Chapter 1 – New Beginnings
In the centre of an ocean of green grass, underneath a clear blue sky, was a large, round, stone arena. Standing in the centre of the arena was a helmeted man in all-black clothing. The man stood still, staring off into the distance behind his helmet's tinted visor, mesmerized by the picturesque view before him.
Though seemingly dead to the world, the helmeted man leaned his head to the side as a fist rocketed by. Swiftly, the man grabbed his attacker's arm and threw them over his shoulder.
A heavy weight flew over the man's shoulder and slammed onto their back, letting out a pained groan. The man in black looked down to see a black-haired man with a scruffy beard, dressed in dark grey.
The helmeted man let out a snort as he helped his attacker back onto his feet.
"Thought I had you there, Cipher," the bearded man grunted out as he massaged his arm.
"You were close, but not close enough." Cipher looked at the man's arm. "You gonna be okay, Rize?"
"Ah, nothing I haven't gone through already." Rize shook his arm, the pain flowing away. "Shall we get started then?"
"I think I should be the one to ask that."
Rize and Cipher took a couple of steps back then stopped. The two faced each other before readying to spar. Rize held his fists close to his chest, slouched a little and started taking in a couple of deep breaths. Cipher, on the other hand, had a more relaxed stance, his back was kept straight while his arms were at his side.
Rize then rushed towards Cipher and started throwing punches. The fists were thrown out methodically and forcefully, causing Cipher to block and dodge with ease. Rize continued to attack, throwing out a low roundhouse kick that Cipher hopped over, before throwing out a right hook. Cipher parried the blow, leaning back as Rize missed the hit and fell onto the floor again. Rize got back onto his feet and continued his training.
For the next ten or so minutes, Rize continually attacked Cipher, trying to land a hit on his mentor. By the end, Rize collapsed onto the floor, sweat beaded along his forehead while he tried to catch his breath.
He closed his eyes as he let the breeze cool him down. He heard liquid swishing around and opened his eyes to see Cipher holding out a chilled bottle of water. Grabbing the bottle, Rize forced himself up and started drinking as Cipher took a seat beside him.
For the next couple of minutes, the two sat in silence, staring out into the distance. Rize was broken out of his daze when Cipher patted the former's arm.
"You ready to continue?"
Rize nodded as he capped his bottle of water, stood up and walked over to the edge of the arena, dropping the bottle onto the grass. He turned to face Cipher and both fighters re-entered their stance.
As they both stared each other down, a strange yet familiar heat welled up within Rize's body. The sensation ran all over him, the hairs on his body stood up as he felt electricity spread throughout his body.
Time slowed to a halt for Rize as his eyes sharpened. A second later, he took off. Speeding towards Cipher, Rize threw out a flurry of punches that the former managed to avoid. As Rize let out a left hook, Cipher raised his arms to block the blow.
When the two collided, a small shockwave blew out. After the shockwave died out, Cipher swivelled his body inward and then slammed the back of his shoulder into Rize's chest.
The air was knocked out of the bearded man's lungs as he was blown away by Cipher's Tetsuzanko (Iron Mountain Lean). Rize flew away and landed on his back but managed to immediately recover as he rolled onto his feet.
Both men breathed audibly. Rize tried his best to supress the smirk on his face, before making a straight face and readying himself once more. Taking in another deep breath, Rize lowered his stance and started focusing, the sensation becoming more intense.
'Channel.'
Instantly, a burst of energy exploded within Rize and formed a clear, whispy aura around his arms.
'He's slowly getting there,' Cipher thought to himself, before he activated his own Channel. Instead of an explosion, Cipher's Channel formed a brief blue aura around him, before dissipating.
With both men powered up, the two flew towards each other and fought once again. This time, the fight was somewhat more even between the two. Rize's fighting style was a lot more refined than usual, his actions felt natural, as if he was a man possessed. Cipher fought slightly more actively, countering whatever blow that came his way.
This continued for about three more minutes. As Rize fought with his Channel activated, he fought the urge to go all out, gradually feeling sluggish as the spar went on. Rize went for a body blow, which Cipher swiftly blocked, and then responded by palm striking the former's chest.
Both fighters flew back a couple of metres, then landed on their feet. Rize started to feel his fatigue build up and the aura around his arms were becoming fainter. Straightening his back, Rize readied himself for one last attack.
Cipher nodded concurringly, pivoting back his right foot. Rize then charged at Cipher, and once he was within reach, hopped in the air and let out a roundhouse kick. As he let out the strike, crackling embers flew around his lower leg.
Cipher quickly ducked under the kick and stepped back, feeling a middling heat fly over his head. When Rize landed back onto the ground, the man saw a lightning-fast black boot stop just a few centimetres in front of his face.
With the aura around Rize's arms gone, the fight was over. Rize dropped back onto the arena floor, taking a moment to recover from the excessive energy he had just burnt. Cipher laid down on the floor as well.
"Well," Cipher breathed out, "I'd say that was a pretty constructive training session."
Rize hummed in agreement. Cipher chuckled as he sat up then looked back to his friend.
"Wanna head back?"
"…Sure." Rize grunted as he forced himself back up.
The two then dropped down from the arena and started making their way back home. Along the way, Rize picked up his bottle, not without feeling his lower back spasm a little.
Rize and Cipher walked through the green plain before catching sight of a house jarring out from the vast sea of green, then continued to make their way home.
…
While Rize was taking a shower, Cipher was in the kitchen preparing lunch. Just as the helmeted man had finished plating up the food, he felt a minuscule buzzing in the air. He stopped what he was doing and started looking around. Suddenly, the buzzing intensified as the air also grew heavier. Then, it stopped.
Cipher started breathing a little louder, and his heart was pounding faster as well. He looked down at his gloved hand, noticing his Channel had activated, before switching it off.
'Shit,' Cipher thought to himself, 'I was hoping for a little more time.' He looked back up when he heard Rize walk into the room, his hair still slightly damp.
"Alright, let's eat-" Rize stopped as he stared back at Cipher, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah," the helmeted man replied, picking up the plates off the counter, "come on, let's eat."
…
A couple of hours had passed since Cipher felt the unwelcome presence in the air. He was currently making dinner while Rize was on his laptop in the living room. The helmeted man would take occasional glances back at his protégé, curious to know what Rize was doing.
Although, a part of Cipher knew better than to pry into the online activities of a young man. He switched off the stove and scooped the beef stir-fry into a wide bowl. At the same time, the rice cooker went off, causing Rize to get up from his seat and turn off the cooker.
The two then moved the food over to the dining table and began to dig in. While they ate in silence, Cipher took in a deep breath.
"Hey Rize," Cipher began, the man in question looked up, "there's something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Well, I've been thinking…when do you think you might be ready to get back out there?"
Rize's felt a slight pit grow in his stomach but continued to chew and swallow his food. "Out there?" he asked, "Like…back out into the world?"
Cipher nodded.
"I…" Rize stopped as placed his chopsticks down and looked down at his hands. "I'm not sure…I just…I just don't think I'm ready yet."
Immediately, Cipher felt a pang of regret. "Hey, it's alright. I was just curious, that's all. Come on, eat up."
For the remainder of their meal, the two ate in an uncomfortably awkward silence.
…
At night, Rize was lying in his bed. As he continued to slumber, he started to hear pained screams in his ears. His nose filled with the smell of burning smoke. His heart pounded like a jackhammer. His body started to shake uncontrollably.
He awoke with a jolt. His body started calming down, his breathing returned to normal. Rize let out a sigh as he turned on his bedside lamp, finding himself back in his bedroom, drenched in cold sweat. He grabbed his phone to check the time, the screen's brightness burning his eyes.
'12:05,' Rize thought to himself. 'Great. Another sleepless night.'
Placing his phone back on the nightstand, Rize removed his covers, letting the chilly night air nip at his skin.
"I need a drink."
The man left his bedroom and headed to the fridge. As he stared inside, he contemplated what he wanted to quench his thirst. He was about to reach for the chilled jug of water, before reaching for a can of Coke.
He closed the fridge door and was about to open the can before he saw the curtains and sliding door open. Rize went over to the door and noticed Cipher sitting on the patio lounger.
"Can't sleep?" Cipher asked.
"Yeah," Rize nodded, "You?"
"Same."
Rize nodded before taking a seat beside his friend, cracking open the can and taking a sip.
"It's a bit late for a drink, isn't it?" Cipher questioned.
"I can indulge myself once in a while," Rize responded.
Cipher snorted. The two sat in silence, staring out into the night sky.
"He's making a move, isn't he?" Rize asked, breaking the calm silence.
"What're you talking about?"
"That's why you asked if I was ready to leave, right?" Rize turned his head to Cipher, "He's shown up somewhere else, hasn't he?"
Cipher nodded.
Rize let out a sigh. He held up his hand and activated his Channel, a clear glow appeared around his hand. "I guess this is probably the best I can do for now." He then dismissed his power. "You have any idea where he is now?"
"Not really," Cipher answered, before tapping his foot on the patio floor, "but we'll find out where he'll be soon enough."
"When?"
"A week…give or take."
Rize let out a sigh. "Then that's about one more week to get ready." Cipher turned to Rize, seeing the man down his carbonated beverage.
"You sure about this?"
"Hell no…but nothing like a little spontaneity to kick my ass into gear."
Noticing the determination within Rize, Cipher nodded.
…
Five long and arduous days had passed. Rize pushed himself past his limits with his training, enduring pain that was both self-inflicted, and inflicted by Cipher.
On the sixth day, Rize and Cipher were back at the arena, ready to duke it out one last time before they had to leave. Both were in their stances, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move.
They both closed in on each other. While both fighters were on the offensive, Cipher parried and dodged Rize's attacks, while the latter took the brunt of the former's hits.
For the next couple of minutes, the two continued to go at each other. Rize started defending more, blocking and attempting to parry Cipher's attacks. As he continued to take punishment, Rize waited for the right opportunity to strike.
Cipher kicked at Rize's side. Deciding the time was right, Rize activated his Channel and grabbed Cipher's leg. The masked man was caught off guard as his opponent cocked back his fist, and the aura around his limb ignited into a burning red flame. The fist then slammed into Cipher's face, and time seemingly slowed as the flaming appendage pushed forward.
Cipher was then blown away and crash landed onto his back. The flames on Rize's fist dispersed but he could still feel the immense heat lingering, causing him to shake his hand and blow on it.
Recovering from the punch, Cipher let out a huff as he hopped back onto his feet. The masked man then let out a slow sigh and activated his Channel.
Without warning, Cipher rushed in and started attacking. A flurry of blinding punches and kicks flew at Rize, who did his damnedest to protect himself. After his combo, Cipher then palmed Rize in the chest.
As he skidded across the arena, Rize felt a strange cooling sensation where Cipher struck him. Looking down at his sweatshirt, the bearded man saw smoking frost on his chest. He felt a fearful chill run down his spine as he looked back up at Cipher, the man conjuring flame and frost around his fists.
Cipher then pounced at Rize, billowing green wind flew out underneath the man in black. As he was about to strike at Rize, the former's heart and mind raced. Time once again slowed to a crawl as Rize's adrenaline pumped in his veins, allowing Rize to react accordingly.
Channeling air beneath his feet, Rize leapt into the air as Cipher flew past him. The helmeted man then swiftly stopped and pivoted on his feet. While Rize was airborne, he thrust out his right arm as his Channel flared, engulfing his limb in a bright flash of white.
Cipher rolled to the side as a couple of rounds of extremely compressed air flew past him, creating small, bullet-sized holes in the arena floor.
Rize landed back onto the arena and aimed a pistol at his partner. Entering another standoff, the two just looked at one another, gauging what the other would do next.
Rize took in slow, deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves as his finger itched to pull the trigger. His mouth began to feel dry, his eyes felt somewhat strained, and his body began to feel the effects of his Channel usage.
Cipher just stared at his partner, letting out a quick huff through his nose and shook his head. He took a step back, taking a wide stance and lowered his body.
Rize, though on the brink of exhaustion, remained determined and steadied his aim. When he was ready, Rize pulled the trigger, firing another blast of air at Cipher, who started running at him.
Though it felt like an hour, the fight was over in a second as Cipher ducked under the blast, knocked Rize off his feet, and then disarmed him of his weapon and aimed it back at the downed man.
The fighters panted as Cipher was once again victorious. The helmeted man lowered the gun and then laid on the floor. Rize was drenched in sweat, his body ached, and though he was defeated, he felt a strange feeling of pride welling inside.
A couple of minutes passed when Cipher sat up and looked at Rize.
"So…you think you're ready?"
"As I'll ever be," Rize replied with a faint smirk.
Noticing the smile, Cipher let out a snort and nodded.
…
The next morning, Cipher was seated at the dining table, scrolling through the news on a tablet, waiting for Rize to finish preparing for his first trip back out in the world. Once he had his necessary dose of reality, Cipher closed the tablet and placed it on the table.
Just as he had done so, Rize's bedroom door opened as he walked out into living room. For the first time in a very long while, Rize was finally out of his sweats and in a fresh set of clothes, a button up and jeans, and had shaved off his beard.
"Looking good man," Cipher complimented as he got up from his seat, "nice to see you finally got rid of that beard."
"I thought it suited the occasion." Rize started looking around, catching sight of a rather large box placed on the coffee table. "What's with the box?"
"It's for you."
Rize raised a brow before going to open his present. He removed the lid and his eyes widened in surprise. Inside was a familiar looking black leather jacket that felt soft to his touch as he removed the piece of clothing out from its container.
"Isn't this-"
"It certainly is," Cipher answered.
"I thought…" Rize sniffled as he felt his eyes growing hot, "I thought this got ruined."
"It was, but…I thought it'd be a waste just to throw it away, so fixed it up for you."
Wiping away the tears forming in his eyes, Rize gave Cipher a quick one-armed hug, who was caught off guard by the form of affection. The helmeted man chuckled as he gave Rize a pat on the back, the latter then stepped back and put his jacket on, going over to the mirror in the front doorway.
"Good fit?" Cipher asked.
"Yeah…perfect even." Rize finished gandering at himself and faced Cipher. "Alright then…so, anything else before I head out?"
"A couple of things actually." Cipher took in a deep breath. "First off, you know I'm coming with you, right?"
Rize opened his mouth, before closing it and tilting his head in thought. "Huh, I guess it was a bit presumptuous of me to think that. But, you kind of…stand out, don't you think so?"
"Well, that's the other thing. You remember when I first brought you here, right?" Rize nodded his head. "When I did so…I wasn't really running at full capacity."
Cipher then turned transparent, causing Rize to step back in shock.
"What the fuck?!" Cipher reverted back to normal. "When the hell were you going to tell me about this?!"
"I was waiting for the right time…but, there really wasn't an opportunity to do so."
"Wait, so what does this mean, exactly?"
"In order to bring you here, in the way that I did, I had to give pass on some of my powers to do so. But, since I wasn't really in my best shape, I had to use the rest of my energy to do so."
"So…you're not dead…are you?"
Cipher shook his head and patted the wall. "No, no, I just lost my ability to maintain permanent physicality."
"Correct me if I get this wrong. Since you passed on your Channel to me, you've been relying on our home to keep yourself grounded?"
"That's about right."
"So how are you going to come with me then, if you need this world's energy to maintain physical permanence?"
"Like this," Cipher then placed his hand on Rize's shoulder. The latter felt a strange chill run through his body as Cipher phased through him. Rize regained his breath and turned around, unable to see Cipher anywhere.
'In here Rize,' Cipher said within Rize's mind.
"Great," Rize sighed, "like I need another voice inside my head."
'Oh come on, it's not going to be that bad. Besides, when the going gets tough, you'll always need back up.'
"I'm guessing you're going to need to use my energy to do so?"
'Unfortunately, yeah.'
"Fair enough."
Rize then made his way to the front door. He slipped on a pair of black sneakers and turned to the mirror, quickly fixing up his hair. He then finally reached the door and placed his hand on the knob. Rize took in a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped out, the door slammed shut behind him.
…
Meanwhile, seated on a wooden stool in the middle of a black void, a black-haired man wearing a drab brown coat and a long grey scarf was writing in a book. As he continued to write, he paused as he felt the air grow cold. He got up from his seat and started looking around, before he saw a brief flash coming from his black, leather bound book.
The scarf-wearing man looked back down and saw that a line of text graffitied on a once empty page.
"What is this?" The scribe stared at the page, trying to analyze what was written. When he could not figure out the answer, he slammed his book shut and walked out of the void.
Author's Note
If you have managed to power through and read my dribble, I thank you for your time. This is the prologue chapter of my story, which I have had brewing for about seven years now. I definitely could have used that time more constructively, but it's very difficult to get yourself out there, especially when you're as lazy as I am.
Though, I did have a version of this story up years ago, but deleted it within months, because it was honestly trash. Hopefully, this one is more up to standards.
The main purpose of this story is to just materialize, in one way or another, ideas I have always had floating in my head. These are mainly just things that I think would be neat, or cool to see happen.
Also, I will try my hardest to keep characters, that aren't my OCs, in character. But if they do, I apologize.
