Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth ❯ Ritual on the Rooftops ( Chapter 22 )

The next day dawned on the Palace of the Heavens as all went off as it had the previous day. Sakura relaxed in the pool with Suiren dozing in a lounge chair, Ayame tinkering away in her workshop, Yoko thumbing her way through magic books, Yuri and Ran practicing almost from the moment they got up that morning. Yuriko, and Ayako from the moment she woke up from her last Temia drain, were waiting by Navcase's side. Amaterasu and her helpers had managed to heal his wounds from the battle with Kazuhiko, but he had been unconscious since they brought him back from Earth. Yuriko had not left his side, and was sound asleep in a chair by his bed, while Ayako read through her manga as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Navcase, who seemed to be stirring. Ayako brought her full attention over to him, thinking it a false alarm, and then went back to her manga. As she looked over again to be sure, she saw his eyes start to open up. Throwing down her manga, she rushed over to Yuriko.

"Yuriko! Yuriko! Wake up! He's awake!"
"Shinta-chan...Shinta-chan...don't leave me...Shinta-chan..." Yuriko moaned in her sleep.
"Come on! Wake up!" Ayako shouted, shaking her until she finally opened her eyes.
"Wha?"
"He's awake! He finally woke up just a few minutes ago!" Ayako exclaimed.
"Yuriko...I will never leave you...for as long as I...live." Navcase answered weakly.
"SHINTA-CHAN!!!!!" Yuriko shouted, as Ayako had to keep her from tackle-hugging him.
"Yuriko, that's not a good idea, he's still not back to full strength yet, maybe it would be a better idea to let everyone know he's awake, okay?" Ayako said.

Yuriko wasted no time racing out of the room screaming that Navcase, er, Shinta-chan was alive, alerting everyone in the palace, as Ayako waited by his side.

"Thank you...I owe you one." Navcase replied.
"Thank Temia. You owe her one." Ayako answered.
"I don't think she'll mind." Navcase answered.

Everyone else hurried into the room with an exasperated Yuriko, to wish the warrior back to his health and to calm Yuriko down from her tears of joy. Amaterasu thought it was best for Navcase to get his rest, and shooed everyone out of the room.

"You too Ayako." Amaterasu said.
"No, she can stay." Navcase answered.
"All right then. But if he falls asleep, let him get his rest, all right?" Amaterasu asked.
"All right." Ayako replied.

Now completely alone, Ayako sat in a chair with Navcase sitting up in bed.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure which one of use you want to speak with so I'll..." Ayako began before she was stopped by Navcase.
"Actually, I need both of you. I understand you know much of the thirteenth successor of my style of fighting. Although much of it is greatly exaggerated, perhaps there is some challenge my kohai faced that could allow me to figure out how to handle Kazuhiko."
"I see." Ayako answered. "Hang on a sec."

Ayako rushed out of the room and returned a few minutes later with her entire collection of Kenshin tankoubon.
"There has to be an answer somewhere in here." Ayako said as she handed a volume to Navcase and the two began pouring over them.
"This happy young man looks familiar. I believe he visited me once when I was near death." Navcase commented. "Perhaps his techniques could help me, however, his Shun Ten Satsu is weaker than my own succession move."
"Yeah, but you could catch him off guard with it." Ayako suggested.
"Not if he keeps using his two swords. That's how he kept me in check."
"Hmm...I don't know of anyone in Kenshin who uses that kind of style, except for Aoshi Shinomori. I've noticed Sakura uses it."
"Yes, she does. I should also speak with her."
"What else did this guy do to you?" Ayako asked.
"He used some sort of dashing charge and an uppercut slash, and used chi blasts that he formed by slashing his swords. He stopped every attack I tried, not to mention broke Kuzu Ryu Sen."
"Not good. He didn't try to get under the other ougi, did he?" Ayako asked.
"No, but he came close to blocking it after I came around for the second part. He knows what I can do, which makes it very hard to stop him. The fact that I am unaware what he can do to me that I am at a disadvantage." Navcase replied.

Ayako began to glow with energy, as her eyes also began to glow white and the words coming out of her mouth were Temia's.

"You must trust in the Heaven's Sword. There is more power in it that you are not aware of, power that I can feel. Remember, to make a holy sword, a being of supreme good must be willingly or unwillingly placed within it. It is that power which will help you in your battles with Kazuhiko."

Ayako stopped glowing and he eyes faded back to normal. Only this time, she did not pass out as she normally did when Temia used her body.

"I'm guessing Temia had something to say to you."
"She did. Something about my sword being the key to all this. I'm supposed to trust in its power if I'm to win. I should try and train, but I'm still too weak."
"Maybe you should get some rest like Amaterasu said." Ayako answered.
"You're probably right. Thank you for your help." Navcase replied as he laid down.

Ayako left as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb the warrior. Looking down at her ring, she was still unsure of what had drawn Temia to her. She had no idea of Temia's intentions, only that she seemed to be quite powerful, and had somehow managed to end up in the ring. Still, something told her to trust in Temia's power. She just wished that the others would trust in Ayako herself more often than in Temia. Still, she sort of understood why. Ryo and Anubis had been at the heroic warrior gig much longer than she had. Navcase had been a warrior even longer, and he had knowledge of the Draconai as well. Yoko was not much, but she certainly would be after a little training. Yuriko was also an accomplished fighter herself, and then there was Kashin. There had to be some way for her to be useful without needing Temia. But Temia could fly fast, Temia had wisdom, Temia could fight. Ayako could only throw bolts of space and absorb energy attacks. She needed to learn some kind of weapon, anything. But who could help her? Surely one of the Seishi, or even the Ronins and former Warlords. She had to learn some weapon, and soon.

Elsewhere, a Otoantou dropship departed from the main facility and took off across the Pacific. Its cargo bay was fully loaded up with another shipment of Blitz power armor for the Draconai. The crew was tense as they once again headed out on this dangerous mission. The last few shipments had gone well, but the Draconai were not very easy to trust.

As usual, Tenma was along for the ride, bringing with him this time his own armor, and Teisei's future self.

The ship touched down on Iwo Jima, as Tenma and Teisei stepped out of the ship, other soldiers standing by for the deal to go down. After a few minutes, Kouen's clan emerged, accompanied by Ceiphied himself.

"Have you brought them?" Ceiphied said in his deep and evil draconian voice. "I have." Tenma said, nodding to his soldiers, who opened the doors and revealed the new set of armor.

"Excellent. Kouen, we can begin unloading."

The Draconai next to him wearing a flame-embossed armor took a deep breath and sent a plume of flame into the sky. As Tenma and the others watched, it appeared to be some sort of a signal, as members of Koureha's clan, clad in Ghost suits, uncloaked and began approaching the dropship, beginning the unloading process, as they loaded the mech suits off the ship and carried it away from the scene.

*"He doesn't trust us." Teisei radioed to Tenma.
*"No more than I do the same." Tenma radioed back.

Turning his attention to the Ryuujin-clad leader, Tenma asked if the attack was still on schedule.

"Yes. This must be the last shipment of armors. We attack Toyama the day after tomorrow. I trust all your preparations will be ready by then." Ceiphied confirmed.
"I am as eager to see Drakka as you are not." Tenma replied.

The members of Kouen's clan continued to unload the Blitz armors as Tenma's entourage became increasingly nervous about Houji's boss making a temporary alliance with a dragon, especially one who completely obliterated his former ally after his continued losses, even with Ceiphied's help. They were relieved when all the armors were unloaded and Kouen's clan informed Ceiphied of it.

"You remember the deal, don't you?" Tenma asked as they turned to leave.
"Of course I do mortal. Freedom from the curse in exchange for assisting you."
"Good then." Tenma said. "Farewell for now."

The dropship lifted off as the Draconai withdrew back to hiding as the ship reached cruising altitude and made its way back to "mainland" Japan.

"Furukiayu-sama, is it wise to give such powerful weapons to them?" a soldier asked on the way back.
"First off, they think they're getting their freedom once I have the power to do so. That will keep them semi-loyal until I can complete the ritual. After that, Mr. Otoantou has been especially liberal and creative in devising fail safes for their armors to keep them under control should the need arise. You forget, the 'Art of War' is one of my favorite books."

The ship returned to its home base in Toyama, at Houji's, as yet another day passed.

The fated day dawned as Tenma had hoped. If Teisei was telling the truth, then his present day self would be wreaking havoc sometime later that day. Hopefully, his fully metallic minion would be able to give him some further info on where he would be. He did not have any idea on who he would need to bring along in order to recruit the lunatic. Teisei's future self, of course. He would have to pry some more details about his counterpart's little shindig before he could hope to succeed.
Meanwhile, up at the Palace, things were going as usual, as the group was still unawares of the extent of Tenma's plot, most importantly how far along he was in it. Yuri and Ran knew how important it was to be ready, so their training regime continued, with Yuriko joining in, and the still-recovering Navcase looking on. Sakura was up early that morning as well as she usually was, and spent some time trying to get the dullness out of Navcase's sword, attempting to help him find a way through Kazuhiko's twin sword style. However, this discovery session did not last long, as Navcase was still not back to full strength so hands-on had to be replaced with open book as the two spent the rest of their intended practice time looking through the texts in the library, trying to find a solution, but one never appeared.

Early that afternoon, Sakura woke up from a trance as she heard some moderately heavy J-rock in her ears, remembering that she was floating in the pool after going from kendo gi to bikini. Even in her dreams, nothing was jarred free from her subconscious that could help Navcase. Off to her right, Suiren was napping in a lounge chair, her tight shorts unbuttoned and unzipped and a magazine over her face.

Sakura half expected to find Ayame lying next to her on another air mattress, but she was off in her workshop tinkering away at some new idea she had come up with. This was unusual in Sakura's case, as it was usually her who was tiring herself out all day training and working, while Ayame hardly worked, lounging about in the pool or napping away in her room. Lately, Ayame had been on some sort of tinkering kick. She was certainly up to something in there, but she had left strict instructions not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. Every time she walked by the door there were all sorts of sparks flying and lights flickering from within.

After a few more minutes, Ayame stepped outside, her overalls all covered with grease, and probably would have been dirtier if she had not cleaned up a little first. She took off her dirty clothes, revealing her two-piece bathing suit and laid down on an air mattress and pushed herself outward to join Sakura.

"So, how are things going?" Sakura asked.
"Pretty well, except my latest pet project's taking longer than usual. I hope it's ready soon, we might need it, especially with all the junk Houji's thrown at us. Based on what we know and what we've managed to pry out of Kashin, this Tenma guy has access to his resources. He's probably the one who hired those people who swiped the V-Cypher and made off with what was left of Yuriko's old armor, and used that info to to reverse engineer it and construct those purple things you fought and that God Gundam thing. So I've been working extra hard at coming up with all sorts of new stuff. I'm even sort of collaborating with Kinjiro on something." Ayame said as she stretched out a bit.
"I can't wait to see all of it Ayame. Ayame?"

Sakura looked over to find her twin sound asleep, snoring softly.

"Poor thing." Sakura said, smiling as she turned over onto her stomach and closed her eyes.

Not everyone was relaxing in the palace, however. Yoko was trapped in her and Suiren's room, working very hard to learn magic spells to assist her fellow Seishi, for they would not let her out until she did. Yoko dredged her way through the scrolls when she sighed as she got a call on her cellphone.

*"Hello..." Yoko answered quite unenthusiastically.
*"Yoko? You don't sound too happy girl." the voice on the other end. *"It's me, Megumi!"

Yoko practically screamed as she heard the name, she was so happy to hear from her friend.

*"Megumi, I am SO sorry I didn't call. They've got me SO busy here. Like, they won't let me go outside until I learn some magic because I'm like their weakest link." Yoko said. "How's Ritsuko?"
*"Still her usual bitchy self. She kicked me out." Megumi said sadly.
*"She did what?" Yoko exclaimed.
*"She threw me out, and about five seconds later had a new group of lackeys."
*"Like, what did you do to get her so mad?"
*"I questioned her authority. That was enough. Then when she used her usual trump card on me, I sort of told her off, but the words just bounced off her. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to get together today, y'know, hit the mall like old times." Megumi asked.
*"I'll have to go see." Yoko replied. *"Be right back...Wait, I can bring the phone with me, duh!" Yoko said as she went off to see Amaterasu, and hoping she was in a good mood.
"Um, Amaterasu, is it okay if I go to the mall, pretty please?" Yoko asked. "I've been working really hard with my spells, honest!"
"Well, I've seen you working hard to learn lately since I set down that ultimatum. I guess it would be okay, you need a break." Amaterasu said.
*"She said yes!" Yoko exclaimed, screaming so loudly that she made Amaterasu temporarily deaf. "I'll meet you there at four, okay? See you then!" Yoko said, hanging up.

Yoko headed back to Suiren's room, passing by Ran's, where Ayako laid on her stomach reading through one of her manga in a tank top and pajama pants, listening to her CD player.
"Hey, Ayako?" Yoko asked her cousin, who took off her headphones for a second.
"Yeah?" Ayako asked.
"I'm going to the mall a little later on, and I was wondering...like, would you like to come too?" Yoko asked.
"No thanks. I'm still a little out of it from Temia, so I'm gonna take a nap a little later on. Thanks anyway." Ayako answered. "Have fun."

Yoko headed back to Suiren's room as Ayako put her headphones back on and got back to her reading.

Back at Houji's, Shou, accompanied by Karen, stepped into the R&D facilities yet again, to test the infamous suit he was to use for some reason. As soon as he put it on, it began another cycle of tests, where only some of the systems were actually fixed and too many still remained, causing all sorts of cries and yelps of pain as the test regime began once again.

Elsewhere in the base, Naru was continuing her ongoing training in the art of throwing objects. She had gotten considerably better in the past few days, going from completely missing the target to actually hitting it, and not far away from being dead on every time. Kazuhiko was pleased with her progress, but his thoughts were on his next confrontation with Navcase. How would the warrior fare with him pulling out most of his stops next time? Would Navcase still be overwhelmed, or would he persevere? He would not know until they crossed paths again. Tenma was up to something big, and that kept all of them inside the facility.

His thoughts of battle were cut off by Naru tapping on his shoulder, telling him their lessons for the day were over, and she headed back to her own room.

She had no idea how exhausting it was to learn this technique, she thought a she flopped down on her bed, crawling up to the pillow as her eyes started to slowly shut. Before she could drift off, her cell phone went off.

*"Hello?" she asked.
*"Hey Naru!" a familiar voice replied.
*"YUUJI!" Naru exclaimed in surprise. "What's up dude?"
*"Not much, there's some weird guy with too much mousse in his hair looking for you still, and some gothic girl too."
*"Oh. How are the guys doing?"
*"They're all right. They kind of miss having you around to cream all the people they can't beat."
*"What about you?"

There was a brief silence on Yuuji's end before he spoke again.

*"I really miss you, Naru." Yuuji said, almost sadly. "Er, have you, um..."
*"Given any thought to what you asked? Kinda. I'm trying to get other opinions, and I want to tell you my final answer in person." Naru replied.
*"I understand. I'm sorry I told Karen I liked you." Yuuji answered.
*"Don't be. Besides, I told you to do the same thing, then again I didn't know it was me you wanted to ask out."
*"Right. I really miss you though."

Yuuji could not have seen Naru blush, but she did.

*"Yeah. Me too Yuuji, me too. I'll try and be back as soon as I can, okay?"
*"Okay." Yuuji said, trying to be as strong as he could.
"Bye Yuuji." Naru said, also trying to do the same.
"Bye Naru." Yuuji said as he hung up.

Naru did the same and rolled onto her side, holding the phone out in her hand, staring intensely at it, as her view of it began to blur momentarily, as tears began to roll down her face. Karen and Shou, with Shou basically almost limping in pain, peeked in as they started to go by.

"<Come on.>" Karen said. "<Let's let her be.>"
"But wadifsheneedshelp?" Shou asked.
"<We'll wait for her to come to us.>" Karen replied.

Four o'clock came along, and no sooner did it were Yoko, Megumi, and Suiren loose in the mall. After some quick introductions, the trio headed off to grab more clothes to fill their already well stocked closets, took up a vantage point at the food court to scope out cute guys, headed off once again to do more shopping, and peering over the railings to check out cute boys on the lower level.

As the girls enjoyed themselves inside, a group of suspicious-looking cars started to pull up outside in the parking lot. A man stepped out, as did the rest of his associates. He checked his watch. 4:59 PM.

"Perfect. Let's go." He said, focusing his energy, as everything around him and his minions slowed to a crawl before completely stopping. They opened their trunks and pulled out all sorts of machine-guns, Uzi's, and other miscellaneous guns and headed for the mall entrance, setting small amounts of explosives around the door, set to go off in less than a second. The group backed off as the man canceled out whatever it was he had done, as the front of the mall was rocked by a horrible explosion that sent people flying as well as debris, as people dove for cover as the strange men made their entrance firing their guns in the air.

"How is everyone today? Good! Now, you're all going to be my wonderful hostages." the leader said.

Several mall cops responded to the scene and took aim.

"Hold it right there!" one shouted.
"Damn. An interruption! I HATE Interruptions!" he said, taking aim at the guard and opening fire, riddling him with bullets as he collapsed to the ground in a bloody heap.

"Will there be any other interruptions?" he asked.

All the other guards dropped their weapons and slid them across the floor.
"That's better." "Okay boys! Let's loot this place!" he shouted.
"As you wish, Mr. Jikannohizumi!" one shouted.

Several of his minions led the hostages off, as others escorted those on the upper levels in a similar fashion to the food court, where they knocked over every last table and chair and cleared them over in a corner and filed all the people there. Suiren and the others were safe, protected by an invisibility spell courtesy of Yoko.

"So, you've actually learned some stuff." Suiren said.
"Yeah, but I didn't like expect to be using it this early!" Yoko whispered back.
"Who is this guy anyway?" Megumi asked.
"Not sure." Suiren replied. "I'm going to go check things out, be right back."

Suiren's armor unfolded around her body, encasing her into a skin-tight sheen of metal, making her look like some sort of chrome-plated astronaut. She summoned her no-daichi, and shortly after her Add-On, adding more weapons. She placed her sword on the back of the armor, and it magnetically locked on, as she bent light around her and walked off.

Walking as softly as she could to avoid being heard, she tiptoed around the mall, trying to assess the situation. She was positive that she would not be able to do this alone; help would be necessary. Proceeding ahead, she heard all sorts of commotion, as she peeked around the corner to the food court, where almost all of the patrons had been taken and held at gunpoint by a small contingent of men. Elsewhere, other men were going through the various stores, looting them openly. She turned around and headed back to Yoko and Megumi.

"Well?" Megumi asked.
"It's going to be tough to get out." Suiren said. "We'll need some sort of major diversion. Did you bring the kasa?"
"Like, no way! That thing looks totally wrong on me." Yoko answered.
"Major diversion then."

Meanwhile, at Houji's...

Tenma sat ready with the metallic form of Teisei. He checked his watch, and announced, "It's time. We must hurry and get there before Kashin does."

With that the two warriors hurried off.

Up at the Palace, Kashin received a call.

"Captain Zoutou, we need your help."
"What is it sir?" he asked.
"A madman named Teisei Jikannohizumi and his gang of thugs is holding up a mall here in Toyama. We're mobilizing every last riot cop we can wrangle up to try and stop them. How fast can you get there?"
"It won't be long before I'm there."

Flying in by air, Tenma and Teisei circled the mall at least once or twice, landing in back as the sound of sirens was heard as officers J-turned into the parking lot and armored vans pulled up and riot cops, clad in body armor, carrying rifles and shields, car doors opened and officers emerged with shotguns and other heavier weaponry.

Kashin flew in and landed clad in his Armor of Shining Heavens, surprising the commander, and shocking him until he explained it was some new type of riot armor that Osaki was working on.

"How many are in there?" Kashin asked.
"We're not sure. Maybe about fifty." the commander answered.
"Want me to go in there?" Kashin asked.
"Just be discreet." the commander cautioned.
"I will, you know me. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, come get me." Kashin answered as he stepped towards the front door.
"Cocky bastard." the commander said under his breath.

Stepping inside, guards at the door began to fire at him, but he leaped in the air and opened fire on them with his head vulcans, cutting them down instantly, as they dropped to the ground in bloody heaps as he alighted himself. He stepped by and picked up their AK's as he walked further inside, figuring out which way to go next. He chose right, and headed that way, keeping his eyes peeled for any problems. Some men stepped out from one of the stores and began firing at him, but the bullets bounced clearly off his armor plating as he fired back with his borrowed AK's, mowing them down quickly as he stepped forward. Other men heard the commotion and stepped out to fire on Kashin, but he mowed them down as well. The strategy worked well until he ran out of ammo for the weapons, forcing him to use the rifle butts to knock more men out, as one went for a radio as Kashin quickly went for his beam sword and neatly cleaved it off before impaling it through, pulling the blade out and shutting it down as he continued to walk forward, taking others down with his head vulcans or his fists. He stepped on the escalator when he reached the edge of the mall, and rode it up, moving his head from left to right, looking for gang members set up to take out anyone unlucky enough to do so. Sure enough, they were there, so he made quick work of them and continued towards the food court.

Meanwhile, Teisei had made his own door when he found they were locked, knocking back a few men as Tenma stepped in. Teisei spoke to one of them and told him to take them to see, well, himself as they were quickly led in that direction, hoping to be rid of the metal plated beings as soon as possible. Past Teisei was enjoying himself as usual, as the two came up to him.

"Greetings Mr. Jikannohizumi. I am Tenma Furukiayu, also known as the Minister of Chaos."
"Minister of Chaos? I thought that was me!" Teisei answered.
"I think this will make things clearer to you." Tenma answered as he began concentrating, as his kanji began to glow through his God Gundam armor. Reacting to Tenma's, the kanji for "time" began to glow on the right side of Teisei's chest.
"What's going on? How'd you do that?"
"Like me, you are a Seishi of Drakka, a powerful demon god, who if brought to Earth, can cause tragedy and pain and suffering beyond your wildest dreams." Tenma explained. "Join me, and we can provide you with heavier weapons, armor, and even mecha to carry out your desires."
"Let me think about this for a second...OKAY!"
"Excellent." Tenma replied.

Suddenly a signal was intercepted in his helmet. Tenma closed up his faceplate to investigate, as a map of the mall appeared, with a purple blip heading towards them.

"Damn, it's Kashin, he'll ruin everything!" Tenma thought to himself. "Teisei, there is a man coming our way, that we need to deal with. The one accompanying me is you several years from now."

This received a shocked reaction from his counterpart.

"But fear not. With our technology we will beat him back."

As Kashin moved along, his sensors became aware of a cloaked presence.

"Great. It's you." Kashin replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yoko shot back.
"You do realize that this mall is being held hostage, do you not?" Kashin asked.
"Duh. That's why we're hiding!" Yoko replied matter-of-factly.
"Kashin, what are you doing here?" Suiren asked.
"I'm here on business. Youtotsuko, take your friend and get her out of here. The cops should be coming in after me in a few minutes, just follow the trail of bodies. You," he said, pointing to Suiren, " follow me."

Yoko angrily led Megumi in the opposite direction, removing the cloaking spell since Kashin had left a nice trail of grotesque bread crumbs for them to follow back to the escalator, where they bumped into the riot cops heading in after them.

"Where's Captain Zoutou?" the commander asked.
"Back there, just follow the bodies." Yoko replied as some troops escorted Megumi and her out.

Once they were safely outside, Yoko turned around to go back inside.

"You're not seriously going to go back inside, are you?" Megumi asked.
"I have to." Yoko replied.

Yoko turned and ran back towards the mall despite Megumi's protests, changing into her armor once inside, charging up the stairs as fast as she could. In the interim, Ayame had upgraded her Feilong armor up to the more recent Dragon Gundam armor, which for the most part was identical, except a more advanced design.

Elsewhere, as the pact was finalized, Kashin came running up, with his armor at the ready. The cops came up as well, using their shields as a barricade as officer after officer took aim at Teisei's men.

"Hold it right there!" the commander barked. "We have you surrounded!"

Tenma turned to Teisei, who nodded and brought out his beam boomerang, which he hurled towards a store, slicing off a triangular piece which Kashin caught and the cops retreated from, as the weapon flew along the opposite wall, cutting through even more stuff and forcing the cops to back off as it came back around into his hand.

"You! Get in!" Teisei shouted to himself, as his chest opened up and his head tilted upwards. Present Teisei made a break for the armor as Kashin chased after him with his bullets, however Tenma stepped in the way of the shots, mumbling something as the wings at his back opened up into the the eleven, nine, seven, five, three, and one o'clock positions, his chest slightly opened, and his Kanji appeared instead of the King of Hearts Crest as he aimed his hands at Kashin. "The School of the Undefeated of the East! SEKIHA...TENKYOUKEN!!!!" Tenma shouted as he fired a blast of energy towards Kashin, knocking him backwards. The riot soldiers started to file the frightened patrons away from the battle area as Suiren slinked from gang member to gang member, knocking them out with her electroshock gloves, as Teisei got inside Future Teisei, as everything closed in around him and they came online.

They first switched configurations to the Launcher form, firing the large cannon at the riot cops, knocking them far back as Teisei returned fire. Suiren used her sword to slice it to ribbons, as she then launched upward to come slamming down on top of him, but he switched configurations back to Sword, parrying her own slash in an instant, sending her back as she landed on her feet and jabbed forward and flipped backwards in a Climhazzard attack, only to be swatted away by his larger sword. She braced her sword across her cannon as she prepared to charge, only to dodge vulcan fire from Tenma, who was punched away by Kashin.

"I'm sorry Tenma, but your fight is with me." Kashin replied as he let fly with a series of punches that Tenma easily blocked as he stepped backwards. One punch flew that Tenma was caught off guard by, knocking him backwards onto his knees.
"Lucky shot."
"There's more where that came from." Kashin replied.
"GOD FIELD DASH!!!" Tenma shouted, going to the balls of his feet, opening up his leg thrusters and flying forward in a flying tackle that slammed Kashin into the wall as he kicked off and landed on his feet.

Kashin's faceplate opened up as he began to chant.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power...
"This hand of mine glows burning red..." Tenma countered.
"Its burning grip tells me to defeat you." Kashin continued as he charged towards Tenma with his hand outstretched.
"Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory." Tenma continued as he held his hand back ready to throw a punch with his open palm, as a segmented glove and claw folded over it. .
"SHINING FINGER!!!!!!" Kashin shouted as energy began to erupt from his finger joints as he rushed forward.
"BAKANETSU GOD FINGER!!!!!" Tenma shouted, pushing back with an opposing force that repelled Kashin's own attack, as he dug his feet into the floor and expanded his feet for better grip on it. Both moves were not enough, as like an opposing magnet Kashin was thrown back and slammed a deeper indent into the opposing wall as Tenma powered down his hand.
"Tsk Tsk Kashin. You've really got to try harder to defeat me." Tenma began, calling upon his most powerful "special" attack, Rage-Inducing Monologue. "You honestly think you're going to win Karen back with THAT effort? I expected more from you."
"What did you do to her..." Kashin said as he started to get up again.
"Don't worry, I didn't hurt her at all. I just simply made her forget completely about you and regard myself as her one and only father. It won't be long until Drakka shows up and makes her nothing but his obedient minion...I mean, my obedient minion."
"Tenma Furukiayu..." Kashin said, starting to become enraged.
"Yes?" Tenma asked childishly, as if he had no idea what Kashin was about to do.
"I WILL HUNT YOU TO THE DAY YOU DIE, 'CAUSE THAT'S WHEN I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!" Kashin shouted angrily, as his increased rage opened up the various panels on his armor. His shoulder guards expanded and began emitting high levels of energy. The panels on his legs also opened, revealing glowing thrusters, as the fins on his helmet expanded outward as he began to shine with an enraged aura as he drew the longer of the two hilts.

"THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER..." Kashin began to fume. Tenma simply brought out his beam sword and ignited it.
"ITS BURNING GRIP TELLS ME TO DEFEAT YOU!!!!!!!!!!!" Kashin shouted as he charged towards Tenma.

Tenma simply stood there with his blade outstretched, focused.

"TAKE THIS!!!! MY LOVE, MY ANGER, AND ALL OF MY SORROW!!!!!" he shouted with rage as he got closer.

Tenma did not flinch.

"SHINING...FINGER..." Kashin shouted as the blade ignited with all the extra energy and surged out to a large two handed glowing blade, "SWORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed as he brought the blade up above his head to cleave Tenma in two.

Tenma suddenly opened his eyes and began to glow with his normal black aura around him, as well as turning completely golden as his arm streaked up to block Kashin's slash. As Kashin tried again, Tenma parried again and again as Kashin tried frantically to land a blow, as Tenma began reciting the power-up words, as the chest beak opened and fired another Sekiha Tenkyouken at Kashin, knocking him clear into the other side of the food court again, and out cold.

Meanwhile, Teisei was fending off, quite enjoyably, Suiren and an armored up and inexperienced Yoko. Both were trying to land hits on the machine, but the combined insanity of two Teisei were keeping the two girls at bay.

Satisfied with Kashin in a heap, Tenma proceeded to turn and leave.

"We're done here. Follow me." Tenma said.
"Awww, and I was having so much fun too! Ta ta ladies!" Teisei shouted as he switched to Aile config and smashed through the skylight, with Tenma following close behind.

The two girls rushed over to Kashin, as Suiren radioed Ayame with the news. As Kashin was heavy, a portal was arranged and the two used that to get back to the palace, to figure out what would happen next.

Back at Houji's, Tenma happily reviewed his new situation.

"Myself, the Bokushi no Konran. Karen Zou, I mean Furukiayu, Juuryoku-sama. Naru Yashuhara, Douteki Happa. Shou Nagaihidaka, Onsoku. Houji Otoantou, Sen no Gijutsu. Kazuhiko Yagyu , Ji no Mi. Finally, Teisei Jikannohizumi, Mirai no Kouten. I've done it at last. I have all seven. Plus a virgin girl to be Drakka no Miko. The plan will be enacted tomorrow. Houji, contact Ceiphied. It is time."

The sun began to rise on the city of Toyama, as everyone went about their business. Everything was on schedule for Tenma's scheme. The other Seishi were dragged out of bed and loaded into a dropship, to be placed atop the pillars around the city for the ritual to work.

"Now everyone, the time has come. Today, we summon Drakka to grant all our wishes. Do not be afraid. You will all be safe. Midori, you will be at the center of town, where you will chant the spell. Now remember, as soon as she begins to recite the spell, we must lower our energy to almost nothing. Understood?" Tenma asked.

Everyone nodded hesitantly.

One by one, the seven Seishi were brought to their respective pillars and lowered inside to special magical chambers built into them. Tenma had made sure to be in touch with all of his minions while he underwent the process. Midori was flown to the center of town, accompanied by Tenma's own enforcers, adorned in very sexy robes. Toshihiko reported to Tenma that the Draconai were arriving on schedule, as they fanned out and proceeded to attack.

Alarms sounded in Ayame's room, jolting her awake, and drew her over to her computer, where the radar showed high amounts of Draconai attacking Toyama. The other girls rushed in soon after, followed by the Seishi.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.
"Draconai. Lots of Draconai." Ayame replied.
"What could they be up to?" Navcase wondered.
"I'm not sure myself, the only thing to do is go stop them. Get dressed and follow me. Enough is enough, I'm breaking out the heavy artillery." Ayame said, rushing off to some sort of off limits area.

The Seishi quickly changed their attire as the other girls armored up and removed their helmets, and raced after Ayame, who was going through the process of disabling a series of electronic locks and key locks, as if something very secret was behind it.
The doors finally opened and the group stepped inside, and closed the door behind it. A series of powerful engines came online as some sort of monstrosity revved up.

Back at Slave Driver Mia's, the heroes had stepped outside in full armor, at the request of Ayame, wondering what she was up to.

"All she said was, 'get in armor, wait outside, I'm on my way'?" Anubis asked.
"Yeah. What's she up to?" Rowen wondered.

The group stood there contemplating as a loud roar of engines was heard as a gigantic tandem trailer hovered up to the house, before touching down.

The group gaped at this monstrosity. The front appeared to be some sort of APC, with a large cannon on top. Behind the APC was a large rectangular trailer, and behind that, was another similar trailer with the outlines of hatches. Behind this trailer was an enormous section with a HUGE monster cannon, various missile silos, turrets, and other cannons. Trailing behind that was yet another trailer. The side doors on the APC slid open and a ramp slid out, with Ayame standing there.

"Come on! Get in!" Ayame shouted.

The confused two Seishi and the puzzled Ronin and Warlords walked over along with Mia, and stepped aboard, as the ramp and doors closed behind them.

"Welcome aboard the Super Deluxe Transport Mk.I." Ayame answered.
"You built this monstrosity?" Anubis asked.
"Well, not entirely. I had some help from Kinjiro." Ayame confessed.
"The only question I want to ask is, WHY?!" Kento asked.
"We needed more firepower. Besides, I wanted to be able to get our weapons closer to the battlefield." Ayame answered. "We've got to hurry. This thing only does 35 completely hooked up." Ayame said as she headed up to the driver's seat. Activating the hover system, the machine lifted several inches off the ground, as she put it into gear and took off towards the city as the group looked around. Everyone sat in seats along the walls, as the machine lumbered forward, before stopping somewhere outside the city.

"We're there?" Kale asked.
"No, we're just getting the cannon into position. Mia, go out back and get into the fourth section, and push the transform button when I tell you to." Ayame explained.

At Ayame's command, the front APC and the second section detached and pulled out ahead, as the third and fifth trailers locked along either side of the fourth, thanks to the axle that pivoted from completely straight to an angle backwards, before touching down. Everyone clambered inside the Command Center as they began to assess their situation.

"The Draconai are attacking the city at four different places. Rakurai's clan is using some sort of power armor and is attacking from the north. Koureha's clan is attacking from the east. Gekidoku's is attacking from the south, and Gantassai is attacking from the west. We're going to need and split up to take them on. Sekhmet, you, Navcase, Yuriko and Sakura are going to head to the west of the city to take on Gantassai."
"Understood." Navcase said.
"Anubis, you, Kashin, Kento and Yuri are going to bring your increased muscle to handle Rakurai's clan and their new toys, while Ryo, Yoko, Kale and Suiren go deal with Koureha. Finally, Dais, Ran, Ayako, and myself will go after Gekidoku."

Everyone clambered into the APC again as the group took off with high speed, hitting 80 miles per hour as they raced towards the city again towards Gekidoku's clan.

"There they are." Ayame said. "Rowen, climb up to the ion cannon and give them a few warning shots."

Rowen did so, rotating the cannon towards the warriors as they crossed the T, firing several blasts at the dragons, getting their attention as Dais, Ran, Ayako, and Ayame charged out weapons drawn as they proceeded to engage as the machine sped off for the next round, to the west to deal with Gantassai with Rowen driving, while Sage manned the cannon. Sage fired a few more blasts, long enough for Sekhmet and the others to charge out as Sakura sent some low powered blasts their way.

Arriving at Rakurai's clan, they knew this was going to be the difficult part. The ion cannon on the APC was helping to keep them at bay, but Yuri practically had to stand outside the doorway with her cannon to hold them back long enough for Anubis and the others to get out. They fired some pikes from their weapons at the group, but Kashin was able to repel them using his magnetism as the group opened fire as the APC took off for the last group, as a stray lockdown shell hit them as they pulled up, paralyzing the vehicle.

"Damn! We can't do anything!" Rowen swore as Sage and Sai helped the others attempt to pry the doors open with all their might, but the doors barely budged, even with their armor on. Yoko, acting on impulse, simply tapped the door with her staff, and the doors opened up, allowing the group to storm outward, as Suiren vanished from sight to get some payback from the cloaked adversaries while Ryo started exercising his flame powers on Koureha's clan, while Kale struck them down with his heat rod and large glowing blade. However, most of their work seemed to be keeping Yoko out of harm's way, because even in her armor she was having trouble. Ryo tried everything from multi-fireballs to giant fire bolts to flame swords to fend them off, but it was not helping. Kale had his hands full, as did Suiren, as he gathered close to Yoko as she put up a barrier spell to protect them as Ryo tried to come up with a better solution.

To the south, Gekidoku's group swarmed the good guys like a group of enraged boars. Their mindless attack strategy worked well for Dais, who used his Chi Lin Tou to slice and dice them down. Ran skated by others, cutting them down with her energy blade or freezing them with her ice beam as Ayame sent volleys of missiles streaking towards them, blasting them into a billion icy pieces. Others were knocked back by Ayako's force blasts, along with energy bolts she absorbed and sent flying back at the enemy forces. But they kept coming.

"Ran, you have any of those turret things left?" Ayame asked.
"No, I set up most of them around the SDT before we left!" Ran replied.
"Great. We're going to need some air support, since my missiles are going down faster than I can fire them."

Suddenly, Ayako's ring began glowing with energy, and the transformation to Temia began, as she rose a few inches off the ground and began charging into the Draconai, kicking, punching, and impaling them with her arm blades. Dais opened up with his Triple Megasonic Gun, while Ran also brought out her man-catcher and laid down some slamming action.

*"Mia! Launch Himeihoshi, now!" Ayame called.
*"What? How?!" Mia asked, confused.
*"There's a button on the console in front of you that should say, 'Send Launch Orders' PUSH IT!!!!" Ayame shouted.

Mia did what she was told as a series of prompts came up on screen...

Reading waiting launch orders...
Launch orders verified...
Verifying Invincibility...

A window came up with a robot's head inside a camera view from Section C, as a jet began to be lifted on an elevator as the roof slid open and he appeared through it, and slid over to the center, lifted up on his launcher.

*"This is Himeihoshi, reporting for duty. Don't blink your eyes, you might miss the action. The Baron of Wings and the Sword of Storms have nothing on me."

His catapult fired as he shot into the sky, his engines roaring like thunder as he rocketed towards Ayame's location.

Back at the battlefield, the four were still in trouble as the Draconai continued to swarm them faster than they could beat them back, when the roar of engines was heard from above.

"What is that?" The Draconai shouted.
"Ayame, what is that?" Ran asked.
"It's Himeihoshi, my latest toy. He's going to help us take out fully transformed Draconai and give us some added air support."
"All right you draconian assholes! See how you like THESE apples!" he shouted, sending off a volley of missiles that slammed into the Draconai, knocking them backwards.
"Incredible." Dais said to himself.

The somewhat terrified, and heavily bleeding Draconai got back up, as Gekidoku rallied them back into battle.

"Get up you fools! No matter what these fools throw at us, we will not panic!" Gekidoku shouted.
"Himeihoshi, give them a Krakken." Ayame said.
"Krakken?" Dais asked.
"Krakken?" the Draconai wondered.
"One Krakken coming right up! Now serving...oh damn, I forgot what number I'm on! OH WELL!!!" Himeihoshi shouted as he doubled back and fired a single mini-missile at the Draconai cluster.
"Miss Ayame, are you sure one missile can stop all of them?" Temia asked.
"Yes, and get down." Ayame said, as everyone leaped to the ground except for the still puzzled Draconai, as the missile detonated before impact, sending a wave of sonic energy out that not only knocked the Draconai back again, it also ripped many of them to shreds.
"Who is flying that thing? I do not recall them having any pilots!" Gekidoku shouted.
"This vehicle only requires a crew of three! Me, myself, and I!" Himeihoshi explained.

As Himeihoshi prepared for a strafing run with his two wing cannons, one of the Draconai pointed out to Gekidoku that there was no one flying the plane.

"THERE'S NO PILOT?" Gekidoku exclaimed in surprise.
"That would be my cue." Himeihoshi said, as he amazingly transformed from a jet into a robotic humanoid.
"You built a Transformer?" Ran asked.
"No. I am not a Transformer. I am a Valkyrie fighter. A very advanced one at that." Himeihoshi corrected as he hovered in the air.
"Now what?" the clan asked their leader.
"You sit back, relax, and fasten your seatbelts, you're about to take a long trip down the road to OBLIVION!!!!!" Himeihoshi shouted as two cannons folded up over his shoulders and began glowing. "Null Laser Cannons...FIRE!!!!!!" he continued as a searing blast of energy flashed from the weapons and left a long indent in the ground and several dozen badly charred and very well done Draconai, as the remainder fled for their lives.

*"Mia, this is Ayame. South is clear, we're awaiting pickup."

Meanwhile, in the East...

Sekhmet slashed his way from the stream of boulders sent out by Gantassai. The group had been doing well for the time being, as the Warlord of Venom's acids and such had held back the tough as rock minions of the second strongest clan. A few charged up sword strikes and naginata strikes had stopped others while Sakura's fiery Wildfire Swords cut like hot knives through butter. That was, until Gantassai decided to join the party and full gundanium jackets became part of the dress code.

The beam bow on Yuriko's forearm extended outward and locked over in front of her fist as she loaded a beam arrow into it and let loose with a Rising Arrow that grazed his arm as he dodged out of the way, as a few ground punches knocked the others back as Navcase went in with his beam saber, managing to get a few cuts in but were quickly repaired thanks to bio-regeneration, even with several poison strikes from Sekhmet and blade swipes from Yuriko, forcing the group to fall back.

"This isn't working too well." Navcase said.
"Well, you know better than anyone that these guys are number two in the Draconai pecking order." Sakura added.
"Our only hope to get these guys is a Chi Death Blow." Navcase said. "It's the only thing around that will stunt his bio-regeneration long enough to put a significant dent into him. But it will take time to prepare for."
"All right, we'll distract him." Sakura said. *"Kanesada, launch!"

Back at the SDT, Section C's right hand wall folded out horizontally as a ramp slid forward and down, and another platform containing Kanesada slid out to complete it. He revved up and sped off for the battlefield.

*"Ayame!" Sakura called.
*"Yes?"
*"I've just called Kanesada, but I think I'm going to need some more firepower than he has standard." Sakura said.
*"Don't worry, I loaded all his Add-Ons onto Section B. Just call on it and it'll come to you, except for Type B and C. Those you need to physically be there to use." Ayame explained.
*"Gotcha. Add-On A, Hasshin!" Sakura shouted.

Back at the APC, a light blinked on the dashboard as Rowen pulled the machine to a stop, and pushed a button labeled "Open CAS." From the seemingly empty bed on the back of the APC, a ramp folded out, linking up with a catapult that raised up out of Section B once the bay doors opened, containing the armor compressed into an almost jet-like form, that was fired off and streaked off to link up with Sakura as well.

Yuriko and Sekhmet launched into combo after combo on Gantassai as Sakura fired charged shots from her arm cannon as she heard Kanesada drive up to the battlefield, as she leapt into the air and dropped his side cannons before flying upwards to link up with Sakura into humanoid mode. As the two alighted, Armor Set A flew onto the scene right on schedule as it separated and attached the various components to Kanesada's back, legs, and arms. At last she could see what Ayame had been up to. She had added a pair of wings to either side of the backpack that rotated 180 degrees and out from her shoulders, and a Valkyrie cockpit like chest shield had also been developed for added protection. She dug her foot spikes into the ground and fired off the SFC, sending a sonic boom and Fletchette round into Gantassai's shoulder, sending him reeling, as she extracted two heavy gun pods from the mini-missile laden shoulder guards into her hands and along with her two mortar sidearms began emptying shell after shell into Gantassai, pummeling him with every ounce of ammo she could find.

In the meantime, Navcase had powered down his beam saber and flipped a selector switch on it that was certainly not standard and braced it as he had seen Toshihiko do and had begun to focus. By the time Sakura's gun pods were empty and she returned them to their houses to reload, and she had resorted to send mortar after mortar whistling into the draconian menace, a purpleish-white glowing blade had begun to erupt slowly but surely from Navcase's blade. As Sakura ran out of mortars as well, Gantassai started to laugh as his wounds began to slowly heal. At that moment, Navcase let loose with a battle cry as he fired up his thrusters and charged Gantassai head on, slashing down with his energy blade, causing the dragon to scream in sheer pain as he reeled backwards, the entire blade having vanished from Navcase's hilt as he stood there, almost gasping for breath.

Gantassai attempted to heal his wounds as he finally recovered from the knockback, only to find that he could not!

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE...You couldn't have...But you're too weak from gathering your energy to attack me. I have you now."
"And I," Sakura said as she again brought her gun pods out of their housings in her shoulder guards, "Have full ammo, and a full load of missiles. Furthermore, I have a fridge full of cans of economy sized whup-ass. And as a graduate from the Linna Tauros School of Overkill, I'm going to show you what my degree entails. WILD WEASEL TOTAL ASSAULT!!!" Sakura shouted as she locked onto all the Draconai as their beady little eyes widened to the immense onslaught that surged towards them, wiping out many and forcing the stragglers to sprout their wings and fly off.
"That takes care of them." Sekhmet said. "Suffering if I ever saw it."

Way up North...

Kento ducked out of the way of the lancer darts sent out by Rakurai's minions, as Yuri leapt over them and slammed dow with her knuckle bomber, taking out another Blitz Armor.

Kento charged through a series of them with his beam lance, jamming lance after lance into the chests of the machines, taking down the Draconai inside as well.

"This is harder than we thought. I wonder if the other groups are having better luck." Anubis thought to himself as he used his scythe to slice a swath through a series of them.

"Get Down!" Yuri shouted, as she fired off a series of s-mines, which caused the Draconai to explode in tornadoes of energy. She landed punch after punch on others, causing them to fall.

The Draconai got themselves organized and let loose with a solid line of blasts from their beam rifles, causing the four to take cover. Kento fired some shots from his back lasers, but they were still somewhat pinned down.

"We're going to need a bit more power here." Anubis said.

Kashin, who had hurt his hands from trying to punch through the gundanium, nodded.

"I can't summon my armor without Ryo, but you can go for yours." Anubis said.
"ARMOR OF THE SHINING HEAVENS!!!!!" Kashin shouted, snapping his fingers. A Mobile Trace and some pieces later, and he was armored up. He wasted no time using his reinforced hands and feet to unleash his incredible judo skills on the Blitz Armors, as Anubis in all his Deathlike glory sliced more down as if they were stacks of wheat.

Over in the west, things were still going badly for Ryo against Koureha's clan. His shield had worn down and he was now getting pummeled as Yoko tried desperately to fight back. Kale did everything he could with his beam sword while Suiren went invisible and fought hard and fast with her no-daichi, as Lockdown Shells streaked at Kale, who was the only other person in armor other than herself. He managed to heat rod away a few, but one still struck him, paralyzing the armor. Suiren took point in front of him and let loose with her charged up Pink Wave of Doom, which tore through his clan, but still left much to worry about.

Ryo looked around. Suiren was in trouble, as was Kale. Yoko needed serious assistance, so much, that she should have stayed in the APC. He clutched the dragon-shaped amulet around his neck and thought back to in the APC, when Sakura had given it to him.

"Ryo, Mom told me to give this to you. It will boost your flame wings' power to extraordinary levels. But it may be too much for you to handle, so be careful with it."

Now was as good a time as any. Ryo began to focus his Seishi power, as the amulet began to glow and turned into a n armored mantle with embossed flame, although a different style than that of Kouen. Ryo could feel his power growing within.

"Tsubasa no Hi! HI JIN!!!!!!!!!!" Ryo screamed at the top of his lungs as his wings began to become hotter and hotter, as if someone had just thrown wood on them. His body became engulfed in flames, as flame wings began to sprout from his ankles, his shins, and from his forearms. His hair turned into pure flame as an aura of flame erupted around him as well. Taking off like a bullet, Ryo began to tear into the Draconai of Koureha's clan, a single touch causing them to catch fire and burn to death. He leapt into the sky, turning into a fireball before reforming in the air, before diving downward, becoming a fireball again and slamming through more Draconai. He dashed along the ground, becoming a ball of fire once again, scorching his way through more Draconai. He charged at one, and grabbed on with his flaming grip, and kicked off from the ground, becoming a bolt of fire on his way up, and began making circles in the air with him still in his clutches, before facing downwards and streaking down as a fireball again, twirling in the air as he slammed him into the ground, reforming as this flame form again.

Meanwhile, on top of the roof of a building in the center of town, Tenma's enforcers stood waiting with binoculars, while Midori smoked a cigarette.

"They're quite occupied sir." Touru said.
"Good." Tenma answered. "Let us begin the procedure then."

Midori took her place where the enforcers had marked where she should stand to be directly in the center of town, as she began to read the incantation.

"The four palaces of the heavens. The four corners of the earth. In the name of sacred law, darkness and evil, I summon thee, Drakka, Lord of Hell."

A bolt of energy flashed across Amaterasu's mind as she felt the dark energies being gathered.

"Oh dear. They've started. We don't have much time." she said to herself.
"Seishi, Ronins, Warlords, and my daughters! There is no time to waste! The Draconai are merely diverting us from the real goal of today! The Drakka Seishi are doing as I feared...Hurry! Stop them before they can complete the ritual!"
*"You got it grandma!" Himeihoshi shouted as he blasted off towards the roof.
*"I'm not that old!" she protested.
*"I meant it in a literal sense. Ayame built me, and you're her mother, that does make you my grandmother, right?" Himeihoshi asked.
*"I suppose so." Amaterasu replied.
*" Good. Now I'll go tear those Drakka Seishi a new one!" Himeihoshi shouted.

"We've gotta hurry! The Drakka Seishi are trying to summon!" Sakura said as she separated the armor set from Kanesada and charged forward on her bike as the weapon system followed behind her. The other three fired up their engines and rocketed after her towards the city.

Meanwhile, Kale's being locked down wore off, as he switched to flight mode and Suiren and Yoko climbed on, as he flew forward at high speed, while Ryo shot ahead as a fireball. Dais proceeded to fly as well, while Ran skated and Ayame flew using her jetpack as Temia lifted inches off the ground and flew forward.

As the groups dove deeper into the city, Cyber Commandos, dispatched by Houji, were sent out to attempt to destroy the heroes as they got closer. Sakura used Kanesada's mortar cannons to attempt to get rid of them, but that was not enough, forcing Yuriko to send a Rising Arrow through their ranks as they continued onward. Suiren sent off charged shots from her arm cannon as the Kale Sled flew forward, knocking over some, while Flame Spirit Ryo burned through still others Sonic Flame Shield Style.

From the south, Dais and Temia led the way, more Temia than Dais as Temia's energy blasts and Dais' triple Megasonic gun lay waste to everything in their path, as did volleys of missiles from Ayame.

Anubis' team, however, was not doing as well. For one thing, they had no super weapons to back them up. Secondly, Yuri had to be locked in place for her cannon to be effective and not knock her several miles in the opposite direction. That, and Anubis could not use his armor without Ryo summoning his first.

*"Rowen!" Anubis shouted. "GET OVER HERE NOW!!!! WE NEED A LIFT!!!!"
*"I hear you. Hang on." Rowen said as he put the machine into gear and floored it towards the city.

Meanwhile, up on the roof, the ritual continued.

I Beseech you to appear on Earth from the gates of Hell. For the sake of those who worship you, and await your presence.

As the heroes headed deeper into the city, they more and more had to deal with the pedestrians of Toyama, who had no clue what was going on, aside from the Draconai that surrounded the city, the strange people flying through it, bent on reaching the center as soon as possible. Sakura raced along the sidewalks with Kanesada, forcing people out of her way, as the others flew directly over the streets, rushing as fast as they could. Even Himeihoshi, who was trying his best to get close to the towers, was engaged in midair with the AAA's that Houji had deployed in the event the Seishi tried an airborne assault. Elsewhere, Rowen got stuck in traffic.

"Great. Now what?" Sai wondered.
"We'll just have to go over them." Rowen said, giving the hover systems everything they had, raising them as high above the cars as they could, and proceeded to charge over the roofs, where they soon located Anubis and the others as they climbed aboard and turned around towards the center of town.

*"This is going to take too long! Temia! Ryo! Hurry and get there ahead of us, try and slow them down!" Ayame shouted.

Temia began her push closer to the city as Ryo practically lit the afterburners, scorching the sides of buildings due to his intense heat. The two rose above the tallest buildings and spotted Midori on the roof.

"There they are! We've got to stop them!" Ryo shouted to Temia.

Toshihiko brought out his pistols and started firing back at the two as they dodged the shots. Houji's own guards fired at the two as well, as Temia gathered a powerful bolt of energy in front of her hands and let it fly at Midori, only for a large black wall of energy to form up as the attack hit.

"Damn! She's shielded! Sakura! We need you!" Ryo shouted.

Below, Sakura quickly linked up with Kanesada and Armor type A as she used every inch of her thrust to get off the ground to hover in the air, pull out the VTS and send a shell flying at the barrier, which struck and the energy spread outward. Temia sent another searing blast towards the shield, hoping to hit Midori this time, however, the shield came up once again.

"That does it." Ryo said, canceling out his auras of flame. "ARMOR OF WHITE REFLECTION!!!!!!!!" he shouted, as the armor quickly appeared on him and he brought out his Swords of Light. Below, Anubis' kanji began to glow in cursive, as he summoned his own armor and flew upwards, his scythe ready to strike.

"Let's try this again." Ryo said as the three triangulated.

"LUMINANCE FROM THE HEAVENS!!!!" Ryo shouted, sending a searing white blast towards the shield.
"DARKNESS FROM THE DEPTHS!!!!!" Anubis shouted, sending a searing dark blast from his scythe.

Temia fired once again, but again, all the blasts simply hit the shield and dissipated.

"What is this shield ON?" Anubis wondered.
"It must be some sort of magical barrier that protects the Priestess. We will not be able to harm her until she is done with the ritual." Temia answered.
"Yeah, but when she finishes the Ritual we're all screwed!" Ryo shouted.

Come to us! And with your Mighty Power, destroy and enslave all that is good that threatens us. Save us and grant us our wishes!!!!

As Midori neared the end, the sky above her began to turn black as night. From within all the pillars, they began to glow as the kanji for all the Seishi glowed in cursive, and all over Midori in their respective spots, as eight blasts of energy formed an apex above Midori's, and shot into the sky.

"Oh shit..." Anubis swore. "We better get out of here while the getting's good!" he shouted as he began to rocket in the other direction.
"Hey! I thought Samurai don't run away like cowards!" Ryo shot after him.
"They don't! This is strategic redeployment!" Anubis added.
"Oh." Ryo said as he chased after him.
"Rowen! Get us out of here!" Yuri shouted.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Rowen said, turning around and flooring it.
*"Rowen! Get the CAS to me, NOW!" Sakura shouted.
*"Can't you see all hell's breaking loose?" Rowen said, looking out the window at the hell starting to break.
*"Yeah! But with armor type B I can blast us like a bat out of it." Sakura said.
*"Okay. We'll lock onto your position." Rowen said, as a blip appeared on their HUD and he turned towards it.

Elsewhere, Kale turned towards it as well, flying as fast as he could reasonably do so with the two girls on board, as Dais, Ran, and Ayame also headed in that direction.

Ascend to us from the hells below!!!!!!

The energy shot straight down into the ground, as lightning began to flash through the sky. An energy shot up through this column, which stopped on the rooftop, as energies shot out from the pillars around the city as well and materialized into the Drakka Seishi as the shape itself began to take shape.

Meanwhile, down in the city, everyone else had rushed to where the APC had parked, Kale flew in and let the girls off before changing back, and clambering inside, while Sakura pulled Kanesada inside the CAS bay and initiated the switch to B Type Armor. Seconds later, the ramps opened up as she shot out, landing on top of the roof, her thrusters set as she latched onto the roof.

"Okay, put this thing in neutral, just steer! I'll push!" Sakura said, as she lit the ion boosters and proceeded to rocket forward towards the rest of the transport.

Up on the roof, sinister looking armor began to materialize, peeking up through his cape. An equally sinister helmet was on his head, and his eyes glowed evilly.

"I am Drakka, lord of Hell. Are you the Priestess who summoned me?"

Next Episode

ALL DRAKKA SEISHI: WE, are the champions, my friends...cause we summoned Drakka and he'll make the world end...We are the champions, we are the champions, Amaterasu's are the losers 'cause we are the champions...and will rule the world!

TENMA: We won. They lost. My plans are complete. Farewell, everyone. This is the end.

AMATERASU: It's not over Yet!

TENMA: Really. Here's my proof.

::Miaka, Usagi, and various other hunger-driven anime characters begin to fly through the air, fat ladies everywhere begin singing, and down in Hell, Satan puts up a sign saying "Free Sleigh Rides" and proceeds to hand out sno cones::

TENMA: I rest my case.

AMATERASU: We will still succeed!

TENMA: Not unless you find your Priestess. But that's not happening now that Drakka's here! We have our God, we have Houji's military, and all sorts of other stuff. Give up. There's no point in continuing. Even if you do, there is no way you can do it with only four chapters remaining in the series.

AMATERASU: Don't worry all our loyal readers!

TENMA: Or lack thereof. I only know of about 3 or four people who actually really read this.

AMATERASU: Then I'll ask them to spread the word! It's the next chapter of Ronin Warriors: Hell Back on Earth; The Path to Conquest. We'll be waiting! I hope...