Into the infinite darkness

[Ryuuko]

This is ridiculous! I fall to one knee trying to hold my ground as Nui delivers a vicious cross to my jaw. I'm forced to the ground, my face hits the pavement as she kicks me in the back, both of my arms spread wide, the scissor blades fall from my grasp. I feel so weak, how do you beat an enemy that only get's stronger? Heh, this must have been what it was like for Ragyo fighting me. "RYUUKO you need to get up! We've fought worse than this, you can't give up!" I hear Senketsu yelling but I can't get up. My body is healing from the wounds but I'm just so tired. My arms aren't injured but I can barely feel them. I start to feel my eyes close, is this really as far as I can go?

No. I barely remember fighting Nui the first time, my heart filled with so much rage that it consumed Senketsu and I.

I feel Nui's hands on Senketsu as she lifts me off of the ground.

I remember fighting Nui during the cultural festival, when Senketsu and I truly became one, she stood no chance.

I'm able to open my eye to see Nui holding me up one handed by one of Senketsu's straps.

I remember fighting her after I ripped Junketsu off of me, it wasn't just my speed this time she was completely outclassed by my strength, our strength.

She pulls an arm back; her fingers staggered like some twisted claw.

I remember fighting her without Senketsu on that day, even without Senketsu's help I was able to hold my own.

"Ryuuko we can't give up here!"

Not after everything we've done to get this far! Nui's hand springs forward right at my face, the feeling in my arms returns and I lift them and grab Nui's wrist using all of my strength to just hold her arm still. I look at her arm and see not one but two pairs of hands grasping Nui: Senketsu's sleeves split off from my arms to become midnight blue hands helping me hold back Nui's arm.

"We are in this together Ryuuko." He's right, I smirk, how could I forget that Nui doesn't stand a chance against us. After all it's two v. one.

I lift my legs and kick off of Nui to get some distance. "Senketsu! I'm done playing around how about you?"

His smooth voice fills my head, "Ha. I'm glad to see that you haven't lost yourself Ryuuko. Do you have a plan?"

I keep an eye on Nui ,who is looking at me with the same disturbing smile, while glancing at the scissor blades that lie near her feet; luckily she doesn't make any move to grab them. I doubt she's even paying attention to what I say. I glance at my arms and see that at the elbows Senketsu's sleeves still split off into their own forearm and hand. The arms are thick, I'm sure he could hold both of my hands in one of his. "Can you block her while I go for the scissors?"

I watch as he flexes his own arms. "I'm still unused to having such responsive limbs. I can buy you a few seconds at most."

I smirk. That's all I need. I watch Nui like a hawk waiting for her to make a move. Her finger twitches, and I spring into action. In barely a second Nui is above me kicking down. I ignore her and run forward trusting Senketsu. I feel the sleeves move and feel the ground shake as Senketsu redirects her kick. "Ryuuko that's all the time I can buy you!" It's all we need. I dive for the blades and roll to my feet when both are in my hands. "Ryuuko!"

I turn and immediately swing my blades. There's a spray of blood as the right one catches Nui on the cheek. She staggers back and I take the moment to hold the blades over each other lining up the hole. "Senketsu I'm going on the attack. I'm done letting this bitch get the better of me!" A screw appears and the two halves of the scissors become one again. I haven't had to do this since I fought Ragyo. "Rending scissors, Decapitation mode!" The scissors extend and cross. I'm giving this everything I've got!

Even without looking I can tell that Senketsu's eyes are smiling at me. "Very well, I'll do what I can to protect you. She's only getting stronger so it's better if we end this in one shot."

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" The wound on Nui's cheek is just about healed when I dash at her scissors aimed at her midsection. She jumps into the air to gain some distance. "You can't get away from me!" I jump up from the ground, Scissors still trained on Nui, she can't dodge this! She raises her arms to block, "Senketsu!"

"Leave it to me Ryuuko!"

His arms extend from my sleeves and wrap themselves around Nui's wrists preventing her from blocking, I ascend towards her and she's got nowhere to run! "Finishing move!" The scissors bite into her flesh and dig in, she's tougher than I thought, but not tough enough! I squeeze the giant scissors closed with all the force I can but I still only gain an inch into her flesh. Goddamn it she's tough!

"Ryuuko!"

Senketsu's arm's leave Nui's wrists and return to my sleeves, I can feel his strength added to mine! Nui's arms are now trying to pry the scissors apart, but it's too late. "Together Senketsu!" There's a clang as both sides of the scissor blades meet and Nui splits into two. "SEN I SOSHITSU!" (Life Fiber Loss).

Senketsu reverts to dormant form and I nearly collapse onto the ground. "Man that was tough! Couldn't have done it without you Senketsu." I can't help but to smile down at my uniform. Who would have thought that my clothing would wind up being my best friend? Still this whole thing is bothering me. "So Senketsu, what was that? We definitely saw Nui kill herself in the battle with Ragyo right?"

"True, and that creature didn't act like the Harime Nui that we're familiar with either."

A disturbing thought crosses my mind, I want to ignore it but, "You don't think- Satsuki didn't make that thing right? That would be-" The idea that she can tolerate Nui in this world but not Senketsu. It just doesn't make any sense.

"Hmm, if she was regrown from traces of the original life fiber like I was regrown from my remaining banshi, it's not unreasonable to think that she was under Satsuki's eye."

How could she? "And there's no way that Satsuki would let Nui run around for no reason." It's not a question, and I can tell that Senketsu knows where I'm going with this.

"That means she sent her after us."

That is unacceptable. She thinks that we're the danger to humanity? "Enough." I'm reminded of Oosaka where Satsuki's single minded ambition destroyed an entire city. "Senketsu, I can't let Satsuki continue to do as she pleases. She's willing to go to any extremes to stop us. No matter who get's hurt."

"Satsuki has never let anything slow her down if she believes she's in the right."

Senketsu's words confirm what I was already thinking. I have to end this I have to-

"Ryuuko."

I look down and see that Senketsu's scarf is wet, but there's not a cloud in the sky. I reach up to touch my cheek and feel moisture. "I'm crying?"

"That is the expected reaction. You do not want to kill your sister. We do not need to do this Ryuuko we can hide. What you've already done for me is more than enough. All I require is to be by your side. We don't need the final banshi."

I want to listen to Senketsu, he's right that I don't want to kill Satsuki, he's right that we don't need that final thread. "But I can't run away from this. If Satsuki re created Nui just to track me down and kill me, then she's gone too far. Her methods are too brutal, people are going to get hurt. Do you think I can live with something like that!? We're going to Satsuki, not for the banshi, and not for revenge. We're going because that's the right thing to do." I told her along time ago that if this was they way that she was going to use life fibers, Senketsu and I would be there to stop her. "I'm coming for you, Kiriuin Satsuki!"

Shorter than usual but it's here. Ah I'm sad that this story is winding to an end soon. We're either one long one from the end or 2 or three of this size. Are you exited that the climax is almost in sight?

Leave a comment if you liked it, thanks for reading!