Ronin Warriors
The Rise and fall of the Dark Ronins
A decade has passed since Ryo and the others defeated Tulpa, their adventure in New York, and the self journey to obtain new armors and contain the wild nature of Hariel's White Armor of Inferno. Since then, the ronin's went back to their respected tribes and each became leader. Mia took over her grandfather's position as director of the museum, while Yuli went to college and learned mythological history. Life was peaceful on earth, which sometimes bode badly for our ronin heroes.
Deeper than hell, beyond the ninth level. Unknown to the living, and non high ranking demons and angels, lies a prison for those hell couldn't contain my conventional means. There exists armor said to rival the mystic armors of the ronin. Orin of the DarkFire, Helios of Rage, Mai of the Typhoon, Danki of the Quake, and Doreen of the Atmos. Each of them chained up seperately from their armors, while the armors are bound by magic talismans, only to be removed by the wielders themselves. A shadowing creature stood in the middle of the plateau, overlooking the sight before it. "The warriors of light hath bested the might of Tulpa, and obtained new armor to conquer the white one. Doth you want revenge for your right of the white?" The chains rattled slightly in a violent nature. "Then I shall released thee. Take your vengence against those who hath wronged thee." The being slammed the bottom of the staff hard on the ground. Releasing one of the limbs of Orin. Orin looked up, and his eyes glowed an ominous dark purple. The being slammed the staff again, and Orin was free from his shackles. Orin wasted absolutely no time at all, he ripped the talismans off his DarkFire armor, and magically wore it. He then flew out of his imrisonment.
Meanwhile...
Yuli scored an internship at Mia's museum. He waited outside her office, and pulled from his bag, a book about dark mythology. As the door opened, a woman with long blonde hair stormed off, spouting how she was framed for one of the ancient artifacts being stolen during her watch. "You were the last one to see that staff of anubis, and your name is the last one on the check in list." The blonde turned halfway around, and gave Mia the finger, and then stormed off. Mia turned towards Yuli, and was very happy to see him. "Hey Yuli, been forever." Yuli got up, and hugged Mia.
"Indeed it has been. I nearly forgot that you worked here. Do you keep in touch with the guys?" Mia's expression went sour.
"Not since they went back home. And I've tried everything I can think of to tell them something ominous." Yuli was getting worried himself. Mia saw the page from the book Yuli was reading, and got a shock of her life. "Yuli, where did you get that book?" Yuli looked at it for a second, then lifted it up to his right upper arm.
"Found it at my school's library. When I went to check it out, the librarian didn't have this book on file, and just let me have it." Mia's eyes went wider, grabbed Yuli's hand, and pulled him violently into her office. "This hurts Mia. Please let go." Mia slammed the door shut, locked it, and put up one of the talismans she was given by Anubis many years ago.
"Listen here, Yuli." Mia took a deep breath before speaking again. "That book, has every evil creature from the lost age." Yuli was confused. "There is at least a couple hundred years of missing history, and that book holds clues to what it was." Yuli looked at the book again, and saw a strange glow in the letters on the cover. Mia didn't noticed it.
"Do you think that reading anything out loud would cause any harm to the world?" Yuli resisted with every fiber of his being to read aloud.
"Probably, but I'm glad you resisted anyways." Yuli slowly closed the book, but kept seeing the letters glow in the pages. As he looked at Mia, she didn't noticed the glow. its as if Yuli was the catalyst or somehow chosen to read it.
Ryo and White Blaze walked down one of the streets of Tokyo, admiring the buildings. The people around stopped and watched as a very large white tiger was with a man and not getting mauled to death. "This takes me back, what about you White Blaze?" White Blaze growled with happiness. "Nothing's changed in the past decade. Didn't Mia said she worked at a museum?" White Blaze just kept on walking with Ryo, but stopped suddenly and readied himself in attack stance. "What is it White Blaze?" An ominous laughter came around the corner of the nearest building. Ryo was shocked to see the person, wearing leather pants, coat and boots, with a red t-shirt that just says 'DIE' in white letters. "Who are you?" Ryo said to the man in black.
"Someone who is your exact opposite, and more powerful than you...Ryo of the Wildfire." Ryo activated his under armor gear, and readied himself for hand to hand combat. "Please..." Orin scuffed at him. "You cannot win against Orin of the DarkFire" He smiled again, and activated his under armor. Orin just laughed. "ARMOR OF DARKFIRE! ACTIVATE!" Black fire surrounded Orin. A few seconds later, Orin was standing in front of Ryo in full armor mode. Ryo was struck with fear throughout his body. Orin just laughed, while his eyes glowed dark purple. Ryo couldn't believe that the armor in front of him, looked like his Wildfire armor when he fought Tulpa, and the dark warlords. Orin started chuckling lightly at first, then went full blown laughter, as he pulled out the twin swords from his back sheath. Ryo didn't have any choice left.
"Armor...of...Wildfire!" Ryo was then wearing his new Wildfire armor, and his twin swords in his hands.
Deep in the forrest, Sage, Rowan, Sai and Kento was resting at a camp site couple miles away from the main road. The birds was chirping, the river was running. A serene place from the big city and any technology. "Can't believe its been 10 years since we were together." Kento said as he gathered firewood for the night.
"Not since that armor maker made us go on a self journey to obtain our new armors." Sage said, while he finished putting up his hammock. Silence fell on the four, not wanting to know what to say next. Minutes passed, and that silence was broken by an evil laughter. The four warriors turned in the direction of Danki entering the clearing, his eyes glowed a very deep, dark orange.
"Poor little whelps. Camping in such a desolate land." Danki lifted his oddly shaped staff, and slammed the one side on the ground. The land surrounding Danki, quickly decayed. The trees losing leaves, rotting from the inside. The water turning to the blackest sludge. Calling the area barren, was putting it lightly. Danki laughed maniacally. Kento was getting mad.
"Armor...of...Hardrock!" Kento's new armor, shot out from the ground, and engulfed him. "Iron Rock Crusher!" Kento wasted no time using his signature attack. Giant boulders was pulled from beneath Kento's feet, and was launched at Danki. Danki smiled, seperated his staff in three, still connected by an iron chain, and swung the ends very quickly.
"This is how you do...Iron Rock Crusher!" Even larger boulders was pulled from the ground, and had a skull face on the side that faced Kento. Danki launched them, and crushed Kento's attack, then Kento himself. Kento was knocked back, and nearly unconsious. Sai and Sage quickly went to Kento, to help him on his feet. A split second they looked away and back, Danki disappeared. All three of them was trembling in fear.
Ryo and Orin was battling it out in the streets, Ryo trying to minimalize any damage to the buildings and objects. Orin put his swords together by the ends, then spin them to his left side back. Orin smiled a bit. "Dark Flareup now!" Orin launched his attack, Ryo quickly countered by using his. Both attacks connected, then exploded causing a shockwave that destroyed various street lights, trees and windows. Orin kept on laughing maniacally. Ryo slumped down a bit, and saw Orin vanish into nothing.
"What...the..." Ryo couldn't finish, as his armor self retracted, and Ryo hitting the ground hard. White Blaze tried to lick Ryo back to conscious, with no luck whatsoever. Minutes passed, Rowan showed up out of no where, and picked up Ryo and guestured White Blaze to follow him.
Yuli was still in Mia's office, and had the book opened again, with more pages glowing this time. He couldn't put it down, no matter how many times Mia tried to pry it away from him. She was getting very worried. She got one of the security guards to help her get Yuli to his senses, or at least get the book away from him. Even with the help of the security guard, Yuli couldn't and wouldn't let go of that book. Mia dismissed the guard, and turned on the tv. Every channel was airing the footage of Ryo in his armor, fighting what looked like Ryo's first armor, but very much darker. She turned her head to Yuli again, and saw his eyes glowed a dark golden color. Mia was severely getting worried, and hoping that Ryo wasn't severely injured, or worse.
Sage and Sai slowly walked to the highway, carrying Kento in their arms. They couldn't believe that Kento would've been defeated that easily, and by his very own attack. "Sai, let's rest here for a bit. Seems that guy isn't following us." Sage and Sai gently sat Kento down, and rotated their arms a bit.
"That armor, looked like Kento's, yet it wasn't. What is going on?" Sai looked perplexed, while looking at Sage.
"Maybe this is another test for him, or heaven forbids it, all of us." Sage sat on the ground, head in his hands. "This can't be happening. I mean, after getting new armors, evil is supposed to slumber for at least a couple hundred years." Sai then turned his head away.
"Try telling whoever that guy was, that." Another maniacal laughter eminated from nothing.
"So stupid you two are. Can't believe stupid men who calls themselves 'ronin', took down tulpa and can wield Hariel's White Armor of Inferno. You guys are nothing but jokes." Mai was in full armor mode, with a midnight blue tridant in her hands, had Helios stood a bit offset to her left. "What say you, Helios?" Helios was just silent. "Totally right there big guy." She had a smirk on her face, then held her tridant in both hands, pointing at the both of them. "Super...Wave...Destroyer!" Sai's facial expression went wide, and was too stunned to put his armor on. Sage was in the same boat.
Helios held his broadsword high in the air. "Thunder...Bolt...Smash!" Helios jumped high into the air, Mai fired her attack, which then combined into one. Sai and Sage took the attack, and was heavily knocked back along with Kento, passed the highway, and into the small village.
"Oh man, master isn't going to like this." She turned to Helios. "This is all your fault! If you held back like I did, we wouldn't be in this mess." Helios just stood there silently, then disappeared into nothing. Mai got mad, and followed suit.
Rowan, carrying Ryo with White Blaze following close by, finally reached the Museum Mia was at. "Here you are Ryo buddy. Maybe Mia will help us figure out who that guy was." Before he knew it, an arrow of dark purple light hit the spot a mere millimeter from his right foot.
"So...Rowan of the Strata, playing flunkie to some fire idiot. What has this world come too?" Rowan put Ryo on White Blaze's back, and pointed him inside.
"Who are you, and why are you wearing my armor?" Doreen knocked another arrow and pointed at Rowan's chest. "Guess I have no choice then." As he threw his civilian clothes off him, he redied himself. "Armor...of...Strata!" His new armor surrounded him, and put itself on. He then held his bow in his left hand, and pulled the wire back, creating an arrow of light being knocked itself in place. "Guess we're in what the American's call, a Mexican standoff." Doreen smirked, and fired her arrow at Rowan. At the same time, Rowan shot his. As both of their arrows collided, they cancelled each other out. The people witnessing this display, had their phones out, capturing everything.
"I have what I need. Don't you dare die on me by someone else's hand, only I can kill you." Doreen dissolved into nothing, Rowan retracted his armor, and quickly headed inside. Once inside, the people were slowly backing away from White Blaze. Rowan headed to the information desk, and asked where's Mia's office is.
"S...Second floor, r...room 219." The guy was scared out of his mind when he told Rowan what he needed to hear. Rowan thanked the man, called White Blaze, and headed upstairs.
Mia was sitting on her couch, trying to figure out what Ryo was doing in the streets with the guy he was facing. She jumped when she heard a knock on her office door. Mia got up, and opened it, got a shock of her life to see Rowan standing before her, with Ryo draped over White Blaze unconscious. "Rowan!?" What happened?" She invited them in. Rowan was drawn to Yuli and the book he was engrossed in.
"Ryo and myself had a little tussle with our dark counterparts. Unfortunately, Ryo was beaten badly, and mine was testing me out with just two shots." Rowan picked up Ryo, and gently placed him on the couch. "Can't believe how much Yuli grew." Rowan was shocked to see the cover of the book Yuli was reading.
"What is it Rowan?" Mia said as shesat on the floor by Ryo, and brushed his hair back from his face."
"I thought I recognize that book, but I was mistaken." Rowan glanced randomly at Yuli and the book, after turning around to face Mia.
"As the dark ronin warriors tested their mettel against their light counterparts, they retreated back to their imprisonment, planning their next attack." Mia and Rowan turned their attention to Yuli, and listened to his dead voice reading aloud. "The Wildfire armor wielder then awoken from his knocked out state, and said..."
"Where am I? And what is going on here?" Rowan quickly stood next to Yuli. and looked over his shoulder. Rowan had a confused look, the pages was blank. "Hey Mia, Rowan, been awhile. Wow Yuli, you've grown." Mia and Rowan kept looking at Yuli.
"Ryo, you probably already know this, but we have another problem." Ryo put a hand on his head and tried to get up. Mia pushed him back down without looking at him. "How did you get this strong, Mia?" Mia finally looked at Ryo angrily.
"A LOT has happened in the past TEN YEARS since all five of you left me and Yuli without as much as a goodbye!" Mia got up and towered of Ryo. "What do you have to say for yourself, Ryo." Rowan was glad that he wasn't included in the scolding.
"I'm sorry, Mia. I didn't mean to have walked out so suddenly." Ryo turned his attention to Yuli. "You ok, Yuli?" Yuli still hadn't responded to outside noises. From Rowan's perpective, Yuli was looking at blank pages, and making up the story as he went along.
The Dark Ronin Warriors stood in an abandoned, and dilapitated shrine. Mai kicked one of the stone laterns over, crushing it into various pieces. "Why run from those pathetic idiots? We have more enough power to destroy them!" Helios just kept leaning on one of the railings, eyes still closed. Doreen, and Danki stood in a random spots, while Orin sat on the steps with his hands finger locked and placed under his nose.
"Its all part of that shadow guy's plan." Orin opened his eyes, and looked at Mai. "Our power does indeed rival that of our light counterparts." He smirked a bit. "Don't fret so much, we will destroy them, and we will win." Everyone but Orin and Helios smiled.
" What about...it?" Doreen turned half her body, and looked at Orin.
"It...should be ok, as long as no one finds it. Helios, go find it, and bring it to me." Helios said nothing, he dissolved into nothing again. "Mai and myself will draw out our opposites, and give them another beating. The rest of you, go find him and squeeze any information out of him. You can use any means necessary." Danki and Doreen felt estatic to hear the last part, and disolved back to their imprisonment. Mai and Orin just walked out of the dilapitated shrine, walked a couple blocks downhill, and stole a car.
Sage woke up next to a still passed out Kento. He looked around, and Sai was nowhere to be seen. Sage slowly got to his feet, grabbing his left shoulder in pain, and walked out. Upon exiting, the village he saw, was small and not a single piece of technology in sight. "I was pretty shocked too, the first time I saw this place." Sage look to his right, and saw Sai walking with an elderly woman wrapped around his right arm. "Thank you for showing me around, ma'am." The elderly woman looked up at him, and puckered her lips. Sage was trying his best not to laugh, Sai dredded leaning in and quickly kissed her. The elderly lady released herself from Sai, and headed into the house across from the one Sage and Kento was in.
"She really likes you." Sage smiled a bit, but winced at the pain when he tried to laugh.
"Ha ha. I've been going over the events from when those armored guys tried to kill us. And it doesn't make any sense that they would just hit and run." Sage was thinking the same thing.
"Strategy wise, hit and run, prevents the enemy from having any rest whatsoever. But how long were we out?" Sai shrugged, then looked towards the direction they came flying from. "Can't believe Kento is still out cold." Sage was gently pushed out of the way by Kento himself.
"Came to just before you did, and was doing some heavy thinking." He looked around, and saw hardly no villagers out and about. Sai sighed and motioned them back inside. Once they did, Sai closed the door.
"Here's what I could figure out." Sai took a moment to compose himself. "It couldn't be the dark warlords, they volunteered to keep the otherside closed. And from the attacks we've seen, they look like our old armors from when we took on Tulpa. But the colors and weapons were off." Sage realized it from seeing Helios used the initial position of the Thunder Bold Cut move. But when Helios switched the look of the execution, it didn't sit well.
"But that dark golden one used MY move against me. But why did he turn the land into a wasteland?" Sai didn't have an answer. Sage spoke up.
"Maybe there's a hidden effect to the armors we still don't know about. I know that when we seperated after Tulpa scattered us, we went to the locations of where our armors was first forged at." Sai and Kento couldn't argue with that theory Sage said.
"If what you said is true, then what do we call the other armors that look like our old ones?" All three of them pondered a while, and Kento was the only one who spoke up.
"What about, Dark Armors?" Sai and Sage looked at each other.
"But there's got to be someone who is wielding those armors. Can't really call them Dark Armors now, can we?" Kento looked down and continue his thinking.
"Let's table the name for now. Our current goal is to find Ryo and Rowan and hope that they haven't met up with our counterparts." Kento quickly rose his head, and looked at both of them.
"I just thought of something... If you guys met your opposite, including myself, wouldn't the both of them also have met their dark counterparts?" Sai and Sage looked at each other with a sudden shock. They then turned to Kento with the same expression, that caused Kento to get it. They rushed out, and ran towards the direction of the highway.
Back at the museum...
Rowan looked out the window, pondering about what happened to Ryo, and the events leading up to looking over Yuli's shoulder, and reading a blank book. "Hey Mia, Have you ever tried to track us down during our ten year absence?" Mia looked away from the tv long enough to answer Rowans question.
"I have whenever I can. Couldn't find any of you without clues to help me. Up until a few years ago, I gave up and just let another Tulpa try and surface that would call upon your services." Rowan turned his head, and just looked at the book Yuli was 'reading'. "I've been meaning to ask, what happened to all of you?" Ryo and Rowan looked at each other, and then back at Mia.
"After Africa, we came back to Japan and take one last test by the armor maker. We were basically fighting our inner selves. From what she told us, it was to control Hariel's White Armor of Inferno better." Mia looked confused.
"Control?"
"Ryo meant, since the Inferno armor was highly destructive, and usually have a mind of its own, the armor maker crafted new armors for us to give it guidence." Rowan walked around the desk, and leaned on it.
"I thought Ryo can wield the White Armor of Inferno?"
"That's what I thought so too. But visions flooded our minds of our old armors fighting in different eras, against the Inferno Armor. The black Inferno in Africa proved that no amount of understanding it, gave me better control. Kinda glad you didn't go with us, Mia." Mia got a bit depressed, but finally knowing the truth, she felt relief washed over her. "We went back to our tribes after aquiring our new armors, and let go of our old ones. The elder of mine, put up magical talismans on each piece, sealing it up."
"So did mine. Did you happen to see a second, or possible third armor display area?" Ryo snapped his look at Rowan.
"There was definitely a second one in mine. The tag in front of it said Wildfire of Darkness." Rowan leaned his head down.
"The second display in mine, said Armor of Atmos. Like its mocking our armors by saying 'we're better than you', or something close to." Mia had remembered something she clicked on a couple years ago from her grandfather's notes that was downloaded on her personal computer. She went to her favorite painting on the right side of her desk, took it off the wall, and opened the safe up. She took out her laptop, and turned on the power. Which shocked her that it still works, long after she unplugged it. She clicked on the file with the letters D.A. and opened it. Pictures of the exact armors Ryo and the others wore, but the colors were completely off. "Did you remember something, Mia?"
"I thought Ryo's armor looked familiar on tv. I saw it on one of the hidden files a couple years ago left by my grandpa." She then showed Ryo and Rowan the picture of Ryo's dark counterpart. She then scrolled down to show the two of them the others. Mia stopped when she got to Rowan's counterpart.
"I met my counterpart just outside the museum. Our arrows collided, then she dissolved into nothing." Ryo was shocked to hear it.
"Not surprising. These armors are said to be very evil, and legends said that they were sealed up not even heaven and hell would find them." Ryo and Rowan's complexion went pale. They couldn't believe it, and part of them knew that it was completely true.
"How did they manage to escape?" Ryo trembled.
"Apparently, there's an item that is the start of releasing them from their prison. The catch is, either the Dark Wielders must be defeated before the next lunar eclipse or the item is destroyed by the one who used it." Confusion hit all three of them. Mia more so, as her grandfather didn't mention what the item was used to release the Dark Wielders. Ryo and Rowan was thinking about what the item is, and nothing came to mind.
"We better find Sai and the others. Maybe they have been attacked as well." Ryo nodded his head.
"Mia, can i borrow your car?" Mia looked at Ryo.
"Not...a...single...scratch. Got it?" She was very firm telling Ryo to be careful with it.
"Will do my best. Rowan, stay here and keep Mia and Yuli safe." Rowan nodded. Mia hesitantly gave Ryo the keys. Him and White Blaze was out of the building, and out of sight within mere minutes.
Helios appeared in the stairway of the library. He entered the first floor, and went into the science fiction section. He slowly looked carefully at each shelf, starting from the top. Helios double checked to make sure that he didn't miss anything. Shelf after shelf, he couldn't find the item. Helios then went section by section, not to leave no stone unturned. When the shelves failed him, he looked under tables, chairs. He pushed his way behind the counter, in the returns bin, and everywhere else. When the library failed him, he forced one of the librarians to check the computer. As the librarian checked the records, she cowardly turned her head and told him that no such item was ever on record. Helios placed his hand around her neck, and in one motion, snapped it. Helios then left.
As that was going on, Sai and the others finally reahed the highway. They slowly walked away from the campsite. A couple hours and down the road later, a red jeep with a white top skidded to a halt in front of them. Sai and the others didn't know what to do, that is, until Ryo exited the driver side. "You guys look like hell." The three of them did a mock laughter at him.
"You would be too, if you had to face your counterpart, and lost." Kento said, as he was helped into the back seat by Sai and Sage.
"I was attacked. Rowan too." The three of them was shocked. "Mine was out in the streets, Rowan's was in front of Mia's museum." Sage went into thinking mode, Sai looked out the passenger window, Kento fell back asleep while Ryo drove back to the city.
Orin and Mai appeared from out of nowhere, looked around where they were at, and smiled. Mai put on her dark armor, and used her special attack on the closest building, utterly destroying it. Orin just smiled, letting Mai have her fun. "Run peons! Run at your new masters!" As the people were running for their lives, a couple of police officers ran around the corner, and pointed their guns at Orin and Mai.
"Put down that spear, and put your hands behind your heads!" Mai looked at them, and pointed her tridant at the officers. "Last warning! Put down the spear, and put your hands behind your heads!" Orin called out his armor's name. In a dark flash, he was in dark ronin mode.
"Super...Typhoon...Destroyer!" A large ball of water formed in front of the forks. Mai forced thrusted her tridant, executing her attack. A large vortex of water shot out, taking the two officers and the building full of people behind them. Panic in the streets went full 'Godzilla' mode. Orin pulled out his twin swords. He connected them by the hilts, spun them behind his head.
"DarkFlareup...slash!" Orin launched his attack in the opposite direction from Mai's, obiterating the remaining buildings, and the people who were still inside them.
Every news stations flocked via helicopters, and reported what was going on. Rowan and Mia watched the broadcast on the tv. Rowan was pacing from door to window, knowing that if he leaves, Mia and Yuli aren't safe. "We'll be fine, Rowan. Go stop them." Rowan had a hand on the door knob, but he didn't turn it. "Why aren't you going to stop them?"
"Something about this doesn't feel right."
"As the Strata wielder hesitated to leave, a shadowy figure knocked on the door." Mia and Rowan looked at each other questionably, that is, until there was a knock at Mia's office door. Rowan slowly opened the door. As it turns out, Yuli's little monotone outburst was dead on.
"Rowan? Holy crap its been ten years, and you haven't aged since you got new armors." The figure walked in after Rowan stepped off to the side. He then put his hood down revealing himself as...Yuli? "Kinda freaky seeing myself there, while I'm standing...ish, here." Rowan and Mia was still confused.
"How are you...?" Mia asked while still looking at Shadow Yuli with a shocked expression.
"That book, apparently has a spell attatched to it. It seperated myself from...myself. Wow is this going to get confusing real quick. How about we call the 'me' sitting there, a shell." Rowan and Mia just nodded, and went back to looking at Shadow Yuli. "So anyways, the book I'm holding, seperated me from my shell. I had absolutely no control of myself. Found myself in this...place, thought it was hell, but at the same time wasn't. There was five shackled areas, and place holdings for armors. Next thing I knew, I was in front of Mia's office." Rowan and Mia understood Yuli's story.
"Do you know how we could stop them?" Shadow Yuli paced the room a bit, thinking about the question.
"Aside from the usual beating them up, nothing that comes to mind." All three of them was stumped.
"If the book had a spell attatched to it, maybe it imprinted everything to the reader's mind." Mia spoke up as to think it was a great idea.
"Sadly, I wish that was true. But the book is blank, and..." A sudden realization hit Shadow Yuli. He rushed to himself, looked over his shoulder, and saw the words as clear as day. "Of course, why didn't I think of it before." Shadow Yuli tried to pry the book from his shell, which slid out of his shell's hands easily. Shadow Yuli tried flipping the pages. Which sped up the events that was 'written'. Ryo and the rest of the ronin warriors suddenly appeared in Mia's office. which put them in a dazed and confused state.
"What happened? We were in Mia's car a second ago, and now we're standing in her office." Rowan and Mia looked at Shadow Yuli, and saw his facial expression.
"Ok, so flipping through the pages, sped up the story. But I'm going to make this quick for everyone here." Everyone but Shell Yuli had their attention fixated on him. "First, good to see everyone again, been forever, missed everyone, and so forth. Second, to defeat your dark counterparts, you have to imitate their attack and use it against them. That leaves 'me', to re-seal them back to their cage. There is a second way to beat them, and that's not with White Armor." The ronins felt uncomfortable using dark artes against anyone, and kept on listening to Shadow Yuli. "Ok, so the other way is to merge your armors with theirs, Thus permenantly sealing both heaven and hell, and every mystic armor in existance, will lose their powers once and for all." Ryo and the others looked at each other, they decided with a nod, that the world would no longer need to rely on the Ronin Warriors in times of darkness.
"Well guys." Kento spoke up first. "I loved being the holder of the Hard Rock armor, but I feel that keeping these will be the downfall of us. I've lived far too long, and can't stay young forever." Sai and Sage nodded.
"Tulpa's finally defeated. The White Armor of Inferno is getting antsy to fight its dark counterpart, and you're right Kento." Ryo placed a hand on Kento's shoulder. "But I agree with you." He turned towards Rowan, and saw only a smile on his face.
"You do realize that by sealing both heaven and hell, there is a strong possibility that the universe would be destroyed! Why go through with that option?" Mia protested their decision fiercely.
"All things must come to an end, Mia. The Ronin Warriors are no longer needed." Rowan spoke up, and walked towards his comrades. "Besides, now we can live without the burden of when the next threat is." Mia was about to cry. Ryo got closer to her, and held her in his arms. Shadow Yuli knew their decision in sacrificing their armor for the greater good.
The Dark Wielders all stood in front of the museum in full armor. Completely baffled at why they stood there. "That stupid book is in there. And so is those pathetic idiots of the light." Mai said as she tapped her tridant's end on the ground.
"Someone flipped through the book, speeding up the story. Looks like we're going to be sealed up again." Doreen said as she pulled back the dark string, knocking the dark arrow in place.
"We will wait for those whelps to come out, then we'll have a full on brawl, causing mass destruction before our imrisonment again." Orin said as he held his twin swords in both hands. Helios waited paitently, while Danki was getting restless. Soon afterwards, the ronin exited the building, and each stood in front of their dark counterparts.
"Armor...of...Wildfire!"
"Armor...of...Halo!"
"Armor...of...Torrent!"
"Armor...of...HardRock!"
"Armor...of...Strata!" Each was engulfed in a flash of their respected color light. The Dark Wielders stood smiling, that they would get the fight of their lives. Albeit that they won't win in the end. Soon, Ryo and the others was standing there, in full armor mode. They hope that their plan on merging armors would work in the end.
Ryo drew his weapons, as did Sage and Rowan. Sai and Kento already had their weapons in their hands after putting their armors on. "RONIN WARRIORS!"
"DARK WIELDERS!" Both Ryo and Orin had a stare down, measuring each other up.
"ATTACK!" both of them said at the same time. Rowan and Doreen jumped towards opposite rooftops, firing arrows at each other. Cancelling each other out as their arrows kept hitting each other. Danki and Kento traded blows with their staves. Sai and Mai kept locking longpoles with every thrust. Sage and Helios kept doging each others' strike. Ryo and Orin just stood there, staring at each other. News copters and various reporters on the ground were reporting what was going on. It ended up becoming a world wide broadcast, translators around the world tried to keep up with what was going on.
Mia and Shadow Yuli looked out over the roof's edge, and saw the fights. Shell Yuli walked like an undead creature by Shadow Yuli, and just looked towards the horizon. Ryo took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and waited for Orin to make the first move. Orin pointed his right sword high in the air, filling the blade with DarkFire energy. He stabbed the ground between his legs with the left sword, also filling it with DarkFire energy. Ryo took a defensive stance. Orin fired the DarkFire ball, hitting Ryo's swords. Ryo concemtrated some power in his armor, to keep Orin's attack from exploding. Orin laughed, and fired multiple Darkfire balls at Ryo. As the Darkfire balls accumulated, Ryo was slowly being pushed back. He started yelling, and pushed back the now giant Darkfire ball back at Orin. Orin was a bit early in deflecting it back, and was hit head-on, knocking Orin down. Ryo stumbled his way forward, putting his twin swords together by the hilts. He did a half spin behind his back, stopped his walking, and lowered the output by half, if not more. Orin struggled to his feet, still a bit dazed, and saw Ryo at a visionary angle. Ryo fired his special attack, again hitting Orin dead on. Orin was knocked unconscious on the ground again. Ryo put his swords away, and knelt beside Orin. He placed his right hand on Orin's chest, and transfered his Wildfire armor onto Orin. A rush swept through Ryo, nearly leaving him drained to the point of passing out.
Orin suddenly woken, and started to cry out in pain. Orin flailed around, the first to be destroyed was his swords. he managed to get on his hands and knees, crying even louder in agonizing pain, and hitting the ground as hard as he could. Orin didn't see that cracks were forming in his own armor. Ryo slowly scooted his way backwards, hoping that the explosion from combining armors, would be dampened by the distance. Orin's armor was cracked from tip of the helmet, to the very bottom of the feet, and the cracks was flashing a bright blue almost white. The arms shattered into dust first. Pain then intensified throughout Orin's body. The feet and leg armor parts was the second to go. Orin's cries grew even louder. The chest and lower parts of the armor shattered next. Orin grabbed his helmet, and took it off very quickly, and still crying out in pain. Finally, the helmet and under armor shattered into dust. Orin passed out on the ground, still breathing. the outfit was an American biker wear. Ryo staggered to his feet, and slowly made his way to Orin, making sure he was still alive.
meanwhile...
Sage and Helios was blocking each others' attack, in both normal and anticipation. Helios didn't want to admit that Sage was this strong. In fact, their first encounter at the camp site proved to him, that Sage was weak. Helios jumped back a few ways, raised his sword high in the air. "Thunder...Bolt...Smash!" Helios charged his attack to the maximum. Sage first put himself in a defensive satance, but the way Helios held his attack, Sage decided to raise his sword high in the air.
"Thunder...Bolt...Cut!" Sage did the same thing Helios did, and let his attack charge up. Both of them had a stare off to see who would flinch first. At the exact same time, both of them launched their attack at the same time. Sage quickly put his sword in front of him, shielding himself for the expected shockwave of the colliding attacks. Helios lunged at Sage. As Sage expected, both attacks collided in between them, making a large enough explosion that destroyed most of the widows in a three block radius. Sage was pushed back a few feet, while Helios was thrown back to the side of the building where he was at. He hit the ground hard, unable to move. Sage took this opportunity to quickly get near Helios, and merge his armor with his. "You will be free from the curse of your armor. If things were diffent, I would've been glad to have called you friend." Helios was crying out in pain, like Orin was when Ryo did the same thing. Sage felt the same rush Ryo did, and leaned by a nearly destroyed sidewalk guard, and slid his way down to the ground. Helios' Armor of Rage was cracking faster than Orin's was. Helios tried to crawl towards Sage, but the insurmountable pain prevented him from moving a single inch. The cracks glowed a bright white, and in a single motion, the Armor of Rage disintegrated into dust. Helios layed motionless, yet still conscious, wearing a catholic robe. Sage looked at Helios, and a sudden fear of hurting a priest would look bad for him.
"Thank...you...Sage of Halo." Helios fought passing out. "You...are...forgiven...my son." He then closed his eyes, and went to sleep. Sage quickly crawled his way to Helios, checked his neck, and was relieved to feel a pulse.
At another location, and the same time...
Kento and Danki, they size each other up just down the block of where Ryo and Orin was fighting. Danki twirrled his staff like a helicopter, the air around both of them made their vision blurry enough to cause a bit of nausia. Kento wasn't affected by it, not like he used to back when he was a child, learning to use the Hard Rock armor for the first time. Kento stretched his staff, and spun it around like a nunchuck. Danki called out his attack, the "Earth...Quake...Force!" Kento raised an eyebrow, he remembered that the attack he first heard, was his own used against him. The earth around Danki, Shook violently and breaking into a spider web like fissure around him and spread out in all directions on the ground. Kento quickly put his staff together, and spun it above his head.
"Iron...Rock...Crusher!" Kento swung his staff forward, and large chunks of the earth floated above his head, then flew towards Danki. Danki took the attack head on, getting pushed back a few feet. Kento expected that the defense of Danki's armor was strong enough to withstand any attack, Kento's armor was forged the same way. Danki started to chuckle. Kento knew in order to beat Danki, is to get close and knock him out the old fasion way, and his staff was the way to do it. Kento wasted no time, and rushed at Danki. Danki just held his arms wide, hoping that Kento would get close enough for Danki to sucker punch him. Kento did a pole vault, and launched himself into the air, then did a downward thrust towards Danki.
Danki was too stunned to move, he wasn't expecting Kento to do an unexpected move. Danki seriously underestimated him. Kento hit Danki's head with full force, making him go down hard. As Kento landed on top of Danki, he concentrated his armor to fuse with Danki's. The armor of Quake, fractured faster than the last two armors, the cracks glowed a forrest green. The rush Kento got, was stronger than Ryo's and Sage's rush, which paralyzed Kento where he was. Unlike the others, Danki's armor exploded all around him, then turned to dust just at the height of the explosion. Danki layed under Kento, completely naked. Kento struggled to get his jacket off, and staggered to put it on the backside of Danki.
Sai and Mai stood several blocks over, near the river bank. Mai kept on laughing maniacally, while Sai just redied himself for any attack Mai had in store. Mai swung her tridant around, and rapidly thrusted at Sai. Sai either dodged, or redirected it. Mai jumped back, kept swinging her weapon like an acrobat would. She then jumped towards the water, and stood on top of it. She positioned her tridant forks just barely in the water, and gave Sai the most demented grin ever. "Typhoon...Destruction...Wave!" With one motion, Mai thrusted the tridant up. A whirlpool of water formed, and was sent fast at Sai. Sai's weapon oddly resonated with Mai's attack. Sai thrusted the back end of his longpole in the ground. Mai kept her demented stare, but changed once Sai's weapon absorbed Mai's attack, and was sent into the ground. Sai pulled his weapon out, and position himself to send his attack at her. Mai couldn't believe what happened, and what freaked her out more, was Sai's rush at her and was grabbed by his weapon's claw. Sai knew he didn't have much time before Mai would free herself, which gave him enough of an opportunity to use his longpole as a medium to merge his armor with Mai's. Sai concentrated hard enough to send his armor through his weapon, and into Mai. Sai fell into the river, while Mai was doubled over in excrutiating pain, flailing around. Cracks in her armor was slow pulsing a sea green. Sai managed to get onto the bank long to see Mai looking at him with an intent to kill on her face. She somehow managed to get close to him, and grabbed Sai by the neck. Mai tried to squeeze Sai's neck, but the pain she was feeling kept her from choking Sai. Mai's armor dissolved into dust, then passed out on top of Sai.
Sai looked at Mai, and noticed she was wearing a punk rock outfit, and passed out himself under her.
Rowan and Doreen was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, firing arrows at each other. On the random chance they landed on the same roof, they would use their bows to hit each other as hard as they could. Rowan jumped to the nearest rooftop, rapid firing arrows at Doreen. She blocked a few arrows, ended up taking an arrow to the right knee. Doreen fired an arrow, hitting Rowan in the left shoulder. Doreen hobbled her way to the edge of the roof, Rowan held his shoulder as he walked towards the edge on the building he was on. Doreen pointed her bow at Rowan, while he shakingly pointed his at her. They stared each other down again, and heard cries from the Dark Wielders that was close by. Doreen was getting angry, and fired an arrow at Rowan. Rowan dodged and fired his arrow, hitting Doreens head, rendering her in a dazed state. Rowan, as quickly as he could, went over to Doreen and merged his armor with hers.
As Doreen was screaming at the top of her lungs, Rowan leaned his head on the bad shoulder from where she hit him with, and covered his right ear with his right hand. As Doreen arched her back from the insurmountable pain, she tried to move her hands to physically take off her armor. With every seering pain that shot throughout her body, her arms went far wide as she possibly could go. When the cracks in her armor appeared, it was faintly glowing a gothic purple. Rowan did his best to scoot backwards, but trying to dampen her screams from that close, kept him in that spot. More cracks formed in her armor, her screams slowly dying. She was doing her best to not pass out from all that pain, but it was impossible to fight it. As she finally passed out, the massive cracks in her armor finally gave, and exploded into dust. Doreen layed unconscious, in a yellow sundress, white socks and shoes. Rowan kept his distance, in case she suckered punched him.
Back on the museum rooftop...
Mia was speechless as to see what was going on. She eventually turned towards Shell Yuli and Shadow Yuli. A shocked expression to see only one Yuli standing next to her. "Mia?... How did I get onto the roof?" Yuli was confused to be there. Mia turned Yuli's body towards her, and pinched his cheek.
"Are...you really Yuli?" Mia released herself. "Don't you remember anything from before you opened that book?" Yuli was seriously confused.
"What book? I came straight here after my classes, and next thing I know, I'm on the roof." Mia was stunned, and the first thought that went through her mind was 'must've been a secondary spell that would make the holder forget when the Dark Wielders was defeated. "Mia, you're scaring me. It has only been half an hour since I left my classes." Mia sulked her head a bit, then gave him the dire news. As she was telling him everything that had happened, Yuli couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't believe that he would do something like that, let alone be split in two.
"And that's the whole story. I know that it is a lot to take in, but it is the truth." Yuli got a bit depressed, then ran towards Ryo. Mia followed him, but she ended up walking, not to break her heels.
Orin finally woke up, and like Yuli, doesn't remember anything that happened from during his time as a Dark Wielder. He turned towards Ryo, and didn't remember him at all. "Last time I drink that heavily. Damn hangover." Orin stumbled to his feet, then looked around to find his motorcycle. "Better find a cab and head home." He looked around, and saw no cab in sight. Ryo just watched Orin leaving the area, and kept his mouth shut. Yuli ran out and slid to Ryo's side. They had ten years to do some catching up.
The rest of the Dark Wielders too came too from the loss of their armors. Helios shook his head a bit, and started helping people cleaning up the rubble and debris, and praying to god to help the people in times of need. The civilians couldn't believe that the one who was destroying everything, was now helping them. Sage wasn't shocked at all, and helped Helios and the people out. They eventually became friends from the cleanup, Sage asked Helios the last thing he remembered. "I was on a pilgrimage from our divine father, to help rid the world of evil. Next thing I know, I'm doing work that the divine father has bestowed upon me." Like Ryo, Sage kept quiet about Helios' time as a Dark Wielder.
Sai woke up to Mai sitting next to him, trying not to stare as well. "You're cute. Better looking than the guys that I hang around with." Sai noticed her blushing a bit, and smiled.
"Do you know what the date is? I forgot my phone." Sai tried to play it cool around her. Mai had a confusing look on her face.
"How can you carry a phone with you? Must be a very long extension line." Sai spasmed an eyebrow up.
"Don't you know what year it is?" Again Mai was confused.
"Isn't it 1985?" Sai was now shocked to hear the year. He slowly sat up, and held both her hands in his.
"Hate to tell you this, but it is 2015. Don't you remember anything?" Mai's complexion went pale, and felt like she wanted to faint. She ended up telling him that She won a trip to Japan from America, all expenses paid. And that was it. Sai caught her up with everything since her disappearance, to now. Her head went spinning, and fell onto Sai's chest. Sai let her stay where she was, and looked at the flow of the river.
Kento watched as Danki got up, and just walked away. Kento wanted to stop him, but something told him that doing so wouldn't be smart. Danki was getting agitated being in the city, he turned towards Kento, who eventually got up, and was walking towards him. "Rather be in the country?" Danki only nodded. "Don't like to speak, do you?" Danki nodded again. He didn't feel comfortable around other people, and being one with nature felt natural to him. "I'll take you to the train station, and go with you. Sounds good?" Danki trembled a bit, and hesitantly nodded. Kento wanted to ask him about what he remembered, but he knew that he wouldn't get much out of him.
Doreen woke up and saw Rowan close by, and with his eyes closed. She quietly got up, and tiptoed to the door. She got about halfway down when she heard the roof door slam shut, and footsteps running towards her. Doreen got scared, and ran towards ground level. She ran out the side door, and started fainting backwards. Rowan caught her in time, and gently sat her back down on the ground. "Thanks. Someone is chasing me, please..." She turned her head, and Rowan looked at her with concern. "Please...don't hurt me." She started to cower as she noticed Rowan's hand reaching for something behind him. She closed her eyes, and started to flail her arms, and shaking her head. Next thing that happened, was the sound of her inhailer being pressed partially onto her lips, and the sound of air getting sent into her mouth. She quickly inhaled it, held it in for a few seconds, and exhaled whatever was left. Her face went red in embarrassment.
"I woke up in time to see this on the ground where your body was laying at, and had to make sure to give it back." Doreen kept her gaze averted from him, and just silently thanked him. "Where were you heading to in such a hurry?" She mumbled her words, Rowan couldn't hear it. "Sorry for scaring you like that. I probably should've started off with an apology." Doreen was blushing, but this time, not from embarrassment. She quickly grabbed her inhaler, and held it very close to her chest. Her lips was pursing a bit, and was blushing a bit redder. Rowan got closer, and instead of being properly thanked, she spontaniously kissed him on the mouth. After a few seconds of kissing him, she pulled back, and buried her face in his chest. Rowan didn't know what to do after that, and just held her in his arms.
A few hours passed, dusk had settled and the museum closed...
Mia, Yuli and Ryo was in her office, wondering what to do next now that the Ronin Warriors are definately no longer needed. "What would you do now, Ryo?" Yuli asked while sorting through some paperwork.
"I've already traveled the world. Got to head back and tell my people what happened. After that, I don't know." Mia just handed Ryo an application. Ryo looked at it, and saw it was for a guards position there, already filled out. The only thing that was missing, was his name and signature. The three of them kept on talking about the future, Mia occasionally nudging Ryo's shoulder, trying to get him to figure out what she wanted from him.
Kento and Danki got off the bus, and Danki had a gleam in his eyes like he really belonged there. Danki grabbed Kento's hand, and shook it eagerly before taking off. Kento stood where he is, watched as Danki ran into the wilderness.
Sai took Mai on a walk in the city, letting her see the sights of what she missed in the last couple decades. Mai was a bit overwhelmed at first, but she was getting used to it.
Sage and Helios took a break from helping clean up the debris and rubble, and went to the closest church for Helios could stay for the night.
Doreen held Rowan's hand as they went to the movies, and stayed for a double feature.
A couple years passed since the final battle of the Ronin Warriors, Ryo not only worked at the museum as the head security guard, he ended up tying the knot with Mia. It was a small wedding, Helios officiated, while the rest of the Ronin warriors watched, as well as Yuli being the best man. Doreen and Rowan just stayed on boyfriend and girlfriend, with no sign of either one of them wanted to get married like Mia and Ryo did. Kento joined Danki, and lived in the wilderness. Occasionally heading into town to socialize with the other farmers. Sai and Mai took a trip to the US. She returned home to a family who thought she was dead, and a miracle that she stayed so young. Sai wrote to the others stating that he is staying with her. Sage, he decided to open an antique shoppe, right next to the church, and the people loved it. The world knew peace for the first time in a very long time. Do the Ronin Warriors missed it? They did, but they also knew that all things must eventually come to an end, and this was the biggest achievement they ever recieved.
THE END.