"Blackout!"
In an instant, Shachi's vision went completely dark, even with his eyes wide open. The shock of not being able to see, and the thought that perhaps he'd been blinded permanently, caused him to stumble blindly backwards. He fell to the ground, crawling away on all fours with a whimper.
His drop to the ground is what saved his life. Nicki had been aiming her next attack at his throat, but when he stumbled back, her knife when straight over his head, and she stumbled forwards and over his body.
"Shit." She said, falling onto the floor in a heap of arms and legs. She knocked her head against the floor, and she sat there for a moment, dazed.
"Dammit!" Shachi called, dropping his gun in the scuffle. It slid a few feet away, but his vision was still black, and he scrambled around looking for it.
It was a race now; whether he could get to the gun and shoot her first, or if she recovered her confusion first. He wasn't going to take any chances, and so he patted the floor, sweeping his arms in wide arcs in search of his weapon. He could hear Nicki moaning in pain beside him.
"Don't think…you'll kill me. Urgh, shit!" She groaned, shifting in a rustle of clothing and scraping of shoes on the floor.
Shachi's fingers touched the handle of his gun, and he grabbed onto it greedily, holding it close to him. Now, he just had to find the woman before she got her bearings.
He tried to stand, wobbling with the unfamiliarity that the blindness caused him. He heard a metallic shing of her blade brushing against the floor. He sauntered forward, holding the gun out.
Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.
He felt the air move, he tried sweeping left, and the next second her knife was protruding through his shoulder, angled in towards his heart. She gripped his body close, making him unable to escape her deadly blade.
"Ah!" He cried, grabbing onto her own neck and squeezing with everything he had.
"Just…die!" She ground out, her voice cut off by his grip. She retracted the knife and stabbed again, in the same place. He coughed out blood, probably onto the woman before him. Angrily, he brought the gun up between them, cocking it and pointing it directly under her chin. At least, he thought it was her chin. It was hard to tell without being able to see.
She started pulling away, but his grip was tight and unforgiving, and he grinned.
"Go to hell." And he pulled the trigger.
Bang! His face was splattered with a warm, sticky liquid and he closed his eyes tightly against the spray. Her body went limp and fell to the floor with a thud. Wiping at his face, Shachi opened one eye, seeing the room once again and feeling relief that he wasn't eternally blind. Shifting his attention to Nicki, she lay with her jaw almost completely shattered and bloody. A pool of blood began to widen underneath her head.
Shachi breathed heavily, gripping his shoulder in pain with a grimace. He hoped she hadn't hit anything especially major in his shoulder. If his fighting skill was affected by this fight, he'd be devastated.
"Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel!" Kat sang, running in wide circles around Penguin who nursed his chest. That blow to the ribs had done heavy damage. He only hoped he could continue standing long enough to fight.
Now, she was just toying with him. Staying far enough away that his sword didn't reach, but moving fast enough to be able to get a few cheap shots in when she wanted to. The multitude of injuries from her quick attacks were beginning to mount, and Penguin found himself tiring.
"Hahaha! What's wrong, Penguin-san? Can't keep up?" She lashed out a foot, catching his knee and forcing him to the floor.
"Dammit…" He spit, and wasn't surprised to see blood in his saliva. Something was be bleeding internally, and he knew Captain would have to look at it later.
He tried swinging his sword towards her again, but she just ran out of the way, laughing at his failure. He panted, taking a defensive pose. He had to stop her from running around, otherwise he'd never defeat her. Thinking quickly, he remembered what he'd stashed in his belt before leaving the submarine.
Grinning, he produced the small orb from his side, holding it up. "This'll slow you down." He muttered, raising it high in the air before slamming it into the floor, breaking the outer shell apart.
It burst open, spewing a green gas all over the room. Penguin quickly covered his nose with a bandana from his pocket. After spreading to every inch of the room, the green gas slowly turned into a clear, invisible gas. It took a moment, but after a second or two, Kat immediately stopped and began coughing terribly.
"What…is this?" She managed to ask between fits of coughing. No matter how hard her body tried ejecting the air out of her lungs, it only seemed to fill with the same awful stuff. She tried waving it out of her face, but the smell pervaded every inch of the room. Penguin grinned behind his face protection, not bothered by the smell at all.
"Patented Shachi and Penguin paralyzing stink bomb. Made from the fumes of the submarine's sewage line, sweat collected from the training room floor, and the urine of sea kings, all in a gaseous form." He smugly watched as her eyes widened. Gagging and dry heaving, she stumbled around in the room. The smell was awful! It stung her eyes, and tears blurred her vision.
"That's disgusting!" She gagged out.
Seeing that she was effectively stopped, he gathered his strength and charged in her direction. She couldn't dodge in time, and he sliced his sword across her chest.
"Ah…argh!" She cried, holding her front as the blood began spilling from her insides. It was a very deep wound, but not a fatal one. Penguin's heart sunk when she seemed to recover from the attack, swaying to her feet and facing him with a light-hearted glint in her eyes.
"That wasn't very nice." She panted, planting her feet in preparation to run.
He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but a sense of calm and focus came over him. It felt similar to the feeling at the auction house so long ago, except slower, and peaceful. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, and he knew what she would do, where she would go. The insight was slightly frightening, as he wasn't sure where it was coming from, but he knew deep down that he could trust what it was telling him. Closing his eyes, he positioned his sword about mid-chest level, running parallel to the floor. Kat smirked, confident that he was no threat to her. He remained very still, waiting for her to act first.
She ran, just as he'd predicted, and he swung forwards…
…Cutting her in half at the waist.
She managed a guttural moan before both halves smacked into the floor with meaty thumps. Her top half faced upwards, and she looked above at Penguin, who stood there feeling the adrenaline course through his veins. Continuing to try to say something even as blood dripped from her mouth, she reached towards him, snatching at air, with the obvious intent of finishing off what she'd started, even in death. Her legs twitched, blood seeping from the severed edge. The pool of blood quickly grew, and before long the sounds stopped and she ceased her movements.
Letting out a huge sigh, Penguin stumbled back a few feet and dropped to the ground, satisfied that he'd come out victorious. His body ached. Those wounds from before were beginning to sting and go numb. He lay flat on the ground.
Feeling rather proud, he fist pumped the air, breathing heavily. "Wooh." He called half-heartedly. All he really needed right then was a good nap.
Things weren't going exactly as he'd hoped. It quickly became apparent that even things Magnuson touched could be turned to water. On multiple occasion, he would block the blade of his sword, only to stumble forwards because it would turn to a liquid. Luckily the expressionless man had yet to do any severe damage, but it was only matter of time if this kept up as it was.
Law was kept moving about the room and his stamina wouldn't last much longer. Magnuson had yet to break a sweat, much less breathe a little harder. It was all so irritating.
"You must be crazy if you think you'll come out of this battle victorious." His deep voice said. Law growled but didn't respond. Being taunted was not entertaining for him in any way.
The way sent shot of water at high-speeds straight towards his body, but Law was able to roll out of the way just in time. Where he'd been standing, the wall broke and crumbled into smaller pieces of marble.
This went on for two more volleys, the last of which caught the Supernova in the arm. A searing pain shot through the limb, and he grunted from the sensation. It felt like a needle had gone straight through him. Needless to say, it didn't feel very good.
"Have you accepted your death?" He asked, sending yet another set of water bolts his way. He dodged, cutting his hand on some of the broken wall that covered the floor. Several wires from the wall, most likely the electrical systems, were cut and sparked every now and then, He'd almost fallen into it, which would have spelled his death.
Wait…
Water. Of course.
He turned back towards his opponent, calculating theories and possibilities, angles and speeds, finally settling on an actual plan of attack.
He'd never tried it before, it was only a concept, but just like Mes, the results could be exactly what he was hoping for. The only loop in the whole thing would be the actual execution of it. Raising his hand, he winced at the pain.
"Room!" He shouted, and the blue sphere enveloped them once more. Magnuson watched him with disinterest.
"Haven't you already tried that?" He sauntered towards the Dark Doctor, but Law was preparing just for that.
Gathering the particles of electrical energy to his hands, and semi amazed that he was actually able to do such a thing, he waited. His hands started feeling numb and tingly, but he ignored the sensation. Magnuson started to jog, then run a full sprint towards him. Law had to time it just right…
There! Diving beneath the man's sword attack, he dropped to his knees, holding up both hands with the thumbs out.
"Counter Shock!" With a great push, he pressed his hands into the man's body, and the surge of electrically charged particles passed through the contact and a flash of light and the rumbling of thunder told him the attack hit home. Magnuson's body began to convulse, twitching and spasming with every second. He tried turning into a liquid state, but that only increased the electrical activity. Because the walls, floors, and ceilings were all marble, the electricity had nowhere to discharge, and so it remained in his body.
The bunny had hopped off of Magnuson's shoulder before Law's attack hit him, and so the animal and Law sat back and watched as Magnuson slowly began to cease moving. Smoke started coming off the body, and an awfully familiar smell of burnt flesh filled the room.
He resisted the urge to lay back and rest. There were more important things to worry about, like the life of his crew. Pushing off the floor painfully, he retrieved his fallen sword, exited the room and took off down the hall, holding his arm.
Bepo leapt out of the way, holding Summer to his body. The fighting was getting more random and intense. The attacks were less accurate, and the spirits didn't seem to care where the fighting took them. The room was in ruins; missed attacks had left the walls as piles of rubble along the floor,
The first mate, had landed close to where James lay still, and out of a complete impulse, Bepo grabbed onto his foot and dragged him beside him. He didn't know if James was a good guy or not, but dying by being stepped on by a vengeful spirit wasn't how anyone wanted to die.
To his surprise, after Bepo brought them all behind one of the couches for cover, Summer shifted in his grasp. She groaned, immediately holding her head against a headache or something. She opened her eyes, and they slowly came into focus on him.
"Bepo?" She questioned, squinting as if she weren't seeing him right.
"Summer! You're ok!" He felt a wave of relief go over him, and he hugged her closer.
"Oh, yeah I'm alright. I just feel…different." She couldn't quite explain it. It was as if…something had been left empty in her body. As if she was missing something important. Another clash of the spirits' swords rang, catching her attention. Summer peeked over the top of the couch, seeing two people battling it out.
"Who is that? What's going on?" She asked with wide eyes. Bepo shrugged.
"We don't know. But that woman with purple hair came from inside you. Who is she?" He asked, and Summer closed her eyes.
"That's Nemesis." She looked over to the blue-haired man who locked swords with her. His hair was the same shade of blue that was James' eyes. "And if that's her, then the guy she's fighting is Iapetus."
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