Chapter 63: The Forgotten Sword style

Having collected a sample from the cryogenic freezer Frost and Cynthia began to exit. Once at the door, Frost glanced back to see Cynthia stopping to look at the mess of a room they were leaving behind.

Concerned about her he asked "Cynthia?"

"No it is alright, I'm fine." She replied reassuringly.

"We should get going."

"Right," the Champion replied shortly after taking a deep breath.

[He is right this isn't over by a longshot.] she thought as they moved out of the cold room.

Thanks to Spark the lights were turned on allowing the two of them to look around more freely in the storage area. The long walkaways were completely devoid of anyone other than the two of them and Frost took the time to ponder on the atmosphere.

[God this place is really creepy.]

Looking around the huge room Cynthia felt it too and the eeriness was increasing by the second and with Frost not talking anymore made it even worse.

She thought she should let one of her Pokemon out but Frost had made it clear not to do it since they don't know what could be waiting for them here. Deciding it was too much she tried to strike a conversation with her only companion at the moment.

"Having someone like Spark must be a huge help for you, is it not?"

Frost who was currently on a shelf ladder searching through the boxes kept up there didn't even turn and gave a short reply.

"Oh… Yeah, he is quite the help."

Frost was too focused on the situation at hand to participate in a conversation at the moment so he didn't really think his reply could be taken as a rude on by Cynthia who was thinking something completely different at the moment.

[Great he must think I am prying for information now…oh God why do I have to so awkward at a time like this.] Cynthia was already struggling to keep her emotions in check and something like this made her even more uncomfortable, so she tried to fix it the best way she could at the moment.

"I didn't mean to pry…. I mean that came out wrong I… I mean all I wanted to was have small talk, we were quiet for a while now so that is why… I…" she somehow fumbled through the sentence while fidgeting her fingers.

Eyeing her suspiciously Frost figured out what had happened.

[She is full of openings… unlike her usual self.]

He didn't like it at all seeing her like this, for all he cared she was a strong woman who put other people's welfare above her own.

[I will find who did this…. Even if it is the last thing I do.] He promised in his mind as he replied to ease Cynthia.

"I am sorry that was rude…..Actually, I didn't want to praise him too much since you know he is listening to this conversation."

Although calming Cynthia down was becoming repetitive now although he did not mind it since for a Civilian like her she was doing a great job in handling herself and since she was still technically his responsibility it was his duty to keep her safe.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Cynthia replied as she remembered Spark listening in before.

Suddenly a voice buzzed in her ear.

"Don't let Leader stop you Champion."

Spark had joined in like a kid looking for attention and almost immediately both he and Frost started to argue on the subject with Frost taking the more mature approach and telling Spark to focus on the job.

"Moving on…. How are things up there?" Frost changed his tone and so did Spark when he replied.

"Things are under control the Champions are doing a fine job at keeping the situation in control and ever since Diantha and Lance returned even the Police are more organised."

"And what about the kid?"

Cynthia could only presume the "kid" was Ash.

"He is with Alder at the centre, Steven Stone left about a half-hour ago to investigate a fire in one of the buildings up north I haven't heard from him since." Spark replied seriously.

"Wait! He went alone what was he thinking!"

Cynthia's sudden objection was justified as Frost agreed but still urged Spark to continue.

"That is what Big sis also told him but he rushed anyway and Big sis did not try to stop him anymore,"

[He is been gone for long and no radio contact… things could get worse but I know if Rain sent him she must be thinking ahead.]

"Did Rain send anyone for support?" Frost asked breaking away from his thoughts.

"Of course Leader, she sent Stone as soon as he was available." Spark answered boldly.

Frost saw Cynthia's expression relax a bit as she added

"Then... I suppose it is fine."

Frost agreed since as long as Steven wasn't alone it was fine.

"Keep us posted we'll join you as soon as we are done searching here."

"Copy that boss."

After pausing for getting his thoughts organised Frost glanced towards his blonde companion.

"Let's wrap things here Champion... Stay close."

Cynthia nodded and two of them went to work looking for anything odd or worth searching and it wasn't long when they stumbled upon three identical looking caskets with a brushed metal surface.

[Frost must have missed these when he walked in without much light.]

Frost who was probably wondering the same was looked at the caskets before adding

"You could certainly fit a human or something of the same size inside."

Cynthia examined them once more before settling to a theory.

"Frost these are empty but I feel like they were from inside." She began as this peeked Frost's interests.

The Ranger knelt and procured a small blue light the size of his finger from his long coat as he shined it on the brushed metal surface.

"No prints..." He said as Cynthia's theory looked more real by the second.

Frost delved deeper in his mind thinking about possible contents to these mysterious caskets before he remembered.

"Prototypes... Gifts..." he whispered.

"SHIT!." He yelled all of a sudden before grabbing Cynthia by her arm and dragging her into a sprint.

"Wha... What's wrong Frost." Cynthia would have asked more but was too surprised by the suddenness of his action.

With no signs of stopping Frost began explaining.

"When I was clearing the lobby I overheard few guards talking about some prototypes that were armed and when I dealt with that old mercenary leader he said something similar."

"But if that is the case then why haven't we been attacked by now?" Cynthia replied as she struggled to keep up with Frost's pace.

"We need to move faster Champion." Frost told her before she stopped abruptly to snap her heels off using the stairs and while she did he answered her previous question.

"The fact we haven't been attacked yet is the part that is worrying me, it means that whatever was in there is already…"

"Where it is supposed to be at … this is bad." Cynthia finished as she wore her now flats back.

"Yeah…. This call could come any minute now that is why we should hurry back to the surface."

"Right!" Cynthia agreed and both of them started their ascent back to the floors with the elevator.

About three-fourth their way up Spark connected.

"Leader! We have a situation…. Leaf's got a code grey."

"Where is she?" Frost asked without wasting a second.

[Code Gray?] Cynthia's ears perked at the unfamiliar term.

"The Sewer entrance the same one you used, Ember told me they were intercepted by a katana-wielding humanoid robot, I am heading their also to get Leaf her gear, I also sent Ember to Stone just in case," Spark responded in a hurry.

"Humanoid Robot? With a katana?" Cynthia asked confused.

"Yes."

"I guess we know what was those caskets," Frost said as Cynthia's concerns grew.

"There were three of them Frost which means there are two more outside." She added.

Frost nodded as he gave out a clear instruction.

"Spark issue a warning to all active Rangers here, two threats with high priority are loose, proceed with extreme caution."

"Copy that Leader, get to Leaf's location I left the elevators operational."

"On our way." Frost replied as he rushed back to the surface with Cynthia following suite.

As her tanto's blade blocked another wave of strikes from the humanoid's katana and she could feel the blade in her hand was beginning to fail.

Leaf's right arm had been cut during the initial attack the robot's movement and precision with the sword were just like a human but it did not feel robotic at all, the flow of the sword was smooth and effective even for Leaf who had prior experience in swordsmanship, holding on for dear life with a knife was getting harder with every passing second.

"What the hell are you?" she asked once they reached a stalemate.

"Mizu….shima….."

The robot on the other hand didn't reply with a sentence but with just a word and it was enough to rattle with Leaf's mind.

[Mizushima.]

Leaf dreaded that name a name she had thought to have discarded a long time ago had come back to haunt her in her mind it wasn't the robot's swordsmanship that was the issue it was its connection to the name Mizushima.

As they clashed once more all Leaf could do was defend since the tanto in her hand had neither the reach nor the weight to completely stop an incoming blade like that of a full-sized Katana.

"How do you know that name…..?" Leaf's voice trickled as she struggled to stop the blade once more.

This exchange was a bit longer and Leaf got a good look at the face of her adversary, it had no defining features like a nose or a mouth the voice she was hearing was most likely coming from a speaker on the bot's body but what it did have was pair of camera lenses placed exactly where a person's eyes would be at and with a lack of any other type of sensors on the body of the robot this was very suspicious.

[Now I am not an expert but I am pretty sure there are supposed to be more than just a pair of cameras on robots like these.]

After hanging around Spark for so long she had picked up a few things in robotics and engineering in general.

When they separated again the robot gave her the same cold stare like it did before and repeated the same word.

"Mizushima….."

"I get it asshole you know who I am now shut the fuck up and come fight me, you big pile of tin shit!" Leaf growled unlike her usual self if Rain was here she would most likely say she was beginning to sound like Ember.

Surprisingly the robot reacted to this sudden outburst as it slid its right feet on the ground and drew a semi-circle and in the same time lifted its sword over its head with its tip pointing towards Leaf.

This was the first time the robot took a particular stance to begin attacking before that it was just simple cuts and slashes it was throwing at Leaf although this was new for the robot it was eerily familiar to Leaf who recognised the posture immediately bit her lips.

[He knows "that" style too... this isn't happening.]

It was a nightmare for Leaf who stood ready to take on what the machine in front of her was going to perform but since she knew what was coming.

"Gādoburēkā…"

Her Native tone slipped as the incoming sword struck her tanto with incredible power thanks to the special posture of the Mizushima Sword Style.

The power was enough to make the small Tanto finally break in half as part of it flew to the side. The good news was that Leaf knew this was coming and had begun shifting her weight to move out of the katana's way but the bad news was that she was now defenceless without her blade.

The robot had already started to move towards Leaf who had jumped away from it ready to swing its sword once again.

In an effort to take out the cameras on the robot's head she threw two spikes at it as it approached ever so close to her but it was all in vain as the sharp blade of the Katana blocked both spikes with expert precision.

[My right-hand hurts… I have lost a lot of blood too I guess… this is it then I die by the same sword that I used to kill the othe…..] She couldn't even finish this thought as the bot swung.

Leaf had given up and having lost the will to fight she didn't even want to try and dodge….in her past she had used this same sword style against evil but she had lost herself in doing so maybe this was just Karma coming back to her, she chuckled internally as the blade grew closure.

But moments before the sword could touch her she remembered a certain blonde man and in that small moment, she gained the will to fight back as she used her gloved left hand to intercept the blade. Now normally this would result in the hand being sliced off but in this case, all it did was produce a loud clanging noise.

The robot was visibly surprised as it stood shocked as the glove covering Leaf's left hand tore and slid of revealing a perfectly smooth metal surface underneath.

A prosthetic hand courtesy of one blonde specialist.

"Sorry, tin-man but I can't die here." Leaf said as gears in her prosthetic turned and made noise as she moved the grabbed blade to the side and used the broken Tanto in her right hand to stab one of the eye cameras out.

The humanoid let out a pained screech as it shoved Leaf away from itself as it held one hand to where his eye would be as it pulled out the blade and tossed it in the flowing sewage in the side.

[What the did it just feel pain….. or was it just pretending to feel it…. What the hell am I facing right now.] Leaf thought as the robot stabilized.

"Well I can't be wondering things right now!" she said while half yelling as she jumped out of the way of the humanoid's attack.

She was completely defenceless now with her sole trick exposed and no weapon all she could do is run away and things were getting worse having to fight for so long her stamina was reaching her limit.

"Ha...haaa..haaaaa" her breathing was ragged as she moved away from another slash.

The humanoid was also not enjoying to fight such a nimble foe and its movements were starting to be reckless and aimed towards ending the duel instead.

It had been some time now since Ember had left someone was bound to reach her to help but only one thought arose in her mind.

[I need to buy more time...]

The bot having its one camera eye destroyed was having a hard time hitting her as she noticed it in her last few bouts.

[There is a blind spot.] she figured but that was not the only catch the real one was how the robot was reacting to a lost eye.

Now normally a robot would rely on its other sensors in such a case but this one who was lacking them for god knows why was still able to operate on almost peak efficiency.

"Just what are you because no way in hell are you just an ordinary robot." Leaf whispered as the bot rushed her.

"Oh, shit..." Leaf cursed as she used her left hand to block the blade but she was slower than before only having caught it just as the katana closed into her neck.

[SHIT.]

The blade slowly gained on her and came close to the skin on her neck .

She yelled as tried muster up the power to shove the bot forward but she was tired, her body was lacking in strength and with her stamina, at an all-time low all she could do is hold on for dear life.

Seeing that she was in a pinch the humanoid increased pressure and started to move the blade further and soon any gap that was made by Leaf's last effort was nullified.

This time with no remaining strength the blade touched her neck and blood began to flow out of the newly opened cut, even her prosthetic hand was reaching its structural limit as the metal started to bend and deform under the immense weight of the katana.

Leaf cried in pain as the blade travelled in dangerously close.

The circuits of her left arm Gave in first as the servos inside overloaded and fried themselves and just as the arm broke and Leaf closed her eyes accepting the end.

Someone kicked the blade away from her.

"Leader, be careful it is faster than it looks." she yelled in relief as Frost took over the fight for her.

"Get back and patch yourself I'll keep it occupied." He ordered as he produced a knife from his coat and took a combat stance.

Leaf followed as she retreated to where Cynthia was standing while carrying Frost's rifle, instantly she asked.

"Are you okay Leaf?"

"You guys came in just in time any late and you would have to take me back in two pieces." She joked as she opened her bag and produced medical supplies as she began to patch herself.

"Leaf your arm..." Cynthia began as she saw the broken prosthetic.

[So that is why she always kept it covered.] Cynthia's mind pieced together as helped her bandage herself.

Meanwhile, Frost jumped on the humanoid and kicked the katana out of his hands.

As the humanoid picked itself up Frost could see its white frame with black lines at the borders glimmer under the little lighting inside the sewer.

It stood up and eyed Frost before taking a fighting stance.

"You have got to be kidding…." Frost muttered in disbelief as the humanoid took a martial arts stance.

With the knife still in his hand, he lunged forward and tried to attack its joints but the robot moved too and grabbed hold of Frost's knife hand and locked it in such an angle that Frost lost his grip and the knife was promptly slapped out.

With its palm, the bot pushed Frost and boy did he feel it as he rolled on the ground after getting the wind knocked out of him.

"LEADER!" Leaf yelled as she tried to get up and go help him but was stopped by Cynthia.

"Wait! Leaf, Frost said to wait for Spark he is going to get here soon so keep put."

Cynthia had a point in her current state she couldn't do much even if she went to help.

"Hmm," she hummed as she allowed Cynthia to finish tying her right hand with a bandage.

Frost on the other hand after getting his bearings right did a kip-up to stand back up and face his opponent once more.

[I must not lose focus on this "thing" is serious.]

He took a sharp breath as he prepared to face the humanoid.

[Let's do this.]

Frost rushed once more like the white figure in front of him attacked with a chop of its own.

Crossing his arms in an "X" Frost somehow blocked it but could feel that the small figure of the robot was no excuse for the huge power behind its attacks.

Once the hand was stopped Frost used his left hand to move the robotic arm to the side and punch the humanoid right in its supposed jaw.

"Ah…" Frost cussed as he shook the pain in his right hand away the surface was harder than he expected.

The humanoid countered with his left hand but Frost ducked and avoided the strike. He used his right foot to sweep under the humanoid's legs but it jumped over the strike and moved back giving both of them time to reset.

It looked like before the humanoid was treating Frost like a nobody but having experienced a fight with him it grew more cautious of his ability.

"Scared?" Frost taunted as he stood back up.

His opponent fixed his head that was slightly off after the punch from Frost but in doing so confirmed Frost's theory.

[The joints are the weak.]

While Frost kept the machine occupied Spark who had just entered the sewer rushed towards Leaf with a long wrapped sword and a briefcase in his other hand.

"I made it… phew.."

He said as he gasped for breath it looked like he had run the whole way here which he had.

Before Cynthia could say Leaf yelled

"You dummy where were you? Any late and all three of us could have died."

"I am sorry here I brought you your stuff." He said as he tossed the wrapped sword toward her.

"I need you to fix my arm too.." Leaf grumbled as she showed him the smoking prosthetic.

"Arceus… how many times do I have to tell you it is a prosthetic, not a baton to fight with, "Spark said as opened the briefcase and took out another arm for Leaf.

Cynthia could join in on this interesting conversation but her gaze was fixed on Frost who was in a fistfight with the humanoid, she had already seen him fight before so there was no reason to be worried but a part of her just couldn't bear to watch him put his life on the line.

"Be careful…." she whispered as Spark began disassembling Leaf's broken hand.

"Don't worry Champion Leader won't die this easy." Leaf who was sitting on the ground having her arm being worked on replied extremely calmly considering one of her arms was missing and the other one was bandaged.

"I know…" she said with a sigh as this was a recurring theme.

"Anyway once I get my hand back I'll end this fight myself." Leaf said with a tone angrier than usual.

Spark threw a concerned look at her before he continued to reattach the new prosthetic arm.

The way Spark worked his way on the arm Cynthia could tell that he was a good technician as well.

"Try to move it." He spoke once he tightened the arm support back in place.

Leaf opened and closed her hand making a fist as she inspected her new hand. It was definitely a backup as it wasn't as well finished as the previous one but she could work around it after all to Leaf it never was about the looks but the performance of a tool.

"It'll do." She said as she stood up and untied the cloth wrapped around her weapon.

As the white cloth fell it revealed an all wooden sheath and handle the craftsmanship was very high as you couldn't tell where the sheath ended and the handle began.

Leaf used her dominant hand to grab the handle and pull out a magnificent blade.

To Cynthia, this was unlike the normal Katana whose handles were wrapped in a cord or decorated with ornaments but a simple weapon designed to do one thing.

Leaf who had already discarded her long coat to get her hand and neck bandaged inspected the edge on the blade before practising some basic motions with the sword to warm up; anyone who saw her do it could tell that Leaf was not cutting any corners.

Frost and the humanoid continued their brawl as the robot shifted his weight on one leg and delivered a roundhouse kick aimed at Frost's head and he responded with his own kick and both their legs came to abrupt stop mid-air.

Frost used the momentum to drop his leg first and using his other leg performed a reverse kick almost instantly, his opponent blocked with its arms.

The humanoid staggered and Frost caught his breath.

Although Frost was the one looking in control it wasn't like that in truth because he was the one repeatedly kicking and punching metal.

His body was hurting like hell, bruising itself with every successful hit.

The white humanoid showed no signs of slowing down and moved again after centring himself.

Frost moved too but his ever so increasing fatigue caught up to him and he winced as he got kicked to the side and slammed into the brick walls of the sewer.

"FROST!" Cynthia yelled as Leaf moved in.

"Oye! tin head you want a fight lets to go." Leaf said as she pointed the tip of her sword at the machine.

Seeing Leaf return the humanoid completely forgot about the fight with Frost as he scanned his surroundings to look for its sword once it found what it was looking for it moved slowly and picked up the weapon and faced Leaf once again.

In the meantime, Spark and Cynthia moved in and helped Frost back up.

"You alright Leader?" Spark asked him as he lent him his shoulder.

"Yeah…. Just fine." He said with a smile as he staggered his way out of Leaf's way.

Just as he crossed Leaf he said

"The joints….."

"I know I got this Leader."

"Good." He said as Spark and Cynthia moved him to the side.

Once out of their way the humanoid's voice leaked out again.

"Mizushima…"

Leaf was sick of this as she struck first and both the swords collided while making a sharp noise.

"I don't care how you know the Mizushima Sword Style nor do I care whom you learned it from but I sure as hell am going to make you pay for using it against me." She threatened as her sword moved back and she swiped from another angle.

If Cynthia had thought that the robot was fast before she was currently taking it all back as looking at Leaf now it was the humanoid having trouble keeping up.

"Let us check your basics….." Leaf aggressed as she swept her opponent's blade to the side and then slashed at the lower torso of the humanoid twice.

"First Sword! Grass cuts." Leaf told it as the blade moved through the joint connecting the legs of the robot to its main body.

"The joints are usually weak in this type of machine to optimize movement," Spark added as Frost nodded and Cynthia stood in awe at the high level of swordsmanship on display.

As the humanoid felt pressured now it shifted to a more defensive approach blocking Leaf's strikes to avoid damage as its legs were already beginning to slow.

"Don't run away now... here let me help First Sword! …." Leaf began as she took the same stance as the robot took to break Leaf's guard when she fought with a knife.

"HAAA" she launched a downward strike angled perfectly as even thou the sword tried to block couldn't stop the blade completely leaving the guard of the robot exposed.

"You are all open!" she yelled as she prepared to end the fight.

{MIZUSHIMA SECOND SWORD FALSE LOTUS}

Leaf swung her sword diagonally down but it was all but a feint as she purposely adjusted the blade's length by gripping the handle from the further back once her opponent fell for it and moved its sword to guard the feint Leaf turned with her swing with her back now facing the humanoid she reversed the grip on her katana and thrust it back into the body of the humanoid in the same joint she attacked previously.

This time the blade penetrated deeper due to the lack of protection at the joint it seems that her previous slashes were just to weaken the surface of the joint so the next attack could finish the fight.

The humanoid began to act erratically as various circuits within it began to short the small flashes of lights you could see within him confirmed it was malfunctioning.

As it desperately tried to pull the sword deep in its lower abdomen function in its arms ceased while holding onto the handle. It was clear the fight was over and as Leaf stood up and faced the bot it looped.

"Mizu…shima Mizushima Mizushima….Mi…..zu…shi….maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Leaf pushed the sword deeper as she spoke calmly.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time….."

Soon all functioning of the humanoid stopped and it stood still in front of Leaf.

"Amateur…" she spoke in a condescending tone as she tipped the body of the robot with a little nudge from her finger and it fell lifelessly.

Author's Notes:

Phew, that took a while to get out sorry for the delay but I think you all are used to it. Anyways I hope you all are enjoying the story and feel free to ask questions on the same in the PMs or reviews.

The Japanese Leaf spoke in this chap translates to "Guard Breaker" I used google translate so yeah do not expect much XD.

Also if you want to know what sword techniques Leaf used here is the quick overview.

Mizushima Sword Style

First Sword(Basic)

Grass Cuts: Two sweeping horizontal cuts performed in quick succession move resembles

the act of cutting grass aimed at the lower torso.

Guard Breaker/Falling Trunk: A heavy attack behind which a lot of power is put because of the stance of the user. The sword is swung downwards as this is usually used as a defence/guard

breaking attack.

Second Sword/Intermediate Technique

False Lotus Thrust: A deceptive technique where the user feints an attack by purposely

adjusting the length of their sword in their hands barely missing their opponent and then

while returning reversing the blade of the weapon to perform a stabbing attack.

So yeah those were the only ones used here not the most original names I know but I tried to make the moves seem on the more realistic side if they do seem too unrealistic write your opinions in the reviews I'll be happy to read and improve on it.

Anyways this has been such a long chapter and now even the author's note is long I am tired now lol, so until next time

PEACE