The Bird and the Garden 3: The Final Adventure

Chapter 50: The Dollhouse

Each blow sent pain shooting up his arms, pushing him back. The Blood had done the same for Ruby as it did the First Vao - it had improved her physical condition until she was stronger than Yin. He doubted she'd win in a fist fight against Sasha. But Ruby didn't want to fight Sasha. She wanted him.

"S-snap out of it!" He pleaded. "He's using you, Ruby! He's trying to get what he wants! That's all the First Vao ever cared about!"

Ruby's lips curled into a smile. "Doubtful. After he's risked life and limb to steal Dust from the Graveyard, and collected Souls to keep them safe? Quite the opposite. I'd bet you don't even comprehend his dream."

He ducked underneath the razor sharp blades, the scissors sheering off a lock of his hair. His heart pounded as he pulled his hands away, Ruby nearly taking his fingers. He jumped back, leaping over the army of dolls to put distance between him and his deranged sister. "I do!" He shouted. "He's trying to bring Summer back! The First Summer!"

"Wrong."

SNIP, SNIP SNIP SNIP SNIP!

Blood arched through the air when she finally broke skin, her weapon cutting through his armor like paper.

"When he met the Cult, his dream changed. He doesn't care about restarting the First Timeline, because more than half the Cult wouldn't be in it," she giggled.

He punched her in the jaw. That was all he was willing to do. If he used his katana, he might kill her. Ruby stumbled back, staring at him expressionlessly. "... That didn't even hurt. My turn?"

THWACK!

Yin's eyes watered when she punched him in the mouth, his teeth cracking to pieces and clattering against the floor. He stepped back again, Ruby's scissors slashing his eyebrow. His vision was blocked by blood in his right eye, struggling to keep the Cult's High Priestess in his line of sight.

Sparks lit the darkness as scissor met katana, Ruby still pushing him back. At this rate, she really was going to kill him.

"NYAAAA!"

Without warning, Vao's head flew into Ruby's hand, knocking the scissors clean. The dullahan had thrown it, his body struggling to stand as the dolls piled on top of him. His head stared at the healer from the floor, his eyes wide with panic.

"There ya go, mate! Punch her lights out!"

Yin made a mental note to thank Vao, sheathing his katana. Wiping the blood away with his sleeve, he tackled Ruby to the ground, sitting down on top of her chest and throwing punch after punch. But no matter how hard he hit, Ruby didn't seem the least bit bothered. In nearly an instant she had flipped him over, his arm trapped in hers.

SNA-SNAP!

Yin's voice escalated into a high-pitched shriek, his arm falling limply to the floor. Ruby had dislocated his shoulder. The heel of her boot drove into his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. Ruby watched him roll on the floor, struggling to breathe and stand. Ruby didn't have that kind of skill in hand-to-hand before. Nine years ago, he'd have been able to take her on in a fist fight. He had completely underestimated the sheer preparations Ruby had taken to kill him.

"Do you know where I learned to fight?" She asked calmly, delivering a swift uppercut that knocked him off balance. Her leg kicked him in the thigh, nearly bringing him to his knee. "Milady, Mono Chroma, excels at several martial arts. In order to make myself more efficient, more useful to the Cult, I enrolled in an apprenticeship under her training. My Lord refused to teach anyone his fighting style; he would tell us it needed to be experienced, not learned. And the only way to experience it, is to be killed. That's the only way he knows how to fight - the inevitable death of whoever it is who has the balls to face him."