Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Dragon's Wrath ❯ Closing in on Victory, Act II ( Chapter 24 )

"Ah, Seishi of Amaterasu. You've managed to locate me." Ceiphied said, sitting there looking evilly, like Gendo or even Eriol in one of his evil streaks.

"What have you done with our friends Ceiphied!" Ryo demanded.
"Oh, them. I have a surprise for all of you." Ceiphied said, snapping his claws.

Several glowing eyes appeared from behind him, as the Ronins and former Warlords walked towards their allies.

"It seems these gentlemen are jealous of your success and want payback."

The Seishi stood ready with their weapons as the Ronins and Warlords brought out theirs.

"ATTACK!!!" Ceiphied shouted, both groups going at each other, going into a manga freeze-frame.

Yuriko blocked Kento's staff as he swung at her, parrying time and time again, as they danced across the enormous room. Kale charged Navcase as he flew towards him with Gatousu, stopping in time to attempt Ryu Kan Sen. Sai thrust at Yoko, who managed to dodge out of the way as Ran parried with her own staff.

"Guys! Stop! You don't want to do this!" Ryo shouted, trying to make them listen to reason.
"Ceiphied's controlling you! Fight it!" Anubis added.

However, this only made them madder.

"IRON ROCK CRUSHER!!!!!" Kento shouted, tearing up the floor and sending a flurry of stones which Ayako managed to smash in her bestial state. Dais knocked her aside as he charged Anubis with his beam saber, which Anubis spin dodged out of the way of. Navcase attempted to cut off their path to them with his sword, but Kento grabbed him with his dragon fang and hurled him into a wall, which he kicked off of, flying towards his opponents.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu...Ryu Kan Sen, Tsumu-" he said before picked out of the air by Sai's man-catcher and thrown into Yuriko's arms.
"This is not good." he replied.
"We've got to keep them from Ryo and Anubis." Yuriko said.

As the fight continued, a swarm of Draconai stormed into the room, ready for combat. But they were stopped in their tracks by the She-Ronin.

"Your fight will be with us." Sakura said, flipping her swords downward and slashing the first warrior to pieces as her sisters inflicted similar damage with their own weaponry.

"Tsubasa no Hi...Ken En...AAAAAAAAAH!!!" Ryo screamed as the increased power sent a surge of power through his body. This power was too much for even him. He managed to focus his flame into swords before they were dispelled by a good slash from Kento that cut his arm.
"Ryo. We've got to call our armor. We don't stand a chance without it." Anubis said.

Ryo nodded as the others called out their command words and their armors appeared on their bodies.

"Watch out!" Navcase shouted as Sai finished his sure-kill kata and sent a water blast screaming at Ryo, who barely dodged, and barely was able to avoid Sage's own assault. Kale brought out his beam sword and crashed down on Navcase, who desperately tried to parry his strength away. With a powerful shove of will he forced Kale back long enough to draw his other blade and slash his armor deeply. He opened up his cannons and took aim at Ceiphied, who simply began to laugh.

"You fool. I've taken magical precautions. You can't call Amaterasu from in here." Ceiphied shouted.
"Then maybe this will work!" Ryo shouted, holding his swords above his head. "Luminance from the Heavens!"

The searing blast of energy flew straight at their former allies, sending them screaming into searing pain.

"Good! It's working!" Anubis said.

However, the next moment they brushed it off and came for them once again. Seeing that their main targets were Ryo and Anubis, the other Seishi attempted to get in their way, but Kento pulled them away and slammed them into walls one by one. As they ran back to reinforce him they dealt with the others as Sekhmet and Kento closed in on Ryo and Anubis. Kento swung his staff, which Ryo barely blocked with his Swords of Light, taking a few blows here and there. Sekhmet swung with incredible strength, which Anubis barely managed to fend off. This was difficult.

"You're going down...Anubis!" Sekhmet declared. "SNAKE...FANG...STRIKE!!!!" he shouted, swinging at Anubis, who brought his wings in front to protect, the poison eating away at the metal.
"It is going to take more than that to stop me." Anubis said, aiming his scythe towards his former ally. He began to focus as his aura erupted around him. "TAKE THIS!!! DARKNESS FROM THE DEPTHS!!!!" Anubis shouted as a black beam of incredible power shot out from his scythe, knocking Sekhmet into the opposite wall, just as Ryo used his Machinecannons to knock Kento back, folding his wings in front of his face to protect against Kento's flame-throwers. Kento brought up his cannons, blasting Ryo into the wall.

"Sakura! We've got to try something!" Ryo shouted.
"What?" Sakura asked as she took down the last of the Draconai soldiers holding them up.

The girls ran in front of the Seishi, bracing their weapons for combat.

(Canta Per Me kicks up)

"Chou..." they began chanting, their weapons starting to glow.
"An..." they continued, as the Ronins and Warlords prepared to attack again.
"What is this..." Ceiphied wondered, as the energies began to continue to build, shaking the room.
"Dou!" they finished, Sakura's blades bursting into flame, Yuri's staff being surrounded in pebbles, wind swirling around Ayame's bow, Light glowing from Suiren's sword, and Water swirling around Ran's mancatcher. The five appeared in their goddess forms briefly before they shouted in succession.

"FLARE UP...NOW!!!!!"
"IRON ROCK CRUSHER!!!!!"
"ARROW SHOCKWAVE!!!!!"
"THUNDERBOLT CUT!!!!!"
"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!!!!!"

The five attacks flew towards their former allies, mixing together and tearing up the floor as they rocketed towards them, knocking them to the ground.

"That should do it!" Yuri shouted.

The warriors slowly struggled to their feet and readied for another go.

"What's with these guys?" Sakura wondered.

Yoko drove her shakujo into the ground, focusing every inch of her Seishi power, but to no avail.

"It's too strong...I'm not powerful enough to break the spell." she said sadly.

"ATTACK THEM!!!! ALL AT ONCE!!!!!" Ceiphied ordered.

All the Ronins and Warlords went through their katas and let fly with their sure-kills all at once, barely giving the Seishi enough time to put up their AT Fields. They focused every ounce of their will to withstand the blows, grimacing under the pressure. Suddenly the hum started up again, as the Ronins and Warlords were slammed into the opposite wall, just as the strange SWAT guy from before entered.

"Get out of here! It's too dangerous!" Navcase shouted.

The soldier threw down his weapons, just as Ceiphied ordered the Ronins and Warlords to charge him.

"NO!!!!" The Seishi screamed in unison, closing their eyes to hide the horror. But no scream of pain came, nor a splash of blood. All slowly opened their eyes, to find the Ronins and Warlords stopped only inches from him, held back by some sort of force. Lifting his hands, the soldier lifted them into the air, and somehow pushed them away from him into the wall, slamming them in hard. As the warriors slowly got up Ceiphied ordered them to attack again. But their weapons floated harmlessly from their hands, floating in the air around the soldier, before dropping harmlessly to the ground as more Draconai charged him, whose advances he blocked again and again before tossing some sort of powder on them. The Ronins got up and headed at him again, as the Draconai were lifted into the air by some force, slammed into the Ronins, and knocked into the walls again.

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO IS MAKING A COMPLETE MOCKERY OF ME!!!!" Ceiphied shouted, rising from his chair.

Reaching around his neck, the soldier slowly removed his riot helmet, revealing himself to be a man with hair about as short as the Suzaku Seishi Mitsukake. His brown eyes cast a cold gaze at Ceiphied, his face looking rough to the touch. He was quite tall and looked much older than even Navcase.

"My name is Captain Kashin Zoutou." he replied. Then turning to Ceiphied, a great amount of energy began to surge in the room, as an aura erupted around him, and the kanji for Magnetism glowed on his forehead. "But I think you would know me better by my Seishi title, Jisei-sama, the Lord of Magnetism."

The other Seishi gasped in shock. They had done it! They had found the final Seishi! The base began to shake as Kashin proceeded to push his power higher and higher. The walls began to creak violently as his power leaped higher and higher.

"Ceiphied..." he said calmly, "Release them from your control, or I'll bring down the entire base."
"You're bluffing." Ceiphied said.

Kashin smirked at Ceiphied, before asking coolly, "Am I?" He focused again, causing the walls of the base to start to buckle as the metal behind them began to creak violently, as the walls began to crumble. "Let them go Ceiphied..." he said, "Or I'll pull this place apart by its superstructure."

Ceiphied's anger began to increase as fast as Kashin pushed his power higher and higher, sweat beginning to drip from his face under the incredible strain. He could not loose his allies. Still, he could not loose his forces either.

"Master!! Please! Listen to him before this whole place collapses!" the Elite pleaded with him.

Ceiphied watched Kashin. He did not seem to be budging. He seemed to be serious about this. With every passing second, the place shook even worse. He had no choice. It was either submit, or suicide. Focusing his power, he waved his hand, as the Ronins dropped to the ground, unsure of what had happened. Kashin backed off, his power died down, and the base stopped buckling.

"You think, that's going to stop ME?" Ceiphied shouted.

Ceiphied began to roar as his own power began to surge, much higher than even Kashin's. The base began to rumble again and the ceiling began to give in as his power surged. What Kashin had started, Ceiphied was sure to finish. He had to do something.

"GET OUT!!! NOW!!!!" Kashin shouted to the others.
"What about you?" Navcase asked.
"I'll try to hold this up as long as I can!" Kashin shouted. "Get out! I'll be right behind you!" he shouted, beginning to focus his power again.

"Let's get out of here!" Ryo shouted, as the Seishi began to lead the disoriented Ronins and Warlords out. Rubble had fallen on the pathway out, as Ryo tore into it with his fire powers, attempting to blast the bulge away. Navcase flew into it with Kuzu Ryu Sen, and together, the two managed to knock a way out, as they began heading out the door, with Ryo blasting any falling rubble as the others helped lead them through the maze of a base as it continued to crumble. In the main chamber, Ceiphied continued to power up, screaming at the top of his lungs as his eyes turned to nothing but white. Kashin focused desperately to hold things up.

"Come on! You've done enough!" Ran pleaded.
"No! Save yourself!" he shouted back.
"Please, you have to come with us. We need your help...please?" Ran pleaded.

Looking into her innocent eyes, Kashin felt something, something he had not felt in a very long time. His grim expression faded as he followed her out, leaving Ceiphied as the building collapsed around him.

As the group fled, foolish Draconai bent for a fight got into their way.

"You're not getting out!" they declared.

With one swipe Ayako knocked them aside as they hurried towards the exit. As they neared it, the group was stopped by the Elite. The group prepared for combat, but they saw a look of fear that they shared. They were terrified of Ceiphied as the others were.

"We will allow you to pass, if you will only return the Mantle of Flame to us." Kouen asked.

Ryo nodded and shed his armor, removed the armor plating, and gave it back to Kouen, who powered it back up.

"Thank you." Kouen said.

With that the group hurried towards the exit. Suddenly a beam fell from the ceiling, pinning Ayame to the floor. Rowen ran over and tried to lift it with all his might, as Yuri and the others headed over, as did Ayako, barely lifting it off the ground enough for her to crawl out. Kashin tried to help, but he was still weak from trying to bring the house down.

"Kashin! See if you can hold the ceiling up enough for us to get her free!" Navcase shouted.

Surprisingly, a five sets of Draconai hands wrapped around the beam and began to lift with all their strength. Together with the others, Ayame managed to get free, as they dropped it with a clang and hurried toward the exit. As they came into the Courtyard with the Elite, they spread their wings and began to rise into the air.

"When next we meet, we shall be enemies again!" Kouen declared as they flew off with the gigantic swarm of Draconai heading away from the base.

"There are still Draconai inside! We must try to get them out." Navcase declared.
"Let them die. It's their fault Ryo died, we got captured, they've caused us nothing but hell. They deserve this." Kento said, his faceplate opened.

Kashin walked up, and tensing, punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"I will take my revenge against the horrid race in combat, not in a cruel twist of fate such as this." Kashin said, focusing his power once again. Calling towards the heavens, he called out...

"ARMOR OF THE SHINING HEAVENS!!!!"

An armor, looking like the Shining Gundam began to attach around his body, as he opened up various panels and began to focus his power once again. The walls of the base slowly began to rise, allowing more Draconai to escape and flying to the air. Ryo and the other Seishi looked at each other, and began to focus as well, giving their power to Kashin, as more and more of the Draconai swarmed out and took to the air. At last no others fled out, and the group cut off their power, causing the building to crumble on top of itself.

"We...did it!" Rowen shouted.

The group broke into cheer, at Ceiphied's death finally being achieved. He was finally defeated. The Ronins removed their helmets and hugged their respective girlfriends. Sai and Ran kissed, as did Sakura and Ryo. Yuriko wrapped around Navcase in celebration. But he slowly brushed her away.

"Navcase, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I feel something. Something very evil." Navcase said, re-igniting his beam saber and slowly stepping towards the rubble. The other Seishi soon began to feel it as well, and readied their own weapons as they joined Navcase. The distance between the rubble and them slowly closed until they were right on top of it. The group watched, and waited.

Suddenly, a gigantic form roared and shot out from the rubble, knocking the Seishi off their feet and onto the ground. They hurried to their feet as an enormous dragon uncoiled menacingly and intimidatingly above them and the city. It was uglier than all the other Draconai, scarred from years of combat, with a death gaze in its eyes.

"THIS IS NOT THE END, AMATERASU SEISHI!!!" the creature roared. "I MAY LOOK DEFEATED, BUT AS WE SPEAK, MY WARRIORS ARE SCOURING THE GLOBE FOR THE DRAKKA SHICHISEISHI AND THE PRIESTESS OF DRAKKA, WHO WILL RISE TO OPPOSE YOU, AND BRING DARKNESS TO THE WORLD FOR ETERNITY!!!!

The warriors gasped in surprise at his words, and braced for battle.

"YOU SHOULD ENJOY YOUR VICTORY, FOR IT WILL BE YOUR LAST!!!!!!" he roared, before snaking like a eel into the sky, following behind his minions, flying off into the night.

Later...

A grand victory celebration erupted in the Palace of the Heavens. Yuri and Kento ate as they usually did. Sai and Ran put together a ungodly feast. The drinks overflowed, the music resounded throughout the palace, as a mood of incredible bliss spread through the palace. That is, except for Kashin. He carefully retreated from the party and headed to his room. Ran spotted him and began to slowly follow behind him. Navcase sensed something would go wrong and followed behind the two.

Kashin stepped into the doorway, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a photograph. It was of a young girl, of about three. Kashin's eyes began to tear as he heard Ran's sweet voice.

"Why are you crying?" she asked, innocently. However, Kashin's tears seemed to burn away as his anger began to flare.
"Don't you know not to give people their privacy?" he shouted, frightening the girl. "Leave me alone! How did you get in here! GET OUT!!!! GET OUT NOW!!!!!!" he shouted, as Ran hurried out of the room, bumping into Navcase as she burst into tears.

"Shhh...It'll be all right. He'll come around...Hopefully." Navcase said, attempting to comfort the young girl.

Meanwhile, Kashin sat on his bed, staring at the picture.

"My dear Karen...why did you have to die...?" he said solemnly. "I promise you, I'll make that bastard pay for what he did to you...Karen..."

"...Karen?" a girl's voice said, echoing in the darkness. "...Karen?"

The darkness was flooded with light as a girl opened her eyes to blurry figures standing over her.

"Hey Karen, wake up!" the voice said again.

Her eyes came into focus as her consciousness began to catch up with her.

"Come on sleepyhead, wake up. You've got to stop immersing yourself in those anime soundtracks of yours." the taller girl said. She had dirty blonde hair and wore glasses.
"Yeah, C'mon Karen, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving. I've already circled this whole park about 5 times while you were out for about 20 minutes." the other, more athletic girl said. She was Korean and was wearing a arm and kneepads as well as a helmet, wearing in-line skates.

The girl slowly rose to her feet and stretched out as she yawned. She was of Japanese decent and had long black hair with brown highlights, and her face seemed to echo Ran's slightly as she wiped the sleep from her brown eyes. She plucked the earbuds from her ears as the faint sounds of "Philosophy in a Tea Cup" played on. Her two friends grabbed her and dragged her out of the Esplanade and off into the city of Boston.

Author's Afterward

Well, that's it. Ronin Warriors: Dragon's Wrath is complete at last, after almost three years of planning, just in time for New Year's.

I can say that this has been an interesting experience to write something, at times that is so deep and moving. When your friends and your major readers come up to you and tell you how much they want to kill your characters at times, you know you've succeeded in some way or another. But the journey has been interesting.

It all started, the spring of my sophomore year of college, when I decided that I wasn't half as good as half the anime directors around, and that I had to throw in every ounce of seriousness into my work if I was to be taken seriously. I had to break the mold I had formed around me, that I was nothing more than a lord of comedy, gag humor, and one liners. So thus, it began.

I knew I had to be bold and dramatic to prove that I had changed. I had to kill main characters, give exceptional fights, deep plots, and characters. And as was stated by the Ronins early on in the story, I needed enemies that didn't "think that spandex was a fashion statement." And thus, the story of the Draconai began. I gave them a backstory, and proceeded to write the synopsis, a synopsis that would take me almost two years before I got around to finishing it, after revision after revision. In the meantime, I continued to write "Ronin vs.", starting to build towards Dragon's Wrath little by little.

I wrote "vs. Mystic Knights," laying the groundwork for the Draconai problem, continuing onward in "Lightspeed Galaxy." Sometime around August 3, 2001, that series came to a close. Then, it was time.

One day, almost two weeks before I returned to college for my final semester, I opened the synopsis, and thus, Ronin Warriors, Dragon's Wrath was born.

When Navcase was first created, he was intended to be nothing more than an homage to Nobuhiro Watsuki's "Rurouni Kenshin". If you look at the old stuff, it's very clear, with his manner of speech, his style of fighting, among other things. I'm glad that he's mostly escaped from that mold and taken on a life of his own.

The She-Ronin are almost my crowning achievement. What started off as little more than girlfriends for the Ronins evolved into deep and interesting characters. Sakura with her attitude and bitchiness...Yuri with her big heart and boyish demeanor, Suiren becoming the epitome of feminity...Ran's childlike innocence, and Ayame's whole negative outlook on life, no thanks to Sakura. I keep forgetting, honestly, that Sakura resolved to be nicer to her, and they stay at each other's throats. (Note to Self: Get to the bottom of Sakura's problems)

Ryo was originally supposed to train WITH King Kai...however, I reasoned that the training would be best spent with Amaterasu to handle the Draconai problem.

The series was originally to end at part 24...but there was so much left to do, and too hard to cover in two episodes. But don't worry, there's more. Just wait patiently.

I have created homages to so many of my favorite manga-ka and series throughout the story, it seems. The whole Seishi thing is a gigantic tribute to Yuu Watase, who in no small part is responsible for showing me how to truly tell a story. I can honestly agree with her heroine, the famed Miaka Yuuki, when I say that it was truly the best book I ever read. Look throughout the story, and especially part 18, for huge homages to her two best known works, "Fushigi Yûgi" and "Ayashi no Ceres".

The whole "enhanced heroes" thing has undergone many changes. At first, it was just Ryo and Anubis, who had to become godlike to summon these super armors. Ryo's wings of feathers after time became wings of pure flame. Navcase dying turned into him becoming a hero helping Ryo and Anubis, and then that became the Seishi.

The Seishi were originally going to be only seven, a double edged sword. Ceiphied could use them to summon Drakka, but Amaterasu could use them for a similar purpose. But an overdose on X/1999 caused me to create an additional set of Seishi, loyal to Drakka, to balance things out. I still have not been able to find something for the non-Seishied heroes to do (if anyone has any ideas, I'll be glad to hear them).

What of Ceiphied? Will he succeed, or will the Seishi of Amaterasu defeat him? Who are these Drakka Shischisei, and what part will they play? And who is this Karen? I'm sure I'll get thousands of questions while I plot the next volume, tentatively titled, "Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth." But even I don't have those answers yet. I don't even know where it will go. But I promise you...It'll be exciting.

-Destonus