The Essences Saga

Chapter 5

Desperation

"This can't be happening. What did Ninjisu do to this man that would make him so upset at him that he'd want to kill," said Pearl as she watched Ninjisu and Zulk battle it out in the street.

"Who cares? Ninjisu's gonna wipe the floor with him. I'm more worried about those two jerks over there," said Moon as she nodded her head at the two young fighters that showed up with Zulk.

"Zulk! Stop this! Ninjisu is a friend. He's here to help!" yelled Gregory.

"How could an orphan killer be any help to us!?" yelled back Zulk.

Ninjisu charged forth and unleashed a flurry of slashes. Zulk blocked every last one. Then Zulk unleashed a flurry of his own slashes. Ninjisu dodged them all. Zulk followed up with a high kick aimed at Ninjisu's head. Ninjisu did flipped back to avoid the attack. He attacked Zulk with a thrust aimed straight at the heart. Zulk turned to avoid it and countered with a devastating hand chop to Ninjisu's back. Ninjisu hit the ground hard. Zulk raised his sword and thrust it down for the final blow. Ninjisu rolled out of the way. He countered with a grounded spin kick. Zulk leaned back and avoided the attack. Ninjisu jumped back and got back up on his feet.

"You have agility, but that's expected. Dodging won't work for much longer," said Zulk as he took a defensive stance.

"Shut up old man! Ninjisu's gonna kick your butt!" yelled Moon.

"Silence girl!" yelled the spiky haired boy that showed up with Zulk.

"You want some of this!?" yelled Moon as Pearl held her back.

"You two little girls aren't worth our time," said the beautiful young girl who showed up with Zulk.

"Who do you think you are!?" yelled Moon as she tried to break free of her sisters grip.

"My name is Drew," said the boy.

"My name is Ruktai," said the girl.

"It doesn't matter though, since you'll be dead before sunset. We can't let those who consider this orphan killer an ally escape from here with their lives," said Drew.

"Stop talking like that!" yelled Gregory.

"Come now Gregory, do you think it's wise to let a viscous killer and his little followers to continue living?" asked Zulk as he kept to his defensive stance.

Ninjisu stood his ground as well and observed his enemy, hoping to find a weak point. He struggled greatly to find one, but to no avail. He decided that he had no chance of winning this fight without creating an opening. Ninjisu placed his hand in the air. He focused his energy into his palm. From his palm, a giant ninja star began to form.

"Oh yeah! Now we're talking!" yelled Moon.

"Big deal, so he can materialize a big ninja star. Zulk could handle that in his sleep," said Drew.

"You shut up!" yelled Moon.

Ninjisu finished forming his giant ninja star. He pulled back his hand and held the ninja star in the air.

"He's trying to create an opening. It's incredible. A fighter of his age should be completely frustrated by now. He should be insulting my age and becoming more and more frustrated with my obvious superior skill. Instead, he's approaching this tactically. He's managing to keep a focused mind. I still can't be sure if he is who I think he is," thought Zulk as he watched Ninjisu closely.

"Hurl that thing at the fossil and finish him off! You can do it Ninjisu!" yelled Moon.

"Ninjisu...," whispered Pearl as she looked on in peril.

Ninjisu whipped his arm back around and launched his giant ninja star at Zulk. Zulk stood his ground and didn't move an inch as the giant ninja star came straight at him.

"Ahhhh...," said Zulk as he focused his strength.

He brought his sword up and brought it back down with incredible speed and strength. It split the giant ninja star in two. Right behind the sliced up giant ninja star came a massive group of normal sized ninja stars. Zulk tried blocking the best he could, but he's desperate attempt did exactly what Ninjisu wanted. It created an opening big enough for Ninjisu to easily attack. He leaped into the air and launched more ninja stars as he flipped forward. Zulk was still trying to fend off the rest of the ninja stars that Ninjisu had already thrown at him. This new set was just too much. They hit him in the head.

"Direct hit!" yelled Moon.

"Hardly!" yelled Drew.

"What are you talking about? Ninjisu hit him square in the top of the head with a handful of ninja stars!" proclaimed Moon.

"Take a closer look," said Drew.

Moon focused in on Zulk's head. Drew was right. The Ninja stars had hit, but Zulk seemed unaffected by them.

"That's impossible! How could he take a straight shot to the head and continue to fend off the rest of the ninja stars?!" cried Moon astonished.

Just as Moon finished, Ninjisu was already lined up for a devastating slash to Zulk's back. Ninjisu launched forward and slashed Zulk with incredible fury. Zulk finished repelling the rest of the ninja stars and turned around. Ninjisu looked up in puzzled astonishment.

"You truly are who you say you are, but you lack the training necessary to achieve your true potential," said Zulk as he pulled the ninja stars out his head. Ninjisu was frozen in awe. Zulk placed the ninja stars between his fingers. Then he punched Ninjisu straight in the face. Ninjisu went hurtling back towards Moon and Pearl.

"Ninjisu!" yelled Pearl.

"Sis! Watch Out!!!" yelled Moon as she grabbed her sister and tried to get out of the way.

Before the sisters could avoid Ninjisu, Zulk trapped them up against the outside wall of the house they were watching the fight from with a couple of handfuls of ninja stars.

"No!!!" cried Moon.

"Ninjisu!!!" screamed Pearl.

Ninjisu's body plowed right into them and took down the entire house with an incredible crash. As the dust settled there was no sign of anyone underneath the rubble.

"Zulk! Why! Why did you kill him!" cried Gregory.

"Simple, moneybags," said Drew.

"Don't call me that! You know I hate that name! And what are you talking about!" yelled Gregory.

"Like I said... simple," said Drew.

"What do you mean!?"

"Zulk just did the human race a huge service. Don't worry, you're still going to use the money to rebuild this village, but that orphan killer had to die."

"But he saved my life! Ruktai! How could you stand by and watch this!? You three have never acted so brutally and viscous before! What's gotten into you!?"

"It had to be done," said Ruktai as she kept her focus on the destroyed house.

"Get up young one... get up... you have to get up... It's your destiny... get up...," whispered Zulk.

Gregory looked on in horror. He decided there was no way he could continue to watch this seemingly useless display of barbaric blood shed. He jumped off his porch and ran towards the rubble.

"Ninjisu!" he yelled as he ran as fast as he could.

Once he got to the rubble, he started to dig through it desperately as beads of sweat drenched his entire body.

"Ninjisu! Don't die on me! NINJISU!!!" yelled Gregory as he continued to dig.

After what seemed to be a lifetime of digging, Gregory ran out of breath. He passed out from exhaustion. Drew went over to him and picked him off of the ground.

"Make sure he stays asleep until this is over," said Zulk as Drew passed by with Gregory over his shoulder.

"Of course," said Drew as he took Gregory into the mansion.

A few minutes later, Ninjisu's fist came punching through the rubble. He arose with Pearl in his arm. He placed her on top of the wreckage. Then he reached back in and pulled out Moon. He placed her next to her sister. Then he fell to his knees.

"Get up! I expected much more from a warrior with the kind of legacy you've started for yourself. Get up! Get up and fight!" ordered Zulk.

Ninjisu tilted his head up and stared at Zulk. Then he looked back down at the girls. He wanted to just collapse and have his life ended, but he knew that he had to keep fighting, for the sake of the girls.

"He's done for," whispered Ruktai.

Ninjisu got to his feet, put one of the girls on each of his shoulders, and walked them over to the next house on the right. He set them down on the porch. Then he turned around and walked down from the porch, wincing with pain every step he took. As he staggered towards Zulk, he realized that he had lost his sword in the rubble.

"Retrieve your weapon," commanded Zulk.

Ninjisu thought it best not to argue. He walked over to the rubble and began searching for his sword. After a few minutes of searching he found it. He walked back into the street and wobbled towards Zulk. He lifted his sword into a lunging stance, leaped forward, and about ten feet away from Zulk, fell to the ground.

"Disgraceful," said Zulk as he tilted Ninjisu's head up.

"Please...," said Ninjisu.

"So you still have the energy to speak. You should use that energy to fight," said Zulk.

"P-P-Ple-Pleeease... don't hurt the girls. Do what you will with me, but don't hurt the girls," said Ninjisu.

"So the orphan killer does care for someone. Fine, I guess I'll have to kill them too," said Zulk as glanced over at the two incapacitated girls.

"What!? No!? Please!? D-Don't!" cried Ninjisu as Zulk let go of his head.

Zulk made his way towards the girls. Ninjisu struggled to move, but the best he could do was shake his useless limbs back and forth in pain.

"They must die for welcoming you as their ally," said Zulk as he continued forward.

"No!!!" cried Ninjisu in desperation.

"It's your fault that they must die. It is your fault for ever involving yourself in their lives. Everyone you have ever come in contact with has met a gruesome and early end to their lives. I can't allow that to continue," said Zulk as his pace remained steady.

"Stop!!!" cried Ninjisu.

"No! I will not stop! I will end their lives and it will be your fault!" said Zulk.

"Monster!!!" cried Ninjisu.

"Monster!? How can I be the monster when you're the orphan killer and the one at fault for these young girls deaths!?" yelled Zulk.

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" cried Ninjisu as his body rose up from the ground and started to glow.

Ruktai gazed on in amazement. Drew came back out of the mansion and couldn't believe his eyes. Zulk watched as Ninjisu screamed with piercing fury and he grinned.