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Read the prelude first.

Raiden: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!

Makoto: It's time for an EDGE BATTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

--- --- --- --- ---

Honnoji Academy

It was a quiet and peaceful day...

... HAH!

Okay, okay, enough bull. Welcome, to a school where the word of Satsuki Kiryuin was law. A school that dominated the city. The school itself had a fairly circular shape. The classrooms and such curved as two buildings to the sides of a large tower, designed perfectly so that the sun would raise above it. However, the school building was so huge that there was a massive field of nothing within the circle. From the inside it was certainly a school, but from the outside? A stadium. A coliseum. A battlefield. Anything but a damn school!

But as stated before, the school - and in fact, the whole country - had its own monarch of sorts. And with order there was often rebellion.

Enter Ryuko Matoi. She was the rebel, the thug, the dark personality, but she was the opposite of the school bully. She had black hair with an eye-catching red streak through the front, And she wore a sailor suit. Her black skirt and the top half were connected by two straps, and said top half of the uniform was black with rolled up long sleeves, a ribbon in the middle, and a pair of eyes, one of which was cut off.

Yes. I said eyes... Her suit's alive. It's weird.

She was currently sitting somewhere in the middle of the massive circle that was the school. She rested one arm on a raised knee, while the other had a hand gripping the Scissor Blade stabbed in the ground. She had an intense glare on. She usually did - it was basically her natural look - but at this time in particular, she looked ready to kick the ass of the next thing that came into her line of sight.

Too bad something happened to be there.

For his part, Shadow the Hedgehog looked a lot like Ryuko. Well, sort of. He was covered in black fur with a tuft of white hair on his chest. He had white gloves and white shoes with red outlines at the bottom, and both his wrists and ankles had gold rings on them. His wide red eyes had red around the points at the top, and the large quills on his head each had a red stripe along it. Maybe 'looked like' isn't the right way to put it, but they certainly had similar appearances. If you swapped the gender and the race, they would be looking in a mirror.

And Shadow felt similarly annoyed.

Ryuko Matoi was the target. Apparently someone had decided her too dangerous to exist with that kamui on. She was to be either captured or killed. Throwing aside how pointless this seemed to Shadow, this mission wasn't meant to be as loud as it was. Not really a stealth mission, but a contained one at least. No dice. Kiryuin's forces quickly found out, and they didn't hold back. The power of Ira Gamagori alone intimidated G.U.N. enough to turn this into a full-on raid. That raid was happening right here, right now. The war was right outside of the school area, in the entire city. With all that distraction, G.U.N. decided to leave the big meat to Shadow.

But you don't fuck with the home of Ryuko Matoi.

The wind howled around the two fighters, circling through the massive battlefield of a school. Both figures had nothing else of interest going on, so they glared at each other. Unfortunately, they knew that they were opposing forces. They were possibly the strongest units of said forces. Here they were being made to fight someone they had just met. Someone that looked like they had difficult struggles much like their own. Someone that may have been a good person to whomever they were fighting... And yet someone who had been their primary source of frustration.

And yet before all that...

Shadow noticed the girl's glare and relaxed, letting out a sigh. "Rough day, huh?"

Ryuko's glare softened. Closing her eyes she gathered her thoughts. She scoffed, supporting herself by her sword to stand up, and smirked. "You don't know what rough is. Betcha your day's going better than mine."

Shadow chuckled at that. "Yeah, you're probably right about that. But hey, people like us... We don't get to have it easy, y'know. This job I do? This was what I had to do. Guys like me have it hard finding people that accepts you."

Ryuko frowned, though not in a sad way. In fact, she chuckled at that. "Do you mean as a three-foot talking mass of fur and quills?"

Both of them laughed. They laughed a genuine laugh. It truly felt like they had shared that one. It would be the first and last moment they shared.

As their laughter died down, they looked at each other again and frowned. In their eyes, they almost looked sad. Ryuko pulled her Scissor Blade out of the ground. "Well... There's something expected of the both of us. I guess we should get started." Spinning her weapon for flare, Ryuko entered a combat stance. "Stick by me, Senketsu."

The sailor suit's singular eye looked up at Ryuko. "Be careful, Ryuko, or I'll do it for you."

The communicator on Shadow's wrist buzzed. He heard a commanding voice say "Shadow, hurry it up in there! You know what you have to do!"

Gritting his teeth and clenching his left fist, Shadow replied "Understood." He raised the pistol in his right hand.

"Initiating the mission now."

Shadow was in the best position to attack, and took the initiative, unloading the rounds in his weapon. Ryuko jumped to the side, circling Shadow to avoid the bullets. She skidded to a halt and swung her sword to deflect a series of bullets, proceeding to dash forward towards Shadow. The hedgehog didn't expect the reckless approach, and stepped back to avoid a powerful slash. Ryuko twisted the blade and brought it down, and Shadow cartwheeled to the side to avoid it slamming into the ground. However, Ryuko was faster than expected, and she twisted the blade again, unleashing another forceful swing. Shadow barely brought his arms up, and the Scissor Blade scraped along his rings.

The attack carried a lot of force, and Shadow was forced back by the wind that it stirred up. Sliding across the ground, Shadow lowered his hands and ducked, his quills grazing the Scissor Blade. Glaring, Shadow jumped and roundhouse-kicked at Ryuko's head, forcing her to bring up her Scissor Blade and block the attack. The flat of the blade grinded against Shadow's shoe, and Ryuko pushed forward, forcing Shadow to jump away, and chased after him.

Shadow backflipped, tilting his body backwards to avoid another slash. Ryuko started slashing from one side, lifting overhead, and slashing from the other, keeping Shadow on his toes. Shadow threw his arms up with every swing, cleverly deflecting the strikes with the rings on his wrists. Ryuko put more force into one of her strikes, so Shadow deflected the attack, held it there, stepped forward, and shot her under the chin.

Ryuko stumbled back as Shadow lowered his stance, believing he had the victory...

... But Ryuko leaned back up into her stance, spitting the bullet out of her mouth. Shadow did a double take, and Ryuko sported a shit-eating grin.

"Aw, jeez..."

Ryuko delivered a strong slash, forcing Shadow to limbo under it. He got back up and pointed his gun forward... to find that the barrel had been sliced off. The moment of shock was an opening that Ryuko took, slamming Shadow with her body and sending him several yards back. Shadow rolled in midair and skid along the ground, looking up to see Ryuko charging at him for another attack.

Ryuko went for an overhead, and Shadow crossed his arms above his head to deflect the strike with his rings. This forced the fighters into a lock, gritting their teeth as they tried to gain supremacy. It was then that they had a chance to look into each other's eyes. Once again, it was like looking into a mirror. Once glance told them exactly what they needed to know.

"This... Is gonna take a while."

Forcing his arms up, Shadow activated the rockets on his shoes, which caught Ryuko off guard. Shadow shot up and caught Ryuko off balance. As he rose, he grabbed Ryuko's arm, bringing them both into the sky. At a certain height, Shadow tossed Ryuko in the air and she was unable to recover. The hedgehog clenched his fist and slammed it into Ryuko's face, rocketing her into the ground and creating a large dust cloud on impact.

Ryuko could be found laying on her chest, gritting her teeth and placing a hand on the ground to lift herself up. She looked up to see Shadow still floating in midair, his shoes releasing torrents of fire. "Okay... So he can do that. Noted." She rested her blade on her shoulder as she got to her feet.

"Ryuko, now might be a good time to-"

"Not yet, Senketsu," she interrupted her sailor suit. "I can still take him on my own. Just watch me!" The drawn back Scissor Blade now seemed to glow with energy.

This did not unnoticed by Shadow, and he kept his guard up. She was clearly preparing something. Must have been some kind of long ranged attack, otherwise the gap in distance would need to be-

His thought process was interrupted and he was more than shocked when she was able to jump to his current height! Feeling a power coming on, he barely had time to maneuver to the side when Ryuko swung down, firing a large beam from her blade. He heard a crash behind him. He didn't need to look to know that the wall to his back had just been split in half.

"Okay... Enough of that!" Shadow flew towards Ryuko and threw another punch, but this time she caught it, forcing a midair struggle. Shadow ducked under a swing but as a result ran his face into Ryuko's knee, stunning him. She took this opportunity to kick off his body and send him to the ground, swinging her blade and firing another beam before falling. Shadow crashed into the ground, and in a haste he instantly activates his jet shoes. His body slid across the ground, but he managed to evade the blast of the projectile.

As Shadow's body grinded along the ground, his head eventually met a wall behind him, stopping him in his slide and disorienting him. Ryuko used this to her advantage and lept overhead, attempting to impale Shadow into the ground as she fell. At the last second, Shadow's eyes shot open and he lifted his foot, firing a jet stream from it. The flames met the blade, forcing it away from Shadow's body. The hedgehog gritted his teeth and pushed his leg upward, forcing Ryuko to stumble back and giving Shadow enough time to flip to his feet. Shadow then dashed at Ryuko, who raised her arms to block a bone smashing kick to the side of her head.

Seeing no way to pull out, Ryuko rose her sword over her head and swung down. Shadow had enough time to roll to the side and hear another beam destroy the wall behind him. From a kneeling position he pulled out a sub machine gun and fired on Ryuko. She held up her blade in defense, though many bullets hit her, and though she was healing she was stunned by the barrage. Shadow took this time to dash forward and deliver a kick, but Ryuko once again blocked with the Scissor Blade.

Shadow persisted, delivering two jet-infused roundhouses which Ryuko barely blocked. Ryuko took two wide swings at Shadow which he easily backed away from, but when he held up his gun to shoot she kicked it away, spinning around and attempting a stab to the hedgehog's torso. He didn't expect this and he knew his rings wouldn't be enough this time, so he took evasive action.

Just when it seemed like Shadow would be impaled... he disappeared.

Ryuko stumbled forward and planted her sword into the ground, keeping herself standing. She quickly looked around for her opponent. "What the hell was-!"

Ryuko was interrupted by a jet shoe to the cheek. She quickly recovered and swung her blade, only for Shadow to disappear again and elbow her in the back. Ryuko spun and swung behind her again. Shadow disappeared. An attack came from above and stomped down on Ryuko head, bringing her to the ground. When she looked up a foot met her face, knocking her back and sliding her along the ground.

She quickly recovered from her slide with a cartwheel and pulled her blade back. The edge seemed to open up and reveal another blade, thereby extending the length, and she unhooked the handle and opened it. The blade was now in Decapitation Mode.

She charged towards Shadow again, yelling in frustration "How the hell can you do that!!! Is it some kind of power!?" As she got close to Shadow she hopped and skid to a halt, kicking up dirt as she slid along the ground. She swung towards Shadow again... and he disappeared again.

"Power..." Shadow appeared behind Ryuko and backflip kicked her into the air. He disappeared again.

"Has nothing..." As Ryuko reached the peak of her ascent, Shadow appeared behind her and kicked her in the back, rocketing her towards the ground. He disappeared again.

"To do with it!" Shadow reappeared in front of Ryuko's landing zone. The girl had no time to prepare, and as Shadow thrust his hand forward, it was time perfectly with Ryuko's eventual landing, hitting her solar plexus and knocking the wind out of her.

*stop music*

The impact not only made Ryuko cough up some blood and spit, but also created a shockwave which formed a small crater under the two fighters. The fighter's eyes met once more, Ryuko looking completely shocked and Shadow simply glaring. Even if she could think of something to say, she couldn't between struggling to breathe.

Shadow pulled his fist back, allowing Ryuko to fall to her knees and then to the ground. Shadow looked down at her and smirked. "I'm just that fast."

He then turned around and spoke into the communicator on his wrist. "Comander, the target is down."

"Good," Spoke the G.U.N. Commander from the other side, "But what's her status? She's not dead, is she?"

"No, she's still breathing. Don't know what she's made of, but she survived more than a couple of bullets. She was a tough nut to crack." Shadow knew he was getting off topic. "Look, all I'm saying is that she's down for the count. For now."

"Well, pray that it's enough time, Shadow. Get her back here ASAP."

Shadow nodded, not that the Commander could notice. "Understood." He turned around... but was shocked to see Ryuko twitch her arm. He walked up to her, and saw the she was looking up at him with defiance in her eyes. She had something in her mouth. All Shadow could tell from this distance was the color. Red.

"... I'll get back to you on that, Commander." Before the other side could retort, Shadow cut the line and simply stared down at Ryuko. Shadow was preparing for a million possible scenarios. Maybe she pulled the pin on a grenade? Was it some kind of communicator? Hell, he even pondered her spitting a bottle cap at him. He had a gut feeling it was none of these things, given his luck. And, well... Turns out he wasn't wrong.

Ryuko tilted her head up at just the right angle and spat the object at Shadow. He let it hit his face before it fell into his hand. He inspected it, and it was certainly red. It looked like a cross between a pin and a key. But where'd it come from? And what was it a key to? Thinking about it... he got his answer in the form of a shine out of the corner of his eye.

Ryuko smiled.

BOOM!

A sudden blast erupted from Ryuko's body, and Shadow was thrown back. The Ultimate Life Form spun in midair and slid along the ground. Looking up, he saw a red pillar of energy blasting into the sky, beginning from the crater where Ryuko resided. Shadow couldn't help being appalled. Was this the power that he was meant to stop? What they were so afraid of? Looking further up, he saw the red pillar take shape into a dragon-like creature. It let out a roar at Shadow, proceeding to blaze downward into Ryuko's body.

From within, Senketsu was absorbing some of Ryuko's blood. The two beings were merging together, Ryuko accepting Senketsu as part of her skin. Blood and DNA were binding together, weaving into one another. The dragon of red energy seemed to consume Ryuko, and she began to dawn her new outfit. Her suit became much more revealing, only leaving a shoulder pad to cover her breasts with straps to cover her skirt, which sprouted spikes. Her arms and legs were covered by black cloting with red strands, and the underside of her hair gained a red coloring. Finally, she sprouted two large shoulder pads that looked like Senketsu's eyes.

With the transformation complete, she made a fierce declaration.

"LIFE FIBER SYNCHRONIZE: KAMUI SENKETSU!"

The red energy pillar dissipated, and Shadow was... understandably taken aback. The appearance of the form was a bit jarring to saw the least. Like... Apparently you just need to show some skin to get more power. Huh... Do you think if-

Shaking his head before that thought process went anywhere, Shadow raised his gun. "So you've still got some tricks up your sleeve. Alright, show me what you've got." He readied himself for anything...

... Except for what actually happened.

Ryuko disappeared in a flash before reappearing in front of Shadow. The hedgehog had no way to prepare for this, and promptly received an uppercut to the jaw, blasting him into the air. Ryuko chased after him and slashed at him. After the attack she disappeared before reappearing behind him and slashing again. And again to his side. And again from overhead. Soon Ryuko could be seen only in several afterimages surrounding Shadow, never letting up her attacks on the Ultimate Life Form. Eventually she delivered a kick to his head that threw him downward.

Shadow was prepared to use the opening to recover, but as soon as he tried he found himself tied up by a thread. It was thin, but somehow it was incredibly strong, and at the moment he couldn't break through it. Ryuko pulled on the thread and brought Shadow back, only to deliver a solid punch that sent him back. She pulled again and punched him back. She pulled again. She punched back. It kept going until it was not unlike a violent game of paddle-ball.

Ryuko kept doing this before pulling off a bizarre maneuver: As Shadow came back to her she flew up and flipped the sword in her hand so that she was holding it by the blade. Descending she spun in midair and brought the hilt of the blade down, delivering a skull cracking blow to Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form spun in midair and activated his rocket boots before he hit the ground, blasting back towards Ryuko. The combatants swung at each other, and their fists collided to create a large shockwave throughout the school ground. Shadow felt the greater force behind the impact, and then understood that he could not afford to be lenient.

Shadow kicked away from her and tried unloading a clip from his sub-machine gun. To his displeasure, however, every bullet that hit her bounced off. Ryuko took his shock as an opening and threw a thread forward, tying Shadow's arm. She pulled him towards her again, but Shadow readied a counterattack and their kicks met each other in midair. However, Ryuko still had the advantage, and pulled his arm forward. In such an awkward position, Shadow could not counter the axe kick that brought him to the ground.

Shadow was able to somersault in the air and land on his feet. He proceeded to aim his gun skyward again and shoot at Ryuko, but to no avail. He gave an annoyed breath. "Okay, so I wasn't just seeing things." This was further confirmed by Ryuko's shit-eating grin.

Ryuko rocketed down attempting to stomp Shadow into the ground. Shadow slid back, and when Ryuko tried to follow up with another sword swing he ducked under it. Ryuko followed that up with an overhead strike. Shadow blocked it with his rings, but was forced down on one knee. He fired off a jet from the foot in his lower leg and threw a kick at Ryuko's side. This made her let up her attack long enough for Shadow to get out, but she used the momentum from getting hit to spin around and kick Shadow back.

Shadow stumbled, and Ryuko once again dashed forward for an overhead strike. Shadow once again had to roll to Ryuko's right before her Scissor Blade smashed into the ground. As Shadow stopped his roll he jumped and spun in midair, attempting an axe kick on her head. Ryuko swung her blade upward and clashed with Shadow's jet infused shoe. She forced her attack through to catch Shadow off balance, and with that opening she ties a thread to Shadow's leg and delivered a hard swing at him, sending him flying back. Ryuko pulled on the thread again and pulled Shadow back towards her. She clenched her fist, and as Shadow reached her his chin was met with another hard uppercut.

"Y'see what happens when you mess with me!?" She exclaimed as she puled her blade back, gathering more energy. "This is what I'm capable of! What we're capable of!!!" With a scream, Ryuko swung her blade forward, firing a beam of energy once.

The spectacle impressed Shadow. The beam was massive, and if it hit him it would clearly split him in half. Shadow gritted his teeth. He was in a tough spot. Clearly his guns wouldn't save him in this situation; they couldn't handle this kind of firepower. He couldn't run or fly away; the thread was still tied to his leg. His options were limited... but he could still do something.

Shadow gathered a yellow energy into his hand. He pulled his fist back. "Chaos..."

This didn't go unnoticed by Ryuko, who raised an eyebrow. "What is he-"

"... Spear!" Throw his hand forward, Shadow fired a yellow spear of energy at the blade beam. The attacks collided, and the Chaos Spear pierced right through Ryuko's projectile! Ryuko was so stunned by the spectacle that Senketsu had to act for her, pulling her body back and dodging the attack.

*stop music*

BOOM!

A large crater was formed where the Chaos Spear landed, kicking up dust and blinding Ryuko for a moment. The shockwave was enough to crack the walls of the school ground. Ryuko gritted her teeth. She pulled the thread she was still holding... but when it came back, the hedgehog was gone.

"What the-!?" Ryuko was speechless. "How did-!? Where'd he-!?"

"Ryuko, behind you!!"

Senketsu's warning was all she needed to snap her out of her funk. She put her blade up to rest on her shoulders, blocking a sudden kick from Shadow. She pushed him off and spun around to swing at him, but Shadow activated his rocket shoes to fly away from the strike, skidding along the ground as he landed.

He looked back up as he halted, and their glares met. Both were panting heavily at the sudden new display of power they gave to one another. Shadow had smoke coming off of his left hand from the power he just unleashed. He was still holding his sub-machine gun in his right. Ryuko's sword was perched over her shoulder, and Senketsu's eye had half its lid down, as if he was tired too. Both combatants had witness a whole new side to their opponent, and if anything it should have kept them on their guard.

Instead, they both smiled.

"Heh. You escaped my thread," Ryuko stated matter-of-factly. "So what? You're a teleporter now?"

Shadow flicked his hand to stop the smoke from coming off it. "Maybe. And you're sailor suit spits out unbreakable wires. Who are you to judge?"

This adrenaline pumping. The flare in one another's eyes. The intense breathing. The honest to God fuck-mothering smiles on their faces! The two fighters could hardly believe it... but they were really enjoying this!

Both fighters prepared for battle again, clenching their fists and pulling back. Both began a steady pace towards one another, but eventually moved faster. They began to jog. Then they began to sprint full force. Eventually they found themselves propelled forward by the jets built into their wardrobe.

With a cry of battle, both ran up to each other and threw their fists forward with all their strength.

--- --- --- --- ---

*CRASH*

Shadow found himself smashed through the wall that surrounded the school. Rolling on the ground for a moment, he skidded to a halt and checked his surroundings. He was in the streets of Honnoji, just in front of where he entered the Academy. From behind him, the street continued down a large hill. If he went in that direction, he would eventually make it to the battlefield of G.U.N. and Honnoji Academy.

He had no time to think about that as Ryuko rocketed above the wall he was just smashed through. Shadow ran down the hill as Ryuko smashed into the pavement where he once was. Before he could get too far, Ryuko propelled forward and kicked Shadow in the side, throwing him into a building wall. Shadow spun in midair and landed with his feet and one hand on the wall. As Ryuko swung her blade and fired another beam he proceeded to run up the outside of the building to avoid the attack.

*SLASH*

The attack was enough to start bringing the building down. Ryuko looked up to see Shadow continuing his ascent, jumping from various pieces of debris to keep going. "What is he doing?" Ryuko activated the rockets on Senketsu, chasing after Shadow. As the hedgehog jumped off of a piece of debris he turned around to see Ryuko flying right towards him, even crashing through a large slab of concrete. Shadow couldn't stop her from slamming into him, but he activated his jets to fight Ryuko's force.

Both were gripping and glaring at each other in a stalemate, but for a fraction of a second, Shadow looked away. In that time, he noticed a particular piece of debris that looked just... like...

"Perfect!"

Shadow gathered energy into his right hand and formed a Chaos Spear. From up close he used the supposed projectile to stab Ryuko in the arm. Ryuko flinched and lost her grip momentarily, which was all Shadow needed to rocket away from her. Ryuko attempted to grab the Chaos Spear to pull it put, but when she tried touching it her hand was zapped away. After a few seconds it disappeared.

"What kind of attack is that!?" Perishing the thought she looked around for her opponent. In her general surroundings, however, she couldn't see him. He wasn't above her, either. So she looked down.

And she saw him alright.

Going down the mountain.

On an insultingly perfect shape of debris.

LIKE A FUCKING SURFBOARD!!!

Ryuko was more taken aback than she should have been, but she wasn't distracted from her goal. "Senketsu! Form change!" The eyes on Senketsu stretch out till they were shaped like wings, and her suit sprouted cone-shaped leggings, which spit out fire. The transformation was complete.

"SENKETSU SHIPPU!"

Clenching her fist, Ryuko aimed herself towards her opponent. "No surfing rat's gonna get the better of me!" And with that, she blasted off towards Shadow.

The Ultimate Life Form heard the rocket behind him. He turned around to see Ryuko's new form rocketing towards him. "Okay, what the hell!?" Shadow tried blasting several Chaos Spears behind him, all of which Ryuko was able to maneuver through. She met one Chaos Spear with her Scissor Blade and cut through it, at the same time shooting a blade beam at Shadow. The black blur skid to the side to avoid the attack, surfing in between two building on the side of the road as it formed a slash mark in the road. In frustration, Ryuko chased after the hedgehog through the opening.

Shadow, meanwhile had attempted to lose Ryuko by maneuvering through the labyrinth of a city he was now in. So far he wasn't succeeding. Ryuko tried to slam down on him again, but Shadow slid to the side and began surfing on the wall. Ryuko tried to ram into him from the side, and Shadow leaped off of the building, forcing her to smash into it. Shadow saw an opening, and slammed down on Ryuko body, grinding her through the pavement.

He was now surfing on a piece of debris. Surfing on Ryuko... It was quite a spectacle.

Now further pissed off, Ryuko rocketed straight up into the sky. Shadow was forced off of her, but managed to land on his concrete board. Ryuko flew in front of him and attempted to blast forward and stab him. Shadow ducked under the attack, but Ryuko stopped and flew back in an attempt to repeat the attack. Shadow leaned to the side this time, and Ryuko flew up and back at Shadow with another stab. Shadow jumped over this one, but Ryuko flew back again.

Eventually, Ryuko was flying circles and figure eights around Shadow in an attempt to get a hit on him, while he was just a black blur of motion constantly dodging her attacks. This was getting old. Shadow had to get her off of him, especially since he was about to surf into a building.

"Wait... Right there!"

Shadow jumped over an attack from the front, and as Ryuko turned back around he kicked off his board, sending it straight towards her face. Not expecting the maneuver Ryuko was hit by the board, and Shadow had just enough time to get away. In the air, Shadow boosted through a window in front of a building. He quickly ran across a room to the window on the other side. He curled into a ball and broke through, and still in midair he turned around and charged energy into his hand once more.

Wait for it... wait for it... *CRASH*

Ryuko smashed right through the building walls in an attempt to catch Shadow. Just as she did, however, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at her, for Ryuko to lift her arms in an X formation at the last second. The attack pierced through her arms, though they protected her face. Shadow teleported and reappeared above her, performing a homing attack to drill into her back and down to the ground.

Ryuko was being grinded through the pavement again, but she activated her rockets to get out from under the living buzz-saw. Shadow bounced in his ball form and homed in on Ryuko again., and Ryuko held up her sword to block the attack, which persisted and tried to drill through. Gritting her teeth, Ryuko jumped over the spinning ball and swung her blade down at Shadow. Shadow was able to teleport, though, and reappeared in front of Ryuko with a kick to the face. Shadow then fled down the mountain again, this time flying with his jet shoes, and Ryuko recovered and rocketed after him.

"Time to match her style." From hammerspace, Shadow pulled out his samurai blade and swung at Ryuko as she caught up with him. The two swung at each other twice, power matching each other. Shadow tried a rising slash which Ryuko ducked under.She used the opening to tie a thread around Shadow's leg and swing him down. Ryuko blasted downward and attempted to stab him again, but Shadow recovered just in time and held his sword to the side, deflecting her attack and forcing her to move past him. Ryuko swung back around and fired a blade beam, and Shadow did the same with his samurai blade. The two projectiles clashed, forming a huge explosion in midair.

"Ryuko, move upward and dash down!" Senketsu advised.

His prediction was on the mark, too. Shadow blasted off through the smoke cloud at Ryuko, but she followed Senketsu's instructions, and she soon found Shadow and herself being blasted further down the hill. From his position, Shadow tried to stab Ryuko, but she turned her head to the side... and she actually bit down on the samurai blade! Grinding her teeth along the weapon, she threw her head forward into Shadow's nose, forcing him to instinctively put a hand to it. With this opening, Ryuko pulled her sword back and swung it forward with extreme force, firing a beam from it again. Shadow was hit dead on with the attack, and was sent further rocketing down the path to the battle ground.

Shadow gritted his teeth and forced one eye open. With a struggle, he put his blade up and slashed the projectile away. He landed on his feet when he reached the ground, and he felt the blade beam whoosh by his head, followed by an eventual crash. Panting heavily, he had just enough time to hold up his blade in defense as Ryuko crashed into him, creating a shockwave and forcing the two warriors into a blade lock.

Both gritted their teeth and pushed against each other with all their force. With a free hand, Shadow reached to the gun at his side. Ryuko's eyes were drawn to the motion, and she scoffed. "Are you an idiot? You should know damn well by now that guns don't work on me!"

Shadow knew she was right... but for some reason of fighting instinct, he brought up the weapon.

"How about this one!?"

*BOOM*

*stop music*

Suddenly, without Shadow's input, Ryuko was blasted away with extreme force. She tumbled and bounced along the ground, grinding through the pavement before being smashed into a building and creating a large hole in the wall of a building. Pieces of debris collapsed on top of her. She had presumably been brought down for the time being.

Needless to say, Shadow was confused. Hadn't they just been in a blade lock? He had just reached for his gun one moment, and the next? BOOM! Blast away! There she goes! Gone! He was pretty sure his gun didn't do that. Unless the sub-machine gun was an automatically firing weapon with the power of a tank behind it, he knew he didn't pull the trigger. Okay, so they were fighting, and they locked blades. So far so good. Then he reached for his gun, Ryuko mocked him, a voice retorted, and that's when-

Wait a minute... a voice?

"Shadow! We've come to provide backup."

Shadow's eyes shot open in surprise. Turning around, he saw a large sum of G.U.N. soldiers behind him. Most of them were infantry, offering a salute to Shadow. They had a large variety of weapons between them, from machine guns to assault rifles to rocket launchers, as was to be expected. Several helicopters were in the area, their propellers continuously thumping through the air as they had their spotlights on either Shadow or the rubble that covered Ryuko. There were also a few tanks in the vicinity, one of which was smoking through the barrel. Clearly the one that fired the shot.

With the army that stood before him, Shadow could only ask...

"What are you doing here?"

A soldier stood at attention. "As stated, sir, we came to provide backup. The commander sent us up after seeing the commotion within the upper city. The company you see now were the most available at the moment." The soldier tilted his head to look past Shadow. "Seems the target is down, sir. Mission accomplished? Sir?"

A few soldiers were looking at Shadow in confusion, and in some cases worry. The hedgehog was looking down, his eyes darkened. His grip on the samurai blade tightened while his other hand clenched into a fist. His teeth gritted together and he began to seethe. In his head he was repeating "No, no, no, no, no..."

At last, he snapped his head up and spoke.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Shouted the hedgehog. "GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

--- --- --- --- ---

Ryuko wasn't knocked out by the blast. Still hurt like a bitch, though. Shaking the haze from her eyes, she felt an immense weight on her back. She pushed herself up from the rubble, letting much of it settle and some hit her head. A crack of light formed from a shape in the rubble. She heard some voices. Curious, she poked her eye through the light and viewed the spectacle. Shadow was still there, his back turned to her view. But aside from him?

Military. Soldiers, helicopters and tanks - one of which definitely shot at her - stood before Shadow.

...

An aura of rage steamed off of Ryuko. Her eyes darkened. She grit her teeth, grinding them together so hard some of them were actually shaven off. She felt her strength come back to her quickly, ready to tear shit apart. Her eyes flared red with anger. She felt her blood boil. Not metaphorically, either, like actually boil. Outside of the rubble she was covered under, her friends and fellow citizens were fighting for her home. But right in front of her, the raiders of said home were just casually standing there.

And she sure as hell wasn't happy about it.

--- --- --- --- ---

*SLASH*

Shadow turned around when he heard that sound. Sure enough, Ryuko had quickly broken out of the rubble, her head down and her arms swayed to the side. On a command, all the soldier trained their sights on her, and all the helicopters aimed their spotlights on her. Shadow got into a combat stance, but being smart this time he didn't draw any guns.

The Ultimate Life Form grit his teeth and sweat trickled from his brow. Something was... very different about her. Her appearance? Sure as hell. She was now covered in spikes. There were spikes aligning her front straps and the sides of her arms. Spikes outlining the widened eyes of her suit. Spikes upon her skirt. Spikes on her shoulders. Even parts of her hair were now spiky! She also grew a set of three large claws on each hand.

But that's not what got to him. What got to him was the aura about her. Blood was slowly flowing out of her mouth. She was breathing heavily. She actually had a large hole in her chest that was rapidly healing. She was seething, though much more fiercely than Shadow was a moment ago. Bloodlust was practically burning from her body as a red aura of death.

It was only when she raised her head that Shadow felt it. The burning rage in her eyes.

"Oh... There it is."

Ryuko slowly rose to her full height, her arms dangling at her sides. Shadow knew he wasn't the only one feeling it. The battlefield began to tense. They prepared themselves for what happened next.

They weren't ready.

"Pieces of shit. You people think..." Ryuko began. As she spoke, she slowly and ominously rose her left arm. "... That you can just go wherever you please? You think I'm gonna let you turn my school... My home..." Her arm rose as high as it could get... And her eyes flashed red once more.

"INTO YOUR DAMN STOMPING GROUNDS!?!?"

As she threw her arm down, Shadow could only stretch out his own arm. "NO! D-"

*BOOM*

Shadow along with several military soldiers were blown back. Shadow tumbled along the ground, earning some bruises along the way. he tried to plant his hands and feet into the ground to stop himself, but as he flew further he slammed into a wall behind him. The impact was so sudden and unexpected that it hurt Shadow more than expected, knocking the wind out of him.

Shadow fell onto his knees and then to his chest. His eyes were widened and unfocused, and he was struggling to breath from the impact. His vision was starting to blur from some unbearable pain in his side that he couldn't identify. He tried to get up, but the shock gave him such a weakness that he couldn't even move his arms.

In the distance, he could hear screaming. Desperate calls to open fire, men trying to run away, guns and weapons unloading... but above all, a bestial roar.

And then it all went white.

--- --- --- --- ---

Shadow's eyes eventually snapped open. He was lying on his stomach with his head to his side. In his line of sight, he could see destroyed landscape. Not much else; that was the singular way to describe it. Getting up to his hands and knees, he couldn't see much. The ground beneath him was covered with rubble. He could certainly see fire. Lots of freaking fire. Through the corners of his eyes, he could see bodies laying down. He dare not draw his full attention for fear that he would see something to haunt him for the rest of his days.

Lifting himself up to his feet, Shadow felt a stinging pain at his side. He looked to see a metal pole stabbed into him. Had he the time, he may have thrown up at the sight. Instead, he clutched the bar, placed another hand on his chest, and with a great effort began to pull... and pull... and pull...

*SHLING*

And gritting his teeth, he pulled with a great effort, forcing the bar out of his side!

Dropping the bloodied piece of metal, Shadow fell to his knees, breathing heavily and clutching at his side. He knew he had to focus in order to keep it from getting worse. Steadying his breathing he allowed Chaos energy to flow through his body, focusing into the area of his wound. The hole in his side knit itself back together, and Shadow felt himself begin to rejuvenate some health. In just under a minute, he was back on his feet, feeling revitalized.

He heard footsteps.

Focusing his vision upward, he saw his opponent, Ryuko Matoi. She had a new form. Her sailor suit looked to be a combination between her jet form and her spike covered form. She was basically wearing a saw-blade dress. Under different circumstances, Shadow may have laughed at how hard to walk it looked.

But her downtrodden expression was what got to him. Ryuko was trying to avert her gaze from Shadow. She actually saw what she did to his comrades. Dismemberment. Destruction. Screaming. What she did made her feel guilty. It didn't matter that they attacked her home; she wasn't herself when she fought back. She had turned into some monster. She closed her eyes and leaned her head towards the ground.

"I'm sorry."

A silence followed between the two, and you could hear a pin drop.

Shadow scoffed, making Ryuko snap up her head in surprise. The Ultimate Life-Form had his eyes closed as he sighed. In that moment, he looked more ashamed then she.

"No. I'm sorry." He looked back up at her with a humorless smile. "'I have a job to do' isn't a good excuse anymore. Look at what we've done. We don't belong here." From hammerspace, Shadow pulled out his Samurai Blade once again, along with another weapon. A long black gun with a red streak on top and a bizarre symbol on the side. The Shadow as it was known.

"But," Shadow continued, "it's still true. We do have a duty. Both of us. And now we have all the more incentive to accomplish it. You know what that means?"

Ryuko was silent for a moment... Then, after blinking she looked up to Shadow's position and smiled. It was almost playful. "Yeah." From her own area of hammerspace, Ryuko pulled out another Scissor Blade. Exactly like the first one, but purple and with a circular guard.

With two weapons in each hand, both took a fighting stance. While Ryuko's spikes grew in length, Shadow began to glow red. The both spoke at the same time.

"No more holding back."

--- --- --- --- ---

To be continued...

Description

Read the prelude first.

Raiden: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!

Makoto: It's time for an EDGE BATTLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

--- --- --- --- ---

Honnoji Academy

It was a quiet and peaceful day...

... HAH!

Okay, okay, enough bull. Welcome, to a school where the word of Satsuki Kiryuin was law. A school that dominated the city. The school itself had a fairly circular shape. The classrooms and such curved as two buildings to the sides of a large tower, designed perfectly so that the sun would raise above it. However, the school building was so huge that there was a massive field of nothing within the circle. From the inside it was certainly a school, but from the outside? A stadium. A coliseum. A battlefield. Anything but a damn school!

But as stated before, the school - and in fact, the whole country - had its own monarch of sorts. And with order there was often rebellion.

Enter Ryuko Matoi. She was the rebel, the thug, the dark personality, but she was the opposite of the school bully. She had black hair with an eye-catching red streak through the front, And she wore a sailor suit. Her black skirt and the top half were connected by two straps, and said top half of the uniform was black with rolled up long sleeves, a ribbon in the middle, and a pair of eyes, one of which was cut off.

Yes. I said eyes... Her suit's alive. It's weird.

She was currently sitting somewhere in the middle of the massive circle that was the school. She rested one arm on a raised knee, while the other had a hand gripping the Scissor Blade stabbed in the ground. She had an intense glare on. She usually did - it was basically her natural look - but at this time in particular, she looked ready to kick the ass of the next thing that came into her line of sight.

Too bad something happened to be there.

For his part, Shadow the Hedgehog looked a lot like Ryuko. Well, sort of. He was covered in black fur with a tuft of white hair on his chest. He had white gloves and white shoes with red outlines at the bottom, and both his wrists and ankles had gold rings on them. His wide red eyes had red around the points at the top, and the large quills on his head each had a red stripe along it. Maybe 'looked like' isn't the right way to put it, but they certainly had similar appearances. If you swapped the gender and the race, they would be looking in a mirror.

And Shadow felt similarly annoyed.

Ryuko Matoi was the target. Apparently someone had decided her too dangerous to exist with that kamui on. She was to be either captured or killed. Throwing aside how pointless this seemed to Shadow, this mission wasn't meant to be as loud as it was. Not really a stealth mission, but a contained one at least. No dice. Kiryuin's forces quickly found out, and they didn't hold back. The power of Ira Gamagori alone intimidated G.U.N. enough to turn this into a full-on raid. That raid was happening right here, right now. The war was right outside of the school area, in the entire city. With all that distraction, G.U.N. decided to leave the big meat to Shadow.

But you don't fuck with the home of Ryuko Matoi.

The wind howled around the two fighters, circling through the massive battlefield of a school. Both figures had nothing else of interest going on, so they glared at each other. Unfortunately, they knew that they were opposing forces. They were possibly the strongest units of said forces. Here they were being made to fight someone they had just met. Someone that looked like they had difficult struggles much like their own. Someone that may have been a good person to whomever they were fighting... And yet someone who had been their primary source of frustration.

And yet before all that...

Shadow noticed the girl's glare and relaxed, letting out a sigh. "Rough day, huh?"

Ryuko's glare softened. Closing her eyes she gathered her thoughts. She scoffed, supporting herself by her sword to stand up, and smirked. "You don't know what rough is. Betcha your day's going better than mine."

Shadow chuckled at that. "Yeah, you're probably right about that. But hey, people like us... We don't get to have it easy, y'know. This job I do? This was what I had to do. Guys like me have it hard finding people that accepts you."

Ryuko frowned, though not in a sad way. In fact, she chuckled at that. "Do you mean as a three-foot talking mass of fur and quills?"

Both of them laughed. They laughed a genuine laugh. It truly felt like they had shared that one. It would be the first and last moment they shared.

As their laughter died down, they looked at each other again and frowned. In their eyes, they almost looked sad. Ryuko pulled her Scissor Blade out of the ground. "Well... There's something expected of the both of us. I guess we should get started." Spinning her weapon for flare, Ryuko entered a combat stance. "Stick by me, Senketsu."

The sailor suit's singular eye looked up at Ryuko. "Be careful, Ryuko, or I'll do it for you."

The communicator on Shadow's wrist buzzed. He heard a commanding voice say "Shadow, hurry it up in there! You know what you have to do!"

Gritting his teeth and clenching his left fist, Shadow replied "Understood." He raised the pistol in his right hand.

"Initiating the mission now."

Shadow was in the best position to attack, and took the initiative, unloading the rounds in his weapon. Ryuko jumped to the side, circling Shadow to avoid the bullets. She skidded to a halt and swung her sword to deflect a series of bullets, proceeding to dash forward towards Shadow. The hedgehog didn't expect the reckless approach, and stepped back to avoid a powerful slash. Ryuko twisted the blade and brought it down, and Shadow cartwheeled to the side to avoid it slamming into the ground. However, Ryuko was faster than expected, and she twisted the blade again, unleashing another forceful swing. Shadow barely brought his arms up, and the Scissor Blade scraped along his rings.

The attack carried a lot of force, and Shadow was forced back by the wind that it stirred up. Sliding across the ground, Shadow lowered his hands and ducked, his quills grazing the Scissor Blade. Glaring, Shadow jumped and roundhouse-kicked at Ryuko's head, forcing her to bring up her Scissor Blade and block the attack. The flat of the blade grinded against Shadow's shoe, and Ryuko pushed forward, forcing Shadow to jump away, and chased after him.

Shadow backflipped, tilting his body backwards to avoid another slash. Ryuko started slashing from one side, lifting overhead, and slashing from the other, keeping Shadow on his toes. Shadow threw his arms up with every swing, cleverly deflecting the strikes with the rings on his wrists. Ryuko put more force into one of her strikes, so Shadow deflected the attack, held it there, stepped forward, and shot her under the chin.

Ryuko stumbled back as Shadow lowered his stance, believing he had the victory...

... But Ryuko leaned back up into her stance, spitting the bullet out of her mouth. Shadow did a double take, and Ryuko sported a shit-eating grin.

"Aw, jeez..."

Ryuko delivered a strong slash, forcing Shadow to limbo under it. He got back up and pointed his gun forward... to find that the barrel had been sliced off. The moment of shock was an opening that Ryuko took, slamming Shadow with her body and sending him several yards back. Shadow rolled in midair and skid along the ground, looking up to see Ryuko charging at him for another attack.

Ryuko went for an overhead, and Shadow crossed his arms above his head to deflect the strike with his rings. This forced the fighters into a lock, gritting their teeth as they tried to gain supremacy. It was then that they had a chance to look into each other's eyes. Once again, it was like looking into a mirror. Once glance told them exactly what they needed to know.

"This... Is gonna take a while."

Forcing his arms up, Shadow activated the rockets on his shoes, which caught Ryuko off guard. Shadow shot up and caught Ryuko off balance. As he rose, he grabbed Ryuko's arm, bringing them both into the sky. At a certain height, Shadow tossed Ryuko in the air and she was unable to recover. The hedgehog clenched his fist and slammed it into Ryuko's face, rocketing her into the ground and creating a large dust cloud on impact.

Ryuko could be found laying on her chest, gritting her teeth and placing a hand on the ground to lift herself up. She looked up to see Shadow still floating in midair, his shoes releasing torrents of fire. "Okay... So he can do that. Noted." She rested her blade on her shoulder as she got to her feet.

"Ryuko, now might be a good time to-"

"Not yet, Senketsu," she interrupted her sailor suit. "I can still take him on my own. Just watch me!" The drawn back Scissor Blade now seemed to glow with energy.

This did not unnoticed by Shadow, and he kept his guard up. She was clearly preparing something. Must have been some kind of long ranged attack, otherwise the gap in distance would need to be-

His thought process was interrupted and he was more than shocked when she was able to jump to his current height! Feeling a power coming on, he barely had time to maneuver to the side when Ryuko swung down, firing a large beam from her blade. He heard a crash behind him. He didn't need to look to know that the wall to his back had just been split in half.

"Okay... Enough of that!" Shadow flew towards Ryuko and threw another punch, but this time she caught it, forcing a midair struggle. Shadow ducked under a swing but as a result ran his face into Ryuko's knee, stunning him. She took this opportunity to kick off his body and send him to the ground, swinging her blade and firing another beam before falling. Shadow crashed into the ground, and in a haste he instantly activates his jet shoes. His body slid across the ground, but he managed to evade the blast of the projectile.

As Shadow's body grinded along the ground, his head eventually met a wall behind him, stopping him in his slide and disorienting him. Ryuko used this to her advantage and lept overhead, attempting to impale Shadow into the ground as she fell. At the last second, Shadow's eyes shot open and he lifted his foot, firing a jet stream from it. The flames met the blade, forcing it away from Shadow's body. The hedgehog gritted his teeth and pushed his leg upward, forcing Ryuko to stumble back and giving Shadow enough time to flip to his feet. Shadow then dashed at Ryuko, who raised her arms to block a bone smashing kick to the side of her head.

Seeing no way to pull out, Ryuko rose her sword over her head and swung down. Shadow had enough time to roll to the side and hear another beam destroy the wall behind him. From a kneeling position he pulled out a sub machine gun and fired on Ryuko. She held up her blade in defense, though many bullets hit her, and though she was healing she was stunned by the barrage. Shadow took this time to dash forward and deliver a kick, but Ryuko once again blocked with the Scissor Blade.

Shadow persisted, delivering two jet-infused roundhouses which Ryuko barely blocked. Ryuko took two wide swings at Shadow which he easily backed away from, but when he held up his gun to shoot she kicked it away, spinning around and attempting a stab to the hedgehog's torso. He didn't expect this and he knew his rings wouldn't be enough this time, so he took evasive action.

Just when it seemed like Shadow would be impaled... he disappeared.

Ryuko stumbled forward and planted her sword into the ground, keeping herself standing. She quickly looked around for her opponent. "What the hell was-!"

Ryuko was interrupted by a jet shoe to the cheek. She quickly recovered and swung her blade, only for Shadow to disappear again and elbow her in the back. Ryuko spun and swung behind her again. Shadow disappeared. An attack came from above and stomped down on Ryuko head, bringing her to the ground. When she looked up a foot met her face, knocking her back and sliding her along the ground.

She quickly recovered from her slide with a cartwheel and pulled her blade back. The edge seemed to open up and reveal another blade, thereby extending the length, and she unhooked the handle and opened it. The blade was now in Decapitation Mode.

She charged towards Shadow again, yelling in frustration "How the hell can you do that!!! Is it some kind of power!?" As she got close to Shadow she hopped and skid to a halt, kicking up dirt as she slid along the ground. She swung towards Shadow again... and he disappeared again.

"Power..." Shadow appeared behind Ryuko and backflip kicked her into the air. He disappeared again.

"Has nothing..." As Ryuko reached the peak of her ascent, Shadow appeared behind her and kicked her in the back, rocketing her towards the ground. He disappeared again.

"To do with it!" Shadow reappeared in front of Ryuko's landing zone. The girl had no time to prepare, and as Shadow thrust his hand forward, it was time perfectly with Ryuko's eventual landing, hitting her solar plexus and knocking the wind out of her.

*stop music*

The impact not only made Ryuko cough up some blood and spit, but also created a shockwave which formed a small crater under the two fighters. The fighter's eyes met once more, Ryuko looking completely shocked and Shadow simply glaring. Even if she could think of something to say, she couldn't between struggling to breathe.

Shadow pulled his fist back, allowing Ryuko to fall to her knees and then to the ground. Shadow looked down at her and smirked. "I'm just that fast."

He then turned around and spoke into the communicator on his wrist. "Comander, the target is down."

"Good," Spoke the G.U.N. Commander from the other side, "But what's her status? She's not dead, is she?"

"No, she's still breathing. Don't know what she's made of, but she survived more than a couple of bullets. She was a tough nut to crack." Shadow knew he was getting off topic. "Look, all I'm saying is that she's down for the count. For now."

"Well, pray that it's enough time, Shadow. Get her back here ASAP."

Shadow nodded, not that the Commander could notice. "Understood." He turned around... but was shocked to see Ryuko twitch her arm. He walked up to her, and saw the she was looking up at him with defiance in her eyes. She had something in her mouth. All Shadow could tell from this distance was the color. Red.

"... I'll get back to you on that, Commander." Before the other side could retort, Shadow cut the line and simply stared down at Ryuko. Shadow was preparing for a million possible scenarios. Maybe she pulled the pin on a grenade? Was it some kind of communicator? Hell, he even pondered her spitting a bottle cap at him. He had a gut feeling it was none of these things, given his luck. And, well... Turns out he wasn't wrong.

Ryuko tilted her head up at just the right angle and spat the object at Shadow. He let it hit his face before it fell into his hand. He inspected it, and it was certainly red. It looked like a cross between a pin and a key. But where'd it come from? And what was it a key to? Thinking about it... he got his answer in the form of a shine out of the corner of his eye.

Ryuko smiled.

BOOM!

A sudden blast erupted from Ryuko's body, and Shadow was thrown back. The Ultimate Life Form spun in midair and slid along the ground. Looking up, he saw a red pillar of energy blasting into the sky, beginning from the crater where Ryuko resided. Shadow couldn't help being appalled. Was this the power that he was meant to stop? What they were so afraid of? Looking further up, he saw the red pillar take shape into a dragon-like creature. It let out a roar at Shadow, proceeding to blaze downward into Ryuko's body.

From within, Senketsu was absorbing some of Ryuko's blood. The two beings were merging together, Ryuko accepting Senketsu as part of her skin. Blood and DNA were binding together, weaving into one another. The dragon of red energy seemed to consume Ryuko, and she began to dawn her new outfit. Her suit became much more revealing, only leaving a shoulder pad to cover her breasts with straps to cover her skirt, which sprouted spikes. Her arms and legs were covered by black cloting with red strands, and the underside of her hair gained a red coloring. Finally, she sprouted two large shoulder pads that looked like Senketsu's eyes.

With the transformation complete, she made a fierce declaration.

"LIFE FIBER SYNCHRONIZE: KAMUI SENKETSU!"

The red energy pillar dissipated, and Shadow was... understandably taken aback. The appearance of the form was a bit jarring to saw the least. Like... Apparently you just need to show some skin to get more power. Huh... Do you think if-

Shaking his head before that thought process went anywhere, Shadow raised his gun. "So you've still got some tricks up your sleeve. Alright, show me what you've got." He readied himself for anything...

... Except for what actually happened.

Ryuko disappeared in a flash before reappearing in front of Shadow. The hedgehog had no way to prepare for this, and promptly received an uppercut to the jaw, blasting him into the air. Ryuko chased after him and slashed at him. After the attack she disappeared before reappearing behind him and slashing again. And again to his side. And again from overhead. Soon Ryuko could be seen only in several afterimages surrounding Shadow, never letting up her attacks on the Ultimate Life Form. Eventually she delivered a kick to his head that threw him downward.

Shadow was prepared to use the opening to recover, but as soon as he tried he found himself tied up by a thread. It was thin, but somehow it was incredibly strong, and at the moment he couldn't break through it. Ryuko pulled on the thread and brought Shadow back, only to deliver a solid punch that sent him back. She pulled again and punched him back. She pulled again. She punched back. It kept going until it was not unlike a violent game of paddle-ball.

Ryuko kept doing this before pulling off a bizarre maneuver: As Shadow came back to her she flew up and flipped the sword in her hand so that she was holding it by the blade. Descending she spun in midair and brought the hilt of the blade down, delivering a skull cracking blow to Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form spun in midair and activated his rocket boots before he hit the ground, blasting back towards Ryuko. The combatants swung at each other, and their fists collided to create a large shockwave throughout the school ground. Shadow felt the greater force behind the impact, and then understood that he could not afford to be lenient.

Shadow kicked away from her and tried unloading a clip from his sub-machine gun. To his displeasure, however, every bullet that hit her bounced off. Ryuko took his shock as an opening and threw a thread forward, tying Shadow's arm. She pulled him towards her again, but Shadow readied a counterattack and their kicks met each other in midair. However, Ryuko still had the advantage, and pulled his arm forward. In such an awkward position, Shadow could not counter the axe kick that brought him to the ground.

Shadow was able to somersault in the air and land on his feet. He proceeded to aim his gun skyward again and shoot at Ryuko, but to no avail. He gave an annoyed breath. "Okay, so I wasn't just seeing things." This was further confirmed by Ryuko's shit-eating grin.

Ryuko rocketed down attempting to stomp Shadow into the ground. Shadow slid back, and when Ryuko tried to follow up with another sword swing he ducked under it. Ryuko followed that up with an overhead strike. Shadow blocked it with his rings, but was forced down on one knee. He fired off a jet from the foot in his lower leg and threw a kick at Ryuko's side. This made her let up her attack long enough for Shadow to get out, but she used the momentum from getting hit to spin around and kick Shadow back.

Shadow stumbled, and Ryuko once again dashed forward for an overhead strike. Shadow once again had to roll to Ryuko's right before her Scissor Blade smashed into the ground. As Shadow stopped his roll he jumped and spun in midair, attempting an axe kick on her head. Ryuko swung her blade upward and clashed with Shadow's jet infused shoe. She forced her attack through to catch Shadow off balance, and with that opening she ties a thread to Shadow's leg and delivered a hard swing at him, sending him flying back. Ryuko pulled on the thread again and pulled Shadow back towards her. She clenched her fist, and as Shadow reached her his chin was met with another hard uppercut.

"Y'see what happens when you mess with me!?" She exclaimed as she puled her blade back, gathering more energy. "This is what I'm capable of! What we're capable of!!!" With a scream, Ryuko swung her blade forward, firing a beam of energy once.

The spectacle impressed Shadow. The beam was massive, and if it hit him it would clearly split him in half. Shadow gritted his teeth. He was in a tough spot. Clearly his guns wouldn't save him in this situation; they couldn't handle this kind of firepower. He couldn't run or fly away; the thread was still tied to his leg. His options were limited... but he could still do something.

Shadow gathered a yellow energy into his hand. He pulled his fist back. "Chaos..."

This didn't go unnoticed by Ryuko, who raised an eyebrow. "What is he-"

"... Spear!" Throw his hand forward, Shadow fired a yellow spear of energy at the blade beam. The attacks collided, and the Chaos Spear pierced right through Ryuko's projectile! Ryuko was so stunned by the spectacle that Senketsu had to act for her, pulling her body back and dodging the attack.

*stop music*

BOOM!

A large crater was formed where the Chaos Spear landed, kicking up dust and blinding Ryuko for a moment. The shockwave was enough to crack the walls of the school ground. Ryuko gritted her teeth. She pulled the thread she was still holding... but when it came back, the hedgehog was gone.

"What the-!?" Ryuko was speechless. "How did-!? Where'd he-!?"

"Ryuko, behind you!!"

Senketsu's warning was all she needed to snap her out of her funk. She put her blade up to rest on her shoulders, blocking a sudden kick from Shadow. She pushed him off and spun around to swing at him, but Shadow activated his rocket shoes to fly away from the strike, skidding along the ground as he landed.

He looked back up as he halted, and their glares met. Both were panting heavily at the sudden new display of power they gave to one another. Shadow had smoke coming off of his left hand from the power he just unleashed. He was still holding his sub-machine gun in his right. Ryuko's sword was perched over her shoulder, and Senketsu's eye had half its lid down, as if he was tired too. Both combatants had witness a whole new side to their opponent, and if anything it should have kept them on their guard.

Instead, they both smiled.

"Heh. You escaped my thread," Ryuko stated matter-of-factly. "So what? You're a teleporter now?"

Shadow flicked his hand to stop the smoke from coming off it. "Maybe. And you're sailor suit spits out unbreakable wires. Who are you to judge?"

This adrenaline pumping. The flare in one another's eyes. The intense breathing. The honest to God fuck-mothering smiles on their faces! The two fighters could hardly believe it... but they were really enjoying this!

Both fighters prepared for battle again, clenching their fists and pulling back. Both began a steady pace towards one another, but eventually moved faster. They began to jog. Then they began to sprint full force. Eventually they found themselves propelled forward by the jets built into their wardrobe.

With a cry of battle, both ran up to each other and threw their fists forward with all their strength.

--- --- --- --- ---

*CRASH*

Shadow found himself smashed through the wall that surrounded the school. Rolling on the ground for a moment, he skidded to a halt and checked his surroundings. He was in the streets of Honnoji, just in front of where he entered the Academy. From behind him, the street continued down a large hill. If he went in that direction, he would eventually make it to the battlefield of G.U.N. and Honnoji Academy.

He had no time to think about that as Ryuko rocketed above the wall he was just smashed through. Shadow ran down the hill as Ryuko smashed into the pavement where he once was. Before he could get too far, Ryuko propelled forward and kicked Shadow in the side, throwing him into a building wall. Shadow spun in midair and landed with his feet and one hand on the wall. As Ryuko swung her blade and fired another beam he proceeded to run up the outside of the building to avoid the attack.

*SLASH*

The attack was enough to start bringing the building down. Ryuko looked up to see Shadow continuing his ascent, jumping from various pieces of debris to keep going. "What is he doing?" Ryuko activated the rockets on Senketsu, chasing after Shadow. As the hedgehog jumped off of a piece of debris he turned around to see Ryuko flying right towards him, even crashing through a large slab of concrete. Shadow couldn't stop her from slamming into him, but he activated his jets to fight Ryuko's force.

Both were gripping and glaring at each other in a stalemate, but for a fraction of a second, Shadow looked away. In that time, he noticed a particular piece of debris that looked just... like...

"Perfect!"

Shadow gathered energy into his right hand and formed a Chaos Spear. From up close he used the supposed projectile to stab Ryuko in the arm. Ryuko flinched and lost her grip momentarily, which was all Shadow needed to rocket away from her. Ryuko attempted to grab the Chaos Spear to pull it put, but when she tried touching it her hand was zapped away. After a few seconds it disappeared.

"What kind of attack is that!?" Perishing the thought she looked around for her opponent. In her general surroundings, however, she couldn't see him. He wasn't above her, either. So she looked down.

And she saw him alright.

Going down the mountain.

On an insultingly perfect shape of debris.

LIKE A FUCKING SURFBOARD!!!

Ryuko was more taken aback than she should have been, but she wasn't distracted from her goal. "Senketsu! Form change!" The eyes on Senketsu stretch out till they were shaped like wings, and her suit sprouted cone-shaped leggings, which spit out fire. The transformation was complete.

"SENKETSU SHIPPU!"

Clenching her fist, Ryuko aimed herself towards her opponent. "No surfing rat's gonna get the better of me!" And with that, she blasted off towards Shadow.

The Ultimate Life Form heard the rocket behind him. He turned around to see Ryuko's new form rocketing towards him. "Okay, what the hell!?" Shadow tried blasting several Chaos Spears behind him, all of which Ryuko was able to maneuver through. She met one Chaos Spear with her Scissor Blade and cut through it, at the same time shooting a blade beam at Shadow. The black blur skid to the side to avoid the attack, surfing in between two building on the side of the road as it formed a slash mark in the road. In frustration, Ryuko chased after the hedgehog through the opening.

Shadow, meanwhile had attempted to lose Ryuko by maneuvering through the labyrinth of a city he was now in. So far he wasn't succeeding. Ryuko tried to slam down on him again, but Shadow slid to the side and began surfing on the wall. Ryuko tried to ram into him from the side, and Shadow leaped off of the building, forcing her to smash into it. Shadow saw an opening, and slammed down on Ryuko body, grinding her through the pavement.

He was now surfing on a piece of debris. Surfing on Ryuko... It was quite a spectacle.

Now further pissed off, Ryuko rocketed straight up into the sky. Shadow was forced off of her, but managed to land on his concrete board. Ryuko flew in front of him and attempted to blast forward and stab him. Shadow ducked under the attack, but Ryuko stopped and flew back in an attempt to repeat the attack. Shadow leaned to the side this time, and Ryuko flew up and back at Shadow with another stab. Shadow jumped over this one, but Ryuko flew back again.

Eventually, Ryuko was flying circles and figure eights around Shadow in an attempt to get a hit on him, while he was just a black blur of motion constantly dodging her attacks. This was getting old. Shadow had to get her off of him, especially since he was about to surf into a building.

"Wait... Right there!"

Shadow jumped over an attack from the front, and as Ryuko turned back around he kicked off his board, sending it straight towards her face. Not expecting the maneuver Ryuko was hit by the board, and Shadow had just enough time to get away. In the air, Shadow boosted through a window in front of a building. He quickly ran across a room to the window on the other side. He curled into a ball and broke through, and still in midair he turned around and charged energy into his hand once more.

Wait for it... wait for it... *CRASH*

Ryuko smashed right through the building walls in an attempt to catch Shadow. Just as she did, however, Shadow threw a Chaos Spear at her, for Ryuko to lift her arms in an X formation at the last second. The attack pierced through her arms, though they protected her face. Shadow teleported and reappeared above her, performing a homing attack to drill into her back and down to the ground.

Ryuko was being grinded through the pavement again, but she activated her rockets to get out from under the living buzz-saw. Shadow bounced in his ball form and homed in on Ryuko again., and Ryuko held up her sword to block the attack, which persisted and tried to drill through. Gritting her teeth, Ryuko jumped over the spinning ball and swung her blade down at Shadow. Shadow was able to teleport, though, and reappeared in front of Ryuko with a kick to the face. Shadow then fled down the mountain again, this time flying with his jet shoes, and Ryuko recovered and rocketed after him.

"Time to match her style." From hammerspace, Shadow pulled out his samurai blade and swung at Ryuko as she caught up with him. The two swung at each other twice, power matching each other. Shadow tried a rising slash which Ryuko ducked under.She used the opening to tie a thread around Shadow's leg and swing him down. Ryuko blasted downward and attempted to stab him again, but Shadow recovered just in time and held his sword to the side, deflecting her attack and forcing her to move past him. Ryuko swung back around and fired a blade beam, and Shadow did the same with his samurai blade. The two projectiles clashed, forming a huge explosion in midair.

"Ryuko, move upward and dash down!" Senketsu advised.

His prediction was on the mark, too. Shadow blasted off through the smoke cloud at Ryuko, but she followed Senketsu's instructions, and she soon found Shadow and herself being blasted further down the hill. From his position, Shadow tried to stab Ryuko, but she turned her head to the side... and she actually bit down on the samurai blade! Grinding her teeth along the weapon, she threw her head forward into Shadow's nose, forcing him to instinctively put a hand to it. With this opening, Ryuko pulled her sword back and swung it forward with extreme force, firing a beam from it again. Shadow was hit dead on with the attack, and was sent further rocketing down the path to the battle ground.

Shadow gritted his teeth and forced one eye open. With a struggle, he put his blade up and slashed the projectile away. He landed on his feet when he reached the ground, and he felt the blade beam whoosh by his head, followed by an eventual crash. Panting heavily, he had just enough time to hold up his blade in defense as Ryuko crashed into him, creating a shockwave and forcing the two warriors into a blade lock.

Both gritted their teeth and pushed against each other with all their force. With a free hand, Shadow reached to the gun at his side. Ryuko's eyes were drawn to the motion, and she scoffed. "Are you an idiot? You should know damn well by now that guns don't work on me!"

Shadow knew she was right... but for some reason of fighting instinct, he brought up the weapon.

"How about this one!?"

*BOOM*

*stop music*

Suddenly, without Shadow's input, Ryuko was blasted away with extreme force. She tumbled and bounced along the ground, grinding through the pavement before being smashed into a building and creating a large hole in the wall of a building. Pieces of debris collapsed on top of her. She had presumably been brought down for the time being.

Needless to say, Shadow was confused. Hadn't they just been in a blade lock? He had just reached for his gun one moment, and the next? BOOM! Blast away! There she goes! Gone! He was pretty sure his gun didn't do that. Unless the sub-machine gun was an automatically firing weapon with the power of a tank behind it, he knew he didn't pull the trigger. Okay, so they were fighting, and they locked blades. So far so good. Then he reached for his gun, Ryuko mocked him, a voice retorted, and that's when-

Wait a minute... a voice?

"Shadow! We've come to provide backup."

Shadow's eyes shot open in surprise. Turning around, he saw a large sum of G.U.N. soldiers behind him. Most of them were infantry, offering a salute to Shadow. They had a large variety of weapons between them, from machine guns to assault rifles to rocket launchers, as was to be expected. Several helicopters were in the area, their propellers continuously thumping through the air as they had their spotlights on either Shadow or the rubble that covered Ryuko. There were also a few tanks in the vicinity, one of which was smoking through the barrel. Clearly the one that fired the shot.

With the army that stood before him, Shadow could only ask...

"What are you doing here?"

A soldier stood at attention. "As stated, sir, we came to provide backup. The commander sent us up after seeing the commotion within the upper city. The company you see now were the most available at the moment." The soldier tilted his head to look past Shadow. "Seems the target is down, sir. Mission accomplished? Sir?"

A few soldiers were looking at Shadow in confusion, and in some cases worry. The hedgehog was looking down, his eyes darkened. His grip on the samurai blade tightened while his other hand clenched into a fist. His teeth gritted together and he began to seethe. In his head he was repeating "No, no, no, no, no..."

At last, he snapped his head up and spoke.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Shouted the hedgehog. "GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

--- --- --- --- ---

Ryuko wasn't knocked out by the blast. Still hurt like a bitch, though. Shaking the haze from her eyes, she felt an immense weight on her back. She pushed herself up from the rubble, letting much of it settle and some hit her head. A crack of light formed from a shape in the rubble. She heard some voices. Curious, she poked her eye through the light and viewed the spectacle. Shadow was still there, his back turned to her view. But aside from him?

Military. Soldiers, helicopters and tanks - one of which definitely shot at her - stood before Shadow.

...

An aura of rage steamed off of Ryuko. Her eyes darkened. She grit her teeth, grinding them together so hard some of them were actually shaven off. She felt her strength come back to her quickly, ready to tear shit apart. Her eyes flared red with anger. She felt her blood boil. Not metaphorically, either, like actually boil. Outside of the rubble she was covered under, her friends and fellow citizens were fighting for her home. But right in front of her, the raiders of said home were just casually standing there.

And she sure as hell wasn't happy about it.

--- --- --- --- ---

*SLASH*

Shadow turned around when he heard that sound. Sure enough, Ryuko had quickly broken out of the rubble, her head down and her arms swayed to the side. On a command, all the soldier trained their sights on her, and all the helicopters aimed their spotlights on her. Shadow got into a combat stance, but being smart this time he didn't draw any guns.

The Ultimate Life Form grit his teeth and sweat trickled from his brow. Something was... very different about her. Her appearance? Sure as hell. She was now covered in spikes. There were spikes aligning her front straps and the sides of her arms. Spikes outlining the widened eyes of her suit. Spikes upon her skirt. Spikes on her shoulders. Even parts of her hair were now spiky! She also grew a set of three large claws on each hand.

But that's not what got to him. What got to him was the aura about her. Blood was slowly flowing out of her mouth. She was breathing heavily. She actually had a large hole in her chest that was rapidly healing. She was seething, though much more fiercely than Shadow was a moment ago. Bloodlust was practically burning from her body as a red aura of death.

It was only when she raised her head that Shadow felt it. The burning rage in her eyes.

"Oh... There it is."

Ryuko slowly rose to her full height, her arms dangling at her sides. Shadow knew he wasn't the only one feeling it. The battlefield began to tense. They prepared themselves for what happened next.

They weren't ready.

"Pieces of shit. You people think..." Ryuko began. As she spoke, she slowly and ominously rose her left arm. "... That you can just go wherever you please? You think I'm gonna let you turn my school... My home..." Her arm rose as high as it could get... And her eyes flashed red once more.

"INTO YOUR DAMN STOMPING GROUNDS!?!?"

As she threw her arm down, Shadow could only stretch out his own arm. "NO! D-"

*BOOM*

Shadow along with several military soldiers were blown back. Shadow tumbled along the ground, earning some bruises along the way. he tried to plant his hands and feet into the ground to stop himself, but as he flew further he slammed into a wall behind him. The impact was so sudden and unexpected that it hurt Shadow more than expected, knocking the wind out of him.

Shadow fell onto his knees and then to his chest. His eyes were widened and unfocused, and he was struggling to breath from the impact. His vision was starting to blur from some unbearable pain in his side that he couldn't identify. He tried to get up, but the shock gave him such a weakness that he couldn't even move his arms.

In the distance, he could hear screaming. Desperate calls to open fire, men trying to run away, guns and weapons unloading... but above all, a bestial roar.

And then it all went white.

--- --- --- --- ---

Shadow's eyes eventually snapped open. He was lying on his stomach with his head to his side. In his line of sight, he could see destroyed landscape. Not much else; that was the singular way to describe it. Getting up to his hands and knees, he couldn't see much. The ground beneath him was covered with rubble. He could certainly see fire. Lots of freaking fire. Through the corners of his eyes, he could see bodies laying down. He dare not draw his full attention for fear that he would see something to haunt him for the rest of his days.

Lifting himself up to his feet, Shadow felt a stinging pain at his side. He looked to see a metal pole stabbed into him. Had he the time, he may have thrown up at the sight. Instead, he clutched the bar, placed another hand on his chest, and with a great effort began to pull... and pull... and pull...

*SHLING*

And gritting his teeth, he pulled with a great effort, forcing the bar out of his side!

Dropping the bloodied piece of metal, Shadow fell to his knees, breathing heavily and clutching at his side. He knew he had to focus in order to keep it from getting worse. Steadying his breathing he allowed Chaos energy to flow through his body, focusing into the area of his wound. The hole in his side knit itself back together, and Shadow felt himself begin to rejuvenate some health. In just under a minute, he was back on his feet, feeling revitalized.

He heard footsteps.

Focusing his vision upward, he saw his opponent, Ryuko Matoi. She had a new form. Her sailor suit looked to be a combination between her jet form and her spike covered form. She was basically wearing a saw-blade dress. Under different circumstances, Shadow may have laughed at how hard to walk it looked.

But her downtrodden expression was what got to him. Ryuko was trying to avert her gaze from Shadow. She actually saw what she did to his comrades. Dismemberment. Destruction. Screaming. What she did made her feel guilty. It didn't matter that they attacked her home; she wasn't herself when she fought back. She had turned into some monster. She closed her eyes and leaned her head towards the ground.

"I'm sorry."

A silence followed between the two, and you could hear a pin drop.

Shadow scoffed, making Ryuko snap up her head in surprise. The Ultimate Life-Form had his eyes closed as he sighed. In that moment, he looked more ashamed then she.

"No. I'm sorry." He looked back up at her with a humorless smile. "'I have a job to do' isn't a good excuse anymore. Look at what we've done. We don't belong here." From hammerspace, Shadow pulled out his Samurai Blade once again, along with another weapon. A long black gun with a red streak on top and a bizarre symbol on the side. The Shadow as it was known.

"But," Shadow continued, "it's still true. We do have a duty. Both of us. And now we have all the more incentive to accomplish it. You know what that means?"

Ryuko was silent for a moment... Then, after blinking she looked up to Shadow's position and smiled. It was almost playful. "Yeah." From her own area of hammerspace, Ryuko pulled out another Scissor Blade. Exactly like the first one, but purple and with a circular guard.

With two weapons in each hand, both took a fighting stance. While Ryuko's spikes grew in length, Shadow began to glow red. The both spoke at the same time.

"No more holding back."

--- --- --- --- ---

To be continued...