Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Xardion and Crysta, blah, blah, blah.

Chap. 18

Tenchi leaped at Xardion with astonishing speed. Now that he was empowered by the Lighthawk Wings, he would truly be a force to reckon with. Xardion charged as well and the blades clashed. Xardion grimaced slightly from the shock of the strike. 'Incredible. This is his true power alright.' Xardion deflected the next blow and dove to attack, but the slash was blocked when one of the Lighthawk Wings came into view. Tenchi saw this and swung upward, almost hitting Xardion's chin. Xardion flipped back and re-examined Tenchi, who was holding the Lighthawk Sword steadily in his hands.

'He has been trained well. And with those wings, he possesses great offense and defense abilities.'

Tenchi suddenly lunged and as he did, his sword transformed into pure energy. Xardion had to duck the blade of energy before it rendered him in two. Turning around, he saw Tenchi turn as well and attack again. Xardion then summoned his own energy and channeled it into his blade so that he would be able to block it decently.

"You are a warrior."

Suddenly, Xardion shoved him back slightly and swept his leg out, tripping Tenchi. Tenchi hit back on the ground and Xardion struck down. The Wing shielded him again, but Xardion swiftly punched around the wing as Tenchi arose, flooring him. Tenchi shook his head and got back up. Blade in energy mode again, Tenchi lashed his arm out, releasing the blade into the air. Xardion jumped over it and toward Tenchi. Tenchi raised his arm to block, but Xardion merely hit the shield and jumped off of it. Flipping through the air, Xardion lunged again and again Tenchi blocked it. But Xardion managed to sweep him again.

"Your powers are impressive, but they have limits. Fighting at this extreme close range must be difficult." He jumped back and crossed his swords, "This will make it better, but tell me. How much can those wings take?"

Energy shimmered on the blade and began to glow immensely. Tenchi looked on as the sword began to gather great energy.

"Cosmic Shockbeam Saber!"

Xardion pointed the blade and a massive wave of energy flashed out straight at Tenchi. Tenchi raised all three of his wings and held firm. The blast engulfed him completely and demolished the surrounding area. But when it cleared, Tenchi still remained. However, he seemed to be panting hard from the strain of holding up his wings under such a force.

"So they do have limits." He crossed his swords again, "Let's push them now."

Tenchi cringed. 'I'm not sure I can do that again.'

***********

RRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The were-ape watched on as the man in its grip began to change and grow. Liu Kang's skin began to harden and become scaly and his head sprouted out horns. The ape continued to try and hold him, but had to let go as Liu grew further. His body stretched out long and his hand and feet grew into claws. The growing continued and Liu was now nearly the size of the ape. Its monstrous form snaked before the ape as it snarled menacingly. The ape roared and the dragon let out its own.

RRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SNNNNNNNAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The were-ape leaped at the dragon suddenly and the dragon shimmered into the air and away for him. The dragon soared through the air briefly before turning back around to face its primal opponent. The dragon roared again and let loose a stream of fire. The ape jumped back away and let out its own stream into the air. The two beasts continued to let out streams of fire at each other, but not hitting anything except the terrain and tearing it up. The dragon finally got annoyed and flew down and around the ape's back. The ape grabbed hold of the dragon as it encircled it in a crushing embrace. The two monsters grabbed hold of each other, growling and snarling as they destroyed the landscape.

'Con...trol...'

The dragon suddenly stopped growling, although it didn't loosen it's grip.

'Goku...We...must...gain...control...now...'

The were-ape's roars began to quiet down as well and both their eyes flashed.

'That's...it...Must...stay...focused...'

The two beast then began glowing; the ape in a golden aura and the dragon in an orange flame. The combined energy continued to grow in brightness until they both suddenly exploded in a blast of energy.

KAABBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*************

Xardion's crossed sword grew brightly once again as Tenchi prepared to defend against it. Tenchi closed his eyes as he prepared to brace himself.

"Cosmic Shockbeam..."

"Flare Up Now!!!!!"

Xardion suddenly stopped summoning energy and leapt back as Ryo came down on him with a furious firewave. The resulting power torched the ground immensely. But Xardion had avoided the fire. Ryo stood before Tenchi, with his own swords crossed before him. Xardion looked at Ryo questioningly.

"How long will you last if you doubt yourself, Ryo of Wildfire?

Ryo was somewhat confused by this, but Xardion didn't wait as he swooped in to attack. In the last split second, Whiteblaze charged in and knocked Xardion to the side. But the dark-armored warrior simply slid on the floor as Whiteblaze took his stand in front of Ryo.

"Whiteblaze?"

The tiger continued growling and a blast of fire engulfed him. The roars increased as the shape within the fire shifted form. The tiger then emerged from the flame, but he was completely different. The tiger was now shaded in black, bearing a silvery-white armor and a pair of swords on each side. Ryo looked at the transformation and nodded.

"You're right. I need to fight without doubt. To arms!!!!!!"

***********

"You guys feel that?" Sage suddenly called out. The others turned their attention to him as his body began glowing in a light green. "Our bodies are glowing."

Rowen looked at him and then noticed his own body glowing. "It's the armors. Their power is being called."

"It must be Ryo." Cye commented. "I think he's calling for the Inferno."

Kento jumped up, "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's give it to him."

The four remaining Ronin Warrior aligned themselves and released their powers in one great blast.

"To arms!!!"

The energies of the armors shot off into the sky...

************

...and fell down on Ryo with a massive explosion. Ryo closed his eyes to the blinding light, only to have them reopen with fire within them. With the summoning, Ryo tore off the Wildfire armor as the new white armor came and encircled him, causing his sub-armor to change into a dark blue. White arm gauntlets formed on his arms and erupted into a rush of fire, encasing his whole body in the armor. The final leg piece formed and the fire cleared behind him, revealing the new Ryo. Ryo/Hariel of the Inferno.

"I've been looking forward to this."

Ryo didn't reply as he removed the Fervor Soulswords from off of Whiteblaze and held them forward. Xardion met it with his own blades.

"Come."

Both fighters dashed off to the side in an all out run. Their gazes locked onto each other, both leapt into the air in attack.

"Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!"

Their blades clashed with terrific force, shaking the earth slightly. They both landed on the ground and swung again. Again, the clash caused a powerful shockwave and the two struggled to push each other back. Ryo back off and swung toward the mid-section. Xardion hopped back to avoid and slashed vertically. Ryo parried the attack and attacked the same way, only going upward. Xardion shot his head back to avoid the slash and twirled around for another blow. Ryo raised his blades to block once again and Xardion jumped back.

"As powerful as I hoped, Wildfire. Or should I say, Inferno?"

Ryo crossed his blades in ready stance and Xardion did the same. Ryo then lunged to attack, but the protrusions on Xardion's back suddenly lifted up and he was gone in a flash. Surprised, Ryo halted the attack and looked around for his opponent. But he was no where to be seen.

"Up here!"

Ryo's head suddenly jerked up to see Xardion diving in on him with both swords raised high over his head. But before he could strike, Ryo jumped out of the way as the crystal blades shattered the ground. Looking up, he saw Ryo connecting his blades and summoning his power.

"Armor of the Inferno! Flare Up Now!!!!!"

The blast of fire energy fell on Xardion, only this was more powerful. Xardion crossed his blades to defend and the wave smashed right into him, destroying the ground as well. Ryo landed and peered into the smoke to find Xardion fairly injured and damaged, but still standing.

"You should have gone all out, Ryo. You might have finished me." He crosses his blades again. "Shift!"

Xardion glowed in a bluish light once again, only this one was deeper in color than before. Ryo looked at him strangely before charging in to attack. But Xardion didn't even move as the white-armored warrior came and slashed down. The sword came close when suddenly Xardion's own blades shot up and deflected the strike. Ryo blinked in surprise. 'How did he move that fast?' Ryo continued his assault by reversing his grip on the blades and swinging them upward. But Xardion tilted his head to the side, causing the swords to miss him totally. Going on the offensive, Xardion stepped forward with a kick, knocking Ryo off balance and allowing Xardion to lash out with a vertical cut. The slice smashed into the helmet and caused Ryo to reel to the side. Ryo quickly recovered, but not without a minor headache. But he did notice that the slash also damaged the armor a bit.

'He was able to damage Inferno? I have to be careful.'

As Ryo charged again to attack, Blade, Guyver and Cloud recovered enough to see the resulting battle between them.

"We have to help Ryo." Cloud exclaimed.

"How?" Guyver questioned. "Even our combined powers aren't enough to stop him."

Blade looked out onto the battle as he spoke, "Maybe. Remember the mind test and the powers you used there?"

"But I'm not sure I even know how I did it." Guyver responded.

"Perhaps...it's the same as me."

"What do you mean?"

Blade turned to him, "In my world, I discovered a new power in my tekka powers. It increases my powers immensely, but it uses a lot of power. I remember when you changed into that super-Guyver armor of yours."

Guyver nodded, "I see. And with our powers being similar, you figure that I may be able to change the same way."

"Yes." But Blade worriedly thought, 'I just hope you don't suffer the same as well.'

"So what do I do?"

Blade explained, "Just concentrate on the image of your form and transform again. That should work."

"What about me?" Cloud asked.

Blade turned to him, "I don't know. I don't know how your hidden powers work so I don't think I can help you."

Cloud looked down briefly before shrugging, "Alright. I'll just have to figure it out as I go along. In the meantime, I'll provide you two with some cover." He lifted his sword and began to go out onto the battlefield. "Good luck, you two."

**********

Meanwhile, Ryo was getting battered. The former defensive Xardion now went on the offense, razing Ryo's armor with his blade attacks and flooring the young Ronin. Ryo flipped back and Xardion came in to attack again when Blackblaze lunged at him.

"Sorry tiger, but this is between me and him."

Xardion let out a quick energy field which hurled the armored cat away. Ryo looked on in shock.

"Whiteblaze!"

Xardion looked at him briefly before crossing his swords and jumping into the air. As he did, immense energies filled the blades and began to glow brightly.

"Now Ryo. Cosmic Shockbeam Saber!!!!!"

Xardion slashed out with both his blades and a massive blue light flashed out and came right at him. Ryo was shocked and was unable to defend himself from the power. But before it could hit, a form jumped in the way.

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Cloud had jumped into the path and it engulfed him. But it wasn't enough to stop it from hitting Ryo and he was caught in it as well.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The energy tore up the ground and faded in mere crackles of energy. On the ground, Ryo was hurt from the attack, but not as badly as Cloud, whose entire body was singed and scorched from the beam. And he wasn't moving.

"Cloud? Cloud!"

**********

Nearby, Jin had revived just to see what had happened to his comrades and was about to charge in attack when another form caught his attention.

"X."

Jin moved over to the damaged Maverick Hunter, seeing his body still convulsing with energy from his absorption. X looked over at the black-winged youth and stretched out his hand.

"Please....help..."

Jin knelt down by him, "What do you want me to do?"

X struggled, "The....control.....circuit....in my.....helmet.....Activate....it......"

Jin nodded and he tapped the red crystal on X's head. It opened and a small object protruded out. At the same time, a hatch open in X's back and shot out. It unfolded in the air and converted into a small black mini-jet. It hovered and then landed next to X.

"Now what?"

X didn't reply as his body shifted and changed while the jet began its own modifications...

**********

Back on the battlefield, Ryo struggled back to his feet with the help of Blackblaze. He was pretty messed up, but still wanted to fight.

"Superb. Do you still think you can defeat me though?"

Ryo growled, "I must. You'll pay for what you've done to Cloud and the others."

Xardion looked down at Cloud briefly, "That was unfortunate, but necessary." Looking back up, "And if you'll think you can make me pay with only your strength alone, then you're up for a really tall order."

"Then let's see how you fare against me."

Xardion blinked briefly before turning to the sound of the new voice. It was Ryu. Or was it? The fighter that was coming to him had darker skin and was wearing a black gi and headband. His eyes were a crimson red and his face was etched in anger.

"Ryu?" Xardion questioned, then remarked. "No. Satsui No Hado Ryu."

The dark manifestation of Ryu snarled, "So now that you know, now you know what will happen to you." His fist clenched. "You will die."

Xardion sheathed his blades and stood in fighting stance, "We'll see. But you are not the Ryu I wish to battle."

Ryu shouted, "Zetsu!" ("Death!")

Xardion simply responded in his native tongue, "Ikuse."