Clash of the Titans (Solomon/Hitori)

Not far from the marketplace, there was a shitty looking bar that had a reputation for prostitution.  Hitori opened the door slowly into the dark room that had very few people inside it, maybe five or six. Each one was old, and angry looking. This was quite the place for Hitori to be. He walked up to the bar and put quite a large amount of cash on the table. Not a word was spoken, the mercenary was intimidating enough that no one ever called his shit, but only one thing at this establishment cost that much, and that was a woman. 

The barkeep motioned his head towards a back room and grunted. The noise was sudden, but caught in the smoke and barely traveled far. Hitori pushed past the door and entered an even more dimly lit room. He meant to enjoy himself today. He pointed at a girl and took her to a separate room.

Hitori was in the room for about five minutes before a scream could be heard, even though it was cut off shortly. Followed almost immediately by a lifeless body being tossed through a stone wall on the outside of the building. It was tossed into the marketplace, bouncing off the cobblestone like a doll thrown in a temper tantrum. When it finally came to a halt, there was a bloody streak and people were too shocked to even scream. For a few seconds. Then mass hysteria ensued as people ran and were quite loud and annoying. At least to Hitori. He put a hand on the wall and stepped through the hole, slowly tying his bandages back around his face. He then brought his hood back up over his head and growled.

"Stupid bitches always scream. Pisses me right off." He assumed he was safe for a few minutes. Very few people saw him walk out and he quietly moved into a back alley before anyone put two and two together.

Man..why was it that crazy shit always happened whenever he went to take a smoke break? First he had been pushed through the breach on his planet of origin, and now, mere hours after making his way here, he had to watch a woman get thrown through a wall! Oh yeah, he had seen it. But, unlike most other people, he wasn't on the ground. He was atop a building, cigarette butts surrounding him. He was on his..fifth cigarette when he heard the scream and watched as a helpless woman was flung out from a building..it wasn't by magic, he would have been able to feel that, his True magic made him quite sensitive to that kind of thing. So it was a form of empowerment, by process of elimination. He knew quite extensive lists of powers..he did have the memories of his original host after all. But..seeing the bandadged man that slipped out of the building..it pissed him off. Yeah, he was just oozing sin energy, and it empowered him to a degree..but he hated being around such potent sources of sin energy, and the act of murder..it was taking away a life that held meaning. So yeah, he was pissed. He sighed heavily as he ground the tip of his current cigarette against the concrete of the roof, pushing off of it as he allowed his natural control over shadows to manifest, a corridor opening as he landed, sucking him up as he appeared behind the bandaged man, allowing the darkness to take him where he needed to go. He had more control over it than you would think, but he simply made things as simple as he could with the directions. Now really, you should know better. Every life holds some meaning, even the life of someone that society normally sees as useless. As he spoke, he rose slowly from the shadows like some avenging demon..though it was wasted intimidation, as he wasn't built to be intimidating. However..he was good enough to be at least worth a moments hesitation. He was hoping that was what he would get.

"Fuck off."

Hitori did not turn around, he was simmering. The air rose by a subtle few degrees and Hitori stopped. He waited. He watched the man behind him, waited until he was summoned from the shadows beneath. His words were not a request for him to leave. They were permission for him to die. 

The bandaged man made no movement. His head was not facing the other. Nothing to give way to the fact that Hitori knew how he was standing. How magic moved around the man, and how he noticed two fingers twitching like he was smoking not a minute ago. Because he was. Hitori saw him on the roof, but chose to walk away. Hoping he would chase, make the first move and get close enough for Hitori to swing around without warning, fist poised to slam into his chest. A kunai hidden under his long sleeves, between his fingers, ready to impale him through the heart.

Now, having such gifts like the killer in red were useful. His strength was unparalleled, he tossed the woman through a stone wall and then some without even so much as raising his heartbeat. Well, maybe a little. Killing someone always made him feel nice. He felt no need to magically enhance himself in any way, yet.

Oh, so he really did want to fight. The second he spun around and attempted to swing at him, Ptolemy was gone. He'd all but warped to the other side of him. He didn't have a set speed at which he entered or exited the shadows, so he could go as fast as he liked. He swung at the back of the Man's head, hand formed into an open palm strike. That was only his first move however. As he swung, he flung his dominant hand out to the side, causing the shadow on the side of the building to open up and spit out a katana! He caught the blade before vanishing into the darkness again, reappearing atop the building that had spat out his bound sword. He was testing the waters, but he had seen the kunai under the mans sleeve. If he had enough power to throw a mortal through a building, he knew he wouldn't be in too right of a condition if he allowed himself to get hit, even if he didn't have vital organs like a mortal man did. He also felt the increase in temperature, but he had given a subtle hint at a power he held by reversing the temperature around the man. He was strong magically, but that meant his physical strength took a massive hit. Whatever, he could always go true form if he really needed to. And if it ever actually got that bad..he could summon his friend. And he still had Enigmatic Dreamer after that..he could possibly win this if he really tried. He knew that. It was why he even followed through with it in the first place.

He did not move so fast he dodged it. He moved through the shadows again, like a coward. Good to know, even if it was annoying. If the man could easily dodge it using nothing more than speed he would have... or he was just showing off. However, no one could sneak up on Hitori and the instant that the figure came out of the shadows Hitori just took two quick steps out of his reach. They were both feeling the other out. This man wasn't an idiot, he was a fighter.

His broken and torn lips parted in a sick smile underneath his bandages, "Well, I could use a nice stretching." He stood straight up, head bowed low as he spoke. Chuckling to himself, a twisted and sick sound, as if he was in pain with each breath. He witnessed the man and his sword from the shadows, wondering if he could trace his movement from within, which sadly was not the case. Once in a shadow the man was lost to Hitori... even worse was Hitori could not see shadows. Only feel light and know where his own and generally where others would be cast. This needed to be changed.

"Try this one on for size." 

The heat in the area raised dramatically as fire licked at Hitori's boots. Slowly rising at first but then quickly engulfing his entire body. He raised his head as his laughter grew louder and louder. He raised his arms and with each second the fire become stronger until he was nothing more than a humanoid red flame. Then, he was gone, the ground beneath him scorched and cracked. From above his laugh could be heard, louder and louder as he fell towards the building faster and faster until he hit it, and hopefully his opponent with a meteor like impact. Destroying the building in a fiery explosion as the fire was blown off Hitori.

Among st the burning rubble would be the man standing, his clothes and body unharmed. His body glowing with a dim red light, just enough that he cast no shadow.

When he watched the human ignite, Ptolemy smiled softly to himself as he watched the man cackle evilly and bolt into the sky. He allowed himself to let go to the blade, the entire blade disappearing as he took up a monk like stance, exerting a much higher amount of magical energy than he normally would have, in order to overcome the difficulty of the other man exerting control over the flame. He then preceeded to pull the flames over his shoulder, aiming his now fire engulfed hand at the now flameless man, launching his own fire back at him, now tinted black and blue! He almost wasn't able to do so, but he had enough power to do it. He was prepared to fight this man with his own fire and flame. And as the fire on his hand was launched like a bullet, the area around him began to smolder, the very rooftop he was standing on erupting into a black and blue hell fire! He was now ready for whatever the other person had to throw at him. The flames around him spun like they were prepared to form a tornado of fire. Which, in essence, they were. All he would need to do is raise his arm, and it would extend high into the sky, erupting like the gates of hell had bequeathed their power onto him. The strange thing however, is that the fire he created didn't create any light. In fact, it seemed to draw light in, darkening the area around him. This was called Agni-Kai in his mind, and it was something that he didn't know how he knew. But, it was a duel of fire users. He could use water if he needed to, but he was prepared to use water to negate the other man if he actually needed to. He could also use the shadows..if he really wanted to fuck with the man. He knew none that could see into shadows, barring other shadow users. None knew of the existence of the true matrix connecting all shadow however, other than the children of shadow, such as himself. This was now a test of willpower. It was to see who was strongest.

Damn, he did not expect that. Best he could do now was soften the blow. Just before his own fire hit him he created a buffer of magic in front of his falling body. The fire collided with that and did not damage to the falling sociopath but did knock him off course, his body covered in smoke as he fell. Hitori flipped skillfully and crashed into the building next to him, landing on his feet but the force was too great and he crashed through the roof. Smoke trailing out of the hole for a few seconds.

Hitori shook his head and stood up, his sight made it clear Ptolemy remained on the roof, waiting like any smart warrior would. He took a few seconds to regain his thoughts and make sure he did not loose control of his fire again. He looked over and grabbed one of the chunks of rock for the roof and super heated it before launching it like a missile at the shadow warrior.

It was silent, except for the slight cackling of the strange fire Ptolemy had. For a few seconds of harsh silence, and then a large rock about a foot in diameter, burned to an almost molten state, was shot like a bullet at him. It burst from the wall of the neighbouring building without warning. Inside the building Hitori moved his arms around in a very fluid and monk-like stance. From underneath the building his opponent stood, the ground was boiled and turned to magma until it reached critical mass and exploded upwards like a volcano, destroying the building.

Magic or not, the rock that his opponent threw at him through the wall was still, at its core, a rock. So, his natural distortion of the time around him granted him the time he needed to see it. He had three choices here..and only one of them was good enough right now. He quickly shot his hand up and above his head, the circling dark fire erupting above him, encircling him entirely before turning solely to shadows! This would normally have had the adverse affect of making a terrible wall..but with connection to the shadow nexus..and with the utter lack of shadows around now...it was fine. He quickly made a gesture with his hand that turned the flames back into shadows, panting a bit heavier than before from the complexity of it as he lowered his hand. We can go back and forth with magic all day! I have enough mana around here to keep myself sustained for YEARS! So, unless you have the same ability, I say you'd probably be better off at hand to hand combat! He yelled as he took a deep breath, converting the magical energy around him into pure mana, allowing it to spread through his body, causing the veins that it moved through to bulge out slightly, with the exception of anyplace more noticeable than his neck. The thing about true magic was though, you could only detect it if you could use it as well. So, he was bound to give his opponent a surprise. Pure mana was flowing through his veins, or what passed for them. He waited for his opponent to either accept his challenge, or simply deny it and throw more lethal magic at him. Either was a viable option in this. He had enough mana to make good on what he had said, that was true..but he could only keep his tank guard up for so long before a crack would emerge from stamina loss. He hoped to be done with him before that happened.

Shadows are an issue, but more than that, this man is an issue. Magic is getting tossed aside by this man left and right but again, Hitori parts his lips and laughs. His sight washes over his opponent, feeling and seeing the minute changes. The bulging of the veins in his neck, the increase in the size of his breaths after that last defense, and the beads of sweat on it's forehead. The monk on the other hand, was not. Even if he could sweat, he was not even straining himself yet. He had to give it to his bastard of an teacher... he taught well.

"Years?" His voice called out from the house as Hitori made his way to the door, stepping out into the sunlight. It's warmth and comfort offending him. "You're already sweating from that last move. You're breathing is heavy, and you're already resorting to leaching the area of magic." Hitori said with as much poison his voice could muster. "I can and should keep going like I have... but something tells me you are not stupid. So bring it on bitch."

Before Hitori could taunt the man further he spun around and caught something out of the air, crushing it. The shattered pieces of a crossbow bolt fell to the ground and in the distance on the other side of the market a hand of stone twice the size of a man came out of a rooftop and crushed an archer. Actually, this happened on seven rooftops to seven archers. Then with a dull snap of his bandaged fingers every alleyway and convulsed and crushed, screams heard loud and clear for a few seconds until all stopped.

"Now we fight alone." Hitori said, leaving his opponent to wonder how he could see the approaching soldiers and leaving him to make the next move.