The following occurs in the year 3450
The following occurs in the year 3450
Chapter 3
I stood in the midst of the large office surrounded by twenty androids that bore the appearance of young human men. In their hands they wielded the katana and within them I sensed their sole purpose: to eliminate me. One of the droids at the door rushed up to me and began throwing strikes at me with its sword. I threw up my sword and blocked all his strikes, and then with one kick I sent him flying across the room. In mid-air the android flipped and landed on his feet. Suddenly another android rushed towards me throwing strikes with his sword at high speed. With a speed that matched his speed I blocked all of his strikes. My ear then picked up the sound of footsteps running behind me. I spun around just in time to block the fast strikes of five androids. As I blocked their strikes I began moving backwards towards the desk. I flipped over the desk and one of the droids sliced the desk in half with one strike. I soon engaged with six other androids who threw a combination of kicks and strikes with their swords. I dodged, blocked and absorbed their strikes and in a single bound I jumped from their midst and landed other the other side of the office. This one android did the same landing on the same spot where I landed and started throwing a combination of kicks and strikes with its sword. I sidestepped his strikes and used my sword to absorb them and then I blocked and absorbed many of its kicks. I then struck with The Final Dawn and threw a combination of kicks and punches. The android blocked my strikes with its katana and was unaffected by my blows. I continued to strike at the droid with my sword and then with one strike I took off its right arm. Its arm fell on the floor with its hand gripped tightly on the handle of the sword. Despite this the android began throwing kicks at me at high speed. Each strike blurred as I tried to block and absorb every blow. The android threw one kick to my ribs. As its foot made contact to my body I held unto it and threw the android to the other end of the room.
The moment I got that android out of the way I made contact with ten androids. One by one they struck at me with their swords and threw kicks at me at high speed. I sidestepped, dodged and blocked many of their strikes. I flipped out of their midst and landed behind them. There was one android that stood behind me and with one thrust the droid stabbed me in the back. The blade of the katana entered my back and then through my chest. I froze the moment the entire blade came through the middle of my chest. I looked down at the blade and with lighting speed I landed a spinning kick in the droid's chest which sent it flying towards the end of the office. I turned around and broke off the blade of the katana that stuck through my chest and then I pulled out the handle of the katana and watched as the droid flew across the office. The droid flipped in mid-air, landed on the wall with its feet, sprung off and flew towards me. The droid landed on top of me and at that moment I used my feet to throw him off me and send him flying on the other side of the office. The droid landed on its feet, rushed towards me and began throwing a fast combination of kicks and punches at me. I blocked, dodged, side stepped and absorbed many of the droids strikes and soon I began throwing fast kicks at the droid. It absorbed many of my blows and soon I landed one kick that sent the droid flying across the office.
I soon found myself engaging with approximately thirteen droids who struck at me with their swords at high speed. I blocked many of their strikes with my sword and fought my way through them. One droid took it upon itself to finish me once and for all with a combination of kicks and strikes with its sword. I blocked many of his strikes and his kicks and then threw my own combination of strikes and kicks. It blocked many of my sword strikes but absorbed many of my kicks. My kicks would have no effect on this droid. The droid struck at me with its sword once more and threw a jump kick in my chin. I blocked its strikes and took the kick to my chin. I started to strike at the droid with my sword throwing strikes at high speed. It blocked many of my strikes with a speed that matched mine. With one thrust I stabbed the droid in the chest with my sword. I drove my sword through its chest until the entire blade stuck out of its back. I then pulled it out hoping that the droid would drop to its knees. To my astonishment the droid still remained standing and soon it began to strike at me again at high speed. I blocked many of its strikes and threw a combination of kicks and strikes with my sword. The droid blocked my strikes and absorbed and blocked my kicks. I threw a punch which made its way into the droid's chest. I opened my fist and realized that my hand was deep inside the droid's chest. My fingers touched something soft and fleshy. I grabbed it with a firm grip and the droid froze immediately. I looked at the droid's face and realised that the once firm face was now the face of a helpless creature. I pulled the object out of the droid's chest and discovered that it was a heart. The heart was very much like a human heart but there was a striking difference. The heart was connected to wires that hung out of the droid's chest. I stared at the heart and saw that it was now connected to three wires with three other wires that were loose or broken. My arm was now covered with blood and I watched as the heart beat slowly in my hand. I then looked at the droid who was now on its knees. It dropped its sword out of its hand and blood began pouring out of its mouth. The droid stretched out its hands as if it was pleading for me to spare him. My grip on the heart became tighter and with one pull I yanked the heart from the remaining wires. The droid then collapsed and laid in a pool of blood. I soon realized the droid's weakness.
I then engaged with the other droids throwing a combination of kicks and strikes with my sword. They dodged and blocked many of my strikes with a speed that I had to conquer. I engaged with this one droid throwing strikes with my sword at high speed. He blocked my strikes and threw his fast strikes at me which I blocked. I raised my sword to strike a blow and at the same time the droid raised its sword against me. With one blow our swords were locked with both of us pressing our blades against each other's blade. I pushed hard against the droid's blade that sent it sliding across the room. Another droid jumped in front of me and struck with his sword at high speed. I blocked all of the droid's strikes with my sword and started slashing the droid across its face. Two slashes from The Final Dawn left the droid with deeps gashes on the right side of its face. The droid then halted its advance, dug deep into the gashes with its fingers. He pulled off the skin revealing its steel skull and red glowing right eye. It engaged with me once more throwing a flying kick which I blocked with my left arm. The droid then struck at me with its sword at high speed and threw fast kicks to my face and abdomen. I then threw strikes at the droid and with one kick I sent him flying across the office and breaking through the door where Anteaus made his escape.
I dashed out of the door, and then the droid sprung back to its feet and engaged with me again. We struck at each other with our swords at high speed and with one strike I stabbed the droid into the chest sticking it to the wall. With effortless strength I turned my sword around its chest in mixing motion cutting the wires that connected to its heart. The android then dropped limp on the floor in a pool of its own blood. The other androids that were in the office soon dashed out and started to engage with me in the hall. One by one they struck with their swords at high speed and threw fast kicks at me. I dodged and blocked many of their strikes. The more they struck the further I moved backwards. I kept moving backwards until I came to a staircase was in the heart of the massive building. I jumped on the railing and jumped onto one of the flight of stairs that made up 112 storeys. I began to make my escape until one of the androids landed right in front of me and started striking at me with its sword. With each strike I move backwards going up the stairs. I glanced to my left and saw the other droids jumping from the top of the staircase and onto where I landed. About ten of them made it to my location and joined in with the android I was fighting with. One by one they struck at me with lightening speed and with my own speed I blocked many of their strikes. This one particular droid threw a combination of kicks and strikes with itsword. I blocked of the droid's combos and slashed it across the chest which dismembered him. I engaged with two other droids striking at them with The Final Dawn in hand. In one stroke I dismembered them cutting them in half from across the chest. I then made contact with three other droids in which we struck at each other back and forth with our swords. In slicing mode I had them dismembered and their body parts flew across the floor. Two of the remaining droids charged me throwing a combination of kicks and sword strikes. I blocked their strikes and dismembered them from across the chest. I soon engaged with the remaining droids where we struck at each other back and forth with a combination of sword strikes and kicks. At high speed I dismembered them limb from limb. Blood splattered across my face as my sword made contact with their flesh. After my engagement with the ten droids I jumped on the railing and jumped to the next row of stairs.
I landed on floor 111 and in an instant eight more droids landed in front of me. I soon came across the android with the missing arm. At high speed the android threw fast kicks at me. I blocked and dodged many of its kicks and soon I found myself engaging with another android. The android threw strikes at in me in which I blocked them with my sword. I then engaged with the last five droids who struck with their swords one by one. After blocking all of their strikes I engaged with the one-armed droid yet again. I began blocking and dodging every kick he threw at me in what seemed like ten minutes. Soon, with one swipe of The Final Dawn I dismembered the droid from across its shoulders. One of the remaining droids rushed up to me and threw fast strikes at me with its katana. I blocked many of the strikes and took off its right arm that wielded the katana. Its arm dropped and its fist unclenched making the katana roll out of its hand and unto the floor. The droid looked down at the katana. With its right foot the android kicked up the sword and caught it in its left hand. It then struck at me once more with the same speed and skill it had with its right hand. I blocked and dodged many of its strikes and soon I engaged with another droid who threw the same quick strikes. After blocking its strikes I made upward swipe dismember the droid from the right side of its chest. I then engaged with the unarmed droid whose sword I broke in half. It rushed towards me and started throwing a fast combination of kicks and punches. I defended myself by blocking and dodging most of its kicks and punches and I also absorbed a handful of its blows. I soon began to strike at the droid with my sword. However, each time I struck with my sword the android would duck, flip and jump out of the way before my blade made contact with its body. The droid struck at me again with its combination of kicks and punches. After blocking and absorbing its kicks and punches I struck once more with my sword dismembering the droid limb from limb. I then jumped unto the railing and then jumped down to floor 110.
The moment I landed on that floor I spun around and caught a glimpse of one of the droids climbing unto the rail and jumping off. I soon climbed on my rail and jumped towards the droid who too jumped off. We soon engaged in mid air striking at each other back and forth. We kept striking at each as we were falling down to the first floor. I dismembered the droid across its chest and engaged with another droid who jumped off. After trading swipes with the droid I sliced my sword across its chest. Two other droids jumped down towards me and started trading strikes with me. I used my sword to dismember their bodies into fine pieces and found myself engaging with two other droids. We traded strikes at high speed and in the blink of an eye I dismembered them. I spun around and had myself in free-fall face down. I landed on my feet in crouching position and soon the blood and body parts of the androids began raining down on me splattering all across the reception area. I slowly raised myself covered in the horrible tasting blood of the androids. I surveyed the area which was now covered with the limbs and torsos of the androids who displayed surprisingly great skill and swordsmanship. However, I failed in my main goal of eliminating Anteaus. There was one thing that penetrated my mind: Anteaus' revelation of a figure who wished to settle a score with me that supposedly lasted over several millenniums. I could not, however, allow that to overshadow my small victory. I sheathed my sword and slowly walked out of the now quiet headquarters of The Eternal Rapier.