12
There once was a crab named Denis
Who’s death made him into a menace.
When he witnessed a fight
in the middle of the night
his last thought was 've never seen Venice'

               Why the Mechanical Mistress thought this strange rhyme was a mystery to her.  However it disappeared out of her mind as quickly as it had come.  Now was not the time to dwell on strange nursery rhymes anyway, considering that she was facing her predecessor in android technology and had just been challenged to an Assassin’s Duel.  
               “Will you accept my challenge?” the Mechanical Man asked her.
               “That’s the reason I’m here,” she replied with a sly grin.
               “Then let us begin,” he retorted, “state your weapon.”
               “I’ll be using Lotus Dancer,” she said as she pointed her blade at him then leaned it back on her shoulder, “and you’ll be using?”
               Leviathaan looked down at his twin death dealers.  He’d never thought to give them names before.  In fact, this was the first time he took a very good look at his partners in crime.  His gun was a .44 revolver with a curved blade on its top, and another blade protruding from the grip.  To him, they looked like claws.  Then he noticed his sword.  It had no hand guard, and the design of the blade reminded him of a Dragon’s head.  Then he felt them, his gun wanted to tear things apart with bullets, his sword wanted to bite and slash at his enemies.  In that moment, they almost screamed their names at him.
              “My weapons are Fire Claw,” he said while spinning his gun on his finger, “and Dragon’s Tooth,” this he pointed at Naomi, then lowered his arms and locked eyes with her.
              For a moment, there was silence, but strangely no tension in the air.  They both were calm and collected, just as they’d been trained to be.  In fact, you’d think they weren’t going to fight at all.
              At this time, I would highly suggest that you review the Guidelines to an Assassin’s Duel; otherwise these next few lines will make little sense.  But I digress.
              The silence and the calm persisted for a second longer, and then he moved.  To the casual observer, he would be a black and red blur whose movements were unrecognizable.  But then again, they were the farthest thing from casual.  He closed the distance between them in an instant, and swung Dragon’s Tooth in an arc in front of him.  She jumped back to avoid it, still not moving her sword from her shoulder and still smiling that same sly smile.  He brought Fire Claw level with her forehead and smiled.  ‘Too easy,’ he thought.  Then the smile immediately vanished from his face.
              Three things ran through his mind that managed to steal his smile and an easy victory from him.  The first was ‘How can it be this easy?  She’s the next version of me, it shouldn’t be so easy.  And she’s still smiling Dammit’ he thought.  The third was that he noticed that her sword had a hole drilled into the hilt.  The inside of the hole was lined with metal, like a metal tube.  Or a metal barrel.  The third thing that ran through his mind was ‘MOVE!’  
               He managed to twist himself to the right in time to see a 9 mm bullet whiz by the spot where his head had been.  He jumped back to give himself distance.  
               “Very clever,” he told her and marking her position, “The perfect assassin formula has always been one gun, one sword, one android.  You just combined the first two together.  But that seems awfully cumbersome to fire.”
               “You know me; I like to get up close and personal with my targets.  This may not be the easiest way to shoot, but it’s fine for my purposes,” she replied aiming her sword at him now, “and since you’ve discovered my little secret, what say we start this again for real?”
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               Denis the crab wandered aimlessly on the beach he had known his whole life.  The same beach his father Denis the 128th had known, and his father Denis the 127th before him.  And just as they died on this beach, so would he.  However, these were not things for crabs to dwell on, so he wandered about looking for food when he saw it.  He’d never seen something so strange, yet so beautiful.  Two blurs of humans were running around each other waving long metal sticks at each other and making booming noises.  He assumed it was some kind of mating ritual; humans can be so strange sometimes.  Though his instincts screamed at him to leave immediately, his attention was held by the breathtaking sight, and he was compelled to stay.
               In truth this lowly creatures thoughts weren’t completely inaccurate.  Their training and their programming had imbedded it in them that agility of movement and precision of tool where more important than brute strength.  And their cybernetic implants allowed them to achieve unknown levels of human agility.  The two factors combined into graceful movements, rhythmic strikes, and an artistry in their skills that was unparalleled.  Their minds played an intricate and lethal game of chess, each calculating the opponent’s moves, and formulating strikes, blocks, and counters thousands of moves in advance.  They didn’t so much as clash steel as they danced around each other.  Their bodies rushing, swinging, kicking, and dodging the other’s attacks, like a type of tribal ritual. It was spectacular in its gruesome purpose.  Then Naomi disengaged.
               “Enough of this foolish playing,” Naomi said, jumping back to gain distance and sneering malevolently, “what say we take the kiddie gloves off?  Access Core System, Run program: Armageddon.”
               The instant the words left her mouth, she was bathed in a beautiful white light that seemed to come from within herself.  She was lifted off the ground by some unseen hand, and Lotus Flower began to glow with that same blinding radiance until both were only vaguely distinguishable figures.  The white light began to take the form of wings on her back, and clothed her in a long white robe.  The light that was her blade, had become two swords now, both of which shared a design that could only be described as pure beauty.  The intensity of the light began to fade, and her face was clearly distinguishable now.  Though it was unchanged, her smile was now one of happiness and pure joy.  However, her electric blue eyes still looked cold and merciless, and the white light, which was enough to bring most men to tears, had an eerie feel of it.  It looked like the white light at the end of the dark tunnel.  She had become the angel of death.
               “Now witness my-I mean-our true power,” she said, no sang, her voice was now a song, then flew at him in a flash.  He knew she’d have increased speed, but he was amazed at how fast she could actually move.  His eyes could barely keep up with her movements, his sensors had trouble maintaining her position, and his body could barely match her speed.  She was so fast, his gun seemed absolutely useless.  She moved too fast for him to get a straight shot, and he couldn’t reload because she kept him constantly on the defensive.  What glimpses he did get of her face, he saw that she was still smiling, but there was a shadow of disappointment in it.  
               All in all, he actually performed very well for going against Armageddon mode; 2.14 minutes, to be precise.  Then the inevitable happened.  She swooped at him and brought both swords down on him, he managed to block it, but he was unable to block the bare foot he saw swinging his way.  She kicked him in his midsection, and managed to send him flying ten feet through the air.  He recovered in mid-air, and landed to see perfect frustration on her face.
               “Why do you not face me with your true potential?  Face me with your true power!  You dishonor me by fighting with anything less!  Do so, or I’ll kill you now!” She yelled at him.
               Hunched over and out of breath, he stared at her.  He knew she’d be true to her word, but she didn’t want him to fight her for honor.  He heard it in her tone; she was begging him to transform.  Well, he’d never been very good at saying no to a pretty face.
               He finally managed to say between breathes “Access Core Systems, Run Program: Armageddon.”  Like her, he changed immediately
               He felt a surge of energy from deep within himself suddenly burst forth.  It bathed him in and his death dealers in pure black.  This was not actually black at all, but it was a complete absence of any light or color; it was the color of nothing, of darkness.  He seemed to form a vast nothing in the middle of the beach, like a black whole in the dark recesses of space.  His weapons emitted the same strange nothingness and began to transform.  They seemed to melt into floating blobs of void space, then they formed into two scythes with blades that looked more like the teeth of a sleeping monster that has longed to taste human flesh once more.  The darkness also took shape around him, forming a long cloak that fastened at the neck, and with a hood that was drawn over his face.  The hood seemed to block all light, because his face was completely lost in darkness.  Except his eyes.  They were now shaped like a demon’s eyes and glowed a bright red.  If she was the light at the end of the tunnel, he was the engulfing darkness of that tunnel; if she was the angel of death, he was the grim reaper.
               He didn’t speak, but merely pointed his scythe at her.  “Yes, now let’s see what the power of an army can really do,” Naomi answered.
                They were no longer any distinguishable figure in their movements, only black and white shadows that danced and swirled around each other.  Their clashing steel looked like a billion stars flashing into existence and dying away simultaneously, and the force of their blows sent shockwaves through the nearby area, causing waves to backlash, blowing leaves off nearby trees, and killing small animals with the shockwave.  
                Denis watched with rapt enthusiasm.  He had seen the female turn into this beautiful thing that almost made his little heart stop with joy, and he’d seen the male turn into something that actually did make his little heart stop for a moment.  Now they’d become swirling masses and flashing lights that absolutely compelled him to move closer.  Now his instincts weren’t just screaming, they’d hired a death metal band to play at full volume until he came to his senses.  Unfortunately, Denis found that he liked death metal, as he ventured forward towards the most beautiful sight anyone has ever seen.  ‘After this, I’m going to go to Venice and see the second most beautiful thing in the world,’ he thought.  It was a shame they didn’t play a classical interlude so Denis would listen.
                They were now 20 feet in the air.  Their blades locked as they stared each other down.  She broke the interlocking blades and sent him falling to the ground.  ‘Nothing I can’t handle,’ he thought, ‘she’ll use the aerial advantage to swoop down and strike, I’ll have to brace myself the second I hit ground, then I’ll-’ he thought when his back foot crushed on something small and he slipped on the soft innards, leaving him defenseless.  ‘Of Fu-’ was as far as his next thought got when the Angel of Death, seeing his opening, swooped down and struck upward.  He managed to block with his right scythe, but she hooked it, knocked it out of his hand, and threw both of them into the air.  Now he was fighting with a handicap, and took several more hits before she appeared in front of him, and threw all her force into sending him rocketing to the ground.  
                His impact left a 10 foot crater in the sand, and he had been literally knocked out of Armageddon mode.  He was now on one knee in normal mood, his weapons both returning to their normal states, and his sword landed shortly after him blade up in the sand.  Cringing in pain, he felt something cold and sharp on the back of his neck.
                “I win,” she said, smiling viscously and in normal mode.
                “Don’t be so sure of yourself,” he replied, though she couldn’t see it, he was grinning madly.
                “Oh, I’m plenty”-click-“sure…” then she looked down at his gun pointing right at her forehead, hammer cocked and ready to fire.
                “I think it would be safe to call this one a draw,” he said, now rising to his feet and dismissing the lethal weapon on the back of his neck.  She only stared at him in disbelief.  ‘HOW COULD I LOSE!!!’ her mind screamed.
                “Well, that was quite a welcome you gave me,” he said, climbing out of the crater and talking over his shoulder, “I haven’t done that in years.”  She just stood there gaping at him.  He was so nonchalant, like what had just happened was nothing more than a child’s game.
                “I really feel out of shape,” he was now at the top of the crater and stretching his arms, looking at the sea, “next time we do that, I’ll have to be fit, or I might get hurt.”
                Finally, her mind regained itself enough to use coherent words and she managed to say, “Get hurt? Get Hurt!  What the Hell do you think we were just doing!  This was a duel to the death, and now you act like this was just two friends playing games!  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!”
                “Why so angry?  Just because they probably sent you to kill me, doesn’t mean we’re not still friends,” he replied facing her.  Behind him, the first rays of sunrise were appearing over treetops
                “Friends?!  What the Hell kinda friend just leave in the middle of the night!  What kinda friend leaves without saying goodbye to another friend?!  You wanna fill me in on what your definition of friend is?!?!”  She yelled, climbing out of the whole.  Her face was getting hot, and her eyes seemed to blaze.
                “What are you talking about?  I did see you when I left.  I even asked you to come with, but you didn’t wanna leave,” he replied calmly, but with a look of confusion on his face.
                “Liar!!!  I remember! I woke up and they told me that you had gone rogue!  You didn’t even say goodbye you selfish bastard!!  You were my friend, and I trusted you and you didn’t even say goodbye!!” she was now at the top of the crater.  She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes, but she held them back.  She was holding her sword so tightly that her knuckles were white.
                “I don’t know why you can’t remember, but I DID visit you the night I left,” he said, picking up his sword and looking her directly in the eyes, “I would never betray a friend’s trust.”
                “Liar!” She screamed again.  However, she knew he was telling the truth, she could see it in his eyes, but her anger overwhelmed logic, “You’re a Lying Bastard and I’m going to Kill you for all the pain you caused me!”
                Even though Naomi was an upgraded model, she still had her flaws.  For instance, when the engineers were installing her computer brain, they didn’t think to put in emotion sustainers.  Because she was a volunteer, they decided to save a few thousand bucks and give her natural mind complete control of all emotional and superior thought processes.  While this did have a few positive sides, it meant that she was completely guided by her emotions.
                Filled with rage, she charged at the man who was once her closest friend, tears streaming from her face.  She held Lotus Flower ready to stab him, and ran blindly onward.  Though her mechanical mind shouted at her that her defenses were completely dropped, she was too fueled by rage, and ignored all warning.  Desperately, her mechanical mind turned its attention to developing blocks and counter strikes, but in her current state, she wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to stop a death blow.  She saw his right eye flash red and knew that he was preparing to counter.  It didn’t matter, if she was going to die, she at least going to take him down with her.  She closed her eyes and continued to run, screaming at the top of her lungs.
               The sun rose that morning and spread its rays over spilt blood.  In the light of new day, they dropped like red tears on the sand.
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               That day was the worst memory in storage.  It wasn’t just because they had fought, or because they’d actually gone into Armageddon mode against one another.  It wasn’t even the fact that she had charged at him in a fit of rage with the full intention of killing him.  No, what made it the worst memory in all her life was what happened after that.
               Eyes closed, she was certain that she was dying.  However, she didn’t feel any pain.  Hell, she felt better than ever.  Running a quick diagnostics, she realized that she was perfectly fine.  So if she wasn’t dead, then what… She felt something hot against her.  It was a body.  She also felt some hot liquid running over her hands, heard it spilling to the ground in great quantities.   She squeezed her eyes tightly.  She didn’t want to believe what she felt.  Then something touched her shoulder, and she opened her eyes.  
                He was standing there looking down on her, his hand on her shoulder.  There was no look of betrayal or anger, not even so much as a frown, but he was smiling at her.  That damn smile that he had on back when he was still trapped in his own mind and she had visited him for the first time.  That wasn’t even the worst part.  What made it the worst was what he’d said next.
                “I’m sorry I hurt you so much,” he said looking directly into her eyes, and wiping tear streaks from her face before collapsing onto the sand.  She knelt down beside him.  
                “You idiot,” she said through her tears.