Zero vs. Ryu Hayabusa: Zero Hour
By sephsblade
Ryu. Last
member of the Hayabusa clan. A feared warrior back in his homeland.
His skills were formidable and his weapon, the Dragon Sword, was
stronger then any other ninja blade. He had destroyed the Dark Dragon
Sword, avenged his Father, and saved the love of his life many
times.
But his opponents had always been human. This time, he was facing a machine. A machine that probably had no qualms about killing him. He knew next to nothing about his opponent, and that was a good way to get killed.
"I won't lose… For my Father, I won't lose."
The ninja looked around the empty locker room. He was prepared. He had his sword, an old weapon called a Vigoorian Flail, which was made of two bladed poles and far deadlier then any set of nunchakus, and his almost limitless supply of shurikens.
Apart from that, he had his strength, speed, and soul. For his sake, he hoped it would be enough.
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Sitting on the bench in his waiting area, Zero idly thumbed the switch of his energy sword. It was the only weapon he had and nearly as old he was. He would never have admitted it, but for some reason he found the green glow… comforting.
He almost wished to see X outside, along with Ciel. It would have been strange to see both of them together, and X in his own body on top of that. But he couldn't bring himself to envision Iris out there. Perhaps she had been dead too long… or perhaps she had never forgiven him.
"Hmph. I should be focusing on the fight, not something that happened a million years ago."
He started to walk up and down, pacing the room, before finally leaning against the wall near the door to the arena. What the hell was taking them so long? He didn't want to fight someone who was a hero to his own people, but he'd bet the "sponsors" would force them too in some way or another. They seemed to want this fights to happen. Even the kid with the pointy ears probably harbored a secret bloodlust.
Kid. Heh. How many people WEREN'T younger than him now? He should have been scrapped centuries ago. If it wasn't for the Mavericks, both reploids AND humans, who need to be retired he probably wouldn't be here today. The world needed a warrior and that's exactly what Zero was.
Finally, the announcer started talking. That was the indication to the competitors to come out the arena.
"Let's get this over with," the Maverick hunter muttered to himself.
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The two combatants came out and walked right over to the judges' table after their introductions. The applause died down quickly as Ryu was offered the chance to change the arena's terrain to his liking. He finally decided on the same set-up as the first match, that of the Grassy Maze.
This was a perfect fighting area for him. It was an enclosed space, there were plenty of walls to run across, and numerous ways to rush in from an unexpected direction and incapacitate an enemy before he or she even registered the threat. Perfect for the way of the ninja.
WHHHHHRRRRRROOOOOOOOOO.
Zero barely heard the whine of his Buster sword as he charged up his weapons. Walking slowly down the corridors, he wasn't in the mood for hide and seek. He would let the human come to him, knock him out, and go on to win this stupid waste of time. The three idiots, staring intently from their area in the stands, sickened him as they watched the battle unfold with glee.
He hadn't heard his opponent yet. Surely Ryu should have found him by now, what with the tell-tale sound of his weapon charging.
Zero suddenly whirled around, bringing the Z-Saber up in a guard position, as the ninja charged him with his own sword in hand.
'My visual and aural sensors didn't catch anything, how good IS this guy-'
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Mega Man shook his head up in the audience.
"You always were too overconfident, friend."
Next to him, a very pretty blonde woman smiled slightly.
"Yes… but everything usually turns out fine for him in the end."
The Blue Bomber looked at her. Samus Aran, the greatest human bounty hunter the galaxy had ever seen. He had to keep reminding himself that she was far stronger than her appearance suggested. She had single-handedly wiped the Metroids from her world, not to mention take down the ruthless Space Pirates.
"He's already died twice…he really shouldn't push his lack too far."
Mega Man was itching to get down their and help his friend. Ironic, considering he was supposed to be the pacifist. He could see through the walls and ceiling areas of the maze, from his view they just shimmered in the clear air. Zero was parrying each sword thrust in frenzy of sorts. He obviously didn't want to use his Saber in case he killed his opponent and he couldn't get a clear shot with his buster. Mega Man could tell he was already getting very, very impatient, though.
The judges merely watched from their box silently. The robot couldn't understand what they were doing. The elf and the blond haired swordsman seemed like good people, yet if Mega Man had their power he'd be trying to stop all the fighting, not fueling it with this spectacle.
"…I'll NEVER understand humans," he said to himself, shaking his head sadly.
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Even with the advantage of surprise, Ryu found he couldn't get near enough to the robot to cause any serious damage. Zero moved with, well, let's face it, inhuman speed, and Ryu had resorted to just striking out wildly as fast as possible in order to keep his opponent on the defensive.
Well, if the Dragon Sword wouldn't work…
Ryu quickly sheathed the sword, and unleashed his flails, twirling them around in a display designed to intimidate the Maverick Hunter. It didn't really work.
Ryu lashed out, ready to twist the flails around the Hunter's grasp…and watched in dismay as the beamsabre cut through the weapons as if they were paper. Maybe the Dragon Sword was a better idea after all.
'I'm being beaten by a machine-'
And then there was pain.
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The Plasma shot threw Zero's fellow competitor against the walls of the maze. Dazed, he got up, keeping himself conscious through sheer will alone.
'Hmph. Maybe I should use the Z-Sabre after all…He's tougher then he looks.'
The ninja got up and, using the walls and ceiling as easily as the floors, charged again.
'Hey, whatever happened to ninjas hiding in the shadows?'
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Ryu dropped back down, attacking with renewed ferocity.
'It wouldn't do to lose and let Irene hear about this, right?'
He knew he couldn't beat a robot in a battle of pure speed and power. He would just have to outwit him.
Jumping back, he focused his energy as fast as he could, unleashing the power of ninpo that his father had taught him. As expected, Zero jumped up in order to avoid any ground attacks, dashing towards him while airborne.
"ART OF THE FIREWHEEL!"
The machine seemingly couldn't use his "dash" twice in the air. Perhaps whatever propulsion system he used had to recharge. The three fire balls that shot out circled the reploid and then slammed into him hard, dropping him to the ground.
'You're not invincible after all.'
He may have be down, but he was far from out. Jumping back up, Zero sliced downwards with his energy sword, sending a wave of power into Ryu. The ninja barely had time to use his ninpo as protection, as the attack sent the ninja flying into the granite walls of the maze.
The Maverick Hunter once again leapt up and brought his sword down onto the human. The color of the sword changed to a crimson red as he shouted "ENKOUJIN!" out loud. The attack barely missed, as Ryu quickly evaded it. He landed on the ground at least ten arm lengths away from the robot, determined now to keep his distance.
'Maybe I should try a long range approach instead…'
Ryu let loose with a throwing star at Zero, which connected with a crack. The second and third ones never met their mark, though, as they were stopped by a large green forcefield. The green energy barrier was then thrown like a discus at the shinobi, who barely avoid having his head separated from his shoulders.
'So, he can protect most of his body- but can he protect EVERYTHING at once?'
Taking out more of the shurikens, Ryu charged them up with ninpo energy. Assume a fighting stance, he turned to face Zero, who had already begun to move forward himself.
-------
Zero was stopped from dashing at his opponent by a torrent of shurikens. Annoyed, he deflected them all, each one harmlessly bouncing against the walls.
When the next batch came, he was ready. He jumped up, the dash accelerators propelling him just above the metal stars. Zero grabbed one of the missiles from its flight and immediately switched his weapon.
ZERO KNUCKLE ATIVATED - SHURIKEN-BASED WEAPONS ABSORBED. INFINITE SHOTS.
"Not bad," he muttered. "Not bad at all."
The third wave of ninja stars was wiped out by Zero's own. His new weapon might not be as powerful, but the firing rate was a hell of a lot better.
"Windmill Shuriken!"
Ryu's next attack was tricky. This new throwing star was larger and sliced right through the robot's counterattacks. It slammed into the reploid, knocking him head over heels, and then CAME BACK to knock him around some more, ending up with Zero being unceremoniously dropped onto the floor.
Getting up, he saw that the shinobi was focusing for a final attack. Zero tried to get up, but couldn't rise fast enough to stop him.
"Damn it! Sorry, but I'll have to use this. Bakuenjin!"
As soon as Zero said those words, Ryu replied with his own: "INFERNO!"
A wave of fire shot out from the human and met Zero's own attack about halfway. A sphere of pure energy collided with scorching flames. The two seemed to just hang in midair for a second before the reaction blasted apart a good chunk of the maze itself.
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"WHAT THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING?"
Mega Man stood up, gazing down at the floor of the battle arena. The maze had been decimated, shrapnel littering the area like confetti.
The ninja was on the floor. He was alive, but unconscious. Zero, on the other hand been buried underneath the collapsed walls of the maze.
Sephiroth seemed delighted at this. "Looks like that stupid machine destroyed itself…"
Link, who was idly leaning back in his seat, grinned as he stared down at the arena. "Spoke too soon, Sephy."
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Crawling out from under the debris, Zero looked around at the devastation he'd caused.
The ninja was alive, thankfully. He had seen better days, though.
It had been a foolish risk to take. If a Hunter had been under his command had activated an attack like that in an enclosed space, he would have thrown him out the door.
Zero gave the Blue Bomber a thumbs up while grinning, knowing it would annoy the little robot immensely.
Unlike the previous two matches, Cloud did not come down to the arena's floor to congratulate this match's winner. Instead, he just sat in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He just stared at the battlefield and shook his head.
The reploid didn't need any sponsor's validation for his victory, though. He did a victory lap or two around the arena, much to the delight of the crowd. He then joined the medical team in the center and, after determining the ninja would be just fine, dashed off into his dressing room.
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After the crowd began filing out of the stadium, a solitary figure stood with its back to the wall. HE was thinking how pointless all of this was when he suddenly felt a jolt of power. It felt like he had used some sort of power-up, as his power increased for no discernible reason. He stopped for a moment, stared at his hands, and then thought about it. The answer then occurred to him.
The man knew exactly what it was, although he was somewhat surprised by what it meant. "So," he said, amused, "it seems that I benefit from their little soul exchanging schemes as well. I wonder why? I'll have to look into this."
With that, he continued his path back toward the hotel.
