Rival

Spike and Sakura landed in front of the first gate. Already, there was a person waiting for them. The cowboy drew out his gun as he pushed Sakura behind him.

"Stay behind me," he mouthed. His wife slowly nodded. Spike walked forward with his gun out. The figure ahead of them looked up. Wait... Were they waving at them?

"Hey!" man shouted at them. Spike raised an eyebrow. The couple picked up their pace as they got closer.

"Who are you?" the cowboy asked. The figure stepped forward. By now, Spike got a better view.

"It's you," he said with a peculiar look on his face. The figure turned out to be a man with long white hair. He smiled when the pair got closer.

"So good to seeyou again," he said. "I thought that you were never going to show up." Spike held up his gun as he slowly approached the pale man.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"You did," the man said. "But that was long ago!" That unnerving grin doesn t make it any better.

"Let me guess, you aren t going to let us through, are you?" the cowboy asked.

"Nope!" the pale man said, shaking his head. He popped his lips on the "p" sound. Spike rolled his eyes.

"Of course not," he said. Let's just get this over with. The man chuckled to himself.

"Straight to the point," he said. I like it. The man drew out his sword. Spike looked over his shoulder. He said something that only Sakura could hear. The tenshi-chi stared at him before she vanished. The pale man tilted his head to the side.

"Uh... what did you just do?" he asked. Spike put up his hands in a shrug.

"I don't know. You tell me, he said. The pale man snorted.

"Fine, keep your secrets," he said. "Let's just get on with it." He lifted his left hand to the sky.

"I summon forth my avatar!" the pale man shouted. Sharp winds blew around them. Spike smirked to himself. When was the last time they did this? It didn t matter. What was he going to summon this time? A spark of black lighting hit the ground. When the smoke cleared, Spike frowned.

"You have got to be kidding me!" he shouted. KuroSakura floated before him and opened her eyes.

"Oh," she said when she saw Spike. The pale man pointed at the cowboy.

"Get him!" he shouted. The oni-chi turned her head. She looked the man up and down.

"Engel? Engel is that you?" she asked. The pale man grinned.

"Why yes," he said.

Bang!

Engel and KuroSakura jumped out of the way in time. Spike trained the gun on the targets flying around. The pale man smirked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Looks like our friend is tired of waiting around," he said. Engel raised his sword above his head.

"Well then, let's give him a fight that will make it worth his while!" he shouted. Suddenly, Spike started glowing.

Duel