The shimmering sphere fades to nothing once again, leaving... well, -nothing- in its wake. There is no sign of Channel whatsoever...

Seikou blinks and stares at the spot where Channel was, guard increasing greatly...

Not even a sound can be heard out of place, nothing to give the location of the stalking Channel... Not until it's too late. The only sign of an attack is the sudden movement of air; otherwise all there is to it is a sharp ramming towards Seikou's back.

Seikou is of coruse completely unable to dodge, the sheer force driving into his back as his entire body stiffens with the sudden pain, eyes widening...

Seikou then sinks to the ground, gasping for breath, the blow having knocked the wind out of him.

Channel takes advantage of Seikou's condition, dropping his Copy Chip-granted invisibility(out of being a confident bastard, mind you) and attempting to plant an oversized boot in the small of the fallen reploid's back to keep him down.

Seikou manages to roll out of the way and stabs upwards at Channel.

Channel leans back and out of the way, taking a haphazard step backward to maintain his balance. An irritated scowl crosses him, despite having -been- scowling the entire fight, but he stands his ground.

Seikou climbs to his feet, smirking a little. "How sad. You can't even beat me while cheating."

Channel maintains his irate expression, but doesn't seem to be making a move to attack. "All's fair, Thief... But if you really consider it cheating, I won't use the power of my Copy Chip if it'll make you feel better."

Seikou raises an eyebrow, obviously suprised at this sudden display of honor, but he decides (probably wisely) not to express said suprise. Instead, he just charges at Channel, blade raised...

Channel simply stands in place, smirking rather arrogantly, waiting for the other's attack to progress...

Seikou slashes diagonally, clearly putting all his strength into the blow in an attempt to end this.

Channel just stands calmly, not even watching the energy blade rip through him... Instead of being cleanly cleft(har) in two, however, he seems to... flicker?

Seikou narrows his eyes. "An illusion...?"

Channel bites back a rising cackle, letting only the sound of metal sliding against metal be the only sign of his attack from behind, a hidden blade from one of his gauntlets seeking to bite just under Seikou's chestplate and upwards in an attempt to hit something vital.

Seikou doesn't manage to dodge in time and takes the blade to his back, slumping to the ground...

Channel stands again, almost strutting to one side of the again-felled Seikou, not bothering to clean the deep crimson synthetic fluid from his blade. He tries to nudge his opponent face-up with a well-placed kick to a shoulder, still staring down at him.

Seikou allows himself to be rolled over, staring up at Channel with a mixture between hatred and fear in his eyes...

Channel lowers himself to one knee, placing the point of his soiled blade against the crystal of Seikou's chestplate. "Now, where was I? Something about ripping out that sorry excuse for a Copy Chip system, I think~..." He traces his blade around the perimeter of the polygonal crystal to emphesize his point.

Seikou closes his eyes, realizing that an attempt to stand up would be... rather fatal. "...Aura... I'm sorry..."

Channel starts applying a little more pressure, grinning wickedly, but suddenly stops, the expression dropping in place of something more bewildered. He looks up to something unseen in the sky, scowling a bit.

Seikou blinks a few times at this, eyes now open and some of the worry replaced with curiousity.

"...You got lucky this time, 'Pretender'." Channel stands, his gauntlet's blade sliding back into its hidden compartment. "You should be thankful I have more important things to attend to." On that, he begins walking north, though towards what, no one but him can be sure...