So as a result, he was easy to manipulate. You people however, are not much of a threat as he. So half of my strength should be more than enough to kill you all."

"Then bring it on, you freak!" Sanosuke shouted, pounding his fist into each other.

"No!" Cuchulain said as he stepped forward. "I will deal with him myself." He drew out the Gae Bulga again and threw it in front of him. "I've been waiting for the day to fight you, Kahn. Ever since you took the life of my best friend, Ferdia. For that, I will not forgive you! Now, shinobi, let me see the face of the man who killed my closest companion!"

"If that is what you truly want to see before you die, then so be it!" Kahn tore the cloak from off his shoulders to reveal his true face. He was dressed in a black frock, with gold and white armor protecting his chest and main body, he wore gold and white shin and knee guards, and his hands were covered in white gloves. His hair was a flash of blue. On his face, was a scar that streaked in such a ragged manner, from the right side of his forehead to the left cheek, and his eyes were an emerald green. "You should be honored. This is the first time I had to reveal my face to anyone for the passed fifteen years. And now that you know what I look like, I can't allow any of you to survive." He drew from his back a pain of twin swords, each ending with a bizarre hook as a tip.

"What the heck kind of sword are those?" Sano asked.

"I don't know." Kaoru replied.

"I definitely have never seen swords like those before, that I haven't." Kenshin added.

"They're called tiger swords." Lu Xun implied.

"Tiger swords?" Yahiko asked.

"Tiger swords originate from my homeland in China. They are a special type of sword that have grappling capabilities. When confronted with tiger swords, those weapons are able to latch on to any kind of weapon and hold them in place, which is the explanation for the hooked ends. A warrior using tiger swords can latch on to their opponent's weapon and keep it stationary, stalling the opponents attack. At the same time, the other sword can move in for the kill. To add, the short daggers at the end of each hilt act as close combat grappling weapons, so that the user can kill their opponent using either the full extended, hooked blade, or the dagger of the hilt with a reverse hit. Also, the hooks at the end also allow the user to link the swords together and make a type of short whip."

"So you're saying that Cuchulain doesn't stand a chance?" Sora asked.

"I never said that, did I? Kahn may be master when it comes to twin tiger swords, but Cuchulain is the master of the Gae Bulga trident. And as a master, Cuchulain is bound to know the weaknesses of his weapon. So he'll use it in such a fashion that he will not leave himself open to attack."-

"Right now, each warrior is concentrating on how to approach this battle in his mind." Kenshin uttered. "It's basically a stand off. If there is any hesitation, or any wavering in the deployment of their attacks, the results for exploiting that margin could prove fatal."

Just then, Goofy and Donald reemerged with the group.

"Mission accomplished." Donald said, saluting.

"Did we miss anything?" Goofy asked.

"You're about to see a big fight commence." Saito uttered.

"The fight between Cuchulain and Kahn has begun." Sora added.

There was a strong standoff that lasted for five minutes. From the Aoiya, Okina and the others watched the upcoming fight unfold.

"Have you seen anything like this, Okina?" Shirojo asked.

"Nothing like this before." Okina replied. "How's Sojiro doing?"

"He barely hanging on." Kurojo replied. Sojiro gasped for air. A stream of blood trickled down his mouth.

"Can't…breathe…" he uttered.

"Hand in there, kid."-

"If we don't do something quick, this boy will die." Okina uttered to himself. He turned to Shiro. "You have to find help. Sojiro won't last long."

"Right." Shirojo replied and scurried off to find help.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the stand off would never end between Cuchulain and Kahn. A drop of sweat fell from Sora's face as he witnessed the tension. Wiping it away, his eyes fell from the stand off to watch the drop fall to the ground. It seemed an eternity for that single drop to hit the surface. As he watched the drop splatter onto the dirt of the road. There was a sudden flash of light. Sora looked up to see that the standoff had been broken and Kahn and Cuchulain were having a grand clash. Their weapons interlocked in the most intense style of weapon grappling ever seen. Steel and steel went head too head, causing sparks to fly. As Cuchulain would thrust and jab with the Gae Bulga, Kahn was able to use the steel of his twin swords to parry and lock the trident in place. But Cuchulain truly was a master of the Gae Bulga and new the weaknesses of his weapon thoroughly, using them to his advantage.

"Look at that!" Sanosuke uttered. "Have you seen anything like that?"

"There speed and agility is incredible." Kenshin replied. "They've accelerated in speeds that even surpass the God-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi."

"The skills that I've witnessed today are skills that match the gods themselves." Saito added.

"There's not a single flaw in their attacks." Kaoru replied. "No hesitation whatsoever."

"Well, I hope that Cuchulain guy kicks Kahn's butt good!" Yahiko said.

"They've accelerated to a level of complete concentration." Lu Xun said. "So much that even Kahn's little paralysis trick won't work."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"When you heighten your concentration on your foe and are not ruled by inner emotion, the effects of any paralysis technique is disabled."-

"Isn't it also because Kahn's fighting energy had been cut in half?"-

"That too. Kahn's shadow hold is unrivaled. But because he has wasted half of his energy on manipulating Goten's energy, his minor attacks no longer have any significant effect. He would have to raise his power level in order to use those attacks effectively. But he has to save energy for the fights against several other opponents here. The only thing we can do is stall for time and allow Kahn to tire himself out."-

"What if he heard us just now? You know haw he hears things through the shadows"-

"He can't concentrate on our conversations and fight an intense battle like this at the same time. He has to concentrate all of his energy into the fight. A single flaw in his concentration, especially against Cuchulain, could prove fatal."-

"Hey you guys!" a voice suddenly shouted out from behind. The parties looked to see Shirojo approach.

"Shiro, what are you doing here?" Kenshin asked.

"I had to take the long way around to avoid the fight. The kid, Sojiro, he's barely handing on by a thread."

"What's this?"-

"Because of his punctured lung, he can't breath. He's slowly drowning in his own body fluids."-

"We have to do something!"-

"Goofy!" Mickey implied. "Go with him and bring those senzu beans with you."

"Okie Dokie!" Goofy chuckled.

"Then, let's get going!" Shiro and Goofy went off back to the Aoiya.

"I never would have thought to see the day when I would encounter a talking dog, that I haven't." Kenshin said.

"Let alone a talking duck, or mouse." Mickey giggled.

At the same time, Cuchulain and Kahn had grappled for ten minutes. But those ten minutes seemed like eternity as each second proved the difference between life and death. The two ended in a deadlock. Cuchulain lunged with the Gae Bulga, but Kahn managed to entangle them with his tiger swords. Cuchulain withdrew his trident, forcing Kahn's swords to link at the hooks. He then used it like a whip to extent the reach. Cuchulain countered, thrusting his spear up into the air, knocking off the swing of the blades. The blades detached from each other and Kahn fancifully caught the one airborne blade as it fell to the ground in a spin. There after, the two went back into their stances.

"Well, well, well," Kahn chuckled, "I must say that you are quite the fighter. Your skills have definitely improved."

"I can say the same about you, Kahn." Cuchulain replied. "You're just as strong as before."

"And with that same strength, I will eliminate you!" Kahn suddenly disappeared into the darkness. "You thought I was dangerous before? You haven't seen anything like this!" Suddenly Kahn appeared behind Cuchulain. Cuchulain turned to strike at the attacking shinobi. But as he did, he realized that what he struck was only a shadow image. Kahn suddenly appeared again to the side, again the Hound struck, and again the shinobi vanished. Cuchulain suddenly saw Kahn appear again. This time, he had no time to react and the shinobi slashed him across the chest. Cuchulain backed, staggering at first. He gazed down to see a massive cut run from his chest to his lower abdomen.

"What was that?" Cuchulain thought to himself. "I could have sworn he was right within striking range." Cuchulain gazed up. "Was that an after image technique?"

"No." Kahn uttered. "That concept is too simple for this particular attack. An after image is only the configured apparition of an object that used to be there. But this technique is a little more complex. It is what I like to call Darkness Decoys. It is a combination of the after image and a delayed energy spread technique. I am able to concentrate my energy so thoroughly that I am able to leave a trace of it behind even after I have moved from that area. In other words, while, I am making a separate move from another direction, you still think that I'm attacking from the previous direction. This is what makes up the Darkness Decoys."

Suddenly, Kahn disappeared again and continued his onslaught. Again and again, he cut away at Cuchulain, slashing at him from all directions. Cuchulain was helpless against this new attack.

Sora grew angry as he saw his comrade being made sport of by the shinobi.

"We have to do something!" he said. "We have to help Cuchulain!"

"And what would you propose we do!" Riku implied. "If Cuchulain can't detect that ninja's movements, what makes you think we can?"

"His speed is even faster than Sojiro's Shukuchi." Kenshin said. "It far surpasses even the god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi. On top of everything else, he knows how to deploy his energy so precisely. And his emotions are scattered everywhere. It must be the effects of this umbrella."

"There has to be something we can do to help." Sanosuke uttered. "That guy's gonna tear Cuchulain apart."

"I know that much. But this situation isn't exactly my field of expertise."-

"These guys are in a completely different class." Yahiko uttered. "But if Cuchulain can't hold his own against this guy, who can? Not even Kenshin can accelerate to that type of speed and agility."

By now, Cuchulain had been cut down. His leather jacket had been cut to pieces and from its rips, cuts in the Hounds flesh could be seen. But still Cuchulain stood. Sweat began to roll down his face.

"What's the matter, Cuchulain?" Kahn chuckled. "Is that the best you have? I would've expected more effort from Ulster's greatest champion. They say that the Hound of Ulster was a force to be reckoned with. But to me, you're just as threatening as a housebroken dog with no teeth."

"There has to be something that's allowing him to do this." Cuchulain stood up, with Gae Bulga in hand. "There has to be some technique to his attacks." It was then that he realized what was happening. "That's it!" He crouched down to lung with his trident and charged full speed against Kahn. Kahn easily saw the attack and dodged, but Cuchulain did his infamous 360 spin. There was a sudden clash of steel. Kahn's blades interlocked with the Gae Bulga came close to actually cutting Kahn across the throat.

"But how!" Kahn uttered.

"Found you!" Cuchulain said and thrust his trident forward. The blades cut some of Kahn's hair.

"Did you see that!" Riku said.

"He got him!" Sora chuckled.

"But how did he do it?" Kenshin asked.

"I see how you managed to do it!" Cuchulain lunged his body forward and before Kahn had a chance to withdraw his blades, which were latched onto the staff, Cuchulain grabbed opposite ends of the trident and twisted the weapon violently, the force of the twist caused both blades of the tiger swords to break off at the base of the hilt. One of the shards slashed at the side of Cuchulain's throat, causing it to bleed slightly.

"Bastard!" Kahn leaped over Cuchulain head and fired a powerful energy blast into his back. The Hound went flying into the wall, crashing through the stone. Kahn landed on the ground. He held on to only one broken hilt now. He sneered at where Cuchulain had fallen. "You idiot! You've demolished my favorite weapons!"

"Sorry about that." Cuchulain said, emerging from the rubble. His jacket and shoulder armor had been stripped from his body. His shirt half torn, revealing his muscular bosom, scarred with cuts from Kahn's blades. "I just didn't want you to have to scar me anymore than you already have. I wanna make sure to keep myself fresh for the ladies."

"Enough joking! Tell me, how did you manage to break the secret of my Darkness Decoys!"-

"Quite simple. The secret behind the decoys has nothing to do with your speed. It all has to do with the environment itself. That's why you deployed the Darkness Umbrella, so that you would have complete control over the situation. Using the shadows to your advantage, you managed to create an atmosphere that affects the senses. I'm sure we're not aware of it, or feel any different, but this shadow realm has managed to nullify all of our senses without us knowing. It's a hypnotic atmosphere that causes us to slow down. So in reality, you're not moving as fast as you say you are. You are in fact only running a mild pace. But the hypnotic spells within this umbrella caused our senses to be delayed. So we think that you're going at high speeds. Through your eyes however, fighting us is equivalent to fighting someone who's blindfolded."

"And how did you figure that out!"-

"It was from the wounds you've inflicted on me. Some of them reverberate a sharp pain, so in order to heighten my senses I concentrated more on the pain of my wounds. As a result, I managed to realize that you were in fact only walking around me! So it's all about illusions to you."-

"How the heck did he figure that out when I couldn't?" Saito uttered.

"Well, it's not everyday we confront a warrior who has the ability to cause mass hypnotic spells before. I was right though. This umbrella had something to do with it"-

Meanwhile, in the Aoiya, Goofy had arrived with Shirojo and gave a senzu to Sojiro. Sojiro stood up and shook his head.

"Thanks again." He uttered.

"T'weren't nothing!" Goofy chuckled.

"So what's been going on?"-

"The fight has been escalating." Okina said. Sojiro stood up to watch the fight.

"I'm sure that the Darkness Decoys are impressive." Cuchulain continued. "However, you must've known my reputation for being able to detect energy and the ability to read my opponent's moves and emotions. To add, I was seeking justice for Ferdia. So you knew that I would do everything in my power to stop you, no matter what. Thus, as a result, to ensure complete success over me as well as everyone else, you used your most effective attack that would guarantee victory. By creating the Darkness Umbrella, you let us into your world and into an environment that you had complete control over."

"So you know the secrets of the Umbrella." Kahn bellowed. "Any idiot could have come to that conclusion! But it doesn't matter! You will never be able to break the effects of the umbrella. There's only one way to eliminate the effects of the umbrella and that's to kill me."

"It seems the one thing that's accumulating your source of Darkness is coming from Goten.' Saito pointed out. "What if I were tempted to end his life!"

"You wouldn't be able to carry out with it."-

"And tell me why not!"-

"One, the darkness has engulfed Goten's body and has made a protective shield around him. A shield, which even your Gatotsu can't break. The second reason is even if you did manage to hinder him, his comrades would never forgive you for his death. Goten's heart has been consumed by the darkness and the light can only reemerge when I am slain!"

"Maybe that doesn't have to be the case!" Sora uttered to himself. "Maybe there's alternative to breaking the umbrella. Then again…maybe I just have high hopes."

"It doesn't matter anyway now!" Cuchulain said. "You've been deprived of your weapons. There's no chance in you beating me with only the aid of the dark element."

"The dark element may not be very effective when it comes to inflicting physical wounds. However, you're losing a lot of blood from the cuts that you've received through the battle. Your strength is dwindling quickly and your fighting capacity is half of what it was before. And besides…" Suddenly, Kahn threw the broken hilt before him and from it, a red beam of light, which accumulated a strange electrical hum came forth from the broken blade. "Who said that I was completely unarmed?" Kahn began to attack again with this new blade. He slashed at Cuchulain, but the Hound managed to dodge, in the process however, this new sword made a clean slice through the stone wall that Cuchulain had made impact with.

"Did you see that?" Sora asked.

"Where did that new weapon pop out from?" Sano added.

"I've never seen a weapon like that before." Kenshin agreed.

"A sword that accumulates light and can cut through any surface?" Saito uttered. "Where would someone get such a weapon?"

"It has to be some sort of magic!" Yahiko said.

"I see that you people are impressed with this new type of weapon." Kahn addressed. "Well, you should be."

"And where did you acquire such a unique weapon?" Lu Xun asked.

"This was given to me, compliments from my comrades, the Siths, of the 'Galactic Realm.' This sword is called a light saber, which is used by both Siths and Jedis. Quite impressive, the lot of them, knowing how to manipulate energy from even a great distance away. I believe they called it 'The Force." However, they never really encountered a man of my caliber, who can manipulate the very shadows they stood upon. This weapon can cut through any surface. Not even your Gae Bulga can't stand up to its extreme temperature, which allows a clean cut through any surface." Kahn began to advance. "Thus, I will deprive you of the Gae Bulga and send you into the afterlife!"

Kahn swung the light saber down upon Cuchulain's weapon as the Hound tried to shield the attack.

"Cuchulain's done for!" Sanosuke shouted. "There's no way his weapon will be able to withstand an attack from a sword that can cut through anything!"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Kenshin uttered.

"What do you mean?"-

"I mean look at him. Despite Kahn's warning, Cuchulain doesn't seem the least bit concerned."-

"He's right." Riku replied. "He's not even wavering. Look how cool he is, though the danger is within striking range."

"He's putting all his faith in the strength of his weapon."-

"This is it for you!" Kahn chuckled. But as he made contact with the staff of the Gae Bulga, there was a sudden electrical shock and the sword was repelled, as if held back by some invisible force. "What!" Kahn withdrew, shocked at what he had witnessed.

"Cuchulain's weapon managed to withstand the attack from Kahn's light saber." Saito uttered. "Impressive."

"But how could that skinny pole be able to hold back what a stone wall couldn't?" Sano said.

"This guy is just full of tricks." Seijuro Hiko said. "I guess there's still so much about his abilities that we don't know about yet."

"He's so calm." Kenshin uttered. A big roll of sweat rolled down the face of the shinobi.

"I don't understand." He said. "The light saber should have made a clean cut through the staff of your Gae Bulga. How in the hell was it repulsed! Explain Hound!"

"You underestimate the power of the Gae Bulga. The reason why I was able to wield the Gae Bulga was because I was able to manipulate its energy. The Gae Bulga is a part of me you might say. The weapon itself accumulates a great amount of energy, which it has adopted from me. As its wielder, I hold a great power and an even greater responsibility. Thus, I control the fate of the Gae Bulga and no one, nor anything can destroy it, but me."-

"I see. So your invincibility lies behind your weapon does it? Without it, you would be insignificant."-

"Again you assume too much about me and the Gae Bulga! I think of the Gae Bulga as a tool rather than a crutch! The Gae Bulga and I are synchronized with one another. I depend on it, just as much as it depends on me. This weapon chooses whether you are worthy to wield it, or not. If I had decided to depend upon this weapon's strength instead of my own, I would not have been able to take control of the Gae Bulga from the start."-

"And tell me how you managed to acquire such a powerful weapon from such a backwash place as ancient Erin."-

"This was given to me by the mighty warrior princess, Skya! Besides my friend Ferdia, she is the only one who truly equaled my strength! It was she who entrusted me with the Gae Bulga and I will use this weapon to the best of my abilities. It is not the weapon that made the man, but rather the man who made the weapon!"-

"Then let's see if your faith in you skills can match my own!" Kahn disappeared again and then reappeared. Using the Darkness decoys again, he attempted to catch Cuchulain off guard. However, as he dared to strike while the Hound's back was turned, Cuchulain was able to turn and block the attack. Again Kahn dared to strike and evade and again the Hound evaded and blocked. This process continued over and over again.

"Look at that." Yahiko uttered. "Now all of a sudden, Cuchulain's countering every attack that Kahn throws at him."

"But how's he able to do that?" Sano asked.

"You moron." Saito uttered. "Are you that thick headed? It should be perfectly obvious."

"What did you say!"-

"The movements deployed are the same." Kenshin said. "However, there is a big difference in battle strategy."

"Observe." Saito said. Sano looked hard and suddenly saw a flash of red within the shadows.

"Did you see that?" Sano asked.

"And that's what we were trying to point out." Saito said. "Kahn has put too much faith into that new weapon of his that he doesn't realize the drawback of it yet."

"What drawback is that?" Sora asked.

"It's the light saber itself." Riku explained. "Sure the light saber can cut through any surface and is quite the unique weapon, but trying to stealthily use it against an opponent is utterly impossible."

"Why's that?"-

"Not only does the light saber accumulate bright light, but it also accumulates that bizarre humming sound. To Cuchulain, the sound is like a warning bell and gives him a precise direction of where it's coming from. To add, the light also attracts him like a beacon. So it doesn't matter how fast, Kahn is going, he can't extinguish the light patterns made by the light saber."-

"You'd think that Kahn would be able to realize that." Lu Xun implied. "Being a skilled ninja, he should know better than to use such a noisy weapon."

"That's just the thing. Why would he use something like that in the first place? Perhaps it's the fact that he puts too much faith in the weapon's abilities alone. The light saber must've appealed to him. He saw how the Siths and Jedis used them and he probably wanted to use that edge to his advantage."

"Couldn't he just retract the blade and then deploy again when he was within a striking range?" Sora asked.

"That takes too long and causes that sharp electrical sound. That would definitely catch Cuchulain's attention."-

The fight was not going well now for Kahn. What seemed like an excellent strategy had been rendered useless by the Hound of Ulster.

"Have you had enough yet?" Cuchulain said.

"Go ahead and praise yourself." Kahn uttered. "You still haven't managed to scathe me and it seems that the wounds I inflicted are beginning to take effect."

"You may be right there, but I will not stop until I know you are dead and Ferdia's death has been avenged."-

"Then, I'll just fight you directly!" Kahn attacked head on, clashing with Cuchulain, trident against light saber. The light from the saber was mesmerizing and almost hypnotic. The fight raged on for five minutes, but in the end. Cuchulain, due to his wounds, began to falter with every blow given and received.

"It seems that you've reached your limit." Kahn said. Cuchulain fell to his knees. "This battle has been prolonged to the point where you are no longer able to fight me." Cuchulain only stood up, staggering to his feet.

"I won't give up. I will take revenge for my best friend!"-

"That is if you have enough energy left to carry it out." Kahn stretched out his hand and began to blast sound waves into the Hound's body. Cuchulain held his ground and took every blow, despite his energy being depleted at an extremely rapid pace. "You know, I don't think I will give you an instant death. I want to watch you suffer for the time being. Your insolence to me will be repented."

"So you take pleasure in torturing people?"-

"Only when it comes to impudent, heroic youths like you."-

Cuchulain fell to his hands and knees, giving way to exhaustion. Kahn stood over the Hound and held his light saber up into the air. Cuchulain's knees and arms gave way and he fell to ground, his weapon still clutched in his fingers.

"Come on, Cuchulain!" Riku cried. "Get up!"

"You fools!" Kahn chuckled. "Can you not see for yourselves how utterly futile it is! The boy no longer has the strength to stand, let alone fight!" Kahn held his saber even higher over his head. "Now you will witness as I smite this whelp with all my hatred!"

"I can't believe that it's over. How could I have failed?" Cuchulain uttered to himself. "I just wasn't strong enough. The circumstances of this battle have proven that. Fate has turned against me and I could not fulfill my vow. Ferdia, I am sorry. I could not avenge your death."

"You should curse your own impotence for determining this fight's outcome!" Kahn thrust down his saber. "Now die!"

It seemed the end for Cuchulain and he could see everything flash in front of him as time went in slow motion. He recalled his home, his friends, his family, and the face of his dearly departed friend. But as Cuchulain drew upon the face of Ferdia in his mind. His rage began to overwhelm him as well as his fight to avenge his friend. But also, besides his goal, he realized that if he did not fight back, then Sora, Riku, Kenshin, Sanosuke, and all the others whom he tried to protect from this fight, would meet the same fate as his home did.

"No! I can't die yet! I won't die yet!" Cuchulain suddenly emerged with great energy and lunged at Kahn. The shinobi was taken completely by surprise and were knocked simultaneously by the Hound. He struck Kahn with a multi-jab strike. He pummeled the ninja into the air and knocked him to the ground, rebound and struck with one of his ultimate attacks. "Ulster Sudden Death!" With a powerful thrusting attack of the Gae Bulga, Cuchulain sent Kahn slamming into the stone wall as well. Cuchulain fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

"Did you see that?" Sora said. "I've never seen Cuchulain move like that before."

"He toppled that shinobi good!" Yahiko said.

"Come on Cuchulain!" Misao shouted. "Give that guy a good butt kicking! Come one, get in there and pound him into the ground."

"That's enough, Misao." Miss Kaoru uttered. "I understand your excitement. But don't you think you can tone it down a little bit."

"That attack was incredible, that it was." Kenshin said. "Cuchulain certainly is a fine warrior, that he is."

"You said it." Sanosuke added. "There's no way a guy like that could stand up after one of those attacks."

"It's not over yet though." Riku implied. They looked at Riku in a dumbfounded way.

"What do you mean, Riku?" Sora asked.

"If you would be so kind to explain." Lu Xun added.

"I still feel an uneasiness lurking about. That means that Kahn is still alive."-

"Are you sure?"-

"Riku's right." Kenshin added. "There is still a presence lingering about."

But that presence became more clear as there suddenly was a massive explosion bellowing and the section of the stone wall, where Kahn had made impact, was demolished.

"What was that!" Sora uttered. The group looked to see a figure appear out of the smoke, dust, and falling rubble. Kahn emerged dirty and angry. His armor had been cracked down the front and back. A piece of the broken armor had fallen from his abdomen area. Blood ran down his face now and his uniform had been completely tattered. He sneered ferociously at the fallen Hound.

"No one has ever done that to me!" Kahn scowled. "No one!" Cuchulain tried to stand up, but Kahn kicked him in the face. The Hound went flying through the air and fell to the ground. Blood continued to spurt from his already tattered body. He tried to rise on his hands and knees. But Kahn wrapped his arm around Cuchulain's throat and began to strangle him. Cuchulain struggled, but couldn't break Kahn's grip. "You will die today!"

But as Cuchulain's strength gave way, there was a sudden strike and Kahn was sent forward into the dust. The angry shinobi looked up to see Sora standing next to Cuchulain.

"In order to kill Cuchulain," Sora implied, "you'll have to go through me first."

"And me." Riku added.

"And me." Kenshin agreed.

"Me too." Sano added.

"Same here." Miss Kaoru said.

"You'll pay." Misao uttered.

"It's the end for you." Seijuro and Lu Xun said.

"Justice will be served." Saito added.

The party enclosed around Kahn. He stood up and slightly backed off.

"Going somewhere." A voice uttered from behind. Kahn looked to see Sojiro and the other members of the Oniwaban emerging from the Aoiya.

"It can't be!" Kahn said. "You're dead! You're dead!"

"Not anymore!"-

"It's over for you, Kahn." Riku implied. "You're alone. You might have been able to fight off Cuchulain, but he's weakened you substantially. Now we take revenge for him and everyone else you've hurt and killed."

"You really think this is over for Kahn of the Cavendish Shinobis!" Kahn said.