Dotsuku Wins the Juuni Taisen. Ch 1: Fowls May be Fools
Something was off about the chicken girl, Dotsuku just knew it. No one THIS green should even BE in the Juuni Taisen, it doesn't matter who's pulling the strings. Still… Having someone with eyes in the sky as a temporary ally sounds like a good thing to have, for now. Especially with that necromancing Rabbit around. 'I'll just keep my guard up while I'm with her,' Dotsuku thought as he vocally agreed to this 'Temporary' team-up with the Chicken.
As they walked out of the underground parking lot, Dotsuku caught a whiff of Niwatori's sent and that was when the Warrior of the Dog knew what was off. 'She's not sweating! That's impossible for a newbie to the battlefield, especially after what happened earlier,' Dotsuku thought, remembering the explosion at the start of the Juuni Taisen, his eyes narrowing at the Chicken. 'What's her plan?' The Warrior of the Dog thought as he vocally asked her if she had any information on the other fighters. He leaned against the wall of the parking structure exit.
"Ano, just some unconfirmed rumors, but other than that, nothing really," Niwatori said with a sigh. Dotsuku's eyes narrowed at the girl. Someone with her abilities should know a thing or two about all of the other fighters… The others… Maybe even… 'She couldn't possibly know about... Hmm, let's see how this whole thing plays out,' Dotsuku thought to himself as he vocally told Niwatori in a sarcastic tone "Gee, you're helpful." "What about you, Dotsuku-san?" the green haired girl asked the dog warrior. He then replied, more on the line to try to get more information out of the chicken than anything else, "More than you, apparently. Monkey's a pacifist, nothing else to say about her. The Dragon-Snake duo is at half strength now that Snake's dead. Boar's the daughter of their previous Juuni Taisen Winner, and quite frankly I think we got off lucky that she was off so quickly." Niwatori hugged her pitchfork closer to her body and asked nervously "Ano, you have any information about Ushii, the Warrior of the Ox?"
Dotsuku's eyes narrowed at the green haired girl when he stated "Those rumors you heard about him, what did they say?" Niwatori looked up at the starry sky, thinking about those rumors, before finally saying "Ano, a lot of them say that he's merciless on the battlefield... Is that really true?" "Pretty much," Dotsuku stated before adding "To put it simply, no one who's gone up against Ushii has ever lived." "N-n-no one! Not a single person!?" Niwatori said with a gulp. Dotsuku nodded at that. But the Warrior of the Dog knew for a fact that that rumor wasn't true.
Flashback
Dotsuku was clutching an open wound on his left shoulder, growling and panting. Panting because he had been running for a while, and growling because of the opponent that stood before him. Ushii, Warrior of the Ox, standing a good distance away from the dog warrior.
Ushii had his faithful saber in hand, ready to strike.
Dotsuku was low on options at the moment. He couldn't do his usual ambush attacks because he was out in the open. He couldn't use any of his venom or poison because his opponent is too fast for him to catch and bite, not to mention that one of Dotsuku's ankles was twisted. And lastly… He has hidden his child, who currently had one nasty fever, nearby and he couldn't risk being too far away. Dotsuku clenched his teeth. This situation has to be the worst possible outcome.
That was when Ushii launched his attack.
"S...S...Stop..." A sickly voice suddenly called out in desperateration, causing Ushii to halt his attack. Dotsuku panicked, as he jumped between Ushii and where he has hidden his child, ignoring the pain in his ankle when he did so. "Dad... That... man... he... he... saved me... from those... badies," the child said in a hazy tone, because of the fever. Dotsuku gave a quick glance at his child then the warrior before him and asked "You... Took down the Dark Clan and saved my kid?" Ushii raised a brow and asked Dotsuku "Then you really are this child's father?" The Dog Warrior nodded, not sure why he was telling the Ox this information.
To Dotsuku's surprise, Ushii sheathed his sword.
"Then, we have no reason to quarrel," Ushii stated, before taking note of Dotsuku's injuries. "You're injured and the child is sick," Ushii stated before adding "I have a safe house nearby with medical supplies. You may stay there until your child is well enough to travel." While Dotsuku was a little skeptical, his child was sick and needs a safe place to heal. So Dotsuku accepted Ushii's offer, but he was carrying his child to the safe house. While Ushii wanted to advise against it, he knew that pointless to argue with the father when the well-being of his child is at stake.
End Flashback
However, that was years ago, and Dotsuku didn't know what Ushii was like now.
Dotsuku saw a little bird landed on Niwatori's shoulder and cooed in her ear. "EH?!" The chicken girl shouted out. The Warrior of the Dog slapped a hand over her mouth and growled out "Do you Want to give away our position?" Niwatori let out a muffled, trying to tell him something. Baring his teeth, Dotsuku stated "I'll let you speak, on the condition that you keep your voice down. Got it?" Niwatori nodded vigorously. With that Dotsuku removed his hand. "The Rabbit! He set Boar off on her own! And the birds lost sight of him and Snake!" The green haired girl said frantically, trying to keep her voice low. Dotsuku raised a brow.
A little while later, and from a safe distance, both Dotsuku and Niwatori saw the zombie Boar sluggishly walking down an open street, in easy view from practically every angle.
Niwatori apologized for losing track of Rabbit and Snake and then stated that the Necromancer probably noticed the birds following him. Dotsuku KNEW that was a load of baloney. After all, who would notice that a bird or two following them? Especially a quiet, dark-colored bird at this hour of the night? But still… Dotsuku did have to admit the Rabbit seemed smarter than he let on. Sending his heavy hitting zombie out in the open like this, was a good way to get the other warriors out into view... Pretty good strategy. Boar had an ability called Non-Reload (Or Make it Rain in the Novel/Manga), meaning that she can fire those semiautomatics as long as she wants and not have to worry about reloading the ammunition. Anyone who knew this particular fact would want to eliminate her as soon as possible. This got Dotsuku thinking.
"Oi, Chicken," Dotsuku said, getting Niwatori's attention, before adding "Can you make one of your birds drop a rock near the building over there? without letting zombie seeing it?" As he pointed to the building parallel from where they were hiding. Niwatori nodded and did what the Warrior of the Dog asked. The moment the rock hit the ground in front of the parallel building, Boar started shooting in that direction. After exactly two minutes of gunfire, the zombie finally stopped. Once Boar saw that no one was there, she continued on her sluggish walk.
Dotsuku gave a soft growl when he said "Shit! She still has her ability... So those who are turned into a zombie by that Rabbit are able to keep the abilities that they had in life." Niwatori shivered when she said "That's scary..." "Cht, more like a pain in the ass," Dotsuku stated, not really liking the situation. After all, every kill a Necromancer makes, either by their own hands or their zombie's, makes them stronger. Niwatori interrupted Dotsuku's thought by saying "If only there was a way to take out that zombie before she can shoot us. I mean, if she's gone than the Rabbit loses his heavy hitter."
Dotsuku raised a brow at that. 'Is she suggesting what I think she's suggesting?' the Dog Warrior thought to himself. "Can you be a little more specific?" Dotsuku asked the chicken girl, making sure that his tone was neutral so she noticed his suspicion. Niwatori blinked cluelessly before saying "I guess, what I'm trying to say is… Maybe if there was a way for us to become fast enough to take her down before she could even notice us being there…"
'So, That's what her plan was!' Dotsuku thought, before smirking. "You know, now that you mention it, I think I do have something like that," He said, putting on a thoughtful looking face on. "You do?" Niwatori asked in amazement. Dotsuku nodded and said "Yeah, give me your arm for a second." Niwatori held out her left arm without a second thought. Dotsuku took her wrist and bit her forearm. Niwatori was surprised at first but then noticed that she wasn't in any pain. Dotsuku pulled away and explained "I added some anesthetics to dull the pain, but you should be feeling the One-Man Army soon." "One-Man Army?" Niwatori asked cluelessly before feeling a surge of pressures coursed through her bloodstream. Dotsuku smirked at this.
"So, how you feeling now?" Dotsuku asked, smirk still on his face. Niwatori held her hands in front of her face, opening and closing her fingers, and said "I feel a little weird, a good weird but… I guess the best way to describe this is like having all of your stats maxed out in a video game." "Does it now? I don't play video games so I wouldn't know," Dotsuku said, keeping his tone casual, before adding "Careful, if you use it right away, it'll wear off faster. Try small motions first." Niwatori nodded happily at that.
Niwatori walked over to Dotsuku, putting the next part of her plan into motion when she started coughing up blood. Dotsuku sidestepped the blood as she pressed her hands on the nearby wall, to steady herself. Not surprised by this, Dotsuku asked in an amused tone "You're not looking well. Are you having a bad reaction to my One-Man Army?" Niwatori's eyes widened at that, then she coughed out "Y-you! You knew!" Dotsuku shrugged and said "You're a good actress, I'll admit that, however, you can't sweat on cue." Niwatori growled, realizing that the Dog Warrior never bought her act.
A few seconds later, Niwatori dropped to the ground blood really rushing out of her nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. It didn't take more than 30 seconds for her to bleed out. After a minute of blood fleeing the chicken, Dotsuku pulled his dagger out of his belt and carved the Juseki Gem out of her gut. After cleaning off the blood off of the gem, he shoved it in a pouch he had hidden in his cloak. "One down," Dotsuku stated, before pulling out his wallet to look at a certain picture in it, then placed it back in his pocket to double check Boar's location. Dotsuku did see her, but she was a good distance away.
Dotsuku took a deep breath before muttering to himself "Cht, that necromancer's going to make everything harder."
To Be Continued
