Unagi raised the Chidori, blocking the Rasengan from hitting Unagi in the forehead. The sound that the Chidori emitted rapidly began increasing in familiarity, more chirps sounding per second.

Slowly, Unagi and Joshua could not see each other anymore, the battlefield fading into a white nothingness. A moment later, vision was restored, as the water began violently crashing against the pieces of land.

Unagi was standing lone on one of the rocks, staring into the water. He saw himself in the reflection, and stared at his forehead. It was clean of any marks at all, and based on the forehead alone, you would think he was in top condition.

Unagi saw a small mark on his forehead, slowly becoming larger. You did it... Unagi thought to himself, Joshua not breaking his promise to Unagi.

Joshua was stuck in the side of cliffs, cradled in a small crater that he had crashed in to.  Blood dripped from the arm that had used the Rasengan, and it all fell into pond below, staining it slightly red.

Joshua slowly opened his eyes to see what he had done to Unagi's forehead and smiled.  Now that he had proven something to himself, it was time to end this once and for all.  Joshua allowed himself  to just drop of the edge of the cliff, and with a huge splash he hit the water.  When the water settled, Joshua was back in his normal form.  He limped over to Uangi, and took hold of his shoulders.

"Sorry..." the Ryu panted. "But I don't think there's another way..."  

Unagi smiled, looking at his friend in front of him. His hair faded back into a dark black shade, losing its length from the Super Saiyan Three transformation.

When he exhaled, his breath could be seen as if it was a cold winter day, while it was fairly warm. "It's okay if you kill me now..." Unagi slowly whispered in Joshua's ear, ready to go through an immense amount of pain and suffering.

A giant ripping sound could be heard.  From behind Joshua and Unagi, a blank, white portal began to open.  Like a giant, powerful  vacuum cleaner, the portal seemed to suck everything into it.  Water began to lift from the pond and go into the portal, along with debris and rubble.

"Tell me:  Would you rather die, or spend eternity in a realm where time never places, and nothing ever happens.  You will never grow hungry, age, never anything.  Because that place... is Oblivion!"

Joshua began edging toward the portal, dragging Unagi along with him...!

Unagi saw the battlefield begin to become consumed by this portal, the place leading into Oblivion. Unagi merely nodded, showing that he was willing be stuck forever in Oblivion, under one condition.

"Tell me: Will you be there too?" He whispered under his breath, barely able to speak.

"If you're going down, the honorable thing to do would be for me to go with you..." Joshua said solemnly.  

There is an alternative...  The voice of Oguri Takumi could be heard.

Joshua felt something cold pass through his stomach.  He looked down, and visible only to him, was the arm of Oguri Takumi, passing right Joshua's gut and into Unagi's.

Darkness!  Be drawn to me!  Come to the original!  Become one with your past again!

The hand began to pull back, and out of Unagi was a giant mass of black energy that seemed to be screaming in agony and pain.  When the energy came into contact with Joshua, it suddenly vanished into the Ryu.  Joshua had a burst of dark energy and felt cold inside and knew Alter Ego was back.  Joshua smiled as he looked up at Unagi, a tear rolling down his cheek.  

"Goodbye... Uangi..." Joshua whispered.

Joshua released his grip on Unagi, and allowed the portal to suck him into Oblivion. Joshua waved goodbye as the opening began to close.  He began saying something else, "People have called me a monster.... heartless... But this is my ultimate act of selflessness.  It's a relief to even me... to know I do care..."  

Just before the portal closed completely, two items flew out.  One was Joshua's Ryu hat, which landed on the rocky ground with a soft 'pat'.

The other was Joshua's sword, which descended from the sky down on to the Ryu hat, blade first. Most would expect he sword to pierce right through the hat, but this was not the case.  With a loud clang, the sword bounced off the hat, as if it was rock hard.  For Joshua Ryu had sworn an oath on the hat.  A promise.

And that promise would not be broken...

No matter what...  

--Last edited by Joshua Ryu on 2007-08-29 18:09:00 --

As Joshua Ryu drained Alter Ego out of Unagi, it was not an easy process at all. Unagi felt small black spikes emerge from his skin, scarcely poking through the threads of his shirt. "Gwaaaahhhhh!" Unagi cried out in pain, however, he was not angry at Joshua for inflicting this pain at all.

In a moment, Unagi felt the spikes recede back into his skin painfully, as his left arm began to turn pitch black, Alter Ego resisting against Joshua and Ogrui's attempts.

Unagi felt his left arm go completely dead, unable to move a single finger a millimeter. His arm faded back into its normal shade, as a dark black spike protruded from Unagi's mouth. Quickly, the spike faded away, appearing back into Unagi's body.

As Alter Ego was dragged away from him, his left eye gently glowed a white color, and his right eye a black color, before both becoming a bright silver.

Unagi fell onto his chest, his shirt completely torn to shreads. He stared at the portal, and saw Joshua wave goodbye. Unagi tried to wave back, but could not gather the energy.

He saw the sword and the hat fall to the ground near him, and smiled lightly, small dribbles of blood falling to the ground, staining the rocky floor.

Any warrior, despite their condition, would normally reach for a sword, rather than reach for a hat. However, using the last ounce of energy he had in him, Unagi slowly moved his right hand towards the hat. His eyes began to naturally close from fatigue, about to pass out any moment.

Unagi felt his soft fingers rub against the texture of the hat for a moment, unable to grasp the hat tightly. His face fell to the ground on its right side, the hand falling down on the hat, Unagi losing his consciousness.

Goodbye...Joshua Ryu.

<Some time later>

Ritsuke landed, grabbed Unagi and teleported to the lookout.