The Icebound Chronicles Finale ? A Familiar Opponent
Riku?s eyes opened slowly, blinking several times before he could get them to fully open. When he awoke, truly awake this time, he found himself in a coliseum-like place. The floor was sanded, and around him was a giant row of bleachers that made a complete circle to surround him. Riku was in the very center of the arena. There were two, giant posts on either side of him. There were chains attached to both of his wrists that were, on the other end, tied to the posts; suspending him in midair.
He lifted his head slowly, and up at the top of the seating area, he could see a small closed area where several of the Akatsuki members stood. He could tell that Tenzu was one, and another was sitting down in a chair, though he, like Tenzu, wore the hood over his head to cover his face. He looked to both of his sides, where his allies were chained as well. Reina and Kakashi were at one side, while Deirous and Shikamaru hung at the other. They were tied to chains that were attached to the walls. Dropping his gaze, he watched as Reaver walked to him.
?Today...? Reaver started, spinning around to face the large crowd of beasts and creatures, ?We will witness bloody battles and vicious fights. We have a special contestant for you today, though,? he said, and then turned back around to face Riku, giving a gruesome smile, ?His name is Riku.?
Riku?s eyes widened, ?What is this??
He spoke more lowly now, directing his words only to Riku, ?A show.?
?And what makes you think that I?ll compete in your ?show??? Riku asked bitterly.
?Then you will end up like rest,? Reaver said with a wide smirk, repeating what Riku had heard what felt like only seconds earlier.
Riku looked down, struggling with his thoughts. He found a hard time accepting this, but thrown into his face like it had been, he couldn?t help but wonder: Was Tenzu right? Was Riku, and everyone that was helping him, wrong? They fought to defeat Akatsuki, yes. They fought for peace, yes. But was this the wrong way?
Was he on... the wrong side?
~
Tenzu looked at the coliseum?s stage from a small, closed chamber with a giant window, next to the leader of Akatsuki. Reaver came up moments after Tenzu watched him leave. The room was rather wide, but the only thing in it was the chair that their leader now sat in, the window, and the door. Though, even through the window, they could clearly hear the bloodthirsty band of human prisoners and monstrous creatures alike screaming for the impending fight.
Reaver stood by the two of them, ?I?m still not seeing the point in this? Why would we give him a chance to leave??
Tenzu continued to look down, ?It isn?t a chance to leave...?
?It is a time for Riku to make his choice,? the other man finished, still sitting in his chair and tapping his fingers absently on the arms of it.
Reaver raised a curious eyebrow, ?And so he?s going to have some kind of realization while fighting some prisoners and Kabuto?s experiments??
Tenzu shook his head, ?No experiments, and this isn?t a prisoner. It?s the prisoner. The prisoner that, if Riku fights, will accelerate his decision. And he will fight.?
Reaver still stared at Tenzu curiously, and then his eyes widened as he realized what he meant, ?You mean...?
Tenzu nodded slowly, walking up closer to the window to watch what would surely be an intriguing battle, to say the least.
~
Riku was there for a long while, hanging from the two large, wooden posts, until he finally looked up quickly with a start as the two giant doors in front of him, a smaller door, the one that Reaver had left through, next to that, swung open. Two creatures walked in, those lizard-like things with snake necks that he saw earlier, but what was in between them made his eyebrow rise.
They had a man on a post, much like how Riku was now, but this one had a base that had four wheels connected to it; two at the front corners, two at the back. There were two posts that rose up on both sides of it, and a man hung from them at both ankles as Riku did. Riku looked over to the side and saw another such creature, this one more wolf-like, walking up to him with a key, then unlocking the two chains that held him in the air, making the boy fall down to his knees.
Riku looked up from his kneeling position and then stood, and looked at the man in front of him. He didn?t wear what most prisoners wore. They had prepared him for a fight. He wore armor that seemed to be chainmail, though it wasn?t as stiff, and it was dark black instead of the usual shining silver, though he only wore the armor on his chest and legs; his feet were bare, as were his hands and head. He had shaggy, unkempt hair that had likely grown from being in the prisoner for however long, his head hung over limply making his hair hang in an even more wilted manner. Riku watched as they broke of his chains as well, and then both of them left, wheeling the cart away.
He fell to the ground more heavily than Riku?it was likely that he hadn?t walked for months?and he stayed there for a long while. Both hands on the ground as he knelt over, coughing up what seemed like blood and then violently shaking his head. Slowly, the man looked up to face his opponent, and though his shaggy hair still held strands that covered some of his face, Riku knew who this was, and as he realized, his eyes widened. The same recognition was in the man?s eyes as well, seeming almost sympathetic as he looked at the boy.
Riku?s voice was but a whisper at first, barely able to mouth the words, ?Shinru...? he said slowly and quietly, and then, as if remembering everything that he had learned about this man, the truth about this man, how this was the very same man who had put him in this situation long, long ago, he growled, ?Shinru...?
~
Reaver let out a loud, crazy laugh, ?This is great!? he said, ?I thought we?d just see some killing and be done with it, but this!? he shook his head and continued his maniacal laugh.
Tenzu smiled, ?I?m glad you?re happy, but please do be quiet. I don?t want to miss a moment of this.?
Their leader, sitting beside them and then leaning in forward to observe more closely, grinned as well, ?This will be quite the battle.?
Reaver, ever the fan of brutality, pitched in, ?You sure that this wasn?t actually just for our entertainment??
Tenzu shook his head, and, unable to disagree with the observation, said, ?Perhaps we?re all a bit bloodthirsty. Perhaps there?s a bit of a Reaver in all of us.?
~
Riku stared at him for a long while, as he reached down for Soul Eater, taking it out and going into a battle position. The two creatures, before leaving, dropped Shinru?s spear on the ground next to him, the first time he had even seen his weapon in nearly a year.
Shinru looked up to Riku after picking up the weapon, looking at him sternly for a moment, and then, to Riku?s surprise, a slight smile crept on his face, ?We?ll have to make this look real if we?re going to make a run with it,? he said, rightfully assuming that it was what Riku was planning.
Well, it?s what he was planning at first anyway.
Riku grimaced, ?Ya know... I thought about running at first, but suddenly...? he moved into an offensive position with Soul Eater, the blade at a lower angle than it usually was, the hilt closer to Riku?s shoulder, and ready to go for any stabs at Shinru, ?I feel like fighting.?
Shinru looked at him curiously for a moment, and then his eyes widened for a moment as he came to realization, and then he muttered, ?You know... don?t you??
Riku?s unwavering stare answered the question well enough, but he still responded, ?You mean how you?ve cause all of this? Or how you tried to use your own son for some sick experiment?? Riku?s voice was beginning to rise, ?Or how you eventually abandoned me to some village millions of miles away from you!? Which one!? Eh!??
?All of them, apparently,? Shinru murmured, ?But we have to escape one way or another. Reaver has the controls to the collar around your neck. We?ll have to make it look real, and then when he comes down, attack. Just follow my le??
In a moment, Riku was upon him, bringing his knee up for a breathtaking hit in his stomach, and then bringing his other leg around while putting the first one back to the ground for a kick to his side, sending him flying to the side of the coliseum while the crowd around them roared.
?That real enough for ya?? Riku asked.
Shinru coughed when he hit the side of the wall, and then slowly stood up, gripping his spear into a stabbing position, ?I suppose I deserved that, but you?re thinking out of rage right now, not sense. Just listen to me! We have to escape??
?I don?t think that I want to,? Riku said, and the amount of bloodlust in his voice sent a chill down Shinru?s spine.
Riku had suddenly appeared at his side just like last time, and went into a series of quick horizontal slices while advancing towards Shinru. The attacks weren?t very quick, Shinru was able to quickly parry them by flailing his spear left and right, but he was still backing up. He took steps back out of hesitance rather than being overwhelmed by Riku?s attacks which he could, in truth, easily and efficiently parry. Could he really fight his apprentice? No, now that they both knew the truth, it wouldn?t be right for him to refer to Riku as that, he corrected himself. Could he fight his son? And if he could, would it be right for him to do so? In all senses, from all points of view, no matter where one looked at it from or from whose eyes, the fact remained that Shinru was wrong. Be it for what he actually did and how it affected an innocent boy?among many others?or for keeping it a secret for so long.
Shinru still found himself backing away, and he forced himself to banish all hesitant thoughts as he realized that Riku was not going to relent any time soon. Shinru stepped back only once more, and then planted his foot solidly on the ground. Riku went in for a stab, while the older man, a master far beyond Riku?s caliber, took one hand off of his spear and reached in, grabbing Riku by the wrist. In the same motion, he brought his spear, being held only by one hand somewhere in the middle of it, around in a stab to the boy?s exposed side.
Riku had predicted the move as soon as his arm was grabbed, however, taking away the surprise that the move may have held before, giving him enough time to make Soul Eater disappear from his restrained hand and reappear in his free one to make for a quick block, using the flat of the blade to halt the concentrated tip of the spear. In a daring move, considering how heavy Soul Eater was as compared to the spear?s cylindrical shape, as soon as Shinru released his grip at the impact of the two weapons, Riku brought his blade down, the flat of it rolling on the tip of the spear as he jumped up in a flip to the side. In a moment, he was upside down, the tip of Soul Eater at the tip of Shinru?s spear, Riku suddenly remembered the name to be Odyssey, and while stabbing it down before he completed his flip, he put his other arm up to a position right in front of Shinru?s face while shards of ice shot out of his sleeve. Riku continued flipping over until he landed on the side of the wall. Shinru, when the shards rushed towards him, ducked down low while going into a quick series of hand seals.
When he was finished, still in his crouched position, Shinru let out a flow of light blue mist from his mouth. The mist moved and converged around Riku just as he landed on the side of the wall where the rows of seats were only two, perhaps three feet above him. When the ice converged on him, it suddenly came in with more vigor and froze him solid.
Shinru jumped back several times to put himself near the center of the arena, the limited space near the wall more than slightly affecting how many maneuvers he could do with the large spear, while Riku stood for a moment.
A moment later, Shinru watched the ice burst into pieces.
Riku disappeared from his original appearance, and Shinru looked up quickly as he saw his opponent fall from the sky above him, Soul Eater held in an overhead position with both hands, and the rather amateurish attack only proved to Shinru that Riku was slowly but surely losing himself.
Shinru slyly twisted himself in a step to the side as Riku?s blade buried itself into the ground after missing. Giving Riku no time to recover, Shinru spun with a powerful kick to Riku?s back. Like a stone, Riku skipped across the ground, but the attack wasn?t over there. Before he could slam into the wall, Shinru had appeared in front of his opponent, bringing out one arm to catch him by the back of his collar, and then throwing him up slightly, giving Shinru enough time to whip Odyssey around and then jab the back of the blade forward for a devastating blow that knocked the wind out of Riku.
Riku jerked back and then fell forward, kneeling on the ground and panting heavily. Silently, he scolded himself for even thinking that he could beat Shinru, that he would beat a man who received the same training that he did, and likely more, and with years both prior and after that training beyond Riku?s to perfect and alter what he had learned. For some reason, though, he still wanted to fight.
No... it wasn?t ?some reason.? Riku knew exactly the reason why he wanted to continue, why he didn?t want to stop; he had blurted it out for what felt like only a few seconds earlier.
?Quite done yet?? Shinru asked, easing his posture.
Riku rolled forward and then turned around while standing back up to face Shinru, moving into the same position as in the beginning of the fight to answer the question.
?I suppose I?m to blame for the irritating persistence,? Shinru remarked grimly.
?You?re to blame for a lot of stuff, but none of them good,? Riku countered just as bleakly.
Shinru stabbed forward quickly as a blue beam shot out from Odyssey and Riku slashed across as a crescent blast released itself from Soul Eater. The two attacks collided, both of the users still having control over the attacks and trying to overpower each other, feeling the struggle of the two attacks against each other within their arms as they tried to push their blades outwards, or forward in Shinru?s case.
The two attacks collided for a long while, a blue light releasing from both of them as they did. Shinru?s was beginning to overpower Riku?s, the place where both of the moves met slowly moved back closer to Riku. Suddenly, looking over Riku?s shoulder, he could see Tenzu, suddenly appearing behind Riku. He had made a fatal mistake?he looked into the Uchiha?s eyes. He was able to resist the genjutsu for long enough, though. He continued pushing forward as did Riku, and as if finally giving in, Shinru faltered, but instead of Riku?s overpowering his, a large explosion was created in between them. The explosion seemed more like blue smoke than anything?both of the attacks being ice-related?but it was deadly nonetheless. The explosion made Shinru slam into the wall which was already close enough behind him, while Riku was sent halfway and more across the arena, until he finally did the same, rendering him unconscious, though Shinru was but slightly dazed for moments, and then fell over from Tenzu?s genjutsu, though oddly it had only made him feel weaker, it didn?t make him actually see any illusions like a normal genjutsu would, even when the two jutsu were colliding, he had only felt weaker, but was still seeing what everyone else was.
The crowd roared, that crowd prominently including Reaver, while Tenzu walked down the stairs, as if to pretend that he had never interfered, unable to wait any longer for what he knew would happen next.
