Alan was the first to make a move as he leapt through the air slashing both blades at Dano who deflected both strikes and stabbed his Glaive at Alan's chest while the attack narrowly missed as Alan twisted his body through the air before unleashing a counter kick which caught Dano slightly off guard as it connected with the side of his chest. Landing on the ground Alan jumped back as Dano clutched at his side for a second before glaring up at his opponent grinning.
Closing his eyes they were opened immediately as the iris changed to a bright red colour and everything around him shimmered slightly. "There goes his illusion technique" Mitch mumbled as they watched him lunge at Alan slashing his glaive down as Alan went to block the strike only for the glaive to pass directly through his body. "An afterimage to confuse the opponent.." Tom commented as his eyes tried to guess where Dano would appear but even he couldn't see through this powerful illusion. The answer came a few seconds later as Alan cried out in pain and clutched at his back staggering forward while Dano emerged and landed a solid punch to the back of Alan's head knocking him flat onto the ground and followed it up with his foot stomping onto his back.
"Ha pathetic you fell for my illusion just like last time" Dano laughed raising his foot up and went to stomp down again only to watch Alan's body disappear as the sound of him rolling away was heard. "I think you forget that you also fell prey to my cloaking ability as well" Alan's voice echoed everywhere as Dano frantically looked around trying to sense him out. The sound of solid wood connecting with Dano's face was then heard as he stumbled back blood trickling from his face as Alan emerged holding Drogan Strike up in a defensive position.
"Is this actually a sparring match because it seems to me they're trying their hardest to kill each other" Mitch whispered to Ania as they watched Alan leap at Dano slashing his blades at his opponents throat while the attack was nimbly avoided. Jumping back the glaive was thrust forward as it scraped against Alan's arm leaving a trickle of blood before he vanished from view again while Dano this time closed his eyes and calmed his breathing trying to sense Alan out.
Dano spun around thrusting the end of his glaive through the air as it slammed into something that couldn't be seen as Alan appeared hunched over clutching his stomach and struggling to breathe. Gritting his teeth he took a deep breath and leap up into the air slamming the wooden part of his tonfa's down onto the glaive before rolling to the side and ducking right underneath passing through Dano's defence. A solid four hit combo of his fists to the various parts of his opponents body sent his rival flying back onto the floor.
"Dirty Black Dragon I'll annihilate YOU!" he roared leaping up and surging towards Alan as he slashed his glaive upwards nicking the side of Alan's cheek drawing blood as Alan at the same time swung his bladed tonfa's down leaving the same mark on Dano's face. Just as they both were about to lunge in again and strike Manji stepped between the two as they stopped suddenly "Alright I think this 'sparring' match has gone on long enough let's call it a draw". Both Alan and Dano didn't seem pleased with the result before either one could object the bell rang to signal the end of class "Alright that's it for today see you kid's next lesson" before Alan's team mates could walk over and see how he was their team leader stormed out of the room slamming the door behind "Guess we let him blow off some steam" Mitch said knowing all to well how Alan felt.
Storming into the room Alan slammed the door behind and flung his weapons down onto the bed before heading into the bathroom and splashing water over his face. Placing both hands on the sink he stared at the mirror and his reflection as he recalled all to well the last time he fought Dano and what his illusion's created. Flashes of a bloody battlefield went through Alan's mind as he recalled standing at the bottom of a hill while Dano was at the top standing over the corpses of his two brothers grinning his glaive covered in their fresh blood. What followed next always came to Alan in brief flashes as he recalled that illusion ability and his dead brothers rising up with various body parts hacked off as they tried attacking him while Alan refused to harm his brothers and could only run away from them tears streaming down his face.
In the reflection of the mirror he could picture his brothers lifeless corpses chasing after him as he grit his teeth and shattered the mirror with his fist. Blood dripped down into the sink from the cuts on his hand while pieces of glass were embedded in his knuckles as he fell to his knee's "I'm sorry I failed to avenge your deaths again….."
"Jeez smashing a mirror that's something I'd do" Mitch's voice came from the bathroom entrance as Alan turned around to find him leaning there staring at the broken glass and dripping blood from his fist. "So you want revenge for Dano killing your family members then?" for once Alan didn't turn back to his happy demeanour as he stood up and skulked past Mitch pushing him aside "You wouldn't understand…." "Actually I'd understand more than you could imagine". "Look I'm not going to make you sit down and explain everything because well let's face it that isn't me but I will offer you some advice. Just because you didn't defeat him this time doesn't mean there won't be another time and until that time comes you just have to train even harder and push yourself reminding yourself of why you're doing this and eventually you will win".
Stopping at the door Alan hung there for a few moments "Thank you…" "What I didn't do anything?" Mitch shrugged his shoulders as he jumped back onto his bed "Now I suggest going to get that patched up before our team mates get back".