The Azure End

[Shin]

"I...I'm going to explode?" The color drained from Shins face and his eyes looked to the ground darting back and forth as if looking for an answer in the stone. He remained that way for a moment, his mind going over and over Sturms words again and again. Looking for some hint of a lie, that Sturm was simply bluffing him.

"There's got to be a way to stop it." Shin said in a low voice, barely above a whisper.

At least he knew Sturm wouldn't kill him, not while he was near him at least. Shin was a danger to anyone that was near him, a ticking time bomb Sturm had sent....that train of though lead Shin along to one question.

"How much time do I have?" Shin asked, standing as straight as he could trying to look Sturm in the eyes and regain some composure, though it would be a failed attempt.

[Nayt]

"How many seizures have you had by now?" Sturm asked.

It was the easiest way, he figured, to decide how long Shin and everyone else around him had left. Either way, Sturm's truthfulness presented a predicament of understanding. He must have only recently discovered this, as Sturm was the type of man to get rid of a threat like Shin quickly, if the opportunity presented itself. Either he just recently discovered the truth of the matter, or opportunity hadn't presented itself in decent enough wrapping to get Sturm's attention. Regardless, Shin was still here.

Here, because of Silver.

"Four? Five?" He had a rough count in his head, but as he wasn't the one who experienced these seizures, he might have been off by one or two.

Shin, of course, would know better than he.

[Shin]

Shin thought about it hard, trying to remember when and where he had the seizures. He tucked his hands into his waist line, his eyes once again looking to the stone floor as he counted in his head. The only one he knew about was the one in Isacs house, where he had vomited on himself, which had been directly before his coma. Who knew how many he had then?

"I don't know. Kremnaes would know the answer to that..but... probably around that many." Shin said with a defeated shrug. He still couldn't believe he was going to explode, it was unheard of! Shins mind continue to work, continued to try and find a way to beat it.

"You said that I've become a spiritual vacuum." Shin spoke slow as he thought out his next words. "Is there a way I could harness that spiritual energy at all? Use it to some other means. I mean, rather then explode is there a way to slowly drain that pressure?"

Shin didn't know what he was saying, but he picture himself like a balloon that would explode if he got to full. But if he could somehow give himself a slow leak or find a way to neutralize it... Shins thoughts hung in the air as he didn't really know what he was talking about.

[Nayt]

"Perhaps," replied Sturm.

And yet all Sturm did was shrug his shoulders, shrugging off the suggestion as if it mattered little to him at all. He may have been a scientist, but . . .

"But I've no intentions of pursuing it."

. . . there were certain things he just wouldn't research, and saving Shin Shiden's life was one of them. This was a man he wanted dead, anyways.

Without wasting another second, Sturm reached into the confines of his coat, taking a fraction of a second to withdraw from it a firearm of sorts. It was a revolver, coated with a metallic silver that glinted in the flashes of light in the sky. Shin may have been unarmed, but Sturm did not personally come unarmed. In fact, he never went somewhere unarmed. At this stage of his research and development, he couldn't afford to take any chances. It was that reason alone that Shin lacked a suitable blade to wield against him.

"My only concern was to find a suitable place for you to die," Sturm remarked as he flicked the safety off of his revolver, "And here it is."

[Shin]

Shin may have been depressed , perhaps ready to die but not at the hands of Sturm. The man had directly told Shin he had wished to kill him so when the revolver came out of his coat pocket he wasn't the slightest but surprised. He raised a brow, at such close proximity Shin was fully capable of disarming Sturm with nothing more then his steel sheath. Even in the even that he did get shot, unless it was an instantly fatal one, Shin would continue to fight.

A diversion. Shin told himself, remembering that Brenden still hung around. No doubt the boy would come to Sturms aid, the Purple Enigma probably planned it that way. Yet...

"If you kill me, I'll explode." Shin said, but not backing down away from the man, he didn't even go as far as to grab the one thing on him that could be used as a weapon, his sheath. He crossed both arms over his chest and merely waited for Sturm to pull the trigger or for Brenden to try something from behind.

[Nayt]

"That is what I'm counting on, yes," Sturm replied.

And that was about the time that Brenden spoke up. He'd wasted no second, before clapping his hands once and taking a step forward from the wall on which he'd been leaning.

"Kind of funny," Brenden remarked idly, "Tyrian here originally planned to drag you off to Silver and execute you there. Y'know, kill two birds with one stone!"

Straightfaced, Sturm seemingly ignored Brenden. He kept his pistol, still held one handed and almost casually, trained on Shin--but not his head. Rather, he seemed more privy to aiming for his torso than anywhere else--and still, not for his heart. This could have been to Shin's advantage, but then again, Shin didn't quite know what sorts of technologies Sturm refined, and if this gun was amongst them.

"But he didn't!" Brenden concluded, "He was actually scared that the other Enigmas would get hurt in the process, so y'know what he decided? To just waste the explosion! I tried to tell him it was a waste, but he didn't listen to me. Why don't you try, Shin? You're a bright guy. Bright guys know where it's best to die."

And while it was easy to assume Brenden was being serious for all of it, it was just as easy to assume that it was only half-serious. Informative, yet joking.

[Shin]

Sturm was counting on it? Shins mind raced with the posibilities of why. Surely Sturm wasn't going to shoot Shin right here, if what Sturm told him was correct then he could very well kill both Brenden and Sturm. Shin stayed outwardly calm and relaxed, he listened to Brenden as he spoke but his attention was on the man with the gun.

"I see." Shin raised an eyebrow and look from the pistol to Sturm, forcing a half cocked arogant grin on his face.

"Well if you are going to shoot me, then do it."

Shin was ready to spring into action, he obviously had no intention of getting shot and his cross armed stance was once the former Azure Enigma had deployed numerous times, and so while it looked like Shin was relaxed he was more like a cobra ready to strike.

"Otherwise, if not, I'd very much like to be on my way out of this shit hole." Shin added as he waited, Shin wan'ted nothing more to do with the organization, Sturm, or anything else he had seen in the past couple days.

[Nayt]

Though Shin seemed to goad Sturm on to shoot him, Sturm hesitated. Though, considering the source, hesitation and patient waiting could have easily been interchangeable concepts. Sturm could very well have been waiting for the right moment to shoot, rather than hesitating out of unwillingness to shoot Shin. No, there was no unwillingness. Sturm said his piece about that. He loathed Shin on principle. Shin Shiden, the soldier of Silver that mindlessly slaughtered many of Sturm's closest friends. Killing this man would have been a pleasure.

"Well? Gonna oblige the man?" Brenden called out.

But, unfortunately, the pleasure would have to wait. Killing Shin Shiden in close proximity would inadvertently kill Brenden and Sturm as well--and while Brenden might have been an acceptable loss (a lot of the time, he was more trouble than he was worth), Sturm himself had plans he needed to survive for.

And Shin undoubtedly had orders to kill Sturm. He might not have realized it yet, but somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, there was a hazy place--a hazy place that wanted Sturm dead; a hazy place that didn't belong, that was placed there by someone of higher power.

Sturm lower the gun, appearing as if he was ready to release a sigh in defeat--and yet, just as his arm lowered enough, still at a quick, calm, normal pace, he suddenly squeezed the trigger with his finger.

Shin's pain would not be a fatal one. It would instead be a debilitating one: a well thought out plan on Sturm's end, to collapse Shin's kneecap with a well placed bullet, fired upon showing signs of defeat and dropping the gun to his side, fired in the midst of a deception of normalcy.

[Shin]

Shin had a particular enmity towards guns, in his mind the weapon took little skill to wield and even a child could kill effortlessly with it. Part of that hatred stemmed from when he had been shot through a lung, a wound that took him out of what was a very important fight. It’s deadliness plus it’s simplicity made it a preferred weapon for those who didn’t want to actually train in close combat, it made people like Shin appear futile.

His warrior self, the side that calculated and dissected fighting styles, had already taken the distance between himself and the gun Sturm held into consideration. The problem was that Shin had no real idea of how quickly a bullet could travel, faster then him obviously, but that wasn’t nearly enough information. Shin had also come to realize that Sturm was a practical man, he wasn’t going to kill Shin when there was a risk that he could also die, unless of course it was an acceptable one, which Shin didn’t see this as one.

Two likely scenarios were either Brenden was much more capable then he appeared, and would dispose of Shin. Or, Sturm had a continency plan to take care of Shin that wasn’t as obvious as his first thought. Even as Brenden spoke Shin blocked him out, he was still focused on the gun, ready to act incase Sturm squeezed the trigger.

Even though Shin lacked the ability to use Chi, and in turn the ability to use Shunpo, he was still an incredibly fast person. His legs were by far the most conditioned and contained the strongest muscles in his rather petite frame and when he registered the slightest movement of Sturms finger, despite the fact Sturm was lowering his arm, they acted instantly.

Shin moved like a cobra, exploding with a suddenness that he hadn’t displayed since his battle with the Yellow Enigma. He pivoted his left leg on the heel of foot, simply rotating it so his foot was pointed out to the side instead of towards Sturm. The quick and simple movement did two things, first it moved his knee a out of the trajectory of the bullet so it would instead pass behind his knee cap and more then likely ricochet off the ground. Second it would give Shin more of a base to push off of with towards Sturm, if he chose to.

He of course chose to, he wanted to prove something not only to Sturm, but to himself as well. While he pivoted his foot he reached across and grabbed the metal sheath that normally held the Shiden Blade. Using it like one would use a Kendo stick he pulled it from his belt and gripped it lightly in his right hand as his body was propelled towards Sturm at a blinding speed.

He wouldn’t strike out with it, instead his sword arm stayed held in check to see what would be done with the arm holding the gun. The time it took Shin to close the distance between him and Sturm might of as well been Shunpo, it would take less time then it would of for Sturm to pull the trigger again then it would for Shin to get on the side of the Purple Enigma that wasn’t holding the gun and be an arm and halves reach away from one another.

Shin wanted at that moment then to do nothing more then smash his metal kendo stick against Sturms windpipe, it would have been an ample opportunity to try and do so. He held his feelings in check, and his weapon, and merely stood there staying down Sturm and staying alert of Brendens position.

“I’m done with you, Tyrian Sturm.” Shin said with more finality in his voice then he had ever said anything with before. “Maybe you forgot, but the Brown Enigma sacrificed himself! I didn’t murder him, each and every Enigma I fought was a warrior, and they put themselves in harms way knowing what could happen. Hate me for it if you will, but I didn’t do a damn thing that they wouldn’t have done to me. My only target the whole time was you, you dragged me into this that day in the forest...you wanted me to follow you. If they were placed in the way of my path to you it wasn’t my fault Sturm, it was yours.” Shins voice wasn’t accusing, he was stating the way it had been. Shin hadn’t been the aggressor, he had responded the only way he knew how to every time an Enigma came before him, with his sword, and every time he had come out on top.

[Nayt]

When Shin reacted, Sturm shut his eyes. He didn't do this often, shutting his eyes longer than a blink. By this point, his eyelids and the bags under his eyes were so dark they looked as though makeup was applied to them--but it was not the case. Sturm simply hadn't slept for months on end.

As such, shutting his eyes felt . . . calming. Far more calming than anything else in the world, now. To shut his eyes for any real length of time, though, was to risk falling asleep--a risk he wasn't often willing to take. Still, he took that risk upon Shin's leap forward, however brief the risk may have been. Shin reached Sturm's side with no resistance; the man didn't even flinch upon Shin's landing.

"You're mistaken," he replied calmly.

Without looking, Sturm opened his coat and slid his revolver back into it, where he had it holstered before deciding it was necessary. It served its use, and now it was nothing more than an idle tool, best to put away. Sturm left his arms to fall to his sides again following this, practically limp. Most of his body wanted to fall limp, now that he had his eyes closed for a good few seconds--but he held strong, scratched his fingernails into his palm with a tightly closed fist, 'til he drew blood and told his body not to give in.

As Sturm opened his eyes again, he concluded with the utmost complacency: "We met only twice. Against Theleaus . . . and within that lost and decayed city,"

[Shin]

Shin thought over what Sturm had just said, if it wasn’t Sturm that day in the forest then it had to have been Silver. To Shin it just proved to him how easily he had been manipulated this whole time. Every step he thought he made and everything he thought he knew always seemed to be nothing more then what someone else wanted him to do. He let out deep breath, agitated.

Shin thought about apologizing, briefly. The thought quickly left him, what he could possibly say that would make any difference. Sorry I killed the people that believe and followed you? He decided that it didn’t really matter, the fact was that they had gotten in his way. He held no remorse for what he did.

“I am wasting my time here.” Shin said. “If it wasn’t you then it was Silver. And if it was Silver then it is his head I want. If I explode let it be with him in the vicinity of the explosion.”

“I can admit I have been used. It is painfully obvious that Silver used me to kill your men and now he has tried to use me to kill you. If you aren’t going to kill me then help me get out of here and point me in the right direction. At the worst I travel, get lost, and explode somewhere out there in the wild. The best, I kill him find a cure for myself and go about my life.”

The plan obviously had it’s flaws, perhaps more then others. But Sturm didn’t want Shin alive, let alone even around and Shin wanted to be out of the dreary place.

“Who knows, maybe Brenden will get what he wants and put my explosion to use.” That fact still scared Shin, you simply didn’t get used to the idea exploding over night. But if he could kill Silver or mortally wound him in the process Shin told himself that it would be worth it.

[Nayt]

Find him.

Sturm shook his head at the man. "You'll find no reprieve, Shiden."

Kill him.

The words . . . they would not come in the form as text or voices, but Shin would experience them. He had all along, in fact. Someone or something brought him him here. Find him. Someone or something told him to find Sturm. It was an urge--an unconscious, purely justifiable urge, even if Shin himself didn't know what he was to do when he found the man, and indeed he did not. When he found Sturm, he was at a loss; he didn't know if he should attempt to help him or drill him for answers.

Justification mattered little, only the drives--the unconscious, human drives. They were entirely normal, entirely justifiable in one's heart, even if not in one's mind. So many times, the azure enigma questioned why he was here--but he was still here.

"Once you are a pawn of Silver . . ."

Sturm began to walk forward, past Shin. It was at a slow, methodical pace; he was taking his time, perhaps, but how would Shin see it? Would it be a question--why was Sturm doing this? Or would it instead be an opportunity, an opening inviting Shin to attack?

Even if you, yourself, must die.

". . . you are always a pawn of Silver."

[Shin]

"I.."

Shins grip unconsciously tightened on the sheath in his right hand as Sturm made his way near him. His eyes were closed as if he was stifling back an uncontrollable rage. The feelings that came over Shin momentarily clouded his judgement. He was tired of this, of people, more specifically Sturm, not explaining themselves. Shin knew he wasn’t the smartest guy out there, but the cockiness and know-it-all attitude that Sturm always portrayed was really starting to piss Shin off.

Shin was then on the other side of Sturm, without the use of Shunpo or any form of teleportation. At a full sprint Shin could easily top speeds of a hundred miles an hour, his insane speeds combined with Shinsoku for small bursts could make it appear as if Shin were moving near instantaneously.

The very small amount of time it would take Shin to dash around the backside of Sturm his right hand would reach across in powerful, precise and ultimately if connected fatal strike to the back of Sturms skull. While Shin wasn’t holding a katana, the metal sheath he carried like a bokken was capable of grounding bone to dust and in the hands of a skilled swordsmen like Shin it was no less lethal.

His movements would carry him, spun around by his own strike, a few feet to the other side of Sturm, hoping lightly back and forth from one foot to the other. Ready to spring and strike again if such a tactic was needed.

"...am not a pawn."

[Nayt]

Shin was fast--ungodly so. He didn't even need to use his chi to boost his speed. He could run faster than a cheetah at full sprint, and as Sturm and Shin didn't have too much distance between them, that made Shin an extremely dangerous person to Sturm, given the right attack.

Or at least it should have.

Except Shin Shiden's sheath didn't hit the back of Sturm's neck. It hit, instead, the back of Sturm's wrist.

Sturm had, in one fell swoop, brought his hand back, as quickly as Shin came, if not quicker, and as if anticipating the attack, passively covered the region of his upper spinal chord. Shin's hilt hit him hard, but Sturm didn't even seem to flinch. What looked like his hand flinched was, in actuality, a twitch. It wasn't a second after the block that Sturm's hand twitched in an almost inhuman way, snapping to the left as if settled upon a perfect, unconfined ball joint. His fingers rattled and snapped in a tremble, not of excitement, joy, or fear, but of a delayed reaction, moments following Shin's retraction of his blunt weapon and a return to distance.

This wave of motion overtook his forearm, as each sinew shuddered under a terrible pressure that tore through, edging from his wrist to his elbow--a progressive and constant twitch of individual joints and muscle, seemingly at each individual point the muscle could tense and relax, with no regard for all others.

"I'm sure you're not," remarked Sturm sardonically with a turn of his body and a swipe of his hand. The twitching limb was held out before him, with his body leaned forward subtly at his shoulders.

He was ready for a fight.

In fact, he'd been expecting it the whole time.

[Shin]

Eagerness crept its way across Shins face, the ends of his mouth curved up into a smile and his eyes showed a hunger, a thirst for battle. They greedily ate the man in front of him, taking into detail what he could see of the shockwave that seemed to ripple through Sturms muscles. He was absorbing the impact Shin reasoned. A useful technique, though against a sword or someone who was significantly stronger it would prove less effective Shin was sure. Still, in this particular engagement Shin cursed his luck, he would need to be more precise.

No more words were spoken by Shin, he simply continued lightly hopping back and forth on the tips of his toes from foot to foot. What other tricks did Sturm have? Shin was sure the man likely had a few tricks up his sleeve. He also reminded himself to keep part of his attention on Brenden, the boy would likely interfere soon Shin told himself.
Shin swapped weapon hands, lightly holding the weapon in his finger tips. He once again came forward, kicking forward as he brought his left hand up and back so that if it had been a Katana the blade would be pointed up with the tip curving down. His right arm was also extended before him, palm facing towards Sturm with fingers extended as if he were preparing to launch a blast of magic through it, which of course was impossible for Shin.

As Shin closed the distance, which would be no slower than his last rush, he would thrust forward with his left hand, using his right to guide the weapon to what would be Sturms throat. A small target, but to one as skilled as Shin it was a simple task really.