Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth ❯ Defeats, Departures, and Discovery ( Chapter 10 )

Yuriko walked into the room slowly. She had her hair in a knot, held up by sticks. Her nails were painted. Her face was covered with makeup.

"Shinta-chan, how do yo like my new...look." she said, going from happy to sad.

Navcase was shocked. Yuriko said she did not need makeup. She could probably fool him with a little, but now, she looked almost...ugly.

"YURIKO?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Why are you mad at me Shinta-chan? I thought you'd...like it." Yuriko said cautiously.
"When we were little, you would always steal my hakama and go playing in the trees, and hid all day so your mother wouldn't find you, because you hated being a kimono-clad Japanese doll like your mother wanted you to be, so she could marry you off to some nice, rich young man. But you fell for me, remember? How many times did I tell you, makeup makes you ugly!" Navcase shouted.
"But Shinta-chan...I can explain..." Yuriko started to say.

Navcase had already stormed off. Yuriko began to sob as her friends rushed over to comfort her.

Navcase walked angrily through the Common, furious at what Yuriko had done. Why? She always said she hated getting dressed up. Why had things suddenly changed? Being in this strange place was getting them nowhere. They had not found the other Seishi, and although Navcase was almost positive that Karen was the one he had sensed before, there was no way for him to prove it. Putting the girl on the spot would almost certainly turn Yuriko and the others against him. How could such a nice girl be their enemy? She had not strangely tried to kill them, unlike the death squad that seemed to take every opportunity to get rid of him and the girls. He also had no clue who sent them. He was sure of one thing, however; he owed Yuriko an apology. He turned around and started to head back, only to find a familiar face in front of him.

"We meet again, celestial one." Toshihiko replied.
"Indeed." Navcase said, taking a fighting stance and calling for his Seishi garb.

Toshihiko was about to throw his katana to Navcase, but Navcase refused.

"You tricked me last time I trusted you. I can defeat you without a sword."
"Very well. But this time, I will use my guns in addition to my sword." Toshihiko declared. "Let's go."

Pulling out his pistols, he began firing at Navcase, who sidestepped out of the hail of bullets, charging at the warrior in an attempt to take him down. As he trained his guns on Navcase, he dropped to the ground and took Toshihiko down with a sliding kick, before rising to his feet and somersaulting forward as Toshihiko fired again, hitting the pavement with his bullets. A bullet grazed Navcase's shoulder as he bolted off to the right, frantically attempting to dodge his advances.

"I should summon my armor...but it would give me too much of an advantage. It would be a very dishonorable move." Navcase thought as he hid behind a tree, trying to rethink his strategy. He looked around to find Toshihiko, who had leapt into the air off one of the T entrances, and was firing bullets directly down towards him as he descended. Navcase attempted to block the shots with his gauntlets. What happened next took him by surprise, as Toshihiko brought out his sword and slashed down. Reacting as quickly as he could, Navcase dove out of the way, only to have the blade slash his arm badly as he slammed into the ground. Grimacing in pain, Navcase rose to his feet quickly and launched his left leg into a rising side kick, connecting with Toshihiko's jaw and sending him slamming into the pavement on his back.

"You'll pay for that." Toshihiko declared, reloading his pistols and readying his sword for another go.

Navcase took a fighting stance again, as blood dripped from his open wound.

Back at the Palace...

"I came as soon as you called Mom. What's up?" Sakura asked.
"Navcase's sword has been repaired and is ready. There is a problem though." Amaterasu explained, waving her hand to activate her mirrors, showing the current battle between Navcase and Toshihiko. Toshihiko had resorted to using hand to hand combat, and was pummeling Navcase with combo after combo. "He is faring quite well, but I fear his opponent has more than what we have already seen. You must get that sword to him immediately." she explained.
"I understand." Sakura said, grabbing the blade and rushing off to her Motorslave.

Upon reaching the hangar bay where it was stored, she found Ayame tinkering away at it.

"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be relaxing in the pool?" Sakura asked curiously.
"While I was napping I had an idea, so I had to get to it immediately. I put together a new Add-On for the Motorslave. It almost doubles your ground speed. The only thing is, it can only be used in bike mode.

Ayame had indeed been up to something. Attached to where the legs were the rear of the bike, on either side an attachment equipped with a powerful looking thruster was on either side. The front of the bike had also been equipped with several smaller thrusters. The additions seemed to make the vehicle sleeker than usual.

"Be careful with this thing. It could easily hit Mach 2 on land." Ayame cautioned.
"Thanks sis. I'll keep that in mind." Sakura said, summoning her Hardsuit and climbing on.
"Be back soon." she said, launching from the catapult cannon.

As Sakura touched down, she checked her HUD, only to find that her calculations had been off, and she was in the wrong place.

"Dammit! I missed the landing zone by more than a few miles! I'm practically on the other side of town! I've got no choice." Sakura said, preparing to hang on for dear life. "Okay Kanesada, let's light these candles."
*"As you wish, mistress." he said.

Sakura felt her stomach fall behind several miles as the bike rocketed forward at breakneck speed. She swerved over to the side of the street and raced along the side of the building, peeling off the wall and taking the turns as widely as she could considering the speed she was going. Her eyes were trained on what was ahead of her, checking her HUD to figure out how much closer she needed to get to the park. At last she got close and cut off the thrusters, dropping back to less than subsonic speed, as she engaged the engine again and made a tire screeching turn into the park, as police raced around the corner sirens blaring, screeching to a stop and officers filing out of their vehicles to stop her. She spotted Navcase up ahead, dodging slash after slash from Toshihiko.

"I finish this now." Toshihiko declared, drawing his gun and running towards the hero. "Kakekomi Ryuu..." he declared, firing at Navcase, who attempted to deflect the bullets as he had been doing.

"Gan Ken Kenbi!" Toshihiko shouted, bringing out his sword at the last second.
"Navcase catch!" Sakura shouted, tossing his sword to him.

The final seconds seemed to pass in slow motion as Navcase caught the sheathed weapon in his left hand and quickly began to pull it from its sheath with his right as Toshihiko's blade came nearer and nearer to slashing him, a determined look on both their faces. Sakura shut her eyes to hide the outcome. Seconds later, a loud resounding clang of metal against metal seemed to echo through the park. She opened her eyes to find Toshihiko's sword had been barely parried by Navcase's, still in the process of drawing it. Navcase unsheathed it the rest of the way, pushing Toshihiko back with the stroke, as Navcase stuck the sheath through his belt.

"It ends now." Navcase declared, ready with his new sword. He held it into the air, and it began to crackle with energy as Navcase also began to glow, reacting with his Seishi energy. Navcase ended the fireworks spectacle and returned to the Shinken no Kamae stance.

"It seems I underestimated you. That's it, no holding back anymore!" Toshihiko shouted, removing his trenchcoat and dress shirt, revealing several tattoos on his chest and hands. "Time to die, celestial warrior!" Toshihiko shouted, touching his right wrist, producing a set of four shuriken in his hands, which he hurled at Navcase, who ducked out of the way as the stars sliced cleanly through a tree behind him, felling it in four places, before arcing back around like boomerangs to Toshihiko's waiting hand.

"Those things could have killed me if I wasn't careful. I have to stay close to him and keep him from nailing me with long range weapons." Navcase said to himself as he pushed off with his back foot and charged towards his opponent, who touched his left wrist as he sidestepped Navcase, as the hero felt a sharp pain in his side as he clutched it with his hand, spotting a strange knife in Toshihiko's hand. Navcase sprung into the air as Toshihiko pointed his sword blade directly at him, letting loose with a plume of flame that scorched the ground just as Navcase got airborne.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, Ryu Kan Sen, Arashi!" Navcase shouted, flipping over and crashing down with his sword as Toshihiko blocked with his own, driving his feet into the pavement from the weight of Navcase on his blade. Navcase shifted his weight forward so he rolled forward onto his feet, and whirled around, only to be blocked by Toshihiko, who slashed him across the chest with his knife. Navcase watched energy gather in the blade and around Toshihiko as he clutched his chest

"Kattoubasu Toushou!" Toshihiko declared, crashing his blade down on Navcase, sending him flying in the opposite direction, however the hero managed to kick off from a tree and flew towards him, only to be knocked off guard by a force blast that sent him flying through the tree, splintering it and hurting Navcase badly. The hero struggled to his feet as Toshihiko Shukuchied his way and appeared beside him, slashing upward in a spiral with his Zokutou Tsurugi maneuver, uppercutting the hero into the air and causing him to fly backwards. As Navcase plummeted Toshihiko launched into another Gan Ken Kenbi, firing bullets at the hero that luckily missed, but as he brought his sword out Navcase used the split second to touch the ground and charge forward at incredible speed.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, Kuzu Ryu Sen!" Navcase screamed, nailing all nine vital points in one hit and sending Toshihiko splintering through another tree as he flew forward in a blur of energy. Navcase fell onto his blade, using it as a crutch as he panted heavily from the sheer exhaustion this fight was putting him through as his opponent got up once more. Something was different. When he collided with his foe he had not noticed a transparent armor around him.

"He must have summoned that just as I collided with him..." Navcase thought, hoping this fight would not take much longer.
"This is going to end now, hero." Toshihiko said angrily, touching another tattoo through his armor on his left upper chest, and then another on his abdominal area. His forearms and forelegs began to glow with energy as the opponent waved his hand forward, sending a gust of wind flying into the hero, knocking him off his feet and slamming into another tree. He disappeared, and then reappeared next to Navcase, punching and kicking the hero several times, causing even more bruises to him. He was caught unawares as the hum of a weapon charging was heard, and a blast of blue energy slammed into Toshihiko, knocking him away from Navcase and skidding across the ground. He stopped himself, almost floating in the air, to see Sakura with her arm cannon trained at on him. The sky grew dark above Sakura as Toshihiko's anger increased, and Navcase rushed over to her and Kanesada. He held his sword above his head, as it began to glow and crackle with energy, as Toshihiko took this opportunity to send a lightning bolt streaking down from the sky, as Navcase drove the sword into the ground, creating a circle of protection around the two of them. For a solid five minutes the two attempted to rethink their strategy as lightning bolt after lightning bolt came flashing down from the sky every fifteen seconds.

"Curse you! That shield has to let up sometime!" Toshihiko roared.
"So does your magic tattoos." Navcase fired back.

With five minutes up, the circle dissipated, as Toshihiko's magical effects faded off. The evil warrior charged at Navcase, swinging his blade relentlessly, only to have every strike parried away by the Sword of Heaven.

"Temper temper. You'll never hit me when every strike you make is fueled by your anger." Navcase taunted.
"Damn you!" Toshihiko said, using Shukutchi to put distance between the two and switching back to his guns, firing again, as Navcase dodged past the bullets, nailing him in the side through Ryu Kan Sen Tsumuji. He then went straight into Kogarashi, and proceeded to come down with Arashi, however Toshihiko counterattacked, knocking Navcase back in the process, who pushed off into another Kuzu Ryu Sen, which Toshihiko dodged quickly with Shukutchi, as Navcase skidded to a stop as he followed through, in a straight path to the enemy.

"Curse you! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!!! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES!!!! I WILL BE TRIUMPHANT!!!!!" Toshihiko shouted angrily. "THIS NEXT ATTACK WILL KILL YOU, I PROMISE!!!!"

Navcase nodded and put on his poker face, sheathing his katana in its sheath, standing ready in the stance for Battou-Jutsu, his eyes trained on Toshihiko. The warrior angrily held his sword in front and to the ground, gathering energy around the blade for his Kattoubasu Toushou. But that technique could only be done at close range. What was he planning to do? The blade, glowing with energy, was held in its downward angle, his wrists pointing skyward as he flew forward, his feet hitting the ground at incredible speed, tearing up the pavement as he rocketed towards Navcase.

"DIE!!!!!!!!!!!" Toshihiko shouted, bringing the blade down as Navcase stepped forward.

With his left foot.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu ougi!" Navcase shouted, adrenaline rushing through his veins as his blade flew from its sheath, slashing across Toshihiko's chest, leaving an incision.
"WHAT THE?" Toshihiko said in disbelief, gasping for air as he was drawn towards Navcase, unable to stop himself.
"Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki!" he finished, making a full circle around with the blade, connecting with the opponent's jaw and sending him sailing backwards as Navcase finished the technique with his sword pointed skyward and his head to the ground, as Toshihiko collided with the pavement hard, cracking it in a print around him.

Navcase, still in the final pose, dropped to the ground as Sakura rushed to his side, helping the warrior to his feet. He used the leverage of sheathing his sword to get him upright as Sakura helped him over to the Motorslave, as Toshihiko lay heaving on the ground.

"Who...are...you....?" Toshihiko moaned weakly.
"My name is Shinta Tennomi. However, I am more formally known as Navcase, the Sword of Heaven, third Seishi of Amaterasu. Who have I had the honor of fighting these past few battles?"
"Yeah, and while you're at it, tell us who you work for! Why have you been trying to kill Navcase and the others?" Sakura demanded angrily, helping the bloodied hero onto the back of her bike.
"I have been sworn to silence on that...I have failed...kill me..." he said weakly.
"No. You fought well against me, something not many can do. For that you deserve to live."
"No...kill me...you won, I lost." Toshihiko repeated weakly.
"No. But who are you?" Navcase said firmly.
"I cannot tell you...I'm sorry." he replied.
"Very well then." Navcase said.

Sakura fired up the engine and prepared to head off, as the warrior spoke up again.

"If you must know...my name is Toshihiko Kakekomi."
"It was an honor to have fought you, Toshihiko Kakekomi. I hope you will become stronger in whatever quest you undertake." Navcase replied.

This confused Toshihiko. He was supposed to be killed; he had failed. It was better to die than to face Tenma. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens. They heard the cocks of pistols and other weapons as a group of cops came in from the direction Sakura had entered. Several other cruisers screeched to a halt at the other entrance near where Toshihiko had landed.

"FREEZE!" the officers shouted, training their guns on Sakura and Navcase.
"Gotta go. Hang on." she said, engaging the thrusters and blasting off in the other direction.
"Damn! It's that same strange bike from before!" one of the officers shouted.
"What the hell happened here?" an officer said, getting out of his cruiser. "It looks like a warzone here!"
"Sergeant McNichols! Get over here! There's someone lying on the ground over here, badly injured. This guy needs medical attention. Doesn't seem to speak English though."
"Get an ambulance down here on the double! Have an interpreter meet us at the hospital, if this guy pulls through we'll arrest him there." he ordered.
"Yes sir." another officer said.

Meanwhile...

Tenma sat patiently, sitting on the couch. He knew Karen would be home soon. Her return would allow him to begin his operation. But there was one matter he had to take care of first...that one involved Karen.

"<Sorry I'm late Dad, we got stuck waiting for the train.>" She explained as she came in the door.
"<Did you have a good time dear?" he asked.
"<Um, yeah I guess.>" she replied.
"<I have something important to tell you.>" he began.
"<Is it something bad?>" Karen asked.
"<Not entirely. My father is very sick, and he has asked for me to return to Japan immediately. I was wondering if you want to come too, but I doubt that you want to go on a vacation with your dad, even though the trip could be a chance to get in touch with your heritage...then there's the exchange rate, you'll be able to get more there for the same amount here. Then there's the stores, you should be able to find something cool for your friend Teresa, that and you COULD get your hands on music that hasn't even been released here, but I'm sure you wouldn't..."

Looking up, he found Karen, her arms full of luggage.

"<When do we leave?>" she asked, with an excited look on her face.

Tenma simply smiled evilly...this was easier than he thought...he barely needed to cheat.

Back at the hotel, Yuriko was pacing frantically. Navcase had not yet returned. She hoped he would be back soon.

At that moment, Sakura stepped into the hotel room. Slowly but surely, she saw the battered and weakened body of Navcase walk into the room, dried blood covering his body, dirty as can be.

"SHINTA-CHAN!!!!!" she shouted, heading for the warrior.
"I'm sorry Yuriko...I'm so sorry..." Navcase replied.
"It's okay Shinta-chan...I forgive you...I always forgive you."
"We have a problem. I have a feeling that one of the Drakka Seishi is Karen."
"I've felt something from her too, now that you mention it."
"We have to tell Ran, before she finds out the hard way." Navcase said sadly.

Yuriko nodded just as Ran walked in and replied, "Tell me what?"

"Ran...I'm very sorry. But we think Karen is a Seishi."

A look of shock and anger came across Ran's face as tears filled her eyes. This was not true. Karen was too nice. Far too nice to be an emissary of Evil.

"It's not true! It's not true!!!" Ran cried.
"I know it's hard to accept, but it's the truth, I'm sorry Ran." Navcase tried to explain.
"You're lying! She's too nice to be one of them! In fact, I'll go ask her myself!" Ran shouted, rushing off to find Karen.

Ran raced down the streets, trying to find Karen. She made a beeline for the one place that she could possibly be: The Esplanade. As she got off the train stop and headed across the footbridge and into the park, she looked left and right through the mass of sunbathers, dodged skater after skater, biker after biker, as one of them crashed into her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going! Ran?" Allison asked. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Do you know where Karen is? I need to talk to her."
"She said she's going to Japan with her dad, that's all I know. Sorry."
"Thanks anyway." Ran replied solemnly as she walked back.

Upon her arrival at the hotel, Navcase and Yuriko explained that Kinjiro said that he could no longer track the two contacts in Boston, and they were moving west. Ran refused to believe the information, even though it made sense based on what Allison said, that is, if Karen was really a Seishi. She warped back to the palace, with the others following her. No sooner did she return did Ran raced to her room past her family and cried on her bed. It was not true. It could not be true. Karen was not a Seishi for Drakka. She placed her head on the pillow and sobbed until an angry voice pierced the sobbing.

"What are you whining about, child?" Kashin asked.
"I never got a chance to say goodbye..."
"To a friend?" he asked. "What was her name?" he said, trying to be nice, although nowadays that was beyond the warrior.
"Karen...her name was Karen."

He gasped in shock. It could not be. Could it be possible?

"What was her last name, if you know it."
"I think she said it was Furukiayu."

Kashin made a fist with both hands. His suspicions were right. Tenma was up to something...He did not have much time. He had to bring him down.

"Thank you." he said, rushing off abruptly.

Back at Tenma's...

"That trenchcoated twit should be back by now." Touru said angrily.
"Where is he? Something must have happened to him." Kinuko added.
"This is not like him!" Touru shouted.

Her hair done up in pigtails and a huge bubble coming out of her mouth and a Chinese language magazine in her hands, Xiaoyu pointed to the TV.

"Police apprehended a mysterious individual in the Common this afternoon. He seemed to be armed with a large ornate sword and a pair of pistols. The suspect is listed in critical condition at this time, police are waiting for the man to wake up so they can question him about his actions."
"THAT SON OF A BITCH GOT HIMSELF PUMMELED!!!" Touru roared.
"Calm down, someone could hear us!" Kinuko said.
"Boston PD, open up in there!"
"DAMN IT!" Touru shouted.
"Okay, I'll get up on the balcony at the top of the stairs and see how many I can pick off as they come out of the elevator." Kinuko said as she grabbed her sniper rifle and got into position. Xiaoyu leapt off the couch and rushed upstairs to the stairs to the roof.

"Okay! We're coming in!" the officers shouted.

Bang after bang came at the door as it started to splinter under the pressure. Touru activated his tattoo magic, while Kinuko took aim.

The door finally burst into firewood as the officers rushed in with guns blazing, several falling as Kinuko took shot after shot from her perch. Touru tore into more with his strength as more and more officers came into the apartment. One managed to get a lucky shot on Kinuko, hitting her in the arm. This arrest was going to be harder than they thought.

Enter Kashin.

He went for Touru first, nailing him with a punch that knocked the lummox out in one hit. As he came to his feet, Kashin sent several kitchen knives flying from the drawers to pin him to the wall. He raced up the stairs and tackled Kinuko to the ground and handcuffed her before she could get any further away. The other officers quickly cuffed the lummox as Kashin proceeded to search the place. He noticed a letter on the kitchen table, along with the rest of what seemed like the day's mail. Opening it up, he glanced over it. It was sent by the man whom Tenma reported to directly. This was bad. Tenma was also considered to be worthy of taking control of the organization. His gaze fell next on a framed picture on an end table in the living room. He slowly walked over to it. Picking it up just as slowly, it revealed a young girl. He studied the photograph carefully, comparing it to one in his wallet of Karen taken just before the disappearance. No doubt about it. This was her. Standing right next to her, ws a smiling Tenma, looking at him, mocking him, as if enjoying his "fatherhood", as if he had waited for this day to come. One problem though.

Fatherhood was Kashin's job.

Kashin closed his hands tightly in fists. His anger raged, as his aura began to glow brightly. As it reached its peak, he lashed out with his power, a magnetic hum echoing everywhere. All around the apartment, metal began to bend in every which way, electronics blew out, watches stopped as the lights began to flicker, car alarms began to sound outside as his rage affected everything ferrous or magnetic. Things began to float in the air, as the officers took cover behind whatever they could. After what seemed like an eternity, Kashin began to fade out of his surge, and then collapsed to the floor from exhaustion.

This is the End of Part 2. We thank you for choosing Hell Back on Earth for your fanfic needs, Part 3 is now boarding for nonstop flight to Tokyo, Japan.

Next Episode:

NARU: Yahoo! This next episode's all about me!

YUJI: But Naru, it's about us too.

NARU: Okay, me and my friends. We've got a great story for ya as we take the action to Tokyo! It's our next chapter, L33T G4/\/\3R N4R00. Don't miss this one!

YUJI: That's Leet Gamer Naru, for those of you who don't speek Leet.