The Legend Will Never Die: Part Nine "Maxi the Dandy of the Seas"
By: Anita
Maxi the Dandy of the Seas
The sea was still, as if it knew, as if it could sense Maxi's pain. Maxi stood, watching the horizon and remembering.
It had been exactly a year since Maxi's crew had been slaughtered. His friends had been his only family for most of his life, they had all been more like brothers than crewmates. Sadly, just like his parents, they were not destined to traverse the paths of life with Maxi, he would have to endure the burden alone.
Fortunately, Maxi had met two very special people, people who he knew he would stay friends with for the rest of his life. Kilik had helped him ward of the attackers when his ship had been attacked on that fateful day, and Maxi would never forget it. Xianghua had been a friend of Kilik's, and she was strong-willed and spirited. The three of them had been on many adventures together, and Maxi would always treasure the memories.
Kilik had been with Maxi on the day of the massacre. They had both fought bravely, but Kilik's Dvarpa-Yuga was stolen, and Maxi was left to fight Kilik off, and by the time Kilik was back under control, the damage was done.
Maxi would never forget the name of the abomination that destroyed his life.
"I will find you and get my revenge... Astaroth."
Maxi travelled far and wide, and he had gotten a few leads on Astaroth's location.
Astaroth had been created at the Palgaea shrine, and had a small platform where he performed his fighting matches.
Astaroth had been created three years ago by the evil Kunpaetku, and the priest had demanded that Astaroth bring him Soul Edge. Astaroth's ultimate skills with his large axe made him a tough opponent, and he would not let anyone stand in his way to fulfil his master's request.
Maxi reached the edge of a volcano. There was a cave filled with steps that led far into the foot of the volcano.
'I have heard that the Palgaea shrine is exceedingly hot, due to the lava, but the heat does not affect Astaroth, so he has an advantage. I have to keep my guard up, if I am hoping to defeat Astaroth in his own domain.' Maxi thought.
Without looking back, Maxi began descending the stairs.
Slowly, Maxi began to feel the immense heat. He saw cracks in the walls with luminous streams of lava flowing through them. The glowing magma was Maxi's only light as he travelled deeper into the chasm.
Soon enough, Maxi reached the shrine. There were large statues of dragons scattered around, seemingly unaffected by the incredibly high temperature.
Floating in the middle of it all, was a small triangular platform. This was where Astaroth held his fights.
Maxi jumped onto the platform as he observed his surroundings.
"Come out Astaroth, and fight me, if you dare!" Maxi shouted in anger. He knew that Astaroth was here, and now was the time for Maxi to have his vengeance.
"Leave now, or you will die." A voice boomed. "I will make sure of it."
"Astaroth, you killed my crew a year from this day! You will now pay for the sins you have wrought!" Maxi growled. "Show yourself."
"Foolish human. You must have a wish to die at the hands of someone much greater than you. I will not let you leave here alive."
Astaroth jumped down from the largest dragon statue's head. As he hit the ground, the whole shrine shook.
"Prepare for the last fight of your life." Astaroth roared and took out his large axe.
Maxi took out his nunchaku, the Fatibal. Whenever Maxi used his weapon, Maxi thought of the good times on his ship, with his crew.
Maxi would always practice with his nunchaku, but they would easily break under the pressure of his fighting style. One of Maxi's crewmates, Yamazzi, would continually remake nunchaku, each time, perfecting it to Maxi's style. Eventually, Yamazzi found a certain type of wood that was rumoured to be unbreakable. He finally created the perfect fightingweapon for Maxi to use. They named one stick of the nunchaku Kochi, for the east wind, and the other Hae, for the south wind.
"With this weapon in my hands, I can not lose!" Maxi declared to his foe.
"Ha ha ha! With that, you will not be able to make a scratch on me!" Astaroth scoffed. "I will show you what true power is."
Astaroth lunged his axe at Maxi, but missed as Maxi quickly sidestepped the attack. Maxi countered with a roundhouse kick.
"Grr... you will pay for that one, weak human!" Astaroth bellowed.
"We will see who will pay for what, tyrant." Maxi said, whipping his nunchaku out towards Astaroth, but this time, Astaroth was ready, and blocked the attack. Astaroth punched, flooring Maxi with his sheer power.
'I can not let my friends down.' Maxi ordered himself. He slammed his fist into Astaroth's tough skin, startling the monster, and elbowed Astaroth swiftly. Astaroth tried to retaliate, but was encountered by a flurry of attacks of Maxi's nunchaku.
"Now you will feel the pain that I have felt all of this time!" Maxi shouted as he continued his barrage. Astaroth was knocked away and his great axe was flung far away from him.
"No!" The beast yelled, as he realized that he no longer had a chance.
He dramatically kicked Astaroth's axe further away. He inched forward, watching his pathetic adversary. Watching the one he had hated for so long in such a dismal state brought a great smile to Maxi. He had achieved what he had set out to do.
Maxi turned to walk away, but was stopped by the sound of Astaroth's voice.
"I have been defeated. Kill me now and take your revenge. There is no use of me fighting now that I have tasted failure."
Maxi turned around. "No. A true warrior does not see sense in carelessly killing an opponent. I have done what I came to do. I have instilled the feelings of loss to you, as you have done to me. I will not kill you."
As Maxi walked away, Astaroth realized that what he had said was true. He would never be able to fight the same way again. He would always remember the one man who defeated him...
"It's been fun!" Maxi said, with a smile, as he left the Palgaea shrine.
Maxi knew that he would never be able to bring back his crew, but he did have his new friends, Kilik and Xianghua, and he was not going to lose them.
Maxi now had a new mission. He would find Kilik and join him in his search for Xianghua. If she was alive, then they would find her. Maybe, one day, the three of them would fight their last fight, and maybe the world would finally be at peace.
THE END?