I pushed off the ground, planting my hand on the swinging arm that just tried to decimate me, rolling over it coiled up before kicking off to get some distance. I twisted in the air and watched as the arm of smooth stone carved a trench with just the air pressure of the move. I landed and my coiling dragon staff slapped into my open palm. A flick of my wrist landed the third part of the staff in my other hand letting me twist both ends with a flex of chi locking the staff into one piece.
The temple guardian pulled its arm back then took a massive step towards me digging gouges in the ground and raising its other arm in the air. It brought its arm down and I raised the staff to catch it while channeling a few defensive chi techniques. I caught the slam square and it still forced me to bend my knees while my staff flexed at the center. Flexing my thighs and calves I pushed back, forcing its arm back wildly making it step back to keep balance.
It stepped onto one of the buildings around the farm plot then straightened itself. I watched the stone from the building get absorbed into its body to the sound of more grinding stone. It lifted both its arms this time going for a ground slam. I sprinted at it as it brought its arms down. Just as it was about to hit I planted my staff in the ground and used it as a vault to push myself off the ground.
I watched the ground below me move in waves from the impact. The farm plots around where we were fighting were gone, turning the ground into a slurry of mud and stone. It started to pull back and I was getting close to its head so I swung my staff around and nailed it across the side of its head. Its head snapped to the side from the impact, boulders breaking off and falling to the ground. I went the opposite way, using the force of the blow to gain distance.
I landed in a crouch and the guardian swung its head back to me. Chunks of its head were missing but I could see the cracks sealing as it focused on me. I grabbed my staff by the end and charged at it, pulling my staff back for a thrust. The guardian swung in front of it where I was going to be, anticipating my movements. A twist of chi and I was at its chest thrusting my staff towards its center.
My staff flexed at the impact. Cracks formed around where it hit and the guardian lifted up off the ground a few feet and was thrown back quite far. My feet hit the ground the same time it landed roughly. It rolled with chunks of rocks falling off it. A circle appeared on the backs of my hands with a line that trailed off going up my arm at the impact. Excess chi was rolling off my forearms the longer I stayed in combat with this thing. I glanced around looking for the people that summoned it but they were nowhere to be found.
The guardian rolled onto all fours and was struggling to stand, rocks were popping and snapping off its limbs in chunks and cracks started appearing all over its body. It reached over and grabbed one of the buildings that survived the ground quake, its hands tearing a chunk off it before it lobed it in my direction. I took a few steps to the left and the chunk of the building crashed into the ground where I just stood.
I staggered to its feet seeing its throw failed and charged back at me, the ground quaking under each of its steps. It leapt when it got close enough and tried to plant me in the ground with a superman punch. I reached out with my staff and guided its punch to my left, riding the momentum out of the way. It crumpled into itself as it missed, rolling over the arm it had planted in the ground.
I thrust at it with my staff again, taking large chunks out of its side, throwing it away again. This time when it shifted it showed me its lost arm. The guardian started crawling at me, chunks of stone falling off it as it approached. I met it with a leaping thrust, my staff slapping its head into the ground.
I felt the com Owl had given me in my pocket start vibrating as I watched the guardian try picking itself up again. I stepped forward and hit it again. When it shifted again I gave it another whack until it stopped moving. When it was finally dead I pulled out the com device, it flipped on with a text from Owl, "Done."
I rolled my eyes and looked at the grounds around me. It was going to take some heavy work to fix all this. I snapped my staff into pieces and placed it on my lower back. Crouching, I turned in the direction Owl and I had come from a leapt. I flew over the tree tops and went a lot farther than Owl and I had walked before landing. The little coms in my hand switched from a text to an arrow pointing in a random direction so that's the way I headed.
The arrow led me to Owl, where she was leaning against a tree. She pushed off when I got close and I could see her armor was kind of scuffed and damaged, "What the hell happened to you?"
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"The place collapsed on me as I was on my way out. It was a little tricky to get out."
"A bunch of people came out and summoned something. Did you get what you needed?"
She reached into her cloak and pulled out another sandstone looking chunk. It looked like the original, just a whole lot smaller. I gave her a shrug and she pushed a button on her forearm and a wireframe of the original popped out where she held the chunk up into its place. I could see the outline of the whole piece, "Well. now what?"
"Now we go back to Swivel City and I find the rest of them."
"Have you thought about what the thing is?"
She examined the chunk in her hand before replying, "I don't think it's from this planet."
"Then why did these people have it?"
"This thing is advanced. They probably studied it with magic and learned from it."
"Then why doesn't Doctor Kathor have them?"
She shrugged, "Doctor Kathor is the head of a college of magic. They probably already studied these things and have notes about the notes of them. They have maps from before the continents split so it's not surprising they are not interested in these things."
"When did the continents split?!" that was alarming
"A few thousand years ago. Some enhanced showed up. They were really powerful and a lot of people put in quite a bit of effort to put them down."
I shook my head and Owl pressed a few buttons on her forearm. Space twisted around us and we were back in the city. Owl's bike rolled down the alley to her and she threw her leg over it, giving me a glance, "You make a good distraction."
"Thanks?"
She nodded, "Try not to drop any buildings on me next time."
She whipped her bike around and took off. I let out a sigh and started heading to my apartment. I pulled some herbs out of my bag and lit my pipe to get the taste of dirt out of my mouth on the way. The sun started to rise as I got close to my apartment so I turned and headed to the dojo instead.
I got to the dojo and leaned against the wall next to the door as the morning started. In the distance I could see the mountain I had appeared on and felt a small urge to go to the top and take a look around but some part of me knew I would find nothing. Anthony pulled up in his vehicle, waving at me as he pulled into the back. Anthony came around and unlocked the front door, I entered the dojo just as Victor was pulling into the back. Anthony gave me a glance then we started setting up the dojo, "Why are you all dressed for war?"
"I was helping someone last night."
That made him pause, "Was it something bad?"
I shook my head and continued laying out mats, "No. i didn't really understand what was happening most of the time but I trust the person I was helping."
He nodded and we continued setting up the dojo. Just as we finished Anthony stopped and looked around, "Victor must be late."
"I saw him pull in as I entered the dojo."
Anthony looked at me then turned and headed to the back door. I followed him. Victor's little car was parked in its space and I could see Victor in the driver's seat. Anthony got there first and he got a dumbfounded look on his face as he looked inside. I stepped around him to get a look and saw Victor. He was sitting in his driver's seat, head flopped back snoozing up a storm.
Anthony rapped on the window and Victor didn't stir. He let out a sigh then cracked open the car door, "Yo Vic! You good?"
Victor jumped in his seat. I heard the thump of him hitting his knee on his steering wheel. He let out a hiss then glanced around at up, "Yea sorry. Last night was a chore."
"What happened?" I asked.
He stepped out of the car and I could see small red marks on his arms, like someone took a butter knife and rubbed it across his arms, "Ninjas. There were ninjas everywhere."
Anthony looked alarmed and I chuckled, "Beat any of them up?"
Victor shook his head, "They were too freaking fast. I think there was ten or eleven of them. It was all night too. I couldn't sleep, my place is pretty torn up. I hit one with a lamp though, got that bastard good."
I nodded at him, "I'll come hang out with you tonight so you can get a nights sleep. Did you have problems finding them?" when he shook his head I continued, "Tomorrow I will teach you how to move."
"I'll be able to catch the bastards then. I can't wait."
"Ninjas?" Anthony asked.
I nodded and Victor answered, "I was just getting ready to sleep when one hopped out of my closet with a sword."
Anthony glanced between us then chewed on his lip before asking, "Is that going to be something we will have to deal with in the future? If I learn chi are they going to attack my place? I don't think my girlfriend will put up with ninjas attacking our place."
We started heading inside while I answered Anthony, "I don't think so. Right now they think Victor is a rogue chi user so they are trying to put the competition down. By the time you learn chi Victor will be their main focus and I think they will start throwing actually skilled people at him."
"You don't think Ninjas are skilled?" Anthony asked.
I shook my head, "Ninjas have their place. They have nifty tricks but true mastery of chi comes when you stand in a line and fight your opponent head on. You learn from it, just as Victor is learning from fighting them. He is getting a whole lot more experience fighting them then they are trying to fight him from the shadow."
"How's that work?" Victor asked.
"Think of the virtues and how it affects you. What does fighting from the shadows mean?" I answered.
We entered the dojo with Anthony and Victor both deep in thought.