Subaru Genjirou: Master of Arms
Hello everyone and welcome to the newest chapter of Breath of the Rifleman! We got our major battle continuing this chapter and it's not looking any prettier for our heroes. And of course, the usual shout out to groche9655 as well as LoneTaker and Noble Eight for their contributions to this story. I'd also like to thank all of my other readers who've supported this story up to this point, it really helps with the motivation. Now I've prattled on long enough, and since we appear to have no guest review questions this week, let's get on to the story!
Nighttime: Swordsmith Village
"Demons are attacking, demons are attacking!" Called a swordsmith from on top of a watchtower as he hit the alarm bell repeatedly with a hammer. "Get the chief out of here, protect the family heads, bring out the pillar's swords and-AAAAAAARGGHH!" The sound of the bell ceased as he realized a large fish monster with human limbs was climbing atop the tower, its weight causing the structure to sway and collapse, killing the man in the process.
His warning had gone out, though, and none too soon as the village was now practically swarming with fish/human hybrids of varying sizes, and all of whom had razor sharp teeth and claws that cut through flesh like swords. Most of the smiths in the village were gathering up what they could to flee the abominations, with a few staying back in hopes of holding off the monsters by using spears, kamas, cleavers or any other tools they could get their hands on. A couple of the current defenders were Izayoi and Hidan, the former wielding his kusarigama while the latter was firing and cycling an Arisaka type 30 rifle. The weapons seller turned to the Shinobi, giving him a few hand signals.
"Yes, many of the traps are set," said Izayoi, one of which happened to go off as a fish monster pulled open a door and received several wisteria coated kunai in its face, "though most of them aren't explosives and will only slow these creatures down if the pots on their backs aren't destroyed. We'll need more help if we intend to survive this onslaught."
Hidan nodded before shooting the pot off another abomination's back while Izayoi cut through a couple more with his sickle and chain. But then, an especially large fish monster burst through the building behind them, knocking the two forward onto their stomachs. The snarling monstrosity approached the shinobi as he worked to pull his leg out from under some timber that had fallen on it, just managing to do so right as the hybrid grabbed his leg. In the next instant, though, the pot on the creature's back was suddenly sliced open as a graceful figure landed in front of the now dying creature.
"Are you two alright?" Questioned Mitsuri, wielding a strange, whip-like sword in her hand.
"We are much better now, Lady Kanroji," replied Izayoi as Hidan helped him to his feet, "but do not bother too much with us, the rest of the village is in danger. And some of the largest of these monsters is aroundthe village chief's residence."
"Don't worry," said Misturi confidently, "I may have arrived late, but I'll beat up every one of them now that I'm here!" With that, the Love Pillar leapt away gracefully, her movements more like that of a ribbon dancer than a fighter as she carved through several more fish monsters in a matter of seconds. In no time at all the streets were littered with the monstrosities as the Hashira fought her way toward's the main village building and out of sight of the two other occupants. Though they weren't alone for long as two other new arrivals appeared.
"The other pillar," said Mukuro as he landed on top of the roof of the destroyed building, his sister not far behind.
"Do you know where he might be," continued Kuroko as she stood on the dissolving corpse of the fish monster.
"Why is he not here?" The both of them asked at the same time then. 'And I thought communicating with Hidan could get complicated,' thought Izayoi with a mild sigh before answering.
"He was sent flying into the forest at the Northeastern edge of the village by Upper Moon Four Hantengu," explained Izayoi, "if he's not back yet, then he might have encountered the other Upper Moon. Moreover, a few other swordsmiths are in that forest working on something very important. They'll need all the help they can get over there right now."
"Understood," said the Saiketsu twins at the same time before leaping up onto the next rooftop and continuing on to the forest.
'Well, that's another problem that we don't have to worry as much about,' signaled Hidan, 'I'm going to keep helping with the evacuation. You go and back up Subaru Genjirou. I do not wish to see the son of the man who saved me die at the hands of the same demon that murdered the rest of his family.' Izayoi was about to answer but was cut off by the sound of lightning which was quickly followed by the heavy thudding of light machine gun fire.
"I'll see what I can do," said Izayoi before starting towards the source of the most destruction in the village, picking up a few odds and ends along the way. At the site of the battle itself, things were more than a little chaotic.
"HOLD THE FUCK STILL YOU BASTARD!" Yelled Sekido as he unleashed several blasts of lightning at the Matagi, all of which the slayer managed to dodge by leaping up and hopping off what remained of the furniture before returning fire with the MG15n.a.. In the hands of a normal soldier, a weapon like this was actually meant to be transported by more than one person. In the hands of a slayer who could bust Japanese Red Wood, however, it was more like carrying a small wood bundle, awkward but not terrible.
"I will as soon as you all stay dead!" Subaru shouted back as he just manages to sidestep a swooping attack from Urogi. Fighting within the building had thankfully limited the Joy Manifestations options for airborne attacks, but his speed was still nothing to take lightly, especially now that he was sporting bleeding claw marks on both his shoulder and right arm from two earlier attacks. Though that wasn't his main concern at the moment.
"Here comes fan dick again," warned Azakeru just in time as Subaru spun and shifted his position, feeling some debris hit him as another section of the floor was destroyed right where he'd been standing barely a moment ago.
"Thanks," said Subaru mentally as he opened fire again, warding off both Karaku and Sekido before they could come in with another attack then lowering his stance and shifting once more to avoid Urogi's sonic scream attack. Azakeru had managed to remember all of their abilities after coming into contact with Karaku, and they learned a little more each time from the flashbacks generated by physical contact with the manifestations. Add on to that the fact that they were using both his demon mark and Willow's Windpath at the same time to read the emotional detachment's attacks, and the Matagi was holding his own rather well. Though that bit of good fortune wasn't going to last forever, especially not with Sekido's foul temper.
"Screw this," growled the Anger Manifestation as he retreated to one of the large holes in the wall, "Karaku, just blow the whole damn building down already!"
"No need to tell me," sang the Relaxed Manifestation as he leapt into the air, "I was about to do that anyway!" 'Shit, time to move,' thought Subaru and Azakeru as the Gunman bolted for the nearest exit. It was at that moment that Karaku used a wide, two-handed horizontal swing with his fan. The resulting blast of pressure was defeaning as the entire building was torn apart, flinging Subaru into the air along with debris from the residence.
He landed hard, dropping the Bergmann next to him in the process as he felt a couple of timbers roll onto his backside and the LMG itself. 'Just when I thought I couldn't hate that guy more,' Subaru thought as he pushed with all of his might against the timber, managing to roll it off of him in time to hear the approach of his foes. "Oh ho, still alive after all," sang Urogi as he flapped towards the Matagi, "good, it'd have been a shame if this was over too quick-gaaaah!" The Joy Aspect halted in midair as several bullets impacted against his chest and head, all from the Mauser C96 Subaru had pulled from his belt. It was another piece Anita had lent him along with the Bergmann from earlier.
"It really does have a full-auto feature," commented the Matagi as he also drew his Webley before rolling to the side to avoid another maple leaf crater. He proceeded to fire back at the other two manifestations as Sekido fired another barrage of lightning bolts, tearing up the already ruined landscape even more as the Rifleman shifted and leapt out of the way of the impending strikes. 'Learning all that fancy footwork from Tokitou is really paying off,' thought Subaru as he dove over some rubble. He hid behind what remained of the roof then, discarding his now empty Mauser before reloading and holstering his Webley.
"Don't think you can hide!" Exclaimed Karaku as he swung his fan horizontaly, blasting away Subaru's cover and toppling the Matagi forward. Somehow, he managed to unsling the Beretta M1918 he'd been carrying on his back while in midroll, grunting as he felt himself hit another large piece of rubble before taking aim and firing in the general direction of the demons. He was rewarded with the sound of bullets hitting flesh before getting up and flipping out the bayonet on the SMG. No sooner did he do this than Urogi came flying at him with his mouth open, ready to unleash another sonic screech.
'Breath of the Rifleman Fourth Form,' thought Subaru as he quickly took his stance, 'Mountain Stride!' The two attacks hit at about the same time, with the Matagi feeling agony in his head and ears from the sonic blast. He also noticed that some blood was coming form his ears and nose but had to ignore it as his bayonet exited out the back of the Joy Manifestation's head. "Raw, r-et it r-out," Urogi choked out, his words hard to make out due to having a mouth full of SMG bayonet, "r-et -r-off me!"
"Yeah not happening," said Subaru as he looked his limbs around the flying demon, causing him to shake in flight as he heard the Anger Manifestation yelling from below.
"Dammit Urogi what are you doing?!" Exclaimed Sekido, "drop that brat so I can fry him already!"
"R-I'm r-ying," gargled Urogi, turning in the air so that Subaru would be facing towards the other two demons. But the Matagi was quick to react to this possible turn of events by drawing his knife and slashing the eyes of his foe, causing more gargled screaming as the demon flew even more erratically now that he was blind.
"What a fucking idiot," grumbled Sekido before glancing at Karaku, "just flatten them both already."
"So long as you don't mind me stealing a bit of your thunder," laughed Karaku while raising his fan, "see what I did ther-?"
"Yes! Now get to flattening those two already!" Yelled Sekido. Karaku proceeded to do just that as he waved his fan downward, the massive amount of pressure hitting both human and demon as Urogi was ripped from the sky. 'Shit, gotta try not to hit the ground directly,' thought Subaru at the last second as he righted his position in the air just a moment before the two slammed into the ground, with Urogi taking the brunt of it. The impact was still painful as the ground cratered from the pressure, causing Subaru to gasp in pain as he hit his formerly flying foe's body before bouncing back up and rolling away.
Sekido was quick to fire a few more bolts of his lightning attack, one of which managed to hit the Matagi and course through his body as he cried out in pain from the attack. "Arrrgh," coughed Urogi as he pulled the M1918 from his mouth, "finally, I was starting to think my jaw was gonna stretch permanently. Then again that might've been hilarious if it actually happened."
"It would've been another embarrassment," spat Sekido, "now quit playing around and kill the Genjirou brat before he gets back up."
"Oh, I call next attack on him," sang Karaku as he approached the slayer who was struggling to get up, his body still tingling from the earlier electrical and wind attacks, "after all, this is kind of an unfinished job on my part."
"That…makes two of us," said Subaru between breaths as he worked to draw his Webley, "because I'm not dying….until…..I put you all in the ground."
"You're as persistent as your father was," cackled Karaku as he raised his fan above his head, "the only difference between you and him is you won't survive this fight. Now eat dirt mother-huh?" Just as he was about to swing, a figure leapt in between him and Subaru, catching Karaku's fan arm with her left hand as her eyes glared murderously at the demon manifestation. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten about y-," he was stopped midspeech by a powerful kick from the new arrival, directed right as his most sensitive of areas below the belt, resulting in the following high-pitched squeal, "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"I don't care if you're a Hashira or a demon," said Azakeru as she watched the spectacle alongside Subaru, "that has got to hurt." And adding even more pain to the injury, the girl ignited the impacted area, causing Karaku to scream even more as he tried putting out the red fire on his crotch. The girl then moved to help Subaru up.
"You know Nezuko," said the Rifleman as he got back to his feet, "I didn't think it was possible for me to love you more than I already do, but here you go proving me wrong again." The demon girl smiled at him under her bamboo muzzle as Karaku continued to dance around with flames on his balls.
"Ah, why are all of you such idiots," said Sekido as he held up his staff and Urogi readied to take flight again, "this should not be so ha-gah!" His words, and head, were quite literally cut off then as another slayer joined in the fray using a rather powerful flame technique.
"Hinokami Kagura," said Tanjiro as he sliced through all three demon manifestations, leaving a long, twisting trail of flames coming from his sword, "Solar Halo Dragon Dance!"
"Tanjiro, good to have you back in the fight," said Subaru as he spotted Izayoi lurking in the shadows.
"Subaru Genjirou," said the Shinobi as he tossed the Matagi one of the SMLE bolt actions he'd been carrying along with a bag of ammo, "I've got a few more where that came from, so don't worry about tearing up one or two."
"Good to know," said the Matagi as he attached the bag to his belt and checked the action of the rifle. By this point, the demons were all holding onto their severed heads, which had been cut off by Tanjiro's technique.
"What in the fuck kind of slash attack was that?!" exclaimed Karaku, "It's like I'm burning alive over here! And the only thing that hurts worse is my ballsack!"
"Shut up Karaku," said Sekido, "our regeneration is working, but it's slow as shit right now thanks to whatever kind of attack that was. And where the fuck is Aizetsu?"
"Crap, I forgot there was a fourth one," said Tanjiro as his eyes darted around frantically for the final emotional manifestation.
"I don't think it matters," said Subaru as he pointed to a nearby tree where Genya was at. The slayer was alive, and snarling while impaling the manifestiation of sorrow, Aizetsu, to a tree with his own Yari spear. The demon's decapitated head was in his left hand, missing its mouth. As for Genya himself, he was snarling with demon-like eyes and teeth, while glancing back towards the rest of them. "All four of them are decapitated right now and I've been pumping poison bullets into 'em this entire fight. The main body isn't among a single one of these jackasses."
"Nope, Hantengu himself is hiding out nearby," affirmed Azakeru, "now that we have some breathing room I can explain. Hantengu has always been a coward, he hides his true body away and lets these emotional manifestations do the fighting for him. If we can take out the real one, all the rest of them will die."
"I see," said Subaru as he relayed this new information to Nezuko and Tanjiro.
"Got it," affirmed the slayer, "it's hard to smell thanks to all of the sulphur fumes from the hotsprings being blown around by the fan guy, but I should be able to track him down now that I know we're looking for a different body."
"Head in that direction," said Subaru as he pointed to where Azakeru sensed the main body was, "we'll cover you. Once you find him, let me know, this bastard is mine to kill."
"I understand," said Tanjiro as he started towards the forest, only to be intercepted by Genya.
"Don't even think about it!" roared the shotgun-wielding slayer, "I'm the one who's gonna kill the Upper Moon! Neither one of you is gonna get the spot of Hashira before-GAAAAAAHHH!" Subaru was quick to silence the currently demonic Genya with a powerful punch to the face, knocking him over in the process.
"Keep going Tanjiro," said Subaru before turning back to Genya as the slayer leapt up and grabbed his neck. But Subaru grabbed his thumb before it could grasp his throat completely and began bending it back, a look of pure hatred and determination in his eyes as he spoke his next words. "Look here asshole, I couldn't give any less of a damn about the position of Hashira! Were this any other Upper Moon I'd tell you to go for it, but the issue between me and this bastard is beyond personal! If you want that position so bad, fine, I'll give you the credit for this kill if it'll make you happy but if you stand in my way now, I will rip you to fucking shreds!"
The shotgun slayer glared back at him, feeling the pain of his thumb potentially being broken at any moment. But it was the look in Subaru's eyes that finally made him release his grip. He recognized those eyes all too well, the pain of loss within them. He had no doubt then that Subaru would carry out his threat, and so, he released him and turned his attention back to the emotional manifestations. It would turn out to be just in time as they both dodged out of the way of another lightning bolt.
"Lightning douche is back and so is the fan dick," relayed Azakeru, "weepy spear ain't far behind either."
"Works for me," Subaru replied mentally while loosing a few retaliatory shots from his bolt action, "I've still got a lot more suffering to put them through anyway. I think Father and the spirits will understand."
"Such awful names for us, sister," said Karaku as he used a wide swing of his fan to create a powerful wind. Subaru was able to plant the bayonet of his weapon into the ground while also bracing his foot against some of the more solidly embedded rubble to keep himself from being swept away, though he could barely move during that time. As he felt the wind start to die down, he noted Sekido was about to strike with his signature lightning attack. Nezuko wouldn't allow that, fortunately, and moved to attack him from his blindside.
The spear wielding Aizetsu attempted to intercept her, but was shot in midcharge a few times by Genya as he loaded another few shells into his Browning shotgun. This left the demon girl a good opening to grab onto the anger demon and use her blood demon art, enveloping him in red flame as he cried in agony. Karaku jumped up, preparing another crushing pressure attack with a look of glee on his face despite what had just happened to his brethren. What did change the look on his face, though, was when Subaru used the last two shots in his SMLE to blast apart the handle of the fan, causing the demon manifestation's eyes to go wide as his attack was interrupted.
'Finally,' he thought while quickly reloading his rifle, 'I guess I needed a gun just the slightest bit more precise to make that kind of shot.' Though his celebration was short-lived as Urogi, now fully regenerated, came swooping in with a claw strike aimed at his face. Subaru was able to lift his rifle up to block the worst of the blow, though the strength of it still knocked him back and forced him to roll back up before the flying demon attacked again. As he was about to unleash his sonic scream, a round of pellets impacted his face, courtesy of Genya.
"You'd better keep up your end on this mess," growled the shotgun wielder as he loaded another couple of shells into his gun, "otherwise I'll kill you!"
"Yeah yeah," said Subaru as he observed Sekido finally freeing himself from Nezuko's grasp and tossing the girl in their direction. She was thankfully able to land on her feet, but this wound-up distracting Genya enough for him not to notice Aizetsu coming in with an attack of his own. "LOOK OUT!"
"Thrust of Raining Tears," said the Sorrow Demon as he unleashed a flurry of jabs with his spear, which was extending and retracing rapidly.
"Breath of the Rifleman Third Form," said Subaru as he moved in front of Nezuko and Genya, "Bayonet Dance!" The sound of clashing blades filled the air as the spear barrage met a whirling bayonet. The attacks were quite powerful, some even strong enough to get through Subaru's defensive technique, scoring cuts on the side of his face, arm, side and leg. But it didn't last long as Aizetsu quickly realized they were at a stalemate.
"You're, depressingly resilient," said Aizetsu in a disappointed tone, "can't you just die already?"
"Do I really," said Subaru between breaths, "have to repeat myself? I ain't dying until all of you are in the ground. That's a promise I intend to keep."
"That's just too bad then," said Karaku as he and Sekido charged them from one side while Urogi flew up and charged from another. Aizetsu would continue his previous charge as well as the demon girl and two slayers readied to take on their respective opponents closing in on them from three different directions. At least that had been the plan until something unexpected happened, a grenade was tossed in front of Karaku and Sekido. "Now what is i-AAAAAAAAHHHH!" The yellow-lined grenade exploded and showered the two demons with a flaming substance that seemed to stick to their skin as it burned.
"More fire, are you fucking kidding me right now!" Exclaimed Sekido as he tried brush the flames off of his body.
"Genjirou, Shinazugawa," said Izayoi as he tossed a couple more of the grenades to the slayers. It was at this point that Urogi and Aizetsu had overcome their surprise at the sudden turn of events before charging again, about to unleash their abilities.
"Nezuko, leg up!" Said Subaru as he leapt into the air. The demon girl knew what he had in mind and held her hand up so that the Matagi could land on it and be thrown even higher. She then proceeded to grab a confused Genya and throw him in the opposite direction, just barely avoiding the two incoming attacks herself. The angle of their 'jumps' sent both slayers sailing over the heads of the demons as they primed the new grenades. "Scream about this, shitheap," mocked Subaru, pulling the pin and dropping it in midair.
Genya, now currently very annoyed, mirrored his action and dropped his grenade on Aizetsu. The two demon manifestations were now engulfed in flame and smoke as they wailed in agony. "What in the fuck is this stuff," said Genya as he covered his nose, "it smells weird."
"White phosphorous grenades," explained Izayoi as he walked up to the three, "a little something the British have been experimenting with. They're meant to catch things on fire and in some cases burn through objects like acid. It should hold them for at least a few moments."
"Then we'd best catch up with Tanjiro," said Subaru, "did you happen to get a look at where he was heading?"
"This way," said Izayoi, "but we'd best hurry, those fires won't last for very long." A few nods were his reply as the group took off, trailing behind the Shinobi as he led the way. In truth, Azakeru likely could've led them there just fine, but Subaru wasn't sure if he should reveal his current demonic nature right at that moment to someone as mysterious as Izayoi. Though he didn't linger on those thoughts for long as he saw a familiar head of reddish black hair.
"Subaru, Genya!" Exclaimed Tanjiro, his sword stuck in something on the ground, "he's here, my sword's stuck in his neck!" It took the Matagi only a second for his eyes to pick out what exactly he was talking about. There on the ground, was the true body of Hantengu, and it was the size of a rat?! 'It's the same as his first body,' observed Subaru, 'but it's so small you'd almost miss it without a way to track him down.'
"Subaru hurry," urged Azakeru suddenly, "that shrimp right there is his real body. Kill him quickly before the final manifestation arrives!" 'Final manifestation?' Questioned Subaru for a moment before shaking the thoughts from his mind as he readied to cleave the other half of Hantengu's neck off. As always, Tanjiro had gone above and beyond, not only finding the demon's small true body but even driving his sword part of the way into his neck to keep him from escaping. 'This is it, one good hit and at last my family can rest in pea-.'
His thoughts were replaced suddenly with a feeling of horrific dread then as his instincts, and Azakeru, were all screaming at him that something terrible was behind him. It was so overpowering that he was actually a bit afraid to turn around and glance at what it was. Tanjiro and Genya wore similar expressions on their faces as they glanced at the new arrival. Then, a single strike of a drum sounded.
Time seemed to resume normally after that as the ground exploded with a mass of trees rising upwards, bearing heads that resembled that of dragons. Subaru and Genya were sent flying to the side, landing hard and rolling a few feet while Nezuko, who was the closest to the epicenter of the attack, grabbed Tanjiro and leapt away. It wasn't without cost, though, as she temporarily lost an arm and leg which was thankfully restored quickly due to her regenerative abilities. It still took a toll on her body, however, as the demon girl collapsed to the ground in seeming exhaustion.
"Nezuko," said Tanjiro as Subaru rushed over to check on her with Genya close behind.
"Vulgar savages who torment the meek," said a younger sounding masculine voice as a new figure stepped out of the shadows, "spite, enmity, nothing but hatred, for those who bathe in pure evil." This new demon had short, messy hair that spiked in all directions like flames, wearing elements of each emotional manifestation that had come before him with black sleeves and pants, a red flowery sash and a white cloth that hung around his waist. In his hands were a strange type of wooden weapon that curved around to resemble the letter 'S' while his back sported a wheel of drums, each with varying kanji on them. Subaru imagined he was supposed to resemble some kind of Indian or Japanese deity.
"It's him," said Azakeru, "the combination of all the elemental manifestations, Zohakuten, the Manifestation of Hatred." Subaru didn't answer her back as the boyish demon turned his attention towards all of them, his presence seemingly overpowering at first.
"You evil shitheads," he said through gritted teeth as he hit one of the drums on his back, causing some of the sprouted trees to twist around Hantengu's true body to form a protective cocoon, "you were tormenting the 'weak' weren't you? Just now you were trying to cut the tiny creature small enough to fit on my palm. And you," he pointed at Subaru, "you're the worst of all. You kidnapped my sister and now you're holding her hostage inside of your body. That is nothing but pure injustice, something only a savage would do."
Subaru felt his fist clench involuntarily then, his anger overpowering his earlier fear upon hearing the demon's words. "Are you really," said Subaru, putting as much venom in his voice as he could, "are you seriously trying to play the victim right now? DON'T BULLSHIT ME! The only one who ever did anything to you was my Father and me and that was in self-defense! What did my mother, my brother, or my sister ever do to you?! Not a damn thing!"
"And don't go calling us evil when you've clearly eaten a hundred, maybe even two hundred people," added Tanjiro, his own anger fueled by the demon's accusations, "what did any of them do to you?! Did you take their lives arbitrarily as some form of sick payment?!" They both shouted then: "YOU'RE THE EVIL ONE HERE! AND WE WILL TAKE YOUR HEAD!"
About the Same Time: Forest of the Swordsmith Village
'Oh this isn't good,' thought Kotetsu as he peeked out from behind a tree. He'd nearly died more than a couple times now thanks to those fish monsters. But what had him really worried right now was the state of the Hashira who'd saved his life and the life of Kanamori, Tokitou. The Mist Pillar had warded off numerous attacks from the demon who'd made the fish, even incurring a number of poisoned spikes into his body from exploding fish summons. But that hadn't slowed him down near enough, so the demon had instead resorted to a new tactic, entrapment.
Currently, Tokitou Muichirou was imprisoned within a water basin literally made of water, unable to cut his way out and unable to breathe either. If he could just get a moment, Kotetsu intended to try and cut through the basin with a carving knife he had on him, but the demon was right there next to said basin. It was a sickly white creature whose body resembled a snake's at the bottom and a human/fish hybrid at the top. Adding on to the creepy factor of it, there were mouths were its eyes should be and eyes where its forehead and mouth were. "Now that you're out of the way," said the demon as he turned to the old shed where Haganezuka was currently working on the old sword, "what have you got going on in here?"
He began moving towards the door, only to suddenly pull himself back into the pot from whence he came, barely dodging a pair of naginata blades. "That is close enough," said Mukuro as he and his sister now stood between him and the shed.
"You'll be dealing with us now," said Kuroko as they both assumed fighting stances.
"Oh, and who might you newcomers be?" Questioned the demon, "you're dressed much more fancily than these country bumpkin swordsmiths. Are you perhaps patrons of the arts?"
"We do value art," answered Mukuro with the same impassive look on his face as his sister.
"But how do you define art?" Questioned Kuroko for the both of them.
"Oh I'd be happy to show you my art!" Exclaimed the demon, "but of course, introductions first. I am Upper Moon Five, the marvelous Gyokko! And this, is one of my latest pieces of art." He produced another pot from seemingly out of nowhere before proceeding to have it spew out a mass of limbs and swords. It was five swordsmiths whose bodies were intertwined and smashed together, their forms covered in cuts and bruises with swords shoved through each one of them. Their masks remained but were broken enough that one could easily see the pained expressions on their faces, which was the worst part, they were still partially alive.
"I call this piece 'L'agonie Des Forgerons'!" Said Gyokko, "I tried explaining to those muscle-brained buffoons earlier about this exquisite work, but alas they didn't even listen until the end. But perhaps you two, claiming to be lovers of art, will have a different take on it."
"Such a poor ripoff," said Mukuro as the grip on his weapon visibly tightened.
"The Rape of Proserpina," added Kuroko with narrowed eyes.
"Is what we see here," ended Mukuro before they both spoke. "You know nothing of originality or art."
"You dare to insinuate that I know nothing of art," said Gyokko as his form raised out of his pot a bit while several smaller pots were conjured in his hands, "then perhaps I haven't shown you enough. Let's see if you can survive some of my more lively works!"
"You have it wrong there," said Mukuro.
"For you shall be the canvas," continued Kuroko.
"And your blood the paint!" The two of them said, actually raising their voices a little before the three artist leapt into battle.
Goodness gracious great balls of fire. Don't tell me you weren't all thinking it, because I sure as shit was! Ahem, anyway I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and as always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Be sure to stop in next time as the Saiketsu Twins trade blow after artistic blow with Gyokko! 'Til then.