Bushido

Misfits & Rogues

Ringing.

That was all the Tinkerer could hear as she was backhanded by Vitoshi.

"Raijo you can unmask now. Vitoshi is done with us."

The Old Man Kyoretsu disappeared into thin air before a younger version of him appeared.

"I used to think that I could fight for good. A military man. But now, the lines are blurred between good and bad. Do I fight for my town, or do I fight for justice."

"I don't know what you wish to do Rai, but I'm going to find Valk. He was the first one to defy Vitoshi, and something within me feels like it's my destiny to go with him."

"As long as you go, I'll go with you."

"Alright. Come on, let's go!"

She began to fiddle with her hands a little, a glow beginning to emanate from it, first slow, and weak, before erupting in a golden blaze, being replaced by a carriage, with a water powered motor for movement.

"This is my greatest invention yet! A mode of transport faster than the horse drawn carriage. With this, Vito will never be able to catch up to us."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Let's see!"

Another glow shone, and they began to accelerate insanely fast, the paint beginning to streak off simultaneously, the sheer speed beginning to tear apart the fabric of the vehicle.

"Are you sure this will get us to himm???"

Rai's face began to streak back from the force of the car, and all Juuzou could muster was a strong blink in order to say yes.

"Good enoughhhhh!"

After 2 days of travelling, and several pitstops, the two came across a clearing, in which they met a strange fellow, picking at weeds and giggling to himself, his back hunched, and munching on something as the two came closer.

"Is he insane? What's he laughing at?"

Juuzou's whispers did little to disguise the pair, and the hooded figure turned around, revealing a bloodstained maw, and a torn apart human body, stuffed with herbs, spices and grass, as if to season the meat.

"Yippie! My next meal!"

The cannibal danced around, clapping its hands as it saw the two, and dashed towards them.

"Juuzou move!"

Rai instantly sent out a clone, blocking the cannibal from killing her.

"He's dangerously quick. We need to stay on our feet."

The cannibals face contorted with malice, enraged at the fact his prey had not been slaughtered in one hit, and prepared for the next blow.

"Can't you make something up to fight him with?"

"Yeah! Why doesn't he try some of this!"

Juuzou's hands began to glow bright once again, and two blades of pure mana erupted from them, before she handed one to Rai, and they readied themselves.

"Well, win or lose, at least we fought right?"

"You mean win right?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

Rai made a full frontal attack, attempting to slice through the cannibals midsection, but feinted, allowing for Juuzou to pierce straight through his arm.

"NICE!"

The cannibal began to cry, as he held his now useless arm.

"Y-you hurt me!"

His voice suddenly began to change to a more cruel and distorted one.

"Now, YOU'LL PAY."

His arm began to swell up and bubble, his skin rippling grotesquely as he approached his target.

"What th-"
was all Rai could muster before being gutpunched, even summoning a clone did nothing to protect him from the blow.

"YOU PAY. YOU PAY. YOU PAY!"

The cannibal began dancing again, it's actions mimicking a rain dance, as if it was praying to some sort of God.

"THAT'S IT! DON'T LET HIM DANCE!"

Its abilities were linked to a Pagan God who was giving it pseudo immortality and enhanced physical attributes in exchange for sacrifices. The dances were rituals.

"Rai come on!"

She smiled in ecstacy as she realised how to beat the battle, but when she turned to look at her friend, his body was brutalised and mangled, nestled on the branches of a tree.

"N-no. NO!"

Juuzou began to pour all her mana into the blade she made, and screamed with all her might.

"EXCALIBUR!!!"

The blade fell down upon the beast as it screamed in agony, and a cloud of dust was picked up, before rendering the clearing in darkness.

"Did we win?"

Suffering from mana exhaustion, she couldn't move, and panted on the ground as her eyes scanned the field, looking for any signs of the beast.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but that was soon stifled as in the next moment, it was in front of her.

"Hehehe! She thought she won!"

The cannibal began laughing and giggling, dancing in front of her, cackling at the situation.

As he grabbed her by the throat, a tear dropped down her face.

"Somebody, help us-"

From a spot in the clearing, two blurs appeared, one wielding a tanto, the other wielding two swords. The cannibal turned to stare, but at that moment, his head was sent flying through the air, and fell to the ground, before being crushed in an orb of water.

"Was I late?"