Blank Episode 2

episode :: two
Ascending Dragon

"I'll crush you..." The boss grunted, his fists balled up tightly, his knuckles getting ready to bust from his very skin. The air became heavy, it became hard to breathe. Sho huffed and puffed, holding his bruised rib. The mysterious boy who wielded the wooden sword continued smiling, the wind swept across the ground, dust taking to the air, swirling before settling. "...and that grin of yours." The boss yelled, he took a Karate stance before dashing straight at the child--

"Ora--!!"

He struck out at the child's face with a strong right just as he skidded to a stop before him--

The boy was already above his fist, legs parted, high above the man, floating backward gracefully as time seemed to slow--

His grip tightened on the sword--

He lifted it over his head--

ZADO!!</b>

The grown man's face was only inches off the ground--

The boy landed a few feet away from the boss--

The boss staggered toward the boy, the weight and momentum he threw into the punch was too much to just suddenly stop. Blood trickled into his right eye, he was seeing bright red, looking up to see the smiling face of the boy with ogre-like strength. The boy leaned in, the dust spinning around his form. "Haaaaa~!!" The boy roared, slinging the wooden sword upward, driving it into the man's exposed chin, throwing all his weight backward suddenly.

His back arched, blood spurted into the air, a visible ripple swirled between the two combatants.

With a nasty thud, the boss landed on his side, blood forming under his unseen face. Sho looked on, in complete awe of what he just witnessed. A boy who seemed to have no sort of sword skill managed to defeat three Yakuza. "I win! I win!" The boy cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

"Hehe..." He laughed, but noticed a shuffling from the boss, "A...ah?"

Fuuu

Like a sweeping wind, a leg reached out--

The boy's legs suddenly slipped from under him--

He wore a blank expression on his face, feeling the wind in his hair--

The boss rose, in a spin, coming from his sweep--

They aligned, and once the boy was right before him, he extended his leg--

BAN!!

"N-no!" Sho gasped, his eyes wide. A perfect front kick connected with the boy's abdomen, dust swirled around the man's leg. The boy's eyes were wide, a wad of saliva leaving his lips, his pupils becoming a series of slitted lines. Instantaneously, he became nothing more than a rolling cloud of dust in the distance. The large boss chuckled softly to himself, hooking his thumbs onto his belt, lulling himself with a sigh.

"Ungh..." Sho gasped for air, placing a foot on the ground, he slowly rose to his feet. He was confused. He wondered, should he go to his savior's side, or should he just turn tail and run? The Boss and Sho's eyes connected, Sho knew what he was going to do, he'd result to his last resort. His fingers twitched, just as he was going to go to his last resort, an ominous feeling washed over the surroundings.

"Amagumoryū--!! Ichidan--!!" The cloud of dust that went unsettled was disturbed, it spiraled, deteriorating when the howling wind strengthened, cutting through the cloud, revealing the boy in a peculiar stance. One hand was extended toward the boss's direction, while the sword was behind him, collecting a peculiar cloudy substance around it. The boss was in shock, his eyes wide, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "Haneha!!"

"Wh--" The man groaned, the boy hurled the sword forth, as if pitching a baseball. From the boy's sword came a large curling cloud of wind that swept forth at high speeds. Like a large blade, it was pretty flat, but still thick. The smoke-like wind collided with the large man, lifting him off his feet, the wad of blood he spat up was swallowed by the blast of wind, scattering his crimson fluid across the air.

The kid wasn't smiling as hard, but his grin was still present. Small smudges of blood and bruises on his face from the spill he had. He cocked his sword back again, "Ichida--!!" He announced once more, "Haneha!!" The boy cried, swiping his sword across the air once more, a foggy white wave of wind shot forth just as the first dissipated, the boss was lifted by the first blast a whole two inches off the ground. He noticed the second coming, cocking his fist, he pushed forth.

"Yakuaza!!" The man roared, thrusting his fist forth, taking on the second blast head-on. His fist trembled as it was quickly overtaken by the wind that folded around him, still blasting him back further.

"Haha! Ji-chan has Tech, too?! This'll be funner than I thought!!" The boy laughed, the blasts of wind were pretty ineffective, seeing as how the large man landed to his feet.

"A battle like this...who would have thought...in a town like this..." Sho chuckled, gripping his side as a pain shot up his body.

"I'll end it here!" The boy yelled, the Boss roared, charging forth with his fist cocked and one arm out in front of him in a basic Karate stance.

"Amagumoryū--!!" The boy yelled, stirring the wooden sword toward the ground--

"Here we go..." Sighed Sho, hobbling into a nearby shop.

"Hachida--!!" The boy cried, cocking his sword back, thrusting it forth. A swirling wind crawled forth a few feet before dissipating. Once the large man was over the spot where the whirlwind disappeared, the boy slung his sword upward. "Tatsumakiha!!" Cried the boy, the man suddenly froze as he began to levitate in mid-air.

"Ah--uh?!"

An explosion of white strands beginning to fold over itself, spiraling and quickly out of control. "Uwaaah!!" The man yelped before being slung from the spinning vortex and into a nearby wall, putting him through it.

"Uh-ooooh~" The whirlwind began dancing back and forth, causing strong winds to blow through the wide avenue. It drew in long strands of white wind from across the village, growing taller and wider while no longer in the boy's control. It neared a building, slowly plucking the roof tiles from the roof, taking it into it's body. The very bricks began to be sucked in, the building beginning to fall apart with the tornado tearing through it.

Sho quickly came from the shop he was in, onlookers pointed at the massive growing tornado before they decided it was much too dangerous to be around and fled. "Wh--what're you doing?! Stop it, already!! You won!!" Sho yelled to the boy, who looked at Sho with a blank stare, as if he were speaking another language.

"Uhh...wha'?" The confused boy blinked, scratching the back of his head.

"Make the big tornado go away!!" Sho yelled over the loud wind that roared, the twister continued to grow larger and larger.

"O...oh." The boy chortled with a smile, looking up at the towering tornado as it ripped across the distance, the village people hollering and fleeing. A small, bored-looking dog was sucked in, sleeping as it circled around. The boy looked back to Sho, "I can't stop the wind, only move it how I please." That everpresent smile was still there, even as he delivered such grim news.

"You can turn it on but not off?!" Sho screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes bugging out of his head. The loud hip-hop music came to a stop as the clerk from the shop poked his head out and noticed the tornado down the block. "Oh hell no." Was all he said before putting up his closed sign and drawing the curtains.

"I understand! We have to stop the dragon before it ascends!!" The boy randomly yelled, pointing up at the tornado's ascending mouth. Sho looked at the boy like he was crazy, arching his brow. He wasn't stupid, he understood. The dragon the boy was referring to was the tornado. "So much trouble over a couple Yakuza..." Sho whined, placing his face in his palm. The clouds above began to spin slightly, but it was still going to be a while before the tornado actually reached the sky.

"We have to get out of here!!"

"I've never fought against a dragon before!!" The boy laughed, a glint in his eye.

"It's official...this kid's fucking nuts..."

つづく