Hello again everyone. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, although it was slow going at first. Hope you guys like it as much as I do. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Paying Dues
Justin leapt back, drawing the scythe to his side. He watched as Paul held up his scythe, looking it over in wonder. "Amazing." he said. "You've had this kind of power within you all this time, and you never used it? What are you, an idiot?" He swung the blade and took a fighting stance. "I would kill for this kind of power! It's the thing I've been waiting for!" He ran forward, swinging his weapon in to cut Justin in half. He blocked it with the pole and stepped forward, punching Paul in the face with a huge hay-maker. The actor was knocked to the floor with the force of the blow.
"Power has a price. Now are you going to stay on the ground like the dog you are, or are you gonna fight?" Grinning madly, Justin spun the scythe over his head and brought it down onto his opponent. Paul rolled out of the way and onto his feet, using the crouch he found himself in to leap towards Justin. The shinigami stepped out of the way, but the scythe came in wide. The pole caught him in the throat and he was dragged off his feet. He crashed into the dirt, coughing.
"Who's the dog now, shinigami!" Paul said, cackling. Justin responded by spinning around and swinging at his feet. The fullbringer easily jumped over the attack, but that allowed Justin time to get to his feet. Justin charged forward, swinging the scythe in a complicated series of blows. Paul blocked them one after another, twirling his own scythe like a baton. The two combatants ended up facing each other, scythes locked together. Each was trying to both attack and keep the other from moving. After a brief struggle, they jumped back, clearing the field.
They took a moment to catch their breath, then smiled. "You're pretty good with that scythe." Justin said.
"I have to be. You're just as good." Paul replied. "But I get the feeling there's more to this shikai than meets the eye. I can feel more power. But how to get to it?"
"Want me to show you? Watch carefully." Justin said, charging forward. Paul grinned again, and raised his scythe to block the simple attack. At the last moment, Justin disappeared. Paul's eyes widened as his opponent reappeared within his block. Before he could react, Justin swung his scythe behind him. Turning and pulling, Justin hooked the man and swung him over his head and across the clearing.
Paul landed hard on the ground, rolling for a bit before coming to a stop. He lay there, catching his breath and trying to make sense of what just happened. He...he moved sofast he thought. But there's no way he could move faster than I can now. I'm a perfect copy of him!But even now, he could feel the increase in his own abilities as his fullbring compensated for the difference in their power. The shinigami had gotten faster.
"Get up. Don't tell me that little move killed you. I've got much more power to show you!" Justin called. Paul growled, and crawled to his feet, snatching up his scythe from where it lay. He spat and wiped some of the blood away from his mouth. It felt like he had bit his tongue when he landed. Not to mention the slash across his back.
"How'd you do that?" he asked. All traces of amusement were gone from his voice. He was fighting seriously now. Remember your traininghe reminded himself. Analyze your opponent. Fight on instinct. His moves are your moves. You know your opponent better than they know themselves.
Justin smirked. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about what's happening now?" He said, holding his scythe forward. Once again, Paul's eyes widened in shock. The blood on the blade, his blood, was moving across the blade. It slid and stretched until it covered the whole blade. When it did, the scythe glowed bright red, then returned to its normal color, the blood gone. Once again, Paul felt a shift in his power as his opponents grew.
"I see." he said, taking a fighting stance once more. "So if you get blood on the blade, it makes you stronger? And interesting ability to say the least. But you really shouldn't have taken the time to show it to me."
"Oh? Why? It's not like you can touch me. I'm faster than you, even if you do copy my abilities." Justin replied.
"That's where you're wrong." Paul said, sprinting forward. The speed caught Justin off guard, but he was able to block the blow. Paul ducked under his own blade, switching arms. He grabbed the scythe with both hands and swung around, catching Justin in a move similar to the one he had used earlier. Justin's block helped, but he couldn't prevent the blade from cutting into his back a bit.
Now it was Paul's turn to get a power boost. Justin felt his opponents reiatsu spike a bit. Now Paul truly wasfaster then him. Dammit, he thought. I never meant to let him get this close. He caught me by surprise.
"Excuses." Came a voice in his head. Justin recognized it was Eien no Kurushimi, his zanpaktou's spirit. Justin saw a brief picture of the spirit sitting on the same boulder as before, glaring at him. "Your opponent is a mere imposter. He may have your moves, and your abilities, and even your appearance, but there's one thing you have that he doesn't. The spirit of his sword. Listen. Does his sword shout like it should? When your blades cross, did you feel the presence of another, roaring for victory? No. His sword is empty, as is his soul."
Justin shook his head, clearing his mind. Just as Eien had said, there was nothing in his opponents sword. He had dueled enough other shinigami to know that when two zanpaktou collide in battle, the spirits themselves add fuel to the attacks. That was how he had gotten the first hit in earlier. He used Eien's reiatsu to boost his own speed.
"Good. You're learning." Eien said mockingly. "Now if you have time to think, you have time to block that attack coming in." Justin looked up in surprise and barely managed to block the chop in time to stop it from cleaving his head in two.
Paul grinned, once again drunk with power. "Finally snapped out of that little daze, huh? It's a shame, you'd have been spared a lot of punishment if you had just let me kill you." He unhooked his blade and swung with incredible speed. Justin leapt back to avoid it, then charged forward to take advantage of the opening. Paul dodged with shunpo, and hit Justin in the back with his knee, knocking the wind out of him. Before he could fall, he grabbed his hair, holding him up by it. Justin growled, and tried to swing his scythe around to cut him. Paul stepped down on the handle, keeping the zanpaktou stuck on the ground.
"As thanks for letting me use this amazing power, I'll let you say some last words before I slit your throat." Paul said, raising his scythe to lay across Justin's neck.
Justin smiled. "Just one." he said grabbing Paul's scythe. "Batsu."
The blades of Pauls scythe glowed bright red again. The energy rose off the blade and wove in between the two combatants. Reiatsu spiked across the clearing, blurring the air. "What did you do!" Paul roared, eyes moving widly in fear.
"I told you. Power has a price." The red energy turned black, and exploded. The shack was demolished by the shock wave. Smoke and dust filled the clearing as the force of the explosion sent Paul flying. His scythe had broken, and returned back to it's sealed form. He slammed into a tree and slid to the ground, dazed and bleeding, the sword still clutched in his hand. As the dust cleared, he saw Justin lying face down in the crater the explosion had created, covered in blood.
Paul chuckled weakly. "Dumbass. He decided to tried to blow me up but ended up killing only himself." He leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh of exhaustion. "But still, that was on hell of an attack. It almost did me in. I don't even have the strength to stand."
"Oh really? That's a shame. Cause I think it's pretty embarrassing to die on your ass." Paul's eyes shot open and he stared in horror at the crater.
Justin was on his feet, limping out of the crater. He was dragging his scythe across the ground, and it was glowing again. As Paul watched, the blood that covered Justin moved across his body and onto the blade. It glowed brighter than it had ever before, making his eyes hurt just looking at it. After it had absorbed all the blood, the glow stayed.
"Batsu is a special, last resort attack. It releases all the blood stored in my scythe as an explosion. You can see the effects yourself. But it's not an attack I normally use. It destroys my shikai, and is pretty dangerous to me as well. But facing someone like you, who copies my abilities, I can use it on your weapon instead." Justin explained, bringing the scythe back like it was a baseball bat.
Paul stared at all of this in horror. "Y-you can't be alive! You were right next to the blade when it exploded! If I can barely walk, how can you still be alive!"
Justin smirked. "Guess I'm just better than you at being me. Jigokunami!" He swung the scythe in a wide arc. With a bang, the glowing blood leapt off the blade and shot forward in a wide energy wave. Paul put his hands up in defense, but it was to late. The attack cut right through him, and about a half-acre of forest behind him. The trees fell, the noise barely above that of the attack itself.
Justin stood there, panting from the blood loss. He dropped his scythe and collapsed on the ground. I'll head after the others. Just as soon as I catch some sleephe thought.
Nick, David and Ace arrived at the end of the tunnel. They hadn't met anyone on the way there, but found another trapdoor. Ace pushed it open with his sword, then climbed out. The others followed. They found themselves in a stone mausoleum. Nick recognized it as one of the few in the town's graveyard. The three of them walked out onto the grass, noticing that it was now nightime.
"Why do they have a tunnel leading to a graveyard?" Nick asked, looking around.
"No idea. This is the first time I went into the shack in the woods." David replied. "I didn't know anything about this tunnel."
As they discussed what to do next, Ace heard a slight noise behind him. Running on instinct, he jumped forward and grabbed his comrades, dragging them to the ground. As he did, a giant stone slab collided with the wall just above them. They all coughed from the dust as the got to their feet, turning to face their attacker.
They found a large, bald man with a neatly trimmed beard standing among the headstones. He wore a black long-sleeve button-up shirt and slacks with polished shoes. He had a roman collar, identifying him as a priest. In his hands was a large open bible, it's pages like parchment and ancient. He spoke with a deep voice. "I take it you three are the miscreants attempting to disrupt our organizations activities?"
Nick was about to draw his swords when Ace stopped him. "Go run with David and try to find the rest of them. I've given up one fight today and I damn sure won't miss this one. Now get going." Nick glanced at his friend, then nodded. Glancing at David to make sure he was following, they made their way towards the gate.
"Stop right there!" The man said, waving his hand. As he did, three headstones rose off the ground and flew towards them. Before they could hit, Ace cut them all down with one swing of his sword. The pieces fell heavily to the ground.
"I thought I said your fight was with me." Ace said, his eyes alight with bloodlust.
Well, that's the end of the chapter and now you all can spend the next week or so excited about another fight. And maybe some more plot. I don't know yet. Remember to read and review. Peace =P.