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Episode Four "Oniwa Banshu: Aoshi Relives His Past!"
by Evan Coole (11/14/98)
***means the viewpoint has changed to and from the Predator.
Chapter 4
Saitoh jumped back from the invisible attack, quickly sizing his opponent up. He had felt the Kenki of the Hunter just before the attack. He had raised his sword to parry when he felt the Hunter's spirit suddenly flare. The two weapons had clashed, but he didn't see anything! He heard people screaming and running. Soon, he was the only one on the street. At least the only one he could see. He saw a flash to his left. Was that the Hunter? Saitoh quickly got into Ga-totsu stance, and darted forward, thrusting his sword forward. He shattered the wall in front of him. Knowing the strike would come from behind, he jumped up, narrowly missing being cut in half by razor-sharp claws. He looked down to aim his Ga-totsu again, but was interrupted by a couple of hits to his face. He was slammed into the ground by a roundhouse, but he flipped up. He couldn't see anything! Where were the attacks coming from? Just then, Saitoh saw another blur in front of him. He made out a huge shape in the air. A shape that wasn't very distingushiable, but it was there. Maybe it was some sort of camoflauge? Well, he could still see the Hunter, so he got into his stance again. He raised his sword and charged forward, piercing something that felt like armor. Tiny blue sparks and sizzles fell from in front of him, and he saw his attacker appear. He had blocked with a gauntlet on his arm. He had on a tough-looking mask, a chest pad, shin guards and the gauntlets, which were armed with twelve-inch blades. Saitoh smiled. This was going to be an amusing fight. Maybe he could get rid of him quick. Sure, it was big, but maybe he could just barely pull it off...
***
Kandak'la raised his stealth gauntlet to attack, but something happened. The human dropped his sword and took off his jacket, all in one great, speedy motion. Kandak'la didn't have time to react to the barage of punches. Kandak'la slid backwards on his feet and raised his head. He didn't see the human. Suddenly, he felt a material wrap around his neck and tighten. The human was trying to choke him! Kandak'la grabbed at the cloth material, and sliced it in two. He reached his arm back and grabbed the human's shoulders and threw him forward, sending him into the building he had shattered with his first blow.
***Saitoh sat up with much effort. Okay, maybe he couldn't finish him quick. His vision was blurred, but only for a second. His opponent was charging forward. Saitoh jumped up, and ran up some stairs, hoping to get out
of the building and get to his sword. He heard a wall crash beneath him, and leaped up just as the stairs crumbled. He strectched out his hand, grabbing the ledge to the second floor. He put up his other hand and pulled himself up
just as his leg was swiped by the man's blades. Blood spewed from his calf, and Saitoh flinched. This wasn't exactly what he had planned. He walked towards a window on the second floor and opened it. Just as he turned, he was slammed in the face by a fist. He flew out the window and slammed onto the road.
***
"I'm not going to lose this one," Kandak'la thought to himself as he leaped out the window. He landed with a thud, and he reached behind him to grasp his spear. He pulled it out from behind him and hit the switch to enlongate the spear. The sides moved outward a meter, and stopped with a small click. Kandak'la walked forward again in the sort of way that always intimidated the prey.
***Saitoh stood up after he grabbed his sword. He slashed in front of him just in time to deflect the point of the spear upward. The beast was now totally open. He twirled the katana into the Zero Stance, and tensed his legs. He thrust his blade forward, but he hit the other end of the spear! His sword vibrated so much that it shattered, leaving him only with a hilt. Hoping to paralyze the Hunter for a minute so that he could think of something to do, he raised his elbow and turned away from the beast. Circling around, he slammed his elbow into the assailant's stomach, where there was no padding. The beast flew backwards and landed on his feet, crouched. He was holding his side, and he stood up. His claws expanded outward from his gauntlet as he walked forward. Then they retracted, as if he had changed his mind. He grabbed a metal sliver from his belt, and pushed a round button. The sliver then turned into a metal disk. He pulled his arm backwards, and threw the disk towards Saitoh. Saitoh tried to get up, but his leg wouldn't respond. Sweat poured from his brow as, like slow motion, the disk crept forward. He raised his arm in instinct, hoping he could save his face. Just as the disk came an inch away from his face, it split in two, narrowly missing his head. Saitoh looked to his right, and saw the battou-sai standing in front of him.
Maybe he would live a bit longer.Kenshin stood in a Battou-jutsu, his muscles tensed. The Hunter first observed him, and then crouched down a bit. It released it's claws on both hands as it put away its spear. Even crouched, the Hunter was two feet taller
than Kenshin. Saitoh crawled away, and rested on a wall, onlooking the two."DrAgOn..." the Hunter said in its gurgling voice. "Hunter." Kenshin said quietly. They both stood, reading each other. Thoughts of Kaoru and the rest raced through Kenshin's mind. He went over what the Hunter would do. Usually, they threw the disk first, and then shot
with their cannon. Finally, they would throw a net of incredible force. Unfortunately, the disk and net had been destroyed, at least as far as Kenshin knew. He would not be ale to predict what the Hunter would do until it
attacked, which was the reason for the Battou-jutsu. It was the best defensive stance.
***
Kandak'la frowned. He didn't want to fight the Dragon so soon, but he had been looking forward to it. Thoughts went through his mind of the pictures he had seen of the other chiefs after the battles with the Dragons. None of them had ever lived. That is why the Dragons were so prized, because no one was ever able to defeat them. The others had all been ripped apart, sliced in sometimes more than nine pieces. Others were cut in half vertically, and the worst were destroyed by a move that was infinently fast. The dragons usually would jump above the power disk, then slice through the plasma shot, and shred through the net, and then take over. Fortunately, two of those items were destroyed, or so the human must have thought. Kandak'la still had another pressure net, and he also had devised a totally new way of fighting the Dragons, unlike the others. Why couldn't he read the Dragon? Every enemy he had faced was easily readable... He decided to go with his claws, and go into the Berserker stance. That way, he could see what the Dragon would do as a defensive
strike. Kandak'la had devised a plan to make the Dragon use all of his moves until he repeated the same stance as one of the other times. As soon as Kandak'la realized that the Dragon was using the same stance as before, he
would use an attack to destroy the Dragon.Kandak'la tensed. This human was so small! How could he possibly be a Dragon? The other one had been almost as big as himself! Something didn't seem right... Kandak'la shook it off. Never underestimate your opponent. Especially an opponent with the mark of the Dragon.
***Kenshin waited, a drop of sweat falling from his forehead. All he could do was wait. At any mom- The Hunter charged, slashing at incredible speeds. Kenshin slashed just as the Hunter was in range. The force of the blow knocked both of them away from each other. They both turned and charged again, but Kenshin noticed something. Four shapes appeared behind the Hunter. The Oniwa Banshu! Kenshin lost his train of thought for a second, and quickly recovered, but all he could do to avoid the Hunter was to jump. He jumped as high as he
could, and landed next to the Banshu. They all greeted him with a simple nod, and faced the Hunter."Everyone! Get away! He's too strong!" Kenshin cried. The Banshu just stood in fighting stance, waiting for the Hunter. "You helped us in Kyoto!" Shiro said. "Now it is our turn to help you!" Kuro added. The Hunter turned. Kenshin yelled. The Hunter charged forward, and the Oniwa Banshu prepared... -==-
Aoshi walked out of Megumi's office, thanking her again for her treatment. He turned and walked down the road. Surprisingly, the streets were quiet. Aoshi felt something deep within him begin to well up. He knew
the feeling all to well. He walked at a faster pace, and turned around the corner. Down the road a ways, he saw Kenshin, the Hunter, and..... THE ONIWA BANSHU!! Aoshi watched in horror as Kenshin screamed at them to
move just as the Hunter charged. Luckily, they all jumped over it without any problem. They all threw their various weapons at the Hunter, and for a brief moment, he thought that maybe they would be okay...Then the Hunter threw his weapons. In a flash, he had turned around and thrown up the net. It caught Shiro on his way down, and slammed him against the building. The threads tightened, pushing into Shiro's flesh as he screamed. His screams stopped as the net reached the wall. Kuro landed and watched in horror as the two others were shot down in mid-air by the blue flame. Two beautiful women fell to the ground, lifeless. Kuro stood up, and readied himself. He looked at Himura, who was coming up behind the Hunter with a wild look on his face. The Hunter, oblivious to the onrushing Kenshin, charged forward at Kuro with his spear. Kenshin watched as the Hunter ran straight towards Kuro. Kenshin couldn't reach the Hunter in time! Kenshin let out a scream that echoed for miles. Kuro swiped at the oncoming Hunter, but the beast just ducked under it. The Hunter pierced into Kuro's chest and lifted him from the ground. Kuro's blood poured onto the Hunter as the Hunter let out a deafening yell of triumph. Kuro stopped moving, and the Hunter threw him to the ground. He turned towards Kenshin, who was on his knees, his mouth wide open. Realizing he would have to let the Dragon rest, and himself, Kandak'la let out another roar and jumped away. Aoshi reached the site and dropped his swords. Flashbacks dashed through his mind of the others. His eyes went blank, and he fell to the ground. Why did this happen? Why did they sacrifice themselves? Why couldn't I
protect them? Did they die to protect him? Did more of the Oniwa Banshu die because of the BATTOU-SAI?!Aoshi turned his head to Kenshin, who was still staring blankly at the battle scene. (No. He tried. He told them to get away, but they refused. They wanted to prove that they were the strongest. It wasn't the Battou-sai's fault, but the Hunter's.) Aoshi closed his eyes and fell asleep...
NEXT TIME, ON RURONI KENSHIN VS. PREDATOR!Misao and Sanosuke find Kenshin, Saitoh, and Aoshi at the battle scene, and, Hiko must protect himself at the dojo when Kandak'la makes an
attack! Next Episode: "Attack on the Kamiya Dojo!"E-mail me at Evanrc@yahoo.com, because I want to have some opinions on this fanfic!