Chapter 3: The Bloodletter
The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels
Arc Three:
The Overlords
Chapter 3: The Bloodletter
-January 19th,
2011, afternoon-
"Pavan, my mom is going to kill you
when she finds out you dragged me out of bed for a TV show," Volcan rasped as
he leaned on the wind phoenix for support while descending down the stairs one
short, slow step at a time..
"C'mon, man; a little action TV will
do you wonders," Pavan stated as he led Volcan down, surprisingly patient in
the trek as normally Pavan was always in such a big hurry to get to wherever he
wanted to go, hating the very thought of taking his time. But even he
understood he could not rush with an injured phoenix using him for a crutch.
"Nothing heals a man better than a good guy's night in."
"Tell me again why you couldn't just
go get the smaller TV from the kitchen and bring it up to my room? There is
cable in there you know."
"Because something this badass
should be watched on a big screen!" Pavan replied, excitedly. "If you can't go
see it first-hand, then you should at least watch it on a forty-two inch if not
bigger, and your mom's got an HD! Now hurry up; we've already missed the first
two rounds of the tournament!"
Volcan groaned, but reluctantly
continued to do the best he could to drag himself down the steps. For two weeks
he'd been bedridden; even though his recovery was already surprisingly
progressed, he still couldn't move anywhere on his own. Every movement of his
exhausted, injured body felt like he was lifting an I-beam, and the stiffness
of his legs like trying to bend iron with every step he took.
They reached the ground floor, and
Pavan dragged Volcan over to the living room, plopping him down on the couch
before he zipped off into the kitchen. "Watch the antiques; you break anything
my mom will bend you like a pretzel!" Volcan called, coughing as he strained
his vocal cords. "Ow..."
"Just grabbing some snacks!" Pavan
called back. "...Hey, where does your mom keep the junk food in this house?"
"There's usually a bag of potato
chips in the pantry," Volcan replied as he struggled to find a more comfortable
position on the couch. The very effort winded him; 'I thought only morbidly obese people could get this worn out just by
moving,' he thought in exasperation. '...Okay
maybe a little mean of me to think that, but still, this is humiliating. Look
at the big hero of Unity Falls now.'
Pavan appeared seconds later with a big bowl full of potato chips,
placing it on the coffee table before reaching for the remote to switch on the
TV, flipping channels until he reached the right one. "Ha! Here it is; get
ready for some asses to be kicked, Volc."
From the television, the announcer
was just reporting the conclusion of a fight, seeing a white tiger Volcan
recognized quite well kneeling down with many a bruise flowering beneath his
fur. "What a startling turn of events! In
an unprecedented conclusion to our second round, a newcomer has defeated one of
our top-ranking competitors in the second round!" The camera shifted to a
new figure...
Volcan and Pavan both gawked, eyes
bugging wide open and bodies going completely stiff as they saw who it centered
on, and both of them blurted the same name simultaneously.
"VINGE?!?!?!"
~~~~~
Tsume let out a triumphant cry as
she slid under her opponet's roundhouse kick and delivered a powerful upwards
kick to their jaw and sending them flying two feet across the fighting ring
before they hit the floor, holding their mouth and curling up into a fetal
position. The referee called the fight following that kick, when they saw that
Tsume's opponent was not getting back up. He walked over to her, gripping her
arm and holding it triumphantly over her head, letting the crowd see the
winner.
Tsume beamed at the cheers, raising
her other arm for all to see as a medical team approached the arena to help her
downed competition. Following that, she started making her way back to the
locker room to let the next fight begin, feeling a sense of pride and
confidence at her win that brought a joyful spring to her step.
When she entered the room, she
stepped aside to let the next two fighters pass, and saw Vinge had been waiting
to greet her when she returned. "Welcome back," he said, offering her a bottle
of water. "And well-done."
"Thanks," she said, and smiled at
him as she took the water, popping open the cap and taking a long drink. When
she had her fill, she looked at Vinge. "So, are you ready for your fight with
Mr. Colman?"
"I am," returned Vinge. "I think
I've figured out his fighting style enough that I may know how to beat him.
Still, it could go either way."
"So, I could be fighting either you
or him in the finals," said Tsume.
Vinge chuckled. "Assuming you win
the third round," he pointed out.
"I'm not stopping until I get to the
top," she stated. "I've finished in the top four every competition I've been to
prior to here; I think I'm long overdue to finish in first now."
"Pride comes before the fall,
Tsume," Vinge said in friendly warning. "Remember that."
"Is that something else Sun Tzu said
in his book?"
"No, actually, that one's from the
Bible."
Tsume's expression turned from
intrigued to flat at the very mention of the Bible. "Two weeks ago you found
out the Egyptian Gods are real; you can't possibly tell me you believe in the
Bible -that seven deadly sins thing is complete bull-"
"I don't," returned Vinge,
interjecting. "But just like some of the proverbs in Art of War, some in the
Bible are true, and that was one of them."
Tsume irked an unconvinced eyebrow
at him before she shrugged. "Well I can agree with that. Don't worry; I'm not
going to let my pride get out of control."
"I've heard that before... but
fortunately I know and trust you, so I'll trust your word," stated Vinge,
before he turned his gaze towards the television screens, seeing the fight
currently going on outside. "Looks like my next battle is starting soon; this
one is almost finished."
Tsume nodded. "Good luck."
He nodded back to her. "Thanks," he
returned, before his gaze went to the doors out to the ring, seeing Mr. Colman,
his opponent and soon-to-be teacher if he were to win, already proceeding out
to the ring ahead of him. "I may need a little luck against this one."
~~~~~
The ship rumbled as it slowly crept
into port of the west-coast metropolitan city of Vancouver, the largest city in
British Columbia known for its beautiful coastline and nearby mountains that
broughts tourists aplenty to the city. The ship was arriving and loaded to the
brim with shipping containers marked with the national flag of Japan on its
deck; hundreds of metal containers of various colours, filled with imported
goods and ready to be loaded with exports from Canada. Crew men on and off the
ship immediately got to work, securing the ship in the harbour and bringing
around a crane to unload the containers currently on the deck, while others
began to inspect the boat for travel-induced damage or illegal cargo.
However, the stowaways leaving the
ship went unnoticed; a large, dark winged figure leapt over the railing,
followed shortly after by a many-tailed vulpine, both of them spreading broad,
feathery wings to fly away from the ship, over the docks and out to the city
beyond, making their way over to a far-off building where they landed, so far
no alarms being roused by their presence. They landed silently on the rooftop,
and proceeded to survey their surroundings, confirming they were alone.
"That was easier than I thought,"
Calhoun remarked. "Hours on that boat and not a single person spotted us."
"It was difficult not going after
the crew," Kumori snickered as the strange wings that had appeared on his back
slowly began to recede into his body, shrinking and collapsing until they
melded with his flesh through the open back of his suit, which sealed over as
the last of the wings shrank away into nothingness. "On such a confined space I
could've massacred everyone and they'd have had nowhere to run!"
Calhoun rolled his eyes, groaning.
"You've got a one-track mind," he muttered.
"I heard that," Kumori retorted in a
warning tone.
"Just save your murderous urges for
Volcan Skilerain," Calhoun returned to the nogitsune.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten
our agreement," Kumori assured the dark phoenix. "Though I have to ask; where
shall you and I meet once this task is done?"
Calhoun was slow with an answer,
admittedly having not thought that far ahead. He thought back to his knowledge
of the layout around Unity Falls, compliments of his shared memories with his
previous host. Soon, he arrived at a decision. "There's an old ranger station
that overlooks the city on the mountains near Unity Falls. I'll wait for you
there."
"A simple task," returned Kumori.
"I'll have that phoenix bleeding before dawn tomorrow."
"You can fly that fast?" Calhoun
inquired, irking an eyebrow at Kumori.
"No... but I can do this," returned
Kumori as he backed away from Calhoun, followed by jumping over the side of the
building.
Surprised by the reckless act,
Calhoun walked over to the ledge and peered over the side, seeing Kumori
dropping down towards the street in the shadow of the skyscraper in complete
free fall with nothing to cushion his landing. Just as Calhoun felt certain
that the nogitsune was about to become paste on the sidewalk, Kumori seemingly
vanished just before making contact with the ground, melting away into the
building's shadow to fade as if he never were.
Calhoun had not met one before, even harbored within
his old vessel, but he recognized the power displayed by Kumori. "Hm. A Shadow
Walker; very useful," said Calhoun before he stepped away from the railing.
"He'll be in Unity Falls before I am with that ability; should've asked for a
lift." He shook his head. "Oh well. Now that I've had lots of time to rest..."
With that, Calhoun ran towards the
other side of the building, sprinting over the rooftop before jumping on the
railing and making a mighty leap into the air, spreading out his wings and
soaring off into the sky, rising higher above the skyscrapers of downtown
Vancouver and turning his direction east, passing over the Grouse Mountain as
he flew on towards the peaks, fire exploding from his feet to propel him onward
with a boost of speed and leaving a smoke trail in his wake. The dark phoenix
felt a nostalgic glee rising within him, a glee that brought that diabolical
grin of his right back to his face.
He was almost back to his happy
hunting ground...
~~~~~
Vinge's battle with Colman was on.
He engaged the horse out in the
ring, opening with a high-striking kick that the stallion easily evaded,
deceptively swift for an anthro of his height. Vinge came around again after
missing the initial kick, aiming one directly for Colman's chest, which the
stallion actually caught between both hands to stop it.
"Good speed," complimented Colman.
"Thank you!" Vinge returned before yanking his foot away, catching himself
on his hands and cartwheeling back onto his feet properly, returning to his
defensive stance.
"Sikaran requires speed to master,"
Colman explained as he and Vinge circled one another. "But it also requires
precision and an acute ability to read the movements of your opponent." He
motioned with both hands for Vinge to come at him, which the Ice phoenix did,
throwing several quick punches, after each he'd move back out of range to avoid
a counter-attack if one were to come; every punch was successfully blocked by
Colman, using only his hands to defend. "You use your hands ten percent of the
time..." and with that, went into a series of kicks, each one at a different
height; he performed several low or medium kicks, a reverse-hook kick that
nearly caught Vinge right in the head, and concluded with a powerful direct
kick that sent Vinge reeling. "And your feet ninety percent!"
Vinge gasped for breath after that
kick and barely managed to catch himself before he went over the ledge, and
hurriedly moved back towards the middle of the ring, not willing to lose by a
ring out. But even with safety equipment, kicks from hooves could really hurt,
and Colman had a powerful kick, not to mention the ability to perform so many
in succession was quite a feat, and left Vinge with more than a few bruises on
his arms where he'd blocked them -probably one for his chest where he'd taken
that direct hit. While Vinge contemplated this, Colman rushed in to attack
again, putting Vinge on the defensive and forcing him to focus on avoiding or
blocking the kicks of the stallion.
Following Colman's example, Vinge
made use of his hands for defending against the kicks, using quick hand-motions
to redirect the kicks over his head or off to the side where they could do no
harm, but he had to watch Colman's movements carefully as the horse never did
the same kind of attack twice, always changing direction, and when he started
to tire, he'd back away, going back on the defensive and fully prepared for any
sort of attack Vinge could make. The Ice Phoenix stood to catch his breath for
a moment before he moved in, faking out with a punch to the head that only
approached halfway before redirecting his momentum to his feet extending his
leg and performing a low, sweeping kick that caught the back of Colman's leg.
The horse went down following the
well-placed kick, but he wasn't out yet; just before Vinge could try and pin
him, both of his legs shot up with incredible speed, kicking Vinge off balance
and sending him careening the wrong direction, allowing Colman to jump back to
his hooves just in time to defend himself as Vinge regained his balance and
resumed the attack, trading several more blows with the stallion until he
managed to land a successful kick to his stomach. Colman took the hit,
stumbling a little but maintaining his balance.
The two stopped for a breath,
staring each other down for a moment. Colman had a satisfied expression on his
face at how proficient in his practiced arts Vinge was. "For someone so young, you're
good," he complimented.
"I've dedicated much of my life to
the martial arts," he said. "I have my reasons for doing so, but I never
considered my training complete until I was able to defeat even my own sensei."
"Impressive... the student beats the
master, it seems," stated Colman. "With all your current talent, why do you
want to learn Sikaran? It seems to me like you are already an excellent
combatant."
"It never hurts to expand one's
horizons," Vinge replied, glib.
At that, Colman flashed a smile.
"Open-minded; good," he stated. "I like that in potential students. Now, let us
continue!"
The two resumed, fists and feet once
more exchanged in a clash; Colman was older and more experienced than Vinge,
while the ice phoenix was more agile and better practiced than the stallion
-Vinge trained almost every day, while Colman had to prioritize his career as a
school teacher and not devote all of his time to martial arts practice. As
such, despite being larger and stronger than Vinge, the latter was a more
refined fighter, and that difference was showing itself.
Soon, Vinge changed styles,
switching from his Tae kwon do and Karate-style of fighting and caught Colman's
leg as the horse attempted a sideways-kick at him, twisting his body and using Colman's
momentum combined with centrifugal force to execute a judo throw, hurling
Colman over his head and sending him falling belly-first into the ring floor,
knocking the wind out of him.
Vinge made his move, leaping onto
Colman's back and seizing one arm with both of his, pulling it back and pinning
it between himself and Colman's shoulder blades. Despite being more than strong
enough to lift both himself and Vinge off the floor, it was hard with only one
arm, and he was being held at an angle, preventing Colman from using his legs
to lift himself -any attempt to do so resulted only in his knees sliding over
the floor as the referee counted down from ten.
"Zero; pinned!" The referee called,
before gesturing to Vinge. "The winner!"
With that, Vinge released Colman,
and even helped him stand up in a show of good sportsmanship. Colman accepted
the help, turning to face Vinge fully and nodding his approval. "Well done," he
complimented.
Vinge bowed his head respectfully.
"Thank you," he returned, graciously.
"You asked me to take you on as my
student in Sikaran. Well, in honor of this victory, I'll do that," he promised.
"When we get back to the locker room I'll leave you my contact info, and we can
set up training days from there."
Vinge nodded. "Sounds perfect," he
stated. "Thank you for this opportunity, sir."
~~~~~
Vinge and Colman returned to the
locker room at almost the exact same time. As promised, Colman presented Vinge
with his contact information, writing down two phone numbers, one for his home
phone and another for his cellular phone, as well as specific times at which
Vinge could contact him, and handed this information to Vinge. During this
time, Tsume headed out for her next match, which the two of them sat back to watch
on the television screen. Her opponent was a Muai Thai fighter; a tall,
powerfully built anthro primate, almost twice Tsume's height.
She was in for quite a battle; Muai
Thai fighters were difficult opponents, and this one utterly dwarfed her in
size -the martial art only became more dangerous when the opponent was tall, as
the greater length of their limbs made the mighty blows of Muai Thai that much
more powerful.
Fortunately though, she had learned
to use her smaller size as an advantage.
The fight began, and the primate led
with a flying knee attack, aimed directly for Tsume's head, but she ducked,
rolled under him, and then lashed out with her foot, delivering a hook kick
straight to his flank. He took the hit, but only flinched from it, before he
turned around and tried delivering a low-spin kick at Tsume while she was down
on her hands. Tsume somersaulted away, landing back on her feet and turning to
face the primate again just as he rushed forward to keep the pressure on her,
attacking with fists and elbows. She dodged and weaved side-to-side to evade
his hands, but then he surprised her with a diagonal knee-strike that caught
her in the ribs, making her squawk in pain, but she didn't stay still for even
a second, getting down low again and rolling to the side.
She found herself dangerously close
to the ledge; one clean hit and she would go right out of bounds, and her
opponent was clearly aiming to do just that, because he came at her with a
sweeping kick that would surely knock her out of the ring. But Tsume wasn't
about to let that happen; she tumbled forward, rolling in the direction
opposite to where the leg was coming from, and then, using her hands to support
herself, double-kicked the primate in the backside, sending him stumbling
forward, and instead it was him who fell out of bounds.
"Ring out! Winner!"
"Yes!" Tsume exclaimed cheerfully as
she caught her breath, hopping in place joyously. "I'm in the finals!"
Of course, at that, she remembered
who else had made it to the finals in the last round. "Oh... that means I'm
fighting Vinge."
Suddenly, she did not feel as confident as before.
~~~~~
Meanwhile...
"You never said both Vinge and Tsume
were in this competition," Volcan remarked to Pavan.
"That would be because I didn't
know," replied Pavan, honestly. "Really man, I had no clue they were in this."
"Wait... but if Vinge just won last
round against that horse, and Tsume just won against that primate, does that
mean they're both advancing to the finals?"
"Looks like it- hey wait," Pavan paused,
and then he and Volcan looked at each other, clearly thinking the same thing.
"That means they're fighting each
other," Volcan concluded.
"Oh man, the shit just hit the fan,"
Pavan returned, before both of them found themselves positively fixed on the
TV, waiting for the next battle. Pavan munched absently on the potato chips
from the bowl in his lap, his beak practically chattering as it munched through
the snack food, feeling anticipation for the next round rising in him.
~~~~~
There was only a short pause between
the end of Tsume match and the final round; long enough for her to catch her
breath, hydrate herself and do whatever else she needed to in order to prepare.
But she wasn't so certain that she could win against Vinge; this was the first
tournament he had ever competed in, and yet he had made it all the way to the
finals; Tsume had competed in several tournaments before and she'd never
actually won any of them; it was only in the last four competitions she had
finished in the top four of the roster of combatants.
And, Tsume had not told Vinge this
before, but she had lost to Carlos Chang at two of those tournaments, and yet
Vinge had succeeded where she had failed! She'd been training so hard to get to
this point, but could she beat one of her own teammates that knew her well -let
alone the only one of those people even more skilled in combat than her? Her steps were slow as she
proceeded back out to the ring, knowing what was waiting for her out there. She
tried to keep a brave face, but the Earth Phoenix was actually worried about
this battle; to have some so close only to lose now would break her spirit...
even if it was against someone like
Vinge.
Out of the corridor and into the
arena -all too fast for her. Tsume's heart was racing as the spotlight shone
upon her, illuminating her as she descended down towards the ring. Vinge,
already standing in the ring, watched her as she approached; the lights above
the ring left his eyes shadowed, and yet Tsume could still see those ice blue
orbs staring back at her. In the right lighting, Vinge could look absolutely
menacing, which was not helping with Tsume's confidence in her chances in this
battle. That pale body, those eyes, and simply knowing what he was capable
of...
But she was at the point of no
return. She had to fight him.
When she finally climbed on to that
arena, she stood four paces from Vinge, who had his arms crossed until she
arrived, and let them fall to his sides, and his gaze meeting hers as the
referee called out their introductions, announcing to all that this was the
final round of the tournament, and for their voices to be heard as the two
greatest fighters to battle at this competition would decide who between the
two of them was the best.
"Tsume," Vinge stated suddenly,
making her jump a little.
"Y-yes?" She asked.
"Before we start, I want to thank
you," the ice phoenix said.
Tsume stood there, stunned, having
not expected those words to be spoken when she was about to do battle with one
of her own friends... "Quoi?" She questioned, blinking at him.
Vinge chuckled, detecting the French
word in her inquiry, and much to her surprise, he spoke back in French to her.
"Merci," he said, "Pour moi amener ici."
'Thank
you for bringing me here?' Tsume translated in her mind, still confused as
to why he was being so... grateful, and for what? They were rivals now; they
were about to fight! What was going on in his head?
"I did not realize," Vinge carried
on, "what kind of opportunities that battling competitively could do for me.
All this time I just thought everyone was in it for the fame and the glory, or
to show off skills they think they had. But being here has given me the chance
to test what I am capable of, and even helped me find a way to expand my
horizons and learn something completely new."
He smiled... the Ice Phoenix
actually had a warm smile at the fleshy portion of his beak. He rarely smiled,
and had certainly never given one to her... "So, thank you, Tsume, for bringing
me to this tournament. Now, I ask one thing from you in return."
"What's that?" Tsume asked, watching
as Vinge began to slide his foot back, standing sideways but keeping his
posture straight.
And at that very question, Vinge
switched to his defensive stance, spreading his legs apart and putting up his
hands, his expression turning to what Tsume could only describe as an attempt
at appearing smug; he had a wry smile, but his eyes were narrowed slightly,
while he shifted his weight from side to side. "Don't hold back, because I want
this fight to be one I'll remember for a long time."
Suddenly, Tsume felt her confidence
returning. The entire reason she'd wanted Vinge to join her at this tournament
was because she wanted to test her
skills against his... and now it seemed he had really gotten into the spirit of
things; he looked just as eager for this battle as she was when she'd first
signed up. How could she have forgotten that? She felt so foolish all of
sudden, but that foolishness was quickly overwhelmed by how much she wanted to
fight now, and how she wanted to win.
Tsume spread her hands out to her sides, and stood
with her legs wide, turning partway to the side and tracing over the ground in
front of her with one toe, making a half circle with her foot. Vinge watched as
she made an unseen line in the stadium floor, and finished a 180 turn to stand
with her left foot forward and half crouched, the diabolical and confident grin
returning to her face as her gaze met Vinge's.
(Play 'Way of the Warrior' by Hammerfall)
"Bring it, frosty," she stated, taunting him with a wiggle
of her finger, daring him to make the first move.
Much to her own surprise, he did just that; Vinge
was normally patient, but so was Tsume, like the glaciers and the earth itself
-the elements the two of them represented, they could always wait for their
opponent to make the first move. But this time, he lunged forward with a jab,
forcing her to duck away, and then immediately following it up with a front
snap kick -a quick-striking kick which she again had to evade. She was the more
agile fighter of the two but with Vinge also having Judo training, he'd be set
to counter-attack her at any moment. She would have to time her attacks
carefully if she didn't want to get thrown.
At the end of Vinge's kick, Tsume moved in with one
of her own, performing a hand stand with her feet held high in the air, kicking
at Vinge repeatedly; he put up his arms to defend, using the palms of his hands
to slap away her feet, employing a little of the Sikaran technique he'd learned
from Mr. Colman while avoiding the points of her talons -safety gear or not, it
was mostly instinctive to keep them away from himself. She tumbled forward -or
backward, from his point of view- to return to her feet, and back-flipped away
from Vinge before he could deliver a side-thrusting kick.
"You're quicker than I thought," Vinge stated.
"Back at you; reading me is one thing, but being
quick enough to block, that's skill."
"Spending ten years sparring against all of your
classmates will do that."
"I would say you need a hobby, but I think we already
had that conversation."
"We did."
With that, the two resumed, trading blows of their
respective styles; Tsume relied on quick strikes to avoid giving Vinge the
chance to counter-attack with a Judo throw, and when she thought she saw an
opportunity, she dropped onto her hands again, swinging her hips and legs
through the air to unleash the powerful escorpião kick -the capoeira equivalent
of the Scorpion Kick in many martial arts that was hard to read and, in the
hands of a master, could be devastating...
But it seemed Vinge had caught on to Tsume's
tactics, because just as she lashed out with her leg, Vinge suddenly ducked
low, avoiding her kick entirely and turning himself about, holding his hands up
in knife-hand forms as he performed a rotating attack, striking her
simultaneously in the shoulder and hip, making the Earth Phoenix yelp in
surprise as she suddenly toppled over, falling onto her side; she had not
expected that move, and mentally slapped herself when she remembered Vinge
didn't just know two martial arts, he knew four;
there were a lot of techniques he knew that she probably had never seen
before.
'Well
this just got even more difficult,' she thought, but didn't let her
confidence slip again. More difficult just meant that if she won, it'd show how
great a fighter she was. And, fortunately for her, she knew a martial style
even Vinge hadn't practiced.
Deciding it was time to go all out,
she went on the offensive again as she scrambled back to her feet, standing
taller this time rather than keeping low, and letting Vinge come at her again.
She employed a maneuver that, although hadn't practiced often, she had always
been rather good at, called the Macaco em Pé; so far, Vinge had only seen Tsume performing
attacks that struck high from down low -most of her best practiced techniques
revolved mostly around this as striking from such a position was the bane of
taller fighters or those with weak low defenses such as boxers, but now she was
doing something completely different, stepping out of her comfort zone and
changing her strategy.
She
tumbled back, falling onto her hands; no hop or crouch, simply dropping,
throwing all of the weight of her lower body around herself to create a
circular motion that brought her feet up in a wheel-like fashion, making Vinge
back off to avoid the first, but she used the momentum of the first maneuver to
carry on into a second one, her foot catching him under the chin as he tried to
move in. After that hit, he backed off, aware of the sudden change in method;
she had to keep up the pressure.
After
a third roll, using this one to change direction and move closer to a safer
part of the stage, she saw Vinge moving in again, this time with a palm heel
strike. She fell back again, not even hesitating, and fell back into a
bridge-position, standing with her body completely arched and letting Vinge's
arm pass over her; as soon as he looked down at her, her foot came up and once
again struck him under the beak, with more force this time and causing him to
stumble back slightly. She then crab-walked away from him before she
somersaulted back onto her feet, facing him again, and this time they were
several meters apart.
Vinge
rubbed the lower part of his beak where he'd been kicked, easing the vibrating
ache that he felt in his cheeks from the strike. "Those Yoga sessions really
pay off; you're as flexible as a contortionist."
"I
like to think I'd make even them
jealous," Tsume returned, flashing that smug, competitive grin of hers.
Once
more, they went into a trade of attacks, with Tsume switching between this new
strategy of hers and her original one, but although Vinge began on the
defensive, soon the two were level again, scoring blows and taking hits like
there was no tomorrow, yet neither one backed down. At one point in the fight
though, Vinge discovered -the hard way- that Tsume's bones were much harder
than those of an ordinary avian, because he actually recoiled in pain when he
scored a direct hit right in her sternum. Although still having the effect he
wanted, it backfired when he felt his knuckles go white-hot with pain, shaking
his hand to try and suppress it before looking at his fingers, seeing them
reddened as if he'd just punched a solid slab of concrete.
'That dense skeleton of hers is hard to deal
with... her bones are literally as hard as rock,' he thought. 'If I'm not careful, I can break my own
hands fighting her.'
Tsume stood,
coughing for a moment as she struggled to regain the air that had been forced
out of her lungs from the sternum punch, and was slow to retaliate as Vinge
rushed in to attack again, delivering three consecutive kicks to her. Stomach,
arm, face, they landed, and it wasn't over; he turned about, and delivered the
same kind of triple-kick with his other leg; stomach again, forehead, and
chest; the kicks were light, not intended to knock her backward, but stagger
her enough that he moved in with a seventh kick, twisting his body around and
displaying his own flexability as he brought his leg around in a crescent
motion before bringing it straight down, his heel striking her shoulder and
nearly dislocating her arm as she was sent directly onto her front.
'Move, girl, move!' Tsume practically
screamed at herself in her mind; if she didn't move away immediately, Vinge was
going to pin her down! In a surge of adrenaline, she rolled away just as he
moved to drop onto her, falling instead onto his knees on the arena floor and
watching as she rolled onto her back, adopting the crab-walking position again,
and, just as he moved towards her, attacking with another kick.
But
it failed her; Vinge had seen this trick once already and he did not fall for
it a second time. He blocked her leg and then seized it with both arms,
grabbing the limb and hurling Tsume across the field. She fully expected Vinge
was trying to throw her out of bounds, but much to her surprise -and relief,
she landed on the arena floor once again, bouncing off of floor and falling to
her side after the throw, dazed and a little lopsided from the counter-attack
the ice-phoenix had done.
Even
though she'd changed strategies, and was now using a completely different style
of fighting as opposed to her usual 'strike from down low' method, Vinge had
still adapted to her tactics and was now performing techniques that countered
her perfectly! It was as if she was fighting multiple fighters in consecutive
order, each one with a separate fighting style from their comrades watching her
fight with their comrades and learning her methods to come up with a way to defeat
her when it was their turn. But she wasn't fighting multiple fighters; she was
only fighting one -a single fighter, who was practically a living think tank
packed into a single brain. Vinge could process information so fast he could
learn how to defeat his opponent and adjust his tactics accordingly within
minutes, just as he had done to Carlos.
With such a brain at his disposal, Vinge may as well
have been able to slow down time, or have some sort of rewind button in his own
head, because he'd recognize every attack she did if she ever used it a second
time. She felt frustrated, but kept her calm; if she lost her head now, she
would lose without a doubt. She had to end this fight now, but what hadn't she
tried yet?
She
thought back to her days of training in Capoeira; though she'd always favored
the attacks that kept her under her opponent's eye and striking high and hard,
that was not working here. She had to change tactics again if she was going to
win, but she had to make it count; if she didn't take Vinge out fast he'd
analyze her again and she would once more be right back where she started.
Tsume
and Vinge met eyes again, studying each other. They were both tired, nearly at
their limits. They'd walked into this battle sufficiently hydrated and
energized, they'd begun the fight with their spirits high, and now they were
approaching their limits. One way or another, this fight would be ending soon;
this would be the decisive attack, and it all depended on who executed the most
effective move first...
There
was one technique she hadn't tried using yet. It was powerful, but had to be
performed and timed perfectly or she could be countered or worse, miss.
All
or nothing!
Tsume
began to move first. Vinge followed up with the first muscle twitch, stepping
forward less than a second after her, the two of them bringing themselves
within range of the other. Time seemed to slow as they made their moves, ready
to bring this battle to its close. Vinge unleashed a mighty roundhouse kick,
drawing back his leg before lashing it out ; Tsume lowered herself, twisting
her body around as her entire upper body became horizontal, pivoting to the
side and kicking forward with all of her might. Vinge's leg whooshed over her
at stomach level, but she was now down at waist height, narrowly evading his
kick.
But
hers found its mark.
Following
his leg flying over her and the Earth Phoenix having now moved a foot to the
side, Tsume delivered a powerful kick to Vinge's exposed lower back, scoring a
direct hit that sent him staggering, leaving a red mark hidden only by the
white of his feathers on the skin beneath. Vinge actually grunted at the hit,
feeling Tsume's rock-hard foot barely miss striking his kidney, and it was just
enough to stun him for her to make her final move.
Acting
purely on instinct, she charged forward again, propping herself up on her hands
and throwing her legs into the air, launching herself towards his turned back.
Her back met his, his wings were pressed flat to his body as she hooked her
feet around his neck to hold herself up, and seized his legs with her arms,
securing herself to him. To the onlookers in the audience it was quite a sight;
literally back-to-back with each other, but Tsume was upside down, held up only
by her hooked, long-toed feet and ankles that now had Vinge in a chokehold
-even the ice phoenix himself was caught off guard by the maneuver, having never
seen anyone do something like this before.
Focusing
all of the muscles in her stomach and holding onto his legs with an iron grip,
Tsume bent forward, crunching with all of her might, and successfully pulling
Vinge's legs with her; down he went, falling right onto his stomach. Tsume let
go of his thighs and seized his ankles, rearing up and pulling his legs back,
hooking them beneath her arms and forcing him into a hunched position while
keeping the rest of her weight on his back; without his legs, Vinge could not
get up, try as he might to free them from Tsume but she tenaciously held on as
the referee counted.
At
eight, Vinge knew he was finished; he couldn't break free, and so simply let
the countdown finish...
Tsume
had won.
~~~~~
Volcan
and Pavan stared wide-eyed at the television as the referee called the match,
utterly blown away by what they had just witnessed. They could only stare,
watching through the television as Vinge and Tsume returned to their feet
following the conclusion of the ref's countdown to Vinge's defeat. Both of them
knew how skilled he was; how great a fighter the ice phoenix could be even
against opponents vastly more experienced or, in the case of Volcan when they
first met, superior in strength. Hell, even Pavan had sparred with Vinge many
times, and was the fastest member of the team, yet Vinge had still managed to
beat even him.
But
now, before their very eyes, Tsume, who they had never actually seen in a
straight up fight themselves, only the awards on her wall, had just beaten the
most skilled person the two had ever met. Tsume had won her very first regional
tournament, and the two male phoenixes had the pleasure of seeing it with their
own eyes... well, at least through a television screen anyway.
Pavan
suddenly burst out laughing, raising up his hands and applauding gleefully.
"Whoohoo!" He crowed. "That's our girl!"
"Way
to go, Tsume," Volcan rasped, smiling as he saw Tsume standing tall and proud
with the camera focused on her as she gathered her breath.
Letting the referee hold
her arm up in triumph, a happy smile appeared on the fleshy portion of her
beak. And then the excitement they could hear coming from the crowd through the
speakers only intensified as Vinge suddenly appeared at Tsume's side and held up
her other arm for all to see, cheering her name to the room -of which the crowd
happily joined in, the name 'Tsume' being called again and again in harmony.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a star has been born in the minor leagues this
day!" The announcer chimed. "We've seen Miss Mondiale here before, and it is here on this very day
we have seen her win the championship for the first time! Thank you for joining
us here today, at the sixth annual Unity Falls Martial Arts competition!" As
the show began to draw to a close, the screen was overlain with a view of the
tournament roster, showing headshots of all of the fighters at the bottom of
the rising pyramid. "A big thank you to
all of the competitors we met here today; we hope to see you again!"
The show began to conclude,
and the last thing they saw was the fighters rising through the ranks, leaving
behind red trails to mark how far they had made it in the tournament. Volcan
and Pavan were both surprised to see Carlos Chang had only made it to the
second round before being defeated by Vinge; the lowest he had scored at a
regional tournament in years. He'd claimed the championship twice, and reached
the semi-final every other time. Yet this time, he had a shameful stain on
fighting career to lose to a first-timer on the circuit.
On and on, Tsume and
Vinge's portraits had climbed before, in a nice trick of animation, literally
colliding on the top-most bar, and it was Vinge's who went flying off-screen.
Tsume's rose to the top, taking place in the center of the star that rested at
the top of the graph, sealing in stone -metaphorically speaking- the victory
she had earned.
Pavan looked at Volcan.
"So, glad I brought you down to see this yet?"
Volcan gave him a look.
"We still could have watched it in my room," he rasped, forcing the words out
through a tired throat, but he turned his gaze back to the screen and nodded.
"But, yes... I am glad I got to see this. Tsume earned that victory, and I'm
proud of her for it." He grunted as he leaned forward, feeling his muscles
screaming at him in a hundred different languages of pain as he moved. "Now...
help me back upstairs, before my mom gets home and tans both our wingjoints."
"Aww, come on, Volc," the
wind phoenix returned as he scooted over to the fire phoenix, draping Volcan's
arm over his shoulders before carrying both of them to their feet. "What's the
worst she could say?"
"Something along the lines
of 'you little turd; what were you thinking'?" Volcan returned, rhetorically.
"Would she really say
that?" Pavan asked as they crossed the hall across from the front door towards
the stairs...
Almost as if on cue, the
sound of a key turning in the deadbolt lock of the front door caught their
attentions, and the door opened to reveal Degra stepping into the house. She
saw the two immediately; they froze as her gaze fixed upon them, first to
Volcan. "What're you doing up? You should be resting!"
"His idea," Volcan returned,
promptly pointing at Pavan.
"Traitor!" Pavan shouted.
"Pavan, you little turd!"
Degra shouted. "What were you thinking?!"
Pavan looked at Volcan
with a surprised expression. "Dude, you totally called that."
"That's my momma," Volcan
replied with a weak chuckle, followed by a cough
~~~~~
After Tsume was presented
with the champion's medal, the tournament officially concluded, and all of the
fighters and spectators were free to return home as the cleanup began.
Bleachers cleared; people called their congratulations to Tsume as she and
Vinge left the arena, returning to the locker room. Already, most of the
fighters had departed from the convention centre. Those who remained were in
the process of polishing off what remained of the cold drinks in the fridge and
changing back into proper attire in the washrooms before they walked out with
bags slung half-heartedly over their shoulders in post-tournament
disappointment.
Tsume and Vinge left the
arena; the sun was already set; the tournament had carried on throughout the
entire day, and now they both felt the exhaustion of twelve hours of combat
catching up with them, walking slowly towards the parking lot.
"Do you want a lift home?"
Tsume offered.
"I think that's a great
idea," replied Vinge. "Yes please."
She nodded. "Alright. My
car's this way," she said, gesturing for him to follow her.
"So, how does it feel to
win your first competition?" Vinge asked as they walked across the campus
ground, heading towards the parking lot.
"Honestly?" Tsume returned,
before she smiled at Vinge. "I love it." The ice phoenix answered her with an
approving nod, and she quickly noticed how even he was smiling at her victory.
"How is it that while all these other fighters are bummed out for losing,
you're not bothered at all?"
"'He who can modify his
tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be
called a heaven-born captain'," Vinge remarked
Tsume eyed him blankly.
"Uh..."
"You changed your tactics
based on your opponent," he said plainly.
"You were changing your
strategies too," Tsume pointed out.
"Indeed I was, but just
like me, you tried methods beyond your usual comfort zone, and eventually found
a way to defeat me because of it," Vinge stated, before making a second quote.
"'To secure ourselves against defeat lies in
our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy
himself'."
"You're... saying you made
a mistake in the fight?" Tsume asked.
"I did; right at the end,
in the last attack. I was hasty when I was watching how you moved and misread
the way you were moving when you performed that kick," Vinge explained. "You
see, the way you were beginning to turn, I thought you were going to do that
back walkover you did when you changed your attacks the first time, changing
from your usual method of striking from down low."
"Ah, you mean the Macaco
em Pé technique," replied Tsume. "Yeah, I may not have used that maneuver often
but I was always pretty good at it."
Vinge nodded. "Indeed. But
I misread the way you were moving; I assumed you were using that technique
again to put some distance between us again, so I was putting that roundhouse
kick where, upon impact, it would put you onto your back, and that is where I
would have finished the fight. However, partway through your turn, you
crouched, and even if only by an inch, you went under my leg, moved a foot to
the side to reveal my back, and unleashed that powerful kick."
Tsume smiled. "That one's
called the chapa giratoria. It's really hard to do, but if you can time it just
right, it's extremely useful."
The ice phoenix nodded
again as they stopped on the side of a road, waiting for a car to pass before
the crossed the street towards the parking lot. "It certainly was, considering
it let you land that last attack. What was that one called?"
"Actually, that one sort
of just... came to me," replied Tsume. "It's not a move I was taught in
Capoeira; I guess you could say I made that one myself."
"Oh," said Vinge, before
he shook his head. "Either way, you won. You changed your strategies as you
needed to, and you took advantage, even without realizing it, of a single
mistake I made in the fight. Victory can be just as dependent on good timing as
it is on skill."
"Okay, I get all of that,
but it doesn't answer my question earlier; you're not at all upset about
losing?"
"Of course I am; I would
have to be emotionless to not feel at least some
measure of disappointment," replied Vinge as they reached Tsume's car.
"So why aren't you acting
like it?" She inquired further as she unlocked the door of her 1995 Dodge
Avenger -a two-door car, before she climbed in, reached across to the passenger
side and unlocked the door manually to allow Vinge to get in.
"Losing a battle can be
more educational than winning one; I know where I went wrong, and now I have to
find a way to overcome that, but without losing the battle at all, how can I
know where my flaws were?" Vinge chuckled as he finished adjusting his wings
behind him before fastening his seat belt. "You have to understand defeat;
realize and acknowledge the reason that you lost, before you can appreciate
victory."
Tsume stared blankly ahead
through the windshield of her car, becoming silent and still until a shiver at
the cold air seemed to snap her back to reality. "Good grief, I'm never going
to figure you out," she said in surrender.
Vinge chuckled
light-heartedly at her comment, before he had a thought and looked back at her
again. "Could we go get something to eat? All that fighting's made me really hungry,
and I could use the boost."
"Sounds like a great idea.
You buying?"
Vinge rolled his eyes.
"Well, I did lose, so yes. Dinner's
on me."
"Sa-weet. Where did you
want to go?"
"Well, there is that
restaurant not too far from Volcan's place," replied Vinge. "We went there
pretty often when I was living with him."
"Ah, I know that place,"
agreed Tsume, nodding. "Alright, off we go then. We can just leave this car at
my place and walk over."
~~~~~~
Kumori's head phased
through the wall next to the balcony door of the apartment, violet eyes
scanning over the room as he slowly, carefully, inched the rest of himself through
the wall and into the living room before he dropped down to all fours, ears
twitching as he listened, hidden beneath the table in the event his target
happened to come walking out. He sniffed the air, detecting the pine-fresh
scent of household cleansers employed recently in the residence, along with the
faint, ashy smell of a fire phoenix.
However, the scent seemed
old to him... as though the owner of that scent hadn't been in the house over
the last little while. Curiously, Kumori crossed the living room, seeking any
signs of life inside the apartment. He could smell two other very recent
scents; one of them was of soil and flowers freshly coated in morning due -the
typical scent of a career gardener, or someone who wore a very potent perfume,
while the other was harder to discern, having a faint trace of lavender
incense, but the main scent was like winter air.
Those two unusual scents
were the most recent to have been in the apartment, but if the owner was a Fire
Phoenix, he should have been in there. Kumori picked up his pace and searched
the house, checking both bedrooms and the washroom, but there was no sign of
his target anywhere, yet he was at the address Calhoun had given him. He
must've been away from home at this time; though it was early morning in his
homeland, here in Canada it was into the small hours of the night. But it was
also winter; the phoenix would not be far from some source of shelter if the
weather turned foul.
"Appears I may have to
look elsewhere for him," stated the nogitsune.
He began to look around
the house, searching for anything that might give him a clue to the location of
the phoenix, even checking his home phone and recent messages. But the last one
that was left for him had been two weeks ago, yet until now it had not been
checked. It was only an automated message anyway, but to have left it unchecked
for two weeks was certainly unusual.
Still, it made him begin
to suspect that perhaps Volcan had not been at home in some time; Kumori just
needed to find out where he was staying then.
Rubbing his chin in
thought, he came up with an idea. Perhaps
the owner of this building would know something; if he was going to be away for
an extended time, he'd be required to let them know,' he thought.
Deciding the next place
for him to check would be the main office, he left the apartment, walking
through the front door and descending downstairs to the manager's home on the
bottom floor. It appeared the manager was also out -unfortunate, as Kumori
could already feel his killing urge starting to creep in, the desire to see and
feel warm, flowing blood racing through his mind, but he fought against it; he
was working, after all.
He found the office
quickly enough after traversing through the residence. The first thing he
checked was the phone, playing back messages; the manager had compiled quite a
few, some of which were several weeks old. He started back with the oldest
messages first, and listened as they played back.
One in particular caught
his attention. "Good morning, Kim; my
name is Degra MacAingeal, I'm calling on behalf of my son, Volcan, who lives in
your building. I'm afraid he was in an... accident, and will be spending the
next few months recovering. I just needed to check in with you to let you know
his friend Vinge will be taking care of the place for him while he's stays with
me in order to heal, and he's offered to pay each month of rent while he waits.
I was just wondering if you could give me a mailing address with which to send
you his rent cheques for the next few months or so. He really loves his
apartment and doesn't wish to be evicted yet."
The message went on to the
caller, introduced as Degra, leaving her phone number, thanking Kim for her
time and then hanging up. Kumori reached for a phone book lying by the
telephone and opened it to the local numbers, leafing through the pages until
he reached the 'M's, and found 'MacAingeal, Degra,' on the page. He grinned
sadistically as he found the address as well, and then set the book down on the
desk.
"Ah, modern conveniences
make finding my targets so much easier," he said.
"Kim?" A voice called from
outside the office; Kumori looked over in start, suddenly noticing the front
door of the suite was open, and a second later, a man appeared in the doorway;
an anthropomorphic wolf in a gray T-shirt and blue jeans.
The wolf saw Kumori
instantly, his brown eyes going wide at the sight of the fox. "Who the hell are
you? What're you doing in my house?!" He demanded.
Kumori only grinned as he
turned to face the man, licking his lips as he eyed the man's neck, seeing
where his veins were. The wolf flinched as he saw blades seemingly appear from
nowhere in the intruder's hands.
"My friend... you picked a
very bad time to come home," Kumori remarked as he fixed the wolf with a
blood-thirsty grin. "Well... bad for you at
least."
The wolf tried to back
away, but the seven-tailed fox was fast, charging at him and delivering a
precise, swift cut across the wolf man's neck before he could scream...
His head hit the floor in
a shower of blood.
~~~~~
After dinner, the two
phoenixes felt refreshed, and stepped out of the restaurant feeling
re-energized. Their muscles still felt sore from all the fighting and their
bruises would be a lasting reminder of their day at the competition through the
course of the night. Despite this though, they were in high spirits, enjoying
the lingering sense of satisfaction at how the tournament had progressed, and
also ended.
"Perfect end to a perfect
day," said Tsume, patting her stomach as the two walked up the street, heading
back to the complex. "You were right; that places makes some mean salads."
Vinge nodded to her. "I'm
glad you enjoyed it."
"So what's next; you still
want that ride home?" She asked.
"Actually, I thought I'd
just fly home from here," replied Vinge. "One last bit of exercise through the
winter air can be good for my species. But, I'll walk you home first, if you
don't mind."
Tsume snickered. "Quite a
gentlemanly thing for you to do," she remarked. "If I didn't know better I'd
say you had a thing for me."
"I-I-I'm just being..."
Vinge stammered, lowering his gaze in embarrassment.
Tsume laughed. "Relax,
Vinge; I'm only messing with you. I'm not going to muscle in on Yurui's turf."
"Right... sorry."
"Man, you can analyze a
fighter and know exactly how to beat them just by watching them, yet you can't
detect a little facetiousness from friends? We're going to need some more work
with you."
He nodded half-heartedly,
until his gaze was directed straight ahead and he stopped mid-step, staring
intently at something in the distance. "That's strange..."
Tsume stopped and looked over
her shoulder at him. "What's up?"
"There are lights from a
police patrol car straight ahead," Vinge said, pointing to the next block,
where some flashes of blue and red illuminated the dark of night, reflecting
off the snow piled up on the curb.
Tsume shrugged. "So what?
Maybe someone got pulled over around the bend."
"It seems like a lot of
lights for a traffic violation," replied Vinge before he broke into a gentle
sprint and strode ahead, with Tsume following after him, telling him to wait
for her.
They strode around the
corner, and surely enough, they saw several police cruisers parked out front of
the apartment complex, along with the coroner's van, indicating a death
-possibly a murder- was involved. Surprised, they ran across the street towards
the scene, wondering what happened. The crime scene itself appeared to actually
be inside the building, and not outside. Nevertheless there were a number of
police officers outside, including one they recognized; a light brown wolfess,
named Rachel Hernandez, the second in command at the First Division Precinct.
"Lieutenant!" Vinge called
as they approached.
The wolf turned to them,
eyeing them curiously before she recognized them and smiled. "Well now, was
wondering when one of you guys would show up," she remarked.
"What happened here?"
Vinge asked.
"A murder in the manager's
apartment, apparently," replied Rachel, cocking her head towards the apartment.
"Kim?!" Tsume demanded.
"Is she okay?"
"Kim's fine," replied
Rachel. "We just confirmed she wasn't home when it happened. I can't say the
same about her husband, though."
Vinge frowned, perplexed
by the news. "Thomas... I met him when I was staying here. Seemed like a decent
man."
"Where's Kim now?" Tsume
asked.
Rachel glanced off to the
left, towards a police SUV parking in the parking lot, where a constable was
taking a statement from Kim, who was wrapped in a blanket, her face stained
with tears and looking absolutely sick with grief. Even from this distance,
both Tsume and Vinge alike had a feeling they knew what she was thinking.
Tsume
shook her head as she saw the heartbroken vixen at the van. "Poor thing," she
said, sympathetically.
"Lieutenant,"
a voice called from the apartment as a white-furred Arctic Fox emerged from the
front door of the building, walking over to Rachel carrying what appeared to be
a small briefcase in his paw, etched with 'CSI' in bold, black letters.
"What's
up, doc?" The wolfess asked, humorously.
The
fox faked a chuckle, before he went on with his report. "Coroner puts victims
death at approximately eighteen hundred hours -about an hour ago, and I've
checked the rest of the house. No fibers, no fingerprints, nothing. Whoever did
this seemed to just vanish when they were finished. Cause of death was a single,
angular slash to the neck and decapitation. Judging by spray on the ceiling and
the blood pool around the victim, he was standing when he was slashed."
"I
don't think I've seen this fox before; who is he?" Vinge asked.
"That's
Dr. Marcus Kent; Crime Scene Investigator. Part of Greg's team," Tsume replied.
The
wolf turned to Tsume and Vinge. "I don't want to imply anything," Rachel began
as she reached into the pocket of her vest and produced her notebook and a pen,
flipping it open to a blank spot and holding the pen over, ready to write. "But
where have you two been for the last hour?"
"We
were at the Athlete's Counter restaurant," replied Vinge. "Our waitress said
her name was Lana; she can vouch for us."
"Don't
tell me you suspect one of us, Rachel?" Tsume asked.
"Not
really, but I need an alibi if you don't want to be investigated too," she
replied before she finished writing in the notebook and tucked it under her
arm.
"I'll
go back in and spray the kitchen knives with luminol; maybe one of them was
used as the murder weapon and I can find some blood," offered Dr. Marcus.
"If
I may be so bold," Vinge stated. "I have to say that's very unlikely."
Marcus
eyed Vinge suspiciously. "How so?"
"If
I may also be so bold, I've trained
with knives since I was a child," Tsume added in. "No kitchen knife, no matter
how much you sharpen it, could deliver a clean cut through a man's neck; the
cut would be jagged with lots of muscle tearing. In fact most knives couldn't
deliver a cut like that either. The only knife I can think of would be a
military-issue combat knife, but those have an average length of only seven
inches; it'd be impossible to decapitate someone with that in only one slash
with such a short blade."
"Exactly;
you're looking for a blade that's at least fourteen inches long, as sharp as a
razor, probably curved," Vinge stated.
Marcus
grimaced at their analysis. "I hate to say it, but they're right. I'll still
check the knives to rule them out, but I probably won't find the murder weapon
among them."
Rachel
nodded, dismissing the fox, before she turned to Vinge and Tsume, giving them a
rather dissatisfied stare. "Well, you just made our investigation a little more
complicated," she stated. "Anybody ever tell you kids they hate it when you
make sense?"
"It's
becoming a trend," replied Vinge, shrugging.
"So
that's what it feels like," Tsume remarked, looking at the sky absently, but
snickered before looking back at Rachel. "Was there anything else notable at
the crime scene?"
Marcus
looked at Rachel sternly, the wolf only shrugged in reply, giving a wry smile
before she said. "These guys are heroes, Doc; they're not going to announce our
findings to the world. Especially since we haven't found much."
Marcus
sighed before he looked away, though kept his eyes rolled towards Rachel.
"Sometimes you and Obsidian are too lenient with cases," he said before he
turned his gaze fully on the two. "There was nothing disturbed in the apartment
except for a phone book that was left open on the desk, open to the 'M' section
of Unity Falls residents. Beyond that, no traces of anyone even being there."
"To the 'M's, eh?" Tsume
wondered aloud, clearly caught by that as her own last name started with an
'M'.
Vinge put a hand to his
chin and thought about what he just heard. "Clearly, if they were using a
phonebook, they were looking for someone in particular," he said. "However, I
think we can be sure they weren't after you, Tsume," he remarked, looking at
the Earth Phoenix. "If so, they wouldn't have any reason to be in your land
lady's apartment, so they must've been looking for someone else."
"According to Kim's
records, nobody else in this building has a surname starting with 'M'," Marcus
stated. "So, he wasn't looking for anyone here. Which begs the real question,
what was he doing in there?"
Tsume sighed, and looked
longingly up at her balcony. "So, are we clear to go in or is the whole place
off limits?"
Rachel
shook her head. "Just the basement apartment crime scene is sealed; you can go
in," she replied. "Just in case though, since you're the only resident in this
building who fits the bill of that list of last names, I'm going to send an
officer up with you."
Tsume
nodded. "Thanks Rachel, but Vinge here has my back and I'll be okay," she
assured the wolfess. "Good luck with the investigation."
"Have
a good night," added Vinge before the two headed into the complex, dodging a
police officer who was coming out of the building before they ascended the
stairs.
Tsume
kept going up to her apartment, with Vinge trailing close behind her. When she
unlocked the door, she stepped in cautiously, reaching for the nearest light
switch to illuminate the room, checking for intruders. Vinge followed her
inside, and joined her in checking the house for anyone who may have been
hiding in the suite. But, a thorough check of all rooms and the balcony
revealed no one was hiding inside; the house was secure. With that, Vinge
proceeded to head down to do his check of Volcan's pad before he headed home.
Tsume decided to accompany him, as a further precaution.
After unlocking the door,
Vinge crossed into the living room and switched on the light, and began his
inspection of the house, making sure nothing was disturbed. Everything seemed
to be just as he left it; a freshly vacuumed carpet, clean furniture and a nice
scent in the room. All seemed to be perfectly well...
Vinge paused as his eyes
found the cradled phone sitting on the end table of the sofa, and noticed
something odd. "Tsume... did you check Volcan's messages when we were here?"
"What? No way; that's
invasion of privacy," replied Tsume. "Why?"
"The message light on that
phone was flashing when we were here yesterday," returned Vinge. "And I have
not been back since then."
"Wow, grasping at straws
much?" Tsume asked, irking an eyebrow at him. "Maybe Volcan's mom stopped here
for him sometime today and just..."
"Volcan's mom..." Vinge
interjected, head perking up and eyes widening as realization hit him like a
runaway car. "Tsume, what is Degra's maiden name?"
"MacAingeal, but I
don't..." Tsume froze mid-sentence as it suddenly became clear to her what
Vinge was implying. "Attends une seconde,
are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I think I am," replied
Vinge. "I think the person who came here may have been looking for Volcan."
"How can you be sure of
that?" Tsume asked.
"I'm not... but I'm not
willing to believe that this is only a coincidence," replied Vinge. "Volcan's
made a lot of enemies; if anyone somehow found out about his current condition
it'd be far too tempting not to take advantage of his helplessness."
Tsume rubbed the back of
her head. "Okay, I'll agree with you there, but maybe we should try calling him
first?"
"You can, but I'm not
waiting around; I'm going over there to check on him," he stated before heading
for the door.
"Vinge, wait up!" Tsume
called as she strode after Vinge, shutting the front door behind her. "At least
let me go arm up first!"
~~~~~
"I guess we really could have done this all along," Pavan
admitted as he leaned back in his chair, legs outstretched to rest on a
footstool as the movie played. After Degra had helped the two bring Volcan back
to his room, she had brought up the television from the kitchen and placed it
on the dresser against the wall across from Volcan's bed, where Pavan had then
hooked it up to a Combo DVD/VCR and put on a movie while Volcan settled back
in.
Volcan, propped up against
the wall with a serving tray on his lap, bearing a platter with a few crumbs
-remnants of his supper, rolled his eyes to glance at Pavan. "I told you so;
could've saved you that boot in the ass my mom gave you if we'd just done this
from the start."
"Yeah," agreed Pavan,
rubbing his hip. "Still hurts too. Your mom has one helluva kick; it's amazing
she's not a football player."
"She's too short to play
football," Volcan pointed out.
"Eh? No she's not; China
has its own football team, doesn't it? Tons of short people come from there."
"I don't think I've
ever..." Volcan paused. "Oh hang on; you're not referring to western football."
He gave Pavan a look. "You've lived in Canada for twelve years and you still
haven't figured out that, over here, we call it 'soccer'? Football's a different
sport entirely."
"I'm British, Volc; it's
easy to forget," Pavan returned.
"You were born in Britain
but you've lived in Canada since you were five," Volcan pointed out. "Speaking
of which, how's your dad? Seen him on the news a few times; see he's still
doing that weather man gig."
"Doin' good, doin' good,"
replied Pavan. "Loves his job, and just last week he and I had dinner together.
He commented how I'm rarely ever home and wishes I'd bring some friends over
sometime."
"Well you do run around a lot, buddy," Volcan
returned.
"Speaking of running
around, think our band will ever get to do tours?" Pavan asked.
Volcan blinked at how the
wind phoenix had changed the subject so randomly before sighing, letting his
head fall back against the wall. "Assuming I'm ever able to stand up on my own
again, I'd love to do that, travel across Canada on tour."
"'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, don't be
such a Negative Nancy," Pavan scolded. "You'll be fine; Akatsuki did say it'd
take a while for you to heal, but he said some gibberish about time always
healin' all wounds or something like that."
"I don't know, Pav,"
Volcan stated. "After what I've been through, I don't know if I'll ever be the
same. I feel like I'm made of iron, I have no strength..." he shakily raised
his arm, turning about his hand with some effort and staring at it, fingers
twitching. A spark erupted from his palm, but not much else. "I can't even use
my powers to make a candle flame... I've never felt so weak." He let his arm slump, winded from the effort of even trying
to use his powers. "I can't stand feeling so helpless..."
Pavan opened his beak to
speak, but the words died in his throat as he suddenly realized he didn't know
how to respond to that. He absently rubbed the back of his head, grimacing as
he tried to find something to say that would comfort his friend, but nothing
came to mind; there was really no way to relate to the situation the fire
phoenix was in. Pavan had never been as strong as his friend; speedy, yes
-easily the fastest being in all of Unity Falls, but up until three weeks ago
Volcan had been the strongest. Now he was the weakest, all because of something
that had been inside of him his whole life, suddenly deciding it had wanted to
be free...
"I really don't know what
to say, man," Pavan said, finally. He looked at Volcan sympathetically, trying
to give his friend the best, reassuring look he could muster. "But you can't
give up hope so soon. I hate it too, but healing does take time. You need to have some faith that eventually you'll
be back to your old self again. Maybe better! I mean, you don't even have to be
afraid of that bloody dark side of yours anymore; it's gone, lost in the sands
of Egypt. Hell, if we're lucky Izrail and Akatsuki found and killed it
already."
"That kind of luck, I'm
not counting on," Volcan returned with mild grimness in his voice. However, he
managed to give Pavan a weak smile of gratitude. "But you know, that has to be
one of the only profound things I've ever heard you say."
Pavan chuckled. "I'm
around you often enough, aren't I?"
The two shared a laugh at
that -a laugh that soon turned to coughing for Volcan, who slumped back again.
"I'm freaking exhausted..." he said, and looked over at Pavan. "Help flip me
onto my front, so I can sleep?"
"Sure, buddy," returned
Pavan, leaping to his feet and walking up to the bedside, giving a slight
laugh. "I feel like a nurse or something."
"Well if you are, you're
an ugly one."
"Oye!"
And again there was a laugh.
But it didn't come from
either of them...
Volcan and Pavan both
froze, eyes going wide at the sudden, unrecognized laugh in the room. Slowly,
their gazes met, and they simultaneously said, "Was that you? No, wasn't me."
"Ah, I did it again,
didn't I?"
Pavan looked down, and saw, right below him with its
head sticking out from under the bed, a black-furred vulpine with violet eyes
lacking pupils, staring back up at him from between his legs, a big toothy grin
stretched across his face. "Kon'nichiwa,"
the fox said.
"Blimey!" Pavan screamed, leaping away
from the bed in terror. His timing could not have been better either, because
less than a second after his jumped, the strange foxes arm weapon out with a
blade in hand, slashing at where his ankles had been milliseconds before.
"Oh,
quick little bastard," the fox said before he slid out from under the bed and
jumped to his feet, twirling the wakizashi in his hand. "Didn't expect to find three phoenixes when I got here either;
it seems it's my lucky day."
"Three?" Pavan repeated.
"Volcan? Pavan?! What's
happening?" Someone shouted from the hallway before the door flew open and
Degra appeared. Her eyes were on the intruder instantly, fixing him with an
enraged glare. "Who are you? How dare you
come into my house!"
"Like I said, three," the
fox returned, tossing the blade in his hand, catching it by the handle after
each flip. "My name is Yaiba Kumori. Wait right there a moment; just going to
finish my contract..." He held his sword inverted as he spun around and faced
Volcan, who was struggling to move away from the fox, but could barely budge a
muscle.
Kumori paused as he saw
Volcan's face, blinking at him. "Wow, Calhoun wasn't kidding; you really do look just like him."
"Who the hell is Calhoun?"
Volcan demanded.
"Meh, no matter," replied
Kumori before that blood-thirsty grin flashed across his face again, as if he'd
suddenly changed personalities from thoughtful to maniacal, raising the blade
high. "Time to die!"
"Like FUCK!" Pavan yelled as he tackled the
kitsune from behind, crossing the room in a fraction of a second ad hitting the
kitsune with all of his body weight, the momentum combined with his own mass
sending both of them hurtling through the window, glass shattering as the two
fell through the pane and plummeted two stories to the ground.
Kumori
hit the ground first, Pavan landing on top of him, but he didn't stay there; he
jumped off of Kumori's back, landing a safe distance from the psychotic fox.
He
watched as Kumori slowly stood back up, placing his hands against the soil to
push himself up enough to bring his knees under him, and finally raise himself
on his feet. His face had two shards of glass stuck into it, one in his neck,
the other in his cheek, both of which he pulled out with only a mild show of
pain, but there was surprisingly little blood from the act. He pulled a third
shard out of his shoulder, tossing it aside before glaring at Pavan.
"Not
polite to interrupt a man at work," he stated.
"Pardon
me, 'guv, but when your work involves stabbing my buddy, you bet your furry ass
I'm going to interrupt," Pavan returned.
Back
up in Volcan's room, the young fire phoenix turned to his mother. "Get my sword
from the closet," he rasped.
"Absolutely
not; you're not going out there!" Degra protested
"Not
for me; for Pavan!" Volcan returned. "He didn't bring his!"
"Oh!"
Degra returned, before turning and dashing over to the closet, pulling open the
door and grabbing the scabbard-coated falchion from inside. She ran back over to
the window, looking out in time to see Pavan dodging blade swings from the
seven-tailed fox, who had somehow produced a second sword into his other hand,
and was now attacking the Wind Phoenix with a blood-thirsty vigour. "Pavan,
here!" Degra called, throwing the sword out the window.
Pavan
saw the blade hurtling towards him, and then looked at Kumori, taking in a deep
breath before exhaling a bullet-sized burst of wind that struck his forehead
hard enough to stumble the fox. A second was all he needed; Pavan made a bound
for the sword, jumping over Kumori's head and snatching the blade out of midair
before landing again. He drew the sword from its scabbard and faced Kumori
again, but grunted as he held the sword with both hands.
"Aw
man, this shit's heavy," he muttered.
"Might
I recommend a lighter blade?" Kumori taunted before he hurled his wakizashi at
Pavan like a throwing knife.
Pavan
ducked under the blade, letting it fly over his head, but another one appeared
in Kumori's free paw and he dashed at the wind phoenix again, forcing him onto
the defensive as he struggled to parry each of Kumori's slashes, using his
speed to its fullest to protect himself from being sliced to ribbons. The fox's
attacks were swift, precise and each one would have landed a deadly laceration
if Pavan had failed to defend. His training with Vinge was showing now, but he
was used to using a slightly lighter sword than the one he had now; a falchion
was a good sword, but nothing like his khanda.
Eventually,
Pavan was forced to dash backwards, opening his wings and bringing the wind
towards himself to carry him back from Kumori. With a second to get his second
wind, it was time for Pavan to go offense, leaping forward and twisting his
body about in midair, adding force to the blade with his own upper-body
strength, using the strength in his hips to swing the blade. Kumori moved to
block, but found his own sword nearly wrenched from his hand from the impact,
and was forced to move back again.
Pavan
spun and turned and jumped all about, utilizing his strange and hard to read
fighting style. Kumori tried to parry his attacks, but Pavan was using his wind
powers to speed himself up further. Their blades clashed again and again, and
though Kumori seemed at a disadvantage, he did not seem very concerned about
it; he was still grinning, relying on his maneuverability to avoid Pavan's
sword, and never losing his confidence even with his failed attempts to
counter-attack.
Suddenly,
one of Kumori's swords vanished as he dodged Pavan again, and in his hand, a
sphere of darkness formed, which he hurled at Pavan mid-spin; the Wind Phoenix
saw the attack too late, and felt the pure, black energy of the Shadow Bolt hit
him. A creeping chill crept over the point of impact, followed by him stumbling
from the unexpected amount of force that backed the attack, leaving a dark spot
on his flank where it hit for a moment, but soon abated along with the chill.
However, Kumori attacked as Pavan recovered, vanishing his other sword and
somehow conjuring eight shuriken -or throwing stars- into his hands, which he
threw at Pavan.
Three
struck into Pavan's legs -two in the right, one in left, all landing in the
thighs, two into his dominant arm, one into his weak arm, and the last two into
his chest; the Shuriken points were too short to inflict a lethal blow to the
chest, but it was enough to make Pavan shriek in pain and drop onto his back as
white-hot agony suddenly filled his limbs, dropping his borrowed sword as he
curled up, fearing to touch the wounds inflicted on him by the eight shuriken.
Not a single one had missed him, and they left his limbs feeling numb...
Kumori's
blades reappeared in his hands again, and he clicked their flat sides together
as he stalked towards Pavan. "You're good, kid, especially for your age, but
I'm afraid I'm a hell of a lot older than I look," he said as he stood over the
wind phoenix. "And it's not the first time I've fought someone using the arts
of ancient India."
Kumori
stood over Pavan and raised his blades up high, ready to deliver the death
blow. Volcan could only watch helplessly as his friend was about to be killed;
Degra started to climb through the window to intervene, not knowing how much
help she could be as she was not a warrior, but refusing to just stand by as
Pavan was murdered in cold blood right before her very eyes!
However,
halfway out the window, Kumori suddenly stopped, his gaze darting to the left.
He brought around one of his blades to block a flying knife hurtling towards
him. Two more quickly followed, flying out of the darkness; he back-flipped
away from the blades, narrowly evading them and saving Pavan from his wrath.
When the knives stopped coming, Kumori faced the direction they had come from
as a white avian stepped out of the darkness, glaring at Kumori with a pair of
ice blue eyes that were shining like small flashlights in the night, snow and
ice swirling around his arms.
"It's
Vinge!" Degra exclaimed, gleefully.
"So,
the Ice Phoenix appears as well," Kumori remarked.
He
felt a mild tremor in the ground, hearing stone and dirt shift as the downed
Wind Phoenix suddenly vanished, as if slurped into the dirt. He was not gone
for long however; he emerged again near the house, and a green and brown,
wingless avian leaned him against the building gently. "Pavan, are you okay?"
She asked.
"I
will be once I get these soaring scalpels out of me," Pavan replied, weakly.
Tsume
looked at one of the shuriken imbedded in Pavan's flesh, and with a tender
touch she brushed aside his feathers to reveal the skin underneath, and gasped
as she saw the blackened skin around the points of entry left by the shuriken.
"Poisoned," she whispered, before looking up at the window. "Degra! We need you
down here; Pavan's been poisoned!"
The
mother phoenix leapt out of the window without a second thought, falling to the
ground at Tsume's side and then kneeling next to Pavan to examine him. Kumori
made a step towards them, but a wall of thin ice rapidly formed in his path,
stopping his advance. He scoffed, and then spin-kicked the ice wall, shattering
it with a surprising display of strength. When it was clear, this time it was
Vinge standing in his path, holding the very falchion Pavan had been using as
he continued to glare at Kumori. Their gazes met, but no words were exchanged
as they simply stood, staring at one another.
Tsume
touched Pavan's forehead, feeling the fever already starting as his body fought
against the poison. She looked at Degra pleadingly. "Take care of him; Vinge
and I will handle this son of a bitch," she said.
"Don't
worry," assured Degra. "Just teach that wretch a lesson."
"Count
on it," returned Tsume, standing up and stepping back from Pavan as Degra
scooped him up in her arms and ran towards porch and in through the back door,
leaving the two phoenixes and one murderous kitsune to battle in the back yard
of the house.
Kumori
watched Degra leave until she was back in the house, and then looked at Vinge
and Tsume as the latter stepped up to stand at Vinge's side, drawing a pair of
katars from the holsters on her belt. He noticed the throwing knives on the
back of her belt as she stood sideways, analyzing that she had been the one who
had thrown the knives at him before,
while Vinge held his falchion with both hands, forward at a forty-five degree
angle and his legs spread apart, right leg forward left leg back -the typical
stance of a samurai even though he was not carrying the weapon of one.
Kumori
hummed with amusement. "The Ice, and Earth Phoenix," he said. "It seems Calhoun
was right; there really are many of you, all in one place too. Intriguing."
"Who's
Calhoun?" Vinge demanded. "And who are you; why are you after Volcan and why
did you kill that man back at the complex?"
"Oh
my, seems I slipped up again," remarked Kumori. "You can call me Yaiba Kumori;
that's all you'll get to know about me. Although I find it interesting you guys
don't know who Calhoun is; how is it that someone you've never met wanted me to
kill Volcan Skilerain?" His swords reappeared in his hands as he spoke.
"Though, it was equally interesting
that Skilerain looks so much like Calhoun; aside from colour, the resemblance
is uncanny."
Vinge
and Tsume briefly glanced at each other before glancing back at Kumori. "You're
saying there's someone out there who looks like Volcan?" Vinge asked.
"Just
as I said," replied Kumori, before he raised his swords. "Enough talk
though..." that maniacal grin returned to his face once more. "I'm ready to kill!"
"This
guy looks crazier than a jar full of wasps," Tsume whispered.
"I'll
keep him occupied; you try and flank him from the side," replied Vinge. "Try
going for his tails."
"Why
his tails?"
"I
think he's a kitsune," replied Vinge. "According to legends, the tails are a
weak spot; cut one off and the shock can kill them."
"You're
going to plan a strategy around some hokey Japanese myths?" Tsume asked
incredulously.
If
Vinge could freeze a person with just a look, the stare he gave Tsume would
have been the one that did it; a fierce, angry look at her from one eye, the
ice blue of his eye only more pronounced by the dark blue of his socket, making
her feel as if he was actually glaring through her and not at her. "If you have
another idea, let's hear it. This guy defeated Pavan without even trying and
seems to be able to conjure his weapons out of nothingness; kitsune have the
power to warp the very fabric of reality around themselves."
"To
what extent?"
"That
depends on how powerful the kitsune them self is," replied Vinge, relaxing his
gaze looking back at Kumori, who was deviously grinding his blades together.
"And given that every century is supposed to be when they grow another tail,
this one has to be at least six hundred years old; he's bound to be powerful
and highly experienced. We need to be on our guard, or he's going to kill us."
Tsume
sighed. "It really does suck when you make sense," she stated.
"So
I keep hearing," returned Vinge, before his gaze hardened. "He's coming."
(Play
'Peel away the Skin' by Freakhouse)
Kumori
was starting to advance on the two, shuffling his feet forward on the grass as
he got closer, the twin wakizashi he carried flashing in the moonlight. Vinge's
eyes glowed again, his wings shifting and giving a light flap; chunks of ice
spilled out from his feathers, breaking up and fusing together alike as they
took shape and began to levitate around him, orbiting like moons around a
planet, each one no bigger around than a Canadian nickel, forming spheres to
resemble ball bearings.
Tsume
started to circle Kumori on his left, keeping her katars in ready positions as
she watched him, her talons digging into the ground with each step she took.
Kumori's gaze darted between her and Vinge, keeping a close eye on their
positions while he considered how to make his next move. He eyed Vinge for a
moment, but then made a beeline right for Tsume, deciding she would be the
easier target. She blocked his first sword strike, and then sank into the
ground to evade his next, disappearing beneath the soil. Vinge charged at Kumori
while he was distracted by Tsume's escape; the vulpine assassin barely managed
to turn around in time to parry Vinge's first swing with his right-hand blade.
When Vinge's guard was down, he attempted to stab the ice phoenix with his
left-hand blade, but an ice pellet struck the sword from the side, causing it
to miss Vinge entirely, and Kumori nearly suffered a retaliatory slash as Vinge
brought his sword back around.
Just
as Kumori tried to attack again, Vinge delivered a roundhouse kick to Kumori's head
instead of trying to bring around his sword again, catching Kumori off guard
and sending him stumbling. The kitsune only chuckled, however, as he recovered
from the kick and turned to Vinge. "Impressive," he said. "For one so young,
you have tremendous skill." He spun his two blades in his paws, and then lunged
at Vinge again.
As
Kumori attacked it suddenly became clear that the fox had not been fighting to
the full extent of his ability thus far, because this time when he attacked, he
was much more difficult to read. He swung high, seemingly going to Vinge's
head, to which the ice phoenix tried to block, but then Kumori pivoted and
brought his other sword around instead, going under Vinge's guard completely
and delivering a painful cut across his thigh. Vinge hollered in a mix of
surprise and pain, using a downward swing to try and make Kumori back off. The
vulpine, however, crossed his swords and held them up, catching Vinge's sword
between them and stopping his attack in midair, before proceeding to smash his
knee into Vinge's stomach.
Vinge
staggered back, and would have been executed on the spot if not for Tsume
erupting from the ground between him and Kumori, her katars narrowly missing
Kumori's muzzle as he ducked backward to evade her surprise attack. How he'd
detected her was a mystery, but as soon as she emerged fully from the ground,
she kicked Kumori in the chest to knock him back, before she charged at him,
stabbing at him with her katars. Every punch was dodged or parried by Kumori,
minus one that managed to graze across his face.
When he counter-attacked
with a double-slash to her legs, she tumbled back and drove the spikes of her
katars into the soil, quickly lifting her legs out of range before landing back
on her feet. He kept coming, lunging forward and stabbing at her with both
sword, which she blocked with her katars, sparks flying from the protective
bracers around her hands and wrists as the swords skid across them. As they
struggled against each other in a test of strength, Vinge suddenly appeared at
Tsume's s right, and Kumori was forced to break away to avoid an
upward-diagonal swing from the side, banking right to evade the sword as it
slashed through the air.
"Damn he's fast!" Tsume
exclaimed.
"He moves like a ninja!"
Vinge agreed.
"You think that's what he
is?" Tsume asked.
"A real ninja never
fights out in the open, let alone gives their name; he may move like one but
he's far too direct."
Kumori chuckled, having
heard every part of their conversation. "You want indirect? Watch this," he
said as he backed up towards a tree. As they watched him step into the shadow
of the tree, the fox seemed to literally melt into the tree's shadow itself,
shrinking rapidly until everything, including his eyes, disappeared completely.
Tsume froze. "I can't
feel him anymore... he's gone!" She exclaimed.
"Don't let your guard
down; this isn't over yet," Vinge stated as he stood back-to-back with the
Earth Phoenix, their eyes surveying the yard.
Of course, it wasn't like
they could see very well in the darkness; Phoenixes may have had amazing vision
during the say, sharing the same type of eyes as a hawk, but at night they were
out of their element -they could not see in the dark any better than a person
who was not of a nocturnal species. Try as they might, they could not see where
Kumori had disappeared to, but neither one of them was convinced he had left
the fight so soon...
"Look out!" Degra shouted
from the upstairs window of Volcan's room, pointing over their heads.
They looked up, and saw
Kumori dropping right out of the sky, that diabolical grin visible even in the
night sky as he fell towards them. Vinge and Tsume broke away, avoiding his
attack, after which he looked up at the window where Degra was. "Three on one
is kind of uneven," he said before he cast a globe of darkness towards the
window from the tip of one of his tails. Degra ducked back to evade the attack,
but it turned out to not be an attack; a wall of blackness exploded from the
orb and covered the window, cutting off the matron phoenix from causing anymore
interference and blotting out the light coming from the room.
He turned back to Vinge
and Tsume again, who had regrouped already. "Now, where were we?"
Kumori suddenly dropped
to all fours, his tails splaying out widely with a simultaneous flick,
immediately after which his tails seemed to bristle, a faint glint of metal
coming from each one of them...
"Watch out!" Vinge
barked.
Kumori flicked his tails
forward, and just like that, dozens of Shuriken were flying at them, their
whirring sounds barely audible as they raced through the darkness. Tsume
stamped her foot, and a wall of rock erupted from the soil in front of them,
successfully stopping the shuriken from reaching them as each one stuck
point-first into the stone, saving them from the shuriken volley.
But not from Kumori.
Mere seconds after the
wall stopped the shuriken, Kumori's head suddenly appeared in the rock wall.
"Knock, knock," he mocked before he erupted from the wall and dashed between
them, delivering a simultaneous slash to them both; shallow cuts, but they were
both to the abdomen and drew blood.
Vinge recoiled, and
Kumori suddenly lashed out in his direction, jumping impossibly high and
delivering a powerful kick to Vinge's head that made white light flash across
his vision as he was sent off of his feet. Tsume moved to attack Kumori from
behind, but before she even took her first step, he flicked three of his tails,
three shuriken flying from each tip and imbedding themselves into her flesh,
making her yelp in pain and lose her balance. Kumori spun himself on one knee,
kicking her across the shins and sending her face-planting into the dirt,
stunning her.
Kumori hopped on all
fours towards the dazed Vinge, pouncing on top of him and standing on his
chest; he was surprisingly light, even for someone of his size, but still heavy
enough it forced all of the air from Vinge's lungs as Kumori held his blades
crossed over Vinge's throat. "You did good, youngster, but you're a long way
from matching me," he said, still
holding that sinister grin as he drew the blades closer to Vinge's neck. "Now
you die."
Movement to his left
caused Kumori to hesitate; he glanced over and saw a flower -a tulip to be
exact, had suddenly opened its petals and was facing him. He irked an eyebrow
at this, confused by the flower. "How can a flower open its petals at night?"
He asked aloud.
Foosh!
Pollen exploded from the
flower, spraying his face with a cloud of yellow; he gasped in reflexive
surprise from the attack, and felt a sting in his eyes and nostrils, and fell
off of Vinge as he recoiled from the surprise floral assault. "What the hell?!"
He demanded.
Just as he managed to
clear his vision, he felt a powerful kick connect with his face, dislocating
his nose as it landed a direct hit to the end of his muzzle and sent him
falling back, but he rolled upon hitting the ground and leapt back to his feet,
shaking off the pain before glaring at his attacker, seeing Tsume now once more
between him and Vinge.
"How is it you can move
after being hit by my poisoned shuriken?" He asked.
Tsume grinned as she
patted her chest with the flat of her katar. "They didn't pierce deep enough to
do any real harm," she retorted.
Kumori's eyes narrowed as
he hummed with intrigue. "Interesting... I confess, I have not met many Earth
Phoenixes before, even in my lifetime. It appears there is much I do not know
about your kind." He looked past her, at the tulip that had sprayed him with
pollen. "Including a power over vegetation."
"You've barely scratched
the surface, pal," Tsume returned as Vinge stood back up, now recovered from
the hit he'd taken from Kumori.
Kumori flashed that
wicked smile once more; every time he grinned like that, it was no less
intimidating, giving both Tsume and Vinge the image of a complete,
blood-thirsty maniac standing before them. "I'll do more than 'scratch' when
this is over."
The fight resumed. This
time, Vinge and Tsume attacked together, both of them trying to flank Kumori at
the same time, but even this did not appear to be enough to defeat the
murderous kitsune; through a series of maneuvers and counter-attacks that even
Vinge's ice pellets could not penetrate, he not only warded them both off, but
wore them out -they were still tired from battling at the tournament, while he
seemed to be losing no energy at all. Given his clear Darkness-elemental
alignment, it was a fair suspicion that he was actually gaining energy from the
very shadows around him. All elemental beings, including kitsune, could
replenish their strength from exposure to their respective elements. Kumori,
unlike them, however, seemed to be able to do this ability passively without
stopping to concentrate on it, while Tsume would need a moment to gather energy
from the ground, and Vinge would need to be some sort of source of cold to
regain his own, either of which they could do.
As their movements
started to slow, Kumori ducked under a simultaneous attack from the two,
rolling between them and falling to all fours behind them as his tails suddenly
lashed out like bullwhips, surprising them as four of the tails wrapped around
their legs and yanked them out from under them, making them both fall
belly-down into the dirt before the tails pulled back. Kumori called out
gleefully as he whipped around with lightning speed holding his blades up high
as he fell towards the two, the swords angled towards their spinal columns.
Tsume grabbed Vinge's
arm, and quickly used her powers to make the earth swallow both of them beneath
the ground, feeling the bite of the tips of Kumori's short blades, the dirt
above them the only thing that saved them from paralysis. They re-emerged a short distance away,
struggling to gather their breath again.
"This is getting nowhere;
we can't even touch this guy now!" Tsume hissed to Vinge.
"I may have an idea,"
Vinge stated. "What's the extent of that plant power of yours?"
"I can make plants grow rapidly,
command them to do things, why?" She asked.
"Can you use the grass or
the roots of that tree," he gestured towards the tree in the yard, "to trip him
up?"
"I can try, I guess, but
I've never really used my plant powers in a fight," she admitted.
"Now's a good time to do
so," replied Vinge. "I'll hold him off; you see your chance, try and stumble
him. We have to finish this, now."
Vinge returned to his
feet, stepping forward and holding his sword in preparation as Kumori walked
towards him again, once more grinding his short swords together, scraping the
dirt off of the from his failed double-attack before. "You look out of breath,
boy; ready to surrender your life to me?"
"Not yet," Vinge returned
sternly.
Kumori lunged forward
again without another word, and once more he and Vinge were trading blows.
Vinge remained defensive, concentrating on keeping Kumori at bay as he
maneuvered around to put the kitsune's back to Tsume as she subtly began to
sink into the ground again without his notice, making not a sound as the dirt
pulled her beneath and closed over her head once again.
Vinge did not last long
against Kumori's onslaught; soon, Kumori managed to land two shallow stab
wounds to his belly, making Vinge holler in pain, before a knee to his chest
pushed him off of the swords. He fell back several steps before dropping to one
knee, panting again, but still looked up defiantly at Kumori, his gaze telling
him the battle was not over yet...
Kumori glanced over his
shoulder, and noticed Tsume was missing. "Seems your friend has skipped the
party," he stated before looking at Vinge, missing the glance over his shoulder
as Vinge judged how close to the tree he was, and continued to step towards him
even as Vinge stood up and backed away towards the tree. "Did you really think
you can handle me all by yourself?"
Vinge finished gathering
his breath, his gaze locking with Kumori's as he spoke again. "'On open ground,
do not try to block the enemy's way," he said. "On the ground of intersecting
highways, join hands with your allies'."
Kumori irked an eyebrow
at him. "Isn't that a quote from The Art of War?" He asked. "I fail to see its
relevance."
"There's multiple ways
this battle could go," Vinge stated. "And it's clear that fighting you by
myself, every outcome would spell my defeat."
"And your point is?"
Vinge noticed movement by
Kumori's feet, seeing the grass the kitsune was standing upon was actually
growing longer, and began to carefully wind itself around the kitsune's ankles,
never squeezing too tight as to not alert the fox to what was happening beneath
him. Vinge grinned. "Well on this ground of intersecting highways,
metaphorically speaking," he said. "The very ground itself is my ally!" He raised his voice at this statement, to give Tsume
her cue.
Kumori felt the
constriction around his ankles, and looked down to see his feet and lower legs
were suddenly wrapped in grass that was far too long to have grown naturally,
let alone come alive, and suddenly it became apparent to him that Tsume had not
left the battle after all. As he moved to hack away the grass, two roots from
the tree Vinge was standing near suddenly shot up with a spray of soil,
snatching his wrists and pulling them forward with such force that both of his
sword were ripped out of his hands. Lastly, a branch whipped down from above,
bending in a manner that should not have been possible for a tree limp and
wrapped around his neck, pulling it tightly and stretching his neck, making his
eyes go wide as he suddenly felt as though he were being pulled apart by the
vegetation around him.
"Agh! Tenbatsu!" Kumori croaked. "How...?! I
had this fight won; how could a whelp like you make this happen?!"
"'Water shapes its course
according to the nature of the ground over which it ?ows; the soldier works out
his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing'," Vinge recited as he
raised his sword. "'Therefore, just
as water retains no constant shape, in warfare there are no constant
conditions'. You believed this fight to be over, but until your enemy lies dead
at your feet, it can always turn against you!"
With that, Vinge swung.
Kumori could not dematerialize his body faster than Vinge's sword reached his
neck, and with a mighty slash, his head was rend from his body, the tugging of
the branch pulling the severed head away and hurling it high into the air,
never to be seen again. The body fell, in a spray of blood that just... did not
feel right, somehow, to the ground, the roots and grass holding it now
receding, returning to their original states and freeing the headless corpse as
it bled out in the yard.
Tsume emerged from the
ground once more, looking at Kumori's decapitated body with a look of disgust
before she turned her head away, sighing with relief. "Glad that's over," she
said.
Vinge shook his head,
even as he lowered the borrowed falchion in his hand, blood dripping from the
tip of the sword as it flowed down the blade. "It isn't, though."
Tsume looked at Vinge
curiously. "Why isn't it? We won; we saved Volcan right? What more is there?"
"Remember what he said?"
Vinge asked, looking at her and meeting her gaze. "About someone sending him to
kill Volcan? That person is still out
there, and they still want him dead -probably us as well, to send such a madman
to do the deed." He turned his gaze towards the sky. "This fight isn't over
yet; we won a battle, but it was just against a mere hired blade. The general
that sent them here is still out there somewhere, and as long as they are, this
is a war, and it's only just beginning."
Tsume shuddered at that
thought, barely noticing the light spilling out from the house as Kumori's
earlier barrier receded, clearing the window and letting Degra look outside
again, along with Volcan, both of them bearing looks of worry; clearly Degra
had stayed in the room in the event Kumori made another attempt to attack
Volcan while she was not there to watch him. It was her voice calling out to
them that drew their attention to her.
"Are you two okay?" She
called.
Tsume gave her a
reassuring wave, letting her know that they were fine, before she turned back
to Vinge again to voice her next question. "So... what happens now?"
Vinge lowered his gaze
somewhat, staring at the ground for a moment before turning to face Tsume
again. "Tomorrow, we need to call the rest of the team. We need to let them
know about all of this -about Kumori, and about this 'Calhoun' character who
has yet to reveal himself to us."
Tsume irked an eyebrow at
Vinge, noticing the tone in his voice and the way he said 'reveal' with such a
suspicious tone. "The way you say that, it sounds like you have an idea who it
might be."
"I just might," replied
Vinge, matter-of-factly. "But just once I hope I'm wrong."
~~~~~
Calhoun tapped his foot
impatiently as he sat waiting in the cabin of the Overwatch Ranger station, his
staff propped up at his side and held upright in his hand. It had taken him
eight hours to fly there from Vancouver, arriving in the late afternoon, but
now it was well into the night, and Kumori had yet to reveal himself, making
the dark phoenix begin to wonder if perhaps he had been mistaken to assign the
renegade kitsune to slaughter his hapless look-alike in Unity Falls.
He had also come to
regret that decision... after much thought, Calhoun realized how much it
bothered him to know Volcan would be killed by another, and how much he wanted
that pleasure for himself. Calhoun had been trapped in Volcan's body for
eighteen years; his prison, vessel and an unwanted home for as far back as he
could remember, and now the dark phoenix was cursed to look just like him; a
duplicate! He hated knowing this; he was the stronger of the two, and had a
vision for the future, one that would never feel complete as long as he was
nothing more than a mere copy of someone! He'd never be as remembered, and as
feared, if it was believed that he was just a hopeless clone.
The only way to truly
make his mark on the world was to ensure it was his face they saw when he
appeared... nobody else could have that face. Hence, Volcan Skilerain had to be
destroyed, and wiped from the memories of all.
Calhoun perked up as he
suddenly got the sensation that he was not alone, like an unseen hand caressing
his back and making his wings twitch. His eyes scanned the room for any sign of
life, but there was none to be found. He scowled and stood up, holding his
staff with both hands. "Show yourself!" He commanded.
"I'm right here," a disembodied voice filled the room, and suddenly
a pair of violet eyes appeared in front of Calhoun.
He stepped back, and
suddenly realized he could make out the shape of an ethereal, feral fox
standing before him, seated with six tails swaying behind it, and propped up by
its forepaws as it regarded Calhoun with a rather bored-looking expression, the
solid, violet eyes blinking up at him. Calhoun studied this fox for a long
moment, regarding it curiously as a sense of familiarity coursed through his
mind, narrowing his gaze to look long and hard at the strange, ghostly
vulpine...
"...Kumori?" He asked.
"Is that you?"
The fox nodded. "It is," it replied, once again with that
disembodied voice; the fox's lips moved when it spoke, but the sound of its -or
his, as it turned out- voice did not seem to actually come from that mouth. It
seemed to shimmer through the very air itself, filling up the room with a disembodied
echo with every word the fox spoke.
"What happened to you?"
Calhoun asked.
"The friends of my target turned out to be more powerful than you
believed," Kumori replied. "I dealt
with the Wind Phoenix easily enough, but the Ice and Earth ones got in my way,
and proved to be quite strong."
"Vinge and Tsume; they
defeated you?" Calhoun asked, incredulously. "All of that confidence and
bloodthirst, and you were unable to beat them?"
Kumori's eyes narrowed
angrily. "Do not test my patience, you flaming
crow," he warned, one of his tails raising high and the tip igniting with a
strange, blue fire. "In spirit form I may
be, but that does not mean I cannot kill you if you make me angry."
At that, Calhoun simply
laughed; a bellowing chortle that filled the room so suddenly it was as if he
was reacting to a witty joke, tapping his staff into the floor as his other
hand rested against the belly of his breastplate. When his laugh subsided, he
grinned at Kumori wickedly, and opened his arms. "Go ahead and try; find out
what happens."
"I'm warning you..."
"Do it!" Calhoun
commanded. "You idiotic ghost; do it!"
That was the final
insult. Kumori flung the blue flame at the black phoenix; the blue fire struck
home as Calhoun stood, not even trying to block it or evade it, hitting him
squarely in the chest, he barely reacted, only cringing with pain as he felt a
burning sensation deeper than any external wound could reach, grasping his chest
where the ball had hit, but he remained on his feet, the grin returning to his
face as he stood back up and stared down at Kumori like a predator over a fresh
catch, laughing at him again.
Kumori backed away from
Calhoun, eyes wide in shock. "That's not
possible!" He exclaimed in protest. "Fox
Fire burns the very soul of those stricken with it, yet you're not even hurt!
This cannot be... what in the name of Inari are you?!"
Calhoun hoisted his staff
over his shoulder, beginning to slowly pace around the room. "There isn't
really a word with which I can answer you," he stated as he paced, tapping his
staff against his armour. "I am something... different from any other being in
this world. The soul I harbour is not mine originally; I carry the essence of an
ancient being." He looked at Kumori harshly. "A being far beyond your
capability to destroy; use your Fox Fire as much as you want, you will drain
your own core essence long before you destroy mine, for the soul in this body
makes even the Gods tremble in fear
when they hear its name!"
He slammed his staff
against the floor, splintering the boards around where the ankh struck. "And it
yearns to be awakened, which is one of my first priorities. I'm going to awaken
my true power, and leave a scar on this world that will never heal, and from
inside of the scar I will spread my influence across the Earth, and every
nation, every army, and every living creature will beg or they will burn. This
is what I am born to do..." He clenched his fist tightly, a black and violet
fireball forming around his hand as he unclenched. "I live to destroy... and those who do not submit
to my will shall be on the receiving end."
"You are a monster," stated Kumori, before flashing a wry smile. "And that intrigues me. It appears this world
may be about to face a threat it's not prepared for."
"You can be part of it,"
Calhoun said, looking at Kumori. "Even I cannot bring this world down alone; I
could use someone who cannot be killed in my army."
"Do not push it, Calhoun," Kumori retorted, losing his grin. "I have no interest in conquest; all that
matters to me is the taking of the lives of others, and the more worthy the
life, the more thrilling it is. I have no interest in making war on the fools
of the modern world."
"Ah, but you know I will
never accomplish this without resistance, don't you?" Calhoun asked. "People
will fight; they always fight in the face of a conqueror or a destroyer alike.
They are stubborn like that, but that stubbornness has saved entire nations in
the past, and it could very well again." He pointed at Kumori as the fire
around his hand vanished. "There will be war, and warriors aplenty who will
challenge me; you know that I am right.
"Among the millions on
this world who will wield the gun, the sword or technology more advanced, there
will be those who can and will fight to stop me. You could have endless bodies
to bleed; all you need to do is stay with me, and before long your urge will be
indefinitely sated. You saw the Volcan's friends; do you believe they are the
only ones with such power? The challenges we'll face will not be lacking, my
friend."
Kumori's
ghostly ears flicked at the proposal, elevating his gaze to look at Calhoun.
Even in his feral, spiritual form, disembodied from his former vessel and of
little danger to anyone -especially Calhoun- for the next several months as he
constructed a new body, that diabolical grin appeared on his face still. On the
body of a feral, ghostly fox, it only looked even more terrifying.
He
asked, with a dark hunger in his voice...
"Where do I sign up?"