14 - Swamp Cowboy

“Out of all the people to try and assassinate...” Zawadski said, grabbing the man by the throat. “You picked the worst fucking target.”

“Stop trying to look cool, damn it!” Ichigo yelled. As Zawadski pushed him away, he quickly took a step back.

“These aren’t regular firearms.” Zawadski said. “Get behind cover!”

Ichigo quickly climbed behind the bar table and replaced the bartender as its only participant. At the same time, the gunslinger grabbed a second revolver. Zawadski dashed in, trying to demolish the distance between them and decapitate the target with his blade.

But just as Zawadski was closing in at a rapid pace, the gunslinger took aim. For him, everything was slowed down, he was the only one who had the authority to act, and he only had one action available at his disposal - shoot. He unloaded absolute hellfire onto Zawadski, but the soulful pushed right through it and kicked the bloke in the stomach.

“What ya got?” Ichigo asked, peeking behind the counter.

“Unnatural fucking accuracy and reflexes.” Zawadski said. A bullet pierced through his head, so he made sure it flew right past him and engaged again. “Don’t know about the defense though.”

“Right...” Ichigo said.

“We’re gonna have to work up a game plan and kill him in one go. No matter the reflexes, he can’t be faster than light.”

“His weapons might be his soul-bound weapon if the soul expression is related to accuracy.”

“There’s something off though.”

Zawadski continued his offensive, kicking and punching the soulful around, ruining the entire bar in the process. Thankfully the bartender had already run away, he wouldn’t get to see his precious workplace getting absolutely thrashed by the combatants. He summoned his blade and tried to land a slashing blow, only for the enemy to parry it with a machete. After missing a few swings, Zawadski found himself impaled on it.

He dodged, and the impaling strike missed completely. Zawadski punished it with a jab and left body kick, moving in closer and landing the slashing blow he was seeking for so long. The soulful dashed back and grabbed his revolver again.

“What, this again?” Zawadski smirked. “Fuck it, let’s fight at range!”

Zawadski quickly sent a barrage of flying slashes at him, while the enemy, once again in his strange mode of utter concentration and impeccable accuracy, unloaded his firearm. Zawadski saved beforehand, so he loaded, and moved a little to the side.

“These bullets aren’t anything threatening, but they still hurt as hell...”

“The real danger is that machete. It’s imbued with soul prowess, and it can actually hurt me. The same with all the other blades he has, probably...”

Zawadski moved to the other side this time, still getting shot. For his next attempt, he quickly dashed back and jumped over the bar table, hiding next to Ichigo.

“Come on man, I’m not doing a free show. Move your ass.” Zawadski said.

“You’re the scout.” Ichigo replied. “What are we dealing with?”

“Gunplay is unnatural, but not too dangerous.” Zawadski said. “The blade skills are the problem. Nothing we can’t handle though.”

Ichigo equipped his invisibility and left the cover. Zawadski, at the same time, got closer to him again, and despite being cut down quite a few times, every time he’d just load right back in and challenge the hunter again.

“I knew it, I knew it’s a familiar face.” Ichigo said, as he finally managed to get a good look at the soulful fighting him.

“What the fuck...this is...Alby Stirrock, the head of the Ocea stronghold?!”

“What the hell is a stronghold leader doing fighting us?!?!”

Ichigo clasped his palms and aimed for Alby’s head. Alby, who would usually decorate his encounters with quick-witted movie quotes or corny remarks, was dead silent the whole time. And Zawadski, after drinking his magical juice, felt on top of the world.

Ichigo finally peeked out of his cloak and fired a beam of light, but due to unpredictable movements from Alby and Zawadski’s own interference, he missed the target. He guided the beam around as it melted through the bar’s walls and furniture, destroying alcohol bottles one by one, and Alby, now aware of the attack, danced around it.

“Dude, the hell’s wrong with you? At least keep the booze intact!” Zawadski said. He rushed at Alby, tackling him down after loading a few times to avoid getting stabbed. Ichigo watched with his eyes glued, and it seemed like he finally got an idea.

“You’re right. It’s the melee that’s the main issue.” Ichigo said. “Gotta beat him at a range.”

“Let’s try it.” Zawadski said. He was initially mounted on top of Alby, but he quickly let go of him and jumped back. Ichigo became invisible once more.

“He’s probably trying to process why nothing he throws at me scratches me.” Zawadski thought. “Let’s play a game. Will he track Ichigo’s presence, or will he be obsessed with me?”

Alby summoned a fucking machine gun.

He sprayed it at Zawadski, showering him with bullets. While single bullets weren’t enough to damage him, the constant stream of high caliber ammunition felt like a drill trying to crack through a gemstone. It was by no means instant, but the process was there.

Ichigo, noticing the gunfire, quickly ran behind Zawadski. Zawadski was surprised and even insulted.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Zawadski asked, constantly saving and loading, trying to push through the rain of bullets.

“Using your immortality.” Ichigo replied. Once again, his hands were clasped. He hit Zawadski in the back of his knee, causing him to tumble a little. It gave him the perfect opening.

The beam struck its target. Alby’s stomach was pierced by the light, and his machine gun was rendered null and void.

“Now!” Ichigo yelled, charging at the soulful. Zawadski followed through, and the two had nothing stopping them from landing a decisive blow. Nothing except a grenade, of course.

The explosive broke the bar’s walls down, and Ichigo and Zawadski found themselves outside. Alby slowly left the building, with a machete in his right hand, and a revolver with seemingly endless ammunition in his left.

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“You didn’t use savestate?”

“Why would I? You hit him good.” Zawadski said. “It’s worth it. Besides, we’re outside.”

“Right, to fight at range.” Ichigo said.

“Think.”

“Unnatural speed up close, and precise accuracy with firearms. Something based around accuracy and reflexes...”

“Reflexes...”

“Zawadski, go on a quick scouting run.” Ichigo said, fading into invisibility once again. “Find out why it’s so hard to get close to him.”

“Always me doing all the work...” Zawadski said. A throwing knife pierced his throat. He quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the knife.

He rushed closer. Alby fired bullet after bullet in his direction, and despite every shot landing, every action taken was useless. Zawadski approached him and swung his blade, almost all of his attacks being parried. He had to use savestate quite a few times to not get permanently incapacitated.

“Zawadski is a genuine pain in the ass to fight.” Ichigo thought. “I’m glad this guy’s on our side.”

“The fact that he can charge in and force the enemy to reveal all of their cards...”

Zawadski threw a heavy swing with his blade, and Alby parried it perfectly. He stepped back after dying, and this time he chose to feint - but his attack was still shut down and replied to. He stepped back and launched a gust of soul prowess in Alby’s direction. Alby dodged it, but Zawadski noticed that he was slowing down.

“Ichigo, how long are you gonna sit there with your dick in your hands?” Zawadski said. He charged at Alby and received another quick counterattack, but at that moment, Alby was stabbed in the back. Ichigo pierced his chest and quickly evaded, barely dodging the incoming swing.

“Dude, just end this guy’s life with your divine acclamation already.” Zawadski complained.

“Hell no, I’m not using my divine acclamation. I don’t want to make too much noise in this area.” Ichigo replied. “And besides, I already figured out how to beat this guy.”

“Share your wisdom then.” Zawadski said. Alby grabbed a tommy gun and took aim.

“Aside from the fact that he can pull weapons out of his ass...” Ichigo explained, hiding behind Zawadski again. “His strong suit is reflexes. That’s probably how he managed to use his firearms so efficiently, and also why his counter-attacks are so clean.”

“Now spell it out loud.” Zawadski said.

“We either kill him by overwhelming him at a distance...” Ichigo continued. “Or we hit him from two different sides.”

“And let me guess, poor old me is that bait?” Zawadski asked.

“I mean just look at him. Guy’s got two holes in his body that he’s barely managing to heal.” Ichigo said. “We can kill him easily.”

“Whatever ya say.” Zawadski sighed.

“Once again, I’m the guy that has to keep on dying.”

“Oh well.”

“It’s not like this isn’t the best application of savestate.”

“Second best, actually.”

“Alright, let’s get active.” Zawadski said, charging in. He was continuously sprayed with gunfire, but his quick movements paired with a few good savestate activations got him through the distance. Ichigo wasn’t invisible this time, he circled around them and occasionally fired off relatively weak beams of light to wound Alby. Alby, on the other hand, was starting to get overwhelmed.

Ichigo finally decided to get close as well. He and Zawadski pressured Alby hard with attacks from many different angles, and despite taking damage themselves, were pushing closer and closer to victory. Blade swing after blade swing brought them closer and closer to taking the lead.

“Zawadski, I'm flashing.” Ichigo quickly ordered.

Zawadski dodged to the side. Alby, who was preparing to attack him, missed his machete swing and was now facing Ichigo directly. He was blinded by a concentration of light aimed right at his eyes.

“Now!” Zawadski yelled, pushing in closer.

“No, you idiot-”

Zawadski miscalculated, and got his hand chopped off as he closed the distance. He loaded, of course, and after Ichigo fired a beam of light at Alby, the latter seemed far too bruised to be capable of fighting back properly.

“You idiot, who yells like that when the opponent is blind?” Ichigo scolded him. He looked over at Alby, who was struggling to move. “He takes time to heal. Finish him off now.”

Zawadski launched an array of prowess released at him, and while his now limited reflexes couldn’t even properly protect himself, the beam of light melting through and piercing his skill was the final blow.

“Well, all’s well that ends well.” Zawadski sighed. “Now we figure out who the fuck this guy even was.”

“He’s the head of the Ocea stronghold.” Ichigo said.

“W-w-w-w-what?!” Zawadski jumped back at the revelation. “You mean THE stronghold?”

“Yeah.”

“Why the hell did he attack us then?!” Zawadski asked.

“That’s what we gotta find out now. Whatever is going on is probably much deeper than we think. The kidnapping, now this...” Ichigo said. “We gotta go and report this to Mr. Kamiki as fast as possible.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll call him. I have him on quick dial.” Zawadski said, taking his phone out.

“You have Kaito Kamiki...on quick dial?” Ichigo asked, confused.

“Yeah.” Zawadski said, calling him. “He asks me a lot of small favors. What, you’re jealous you don’t get the same treatment as me? Sucks to suck I guess.”

“Hello? Yes, Mr. Kamiki?”

“Did you find the kid?”

“No, but we found something even better. Catch this, we were chilling in a ba- I mean, a public space, right, me and Ichigo. It was his idea by the way, I’d never do something irresponsible. Anyways, we got ourselves busy with something, you know, we found some girls here. Of course, Ichigo chose to take one for the team, and I got to talk to the pretty one. And then, out of nowhere-”

“We were attacked by Alby Stirrock.” Ichigo said, snatching the phone from Zawadski. “I’m sorry to interrupt his unhinged fantasies.”

“Alby Stirrock?”

“Yes. He attacked us and we managed to put him down.” Ichigo said. “He didn’t exchange any dialogue or demand to know any information. He just attacked us out of the blue.”

“He didn’t say...anything?”

“Yes.” Ichigo said. “We are probably going to leave the area so as to not be pursued by anyone else. I’d prefer not to make my presence here too known.”

“Then continue searching for the kid. Thank you for letting me know.”

The call ended. Ichigo took a deep breath.

“So what now?” Zawadski asked.

“We get the hell outta here. I don’t like this mess one bit.” Ichigo said.

...

“Alby Stirrock...not saying one thing?” Kaito pondered, leaning on his hands with his fingers clasped.

“I’ve known Alby for a while.”

“There is no way he fought without saying anything corny during the battle.”

“Something’s off.”

“Miyuki.” Kaito said. “Do you think the strongholds have completely lost their faith in me?”

“I...” Miyuki stuttered a little. “I think so, Mr. Kamiki.”

"And do you think the Eura stronghold wants to pick a fight with me too?" Kaito asked.

"...maybe."

“What a shame.” Kaito said. “I’d love to have an honest conversation with those guys. All four of them, well, now three...all three of them. I feel like there’s some benefit involved.”

"The Eura stronghold should not be an issue as the Heisei is active in the region. My priority should be the original Stronghold Operation."

"Perhaps I should pay them a personal visit."

He looked at the sketch of the hexagon and with the cross in the middle, still on his whiteboard despite the cleaning to take care of the blood. In fact, he stared at it pretty hard.

“Mr. Kamiki, is something the matter?” Miyuki asked.

“Nothing in particular.”