BROKEN, part two: Clan
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"Excellent reflexes as always, my sleek nuke-nin," came a gruff voice, male and baritone. "No wonder Master Toki holds you in such high esteem."
"Show yourself, Geki," Taki said; there was no mistaking the voice.
Geki stepped enough into the light so that Taki could see his face and upper torso but no more. He frowned in mock sorrow.
"I was going to give you three guesses, but you ruined even that little game." He paused theatrically. "There's nowhere to run, nuke-nin. The temple is surrounded by my team and bound by our magicks. You cannot escape. Hand it over."
[He means Mekkimaru, of course,] she thought before replying. "That, I cannot do. Toki-sama covets what he cannot understand or control. This blade is too powerful and dangerous to be used." She paused before continuing, peering into the opaque shadows that still obscured his body below the shoulders. "You, of all people, should understand this better than anyone. The blade took your arm."
Geki did not immediately respond, but his eyes glinted with hatred.
"Yes, your trap was all too efficient, nuke-nin," he said at last. "Your magic was stronger than we were led to believe."
Taki was almost dumbfounded. Did he actually believe she had booby-trapped Mekki-maru to destroy whoever drew it?
[This blade truly blinds the lustful to its true nature,]she thought. [It is no different from Soul Edge.] Now, more than ever, she was determined to seek out that other evil blade and deal with it once and for all. Perhaps if she pit Mekkimaru against Soul Edge, the two weapons would destroy each other, or at least weaken the other enough for her and Rekkimaru to finish it off. But first she had to survive this challenge.
With sudden swiftness, Geki leapt from his perch on the statue in a high, arcing flip to land perfectly a scant three meters from Taki. Now, fully revealed in the torchlight, Taki could see that his destroyed hand and forearm had been replaced by a finely forged and long ninjatou. In his good left hand, the tall ninja twirled a weighted chain.
"For my service in taking your foul assassination attempt upon his life, Master Toki of the Fu-Ma clan has given me the gifts and permission to destroy you. Prepare yourself for death, nuke-nin!" Geki hurled the chain with such speed that Taki felt the wind displaced by the weighted end on her cheek as it narrowly missed her head. Almost simultaneously he yanked the chain back at an angle, and Taki felt a painful crack almost squarely on the back of her skull. She bent forward in pain, fighting the urge to black out.
Geki gave no quarter. Rushing forward, he stabbed his swordarm directly for her heart. But he missed completely as Taki shifted her forward crumple into a sideways roll to his left. She continued the roll, hoping he would try to press his apparent advantage. But as she stood up from the roll, intending to slash his exposed flank, she instead had to flip away from his chain, which he was hurling from midair, having leapt and twisted to avoid her attack.
She landed and spun, ready for his next move, but he did not continue his attack, instead hauling his chain back to a ready position. Taki warily began to circle to Geki's left, which she surmised would be his weak side. But his skill with the chain was considerable, even with only one hand to wield it. And his strange stance -- right foot and sword arm forward -- troubled her. It was not of the Mussou Battou style that the Fu-Ma clan favored. She did not know what new techniques he had developed with this new weaponry. She was in completely new territory, where he held all the advantages; he knew her moves, and she suddenly knew none of his.
If Geki knew how strong his hand was, he let no bravado show. As Taki attempted to circle to his left, he carefully stepped left as well to cover the weak side. Seeing his weakness, Taki began to close the distance, cautiously. She hoped to take him by surprise with a quick Assassin Strike from his slight left before he could bring his sword arm to bear--
Taki heard the whistle of the chain just in time to duck the arcing weight, which snagged and plucked a few stray hairs from her ponytail. She now saw that the defense of his left flank was only a feint to draw her in for the chain attack. As he continued to whirl the chain in a meter-wide arc, he began to press his attack with his sword arm.
Using a most unorthodox style that Taki had only seen once while traveling Europe, Geki attacked with a series of jabs and thrusts that Taki found surprisingly difficult to defend against. When his blade made contact with hers or her wrist armor, he would slide his blade past her guard, forcing her to open her guard to redirect the blade from wounding her. Or he would disengage and draw back the sword immediately once she committed to a blocking maneuver. And because of the unique nature of his weapon, his counterattack speed was as fast as her own. She often considered Rekkimaru an extension of herself; but for Geki and his swordarm it was literally true, to her disadvantage.
He also had a tremendous advantage in reach, and on top of all else, the whirling chain continually threatened to deal her a staggering blow which could easily open her up to a fatal sword stroke. Taki was forced entirely on the defensive, and yet was growing bloodied as Geki's thrusts began to strike skin and flesh.
Suddenly, Taki felt a draft at her back and realized Geki had driven her to the edge of the temple platform. His right arm closed off escape to her left and the chain covered her right. She was trapped, unless...
Throwing aside caution, Taki feinted low, then flipped high above Geki's head when he succumbed to the fake and stabbed low. She landed heavily; the fatigue of this desperate battle, following on the heels of the binding of Gel-O-Fury, and the combined shock of a half-dozen light wounds were taking their toll.
This instant of weariness was all Geki needed. With awesome speed and almost without looking, he spun the chain back in an arc. Taki could only rear back and throw her blade arm up to block the blow from the chain-weight. The end whipped around her lightly armored right wrist, entangling it, and the weight struck the side of her unarmored hand with bone-jarring pain. Rekki-maru fell noisily to the temple floor.
Before she could reach it with her free hand, Geki yanked her forward and away from her fallen blade and within five feet of him. The chain was beginning to slide from her wrist armor, but not fast enough; with one sudden right step forward Geki put his swordarm in range for a killing blow, which followed the step in a single motion.
------- Next: Blade
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"Excellent reflexes as always, my sleek nuke-nin," came a gruff voice, male and baritone. "No wonder Master Toki holds you in such high esteem."
"Show yourself, Geki," Taki said; there was no mistaking the voice.
Geki stepped enough into the light so that Taki could see his face and upper torso but no more. He frowned in mock sorrow.
"I was going to give you three guesses, but you ruined even that little game." He paused theatrically. "There's nowhere to run, nuke-nin. The temple is surrounded by my team and bound by our magicks. You cannot escape. Hand it over."
[He means Mekkimaru, of course,] she thought before replying. "That, I cannot do. Toki-sama covets what he cannot understand or control. This blade is too powerful and dangerous to be used." She paused before continuing, peering into the opaque shadows that still obscured his body below the shoulders. "You, of all people, should understand this better than anyone. The blade took your arm."
Geki did not immediately respond, but his eyes glinted with hatred.
"Yes, your trap was all too efficient, nuke-nin," he said at last. "Your magic was stronger than we were led to believe."
Taki was almost dumbfounded. Did he actually believe she had booby-trapped Mekki-maru to destroy whoever drew it?
[This blade truly blinds the lustful to its true nature,]she thought. [It is no different from Soul Edge.] Now, more than ever, she was determined to seek out that other evil blade and deal with it once and for all. Perhaps if she pit Mekkimaru against Soul Edge, the two weapons would destroy each other, or at least weaken the other enough for her and Rekkimaru to finish it off. But first she had to survive this challenge.
With sudden swiftness, Geki leapt from his perch on the statue in a high, arcing flip to land perfectly a scant three meters from Taki. Now, fully revealed in the torchlight, Taki could see that his destroyed hand and forearm had been replaced by a finely forged and long ninjatou. In his good left hand, the tall ninja twirled a weighted chain.
"For my service in taking your foul assassination attempt upon his life, Master Toki of the Fu-Ma clan has given me the gifts and permission to destroy you. Prepare yourself for death, nuke-nin!" Geki hurled the chain with such speed that Taki felt the wind displaced by the weighted end on her cheek as it narrowly missed her head. Almost simultaneously he yanked the chain back at an angle, and Taki felt a painful crack almost squarely on the back of her skull. She bent forward in pain, fighting the urge to black out.
Geki gave no quarter. Rushing forward, he stabbed his swordarm directly for her heart. But he missed completely as Taki shifted her forward crumple into a sideways roll to his left. She continued the roll, hoping he would try to press his apparent advantage. But as she stood up from the roll, intending to slash his exposed flank, she instead had to flip away from his chain, which he was hurling from midair, having leapt and twisted to avoid her attack.
She landed and spun, ready for his next move, but he did not continue his attack, instead hauling his chain back to a ready position. Taki warily began to circle to Geki's left, which she surmised would be his weak side. But his skill with the chain was considerable, even with only one hand to wield it. And his strange stance -- right foot and sword arm forward -- troubled her. It was not of the Mussou Battou style that the Fu-Ma clan favored. She did not know what new techniques he had developed with this new weaponry. She was in completely new territory, where he held all the advantages; he knew her moves, and she suddenly knew none of his.
If Geki knew how strong his hand was, he let no bravado show. As Taki attempted to circle to his left, he carefully stepped left as well to cover the weak side. Seeing his weakness, Taki began to close the distance, cautiously. She hoped to take him by surprise with a quick Assassin Strike from his slight left before he could bring his sword arm to bear--
Taki heard the whistle of the chain just in time to duck the arcing weight, which snagged and plucked a few stray hairs from her ponytail. She now saw that the defense of his left flank was only a feint to draw her in for the chain attack. As he continued to whirl the chain in a meter-wide arc, he began to press his attack with his sword arm.
Using a most unorthodox style that Taki had only seen once while traveling Europe, Geki attacked with a series of jabs and thrusts that Taki found surprisingly difficult to defend against. When his blade made contact with hers or her wrist armor, he would slide his blade past her guard, forcing her to open her guard to redirect the blade from wounding her. Or he would disengage and draw back the sword immediately once she committed to a blocking maneuver. And because of the unique nature of his weapon, his counterattack speed was as fast as her own. She often considered Rekkimaru an extension of herself; but for Geki and his swordarm it was literally true, to her disadvantage.
He also had a tremendous advantage in reach, and on top of all else, the whirling chain continually threatened to deal her a staggering blow which could easily open her up to a fatal sword stroke. Taki was forced entirely on the defensive, and yet was growing bloodied as Geki's thrusts began to strike skin and flesh.
Suddenly, Taki felt a draft at her back and realized Geki had driven her to the edge of the temple platform. His right arm closed off escape to her left and the chain covered her right. She was trapped, unless...
Throwing aside caution, Taki feinted low, then flipped high above Geki's head when he succumbed to the fake and stabbed low. She landed heavily; the fatigue of this desperate battle, following on the heels of the binding of Gel-O-Fury, and the combined shock of a half-dozen light wounds were taking their toll.
This instant of weariness was all Geki needed. With awesome speed and almost without looking, he spun the chain back in an arc. Taki could only rear back and throw her blade arm up to block the blow from the chain-weight. The end whipped around her lightly armored right wrist, entangling it, and the weight struck the side of her unarmored hand with bone-jarring pain. Rekki-maru fell noisily to the temple floor.
Before she could reach it with her free hand, Geki yanked her forward and away from her fallen blade and within five feet of him. The chain was beginning to slide from her wrist armor, but not fast enough; with one sudden right step forward Geki put his swordarm in range for a killing blow, which followed the step in a single motion.
------- Next: Blade