Clone - Desecration Arc

Hiroshi wiped the sweat that was now beading furiously from his forehead. This man was the exact same as him. Same voice, same face, same build. The only difference was the number one tattooed on the back of the imposter's hand. It was a dark, charcoal black, as black as midnight. The font was pointed and jaggered.

There was another difference. The eyes.

The imposter's eyes were almost murderous even in nature. It was clear the imposter was blood thirsty, and Hiroshi was the target.

Wisteria looked on nervously from the stage. Everything in her body was yelling at her to move foreward, to help him.

However, the power of the near-clone was almost the exact same as hers, if not higher. He had such a powerful presence. A powerful aura that definitely didn't come from Hiroshi.

Wait a minute...it felt just like...

The real Hiroshi took a deep breath, and looked at his clone with determined eyes.

"So, what's your deal?" Hiroshi asked, trying to get any information possible to help him succeed.

"I can't tell you that!" The clone laughed in Hiroshi's face. It felt weird that he could hear his voice coming from another person. However, Hiroshi still kept his cool. He peered at his imposter's hand, then back to his malicious eyes.

"That one on your hand...is there more of you?" Hiroshi asked inquisitively. The clone nodded his head and answered Hiroshi's question.

"Sure is! And quite a few more!" He said, a massive grin appearing on his face. Hiroshi smirked back with a hint of cockiness.

"And you are the number one? You don't seem that strong for a leader. Is it wise fighting me?"

The clone laughed even harder this time. He clutched his stomach through his black robe garments and shook his head.

"My my, Master Anwir told me a lot about you, but never mentioned your funny sense of humour!" 

It was now Bibi's turn to freeze. She hadn't heard that name since her childhood. A man she hadn't met since his supposed death over ten years ago.

Her father.

Bibi's breath became uneven, and she sank to her knees, unable to stand. Tomokazu caught her, and lowered her slowly to the ground. The sweat was beading off her forehead like crazy, and her face was way too hot.

"What's wrong, Bibi?! Talk to me!" Tomokazu yelped out, trying to help his girlfriend out the best way he could. She gaped and gasped, and finally some words came out.

"My father...he's alive..."

"W-What? But that's impossible! You said my father killed him!" Tomokazu answered, his voice high-pitched and uncertain.

"B-but...I..." Bibi stuttered. All three were speechless. The group couldn't move. The new Hiroshi laughed, showing the back of his hand.

"You are correct, Hiroshi. I am number one, but not in the way you think."

Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, so the fraud continued on.

"I was the first one that was created. I am actually the weakest one there is," the Number One Hiroshi said, and a dark aura began to cloud around him. He launched himself at Hiroshi, his long fingers pointed outwards, attempting to stab them into Hiroshi's eyes. A huge dust cloud kicked up, covering the whole arena due to the amount of force generated by the fake Hiroshi to fly at the speed of light.

Nobody even saw the move, it was that fast.

Nobody execept Tsuyoshi Kage and Hiroshi Akuma.

Number One's fingers stopped a millimeter from Hiroshi's face, as Hiroshi had caught his imposter's hand in his own. The shockwave of the stop recocheted all around, causing some of the audience to hold on tight to their seats. Hiroshi began to squeeze his hand tightly, hoping the imposter would wince in pain and pull his hand back, giving him an opening.

However, Number One just laughed and pulled his hand away. Hiroshi analysised the situation. 

"I should have at least drawn blood with how hard I gripped his hand, yet he remains perfectly fine. His hand felt cold in nature, like it was dead. There is no warmness from him at all," Hiroshi spoke his ideas to himself. He was putting the puzzle pieces together, trying to find connections that would get him to the right answer.

Wisteria forced herself from her frozen stance and ran to Tsuyoshi Kage, their mentor, and thugged on his armor. He would definitely know what to do.

"Kage! Please help Hiroshi! That guy is too strong for us to handle!" She blurted out desperately, expecting Kage to jump in without question.

"That doesn't teach you anything."

"W-What?!"

"If I fight every battle for you, the four of you will never grow. You can only learn about how to get stronger after being broken over and over again," Kage sighed, shaking his head.

"Haven't we suffered enough?!" Wisteria wailed. A battle seemed much more scary when you had a lot more to lose.

"No. This is a new lesson. Don't underestimate yourself. I said there is no shame in running away. However, that is only if you are way out of your depth. Besides," Kage stopped and pondered for a second. "I think Hiroshi has this fight solo."

Wisteria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Only six months ago, she was in the middle of saving him from getting killed, and now in that short amount of time, Hiroshi had gotten that much stronger.

"Go get him, Hiroshi!" Alexander the presenter yelled loudly in his microphone, hiding behind his stage. The crowd joined in, chanting Hiroshi's name. The man grasped his fists, and looked on angry.

"This villain thing can be annoying to make a reality," he moaned, trying to hide the fact that he was actually enjoying the cheering. He faced his imposter down, gaining confidence.

"Ready to do this, Kuro-Yami?" He asked the demon in his head.

"As ready as ever, my friend," Kuro-Yami grinned wildly. It was finally time to fight once more.