A Shifting of Fortune Part 12
Chang removed his jacket. A sleeveless shirt bared his broad shoulders and bugling upper arms. Chang made a grand performance of flexing his muscles, which Heero had to admit, were well developed. But there had never been any doubt of the Security Chief's physical conditioning.
Heero, during his lengthy term in Noin's employment, had many opportunities to observe the Chinese man in action both in training sessions and "down and dirty" brawling. Yuy didn't need his inner council's advice on Chang's fighting techniques or its warning about his lack of scruples.
Yuy hoped his knowledge of his opponent's attack methods would give him the necessary edge to keep Chang's fist from his face and his head from a nasty separation from his neck.
As Chang swaggered in his usual self-assured manner, Heero used the interval to plan his strategy and shore up his nerve that now seemed very inclined to be swamped in its own tide of hesitation.
Once Heero glanced over at Quatre. The fleeting look was enough to caused Winner to again strain at his watcher's grip.
Heero narrowed his sight emphatically shaking his head. "No." he mouthed out the word. Quatre stilled at the silent order but the anger did not lessen in his widened indigo eyes.
Finally Chang shrove into the glassy spot opened up by the guard and his captive moving aside. The maintenance building formed a barrier on one side; a thick stand of trees was equally confining on the other side. The building also blocked the view of anyone coming from the garage or the main driveway.
Heero slid into a defensive stance keeping his body relaxed but ready as he waited for Chang to make the first move. An achy soreness still plagued Heero's ribcage reminding him that was one area he would have to guard closely.
"I am going to enjoy this." Chang reminded his challenger.
A curt snort was all Heero offered in response to the verbal taunting.
Chang often did engaged in haughty posturing. But Heero knew, although to some degree the boastful behavior did stem from arrogance, it was not simply Chang's need for exhibitionism but a display of the madman's actual substantive fighting potency.
"You know," Chang continued a sneer tugging at his mouth, "I believe I would have enjoyed the opportunity to examine your sexual prowess," he declared eyeing Yuy's trim form and muscles hardened in readiness, "to find out if you are as good as you look but I suppose I will have to test your stamina in another, less satisfying, way.
Maybe that is something Maxwell can tell me about once you are go longer a hindrance. Perhaps he will even show me what you do to get him hot. Show me all the places to touch. Tell me does he like it rough? I hope so."
"Enough talk," Heero hissed growing tired of the boring rhetoric, "or are you having second thoughts?" he wondered engaging in some taunting of his own.
Chang centered his weight. Yuy did the same. The combatants squared off.
Yuy was absolutely sure of one fact there would be no rules, no sense of fair play. There would be no congenial combat of tag and retreat. Chang would use every means to win because nothing short of total mastery of his opponent would quench his thirst of victory.
Suddenly the sneer disappeared. A stone cold statement of pure hatred was Yuy's only warning before Chang made the initial charge.
Heero ducked under a right cross then dodged a powerful left jab. When neither of Chang's blows made contact his failure did nothing to improve his mood or lessen his resolve to tear the Japanese boy from limb to limb.
Heero's returning sharp thrust glancing off Chang's shoulder only increased his frustration. The bouncing tag, although not delivered with much force, did unbalance Chang.
Heero put his attacker's wobbly stance to good use launching a sideways hook punch. Chang started down but caught himself as one knee landed just inside a flowerbed's mulched border.
Chang's trembling fingers went to his mouth, their withdrawal smeared with fresh blood oozing from his cracked lip. He touched the tip of one redden digit to his tongue tasting the warm slick fluid.
This bloodletting only heightened the crazed man's maniacal rage. "You will pay for this." he growled locking his ebony sight on Heero.
Heero's retreated back a few steps allowing more maneuvering room. He wanted to study Chang's body language, to read his thoughts through his eyes and hopefully anticipate the Chinese man's next move.
A stiffness had already begun to ease itself across his midsection. The bruises left from his previous encounter had become inflamed. Heero wrapped a supporting arm about the intensifying tenderness trying to take in a deep breath despite the pain. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to suck in one good gulp of air.
Chang's jaw muscles tightened. A hissing puff accented his outrage at Yuy outwitting his advances. Also Heero striking the first blow added further insult to Chang's already injured egotism.
Using his grounded knee for cover Chang reached down beside his leg then straightening quickly flinging up a handful of gritty soil. The grainy particles hit Heero's chest with enough strength to sting his face and eyes. Heero dropped his guard, his hands going to his watery eyes as he attempted to wipe away the invading irritants.
Chang wasted to time charging forward. His forearm struck swiftly under Heero's chin snapping back his head. With his arm centered and his wrist across Yuy's throat, Chang dug his boots into the ground using the gathered momentum to drive Heero backward hard into a stout tree trunk.
Chang eased slightly but only enough to allow himself to twist around before plowing his shoulder into Heero's middle. Heero wasn't the only one who could read body language. Chang had taken full notice of Heero's supporting arm and sagging posture learning exactly the most efficient place to strike to do the most damage.
A stabbing pain exploded through Heero's ribs threatening to take his breath completely away. White light flashed as a searing blindness traveled from behind his eyes to his brain with shocking speed.
Stunned and winded, his eyes still clouded by grit and tearing, Heero struck out wildly at his assailant as Chang planted his feet and shoved once more. This time the force expelled what air remained causing Heero to choke and sputter.
Mad with blood lust Chang cocked back his fist. Leading with his right, following with his left, he attacked with a vicious volley for alternating punches aimed at Heero's head.
Heero weakly threw up his arms blocking the first two punches but the third strike caught him along the cheekbone. Another burst of white light blurred his already compromised vision.
The jolting connection sent more sharps pains from Heero's face to his head making it feel as though his brain slipped off-center. Dots swam before merging into a single dimming mass of gray shadows.
Blood seeped from one nostril. A gash opened above one eyebrow the crimson gush threatening to blind him further. With the temporary stunning of his senses, Heero never saw Chang's left fist before it plowed into his jaw line.
The impact threw Heero's head back once more slamming it into the tree trunk's rough bark. More black dots danced over his eyesight as he felt his legs grow rubbery beneath him.
More free-floating blood joined the stream inching over his temple. Increasing in its speed as it mixed with sweat, the salty moisture stung inside numerous cuts and scratches.
Like a wild animal closing in for the kill Chang moved forward muscles tensed in a stalking posture. He approached his quarry with stealthy cunning ready to deliver the fatal strike that would assure his victory.
Chang's annihilative goal: To make extinct his inferior foe. To end Heero and his comrade's worthless existence forever. The Japanese traitor's cessation would rid the Security Chief of one more interference in his destined rise to command Vixen's Lair.
Heero fought to suck air into his deflated lungs. His chest heaved with each seizing breath. His ribs burned until the pain wrapped so tightly around his middle it bent him over at the waist.
Right then, at that agonizing moment, Heero's battle was not with Chang but with himself. The fight was mental as well as physical. It had never been in Heero's nature to give up and he would be damned if he was going to resign now.
Clenching his teeth Heero called up every last ounce of energy he could muster. Pushing against the tree he summoned up the last of his strength praying it would be enough.
Shaking his head to dislodge the fuzzy images swirling inside, Heero Yuy sucked in a single strong inhalation breaking the binding constrictions in spite of the terrible cost of pain. The improved oxygen flow gave him the second wind he needed to straighten completely.
The upright placement came just in time as Chang lunged with crazed determination. Heero knew he couldn't count alone on his training as his addle mind was still plagued by the confusing images.
Mentally measuring the decreasing space between himself and the charging Chang Heero waited until the last possible moment then compensated for his lack of upper-body flexibility with a high sidekick. Heero's swiftly rising boot returned the favor plowing into Chang's ribs sending him sprawling, in a strictly unceremonious fashion, on his black clad backside.
But Heero's battered body wouldn't let him take advantage of the downing of his enemy. Heero panted, his breaths catching in his throbbing chest. Sweat, dirt and congealing blood settled into the folds of his face. With his thumb Heero wiped back a reddish stream of sweat-diluted blood before more of the seepage eased its way into his eyes.
Holding up his sticky fluid covered fingers for a closer inspection Heero was now enraged by his own blood letting. Spurred on by nothing more than pure instincts Heero stared down at Chang as he sat, hopefully more humbled in the dirt, taking his turn at trying to catch his breath.
"This is over Chang." Heero growled wiping his blood stained fingers on his shirt, "It will end here and now."
Chang raised up from the waist locking his madness-glazed eyes on Noin's former Security Unit staff member. "Over!" he repeated in a husky voice, "Oh no Heero Yuy" he swore through clenched teeth, "this will never be over until you are dead!"
Heero, now as enraged and perhaps as insane as Chang, pointed a trembling finger down at his rival, "This farce had gone on long enough. If death is what you seek then so be it." Heero declared the words shaking in his throat, "Now get up you murdering bastard." he ordered harshly, "Let's finish this!" he screamed hoarsely.
Chang rose from the ground with the wild look of a man who had loss his last grip on reality. The frenzied gaze sparkling in his ebony eyes told Heero that Chang had finally slipped well over the edge of madness plunging into a psychotic abyss from which there was no way out.
Heero had succeeded in pushing Chang into the ultimate state of insanity but the forceful unhinging of his mind had unleashed a most primitive bloodlust. Now Heero had to question whether he could defeat the demons he had let loose.
In his impaired condition as his ribs burned and his chest, too, felt as though it was on fire, could Heero take on someone who had lapsed completely beyond rational reasoning or actions? Could he send the Fire Dragon back to hell where he was once spawned?
Without warning Chang was on his feet lunging with surprising speed. A frontal kick, quickly followed by a straight-arm punch, was barely dodged by Heero as his reflexes were still too weak to react quickly.
Heero parried the blows with his fist and forearm again sending shooting pain across his middle. Once more Heero tottered fighting to remain on his feet. This slackened attention allowed Chang to move in close enough to grab Heero's arm.
Hooking his foot behind Heero's ankle Chang upset his tenuous balance. Both men went down hard, each with a good hold on the other. Twisting and grappling, arms and legs entwined and muscles burning from the struggle, Heero and Chang played out the last hand in their game of life and death.
Heero's strength was fading fast. No matter how noble his cause or his pledge of protection to his friends, Heero Yuy was about spent in both physical reserves and the mental fortitude to carry on the fight. As hard as he tried his body would not cooperate. His mind was overwhelmed with pain from his injuries and utter hopelessness that he could defeat a man who was now fighting with the rage of pure insanity.
Chang reared back his fist letting it fly. The solid strike engulfed Yuy's muddled mind in strangulating cobwebs threatening to ensnare what small measure of consciousness Heero so desperately held to. Heero felt himself falling and that was nothing he could do to stop it.
As his back struck the ground Heero's head lopped to the side. His eyes rolled back as a dim veil, like a dirty windowpane, clouded his vision. Fighting with what little strength he had to keep from passing out completely, Heero blinked hard to chase away the encompassing shadows.
However the partly successful clearing of his eyesight revealed a horrifying picture. From somewhere, probably his boot, Chang had produced a long bladed knife.
Heero knew that Chang always carried the slicing weapon. He had once seen the results of the blade's deadly handiwork when a man in a bar had unwisely insulted the Security Chief. But in the fight, the pain, the knife and its deadly applications had been forgotten.
Now Heero's recalling of Chang's favorite plaything was brought back with frightening realization. The slender blade gleamed in the muted glow of a distant spotlight. The yellowish glare sparkled and bounced over the fine honed edge coming together in a single deadly illumination at the tapered tip.
The razor sharp point now pressed squarely in the center of Heero's throat. The applied pressure was enough to pierce the skin ever so slightly bringing a single scarlet droplet to the distended surface.
Chang's focused sight held a far off gaze like a man both deaf and blind. Was his senses now undermined by something that had total control? Was his will now in the power of some other agent? Had it finally happened? Had Chang finally succumbed to his madness? Had the devil finally won?
*********
Quatre had remained in stunned silence throughout the fight. He had prayed in his heart for Heero's rescue, that the higher forces that often intervene in men's lives would come to his friend's aide and give him the strength to overcome his enemy.
Tears filled Quatre's eyes streaming down his pale face. Watching Heero go down from the helpless confinement of the guard's hold, the faithful friend wondered if all that was holy and good had indeed abandoned both of them.
"Heero. No." Quatre whispered feeling heavyhearted under the burden of his upcoming demise. For as soon as Heero was released from that frail moral coil called life, Quatre knew he, too, would soon follow his friend in death.
He did not regret the dying, but the separation from his lover. Trowa would be devastated by the loss perhaps beyond his ability to recover. Quatre wished he could tell Trowa that he had to be strong. That despite the pain, the renting of his heart, he had to keep on living.
Quatre believed with all his being that if Trowa chose, by his own hand, to join him in the afterlife that his soul would be cursed and that they might then be forever without each other.
Trowa had to go on living until death claimed him naturally. It was the only way they could be together for eternity. "Please Trowa, hear me." Quatre prayed, "When I am gone hold my memory close to your heart and let me help you find the strength to go on."
Then he lifted another prayer for Heero and for Duo as they had just come to feel more for each other than mere friendship. How sad it was that their love would be ended before it ever had the chance to blossom and grow. How awful the finality of a destroyed love that held so much promise.
Quatre closed his eyes tightly. He could no longer bare the sight of his comrade's falling. He could not view Heero's end, could not take that final vision with him beyond this earthly plain. He would wait for Chang to finish his deadly deed then meet his own fate with courage borne from Trowa's love and his brother-in-arm's support.
*********
Chang straddled the wound-weary Yuy. His centered his weight, bracing his legs on either side of Heero's prone body. Successfully holding his intended victim in place for his final reward, for Heero's insolence, his utter contempt for Chang's authority, the Chinese man took a moment to savor the sweet taste of victory.
"Now you impotent excuse for a man." Chang growled leaning nearer to make sure Heero was fully aware of what was about to happen. The knife pressed down once more eliciting a painful flinch and a sudden intake of breath at the weapon's pointy intrusion.
"I am going to slit you from your gullet to your bellybutton and lay you open like a gutted animal." Chang proclaimed with disturbing delight.
"You know, though, when I am finished with you," he continued lifting his eyes to take in Quatre's limp form, eyes closed in apparent surrender, "I might just spare the pretty Winner. But if I do I need to make certain no one ever again desires that beautiful boy and his angelic face.
Yes, I believe my knife and I will alter Winner's appearance before I send him back to his Trowa who probably won't be able to stomach his scars. A quite fitting result don't you think to be spurned both by his lover and the world."
Heero clenched his teeth calling up the last measure of his fortitude. He had to find some way, say something to deter Chang's planned disfigurement of the innocent boy who only wanted to live his life with Trowa in peace. Who had never had a mean thought or harsh word for anyone. One of the few people who had not been ruin by the world's cruelty and injustice.
"Wouldn't it be better to take Winner as your pet instead?" Heero planted the seed of suggestion. "Just think of the status such a beautiful prize would afford. Imaging how he could improve your station among the other Masters and Mistresses." he declared hoping that the improvement in position would outweigh Chang's need to extract revenge.
The mad Asian tilted his head at an odd angle as he considered Heero's idea. "The boy could indeed be an asset." he told himself.
Winner was good at his job. The running of the household had always been done with efficiency and Noin's fortune had increased under his competent management. The boy could be a status symbol; a boost to Chang's standing in the rich and influential inner circle that he had always longed to be a part of.
Maybe it would be wiser to use the boy rather than destroy him. And what better way to torture the seemingly dispassionate Trowa than to keep him bound in slavery and make him watch daily as Chang commanded his precious partner. He might even make Trowa watch as he claimed his beautiful blond over and over again.
"You may actually be right for once in your sorrow life." Chang confirmed the soundness of Yuy's suggestion, "but that one intelligent thought will not be enough to save you.
I intend for your end to come in slow degrees, carried out with perfect precision under my skillful hand. Before this is over you will beg me to end the agony you deserve. At the end I might consider releasing your pathetic soul if you beg hard enough"
Heero shut his eyes preparing himself as best as could for the inevitable. His only regret was that he would not see Duo one last time. He had never told the wonderful braided boy how much he had brightened his life. Told him that, in spite of his sorted past, Duo Maxwell was indeed an angel with a kind soul and loving nature who had immediately captured Heero's heart.
Now Duo would never know that Heero loved him. Also not knowing of Duo's fate or that of his other friend's as well, was too heavy a load to bear.
"Oh Duo I am so sorry." Heero whispered so lowly no one else could hear. "Quatre, Trowa please forgive my failure." he sighed as he resigned himself to fate's punishment for his many unforgivable sins.
"Come on get it over with." he told Chang with the determination that Chang's last memory of him would be his dauntless glare of defiance, one that Heero Yuy would maintain to the very end.
No Chang would not have the pleasure of hearing Heero beg. There would be no screams or wails of suffering. Only a staunch silence would be heard. Only Heero's ardent sight fixed squarely on the madman's soulless eyes would be display for Chang's viewing.
"Get ready to go to hell." Chang announced as Heero's death glare locked on his executioner.
TBC...
Back to Karen, The Huntress's Fanfictions Page