"This isn't over yet." He enjoys saying this when it is, in fact, over. They've no fight left to fight. With their meager offering of Pokemon and subpar strategy, there's no way they can push this fight. It's done. As men who are not dogs would say, it's time to go out and face the music.[break]
Kusanagi and Tsuchigumo return to their balls. Having recovered them, he sheathes Muramasa, turns, and flees. Moves away from here, out into the city beyond. It burns. Everything burns. Kanto is theirs. They won.[break]
Curious how the simulation cast them as freedom fighters.[break]
"The boss is so tough." The dog muses.

Loss tastes bitter. His whole life is defined by loss. Rarely does he win when he unsheathes his sword. The sole virtue of this dog is that he simply won't stop fighting. No matter how battered or bruised he is, he'll jump back into the fight. He'll give everything, save the last drop of blood.[break]
Surveying Fuchsia, he marvels at the devastation. This is war. This is what terrifies him. This is the unique cruelty only human and gods inflict on one another. Fire burns around him. Fire is preferential to the cold. Somewhere far away, far beyond this moment, the creature he has sworn to kill stirs. If this is the ruination mere mortals can visit upon themselves...[break]
"Makes you wonder how bad the next fight's gonna be, huh? Things only escalate."

Beneath him is the hull of a dark ship. A mere dog has been cast into the role of a sailor. An unsteady floor throws him off balance. Even a sword saint needs practice to fight in any environment, and Hitoshi is no sword saint. Tumbling, he falls on his back. It gives him a few of the whirling creature that comes for them.[break]
A creature? No. Death comes for them. This is the end of the road. A pitiful dog like him faces yet another god. Another insurmountable fight stands before him. Raijin himself stands before them. The god of the storm is a terrible foe.[break]
"Shit...this sucks." He spits out a laugh, forcing himself up to his feet. "Whitey, smart thing to do's to throw up our hands and say sorry." A second laugh leaves him. Raw, laughing in the face of despair and death. His sword couldn't slay a god. Not even close. Not as he is now.[break]
"But we're gonna fight anyway, aren't we? Only got the one thing life. Just this sword." It threads into his arm once again. He doesn't know how much fuel he has left in the tank.[break]
"I'm not gonna let one of these legends kill the person I love. I sure as shit ain't backin' down."

Even a god can die.[break]
Those cocky words had been his battle chant in SPECTRA. At the edge of his Kingambit's blade, he pierced the heart of a false Groudon. A god died that day. Can he repeat this miracle again?[break]
Raijin, or Thundurus as they call him in these lands, doesn't play fair. Lightning crashes down upon them. Hitoshi is pulled away by Muramasa. Where he stood, a sailor is vaporized. One moment he's there. The next, gone. Men are scrambling, screaming, dying. They die as easy as they breathe under the rolling storm.[break]
"What the hell does any of this mean?" He asks, as if meaning will change the outcome. "Why's it even wanna show us this shit?" The heavens fall upon them.[break]
Hitoshi raises Muramasa as a thunderbolt finally lands on him. The sacred sword splits the bolt. It makes little difference. Beneath his feet, the ship cracks. It splits into two halves that rapidly begin to take on water.[break]
"Shit." The dog growls. "Shit!"

There's a path to victory here. Even as the ship splits and the heavens tremble, his amber eyes can see that path. One step leads up the side of the ship as it capsizes. Muramasa floats away, freeing his hand. Climbing. Frantic climbing. Climbing over chipped wood that drives splinters into his hands and makes him bleed.[break]
If I lose here, she dies. He thinks with a growl.[break]
If I die here, I break my promise.[break]
Swinging on loose rope, he grips a rung of the crow's nest. Their ship sinks. Men are dying below him. All he has to do is fall into the water and this will be over. Raijin watches him with mild interest. Up, up, up. Forward. Until he is at the top. Standing there, opposite his foe, Muramasa returns to his hand.[break]
"I'm not Blondie. I'm not Brownie. I'm not Whitey. I'm Hitoshi, the-- the dog who's gonna kill you." Fire gathers along the edge of his sword. He plunges forward from the nest, screaming.[break]
A single bolt sends him plunging down into dark waters.[break]
Only the end of the simulation spares him from drowning. They're pulled up. Their bodies are fine. From beyond an impartial glass window, scientists take notes.