The Train Job

Carried over from Here

Kensai didn’t waste any time moving about to begin working his way through the crowd of bandits. There were certainly a lot of them, more than enough to keep him and Azuma separately occupied for a while so that they could deal with their own styles of dealing with enemies. The Ronin’s blade would flash as he’d wade his way towards the command tents of the grouping of bandits, watching with expert eyes and ears as he effortlessly dodged and parried attacks from multiple sources, his tremendous agility playing an important part in not having him skewered by the number of blades surrounding him. The bandits appeared to be hesitant to come after the samurai, stunned by the prowess displayed. He saw an arrow coming towards him and snatched it out of the air with his hand, stabbing it into the eye of a nearby bandit, which caused the other bandits to begin practising social distancing with him.

He would smirk and say “That’s right, show the devil his due. You fear the reaper, and it is only natural to do so...but worry not. Every one of you will be extinguished today, and if not by me...by my friend, Raijin, the god of lightning. You chose the wrong day to be bandits, and your reckoning has come for you.” He would quickly step forward and slash with his katana at the bandit to his right, drawing his Wakazashi and striking down the one to that bandit’s left in the blink of an eye. Unlike the bandits, Kensai didn’t believe in social distancing, and he was the plague that would end their pathetic existences...

(120 exp)

The clone of Azuma watched Kara retrieve a pack of cards from the now very dead bandit from her kunai...the same one she'd picked up the night they met. He tilted his head as she placed the cards and kunai back on her by the leader strap--and noticed the wind before she requested him join her over at the skiff, the man simply shrugging and going along with whatever she wanted--pretty much acting as her entertainment as much as a body guard.

Back at the action--Kensai seemed to have quickly charged in, becoming a whirlwind of razor sharp blade edges as he ran through the crowd of bandits--there being a fairly large number of them at this point. Azuma was quick to catch up, the man had his own pack of the thugs to take care of. With a draw of his Chokuto--it would be drawn straight into a slash, dispatching three bandits in a single swipe. Spinning the blade about its handle along his palm he'd switch his hand position from the backhanded draw, to a more traditional grip on the blade. He'd leap overhead the next wave of them and in a spin, the man's blade would relieve the bandits of the burden weighing on their necks, noted by the sound of six 'thuds' as heads literally rolled, the man now standing in the center of the building crowd of bandits from the camp.

By now Azuma could hear Kensai give his speech, the man smirking as he glanced over to the samurai and the men's attempt to practice social distancing with him, deciding to go ahead and bring the lightning storm to the battlefield after a small confidence boost in Kensai's words. Almost on cue as Kensai finished his speech, the familiar loud chirp of one thousand birds would pierce the ears of everyone in earshot--Azuma's blade lighting ablaze with Chidori Katana, amping the blade's power with the power of Lightning, brightening up the direct area around him in an azure glow. Now he too had hesitant blades held up in shaky defense, eyes of fear as a few stepped back from The Desert Rogue. "If you have any regrets you wish to beg forgiveness for, I suggest you make your peace now." Azuma's deep voice was booming but smooth, spoken through a smirk as one edge of his lip curled up.

One coward from the back of the crowd would fire an arrow towards Azuma, the man glaring his direction as the shot was fired. With a quick slice, the incoming arrow was split and two and flew to either side of Azuma's head, missing him completely, before each arrow split perfectly down the middle struck two bandits behind him in the eyes, dropping them. A sword wielding brave soul charged Azuma from behind, only to find his blade blocked by Azuma-- the man having spun it around himself to block the blade. With a coordinated flick and swish of his blade he simultaneously disarmed him of his blade--and also dis-armed of his...well, arm. Before the blade even hit the ground Azuma snatched it with his free hand, now wielding two blades, a katana in his left--a chidori enhanced Chokuto in the other. Just like that, he charged more chakra into the commandeered katana, and it would arc to life as well like Azuma's original blade. With this he swiftly would make sure the now arm-less man suffered no more.

With both swords imbued with the power of a Lightning Storm, crackling with the chirping of two thousand birds, he charged forth, cutting down bandits left and right. So much for stealth it seemed. The Desert Rogue was using his unique fighting style, his fluid style to crate smooth arcs of his blades, a dance of swords nearly as he sliced down another eight bandits within seconds, popping out of the gathered crowd with a leap, landing on some unsuspecting fool's shoulders to bound right off of, causing them to face plant into the sand in the process of doing so. Having used the man's shoulders as another platform to leap off of--Azuma happened to be meeting up with Kensai, and would land gracefully behind the armor clad Samurai--the Ronin and Shinobi standing back to back as a crowd of roughly 50 bandits.

"I'm at Twenty...how about you?" would be asked casually.

Once on board Kara would set up the skiff to slowly make its way towards the bandit camp. Once underway she would sit down and pull out the playing cards, gesturing for Azuma the Second to come join her. If he did she would proceed to deal out the cards for a game of poker, a game in which she had a serious advantage over any opponent she played with. One of the benefits of having a superior intellect was in games of ‘chance’ where it was a simple matter of counting cards to ensure the victory or success of anyone she chose. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to play for money?” She would keep playing until they arrived at a safe distance from the camp currently filled with murder and screams.

(120 exp)

The samurai didn’t even need to watch the display by the shinobi to know that he was being his regular flashy self, no surprise at all as he tracked that ki source behind him and felt it on top of the bandits instead of on the ground like a reasonable person. He would continue to cut down the bandits nearby him, his blades never stopping, and as he felt Azuma land behind him, he would simply smirk as the two hyper efficient killing machines did the thing that they seemed to do best. His question about how many Ken had killed would cause the samurai to roll his eyes and focus his Ki into his hand, the wind flaring up around him as a display of his mastery of Ki before expelling a blade of wind that he would control around the crowd.

The blade of wind was extremely efficient, more so, Kensai hated to admit, than his blades, as they cut through human flesh and bone like butter, easily slaughtering the entire group that was in the 180 degree arc in front of Ken, which of course would only cause more bandits to filter in. “Enough” was the only word that Kensai would use to respond to the shinobi’s question, the smirk on his face still prevalent as they fought. He would keep pressing the blade further back, continuing to kill bandits on the way until it dissipated, cutting more down with his swords as the two men fought back to back.

“It’s like they’re not even trying, Flash. I feel like they could do better than this...” Kensai would put his swords away, taking a rare moment to be cocky and taking a boxing stance. “Listen, there is no way that is the best you can do. I’m going to fight you without my weapons. I expect you to kill me, but I won’t make it easy...let’s see how well you can do this.” The first bandit to approach him would have a punch land square into his chest, the audible sound of breaking ribs echoing across the area as more started to clamour in to grapple the disarmed Samurai.

(140 exp)

'Azuma the second'...yeah, really...Would follow the blonde bombshell over towards the sand skiff. Once aboard, he'd watch the woman sit and gesture for her to join him. "Ehh....I guess?" he'd say with a raised eyebrow. He...wasn't a card player. But he'd entertain her for now and sit down, awaiting her to deal out the cards. Her next question though...it got a quick shake of the head. No he would not play for money...Azuma took the cards dealt and look at his hand. A comedic sweatdrop slid down the side of Clonzuma's head. He was doomed...

Azuma meanwhile, the real one, would find himself standing back to back with the samurai, enough space between them for them to maneuver without impeding each other--yet close enough the two covered each other's backs perfectly. Azuma couldn't see the eye roll, but sure would get an idea of what was going on when he could feel chakra well up inside of Kensai, and could feel the loss of life in a 180 degree span in front of the Ronin gave Azuma the hint. The response only made Azuma smile subtly. He'd charge chakra through the blade of his borrowed Katana, much like before--its appearance itself not really any different, but now held a different technique. With three slashes of his blade, the man scent forth three crescents of lightning, it tearing through the crowd not quite as efficiently as the wind blade, but good enough that it should come close to evening up the score.

Azuma did a quick count with his sensory. thirty left. His ear burned with Kensai's words, and Azuma's eyes squinted and glanced to try to look over his shoulder...'Flash'? Ugh. Either way, the Samurai issued a challenge...seems cutting them down was to easy, and Kensai wished to try his hand at good old fisty cuffs. Azuma shut his eyes and simply smirked. "Toying with them now? Should be fun..." Azuma said loud enough Kensai could hear him. With a flick and spin Azuma's chokuto was returned to its sheath, and Azuma tossed the commandeered Katana to one of the unarmed bandits...felt fair enough.

Now without weapons--Azuma would pull his right arm behind his back, and extend his non dominate left arm forward, palm turned up and facing himself. A classic Strong Fist stance. With that he leaped forward, a foot extended as he flew forward and collided his kick into a man's chest, crushing his ribs in a loud crack, and sending him flying through his buddies. Bandit bowling, anyone? Azuma got a strike.

He landed in a crouch and would instantly leap upwards, seeing as he had a group of them pressing in from each side. He twisted into a spin, a sweeping kick knocking them all back in a swift movement. Upon landing a large thug charged him with a huge cleaver sword, Azuma seeing this coming. In a burst of speed, Azuma came in low and could send an upwards kick straight into the torso of the large lad. This sent him flying into the air--Azuma spinning around to come to rest on his toes and hands, before disappearing in a flash of speed. Azuma would now be found as a shadow behind the man he sent skyward.

With two fingers pressed to the man's back, he'd flick his wrist and spin both himself and the target in counter active directions, first sending a knee into the man's side--spinning them both back the opposite way and Azuma connecting a stronger kick with his chin--plated in armor, mind you--before gaining a height advantage over the man on the way down. Azuma came down with power, only a moment after the thug hit the ground--Azuma had dynamic entry'd right into his chest. Needless to say, it was overkill. Taking the stance once more, he beckoned others to try him...a foot placed up on the large, dead, thug.

[100/100. Learned Dynamic Entry.]
[150/150. Learned Leaf Rising Wind.]
[150/150. Learned Shadow of the Dancing Leaf.]

Kara was more than a little disappointed, though not at all surprised, that Azuma the Second wouldn’t agree to play for money. With a shrug she would look over her own cards and let the clone win a round or two to boost his confidence. There was still the chance that he’d cave and have a real competitive game. While she played she kept an eye out in the direction they were heading; the bandit camp. Her keeping a lookout was almost laughable, she was really just checking to see how close they were so she could avoid hitting her friends. Not that she was overly concerned - they were both fast enough to get out of the way of a sand ship.

(140 exp)

Kensai would continue to lay fists into the group until a pile of bodies was all that remained. His knuckles were covered in blood, though none of it was his own. He had managed to easily defeat each of the enemies presented to him with ease, and while he didn't see him, he imagined that Azuma was doing the same. The two men were undoubtedly far more than a match for the sea of bandits who seemed to exist in this desert, as neither of them seemed to suffer scratch or sweat. Kensai would look back and see the pile of bandits in front of Azuma, nodding his approval as he smiled softly and told the man, "Good job. Now maybe we should go check on our friend at the skiff and make sure those supplies get back to where they need to go?"

He wouldn't wait for a response, moving quickly so that he could find Kara, which was easy enough to do. Her and Azuma's clone were a safe distance, but not too far from where the site of the bandits had been, and he was appreciative of that fact. "It's good to see you're still safe" the blood covered samurai would say. "Now, how about we go do that good deed?"

'Azuma the Second' would play cards with Kara, keeping mostly quiet. At some point during the time he was winning, he'd make a quiet, passing comment. "Too bad we're not playing strip poker..." he'd say, chuckling lightly before setting out his next play...likely one he'd loose. Maybe it was a good thing that they were not playing strip poker...or else Azuma the Second here may be left in only his boxers in minutes.

Meanwhile...

The real action was sadly dying down...all the bandits, they was dying, and laying down. Funny how that worked. Azuma was taking down his enemies left and right...and before he knew it--the man had no more to fight. He'd glance back to Kensai, and see he too had seemed to deal with his own set of bandits. With more bandits then sand in the desert, it was a shock to see they had dried up this lake of them...but a vast sea of the thugs still lay out there, just awaiting for a Shinobi or Ronin to come mess up their days. He'd hear Kensai mention checking on Kara and the clone--Azuma going ahead and following after Kensai as he ran off, limiting himself slightly to keep pace with the Ronin.

Upon returning, the clone of Azuma suddenly poofed--his hand of cards dropping to the skiff where he once sat. It was a loosing hand. The real Azuma raised an eyebrow...he wanted to bop his own clone for mentioning strip poker to his boss, did he make a drunk clone? Was that a thing?...Either way, he was glad to see Kara safe, casting the woman a smile.

Kara was just getting into the game of cards preparing a ‘yes’ to Azuma the Second’s suggestion of strip poker when both Kensai and Azuma Prime returned. There was a look of obvious disappointment on her face as the clone disappeared and his losing hand of cards fell to the deck of the ship. With a resigned sigh she would turn to look at them both and answer Kensai. “It seems the time for playing is over. I suppose it’s time we go help those people. Though your timing could have been slightly better.” A smirk would form on her lips as she picked up the dropped cards and began to navigate towards their intended destination.

(160 exp)

Kensai would go with his companions to deliver the goods and supplies to the villagers in need. It was something that would put a smile on his face as they were truly doing a good deed. He had a feeling that this simple action would likely change something inside of Kara, and maybe allow her to become more empathetic towards the feelings and needs of the less privileged. It would make him proud to be a part of this mission, even if it was something so simple. They were truly improving peoples lives.

He would help unload supplies and interact with the people around, seeing the smiles and the true gratefulness that each and every villager was greeting them with, and it made him feel fantastic. He would pull a cigarette from his tin and light it, inhaling deeply and enjoying the feeling of his head swimming as he allowed Kara to truly get her experience with the poor, and allowing her to have the knowledge that he was truly proud of her on this day.

{Exit Thread}

(180 exp)

"You had a bit of extra time, considering the last like thirty we didn't even use our weapons on." Azuma 'prime' would respond to Kara, smiling to her. With that, The Desert Rogue wouldn't be a slacker, and would aid Kensai and Kara in gathering, transporting, and unloading the medical supplies they'd recovered from the bandit camp. The villagers seemed very pleased to get the aid from the group, thanking them greatly for the supplies they desperately needed. Once they had finished with delivering the medical supplies, Azuma would stick by Kara and Kensai's side for the trip back home, likely using the sand skiff, it being a rather relaxing ride back, knowing they'd done some more good in the world. Something they all should be proud of.

[Exit]

Kara was pleased with how the mission had been going. She was covered in blood but otherwise unharmed and the medicine and supplies had been recovered easily by the three of them. Even if it had mostly been the two combatants doing the heavy lifting - both literally and figuratively. She would busy herself tending to the wounded as they delivered supplies and when all were attended to she would rejoin her friends on the sand skiff and make her way back to her home.

[Exit Thread]

(270 exp)