The Last Blade (Kadaj vs. The Rider)

It had been a rough set of circumstances.  The Last Blade tournament was continuing and John bore the marks to prove it.  From his previous encounter, he had fought an enhanced human by the name of Code: Red.  Although Wallace had won the match, he did not come out unscathed.  He had picked up a couple bruised ribs, a few cuts here and there, and a gaping wound in his side from a knife which slipped through the space between his Kevlar.  Luckily, he had managed to patch himself up as best he could.  As for the wound in his back, John stitched it up to the best of his ability.  Nearly a week had passed and he was on the mend.  John Wallace sat inside his apartment.  Out in front of him was a 12-gauge pump shotgun which was dissembled for cleaning.

Then, there was a knock at the door.  John got up and, holding onto his nearly-healed ribs, made his way to the door.  He looked through the peep hold and no one was there.  When he opened the door and looked down, there was only a rolled up scroll tied together with a scarlet ribbon.  John picked up the scroll, took it inside his apartment, slid off the scarlet binding, and unrolled it.  Immediately, he noticed the Last Blade Society's seal in the upper right hand corner of the parchment.  "This is it...." he said to himself with a sigh.  Indeed it was.  The time had come for the Rider, John Wallace to advance in the tournament of blades.  His opponent: Kadaj; the place: atop a large structure called Methos Towers, which served as a scientific research facility; the date: that night.

Already, it was dusk.  In only a matter of time, it would be evening.  Therefore, Wallace immediately dropped what he was doing and concentrated on preparing himself for this battle.  So little was known about Kadaj to the Rider.  Was he a hero, villain, neutral?  What powers did he have?  These questions and more would be answered as the night went on.  At the present moment, John Wallace needed to concentrate on one thing - preparing for the upcoming battle.

Carefully, John wrapped his ribs in a precautionary step.  He could not allow any previous injuries to hold him back.  Over the wrapping, he strapped on a new and improved Kevlar vest which had a more secure fit with no spaces.  Then, Wallace armed himself with two large hunting knives - the larger hung from his belt, and the smaller fastened to his boot.  For his projectile weapons, he would need something lightweight and reliable.  Wallace packed four slender throwing knives, but he doubted they would provide enough power.  Therefore, he decided to bring his compound bow once more with an assortment of arrows.  Upon contact with their target, the arrowheads sprouted out razor blades which would slice into the target's flesh and tear it apart.  Tightening on his spiked riding gauntlets, he provided protection for his forearms and hands.  Not to mention, they turned into a beastly offensive weapon as well.  After putting on his black leather trench coat, the Rider was finally ready.

Grabbing his large chain, John Wallace headed out the door of his apartment.  When he got to his motorcycle, he coiled the chain around around the back guard of the hog.  Then, John started up the hog and rolled out.  With amazing speeds, he tore down the road towards Methos Towers with his long coat blowing in the wind.  Methos Towers of Vine City closely resembled Stark Tower of New York City.  However, Methos Towers were actually two gigantic towers that stood next to each other.  They were one of the highest structures in all of Vine City.  In a matter of no time, John saw the two magnificent towers in the distance and sped down the road towards them.  The time of his battle was growing closer and closer.

Finally, John Wallace arrived at Methos Towers.  He then dismounted his ride and walked up to the doors, carrying the case containing his compoud bow and aluminum arrows.  The chain, he had hung around his upper body as usual.  When he walked inside the building, he was inside an open, spacious, and luxurious atrium.  Across the way, there was a security desk.  However, there was no security guard present.  In fact, it appeared as if the entire building was deserted.  Quickly, John headed into an elevator and began his ascent to the top of the building.  While inside, he quickly opened up his case and began to assemble his bow.  When he was finished, he then inserted an arrow into the shaft and stood ready.  Just then, the elevator had reached the top.  Seventy-two stories up above the ground, the Rider exited the elevator and walked out on the roof.  Staying in the shadows, he watched and waited for his opponent to arrive.

Authorization code required beyond this door. Three attempts will be allowed, you will be timed, begin. A disembodied voice chimed away as a blue figure struck the keypad three times. A sound of confirmation rang out from the speakers connected to the the keypad. The high tech wall in front of the well built man, rotated to reveal a large crack on the exterior. The pieces of the wall slid to the side and a vast room was placed before him. Its round, circular shape reminiscent of a sumo arena, only this one was surrounded by miniature towers, laced with any type of projectile imaginable.

Defensive Tactics: Opening Sequence: Warm-up. The voice spoke out once again and one by one the Lights flooding the area shut off. As darkness consumed the area, the clinching and churning of machines could be heard all around. The towers activated and started spewing out poison tipped daggers rapidly. There were flashes of light as daggers bounced off of the blue man's shield, within those brief seconds you could catch a glimpse of the being's movements. At one point he was in a leaping position on the ground and the next he was upside halfway across the area. The sound of daggers cutting through the atmosphere died down and came to a complete stop a few minutes later. The lights rushed back to life and there stood the same figure, standing directly where he was at the beginning.

A smirk could be seen on his face as the computer declared the initiation of the full on workout. Octagonal holes revealed themselves and a large energy could be seen building within them. The room was dark once again but aside from the light's on the walls, there was a bright light illuminating a small portion of the room. The brightness shined a powerful red and the glow reflected off of the man's armor. The energy that built inside his visor was ready to be fired, all he needed was the green light...

After Kadaj's “triumph” over the vicious Bladed Angels Peace Keeper, Mark, Kadaj had reviewed the battle in his head, most of it was played on the from afar. Anytime there was hand to hand interaction, one or the other fled to the outskirts and relied on projectiles to handle the job. The worst thing about it for Kadaj was, the projectiles are what nearly got him killed.

So he decided to make use of his benefits as a Veritas Member. He healed up thanks to their access to the best surgeons that the U.S. Has to offer. Once he was healed up completely, Kadaj practically lived in the training room. Practicing different defenses against multiple types of projectiles. From 50. Caliber bullets to red hot lasers or kinetic energy blasts Kadaj had devised a set of moves to avoid being tagged by these weapons. Which was even better for him and his chances in the Last Blade Tournament. Having good defense against a commonly used offense can only have good results.

It was the day of his next battle and Kadaj sat on his private jet, rehearsing battle strategies in his head. The flight attendants glanced at him awkwardly as they traveled throughout the plane, trying to make themselves useful. The engine roared as the aircraft soared through the sky, declining in altitude as it neared Methos Tower. The misty, white fog that was a cloud began to disappear as a large building came into view. Or at least they seemed so because as you got close to them they actually separated into two buildings.

The jet landed on the roof of the left building and Kadaj thanked the attendees as he made his way down the stair, with what seemed like a bookbag attached to his back. His vibranium, magically enchanted shield lay on his left arm and his visor rested over his eyes. Kadaj spotted a man that looked a bit on the muscular side and had a motorcycle with him. How in the hell it got there, was a mystery to him. Kadaj galloped and leaped across the gap between the two buildings to greet his opponent. He shoved his right hand forward to try and initiate a hand shake. “Your my opponent correct? Congrats on your victory earlier and I wish you the best of luck in this round.”

There he was with his arrow set, bow drawn, senses on-alert, and mind focused.  Slowly, John Wallace moved around the roof.  His fingers were tightly clenched around the taut drawstring.  At the moment, it appeared as if no one was there at all.  He began to wonder if he had come to the right place.  Suddenly, the loud rumbling of an aircraft could be heard in the distance.  It grew louder and louder.  As John looked up, he saw the spotlight of a massive jet pierce through the clouds above.  Then, the large aircraft slowed down and hovered about the opposite tower.  The jet made its descent, then landed smoothly as John went for cover.  When the door opened up, a hero with a shield on his back stepped out.  This had to be Kadaj.

From his hidden position, Wallace could have easily taken a shot.  However in this tournament, winning was not all there was to it.  The matter in which a battle was won was important too.  In addition, he felt it would be dishonorable to take a cheap shot at the hero.  Letting his muscles loosen up, Wallace relaxed the draw on his bow and lowered the weapon.  He then made his way out into the open.  The Rider had seen Kadaj.  Therefore it would only be fair to allow Kadaj to do the same.  After all, this was not just some random mercenary or villain.  The logo on the jet belonged the Veritas Inc.  Wallace had heard about Veritas in his travels.  That group commanded his respect.  The fact that this hero was a member spoke volumes to John.  After stashing away his compound bow and the arrows that were with it, he made his way out into the open.

As Kadaj leaped across the two towers, it was apparent that he saw Wallace.  The hero walked right up to him and extended his hand.  In order to convey his own respect, John responded likewise and shook Kadaj's hand firmly.  "You're my opponent, correct?"  Kadaj said.

"That's right." Wallace responded.  "You must be Kadaj.  It's a pleasure to meet you.  You can call me John."

The hero then showed a truly noble spirit when he said, "Congrats on your victory earlier, and I wish you the best of luck in this round."

"Likewise." John replied.

With that, both men made a distance between themselves and the battle began.  For some reason, John Wallace's enhanced senses began to go off.  Due to the way they were enhanced, John's senses gave off an "intuition" of sorts whenever something perilous was about to happen.  Whatever if was, it was definitely not coming from Kadaj.  Strangely, it seemed to be coming from something else.  Something just was not right at all.  Glancing around, nothing apparently dangerous or presenting a threat could be heard or seen.  Therefore, Wallace put it out of his mind and chose to concentrate on the battle at hand.

John grabbed onto the large chain that was draped around his torso and held it at his side.  With the chain bundled together in his left hand and about five feet of slack links hanging from his right hand, Wallace began to slowly circle his opponent.  He began to slowly swing the chain at his side, the cross it over back and forth between the left and right in a figure eight motion of nunchaku.  At the end of the chain was a sharp hook which acted like a weight, giving momentum to the swinging object.  Trying to remain light on his feet, Wallace began making his way closer and closer to his opponent.  Eventually, Wallace was in eight feet of his opponent.  Suddenly, he leaped to the side and released the chain from his right hand and sent the hook straight for his opponent.  With his left hand, he let go of several links in order to give slack to the chain.  As he did so, his body spun on an axis as it flew through the air.  After the attack, Wallace landed in a crouched position, ready for whatever would come next.