Chapter 10 – The First Invitation: Clash with the Past
"Ayane, don't you think you'll need to change your clothes before we get out of the forest?"
"Of course, but I don't want to be behind schedule. So I'll just change after we get to the checkpoint."
It was after high noon at this point, and the two ninja had been walking all morning. Ayane was still rattled a bit about her encounter with the little girl from before she'd met with Hayate to continue her mission. Zell accompanied Ayane and was going to make sure that she wasn't going to kill his primary target, Kasumi. The checkpoint that Ayane spoke of was a small cabin near the city, it was about ¾ of the way out, and in turn was ¼ of the way if one was going into the forest.
"…Okay, here we are. Z-kun, would you mind waiting out here for me?" Ayane gave a small wink to the wolf boy and disappeared into the cabin shortly thereafter.
"Yeah, I'll be here when you come out." Zell replied with a soft smile as he watched the lavender Kunoichi disappear into the cabin.
After about five minutes, there was a rustling in the nearby leaves, Zell sensed something that held immense power, "Come out. I know you're there."
Out from the bush was a young woman who looked to be twenty years old, she had the grotesque limbs of a lizard, her left arm and leg were a gold color and she had a tail, and her tanned skin seemed to accentuate the color further. Her face was human, save for her eyes, and looked like she could have been on the cover of a fashion magazine, but her eyes were gold and catlike. "Well, look who's here. I though you were supposed to be dead." She spoke in a smooth voice and held a thick Russian accent.
Zell looked at the woman and his eyes held the same slit pupils, but his red eyes glowed neon red and fire emanated from his feet. "Itsuki? How did you know where I was?" his scarf flowed in the blowing wind and the flames climbed to his shins.
"Well dog boy, there is much I know about you. Or have you forgotten that we were such a close pair?" Itsuki had brushed her long hair back behind her ears as she approached the defensive wolf.
Zell took two steps back, "That was a lie and you know it. You only did those things to try to control me… You were never my friend, just a great liar." he growled and got into a low stance with his hand on the hilt of his weapon.
"That was not entirely true. I did really mean all of those things I said to you, every word of every sentence." Itsuki smirked and fished out an envelope from her pocket.
Zell kept his eyes on the girl and she smiled a twisted smile when the cabin doors creaked open. Ayane, now dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and navy blue t-shirt with fishnet gloves, glared at the oddity that was Itsuki. The two females eyed each other for a time before anyone spoke.
"Well well… A nice catch you have here my dear. You should consider yourself lucky to have him… truly a good one, yes…" Itsuki smiled again and pointed to Zell and extending her tongue to her finger and licked it.
"Zell, what's this thing? You know her?" Ayane asked and got into her battle stance, with her weapon in hand.
"…She was a…" Zell started reluctantly, only to have The Dragon Zodiac finish.
"I was his first friend and lover; we did every thing together… I even took the only thing that can't be restored from him as well…"
Ayane looked puzzled for a second, not fully aware of what the Dragon had said, "…the only thing that can't be restored…?"
"Stop lying. You never had enough alone time to get that close." Zell stated and unsheathed his black katana, which was now as long as Sephiroth's and had red symbols glowing faintly on the blade.
Ayane got the hint and gave a disgusted grunt, "Ew, You did something like that with this… this thing!"
Zell sighed, "No. She's lying. I never did anything with her. I was only a kid, who would do such things to a child?"
"No, darling, you lie to yourself many people do things with whoever they wish… but enough about the past. I'm here for the little kunoichi. I have her invitation to Dead or Alive 5."
"You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do after I take care of this broad. Got it?" Ayane gave a glare at Zell, who returned the glare silently with an added intensity due to the glow in his eyes.
"Of course, but listen to me if you want to live another day… I don't want you dead, Ayane…" Zell stepped toward the dragon and the young tengu followed.
"This is only for the tengu, but if you join, then it might be more interesting." Itsuki smirked and put the invitation back in her pocket.
Itsuki smirked and beckoned the two to come at her, which they did. Zell walked slowly and calmly, and Ayane crept behind him, waiting to seize her opportunity to attack. The dragon stepped toward the wolf and dashed at him. He leaned to take the blow, with intent to flip her, but when the move was executed, Itsuki landed in her feet and threw the wolf away, toward a tree. Ayane took the opening to sweep the legs of the dragon, only to receive a scaly tail in the face, knocking her in the opposite direction. Zell and Ayane were sent in two opposite directions, and Itsuki was in the center. The two ninja regained themselves and used the momentum from their impacts to launch themselves at her. Zell swept at the legs and Ayane aimed for the upper portion of her body. Itsuki jumped over Zell, and spun around to kick Ayane away again, this time in Zell's direction. Ayane landed on Zell, who managed to turn around fast enough to catch her in his arms. The two rolled on the ground before recovering and standing again.
"Oh how sweet. The little dog got himself a master." Itsuki hissed and her wings emerged.
Ayane gave an irritated look, "How did she avoid that? There's no way she could be that fast… unless…"
"Yeah… I think she can manipulate time too…" Zell shook his head the same way that a pet dog would after a sneeze, then he came up with a quick plan.
"You're going to give me that invitation. There's nothing you can do to stop me." Ayane's pink eyes flashed with a neon color, and then she charged at the dragon once more.
Itsuki prepared a roundhouse kick, and Ayane successfully predicted the move, then she countered with a low leg sweep of her own. Itsuki gave a light hop over the attack to evade it, then she countered with a tail whip. Ayane was swatted back a few feet, then almost took a claw across her chest. Ayane spun around and countered with her blade, effectively slicing the clothing for Itsuki's arm, and even earned a nice clean hit by the show of some blood on her blade. Itsuki smirked and slowly drove her fingers up the wounded arm, and the wound was sewn up like nothing happened, then a gold clock face appeared in her hand. Zell noticed the clock and stepped in. He yanked the violet kunoichi away and grabbed Itsuki's arm and grinded it into her own back. Itsuki had a nice gash in her back, and it apprehended her movement, as it was going directly down her spinal cord.
Zell held his hand over the dragon's hand and his eyes flickered gold before returning to their neon red color, and he pushed the dragon away. She was facing him and his back was to Ayane.
"Ayane, the technique." Zell stated simply, then summoned his black katana from thin air.
Ayane's eyes grew wide at the suggestion, "Are you nuts! That move will kill you both at that proximity!"
Zell smirked, apparently he'd already thought of that, "I know. But I have a good hunch that you'll hit the mark." He turned to face her with a blank face.
Ayane looked him in the eye, trying to convey the sadness that was held in for so long and almost started to cry. She wiped her eyes before the tears came, but she couldn't fight the memory of having to kill her foster father, it wasn't necessarily the same thing, but the concept was very similar. Zell's eyes showed a flicker of despair as well, he obviously didn't want to end like this if his plan was to fail, but there was no choice. He knew the power of the Zodiacs, as he was on himself. She hesitated before beginning the ritual for the Art of the Raging Mountain God, but started after a brief pause, by chanting then moving her arms about slowly, to gain more power, and draw out more lethality for the attack.
"That will kill only you, little wolf. I won't be affected." Itsuki smirked and healed another critical wound on her person then shot forward with a flip and brought Zell slamming on his back hard.
"It will and I know it, and you'll see how very soon." Zell did a corkscrew handstand and threw his blade at Itsuki, which she'd sidestepped, but didn't pay attention enough to get tackled to the ground.
Zell's hands became wolf-like and he pummeled the dragon with a series of clawing and punches in rapid succession. Ayane released a burst of energy behind him, signaling that she was done charging, and she took three steps and drove her fist right into Zell's back. Ayane had glided right past the two Zodiacs and Itsuki smirked just as the purple energy burst forth from the ground, in a manner that resembled a miniature nuclear blast except it was purple instead of orange and red. Itsuki gave a hoarse laugh and stood to dust herself off from the raining debris.
"See wolfy? You were just a simple prototype, I'm never wrong." Itsuki laughed again and charged at Ayane, who looked exhausted from what she'd just done.
Ayane faltered and stumbled backwards as she tried to defend herself by summoning her energy sword, but just as it appeared, Itsuki knocked the weapon away and it spiraled into the trunk of a tree. Itsuki now had a beastly face and was on all fours, moving like a lizard sizing up it's opponent and crept slowly to the kunoichi, who gave out ragged breaths. Itsui grabbed the exhausted Ayane and threw her into a tree. Ayane's body hit the tree at such a velocity that it sent splinters flying out of the opposite side of the tree, and putting a dent in it as well. Ayane groaned loudly, and only managed to turn her head to face the creature that was going to end her so easily. Itsuki sat on her back and cocked her clawed hand back and prepared for her next meal.
"No, not this time." Zell's voice came from a tree which stopped the dragon from lodging her large claw into the back of Ayane's skull, and turned her attention to were the voice had come from.
"I thought you took the full impact of that blow…" Ayane's voice was exhausted and heavily strained, but she'd locked on to the wolf boy, as he'd appeared right in front of her.
"I did, but it was absorbed." Zell replied and teleported away and then reappeared behind a still surprised Itsuki, who wasn't expecting a weak prototype to do such a feat.
Zell lodged his red clock's face into the body of Itsuki, on her back, and she began to surge with purple energy then it followed with red electricity. Upon removing his hand from the spot close to her heart, he'd taken the envelope and kicked the paralyzed dragon away. He grabbed Ayane by the waist and put the invitation inside his mouth and repositioned Ayane so that she was bridal style in his arms. He looked back and saw an explosion, and then took Ayane back to the cabin to rest.
"S-So… So how… did you… do that… just now?" Ayane managed to ask through a few strained breaths.
"I stole her power, or rather regained a portion of the power that was meant for me." Zell replied with a blank tone that hid the fear of the image of Ayane's headless body spewing blood on the forest's floor.
"Meant for you? What do you mean?"
"As she stated, I was a simple prototype, and as such was not completely awakened, but now that I have the remaining fraction of my power back, I'll be of more use in the future."
"But you were already pretty handy to have in the first place. You crazy boy."
The cabin was a decent size and was filled with necessities like a bed for rest, a window, a fireplace and a table and chair set, all of which was made from very fine wood. The sun had just passed the halfway mark, meaning it was after noon now. With Ayane exhausted from that fight and his own injuries having to be healed, and needing to adapt to the surge of forced power, the best plan was to just rest and set out at nightfall.
Zell laid Ayane in the bed and gave her a once over, carefully checking for any subtle injuries.
"Z-kun, you should have told me that you were gonna do something so stupid…" Ayane barely managed a mumble, but due to the silence outside, and Zell's close proximity to her, he heard her perfectly well.
"I didn't think you were gonna use it to that magnitude… if I would have known, then I would have told you to aim it at her." Zell slowly crept his right hand over Ayane's left thigh and he felt her body warm slightly and her muscles tense for a split second and relax shortly afterward.
"You need to start explaining what you were to the dragon thing…" Ayane stated with a heavy sigh and moved her hand over his.
"I guess now would be as good a time as any other…" Zell stated and looked Ayane in the eye and laid himself beside her and she snuggled closer to him.
There was dead silence that seemed to slow the flow of time, and Ayane looked up into the crimson orbs of the wolf and his eyes flashed pink then returned to their normal red color.
"On second thought… You don't have to tell me about it Z-kun… I'm just glad you aren't dead…" Ayane smiled and slowly closed her eyes and laid her head on Zell's chest.
It was nighttime, and storm clouds covered the horizon. Lightning flashed from the heavens and there was fire everywhere. It was the DoATEC's headquarters and there was a heavy fire going on inside and on top of that there was fighting in every area. Zell dashed through the area and looked for his targets, The Alpha-152s. He was covered in his own blood and it poured from a small cut across his forehead, a tear in his clothes that was across his chest, his body hadn't suffered many cuts, but he'd been on the receiving end of a fury of body shots that interrupted the function of limbs. He'd staggered through the area, determined to find Ayane and finish off the two that remained. He's walked through a hall with a grand window that was shattered. He'd dropped to one knee and clutched his stomach. After a moment of cursing his carelessness, he stood and staggered a bit before he regained his footing. There was an explosion in a nearby area and Zell bolted without a second thought. He didn't waste a second in trying to find them. He dashed through a corridor that leads to a hole in a large window. There was a green stream of molecular residue that trailed out as well, that and there were grunts and screams coming from down below, they sounded like Ayane, so he jumped down, heading to the helipad where the battle was taking place.
Zell thought, "Don't let me be too late…" as he descended down onto the battlefield.
Ayane was battling two Alphas, and she obviously wasn't doing too well. She had lost her headband, her forehead had blood spilling down onto her face; her arms had cuts and burns on them as well; her hair had a few spots of red as well. Ayane's ninja garb was torn across the abdomen, revealing a finely crafted line of red at an angle and she was clutching her arm and breathing heavily, almost in a crouching position.
The two Alphas slowly hovered closer to the injured tengu and she slowly inched back, trying to find a means of escape, only to meet the electrical wires surrounding the area.
Ayane felt the jolt of electricity and winced, the pain which would have otherwise been miniscule, seemed to be amplified ten thousand fold in her injured stated and she stumbled forward and onto the ground before the two Alphas.
"Damn it… He was supposed to be with me… How did it end up like this…?" Ayane whimpered a bit and let out a scream as the flesh was torn in another fine line across her back.
One of the Alphas, the one on the left, cocked her head to the side and grabbed the tengu by her neck. Ayane whimpered again and her eyes flickered, but she didn't give up. Ayane managed a punch, a weak punch, but it carried enough force to stagger the Alpha that was holding her. The Alpha released her, and she'd staggered back again, but this time she'd received a horizontal kick to her stomach and she folded. Ayane clutched her stomach and a tear fell from her eye.
Just as the tear had fallen, Zell landed and ran to try to aid her, but was tackled and pinned down by the Alpha that Ayane punched. Zell was on his stomach and only a few inches away from Ayane and the other remaining Alpha, but couldn't even lift the Alpha off of him to help her. He was so close, yet so far and so weak. Ayane was grabbed by the free Alpha and was beld by her chin. The Alpha tilted Ayane's head so that they were looking at each other. The Alpha readjusted its grip to around Ayane's neck, cutting off her already limited oxygen supply. The Alpha charged some energy in it's free hand and slowly began to build power.
"…D-damn it… Ayane…" Zell strained to speak, but it caught her attention. She'd looked at him with bloody tears in her eyes and reached for him as if it was going to make the pain go away. He did the same, and was within a half a centimeter from her hand…
Ayane let out a gasp, and the entire helipad was covered in green mist, but only for a brief moment, and when the smoke had cleared, Ayane's body had hit a window and a few pieces of glass and been lodged with her wounds, then after a tense ten seconds, Zell stumbled to his feet, searching for the Alphas, then ran and leapt over to her body, just as it began its freefall toward the ground.
Tears filled the wolf boy's eyes as he'd crashed through a window, missing her by a couple inches. He quickly turned around and leapt out and gave a strained burst of fire from his feet to catch up to her.
"No… NO…" He kept repeating these words and he reached for her leg.
The ground was approaching fast and he was so close to getting her… He only needed to get a good enough grip on some part of her. After another strained burst, which was significantly weaker than the first one, Zell had gained enough leeway and grabber her legs and pulled her close to him.
He forced his hand into a window and came to an abrupt stop; almost dropping the one he cherished the most. Now only gripping her slowly slipping hand, he managed to pull her and himself up and propped himself up on a nearby stair rail, with Ayane in his arms.
Zell's breathing was very heavy and filled with gasps, "A-Ayane? Ayane…?" He held her closer to him, her body limp and unmoving, and not breathing.
"…This isn't… No… It… it…" Zell couldn't form the words, he only kept the pulse less body in his arms and let out a scream with one last breath and dropped beside her.
Zell's eyes shot open and he glanced down to see Ayane smiling and cuddling with his chest, much like the way a child snuggles with a stuffed animal in their sleep.
"Thank goodness… It was just a horrid nightmare…" Zell sighed and caressed the side of the sleeping tengu's face, feeling the warmth the was on her cheek and he smiled before relaxing and placing his hands on her exposed shoulder.
Meanwhile, in the city, Takashi was preparing a treat for his kunoichi.
"Thank you so much, Taka-kun. I really appreciate this." Kasumi gave Takashi a hug from his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and filling the immediate area of Takashi's senses with the scent of Berries.
"It's no problem Kasumi… You know I'd do anything for you…" Takashi smiled and kissed the red head on her forearm and the doorbell rang.
Kasumi giggled, "I'll go get it Taka-kun…"
When Kasumi got to the door, she called out, "Who is it?"
She was partially expecting to hear Zell's voice, as he was the frequent visitor lately, but was surprised when the voice on the other side replied, "It's Me, Tarou. Is Takashi there?"
Kasumi let out a gasp, and Takashi walked over to her to see what the problem was.
"Kasu-chan, who was it?"
"It's… your brother…"
Takashi now had an expression that seemed to display both happiness and confusion, but he swallowed hard and proceeded to the door.