His Name Is Lucky

Standing on a lonely roof of the police department were two men, one wearing a more than well worn suit and the other loose street clothing. Standing across from one another, one had a provocative look while the other was somewhat curious.

The man in casual clothing, Lucky, drew one of the two machetes at his side and spun it impressively on his right hand.

"Why do you have two? And why does the sheath of the second look so...unique?" asked Bazel, noticing the black and red design of the sheath that looked almost satanic in nature.

Lucky just shrugged and tried to unsheath it like he did the other, but it would not budge no matter how hard he tried.

"A lady friend of mine gave it to me before disappearing to who knows where, the cruddy thing never budges no matter how much I try to draw it. Unless I really want to kill the person in front of me, that is, which is not a requirement you meet unfortunately."

Bazel stared at the odd looking weapon, noting carefully that slight reaction his partner had to it but decided to leave it be for now.

"How mysterious, but we are not here to discuss that are we. Come, let me see what you are made of."

With the words of battle said, Bazel decided to see for himself how amazing his self proclaimed bodyguard is.

'Since this is not a fight to the death, let's start easy and slowly the raise the difficulty. This could be a good chance for me to try new things out as well.'

Bazel's idea of easy was a little off, as he started off with 8 paper thin shadows that erupted out from behind him like the legs of a spider.

Lucky stood completely still, all the way up until he was nearly completely surrounded. When he finally moved, he did not walk forward, try to duck and weave, or even chop at the shadows that had gained a third dimension...instead he fell.

He fell forward randomly, perfectly evading three shadows that were aiming to constrict his upper body and with a forward roll he dodged the last three that were going for his legs. It appeared that he dodged all the attacks completely by luck, as if divine providence had caused him to tumble at that exact moment.

'It was as if he knew the exact timing...no way...'

And so Bazel turned his eight shadows into five, increasing their speed and force as he tried his best to trap and constrict the flexible enemy in front of him.

Lucky danced to Bazel's tune perfectly as he matched his dance partner move for move, swinging and swaying away without a care in the world.

A humming sound could be heard from Lucky, as if he were not in the midst of a tense duel but simply dancing a waltz with a chosen partner.

'Does he possess a Gift too? Foresight perhaps?'

To confirm his conjecture Bazel started making moves and then stopping at the last second, to see how his opponent would react.

All he discovered was that if the move was reactable then it was reacted to at the last possible moment, but for those that were not they were evaded as if it was fated to be. Almost as if it was...

"Luck" muttered Bazel, surprised at the conclusion he had come to.

His words caused Lucy to smile playfully, still dodging five shadows all the while, and say with pride:

"Lucky is my name and luck is what I bring to the table.

"I am unsure of what god blessed me when I was born, but ever since I joined up with Neto I have had this weird little ability you see. Maybe I am someone's secret love child and I have this Gift or whatever, either way it has saved me more than a few times."

"Fascinating, but what good will dodging around do me? Not to mention this is far from what I would consider a real fight."

Bazel's shadows went from five to four then four to three and then from three to two.

Trying something new for the first time, he had the shadows wrap around his arms and attach to them like some kind of exoskeleton.

Controlling them now with his own limbs instead of his mind, he brought one of his arms back like a spring and released its stored energy forward in an explosive burst.

Brandishing his machete at the fast approaching shadowy hand, Lucky barely deflected it but his weapon was thrown into the air as a result.

Bazel brought back his other arm, and mimic'd the same move as he did before expecting to win the bout with the move.

Fast the attack moved, so fast that Lucky would not be able to dodge even if he truly had the ability of foresight due to his mortal limitations.

But a reflection from the midday sun stopped his attack just short, having been severed perfectly in two by the same machete that had been knocked from Lucky's grasp.

With it came the same sinking, draining, and feeling of tiredness as the last time that he had experienced the separation of his shadows. Except this time the amount severed was much that Bazel felt as if he had been without sleep for over twenty four hours.

"That's impossible, that timing and that slim chance it would fall exactly there...." muttered Bazel as he swayed, completely open to any and all attacks.

Yet the follow up would never come, for the moment Bazel's focus was lost the beast in his shadow took over and easily captured Lucky as if it were getting revenge for its master.

A tied up Lucky shrugged and said,

"My name is not for show. Imagine what could have happened if we were truly fighting to the death, that knife would most likely landed somewhere a little more unpleasant.

"Of course I know you were not going all out from the start, I saw what you did to those Sanguis men before. But having someone like me around, wouldn't you say that it would be quite beneficial?

"A sudden ambush foiled due to a car getting in the way, a lethal attack just missing by a centimeter, or stumbling upon just the right tool required for the job...just some of the things that come with having me around: Suerte, the luckiest man alive!"

Releasing Lucky from his bonds and throwing the machete towards Lucky, who caught it with his sheath and strapped it back on with ease, Bazel smirked at the salesmen like pitch Lucky was using.

"Perhaps you can stick with me for awhile, but know that I will be facing deadly foes that may even be stronger than me. You are in for a dangerous time, where you could die at any second..." explained Bazel.

To which Lucky replied with a roll of his eyes,

"Trust me, trouble will find me no matter where I go. From my point of view, me being with you is a matter of survival. While I may be lucky, that luck only goes so far and as if the universe were compensating for it I always end up in the worst of troubles.

"You will be my shield and I will lend you my luck, a win win situation if you ask me."

Lucky then presented his hand once more, but instead of a greeting shake it was one of two people coming together as allies.

'An interesting man, and a useful one. Though I do wonder what Gift he has, as there is no way he is a normal mortal...I wonder if I can guilt Tiernan enough to give me some kind of testing device...'

The two shook hands and an alliance was born, although how useful it would be was up for debate.

Curiously enough, Lucky's eyes went wide the moment they had cemented the alliance...but the man was strange enough so Bazel simply let it slide.