Shirinai: Assassin's Heart

"Take care of the young princess Gary Takamaru."

That single line kept replaying in my mind. It had been years since Marai had been at my side and we had never battled together but she wasn't a little girl anymore and I had to realize that. Here she sat next to me, in her all black, armored garb with a sheathed sword on her back. She wore her black hair in a bun; her body was thin and curvy. She wore a face mask as I do, so all I could see was her light Hazel eyes. She was now a grown ninja. "You ready, Sensei?" she asked me. We sat on a hill in the rain overlooking the Rain Village. The night sky was black and no stars shine, the rain was a frosty grey cloud from the sky. The Rain Village glowed like a purple fire in the night, "Don't call me Sensei, Marai. You're an equal ninja to me." I replied. She pulled down her face mask for a moment "Thanks for coming Gary, I knew you would help me." and shook my hand. Her hand was still small like I remembered. I pulled my face mask on "Anytime, you ready?" I asked. She slid her face mask on again and nodded. We took off toward the Village. We ran silently in the night, the only sounds were the rain and our feet. The land was barren, soil and boulders, like there was once a forest, but it had cut down and the rest of the area had all been petrified. It was depressing coupled with the rain. The Rain Village was going to be hard to get into; there was no getting in without permission. We hit the border of the Village; a huge dark colored stagnant lake. We stopped at the edge of the bank and looked toward the village in the distance. "We'll have to cross this to get in." Marai took a light step leading to the water but I grabbed her shoulder. "There's something in the water." I told her. I could smell something lurking beneath the surface of the water. "How do you know?" She asked. "I can smell it. Fusing with Ryu gave me not only claws and a tail, but a stronger sense of smell. Whatever is under there is amphibious." I watched the water for a moment but Marai broke free of my grip and jumped out and onto the surface of the water. Instantly, the surface of the lake erupted with the heads of huge green salamanders that began spewing a purple toxic gas. "Marai get out of there!" I yelled, panic hit me and I ran to the edge of the water but she held her hand up for me to stay where I was at. She pulled her sword out of it’s sheath and put the tip of the blade in the water. It glistened in the rain like a star. She wielded the Aura Sword, a sword that fed off Nature Chakra and emotions. There was a small electrical pulse, and all of the salamanders rose to the top of the water, their bodies dead. Marai jumped back to the edge of the water. I was impressed; her movements were swift and precise. This was the result of her training as an assassin. "Those salamanders were there to keep intruders out." I told her. She nodded "There's a pipe about two miles out from the village and 6 miles from here, we can enter through there." she replied as she sheathed her sword, "I remember you aren't good at Genjutsu, so we'll have to be a little bit more sneaky." He had a good memory of my abilities as well but we had both grown since the time I trained her. I thought for a moment, "No, that pipe will be booby trapped too. Genjutsu or not, I will be able to make it in." without hesitation, I returned to all fours and ran out on to the lake, with Marai close behind me.

"Miss Marai mission is hers and her’s alone. She is hardheaded and insisted that she went on this mission alone, we wouldn't let her. Kawasaki are trained Ninja Assassin but this mission is personal. We need someone to support her; otherwise things can get out of hand"

We successfully infiltrated the village. We stood on the wall of a dark alley way. The heavily industrialized village smelled of wet metal and food, a nasty mix of scents. Its architecture is composed of several metallic skyscrapers with rowed ducts connected to them and mazy power lines surmounting. It was built on pipes and cement, and the whole village was composed of three different levels. The people all wore light green cloaks and bamboo straw hats to protect themselves from the rain. They moved along the streets swiftly like insects, in a hurry to get to their destinations. Two people walked into the alley below us "We'll need a cloak and hat to move around without detection." I whispered. Marai dropped silently to the ground behind the two people and knocked them out. She took their cloaks and hats, but stopped when something fell out. "What's that?" I asked. She look at the little booklet, then closed it swiftly "They are undercover agents." she said coldly. This sent a shiver down my spine, we could've been caught. "We can't have any complications." Marai whispered. Faster than lightning, she drew her sword and jabbed both unconscious bodies through the heart. The water on the floor around them was dyed a crimson red, their lives were washed away with the blood by the rain. I stared emotionlessly as she wiped the blood off of her sword, and re-sheathed it. I was never one to kill people without provocation but this wasn’t a normal situation. I dropped to the floor next to the two lifeless bodies. The bodies need to be disposed of. I put my hand on the cement "Earth Style, Earth Swallow Jutsu." The ground opened up beneath the corpses and fell into the ground, and closed around them. I stood up and Marai handed me a cloak and hat "We need to find Gambling District. We'll find the Patel family there." she said. I put the cloak on, and then the hat, they were warm and dry on the inside. When I saw that my partner had her cloak on I began leaving the alley. "Gary! Wait your tail!" I froze, I complete forgot about my tail. I tucked my tail inside my cloak "Let’s go."

"Her brother's life was taken by the heir to a rival assassin group. There were politics and regulations which were crossed in that killing, the main policy being 'No assassin shall kill another over a mission.' She has all rights to revenge. The enemy is from the Rain Village, and as you know they have harsh punishment for intruders. We know your Team Shirinai had business with the Rain Village, so worse comes to worse, we pray you will be able to get her out. This mission is important to her."

We spent a duration of the cold night, walking around the maze like streets trying to find the Gambling District. Asking people for assistance was out of the question, they would know we weren't from the Village. So we waited outside a bar, awaiting a drunk passerby. "Marai, let me handle this one. We don't need kill anyone else, unless necessary." I said looking into her eyes. She stood with her arms crossed, watching the door to the bar. I could smell the strong smell of alcohol emitting from the bar and hear the music from within. It wasn't long before a drunk came stumbling out. He reeked of alcohol and tobacco. He staggered in front of us, not noticing we were there. I took advantage and grabbed him by the collar, he fidgeted and wiggled like a worm, He tried to get free but my grip was too tight. I pulled down my face mask and bared my fangs. "Where's the Gambling District?" I growled. The man whimpered and sniffled in fear. "Please let me go, please man, don't hurt me." he cried. Marai watched me with the rim of her hat lowered. I honestly didn't want to hurt him, but it was too late to turn him loose. "Watch my back." I told Marai, who nodded in response. I had to do this fast. I grabbed a tight hold of the drunk, and jumped onto the roof of the bar. He began to thrash and squirm violently so I set him free. He ran to the other side of the roof "What are you doing with me?" he whimpered. I grinned "You didn't want to tell me what I wanted to know, so now I'll have to show you my true form." fear filled his eyes. I defused with Ryu. I dropped face down to further the look of "revealing my true self". From under the brim of my hat, I watched Ryu slowing near the drunken man, growling. His emerald green scales glowed in the rainy night. I never realized how threatening Ryu could look. His back was a sea of hundreds of blade like spikes. "You're really a dragon?" The drunk stuttered, his face was filled with fear. Ryu on his hind legs and now stood 7 feet tall. The man screamed "Don't hurt me! To get to the Gambling District you take the pipe behind the bar!" I was surprised "That close? We're already half way there" I stood up. The man was in shock, he stared at me with wide eyes. Ryu returned to all fours and walked over to me. "That wasn't your true form? You're still alive?" He squealed. I smirked at him, "Yeah, this is my partner. And we were never going to hurt you." Ryu walked to me "We have to get back to Marai." He said. By now the drunken man had been scared sober and was trying to gather himself. "Here," I tossed him a sack of coins "buy yourself some more drinks. If you don't tell you seen us, we won’t tell who told us how to get to the Gambling District." With that, me and Ryu jumped off the roof and landed next to Marai. Her eyes widened big when she looked at Ryu, "This is Ryu?" she asked in astonishment. The answer to her question would have to wait, I grabbed her by her cloak and led her to the huge gray pipe behind the bar.

"We will reward you with 10000000, for this mission. I understand your Team doesn't specialize in undercover missions but we have to request you, Gary."

We traveled fast down the huge metallic pipe. "So Ryu isn't really a dragon?" Marai confirmed. "Nope. In my Bloodline, they're lizards that have grown to match each individual's chakra. That's why Leo's partner, Brute, is a huge Armadillo Lizard Dragon. Brute is like Leo, like Ryu is like me." She inspected Ryu as we ran. I heard her whisper 'Spiked Iguana Dragon' to herself. This had been the first time she had seen Ryu, since he had not hatched when I was training her. We ran for what seemed like an hour, but it wasn't long before we found what we were looking for. We walked to end of the pipe and looked down onto the Gambling District. It was a pit walled huge thick gray pipes that reached 200 feet up into the sky. It was like looking down into a pipe made of pipes. The different casinos and gambling huts were built on the pipes, suspended by cement. They were accessible by a maze of stairs. There were dozens of them; it was a lot darker than the village outside this huge pit, yet the whole abyss was glowing a deep dark purple and blue. I looked up into the sky and wondered if Destiny was looking up at the same night sky, but now wasn't the time to think of her. This mission was far from over. Marai had an intense look on her face, her eyes look as if those she was hatred it's self. She was looking down into the Gambling District, The Pit of Sin. I didn't know what to do, something was bothering her. "Marai... what's wrong?" I whispered to her, I laid my hand on her shoulder. She glared for a little longer, took her glove off and intertwined her fingers with mine. She pulled her face mask down, tears ran down her face, she was crying. "I miss my brother." she replied. I couldn't imagine how she felt. "I don't know what to say..." I admitted. I left horrible and sad, I couldn't help her. Ryu walked over her right side and leaned his head on her stomach. She smiled slightly then pulled up her face mask. I let go of her hand. "Let's get this over with." she said. She reached back to her sword, cut her thumb on the blade then slammed her palm on the floor. "Summoning!" There was a huge poof of smoke and a black panther appeared. "Yes Princess?" it asked her. She pulled out a kunai wrapped in white bandage "Sniff this out." The panther nodded, took the kunai in its mouth, and lunged out of the pipe. "This is it Ryu, you ready?" I asked him. His yellow green eyes flashed, "Of course." Marai turned to me "Ryu talks?" she asked. For a moment I was stunned, she understood Ryu. But I realized I had conversed with him a few times since we defused. "Yes, but only members of my Bloodline can understand him." I answered back. She just nodded. "You get to see our fusion," I told her "Ryu, Takamaru Beast fusion!" Ryu turned to pure Earth Chakra, and fused with me. First my canines grew, then my claws. I grew Ryu's tail, and all my senses exploded with feral lizard ability. Last my eyes went feral. Marai pulled off her rain coat and hat, and wrapped some wire strings around her arms. The panther climbed back into the pipe and walked to Marai "Thickest pipe to the right, black building on the bottom." he reported. She nodded and he poofed away. Assassins were people of quick and small talk, not much for conversations. "Ready, Gary?" she asked. Without waiting for my answer she leapt out of the pipe into the rainy night. I took a deep breath "For Marai." I thought, without hesitation I jumped out after her. Into the cold rain, my senses were renewed, and the fall was farther than I had anticipated. I hit the ground next to her. For a moment everything stopped, it was just her, I and the black building where our targets laid. I understood her pain, for a moment I understood her suffering. The loss of her brother was in her heart and the enemy at her finger tips; I felt her pain and ambition. Her heart must of been broken, and world spun in a direction she couldn't understand. This was her resolve; revenge, her light away from the darkness of pain and despair. I looked at her next to me, staring at the building; her eyes were empty, void of any human emotion. She was a figure of vengeance and justice, in the purple night rain. The vengeance of her brother's death was her resolve, her mission.

"Well Mr. Kawasaki, I have no choice but to accept your request. But for no reward. Anything for Miss Marai. You were right to request me, because I will die before I let anything happen to her. I will leave to meet her in the said location. -Gary Takamaru."

He looked at me suspiciously. The attendant at the front desk was a brown skinned man with short black hair dark eyes and a turban on his head. "You need the head assassins huh? What does a powerful ninja like you need assassins for?" He asked in a thick accent. The room reeked of the stench of curry and sand. There was no light in the building, except the light that bled through the blinds in the front window, behind him there were two doors covered in bead veils, on both his left and right side. There some movement behind the veils, but I couldn't tell what it was. There was no telling how many ninja were back there. "There's an important mission I have for the head Patel assassins, I won’t talk to anyone but them." I said politely as I removed the hat from my head. There was a quick whirl of chakra next to him and a ninja appeared with a talwar sword in his hand. "Hmm?" I asked. He didn't look too happy. "Did you think we were stupid? You are more powerful than you seem." he asked with an angered look on his face. I began to uncloak myself "Well I guess the Patel assassin's aren't as polite as I thought." I chuckled. I opened my eyes to reveal they were feral then began swishing my tail back and forth so they could see it. I cracked my claws. The attendant at the desk look startled, I frightened him. "Who else did you bring with you?" The ninja next to him demanded. Marai stepped out from behind me. There were small puffs around the room. Three more ninja appeared in front of us, one on the ceiling, one behind the desk and one next to it. All had turbans wrapped around there faces and carried talwars. Slowly Marai pulled out her sword. "Above." I told her. She lifted her sword and there was a crackle of electricity as she swung it. A body appeared and dropped from the ceiling to the floor. There was a moment of silence; they couldn't comprehend what had just happened. "There is no point in hiding, I can smell you where ever you are," I informed them "Marai, save your energy. I’ll handle the ones here right now." She swiped her sword, splattering blood on the walls, and sheathed her sword. There was a change in the air, the ninja became confident. "You and the Kawasaki girl won't leave here." The attendant said with a smile on his face. The three other ninja took stance to attack. "I'm not going to waste my time asking you guys your names," I remarked as I pulled down my face mask "Earth Dragon Warrior." I released control of my body and gave it to Ryu and his chakra. My dreads hardened into spikes, more spikes grew on my tail, and my canines grew out of my mouth. I heard Marai whisper behind me "Gary... kill them all." Her emotions fueled my feral rage. First was the ninja next to the desk, he dashed to me slashing with his sword. I met him half way and slashed his stomach open with my tail. Blood and guts spilled across the floor. The ninja on the ceiling began slashing wave of chakra down on me. I dodged them and jumped up, digging my claws into his shoulders and ripped him down. He landed in front of me; I jumped on his chest and slashed his throat open. The ninja beside the desk held his sword up. I dashed in, smacked the sword out of his hand, crunched my fangs into his throat, and ripped his arms off. The attendant behind the desk made a strange noise, and whimpered. I stood up and returned to normal, non-feral form. "Sad." I told the attendant, I then slammed the heel of my foot into the chest of the ninja with missing arms, killing him. "You guys are easier to kill than I thought," I teased as I pulled up my face mask and walked toward the attendant "I'm sorry but you have to go too." I put my hand over his heart. I shot a blade of Earth chakra through his heart and watched him fall. "Now we wait." Marai said coldly.

I watched as the door slowly opened. In the door way stood three ninja. Two male; one female. The female stood in the middle while the two men towered over her, they were considerably larger and taller the previous assassins. They stared at the carnage. Limbs, heads, body parts, blood and guts spewed and spread across the building and floor. The woman shifted a little then whispered "You won't leave here alive." I chuckled then said "When I first came here, they said the same thing but we see how that turned out." I sat in the chair where the attendant once sat. "Initially, I hoped to find you here when I first came, but there were only a few so-called assassins that I killed. After that more and more showed up. In waiting for you to show, I've seemed to have killed all your assassins and used all my energy, so she'll fight you instead." There was a screech then the sound of lightning cracking. Marai stepped out from behind me; her sword was drawn and charged with glowing Lightning Chakra. It illuminated the three figures faces. The two men, like all the other assassins wore turbans on their face, except the one on the left did not have a sword. The one on the right had the same eyes as the female and the one on the left was extremely muscular and girl was short no taller than Marai, her hair was dark black, eyes brown, and her skin brown. Most noticeable about her was the red dot on her forehead. "Aha, the Kawasaki girl." the female said with a smile on her face. Marai's eyes remained deep and emotionless. "I’m glad you know who I am. Radi Patel. I'm taking your life for my brother's death." she said. Her voice was filled with hatred. Radi began laughing wildly, "Your brother deserved to die, he was no good at what he did. Maybe if he was, he wouldn't have been killed so easily." She laid her hand on the ninja to the right of her. He inhaled then exhaled a cloud of smoke. The room was engulfed and all that could be seen was Marai's glowing sword. There was a bang and a huge roar. I seen Marai's sword flash to the middle of the room, she swung it twice and dispersed the smoke. Ryu was in the left corner of the room with the sword-less ninja's throat in his jaws. "If I'm not mistaken, that's your brother, Radi." Marai said. Ryu released Radi's brother, he fell to his knees, clenching his throat, choking and gargling blood. He was slowly dying; his life was fading with every drop of blood. Marai walked over and stared down at him while Radi was stuck not knowing what to do. The electrical charge from Marai's blade died, she thrust the tip of her sword down his skull and spine. "I'm not finished." she whispered, the sword charged with electricity and the body exploded. The electricity from the blade was now black. "You two are next." Marai growled. There was an aura of darkness around her, her rage and hatred had taken over. Radi took a few steps inside the building stepping lightly and avoiding the body parts, her breathing heavy. Blood soaked the floor and walls with the souls of the assassins I had killed. The building had become an eerie place of darkness and pain. Even we had become figures of sin, me the murderer. Marai the sparking figure of revenge. Radi, the dark figure of rage. It happened before I realized it; the muscular ninja that was once in the doorway was now standing on the desk, crouched and ready to hack my head off with his sword. I was in shock; there was no time to react. Earth Chakra formed a sword in my hand but I was stunned by a black flash. The large sword wielding ninja's head fell from his neck to the ground. Marai had intercepted him, and decapitated him. Ryu and I were amazed at Marai's blinding speed. There was a loud gasp and Radi's eyes became filled with rage. "Megami no Jutsu!" her body trembled for a seconds then 6 arms exploded from her sides, all turned to gold. She swept up two swords with her with her 2 non gold arms. They stretched out like octopus tentacles and began slashing at us. I blocked the sword with my Quake Saber, depleting my chakra more and more. Admits the battle of blocking the blows from Radi’s swords, I said to Marai "Marai, take over whenever you want, this is your fight and I’m losing chakra." Marai nodded in response. Just as she did that another one of Radi's arms stretched out and grabbed me by the leg and lifted me. She crushed the desk to pieces with my body then slammed me into the wall behind the chair. I seen the red gem in the middle of Radi's head gleam, and it shot a crimson beam at me. I released my Quake Saber, and jumped out of the way. The laser like beam shot a hole straight through the wall, through the building, and all the way to the pipe the building was built against. I looked back to see Marai glancing back at me. "Gary, are you okay?" she asked, but then I caught the gleam again. This attack was aimed at Marai. "Crouch Marai!" I fused with Ryu and jumped in front of her. Radi's arms retracted and she fired the beam. I crossed my arm and focused the last of my Earth Chakra to defend this hit. This time it was more powerful than before, the  beam made contact and began slowly burning through my defenses. Marai sheathed her sword, stood up and held me "Dammit Gary!" she screamed. Radi forced more power into the beam until thrust us through the hole and into the pipe. With my tail I knocked Marai from behind me and took the full impact, breaking my arms. I laid on the cold, hard, metal wall of the pipe, every inch of my body burning and sore. The floor of the pipe was covered in water, from a leak at the top of the pipe. Marai ran over to me "What the hell Gary? Why did you take the blast? I could've cut it in half or blocked it myself!" she complained. "That beam is a piercing beam, it would've cut your sword in half and went straight through you," I laughed "Don't worry I get my arms broken all the time, just hurry and kill Radi so I can get you home." She nodded, and brushed my hair over my eyes and I played dead.

I could see her awaiting Radi, who stepped into the pipe through the hole she blasted with my body. All eight of her arms were gold "You killed my brother and husband; I killed your brother and now your boyfriend. Look at that." Radi said with contempt. Marai withdrew her sword and charged it with Black Lightning Chakra, "No, we're even when I kill you." Radi's eyes flashed "Fire Style Fire Cannon!" her mouth rapidly cannoned balls of flame. Marai blocked the barrage of comet like fireballs with her sword. Each hit pushed Marai back more and more, until she struck back. She slashed her sword violently sending a wave of electricity at Radi. Radi shot another fire ball to counter but the wave of electricity dispersed it, and hit her before she could defend against it. The hit stunned her and Marai took her advantage. She launched her assault of punches, kicks and slashes. It was like watching a black ball of lightning being held off by Radi's rapid arm movements. All of Marai's rage was fueling her power and speed; her emotion set her into overdrive. Radi's two lowest arms turned from gold to normal, then stretched out like rubber and reached under Marai and attempted to grab her. Marai jumped off Radi's hands avoiding the attack and jumped onto the wall of the pipe above me. Radi pulled back and turned all her arms gold, and followed her up. Well over a hundred feet above my head ensued a dogfight of Radi and Marai clashing in mid-air and returning to the pipe walls and clashing again after. Marai's sword and Radi's solid gold arms clashed, sparks flew and fell to the floor like rain every time the collided. For a moment it seemed like it would never end until one of Radi's hits landed hard. She knocked Marai's sword out of her hand. The sword fell and landed next to me. Radi's bottom four arms grasped Marai, then slammed and held her onto the floor. Radi came down like a hammer onto Marai's pinned body and pounded her 4 golden fists into Marai's stomach. Marai coughed then there was a puff of smoke and all that was left was a piece of wire string with kunai tied to each end. Marai's sword next to me poofed and there next to me sat Marai. "Her arms can only stretch when they aren't gold." I whispered to her. She stood up and faced Radi who turned slowly to her. "Substituted out." She sneered at Marai. Marai cocked her head "Ninja Art: Piercing Prison!" The wire string whipped up and wrapped around Radi's legs two lowest arms and the kunai impaled the two hands above. Her blood began dripping. All that was left was Radi's top four arms that were gold, "Wench!" She screamed. Her gem shined "Divine Beam" it shot off, the same crimson red laser as before. Marai ran spiraling up the pipe dodging it. Radi's head followed Marai like a spotlight as she spiraled up the pipe to the top. Once Marai was at the top, Radi changed attacks "Fire Style, Flame Clouds!" Flame clouds spewed from Radi's mouth to the top of the pipe. I could feel all the water on the floor of the pipe evaporating from the heat. Radi planned to burn Marai while she was at the top. As the clouds rose, Marai slashed through them and began her fast decent toward Radi. Radi struggled and broke free from the wire that bound her, clapped her hands together, and they began glowing dark red. As Marai's sword came down on Radi, she put her hands up and blocked the blow. The impact was incredible, Marai was aiming to obliterate but the red chakra held off Marai's sword. The red chakra from Radi's hands gave off an evil feel, if Marai were to get hit by one of those, it would kill her. Marai was flung back by the impact of the blast, with that Radi took her chance. She began her arm thrust and chops with all 8 arms. Marai dodged with a prowess of flips, somersaults, rolls and ducks, managing to make distance between her and Radi. She clapped her hands together and 8 clones appeared. They were exact replicas of Marai. They began running circles around Radi, confusing her as to which was the real one. "Ninja Art, 8 Armed Goddess' Swords" The red chakra molded into eight separate swords in her hands. All of the Marais began the wave of attacks. Each one attacked simultaneously or consecutively from every angle, trying to cut Radi with their swords, but was blocked by her swords. Radi's moves were like a flowing belly dancer, her movements swift, and fluid. This only lasted a moment then her moves became sharp, she was striking back. Every swift hack cut a clone in half, causing them to poof away in small blast of static. Radi swung away until all 8 of her swords were now dueling with the real Marai. They began a savage sword fight. The sound of cracking lightning and burning chakra sliced the air every time they clashed. Marai was becoming overwhelmed; Radi finally knocked her sword out of her hand. Radi's killing blow was going to be delivered but Marai reacted faster. She unwrapped the wire string from her arm, and used it as another substitution. Radi struck hard but lost her balance and almost fell, giving Marai enough time to obtain her sword. Radi regained balance and they stood facing each other. Radi's arms made a formation. Top 2 palms together, middle 4 fists together, bottom 2 palms together. The gem on her head glowed again, but this time her eyes began glowing gold. "Ninja Art, 8 Armed Goddess' Arrow!". Radi's middle 4 hands changed from red to glowing gold, and a bow made of gold chakra was formed in her hand. "This is it, you die now." Radi hissed. This was it, the final confrontation. The figure of hatred versus the figure of revenge. The golden bow and arrow versus the black sword. Marai glanced up at the once red flame clouds that now turned black, "There's nowhere to hide up there." Radi sneered. She pulled on the string of the chakra bow as if to fire and aimed at Marai who stood 10 feet from me. "Lightning Style, Plasma Charge!" Lightning Chakra surrounded Marai's body "Well let's see you catch me now." She taunted. With her new charge she repeated her previous spiral run up the pipe but this time at a blinding speed. Radi's arrow point followed Marai up the top into the black clouds. There was a moment of silence, and then sound of thunder shook the pipe. "Lightning Style, Black Lightning Strike!" Marai fell from the black clouds; her sword dragged a frightening bolt of black lightning from the clouds. The air vibrated with the electricity generated from the bolt of lightning. Every movement left an after image. It was surreal. Marai fell upon Radi who waited until Marai got close enough. It was like watching a darkened god bring down her wrath upon a blessed warrior. But the truth was harsh; Marai was far from a goddess and Radi was truthfully damned. Once Marai was close enough, Radi fired the arrow. Marai slashed and released the bolt. The Black Lightning and Gold Arrow collided; there was no sound but a blinding flash of light. Everything went white for a while, then the color and figured began returning to normal. The black clouds above had dispersed; there was no movement, not even the water dripping. There stood Radi, alone. For a moment, Radi held her posture, tense, then relaxed. All 8 of her arms relaxed at her sides. Then there was a familiar screech as Mara's sword erupted from Radi's chest. Blood squirted out of Radi's mouth. "No mercy." Marai whispered as electricity pulsed through the sword, and killed Radi. I stood up, with my broken arms dangling "Marai, we have to get out of here." and began staggering towards her. Marai kicked Radi's dead body from her sword, causing blood to splatter everywhere. The charge on her sword went from black to yellow, her resolve was done. She re-sheathed her sword and ran over to me, "Gary! How are we are we going to leave is your arms are broken?" she complained. I smiled "This isn't my first time remember? Just put the hat and cloak on me and we'll get out of here." Marai put my arms over her shoulder and supported me as we walked out of the pipe into the destroyed building. Radi's body laid face down in a pool of blood; we left it as if though it wasn't there. We entered the Patel building; it still reeked of blood, guts, and death. Marai grabbed our hats and cloaks from the floor and put hers on. She was a somber soul of stale emotion in the world in darkness and pain. "I like how you used the cloud to super charge your attack.'Use your environment to your advantage' who taught you that?" I teased I pressed my shoulder to hers until I could tell she was smiling under her mask. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me then punched my shoulder. "OW! Dammit Marai that hurt." we laughed. She lightened up, I was glad. She cloaked me and put the hat on my head, "Thanks for coming Gary." Marai said gratefully. She let out a loud heavy sigh. Together we walked over all the dead bodies and severed limbs. Leaving behind the rage that had once built up inside Marai's heart, we left as swiftly as we once had entered.

We stood in the pipe we were in before we had entered the Patel business, 100 feet above the building. In the cold night air, Marai tossed down two tightly wrapped scrolls. Under the cover of the rain, they silently hit the top of the Patel building and exploded, destroying the building. The orange flames lit up the bottom of the pit. A few of the other business door opened up and people came running out, nosy to the bright light that beckoned them. The destruction had drawn the attention of many people, too many people. What was done was done. Not wanting to be seen we turned to the way we came around and left. Left behind the revenge Marai had once needed so bad, and leaving with a new sense of fulfillment. Marai had avenged her brother's death. Under the cover of the rainy night, we disappeared to where we had come.