Akashic Arcana Showdown: Duel in the Shadows!

Boxaman

Active Member
It was a quiet, though rainy, night in the city of Arcadia. Due to the rain, there was almost no one on the street save for the usual Disciplinary Division patrols that protect the city and its students.

Downtown Arcadia, a mess of large buildings, governmental buildings, and various other important facilities. One such facility was the Academy Records Building. The records building was relatively low-key, usually used for simple storage for public records such as ownership of buildings, dorm room assignments, copyright to spellcrafting, etc. However, a secondary storage was kept under tight guard deep within the building: student records. Every student at Arcadia has a comprehensive file on their various backgrounds, criminal records, and detailed list of known abilities. This knowledge is kept under tight guard with at least twelve B+ DD members and one A grade captain on duty at any time, as Arcadia values their students' privacy.

Across the street, a dark figure kneels at the edge of the roof of the Student Council building. The figure was dressed head to toe in what can only be described as ninja attire. A faint, crimson glow are in place of eyes, giving the figure a rather sinister look. The figure remained perfectly still as it watched the ARB, almost as if he was waiting for something.

Then a side door opened and out stepped two of the aforementioned guards. The two walked out side-by-side, with the lights from inside behind them and creating shadows in front of them as they stepped out. Instantly, the figure on the roof disapeared in a puff of smoke. The two guards would freeze as a pair of crimson eyes appear in their merged shadow.

"Wha-" the older one started to say before the figure from before comes launching out of the shadow. He shoots forward, aiming right between the two men. As he closes the distance, he shoots both his arms out and clothelines both of the guards. With no time to react, the two flip in the air and land in a reverse scorpion, the back of their skulls landing on the concrete with a sickening thud. The entire exchange from the rooftop to knocking them out took less than two seconds.

They will live. thought the figure as he grabs a small object out off the older guard before dashing through the open door, closing it behind him and leaving the two unconcious men in the dark of the night. Once inside he takes a good look around, rapidly taking in his surroundings.
 
JUST AN AVERAGE WOMAN

Working the Arcadia Archives was a rather small woman with unremarkable features. Liu Yang, a young Chinese records keeper was unaware of the break-in happening far up at the top of the building. Nodding to the Disciplinary Division guard accompanying her, she carried a stack of records to a small room where she usually conducted her business. Unbeknownst to everyone, however, was that this business was not in the Academy's best interests, nor that of its students. Once in the private room, she closed the door behind her and spread out the records in front of her.

These were the profiles of several first year students, each with links to their respective country's leadership in some respect. Among those included were Artoria Pendragon, Jayden Williams, Reviliere Beaumont, and Tsuya Akishino. However, she would not use the computer supplied for storing and accessing such information. Instead, there was a laptop hidden away in a secret panel. Once she opened it up and powered it on, it accessed some outside contact.

"Connection secure. Begin upload."


A SNEAKY ENTRANCE

Before the shadow ninja's eyes was a balcony. With his entry being through the roof, he'd need to descend several stories to get to his desired destination. The lighting outside the hallway to the roof was dimly lit, so as to preserve power during the night. This would offer Tatsuya plenty of shadows to work with, however there were several guards between him and the case that contained information on Amatsu Akishino, which would be held in a section dedicated to Student Council personnel. Then he would need to bring it to a computer that could access its files.

On his level, Tatsuya would see walls filled with records, but none of them were what he was looking for. These were all for common students. There were two guards that were patrolling the top floor, carrying flashlights. One of them was obviously extremely bored, and was greatly annoying his companion.

"This sucks. This has got to be the worst posting anyone could get."

"Do you ever shut up?"

Their banter continued, and the walkway would circle around an open area that looked down to the lower levels, each of them with two guards.
 
Tatsuya quickly made his way through the records building. Rows upon rows of file cabinets filled with the records of the common students. Having memorized illegally obtained blueprints of the building, Tatsuya easily found his way through the building towards his target. He was swiftly making his way in a crouched position down one row of records when a pair of guards turned the corner. The first guard catches a glimpse of the ninja. All he saw was a a black silhouette that disapeared as soon as he saw it.

The guard instantly shined his light where the figure was at first "What was that?" he asked as he looked for where the figure went. There was no where for the figure to have gone, just a long row of files. The guard peered suspiciously around him, looking up, left, and right with his light. He sighs as he finds nothing. "Must be my imagination."

"You must be seeing stuff, man. Im telling you, these night shifts are not agreeing with you. Hell, you even complain EVERY NIGHT." said the second guard as he pats the back of the first one.

The first guard shrugs off the second "I'm just not up for it tonight. Lets finish our rounds so we can rest our eyes in the break room." The man then moves forward, his partner chuckling before following him.

Soundlessly, an arm shoots around the second guard with the elbow curving around the throat. A second hand grabs the back of the man's head and pushes it forward. The man chokes slightly, grasping at the ninja's arms futilly for the damage was already done. However, the struggle alerted the first guard. He turns around, a ice spell being channeled in his hand.

"Freeze!" he says to nothing in front of him but his partner who was standing slightly before crumpling to the ground. The man gasped in surprise before sensing someone behind him. He spins around, ready to cast the spell. Tatsuya catches the man's spell hand by slamming his thumb in the man's arm, striking directly at the ulnar nerve. The sudden strike there sent shock waves up the man's arm, causing it to go limp and the spell to fade away. The man goes to yelp in pain, but Tatsuya uses his other hand to grasp his jaw, applying enough upward force to slam it shut. Tatsuya then steps forward and puts his forward leg behind the other man's. The ninja then pushes the man backwards with his arm on his jaw as he brings his leg back, sweeping the man's leg out from under him and causing him to lose balance. The man lands on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Tatsuya then follows up with a swift chop to the man's neck, striking the vagus nerve and instantly knocking him out.

Tatsuya spares no time, grabbing their lights and turning them off, leaving the bodies in darkness as he moves on. He leaves the two guards there as he moves into a hallway. He cautiously moves in the direction of the room that contains the classified bios of high profile students.
 
As the two guards were dropped, the rest were alerted to by the one shouting to the shrouded Tatsuya. Several of them readied spells and began to fan out to search for the intruder. Three began to ascend to the shadow ninja's level, shining their flashlights in several directions. Two had fire spells ready, with the third with an icy touch prepared. One muttered to the others "Just be careful not to damage the records."

The one officer that spoke circled around on his own, while the other two came towards Tatsuya, unaware of his position.

Meanwhile, while Liu was performing her rather unscrupulous work, the officer outside her room rapped on the door in an urgent manner. "Miss Fang, you need to leave, there's an intruder in the building. You're not safe!"

She ignored him, and continued to upload the students' information to some unknown contact.
 
Tatsuya allowed himself a brief smirk. Excellent, the fools are moving towards the unconcious ones like sheep. He had purposefully let himself be seen in order to create a commotion to draw the others in.

The Ninja moved along the route towards the computer room, using the shadows of both the build as well as even the shadows of the guards to avoid detection. This was a noticeable drain on his mana reserves, but he wasnt expecting a pitched battle.

Aptly avoiding the guards, the ninja turned the corner, expecting the place to be clear. He narrowed his eyes, seeing the officer blocking his path. He also took mental note of the light coming from the cracks in the door, as well as the fact that the officer looked as if he was waiting for someone. Waiting for the guard to turn to knock on the door once more, Tatsuya silently waited in the shadows, his form perfectly obcured by the dim lighting. Seeing his chance, Tatsuya rapidly approached from the officer's left. He did a small skip before kicking the man's knee. Liu could hear a sickening crack as the man's knee was broken, followed by a brief "Ah-" as though the man was being to yell, but was cut off by a slight punching sound. A soft thud was heard as the man drops to the floor, unconcious, the combination of sudden pain and blunt force trauma doing the trick.
 
Liu's eyes never left the screen. She hurried her efforts, the furious clacking of fingers against the keyboard easily audible through the door. Even as her guard was felled, she continued to work. Even if the door was forcibly opened, she would not stop her actions.

However, Tatsuya's special eyes would be able to see there was some sorcery at work here. The woman that was ignoring his presence.. was not actually there. This was a clone, magically produced.

While the ninja was focused upon the figure in the room, a faint sound would be heard in the distance, almost like a mixture of chimes and a soft breeze. A dark figure, slightly illuminated by two sources of an intense green light, would leap from above, aiming to land on top of Tatsuya. If this tackle were successful, she would then attempt to jab two fingers right where his heart lay.
 
Tatsuya’s eyes would narrow as he looks into the room. To the average eye, the figure looked like yet another Asian female. But to Tatsuya’s God’s Eye, he could see through the illusion. Instead of a human, he saw a figure of pure energy interacting with the world.

Tatsuya was caught completely off guard as the real Liu attacks him from above. As he is tackled, he silently curses himself for lowering his guard. Just as Liu attempted to jab two fingers to his chest, likely to kill him, he would suddenly vanish. His body turned into a puff of black shadow-like smoke that rapidly dispersed.

Behind her, Tatsuya materialized in the shadows where Liu was originally hiding. He launched himself at her, his fist aiming for a knockout blow to the back of the head.
 
Before disappearing, Tatsuya would be able to have gotten a decent look at his attacker. A woman in a violet robe adorned with golden accents. Her hair was a vermillion red, and her face was hidden behind a doll-like porcelain mask. On the surface, she looked eerily beautiful, but someone like him would be able to feel her killing intent. This was no ordinary woman by any means.

This would be demonstrated further, as she was able to easily avoid his counter attack with a leap forward, hopping and twisting in midair, landing on the table where the laptop lay and facing Tatsuya. The clone was still working diligently at.. whatever she was doing. If he cared to attempt to sneak a peek, he would be able to see her uploading files to an unlisted contact, and a stack of encrypted records laying next to the computer.

However, he wouldn't have much time to look, as this mysterious woman was acting again. She raised up an odd-looking scepter that gave off a powerful green glow from its gems. The glow intensified, then let loose a fast travelling bolt of magic of the same color right at his chest.
 
Tatsuya Indeed looked at the screen. He noted that their objectives appeared to be similiar: gathering information. He mused that she had the skills of an assassin, so he concluded she would likely have been hired for the jo-

Tatsuya’s musings are interrupted as Liu pulls out a scepter. Unsure what it was, he cleared his mind and focused on his opponent. To Tatsuya’s eye, scepter appeared to be practically pulsing in mana. He noted the object itself was charging with no mana use from the woman. Magical object...

He didn’t have to ponder its use as the scepter fires a bolt of energy at him. In one swift motion, the man drew one of the swords on his back. The sword appeared to be a simple, mundane sword. However, as soon as Tatsuya gripped the hilt, the entire sword morphs into a more elaborate design. Tatsuya quickly draws and blocks the bolt with his sword. The bolt bounced off the powerful sword and struck the wall.

Liu would see that the sword’s Blade was not metal, but just pure black... nothingness. If she was versed in magical artifacts, she would know these are the mythical “Swords of the Shadow God.”

She would have no time to ponder as Tatsuya uses his freehand to throw what looked to be two small shadows. The small shadows morphed in the air and formed a shuriken shape, flying straight at her. One was heading for her throat as the other goes for her heart.

As soon as he throws them, he disappears into another puff of smoke to appear next to her, ready to strike with his sword as she is distracted by the shadow shuriken.
 
It all happened in a split second. By all rights, Tatsuya should have outmaneuvered this woman, his expert use of deadly shadow arts taking her down. However, a strange sensation would suddenly hit him after he utilized his shadow teleportation.

If he looked down, he would notice the clone was now gone, and his shadow shuriken had been sent off course, impaling into the wall behind this red-haired girl. But his vision would also be doubled, and a painful ringing in his ears would block out any other sound. While he was disoriented, the assassin pivoted in place, and attempted to plant a heeled foot flat into his abdomen, kicking him away from her.
 
Tatsuya goes tumbling backwards, caught off guard by the blow. Though his normal vision was doubled, his God's Eye was taking in every moment of that Liu did. His eye's glowed with ominous red energy as he picks himself off the wall he was kicked into. Suddenly, he starts doing a series of hand signs. As he starts doing the hand signs, dark, void-like runes form in front of his hands. If Jiu was able to read the basics of the rune, the words "SHADOW CLONE" would be prominent. As the spell finishes, Tatsuya's shadow on the wall starts to move on its own. It seems to step out of the shadow and away from Tatsuya before morphing into a full out clone. This entire process would take only two seconds.

The Shadow Clone charges the assassin, dodging any attacks before..... exploding just like Liu's clone did. Tatsuya had copied her spell with his God's Eye. the results would be the same: Liu would be disoriented just as he was. Tatsuya then shadow jumps to a nearby shadow in the dark room, his void blade ready to strike the beautiful woman.
 
While Tatsuya was preparing his spell, Liu prepared her next bit of trickery. Looking beyond where the ninja was standing, she timed her creation of a mirage, an exact copy of her appearance, and her Blink spell. She managed to get this off just in time, as she would have been in a really bad situation if she was just a second slower.

Though her face was hidden, she froze for a moment when she was able to sense her mirage being affected by... a Disorient spell? This man had just utilized the exact same strategy that she did just a moment ago. Her heart skipped a beat, as no other person could have known these techniques, except her former partner. But that didn't seem right, as he was dead, and he never had these abilities to manipulate shadows.

After Tatsuya cut down the clone, likely out of practicality to simply remove another threat, the body would shatter like painted glass and vanish into thin air. The woman then seemed to create an army of clones around her. One of them would be quite different from the others, as it was not an exact copy, but rather a form of pure magic. They began to advance upon Tatsuya, but stopped when a voice sounded out from the laptop behind the shadow ninja.

"Wait, Number Nine." She did just that, obeying this disembodied voice that sounded like it was speaking through a metallic filter. "You, boy. For what purpose do you attempt to kill my agent?" This voice seemed to carry a weight of authority behind it, and addressed Tatsuya directly.
 
As Tatsuya flies through the air, his God's Eye takes in every thing that the assassin does. As he cuts down the Mirage, he spins in place to face the woman. Just like before, his eyes began to glow ominously as he watches her. He then starts casting the exact same spell she just cast, as she could sense the mana being manipulated in the same fashion as her normal clones...... and her Phantasm.

One by one, the clones appeared, reaching a total of two just like hers. Then a third clone appears, very similar to her energy clone. However, his clones were as black as the void, with the Phantasm being more akin to a being of pure shadow than energy. All of his clones, and the original, grip their swords and pull them out in unison. Sadly for Tatsuya, the clones all seem to draw mundane swords instead of more Shadow God Blades. No matter, three clones is more than enough to take her on. All of Tatsuya's small army take a single step forward together, ready to advance..... they halted as soon as the voice appeared.

"She is in the way." replied the Ninja as each of them looks at the computer, not the laptop. "My target is the files, not the woman." His voice was eerie, ghostly, and disembodied as though he was a ghost.
 
This chinese assassin was programmed to not feel any fear, but her posture suggested that she was less than confident of her abilities to face against Tatsuya at this point. In the case that her contact's attempts to de-escalate the situation failed, she prepared a portal to escape through. Though she did relax slightly at the ninja's explanation of his objective.

The voice in the laptop let out a low hum, as though thinking. "The files? Are you searching for someone in particular? Perhaps we could... help one another."
 
Tatsuya hesitated, not wanting to give away his objective to strangers. However, the skills of the assassin are formidable, if limited, and the anonymous handler suggests a larger organization at work. The cautious skeptic in him didnt trust these people, though the realist in him knew he needed allies if he wanted to see his revenge to fulfillment.

"My target is Amatsu." He said in a rather curt manner.
 
A stunned silence followed Tatsuya's answer. After a few tense moments as both the assassin and Tatsuya waited for the response, the voice would slowly say. "Amatsu? As in.. Amatsu Akishino?"

Following this, the laptop brought up the man's file. Every piece of data that the Arcadia Academy had on him was on screen. His general information, his grades and notable activities, and most importantly, his combat data. Staring back at Tatsuya's masked visage was the smug face that represented the main source of the ninja's hatred.

"The one you seek is a dangerous threat. But I also wish to see him... out of the picture. Number Nine, be a dear and put me on screen." Following this order, one of "Number Nine's" minions strolled forward, tapping a few keys on the keyboard. Another window opened, revealing a darkly lit room, and the silhouette of a man. Then a lamplight flickered on, revealing a heavily scarred man covered in reparative cybernetics. The majority of his aged face was behind a breathing mask, but what did show of it seemed to of middle-eastern descent. His torso was covered in thick robes, and it would be obvious that his right arm was a prosthesis.

"Young man, I have spent the last few painful years of my life gathering friends to perform something miraculous and world-changing. Friends capable of great things and destined to forge a stronger future. Judging from what I saw from your interaction with Number Nine, it's easy to see that you are one of these types of people. Out of good faith, I gave you what I wanted, in hopes that we can be also be friends."
 
Tatsuya was unfazed by the man's apperance, having seen far more horrific wounds, usually given out by Tatsuya himself. After just a few short seconds he looks at the man "I care nothing of your goals so long as you do not get in my way when I kill Amatsu. Until then, we will work together. I will require his file and a means to contact you."

The red eyes glowed ominously as Tatsuya waited, a stare with an intent to kill so powerful that it was able to be felt even through the screen.
 
Another few moments of silence passed. This mysterious man's face, what was visible of it, was difficult to read. Although Tatsuya would easily guess he wasn't too happy of his words being brushed aside so casually. His metallic breathing filled the void, until he finally answered "I see. That is disappointing to hear, however your skills would be greatly appreciated when the time comes. Until Amatsu Akishino is confirmed dead, my resources are yours to make use of. Number Nine there will fill you in on what we have planned, as well as act as my liaison. I'll keep in touch, son."

The man's overly friendly attitude was certainly cause for suspicion. Then the assassin finally spoke, however the voice came from the clone nearby rather than the real person. "I will create a copy of his file for you." The voice was monotone, without any clear accent. Almost as though the voice was specifically set to be perfectly understood, like a robot. And sure enough, after a few minutes, she unplugged a flash drive from the laptop and handed it to Tatsuya. "Do not attempt to contact me, and ensure that nobody knows of your actions. I will take care of this." She gestures to the knocked out guards outside the door.
 
Tatsuya wordlessly takes the flashdrive before disappearing into a poof of smoke. His clones remained, as if keeping an eye out in case the strange assassin or the man behind the monitor do anything suspicious.

Tatsuya himself left the building, but grabs an object off one of the unconscious guards outside. As soon as he was far enough away, he takes out said object, which turns out to be the guard's ORB. Plugs it in, taking note that the files were legitimate before inserting his own flashdrive. The flashdrive ran a program that copied everything while also removing any potential tracking devices, malware, viruses, etc. After he is done, he erases everything off the ORB and tosses it aside. He then takes a long route home, doing loops and backtracks for the next hour. After which, he goes to the gym, which was mostly closed. He strips, checking his clothes for any tracking devices as well as using his eye to search for magical tracking spells. Sure of nothing tailing him, he opens his locker and changes back to street clothes: just a blue hoody, black cargo pants, and combat boots. He pulls the hood over his head and heads out with his ninja costume in a backpack. Tatsuya fades into the night, completely unnoticed.
 
After Tatsuya left, Nine ensured that all of the files she had collected had been forwarded to her mysterious benefactor before closing the laptop and placing it back in its hiding place. She made a mental note to find out the shadow ninja's identity next time they met, as well as to plan a foolproof way to contact him. As paranoid and thorough as he likely was, this would be rather tricky to pull off.

As far as explaining away the night's incident without anything implicating her, the assassin re-assumed her guise as Liu Fang. After finishing up her work and placing the students' files back where they belonged, she set to altering the scene to make it look like the attacker had been driven away by the captain of the guard detail's actions. Since he had promptly been knocked out without even seeing the attacker, it was simply a matter of waking him up, taking advantage of his confusion (and his hubris) and convincing the man that he had saved the day. That would be the story, and there would be an investigation into this mysterious "shadow ninja". Unfortunately for the DD, there would be zero evidence or traces to go on, and it wouldn't take long for the investigation to die out.

FIN~
 
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