Impero Vs. Quintus Knightfall - RPG

The Metaphysical Martial Arts Messiah harbored no hatred for former protege, Quintus. There was no ill intent to cause a past friend harm. The enigmatic Grandmaster's intentions of doing battle with the Knightfall Heir stemmed from his desire to witness the full scope of the skill that he has aided Quintus attain, to know if the now immoral Marquee Martial Artist had truly progressed beyond expectation. With his previous brotherly opinion and friendship with the Apex Knightfall forsaken as the messianic enigma embarked on his descent into a darker, more mysterious path, there shall be no mercy shown for one who he once felt was not unlike a brother by blood.

Certain of the ambitious Shadow Cardinal's skill, Ishin silently anticipated an encounter devoid of disappointment. With objectives of obtaining further power, immortality, greater skill, and to immerse himself in an energetic course of entertaining battles, the Martial Arts Mystery has opted to commence by engaging the only one he believes has ever come close to his level of peerless martial mastery. Situated atop the peak of the unforgiving, abusively cold Reisho Mountains, Ishin immerses himself in temporary meditation, calming the erratic activity of his metaphysical essence. With his alabaster mask donned, the words of past Imperos ring within his serene mind. From his iconic mask, they attempt to convince him from his chosen path. "Ishin-san, please! This is insanity! You cannot-", Shinma's voice instantaneously interrupted by a dismissivet "hmph". "How can you be like this?!! You know what will happen. You cannot truly be considering this, he was your pupil, your brother!". "Enough. Your wisdom is welcomed when dealing with the clan. On other things though, it is beneath me like everything else", he paused, dropping off the peak, landing gracefully on the snow.

"Besides, I haven't fought to my fullest in three thousand years. And I have to admit, this will feel pretty good", smirking arrogantly underneath his historic mask. "Yes because you know what will happen once you fight at full-", interruption followed Shinma's cautioning once again, "Hush old man. Appreciate that you're soon to watch the two greatest martial artists of all time". Fully clad in his characteristic hooded attire, his various iconic weaponry ranging from his trademark swords, Hansha and Seishin-Katta to his teleportation kunai, in his possession. Vanishing, enigmatic Ishin reappears in what appears to be an endless, lifeless valley, the agreed upon location for the historic battle. With expected patience, he waits for Quintus, arms calmly crossed before his chest. Anticipating a cataclysmic battle, one that he would surely enjoy.

@impero:

Perhaps the greatest pair of martial artists ever to have studied the artistically lethal form of combat stood on the frontier of immortality. Poised to cement their legacies through an unimaginable contest of esoterically perfected death dealing the likes of which the World had never seen before. Destiny charting their path from friends, to brothers, to peers, and finally, to enemies. Undeniably the enigmatic grandmaster of the fabled Keijijo clan was the deadliest combatant Quintus would ever face having revolutionized the very foundation of chi based warfare. And yet, the Knightfall Polymath was the perfected pedigree of a dogmatic system combining decades of ancient, modern, and futuristic styles which only served to boast his excessive arrogance. His entire demeanor was predicated upon his overbearing sense of entitlement and callously executed machinations of power.

Donning a black face covering Keffiyeh and matching Shinobi Gi, the Living Weapon theatrically slid from the shadows with a cinematic display of predatory movements. Hand over hand, foot over foot, crouched low walking sideways on all fours before methodically rising to his feet. Drama unfolding like a scene from the worshiped kung fu epics of old. Gusts of wind sweeping between the former student and master in manifested storms of sand adding to the heightened sense of exaggerated drama. Unlike the masked Impero, Quintus' was armed with nothing more then a single katana forged with silver Nth metal and ceremoniously wrapped with red Cardinal silk around the hilt, traditionally positioned horizontally along the back of his waistline in true Arashikage form. The Knightfall's fundamental techniques focusing more on an empty handed style but proficiently sound with a blade.

Silence proceeded the inevitable clash of calculating martial arts cobra's. Viper's who's venomous forms were the apex of authenticated performance. Having endured the methods of his former Sifu on several occasions, the aristocratic Knightfall knew he held serve, the masked grandmaster relying on his elusive speed and counters in ever exchange they had ever indulged. True to form Quintus gripped the hilt of his sword and dashed. Unleashing a mental bolt of psionic power aiming to attack Impero's mind in-spite of his telepathic resistance. Forcing the Keijijo leader to address the mental mayhem as he suddenly launched into the air flipping forward. Only instead of landing on the ground, he dropped straight into a shadow re-emerging from behind slicing towards Impero's back with an unorthodox angle unconventional by any means of contemporary trajectory. Unwilling to stand still or even witness the extent of his attacks, the Living Weapon simultaneously twirled his sword between his fingers as it was re-sheathed and his body flooding backwards into a series of back handsprings creating separation. His mind effortlessly tracking, charting, and analytically, dissecting any number of possible counters and reactions.

Upon the impending commencement of an undeniably electric battle, certain to be driven by martial brilliance, Ishin found himself instantaneously enveloped by his characteristic battle-based demeanor. One of undisturbed calmness, focus, visual analysis, combat oriented anticipation, and most prioritized, utter silence. Words were to never be uttered by the messianic enigma during any significant battle. Initially constructed to serve as an elusive generator of eerie mystique and inhumanity, it has come to be an instinctive measure of mental concentration for the Impero. Despite his silence, his mind was continuously bombarded by the relentless pleas of past Imperos, begging that he withdraw from the battle. Responding to their requests with indifferent silence, he diverted the entirety of his focus towards Quintus, his most desired opponent.

Having purposely trained the Knightfall Heir with the secret intention of elusively crafting the perfect rival to further push himself towards absolute martial excellence, Ishin's eyes rapidly grew devoid of their distinct golden hue, briefly adopting a colorless appearance, prior to assuming a vibrant, myriad of multiple colors. Altered so that his vision escalates beyond simple eyesight, and to literally see the metaphysical world, most prominently, Quintus' chakra-points and ethereal essence. Throughout his previous encounters with the Living Weapon, he had carefully selected the abilities and skills revealed, never showcasing his true arsenal against an intellectual combatant such as Quintus. Relying on what has only been whispered of in Keijijo legends, his poorly documented 'Chakra-Field', a technique birthed from his relentless Naibu Dengen training. Utilizing its 360 degree field vision for unrestrained metaphysical vision, the Martial Arts Messiah was quickly antagonized by a psionically-birthed attack.

Resisting with a combination of his naturally powerful mental resistance, thousand year experience against telepathic assaults, and his wife's advice regarding the psionic, the mental bolt was warded away with effortlessness. Soon however, Quintus commenced his true assault, utilizing previously unseen shadow-based abilities to reappear behind the Grandmaster, successfully slashing across his back, the sword however, failing to severely wound him, his extensive physical durability rendering it but a general cut. Having yet to embark on the offensive, Ishin quickly channels his energy into his powerful legs, relying on their muscular strength as he bent his legs prior to athletically vaulting himself into the air, artistically directing his body away from Quintus with acrobatic mastery. Landing with effortless grace, he stood to his full height. Telepathically, he spoke to his former protege, "I must thank you, Quintus. I haven't unrestrained myself like this in thousands of years", concluding his only words as what was to soon come, needed no words.

Deconstructing a meticulously crafted chi-based aura around himself, one that has not been forsaken in roughly three thousand years, the true extent of Ishin's power was to be seen. Fists clenched as the ground beneath his feet cracked violently under the sheer metaphysical pressure released by the dispelling of his aura. For no opponent in those thousand years has he done this for. Not for Warsman, Glorious, even Abacha Cavat. Wild, powerful gusts of wind followed as a colossal, highly destructive burst of various explosive metaphysical energies were released all about Ishin's body. Threatening to utterly eradicate Quintus, the released power was quick to erase much of what lied above the land they stood upon. With his aura vanished, he quickly clasped his hands together, utilizing his chi-reserves to generate hundreds of weaker yet capable clones, instructing them to overwhelm the Knightfall Heir via the number's game. As they charged towards the Shadow King, Ishin himself dashed towards his former brother, moving at precisely 55,673 miles per second, setting the air all about him ablaze, stimulating the ambient hydrogen atoms unlike an atomic bomb. Pulling his fist backwards, he executed a perfectly timed jab of sheer explosiveness, targeting Quintus' forehead, the augmenting speed coupled with the deconstruction of his aura, generating a punch of unmitigated power, far beyond the destructive scope of countless nuclear bombs, the surrounding hydrogen atoms ignited by the sheer speed of his movement. A battle that threatened the existence of any city was to be had.

@impero:

Baring witness to an orchestration of unbounded force capable leveling a city in seconds, famous black and white video footage of the scientific nuclear testing which had given the World its first glimpse of true unmitigated destruction flashed through the consciousness of the Knightfall Polymath. The very ground beneath his opponents feet liquidating from the sheer stress of unleashed power bringing back vivid images of trees blown apart in a sudden gust of destruction. Houses evaporated in the blink of an eye unable to withstand the annihilation wave generated by the man made detonation. But even that failed in comparison. There were simply no correlating circumstances in which to measure Impero's truest form of unbridled energy. A magnificent amalgamation of raw derivatives far beyond the analytic scoop of any human mind.

Equally impressive were the Keijijo's physical and mental durability's which, unlike his more mystical abilities, were well known by his former apprentice and further authenticated by his duel deflection of both the psionic bolt and bladed assault. Yet having returned to a defenseless stance after failing to inflect any discernible damage, Quintus stoically postured his arms behind as his back ignoring the telepathic verbiage thanking him for his participation. Instead, un-phased and imperceptible by most means of detection, the former Arashikage calmly excreted the telepathic pheromones responsible for his ability to shutdown or control his opponents powers.

Though incapable of utilizing this ability against his most feared foe directly, the expulsion of ambient energy could be manipulating enough to protect himself while in the furry of its chaos. And unlike the ambiguously perfected callousness exhibited by the grandmaster, the Shadow Cardinal made no attempts to mask his emotional visage. Smirking beneath the meticulously wrapped Keffiyeh with sharpened gaze and self serving satisfaction before the masked enigma birthed his deadly congregation of chi clones amidst a maelstrom of expelled puissance.

Substantially weaker compared to the peerless endowments of their master, they were nerveless a small army of esoterically skilled killers. Flooding towards the defiantly footed Knightfall before a blur of martial arts brilliance shimmered past with dazzling speed, targeting the former Keijijo with a fundamental jab which was no doubt imitated as part of a calculated series of following attacks. Of which the Knightfall Legend was already cataloging with anticipated foresight. Moving with bewildering elusiveness as he ducked under the technically sound jab capable of killing a normal man and crippling most superhumans. His body fading into an opaque silhouette while his arm flashed forward, fingers extending in a planked position aiming to phase into the midsection of Impero. Who's missed jab had hopefully left him exposed. The opportunistic Knightfall looking to target the internal organs by turning his intangible strike, tangible, while in the body of the Martial Arts Messiah. Rifling his other arm towards the sky cultivating a tidal wave of shadows poised to engulf the attacking clones.

Fully immersed in the ensuing battle, the Keijijo Enigma found himself anticipating the apparent lack of success experienced by his overwhelmingly powerful jab. With expected rapidity, Quintus issued his counter-attack, combining traditional martial arts strikes with his shadow-based and telepathic abilities. Through the meticulous use of pheromone-based powers that he had attempted to rely on in their past encounter, Quintus was to experience failure much like his past attempt. Having intellectually studied similar abilities since his undeniable detection of the Knightfall Heir's pheromone-based abilities, Ishin had carefully elevated his formidable resistance against the uncommon ability, preventing his fearsome abilities from forsaking him.

With characteristic quickness, the Living Weapon had rendered his hand intangible, quickly thrusting it into the Martial Arts Messiah's midsection, his following intentions clear to the veteran Grandmaster. Prior to the inevitable physical solidification of his former protege's arm, Ishin had vanished, swiftly escaping an otherwise lethal attack of formidable internal deadliness. His disappearance stemming from the use of his previously unseen teleportation technique, 'Chiratsuki'. Reappearing behind his opponent, he once again, faded from physical existence, intent on combining the principles of his 'Dengeki-Sen' technique and 'Katai Ken' martial art. Instantaneously disappearing and reappearing all about Quintus with peerless, instant speed in a blitzing flurry of previously unseen teleportation, each appearance found itself followed by perfectly executed strikes, several jabs, hooks, uppercuts, sidekicks etc. of undeniably alarming speed. Each strike imbued with the force to effortlessly plow through mountains, the absent presence of his previous chi-based aura, rendering every movement one that ignited the ambient hydrogen atoms as his strikes sped at 55,673 miles per second, constantly generating colossal nuclear explosions of unmitigated destructive force, each atomic explosion easily outclassing what was witnessed by his native Japan during World War Two.

As his blitzing strikes of instant-teleportation continued, targeting the entirety of Quintus' external shell not only with unrestrained physical force but generated nuclear explosions, effortlessly reducing the surrounding environment to virtual nothingness, the messianic Impero transitioned into an equally destructive yet more technical selection of striking techniques. With a perfectly timed jab of pinpoint accuracy, Ishin targeted structurally atomic weak points in Quintus' body, atomic vital points found in all physical things. Located on his right bicep, if struck, radiating pain followed by the shattering of every bone in his right bicep was to occur. Reappearing several feet before Quintus, he stylistically unsheathed his preferred broad and flat sword, Hansha, its wrapped bandages dissolving under the ethereal pressure of the blue blade's glowing might. Holding its beautifully decorated hilt, Ishin instantly assumed the fundamental stance of his most offensive kenjutsu style, 'Busō Ajiriti'.

@impero:

Though the Keijijo Grandmaster's combat technique was often executed with perfection his true advantages lied in his Earth shattering power. Capable of producing and releasing incalculable amounts of energy toppling the levels of a nuclear blast. Having effortlessly dismissed a versatile array of offensive maneuvers ranging from mental, physical, and unseen, the unchecked martial artists delivered an onslaught of attacks that, even without contact, were capable of dispensing copious amounts of catastrophic energy that literately began to eviscerate the very ground beneath their feet. Teleporting at speeds undetectable by the human eye as Quintus had previously anticipated. However the prideful Knightfall could not have begun to understand the magnitude of Impero's endless power.

Reacting through a mixture of precognitive perception and near peerless reflexes he shielded himself inside a cocoon of shadows in hopes of surviving the cataclysmic explosion beyond the scoop of mortal reasoning. Sadly, it did little but buy a fraction of extended life enabling Quintus to send out a final telepathic message to his loving wife,"Raise the child." his mind fracturing under the stress before the black hued shadow barrier imploded in an eruption of intense destruction instantly killing the former Arashikage, the Living Weapon...Quintus Knightfall. Leaving behind an crater size impaction teaming with cavernously deep spider veins to serve as the final resting place of the Knightfall Legacy.

Merciless and undeniably overwhelming when immersed in battle, the enigmatic Impero found himself genuinely surprised at his greatest ever protege's unanticipated death. Halting his relentless atomic assault, the messianic Grandmaster physically paused, vibrantly colored eyes observing the unmitigated destruction dealt to the surrounding environment, reduced to an empty wasteland overcome by an impending nuclear winter, Ishin instantaneously reconstructed his ethereal aura. Stylistically sheathing his iconic, broad and flat sword, Hansha into its luxuriously decorated sheathe, Ishin silently approached the created crater, the location where Quintus' body would have remained had it not been eradicated.

Descending into the crater, halting his steps upon standing in its absolute center, the Keijijo Enigma silently dropped to a single knee, gently placing his right palm on the ground that Quintus' feet last stood upon. "Now see what you've done!? Are you proud-", silently removing his historically elusive mask, harboring no intention of entertaining the relentless complaints of the past Imperos. Resting the mask on the ground, an inch from where former Impero Quintus, and his Keijijo brother had passed. "Even up until your death Quintus-san, you were still my best friend, my brother, and my rival". Reaching for one of the kunai resting on the left side of his waist, Ishin carved his deceased opponent's name on the crater's center, utilizing his Keijijo Geijutsu prowess to forever preserve the name of the Knightfall Heir. Unable to utter following words, he knew that facing Ziccarra now will be the most difficult thing he will have to do in recent times. Metaphysically trapping the kunai used to inscribe Quintus' name on the ground next to the written text, Ishin reached for his mask, donning it once more prior to his eventual departure following a moment of respectful silence for the fallen Knightfall.