“It’s an Ember wielder!”

The man glared into the room as he slowly moved forward. Anzen was under rubble and had to dig himself out, so I had to fight and buy him some time.

I gripped my sword tightly and took a few steps forward. The Ember wielder moved his attention from Anzen to me once he noticed my drawn katana.

He spoke as we both got within distance of each other. "So you're the one causing so much trouble?"

I got a solid foothold on the rubble as I replied. "I suppose so."

The shield brawler spoke again, obviously trying to keep my attention set on him and not his movements. "You're older than I expected... But I won't hesitate to fight my elder."

"I'm not that old."

There were a few moments of silence, then the brawler finally tried to swing his shield towards me.

The iron point came flying forward, but luckily I had stable enough footing to lean back and dodge, and once he was recoiling from his missed strike, I took my chance. I swung down on him, only to be deflected by his second shield.

His fighting style was unlike what I had seen before, with shields both able to protect him and deal extra as brass knuckles. I would have to adjust accordingly and take advantage of the moments he makes himself vulnerable in order to attack.

Once the brawler recovered he jabbed at me, which I was able to dodge similarly to last time, but something was different. His arm glowed a bright orange, and once his fist was fully extended the orange energy discharged, sending a shockwave directly towards me.

I flew backward and collided with the wall. Alright, so the shockwave was modestly powerful, but it seemed it was more meant to bring someone off their feet and push them rather than deal direct damage.

My weight fell back onto my feet rather than being pushed into the wall, the strange effects had worn off.

I hopped through the rubble towards the brawler, who was prepared to strike again. But I was more than ready to call his bluff. He used his energy once to blow open the door, then he just used it again when he could have used it earlier, which meant that he must have had a cooldown period of a few dozen seconds before he could use his Ember again.

Once I was in range, my bargain was tested, and I was correct. The brawler merely put his shields up to protect once he realized I wasn't stopping.

I pulled back my sword and waited for the brawler to realize I hadn't planned to hit him from the beginning.

The shield brawler peeked through his barricade at me, seemingly confused as to why I didn't hit him like he expected.

I couldn't help but smirk as he was dumbfounded by my true intentions. I had the most experience with Embers than anyone, and I knew how they worked. Once you find a weakness, you latch onto it.

Without hesitation, I swung my sword. The brawler easily blocked it, but I only swung again, and again, and again.

Eventually, I had the brawler locked down behind his shields with no special power to assist him. It was time to actually hit to kill.

I kicked the brawler's leg horizontally, trying to get him to break his composition, but he wouldn't budge. It was at least beneficial for Anzen, who was already almost out from under the rubble.

He was good at keeping himself completely defensive while he was recharging, which would be a problem, but I wouldn't give up so easily.

Instead, I pushed the shielded man, leaning my weight on him as I swooped my leg behind his. After a considerable struggle, I was finally able to put the brawler on his back.

How long did that take from the last charge? Around thirty seconds... Why didn't he use his Ember?

Soon my questions were answered as bright orange light appeared behind the shield brawlers protection. The glowing heat rumbled and spread throughout the metal shields.

With a piercing boom, I was sent flying upward. My eyes closed as I embraced for a strong impact.

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But when I hit the ceiling, it was no more painful than falling a short distance.

I slowly opened my eyes, only to see the Shogun's office on its head. Everything was upside down. No. I was upside down. He had somehow changed gravity with the force of his attack.

Anzen slowly rose to his feet from the rubble and looked up at me, puzzled.

The brawler putting his shields together had to have been important to him. I was constantly pushing his shields apart with my attacks, but once they were fully connected, he was able to use his special attack. I shouted down to Anzen. "He's using a vice! Don't let him put his shields together!"

Anzen stared at the brawler as he responded. "A vice?"

I wanted to explain vices in-depth, but there was no time, so I went with an example. "Remember when you couldn't make portals without the red gate? That was a vice. To use a more powerful attack, he has to connect his shields into a conductor. It's completely psychological, but it helps with powers too strong for someone to control completely yet."

Anzen nodded and started to draw his sword. "I understand. Do not let him put his shields together and do not get hit with those shockwaves." Anzen quickly swung his sword from afar at the brawler, only to have it blocked. Anzen swung again, and again the brawler blocked. After a third failed attempt, Anzen threw his sword to the side. "Ah, to hell with this."

In an unexpected move, Anzen grabbed the shield and pulled it apart from the other. With his free hand, Anzen jabbed through the Brawler's defenses, hitting for the first time in the fight.

I looked over to the corner of the room. I had gotten so involved with fighting the Ember wielder I forgot our main purpose, the Shogun, trying to crawl through the window. I shouted to Anzen. "The Shogun is getting away!"

Anzen responded as he traded blows with the brawler. "I'm kind of busy at the moment!"

I got to my feet and I responded. "And I'm upside down!" With a sigh, I started running to the pathetic Shogun, trying to escape while the Doctor just sat and watched. "I'll see what I can do."

The Shogun heard my footsteps and pushed himself away from the window he was too fat to fit through. I grabbed the Shogun's arm before he could run and held tightly. I had him, but only for so long.

Anzen kept fighting as I heard an electric charge. In an instant, gravity had returned to normal and I fell to the ground. I looked over to see what had happened to Anzen, but the brawler didn't hit him. He had rigged a desk to go flying sideways through the room, but luckily Anzen had dodged, in fact, it looked like Anzen had a solid lead on this brawler, even when he didn't have his Ember to help him. Anzen's swings were with expert timing and precision. He fought with his fists better than the brawler, and the brawler's face could attest to that.

I stood up and looked around. The Shogun had let go of my grip and started rummaging through the debris in the room, most likely looking for a weapon, which made me remember. I had dropped my sword.

My eyes quickly patrolled the room, and even through the scattered books, papers, and furniture, I could see the katana's golden accents shimmer in the candle-light.

I ran as fast as I could and grabbed the sword, turning to the Shogun while Anzen fought the brawler, who was desperately changing gravity on objects only to have them dodged.

The pitiful Shogun had grabbed a ceremonial sword he previously had on display and pointed it towards me anxiously.

As I stepped closer, I spoke. "Do you think that will protect you?"

The Shogun didn't respond, only held onto his sword tighter.

The Doctor in the corner of the room only chuckled as he sat comfortably and watched all of this unfold. He apparently thought he knew what was going to happen, that he didn't need to fight or to run, only to spectate and wait like he always did.

As shockwaves sounded behind me, I got within range of the Shogun. He swung at me, but with no force behind it. I easily blocked the attack with my sword and took yet another step closer.

The Shogun swung again, but this time instead of letting it bounce off, I ran towards him and slid my sword down to his' hilt. Once I was so close, I grabbed his sword and wrestled it out of his hand, sending it bouncing to the ground away from us.

I finally could end the Shogun's madness. I pulled my sword close to his face and spoke. "For all that you-"

But before I could finish my sentence, Anzen shouted at the top of his lungs. "There's more of them!" I looked behind us as I saw the military men finally get to the door, we had run out of time. Anzen pushed the now feeble brawler into the other military men and held his hands out, creating a portal on the wall closest to me. "We have to leave. Now! We can bring him with us!"

I was reluctant, but I knew taking the Shogun and killing him on the other side of the portal was the only way. The military men were already only a few feet away from us. My hand was luckily still grasped to the Shogun's wrist, so I stepped halfway into the portal and gave him a tug.

The military men instantly grabbed onto the Shogun and started pulling as we got close to the portal. Only a few had arrived and were pulling against me. I was able to pull him. I could do it.

With all of the might in my body, I pulled harder as Anzen jumped through the portal, meaning it was about to close.

Finally, their unsolid grip lost to mine, the military men let go of his smooth silk kimono and the Shogun came sliding across the floor to the portal.

But as the Shogun had almost been pulled completely away from his men, the shine of steel in the candlelight caught my eye.

The Doctor, who held the Shogun's ceremonial sword swung, but not at me, but at the Shogun's elbow, cleanly slicing through with his extremely sharp instrument.

As the weight released, I fell back. The Doctor smiled maliciously and waved coyly as my vision was engulfed by the fog.

Once I was completely in the fog, my body emerged from the other side, along with the Shogun's severed arm.

Anzen swore under his breath as Hayato questioned. "What is that? Did you get the Shogun?"

I pushed myself up to my knees and stared at the severed arm. Why didn't the Doctor kill me rather than amputate the Shogun? What was he planning? Was my one chance to end the Shogun once and for all lost?

Things had gotten a lot more complicated.