B.L.A.Q

Chapter 9

"Len," QIn shouted as she carried Hina on her shoulder, "Len where the hell are you?" Len dropped down from a tree on her left, "I'm here. Lay her down here." He layed out a mat on the ground. "Careful," Qin warned "She's been whipped pretty bad. Lay her face down." They laid the girl down on her stomach. "What's wrong with her?" Len asked. Qin just shook her head, "Bruises on her face, hands, and ankles. Possibly some broken ribs, but the whip lashes seem to be the most serious." Len rushed to pull his supplies out of his pack. As he set everything out, QIn kept looking worriedly over her shoulder. Len noticed this and asked, "Where's Bai? What the hell happened in that tent Qin?" The cheetah fauness didn't answer. She just looked back at him and said, "I need to get back in there. What's going on with Ace? We need to get back to Bai quickly." Len was busy tending to the injured Hina and simply said, "He's still fighting that big guy. He's surrounded. What's going on with Bai? What happened in that tent?" Qin lowered her head and said, "He just told me to take her and go while he held off the boss. I didn't want to leave him, but he ordered me to get her to safety." Len just shook his head. Of course Bai would want to complete the mission no matter what, but it wasn't like him to actually give orders like that. Especially to Qin. He looked back up at her, "Can he win?" She looked him in the face and replied, "Possibly, but I could tell that guy was strong. He'll need help. I've got to get back and help him befo-" Len interrupted her, "No. Go help Ace. Even if he beats that guy, the other bandits won't let him leave that place. He needs more help than Bai right now." Qin started to protest but he cut her off again, "Qin, listen to me. Bai can hold his own against that guy for a while. I'm sure of it, but even Ace can't handle that many enemies on his own. He needs more help than Bai right now. We have to trust him. Rescue Ace and then both of you get back to Bai. Together I'm positive the three of you can win. These injuries are serious so I won't be able to cover him. He needs you right now." Qin's breathing grew heavier, but she knew Len was right. She stood up without breaking eye contact. Len pointed in the direction that Ace was in and she ran off at full speed.

"Damn," Ace thought to himself, "This guys one tough bastard." He was breathing heavily and had been dodging all of the blows from the giant club, but his strength was starting to waver. He looked around at all the bandits surrounding him and wondered how he was going to get out of this. One on one he was sure he could win, but with this many soldiers around, he knew the odds were against him to get out in one piece. He had tried to stay in close range of him, but the man wielded the club with such ease and swiftness that it may as well have been made of feathers. He couldn't block the club directly, or risk breaking whatever bone it came into contact with. Of all the blows he had been able to land, he had only managed a few bruises on the man. Mr. Blue rested his club on his shoulder and said, "You're a tough one I'll give you that, but I can tell you won't last much longer." Mr. Blue smirked at him, "I will give you a small bit of advice, though it won't matter since you won't live to use it." Ace looked back at him and said, "Oh yeah? And what's that?" Mr. Blue said, "You remind me of myself when I was your age. Against grimm, you're pretty much unbeatable, and it's made you cocky and soft against another human. Your punches are hard, but they're getting weaker. Every punch should be intended to kill or at the very least cripple your opponent. With your fighting style, you should already know this. You'll never beat me the way you are now, which is why you will die here tonight." Ace looked back at the man and calmed his breathing. He knew if he didn't beat him right now, there would be no way that he could last much longer, much less fight off the rest of the bandits. He had to come up with a way to end this fast. He smiled back at the man and flashed his grin at him, "Well if that's true," he said as he rushed the man again and threw more punches, "Then you can't last much longer either." One of his punches connected with the man's face and he stumbled backwards. He had blood dripping from his face. At the last second, Ace had extended the claws on gauntlets to ensure that his blow did some damage on the man's face. Mr. Blue touched at the blood and laughed at the boy, "That's much better. Now I can take you seriously." He raised his club again and swung at Aces head. He barely managed to dodge the blow before the man's foot came up and was aiming for his head. He threw his arms up to protect his face, but the blow still sent him reeling backwards. Mr. Blue was still coming at him with his club raised, "I'm going to crush your skull." And swung down. Ace side stepped it and ducked behind the man. He jumped on his back and tried to get a grip around the Mr. Blue's neck. The man reached behind him and grabbed him by the collar and flipped him over his shoulder. Ace hit the ground hard and rolled to his left as the club came down again, aimed at his head again. Mr. Blue came stomping after him trying to crush him and Ace kept rolling. As he was rolling, he realized he was headed straight for the circle of bandits. He suddenly came up with an idea. Ace sprung up and grabbed one of the bandits closest to him and threw him at the giant man. Mr. Blue barely flinched as he swung the club and batted the man out of his way. The club connected with the bandits ribcage and sent him flying. He flew ten feet away and sprawled to the ground, unmoving. Ace took advantage of the quick second that he had been blocked from view and had managed to scoop up some dirt in his hand. He flung it right into Mr. Blue's face. The man stumbled backwards as he tried to hurry and get the dirt from his eyes. "Oh shit, it worked." Ace laughed as he ducked behind him again. He swiped his claws at the back of the man's knees. Blood spattered the ground as Ace hit his mark. "Argh," Mr. Blue yelled as he dropped down on the injured knee, "You son of a bitch. I'll kill you for that." He tried to swing his club around him, but he couldn't get much force from his position on the ground. Ace caught the club with both hands. He twisted it around over his head, twisting Mr. Blue's arm in the process. He yelled again as the club dropped from his hand. Ace kicked the club away from him, "Now let's see what you're really made of." Mr. Blue stumbled to his feet with rage in his eyes. The surrounding bandits were still cheering him on, although Ace could tell they were starting to lose faith in the giant man. Mr. Blue came at him with a flurry of punches, but with his knee wounded, he wasn't nearly as agile as he had been a minute ago. He dodged and blocked a few punches before he grabbed one of his arms and brought it down hard against his knee. The bone snapped at the elbow and Mr. Blue screamed in pain and fury. Ace kicked him away. Mr. Blue flew backwards a few feet and stumbled to his feet clutching his broken limb. "What was that you were saying earlier?" said Ace as he got his second wind. "Something about every blow should be intended to kill or cripple right?" He cracked his knuckles and started towards him. The look in Mr. Blue's eyes went from pain to pure rage as he realized what was about to happen. Ace yelled as he unleashed all his strength in his final strikes on the behemoth. The first few strikes hit the man dead center of his chest. Ace felt the ribs cracking in Mr. Blue's torso with every strike. Ace grabbed his shoulders and pulled him towards him as his knee went into the man's stomach. Mr. Blue coughed and sputtered up blood. He then went for his face, first breaking his nose and feeling his skull crack from the force of the punches. Mr. Blue looked at him with one eye blackened and the other swollen completely shut. "Finish it," He chuckled and blood dripped from his mouth. "You'll die here anyway. FINISH IT." he yelled and Ace swung one final strike and it connected with the man's jaw, shattering it in the process. Mr. Blue fell to the ground, defeated, in a pool of his own blood. "I'm not a killer." said Ace, standing over the man's unconscious body panting heavily. As he stood catching his breath, he heard movement around him. He looked up from the body to see the bandits already closing in around him, pissed. He sighed heavily, "Damn it. I almost forgot about you guys." He extended his claws and prepared for the fight. Suddenly there was a figure overhead flipping through the air. Ace smiled and laughed as a whip extended from the figure still in midair and wrapped itself around the neck of one of the bandits who stood closest to Ace. Qin landed next to him and yanked on the whip. The bandit yelped as he flipped into a forward somersault and landed on his face, knocked out. She pulled the whip back and caught the end and prepared for the next attack. "Your nose is bleeding." She told Ace as they stood back to back readying themselves as the bandits recovered from the confusion of what had just happened. "It's nice to see you too." Ace chuckled. "Get them." yelled one of the bandits and they all rushed in.