Ronin Warriors: Next Generation: Forever You Will Know Me
By: Shadow Chaser
Chapter 14
Sanjuro kept his guard up as Shadow Lord wiped away the remnants of Ryo's Inferno Armor's attack. His eyes took a quick glance around as he saw Cye, Kento, and Kayura floating in their protective bubbles, their eyes closed and focusing their power for Ryo's Inferno Armor. What was odd was that Sage wasn't in his protective bubble; in fact, the warrior of Halo was still standing up and he emitted a bright green aura around him. Glancing back, he saw Rowen, struggling within the black tentacles that had caught him.
"That's all you've got Wildfire?" Shadow Lord laughed out loud then looked at them in a way Sanjuro didn't like.
He felt it before he saw it and his eyes widened with surprise. "Look out!" he shouted as various black tentacles shot up from the ground of the Nether World. He leapt out of the way as one tried to grab him from his right and slashed down at it with his katana. The tentacle withered to the ground as its black blood spurted from its mortal wound.
He heard yells of surprise and various slashes of weapons as the others cut away their attackers. "Get Mia and Rowen down! When I attack, he's going to crush them!" Sanjuro yelled as he remembered that Shadow Lord had planned this type of an attack so long ago.
"So…you remember," Shadow Lord purred and Sanjuro narrowed his eyes, "good…then…"
Sanjuro suddenly brought his katana up in a parry as Shadow Lord attacked. He pressed against the blade then heard the screams of Mia and Rowen, being crushed by the black tentacles, extensions of Shadow Lord's powers. Hurry up, he urged the others as he jumped away then came at Shadow Lord, his blade swinging a wide arc. Cutting the blade short from slicing Shadow Lord's head, he instead, rammed it upwards, catching the evil overlord in the shoulder blades. Blood poured from Shadow Lord's wound as Sanjuro pressed the blade through, not caring if the evil blood poured over him also. This was his temporary body, provided by the power of Strata, he was just a spirit hitching a ride.
"…Damn…you…" Shadow Lord croaked out painfully as he pushed himself away from Sanjuro, putting a hand to his injured shoulder.
Sanjuro set his blade once again, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he watched Shadow Lord regenerate his severed muscles and nerves, this time a cautious look in his eyes. Round two…Shadow Lord…just you and me.
* * *
Kareyn didn't bother to watch Sanjuro's fight with Shadow Lord. She knew that the spirit of the first bearer of Strata would be able to handle the evil lord for sometime before he needed any help. Instead, she focused on the black tentacle things that was holding Rowen and Mia. Even though she did not see them before, she vaguely remembered them from somewhere, but she couldn't pin point it.
"Kareyn! Two behind you!" Sayli shouted and Kareyn leapt out of the way as two more of the black tentacles shot up from the ground of the Nether World, intending on taking her into their grasp. "Earth's Fury Attack!" she yelled her sure kill as it blazed from her katana, promptly frying the two tentacles.
"Rocks of Internal!" Hiro's voice cried out somewhere near her and she saw that Hiro was trying to hold off a bunch of Shadow and Nether Soldiers. Shino and Sama were next to him, unleashing their sure-kills at the various soldiers. White Blaze, no, Black Blaze was growling and attacking with an eerie uncanny ability, decimating the ranks of soldiers.
Where was Sage? Kareyn wondered as she glanced around, looking for the warrior of Halo. She spotted him, not in a protective bubble like Cye, Kento, and Kayura were…but he was…she shook her head, not really believing what she was seeing.
Was it her? Was it Onyx? "No…" she breathed softly as she recognized the faint spirit aura her long time guardian and protector, infusing itself within Sage's Halo armor; providing him with extra strength to fight.
There was a strangled cry from Rowen and Kareyn snapped back around, her focus back to the black tentacles. She had to save him, for her sake and the sake of her future daughter. Where was she? Kareyn wondered then shook her head. She couldn't afford to space out right now…she had to concentrate.
"Rowen! Get your protective bubble around you now!" Sayli shouted, running her way. Her dark red hair flowed behind her like a wave of molten lava and she placed her twin masuame together in preparation for her sure-kill.
Kareyn saw that Rowen had managed to hear them and comply with Sayli's orders despite all the pain that he was feeling. That's the true warrior of Strata…never backing down when pain is constant, she thought as she timed her sure-kill to be exact with Sayli's. They had to eradicate the black tentacles holding Rowen, not let them regenerate like all the others did; they had to destroy it completely.
"VOLCANO-"
"EARTH'S FURY-"
"FLARE! ATTACK!" both Sayli and Kareyn shouted at the same time, unleashing their powerful sure-kills at the black tentacles that were holding Rowen up. The blast was bright and Kareyn shielded her eyes from it. When it died down she glanced up to see Rowen, floating in his protective bubble, a look of pure exhaustion on his face…then the bubble disappeared and he fell to the ground.
"Rowen!" Kareyn cried out, running over to him and knelt down next to him, her hands cradling his face.
She watched as his eyes fluttered open and a smile appeared on his face, "Help…Sanjuro…use, your," Rowen took a deep breath, "ultimate…sure-kill." With that, he lapsed into unconsciousness and a bluish bubble formed around him, floating him up and towards the other Ronin Warriors who were in their comatose-like state, adding his power to Ryo's Inferno Armor.
"What did he say?" Sayli came over, her hand resting on one of Kareyn's shoulder armor-pads.
"Sayli? What's my ultimate sure-kill?" Kareyn asked looking into the black voids of the Warrior of Rekka's eyes. A small frown appeared on her face as she felt Sayli's hand lift off of her shoulder and she stepped back slightly…afraid?
"No…don't make me tell you," Sayli whispered, her voice a bit hoarse.
Kareyn realized that Sayli knew the sure-kill that would kill her in the future, and that she, Kareyn of the Elements, was leader over the C-Ronins. Which meant that she had the power to force the answer from Sayli. But did she want to? Was it going to kill her again? This time, not in the future, but right here and now?
* * *
Ryo glanced at Sage who was glowing with some unknown power, making him immune to the effects of summoning the Inferno Armor. "Sage! Stand ready to catch Mia!" Ryo ordered the warrior of Halo.
"No," Sage replied and Ryo looked at him incredulously. "The tentacles' weakness is to lightning. You catch Mia since your armor can provide her with some protection due to her connection with the Inferno. Besides, I've got added power to make my sure-kill ten-fold."
Ryo nodded slowly then back out of Sage's way as he walked up to it, his daichi drawn out, ready to slice anything that got in his way. "THUNDER BOLT CUT!" Sage yelled, whipping his daichi around and blasting the tentacles with greater power than Ryo had ever seen within Sage's attack. It was like when Sage was first freed from his rocky prison before they had fought Talpa, except it was ten-times as powerful as that previous sure-kill.
The incredible blast died down and Ryo sprinted forward and caught Mia in his arms. He gently shook her until her eyes opened and she started to cough from the lack of air. "Mia?" Ryo whispered hesitantly.
"I'm…all right Ryo," Mia replied, one of her hands reaching up and touched him briefly on his chin, one of the few parts of his body that wasn't covered by the Inferno Armor.
There was roar from Black Blaze and Ryo glanced up to see his faithful tiger bounding towards them, ready to do his job in protecting Mia as he went off to fight Shadow Lord. "Thanks, Black Blaze," Ryo said, and the tiger rumbled an affectionate purr. Ryo gently placed Mia on Black Blaze's back and nodded to his future wife. "Be careful," he cautioned her.
"Don't worry, Ryo," Mia grinned, her energy coming back to her as she held up and extendable staff, "as soon as you finish defeating Shadow Lord, I want some serious self-defense lessons."
Ryo nodded then watched as Black Blaze bounded towards the edge of the fight, trying to keep Mia out of harm's way. Turning back to face Sage, Ryo nodded his thanks then cleared his throat. "How did you know that they were weak to lightning?" Ryo asked.
"Onyx," was Sage's reply and Ryo stood rooted to the ground with shock.
* * *
Sanjuro sensed that the others were steadily defeating Shadow Lord's minions and it wouldn't be long until they had the combined powers of the C-Ronins and Ryo's Inferno Armor. But included into the batch was Kareyn's Elements Armor, supposed to be one of the deadliest armors ever, but Sanjuro sensed that Kareyn didn't know the full capacity and capability of her own armor.
He blocked a strike coming for his head from Shadow Lord then pushed against the Dark Lord and spun around quickly and slashed downwards. His hand shook a bit at the force of Shadow Lord's block then reversed his tactics and slashed an 'x' at Shadow Lord. Following the attack, Sanjuro stabbed at some of his vital points, but was blocked by Shadow Lord.
"You're getting better…much better since we last fought," Shadow Lord hissed as both sprang back, both panting a bit from their furious fight.
"This is anger. Anger at corrupting my brother, anger at you destroying all that I held dear, anger that I had building within me until the day came that I could unleash it," Sanjuro growled.
"And now-"
"Now you die where you stand, Shadow Lord. We cannot have you destroying all that we worked so hard for," Ryo's voice burst into their conversation and Sanjuro risked a glance back to see Ryo, Sage, glowing; he raised an eyebrow at Sage's appearance, Kareyn, and Sayli standing behind him, their weapons raised and ready.
"And no more messing with the future, like you did with Kareyn's spirit during the aftermath of Talpa's death," Sama's voice came from the other side of the battlefield and Sanjuro looked to see the rest of the C-Ronins, minus Kaira, ready for the final showdown. A mass pile of dead soldier bodies was behind them, giving a creepy look to the warriors ready for battle.
"Your card Shadow Lord," Sanjuro turned back to face Shadow Lord who had a frown on his face. "Your call."
* * *
Sage watched Shadow Lord warily behind his faceplate. He felt surges of power running through his mind, and spirit and was grateful that Onyx had arrived, if not in a more ironic form, to fulfill her promise. He would fulfill his promise to her, even though he did back a month ago. But this time, he would be ready and willing to add into the killing of Shadow Lord, the mastermind of Sokar's plans.
He watched as Shadow Lord backed away slowly, his sword waving around cautiously. And fearfully, Onyx's melodic voice whispered in his head, a bit sarcastic sounding and Sage cracked a small smile. Yes, he agreed silently, knowing that the spirit of his former love could hear him perfectly. He was grateful that she had lent him support and incredible amounts of power and energy, instead of him being stuck inside a protective sphere like the others. This was the first time he actually saw how Ryo fought using the Inferno Armor, even though he had seen him against Saberstryke. But that's different…Wildfire only had one of the Soul Swords with him. He wasn't able to drain almost all the power from you back then; Onyx replied then tapped him lightly. Focus Sage, Shadow Lord's up to something…
And he was Sage observed as he raised his daichi slightly, his eyes wary for any unsuspecting attack. Shadow Lord was still back away, but his face had no expression on it. He looked like he had something up his sleeve.
"No where to run, Shadow Lord," a new voice spoke up behind him and Sage looked beyond Shadow Lord to see the petite warrior of C-Strata, holding what looked to be fan-swords, something rare that he hadn't seen since his grandfather took him to an ancient museum. There was another figure behind Kaira and Sage narrowed his eyes as he saw Ryo's future clone appear, but there was something odd about the clone.
Ah, I knew that Wildfire-clone would come to his senses eventually…Onyx said smugly and Sage inwardly glared at her. You knew all this! He accused her. No, Onyx replied giving him a mental smile. When Shadow Lord and his minions entered the Nether World, I found Ryo-clone with them. I tried to my fullest efforts to convince him that he's on the wrong side, but I guess those seeds of uncertainty I planted in him have taken root. Ah, Sage, pay attention my warrior of Halo.
Sage dragged his attention away from Onyx, even though he desperately wanted to talk to her and missed her so much since she died in the hands of Sokar about a month ago. Shadow Lord had a look of surprise written on his face as he turned around to face the C-Ronin warrior of Strata.
"Traitor," Shadow Lord growled out and Sage noticed that Ryo-clone didn't look a bit ashamed; in fact the Wildfire-clone looked a bit cocky.
"So…sue me," Blackfire-Ryo replied darkly then glowered at Shadow Lord. "I've had enough of your meddling with the timeline. That was the reason I was created from the cells of Ryo Sanada, the true bearer of the Wildfire/Inferno Armor."
"What a melodramatic speech," Shadow Lord sneered then took a step towards the two warriors. He suddenly stopped and closed his eyes then took a deep breath.
"What the hell?!" both Kento and Hiro commented at the same time.
Sage blinked in surprise as he saw Shadow Lord suddenly flashed with dark power, the battle-ki blast sending shockwaves around. He shielded his eyes and mind against the devastating blast, but heard the shocked cries of his friends. Uh oh…Onyx whispered inside his head, I forgot that they weren't psychic-ki protected…
"No more of this Shadow Lord," Sage growled as he glared at Shadow Lord, an inky black aura surrounding the Dark Lord.
"S-Shadow…Lord…" Kareyn's voice spoke up with great effort from the other side of the battlefield and Sage saw the Warrior of Element get up, her armor scuffled in places, but she glowed an unusually bright silver.
No…no…don't do it Kareyn! DON'T! Onyx screamed in his head and he winced inwardly at the terror-filled mental scream. Don't what? He asked the spirit Guardian.
"Oh dear God…Mom? NO! You can't control it! You'll kill yourself!" Kaira yelled, picking herself up from the floor.
Sage looked around and saw that Ryo was standing also, but he looked seriously beaten, but the rest of the C-Ronins didn't look too fazed, except their faces were all mirrors of terror. What the heck was Kareyn doing? He wondered as he saw the silver aura around Kareyn glow brighter with each passing second.
"Armor of Elements…NATURE'S-" she started.
"MOTHER NO!!!!!"
"-DESTRUCTION-"
"Kareyn! Don't do it!"
"-WAVE!"
A huge blast of silvery energy-light flashed from Kareyn, engulfing her within the light. The energy-light traveled a narrow distance directly towards the black aura Shadow Lord and Sage got a quick look of Shadow Lord's terrified face before the silver-energy-light engulfed him too.
Without stopping, the energy-light spread around the Nether World and the last thing Sage saw was the energy-light coming towards him, then all was a bright white.
* * *
Rowen gasped a bit in surprise as he suddenly found himself in a field with green grass and rolling hills. Straw huts sat in the distance and he could see people milling in and out of the huts.
"How does it feel?" a voice said behind him and he spun around to see Sanjuro…and Raven? No…it was Tokoshino, dressed in the traditional samurai obi, his katana at his side and he was smiling happily.
"Sanjuro? T-Tokoshino?" Rowen blinked. Where was he anyway?
"Yes, my successor…I'm sorry you had to go through that, but my mind was twisted beyond recognition. I didn't know the right path of a Ronin Warrior…" Tokoshino replied then bowed deeply.
"Rowen, please, take care of Kareyn. She needs you more than you'll ever know. I know what will happen in the future, but I hesitate to tell you to alter it more. Be well, Warrior of Strata," Sanjuro replied then faded away as everything turned suddenly black.
Rowen felt himself collapse and hit the ground.
* * *
Kento and Ryo looked around their surroundings…it was heavily wooded and there was no sound. "Where are we?" Kento commented.
"I don't know…" Ryo replied, his eyes wary for any type of attack.
"Ryo of the Wildfire, Kento of Hardrock…you must keep your leadership guard up for more trials in your future," a voice they had not heard in a long time spoke behind them and both of them spun around simultaneously.
"Ancient One?!"
The world then became black.
* * *
Cye stood off to one side of a storm blown bay, the howling winds reaching for his ears. He recognized the place, it was his hometown and it looked to be the same storm his father had died in when he was very young.
"Don't worry about me, son. Look to your future and keep it up. Your future son needs all the support he can get," his father's ghostly voice carried by the wind blew past his ears.
Cye suddenly felt alone in the world, but then smiled as he remembered that his friends were still there for him. "I know, father…"
The world suddenly turned upside down and he collapsed.
* * *
Sage looked around…he was at a Shinto shrine, a very old one to say the least. Where was he anyway? The last thing he remembered was fighting Shadow Lord and Onyx…
"I missed you," Onyx's musical voice brought his head around and he saw her, not in spirit form, but in body and flesh. Her long brown-gold hair was flowing down her back and her piercing eyes hidden underneath a few strands of her bangs. She was wearing a kimono, a pastel green-gold one in fact.
"Onyx?" Sage started.
"Shh…I need to leave now, but…I will always remember you. Find your love somewhere near, my Warrior of Halo," Onyx blew him a kiss before fading away.
"Onyx! No!" Sage cried out then swirling blackness over took him.
* * *
Kareyn found herself on top of a building, a very high building overlooking Toyama. She frowned, confused. She remembered her own armor glowing with intense power, power she thought she never had. This was the key to her ultimate sure-kill, Sayli had told her. And she had unleashed it…so was she dead then?
"No, not exactly…your sure-kill goes two ways, like a swing door. It can destroy and it can heal. You combined both, to destroy Shadow Lord forever and to heal your friends," a voice said behind her and she saw her father, a much younger version of her father standing before her.
"Two ways-" she managed to get out before she felt as if she was socked hard in the stomach and she collapsed.
* * *
The silvery-energy-wave died down and Kareyn looked solemnly at Shadow Lord's charred form. She could feel his life-energy dying away and glared at the Dark Lord.
"Forever you will know me, Kareyn of the Elements," Kareyn said softly as Shadow Lord's life force drained completely away.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Well, this is it! The whole story is complete! I hoped you've enjoyed reading this story, even though it took me a long time to complete. But thanks to all the readers for their support and I especially want to thank Onyx, my beta reader for reading this story. She has been a saint. But if you're looking for more adventures of Kareyn or any of the C-Ronins, Ronins, then don't worry, I have a few stories in mind to further this timeline and also to flesh out various characters. Ja ne until later!
