Disclaimer: ...I don't own anything from Koei.

Intro Note: Several of these chapters I might go to a different person's point of view. Sorry for any inconveniences.

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Chapter 8

Friends from Two Sides

"RUSH OUT, WANING RYU! ENEMIES HAVE FORMED BLOCKADES AGAINST YOUR KINGDOM! SCATTER THERE BODIES INTO THE WIND! NOW, RUSH!" The wind-like tornado swirled around Robert's body which propelled Ryan back to a wall. Robert's great sword which was held in front of him glowed a bright white and then suddenly...turned into the Waning Ryu. The 2 apple-sized holes in the blade continued to whistle.

"Hah! You're using your Weapon Fusion right now? Shouldn't you be using it...when you're almost going to die?" Ryan slashed both his wristblades together, creating a spark.

Robert narrowed his eyes towards Ryan. "Does it matter? If the end result of this battle marks me as the winner then by all means I'll use my Fusion." Robert stepped forward and slashed his great sword downwards, shooting out a wind-like sonic boom from his sword. Ryan sidestepped the sonic boom and dashed towards Robert. Robert quickly recovered from his attack and swung in a horizontal slash but Ryan blocked by putting up his 2 wristblades.

"You're pretty quick Robert, amigo...but I'm quicker." Ryan did a sweep kick to Robert's legs, which he tripped and then Ryan did a heel stomp and sent Robert into the ground 5 feet under. Once the dust and dirt settled onto the ground a big hole exposed itself. But Robert's body wasn't there.

"Damn, how'd you...?!" Before Ryan could finish his babbling Robert slammed the butt of his great sword to the back of Ryan's head, sending him reeling forward and crashing out of the castle walls which got him all the way into the castle ponds. Robert went through the hole that he created and propped Waning Ryu onto his shoulders.

The castle pond was very beautiful. The pond was a big, rectangular area that had crystal, clear water. Ducks and swans were floating and preening themselves. If you looked through the water, several goldfishes and catfishes would come up. There were several stone statues of very famous kings and nobles that ruled Ueda Castle. Bushes and trees were scattered about with peaches and oranges hanging from the branches. Birds were peeping in the trees, poking their heads out to see what the commotion was about.

"Too bad this nice place is gonna get destroyed..." muttered Robert as he noticed Ryan standing up from the pond. Ryan's clothes and hair were all wet and a goldfish was spattering about on top of his head.

"You'll pay for that," Ryan whispered and he suddenly sprinted right in front of Robert. "Hehe, remember, I'm FASTER than you!" Ryan slashed his wristblades left and right creating slash marks and dents on Robert's armor. All Robert could do was block and parry with his great sword.

"What's wrong old man? Aren't yah gonna attack me? Or am I too...GAH!!" Robert grabbed Ryan's right arm that was about to strike him and swung him into the castle again. Ryan crashed through 2 walls and then layed on a broken down bed.

"Were you about to say fast? Pff, I don't think so," Robert smirked and slammed Waning Ryu into the ground, sending a piercing shockwave that whistled towards Ryan. In seconds a huge explosion erupted from Ryan's position, and debris and dust spread everywhere. Windows and columns that supported the castle broke off and artifacts of the past were smashed. When the dust cleared, Ryan was standing with a large, bloody gash on his right leg.

"Gasp... You...missed." Ryan smirked with blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth. Clenching his fist, Ryan ran towards Robert and jumped with his arms and legs spread out. By pushing his body's weight around, he then created himself as a human frisbee, his wristblades as the weapon of death.

Robert ran forward and swung Waning Ryu vertically which hit Ryan's wristblade and the result made Ryan fall to the ground. Ryan then did a recovery back flip and quickly charged right towards Robert with his wristblades out. Robert answered and they both were in a weapon lock, looking at each other's eyes with demonic venom.

"I don't understand Ryan, why would you join up with Orochi? What made you think this way?" Robert put some force into Waning Ryu, making Ryan go back a little.

"You would never understand Robert. You'll never understand."

Robert closed his eyes while in the weapon lock. "What...happened?"

Ryan closed his eyes and did a back flip 7 feet away from Robert. "You wanna know what happened, huh? Fine amigo, I'll tell yah."

FLASHBACK

Location: The borders between U.S and Mexico.

Time: 5:50 A.M

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Ryan and 5 Mexican friends of his were grabbing onto the wall, looking over it to make sure the patrols wouldn't see them. Ryan jumped over the wall and when he didn't see anyone in the distance he beckoned his friends to come over. When they jumped over the wall and made sure that no patrols would come through this road, they ran. One of his friends spoke up to break up the silence.

"Hey Ryan, amigo! Where are we going?" Ryan closed his eyes, thinking up some locations they could go to.

"I dunno mihos, we just gotta get away from this place."

Before they even got 20 feet away from the wall a patrol car came by. The 6 Mexicans stopped where they were and watched as the people inside the patrol car came out. 3 cops came out with nightsticks in their hands and pistols holstered in their holder. The Mexicans ran but the cops got to them quickly and started to beat them. 4 of the Mexicans knocked out 1 of the cops, but then the 2 other cops started to hit rough and whacked their nightsticks on the Mexican's heads.

Ryan sprinted towards one of the cops and did a sweep kick to him and then did a karate chop to his stomach. The cop grunted but recovered from the hit quickly and he then grabbed Ryan and threw him to the car. Ryan hit his back to the patrol car and sat there, blood oozing from his backside. The 2 cops started to advance towards him until 2 of his Mexican friends jumped on top of them and started wrestling.

Suddenly, a black Lexus Toyota screeched by the patrol car and out came a man with a business suit on. He looked like he was in his 40's, and he had black hair that spiked up and a black mustache and beard. His eyes were dark brown and were staring at the cops. He had on a black business suit and his shoes were polished to perfection, until some bits of mud jumped on the shoes and made it dirty.

"Excuse me officers, but I don't think you should be brawling with these Mexicans. They can do some damage you know?" The man spoke softly but authoratively and held an air of importance. The cops looked up from their pinned down victims and they dashed towards the man to punch him. Ryan went wide-eyed.

The man ducked low from one of the cop's punches and jabbed him in the stomach followed up by an uppercut to the cop's jaws. The other cop came behind the man, but he sidestepped a little to the left from the other cop's punch and the man drew out a pistol.

"Officer, I'm telling you. Don't fight these Mexicans or else..." The man cocked the pistol and aimed right at the cop's forehead. "I'm gonna have to shoot you." The man looked up and stared right at the cop's eyes.

Ryan took this oppurtunity to run away and dashed away from the brawling scene. He wasn't far until the cop that Ryan karate chopped grabbed his leg and pulled him down. Ryan yelped and smashed into the ground and groped the ground to get away, but the cop was too quick and pinned Ryan to the ground. "You ain't gettin away from me yah little beana!"

In a flash the cop was off Ryan's back. When Ryan got up, the man stomped his shoes into the cop's face and did a heel stomp on his groin, which sent the cop into the world of dreamland. "You okay? You look like you took a beating."

Ryan was amazed by this man. He could speak Spanish! "Yes...I'm okay. Thank you for helping me and my friends. I don't know how I can repay you." The man held his hands out and smiled. "Hehe, the name's Robert McKinley. I may be able to help you out more than just beating up some cops." Ryan looked at Robert's held out hand, grinned, and shook.

Over the months Robert, Ryan, and Ryan's friends hung out at a big apartment like complex somewhere near the border. They would usually party and do some other stuff. Robert would usually go to work so Ryan and his friends would try cleaning the house...to no avail. Whenever Robert came back, he would see his apartment in a huge mess and listen to Ryan and his friends saying sorry many times, but Robert always said, "It's okay. I guess I'll clean the house myself, hehe." Everything was going well with this family-like activity, when IT happened.

7 MONTHS LATER

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Ryan was in the bathroom reading a newspaper when he felt a windy sensation under his butt. When he got up and looked down there was a purple portal that swirled with the water and wastes in the toilet. Ryan went wide-eyed and before he could yell out for anyone to help him he got sucked into the vortex. Once Ryan got out of the portal and landed he saw himself in a dark, dank desert of sand. Standing before him...was a cloaked figure with a scythe.

"Hello human and welcome...to my world. You now have a choice. To either die here and now or work for me and live." The figure held his hands out, awaiting Ryan's answer. Ryan looked around his surroundings, confused by this strange event.

"Who...are you?"

The cloaked figure chuckled. The voice sounded like 2 people in one body.

"I am someone who can help you. I can save you from this land. It's your choice though."

Ryan looked down to the ground and raised his head up to look at the cloaked figure. "I...accept."

FLASHBACK ENDED

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"And that's what happened. I was usually ordered to just assasinate some opposing Coalition officers or trading partners that failed to meet Orochi's expectations." Ryan clenched his fist, his body shaking. "And I guess...this is one of those assasinations." Robert went wide-eyed. "Anyways, Robert, what happened to you? Not long ago, you were always saying, "Respect Orochi's wishes" or "Just follow Orochi's orders. And now all of a sudden, you're saying he's bad? Amigo, you're one weird Euro."

Robert had his head down staring at the ground. "I've changed, Ryan. You can too! Come on, be that cool Mexican you were just like at the apartment! Remember when we..."

"SHUT UP!" Robert stopped. Ryan was staring at Robert madly, his wristblade shaking. "The past is the past. You can't gain anything from that. Not now, not EVER! I thought you would stay by Orochi's side, but I guessed wrong. I HATE YOU OLD MAN!" Ryan dashed towards Robert and slashed both his arms in a cross-like fashion, slashing a cross mark on Robert's chest plate. Robert had a sad expression on his face.

"So...you wouldn't change, even if I asked you, huh? I'm sorry...Ryan..." Robert grabbed Ryan's neck and threw him to the side. Ryan yelped and crashed into a wall. Robert grabbed his great sword and swung horizontally and then vertically, creating a plus -shaped sonic boom. "Waning Ryu's Wind Technique, Waning Cross!" The plus-shaped sonic boom crashed through a wall, missing Ryan by 4 feet. Suddenly it veered in course and went right into Ryan's location. A huge explosion erupted again, but this time, dust, dirt and blood spread everywhere.

Robert walked towards the gasping sound. When the dust cleared, the upper half of Ryan's body was on the ground, his lower body somewhere under the rocks and wooden debris that fell from the ceiling. Blood was spilling and gushing out from Ryan's huge wound and he was gasping for air.

"R-Robert...I"m sorry...that I had to...kill you...you were...like a father to me..." Ryan gazed up at Robert, his eyes were getting whiter and whiter. Robert kneeled besides Ryan and stabbed Waning Ryu into the ground. "Robert..." Robert looked at Ryan's face.

"Yeah?"

Ryan took out from his pockets a watch with the Mexican flag as the background. "Hehe...remem...ber this? You gave this to me...on my 20th birthday." Robert went wide-eyed.

"You...still have that? Wow..." Ryan chuckled.

"Haha...hehe...I had this in...my boxers before I got warped. I needed...this to see how long I would stay in the bathroom." Robert laughed. "Hey...Robert?"

"Yeah?"

Ryan pointed at a room 5 feet away from them. "Can you...get me a drink of water? The blood...is already...soaking the ground...even though it's supposed to..." Robert nodded and got up.

Robert took his Waning Ryu which reverted to its original form and walked into a kitchen. There were stoves and tables that were layed about. In the middle of the kitchen was a glass of water. Robert picked it up and walked back to Ryan's body. Ryan's face was still and had a smile on. Robert drank the water and poured some on Ryan's face.

"You did act like a young son to me...just like your other friends." Robert laughed...and then cried besides the corpse of his Mexican son.

MY POINT OF VIEW

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"Hey, let me go Darrel!" I was on Darrel's shoulder and every step he took on the stairs his shoulders would jab my stomach. And it hurt like crazy!

"Hey bro, dun worry bout Uncle Robert! He can take care of 'imself!" Darrel said while running 3 steps at a time. Not before long we came upon an empty room that looked...Japanese-like.

The floor was carpeted with...wooly carpets with designs of pandas and dolphins. But my heart stopped when I saw something...or somebody in the middle of the room. It was a teenage girl, probably the age of 17-18. She had long blonde hair and had bangs covering her forehead and her blue eyes. She was white-skinned, but not pale white, and she had a small nose on her face. She was wearing a tight white shirt with a brown tank top. And she had a white skirt which flowed with the air that was coming in from the open windows. She had on white leggings and white high heels. Her accessories were noticeably a red arrow-like earrings. And on her right arm...was a brown crossbow.

"My master told me that SOMEONE would come here...My master was never wrong." Her voice was like a soft, shy kinda voice. Very cute...

Darrel let me go and I stood up dusting off stuff from my shirt. "Why're you 'ere hottie?" Darrel arched his eyebrows drawing out his slingshot and loading up a rock. The girl glanced at Darrel's weapon and closed her eyes.

"My name's Elizabeth Wezel, NOT hottie..." She opened her eyes and...it suddenly turned bright blue. She jumped up into the air and aimed her crossbow right at Darrel. "Fire!" And with that a blue arrow streaked out of the crossbow towards Darrel. Darrel fired the rock and it got pierced by the arrow. The arrow went through Darrel's stomach, blood spurting from the wound.

"Darrel! You okay?!" I got to his side but he pushed me away from him.

"Hey Will, brutha, dun act like a pussy. Just go through dat door ova dere!" Darrel pointed towards a door behind Elizabeth. "I'll try ta distract her!" He loaded up another rock and fired it off but Elizabeth did a roundhouse kick which broke the rock into pieces. She followed her roundhouse kick with another shot of an arrow, but Darrel side rolled to dodge the shot. The arrow pierced the ground but then disappeared. "JUST GO BRUTHA!!"

I nodded and dashed through the door. Darrel stared at Elizabeth's body and then back at her face. "You're a hottie, no questions asked." Darrel took a rock from his pouch around his waist and loaded it to his slingshot. "Too bad I gotta...ruin the face." Darrel shot the rock and dashed towards her. Elizabeth grabbed the rock and threw it back at Darrel. Darrel didn't expect the counter attack, so he got hit in the head from his own rock. "Aw, shit!" Darrel grabbed his forehead and went out of balance. Elizabeth took this as an opening and did a sweep kick.

Surprisingly Darrel grabbed her leg and stepped on her thighs to stop her from getting up. "Gotcha." Darrel then picked Elizabeth up from the waist and threw her into a wall which dust and debris started to erupt from the impact. When the dust and debris disappeared, Elizabeth wasn't there. Darrel felt a little tiny poke on the back of his head and he did a forward roll and dodged an arrow attack.

"Wow...you're pretty good black boy." Elizabeth placed her finger on her lip and winked.

"Hehe, yah think so?" Darrel grinned menacingly.

Elizabeth went to her emotionless expression. "No." With that she jumped up and shot several more blue arrows at Darrel.

"How is she...able ta shoot arrows from her crossbow when she has no arrows?" Darrel pondered this while dodging her arrow attacks.

"Don't move" Darrel froze because the voice was right behind him and he was in a crouching position which meant he couldn't really maneuver fast enough to dodge with his size.

"Aw, damn."

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A/N: Well, that was sad on Robert's and Ryan's battle. And sorry about the flashback, but I thought it was necessary to add that part. When the Mexicans were talking, they were speaking in Spanish. I just translated what they said, lol. But now it's Darrel and the new officer, Elizabeth's, battle. Who do you think will win? Will they find Lie Tsu's wife in time? Only time will tell. Please Read and Review! It'll encourage me to write more! :D