Chapter 10: Duel in the night.
Authors note.
JFW: HELLOOOO EVERYONE!! WELCOME TO CHAPTER TEN OF (Gets rock thrown at head.) Ow! Son of a bitch, you could have just told me to pipe down. Tatsumi's not here again since he's currently fighting for his life. Anyway, we've reached double digits, woohoo! Although, I'm probably the only one who's taken ten chapters for the events of three episodes, yay... Anyway because of this, I would like to ask a question. How have I been so far with this story? Good, great, decent, alright, could be better? Just tell me, I don't mind. In fact, I love reading comments. If there is something you see as a recurring problem, go ahead and point it out, I need to know, since I want to improve. Anyway, review response time, yay!
Review responses.
Dr. Gale.
JFW: Well, you were the one that gave me the idea. Anyway, all I did was imitate the anime scene, I really don't deserve the praise.
Jay K.
JFW: GAH, MY EARS!! THEY ACHE LIKE AN ANIME FAN'S HEART ON PROM NIGHT!! ANYWAY, I AGREE, MINE AND TATSUMI'S RELATIONSHIP COULD'VE BEEN HANDLED BETTER! SOMETHING LIKE KUROME AND WAVE'S RELATIONSHIP!! WHAT?!! I'M STILL YELLING!!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!
Ultimate Kugga.
JFW: Ultimate kick? Come on, Mark, everyone knows Falcon Punches are better.
NinjaFang1331.
JFW: Thanks, man.
Review responses, end.
JFW: Shout out to blazeblue empire for the inspiration on Shouzu. I know it isn't the same as the scarlet bow, but I hope you don't mind. I do however, have a teigu extremely similar to your bow idea. It just isn't a bow. So, did anyone see Nintendo's Pokemon live stream? I did and...I honestly don't know how to feel about it. Anyway, I think the recorder is going to work a lot better than last time. Oh, I almost forgot my fight scene music recommendation! I think Rasetsu Yonki from the AGK anime OST would suit this well. Okay, now we can get the disclaimer out of the way. (Activates recorder.)
Recorder (JFW): Baby, baby, baby, oh~!
JFW: IGNORE THAT!! IGNORE THAT!! IG-FUCKING-NORE THAT!! (Starts pressing buttons.)
Recorder (Tatsumi): Nothing! Just giving the disclaimer, is all. Anyway, JFW doesn't own Akame Ga Kill. All rights reserved to Square Enix, Gangan Joker, etc.
JFW:...Not a word...
Location: Night Raid HQ.
Time: 09:00pm.
"Whew, this was a fun day, huh guys?" Asked Leone as sauntered into the living room with a big smile on her face with Ieyasu and Sayo in tow.
"Yeah, fun..." Ieyasu muttered as he set himself down one of the couches. Sayo just collapsed on the other one, lying face down on it. They had spent all day since breakfast going up and down the capital killing corrupted officials and other sorts of scumbags nonstop and the exhaustion was getting to them.
"I'm so tired..." Said Sayo, her voice being muffled by the couch cusions.
"Well, whatcha think of watching a badass assassin at work?" Asked Leone.
Sayo turned her face so she could give Leone a glare. "If by badass assassin, you mean complete dumbass who goes in head first into a situation without a plan when there were CLEARLY better ways to approach it, then I have to say it might need a little bit of improvement." She said before placing her face back in the cushions.
"Well, sometimes things don't go as planned, so you gotta learn how think on your feet." Said Leone. "That's what I was trying to teach 'ya."
"That's a bullshit lie to cover up the fact you're reckless." Said Sayo. "I should know. I grew up with him." She said as she pointed to Ieyasu.
"Normally I would argue..." He said before he yawned. "But I'm too tired."
"Come on, don't tell me it wasn't fun kicking ass and taking names." Said Leone.
"It would have been better if you tried using your brain. Some of our targets almost got away because you would head in guns blazing, giving them the opportunity to escape while we dealt with their guards."
Before Leone could get another word out, a mechanical fist punched her hard in the head and she fell to the ground disoriented.
"Don't even try to excuse yourself! I've told you many times to keep yourself under control on missions, yet you still use your fists more than your damn head." Scolded Najenda who had walked in and heard their conversation.
Ieyasu, deciding that he should turn in for the night, got up from the couch and bid the women good night. He wasn't sure if they heard him as Najenda was busy lecturing Leone about her habits and although he couldn't see her face, he was pretty sure Sayo fell asleep on the couch.
He couldn't exactly blame her. They pretty much spent all day fighting for their lives and Leone would sometimes just blindly charge right in and make things harder. He wasn't exactly a master strategist. Hell, he liked a good challenging fight and would often leave the planning to his friends. But even he could see the values of planning things out, something Leone didn't seem to understand. There was one instance where they were spying on a noble in his mansion from afar and he was surrounded by his bodyguards. Now, normally one would wait until he was all alone or just try to snipe him from afar. Leone wasn't such a person, as she demonstrated by dashing from the spot they were hidden in and smashing through the window, alerting the guards that were guarding their target and other guards that were somewhere else in the mansion. Thankfully no one got hurt. On their team, anyway. The target and guards were all either impaled, chopped up, or beaten to death.
At least he was able to see Leone in action. He had to admit, she was a real badass in a fight. She even had a weird power to transform, similar to Tatsumi and Bulat. Unlike them, however, instead of armor, it gave her animalistic traits.
As Ieyasu walked in the empty hallway, his mind wandered to his other best friend. 'I wonder if Tatsumi had an easier time today.'
(Scene break.)
"Shit!" Tatsumi cursed as he narrowly avoided another one of Hunter's arrows. The damn things sure packed a hell of a punch, something he learned during the fight as they tore through trees with ease.
"Come on, is that all 'ya got?" Taunted Hunter. Soon after he said that, he had to move out of the way as Mine attempted to riddle him with holes.
"Don't forget I'm here." Said the sniper as she fired a few more rounds. The archer rolled out of the way of the shots before firing another golden arrow. Mine dodged it just in time, but was left open when Zane dashed towards her and prepared to strike.
"You're going straight to the Minister, little girl!"
Mine couldn't dodge the strike nor could she get a shot at him, so she prepared herself for the blow. She didn't have to however, as Tatsumi immediately moved in front of Mine and threw a punch at the blonde with enough strength to kill. Zane managed to jump backwards before Tatsumi made contact, but he could still feel the wind hit his face from the sheer amount force carried.
Tatsumi then created an energy sphere and tossed it at him, but Hunter shot it down before it could hit, causing an explosion when the projectile made contact.
"Whew, not a bad shot if I do say so myself." Bragged Hunter as he rubbed the bottom of his nose with his thumb cockily.
"I've seen better." Said Mine as she and Tatsumi started firing energy bullets and spheres respectively at him.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Cursed Hunter as he evaded the projectiles as best as he could, narrowly avoiding any fatal hits. Suddenly, the string on Shouzu changed from golden to white. "Eat this!" He said as he created a white energy arrow and let it loose.
At first, they didn't think it would be as dangerous as the golden arrow since it wasn't moving as fast. But halfway before it reached its targets, it split into four separate arrows.
"I got this." Said Tatsumi said as he got in front of Mine and created a barrier, but the arrows then maneuvered past him. "What the hell?" He didn't have much time to marvel at this since they headed straight for Mine. He used his great speed to get in front of her and blocked the arrows with his back. Normally this would be as stupid as it was selfless, but Dralux was built to take as much punishment as it could dish it out, so the arrows harmlessly bounced off his armor.
"Damn, they're more skilled than we anticipated." Said Mine as she fired at the archer.
"I could use some help here!" Said Hunter as he glared at Zane while dodging the sniper's attack.
"What do you want me to do? That guy has an armor teigu!" Zane excused.
"Didn't you once punch a brick wall hard enough to put a hole through it?"
"One, that hurt like hell. Two, that thing is harder than a brick wall. Three, he can kill me with one punch!"
Before Hunter could open his mouth, Tatsumi was right in front of him with his sword in hand. He quickly raised Shouzu and blocked the downward swing before it could bisect him. "Don't you know it's not smart to chat in a fight." He said as he started applying pressure and began bringing Hunter to his knees.
"You're one to talk." He said as he tilted the angle he held his teigu, causing Tatsumi's sword slide off the blade. "Going against the Empire." He spun around and slashed at Tatsumi's arm, but Dralux protected him and showed no signs of damage. "And thinking you have a chance!" He leaped away from a swing and fired one of his golden arrows and it slammed straight into Tatsumi's chest.
Tatsumi grunted as he was sent back a few feet from the arrow and roughly hit the ground. 'Those damn things pack high speed and power.' Tatsumi thought as he sprang to his feet. 'White can split up, maneuver and home in on targets.' Tatsumi and Mine shot down the white arrows that Hunter fired. 'What's next, poison cloud arrows? Explosive arrows? Invisible arrows?' Tatsumi then had the side of his head kicked by Zane.
After some quick inward cursing from the pain of kicking that damn helmet, he quickly tried lunge at Mine, but Tatsumi grabbed him by the back of his clothing and threw him at one of the trees. Mine took the chance and fired one of her energy beams, but the blonde got out of the way. However, he wasn't unscathed.
"Fuck." He hissed in pain as the beam grazed his shoulder.
Hunter then fired his white arrows and the assassins were forced to shoot them down. One of the arrows managed to slip past the counter fire and raced towards Mine.
Mine leaned her head back and avoided it sci-fi movie style, but the arrow did a midair loop and Mine sidestepped it as it hit the ground. She then brought up Pumpkin to block Zane's punch and sweeped her leg and he fell to the ground. "Gotcha now." Said Mine as she took aim at him.
"That's what you think." He said as he kicked the barrel upwards just as she fired. He then rolled out of the way as Tatsumi thrusted his sword where he was before. Zane immediately got to his feet and leaned his body to the side to avoid a diagonal slash and then ducking under a horizontal one. He then retaliated with a drop kick to Tatsumi's chest and created some distance between them as he pushed himself off the boy. However, the assassin pursued him and aimed a sword thrust for his heart, but he evaded it and Tatsumi's blade met wood instead of skin.
Hunter noticed Zane's predicament, so he decided to help. The string once again changed colors, this time becoming purple and then creating an arrow of the same color before firing it, letting the projectile embedded itself near Tatsumi's feet.
"Oh, great, what-" He was cut short when the arrow suddenly exploded and left him lying in a smoking crater. The trees that were close to the arrow when it detonated were left completely decimated.
"Tatsumi!" Mine turned to the red haired man with a glare and fired an energy blast at him.
He grinned as his string turned gold before firing an energy arrow and the two attacks collided. Mine's blast was stronger however, and it easily destroyed the arrow.
"Whoa!" Hunter jumped out of the way to avoid it. He could feel the the heat from the beam as it passed by him and it through the trees behind him. 'Is it me, or was that one way stronger than before?' He thought to himself as he scrambled out of the way of the falling tree.
Mine then began shooting rapid fire shots at Zane, forcing him to move away from her to avoid them. A few managed to graze his body and he winced in pain. "Tatsumi, are you alright?" She asked as she ran over to her partner, who was getting to his feet.
"Yeah, just a little woozy from that last hit." He groaned as he rubbed his head. "Huh, explosive arrows. Literally my second guess." He then quickly grabbed Mine and jumped out of the way just as another purple arrow landed near them and it exploded after a few seconds. "We need to take the archer out, now. He's the real the problem." He said as he fired a blue sphere before following up with an arc. The sphere collided with a golden arrow, exploding on contact and Hunter dodged the arc.
"Well, how do we do that?" She asked as he fired some rounds at the archer, but he evaded each one. "He's way too nimble and It's not like we can politely ask him to stay still and die."
"If I get close enough, I can probably provide you an opening." Tatsumi turned to his partner and asked. "Think your sniper skills are up for it?"
"Heh, I told you I'm a genius, didn't I?" She replied with a smirk
Tatsumi nodded and said "Keep blondie busy for a bit." Before speeding towards Hunter with incredible speed, dodging the golden arrows coming his way before thrusting his sword forward in order to impale the man. Hunter flipped over him and slashed at his back. However, Dralux took the hit and held on strong.
"Fucking hell, why won't it break?" He cursed.
"Dralux has taken far worse punishment for centuries." Tatsumi said as he swung his sword, only for Hunter to leap away from him. The archer fired another golden arrow, but Tatsumi blocked it with his barrier. He then dashed forward and started rushing Hunter with a barrage of slashes and thrusts, but they were either parried or evaded. "There's no way in hell you're gonna break it that easily."
"Wanna bet?" Hunter asked as he fired a purple arrow at the ground. As the arrow emanated a pulsing magenta light, the two teigu wielders quickly moved away from the arrow following a violent explosion. From the smoke, a golden arrow shot through it and headed towards Tatsumi, but was blocked by his barrier. Once the smoke started dissipating, Tatsumi could see the pissed off archer gritting his teeth.
"Son of a bitch, die already!" The string of Shouzu turned white before he fired an arrow. Just as you expect, it split up into four separate arrows and raced towards Tatsumi. However, Tatsumi leaped over them before dashing towards Hunter. The arrows then made a u-turn before pursuing Tatsumi. The assasin swung his sword, but the guard blocked it with his teigu before they moved out of the way as the arrows shot past them and embedded themselves in a tree.
Tatsumi then swung his sword, sending a horizontal arc straight for Hunter. The red head leaped over it before jumping backwards as Tatsumi slammed his fist down where he was before and cracked the floor beneath him. He pulled back his string to fire a golden arrow and Tatsumi in response created a blue energy sphere. There wasn't much space between them, so when their attacks collided, it created an explosion and sent them flying in separate directions.
Hunter painfully crashed into a tree, dropping Shouzu and rebounding off it before hitting the ground. The red head groaned as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Mine, now!" Tatsumi yelled.
Hunter's eyes widened before he turned to look at the sniper pointing Pumpkin straight at him. He quickly looked around for his teigu and spotted it laying near the tree he hit earlier.
"Lights out." Said the sniper as her teigu charged up.
"Like hell I'll let you!" Said Zane as he lunged at Mine from behind at full speed. Before he could reach her, however, Tatsumi rammed his sword through his back and out his chest.
'Guess he's not as useless as I thought he was.' Mine thought to herself as she shot a beam of energy towards Hunter.
The guard lunged for his teigu, grabbing it and rolling on the ground for a bit before taking aim at Mine. But he was too slow so the beam blew his head clean off, the heat from the beam cauterizing the wound.
"How's THAT for second best sniper?" Mine mused to herself.
Tatsumi removed his weapon from Zane's body and let him fall to the floor on his hands and knees. As his blood left his body from the holes in his chest and back, he turned his head to glare at Tatsumi. "You... You bastards are gonna pay dearly for... For assassinating a member of the Minister's... Own family..." He strained to say.
Tatsumi looked indifferent as he raised his blade. "Does it look like I give a fuck?" He said as he decapitated him. After that, he walked over to the sniper. "You're pretty good. I'm impressed." He said.
"You're not so bad yourself. I suppose I have to acknowledge you as something more than just a newbie now." She said before adding. "But you still have ways to go before I'll even consider you an equal."
Tatsumi just sighed before he outstretched his metal encased hand and placed it on Mine's head.
"What are you-"
"It's an ability Dralux has. It transfers some of my energy to someone else, giving them a boost." He explained as Mine was enveloped in a gentle blue light. The fatigue in her body left her and she felt energized by Tatsumi's teigu. "I figured you might need it a little since that fight was pretty intense."
Once he removed his hand from her head, the sniper turned her head away from him with a pout. "I didn't need it. I felt fine." A faint blush then dusted across her face. "But thanks anyway."
"No problem." He said as his armor disappeared. "You definitely earn title of second best sniper."
Meanwhile, the rest of the team were running as fast as they could to the meeting point. They killed the guards that fell for their trap, but noticed that they were two guards short. It didn't take long for them to realize that they sneaked past them and went straight after Mine for revenge.
"Don't worry, guys! The cavalry is here!" Said Bulat as he rushed out of the woods and straight into the clearing, followed by the rest of the team. "Leave the rest to..." The armored man trailed off as they saw the headless corpses and a laughing Tatsumi being chased by an angry Mine.
"You're all a bit late for that." Said Tatsumi.
"I DARE YOU TO CALL ME THAT AGAIN!! COME ON, I DARE YOU!!" Yelled Mine in pursuit of the brunette.
"Looks like they had everything under control." Said Lubbock.
"Yeah." Agreed Akame with a small smile.
"Should we stop Mine?" Asked Sheele as she watched the pissed off sniper chase Tatsumi.
Lubbock and Bulat turned to each other and through some unspoken conversation, they both replied with a simultaneous "Nah" since they'd rather not get on Mine's bad side.
(Scene break.)
Deep within the Imperial Capital, a lone figure stood in a alleyway devoid of any other human beings. Posted on the wall in front of him were wanted posters of the identified members of Night Raid.
"So, there are fellow imperial arms users. Killers no less." He said before his mouth contorted into a large, psychotic smile. "How utterly delightful! I must get my hands on them."
As he mused to himself, he almost didn't notice the pair of guards that spotted him.
"Hey, you over there! What are you doing back here?"
"Don't move or we'll use lethal force!"
When the man turned his head to face the guards, the two of them could practically see the insanity within his blue eyes. Another thing to note was the green eye-shaped headpiece resting on his forehead.
The guards suddenly felt a sharp pain around their necks, but only for a moment as the world around them faded into darkness.
As the decapitated guards fell to the ground, their murderer walked out of the alleyway giggling to himself like the demented monster he is. "I think the Imperial Capital is going to be the perfect place to call my new home. It's so crowded, there's a new victim around every corner. Hehehe..."
"How utterly delightful!"
To be continued.