Buffy slowly backed away from the Immortal, who was still holding her axe. He chuckled. Then he did something she did not quite expect.
He tossed the axe to one side; it landed harmlessly on the floor. Buffy looked at him in surprise then scoffed.
"Going to bring in your helpers to do your fighting for you?" she asked.
"No, flower. If I wanted to do that, I would have done it before I came in this room with you." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny rectangular black box. He pressed a button on it. Immediately, a panel slid open on the wall to his left, revealing numerous weapons of all kinds. Walking over, he picked out two curved swords, both in scabbards. He pressed the button on the remote again, closing the panel.
"Have you ever watched any movies by Akira Kurosawa?" asked the Immortal.
"No, can't say that I have."
"Really? You should. They're quite excellent; Kurosawa was the master when it came to filmmaking. My personal favorite is Seven Samurai. I was actually at the first showing when it premiered in Japan fifty years ago."
Buffy wandered where he was going with this conversation, until she noticed the swords that he was holding.
"Samurai swords? You're going to kill me with two samurai swords?"
"They're called katanas, flower. And to answer your question, no, I'm going to kill you with only one of them. The other is to give you a fair chance to defend yourself. I'm going to give you what you apparently were not planning to give me: a fair fight. It's why I sent all my guards home tonight." He grinned at this then held out both of the katanas. "Pick one."
Buffy looked at both of them; she indicated the one in his right hand, which had a red and black scabbard. He tossed it to her. She caught it with her left hand.
Buffy slowly withdrew the sword from its covering. It looked quite new; the blade was sharp and reflected the light perfectly. She brandished it; she could not help but admire the craftsmanship.
"Have you had training in the ways of the Samurai?" asked Buffy.
"Yes, very much so. I spent many years during the sixteenth century learning from the best of the best in Japan."
Buffy nodded; her facial indicated how impressed she was. "Out of curiosity, how old are you, exactly?"
"Even I have lost count over the years, flower. What I can tell you is that I came from a plebeian family; I was in the lower class of society." He withdrew his blade from its scabbard and dropped the scabbard on the floor.
"Plebeian?" Buffy remembered the term from her world history class back in high school. Her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Wait a minute…you mean to tell me that you lived here in Rome in the days of the Empire?"
"More than that, flower; I was here when Rome was still a republic." He glanced up at something behind Buffy; Buffy turned and followed his gaze. She found herself looking at a shelf containing several ancient artifacts, including a centurion's helmet.
"When I was still young, a man came to me and told me that he represented three gods known as the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart. I was puzzled; those gods were unknown to me, and I was still a devout worshipper of Jupiter, or Zeus, as the Greeks called him." He looked back at Buffy. "But the Senior Partners, though they were not called that at the time, saw the potential in me and knew what I could accomplish for them. Thus they had the man show me a world I had never believed existed; a world where vampires and demons walked the earth. A world where I could have anything I wanted. This was more proof of his gods' existences than I had ever been offered for that of Jupiter's. So I pledged myself to the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart. I faithfully did their bidding, and in exchange they granted me riches and eternal youth. Eventually I was offered a position on the Council of the Black Thorn, and I accepted; I desired to be more powerful than ever."
"An offer you couldn't refuse," Buffy commented.
"Yes."
Buffy nodded, then stood up straight and looked directly at the Immortal. "Interesting credentials you have there. You ready to fight?"
"Anytime you are, flower."
They both got in position; Buffy held her katana out in front of her, while the Immortal took the classic samurai stance, using both hands to hold the handle of his katana next to the right side of his head, the blade pointing forward. His legs were spread, with his left foot in front, and his right pointing to the side.
The Immortal smiled once again. "Let's finish this."
--
Author's Note: Sorry, I know not much action happened in this chapter, but I got to thinking about the mysterious Immortal and what his background could possibly be, and this chapter nearly wrote itself.
Originally I planned to just simply have Buffy and the Immortal duke it out in typical Buffy fashion. You know; fists, feet, etc. But then I thought about it some more and remembered that the Immortal viewed magic as being dirty, and rather a cheap way to do things, so I figured that he would probably also hold the same view about fighting dirty.
Plus, it was a great way to pay tribute to both "Kill Bill" and my favorite Japanese director (may he rest in peace).
Again, let me remind you that I may be taking this fic up to an M rating soon (depending on content in later chapters), and to leave feedback. I promise I will get back to the other characters' fights in the next chapter.