Arctic Death against Resurrected Law

Once More Rivals
Shade Kagekyo, or rather the Reigai of the man, sat alone, entombed in his creator's lab. Ever since being empowered to fight in a war, this was his daily life, waiting for his chance. His mind was a jumble of memories that he could barely recall, including a man who he seemed to have some grudge against, and a few other people he remembers treating as friends, or were they enemies? Honestly, he wished he could tell the difference.

Shade decided to go for a walk, one of the few privliges he still had, so long as he stayed out of sight and still in the compound. However, one thing the creator didn't expect was that he'd keep his free will, even after heavy modifications. He wanted answers and he would have them, one way or another. Summoning his Demonic power, the Reigai vanished in a roar of fire, only to reappear outside of Hama Town. ''Why do I...Goddamn it. Why here? Is there...I remember being told to kill...kill Van?...Maybe if I talk to him, he can help.'' Shaking his head, he tried to enter the town, only to be repelled by a barrier, the town's defense system. "Someone told him I was coming." Having no other options, he risked dying, again, and used Kogeru to warp into the town, slipping past the barrier itself. "He probably should strengthen the defenses around this place." he told himself as he walked to Van's home, hoping he would have answers.

Feeling a bit of unease, as well as a unfamiliar energy in town, much less at his doorstep, Van stepped outside to see a familiar face approaching. "Wait what? Ice Man? Here?" Walking down a bit, Van waved down from atop the hill he was located down at his long time friend. "OI! Why didn't you say you were coming? I would have let you i--". Stopping mid-sentence, Van paused and thought to himself "How did he get into town without an invitation? Unless he bypassed the barrier, but Ice Man would have no trouble getting inside from one of the people that know him here."

Forming a bit of crystal in the palm of his hand, Van continued to smile. "Hey, what brings you for a visit after such a long time?"

Shade walked up the hill. "There's something I have to do." Although his voice was as calm as always, he wasn't in his right mind. His mental programing was right there, whispering the command he wished he never had to follow. It formed a cold pit where his heart should be whenever he thought of it. "But before that, I gotta know, why would someone be after you?"

"After me? There could be any number of reasons. I tend to anger a vast majority of people that I come across. Why do you ask?" Van asked, still cautious of the man in front of him.

"Simple, I have to kill you. As much as I'd rather not, I have this compusion to end your life, because my creator demands it. After all, who else could get this close to you without you being afraid except your family? I was created to do whatever is asked of me by the Juusanseiza's scientist, Kyoufu. And with this body of mine, I cannot be stopped. Those three things make me the only one who can kill you. Even if you kill me, I'll just come back until I succeed in ending you. Right now, it's only because of my free will that I haven't struck you down. I thought you should know that I don't hold any ill will towards you, but I cannot hold back much longer." Shade started emitting a blue glow as the ground froze under his feet, a frost covered the grass in a controlled circle. "So tell me, are you prepared to strike me down to preserve yourself? Can you bear the constant struggle? After all, it's quite fitting that you should be my target, the only one with the power to stop me, no matter how many times, is you."

Sighing, Van shook his head in dissapointment. "Kill me? Hm. I see....well then I suppose its time that I strike back against you old fri--" Before he could finish, a dark tear opened near the two men. On the inside of the tear of space, crimson flames could be seen thrashing about and agonizing screams could be heard eminating from within.

"Before you two go at, I think its only right that I stick my head on in here. Besides, we never decided upon a true winner all those years ago." A slight cackle could be heard as a scythe pulled a body through the hole. On the other end of the scythe was a man with long strangly hair that covered his face. He was dressed in all black, with the ends of his attire dragging through the fire itself, giving him the appearance of an apparition.

Only one man Shade knew would have brought up that subject. Even his spiritual pressure was the same, the ebb and flow were exactly as he remembered it. In the span of moments, the sorrow he felt was replaced with joy, his old rival stood in front of him once more. "Years have gone by us, yet I haven't forgotton the score, the score we must settle. I suppose an old grudge superceeds my drive to kill your brother. Don't you agree?"

"Kill Vanny boy? Ha! Go ahead, I can wait. He may have saved me from Hell, but who cares? It just allows me to repay old debts to society." Smiling Shiro placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder before turning back to face Shade. "However, I kinda want to stretch my legs first, so I suppose I can't let you kill him just yet. Its been awhile since I had a good fight and you're just the man to test my new abilities on."

"Bring it on, Flea-brain. I'll fight you. And Van, I suggest you run, cause as soon as I'm done here, you're next." Shade's eyes flashed an icy blue as a dark blue wakizashi with a black guard appeared in his hand. "How about a little warm up Shiro? I don't want you pulling your hamstring or some bull shit to prevent me from having a proper victory."

"Run? Hell no. I'm not going anywhere Ice Man, you can believe that." Van smirked as he plopped himself on the ground. "Besides, who would want to miss a fight like this?"

Stretching his arms out, Shiro smiled a similar grin to that of his brother. "Trying to say I'm old? Pshaw. I beat death once, no need to go easy on me, because I certainly won't go easy on you." As he was speaking, Shiro was tapping his foot on the ground causing darkened pores of red energy to surround Shade as chains shot forth as though they were several tentacles, looking to ensnare a foe.

Shade dodged each of the chains with ease. "Old? No. Out of practice? Like you'd never believe. Besides, I've outdone Death a thousand times over, you won't gain applause from me." He generated a single ice-shard and tossed it at Shiro. He wanted to fire more, but it would have spoiled his fun.

Smiling, Shiro used the chains to capture the Ice launched at him, although they quickly froze over from the sheer cold of the projectile. "Tch. Didn't see that one coming." The smile quickly left Shiro's face as he jumped back just as the chains shattered and shard kept going along its course. "Looks like you've been getting stronger while I was away. Hmph. I suppose I have to give these bones of mine a little jump start haha." Launching himself into the air, he had his scythe drawn back ready to try and cleave Shade in twain.

Shade blocked with his Hell-Blade, Shinjitsu Zai-no, a ice-cold sword that symbolizes his time as a servant of the king of the Damned. Sparks flew as the scythe and sword met. "I had to get stronger to face you. I knew you'd come back one day, stronger than ever. I'm glad to see my efforts were not in vain."

Shade released some of his tainted spiritual energy, freezing the ground below his feet, causing the air to cool rapidly. "Chill." As the word passed his lips, one could compare it to air conditioning on a hot day, the sudden coldness coming as a shock. Of course, to one who knew it was coming, such as Shiro, it would be something already accounted for, and Shade knew of all people, Shiro would have seen it coming.

However, Shiro's time in Hell had made him over-confident as he did not prepare at all for Shade's attack. The cold chill soared through the air, striking Shiro's body causing his free arm and a portion of his chest to freeze over in a thick layer of ice. "HAHAHA. Oh? Still freezing your opponents down to their very soul? Very well. I suppose I really am your counterpart at this point." Swinging his scythe with one arm, it lacked the force of a standard swing however it produced a flame that fanned out through the area, attempting to burn anything and anyone in the vicinity.

The flames licked at the frozen Devil's arms and chest, the heat forcing him to back off. "Since when did you have fire powers? I suppose it doesn't matter, does it? After all is said and done, only one thing matters." He jumped around, avoiding the fires that were sure to be his destruction. As he tried to escape the blazing heat, more ice shards sliced the air, spiraling to Shiro. each of the cluster sharpened to a fine point.