Here goes Miko and Kristin's approximate Jump summary/translation. ^_- Bracketed text are 'thought' text... ^_^;

Rurouni Kenshin Act 216: The Two Dressed in Black (Part One)

Title Page: Rurouni Kenshin - Meiji Kenkaku Romantan -
Act 216 "The Two Dressed in Black" (Part One)

Kenshin stands amid falling leaves, holding the sakabatou with the hilt near his mouth, his hair stirring slightly in the wind. No further words can do justice to this image. Please excuse the editor while she swoons and dies.

Vertical Side Text: In the sunset when the red leaves which have lost their color are scattered, believe in the sunrise when young shoots will sprout!

Metallic strands whip through the darkness of the graveyard as Aoshi and Gein face off.

Side Text: Gein's strength is now revealed at last!!

Aoshi stares cooly at Gein, careless of the blood trickling down his cheek.

Aoshi: Zankousen......... (Zan: cut through; Kou: steel; Sen: line, thread)

Gein: Oh... As the Onmitsu Oniwabanshuu Okashira (leader) that you are, you do know a lot.

He holds up one arm to display part of the mechanism on his wrist which allows him to manipulate the strands.

Gein: This steel thread covered with diamond dust will cut your flesh if you so much as touch it, and getting tangled in it will snap your bones. You should know just how difficult it is to fight an opponent like this. It's best if you avoid useless exertion. Where did you hide my 'Corpse Doll'? As opposed to the Iwanbou series, which are the fruit of the technical perfection I have achieved as a mechanic, that is the product of the perfection of creating appearances that I have achieved as a doll maker, an ultimate masterpiece that deceived even the eyes of that Hitokiri Battousai. It is proof that my creation is a match for the creation of God called the 'Human Being'! It would be such a pity for it to decay when it is worthy to remain in the history of the Gehou!!

(Gehou: 'secret methods,' employed by warriors, such as the ninja, who work in the shadows, the 'tradition' in which both Gein and the Oniwabanshuu would be classified.)

Unimpressed, Aoshi continues to regard Gein coolly.

Aoshi: I don't care about any of that. I asked you a question before. Where is Kamiya Kaoru?

Gein stares at him for a moment, then lets out a sigh.

Gein: Well, well. I thought that since we are both comrades who are clothed all in black and live in the darkness, perhaps you might understand my spirit as an artist at least a little bit. But as I thought, you are just a heathen...

He lifts his arms and flings them wide, aiming his deadly threads toward Aoshi.

Gein: YOU WON'T EVER GET UP AGAIN SHINOMORI AOSHI!!

The threads slice through tree branches and gravestones. Aoshi waits, motionless, then dodges at the critical instant, moving so quickly he seems to have scarcely moved at all. The threads fly harmlessly past him.

Gein: Mu!

He pulls his hand back for another try. Aoshi dodges again, vanishing momentarily, then reappears to Gein's left, unscathed.

Gein: Chi! *staring at Aoshi* ... The movements of flowing water...?

Aoshi: *continuing to regard him coolly* It's impossible to cut or break the flow of water.... It would be best if you avoid useless exertion, don't you think?

Gein: *chuckling* Fu fu... With a serious face like that, such sarcasm and impudence...... BUT!!

He stretches out his hand again, and the gravestones surrounding Aoshi suddenly explode from the earth. Aoshi's eyes flicker sideways in surprise as the nearby stones are sliced into rubble.

Aoshi: !

He leaps away in alarm, gritting his teeth, as chunks of rock go flying everywhere.

Aoshi: *landing on his knees* Ku!

Gein: If cutting and breaking is impossble, then I'll keep hitting till the water turns into Œsprayı!

Aoshi's eyes widen slightly as the gravestones behind him are rendered airborne. Gein watches with satisfaction as another explosion of rubble obscures his opponent.

Gein: Enishi and Heishin and you, in general, people underestimate the Gehou puppeteers. In the first place, even though the Iwanbou series is of great technical sophistication, it takes unusual strength to operate one. Even if the average person wanted to operate it, it is a curious fact that they would be unable to. With each finger supporting the weight of 200kg, movement is first made possible by intricate operations in units of tenths of a millimeter ---... Compared to that, manipulating gravestones is no problem at all. So, itıs about time ---

Gein steps toward the clouds of settling dust in anticipation, then halts as a dark-clad figure emerges, twin blades flashing in each of his hands. The sheath of Aoshi's kodachi clatters to the ground as he turns to Gein, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

Aoshi: 'About time'... Have you decided to answer my question?

Gein: Oniwaban-styled Kodachi Nitou Ryuu (style of two kodachi)... I thought I had you there, but now I see. You're much better than I'd heard you are. But it's such a pity. Though you possess such surpassing strength, to live in the everyday world from now on, you have no choice but to live as the owner of a small restaurant, the same as any commoner. If that is to be the duty of the last Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, the largest Gehou group which lived in the darkness in the era of Edo for three hundred years, it would be such a pity, such wretchedness...

His eyes meet Aoshi's as he holds out a hand in invitation.

Gein: Won't you join ranks with me, Shinomori Aoshi? To seek the next level of beauty, I need new fighters. And 'You of the World of Darkness' is certainly perfect for that.

Aoshi: *frowning slightly* Unfortunately, I don't think being the common owner of a small restaurant is all that bad.

Gein stares.

Aoshi: But that's still further in the future. Now, as we greet the new era, the techniques of Gehou should disappear quietly, unnoticed... But there are more than a few evildoers who still use such techniques not only for their own selfish desires, but also to bring disaster to the world. Therefore, with the strength of the Gehou, I will bury these villains of the Gehou in the darkness.

He stares forward, his face a mask of pure purpose and determination.

Aoshi: This is the last duty I have as Okashira to settle the end of the Oniwabanshuu.

Gein: *after a pause* So that is the answer that you got from your Zen meditation in Kyoto.... Even though we are both clothed in the same black, it seems that you and I are completely different men of the shadows... FINE! No matter what, I will REMOVE with these hands anyone who gets in the way of my quest for 'beauty'!!

He lunges, lifting his right hand. Aoshi leaps up, slicing beneath him with both kodachi while kicking his sheath at Gein.

Gein: ! (The sheath!!)

It hits Gein, who lifts his arm to deflect it.

Gein: Gu!

Taking advantage of this distraction, Aoshi crosses his twin blades and makes his move.

Aoshi: Oniwaban Shiki Kodachi Nitou Ryuu Gokou Juuji!!!

( Oniwaban Styled, Style of Two Short Swords Go: region/dynasty in China, also a city in Hiroshima; kou: hook; Juuji: shape of a cross)

Gein leaps up toward an overhanging tree branch around which several of his wires are wrapped, eluding Aoshi's strike.

Gein: What impudence!!

The twin blades slice through air, and the kodachi sheath falls, severed in two. Above, Gein hangs easily by one arm, smirking down at Aoshi.

Gein: The manipulation of threads can also be used in this way... And fundamentally, the basics of operating puppets use both the right and left hands. From here on, it is the true ----...

He breaks off, astonished, as his mask falls away, sliced by Aoshi's kodachi. The revealed face is that of a hollow-eyed, ugly old man, his chin covered with stubble. Aoshi glances back at him, his gaze half-shrouded by dark hair.

Aoshi: Yes... From here on, it is the true battle of the ones of darkness.

Side Text: Cool and calm to the extreme!

*End Act*