Satoko was shocked that Asked broke her strings. At first. Then she was steaming mad. She raised her quan-dou to block his attack and held her ground, not giving an inch.
"Well at least if I lose I didn't lose against you!" She shouted at him" I lost against you friends. You're nothing without them it would seem. Just a weak pathetic child that runs to their aid whenever you're in trouble. I refuse to give into that kind of thinking. My strength is my own and if I can't beat someone I'll work harder to get strong enough to beat them myself. If you rely on the strength of others all your life you'll never be strong. You'll always falter when you're alone."

Joshua watched the stalemate drag on for several minutes before noticing the effects Ascots new ability where having on the boy. Needless to say he was alarmed.
"ASCOT, STOP RIGHT NOW!" He shouted just before an explosion of pure darkness erupted between Satoko and Ascot with enough force to blow both fighters back.

"My, my, my. You children are such a lively bunch these days." a man's voice said from the darkness. It was the kind of voice that made you either instantly fall in love with the owner or made you instantly hate him. When the darkness faded all that stood in it's face was a cloaked figure. Unlike the Organization or Six Sense's cloaks, which were nice, elaborate, and somewhat stylish, this man wore a simple, tattered hood and cloak, as as it he had been journeying through some very dangerous places for a very long time.

Joshua and Rika were by their friends' sides in an instant, Joshua summoning Total Eclipse and Rika summoning a short sword and shield that looked like they were made out of crystal

"My, my, so hostile even though I just saved you're friends? If they had kept on fighting they would've died before either of them gave in. Well the human would've died. The Nobody simply would've faded away. But let's see who we have here... the warrior of darkness, seeking the light, the paladin who is too close to the light for his own good, The princess of heart with an affinity for snow, a mage with two souls in one body, a theif who doubts herself, the Puppeteer and the Warden, A child I don't know and... Oh. If I'm not mistaken Lucus' own flesh and blood. And his own daughter... such a strong light within her. Maybe enough to attract the attention of a... certain weapon." The cloaked man said before chuckling to himself

"I would label you as an enemy." Joshua muttered

"No... not yet. Right now we share a common enemy in those miserable Six Senses losers. But after you rid of them for us I can promise no such common ground." The man said" Though mind you, you've all made watching you very interesting. Especially that Thomas fellow. I feel for him. Oh but I probably shouldn't say why. That bit of drama I'm staying out of but if things go south... well we'll welcome him into our folds. One bit of drama I can get over with is you're girlfriend's little heart problems around those signs you're hunting for. You see, we've had eyes on them for years, hoping to eliminate them when the time was right but... well, why get our hands dirty when you excellent young 'heroes' can do it for us."

"You talk too much." Joshua said

"Yeah, I'm sure the mage there could say the same thing about that Mika fellow he fought. Seems to be a common theme among us 'bad guys'. But talk is cheap and I'm sure you hate seeing your girlfriend suffer as she acts as a sign detector. Mind you, they hid one in a place you lot would never think to look. Luckily our agent in Underland saw them hide that sign." The man said before raising a hand towards Amaya and causing a portal of darkness over her heart. It would be very, very painful but he would extract the sign that had been hidden away inside of her, the sign being an object of darkness that he could control. By the time it was out, Joshua would be by her side again, cause Amaya's health and safety was a much bigger concern of his then Ascot's (as she was his girlfriend as EVERYONE kept pointing out).

"Now, be a bunch of good boys and girls and get rid of those Six Pain-in-the-Asses for me. I'm a very busy man and I got plans to make. Maybe we'll meet again in due time. Though I doubt it'll be under good circumstances. So until then, ta ta and have a nice day." The man said, before vanishing in a Corridor of Darkness.

"Well... that was informative." Satoko said, struggling to her feet.