GCN: OMG!!! It has taken WAY too long to update, I know, know, don't sue me, I APOLOGIZE. I left it at a cliffhanger too, AUGH! So please forgive me!
Oh, by the way, I heard that a few of you were confused with the line: "She felt a rushing wind, then nothing more as her head his the rock with a sharp 'crack!'..." It was a major typo! It was supposed to be "...nothing more as her head hit the rock..." Basically, Kaoru hit her head and is going unconscious. So, does that make sense now?
I hate school. (Who doesn't?) Grrrrrr, it's just such a pain in the ass now, and it's so hard to get up every morning. Heh, even this weekend is totally screwed, what with two field shows, a parade and a football game for band and all. Ug. So I'm updating now, because if don't it's likely to be another month!
WARPED REALITY---CHAPTER 8
...Beep...bep...beep...bep...beep...
Taking advantage of the fact that the Battousai was no longer facing him, Soujirou pulled back his arm, creating an arc with his katana. Leveling the sword with his eye-line, the Tenken trust the sword forward, aimed right between Kenshin's shoulder blades.
'I got him!' Soujirou swelled with accomplishment. The moment was fleeting however, as Kenshin's outline blurred again and the shot missed completely.
"I am not so foolish as to turn my back on my opponent, if the opponent still has the ability to surprise me," Kenshin grumbled. "You lost your advantage of being emotionless a long time ago, Tenken. I can now read your every thought."
"Teh," Soujirou snorted. He wouldn't let this backtalk get to him. He had a duty to protect Kanryu-sama. A duty that he would complete, even sparing his life.
Kenshin readied his arm again, paying full attention on the boy now. His left hand lay a bit lower, dangling, and ready to swoop upward and guide the blade of the sword. Thinking frantically, Soujirou concluded that Kenshin was going to use the Kuso-Ryu-Sen....but how to dodge it?
No time to think!
Kenshin was no longer against the wall! He had seized the moment, driving towards Soujirou like a bat out of hell, and Soujirou hadn't had time to dodge.
Soujirou didn't even know what hit him. The next moment, he was soaring through the air, the Battousai above him, with the point of the Sakabatou lodged in his gut. The sword with the reversed end was clumsy for cutting, but the blade still had a point that was as deadly as any other sword.
"Aaaaargh!" As the seconds passed, the sword dug deeper and deeper into his flesh, sending small sprays all over his gi and Kenshin himself. As Kenshin's jumping momentum came to a halt, Soujirou slipped off the end of the blade, falling into the rock floor with a grunt and more blood.
Kenshin adjust his leap so that he landed gracefully only a few feet from where Soujirou landed. The Battousai stood up strait, causing his hair to fly back over his shoulders. "Now, you will tell me where I can find Kaoru."
Soujirou was trying to sit up, and talking was not his a high priority on his mind, considering that when even breathing, blood spilled out from between his clenched teeth. The boy began supporting himself on his elbows, still clinging to his sword.
"Well? Kaoru may be dying because of you. If she dies, you will too. Now tell me where she is!" Kenshin's eyes flickered, terrible sadness entering the amber gaze.
Soujirou coughed, a slight smile on his face. "I cannot do that, Himura-san." He slowly rose to his feet, covering his wound with his free hand. The stab wound, combined with the gash on his leg. Pretty much sealed his fate. He knew he could no longer win. But what could he do, run away? If there was any chance that Kenshin would loose to Kanryu, Soujirou knew that the ex-thug would soon come after him. Either way his life was over.
In any case, he could not betray his master.
Kenshin had a sadistically amused grin on his usually peaceful face. "You still refuse to give up Kaoru?"
Kaoru...Kaoru...Kaoru...what the hell did he mean? Soujirou had told him that he had kidnapped Megumi-san, and yet...hadn't she herself said that her name was not Megumi? At the time, it had sounded ludicrous, but now...perhaps a greater force was at work?
"We don't have anyone named Kaoru!" Soujirou gasped, reading his sword again.
"That's a load of shit and you know it! Something in this base is warping reality, and you know what it is, don't you? The strange occurrences in weather, items disappearing all over the country, people ending up in other people's bodies...something here is the cause of it, and you know it!"
"Just tell us Soujirou! Other wise he'll kill you!" Kaoru/Megumi yelled from the sidelines. She was getting more nervous as time passed. Instead of becoming the rurouni again, Kenshin was drifting further and further away. She was worried that their fun-loving rurouni would be gone forever if he did kill Soujirou.
"Quiet, Megumi! This partially happened because of you, so stay out!" Kenshin hissed, spinning around to face his friends, eyes glowing.
Megumi gasped. He...she...Kaoru...yes, it was her fault wasn't it? The words cut her deep, sending a chill down her spine and causing it to become harder for her to breath.
"That was cold, Battousai," Misao/Aoshi murmured.
"Kenshin! You don't need him to tell you! We'll find her later in the cave anyway! Let's go!" Sanosuke tried for a bit of playfulness in his voice, but he couldn't hide the fact that he was deathly afraid for his friend. His words went right over Kenshin's head. Even when Sano tried to lead the stunned Kaoru/Megumi and Yahiko further down the tunnel, it was if Kenshin had forgotten that they had even existed. It was all about the killing now.
"Shit!" Sanosuke cursed, punching the wall.
"Kenshin! Kenshin, what's wrong with you?!" Yahiko screamed.
'M-m-m-megumi?!' Soujirou didn't have time to attack Kenshin's exposed back. Instead his mind was reeling. They called that shorter, young woman Megumi?! Soujirou was sure he had a ridiculous expression on his face, his eyes wide and mouth open.
He had just got it.
::::::::FLASHBACK::::::::
"Demo...Kanryu-san, what is it for?" Soujirou asked. After the giant white sheet had settled onto the floor, revealing Kanryu's new 'toy' an uneasy feeling had settled across the entire cave.
Soujirou had now been under Kanryu's control for just a little over a week now. Then Kanryu had called him in, beaming with joy and an almost scary laugh.
"It is my revenge," Kanryu crowed, petting the smooth steel. The machine was monstrous; a dark, ominous being filled with a heartless soul. It had the ability to control threads of time, of reality. The squat, fat thing was bubbling with gears and tubes, and overflowing with multicolored wires. In the center of the steel donut wanna-be, was a glowing core, the color of blood.
Soujirou turned to Kanryu, obviously confused. "Demo...."
"How, you ask?" Kanryu interrupted his own speech with a menacing laugh. "With this machine, I can regain everything I lost! I want the power! The money! The physical wealth of every shape and kind! I want to rule! With this I can slip between this damn Meiji government's fingers and control the country from behind!"
Soujirou blinked a few times before asking, "But why? What good is a lot of money going to do for you if you live your life in hiding?"
"Baka. You lived with Shishio Makoto, yet you still have to ask that question. He wanted to rule through killing, with the strong. But he was a fool. It's much easier when you can run the world through money."
Soujirou swallowed hard. What had he gotten himself into? "But with a machine of such magnitude, you don't suppose that it will have horrible side effects?"
"Sure. Weather patterns will be askew, even human beings will wake up one morning and have altered personalities, malfunctioned, deformed bodies. But that is all of little consequence to me! Nothing will stop me this time.
Soujirou just stood there, as the red core of the machine began to pulsate, bathing Kanryu and his bodyguard with red light, creating the illusion that their cloths were soaked with blood.
As it worked, the machine emitted a hallow, haunting sound, one that confused Soujirou's senses and chilled his whole body.
...beep...bep...beep...bep...beep...
"Kami-sama of this earth, bow to me and complete my will!" The core swirled and pulsated, creating echoes of light the engulfed the room. All Soujirou could see in his mind were the flames of hell, with the devil laughing, spying them as new vessels of evil. It was not a nice thought.
Kanryu bared his teeth, which looked red in the light. "One by one, the departments of the government will fall, sending their wealth to me, and dying by your sword. Do you understand, Tenken?"
Soujirou just stared, finding his mouth dry, palms covered in sweat. This is what this monster wanted him to do? He looked at him innocently, pleading that he release him from his service. He didn't want to be here!! He didn't want to kill again!!
Kanryu laughed at the boy's helpless look. "Now you are mine."
...beep...bep...beep...bep...beep...
::::::::End of FLASHBACK::::::::
Kanryu had been right. In addition to deceiving the government, normal, innocent civilians were drug into the power struggle. That girl standing with the Battousai's friends, she was Megumi. And their hostage, she was someone innocent.
THWACK!
The handle of Kenshin's Sakabatou connected squarely with Soujirou's chin. The Tenken totally lost his footing, and he was sent careening into the wall of ice. The cold bit at his skin, ice chips showering him with sharp edges and an icy chill.
Fresh blood flowed from the teeth that had been damaged from the blow. Soujirou's head was spinning, as his sight faded in and out of focus. Clenching his teeth hard, he was able to cling to consciousness. But he was helpless. Utterly, utterly helpless.
Kenshin took his steps slow and deliberately, until he was towering over his prey. Soujirou was a wreck. One of his eyes was crying blood; that side of his face starting to swell and bruise. His right leg was curled up curiously underneath him, bent at an angle that could not possibly been natural. The stab wound in his gut was refusing to quit bleeding, soaking the surrounding clothing and oozing onto the floor.
"You poor bastard," Kenshin hissed, stopping in front of the boy. His eyes were still slits in anger, his tousled hair adding to his wild look. "You will now die!"
"Kenshin, NO!" Kaoru/Megumi wailed, snapping out of her funk. She tugged to get of Sanosuke's grasp.
"Kitsune no baka! If you get in front of him now, he'll kill you to!" Sanosuke hollered.
"No, never Kenshin!" Yahiko joined in the fight.
Aoshi/Misao and Misao/Aoshi just stood, stoned. Kaoru/Megumi struggled with a new furiousity. "Kenshin, you can't kill him! Remember who you are! Some back!"
"I am the Battousai," Kenshin smiled.
Soujirou curled into a tiny ball. "Himura-san, Himura-san please kill me," he whimpered. "Please end my horrible, worthless life. I no longer deserve to live..." Weak, the Tenken dropped his sword, slumping up against the cool, icy wall.
Kenshin's eyes seethed. There was nothing giving there.
"Kenshin!" Kaoru/Megumi was no longer struggling. Instead she stood there, her hand turned into fists, screaming at the top of her lungs. "KENSHIN!"
One of Kenshin's eyelids twitched. That voice...he knew that voice. A wave of sorrow lay barely dammed up in the back of his mind. Sorrow? For what? That voice, calling him...calling him out of this dark abyss in his soul.
"Ken...shin...." Exhausted, Kaoru/Megumi slumped to the floor, her eyes pleading, pleading for Kenshin to wake up.
"Kenshin! Pull your head out of your ass! What the hell do you think your doing?" Sanosuke pulled Kaoru/Megumi closer to him, fearful of both Kenshin and what he could do. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Another voice. Meaningless, said the Battousai.
"Please Kenshin, don't do it!" Yahiko hid behind Sano, as Misao and Aoshi attempted to call Kenshin back to them. All of them hollering, talking at the same time, and none of them making any sense. Yet all of them repeating one word, again and again. His name.
Kenshin...
Kenshin...
KENSHIN!
One voice stood out among the rest. The voice belonging to the woman he loved.
Wait. The voice, it was her, but yet not her. They had come here; they had come here on a mission, had they not? He was here to save her. He didn't need this young warrior, lying at his feet. What was he doing?
Kenshin averted his gaze to the ice-covered wall ahead of him, one edge of it stained with blood. In the reflection of the ice, he saw his eyes, glowing...seething in amber rage. The rage of a murderous demon, which had been set free with Kenshin's sorrow of not being able to protect, recover and help his friends. And Kaoru.
His own reflection scared him.
Kenshin bared his teeth as he winced. His whole body felt numb, felt drained for overexertion. He rocked back, using his katana for support, as the chorus of voices flooded his senses.
Soujirou lay on the floor, wracked with pain and quivering. He looked up into his attacker's face and saw a change there. As much as Soujirou pleaded that he be killed, that isn't what he wanted. He wanted to live. He wanted out. He just wanted to be in charge of his own damning life. He looked up once again into the eyes of the Battousai, getting a creeping feeling that the Battousai was already gone.
...beep...bep...beep...bep...beep...
Soujirou looked past Kenshin. A tingling sensation alerted him to the bigger picture. The machine was still working, still performing its evil, malicious duties. The Tenken knew that Kenshin could sense it to.
"That...noise...that...noise..." Kenshin grabbed at his head, felling overwhelmed by the aura of the machine as it worked. This action upset his balance, and he started to fall.
The blade of the Sakabatou slipped on the smooth, blood-slicked floor. Kenshin fell back hard, cracking his head on the floor. Too weak and struck to do much of anything, Kenshin felt himself sinking inward, into himself. He became vaguely aware of many hands grasping at him, shaking him, but only could speak one word.
"Kaoru..."
GCN: Author's words on this chapter: UG. SO hard to write. At some parts, I really hated it. It didn't get the exact feel I wanted it too, and then I ended up ending it with an awful cliffhanger. I will try to update within a month this time because the ending of this chapter SUCKED...but I ain't promising anything.
Hmmm, in other news, I'm so HAPPY! I beat Tales of Symphonia. I love that game!!!! Ah, the bliss. The advertisers were serious, you do fall in love with the characters, and the plot, and all the absolute coolness! Ah, I fell high. High on the coolness. It's like watching anime. That's why we watch anime. You fall in love with the characters, and the twists and story overwhelm you. Ahhhh...
Boy, am I an idiot today. I mean really, what the hell did I just say all that for??