Ah, yes! Today was a good day! This chapter, something happened when I as writing it, a burst of inspiration, which made it so much better!Yes, this is definetly one of my better chapters!
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Yunsung talked groggily to Madam Sarene, who was getting increasingly anxious, about the procedure. He hadn't slept well- it appeared the drawback of actually having a bed to sleep in at long last was the resulting nightmares- Talim hanging upside down by the ankle over a cliff, crying out for Yunsung to help her, but he was getting more miniscule by the second. Talim lying on the ground with Soul Calibur in her chest, Taki saying she was sorry, but it had to be done. Talim's hand falling limp inside his own, it turning to ice, then dissapearing...
The plan was that Taki would use one of her Soul Calibur knives to cut the Soul Edge out of Tornado's body(other wielders of Soul Calibur formed much larger and less maneuverable weapons). They would use the strongest anesthetic available because, according to Taki, the procedure would be extremely painful otherwise. Madam Sarene, already irritated by the crude use of weaponry in the operation, insisted that the anesthetic was already quite dangerous itself- as well as not being able to feel anything, Tornado would also be weakened and exhausted of her life supports. Taki said then the quicker they performed the operation the better, and the anesthetic (which she appeared to recognize) was absolutely necessary. "By Yunsung's request." she hastened to add.
Tornado, who had been reportedly so foul-mouthed the night before that the young nurses cried, had to be turned over on her bed forcibly by Taki and Yunsung.
"Bastards!" she roared once she had been turned over, her head propped up by the pillows, "Ha, I enjoy the look of shock on their pathetic faces! Want more? Bitch! Whore! Fucker! C-mmf!" Yunsung slapped his hand over her mouth.
"That's enough!"He insisted, as she turned her head to the side to glare at him.
Madam Sarene let out a huge sigh from behind him, as if she had come back from a long run, "Yes..." she groaned woozily, "Thank you...thank God she stopped...such vulgarity..."
"Easy, ma'am." said Yunsung as he tied a cloth across Tornado's mouth, as Taki beside him ran a finger across Talim's back as if mapping out incisions, "You might faint again. Stay calm."
"I'm going to, you know!" she said, pacing across the room slowly and resting with another pant in a chair, "I've never had such...I've never known how to deal with..."
"Taki'll handle it." he replied, "She's a ninja- apparently they get trained in like everything."
"It's true." said Taki, her proud-ness more distinct as she continued to trace Tornado's back, "It is almost definitely true!" she finished running her finger, and announced at last, "I believe we are ready to begin the procedure."
"Right! Righty-o!" said Madam Sarene suddenly, shooting up from her chair and bustling around the room in no particular direction, "Ladies, to your stations!" she instructed the nurses, who positioned themselves on either side of Tornado's bed, clad in their masks and wheeling tables lined with sterile equipment along with them. Taki had assigned Yunsung the role of "noticing Strange Peculiarities." He didn't know what kind of Strange Peculiarities he should be looking out for, but Taki addressed him with an air of great importance, so he was suddenly alert, his tiredness fading away. Madam Sarene was to look over the proceedings and assist the nurses. To complete the preparation, Taki climbed onto the bed and positioned herself sitting where Tornado's back ended, making not a sound or squeak from the bed as she did so.
Taki's first order was, "Administer anesthetic."
With shaking hands, one of the nurses took the syringe of anesthetic, and jabbed the needle into Tornado's arm. Then, tremulously, she pushed the top. Yunsung watched the purple liquid ooze down the syringe, until it was empty. He went around to Tornado's head. She looked at him through her malformed eyes sullenly, unable to speak through the gag. "G'night." he said, smiling. And it was a matter of seconds, before Tornado closed her eyes. Eyes closed, she already looked more human.
Yunsung nodded to Taki. "Brace yourselves." she commanded, "I am about to make the first incision. The blade is extremely strong and is able to cut through skin extremely easily. I will cut delicately, but be prepared for any blood. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur are two extremely volatile metals. Anything could happen."
A deafening silence passed, where Taki looked around at them all impressively. Then, she bent down and aimed the sharp edge of the knife at the very start of Tornado's back. Yunsung watched, inwardly wishing with all his heart, as Taki slowly and slightly cut the lowest and leftmost part of the metal shards on her back. As nothing happened, she continued to cut right through, her small eyes perfectly focused and her hands perfectly precise. The blade cut through Soul Edge like a knife through butter.
Taki stopped, having only cut a small part. "I am cutting dangerously deep in the skin. I will require an apron." One was instantly fetched by the flustered Madam Sarene, and she put it on, "Be prepared for blood."
Taki held the blade again, tight in her hand, and pushed it forward along the flat left side of Tornado's back, and the Soul Edge was cut so cleanly that it brushed across Taki's hand as she pushed forward. Yunsung was excited inside. Taki had almost done a whole strip- approximately a quarter- of Tornado's back, and the human skin, however reddened and strangely sun-burnt it looked, was beginning to show.
"Attention!" said Taki suddenly, as a small torrent of blood leaked out of the place where she had been cutting, and it leaked to the left. The nurse on that side reacted quickly, dabbing medical tissues, invigorated like Yunsung was over Taki's professional demeanor. Yunsung remembered his task. He checked Tornado's pulse. Lub-dub, lub-dub- normal. He put his hand on Tornado's head- it was wet and clammy.
"She's in a cold sweat." he remarked, looking at Taki instantly. But it was Madam Sarene who responded, "So would you be if you were getting a volatile metal cut out of your back!"
"My thoughts exactly." said Taki plainly. Yunsung and the nurses looked unanimously at Madam Sarene amusedly, who was looking quite pleased with herself.
"Can we get on with this?" said Taki boredly. She pushed on with the incision, and finally, she reached the very top of Tornado's back. One, long slice of shards the width of Taki's knife, sticking out of a thin piece of dead skin, Taki lifted up. "We are a quarter of the way there." she said, her triumph barely noticeable.
"Great!" Yunsung's voice came out in a whisper which still reached every ear in the room. One of the nurses took the line of shards away, as Yunsung rushed around to Tornado's head, which lay balanced on it's chin. He took it gently in hands and kissed her forehead, "Hang in there, baby. We're gonna make it!" he whispered.
Taki had already started the second strip. Yunsung watched as she began to cut her way upwards again. The atmosphere had changed in the room- Yunsung could feel himself breathing again. He anxiously checked around. Lub-dub-normal. Forehead-clammy and sweaty still. Skin-pale, but so would yours be...bla bla bla...mouth gagged...
"Flip! I forgot to remove her gag!"Yunsung exclaimed.
"She can breath through her nose, pet." said Madam Sarene, sounding a bit more serene.
"I better take it out just in case." he decided. He untied the white cloth at the back of Tornado's head, and pulled it off. He jumped backwards in horror as a flood of scarlet red poured from Tornado's mouth. "Taki, she's bleeding through her mouth!" he yelped.
Taki looked up at him slowly and dully. Then looked down again, and continued to cut through the metal.
"Taki..." said Yunsung slowly, as the nurses looked at her in horror, "Taki, what are you doing?"
"Finishing." she said, her eyes strangely alight, as she cut slightly faster. "Blood attention, please, nurses."
"Taki, Talim needs medical attention now!" he demanded, coldness seeping through his veins.
"Once I have finished this strip!" she insisted.
"No! Taki, Taki!!!" he screamed, as he touched Tornado's neck and he began to panic, "Her rate's on fire, Taki!"
"I am nearly finished." she said calmly.
"She's red hot!" he bellowed as Tornado's head seared his hand, as he saw Tornado's own hands begin to shake.
"Now, really!"said Madam Sarene, angry.
Taki paused again, looked to her sides at the nurses, at Madam Sarene, and at the utterly horrified Yunsung. She looked down again. She was three-quarters of her way through the second strip. Reluctantly, she lifted up what she had done and cut the three-quarters off, so Tornado was left with two and a quarter knife-long strips of Soul Edge. She said simply, "Apply the necessary life support and solutions.", and lifted herself silently off the bed and towards the sink.
The practice went into total uproar when the quiet controlled atmosphere was replaced with pandemonium. The nurses, usually quiet, began to bark out commands and readings at one another- Yunsung only recognized the word "adrenaline". Madam Sarene looked worse than ever , her voice rising to a screech as her orders came out as muddled oaths. The jargon they used just made everything seem horribly worse to him- he had no idea what was going on, Taki had infuriated and confused him, and more importantly, there was nothing he could do to help Talim except to hold her head desperately against his and try to block out the blood, Taki, the screaming of the nurses, and try, just try his hardest to let all of his thoughts wash away, and dissapear into the depths of Talim's soft black locks.