Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth ❯ Kashin Must Die ( Chapter 15 )

The groups stood as they had, waiting for each other to make the first move. None of them knew exactly who would get things started, but the battle would be big. In the end, Kashin's life hung in the balance.

Still standing patiently in Shinken no Kamae stance, Navcase began his assessment of the situation. So far, not so good. They were outnumbered badly, eight to two. Worse, maneuvering space was very limited. He would have to move carefully and dodge well to avoid the hail of bullets that would soon be unleashed. He gripped his blade tighter.

Sakura was also in assessment mode. Her swordsmanship was just a few steps shy of Navcase. She stood ready to call Kanesada at a moment's notice if things got too hectic. Some she recognized from before. Others, such as the stranger with the large demonic appearance and the rest of the people with him, were new. All had to be stopped, or Kashin was toast. She hoped the two of them could pull off a miracle.

On the opposing side, Toshihiko was set to face Navcase again. This battle would be a difficult one because he had already wasted all his best moves on the other swordsman. He hoped that his half brother would have better luck against Heaven's emissary than he did.

As the others squared off, Kinuko took an advantageous position from which to snipe. Kashin's death was priority one, and she was the woman to do it. She was known far and wide through Japan for her assassination skills, most commonly put to use silencing Yakuza witnesses and other squealers. Now, she had been hired by Tenma to quiet Kashin. If he shared any of his knowledge with the other Seishi and were able to piece it together, he could not achieve his ultimate goal of summoning Drakka right under their noses. If that was to happen, she had to shut Kashin up before he could talk. His power was bad enough. Kashin's knowledge was what truly kept Tenma up at night.

Xiao Yu, the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon reject, was all set to go. Sure, she acted cute the majority of the time, but that only helped to conceal her devilish potential. She had never had a real opportunity to deal with the enemy, and now she would get her chance. The plan was simple. Keep them busy long enough for Kinuko to take the shot. Simple enough, they had the advantage of numbers. So this would be fun.

For Masahiko, this was more fun. Being half demon on his father's side, he felt superior to most humans. But these were not mere weaklings that crumbled after a few hits. These were Seishi. He hoped his full power would not be necessary to stop them. That did not mean he would not resort to it if necessary. He simply hoped he would not have to waste it on the weaklings.

Houka watched her foes carefully. They were nothing to worry much about. She had guns, they did not. It would not last long, and then the mission could go on. She would try and enjoy this while she could.

Jiro analyzed and reanalyzed the opponents from within his V-Cypher armor. This would be an easy battle, their only advantage seemed to be the armor that Sakura wore. He had not had an opportunity to test the weapons on the mecha, so he hoped that it did not fail him.

Tomoko was ready beyond ready. As soon as the combat started, a few quick slashes would be all it took to finish them off. Her team had been given a nice chunk of cash for doing this, and she was not about to screw this up.

All stood ready, hands on their weapons, waiting for just the right moment to strike, or be struck.

Up on a distant rooftop, Ayako watched with disgust. She should be right there, helping her companions, but no, she was sitting around like a useless battery of energy, mostly because she could not activate her ring safely. She was so thrilled when she discovered she was a Seishi, and this is how they repaid her, forcing her to basically warm the bench while the more experienced warriors stood ready to to fight.

"DAMMIT!!!" Ayako shouted, loud enough so the other warriors spotted her.

"Heh Heh, Oops?"

Sakura and Navcase looked up as Ayako backed away and Jiro blasted into the sky with a roar of his engines. Sakura lit hers as well and flew up after him. Before Navcase could take any action, Houka started to open fire on him as he ducked behind a fan as the bullets left their mark in the metal but not him. He ducked out to see if the situation had changed, only to find that Tomoko had charged him with her blade out to the side, he parried sideways as she swung up from her reversed grip, sending sparks flying as Navcase pushed her away and twirled into Ryu Kan Sen.

"Tomoko! He's going to clip you from behind!"

Taking his hint, she brought up her blade in time just as Navcase was about to connect, as she kicked him back, sending him stumbling and forced him to quickly sidestep as Toshihiko came crashing down with an overhead smash. Toshihiko then pointed his blade towards Navcase, who stood ready for the response as the dragon's heads glowed. Would it be flame? Lightning? Or force? Navcase was not sure, and dodged as he fired, as a force bolt knocked him back. Nodding to Masahiko, he leapt into the air, as Toshihiko smashed Navcase into the air with his sword, as the hero attempted to block the hail of bullets from Houka's pistols which juggled him into the air. Masahiko seemed to float down from the peak of his jump as he nailed the hero with his own sword, sending him flying off the side of the building. As he plummeted towards the ground, the hero stopped himself with his Chi.

"That's it. Enough is enough. Armor of Hope!" he shouted, snapping his fingers. Ripping off his Seishi attire, his body was covered in a skin tight sheen by a ring of metal, as his own armor locked around him piece by piece. Igniting his thrusters, he rocketed back up to the roof and stood ready with his katana.

"What is that..." Toshihiko wondered as he prepared to fire on it.

Navcase had no choice. Powerful and skilled he was. Bulletproof he was not, even being a Seishi. It was his only chance.

The two gunners opened fire on the now armored Seishi, which as expected had no effect as the shells bounced off the tough gundanium armor.

"SHIT!" Houka shouted. "Suck on these!" she screamed, pulling out her other pistols and firing, the recoil knocking her back but only denting the armor.

"Double X Rifle!" he voice echoed as the weapon appeared in his hand. He took several shots at the enemy with it, leaving dents in the rooftop as most of the group dodged for cover. Toshihiko summoned his shuriken and hurled them in Navcase's direction, but they only served to damage some of the left arm guard as they returned to his hand and vanished.

Meanwhile, Sakura had flown up towards Jiro, being careful with her charged cannon fire as not to hit the surroundings. He turned and fired back with his gatling, which she saw coming towards her and zigzagged out of the way as a group of seven missiles streaked towards her, a threat she dealt with using her own mini-missiles as she zoomed closer to the target.

Jiro on the other hand, had his sights set on Ayako, as he targeted her and fired a blast from his chest cannon that homed in on Ayako, who held up her ring as it began to glow and absorb the energy, which she quickly sent screaming at Navcase's multiple problems, who managed to dodge outward as Tomoko again streaked in the direction of the Sword of Heaven and managed to strike a glancing blow along his chestplate. He was then sent reeling as Jiro fired another set of missiles at him, sending him crashing to the ground as he turned quickly to protect his backpack from damage, taking the full brunt of the attack from the front. Navcase brought out his shield and fired back, as he skillfully dodged his shots. Sakura landed on the roof where Ayako was and checked to see if she was all right.

"We need some help. Take your cell phone and call Mia's and get Ryo and Anubis here as soon as you can. I'll try and get you some cover."

"How?" Ayako asked as she took out her phone.

"KANESADA!!!!" Sakura shouted.

In a matter of minutes the sentient bike had arrived on the scene from the Heavens.

"Okay buddy, call down the first Add-On for yourself and cover Ayako as best you can. We've got to buy her some time to get Ryo and Anubis here."

"Understood mistress. Add-On A, deploy!" Kanesada said.

The Heavens opened once again as the attachments flew down and locked onto the armor. He fired the large cannon on the armor at Jiro, damaging one set of thrusters and sending him tumbling back to the ground. Some of them were still functional, but this meant that full flight was out of the question.

Back on the rooftop, Ayako dialed away.

"Hello?" Ryo asked when he got the phone.
"Sakura told me to call you. We need your help bad." Ayako explained.
"How bad?" Ryo asked.
"We're outnumbered seven to two."
"You've got Navcase and Sakura, they're pretty good fighters."
"And what am I? FUGU?" Ayako exclaimed.
"What's up Ryo?" Anubis asked as he entered the room.
"Ayako says they're in trouble. They're outnumbered seven to two."
"They've got your girlfriend and Navcase, what more help do they need?"
"Maybe we could call the palace..." Ryo asked.
"RYO!!!! GET OFF THE PHONE AND GET BACK OUT HERE!!!" Mia shouted loudly.

The two looked at each other, and nodded.

"We'll be right there." Ryo and Anubis replied in unison.

Elsewhere in Japan, as Tenma and Shou's father discussed the impending matter of finding a priestess, Karen sat alone in her room, looking over some new CD's she had bought while in Tokyo and the gifts she had gotten for Teresa and Allison. She had not seen Naru since the morning, and she still had no clue where the young girl had ran off to. Her father had threatened to ground her for an entire decade if she disturbed their meeting, so she had no other choice but to ask the only other person who might know her whereabouts.

As she descended towards the kitchen to find the moron, she heard the sounds of L'arc en Ciel from the kitchen, and an Osaka-ben singing along quite badly to "Heaven's Drive."

She tiptoed into the kitchen, where she found the unusual sight of Shou cooking like some sort of crazed chef. This was a surprise. She had not expected him to have any useful skills.

As she called his name he whirled around cowering in fear.

"I'msorryI'msorryforwhateverIdid! What did I do anyway?" Shou asked.
"<Nothing. I didn't know you could cook.>"
"Hey! It's not easy when ya can run at almost supersonic speed! Ya know how much energy that takes outta me? I could eat a ten course meal, run a marathon in 2.5 seconds and be hungry again after I stopped! It's not a gift, it's a curse when you're an Osakan!" Shou shouted.
"<I see. I'm not going to make you defy gravity, I just wanna know where Naru went.>"

"Ohhh! Ya don't wanna try and kill me, ya just wanna know where da girl's at. She went to the park, I think. She said she wanted to be alone." Shou replied.
"<Thanks.>" Karen replied, running out the door, Shou's gaze following her all the way. Shou was snapped out of his trance as the smoke detector went off, as his hot oil began to boil over.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!! I shoulda been watching hot oil instead of hot gaijin babes! Waitasec, whatdidI jus'say? AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Nice Tempura! Cooperate with Uncle Shou, ya hear? NOW WHAT? DA RICE COOKER'S BROKEN!!!!!? WHADIDIDOTADASERVEDIS!!!!?"

Meanwhile, Karen walked through the nearest park in Osaka, glancing around at many of the cute guys while at the same time trying to find the infamous Naru. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a bucket hat and a pair of glasses sitting on a park bench, which could only mean one thing. Heading over in that direction, the young girl did not seem to notice Karen's approach at all. Drawing closer, she followed the wire from her Mini-Disc player up to Naru's ears, implying that the girl was off in her own little world. It looked as if she had skated over to the park, as she had her pads on from the looks of it. A still unawares Naru only noticed Karen's presence after she sat down and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, hey." Naru replied.
"<So, what are you doing here?>" Karen asked.
"Not much...listening to music...getting some fresh air...thinking." Naru answered.
"<About what?>" she asked.
"Stuff." Naru answered.
"<Would 'stuff' imply that this involves a certain young cute teen?>" Karen asked.
"Maybe." Naru replied.
"<Why are you being so secretive?>" Karen asked.
"Because." Naru replied, totally avoiding the question.
"<Because?>" Karen asked.
"Look, I've got a lot on my mind, and you didn't make things any easier for when you nudged Yuuji and convinced him to admit his feelings for me. Shou's taking me out with his friends later tonight, I'll see you, Furukiayu-san, and please, don't follow me." Naru said, getting up from the bench and skating off in the opposite direction. Karen sighed and headed back to Shou's.

Back in Boston...

The combat still raged as Ayako dodged gatling fire, gathering most of it in her ring, as Kanesada proceeded to fire back at Jiro. The -hiko Half Brothers were still attempting to take down Navcase, who, even with his armor was getting wailed on. Navcase ducked under the massive swing radius of Masahiko's sword, as bullets pinged off his weakened armor from Toshihiko. A downward swing from Masahiko knocked away his shield, as an upward arc sent him flying into the air as bullets kept him skyward long enough for Masahiko to give him another slam to the ground as he glided down. Using his rockets to propel him to his feet at breakneck speed, Navcase let Masahiko have it with Ryu Shou-Tsui-Sen, a quick improvisation of Ryu Tsui-Shou Sen, sending the giant floating backwards and crashing to the ground with a thud. He went back to his fighting stance and prepared himself for the next attack.

The large half-demon rose to his feet with little effort, his eyes glowing angrily. This little gnat was tougher than he had imagined. After all, he had beaten his half brother in combat. He was half about to resort to his demonic transformation, but it was too early to tell. There had to be some way to defeat this looser. He had to fall sometime.

Touru, with all his strength, was next to try his luck against the armored warrior. Breaking out his nunchucku, he struck blow after blow, which Navcase managed to block with his sword and forearms the best he could, as Touru left dent after dent in the Gundanium. Touru was not attempting to knock Navcase off the building as his companions were...he had a different plan in mind. He flicked his nunchucku out once again, straight into Navcase's forearm, leaving a horrible dent in the right gauntlet. As Navcase guarded his arm Touru let him have it across the face, the weight of Navcase's backpack pulling the warrior down. Touru returned to a defensive stance as Tomoko stepped forward, bracing her sword downward to run Navcase through. As she drove her sword downward another blade came out of nowhere and blocked, that of Sakura, who swung upward, leading the blade away from the hero's chest and then knocking her back with the other. As she flipped her swords over in her hands she fired a blast from her gauntlet, knocking Touru backwards, skidding along the top of the building knocking him out as he hit the edge. Then, swinging in a blur, she took down Tomoko with her Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren attack. As she headed over to help Navcase get up, she was struck with incredible force from Houka's RPB pistols, sending her flying backwards, crashing into the edge of the building and tumbling over the side. She attempted to ignite her thrusters, only to be told by her armor that the backpack was damaged in the crash. She attempted to steer herself over to the side, hoping to use her jump jets to zigzag her way back up to the roof, but she was falling too fast due to the weight of the armor. If she shed it now she would have no way back up, and she needed Kanesada to protect Ayako. As she plummeted to the ground she closed her eyes, only to feel after a few seconds that she was no longer falling. Opening her eyes, she stared back into Ryo's. Her man had come to her rescue, his beautiful flaming wings billowing out behind him. Calling on his Chi to rocket them skyward, he set her down near Ayako, as he and Anubis landed beside Navcase and helped him to his feet.

"You all right Navcase?" Anubis asked.
"I'll manage. I hate to have to do this, but I've got to fire." Navcase replied.
"We'll run interference man." Ryo replied, summoning his flame swords.
"Hurry." Anubis added, brandishing his scythe.

The two pushed off and charged the remaining forces, as Anubis ducked under the incredible swing radius of Masahiko and slashed upward with his scythe, parrying his sword away, and skillfully backflipping away as Toshihiko sent a hail of bullets his way, which Anubis attempted to block with his scythe's blade, as a wall of flame appeared around him, supplied by Ryo. Navcase meanwhile took off into the sky, and proceeded to activate the cannon system, only to find two problems. First, the sight for one of his cannons was stuck, due to the damage Toshihiko had made with his shuriken. Secondly, one of his arm panels would not open, due to the blow he took from Touru.

"This is not good." Navcase said to himself, as he readied his cannon and fired blast after blast towards their opponents, missing every time, several times coming close to hitting his own allies.

"Navcase, watch it with that thing!" Anubis called up to him.
"Sorry, I'm not as good a shot as I am a swordsman."
"We could have told you that BEFORE you started firing." Anubis added.
"Anubis! The chick with the guns!" Ryo called out before Masahiko sent him flying backwards, as a bolt of energy sent him flying in the OTHER direction. Surrounding himself in flame, Ryo shot like a bullet into Masahiko, burning the giant and knocking him back as Ryo returned to his normal state. Meanwhile, Houka pulled the triggers on her pistols, but Navcase was whisked out of the way by an unknown form!

"What the?" she wondered.

Navcase stood on some sort of metal platform, equally confused until he heard Yuriko's voice.

"Shinta-chan! I had a bad dream that you were in trouble so I came to rescue you!" she replied.
"I can't fire the cannon, my armor's damaged."
"Oh that's okay Shinta-chan, this thing has one!" Yuriko said, taking aim at their targets, only to have Houka fall backwards as they flew overhead, firing at the underside of the unit, sending them crashing down. Navcase leapt off as Yuriko converted into mobile suit mode, skidding on her back to the edge of the building, and stopping there. Navcase took position in front of her, as Houka took shot after shot at the hero, damaging his armor more and more.

"I'll put up a shield!" Ryo shouted.
"No Ryo!" Anubis said, stopping him. "Her bullets are explosive, if they hit your fire shield the resulting blast could send the two of them over the side."
"Shinta-chan! Stop!" Yuriko cried, as shot after shot hit the Armor of Hope and she struggled to get up in the heavy, bulky armor.
"I have...to...protect...you." Navcase grimaced, taking blow after blow, as the armor was torn more and more, and the weakened warrior fell as the suit's power gave out, and the armor vanished from over damage. Navcase lay, weakened, and unshielded as Houka put away her powerful guns and pulled out other pistols from under her jacket, taking aim at Navcase, and preparing to fire.

Inside her armor, Yuriko watched in horror, and screamed his name with a burst of tears, that fell on the armor, causing it to glow brightly within.

Outside, Houka slowly began to pull the trigger, only to use her arm to shield her eyes from the bright light emitting from Yuriko's armor. Cracks began to appear in the heavy armor plating as they fell off, revealing the mechanical muscle systems that helped to move them, as the almost naked armor stepped out of its outer shell like an insect shedding its larval skin. It began to glow with energy, as its form began to change completely. As the light faded it had gone from its darker purple color to almost all white, except for the chest which was now red. The shoulder guards of the machine had become more pronounced and were lined in red. Her Ashataron Hermit Crab had turned into the Rising Gundam.

"Armor of Rising Passion!" Yuriko shouted, pulling out her new heat naginata and brandishing it in front of her, as a dramatic background appeared and a subtitle announcing her new form appeared at her feet. She now stepped in front of Navcase as he struggled to his feet.

"I won't let you lay a finger on my Shinta-chan." she declared.

Houka reached for her pistols again, but she was pushed aside by Jiro.

"I'll handle this one." he declared.

Firing off a homing shot, Yuriko grabbed Navcase and shot into the air, landing on the building above them and placing the hero on the ground behind the support of Kanesada, before leaping into the air and landing with her blade poised to strike. He parried with his own energy blade that extended from his gatling cannon, blocking her own weapon as she stepped back, twirled the blade and struck two more times across his armor, damaging his chest cannon. He stepped back and fired his seven way missiles, which Yuriko sliced to pieces using her naginata in a series of quick slashes, as he surprised her with a shot from his gatling, damaging part of her right torso.

"I won't give up...I WON'T!" Yuriko shouted, as her armor began to glow with her Chi once again. A prompt in her HUD read "Rising Arrow". The structure on her right arm opened up and she removed it, as she rocketed high into the sky, as the structure became a beam bow, loaded with an arrow of energy as well.

"THIS IS FOR MY SHINTA-CHAN!!!" She screamed. "RISING ARROW!!!" she shouted, firing the shot which tore the other thruster off the armor, preventing it from flight. As she continued to fall, she braced her weapon against her back with her hand outstretched and glowing as she called out, "RISING FINGER!!!!" as it connected with his faceplate and proceeded to burn through layers quickly.

"Yuri...ko..." Navcase pleaded weakly. "Stop..."

The young woman released her death grip on his helmet and stepped back as the armor opened up and dropped Jiro out, in his Trace suit, as the armor turned to energy and teleported away to repair itself as its pilot fell unconscious to the ground. The glow around Yuriko's hand faded.

As Sakura tended to the weakened Navcase, Yuriko assessed the situation along with Ryo and Anubis. Touru was knocked out thanks to Sakura, as was Tomoko lying weakened on the ground from Sakura's attack. Jiro was out cold, Houka had only her pistols, most of which were probably still loaded. Her comrades lying unconscious around her, Houka closed her eyes and began to focus.

"I may have no way of harming you with my guns...but I do have ONE LAST TRICK!!!" She shouted, as her arm began to become wrapped in energy as a blade like that of Raziel the Soul Reaver extended outward.

"This is NOT good." Anubis said. "That's pure Chi. One good swipe and we're toast."
"But judging for her size, she won't be able to maintain that thing for long. We'll just keep her busy until she passes out." Ryo said.

Houka charged in anger and swung with her arm as the two Seishi dodged out of the way. They dodged skillfully as she swung wildly with her energy blade, trying to cut them to ribbons. Ryo parried with his own flame swords, which was easy due to her own anger. After a few minutes of dodging she fell to her knees as the blade faded into nothingness and she passed out.

"That was easy." Ryo replied.
"She's not so tough without her pistols."

Toshihiko stepped forward next.

"You now have me to deal with." he replied, removing his coat and shirt and touching his magic tattoos to prepare for combat, and preparing his sword, firing a flame blast which the two went into the air to dodge. He then let a bolt of lightning leap from it, which the two leapt aside to deal with.

"This guy's pretty tough!" Ryo replied.
"Yes, but Navcase defeated him once, defeating him again should not be that much of a problem."

As the warrior prepared to fire yet another blast at the nimble Seishi, a force blast from Ayako sent him packing in reverse. She fired another, knocking him to the ground. He rose to his feet, blocking with his large broadsword as she sent bolt after bolt flying at him, and sent one of his own back at her, knocking her off her feet. She glowed briefly and rose to her feet, sending an energy blast screaming back at him, which knocked him clear into his half-brother, and collapsed.

"Whoa. I think we underestimated the girl." Anubis replied.
"Yeah. She's got some power, not to mention spunk." Ryo added.
"Kanesada, stay here with Navcase." Sakura replied, leaping down to Ryo's level. The four warriors stood ready to face their final opponent, Masahiko.

"Well, it's all down to you big guy. Ready to end up like your companions?" Sakura asked, readying her swords for another go.

The giant did not reply, instead he picked up his half brother and carried him over into a corner.

"Give it up. You're outnumbered now." Anubis replied, ready with his own scythe.

Again, no answer, Masahiko grabbed Tomoko and moved her over to where he had placed Toshihiko.

"We will not let you win." Yuriko replied, tightening her grip on her own weapon.

Masahiko lifted up Houka and carried her and Jiro over to his pile, setting them down as well, before stepping forward to face his foes.

"I thought I wasn't going to have to go this far..." he replied.

Fearing the worst, the warriors tightened their grips even tighter as Masahiko took off his trenchcoat and set it down on the ground. Then, holding his sword to the sky, it began to crackle with energy as a bolt of energy struck it, sending a surge of power through the warrior himself, as he placed it back into its sheath and his power began to grow higher and higher, as he began to laugh maniacally, his voice getting deeper with every second. His other limbs began to grow larger and purpler, and his skin became rougher. He became taller by the second as he began to transform into something else. His head began to mutate into something more demonic looking, horned and ugly, as batlike demonic wings began to sprout from his back, as a long purple tail began to emerge from his rear. He began to shine with dark energies off the charts to the Seishi's scanners as he greeted them in a deep, evil-sounding demonic voice.

"You fools have had the privilege to see what not many have seen...my full, demonic form. Now, you will end up the same way as the others...dead." he answered.

Meanwhile back in Osaka...

"WHOHOO!!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!" Naru exclaimed as the wind blew through her hair in the back of Shou's friends' convertible.
"You're welcome little lady! So, where'd ja like ta go first?" Shou asked.
"You really have to ask?" Naru replied, lowering her glasses a bit. "TO THE ARCADE!!!!!"
"Your wish is our command Miss Naru!" Shou's friends answered as the girl was sped off to her domain.

As the group of five stepped into the arcade, the place was resounding with the sounds of gaming.

"Hmm...where to start where to start..." Naru thought to herself out loud.
"J00 C4N ST4RT, BI GIVNG M3 4 R3M4CH!" a voice stated in Leet. (You can start, by giving me a rematch)

(From this point on, Great Teacher Largo will be subtitled, for those of you who do not speak L33T)

"Oh damn, not you again." Naru groaned. "You've come all the way from Tokyo JUST to challenge me again." she answered, lowering her glasses.

As the gravity defying one's translator interpreted for him, he answered, "JUS! I H4V3!" (Yes! I Have!)
"Great..." Naru replied unenthusiastically.

Still. If a rematch was what he wanted, she would just have to cream him again.

"Do ya know dis guy Naru?" Shou asked.
"He's some deranged gamer who wants a rematch with me."

The two stepped up to the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Naru reached into her many baggy pockets, only to find no coins in any of them.

"Aw damn, I'm sorry, can you take a raincheck? I'm fresh outta yen." Naru said sweetly as possible. Maybe this would make the looser back off and accept his defeat. At least, she hoped it would.

Suddenly, a man with long blonde hair stepped forward. People parted as he walked by, reached into his pocket, and deposited coins into the machine. Although Naru was in every way shape or form, a tomboy, she simply could not contain herself as she let out the most girlish 'cute rock star just walked out towards his car' scream she could, causing everyone including the insane gaijin to cover his ears.

"4H!!! J00 R 4FR4ID 0F M3! J00 WIL PH43R MI L33T D4NCING SKILZ!" (Ah! You are afraid of me! You will fear my leet dancing skills!)

The gaijin facefaulted as Naru exclaimed, "It's ALEXANDER O. HOWELL, SECOND BEST GAMER IN ALL JAPAN!!!!"
"Leet Gamer Naru! What are you doing here?" Alec asked in his usual manner.
"Defending my title against some fanatical gaijin, no offense." Naru replied.
"Um, Question...if dis guy's the second best gamer in all Japan, who's the first?" Shou asked. The entire arcade, pointed at Naru.
"Duh." Naru replied flippantly. "I am the undefeated Leet Gamer Naru."
"SOON TO B3 D4 D3F33T3D L33T G4M3R N4R00!" the strange gaijin declared. (Soon to be the Defeated Leet Gamer Naru!)
"Bring it on." Naru challenged as the stage was selected and the battle of footwork began, with some of the arcade goers cheering on the gaijin, with the majority cheering on Naru. In minutes which seemed like seconds, Naru had once again creamed the gaijin as Osaka arcade goers scrambled around Naru, asking the flattered but triumphantly excited girl for her autograph, which she was happy to oblige as the gaijin slunked over and plodded out of the arcade. Some time later, Shou and his friends fought their way through the car, sneaking the girl into the car as more screaming fans chased her to the door.

"Leet Gamer Naru has left da BUILDING!!!" Shou declared as he raced outside and the group took off.

Meanwhile in Boston...

The fight had begun as Yuriko charged the transformed Masahiko, who only swatted her away with his tail. Anubis stepped in and sliced downward with his scythe, causing the beast to scream in pain as he punched the hero backward, being caught by Ryo. Sakura fired her gauntlet at the beast, her shots barely having any effect as he lifted her up and tossed her aside, crashing along the ground and then struggling to her feet as he came over to fire an energy blast at her.

"TATSUMAKI EN!!!!" Ryo shouted, tossing his wings outward, which erupted into a tornado of flame as new ones sprouted on his back, burning the large beast.

"KEI EN!!!" Ryo called out, summoning his wings into a whip of flame which he wrapped around the creatures' neck and flying in the air, attempted to choke him and drag him over the side. Despite the searing heat of his whip, the monster managed to grab on and pulled Ryo to him out of the sky, power punching him backward into Yuriko, who slowed his acceleration.

Anubis, brandishing his scythe for another go, powered the blade up and prepared to slash, but the monster grabbed the blade between his claws and lifted Anubis up by it, spinning him around in a circle and hurling the warrior and the weapon back towards his companions.

"Okay, plan B." Ryo replied, getting ready for another go.
"Let's just skip to plan G." Anubis suggested.

Ryo nodded and called out, "ARMOR OF WHITE REFLECTION!!!!!" as he and Anubis were enveloped in Mobile Trace Rings of their own, putting them in their own sheens, as their armors simultaneously summoned around them. Ryo brought out his beam sabers and lit them as Anubis lit his beam scythe, as the two streaked towards him with their thrusters. Anubis cut a giant swath across his right arm, dismembering it as Ryo's own blades came down through his left, before Yuriko sent another Rising Arrow straight through his lower chest, as the beast fell to the ground.

"That should stop him." Anubis replied.

Instead, the reaction was much different. Using his wings to lift him up into the sky, the four watched in horror as his arms regrew and the hole through his chest closed up as if it was never there.

"This, is not our day." Ryo said.

Holding his hands out to his side, energy bolts began to crackle in both hands and energy streaked skyward to form a ball of energy above his head, which he reached up to grab, and holding it back in a fireball motion, he proceeded to toss it towards the heroes, who gathered in front of Yuriko and closed their wing shields, as the blast impacted, tearing Ryo's angel wings to shreds.

"I really should ask Amaterasu to give Saber Strike some new swords so I can bring the Swords of Light with me!" Ryo exclaimed, assessing his damaged wings. All that remained were the two ninety-degree half squares that held the shields in place. He still had his other wings though. He could only sort of fly now, without the other set to give him lift. He closed up his other pair to make them less vulnerable, retracting them to sticks of metal that stayed centered on his back. Sakura rushed over to help.

"I'll give him a taste of my power!" Anubis declared, opening his own wings and aiming his scythe at the monster.
"No! It'll just make him stronger!" Sakura answered.
"Then let's hit him with something that'll make him weaker." Ryo said, summoning his twin buster rifle. Using Sakura as a tripod, he aimed the cannon directly at the warrior, and fired his white beam of death. When the light cleared, the warrior was only badly singed, his wings torn, his limbs blown off. However, he completely regenerated once again.

"This is NOT good." Ryo said once again.
"Time for you to all perish." Masahiko said once again as he moved in on the heroes, only to be swatted backward by Ayako's force blasts, which only tickled him as he walked forward.
"Foolish child...you cannot hope to defeat someone as powerful as me." he said as bolt after bolt hit him.

Suddenly, the jewel on Ayako's ring began to glow brightly.

"No...she cannot." a voice spoke from her lips.
"What?" Ryo wondered, confused.
"But with my help, she can." the voice declared.

Ayako's ring began to glow with a white light, that enveloped her hand, and then traveled up her arm, as a protrusion shot out from the center of her wrist. It headed up her arm, traveling across her chest, down her other arm, and branched out to her legs down to her feet. Protrusions shot out from her other arm, from near her foot joint and up to her knees, from her shoulders, and a trio of spikes erupted from the front of a helmet, as a new, stranger looking form stood where Ayako was, more muscular, taller, and stronger looking, but there was still enough about this form that anyone who knew her would know it was still Ayako. "Ayako" leapt down from the building, and landed before Masahiko.

"This changes nothing. I will still win."

Behind the faceplate that covered her mouth and nose, she flashed a coy smile.

"Your confidence will be your undoing." the voice boomed.

The form took a fighting stance as Masahiko charged, whirling around and knocking him away with a perfect roundhouse kick. The monster rose to his feet with the aid of his wings and flew towards her, as she decked him with an uppercut that sent him flying upward, as she shot skyward with a devastating Dragon Punch. At the peak of her jump, she placed her hands together above her head and batted him back down with a thud, as she slowly descended, only to backhand him soon after she touched down.

"Whoa!! Ayako's kickin' ass!" Ryo exclaimed.
"I never knew she could fight, if I did I would have let her help us out." Anubis said, also amazed at the sight.
"She can't." Sakura replied, causing the two to gasp in shock. "Someone...or something...is helping her out."

Somewhere under the armored sheen, Ayako was amazed at the punishment she was now serving up to Masahiko.

"This is so cool!" she thought to herself. "I'm just like Tamahome!"
"Who?" the voice asked her.
"Wait, who are you?" Ayako asked, a little surprised that she was questioned. "And what are you doing here?"
"I am Temia, the force that lives within that jewel on your ring. And I am here to help and guide you. Together, we will fight as one." the voice answered.
"Cool!" Ayako exclaimed to herself.
"No, actually it is quite warm out." the voice replied.
"Just keep doing what you're doing." Ayako said.
"Your wish is my command." Temia answered.

Masahiko reeled from punch after punch, and kick after kick as Temia brought can upon can of whup ass out of the fridge and into the demon. The dumbfounded other Seishi stood there watching as Navcase leaned on his sword to watch the spectacle as well. He watched as Ayako reached back behind her, as her armor began to glow with energy, as she brought it forward in an open palm position, slamming into Masahiko, nailing him with incredible energy that crackled like lightning around him as he fell backwards and Ayako fell down unconscious, her armor gone. As the demon struggled to get to his feet Anubis rushed over and grabbed Ayako and took her to safety up near Navcase, as he caught a glimpse of a prick of light, which he zoomed in on to find Kinuko, set to fire, only seconds from pulling the trigger.

*"SHE'S GOING TO FIRE!!!" Anubis shouted through his radio, as the others snapped into action. Sakura charged towards her, leaping into the air despite her lack of flight to stop her, as Ryo prepared to scorch her with his most powerful attack, as Yuriko readied yet another Rising Arrow, as the report of her silenced gun was heard, and the bullet streaked towards Kashin's unconscious body. The Seishi turned to watch, their mouths gasping as their mission seemed to be a failure...

...as the bullet stopped an inch from his head, hovering in the air. The group breathed a sigh of relief as Kinuko cursed and prepared to fire again. Kashin's eyes opened, and he rose to his feet, clothed only in a hospital gown. He began to focus, as the metal frames of the windows compressed together, shattering the glass in between it. Kashin floated off the ground, and flew over to his companions, not saying a word, landing beside them. Kinuko, furious now, trained her weapon on him and fired again and again, the bullets stopping only inches from him. The sniper rifle lifted out of her hands, and was twisted into a pretzel and dropped before her feet, as the bullets hanging in midair turned around and flew towards her, which she managed to dive under as they whizzed by her. Masahiko, finally managing to stand up as the last of the energy grounded itself out of him, stood and studied the new arrival, who clearly had no sense of fashion.

"I know all about you." "You're Masahiko Akkijin. The file, as I remember correctly, lists you as working with the Black Jackals, a very notorious group of superpowered criminals. I heard there was a precinct in Harajuku that had lots of trouble with you, making the costume players look like supermodels compared to you. You're uglier than the mug shot I viewed. I also happen to know, that you're the half brother of Mr. Kakekomi over there, who seems to be unconscious and ripe for the taking. Even though he's the one working for Tenma, I make no distinction between him, and you."
"Tenma? Who's Tenma?" Anubis asked himself.
"Stay out of this Carrot Top, this is my problem, doesn't concern you guys at all." Kashin replied, riling Anubis.
"Ah...Kashin Zoutou...the pride of Tokyo's Riot cops and their Yakuza Task Force." Masahiko replied. "This just keeps getting better and better."
"Kashin, this guy's pretty tough. It took all of us and Ayako to get him down this far." Ryo replied.
"Kid, leave this to the adults. Go make out with your girlfriend or something, I'll pull you out when I need you again, if I do."

Sakura stood ready to slice him into jullenned Kashin when he used his magnetism to force her swords back into her sheaths.

"I told you, it's my problem now. Now let me show you how a professional handles things." Kashin said, starting to erupt with energy. "I heard you're pretty tough Akkijin, but a lot's changed since I left Japan. For one thing, this nice lady gave me a very expensive suit to wear." he replied, raising his arm to the sky. "ARMOR OF THE SHINING HEAVENS!!!!" Kashin shouted, snapping his fingers.

(King of Hearts starts up)

As it had for Ryo and Anubis, a Mobile Trace Ring appeared above Kashin's head and moved downward, encasing his whole body except for his head in a skin tight sheen. Shooting down from the heavens, his armor attached itself to his sheen, as he began to punch and kick, and then dropping into a fighting stance for battle.

"Okay...let's see what this thing can really do." Kashin replied, as a prompt came up in his HUD. "Sounds good to me." he answered to himself as his hand began to glow with energy.

Rocketing towards Masahiko, he began to mumble a speech about his hand glowing with an awesome power that told him to defeat Masahiko, calling out Shining Finger as he placed his arm across his chest, scalding it with incredible heat from his Chi as his rockets drove him backward into the side of the opposing building as the warrior backed off and hovered as Masahiko charged towards him, as Kashin pulled out one of his beam sabers and slashed across his wing, injuring it and sending him falling to the ground. A hail of bullets then began to fly at Kashin, as a ship hovered above him, bullets being fired from soldiers poised at the windows. Kashin retaliated with a hail of bullets from his vulcan cannons as the ship proceeded to hover as more soldiers with jetpacks fired their machinecannons at Kashin as they descended, others stowed their weapons and lifted the fallen warriors back up to the transport. Still others, as the heroes watched Kashin return fire, grabbed the remains of the Ashataron Hermit Crab and snuck that aboard as well.

"That ship's from Otoantou!" Anubis exclaimed, looking at the markings.

Inside the ship as the Jump Troops returned aboard, a figure nodded to the co-pilot and started a recording.

"Hello Captain Zoutou. Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you. I trust you enjoyed your nap. Too bad you're still alive. Oh well...I'm looking forward to seeing you again...I'm sure she is too." Tenma's voice said.
"YOU...YOU..." Kashin said, as his aura began to flare dramatically. "YOU BASTARD!!!!!!" he shouted angrily, sparking the armor's transformation into Super Mode as Kashin flew skyward, as the ship slowly began to fly away.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power..." Kashin began in fury, gaining on the slowly rising ship by the second, bringing his hands together. "It's burning grip tells me to defeat you..." he added as his energy flared.

On board, a soldier took aim at the rapidly approaching Kashin.

"Take this! My love, my anger, AND ALL OF MY SORROW!!!" he shouted angrily, as a beam of energy shot from his hands, forming a glowing blade.

"SHINING FINGER SWORD!!!!!!" Kashin shouted, as he brought the blade into a stabbing attack to destroy the drop ship.

"Fire." the commander ordered, as a missile struck Kashin's armor, causing the HUD to shut down, and the Chi Amplification systems and everything else to blink off as the energy blade vanished.

"DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!" Kashin shouted with duration as he plummeted back towards the top of the building, as the ship picked up speed and flew off into the distance as Ryo dove and caught Kashin before he collided. Unsummoning his armor, Kashin, still infuriated, prepared to fly under his own power towards the vessel, before he was clipped on the back of the neck by Anubis, knocking him out.
"This guy really needs to take a whole bottle of chill pills." Ryo commented.
"Let's get out of here." Navcase said, heading down to their level as the sun began to rise over the city.

Back in Japan...

Karen lay on her bed, contemplating her confrontation with Naru that afternoon. What had she done wrong? Naru seemed to be warming up to her a bit. What set her off?

"Maybe Shou would know." she thought to herself, at the same time thinking of Shou, quickly stopping herself. "Oh no Karen. You're not falling for that moron. He tried to hit on you AND Naru. Plus he's crazy! Not to mention, he's not your type."

However, he did have one redeeming quality: He could cook, it seemed, and Naru seemed to want to hang out with him.

Her train of thought was derailed as Shou knocked on the door.

"Ya decent in dere?" he asked.
"<Yes, you can come in.>" she replied.

Shou opened the door, with Naru draped over his shoulder, fast asleep. He slowly carried her over to her bed, and laid her down gently, as she rolled over onto her side and curled up.

"<What happened?>" Karen asked.
"The poor girl wore herself out playing video games all night. That and she was on a sugar rush for part of the night that when it wore off, instant zonkage." Shou explained.
"<Yeah, she looks pretty wiped out."> Karen observed. "<I think she hates me.>"
"Nah, dat' can't be right. You probably just interrupted her or somtin' like that. She'll get over it."
"<I can't seem to see why you get along with her so well...>" Karen asked.
"I don' have any siblings." Shou explained. "I sorta see her like da little sister I never had."
"<She certainly looks up to you.>" Karen said.
"Nah, it's because I'm a guy, she knows how ta deal with 'em. Girls, on da other hand, are anotha story." Shou explained.
"I betta get ta bed. See ya two in da mornin'." Shou said, heading off.
"<Night.>" Karen replied.

Okay, so maybe there was more to the speed demon than she thought.

"Make that two redeeming qualities." Karen thought to herself as she smiled and turned off the lights.

This is the end of part 3. Please save your game and insert disc four to begin the second to last arc.

Next Episode:

RYO: Oh yeah, it's finally happened!

ANUBIS: It's about time.

YURIKO: Kashin finally starts to explain himself, while the rest of us recover from our injuries.

AYAME: Well, Anubis' armor doesn't look TOO BAD. AAAH!!! What happened to Ashataron? DOUBLE AAHHH!!! What the in the name of my mother happened to White Reflection and Hope? This is gonna take a while...

NARU: Hey guys! Naru here! Time for some more fun with me!

KAREN: Oh, there you are. I think you have some apologizing to do...

NARU: Oh yeah....

SHOU: Hey everyone!

NARU: Hey Shou!

KAREN: Um...Hi...::blushes a bit::

NARU: Um, is something wrong with you Karen-sempai?

KAREN: BYE NOW!!!!

TENMA: You three are taking too long with the preview...

SHOU AND NARU: Sorry...

TENMA: It's the next episode of Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth; New Developments. If you miss it, I know where you live...