Silver Moon – Book 3 Chapter 22
After dispatching their enemies, Shinpachi, Sakamoto, and Katsura found themselves running through the halls as the ship shook violently.
"What the hell's going on!?" asked a terrified Shinpachi.
"Hmm," said Sakamoto, scratching his chin. "I'm not sure, but the ship might be exploding."
"Might be!?"
"Yeah, it's probably exploding."
"Probably!?"
"In any case," interrupted Katsura, "we need to find a way out of here."
Just then, Shinpachi spotted someone running in front of them. "Ah, Kagura-chan!"
Kagura turned around. She was currently carrying an injured Mutsu on her back. "Oh, it's you guys."
"Are you all right?" asked the boy. "What happened to Mutsu-san?"
"We took care of our opponents, but she got hurt. What's up with this ship?"
"Ah," Sakamoto chimed in, "it's exploding. For sure."
"Stop that!" yelled Shinpachi, whacking the man on the back of the head. "We need to get out of here!"
"Sheesh, calm down, all right?" Sakamoto told him. "We just need to get back to the ship we came here on. It should still be linked with this one."
"Actually, I'm afraid that's not going to work."
The group looked up, only to find Elizabeth and Tsukuyo running up to them.
"Tsukuyo-san!" said Shinpachi. "What are you still doing here!?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story," she said looking away.
Elizabeth held up a sign. 'This one is a troublemaker.'
"Forget it," said Katsura. "What were you just saying about the ship?"
Tsukuyo frowned at him. "We can't use the merchant's ship to escape. It disengaged a few minutes ago. It's gone now."
"What!?" the rest of the group responded.
"It's true," Tsukuyo continued. "Elizabeth tried to get us there, but it took off just before we arrived. We were too late."
'All of those female warriors retreated along with it,' Elizabeth added.
"What the hell!?" shouted Shinpachi, turning towards Sakamoto. "Why did your men just leave us behind like that, huh!?"
"How should I know?' asked Sakamoto with a shrug. "Maybe they had somewhere more important to be! Ah ha ha ha-"
"Shut up!" Shinpachi bellowed. "Can't you control your own men!?"
"Actually, this was my fault," Mutsu suddenly perked up.
"Oh, you're awake?" asked Kagura. "You were unconscious when I found you."
"Yeah, I'm okay," said Mutsu as she got to her feet. "Anyways, I'm sorry to say that it's my fault that the Kaientai have abandoned us. When we first boarded this ship, I gave them a strict time limit. I told them to retreat after an hour even if we weren't back by then. This was to keep them out of danger; the Kaientai are not primarily fighters, after all."
Sakamoto looked at her with a frown. "How's come you didn't tell me about this plan?"
Mutsu looked away. "Well, truth be told, I came up with this plan thinking that you would be the only one not back on time. I never dreamed that I would be left behind as well."
"Hey now, that's cold!" Sakamoto yelled at her. "I'll have you know that I won my fight, thank you very much!"
Just then, an explosion went off near them. The metal wall next to them was immediately torn off, and a gust of wind rushed over them. They could now see the city of Edo laying below them.
"Shit, we'll need to find a new way out then!" said Katsura, looking around.
"What about Gintoki?" asked a worried Tsukuyo. "He's still fighting."
"He's on his own!" Katsura responded. "Besides, he'd only get angry if we tried to interfere!"
Tsukuyo just clenched her teeth at this. Grr, why are all men such idiots!? What's wrong with getting a little help, huh?
Meanwhile, Kagura started looking around the group after hearing Gintoki's name. She did a quick head count before frowning and glancing down the hallway. "Damn it, we're still missing another," she realized.
Shinpachi turned to her. "Huh?"
"It's that damn sadist," she replied. "He's still on the ship. Damn it…"
Just then, Kagura ran off down the halls. Shinpachi yelled after her. "Wait, Kagura-chan, where are you going!?"
"Don't worry about it!" she responded. "Just escape without me!"
Shinpachi just clenched his teeth as he watched her run off. "What the hell is she thinking!? Doesn't she realize that this ship is falling out of the sky!?"
"About that," Sakamoto chimed in, "we might want to get a move on. We really need to find a way out of here."
"And how are we supposed to find that, exactly?"
Just then, a small ship appeared next to the giant hole in the wall beside them. The group stared at it in awe. It had just flown right up to them out of nowhere.
"Do you need a ride, Shinpachi-sama?" asked the driver.
Kagura frantically ran through the halls, keeping an eye out for Sogo. As she ran, she met up with several fleeing terrorists, but they left her alone. They were too preoccupied with escaping the ship.
Just then, another explosion shook the walls and floor. Kagura stumbled for a second, and then slipped on something rolling around on the floor. She soon caught herself, and looked down to find a genuine Yato umbrella beneath her. It had must have belonged to one of Kamui's men before they had been cut down. She stared at it for a moment before picking it up.
This thing could be useful she thought. Also, if it belonged to someone who has just been cut down, then he must be…
Kagura turned a corner, and finally found him. Sogo was lying on the floor in the middle of a hallway, completely unconscious. He was surrounded by several other limp bodies, and he still had his sword in hand. Apparently, he had gone down fighting.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing here, idiot!?" Kagura bellowed at him. "Get up already! Can't you see that this ship is exploding!?"
As if on cue, the wall next to Kagura was suddenly blown apart by a fiery blast. Kagura tried to shield herself from the pressure.
"What the-" she mumbled. "What was that?"
Kagura looked out through the freshly made hole. To her surprise, she found canon-fire littered throughout the sky. After a second, she realized that the blasts were hitting the very ship she stood on.
Kagura braced herself as another blast tore away the wall to her right. Kagura just clenched her teeth as she ran over to Sogo. Someone is firing at us? she wondered. But who?
Kagura then reached down and slung Sogo over her shoulder with one arm. Ah, it doesn't matter, we just need to get out of here now!
Grasping her umbrella tightly, Kagura took a deep breath. She then ran forward, straight for the hole in the wall, and leaped out of it. She immediately began plummeting out of the sky. She squinted as the intense wind engulfed her. She held tightly onto Sogo as the both of them rocketed towards Edo.
After a few seconds, the girl looked back up to make sure that she was clear of the canon-fire. Once she was satisfied, she finally opened her umbrella. This immediately halted her fall, as the sturdy parasol caught the wind beneath it. the pace at which they fell slowed significantly.
Kagura then breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally made it out of there…"
She then looked to the ground. "But still, who's attacking the ship right now?"
Back on the ground, Kondo and Hijikata yelled orders to the officers beneath them.
"Blow that bastard right out of the sky!" Hijikata shouted.
"Don't let up on those canons!" screamed Kondo.
"Yes sir!"
As the men continued to load and fire shot after shot into the sky, Kondo turned to Hijikata and smiled a little. "It sure was lucky that Takasugi's main ship finally came into range."
"Aye," Hijikata agreed. "It's strange though, it looked like it was falling out of the sky before we started shooting it…"
Hijikata then looked off to the side as he exhaled some smoke from his cigarette. I wonder…
Gintoki and Takasugi charged straight at each other as the ship crumbled beneath them. Neither one of them paid any heed to it as they drew their swords back. They struck vertically, horizontally, diagonally; perfectly meeting each other blow for blow.
Suddenly, a blast hit the ship right beneath them.
The deck immediately started to turn sideways, and both men stumbled for a moment. Takasugi quickly recovered, and went to hit an unprepared Gintoki. The silver-haired samurai soon reacted by diving out of the way instead of catching his footing.
Another blast hit the ship. It shook a little.
Gintoki now found himself sliding down the tilted deck. Slightly clenching his teeth, he stopped himself by landing on the railing by the ledge. As soon as he felt his feet touch the rail, he jumped back towards his opponent. Takasugi began running down to meet him. Sparks flew as their swords collided.
Another blast hit the ship. The deck split in half with a crooked line appearing right down the middle.
Gintoki thrust his blade towards Takasugi, but the latter dodged by jumping back. Takasugi then let himself slide down towards Gintoki. In response, Gintoki leaped upwards and overtop of him. Takasugi then rammed his blade into the side of the deck, stopping himself. He planted his feet firmly on the ship before running back up.
Another blast hit the ship. Now the deck was starting to splinter into pieces.
Takasugi hopped from cracked piece to cracked piece as Gintoki retreated towards the large split in the middle. Takasugi went for a huge leap, and spun a full 360 as he swung his sword. Gintoki blocked the attack, but he was sent flying into the space in-between the split deck. He was prepared for this though, and countered by jumping off the opposite side. Takasugi also jumped forward.
Another blast hit the ship. The hull was now almost completely in pieces, and falling towards the earth.
Gintoki swung first, and landed a hit on Takasugi's upper arm. Takasugi winced in pain, but soon swung his own sword down, hitting Gintoki in the shoulder.
Then, they stared to fall.
Gintoki fell first, with Takasugi falling right on top of him. Takasugi began by hitting Gintoki with a shower of thrusts. Gintoki had to carefully and quickly position his sword in order to block them all. Gintoki then used a well-timed kick to send Takasugi flying sideways.
Takasugi went straight towards a piece of falling metal, and by jumping off of it, managed to propel himself right back. He met Gintoki with a flurry of swings and slashes, sparks flying in every direction. They both twirled through the air as they did everything they could to both strike the enemy and protect themselves.
Eventually, Gintoki dodged an attack by whipping himself away from Takasugi. He then grabbed a nearby piece of rubble and used it to launch himself upwards. He continued to climb the rubble as if it were a ladder. Grinning madly, Takasugi quickly followed suit and gave chase to the samurai.
As they darted upwards through the descending metal and wood, Gintoki eventually reached out and grabbed something that glinted in the sunlight. Once he had it in his hands, he faced downwards, and hurled it right at his opponent.
Takasugi's eye widened in surprise. It was one of the kunai from earlier. As it approached, Takasugi swung his sword to the side and managed to brush it away. He then looked past it to find Gintoki descending towards him at an incredible rate.
The silver-haired samurai threw something again. This time, Takasugi recognized it as a small piece of scrap metal. Swinging his sword back the other way, he cut the metal in half.
Finally, Gintoki closed the distance between them, and using both hands, swung his blade as hard as he could. Takasugi did the same.
"YAAAAAAAHHH!"
As the blades collided, Takasugi's sword shattered into pieces. Takasugi stared at his broken hilt with a lost look before glaring back up at Gintoki. The silver-haired samurai currently held his sword over his head, and he just glared right back at Takasugi. There was fire in his eyes.
Wasting no more time, Gintoki brought the sword down diagonally, slicing Takasugi right across the chest. Blood immediately flew out of the wound, and Takasugi gasped as he lost consciousness.
Gintoki then took a moment to breath a sigh of relief. He soon stared at what was left of his opponent.
"Sorry," he said, "but it looks like my resolve was simply stronger this time around…"
Gintoki stared at the man who was once his comrade, before softly kicking him away. "Get lost."
As Takasugi's body started to drift away from the samurai, somebody suddenly jumped out and snatched it with one arm. Gintoki then stared at the newcomer in disbelief. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Hey there, Gintoki," said Kamui with a smile. He carefully tucked the unconscious Takasugi under one arm as they continued to fall out of the sky. In his other hand, he held a folded-up Yato umbrella.
"Kamui," Gintoki muttered. "What are you…?"
"What am I doing here?" he asked calmly. "Well, I was looking for that crybaby sister of mine so we could continue our fight. She got lucky and landed a hit on me, but I came right back after that. The only problem is, I couldn't find her. She's probably already escaped…"
Gintoki just stared at the boy, completely silent.
"Anyways, I'm just here for Shinsuke," said Kamui as he nodded at the man under his arm. He then landed on a piece of scrap metal before jumping off and gracefully twirling away. "See ya!" he shouted. "Oh, and good luck surviving the fall!"
Just then, the Yato boy opened up his umbrella, and slowed his descent to almost a complete halt. Gintoki just stared up at him as he himself continued to plummet to the earth. He clenched his teeth as he began to curse his situation.
Shit, how am I going to get out of this one!? At this rate, I'll die before I figure something out!
He looked back up. The ship that had once been flying in the sky was now on fire and in pieces. He watched as several more canon shots continued to blast the ship apart.
Did the others get away? he wondered.
Just then, amongst the rushing wind and explosions, he heard a voice call out to him.
"GIN-SAN!"
Gintoki looked to his left, and to his surprise, found a small spacecraft flying towards him. It was mostly rectangular in shape, and had two large doors on either side of the vehicle. Gintoki soon spotted Shinpachi hanging outside one of those doors.
"What the hell?" he breathed.
Sure enough, the ship flew straight towards the falling samurai and pulled up next to him. Shinpachi held out his hand, and Gintoki quickly reached out and grabbed ahold of it. Using all of his strength, Shinpachi managed to pull him aboard as the ship flew away from the descending rubble. The door soon closed behind Gintoki.
He took a moment to catch his breath before looking around the spacecraft. To his surprise, he found most of his comrades in there waiting for him. Shinpachi, Tsukuyo, Elizabeth, Katsura, Sakamoto, Mutsu, and last but not least, the very person who was piloting the ship…
"Tama!?" Gintoki exclaimed.
"Hello, Gintoki-sama," she replied as she steered the ship through the rubble.
Gintoki didn't know what to say. He was too shocked. "What are you…? How did you…?"
"You appear to be confused," she noted.
"Well, yeah," said Gintoki, looking around the ship once more. "What are you doing here?"
"I was sent to rescue you guys," she said simply.
"You were sent?" asked Gintoki. "Who sent you?"
Just then, the radio turned on, and a lot of static came out. However, a clear voice soon came through. "Why, that would be me, Gintoki."
Gintoki's eyes widened a little. "Old man Gengai?"
"That's right," Gengai replied with a snicker. "How do you like my little ship? She flies real smoothly, doesn't she?"
Before Gintoki could respond, Shinpachi ran up and grabbed Tama's shoulder. He then pointed into the sky. "Look over there! It's Kagura-chan!"
The rest of the group looked to where the boy was pointing. Sure enough, Kagura was still clutching onto her umbrella, and was slowly falling out of the sky.
"Pull up to her, Tama-san!"
"Understood," she replied.
As the ship changed directions, Gintoki smiled to himself a little. He then looked back down at the radio. "Hmph, you really saved our butts here. I guess we owe you one for this."
"Oh, don't thank me," Gengai replied. "Otose was actually the one who came up with this idea. She asked both me and Tama if we could help spare your lives when she saw a rebel ship fly overhead."
"Gran?" repeated Gintoki. "But…how did she know where we were?"
"I think your friends might have shared the information with her…But then again, perhaps she just had a strange feeling that you needed help. Otose can be rather sharp when she needs to be."
Gintoki frowned for a second as he considered all of this. He then looked back up to the sky with a smile on his face.
That stupid old hag…She really is something else…
A little while later, Tama landed the ship right in front of Snack House Otose. Sure enough, standing outside the building was the owner herself, Otose, along with Gengai, Catherine, Sadaharu, Ikumatsu, Otae, Kyuubei, and Sachan. Before long, the door of the spacecraft opened up, Gintoki stepped out, holding Tsukuyo in his arms.
"Hey," he said with a smile.
"You did it!" Otae exclaimed. "You got Tsukuyo back!"
Tsukuyo smiled at the girl, happy to be welcomed back.
At this point, the others began to file out behind Gintoki. Kagura, who appeared rather tired, and Shinpachi, who was carrying the unconscious Sogo, were the first ones out. Following behind them were Katsura, Elizabeth, Tama, and Sakamoto, who was currently supporting Mutsu.
"We all made it," Gintoki announced. "We got a little banged up, but we all made it. And we kicked that bastard's ass too."
Otose smiled at him as she exhaled from a cigarette she was holding. "Glad to hear that."
The group then started to convene together. The people who had been waiting on the ground offered their assistance to those that had been in the ship. Sure enough, Ikumatsu walked straight over to Katsura.
"Still alive, are you?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
Ikumatsu glanced over his wounds for a moment before punching him in the arm. "Fool, you look like a wreck. And you're bleeding everywhere."
Katsura winced as he rubbed his arm. "Well then don't hit me then! You're only making it worse!"
"That's for making me worry about you," she said sternly.
Katsura just remained silent as he stared at her. He didn't know what to say.
Meanwhile, Kagura could feel her eyes starting to droop as she rocked back and forth on her feet. The injuries she had gained from fighting Kamui and the energy she had spent in the last few days were finally starting to wear on her. She suddenly closed her eyes as she slowly started to fall forward…
However, Gintoki soon reached out and grabbed her by the arm in order to stop her fall. He managed to support Tsukuyo with his other arm as he did this. The couple stared at the girl.
"She must be tired," Tsukuyo noted.
Gintoki nodded. "Yeah, I guess she's been through a lot recently…"
"Almost as much as I have," Tsukuyo agreed.
Gintoki just frowned at Kagura as he thought about this. Before long, Sadaharu walked over and knelt down so that Gintoki could place the girl on his back. The samurai gladly did so, and Kagura was now sound asleep on the dog's backside. Gintoki then took a moment to glance at all of his friends.
"Well, it wasn't easy," he told them all, "but we did it. We got Tsukuyo back, and we fought them off too. And we did it all together."
"I helped the Oniwabanshu fight them off at Edo Castle!" exclaimed Sachan in an effort to get attention.
"The Yagyu lent their support as well," Kyuubei added.
"Don't forget my Kaientai fleet!" said Sakamoto.
"And the Hyakka," murmured Tsukuyo.
"And the Shinsengumi," said Shinpachi, gesturing towards Sogo.
"And us as well," finished Gengai, indicating the rest of them.
Gintoki just smiled at them. "Of course. Those who went with me, and those that stayed down here to fight, I thank you both. I couldn't have done it without all of your help."
Gintoki then paused as he smiled at Tsukuyo in his arms.
"Thanks to you, this battle…has been our victory!"
His announcement was met with several cheers from the group as they all proclaimed their success. Some of them clapped and whistled, with fists raised into the air. As he watched, Gintoki wasn't sure, but he thought he might have seen Katsura and Ikumatsu kiss each other for a brief moment…If it was true, it would certainly have explained Katsura's red cheeks…
Dwelling on this, Gintoki looked down once more at his own lover, and brought her a little bit closer. Tsukuyo accepted the invitation, and sure enough, the two of them ended up planting their lips together, celebrating a complete and total victory.
Well, that's the end of the fights! And now we're almost done with Book 3! We just need a couple more chapters to wrap things up, and that's it. Awesome :)
As for the chapter, well, I guess I'll just say that I hope I did a good job of wrapping up all the chaos I created. When I originally sat down to write the chapter, I realized that there was a lot going on that needed to be resolved quickly. I guess this is what happens when you try to make something really epic by throwing in as much shit as you can. Go figure XD
Other than that, I think I'm done here. Please feel free to leave a review and as always please look forward to the next chapter! See you then!