A Terrible Weapon

Tomoe let out a yawn, but as soon as she heard the slightest rustling from outside, she was wide awake. Silently, she shot a look at Toko, telling her to be as quiet as possible.

Focusing her hearing, Tomoe could tell that there were four people approaching from outside. The curtains were drawn, so she couldn’t see anything.

It was best to assume they were enemies. If it was just grunts passing through then those could be easily taken care of, but if somehow their location had been discovered by Jack and Ella then it’d be nearly impossible to defend against them by herself.

Tomoe and Toko stayed as silent as possible. Tomoe had already drawn her naginata, ready for combat at a moment’s notice.

As the footsteps stopped right outside the front door, a deafening silence began which felt like an eternity.

“We know you’re in there, so just come out, all right?” As the silence was shattered, Toko recognized the voice immediately. It was Jack.

Tomoe and Toko didn’t respond, opting to stay completely silent.

“Come on, we can still talk about this.”

Tomoe didn’t believe that for a second, but they were backed into a corner. If Keitaro and Musashi returned, they’d at least have a chance, so Tomoe decided the best course of action was running up the clock.

“All right!” Tomoe called out. “Step away from the door and I’ll come out!”

She heard them move away. Once they seemed a comfortable distance away, Tomoe walked up to the door, and just before opening it, she motioned towards Toko to hide.

As Toko scurried away, Tomoe grabbed the handle and gently pushed it open, her naginata at the ready.

Before her stood Jack Butler, Ella Appleton, and two people she hadn’t seen before, a man and woman who both looked serious.

“How’d you find us?” Tomoe asked.

“You underestimated our intelligence.” But Jack wasn’t here for small talk. “Where is the Black Knight and Maiden?”

“They’re already long gone.”

“Oh, really?” Jack didn’t believe that for a second. “Then surely you won’t mind if we have a look around?”

Tomoe swallowed. They’d surely find Toko, but maybe she could sneak attack them and make an escape or something. “Go ahead…”

“Very good.” But as they were about to enter, Jack got a call on his phone. He answered it. “Hello? Are you serious!? Okay, got it!” Hanging it up, he called out to the unfamiliar man, “Audie, let’s go!” Turning his attention to Ella, he said, “You keep watch here, and be careful!” With great haste, the two men ran off into the distance.

***

“Damn it…!” Keitaro fiddled with the steel box, trying desperately to get it open. “I think the lock’s jammed!”

“Are you serious?” Musashi was not impressed.

“Ugh, it’s fine… We’ll take it back to the house and pry it open or something…” Keitaro was about to slip the box into his bag when gunshots rang out.

“Get down!” Musashi yelled, pulling Keitaro into cover behind the dead tree.

The steel box took a bullet as it fell out of Keitaro’s hands, hitting the ground.

“An ambush!?” Keitaro wanted to get a closer look at their assailants, but he couldn’t leave cover.

“Keitaro!” It was Jack. He had managed to track them down with his bodyguard, Audie Murphy, a legendary soldier, in tow.

Keitaro breathed heavily. This was a bad situation to be in. He wasn’t at all ready to face Jack.

“Please just come out, there’s still time to make the right choice!” Jack pleaded.

Musashi clenched his teeth, gripping his blades.

Keitaro eyed the steel box which had popped open in the chaos. He didn’t want to use it so soon, but if he could grab it, they could make a comeback. But it was out in the open. Any attempt to grab it would leave him way too vulnerable.

As his opponents didn’t respond, Jack realized that this could only be solved through violence.

Jack’s Ability, Ironwork, gave him the power to control iron and its alloys, and there was a certain steel object that caught his eye. The conspicuous box that Keitaro had dropped.

Holding up his hand, Jack activated Ironwork, launching the steel box behind the tree where Keitaro and Musashi were hiding.

Keitaro saw the box heading right for his face, but rather than dodge, he caught it, getting hit with a ton of force and falling out of cover and onto the ground.

“Keitaro!” Musashi called out.

Jack’s eyes narrowed as his prey exposed itself. He pulled a small steel ball from his pocket and launched it at Keitaro.

As the ball flew through the air like a bullet, Keitaro pulled the item out of the box. It was some kind of device in the shape of a tube with a button on top.

The steel ball made contact with Keitaro, hitting his skull and bouncing off, but before Jack pulled out some more, Keitaro hit the switch and…

Nothing happened…

At least, that’s what it seemed like…

Jack tried activating Ironwork and flinging the steel balls, but nothing. They didn’t turn into lightning fast projectiles, they just fell from his hands. “W-what…!?”

Even Audie was taken aback. Why wasn’t Ironwork working?

But in the enemy’s confusion, Keitaro and Musashi charged forward.

Audie drew his gun, hitting Musashi in the stomach, but Musashi knocked it out of his hand before another shot could be fired.

Meanwhile, Keitaro ran up to Jack, who was still desperately trying to use Ironwork, and unleashed a punch right into his face.

Jack was sent reeling to the ground. “What the hell!?” He scrambled to his feet. “What did you do!?”

“It’s called the Neutralizer. It temporarily disables Abilities.” Keitaro squared up his opponent. “It’s based on research that the Chinese did.”

“Impossible…” Jack couldn’t believe that such a thing existed, yet he had experienced it first hand.

Jack had some ability in martial arts in the old world, but here in Kosma he had relied so much on Ironwork for combat, being stripped of it was unthinkable.

He looked over to Audie who was currently losing to Musashi.

With all this to contend with, Jack was quickly losing confidence in this operation. “Audie, let’s go!”

Audie managed to counterattack, providing him an opening to escape.

The two fled the battle.

“Come back here!” Keitaro yelled out, but as he went to give chase, Musashi grabbed his shoulder.

“We need to go check on Toko and Tomoe.”

Keitaro grunted. He didn’t like letting Jack get away, but Musashi was right. “Yeah…”