Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Anthrax and Cyanide dove into battle against one another, both simultaneously beginning with a gunshot, then rushing to close range combat with their knives. This would be a tough battle for Cyanide, unlike any other fight he'd experienced before. All his tricks and moves were taught to him by Anthrax himself, and thus he would know how to counter all of them.

If Cyanide wanted to win this fight, he would need to use some moves of his own. Break free from the shackles of 'student', and become his own independent person. Perhaps that was why Anthrax wanted this fight to happen as his last. Even though his death was set in stone against his will, he was still taking his fate into his own hands to the best of his abilities, and fulfilling his role as teacher one final time.

Cyanide slashed towards Anthrax aggressively, teal-green eyes gleaming with coldness and malice. This man was not his teacher anymore. This man was his target, and Cyanide the assassin sent to take him out. Seeing this, Anthrax gave a crooked smile and evaded his attacks, sometimes blocking with the body of his gun.

"Heh… good, good. Not holding back at all… just the way I like it!"

Parrying Cyanide's knife with the tip of his gun, Anthrax took this opportunity to go on the offensive. However, he was met by a bullet, forcing him to back away and smirk.

"Oho… not bad. Quick reactions. That's the beauty of the simple gun and knife—even after one is rendered unusable, the other can still save ya in a pinch. Now… let's see if ya can defend against this!"

Suddenly, Anthrax pulled out two more knives out of nowhere and held them in between the fingers of his knife hand, then threw them towards Cyanide. The younger assassin's eyes widened slightly at this unexpected move, but he was fast enough to shoot two down and evade the final one.

"…" He stared at Anthrax momentarily, confused on what that move was since he'd never seen his teacher use it before, but ultimately decided it was idiotic to try and figure out why a target would use a certain move, and instead went back on the offensive, dashing towards his former teacher with both weapons in hand.

Anthrax watched as he came closer, and threw knives towards Cyanide in an attempt to stop him. They were more effective they gunshots since he could throw many at the same time, but Cyanide, having experienced them once already, already knew how to avoid and counter them. Anthrax smiled—that's his student.

It still was not enough, however, as Anthrax clashed against Cyanide's plain silver knife with his own, elegant and perhaps excessively decorated white one. In terms of bladework, Anthrax had far more experience, and soon was pushing Cyanide backwards with a smile on his face, as if he was enjoying this.

"… Tch."

Cyanide backed away, realizing he couldn't win using a melee fight like that, and considered his options as he dodged from several gunshots from Anthrax (he ran out of throwing knives, apparently). There was no downtime in a fight. Your enemy wasn't going to just let you think about what to do next, and Anthrax wanted to drive that point home.

One of his bullets, however, hit an area close to a corner where several cans of oil were stored. For what reason, that was unknown, but an assassin didn't care about why. All Cyanide knew was that this was a chance. A weapon. An opportunity. Cyanide picked up on this with his eyes, and quickly, a plan formed in his head.

Sliding underneath a barrage of bullets shot by Anthrax, Cyanide placed one of his feet behind an oil can, and kicked it upwards right as Anthrax shot another bullet.

BOOM!

As the can of oil blew up in flames in the air and Anthrax's eyes widened, Cyanide dashed through, using the explosion as a shroud while protecting his body from the flames and heat with his special heat-resistant black cloak. Then, he tackled the surprised Anthrax, and knocked the gun out of his hand.

As the two tumbled to the ground, the knife fell out of Anthrax's hand as well due to the impact, and slid a few meters away. Cyanide, straddling Anthrax's lying down body, pressed his knife against his former teacher's throat.

"… You could've shot me there. Why didn't you?"

"Hm? Whaddya mean?" Anthrax asked, playing dumb with an innocent smile on his face. "I wasn't expectin' that oil tank play, kid. Ya got me good. Now… finish the job."

"Cut the bullshit," Cyanide said harshly, narrowing his eyes. "I've fought by your side for ten years. I know what you are capable of. That fight… you weren't trying at all."

At this, Anthrax let out a deep sigh, and stared up at the night sky, glittering with stars. And then, while Cyanide wasn't expecting it, he grabbed his student's wrist and forced him to stab the knife down into his chest, drawing blood.

"N-Ngh…"

"Wha…?!" Cyanide's eyes widened at what just happened and tried to move away, but Anthrax pulled him back down with his arms as blood spurted out of the aged man's mouth.

"Listen closely, boy… I wanted this to happen," he croaked, eyes filled with emotion that should not be in the gaze of an assassin who has killed hundreds. "If I am to die anyway… I at least want to die in the hands of someone I know, and trust."

At this, Cyanide tightened his hand around the handle of the blade, still inside Anthrax's chest, and trembled a bit from anger. He knew it wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to feel emotions like this. But…

"… I don't understand," he growled deeply after a while. "Why… who wants to kill you…?"

"… Hah. I have plenty of enemies in this world, kiddo," Anthrax said with a quiet chuckle, eyes slowly glazing over. "And sometimes… no matter how strong you are… you can still get driven into a corner."

"That makes no sense," Cyanide replied. "If you are strong enough, no one will be able to kill you."

At this, Anthrax closed his eyes, and gave a deep sigh, hanging onto life for a bit longer. Just a bit, enough to teach his student this one last concept—one that he needed to know, no matter what.

With a quiet, melancholy voice, Anthrax spoke.

"It's time, kid… for my final lesson."

*****

(This short story will be continued in the main story in a couple of chapters.. Hang in until then.)