Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth ❯ Duels, Discussions, and Preparations ( Chapter 21 )

Tenma and Houji stood in awe and surprise at the metallic individual standing before them. His damage was quite severe, but it was nothing Houji could not handle. More intriguing was how this thing said he was the seventh Seishi. But how would they be able to perform the ritual with this metallic being?

"How can you be the seventh Seishi? You're a machine!" Tenma shouted. "Your level of Chi must be beyond minuscule!"
"Will you allow me to finish?" Teisei asked.
"Then, continue, Mr. Jikannohizumi." Tenma answered.
"Good. As I was ABOUT to say, I come from the semi-distant future, which is why I know about the events that transpired, or will transpire in your cases. Three days from now, the Teisei Jikannohizumi from this time, will be killed, preventing you from carrying out your summoning ritual to summon Drakka."
"All right, but then why..." Houji began before having his question finished by Teisei.
"Am I here? That should be obvious, to prevent me from dying so we can take over the world!" Teisei exclaimed.
"True, but why the full gundanium jacket?" Tenma asked.
"Well, after I got axed by some riot cop who rained on my parade when I was enjoying myself tearing up a mall, there was very little left of me, however, Mr. Otoantou found me, preserved me and went into hiding. Fed up that their plan had not worked, and with most of the Yakuza bosses under Mr. Furukiayu here locked up, he downloaded my brain into the computer of this bucket of bolts and sent me back in time to ensure that the ritual happens."
"And where is your other self now?" Tenma asked.
"I'm not sure, all I know is that I'll...I mean he'll be trying to shoot up a mall in three days at 5:00 PM."
"Then we should spend the next few days getting everything in order for the summoning." Tenma said.

Up in the Palace, all was calm and peaceful. Yuriko and Navcase were on one of the training fields practicing. Kashin was off sulking, fuming over how he had to take down Tenma. Ryo and Anubis, assigned to baby-sit Earth for the time being, were still off helping to rebuild Mia's house after Anubis had leveled it during the struggle with the Draconai. Ayako had since recovered and was in Ran's room reading through one of her artbooks while listening to some CD's. Yuri and Ran were also off training with Yuriko and Navcase, hoping to hone their battle skills a bit more before it came time to demonstrate everything. Ayame, who should have been in her workshop, was nowhere to be found, some tall thing under a tarpaulin and Armor Set A on a worktable which looked as if she was going to add wings to it, was all that was there. As for Sakura, who normally would be out on the training fields going through kata, was also not in her usual area as well.

Instead, Ayame, and surprisingly Sakura, were out by the pool, or more accurately floating on air mattresses in the pool, as Suiren dozed in the sun in a lounge chair. The two bikini-clad twin sisters were linked together by a cord leading from Ayame's mp3 player to headphones on Sakura, so the two tried not to drift too far away from each other.

"You know Ayame..." Sakura said in a very relaxed voice that was unlike her.
"Mmm?" Ayame replied, her eyes closed and her hands resting comfortably to either side, one somewhat clutching her mp3 player.
"A while ago I would have thought that I could never get here...but now that I am here, I kinda like it." Sakura replied, smiling as she took a deep breath and relaxed even more. "So, what is it that you're working on in there?"
"Some new modifications for your A-Armor, and something for me."
"Oh. Anything good?"
"Yeah, I think you'll like them."

As the two girls continued to relax, the silence was shattered by a loud ear piercing scream that startled Sakura and Ayame, causing them to almost fall off, and jolted Suiren awake.

"What when how who? Are we under attack?" Suiren said, trying to figure out what happened.

The scream ended, and seconds later a loud thud was heard. Ran and Yuri came running by, dressed in workout clothes.

"What happened?" Suiren asked.
"Mom just told Yoko she was grounded until she learns at least five spells." Ran explained.
"Oh. False alarm!" Suiren replied as she fell back in her chair and proceeded to fall back into a doze.
"I should get back to work." Ayame said, as she handed her mp3 player to Sakura and paddled over to the edge of the pool and climbed out, walking over to the chair where she had draped her jeans and pulled them on, before heading off to her workshop.
"See you later." Sakura said, squirming around a bit before being satisfied at her level of comfort, clipping the mp3 player to her bikini bottom and letting her arms dangle over the sides, totally at peace, as she dreamed of speeding down highways on her Motoslave.

Back at Houji's, things were far from going well for the three unlikely antagonists. Shou had been called off by Houji to test out some new suit he was working on, and Karen had tagged along to see how many kinks needed to be worked out and more importantly how many of the kinks would hurt Shou. This had left Naru alone in her room, bored out of her skull.

Normally, she would be gaming her heart out, however, all of her systems were at home and the ones that Houji had graciously provided for her amusement had been borrowed by him so that he could beat all the Gundam games he had. If that was not bad enough, the recent release of what seemed like a zillion mech-based games for the XBox had made Houji as giddy as a freshman at a technical school.

Naru was the kind of girl who loved activity, the faster the better. She loved the feel of wind in her face, be it on the water, the road, or the air. To her, most normal sports were boring, she had a taste for the more extreme end of the spectrum, her dad however, had made a list of things she could not do until she was twenty, which she was perfectly okay with. She loved being outdoors and having fun just as much as she loved gaming indoors.

Except today, she was stuck inside with nothing to do. If someone asked her to go for a walk right now, she would take it. If they asked her to skate around, she would be even happier. If they were going to take her for a ride on their motorcycle, they had better pray that they got to the bike before she did. Thus, she sat, reading through her copy of Coro Coro Comic for the zillionth time, as the quiet was interrupted on the upper floors by crashes and screaming in Osaka-ben from Shou. Naru was almost desperate enough to ask Midori if she wanted to do anything, then again, Midori was more than just a bitch and a half, she was two whole bitches, and Naru would rather watch paint dry than spend a second with the Priestess of Drakka.

Upstairs, Shou was testing the strange full bodied suit that Houji had concocted. As Houji had explained, it was a gyroscopic suit that would allow him to roll around in a ball using his extreme speed and attack. He had installed several borrowed video game features, such as Knuckles' Burning Attack from Sonic Adventure, Samus' Screw Attack from Metroid, along with most of Sonic's own abilities to even things out. However, there were still kinks to work out, and that was what Shou was up to today. So far, they had discovered that the targeting on the Burning Attack was at least four inches off from where it was supposed to be, the Screw Attack canceled out when hit by a projectile, the polarization systems that he had installed to help Shou climb walls was not calibrated right, causing him to either be unable to remove himself from the wall until the whole suit was shut down or not polarizing at all. Rather than stop the tests and fix what was wrong, Houji had made Shou go through the complete list of abilities and systems, some of which required him to use systems that they had already determined were not working right, leading to even more problems, and of course, more pain on Shou's part.

Elsewhere in the facility, Kazuhiko, accompanied by his two loyal companions Saitou and Arataka, were going over once again the file footage of Navcase. There had to be something he could do to stop him. He noticed that much of the footage showed him with a very pretty young woman. A ninja would capture the girl and use her as bait to lure him out in the open, but the samurai honor in him said that it would be dishonorable. Based on his current observations, it was going to take all the ninja tricks he knew to even get a hit on this guy, that is, if he could lure him out in the open. Houji and the others had said that the Amaterasu Seishi got their technology from someone named Kinjiro Osaki, so perhaps he could send a message to him and it would be forwarded to Navcase. It was worth a try. He scribbled something on a small scroll of paper, tied it around Arataka's leg and headed outside, stroking the bird's head before raising his arm and sending him flying off, heading back inside to make his preparations for the battle.

Naru, meanwhile, was just about to fall asleep from sheer boredom when she was jolted awake by her cell phone ringing.

*"Hey Naru!"
"Ayako!" Naru exclaimed as her face lit up and she turned over onto her back and collapsed back on her pillow.
*"What's new?" Ayako asked excitedly.
"Not much. Just bored out of my skull here."
*"Yeah, me too. Want to get together?" Ayako asked.
"Sure! I don't think there'd be anything wrong with that."
*"We'll meet in the park by the tree in an hour, okay? We'll figure out what to do from there. See ya!" Ayako replied, hanging up.

An hour later, Naru happily skated out of Otoantou and over to Toyama park to meet up with her new friend. With Kazuhiko so busy with his studies of Navcase, Tenma and Houji not being the most amicable people for a fourteen-year-old to hang out with, and Shou and Karen spending so much time with each other, having Ayako to hang out with was a good thing. Although she missed hanging with the boys back in Tokyo, especially Yuuji (Naru blushed a bit as she thought of him, almost crashing into some pedestrians), having a girl around her age to talk to was different, but something she could get used to.

Naru skidded to a stop in the park and precariously walked along the grass over to where Ayako was standing by the tree the two had agreed to meet by. The two girls waved to each other as Ayako took off her headphones and Naru hers. Things had begun to get a bit cold out, so Naru had slipped on a flannel shirt over her usual tank top, while Ayako was wearing one of her anime hooded sweatshirts with built in pockets, where she had slipped her own music player.

"So, where to?" Ayako asked.
"I saw an arcade up the street that looked pretty good." Naru replied.
"Cool, let's go!" Ayako replied.
"Race you!" Naru said, speeding off.
"Hey, come on! You've got an unfair advantage!" Ayako said, running after her.

Naru went easy on Ayako considering she was not wearing skates, and the two made it to the arcade at about the same time. Naru slipped off her skates and put her sandals on, as the two stepped inside. The doors closed behind them as the two girls surveyed their surroundings. There were games all around them, an entire two row of pachinko, fighting games, games where some sort of model was used as a controller, shooting games, arcade-style kick and punch games, and of course, dancing games, which Naru headed for almost instinctively.

"You any good at that?" Ayako asked.
"Good? I'm a dancing queen!" Naru replied, raising her voice a little over the sound of the crowd and the various sounds and music from the games themselves.

The self-proclaimed and group conferred Tokyo Queen of Dance Dance Revolution took her throne and wasted no time getting her groove on as a crowd of people began to gather around her to watch, as Ayako looked on in awe. Naru finished the round and people cheered and clapped at her prowess, as a tall young man accompanied by a girl with straight hair about as long as Naru's, clad in a blouse, a pink sweater, and a skirt with tight pants on underneath. The young man was dressed in a black shirt, with a dark blue coat that had coattails dangling out behind him. His hair defied gravity and was black, red, and gold, and he wore a large upside down pyramid on a cord around his neck, that had a peculiar Egyptian looking eye in the center.

"Excuse me young lady." the young man said in a slightly deep and booming voice, "You're pretty good."

Naru blushed a little at being complemented by such a handsome boy, before replying, "Well, thank you."

"I was wondering if you would be willing to play a little game." he replied.
"Okay, sure."
"All right." he said, smiling. "I'm going to wager 2,000 yen on my friend here, if you will put up the same on yourself. If you win, we give you 2,000 yen, if we win, you give us 2,000 yen. Simple enough?" the young man asked.
"You're on." Naru said, knowing she did not have much to loose.
"Good."

The young man's friend stepped up as a stage was agreed upon and the match began. Both contestants furiously danced away, however, as Naru continued onward, it was clear that she might be outclassed. This girl clearly could dance, which was giving her an edge. Naru's skill came from simply playing so much, and part from her Seishi power. Yuuji and his friends had always told her that people who knew how to dance were very hard to beat, as they had more than just good reflexes. Before long, the girl was ahead of Naru and she was forced to struggle to keep up, pushing the limit of her gaming prowess, almost digging into her powers to help out.

As Naru pushed harder and harder to keep up and win, Ayako felt a surge go through her, before hearing Temia's voice in her head.

"I sense something evil nearby." Temia said.
"Where?" Ayako replied, speaking softly so no one could hear her talking to herself.
"That boy, and from your friend." Temia answered.
"Naru? How could she possibly be evil?" Ayako asked.
"She draws on dark powers as she struggles to keep in the game, powers that she has little control over." Temia replied.

Ayako looked up at Naru. She had begun to sweat from the intensity with which she played, the other girl looked just as bad but she seemed to be moving quite naturally and effortlessly. This was not good. Fortunately the round ended as the two girls panted from sheer exhaustion as they waited for their results to come up. Unfortunately for Naru, the other girl had beaten her.

"Hey, good match." the other girl said.
"Same here." Naru said, shaking her hand before handing over the prize money. "We'll have to do this again sometime." Naru said, jumping down and heading off with Ayako. "See ya!"

"Whoa, you took that pretty well." Ayako replied.
"No point in being a sore looser." Naru answered. "Besides, crying would be weak."
"True."
"I've lost before, I'm used to it. I may be one of the best gamers in Tokyo, but there's people out there who can still beat me. Least I can do is show them respect for something few have done." Naru answered. "So, where to now?"
"Let's get something to eat. I'm sure you're starving." Ayako replied.
"You read my mind." Naru said as the two girls headed off to find nourishment.

At the Palace, Navcase walked into Ayame's workshop, where the before mentioned thing under the tarp was still under it, as she made some adjustments to Armor Set A when Navcase walked in.

"You wanted to see me?" Navcase asked as Ayame looked up from her work.
"Oh yeah. Kinjiro sent me an e-mail about some message he got from a falcon. He couldn't read it so he scanned it into an image and sent it to me." she replied, punching it up on her computer. Within a few seconds a long strip of paper written in neat kanji appeared on screen as Navcase studied it. Although the girls were gifted with the power to read and speak all languages, Ayame had trouble with this writing. Navcase however, had no trouble reading it, as it was written in older Japanese than Ayame was used to.
"It's from Kazuhiko. He wants to challenge me to a duel." Navcase answered.
"Are you going to go?" Ayame asked.
"I have a responsibility as a warrior to go." Navcase replied.
"But going alone? Shouldn't you at least bring some help?"
"No. I have to face him alone." Navcase replied.
"But what if he kills you?" Ayame asked.
"I would rather die a warrior facing him than live as a coward for refusing to honor his request." Navcase answered, heading towards the door. "Oh, please don't tell Yuriko about this unless you really have to. She worries about me."
"I understand." Ayame answered after a long pause.
"Thank you." Navcase said, heading off.

Navcase shed his Seishi guise and hid his sword under his coat as he walked inconspicuously along the streets of Toyama, trying to home in on where Kazuhiko could be. He had begun to tune into the powerful energy signatures around the city, two coming from eviler people, one of whom he had felt the other night when he fought, another from a boy, about 20 years old, nearby was one he identified as Karen, meaning she was here in Toyama as he made a mental note NOT to tell Kashin, another from a 14 year old, which he recognized as the girl he had encountered when Kazuhiko showed up, and another he recognized as Ayako, as well as Temia. But not Kazuhiko's. Recalling his battle with the young girl, he remembered that he had not sensed Kazuhiko until he powered up. Which meant that Kazuhiko was either intentionally keeping his power down to keep Navcase from detecting him, or masking its signature so that Navcase would be unable to home in on it. Navcase was worried more that he would not be able to find Kazuhiko than he was that Kazuhiko would ambush him; the fact that Kazuhiko had even challenged him to a duel was proof of that. Looking up in the sky, he saw a falcon overhead, which was quite unusual. Thinking that the bird was Kazuhiko's, he began to follow it up and down the streets until the trail led him to a Shinto temple somewhere in the middle of town. The falcon circled overhead as Navcase unsheathed his sword, as his blade turned black in color. Navcase looked atop the temple as the falcon landed on the shoulder of a man standing there, wearing mino with a wolf standing beside him.

"So, you came." the man said in a voice that Navcase clearly recognized as Kazuhiko's.
"I never turn down a request for a duel, lest I be labeled a coward." Navcase replied, going into Shinken no Kamae stance and calling upon his Seishi garb once again.
"Good. Warriors without honor are nothing but mere fighters." Kazuhiko replied in respect, throwing off his mino, revealing light samurai armor underneath it as he removed his swords from his sheaths. "I am Kazuhiko Yagyu, I use Yagyu Shin Kage Ryuu!" he declared.
"I am Shinta Tennomi, the Sword of Heaven. I use Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu coupled with Mizoguchi Haiitou Ryuu."
"On your guard, Sword of Heaven!" Kazuhiko shouted as his kenki began to flare up, as he raised his blades above his head and slashed downward, sending twin slash blasts flying towards Navcase, who nimbly avoided them both by sidestepping as they left a small crater. Kazuhiko slashed again, sending more bolts flying at Navcase, however, he dodged again, skillfully forward flipping over the blasts, kicking off as he landed, leaping high into the air before diving into a spin.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu! Ryu Kan Sen, Tsumuji!" Navcase shouted as he flew past Kazuhiko's neck, only to have it blocked by his wakizashi. Landing beside him, he attempted the Kogarashi version, only to have Kazuhiko turn and block again, as he dodged Kazuhiko's katana slice, Navcase took to the air and attempted the Arashi version of Ryu Kan Sen, only to have it parried as well by both blades. Landing, Kazuhiko held both blades out in front of him, one facing up, the other facing downward as he began to charge along the roof at the hero, as Navcase sidestepped out of his path and attempted to strike once again with the main Ryu Kan Sen, only to have Kazuhiko whirl around and parry it away with his wakizashi as Navcase attempted to retreat slightly, being cut by the tip of Kazuhiko's katana, but not badly.

Navcase thought quickly as what to try next. Kazuhiko was quite fast, and talented; he had blocked every Ryu Kan Sen there was. As Arashi had not worked, Ryu Tsui Sen would not work either. However, he might be able to throw him off guard if he switched styles.

Kazuhiko held his swords in a defensive position as Navcase leapt into the air, bending at the knees and holding his sword above his head, ready to hammer down Kazuhiko with an airborne attack from above. However, as he descended closer and closer, he quickly changed his stance in midair to Gatousu, Second Stance, reaching back with his blade and stabbing downward on a diagonal, however, Kazuhiko was ready. He held his wakizashi upwards as he kicked off with his leg flying upward, driving Navcase out of his stance and upward by his neck, as he fell back Kazuhiko smashed him from above with the blunt side of his katana, sending Navcase slamming into the temple like a bullet as he descended as well, sending up a splash of shingles. Navcase shook the cobwebs out as he found Kazuhiko with his blades braced above his head to smash down, as Navcase pushed off and upward with Ryu Shou Sen, hoping the connecting force would knock him away. However, as the two blades collided, Kazuhiko was not sent flying from the attack, instead he simply lightly bounced off and landed on his feet, kicking off as he landed, slamming into Navcase with the charging attack that pushed him backwards and would have pushed him upwards had Navcase not managed to duck backwards as he pushed upwards, the blade and Kazuhiko's slash missing his neck, flying straight upward, but strangely descending lightly. Navcase waited patiently for him to float down, pushing off with his foot into the Third Stance of Gatousu, driving his blade into Kazuhiko's chestplate, but not penetrating it, as Kazuhiko had used his own swords to push against Navcase's upward thrust. Using his feet, he kicked off from the hilt of Navcase's own sword and backflipped away, slashing his blades in a cross this time to send another energy bolt at Navcase. Navcase went to a defensive stance, hoping to puncture the center of the blast to stop it, but it only caused the blasts to knock him backwards, cutting into his clothing as he attempted to fend it off with his AT Field, driving his blade into the ground in an attempt to stop his backwards motion until the bolts lost their energy and dissipated. Kazuhiko slashed again the same way, a few inches difference, as Navcase raised the blade to the sky and drove it into the ground just as the blasts hit, generating his forcefield in an attempt to buy him some time as Kazuhiko continued to send the attacks at him.

This fight was harder than he thought. Kazuhiko was better than he ever imagined, moreso, he had his slash bolts which kept Navcase from getting close to him. Simply standing there and hoping the blasts were separated by his defensive stance was not working, so the only other option would be to meet it head on and hope the attack caught Kazuhiko off guard to nail him, except doing so would cost Navcase the use of one of his best techniques...First Stance was too slow, he needed to save Zero Stance until he could get close enough to him to use it, hoping to shatter his armor, so the only attack left was Kuzu Ryu Sen. He got into position to launch it, as he would have to do it just as the shield vanished.

The shield vanished, as Kazuhiko let loose with another set of blasts. As they approached, Navcase did the only thing he could, pushing off with his foot and becoming almost a blur as he lunged towards Kazuhiko with his sword out in front, the speed of the attack breaking through Kazuhiko's slash blasts as he shot in, striking at all nine points a nanosecond apart, only to have them all blocked by Kazuhiko's wakizashi, which he then used to hold down Navcase's sword long enough to almost backhand him with his katana, leaving a slash mark across his chest, sending Navcase reeling back in pain.

"I know all about Kuzu Ryu Sen and its ability to hit all nine points at once. I studied your fighting Sword of Heaven, and through the secrets of shuttling I was able to learn its secrets, and counter it."

Navcase was in trouble. With Kuzu Ryu Sen defeated, he was down one ougi and at least four normal waza. He could try Ryu Sho Sen, but he was sure that the repeated strikes would be parried by Kazuhiko. Sho Ryu Sen Ikazuchi would be fine if Kazuhiko did not have two swords; the second Navcase tried to bring his katana down on Kazuhiko's shoulder he would simply use his other blade to block it. Nor would the normal Sho Ryu Sen, for the same reason. His only hope was Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, the ultimate technique of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, and the most powerful Battou-Jutsu technique Navcase had. Since Kazuhiko most likely had no move that brought him low enough to the ground to avoid the second part, he had no choice. But he needed a diversion to get into position.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, Dou Ryu Sen!" Navcase shouted, driving his blade into the roof, sending an explosion of tiles upwards, knocking Kazuhiko backwards and disorienting him, buying Navcase the time he needed to fall back and sheathe his sword. When the dust cleared Navcase stood in Battou-Jutsu, hoping this would work.

Kazuhiko's studies of Navcase, and research on Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu's special techniques launched from a Battou-Jutsu stance revealed that there were at least three attacks that Navcase could launch himself into. He was quite sure that one of the two Sho Ryu Sen techniques were not going to be used, as he was sure a warrior as good as Navcase realized that he would just block both strikes. That left only one, a very powerful move that would hit very hard whether he blocked it or not. The only way to stop it would be to get under it somehow before he could create the vacuum, but he would have to work fast if that was what Navcase intended to do.

He charged towards Navcase again, slashing with his katana as Navcase led with his left foot, the two blades colliding. The katana was pushed aside by the very force of the drawing motion, as Navcase's blade passed across it, the force drawing Kazuhiko in. Navcase began his revolution around, beginning to swing upward with the second stroke, however, Kazuhiko blocked high with his wakizashi, the two blades pushing against each other, however, the energy from Navcase's spin had given him enough momentum to push the wakizashi away from him, sending the blade flying from Kazuhiko's hand from the impact as it collided with his chest, sending him flying upward and down hard. Navcase came out of his finishing stance as Kazuhiko got to his feet once again, using Battou-Jutsu to send a horizontal slash blast towards him. Thinking quickly, Navcase focused all of his energy and gripped his sword, spinning around as if he was using Hi Ryu Sen, instead, he drew his sword from his sheath and, blade glowing, he used the force of his spin and the strength of his Seishi power to send the blast back at Kazuhiko, who would have been sliced in two had a log not appeared in his place as he disappeared, appeared, and floated backwards and landed on the top of a tree.

"You win this round Sword of Heaven. I look forward to our next confrontation." Kazuhiko said. "Saitou! Arataka!" he called, as he leapt from tree to tree as his animal companions followed. Navcase fell to his knees, holding himself up with his sword as he clutched his bleeding chest. Fortunately, the attack had not gone too deep.

"Yuriko..." he said weakly, "I'm sorry." before falling forward and passing out.

Elsewhere in the city of Toyama, Naru and Ayako were finally relaxing off their fun that day. Their journey had taken them back to the park, where the two girls now lay on their backs under a tree, looking up at the sky as they listened to music through their headphones. After a while, Naru tapped Ayako on the shoulder, who placed her headphones around her neck.

"What's up?" Ayako asked.
"You know how I told you about Yuuji?" Naru asked.
"The guy you said wasn't your boyfriend but might like him to be?" Ayako asked.
"Yeah. Well, how do I know if he really likes me or not?" Naru asked.

Ayako thought for a few minutes on this question. Personally, she had never had one of her own, she spent most of her time keeping her male friends and female friends out of problems, along with keeping her twin brother away from her girl friends. Still, a few of her girl friends had explained a few tips on relations with the other sex, at least on how to tell.

"Are you familiar with the saying, 'Starve a fever, feed a cold'?" Ayako asked.
"Mhmm." Naru replied.
"My friends say it's the same way with boys. If it's just a crush, no matter how bad it is, will die off once a guy finds out something about you he didn't know. But the only way to know is to agree to go on a date or two with him." "Like what kind of things?" Naru asked.
"Well, many guys give up on a girl when they realize that the pretty girl they like has a not so pretty personality, but I don't think you have that problem. Other things, bad or annoying habits you might have, stuff like that. If it's just a crush, no matter how bad it is, the closer you two get, the less he'll want to be your boyfriend and the more he'll want to be just friends again."

As Ayako explained her philosophy to her, Naru's heart began to sink a bit. What if that was all it was? A simple crush? Part of her hoped that she was right about Yuuji liking her, but there was always that fear that he really did not and a relationship would not work out.

"But what if it's not a crush?" Naru asked.
"Then the guy really likes you. He loves everything about you, wants to spend every waking moment he can with you. If that's the case, congratulations, you've got a boyfriend."
"Thanks." Naru said. "I didn't know who else to ask. Every time I bring it up, the person I ask is more obsessed about the fact I ask the question than giving me an answer."
"My cousin, for one." Ayako answered.
"That and Karen." Naru added.
"Who's that?" Ayako asked.
"Some ronin from America I know. She actually tried to fix me up with Yuuji without asking me first." Naru answered, checking her watch.
"Damn! It's getting late, I should get going." she said.
"Yeah, me too. See ya." Ayako said as Naru got up and skated off.

"'Some ronin from America I know.'"

Naru's words echoed in Ayako's mind. A ronin? From America? Named Karen? Yoko and the others who went to Boston looking for the Drakka Seishi had mentioned meeting a girl named Karen there. In fact, they had confirmed she was one. That, and Kashin, everyone's favorite melancholy magnetic guy, had said that Karen was actually HIS daughter, and not Tenma's. But Karen was unaware of this little fact, and Ayako was quite sure that Naru did not know either. But why would Naru even know Karen, unless...unless...

"She's one too!" Ayako almost blurted out. But how could Naru be? She was so nice. However, Ayako's library of animanga knowledge reminded her that Seiryuu Seishi Amiboshi was also the nicest guy. He participated only because he hoped that when Seiryuu was summoned, he could bring happiness and peace to his battered and war-torn country of Koutou. His brother had similar wishes, but his main reason happened to be his large attraction to their Priestess. Ayako guessed that a similar desire was shared by Naru and Karen, but she would bet her entire collection of artbooks on the fact that someone within their ranks had other ideas about the use of Drakka's power.
"You knew, didn't you." Ayako asked Temia.
"I did, and I apologize. I didn't want to worry you."
"So what will happen to her when Drakka is summoned?" Ayako asked.
"I have heard another legend that says when seven items are gathered and three great symbols of magic are collected, their combined power will unlock the evil buried deep within someone. I am certain that a similar fate awaits Naru."
"So there's someone evil within her?"
"No. But I fear that Drakka's presence on Earth, if he is summoned, will be too much for her to handle, and her will will become his."
"Then we've got to stop the ritual, it's the only way to save her and Karen." Ayako said.

As Ayako turned to leave to head back, she felt something very faint. An energy signature.

"Do you feel that Temia?" Ayako asked.
"I do." Temia answered.
"I can feel it, but I can't discern anything." Ayako replied.
"I can. I sense the presence of a strong Kenki, the aura that permeates from all swordsmen."
"It could be Navcase." Ayako thought.
"Or it could be the other one he spoke of."
"Only one way to be sure. Let's go." Ayako replied as she focused her chi, causing the jewel on the ring to glow brightly. White prismatic light began to spill outward from the ring's base, traveling up her arm, across her chest, up to her head, down her other arm and towards her legs. When her body was covered, long spikes shot out of her forearms near her wrists, as others grew from near her ankles up to her knees. A crown of three spikes shot up near her forehead, as Temia rose into the air and shot off like a bullet towards the signature. As they approached the temple, they found many gashes in the roof of the temple, most likely caused by the battle that must have raged there. Out of the corner of her eye, Temia spotted the unconscious Navcase lying on the roof. She touched down and felt his neck, relieved that he was still alive.

"Thank goodness." Ayako said.
"We must hurry and get him to the Palace." Temia answered.

Temia effortlessly lifted up the warrior and rose from the ground again, shooting off for the Isle of Mists, flying across the water's surface as the wake parted away from her as the Isle loomed in the distance. Hariel's small contingent picked her up on Dark Inferno, but lowered their weapons as Temia flew towards the Shrine of Amaterasu and touched down again. She slowly walked inside to a statue of the Sun Goddess in the back, in one hand holding a mirror, in the other holding the sword, and wearing the Jewel of Life. As she got closer, a portal opened up and she passed through, as it closed up behind her. The portal guards alerted the other Seishi and they came running, a teary-eyed Yuriko among them. Temia handled Navcase to the guards, which took two of them to carry him off to the infirmary as Temia's power faded out, restoring Ayako to normal, who collapsed face first into the hands of two other guards.

As the next day dawned on Toyama, things were quiet over at Otoantou, except for the sounds of patrolling mecha around the facility. Shou was slightly sprawled sound asleep in his bed, snoring away, with Karen asleep on her stomach slightly below his arm, both exhausted from the long string of tests that Houji had done on the strange augmentation suit he had built for Shou. Midori was also asleep in her room clad in her underwear, with a sleep mask over her face. Kazuhiko was awake, practicing with his own swords, going through kata in anticipation of his next fight with Navcase. Houji's workers were laboring hard on finishing the Blitz power armor for delivery to the Draconai. Tenma was finalizing his own plans for the summoning, as well as supervising the finishing touches on the other armors Houji was constructing for their use. His own armor was finished, as were the ones that Karen and Naru would wear. Still more were working on getting all of the kinks out of Shou's augmentation suit, most of which he had discovered quite painfully and exhaustingly. The two remaining armors were coming along well, and were almost done.

"You say that one of these is yours, and the other is for Kazuhiko." Tenma asked.
"Indeed! I have chosen RX-076-01Fb, codename "Zephyanthes", for my own personal use. Its remarkable Full Vernian system will make me a force in the air. Kazuhiko's is the VR-Raiden from Virtual ON: Project Moongate, equipped with a powerful bazooka, a ground bomb, and two very powerful cannons that rival the Double X unit that Navcase of the Amaterasu Seishi's is based on. It's the only idea I could come up with on short notice because Double X doesn't have a natural rival in the anime. There are the Frost brothers, but they're more of a nuisance than they are actual villains, like the Rocket Gang from Pokémon."
"Excellent Houji. Your technical knowledge and devotion to anime never cease to amaze and terrify me." Tenma added sarcastically.
"The only problem involves Kazuhiko. He refuses to use his armor it goes against his ways." Houji answered.
"Oh really...I'm sure there's something that you can do, right?" Tenma asked.
"I'm working on something to handle that, but it'll take time."
"Good." Tenma replied.

Meanwhile...

Shou was at the door of Midori. He had no idea why he was there, she had simply asked him to. Oh well, she needed him for some reason. Opening the door, he found the room full of candles, with Midori lying on her bed, smoking a cigarette.

"Hello Shou." Midori said.
"Um, hi...whaddyawantmeforanyway?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want you to make me a woman." Midori answered.
"But aren't ya already one?" Shou asked.
"You know what I mean." Midori replied.
"Um, okay..." Shou said, tiptoeing over to the bed.

No sooner did he sit down did Midori tackle him, and proceeded to move her hands downward towards his pants, skillfully unbuttoning and unzipping them, and tossing them off to the side, before going for his shirt and doing the same thing faster than Shou could do anything to stop her. She began to take off her bra and threw that to the floor, as she went for her underwear to toss that aside, with a terrified Shou being straddled by Midori, who had a determined look on her face.

"Oh SHOU!!!! TAKE ME!!!!!" Midori shouted sexually.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" Shou screamed loudly as everything faded around him, disappearing into a blurry swirl until he was staring at the ceiling, as Karen's head came into view.
"<Shou, Shou? What's wrong?>" She asked.
"I had a nightmare that Midori tried to do it with me." Shou said, sweat dripping down his face, shaking. "<I'm not sure why, she's a little tramp, I have no desire to do it with her at all..." Shou began firing off like a Gatling gun, as to his surprise Karen began to snuggle up closer, lying her chest on top of his on an angle.
"<It's okay Shou...I'll protect you. I won't let that little bitch near you.>" Karen said, closing her eyes to go back to sleep.

Shou began to calm down as he felt the warmth from Karen on top of him. She was right. There was nothing Midori could do, he thought as he drifted back to sleep.

Elsewhere, Kazuhiko contemplated his battle with Navcase. He was good, no doubt about it. Resourceful, as he was able to switch between styles in midair. That, and he was determined, finally resorting to his most powerful techniques to take him down, Kazuhiko thought as he continued to clean the wound Navcase had given him with Amakakeru Ryuu no Hirameki.

This would not be an easy fight. Navcase was a powerful swordsman, and although he had only managed to score a few hits on Kazuhiko, the next time they met, Navcase would be on the defensive. He was sure that his two handed style had caught Navcase off guard, and that once he recovered he would be attempting to find a way to counter it. However, he had a small problem to attend to, as he drew his swords and held them outward.

"Swords of Hell, I beseech you. Heal my wounds, so that I may fight again as perfect a condition as your blades." he spoke, as the blades glowed with energy, that traveled down the hilt and up his shoulders towards his chest, magically stitching up the wound, as if it was never there. He had not believed Navcase had managed to penetrate. He had managed to fix his breastplate, that was easy. Now, it was time to figure out what to do next. To do that, there was more to study.

He sheathed his swords and proceeded to head out the door, when he was stopped by the metallic form that would eventually become Teisei. Saitou began to growl at the mechanized monstrosity, but Kazuhiko managed to calm him down.

"Please, let me pass." Kazuhiko replied, but Teisei would not allow it.
"So you're this samurai around here that Mr. Otoantou doesn't think too much of!" Teisei answered. "Well, let me tell you something, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have this new body. So I'm calling you out." Teisei said.
"Calling me out?" Kazuhiko answered, confused.
"Challenging you! Taking you on! A duel, dummy!" Teisei shouted.
"Those are terms I can understand." Kazuhiko said, gripping his blades. "Name the place and time, and we shall see who is the better warrior.
"How about right now? Over in hangar number 3! There's no one there!" Teisei answered.
"Agreed." Kazuhiko replied.

The two warriors headed off to the agreed-upon location, as Naru peeked out from her door and observed the two heading down the hallway. With Karen and Shou still asleep, this would be interesting, although she did enjoy lying in bed, slightly awake, listening to the strange things Shou mumbled about when he snored. She snuck off behind the two, as she went over and hid behind some crates as the two squared off.

"The first one to get a hit on the other one wins!" Teisei declared as he switched to his Sword configuration and removed the enormous blade from his backpack. Various guards had come to watch this little spectacle, and one gave the order to begin as Kazuhiko simply vanished from sight.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Teisei wondered, as the warrior appeared above his head and proceeded to crash down, only to be blocked by the large sword, and tossed aside, as Kazuhiko landed on the wall and proceeded to run along them, holding out his wakizashi to block the hail of bullets from Teisei's head vulcans, which followed him like Morse Code along the walls. Teisei continued to fire like a maniac as Kazuhiko rounded the hangar along the walls, fending off as many bullets as he could while outrunning the rest, keeping as close an eye on Teisei as he could. Soon the sound of gun barrels spinning without any ammo in them was heard, indicating that Teisei was out of ammo. Kazuhiko stopped on the bullet holes and stood there, and turned to Teisei.

"Give up yet?" Kazuhiko asked.
"Not by a long shot!" Teisei replied, firing his grappling anchor over at Kazuhiko, who flipped up and forward as the claw slammed into the wall and locked on, and Kazuhiko, timing his jump just right landed on top of the claw and skillfully ran along the grappling cable at breakneck speed, taking his sword and slashing at Teisei's head as he went by. "Victory!" he thought as he leapt off and landed behind him, only to turn and see that there was nothing more than a few chips of paint on his helmet.

"That doesn't count!" Teisei replied as he retracted his claw back onto his arm, putting his sword away and pulling off his beam boomerang and activating it. "It looks like I'm going to need to use something a little more long range!" he shouted, hurling the weapon at Kazuhiko, who skillfully dodged out of the way with a roll to the side as the energy blade barely swiped him, arced around and came back to Teisei. Kazuhiko began to shuffle along the floor, diving behind some crates to hide as the insane one began looking around.

"You're doing good so far." Naru said suddenly, scaring Kazuhiko half to death.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered.
"Came along for moral support. Besides, I was bored." Naru replied.
"It's too dangerous for you to be here." Kazuhiko answered.
"My dad made a long list of things that I can't do until I'm twenty, watching two warriors go at it in a vehicle hangar wasn't one of them." Naru answered.
"Remind me to suggest it to him." Kazuhiko said.
"Kazu-chan? OH KAZU-CHAN!!!!!!! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!!!!!" Teisei taunted. He removed his sword again. "I've got a surprise for you!"
"I'm never going to get a hit on him without a diversion." Kazuhiko said to himself.
"Didn't you hit him before?" Naru asked.
"I thought I did, but I only scratched the paint. My swords can damage him, but I need a few moments to power them up first." He said, reaching under his gauntlet and pulling out four shuriken. "Do you know how to use these?"
"No." Naru replied.
"Just throw them like frisbees and you should be fine, I'm counting on you." Kazuhiko said, starting to move to her left.
"Maybe I should have stayed in my room after all." Naru said as she started to peek up. As she began to focus, the first shuriken began to glow with energy, and she sent it flying across the room, causing a small explosion in the corner.
"AHA!!!!!" Teisei shouted, turning towards the explosion and hurling his boomerang there, only to destroy a few empty crates.

Naru had noticed that Kazuhiko was doing everything he could to stay behind Teisei so that he would not see him. He must have been planning something, so Naru threw another shuriken towards another corner to her right, which attracted Teisei's attention as he sent his boomerang over there again, only to find nothing.

"HOW CAN HE BE MOVING SO FAST?" Teisei shouted as his boomerang returned. He then caught a small bit of light off of Naru's glasses.

Faster than she could react, she was grabbed by the anchor and reeled in by the large mechanical madman.

"Well lookie what I've got here! It's a spectator! And whaddaya know? It's my prey from before! Hey Kazu-chan! Unless you don't want a pretty little hair on her head to get damaged, you'll be nice enough to come out from where you're hiding and let me hit you!"

Hiding in a corner, Kazuhiko spotted Naru, being held high above his head. He would have to calculate this carefully so that she would not be hurt.

"Swords of Hell, I beseech you, allow me to cut that which cannot be cut by normal means..." he incanted, as the blades began to glow with power. He climbed the wall and braced backwards, like a swimmer preparing to push off from the wall, and kicked off, turning over in the air as he began to ready his swords for his attack. Turning into a blur, he shot past Teisei's outstretched arm, snatching Naru from it while striking cleanly with his wakizashi, flying past in a blur and rematerializing in front of him as he turned again.

"Wowee! You managed to grab her from me! Now it's time for me to take my widdle boomerang and tear you a new one!"

Setting Naru down, Kazuhiko did not falter, as he placed his wakizashi back in its sheath quickly, creating a small tremor of sound.

Meanwhile, Teisei could barely move his upper arm. Slowly, but surely, it began to slide downward on the angle Kazuhiko had cut, and off, leaving a stump.

"HOW!!!?" Teisei shouted angrily.
"Simple. As I used my special Stealth Dash to shoot towards you I used my other sword to cut your arm off as I grabbed the girl." Kazuhiko replied.
"It doesn't matter how many arms I have! I'll still crush you!" Teisei shouted, brandishing his blade above his head and slamming downward right on top of Kazuhiko, leaving a large explosion of dust.
"HA HA!!! GOTCHA!!!!" he replied as he brought the sword back up, except now it seemed a bit heavier than it did before.

Strangely, standing on the back of the blade, was Kazuhiko!

"WHAT THE???" Teisei wondered.
"My name is Kazuhiko Yagyu. Hundreds of years ago, my ancestor received special training from the Iga Ninja clan, which made him the best swordsman in Japan after the great Musashi Miyamoto. Training, that has been passed down through the ages, most recently to me.

"Wohoo!!!!" Naru exclaimed as the fighter kicked off from the edge of his sword and shot ten feet straight up, bringing out his swords and sending a pair of slash blasts flying downward towards him, slicing off both of Teisei's arms, before dropping on top of him, adjusting his weight to knock him to the ground, bracing his sword in his chest.
"Being a warrior of honor means always showing respect and mercy, even to those that don't deserve it at all. Do not forget that I spared you for that reason alone, and that I am destined to be your ally in this battle." Kazuhiko said as he leapt off Teisei's chest and sheathed his swords, Saitou and Arataka following him outward as a completely star struck Naru just behind him.

"Um, a little help here? Please? I've fallen and I can't get up!" Teisei replied.
"THAT was so COOL!!!" Naru exclaimed as she walked down the hall with Kazuhiko. "The way you dashed through the air like that and I could barely see you? Could you teach me?"
"I learned that technique from the Oboro Ninja Clan for a service I performed for them, after swearing I would never reveal its secrets. I could show you, but then I'd have to kill you."
"Oh, that's okay, I kinda like being able to live. Could you at least show me how to throw knives and stuff?" Naru asked.
"No." Kazuhiko replied.
"Is it because I'm a girl? It better not be, because I can do anything boys can do! There were women samurai you know, like that girl in the Navcase footage. Female ninjas too, they were called Kunoichi, right? Please?" Naru asked.
"No, it's not because you're a girl. And you were right on both counts." Kazuhiko replied.

Naru pulled out the lowest of her tricks, the puppy dog innocent eyes routine, hoping this would get him to crack. He did say he had a daughter.

"Oh...I suppose I could show you a few things." Kazuhiko replied.
"THANK YOU!!!" Naru exclaimed, nearly hugging him to death before backing off from her enthusiasm. "Um, sorry about that. I just got a little too excited."
"Not a problem. Let's get started." Kazuhiko replied, heading off with Naru.

As Naru discovered, Kazuhiko was a stern, but fair teacher when it came down to it, as he carefully began to teach her the art of hurling shuriken and kunai at targets for the remainder of the day and partially into the night. Naru was a quick learner, and finally worked her way up to attempting to hit a moving target, that is, Kazuhiko. Pleased with her success, he moved on to other things, such as instantaneous dodging through somersaults, cartwheels, backflips, whatever worked. Part of the secret to doing elegant backflips, was mastering the art of Karami-Jutsu.

"Karami-Jutsu is the art of mystically adjusting one's weight." Kazuhiko explained. "Using this technique, one can lighten their body to keep from becoming injured from long drops. It is partially why I am able to run up and along walls. A skilled practitioner can even stand on spider webs and not have them break under them. It takes many years of practice, so don't worry. I made many mistakes myself before I mastered the technique."
"What's so special about those swords of yours?" Naru asked.
"These blades are powerful mystical weapons. Their blades can cut through anything if the user wills it. But their blades can heal damage just as well as they can cause it. There is one more, dangerous power these blades possess, but it has been a long time since I have had to use it." Kazuhiko explained.

Naru was going to try and pry more about this ability out of Kazuhiko, but she sensed from the fear in his voice and the look on his face that he did not like to use it, because it was so powerful.

"Well, I should get to bed now, it's getting late. Good night Kazuhiko." she replied.
"Good night." he replied as she closed his door behind him.

Next Episode

HOUJI: I thought he said this would be the end of part four!

YOKO: Well, like, he obviously changed it, so take a chill pill, dude. Besides, we're doing the episode preview.

SAKURA: Lately, Ayame and I have almost flip-flopped our character traits. She's working hard, and I'm hardly working, sort of. I never thought relaxing could be so enjoyable. I just wish I knew what she was working on.

AYAME: All in good time, aneki, all in good time.

SAKURA: I can't wait!

HOUJI: Meanwhile, Mr. Furukiayu and I make major steps in the preparations for the...

::Tenma knocks Houji out::

TENMA: Long story shortened, we're very busy next time. You may continue ladies.

AYAKO: FINALLY taking my advice, Yoko goes to the mall...whoopee.

HARIEL: Our time of rest comes to an end, however, as the Draconai surround the city with new suits of armor!

ANUBIS: You're still alive?

HARIEL: I could say the same about you after what Mia's making you do.

(SLAVE DRIVER)MIA: BACK TO WORK YOU!!!!!!

ANUBIS: However, is this attack a simple pre-emptive strike, or part of a larger plan?

(SLAVE DRIVER)MIA: NOW!!!!!! I'LL GIVE THEM THE TITLE!!!!! (Normal voice) It's the next action packed episode of Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth; Ritual on the Roof. See you all soon! (Back to Slave Driver Voice) DID I SAY YOU COULD LISTEN? BACK TO WORK!!!!!!!!!

HARIEL: See you then...