##
Lightning struck the timbers between Sano and Silk, all the signal they needed.
This time they simply threw themselves at the other in a frenzy, a storm of punches and kicks neither bothered to dodge. The only pause in the harsh beauty of their final ‘dance’ when one would reel from one particularly viscous blow.
At this rate they’d kill each other.
Neither cared.
Sano grabbed Silk’s hair one hand and punched her repeatedly with the other…Driving her back as Silk pounded his ribs…finally getting a handhold to lift and spin him around to piledrive his head through the ship…Sano blocking with his hands and locking her legs around her neck to flip her over…dropping an elbow across her neck and rolling away as she did.
Both struggled for air for a moment, nursing their wounds. Quickly launched at each other again…Sano blocking a punch and twisting her to return several to her face and chest…Silk countering with rapid knees strikes until Sano let go…not before a right hand punch sent teeth flying. Silk spit blood in his eyes and punched him into the mast…her next aimed for his heart…
Sano intercepted it with a headbutt, popping her shoulder out of place. Cut off Silk’s yowl of pain with several quick jabs that ended with an outright bitchslap that knocked her into the railing…Silk clotheslining Sano out the air as he attempted the kick her over. Punting him across the ship before he hit the ground. Silk didn’t follow through, glaring at Sano as he climbed to his feet. Crack his neck and hop on his feet despite his obvious pain. Grinning and motioning to her with his fists.
“I don’t have all night…woman.”
Lightning screamed across the night.
Silk relocated her shoulder with a grunt. Raised her hands, slowly clenching them into fists.
The wind howled.
The ship rocked violently as they charged each other again, Sano springing off the railing with a spin kick to Silk’s jaw that she barely felt in her rage…hammering him out the air…Sano immediately up with a elbow jab and chop to her throat. Ducked under her roundhouse kick to scoop slam her to the deck. Silk kicked him in the face and grabbed his arm, kicking him repeatedly before flinging him toward the mast…Sano springing off the mast to grab her by the neck and threw her into the bow of the ship. Silk hurling a chain after kicking to her feet, catching Sano right in his heart and driving him right into the mast. Somehow there before he could stand to literally beat him down until the mast shattered. Sano bouncing to a stop two feet away, still struggling to his feet despite his legs’ refusal to cooperate.
Silk caught the mast and threw it aside with a roar.
Sano made it to his knees.
Leapt high in the air to finish him off.
Took a deep breath and summoned the last of his strength.
Her trademark howl deafening.
Megumi…
“SANJO-NO-KAWAMI!”
The thundercrack of that final limit break was probably heard in Kyoto, obliterating the ship utterly.
Sano hit the water first, sprawled across a chunk of the deck.
Silk sailed through the air, impaled with countless chunks of wood, disappearing beneath the dark water with a tremendous splash and never surfaced.
“Damn that was worth it.”
He quickly drank the vial he’d gotten ages ago from Megumi, and welcomed oblivion.
##
Within the engine room…
The last of Mother’s offspring died with a squeal, Shuriken calling her weapon back to her hand.
It was a short but viscous battle with the smaller ones, Shuriken dealing with them while Soujirou concentrated on Mother. Wracked her brain on how to wreck the damn engine. One must have had something in its spit that was beginning to affect her system, Shuriken desperately fighting it off as she bandaged the bite.
Mother ignored her, considering Soujirou to be the only threat. Even now she was on him like white on rice, somehow increasing her speed. Forcing him to use the sword more as if she knew it was killing him…
“Not…while I’m…around…”
She knew the damn thing worked like a giant steam engine, powered by magic of some sort, like Shannon’s security system. But she even if she could yank out the parts at once, they would only return to their proper place thanks to that damn energy field…
Energy field.
A plan was forming. A plan so utterly batshit even she couldn’t believe it.
It had to work.
She staggered over to the center.
Soujirou fought down a scream as he guessed her intention. Instead let his panic and desperation fuel his exhausted body as he increased his attack.
Miko no baka!
She waited for the next discharge of energy to rip across the room, unable to stop an insane grin spreading across her face as the air crackled in warning.
Ignore me now bitch!
Scriiiiittchhhhh-CRACK!
“CONTAIN!”
Mother whipped around in time to see Shuriken catch the energy discharge like she did the fire. Straining to absorb the massive bolt within her weapon as it seethed and spat and attempted to knock her down.
Realized her intention as the engine increased its frenzied motion.
*Attempting to drain its power!*
Soujirou took this opportunity to grab her tail…slinging it into the still grinding gears before she could react…Mother screaming as they devoured her tail and reeled her in…
Shuriken was faltering under the strain when she felt Soujirou’s arms around her, supporting her.
She didn’t have to look to know he was grinning hugely.
“Say the word, Miss Shuriken!”
Mother managed to plant her massive legs. Pulled. Pulled until she felt the membrane of her tail tear from her body with a gush of blood and agony. Charging in a blind rage…
…Soujirou meeting her halfway…Mother deflecting the Saya with ease…
…Saya?!!
Shuriken had never seen anything like it. Soujirou had thrown his sword…outran it…
…Catching it out of midair with his free hand and swinging in a viscous arc…Mother staggering as blood gushed from her neck…
“Shun ten satsu revised.” He said calmly.
“Now!”
Mother ignored the wound and Soujirou as he stepped aside…focused only on stopping Shuriken…claw aimed for her throat…
And slew only air.
Mother realized her fatal mistake as she heard the engine scream around her…chain lighting arcing around her…
The little bitch had starting draining the magical field…and when Soujirou ‘froze’ her again Shuriken fed that enormous amount of energy back into the straining engine to overload it…
Mother sighed. Resigned to fiery oblivion.
“I hate kids….”
The detonation of the engine room was small compared to the pervious one, but no less destructive. The spellfire consuming the ship swelled into an inferno that swept through the ship as if alive, finally tearing it in two as the shipbeast screamed in agony…
…A death cry echoed by its ‘children’ as they burned, melted or simply exploded…those remaining of Ashura’s once invincible army sharing the death of the monstrosity that spawned them…
Soujirou ran faster than he’d even run before, even with Shuriken piggyback. Barely a step ahead of the tongues of flames licking at their back and the collapsing floor. Half blind with the smoke, Shuriken guiding him through the twisting maze.
“Almost there!”
Soujirou bounced off the wall as he cut down the final corridor, seeing the night sky through the gaping hole in the ship as the flames finally caught up with them…
It was a rather impressive sight from the town. Torn asunder, The shipbeast’s bulk began to sink, still spewing flames and still screaming the whole time. Refusing to die. Two screaming teens seemed to ride one of the eruptions, flying through the air several feet before dropping into the ocean like a rock.
Even more impressive was the two men fighting atop the ship as it burned.
Daisho and Jubei had been fighting for god knows how long, retreating to the upperdeck as the lower floors started falling apart. Flames danced around them, eruptions nearly incinerating them, and they didn’t give a damn…
Jubei had taken the worse of it, feeling like one giant bruise. Or was it some kind of poison in that freakish brother’s tongue when it stabbed him in the shoulder? Ah, so what. Dead anyway you slice it…
Daisho deflected his sword and grabbed him by the throat with onhand, pushing him toward the flames facefirst…
“How Genma lose to you?”
“He always was a sucker for a cute guy…” Jubei boxed his ears…stabbing Daisho in the chest as he reeled.
Daisho laughed at him. Hammered him down and kicked him across the deck. Tossing his brother like a spear as he flew. Jubei twisted in midair to dodge and sprung at him, actually forcing him back as Jubei hammered away, weaving around the heavier sword to hack him up piece by piece and wear him down even as his own body grew sluggish. Daisho went berserk, not caring as Jubei ran him through while he wrapped his hands around Jubei’s neck. Rammed his body into the deck again. And again and again until Jubei went limp…dragging him toward the edge of the ship.
“No smart remark before you die?” He asked as he held him over with one hand.
Overconfident, he didn’t see Jubei slowly pulling on his sword wire…
“Yeah, Beakface.”
Both brothers leered in his face. “Let’s hear them.”
“Give Genma a kiss for me when you see him!”
Jubei yanked hard…the sword slicing deep across Daisho’s knee as it flew into his hand. Wrapping the wire around Daisho’s neck as they both fell over…Daisho launching his brother toward the edge to latch on…
Jubei managed to somersault onto Daisho’s back just as the Umbilical cord snapped taut. Standing on the large man’s shoulders and heaving with all his weight on the sword and cord.
Daisho’s eyes bulged as he kicked and thrashed, Jubei twisting out of reach as he strangled him. He could hear the brother choking for air as well, hoping the little monster didn’t croak first and drop them in the ocean…
“Just DIE damnit…” Jubei swore, amazed by how hard the bastard was to kill.
Daisho answered by raising his huge sword and swinging at him desperately, his eyes bloodshot with rage and defying approaching death. Jubei grimaced as he sliced open his shoulder, then his thigh, the pain and dizziness nearly dropping him.
“….Youfatasspieceofhimenoshit!!!!”
Daisho caught hold of his leg, raising the sword for one last thrust Jubei knew he couldn’t avoid, a strangely triumphant look in Daisho’s eyes…
…which remained there as he finally breathed his last, his arm dropping lifelessly at his side.
A death rattle from above confirmed baby brother as well. Jubei quickly unwrapped the wire and hopped off as they fell into the dark waters below, climbing back onto the deck and just lay there.
Some voice in his head reminded him the ship was sinking.
He didn’t give a damn.
##
Ashura couldn’t help but notice the tremors rocking the throne room violently, Cracks appearing in the walls…
They pulled it off.
It soured her victory a bit to lose her ship, but Ashura shrugged. She could always build another, Hell, a fleet next time.
Nothing could stop her now.
She paused long enough to stare down Karou’s final resting-place.
“Even that pack of losers were successful than you, Karou-dono. How pathetic.”
With that parting shot she turned to leave…
…Only to stop dead in her tracks in utter shock.
The change was small at first, which was why she missed it. Now it exploded around her: The lurking darkness was banished with a cry. The dark marble faded to a blinding white. The gothic décor transformed into something warm and soothing.
But what really freaked her out was the Bloodpool transforming into crystal blue water…Karou rising from the depths. Very much alive.
“No.”
“Oh, yes, demon.”
Ashura opened fire as she turned...each blast harmlessly passing through Karou’s body. Ashura swore and lunged with the Hellsword next, aiming for her heart…
And wound up on her back, Karou holding the Hellsword to Ashura’s throat. Pure light literally leapt off her, matching Ashura’s dark aura.
No, grew stronger from it!
“You were playing with me all along, weren’t you?”
Ashura hissed.Her voice was a thundering mix of Karou and Swordmaker, Her gold and blue eyes seemed to stare through her.
“She is the destroyer and I am the creator. Two sides of a coin. Thou cannot use her power to destroy me. Nor can thine creations be used against me. I allowed you free reign until I could fully recover from thine wicked ritual.”Ashura raged inside. To be so completely outmaneuvered galled her. But she wasn’t finished yet.
“Then we are at a stalemate then. You can’t kill me either, not while Bane exists within me. And soon my transformation will be complete. Your move.”Karou smiled.
“There are worse things than death, Himeno Ashura”
Golden chains erupted from the pool to bind Ashura, dragging her toward the center of the pool.
“Thou spoke the truth earlier. All that transpired is thine own fault, and now I will finally end this madness like I should have centuries ago.”
Ashura struggled mightily, two chains replacing every one she managed to break. “I’m sealing away the swords forever within this wreckage, and thou with it!”“You lie!”
Ashura was waist deep now, her voice desperate. “You wouldn’t imprison your lover just to protect the humans!”“Thou forget Ashura, Time is meaningless to us. As thou rot at the ocean floor, Excalibron will hunger for blood it cannot reach…and when it grows desperate enough, it will even feed upon its master.”
Karou smirked at Ashura’s horror. “Then we shall be reunited once more.”Anything Ashura was about to say was cut off as Karou sent the Hellsword into Ashura’s heart, sealing her power. And before she disappeared under the water, Both women locked eyes one last time…
And Ashura laughed.
The throne room began to tear itself apart, the spellfire consuming everything in reach…
##
