The Darkness Returns Once Again
By: Rowen of Strata aka. Strata-chan
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Please e-mail me at rowen_of_strata111@hotmail.com and if you get a chance, please visit my site as well at http://tenku_strata.homestead.com/Strata.html.
Part 4:
Everyone was relieved that they had reached Han a High so quickly because of Rowen's extremely hyper state. He nearly caused them to have an accident twice! Once the group toppled out of Mia's little jeep, Sai and Rowen were secretly escorted to the office while the others raced to get to class on time. Once Sai had seated himself on one of the cushioned seats in the waiting room, he noticed that Rowen was acting a little too hyper, even if he was on a sugar high. He was bouncing off of the walls, literally! What he started to do next was even worse.
"This is the song that doesn't end! Yes it goes on and on my friend! Some people started…"
"Rowen, please stop before I have to come over there and become EXTREMELY violent and beat you to a bloody pulp!" Sai threatened through his clenched teeth.
"Oh come on Sai! Live a little!"
"Rowen! I have a life, but I don't run amuck like a chicken with its head cut off!" Sai looked around the office and saw no one was present. "I think you shouldn't be wearing your sub-armor in school, Rowen. I mean, it would look pretty damn strange if you were leaping 20 ft. into the air like you are right now."
"But I don't…" As Rowen tried to make Sai back off, Sai rose from his seat and grabbed Rowen by the arm before he could jump out of the way. Sai realized that Rowen truly wasn't wearing his sub-armor because his hands touched warm flesh. As Sai felt Rowen's hand and wrist, he sensed an extreme evil emanating from him. He looked into his piercing icy eyes and it was like he knew Rowen was no longer in control. Sai pulled away as quickly as possible and backed into a wall just as the principal walked in.
"What's going on you two. I hope noth…" he trailed off as Rowen stared at him. The man's eyes glazed over and he stood in a trance-like state while Rowen finished his amnesia spell. He turned to Sai and spoke, but the voice that emerged was not human in origin. It was much too deep for any mortal to achieve.
"If you tell a soul about what took place in this room, I swear you will never live to see another day, and I always keep my promises, my friend." Sai tried to back further away from Rowen, but was unsuccessful due to the solid wall behind him. At that point, the principal walked silently out of the room in the direction of the gymnasium. His eyes were still glazed over.
"Rowen! What's happened to you?"
"The Rowen you know no longer exists. It is only I, Opanaroth, that dwells in this body now. You will pay for your insolence towards my power with your life." With that last statement, Opanaroth used his telekinetic ability to levitate Sai from the floor and threw him through the wall and into the main hallway.
"Damn that hurt." Sai said as he put on his subarmor. "I don't want to fight you, Rowen, but I don't have any other choice in the matter." Opanaroth walked out of the office and Sai noticed the ghostly violet glow that he was emitting.
"Too bad, isn't it. I'm surprised no one has emerged. I'd just love to play with my friends." Opanaroth asserted with a baneful grin. "Oh well, at least I have you to compete with, though it won't be much of a challenge for me. If you join me, I promise you great wealth and power."
"Just you wait Opanaroth! I'll free Rowen if it's the last thing I do!"
"As you wish, puny mortal." Opanaroth scoffed as he started to radiate that pallid violet light and sent an energy blast straight at Sai. As the Warrior of Trust tried to leap out of the way, Sai cried out in pain as he realized that his foot had partially caught the blast. Once he recovered, Sai decided it was time to take some action. He gathered enough strength and charged at Opanaroth and gave him a strong kick in the abdomen. Sai took this chance to turn and run towards where he knew the others would be.
'If I go get the others, I may have a chance at beating Opanaroth, but we might harm Rowen is the process. I know the actual Rowen is in there somewhere. Gods, I hope we won't have to destroy him. Also, I'm putting all of those innocent people in the gymnasium at risk as well by going there, including Kendy and Maurette. I wish I knew what to do!' Sai thought as he dashed down the hallway.
'Just keep fighting him!'
'Rowen?'
'Yeah it's me. Look, I'm trying to regain control but it's not as easy as it sounds. You must get the others and scuffle with him for a while, even though you may harm me. If you distract him enough, maybe he'll lose his guard and that'll be my chance to drive him out.'
'That sounds good Rowen, but how do I get the others without putting all of the people in the gym at risk?'
'We'll have to chance it. There's no other way…' Rowen's telepathic link was suddenly broken with an audible snap.
'Rowen? Rowen! Hey, are you okay?' No response. 'I hope you're right my friend because I'd hate to injure you for nothing.' Sai thought to himself as he dashed down the hall with Opanaroth right behind him and gaining ground. Meanwhile in the gym…
"Calm down everyone! The air conditioning system has gone haywire. That's what the disturbance is. There is nothing to fear! Anyway, I have called you here because I have wonderful news…" hollered the principal as the students were becoming more anxious. Meanwhile in the back row, the other Ronins and the two girls were trying to figure out how to get out of the gym.
"Man, we've got to get outta here." Kendy stated.
"I agree fully with you, Kendy, but how are we going to get past weirdo up there." Sage stated with his one pale blue eye trailing up to the podium. "This is obviously no air conditioning problem."
"Thank you Oh Wise One. Do you think it's the Dynasty?" Ryo asked.
"Nah. We destroyed Talpa for good, but we don't know about that entity that we encountered a while back." Sage winced at the memories when he made that statement. "It just disappeared without a trace."
"Reminding me, has anyone seen Sai and Rowen?" Kento asked.
"In fact, I haven't seen them at…." Before Sage could finish his sentence, something crashed through the wall behind them. It flew halfway across the gym and skidded the rest of the way across until it hit the podium.
"Sai!" Kento yelled worriedly as he ran towards the slumped figure. "Are you okay?"
"Yea," responded Sai as he painfully picked himself off of the floor. As the others just stared, Sai saw that Rowen had decided to make his presence known.
"How'd you like the taste of that, Torrent? Was I too rough on you? I'll try to lighten up a bit." Rowen stated sarcastically as he vaulted high into the air and landed near Sai.
"What are you doing Rowen? You're our friend, aren't you?" Kento asked as he walked closer to Opanaroth. As he came closer, Opanaroth gathered an energy blast and shot it at the advancing form. Sai saw this and pushed Kento out of the path of the sheet of lightning and took the blast himself. He was knocked unconscious and his body veered across the floor until it slammed against the wall.
"No Sai! You'll pay, Rowen, you'll pay for what you did to Sai!" Kento yelled as he transformed into his sub-armor.
"Rowen Hashiba. That pathetic fool no longer exists. It is only I, Opanaroth, who resides within this body," the demon stated as he stared at Kento with his hypnotizing violet eyes.
"No Kento! Don't look into his eyes! He'll mesmerize you like he did to Mr. Kiman!" Sai yelled while removing himself from the floor, but he was too late. Kento was already locked into Opanaroth's gaze. When Kento turned around, his eyes were glazed over and he looked as if he was in a trance.
"Poor little Hardrock. He's mine now. Are you acrimonious, Torrent? What are you going to do about it? Hmm? I can't hear you." Opanaroth stated with the last part in a singsong voice.
"We're coming Sai!" Ryo yelled as he and Sage joined the battle. "We told everyone to get out of here as fast as they could, including Kendy and Maurette, so we won't have to worry about them getting hurt."
"You think that's going to work?" Opanaroth stated as he slammed all of the doors shut using telekinesis. "They'll have to suffer along with the rest of you. Sic them, Hardrock." With that command, Kento bounded off in the direction of the now panicked crowd.
"No! Kendy and Maurette are in that crowd!" Ryo and Sage yelled.
"What! The children of the Maelstrom and Quasar are here? How is this possible when I exterminated them hundreds of years ago? They won't be for long. Hardrock! Fetch them for me." Opanaroth exclaimed.
"As you wish, master."
"What the hell are you talking about, Rowen, and why are you attacking Sai? Why is Kento working for you? Did I miss something here?" Ryo asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"And you're supposed to be the leader, Wildfire. You're more puzzled than Torrent over there." Opanaroth jeered as he pointed to Sai who was barely strong enough to stand on his own. As Sai saw this, he heard Kento's transformation cry followed by multiple screams.
'Oh no! I've got to save Kendy and Maurette, but how can I get past Opanaroth without getting clobbered again?'
'He's almost under my control, Sai. Just distract him a little longer for me and don't let him transform into the Strata armor. I can only hold him for a few moments at this point, but that will be enough time to save them from Kento. Transform into your armor!' With that, the connection ceased. Sai looked up and saw that Opanaroth was glowing a deep blue and his eyes were their normal color.
"Go Sai! Now! I can't hold him much longer!" Rowen stated through clenched teeth.
"If you say so. Armor of Torrent! Tao Shin!" As soon as the transformation sequence was completed, Sai sprinted towards the scene where Kento was.
"Rowen?" Sage asked. "Is that really you?"
"Not for long, though. I can't keep him under my control for very much longer." Rowen stated while his aura was starting to flicker from dark blue to the ghostly violet of Opanaroth. "When I'm back under Opanaroth's control, you have got to fight me. When he is weak enough, I'll be able to drive him out of my body.
"But…"
"Don't question my intentions Sage. Ahh!" Rowen screamed as he finally lost the hold he had over Opanaroth. Rowen's eyes were now that piercing violet once again and he snickered as he turned towards the two ronins.
"Now you will both die."
*****
On the other side of the gym, Sai was desperately trying to find Kendy and Maurette before Kento did, but he wasn't being too successful.
'Dammit Kento. Why didn't you listen to me when you had the chance? Now this whole situation has become way too complex.' Sai thought as he pushed his way through the panicked crowd. Two screams then erupted from the left of Sai's current position. Once he had reached his destination, Sai found that Maurette was now in Kento's grasp. Kendy was standing in the clearing as well, paralyzed with fear.
"Kento!" Sai demanded, the anger apparent in his voice. "Put her down before I am forced to harm you! Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with MY girlfriend and lives to tell about it!" Sai began to advance on Kento when he received no response. While walking, Sai saw Kento flinch and then completely disappear from sight, taking Maurette with him.
"No! Maurette!" Sai cried out in despair as he realized what occurred. He looked at the spot where Kendy had once been and discovered she was gone as well. 'Kento must have placed a paralysis spell upon Kendy so that he could transport both of them within one transition. How could I have been so dull-witted? How?' Even Ryo could have figured that one out.' Sai's tears landed upon the floor as he collapsed to his knees. 'I have to figure out a way to go between dimensions. To the place Rowen and I were before….oh my Gods! Rowen! I have to help him first. I remember us being bonded to each other by Opanaroth before, but since the bond was incomplete on my side, he cannot affect me with his evil. Unless, he transfers forms from Rowen to me directly, but that should be impossible. Oh well, here goes nothing.' Sai arose from the floor and dashed over to the scene of the battle, where the virtuous side seemed to be fighting a losing battle.
*****
Opanaroth had already taken down Sage with a few strokes of power, since they could counteract the power sent towards them and create a new blast twice as strong as the original. Ryo had managed to discover this before firing his special attack towards his opponent and had somehow succeeded in avoiding all assaults made by Opanaroth.
"I see that you wish to play games with me. I'll give you a venture that you'll live to regret, unless, you join my cause. You'll have unlimited amounts of abilities that would otherwise be impossible! It is a wonderful feeling."
"Yea right, Opanaroth. I've heard all of these temptations before. Lies. All of them are lies that I won't ever fall for. Release Rowen now before the wrath of Inferno is hailed upon your pathetic form." Ryo spoke with his eyes ablaze with hostility.
"Oh, that will be quite impossible Wildfire since I have complete control over the every action of the Strata armor."
"We'll just see about that."
"Oh we will right about…" Opanaroth paused as he waited for Sai to arrive, "now! Armor of Strata! Tao inochi!"
"Ryo! What have you done? Now he'll be completely unstoppable. Since it has been corrupted, the armor of Strata has acquired quite a few new abilities, some of which we've seen today!" Sai hollered while Ryo cringed as he realized what his pride had caused. The duo could do nothing but watch as the transformation sequence took place. Every event occurred in the normal sequence, except for the fact that instead of the normal indigo hue, swirls of black and red dominated.
As Opanaroth was forming the helmet, something strange occurred. He cringed in agony as the energy sphere fell to the floor and shattered into a million sparks of light. A dark blue hue erupted from the recoiled form of Opanaroth as Sai fell into unconsciousness and lost the armor and subarmor of the Torrent. Out of the shimmering mass, a ghost-like Rowen appeared wearing the armor of Strata.
"You may have won the battle, Opanaroth, but I have won the war. Without my soul, the Strata armor will be useless to you. Only I hold the true power of the heavens, and that shell you have upon your body now is the lowest form of my vigor. If I were you, I would leave before I decide to exterminate you now instead of later." With those words, Opanaroth fled the building, knowing that in his current state, he would be no match for the essence of life. Rowen knew that he would be back because as long as Opanaroth held Rowen's physical form, along with Kendy and Maurette, the battle would continue.
Just seconds later, Sai's form stirred and released a brilliant sky-blue light. It settled next to Rowen's form and the spirit of Sai emerged in the armor of Torrent in the same condition as Rowen, hollow and without a solid structure.
"Oh no. This wasn't supposed to happen!" Rowen exclaimed. "I thought that the bond wasn't complete enough to cause this!" Ryo just sat and stared at the pair of spirits and was overwhelmed by the events that had just occurred in front of him. His mind just shut down and allowed him to descend into unconsciousness while Sage was just achieving the opposite.
"Oh my gods," were the only words uttered by him before unconsciousness overwhelmed him once more. All Rowen and Sai could do was stare as the crowd of students finally decided to back away from the wall and question what had just took place…