The Flux's Flower

The King's Blade

The two combatants were a little more than a blur to the outside eye. Shadow moved impossibly fast, landing hits on the guardian from seemingly nowhere. Every attack the guardian attempted was dodged or countered. Shadow continued to land hit after devastating hit pushing the guardian back until he screamed "Enough!" Blocking a hit from Shadow's cleaver with his bare hand, then launching him back with a devastating hit. Daedalus thrust his hands forward, and what appeared to be a barrage of missiles repeatedly slammed into Shadow, throwing him back into the bounds of the field and knocking his sword away. Daedalus barreled into Shadow,  shoving him back into the wall, and started punching him over and over. As Shadow slumped to the floor, Daedalus stood over him, and grabbed his chin, forcing eye contact "How's that, mortal?"

Shadow simply grinned "You're good...but i'm better" He kicked up, opened a small golden portal, which a sword flew out of. Though, instead of grabbing the sword, Shadow aimed the portal at Daedalus, duplicated it, and launched an explosive barrage of golden weaponry.

As Daedalus fell back under the force of the assault, Lalna could only watch. "The bladed rain...the golden clouds...He was using his artifact!"

"Not bad for a mortal, eh Daedalus?!" Shadow shouted, intensifying the barrage, and forcing Daedalus down. In response, Daedalus launched his own missiles, which converged on Shadow and blasted him away, raising a huge dust cloud. As Shadow stood, he looked up and caught a massive uppercut, clearing the dust and throwing him upward. Daedalus jumped up and smashed Shadow down, landing on top of him before picking him up and throwing him into the wall.

Nano gasped and turned to Lalna "We have to help Shadow! Daedalus is going to kill him!"

Daedalus turned to them and created a barrier. "That's the idea."

"No!" Nano pounded on the barrier, but stopped when Daedalus advanced. "Stop this! You don't even know what he is, and yet you still wish to protect him?!"

"As much as we may have our differences, he helped my friend save me! So yeah, I think we at least owe that to him! Plus, we only wanted to talk, we never wanted a cage match!" Nano shouted back. She tried to break the barrier with a magic blast, but it was simply absorbed. Daedalus chuckled "Foolish mortal, my magic is impenetrable."

"Maybe, but boy are you gullible" Daedalus whirled just in time to get punched back by Shadow. However, despite the force of the blow, Daedalus quickly recovered and tackled Shadow back "You. Will. DIE!" He punched Shadow over and over, each blow pushing him further into the ground. After Shadow appeared near dead, Daedalus grabbed him, threw him into the wall, and charged.

He never made it. Rather than the BOOM one would expect from a blunt force impact, everyone heard a different sound, one of a blade going through someone.

Daedalus looked down at the golden blade piercing his chest, then back at Shadow "You...That sword...Why...?"

Shadow leaned close, twisting the ornate blade "You remember this blade? I found it the day you banished me to another world"

Daedalus coughed up blood "But...why...?"

Shadow grinned maliciously "You know why. Excalibur is the only thing that can kill us. Permanently."

Daedalus' eyes widened "Its you...Midas..."

Shadow nodded, smirking. "I'm back, though I go by Shadow now" He drove the sword all the way through, and Daedalus went slack.

Shadow de-materialized the sword, and Daedalus slumped to the ground. With the barrier and battleground fading, Nano and Lalna rushed over. "What was that?" Nano asked "How did it kill him like that? Your other weapons had minimal effect"

Shadow shrugged "Lucky shot. Now, I believe we have earned our magic apple."