Jack Baker

Yeah I know. Too late to fix it. Look, I'm sorry alright?

Well, people seem to go with it on here, so that doesn't seem like a problem.

And what might that be?

What? I do what I want. Besides, Luna won; no harm in dragging crap out, especially when you come up with new ideas on the fly that you can't hold back on trying out. That's the thing about Raze as well, a sort of hubris, if you will: sometimes, especially if he really wants it, he doesn't know when to quit.

@Fractured Raze slowly opened his eyes, and looked around. The arena returned to its original form, and Princess Luna was on the floor next to him, passed out. He looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed. This again... he thought, walking over to her and picking her up, heaving her across his back. He felt a sharp pain in his body. It seemed that she wasn't able to heal all of his wounds. I said friendly match, but it turned nearly turned into a death battle... He began to walk towards the exit, the doors already opening. "Geez, you're heavy," he said under his breath, picking up his saddlebags on the way out. He walked past the receptionist, who had the same worried look on her face when he came out with Copper. After a minute or so, he arrived at the infirmary, where a bunch of unicorn healers took the princess and, seeing as she was only unconscious, decided to put her in a room and let her rest. Raze was taken to another room where the healers quickly worked on him, healing the wounds that were left. Once that was done, Raze asked them if he could see the princess, to which they agreed, and led him to her room, where he sat down on a chair next to the bed. There were some questions he wanted to ask her first.

@Fractured Raze looked up at the orb descending on him. "Ah, crap," he said as it was getting closer. There really was no way out of this one. But, if he was going down, he'd go down swinging. With the last of his strength, he held his katana like a javelin, then threw it at her. It impaled her deep in the chest once again. He then took out his revolver and took quick aim firing at her head... And knocking off her tiara. He grinned. "I win," he said as the orb hit the ground and caused mass destruction everywhere. When the dust had cleared, his body was in the middle of the crater, unmoving. ((Still hoping for a tie))

I hope mine will end in a tie. That'd be nice...

@@Fractured, So, I'm gonna explain some things about my post: Raze has been to the Far East for a LONG time. Over there, he found a school where they taught him about the spiritual side of martial arts, and taught him two things, called Sacred Arts and Forbidden Arts, both of which have to do with the manipulation of the spiritual/life energy of the body, or ki. With Sacred/Forbidden Arts, one can manipulate their ki to perform non-magic "spells" similar to that of unicorn spells, and they can be used with both weapons and your bare hooves. These Arts were discovered and created by martial arts masters (all of which were earth ponies) a long time ago. Among these arts, a few exist whose purpose is to seal off the magic of magic users, mainly by transferring ki into the caster's body by some means. The ponies of the Far East believed that both magic and ki flow through the body the same way, through these vein-like paths that exist in the pony's spirit. Among these paths, exist these big spots which they refer to as "intersections", where ki and magic can be redirected to different parts of the body where it is needed. What the sealing Arts do is spread ki to these veins and intersections, effectively clogging up both so that magic cannot get to where it needs to go. Ergo, the caster cannot use magic.

@@Fractured, Raze yelled in pain as the lightning struck him, the electricity running through him as more lightning came down on him. The pain seemed almost too much to bear, but he pushed on. Gathering his energy, he used the Banishing Blade to cut the dark ice in half, exposing Luna. He saw that the aura began to waver. I have exactly two minutes to do this... he thought. I've come too damn far to quit! He grit his teeth and let out a bloodcurdling yell as he quickly walked up to Luna while still being electrocuted. Before she could react, Raze stabbed her very deep in the chest with the blade, the end of it sticking out of her body. Suddenly, her horn began to glow white like the blade, and strange white marks began to form around it. The lightning stopped, with the ice melting as well. The false moon disappeared from the sky. He kicked her off the blade and flicked the blood off; the aura from it had disappeared, and the wound the blade had left was glowing white as well. He sheathed his sword. "Not... only does... Banishing Blade... cut through magic..." he started to explain through heavy breaths. "It... also seals the magic... of the one it impales... while it's active." He coughed, spitting out some blood. "But sometimes, it doesn't work... depends on how much time went on while you're using it... in order to make sure it does work... the target must exert a large amount of magic first... as to drain their energy, so there won't be as much to seal away." He looked at her. "Get it now? I didn't think you'd fall for my taunts like that..." he smiled. "Now you have no more magic... and since the Banishing Blade isn't magic, rather a *cough* transfer of my spiritual energy --my ki-- it doesn't go away unless you manage to defeat me somehow or I release you by saying the magic words... so, you either fight with your sword or don't fight at all." He coughed loudly again, spitting out some more blood. "Gah... I shouldn't talk so much when I'm injured..."

@Fractured Raze looked up at the solid magic raining down toward him, cutting one in half as it was about to reach him. He ran towards the source of it, narrowly dodging one, but another landed close enough for the force to knock him off of his hooves. He landed on his back hard, but quickly got back up and kept running, entering the deeper part of the forest. His sword was at the ready, and he was looking through the trees to find out where she was.

@Fractured "I realize that. I used to fight wars for a living, you know!" Raze said, slowly looking around for where she might be. "Taking advantage of your surroundings and blending in with the shadows, I like that. As expected of the Princess of the Night." He kept scanning the area around him, the aura from his sword still glowing brightly.

@Fractured Raze felt his energy slipping away as the tendrils grabbed ahold of him. He began to feel sleepy, very sleepy, and was about to give into it, when he managed to force himself to draw his sword and cut the tendrils in another swift strike. They seemed to burn in a white flame as the blade touched them, withering and slowly disappearing. Raze suddenly felt his energy rush back to him, and he flicked his katana towards the ground. "Another thing I've learned on my travels," he said. "The Sacred and Forbidden Arts of the Far East, this one being the Sacred Art of the Banishing Blade. Long story short, magic won't do you any good." "Come now," he said to her, pointing at her with the tip of his blade. "Surely you can do better."

@Fractured Raze carefully focused on the tornado, then, with one strike, cut through the tornado itself and creating a gap, leaving an opening wide enough for him to step out before the patch of empty space fixed itself. He re-sheathed the blade, then quickly turned around and fixed his gaze on Luna, who was still flying around. He waited for just the right moment until she was just about to pass him, then quickly unholstered his revolver with a twirl and shot two bullets just in front of her, lining up the shots so that the bullets hit her in the chest.

@Fractured "Yeah, well, after all that, it still manages to feel like a sizzling iron going through you..." Raze said to her matter-of-factly. He looked around as Luna was flying around, then sighed. "You know, even though I said I believe in giving it my all, I really wanted to hold this back. But, I guess you leave me no choice..." He reached for his weapon belt, and took out a small gourd, labeled with foreign writing which, translated, read as "Purify". He popped the cork on the gourd's lid, and inside was some sort of alcohol. He took a swig, but did not swallow. Bringing the blade close to him, he spat the alcohol onto the blade, and then put a hoof at the base of the blade. He took a deep breath, then began to quietly chant in a foreign language, slowly running his hoof against the blade. Suddenly, it began to glow a mysterious white, emitting a faint aura around the edges. He stopped chanting, then looked up at Luna. "You know, I may have been taught graceful arts on my travels..." he said. "But I learned some pretty greusome ones as well." With that, he lightly tossed the blade and caught it, holding it so that the blade was facing him, then stabbed himself in the gut. Once again, the pain seemed unbearable, but Raze held through. He gripped the handle extremely tight, holding it as if drawing the sword from its scabbard, then pulled it out of him, some of his blood leaking out in the process, although the blade itself wasn't stained. The faint white aura on the blade from before now became a raging one, and he re-sheathed the sword and assumed a low stance, the scabbard now becoming engulfed in the white aura as well.

@@Fractured, Raze quickly repositioned himself, then dashed forward as Luna's blade was about to hit him. He felt the blade cut him a little bit, and the sensation was like a hot iron tearing through him. He grit his teeth hard in pain as he forced himself to draw his katana and delivered a retaliating horizontal slash to Luna's torso, the cut long but once again, not too deep. He went through her and stopped a short distance behind her, re-sheathing the blade and hissing in pain. "...Really?" he said to her, then grabbed his side in pain. "Ah, ow, ow... sweet Celestia, that burns... ooh, that stings, ow... oh, magic weapons hurt more than they should..."

Yeah, you have a point... I'd fix the door, then... idk, wing it XD

@@Melted Dog, Hast thou abandoned me? Eh, just kidding, take your time.

@Fractured Raze shifted his position to match Luna's, then, mustering his strength, drew his sword in a diagonal slash, parrying Luna's blow. Using the momentum, he pushed his blade against hers, ducking under her as she continued to move forward, redirecting the sword and its user entirely. He re-sheathed his katana. "Good," he said to her. "As I always say, 'one-hundred percent or none at all'." He readied his blade again. "I've learned many things since I left. This technique... Iaido, the art of drawing the sword... is one of them." He smiled. "You'd probably like it. Swift, fleeting... yet graceful. Almost like the night, eh?" He laughed a bit.

@Fractured Raze thought about it for a few seconds, then smiled. "I was wrong," he said. "And I am sorry for it. I thought my honor and your respect had been taken from me. Now, I realize it never left." His smile evolved into a warm, toothy grin. "I think my mind's finally at ease." He exhaled, then suddenly resumed his low stance. "However, I think we won't be able to leave until the match is finished, and it ain't in my nature to forfeit a duel. How 'bout we finish this, just a little friendly match, eh?"

@Fractured Raze's eyes widened at Luna's words, and then, at the realization of his own stupidity. The grip on his sword loosened, and his head lowered. "I..." he said. "I... never realized. I guess, I was just so eager to leave at the time, that I... never thought about how you would feel about it..." He looked up. "I don't know if you knew about this already, but... I kind of wanted to leave for a while. I just used that whole thievery accusation as an excuse to do so. And on my travels, I just thought you believed them all this time... I didn't think you cared so much..."

Raze sped up, and at the last second rolled underneath Luna's attack going past her wings. He flicked the katana out of its scabbard in a horizontal strike, landing a slice near Luna's chest, cutting deep, but not too deep. He then kicked her away, flicking the blood off of his katana, and putting it back into the scabbard. "...By all means," he said, a hoof hovering over the handle of the katana. "Enlighten me."

@@Fractured, Raze focused at the dirt flying towards him, then drew his katana from the scabbard again, making a clean slice that cut the chunk of dirt in half, right down the middle. The two pieces split apart, flying past him harmlessly and crashing down at the end of the field. "...So what is it then? What matters here?" he asked, pointing his blade at her. "Is this about my honor? About respect? About how I don't take my job seriously? Well?!" He re-sheathed the katana, once again going back into the original low stance. "Let's hear it Luna!! How much do you think you and the other two princesses know about me?!?! What is this really about?!?! LET'S HEAR IT!!!" Despite the yelling, he managed to remain focused on the fight. She hasn't made any drastic offensive movements yet... he thought. Neither of us refuse to go in, and we've kept a good distance from each other, so far. At this rate, we'll just be standing here all day, in a deadlock... He grunted, gripping his sword. As much as I don't want to sacrifice my defensive position... I suppose I have no choice. Besides... I still have my trump card on me. Alright then... He took a deep breath, and quickly ran towards Luna, his sword still sheathed, ready to be drawn.

@@DwhitetheGamer, No, like, you shattering that dirt chunk. I had Raze cut it in half already.

@@DwhitetheGamer, Dude, you need to edit that post. I already had something in the works...

@Fractured "I'm innocent, I tell you!" Raze yelled as he dodged the spikes, jumping backwards. He resheathed his katana and resumed his original low stance, once again anticipating his opponent's next move. "You'd honestly think that after all I've done, after all I've risked and sacrificed to keep you, your older sister and her pupil safe and protected... you'd think I'd throw that away for a bit of gold and jewels? You're out of your mind..." He tightened the grip on his katana. "And I am not your guard anymore. I am a sellsword, a mercenary, loyal to no king, no country!"