Chapter 10 : The Girl Called Nobody
Two trembling humans stood before the great throne of the Deliverer of Darkness. The remains of their weapons were in their hands. Aku was staring at the destroyed guns and his servants. It was obvious to everyone that he was neither pleased nor amused. It also was obvious that he tried to appear calm, but the perfect slash which cut the weapons in half reeked of something the dark lord feared the most.
"What do you mean nobody attacked you and destroyed the guns?" the demon roared.
Was this some kind of joke? These humans should have known better than to play word games with Aku.
"We apologize, master, but…" one of the humans spoke, trying to form words. "We aren't sure who that was. He… She… They had a sword…"
"And a helmet with a mask. They said they were nobody," the other added.
"Then you will find this Nobody! Go! Whoever dares strike against the servants of Aku shall be punished! Find them!" Aku commanded.
Rising from his throne, he created a windy stream that set the sticky papers flying all over his lair. He was glad that this news was delivered to him in person ; he'd had enough of his servants sticking little papers with information on gates and walls. Apparently, they ran out of those papers and finally had to address him eye to eye.
Once his henchmen had left, Aku reduced his size and went back to his new toy. Perhaps those two better servants managed to fix the magical field they named "The Wi-Fi" and he could finally use the black rectangular machine to learn more about the world and its history.
And who knows, it might help him find what he was looking for…
A teenage girl wearing shorts and a white shirt was hiding in an alley of her destroyed hometown. In front of her there was a tall black building with spikes protruding out of its top. The tower was still not completely finished and others like it were already being constructed as well. The girl frowned at the whole scenery ; the monster destroyed the existing city and then decided to build everything anew, only in his image.
People were roaming the streets and it was clear that they were all enslaved ; they were dressed in old rags and mostly followed or observed by Aku's servants. Black whips adorned the hips of Aku's minions and the girl noticed that they were not particularly shy with using them. Aku's human guards had much more dangerous weapons. The girl wondered if they all joined Aku's Forces because they had no choice or if some of them had joined willingly. She hoped not, but history was filled with humans who enjoyed killing humans.
Slowly, the girl moved deeper into the alley, trying to be quiet. She stepped into pieces of paper on the floor and moved her leg. Maybe it was newspaper. She decided to pick it up and gasped. It was a wanted poster. A wanted poster of herself. Granted, the image drawn on the poster was crude and somewhat hilarious ; she recognized the helmet and the mask she wore but the picture made it all look like she was some sort of a monster herself. The poster informed that she was wanted dead or alive, with her possessions intact, for a hefty sum of money. She stared at the symbols that spelled the name and chuckled. Nobody. They think my name is Nobody. Really? She thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. It was as good an alias as any.
Carefully, she folded the poster and put it in her pocket. She observed the walls of the dark alley and saw many more of those plastered on top of one another. Aku really didn't waste time. And he apparently knew about the sword. It was unfortunate that she had to do what she did the day before, but there were no other acceptable solutions. She could be Nobody, but she would not be a murderer.
Nobody remained in that alley for a while, trying to see if there were any weaknesses in Aku's fortress. She could see none. Minions came and went, some alone, some with prisoners. She counted dozens of the demon's servants. Too many to fight so early. She knew she still needed practice, and attacking Aku in his tower filled with minions was not the best place to test her skills in a real battle for the first time. The demon would not be destroyed yet, and before that comes to pass, the girl would need plans, allies and help.
The first plan came to her after spending a few hours observing the fortress. Most of Aku's servants were different, but she kept seeing three of them walking in a group, going out of the fortress and returning after a while with prisoners. Swiftly but carefully, the wielder of the sword left her hiding place to move through the alley, all the while following the group of three minions. With each minute that passed, she was more certain that those were not human.
They strolled through the remains of the city. Even though it was dark at this hour, only a few of the street lamps were repaired and working. It suited Nobody who wanted to remain hidden while she was following the minions. The farther they went from the fortress, the quieter it got. There were also no more minions anywhere besides the group of three Nobody was tracking.
"They are hiding in the hollow of those ruins," one of them spoke while pointing at the unremarkable rubble a few metres ahead.
"We will encircle them and flush them out," another replied.
All three nodded. Two walked to both sides of the ruins while the third readied its whip and waited. Nobody waited as well. As soon as the first two minions were out of her sight, she stepped out of the alley, helmet and mask already on her head and the sword already in her hands. She attempted to walk over to the minion stealthily, but the stones were too loud under her feet. One wrong step and the minion slowly turned its head. They were definitely not human, she was certain of it.
"Stop right there!" the thing shouted.
It drew and began swinging its whip, but Nobody was faster. She ran into the minion and stuck her sword into it. She only heard a gasp and the creature completely disappeared from her sight, its clothing falling to the ground without their wearer in them. Nobody sighed with relief.
She hurried forward, climbing the rubble and following the screams that started echoing through the empty, dark streets. The teenager reached the top of the rubble and looked down ; it wasn't very far away. Two minions were snapping their whips at a group of people. Nobody checked her helmet and gripped the sword tightly. She took a few steps back and then ran, jumping when she reached the edge.
The minions and the people all looked up when a girl with a sword emerged out of nowhere. She dropped to the ground, close to one of Aku's servants, slashing the hand that held the whip. With another swift motion, she also cut the entire creature in half, letting the clothes fall to the ground and their owner turn to smoke.
She turned around to face the last minion. It had the whip ready and swung it, but Nobody slashed it when it flew towards her face. The red-clad creature took a step back. It seemed to have been examining the human before it and its own chances. Then it dropped the whip, turned and attempted to run away. Nobody watched the minion run. She positioned herself, aimed for a moment and then threw the sword. She never tried it before, but the blade listened. It flew and hit the minion in the back, making it collapse and evaporate.
The girl went to get the sword back. When she returned and sheathed her weapon, she only saw a group of people completely in awe before her and what they had just witnessed.
"You can't stay here," Nobody spoke. "I'll help you find a better shelter, but we should go soon, before someone finds out what happened."
"Thank you so much, stranger!" one of the men said.
"I am Nobody," she replied.
She wanted to tell them that she was no stranger to this city, but the less they knew the better. Nobody observed the group : there were a dozen of people. Some old, some young, some not from Japan at all. Unfortunate tourists. She joined them as they all moved out of the rubble in search of a better and more secure shelter. Her hands trembled with joy. She really saved them. She had just won her first true battle.