Inktail

Chapter six ~ Ninja-to

All I could see was flashing metal.
Blades were coming at me from all directions, and though I only had to think and my tail did, it was still incredibly hard to keep up with the whirlwind of razor steel that seemed to come from everywhere.
Each warrior had a different weapon, which didn't help at all, because they all had to be countered differently.
One of them had twin Ninja-To, or Ninja swords - very different from katanas, which were used by samurai. Another one had a Chigiriki, or Japanese morning star - a spiked ball on the end of a chain, which was attached to an arm-length stick which could be used as both handle and weapon. A third had a Naginata - a long, bladed staff -, the fourth had a set of nunchakus (or nunchucks), and the last held a great heavy Ono, or battleaxe. I frowned at the fifth ninja, who held back and waited for the chance to swing his giant weapon with greatest effectiveness. Those are rare. But deadly. If this man is truly a master of his weapon, he may be able to slice right through my tail. Not that I can't just grow it back instantly, but by then it will be too late for the rest of me!
I grunted as one of the forth ninja's nunchakus hit me on the thigh, leaving a burning line which I knew would form a bruise later on. The first ninja had already managed to nick me a couple times - once next to my elbow, making the joint movement in my left arm painful, and once across my temple. I was sure that the sight of my black blood was not at all reassuring to the audience back in the stairwell.
Grimly, I fought on, trying to conserve my strength against the onslaught, moving just enough to avoid or deflect blows that came my way. The second ninja's chigiriki was giving me quite a bit of trouble. I knew that if I wanted to stay alive, I had to avoid that spiked ball at all costs. With enough effort and skill, the force behind the ball-and-chain could tear off entire muscles and smash bones and organs like overripe peaches dropped from a rooftop.
I whirled around, and somehow got a lucky strike on the one with the naginata, who thought he was far enough away to avoid the reaches of my tail. I was starting to tell that they didn't actually know all that much about what they had gotten into, so I tried to keep my tail the same shape and size until I could surprise them with a different form.
With one ninja down, I could tell that the others had become much more wary. The one with the Ninja-to was guarding more often now, instead of leaping about in formation with his comrades. The others seemed more wary too, blocking attacks that they didn't need to.
I used that to my advantage.
I sent an obvious thrust toward the one with the Ninja-to, which he automatically deflected. My timing was perfect, and I simply used the momentum from the deflection to sweep my tail toward the one with the nunchakus, shifting it in midair to a long, flat, razor-sharp blade. Without a sound, the man went limp as it sank into his belly, before falling to the ground as I pulled it out.
Just as I was congratulating myself on my victory, the ninja with the Ono stepped forward, the huge double-blade singing through the air as he whipped it toward my head. I barely got my tail up in time, thickening and reinforcing the living ink as quickly as I could. It was beginning to wear me out, putting so much energy into my tail, which was thick and muscled like an alligator's now, complete with a flat, vertical plated blade on the end.
Sparks shot out as the Ono skated along the scaly ridges of my tail, before the silvery ax buried it's end in the concrete with a sharp thunk. I twirled around, knocking away the other ninja's weapons, and using the momentum to slam the Ono ninja's head, knocking him tumbling across the rooftop.
Only two ninjas were left. The Chigiriki ninja, and the Ninja-to ninja. Both were keeping their distance, circling me warily, trying to get on opposite sides of me to catch me by surprise. For awhile, we danced around on the rooftop, each trying to get a better position. Finally, I managed to maneuver so that an air conditioner came between me and the Chigiriki ninja. Then everything went into slow motion.
The air seemed to change as they realized that I suddenly had a slight advantage. I could feel the adrenaline shooting through my veins as I made a split-second decision.
I dove over the air-conditioner, somersaulting off of my hands. I heard the Chigiriki's spiked ball crunch into the metal between my hands as I pushed off, watching my individual strands of ink-black hair float up past my face like seaweed as my feet came down in an arc onto the man's shoulders, slamming him to the paved ground. I heard something crack satisfyingly beneath me as his face connected with the surface of the roof, a twin pair of pops telling me that I had dislocated his shoulders. He was out.
I used my momentum to leap forward again, still seemingly in slow-motion as I whirled around in midair, turning to face the last ninja, whose Ninja-to stuck sparks like wings to either side of his companion's head as they came down where I had been seconds before.
He was unbalanced from trying to avoid hitting his friend. Before he could bring his swords up again, my tail shot forward, faster than they eye could follow, a pitch-black spike, thin as a finger.
A dull thunk sounded as it took him straight in the gut.
We stared impassively at each other for a moment, before I withdrew my tail, and he toppled slowly to the side, curling up around his wound.
It wasn't fatal- I had made sure - but I nailed one of the largest pressure points in the human abdomen. It would hurt for a long time.
I turned, took a deep breath, and walked nervously back to the stairwell, where I hoped my friends were still waiting.
If they were still my friends.