Chapter 12
Old Habits Die Hard
So here it is at last.
Zoot crossed his arms proudly across his chest.
He had found it. The secret entrance to the secret base Pandorax had built to keep hidden Ragnarok.
"Open it." he ordered one of his look-alike warriors.
The warrior girl obeyed her master and opened the secret door.
He had to admit that it was tough finding the secret door in this hotter than hell desert. It was no wonder they called this place Death Valley.
In the door was a stairway into darkness.
"Prepare the torches. We're going in now."
With that said, Zoot stepped down the steps. He paused for a moment as he was elbow-level with the hole of the secret door.
He looked to the side. "Remember. Kill him and you get your reward. I want his head as proof."
The figure nodded.
Zoot headed down with his followers, the Zootists, behind him.
Death Valley, Nevada. They had finally made it.
Blade stopped his motorbike as he looked to the sign that said Death Valley.
"So, our little adventure is coming to an end." Lex sighed as he stopped the truck with Sabe and Ruby inside.
Blade turned to the deputy. "You seem nervous."
Lex shrugged his shoulders. "In a way, I did kill Zoot. Then again, I'm just curious to see if this is really Zoot we're after, or is it just another fake like the Chosen made up."
Blade looked on ahead.
"I'll known soon enough." he replied.
Everyone looked to the bounty hunter.
"You? Don't you mean we?" Ruby corrected.
The "Agent of Death" shook his head. "You've been through a lot. I know you fear Zoot. So you don't have to travel with me."
"Whoa!" Lex smirked. "Who are you and what have you done with Cowboy Blade?"
The bounty hunter glared at Lex.
"I'm serious! I mean, the Blade I know would never say a think like that. It's almost as if you…care."
Blade's sneer turned into a scowl that would make a snake hide in its hole for a year.
"I just want you out of the way. Your tribe hired me to take on Zoot, so my payment is on the line here."
All eyes went to Sabe when the heard the drifter scoff. "Yes, of course."
She glared at the bounty hunter. "Wouldn't want you to lose your precious reward now, would we?"
Sometimes this girl could be a real case! What did she want from him?!
Cowboy Blade was a bounty hunter, he hunted people down dead or alive for their bounties. If he was desperate, he would do more like mercenary! That's what he does. No more and no less.
"Do you ever think of anyone but yourself?!" Sabe asked. "Do you even care that maybe if they get a hold of this Ragnarok, many lives will die?! Including the Mallrats?! Are you willing to bring them to harm for your own selfish need?"
For the first time ever, Blade showed emotion. He was surprised by the drifter's outburst.
He looked away from the truck and down at the handle bars of the motorbike.
"Maybe you don't care, Blade. But I do. And so does Ruby and Lex. So we're not doing this for you, but we are doing this for our friends and others." Sabe admitted.
Lex and Ruby looked at each other.
Both knew that the drifter did have a point.
They were not doing this for the bounty hunter, but rather for themselves and their loved ones.
Lex had already lost Zandra and Tai-San. He couldn't stand to lose anymore of his friends or….Ruby for that matter.
And if anything were to happen to Slade and Ram, Ruby would….
The engine of the motorbike going off gained their attention as they saw Cowboy Blade head out.
Lex followed after him in the truck, determined with Ruby and Sabe more than ever.
But as he drove, a question entered his mind.
He was doing this for Ruby and the Mallrats, Ruby was doing this for Slade and Ram and the town of Liberty, but who was Sabe doing this for and why?
….and the answer was right in plain sight ahead of them.
Blade swerved the motorbike to a stop when he saw a brown cloaked figure blocking his way.
Then he saw the opened secret door.
So Zoot had made it first.
The truck came to a halt right next to Blade as the bounty hunter stepped off the motorbike.
The dark hole in the brown cloak faced Cowboy Blade.
"So you have come seeking out Zoot have you? I am most surprised that you and your friends have managed to survive in this desolate plain, Cowboy Blade." the figure spoke.
Blade raised his head a bit that the shadow mask caused by his hat's rims nearly lifted over his eyes.
"You seem to know who I am." the bounty hunter spoke.
"On the contrary, I know much about those I am hired to kill. You are Cowboy Blade, honored with titles such as "Agent of Death," man-hunter, or how bout the Invincible Swordsman."
His gloved hands clenched tightly into fists that blood nearly drew out of his skin under the leather fabric.
"But that third name you haven't gone by in a long time. And I know why."
Blade sneered. "How do you know?" he asked darkly.
"It doesn't really matter. Since now you are going to suffer a long, slow and painful horrible death. So, if you…don't mind."
The figure pushed the side of his cloak back, revealing a long and thin wooden stick. Only when the figure put his hand around the top, it was actually a Samurai sword as he unsheathed a stainless thin steel blade.
The sunlight reflected off the Samurai sword as both two adversaries stood apart, glaring to one another with unblinking eyes.
His companions waited in the truck, waiting to see the outcome.
Just be careful, Blade. That's all I'm asking, Sabe thought to herself.
Her concern for the bounty hunter even showed in her eyes, and Lex saw this right away.
Blade reached for the shotgun underneath his raincoat, Before it could aim in the air, the figure was already before him and slashed the gun out of his gloved hand.
He slashed again this time at Blade's neck, but the bounty hunter was fast enough to dodge back.
But his opponent was proving to be more quicker as he lunged more slashes at Blade's body.
The blade did come in contact with his left cheek, then his shoulder, then his chest and last his knee.
Blade jumped back, and blood dripped down from his small cuts.
"I once heard of a warrior called the Phantom Samurai who could move like a shadow and deliver the deathblow to one person so quick that they would never expect it for awhile. It seems I have met him." Blade smirked.
Phantom Samurai chuckled and took a bow. "Indeed that is who I am. But you have left one thing out."
The assassin raised his sword over his head.
"I'm also the one to end your miserable life!"
The Samurai sword which would have sliced the bounty hunter right in half only cut through the desert ground.
"Eh?" Phantom Samurai looked surprise for a moment, then chuckled lightly as he stood back up.
"I must say. You're better than I thought you would be."
Blade looked over his shoulder with his back turned to Phantom Samurai's.
"But at this point, you should know by now that you can't strike me with your fists and your kicks. Maybe…"
The corner of the phantom's eye looked to the sword hanging in its harness on Blade's back.
The bounty hunter knew what Phantom Samurai had in mine, and he could forget it.
True, he couldn't use his hand-to-hand combat skills in this type of fighting. Phantom was far too fast with that sword, and Blade would be a new organ doner.
"Come on, dammit! Use your sword!" Lex hissed. "He's gonna get meated if he doesn't use his sword!"
"There's nothing we can do about it, Lex. If he refuses to use his sword, he refuses. It's his choice alone." Ruby said.
"But unless he does something, he's gonna die! And we could be next! Do you know what that means, Ruby?!" Lex shouted. "It means Zoot's going to win! That we've traveled all the way for nothing!"
"Lex…"
Both Ruby and Lex turned to Sabe.
"He refuses to his sword…because of something horrible he committed in his past with that sword."
"How do you know, Sabe?" Lex asked.
The drifter continued staring at the struggling bounty hunter dodging each slash that Phantom Samurai had made with his sword.
"I could see it in his eyes. I could hear it in his voice. As he fights, he's battling against two enemies. One is the enemy he sees before him, and the other is his demons."
Lex's eyes went wide. How the heck could this girl know all this?!
The Samurai sword cut through the skin of his chest once again, making another scratch in his white shirt.
This time, the bounty hunter groaned to the sharp pain and fell on his knees.
While Phantom Samurai stood over his fallen foe.
He laughed. "Agent of Death? Man-hunter? Invincible Swordsman?! Ha! I guess I was wrong about you. And you've got this weirdo called Zoot all creeped out."
Blade panted. He couldn't fight this enemy, and he couldn't dodge him. He was almost as tough as…
"But Zoot ordered me to bring him your head, so a deal is a deal."
The Samurai sword was raised overhead again.
"See you in Hell, Cowboy Blade!"
The blade came down.
"NO!!"
Sabe lunged herself at the Phantom, grabbing his by his waist and knocking him away from the bounty hunter.
Blade looked up surprised.
But not even Sabe was a mere match for the assassin as he shoved her down hard on her back.
She didn't even have her staff with her. Saving Blade was far too important to her.
The Phantom sneered underneath his cloak, and raised his sword again.
"Since you are eager to die, I will send you with him!"
Sabe's eyes went wide in horror as she realized that this was the end. She never expected it to come THIS soon.
The blade came down again…..
…and clashed into something that was definitely more harder and stronger than skin.
"Huh?"
Phantom Samurai looked up to see Blade with his sword in his hands, blocking his own Samurai sword from Sabe.
With a bit of strength in his arms, Blade overpowered the assassin and forced him backwards.
The Phantom laughed as he gained balance. "So, you finally decide to use that remarkable weapon at last. It still won't save you."
Sabe got back up and stood behind Blade. And the drifter, along with others, watched in amazement as Blade raised his sword to the sky until he was cat-eye level the cross guard of his sword. He was ready to fight again.
Blade grinned to Phantom Samurai.
"I want to thank you, Phantom." he said.
The assassin looked baffled. "What?"
"For showing me that sometimes we have to do what we must to survive."
Blade turned to the drifter behind him. "And that we also must take risks."
The assassin snarled. "Oh, stop it with your sentimental crap and fight me!"
Phantom Samurai charged with his Samurai sword ready.
"Get back to the truck." Blade told Sabe.
The drifter ran to the truck, but did not get back in with Ruby and Lex.
"DIE!!"
The Samurai sword slashed out at the bounty hunter, only to be intercepted again with the steel of Cowboy Blade's gothic-like sword.
Each slash Phantom delivered, Blade would block it with even greater speed.
It was as if he knew exactly what the assassin would do next.
Sparks started to fly, but only from Phantom Samurai's sword as he was putting more strength into his blows.
It wasn't even enough to make the bounty hunter lose his guard.
Now, it was time.
"Game time." Blade hissed.
The warrior made circular patterns with his sword, Phantom Samurai trying to keep his own sword close to black the gothic sword of Blade, unaware that he was being drawn back.
Now!!
Blade did a quick nose dive with the tip of his sword, striking at the bottom of Phantom's hand, then stroke the Samurai's sword hilt upwards.
The sword left Phantom's grasp and into the sky.
Enough distraction for Blade to spin around and cut his sword in a curved arc, right through the assassin's chest.
"ARGH!!"
Phantom Samurai fell on his back with the large wound across his body from Cowboy Blade's sword.
The fight was over. Phantom Samurai would finished.
He sheathed his sword back in its harness, and Cowboy Blade walked away from his beaten adversary, just as the Samurai sword nose dived into the ground right next to Phantom Samurai's head.
Blade looked to his three companions who watched him with awe.
"Let's go. We must find Zoot."
With that, Lex and Ruby were out of the truck, and along with Sabe and Blade walked down the stairway where the end of their journey was at foot.
Blade turned as Lex and Ruby continued down. Sabe was right behind him.
And he sighed.
"Thanks."
Old Habits Die Hard
So here it is at last.
Zoot crossed his arms proudly across his chest.
He had found it. The secret entrance to the secret base Pandorax had built to keep hidden Ragnarok.
"Open it." he ordered one of his look-alike warriors.
The warrior girl obeyed her master and opened the secret door.
He had to admit that it was tough finding the secret door in this hotter than hell desert. It was no wonder they called this place Death Valley.
In the door was a stairway into darkness.
"Prepare the torches. We're going in now."
With that said, Zoot stepped down the steps. He paused for a moment as he was elbow-level with the hole of the secret door.
He looked to the side. "Remember. Kill him and you get your reward. I want his head as proof."
The figure nodded.
Zoot headed down with his followers, the Zootists, behind him.
Death Valley, Nevada. They had finally made it.
Blade stopped his motorbike as he looked to the sign that said Death Valley.
"So, our little adventure is coming to an end." Lex sighed as he stopped the truck with Sabe and Ruby inside.
Blade turned to the deputy. "You seem nervous."
Lex shrugged his shoulders. "In a way, I did kill Zoot. Then again, I'm just curious to see if this is really Zoot we're after, or is it just another fake like the Chosen made up."
Blade looked on ahead.
"I'll known soon enough." he replied.
Everyone looked to the bounty hunter.
"You? Don't you mean we?" Ruby corrected.
The "Agent of Death" shook his head. "You've been through a lot. I know you fear Zoot. So you don't have to travel with me."
"Whoa!" Lex smirked. "Who are you and what have you done with Cowboy Blade?"
The bounty hunter glared at Lex.
"I'm serious! I mean, the Blade I know would never say a think like that. It's almost as if you…care."
Blade's sneer turned into a scowl that would make a snake hide in its hole for a year.
"I just want you out of the way. Your tribe hired me to take on Zoot, so my payment is on the line here."
All eyes went to Sabe when the heard the drifter scoff. "Yes, of course."
She glared at the bounty hunter. "Wouldn't want you to lose your precious reward now, would we?"
Sometimes this girl could be a real case! What did she want from him?!
Cowboy Blade was a bounty hunter, he hunted people down dead or alive for their bounties. If he was desperate, he would do more like mercenary! That's what he does. No more and no less.
"Do you ever think of anyone but yourself?!" Sabe asked. "Do you even care that maybe if they get a hold of this Ragnarok, many lives will die?! Including the Mallrats?! Are you willing to bring them to harm for your own selfish need?"
For the first time ever, Blade showed emotion. He was surprised by the drifter's outburst.
He looked away from the truck and down at the handle bars of the motorbike.
"Maybe you don't care, Blade. But I do. And so does Ruby and Lex. So we're not doing this for you, but we are doing this for our friends and others." Sabe admitted.
Lex and Ruby looked at each other.
Both knew that the drifter did have a point.
They were not doing this for the bounty hunter, but rather for themselves and their loved ones.
Lex had already lost Zandra and Tai-San. He couldn't stand to lose anymore of his friends or….Ruby for that matter.
And if anything were to happen to Slade and Ram, Ruby would….
The engine of the motorbike going off gained their attention as they saw Cowboy Blade head out.
Lex followed after him in the truck, determined with Ruby and Sabe more than ever.
But as he drove, a question entered his mind.
He was doing this for Ruby and the Mallrats, Ruby was doing this for Slade and Ram and the town of Liberty, but who was Sabe doing this for and why?
….and the answer was right in plain sight ahead of them.
Blade swerved the motorbike to a stop when he saw a brown cloaked figure blocking his way.
Then he saw the opened secret door.
So Zoot had made it first.
The truck came to a halt right next to Blade as the bounty hunter stepped off the motorbike.
The dark hole in the brown cloak faced Cowboy Blade.
"So you have come seeking out Zoot have you? I am most surprised that you and your friends have managed to survive in this desolate plain, Cowboy Blade." the figure spoke.
Blade raised his head a bit that the shadow mask caused by his hat's rims nearly lifted over his eyes.
"You seem to know who I am." the bounty hunter spoke.
"On the contrary, I know much about those I am hired to kill. You are Cowboy Blade, honored with titles such as "Agent of Death," man-hunter, or how bout the Invincible Swordsman."
His gloved hands clenched tightly into fists that blood nearly drew out of his skin under the leather fabric.
"But that third name you haven't gone by in a long time. And I know why."
Blade sneered. "How do you know?" he asked darkly.
"It doesn't really matter. Since now you are going to suffer a long, slow and painful horrible death. So, if you…don't mind."
The figure pushed the side of his cloak back, revealing a long and thin wooden stick. Only when the figure put his hand around the top, it was actually a Samurai sword as he unsheathed a stainless thin steel blade.
The sunlight reflected off the Samurai sword as both two adversaries stood apart, glaring to one another with unblinking eyes.
His companions waited in the truck, waiting to see the outcome.
Just be careful, Blade. That's all I'm asking, Sabe thought to herself.
Her concern for the bounty hunter even showed in her eyes, and Lex saw this right away.
Blade reached for the shotgun underneath his raincoat, Before it could aim in the air, the figure was already before him and slashed the gun out of his gloved hand.
He slashed again this time at Blade's neck, but the bounty hunter was fast enough to dodge back.
But his opponent was proving to be more quicker as he lunged more slashes at Blade's body.
The blade did come in contact with his left cheek, then his shoulder, then his chest and last his knee.
Blade jumped back, and blood dripped down from his small cuts.
"I once heard of a warrior called the Phantom Samurai who could move like a shadow and deliver the deathblow to one person so quick that they would never expect it for awhile. It seems I have met him." Blade smirked.
Phantom Samurai chuckled and took a bow. "Indeed that is who I am. But you have left one thing out."
The assassin raised his sword over his head.
"I'm also the one to end your miserable life!"
The Samurai sword which would have sliced the bounty hunter right in half only cut through the desert ground.
"Eh?" Phantom Samurai looked surprise for a moment, then chuckled lightly as he stood back up.
"I must say. You're better than I thought you would be."
Blade looked over his shoulder with his back turned to Phantom Samurai's.
"But at this point, you should know by now that you can't strike me with your fists and your kicks. Maybe…"
The corner of the phantom's eye looked to the sword hanging in its harness on Blade's back.
The bounty hunter knew what Phantom Samurai had in mine, and he could forget it.
True, he couldn't use his hand-to-hand combat skills in this type of fighting. Phantom was far too fast with that sword, and Blade would be a new organ doner.
"Come on, dammit! Use your sword!" Lex hissed. "He's gonna get meated if he doesn't use his sword!"
"There's nothing we can do about it, Lex. If he refuses to use his sword, he refuses. It's his choice alone." Ruby said.
"But unless he does something, he's gonna die! And we could be next! Do you know what that means, Ruby?!" Lex shouted. "It means Zoot's going to win! That we've traveled all the way for nothing!"
"Lex…"
Both Ruby and Lex turned to Sabe.
"He refuses to his sword…because of something horrible he committed in his past with that sword."
"How do you know, Sabe?" Lex asked.
The drifter continued staring at the struggling bounty hunter dodging each slash that Phantom Samurai had made with his sword.
"I could see it in his eyes. I could hear it in his voice. As he fights, he's battling against two enemies. One is the enemy he sees before him, and the other is his demons."
Lex's eyes went wide. How the heck could this girl know all this?!
The Samurai sword cut through the skin of his chest once again, making another scratch in his white shirt.
This time, the bounty hunter groaned to the sharp pain and fell on his knees.
While Phantom Samurai stood over his fallen foe.
He laughed. "Agent of Death? Man-hunter? Invincible Swordsman?! Ha! I guess I was wrong about you. And you've got this weirdo called Zoot all creeped out."
Blade panted. He couldn't fight this enemy, and he couldn't dodge him. He was almost as tough as…
"But Zoot ordered me to bring him your head, so a deal is a deal."
The Samurai sword was raised overhead again.
"See you in Hell, Cowboy Blade!"
The blade came down.
"NO!!"
Sabe lunged herself at the Phantom, grabbing his by his waist and knocking him away from the bounty hunter.
Blade looked up surprised.
But not even Sabe was a mere match for the assassin as he shoved her down hard on her back.
She didn't even have her staff with her. Saving Blade was far too important to her.
The Phantom sneered underneath his cloak, and raised his sword again.
"Since you are eager to die, I will send you with him!"
Sabe's eyes went wide in horror as she realized that this was the end. She never expected it to come THIS soon.
The blade came down again…..
…and clashed into something that was definitely more harder and stronger than skin.
"Huh?"
Phantom Samurai looked up to see Blade with his sword in his hands, blocking his own Samurai sword from Sabe.
With a bit of strength in his arms, Blade overpowered the assassin and forced him backwards.
The Phantom laughed as he gained balance. "So, you finally decide to use that remarkable weapon at last. It still won't save you."
Sabe got back up and stood behind Blade. And the drifter, along with others, watched in amazement as Blade raised his sword to the sky until he was cat-eye level the cross guard of his sword. He was ready to fight again.
Blade grinned to Phantom Samurai.
"I want to thank you, Phantom." he said.
The assassin looked baffled. "What?"
"For showing me that sometimes we have to do what we must to survive."
Blade turned to the drifter behind him. "And that we also must take risks."
The assassin snarled. "Oh, stop it with your sentimental crap and fight me!"
Phantom Samurai charged with his Samurai sword ready.
"Get back to the truck." Blade told Sabe.
The drifter ran to the truck, but did not get back in with Ruby and Lex.
"DIE!!"
The Samurai sword slashed out at the bounty hunter, only to be intercepted again with the steel of Cowboy Blade's gothic-like sword.
Each slash Phantom delivered, Blade would block it with even greater speed.
It was as if he knew exactly what the assassin would do next.
Sparks started to fly, but only from Phantom Samurai's sword as he was putting more strength into his blows.
It wasn't even enough to make the bounty hunter lose his guard.
Now, it was time.
"Game time." Blade hissed.
The warrior made circular patterns with his sword, Phantom Samurai trying to keep his own sword close to black the gothic sword of Blade, unaware that he was being drawn back.
Now!!
Blade did a quick nose dive with the tip of his sword, striking at the bottom of Phantom's hand, then stroke the Samurai's sword hilt upwards.
The sword left Phantom's grasp and into the sky.
Enough distraction for Blade to spin around and cut his sword in a curved arc, right through the assassin's chest.
"ARGH!!"
Phantom Samurai fell on his back with the large wound across his body from Cowboy Blade's sword.
The fight was over. Phantom Samurai would finished.
He sheathed his sword back in its harness, and Cowboy Blade walked away from his beaten adversary, just as the Samurai sword nose dived into the ground right next to Phantom Samurai's head.
Blade looked to his three companions who watched him with awe.
"Let's go. We must find Zoot."
With that, Lex and Ruby were out of the truck, and along with Sabe and Blade walked down the stairway where the end of their journey was at foot.
Blade turned as Lex and Ruby continued down. Sabe was right behind him.
And he sighed.
"Thanks."