"Opening Salvo"


"Thanks a lot for the ride!"

Wimps.

Axl kept that thought private as he waved at the escaping yacht. Apparently, it had been a drunk and/or high concept to actually land on the island for these guys. After they had finally managed to get their ship to shore, most of them had forgotten about the tournament all together and instead retreated inside for other vices…or had simply passed out. Axl himself had nodded off during that time, and unfortunately for him was still sound asleep when the sun rose the next day.

Later, as the team came to and the hangovers came on, they seemed to realize their position. Looking out and seeing the island quite uninhabited and mostly overgrown, what resolve that being intoxicated had given them began to erode. The rich perps started to realize that this might not be such a good idea, and were starting to regret even being there. At least, that's what Axl reasoned. He further reasoned that they must have started to go through the boat and see who exactly was all there. No doubt, they ran into a lot of strangers and hooligans. However, they had to have come on him at some point. He wasn't a friend of a friend or even a martial arts fan. He did have a rather long weapon with him in his hands, however, and a pair of blades that he had sharpened since initially obtaining them.

He was asleep at the time, so he wasn't sure if they thought he was a serious fighter who had bummed a ride off of them…or if he was some mass murderer that planned to slice them all up now that they were miles from anyone who could help them. The latter was more likely, seeing as Axl did suddenly have a dream about a few moments of free-falling…before he felt icy water slam into his face and jar him awake. Seconds later, he was soaked in it, but his feet also touched down on solid ground. He snapped to in a few moments, and began to realize where he was. After that, his rattled brain quickly got its bearings. He nearly thought he had taken another bad trip, only he found he was still wearing his clothes. Luckily, his hands had been grasping his kusarigama. Losing that would have been bad.

Now he had dragged himself onto the beach, risen to full height, turned, and waved at those who he had hitchhiked with. Most of them seemed to ignore him. He thought he caught a glimpse of one or two of them flipping him off. At any rate, it didn't matter. They were forgotten. They had gotten him here, and that was all that mattered. With that in mind, he turned and looked to see exactly where he was.

He whistled a little at the sight. If he hadn't know where they were headed, he might not have recognized the place. Most of where he was had long since overgrown. He was on a beach right now, but at one time this had been a built-up ocean-side road. It had washed out since then, leaving a rather spacious beach for him to walk on. He could still see cracked, upheaved pieces of roadwork, crumbling and ancient, piled up in a vague curve shape that had once been the road. Bushes, grass, and roots had grown up since then through much of it. Ahead of him, beyond the road, was the ruins of a town. It hadn't fully regrown yet, but there were numerous trees, some of them pretty old, rising out from the ground and filling the sky. However, this part also had some space on it in which the sky was visible. Everything was so deteriorated or blasted from war that Axl couldn't hope to recognize it. He wasn't even sure if he had ever been to this part of England. If he had hoped for any "terrain advantage", then that would be lost.

Inhaling deeply, he cracked his neck.

"Well…here we go."

With that, the man began to walk up off of the beach to the road.


Three hours later, and Axl had relaxed somewhat. Some of it was due to simply being tired after having walked for so long. Another part of it was due to being rather bummed out. During the first hour, he had kept a careful watch on his surroundings. Due to the ruins and the forests, there were lots of places for an ambush to be concealed. At any time, he expected someone to jump out and attack him. After all, there was no telling now many thugs and fighters were running around on this continent. There were only four days left, after all. Yet despite all of his traveling, he hadn't found any sign of anyone.

Axl had passed through the first town and into a grassland that had once been part of the English countryside. It was sort of nice…except for the fact that the insects still ruled much of this nation. He had been bitten several times on the face. Damn buggers must have not gotten fresh blood in a long time, and they were desperate for a taste. After slapping himself so much that he might as well have been one of the Three Stooges, he came to a larger town. At least, he kind of wandered into one. He wasn't exactly sure. The ruins just seemed to materialize underneath grass and brush around him.

This one was bigger. He had been walking through it for some time, but still hadn't reached the end of it. It wasn't as overgrown with trees as the first place he had been, although it was still rather broken down and vegetated. Axl saw a few half-melted cars that since had flowers growing out of them. Even one of the old double-stacked busses was there. There wasn't anything else of value. Most of the buildings were gutted by fire if they were still standing. Anything that had been expensive or edible or even useful had long since deteriorated.

Axl wasn't even looking around for anyone by the time he started coming to the city square. He was rather thirsty by now, but, just his luck, the fountain in the square was cracked and had long since gone dry. He began to think he should have planned a bit more extensively for this trip. Bringing food and water was something he definitely should have thought of. A GPS might not have been such a bad idea either. Right now, he was essentially wandering aimlessly inland. He should have had a plan to actually find this guy. Instead, he had focused so much on fighting that he hadn't considered anything else. And now that he was here, surrounded by the country that time forgot, without any other human for miles…he began to realize just how ill prepared he had been.

It wasn't just that, though. This was his country. And this was all that was left of it. As he emerged into the square, he once again saw nothing but ruins and rubble all around him. It was still littering the streets, exactly where it had been for a hundred years with no one to pick it up. Five streets all led here to a circle drive, and all of them were warped and broken. A large part of one road had actually been severed, as erosion had cut a deep ravine into it over time. Or perhaps that was some fracture that had grown worse from a Gear attack.

English people were still around. Axl knew. Most of them had moved to their other territories and commonwealths. Why hadn't they ever come back? Why hadn't they ever tried to rebuild this place? Why did they just leave it here to rot like this? He didn't know. All he knew was that this was all that had been left of what he remembered and had been a part of him, and now he knew that in a hundred years, even if he got back to his own time, it was going to be this. All that he had known and trusted would one day be rotting and collecting dust. And it would be in such a short period of time too. This wasn't untold millennia in the future. This was a hundred and fifty years after his first jump. That was how long it took for the world to lose anything that had meant anything to Axl Low.

The thought was rather depressing as Axl passed over the ring of roads and into the main part of the square. He looked again at the broken fountain, and he thought of how thirsty he was. He thought of looking for some old valve he might turn…but he quickly banished the idea. Even if he could get one of those old, rusted pipes to budge, and any water came out, would he really want to drink from stuff that had been sitting in these pipe for a century? His real best bet was to find some clear-looking water in some natural stream and to sterilize it using his own ability…

As Axl stepped forward, something suddenly caught his ear. If it had been anywhere else or any other time, he might not have heard it. But his ears had time to adjust to the sound of silence around him, and anything that broke it set him off. Some stone shifted a couple dozen yards away from him. And based on the sound, it wasn't by accident.

Immediately, Axl snapped around to the source, and held up either end of his kusarigama in a gesture ready to fight.

Standing at a distance from him, about fifty feet, the first sign of life he had seen in hours, was a woman. And on seeing her, Axl felt himself caught a bit off guard. It was a rather lovely woman at that. Smooth, perfect complexion, large blue eyes, and, most of all, the fullest, most gorgeous head of blond hair he had ever seen. He didn't think it was possible for any conditioner to do that. Most of her upper body was concealed under white and blue clothing that seemed as good in warm weather as cold, but her flawless legs were exposed over her large boots.

Yet despite how good she looked, the woman had snapped to him just as he had to her. And, frankly, this woman was so cold-looking that it managed to ease Axl's thirst a bit. Her posture was firm, her hips loose for her to swing out into a blow quickly, and her eyes pierced Axl's body like she was a raptor waiting to pounce on a rabbit. There was one weird thing, however. She seemed to dangle the long, blond ponytail behind her head in front of her, waving it at him. What was she going to do? Smack him with it? It seemed stupid to hold it right in front of your vision…

A moment passed as the two faced off. However, the woman looked him over once, and seemed to conclude something. Axl stood his ground warily, not knowing if he was going to be attacked. Yet in the end, the woman merely let out a snort and stood straight and tall. As if she was bored with him, she murmured something in a thick, foreign language that Axl couldn't understand, and then turned as if he wasn't worth her notice and began to walk again.

Axl raised an eyebrow to this, but straightened and loosened up as well. "You know, I hate it when people talk behind my back in some language I can't understand." He called out to her. For all he knew, she hadn't the foggiest idea what he had said. Yet he didn't want to run into a person on this island without saying so much as a word.

Therefore, he was a bit surprised when the woman turned her head coldly back to him and answered in a full-bodied Russian accent.

"I said, 'Hmm… Just some idiot.'"

Axl frowned a bit and shrugged. "I had to ask."

"If you know what's good for you…" The woman continued. "You'll get off this island now. The one I hunt wouldn't have hesitated to kill you on sight. Whoever you are, you're far out of your league."

Axl simply shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I've got a lot riding on this tournament."

The woman merely sneered, sighed, and then shook her head as she turned away and began to walk around the city block she was at for the next street. "I won't argue with a fool. I have no time. I only hope your bumbling hasn't alerted Zato-1 to my location." She seemed like she forgot completely about Axl, and began to move along.

"Hey! Wait a second!" He called back, taking a few steps toward her.

The woman froze and turned back to him. Damn… Axl thought as her eyes met his again. That look of her's could stop global warming… Maybe what I'm about to say next isn't such a good idea… Yet despite his misgivings, he gave something of a shrug while still holding his sickles in either hand.

"Y'know…this is a tournament. Guy said we only win if we beat all the other fighters. So…shouldn't we mix it up a bit?" He gyrated his arms a bit to accent this notion.

The woman instantly snorted. "Please…" She groused, before turning to leave again. "I wouldn't waste my time humoring you with a defeat…" She began to walk away again, almost to the corner where she could turn and make her way down the road.

She only got a few more feet before the wall in front of her suddenly erupted in a burst of stone and cement. The woman was so shocked at the event that she actually peeled back a bit, gaping at the sight. She held for a moment as the dust in front of her cleared. However, once it did, she immediately saw what had caused it. A sickle was now embedded in the wall, with a long chain hanging from the end of it. She looked at the chain, and trailed it back to where it had come from. Her eyes soon traced all the way back to Axl, seeing him holding his weapon's chain in the same position he had last been in when he threw it at her. His face looked innocent enough with a smile as she looked to him, but his voice wasn't.

"I didn't give you a choice, babe."

If the woman's eyes could have grown any colder, they did when she heard the word, "babe". As her body slowly turned around to face him, her muscle tone seemed to increase as her body went rigid. Her jaw tightened a bit when she fully focused on Axl, and it was all he could do to keep from swallowing.

"Babe?" She asked in the tone of a thousand deadly vipers. Her knuckles cracked once, and then she began to put them in front of herself again. "Alright, little boy…" She answered back. "I'll spare you ten seconds to give you a quick spanking." Her body arched forward, and once more her ponytail was flicked in front of her face.

Axl's grin was plastered on his own mug as he disengaged his chain, yanked it back to himself, and tried to look as cocky as possible. The truth of the matter was he had never seen a woman who looked more capable of ripping out his throat and flossing her teeth with it. He began to think he had made a serious mistake picking a fight with the ice queen. Yet he knew if he showed that now he'd most certainly be dead. So, instead, he pulled his sickle back, and then began to swing it around in circles. Soon, the two were facing off against one another. Tension in the air began to mount as it became clear a fight was imminent.

"I'm not going to kill you, in case you're wondering." Axl said with as much confidence as he could muster. "I never have. I hate the thought."

"I don't know if the name 'Millia Rage' means anything to you, but I've lost count of how many overzealous men I've slaughtered." The woman coldly answered back. "So maybe if you start crying like a little boy, I'll let you run home to your mother."

I'm in deep sh't. Axl thought beneath his mask of confidence…and then made the first blow.

The truth was, he wasn't sure how easy he could afford to go on this woman, and he wouldn't unless he gave her a real test. This next sickle that he flung at her had the broad side out, but it was still going to make for a painful blow if it hit her head, which was exactly where he aimed for. Yet as it sailed toward her, she simply flicked her head to one side, letting the chain sail harmlessly past. At that point, Axl knew he could have tugged it back and embedded the sickle in the back of her head…but he was hesitant. He hadn't ever killed anyone before. He didn't want to start today, even against this 'Millia Rage', or whoever she was. But she was fast, and maybe…

Axl didn't have time to finish that thought. Something freaky happened that caught him completely off guard. To his shock…Millia's hair suddenly lengthened. It wasn't just that, but the rope that had been her ponytail suddenly shot for him as it stretched out, like some sort of whip or snake. Before he could react, the hair lashed around his leg, and then gave a yank. He was too off guard to notice anything else or to brace himself. Before he knew it, his feet were dragged out from under him. Giving a yelp, he fell backward, sprawled out, and collapsed to the ground. His long end of the chain dropped uselessly to the ground as he sprawled out on his back.

Axl closed his eyes for a fraction of a second before opening them again. When he did, he struggled not to gasp. Millia was already on him…and her hair had shortened and solidified, becoming a spike. Now, it was pointed down and right at his throat. She stood over him in what had to be a posture of victory. It had only taken a few seconds, but he was already down.

"Finished already?" She coldly asked him.

Yet in answer, Axl merely flicked one of his wrists. In response, his loose sickle came sailing back and into his grip. He flashed a grin as he quickly slammed both up and in between him and the spike of hair.

"Just firing up."

The moment he said 'firing', the ends of his sickles erupted into balls of flame. The fire immediately lashed out and set on Millia's spike of hair. Although it wasn't the most pleasant smell in the world, her prehensile mane seemed to catch fire easily enough. Her eyes widened at the sight, for it was clear she wasn't expecting him to use fire against her like this, and she drew her hair back. A second later, and part of her hair was breaking itself and shedding before the flames could travel to her scalp.

But that was all he needed. While Millia was still struggling, both of Axl's feet suddenly shot up into the air and caught the woman underneath her chin. His surge of power and speed was surprising. He had a tendency to do that…to fake at a lower level long enough to catch his opponent off guard. Normally, this would have sent a bigger guy down for the count. Millia, however, merely let out the slightest of noises and stepped back a bit. Luckily, Axl was going to follow up. While still on the ground with his feet out, he tucked them in front of himself and made a somersault roll toward the woman. While she was still recovering, he came out of the roll, extended his feet again, and with a little extra "oomph" kicked her with both feet in the chest. Her body was thrown back by the surprising force and knocked into a wall of a ruin. She snapped back off of it and hunched slightly for a moment.

Axl quickly rolled himself the rest of the way forward and snapped back to his feet, both of his blades in his hands and ready for action. Millia was stunned for the briefest moment before looking up to him, icy daggers all the way.

"I think the ten seconds are about up." Axl joked.

Why the hell did I just say that? He told himself a moment later.

It was a good question, for Millia seemed to be really enraged now. Enraged enough to thicken her hair into a club shape and lash it out forward, smacking Axl backward with a blow that felt like granite thrown at the side of his head. He actually felt a bit of blood trickle out of his nose as he sailed back and went to the ground again. Yet now, he didn't act like a limp fish. As soon as he touched down, he sprung up, rolled back, and was on his feet again.

This was good, because Millia was on him again. Now, she was going in for what had to be death. Her ponytail had lengthened and flattened into a blade, and she was stabbing at him with it. Quickly, he brought up his sickles, and deflected the blows as they came in. But they were fast, and he quickly had to run back to avoid them. Even so, he noticed that her hair's "steel" was superior to his. The sickles were getting scratched and dented from fending it off. Not only that, but the ground was littered with rubble. He couldn't afford to back up on it for long before he inevitably tripped. He had to do something…

As Millia shot out her hair for him again, he dodged once more…but this time he reacted too. His arm lashed out with a sickle, and quickly wrapped a length of chain around her hair. Though it could shed itself at will, for the moment he yanked on it longer than Millia wanted. As a result, she let out a small yelp…the result of anyone pulling your hair. He quickly laced his free hand around another length of chain to improve his fist. He still didn't want to kill this woman…but she was too deadly to let run around much longer. He had never fought anyone who used their hair as a weapon…

But before he could drive it forward, Millia surprised him. Her hair didn't shed but lengthened, and she abruptly swung both of her legs upward, one after the other, in a flip kick. Both blows caught…one under the chin and one under the nose. The effect was dazzling. Axl's senses were thrown for a loop, and he began to stagger away as he lost his grip again. The chain stayed around one of his fists, but the other lost her hair.

As soon as he was away, Millia glared at him again. This time, she turned her hair into something new. It suddenly flashed around her and lengthened dramatically, becoming some sort of hair spiral or tornado. It thrashed and spun around her, seeming to form some shield or full-body weapon, and she began to walk forward toward Axl as he continued to stagger and grab his face.

Axl's nose was bleeding for certain now…but he couldn't stop. As Millia approached, he once again threw out a sickle at her. The woman almost smiled as she saw this. When it neared her hair tornado, it simply dinged off of it as if he had thrown it at a cement wall. Once it went to the side, however, she reached out, seeming to move her arm perfectly around through her tornado of hair, seized the end of it, and gripped hard. She yanked back, and soon she had it taut. She obviously planned to reel him in.

However, the Brit had been expecting this. As soon as her hand was on it, he sent another wave of heat through his sickle. Moments later, and Millia's cold gaze was shattered with shock as burning pain went through her hand. Not only that, but she forgot to maintain her hair tornado, and it immediately reverted back into being a single ponytail. This offered a ray of hope. So long as she was off guard…she couldn't use it. She needed time to think.

With that in mind, Axl ran forward, his fist still having the chain wrapped around it, and smashed into Millia's face. He couldn't punch that well with only one hand, but his first blow sent her staggering back. To his surprise, however, although he drew blood as well…she was still standing. He quickly followed up with two more hits, and both sent the woman sprawling back. But she stayed on her feet, and she didn't seem anywhere close to unconscious. If anything…she seemed to be growing angrier between each fist.

When Axl began to see Millia's hair moving on its own again, he realized he had to do something new. It took him a moment, but then he decided on a plan. Abruptly, he jumped back and parted a distance from the dazzled woman. It seemed to work. Her hair temporarily relaxed as she, dazzled and still sore, tried to get her bearings from the attack she had just weathered. However, he had only been getting a bit more room between the two of them. He tossed out the chain on his kusarigama again, and this time lashed it around her legs instead. He yanked back sharply, and the woman gave an exhale of air as her feet were yanked out from under her, sending her falling to the ground. Quickly, he loosened his chain and drew it back to himself, and then wrapped it around his fist again. He shot forward and leapt onto her fallen body, clearly meaning to punch her as he had before.

As Axl drove his fist forward again…he found himself halted. Millia's hair suddenly lashed out and wrapped around his wrist. His arm was immediately stopped, despite the power he had put into the blow. He reacted to this in surprise, but then quickly brought up his other arm. He soon learned something else. Her hair could split in two directions at once, because another strand lashed out and wrapped around his other arm. Now, although he still had his weapon, he couldn't react. Millia pulled her head back up from the ground, glared at him furiously, and then abruptly ripped him off of his feet. Still holding onto him, she raised him into the air, swung him over her own head, and smashed him into the ground behind him, making sure to do so on rocks and debris. Axl soon felt agony throughout his body as he crumpled around it.

No sooner had she finished that, then she gave another yell and yanked him back off of the ground. Now, with all the force she could muster, she flipped him back into the air and over her head, throwing him across the square and right into the ruin wall across from her. Limp, dazzled, and now bleeding quite a bit from his head and lip, Axl didn't react much as his body was flung like a stone in a sling. Even when he saw the other wall coming, he barely managed to yank his arms up to defend himself before he smashed into it. The impact was so strong that his body cracked a bit of the ancient stone before he fell off and to the ground again. He landed with a sickening thud as he let out a large moan.

For a moment, Axl groaned and writhed on the ground. That had to be one of the worst beatings he had ever sustained. Most of his fight was quickly being kicked out of him. This woman was lethal. He couldn't afford to rest for a moment. Though he felt agony through most of his body, and thought some things were split or broken, he forced himself to roll his body up into a squat. The result left him dizzy, and after the punishment he took made him want to throw up. But he managed to look over again to the side.

He realized he had hit one too many nerves, because she wasn't leaving him be. She was standing again and now she was coming for him. He began to wish he had never opened his fat mouth. Already she was crossing half of the square and next to the fountain. Soon she'd be upon him.

Axl tried to think through his mashed senses. What now? Throwing the weapon at her again wouldn't work. She'd be expecting that. Attacking her head on was a sure way to get torn up by that hair. She was probably expecting him to try and trip her at this point too… He could try setting her on fire, but if he did that the hair would just regrow.

Come on…think…

Millia was nearly on him now. She was closing into weapon's range. He looked up to her with a panicked expression, and finally made a move. He yanked one end of his kusarigama back, and then flung it out. It went completely wide, however. Millia looked to it, but the weapon sailed harmlessly past her head by a clean foot and a half. She didn't even have to bother dodging. She turned back to the man a moment later. She didn't smile, but she did throw out a comment.

"Your aim is getting pretty off."

Axl didn't answer. However, unlike Millia…he couldn't help but smile a bit. Only now did the woman seem to realize that his chain may have "missed"…but it was still rigid. In response, her eyes widened as she realized the mistake. Yet it was too late by that point. Axl snapped back on his chain, and a large section of debris was ripped into the air, yanked back, and slammed into the back of Millia's head.

The piece of stone shattered on impact, and the woman finally gave a real cry as she staggered forward. Her hair went limp. However, she was still standing. Axl thought this next move could seriously hurt her, but right now he didn't have a whole lot of room to spare mercy. Quickly, he yanked his sickle back, spun around, and lashed it out to grab an even larger chunk that had fallen off of a ruin wall. Once he had it, he grit his teeth, pulled his muscles taught, and yanked if off of the ground. Like an Olympian doing the hammer throw, he yanked the huge piece of debris around as hard as he could, swung it in a massive arc, and brought it in contact with Millia's face just as her hair began to lift again.

Another painful sounding fracture resulted, splitting the huge rock in two. As for Millia, now it was her turn to be ripped off of her feet and cast backward through the air like so much chaff. She went limp on impact, and continued to be so as she soared over the square a short distance before landing about as roughly as Axl had a moment ago. She went still the second she landed.

Axl hesitated a moment, half expecting her to get up and be angrier than ever. However, she stayed still. He used the moment to get back to his feet and prepare for more action. He dragged the loose chain back into his hands and readied himself. But nothing happened. Millia stayed sprawled out on the ground. He couldn't see her full body due to debris littering the ground, but he could see enough of it to see she wasn't moving at all.

A second later, and Axl went from fearful for his life to nervous about what he had done.

Oh no… Did I just kill the bitch?

Axl hesitated a bit longer, but then began to step his way forward through the rubble. As he slowly approached, he looked down and saw the broken pieces of stone that he had smashed against Millia's head. He didn't know what kept that crazy woman going…but he knew that if he had been smacked upside the head by one of those pieces he'd probably be eating out of a straw for the rest of his life. Well…he had panicked. It wasn't every day that a woman slapped you with her own hair. That was understandable. But still…he hoped he hadn't. Yet if she wasn't dead yet seriously hurt, then what would he do? Aside from knowing nothing of what to do if someone sustained major head trauma, he wasn't sure he wanted to help this woman recover so she could start beating him up again.

As Axl approached, he began to see a bit more around the rubble. He saw a bit more of her legs…some of her white clothing, now dirty from the fight…a bit more of her limbs… He hesitated here a bit longer, but then inched a bit more forward.

Now he could see her face. It was still and blank. Her eyes were closed, and she showed no emotion. He crept forward just a little more, and began to look for her hair. As far as he could tell, it was just as it had been a few seconds ago. It only had the one ponytail, and it was hanging down behind her to the ground. He couldn't see anything more than that, because she was hung partially over some debris…

Yet as he stared on…he became conscious of hearing a sound. It was very faint. At first, he thought it was coming from Millia. But he couldn't hear it coming in that direction. It was getting closer…and louder. It sounded almost like…digging. As he paused again, and tried to listen more closely to this noise to figure out where it was coming from…it suddenly hit him.

Damn…do I feel like a jackass…

That was all Axl was able to think before the pavement and rubble directly underneath him exploded, and a long, thick lock of Millia's hair shot straight up and smashed him under the chin. His face was jerked up painfully as he felt his teeth loosen. It felt like a brick had been thrown at his head. His vision went starry as he reeled back, flailing out loosely and completely dazzled.

The hair itself quickly retracted, as Millia's eyes opened. Her face immediately tightened into a cold, angry expression again, as her hair sprung out of the ground, where it had been tunneling its way under, and splayed itself out behind her head. Like a fifth arm, it pushed her up and set her back on her feet. The moment she was there, she began to walk toward the stunned Axl once again. Her face had not lost any of its deadly edge.

Again, her hair flicked out. Within the span of one second, it had hit Axl four times. Two blows were given to the body, hard and punishing, and causing him to hunch over and gasp. Two more went to the head afterward, each one smacking his head violently to either side. Each hit forced Axl to stagger back, and he offered little to no resistance. He was too dazzled. Blood was now freely flowing from his nose and mouth. He couldn't even get enough of his bearings to raise his weapon again.

After this, however, Millia had enough. She paused in her walking forward, and drew her hair back for the briefest instant. After gazing at her bloody opponent for a moment, she grit her teeth and let out a small yell as she swung her head around. When she did, her hair lengthened to seven feet, condensed to the density of a steel mace, and then smashed into Axl's body with all her might.

The man was ripped off of his feet and flung backward. Yet Axl could barely sense this. The world around him immediately went from stars to black…


Millia watched as the stranger slumped over and let his arms and legs flail behind him as he was carried through the air. Somehow, likely by instinct, he was holding onto his weapon…but the chain fluttered out behind him like some tail of a strange kite. His body had gone as still and lifeless as she had pretended to be a moment ago. Moments later, and his body began to descend again…straight toward the monstrous ravine. An instant more, and his body was vanishing over the edge and on its way to falling toward certain oblivion.

Only when he vanished and the square became still and quiet did Millia begin to pant. One of her gloves wiped the blood away from her nose, and she winced from the large bruise forming on her forehead. Now that she was relaxed, she began to grow a little dizzy as well. If she had been any other regular woman, she'd probably be unconscious. If she was sensible, she'd probably try to get back to her boat and get to a hospital. She had barely managed to stiffen her hair into a helmet in time, and she might still have a concussion. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't any other woman or sensible. She was an assassin…and you had to live through these things.

And as an assassin…you had to make sure your target was dead.

With that in mind, Millia waited only until she managed to gain her bearings before she started to walk over to the ravine herself. She kept her ponytail in front of her, but her senses were still dazzled. She had taken a much worse beating than she wanted. It was her own fault, she knew. She thought she'd hold back at first to teach the fool a lesson. It didn't occur to her that he'd be rather deadly himself. Trying to spare my life, my ass… She thought as she remembered being punched in the jaw by his chain-covered fist. She could have just snapped his neck and called it a day. But instead she wanted to fight…and she had paid a price for it. That settled it for her. She'd avoid as many fighters as she could in the future. She didn't need to get beaten to a pulp before she even met Zato-1…

The woman reached the edge of the ravine. Once there, she hesitated a moment. He could have played possum as well, and been hiding just over the edge, ready to set her on fire again. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened. She took a moment to steady herself first and think of a counter move. Then, after taking in a deep breath, she turned her upper body over the edge and looked down. Her hair splayed around her and immediately formed four dozen spikes, turning her into a humanoid porcupine.

Yet there was nothing to defend against. Only silence and a bit of a cool breeze from the underground darkness greeted her. He wasn't immediately within striking range if he was still alive. However, she couldn't see him or his body either. She had been fighting in daylight too much, and her eyes weren't adjusted to darkness. All she could see was a black oblivion. This ravine was no joke, though. It had to be at least a hundred feet deep. If he had fallen to the bottom, he had to be seriously hurt or dead… But if she didn't see him, then it proved nothing…

In the end, she sighed and forgot about it. Her hair retracted and became a ponytail again. She hadn't the time for this. She needed to get on the move again. She knew full well that Zato-1 had to be hunting her just as she was hunting him. She couldn't let him get the advantage. Her face was sore and swelling, and she was still dizzy. She needed to get away from here, find a place to rest, and take it easy for a few hours. After that, she could resume the true game on this island.

If you're still alive down there… Millia thought aloud as she turned and began to walk away, as if some psychic link enabled her to talk to him even when he wasn't there.


Axl made a noise about twenty minutes later that could have been a groan, but sounded more like just his vocal cords struggling to make any noise whatsoever. It was only at that point that he thought of doing anything other than trying to let his body heal up from the severe beating he had just gotten.

Axl had indeed been lifeless and senseless when he went over the side of the ravine. But one of the little tricks he had taught himself over the years was how to keep his hand locked around an object even when he went out cold. He supposed that's what some dead people learned, what when they died and were found still clutching onto something hard. At any rate, such was the case with his kusarigama. After that, he had to owe it all to his luck. Somehow after he had toppled over the side, his arm had gone out with the scythe and dug itself into the wall, stopping his descent. After that he came too, but for a long time was only able to sense himself dangling, and told his hand to keep holding on no matter what.

Now that he blinked and began to open his eyes, he saw little. He could barely see his own body in the darkness he was now shrouded in. However, he could sense his position. He was frozen in his last movement. He was still dangling by one arm and a scythe. He looked around a bit more, and felt a feeling of closeness and dampness. He could hear dripping. He reached out with his other hand and felt slime-covered rock. He frowned a bit at this, and looked around a bit further. In the end, he looked overhead.

There was light up there. It was a bit pale from some clouds that had rolled in over the area, but there was still light. It formed a very long crack, like some cosmic rip in space exposing atmosphere. After a moment longer, he realized what had happened. That Millia woman had knocked him into the ravine. Considering how high up the light was, he realized he must have fallen quite a ways before he stopped himself. It looked easily over two hundred feet above him. A bit puzzled, he reached up with his other hand again, and tried to feel out to his opposite side. After dangling a bit, he touched another slimy rock wall. The fissure was growing smaller this far down…but he still had no idea how deep it had to go. He could be a foot from the bottom or five hundred feet above oblivion.

Well… He thought to himself as he hung in his situation. My arm's getting tired. I better start heading up while I still can…

Much as he hated the feel, and especially hated how it was wet down here, Axl reached out and began to feel over the wall for a handhold. He let his feet come forward and start scraping along the wall for one as well. Luckily for him, this area was by no means sheer, but was rather rocky. It was a miracle he hadn't been torn up on the way down. Soon he found areas for him to hook his other sickle and his feet. It was slick, but luckily his scythes could act as anchors. They'd need a severe resharpening after this…but oh well.

Very slowly, Axl began to climb his way up. Only a few minutes into it, he realized this was going to be an ordeal. It was a very long way to go, and though the surface wasn't sheer it was rather vertical. It was going to be hours. And frankly he was already tired from having no food and having his ass gift wrapped and handed back to him. There was a distinct possibility he could lose his strength before hitting the top and still die. However, Axl Low, above all things, was a survivor. He hadn't braved one era after another to let some damn slimy rock stop him. And so, he continued to move.

Axl was about halfway up when he began to notice that the wall was getting drier. He must have been getting into the regions that actually saw sunlight part of the day. Once he was here, he felt around for a moment to try and see if there was a dry ledge he could perch on. Luckily, he found one without too much trouble. He lessened some of the weight off of his sickles and let his body rest partially on it. He had to test it for weight first, but on finding it held he relaxed. The man let out a sigh.

The Brit cracked his neck once or twice, because it was getting rather stiff in the shaft, but then he looked up and overhead. He wanted to take a look at the sky and see how far he had to go yet.

On looking up, however…he paused.

Someone was looking back down at him.

Axl supposed later that his first instinct should have been to call up to the man and yell for help. After all, lowering any piece of rope or cable would make his journey a lot easier, especially if another person's weight and strength was helping to lift him.

Axl stayed silent, however. Looking up at the person, he got wind of something he didn't like. He couldn't really describe it, but there was something about the presence that was now overhead that made him uncomfortable. Somehow, seeing that person overhead made him feel as uneasy as he had felt around that Millia woman. Maybe even more so…

Truth be told, there was no way for him to tell whether or not the figure was Millia. He couldn't see much. All he could see was a dark silhouette of a humanoid head. The sun had caused it to become a shadow from Axl's point of view, and he couldn't make out anything else. He couldn't even see the shape of the head. Some sort of hood had been drawn over the top of it. In fact, there was really no proof that this was someone at all and not just some loose piece of junk that was hanging over the side. At least, there wasn't initially…before Axl saw it move.

The hood was turning slowly, indicating that whatever set of eyes was under it was scanning the ravine. It didn't take a genius to deduce that whoever it was was looking for him. He certainly hadn't noticed anyone watching his fight with "Cousin Itt" while he was in the midst of trying to survive her assault, but it was entirely possible. And there'd be no other reason to duck your head into a ravine other than you saw something you wanted had fallen into it. Here, Axl could have deduced that this person might be trying to help, trying to see if he was still alive…

Somehow, though, he knew that wasn't true. For one thing, the person should have been yelling down for him. Even if he couldn't see him (which he found himself wishing more and more that he couldn't), he should have been able to hear him if he was conscious. This person was looking for him, but he had a feeling that he or she didn't want him to know that he or she was looking for him. As time went on, and the person continued to gaze down into the crevice, Axl began to wonder if the person could, in fact, see him. He had crawled up a lot of the way, and he might be in the range for sunlight to hit. Or the guy could actually be staring in the darkness and waiting for his or her own eyes to adapt. On this note, he found himself pressing himself more against the rock and trying to stay still.

Time ticked by a bit longer, with Axl staring up at that black hood and hoping it wasn't staring back at him. Yet as he did that, it finally hit him. He had seen this figure before. He remembered seeing it on that news broadcast. This person had to be the host of the tournament. That would explain why he or she didn't want Axl to know he or she was there if he or she was looking for him. The host didn't want anyone to catch him or her so easily. On realizing that, a crazy impulse went through him. Stay quiet…but crawl up. Catch the person off guard. Meet with the host. After all, the person had said all you had to do was find him or her, right? He'd win. Then he could get his wish. He'd be able to settle right now whether or not he could get back to Megumi through this tournament, and he could already call it a day one way or another before he even got too far to remember the way back to shore.

However…his body, and perhaps his subconsciousness, wasn't buying it. Whoever this figure was, he suddenly felt as if the host had nothing good planned for him. This wasn't a person looking for a survivor. This was someone looking for a body (one way or another), and for who knew what purpose. Perhaps it was only a boyish, childish fear…but he had a feeling that if he dragged himself out while the figure could still see him that he would be throwing himself before some hungry lion. His basic instincts, which had never let him down, told him to stay quiet and stay in this crevice. After a few moments longer, he managed to rationalize this fear. Perhaps the host himself or herself was competing? If so, then he was in no shape to fight. He had to heal up first. He could always tail the figure…

At last, the hood lifted up. On seeing it rise, Axl realized that the person hadn't just been looking down. The person had been crouched next to the crevice. Yet soon after, the person turned away. From this far down, and in such a closed space, Axl could only hear his own breath and slight movements. He didn't hear any footsteps. Yet the moment that the person was gone, he felt a bit less afraid. His inner feeling of dread and terror disappeared. He almost hated himself for letting the host go just like that. However, part of his inner psyche reassured him. There had been a danger there. No question about it. He was wise to have lain low.

Yet now that the figure was gone, Axl immediately went to work again. He did so even faster than before, now that he was rested up. Soon, he was scaling the wall like a rock climbing pro. He had to. Axl wasn't a tracker. He couldn't hope to catch this guy if he got too far. He was a bit surprised at his own progress. It only took about four minutes before he was bathed in sunlight again, and feeling the breeze from the world outside nearby. After crawling up a bit more, he managed to put his scythes over the edge and hook them onto the crevice edge. He left them there, and with a bit of a grunt shifted his other hands out and grabbed the edges as fast as he could. Once he was there, he began to pull himself over the top. His head was exposed first, and so he looked out.

He frowned soon after.

Nothing.

Mumbling to himself about being scared like a little wanker, he dragged his body over the rest of the edge. He nearly sprawled himself out on the ground when he did so, going flat against it. When he did, he realized just how hard he was panting. He also realized how sore and tired he was. He needed to take a momentary break. He turned his head on its side and rested for a moment.

That's where he saw it.

Actually, to be more appropriate, this was where he didn't see it. What he did see was that the ground was fine sand and gravel in this part of the ruins. It seemed to run all up and along the crevice for quite a distance. What he could see distinctly were a set of boots that were definitely in woman's sizes. He realized this had belonged to Millia. After he had fallen into the pit, she must have come over and looked to see if he was truly gone, before pacing a bit and then turning to leave.

But the other had left no tracks.

Axl looked a bit puzzled. He lifted his head up, and looked to his other side. Nothing there either. And even if he had sprawled out on top of them and messed them up, he should have seen it in front of him. In either case, there was nothing. Not a single track. He was sure he was on the same side where the person had been. Yet nothing.

Axl blinked at this. Had he imagined the whole thing? Why not? He had been feeling more scared than he usually did. He didn't know why… Maybe it was that darkness and the abyss. Maybe it was the slimy wall or the beating he had just gotten. He could have just imagined that some dark wraith of a figure was looking at him and wanting to gobble him up as soon as he left his protective shadow. Maybe it had just all been a hallucination of some sort… Millia must have hit him harder than he thought…

At any rate, Axl didn't feel too good at the moment. He had to find some place to recover. After that, he was through picking fights with people on this island. He couldn't take too many beatings like this. He was just going to find this guy himself, wherever he or she was, and find out if he or she was for real. If nothing else, he could probably get a boat ride back to shore once this was done if he nabbed the host.

With that in mind, and pushing the thought of a hooded monster watching to see if he still lived out of his mind, he began to stagger back to his feet.


To be continued...

NEXT CHAPTER: Corrupted Flame...