Black Powder Blues

It had been a while since Koetsu had the chance to stretch his legs in fieldwork. Much longer and his steel might have gone rusty. That was a joke, of course, as God Steel was a material beyond the simplicity and frailness of worldly junk metal. Mere disuse wasn't enough to dull the edge of a blade he forged. Still, better safe than sorry.

This leg of today's journey was a simple reconnaissance task, an investigation into the affairs of a certain group of armed miscreants. It was difficult to think of them as a dark guild, but despite this, it was still likely a matter of public order. This group was known as the 'Black Powder Gang', and they relied on this magically enhanced gunpowder to do most of their dirty work. They mostly consisted of nobodies and rejects from legal guilds who couldn't use magic very well. Specifically, they used guns and various magic gunpowder. Koetsu didn't like guns, one could say he had a problem with them, in fact.

That said, he didn't know anything practical about them at all. Where they hung out, what their uniform looked like if there was one, or even how to identify them. It was a giant crapshoot to him, really; In fact, he was sort of hoping they'd be super obvious. Judging by this being his third trip around Magnolia's main streets, that was not the case. Either that, or Koetsu had been unable to identify a back-alley at all, or find bars, or any such things.

Essentially, his goal had only been to isolate a few members of the gang, get into a fight with them, and quickly take them down. Then he intended to shake one down good and proper, do it 'by the book' as it were, and then take his information back to the commissioner. Without being able to find one, though, he was banking entirely on luck, and it seemed that the grace of his god wasn't paying him any visitation.

"Lord Muramasa, you jerk, at least let one of them fire off so I can sniff out their gunpowder," he would plead his sole choice of deity. This was a prayer to a God by technicality, though in truth he was just lambasting his old mentor about forgetting to help a guy out once in a while. It had been a month or two since his last job, and at this rate it'd be another month before he combed every inch of Magnolia and found out he was getting pranked by the Magic Council.

Maybe a stern nudging would remind the old man to throw him a bone. Preferably a metal one he forged himself. Say what you will about his personality, attitude, and work ethic, there is nothing mankind has offered him yet that beats the taste of a Steel God's ironworks. Of course, this whole chain of thought was making him very hungry, so perhaps it was time to spend the allowance a friend in the guild lent him on some food...

Wait... where existed a place to eat around these parts? Koetsu didn't do any research in advance, so he was lost within being lost. Maybe he'd finally find a local and ask them some questions. That seemed like a reasonable way to sate his hunger, for sure. Now to find a suitably knowledgeable-looking local...

Word Count: 564
Total Words: 564

Rowan had only been to Magnolia once or twice before, but the same could be said for most of the major towns and cities in Fiore. Still, he felt right at home wandering the streets of the happy-go-lucky town, smiling and waving at passers-by and stopping occasionally to look in the windows of the many shops that lined Magnolia's streets. There was just something about the energy of this place that made him feel at ease, like everything was going to be okay. That was actually why Rowan had come to town, in fact. He had been wandering for nearly a month now through the wilderness of Fiore, camping out in the woods and whatever caves seemed safe enough along the way. Being honest, he had simply grown lonely in his time away from civilization, and just wanted to stop in to soak up the good vibes for a bit. Plus, if he was lucky he might even find a bit of adventure while in town to spice up his life.

While walking along, Rowan looked out and admired the strands of life force that he could see coming from the bustling crowds of people. The sight had been difficult to get used to at first, but now he found it to be truly beautiful, like a forest of wispy white vines snaking their way throughout the city and creating a massive, interconnected web. At the same time, it could be overwhelming at times, so Rowan decided to duck into a back alley for a brief period, during which he saw something rather strange. There were two men with knotted, twisted lifelines that seemed to be warped with anger and malice carrying large barrels into a building. This would not have normally been cause for suspicion from Rowan, but as the curious young red-head continued to watch from a distance the men stopped working and with a raised voice one of them demanded, "Hey! What are you starin' at?! Go mind your own damn business, boy."

Rowan had a bad feeling about these men, but he wasn't here to get into a fight over men merely looking suspicious, so he raised his hands, bowed his head apologetically and said, "Of course, sorry! Didn't mean to bother you." With that, Rowan then turned back the way he came and left without complaint, fighting his urge to try and hide to keep watching them out of curiosity. Still, he couldn't hide a mildly concerned look on his face as he continued to walk the town's streets, unable to shake an eerie feeling that had washed over him ever since the interaction.

Nearly an hour had passed since then when Rowan had spotted another strange-looking lifeline. This one was different, though. It was... Almost sharp, in a way. Like the edge of a blade that had no spine. What's more, it was pitch black in color, in a way that Rowan had never seen before, especially on a lifeline that didn't appear to be twisted by malice. Strange lifelines like this one had certainly always gotten the curious young mage's attention, and as Rowan approached the source of this lifeline he found that it led to a rather pale-looking purple-haired boy that seemed to be looking around for something. Without much hesitation, Rowan simply reached out to touch the boy's shoulder gently, smiling at him and offering a cheerful greeting, "Hello there. You seem a bit lost, do you need help with anything? I'm Rowan, by the way." He chose not to mention anything regarding the boy's lifeline, at least for now, as he found that approaching people to talk about something like that often disturbed them somewhat, for one reason or another.

Word Count: 620
Total Words: 1,184

After resigning himself to being lost, Koetsu's main concern at the moment was becoming the need to catch a meal. He was lost, however, and had no experience to fall back on here. Being a societal outcast for the greater portion of his life, he never found it to be natural to approach somebody else who had nothing to do with him, especially people who could be considered normal. Call it a stubborn nature, call it social awkwardness, in the end he was like a lamb looking for his mother sheep.

Not too long after he'd started looking, however, he was approached by a red haired youth. It was odd, thinking of himself as an adult, but it was also odd to see a youth dressed in rags, even more so because he didn't seem like the poor and pathetic sort. The rags almost seemed like a fashion statement. Must have been the power of this hygiene he'd heard of once before. He barely knew the first thing about the deep maintenance needed for the human body, so it was a wonder he kept his good looks.

"Oh are you from around here? I was searching for someone and got lost, and now I'm terribly hungry," Koetsu would explain. It would strike him that it came across as begging after a beat, so he quickly adjusted his statement, "So I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the nearest restaurant? I could even afford to treat you to something in return, I think. Oh, and my name is Koetsu." With that offer extended, he could simply wait to hear the young man's reply. It was an earnest and genuine offer, since he needed help there was no reason not to reward the kid if he decided to help him. That was the nature of his own work as well, so it wouldn't do to be stingy.

Word Count: 321
Total Words: 1505

Rowan's eyes widened slightly as the purple-haired boy before him as he explained his situation briefly before offering to treat Rowan to a meal if he pointed him in the right direction. He seemed somewhat bemused by the offer as something in exchange for simply indicating a restaurant, but Rowan had never been the type to turn down food, so after a brief moment he simply closed his eyes and chuckled before responding, "Well, no, I'm not from around here per say. But I've been here before, and I can definitely help you find something to eat. It's nice to meet you, Koetsu. Come on, I know of a pretty nice little hole in the wall not too far from here. Their stew is to die for.~"

With that, Rowan turned and began leading the way to a fairly rustic-looking bistro that rarely saw much business despite actually having top-notch cooks. This was due to its location, more than anything, having been placed on the outskirts of town with its entrance on the side of the building so that one had to go into an alley to get in. On the way, Rowan turned his head to look over towards Koetsu, half to make sure the boy was actually following and half to speak to him more clearly.

"So, you said you were looking for someone, yeah? Mind if I ask who? I doubt I'll be able to help, really, but I'm curious. Is it a friend of yours? Oh, or perhaps a lover?~" Rowan questioned playfully, chuckling again as he strolled along at a surprisingly fast pace, almost as if his legs were mechanical.

Word Count: 275
Total Words: 1,780

The offer of food hit its mark, and he had arrested the cooperation of the young man he'd been fortunate enough to catch the attention of. Within moments, they were already on their way to a 'pretty nice little hole in the wall'. Koetsu wasn't completely up to date with turns of phrase on account of Muramasa himself tuning out most of humanity around fifty years ago, but 'hole in the wall' sounded like a code of some sort. Certainly nobody gouged a hole into a wall to serve food out of. Though the business model seemed intriguing for novelty's sake.

As they made their way towards the place, the question arose as to who he might be looking for. He supposed he could have used some help on that front as well, if only locating them. "Well, it's not literally someone so much as someones. I'm here investigating a certain gang's suspicious activities to see if they warrant the intervention of the Magic Council. They're called the 'Black Powder Gang' but that's about all I have to go off of, unfortunately," Koetsu would explain. It wasn't exactly classified information, so long as the gang themselves didn't hear he was skulking about. The pale mage would sigh, "I should have asked for more information while I was being briefed..."

Word Count: 219
Total Words: 1999

Rowan nodded along to indicate that he was listening as Koetsu told him who he was looking for. Almost as soon as he was going to open his mouth to respond, though, Rowan suddenly let out a painful-sounding grunt and dropped to one knee, his eyes glowing red so brightly that it could be seen lighting up the ground below him slightly. For the next several moments Rowan simply sat there on one knee, one hand held to the side of his head while he gritted his teeth with eyes wide open.

---

From Rowan's perspective, the scenery around him had suddenly changed as he was walking. He was no longer in the same place, nor was he with Koetsu anymore. Looking around from his position kneeling on the ground, he recognized the familiar charm of Magnolia town, but he was half a mile away from where he'd been walking previously, directly in front of Magnolia's main hospital.

This wasn't the first time Rowan had had a fit of visions like this. His accursed eyes were just as much a hindrance as they were a help, and he suspected that the vision would end soon as they always did. Many of his visions were meaningless, too, so he simply thought this was another precognitive spasm of sorts. When the vision didn't end after a brief moment, he knew something was different about this one, and he felt a lump forming in his throat. What could be so important about Magnolia hospital that the fates were forcing him to see it now?

As he looked around for some answer to this question, he stood up slowly and began walking around the building, peering down the sides and looking up into the sky as if he expected something to be hovering overhead. There was nothing though, no cause for suspicion or alarm. At least, not until he heard the front doors of the hospital burst open loudly and the sound of several men running out into the street, whooping and cheering the whole time like mad men. Looking at the men as they ran, he could see gnarled, twisted lifelines, just like the ones from before... No, these were the same ones, he was sure of it. They were masked with bandannas, but Rowan could tell by the way they were dressed, with leather jackets that had a black circle with a thin, spiky yellow-and-red ring around it stamped on the back. Wondering what they were cheering so loudly about, and knowing it couldn't be anything good, Rowan moved to the front of the building once more, gulping as he stepped forward towards the large double doors of the building.

Then, a body-shaking, earth-quaking explosion rang out into the night air, deafening Rowan and sending shards of broken wood and glass careening into him, the shockwave blowing him backwards into a nearby wall. Everything went black the instant his back impacted the building he'd been flung into, and for a second it all felt so real that Rowan forgot he was merely having a vision.

---

Rowan blinked once, then twice. He was staring down at the ground with the late evening light still pouring down around him. He was kneeling again, too, and he couldn't help but be confused, having thought that he'd met his end not even seconds ago. He'd had extremely vivid visions in the past, yes, but it was always a shock to come out okay after the ones in which he died. Shaking his head as if to clear it, Rowan looked around like a frightened animal before his eyes rested on Koetsu once more.

"Koetsu... I... I think I know where to find those people you're looking for, but..." Rowan began, his voice quaking as he stood up shakily. "I don't know if we have time to eat. It's getting late and... Look, I know how it might sound, but... I think they're going to blow up the hospital... Tonight."

Word Count: 662
Total Words: 2661

It was a strange sort of thing, when you ask a simple question and the person you inquired to suddenly goes into some kind of PTSD flashback. Koetsu himself had issues grasping the concept, since despite his own fistful of trauma, the worst he suffered was the occasional nightmare. The Rowan kid, on the other hand, suddenly found himself with glowing red eyes, crumpling to his knees and lighting up the floor.

The pale swordsmith would panic momentarily and look around, "W-what's wrong? Are you okay? How can I help?" he asked a totally lost individual who was undergoing some deep trance. Almost a minute went by through this event, and Koetsu had at some point in this time decided to kneel next to him in order to make sure he didn't collapse and hit his head. There was nobody nearby and he had no forms of communication to reach out to the hospital.

The young man eventually came to, finally responsive. Koetsu immediately tried to confirm his health, "Rowan, are you okay? Do you need to see a doctor?" His young momentary companion would look around and blink before addressing him, saying that they did indeed need to get to the hospital. Not for the reason of his own personal health, but for the safety of all the doctors and patients inside the hospital. "They're gonna what? H-how do you know that? We gotta... Fuck there's no time!" he tried to work out. This revelation had struck his plans like a freight train, since not only did he figure out their plans, but they were also happening right now. He had only planned to get the information and send it to the Magic Council in order for them to decide what was what.

Having discovered this plot, however, there was no time to get the council involved. Koetsu had to take care of it himself. "No time for dinner, huh? After I take care of this, then..." Koetsu would say, resolving himself with a deep breath, "Those gunslinging jerks want terror? I'll show them terror." Despite his words, he didn't really have the murderous energy needed to sell it. He spoke it more like a matter of fact than a threat. Furthermore, the swordsmith knew where to find Magnolia's main Hospital. He could easily intercept this problem himself, though it was a little out of his paygrade. He figured he could negotiate a reward once he submitted his paperwork after the fact.

"Thanks for the information, Rowan, I'll meet you back here when I'm done taking care of this," the purple-haired god slayer would say, as he began a purposeful run towards the Magnolia General Hospital.

Word Count: 447
Total Words for Gunpowder Plot: 447

It warmed Rowan's heart somewhat that Koetsu had knelt down next to him to make sure he was okay, but he nodded quickly and almost dismissively at the question. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Happens all the time. Just one of the many 'perks' of being me." Rowan said with notable disdain. It wasn't as though he hated having the ability to see the future, but it sure would be nice if it didn't suck so bad. And if he had more control over it, too, for that matter. Still, in times like this, he did consider it a blessing nonetheless; now there was a chance to stop egregious loss of life from ever occurring, and it was hard to see that as a bad thing.

As Koetsu asked how he knew what he knew, Rowan shrugged. He didn't like delivering the whole 'I can see the future' line most days. "Call it a hunch. Just trust me, I'm usually not wrong about these things." He stated simply, but it seemed that he didn't really need to try and convince Koetsu to trust him. By the looks of it, the boy with the strange lifeline had already taken Rowan's warning to heart, and was even going to act on it immediately.

Rowan wasn't about to let Koetsu go into that hornet's nest alone, though. By the looks of things in his vision, there were more than just a couple guys to worry about, and it was impossible to be sure just how dangerous these people were. Bolting after Koetsu at a speed that must have been honed through years of running in and out of danger, Rowan did his best to catch up to the boy. "Wait! Koetsu, don't just run off alone! These people seem dangerous, let me help you!" He called out after the purple-haired one.

"Do you even know how many you're dealing with? How strong they are? And if we come storming up, won't that let them know something's wrong? If they know we're on to them, they might try to blow the place earlier!" Rowan added with almost tangible concern emanating from his voice. Too many times before had he tried to use his future sight to prevent something only to accelerate, or even facilitate, the end result. That, and they were dealing with what were essentially terrorists, and he suspected they would be staying quite vigilant for a plan like this. After all, he knew first-hand that they were good enough to pull off a plan like this if Rowan and Koetsu didn't get involved, so they certainly could not be underestimated.

Word Count: 438
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 885

It was indeed the case that Koetsu didn't need any convincing. He wasn't the sort of guy to take that kind of weird foreshadowing lightly: After all, there were far stranger things in this world than a kid with prophetic visions. Why wouldn't they be right? Plus it seemed like Rowan himself believed the vision as reliable information, especially since he had just started following Koetsu while trying to advise caution.

He would slow himself to the kid's pace, as he often needed to with most people, he was quite swift, and listened to all that rationality and caution he was spewing. "They won't know we're onto them cuz we'll be kicking their asses before than can figure out we know!" Koetsu would reassure his brave teenaged companion. It wasn't exactly sound logic, but the purple-haired swordsmith was basically always ready for a challenge, so the overall stressor of the situation was only boosting his drive to take care of the situation.

One may also have noted that it was weird how 'alright with it' Koetsu was, regarding a teenager helping him come into a hospital teeming with gun-toting hooligans obsessed with gunpowder and its application as an implement of horror. Well that was simple as well: Rowan wouldn't follow him into such a situation if he didn't think he could defend himself, or help in some way. Plus he couldn't afford to waste the time debating the subject of ageism in the field of mage work. Shit in this world was nerfed to hell and back anyways, even the guns and swords did bludgeoning damage when used against people.

At Rowan's top speed, it wouldn't be too long before the hospital was visible over the tops of the neighborhood. The sun wasn't getting any higher, though, so Koetsu wasn't about to relax yet. "There it is, any idea of their point of entry?" he asked Rowan whilst they ran, "We can't risk starting a panic, so it would be best to find where they're loading it in and take them out starting there."

The rationale was that if they could avoid having to evacuate the hospital altogether, and disable whatever means they had to blow the place up, there wouldn't need to be any extra stress on all those sick people in their beds. Koetsu was utterly disgusted by the Black Powder Gang for this. He'd come along to deal with some misguided youths who needed to be led to the glorious side of swords, but found a gang of gun-toting terrorists with no discernible motives.

Word Count: 427
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 1,312

Rowan opened his mouth briefly to respond to Koetsu's potentially over-confident statement, but quickly thought better of it. It wasn't like he was going to convince Koetsu to slow down at this rate, after all, and it was better to work with someone doing something dangerous than against them when it came to getting things done in a hurry. Groaning slightly, Rowan continued to run alongside Koetsu in silence for a short time, until the hospital was coming into view.

When Koetsu asked Rowan if he knew a possible point of entry, he shook his head quickly at first, without really thinking about it. "No, I only saw..." He stopped himself before he could finish the thought, pausing for a moment to scratch his head with his right hand while the left rested on his hip, looking down at the ground momentarily. "Hang on, I saw the same guys carrying big barrels of something into a building not long ago... It wasn't the hospital, but it was nearby. You don't think they could have a way into the hospital through there, do you?" Rowan wasn't entirely sure that this line of thought was the correct one, but it was the only other info he had at the moment, and there was no way they were lugging around giant barrels in a dark alleyway mere hours before their dastardly plan was to be hatched for no reason.

Without really waiting for a response, Rowan simply darted off again, heading slightly to the left of the hospital instead of going straight for it, where he had seen the thugs in the alleyway before. As he took off, he waved for Koetsu to follow after him. "C'mon, I'll show you where I saw them. It's close to the hospital, like I said, so if it's a bust we should still have time to kick in the front door and catch them in the act!" Rowan announced confidently, taking on a different attitude altogether now that caution was already being thrown to the wind. In truth, this was how Rowan got his thrills, he simply didn't like to see others get hurt so it was hard not to offer words of caution to those charging headlong into danger.

After another bout of running, Rowan would find himself looking down the same alleyway from earlier, panting softly though not truly out of breath just yet. "This is the place." He said calmly, stepping into the alleyway and scanning the area for any visible lifelines, holding up a hand as if to tell Koetsu to hold back while he scouted ahead. After only a few steps though, Rowan determined that nobody was here other than himself and Koetsu, and he lowered his hand again. "Looks like there's nobody here. Either that means they aren't using this place as their entry point, or..." He turned his head towards Koetsu, a sly grin on his face with his eyes half-closed in a mischievous expression. "... It could mean they aren't thinking to watch their backs." He said as he boldly strolled up to the door he'd seen the men using and pulling on the doorknob gently, only to find that it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder, and still no budge. Then, with a sigh, he added, "Or it means they locked the damn door..."

Word Count: 555
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 1,867

Rowan indeed had info pertaining to their possible point of entry, which seemed more than suspicious enough to check it out. The worst case scenario was that they wasted a few precious minutes, while the best case was that his homeless-seeming young buddy here had witnessed them red-handed in the act. Obviously, if he was right, he'd just shaved more than a few precious minutes off their investigation time, and gave them an unexpected advantage in this circumstance. Koetsu liked the pro and con balance of the situation and decided to go with it, "Lead the way."

Were Rowan able to tell him the location verbally, the swordsmith might have seen fit to show off his athletic acumen with a legendary jump, but that wasn't the case so he had to follow along. Plus, it seemed that the young man was getting into the spirit of kicking the door down and saving the day. They took a path somewhat leftwards of the beeline they'd been making, and wound up in a dark alleyway not too far from the hospital. "Oh, this is a back alley. I never heard it called that before," Koetsu would comment, detecting that it was empty long before they got there thanks to his enhanced hearing. It seemed that somebody had given him instructions and he was missing some vocabulary words.

Rowan took the lead in scouting the external building hallway, while Koetsu held his position a few feet behind, in case he'd missed out on a stray sneaky footstep or something while he'd been talking. However, it would appear he had nothing to worry about; Nobody was here, nobody was watching their backs. Rowan approached the heavy metal door, and tried to open it, but found it was locked tight. Koetsu would huff, "Well that's a shame..."

His stomach growled loudly, like he hadn't eaten all day if not longer. The pale swordsmith would wince at the sensation and sigh, "I should've gotten something on the train... Oh well. If my belly says I gotta eat, then that's that."

Koetsu approached the door, gently pushing Rowan aside, and grabbed onto the handle, ripping the whole thing almost entirely off its hinges, the metal folding somewhat in his grip, before he opened his mouth, revealing sharklike razor fangs, and chomped into the big metal door. He took a second to savor the steel, talking with his mouth full, "Ooh~ Wow, they didn't skimp on this door! Real steel all the way through~!"

After a beat of visibly chewing on the door's corner like a whole piece of steak, he would sharply inhale like one does when slurping a noodle dish, and ripped the door and its hinges out of the frame, completely disappearing his impromptu meal of steel within his rather diminuative body. "Ahh~ Thanks for the meal~" he would say by habit, clapping his hands together with satisfaction, leaving no doubt to be had that he was really, really weird.

Of course, the whole process probably couldn't have been much noisier if they had specialized magic to make it such, so the rear guard flunkies, or whatever passed for a rear guard in this operation,  would audibly be approaching from the hallway down the stairs. "Looks like we got company. Only two of em though, by the sound of the footsteps," Koetsu would mention with a smile, "How are you at combat?"

Word Count: 567
Words for Gunpowder Plot: 2434

Rowan's first reaction wasn't one of surprise; rather, his expression seemed to show a total lack thereof. It wasn't as though Rowan had ever seen anything like a metal door being ripped apart and eaten before, but something about how casually it had been done made Rowan's mind simply gloss over the event as if there was nothing strange about it at all. The young red-haired mage even nodded along in agreement to Koetsu's comments on the quality of the door, only realizing just how bizarre the situation was moments later when the purple-haired one began to literally inhale the remainder of the large hunk of steel.

"Wait, what the..?!" Rowan would suddenly exclaim, eyes wide as he recoiled somewhat from Koetsu, wondering what kind of monster just rips steel apart like it was nothing. Maybe that had something to do with the boy's strange black lifeline? Or vice-versa, he supposed. "Nevermind." Rowan amended, shaking his head as he heard the same clamoring footsteps that he'd heard in his vision making their way towards himself and Koetsu in a hurry. He had seen strange things before, and this was likely just the work of some magic or another anyway. There would be time to comment on the other boy's methods later.

Almost before Koetsu could manage to ask Rowan how he was at dealing with combat, the red-haired boy had raised his hand and placed it gently on Koetsu's back, attaching two magical strings to the boy wordlessly. As he did, he would smile warmly at Koetsu, acting as though nothing at all was wrong even as the purple-haired boy could feel his body weakening and his movements slowing down. "Actually, I'm not all that good at direct combat. You see, I prefer to play support. You must be incredibly strong, though! I hope you don't mind if I rely on that strength just a bit." Rowan said, before bringing his other hand up swiftly to cut the strings of fate he'd just attached to Koetsu moments before.

The strings of fate Rowan had used in particular were, of course, the fate of the slow and the fate of the weak. The fate of the slow causes the afflicted to slow in every way, from thought processes to actual kinetic movement, while the fate of the weak similarly weakens every aspect of the afflicted's body. Now that Rowan had cut these strings, however, the effects would suddenly reverse, speeding Koetsu's body and thought processes rather than slowing them, and strengthening his skin and muscles just as much as they had been weakened, if not more. "Don't worry, I've still got your back from back here, but something tells me you're better at this sort of thing." Rowan added, nodding firmly as if to confirm his own statement as he tucked his hands into his own sleeves, stepping back slightly.

As the two rear gangsters came clamoring down the hall to investigate the noise and saw Koetsu standing there in the now-empty door frame, they would both raise their shotguns and level them towards the boy's face, the one on the left speaking in an authoritative tone, "You there! What do you think you're doin'? You tryin' 'ta get blasted?" Even as the question was asked, the man on the right would flinch and fire off two blasts in Koetsu's direction, one of which was horribly off-course to hit even Rowan while the other zoomed straight for the purple-haired boy's chest.

"OI! What's wrong with you? We're not supposed to be makin' noise if we don't hafta!" The left-hand thug jeered at the one who had fired, reaching back to smack the man on the head before grumbling and raising his own weapon to point towards Koetsu again, aiming down the barrel even though he was sure the boy had already been blown away.

Word Count: 643
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 3,077

It was good that Rowan was so accepting if his high-iron diet, or at least Koetsu had been thinking that while his red-haired companion had nodded along. Of course, it was never as easy as somebody 'just getting it' when he ate steel like it was a perfectly normal meal. Thankfully there was some present enemy accompaniment to distract them both from the oddity of the situation, so Koetsu didn't have to explain himself.

Rowan claimed himself to be more of a supporting cast member, and patted the purple-haired swordsmith on the back. Koetsu felt his senses dulling, his body bordering on collapse, like the strength was just sucked right out of him... It was even difficult to understand what the red-haired teenage hobo was saying to him. It even took him too long to grasp that Rowan was even the one who was doing this to him, despite him all but admitting to it. Was this a betrayal? That would have been a huge pain in the ass...

Suddenly, he felt his energy and vigor skyrocket, as though released from a slingshot. It felt nigh on exponential, a surge of power unlike any he could have expected. He even totally forgot about the Black Powder Gangsters approaching from within. "Oh wow, that'd a neat spe- ACK!" Koetsu would claim, before one of the enemy gunmen would panick fire a bullet straight into Koetsu's unsuspecting gullet. The kinetic force was largely unwelcome, not that it hurt that bad. Koetsu was feeling pretty quick, so the shell that had almost caught Rowan was snatched out of the air by hand.

"Geez, you guys sure don't waste a lot of time," the pale swordsmith would say, as though he hadn't just got shot in the throat. He would flick the bullet he caught by hand into his mouth like a gumball, catching it between his teeth, which glided through the iron pellet like a chunk of butter. "At least the iron's good quality," he added, with a grin.

The second goon would realize their situation and let out a panicked scream, "What in the hell!?" He wound up leveling his gun once more and flinch-shooting exactly like his peer that he'd just reprimanded. These bullets, however were both directed at Koetsu, who decided to snack and move at the same time. The last thing he needed was these guys alerting the whole town of Magnolia. In a blur of motion, he appeared behind the two goons and the bullets had disappeared entirely, by the look of things.

The men, having been too scared to focus, were totally caught off guard, allowing Koetsu to take them both by their hair and clapping both of their heads together like a pair if coconuts. They slumped onto the ground unceremoniously, leaving him triumphant, though dejected looking, "Small fries like this shouldn't even be involved in Black Powder Gang's operations. I kinda feel bad for them."

They appeared to start getting up, but Koetsu would hammer them both at once with a merciless spin kick into a small pile on the wall on his left. "At least they were nice enough to get out of our way, huh?" he added casually. He smiled and put his hands behind his head as he sauntered further up the hall, presuming Rowan would follow along. He pulled a flattened bullet out from his pocket and held it up to his homeless companion, "Want one? I wasn't just buttering them up when I said the iron's good quality."

Word Count: 588
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 3,665

Rowan nodded to himself confidently, happy that he had been correct to assume that Koetsu was good at this sort of thing. That had been dealt with even quicker than he expected! "Very nice. You sure don't mess around, huh?" Rowan asked as he took a step through the threshold of the once-locked door. He had been worried about Koetsu's well-being a moment before when he saw the bullet colliding with the boy's maw, but the fight had been over so quickly that it appeared there was no cause for concern in the first place.

"No, thank you, it's all yours." Rowan said with a smile and one hand raised to turn down Koetsu's offer of a bullet. "You really do eat that stuff, huh? I don't know why, but I thought you were just joking at first." Rowan badly wanted to ask more questions, but now was hardly the time for idle chitchat, so he simply left it at that and continued down the dark hallway after Koetsu.

Once Koetsu and Rowan made it down the stairs into what appeared to be a storage cellar for a tavern, Rowan immediately detected something amiss and gasped audibly, his hands shooting out from his sleeves with fingers outstretched and light blue strings extending from the fingertips. The threads themselves lashed out across the room in apparently random directions, latching onto a few casks of beer and a crate or two of dried vegetables and fruits. "There's 5!" Rowan said simply, before crossing his arms and lowering them in a dramatic motion, yanking on his threads to pull the various pieces of cover away from the men that had laid in waiting to ambush the two young mages.

The barrels that Rowan had yanked rolled towards him, and he quickly ducked behind them to take cover from any stray gunfire, assuming that Koetsu was more than capable of protecting himself at this point. The crates simply skittered to a stop, rolling onto their sides several feet away from their original positions. All 5 of the musket-wielding plotters were caught off-guard by suddenly losing their only cover, and while two managed to pull themselves together to aim and fire in Koetsu and Rowan's direction, the rest of them simply stared out in confusion, clutching the guns by their sides. The round that had been aimed at Rowan sunk into the wood of one of the barrels that protected the red-haired boy, causing an explosion of sorts as the full-to-bursting ale cask was blown apart by the powerful shot, soaking Rowan in bitter-tasting alcohol.

In retaliation, Rowan raised his hand into the open air, threads snaking out from his fingertips to form a thick wall of threads in front of him, having decided that the barrels would not provide suitable cover for long without some supplementation. "Koetsu! You think you got this?" Rowan called out from behind cover, his hand lowering to the ground as more strings snaked out from the palm of his hand, crawling across the ground like vines around his makeshift wall, one moving towards each of the 5 gangsters swiftly, setting up for an attack of his own in case it was necessary.

Word Count: 533
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 4,198

Koetsu had been eating metal for so long that it felt like a totally natural thing to do, and in his somewhat euphoric state of liveliness he didn't really take the time to consider how not everybody spent a few years living with a God. While when he was just starting his training under Lord Muramasa, the process of eating metal was taxing and required focus, nowadays he was always ready for a mouthful of metal to find its way into his gullet.

As they reached the end of the stairwell, he smelled something funny. Something like iron, but stinkier. It wasn't as though he was the only one ready to fight, or so it would seem, as Rowan sprang into action, ripping away the cover from around the room and exposing several gunmen armed with muskets who were just as shocked as the goons earlier were. "Oh wow, there are five. How'd you count them so quick?" Koetsu asked, distracting himself a good bit before the men with muskets fired at him. "Oof!" he grunted as a musket round flattened against his flesh.

"Darn, I kinda felt that one," he would mutter, plucking the flat bullet off his now bruised head. He took a bite out of the bullet and and his eyes widened, "Oh man, this is some good steel! You're firing this from guns!? What kind of monsters are you Powdermonkeys?"

While Rowan had been setting up some defenses, and asked Koetsu if he could manage this one. "Huh? Oh for sure. These guys are just so wasteful I've gotta get serious before they hurt any more precious steel," the swordsmith spoke with a grin. He tossed the rest of the bullet into his mouth, and approached the gunners. They would freak out, watching some skinny twerp just eat a high caliber musket ball like a snack. All five of them would take aim at him.

"You'll lower those guns, and your heads, if you know what's good for you."

He rose one fist in their direction, as if to menace them or say it would only take one hand. Suddenly, a blackish haze formed from his knuckle and a long, thin length of something black would emit from the back of his hand along the vector of his top knuckles before it stabbed into the wall behind them. "Hah! He missed! Alright boys, aim—" one of the plotters would say all the men following his orders.

It was too late though. Koetsu took one step with his outside foot and turned in a full circle, the black length of steel effortlessly sliding through the walls and obstacles of the cellar, cleaving a level line along the perimeter of the room. "God Steel Kusanagi," Koetsu announced after the fact.

The men appeared unharmed in the first moment, but after a beat, would dramatically be blasted with damage from the blade that had sliced through them. The plotters all hit the wall behind them and started to slink down the wall. One tried standing up, then the rest followed suit: "Y-you've gotta be kidding me. No way that would be enough to... ugh."

Just as quickly as they rose up, they collapsed from sudden exhaustion. "Don't worry, you won't die. My blade simply caused your souls to bleed out a little," Koetsu would explain to them, "Take a nap. You'll feel better when you wake up in jail." The black steel would retract back into his arm despite the ridiculous length of it, as he said such.

Koetsu scooped up a musket and took a bite out of it, as he walked past the myriad musketeers who lie in an invisible pool of their own lifeforce. "We're almost there, I can smell it from here," he would declare. What he was smelling earlier was not from this room, but the next: A vast sum of gunpowder lie in wait down an earthen tunnel.

Word Count: 655
Total for Gunpowder Plot: 4,853