Chapter 13: The Real fight to the Death

All four had their swords ready. They stood there, still as a statue, waiting for the guards to move. One of them lowered their stance. Chris took aim and lunged forward. Everyone else noticed his movements and followed closely, each attacking their own guard. The sound of metal and showers of sparks filled the room. 

Chris has two guards attacking him. Despite having two blades, he still struggled to fend off his attackers. The guards attacked in intermittent waves, they never would attack at the same time. Chris found this strange, they could have easily defeated him if they attacked together, but as their fights continued, Chris got into a rhythm with his swords. He went from using both swords to either attack or defend himself to alternating which sword he would defend himself with and while his opponent's blade was occupied, strike with his free sword.

Heather struggled with her fighting. Between her lack of experience and the fact that she was using a lightweight blade, she was pushed around easily. But just like Chris, she adapted. She used the strikes to gain momentum. Then, in return, use that momentum to spin around and strike much harder.

Jackson didn't seem to struggle at all. He could move his body with ease and used his heavy longsword to take large swings. His strikes moved most of his opponent's sword away, which would allow Francis, who was fighting with him, to strike the opponent's chest. 

After two minutes of fighting, all four had blood covering their swords and their arms. They had killed at least fifteen men. They were trying to catch their breaths.

"Well well. I think I've seen enough here. You there, Chris, come forward," said the man in black.

Chris walked forward, still with his swords in hand. He still had that familiar feeling about this guy, but he still couldn't figure out who it was.

"My name is Jerome. You may still remember me as the kid you beat up in middle school that got you expelled. You took everything from me. My name, my reputation, my crew, everything. I've been waiting for the moment when I could return the favor. I will kill you!"

"So, you waited three years to kill me for hitting you with a stick. Honestly, you're just as, if not more pathetic than you were three years ago," said Chris with a grin on his face.

Francis and Heather walked to his side.

"I guess you've realized how weak you are that you have to have your own team eliminate me."

Chris turned to the others, "You two need to sit this one out. He's my problem to deal with."

"Are you sure? He looks pretty tough," said Heather, clinging to his arm.

"I'm fine."

Chris walked up to Jerome, who was still holding his two katanas.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I already told you. Revenge."

Chris continued walking forward. With a loud yell, Chris swung both swords downwards in the shape of an x. Jerome moved back to avoid the blow. Chris repeated the motion, this time swinging upwards, and once again Jerome jumped back. Now Jerome swung one of his swords at Chris's hip and the other down at his head. If Chris was using only one sword, he would not be able to block this move. He used his right hand to block the sword coming towards his head, and his left to defend his hip. The swords collided, creating a shower of sparks. The blades bounced off each other, knocking Chris backwards. With another scream, Chris began striking in a flurry of attacks. One after another, he continued attacking. Jerome finally found an opening and stabbed his sword into Chris's side, enough to draw blood. Chris now had blood running down his leg. Despite this, he did not lose his will to fight. 

Jerome took advantage of the wounded Chris and swung both katanas down at his head. Chris moved both of his swords to block. Their swords formed a number sign as both tried to get the upper hand. Chris began smiling. Francis noticed what had happened and gave a sigh of relief.

"Why are you so relieved? They are still fighting," asked Jackson.

"If you knew him as long as we have, you would understand, but for now just watch."

Chris overpowered Jerome. Chris stepped back and brought his right sword behind him, leaving the left one to block. He spun around and struck Jerome in the leg, cutting it completely off.

The leg fell to the ground, along with Jerome quickly being covered in blood. The second in command quickly shouted to the remaining soldiers, telling them to leave immediately. The once grey cement room was now bathed in blood.

"Why didn't you kill me?" asked Jerome.

"Because, you deserve to suffer."

As Chris was walking towards Heather, Jerome lifted his sleeve, which revealed a tiny crossbow attached to his wrist. He aimed the bow at Chris and fired. Chris turned around and swung both swords upwards, hitting the arrow in midair. The arrow went straight up in the air and fell directly into Chris's hand. He walked over to Jerome and removed the crossbow from his wrist and loaded the arrow into it and pointed it at Jerome's head. 

"Any redeeming words?" asked Chris.

"Have fun with my gift."

Hearing that, Chris fired the arrow, killing Jerome. Heather ran over to Chris, who was now laying on his side clutching his chest, and fell to her knees and hugged him.

"Hey, now's not the time for this. If you squeeze any harder, I'll end up suffocating," said Chris, coughing.

Heather didn't let go. She almost watched her best friend die in front of her. Chris was important to her, and she didn't want to lose that.

"I won't let go."