Author's Note: Okay, so here we go with Ikki vs. Cale. The next chapter will wrap up this section, but for now, you'll just have to try to enjoy the suspense as much as I do.

Phantom Pain

"Wha. . . where am I?" Ikki was caught rather by surprise when the world just seemed to blink out. His eyes slowly adjusted to the grey light, but the rest of his senses were working overtime to figure out where his opponent was!

"You are in my element, Red Bird. I'm rather curious to see which Phoenix you take after, that of the West or that of the East. I've always wondered how to deal with an immortal!" Cale's cocky chuckling reverberated off the still, shaded surroundings, masking his position. Yet Phoenix avoided the Warlord's dachi all the same.

"And I'm supposed to care. . ."

"Oh, that's right, you're a tough guy who cares for his baby brother!" Again with the laughing.

"Leave. . . Shun. . . OUT of this." Phoenix snarled. "I've heard quite enough about him being a baby, but more importantly, I've seen how strong he can be for his friends. It's a good lesson you freaks all seem to have to learn the hard way. DO NOT underestimate my friends and I."

"Tough talk. Can you back it up? The only attack I've ever heard of you using is illusion, turning your opponents fears against them. Do you have any other tricks? Dais is a master of illusion, compared to him you're nothing more than a pup with a knack for shadow puppets! I am a master of the dark, and all things horrible are in my domain. My world is the endless night, and all the evils that inhabit it. Can you face such a fearful hell, I wonder? You certainly think you can, but let us see you pass a true test of mental endurance!"

"Now you're the one with the tough talk! I've found the ones who speak the loudest of pain and hell are the ones who know it least. I wonder if you could have survived five minutes of what I and the others have been through." As usual, Ikki's low rumble was barely above a whisper as he matched Cale's blows. Some he dodged, others he blocked and he even sent a few back at their owner! However, the Knight had yet to make any true offensive move. Ikki was both sizing up Phoenix's adversary, and giving the Warlord a chance to feel he put up a fight.

'This cocky creep won't need a second punch!' He smiled to himself.

"Well, you certainly are laid back. If you don't care to attack, I hope you don't mind if I do. Enough playing. BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!"

The beam was a deeper blackness, taking what little vision Ikki had managed to gain. It cut as surely as the sword would have, and burned with cold!

"Impressive." Phoenix ground grudgingly. "I didn't expect you to be. . . this strong." Ikki shook off the attack, cracked his neck, and turned on his heel, launching himself into the blind shadows around him. "Now, if you don't mind, it's my turn to show off. I've heard your bark, and felt your bite, now lets put your bragging to the test. PHANTOM DEMON!"

The punch was a direct hit. He'd taken the Corruption Warlord off guard, as the old dog hadn't expected to be found so easily. The darkness wavered, brightened, then everything went completely black. It was Ikki's first experience with true lightlessness. Light seemed no longer to exist, anywhere. Cale must have leapt away from Phoenix after the punch landed, for the latter was no longer sure of where the older man could be.

"Didn't I tell you, I've faced my demons. Petty tricks won't phase me. I am the nightmare, not the sufferer." The Warlords snickering escalated until the sound waves of his voice seemed the only sensation possible in the inky pit.

"Funny, that's usually my line. I think I'd like you if you weren't stupid enough to fight us." Ikki smiled into the impossible night, putting up a brave front, but there was something to this that he was missing. He could sense it. 'There is no way he's completely unaffected. He has to fear something! Unless. . .'

"That's it!" He crowed aloud. "I figured you out. This is your fear. You've managed to project it, making it seem an attack. But why haven't you moved for a blow with your sword if the field is so completely to your advantage? It's not, is it?"

"You think you're so clever. You heroes are all alike. I haven't attacked because over the years, an old friend managed to teach me a few things, one of which was fair play. If you are so eager to die, however, BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!"

'Me and my big mouth! The only thing I know is that this attack's stronger than ever, and I'm not! I can't sense him at all! Where is he?' Phoenix frantically racked his senses, seeking anything, any little thing that could help. He kept the appearance of composure to the last, his stony face sporting a maddening smirk as the blade and it's energy hit him squarely on the right shoulder. Cale could feel the satisfying resistance of metal and human flesh, but used his momentum and strength to follow through on the blow. He frowned at his work appraisingly as the world undimmed, his bemused expression a contradicting mixture of disappointment, achievement, and perhaps guilt.

'Well, that could have gone better.' The blue-haired warrior grimaced as he fell backwards into the snow. A light mist seemed to be settling over everything, including him, creating a thin layer of deadening ice.

-----------------

I love being evil. Time for that maniacal laughter I've scorned! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ehhem. That hurt my throat.