B.L.A.Q

Chapter 11

Qin, Len and Bai stared in a mixture of shock, horror and disbelief at the scene in front of them. Even Shiro looked confused at the events he had just witnessed. Suddenly he doubled over in laughter. He laughed so hard that he had to brace himself on his sword to keep from falling over. Bai gasped, "You...you...you damn idiot. What the hell were you thinking?" He had still been on the ground when he had heard Qin scream and turned to see Shiro's sword coming straight for him. Before it could reach him, however, a massive figure had appeared and took the blow for him. Ace stood there, arms outstretched to protect his captain and been slashed across his entire torso. He stood for a few seconds before falling backwards onto the ground. His three teammates rushed to his side. Ace lay there with his eyes open, blood pouring from his smiling mouth. Qin put his head in her lap and said, "Ace, hang in there. You're going to be ok." She looked at Len and shouted, with tears streaming down her face "Don't just sit there. Help him damn it. He's dying." Len had to choke back his own tears, I don't have my bag with me. There's...nothing I...can do." Bai grabbed Aces hand, "What the hell man? What the hell did you do that for." Ace looked at his captain and smiled through the blood, "He was gonna kill you. I...had to do...something." Bai shook his head at him, "Ace you fool. It should have been me. You shouldn't have-" Ace raised his hand to his captains shoulder and said, "I've watched...enough people...that I care about...die. I couldn't...do it...again." He looked up at Len, who was shaking with tears, "I'm sorry I...never took you on...a date buddy. I had...always meant...to ask you." Len looked at him, pure agony on his face, "It's ok man. You weren't really my type anyway. I always saw you more as a brother." Ace looked back into his eyes and said "Yeah right." He chuckled and coughed up more blood before turning to Qin. She was now crying uncontrollably. Ace tried to reach up and wipe her tears, but he didn't have the strength left. His hand dropped and she caught it. "You have to...be strong now kid. You've got to...take care of...our brothers now. They aren't strong...enough...to go on...without you." Qin couldn't find any words and just nodded her head, still clutching his hand tightly to her chest. Ace looked back at Bai, "Hey Cap," he coughed again and more blood came from his mouth, "Permission to...rest...a bit." Suddenly his eyes were closed and his hand had gone limp against Qin. A single tear rolled down Bai's face as he said "Permission granted." Qin screamed out into the night, her cries so loud they spooked the birds in the nearby trees as she couldn't contain herself any longer. Len had put his head onto Aces chest and Bai could hear muffled sobs coming from him. Bai closed his eyes in anger and sadness. "Dammit," he thought. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT." How could he have let this happen? He was supposed to protect his team. If only he had been stronger. If only he had more strength. Ace was dead because he was too weak to protect him. How could he protect Len if he couldn't even keep Ace alive? How could he protect Qin, his own sister, if he was too weak? He clenched his fists in frustration. Suddenly he heard a lighter strike behind him and Shiro's voice say, "What a fool. Only the weak sacrifice themselves for others. All of those tears for a damn idiot like that? Rubbish." Bai grabbed his blade and turned to face the man, "What did you say? Fool? Weak? Rubbish?" He was shaking with absolute fury, "You're the only fool here. I'll kill you for that. You've disrespected a man's sacrifice to save a comrade. I'll kill you for that." His eyes had turned blacker than the night sky above them. "You've taken a member of my family from me. I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT." He lunged at Shiro so fast that he barely had time to react. His fist connected to Shiro's jaw and he flew into a nearby tree, leaving the cigarette falling to the ground where he had just stood. Bai didn't give him a single second to recover. As the bandit tried to stand, Bai was already above him with a foot raised. It crashed down onto Shiro's head and he smashed face first into the ground. Shiro jumped up and yelled in anger, "Insolent brat. I'll teach y-" before he could even finish, Bai was there directly in his face and punched him again sending him back into the ground. He walked towards the struggling bandit who was slowly getting to his feet. He lunged at Bai with his sword raised and came down hard. Bai raised his own blade and blocked it. He headbutted him square in the face and the bandit reeled backwards in pain. He had blood coming from his nose now. He swung his sword again and Bai's blade was once again there to stop it. Bai slid his naginata's blade along Shiro's down to the hilt and turned it, at the same time he kicked Shiro in the knee, shattering his bones. The resulting force sent his sword from his hand as he dropped to the ground clutching his leg. He tried to crawl over to his sword, but Bai was already at him. He kicked him hard in the gut and the bandit spit blood from his mouth. The kick flipped him over on his back and now he was staring up at a very angry lion fauness. "What the hell is this?" Shiro thought to himself. "It's like I'm fighting a completely different person than before." He looked into Bai's eyes and saw nothing but darkness and his own fearful face reflected in them. He tried to scramble backwards away from him, but Bai put his foot on his ankle to keep him from escaping. Shiro panicked and quickly aimed his prosthetic arm at Bai and a dart shot from it. Bai saw the dart and didn't even blink. He moved his head to the left and the dart missed. Bai's blade came down with a quick swipe and severed the arm. The bandit was suddenly filled with fear. He knew he couldn't win. "Please," He said, "Please spare my life. I beg you. Have mercy on me." He had gotten on his knees and bowed in front of Bai. As his head was down, he glanced and saw his sword lying on the ground. "If I can just get to it," he thought. "Please spare my life." He said again. Bai had stopped and was staring at him expressionless. Shiro took advantage of this and scooped up some dirt in his good hand. He yelled and threw it at Bai's face, at the same time lunging for his sword. He scooped it up and turned to thrust it towards Bai. As he turned, he felt an intense pressure in his chest. He looked down at his chest and saw Bai's blade lodged in his chest. He coughed and dropped his sword to the ground. Bai walked up and put a hand on the back of Shiro's head, and the other on the hilt of his blade, their faces mere inches from each other. As Shiro looked into the lion's eyes, he clutched at Bai's shirt and watched as Bai's eyes slowly returned to normal and he said, "I told you I would kill you." He then twisted and plunged the rest of the blade through Shiro's chest and out of his back. With one last moan, Bai watched the life leave Shiro's eyes and his body went limp. He pulled his blade from the lifeless body and Shiro hit the ground with a loud thump. Bai breathed heavily, still staring at the man's body. He walked over to the man's sword and picked it up. It was heavy and he wondered how Shiro had been able to wield it so easily. This man truly was a monster. He sheathed his own weapon and walked back over to his body. He fished around in the pockets of his jacket and found what he was looking for. He lit one of the cigarettes and began walking back towards his teammates, dragging the giant sword behind him.