Blazing Finale

Kazue’s grip around Zenshi wasn’t caring or as tight as a loved one’s would be, but rather comforting. It allowed freedom and room for Zenshi to easily break out, and Kazue would hold on until Zenshi did.

In truth, it was also a last ditch effort, as Kazue truly believed what Virgo had told him. If he was fighting what was deemed as a monster, then resistance was simply out of the question.

“Wild animal, pissant, monster, freak, human.” These words echoed throughout Kazue’s mind as he held onto his supposed final foe. Words emitted at Zenshi, or by him today.

“People like Zenshi and I were bred for experiments in which we wanted to wake up from too. Nobody cares,” he also recalled from Virgo’s words emitted from the metal foot earlier.

In what way were Virgo and Zenshi bred?

Kazue imagined a laboratory straight out of a horror movie, in which the creature is contained inside a large tank, and fed various test tubes every hour.

Or perhaps it was a literal meaning, where these people were born from experiments.

The brownish liquid that oozed from Zenshi’s body earlier had reinforced these ideas, but still left open many questions. Questions that Kazue could only have answered through action. However, before he could do anything, Zenshi had acted first.

“Do you feel what’s missing, human?” Zenshi asked softly.

And then it hit Kazue. The body he hugged had no pulse.

Of course this could simply mean Zenshi was somehow extremely calm with everything going on, but Zenshi then brought Kazue closer, pressing him against his body. Hair got all over him in the process.

There was nothing that resembled a heartbeat.

“If you understand, then you’ll know this sentimental action bears no meaning to me,” Zenshi said, abruptly shoving Kazue down. “I will break you apart, and feel no remorse.”

“So why enter this festival then if you don’t have the feelings for it?” Kazue said while standing back up. “When I lost to Tsunami like everyone here, I wanted to give up. But I had the support of friends, and the ambitions to become something I’ve idolized for years. What’s your reason?”

“ Animals, insects, creatures. Even those who lack feelings still understand the concept of power.” Zenshi said. “That’s a position I find fascinating…”

“Screw that!” Kazue shouted. “If you think power is going to answer that empty void, you’re wrong buddy! Nobody ever has enough of it!”

“It's the instant gratification I’m seeking. To see if power would bring me any semblance of feeling,” Zenshi said as he examined his finger tips.

“And what if it doesn’t? What’ll you do then?” Kazue said.

“I would simply cease to exist,” Zenshi said plainly. “Help me discover this feeling of power,” he said with a punch in Kazue’s direction, which was dodged narrowly.

“Hey! HEY!” Kazue yelled as he made distance between himself and Zenshi, though avoided the flames nearby.

“What about hobbies, or I don’t know, love?” He frowned. “None of that stuff has ever interested you?”

“How can I be interested in things I wasn’t born to understand?” Zenshi said as he sprinted towards Kazue.

Kazue rolled out beneath him.

“I like video games, and action movies, but I didn’t know that when I was born! You can’t know until you try!”

Zenshi silently stood alone where Kazue had dodged him, so Kazue approached.

“There is one thing I do understand,” Zenshi then spoke up.

“That is the feeling, or rather, one’s display of pain.”

Zenshi reached forward, bringing Kazue close by both shoulders.

He then lurched forward, biting Kazue’s neck like a vampire.

Kazue lunged back, fighting off the constraining grasp, and then smiled.

“Haha! Pain? That tickled!”

Blood dribbled down his neck from the small exposed wound.

“You’re hurting whether you choose to display it,” Zenshi said with another punch.

This time Kazue stood his ground, bobbed away from the punch, and returned a right hook of his own that hit the facial area, causing ooze to flow once more, splatting against the headwear Buff had given him.

“Nah, I’m not hurting at all. But I bet you are now!” Kazue smiled again.

“Hardly,” Zenshi said.

“Damn. That was my signature punch that I practiced with Buff. He’s going to be upset when he learns it didn’t work.”

“HAHAHA!” Zenshi pretended to laugh loudly. “That should be the normalized response for any human in this situation, right?”

“What?” Kazue grinned. “I mean, I didn’t think it was funny, like legit I’m upset I didn’t knock you out.” Then he smirked.

“But I guess it was kind of fun-”

Zenshi doubled the blows, this time a right hook followed by a left, which Kazue easily maneuvered away from each time, just as Buff had taught him.

“Look man! I think we need to set some ground rules on this fight. You can’t attack when I’m talking, and vice versa. Comprendo?” Kazue said with a finger snap.

“I hardly think that’s neces-”

Zenshi was quickly cut off as Kazue punched him straight in the facial area, causing him to stumble back.

“You lied!” Zenshi shouted furiously.

“Just like you have been since the start of this duel. You don’t want to fight me,” Kazue stated.

“I…I have no desires, nor wants…” Zenshi pondered.

“Exactly!” Kazue exclaimed quickly, looking at the substance on his fist. It smelled terrible.

Zenshi returned even more punches, this time two rights and two lefts, which Kazue dodged each time swiftly.

He also tossed in a roundhouse kick at the end of this, surprising Kazue, but still not connecting.

“Offense can’t beat defense, and defense can’t beat offense!” Kazue jokingly ridiculed him.

“That’s just not true. Each exists primarily for a different strategy, not as a counter,” Zenshi stated back.

“Yes, but a true master must know when to switch! Offense versus offense, and defense versus de-”

This time Kazue was caught off guard as Zenshi’s left fist caught his lips, splitting them open.

“What sarcastic remark do you have for that?” Zenshi said back, inhaling the smoke. “We’re running out of oxygen, which means we’ll both drop dead if we don’t finish this.”

“Air? Oxygen?” Kazue said while he wiped off the blood pooling around his lips, and squishing his cheeks.

“Zenshi, don’t you know I’m a fish! I don’t need air!”

In anger, Zenshi threw a rapid flurry of punches, of which Kazue was able to dodge a majority of, though a few still managed to clip parts of his face.

“I’m fragile, but not that kind of fragile. Know what game that’s from?” Kazue’s laughter diverged into a frenzy of coughs.

“I don’t play games!” Zenshi yelled as he brought both fists held together down, clubbing Kazue’s head, and causing him to fall.

Zenshi continued to shout as he pounded away.

“Here’s a game we can play! It’s called, you should be feeling pain!”

“You will feel pain!”

“I WANT YOU TO FEEL PAIN!”

“..bingo…” Kazue muttered under his breath.

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Down below the ring at ground level five of the powered suits were attempting to apprehend Tuff Buff, who had just broken out of his dugout after blasting it open.

Each suit had retrieved their weaponry, and had been pointing directly at Buff, who pointed back at each of them as he motioned his energy pistol across their bodies.

“Don’t you see how inhumane this is? You’ve got two strangers fighting in a box that’s on fire, and everybody in this arena is cheering it on like some kind of demennted circus act!” Buff shouted at the surrounding wall of armor around him.

He turned around to look at the crowd.

“Why isn’t anybody leaving or protesting this shit?!”

“Holster your weapon, citizen!” one of the mechs instructed, reaching out to touch him.

Buff closed his eyes tightly.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawriano,” Buff said with a dissatisfied exhale.

He quickly turned his gun at an angle so that a round ball fell out of the left side compartment, and into his free hand, which he then shoved into his mouth. A shockwave around him pulsed from his heartbeat three times, causing him to squint his eyes in discomfort, but freezing up each of the mechanized infantry momentarily.

Buff swiftly unloaded five blasts out of his energy pistol that had been fully primed since his escape. Two hit the closest guard, melting the metal down to the inner frameworks, while the following two shots hit the next nearby repeating the same gruesome effects. The fifth shot hit a third member, but this was his final shot until his gun cooled, so he cocked his left arm back with a puff of smoke discharged, and pummeled the guard down to the ground, shaking his hand afterwards.

“Didn’t even let me warm up!” he yelled as the two remaining guards had regained movement.

To his left, one raised its weapon and pulled the trigger just as Buff placed his right arm up against the barrel of the gun, and produced a small energy shield that deflected the bullets into the air. However, he wasn’t swift enough to avoid the contact of the energy sword from the guard to his right.

It shook him to his core, electrocuting and frying all his augmented tools at once, rendering them useless and numb. Buff dropped his gun, and began to lower to the ground.

He fell down to his knees, gritting his teeth, and his arms were limp at each side.

A mechanical fist crashed against his chin.

“COME ON, FINISH THE JOB!” Buff threateningly demanded the remaining two guards, unable to defend himself any further.

“Protocol 98 states that in the case of citizen’s arrest, followed by rebellious nature that endangers the public, authorized personnel may apprehend and execute felons-”

“DO IT! DO IT NOW!” Buff shouted again in the face of the guard’s recitement, shutting his eyes willingly.

Unexpectedly, the guards refused to fire.

Opening his eyes back up revealed that Saeko and Xion had stood in front of him.

Buff could see Saeko’s reluctance, for even as she held Xion’s hand, she nervously shook.

“Interfering with authorized personnel and their pursuit of justice is a serious crime. Are you two associated with this man?” the same guard recited.

“Yes! Please don’t shoot him, or us either!” Xion stated.

The guard looked over to his comrade, then back to Xion.

“Protocol 99 states that those associated with terroristic acts may also be held accountable, and thus relinquish their innocence in the matter at the judgment of authorized personnel.”

Each of the two guards held their weapons up.

“You two duck behind me, and I’ll throw my body at them with the last of my energy…” Buff groaned beneath his breath to mask his words.

“We can’t,” Xion thought to himself.

“I won’t,” Saeko also thought.

Of course they wanted to, and Buff knew this.

Two stubborn kids trying to be brave, even in the face of dire consequences, just for the sake of some retired boxer.

If only they knew how much he wanted to save them in one last blaze of glory.

A final uproaring cheer from the audience.

Buff lunged by propelling his knees forward, shoving Saeko and Xion down to the ground, and tossing himself at the two armed guards, just as he would during his final match against his brother.

And just as he reached them, he smiled, and passed out from the pain.

Lights went out. He could begin to hear the referee officiating his final match start to count.

Tuff Buff’s energy deprived body hit each of the guards just as a sword decapitated the helmets in a brisk lightning fast strike.

His lifeless body fell and pushed two now-headless bodies down.

There over them, with her scarf trailing in the wind, stood Akuma.

"Buff is quite lucky his body is so augmented. Usually those shock blades kill on contact."

“The box?” she then simply said, before turning her attention to the grand display.

“Kazue is in there!” Xion shouted. “He’s there with someone that wants to kill him!”

She nodded once, before flinging her sword at the pillar supporting the box. Then with a majestic leap, she flew herself onto the pillar, and over the gaping hole in the ground, using the sword as a means to stick, and then a support to climb up with impeccable speed.

There was no such thing as wall running, just like in Xion and Kazue’s favorite anime. No, this was real.

Akuma would fling herself with her lodged blade, delodged it as she propelled, and lodged it again for another toss of momentum, all the way until she reached the side of the box, and then to the top.

She brought down her relentless flurry of attacks against the box, sending sparks flying in every direction, but made no progress. This did not deter her.

Both Xion and Saeko examined Buff, making sure he was alive, and pulling him away from the carnage. They both turned their attention to watch her fruitless barrage, and the odd sense that none of the crowd had seemed to care.

“There has to be something we can do. Something like, a-uh, a control, or a button somewhere. Look around Saeko!” Xion said as he scrambled around.

After a bit of time, Saeko found an interest in a red button, several feet down the hole in the ground.

Neither of them could reach it from where they were.

“Akuma!” Xion shouted, soon joined by Saeko, but she could not hear them over the crowd, or her own swinging.

“Xion. Could you lower me down?” Saeko nervously asked.

“That’s crazy! There’s no way!”

“But could you? Just for a few seconds, and then pull me back up? You’re strong right?” she pleaded.

“If I screw up, you-”

“You won’t,” she said, running up to him with a kiss against his cheek.

She stepped back and smiled.

“You won’t finish that sentence either, or else I’ll take that back.”

“You’re crazy,” he said in reply, unable to think of anything else, and trying not to smile.

Together Saeko was lowered. Xion layed on the ground, tightly gripping Saeko’s foot as she hovered above an endless hole.

Below them against the side of the wall was in fact a panel with a blinking red button.

“Hit it already!” he yelled.

“A little lower!” she yelled back up.

“This is all I’ve got!

“For that idiot Kazue!” she screamed back up again.

“For my best friend Kazue!” Xion joined in, inching her down.

Her fingertips just barely pressed it, causing the entire floor to shake, and the pedestal to suddenly lower.

With all the strength he had, Xion tried to pull her up, but he was racing against time here. A teenager’s strength did not measure against the mass this pillar had, the ring it supported, and the speed at which it descended towards them.

There wasn’t enough time.

Just then, Xion felt two hand grips around his shoulders pulling both him and Saeko back.

Using whatever energy he had regained, Buff forced himself and Xion backwards, allowing Saeko to successfully avoid danger.

Xion fell back into Buff’s chest, while Saeko ran over to hug both of them.

“Thank you so much,” Saeko said.

“Made it just before the ten count,” Buff laughed as she did.

“We’re lucky that the referee counted slowly then!” Xion joked back.

Akuma jumped down just in time to meet the three who rejoined each other.

Then the crowd suddenly began to chant something together…

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Back inside the cube, just before it had begun to descend, or the crowd chanted, Kazue had been defeated. Zenshi still had not stopped punching, kicking, and slapping away at his plaything now, angered that it was still somehow smiling.

“ZENSHI!” Tsunami’s voice boomed throughout the box. “Enough!”

“He isn’t dead yet!” Zenshi said between breaths.

“He is as good as dead. We need to begin the ceremony.”

“I WANT HIM DEAD!” Zenshi claimed again, aiming to punch Kazue, but was kicked away by Tsunami’s foot.

He tried again, but this time he was punched. Once more, and Tsunami finally had enough, picking up Zenshi’s body, tossing him across the ring into the burning ropes.

Zenshi came off twitching in pain as parts of his hair and clothes were singed.

“Good grief,” Tsunami said softly to himself.

Kazue blinked weakly, unable to believe what he’d seen.

From this angle Kazue had noticed two small needles in Tsunami’s palms. Tsunami then repeated the same motions as he had to raise the ring, stomping twice, and clapping his hands with a grin.

“LET THE CROWD RECITE THE CALL OF HEIRSHIP!” Tsunami yelled.

“BOLLIRE, BOLLIRE, PENTOLA DI ODIO!”

“BOLLIRE, BOLLIRE, PENTOLA DI FORZA!”

“BOLLIRE, BOLLIRE, PENTOLA DI SANGUE!”

The crowd chanted back as Tsunami raised his hands in joy.

Then the ring began to descend.

“Huh?” Tsunami glanced around, confused, though the crowd still chanted.

Once it reached the ground, the doors opened, the ring ropes hid, and there stood Akuma across from him.

“There shall be no more blood spilt today, ogre,” she said calmly.

“Little fox? What are you doing here?” Tsunami smiled. “Had I known you were coming, I’d have gotten you a better seat!”

“Give them up,” she said, indicating Kazue and Zenshi.

“No dice!” Tsunami crossed his arms. “They competed to become my heir. What have I done wrong?”

Her drawn blade was her response.

“We shouldn’t resort to mindless conflict, girl! Come now, Akuma! I’m sure your master taught you better than that!”

She let out a noticeable “tsk”.

“Did I strike the nerve of the demoness? HoHo! Please, girl, understand that Daimyo Kitsune and I were close. I would never bring dishonor purposely upon his sacred name!” Tsunami said as he held out a hand. A small bloody pool emanated from his palm.

Akuma remained where she was.

“A pity.” Tsunami pulled back his arm to his side.

The crowd continued to chant.

Saeko, Xion, and the exhausted Buff watched carefully, exchanging glances between the two warriors facing off, and the wounded men in the ring.

“I can’t promise these fine folk here won’t be caught in my crossfire. You’re all too familiar with my beserk style of combat, correct?” Tsunami finally said as he clapped his hands once more.

“You won’t get the chance to!” Akuma yelled back.

She bolted forward.

Ahead of her, with the widest grin, Tsunami had begun to pull an object out of his left palm, entirely made of blood. It dripped, splashed, and swung quickly as he waved it around himself, creating a whirlpool of red that encompassed him completely.

The pool fell to the ring, and with both hands he held a 15-foot, (or roughly 457cm) long odachi sword. At the end of it hung the circular symbol of a tsunami. Its colors were red.

“This was meant for my future heir, but your blood will satisfy its needs as well!” Tsunami shouted triumphantly as he swung the massive blade down.

Akuma still had time to dodge, however, she couldn’t.

Xion, Saeko, and Buff were in the path of the odachi’s swing.

She held up her sword to defend against it. Even against such a broad sword, she managed to shoulder its crushing blow against her own blade, though struggled to keep it from pressing her down.

Then before she could act, blood dribbled down from the blade’s edges.

“RUN!” she yelled, outstretching an arm backwards, but it was too late.

The odachi cut through like butter, shaping back into a bloody blade, melting through, then back once more liquidating to solid steel. It completely left Akuma’s sword intact and had phased through.

As a result, the blade first clipped away a chunk of her mask, shaping a long gash around the right side of her face, then slid past her as she moved to the side, finishing with a smashing thud against the ground.

Behind her, Akuma turned around to see the blade wedged in the back of Saeko's shoulder, and her body against the ground beneath the massive blade.

Even with armor, the strongest of foes would not have survived the attack.

Saeko was dead.

Xion hovered over her as Tsunami retracted his blade back out of her spine, revealing the devastating blow. He felt nauseous, unable to come to turns with the result.

Next to him, Buff struggled to get up. His cybernetic eye rotated rapidly in disbelief. 

His knees blew out beneath him as he dove forward towards his gun, firing every shot he could in Tsunami’s direction, shouting as he did so until his gun completely exploded from overheating.

Akuma pursued, sliding beneath the energy bolts produced from Buff’s gun as potential cover, with intent on cutting Tsunami’s leg off.

Ahead of her, Tsunami realized this. He motioned to move his leg, but noticed it was heavier than usual as both Kazue and Zenshi held onto it together.

In this brief instance, Akuma’s blade met his calf muscle, just as Buff’s blasts smashed against Tsunami’s torso, knocking the lumbering warrior down.

Akuma quickly used this chance to drag Kazue and Zenshi away, with Xion’s help. Though emotions ran wildly through him, he knew this was the opportune moment to assist in any way.

Tsunami’s body then engulfed into a similar whirlpool of blood, picking him back up to his feet. As the spectacle settled, a red glow seeped out from the eye sockets of his samurai mask, even as his chest was scorched, and his leg was gashed open.

“BISHAMONTEN SMILES UPON US THIS DAY!” Tsunami roared in a new demonic tone as he readied his odachi blade once more with his stance wider than ever, facing Akuma once more.

Overhead, a helicopter descended down into the arena, and hanging down by his arm from the landing ski was a figure cloaked from head to toe.

Xion instantly recognized this familiar outfit to be the same from the memory he and Akuma shared.

“I told you, no innocents,” the cloaked figure said in a man’s calming and raspy voice.

A rope then came down from the helicopter, trailing all the way next to Tsunami. This was followed by a kunai that the cloaked figure flung at Saeko’s back, sticking into her.

“SUCH POWER DOES NOT RETREAT!” Tsunami shouted back up.

“It would be wise to conclude business here, lest we let yesterday’s work catch up to us…” the cloaked man said.

Tsunami growled, then grabbed the rope as the helicopter began to ascend, pulling him upwards.

Down below, Saeko’s voice suddenly cried out, but in reverse.

It seemed her very soul was being pulled into the kunai that was stuck in her, despite being dead.

“HELP HER!!!” Buff shouted, unable to move as he watched Akuma spring towards her body. Yet just as she reached, Saeko’s voice was gone, and she was lifeless. She was still dead.

The kunai flew back up to the cloaked man, and was caught, as he stared back at Akuma until the helicopter faded from view.

The crowd no longer chanted, and began to finally disperse. None paid any attention.

As Buff was still on the ground, he removed the red coin from his pocket, and flung it at Akuma. She didn’t move as it bounced off the side of her exposed face.

“Daimyo Donburi will arrive soon to aid you,” she said softly, turning away from Buff. “Please-”

“BRING HER BACK!!!” Buff demanded.

“I cannot,” Akuma said softly.

“GIVE ME SAEKO!!!” Buff cried out as he crawled towards Saeko’s body.

Akuma approached Xion.

“A year of deprivation…” she said softly to him.

“I just don’t understand…” Xion said back.

“That is the first trial of Inari. Will you adjourn from the old Xion, and become anew?”

She turned to face him as the wound in the side of her face left red tears streaking down from her white eye.

Between them, Akuma held out her blade, devoid of any special features.

Xion took it immediately, holding the blade next to his face, and speaking to his reflection.

“I will put an end to the cloaked man,” he told her. "His minions, Tsunami, or whoever works for him."

In her hand a spark of embers fluttered, leaving behind a small tanto dagger, and at the end of it hung the small symbol of a fox.

With it, she cut the bun of Xion’s hair that was tied, dropping his hair down.