"I don't know what the hell you're trying to say tin-man but you're right. You didn't have to help me. I don't know what way you're referring to, but I don't exactly like how you're holding that blade so.." Zato would say with a smirk before placing his third blade into his mouth.

A burst of Reiatsu would flare from his body.

"I think it's about time we peeled back that goofy tin can you're wearing so I can figure out what the hells going on in that head of yours. Fall to pieces.. Oni Giri!"

Malekith watched the man flash past him or perhaps through him. The sound of shrieking metal would be heard as the blades cut along his upper left thorax. Droplets of blood would fall from the three cuts. Two of which were following each other perpendicular across his body and the third struck through them. What was revealed underneath was not skin like some would most likely assume but pure uncovered muscle. Skinless.

Malekith was jolted back a step and took a fraction of second to inspect the cuts he'd just endured. Turning to face Zato the gashes in his armour would come into full view only to reveal the skinless form underneath. It was in this moment that Malekith would twitch slightly, his grotesque aura pulsing to signify his change in power.

Reaching his left hand in front of him, Zato would probably find that he would being gripped into position like some force was preventing him from moving. In the same instance his soles would leave the ground.

"Why would you attack me, I thought we were friends?" Malekith's voice hinted in a friendly manner and tinge of hurt from betrayal as he ended his question.

It was then he would appear in front of Zato from a Blur, his body stanced and his fist in momentum as aimed at the mans sternum with a punch of Cero force.

Zato smirked as he felt his blades bite into tissue, but the consistency of it didn't feel like skin at all. Once you'd cut enough skin, you knew the feeling of it tearing underneath your blade and this was, simply put, not that.. Zato's eyes were alight with curiosity as he slowly turned to face his newfound foe. What his eyes revealed was.. shocking to say the least. This man, monster, thing, whatever the hell he was was just muscle and sinew within an armored casing. Some frankenstein fucked up monster the likes of which Zato had certainly never seen, and now it seemed to feel.. betrayed?

Not much time to think about that now as Zato's feet left the ground and he was lifted into the air, seemingly powerless in the monsters grasp as Zato felt himself beholden to the same problems those Hollows had faced minutes earlier. As a note for future reference, Zato intended to try and be more understanding of tin men cause this.. was gonna hurt.

Zato's eyes crossed and his stomach felt as though it imploded on impact. Spit and bile exited Zato's mouth the minute the punch connected, and Zato felt himself flung from where he'd previously been floating clear out to the dock. A spit of blood and the pulsating pain in his sternum confirmed his worst fears, and now all he could do is hold his blades up and pray to stop whatever onslaught this tin-man had in mind. "That all you got tin-man?!"

Zato was visibly shaken by Malekith's blow, giving Malekith a sense of happiness if even only for a moment. His joy wasn't visible and it couldn't be felt but it was there for a moment. It took Zato a moment to gather himself as he spat blood, taunting Malekith as he did so. "That all you got tin-man?!"

Malekith marched in the direction of Zato, his body stiff and glitchy. A horrid combination that really didn't show Malekith's humanity very well, perhaps the point.

"Why must all of humanity fight against everything and truly understand nothing? Do you fight for a purpose Zato, Protector of the Coast? So far your reasoning isn't quite making sense."

Malekith would say in a calm tone then Blur to Zato's front. With his Sword raised Malekith would swing down at Zato.

For some reason this tin-man maniac was trying to have a philosophical dialogue with Zato and he was, flatly, having absolutely none of it. A grit of the teeth and a twin-sword defense was needed to parry the mans inevitable offensive, a simple but potent downwards strike that would've succeeded in cleaving a lesser man in two. A small smirk ordained Zato's face as he pushed upwards and blurred backwards, creating the first substantial separation between himself and the man since the fight had begun. It was clear to Zato at this point that fighting up close would probably be.. less than advantageous to say the least. He needed to come up with a new strategy, preferably before this tin-man turned him into a corpse.

Zato would smirk, biting down on his sword before holding the other two outstretched as his body began to spin rapidly. In an instance, a twister would emerge and begin flying towards the tin man with the intention of blowing him away into the water, and cutting deeper into whatever tissues had already been exposed from Zato's earlier offensive. Tatsu Maki was the name of this particular technique, and if this didn't work, well..

Zato might be in deeper shit than he'd initially suspected.

Malekith's blow was blocked by the man, admirable to say the least and what was most honourable of this was that Zato had at least been fighting him head on. Honourable was however not smart. Malekith like everyone else was still prone to this, after all he was still Human to some degree of the word.

Zato would then respond by pushing against Malekith's force he would create distance between the two with slight smirk.

Malekith would then continue to walk towards the man. Meanwhile Zato's smirk would become more pronounced as he begun to spin his blades. A twister would emerge and spiral towards Malekith. The flash of air pressure was formidable but Malekith had now become tired of Zato's little game and chose to take it head on. The result of contact was a dust cloud formed momentarily. However Malekith remained in motion. His armour and flesh beneath had sustained more damage. Cutting deeper into into his already present cross cut along his chest, tearing the armour from his upper right arm, shattering the armour on the left side of his abdomen. Blood pooled in the opening gashes of his armour like black sludge, dripping down his armour. Yet that was nothing compared to what Zato would now see. A slither of armour was shredded from the left side of Malekith's face. What was revealed would be a muscular face and the coldest eyes that any Man or Women would ever lay there eyes upon. Malekith's glowing green iris that held a deathless stare, its gaze a piercing spear of unfathomable determination and ruthless willpower.

Some people would freeze in shock to such a site. The unyielding and driven nature of a man so intense and strong that he merely becomes detached from the word human.

When Malekith regained his vision on Zato he would raise his hand out, creating a powerful force of two Cero's which was aimed at hitting and blowing Zato into the water. It was like a ghastly force of nature that went against nature itself.

The machine didn't seem to do a lot of thinking when he fought, and that was excellent news for Zato whom, in fairness, also tended to shy away from the thinking portion of combat. The fact he'd been able to create any measure of distance between himself and this monster was a miracle. This miracle was followed by a second, the moronic beast had for some reason walked directly into tornado range of his Tatsu Maki attack. The attack worked as it was meant to, seemingly shredding the man further than his previous attack had and if the mans new grisly appearance was anything to go off of.. It's efficacy was still up to snuff.

And now for the bad news, this freak, this monster was still soldiering forward and the look on his face struck Zato with a level of terror and fear the likes of which he'd never faced up to this point. He'd killed monsters and men alike in his time protecting this shoreline, but he'd never seen a face that dealt him a fear worse than death such as this one. The determination in the monsters heart was unlike anything Zato had ever seen, and the bad news unfortunately was still coming hard and fast. In a moment, Zato saw the mans hand enter the air, and in the next found himself throttled into the water with force unlike anything he'd ever experienced to this point. His body skipped across the water like a rock, his ribs screamed in agony as though his lungs were trying to escape their captivity, and then he sank.

For what felt like eternity, Zato fell deeper and deeper into the nearby water. If he'd been a weaker man, this would've been his end. Instead, he narrowly thrusted himself forth from the water sputtering and spitting as his lungs heaved for forgiveness. He looked out at the shoreline to see if the monster was still standing, and he prayed that he was not.

Malkith watched as Zato was tossed across the water's surface and watched further as the man failed to sink like rock. Malekith tossed his weapon, and it disappeared into black smoke. The gashes on Malekith's armour were slowly starting to repair themselves? They become smaller but still remained. Malekith approached the tip of the dock and stared at Zato.

This time Malekith's voice was a deep neutral tone, seeming to be more accurate to his person unlike everything else Zato would have heard. "You have Hollow to purge and this coast to watch over. This is merely a waste of my time and yours. You'd best get back to your work."

With his final words Malekith turned and faded into black smoke. Which then begged the question, was it all real or was Zato just having a schizophrenic episode.

--THREAD EXIT--

Good news, Zato was alive! Bad news, so was Malekith!

Zato watched the man peering out over the docks at him, his freshly disfigured face serving as a testament to both his monstrous might and the great many wars he'd seemingly fought thus far in his life. It seemed that he was being granted mercy, if that's what you could call the form Zato was currently being left in. He tried to speak, wanting desperately to forge some kind of witty and unexpected rebuttal but his words and wit had been strewn across the water alongside what remained of his inclination to fight this particular battle. Whatever monster this Malekith was, he was beyond Zato's currently meager capabilties.

Zato watched as the man walked off, his visage disappearing long before his presence and air left the scene. Once Zato was content that the monstrous man had left the scene, he would slowly paddle to shore and pull himself to stable ground.

To think he'd met his match already.. a pity.

-thread end-