Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Dragon's Wrath ❯ Wings of Darkness ( Chapter 15 )

The group watched in horror as the doors completely opened into darkness, and the sound of metal footsteps was heard. Slowly, but surely, a form stepped into the Light. It was Ceiphied.

He reached onto his back, and detached the Sword of Ryuujin, and extended it to battle length.

"Now, you all die..." Ceiphied replied.

Ryo rose to his feet and charged the evil demon, summoning his flame blades as soon as possible, slashing, only to be blocked by Ceiphied's own weapon. He began a relentless slashing assault on Ryo, hitting again and again, with Ryo barely able to parry. Ceiphied was strong for a good reason. It seemed he was getting stronger by the minute, as if the armor was reacting to his needs. But what could he possibly need? Ryo was not sure. Still, he continued to fend off the relentless attacks, knowing full well his friends could not even stand up to him.

"Whoa! Ryo's holding off their boss!" Kento exclaimed.
"No, their boss is beating them down." Rowen observed.
"He's attacking relentlessly...he must know how to use that thing better than Navcase." Sage said.
"But what could he be trying to do?" Sai asked.

Anubis watched as did the Ronins, trying to analyze Ceiphied's objective. He observed Ryo closely. He felt something. Ryo was trying to call upon a tremendous amount of power to hold him back. He had a feeling Ceiphied knew this as well. But what could it be? Then, he had it.

Of course! WHITE REFLECTION!

"Rowen! We've got to create a diversion so that Ryo can power up the armor. Ready?" Anubis said.

Before they could, they were ambushed by Draconai soldiers, forcing Ryo to fight off Ceiphied for a little longer while they managed to get themselves free. Fortunately, a salvo of missiles and some reinforcement from the Forgotten Souls made that easier.

Everyone except Anubis went to the starting positions of their katas and let fly, building up energy as Ryo was slowly pushed back by Ceiphied. Ceiphied's eyes glowed briefly and summoned an amazing amount of strength that knocked the hero onto his back. Ryo tried to scurry away as Ceiphied prepared to impale him with his sword when he heard the cries of several voices.

Then it hit. Every sure-kill slammed into Ceiphied, the armor barely fending them off. Ceiphied swung the blade, sending them flying off harmlessly.

"You fools! You forgot that this armor has that capability?" Ceiphied said, mocking his worthless opponents.

Then, he heard another voice.

"ARMOR OF WHITE REFLECTION!!!!!!!!" Ryo screamed out.

No! This couldn't be happening! The sure-kills were simply a diversion to buy Ryo enough time to call the armor. He had to stop this. But due to the Laws governing Anime, he could only watch as Ryo was trapped in a time freeze and called upon his armor. Saber Strike knelt before him and Ryo drew the swords from the sheaths on his back, and crossed them before charging Ceiphied. Sparks flew as the blades met, the two clashed swords again and again. The battle took to the sky as they charged each other again and again, in a dramatic display of aerial combat. The group watched from the ground as the battle continued onward. Though Anubis watched with great lament.

"Hey, Anubis, what's wrong?" Rowen asked.
"Nothing...I am happy for Ryo, and his armor is quite awesome...yet..."
"What?" Kento asked.
"It has been my greatest regret that in the most epic of battles...I have been unable to fight alongside him. I am eternally indebted to him for many things...and it has been impossible to repay him."

Suddenly, Ceiphied managed to get in a lucky blow, one that sent Ryo flying through the air and crashing into a series of crates. Ryo shot back into the air, but Ceiphied slammed him down once again, before returning to the ground himself. The group watched in horror as Ceiphied got closer and closer. But suddenly Anubis heard something in his head.

"Look up..." it said.

He did, just as an object fell from the sky and sent Kale slamming back first into the ground. As various birds, stars, and other objects swirled around Kale's head and his eyes went swirly and he began to moan, Anubis picked up the object to find that it was a helmet. He held it in his hands, and the others watched as the kanji for Darkness began to glow on his neck.

He seemed to go into a sort of trance. Minutes later it ended, with the Ronins wondering what had happened.

"Hey! Anubis, what happened?" Rowen asked.
"Yeah, are you okay man?" Kento asked.
"I understand now...I am a Seishi as Ryo is...and we shall be forever linked by steel..." Anubis said, kind of out of it.
"Huh?" Kento asked, confused.
"I also have an armor of great power." Anubis said.

He placed the helmet on his head, and a purple aura erupted around him as his casual wardrobe was replaced with one that looked like Death. The helmet vanished, and he called to the heavens, as Ryo had before.

"ARMOR OF DARK ABSORPTION!!!!!!!!!!"

As with Ryo, an armor resembling Deathscythe Hell Custom began to attach itself to his body piece by piece, and Anubis was set to battle once again.

"Any last words Seishi?" Ceiphied asked as he prepared to do Ryo in.
"Yeah. Look behind you." Ryo said slyly.

Ceiphied whirled around, barely having enough time to block Anubis' scythe as it came crashing down on top of him. Anubis backed away and slashed again, this time nailing Ceiphied. Anubis closed the wings and vanished, leaving Ceiphied confused as to his whereabouts. He felt a slash from behind, and turned to find that Anubis had left a large gash in the back of Ryuujin!

"CURSE YOU!!!!" Ceiphied said.
"Now to finish this." Anubis said.

He began twirling his staff and banged it into the ground, calling out Quake With Fear, but nothing happened.

"What? It didn't work!" Anubis shouted, confused.

Ceiphied knocked both of them back with an Emerald Blast.

"Fools as usual." Ceiphied said.
"Anubis!" Ryo said through their comm link. "Can you buy me some time to power up?"
*"I will. I've got an idea." Anubis said.

Anubis once again engaged the cloak, forcing Ceiphied to become angry, angrier still as Ryo rose into the air. Ceiphied searched around furiously, trying to locate Anubis, for several minutes.

"DAMN THAT ACCURSED CLOAK!!!!" Ceiphied roared.
"LUMINANCE FROM THE HEAVENS!!!!" Ryo screamed.

The blast rained down, causing Ceiphied to scream in pain as the searing white light nailed him. When the blast ended, his armor smoked from the heat. He struggled to his feet and flew back into the safety of the base, and the Ronins cheered before flying home to celebrate.

And celebrate they did. The drinks were broken out, Sai cooked an enormous feast, both to celebrate their first victory over Ceiphied, and Anubis' awakening. Anubis drifted away from the celebration midway through. Ryo saw him leave and followed him to the Shrine.

"Hey Anubis, why aren't you celebrating? This party's partially because of you man." Ryo said, clad in his Seishi garb.
"I know...it's just my wish has not completely been granted...I have a powerful armor...but it seems to lack a sure-kill attack." Anubis replied.
"Don't worry man. You've got time, you'll figure out how the armor works. I'm still learning the tricks to White Reflection." Ryo said. "Come on. We've got some partying to do."
"Right."

Mia ran in.

"Anubis, you've got to hurry. Kale..."

Anubis froze. This was definitely bad.

"What happened?" Anubis asked.
"Come see for yourself..." Mia said.

Upon their arrival, the two quickly learned two things.

One, Kale had lost his mind--again.

Two, there was not a cloud in the sky.

"He got drunk, and now he's babbling in some weird language..."

"PH33R ME!!!!! Joo Must PH33R MI L33T EPYON SKILZZ!!!!!" Kale babbled.

Anubis groaned. And then he took off.

"Where you going Anubis?" Ryo asked.
"To find someone!"

Somewhere in Tokyo...

Anubis soared over the city. He looked around for the person he was seeking out. He passed over a group of three schoolgirls, two of which seemed to be teasing their friend about having a crush on a guy. He then spotted a young girl, dressed as a waitress, and traced her path back to a "MEGAGAMERS" store. Anubis forced his way in by slashing down the door with his Beam Scythe. He was greeted by a young man in glasses.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he demanded. "And why are you dressed like a Gundam?" he continued.
"No time to explain, I'm looking for someone..."

Anubis looked in the corner where he found a spikey-haired man eating spaghetti. He promptly grabbed him and dragged him back to the Isle, leaving the man and his strange other roommate, which appeared to be some sort of girl, very confused.

"Who was that Piro-san?" she asked.
"I think that was Shutendouji, from that old Anime Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, wearing a Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom like armor..." he said.
"Ohhh." she replied.

Anubis arrived back on the Isle very quickly, dragging the individual over to where Kale was still babbling incoherently.

"NOW TRANSLATE!!!!!" Anubis ordered.

The young man nodded and proceeded to interpret Kale's craziness...

Meanwhile, up in the Heavens...

Navcase seemed to be floating in nothingness. Before him, he began to see more images.

"Shinta, remember how when you were a boy, I let you hold a sword? You did it perfectly, without any prior instruction. That's how I knew you were my son…" he heard his father say.

"I remember…" Navcase thought.

During training with Hiko once, he had been knocked to the ground, and Hiko had declared that they call it a day. But he had risen up to his feet, and seemed to surge with incredible energy, as his master had later told him before he died. He had tried to ask him why he decided to call him Navcase, but that was an answer that was too late.

It had always lingered him. Why was he called Navcase? His master said that the name almost seemed to come to him, but he could not get any more than that.

The perfect sword grip…the power that Hiko sensed that helped him see Navcase had potential…how could all these be possible?

"Hey! You there!" a voice called out.

Navcase looked around, before spotting a young man wearing a blue outfit. He appeared to be smiling.

"Me?" Navcase asked.
"Yes, you." The man said, smiling still. He seemed to sound very feminine.
"May I help you?" Navcase asked.
"You're Shinta Tennomi right?" the man asked.

Navcase nodded.

The man smiled, or rather continued to smile. "Good. Then I entered the right dream. I didn't want to go see Shishio-sama. He's mad at me because I got to go to heaven and he didn't. Oh well, I guess that's because of my nickname." The man said, smiling still.

Navcase tried very hard to sense this person who had come to visit him as his master had taught him. But he found nothing. He had no will to fight, nor did he project a desire to kill. This was odd.

"Your nickname?" Navcase asked.
"Tenken." The man replied, continuing to smile. "It's because my skill with a sword seems to be handed to me from the heavens. Like yours." The man continued.
"Mine?" Navcase said, puzzled.
"Yeah. Haven't you found it strange, how that the second you picked up a sword, you instinctively knew the basics of using it? Sure, you made it stronger by training in a particular school of swordsmanship, but it was always there, just waiting to come out. And by the way, that sensing thing you're trying to do on me? Trust me, It won't work. Another guy with your style tried it, and he got nowhere. So we just swung at each other. He broke his sword too."
"Wha?" Navcase said, puzzled.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, that's what you use, right? And you also use the adaptation of the Hiratsuki technique developed by the third captain of the Shinsengumi, the Gatousu, correct?" the man asked.
"Yes…" Navcase said. "But what does this have to do with my skill with a sword."
"Don't you find it odd that your last name means Sword of Heaven, and that you use a technique called Sword of the Soaring Heavens?"
"Coincidence?" Navcase asked.
"There is a fine line between coincidence and fate. That and the strong survive and the weak die. But that's another story…"

The man began to mutter curse words about some bandaged man under his breath, yet continuing to smile. Then he continued.

"I'm called Tenken. But your name means the same thing. Your father told you that fate seems to lead your family to swordsmanship, right? My skill probably really doesn't come from the heavens, but yours does. You really are a Sword of Heaven. But unlike your ancestors, who claim that the heavens guide them to swordsmanship, you are destined to wield your sword in the name of the heavens. So you are a Sword of Heaven because your skill with a sword comes as a gift from the heavens, fate leads you to swordsmanship, and you are destined to use your skill with a sword to serve the heavens. Do you understand?" the man asked.
"I think so…but I'm still confused."
"Don't worry. Things will make sense in time. I've got to get going. There's this Chinese Emperor who wants me to show him something. It would be easier, if he wasn't so obsessed with his looks. See you around."
"Okay…Soujirou Seta." Navcase said with a smile.
"How'd you figure it out?" Soujirou asked.
"Number one, I was in Kyoto around the Meiji Era and seemed to hear reports about a boy who you couldn't sense, always smiled and said his sword technique was a gift from the heavens. That, and I know the author has a friend who's a big fan of yours."
"She wouldn't physically be Enishi's style, and live near Seattle would she?"

Navcase nodded.

"Um, I better be going now…that emperor gets really angry sometimes…"

With that, Soujirou vanished, leaving Navcase to ponder what he had said.

"Hey! Navcase! Wake up!" he heard a voice call. He opened his eyes to see Ayame, now un-godessed, standing over him with the other girls.
"How do you feel?" Ran asked.

Navcase inspected himself. He felt fine. Wonderful, actually. As he examined his body, he found that there were no scales. Anywhere! He was healed!

"The curse! Thank you so much..." Navcase said, at a loss for words.
"You should thank yourself. It was your own power that healed you." Amaterasu said.
"My...own power?" Navcase said, confused.
"We just helped unlock your hidden power from within." Ayame explained.
"Three down, four to go." Yuri exclaimed.

Navcase was very confused. Could this be what Soujirou meant? Before he could ponder this, however, Suiren grabbed his hand and dragged him off.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded.
"To give you a makeover! When was the last time you combed that hair? It's worse than Sakura's! But she won't let me touch it. If you're gonna be one of our protectors you've gotta look cool!" Suiren said, as she dragged him into her room. She sat him down in a chair and then proceeded to look around the room for something.

"Now where was it..." she said, going through a stack of magazines, pictures, manga, and doujinshi.

Navcase examined his surroundings. It was either a shrine of some sort or hell on Earth for him. All it needed was a sign on the door reading, "abandon all hope, ye who enter here." The walls were plastered of pictures of bishounen after bishounen. A few were even signed. There seemed to be several of a bluish-green haired man in Chinese garb and a red-haired man in a trenchcoat, of which she had a life-size poster listing his code name, height, birthday, and real name. From the looks of it Sakura's wardrobe was based off of him. He cringed in pain as he heard her exclaim that she had found what she was looking for. He could barely make out the picture. It looked like some man looking like a cross between Van Fanel and the Moonlight Knight, with insert sketches of parts of his armor and a few close-ups of the face and hair. Suiren had a very evil looking smile on her face as she brought out a brush and a pair of scissors.

"Let's SHAKE THE DEW OFF THIS LILLY!" Suiren exclaimed evilly.

Navcase screamed, shaking the entire palace as screams of pain and miniature earthquakes, along with the sounds of various power tools echoed through the palace.

Sakura, who was trying to polish her swords, began to get quite angry as the racket got louder and louder. She began to sharpen faster and faster, making sure not to damage the swords in any way.

Yuri reclined on a chair in the living room, blocking out the sound somehow as she read through a magazine on the latest bodybuilding techniques. Ayame kicked back on another one, drowning out the screams of pain to the musical stylings of Ayumi Hamasaki and Morning Musume, and Ran, brought out a pair of earplugs, stuck them in her ears, and plopped her head down on a pillow, smiling and sighing as she began to doze off as she began to take a nap on the couch.

Meanwhile, back at Ceiphied's...

It was just as noisy.

"ACCURSED RONINS!!!!! WHY DO THESE SEISHI HAVE TO APPEAR NOW? SO FAR, TWO OF HERS HAVE APPEARED AND YET NONE OF DRAKKA'S HAVE EVEN SHOWN UP!!!! I have to destroy them before any more appear. KOUEN!!!" he bellowed.

Kouen and the other Elite raced into Ceiphied's chambers, for even being a nanosecond late when Ceiphied was pissed off was a pink slip.

"You called my Lord?" Kouen asked.

Ceiphied looked towards the Isle of Mists, his aura slowly subsiding as he calmed down.

"Gather your warriors, and restrengthen our ranks with the prisoners we took. We are going Seishi hunting." Ceiphied said.
"At once my Lord." Kouen declared.

The Elite left, leaving Ceiphied to stare in the direction of the Isle, with his hands behind his back.

"My turn, Amaterasu." he said.

Next Episode

SAKURA: DAMN THAT ACCURSED EPITOME OF FEMININITY!!!!! THE RONINS ARE GOING TO GET THEIR ASSES KICKED, AND ALL SHE CARES ABOUT IS MAKING OVER NAVCASE!!!!!!

AYAME: Well, she does have to get him up to concept art standard...

YURI: He's got to look the part, after all. Right Ran?

RAN: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....Sai...

SAKURA: WELL, CAN'T SHE HURRY UP????? IS SHE GOING TO DO THIS EVERY TIME???

AYAME: Probably not. The next guy's too rough for her to even get near him.

SAKURA: Ryo IS going to live, isn't he?

AYAME: Dunno. I'm only on page 13. Haven't finished reading the script yet.

SAKURA: AAAAAAAH!!!!!! IS HE GOING TO BE READY IN TIME???? PLEASE TELL ME HE WILL BE!!!!

YURI: Sorry, I haven't read the whole script yet either.

SAKURA: Who has?

YURI, AYAME: Ran.

RAN: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...m-hmmm....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

DK: Ceiphied's army prepares to give the Ronins a fight they will not forget, again. Will Navcase get there in time?

SAKURA: I thought we fired him!!!!!

YURI: Well he still has to play Dad, and Sun Devil...

SAKURA: (Flips left sword upside down) Kaiten...Kenbu...

YURI: Please let the guy live...he's got a family...

SUIREN: It's all Next time on Ronin Warriors Dragon's Wrath: Sword of Heaven Don't miss, it, okay?

NAVCASE: Help me...somebody...please...

One more thing: Piro, Largo, Kimiko, Yuki et al. are copyright 2000, 2001, Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston over at www.megatokyo.com. Go check their webcomic out. It's good.