At The Point Of A Blade Part 4


    There was a loud crash, and the sound of crumbling stone, capped with a loud horrible crackling of splintering wood.  It was Jay’s best example of thinking outside the box...by bringing the box outside.

    In the middle of the street outside the Warlord’s palace was a broken wooden hut that wasn’t there before.  In fact, it wasn’t even wooden before - it was made of stone and steel.  Jay’s plan was simple - instead of going in to rescue Vinnie at great risk, Liu Xi would yank the entire jail cell out into the street.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Get him to safety,”  Jay ordered quickly as loud shouts started to come from the compound.  He kicked the fragile wooden cell door to pieces.  

    Inside was a very shocked and confused Vinnie.  His addled mental state and slight malnourishment and dehydration prevented him from understanding what was happening.  At least until he saw a Chinese girl he knew with long black hair enter and silently wrap her arms around him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m taking you somewhere safe.”  she whispered.  And with that, the two of them vanished.

    Jay waited for the shouts to get closer.  As he waited, he put on his Hatman cap and cape.  There was going to be no running away for him.  When the angry black robed horde opened the gates and pointed bladed weapons at him, he peacefully surrendered.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Bring me to the Warlord.”  he said.


---


    Liu Xi Xian tried to focus her attention on getting Vincent De Soth well again.  He drank three bottles of water so far - it wasn’t safe for him to drink the local water - and she brought various kinds of food to him from nearby restaurants.

    But in the back of her mind, she was worried about and frightened for Jay.  She knew he was a super-hero, and can probably handle whatever was thrown at him...yet if something bad did happen to him, she would never forgive herself.

    Finally, Vincent spoke his first coherent sentence.  “Worried about Jay?”  He said that with his mouth full.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes, a little.”  She lied about the ‘little’ part.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I feel better now.”  he said, stretching.  “Let’s go help your friend.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You should shower first,”  Liu Xi pointed out, “Unless you plan on stinking them to death.”


---


    Jay Boaz was tossed violently to the floor of the Warlord’s huge ornate office, so that he skidded to a stop.  His Hatman tee-shirt was torn, and his face bruised from the minor beating he endured, for the Warlord’s minions’ amusement, on the way.  He didn’t really get the chance to appreciate the decoration in the office, as the Warlord approached...

    ...with his very sharp black metallic fingernails exposed.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You dare defile my palace?”  he asked.

    Jay didn’t really hear his rhetorical question, though.  Or his next one.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where is the girl you were with?”

    Instead, he had scenarios rushing through his mind, trying to think of the best strategy, and the best hat, to use to defeat the Warlord.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I challenge you--”  Jay whispered as he tried to rise from the floor.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What?”  the Warlord asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I challenge you to a duel.”  he said, as he rose to his feet.  “Will you face me in fair combat, or will you show your men what a coward you are?”

    Jay’s strategy was based on what he assumed was the origin of the villain’s name.  Obviously someone named the Warlord had a reputation to keep.

    As he anticipated, the Warlord gestured to one of his minions, who handed Jay a fairly plan Chinese short sword, and stepped away.

    The only problem was, Jay didn’t know how to swordfight.  He also didn’t think he had a hat for it...but he reached into his hat-tility belt anyway, hoping it would give him inspiration.

    And it did.


---


    Chiaki Bushido had such a bright smile then, when Jay Boaz saw her wearing an unusual brightly colored yellow headband.  It was fairly wide, folded in half, and she wore it tied low so it almost reached her eyes.  Some of her hair was trapped behind it, but other strands were on top.  Behind her head it was tied into a large bow.

    She was in a room of her rather nice, large apartment that was barely large enough for herself and her sword.  The double sliding doors and walls were paper and wood in Japanese style, and the floor shiny wood planks.  Wood and paper lamps in the corners, and one window, lit the room.

    Her sword was drawn, and she was weaving it around herself, whipping it through the air with impressive speed and accuracy.  Remarkably, on the small room, not a single nick was on the walls or floor, even though they were so close by.  Even more remarkably was that Jay was perfectly safe standing in the doorway.

    Chiaki stopped, and walked over to Jay on her bare feet.  She wore a pristine white robe tied with a white belt - to Samurai, belt color had none of the significance it did in American martial arts classes.  And she wore a bright, warm smile.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I wish I could do that.”  Jay commented.

    Those were magic words that changed Jay’s destiny forever.  Still wearing the same bright smile, Chiaki sheathed her sword and kneeled quickly to put it down.  She untied the headband and neatly folded it, and then when she rose again, she presented it to Jay with both hands.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Go on, take it.”  she urged him.  “I have worn it while training since a very young age.  Perhaps it will be of some use to you.”

    Jay hesitated.  “Why would it be useful to me?  I’m not a Samurai.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You are the Hatman, aren’t you?”  she asked rhetorically, with a knowing smile.  She moved the headband closer to him, urging him again to take it.

    Reluctantly, Jay took it from her hands, and he looked at it.  He almost raised it to his head, but she stopped him.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“A hat is most potent the first time you use it.”  she reminded him.

    He nodded, and folded it, placing it in his pocket.  Later, he would transfer it to his hat-tility belt.


---


    Jay reached into his hat-tility belt hoping it would give him inspiration.  He needed some to figure out how to use the sword he had been given.

    He felt something in his hand that didn’t quite feel like a hat, and pulled out a yellow colored headband.  It had been in there for so long, he nearly forgot he had it - but he knew exactly what it was for, because it reminded him of Chiaki’s warm, bright smile, and her calming demeanor.

    Hatman tied the headband to his head, wrapping it into a neat bow in the back.  He had no idea what he was in for.

    He saw the Warlord move, and thought the villain was cheating, moving way too early.  He raised his sword to block, and there was a momentary pause.  The Warlord ducked, and was completely shocked that Hatman saw the move coming...

    ...because he hadn’t made it yet.

    The bladed fingernails lashed out angrily toward Hatman, and missed entirely as he ducked again, and then blocked.  Hatman then spun around, and hit the Warlord hard on the back of the neck with the sword, knocking him to the ground.  At the same time, fragments of the metallic fingernails he had severed clinked to the ground.

    Hatman was shaking at that point, thinking he just killed a man without thinking.  He looked at the sword, and he somehow he instinctively rotated it blunt side down before hitting the Warlord.  He had no idea how he was doing any of this.

    Then he remembered Chiaki’s warning, that a hat is most potent the first time he used it.

    He had flipped his sword over, and was pressing the flat edge of the blade against the back of the Warlord’s neck.  He took the cue of his own actions.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you surrender?”  he asked.  “So that I won’t be forced to kill you?”

    The Warlord laughed.  “You’ll have to kill me.”  he said.  “There are no authorities to take me into custody.  As long as I live, I am king.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I must ask you, though.”  he continued, “You defeated me in a single move.  You fight like the long extinct ancient Japanese Samurai.  Who trained you?”

    Jay then resorted to a trick Chiaki wasn’t capable of, because only his status as the leader of the Lair Legion allowed him to use it.  He produced a set of handcuffs, and twisted the Warrior’s hands behind his head to cuff them.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I can take you into custody.”  Hatman said.  He looked up at the black robed guards in the room.  Still feeling the power of the headband, he said, “No one will dare stop me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You must tell me, who trained you?”  the Warlord insisted.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“A not so ancient Samurai.”  Hatman replied.  “One of the most beautiful and skilled people I know.”  And he meant that too, because for the first time since he met Chiaki, he understood why she didn’t want to kill.

    She didn’t want to kill because it was far too easy.  Frighteningly, and shockingly, easy.

    Just as Hatman nervously made his way to the exit of the palace, he was met by Liu Xi and Vinnie.  He let out a sigh of relief - he was expecting a massive battle on the way out.  If that happened now, Liu Xi would be able to handle a large share of it.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Can I help you with anything?”  Liu Xi asked.

    Jay took off the headband and stored it back in his hat-tility belt.  “One transport home, please.”


TO BE CONTINUED?
    

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin