The demon of the Oniwaban casts his spell on Kenshin and his team, The Aoishi arc nears its conclusion, I hope you enjoy it )
The man known as Han'nya stood before the team, blocking the hallway from their advancement.
"I knew we would meet in battle Battousai," he started, his voice still eerily calm. "If you wish to face our glorious leader, then you shall face me."
"I do not wish to face anyone that I do not," Kenshin replied. "We are here to rescue Miss Megumi and no other reason."
"Our Commander's orders are absolute, you shall not pass."
Kenshin assumed a fighting stance, his sword unsheathed; his eyes became darker as he prepared himself for battle.
"In that case then I shall defeat you, prepare yourself, I apologize for I cannot hold back."
"Neither shall I, for you are already within my spell!" Han'nya shouted, with lightning speed he shot towards Kenshin, assuming his kempo fighting stance.
Kenshin stepped back, assured that he would avoid the attack.
He was mistaken, Han'nya's metal gauntlets impacted Kenshin's face, knocking him to the ground, with his opponent down Han'nya spun about, planning to catch him with a backhand.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru shouted, her voice filled with fear.
His fist never met its target, as from behind his master, Derek leapt forward, permitting the attack to strike his chest. Without giving an inch Derek wrapped his arms tightly around the ninja's, holding him in place.
"Sensei! Take Kaoru and Yahiko and keep going, I will handle this one."
"Pupil!" Kenshin shouted, obviously concerned for Derek's life when facing such a skilled opponent.
"You trained me well sensei," Derek muttered, never taking his eyes off Han'nya's arm. "Trust me to defeat him."
"You cannot hold me that long!" Han'nya shouted, swinging his free arm forward, striking Derek across the face, blood spattered across the wall from his lip.
"Go!" Derek shouted once more.
This time there was no hesitation, as Kenshin, Yahiko, and Kaoru all ran around the masked fighter, who still was trying to pry himself from Derek's immense grip.
Yahiko turned as they ran, giving Derek a thumbs up. "You better not lose, you have to provethat you deserve to be Kenshin's apprentice," he shouted, finally disappearing down the corridor.
Once they were clear and gone down the hall, Derek released his hold, jumping back to a safer distance. Han'nya had scored numerous direct hits while Derek had him held, he had bruises all over his face, blood was still dripping from his lip, he was panting heavily, his shirt was torn on the left side.
"That was a noble act, permitting your master to continue at the cost of your own body, but a foolish one. With those injuries you are at a great disadvantage."
"It was worth it," Derek panted, wiping away the last of the blood from his mouth. "It wasn't anything too great."
"You do not gauge your opponents well enough then," Han'nya replied, his masked face unchanging as he spoke. "Your own sensei could not remain on his feet after a single of my punches, yet you believe that taking several of them is no great loss?"
"My master is the greatest swordsman alive, that much is certain," Derek replied, staring Han'nya down. "I may not have his speed, skill…or experience, however there is one point I have kept secret even from him."
"Hmm?" Han'nya asked, obviously confused.
Derek permitted the torn half of his Kimono to fall to the ground, exposing part of his chest.
"In terms of brute strength…I have surpassed Kenshin-sensei."
The torn shirt had revealed that concealed beneath his kimono Derek's muscles were well defined, not quite at Sanosuke's level, yet it was obvious that he was much stronger than he had let on in past battles.
Han'nya remained still, continuing to stare at the apprentice, unmoving. "Pure strength will not save you this day, and so long as you are under my spell, you will never land even a single blow on me."
"O yes, that technique you used the other night, when your arms stretched despite my predictions."
"If you cannot see through it, then I shall defeat you, and with the defeat of your master it shall be proof that the Oniwaban are the best."
"If you simply want the title you can have it," Derek answered, his voice stern in anger towards what the Oniwaban had done. "You don't need to do all this."
"A title such as that must be earned," Han'nya rebuked, taking his stance once more. "It is fitting this way, for you are the apprentice of the Battousai….just as I am the pupil of our glorious Commander."
With the same lightning speed as before Han'nya dashed towards Derek, his arm reaching towards him…stretching in length.
As it appeared that his fist would connect as it had against Kenshin, Derek ducked low, allowing the punch to pass harmlessly ahead, in a single quick motion he drew his sword, striking Han'nya in the gut with the hilt, knocking him back.
"I see it all now," Derek smiled, regaining his composure.
"You've seen through my spell...so quickly?" Han'nya gasped slightly, recovering from the blow to his gut.
"Indeed I do, though it had me fooled for quite a while. At first I thought that it had been my misjudgment that caused your hit to connect the other night, but at the behest of my master's words I contemplated ways that it may not have been my blunder…but your skill."
Han'nya seemed to smirk slightly from behind his mask.
"I wasn't absolutely sure until you hit Kenshin-sensei, there's no way he could have misjudged it, and that's when I realized. It had been a theory I had considered that the horizontal bands on your arms were the key, for they seem to serve no purpose other than aesthetics. In actuality they make your arms appear thicker and shorter than they actually are, a clever optical illusion."
"And how did you discover the length of my arm?"
"Did you think I was idle whilst I was holding you at bay?" Derek smirked with triumph. "I counted the number of bands on your arms, they all had to be the same width for your illusion to work properly, and by knowing their number it was easy to estimate the actual length of your arms."
"Splendid boy," Han'nya replied. "You are truly worthy of calling yourself the student of the Battousai…however…"
With a quick flip of his wrist several metallic claws punched through his gloves, his raised them into a fighting stance.
"You will not defeat me, and your master shall not stand a chance against my master, our glorious commander!"
"Hidden claws?" Derek drew his sword once again, taking a fighting stance. "For the last time, if you want the title of the best you can have it, neither my master nor I have any desire to possess it. There are other ways your talents can be used in this world, do you have nothing outside of fighting?"
"No I…" Han'nya started, lowering his head slightly. "There are two…however they had to stay behind, they were much too young for a task like this."
"I am sure they would want to be with you more than anything," Derek started, taking a step toward Han'nya in a friendly manner.
"No, our Commander's orders must be followed!" with that last word, he sped towards Derek once more, his claws at the ready.
Though caught off guard by the ferocity of his attack, Derek was able to raise his sword in time, catching the claws on his blade.
Bringing his sheath up he swung it towards Han'nya, who promptly blocked it using his second set of claws, for several moments the two struggled against each other.
Derek finally broke the stalemate, bringing his knee up he nailed Han'nya in the gut once again, dropping him to his knees. With a backhanded swing he smashed his sheath against Han'nya's mask, shattering it.
Han'nya gripped his face in pain, taking several paces back, Derek allowed him this reprieve, hoping to show the fighter how little he wanted to fight him.
"A good blow, yet you should have finished me," Han'nya removed his hands from his face, standing tall.
Derek gasped, he very nearly threw up at the sight before him, now he knew how Han'nya was such a master of disguise.
All of his prominent facial features were gone, his eyelids and lips were cut off, his nose was nonexistent, apparently removed as well, and his cheek bones had been permanently crushed.
"You did all that…to yourself?"
"Indeed, for it was necessary to aid the Oniwaban on our spy missions," Han'nya replied. I have been through hellish situations…yet believing in our Commander kept me going!"
"So much pain…just to be the best…"
Han'nya seemed to care little for Derek's sympathies, and charged once more head on.
Derek side stepped his first attack, however the Demonic Oniwaban slashed with his second arm, leaving a trio of scratches down the young samurai's chest, in rapid succession he brought up one of his long legs, viciously kicking Derek in the side, he was pretty sure he heard a bone break.
Coughing slightly, Derek used the force of Han'nya's kick to spin himself around, bringing his sword around again right back at him.
"Hiten Mitsurugi style! Hi-Ryu Sen!"
Using only the hilt he used the force of the spin to ram his sword into Han'nya's throat.
The ninja's eyes went pale instantly, not even having enough time to say another word, he collapsed unconscious.
Derek breathed a sigh of relief, immediately doubling over from the numerous wounds Han'nya had inflicted on him.
"Well…gonna feel that in the morning," he chuckled to himself, limping down the hallway, following his Master and friends down the path deeper into the mansion...
The final path is ahead, but not all who are present shall pass through it, a final battle commences as enemies become temporary allies. Kenshin's battle with Aoishi is revealed, yet another enemy is waiting, next time on the Battousai's Apprentice, the End of Fates, you wont want to miss it.