The Armor of the Soul

By Dixxy

Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Armor of the Soul

(Sam)

I didn't recognize the sword Sage had taken out of Trulpa's fortress, but apparently, they were going to use it to try and gain the Armor of the Soul and use it against Trulpa. Well, that's what I was able to get through my really clouded head. I was kind of groggy during that conversation and only heard bits and pieces of it. After all, I'd been slammed into a stupid wall.

Sage made a few very well thought out and precise slices in the air with the sword. Kento and Cye followed that up by changing into the glowing orbes that Ronins use to summon powerful armors. Well, so far they'd doing good, I mumbled.

The sky was a very strong white color, but my Halo armor allowed me to see what was going on. Beams of green, orange, aquamarine, and yellow light were swirling around the winged Sage like fireflies on a sugar high. Piece by piece, the armor of the soul formed onto Sage over his green and white Halo subarmor. A long, black shoulder guard accompanied by a dark blue breast plate and a black back plate fitted onto his torso, the back plate having to form around his wings. A large black hip guard locked itself over his waist as black shin and foot guards armed his legs. A blue, pointy-dome shaped helmet with a crescent moon for decoration took its place on his head. The big sword fell into his hands and struck a pose as the symbols for Hardrock and Torrent formed on the shoulder guards, the Armor of Cruelty symbol formed on his belt, and the Halo symbol imbedded itself onto his chest.

The Armor of the Soul was under Sage's control.

I heard Sara and Ria whoop out in joy as Sage gracefully landed in front of a completely dumbfounded Trulpa, his wings flapping ferociously. "But, but, but, but, but, but. . . how!?"
"You know what Trulpa? When you treat prisoners like animals, then they'll react like animals when they want revenge," said Sage. I noted that his voice was echoing, almost like a big of Cye and Kento's voices were mixed in with his. It was similar to Kaze's voice, only it didn't sound evil.

Trulpa laughed very coyly, backing away from the slowly advancing Sage. "Now, now, now, let's be reasonable about this, gentlemen," she said. "I'll be happy to leave your world alone if you promise not to kill me."

Sage laughed. "Reasonable? You kidnapped us from our friends and held us captive in your Dynasty for nearly a year. You brainwashed the three Dark Warlords and Lady Kayura. You used us for your Kaze experiment, not caring it could have eventually killed us. You used one of us two help you retrieve the Jewel of Death so you could use it to control another one of us. Then you capture us again and tell us you're going to repeat the Kaze experiment, but this, time, to kill us. No, we're pretty reasonable in killing you."

Trulpa screamed and barely ducked from the sword. She took the brief escape as a chance to summon a spell, which she flung at Sage. I screamed as the black ball of energy hit. He was sent flying into the opposite wall (Dixxy's note: Wow, I really like sending people into walls in this fic, don't I?). My mood brightened right up when he stood back up, shook it off, and raised the sword, ready to attack again.

I felt Ria run up to me. I turned my head to her. "Can you stand?" she asked.

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"We're trying to get everyone to a safe place and your help would be much appreciated," said Ria. I nodded as I stood up on weak knees. Ria and I worked together to get Cara over to the "safety zone" (which was right now a big chalk circle with Keisha sitting in the middle of it) while Sara pushed and Tiger Lily pulled Anubis to the circle. Rona was slung over Tiger Lily's back.

Once inside the circle, Keisha cast a spell that created a fairly large diamond dome. A few air holes were poked along the bottom so we could breath. I took that opportunity to start healing myself, then, once I had my head injury under control, I went to help the others try and regain consciousness.

For the next several minutes I concentrated on healing injuries and reviving people who were unconscious. Very boring, not what you came here for. You want to read about Sage (and the other two) kicking Trulpa's hide.

Once we were all healed enough, we started to watch the fight. At that point Trulpa was a bit roughed up and was looking like she was receiving a long deserved butt-kicking. And I couldn't think of anyone who could have done it better than Sage, Cye, and Kento.

"Finish her off!" Ria cried.

"C'mon, guys, you can do it!" yelled Keisha.

"Beat her like a red-headed step-child!" yelled Rona. We all turned to her. "What? I saw it in a video game strategy guide (Note: Heh, that was in the Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Instruction Manual's mini-strategy guide)."

"Come on, guys, sock it to 'em! Hit her! Hit her! Screw chivalry, she ain't no lady!" screamed Sara, who was jumping around as she threw out her support. "Destroy her! We're behind you one-hundred percent!"

I cupped my hands over my mouth. "Kill that old bitch already!" I said. "Finish her off! She doesn't deserve to live! Do whatever you find necessary, just take her out with the rest of the Dynasty trash!"

"I don't think they know how to execute the sure kill for that armor," said Anubis, looking worried. "If they don't figure it out then we might be in trouble. The whole point behind mega armors is the sure kills that go with them!"

"Then why don't we use the Inferna?" asked Keisha.

"We're all hurt, we need our armor powers to try and recover," said Rona.

Ria narrowed her eyes. "Sam, fully heal up me, Sara, and Anubis. We have time to do that much healing, and then we can use Sara's armor and the Staff to form the Inferna. She and I are in the best shape and we'll need the least amount of healing."

"Brilliant!" I said, healing up the last of the trio's injuries. Keisha dismissed the shield long enough for Ria, Sara, and the Staff to form the Inferna and let Anubis and the now powerless Staff back inside.

Rona, Keisha, Anubis, Cara and I watched on in awed silence. The Warlords and Warladies were watching from the sidelines, knowing that the battle was WAY out of their league. Ria and the boys (who, I know figured out, were seemingly sharing a brain and Sage's body, and it wasn't Sage doing everything) were trying to double-team Trulpa but they weren't having much luck. She was using Talpa's energy in addition to her own and was doing some serious damage to both of them.

Still no sign of the ultimate attack.

Then, suddenly, the armor began to glow as the boys lifted the sword. "SOUL STRIKE FORCE!" I swirling candy-cane like beam striped with green, blue, orange, and yellow shot out from the tip of the sword as they brought it crashing down.

Ria took that time to use her own sure kill. "INFERNA RAGING FLARE!" The tall pillar of fire consumed Trulpa the same time that the candy-cane soul attack smashed into her. The rest of us watched in awed stupor as Trulpa was incinerated into nothing but a charred skeleton. Hair still came out of her skull, she still had eyeballs, and a few of her organs remained intact. Yet, despite the fact she should have been dead, she was alive, and she was still able to move. The blackened skeleton lifted a hand to the eyes and a strange, inhuman scream echoed across the battle field before the skeleton disappeared. The Warlords also went with her.

Once the attacks wore off, Keisha dissipated the shield and we all ran over to the boys. "Sage!" I cried, giving him a friendly hug. He returned it, though rather weakly, I must admit. He put an arm around my shoulder, silently asking for support. I gladly gave it. "You're alive! You did it! You trashed Trulpa! She's gone for good!"

Sage laughed humbly, scratching the nape of his neck. "Aw, it was nothing."

"A big fat nothing my ass!" said Rona. "You guys were great!"

Cye smiled. "We owe you girls. We might've not been able to stand up to Trulpa much longer if you guys hadn't stepped in and formed the Inferna. And you guys saved us before that, too. How can we ever repay you?"

"Well, let me think about this one," said Ria. "Let's see, had you guys not defeated Talpa before we even learned how to use our powers, we wouldn't even be here right now, so in a way, we're paying YOU GUYS back. Plus, you're our friends, it's our job, and as far as I'm concerned you guys probably would've gone the same for us at this point, right?"

"Wow, Ria, that was really sweet of you to say," said Sara. "That's a definite change in character for you. Normally you would've made some sort of mention of money, slavery, or blackmail."

Ria shrugged. "That's because I haven't pointed out that Keisha and Kento are necking over there yet. And now I have. See? I'm still my lovable, sick minded self," she said, turning her head. Sure enough, the two Hardrocks were embraced in one of those kisses you only see at the end of movies or in crowded airports. Hugging, smooching, eyes closed, fingering through the other's hair, so on and so on.

"Aw, how cute," said Cye. "Kento's got himself a girlfriend."

Apparently the two heard this, looked over at the rest of us, blushed profoundly, and sidestepped away from each other. Ria laughed. "Aw, we don't mind you guys going out or anything, just make sure that you name your first born after me and we'll be all set."

Keisha and Kento stared blankly at Ria.

"I take back what I said about Ria earlier tenfold," Sara grumbled. "She's just as loud, perverted, and observant as ever." She looked at Cye questioningly. "Your Wildfire isn't that. . . outspoken, is he?"

"Thank God he isn't."

"HEY! I'M THE LEADER, YOU SHOULDN'T BE MAKING FUN OF ME!"

"I have an idea, let's leave her here and see how long it takes her to get back on her own time. I'm sure Sally won't mind too much," said Anubis brightly. He waved cheerfully at Ria. "Have a good time!"

"Wait! Don't leave me here! I don't wanna be in this place all alone!" she whined.

Sage chuckled. "Things are sure going to be interesting from now on."