[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/s0EwNmk.png[/img][/center]
[center][color=#DAA520][b][u]Los Angeles - Outside Café Belle Vie[/u][/b][/color][/center]
[center][@Count Cuddles][@Prosaic][/center]

One would be a fool to deny the ecstatic joy emanating from a clash of blades, from an act of aggression towards an opponent, from combat. Unable to hide the smirk under his white helmet, obfuscating the young face beneath, Nello held his weapon in front of his slender frame, slowly circling his enemy as they sized each other up. A sword clashing against a bladed, metal staff. A knight fighting a creature of the depths, a monstrous beast clawing its way out of sewage and filth to the civilized world. The scene was that of a fairytale, truly, something onlookers were more than happy to approve with cellphones on full display. Texting their friends, filming the event, adding yet another battle of light versus dark to the internet's vast collection of videos. As if fighting in an arena, indeed, the modern reinvention of this most spectacular event, Nello was unable to stifle the chuckle leaving his lips at his opponent's words. The boy's voice, a ghostly, metallic sound from beneath the armor circled by an aura of darkness and shadows. [color=#DAA520][b]"Apologies,"[/b][/color] Nello, or rather, Midnight spoke, [color=#DAA520][b]"I was too enamored by our dance. You are an entertaining opponent."[/b][/color] Charging forth, Nello's blade sliced through the air in a swift, most graceful motion, an attack his opponent managed to dodge as the lizard flipped into the air with a counterattack of his own.

[color=#DAA520][i]"Think he'll be as quick without legs!?"[/i][/color] Nocturne exclaimed from within Nello's mind, as the boy raised his shield to block the incoming blow, a loud clang of metal on metal lingering in the air. 

[color=#DAA520][b]"Why end the fun, so quickly?"[/b][/color] The small knight returned, answering his innermost shade as his Moonshadow Sword connected with the lizard's bladed staff in a quick, repeated sequence of furious blows, all before the monstrous creature leaped high into the air, a backflip to allow for some space between the combatants. 

[color=#DAA520][i]"See, kiddo', this is the guy I want to see more often. Where is THIS Nello outside the armor, huh?"[/i][/color]

The battle continued, a knight versus his dragon, a boy shedding the restraints put on him throughout an everyday struggle against social stigma. When in the armor, that mystical [url=https://i.imgur.com/ap96eP3.png]plate[/url] of black and white, Nello felt free. With slender, armored and clawed fingers grasping the hilt of his sword, Nello never attempted to leave lasting wounds on his opponent. His blade, it was one of the more dangerous weapons one could wield. One of supernatural nature. However, as the lizard attempted to overwhelm the knight with countless jabs, his motions leading the creature in every manner of direction, Nello dropped his sword, the weapon vanishing in a burst of black smoke before a clawed gauntlet grabbed onto the lizard's frame, throwing him to the ground. 

Moments later, an explosive burst sent the lizard off balance only seconds after it rolled back to its feet, Nello's eyes narrowing at the sight. He hated it when someone intervened in his fights, but it was a notion kept under lock and key. He was aware that this love of combat, particularly single combat, came from Nocturne. [color=#DAA520][b]"We're done, here."[/b][/color] Midnight's ghostly voice slipped through the mystical helmet he wore, a metal encased fist connecting with the lizard's snout in reaction to a distraction the creature had been imposed. With a splintering tooth forced out of the creature's mouth, Nello wrapped his clawed hand around the creature's neck, every figment of his possessed body wanting to conjure forth his blade and plant it hilt deep in this beast's body. 

Another punch knocked the creature out before Midnight dropped the beast like a rag, tossing it aside to the concrete before his attention shifted to Keandre. [color=#DAA520][i]"Who the fuck is that?"[/i][/color] Nocturne's voice echoed throughout Nello's mind, the boy's attention remaining on this newcomer.