For old time's sake: Andferne vs Nighthunter

Ever since Nighthunter could remember he had been fighting the good fight, trying to save the world from the evils that tried so hard to take control over it or even destroy it and as much time as he had done that he had met alot of people, some of them became friends and allies that covered his back whenever he needed and that fought alongside with him to defeat the villains, however he had also met many enemies in the road, but things  change as do people; for every allie he gained a friend turned into the darkness, heck he had done it atleast one time himself.

Many things had changed since the first day that Nighthunter put his powersuit on for the first time, teamates turned into enemies, enemies turned into allies and friends became rivals, over the years Nighthunter had met many people and had also lost a few along the way, but the one man that he could always rely on was his old time friend and teamate Andferne, even when Nighthunter had lost his sanity and started to plot the fall of the heroes there had been Andferne doing his best to change him back, but now it was the time to say goodbye; he didn't know why or how he knew, but he knew that his thoughts had to be somewhere else and not in the field of battle.

Nighthunter woke up, the breeze that entered through the window was felt as it touched his hair, he then tried to fall asleep again, he tried it for one hour but he couldn't; that was how he knew that the time had come, that this wasn't his place anymore, no matter how much he wanted to stay there were more..urgent things to take care of. Nighthunter got up and started packing, the sun started to appear infront of the dragon's lair, he knew that the time had come and that he had to leave, but there still was one thing that needed to be done.

Nighthunter took all of his secret projects from his laboratory and put them in his jet that would leave as soon as he had finished, having packed everything he needed he took his weapons and waited infront of the dragons lair, meditating as he waited for Andferne to wake up and notice him, the time finally came and as Andferne was comming near Nighthunter got up.

After a few seconds Nighthunter decided to talk to his old friend "Andy..I" suddenly he stopped, without knowing what to say to him, after all he couldn't find the correct words to say, after a long pause he decided to talk once more. "I'm leaving for some time....don't know how long it will take me to come back but it could take months or even more, I have some other..things that I have to take care of, but before I go there's one thing that I wa...need to do" after saying that Nighthunter sent a telepathic order to his powersuit and in a matter of seconds it covered him completely.

"We've faced more times that I can count and every time I've been holding back, I'm not an idiot and I know that you have been holding back yourself. That's why I..." Nighthunter paused for a few seconds and then grabbed one of his guns and his sword, ready for the battle at hand which he knew probably would be the biggest one he ever had. "....want that before I go we have one last fight, this time I won't hold back and I expect you to do the same thing if you have any respect for me".

Nighthunter then told his friend to go and prepare himself, to take his visor, shield and everything he wanted or needed because he wanted all that Andferne could offer, no matter the cost there wouldn't be anything less that Nighthunter would want, this wouldn't be the first fight the two of them had, not even close, but it would be the last one this two would brawl, atleast until they saw each other again.

It had been a long time sense he had slept in his own bed, his beautiful wife laying down next to him, her long red hair was sprawled out on the soft pillow as he leaned over and smiled, kissing her softly on the lips as he whispered "Good morning love" he then slipped out of the bed as to not wake her and quickly took care of his morning activities. Once he had gathered his pants, he headed down stairs to go and make a small breakfast, only to find his old friend Nighthunter waiting for him. There was something wrong and he could tell instantly, as when stood up and  speak Andy feared the worse, he thought that something dread had happened. But it was far worse than that, his trusted and long time friend needed to go. With a heavy heart he sighed as he saw NH's suit activate, they were both men of action, and if there was anything at all, he knew that he owed his friend this last dance. This time it was Hero vs Hero and there was no holding back.

"You're right old friend, if your heart is telling you to go, then you must go, but I want you to know that your home will always be here when you get back. I hold the utmost respect for you and this morning we will see how far man can be pushed". He gave him a nod and then darted back up stairs, quietly he slipped into the closer and grabbed his costume and shield. Opening the drawer he grabbed his high tech visor and hurried out of the room. In moments he changed in the hallway as to not wake Lexi, then he went to meet up with his friend, his brother down in the training hall.

He stalked down those last steps of the stairway slowly, the shield gripped tightly in his left hand as he stepped walked into the large room. His wore his traditional American uniform for this occasion, he knew that he would need the protection it offered from many of NH's blows. He knew that NH was a brillaint tactican and there was no telling where this fight would expand to. Back up to the mansion and outside, maybe lower into the lair into the depths of the caves. There was simply no telling when it came to him, he used his terrain better than anyone Andy had ever encountered.

Andy's eyes peered through the visor, its scanner and visions making clear of all the slightest movements. He could see the power emitting from NH's suit, it was truly his masterpiece out of all his gadgets. Stretching out Andy rotated his shoulder around and kept his gaze on NH the entire time, he was loose and ready for action, today they would pit against the perfect human body against the perfect human mind. This was more than a fight to both of these men, it was a show of respect for they both knew that in this display of martial skill they could show their true feelings, and get that final good bye said.

Taking a step towards NH Andy spoke "Well old friend, good luck" he smiled and then threw his shield off to the far left wall as he sprinted on his toes for Nighthunter. The shield crashed against the wall and ricocheted off and into the far back wall. Seconds later it bounced off of that wall and headed straight for NH's back right between the shoulder blades, and as the shield flew through the air Andy ran on, in that same instant the shield crashed into those walls he had closed the distance. Firing off one of his trademark optic blasts to gain his attention off of the flying shield. The red concussive energy exploded from the visor and was aimed right for his midsection, the impact of it if connected would send him flying backwards into the shield.

Andy was however perfect with his aim, not only with his optic blast but his shield as well, and could predict and use angles with expert skills to have them bounce and reflect where he wanted. The shield posed and ready for its strike from behind was all part of his plan, for if NH proved to be agile enough to evade it the shield would once again be in his hands and ready for use.

Just like Nighthunter expected his old friend had brought all he needed and was now ready to begin their last showdown. Everything that the two of them had done together and on opposite sides had been leading to this, enemies that became allies, teamates, rivals and more important than anything...friends, they knew each other's attacks as they had seen it over and over again, they knew how the other one thought and acted meaning that this fight wouldn't be any short of epic.

Well old friend, good luck said Andferne and after that made his signature move; throwing his great shield with the colors of the country that he always protected no matter what was the cost, the shield crashed against the wall as a tactic that would make it richochet off back to where Nighthunter was standing, a trick that had made Andferne famous around heroes and villains alike, it was that same accuracy that made Andferne's optic beams so dangerous.

Nighthunter couldn't see the shield comming back to him but he knew it was comming, he knew Andferne too well to don't expect it, just like he knew that Andferne would fire an optic blast right away that would be comming to Nighthunter in the opposite direction. Nighthunter closed his eyes and suddenly the world practically stopped for him, seconds moved like hours as he started to think of a way to avoid both attacks, a solution that would quickly come to him.

Nighthunter didn't open his eyes as he knew that his eyes wouldn't be the best thing to use in this situation, the best thing to use at the moment were his ears that worked better than before now that Nighthunter wasn't using his sight, he heard the vibrations and how the shield was comming to where he was, spinning in such a great speed that no one could touch it without getting really hurt; except for one spot.

Nighthunter ducked himself a few seconds before the shield hit him and as soon as the shield was above him he rised his hand and used all his accuracy and strength to not only grab the shield from the same place that Andferne used to grab it after a launch but to also stop it from going any further. Now with the shield on his hand Nighthunter used it to cover himself against the optic beam from Andferne.

Nighthunter smiled; his plan had worked, a plan that was a risky one as he had to depend on a lot of luck to make it right. Nighthunter knew Andferne like just a few people knew him and it was this knowledge that granted him a way to block the attacks of his friend because no matter how lethal they were there were flaws in it; the shield if used against someone with great agility can be easily dodged if they see it comming, that's why it usually comes in the blind spot of the enemy, Nighthunter learned to use this as a way to detect the shield knowing that if he couldn't see it the shield would be comming to him through his blind spot, with that knowledge Nighthunter knew exactly where it was comming from and how to prevent it from hitting him.

The tricky part was to both avoid the shield and the optic blast, but the blast has an even bigger flaw because it goes in only one direction, jumping to another place was the logic move but it would have left him exposed for the attack of Andferne once he gained his shield back, but now both attacks blocked each other and Nighthunter had the upperhand in the situation.

Nighthunter waited for a few seconds and then grabbed one of his guns and threw Andferne's shield to him, showing how much the difference of strength between the two of them was as the shield didn't do anything even near impressive and it landed infront of the feet of Andferne. "Take it, I wouldn't know how to use it even if I wanted to" said Nighthunter and after that jumped in the air, now it was time for Nighthunter to attack and he was ready to do as much damage as possible.

Grabbing another gun and putting it in his left hand he started to shoot to Andferne without stopping for any second as he knew that any second lost could cause his defeat. When one of the two guns didn't have any bullet left he grabbed a granade and threw it infront of Andferne and exploding as soon as it touched the ground. "I told you there was no holding back" said Nighthunter and then started to run, shooting without stopping to the place where the explosion had taken place.

Nighthunter had been paying attention, just like he knew his old friend would. These two had fought so many times that he had no doubt NH knew what was coming, he also knew that his friend had many tricks up his sleeve. But that display, that tactic was sheer brilliance as he dodged the shield and used his own attack to deflect the powerful optic blast. The vibranium in the shield would absorb the impact easily and he would not lose any ground from the blast. If there was one person that always stepped up his game when the fight was pressed it was this man. Nighthunter had trained with the best and it showed with that technique. He then flung the shield back to Andy and it came crashing to the ground at his feet for he lacked the physical strength to use it in the ways Andy does. "Take it, I wouldn't know how to use it even if I wanted to". Andy chuckled at that remark for he knew if ANYONE else here in the mansion knew how to use this shield the way he does it was NH.

Jumping into the air he pulled out another gun and placed it in his left hand, bullets rained down at Andy one after another as he fired away, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, either, nine, ten, bullet after bullet fired off until the entire clip was empty. NH has used up his first magazine of tracer bullets against his foe, but Andy was not phased, not by bullets. His Visor enhanced his vision even more than what the super soldier serum had done. As the bullets traveled with incredible speeds he saw them as if they were in slow motion. Using amazing acrobatics he ducked and dived, dipped and spun about as his body twisted away from the bullets, Keeping his ground near his shield for him to grab at a seconds notice. Andy's eyes widened as he then saw something else slip into the flurry of attacks, Nighthunter and slipped in a grenade with the barrage of bullets and it came crashing down on to the floor at Andy's feet. He winced as his mind raced, and quickly knew what to do before it even touched the ground. The mere second the grenade landed onto the ground Andy flipped the shield up and over it with is feet. It covered the dangerous explosive as it went off. Andy's foot pressing hard against the top of the shield to keep it from leaking out with shrapnel. Just as he felt the vibration fading Andy released his hold on the shield and the remaining force shot it up into the air where Andy quickly grabbed it into his hands.

Just as Andy was recovering from the onslaught of attacks he once again heard NH's voice. "I told you, there was no holding back" and with that slight warning he rained down bullets once more. Andy quickly went into a crouching stance, set defensive to block the shots fired his way once more. Bullet after bullet ricocheted off of the shield as Andy moved it to cover most of his body, but then a sharp pain pierced through his leg. He felt one of the bullets get passed his defense and it bit deep into his left thigh. The blood splattered out from the wound and started to trickle down his leg, but Andy made no sign of pain, showed no emotion from the piece of metal that was no lodged in his leg. The visor lit up with that red concussive energy once more as NH closed the distance. A small fast blast was let out that headed straight for the guns, Andy was going to take away his weapons one at a time if he had to. Then another blast went off as he got closer aiming for the second pistol in his other hand.

The two men were now face to face against one another, the shield gripped tightly in his left hand once more Andy shoved upward with it. The star and stripes were headed straight for NH's face, Andy swinging with the shield in his hand like a back fist, his muscle were loose to get that quick reflex action and just no the moment of impact he tightened his entire arm to add in that extra strength of impact.  Blood for blood was all that was on his mind.

Nighthunter kept attacking Andferne, noticing how the proud hero made movements beyond the ones any human could hope to make, the display of agility of Andferne was indeed one of the best Nighthunter had ever seen and it was because of this that no matter how well Nighthunter shooted to his friend, he knew that Andferne could not only take it but also avoid them.

Nighthunter knew what Andferne was capable of and that shooting a guy that was able to avoid bullets was a waste of time, at least if that's the one plan that you have. Every strategist needs to have a few tricks under his sleeve, to make up back up plans for the backup plans, to win a battle you need exactly what you need to win a chess match; think ahead of the opponent, figure out all of their moves and realize that the only way to ein the match is to sacrifice a few things first.

Nighthunter always knew that Andferne wouldn't be taken down by bullets, he wasn't a fool but he also knew that it would be the perfect distraction to get closer to him and make a more deadly attack. Nighthunter kept running, receiving the blasts of Andferne making him dropping both of his weapons and causing great injury to the hands of Nighthunter even if they were protected by his powersuit, the pain that he felt was intense, but it would all be worth it.

Nighthunter didn't have guns anymore, but who needed them? When you are good enough in this business you don't need weapons of any kind, you turn anything from the most basical stuff into a deadly thing...and when you are this good you don't even need any object anymore, you become a deadly weapon yourself, the hands with who you trained for years now become as lethal as any great weapon.

Nighthunter used alot of his agility to avoid the attack that was going towards his head, he knew that a direct attack from that shield by Andferne and everything could be over so that was the part he would protect the most. When Nighthunter was so close to Andferne he sent a low kick toward Andferne's legs, at the same time he grabbed his sword and used it to send an horizontal slash under the ribs of Andferne.

The double shots had done their trick and blasted away NH's guns, completely obliterating them with a shot, and to add insult to injury the impact from the blasts had damaged NH's hands some. The two fighters were upon each other next Andy's shield raised up in a swinging motion to try and smash against NH's jaw, but all he found was air as the agile man ducked underneath the strike. Then with the twist of his hips NH had swung out with a low kick aiming for Andy's legs, his right leg came barreling in like a base ball bat and smashed hard against Andy's left lead leg. The pain shot up through his leg upon impact as bone met muscle, his face cringed from the blow as his knee buckled out from under him. The kick has slipped just under his shield and Andy was now crashing down toward the ground, his footing taken out from under him. In that same breath NH had unsheathed his sword and lashed out with a horizontal gash. The aim was meant to cut just under his ribs, but since he had lost his footing it instead clanged against the shield held in Andy's left hand, gripped tightly. But NH had followed through with the strike and the blade sparked across the shield as he slid up and bit into his shoulder. Blood gashed and squirted across Andy's face and against his visor as the blade drew blood.

Blood still trickled down from the bullet lodged in his left thigh, and now a bruise was quickly forming along with it from the massive kick. The stars and stripes of his costume were getting drenched in blood as the cut on his left shoulder leaked of the crimson fluid. The moment Andy had smashed against the ground from the sweep he ducked into a roll and flipped backwards into a couple of back hand springs, gaining distance from his adversary. Now it was time to take down the man in the suit. Spinning around Andy kept going in the opposite direction of NH, looking over his shoulder as he fired off a wide beamed optic blast. The dark red energy erupted forth from his visor with uncanny accuracy as is went streaming for his ribcage, the core of the powersuit, the core of his body.

Andy was keeping his distance as he ran out the bruise building up in his leg, kept it from cramping up, he was moving around to keep that blood circulating, to keep his adrenaline pumping because he knew once he settled  down, his body cooled down it would start to freeze up, stiffen and each movement would hurt like a digger driven into his leg. He knew where this was heading and he wanted to make him fight on his chosen terrain, not a place that NH might of calculated and prepared ahead of time, studied. So with a quick dash Andy was back at the stairs leading up into the mansion, waiting for NH to come chasing after him into their home, and out of the front door.

Nighthunter's attack had been succesful, he had been able to cause considerable damage to Andferne, the display of skills these two had shown so far was impressive, however the best was about to start, the climax of the battle was really close and things would just get better...or worse, it depends on how you see things.

Andferne, as skilled as ever, showed an amazing display of agility making him gain the distance that he needed to start the change of who had the upperhand in this battle, running in the opposite direction and then unleashing an optic beam that sent Nighthunter flying a few meters away, the attack powerfull enough to destroy a part of the suit and cause Nigthunter great injuries.

Sending a telepathic message to his powersuit, it started to slowly rebuild itself, the suit would get repaired but the injuries that Nighthunter had suffered with that last attack would take some more time, time that Nighthunter didn't have. Slowly getting up the proud warrior saw how Andferne was running to the stairs of the mansion, probably trying to change the course of battle by changing the battlefield.

Nighthunter splitted blood, if it hadn't been for his powersuit he would now be dead by that attack, it should have made him nervous or make him stop wanting to fight, yet a smile was formed on Nighthunter's face as he knew that there was no way that Andferne used an attack like that if he was holding back, he had been doing what Nighthunter had asked him to do,

Without wasting any more time Nighthunter grabbed his gauntlet and used it to go faster to where Andferne was, gaining speed and momentum every second he used this as an advantage to improve the damage of the kick that was going toward the back of Andferne, at the same time Nighthunter threw his sword directly to the right shoulder of Andferne.

The optic blast had struck right on against Nighthunter's chest, sending him flying backwards, the suit the only thing that had kept the injuries from being more serious. Just as Andy was about to go through the front door he heard fast paced footsteps behind him, it was too late to turn around and he felt the impact of a hard boot smash against the back of his head. The blow sent him toppling over and into the front door as it crashed open. The dark oak wooden doors splintered off, broken and flying about as NH drove his sword into Andy's right shoulder, the rick red color of blood squirted out as the tip of the blade bite into him. Had he not been falling forward from the kick that attack might of pierced all the way through and out of his chest.

Blood drained out from the new wounds matching the many that was littered across his left side. The back of his head was throbbing in pain as he went crashing into the cement walkways outside. Smashing into the ground his hands got cut up from grinding against the hard floor. His gloves were torn as his braced the impact, spreading the pressure from the landing in a break fall. Spinning on the ground he attempted to sweet NH's legs out from under him as he rolled backwards. His feet tugged together as they swept out towards his ankles to bring his advisory to the ground.

Not waiting to see if he was successful he rolled backwards and flipped up into the air, tucking his knees in close as he rose up and planted them underneath him. Now back on his feet he peered at his old friend. The visor was giving him technical readouts on NH's suit, he knew it was heavily damaged now and needed to repair, but then things got blurry as the visor started to fizzle out, everything going blurry with static......he was blind!

D@mn Andy thought, he should of known better than to of grabbed the visor Nighthunter had created himself, he must of triggered some default device to override his readings. He was smart, very smart. Ripping the visor off of his face he threw it to the ground knowing it a waste now for NH was in control of it and made it disrupt on him. He opened his eyes just slightly to assure himself that NH kept his distance as his reached in his pockets for his ruby red glasses. In that small moment a heavy optic last fired out towards the front of the Ice mansion where NH;s last known location was. Placing the glasses over his eyes the blast stopped and Andy took in his surroundings looking to see if the blast had finished off his friend.

The fight had been as epic as it could be expected and even more, the two friends fought each other with everything they had but in the end there could be only one, as the fight raced to it's conclussion Nighthunter found himself able to both hit Andferne in the back and also cut him with his sword. Nighthunter looked around, blood was all over the place, both in the ground and in the bodies of the two dragons, one would have thought that for the damage they had done to each other they were terrible enemies and that they hated each other, they couldn't be more wrong.

Showing a great display of willpower and abilities Andferne was able to hit the legs of Nighthunter making him fall to the ground, the pain that he felt in his legs was amazing, he couldn't move anymore as he was still feeling terrible from the beam that Andferne had thrown to him before, the pain was too much and Nighthunter was running out of options.

Knowing that he was getting out of options, Nighthunter pressed a button on his powersuit and then a sonic wavestarted to come from his suit, seconds after that the visor of Andferne started to react to the sonic wave and seconds later it stopped working, now Andferne found himself completely blind in the middle of the battle, it should have been enough to give Nighthunter the advantage to win this once and for all, yet he couldn't move anymore and could barely even stop himself from falling unconscious.

Then suddenly...he saw a red beam comming toward him and he instantly knew that the end of the battle was there, he couldn't move and the pain was too much to keep going anymore, it was over and his friend had won once again this showdown that displayed the best that both men could do, Nighthunter gave his all but he couldn't win in the end.

The beam hit Nighthunter, sending him flying a few meters backwards, his powersuit completely destroyed and without beeing able to move anymore. Nighthunter stood there without doing or saying anything for the next few seconds and then he started to talk. "...I guess things haven't changed that much......you are still always the winner" said Nighthunter with a smile on his face, using all of his remaining energy he was able to sit down and started splitting blood. "But remember this, I'll get you one day, when I return we'll fight again and I promise to you I'll win then" after that Nighthunter fell to the ground, he was exhausted and he needed to rest, but he knew that there wasn't time to rest as he had to keep going.

When he was finally able to get up he went to his jet, ready to leave the dragons lair for a big time, without knowing if he would ever return, however before he left, Nighthunter grabbed his sword, it was completely full of blood from both dragons, after cleaning it up Nighthunter looked to Andferne and gave the sword to him. "A present my friend, I've used that sword since my first battle and it has never failed me, take it as a prize of your victory and as a prove that one day I'll return, but let me tell warn you, that is only a temporary present, when I come back, we'll battle and if I win I'll ask it back".

With everything said Nighthunter took flight, in a matter of seconds the dragons lair couldn't be seen anymore, it was the end of a chapter in Nighthunter's life, but not the last one.