BIO

"AEGIS Employee Handbook Article #1: It is the sole responsibility of the operative to escape from or otherwise endeavor to survive dangerous situations. No backup support will be forthcoming to your assistance."

NAME: Katsusaki Yukito
ALIAS: None
AGE: 18
ETHNIC BACKGROUND: Japanese
SEX: Male
EYE COLOR: Ice-blue
PROFESSION: AEGIS operative / high school senior student
FIGHTING STYLE: Tenken Taikyoku Senjutsu
PRIZED POSESSIONS: None
LIKES: Cutting-edge technology, fast cars, lemon tea
DISLIKES: Bad music played loudly, unnecessary violence
AFFILIATIONS: None

WEAPON(S): Duel / Harusame / various
BATTLE SCENE BGM: "Nowhere" by FictionJunction YUUKA
THEME SONG: "Rise" by Origa
 

APPEARANCE / OUTFIT
Height: 178cm
Weight: 52kg

DESCRIPTION - Though Japanese in heritage, Yukito's fair complexion, as well as his eyes and hair, often serve to suggest that he is of mixed, foreign blood. Tall at 6 feet, he nonetheless holds relatively little bulk behind his frame, giving him a deceptively skinny appearance - though those who have seen him in action quickly learn to know better. His hair, a light ashen-gray in hue, is cropped short to only reach to halfway down his sharply refined, genteel features, sweeping out in haphazard, bladed bangs at an angle that hides his left eye behind slightly messy, disordered locks. The only sign that suggests Yukito is more than the frail, absent-minded young man he appears to be is his eyes - a pair of sky-blue, diamantine shards of flinty, mirror-like ice, seemingly blind yet all-seeing at the same time, a pair of bottomless voids entranced with a pensive, forlorn yearning for some unknown, far-off mystery.

ATTIRE - Yukito's combat attire appears to be - for all intents and purposes - a black formal eveningwear tuxedo, complete with a red striped necktie, black trousers, and a cleanly-pressed white undershirt. The suit itself is crisply starched, with silver-gold buttons and cufflinks, and appears to contour perfectly and elegantly around Yukito's body - though its otherwise-immaculate appearance is ruined somewhat by Yukito wearing the collar in a scruffily-upturned fashion. A pair of black, sturdy leather combat boots that his trousers are tucked into pass for footwear, and a matching pair of fingerless gloves - which are also black and constructed from durable leather, though lighter than the material of his boots - with steel insets at the knuckles complete Yukito's ensemble. The GateKeeper is also often seen with a pair of clear-lens reading glasses, slimly rectangular with metallic blue titanium frames, that tend to glint brightly with reflected light, shielding Yukito's eyes from view.

For casual purposes, however, Yukito dresses simply. His favorite clothes appear to be a slightly oversized, untucked, loosely-buttoned white oxford shirt, the sleeves folded back up to his elbows with a black Parker fountain pen clipped in the breast pocket. A pair of beige, loosely baggy cargo pants reach all the way to and tapers off at his ankles, completed by a pair of geta (Japanese wooden sandals) worn on his feet.
 

PERSONALITY - Patient, meticulous and soft-spoken, Yukito was so inobstrusive about his work that few could have been said to know him, which is one of the chief reasons he has successfully maintained his double identities as AEGIS operative and ordinary high school student thus far. The few who did know him knew that in addition to his other qualities, Yukito was, above all, kind - one of the gentlest souls they had ever known. Relaxed and laid-back most of the time, Yukito is rarely, if ever, worried about anything, choosing instead to simply accept and deal with things as they come and are, sometimes appearing casual to the point of procrastination. Tactful and diplomatic, Yukito displays an uncanny knack of philosophically seeing the world from a detached point of view and accepting the perversely twisted line between black and white - a man at peace with himself and the world, seeking to live life and be true to himself as best as he may - though he does, at times, hold some amount of temperamental, brooding sentiments for what he has chosen to forsake whilst walking down his path in life.
 

OVERVIEW - Instructed in the Taikyokuken swordfighting arts of his family clan since an early age, Yukito's fighting style is unique in numerous ways, and not least because it simultaneously encompasses opposing tenets in its fundamental principles - speed in lethargicity, force in yielding gentleness, movements amidst static stances, defense within offense, stillness through passionate rage, among others. Yukito's techniques are never singular - he is often forceful yet calm, turning his opponent's attack against themselves, and countering his adversary's speed simply by not moving. His movements often appear rather unorthodox, due to the fact that Taikyokuken eschews fixed techniques and katas for instantaneous, concurrent adaptation, improvisation and evolution to swiftly analyze and destroy the opponent's fighting style. While Yukito's temperament is already calm and tranquilly focused during normal conditions, he is even more remarkably so in combat - as far as the GateKeeper is concerned, there is only himself and his opponent, and even that line is sometimes blurred - a lethally serene blend of harmony that often leaves his adversaries nothing to attack but themselves.
 

QUIRKS / HOBBIES / PET PEEVES - Yukito holds a near-fanboyish preoccupation for state-of-the-art gadgetry and equipment, which is one thing he is almost always willing to drop his smoothly unruffled composure for. Anything with sleek lines and revolutionary performance will capture his fancy - including, but not limited to laptop computers, mobile phones, MP3 players, firearms, elegant katana blades, AEGIS' latest armored suits, and even operating systems and software. The same holds true for fast cars of any type - Yukito eschews watching events like the Formula One for the thrill of being behind the wheel himself, with an idiosyncratic preference for cars with manual transmission as opposed to automatic. He has been known to splurge substantial amounts of cash (AEGIS compensates its agents generously for their services) on sports cars when sent away on missions, only to anonymously give them away or donate them to charity when his objectives are accomplished and he is recalled. His passion for sports cars, however, is not to be confused with luxury sedans like the Rolls Royce or Mercedez Benz - he's more of a Ferrari and Porsche enthusiast.

That being said, Yukito's obsession with technology matches his proficiency as an expert computer hacker. The large majority of Yukito's acquired skills with technological gadgets are solely for the purpose of electronic theft, intrusion and hijacking - equipped with proper tools and enough time, Yukito displays an almost preternatural talent for sneaking past just about any security system set in place to commandeer entire networks, or simply force-breaking his way through when a stealthy intrusion fails or is impossible.

A poor drinker, Yukito holds an almost ridiculously low capacity for ethanol - a 320ml can of 9% alcohol is often enough to knock him out cold with a hangover waiting for him when he wakes up. Yukito suspects an allergy to alcohol on his part, but whatever the reason, he is aware of his own limits and shies away from drink whenever possible. Out of habit he carries a chrome-plated thermos hip flask with him wherever he goes, which is the only thing he drinks out of, pouring the liquid down his throat without his lips touching the container - though it is unknown what the flask actually contains. Aside from alcohol, the GateKeeper is also only barely tolerant of bad music, especially when blasted loudly by amplifiers. Every effort will be made to clear the premises whenever Yukito encounters such an occurence, failing which the offending amplifiers and/or singers are usually silenced by repeated shots from a Magnum .50AE Desert Eagle.
 

SKILLS - Gifted with the ability to summon and control Gates at will, the existence of an extremely rare number of individuals across the world - collectively known as GateKeepers - were first recorded by AEGIS nearing the end of World War II. Numerous theories were proposed to explain the existence of Gates, though all in vain - some say it is a manifestation of the person's true power, other say it is a gateway to a specific dimension where the person could draw energy from and convert it into an attack that is unique to every gate. Varying in hues from person to person, they seem to classify themselves into either elements or states, and in rarer occasions, equipment or gestures. Ever since their discovery, AEGIS has actively scoured the globe for potential GateKeeper candidates, bringing them under its fold as humanity's greatest weapons in the clandestine Invader Wars.

Gekimetsu no Geeto | Gate of Destruction - Born a GateKeeper, Yukito's latent abilities were accidentally awakened at the age of 16 - after which he was inducted into AEGIS and branded as an outcast by his clan. Manifesting itself, like all other Gates, in the form of a swirling pair of concentric circles when opened, Yukito's Gate - the Gate of Destruction - shines brightly with the crimson hue of freshly-spilt blood, tinted slightly by the rust-red shade of corroded, tarnished steel. By opening his Gate, Yukito can summon any weapon from it to wield as he pleases in combat. Though often resembling their human-crafted counterparts in terms of appearance, the weapons drawn from the Gate of Destruction are composed from unidentified, charged materials that affords them increased durability, damage rating, a destructive power completely disproportionate to their size and appearance at times of Yukito's choosing - as well as the ability to destroy either physically or spiritually at the GateKeeper's will. The number and types of weapons Yukito can summon are theoretically limited only by his stamina and imagination, though he uses the following most often.

Harusame | Shower of Spring - A perfectly straight-bladed katana 3 feet long and 1 inch wide. With an arrowhead-esque tip and inlaid blade, both the sheath and hilt are crafted from the same silver chromelike alloy, and the Harusame simply looks like a round-edged polished steel rod if left sheathed, albeit with a rather sleek design at one of its ends where the sword handle is exposed. The blade itself is cleanly polished and lacks a sword guard, reflecting a cold cobalt gleam from its edge if it catches light. With his swordsmanship forming the mainstay of his fighting skills, the Harusame is often the first - and only - weapon Yukito summons in combat.

Ryuuga | Dragon Fang - The Ryuuga consists of a pair of katars that form one complete weapon. Snapping onto and covering the entirety of Yukito's forearms as a pair of large, sleek ebony-black gauntlets crafted in the shape of dragons, Yukito's hands are hidden inside the dragons' open mouths, from within which protrude ten katar blades in all, five from each hand. The blades themselves gleam a polished steel-white, fashioned in the shape of straight-bladed katana, long enough to reach all the way to the ground should Yukito hang his arms by his sides. A lethal weapon in close-quarters melee combat, the Ryuuga makes up for its lack of range when compared to the Harusame with superior speed and dexterity.

Zenki & Kouki | Former Ghost & Latter Ghost - Two matching 10.9mm-caliber handguns, the 14-inch firearms resemble Magnum Desert Eagles in appearance, and are equipped with dual firing barrels built in a single piece. Contrary to their pistol-like appearance, however, the handcannons are capable of switching between semi-automatic, burst and automatic modes. With exceptional stopping power and firing rates, the fired cartridges can be charged with additional Gate energy, allowing them to hit further, faster and harder. Coated with metallic-silver and ebony-black finishing respectively, Zenki and Kouki comprise of Yukito's primary means of ranged assault when required, though the GateKeeper is no outstanding marksman by any standard.

Zankage | Shadow Cutter - One of Yukito's favored weapons for penetrating heavy armor plating, the Zankage is a ten foot-long kwan dao - a bladed saber fitted at the end of a pole, a type of Chinese warblade used during the Warring States era by Kwan Kung, the God of War. Almost twice as long as Yukito is tall, the Zankage's intimidating size and length is largely factored by its gigantic cutting edge. The grip of the weapon is a silver-gold in color, with the main blade - as well as the massive cylindrical, spiked mace fitted at the weapon's opposing end - composed from an unidentified alloy, shaded a black so intense that it seems to absorb the light around it and dim its surroundings, hence its name. The size of the Zankage leaves it unwieldy as a close-quarters combat weapon, and Yukito utilizes it primarily in open regions and spaces against large, heavily armored targets that require massive amounts of punishment to bring down. Estimates concur that the Zankage weighs close to half a ton - though Yukito wields it with the apparent ease and grace of a wooden staff.
 

FIGHTING STANCE - Unlike unarmed kenpou techniques, Yukito's particular fighting style lacks a basic stance for the simple reason that there is no need for one. When idling on the battlefield, Yukito embraces a relaxed stance, his weapon held in a loose grip as he observes his opponent. At the start of matches, however, he often falls into battoujutsu stance - legs slightly crouched, his hips twisted sideways to the left. His left hand holds the imaginary sheath of his blade attached to his left hip, while his right is angled an inch away from the hilt of the weapon. Similar to iaijutsu, battoujutsu - the sword-drawing skill - is the art of drawing one's sword, killing with a single stroke, and then flicking the blood off the blade and resheathing, with all four movements performed so quickly and fluidly they appear as one, though iaijutsu is more art-oriented while battoujutsu is geared more towards combat purposes.

Instead of his normal Gate weapons, Yukito wields Duel in official tournament matches, a steel-forged shinai recalled by the GateKeeper from AEGIS Tactical Division Armory for this specific purpose. In its default configuration, Duel resembles a slightly-curved, blunt-edged katana almost 2.5 feet long that lacks a tsuka, with its handgrip finished with synthetic polymer rubber and kraton. The entire shinai can be collapsed into a short rod only nine inches long, which is how Yukito carries it when not in use - tucked away in a leather carrying case, strapped to the inside of his left wrist and hidden beneath his sleeve.
 

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUE NAME: Gyakujun Kanryuu | Strong Reverse Flow
POWER: 0
DESCRIPTION: Owing to the unique material and essence of their construction, the nature of Yukito's summoned Gate weapons allow them to not only easily negate physical matter, but to destroy spiritually as well at Yukito's command - hence the Gate's name. Pulling out any Gate weapon of choice with his free hand, Yukito will strike out to intercept an incoming energy missile attack, causing the projectile to instantly disintegrate into nothingness upon contact, or divert its path away from himself.
QUOTE: None.

TECHNIQUE NAME: Shuukuuchi | Reduced Earth
POWER: 0
DESCRIPTION: A body technique descended directly from Tenken no Soujirou, the creator of the fighting style employed by Yukito, the Shuukuuchi draws directly from intensely brutal physical training on the practitioner's legs, which enables them to instantly accelerate from rest to top speed, moving so swiftly that they simply exceed the ability of the human eye to perceive and react to their movements. The technique derives its name from the legendary ability of its practitioners to seemingly shrink and destroy the distance they wish to traverse, doing so in the blink of an eye with lethal speed and precision. Serving its purpose as an exceedingly swift dash in combat, all that is visible of Yukito, should he choose to employ lesser variants of the Shuukuuchi, are his staccato-like footsteps ripping through the earth with the rapidity of an automatic-fire machine gun as he moves - while performing the true Shuukuuchi, Yukito simply cannot be seen.
QUOTE: None.

TECHNIQUE NAME: Takatobi | High Leap
POWER: 0
DESCRIPTION: The extremely high speeds that Yukito can achieve whilst performing the Shuukuuchi allow the GateKeeper to 'climb' up walls, and even ceilings, simply by running up along them, allowing his sheer speed and momentum to negate his weight for brief periods before gravity pulls him back downwards. By running up alongside any standing obstacle, Yukito can push himself off at the apex of his climb, thusly performing a higher, further jump that he would otherwise be able to, or optionally throw himself towards any specific angle of his choosing to place himself in a superior offensive or defensive position.
QUOTE: None.
 

SUPER COMBO TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUE NAME: Shuukyoku Senjin: Kangoku Tou Sen | Ultimate Warblade: Imprisoning Hell Blade Flash
POWER: 7
DESCRIPTION: Raising Duel in a brief motion, Yukito twirls it swiftly, and then proceeds to stab it into the earth as the Gate of Destruction flares open on the ground, quickly expanding in exponentially larger circles of blood-crimson light. Once the Gate has grown to encompass a sufficiently extensive area, the attack itself is launched - multiple polearms, runeswords, and fighting blades of every conceivable type erupt from the ground in a fierce deluge, composed from negatively-charged high-frequency Gate energy, to impale an extensively wide area of space around the GateKeeper. The summoned blades cut spiritually rather than physically, and will last for approximately three seconds before Yukito wills them to withdraw into the Gate of Destruction once more.
QUOTE: "Bladestorm!"

TECHNIQUE NAME: Shuukyoku Senjin: Tendoutou | Ultimate Warblade: Divine Heaven Sword
POWER: 9
DESCRIPTION: With his right arm held vertically towards the sky, Yukito summons his Gate that opens to almost 60 feet in diameter above him, unleashing a huge column of crimson energy that descends from the heavens, completely engulfing the GateKeeper and enshrouding him within a halo of blinding light for several seconds. The summoned Tendoutou is revealed, held vertically above Yukito, as the radiance clears - an oversized, spiritual katana sword, reaching for the skies, thirty feet tall and two feet wide, held by an equally gigantic armored vambrace, the size of a small car, that is attached to the GateKeeper's right forearm. The summoned weapon is then brought around in a single, devastating strike as Yukito torques himself in a wide, circular slash - again opting to destroy spiritually instead of physically - after which the sword is then returned into the Gate of Destruction.
QUOTE: "Royal Saber!"
 

THROWS - None.
 

TAUNTS
- Yukito fishes out a cigarette and dangles it from the corner of his mouth, and then spends a while searching through his pockets for a lighter without success. Giving up after a few moments, the unlit cigarette is flicked away with a mildly irritated expression.
 

INTRO POSES
- Reaching two fingers into the sleeve of his upraised left hand, Yukito draws out Duel in its compacted form in a calmly premeditated motion. The GateKeeper then snaps his arm to his side, causing the shinai to extend to its full length, whereby Yukito places it to his left hip and falls into battoujutsu stance.
 

VICTORY POSES
- Holding Duel at a diagonal angle, Yukito performs a swift flick of his wrist, causing the shinai to quickly collapse into its compact form. The weapon is then pushed into the inside of his left sleeve, back into its carrying case and concealing it from view.
 

VICTORY QUOTES
- "You should thank me. I just saved your life."
- "Those who have lived a warrior's life... should not seek a fool's death."
- "If this was a serious battle, you'd have died ten times over."
- "Hayaku kaere. (Hurry up and go home.) This is no place for fools."
- "Ore wa otaku de wa nai, supesharisuto da!" (I'm not a fanboy, I'm a specialist!)
- "This is not a battle of speed and strength, but you fail to understand that. You have lost the fight before it even began."
 

STORYLINE - The disowned heir of his family clan, Yukito is the latest descendent of the Katsusaki bloodline, who even to this day and age carry with them the legendary secrets of the Taikyoku kenjutsu techniques. Renounced by his clan elders who believe that their most talented protégé in centuries has stooped to no more than a syncophantic lackey of the world government, however, Yukito now applies his lethally elegant swordsmanship skills and Gate abilities in service of the generously-financed, ultra-advanced, top-secret international organization known only as AEGIS, a specialized law-enforcement branch of the UN granted with extraordinary legal freedom and immunity to carry out its operations. With the record of Shadowlaw's involvement with the last Street Fighter tournament, and investigations revealing that the world crime/terror syndicate has a hand in the forthcoming one as well, Yukito has been assigned the mission of an undercover agent to infiltrate Shadowlaw under the guise of a mercenery-for-hire to bring down the organization once and for all.