Chapter 1: Kasumi vs. The Black Knight
As evening begins to set, Kasumi arrives in Nevassa.
"So, THIS is the captial of Daein." says Kasumi. "It definitely seems busy. They did say they're still repairing from the struggle with this Begnion."
All of the people who see Kasumi wonder to themselves who she could be, and why she dresses the way she does.
"I guess I should expect this more often than not." says Kasumi. "Obviously, they would never have seen anyone from Hazumo before."
"Hey, lady!" shouts the voice of young boy.
Kasumi looks to see a little boy and a rotund, middle-aged woman approaching.
"I don't believe we've seen you before, milady." says the woman.
"Why are you wearing a bath robe, lady?" asks the boy.
Kasumi giggles and says, "It's not a bath robe, it's called a kimono."
"Key... moe... no?" asks the boy curiously.
"They're a staple form of fashion from my country." says Kasumi. "Pleasure to meet you both. My name is Kasumi. I can't say any more than that."
"Oh, nice to meet you, Kasumi." says the boy. "My name is Nico."
"It's an honor." says Kasumi with a bow.
"So, what brings you to Daein, miss?" asks the woman.
"I'm really just passing through." says Kasumi. "I'm actually on my way to the nation of Crimea. I assume that country is just to the west of this one, am I right?"
"Yes, but... why Crimea?" asks the woman. "We're not exactly on friendly terms with them after they defeated our army and left us in the hands of those Begnion pigs."
"I heard about the Begnion Occupation Army, and how you all struggled to overcome such a hardship." says Kasumi. "But at the same time, I heard what your former king did to Crimea, and it sounds like none of you were in the right for your actions."
"It's true that Ashnard was crazy." says the woman. "But better to be in his hands than in the hands of those awful Begnion senators."
"I understand your feelings, but people need to looks past their bigotry and fear, and learn to accept one another." says Kasumi. "I guess you could say my mission is about that very thing."
"Well, I don't know how going to Crimea will accomplish that, but good luck to you." says the woman.
"Anyway, I need to be on my way." says Kasumi. "It was nice talking with you both."
"Good bye, lady." says Nico.
Kasumi bows and walks off.
Meanwhile, Micaiah and the Dawn Brigade enter Nevassa.
"That source of power came here." says Micaiah. "And it's still moving."
"Where do you think it is, Micaiah?" asks Sothe.
"It seems to be going west." says Micaiah. "Seems it's about to leave Nevassa soon."
"We better go after it." says Sothe.
"Aww, can't we stop all this running around?" asks Edward. "I wish we could just take a break. We've been going nonstop ever since Micaiah felt this power."
"I think it's imperative we do this, Edward." says Leonardo. "If Micaiah gets a feeling about such power, we need to see if it could be a threat."
"Yes, and from what I felt, this power has the potential to be astronomical." says Micaiah. "Perhaps even god-like."
"That strong, huh?" asks Nolan. "Very well, let's hurry and find this person."
After that, the Dawn Brigade continues on their way.
As it gets to be late in the night, Kasumi stops and puts on a focused look.
"I'm not alone." says Kasumi. "I know you're there. There's no use in keeping yourself hidden."
Just then, appearing out of a flash bright light is the Black Knight.
"Curious." says the Black Knight. "You knew I would come. Either you're very perceptive, or your abilities are not like that of other Beorc."
"So, you seem to have a desire to challenge me seeing as you have your sword drawn." says Kasumi. "However, I don't need to be wasting time with you. I'm on my way to Crimea."
Kasumi continues to walk forward, but the Black Knight bars her path.
"I suggest you move." says Kasumi. "I may not have much of my power unlocked, but believe me, you don't want to face me."
"You must not know of me." says the Black Knight. "I am the Black Knight, a former member of Daein's Four Riders."
"Is that supposed to mean anything to me?" asks Kasumi. "I'm on a mission that is of the utmost importance."
"Your mission will have to wait." says the Black Knight. "My master wants to know more about you and your power. You seem to possess enough power that could potentially rival the gods. Such a force could be a threat."
"And you think the smartest decision to deal with this power is to fight me directly, not knowing what I'm capable of?" asks Kasumi. "You might not like the result."
"We shall see." says the Black Knight. "Draw your weapon."
"Remember, you brought this on yourself." says Kasumi.
Kasumi removes her hat and tosses it to the ground. Then she unsheathes her sword, which looks like a Wo Dao, but significantly different in design.
"You don't mind if I get a change in attire, do you?" says Kasumi. "After all, fighting in a kimono is harder than it looks."
"Be my guest, if you think it will help." says the Black Knight.
Kasumi closes her eyes, and her body is surrounded in golden energy waves.
"Interesting." says the Black Knight.
As the energy starts to turn prismatic, it explodes, turning Kasumi into a silhouette. It appears Kasumi's clothes are being ripped from her body before the light closes in on her, surrounding her in a ball of primastic energy.
In a brilliant flash, the ball of energy explodes, and Kasumi is standing there in a completely different and incredibly risque attire. Her new look includes a corset-like breastplate with purple cups with gold crescent designs, red scale-looking pieces that go up into the center, which is adorned with a blue crystal, the further they go in. They very center of the back is open enough to show some skin, as well as that Kasumi isn't wearing a bra. A great deal of Kasumi's rather large and ample cleavage is exposed.
Other parts include red and gold pauldrons that cover mainly the outside of her upper arms, brown, leather, fingerless gauntlets with red and gold plating on top that have an angel-wing motif on the wrists and gold hearts on the back of her hands, a fauld with red and gold tassets that look a lot like the pauldrons and are held together by brown, leather straps with a gold crescent in front, long greaves with gold thigh parts and red armor on the calves with angel-wing like designs on the knees (curiously, the greaves leave her feet mostly exposed), a shiny, black, exotic, bikini-style cloth on her lower body that's almost thong-like in design while the back is cut to show the top-most part of her buttcrack and has a gold circle on the top of the front with gold lining on the sides of the top front. This cloth is attached to very long, shiny black stockings via black straps.
Topping this armor off is a red, gold, purple and black samurai-style helmet with what looks to be a red, horned ogre face on the top of the front. Overall, Kasumi now looks like a sexy samurai.
Meanwhile, Micaiah gets another sensation as she says, "That explosion of power happened again!"
"Where was it?" asks Sothe.
"I think it was in that forest to the west." says Micaiah. "Let's hurry and go!"
Without waiting, the Dawn Brigade takes off.
As that happens, the Black Knight looks Kasumi up and down and says, "If you plan to fight me in armor like that, you may as well surrender right now."
"Shows what you know." says Kasumi. "This armor is made to do so much more than just look appealing to men. You'll be finding that out soon if you still wish to do battle with me. So... do you still plan to stand in my way?"
"I will not remove myself until I see what you're capable of." says the Black Knight. "Do your worst."
"If I'm to continue my mission, then I suppose I have no other choice." says Kasumi.
The Black Knight rushes at Kasumi, who then parries his slash with her own sword before hitting the Black Knight in the diaphragm area with an energized palm strike, sending him a good few feet back before he grinds his heels to a halt.
"So... that armor ISN'T just for decorative purposes." says the Black Knight. "It gives you special abilities."
"You haven't seen anything yet." says Kasumi. "The armor you see in an extension of my spirit. When I unleash my spirit, this armor appears on me, and my inner power is unleashed. You're lucky my growth is far from complete, because you wouldn't last a minute against me."
"What's another example of this power of yours?" asks the Black Knight.
"How about you see with your own eyes?" says Kasumi as she begins to wave her sword around, which then creates an energy stream that takes on the form of a green, Oriental dragon.
"What in the world?" asks the Black Knight.
After a while, Kasumi slashes her sword forward, sending the dragon at the Black Knight as it roars. Not wasting anytime, the Black Knight raises Alondite and swings it in a cleaving motion, slicing the energy into two halves before they veer of to the side and explode after hitting some trees.
"I get the feeling that sword and armor are meant to work together." says the Black Knight.
"Yes." says Kasumi. "Both are my spirit in physical form, though the sword I always keep out in case I need to defend myself. Now, are you ready to call it quits? Or are you prepared to lose?"
"I won't lose to you." says the Black Knight. "I will only accept loss to one man. And he doesn't need parlor tricks or magic to defeat me."
"Well, I guess it's good to have ambitions." says Kasumi. "In any case, it's high time to finish this."
Kasumi rushes at the Black Knight, who rushes at her again.
Kasumi bathes the blade of her sword in fire and both warriors clash continuous, steel against steel, unable to hit one another until after another clash, Kasumi jumps up and kicks the Black Knight right in his "face" with an energized foot.
Kasumi stands with her back facing the Black Knight, who stumbles back while trying to get his bearings.
As the Black Knight comes to, he looks at Kasumi, but then notices something on her lower back.
Kasumi sees the Black Knight staring at her back, and thinking him to be looking at her butt, Kasumi smiles smugly and says, "Like anything you see?"
"That mark on your lower back." says the Black Knight.
The mark he refers to is a black, bird symbol on her lower back, just abover her butt, as if to look like a tramp stamp.
"What about my mark?" asks Kasumi.
"I see." says the Black Knight. "It all makes sense. You're one of the Branded."
"Branded, huh?" asks Kasumi. "Is that your label for me? The priests back in my kingdom call me the Savior."
The Black Knight stands neutrally and sheathes Alondite as he says, "This fight is over."
Kasumi turns around and asks, "Just like that? You see my mark and that's it? I'm happy the fighting has ended, but I want to know why. Surely, you've all never heard of me before."
"I must report this back to my master." says the Black Knight. "He will definitely need to know this."
Just then, the Dawn Brigade arrives and Micaiah takes notice of the two warriors.
"Black Knight, you're here!" says Micaiah. "And you... who are you?"
"I'm sorry, Silver-Haired Maiden, but I must take my leave of you." says the Black Knight. "I will see you again soon."
"I have a feeling you and I will be meeting again." says Kasumi.
"Count on it." says the Black Knight. "Till then, farewell."
And with that, the Black Knight warps out.
"That guy is something else." says Sothe. "And his return only means trouble."
Kasumi sheathes her sword, and her armor changes back to her original clothing from before.
"Well, thankfully, that didn't end up being too messy." says Kasumi.
Kasumi then goes over to her hat, picks it up and dusts it off before putting it back on.
"Excuse me, all of you." says Kasumi. "But I must be on my way."
"Wait!" says Micaiah. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kasumi." says Kasumi after coming to a stop. "And I need to be on my way to Crimea."
"But... you're the source of that power I felt." says Micaiah. "Why is that?"
Kasumi looks at Micaiah curiously and asks, "You felt my power?"
"Yes." says Micaiah. "I can tell you're incredibly strong. And I can feel you're burdened with something big."
"Wait, you can read my feelings?" asks Kasumi. "How? How did you develop that?"
"I was... born with it... I think." says Micaiah.
"But you look like a Beorc." says Kasumi. "That must mean... you carry..."
"Not another word, both of you!" says Sothe. "Micaiah doesn't need to be burdened with that."
"I understand." says Kasumi with a nod. "Anyway, I need to be on my way to Crimea. I'll see you all around."
After giving a bow, Kasumi turns and walks off.
"What's with that woman?" asks Edward.
"I don't know, but I get the feeling this isn't the last time we'll meet." says Micaiah. "Kasumi... I will remember that name."
To Be Continued in Chapter 2.
P.S.: For the armor that Kasumi was wearing in battle, it's basically the Tiger Lily Armor set from Soul Calibur V's Creation mode. If you have that game and those parts of the outfit, create a female a character with only those parts, and you'll get an idea of what Kasumi looks like in it.