[Yashida Castle, Shikoku Island, Japan]
Their arms were a blur of motion—twisting, locking, countering. Like a pair of vipers knotted mid-strike, Daisy and Madam Gao grappled with vicious precision. Each sought to snap the other's limbs like twigs, but Daisy had a secret edge: shockwaves laced in every twist of her wrist.
Unfortunately, even at her age, Madame Gao's martial prowess was maddeningly sharp. The old hag moved like smoke given form, her strikes honed by centuries of battle. Daisy gritted her teeth. She wasn't fighting a relic; she was dueling a walking armory of ancient pain.
Seeing Daisy fighting hard, Viper joined the chaos.
No longer content to linger on the sidelines, the venomous vixen lunged in, shedding hesitation like a snakeskin. Daisy, however, felt her optimism crumble within two exchanges.
"Sister, you have the grace of a wounded pelican," Daisy muttered through clenched teeth as she blocked a blow aimed at Viper's head.
Though clearly stronger than most civilians, Viper's flair was flash over function. Madame Gao could've ended her in three moves, maybe two if she was feeling charitable. So Daisy had to step in—more than once—flanking, shielding, occasionally redirecting Viper like a reckless toddler with blades.
Then came the break in battle, that precious sliver of a heartbeat. Daisy shot the two guards near Shingen Yashida with surgical precision and they crumpled like marionettes with severed strings. The moment the middle-aged man was free, he seized a fallen enemy's katana and charged with purpose.
Two slashes.
Two clean kills.
Mariko, sensing the shift in momentum, scrambled to the console and slammed the necessary buttons like her life depended on it—which, to be fair, it did. A surge of current cut through Wolverine's restraints, and the feral legend dropped from the chair like an angry god awakened.
"Logan, head of the Yashida family, come and help!" Daisy barked as she parried another of Gao's thunderous palms. For the first time in a while, she sounded just a little winded.
Logan blinked at the chaos.
Shingen blinked at Viper.
Mariko looked like she was two seconds from throwing her shoe.
To be fair, they had a lot to process. Viper, their supposed family doctor, was now apparently a part-time ninja. The battlefield looked like a scene from a fever dream.
It wasn't until Daisy flash-stepped into a better position and joined the 2v1 on Madam Gao that the lines became clearer.
Uncle Wolf—bless his grumpy, hairy soul—jumped in with claws at the ready. He lunged like a freight train with rabies, only to be swatted mid-air like a fly.
Wham! Wolverine skidded across the room, embedded in a wall.
And then… stood up.
"Heh," Logan snorted, brushing off debris. "That all you got, grandma?"
Madame Gao's palm could split boulders, but adamantium wasn't on the menu.
Logan wasn't agile. He wasn't graceful. But he was relentless. No 'dodge' stat on his character sheet—just tank it and return the favor.
Gao cracked bones. Logan cracked jokes. Gao struck pressure points. Logan struck everything.
Eventually, Gao tried taking a hostage—Mariko—but Wolverine was already there. He growled, interposed, and forced Gao to retreat. She couldn't afford to test her brittle limbs against adamantium claws.
With the pressure easing, Daisy and Viper regained ground. It was chaotic, elegant violence—a dance of death.
After a few moves, thanks to the Logan, they finally gained the upper hand.
Madame Gao tried to shift the tide, going for a kill. But Viper was too slippery. Daisy's reflexes—heightened by her beast instincts—kept her a whisper ahead of fatal blows. Gao's palms struck only empty air or indestructible bone.
Bang. Bang.
Qi met adamantium, sending shockwaves through the air.
Daisy's Kung-fu Palm strike on Dr. Egghead was just a joke from her, but Madame Gao's palm strike broke the shockwaves on hit. Anyone other than Wolverine would not be able to withstand such a blow, and even those strong ones would dodge and not take it head-on.
Yet with every palm, Gao's breath shortened. Her skin paled. Her arms began to tremble.
Her gas tank was running dry.
Seeing that they were gaining the upper hand.
Shingen Yashida entered the fray.
Oh, Shingen.
He is selfish, cowardly, and always scheming. A man with the moral compass of a rusted spoon and the loyalty of a weather vane. But his swordsmanship? Lethal. Sharp. Precise. He wasn't just some pampered noble.
He joined the skirmish with grim efficiency, his blade carving arcs that shimmered with promise. He struck fiercely, aiming at vital points.
Among all the people present here, except Madame Gao and Daisy, Shingen Yashida had the best martial arts skills.
Even Madame Gao looked concerned.
The combined assault—Daisy's shockwaves, Viper's precision poisons, Wolverine's raw fury, and Shingen's blade—was too much. Madam Gao began to slip. Her energy was depleting too quickly. Her speed and strength began to decline overall. Her strikes lost their crackle.
It was strange for everyone present in this situation, because only Daisy had a grudge against the old lady, and the others were basically just stuck between their blood feud, some as hostages, some as an alliance.
Daisy saw her moment.
Uncle Wolf drove Gao back with a claw swipe. Daisy appeared behind her with a snap of displaced air.
No quips. No warning. Just a horizontal punch laced with enough vibration to shatter a concrete wall.
CRACK!
Madam Gao's wiry frame bent awkwardly in the shockwave's wake. Her spine groaned audibly, her signature "qi" stuttering like a broken faucet.
Her ghost-speed was now just... speed.
Seizing the opportunity. Shingen sliced her cheek open. Logan plunged three claws into her abdomen like a kebab skewer.
And Viper?
Oh, she'd been saving something special.
She hissed, inhaled, and sprayed a concentrated mist of green venom straight into Gao's face. The hiss was followed by a sizzle. Gao screamed—a raw, pained sound—as her skin burned away.
The bones on the left cheek were faintly visible. An eye went blind. Her face looked like wax melting in real-time.
But Madame Gao was nothing if not persistent.
When she suddenly lost her sight, with the reflex of a dying tiger, she slapped the person in front of her without thinking.
Her palm slammed into Viper's gut, sending her careening ten meters through the air.
She landed on the ground hard and struggled for a few times to get up. Then went still.
Daisy rushed to her.
Pulse—steady. Breathing—shallow. Alive, just unconscious.
"You'll live," Daisy whispered. "Lucky you."
She gestured for Mariko to watch over Viper, then returned to the battlefield. Gao had to die. Tonight.
But Madam Gao wasn't about to make it easy. Realizing she was outnumbered, seriously wounded, and exhausted, she did the only rational thing: she bolted.
Daisy took off after her with vibration energy burst from her legs.
She blurred ahead, bypassing Wolverine and Shingen who were also chasing Gao, and hurled another shockwave.
The old woman twisted in the air and narrowly dodged. She may have been wounded, but Gao wasn't slow yet.
Daisy was about to teleport again when— strong danger sense rang in her heart, and she hurriedly stopped.
Logan felt the same way and pulled Shingen Yashida back as well.
CLANG!
A massive sword crashed into the spot they were about to land.
Everyone stopped except Madame Gao who is running away.
The sword was enormous—one and a half meters long, glowing red from internal energy conduits. It looked like it could carve a tank in half. And it had.
The one who wielded it emerged slowly, metallic boots stomping the ground with weight.
He was two meters tall, sheathed in silver-white samurai armor, and bore a crescent moon insignia on his helmet. He looked like a mech that went to samurai school.
Not human. Not entirely machine. Something in between.
Daisy narrowed her eyes.
Old Yashida's not dead? she thought. Or is this someone else wearing his toys?
Shingen gasped. "Silver Samurai..." He knew the image of this character. As it is passed down from generation to generation in the family records. Now the Silver Samurai has walked in front of him alive from the text. The armor is made entirely of adamantium. He vaguely understands something.
Daisy raised her hand and fired a shockwave at the walking oven.
It hit.
And did... absolutely nothing.
The blast was absorbed by the adamantium alloy. The armor didn't even flinch.
Daisy blinked.
"Well, aren't you adorable," she muttered, already teleporting behind him. "Have fun, boys. I've got an old lady to finish."
To Be Continued...
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