Between fighting bandits and water elementals, Sousuke had it rough. The Steward was still not on top of his game as his legs were still recovering. Still though his armours were still in top order. The Steward resided within his Mark I which was now black and white. The armour seemed to have received quite a strength boost due to the black chakra crystal which had been modified and placed into the proper core unit.
The Steward beneath all his metal still felt frail and weak. He was fighting two enemies, or he would be once he revealed himself. The problem was that his foes may work together as there was an old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The good news about that saying was that the person who said it was then slain by his so called allies. The Steward doubted that water elementals could understand the bandits and vice versa. Still though. Who knew could happen.
What troubled the Steward aside from an alliance between the two was that the bandits had someone how made their way into Suna without using the Maw of Barynx. The way would need to be made shut. That he could do easily enough.
***
The lake was not very pristine, and nor was it pleasant. It was a warzone. There were several underwater craters and bodies on the surface. Sousuke was fighting for his life, or rather the life of his people. Luckily the crystals had yet to be tampered with. Sousuke had given some of the bandits deadly wounds, but he had casted them out. They were either crippled like he was without his armour or nearly dead. It didn't matter to him right now as he had to repel this force of bandits and water elementals. Sousuke was foruntate enough to tap into their headset airlines and so he was hearing their intel and movements. Apparently to the bandits he was known as the Darkness. Sure. His armour was pitch black, and he had the ebon blade on hand, but his attacks weren't shadow based. Sousuke. We have to be careful. The water elementals haven't been stirring as of late--<i></i> The Shade of Mikaboshi warned him. Sousuke shifted behind a large rock. Yes. It was true... the water...
As if on cue the water elementals gathered up into a titanic form. This form began consuming various bandits and began to drown them within its colossal body. Thankfully the Mark I had a breather so he was fine. Though the elemental would turn red no doubt from the blood. It may convert to a blood elemental if we're not careful.<i></i> If that happened, then Suna's water supply would be ruined. The Steward rolled across and revealed himself. He stood at full height and placed his index and middle finger together and placed them on his temple. Sousuke began to form a psionic storm which he unleashed upon the giant water elemental. Electricity crackled in the air, surrounding the giant before a great bolt would appear which would fly down and deliver a frightful blow. The water elemental broke up and several blood globules would be seen flying in the area. Sousuke swapped quickly to his plasma techniques and before firing them at the blood globules trying to dissolve them. Once he had destroyed them, a bandit caught him unaware.
Sousuke fell forward and found himself being bludgeoned. The Steward rolled before being attacked even more. Each time as he rolled, he barely missed being shot by an arrow of an elemental type. Sousuke made a mistake when he paused for a moment. He was then hit by an arrow which then froze him in a block of ice. "Kami. This Shadow is frightful. It looks human, but is it?" One of the bandits would speak up. Two of them would approach the block of ice to look in on it. Both of them had to squint their eyes at Sousuke trying to judge what exactly he was. "We got him. Good." At the end of the setence Sousuke errupted from the block of ice and then conjured a plasma axe to go with the ebon blade. He took to the two foes with sword and axe. Hacking and slashing. The Steward disposed of these two foes and continued on.
The battle raged on as bandit and water elemental continued on. There were some remnants of the blood elements. Sousuke went out of his way to deal with them. Water met plasma as Sousuke hacked and dismembered the water elementals with his plasma axe. Dismemberment brought instant vaporization. Sousuke continued his assault crippling water elementals. Water elementals were resources and resourceful. Suna could not lose its water supply, and so most elementals were spared. Most of them slunk into dark crevices at the sight of the Steward's dark armoured form.
***
It had been twelve hours of fighting. The Elementals had been contained, dispersed, or simply afraid and refusing to battle. As for the bandits? They were still a problem. Their numbers were thinning, but now Sousuke was fighting what he expected to be their ranking officers? Who knew that bandits could be organized. Sousuke ultimately found himself at what he believed to be the tunnel. Sousuke formed hand seals and conjured up two plasma stars. The little wisps of chakra twirlled around Sousuke as he then dispatched them up into the tunnel. Upon finding to focal and key throat points, the Steward detonated them. There was a momentary rumbling as the rocks came down closing up the tunnel.
"Fool. Where and how do we escape now?" Roared one of the bandits as they charged down the Steward. Sousuke swung the ebon blade diagionally but missed. The bandit in turn kicked him. Sousuke was sent back. He caught himself eventually. "So. You are human. The tales I've heard of a shadow hunting us down and conquering us. It's ... what? A joke? It comes down to this a black armoured man with some toys?" The bandit armed himself with a tomahawk and hurled it Sousuke. It caught him in the shoulder. To Sousuke's surprise it actually cut through his armour. "You have your toys, I can have mine. That was forged by a mastersmith in Steel country. Now here's the deal." Another tomahawk whirled and caught Sousuke. "I cut your head off. Let's see if you keep moving." Sousuke was pinned. "Come on let's see..." Sousuke dropped both the ebon blade and the plasma axe. "Haha. I see you know when you've been beat." Sousuke then kicked both weapons away from him. The plasma axe and the ebon blade were set flying past him. Sousuke's eyes narrowed as he focused on observing his foe, and his many visible weak points.
"I, Takahashi Sousuke, third of my name, guardian protectorate of the realm sentence you to death. Do you have any final words?"<i></i> He simply said as he looked up at who he thought the leader of the bandits were.
"You? The Steward. That's a good jo-" The Ebon blade appeared suddenly protruding out of the chest of the bandit leader. The plasma axe too returned and put the point on the exclamation point with a beheading.
Sousuke relaxed for a moment, and then summoned his weapons from the corpse of his foe to destroy the tomahawks that held him in place. As the task was done, a water elemental approached the Steward but first looking down at the bandit. The water elemental swirled and bubbled. Soon enough Sousuke was surrounded by the whole lot of them, and each of them simply bowed. Each of them bending the knee, or what you would consider the knee for a water elemental.
***
Sousuke laid in his bed. His wheel chair to the side. He was sleeping well enough until the phone rang. Awaking from the slumber Sousuke lazily reached for the phone. "Sousuke here."<i></i> It was his mother on the line. Apparently she was negotiating or having a chat with the water elementals. It seemed that ... they had come to terms. The water elementals understood why he had to destroy the blood ones, but apparently what he thought he destroyed simply returned purified. In addition he had acted appropriately. The water elementals understood how and why he acted. They also pledged support for him in the future, and in the event that the lake is attacked again ... simply to call for him instead of trying to deal with the problem themselves. Last but not least, the Water elementals had given a title to Sousuke: Blacksteel the Conqueror, Hero of the Lake.
Okibi would certainly like that name. It was long enough.
The Steward beneath all his metal still felt frail and weak. He was fighting two enemies, or he would be once he revealed himself. The problem was that his foes may work together as there was an old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The good news about that saying was that the person who said it was then slain by his so called allies. The Steward doubted that water elementals could understand the bandits and vice versa. Still though. Who knew could happen.
What troubled the Steward aside from an alliance between the two was that the bandits had someone how made their way into Suna without using the Maw of Barynx. The way would need to be made shut. That he could do easily enough.
***
The lake was not very pristine, and nor was it pleasant. It was a warzone. There were several underwater craters and bodies on the surface. Sousuke was fighting for his life, or rather the life of his people. Luckily the crystals had yet to be tampered with. Sousuke had given some of the bandits deadly wounds, but he had casted them out. They were either crippled like he was without his armour or nearly dead. It didn't matter to him right now as he had to repel this force of bandits and water elementals. Sousuke was foruntate enough to tap into their headset airlines and so he was hearing their intel and movements. Apparently to the bandits he was known as the Darkness. Sure. His armour was pitch black, and he had the ebon blade on hand, but his attacks weren't shadow based. Sousuke. We have to be careful. The water elementals haven't been stirring as of late--<i></i> The Shade of Mikaboshi warned him. Sousuke shifted behind a large rock. Yes. It was true... the water...
As if on cue the water elementals gathered up into a titanic form. This form began consuming various bandits and began to drown them within its colossal body. Thankfully the Mark I had a breather so he was fine. Though the elemental would turn red no doubt from the blood. It may convert to a blood elemental if we're not careful.<i></i> If that happened, then Suna's water supply would be ruined. The Steward rolled across and revealed himself. He stood at full height and placed his index and middle finger together and placed them on his temple. Sousuke began to form a psionic storm which he unleashed upon the giant water elemental. Electricity crackled in the air, surrounding the giant before a great bolt would appear which would fly down and deliver a frightful blow. The water elemental broke up and several blood globules would be seen flying in the area. Sousuke swapped quickly to his plasma techniques and before firing them at the blood globules trying to dissolve them. Once he had destroyed them, a bandit caught him unaware.
Sousuke fell forward and found himself being bludgeoned. The Steward rolled before being attacked even more. Each time as he rolled, he barely missed being shot by an arrow of an elemental type. Sousuke made a mistake when he paused for a moment. He was then hit by an arrow which then froze him in a block of ice. "Kami. This Shadow is frightful. It looks human, but is it?" One of the bandits would speak up. Two of them would approach the block of ice to look in on it. Both of them had to squint their eyes at Sousuke trying to judge what exactly he was. "We got him. Good." At the end of the setence Sousuke errupted from the block of ice and then conjured a plasma axe to go with the ebon blade. He took to the two foes with sword and axe. Hacking and slashing. The Steward disposed of these two foes and continued on.
The battle raged on as bandit and water elemental continued on. There were some remnants of the blood elements. Sousuke went out of his way to deal with them. Water met plasma as Sousuke hacked and dismembered the water elementals with his plasma axe. Dismemberment brought instant vaporization. Sousuke continued his assault crippling water elementals. Water elementals were resources and resourceful. Suna could not lose its water supply, and so most elementals were spared. Most of them slunk into dark crevices at the sight of the Steward's dark armoured form.
***
It had been twelve hours of fighting. The Elementals had been contained, dispersed, or simply afraid and refusing to battle. As for the bandits? They were still a problem. Their numbers were thinning, but now Sousuke was fighting what he expected to be their ranking officers? Who knew that bandits could be organized. Sousuke ultimately found himself at what he believed to be the tunnel. Sousuke formed hand seals and conjured up two plasma stars. The little wisps of chakra twirlled around Sousuke as he then dispatched them up into the tunnel. Upon finding to focal and key throat points, the Steward detonated them. There was a momentary rumbling as the rocks came down closing up the tunnel.
"Fool. Where and how do we escape now?" Roared one of the bandits as they charged down the Steward. Sousuke swung the ebon blade diagionally but missed. The bandit in turn kicked him. Sousuke was sent back. He caught himself eventually. "So. You are human. The tales I've heard of a shadow hunting us down and conquering us. It's ... what? A joke? It comes down to this a black armoured man with some toys?" The bandit armed himself with a tomahawk and hurled it Sousuke. It caught him in the shoulder. To Sousuke's surprise it actually cut through his armour. "You have your toys, I can have mine. That was forged by a mastersmith in Steel country. Now here's the deal." Another tomahawk whirled and caught Sousuke. "I cut your head off. Let's see if you keep moving." Sousuke was pinned. "Come on let's see..." Sousuke dropped both the ebon blade and the plasma axe. "Haha. I see you know when you've been beat." Sousuke then kicked both weapons away from him. The plasma axe and the ebon blade were set flying past him. Sousuke's eyes narrowed as he focused on observing his foe, and his many visible weak points.
"I, Takahashi Sousuke, third of my name, guardian protectorate of the realm sentence you to death. Do you have any final words?"<i></i> He simply said as he looked up at who he thought the leader of the bandits were.
"You? The Steward. That's a good jo-" The Ebon blade appeared suddenly protruding out of the chest of the bandit leader. The plasma axe too returned and put the point on the exclamation point with a beheading.
Sousuke relaxed for a moment, and then summoned his weapons from the corpse of his foe to destroy the tomahawks that held him in place. As the task was done, a water elemental approached the Steward but first looking down at the bandit. The water elemental swirled and bubbled. Soon enough Sousuke was surrounded by the whole lot of them, and each of them simply bowed. Each of them bending the knee, or what you would consider the knee for a water elemental.
***
Sousuke laid in his bed. His wheel chair to the side. He was sleeping well enough until the phone rang. Awaking from the slumber Sousuke lazily reached for the phone. "Sousuke here."<i></i> It was his mother on the line. Apparently she was negotiating or having a chat with the water elementals. It seemed that ... they had come to terms. The water elementals understood why he had to destroy the blood ones, but apparently what he thought he destroyed simply returned purified. In addition he had acted appropriately. The water elementals understood how and why he acted. They also pledged support for him in the future, and in the event that the lake is attacked again ... simply to call for him instead of trying to deal with the problem themselves. Last but not least, the Water elementals had given a title to Sousuke: Blacksteel the Conqueror, Hero of the Lake.
Okibi would certainly like that name. It was long enough.