The Last Blade Round Two: Slinger VS Midnightist

     Boston Common. It was up to the knight Slinger to choose the battlefield for the next round of the tournament that would decide the world's greatest weapons expert.  Now he stood on the green awaiting the arrival of his opponent for the match. The sun had gone down hours ago, but the glow of the city lent a soft iridescent light on the otherwise dark park. Slinger worried that someone with a name like Midnightist might have an advantage fighting so late, but he figured that the late start would allow for far less civilian interference.

      Slinger had very little prior knowledge of his opponent for the battle to come, he new that the man had a variety of superpowers that he would have to overcome if he expected victory. It would be a very difficult fight, but Slinger had faith in his own ability, he knew that there doesn't exist a swordsman that he can't beat based on skill with the blade alone. It also helps that he owns a blade of unmatched quality, and armor of unparalleled strength, both of which he uses with expert precision.

     The din of the city, still full of life, filled the air with the noise of its hustle and bustle, but Slinger silently looked forward to an honorable fight with quiet determination. He stood waiting, rosary in hand, mentally preparing himself for the upcoming battle through prayer.

The city was cold and dark , but all Midnightist could see was the bright warm stars that shined brighter thanany other light made in this man made structure of glass, metal and concreate. He often thought of many things that people did not and the stars was one of them. All of his thoughts were amazing because he was able to do these things while he was riding on top of a subway car. Mot people would have been scared to death, but he was calmly thinking while sitting in a crouched zen spot.

Suddenly a beeping was heard. He roled up a sleave and saw that it was 7:15. He got up and just walked to his right and just stepped off the train. He fell in the air and then grabbed on a pole and twisted in mid-air and then got a distance of two feet. After so many movements he had reached his destination. He walked up in the dark into a shadow and blended in as if he never existed. He waited for some time till Slinger appeared. He stayed in the shadow for along time even allowing Slinger to believe he had been there first. He watched the simple steps he made and leanred all he would need to know just from how he paced back and forth.

" You must be Slinger, I've read allot about you. I here you're real good with a sword. You have an amazing track record. I'm pretty handy with a sword and blade myself though." Midnightist then reached his hand behind his back back and pulled out a some what curved sword that looked as though it had been shoved in the bodies of dozens of people and was pulled out so fast that it never had a drop of blood on it and he pulled it seemingly out of no where, but thats who he does it. He strike as though he never had a weapona dn his prey never knew till it was to late.

" This is my blade, I do think its as fancy as your weapon, but it gets the job done very well, but half the time I never really use it to its fullest. Not that In don';t like using swords, but with weapons I ,like a little variety and never usuallu fight with just one weapon in a fight." He then reached behind his back and pulled a french knife. Once the knife came form its sheath and the light from the stars made th slightest shien of the tip it was like a starting gun and he seemed to have crossed the distance between the two like they were always standing infront of each other. He stopped directly infront of him for less than a second only long ebough for him to get a glipse of his face.

Once he felt he was seeign his eyes for a second he took to the air and twisted behind him landing on both his feet. He then raised his amrs while croched so that his sword and knife would be hovering above his throat ready to slice his throat. " You should knwo you have two options, you lose or you die. This is your one shot, because if we keep going ... well...... round one you lost, round two you die."

     Slinger chuckled audibly at the ridiculous ultimatum handed down to him as his opponent for the evening held a wicked looking knife to his throat, he hadn't yet even drawn his own weapon. "Those are my two options, huh?" The knight stood still as death with a slight smirk on his face, "You really shouldn't make threats you don't have the power to fulfill." Slinger really never was worried about getting his throat cut, to the best of his knowledge his armor was indestructible and it covered his neck enough that any attack there wouldn't be able to cause any serious injury. He twisted out of the way of the Midnightist's keen blade, though the speed of the other fighter was great enough that he managed to put a superficial cut on the white knight's face before he had gained any distance.

      "I had hoped that we might shake hands and wish each other luck before the battle had begun, but I guess that wasn't meant to be." There was a flash of steel and the knight's Holy weapon was visible in its full glory, then the tip was pointed directly at the Midnightist, "Don't worry friend, I'm not going to kill you, but I think it's time you had a taste of humility." The young knight smiled boldly in the face of death, as he charged his super-powered rival.

     The rare moment of tranquility in the usually bustling park was broken as the combat began. Slinger made quick attacks at his enemies limbs, especially the legs in an attempt to limit his opponents mobility by hamstringing him and thereby gaining an advantage in the contest. He moved with speed uncommon to normal humans and slashed out with his blade with surgical precision, analyzing and targeting whatever weak points that he could pick out as they became apparent. He did everything he could to attempt to gain the momentum in the duel, he wanted to be the one in control of the fight.

The Man of Midnight dodge every move the holy knight had. For every kick, punch and swing he threw, Midnightist avoided in any means necessary. His movements were swift an precise as they have and always will be. After Slinger's last lung with his sword. Midnightist jumped high into the sky twisting and twirling landing on the edge of the run down building that both champions were on right next to a connection of power lines and pieces of garbage squatters and workers left behind. He chuckled " Sorry I just realized I must have came off like a complete jerk. I didn't introduce myself or anything. Hello my name is Midnightist. You really don't have to tell me who you are because I leaned allot about you. 

     Slinger was amazed at the unthinkable speed that his opponent displayed. He managed to parry, block, and dodge every single attack that the knight attempted, and Slinger quickly realized that he was outclassed greatly in the speed department and that he would need to fight the battle at hand using a different approach.

     Suddenly the Midnightist broke from the melee and leaped high in the air in a stunning display of strength and agility. He landed on the far side of the roof of the dilapidated old building the two were fighting on, and began to arrogantly speak to the knight making haughty presumptions about Slinger's awareness of the situation, "There are explosives placed all around the building. Now the only reason I attacked you earlier was I needed to keep you from noticing one because you should have caught it in the side of your eyes, but well. Anyway I'm also sure you didn't notice I was hear before your or that slight bad smell. I figured I might not be able to set the charges and do enough so I turned on a gas line and ruptured it. The building should be full of gas."

     Slinger frowned dissapointedly in the choice of tactics that the Midnightist chose for what could have been an honorable duel, while the Midnightist rambled on, listing what he thought would be the plausible outcomes for the situation. This maniac is gonna kill someone! And I'll be lucky if it's me and not some bystander.

     What the Midnightist didn't realize was that he wasn't the only combatant who had inspected the battleground before the fight had started, and Slinger had his own small rule that he added to the strict Templar code that he lived by: always have an escape plan. Midnightist was halfway through letter 'B' of his list of things that might happen, when Slinger had had enough. Shaking his head displeased Slinger gave a false salute to his opponent, then leapt straight out from the edge of the doomed building, just before it became engulfed in flames.

    The young knight flew like a trapeze artist through the air across an alleyway between the now flaming building and the one adjacent. He reached out with his arms to grab hold of a fire escape on the other side, only allowing himself to briefly think of the humor of using it to escape a blaze in the building adjacent. The knight managed to grab ahold of his ticket to longer life and tumbled acrobatically down the fire escape to the ground level, having to leap the last fifteen feet and landing in a pile of garbage that was collecting in the alley below.

     Slinger had no time to catch his breath as he could hear the screams of alarmed citizens and the inferno raged. He moved hastilly to the front of the building, hoping not to find any innocents caught in the crossfire of the fight, "Every one get away from the building!" Slinger screamed at the top of his lungs in an attempt to get any civilians off of the street that might have been there, but a passing motorist wasn't quick or lucky enough. The fire must've reached the explosives that were wired to the building, because suddenly it exploded, toppling the structure and sending a flaming fireball of debris hurtling at the stunned driver. This is why you don't bring a cannon to a knife fight. Slinger thought angrily while he raced to get to the burning car.

     The heat from the blaze that was once a vehicle was intense as Slinger pulled debris from the wreck before the driver would be incinerated, but when he finally cleared enough away that he could open the door he found it was jammed stuck. Slinger slashed with his sword at the hinges on the car door, cutting through the steel as if it were butter. He freed the stuck driver, then, certain of the civilian's safety, turned his attention back toward his opponent in the duel.

      Weary from the heat and strain, Slinger took the Templar's "perfect defense" stance and scanned the area for the Midnightist. He shouted angrily into the orange glow for his opponent to show himself, "Poor form, Midnightist! You've endangered the lives of innocents! Now come and face judgement!"

"Please spare me. I know what I'm doing from the very minute I do something. Any liberites I take I know the out come of my actions. If you did survive of course you would have helped them. I was ready to be there any time I needed to be. Do not conufse my actions with the reclise notions of some deranged mad man. I believe in winning with the things I know. Its easy for you to go around calling people dangerous when you can walk around in a nice and comfy suit of armor that keeps you safe from the real world.

I don't and will not fight with such a low standard. You may think you code as a knight gives you true honor. It is not. It is a crutch that people like you have used for centuries to do things that you feel a right, but you can never take responsiblilty for your actions. Please don't say I don't take responsibility. Knights frustate me you see yourselves so highly, but you never know anything about the people you protect. I have always had a disconnection from the world, but you you are worse. I can get down and dirty with the people I protect you will never do such a thing. It is not noble to stay so pure it is naive.

If anything I feel sorry for you that you can never truly understand what these people are going through. Your code means nothing to these people when their lives are at stake. You hide behind your code because you have no fear of the real world. You know that almost nothing will kill you and so Do NOT EVER SAY I ENDANGERED INNOCENT LIVES. If you cannot act like those who will do anything to live then you don't deserve to say you protect them."

Midnightist fed up with Slinger's boy scout atitude stretched his hand behind his back and pulled out twin knives from his belt and through the knives towards Slinger, but he is not the target. They passed by his head aimed for the truck Slinger had just rescued the driver from. They were small, but still put wholes in the tank causing the fuel in the truck to sprey on the fire from the building. The flames trailed back on the stream causing an even greater explosion directly behind Slinger.

"Don't blame me for being afraid to die"

     The inferno roared in the background as the Midnightist came out of hiding and accosted the white knight. Slinger must've struck a nerve with his opponent, because he was visibly upset. He went on and on about how he thought Slinger couldn't relate to the people, to which the Templar simply shrugged, then, after Midnightist had finished speaking his mind, Slinger tersely spoke, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

     Unfortunately Slinger had expected his opponent to close and fight hand to hand, but instead he struck at a distance yet again throwing two small knives. Slinger quickly ducked out of the way and the knives went whizzing by his head. Ha, he missed by a mile! Slinger had started to close the distance between the two fighters when he heard the noise behind him, "Shink, shink, splurt." It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened, and Slinger just barely got his arm up to block the back of his head when the gas tank of the flaming wreck behind him exploded sending flames and shrapnel in all directions. A fireball engulfed Slinger, burning him and singeing his hair, and he was hit hard in the kidneys by a large piece of sheet metal that knocked him to the ground.

     The clobbered hero rolled away from the intense fire and flames, and closer to his enemy. He slowly rose to his feet, Slinger was battered, but not yet beat. He coughed as he stood tall then looked at the Midnightist in the eye, but his stare was noticeably different. Replacing Slinger's bright blue eyes was just a bright white glow. The knight was in a trance like state, channeling energy into his open hand which crackeled with brilliant energy. He touched his face with the light from his hand, and suddenly the cut he had suffered disappeared, as well as his burns from the explosion that had happened vehind him.

     Panting and covered in sweat, both from the heat and strain of the fight, Slinger again took his defensive stance. He clutched his sword with both hands, and the white brilliance extended from his fingers to his blade, until the weapon seemed to be made of pure white light. Slinger then stared at the Midnightist through blank eyes, "Ah-heh, Is, heh, Is that all you got?" Slinger reached out his hand and beckond to his opponent as if to say, "Bring it."

Midnightist was not impressed at his opponent, but then again he never was. The reason he was never impressed was because everyone he fought he made sure they were the best of the best. He wanted  a challenge and Slinger was meant to be no different. He entered this tournament with the hopes that he would get into a fight with somebody that would test his limits and push him farther than he had gone before and this guy was doing just that.

     Slinger stood his ground across from the Midnightist, his eyes sparking with energy and his hands and weapons bathed in what looked like pure white flame, "Had I for one second truly believed you to be helpless then the fight would end immediately, but that isn't the case, is it?" Slinger cautiously considered his opponent as they stood apart, trying to stare each other down, "The truth is, you know you have a distinct advantage in unarmed combat, otherwise you wouldn't be making this gambit." Slinger tightened his grip on the pommel of his sword, "I think you've gravely misunderstood the code, and you'll  soon find that disarming yourself was a costly mistake."

     Slinger lunged forward closing the gap on his unarmed rival, thrusting his blade forward in a deadly piercing strike aimed squarely at the Midnightist's abdomen. He taunted his adversary as he attacked, trying to draw him into a rage, "I think you'll find that the only way you'll have a chance to beat me is in a direct confrontation." He ducked and swung his blade low in a sweeping arc, attempting again to take out the legs of the challenger and reduce his mobility, "Underhanded tricks and wanton destruction will get you nowhere." He followed his previous attack with a deadly uppercut swing targeting the inside of Midnightist's thigh and following upward in a motion that might cut his right leg clean of at the hip, "If you thought I would be foolish enough to give up the only advantage I had, you were mistaken." The knight continued his aggressive assault, this time slicing at his opponent's torso in a horizontal swing with enough force behind it that if the blade connected it would cut deep into the Midnightist's side dealing a lethal blow. "You are about to learn a harsh lesson in the art of war." Slinger adjusted his grip on his sword, shifting it so that he was holding it in just his right hand, then raised it in the air as if to make a powerful vertical slash directed at the neck of his target, but it was a feint. Slinger made a hard left hook with his gauntleted left fist, hoping to deal a devastating blow to the Midnightist's head, possibly knocking him for a loop.

     Slinger continued his blitz, releasing powerful blasts of positive energy with every strike. He tried his best to keep the Midnightist from breaking away from the combat. He knew if he could keep the fight to close quarters he might be able to hold an advantage, and he was grasping for any slight edge he could muster.