SHONEN ALLIANCE
RE:BIRTH
OPENING THEME: KU ZEN ZETSU GO (Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters)
Zoro took up a fighting stance, all three of his blades held ready for the clash that was about to ensue. His foe wasn't particularly talkative, though the gold colored bit held in her mouth by a thick cord was likely more responsible for that then any kind of stoicism. Either way, Zoro had no way of learning who his foe was, or why Debauchery had seen fit to hypnotize the woman into his service, rather then let her share the fates of the other victims.
It was almost certain, however, that the twin blades held firmly in her hands, were at least part of the answer. After all, even in the state she was in, the Straw Hats' swordsman could still sense that this woman possessed the spirit of a true swordsman.
For now, both warriors merely faced off, each waiting to see what the other would do. Each sizing up their foe and waiting for the perfect moment for the first strike.
Despite the chamber being so quiet that the drop of a pin would have been audible, the tension was so thick, one of the combatants blades may well have been able to slice right through it.
The woman made the first move, closing the distance in no more time then it would take to blink an eye, swinging one of her swords from Zoro's left. The Straw Hat's swordsman didn't raise a blade to strike back, instead stepping backwards and allowing the strike to cut harmlessly through the open air centimeters away from his throat.
Zoro countered quickly, using the sword in his right hand to lash out at the woman who blocked the strike with her second blade. She swung again with her first blade, but Zoro swung the sword in his left hand, deflecting the strike away from himself. The woman jumped back, narrowly avoiding a two blade counter strike from Zoro.
She managed to distance herself from him, but Zoro wasn't about to let her keep that distance for long.
"THREE SWORD STYLE, ONI GIRI!" Zoro shouted, charging forward and lashing out with all three blades in a simultaneous attack.
The woman defended herself by leaping over Zoro, trying to strike him from above as she leapt over him. Luckily, Zoro was to fast for her trick and deflected the strike with his own sword, throwing off the woman's balance and sending her sailing awkwardly through the air.
She managed to mostly right herself before she landed, dropping to her knees after shakily landing on her feet, but not falling completely. Her acrobatic skills were impressive enough if nothing else, though that wasn't the only thing that had impressed Zoro. The strength behind the woman's blows had been jarring and her speed was exceptional as well. Whoever this woman was, she had clearly been a very powerful warrior before the Dark Saiyan of Lust had stripped her of her will.
Zoro couldn't help but pity the woman. For a proud swordsman, a fate like this, forced into servitude against your own will by someone who had almost certainly been an enemy, would be a fate worse then death. He wondered if this woman was aware of the actions she was being forced through or if the brainwashing kept her actions mercifully obscured from the scrutiny of her own mind and pride.
He had little time to consider any of this, however, as the woman resumed her offensive, lashing out with powerful yet graceful strikes, probing Zoro's defenses. They found nothing but a wall, however, as Zoro's own blades countered the woman's every strike. This continued for a brief exchange before Zoro found an opening to exploit, quickly turning the tide on his aggressor. Unfortunately, her defenses were as solid as his had been as neither succeeded in landing a single blow on their opponent before backing off to catch their breath and reassess their position.
Zoro analyzed his foe carefully, but in all honesty, found very little in the way of weakness. Her blows were fast and strong yet well trained and accurate. There was no weakness to her form that he could exploit, and, as such, this battle was going to come down simply to who was the more talented swordsman. A fact that Zoro was completely content with. He couldn't wait to see which of them would prove deserving of the win.
It was Zoro who instigated round 2, rushing his foe as quickly as she had initially charged him. Steel clashed against steel six times, then seven, then eight, with each fighter still struggling to find the opening they needed to deal damage to their foe.
Neither fighter was willing to relent, continuing to strike, deflect, and dodge, trying to find their opening.
To Zoro's chagrin, when first blood was drawn, it was his. He had only slightly misjudged the length covered by one of her strikes and the tip of her sword was able to cut a shallow scratch into his cheek. His payback was near instant, however, as the attack had thrown off the woman's balance. Zoro struck, but only managed to score a shallow scratch of his own just below her collarbone.
Both fighters had suffered an insignificant blow, but such strikes would barely be a factor in deciding the winner of this fight. Zoro could feel the tension rise as the two once again stepped back to assess the situation.
"Damn it, you're proving to be a real pain, ya know that?" Zoro spat, knowing full well his foe couldn't answer.
Zoro was caught a bit off guard when the woman embedded her right hand sword into the ground and released it. Holding up her hand, she snapped her fingers. There was a flash of energy and heat, and a fireball formed, hovering inches above the woman's finger.
"You've gotta be kidding," the Straw Hat swordsman sighed, rolling aside as the woman flung the fireball, singeing the ground where he had been standing moments before.
He wasn't about to let the woman have another chance to use her literal fire power against him, so he decided to counter with his own ranged attack.
"ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT CALIBER PHOENIX!" he shouted, swinging his katanas with enough force to launch a blast of pressurized air at his opponent.
The woman narrowly rolled out of the blasts path, rising to her feet just in time for Zoro to reach her and the two to once again begin an exchange of strikes and deflections.
Zoro swung both his blades for an overhead strike, which the woman blocked with one of her blades, though it forced her to her knees. Zoro tried to pull back, but before he could, the woman released her second sword and held her now free hand right in front of Zoro's stomach.
"Ah… Damn it!" Zoro swore as he realized his mistake at the same moment as the woman snapped her fingers. Zoro was immediately engulfed in an explosive pillar of fire. Singed and smoking, the Straw Hat swordsman was sent flying and crashing to the floor, his three swords skidding across the ground.
The woman did not give Zoro a chance to recover, snapping her finger three more times, bombarding Zoro with another ball of flame with each snap.
When the fire finally cleared, Zoro lay still on the ground, charred and singed as smoke rose from his burned body. The woman watched him a moment, then lowered her head and turned her back. Another foe had fallen to her, or so it seemed.
"Don't turn your back on me, woman," Zoro ordered her, causing her to wheel around to face him. Roronoa Zoro had already risen back to his feet, wielding all three of his blades, "that's a nifty trick you have there," he admitted, "but you'll have to do better then that to beat me."
The woman held up both her swords, preparing to continue the battle.
Zoro readied himself as well. I have to be careful, Zoro admitted to himself, who knows what other tricks she's got up her sleeve.
The woman made the first move, charging at Zoro and swinging both blades wildly from both sides for his chest. If she had been hoping Zoro's injured state gave her some sort of edge, she was quickly proved wrong as Zoro rose his own blades, easily blocking both of her weapons, then deflecting them, knocking them aside.
The woman allowed her right blade to be knocked out of her hand and pointed the free hand at Zoro! This time, though, Zoro was ready, jumping back as the woman snapped, resulting in the flame erupting harmlessly in front of him. Not even waiting for the fire to die out before rushing through it, he lashed out at his foe.
The woman was completely blindsided by Zoro erupting through her fire to counter her. She managed to narrowly raise her blade to block the attack, but, even so, the force of the strike sent her crashing into the nearby wall. She dropped to her seat and immediately held out her free arm, snapping her fingers five times. Five orbs of fire flew towards Zoro as he held up the two blades in his hands.
"ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT CALIBER PHOENIX!" he roared, unleashing his ranged wave attack which struck the flames, extinguishing them.
By the time the smoke cleared, the woman had managed to retrieve her second sword and once again, faced off with Zoro.
The two warriors were both breathing heavily as they sized up each other, looking for any sign of weakness to exploit.
"Damn it, this is getting old," Zoro hissed as the woman fired off three more fire shots at him, each of which he deflected with his swords. An eerie aura surrounded Zoro as he pointed his arms towards the ground and held his swords perpendicular to himself, pointed away. "Time to settle this."
Zoro's arms began to raise. More accurately, two new sets of arms rose away from Zoro's original arms for a total of six! Two stopped pointing straight out from his shoulders, holding their two swords straight out. The remaining two rose just above the top of Zoro's head, pointing their blades up at an angle so they crossed. As this happened, Zoro's head seemed to turn both direction creating the appearance of a head with three faces, each with a blade clenched in its teeth. The blades of the swords of the side faces pointed in opposite directions so that a blade pointed out in front and another behind Zoro. Combined with the aura he was still exuding, it created the illusion that the swordsman had become a demon!
"DEMON AURA! NINE-SWORD STYLE! ASURA!" Zoro called out, facing down his foe. She prepared her counter by raising her finger above her, creating a ball of fire more then twice her size! Without hesitation, she threw it at Zoro!
"This was fun," Zoro commented as the orb encroached upon him, "we'll have to do it again when you're yourself," he admitted as the six blades in his hands sliced at once. The fireball was entirely extinguished by the force of Zoro's strike. Without missing a beat Zoro charged through the dying embers and struck. His nine blades struck true and as Zoro landed behind her, the woman began to fall forward. No blood was drawn, nor did any cut appear on the woman's body. Every strike had landed with masterful precision, and before the woman hit the ground, the visor controlling her and the bit silencing her exploded, each cut into a dozen pieces by Zoro's masterful strokes.
The toll of the endeavor had left the swordswoman drained and unconscious, but she was free.
ENDING THEME: BACCHIKOI (Naruto Shippuden)
Sorry for the short chapter, but I find it's best not to drag out an action scene to long if you don't want it to get boring.