Serious: The Tormented Isles (Open to Me and Captain Sequel)

"Whoah whoah whoah whoah ... whoah?" the peculiar male shouts, each "whoah" successing the previous one, a dim more silent, until the last one that was hardly audible. He remained still for a couple of seconds, with a puzzling, almost detached expression on his face, as if he had escaped his own body, which was left in a permanent freeze. If someone was to place an eerie tune, the kind of which would fit in a thriller, it'd be the stale before an (un)expected jump scare. Which sort of followed after these seconds.

"WHOAH! OKAY!" he shouts, almost jumps over and tackles Cortez, but doesn't really. His expression and tone was so off, considering the situation he was put in, yet so awkward, that even a stern and collected man like the rogue would probably feel uneasy and perhaps even a tad creeped out. That was one messed up fellow.

"But before, we must establish some ground rules! See ... I really, really, really like to eat okras! Thus, we will be needing a good cook, plus, have I ever told you about how strawberry gum is my jam? Which rhymes with ham? Waaahah, aren't I the bomb? Not to ment-!" and then, the weirdo collapses to the ground, which coincided with a gunshot sound coming from the left.

Footsteps could be heard, along a static similar to that of a radio communication signal or device. A faint, dim voice was heard "Shall we engage?" which was followed by the man, hooded and approaching the scene, saying "No. Secure the perimeter. I wish to play, now. And I just found a great play partner." The figure closes in, then removes the hood concealing his face, to reveal the face of the Black Cross Pirates's executive, Hanashi Suigo. "Would you like to have some fun?"

Cortez caught a glimmer of light in the corner of his eye. He zoomed away from the man for just an instant, just in time to watch him fall dead. Assassinated. The sound echoed through the trees and the mountains just as the body hit the floor. He was just about the jam his sword into the guy's foot too. 'Shall we engage?' The voice had covered up some garbled noise. Probably radio feedback. 'No. Secure the perimeter. I wish to play, now. And I just found a great play partner.' Cortez did not recognize the voice, but as he walked into view cortez recognized him immediately.

"So what I heard was true then... It wasn't just a mere coincidence that my ally fell today. Well Suigo, we are at a little bit of an impasse here. See, you want to have fun with me and yet you've broken my toys. I can't just let that slide. I think I'll have to take it out on you. I heard you can take a hit... But have you ever been tortured by a madman?!"

Cortez laughed loudly and let his sword linger in the air. Then as soon as he heard the dirt under suigo's feet shift he struck. He zoomed forward in a blur. His natural running speed was but steps away from soru speed anyway. He was one of the fastest soldiers to ever serve the marines. His mastery of soru even compared to the infamous karasu. But this was not what made him so ferocious. He, also like the former warlord, had an mind for for darkness and death like a true demon. He rose his sword and slashed down in an almost stab-like motion. The kind of move an amateur might make before his sword met earth and stuck fast. The kind of move an experienced swordsman would make to bait an attack.

"Hmph." Suigo's phenomenal reflexes and observation would be required to their fullest potential against such a formidable adversary. Along with the ability to understand the twisted minds of those that thrive into the darkness, the madness. Thankfully for him tho, he too was bord and molded by these forces. Thus, he calculated and figured that the best course of action in this first strike would be ...

Despite having calculated that the best course of action would be to dodge the incoming and then take the initiative, he decided to actually parry the blow with a lightning fast, horizontal guard slash. Apparently, he wanted to share a word or two with the opponent before they were to jump into a more serious bout. "Am afraid that you chose faulty, expiring toys, then.Let me ask you, do you bleed?" a peculiar, buzzing sound began to emit, radiate, from his sword. What kind of a trick was that? There were no records of him possessing a sword with artificial additions or a fruit ability embebbed into it. Then again, in the past 1.5 year since the fragmentation of the elite forces, up to the point where his captain's fleet became more of a balancing army, it was bound that they had gained a lot of new, unknown, tricks and weapons. "Did you heard about the Twilight Treaty? It will be signed tomorrow." he adds, then pushes forward, but only for a brief moment, then takes a leap backwards; preparations for he expected the vagabond to have a lot of deadly tricks up his sleeve, too.

((OOC: Yup, Batman references. Am not even sorry!))

Cortez twisted his sword so that suigo's sword was running against and across the side at a 20° angle, allowing suigo's sword to parry it while nearly propelling it out of cortez's hand. However, cortez kept his grip and let his reflexes take over, as he used the force of the blow to gather centrepital speed. His kick barely missed his foe as he evaded. Excellent reflexes. A worthy adversary after all. Cortez stopped. He came out of his battle stance and drew his hunting knife one more.

"Do I bleed?"

Cortez smiled widely and plunged his knife clean through his open hand, then closed a fist around it. Cortez was not bothered at all by the pain. It was almost inexistent to a man as hardened as he, like a small tingle of a fly. He in one swift, deliberate motion pulled the knife straight out. The wound had the faintest trace of red where the knife had pierced him.

"If you can hurt me enough maybe. But I don't bleed easy."

Kin soru

Cortez began dashing around suigo in every direction, dashing just millimeters in and out of his range, always appearing just in the corner of his vision. At soru-speed, he created afterimages and chaotic sound patterns  that would leave any foe without extrasensory ability unable to track his moves. Even those with observation and other extrasensory abilities would have a very difficult task at being able to keep up with him, despite knowing where he is. As close range as he was, he was able to make the illusion of 42 of himself simultaneously being around him; he was moving very fast effeciently over very little space.

After a few seconds of baiting suigo's attacks, he felt his battle instincts kick in. Suido was about to throw a curve ball, he could feel it. Cortez took initiative. In the intant Suigo would try to break cortez's stride, Cortez ended his pivoting holding his knife by his left knee and his sword high above his head in his right hand, perpendicular to his foe, just in peripheral vision. He twisted his sword to glint the light off of it to attract Suigo's attention to it and slashed down in the the style of a lightning bolt. Instincts kicked in, and on an impulse he lunged toward suigo at soru speed and moved his knife in the shadow of suigo's own body to try and stab him in the side, trying to take advantage of a small opportunity in suigo's retaliation, faking a follow up sword attack and attempting to strike him instead with the knife. The choice was so sudden no one could have predicted it. It would truly put suigo's relfexes to the test, as even with extrasensory ability the action occured so quickly only the quickest foes could react in time.

Cortez jumped back. He laughed. He noticed that suigo had managed to cut his cheek. Just the surface, right outside the embedded material armor he had installed in his cyborg upgrades. Perhaps the foe did not use a kairoseki weapon, did not have armament, or lacked the strength to cut him properly; but for whatever reason, suigo had failed to make him bleed. Despite the red mark that would surely be visible on his cheek. His foe had mentioned a twilight treaty. He wondered what he was talking about, but decided to ignore it for sake of the battle. And that being said, what was with that strange sounds he heard before. He had missed any visual cues in the heat of the moment, but it sounded like something was off about his opponent's weapon. Something that may turn out to be bad. He wondered if that weapon had been the one to scratch him? If so either it wasn't a threat or suigo was holding back. Suigo had avoided giving anything away so far... Cortez was very wary. Suigo was very close to his own power, and hs skill so far seemd up to par. How would he turn the tables on this ome?

"That's quite the speed ..." Suigo states, in a somewhat mocking, lamenting tone, while he remained almost still, merely observing the opponent's movements. He was certain an attack was not going to come immediately, and probably wouldn't at all unless the vagabond had studied the man, OR, Suigo himself was to make some movement to create an opening. Which he indeed did by lightly moving his left arm close to his hip. Which was when he was attacked. But the reason he moved his hand there was to pull out, ironically, a knife of his own, unaware of course, that Cortez had a similar idea in mind. In the next few seconds, a blow came, a blow was blocked, but then a flash caught the corner of his eye. "Oh?"

---

"I see ... well, this sure is a bust." Nemoushi speaks to himself, while looking around him; he was surrounded by several beaten up and fallen men, which in turn were circled by a larger group of armed ones. Interestingly enough they seemed to be wearing some form of contraptions that seemed to resemble night vision or a similar tecknology. The marine was with his arms raised, due to being aimed by at least two dozen rifles that were showering him with narrow, white beams of light.

Meanwhile, Todd also seemed to be occupied, except in his case, a far larger group of adversaries was spread all over the place, as well as atop buildings, all beaten up and taken care of. Footsteps made the marine turn to face a hooded man, who, upon stopping, immediately removed his robe, smirking at the grey haired. "Well, you are quite the nuisance ... should have attacked you myself immediately. See, Sorin's not like those thugs."

Introduction Box:
Oliver Markov, Assassin, Criminal, Broker
Bounty: 380.000.000 Beli

---

"I see ..." Suigo commented, while removing a plate of armor, renowned for being used by the pirate as both defense, and a way to limit himself against more run-of-the-mill opponents. Or slower powerhouses. The plate had a clean stab hole in it, and there was a very minute trace of blood; the wound was superficial, but a hit on the torso was still a hit. Thus, it was a draw at this point. Suigo then pulled what seemed to be a thick barbed string, and his cape, along with several plates, ejected violently. The plates were apparently incredibly heavy, as they completely decimated the building that was next to them. Apparently, the swordsman was intending to go from defensive, to full offensive now.

While all this was happening, the fallen red haired man, it seemed, for a split second, like he lightly moved his right index finger.

Cortez smiled widely. His opponent's demeanor was simply perfect. Cortez was trying to get the guy to go offensive the whole time. He was constantly baiting his attacks and now that the two had traded blows, he seemed willing enough to oblige. Cortez was best suited for offensive combat. As shown in that bout, suigo and cortez were rather even when suigo was defensive. A stalemate. Cortez found many defensive fighters in the New World could stalemate the situation with ease. It was rather annoying, though he loved a challenge. But full offensive battles are vibrant and chaotic, only able to be understood by the wild or the mad. And as cortez was both, this is what he enjoyed most.

"You're impressive. First you cut my cheek, and now the earth crumbles beneath your armor. The strength of a beast can only be conpared to the strength of a beast. But I ask you, between you and me, who is more of a beast?"

Cortez opened his smile, revealing his sharp teeth. Little did suigo know that cortez had had various upgrades that gave him various unique resources. And as long as Cortez continued to rely on his reflexes, he shouldn't give anything away too early. The only way for a beast to beat observation is to be primal, relfexive, and wild. Only being unpredictable can one surpass such ability.

Kin Soru

Cortez dashed between the meters of distance between then in an attempt to strike. Cortez, knowing that it would be blocked or evaded, timed his pacing so he would dash around to his side like before. But this was cortez baiting yet another attack. He jumped and slashed in a circular motion with his sword, propelling himself away from suigo at half soru speed. Cortez had watched suigo's actions so far but his demeanor change made it hard to predict him. At this point, cortez had to get more information before he charged in headstrong. Hard as he is to kill, he is much easier to capture. He didn't want to get careless and end up defeeated.

"Likewise regarding your prowess. But, let me tell you, am not a beast ... am a hunter." Suigo responds to the enigma that was Cortez, and, while he approached, surely deploying another simple-looking, but with a hidden surprise move, assault, the pirate wasted no moment. Suigo was certain, that, if Cortez was to go all out, if he was to be aware of his own speed, he'd surely be able to match him. Since the last he had heard from him, he ought to have improved even further. But Cortez couldn't possibly be aware of just how fast Suigo would be, right after the armor was gone. And, he was going to facilitate on that one bit of unknown factor, to inflict damage.

"Zen Gin." Suigo moved at an absolutely incredible speed. Cortez can most likely move at that speed, if not faster, too, for certain, but there was little to no way he could expect such a fierce, sudden spring of blinding haste to come his way. And thus, as soon as a circular motion was being established towards the pirate, an absurt verdical slash, along with a violent, thrusting movement, went on and past the marine.

"Hmph ... what a waste. You parried that up pretty darn well. Guess my surprise wasn't enough to disable you." the pirate swordsman comments, several meters away from the impact, the vecolity increase and dicrease so sudden and immerse, there was a trail of fire stretching from where Cortez was all the way to Suigo. Yet, he commented that the marine parried that blow up pretty well. Did Cortez managed to saw throught that and block it? What had possibly happened?

Cortez had a general policy in battle: beast mentality. Always assume your foe is faster. Always assume your foe is stronger. Never let down your guard. Never miss anything. Focus only on victory. Let your instincts take over. Trust no one. He had learned this the hard way. He assumed that his foe would evade or block it, and he did attemp a block indeed. Cortez assumed his foe would be a step faster in his timing. Suigo it seemed was but maybe two steps behind cortez. The attack came as a surprise almost. The block has been an attack all along and was being followed through. The slash of cortez's own sword collided with slash of his foe's. He realized in a single instant that the impact would disarm him or kill him. As his sword bounced away and suigo's own sword came dangerously close to cortez's torso, cortez launched a percussion bolt from his mouth. At point blank, it would be invisible; simple a glimmer of light of the shadows. And then it exploded, creating a echo of the powerful blows the two had exchanged.

It seems that cortez had more brute strength than suigo, but suigo could still be holding back. This is all Cortez could think as the blast of his bolt propelled him away at half soru speed from the foe. Cortez, an extraordinary acrobat, easily landed like a cat. His robe had been wrecked to all hell. He ripped it off, revealing his large wings. And many other disturbing features at that. Black edges and a few jagged spikes jutted from his more revealed body, bare chest save a marine jacket hung over his shoulders. His black wings were as dark as his soul, at direct contrast with his pale metallic-looking skin, appearing neutral in every sense. His silver hair was as bright and pure as snow. His ultraviolet eyes would appear feral and wild, but almost at peace. Cortez hated himself for being a monster, but it also made him love himself in a way too. Cortez's body was also covered in nearly a hundred small red scars, from where the bolt had damaged his skin, not to mention suigo's own damage.

Cortez had an epiphany. This "hunter" simply did not realize yet. The greatest hunter of all is the great beast. Cortez could take advantage of this. He had never used a technique like it himself, though he definitely had the ability and had seen it done many times. The substitution technique. But first Cortez need to make an opening. Judging from suigo's attacks, cortez's body would be able to take a direct hit. So if it didn't work he'd be able to show him what it means to be a true monster.

Kin soru

Cortez propelled forward again and slashed with his sword with left hand, but he kept his right hand open, as he did his left moments ago, and waited. As soon as suigo gave cue as to what he was doing, cortez would strike. But in the back of his mind, he noted something. Somewhere else. Somewhere nearby. Someone else was fighting. The echoes ringed in cortez's ears, but he couldn't focus on that in the heat of battle.

Suigo jolted his blade to the right side, while his enhanced eyesight allowed him, almost as if in slow-motion, to observe Cortez approaching him. Of course, to be able to just perceive the movement would mean nothing if he wasn't able to physically follow up. However, from what intel he had regarding the man, one thing was apparent. Cortez would, no matter how much research was made, always have several new toys and surprises up his sleeve. However, for that he was prepared.

With the opponent approaching menacing, Suigo tilted to the side, mostly to avoid any stray blows, like that left that seemed to be creeping towards him, before taking hold of his blade with both hands. "I am well aware that you cannot be underestimated for even a brief moment. But ... same applies to our ever increasing advances." Only now it would be apparent that, Suigo was in fact wearing some form of acoustic device. And, with the swing of the blade, a deafening buzz exploded towards all directions. This wasn't just sound; what on earth was it? Cortez would have to work twice before he was to reveal his own ace move. Or moves.

Cortez was almost disoriented by the loud buzzing that overwhelmed everything. He was about to get hit hard. But he shouldn't take a direct hit, as that would be an unecessary risk. He removed his jacket in one fluid motion.

Kin Shadow
Kin Substitution

Cortez flinged his jacket in front of him creating an illusion of himself. Hopefully it would distract suigo. In the same moment, cortez used the broken vision to cover himself in dirt and grime without being seen. With the power of his ring aiding him, he would literally appear to be a faded shadow against the darkness. Cortez appeared at the other side of suigo but then the shockwave hit. He could feel the vibrations. It reminded him of Shezmu Dagon, one of the Crow's more powerful subordinates. The beast had two rings with power, one with gura and one with goro. This blast was similar in power to the gura ring, but it seemed much larger in range and perhaps even faster. Cortez had no time. He only had a moment.

Kin Roar
Tekkai

Cortez roared at the top of his lungs, creating a powerful and extremely loud shockwave, one that would echo audibly to even the hard of hearing. Even one in the middle of battle would hear his roar. The power was not nearly as much. In the same moment, cortez hardened his body. His blast softened the foe's shockwave and his tekkai should let him take hit for sake of information. But it wouldn't come close to stopping it. Cortez was launched away from suigo at near soru speed, but suigo wouldn't lose sight of him. Cortez had hardened his body, and with his weight the forest around them crumbled. Cortez counted 30 trees he split before he finally hit the ground and skidded to a hault. Cortez relaxed for an instant to release his tekkai. He looked at the ground, seeing his blood everywhere. A large trail of blood was seen from his previous position to his current one. The vibrations had been so strong that his armor split his skin from the inside. He had been chopped to pieces, held together by sheer muscle power and thankful regeneration. He had been lucky in that only his stomach was damaged in terms of major organs. His bones had deflected the other strikes. Suigo had succeeded in making him bleed after. Cortez laughed.

Kin Rush Greater- 1

Cortez focused on his body and his life return and rushed his healing to seal the wound in his stomach. Though he had lost much blood, he would regenerate it anew. It seemed that suigo was slightly more resourceful than Cortez had thought. He would have to take it up a level to beat him. But he had one advantage. He had never been witnessed by anyone alive save for a small number of retired marine officers the regeneration ability he truly had, when he focused. And even they received poor demonstrations, his lesser acceleration. It would likely surprise suigo that after taking so much damage that he'd even be alive, and cortez was a little closer to actual death than he'd lile to admit. Powerful shockwaves are one of the most difficult things for cortez to fight, due to the nature of his upgrades and his attacks even. He had of course developed tactics for them, but still a weakness regardless. If he didn't have such strong healing power, he'd be as good as dead at the moment. When cortez spoke, he sounded weakened and exhausted without a hint of deceit.


"Well well, you can make me bleed afterall..."

Cortez was still dripping with his own dark blood. He smiled at suigo, eyes ferocious and teeth barred. A true beast until the end. Or at least that's what it would look like. And not even observation would say otherwise. Mainly because Cortez didn't know what attack he was going to use. He would try to bait Suigo into taking a foolish first move. Cortez did wonder how many foes had tried similar tactics on Suigo? Cortez was rather unique, but if this action was similar to someone elses it wouldn't be so unusual for suigo to consider the possibility, and perhaps act more carefully. Cortez was banking on Suigo's confidence and Suigo's "offensive" tactic change to get his payback.

Suigo glared down at the marine, without speaking a single word. Slowly, he sheathed his sword, but his hand remained on the handle; a sign that he was in no way letting his guard down, yet at the same time, seemed like the pirate intended to tone things down. To talk, probably?

"I'll have to ask you to excuse me for this. You see ... while it is true that there are several that benefit from your .. existense, be it men in the darkness of the underworld, the nobility of the Government, or both, there are some others that deem you a nuisanse. And you see ... we are about to witness a complete turn over of power. How to put it simply ..." the grip on the handle tighens a bit, and the pirate looks at the sword, too. "You too, are in the list of those required to be exterminated. Whatever mission you came here to complete, it's nothing but a lure. As for the blade ... crafted to be used to counter your otherwise, extremely troublesome skills. Modified by .. the Government." the last word, "Government", he said it really heavy, really harsh.

The interesting, for Cortez of course, part was that, there seemed to be no indication, at all, that Suigo had any idea regarding the marine's regeneration powers. That could even the odds, considering the obvious fact that someone had double-crossed Cortez. And since he was a very smart, careful man, it had to be someone "close".

---

Nemushi was seen atop a pillar, looking around, before he let out a hum. "Found you, thank God, he's still alive. I have to gather them all and regroup ... Todd, do you read? They have set this up, it's a trap ..!"

---

"There exists a deal ... in exchange for compete cooperation with us, we have ensured that they will take the Government control. See, the world right now, it's a mess. But my captain is willing to work together with these men, to balance things out. We found something you see, Cortez ... deep in the New World ... am sure you know it too .. even my captain understood that the only way we can survive, is to create a system of balance ... surely you know about the man I talk about ..."

Lots of interesting things, and lots of time wasted. Had he knew that Cortez had a healing ability, Suigo would surely, certainly, not waste that precious time and just go for the kill.

Cortez looked up at Suigo. He started laughing again more mockingly, as if Suigo had made some faux pas. Cortez had been given time to listen in. His ally from long ago seemed to be aware of his situation, and would be indubitably coming to his aid soon. How convenient. And Suigo had made the ever amateur mistake of monologuing. Cortez looked backed and wondered why so many evil men liked to monologue. So many victories decided by such a moment.

"If you were one of my soldiers, I'd have already ate your tongue. Poor foolish hunter.... Beasts know when to stay quiet. If you have the luxury of doing it again, remember this day..."

Cortez coughed dramatically at the end of his declaration. He uses his reject tubing to expel the blood he had swallowed. It would appear he was mortally wounded. It would appear he was trying to bluff Suigo. But little did Suigo realize, Cortez was fully healed, and Suigo gave cortez a target. If the weapon could kill cortez, he must simply take it. It was a perfectly planned strategy. Improvise. Cortez said what he thought would anger Suigo the most. Cortez had implied that Suigo was about to lose the kill. That his hunt had been in vain, that the mad beast Dr. Aidoneus would live. And he had also implied there was nothing Suigo could do because it was too late. This was very likely. But Suigo didn't know that. If anything, Suigo would be convinced that Cortez was trying to trick him into letting him live; and he'd be right. Just not in the same way as he'd think. Suigo would naturally want to get close and deal a final blow to prevent Cortez from getting the opportunity to somehow escape, in case his bluff had some truth to it. Probably a diagonal slice through his chest to take out 5 major organs in one go (heart lungs diaphragm liver and or stomach depending on angle) or a beheading. He found beheading more likely, as despite the fact that Suigo obviously had no idea of Cortez's high-speed regeneration, everyone around the world with half a head knew that Cortez had some regeneration; just enough to usually keep him from bleeding and to usually keep fighting while ignoring injuries. Suigo probably wouldn't want to risk it. When Suigo went to draw his sword, there would be an instant where the only way to prevent cortez from disarming him was to be truly disarmed. The moment the sword is unsheathed is the moment a swordsman is least protected after all. Cortez would find the best tactic, and once the sword was drawn Cortez would be victorious. Even if Cortez somehow failed both in removing either the sword or suigo's sword arm from his person, it would be very unlikely he'd leave unscathed. And most likely, with surprise on his side, Cortez would be able to escape the single conflict unscathed. But if Suigo knew this and it was a rouse, Cortez could end up gravely injured again. He would have to be careful.

Kin Roar

Cortez sent a whisper in the wind to his ally:
Hey there shrimp. Yeah, that's right you can hear me. Just letting you know, I can hear almost everything in the isles... Including you a few hours ago. Wild much? Anyway, figured you'd want to know that someone's on your six.
Cortez hoped his warning wasn't ignored, as he was fairly certain that if it was his ally could end up dead. cortez had seen enough dead marines the past few days.

"Still lively, I see. Forgive me ..." Suigo actually lit up a cigar; his sword still on his other hand, however, albeit in a position where it was clear he was about to sheathe it back in. Perhaps some final words before going in for the killing blow. He takes a deep breath inside, then lets out a very dark, putrid puff of smoke escape his lips. "Normally I hate talking ..." he adds, the sword was in the sheath, the hand on the handle. Clearly he wanted to say some extra things. Considering that everyone seasoned enough in these seas did knew that Cortez had SOME restoration abilities, to give him time either meant he was completely fooled into believing his opponent was on the brink of death, or, that that extra something was rather important an announcement.

"They cannot hear you. That's what the blade does." he nonchalantly laments, taking one larger breath, the entire cigar, a very large one actually, burnt and swallowed already. Almost as if adding a dramatic effect to his last statement. So it seemed that both him and the marine knew something each other expected the man on the other side wouldn't know. Except that Suigo just stated it.

"Now. Die." no sword was pulled. Yet he just phrased what was clearly a death threat. There was only one thing this could possibly mean. They were surrounded all along. Suigo had no idea of course. But the pirate apparently knew enough info to assume that the killing blow should be delivered the most efficient way. At least, in terms of hole-punching.

However, while both men held their secrets, their little games of deceit were about to be cut off, before anyone was to see whether Suigo's precautions or Cortez's cunning was going to be the victorious one. For, as soon as Suigo said that, a powerful rumbling, from below them all, violently shook them. "?!" Incidentally, the "corpse" that was Cortez's target and aim, was no longer visible. Which must have meant only one thing. The weirdo was not dead.

"My turn now, dipshits!!"

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Cortez shouted at the top of his lungs. He drew Suigo's attention back from the ground to Cortez. Not that Cortez cared. He was infuriated. Suigo had just dropped his guard when that distraction put his defenses right back on high alert. No one, not even Cortez would have been able to seize the moment; that man had ruined his kill.

"ANNOYING WIMP!!!"

Cortez zoomed away from suigo, hating that his rouse had been ruined. When the geound shook, Cortez was naturally surprised. His body, as usual, acted of its own accord when surprised and extended his wings and reflexively elevated him into the air. The gusts of air from his wings had blown all the blood off him, revealing nothing but pale pink lines on Cortez's metal-like skin. It would be immediately obvious to anyone who looked at him that he was in near perfect condition, and many would assume his wounds had been weeks old rather than minutes. Anyone with a brain would realize he either had better regeneration than he let on or was a far better prankster than ever given credit for as it would have been difficult to have predicted that situation and faked it in an elaborate rouse, regardless if the unexpected disruption ruined the plan. And as soon as suigo noticed him, he'd immediately see Cortez in still virtually perfect condition, with the cut on his cheek having completely vanished in addition to the fading scars from the sword attack. Suigo would never let his guard down around cortez again, and probably not for even a single moment again while he knows Cortez is in such close proximity. If they battled again, he wouldn't be able to take the easy way out with a rouse. He would have to overcome him with raw power; something suigo happened to also have. And that weapon was really annoying. All of this made Cortez enraged at the man who ruined his plan. Cortez, encumbered and unphazed by the earthquake, would be out of observation range as well as out of sight in mere seconds as he dashed towards his knew opponent.

"I can hear your your heartbeat and smell your fear weakling!"

Cortez could in fact pick up traces of his foe's scent and interaction with the woods; being able to hear his movements whenever something revealed them was also helpful. He would locate him likely in moments if he was quick witted. He slammed his wings in one large flap as he appeared before the man, roughly 10 ft in the air, and extremely angry.

"You dare disrupt my fight?!"