When the Samurai where again in sub-armor, Ami had Kale
bandage her arm, telling him what disinfectants to use and how tight
the bandage was supposed to be while Sekhmet watched them with
obvious disgust, not making the slightest effort to conceal his
expression. Sage, although he tried to talk to Dais and Kamen
about the more important matters at hand, couldn't stop noticing how
the Senshi were treating the Dark Warlord.
When Kale had finished putting the bandage on, the other
scouts swarmed around the two, checking the bandage and
complimenting him on how well he did it. The Warlord looked
lost and hopeless as though he was surrounded by enemies he could
not defeat. Sage couldn't understand what the Senshi said, but
there were high-pitched squeals of incessant chatter. Mina
said something and positioned herself in a somewhat "welcoming"
way. Kale's face became a deeper shade of red than Ryo's
armor. Ami threw her arms around him protectively. Then,
she ran her fingers through his blue, spiky, umkempt hair and said,
"What Kale-chan really needs is a good haircut."
Finally getting the idea that she's a nuisance to Kale and Ami, Mina
walked away sullenly.
"Just look at them!" Sekhmet spat vehemently. "They're
unmanning him even as we speak!"
"Love does not 'unman' a warrior," Kamen said
defensively.
"Hmph! Speak for yourself! You're nowhere near
what would be qualified to be called a warrior! You dress in a
-" Sekhmet looked at the tuxedo, baffled, "a something for
battle. Whatever it is, it certainly isn't proper equipment
for a true warrior."
"Well, what about you? When you 'armor up' you have all
those little flowery wallpaper things shooting every-which
way! At least I actually use roses and don't bathe myself in
them like you!"
"Hey," Dais spoke up, "That's not us." Pointing at
Sage, "That's him and the other Ronins."
Sage, not wanting to participate in the conversation, walked
away.
After a few moments, Lita, Ami and Kale went back upstairs to
search for pieces of the portal that they might be able to
use. Sage decided to go help.
"The portals have changed since Dura took control of the
Dynasty," Kale commented as Ami put on her visor and pulled out her
mini-computer.
"Yeah, and now Ami's the only one who can fix one," said
Lita.
"I see. Where's Kyra?" Sage asked.
"She's going from territory to territory, closing the
portals. Dura wanted the entire Realm to know that she was the
new leader of the Dynasty by opening hundreds of portals in various
territories. You have to get permission from the capital in
order to start something like that. Hmph. Stupid
rules."
"Those rules were put there for a reason," Ami informed
him. She was going to say more, but she just found an
interesting piece and began to check it's usefulness. Kale
gave a short grunt of disagreement.
Lita spoke, "Those rules were made to prevent another Great
War from happening and nearly destroying the Realm."
"It's just a myth, a rumor. The Great War never
happened."
"Great War?" Sage was curious, "This is the first time I've
heard about it. What started the war?"
The three stared at him in astonishment.
"It's the war that nearly destroyed the Realm," Lita said
accusingly.
"And you've never heard of it?" Ami's tone was even more
accusing.
"No," Sage replied meekly. "This is the first time that
I've heard about it."
"It's just a legend," Kale spoke. "You shouldn't
beleive it as being actual history. No one knows any of the
important facts like what started the war."
Nevertheless, Ami and Lita found it necessary to educate him
as the four began to pick up the useful pieces and walk down the
stairs. Ami spoke first, "What Kale said is correct; no one
knows what started the war and no one is alive who remembers
it. The entire Realm was at war with itself."
"There were no neutral animes; you were either on one side or
the other. It was basically the northern hemisphere against
the southern hemisphere, although many people beleive that it was
far more complex than that."
"It was rumored to have lasted for several
decades."
"What ended the war?" Sage asked.
Lita answered, "The war ended with the total destruction of
the southern hemisphere. The southern capital was attacked and
it's vortex was destroyed. The hemisphere was flooded and
polluted by Creochi energy. It is now a barren wasteland,
unable to support life."
The Ronin was shocked, "How were they able to destroy a
vortex?" Main characters from new animes enter through the
vortex which is thought to connect the Anime Realm to the Realm of
the Creators. There were orginally two vortexes; North Vortex
and South Vortex. The capitals were built around the two
vortexes. Sage knew that the North Vortex was the only one
still in existence, but he didn't know what happened to the Southern
Vortex.
Kale spoke up, "It is only a legend. The Southern
Vortex was probably destroyed by some natural
phenomenon."
"Don't listen to Kale," Lita whispered to Sage, "He doesn't
know the meaning to half of the words he uses."
When they reached the first floor, Sage and Pikachu decided
that they should go back to the hotel and get some sleep.
Before they reached the door, Sekhmet asked, "Are you going to help
us fight the Dynasty, Halo?"
The last thing the Ronin wanted was to be in yet another
battle with the Dynasty.
Wasn't Tulpa enough? Dura wanted the Senshi not the
Ronins! "Well, I, um..."
Everyone seemed to be staring at him, eager for an
answer...
"Sage," Pikachu said, noticing his hesitation for a
decision. "You're a Ronin
Warrior! It's your duty to help them fight the
Dynasty!"
Sage looked down at the Pokemon, "You forget that
it'll delay our trip to
Najahl." Then, he raised his head and was about the
deline the invitation, but Lita stopped him from
speaking.
"We need all the help we can get," she said sincerely,
smiling.
It was her smile that helped him make the decision.
"Sure, I'll help,"
he smiled back. "Of course I'll help you. How
long you think It'll be until
"It might take me a week at the most if I have all the parts
I need," Ami
Sage's smile weakened a little, so about a week will be
wasted on
Sage laid down. The comfortable hotel bed was tempting
him to rest and relax his exhausted body as Pikachu tossed a pillow
off the bed and onto the floor. Then, the furry pokemon curled
up like a dog and promptly closed it's eyes. Although his mind
and body told him to sleep, Sage wanted to go over the situation one
more time before turning in.
"The Dynasty is being used against the Senshi."
"That is illegal: everyone knows the rules of the Realm, so
why would someone go an break them?"
"Well, it was once thought that everyone knew of the Great
War, but apparently you didn't, so maybe Dura doesn't know the rules
of the Realm."
"Will you just shut up or at least not speak a human
language?" Sage suddenly snapped.
Pikachu was too sleepy to feel any emotions. "Sorry,
Sage. The only way I can cease to speak the human languages is
when I'm back in my native territory."
The Ronin went back to going over today's events. "So,
now the Senshi and the Warlords are working together to stop the
Dynasty."
"Yup. That basically sums it up."
"But, why did I agree to help them? Why did I get
myself involved in this?"
"I don't know, but you might as well help them since you
already said you would, right?"
Sage sighed, "Yeah." he leaned on his side and closed
his eyes, "This is weird."
"Fighting the Dynasty is going to be fun."
They returned to the same old shack the next morning.
Lita was outside, practicing her kicks on the pieces of lumber they
staked up last night. He glanced inside and saw a few of the
other scouts chatting. Ami was not among them.
"Hey, Lita," Pikachu spoke, "Where's Ami and the other
Samurai?"
"It turned out that Ami didn't have enough parts for the
portal, so Kale told her about some old junkyard a mile or so
away. Serena and the others wanted to go with them, but they
wanted to go by themselves for some reason. The other two
warlords, Dais and Sekhmet, followed them though."
Sage sighed, sat on the ground indian-style and closed his
eyes. He felt a strong urge to meditate after the rather
unusual events that took place the past two weeks. Perhaps he
would practice after Lita was finished or spar with her if she
wanted. Hm, a sparring session would be
good...
It was one endless heap of trash and rusted machinery...
pretty much what they expected. Breathing in the noxious
fumes, they mentally prepared themselves for hours of hard
back-breaking labor under the blazing, merciless sun. Ami wore
an ancient, homely garment that she usually wears while cleaning the
house to avoid ruining her good clothes. Kale, however, wore
his brand-new clothes that Ami bought for him a few days ago - denim
blue-jeans and a leather jacket over the soft cotton
shirt.
"Dynasty portals need more than just parts," Kale told her,
searching his memories for something useful and wondering if all
this digging was really necessary. When he worked for Tulpa,
everything was run by pure energy and there weren't any confusing
machines which complicated life. "Portals require a large
amount of energy which the Dynasty happens to be flooded with.
I don't think that it's very likely that we would be able to get
enough energy to open a portal."
"And this energy is 'negative' energy, right?" Ami looked at
a pile carefully and started digging.
"Right. I guess you can call it that. I'm not
exactly sure what channels the energy into the portal. It
might be nether spirits." Kale bent down to help her search
through the pile of junk.
"But, the portals that Dura uses are different from the
orgininal Dynasty portals. That is part of the reason why you
guys came to us for help, isn't it?"
Seeing how that conversation got nowhere, the warlord was
silent.
"Well, the configuration of the portals are also different
from the technology used in my native territory, so I'm just sort of
guessing how to make one." Out of everyone in the group, she
had the best understanding of machines.
Not finding anything there, they got up and started
walking. "We might as well drive to a hardware or department
store," said Ami.
"No, we can find what we need here." Although he was
getting used to driving in cars, it still unerved him
somewhat. One of the scouts had mentioned that he would look
great driving a motorcycle.
This is sickening, Sekhmet thought, watching them
undetected.
Kale stopped suddenly and looked to the sides without moving
his head. Something was wrong...
Relying on speed and instinct, he shoved Ami out of the way
of an incoming spear, pulled out his Yoroi Orb and sub-armor
replaced his normal clothes. Something swept under his legs,
causing him to fall to the ground. When he opened his eyes,
there was a Dynasty Soldier standing over him, holding a blade next
to his throat.
"You wanted a challenge, eh?" the Soldier spoke.
Kale sensed two people with mystical samurai armor a hundred
or so feet away. "Dais!" he shouted, "I know you're there, so
you might as well so yourself!"
The illusion of the soldier vanished as Dais and Sekhmet
walked out of their
hiding spot. They were both in their sub-armor.
An angry and annoyed Kale
stood up, but didn't call off his armor. Sekhmet might
just decide to fight him
just for the fun of it. When will they leave him
alone?
"My illusions can become reality to those with weak minds,"
Dais said smugly,
noting Kale's furious expression. It was a rather
convincing illusion.
Before Ami could speak to calm him down, the Demon of
Darkness lashed out and struck Dais in his one eye. The
Warlord of Illusion was knocked onto the ground. Kale, then,
bent over the warlord and began to punch him rapidly. Dais got
in one or two blows only to be countered by five which always hit
their target. Ami and Sekhmet gripped Kale by the shoulders in
an effort to stop the fighting. |
Ami, knowing that the Warlord of Venom would start another
fight between him and Kale, punched him. Sekhmet let out a
yelp of surprise and backed away. The three warlords stopped,
startled by what she had done. She was slowly getting more
aggressive ever since they had arrived. Out of the four,
Sekhmet was the most shocked. She, shy timid little Mercury,
had hit him and it hurt!
Kale got up. A smirk slowly began to appear on his
face. Well, Sekhmet, he thought, It seems like she
does have the strength and heart of a true
warrior. Ami, however, didn't want to get into another
fight anytime soon and silently walked away to continue her
search. Kale followed.
Dais smiled shortly after they left and looked at the still
stunned Sekhmet. "How can you call yourself a warrior and say
that she is not?"
The Warlord of Venom opened his mouth to speak, but decided
against it as dozens of poisons he could use on Dais came to
mind.
Kale and Ami spent the next hour or so, talking about how
annoying Dais and Sekhmet were. Ami, then, compared them to
kids in her classes and Kale told her about certain incidents when
they worked for Tupla.
Ami stopped suddenly, "What was that?" she asked quickly in a
frightened whisper.
"What was what?" Kale still had on his sub-armor and was
ready for an attack.
Kale heard indistinct shouting. They followed the sound
until they could almost understand what the man was saying. It
was coming through the other side of the junkwall. There was a
huge gap in which they peered through to see a tall, clean-shaven
man standing on a raised platform. People from hundreds of
different Animes sat on the dirt floor, watching him, listening
intently as he spoke and his eyes were ablaze with the intensity of
his words.
"And, then, WE SHALL BE GLORIFIED. In his
presence. Many people will not agree with the wishes of our
one true creator and the battle will be long and hard. It
might be bloody! But we have to protect what is ours and what
belongs to our creator, the Messiah."
"What is he talking about?" Ami whispered.
"He's a cultist; who knows?" Kale whispered back. "There are
thousands of cults throughout the Realm."
The Fanatic spoke, "No mercy shall come to those who openly
oppose the Messiah, who is our one true creator, for to opposed the
Messiah openly would be as though you have wished that you were
never created."
Kale said dryly, "Not another of those Messiah
cults."
"Who's the Messiah?" asked Ami.
"Just some all-powerful thin air that cultists tend to
warship," Kale replied in a whisper.
The Zealot began clenching his fists and spreading his arms
to emphasize his words, "The Messiah shall come and destroy the
demons and choas that plauges our world."
There's no chaos, thought Kale, and this world will
be very boring without any demons or villians.
"The Messiah shall be the light; destroying the darkness and
guiding us to our rightful path."
Grr, I am sick and tired of this Messiah cults!
Kale armored up into his full-armor and made his presence known by
knocking down the wall that hidden Ami and him noisily. The
cult stared at the samurai with slightly angered and startled, but
almost blank expressions.
The Samurai warrior unsheathed his nodatchi, "I, the Demon of
Darkness, challenge the Messiah to a duel. If he does not come
here this instant to fight me, I shall deem him a coward, false and
unworthy, unable of ruling the Realm. Or does he merely not
exist? Is he some feeble story you have created in order to
make yourself feel important?"
"The Messiah has yet to awaken; when the Messiah does awaken,
however, the Messiah will take up your challenge, Yami Masho
Anu-"
Kale raised his sword threateningly, preventing the fanatic
from speaking his disgraced japanese name. He stopped himself from
electrocuting the Zealot and group with his black lightning.
Although, I doubt the world will mourn the loss of a few
overbearing fanatics... The samurai raised his
sword
"Kale, don't," Ami whispered, "Let's just walk away from
here."
He spoke without turning his head, "Ami, the Messiah cults
are notorious for causing trouble throughout the Realm. They
rarely communicate to people other than their own kind. It's
very possible that no one will notice their
disappearance."
"I sense your intentions are hostile, Yami Masho," the lead
fanatic spoke.
"Kale..." Ami cautioned as the lead fanatic glared at her
ominously.
"If your intentions toward are hostile," said the fanatic who
now began to crouch low to the ground, never breaking eye-contact
with Kale and Ami, "Yet you do not wish to cause us any harm, I
suggest you leave." A box was being passed around the group of
cultists, but they failed to notice what was in it.
However, certain things must be done in order to ensure the
Messiah's safety and infinite rule once the Messiah
awakens...
Without warning, the Zealot pulled something out of the box
and threw it vehemently at Kale and Ami. They were blinded as
the smoke stung their eyes and filled their nostril. Aside
from their own coughing, everything was deadly silent. The
Warlord of Corruption slowly opened his eyes as the smoke
cleared. The cultists were gone, leaving behind no trace of
their existance. Silence. He turned his head to look
behind him. Ami was missing. Silence. He could
hear only one person breathing and that was himself.
"If you wish for her to continue living," came the words of
the Zealot. Kale looked up and saw the fanatic floating in the
air, holding Ami in one hand and a dagger at her throat in the
other. "If you wish for her to continue living, you shall
bring Sailor Jupiter at this exact same spot tomorrow as the sun
begins to set in exchange for Ami's life." By that time,
Sekhmet and Dais, who had sensed their comrade armoring up, joined
him.
"What do you want with Jupiter?" Kale yelled, his hand
resting on his sword hilt.
"Because Sailor Jupiter is a threat to the Messiah, need I
say more?" The three stared blankly as the Zealot teleported
away with Ami.
"What was that all about?" Sekhmet demanded.
Kale sighed, "Ami is now in the hands of a bunch of
lunatics." Other than that, he didn't really
know.
"Oh, great! This is not the time for us to get involved
in some fool's crazy delusions!" Dais and Sekhmet watched for
a few moments as their comrade ran off towards the shack and
followed. |
|
