Brenton
itumeleng kganyago
Shea
Always Eighteen
AhmedTHE LAST NINJA
September 5th 2007 13:41
The last ninja Aaron had to kill smoked and listened to the Carpenters and watched young girls in miniskirts as they walked passed him in the city. He was a pretty old man, in his late sixties. His name was Ruben.
Out of all them, Ruben had murdered the most people. Ruben wore eyeliner but wasn’t gay.
As Ruben locked Aaron’s arms to the floor and punched him again and again and again, Aaron thought, “Shit, this guy’s fast.” He wondered how powerful Ruben must have been when he was his age.
Ruben wasn’t a happy man. He was married for a while, but that didn’t mean he was happy. Most his friends have died. In the night, he’d feel the calluses on his hands. He’d stare at the ceiling. He’d study a few scrolls. He’d fix his hair in front of the mirror. He dyed his hair black. He’d trim his nose hairs. He’d try not to think about much. He always had to try his hardest.
Aaron had to remember the basics as another tooth was knocked out of him. Relax. There will always be someone stronger than you. The only way to overcome someone stronger than you is to think clear, move soft and relax. If you tense up, he will tense up too. Aaron let the old man hit him again. And again. And again. Relax. Again. Relax. Again. Relax.
Aaron softened. He dodged the next punch, while at the same time sliding one arm out of Ruben’s grip. Ruben quickly caught Aaron’s freed arm, only to realise it was a distraction. Aaron rolled his legs upwards, flinging Ruben off him and sending him to a wall. A mirror fell and shattered.
There came a point in his life when Ruben could no longer masturbate. The point was five years ago, when he turned sixty one. He cried. He cried for about five hours. He then read a novel. He then read some scrolls. He meditated. He fell asleep and went to work the next day.
Ruben picked up a few broken pieces of glass the second they became broken and threw them towards Aaron’s eyes. Aaron saw this in advance and leapt towards Ruben. He pulled out a knife he hid in his boot and stabbed Ruben’s penis. Ruben had been trained for moments like this. In fact, he’d experienced far worse. Someone once managed to stab a finger in his piss hole. He survived.
Ruben was so trained that he only winced for one half of a second. But that was enough for Aaron to quickly pluck out one of his eyes. Ruben screamed, and as he screamed, Aaron went to stab the hole where the eye once belonged, but Ruben quickly dodged, and, grabbing Aaron’s arm and spinning underneath it, Ruben managed to escape and break Aaron’s hand. Aaron kicked but Ruben blocked it. Aaron threw his knife with his one healthy hand but Ruben caught it, throwing it back. Aaron rolled out of the way and quickly stood back up. They were facing each other with bloody faces. They got into their stances. Ruben said, “I need a cigarette.”
“Shut up, murderer.”
“Look who’s talking, asshole.”
Out of nowhere Ruben threw a bottle at Aaron. The bottle shattered on his arm. Ruben flicked a tiny piece of ember, lighting Aaron’s arm on fire. Aaron threw his belt at Ruben, who caught it to perform a counterattack. Suddenly, Ruben realised that he had made a mistake. Although one of his hands was broken and his other hand was on fire, Aaron would never throw anything at him at such a slow speed. But it was too late. As he grabbed Aaron’s belt, Aaron had already leant forward. He bit Ruben’s wrist as hard as he could with his last remaining teeth. He didn’t let go. As he bit he forced his own elbow upward, breaking Ruben’s arm. Ruben winced. Aaron pulled out the sword on the ground and cut Ruben’s arm off. Ruben vomited. Aaron glanced at the vomit, only to realise that it was merely a distraction. As he glanced at the bile, Ruben grabbed Aaron’s flaming hand and broke his fingers, releasing the sword into his own hand. He chopped Aaron’s head off. They both smiled.
Ruben leant against the wall. He remembered his wife and the son they never had. He cried. Things in the house began to catch fire. He watched the flames, but in the end couldn’t wait for them to engulf him. He was sick of life. This nonsense. He looked at his eye on the floor. He looked at the decapitated boy.
Ruben remembered the painting he didn’t like. He remembered the people he didn’t like. He remembered that movie he didn’t like. Ruben gave up and closed his eyes for good.
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Comment by Brenton
Dr Spin
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Downwrite
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Comment by Always Eighteen
Always Eighteen
Cool new pic! Thanks so much. I'm experimenting with action shorts. I've been inspired by your Fishcake warrior stories, these two martial arts groups - kempo and ninjutsu - nearby who are having fights, and movies! I've got all these ideas in my head for a full story about martial arts. I absolutely love the stuff.
If you haven't seen this video on YouTube lately, you absolutely have to:
Really Long Link
It's about ninjutsu.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
As usual, I loved this piece,
Tracy
Comment by Brenton
Dr Spin
Tales From The Other Side
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Gadget Museum
I like that it explores beyond the typicalities of the genre.