Gintama Chapter 642 :'(

Silver Moon – Book 3 Chapter 21

Shinpachi, Katsura, and Sakamoto all took cover behind a big pipe as Matako continued firing round after round at them. The men could only stand there and cower in fear at the thought of stepping out and getting shot.

"Ha ha, er, does anyone want to switch opponents?" asked a nervous Sakamoto.

Shinpachi instantly hit him on the head. "She's supposed to be your problem, not ours! And besides, I thought you said that she would be easy!"

"Calm down, Shinpachi," Katsura told him. "Don't forget, I had to save you from your opponent earlier."

Shinpachi frowned. "You're right, I'm sorry. This situation is pretty serious. I guess I should be a little more considerate…"

"So you'll switch then?" Sakamoto asked eagerly.

"Like hell!" Shinpachi shouted back. "Stop trying to pawn her off on me!"

"Wait a second," said Katsura, stopping them both. "Did it just go quiet?"

Shinpachi's eyes widened in surprise. "She stopped firing at us…"

Just then, Bansai and Takechi jumped out at them from around the pipe. Takechi targeted Shinpachi, who managed to block the incoming attack with his sword. At the same time, Bansai fired his strings off at Katsura. They wrapped around him successfully, and with a single yank, Katsura was sent flying towards the musician. Meanwhile, Sakamoto jumped back from the pipe out of fright, only to feel something graze his leg. He then jumped forward to find more cover as another bullet whizzed past his head.

"Damn, almost had him," Matako muttered as she reloaded.

Sakamoto examined his leg. It was starting to bleed a little, but it was fine. He then glanced in the direction of his opponent and sighed. "I guess I'll just have to deal with her on my own."

Quickly coming up with a last-minute plan, Sakamoto sprang into action. He jumped out from behind his cover and started running right for the girl. Matako was initially stunned to see this, but wasted no time in taking advantage of this opportunity. Sakamoto aimed his gun while he ran.

Matako fired once. It hit Sakamoto in the shoulder. He kept running towards her.

Sakamoto fired. It grazed Matako in the side.

Matako fired again. It hit Sakamoto in the leg. He just clenched his teeth as he swallowed the intense pain and kept running.

Sakamoto fired again. This time is hit Matako in the arm, and she accidently dropped her weapon.

Matako drew another gun and took aim.

Sakamoto took carful aim and fired twice in quick succession. The first shot hit Matako's new gun, and the second hit her shoulder. It was at this point that Sakamoto finally reached her. She went to draw another weapon, but stopped the moment she felt the cold metal touch her forehead.

"Don't move," Sakamoto warned her. "It's over."

Matako just stared at the gun pointing at her forehead and snarled.

"Any last words?" asked Sakamoto.

"I fucking hate you," she growled.

Sakamoto just smiled at this as he pushed the gun harder against her forehead. "Bang," he whispered.

Without wasting a second, Sakamoto pulled his gun back before swiftly hitting the girl in the head with it. She immediately lost consciousness and dropped to the floor. Sakamoto then smiled down at her.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! You didn't think I would kill you there, did you? Ha ha, of course not! I know that we were enemies, but I don't mind letting a girl as pretty as you off the hook, ha ha!"

Sakamoto took a moment to glance down at himself. "Hmm, I am bleeding quite a lot, though…And her wounds seem rather serious as well…I wonder if she has any bandages on her person?"

Sakamoto then crouched down. "I guess I better search her," he thought innocently.

Shinpachi found himself in a fierce sword clash with Takechi right out of the gate. The boy and strategist were meeting each other blow for blow, with neither side showing a clear sign of victory.

"Damn it, we're too even!" Shinpachi cried as they both took a moment to catch their breath.

Takechi glanced back and forth for a second. "Hey, we better get back to fighting. I could get in trouble if someone sees me slacking off over here…"

"That's what you're worried about!?" asked an angry Shinpachi as he swung his sword.

"Of course," Takechi replied as he blocked. "Wouldn't it be embarrassing if we were the last ones to finish?"

"Ah, no, it would be embarrassing to lose," Shinpachi corrected him. "But whatever, if you're in a rush, then I will just use my ultimate move to finish you off for good!"

"An ultimate move?" inquired Takechi.

"Yes," said Shinpachi, readying his sword, "it was passed down to me by my father."

"Ah, a family style secret move, eh?" asked Takechi as he also readied his sword. "Well, good luck with that. I'll just block it!"

"You can try," said Shinpachi seriously. The boy then raised his sword over his head. "Here it comes."

Takechi adjusted his stance. "I'm ready."

Shinpachi's eyes twinkled. "Evil Holy Sword Let's Dancing All Night-"

What the-? wondered Takechi. Is he saying the name of the attack? Why is it so long?

"Rising Special Ultra Miracle-"

He's left himself wide open! Should I just attack now while he's still saying the name? Wait, no. He must be close to being finished. I must hold firm.

"Super Mario Brothers Second Edition-"

He's still going! How much longer will it last!? Will it go on forever!?

"Luigi's Counterattack-"

Screw it, I should just go now! Choosing to act at the last second, Takechi jumped forward.

"Director's Cut!"

Shinpachi instantly flew forward and sliced Takechi right across the torso. The strategist immediately dropped his weapon as he started to lose consciousness. Shinpachi silently sheathed his sword. Then, being ever the straight man, he looked down at his defeated opponent.

"That's when you chose to attack!?"

Katsura found himself being pulled through the air towards Bansai. The musician quickly drew his blade, and brought the samurai closer using the strings attached to him.

Katsura moved fast, and managed to sever all of the strings with his sword. He soon landed on his feet, but it was not long before more strings were sent flying after him. He had to act quickly in order to prevent himself from being entangled again. In a flurry of motions, he managed to deflect all of the incoming strings while also approaching the musician. He eventually reached him, and the two exchanged sword blows.

Katsura tried to hit him with a horizontal slice, but Bansai blocked it before circling around to Katsura's backside. The samurai positioned his sword defensively as he felt Bansai's blade strike it. He then whipped around to find that Bansai had surprisingly disappeared.

"Up here," the musician called.

Katsura looked up just as several strings came down and attached to him. He then realized that Bansai had jumped up to a pipe hanging overtop of him.

Bansai simply played a few notes on his samisen as he hopped back to the floor. "These strings are stronger than the last few. You won't be able to sever them as easily with your sword."

Katsura just remained silent as he examined the strings. They did appear to be a bit thicker than before.

"Are you ready to meet your end, Katsura Kotaro?" asked Bansai with a grin.

In response, Katsura also grinned before looking to his opponent. "Heheh, not quite yet. By the way, you might want to pull off those stupid headphones and listen up. I've discovered something important."

Bansai just raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Oh?"

Katsura raised up a finger. "There's a serious flaw in using these strings."

Out of nowhere, Katsura began running in the opposite direction of Bansai. In response, the musician simply tightened his grip.

"Hmph, nice try, 'Runaway Kotaro', but you won't be getting away from me. And don't think that you'll be able to drag me along the ground like you did before either."

As Bansai tightened his grip, Katsura was stopped in his tracks while the strings cut into his flesh. Katsura then struggled to take a few more steps forward before Bansai managed to stop him completely. Katsura then looked back to judge the distance between them.

Perfect he thought.

Katsura grabbed his sword with both hands, and pointed it behind him. He then stopped resisting Bansai's pull and jumped off of the ground. Bansai's eyes widened as all of a sudden, he found Katsura hurtling toward him using the force of his own pull. Before he could even react, he felt Katsura's blade plunge deep into his chest and out his back. He clenched his teeth as blood flew out, before slowly collapsing to the floor.

Katsura soon landed on his feet, and looked down to his opponent. "Hmph, you never considered what would happen if your opponent wanted to get closer to you. All I had to do was use the momentum of your pull to plunge my sword into you."

Katsura reached down and slowly pulled his blade out of the now unconscious Bansai. "Well, I better start working on severing these strings. It's going to take forever…"

Tsukuyo breathed heavily as she lifted the hatch overtop of her and climbed out of it. She then took a moment to examine her surroundings. She was currently standing on top of the ship, and she could see the city of Edo spread out below her.

"I'm on the deck," she noted.

Just then, she heard yelling coming from the front of the ship. She quickly glanced in that direction before running off to find the source of the noise. A moment later, she found herself looking down at the prow, where two samurai were currently punching each other.

One was that bastard, Takasugi, and the other was…

Gintoki…

Tsukuyo gently bit her lip as she watched the fight. She had no idea where their swords had disappeared to, but she wasn't too worried. She knew that Gintoki could handle himself in a fistfight. Nevertheless, she felt conflicted.

Should I join in and help? Or would I just be getting in the way? I came here because I had a feeling that Gintoki would need me…but maybe this was all just a big mistake?

Not quite sure what to think, Tsukuyo just frowned as she continued to watch the battle.

Takasugi brought his fist back and hit Gintoki with an uppercut. In response, Gintoki kneed him in the stomach. As Takasugi doubled over, Gintoki balled his fists together and nailed him on the back of his head. Gintoki then went to make a run for his sword that was still laying on the ground nearby. However, before he could even cover any distance, Takasugi tackled him and rammed him into the wall behind them. The wall immediately crumbled under the force of the attack.

As Gintoki fell to his knees, Takasugi grinned and ran over to where the samurai had flung his sword earlier. He then lifted his weapon up in triumph before turning back to where Gintoki lay in the rubble.

Suddenly, Gintoki dashed out of the rubble and started running straight towards Takasugi. Takasugi merely grinned out of delight as he drew back his sword.

"Die, Gintoki!"

Gintoki continued running straight at Takasugi as he swung. At the last second, Gintoki jumped over the blade, just before using Takasugi's head as a springboard to propel himself even farther. As he landed, he started running for his blade.

Takasugi just glared at him. "You bastard," he muttered. He then chased right after Gintoki's tail, and prepared his blade again. Just as Gintoki reached down to retrieve his sword, Takasugi brought his blade up. He wasn't going to miss twice.

Gintoki clenched his teeth as he tried to grab his sword, but it was too late. Takasugi's blade was already in mid-swing.

Suddenly, three kunai struck Takasugi in the arm, and the pain instantly made him flinch. Gintoki's eyes widened in surprise as he took his chance and wielded his sword. He then rose up and thrust his blade straight at Takasugi's chest. Takasugi just glared at Gintoki as he blocked the thrust with his free arm. He winced as the metal pierced through his skin, but the blade did not reach his chest. He then kicked Gintoki away in order to create some distance between them.

Gintoki held his side before angrily looking at the kunai sticking out of Takasugi's arm. "I don't believe this," he muttered. He then looked up to see Tsukuyo standing on a level above him, with kunai in each hand and her clothes blowing in the wind.

"Tsukuyo, what are you doing here!?" he yelled up to her. "You were supposed to be escaping, you idiot!"

Tsukuyo just frowned at this. She knew that he would react this way. "What's it look like? I'm saving your ass."

"And who said that I needed saving? I was doing perfectly fine until you showed up."

"He was about to kill you!"

"Heheh," Takasugi interrupted their argument with a small laugh. "You two are so adorable when you fight like that. It's honestly like watching an old married couple, but I suppose that that's rather fitting given the circumstances, hmm?"

"Oh, shut up!" Gintoki barked at him. "Nobody asked for your stupid commentary."

Takasugi just grinned as he slowly pulled the kunai out of his arm. "You're right, this isn't the time for talking."

Out of nowhere, Takasugi spun around and hurled one of the kunai at Tsukuyo. She just managed to dodge out of the way at the last second. Takasugi then started sprinting towards Gintoki and threw the other two kunai at him. Gintoki quickly blocked them both just as Takasugi charged him with his blade again. Gintoki hit it with his own, and a loud clang resonated through the air.

There really was no time for talk.

Abuto was the first one to emerge from the pipes. He stood in the middle of the room and looked around. Just then, Kagura jumped out and tried to kick him. He just dodged as her leg flew over his head. He then jumped backwards only to see Mutsu reveal herself. She ran forward and punched him as he blocked with his arm. The force of the blow sent him flying back to Kagura, who grabbed him with both arms. Abuto was now trapped in her embrace. Kagura then wasted no time in lifting him off the ground and giving him a German suplex.

Just then, Kamui swooped down and hit Mutsu hard on the top of her head. Her vision immediately went blurry as she winced in pain. Kagura went to run to her aid, but Abuto tackled her from behind and pinned her down. Mutsu was now helpless as Kamui kicked her into a pipe.

"Mutsu!" Kagura cried.

"Hey, stay down," Abuto told her.

"Like hell!" she replied. "I'm not going to stay pinned by a one-armed freak!"

Abuto looked sad. "Freak…?"

Kagura soon smashed the back of her head into Abuto's face. He lessened his grip a little when this happened, and Kagura was able to push them both off of the floor. They flew into the air for a moment before Kagura grabbed Abuto's arm and hurled him over his shoulder. He was sent flying straight into Kamui's back.

Mutsu suddenly darted forward while this happened, and rammed her shoulder into Kamui. Kagura quickly landed and ran forward to do the same to Abuto. Using their monstrous strength, the two girls managed to sandwich Kamui and Abuto together.

"Ugh, I can't believe we're being outdone by these kids!" Abuto yelled.

"Oh, it's fine," said Kamui with a smile. He then locked Mutsu into a tight hold. "They just want to get closer to us."

Kamui started to squeeze Mutsu with all his might, and Mutsu screamed out in pain. Before long, the girl could start to hear something cracking inside of her. She feared that it was her ribs.

"KAMUI!"

Kagura threw Abuto aside as she punched Kamui in the back. Kamui immediately let go of Mutsu in order to whip around and kick his sister in the jaw. Some blood flew out of her mouth, before she punched Kamui upwards. As Kamui flew into the air, he grabbed onto a pipe, and hung there.

Just as Kagura jumped up to give chase, Abuto reached out and grabbed her ankle. He grinned for a moment before Mutsu appeared behind him and put him in a choke hold. Abuto soon let go of the girl.

"Kagura, you go after your brother!" Mutsu shouted at her. "I'll take care of this one!"

Kagura stared at her for a moment, frowning, but eventually gave a nod. She jumped upwards once more, chasing Kamui into a sea of pipes.

Abuto glared at the girl currently holding him, and elbowed her in the ribs. Mutsu instantly let go of him as she choked on blood.

"Fool, you still think you can take me?" Abuto asked her. "I'm not going to lose to someone with broken ribs."

"And I'm not going to lose to someone with only one arm," Mutsu retorted as she held her injury. It hurt for her to move, but she still felt capable of battle.

She ran forward, and threw a punch at him. Abuto dodged to the side, and went to strike the back of Mutsu's neck. It hit, and she fell to the floor before springing back up and nailing him right in the cheek with her fist.

He soon recovered, just in time as Mutsu started throwing punch after punch. He weaved threw the blows before eventually knocking her hands aside and punching her hard in her wound. Mutsu doubled over for a second, but quickly secured Abuto's arm in her hands. Clenching it tightly, she lifted him up and threw him to the floor. Abuto was now on his back, and Mutsu pounced on him. She pinned his only arm to the floor with her leg, and drew back her fist.

"Shit," Abuto mumbled.

Without wasting a second, Mutsu brought her fist down as hard as she could, and hit Abuto right in the face. The force of the blow immediately knocked him unconscious.

Mutsu then breathed a sigh of relief before falling back on her knees. Now half of the fight was over, at least...

Kagura landed on a pipe, and glanced back and forth, looking for Kamui. He suddenly appeared from above, dropping at an intense speed in order to stomp on her. Kagura jumped out of the way as the pipe collapsed underneath Kamui. Kagura then used another pipe to propel herself forward and grapple her brother. The two siblings then fell down to the floor level, and landed right in front of the long tunnel that Kagura and Mutsu had first entered from.

Kagura fell on top of Kamui, and started pummeling him with her fists. Kamui soon responded by grabbing her with both legs, and flipping her overtop of him. He then rolled to his feet, and kicked his sister off of the floor. Kagura flew through the air before grabbing a small pipe. She swung around it and came back quickly, planting her foot in Kamui's torso. He stumbled for a second.

"Heh, you'll need more power than that to send me flying, crybaby," he said with a grin.

"If that's what you want," she replied fiercely.

Kagura charged at him again, and began throwing a flurry of punches. Kamui started to block all of them by crossing his arms to make an 'X' shape, but Kagura kicked him in the stomach. She then threw several more punches at him as fast and as hard as she could, with each one hitting its mark. Eventually, Kamui countered by reaching out and grabbing Kagura's face and slamming her into the floor.

Kagura jumped up with a fist ready, but Kamui dodged. Kamui then hit her with an uppercut, sending her back into the air, where he soon jumped up to elbow her in the side. In response, Kagura twisted in midair and kicked him back down. She then sprung forward the moment her feet touched the ground. She pulled back one of her legs.

"Here's that kick you wanted, idiot!" Kagura screamed.

Kamui just grinned as he started running towards her. "Just try it."

Sogo continued running down the halls and slowly killing off his assailants before quickly making a sharp turn and smashing through a door. He then paused to examine the new room he found himself in.

The room was fairly large, but it was mostly empty, save for the center of it, which held a tall pillar. Inside of the pillar rested a large black sphere. This was the main core of the ship; the very machine that powered high amounts of energy throughout the aircraft.

"Ah, found it," he noted calmly.

Just then, the terrorists that had been chasing him ran into the room after him. They then stopped when they realized where they were.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Sogo just ignored them as he stepped towards the core and readied his sword. He didn't know much about ships, but he did know one thing. If you destroy the core, the rest of the ship will be destroyed too.

"Hey, stop that!"

"You don't know what you're doing!"

"You'll destroy everything!"

In a single swift motion, Sogo cut the core horizontally. He then stepped to the side as the core exploded right in front of him.

"Whoa, that's hot," he noted.

"You idiot!" one of the attackers yelled at him. "Do you even realize what you've just done!? This ship is doomed!"

Sogo stared at him. "So? What do you care? It's not like you were going to make it out of this place alive, anyway."

Sogo then started running forward to cut them down, when the floor lurched beneath him. The core exploded a bit more, and all of a sudden, the entire ground was shaking. The whole ship was now starting to fall out of the sky.

Kamui stumbled as the floor shifted beneath him. It caused him to lose both his footing and his momentum as he ran. Suddenly, the floor he was standing on was leaning uphill, and the tunnel behind him was now a pitfall.

Fortunately for Kagura, she was in the air, and completely unaffected. She flew right towards the stunned Kamui, and let her kick fly.

"YAAAAAHHHH!"

Kagura hit Kamui with so much force that the older Yato was immediately sent flying. He shot right down the tunnel that lay beneath him, and soon disappeared from sight.

Kagura quickly skidded to a halt, and grabbed a nearby pipe in order to stop herself. She had no idea what had just happened, but it looked like the very ship she stood on was in danger.

Tsukuyo could only watch as Gintoki and Takasugi furiously went at it. Their movements had been slowly picking up speed, and now their swords were clashing at an incredible pace.

Suddenly, the ship lurched beneath them, and Tsukuyo stumbled for a second. Gintoki and Takasugi, on the other hand, kept fighting with everything they had. They didn't even pay attention to the shaking ground they stood on. All they cared about was the opponent that stood before them.

Gintoki thrust his sword out, and missed Takasugi's head by inches. Takasugi did the same, and Gintoki dodged before grabbing and squeezing his opponent's outstretched arm. Takasugi winced in pain as blood flew out of the wounds given to him by Tsukuyo's kunai. Takasugi then head-butted Gintoki in order to make him let go. The two quickly separated and then took a moment to catch their breath.

"You've got a good defense, Gintoki," Takasugi complemented him. "But you seem to have forgotten…that I can strike you in two places."

Gintoki's eyes widened as he watched Takasugi turn around and leap straight for the spot where Tsukuyo stood. Tsukuyo was simply stunned as she watched Takasugi land in front of her and pull his blade back.

However, while in mid-swing, the blade quickly stopped as Gintoki appeared behind Takasugi, and grabbed the sword with his bare hand. Blood was squeezed out of Gintoki's new cut as he held the sharp blade steady.

"Don't you dare touch her," he breathed.

At this time, Tsukuyo quickly regained her senses, and immediately threw a kunai straight at Takasugi's heart. The man reacted quickly though, and used his full strength to hurl Gintoki in front of him. Gintoki cried out in pain as the kunai hit him in the shoulder, and he fell to the floor at Tsukuyo's feet.

Tsukuyo felt horrible for that. She quickly helped him up. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for-"

"Look out!" Gintoki yelled as he pushed her out of the way of an incoming attack. This time Tsukuyo fell to the floor as Gintoki took a cut in the side. Gintoki clenched his teeth in pain as he swatted Takasugi's blade away with his own. He then ran forward and clashed with him once more.

Tsukuyo could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes after realizing what had just happened. "Gintoki, you idiot! Why'd you have to do that!?"

"Shut up!" he yelled back.

"I don't want to be saved if it means you getting hurt!"

Gintoki glanced back for a second, and his eyes widened. "Hey, what the hell have you been doing!? Hurry up and get her out of here!" he shouted.

Tsukuyo felt confused. "What?"

Just then, a white arm scooped her up, and Tsukuyo found herself slung over Elizabeth's shoulder again. The bird had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

'Finally found you!' his sign read. 'You're not getting away from me this time!'

"Hey, where are you taking me!?" Tsukuyo demanded.

'This ship has gone to hell. It's slowly falling out of the sky. We have to get out of here.'

"But what about Gintoki!?"

'He's on his own!'

Tsukuyo glanced back at Gintoki while Elizabeth continued to run. It appeared that Gintoki was keeping Takasugi from making any more advancements against them. Their swords were flying furiously.

"What gives, Gintoki?" asked Takasugi in a taunting voice. "What exactly does that poor woman mean to you? Why do you insist on protecting her so much?"

Gintoki just looked him dead in the eye as their swords met in-between them. "I left her once before…" he said quietly. "I did it in order to protect her, but I still felt horrible about it afterwards…It was then that I made a promise to myself…"

"Oh?" asked a curious Takasugi. "And that is?"

Gintoki responded in the most serious and heartfelt tone that he could. "I promised myself that I would stay at her side from now on, and simply protect her from there…"

Gintoki then threw his opponent a serious glare as he drew his sword back.

"I'll protect her…for the rest of her life!"

And I just wrapped up almost all of the fights in a single chapter. Yay me. The chapter turned out pretty long because of that, though. And it's also one of those 'everything's all over the place' kind of chapters. I hope you like that. Enjoy XD

In other news, the other story I've been working on for a while now is one chapter away from completion, so once that's done, I'll go back to solely updating this story for a while. And that'll last…until I start writing more new stories, I guess. Or at least until I get lazy again XD

Oh well, I better wrap this up before this chapter gets any longer. Please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the fights and all that good stuff. Next time: escaping the ship! See you then!