The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 64: LXIV - The Monster

Etienne spun his kusarigama as quickly as he could. Etienne examined him as he took slow, prodding steps toward him. The pupils of his eyes were gone, replaced by flickering flames. Fire billowed from his hair, his clothing, every pore of his body. And curiously, he had long, curling red horns like a goat, extending all the way down to his chin.

"He’s different. Whatever he did, it didn’t just make him stronger. He’s like a completely different person. His gait, the movements of his body — you can’t just change those things on a whim. I need to be careful..."

Etienne launched his weapon at Senshi Sentinel, sickle first, at Senshi Sentinel. Senshi Sentinel didn’t even attempt to block or dodge the weapon, letting the metal sickle burn up as soon as it touched his skin.

Senshi Sentinel kneeled down and picked up the melted sickle before tossing it aside. He continued his slow advance.

"You’ll have to do better than that, Ninjaman. Your little toys can’t hurt me, especially not in this form. If you are hiding something, some power, some technique, now is the time to show it."

Etienne backed away from him and reached into his hoodie.

"What are you?" Etienne screamed out, his voice tinged with panic, "Whatever that form is, it’s not chi! How are you doing that?"

Senshi Sentinel’s face remained neutral, "You haven’t earned the right to that information. Show me you can keep up first."

Senshi Sentinel sprouted wispy, fiery wings from his back and flew towards Etienne, grabbing him by the face.

"You’re a ninja...and you know about the Setsuna clan’s chi release technique...so that must mean you’re a disciple of Hattori Hanzo," Senshi Sentinel stated matter-of-factly as the wind whistled by them.

He flew lower and drug him through the gravel before slamming him into a nearby building.

Etienne coughed up blood and stood up slowly.

Senshi Sentinel stood a short distance away from Etienne and frowned at him. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"I know you learned more than that from one of the sixteen divine generals. I know you have something."

He reached into his hoodie and pulled out another Totska knife. An invisible aura surrounded the knife as he dropped into a battle stance and held it tighter.

Senshi Sentinel cocked his head to the side and stared at the knife, "Huh. There’s something. Let’s see how yours compares to mine."

Senshi Sentinel slowly pulled his kanabo off of his back. Etienne jumped back as he stared at it.

The kanabo was thicker and covered in scales. Like the tail of a reptile, the tip was thin and wriggled vigorously. Closer to the hilt, the only non-organic part, the kanabo got wider.

Senshi Sentinel closed his eyes and rubbed the scale kanabo, "This is the Dragon’s Tail. Do you like it? In our profession, a good weapon is as important as your powers. You can’t cut criminals up with kitchen knives forever."

He swung the Dragon’s Tail at Etienne’s ankle, and it wrapped around his leg like a snake. Senshi Sentinel lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the street. Etienne’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and gravel exploded into the air around him. Not even taking time to process the pain, Etienne threw a shuriken near Senshi Sentinel and switched places with it. He slashed at Senshi Sentinel and got a shallow cut on his skin.

Senshi Sentinel looked down at the wound and watched as it closed and healed itself.

"You’re worth something. But I know you have more than this. Are you really holding back, even at this stage?"

Etienne pushed himself up to his feet and gritted his teeth, "I am not holding back."

Senshi Sentinel paced around Etienne as he struggled to stand up, "That’s not the first time you’ve heard that though, right? Why do you think people keep saying that to you? Is everyone overestimating you?"

Etienne rose to his feet shakily and held his knife up in front of him. He snarled, "Oh, now you’re interested in me? You want to help me reach my full potential?"

Senshi Sentinel shook his head, "No, no. It’s not that. I’m just...curious. Maybe you’re being honest. Maybe you’re not holding back, at least not consciously. There might be some sort of trauma preventing you from using your full abilities. I’ve seen that countless times before. I think if I push you and help you let them out, we’ll be able to see what kind of hero you really are."

Senshi Sentinel picked up Etienne by the throat and lifted him off his feet. Etienne could feel his skin burning under the hero’s grip.

"Are you going to show me? If you bare everything to me, if you prove yourself worthy, then this fight can end immediately. Or if you agree to quit heroing and leave Oregon permanently, that works for me too. It’s your choice."

Etienne raised both feet up and kicked Senshi Sentinel, breaking his grip and allowing him to scurry backwards. The kick barely affected the Senshi Sentinel, only making him take a single step backwards.

Senshi Sentinel dusted himself off in a mocking gesture, "I commend your spirit, Ninjaman. I can’t speak to your intentions for being a hero, but I can say you have the tenacity of one."

Senshi Sentinel cocked his head and looked at Etienne with an inquisitive look, "But how long can you keep that up? Your wounds are healing slower already, Ninjaman. You’re still bruised from where I slammed you. I wonder how much more of this you can take."

Etienne rubbed his back through his hoodie, "He’s not wrong. I feel awful. I have to use all my strength just to stop from passing out."

Etienne rushed toward him with his knife readied, "I’m tougher than I look."

He got in front of Senshi Sentinel and hit him with a barrage of creative attacks, switching the hand the knife was in multiple times and stabbing and slashing him in every vital area.

The cuts and slashes caught on fire immediately, and the wounds cauterized and closed.

Senshi Sentinel looked down with a bored expression, "Those are some decent attacks, but what’s next?"

Etienne grunted and increased his speed, his arms audibly cutting through the air and his hands becoming little more than a blur.

Senshi Sentinel caught the blade and snapped it with three fingers. He leaned in closer to Etienne and whispered, "I said what’s next Ninjaman? Those shallow attacks aren’t doing anything to me."

Etienne took a deep breath in, and thought to himself, "Damn it, he keeps asking what’s next, but I don’t have anything! I have one more Totska knife, a few shurikens and the kusari-fundo. He’ll burn the kusari-fundo just like he burned all of my other weapons. All I can do is..."

Senshi Sentinel frowned and stared down at Etienne, his fists clenched, "It’s a bit unfair, huh? I can heal with chi and this transformation is great at healing too."

Etienne continued his attacks. His hands disappeared as he punched and struck, "You wanna talk about unfair? You’re tall, and you’re built like an action figure. You have multiple abilities and samurai training., God gave you every gift, huh?"

Senshi Sentinel brought his arm back and struck Etienne in the chest. Etienne stumbled back and barely stopped himself from passing out. He shook his head until he stopped seeing stars behind his eyes.

Etienne opened his eyes to find Senshi Sentinel’s wounds had already healed.

Senshi Sentinel’s neutral expression finally dropped and he was seething with rage.

"That’s what you think when you see me? That all of this is a gift? Was your ninja training a gift? Was it a blessing from God?" Senshi Sentinel snapped.

Etienne looked away from him, "You don’t know anything about me."

Senshi Sentinel grabbed him, swung him around and threw him full force into a nearby dessert shop.

Cakes, cookies and bread flew into the air as he crashed into the building and did not get up. Senshi Sentinel summoned flaming wings on his back once again and landed on top of Etienne.

Senshi Sentinel leaned down over Etienne’s injured body and placed his Dragon’s Tail into Etienne’s chest. Etienne groaned as the tip of weapon board into his chest.

"It seems like you don’t know anything about me either. Not that I’m surprised. Maybe I should enlighten you a little bit on what my life has been like, what I had to go through. Perhaps that will be enough to get you to show me everything. If not, I’ll just incinerate you. I’m tired of this already."

Etienne pushed against the Dragon’s Tail, not even able to make it budge, "Your life? You think I give a damn about your—"

Senshi Sentinel stomped his flaming boot onto Etienne’s face and frowned, "You don’t have the power to stop me, so you’ll listen. Now pay attention. I want to know whether my upbringing has any similarities to yours.