Chapter 25: Handguns, Hamburgers, and Hostages
Jay P.O.V., 4 days, 3 hours, 30 minutes following "Broken Promises"; 10:30 A.M.
Stepping foot onto Senpou Temple, Jay had expected to see Zane, healthy and smiling, ready to come home.
Instead, he was greeted by monks, all bowing respectfully, but keeping a safe distance. As one gestured to follow them, Jay beckoned Kai along with him, dutifully pushing his wheelchair along once he got close enough. Once led to a large mahogany wall, he pushed against the wood, opening the false wall.
Before him, was the white ninja, sitting on a bed, back towards him. His hair was disheveled, gashes across his bare torso. Turning around, he saw the blue and red ninja, quickly rushing to find a shirt in an attempt to conceal the scars he had acquired.
Zane damn near popped out of his body, shocked to see his brothers. "Jay! I did not expect you to arrive so soon!"
While Jay had expected a few scratches here and there, he was astonished by the amount of angry marks there were littered across the nindroid's back and arms. "Wh–what happened to you?" He gestured, or rather flailed his arms, towards the mess of soon-to-be scars in his back.
The nindroid's gaze fell downward. "I was. . . pursued, by an unknown assailant. After the crash, the man that was supposed to capture me repaired me instead, but he, he paid the price for his kindness. An assassin killed him, then pursued me until daybreak, where I had found a small village.
The people there treated me kindly, but when I saw the man lurking near again, I was forced to leave. Then I was forced to repeat the cycle over and over, until eventually he stopped following me. I do not remember much of what had happened after, however the next thing I remember was here, in the Senpou Temple."
As he finished his story, Jay couldn't help but surge forward, enveloping his brother in a tight hug. "I am so sorry for not doing more. I could've done something, anything, but instead I just stood there!"
Taken aback by the sudden act, Zane stood stock still for a moment, before gently patting the blue ninja's back. "Do not feel so bad, Jay, there was not much you could have done without putting yourself or others at risk; I harbor no ill feelings toward you, and I never will."
Smiling as he pulled away, Jay glanced towards the white and red ninja. "Say, you guys wanna go to that new burger place? I heard it's pretty good!"
Shrugging, both seemed quite indifferent, which was a yes in Jay's book, making him grin even wider. "Great, let's get going then!"
As he bounded off, Kai turned to Zane, pulling him to down for a hug. "We missed you. I missed you. Thank FSM you're back," he mumbled.
Having leant down to reach the fire elemental, Zane opted to kneel, putting him in a position in which he was eye level with Kai. "I missed all of you as well. Now let me see your legs; they arehealing I assume?"
Stifling a laugh, Kai nodded. "Yeah, 'course it's healing. Nya made sure that everyone was to be tended to after you got pitched off the Bounty."
Smiling lightly, Zane nodded, already beginning to wheel Kai out as he got up. Slowly walking through long corridors, Kai realized that this was the first time in which he had felt peace, real peace, like a wave of calm serenity washing over him, since Zane had first been captured. Both enjoying the quiet peace, they braced the selves for Jay, whose giddy exuberance was sure to wear them down, the promise of lunch as their only respite from the blue ninja's hyperactivity.
Enatsu P.O.V., 4 days, 4 hours following "Broken Promises"; 11:00 A.M.
Waking up next to Yumiko was usually comforting, like a warm blanket, but today, no, the last few days, he had felt nothing, just a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had deduced it to a common cold, maybe something slightly worse, but nothing that should keep him bed-ridden. Yumiko had agreed, allowing him to roam. However, the more time he spent in his waking hours, the more agitated he had become, especially toward Yumiko and Kenshi.
Twice he had snapped at her when she had tried to help him, and thrice he had nearly attacked her, feeling no remorse, no sympathy when his fits of uncharacteristic rage had passed. He had never apologized, which had greatly worried both Yumiko and Kenshi, both of which had been warily monitoring his actions every since his unexpected return. Even now, the Ninja were beginning to worry.
All the while, a voice had been whispering in his mind, telling him to commit unspeakable crimes.
Kill her.
Kill the traitor, avenge your brother.
Kill the Ronin, he betrayed us.
Brushing the voices away, he focused himself on the punching bag, releasing whatever negative energy he had on the bag. Despite his best efforts, he still felt nothing, just a simmering anger. One night, while Yumiko had cooked dinner, he had been so snide towards her that she had abruptly dropped everything and left, briskly walking back to her (Enatsu had been banished to the couch days earlier) room, shocking the entire crew, all eyes towards the Japanese man, while he merely shrugged, leaving the room for the training room instead.
Now, he looked around, a firm circle surrounding him. Days of pent up aggression beginning to pour through, snapping at anyone that tried to get closer to him. Taking a quick assessment of the situation, he noticed that the Traitor was not present, possibly off on another task. Taking up a defensive stance, he prepared himself for any incoming attacks from his front.
Despite this, he had not bothered to watch his rear. Punished for his inattentiveness, the Traitor came about behind him, throwing him to the ground, pinning him to the deck with a firm knee, handgun pressed to his temple. Desperately squirming in an attempt to escape, he quickly realized it was a foolish move when the muzzle was pressed more forcefully against the side of his head.
Finally settling down, he pressed his hands against the floor, palms facing down in a surrendering gesture. "Okay, what the fuck is this all about?"
Settling besides him, the Ronin knelt before him, gently tutting. "You know full well what this is about, and so does everyone else here. What are you, and where is the real Marasu Enatsu?"
Emotionless eyes blankly stared into the older man's eye. "I am Marasu Enatsu, I have no idea what you're talking about."
The Traitor's body began to shudder, the barrel easing off, just for the grip to come swinging towards his head, colliding with his nose. "God, you are just as insufferable as he is! Just tell us where he is, or I'm blowing your brains out."
Yumiko P.O.V., 4 days, 5 hours following "Broken Promises"; 12:00 P.M.
If you had asked Yumiko if she would have ever thought she would be holding a gun to her lover's head four years ago, she may have choked you out for even entertaining the thought, but here she was, holding a pistol to Marasu's head, even breaking his nose with it. Now, she was really beginning to lose hope, the assumed doppelgänger denying the fact that he was a fake, insisting that he was the real Marasu Enatsu. Except the real him would never be so snide, right?
A voice had been constantly asking her that exact question:
What if he's really like that?
What if this really is him?
What happened to him in his time away?
So many questions, but not enough answers. Now the copy had the nerve to act surprised, even going as far as to act as if he had no clue what he just done. Pressing her knee father down, "Marasu" began to wheeze, his airflow severely restricted. "H–hey, what are you doing?"
She slammed the handgun against his nose again, this time slightly lighter. Despite her constant reassurances that this was not really him, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt strike her when he cried out in pain, his already broken nose pushed even further into the hellhole that is recovery. As his hand went for his nose, she quickly intercepted it, pressing it firmly against the deck. Eventually, Kenshi spoke up again. "Ok, that's enough. I'll ask you again; who are you and what do you want from us?"
Once the knee eased up a tad, Enatsu immediately began squirming again, this time not stopping even after being slapped. "Takahashi, you gotta help me. Whoever the hell is on top of me is good, but my nose hurts like hell, and I wanna set it back. Pleasepleaseplease, just let me up so I can set it back."
Kenshi merely knelt there, thinking for a while, before nodded, and the merc immediately scrambled away, an absolutely shocked look painting his face when he saw who had pinned him down and broken his nose. "Yumiko? Yumi what the actual fuck?"
Yumiko growled, actually growled, a finger angrily jabbed towards him. "Stop acting like him. You are a fake, and we know it. Hell, even Ryan would've seen something wrong, and God knows how naïve he was!"
The man looked to Kenshi, desperate for an explanation. The swordsman groaned, pulling him by the arm back inside for questioning. Turning back, he glanced towards Yumiko, only to see she was already gone. Against her better judgement, she had gone down into the city, now in search for a decent bowl of ramen.
Well, I think this can truly mark the death of this story. I've written, deleted, and rewritten this story sixtimes until I felt somewhat satisfied. To be honest with you guys, I've gotten bored; this fandom just isn't for me anymore, as much as I've loved being here. I want to move to new fandoms, more specifically R6S, where I can write stories without any restrictions, seeing as how it's an FPS.
I won't be abandoning this quite yet, but once this is over, which hopefully will be within 5-10 chapters, I'm out. I'll be moving to Ao3, and to Siege. I'd typically say the nice "thanks" and stuff now, but I'll leave it for when I'll really be going.
With regards,
The Titan's Shadow