Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Doppelganger ❯ Thousand Blade Master ( Chapter 17 )

Ive been wanting to touch upon something for a few months now. Ive received a few flames about… well… from the incest to the pedophilia to the homosexuality, and well… pretty much anything that could be offensive. Im not gonna name any names, so ill just clear up a few matters.

 

clears throat. I am not for or against incestuous behavior, statutory rape or consenting activities, or homosexuality in any way. I simply wanted a somewhat realistic (or as realistic as avatar and vampires get) story, plotlines, and scenarios. These are real things that happen in the real world. And even worse things happen in the world that I shudder to think about. So… if you have a problem with my writing… then… well… just dont read Doppelganger.

 

Simple as that.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I make money from this fic.

 

Doppelganger

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

. . .

 

Kyle stared at the other vampire with wide eyes. Everybody else seemed nonexistent as the two vampires took in each other's presence. After a few moments, Kyle regained his composure and held his hands at his side nervously.

 

“H-hey. Do I know you?” The other vampire's eyes sharpened and he took a shallow step forward.

 

“You don't remember me? Big… brother…” The vampire held up a hand and pressed two fingers to the side of his head; on the temple. “Remember this?” He tapped his head jerkily. “Two hundred and eighty-five years, in two days, ago.” He tapped his temple again and dropped his arm, sliding it behind his back. “You thrashed my pride that night.” Kyle's eyes narrowed.

 

“Ah… Arc, the “Thousand Blade Master”. Am I correct?” No answer. “Do you mean to tell me that you have held a grudge against me just because I hit you that night?” Arc didn't answer. “That's pathetic.” In an instant, Kyle was thrown back across the dirt into the nearby trees with a loud crash. The vampire Arc stood, his fist extended, where Kyle had just been. Katara gave a cry and dashed to where Kyle lay. Aang and Sokka followed Katara, keeping an eye on Arc, who glared darkly at the group.

 

“Kyle! Are you alright?” Katara asked, examining any damage. Kyle groaned and sat up on his hands. With the waterbender's help, the vampire stood and returned Arc's glare.

 

“Are you here to pick a fight?” Kyle asked solemnly. Arc smirked and stood strait, waving his hand nonchalantly.

 

“Officially, no. I was sent here to retrieve Calia.” He laughed quietly. “It seems she had been killed by none other than Azula. The little blonde bitch was too weak to even stand up to a human.” He narrowed his eyes at Kyle. “Even a human such as her.”

 

Kyle stepped in front of the others and clenched his fist tightly. “Take that back.”

 

Arc's mouth twitched up in amusement. “What?”

 

“The comment about Cal.” Kyle growled. “Take it back.” Arc laughed again.

 

“What? She was weak. Even you know that. I don't know why Victoria-sama picked her up from those slums.” His eye twinkled. “All she even really did was be used for amusement.”

 

Kyle took another step forward. “What do you mean?”

 

Arc's smile widened; he was close. “Use you're imagination… Onii-chan…” He sneered.

 

Kyle's fangs were bared now. “What did you do to her?”

 

Katara gasped and held a hand to her mouth. She remembered when Cal was telling her about the different vampire's under Victoria. The girl had acted slightly differently when explaining about Arc. What had he done to her?

 

Arc sighed and held his hand to his forehead. “At first she was unwilling. But she was weak, you know. She had… apparently been away from you for so long that-“ Kyle suddenly disappeared from sight. Arc sprang into action and drew a short blade from behind his back. Kyle re-appeared beside Arc and swung his sword down, only to be deflected by Arc's blade.

 

Aang and Sokka grabbed Katara and pulled her to the edge of the clearing away from the ensuing fight between vampires. Distantly they saw Zuko dash towards them, his swords at his sides. As he approached the group, all three took on a defensive stance.

 

“There isn't time for that! We need to get away from them!” Zuko yelled and dashed inside the foliage. “Get down!” He demanded. At once Aang ducked beside Zuko followed by Katara and, after hesitating, Sokka. After finding relative safety, their attention was turned back toward the fight.

 

Kyle was taking quick and hard slashes at Arc; who in turn was calmly bringing his blade up in defense of each attack. Noticing that his offensive was not working, Kyle hopped away and held his sword up in a stance.

 

Arc chuckled and twirled the short blade he was holding in a quick motion. “A short sword from the east, called a Tanto. Victoria-sama was kind enough to provide it for me. This was blade number sixty-two.” He threw the tanto up in the air and it disappeared in a pocket of rippling air. Kyle eyed the action and smirked.

 

“Ah… your famous gift, huh?” Arc thought for a moment and drew a long blade out from another pocket behind him. “Glad I was able to witness it.” Kyle lowered his defense slowly. “But I'm surprised that you are revealing your abilities to me so easily.”

 

The weapon master held up a long sword towards Kyle and crouched. “I am determined to silence you here and now, along with everyone else here.” He charged and thrust his sword at Kyle. Dodging to the side, Kyle brushed the sword away with a knife and sliced out with his sword. Arc twisted in a perfect circle, dodging the attack, and brought his sword back around in a powerful slash. A knife blocked the attack again and in a quick motion, Arc drew another Tanto, or maybe the same one, from the air around him, and thrust the blade towards Kyle's face. At the last second, Kyle leaned his head to the side and caught the blade across his face. The wound wasn't deep, but it started to bleed immediately. Arc finished the melee with a kick to Kyle's midsection. Kyle landed in the dirt a few meters away from Arc in a dusty heap.

 

After a second Kyle pushed himself back up on his feet and dusted himself off. “Well, that caught me off guard.” The vampire stuck his sword in the ground and took off his long coat. “You are fast. But I can't lose here.” Drawing his other knife, Kyle took a stance and eyed Arc down. “How many can you summon, I wonder?” Kyle dashed at Arc, kicking up a dust cloud behind him, and sliced out one of his knives at the vampire. Deflecting the first attack with the tanto, Arc sliced out with his sword. Kyle blocked the attack with the other knife and quickly switched his hold on the small blade, readying another attack towards Arc's face. The vampire spun on his feet, dodging the attack, and gracefully slipped past Kyle's defense. Kyle growled and tackled into Arc clumsily.

 

The two vampires collapsed into the ground and Kyle unceremoniously slammed his knives into Arcs face and neck. The blades sunk into Arc's flesh and were pulled back out, splattering blood over Kyle and the nearby ground. Arc silently thrashed his hands out and grabbed Kyle's arms, holding the attack at bay. Kyle growled again and, a one swift motion, pushed against Arc. Kyle's legs rose in the air and he flipped around, slamming his heels down into Arc's midsection. Arc grunted solidly and Kyle flipped backwards on his hands, landing soundly on the dirt away from his opponent. Arc lay still for a few moments before crawling to his feet. Kyle smirked and flicked the blood from his knives.

 

“You are going to pay for that.” Arc hissed when his flesh started healing.

 

“Sure. “ Kyle remarked, chuckling. Arc cracked his neck and held his arms out strait from his sides.

 

“I've only done this one before. I hope I don't carve up your body too badly, or Victoria-sama will be disappointed.” Kyle twirled a knife and sheathed it, grabbing his sword from the ground. Arc exhaled and flexed his fingers tightly. Slowly, the air around Arc shimmered. The shimmer grew in size until he was surrounded by wavering atmosphere.

 

Zuko narrowed his eyes from behind the bushes. What is he doing? As if hearing his thoughts, Aang spoke out quietly.

 

“What is he doing?” Sokka shook his head.

 

“I don't know.”

 

Zuko rubbing his sore side. “From the look of it, he might be trying to summon a huge weapon.” The others looked over at him. “Look; the air around him is one large ripple.” True enough, rippling air and wavering light surrounded Arc. “But the question is…” Zuko continued. “What could be that big?”

 

Kyle examined his surroundings. Trees to the back of him, and to the sides of him. Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko were in the trees behind him. If I can keep them safe… come at me with whatever you can muster. Kyle's musings where interrupted when a single hilt appeared beside Arc. The vampire opened his eyes and smirked smugly. “There we go.”

 

Kyle cocked an eyebrow. “One sword?” The vampire was answered when numerous more blades from the ripple joined the single hilt. Weapons from swords to knives to spears appeared beside Arc and littered the area. Kyle laughed weakly and scratched behind his head. “One… hundred… swords?” Arc chuckled and grabbed the closest blade from the air.

 

“Actually about three hundred and fifty-two blades… give or take a few.” Arc flung the sword towards Kyle. Kyle deflected the sword with a flick of his knife and the sword flew up in the air. Before the blade got too far, another ripple appeared in front of it, and the sword disappeared. Kyle gripped his weapons, ready for the next attack. Suddenly, Kyle lurched forward and fell to his knees to the ground with a grunt. The same sword was impaled through his back and out from his stomach. Arc laughed and clapped his hands together. “Oh, very graceful, brother.” Kyle pulled the sword out from his back and threw it to the side.

 

“What was that?”

 

Arc smirked. “You should know.” He grabbed two swords hanging beside him and threw them towards Kyle. Growling quietly, Kyle dropped his blades and grabbed the two swords out of the air; slicing his hands open, but effectively stopping the attack. Kyle looked back toward Arc and his eyes widened in shock when a knife was traveling toward his face. He dropped the swords he had grabbed and snatched the knife out of the air; or, he would have, if it had not disappeared out of the air in a ripple of light. Kyle blinked and felt a sharp sting as the knife re-appeared beside him and stuck into his thigh. He fell to his knee and hissed in pain. Arc chuckled again and snapped his fingers. The two swords that Kyle has grabbed disappeared and re-appeared back in their place next to Arc.

 

Sokka exhaled and hung his head. “I got it now.” Katara and Aang looked at him. “I know what the attack is.”

 

“All those swords?” Aang whispered.

 

Sokka nodded. “Yea. He's using his gift to a tactical advantage. When he throws a blade, he can intercept it in mid-flight with one of those ripple-things. Then he can open another one in a different location and the swords comes from there at the same speed it came in with.” He lowered his voice gravely. “If he can throw all those swords… Kyle may be in trouble.” Katara swallowed and clasped her hands together.

 

“He can win.” She whispered, mostly to herself. “I know it.”

 

Kyle pulled out the knife from his leg and stuck it into the ground. “So that's it, huh?” He grimaced and stood up strait. “That's your bad-ass skill, huh?” Arc laughed to himself and reached out to his sides.

 

“We'll see how cocky you get.” He stretched his hands around multiple hilts and, wrapping his fingers around them, pulled numerous thin swords to his side. “Time for you to see the skill I've been developing for two hundred years.” Arc closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Blade Whirlwind.” Opening his eyes, Arc emptied both his hands of swords at Kyle. Kyle crouched low, dodging four of the six blades flung at him. Kyle grabbed the two low-thrown swords, re-opening his healing hands, and threw them to opposite sides of the clearing. All swords disappeared after passing Kyle and re-appeared in seemingly random positions, flying back at the vampire. Kyle rolled on the dirt, dodging the swords again, and pushed himself back on his feet with a grunt.

 

Again, Arc re-directed the swords back at Kyle, who spun on his feet in a quick circle, missing the whistling steel by a hairs-width. Arc smirked and reached out, grabbing more thin swords in his knuckles from behind him. “Try dodging more, then, hot stuff.” Arc threw two more handfuls of blades. Kyle took three swords in the side and jumped into the trees. The swords followed him up into the thick foliage, cutting branches and leaved to the ground.

 

Aang silently cheered. “Alright! The cover will help him, won't it?”

 

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Zuko muttered. “At the pace those trees are being carved up, I don't know how much longer he can hold.” Zuko stood up. “Come on, we need to go.”

 

Katara glared at Zuko. “What are you suggesting? That we desert him?” Zuko returned the heated glare.

 

“He is not only trying to evade the attack, but keep it away from us. He jumped forward, not back; didn't you notice? We are breaking his concentration by being here!” Katara's glare softened and she turned back to the fight ensuing. “If we leave, then he will be able to concentrate fully on the fight.”

 

“As much as I hate to admit it… he's right.” Sokka sighed. “Kyle stands a better chance on his own that worrying about us. Where are we gonna go?”

 

Zuko nudged his head behind them. “He and I decided on a rendezvous point before we raided Azula, we're about halfway there.” Zuko crouched, ready to move, when Katara spoke up.

 

“Why are you helping us?” Zuko stared out past the trees in silence. “What about trying to capture Aang?” Sokka and Aang joined in with silent questions of their own.

 

“You can trust me.” With that, Zuko started with a crouched run. Katara glanced at Aang and Sokka tiredly and was about to rise, when she was a glint of steel out of the corner of her eye. In her peripheral vision, it looked like a sword coming at them; no, it was too high for herself, Aang, of Sokka. It was going for Zuko, who turned back to wait for them.

 

No! Katara thought blindly, and jumped up in the path of the sword. All she felt was a sharp sting and the waterbender hit the dirt roughly.

 

“Katara!” Aang and Sokka cried. They rushed to her and stared in shock at the knife in the middle of her chest.

 

“No! Katara!” Aang knelt down and shook her shoulder. Sokka grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her head.

 

“Katara, can you hear me?

 

Zuko dashed back to them and knelt down next to Aang. Silently cursing to himself, Zuko examined the immediate damage. The girl had, from the look of it, a knife stuck in her chest, down to the hilt. “Damn it. It's deep.” The firebender muttered. He turned to Aang, who had started shedding tears. “I need you and you,” He looked at Sokka. “To help me carry her.” When nobody moved, he ground his teeth. “Move it!” Grabbing Katara's shoulders, Zuko lifted her up. With the help of Sokka and Aang grabbing her feet, the four made their way to safety.

 

. . .

 

Arc shook his head and laughed. That should make things more interesting. He thought as he tossed a few more blades into the air only to be sent in Kyle's direction. Run, run, little fox. Little do you know you're rabbit has been caught.

 

. . .

 

Kyle jumped from branch to branch; twisting in midair and deflecting what blades he could barehanded as he blindly tried to evade Arc's attack.

 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.” The vampire muttered as every second passed. Forty-six… forty-nine… fifty eight… The number of swords just kept rising, no matter how fast he moved and evaded. I'm gonna be a pincushion before long. Kyle though ironically as he touched down on thick tree branch. Half a dozen swords immediately punctured him. “Fuck!” Kyle cursed and leapt to the next tree. “Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!” He yelled and spun his torso, shaking off the blades stuck in his body. “I'm gonna fucking shove these up his ass!” But first… I'm gonna have to find my way around this. A flash glinted in front of his eyes and Kyle yelled out, bending the air in front of him, and careened towards the ground.

 

The vampire crashed into the ground in a hard thud. As dust rose up from his body, a stream of swords and knives flew into the center on the cloud. Arc dropped down from a nearby branch and landed near the cloud of dust. The vampire chuckled quietly and capped his hands together.

 

“Very nice, brother. I must admit; you did better than I thought. But all in all, not good enough to stay alive. Go and join the girl past the River Styx.” The dust settled, revealing the body of Kyle, pierced with every sword that Arc had sent after him, on the ground in a bloody heap. “Hah… I hope Victoria-sama can still recognize you're corpse.” Arc stepped forward and looked down on Kyle's bloody, impaled body. “Well… if you squint your eyes really tightly, I suppose-“ Arc stopped talking when Kyle's hand tightly gripped the vampire's ankle. “Ah… you're still alive?” He stared down amusingly at the wounded vampire below him.

 

“What… did you do? What do you mean, the girl?”

 

Arc narrowed his eyes and smirked. “I don't think she has much time left, you're little Bishoujo.” Arc stopped laughing when he felt his ankle heat up. He looked down to see Kyle's hand ablaze with bright yellow flames, engulfing his ankle in searing heat. Arc growled and kicked out, slamming his leg into Kyle's side. Still laughing, Arc stepped back and watched Kyle struggle to his feet, shaking off a few blades as he rose. “There we are, give it the old hard try.”

Kyle growled and pulled out a few swords that impaired his movement; namely the ones in his joints. “I'm not going to ask you again.” Kyle hissed venomously. “What did you do to her?” Arc laughed and grabbed a long, bladed spear from a single ripple behind him.

 

“Whom do you mean? Calia? Or that cute little dark-haired girl?” Kyle gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, spacing his legs apart. “Well… to Calia… I made her whimper so loudly it might have been crying…” Blood trickled down Kyle's chin from his mouth. “I'm not really sure, but she must have enjoyed it because she kept pleading for more…” He laughed loudly. “I'm sure it's nothing you haven't heard before. Onii-chan… Onii-chan… Motto!” Arc stabbed his spear into the ground and brushed his hair back. “And as of the other one…” He rubbed his chin. “Well… all I will say is for her sake, I hope you win.” He suddenly focused his gaze on Kyle, who exhaled and held his hands out in a tight stance. “What are you doing?”

 

Kyle glared darkly at the offending vampire and, smirking slightly, Kyle slammed his palms together. A gust of wind surrounded Kyle and pushed out from his hands. Arc backed away on his foot and held his spear out in a defensive position. As the wind gushed out from Kyle, the swords and knives stuck in him were pulled out and flung, spinning, in every direction. Arc received multiple blades in his extremities and collided into a tree behind him. Kyle took the opportunity and dashed forward, slamming his fist into Arc's face, snapping the cartilage in his nose with a sickening crack. Spinning around, the vampire drew his second knife out from his belt and slashed it across Arc's throat. Blood spewed out from the vampire's neck and gushed over Kyle, as he stood still, unmoving.

 

Arc made an attempt to stop the blood from coming out, but Kyle thrust his knife through one of his hands, pinning it to the tree and grabbed the other, breaking the fingers with quick snaps. The vampire backed away from Arc and surveyed his work.

 

“You should feel lucky, little brother. I haven't had this kind of fight in years; years and years.” In mid-sentence, Kyle bent over and picked up Arc's spear. “This is for Cal.” Kyle stabbed the spear through Arc, pinning him to the tree. The vampire grunted softly and his head fell to his chest; blood still running down his neck. “I wish I could watch her rip off your penis in the afterlife, but I'm sending Victoria in after you.”

 

Arc lifted his head up weakly and choked a laugh. “I think…” He choked and blood dripped from his mouth. “Your little Bishoujo will follow me before anyone else… Onii…chan.” Arc's head fell again, and did not rise. Kyle blinked and grabbed his knife from the vampire's hand.

 

“Fuck… Katara.”

 

Giving one last steely glance at Arc, Kyle made his way towards the rendezvous point.

 

. . .

 

Zuko, Sokka, and Aang set down Katara against a rock. There was a spring next to them, with running water. The grass was green and healthy, reflecting the waters power. “Go and get some water!” Zuko demanded to Aang, who nodded and ran to the bank.

 

Sokka brushed Katara's hair out of her eyes. The waterbender was taking rapid, shallow breaths. “Should we take the knife out?” Zuko brushed his short hair in frustration.

 

“No, the blade is the only thing keeping the blood flow to a minimum. If we take it out, she will just bleed to death more quickly.” Sokka swallowed and held Katara's hand, who spasmodically gripped his tightly. Aang ran over with a bended sphere of water and manipulated a portion of it over Katara's forehead.

 

“What do we do?” Aang asked desperately. Zuko slammed his fist into the grass.

”I don't know, damn it!” He cursed and rubbed his scarred face. There was silence for a few minutes, only broken by Katara's broken gasps for air.

 

“I hope Kyle gets here soon. He'll know what to do.”

 

Sokka nodded.

 

“Yea.”

 

After another few minutes of labored breathing, Kyle dropped from the high branches and landed in front of the group. He cursed and knelt down next to Katara. “What the fuck happened?” He gasped and stared at the knife angrily, already knowing the answer.

 

“As we were escaping, the other vampire threw a knife at me from behind.” Zuko explained. “She jumped in its path.” Kyle laughed dryly.

 

“Yea that sounds like her, alight.”

 

“This isn't the time to laugh, Kyle! Can you help her?” Kyle glared tersely at Sokka, who swallowed. Getting a good look at the vampire, Sokka noticed that he did, indeed, looked like hell. Kyle had an innumerable amount of cuts and gashes that were in the process of healing; his clothes underneath his coat were stained with blood. Sokka was unable to tell if it was his or Arc's. “W-well,” Sokka lowered his tone. “Can you?” Kyle sighed and touched the hilt. Katara cried out and gripped Sokka's hand tightly.

 

“Aang, turn around.” Kyle directed. Aang blinked, but obeyed. After Aang had faced away, Kyle ripped Katara's shirt open, leaving her chest bare, and inspected the damage. Sokka turned white as a sheet and turned away too, mumbling something about a fear of blood. Kyle traced his fingers from the tip of the hilt, to where the knife and the flesh met. “…Five inches. The blade is nearly five inches.” He reached behind Katara's back and felt her skin. “It hasn't broken the skin behind her, but it's close.” Zuko swallowed, trying to ignore his dry mouth.

 

“Can we take out the knife?” Kyle bit his lip.

 

“That would only speed up the bleeding. The knife pierced right through her sternum.” He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. “I… think it missed any important organs and arteries.” He felt the skin around the knife. “If we are able to stop the bleeding, then she might live.” Kyle gripped the hilt of the knife, causing Katara to cry out in pain. “We can take out the knife, then apply pressure to the wound. Aang, get me-“

 

Aang shot up and turned around, trying his best not to look at Katara. “Wait, Kyle, why don't you turn her into a vampire?” Sokka's head jerked up and he clambered to his feet.

 

“What?” He yelled. “What do you mean, turn her into a vampire? She's my sister!” Aang shrunk back before Sokka anger and held his hands out.

 

“Y-yea… but… it would work, wouldn't it? I mean; Kyle can heal from almost anything easily. If Katara was a vampire… then…” Aang quieted and sat back down, staring at the grass; blood was starting to seep into the dirt underneath.

 

“We are NOT turning MY SISTER into a bloodsucker!” Sokka screamed, then dropped his hand. “Sorry.” He whispered to Kyle. The vampire had his hand tightly on the knife's hilt, staring at Katara's face. “But, we can't turn her! I mean, Kyle said she will live if we could stop the bleeding.”

 

“We wont be able to stop the bleeding.” Zuko muttered. “The blade is stuck deep in her chest. If we remove the knife, she will bleed to death, no matter how hard we try.”

 

“B-but Kyle said we could-“

 

“He is hoping for the best.” The scarred firebender pointed out. “But I know as well as he does that we can't stop the bleeding, at least not anymore.” Sokka looked from Kyle, to Zuko, to Katara, to Aang.

 

“We…” He stammered. “We… can't…” Giving a choked sob, Sokka fell to his knees and planted his hands on the grass.

 

“Save my sister… please.” He whispered.

 

Kyle gripped the hilt tighter and shook his head. “I will not turn her into a vampire.”

 

Sokka tried to steady his breathing. “Please Kyle… Save Katara's life.”

 

“I will not turn her!” Kyle whispered.

 

Aang wiped his eyes and cried too. “Kyle. Only you can save her now.”

 

Kyle clamped his eyes shut but didn't turn away from Katara. When he opened his eyes, she stared back at him, trying to breath deeply, but failing.

 

“I wont… I… I cant…” He whispered.

 

He distantly heard a soft voice in the back of his head.

 

Please… The voice sounded so familiar…

 

Kyle pulled the knife out of Katara's chest.

 

. . .

 

Ooo… I love cliffhangers.

 

R&R!!!