Clock Tower Brawl! Part Two
Cirque du Kickass!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Taeko or Tick Tock. Once again, the last two belong to Crazy-Fishie! Any questions regarding Taeko, where he's from, etc etc, please ask her.
Kilnorc: Woot! First half of this battle is done, let's bring it home! if ANYONE is by chance wondering about the last chapter's flashback regarding Taeko's crew, YES, one of his former nakama IS the same Veda D. Kagura that the gang has run into a coupla times in the past.
"Just because you're a thief, just because you're a liar, doesn't mean you're a murderer," - Steve Mottinger
"So, looks like the whole 'I'm dead, I can't feel any pain thing is true," Taeko mused as he watched Tick Tock dust herself off, "A fall like that would've at least given me a reason to say 'ow', or something,"
"You'd only say that because you're weak," Tick Tock muttered as she cleaned herself, "What's with the talking, I thought you wanted to show me how to really fight with a staff?"
Taeko grinned, "What can I say, I'm lazy? But then, you already know that...,". The tattooed thief suddenly leapt off the platform he was standing on and came down quick and hard on Tick Tock, his staff raised high over his head.
The female zombie quickly rolled out of the way as the staff's head came crashing down onto the floor, sending a bit of dust into the air upon contact.
"If you think you're gonna be able to crack my head open with that thing, then you're gonna have to try harder than that!"
"Oh, I plan to...," Taeko pulled his staff off the ground and darted towards his zombie, spinning his hooked staff, "Cirque du Thief: 36 Strike Flaminus!" (1). As soon as he was in range, Taeko unleashed a rapid flurry of staff strikes and thrusts at Tick Tock. The female zombie actually had to keep on her feet as she backed away, trying to dodge the thief's battle techinque, however it wasn't completely successful: she managed to earn a few blows to her torso and at least one to the leg before she jumped back far enough to avoid the rest of the attack.
Growling, Tick Tock flipped Taeko the bird, turned and bolted. Taeko gave chase, prepared in case she were to suddenly turn back and attack him. But, instead of doing that, Tick Tock launched herself into the air at an angle, meeting the wall in front of her (a good number of feet off the ground), then pushed off said wall and launched herself in another direction before landing on one of the platforms of the clock tower. Taeko glared at her, "Okay, so looks like you got that too," he snorted, "GET DOWN HERE!" (Author's Note: Mortal Kombat movie reference? MAYBE!)
"Screw you, thief!" Tick Tock shouted back down at him, "Why don't you come up here and face me like a man!"
"Why don't you?!"
"Because I'm a woman!"
"You're a dead woman with a man's shadow!" Taeko shot back, "You're already pissing me off majorly, quit while you're ahead!"
Tick Tock just stuck out her rotting tongue and pulled down an eyelid, "Naah!"
Taeko's eye twitched, "Okay, that's it!"
She was able to dodge my last technique. Chances are she does remember how to fight like I do, Taeko thought as he looked for a way up, I'll have to be on my toes before I can finish this!
Tick Tock watched as the tattooed thief scurried about below her, looking for a suitable entry zone. Watching him launch the hook end of his staff, which latched onto a metal bar nearby, Tick Tock backed away a little bit from the edge. Moments later, Taeko practically came flying up to the platform, flipping over the bar and landing on his feet.
"I gotta admit, since we're so alike, I thought you would've made use of the walls like I did,"
Taeko scoffed, "Sure, and leave myself open in mid-air?" he shook his head, "Yeah, right!"
"You're a fool if you think I wouldn't attack you if you took another route!" Tick Tock gripped her staff and leapt at Taeko, "Cirque du Thief: 12 Strike Maximus!" (2)
Aw shit... Taeko thought just before Tick Tock launched her attack, "Cirque du Thief: Stealing the Show!" (3)
Seconds later, Tick Tock's staff passed straight through Taeko. The zombie watched as Taeko simply dissipated into thin air as she continued on with the rest of her attack. Growling, she pulled her weapon back and looked around, "You can't hide forever, thief!"
"I don't need to hide forever, I just need to hide long enough to gain the advantage in this fight!" Taeko's voice echoed around the clock tower interior, "Don't be surprised, zombie girl, it's what I do, you should know that already!"
The green-skinned zombie grunted, "You're starting to piss me off!"
Higher up, hidden by a mess of cogs and gears, Taeko was trying to think of a plan.
Shit! That crazy undead bitch is able to do all my moves so far, and she's even able to do them better! he gulped, I'm not even that strong physically, but what she was trying to do, she probably could have blown a hole right through me! What the hell was she when she was still alive?!
"I don't care if hiding is what you do, thief, you shouldn't be hiding!" Tick Tock called out to the missing rogue, "You're friends are in a lot of trouble here on Thriller Bark. Whether they fall to the Blood Countess or they become victims of Moria-sama, they're running out of time. While you're hiding away, sitting comfortably with your body and life still intact, they're going to go through hell, fighting a futile battle in order to stay alive, only to have it taken away from them! Can you live with the guilt of letting them suffer? Letting them die?"
She grinned to herself, Bait's set, let's see if he takes it!
A long moment of silence (save for the noise of churning cogs and gears) came, then Taeko finally shouted a reply.
"If you think I'm gonna abandon my nakama, then you're crazy! I know Isaac can be a major pain in my ass, like a lot of the others in my crew, but he's an asshole worth saving, so if you think for a second that I'm gonna let these bastards have at him without a say in it, then you're as stupid as you are ugly!"
Tick Tock's eye twitched, "You sonofa-!"
"As for these others, these Axe-Head kids, they're fighting their own battles! I won't interfere with them unless I have no other choice but to step into the fray," Taeko continued, "I won't let any of them die, so you can just shut the hell up and get ready to get your ass kicked!"
"I'd love to see you try, you coward!"
Taeko closed his eyes and reached into his clothing, feeling something small and leather, This better work...! he gripped his staff and came out of hiding, looking down at Tick Tock, "I've wasted enough time toying with you. I'm getting my shadow back now!" he jumped off the higher ledge and came speeding down upon Tick Tock, spinning around and around as he fell, "Cirque du Thief: Big Baton Bash!" (4)
SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP
POKE POKE POKE POKE POKE
SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP SLAP
POKE POKE POKE POKE POKE
"Wake up already!"
Devon's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was Jinko right in front of him, holding onto the front of his clothes. He frowned and looked around, "What the hell's going on? What happened?!"
"Good, you're finally up," Jinko released him and rose to her feet, stepping back, "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever wake up from your phobia induced coma there,"
"Phobia induced...?" Devon rubbed his somewhat swollen head, currently oblivious to what the woman assassin had done to awaken him, "What are you talking ab-?" the memory of the giant spider monkey suddenly came flooding back to him. When it hit him, he shot to his feet, eyes wide as dinner saucers.
"Whoa, easy! Easy, there!" Jinko held up both hands, "Calm down, Demon King, the big ol' nasty spider's gone, okay? You're safe...," she couldn't help but smile a bit, "I never would've guessed the 'almighty Demon King' would be one who suffers from arachnophobia. Then again, I know a guy who freaks out at celery...then again, you don't go around blasting stuff because of it," she watched him try to calm down, "Like I said, you were out for awhile. I'm not sure what time it is, but it's either late afternoon or the early evening in case you're wondering. It's kinda hard to tell on this island. Not to mention lack of clocks in this place,"
Devon looked down at his hip, "WHERE THE HELL IS MY SWORD?! WHERE THE HELL IS THE WATER MOON?!"
"Er...," Jinko idly scratched behind her head and looked away, "That sorta got throw off the side of the bridge just after you passed out, Devon," she said slowly, "I'm sorry, but I could only save one of you at the time,"
Devon slowly turned to her, giving off a look that probably would've scared the shit out of anyone else, but Jinko didn't seem phased at all.
She raised an eyebrow, "Hey, I said I was sorry, so don't go giving a girl looks like that! Besides, you're not scaring anyone. You see the looks and stuff I've seen with the people I know, then you'll know what real terror is,"
The Demon King stared at her for another moment, then just fell to his knees, his head hung.
"Aww," Jinko sighed and shook her head, "Look, I said I was sorry, okay? We'll go get it later, I promise. Mind if I ask why you're getting so worked up over a blade?" she asked, tapping her own rapier.
Devon moaned, "...the Water Moon's part of my dream. I want to get both that and the Onimaru blade, and I got really lucky. Just after I joined up with Axe, I found the Water Moon back in my hometown, just sitting there waiting for me. Ever since then, before I even entered the Grand Line, that sword's been at my side, but now that I've lost it...," he clenched his hands into fists and looked up at Jinko, "Don't you have a special thing, Jinko?"
Jinko became quiet and looked down at her rapier.
The Demon King rose to his feet and headed for the door, "I gotta find Water Moon! I gotta get my sword back, then I gotta get my nakama, then we gotta get the fuck off this island!"
"Hey, wait a minute, you're not going out there alone, what if you run into that big spider again!?"
The fight between Taeko and the zombie who had his stolen shadow had gone from simple attacks and dodging to an all out brawling session, so to speak. The living and the dead weren't hiding from each other anymore, they were exchange blows, strikes, every kind of offensive they could launch at one another. They used the same techniques, they used the same tactics, but the results were different. As a corpse resurrected by both Moria and Hogback, Tick Tock was unable to feel pain, which allowed her to keep going despite any attack and injury she might receive. Taeko, on the other hand, was flesh and blood, actually living, and he suffered injuries that gave him grief in this battle.
One of his eyes, after being smashed by the end of Tick Tock's staff, was now closed shut, bleeding and even already swelling up. His left arm was running on fumes, so to speak, after being beaten by the zombie girl's staff and temporarily jammed in between some gears. He would've been stuck in there for the rest of the fight if he hadn't used his own staff to pry himself loose. In addition to those injuries, his clothing hid numerous large bruises he had earned from the hard blows that Tick Tock gave him. Despite the pain however, he pushed himself on, wanting to win, wanting to reclaim his stolen shadow. True, the injuries and lack of one working eye hindered his fighting skill, but that just fueled his inferno of desire to win.
"Cirque du Thief: 12 Stike Maximus!" they screamed as they both launching identical attacks at the same moment. Their staves flew past each other and even knocked each other off their intended targets. A few blows landed on them though, although Tick Tock was just pushed back while Taeko was pushed back and suffering from new injuries. The tattoed thief cried out and hit the ground, coughing up blood from the impact of the blows.
Shit! I dunno if I'm just getting weaker or if she's getting stronger with each attack, but I'm not doing so hot here! he looked back at his zombie, reaching into his clothing again, I gotta end this soon or else I'm fucked!
"I'll admit, even with your injuries, your spirit and will are impressive. However, this ends right now," Tick Tock pointed her staff at the coughing thief, "I won't kill you. If I did, then I'd disappear as well. No, I won't take your life, instead I'll just cut off your hands so you don't go around and perform your trade,"
Taeko coughed again, "You bitch...sparing my life to save your own isn't a reason not to kill. You shouldn't kill, period!"
"Are you telling me you've never killed anyone in your life, thief?" Tick Tock gripped her staff, "Cirque du Thief: Big Top Brigade-!" (5)
"What I'm telling you is the Code!" Taeko suddenly rolled over onto his back, pulling something out of the folds of his clothing and threw it at the living corpse. Tick Tock was thrown off guard, she couldn't really see what it was that he threw, nor could she dodge it. The object passed through her undead gums and hit the back of her neck. Thrown into a coughing fit, the zombie had no choice but to swallow the foreign object. She snapped her head up, "What the hell did you just throw at me?!"
Taeko shot a sly grin, "Small pouch of salt, you bitch...," he chuckled a little, "I win!"
Tick Tock's eyes widened, "How did you-?!"
"How did I know about you zombies weakness? That salt can purify you and free the stolen shadows you possess?" Taeko rose to his feet, holding his arm, still grinning, "I picked up that little tidbit from a handful of zombies earlier as I skulked around the mansion. You guys should really keep valuable information to yourself, especially when the enemy is missing and you have no idea where they are.
"You...," Tick Tock began to shake, "...you bastard! You killed me!" she fell onto her side, the large gear clanging loudly on the ground upon impact.
Taeko snorted and staggered to his zombie as she began to shake some more, "No, I didn't. I don't kill. Besides, you're already a chunk of dead stuff. How the hell can I possibly kill anything that's already dead?"
Tick Tock opened her mouth to curse Taeko, but instead, no words came out. She simply stopped moving, her eyes faded into dull nothingness, and a strange black glob rose from her mouth. Taeko waited silently as the glob shot towards him and attached itself to his feet.
Taeko had won his shadow back.
"Nice to have you back, buddy," he winced and picked up his staff, "Let's get the hell out of here, huh? Gotta find Isaac or that White Dragon chick, get 'em to patch me up...," he turned and headed for the clock tower's exit when he noticed something just off to the side. There was a dull glow in the corner, behind a pile of repair equipment. Slowly, he made his way over to investigate and soon enough, he found the source of the glow. There, next to a tiny lit candle that was almost completely out, was a neat, sizeable amount of gold and other treasure.
He couldn't help but grin, "Hello, beautiful...,"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Hogback screeched as one of Perona's ghosts hovered in front of him, "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
The ghost waved a little, "I said that Tick Tock was beaten by the thief from before! I saw him finish her off and go after a small bit of treasure she must have stolen from Moria-sama's vault!"
The fat doctor grit his teeth, "That bastard! Tick Tock was a special piece of work for me, and he just does that to her! Wait, how did he know how to beat her?!"
The ghost shrugged, "I heard him say he heard it in passing from other zombies," it bounced a little, "What do we do now? If he knows how to purify the zombies, then the entire army's in jeopardy!"
"The hell it is!" Hogback snapped, a vein twitching just above his shades, "I won't let some thief bastard ruin Moria-sama's plans!"
"What are we gonna do? Have the Generals or Ryuuma go after him?"
Hogback shook his head, "No! That's stupid, because if he can purify one, he could purify them all!"
"But Ryuuma could take him out before he even realizes he's there! Besides, for all we know, he's all out of salt!" the ghost pointed out, "Absalom could take care of him, but knowing him, he'd probably blast him to smithereens!"
"Why the hell didn't you just go all 'Negative' on him?!" Hogback roared at the ghost. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the "good doctor" rubbed both his temples, trying to calm himself down and to think straight, "Besides the thief, has any other zombies been purified?"
"No,"
"What about the White Dragon's nakama?"
"The Blood Raven started fighting the fox girl, same thing with the Blood Fist brat and the brat from the Bloodless Vampires,"
"Anything else?"
"The Demon King almost got captured by Talleran. Turns out he's terrified of spiders!" the ghost laughed, "But the assassin woman stepped in and saved him. They're somewhere in the mansion now, hiding,"
"No surprise there," Hogback looked up at the ghost, "What about the Marine girl I heard about? The one that the Blood Countess took care of?"
The ghost acted like it was scratching it's head, "That's a really weird thing,"
"How?"
"She should be dead or close to death by now, but she's not where she was last seen,"
"...what?"
"There's no trace of her. There was no blood trail leading out of the room, there's no footsteps, there's nothing but blood on the floor from where she was last seen. It's like she up and vanished into thin air!"
"Are you sure? Did any of the zombies or Blood Countess' namaka take her?"
The ghost shook it's head vigorously, "Nuh-uh. There's no sign of her anywhere,"
"Well, where the hell is she, it's not like she can just get up and walk out the mansion without attracting attention to herself!"
"Crap, crap, crap, crap!"
Austin dove to the ground and rolled under a number of playing cards that whizzed overhead, embedding themselves in the stone wall. The young pirate was carrying all his recovered items, but instead of fighting Tobias like he had originally planned, he was on the run as the latter withdrew an arsenal of seemingly harmless game accessories and tried to kill him with them! From very sharp tipped throwing darts to razor-edged playing cards and who knows what else.
The formerly mute cabin boy bolted into a run, looking back to see Tobias run after him, hurling more and more razor cards after him. Cursing, he ducked, dodged and weaved to avoid every incoming missile that came at him. He had to get to a better fighting area, he had to get out of range just long enough to think of a plan on how to take care of this kid. A barrage of darts and razor cards closed in on him, making him curse again and more louder this time.
"JUST HOW MUCH CRAP IS THIS GUY HIDING?!" he turned a corner, trying to keep all his gear from falling off, "THIS IS FRIGGIN' INSANE!!"
Kilnorc: Okay, that chapter's finally done. Taeko's got his shadow back and it seems that Austin's have a bit of trouble with Tobias. Let's hope the little guy can come through!
(1) Cirque du Thief: 36 Strike Flaminus - Taeko delivers a series of strikes that aren't that powerful compared to his other techniques, however their increase in speed makes up for the lack of additional power. Name is a reference to Circus Flaminus in ancient Rome.
(2) Cirque du Thief: 12 Strike Maximus - Taeko delivers a series of strikes that are powerful, but not as quick as his Flaminus technique. Name is a reference to Circus Maximus of ancient Rome.
(3) Cirque du Thief: Stealing the Show - An evasive technique. Usually performed with a decoy, Taeko disappears from sight and uses his thieving skills to buy himself time to hide and think of a new plan.
(4) Cirque du Thief: Big Baton Bash - Taeko leaps into the air, spins his staff around as he spins his own body, and lands a hard blow on his enemy's head, causing a decent amount of damage.
(5) Cirque du Thief: Big Top Brigade - Taeko's strongest attack. A series of very powerful jabs, strikes and kicks by Taeko and his staff, dealing massive physical damage that is capable of completely paralyzing an enemy.
On the next chapter of Endless Nightmare...
Austin: He can't have a friend, so he tries to kill? Man, this kid is nutso!
Tobias: You have no idea what it's like!
Austin: You think you're the only kid in the whole world who's had a shitty life?!
Tobias: Is that so much to ask for?
The Lost Boys
Austin: I'm sorry Tobias, but I have a family that needs me!