Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Ronin Warriors: Illusionary War ❯ Disappearance ( Chapter 1 )

Naru Yashuhara was running through what seemed like a cross between a modern cityscape and ancient Persia, clad in the outfit of a kunoichi, complete with flowing scarf, racing along walls at breakneck speed as energy bolts, arrows, and everything else that could be classified as a projectile came flying towards her, barely missing.  She spotted the strange orbish form firing energy bolts at her, and pausing for only a second, let fly with one of her kunai, destroying it on impact.  She began to scurry down the wall again, sending a wide arc of kunai into the numerous archers taking aim at her, as she kicked off from the wall, shimmered through the air, taking down another orb thing and then neatly dashing back to the ground below, landing perfectly.  Standing before the girl was a cloaked figure carrying a scimitar, and wearing a cross between a nightsuit and Persian clothing.  He also had a weird looking dagger in the other hand.  Naru went for the ninja-to on her back, and flew forward, a loud clang broke the silence as the two weapons clashed, as Naru backflipped away and dashed sideways, leaving an afterimage which her opponent sliced through, as Naru spun around and struck with her sword, only to have it parried by the scimitar wielder.  Naru leapt up, and let the fistful of kunai between her fingers fly, causing small explosions around her assailant, as she rolled over in the air and came crashing down with her sword, knocking the warrior off his footing and pinning him to the ground with her legs on either side of his torso, as she ripped his turban off to reveal Yuuji.

“Whoa Naru, you got me that time!”  he exclaimed.
“Yeah.  Never mess with the Queen of Games.  Try all you like, but I’ll eventually beat ya.”

The two looked at each other intently, as they closed their eyes and brought their lips together.

“Naru…”  Yuuji said.
“Yuuji…”  Naru replied dreamily.

Then, Yuuji spoke again. But it was not his voice.  This time it was Ayako’s.  Something was seriously wrong, Naru thought to herself.  Ayako seemed to be calling out to her.  But why?  How did she get there?  Ayako spoke again, this time she seemed to be telling her to wake up.  Her voice was not coming from Yuuji now, it seemed to be coming from the air.  The sky seemed to open up in two slits, only inches apart, revealing grass, trees, people, in what seemed to be a park.  But the view seemed to be askew, as all Naru could see through the slowly opening slits were as if she was looking up at them, and the scene was blurry as well.  She was further shocked when she noticed Ayako’s now giant head looking at her through these slits, as she felt her ninja suit disappear as Ayako continued to call out to her.

“Naru!  Wake up!”

An instant later, Naru could feel the hard ground beneath her, cushioned by the beach towel she was laying on, the headphones on her ears, playing video game remixes, her glasses perched on top of her head (which would explain the blurryness), and the warm sun on her naked back.  It had all been a very elaborate dream.  Naru moaned a little as she quickly remembered to tie her bikini straps back together and rolled onto her side to find Ayako reading a manga.

“What’s up?”  Naru asked sleepily.
“Not much, you fell asleep and I just woke you up so your back wouldn’t get too burned.”  Ayako explained.
“I fell asleep?  How’d you know?”
“You were snoring a little.”  Ayako replied matter of factly.
“I do NOT snore.”  Naru shot back without any hesitation.  “And for your information, I put so much sunscreen on my back it’s a miracle I can even feel the sun on it.   So what’s the real reason you woke me up?”
“Oh, not much, some cute guys were checking us out.”  Ayako replied.   “They were sort of turned off by your snoring.”
“Once again, I do not snore, and you just added that on to irritate me.”  Naru answered.
“Oh fine, you don’t snore.   I’ll just ask Yuuji when he gets here.”

Naru perked up.

“Yuuji’s coming?  How do you know?”  Naru asked.
“He called you while you were sleeping.”
“Yuuji doesn’t have your cell phone number.”
“Well you were asleep…I didn’t want to wake you so I just took a message.  I had a good idea beforehand that it was him calling, who else would you have the theme from FF8 programmed as a ringtone for on your cell phone.”

Naru was going to fire back some retort about her cellphone calls being none of Ayako’s business when Yuuji showed up.

“Yuuji!”  Naru exclaimed, jumping up and hugging him.
“Hey.  So what are you girls up to today?”
“Nothin’ much, chillin’ out, getting some sun, you?”
“Not much, the guys were busy so I figured I’d hang out with my girl, unless it’s a no guy affair.”
“No, it’s perfectly alright.  On the plus side it’ll get the male attention off of me and onto Ayako.   And you can tell her that I don’t snore.”
“But you do snore.  But only when you’re really really tired.”  Yuuji answered, despite the fact that was not the answer she wanted to hear.
“See?  Told ya.”  Ayako said matter-of-factly.  “I’m just teasing you.”
“Besides, some of my best memories are of you asleep on top of me.”  Yuuji answered, causing Naru to blush a little.
“So, what happened last night that she’s so exhausted.”
“Late night gaming session.  Yuuji was trying for hours to beat me at Shinobi and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.”
“She means SHE was trying for hours to beat me.”  Yuuji clarified.
“I’ll beat you eventually dearie.  That’s what I like about you, you don’t feel bad about being beaten by a girl.”  Naru playfully warned him.
“Yeah, but at least it’s you.”  Yuuji replied.
“Well, now that that’s settled, would you be a dear and rub some lotion on my chest?  If I can’t beat you here I can at least try to beat you in my dreams.”  Naru replied, seeing that Ayako had probably had enough of the mushy stuff and would be asking the two to get a room soon.

Naru laid down on her back and undid her shoulder straps as Yuuji took to lathering her up, causing her to giggle a little as his fingers tickled her.  She took off her glasses and set them aside as she pulled her bucket hat over her face and let her arms drop to her sides.

“So, Yuuji,”  Ayako said with a devilish smirk, as if she had been waiting for this opportunity all day, “what else can you tell me about Naru?”
“Don’t even think about it Yuuji.”  Naru warned, her voice muffled by her hat.
“Damn.”  Ayako said.

Elsewhere in Toyama, the scene was not so peaceful, as renegade Draconai fled on foot down the street, causing cars to collide and careen out of control from the shock of seeing the creatures.  Behind the beasts, a man in a trenchcoat wearing light body armor underneath raced along the top of the cars like stepping stones, wielding a pair of pistols and attempting to get a bead on the Draconai as they fled.

*”Master, I’ve flushed them out.  They’re headed your way.”  The individual said.
“Good job.  Just don’t get carried away.”  The other end said.
“I won’t Master.”

The trenchcoated individual, Toshihiko Kakekomi, continued to pursue the scaled beasts down one street and onto another on foot.  His years of work as an enforcer for the renowned Yakuza clan member, Tenma Furukiayu, had gotten him accustomed to chasing down people that one way or another needed to be silenced, but nothing had prepared him for this.  Since the end of the war against the evil Lord Drakka, he had been apprenticed to the former Drakka Seishi Kazuhiko Yagyu, who before the war hunted down the Draconai and exterminated them, but now, he did it for Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, as a means to atone in his eyes.  With the draconian humanoid’s leader, Ceiphied long gone, the whole great brood had splintered off, some siding with Ceiphied’s generals, others like these, breaking away from the whole.  He managed to take aim enough and fired on the beasts, only to have them ping off, to his surprise;  Kinjiro Osaki, the technical genius of Amaterasu’s side, had been laboring for the past few months to develop bullets that would seriously hamper the Draconai, and they were not working!  He went for his large rune sword in hopes that it would do better, managing to fire off a flame blast that only seemed to singe them.  In an effort to see if he was messing with the wrong clan, he fired a lightning blast, this one seemed to have an effect, but not one he was expecting.  Smoke began to emit from the Draconai as sparks danced along their bodies, as they began to go critical.  Toshihiko dove behind a parked car as the Draconai blew up.  Toshihiko peeked up from behind his cover to find flames on the ground and miscellaneous parts elsewhere.

“Something is wrong, Master.”  Toshihiko said as Kazuhiko walked on the scene.  Clad in a ninja nightsuit with samurai armor over it, wearing a traditional straw hat, Kazuhiko looked quite strange.  With him were his faithful companions, Arataka, the falcon, and Saitou, the wolf.
“Yes.  These were not Draconai, but incredible facsimiles of them.  Someone is trying to lead us to believe these creatures ARE Draconai, when they are not.”
“But if Otoantou is locked up in jail right now, then who could have constructed them?”
“Which is why we should go see Mr. Osaki about this.  If I am right, he probably already knows.”  Kazuhiko replied.

Up in the Palace of the Heavens, it was business as usual.  Or, with Drakka long gone and with mostly hope that he would stay that way, relaxation was the watchword around the place.  Navcase, the Sword of Heaven, had a new battle to confront; his beloved Yuriko, ready to kill him from her pregnancy, now using his god-like speed to fetch Yuriko anything and EVERYTHING she needed.  Yuri and Ran, the oldest and youngest of Amaterasu’s daughters respectively, had stepped in to help the poor guy deal with the situation, since the last thing they needed was a pregnant woman charging through the palace with a six-foot spear.  Suiren, their blonde bombshell of a sister and a flirt to boot, had headed off to the beach with Ayako’s cousin Yoko, and Yoko’s friend Megumi, who to Ayako’s own dismay, was dating her dimwit (at least in her opinion) twin brother Shougo.

Normally, Sakura, the more active and outdoorsy of the two twins in the family, would be off in a courtyard, practicing her sword technique in preparation for the next big enemy to go after them.  But today, she was relaxing on an air mattress, listening to her sister’s Mp3 player, with nary a care in the world.  It had taken her a while to realize that all work and no play made Sakura a dull girl, but at least she had finally taken the hint.  Of course, she was most likely cutting up anonymous henchmen or indispensable minions by the truckload in her head, but at least part of her was at peace.  Unfortunately her peace and quiet was about to be stripped away.

“What.”  Sakura said grumpily.
“Um, Sakura, Mom wants you.”  Ran asked.
“Fine.”  Sakura answered, getting up from the floating bed and landing poolside without getting wet at all, pulling on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before heading off to Amaterasu’s throne room.
“What’s up Mom?”  Sakura asked.
“I’ve sensed some sort of spatial disturbance in the space-time continuum.”  Amaterasu explained to her daughter.
“Not to be rude Mom, but why are you telling me this when you should be asking Ayame to look into it?”
“Because something came through it.  And I can sense that it is hostile.”
“Good, lounging around the pool, as relaxing as it is, was getting boring.  Finally something to fight for a change.”
“I want you to take Navcase with you.  Just in case.”  Amaterasu said.

Sakura was about to question her mom’s decision to bring along the Sword of Heaven, but it was the Amaterasu Seishi’s job to protect her along with her sisters and mother.

“Okay.  I’ll go find Ayame and let her know too.  I might need Kanesada’s help too.”
“Good luck.”  Amaterasu said.

Sakura quickly headed off and followed the sound of demands to Yuriko’s room, and informed Navcase of the situation, who apologized to Yuriko for having to leave and then headed off, after getting a list of foods and other things that Yuriko had suddenly developed a craving for.  They then made their way to the workshop, since Sakura was almost one hundred percent sure that her twin sister Ayame would be there.

“How much longer?”
“Not too long.”
“C’mon, how much longer?  I can’t wait to try out these new pulse lasers!”
“Neither can I.  Finding one way to keep you from expending all of your ammo puts me in a good mood.”  Ayame said.
“Look out world!  Himeihoshi’s got a new pair of weapons!  Booya!”

Ayame, Sakura’s twin sister, looked exactly like Sakura; same long black hair, except Ayame’s was wavier, but they had the same purple eyes.  The two were almost the same height, Ayame was one inch taller than her sister.  However, similarities were only skin deep;  Sakura was serious about fighting; on the other hand, all Ayame was serious about was getting her beauty sleep, and lying out by the pool.   Sakura collected various swords and could match them to a date and a swordsmith in no time flat; Ayame collected scores of mp3’s and managed to keep track of them all.  Sakura, when she had the time, enjoyed communing with nature;  Ayame’s idea of communing with nature involved her taking a nap under a tree, blocking out all other sounds with her music.  The two were like oil and water;  normally, the two cannot exist together, but with a little emulsification, they were fine.

A good example of their emulsification despite being oil and water, was that Ayame had an extreme knack for slapping mechanical monstrosities together, which Sakura utilized in battle.  Kinjiro’s involvement aside, it had been Ayame who had constructed upgrades for their armor, put together a quintet of mechanical companions for each of her sisters, including herself, along with a huge tricked-out armed to the teeth transport to haul it all in.  It would be safe to say that if she were to ever hook up with Mercia, there would be no telling what would come off the assembly line.

Today, Ayame was working on Himeihoshi, the scaled down Metal Siren Valkyrie she had built for her own use.  Hours ago she had finished rewiring the hardpoints on his wings so that he could fire his gun pods without draining the energy clips while they were attached.  She was just finishing up work on the pulse lasers that replaced his autocannons, which gave him a default weapon to use that did not suck his ammo dry, which Himeihoshi had a habit of doing.  She worked meticulously, blowing several softball-sized bubbles with her gum, as she finished the last of the wiring and routing it into his combat computer.

“There.  All done.”  Ayame sighed, relieved that she was finished, but more so that Himeihoshi would leave her alone for a while.

“Ayame.”  Sakura called from the door.
“Yeah?”  She called back, turning to face her sister.  She was dressed in a sky blue T-shirt and coveralls and had a backward baseball cap on embroidered with Kinjiro’s company logo.
“Mom sensed some sort of spatial disturbance.  She wants you to check it out.”

Ayame nearly swallowed her gum.

“WHAT?  DAMMIT!!!!  Things had begun to get so quiet after that whole Drakka problem, can’t we have any PEACE before something ELSE comes to threaten our existence?  Jesus H. Christ, why can’t all the evil forces in the universe just take a vacation for the next ten thousand years and leave us all alone?”  Ayame cursed and complained as she stomped over to her laptop and began working furiously.

“Oh dear, she’s turning into I.J….”  Himeihoshi moaned.
“Don’t worry, she hasn’t reached his level of irritability yet.”  Sakura reminded him, making reference to the tank-bot that Ayame had given to Yuri and mistakenly programmed using Full Metal Jacket and Starcraft Siege Tanks as reference material.
“I thought things couldn’t be any worse.  There isn’t just ONE portal, there’s FIVE!, and I’m detecting the existence of even more…THIS IS NOT WHAT I NEED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!”  Ayame complained.
“Ayame, calm down.  Let’s look at the big picture.  Only five of them are anywhere near Japan.  They’re the only ones that are currently active.  I’ll take Navcase and Kanesada and go check out the first one that opened, another one’s near Suiren and Yoko.  There’s more than enough of us to handle this problem, and get in touch with Kinjiro, because I’m sure he’s also trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“Okay.”  Ayame said, taking a deep breath and calming down.
“Good.  I’m off.  Come on Navcase.”
“Are you sure this is safe Lady Sakura?”  Navcase asked.
“Relax, done this dozen of times.”  Sakura answered, as her hardsuit unfolded around her.  "Ready for Launch Ayame.”
“Got it.”  Ayame said, pushing a button and sending Sakura flying down a catapult into a waiting glowing portal, which closed behind them.

Sakura emerged from the other end somewhere in Toyama, and sped towards the source of the signal with Navcase holding on for dear life.  If her sensors were correct, the gateway had opened somewhere in Toyama Park.   She happened to recall Ayako saying something about going there with Naru that day.

“Kanesada, put the pedal to the metal!”  Sakura replied.
“At once Mistress!”  Kanesada answered.

Navcase held on for dearer life as Kanesada accelerated faster, coming to the conclusion that MAYBE he was safer waiting on Yuriko hand and foot than hanging on for dear life and watching his life flash before his eyes.

At the park, a green sphere surrounded by an orange sphere had appeared in the park, getting everyone’s attention immediately.  People began to flee the scene as a figure began to step through.  At first, it seemed to be some sort of centaur, but it was soon revealed to be a large strangely dressed man atop a reddish horse.

“Um, Yuuji, do you know what or who that thing is?”  Ayako asked.
“I know I’ve seen him before, but can’t remember where.  Um, Naru?”  Yuuji asked the tomboy.
“What…”  Naru replied grumpily, not wanting to get up, and continued to lie down.
“Um, not much, there’s some guy on a red horse standing in the park right now and Ayako’s wondering who he is.  He’s very huge, I can tell you that much.”
“That narrows it down.  Is he holding any weapons?”  Naru asked.
“Um yeah, a really big spear.”  Ayako replied.
“He seems to be looking like he came out of medieval China.”
“Big guy with big spear from medieval China…does he have a weird looking headdress that makes him look like a cockroach?”
“Yep…”  Yuuji replied cautiously, as he seemed to remember just who the strange intruder was.
“Yuuji, you’re clearly hallucinating because there is no way Lu Bu from Dynasty Warriors…”  Naru said, as she pulled the hat off her face and started to sit up, “could…be…in…the…park…right&hellip ;now?”  Naru replied hesitantly as a chill went up her spine.  She then grabbed poor Yuuji by his shirt and shook him violently
“YOU COULDA SPOKEN UP AND TOLD ME THAT THE TERROR OF HU LAO GATE WAS LOOSE IN THE PARK!!!!!!!!”  Naru shouted loudly.
“Okay, so how do we stop this guy?”  Ayako asked.
“We don’t.  WE RUN!!!!!”  Naru said, quickly grabbing their stuff and fleeing the scene.

Lu Bu had been told to cease and desist in the meantime by a bunch of security guards, but he knocked them all away with one swipe of his halberd.

“You dare challenge the mighty Lu Bu?”  he bellowed.  He then, unfortunately, spotted Naru and the others running away.
“YOU DARE RUN FROM ME?”  He shouted, charging after them.
“Um, Naru, he’s gaining on us.”  Yuuji replied.
“Not for long.”  She said, picking up some sticks and throwing them back at their pursuer, causing a small explosion that forced Red Hare to buckle backwards.  As Lu Bu attempted to gain control of the animal, Naru and Ayako managed to get Yuuji to safety.

“Okay, no one ruins my day of relaxation and gets away with it.”  Naru declared, throwing more charged sticks at the monster.

“How dare you attack me child!”  Lu Bu shouted, using his halberd to swat Naru to the side.
“Okay, that’s it pal.  Temia, you ready?”  Ayako asked.
“I’m ready.”  Temia replied.
“Then let’s do this!”  Ayako replied, as the ring on her finger began to glow with energy.  In moments, energy had surged out from it and out into spikes that covered most of her body, as she grew taller and grew stronger as well.
“Lu Bu!  I order you to cease with your attack immediately!”  Temia shouted.
“You are a fool to cross me spiky one!”  He bellowed, jumping off his horse.  Temia removed one of her spikes and turned it into a polearm, as the two began to go at it.  Strengthwise, they were almost equally matched, but Lu Bu managed to get in a few good hits, driving her backwards and up onto his spear before tossing Temia across the way, who then flew back towards him.  However, a spiral of energy had erupted around the large warrior.

“Temia, watch out!”  Naru shouted, recognizing it as a Musou attack.

Lu Bu slashed again and again with even greater force, finally sending Temia flying and knocking her out of phase, and back into the ring, leaving Ayako weakened.

“Who else seeks death?”  Lu Bu declared.

As if in answer, the revving of a motorcycle was heard as Sakura charged onto the scene with Navcase.  She charged her blaster to maximum power and let the lummox have it, sending him flying into a tree, snapping under his weight.  She screeched to a stop as Navcase jumped off and headed over to protect the girls, as Sakura retrieved her blades from the sheaths and flipped the blades downward, striking him six times as Lu Bu got up.  She then returned the blades to normal and slashed several times, using her thrusters to spin over several times in the air, before knocking Lu Bu back and landing with her blades facing outward.  Navcase came tearing across the ground, knocking Lu Bu back with Ryu Son Sen in an attempt to wear the giant down.  Her shoulder guards opened up and she let fly with a salvo of concussion missiles, which knocked Lu Bu back again.  Sakura began charging up her gauntlets, first blue, then yellow, into pink, then orange, and finally green, firing at the warrior, alternating with each arm before slashing downward with her swords, sending an energy bolt into him which knocked him back towards the portal.

“We must send him back to where he came from!”  Navcase said, racing along the ground with almost godlike speed, then going into Zero Stance and poolcueing the warrior back through the gateway which closed behind him.

“Everyone all right?”  Sakura asked.
“Yeah.”  Naru and Ayako replied.
“Naru!  You’re okay!”  Yuuji replied, running towards her.
“Yuuji!”  Naru shouted, running up to him and giving him a huge hug which then turned into a big kissing session.
“Jeez you two, get a room.”  Ayako said in small disapproval.
“Sorry.”  The two replied, blushing a little.

*”Sakura!”  Came Ayame’s voice over her helmet.
*”What’s up Ayame.”
*”There’s more portals opening up.  Suiren and Yoko said they just beat up what looked like an evil Link!”
“Did you say Link?”  Sakura replied.
“Yes, elf ears, green tunic, sword and shield?  You bet.”
*”Do you have any clue what’s going on?”  Sakura asked.
“Still working on it.  The guys, the Warlords, even the Forgotten Souls are working overtime trying to shut these things down.  I’ve been trying to get through to Kinjiro but I keep getting some kind of interference.”  Ayame replied.
“I’ll see what I can do about kicking some more of these guys back to where they came from.  Navcase, we’ve got more work to do.”  Sakura replied.

Navcase leapt onto Kanesada again as Sakura sped off again.  People started to venture back into the park now that the threat was clear.

“Okay, I’m loosing my mind again.  I’m going back to sleep.  Maybe when I wake up this time all the craziness will be over with.”  Naru said, setting down her towel again and rolling onto her stomach, closing her eyes.
“Me, I’m just tired.  Yuuji, could you watch our stuff for us?”  Ayako asked, as she lay down as well.
“I guess so.”
“Thanks Yuuji.”  Naru said.

While the others relaxed, Sakura and Navcase went on a race across the city, as things just got weirder and weirder.  Anime and video game characters were just coming out the woodwork, even though they were really all coming out of the strange green and orange portals.  Something was very wrong, and there was no one who could have pulled this off that they knew of.

“Screw interference.  Navcase, we’re going to see Kinjiro.  I’m sure HE’s got some explanation.”

Sakura took a turn and tore off for Osaki Defensive Industries’ headquarters.

It did not take long to reach the location on Kanesada.  The guards at the gate quickly buzzed her in after getting permission from Kinjiro as she pulled into the parking lot, just as Ayame touched down in it in Himeihoshi.  The cockpit lowered as he landed in Gerwalk mode.

“Sakura!  What are you doing here?”  Ayame asked.
“I figured Kinjiro would know what’s getting on, and since you couldn’t get through, I figured we’d pay him a visit.”
“I had the same idea.  Oh, Navcase, Yuriko needs you.  Yuri and Ran can’t take much more of this.”
“Very well.”  Navcase answered.

A portal opened and he stepped through as it closed behind him.  Ayame turned to Sakura as she dismissed her armor.

“Shall we?”  Ayame asked as the two girls headed inside.  They proceed down hallway after hallway until they found Kinjiro in some sort of NORADish station with supercomputers on overdrive trying to figure out what was going on.

“Kinjiro!”  Ayame called out.
“Good, you’re here finally.  I tried to get in touch with you but I couldn’t.”
“Same here.  I hope you’ve got a better understanding about what’s going on because I sure don’t.”
“Most of the satellites around Earth have gone haywire.  As far as I can tell, the only satellites that are still working fine are the ones that used to belong to Otoantou Industries.”
“Houji?  But I thought he’s locked up!”  Sakura questioned.
“Was.   When I noticed his satellites were working fine I made a call over to the prison, warden said the guards went to bring him some food and he wasn’t in there, and there was no way he could have gotten out.  Almost as if he vanished.”
“Or jumped through a portal.”  Sakura said, starting to put some things together.
“Of course!”  Ayame exclaimed.  “Whomever’s been opening all these portals all over the place might have also helped Houji escape.”
“But who could have done it?  Houji was the Drakka Seishi’s brain trust.  Only he would have the technical expertise to cause all this trouble.”  Sakura observed.
“There’s something else I discovered.  I received this message from one of Houji’s satellites that I added to my network just in case.
“Old adage, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”  Sakura added.
“Anyhow, I found this amongst all the other craziness.”

Kinjiro played back the transmission he had detected from Houji’s satellite network.

  ‘Gates in place and ready to open. Awaiting signal from Lord Drakka.’

The two girls gasped in shock.

“DRAKKA?  HOW COULD DRAKKA BE INVOLVED?”  Ayame shouted in disbelief.  “We sent that demonic bastard into early retirement in Hell, AGAIN!  There’s no way he could get out!”
“Very true.”  A voice said.

Out of the shadows stepped Kazuhiko and Toshihiko, carrying the remains of the “Draconai” they had found and dispatched.

“However, although he cannot free himself from Hell, others can.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“Whoa Mr. Drakka Seishi, you were part of the backup plan, and it’s over.  Besides, most of the others are gone or went into retirement, and there’s no alternate ways to summon Drakka in case of missing or departed Seishi.”  Ayame reminded him.
“That isn’t to say that somebody else could have helped him get out.”  Sakura reminded her.
“Miss Sakura is right, Miss Ayame.  There are a myriad of ways to bring a demon out of limbo; the Seishi ritual is just one of many.  But that ritual, as you said, is only associated with Drakka.”  Kazuhiko replied.  “Which is why this machine we found puzzles me.  Whoever is doing this, is attempting to make it look as if Drakka is involved in some way.  However, any one of us knows that Drakka hates the Draconai for betraying him and will not rest until every last one is dead.”
“This just gets weirder and weirder.  First Kinjiro gets a message about Drakka, then all these portals open with fictional people jumping through, Kazuhiko brings in a technological construct of what’s supposed to be a Draconai, when all of us know they're not his minions anymore.”  Ayame said, throwing up her hands in frustration.
“I agree.  That’s why we’ve got to go take a look at those satellites and see what’s going on.  Ever since I picked up on that transmission this morning, I’ve been prepping the Phantom Express for launch.  Lt. Enzeru and her team volunteered to come help, because they’re the only ones with any sort of extravehicular equipment.
“There is no telling what is up there.  With all due respect to the Lieutenant and her forces, we are more experienced in dealing with Drakka than she is.  We should go with them.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“I thought you’d say that.  We can use the Sun Empress to follow them up there.  The Phantom Express wasn’t really built for fighting, but it’s got more than enough cargo room.  However, I’ve been meaning to test the Sun Empress’ transatmospheric capability.”
“Good.  Then we will go in that.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“Not alone you’re not.  Kanesada and I are going too.  We’ve got the firepower.”  Sakura answered.
“I was not doubting your abilities Miss Sakura.  Besides, it is your ship.”
“Our ship.  I’m definitely going too.  Kinjiro’ll need all the help he can get.  Besides, I’m the only one who knows how to fly the thing.”  Ayame answered.
“Ayame, almost all of those weirdoes that showed up came from video games or anime.  I know my stuff as much as the next fangirl, but our knowledge isn’t as encyclopedic as some people.”  Sakura said.
“Sakura, I don’t think there’ll be any bishounen where we’re going.   The last thing we need is Suiren asking for autographs.”  Ayame answered.
“I wasn’t talking about Suiren.  I was talking about two people we know who know more about anime and video games respectively, to the point where they could act as guides, should one of those portals go to some parallel world.”
“Miss Sakura, if I am right about your wishes, I highly advise against it.  There is no place for them on a dangerous mission like this.”  Kazuhiko advised.
“So?  You were the one who taught ninja throwing arts to one of them.”  Sakura reminded him.
“Very well.  I suppose they could go.  However, we must keep them safe at all times.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“Deal.”  Sakura said.  “Kinjiro, could I borrow your phone?”

Out in Toyama Park, Ayako and Naru snoozed away in the sun, unawares of what was about to take away their boredom.

Ayako’s cell phone began to ring as Yuuji answered it.  He then nudged Ayako gently to wake her up and explained the situation.

*”Sakura?  What’s up?  You want us to what?  AWESOME!”  Ayako exclaimed, waking up Naru.
“What’s awesome?”  Naru asked.
“Well, Kinjiro’s going up into space, and they want us to come along!”  Ayako explained.

Naru’s eyes lit up.  “THAT IS AWESOME!!!”
“They’re going to send a car over to pick us up.  Isn’t this cool?  We’re going into space!”  Ayako exclaimed.

The two girls began to jump up and down in excitement before calming down to realize Yuuji was not as excited as they were.

“Relax Yuuji.  It won’t be long.  We’ll be back before dinner, I’m sure.”  Ayako replied.
“Yeah, don’t worry about us.  Ayako’s friends are going to be with us the whole time.”  Naru said.

Just then the car pulled up.

“That must be us.  Don’t worry Yuuji, we’ll see you soon.”  Naru said.  “Bye honey.”

The two embraced and locked their lips again for what must have been the second time that day, as Ayako waited impatiently, ready to call for the Jaws of Life to tear them apart.  Eventually Naru was through with her goodbye kiss and the two headed off.

In about a half-hour, the two girls pulled up at Osaki, and were taken down several floors to where Kinjiro and the others were waiting.

“What took you so long?”  Sakura asked.
“We had to get a few things.”  Ayako replied.
“We’re only going to be gone a few hours.”  Sakura answered.
“Well, we’re not going up to space in our bathing suits.”  Naru answered who had pulled on a tank top and cargo pants.  “Besides, I came prepared anyhow.”  Naru said, holding up her shoulder bag.
“Okay, well, we’re almost ready.”  Sakura answered.  “They’re finishing off the pre-flight checks on the ship and attaching Himeihoshi to the roof.”

Sakura led the two girls over to the launch area, where the Valkyrie was being lowered by crane to the top of the Sun Empress.  Sakura had already loaded Kanesada inside along with a portable version of her CAS system;  Just in case.

Bolts came up to lock Himeihoshi onto the roof, as Kinjiro came over.

“Glad you could make it.  I’m Kinjiro Osaki.”  He said, introducing himself to Naru.
“Nice to meet you.  Is there any reason this thing looks like a Mod Starbridge from Escape Velocity Nova?”  Naru asked.
“I wanted it to be stylish?”  Kinjiro answered, looking for an answer to a question he was unsure of the answer on.
“Good enough.”  Naru said.  “So let’s get this show on the road!”
“Hang on.  I’m sure you’re all eager to take off, but I’m waiting for the green light.”
“Sun Empress and Phantom Express are ready for launch sir.”  A technician answered.
“Looks like we’re ready for liftoff.”  Kinjiro said.

He led the girls towards the gangplank on the Sun Empress, which the girls quickly hurried up and followed Kinjiro towards the bow into the cockpit, where Ayame was already strapped in.

“Shotgun!”  Naru called, but Kinjiro pulled ahead of her and sat down next to Ayame.”
“Aw man!”  Naru said disappointedly.
“I’m sorry Naru, but I called it hours ago.”
“No fair!”  Naru shot back.
“We’ve never done this before, and if anything goes wrong, I need to be up front to fix it.  If everything’s okay, then once we’re in orbit, I’ll let you get up front, all right?”  Kinjiro answered.
“Deal.”  Naru replied, as she took a seat next to Ayako.  Sakura took a seat behind Kinjiro, as the final two passengers, er, four passengers, came into the cockpit as well.  Naru was surprised when Kazuhiko came inside and sat down behind her, and Toshihiko sat down behind Ayako.  Saitou sat up on the seat between the two as Arataka perched himself on top of the seat as Saitou was strapped in.
“Everybody ready?”  Ayame asked as she turned back to the rest of the passengers.
“All set.”  Sakura answered.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”  Toshihiko answered nervously.
“Oh relax, it’ll be fine.”  Ayame answered with a smile.
“Famous last words.”  Toshihiko replied.
“I stand ready.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“Can’t wait!”  Ayako answered.
“Let’s light this candle!”  Naru shouted enthusiastically.
“Himeihoshi?”
“Wraith awaiting launch orders.”  He said in a Wraith pilot voice.  “Er, ready.  All systems go.”
“All right.  Here we go.”  Ayame said.

The Sun Empress’ landing pontoons were retracted into the body of the aircraft as it was held up by clips, which were pushed up ninety degrees by a hydraulic piston.  The skyward pointing aircraft was then moved over across the floor to a catapult track, as a pair of bay doors opened above it.  The Phantom Express, equipped with a pair of rocket boosters, was already in an upright position, as its doors opened up.  Klaxons began to sound in the launch bay as personnel were instructed to evacuate the immediate area and get to safety.

“This is Lt. Miharu Enzeru of the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces’ Special Mecha Division.   We are go for launch.  Takeoff in ten, nine, eight, seven, six…engaging engines… five, four, three, two, one…”

The boosters roared to life and smoke billowed out into the launch bay as special fans took to sucking it up as the ship lifted off from its launch pad and out past the tower, heading skyward.

*”Phantom Express, you have cleared the tower.  Looking good.”
*”Acknowledged.  Proceeding to rendezvous point.”
*”Sun Empress, you are clear for launch.”
*”Copy that.”  Ayame said.  “Here we go.”

Pushing the throttle forward, the ionic thrusters roared to life as the catapult shot them straight upward and let go above ground as the ship climbed with almost no effort at all.

“AWESOME!   I LOVE THIS THING!!!!!”  Ayame shouted as the ship continued to climb.
“We’re all gonna die!”  Toshihiko shouted.
“In the pipe, five by five.  Hang on, we’re in for some chop.”  Ayame answered as the ship shook violently and rocketed skyward.
“Oh thank you for sharing Corporal Ferro.”  Toshihiko answered.

The sky turned from blue to dark blue to black and starry within a matter of minutes as the Sun Empress passed through the atmosphere and entered space.

“Ionic Drive’s working fine.  We’re doing great Ayame.”  Kinjiro reported.
“Good.  Now let’s go find that satellite.”  She replied, reducing the thrust and taking off towards the blip on their radar screen.

Minutes later the Sun Empress rendezvoused with the Phantom Express, which had taken position alongside the satellite and was about to send out someone to investigate.

“This is Phantom Express. Preparing for E.V.A.”  Lt. Enzeru reported.

A hatch opened up on the other vessel, which resembled a Valkyrie from Escape Velocity Nova, as what looked like a large metal bird stepped out and started flying towards the satellite.  A few other power armors also floated out and clamped themselves to the top and stub wings of the aircraft.

*”Sergeant Major Okita reporting in.  Ikusa in position.”
*”Ulti-Max units in possession ma’am.”  Another soldier reported.
*”Okay Itazura, go see what’s wrong with that satellite.”  Lt. Enzeru ordered.

The birdlike power armor began doing loops around the satellite, moonwalking, and all sorts of other crazy stunts, which amused the group inside the Sun Empress, but was beginning to get on the Lieutenant’s nerves.

“NOW ITAZURA!!!!”  Lt. Enzeru shouted.
“Oh sure, spoil my fun.”  Itazura answered.

The Super Tengu power armor flew over and began to inspect the situation.

*Everything looks to be in order Mr. Osaki.  Except for this thing here.”
*”What thing?”  Kinjiro asked.
*”This thing right here!”  Itazura answered, pulling the object off the satellite and holding it up for the entire world to see.  “Uh oh…”

The strange object began to display a countdown on it, starting at 5 minutes and began to work its way down.

“I think it’s gonna BLOW!”  Itazura exclaimed.
*”All units, get back inside on the double!  We’ll have to try and check another satellite!”

The timer ticked down thirty seconds as Itazura flew back inside and the other power armor pulled themselves in as well.  Lt. Enzeru fired up the thrusters and began to pull away from the satellite.

“Ayame, get me closer to that thing.  I might be able to disarm it.”  Kinjiro answered.
“Are you NUTS?”  Ayame asked.  “Need I remind you that there are several people on this ship that are merely your guests?  And I don’t think you remembered to pack a EVA suit!”

Sakura got up from her seat and headed towards the way out of the cockpit.

“Tell me what to do.  Ayame, get as close as you possibly can.”  Sakura answered.
“Good luck Miss Sakura.”  Kazuhiko answered.
“Nice knowing ya.”  Toshihiko answered.  Kazuhiko elbowed him.  “I mean, go Sakura!”

Ayame used the maneuvering verniers to pull the ship ever so close to the constantly ticking object, which had gone down about a minute and a half now.  Sakura summoned her armor and stepped down the gangplank and thrusted over to the object.  The counter read 3:30 and continued to drop slowly.

*”Well, it’s some sort of bomb I think.”  Kinjiro observed.
*”Thank you Captain Obvious.  Now how do we shut this thing off?”  Sakura asked.
*”Try opening the back cover if there is one.”  Kinjiro instructed.

Sakura flipped the thing over, and found nothing.

*”Damn.  Now what are we gonna do?  I say we take the not so delicate approach.”  Sakura said, reaching for one of her beam sabers.
*“No no! Not that!  There has to be another way!”  Kinjiro pleaded.
*”You’ve got two minutes.  Stop thinking and start talking, or I’m gonna chuck this thing as far from us as possible.”  Sakura answered.

Another minute passed, and Kinjiro discerned nothing except for the fact the device was alien.

“Okay smarty-pants, I’m tossing this piece of junk before we all go kaboom.”  Sakura said, attaching it to her Grapple Beam, reaching back, and whipping it away as it floated through space.  Sakura then used the beam to pull herself back inside and closed the hatch behind her, then headed up to the cockpit again.

“Okay, let’s take this thing out now.”  Sakura asked.

Ayame began to try and target the drifting object with the railguns as the counter on it reached thirty.  She fired, sending the shots drifting by.

Twenty.

“Ayame, where’d you learn to shoot?  You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.”  Sakura teased.
“Correction, I can shoot better than Himeihoshi.  At least it doesn’t take me fifty shots to actually hit something.”  Ayame replied.
*”Hey!  I resemble that remark!”  Himeihoshi protested through his commlink.

Fifteen.  Another few missed shots.

“Jeez Sakura, how hard did you throw this thing?”  Ayame asked as she tried to get a bead on it.

Ten.

“Hard enough.”  Sakura replied.

Five.  More missed shots.

“Um, hate to barge in, but maybe we should try and get out of here?  I really would like to live to see my next birthday.”  Naru asked.
“She’s right.  Let’s get out of here.”  Ayame said, prepping the engines to fire again.

Four.  Three.  Two.  The counter reached one as the engines roared to life again.

Except the thing did not explode.  Well, not in the way the group was expecting it to do.  It exploded into some sort of portal, which immediately began sucking the Sun Empress towards it.  Ayame gave the engines all she could, but they continued to go backwards.

“AYAME, for the love of Mom push harder!”  Sakura shouted.
“I AM!!!!  THE ENGINES ARE AT FULL POWER!”  Ayame said through almost gritted teeth as sweat began to bead from her forehead as she continued to try and push the engines farther, but to no avail.
“Ours are.  But not Himeihoshi’s. “  Sakura mentioned.
*”Himeihoshi, PUNCH IT!!!”  Ayame shouted.

The Valkyrie Metal Siren fired up his engines as well, dishing out maximum thrust.  Their rearward motion stopped for a moment, but continued to suck them in.  The ship drew closer and closer, as Ayame and Himeihoshi tried harder and harder to pull away, but to no avail.

“This isn’t working!”  Ayame shouted in frustration.
“We’re all gonna die!”  Toshihiko shouted.
“Have faith Toshihiko.  We will find a way.”
“Oh hell no.  Abandon spacecraft!  Guys in trenchcoats first!”  He attempted to run, but Ayako, Naru, and Kazuhiko grabbed him.

“Oh no.  If we’re getting sucked in, you’re coming with us!”  Naru shouted.
“Besides.  Sakura and Ayame are the only ones here that can actually survive out in space right now.”  Ayako answered.
“Ayame, the engines are going to overload soon.  We won’t be able to keep this up.”
*”Himeihoshi, are you SURE you’re giving it everything?”
*”YES!!!  I deactivated every last output limiter!  But it’s starting to hurt!  I feel like I’m passing a stone or something!
“Himeihoshi, you technically can’t!”  Ayame shouted.
*”It’s the only analogy I could come up with!”  Himeihoshi shot back.

Just then, the Sun Empress’ engines cut out from overload, pulling them backwards as if they were going down a drain.  Himeihoshi pushed with all his might, but his engines cut out too, as they were dragged backwards into the hole.

“MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!”  Sakura and Ayame both shouted.
“Sakura!  Ayame!”  Amaterasu exclaimed as she felt their life force.  She began to focus her power as the ship disappeared and the portal closed behind them.

Everyone screamed as if they were on an involuntary roller coaster ride as the ship buckled and shook as Ayame attempted to turn the thing around again so they would have a better view of where they were going, which only caused more violent shaking.  Everyone hung on for dear life as the ship was hurtled through a long well lit tunnel, as every alarm on the ship began to blare, adding to the confusion.  At last, a hole of black seemed to appear at the end of the tunnel, as the ship was whipped out, tumbling randomly, as Ayame tried desperately to get the ship to stop before everyone threw up.  After a few seconds of firing the verniers, she succeeded; and that was when the whole ship went black before the emergency lights came on.  The Sun Empress began to drift towards a space station, unawares of what was about to happen to them.