The Dusk Of Revenge X Faustic: Shinji vs Jin

This is an old chapter I wrote a year ago as a part of a discord event.
(I just wanted to post this to remind you guys I am still alive)

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“Thou shall be able to foresee the fate of this world. Thus, you’re doomed to be eliminated!”

“What does that supposed to mean?” Surprised, Shinji took a few steps backward, leaving some distance between himself and the young man who appeared out of nowhere before him. The young man’s face looked too familiar to Shinji though it was the first time they met.

The same face, the same eyes, the same body, and yet the only difference they had was a faint smile the newcomer had.

Shinji had a bad feeling. Hence, he retreated once again.

“Thou shall suffer! Wake up to reality! Nothing goes as planned in this sarcastic word! In this banquet of blood…” The young man continued his speech ignoring Shinji’s question.

“The fuck does that supposed to mean?”

With the hand on the grip of his sword, Shinji started to think about whether he should attack or not.

“Thou can’t take your sword off!” The smile on the man’s face was turning into an evil one by the minute.

Failing to pull his sword, Shinji realizes that he is under a big threat. Nothing like this has ever happened to him in the past.

Even when the domes exploded, even when his friends got slaughtered, and even when his father shot him, he didn’t think that he was about to lose his life.

“Thou shall pass the last trial. Only then, you can…”

“Wait! Who’re you? Why do you look exactly like me? What is this place?”

“You sure have a lot to say, young man!”

In the middle of that empty street, the stranger’s voice echoed.

Slowly yet surely, the weather was changing. The temperature had started to fall quickly until… It started snowing!

Unable to believe his eyes, Shinji looked above him only to realize that the crystal dome that used to cover the city had disappeared.

“Well, fuck! We’re doomed now!”

“Hahaha! I told you!” the man, who couldn’t care less about Shinji’s complaints seconds ago, twisted in laughter.

“What the hell is wrong with you, dude? I have a mission to accomplish! Those stupid cages won’t carry themselves to the military research facility!”

“You shall open your eyes to reality! Thou shall know by now clearly! This isn’t the earth!”

“Ah, shit! Here we go again with that strange tone of yours!” Shinji shook his head in disbelief. “What is it that you want from me?!”

The stranger, again ignoring Shinji, snapped his fingers as a wooden chair appeared from nowhere in a dark corner of the street. Reclining in that dimly lit seat, he smiled once then announced with an excited voice.

“Let the fun begin!”

Shinji didn’t have time to respond before realizing his hands were chained.

“What?! When? How?!” He yelled.

He shifted his sight toward the smiling man, only to see a woman standing before him.

“Prisoner 645, Takahashi Shinji, The Higher-ups have deemed you guilty of high treason, cooperation with the Red Claws, and other terrorist activities! Thus you’re sentenced to death!”

As she said those words, Shinji had dozens of questions rising in his mind. Yet, for some reason, he had chosen to keep silent.

Thinking back to the moment when he met the strange man, he thought that he finally found someone with whom he could have a decent conversation.

“Lady, I think you’re mistaken! How about you unchain me, and we can talk this through!”

“Who do you think you are?” the woman’s face showed a disgusted expression. As she took a few steps back and forth, she continued talking.

“The man sitting before me now is none other than the most dangerous criminal known to humanity! Dimitri… No, I mean Shinji Takahashi!”

Shinji shifted his gaze toward the man he met earlier.

There, instead of seeing only one chair, he saw a whole stage with hundreds of seats. Faces he saw for the first time were smirking at him. He saw the man who looked exactly like him sitting in the crowd waving his hand in excitement. He decided to focus on the problem between his hands now.

“Do I have the right to a final request?” He asked.

“No.”

“Can’t we talk this through? Hopefully, we can find a solution!”

“Sadly, hopefully doth butter no parsnips! As I can see now clearly you want to have your way with the words. And I don’t intend to be like a sitting duck watching you do whatever pleases you!”

“S-So?”

“So, here’s the deal.” The man who kept watching the scene decided to intervene. “You, Jin Yurinhalt, and you, Takahashi Shinji, will have to fight against each other!”

“Huh?! Why the hell would I do that?” Jin crossed her arms, skeptical.

“Woah, hold on a second!” the man interrupted her, “who told you that you have the option to refuse? Thou… shall obey my command!”

“You don’t have to follow his orders, Jin! Just unchain me! We can fix this misunderstanding!”

Without pronouncing any words, Jin pulled her sword and cut the chains.

“Woah, thanks! And here I thought you got hypnotized and prepared myself for the worst…”

Taking a few steps to thank Jin, Shinji realized mid-way that the worst was yet to come.

“Oh dear Shinji,” the man replied, “the fun had just begun!”

Not having even the time to understand the meaning of his words, Shinji was forced to pull his sword as well.

“In the end, it came to this, huh?!” he sighed.

Thus the clash between the two sword wielders had begun.

Shinji stood in position waiting for his opponent to make the first move. Jin jumped forward, aiming for Shinji’s throat.

With a dancing motion, she kept swinging her sword repeatedly in a one-two combo. Compared to the first strike, the second attack executed with a short delay was more of a threat that one must not be careless with.

Not only that, using her arm strength as an initiator, she was, from time to time, using her sword to throw some dirt from the ground to the air to block Shinji’s vision.

‘This isn’t a fair way to fight!’ Shinji thought.

He, on the other hand, was able to seize the opportunity when it presented itself to push Jin back forcing her to make some space between them.

Hearing whispers, giggles, and even whistles, Shinji knew that the whole thing he was going through was just a source of entertainment to the spectators. Yet, he couldn’t help but fight to save his neck.

Jin’s attacks were getting quicker and more precise over time. If Shinji were to look away for even a split second, Jin’s blade would’ve entailed his death.

Shinji narrowly dodged three consecutive strikes while blocking the dirt with his left hand.

Jin seized the opportunity to throw a punch that landed on Shinji’s abdomen forcing him to kneel.

The road where the fight occurred became covered with white snow. Thus, after receiving that punch, Shinji’s left leg sunk into the ground as he gritted his teeth enduring the sweltering pain.

Mustering all his strength, he blocked Jin’s attack and pushed her back causing her to lose balance and fall as well.

With no second to waste, he stood quickly charging at the defenseless woman to kick her sword away and force her to surrender.

“Let me hear your applause, ladies and gentlemen!” The man who caused this whole mess jumped from his chair out of excitement.

With the cheering voice of the crowd, Jin stood up once again. Preparing to engage, she stood in position as there were a few meters between her and Shinji.

Originally thinking that he had gotten the wrong timing due to miscalculating his charging speed, Shinji suddenly shuddered with terror.

In a split-second decision, he jumped to the side before hearing a heavy splitting sound that made his back freeze in terror. The ground at his former position was just sliced into two.

“Woah! What the hell was that!”

The next strike that came after a second of delay was swung horizontally.

He ducked down to evade the slash, only to hear a splitting sound behind him. Not daring to stop moving, he glanced back to see a branch of a nearby tree falling on the ground.

“Woah! I didn’t sign up for this when I joined the military!” Shinji repeated as he shook his head out of disbelief.

“The way you’re handling the sword is wrong!” Jin finally spilled some words.

“And now you’re repeating what my father said! You can shoot me down if you want just like how he did back then!”

“Your father shot you with a gun?!” Jin asked as she started slowly to regain control over herself.

“He nearly killed me!”

If there was someone at that exact time and location who could be affected by Shinji’s words, it had to be Jin Yurinhalt, the last survivor of the Yurinhalt clan and the woman who lost her daughter to the war against the homunculi.

It was an unexpected moment even for the man sitting in the crowd.

The woman who kept her job a priority rose in the ranks. The first runner Jin Yurinhalt had felt sympathy toward the man standing before her. A feeling that should never be shown on the battlefield.

“Tsk! He’s going to ruin our fun!” The man muttered in disappointment then yelled.

“Jin, you’ll continue the fight!”

“I…”

Jin started to gain self-consciousness bit by bit.

“I… don’t…”

Shinji stood silently waiting for her to decide as she struggled with whether to follow orders or disobey them.

She raised her head and looked at him silently for a moment then asked.

“You there, why the fuck aren’t you attacking me?”

“Well… That won’t be fair!”

“This is a fight. You can lose your damn life. Stop acting like a sitting duck…”

“I don’t see any enemy on the premises. Why should I attack you like a headless chicken?”

“You…” Jin couldn’t answer. The man standing before her had already deemed the situation unworthy of using dodgy manners to win.

It was obvious to her that Shinji wasn't fully committed to the fight from the beginning. When she lost her senses, he kept pushing her off to maintain distance.

A dim smile appeared on her face as she decided to launch the last attack.

Seeing Jin dashing toward him, Shinji took a stance aiming his sword forward like a spear, preparing himself for the last round.

With the distance between the two getting closer, Jin threw her sword away, leaving herself defenseless.

As Shinji was about to pierce her, he let off the sword in a split-second decision.

No one would’ve expected this turn of events.

The final attack supposed to be a clash of swords turned into a clash of fists during which Shinji, who felt humiliated by Jin’s actions, had the upper hand.

With the two fighters losing their will to fight, the victor was decided in seconds.

In an elementary school-style fistfight, Jin flew a few meters away in the air after the fight ended.

“Why did you throw your sword away?!” Shinji yelled.

“I knew you wouldn’t kill me!”

“Don’t give me that smile! That was dangerous!” Shinji hesitated a bit before leaning down to pick up his sword.

He shifted his gaze to the crowd only to realize that the only one present was the man with whom he shared the looks.

“I can’t get used to this!” He sighed watching the young man walking slowly toward them.

“That was an exciting fight, Shinji!” Jin stood up, “It’s time for me to leave now!”

“What? Wait…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the woman disappeared into the air just as she appeared in the first place.

“Indeed, that was a good fight!” The strange man, arriving at the spot, stood before Shinji with a smile on his face. They kept staring at each other for a moment, and then he continued.

“You too will have to follow her! Send my regards to Sevenlock if you meet him on the other side!”

“Who’s Sevenlock? Who are you? Why do we look the same?”

“Oh me?!” the man answered, “I beg your pardon! I forgot to introduce myself. I am your master, creator, and ruler of your world…”

“You’re a god?”

“Hahaha, nice one! I am not!”

The world around them started to chatter into pieces as everything was going into nothingness. Shinji’s body started to disappear into thin air.

“You can call me Koyomi! Oh! You have gone already! Maybe we will meet next time!”

The man, surrounded in darkness and nothingness, turned his back and walked away to an unknown location in that darkness with only the memory of the fun he had engraved in his mind and soul.